Chloe looked at the bodies and up at the foreign girl. She felt sick to her stomach and her face burned with shame as tears welled up in her eyes. "I'm.. I'm sorry I put you at risk. I couldn't stop myself no matter how hard I tried". Her voice and breath where getting heavy with emotion. "I'm so weak and useless... I couldn't even defend myself from the first beast"." Chloe paused taking slow and steady deep breaths trying to calm herself. She pulled her cloths close trying redeem what modesty she could when the doors opened.
Ashley: HP = 43, PP = 54, EP = 31/39, Status = Fine
Tesnya and looked away, blushing slightly, as she said; "Don't mention it, I wasn't in any danger. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay." She sighed and rose, turning to glance at Charles and the newcomers, and the two of them exchanged nods of greeting as the girl beside him rushed over to Chloe. She knelt down, and even though she seemed extremely tired she said; "Are you alright? Did you get hurt?" The other two, Charles and another young man, both stared at the two dead girls for a moment, rather than at Chloe, so at least she didn't have all of the eyes in the room on her in her state of undress.
The group Ashley joined all stared at her as Ashley joined them, but they waited for her to finish before one of them said; "We've been trying, but the wind keeps dying down.... It feels like something else keeps resisting us. Maybe that thing in the sky, maybe something else." Other than that, Ashley got no other objections, and the group began to work.
Rolls
Casting: Success.
The storm has been kept up.
Ashley and the small group breathed life back into the dying storm, and true storm clouds began to form above. That wasn't her doing, of course, and as rain began to sprinkle lightly down upon her she guessed that Jenns group, or perhaps one of the others, were the ones directly responsible for it. It wasn't quite as powerful as when she'd initially cast it, at least not yet, but Ashley did indeed feel some sort of pressure resisting her magic. It didn't outright stop her, at least not yet, but she felt it gradually building, and knew that it was no natural force.
"Ill be alright nothing hurt by my pride"Chloe tried to smile weakly as she dabbed at her eyes. Chloe looked at Tesnya and the the girl she helped save trying to ignore the two men in the room. "Where is everyone else? are they okay?" Chloe began to get to her feet pulling at her cloths trying to get them back into place. Luckily they where not torn and after some time managed to get them back into place. Covered in grime, slime, and monster spunk Chloe wondered vaguely if the slime was still active.
Ashley focused on the storm, and felt it grow in power again. That was good. Not only was it a short part of the fifteen minutes already accomplished, but now that the wind was up to speed it should be easier to hold it in place then it had been to increase the speed in the first place. Less good was the feeling of resistance. Like someone or something was pushing back. That could just be the fact that she and the other students weren't working together absolutely perfectly, or it could be something more malignant.
Rain began to fall, but Ashley took no notice. Rain was a natural part of the storm, and she enjoyed it. She wasn't exactly dressed for it, but a little wet never hurt anybody. It could also be a sign that hers wasn't the only group working on the storm. Rain wouldn't actually strengthen it, but it might help keep the invaders out of the air if the wind speed dropped, or confuse those already on the ground.
"I see what you mean about resistance. But there's nothing we can do about it unless someone can figure out where it's coming from."
With that, Ashley turned her focus back to the storm, continuing to draw in energy. Perhaps it wouldn't take quite as much to simply maintain the storm, but that resistance suggested that it might fade faster then was natural once she let go, so it might be wise to give herself a certain amount of buffer. She would just have to be careful not to increase the winds to the point where it started to damage the Academy excessively.
Ashley: HP = 43, PP = 54, EP = 31/39, Status = Fine
Rolls
Resistance: Enemy wins.
After this, I'll probably just go through. One side needs to win a total of three times, if Ashley goes for a straight contest of power. I am of course open to other ideas, if you can think of them.
Ashley felt the resistance harden against her will as she began to try and push more energy into the storm, and perhaps it was because of her restraint, or perhaps because whatever was resisting her was simply stronger than the students who were on shift, but she felt the wind begin to weaken. Those casting the spell look strained, and it felt as though the wind would die down completely if the spell wasn't strengthened again soon.
Charles was the first to respond to Chloes question, though he was still staring at the corpses of the two girls; "Most of those who were involved in the fight in the cafeteria are fine. Ashley and Jenn went outside, to begin working on permanently dealing with the thing that appeared in the sky with most of the rest of us. The wounded are mostly already taken for, but I think that there are a few more outside who haven't been seen to yet. Anyone still able to fight is supposed to be outside, in case more of those monsters decide to show up." The last part of his statement were delivered meaningfully, but he didn't press the issue any further, even though Tesnya and the girl kneeling beside her glared at him. The girl who had yet to get a name said; "Do you think you can walk? I can help you into your clothes if you want."
Ashley grimaced as she felt the unseen presence push against the storm harder, slowing the winds to dangerously low levels. That would not do. She drew in energy from the world around her, as hard as she could, and focused on the storm. She could simply push back and forth with whoever was opposing her until one of them one. She knew she was strong, and had natural talent with the storm that had only been enhanced with the Academy's training. But in her time here she had learned primarily how to do things other then with wind. The storm was powerful, and versatile, but it wasn't the best tool for every job.
Of course, one could argue that it was in fact the best tool for creating a storm. It would be difficult to argue otherwise. But that wasn't what she was doing. What she was doing was having a magical duel over how a particular storm would act. Simply throwing forces at it might work. Wind, heat, pressure, humidity: placed well and strongly, she might prove victorious. There were more efficient mediums for magical duels, though. Pure magic, direct. Ashley knew she wasn't quite as talented there as she was with storm, but it would be unexpected, and for all she knew her unseen opponent was also especially gifted in storm.
She couldn't directly attack the person, not without knowing where they were, but she could attack their spells. She didn't have to know where they started to know where they would finish. The storm. But even more then that, she could think about how she would go about breaking a storm. Where to apply force to most efficiently slow it. Ashley could see where her foe would act, and direct her forces there, opposing her opponent's spell rather then its effects. It would be a delicate operation, lowering the amount of force she could feed into the storm, but if she could stop her foe from slowing the storm down, it would be enough. She hoped it would be enough, especially with her fellow students doing what they could to speed things up, and with what she could afford to keep focused on the storm herself. She released the spell, and hoped that she had picked her strategy well.
Chloe lowered her eyes a little at Charles words."I think I can....." Chloe looked at the female student trying to remember if she had met her before. "Nina" a smile came to Chloe's face as she remembered the student from a magic debate class. "Well we best not keep them waiting. Charles you Tesyna and your friend" she gestured to the other male student can go ahead if you want. Nina and I will be right behind you. I think enough of my fellow students have seen me exposed to fill a life time of embarrassment. When you get there let them know I'm fully rested and can fight or heal as needed."
Ashley: HP = 43, PP = 54, EP = 31/39, Status = Fine
Tesnya smiled at Chloe and said; "Right. I'll see you shortly!" Charles simply nodded and walked out, the other male student throwing a cautious glance at her but not doing anything more than that. They, all three of them, left, leaving Nina and Chloe alone together. The other girl helped her to her feet, and waited for her to get dressed, offering help only if it seemed needed, and then said; "Are you ready to go?"
Outside, Ashley found the source of the magic that was trying to weaken the storm, thankfully not the thing floating above them, and set about countering their effects directly, rather than matching them in a battle of raw power. The storm began to rise in power once more, and the floating thing began to lurch once more. The rain became harder, and then turned to hail, the tiny frozen projectiles not distracting enough to spoil Ashleys concentration, nor those of the men and women around her, who continued to stoke the winds.
Only moments later, the magically conjured storm became a hurricane above them, and she could just barely hear the thunder as it cracked the sky. Flashes of lightning struck the massive abomination above, light dancing across its glistening surface with every strike. The shadows around them darkened by the black clouds their magic had conjured, until it felt more like night than late afternoon. A dark red glow filled the courtyard from the center, in which over a dozen mages were standing, including the librarian and the red-robed elf Ashley had spoke with earlier. Whatever they were conjuring, it was likely to be incredibly powerful, and as Ashley forced the source of the magic that had been blocking them to retreat, she allowed herself to hope that this might actually work, somehow. They just had to keep this up, and allow the spell to complete, and then everything would be alright.
Ashley felt relief as her plan bore fruit, and the storm above raised her spirits along with its wind. Between the thrill of victory and the storm, she felt more alive. She allowed some of her natural magic to manifest in a controlled manner, and her dress ruffled in a wind that touched only her, making her hair stream out behind her, while her eyes flashed bright and grey in the lightning.
They were winning. And of course that wasn't a time to ease up, it was a time to strike home. With the storm already strong enough, she could focus more on her opponent, and now she would do more then just counter their spells, she could make them snap back with enough force to do damage, if they were unwise enough to continue. She also expanded her search to less perfectly optimal areas to slow the storm, anticipating an opponent who was bright enough to avoid predictability. Just a few more minutes, and the invaders would be defeated.
Chloe straightens her cloths and hair not really needing Nina's help to get ready but feeling the need to have someone close just in case. She looked around the room her eye falling on the two girls on the ground. Looking at the two girls she felt a wave of pity. "I thought we could help them but they are to far gone." A small frown crossed her face. "If it hadn't been for Tesyna I would have ended up just like them". She shook her head sadly. "Lets get going there are people I can actually help outside". She turned to go nut suddenly stopped. "Oh that man we need to check him first... though he might be to far gone". Eying the closet warily she slowly moved towards it. "Nina watch my back I will see if hes alright if not we should join up with the other no telling what else is in here".
Checking if the victim in the closet is okay and depending if he is still alive and trying to rape us taking him along.
Thunder rumbled above, stronger than any that anyone had ever heard. It reverberated throughout the entire Academy, within and without, as the hail pounded against stone and student alike. Power flowed around her, and suddenly Ashley felt her work in countering the magic of the one who would have slowed the storm even easier, until they eventually abandoned it entirely. The pressure of the air around them began to increase, and it combined with the slippery conditions and the driving hail drove some students to their knees. The minutes passed in near ecstasy as magic flowed through her, energies she'd never imagined being able to manipulate, enhanced by the flow of magic coming from the Academy grounds themselves, and brought down by whatever spell the others were working. The storm raged against the stone of the Academy, impossible to control any longer, but the aged granite, designed to stand up to the abuse of the most potent magics, withstood the semi-natural onslaught.
Her own winds picked up, allowing even her fairly soaked clothing to billow as she countered one last thrust aimed at them, though this time it hadn't been directed at the storm. She felt an alien mind recoiling in pain, and her grey eyes flashed triumphantly, just as over a dozen bolts of lightning, accompanying the loudest thunder any had ever heard roared above. The bolts struck the being above, tiny burns appearing on its great hide, and the howling wind finally overpowered it, causing it to lurch to the side. The conjured gale followed it, forcing it away from the Academy ever so slowly, until it hovered over the forest to the West.
Suddenly, the pressure of the air violently increased, and Ashleys ears popped painfully as the weight very nearly drove her from her feet. The spell behind her reached its climax, a violent outpouring of magic cascading away, up into the air. The storm ceased suddenly and without warning, and the lurching floating thing began to right itself slowly. The black clouds began to glow, first red and then orange, and for a moment it looked as if the sky itself was aflame. Then, the clouds above the airborne monstrosity parted, and the sky quite literally was on fire, as something moving so fast that she couldn't even tell what it was fell down and hammered into it from above, a deafening roar accompanying its descent.
When it struck..... The sound of it truly deafened Ashley, a roaring thud that she had no other sound to compare to that might give it justice. The shock of it knocked her from her feet, and she felt the ground quake as well as she laid half dazed upon it. A shockwave of heat and pressure caused her to slide almost ten feet along the slippery, wet stone, until she slammed into the feet of a stone statue, where she lay for several minutes. The world shook, and another loud thud sounded, reverberating through the ground and amplifying the earthquake, though she could no longer see anything save for the statue above her, and the courtyard, where everyone else in the yard was on the ground just as she. Everyone, save for one figure, who seemed far too familiar, in its dark cloak, but the very moment she saw it, the figure vanished like it had never been. A few moments later, the pressure eased, and a ray of sunshine illuminated the courtyard, blindingly bright. As her eyes adjusted, Ashley saw a rainbow, the mist in the air from the conjured storm making it possible. People around her slowly began picking themselves up, a few sprained ankles and broken arms, as well as a laundry list of other non-lethal injuries, were being called out. More injured, but Jenn didn't seem to be among them as she ran over the slippery ground, not even slipping once, and practically jumped for joy before helping Ashley to her feet, only to wrap her in an immediate hug. "We actually did it! It's on the ground!"
The man in the cupboard groaned as Chloe drew near, Nina a few feet behind, and he sat up just as she reached the door. "Uhhh, my head. Hey, what am I doing here...." Rubbing his head, he suddenly looked up at Chloe, and then down at himself, and then back to her. "Uhhhhhhmmmmm...... Who are you?" He said awkwardly, while scratching the back of his head with one hand and rubbing one of his temples with the other. The man seemed alright, if a little confused, so the two simply left him there after Chloe said whatever she liked in response to his question.
The hall outside was quiet, and Charles could be seen among the handful of wounded, tending them lightly. He came toward them as soon as he spotted them leaving the kitchen, and after a roar of thunder that shook the very walls, he said; "Right, ready to head outside? It seems like something pretty intense is going on out there." A moment later, a thunderous impact cause the very ground on which the four of them (they'd been joined by Tesnya) stood to shake uncontrollably. Cracks appeared in the stone floor, and the ground continued to shake for several minutes, preventing them from moving at any rate, unless they wanted to crawl, until it finally stopped. "What in the hell was that!?"
Ashley stood in the storm, eyes flashing. With all the magic flowing through her, and the impossibly massive storm above her, she felt on top of the world. This was the storm of her dreams. Not nightmares, for she had never feared even the worst storms, but her dreams. Of course, she wasn't literally flying, but just standing outside in a storm such as this was nearly as good. Hail began to fall, and Ashley used a small part of the magic flowing through her to keep the larger bits from hitting her, while she turned her main attention to the thing floating above the academy, making sure that her storm did its part in what was to come.
In the aftermath of the storm and the epic magic which had brought the enormous monstrosity crashing down out of the sky, Ashley found herself on the ground, staring at the place where for a moment a man had been. He had looked familiar, and just for a second she thought it had been the daemon Matthias, but that was impossible. Or at least unlikely. Either way, he was gone, and there were more important things going on. The calm after a storm always left her a little bit sad, but this time there was too much celebration in the air to care. She turned to Jenn see, happy to see that her friend hadn't been injured by the shock as the thing had hit the ground. Jenn was too attuned to water to slip on the wet flagstones, but that didn't make her immune to falling masonry.
Ashley accepted Jenn's help getting to her feet and embraced her warmly in the suddenly hot and humid air that came in the wake of the massive storm. "Of course we did. How could we fail, with the two of us helping?" After a moment she pulled away, though. "I don't think it's over, though. We brought that thing down, and that impact surely killed many of them, but it would be too much to hope for them all to have died. And there are still those who were on the ground when the storm first hit."
Chloe took a sharp intake of breath as the man stirred but seeing that he was okay simply stated that she was a student and for the moment he was safe and to stay hidden. With that taken care of Chloe rushed hastily to the exit where she had seen Tesyna and Charles move to knowing that more people needed her help.
Seeing Charles up ahead tending to wound students Chloe slowed her pace. She was about to answer his question when what seemed like the whole Academy shock on its foundations. Steadying herself against the wall until it stopped before rushing to the exit to see what happened.
Chloe, along with Charles, Tesnya and Nina, headed through the halls toward the courtyard where many had already gone, and got out just as the cheering started. The people of the Academy, including those around Jenn and Ashley, were all shouting and laughing in triumph, including those wounded who were conscious, and staring off all in the same direction. The thing that had been floating above them was gone, and it had crashed into the forested mountainside. A sizable chunk of it had been burned away, leaving a massive black hole gaping in its center. "They won't even know what hit 'em." Jenn said quietly, so that only Ashley could hear.
The cheering lasted only a minute or two, however, before a powerful voice cried out; "Enough! We must have order! There is still much to be done!" The Dean of the Academy had walked through the double doors leading into one of the many large study halls, which also happened to be more or less right next to where Ashley had been thrown against a statue. His voice was exceedingly loud, far too loud in fact, and Ashley wondered if he had magnified his voice somehow. "See that the wounded are taken inside, either to the cafeteria or the chapel. Teachers, take groups of students, at least eight per squad, and search the grounds. Older students are to guard the wounded..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About four hours later, after night had fallen in full, the group had once more collected, all of them exhausted after all of the work and excitement. They'd had to help clear the halls, which had had quite a few remaining monsters, as well as a good number of their victims. Tending to the wounded, setting about repairing what little damage had been done to the Academy itself, and doing a nearly limitless number of other, more menial tasks had eaten up the time for all of them. For safeties sake, they were all, teachers and students alike, to sleep in the cafeteria rather than the dormitories, and there were a great many patrols manning the walls of the Academy itself, and protecting the village that supplied it. Volunteers for duty were still being accepted, and Charles and Tesnya had both volunteered, while Nina was staying to look after those who had been hurt too badly for even magical healing to restore so quickly. They were collected at a table in the center of the room, sleeping mats and blankets having been provided by some as yet unknown source. At least, none of them could figure out where the moth-eaten, musty things had been kept. Probably for the best.
"I wonder what this "Briefing" thing is going to be tomorrow.... Well, at least classes are cancelled." Tesnya rolled her eyes at Jenn, and responded; "Of course they're cancelled. It would be absurd to have classes, after what happened today. Thirty people died, and another fifty were crippled... Or worse." Charles piped in; "They're probably going to tell us how they plan to clear the forest tomorrow... Or what's going on in the rest of the world. I tried to reach my parents earlier, through magic. They live in Therion. I still haven't heard back yet. I've heard a lot of other people saying the same thing." The call for lights out in ten minutes went up just atfer he finished. Everyone else was muttering quietly, each conversation whispered, and Charles leaned forward and said; "One person who did get through... They said that they had contacted a friend in Celesis... And that one of those things was over that city too. I don't think that this is a local problem...."
(To be clear: The current party is Ashley, Chloe, Jenn, Tesnya, Nina and Charles. You can put stuff you'd planned to do in the four hour gap into your posts as well, I just didn't want to have to sit through it. You can spend exp after you go to sleep.)
Right, I'll update my character sheet to reflect spent XP after this post.
Ashley, after brief consideration, decided that she had had enough magical strain for the evening, and volunteered for the more mundane duties, tending to the wounded and assessing the damage her storm had caused to the Academy, using magic sparingly. She also stayed close to Jenn, trusting her to help out in the event that they ran into any surviving creatures and not wanting to be separated in the event of another disaster.
Eventually night fell, and Ashley joined the others of their little group in the main hall. "That is quite disturbing. If these attacks are widespread then some are sure to succeed, and move on to help those that failed. Maybe we won decisively enough that they'll stay away from the academy now, or maybe the next time they'll send even more... things. But we'll be ready if they do, not caught by surprise."
Finally it was time to sleep, and Ashley put her sleeping mat down next to Jenn's. Normally sleeping in a room with so many people would have disturbed her, but today sleeping alone would likely have been even more disturbing, and she would be surrounded by friends. Perhaps that would even help damp down the dreams the day's events were sure to spawn, especially after seeing what had happened to some of the women unfortunate enough not to have a group of friends around when they had faced the invaders.
Chloe spends most of her time tending to the critically injured where her advanced healing magics could be put to intimidate use.
Chloe wiped the sweat of her brow with her sleeve leaving an unknown black smear across her forehead and sighed she was thoroughly filthy from all the dirt and blood. Thankfully none of it her own. The normally cool spring air did little to help inhibit the sweat that had been building up from all her moving about and energy usage. She had just finished boosting the fortitude of a fellow student who had nearly been eviscerated by a trio of claw marks. The boy would most likely live but Chloe was nearing exhaustion. Thinking about how nice some clean cloths would be she was struck by inspiration. Fetching a large cauldron and discarded table cloth from the kitchen and cafeteria Chloe set up a small curtained area in the crack where two walls joined. Using what energy she had left she cast several spells and created a makeshift washroom. Striping in the safety of the curtain she began to wash the grime and blood off her body. When she had finished with washing herself Chloe moved to her cloths. They where of course ruined stained beyond repair but she could at lest clean the sweat, dirt, and blood out of them. Finishing the cloths she summoned a small eddy of wind to help dry the cloths before getting dressed and tearing down her makeshift washroom.
Chloe listened to the conversation for awhile before picking out a sleeping mat and tattered blanket for herself. Choosing a spot near the others she made herself as comfortable as possible and tried to sleep.
"I guess we'll just have to wait, and see...." Charles trailed off, and shortly after all of them quietly went to bed for the evening. Occasionally, a sound would come from outside the Academy walls, but walls of force had been placed over the entrances to the room, so they could at leas sleep securely enough. The night was not restful, but eventually everyone passed out, from sheer exhaustion if nothing else.
They were awakened some hours later by the lights brightening in the massive chamber. It was cold, and the air was very damp, wetness clinging unpleasantly to everyone. A great many people were shuffling in, looking exhausted, and taking beds after kicking off boots and throwing aside cloaks. Not many got further than that before collapsing onto whatever empty soft spot they could find. Teachers were up quickly enough, and they and those who remained conscious began organizing everyone, including Ashley, Chloe and company. All of them were set for the first run of the scheduled briefing, which was being called; "The Tour." Whatever that meant.
Jenn clung to Ashley, and Charles was close behind, while Tesnya, Nina and Chloe were stuck back a ways, having been cut off by a gang of about a dozen younger male students who were all talking noisily among themselves. All in all, a group of over two hundred was being pushed through the double doors and down the hall, this time taking a right. They were heading toward the dungeons beneath the Academy, it seemed, as they were led down a wide set of stairs in more or less four person ranks. They'd been hushed repeatedly, but as they were led down the steps and through a winding set of halls, all of them began to feel a sense of claustrophobia, as if the very air around them was tinged with malignancy. Quiet fell among them more surely than any insistence from the staff leading them, and they found the Dean waiting in front of them, standing before a set of closed iron double doors.
Though young, for his position, the robed man was clearly exhausted, and yet his voice rang clearly and sharply down the hall. "You must all remain silent, before we can begin. You will now learn, all that we have learned in the last twenty-four hours about the things that have attacked us. Master Greyback has examined the captured specimens of the creatures, as well as some of their victims who had lost their minds. You will listen, and listen well. It is not only your own lives, or the lives of your friends and kin that are at stake in this." He paused a moment, staring at the first few ranks of students, before he turned, and began opening the doors.
(Sort of shortened, I know, but I know the next post is going to be about fifty miles long, so I didn't want to do too much. That, and I was tired, and wanted to go to sleep. I updated the stats at the top with your altered HP/PP/EP, and you can, after my next post, no longer update your stats if you haven't already.)
Ashley sat on green grass at the top of a hill in late summer, enjoying the warm, steady breeze on her face. There had been... unpleasantness... in the past, but now there was peace and safety. Down below her sat the ancient stones of the Academy, the closest thing she had had to a home in years. It was a rock, a solid foundation on which to build a future, indestructible and unassailable.
The breeze died, leaving the air unnaturally still. And as it died, the sounds faded. No leaves rustling, no bird song, even the sound of Ashley's own breath was below the threshold of hearing. At the same time, the world seemed to fade, the color leeching out of it until it was very nearly shades of grey. Then something appeared over the Academy, vast and menacing.
The air in front of Ashley warped, and she could see flashes of what happened below as if they were right in front of her. The endless things pouring out of the ship and onto the grounds. Men and women stripped and violated, or killed outright. Flashes of arcane fire and lightning as people fought back briefly before numbers overwhelmed them. People she knew. Teachers, students, friends. Jenn. Her friend was held by one of the vast juggernauts, her clothing torn off, held over the thing's too-large member. "No." The word was a whisper, but in the silence it sounded like the crack of thunder.
Time rewound. Jenn's clothes went back on, beasts fell back from their overwhelming assault, went back into their ship, and it vanished. Color came back, and the breeze. Then, with an almost perceptible lurch, time started again. Ashley rose to her feet, and this time instead of fading to nothing, the wind rose. The gentle summer breeze became a howling gale, ripping free leaves, then branches, then entire trees as it moved towards the academy, arriving just as the thing appeared for the second time. Some creatures still made it to the ground, but now it was they who were outnumbered, and Ashley watched with grim pleasure as they were torn to bits by magic and steel.
The ship fought back against the gale, but it was a futile effort, and it was slowly pushed away from the academy, and down, until it hit the ground. The impact shook the world, but Ashley easily kept her feet and smiled grimly as the thing burst into flames, and the gale turned back into a gentle breeze so as not to put the fires out. She smiled grimly at a job well done. Then she looked up, at the horizon, and again the air warped, letting her see over vast distances. There was another ship beyond the academy, hanging over some other city, and no storm had stopped it disgorging its passengers.
Ashley turned away, not wanting to see, but everywhere she looked was the same sight. Dozens of times. Scores. Hundreds. And as time passed, the things began to move. Their own targets suppressed, they moved on to another. Every single one was converging on the Academy. The wind rose again, harder then before, and Ashley found even herself pushed off the hill and onto a flat plain. But it wasn't enough. Some ships were held at bay, but others were moved in more quickly. Creatures began pouring down over the academy, but this time Ashley didn't watch. Instead she looked up, to where a vast ship hovered directly above her, pouring out creatures. They landed in a circle around her, and she raised her hands to do magic, but nothing happened. She pulled out her revolver and pulled the trigger, but there were no bullets. The circle contracted around her, and she barely had time to scream before the first phallic tentacle shoved itself...
Ashley awoke with a start, and shuddered. Not the most pleasant dream she had ever had, that was for sure. But just a dream, surely. If she had been one to have premonitions, the first attack would have triggered them. "Just a dream." Suddenly she realized that people were moving about. Morning. There was still a tightness behind her eyes from the previous day's strain, but once she'd been able to retire Ashley had slept soundly. Jenn was awake as well, and the others, but there wasn't time to talk. They were all out of the hall in minutes, replaced by those who hadn't yet slept, and shortly after that they were on "The Tour".
Chloe woke to the sounds of movement and opened her eyes to mass of people that had taken shelter in the cafeteria and knew that her hope that it was all a bad dream had been dashed. She stretched a bit and straightened out her cloths and hair before following the others to their briefing.
The Dean opened the door after another moment of glaring at the assembled students, and moved into a massive, dark room ahead of them. None of them had ever seen what some members of the staff and senior student body had dubbed; "The Dungeon," but all of them had heard of it. In particular, they'd heard about it's chief operator, who was called; "The Beastmaster," by all of her coworkers. Behind her back, of course. The reason for that title had never been explained, all of them saying with grim faces that it was necessary to see Master Greyback in action in order to see why she was called that.
What they actually found before them.... Was surprising, to say the least. In the dark, dank laboratory, a handful of people moved about, but the one that came before them, wearing a grey robe and cloak, with a matching pointed hat.... Was a woman who probably wasn't much taller than five feet, who was pleasantly curved beneath her fairly tight but not overtly revealing robes, and who smiled at the front few ranks warmly. She cleared her throat, and in a warm, motherly voice that nonetheless reached the ears of every one of the over one hundred students who had been forced into the lab, said; "Good morning everyone! I do hope you've all had a good nights rest. I know it wasn't easy going yesterday, but we got through it alright, and now we're going to prepare. I'm pretty sure that all of you have figured out that this isn't a local thing by now." She shot the Dean an irritated look, one that he responded to with the kind of glare one uses for a disobedient dog, but the man didn't try to speak over her as she continued; "This crisis isn't over yet. So, all of you have to be ready for what we're going to face. So long as we stand together, well.... We all know what happened to the thing that floated above the Academy yesterday. We beat them once, we'll beat them again."
She turned and headed deeper into the lab, past a doorway inscribed with arcane runes. A violet wall glowed in the doorway, but a command word allowed her to pass it by, and she waited until all of the students had filed past and into the next section before she muttered something else, and the wall reappeared. Neither Ashley nor Chloe were close enough to hear what the word was.
The room they were in had a half dozen large cylinders made of glass, each of them about as large as a small house. They were, essentially, cages, and the things within glared out at them through the glass walls. Master Greyback, or Mistress Greyback, or whatever, walked over to the first of the glass tubes. Within it were three men, all of them naked. One was barely old enough to have hair on his chest, most likely a student, but the other two looked to be older men. One of them looked disturbingly like a history teacher that they'd had. "Some of the men who have been captured by the creatures who attacked us were later set lose. But, their minds are gone, removed or made dormant by an as yet unknown process. This process seems to affect men and women differently, but suffice to say that the men are ruled totally by instinct and rage. Two of the ones we caught had to be euthanized after they broke their arms beating on the glass." Her words were disturbingly clipped and clinical, particularly given her otherwise pleasant voice, but she moved on to the next cage.
In this one, five women stood, all clustered together and facing outwards in a ring. Each of them was also naked, and they ranged in age from barely old enough to be legal to look upon in an undressed state, to a woman who was probably in her late forties. Slime glistened as it leaked from their skin, making them appear as though they were soaked with it, and the substance was leaking sufficiently onto the floor that a puddle of it had formed in the center of the holding cell, which had a curved bottom leading into a small covered drain. "These women underwent the same process as the men mentioned earlier, but for women, it seems to be different. They seem to be able to reason and solve problems still, but any attempts to communicate have failed. As more of them get together, they begin to secrete that slime, and if left in close proximity together for long enough, they can no longer be separated without killing them. That slime is a potent aphrodisiac, and they seem to exhibit the same ability as succubi, in that they absorb the souls of others in order to strengthen their own. They even seem to be able to assault the minds of others, becoming more dangerous the more of them there are in a group."
She walked over to the next tube. This one had one of the massive humanoid creatures from before, which stood placidly in the center of the cell. "These creatures are of an unknown origin, and do not match any creature we have in the archives. They seem to be made solely of muscle, with not discernible bone or connective tissue. Their ability to absorb punishment is massive, and they are super-humanly strong. None of them have been observed speaking, or displaying any intelligence greater than that of a wild animal."
She went on to the fourth tank. In this one, a single hunched, reptilian creature slowly circled the tank, dragging a claw against the glass that left a scratch in it. Greyback scowled at it, but continued her narration in the same tone; "There are actually four of these creatures in this tank, but the other three are hiding. They possess an ability akin to the one that certain demons generally referred to as Stalkers have, that allows their skin to change color to blend in with their surroundings. They are also exceedingly strong, and their claws are highly dangerous, and have been seen ripping through chainmail and even plate armor. In addition, they have been observed using intelligence, including group fighting tactics and ambushes, and have briefly communicated with us using our own language. Where they learned it from, or what they're doing here, is a mystery to us, and one they have refused to answer."
She went on to the next tank, this one containing a half dozen of the strange, featureless tentacled creatures that they had fought so many of. They paced around randomly, and some of them seemed to be of different sizes. One of them was about five feet tall, and it's tentacles were longer and thicker than those of it's smaller brethren. Two of them were about four feet tall, and the last three were about three feet tall. "These creatures seem to be the invaders most basic foot soldiers. They secrete a potent aphrodisiac from their skin, which they use to make those they grab helpless. They violate any women they can get their limbs on, but men they just seem to try and carry off. They do not possess the larger, humanoid creature's durability, but in large numbers or attacking from ambush, they can be extremely dangerous. Do not let them touch you, as even a slight touch will weaken your concentration."
Finally, she walked over to the last containment cell, and they noticed that the drain in the bottom of this one had been plugged up. A single puddle of slime was slowly rolling around in the center, and as Greyback got close to it, it suddenly surged against the side of the tank. It dragged itself against the wall of the glass tank, trying to get at her, but she didn't seem to mind, and said; "Somehow, the slime these creatures secrete can sometimes come alive on its own, and become mobile. It's potency doesn't seem to fade, but they don't seem to be intelligent. They do, however, seem able to set up ambushes, and being grabbed by one of these creatures is just as dangerous as if it were one of the walking ones. Watch for them, and in a straight fight, treat them the same as you would."
She then walked over to another door, this one also walled off by magic. She opened it, and then turned and said; "In closing, here's what we know for sure: Most of these things aren't very smart, and none of them have used any magic of any kind, at least not that's been documented. They all seem to rely on their victims getting close. Don't let that happen. I'm afraid that I can't answer any of your questions, but a number of my aides are in the next room, waiting for you. I've got to get ready for the next group. Good luck out there."
With that, a push from the back started everyone moving, into a large amphitheater. There were a lot of seats, and the room was more well lit than the previous ones, but it still had the dank, sterile air as the holding cells. There were about a dozen people in the room of an assortment of races, ages and sexes, including a human woman whom Ashley thought that she recognized for some reason, standing around waiting. They seemed bored and irritated, mostly, but a number of students broke off from the group to go talk to them. A man near another doorway, this one unshielded, shouted; "Anyone who doesn't have any questions to ask, come this way. We'll get you something to eat, and then something to do."
(Again, not much to respond to, unless you want to ask questions. Otherwise, go to breakfast and then the next part of the story.)
