Ari/Mag/Drake/Kiernan/MINOTAUR?!
This was not what she had wanted. Ari knew for a fact that they were on the opposite end of the cave from where Ifrit had been found - in the back of her head, he laughed, clearly amused at her expense - but this was a sight far more horrifying than that had been, for the undead were amassed here, and at the center of their numbers...
The ghostlike creature hovering above the miniature army spoke, its voice something cold and slithering against her senses, as unmusical and repellent as a sound could be. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. "How kind of you to bring fodder for my army." The creature on the slab rose, swung its hammer. Ari considered seriously whether they oughtn't to turn tail and run. Her songs would touch them, but the amplifier was long drained, and there were so many.
Is the need great enough now, human?
She gritted her teeth, but she knew he was correct. "Get clear," she said to her companions, her voice steady. What was one more person to know her secret, after all? She had wanted to take them away from the source, but they were here now. It was her responsibility to make sure everyone left here alive.
She had promised.
Fire erupted from the stone hung in a pouch around her neck, pressed tightly against her skin, engulfing her. She felt herself thrown into the air, caught by a hot, giant hand. For a moment, her vantage was from above, perched on her summon's shoulder, looking down at the crowd of skeleton knights and zombie mages, and eye to eye with the blank, eerie gaze of the minotaur. Ifrit raised his head and roared, the sound reverberating around the cavern until the walls seemed to shake.
She met the eyes of the ghostlike creature who had spoken, jutted out her chin. "Pick on someone your own size," she told him - words of defiance, but also challenge. Ifrit set her on her feet and her hands went to her strings. "Clear the cave," she said, her voice shaking only a little. "Burn it clean."