Group C: Dylan, Amy, Lucien, Xandra, Lute

"Get a hold of yourself!"

Dylan turned his eyes towards Amy, shocked by her words. Why wouldn’t she just let him be? He wasn’t risking them, they were still free to go and fight or run of whatever it was they would choose to do. They could just leave him alone and then maybe it will all be over. Maybe he’d wake up back in Thaum, or back home in his bed, never having left at all. Or maybe he wouldn’t wake up at all...

“Get up! Come on! Don’t give up now!” the new one said - Lute was it? - and Dylan numbly let the man pull him up to his feet. He didn’t know why the man cared so much, but if they wanted him to run then he could do that. Lucy was pulling him along, dragging him along towards a tower that loomed in the distance.

It was just as eerie as the rest of the nightmare land, and Dylan wasn’t sure why they needed to go there, but just having a purpose broke something inside of him. The apathy that had been drowning him shattered, and he ran. He ran with everything he had in him, stopping only to help pull the others forward over debris when they stumbled.

Dylan did not speak a single word the entire way, but when Lucy nearly fell he caught the summoner and met his gaze. In that one glance he tried to show Lucy everything that he felt - his sorrow, his shame, and his regret - then he took the man by the arm and pulled him towards the Tower.

The Tower that might be their only salvation from the enemies on their heels.

Group B
Syed paled at the sight of their adversaries. The skeleton was one thing, but the firon?! The firon which killed Largo, one of the best A-rank Guilders he had ever known?!

He was so horrified by the sight that he barely even felt Aria's nails digging a little into his arm as she too looked on in dismay. Nonetheless he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze with his free hand... although he was pretty sure they were going to die anyway. Where the hell were they even supposed to run?!


Even Moira's eyes contracted, although not with her usual anger. These... these were foes she had faced before. The skeleton she couldn't even damage, and the firon... they were so outmatched that even attempting to distract them to allow the others to run would be pointless. What could they do? Fighting is what she did! She didn't know what else there was!

Right on cue, Atlas pointed out some gods damned glowing tower. Syed tore his eyes away from the monstrosities for a split second to glance towards it. He was instantly a little suspicious of how Atlas seemed to know instinctively where to go, but-

Moira gave out a warning shout, and suddenly a massive column of flames erupted from the Mother Firon's maw, causing everyone to have to leap out of the way. The skeleton also moved to attack.

Syed certainly wasn't going to hang about to find out what it was. "Come on!" he shouted in agreement, grabbing a hold of Lisette's hand and pulling her forward. He only stopped when his bond pulled taught, causing him to stumble a little and let go of Lisette again. "Moira!"

Moira didn't move, flames roaring around her from where the ground caught fire, her hair whipping around her. There was nothing she could do. She could see the skeleton raising it's arm, the bones whirlwinding around it... "MOIRA!!!" Syed shouted again, pulling at her with their curse. What could she do? This was beyond her.

Moira sucked through her teeth and took a step backwards, before running after the others. Just as long as her lack of speed didn't hold them back...

Thaum: Group A

It was incredibly fortunate that Marcus was there, as not only did Selan know she wouldn't be able to keep up with them on her own, but he was also able to talk Estelle out of trying to fight him. There was no doubt that Estelle had improved her swordsmanship since Tabul, but something told her that a fake Gaoh Capuello probably wouldn't act the way they would expect. The rules seemed to be different here.

As she felt the agility spell wash over her, she turned to run after Marcus and Estelle. But first she paused to look towards Don, to make sure he wasn't thinking of fighting Gaoh Capuello either. Even if it was just an illusion of some sort, the sight of his father had to be hard on him--

"Donaaah!...!!"

Don scooped Selan up by her waist and placed her over his shoulder, and perched Trixie on his other. "RUUUUUUUNNNN!" he screamed, dashing with long strides after Estelle and Marcus.

Selan was facing the other way, and could see exactly who and what they were running from. She saw the white-hot energy collecting in his cannon before it eventually released, and her vision was filled with a white light as they turned into an alleyway just before the beam shot across the street. When the light faded, there was nothing left but black and gry ash.

They could hear Gaoh's laughter following after them, but they continued to run as quickly as they could. Even with Marcus's spell enhancing their speed, it seemed like he was always just around the corner, grinning smugly and holding his cannon in the air.

"He's going to shoot again!" Selan cried, batting at Don's back to get his attention. The barrel of Gaoh's arm cannon was glowing white again.

---

Thaum: Group B

Lisette looked fearful at the sight of the foes that surrounded them. A giant skeleton and an incredibly large and powerful-looking Firon...

"That place is our best bet," Atlas said, appearing in front of them. "Don't look back!"

"Let's go every... Aaahh!!" Lisette screamed and sidestepped the Firon's attack, dodging the flames but still feeling the blazing heat against her skin. Kapi curled up in her arms in fright.

She was all too relieved when it turned out there was no plan of attempting to fight them off, as Syed grabbed her hand and pulled her to follow after Atlas. They ran for a short while when something yanked Syed back, causing him to let go of her hand.

She stopped and looked back and saw Moira still standing in the same spot, surrounded by flames, and seemingly transfixed at the sight of the monsters. Syed shouted her name, and Lisette waited, refusing to leave without them. Much farther ahead, Aria and Atlas were still racing toward the tower.

Thankfully, Moira turned towards them and began to jog forward, and Lisette, the faster of the three, was running nearly backwards to make sure they were keeping up. She had her bow drawn as well; she didn't want to waste arrows, but the least she could do was be prepared.

Thaum: Group C

They ran deeper and deeper into the unknown, their eyes fixed on the ominous tower in the distance.

"Thanks Dylan--" before he could say more he was given an odd look and yanked forward. "Hey, hey, are you okay?"

The monsters behind them were catching up, but they didn't dare stop. The purple fog that hung low had slowly began to ebb away, and the Pride found themselves back in Thaum. The tower appeared closer but seemed unreachable at the same time. The city had been turned into a maze, some houses were upside down, some were gone completely, and one of the buildings had turned into a giant tortoise.

"This is crazy..." If she saw any more of this, she would lose it. The giant tortoise began to cross the street and Xan stopped dead in her tracks, gaping at the insanity that was unfolding before them. "Tortoise house."

"That's," Lucien looked up at the giant thing, "amazing."

The sound of angry snarls grew closer and the summoner quickly looked over his shoulder, both the bearon and giant spider were charging towards them with maddening speed, Oren, was a little farther behind. "Okay, no time to sight see!" He placed both hands on the metallurgist's shoulders and began pushing her forward. "If we don't get torn to shreds, we'll have one heck of a story to tell our future grand kids." Lucien motioned for them to run, but the floating staircases, sharp turns and overall twisted layout made it horribly hard to navigate, let alone not crash into a twisted house or giant pumpkin.

Xan snapped out of whatever daze she was in and began to think. If they ran aimlessly, there was a good chance they'd get caught, or run into a dead end. Maybe they could evade it if they hid somewhere? Think, think, thinkthinkthink Her eyes flitted from building to building before landing on what looked like a dark toy store. "In there," she grabbed the person closest to her by the arm and took a sharp left. Xan waited for the others to run inside then slammed the door shut.

In her panicked state she quickly began pushing tables, chairs, and anything she could get her hands on in front of the now locked door. It was useless, but it didn't look like she would stop anytime soon. Even with a barricade, the bearon and spider would easily managed to break through. "Maybe...maybe they'll run past us." Another chair.

"Uh, guys?" Lucien sounded horrified.

"Maybe they won't notice," Xan continued propping things against the door, failing at trying to remain clear-headed and calm. It was happening all over again, that bear would burst into the room and everyone would get ripped to shreds again.

"Guys!" Lucien pointed at the display window.

Charging straight towards the glass was the bearon.

There was a crash as the mutated bear charged straight through the display window. Glass shards sprayed all over the room and the entire toy store shook when the animal tripped over a manikin and began knocking down shelves, one by one. In the distance, the giant spider and Oren approached.



Thaum: Group B

Atlas was running was fast his could, thoughts flying and lungs burning.

Every once in a while, a giant ball of fire would be chucked at them. Thank the gods, none of them had been roasted alive yet. "It shouldn't be much farther," he tried to sound confident. He knew Thaum like the back of his hand, but with the thick fog, he honestly didn't know if they were even heading in the right direction. To turn back would be suicide though, so the only thing they could do was run. He hated it, feeling so utterly powerless.

They ran and slowly the fog began to clear. He could make out the city's outline now. "We're in Thaum, west side." He informed. Despite the chocolate paved road and out of this world houses, he felt sure they were in the west side of Thaum. There was the gate (now made of giant pencils), the Sparrow's inn and the blacksmith's shop. The tower was a little deeper into the city, but the city itself was like a maze now.

There was an explosion and one of the wooden houses behind them was set ablaze. "That building over there!" He pointed at a rather normal looking place. "It's full of weapons, we can go in there or we can make a run for the tower." Little did they know, the swords and axes were nothing more than chocolate bars and candy canes now. "What's it going to be?" He was hopping from foot to foot, ready to flash step if need be.

There was a sickening crunch and before they knew it wood and glass were sent flying everywhere. The giant skeleton pulled its sword out from what was left of a house and slowly began to approach. Smoke filled the air, and Thaum began to burn.

Thaum: Group A

Another arc of white hot light barrelled down the street, pure energy ripping through and obliterating everything in its path. Estelle, Marcus and Don dashed to the side, ducking down an alleyway in the nick of time once again to avoid Gaoh’s relentless attack, but it wasn’t enough. Estelle’s eyes widened in horror as she realised it wasn’t stopping, and instead it continued, turning towards them and consuming the buildings they had taken as shelter as Gaoh shifted his arm in a slow but steady sweep.

“D-down!” Estelle shrieked, grabbing Marcus and Don’s arms and dragging them to the floor with her, just in time to avoid the arc of death searing overhead. She could feel the heat rupturing overhead, and it was pure luck that her, and the rest of her friends’ hair, hadn’t sparked on fire.

Eventually the Magitech Cannon’s blast dissipated of energy, leaving a cool, eerie silence behind. Poking her head up, Estelle stared in disbelief at the level of nothing that was left in Gaoh’s path. At the buildings still half standing, the sides of their walls and interiors smoothed out levelly from the edge of the attack. And in the distance, walking towards them with a snide grin, reloading his cannon with another Magisphere: Gaoh.

“This isn’t going to work,” Estelle said. “We can’t keep running, not when he can do this! We have to fight, we have to-”

“NO!” Marcus denied again. “We have to run, Estelle, it’s the only way!”

A terrific gust of wind gripped the Pride, and propelled their bodies into the air, moving at a diagonal direction inbetween horizontal and vertical. Estelle, Marcus, Selan and Don all landed on their feet one of the house’s rooftops, with Don catching the catatonic Trixie in his arms, still giving a wary glance back towards the relentlessly stalking Gaoh.

“See?” Marcus said, pointing ahead. Now that they were raised, above the violet fog, they could see the rest of the twisted, nightmarish Thaum around them, and in the distance, in two separate places across the town, on either side of the giant tower in Thaum’s centre… more chaos and devastation. More erupting fireballs of explosions, and the two monsters that could be seen as larger then the surrounding homes’ rooftops-

“A giant skeleton? How is that…?” Estelle gawped, and her hands began to shake as they focused on the next. “And that’s… what the hell is that?”

“Oren.” Marcus’ eyes narrowed, his teeth clenching shut tightly. Selan and Don followed their friends’ gaze, and they too were left speechless at the gigantic terror smothering the skyline in the distance.

“But… bro… didn’t…?” Don struggled to speak, but Marcus just shook his head, and another surge of emerald light filled the bodies of his friends, as Gaoh’s magitech cannon below reached full charge.

“We can’t fight. We simply can’t. We need to get to that tower.” Marcus looked to his friends. “As quickly as we can.”

There was an air of understanding, and the quartet dashed off, rushing along the rooftops as the buildings behind were vaporised into oblivion. Gaoh kept laughing.

Around them, however, Thaum was beginning to shift, and turn. The very environment itself seeking to oppose the Pride… and to kill them.

Thaum…?

Weapons? Aria thought over Atlas’ suggestion. Weapons could be handy, but…

“Weapons won’t be much use if we can’t get close to them, and we’ll only be weighed down!” As on cue, a building exploded behind them. “I think we should just focus on running.”

She looked back to where Moira, Syed and Lisette were. They were all still fortunately unharmed, but Moira seemed to be having trouble and was starting to lag behind. The skeleton swung down its sword, crushing a nearby building as its rubble rained down.

Gritting her teeth, Aria screeched to a halt and turned back to face the direction of where the Firon was rapidly approaching heir group. She didn’t like taking this risk, but the two monsters were gaining on them quickly and she had to at least try to slow them down.

“Keep running! I’m going to see if I can’t slow them down for a moment!”

As soon as the Firon was in range, she focused her efforts on erasing their group’s presence while replacing it with an illusion of them veering away and running towards the skeleton instead. Luckily for her, the illusion worked and the Firon bounded in the direction of the giant skeleton, pouncing at the illusion only to slam into the legs of skeleton that had raised its sword again, sending it toppling to the ground. It wouldn’t hold the two off for very long- Already the Firon was escaping the tangle of bones while the skeleton rattled angrily, but it would buy some valuable time for them. Breaking off the illusion, Aria sprinted after the others towards the dark tower in the distance, feeling relieved that her plan had worked.

Group C: Dylan, Amy, Lucien, Xandra, Lute

Why couldn’t they reach the Tower? Each way they turned - though they kept the Tower always in their sight - seemed to get them even more lost. The path rose and twisted as they moved, the landscape changing before their very eyes in a nightmarish vision. Suddenly, just when he was out of breath, Dylan came to a stop in front of a giant turtle house. “Oh, Aislin, this is just getting ridiculous.”

He didn’t have much of a chance to gawk, though, as Xan grabbed him by the arm and drug him into a building. It didn’t take her long to start barricading the door - a solid plan, Dylan thought - but Lucy shattered their moment of rest. “Damn it!” Dylan shouted as he grabbed Lucy and pulled him back from the rampaging bearon.

Casting his gaze around, he saw the door to the store room. “Follow me!” he yelled as he made a mad dash to the back room, throwing the door open and running past the stores of toys and stuffed animals. “Here!” He pointed at a window, before shoving it open and crawling through it. He dropped to the ground outside then turned to help the others through.

“We can’t hide,” he said, looking directly at Xan. “But it’s not a terrible idea.” He nodded his head towards the tower. “We can cut through the buildings - the doorways and walls will slow the bearon down, and hopefully hide us from the dragon beast.”

Group B
The two monsters were fast gaining on them. Moira's eyes widened as she tried to pick up the pace, but it really was no use. She was simply too slow. Lisette had drawn her bow back as she ran, but Moira could already feel the sheer heat of the Firon behind her...

“Keep running! I’m going to see if I can’t slow them down for a moment!”

The earth shook as the two titans collided, followed by an almighty rumble as the skeleton monster fell to the floor. It reached out as it fell towards the group, and Moira could do nothing but shout and grab Aria's arm as she passed her, dragging her out of the way. They both leapt at the last second, barely dodging the raining mass of bones which crashed down to the ground.

"Um, thanks for the save," Moira mumbled somewhat awkwardly as they picked themselves up and ran once more. The firon gave out a mighty howl which was a far, far too familar sound for both Moira and Syed.

The group quickly took advantage of the situation to run around a corner or two in a desperate attempt to give some distance. They had no real choice but to follow Atlas, as he was the only one who really knew the town. At least they could see the tower in the sky, so they knew they were always heading towards it.

So... why weren't they getting any closer?


"Atlas?!" Syed called out, eyeing up a shop he was sure he saw just a moment ago. There were a couple, but not in the same order he saw them in before. He didn't like this. He didn't like this at all. "Is it me or are... are the streets reshuffling?!"

Suddenly wires and pipes erupted from the ground before them, waving and snapping in the air like whips and battering rams. They were rediculously fast, even if they did seem to be anchored into the ground at one end - just before a house which shuddered and shook, it's windows rattling as viciously sharp teeth gnashed at it's doorway. Almost as if to prove a point it seized a hold of a rubbish bin in one of it's more flexiable, wire appendages, throwing it into it's 'mouth' where the thing was shredded to bits.

Syed started subconciously sparking up, and he doubled over and stumbled as he repressed the urge to retch as a result. How were they supposed to get past this?! He could hear the firon and the skeleton still rampaging behind them, destroying absolutely everything in their wake, and it was only a matter of time before they found them again...!

Group A

Even as the group took to the skies, Trixie remained unresponsive all the while. She muttered and murmured between breaths, begging for her allies' lives to be spared, but nothing else beyond comprehension. As the guilders continued hopping rooftops and making their way further towards the beacon of the tower, with each step the air noticeably began to thicken and thicken - not so much with density as with coloration. A deep purple hue, light and transparent at first, but slowly darkening, obscuring their view. The fog had followed to their heights.

Gaoh's laughter echoed from behind them, his distance indeterminate.

---

Group C

Amy could only watch with incredulous eyes as Xandra and the others took cover within what appeared to be a toy store. She followed as well, not wanting to split from the group any further than they already are. Instead of assisting with the door she kept watch outside the display window, though she quickly stepped away once Lucien approached it as well. It was useless. Not only could any of the three beasts break right in once they caught onto their stowaway, but in traveling in a group like this they definitely left hints of their smell, their very traceable scent at the disposal of their pursuants.

Once the Bearon burst through, Amy could only put up a small barrier before charging off after Dylan and breaking back out of the store. The invisible wall was shattered in seconds, but it provided a solid enough stall for the guilders to flee uninjured. "Hiding will get us killed," the cleric jeered once outside, eyes still on the toy store behind her. But the artist was right; it would hopefully be enough to slow down at least two of the big three as they progressed through the maze. What other choice did they have?

Just then, the region rumbled and roared. Amy clutched onto the wall closest to her. Had they been reached already??

Suddenly she found herself lifting skyward: the very sidewalks beneath their feet were platforms, separated between cracks. While some rose, others lowered, both varying in speed and suddenness, creating dishevelment. The roads beneath the airborne platforms remained flat and in tact, but the rising and sinking obstacles was initially jarring to say the least. Once Amy realized she had been nearly launched, she stood strong - and noticed, beyond the toy store from her height, the giant spider having been caught by one of the panels as well.

"Gods!" she called out as the spider leapt from its position onto another floating platform - only to be sent crashing down to ground level again, out of sight. The cleric hopped onto another panel, slightly lower in altitude, before too being sent dropping back to the ground like the spider. Thankfully the distance was not enough to knock her dizzy, as she quickly regained her footing and pressed forward on the darkened pavement, careful to avoid the miscolored bright panels. In the meantime she prepared a spell for anyone who might have gotten injured in the sudden catastrophe.

Dylan's plan was still their best bet at reaching the tower unharmed, though now they had much more to watch out for.

Thaum: Group A

Selan's scream rang out through the air as the five Guilders hurtled through the air, landing on a rooftop. She didn't like heights, and she certainly didn't like them at the speed they were going. But Marcus's magic propelled her enough to easily trail only slightly behind them, and the soles of her feet touched the rooftops as though she merely hopped rather than landing from a large height.

The sounds of destruction were all around them, and Selan pressed her lips together in a grim expression. She tried her best to focus on their destination, which only became more and more difficult as Gaoh obliterated the buildings behind them, faster and faster.

Selan wasn't used to this kind of incredible speed, and her feet were having trouble keeping up. Time seemed to slow as she descended towards the next rooftop and landed badly on her foot, causing her to stumble and fall to her knees.

"Don!" she screamed, panicking as the building she had just leapt from crumbled from the top down in a shower of ash. She willed herself back onto her feet as quickly as she could, but Estelle and Marcus's silhouettes, who were the farthest away, were already beginning to disappear into the fog.

---

Thaum: Group B

"Come on, come on!" Lisette shouted, her shoulders tensed from the anxiety of watching Moira and Aria narrowly avoid being crushed by a hail of bones.

They picked up their speed, still following Atlas. However, no matter how much they ran and ran, the tower never seemed to get any closer. It was like running on the treadmill all over again, only bigger and less obvious. When Syed pointed out that the streets were "reshuffling", Lisette only became more confused. They couldn't run forever.

A rumbling shook the ground beneath them, and wires and pipes burst forth from random spots on the street. Despite being made of cords and metals, they whipped around in the air at least three times faster than Lisette could control vines. At the same time, the house they were connected to shook as well, as though it were alive somehow. They stopped, unsure of how to proceed.

Lisette looked back and forth from the creatures behind them and the obstacles ahead. "We... We have to keep moving!" Lisette urged them, taking a cautious step forward, where she thought the wire wouldn't be able to reach her.

The wires and pipes immediately reacted as though she had triggered some type of alarm, and began to go haywire. A pipe smashed at the ground in front of Lisette's feet, causing her to step back.

"Um, uh! Maybe we can cut them down!" Lisette suggested, her voice higher than usual. Her eyes were still on the approaching skeleton and Firon.

Group C
Lute was running himself thin by plotting out a route for them; with his knowledge of Thaum, shouldn’t there be at least a tidbit of information he can share about the town’s layout? However, everything was twisted and nonsensical; buildings Lute was positive weren’t there before were in plain view, and a massive house shaped like a tortoise loomed into view. Lucien tripped and the matter artist helped him up, but Lute was not so fortunate and ended up sprawled on the street. Normally he would have screeched or reacted noisily but the urgency of the situation made him get back on his feet and run again without so much as a complaint.

They ran inside a toy shop and Xandra immediately began piling furniture on the entrance. “Maybe they won’t notice,” He spared the metallurgist a look and saw that asides from her pale face her hands were also shaking as she grabbed at random objects. The abject panic on her face reminded him of the way he felt earlier… The virtuoso grimly ducked to the side and gathered anything he could add to the heap.

However all their effort was for naught. The Bearon crashed through the window easily and their group had no choice but to vacate the premises; Lute instantly yanked Xandra away from the makeshift barricade and they ran after Dylan. “You first!” He nodded and helped her climb over the window while the matter artist acted as help on the other side. Lute slipped through after the girl and roughly landed on his feet. He was able to catch snippets of the other guilders’ conversation: “We can cut through the buildings - the doorways and walls will slow the bearon down, and hopefully hide us from the dragon beast.”

Another tremor shook the area and Lute growled. All of these events were starting to make him feel numb… It barely registered in his mind when the cleric rose in the air. “Miss, what are you-!?” Before he could even finish his sentence Lute too had stepped on a brightly-colored tile, and so was lifted upwards at a rather fast pace. The boy turned even paler and jumped on a nearby roof, but the building itself trembled when yet another tremor took place. It goes without saying that Lute had a rough landing.

He just lay there for a few moments, too stunned to react, when within the wrecked toy store another roar reverberated. Lute pushed himself up as yet another howl shook the building, this time getting even closer to their group. “Let’s … go north! Just keep breaking in, right? Just keep heading for the Tow- owwwww,” Lute exclaimed as he tried to stand without swaying. From what he saw from the air earlier, the north path was full of large buildings?

Thaum: Group A

His heart stopped, as he skidded to a stop and turned to see the roofs behind him crumble apart into nothing. Selan’s landing on the roof he stood upon was awkward, and the result was pain that extended to a near limp. Marcus’ magic had helped do the job of making their bodies feel almost as light as a feather, and thus for the time being there was no pain, but it didn’t ease any further running. Selan’s body simply wasn’t suited for this, and…

“Selan!” Don shouted, turning and dashing back, still carrying Trixie’s limp body over one shoulder. Estelle and Marcus ahead seemed to vanish in the fog, but as long as they could see the tower, it wouldn’t matter. He stretched out his hand, reaching to grab Selan and pull her into his arms, when-

A mighty shadow descended through the sky, heavy feet colliding into the slated rooftiles and sending them to clatter and shatter down the sloped rooftops. The impact of Gaoh’s landing on the house’s roof caused the whole building to seize and shake, and throw both Don and Selan to their knees, and to almost roll down off one side completely. Her head turned sharply back to look behind, and the shock of Gaoh’s terrifying visage was returned to her. One hand shot out, and grabbed Selan, pulling her back into his meaty paws.



“What did I say…” Gaoh laughed menacingly. “You can’t escape!”

Don hesitated, his legs shaking as he looked up at Selan, gasping in his father’s hands. This… this wasn’t possible. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t.

This was his fault again! All his fault, all his fault, all his fault!!

---

“…Selan? Trixie?” Estelle suddenly stopped, coming to a gradual stop once she realised she couldn’t hear the rhythmic tap of her friends’ footsteps, nor the whine and deafening roar of Gaoh’s cannon. Looking back, she couldn’t see them… any of them, and her face paled. Marcus came to a stop beside her. With a turn, Estelle frantically looked to him.

“They’re gone, Marcus!” Estelle screamed. The tower was so close now, but it was meaningless without her friends. “We have to go back! Now!”

Marcus whinced, but nodded. Fighting Gaoh wasn’t an option, but losing their friends was even worse. They had to rescue them, now!

But before either of the two could take a step, the building they were on suddenly erupted, and caved inwards. Both of the Guilders fell down as tiles and splintered wooden beams rained down with them, before Estelle was suddenly snatched in mid fall, leaving only Marcus to land on his feet in growing dismay in horror. No, no it wasn’t possible. It wasn’t!

“Estelle!!” Marcus suddenly screamed.

High, high in the skies of Thaum, Estelle’s feet thrashed wildly as her hands clutched at the powerful vice like grip surrounding her throat. She struggled to open one eye, before gasping in horror.

“Not… you…!”

“Estelle Fenix…” A venomous voice oozed out of the black being’s lips, glistening white fangs shining in the light from the fires raging in Thaum below. Heavy wings beat up and down, keeping the pair held aloft, as long white flowing locks drifted behind in the wind. Golden eyes pierced into Estelle’s soul. “We have unfinished business.” Lucifer cooed.

Group C: Dylan, Amy, Lucien, Xandra, Lute

They had a plan! Once the last of them had come through the window, Dylan turned to run to the next building when the whole world shook. “Oh Aislin!” he cried as the rest of his group was picked up and launched about.

Somehow, miraculously, Dylan remained where he was standing as the ground seemed to ripple out around him. This, though, was worse, since the poor artist had to watch as his friends where tossed about. And there was nothing he could do. Dylan ran forward as soon as it settled, reaching Lute and pulling the man’s arm over his shoulder. “I got you,” he muttered as he started hobbling towards their target building.

The Tower seemed so close, only a few streets away, and Dylan quickly herded his friends in through the doorway before slamming it shut. Taking no time to catch his breath, he immediately started to move through the building - which appeared to be the same coffee shop he had visited earlier. He had only taken a couple of steps, though, when the whole building starting to shake...and lift.

“MOVE MOVE MOVE!” he yelled as he started to run.

Thaum: Group B

“I don’t think we have enough time to try to cut them down,” Aria fretted, warily eyeing the thrashing steel pipes and metal wires. They blocked the street and she had no doubt that if they got too close the pipes would crush them, and yet the giant skeleton and Firon were gaining rapidly, having recovered from their little tumble which only seemed to have angered them though the skeleton did look a little charred.

She hastily scanned the area, frowning when she spotted an alleyway to the side that seemed innocuous enough. To be fair, it was swaying along with the rest of the building but it hadn’t grown teeth yet, nor exhibiting any sign that it was out to murder them.

Yet.

They didn’t have much of a choice though, and Aria quickly shouted to the others.

“It’s a risk, but let’s move into the alleys! They should wind all over Thaum even if the streets are shuffling, and even if they don’t it’ll at least put distance between us and those two!”

Group B
The group dived into the alleyway not a moment too soon - the murderous house continued to thrash and gnash, it's wires and pipes extending to grab them before they got away...

CRUNCH

Wood splintered and slate smashed as the massive sword cleaved the house right in two, the wires and pipes falling limply to the ground. The skeleton straightened once more, it's eye sockets glowing brightly. Nearby, the Mother Firon had it's nose to the floor.

It had their scent. They couldn't escape.

---

"I hope you know where we're going!" Syed called breathlessly to Atlas as they ran, although with how the streets were shuffling it probably didn't make much difference. They could no longer see the tower over the towering walls which surrounded them. For all they knew-!

His eyes widened. Was that-? He barely had the time to shout for them to get down, grabbing Lisette and pulling her down with him when a massive column of fire erupted above them, setting every roof of the buildings which surrounded them aflame.

"Shit!" Moira exclaimed. It had caught up again already?! She pushed herself back up, looking back to try and see where the thing was.

Howling. Not from the Mother Firon though. Instead they were coming from in front, and she turned to find a pack of five smaller unlit Firons stalking towards them. Her children. Syed backed off slightly. He could remember fully well how when every Firon was harmed it only enraged the mother further.

Thaum: Group A

Selan's eyes were wide with terror as she looked into the face of Gaoh Capuello. There was a time when she saw a resemblance between him and his son, but not anymore. The cruelty written on his face, everything they went through in Tabul... Illusion or not, Gaoh Capuello was a monster of a man. His large hand gripped her upper arm tightly, his fingers digging into her skin. The aim of the cannon attached to his other arm drifted back and forth between her and Don.

"What did I say..." Gaoh laughed menacingly. "You can't escape!"

"Don, just go!" Selan shouted, half-heartedly trying to tear herself out of his grasp. She could see the fear and confusion in Don's eyes; she knew him too well now. "Listen to me for once! Don't risk everything over something that isn't real, just run!" she pleaded.

Gaoh chuckled, a low, menacing rumble. "This is as real as anything..." The cannon began to glow, and Selan could feel the heat radiating from the weapon.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

---

Thaum: Group B

As Syed backed away in retreat from the stalking Firons, Lisette took aim with her bow.

"Lisette, don't--"

Gritting her teeth, she willed herself to keep her eyes trained on her target, and let the arrow fly. It shot past the other Guilders, hitting its target square in its neck. The Firon immediately collapsed on its side, and its siblings focused their attention on the fallen wolf. Lisette exhaled with her cheeks puffed out, making a fuuuuu sound. Even if it hurt her to hurt animals, she wasn't going to make the same mistakes again!

The large, mother Firon appeared again, howling with fury and despair. Another column of fire, bigger this time, shot through the middle of the group, with half retreating to either side of the street.

Syed and Moira looked at Lisette with astonishment. "Um, did I do something wrong?" Lisette asked, fumbling with readying another arrow.

Thaum: Group A: Don, Selan, Trixie, Gaoh

“Don, just go!” Selan pleaded, her struggles proving vain in attempting to remove herself from Gaoh’s ever tightening grip. Don watched on, more and more pieces of him breaking as he saw Selan’s anguished expression, his father one tiny moment away from killing her… just like he’d done to his mother. He took a step forward, but as he did Gaoh’s hold grew tighter, and the glow from the Magitech Cannon pointed at Selan’s head glowed a little bit brighter.

He couldn’t run away. He couldn’t abandon Selan, not to die at the hands of his monster of a father. But at the same time… he wasn’t in a position to do anything. There was nothing he could do to rescue her, and with Trixie still held slumped over his shoulder, unresponsive… he had to protect her too. But… but how?

This was all his fault. He knew it was. Somehow… somehow his father was here because of him. And it was because of him that Selan would-

“Why on Ddaear would I marry you?” She said, venom spitting from her lips. She took a step forward, one hand outstretched, her finger pointed towards Don accusingly. His feet automatically started walking backwards. “You’re the last person in the world I’d ever marry.”

“I’m doing you a favour, boy,” Gaoh’s eyes widened menacingly, as if reading Don’s own thoughts. “Just doing what you don’t have the stones to do yourself.”

Something within Don snapped, and he screamed as loud as humanely possible. To Selan and Gaoh’s own bewilderment, Don’s body seemed to smoke, wisps of light and smoke curling from his body and rising into the air, as if something was beginning to possess him. Gaoh’s eyes narrowed, watching and waiting as he observed his son, reading to pull the trigger on his cannon the second Don made a move towards them. But Don didn’t. He remained rooted to the spot, not taking a single step forward. Instead, he raised his foot into the air, and with a deft, high powered swing…

It all happened so fast. The building’s roof imploded as his heel struck the slate tiles and eviscerated them. Everyone’s bodies began to sink immediately, Gaoh caught unawares by the sudden action and unable to react. He didn’t see what came next.

Another kick swung out, hitting Gaoh in the face and sending him reeling backwards, to collide into and through another series of buildings to the side. At the same time, Selan was fortunate enough to have been released, and caught in Don’s free arm to land safely enough on the ground. Don’s gaze followed Gaoh’s trajectory, and the damage and devastation he had made. A brief thought flitted through his mind… comparing the savagery and destruction he had made to that of his fathers’ own. They were more similar then Don would like to admit. But he was better then that. He wasn’t his father. He wouldn’t allow it.

“C’mon,” Don turned, and began running as hard and fast as he could along the line of houses that Estelle and Marcus had been running along the rooftop of. “That’s not going to slow him down for long, we…”

Don sighed, and with a quiet voice, said: “I’m sorry, Selan...”

Thaum: Group A: Estelle, Marcus

“Estelle Fenix…” Cold mist exhaled from out of Lucifer’s black lips, evaporating into the air. The ends of his mouth curled into a wide smile, the tips of his white fangs glistening. “You and I have such unfinished business to take care of…”

“Shut up!” Estelle’s reaction was loud, hot, and immediate. Without waiting to let him react or take control, her arm, and by extension sword, was already swinging. The Fireblade she had been given by Tagress’ Guildleader Tiberius was already aflame, the length of its metal ensconced in scorching heat and fury.

It struck out across Lucifer’s chest and arms, carving a deep cut inside of him and licking him with the touch of its flames that continued to kiss upon his wound. As Estelle was dropped to the ground, the vampire’s body was already working to mend and rejuvenate its wound, his flesh and muscles regenerating and sewing itself shut. However the burn delayed the process, and made the pain that much more arduous. Whilst the shattering of Estelle’s Magitech Sword made it impossible for her to use Magispheres anymore and summon the brief use of any element she had on hand, her new sword could summon and ignite itself in flame whenever she desired. In some ways, it was an improvement. In this instance, the ability to catch her foe off guard, and keep him reeling from the attack.

“Impossible…” Lucifer scowled. “How many times must you defy me? You… little more than a child?”

“Depends,” Estelle began to reply as her feet touched the ground. “How many times are you going to keep underestimating me? Or maybe you’re not really as tough as you like to make out.” Her head lifted to the sky above, her irises reflecting the flames flickering from her sword. “Perhaps you’re more bark then you are bite.”

The vampire’s body was nothing more then a black blur, disappearing from the air, and reappearing low along the ground. Within the blink of an eye he was upon Estelle, his obsidian claws’ sharps tips mere centimetres away from raking the swordswoman’s face and ripping flesh apart.

But his body was halted, caught in the grip of something else. A tremendous force of power that gripped him from above, and slammed him straight into the ground, paralysing him. Lucifer gasped more in surprise then in pain, and hissed when he discovered that trying to stand up again was no easy task. His hands tried to push him up, but some force, some unknown, unseeing force, was pinning him down. Not that it would last. He would get up, and he would kill, he would tear and rip and maim and slaughter, and it would be sweet, oh so sweet and…

Estelle was struck in disbelief as well, unable to understand or believe how Lucifer came to such an undignified position, but before she could say or do anything, she was gripped by the arm and roughly tugged away, into another run forwards. Estelle’s eyes flitted to her partner and friend, to Marcus, who stared ahead of them, at that never ending tower, and the sweating grimace that adorned his face.



“Marcus,” Estelle spoke. “We… we have to go back. Don, Selan, Trixie, we need to-”





“We’re here!!” Don wailed, leaping over a bundle of crates with both women in his arms, as another lance of pure energy ripped through the landscape and destroyed the streets parallel to Estelle and Marcus’ run. Gaoh was already back up and attacking. “Run, run, run, run, run…!” That was the only thought on Don’s mind, as the five continued to race on, and on, barely staying one step ahead of certain death from behind them. “We’ve got to keep running, keep… …!!”

From the sky came a gigantic shape somersaulting through the air, pieces of brick, masonry and wood falling apart and raining in its trail. Don’s eyes widened in horror, his mouth opening and bracing for a scream, at the sheer impossible image of a building raining down from the sky towards them. What was wrong with this world?! Across the other side of Thaum, the monstrous mutant Oren had caught up to the group of Dylan, Lucien, Xandra, Amy and Lute, and was ripping apart and launching the houses of Thaum in all directions with the aim of slaying his fleeing prey.

“Hold on,” Marcus called out quietly, raising his right hand up, outstretched. Energy snaked around his body, slithering out from his chest and around his arm, until it reached his palm. He then clenched his fist together tightly, and swung his arm out. The falling house responded in kind, being shunted aside to crash into another building, as if being swatted away. Don and Estelle still had to pay mind to dodge and skip the falling pieces of rubble and debris, but they and Selan could not believe their eyes.

“Don’t feel relieved,” Marcus’ face was drenched in sweat now. “Doing that exhausted my hold on Lucifer.”

“Lucifer?!” Don and Selan yelled as one, and as if in response to his name, they saw a black figure streak up into the sky from an eruption somewhere in the murky violet fog filled streets behind. This was one impossibility after another. A sheer nightmare, one that just had to end…!

“There!” Estelle’s finger pointed down the way, at a clearing where the houses finally ended. There at last was the destination they vainly sought, the end of their escape… or so they hoped. It was the tower that Marcus had insisted he believed held the answers to this world filled with chaos and nightmares. The place where they could seek to bring all of this to an end.

“Almost… there…” Don huffed and he puffed. Another beam of light erupted from Gaoh’s cannon, destroying more of the buildings they passed behind them. Overhead, Lucifer flew closer, swooping down to capture and kill his hated adversaries.

Don and Estelle closed their eyes, their feet continuing to move for them. As the world went dark, they braced themselves for whatever might happen next. And what happened next was…

Calm. Silence.

Opening her eyes, Estelle had to blink rapidly to get used to the murky darkness barely illuminated by the overhead, flicking lights. She looked around her, spying all of her friends, safe and sound standing or collapsed and gasping for breath beside her. Looking behind, the outline of a metallic door that they had ran through, now closed and sealed shut. And no Gaoh or Lucifer.

They had did it. They had reached the Tower. They were safe… or were they?

A shiver ran up Estelle’s back. She could only hope that the rest of their friends were safe. She couldn’t shake off the horrible worry and unease that things were just going to get worse…

Group B
Moira wore an expression of annoyance, while Syed's was of open horror. The Mother Firon was now scrambling clumsily as it squeezed through the alleyway which was really too small for it, knocking dumpsters and trashcans flying as it went. The younger firon began to howl, some of them buckling down and snarling at them.

"Don't shoot!" Syed exclaimed, diving back forward now the flames had died down to put a hand on Lisette's arm. "It's not your fault, trust m-" he froze, eyes wide. It was right upon them.

The Mother Firon snarled, it's teeth bared, the heat it was emitting immediately overbearing. The space was too small for it to use that vicious tail, but that wasn't to stop it using it's other pointy end. In a flash it snapped towards them both...

Something furry suddenly span through the air past them and the Mother was struck across the face... by one of it's own cubs. It seemed to shock the Mother Firon as much as everyone else, it's teeth stopping mere inches away. "RUN!" Moira bellowed, seizing another Firon by the scruff of it's neck (and swearing when it ignited and burned her) and throwing it towards it's brothers and sisters to get them out of the way. The Mother Firon screamed once more, the heat becoming stronger...

They ran. Stumbling and dizzy from the heat - they ran anyway, as fast as they could. They had to get out of this alleyway, pronto. It looked like there might be an exit right after the scaffolding which clinged to a building up ahead. Wait-!

"Keep back!" Syed shouted out, his hands immediately moving swiftly and precisely. Right on cue vivid flickering arcs of electrical energy began to envelop his body. As soon as they ran under the framework and got to the corner, Syed span on the spot, eyes glowing a vivid yellow and his hair crackling with electricity as he held his hands in the air.

He swiped them out to his sides, and suddenly the columns which held the nearest part of the scaffolding gave way as the steel was electromagnetically pulled apart at the joints. A portion of the scaffolding collapsed with an almighty crash, forming an extremely temporary barrier to buy them some more time.

Syed proceeded to throw up.

Moira's chest heaved as she gasped for all the air she could get. She hated running! She wiped her sweaty brow with her armoured forearm, looking up to the sky...

Only to gape as the massive skeleton loomed over them, sword raised. Oh.

Group A

It was eerily calm within the tower. Two of their most fearless adversaries had seemingly teamed up, ready to shred apart the quintet at once. The only thing that stood between them now was a single metallic door. But that was... that was it. Just like that, they were out of danger, or so it seemed.

In the meantime Don moved to set down Trixie. Though initially he meant to lay her down, she pulled herself up into a seated position, shaking her head as she coughed. Amidst the chaos outside, it may have seemed she was too paralyzed from trauma to even acknowledge what was going on outside - and while that was partially true, she had enough of a hold on reality to have been gripping tightly onto Don's shoulder all the while. Terrified to let go, to even look up. Wanting nothing more than everything to end.

Now that it was quiet, Trixie had finally lifted her eyes to see the others surrounding her. They were safe. Without warning, she latched her arms around Don, embracing him tightly as a wordless gesture of gratitude. Afterwards she clumsily rose to her feet and hugged Estelle as well, burying her face into the redhead's back.

Trixie exhaled shakily as she lifted her face, observing the room surrounding her. She gave no word about her trauma or the baddies that had stalked them; the prankster wanted nothing more than to get those off her mind. Permanently. "Where are we?" she cooed instead.

---

Group C

Closer, closer, closer, the tower stood almost in reach. Once the guilders grew accustomed to which colored panel did what, they were back on their feet and running on a leveled path. They didn't dare to look back at the enemies behind them - though one could only ignore the sound of stampeding for so long. Quickly they were herded into another building, this time by the matter artist. After catching her breath, Amy had begun to cast more spells, this time defense buffers for the inevitable - only for the entire building to rattle and roar.

Oren had found them.

"Gods damn it!" Amy cried as she fled with the others. She lagged behind, however. As much as she knew fighting, flighting, and hiding was futile against the beasts, her physique was definitely not suited for the former two, and could not keep up as quickly as the young and battle-ready guilders. Rather than slowing down entirely out of exhaustion, she flopped forward, bracing herself for her fall.

"Watch out!"

Straight overhead a tentacle whirred by, snapping and cracking in the air as it by passed the others and stopped with a jerk beyond the one who was ahead. Atop its tip and facing them was... the giant spider. It opened its mouth, hissing like a lion's roar.

A flurry of steps pounded and pounded the pavement behind them, increasing in sound with every second. Amy jerked her head to see the Bearon charging in after them, its teeth bared and dripping with saliva. The cleric couldn't even stand herself to flee from it. Instead she looked away, shielding her face with her arm - only to hear a boing! sound off from beside her: the Bearon had stamped atop a white panel and was suddenly flung in the air. Amy's eyes widened, the biggest they've ever been in her life, as she let out a deep exhalation.

In the meantime Oren loomed right over them. It sent out a second tendril, this time aiming to impale one of the unsuspecting guilders from a different angle. To complicate the situation even further, the beast then reared its head back and chewed its jaw during this attack. The outlines of its teeth lit up a flaring orange, growing brighter and brighter.

Amy rose to her feet, using the springed panel beside her as a stand. The tower - the tower - it was right there. Right fucking there. All they had to do was make a final break for it...!