What just happened? -Open-

Dominique groaned, not all the pain having faded away. She lifted her head, a curtain of brown hair falling over her eyes. Her fingers crisped against the cold surface, clenching into tight fists. Her arms and legs shook with the recent suffering, before she tried to get up and fell down again. Gasping and whimpering, she coughed violently. "Anything!" she yelled out, "Just... Please... Don't leave me like this..."

Bart mumbled under his breath, before glancing at Ilrune, noticing his dark cast. Bart lowered his head before advancing to them, feeling very worried. "Sorry about a few moments ago, and what happened before. But please don't stop me here, I beg of you." He lifted his head, red eyes glistening. "I have the feeling that I do something, and most of my feelings are correct in some way. I must do something - if it isn't against Teran, it's for Dominique."

Teran nodded once, trying not to let the smile creep onto his face. He drew another vial from his belt, holding it up to the light again before giving it to Dominique.
"This will knock you out until your blood has turned. It will save you the pain. I will return you to your friends. I will return once you have awoken. You have my word on that." He said quietly.

"There is nothing that you may do. She is in Teran's hands for the moment." Ilrune said in a level voice. "She did not go unarmed. She will be safe as long as she may still utter a spell."

Dominique snatched the vial from Teran's hands, before muttering darkly. "You better keep your word," she said lowly, "I can still act even when unconscious. And that goes for dead, too." Dominique took the vial to her lips, hesitated, and then gulped it down, breathing in once as she passed the vial back to Teran. She forced herself to swallow, before taking a deep breath again. She fell to the ground, eyes closed, limp.

Bart growled under his breath, turning away to the window. "So there is really nothing I can do in this situation..." he murmured to himself, before looking up at the sky.

Teran watched the Kraferrin taking the potion, waiting a few moments before picking her up, one arm under her knees, the other supporting her back. He vanished, teleporting, appearing in Bart's room. He unceremoniously dumped her onto the ground before looking directly at Shadow.
"I will be back when she wakes. Then, you will be mine. Your friend gave her word." He said, vanishing before anyone could attack him.

Bart hurried over to Dominique, putting a hand under her head and lifting it slightly, pressing the back of his hand against her forehead. Knocked out only, thank god, he thought. He lifted his head to Teran, but he had already vanished before he could say anything. Bart picked Dominique up, laying her down on the bed where he previously lay. Bart then frowned and stood up, looking at Shadow.
"There was nothing which could've been done, yes," he murmured, "but you and she are in grave danger as of now. Teran will keep his word, I sense it. He'll come looking for Shadow. Teran, you must be the one protecting her. I may be strong, but the bad thing is that I can't protect more than one person."

Ilrune nodded, not letting Shadow go, although she seemed to be trying to wriggle free.
"I would let nothing harm her while I am able to protect her." Ilrune said in a quiet, slightly accusing voice. He knew that Teran would be back as soon as Dominique awoke, and he would have to fight him. He tightened his grip a little on the struggling princess, keeping her to his chest.

"Teran's going to come back in at least 10 minutes, at most thirty, depending on Dominique's waking time," Bart murmured under his breath, "Dominique, fearing that she would have to face going unconscious for long periods of time, already planned creating permanently-affecting spells which would increase her endurance and lower the dark-time," Bart explained, "she should be awake in at most 30 minutes. If you need to prepare against Teran, the only time is to do it now."

"I will fight only with my magic." Ilrune said in a level tone of voice. "I do not know what crystal will be able to do against fire, but it is my only present method of fighting." Shadow stopped struggling against Ilrune's embrace, contenting herself with fixing her eyes on Dominique and hoping that she was alright.

"Then I shall protect Dominique with the only things I have," Bart muttered, turning his eyes to her as she rested seemingly so peacefully, "the strength of my arms and the sturdiness of my spine." Bart walked over to Dominique, kneeling down against the bed, and pulling a fringe out of her closed eyes behind her ear. Weirdly enough, Bart was not worried, and looked forward to actually fighting again, as he was conscious.

Shadow bit her lip. Both of the len seemed ready and willing to fight, but she had nothing. Human with a broken arm. She scowled at herself. Vulnerable period indeed. She could do nothing but be a burden to the other two part demons. She bowed her head, her coal black hair forming a curtain across her face.

Bart gazed down at Dominique, his kraferric claws gently stroking her right cheek. His red eyes slowly morphed back to their original color, and the fur disappeared from his skin. The tail slipped back under his shirt. The claws which were caressing Dominique's cheek then disappeared, leaving the normal human nails replace them.

Ilrune murmured something into Shadow's ear. The demoness' head snapped up as she wrenched herself out of his unsuspecting grip, delivering a resounding slap to his face as she yelled something at him. She stormed out of the room, cloak billowing out behind her. Ilrune gently touched the now tender spot on his face, looking shocked.

Bart lifted one eyebrow, without looking at the two, before lowering his head, letting his hair cover his face as he rolled his eyes unnoticed. He continued to caress Dominique's cheek, thinking that Ilrune's and Shadow's small disputes were none of his problems. He didn't want Shadow to blow up the flat, though, so he still kept an ear pricked up just in case.

Shadow stood by the window in the living room, calming herself down. Something moved behind her. She spun around, her eyes searching. Seeing nothing, she turned back to the window. A hand grasped her throat, just tight enough to make her breath wheeze. Terrified ble eyes locked with gold. Teran.

Bart's ear twitched as he heard the faintest sound behind the door. In his kraferric or demonic shape, that mere sound would've been double or tripled, but his human ears were trained enough to pick up the smallest of sounds. He glanced at Ilrune, before slowly standing up. "Something's happening with Shadow," he murmured quietly.

Ilrune locked gazes with Bart long enough to know that the Kraferr wasn't kidding around. He quickly got to his feet, one hand reaching for the doorknob. It fell off in his hand, accompanied by a screw. Ilrune roared in frustration, throwing the handle at the wall. The handle had been unscrewed on the other side, leaving it useless.

Shadow heard Ilrune's cry and started to struggle a little. Teran's hand squeezed a little harder. She was standing on her toes, trying to alleviate the pressure on her windpipe, both her hands gripping Teran's forearm.
"Weak little human," He crooned in a mocking voice.

"When you can't open a thing," Bart murmured, his eyes going red and fur sprouting out of his arms, "use force." Bart stepped over to the door, before standing straight for merely a second. He took one step back, and hauled a kick at the door, which only split at the middle. Bart lifted one eyebrow, swearing in kraferric. "Door's held with magic. Gotta go inside through the second window. Come!" Bart hurried over to the first window, swiftly climbing out and crawling up to the rooftop.

Ilrune swung himself up easily onto the rooftop, but then looked around wildly. Shadow needed his help, and he couldn't get to her. And along with that, he had the humiliation of replying on the Kraferr to get him to Shadow. He grimaced a little. He didn't know if his day could get much worse.

Shadow and Teran hadn't moved. The demon and the human had locked gazed, blue to gold, terrified to confident. Shadow was having to fight for breath, unable to alleviate enough of the pressure on her throat.

Bart paced over to the other side of the building, kneeling down and looking over the edge. He glanced at where the window was situated, and then at Ilrune. "Follow me closely," he uttered, before turning back to the edge. Bart turned around, back to empty space, and he placed his feet near the edge, hooking his hands over it. He gripped it tightly, before heaving his legs over his head, and balancing backwards. He slid around the edge, smashing his two feet at the bottom of the window, slamming it open violently. He quickly tossed himself inside, adopting the normal kraferric stance at the sight of Teran.

Ilrune followed Bart's movements, landing in a crouched defensive position. Teran looked at the pair with a bored expression. Shadow looked out of the corner of her eye, unable to turn her head.
"How sweet, it would seem that the Kraferr protector and the crystal demon have formed a rescue party. I didn't think they would be able to work together without ripping their throats out." Teran commented conversationally.

"Shut up, will you?" Bart snapped, frowning slightly. He clenched his hand into a fist, sighing, irritated. "You really don't have any manners, Teran," Bart murmured. He took one step closer to the demon, red eyes glaring at him, "I don't like how this battle is laid-out. It's two against one here." Bart thought a moment, not flinching. "Ilrune," he muttered, "would you be so kind as just to concentrate on Shadow's recuperation as I try and gut Teran?" Bart asked casually, not raising in tone as he glanced at Shadow then back at Teran. His tail flicked anxiously at the air as he stood tall, defying Teran.

"Ah," Teran said smoothly. "Your little friend said that Shadow would be mine if I helped her." Ilrune's hand twitched, crystals forming in the air around his hand. "Now, now, Ilrune, you wouldn't want anything to happen to Shadow now, would you?" The crystals faded. Ilrune gritted his teeth, his hair falling over his eyes.

"Why, you..." Bart took one step back, heaving his weight behind him, before lunging at Teran. He threw his fist at the demon. But, in the matter of merely a second, he felt his weight turn around on itself. He didn't understand what had just happened, but what seemed to be a moment for him lasted here, all the time he would've desired. A reckless kick hit Bart right in the middle of the spine, sending him smashing against the wall behind Ilrune. He flinched in pain, before lifting his eyes to the kraferrin, standing before Teran, her hands clenched into tight fists. She twitched involuntarily at her own jolt when Bart's fist made contact with her arm, putting one hand over the hit area.
"You," she rasped, "don't... Touch him!"

Ilrune looked astonished, as did Shadow, as they saw the short scuffle betxeen the two Kraferrs. The demoness renewed her struggles, but Teran held on tighter. He smirked a little at Bart, and then spoke to Dominique.
"Are you feeling better, my dear Dominique?" He asked softly, his golden eyes fixed on the newly formed demoness. His gaze held nothing but concern for her, although Shadow knew the difference. His concern was only for himself.

Dominique scowled back at Teran, her eyes glistening. Her fur hadn't changed color other than the normal brown and black spots which covered her when she went kraferric. She hadn't physically changed at all, but Bart felt that her strength had been potentially increased since the last time she had hit him. "Don't make me laugh, jerk," she snarled, "if you do anything to them, you know what's coming up. You also know that during that lapse of time, Shadow will be taken away from you and we'll take care of you. Got it?" Dominique scoffed, before turning her eyes to Bart, who had had time to stand up, aching his spine. He glared furiously at Dominique, but his voice remained calm.
"Dominique... What has he done to you?!" he growled.
"The worst is going to come soon, Bart," she answered quietly, "After this... We'll be able to save our race."
"Are you fr-"
"Quiet!" she retorted, frowning slightly at Bart, "Quiet. Please. I want to be able to do this alone, for once."
Dominique turned her gaze over to Ilrune, gulping slightly. "Ilrune, I beg your pardon, even though I know you shall not give them to me," Dominique murmured, "do not fret. That is all I can say as of now."