A mixture of pure shock and fear spread across Brent's face as the snake's mouth clamped down on the armor. Seriously?! He was almost afraid to think about how close he'd come to being snake food. The armor seemed to buy him a little time, too, as the runespoor backed away long enough for him to try and come up with another plan. Verdimillious Tria was not working out for him, so he abandoned that idea in hopes of coming up with something better.

Why was this happening now? Why was he having such a hard time getting past one part of a whole challenge, when he'd done so well in all the other ones? He was running out of ideas with this runespoor. He honestly had no idea what he could do to...how had the runic message worded it? Subdue the creature? Yes, that was it. Almost every single charm he'd tried had ultimately failed, so Brent began to thumb through his mind for a better tactic.

His very next thought was something he was ashamed to admit he hadn't thought of long ago. Runes. Yes, Runes. They had actually been at the very heart and soul of every challenge he'd faced so far...in all the rounds. He'd made it a central part of the actions he'd exhibited, so why should right now be any different? When he survived this, he was going to immediately talk to Hawthorne and revisit his opinion on the subject. He felt in his very soul that runes would be the way out of this. Which one, though?

His first thought was Hagalaz, as it brought about a loss of power, and wasn't that what he wanted the snake to experience? However, Hagalaz might backfire on him. He kind of thought it was directed more to the one making the rune rather than the one the rune was for. He needed a rune that would backfire on the runespoor. Wait a second...RUNESpoor! RUNES. The answer had been in the creatures name all along, and he mentally scolded himself for overlooking that. He probably could have accomplished this long ago! Siiiigh. He spared a glance toward the runic messages on the door and thought about a rune that would subdue the snake. His next thought was Thurisaz, which would both protect him and overcome the obstacle before him...aka, the snake. He really didn't have much time to analyze that any further, because once again, he was on borrowed time.

Figuring he no longer needed the stick he'd been carrying around for what seemed like ages, Brent decided to use it to ignite a rune. Gripping it in his left hand while holding his wand in his right hand, Brent began to carve. "Intaglio Thurisaz!" he exclaimed. "Thurisaz, Thurisaz, Thurisaz!" When the rune gave off a glow, he began to chant.

"thurisaz thurisaz thurisaz
th th th th th th th th th
thur thar thur ther thor
thu tha thu the tho
th th th th th th th th th"

When he was finished, he turned the rune toward the snake and willed it to work its magic.