Kirche opened her eyes and immediately regretted it. Opening her eyes meant she had closed them and fallen asleep, and considering her situation that was a bad idea. But she still regretted opening them. She was still stuck by her arms and legs in the wall of the Nightscreamer and still in the laboratory, as Louise had called it. Across from her on the table however, was something that made her nearly throw up just from the sight of it alone.

Across the room from her, lying on the disturbing metal table was Malicorne de Granple, or what was left of him. His entire upper torso looked like it had been smashed open from inside, his ribs sticking out at sickly angles. His limbs had been sliced and splayed open, and part of his head was missing. The half of his head that remained faced Kirche, pieces of his skull and insides clearly visible in the light of the lab. Kirche had not known the portly fellow very well, and didn't particularly like him. But she did respect him. No matter the situation, the grades he got, or how bad things seemed to be, he always wore a smile and seemed to be able to make others smile just as easily as he did. Such a demise did not become someone so happy and cheerful.

Looking around Kirche then noticed that an oval Depression in the wall beside the table, much like the one she was stuck inside, held a student she did not recognize. With a brown cloak Kirche could tell the girl was a first year, but beyond that she could not make out any features, and not because her head was hanging low. Like herself, the girl's limbs were embedded in the walls of the oval like Depression, but something was severely wrong with her. She had no visible wounds on her body, no cuts, no bruises, not even a scratch, but she was not well. Her entire body was covered with what looked like small green stones that seemed to punch out through her skin, and all across her were pulsing green veins that were painful just to look at.

As Kirche looked at the girl's unmoving body, she realized something strange, she could not turn her head. Try as she might she could not. She tried to move her arms or legs, knowing it would hurt her, but she felt nothing. It was as if her body was not her own and would not respond to her thoughts.

"Having difficulty?"

Kirche moved her eyes away from the girl in the wall and over to the labs door, seeing Louise, looking even more monstrous than before. Both of her legs were now sickly black and purple, with vicious claws replacing her toes. Both of her arms were as well, their fingers being longer than any persons should be, and sharply pointed. Her body looked strange as well, her hips being wider than before, and her waist impossibly small, like some sort of twisted nightmare. Her face still looked mostly normal, though it had sections of purple skin upon it, and almost all of her hair now looked like large cords. "You!"

Louise smiled disgustingly as she walked further into the room and stopped beside the table that held Malcorne's corpse. "What? Not happy to see me, Kirche?"

"Why in Brimir's name should I be?"

Louise's smile became vicious as her lips parted, revealing her sickly black teeth. "But I'm so happy to see you!" Louise stated as she walked toward Kirche, her strangely proportioned body moving as if it was proportioned correctly.

Kirche cringed a Louise lifted her arm and caressed Kirche's face with her fingers. "You monster!"

Louise smiled again. "What's wrong, Kirche? Having trouble moving? Though it is to be expected."

"What, what did you do to me!?" Kirche hissed angrily.

Louise turned and walked away from Kirche, stopping beside the Depression that held the first year girl. "I'm upgrading you, unlike what I'm doing to this girl; turning her into a chunk of ichor."

"You monster!"

"Please learn better vocabulary Kirche, its getting old, you calling me a monster constantly when I'm just getting ready to ascend our species!"

"What in Brimir's name are you talking about!?"

"I'm talking about this!" Louise exclaimed as she gestured to Malicorne's corpse. "Did you know plebeians and mages are actually different species?"

"What?"

"It's true. Plebeians and nobles are different. Both are not humans, because in all reality, plebeians are humans and mages a sub-species of humans."

"What are you talking about?"

"Please shut up Kirche. I'm trying to explain this to you as basically as I can. I know you won't understand most of it with your minor intellect, but please shut up and try!" Louise stated angrily as she broke a rib off of Malicorne's corpse and began tossing it between her hands. "Now, where was I? Ah yes. Mages are a sub-species of plebeians, and as such their biology differs slightly. This slight difference is what I'm currently using you as a test subject for. It does appear though, that age and magical capability have a place as well." Louise commented slyly as she looked to the first year girl in the Depression out the corner of her eye.

Kirche looked at Louise for a moment before she could not hold her voice in any longer. "You're not making any sense!"

"Oh I'm making perfect sense, you're just too inferior to-," Louise stopped midsentence as her familiar walked into the room and stood beside her for a few moments. "I see. Thank you, Saw. I'll have to deal with that promptly." Louise said as she walked past her familiar and to the door to the lab.

"Wait, what's going on?" Kirche suddenly asked, stopping Louise from leaving the room.

"I have to deal with some business. You just hang there and be good, or this will happen!" Louise said as she snapped her fingers.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH"

Kirche turned her gaze to the first year girl, who was now wide-awake and screaming in throes of pain as the green crystal all over her body began getting bigger and bigger. Within seconds her screaming stopped, and in a few seconds more, her entire body was a mass of crystal, and promptly fell out of the recess and onto the floor with as heavy thud. Kirche could not pull her eyes away from the girl as Louise walked out of the room with one last comment. "See you later Kirche. Hopefully you'll be more willing to help then!

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Lady Montmorency and Mr. Colbert stood on the deck of the Ostrand, above the expedition camp below the ship. Standing across from them, a mere twenty feet away, were two blonde haired elven warriors kitted out with heavy plate mail and long thin blades on their belts.

"You are demanding we do what?" Lady Montmorency demanded, her lips curling in anger at what she had just been told.

One elf nodded and took half a step forward as he spoke. "Very well. By order of the Elven Elder of Marisun, Guardian of Ancient Lore, you are to leave the wastelands immediately. We have been ordered to inform you that you will be given until the end of the day to pack up. If you have not left before then, it will be considered an act of invasion and war, and you will be destroyed."

"The wastes are not elven territory as far as we had known!" Mr. Colbert suddenly said.

"The elves protect the wastelands. The Nightscreamer's corpse must be left alone, as tribute to our past!" The second elf loudly proclaimed.

"You just want to keep anything it could bring to light to yourselves, is that it!" Lady Montmorency asked equally loudly.

Both sides glared at the other intently, neither side saying a word for many moments. Until a fifth voice rang out, piercing the air with a shrill pained shriek. "Aw, it's so cute the way you bicker!"

Both the two elves and Mr. Colbert and Lady Montmorency began looking about in confusion, looking for the owner of the strange unearthly voice. Before any of them could say a word the voice's owner dropped from the sky and landed on the deck of the Ostrand. In the dim light of the clouded moon above them they could not see who or what stood before them with any certainty beyond that o it looking unearthly female. "Who, what, are you?" Mr. Colbert said inquisitively.

The creature before them said nothing as the tendrils coming down from its hair lifted into the air, their ends glowing brightly pink. Before anyone could react the pink lights pulsed and quick shots flew out, piercing him all across his body, and dropping it to the Ostrand's deck lifelessly. With speed unexpected the creature then leapt forward and buried its claws into the faces of the two elves, throwing their heads to the deck with heavy thuds.

With a swipe of her wand Lady Montmorency fired off a wave of water toward the creature, but the water merely slapped against it as it turned to her. "What the hell are you? Why are you-?" Lady Montmorency demanded as she began firing off wave after wave of water upon the creature.

"You know who I am. I'm-," the creature began, but its voice was drowned out by the sound of a sudden gust of wind, but Lady Montmorency did not need to hear it. As Lady Montmorency fell to the deck of the Ostrand the clouds hiding the moon parted, flooding the Ostrand with moonlight and revealing to her the identity of the creature as her last image of life that she would see.

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High above the Ostrand circled a single hawk whose shadow never touched the ship. As the light of the moon touched it, the hawk gained sight of the bodies and the perpetrator that created them, and quickly began flying home to its master, to deliver what it had discovered.