Her master didn’t seem particularly concerned. He just pulled back his hand. The tar tried to hold on, but the shackles peeled it off as he withdrew.
The thing thrashed around on the ground, trying to escape. It ceased moving once Devon started up the summoning process.
More tar bubbled up out of the circle, forming up into a deep pool of the muck.
Eva tore her eyes away from the summoning circle. She could hear a faint beating of wings.
No matter where she looked, she couldn’t discern the source.
It was everywhere.
Or all in her mind.
She shook her head just as a smell reached her nose. And that was all it was. A smell.
It wasn’t pleasant. It wasn’t unpleasant.
Eva glanced back towards the summoning circle.
Eva took five steps back. She forced herself not to flee from the room entirely.
Every time she thought she pinned down exactly what she was seeing inside the summoning circle, the thought escaped and it changed. It twisted in on itself, outside becoming inside before becoming the outside again.
Looking at it hurt. Not the same headache as the ruax.
It hurt because it couldn’t be. Eva could see parts of it that she was certain were covered up by other parts. She wasn’t seeing through it, simply following the contours of the body led to points hidden behind itself.
Eva turned away. Her master let out a soft chuckle.
“W-what is it?”
“You don’t want to know.”
Eva frowned. She considered protesting. With a shake of her head, she decided her master was right. She didn’t want to know.
Devon raised his arm to start dominating the… the thing.
It slammed into the shackles. A flickering wall of transparent green sprouted at the primary shackle line.
The wall of green shattered.
Eva gasped as the thing bounded into a second shackle wall. Both vials of Arachne’s blood shattered as she got the blood ready for her claw attack.
Just as she started to plunge her hands into the wireframe ball of blood, the creature ceased moving. It turned towards Devon and just waited.
Eva held her hands right at the edge of the ball, waiting.
Devon broke the shackles and stepped right next to the thing. With his bare hand, he scooped some of the stuff black tar that dripped from it into the bag and sealed it shut with a twitch of his rings.
Eva wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. The thing broke through shackles. She couldn’t let it out of her sight. “Is it safe?”
“Safe enough. I’ll be sending it back in half an hour. The other two can stay.”
“Half an hour? The nuns might not be here for hours or days. Maybe even weeks.”
Devon looked over with a frown on his face.
“Don’t frown at me,” Eva said with crossed arms. “I clearly stated so as I was explain–”
“They’re here!”
Eva turned to find Nel standing in the doorway. She almost thrust her claw into the wire ball of blood on pure reflex.
It turns out, she needed to do nothing at all. Nel collapsed on the floor, clutching her forehead. Eva caught a glimpse of a glowing-white eye on her neck pinch itself shut and squirm beneath her robes.
“Oh. Right.” Devon had a deep frown on his face. All the demons, save for the waxy ruax, had moved towards Nel. “I told them that anyone in robes was an enemy. Should be fixed now.”
Eva shook her head as she walked over to the former nun.
“Wh-wha–”
“Don’t worry. They’re here to help protect you.”
Nel glanced up, but winced away. The glow in her eyes died out and she tried again. “That’s not any better.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Forget all that,” Devon said as he walked up. He at least had the good sense to leave the demons behind. “They’re here?”
“Thirty members of the inquisition alongside two high-inquisitors. There might be more coming. I left to tell Eva because I didn’t want my spine taken out.”
Devon glanced down. Eva gave him a shrug.
“Where at, girl?”
“South side of the prison, on the other side of the wall next to the big building. They’re trying to break the wards.”
“How long can your wards hold up?”
Eva gave another shrug. “Never had anyone attack them before.”
“Let’s assume about thirty seconds then.”
Giving a short harrumph, Eva crossed her arms. She didn’t disagree, however. That was something she
“So,” Eva said, “what’s the plan?”
Zoe Worries
“…a whole army outside the front doors!”
“At least a thousand of them.”
“I bet it has something to do with the girl with the eyes.”
“She isn’t even here!”
“Exactly.”
Zoe shot a silencing glare at the group of students in her class. It wouldn’t help at all, but she at least made the effort to keep her charges under control. Rumors were already spreading from the students who had caught a glimpse outside to the ones who hadn’t.
Like all rumors, they were slowly being blown out of proportion.
Zoe doubted that there were more than a hundred of the creatures, exactly zero of them were the size of the school building, and ‘that little girl from Professor Baxter’s class’ most certainly did not rush out and suplex one.
