Sinegard Academy for the Wayward

[milkmaiden38]

Van

The fog was not a problem, he just created 20 Vans with more illusion that looked like his current displacement, and then hid his real displacement with the illusion of fog. With confidence Van went about preparing his last banishment spell.

The eyes of massive nightmare thing with four arms, gleamed with malevolence. It swung it axe right at the real Van.

“OH SHIT” Van gasp and dodged, but it was not enough. The blade hatched into his chest and he crumbled to the ground. “That thing must have true sight” He gasped as blood poured out of his chest wound.

With a sinister grin, the demon thing came right at Van to finish what it had started. Van tried to get up but he staggered and was disoriented.

“Kill the tiefling!” The Chain Acolyte shouted as encouragement. The wounds caused by M'Kael already healing up.

Then out of the mist emerged Callo in full dragon might and rage. She landed on the four armed demon, her claws sinking deep into its body. The monster fell backwards

“FEEL THE POWER OF A DRAGON” Callo screamed as she twisted and tore two limbs from demon’s body. The screams of anguish from the demon were earsplitting.

Angus was there too. He had ridden on Callo’s back and now his axe hatched at the Chain Acolyte. He cropped one of the chains it swung about in half. His axe slammed into the side of its head. But the Acolyte was not phased. It backhanded Angus like he weighted nothing. The Minotaur went tumbling back into the mist.

“NOW YOU WILL DIE TIEFLING” It screamed heading toward Van

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

M'Kael:
Grappling with the chain Acolyte M’Kael pulled it to the ground, shadow lades appearing in his hands as he stabbed at it’s writhing body, ripping chunks from the bleeding mass as they sank into the shadows.

Running from the treeline a massive swath of shadow imps dived into the ground where M’Kael and the Acolyte had vanished and then came the screams of pain from the acolyte.

Echoing through the forest they were even more haunting by the fact that no throat was causing them, instead it was just a gurgling chunk of shredded meat and shadow.

Minutes passed before M’Kael rose up from the shadows, crawling out like some primordial ooze beast. Covered in a thousand cuts he collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily.​

 

[milkmaiden38]

Callo

Callo had not let up. She tore off the last two of the creature’s arms, and then bit off its head. Covered in the creature’s blood, Callo was happy

Angus

Angus could not see much with the thick fog everywhere. He got on his hooves, when he saw a red-fiery glow where Van had been. Then the red glow was gone.

As the last Acolyte died, and its screams ended. The fog lifted and the toxic gas was gone. Angus looked for Van. The Tiefling was gone. He was nowhere to be seen. As Angus searched, he found a LOTS of blood and an impression of where his body had been in the grass. But there was no body.

M'Kael assisted by Callo joined him. Angus just shook his head.

“I think Van is dead. I think his father recovered his body. But look at all this blood. This amount is fatal.” Angus pointed out

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

“I think the Dark Priest, or The Engineer, or whatever his name is. I think he’s picking us off one by one. Divide and conquer is an old military tactic. And it’s working.”

“I’m hoping I’m wrong and maybe Van went to heal and his father’s helping him. But I think we need to check in on the others. You guys get to Gem, I’ll get Magdalena and meet you there. Oh, wait, did you find Ravyn?”​

 

[milkmaiden38]

Angus and Callo

“No” Angus replied to M’Kael’s question about finding Ravyn.

Then Callo flew the Minotaur back to the professor’s house. Gem was there to meet them.

“We might have lost Isabeau and Van. We were attacked by some acolytes/demons.” Angus reported.

“M’Kael thinks we were attacked because we separated.” Callo added

“Oh, crap, I made that suggestion.” Gem gasped in horror.

“We searched a lot of places, but not Gym D. There were inquisitor guards there.“ Angus informed Gem.

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Appearing next to Magdalena M’Kael knelt n the floor and examined her before turning his attention to the shelves and the books. She’d been frozen solid, the ice covering the books was an inch thick and would take days to melt.

Grabbing her spear he tried to remove it from her grip but her hand was frozen the mystic weapon. Maybe when she had some time to thaw?

He could feel the shadows shift as someone entered the library their feet never touching the floor, but their shadow slide across the floor like a spectre. The Sunfire spell exploded above him, trapping him without shadows.

Shoving a bookcase he caused a dozen books to fall, creating shadows and he vanished, running through the shadow realm before sliding out and appearing underneath a truck.

“Fuck me,” he sighed as the armour on his hands slowly regrew. The spell had burned him like a vampire and holy water.

Dropping into the Shadow Realm M’Kael headed for the rest of the group’s most likely location. He really should have asked were they were. But they were supposed to be checking the gym building, so he went there first. Once there he slipped into the material realm and walked the hallways looking for the group.​

 

[milkmaiden38]

Demon Attack

Dretches are among the weakest of demons. They are repulsive, self-loathing creatures doomed to spend eternity in a state of perpetual discontent. They have low intelligence, so they are unsuitable for anything but the simplest of tasks. However, what they lack in potential, they make up for in sheer malice. Dretches attack in mobs.

Angus, Gem, Callo had made it to Gym D, they stood at an intersection of two hallways when they heard the unsettling sound of 100’s of hoots, snarls, and grunts.

“Where is that noise coming from?” Angus asked trying to figure out the origin of the sounds.

“All around us!” Gem gasped, realizing that there were four hallways to defend and only three of them.

“This way” Callo said as she pulled Gem down the south passageway.

“You two guard the south, I’ll cover the north” Angus said as he prepared to start swinging his axe. The passageways were too small for Callo to take dragon form. She had to fight them in her human form.

Here they come!” Gem yelled as hundreds of dretches swarmed the south and north passageways. Gem launched a fireball at the approaching demons. The explosion was impressive! It killed all the dretches in the 40-foot blast. But that did not stop the ones behind. Callo had her sword out and cut down the ones that reached her. However, dretches produced a disgusting green gas cloud which is poisonous and smelled horrible.

“Oh God… the smell” Gem gasped

Angus fought through the bad smell, hatching heads and arms off any approaching demon. But the green gas cloud grew thicker and the visibility grew worse.

“I can’t see” Angus warned fearful a dretch would get past him.

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Knocked off his feet by the blast, even though he wasn’t in the building, M’Kael jumped up and smiled. “That’s got to be them,” he said as he started running.

Running up to the building he flickered from the shadows outside to the shadows inside in a blink of an eye. Shadowstepping was so much faster than picking locks.

Pulling the shadows to him he made armour that was full plate metal with a tower shield and a shadow blade that ignored the material realm.

Running headlong down the hallways he rounded a corner nad slammed into the dretches before the smell hit him like a brick sewer pit.

He’d smelled nasty before – including decomposing bodies – but this was the stuff of childhood nightmares. It smelled like all these things had shit themselves and then bathed in it. Then eaten that shit and farted the double digested shit.

Shifting into the shadowlands he cleared his lungs before taking a deep breath and shifting back, hacking at the foul smelling creatures before slipping back to the shadowlands and repeating the process over and over.

In the distance he could hear Angus and Gem, but couldn’t make out what they were saying.

Flicking through the shadows he pulled each of the three of them into the shadowlands and away from the stinking beasts.

“What the ever living fuck are those things?” he asked looking at Angus, Gem, and Callo.​

 

[milkmaiden38]

Angus, Callo, and Gem

“Your last girlfriend” Angus joked as he tried to clear his lungs.

“M’Kael, you really need to be a bit more choosey” Gem added.

“Let’s stop making jokes and try staying alive” Callo suggested

“Ok” Gem agreed getting more serious. “Let’s finish exploring Gym D. Let’s stay together. If we don’t find anything, we’ll go back to the pocket dimension and figure out our next step”

“Sounds good. M’Kael any luck with Magdalena?” Angus asked

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

“Shouldn’t talk about your mom that way Angus,” M’Kael quipped. “I found her in the Library. She’s frozen solid. Looked like a ice blizzard hit the place. Ice and frost everywhere. Maybe a resurrection spell could save her. Or a Wish.”

“Where's that summoner at anyways? I lost track of him after Ravyn got taken.” He asked as the shadows swallowed them all and moments later they were in the Gym D building. “Hmm.. an office. I was aiming for hallway, but this is just as good.”​

 

[milkmaiden38]

Angus, Callo, M’Kael, and Gem,

“Wait, we can’t just leave Magdalena!” Angus gasped “We need to try and rescue her”

“It would be helpful, she is our best fighter” Callo pointed out

“Hey?” Angus objected, then laughed “Yes, she is our best fighter.”

“Ok, hang on everyone” Gem said and everyone disappeared. A second later they reappeared in the library. The place was covered in snow and ice. Everyone’s breath produced little clouds in the heavy, chilled air.

The library had rows of towering shelves that stretched towards the ceiling. All of them now white with small snow drifts on the floors at their base. In the center of the library, stood Magdalena illuminated by a shaft of light from a skylight above. She was frozen, both literally and metaphorically, in the midst of a moment of battle. Encased in a shell of ice.

“By the gods!” Angus gasped. Shocked to see such a powerful person stopped.

Gem cast a protection spell. “That should prevent any bight light spells” she told M’Kael and Callo

Angus head over to Magdalena.

“Stand back” Gem warned him. She grabbed her staff with both hands and spoke the magical command words. A red glow appeared around Magdalena. The ice melted away as color returned to Magdalena skin. However, Magdalena did not move.

“Did it work?” Angus asked, ready to catch Magdalena if she started to fall.

“Give it a minute” Gem said.

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

“If you touch me I’ll kick you in the bullocks,” Magdalena warned menacingly as her fingers started to flack. “While you’re sleeping.”

Straightening up slowly her spine could be heard making noises. “Fucking spellcasters!”

Once straightened she rolled her neck and fingers and toes slowly. “What’s our status?” she asked leaning on her spear.​

 

[milkmaiden38]

Gem

“Not good” Gem said with sadness in her voice. “When we starting looking for Ravyn, separately, the smaller teams were attacked. We have lost Isabeau and Van. Not sure they are dead, but they are not with us. M’Kael, you, Angus, Callo have all been attacked. We have not found Ravyn. Do you need the details on which demon attacked us?” Gem asked “Only big area we have not checked is Gym D.”

“I’m not sure what to do next” Gem added

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

“No, it doesn’t matter which demons attacked you. The Engineer is powerful. He can probably call upon a named one, or even one of the Princes of hell. I’m not sure.” Magdalena replied.

“Lets investigate the last Gym and see what’s there. After some healing spells for those that need them and some fresh equipment."​

 

[milkmaiden38]

Gem

Gem cast a massive healing spell. Then she teleported everyone back to the office inside Gym D which M’Kael had found.

“Ok, stay together, Magdalena and Angus… you’re in front, then M’Kael and Myself next and finally Callo as rear guard.” Gem ordered. Everyone formed up and Angus opened the office door.

They stood in a hallway with a sign pointing to the location of the various sport area. Basketball, racquetball, handball, and squash courts. Another arrow pointed to a Free Weight, Archery and combat spell rooms.

“Let go to the smaller rooms first” Gem suggested. They the arrow to the Free Weight Room, Archery Room and combat spell rooms

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Moving forwards, Magdalena’s switched from her spear to her Katana and Wakizashi for close quarters hallway and room fighting.

Shadows deepened in the hallways as M’Kael flexed his will shrouding the lights as he moved, almost in the shadow-realm, but still in the material he looked like some sort of shadow/ghost making it hard to see him unless focusing and looking straight at him.

As each room was cleared M’Kael clawed the door marking it before moving forwards to the next.

With the smaller rooms cleared, and no obvious signs of life M’Kael looked at the group. “Where is everyone? Like Teachers, staff, students? I haven’t heard an announcement to leave campus, nor seen anyone leaving. Did a text message go out? An Email? Wouldn’t we have heard something?”​

 

[milkmaiden38]

Demon Basketball

“I think the dragon attack scared everyone off” Gem suggested

“Also, the inquisition took this gym over. No students allow” Angus explained

They rounded the corner and stood in front of the basketball court double doors. Gem looked through the small windows in the doors.

“Looks empty” She reported.

“We still need to go in there to get to the other side” Angus said

Gem opened the door slowly. Nothing happened. They all entered and started to walk across the court. In the middle of the court, they started to hear the buzzing sound. A horrid droning sound that seemed all around them.

“ABOVE US” Angus yelled. There were 50 or more loathsome demon that resembled an unspeakable crossing of humanoid and fly.

“Chasmes” Callo said as the creatures’ shuffles about on four spindly legs. Then they all took off and flew down to attack everyone. A droning sound that preceded the attack inflicted a terrible lethargy on everyone. Gem actual fell to the ground, asleep from the noise. Luckily, Callo and Angus were able to fight off the sleepiness.

As they came in the sting Angus, his great axe sliced the first one in half. He removed the awful head of the second with the back swing of his axe. The head hit the backboard and went through the net.

“3 points” Angus called out to M’Kael on his total lucky head shot.

Callo did not have time to shift into her dragon form, so she fought with her weapons in human form. Stabbing one Chasse and chopping off another’s wings.

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

“Holy shit,” M’Kael screamed as he flickered from one shadow to another.

“Language,” Magdalena scowled as she separated the limbs from one of the creatures from it’s body, her blades glowing with holy righteousness.

Drawn to her Holy Goodness the Chasmes swarmed her. Moving with profound grce she kept up her attack on the creatures as she dodged their blows, taking some glancing wounds. But even a death from a thousand cuts would still be a death.

The gym darkened as chittering sounds spilled forth and then a torrent of shades joined the fight attacking the Chasmes.

Black blades sucked in the light as M’Kael waded into the fray, his blades shearing away limbs. Striking one through the abdomen he watched as green goo poured out and the beast deflated as if it was hallow, the smell of rottoning corpses filling the air.

“Fuck me, they reek.”​

 

[milkmaiden38]

Angus, Callo, and Gem

“More of your ex-girlfriends, M’Kael?” Angus joked as the shades poured into the gym. But this was not a joking matter. The situation looked bad!

“ARGGG” Callo yelled as a Chasmes strung her in the back. Angus’s axe swung in and cut the creature’s stinger in half. Then one of his fists smashed what remained of its head. Crushing its skull. The body of the dead demon landed on top of Gem. This was enough to wake her from the magical sleep.

As her eyes opened, she saw the shades coming in to overwhelm them. She cast Incendiary Cloud. A swirling cloud of smoke shot and white-hot embers appeared in a 20-foot-radius around them. The wall of smoke and embers was so hot any shade entering it was incinerated. It was a good idea, except the gym floor was made of wood!

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

“Yep, your sister, your aunt and your grandmoother,” M’Kael quipped as the gym burst into flames.

“Gem, who’s side are you on?” M’Kael yelled as he started coughing. With the floor on fire the place was getting hot fast so he started moving backwards, throwing the Chasme into the flames as he moved, fighting when he had too. Unlike Magdalena he didn’t have professional sword training so he was more of a random opponent.

Dropping her blades, which vanished when the hit the floor and reappeared in her scabbards, Magdalena pulled her spear and started fight with that, a spinning whirlwind of Death and dismembered parts as she sliced and stabbed.

"And at least I've had more experience at fucking than you have.. newbie."​

 

[milkmaiden38]

Gem

“EVERYONE IS A CRITIC!” Gem screamed. Suddenly a massive wall of water sprang into existence on the ceiling. It was huge! It came crashing down. Killing most of the shades and chasmes. It also put out the Incendiary Cloud, but not before there was a explosion of steam caused by the white hot embers striking the cool water. The wall had a “hole” above them so they were not struck by the Tsunami. However, as the water hit the floor, it turned into a wave which smashed into them.

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Washed up against a wall and a dozen bodies. M’Kael pushed himself clear and climbed to his feet. “You picked him, so don’t bitch at me if you don’t get enough,” M’Kael retorted as he spat water.

Magdalena limped over to the group from her own pileup under the bleachers. “You really need to learn control.” She complained as she cracked her spine. “But it could have been worse, I suppose.”

Watching the water she frowned. “Does this building have a basement? Or any of the gyms?”​

 

[milkmaiden38]

Gem

“I’m not sure. If there is a basement, it is not open to students. M’Kael can you do your shadow thing and check for one?” Gem asked. She looked at the mess she had made of the gym.

“A little too much damage for a mend spell. Let me at least get rid of the water.” She said then she used a stone shape spell to open a hole in the side of the gym allowing the water to rush out.

“Unlike the other, I thank you for the help” Angus commented as he pulled the remaining part of the stringer out of Callo back. “Callo will need a healing spell”

Gem cast mass healing on everyone to include the shadow dragon.

“That is better” Callo commented.

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Walking under the bleachers M’Kael vanished into the shadows as Magdalena took stock of the Gym. “I’m grateful for saving our lives, but couldn’t you use smaller area destroying spells? Light Chain Lightening or Bug repellent or something?” She said wringing out the edges of her charred cloak as she made squishing sounds in her boots as she walked.

Kneeling she held her spear as she glowed, her eyes closed in prayer. M’Kael returned as she was still praying. Keeping a descent distance from her he walked over to the others. “The Inquisition isn’t going to be able to help us, or hinder us…” he said cryptically.

**

Opening the doors to the basement M’Kael showed them what he’d found. Originally it had been an indoor raquetball court, Then a barracks for the Inquisition. Now it was a butchers shop.

Blood, bodies, and bits of bodies were everywhere. Arms were spiked to walls by quills. Helmets were melted by spells. No piece of meat was bigger than a dozen pounds. Most were just bits of unrecognizable gore and goo.

The Heads were all piled in the center like a profane offering. Holes in the walls and floors showed were the soldiers had unleashed the fury of their weapons. But it had been useless.​

 

[milkmaiden38]

Gem's plan "C"

“Damn” Gem mumbled

“Well, if you wonder why these assholes need to be stopped. This some good evidence.” Angus commented looking at the skulls.

“What do we do now?” Callo asked.

“If we can't find Ravyn… then maybe we need Nail face to find us?” Gem suggested.

“How do we do that?” Angus asked.

“We summon our own hell destroying creature… and he'll come to stop us” Gem said. “M’Kael, Callo… any thoughts? Surely, the Raven Queen, has something we can use” Gem suggested