"Yeah, but then at least we could fight it. Not having them means we're stuck trying to find whatever way works, and who knows when something'll come through with that." Ven was normally the optimistic one in the group, but he was smart enough to know when to be realistic. And this whole thing had gotten out of hand really quickly. He grabbed another of the scones, because heck, he'd come from a battle for his very survival and only sort of won; he was hungry.

"Maybe we can just break it open somehow? We can get a better look at it, then see if it's got any vulnerable points."