Merri had run all the way to the end of the hall -- a dead-end, but luckily, when he turned, the doll was not right behind as he had feared it would have been. The relief was short-lived, for it was in that moment he heard Cormac's shout, and Merri gripped his staff and hesitantly, though hurriedly, retraced his steps to find his friend.
His heart pounded wildly with each step he took, but it took the bone-chilling woman's voice for him to break out into a run. Audrey. He followed the sound of Ari's singing, and what sounded like another man's voice -- Miles, maybe? -- into the kitchen, where he saw a scene that he had always read about but never wanted to see for himself. Merri stood in the doorway for a long moment, eyes wide, his staff shaking violently in his hands.
But this was no time to hesitate, no time to dwell in his own fears. Audrey needed help, and she needed help fast.
White magic, he reminded himself, is the most effective against the undead.
Fire, too, and though he knew this was no time for experimentation, neither was this the time to play it any safer than keeping Audrey safe; closing his eyes, and his voice surprisingly steady for the fear he felt, he focused and began the chant to cast both Fire and Cure at the doll in hopes that it would release Audrey.