Rasmus covered his face as he was pummeled by the torrent of sleet and snow. He was almost knocked off his feet, but a heavy gauntlet managed to grab his arm, yanking him till he smashed into Sylgja's side. The paladin stood her ground against the tempest but even she was slowly losing ground. The mage spotted Vetta out of the corner of his eye. She too was being battered by the ice storm and would have been swept up in it except her tail was wrapped up on a heavy piece of furniture.
Then as suddenly as it began, the storm stopped.
"Such paltry parlour tricks,"yawned a familiar voice. "I expected so much better from someone of your vaunted reputation."
Sylgja used the break from the storm to scurry for cover behind the door, dragging Rasmus painfully behind like a rag doll. The mage however managed to sneak a peak around the paladin into the remains of his laboratory and was puzzled at what he saw.
On the far side of the room next to the corridor to the other student's dormitories stood Reinhardt, the Pale man, or whatever he was called. He was naked except for his makeshift kilt as ice crystals seemed to orbit his body in a protective pattern. His brow was furrowed as he spoke some arcane words and launched a jet of ice from his hands towards the fog filled entrance.
The ice however dissipated with a wave of the hand of what appeared to be an…. elf? She was a comely creature with long flame red hair. She wore a veil, and adorned herself with flowing crimson cloths and silks which both hid and accentuated her beauty. With her large expressive eyes, high cheek bones, and flawless pale skin, her beauty was blindingly inhuman.
"I said, I tire of your paltry tricks," said the elf with the same familiar voice.
Rasmus stood stunned. Vandia? The elf spoke with Vandia's voice. It was an unmistakable blend of a cool babbling brook, a warm spring breeze, and a sweet summer dew. How could this be? Was she always an elf using magic to appear human or was she cursed into this form.
"Ahh, I see my ward has returned," smiled the elf as her white eyes flashed and locked onto the mages. Thoughts of forbidden delights and vulgar tortures shackled his mind. Despite her overwhelming beauty, Rasmus was frozen in terror from her gaze.
"He is not yours he is mine," said Reinhardt seemingly unaffected by Vandia's gaze."Leave at this moment, and I will spare you a lesson in pain you will never forget."
Vandia threw her head back and laughed. "Oh…the mighty Reyzenhart the conqueror of Phlegethos, exiled General of Stygia, the Gelugon that has defeated Vilehorn the firelord, Naome the corrupter, Amon wolfheaded, Oberon the fallen, and countless others, I should be terrified when threatened by one such as he," she said with her hand at her forehead and her eyes fluttering. Her emotion then turned dark and menacing,"Oh please. I would fear Cocytus of the Great Tomb before I fear a second tier Ice Devil such as you. Your reputation is all you have, and when I kill you, your reputation will be my reputation."
With that she began to chant and a hundred swords descended upon Reinhardt. The Pale man held his grown though and simply shouted a single arcane rune which sent the swords fading away harmlessly.
The elven woman grinned from ear to ear. "Oooohh….Gelugons can't do that. At least not normal ones, perhaps you are more interesting than you appear."
Reinhardt appeared unmoved by her acknowledgement. "One last warning, leave now or suffer the consequences. You will find that my reputation is not undeserved."
Vandia licked her lips in a profane manner with a long tongue. It was base, vulgar, but it somehow fascinated the still frozen Rasmus. At least until Sylgja jolted him back to his senses with a heavy armoured elbow to the gut.
"Come now, oh great Reyzenhart. My earlier provocations were merely…a test. I'm sure we can come to some form of agreement amicable to an exiled General of Baator be it treasure, souls, magic, or perhaps even myself," offered Vandia as she slowly slid her long shapely leg out of her silks.
"Threating my ward is one thing, mocking me is another, " said Reinhardt. "But taking that particular visage is simply unforgiveable."
Vandia giggled. "Oh…does this provoke a reaction from you, perhaps …"
Before she could continue Reinhardt threw his spear like a bolt of lightning. If flashed across the room , slamming into the elf, and impaled her against the wall.
Still frozen, Rasmus felt relieved but that was short lived as Vandia roared like a wild beast.
The elf tore itself out of the wall with the spear still through her and charged Reinhardt like a great cat. The Pale man calmly stood his ground. He drew two daggers out of thin air and calmly sidestepped the elf's charge, and slashed twice into her back before dancing out of her reach. The elf spun around and somersaulted high in the air, surprising Reinhardt as she landed directly next to him. The Pale man attempted to shuffle backwards….and that was when things got really weird.
Rasmus wasn't sure what to expect. Perhaps Vandia would sprout wings or a tail like Vetta and catch Reinhardt by surprise. Or maybe she would grow more bestial like a werewolf or one of them feral vampires and simply knock the Pale man over with her fury. What he didn't expect was Vandia's back to suddenly boil and rupture, erupting into four molted blood covered tentacles, each ending with claws or teeth like an oversized lamprey.
Reinhardt didn't seem to expect this either. The Pale man impaled one tentacle with a dagger and severed it with the other, before both of his arms were caught by two of the tentacles, while his head was fully entwined by the last.
"Gaaaaagggghhh!" shouted the Pale man as the tentacle began to crush his head and even managed to burst open one of his eyes.
"Oooh, the screams of the defeated," panted Vandia as she drew close to the helpless Reinhardt. "I wonder how long I could prolong your suffering, before I can't stand it anymore and simply devour you."
Rasmus wanted to act. Magic curse or not, he could not let the fiend win. True, it was technically a fiend vs fiend battle, but Reinhardt was an alright guy, and Vandia…whatever she was it both repulsed and attracted him. Despite his conviction to help, he could not do a thing, literally. He was paralyzed with fear from this profane creature. Even Vetta, a half fiend seemed overpowered by Vandia's presence. The maid simply fell to the ground sobbing in both fear and shame as waves of overpowering darkness emanated from the profane creature.
Sylgja however…..was made of sterner stuff. The paladin charged the elf creature, channeling her holy energy into her blade. With a mighty smite she severed one of the tentacles holding Reinhardt's hand, before bashing the elf face first with her shield.
The attack however didn't seem to faze Vandia at all. She simply craned her head in an impossible angle and lunged at the Paladin with her mouth, stretching it in a manner that was physically impossible to do. Vandia's fangs grew overly large and for a second it appeared she would snap Sylgja's head off, but she turned her attention away from Reinhardt, which proved to be a costly mistake.
With his free hand the Pale man grabbed the tentacle entwining his head and tore it off. Before Rasmus' eyes, Reinhardt then grew eight times his size, sprouting heavy plates of chitin, terrible claws, and mandibles that dwarfed Vandia's.
Instead of attempting a head snap though, Reinhardt slammed his fist into the spear still impaling Vandia. The elf screeched as she flew across the room, even as Sylgja was roughly thrown to the side, but was yanked mid-flight as her remaining tentacle was still attached to the Gelugon's fist. The spear however flew through the elf's body but curved in the air and returned to Reinhardt's hand with a hum.
Before Vandia could fall to the ground, Reinhardt whipped her like a chain smashing her into a wall. Vandia attempted another storm of swords towards the giant stark white insect but it simply kliked and klaked and dispelled them once again.
"Look let's talk about this, if you prefer another form I'll take one," pleaded Vandia as she transformed into her more familiar form. A young maiden thin of waist, long of leg, high of breast, with a heart shaped face, piercing blue eyes and long curly blonde hair.
Every pleasant memory Rasmus had of Vandia was shattered. Those long talks, the thoughtful hugs, even the stolen kisses repulsed him as he saw her in her true form.
Sylgja stared at Vandia and took a step back when she realized she wasn't looking at a mirror. "Uggh, I'm not sure if I should feel flattered or unclean."
Vandia paused and looked at Sylgja before looking at Rasmus and then back to Sylgja again. "It appears I'm you darling, except I'm the more attractive version."
Sylgja took a step towards Vandia raising her blade but before she could strike her down Reinhardt stabbed Vandia through with his spear pinning her once again. The giant insect then gave a victory screech before its mandibles closed in to snip her head off.
"Stop! " cried Vetta. "Stop or I'll kill him."
Rasmus was still frozen but could feel a large clawed hand pricking at his throat.
"Vetta, what are you doing?" asked Sylgja as she took a step back, lowering her blade.
Reinhardt kliked and klaked angrily but in the end he yanked the spear out of Vandia and transformed back into his naked tiefling form. His normally grim visage looked especially dour given he was without an eye.
"Thank you Vetta," gasped Vandia. Despite her grevious wounds she scrambled on all fours and fled into the fog filled corridor.
With Vandia gone, Vetta fell to the ground and sobbed. Rasmus too was affected by her departure and suddenly pitched forward as his limbs were unfrozen.
"I'm going to find some clothes, secure her with this," said Reinhardt as he threw Sylgja some rope that he gathered from thin air. The paladin caught it easily and cautiously began to tie up the maid, careful of her fangs and claws.
Vetta was submissive though as she meekly let the Sylgja bind her.
"Why did you do that?" asked Rasmus softly. "You might have horns and wings, but you're different, you're not a monster like her."
Vetta could not look Rasmus in the eye. "I couldn't let the Ice Devil kill her. She's all I have. I could not let them kill my mother."
