Catlindra had time only for a momentary look of astonishment before Chaldara's calm voice called out. "Ghouls to the northeast, and whatever's making that sound is approaching fast."
The companions had time to see only a blur of red eyes and yellow fangs in the firelight, and then the beasts were upon them.
Two ghouls made directly for Alustriel, and quickly regretted it. As they moved in to lay her open with their filthy claws, the power of her magical garments flared to life, and both monsters fled howling back into the night as magic burned at their unlife.
Alustriel now had a moment to take stock of the situation. A few feet away, Catlindra had dropped into a defensive crouch, holding her whip-like weapon ready in her hand. Seven leather strands dangled from the handle, each no more than two feet long. A ghoul approached, grinning at the rather ineffectual-looking weapon. Then, with a suddenness that made even Alustriel go momentarily wide-eyed with surprise, the whip struck out at the undead beast.
The sheer speed of the strike was astonishing, but the blow seemed premature: the ghoul was still a good ten feet away from Catlindra, well out of the range of the short strands. And so, Alustriel was more than a little surprised when the resounding crack of the whip was accompanied by an explosion of black blood as a large portion of the ghoul's face parted company with its skull. The monster spun around three times, so stunned that it didn't even think to clutch at its ruined head, and then pitched over, quite dead. Faster than Alustriel could see, the strands of the whip retracted to their previous length.
"Interesting weapon, that," Alustriel called to Catlindra.
"It serves," replied the warrior woman as she calmly readied herself for the next attack. "But keep well away from me, Lady, for within a dozen paces of the catlash your magic may go wrong."
Alustriel nodded and hurried to the other side of the campfire, where half a dozen more ghouls had moved into the circle of firelight to do battle with the Company of the Catlash. She could immediately see, just by the calm and methodical way these women went about readying themselves for combat, that they were seasoned adventurers, and not green newcomers. Kaldura the dwarf had already crushed the head of one ghoul with her morning star, and prepared to send another to the same fate. Chaldara had conjured a flame blade and was actually in pursuit of one of the ghouls, who was (quite rightly) terrified of the magical fire. Shaliira held her blue-glowing magical dagger between her knees as she dug into her pocket for spell components.
Out of the corner of her eye, Alustriel saw Kaldura stumble over a bit of debris, and let her guard down momentarily. Alustriel called upon the power of her unicorn-headed staff, and as the ghoul lunged forward to rend the vulnerable dwarf warrior, it suddenly found itself unable to move. Its mouth gaped with horrified surprise as Kaldura quickly righted herself and ended its existence.
"Much obliged, I'm sure," called Kaldura, smiling and touching her forehead. Without looking, she aimed a backhanded blow at another onrushing ghoul that shattered its ribcage.
But it was the scene in the shadows beyond Kaldura that now riveted Alustriel's attention. Stumbling out from between two ruined buildings came three human figures: two men and a woman. They were clothed as adventurers. The three were surrounded by a nimbus of bluish light, which Alustriel recognized as raw magical energy. The light was escaping from their mouths, ears, nostrils, and smoldering out of their clothing. By the pale illumination thus provided, Alustriel could see the expressions of agony and horror on the faces of the three mysterious people.
The members of the Company of the Catlash who were not immediately engaged in fighting ghouls also caught sight of the three humans. It was obvious that they were the source of the odd gasping sounds they had heard a few moments before: all three struggled desperately for breath. They seemed to be choking, stifling on the burning energy that filled them. Alustriel knew that normal mortals could not hold such power for long without being destroyed. The presence of so much uncontrolled magic was a grave danger to everyone in the vicinity. She knew what she would have to do.
The three suffering individuals caught sight of the campfire and made for it desperately, pleading expressions on their faces. Someone called out, "don't let them get near", and Alustriel could see tall, white-haired Taruele silhouetted against the firelight, preparing a spell.
"No, don't cast magic at them!" Alustriel cried, but it was too late. Taruele's hold monster spell struck one of the men. Suddenly, the world was illuminated by a blinding blue flash. The unfortunate man was vaporized in an explosion of magical energy that sent them all, adventurers and ghouls alike, sprawling to the ground. Only Alustriel noticed that the night sky above them had flashed like lightning at the precise moment the man had exploded. By all the gods, she thought. It's the mythal. Someone has stolen magical energy from the mythal itself. She shuddered at the implications of that.
They all picked themselves up, except for Taruele, who remained on her knees, holding her head, rocking back and forth, and weeping. "All my magic," she sobbed. "It took all my magic. I can't think...my head...oh, gods..."
Alustriel hurried over to the helpless half-elf and quickly cast a spell upon her: one of her own devising, that would protect Taruele against all but the most powerful magical weapons and against all low-level magical spells.
The other man and the woman had collapsed to the ground and remained there, writhing in pain and terror, fully expecting to meet the same fate as their former companion. At the same time, Shaliira gave a choking cry. A ghoul had surprised her in the confusion; she had managed to take it in the throat with her magical dagger, but another came up behind her and raked her unprotected back. She barely had time to turn around before the effects of the ghoul's touch struck her: she fell to the ground as every muscle in her body simultaneously seized up, paralyzing her. Shaliira shuddered violently and continuously as saliva flooded from her mouth, her ability to swallow or even blink her eyes suddenly gone.
But Alustriel had to trust the others to look after the little blonde-haired mage. She had to act now, before it was too late. She hurried forward to the side of the woman, who was now clawing at the ground in a frenzy. Taking the woman in her arms, she ignored the strong tingle of magical power that exuded from the woman's every pore. Alustriel herself carried such power within her, placed there by Mystra, the goddess of magic. She hoped that she could hold just a bit more.
The woman looked frantically up at her, choking and gagging. Her eyes had turned entirely blue, and Alustriel knew that she was on the verge of bursting with power. She took a deep breath and clamped her mouth down hard upon that of the woman. The woman whimpered once, then went rigid as a titanic flood of magical energy flowed out of her and into Alustriel. It took only a few seconds, but it seemed an eternity to the sorceress as her body accepted far more energy than it was ever meant to hold. As soon as the task was finished, she staggered over to the man, who fortunately had managed to hold out those few extra seconds. She repeated the procedure with him.
The deed done, Alustriel stood up, swaying. Her head hurt beyond endurance and a terrible roaring filled her ears. Stars swam across her vision. She looked once back toward the campfire. The Company of the Catlash had finished off the last of the ghouls and now stood gaping at Alustriel in astonishment, except for Chaldara, who was tending to the still-paralyzed Shaliira.
From some reserve deep within her soul, Alustriel mustered the strength and clarity of mind to seize hold of that aspect of the mythal's magic which allowed one to teleport safely within its bounds. The magic carried her to an open area she knew of, several hundred yards away. Then she let herself go.
Raw magic roared from every orifice in her body, and Alustriel screamed in mixed agony and relief as the unbearable feeling of fullness flowed out of her. In a few seconds it was over, and Alustriel found herself on her hands and knees, trembling violently. She emptied the contents of her stomach onto the broken paving stones, and then rolled over onto her back and allowed the cool night breeze to wash over her sweat-soaked body.
In a few moments she arose and made her way, still somewhat dizzy, back to her new companions.