Jenna had never seen such a display.

She pushed Sapphire unceremoniously before her as Keritanima rushed for the door. They both fully understood what was happening. Tarrin had snapped, and now he was as much a danger to them as any Troll ever was. Allia had somehow gotten his attention, though, and she desperately wanted a single second to stop and watch her. She knew Allia was fast, but she never dreamed that any living thing could move with such blazing, absolute speed. Now, finally, she understood why her brother was so respectful of Allia's fighting ability. She was one of the few beings on this entire world that Tarrin feared enough to not want to fight. Allia didn't have Tarin's strength, nor did she have his magical might. But she had speed, inhuman, unbelievable speed, and Jenna finally understood that against such speed, strength was meaningless. His strength advantage was nullified if only because he wouldn't get an opportunity to lay a hand on her.

Every bit of that speed was on display in that dank storeroom as the Selani danced, darted, weaved, and twisted around the wildly thrashing Were-cat, confusing him and frustrating him to an extreme that Jenna didn't think imaginable. Short swords struck and struck and struck again, but the magical bracers on his wrists, the very items she created for him, were now protecting him from those light slashes and stabs. Only one out of every four or five had enough power behind it to breach the invisible magic that protected him, where Allia had the opportunity to put more into the attack, and those drew blood. But those wounds healed over as fast as she could inflict them, and they were probably doing little more than making him even more angry.

"Do not push me!" Sapphire snapped in outrage, trying to dig in her feet.

"Don't argue with me right now!" Jenna said in a savage manner, the voice of a woman trying to save her own life. "We have to get away from him!"

"He is in a rage?" the dragon asked.

"Yes!" Jenna shouted in exasperation. Could it be more obvious? Did he have to wear a sign declaring his mental state? "Kerri, Allia, let's get out and trap him inside!" she shouted. "He can trash this room all he wants, but we can't let him get out into the hallways like this! He'll kill anything in his path!"

"I'll pin him to the wall!" Keritanima announced, stopping and raising her hands.

Jenna's heart seized in her chest, and she nearly felt like she was going to faint. "Kerri, no!" she shouted. If she used Sorcery, Tarrin may respond with Sorcery! And in his state, she knew that even if the three of them Circled, the chances they could stop him would be miniscule at best! "Don't use Sorcery! Don't do it!" she screamed hysterically.

"Right, right!" Keritanima shouted as she reached the door. "I forgot about that!"

"A bloody fine time to forget!" Jenna seethed as she literally dove to the floor, pulling Sapphire down with her as the furious battle raging between the Were-cat and the Selani drifted too close to them. Allia's face was a mask of intense concentration as she labored to keep the Were-cat's killing claws off of her, continuing to slash and stab at him with her lightning thrusts, using her incredible speed and agility to keep out of his clutches. Tarrin was inhumanly fast, but Allia's speed defied rational explanation, moving so quickly that her hands almost seemed to blur, the flowing of her silver hair as she moved catching the light and drawing the eyes, helping to further confound an enemy facing her.

In a rapid series of weaves and bobs, the Selani finally managed to get into a position where she could do more than jab at him. She turned and brought up her foot and kicked him dead in the face, kicked him with such incredible force that his head snapped back, and she turned a complete circle after the blow to play out her momentum. If Allia had struck a man like that, she would have broken his neck. The blow barely phased Tarrin, managing only to stagger him back a single step, but that was a lifetime to Allia. She slipped to his side, rotated her body, ducked under a swipe of Tarrin's claws, got herself behind his blow and into a position where he was vulnerable to her. And then, with a sickening spatter of blood, she drove one of her shortswords through the side of his neck. The blow was carefully measured and expertly delivered, causing the blade to shear through the bone of his neck and sever his spinal column, but not severing his major arteries or veins or cutting his throat.

It had a spectacular effect. Tarrin crumpled to the floor like a sack of meal, and he did not move. He did not even breathe. He was face down, so she couldn't see his expression, but something told her that she didn't want to see his expression. Allia held onto her sword, held it in place even as he fell, and her wild look at them told her that this was by no means over yet. "Get out, quickly!" she ordered. "If I hold his spine apart for too long, it will kill him! We must be out before he regains his movement!"

Jenna was stunned for a very short moment before self-preservation took control of her again. Incredible! Allia had defeated Tarrin in a fight, even when he was in a rage!

The three ladies did not dwell on this sudden change of events for long. Keritanima bolted out of the door, and Jenna pushed Sapphire through before her. Allia watched them get out of the room with intense concern, and then yanked her sword free and darted towards the door. She literally flew out of the room, and then Jenna and Keritanima grabbed hold of the door and slammed it closed. "We have to brace this thing!" Jenna said feverishly, pushing on it as if a horde of Trolls were pushing from the other side.. "He'll break it down like it was made of paper!"

"Back!" Sapphire shouted in a commanding voice, waving them away with one arm. The three Sorcerers scrambled out of the way just as a howl of fury vibrated the door from the other side, and Sapphire chanted in a strangely discordant language, making several very precise gestures with her hands. Jenna felt a magical force travel through the Weave into the shapechanged dragon, and then it was released from her and infused the door. The door seemed to shimmer visibly for a second, then returned to seeming normalcy.

"How did you do that, Allia?" Jenna asked breathlessly as the door shuddered as if struck by a heavy piece of furniture, but it held.

"Jesmind taught me long ago how to kill a Were-cat," she answered in a panting tone. The short fight had pushed the Selani a great deal more than she first thought. "To put Tarrin down should he become too great a danger. Done briefly, it can serve to immobilize one without doing permanent harm."

"It worked well enough," Kerri said nervously as the door shuddered again. "But now what do we do?"

"We keep him in there, no matter what it takes," she answered in a loud tone as Tarrin started roaring in frustration as he continued to pound on the door. But Sapphire's spell was holding, and he was incapable of breaking it down. "I think you really ticked him off, Allia!" Jenna remarked in a dry tone.

"He will get over it. If he even remembers it," she answered calmly, but she had a white-knuckled grip on her two swords.

Sapphire's eyes widened, and she jumped back. "We must flee now!" she said with desperate urgency.

"What's wrong?" Jenna asked.

"Do not argue! Run, you foolish bipeds!"

Jenna paled when Sapphire, a mighty dragon, turned and fled with all speed away from the door. If anything, that was a fair indication to Jenna that whatever was about to happen was not going to be good.

Within the room, the Were-cat's rage had only doubled since regenerating from the ghastly wound inflicted by the speedy foe. Humiliation was added to the volatile chaos of emotion that roared through his brain, wounded pride making his volcanic temper erupt as never before. He had recovered fully from the blow, but the moment of incapacitation gave his quarry time to escape. The door was solid, and it would not budge despite his most powerful blows, and that only frustrated the Were-cat that much more.