Through a combined effort, the Nightwalker let loose a low, mournful groan and everything seemed to stop… the air grew cold in a sense and the Shadows seemed to spas and react to this groan. Suddenly, it faded away… as if the very wind itself blew the dust that was left away… leaving nothing behind except for a strong silence within the forest. They had won… they had WON!!! Ziun slumped a bit and let out an exasperated sigh of relief, now that they didn't have to worry about the Shadows or that Nightwalker anymore. In the meantime, Ziun felt the same compulsion as the others most likely did… and they proceeded to return back to the beginning of this floor and there… a trap door that wasn't there before had emerged. Descending it, there stood a cramped room… a large chest on one side of the room and on the other… the doors, most likely to exit the dungeon. This boded quite well indeed… “I suppose I'll be preparing a new song to finish our time in this excavation… I believe I'll title it… ‘Dusk of the Nightwalker’. Sure to be a hit.” he chuckled, making his way towards the chest. The large chest revealed enough gold for the three to split, three health potions, and two rings… one of ivory, the other of wood. Interesting little trinkets here, but nevertheless, this was their bounty from the end of this long trek. How Ziun wished there was something he could use himself, but considering that Chris and Lana seemed to do more of the heavy hitting than he did, it was well deserved for those two for sure. “Well, we should split this up evenly then…” he shrugged, looking at the two rings first. “You both divide the rings between yourselves. I'll take a health potion and my share of the gold, that way you both have yours.” Once he took what he said he would, Ziun moved out the way of his allies and party members to let them go next. However, the silence was strong right now… and Ziun… well, he needed to make mention of things here and now. “If I may… I have some things to make mention of to you both. One pertains to you as a whole… the other…” He paused, looking in Chris’ direction. “...is geared towards you, Chris.” A sharp exhale pierced the silence that filled the air after he said this, but Ziun continued on. “Firstly, I had attempted to find a family that could sponsor us on our expedition through the dungeon. Before this, I had run into Zion Apati's line of view, and while I hoped to garner an audience with him… I was unable to find him again. Instead I found an audience with a member of the Apati representative… if you wish to call them that… they referred to themselves as Cerberus.” He paused, digging his hands into his pockets for a moment. “The meeting was… not as I had hoped. While they did say they could help, the cost they had was too high for it. And that cost being… to sabotage anyone and hinder them within the dungeon. This meant my own party as well…” Ziun shook his head a bit, sighing. “Naturally, I turned them down. After all, we're in this together till the very bitter end. I couldn't see myself succeeding without the aid of you both. After all, you just recently saved my hide more times than I can count within these recent floors. So unfortunately, that is one side of things. Perhaps if I actually met with Zion himself rather than that… collective… perhaps things could've been better.” That was one part… but Ziun still had something else to bring up. “However, I must know something…” he continued, now directing his attention towards Chris. “While I was practicing my conjuration at the docks, trying to get a feel for this side of my magic again… I came across those of the Kalo family. They asked if I had seen someone… imagine my surprise when they described the so-called villain and thief that had stolen something from them and attacked them… and the description was that of you.” He paused, crossing his arms with another sigh. “Tidy but unkept blonde hair, 5’8” height, carrying a sword… known to show violence to take what they want…” Ziun paused again, letting this all sink in, before shaking his head. “Naturally… I told them I knew nothing about you nor had I seen you. But I want to know this… what did you do, Chris? I already have put trust in both you and Lana, and even despite finding out that the Kalo family is looking for you… I remained silent. But to keep my trust in you, I need to know what it is that's going on. Regardless of what happens, this humble bard plans to support both you and our dear axe-wielder… I just pray you trust us in the same manner.”

The Children If one were set out to find the perfect example for the word "cacophony" one might be hard pressed to find a better one than a classroom full of children. The classroom itself was not particularly large to begin with. It was attached to an equally small school that almost felt tucked away in some corner of the city. On the way there, through Hana's questionable translation of Constable's noises, they learned that this school was one of several set up for children orphaned by attacks from the invaders from other worlds. This might explain why the children seemed to range from four to ten years of age. But of course children, regardless of age or upbringing, when put into a room and told to focus would do exactly not that. As soon as they saw the Guardians enter, many recognizing Constable immediately, they began to all speak up at once. The teacher, a small, harried looking man with a tiny hat and a long mustache, was trying to settle them down to no avail. He glanced over at the four Guardians with an apologetic but pleading gaze as if hoping one of them could do something to at least lessen the chaos. The Mansion Rona offered Fen and Kasayee a ride on her wyvern, though Cormag didn't seem so keen to transport all three of them. At first Kasayee had seemed unwilling to go at all but after Rona said something Fen couldn't quite hear she seemed much more motivated and transformed into a bird to set off (and had to be reminded she doesn't know the directions). When they arrived at the mansion it was very clearly overgrown and boarded up. An fence of some sort of energy surrounded it but the mansion itself looked much more low tech. It was located atop of a hill and even the stone steps leading up to it were cracked and partly overtaken by flora. When they arrived Rona dismounted from Cormag and asked him to wait at the bottom of the hill as they set about to business. Fen would notice some saddle bags that Rona took off that seemed to contain equipment they'd need to clean up the building.  Kasayee started straight for the front door, ignoring everything else, and Rona let out a sigh. The wyvern rider glanced up at the mansion and Fen would notice she seemed to pale at something she saw. Looking in the same direction Fen would notice something behind one badly boarded up window. A bit of movement and perhaps the outline of a person. "Right...I guess I should mention. Another reason that no one has come to clean this place up." Rona gave Fen a strained smile, "apparently its been haunted for years."

The shadows descended on Chris. Within seconds, perhaps even less, they would be in reach. At the same time the shadows that the creature had created were dropping to the ground and ready to make their move as well. Lana ran towards the Nightwalker and as she raised her axe the massive creature stared directly at her. The glowing orbs that were its eyes burning into her as she prepared to swing. Ziun's ice landed across its arm and body. Several of them shattering as they struck its strangely solid body. Lana swung her axe. But before she made contact...a cold wind blow all around them and the creature let out a low, mournful, groan. The trees shook and the shadows began to spasm and twitch uncontrollably. And then as if blown away by the wind the Nightwalker faded away and scattered into dust and then....nothing. The forest was still. Silent. As if nothing had been there to begin with. They felt a compulsion to return to where they had entered this floor and when they did they saw a trap door that hadn't been there before. Going down the stairs behind it would lead them into a cramped room with barely enough headspace for them. At the opposite end was another set of doors and to the right there was a large chest. While to the left was a portal that would lead them back to the surface.