The Storm Continues…

Glast Heim Abbey, Glast Heim, just after Chapter 9

Auril lifted another boulder, hoping to find a secret chamber of some sort. Nothing.

Auril let go of the boulder, slamming the thousand pound rock back onto the ground. It's been a full hour, and still no sign of the Emperium room.

"Meth, you found anything?" Auril called out. "Nothing either," Meth called from behind him. Surprised, Auril turned around, watching Meth uncloak from the wall.

"You know I hate that," Auril said sourly.

Meth didn't say anything, but Auril could see his eyes twinkling in mischief. Meth melted back into the shadows, returning to his tasks.

Auril sighed, there hasn't been as much resistance as he expected. He has only met an Evil Druid and a Ghoul so far…Maybe it was because there were much more people than he expected…

"Auril! I think I found something!"

It was one of the voluntary hunters. She looked very young, reminding Auril of Lulaba…

She ran up to Auril, panting heavily. She took in a few more breaths, continuing, "I found…huff…I found a…huff…a door leading below…huff…looks like…huff…a churchyard…huff…"

At last, progress. "Well done, Clover. We'll go check it out. Do me a favour later and find the other volunteers. Saddle up and move into the churchyard you found. Right now, though, I need you to show me the place."

At the same time, Auril contacted the rest of his guild. : Abyss Legion, we've found a possible location where the Emperium is held. It is at approximately one hundred metres north-east of the Entrance, up a flight of stairs. I'm approaching the area now; rally any volunteers you find…:

"Argh!" Clover screamed. An Evil Druid appeared out of no where, slamming her to the ground with its book. Clover rolled back up, drawing an arrow, shooting the Evil Druid's shoulder. "Shoot…I missed its head…"

But the Evil Druid wasn't about to be target practice. It mouthed a spell, ripping bits of Clover's skin off her leg and replacing onto the Evil Druid's wound. Clover screamed in pain, clutching her leg.

Enough was enough; Auril drew his claymore, igniting it with a brilliant aura. He charged at the Evil druid, parrying its book out of the way. He thrust the blade into its stomach, cutting it up till where its head ended. The Evil Druid slumped to the ground, vanishing into dust, leaving behind its clothes and book to litter the floor.

Clover was still on the ground, clutching her wound. Auril walked up to her, inspecting the wound. "It's not a flesh wound, you should be ok. Here," he handed her a bottle of white potion. "This should help."

"Thanks…" Clover said softly, as she poured the liquid onto her wound. The wound magically closed itself, leaving no evidence of it ever being inflicted. She drank the rest of the potion, feeling revitalized again. "Ah, that felt good! This is the best potion I've ever tasted! Where'd you get it?"

"An alchemist friend of mine made it for me, he's one of best potion makers I have ever seen," Auril replied. She was definitely nothing like Lulaba, only her appearance. Lulaba would never have missed that shot just now. And her personality was so active…definitely not Lulaba.

Clover got up, stretching herself. Then, she turned to Auril, "That was amazing, taking out that Evil Druid in just one attack! What was that thing that made your blade so shiny? How'd you get so much strength? Ooh and that Evil Druid's book is still intact!" Clover ran up to the book, picking it up. "I'll take it if you don't want it!"

"Well, I'm not really into reading anyway…" Auril replied, "Go ahead, and take it." She seemed as friendly as Grace though…

"Thanks!" Clover said, stuffing the book into her bag. "Alright, let's get back to finding that Emperium!" And she ran off in the direction of the Churchyard.

Auril sighed, chasing after her. She felt more and more like Grace every passing minute. Auril's heart started aching for Grace, but he shook it off. He shouldn't be distracted in a mission. He should concentrate, no matter what…

"Here it is! Here it is!" Clover squealed. Auril looked at the passage. It was big enough for three people to move in at once. It was hidden in the shadows, so only people with sharp eyes could have spotted it. He didn't know what was below, and he wasn't taking his chances.

"Alright, Clover, you go find the others. I'll wait here till there are a large number of people gathered." With that, Clover saluted Auril in an imitation of the Knight's Salutation and ran off in the opposite direction.

Auril sat down, taking in a deep sigh. He was alone again, delving in his thoughts. He wondered how Grace was doing, was she okay? Auril made a secure Link with Grace,
: Grace, are you alright:

A small surge of amusement swept over Auril, and then Grace's unmistakable voice entered his mind. : Aw, you think of me too much! Don't worry; I could take care of myself. And if I run into trouble I could always teleport away. Relax! I heard on the guild link too; you've finally found something:

: Actually, it was a huntress, Clover, who found it. The passage leads to the lower part of the church. I haven't seen it myself, but I'm waiting for enough people to accompany me down. It might be dangerous. :

: Hehe, are you scared? Don't worry, I'm almost there! I'm walking with Lulaba and Meth, though he's hidden himself again. And there're a few other volunteers around me too. Gee, I wish I wasn't so short:

Auril laughed to himself, and then opened up the Link again. : All right, sweetheart, take care. :

: You too! See ya':

Despite the invasion and casualties so far, everything seemed as it always has been. Auril sat with his back to the wall, relaxing more easily and forgetting about the invasion for once…

Glast Heim Chivalry, Glast Heim, Just After Chapter 9…

Zephyrus blasted another Khalitzburg with a bombardment of napalm vulcans. There were so many of them, it was lucky he had the Zeus Legion with him. Zephyrus didn't have to face them alone.

"Kaylah! Get that Khalitzburg over there! Valianse! Strafe those two away from that Super Novice!" Zephyrus had just enough time to duck as a Khalitzburg attempted to decapitate him. Zephyrus struck back with a Magic Crasher, blasting it back to hell.

'Another five-hundred to go…' Zephyrus thought to himself. He chanted a blur of spells and set them loose on the Khalitzburgs swarming them. 'Make that four-hundred and eighty…' Another twenty Khalitzburgs fell pray to Zephyrus's Meteor Storm.

Kaylah dragged the injured super novice out of the fray, healing its wounds as Valianse strafed another four arrows at the Khalitzburgs. "He's alright, just slightly dazed," Kaylah reported, "A few cuts and that's it. He'll be ready for battle soon…"

Another Khalitzburg swung it's sword at Kaylah, stopped midway by a protective barrier. Valianse shot twenty arrows into its armour before it collapsed. "Damn, these things are strong…I wish Lulaba or Auril were here…" But his whining ended when a second Khalitzburg tried to sever his arm, only to be rewarded with twenty silver arrows impaled into its armour.

Zephyrus continued casting his spells non-stop. He may have control of the situation now, but he could feel that he was over working himself, and his mana was rapidly decreasing…

Another Khalitzburg met its fate as Zephyrus loaded another Vulcan into the undead's armour. It shattered into bits, joining the many bones of the other fallen Khalitzburgs.

Kaylah was rapidly healing the rest of the Zeus Legion. An alchemist was saved from being slashed into half when Kaylah put a protective barrier around him. His moral recovered, the alchemist hacked at the Khalitzburgs with manic speed. A rogue backstabbed the Khalitzburgs, breaking their spine and ending their undeath. Another Khalitzburg returned the favour by slashing a deep wound into his chest, letting blood flow out like a waterfall, leaving a pool of red on the dark, cold floor. Kaylah saw this immediately and knocked back the Khalitzburg with a Magnus Exorcismus, banishing it and a few of its companions back to the underworld. She tended to the rogue's wounds immediately after that, letting him return to the battle.

Everything was working well with Kaylah around. They could repel the Khalitzburgs if this was kept up. But Zephyrus knew better. A trained eye told him Kaylah was near her breaking point, she was almost exhausted to her limit.

Another Khalitzburg's armour was flayed apart as Zephyrus invoked it with a Jupitel Thunder. 'Two-hundred and eighteen left…' he thought to himself. Another one exploded suddenly as it stepped onto Zephyrus's Fire Pillar trap.

"Kaylah, I need another buff!" Zephyrus called out, just in time to feel Kaylah's Magnificat spell take effect on him. Another three Napalm Vulcans and the three Khalitzburgs flanking him perished.

Soon, all that was left was twelve Khalitzburgs. Zephyrus spawned mana into his hand, about to cast another barrage of Vulcans at them when nothing happened.

"Damn, I'm out of mana…" he said to himself, finally realising how tired he was.

"I'm out of arrows too," Valianse said, releasing his last arrow into a Khalitzburg. His falcon finished the rest, tearing into its helmet, decapitating its skull from its spine.

Kaylah slumped to the floor. "I…I'm too…tired…can't…even…stand up…" she stuttered through her panting. Everyone else in the Zeus Legion looked equally tired, the Alchemist's mad rampage was slowed down to a snails pace, panting every now and then before taking another swing at the Khalitzburgs. The rogue sat down on the ground, sweat drenching his jacket.

"This isn't looking good…ten of those things can finish us off if we can't fight back." Zephyrus whispered, as if afraid the Khalitzburgs could hear them. The Hunters and Archers fired their last volley of arrows, nailing three more of them.

Valianse turned to Zephyrus, "What're we going to do? Our falcons our tired too. I think we should retreat…"

"RAWR! I'M BACK IN ACTION!" a kid's voice yelled as the Super Novice sprung onto his feet again. He charged at the seven remaining Khalitzburgs, screaming a bloodlust roar.

"MAGNUM BREAK!" He screamed, blowing up the Khalitzburgs with five consecutive explosions. The smoke lifted, and the floor around the Super Novice was littered with the remaining Khalitzburgs bones.

"Hah! Enemy destroyed!" The Super Novice shouted, holding up two fingers.

'Unbelievable…a Super Novice capable of taking on seven Khalitzburgs all at once!' Zephyrus thought to himself, 'He may prove to be useful with his…'

The Super Novice slumped to the floor suddenly, making snoring noises.

"Zzzz"

"…"

"…"

"…"

Sing, as the Super Novice called himself, opened another chest, revealing old unreadable documents and notes. Still no sign of the Emperium. This is getting boring…after the Khalitzburgs had their butts kicked, not a lot of monsters seemed appeared. Ah well, at least his Guardian Angel visited him again. She always had some goodies in store for him…

"Crap…" muttered to himself the towering figure of a Baphomet walked down the hallway, just outside the room Sing was in. The Baphomet sniffed the air, smelling an unfamiliar scent. It ducked into the door Sing was in, looking around. Nothing. And the scent was gone too.

The Baphomet turned away, patrolling the corridors further. As its footsteps died away, Sing opened the chest he was hiding in, sighing in relief. "That was close…" he said to himself, unsheathing his stiletto from his belt. He was just about to leave when something else caught in his belt. Sing picked it out, finding a small wrapped package. It was as thin as a piece of paper and weighed like a feather. On it, the words To Auril were written.

"What the f…" then, realizing this may be important; he scrambled to look for Zephyrus.

"It might be a message to Auril, or someone back from time wrote it to him! Cool…"

He turned around another corner, meeting up with a very unhappy looking Baphomet.

"Uh oh…" Sing managed to stutter before being sliced open by the Baphomet's Crescent Scythe, spilling his innards onto the floor.

The package lay on the floor, drenched in Sing's blood. The Baphomet licked the blood off its scythe, relishing the coppery liquid stained on it.

Auril felt a small amount of uneasiness as he went down the stairs to the churchyard…as if something was missing…

And somewhere in the Glast Heim castle, a girl screams…begging for mercy as she was flayed alive.

The storm continues to blow…