p id="docs-internal-guid-9074b8d6-7fff-f5d1-0cd9-547ee1024de8" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; text-align: center; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: underline; text-decoration-skip: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"This particular situation did not run according to plan.../spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; text-align: center; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""It is absolutely necessary, for the peace and safety of mankind, that some of earth's dark, dead corners and unplumbed depths be let alone."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It didn't take long for the first cracks to begin to appear in their shield of light. Splintered lines in the golden shell, like fine fractures in glass crept slowly across, zigzagging into one another. The telekinesis spell stubbornly unwilling to take effect meant they were simply at the mercy of the relative nature of time. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""It's too noisy to concentrate!" Morrow bellowed over the screeching wails of the creatures, as they scuttled around attacking the shell from every conceivable direction. The dark-haired man turned to regard his employee and then his gaze fell as he said sombrely, "I'm sorry, Eric." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The paramedic swallowed hard, his jaw clenched. He squared his shoulders in a resounding sort of way as he tightened his hold on the girl in his arms, naturally hunching over slightly to afford her some more protection. He nodded once at Morrow and waited for the inevitable. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It took only another minute for one of the tendrils to pierce through part of the golden bubble with a sound like wine glasses being dropped. It caught in the punched hole however and could only swipe at them from above. Ducking under it they were able to avoid the majority of its attacks but not those from the few others that followed their kin in also managing to punch their way through. The tip of one long tendril turned pointy and hard and slashed at thigh height across the back of Eric's legs. He yelped as it tore a thin line through cloth and flesh leaving a shallow slice, like a knife. Or a scalpel. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""The tentacles turn to weapons?! Are these things like some sort of demonic T-1000's or what?!" He yelled as another tendril nicked his shin and then his back causing him to grunt in pain again and again. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Morrow valiantly fought back the tendrils with his sword, but even he now sported some thin bleeding lines and slices. "I guess they must have finally started showing sci-fi movies in the dungeon dimensions. And it seems like these guys decided to take notes." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Another shattering sound and more if the creature was able to get in, this time the tendril caught the good doctor's lab coat with a slight riiiipppp, wrapped itself around his ankle and began to drag him backwards towards the bubble, which now offered more of a Swiss cheese sort of protection than it had a minute prior./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" "Argh!" Morrow cursed and not knowing what else to do, stabbed Excalibur into the ground and clung to it for dear life. If nothing else, at least when his corpse was cold and possibly half eaten (he didn't know what these things did) they would not likely get their tentacles on the fabled blade. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"With a final mighty heave of strength, their foes gave one final attack against the remnants of the magic and the golden dome shattered into tiny fragments. Eric gave a yell, hunched himself over Penny and closed his eyes as the tendrils of the creature that had Morrow rose up high above their quarry and drove downwards. The Doctor yelled too, closing his eyes… /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"CRACK/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"!/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It should have been all over. But the final blow never came. Heart hammering, gasping slightly, Morrow cracked open one eye to look. Between him and the thing, stood a half crouched figure with short platinum blonde hair, dressed in red and black leather. In their right hand they held a staff, dark as night, which appeared to have parried the attack that should have spelled the Doctor's demise. The left hand was stretched out to the side, splayed and glowing faintly as it pointed at Eric and Penny. Casting his gaze in that direction he saw the hunched figure of the Paramedic on his knees, still cradling the injured girl, as above him, a transparent green shield, almost similar to the protection spell Morrow himself had cast, held the other creatures at bay. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"With a grunt and what appeared to be a mighty effort the figure pushed the black staff upwards slightly more against the creature and then a blast of more green light, which made the hairs on his arms stand on end, sent the things hurtling backwards a few feet. They collapsed, writhing as coils of residual energy like mini bursts of green electricity wracked their shadowy forms. Morrow licked his lips, they tasted metallic… and alongside the slight smell of ozone, so faint that it might be undetectable to the uninitiated, told him one thing; Magic./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The light faded and the figure dropped their arms tiredly, using the staff to stop themselves from falling over. For a moment, while they leaned on the staff he got a good look at it from behind. The top half of the shirt they wore was ripped and bloody, there were also a multitude of minor wounds and bruises apparent. His rescuer straightened, the weight now off the staff, and turned to regard him. Piercing blue eyes in a young face, pale complexion; a teenage girl. And, not just tired he realised, turning a critical gaze on her face, exhausted. Her breathing was rapid and shallow as if she had just been running. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Are you alright?" she huffed, offering him a scratched hand, he noted a burn on her wrist similar to Penny's and a slight lilt in her voice which hinted at an accent he couldn't quite place./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"There was an old proverb about never looking a gift horse in the mouth, which had never made much sense to Morrow. An old horse that will eat your food and take up space in your barn, is of little use if it can't earn its keep, even if it was a gift. And if the Trojan's had bothered to inspect the Greek horse they'd been gifted, they might have realised it was full of soldiers and burnt the thing. Thus, resulting in a very different end to the myth and meaning to the phrase 'Trojan horse'. However, in this particular instance and at least for the time being, he was happy to blissfully look the other way and so accepted the offered hand. The grip was strong and her palm dry. "I'm fine," he grunted upon rising to his feet. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The girl raised one eyebrow as if she had expected some other sort of reaction but said nothing, as she helped the man up. She then walked to the others, limping slightly and using the staff to support her weight on the left side. "Are you both alright?" she asked, offering a hand to the second man, taking note of his paramedics jacket. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eric watched her warily, then got to his feet himself and she withdrew the hand as if he had spurned her. He stepped backwards away from her. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""O...Kay," the newcomer said, clearly a little put out by both of their reactions rather than the strangeness of the situation. As if she often came galloping in at the last moment and saved random men in storm drains at what must now be pushing midnight from strange monsters. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Once he had ascertained Penny was still alright, and that this new person didn't appear to be a threat Eric frowned at the Doctor then looked back at her. "Your timing was impeccable," he said looking relieved. "You saved us."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Having quickly become acclimated to the fact that he was not yet dead, Morrow replied gruffly, "your assessment might be somewhat premature, Eric. All she did was stop them attacking us for now. For now, it seems the inevitable has simply been delayed." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eric frowned and scowled at the Doctor. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What?!" Morrow spat indignation colouring his tone. He rolled his head around on his neck as the paramedics expression became disapproving. "Fine…" he relented. "Thank you for your help, even though we didn't need it and it was totally under control."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The girl gave a slight shake of her head, The purple-dyed tips of her sweat-soaked hair bobbing along with the motion. "Believe me, if I thought you guys weren't in danger I wouldn't have intervened. I was obligated to. But, they won't stay down for long." Already the coils of energy keeping the beasts writhing were beginning to fade. "You should go before the rest come." She moved away from them then, not towards the exit but rather towards the nearest creature. A dismissal it seemed./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Morrow's eyes roved over the newcomer again as she passed by him, taking in her battered appearance and travel-worn, downright filthy clothing. Now she was stationary, he could see clearly the multitude of runes that had been tattooed; perhaps branded, onto her abdomen under her ripped shirt, however, at his current distance, he could not accurately make out any of them. He knew they should retreat while they could, Yet one thing that piqued his curiosity more than anything else in that moment kept him in place; the nature of her magic. For she had not uttered a spell or used any sort of technique he was familiar with. He had not detected her presence at all. That thought and the nature of her less than polite dismissal led him to say, rather brusquely, "where did you come from anyway? And what are you doing down here?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The girl crouched down, with a slight groan and a pained visage, to examine the creature on the ground; her expression morphed to confusion. She froze and sighed deeply before she rolled her eyes and her head around on her neck, as Morrow spoke to her. She turned tiredly towards him. "I could ask you the same thing. None of your business, now go." she demanded. Tentatively, she stretched out a hand towards its shadowy form. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Jesus Christ! What are you…" Eric asked, noticing her hand "...wait, don't touch it!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Are you an unlicensed sorcerer…you're a bit young…and your magic feels strange." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What does it matter. I thought I told you to run?" She didn't answer his question. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You've been fighting these creatures haven't you?" Morrow asked changing tact./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She frowned at them. "What part of getting the hell out of here did you both miss?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Morrow was not to be deterred. Had the situation not been so dire i.e. nearly a dozen vicious creatures of unknown origin steadily getting back onto their tentacles so that they might invisorate them, he would have felt like a kid in a candy store. He had /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"two/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" beings in front of him, which he had absolutely no clue about the nature of. It was like he had won the lottery twice. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Striding over to where the newcomer knelt, he too bent down, not entirely sure which of them to examine first. After a brief moment of agonising swithering, like his mom had just done the typical parent thing and told him he could only have one candy bar, he chose to focus his attention on the squid-like metallic creature… only by virtue of time and the fact that unconscious patients have a tendency to be more cooperative. The girl looked over at him, he glanced once at her expression and got the impression that despite urging them to leave she was almost as curious about the creatures and Morrow as he was about the creatures and her. She returned her attention to it. However, she did not berate him again, allowing him to stay beside her. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I don't understand… this one seems like it's… unconscious somehow. Like it was more affected." She muttered more to herself than the doctor. She pulled a small black flip notebook from somewhere and made a note in it that he couldn't see. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""That one suffered prior damage," Morrow replied, as though consulting with her. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Huh.." the girl said. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eric tentatively started moving towards the exit, or at least the tunnel that he assumed the original thing had brought them up. "What the hell are you doing, Doc, let's GO!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Dr Morrow did not bother to look up at his associate; eyes remaining fixed on the squid-like creature. "I've no idea what this is, so I can't fight them at a later date if I don't gather as much information as I can." He explained to Eric/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I've never seen anything like this either…" the girl said softly./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eric shook his head at them both. "Hello! Sane person to you two! I said let's Go! Before they…" he began but didn't manage to complete his thoughts, a slight buzzing sound echoed from another tunnel. It grew louder, angrier. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The girl scowled darkly and raised her head to look in the direction of the noise. She swore loudly, "shit…I thought I'd have more time." and quickly began pulling herself upright, the notebook vanishing into her pocket. She seemed only then to realise that Morrow was still by her side when he put a hand on her elbow to help steady her rise to her feet. Quickly she stepped away from him as though his touch had burnt her./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He didn't have time to do more than look at her questioningly when…/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Nishentop Kleobtem." The girl said loudly, causing Morrow to quirk his eyebrow. That certainly wasn't English or any language he knew off the top of his head. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""you guys must have seriously pissed these things off. What the hell did you do!?" the girl demanded./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Very little," Morrow replied, somewhat irked by the accusation. "Were you not the one who just knocked them all over like you were ten-pin-bowling?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Only to save your sorry ass!" she spat indignantly. "Which means you must have pissed them off first."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""And why would that be your automatic conclusion?" he demanded. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Because, from what I can tell, they don't attack unless they feel threatened. They seem to behave like Bees."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Bees?" Eric asked./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The girl looked over at him again. "Yes Bees, buzzing things." She sighed. "If a colony of bees thinks you're a predator, it first sends out a few guard bees to warn you away by 'head butting' you, If you feel a 'head butt', you're supposed to run, because the next thing that comes is a full-scale attack by the entire hive. I'm assuming that the guard 'bee' brought you guys here. If you'd have then run when it let you go to have a proper look at you, it possibly would have chased you for a bit, but the primary instinct would have been right. It would have left you alone, scared off, like the police that came down here. But that's not what you did. Instead, you waved around a magical sword like you were on fucking safari," she glowered at Morrow, as if declaring him exhibit A. "They think we are the invaders in their hive."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""The most /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"did was throw up a shield to stop them from ripping us to shreds!" Dr Morrow retorted harshly. However, when the words, 'ripping us to shreds,' left his mouth, his brain treated him to an image of Penny./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""That's what you call that sorry excuse of a light show they were punching through? A shield? You do know shields are supposed to, like, /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"repel/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" things right?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The comment on his magic passed the doctor by and instead, he uttered, "...my anesthesiologist might have sliced through this one's tendrils," he indicated the one they had been studying, "and then tried to rip it off with her teeth," realising that this might constitute, 'pissing them off' and definitely be indicative of 'Invader' like behaviour./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She stopped as the word anaesthesiologist processed in her mind and cast a glance at Eric, her eyes roving over the man then coming to rest on the girl. Her expression darkened. "So, that's what caused the damn thing to screech like that." She sighed, returning to the metaphor. "The bees feel threatened and their natural response is to rise up together and defend their queen, but a killed bee gives off an "alarm scent" that will only serve to call its hive-mates to the scene of the crime. The noise it made likely told the rest of them to come running." She trailed off./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eric was looking now at the creature. " But it took us, we didn't come across it. It literally dragged us into the main part of its hive. If it wanted to scare us off, why the hell did it drag us down here?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You were in its territory, it was dark? It didn't know if you were danger or food?" the girl shrugged, "I said they were behaving like bees, not that they are bees. It's called an analogy."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hmm," Morrow pondered, "what acts like a bee, looks like a squid and dresses like the knights of the round table?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I don't think it's armour…" the girl added./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You might be right…" Morrow muttered./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"While/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" the trio debated, the unconscious creature behind them began to stir, its movements sluggish. Its eyes were dark but one creeping appendage slowly, gently, wound its way around the ankle of the individual closest to it. Its grip tightened and it began to pull. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Morrow went down like a ton of bricks, with a cry of surprise and pain. For the second time, he was pulled towards one of the squids, with about the same regard it would have for a sack of potatoes. "AHHHH! ERIC!" Morrow yelled, fingers clawing for something to grab hold of, but this time his scalpel was out of reach. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"A whirl of motion, a flash of green light and he came loose of the pulling sensation. The pressure on his ankle remained, however. Scrambling around he saw the girl standing over him once more, holding the staff again. This time, a long wicked-looking green blade curved from the top of it, shining in its own light. His eyes widened, /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"what the hell!/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" The staff had become a magical scythe. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"As the girl stared at it, the creature thrashed and was still again. The blade on top of the staff flickered, in and out of existence. A jolt seemed to rip through her and with a cry of pain, she wrapped her arm around her abdomen and dropped to a knee by the doctor's feet, her right hand still clenched around the staff for support. She hissed through her teeth. A dark wet patch had appeared on her shirt on the left-hand side. She pressed a hand over it and tried to stand again, got slightly up using the staff for support before her face contorted and with a gasp she slid back down onto one knee. Blood trickled down her abdomen and across the runes etched there. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The buzzing was almost deafening now as more than a dozen of the shadowy things came haphazardly crawling into the space. The screeching buzzing sound they made intensified when they saw their comrades struggling to get back up. Like a very angry insect nest from hell. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Here they come!" Eric warned, still clutching the unconscious form of Penny and unable to do anything but watch. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Morrow's gaze snapped forwards and he could see his colleague was right, the shadowy creatures were closing in. His ineffective sword and medical bag several feet away, the most he could do was affix the enemy with a determined glower, which showed off his teeth. /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Come on, come on, /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"he urged, feeling the telekinesis pill slowly; agonisingly slowly, begin to take effect. A few clumps of dirt and stone began to hover at his feet, as he concentrated with all his might, but nothing he did could force the spell to work faster. And the tentacles of the nearest squid-like creature were only a few feet overhead. His borrowed time had run out in the most painful way imaginable. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"This was not how she had intended to spend the evening's hunt. She pulled her hand away a moment and looked at the blood staining her skin. The burning pain told her that the magical patch she had put over her wound had ruptured. Her energy was waning. Lightheaded, she glanced around at the others present. She should have run…should have forced them to run with her. There was no time now, nor the strength to fend off the attack physically and it looked increasingly unlikely anyone else had the ability to do anything. The girl groaned, clenched her staff till her knuckles turned white and lifted her free, blood slicked hand from her body once more. Staring at it a moment her expression hardened and quickly, shakily, she drew a basic looking symbol of shapes and lines onto the floor in her own blood. The macabre design glinted in the cavern light a moment as she drew the last line. The shape began to glow before she smacked it with her palm. The glow blossomed upwards in a red bubble, a spiritual sort of encore to the doctor's golden shield, only snapping into place just in time as the creatures hit against it. That, at least, would buy her some thinking time but unfortunately also meant one thing; they were now trapped where they stood. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Dr Morrow, whose attention had been so focused on his impending doom ( as was becoming habit tonight!) and the fact he had only been seconds away from being able to defend himself, had missed what the girl had done entirely. At least until the blood-red shield had shot between himself and his would-be slayer. Eyes wide in a mix of shock at once again still being alive and fascination at the barrier now protecting them Morrow took a step backwards. Then Somewhat tentatively, as though he was liable to lose a finger, which when dealing with magics of unknown origin could be a distinct possibility, he raised his hand and held it at a safe centimetre from the barrier's surface. He could feel it vibrating; oscillating, like it had its own pulse. As his eyes focused more intently on its surface, he was just able to make out it throbbing, as though it were a beating heart… a beating heart having an arrhythmia. /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Curiouser and curiouser.../span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The shield wavered then strengthened, as the creatures pulled back for another attack. Eric flinched as they hit, but there was no hollow echo as there'd been from Morrow's shield when they hit against it. No sound of cracking glass. This time, as they clattered into the impenetrable barrier, the girl gave another exclamation and her grip on the crooked black staff slid slightly further down. She was now even paler than she had been, her chest heaving and a sheen of sweat over her skin. As if the creature's action caused her physical pain./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The paramedic turned to look more closely at her. "Wait, You're bleeding. You're hurt." He said in an almost accusational tone, more than a little concerned that their one thin lifeline was perhaps not entirely whole. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The girl was only vaguely aware of Eric's voice from somewhere to her right. "No shit, Sherlock," she spat bitterly through gritted teeth in response. This was not the time to bleed to death, the wound burned as she tried to will it to stop but it seemed the ability to patch it again now eluded her strength. She turned slightly glassy looking eyes to the Paramedic then cast around the rest of the eerie coloured dome for his compatriot. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Ignorant of anything else and now thoroughly enamoured with the magic that had just saved his life, Morrow continued to wave the palm of his hand back and forth above the barriers surface. Then he reached out and touched the barrier with the gloved pinky of his left hand (no sense in risking a more important digit). He could actually feel the rhythm beneath it, as though he had just placed his finger over someone's pulse point. Withdrawing it left a slight residue, which he brought up to his nose and sniffed. "What have we here?" he asked himself out loud, his brain having completely forgotten about the others and their perilous situation. He gave it another sniff and then touched it with the tip of his tongue. "Blood… human blood." He ran his tongue around the inside of his mouth for a moment, as though he had just taken a sip of some fine Clarett. Then realisation dawned. "Blood magic!" he exclaimed excitedly. "I haven't seen blood magic in ages!" His features then formed into a frown when further realisation hit. "Wait a minute… Mystics Without Borders banned all blood magics more than two decades ago; to limit the spread of thalmic blood diseases." He glared down at the girl./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah well, this was...a Hail Mary pass sort of situation," the girl retorted, then gasped in pain at another onslaught, "I...I don't make a habit out of it! Besides! My blood is clean thanks."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eric stared incredulously at the man. "Uhh, Doc, I think you are missing the most important part here. Which, no offence, might be crucial to our continued survival. Blood magic surely takes what?" He didn't pause to let Morrow respond. "The answer's Blood. As in her blood. As in the red leaking stuff she used to do this? The stuff that's coming from her abdomen? She's hurt," he said, once more finding himself infuriated with his employer's inability to grasp the crux of the matter. Something that, let's be fair, happened waaay too often for his liking./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The girl chose to ignore Eric and glared back at the Doctor "Besides you've got some nerve judging /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"me/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" when this is all your fault! If you guys hadn't pissed them off so bad they wouldn't have attacked and I'd have probably worked out how to destroy them by...ahh!" The creatures slammed into the barrier again, cutting her off with another cry. Her eyes screwed up and she slid down the staff again, struggling to pull herself back up. The barrier's crimson red colour beginning to fade to a more deep pink. They were running out of time for her to think of something and arguing with the people she was supposed to save wasn't helping./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Dr Morrow ignored the indignant commentary from both parties and picked up where he had left off, "you used blood magic to generate that shield." His eyes darted to the shield, watched for a blow from their attackers to land on it, then immediately to the girl. Her noticeable pain confirmed his theory. He might not have known how exactly she had created it, given the basic nature of her magic eluded him, at least for the time being, however, his observations told him something he knew still applied from the blood magic he was familiar with. "...And it's tied to your lifeforce," as he said those words, Morrow put two and two together. It had not seemed like a tachycardic heartbeat he had felt, it /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"had /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"been a tachycardic heartbeat he'd felt… her tachycardic heartbeat. He scowled at her./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Heh…" the girl said with a slight smirk, "you're not as stupid as you look." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""DOC!" Eric bellowed, angry that the other man had still not acted. He cast around for somewhere safe to put Penny down, so he himself could do something. He growled in frustration, slightly unsure if it was safe. Would he be able to grab her in a hurry if needed? Instead, he continued, "are you even listening? She's /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"HURT/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"! You took an oath, Doc!" He made a motion to put Penny down. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Keep hold of Penny, Eric, that's an order! " Dr Morrow barked, having caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of his employee and surmising what he intended to do. /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"And the occult physician's oath is a little different and mentions a few particulars in regards to what we're supposed to do if we encounter those practising banned arts, but you'll happily have me ignore that one, won't you, Mr Gast./spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" "What happened to you?" he asked the girl, now finally taking in the blood running down her abdomen, her pallor and the sweat. He took a step towards her./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The paramedic froze mid-action. He snarled at the doctor but seemed happy that the man was now doing his duty and did as he was bid. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""…Misjudged the bees," the girl replied, as she watched the white-clad; dark-haired man warily, she attempted to pull herself up and failed. What little colour she had retained drained from her./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Considering her words, the doctor looked back at Penny and the damage the creature had managed to do to her. He then looked back at the mystery girl and finally up at the barrier. /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Tied to her life force…the colours fading…/span span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"shit! /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Morrow moved to kneel by the girl's left-hand side. "Eric, kick my bag over to me," he said again without turning to look at him. His attention was now completely focused on the girl, who it seemed had become his patient. In the brief moment in which he had to wait for his supplies, he scolded, "you should have said you were injured, that's a lot of blood…and I'm willing to bet you lost more before you got to us. What sort of idiot casts a shield using blood magic, especially when wounded?what Are you, completely stupid?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eric kept Penny in his arms and moved to kick the bag. He swore as his toe hit something impossibly heavy within the white leather. Slowly it slid towards the Doctor. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Her breathing was slightly laboured but the sarcasm of her next comment was not impeded by such a thing as lack of oxygen. "I'm Sorry! You're right. Next time, how about I let it eat you!...ah!" She jerked slightly as the creatures hurled themselves at the shield. Her stomach heaved and she gagged. When it passed she added, "my patch would have held until I had the energy or the time to get it dealt with properly, if I hadn't had to channel into the staff to save your sorry ass /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"again/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"! What's that make? three times? How many times in one situation can a person possibly need fucking rescued? What are you, totally inept?!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Given you're the one who looks ready to pass out with blood pouring out of you, you're hardly in a position to talk!" Morrow spat acridly. "Only I'm not one to keep score. Now, try and hold still, so I can examine and treat you, at least for now. You are capable of doing that, right?" As he spoke, the doctor reached out a hand intent to shift that of his patient's in order to see the wound. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Mystics without borders not keeping score? Now that's one I haven't heard before," she spat and when he raised his eyes up to meet hers a questioning look on his face she nodded at his bag. "The ID card you're wearing and the symbol on your bag…I recognised it." She grimaced as the assault distracted her. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Observant aren't you." Morrow muttered. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The barrier was becoming more of an effort to maintain. She could hear her heart beating in her ears. The latex covered fingers of his hand brushed her wrist and she flinched away from him. "Don't touch me. I'm only going to warn you once." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Not to be deterred by some young; upstart, unlicenced sorcerer, Morrow said "This will go faster if you do as I tell you." made a grab for her hand, intending, if need be, to wrench it away from her side, so that he could examine the wound. The second the doctor attempted to take hold, a small wave of force emanated from her pushing him backwards, back across the floor and a few metres away from her. She doubled over but if it was from the ongoing assault or the effort of pushing him back no one could tell. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eric moved a step to his bosses side. "You ok?" he asked Morrow, then looking back at the girl exclaimed, "he's a Doctor he won't hurt you. Let him help you!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Morrow sat upright and shook his head, trying to work out just what had happened. As far as he had been able to see and hear, his patient had neither moved nor said anything that would indicate she had cast some sort of spell. Which once more left the occult physician metaphorically scratching his head and asking himself, /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"what the hell did you just do? Can I add telekinesis to your rapidly growing list of abilities? Or does it have something to do with the fact you currently have an active blood spell? /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He took stock of himself, no injuries. A warning shot then, like the 'bees'. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The girl gave a short bark of laughter. "Sure, you're a doctor, down here chasing weird creatures in the middle of the night. Sounds totally legit"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm telling the truth, he can help you, so we can get out of here, then treat your injuries, he is a doctor. I'm his assistant," Eric reaffirmed. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Fine, he may be a doctor, but he's also clearly a mystical practitioner with MWB… you'll excuse me if I don't roll over and submit to his whims."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What's that got to do with anything?!" Eric asked looking in askance of Morrow./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Surprise, surprise, the unlicensed sorcerer doesn't like Mystics. /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Morrow thought./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We don't have time for this! I...I can't...hold this much longer," the girl breathed heavily. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You won't hold it at all when you pass out. You need medical assistance." Morrow told her, getting back to his feet. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She didn't look at him, her eyes were darting back and forth, as if she were trying to read something on the scarred and filthy ground; trying to think of a way out. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The girl sighed. There didn't seem to be many options. /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""...You took an oath, Doc!" /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"that's what the blonde one, Eric, had said. Irony could be a right bitch sometimes. Perhaps it was even karma for knocking the good Doctor onto his ass. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""May I suggest that you let me patch that wound of yours for now, then maybe I can help you up and we can try getting out of here. We can then take you to my clinic and get you some proper treatment." Morrow said gruffly, as he made his way back over towards his stubborn patient. Even though he had said the words, the events ever since Penny had been electrocuted were still causing him a great deal of disbelief that they might actually survive this misadventure. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She ignored him and closed her eyes, everything faded to the void. The place of utter calm she had been taught to enter while training. A flame, burning brightly in the middle of it, both offered comfort and solace, beckoning her. They couldn't stay here, they couldn't fight them off and if they ran they would end up being picked back up before too long. No, there was only one option. She had to destroy them or incapacitate them somehow, even if it cost her her life. For she had taken an oath too. A sort of resigned but determined expression crossed her features, as still with her eyes closed, she pulled herself; one-handedly up the black shaft of her staff, until somehow, she stood; swaying on both feet. "While the Hunter draws breath no mortal shall fall to the embrace of the abyss or the creatures therein," she recited softly and gave a long, deep sigh that seemed to relax her whole body. " /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" still draw breath."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Morrow stopped dead in his tracks, less than a foot from the girl, upon hearing her words. Somewhere in the back of his mind, on the dusty; yellowed page of some obscure text that's title had been too faded to decipher, he could recall some reference to a group of hunters; slayers of monsters and Eldritch creatures, who used a very different; very old, brand of magic, but even that old tome had referred to them as no more than a legend and was scant in detail. And to his knowledge, he'd never come across another mention of them within the Mystics Without Borders library. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The girl was no longer wholly aware of her companions, the darkness was absolute and the flame tantalisingly close. Her hand reached out towards it, willing its power into her flesh. It engulfed her. Heat searing across her. It hurt and she cried out both within herself and outwards, but she couldn't succumb to it. She had to help them get free. Raising her hand she began to draw in the darkness./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Morrow watched wide eyed as her hand came up and with sticky, red-coated fingers, she began to form another mark like before, only this time in the air, wincing visibly each time the creatures overhead and around them hit the barrier. Her teeth were clenched. The blood, inexplicably, stuck and began to form a red floating symbol, as if superimposed on the air, streaks of it dripping and running down the invisible wall upon which it had been painted. He didn't recognise the runes or symbols, but he recognised their intent just fine. /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"More blood magic? Is she crazy!? /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He was stunned, watching her, /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"she'll kill herself.../span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""When I tell you to… to run… you need to run this time…I won't be able to hold this. The barrier will protect you for only a moment then collapse," she told both men through her teeth again. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The symbol finished and began to glow, eerily. The creatures seemed to sense some sort of other danger was at hand because they ceased their attack and pulled back slightly, cautiously waiting. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Wait, what are you going to do?" Eric demanded, he looked stressed, as if he were caught between wanting to keep the unconscious Penny safe and wanting to help the girl… and get them all out of here in one piece. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The corners of the girl's mouth turned upwards." Something stupid," she said in response, her eyes fixed on the symbol. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Unable to do much else the paramedic stretched a hand out and found himself saying stupidly " /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Doc/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"! /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Stop her/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"!" as if he knew what she meant and didn't like it./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"However, Morrow simply stood; transfixed, as he watched the girl's latest feat of blood magic form. /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"How are you standing…Just how powerful are you? /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The girl paid no heed, with what she knew was the last of her strength she swung the staff with a yell and brought it down through the symbol and into the floor. There was a loud crashing sound, like a thousand glass bottles had just been shattered, followed by a billowing wave of green and red light washing from the point of impact and hurtling forward, leaving her and those behind her protected from its wrath. The remnants of the barrier completely dissolved. Bursting into thousands of shimmering specks of light which settled like glitter, then faded away. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"RUN/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"!" the girl yelled, her warning turning into a scream, her body arched and stiffened, seemingly frozen in place by her staff and the power surging from it. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The creatures were blasted backwards into the opposite wall and the room began to shake. Cracks appeared above them in the ceiling and huge chunks of it began to drop/span/p