“I know a very good exorcist back at the temple of K’arl.” Barnaby offered.
The two women glared at him. It was only natural that the demon possessing Illiana would do so, but Cinder’s sudden hostility confused him. Then again, the pair had been doing a lot of kissing, so Cinder might be possessed as well. Too bad that Cinder was right. There wasn’t much they could do about it here. He’d used most of the divine energies K’arl had granted him in his attempt to heal Cinder. Driving whatever spirit that warped Illiana from her body would very likely kill her. Which would be unfortunate. She was quite good at delivering justice. Most war wizards were, but they tended to get justice and injustice mixed up. With Barnaby around, he had kept her mostly in the justice category. He’d miss her cute smile too.
“I am just saying I know a priest who really tries to get the demons out before calling for the holy guillotine. And the Illiana beast has not attempted to eat any children yet, so it might work.” Barnaby said, although he didn’t really think it would. It might save her soul, but she was a wizard and K’arl really frowns on that sort of thing.
“Let's just get what we came for and get out of here.” Cinder sighed, clearly put out by something. It was a total mystery to him, but he was quite used to that. Cinder and Illiana had so many feminine wiles that they often seemed lost. The pair flirted so often that even he had noticed it. He’d started to wonder if they had both taken a vow of celibacy.
“Agreed.” Barnaby said after some thoughts and started limbering up his shoulder. The door looked fairly tough, but you never knew. Father Maxim-miniumus was always saying that you always have a chance of succeeding wildly no matter how impossible the task seems. Impossible for a knight of K’arl meant one in twenty. If that extended to the rest of the group, that meant the odds were better than that.
Illiana faced the door, her new tail lashed lazily.
“Huh. That’s interesting.” She said, “Hey Cinder, hug me again.”
Cinder raised one eyebrow but did it, embracing Illiana from behind.
Nothing happened.
“Is this supposed to open the door?” Cinder asked.
“Maybe if you pet me?” Illiana laughed.
“I am not petting you. That's weird.” Cinder said, “Can you open the door or not?”
“Awww. What if I like being pet?” Illiana mewed like a small cat as Cinder released her with a little shove. Barnaby found it strangely adorable for a monsterious cat woman. A demon temptation tactic, perhaps.
Cinder growled, although not in a feline way, more of a long groan.
“Okay, okay. You want me to do this quick way or the slow way?” Illiana said, her smirk displaying the tip of a fang.
“How long is the slow way?” Cinder asked, putting her fists to her hips.
“Day or two. Picking the ward apart bit by bit.”
“And quick way?”
“Well... Its warded against alot of things but guess what’s not on the list?” Illiana walked over to the cleaver that still lay on the floor where the demon had dropped it. She stooped down and grabbed the handle.
“Wait!” Both Cinder and Barnaby shouted, but too late.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got my curse quota for this adventure. No more room in here.” Illiana hoisted the blade with a grunt. The massive blade was half her height, even after her growth spurt. She strained to carry it over to a point midway between the door and the corner of the door. Sucking in a breath, she brought the blade back over her shoulder and swung it like a kid playing stickball.
It was perhaps the worst sword swing Barnaby had ever seen. There was not a single point of her technique that he could find to praise, except that hit the wall with a solid clunk. Not that the wall expended any effort to avoid it. The weapon popped out of her hands, forcing Illiana to dodge out of the way as it tried to cut off her foot on the way down. She bounced away, smiling.
“See! No problem.”
“Illiana!” Cinder scolded the wizard with a few more words as Barnaby shook his head. He instead watched the tiny speck of blackness that the sword had left on the wall. A blink later, and it had grown noticeably. Another blink and it was the size of a fist, and pebbles were rolling down the wall.
Maybe the beast woman knew what she was doing, or she was simply a lucky fool. Either way, the burial chamber would lie before him within moments. It was finally time to deliver the justice that the Archmagus has escaped in life.