AN: And here's part two of the Colossus Boulevard arc. I decided to make it different from the game, since I didn't want a straight rehash. Overall, I was pleased by how it turned out. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, elements, or borrowed plot ideas from any source I acquire them from, specifically KingsIsle. I merely own any original characters I create.
"Blah" = talking
"Blah" = thoughts, writing, sound effects, or flashbacks
"BLAH"= Yelling
"Captain!" Rosencranz turned his attention to the rapidly approaching man, a dark skinned guardsman with a worried, near petrified look on his face. The guardsman came to a staggering halt just before his superior, giving himself a few moments to catch his breath before continuing. "Captain Rosencranz. I was just told there's a situation on Colossus Boulevard?"
The bearded man nodded gravely, motioning to the group of guards around him to head on in through the gate. "Yes, Private O'Doyle. Escaping civilians and our advanced teams have confirmed sight of gobblers. We also caught sight of what's sure to be a flare just a few minutes ago…from the direction of your house."
O'Doyle's face grew noticeably paler at the revelation, as if the blood drained from his face at once. "Mindi…Mindi! Captain I have to go after her. Let me go in after her."
The man placed a hand on his shoulder to console him. "Stay with me, O'Doyle. You must remain calm." Rosencranz watched him carefully until the man gave him a confirming nod. "I want you on the next platoon in. Evacuation and containment are our priorities right now."
"But who will deal with the gobbler's sir?"
Even in the dire situation, Rosencranz couldn't help but manage the faintest of smiles.
"Get moving, soldier. You'll find out soon enough."
EXSEED
Fifteenth Pip: Reinforcements
"Keep moving!"
Tala's words seemed to keep the group's spirits alive enough to press onward, even under their rising fatigue and the aching cold of Colossus Boulevard.
By this point, staying in one place had lost its viability as an option. Victoria's makeshift flare had done the job, but now every gobbler in the immediate area, and even some not, now knew their position. There were a few beasts that didn't pay it mind, content to terrorize the escaping denizens around them, but most weren't around anything more captivating than that bright flash of light and fire.
And the salivating thought of six young wizards.
Worst of all, they could climb. Admittedly not well though. Lethargy or general lack of motor coordination, it was unsure, but a great boon to the party's morale. It gave them enough time to cross the close, mostly flat roofs of this area of the neighborhood with haste. Despite their climbing pursuers, the streets were still too crowded with the gluttonous creatures to traverse safely in such numbers.
They landed on a particularly flat roof after one sizable leap of faith, the initial jumper Fate assisting in catching the girls as they followed in his footsteps. They came over one by one with Tala finishing up the procession, and a calm moment swathed over them, everyone falling to their knees for a break as a quick survey showed no immediate threat of gobblers. They were below on the street—they could hear them for sure—but they must have managed to evade detection for now.
Mindi was the first to stand, some of the others collapsing and huddling to keep warm, and began to trot around the roof. Nothing of interest, save for the domed skylight in the center whose glass shined in the near afternoon sunlight. "I'm pretty sure we're on top of Kirby's Ice Cream Shop."
"Question is how do we get down?" Susie remarked, also glancing around from her position next to Victoria. The roof they'd leaped from was at least half a story taller than their current roof, and the ice cream shop sat at a wide intersection. The only way off the roof was down into the shop.
A shrill cry from Mindi, who had absentmindedly decided to gaze down into the shop through the skylight, brought their attention over to her. She backed up from the skylight, shaking slightly. "I…don't think we're getting down through there."
Fate, Tala, Victoria, and Penny crept carefully to the skylight, cautious from Mindi's reaction. Gobblers, helping themselves to gallons of ice cream behind the front counter and in the treat displays. There were only four of them on recount, but there was no telling if others were somewhere else in the building.
The four backed up slowly to keep from drawing attention, Tala cursing under his breath at their ill luck. They sat there for a few moments before Penny said in a calm, but worried voice. "We're…we're trapped."
"What…what do we do?" Susie's voice was just above a whisper, and all the more fearful.
Another span of silence passed. Tala glanced around at them, watching his other companions' faces grow despondent, some more than others. Fate's face caught his eye, though. It was reserved, unmoving, and his eyes were locked onto his own. The boy held his gaze for a full three seconds, then suddenly both smiled apologetically, nodding as one at some silent agreement between them. The two boys staggered to their feet, silently walking back to the skylight.
Much to Victoria's confusion. "What are you two doing?"
"Making a distraction." Fate offered at length.
Victoria was skeptical. "…with what?" Neither of the two boys answered, instead taking a few more steps towards the skylight. Her eyes widened with realization, and only the imminent threat of the gobblers below kept her yells at a whisper. "No…no..are you two crazy! I let you go back for the flare before, but I won't let you do something this suicidal!"
"We don't have a choice." Tala said evenly, with a sigh. "The gobblers could find us up here well before someone can answer the flare."
"Victoria's right. We can't let you two do that." Susie jumped in, standing to her feet in defiance. Her voice was more concerned than angry. "We won't let you throw yourselves away just to save us."
Fate turned around after a time. "We won't be saving you. You four will be the ones saving us." Confused eyes all around prompted an explanation from him. "Tala and I are just going to draw them away. That's when the four of you slip past and go search for help." He offered a smile. "We'll be counting on you to bring someone back."
"We'll stay out of trouble." Tala tacked on. "We're no fools."
"I highly doubt both of the things you just said." Victoria finally said with a sigh and shrug combination, moving towards them and placing a hand Tala's shoulder. "Something tells me you two are dead set on this no matter what we say." Two successive nods, and another sigh. "Fine. Then we'll play along. But after this I'm wringing both of your necks out for this."
Tala and Fate managed a small grin at each other. "Fair enough."
Then, they moved to the skylight, unlatched the bolt securing it while ignoring the stinging cold of its metal, and pulled it open gently enough to not make a sound. The two got on either side of it, ready to jump down at a moment's notice. A cold sweat broke out on the skin on their face, as two of the gobblers passed under and came to a disorientated stop, one passing out onto the floor face down.
Tala nodded to Victoria, who handed him the candelabra he'd brought with him from Mindi's house, figuring it was their most efficient weapon at the moment. The other three girls watched them one last time, whispering good lucks, which they returned with convincing but false smiles. Only Victoria could tell they weren't real, but at this point she decided not to bring it up.
The two boys gave each other one last nod, then Tala pointed out the order of their targets and counted to three. On the last number, they moved and fell through the hole. Fortunate enough on a variety of fronts.
Both of them got the jump on unsuspecting enemies, Fate landing square on the spinal cord of the unconscious one on the floor. Tala's feet found their mark on a standing gobbler's shoulders, forcing the green beast down and causing his skull to smack against the tiled floor. The resultant crunch from both of the impacts sent shivers even up the girls' spines.
The boys didn't revel in their immediate victory, instantly shooting into motion. The remaining two gobblers behind the counter tops were still gorging on pails of ice cream when they were alerted to the boys' presence, and their eyes widened with delight. Thoughts of engaging, though, were drowned out by the promise to Victoria moments ago, and they quickly turned on their heels to bolt out the door. The gobblers gave chase, slowed by the lag of their recent meal, giving the boys ample time to make it out on the street and cut across.
The girls peered over the roof's edge, watching the growing number of gobblers join in the pursuit and vanish around the corner of a building on the other side. The four waited a moment, double checking the streets, and when they were sure it was empty, they moved to the skylight.
"Alright, we don't know how long they can evade them all, so we have to move fast." Victoria took charge and took hold of the scarf Tala had given her, hooked its tightly woven threads around a hook on the skylight, and let it drop down. There was still a long way to the floor, but every inch counted for them.
The girls were all down within a minute and a half. Victoria continued, sizing everyone up to make sure they were all still okay. "Does anybody know someone who can help us?"
"Kald Ironclaws." Penny said after a few moments. "He only lives a few blocks away, and he's on the way to the neighborhood gate."
Victoria nodded. It was at least something to work with. "Alright, let's get going."
The girls moved in a tight pack, exiting the ice cream shop and heading the opposite direction that Tala and Fate had gone. After half a minute of traveling, Mindi spoke aloud to all three of them, her voice a little surprised. "It's strange."
"What is?"
"I never…I never knew Tala and Fate were so…dependable."
Susie, Victoria, and Penny didn't stop moving, but the former two pondered the thought for a moment. Then, a small smile came to Victoria's face, clearly expressed in her words.
"Neither did I."
—o—o—o—o—o—
The base end of the candelabra came swinging around from the right, smashing into the gobbler's right pointed ear. The creature didn't have time to let out any sounds of anguish before it collapsed to the snow-laden cobblestone beneath, not to arise any time soon.
Tala ran over the downed, unconscious body of his opponent and to the small boy cowering in the corner, tears still staining his cheeks. He offered him a hand, which the little one took quickly, and passed him along to Fate to carry on his back. Then their group was moving again, down the street, a quintet of gobblers from the ice cream shop operation hot on their trail.
They'd managed to evade capture so far through quite a number of threatening experiences, helping any civilians they'd come across along the way for the past third of an hour. It'd been quite heartrending every time they'd have to explain to the ones who asked that even though they were wizards, they couldn't fight off the gobblers. The citizens were grateful for the help regardless, but it didn't stop the two from lamenting at their own worthlessness.
How much they could have done here. How many more they could have saved had this incident happened a little later, when they could do more than just run and hide.
"This way." Fate shouted, spying a rather narrow alleyway just off the sidewalk they treaded.
A sharp left placed them within its confines, and they zoomed down as fast as they could. A few stacked crates and some sort of solid pipe cylinder lay just before a twelve foot brick wall which seemed to divide the alleyway in half.
Fate began to use the crates as stepping stones to get over the wall, seeing no other way to escape their pursuers, who had just reached the alley's entrance. The emerald eyed boy used the tall cylinder as his last step before clearing the wall, landing on his feet with the child on his back, both fine.
Tala followed the idea, but instead of clearing it, he stood atop the wall of bricks. Then, he wedged the candelabra in the inch of space between the cylinder and the wall to use it as a fulcrum, and pushed down with all his might. He pushed again and again, each second the gobblers gaining ground on him while Fate called out to go ahead and jump.
He let out a grunt of relief as he reached a breakthrough. His last push was enough to knock the standing cylinder off balance. The metal object tilted forwards, the gobblers who were some ways up the stack of boxes gasping and calling incoherently as gravity took over and brought it down on top of them. Tala didn't stick around to see how many he nabbed with his improvisation. Just a passing thought about being glad they were all brawn and little brain.
He leaped down onto Fate's side to see his companion staring at the end of the alleyway in fear.
Where two more gobblers, both a pale red and far more imposing, peeked their heads around the corner and unceremoniously licked their lips.
"This is bad." Tala said aloud, regretting his earlier comment. Not so much because they were trapped, but these red ones looked more alert than the usual variety. More intelligent.
"Any ideas?" Fate asked out of habit than actual hope. The boy on his back coiled his arms tightly around the wizard's neck.
Tala didn't nod, but simply said. "Bust through. And don't turn back."
The red gobblers crept closer. Carefully, watching them. It took Fate a moment to get what Tala meant, and when he did, he reluctantly breathed out. "Alright."
Whoever got through left the other behind, and took the kid with them.
The two gobblers were bursting into motion as the two novice wizards did, the latter duo coming in low to gain any semblance of streamlining they could muster. But just as Tala predicted, the red brand were no pushovers. They came to a halt midway and spread their stances on instinct, seeing their prey trying to veer around them at the sides near the building walls.
Fate adjusted accordingly, seeing the chance to at least get his precious cargo out of there. The slightest of alterations, at the moment the gobbler closest to him shifted towards the wall, placed his trajectory back towards the middle were a gap sizable enough for his tastes lay ripe for the picking.
He didn't stop to bunch his legs as the gobblers ascertained what he was doing. He simply barreled on through, leaping as best he could with the child on his back, trying to twist his body so that same child wouldn't get clipped by one of the beasts. His haphazard twist proved enough to intercept a flat chop by the right gobbler, right in his midsection. Luckily, the blow's momentum wasn't enough to knock him off course, and he and the boy skidded to a halt along the snowed path behind the gobblers.
"Don't stop!" Tala called out, Fate immediately jumping up and getting the child on his feet. Meanwhile, Tala thrust his candelabra forward like a spear, hoping to inflict some sort of damage in one of the gobbler's upper chest.
Instead, the creature leaned back enough to absorb the blow without falling over, his wide hand coming up simultaneously to grab its length. The two battled for dominance of the weapon for a few moments, the wizard realizing that what this breed of gobbler gained in intelligence, they lost in pure strength.
In teams of two, though, it would not help him much. The second gobbler Fate managed to pass decided to forgo his target in favor of assisting in the struggle against Tala, balling its fist up to deliver a blow straight in the boy's face.
Tala recoiled, stumbling onto his back and catching his bleeding nose with his hand. His head came up to see both beasts stalking towards him again, one crunching the remains of the candelabra in his mouth before swallowing it hungrily. The other reached down quickly and grabbed the boy's ankle, dragging his foot towards its awaiting mouth.
Tala's eyes closed, and his tattoos snaked out from his eyes, slithering down his skin to his arms. His hands inadvertently grabbed hold of trash, an empty glass bottle, in the alleyway, and on instinct more than anything else he flung it right at the creature's eye. The glass shattered, and a fierce cry of anguish echoed off the alley walls as it dropped his ankle and reared back. Before it could even finish that, a wooden crate crashed into the back of its head, causing it to double over onto the ground. Tala looked up to see Fate standing, a smirk across his face, hoisting a second crate to throw.
The cry of the wounded gobbler morphed and twisted into one of pure anger, and its skin darkened from a pale red into a near crimson, as if its blood was boiling. It motioned to its counterpart and pointed at Fate, and it nodded to confirm the order. Tala and Fate each took steps back, both breathing, hoping they were ready for whatever was coming their way.
—o—o—o—o—o—
"There's his house. Right over there." Victoria angled her head in the same direction of Penny's finger, and the group as a whole veered off the road in accordance. At the end of their short trip across the street, pushing through the scarce number of fleeing citizens who'd managed to escape their homes, they found a quaint, one story stone house.
Susie was the first to reach it, throwing courtesy to the wind and shooting her hand straight for the door handle. Her struggle was short, though. It was already open, and a strange substance she hadn't noticed in her haste stuck to it.
Penny gasped as all of them recognized it.
Blood.
"Kald! Kald!" The Phantomhide wizard's voice echoed off the walls of his living room as she burst through the door in a panic, the most animated Victoria had seen her yet. "Where are you, Kald! Please be alri—"
Her voice cut off as her foot touched down onto something. Soft, elastic. Like skin. Her eyes moved downward as the other girls' surveyed the room. A coating of fresh blood lay splattered on almost everything: the walls, the thick wooden seats, the wildclaw-skin rug strewn across the living room floor. And underneath the highest concentration of blood at the room's center, two bodies lay, distinguishable only upon closer inspection.
"….Gobblers?" Susie breathed out in surprise.
Suddenly, all four of their eyes flew up as a sound came from the next room over. They stood frozen, on edge against but not prepared for the leathery red skin of the gobbler's body that first entered their vision.
But just as they were about to bolt back for the door, the rest of the figure came through. The red gobbler's body dropped to the ground, eyes rolled back and entire being devoid of life other than the murky crimson liquid that spilled forth from its distended abdomen. Then, a hulking body stepped through door as well, moving past it to come out in full view.
Victoria hadn't seen many bears up close, but she could say with some assurance that she'd never encountered one so large before, the topmost hairs of its head nearly brushing the ceiling. Its dark fur was barely illuminated by the sparse candlelight in the room, but the light danced around in his ferocious golden eyes. They could easily see blood matting the fur on his upper arm, leaking through to the ground, which he tried to curtail by wrapping a series of cloths around it.
Phantomhide Novice Wizard: Kald Ironclaws
"Kald!" Penny called out in a mix of elation and worry, noticing the state of his arm. "Are you okay? What happened in here?"
"…This is Kald?" Victoria asked dryly to no one in particular, still marveling at the Grizzleheim native. In hindsight, she'd vaguely remembered seeing a bear on Phantomhide's side during the exam, but she hadn't given it much thought then.
"I was preparing fish for tonight's meal, listening to the audiograph broadcast." He began, voice nearing bass. His eyes angled downward towards the various gobbler bodies on his floor. "The next thing I realize, these creatures break into my home and attack me while my back is turned. Spineless cowards managed to get my arm before the last one got away."
The revelation causes the three Runewarden girls to go silent. One of them bit off his part of his arm, and he still managed to take down three of them. Without help. And because he was in first semester like them, without any significant magic as well. Victoria silently thanked Bartleby for the turn of good luck his emergence brought.
"Let them go for now, Kald." Penny ushered, wrapping more bandages around the injury, trying to limit the blood loss more than care for any damage it was doing to his flesh. "You did well already."
"Reports say it's rough out there." The grizzly remarked, pointing his finger to the wooden audio graph in the corner, a constant static blaring through its speaker with varying intervals of what sounded like words. He noticed the overall neatness of their clothes and lack of damage. "You girls made it through pretty well yourselves."
Their faces dropped at that a little, and Mindi explained solemnly. "Two of our friends, Tala and Fate. They became decoys so we could get away safely."
"That's why we need to go now." Victoria added. "We still have to find some guards and go back for them as soon as we can."
"We may not need to." Kald returned calmly, causing all their eyes to widen. Victoria shook for a second, then here eyes narrowed in anger. How could they not go after them? Just as she was about to yell, he stood up and walked over to the audio graph, adjusting its dial until a voice could at least be made out through the static. "This has been playing for a while now."
"Can…can anyone hear me? …..zzzz…..anyone….anyone on….colossus boulevard…zzz…who can hear this message…" Mindi recognized the voice. Captain Rosencranz. Uncle O'Doyle had invited him over for dinner plenty of times in the past. "Please….Please make your way to the….gate immediately. A….c-c-c-contingent of…zzzz…..guardsmen and…..wizards has been….zzz….dispatched to deal with the…..g-g-gobblers. I repeat…..w-w-w-we have….zzzz….wizards on the ground….."
Kald's voice filled the silence the end of the broadcast left behind. "Your friends may already be safe and sound." His mouth split in what Victoria assumed to be a smirk, one she matched with a reserved but still worried smile, nodding as he continued. "Still, let us not tempt providence this day. Shall we be off?"
—o—o—o—o—o—
For the first few seconds, Tala and Fate weren't sure what'd happened at all.
One moment, the two gobblers were nearly back to back, taking steps one at a time towards the two, a deranged look on Tala's gobbler.
And then, for one second, there was perfect silence.
As a figure dropped down from the roof above them and appeared between the two gobblers.
Fate and Tala couldn't quite make it out in that span of time, for as soon as it made itself known, it was gone in a single flurry. The next thing they knew, the belly of the gobbler eyeing Tala was rolling his eyes down to the curved blade of ice protruding from his abdomen, not melting in the slightest from the coat of warm blood sheathing its length.
Then, it was gone again, or moving so fast they just couldn't see it.
The gobbler marching towards Fate turned around at the sound of his partner doubling over onto the ground, and suddenly a gash bisected his front from left shoulder to right hip. He collapsed as well, screaming in more agony than his partner ever had, who was dead even before he touched down.
As he fell, their eyes caught up to the figure again, and widened as they lay eyes on her form.
Bathed in white purer than the snow below her feet. Her hood, fitted vest, long sleeved shirt, and pants all rimmed and decorated with the light blue accents of the School of Ice. A similar icy blue sarong ended in a rim of actual feathers around her knees, secured around her waist by a number of belts. In her hands lay her weapon of choice: a fine metal pole slightly taller than herself. The same curved blade of ice that ended the gobbler lay at one of its ends, and together the entire weapon resembled a scythe.
As she rose from her finishing stance to stand straight, Tala caught sight of the two light blue angel wings emblazoned on the back of her vest. On the other side, Fate caught sight of her face.
"You're…."
"Freya Shadowsong." Tala's tattoos receded back into the imprinted eye on his forehead, causing him to have to stagger to his feet. "From the other night. At Fireglobe Theater."
She nodded reservedly, voice even and practiced. "You must be Malorn's friends."
"Thanks…for the save there." Fate said, approaching them and watching her very carefully. He held out his hand to shake, and she accepted without any visible emotion. He waited a few seconds, just inspecting her.
Nothing, not a single shred of the feeling he got from her that night. He released a breath as she nodded at his earlier thanks.
"Not that I'm complaining, but what are you doing all the way out here?" Tala asked.
"Answering a distress signal." She said simply. "There were reports of a flare in the area around here. I was sent out on my own to inspect it while the others handled the situation."
Tala and Fate's eyes brightened. Victoria's flare really had gotten some attention after all, and it'd even ended up saving them too. Then, Fate adopted a perplexed look, turning back to her. "Others?"
She nodded again. "Yes. Every available hand in our class was brought out to contain the gobblers."
—o—o—o—o—o—
"My plants won't grow here very well." Aria Nightingale admitted from her perch at the edge of a flat second story roof, legs dangling off the sides and bundled up in a forest green jacket. She absentmindedly tuned her sitar as a multitude of gobblers in the street picked up her presence above them and began to congregate below.
"That's alright." A female voice said perkily from behind her, stepping up into the very fringes of her periphery. "We'll handle it."
Shoulder length blonde hair twisted into cyclonic curls, almost bleached, and a pair of black glasses framed her blue eyes. A mauve colored coat rested over a white tanktop emblazoned with purple storm symbols, and black leggings shielded against the cold where her mauve ruffled skirt couldn't defend. Her oddest feature was perhaps the staff in her hand. A long metal pole that she gripped with black fingerless gloves, but at its peak sat a large steel ring easily wider than her head.
Witherseed Journeyman Diviner: Carla Marangoni
"Just play us a nice tune or something." Said a boy with a grin from the other side of Aria's shoulder. Black hair whose curls seemed natural as opposed to Carla's. A leopard print button up shirt underneath a full black coat whose edges were rimed with wild fur, and somewhat loose fitting black leather pants. His hands, adorned with many gilded rings, were constantly moving, shuffling and reshuffling the deck of cards they contained.
Witherseed Journeyman Pyromancer: Jack Blackheart
Aria shrugged at the suggestion. "Sure. Whatever."
Her fingers eased into motion on the sitar, plucking, sliding at all times, never resting. Any gobblers in the area who hadn't been conscious of the trio's presence before were all too aware now. Jack counted the beasts as a few stragglers waddled up. "About eighteen, give or take." He glanced over to Carla, giving her a mock bow. "Ladies first, of course."
She playfully rolled her eyes, then brought her staff in front of her body to where its large ring and her face where on the same level. Her eyelids closed and she began to gather magical energy, her two companions feeling the invisible power waft off her skin. As she did, something began to happen on the ring. A watery, near slimy substance began to gather on the inside edges, building up towards the middle until a solid clear film lay across it.
Then she brought her face close, and breathed out deeply, her lung capacity much greater than should be possible for a human, though the other two assumed magic's hand. The film stretched, gaining width and depth, until it finally snapped off into a translucent bubble roughly the size of her head. It wafted outward, floating aimlessly at a near untraceable downward incline, joined by another of its kin with every few passing seconds.
Then, the group began floating downwards, gently, like snowflakes, and the gobblers seemed entranced by them. One even reached out and plucked it out of the air, the orb not popping no matter the pressure he placed upon it. Then, he licked his lips, and let the bubble slip down his throat, as did a few of his brethren around him.
"Oh….did they actually eat those?" Jack pondered in disbelief. He turned to Carla, who brought her hand up after every bubble had been ingested or found a spot on the ground.
Then, her fingers made a solitary snap.
Every bubble went off at once. There was no fire, only a single concussive blast of water and wind that tore apart everything within its span. The gobblers' toughened bodies managed to keep from dissolving entirely, but those who had ingested one had clear, large holes in various places around the chest, and they fell limp to the ground, their body unable to take the strain of the force. Others just near the bubbles had patches of skin and flesh ripped away, some losing an entire arm or leg.
Aria stopped playing, giving the scene a disconcerting look. "I…think you may have made them a little too powerful…"
"Oooh…" She agreed, adjusting her glasses and wincing. "Well I'll fix that with the next batch then." She brought her bubble wand staff to her face again, but this time Jack held out a hand, his face like Aria's.
"Yeah, maybe you should just put that away."
—o—o—o—o—o—
The skeleton's scimitar gleamed naked in the afternoon sunlight as he raised it high into the air, clasped in the frame of what was once his fleshly hand. His arm came down, and the weapon with it, smashing down on the shoulder of the gobbler ahead of him, earning a cry of pain as blood spurted forth and stained his sun bleached white bones.
The skeleton did not stop to celebrate his victory over the creature. None of the five of his brethren marching in the area around him did after theirs. They only heeded the command of their creator, the one who breathed movement into their joints, sitting atop the shoulder of the towering creature behind them.
"Thanks for the ride, Professor Greyrose." Malorn Ashthorn remarked from his seat atop the animated ice that was the colossus, standing a head taller than the two story buildings they scoped out for any stragglers. The earth shook with each laden step of the frozen beast, sometimes disturbing his control over the half dozen skeletons he had carving their way through the gobbler forces below.
"Oh, it is my pleasure, dear. We certainly make quite the pair." The elderly fairy floated in the air next to her summoned colossus's head, easily keeping up with his gradual pace. A tea set floated before her as well, and she sipped lightly on her cup before levitating a fresh one over to the necromancer. "Tea?"
Malorn nodded and took the cup, rather small for his fingers. The warm fluid traveled down his throat. He had to admit, this was indeed quality tea. He set his cup back down on the air in front of him, assuming Greyrose's latent magical energy would support it against gravity, then angled his head upward and brought one of the two amulets around his neck to his mouth.
His eyes scanned the sky until he found a rather large creature with the body of a lion, the wings and head of an eagle, and the male Diviner riding atop its back. "Artur. Artur, can you hear me? Have you found anything up there yet?"
"Copy." Artur Gryphonbane leaned forward on his gryphon, prompting the beast to increase its speed. They soared nearer to Gobblestone Castle, and the boy retrieved his spyglass. He gave the street in front of it a once over.
Malorn's skeletons were certainly being put to work, flushing out small buildings and narrow alleyways, but it was Greyrose that bore the majority of the load. How that tiny body of hers managed to control six building-sized colossus at one time, without even a shred of visible effort, was beyond him. More than that, the monstrosities scoured separate streets, some more than three or four blocks away, coordinating with each other so that no street was inspected more than once.
Throwing his amazement aside for a moment, he gave a second look through before spying a strange arch near Gobblestone. "I think I may have, Malorn. Near Hildreth's Perch in front of the castle. Looks like a portal, and gobblers are definitely coming from it. It's a good two hundred feet ahead of you and Greyrose."
"Great. Nice work. We're on route." Malorn replied.
The colossus increased its pace, letting out a deafening roar at its master's chosen target. Its legs plowed through the thick numbers of the gobblers, squashing them under its heavy ice and finally stepped on the end of the road. Greyrose and Malorn looked around, easily finding the perch and the hidden portal from their vantage point.
With a snap of her fingers, the colossus reared its head back and let out a second roar, this one coupled with a might gust of frigid wind from its mouth. Immediately, a sheen of frost coated the portal, building up until it was completely encased in ice.
Then, it drew back, as if to admire its handiwork, took a few steps forward, raised its right leg and brought the flat of the frozen pillar that was its foot down onto the portal, dark purple energies dissipating into emptiness.
Malorn spoke into his amulet again, smiling at a job well done. "Target neutralized."
—o—o—o—o—o—
Victoria wormed her way through the throng of citizens that had built up near the neighborhood's gated entrance, eyes moving constantly in search of Fate and Tala.
It'd been over an hour since they'd met up with Kald and arrived at the gate, a safe one set aside for civilians to congregate while teams flushed the remainder of the gobblers out of people's homes and shops. Word had arrived half an hour ago that a few wizards had discovered the source of the gobbler infestation and had ceased its operation accordingly, but clearing the streets of the remaining beasts would no doubt take a few days of constant work, if not weeks.
Still, she was just glad the immediate threat was over. All that was left was to make sure each of their original group was accounted for.
Her search brought her out to the right side of the civilian conglomeration, where Susie, Mindi, Penny, and Kald lay on their own reserved patch of snow, covered by a blanket Susie had managed to wrestle from the provisions station set up once the guards arrived. One of the medics brought in had set to work on Kald's arm immediately as they pulled in, and was only just finishing up the treatment she could manage on the spot. The wound still looked worse for wear, but the cold temperatures had at least constricted the blood vessels to limit the bleeding. One good thing to come out of this terrible climate, the blonde mused as she shivered for the umpteenth time.
"Found them?" Mindi queried, to which the girl could only shake her head no.
"I hope they're alright." Penny admitted, sighing.
Suddenly, there was a dull thump from a few hundred feet away, grabbing everyone's attention. The thumps continued, growing louder by the second until three ice colossus appeared from around the corner down the street. At first, the group was perplexed, but as the people riding them came into view, they literally leaped from the seats and ran towards them.
The colossus trio knelt down as they reached the refugee camp, extending their cold arms to the ground to allow everyone they carried to descend from their broad shoulders. Tala, Fate, and Freya dismounted the middle colossus, the former two looking worn but at the very least in decent shape. Their appearance didn't matter to any of the four girls now though, only that they were alright, safe. That they had made it.
Victoria was the first to arrive, grasping them both in the largest embrace she could muster. Before either of the boys could return it, though, she was already letting go. Then, her foot came up in successive kicks to their shins, causing them to stumble. She crossed her arms, huffing. "And that's for pulling that chauvinist 'let-the-men-handle-this' crap back there. Don't let it happen again."
They overcame the pain with wry smirks, both knowing she was more concerned than she let on. The rest of the girls helped them to their feet, Mindi and Susie helping Tala up while Penny attended to Fate.
"Thanks Penny." He offered, and the girl only nodded shyly and silently.
"So this must be who you mentioned." Kald remarked, coming up to stand in front of them. Both boys watched him with some reservation, finding bears somewhat justifiably imposing, but their fears dissuaded from Penny's nods of affirmation and the extension of his paw. "Thank you for saving my classmate. It's nice to see other class's wizards with some backbone, at least."
Fate and Tala each took turns shaking his paw, the former one speaking. "We have plenty of that. You'll be sure to see it someday."
The bear managed a grin. "I'll look forward to it." Then, he gave them one last wave before turning around, motioning for Penny to follow him. The girl gave a final wave of her own, which the group returned.
"She's a nice girl." Victoria said evenly, Tala and Fate nodding. Susie and Mindi gave each other knowing glances, then begin to giggle a little, prompting a raised eyebrow from Victoria. "What's so funny?"
The two girls only shrugged. Before she could press for answers, Freya, Malorn, and Professor Greyrose approached them, the necromancer getting their attention while motioning to Tala and Fate. "We picked these two up on the way back for you."
"Freya's the one that rescued us, though." Tala admitted. "I've never seen a wizard move like that before." The girl remained taciturn under his praise, turning her face away to dissuade eye contact.
"Thanks to all of you, then. For bringing them back safely." Victoria said with a smile.
"It was no trouble at all, dear." Professor Greyrose said, fairy wings beating like a hummingbird to keep her afloat.
"Where did all these gobblers come from?" Susie asked. "It's like they just appeared out of nowhere."
"It was no coincidence, Ms. Gryphonbane. I can assure you that." The group turned their heads to the direction of the voice, watching as the crowd parted to make room for Merle Ambrose. The great wizard used his staff as a walking stick, and in his other hand he carried a clean folded stack wool blankets, draping them over the teens' shoulders as he arrived. The items seemed to have a self heating quality to them, and the sudden onset of warmth elicited many a sigh. "This was very much intentional."
Fate, Victoria, and Tala had their suspicions, if not only for their prior run-ins with trouble over the semester. "Who would do such a thing, Headmaster?" Mindi asked.
"I cannot say for sure, young one. But we will not let them go unpunished." He gave her a consoling smile and a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It has been a long day. For now, you should rest. We will handle the situation from here."
"You can stay at my house while they finish cleaning up the gobblers, Mindi." Susie offered. "My parents won't mind a bit."
The girl nodded, and the two made sure to wish everyone the best of luck before heading, off taking extra time to voice their appreciation to Tala and Fate for all they'd done. The two boys told them not to mention it, but somehow had a gut feeling that, knowing them and the nature of the school grapevine, their actions wouldn't be unknown for long. Much to their dismay.
Malorn, Freya, and Professor Greyrose departed soon after, mounting the colossi once again and heading back into the fray to join their comrades. Malorn made sure to tell Ambrose before he left about getting a ton of extra credit for this, and the old man wryly mentioned that he'd consider the proposal.
Once they were out of eyesight and the refugees were far enough away for her tastes, Victoria decided to speak her mind. "It's the same person, isn't it?" Her voice was a whisper, pulling the warming blanket tightly against her. "The man who attacked Fate and Ty. The person at Unicorn Way."
Ambrose seemed to regard it for the moment, then breathed out a heavy sigh. "The scope of this incident was much too large for a single individual. Whoever we are dealing with, they are not alone." He paused for a moment, and all four of them looked out over the snow covered neighborhood in silence, a cold breeze blowing through and filling the quiet. Then at length, he turned around and began heading back towards the gate. "We have an idea, though."
"Who?" Tala asked skeptically.
"In private, my child." He continued. "Meet in my office tomorrow morning. We'll discuss everything then."
—o—o—o—o—o—
"Puddle. Look, look at it. Puddle ."
The guard present, leaning against the stone wall and clutching a spear in his hand, raised his eyes from his short nap at that sound.
He looked to the cell in front of him, where a ragged, moth eaten old man lay propped up against the far wall, reciting the words over and over again as he stared into a puddle near the guard's feet. His hands were shackled together by a series of cuffs, mystical looking jewels planted within them for some purpose unknown to him. All he knew was that they were probably needed to hold this guy back, for whatever he'd done.
Briskbreeze Prison wasn't known for its minor offenders.
"Puddle. Please look. The puddle."
"Yes, it's a puddle! Filthy old man." The guard finally raised his voice in exasperation, scoffing at the prisoner. "What? What do you want? Do you want to get wet?"
There was silence for two seconds, and a disconcerting grin split the old man's face. Then, his head tilted to the side ever so slightly, like a child curiously pondering on something. His voice was innocent, or as close to it as it could be.
"Do you?"
The man didn't have time to even raise an eyebrow before a watery hand burst forth from the puddle, grabbing his leg, then splitting and traveling up his body. The water continued pouring out from the puddle, slowly but surely submerging the guard amidst his muffled, drowned screams to let him go. Eventually, the water completely enveloped him. The sudden onset of the attack hadn't allowed him to catch an effective breath, and his body lost consciousness within a half minute.
Then, the body of water began to take form. Arms descended further into fingers. Its torso constricted from an irregular glob into a streamlined tail, twirling like a whirlpool presumably to keep it standing. Its head gained a pair of glowing purple eyes.
The old man maintained his crazed smirk as he stared upon the storm elemental. Then, he shrugged. "Eh, I tried to warn him."
Even though it lacked a mouth, a voice still projected from its rounded head. It sounded waterlogged, but was still clearly female. "How did you know?" Its body opened up to discharge the guard, armor and all clattering to the ground, unmoving.
"Really now?" The elder quirked an eyebrow, and his face became more sardonic. "A puddle on Colossus Boulevard? Who did you think you were fooling?" He could almost hear a huff from the minion. His eyes narrowed and his voice became more serious, wary. "But more importantly, what does a witch want with someone like me?"
"I have no idea. I've just been…asked by my employer to offer you a deal." His face showed some interest, but she planned to continue regardless. "One job in exchange for your freedom."
"And if I refuse?"
"We leave you here to rot." He began to chuckle at her answer, hoarse and raspy, until it devolved into a series of coughs. Once he had returned to a normal state, she asked. "So, do you accept?"
Dworgyn's smirk returned.
"Alright. I'll play along."