Open Chronicles College of Elbion - Applicants Wanted!

[Elise Darkwater]

"AHH!" She cried out in pain as the knife sliced her shoulder cutting through her black leather armor and fired the crossbow hitting the handmaiden in the thigh.
"Wow, ok this is awkward..um..I can pencil you in for later in the week, but im busy at the moment youve kind of been demoted on my priorities list at the moment, dont be offended, it happens all the time. Now I have a hostage of sorts and that bolt has enough poison to kill your kind, I mean at least I feel like a triple dose will and if it doesnt then ill just cut your gods da-"
Her rambling was cut short as the spell detonated. The darkness seemed to wrap around her form cushioning the blast slightly but dissipated quickly. Elise felt light headed as she was launched through the window, the weakened glass broke easily, but shredded any part of her body that was unarmored. Her gauntlets were draining blood and life energy she didnt have at the moment.
"Sorry love, but this wont kill you unlike this little tumble were taking." She said with a weak smile placing her right gauntlet on the rune on the back of her neck.

"But it is going to hurt. really. really. bad."
Elise chirped playfully as the gauntlet began draining a black mixture of blood and tainted life energy through the rune. "there." Elise fired a small rope like whip catching the ledge of the college outer wall, and with a pull they were up and over as Elise released the ledge and fired a second whip catching the nearest roof top. She landed hard unaccustomed to the added weight and limited mobility carrying another person inflicted. She rolled in mid air allowing Eleanor to land on top of her and cushioning her fall and skidding to a halt upsetting quite a few stone shingles.
"I told her to not be offended.." Elise muttered with a pained chuckle. "Comon kid lets go. Get up. Im awake and I got the worst of it. Not asking for pity giving the circumstances..but..."

"Coming.."
The whispers cut her off as she sat up quickly and grabbing Eleanor back in her vice like grip. "Now i gotta get you back to my place. Make any noise and Ill gut you like a dead fish. Make the pain you felt when I tapped you feel like a tiny prick.." She said roughly using a rope to drop them to the ground. She turned as she heard someone fast approaching them.
"Ok change of plans I need you out." Elise said with a sigh grabbing two sleep darts stabbing them into her neck before dropping her to the ground loading a poison bolt into her short crossbow and drawing one of her hunting knives. Dark energy seemed to push out of her pores as it pushed out the pieces of glass, and seemed to float into the air like liquid smoke.
"I told you not to follow me. Remember that if you would. While your choking on your own blood that is..." She said with an evil chuckle.

 

[Kara Orin]

Just as Kara began to shake her head in response to Eleanor’s question, Elise Darkwater threw open the door into the hall. Being close to the door, she stepped to the side to avoid it opening. Yet just after that, she leaped back and braced itself as Elise attacked Eleanor and Phillipa Ebonheart. Before she could do anything, Elise had already abducted Eleanor Griffin and the explosion from Alexis Armon knocked Kara onto the ground. Her fruit basket spilled its contents for the second time in the day.

“What the hell…” Kara muttered as she pushed herself up.

As Kara dusted herself off, she heard Phillipa give the suggestion to either stay in the college or follow in pursuit.

“This one will follow,” Kara replied as she stood up.

Turning to Terrance, Kara added, “And remove the mark as requested.”

From then on, Kara followed Phillipa through the college as the professor collected her gear at the front desk. She then sprinted outside along with Phillipa as she pursued the assassin. After Phillipa’s jump toward Elise, Kara sighed mid stride. She placed a finger on her right shoulder – which was covered by her attire. Magic activated and Kara became noticeably faster.

Once Elise came into site, Kara stopped and drew a flat, palm-sized stone from a pouch on her hip. The stone sported a very intricate rune. This very type of stone was what allowed Kara to gain a scholarship.

Kara hesitated to use the rune stone, though. She glanced at Eleanor, then back to Elise. She seemed to wait for Phillipa to take the lead…

 

[Quoril]

Quoril listened as Kara and Eleanor conversed about removing the mark. Frowning slightly at the thought that Kara only revealed that she knew how to remove the mark after Terrace had offered a reward, he resumed flipping through the pages of the tome.

Suddenly, his enhanced hearing picked up the faint sound of a female whispering to somebody out in the hallway. The elf knew he wasn’t hearing things - the enchantment on the earring in his right ear had never led him astray. At the same time though he decided he couldn’t be bothered to locate the source. He would never be able to get any sort of reading done with these constant distractions, so he conjured a little fireball and started tossing it back and forth between his hands. If he couldn't spend his time reading, he would at least work on improving his magical abilities.

CRASH! The door had been ripped off its hinges! A female elf who appeared about his own age wearing all black strolled into the room. She gave off the same kind of energy he had felt from the young woman he had met on his travels. Quoril was so surprised to see her that the fireball he had been playing with disappeared with a soft puff. A tendril of dark energy shot out from her and latched onto Eleanor pulling her towards the unknown elf. With her crossbow focused on Lady Ebonheart, she slowly backed out of the room until she made contact with one of the hallways windows. A second explosion from nowhere knocked them through the window.

Quoril heard Lady Ebonheart say, "Stay, follow. Up to you lot. I won't promise your safety should you come along." and hurriedly ran back to pick up his sword and pack. He wrestled them on as he ran after the professor. Unsure of what he was getting himself into, he drew his sword. The slightly pink crystal blade drew off his energy as it re-balanced itself, almost to the point where it felt like he was holding nothing but air. With the ochre tassel flailing in the wind he finally caught up to Lady Ebonheart who also had just found Eleanor’s kidnapper. Catching his breath, he walked over next to her and stood slightly behind her, hoping that deciding joining her wasn't a foolish mistake.

 

[Talhar]

'No. Don't.'
'...Fool.'

He had done such a good job at staying out of harm's way. Which wasn't easy to do when every part of him wanted to dive headfirst into the commotion and find out what exactly was going on. His adventurous and curious soul was fighting his mind's advice to stay out of sight and out of mind. After all, he came here to find a place to stay, learn and most importantly, keep his head low for the time being.

Keeping a distance between himself and the other applicants and tutors alike, Dmitri stood there. Seemingly frozen in panic. His body was even shaking with fear. But in reality it was the contrary, he was shaking with excitement. Finally. Finally there was that feeling of being alive again, that feeling he had been missing since he was forced to leave his past life behind. The fingers of his righthand were already flaring up in a myriad of waving colors, washing on and off over his knuckles until they flared up at his fingertips and dissipated in the air. He couldn't.

When Lady Ebonheart stated that it was up to them to follow or not, that the choice was theirs to make. The colors started to sweep more rapidly over his hand, drowning it in a colorful painter's palette, until he finally decided. He was going to join them in their pursuit. He was a bit behind though, and most of the group seemed to have abilities to influx their ability to give chase. They jumped out the crashed through window recklessly one after another.

But who was he to call them reckless, when he was doing the exact same thing. Jumping out the window, he cut the fabric of his rightleg cleanly on a remaining sharp piece of glass in the frame. Ah yes, this sensation he craved, it was the best. Dmitri didn't seem to realize the immediate danger he, the victim, nor the others were in. Or he did and was just on an adrenaline high that made him enjoy it far more than anyone normally would.

His hand, already ablaze in different colored flames, was an indicator of this feeling. Ready to lash out at the kidnapping infiltrator, if they could catch her in time that is. With the round buckler on his back, the rapier in his left and the flamelicking right hand, he ran after the others, hoping to make it in time. As he approached them, he realized he didn't know anything about these people. He didn't know their abilities, their skill, nothing. They're able to be as dangerous as the person they're chasing in terms of liability. After regaining his breath, he expressed his concern to the others.

"Aren't we being a bit too careless? We are completely out of sync, not even knowing what any of us can do or cast. Nah?"

 

[Eleanor Griffin]

Terance didn't wait for anyone to do or say anything, he was out the door and after the assassin as soon as she disappeared from the now empty door frame. In the moment between entering the hallway and the explosion he only had enough time to realize he was unarmed before he was knocked off his feet. He scrambled to his feet as Ebonheart said something about staying or flowing, walking past him so smooth and calm as if his sister hadn't just been kidnaped and flung out a window.

He ran over to the shattered window and caught the tail end of the assassin and Eleanor as they latched onto a roof and swung out of sight. Others were now flowing Ebonheart and Terance was not about to be left behind. He spun around and chased after them.

***

Eleanor's scream of fear quickly turned to that of agony as she felt a piercing burning sensation course down her spine and through her whole body draining her blood and her aura. She was dropped on the roof of a house, her knees felt weak but she was lucid and awake. Before she could say anything or move she was yanked back up into her assailant's grip and they lowered down to the ground. She didn't dare scream or struggle lest they fall again. Reaching the ground she let out a shriek as she was stabbed in the neck and slumped to the ground.

"Stop stabbing me," She muttered as everything began to fade out of focus, I did it before, I can do it again, but this time it was different, she felt cold. Her aura had been drained by that gauntlet and she felt the darkness coming on fast. she pulled the dart out of her neck and they clattered to the cobble next to her ear. She knew that if she tried to use her own aura she could pass out anyway from the effort or even kill herself. She felt the cold stone against her cheek. They were in a bit of a secluded area, but any place in such a prominent city would get some foot traffic. As her sensations of the physical world faded away her focus narrowed and she was able to pick up the faint aura of several sets of feet that had passed through in the last 24 hours. She also sensed the faintest traces of a cat that had passed through, and against the wall was the stronger residue of a couple who had made out there last night.

Eleanor taped into all of it, collecting as much as she could, before turning inward, same as before and focusing on her own heartbeat. Slowly guiding the pulse of the toxin until it matched her heartbeat and melded with her essence. She returned to lucidity, she felt the cold stone again, the light flooding her consciousness as the sound of someone shouting instructions reached her ears. However, she didn't move, did not give her assailant any indication that she had not succumbed to the effects of the toxin.

***

Terance ran up behind everyone along with Quoril, not having a magical means to assist his pursuit. Reaching the group he saw his sister lying limp on the ground. "Spectral servant aid me," he commanded and a golden spectral blade appeared in his hands. His eyes locked on the woman who has stolen his sister his face contorted with rage. He let out a yell and charged at her blind to everything else, ready to cut the woman to pieces for daring to hurt his sister.

 

[Alexis Armon]

Alexis and her guards recovered quickly, but the handmaid remained on the floor holding her thigh where the bolt protruded.
She held back her agony as the poison quickly spread into her bloodstream, her veins turned black and her muscles jerked and spasomed.

Alexis cried out and rushed to her side. She took the assassin's words seriously, a tripple dose of what she went through? Horrible.
People rushed past them to persue the assassin, holding back tears she motioned one of her guards to follow them and apprehend the assassin.

Once everyone was either sitting in the classroom or off making chase, her and her remaining guard lifted the handmaid and brought her to an alcove with a couch out of sight from everyone.

Looking at the effects of the poison she could see they didn't have time to pretend or play around. She couldn't risk the poison actually being able to kill them.
"I'm sorry Rhali... You need to live for my brother."
With that she ripped the arrow out of her thigh, the blood flowed black and Rhali went into shock.
Alexis pulled up her own sleeve, fangs appeared and slashed her own wrist, blood poured into Rhali's open mouth.

---------------------------​

The guard followed behind the group easily keeping up after he recovered his dagger from the ground below the window. They had the assassin in sight and she had turned to fight, since she had decided not to run for now he relaxed a little, there are few things more dangerous than even an unskilled individual running for its life.
He drew his broadsword and held his dagger in the other. He could see her better this time and committed her form and the way she moved to memory, as well as her eyes. All in case she managed to escape them again. But according to the orders of his mistress, he was to take her alive.

He watched as the arrogant welp summoned a magical sword and clumsily charged forward with an enraged yell. He watched for an opening, hoping that everyone combined could distract her enough for him to apprehend her.

 

[Elise Darkwater]

Elise sized up the newcomers as they arrived.
"This every one or you got a few more coming for little ol me, and inviting your students to come die doesnt seem like a very responsible thing to do Ebonheart. I should complain to the higher ups."
She panted trying to sound nonchalant but she was obviously weakened from the fall and using her magic. The younger mage and Ebonheart worried her the others seemed like they had almost followed to spectate even if that wasnt the case she was prioritizing Ebonheart all the same. Being strung up and poked by her underlings was something Elise wasnt about to let happen.
Suddenly a glowing blade caught her attention as a younger boy came behind all the rest with said blade. His face twisted in illogical rage. Good she could use a pick me up.

"Pretty sword, but I'm guessing your not the brightest candle on the chandelier are you kid."
Elise said with a weak smirk as she sheathed the cross bow along with her blade and sidestepped his charge easily grabbing his head with her right hand and with a quick twist swung his body by his head in a circle slamming it into the wall as the energy seemed to leak from her gauntlet and attaching to the boy as his spectral energy seemed to darken as her energy seemed to corrupt his spreading up his body and blade like an attacking virus.
"AAAAHHH much better." She shook with pleasure as power welled up inside her. The darkness seemed to spread around her as she recited a ritual and sunk her gauntlets sharpened fingers into the flesh of the child's throat and a ripped it out before placing her mouth to the wound and disgustingly slurping deeply as Terrances screams began to fade to silence and his blood began to run black.

"Your blood tastes horrible you spoiled little bastard." She said mockingly making a face as She smacked her lips like she was trying to get the taste of it from her mouth allowing the excess black blood to leak from the corners of her mouth, running down her chin as she tossed his shrunken carcass aside. It seemed to happen in an instant like it was muscle memory. Her wounds began to close as the darkness seemed to knit her back together.
"Ok." She said as her eyes began to glow a blood red and the darkness thickened around her as to dark tentacle like ropes slowly formed and lowered from her gauntlets before touching the ground and coiling a little before jagged spikes seemed to randomly spring from points on the ropes. She swung them around expertly as they whistled through the air like diving birds of prey.
"Whos first to the meat grinder. Not every one at once now!" She said with an almost inhuman sounding cackle so full of death and pain it was almost jarring, and just as unsettling was the glee and joy under the pain. She was quiet pleased with the chance for more death to occur. Excited even.

 

[Eleanor Griffin]

Eleanor watched in horror as her brother was brutally slammed into the wall, black tendrils overtaking his body, his blood running down his shirt and collar as Elise drank deeply. It took everything in her just to keep from crying out, to remain still and silent. Then his husk of a corpse was tossed aside landing next to her. She choked on her tears as her vision blurred her whole body trembling as the assassin seemed to loom up turning into something else. But her attention was not on Eleanor, she could use this.

Eleanor focused on the assassin, tunning into the rhythm of the womans resonating heartbeat, there seemed to be three separate aura's, the blackness which seemed to be overpowering the woman, the woman's own aura which was severely depleted and the very familiar aura of Terance still writhing in agony inside of Elise. Eleanor's own reserve of aura was almost gone and her own aura was severely weakened. Madame Valkery had warned her never to draw aura directly from other living beings. But she had no choice. She taped in, she tapped into all of it, into the blackness, into Elise, into the stolen energy of her now dead brother. She felt her fatigue fall away as she was filled with the other energy. Then she began to focus on Elise's heartbeat. She had been stabbed in the neck enough times to become quite familiar with the resonance of the sleeping poison she had used on her. She began to change the resonance of Elise's blood to that of the poison, introducing the substance to her system on a molecular level. The entire time still draining the woman's energy reserve, unmoving as silent tears streamed down her face.

 

[Kara Orin]

Kara heard Terrance yell a chant. She turned her attention to him and watched him charge at Elise Darkwater.

“Terr-Terrance! Wait!” she yelled as she began to run after Terrance.

Yet the noble boy had too far of a lead. Elise dispatched him with little effort by ripping out his throat.

For a second, Kara was speechless as she witnessed what happened. Her mouth ajar.

Then, Kara furrowed her brows. In mid stride, she slammed the runestone in her hand with the other. She activated some sort of magic. A spark could be seen as the other hand rebounded. The runes etched into the stone started to glow.

Then, Kara threw the stone as if it was a frisbee. The targeted area: the space between Elise and Terrance. It would likely cause some sort of effect upon landing wherever it does land...

And Kara continued to sprint toward Terrance.

 

[Alexis Armon]

The guard, Saben Strahd, watched the brutal murder enviously, how the assassin just broke the boy as if he were no more than a chicken being butchered. When she drank the blood from his neck he initially concluded she was a vampire, but if that were so he would have been able to detect her instantly as such. His mistress has yet to explain the situation of this assassin to him yet, but the way she used blood to fuel her magic told him many things already.

Several things differentiated her from the vampires he knew. Even though she swung the spiked whips expertly, the swings seemed dreadfully slow to his eyes, still just an elf even if she is empowered by another entity.
His eyes were drawn next to the gauntlets she wore, at first he overlooked them but suddenly looked again, there was something familiar about them.
Then he smelled the blood coming from them suggesting their purpose and he remembered where he had seen those gauntlets before and shivered as he was taken back to his home, how his father was obsessed with destroying House Armon and how he gifted these gauntlets to his most elite servants, his own fore-arms throbbed at the memory and he suddenly knew exactly what was going on... The God he worshiped back then was here as well, and still seeking the end of House Armon.

Suddenly he could not see this assassin as a mere joke, or a simple threat to humans alone. He knew Bastellen intimately, had been one of his most devout assassins... Or at least he thought he was, till he met the God that House Armon worshiped. With the help of their God he was able to break all ties he had with that dark entity and pursue a new path.

He looked at the assassins blood red eyes, not her own, he knew from experience having been in that state before, though to a greater degree due to his own affinity to blood.
His face hardened in concentration, He was commanded to only apprehend her, but when she is like this there may be no hope of bringing her back in one piece.
He sheathed both his weapons and spotted the shadows of the buildings all around them, he walked to them and vanished in spite of his white clothing that should have made him stand out even in the darkest shadows.
The assassin was now a berserker, this would take the practiced approach of an animal tamer, and Saben is one such tamer.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

Alexis Armon let her blood drip into Rhali's mouth.
This was an extreme move, but since the poison was more lethal this time they didn't have time to wait for the humans to help them.
Alexis had already survived the poison so her blood had what Rhali needed to fight off this stronger dose.
Rhali drank deeply from her mistress and the blackness began to recede from her veins, sometimes all that was needed was a reminder to themselves that they were not human.
The remaining guard stood in the hallway keeping watch to make sure nobody would catch them off guard and discover their secret.

Alexis was chagrined at herself, she blundered and tried to use magic which actually aided in the assassin's escape, she felt frustrated and angry that the one thing she was good at is now taken away from her.
What was she supposed to do?
Her brothers could use swords and shoot bows and were skilled in magic on top of that before coming here, but while they focused more on their physical skills she devoted all of her time and effort into her abilities in magic.
Back home she was one of the most powerful magic users on the continent, but now she was nothing and she couldn't stand it!

Rhali began to recover and was able to sit up on the couch.
They decided to wait there until Saben returned.
Alexis wanted to get started as soon as possible on learning magic, but that seemed impossible with this assassin and her dark god hounding them twice in one day, perhaps she should have ordered Saben to kill her, but thinking about it a moment, decided it was better to choose life even if that entity demanded death.

 

[Phillipa Ebonheart]

It was a surprise for Phillipa to see every single one of the students come to help their fellow college associate. And the woman before them made a smart reply to her as they all arrived. A small smile appeared as she addressed her.

"I can take you to them right now if you would like?" The professor informed her. However, when Terrance charged forward, the woman's mouth opened to protest in time for him to already be halfway toward the assassin. Dolt, she mentally scolded him as she watched the assassin shift and twist after withdrawing energy from Terrance. Certainly nothing that she had ever seen done before, but there was always a chance for new things to come to the college.

She stared at the gauntlets for a while, the energy seeming to come from them specifically. "Interesting items you have on you." She chimed, watching Kara Orin throw something at the assassin. The sudden change in the assassin's attitude was unsettling, but, nothing that couldn't be fixed.

Several ball bearings came from Phillipa, each one lightning fast and aimed at a rope in different spots. The professor did not move just yet, waiting for her to strike at them.

 

[Elise Darkwater]

"W-what..I..feel.." her whips slowed as she hit her knees.
Elise felt her aura being drained like it was being physically pulled towards Eleanor.
"You." She lashed out with her left whip as it wrapped around Eleanor's ankle and pulled her to her. She jammed her left gauntlet onto the mark on her neck.
"Why wont you go. to. sleep." She said through gritted teeth as she drained every bit of energy she could without physically killing her. "Now stay."
She grunted as her drowsiness seemed to dissipate and she laid Eleanors body on the ground with an odd gentleness. Annoying or not her master wanted her enough to mark her. Which meant she was important to Elise. Extremely important.
"Cant play with rocks now girly."
She said with a quick flick of her wrist a whip seemed to curve around the stone and launch it back zipping towards Kara like an angry wasp. Her whips seemed to coil under Elise before launching her in the air dodging Kara sprinting towards her. She flicked a whip at Phillipa. It hissed at it passed her right ear.
Elise cursed and sent her left which struck true and wrapped around the top part of Phillipa's shoulder. The spines dug in savagely as they began to move inside the wound curving from spines to vicious hooks.
"And I think I can find them myself." She said with a playful giggle as she yanked Phillipa towards her.
"Besides I think if I went with you Id be a lot more restrained. And this bird doesnt DO cages love."
She held up her right hand as a dark energy blade seemed to form and slide from the gauntlet itself. She fully intended to pull Phillipa onto it spearing her like a fish.
"And if your so interested in them hows this for a closer look!"
She continued to giggle as she landed and waited for Phillipa to follow her and receive a good, dark, energy blade in the gut. Ignoring Kara and the others entirely feeling that taking out the biggest threat first and quickly. Then the runts would fall in line for more slaughter.

 

[Eleanor Griffin]

The power swelled within her, she felt everything, everyone there, all the students, the walls, the stones, the air, the cricket in the corner, all vibrating and pulsing with energy. Then Eleanor felt Elise's attention shift to her. Eleanor sat up and looked back at Elise as the black tendril wrapped around her ankle. Her nose was bleeding, eyes glazed over, her tears had turned to blood and the roots of her hair were streaked with white. She felt a yank and fell back as she was dragged towards the assassin. She felt her concentration brake as the gantlet grabbed the back of her neck and she was wracked with pain. She cried out as she felt her aura ripped from her. Her own aura writhed with the pain and for a split second, it mirrored that of her brother's aura still writing inside her. She latched on to his aura as everything went numb and blackness enveloped her. The last piece of her brothers last moments became the only tangible thing in the world to her. She clung to him and her soul cried out in the void.

 

[Quoril]

Quoril watched the gruesome events unfolding before him in horror. He sheathed his sword and dropped to his knees, letting his arms droop loosely on the ground. This was it. There seemed like there was nothing he nor anybody could do to stop the assassin. Her god and her gauntlets were too powerful. He certainly didn’t have the combat or magical skills to face somebody like that.

Run. Get away while you still can. There’s nothing you can do. “No...,” Quoril said weakly. He had never been the kind of person to give up, and he wasn’t going to start now. “There’s must still be something I could do!”

Rising to his feet, Quoril reached into the side pocket of his backpack and pulled out two small vials. One was filled with a silvery blue liquid, and the other, a dark swirling green colored liquid. Forming a thin shelled stone ball, he emptied both of them into the small hole he had left on the top of it. Using the cork from one of the empty vials to plug the hole, he started shaking the ball vigorously. When he was sure that the assassin was distracted, he quickly rolled the ball to land at her feet. A moment later it exploded in a gigantic splash of lime green slime, coating her in extremely sticky globs of acidic goo that began eating away at any metal it came in contact with.

The acrid smell coming from the dissolving metal filled the surrounding area, and Quoril started coughing. Covering his mouth and nose with his shirt, he could see that he had been somewhat successful. He watched as the acid started to eat away at her left gauntlet. The elf felt proud of himself. He had done something to help instead of running away like his instincts had told him to. This proud feeling was immediately replaced with a cold fear. He hadn’t acted before now out of fear and that had kept him safe. Now that he had attacked the assassin, he had no idea what she would do.

 

[Elise Darkwater]

The power swelled within her, she felt everything, everyone there, all the students, the walls, the stones, the air, the cricket in the corner, all vibrating and pulsing with energy. Then Eleanor felt Elise's attention shift to her. Eleanor sat up and looked back at Elise as the black tendril wrapped around her ankle. Her nose was bleeding, eyes glazed over, her tears had turned to blood and the roots of her hair were streaked with white. She felt a yank and fell back as she was dragged towards the assassin. She felt her concentration brake as the gantlet grabbed the back of her neck and she was wracked with pain. She cried out as she felt her aura ripped from her. Her own aura writhed with the pain and for a split second, it mirrored that of her brother's aura still writing inside her. She latched on to his aura as everything went numb and blackness enveloped her. The last piece of her brothers last moments became the only tangible thing in the world to her. She clung to him and her soul cried out in the void.

"He can stay with you, you know. I own him so..I can arrange his soul can stay with you always. Its my thing." A warm soft voice licked her ear filling her with a soft warmth around her as she felt solid ground beneith her. "But, I dont do things for free. Thats also my thing." A slender figure seemed to form from the void around her. Every time Eleanor thought she could picture his or her face it seemed to change just enough to be unfamiliar and yet the eyes remained. Two flowing red pools of blood and hatred that bored into her very soul. "You see more of my realm than anyone..well..living that is.." It said with a warm chuckle. "Though you may not understand fully what you see...." It paused for a moment as if thinking. "I could teach you very much child and your brother would be with you always...Its a decent win given the circumstances...What do you say?" It said holding out a shadowy hand.

....................................................................................

Quoril watched the gruesome events unfolding before him in horror. He sheathed his sword and dropped to his knees, letting his arms droop loosely on the ground. This was it. There seemed like there was nothing he nor anybody could do to stop the assassin. Her god and her gauntlets were too powerful. He certainly didn’t have the combat or magical skills to face somebody like that.

Run. Get away while you still can. There’s nothing you can do. “No...,” Quoril said weakly. He had never been the kind of person to give up, and he wasn’t going to start now. “There’s must still be something I could do!”

Rising to his feet, Quoril reached into the side pocket of his backpack and pulled out two small vials. One was filled with a silvery blue liquid, and the other, a dark swirling green colored liquid. Forming a thin shelled stone ball, he emptied both of them into the small hole he had left on the top of it. Using the cork from one of the empty vials to plug the hole, he started shaking the ball vigorously. When he was sure that the assassin was distracted, he quickly rolled the ball to land at her feet. A moment later it exploded in a gigantic splash of lime green slime, coating her in extremely sticky globs of acidic goo that began eating away at any metal it came in contact with.

The acrid smell coming from the dissolving metal filled the surrounding area, and Quoril started coughing. Covering his mouth and nose with his shirt, he could see that he had been somewhat successful. He watched as the acid started to eat away at her left gauntlet. The elf felt proud of himself. He had done something to help instead of running away like his instincts had told him to. This proud feeling was immediately replaced with a cold fear. He hadn’t acted before now out of fear and that had kept him safe. Now that he had attacked the assassin, he had no idea what she would do.

Elise's eyes were fixed on Phillipa hurtling towards her blade. As she hungrily waited to see the gore she didnt even notice the clay ball landing at her feet until it tapped her foot as it rolled to a stop.
"Huh..." She looked up as as her eyes locked on Quoril.
"You puke faced son of a bit-."
The rest of her insult was cut off as the explosion forced her right gauntlet to come up and drop the blade forming a type of shield as the goo splashed on to it and seemed to dissolve into the energy.
But the whip holding Phillipa vanished Leaving the woman still hurtling towards Elise but no whip pulling her any faster as She let out the most inhuman screech imaginable.
The left gauntlet had been exposed and the burning metal had eaten into the gauntlet before the energy had eaten it away.
"Your so dead your alive."
She said with a wicked grin under her mask as she gritted her teeth. She raised her gauntlet to launch a whip at Quoril but as the whip tore into his flesh it flickered and vanished leaving wicked gashes on his shoulder. "What.." Elise stared at the gauntlet with dis belief. The gauntlet was seemingly repairing itself but it was taking a little time.

 

[Eleanor Griffin]

Eleanor looked up at those red eyes, even though she could not read any kind of facial expression she knew they were sincere. Her own energy was almost as shifting and volatile as the thing before her, flashing between memory, fear, anguish, grief, despair, hope, hate, regret, as she listened to its words.

"You have his soul... I do not want it, but if I agree to go with you will you release him to the afterlife?" She asked.

 

[Kara Orin]

When Elise Darkwater bounced the rune stone back, Kara stopped moving forward. She swatted the rune to the ground and stepped back. A purple spark followed once the rune touched down. In seconds, the ground around the rune shifted and formed an Earthen Wall, as Kara called it. It stood about a meter high and wide. The ground sunk in around the wall and was cold to the touch - condensing the water vapor in the air around it, too. The rune stone was consumed by this wall.

Apparently ignored as others fought Elise, Kara then maneuvered herself to Terrance Griffin. Her left hand held another rune stone – its inscription obscured by her palm. A couple purple sparks materialized on the rune. Kara checked for any signs of life from Terrance. A pulse, a breath, anything.

Regardless of if she found obvious signs of Terrance being alive, Kara dipped a finger into a warm pool of Terrance’s blood. She inscribed c’haiyi upon Terrance’s forehead – the same rune Sigfrith Runecarver used on Alexis Armon. If any bit of life remained in Terrance, now would be the time it would show…

Eleanor Griffin

 

[Phillipa Ebonheart]

The bearings ignored, the professor was readying herself to move elsewhere when the whip dug into her shoulder. A yelp of pain from her was quickly silenced as she was pulled toward the assassin. The momentum was hard to fight at first, until the whip fell away and she was free of outside force. Mid pull, she flicked another ball bearing slightly ahead of her, it's energy spent quickly as her foot gently tapped it. Magic poured from Phillipa in that instant of contact as the ball bearing pinged off the ground and shot skyward. Phillipa on the other hand shot forward at a blurred pace.

Pain mixed with indignation at being injured, as she side stepped the mess surrounding her target. She kept feeding kinetic magic into her feet, her entire being a blurred shape to those around her as she moved with inhuman speed. Not bothering to reach for a blade, she balled her fist and threw kinetic energy into the motion as she aimed for the assassin's back.

"Your chance to leave is gone." The blur of a woman hissed. If the blow landed, it would be like catching the rock of a trebuchet in the face.

 

[Elise Darkwater]

Eleanor looked up at those red eyes, even though she could not read any kind of facial expression she knew they were sincere. Her own energy was almost as shifting and volatile as the thing before her, flashing between memory, fear, anguish, grief, despair, hope, hate, regret, as she listened to its words.

"You have his soul... I do not want it, but if I agree to go with you will you release him to the afterlife?" She asked.

"Of course! Easy as a snap of my fingers!" It said cheerfully "...But I need to know we have a deal child.." The hand was still in front of her waiting to be taken.

.......................................................

The bearings ignored, the professor was readying herself to move elsewhere when the whip dug into her shoulder. A yelp of pain from her was quickly silenced as she was pulled toward the assassin. The momentum was hard to fight at first, until the whip fell away and she was free of outside force. Mid pull, she flicked another ball bearing slightly ahead of her, it's energy spent quickly as her foot gently tapped it. Magic poured from Phillipa in that instant of contact as the ball bearing pinged off the ground and shot skyward. Phillipa on the other hand shot forward at a blurred pace.

Pain mixed with indignation at being injured, as she side stepped the mess surrounding her target. She kept feeding kinetic magic into her feet, her entire being a blurred shape to those around her as she moved with inhuman speed. Not bothering to reach for a blade, she balled her fist and threw kinetic energy into the motion as she aimed for the assassin's back.

"Your chance to leave is gone." The blur of a woman hissed. If the blow landed, it would be like catching the rock of a trebuchet in the face.

Elise was snapped from her stupor from the hiss of Phillipa's words
"Clever girl.."
Elise muttered as her dark energy didnt have time to fully form a shield as it knocked Phillipa just off course enough to not send her flying and instead sent her straight to the ground. She heard and more so felt her spine crunch as the fist connected to her back with tremendous force.
She seemed to freeze for a moment before hitting her knees and smacking the ground in a heap leaving a splatter of pitch black bloody gunk flowing from her head. She slowly pulled herself up to a sitting position as her bones crunched and cracked as the darkness seemed to fix them. Slowly bones slid back in place and mended. However the process was extremely slow as she tried to wheeze out breath with a collapsed lung.
The darkness around her gauntlets seemed to be flickering slower and slower. She opened her mouth to speak, but a large amount of black blood she had been choking on came up instead. Elise had to pull off her mask to puke revealing what was once a perfect face ruined by a long scar down the middle of her right eye, and another that had taken the whole bottom left side of her lip leaving the bottom teeth down to the muscle open to elements.
she leaned forward as far as she could sitting up and hacked up the rest of it with a weak pained cough.
"....THAT...really...hurt.."
Elise said with a giggle that quickly turned to another pained cough midway as she slumped back onto the ground and a thick stream of black blood began to slowly trickle from her nose. Her eyes had faded from their glowing red. Now they were blood shot, with her left eye seemingly having ruptured a few blood vessels leaving it half a blackish blood red. Even like this it seemed the only thing preventing her from attacking and killing everyone there was that her body was incapable at the moment but her self healing was beginning to change that status.
"You think you could all just stay back for a minute. I mean 5 against one..I..I at least get a breather right?"
She said with a nervous smirk as she pulled herself up into a fighting stance in front of Phillipa. Her left knee was shaking and it was obviously taking everything she had to stand, but the cracks coming from inside her were becoming less frequent as her bones began to mend more and her healing was slowly doing its work.
"By the way love. If you think your going to haul me back to anyone in chains just kill me now. Ive got nothing to say to you or anyone else. No matter what you do."
She said with a weak smirk before she spat a glob of black blood like a bullet splattering Phillipas right cheek, some of it getting in her right eye.

 

[Eleanor Griffin]

Eleanor's energy seemed to still. She reached out her hand, a cool blue energy. Her eyes never wavered from his. "Free him and I will go with you," She said taking his hand. "Excellent," the voice resonated around her. There was a flash of pain as black tendrils shot up her arm, and then she opened her eyes. There was sunlight. The back of her neck throbbed and she sat up. She saw that several people were hurt and bleeding, including Elise, who did not look to good at all. Kara knelt over Terance's body.

She stood up, the glazed over look in her eyes from before gone replace with a dead gaze. Blood still streaked her face, there were dark circles under her eyes, and her lip was cracked and bleeding but she seemed to stand fine, if a bit weakly.

"Enough!" she cried out horsly "No one else has to die, I have agreed to go with them."

Whispers spun around her ears "The book." She looked to the book strapped to Elise's side, "Take it." She walked up to the woman and grabbed hold of the book. She let out a scream and fell to her knees clutching the book to her chest as a burning pain shot through her hands, two brands appearing on the back of her hands.

 

[Elise Darkwater]

"You agreed?" Elise's brow furrowed as a whisper spoke in her ear. "Oh.....I see.." Elise watched as a much worse for wear Eleanor approached and took her book.
Normally a swift beheading or some other gruesome violent act would have surely followed such a thing, but besides a flinch Elise didnt react at besides gently pushing Eleanor behind her protectively after the brands stopped burning. She still stood in her weakened stance with the back of her left leg resting against Eleanor so as to know where she was without having to look at her. The healing slowing to an even slower crawl as the healing continued to deplete her already lowered energy.

 

[Alexis Armon]

Saben Strahd finally felt that he had waited long enough, perhaps even too long. He knew what he was dealing with, but he hadn't expected a timid girl like that to actually join with the dark god who killed her brother.
He could see that their energy was all but completely spent and that their resistance was merely a vie for time, he himself had been down that road too many times, fighting an opponent a hundred times more dangerous than these people, Bastellen must be getting cocky or desperate.

The two followers of Bastellen now stood facing the magic users before them and he stood in the shadows behind them. If he was to follow Alexis Armon's command he must apprehend the assassin preferably alive, but now they were faced with two servants of Bastellen and he needed to bring them both down quickly, even if he regretted having to do it to the younger girl.

His footsteps made absolutely no sound on the stone street they were fighting in, he stepped out of the shadows and in a blink was behind them both.
He kicked the assassin in the back of the knee, sending her painfully down to kneeling where he then grabbed her head and slammed his knee into the base of her skull. He knew it wouldn't kill her and only had the chance of knocking her out, but it was to send a message that the fight was over, a message that he had to drive through her skull to penetrate any remaining blood influence clouding her judgement.
Instantly after striking the assassin he gave Eleanor Griffin a chop to the back of the neck to send her crashing down unconscious.

 

[Kara Orin]

A solemn frown appeared on Kara’s face. No reaction to the rune. A deep sigh followed.

“If I knew it’d be like this…” Kara whispered to Terrance.

Kara rose to her feet. She turned toward Elise Darkwater and witnessed Saben Strahd attack her. Still holding a rune stone in one hand, she reached behind her back with the other to open another pouch strapped to her waist. A dagger was hidden inside it…

 

[Eleanor Griffin]

The burning in her hands dulled to a throb that seemed to permeate her entire body. She looked up, her eyes pleading with a desperate apology. Her eyes met the injured Quoril's, 'sorry' she mouthed. Then her eyes went wide as a sharp pain in her back sent her crashing into blissful darkness. She lay crumpled on the stone still tightly clutching the book to her chest.

 

[Quoril]

Quoril looked on as Eleanor stood up, her face still covered with blood. He was confused as he watched her reach over and grab Elise’s book, and collapse on the ground with a loud cry. She looked up making eye contact with him and slowly mouthed the word “sorry.” Quoril felt a sharp pain in his chest as though he had been stabbed. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt like he had just lost a really close friend even though he barely knew her. The elf looked away sorrowfully as Saben Strahd knocked Eleanor out, tears brimming in his eyes.