The floor cracked under the weight of Rowen's sudden appearance as he teleported from the outside room to stand next to Shendron. Rowen cast his eyes around, taking in the peculiar surroundings. The roof was made of emerald, or a very similar material, but Rowen hardly made mistakes about precious stones. It was four pieces which had been made to slot into each other with intricate detail and the cuts were done in such a way that the light from outside the castle was caught and shone into the room they were in, lending it a glow of green, which you see as you drown, in murky waters. The air was dirty somehow it seemed to be thick, as though the two companions were suspended in a vat of some gelatinous substance. It was difficult to breath. Rowen saw the markings on the walls and the runes which were carved into it. The slabs of stone in this place were of Iron Rock, the most difficult Rock to fashion, as it was stronger than normal metal, but could not be melted; it had to be carved if it were to be made usable. The walls were smooth and there was no trace of joining, where the slabs were placed on top of each other. The wall seemed to expand and condense on itself, almost as though it was breathing, but this was just an illusion, cause by the emerald and its light. Rowen took a difficult, deep breath, and look at the floor, to see why it had crunched when he had appeared. The floor was covered with half-digested corpses of some strange animal, and everything seemed to be covered with rotten meat and green sludge, which were the festering remains of whatever these creatures had been. Rowen could not see why Shendron had been so afraid though. He looked around the room again. As he turned his head, his vision seemed to slow and his head would remain still for a while, as the things he saw caught up with him.” Nothing out of the ordinary here Shendron, are you a bit tired." No answer came and Rowen looked to where Shendron stood, and once his vision caught up with his head, he saw that Shendron was white, almost ghost-like, while big beads of sweat rolled off his face, soaking into his shirt, which was also dripping. Shendron didn't move but stared at the air in front of him. Rowen heard him move, but only saw the action a few moments later: Shendron hadn't moved, he had been thrown, but Rowen could only see how the massive mercenary was tossed into the air and sent smashing into the wall, by some invisible assailant. Rowen cast a spell of seeing and the world seemed to shift about him. The spell wrapped itself about his blue eyes and they pulsed with a rhythm that made them seem alive, but independent of Rowen. The spell finished its effect and he had a clearer vision. The room was bright now, as if in daylight. Rowen saw the roof was a crystal roof, not emerald, but couldn't understand why there was a spell like that on it. The walls were revealed to have many dangerous spikes and sharpened edges, still of Rock Iron, but with hidden dangers and not as perfect as he had thought. The floor was alive with little creatures that were mawing away at the bones by his feet, and tried to climb up his legs. Some of them started eating at his shoes. Rowen took a vial of yellow liquid from one of his pockets and dropped a few drops on his feet. The effect was immediate, as the critters scattered in all directions, as the fumes of the liquid were unbearable to them. A loud thud shook him out of his current actions and he spun around just in time to see how Shendron was running towards him at a break-neck speed, followed closely by a three dogs. At least, to Rowen they looked like dogs. Shendron ran a hair's breadth past Rowen and as he did so, grabbed the wizard around the waist and ran with him under his arm toward the stone wall they had come from. Rowen looked around and saw that these dogs were not cute puppies at all. They were gaining on them now, and the wizard made out the features of their faces. They were grotesque and their mouths were lipless, allowing the teeth to constantly be bared. The closest animal opened its mouth for a bite, but Shendron kicked at it, and caught it on the lower jaw. The open mouth revealed rows of extra teeth, like a shark's, but these were black and inside the beast's throat was what seemed like a smoky snake, coiling and uncoiling, ready to shoot out, and just as Shendron's boot connected with the dog's jaw, that's what it did; it shot out and fangs came from the dog's inhabitant, trying to get a bite into anything close by. The snake-like creature bit into one of the other three dogs and it instantly fell dead on the ground.” Teleport us through. NOW!" Shendron yelled. Rowen was disorientated, but he spoke the words and instantly, they were on the other side of the wall.

"What were those things?" Shendron looked at the wall as Rowen asked this, poised to strike with his drawn sword at anything that might come through the solid barrier.” They are the demon hounds that are the product of Lycans and Giants of the Shadow mating. They are the Zulnaret. They are quite dangerous.” Yes, I could see that!" Rowen was catching his breath. "But why didn't we kill them? There were only three of them and you could have managed against them alone. Why were you so afraid?" Rowen looked at Shendron and saw lights flicker in his eyes as they began to shoot out little flames. His eyes changed, fiery and dark at the same time. He seemed to be growing. "What's happening to you!?!" Rowen shouted. "This is not how any elemental changes! Shendron drew a breath and as he did so, a growl came from his throat, and his open mouth revealed teeth growing into sharp fangs. He spoke with difficulty, "Those things you saw were not the things which concerned me, and do you think one of them could possibly have thrown me around like that? NO, of course not! The creatures that were chasing us were the newly whelped litter of their parents. Those creatures are only a few hours old and hungry and over-eager, they saved us both, because their parents thought to let us be their first hunting lesson! The mommy and daddy of those cute little things are in there, and intelligent and coming through this wall for us.” Rowen was also a little concerned now, but there was no point in staying here, so he asked, "Why don't we run?” Because if we run, they will chase us, and they are faster than we are, they can sense any magic you might cast to aid us in an escape. We face them here while we are prepared, or we face them on the run, and die without the chance to survive, even though it is quite a slim chance as it stands now.” Shendron was double his original size already, and he was still growing, his muscles had grown larger and his limbs were extending. Claws ripped out of his hands and the flesh of his human skin was torn open, blood dribbling onto the stone floor. Rowen knew he was changing into a Lycan, but could not understand his appearance. He was now changed and his features remained relatively human, in comparison to the Lycans Rowen had studied. He had fangs and claws which shone in the light and he was three times the height of Rowen now, but instead of fur covering his whole body, lines of fire seemed to crack through the surface of his skin. Red and orange fire emanated a heat from him, and he was a Lycan yet an elemental. The lines seemed to form a pattern. Where his feet touched the ground, they cracked the stone, too hot for the cold floor to adjust to so suddenly. Shendron was like a furnace with fangs and Rowen wondered at the power of the monsters chasing them, if he could have changed as he had now and have had this power at his disposal. The change had taken as long as it took Rowen to count to thirteen. A fast change. Rowen admired the raw energy and power this being seemed to possess and got a fright as the beast let out a howl, which trembled through his body and rattled all the stones around them. The howl echoed and reverberated through the castle.

Far away from where Rowen and Shendron stood, Z'dir looked up as did all the other vampires. Everyone's blood was cold. None had heard the howl of a Lycan in centuries."This is not possible! There are no Lycans anywhere in this castle, nor could any live in the surroundings, not unless we know of it!" It was the one who had opened Z'dir's coffin who had spoken, but they were all suddenly in their own thoughts, as they pondered how this could possibly be.

Rowen looked at Shendron and started chanting, if the mercenary had taken these precautions against their foe, he had to prepare himself as well. As Shendron's howl softened and disappeared into itself, they both turned to look at the doorway. It had disappeared with a scratching sound, and soon after, the whole wall vanished and they stood, wondering about two things: Were they equipped to deal with this, and where the hell was Isurra?!