Throwing his brand at the octopus that had Melusine in its tentacles, Cormac was amazed when it actually worked and slew the cephalopod. Then taking the knife from Melusine, the Young Egan held it aloft and said: "You seem to be missing a nostril, Uikesh. How about I make you a new one?"
Driving the blade into the spot where the nostril should have been, Cormac felt the Angelic One's grip loosen considerably. Swimming over to Melusine to return the knife to her and retrieve his brand, the Young Egan turned back to look at Uikesh. The Vampiric Profound One's cry of pain had been quick and hanging from the mouth of the monster was a long tongue that caused Cormac and Melusine to wonder how they didn't even notice it. How did that even fit inside the mouth of the Angelic One?
The appearance of other vampires as well as octopi and squids caused the two redheads to grow more hesitant. It seemed they were in well over their heads. They were just two and if there truly were fifty other vampires that resided here in the citadel, then they were seriously outnumbered. How were they to know which had even fatally wounded Jacob?
Chuckling darkly, Uikesh rubbed his hands together and said: "Well, well, the valiant banneret and his lady come to rescue captives in a citadel, but they are outnumbered and have no real way of winning. You want to go see this Rhonda? The cells are down the hall, first set of stairs to your left. I do enjoy a good choice so I will give you two children a head start, about ten seconds."
That was good enough for the two Children of the Storm, but alas, the moment they began to make their way to the cells, it was Uikesh's counting that caused them to grow affrighted… The Angelic One had indeed started at one only to skip the other numbers and leap straight to nine before reaching ten. Wherefore should they have expected him to play fairly?