Samaro laughs in answer to Chorgath, a single note, clear as a bell and bright as day.  The long blade in his hands shifts to a defensive stance.  "Let us make a game of it, shall we?" he says to the Day Caste.  "How many times can the raksha cut the deathknight?"<br/><br/>Chorgath can quite clearly hear the anger in the deathknight's answering snarl.  It is also at this point where Sanger enters the room.<br/><br/>[20]<br/>Samaro and the deathknight are standing apace from one another when Sanger returns to the antechamber once again, navigating through the blade-riddled battlefield as they size one another up.  He can catch a flicker of a smile on the raksha's face, acknowledging the Dawn's call-out.  He opens his mouth to reply as the deathknight steps onto one of the brass weapons, attacking from the sky--<br/><br/>--but whatever answer he was preparing is lost as his opponent steps over his graceful body-blocking parrying strike, the air repelling her feet.  It plants both knives in his skin, and Time forgets itself for another moment as those two wounds suddenly become many, many, many more.<br/><br/>There is a moment of surprise on Samaro's face as she leaps away from him, balancing back on the top of the swords-- then as his body gives way from beneath him, he quickly jams the long blade into the ground, doing his damndest to stay upright at all, as black-looking threads begin spreading just beneath his skin.<br/><br/>Sanger roars his challenge.  The Abyssal turns to him now, the empty white space serving as its mouth twisting into a hungry leer; as he brings the blade down, and it aims to deflect it as it has the others, catching it between her two soulsteel knives and a dozen afterimages of her weapons that bring Zankanto's arc to an absolute halt.<br/><br/><strong>"Big words, hero,"</strong>the deathknight coos mockingly, the depth of its soul's darkness warring against the light of his own..<strong>"Who else will you not be fast enough to save today?"</strong><br/><br/>[22]<br/>Chorgath skids to a stop in the silver sands outside of the temple, takes in the sights, and sets his will to work.  Ruby and Cerulean are both visibly relieved to see him arrive and take charge; Suicides steps back when he hears Chorgath's voice, glad to let someone more qualified take charge.  The Defiler begins his work, and in a matter of moments, with the tools and force available to him, he has the door securely set.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Which is timely, because...</div><div class="spoiler_body">The Essence flows are agitating even higher.  There are maybe twenty seconds left before things go from Bad to Boom.</div></div><br/>Inside, Sondok's makes another broad motion with her arms, covering another quarter of the entry archway with sealing stone.<br/><br/>[23]<br/><em>Sanger acts again.</em><br/><br/>[24]<br/>"The blades," Samaro chokes out, eyes widening as the black threads weave through him and his strength finally fails him.  "Poisoned..."<br/><br/>And no longer able to support his weight, he spills over to the side.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">"Tick Order"</div><div class="spoiler_body">23 - Sanger<br/>24 - Most Folks Outside<br/>25 - Day Caste<br/>27 - Chorgath<br/>29 - Samaro (currently incapacitated and Inactive)</div></div><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">"OOC"</div><div class="spoiler_body">+2 stunt for Chorgath, +2 stunt for Sanger.  The Day Caste had to drop a Melee perfect because that was about to kill 'em pretty good, and when they started that Time-Scything Technique on Samaro, I ended up hitting all eight times.  Dice -hated- Samaro.<br/><br/>The distance between the starting ticks to where they are now factors in the need for movement time; Chorgath's not got much foot speed but a Dash would have gotten him out there; Sanger has his hearthstone and decent movement rate and leftover movement time from getting everyone over.</div></div>