Barracker had cut the wraith practically in half, that was attacking James. The wraith fled towards the opposite side of the room, merging into a suit of knights armour. Having the needed space for breathing room, Barracker looked around at his comrades, seen the mess everyone was in and felt like he could see through the madness and see each companion stepping up to the plate. Each of the party doing their own to fend off and keep the leverage of the enemy from turning into a casualty. Generally, the effect that battle had on the Paladin was a sense of calmness, a stillness of emotion you could say, almost detached from the reality of the situation. But it was different this time as he was fighting as part of a team. He did feel an emotion and that was pride.

Barracker slammed the point of his claymore into the wooden floor and dropped to one knee beside James. “Are you alright there, captain?” as the Paladin surveyed James' wounds. They looked pretty bad but Barracker was confident that a cleric could heal himself, now that the immediate danger had passed. He glanced over to Adams position and sore that he too was injured but handling himself well enough, using the barrier for his advantage.

As Barracker turned his attention back to James, he knew by the look on the Clerics face to follow his line of sight over his shoulder, and sore the incoming magical attack, heading their way. Before he could do anything James dealt with the matter quick and swift, shooting the bolts out of the sky with his own light beam attack. He gave a nod of approval, “Thanks.”


"Thanks for the save Kass, but there is no time, the others need your help, go, me and Adam have things under control here" James said as he patted Barracker on the shoulder.

Barracker nodded firmly and rose to his feet, turned, facing the battlefield. Barracker amidst the chaos took his tower shield off his back and realised that, in this battle it would not prove useful. The vampire struck a stance that gave him a wide base, as he wound his shield arm back and then launched his shield with vampiric power. It flew like a discus, towards the fire mage who was attacking the two rangers.

After that he ran towards the action. Fenna was the closest one, but had the spectre oil to help her against the enemy. So he ran straight passed her, to the aid of MacKensie who was helpless against the wraith she was dealing with.

As the Paladin closed the distance, Barracker drove his claymore straight through the wraiths stomach and slammed it into the ground. Then lifted it back up and withdrew the blade, spinning into a three-sixty slash. All the stunned wraith would see is the vampire turn his back for a second before his sword arm would come back around into vision, and before it could even react, the blade would connect, severing the wraith’s head clean from its body.

He clasped forearms with MacKensie in a brief warriors handshake. “How serious are your wounds?” He asked as he looked upon her blood-stained clothes. “Are you able to fight on?”

The momentum from the running jump. The force generated from the spin. All compensation for his lack of ability to properly swing his sword. Sure, Zell Brooks might have done it for the sake of flair anyhow (he was certainly the type,) and there were techniques and tactics that warranted such stylish manoeuvres, but in this instance it was because that bastard wraith had really done a number on Zell's right shoulder and he could barely use it. So when the swordsman's blade hit the magical ward of the wizard, the reverberation caused him to drop his sword. Luckily, the wizard had gone flying too.

"Aw fuck," Zell hissed in pain, holding his shoulder and trying to roll it to loosen it up. He moved to retrieve his sword, but slowed to put eyes on the two wraiths who'd entered proximity. He watched the ghostly creatures enter the suits of armour, his expression turning to one of exasperation as said-suits started moving. "Really? That's what were doing now?" He scooped the tip of his boot under the blade of his sword, then flicked it up to catch it by the hilt. Left hand this time. His right arm was done. "Alright you twats, let have ye then. You're not the first tin cans I've danced with."

And dance they did. Zell figured that Sil's talons would be useless against these new enemies, so he was on his own. Hopefully the fiesty falcon would keep the wizard occupied while he was busy. In order to successfully take on the two animated statues with his weaker left arm, he circled the first one of them to engage him, making sure to keep this opponent in between himself and the second statue. This would make the action a one-v-one affair. If statues could feel frustration, it would've been funny, but it seemed they weren't intelligent enough to have such feelings. And luckily, they weren't intelligent enough to overcome Zell's tactics either.

Zell focused the angle of his blade to parry and riposte targeting the wrist and forearm of his opponent. The enchanted black katana wasn't really a sword made for fencing but Zell felt that disarming the statue was his best strategy if he wanted to keep his movements quick and short, controlling his positioning. He eventually circled close to the wizard who'd cooked up a nasty sounding spell and blasted it into the air, and the swordsman made a cheeky swing at the wand-wielders head, hoping to get a quick kill. And then the results of the wizard's magic came to light in the form of two black bolts that came bending into view and soared straight for the Englishman.

"Whoa!" Zell managed to turn and tilt his torso in time to weave the magic missiles, then counterattack the statue whilst off-balance, finally breaking the seams of suit's wrist and disarming his opponent. "Literally disarmed!" Zell quipped with a teethy grin as the statue's sword clattered on the ground with hand still gripping the hilt.

The weaponless statue lunged forward and tried to grab Zell, but the swordsman was too quick for it, ducked under it's arms and went past it to engage the second statue. This was a much quicker enchange as he blocked an attack, then brought his blade around to strike the back of his opponents leg, bringing it down to one knee. It was about this time that Zell saw the giant bookcases moving by themselves, coming closer, and he looked behind him to confirm that it was Adam who was controlling them from across the room. Zell was smart enough to get the hell out of the way!

He only heard the loud crashes of the bookcases repeatedly smashing the enemy to bits. He didn't even get a chance to see if the wizard had been caught up in the crushing attack, because Zell's attention had been taken by the two dark bolts that had widely turned themselves around and were heading back towards him. He started running, initially towards the wall across the room so he could force the bolts to hit a surface and hopefully get rid of them, but then he had a better idea.

"Hey! Remember me!?" he yelled at the wraith roaming about the room. He had no way of knowing if this was the wraith who'd ambushed him earlier, but he just-so happened to be right. "Got a present for ya!"

The wraith took the bait, of course. It floated to meet the running swordsman. Zell dove head first at the wraith, then twisted his body to....................

-He disappeared with flash of grey light, leaving the two bolts to hit the wraith, one at a time-

................land perfectly, backwards onto the nearby sofa. As the wraith died and burned up into nothingness, Zell put his sword down next to him and put his hand behind his head to relax for a moment and enjoy his victory.

As Fenna moved her spear to strike the wraith attacking her a second time, she noticed movement from the corner of her eye. The cultist got up again. She finished her attack, piercing the wraith again, who screamed and fell. That's when the cultist shot a fireball at her. Instinctively she raised her left hand. The ball of fire collided and pain shot through her hand, but not as much as she had thought. She had burned herself once before and that had hurt at least twice as much, or was this somehow less painful? The skin on her hand was red, definitely a burn, and she could barely move her fingers, but it wasn't as bad as she had feared. More peculiar, there was a warm sensation in her arm now, spreading slowly to her other arm as well. Her Absorb Elements had activated the moment the fire had made contact with her skin.

A warning squawk came from Sil, who flew up to avoid the bookcases coming down unto the suits of armour and the mage, and Fenna noticed several darts in the air. Two of them suddenly shot in her direction. She kept her eyes on them, trying to calculate when they would hit and used the bottom of her spear to jump into the air when they were about to impact her. They hit the ground she had been standing seconds before.

Landing on her feet, she turned to the fire mage but noticed Barracker's shield slicing through the air. She also went in that direction, if the shield wouldn't finish the mage, at least it would destract him long enough for her to reach him and then she would finish him off. This time she would crack his skull with the blunt end of her spear. She held her spear with two hands and what looked to be smoke curled around the shaft. Some of the earlier fire attack was still in her body and would be unleashed with the next hit.

The falcon circled above the bookcases, her eyes looking for the one she had attacked before, the moment she'd see a part of him and the bookcases were no danger anymore, she'd swoop in for another attack.

Behind the safety of the barrier, having dealt with the homing bolts, James and Adam were no longer harrassed by the dwindling numbers of the enemy. James was able to use his knowledge and understanding of first aid, human anatomy and medicine, imparted to him by his older cousin, to apply proper dressing, antiseptic and styptic to his critical wound. Fast healing would do the rest of the work. As for the healing he'd used on Adam - Lesser Restore, something that could only be cast on those gifted with the Source Crystal - no first aid was necessary for it to completely heal the Druid.

Adam's clever use of his ability to control even long-dead wood was a complete success. Not only were the haunted suits of armour destroyed, but the cultist had been so focused on avoiding anymore intimate moments with Sil's talons while casting that he was caught in the bookcase attack. He too was killed in action.



When MacKensie emerged from the flames, flying through the air towards them, the Fire Specialist was taken by surprise. Had MacKensie aimed her Deadly Flurry at him first, he would not have been able to react in time. But because she used the first half of her attack to kill the cultist with the sword, he had just enough time to save himself with a protective ward. He did not escape without being wounded first though. Two bolts hit the cultist in the hip before the magical shield was up.

Barracker's heavy tower shield was thrown with such power that no one could have dodged it on purpose. And it would have gruesomely killed anyone it hit. Ironically it was MacKensie who saved the Fire Specialist by hitting him in the hip with two bolts, causing the mage to recoil and bend just low enough to duck the flying shield that went overhead.

But no one could save the magic user from a Fire-infused Fenna Postma. The easy-going, kind mother of two from the Netherlands stepped up to give the cultist a taste of his own medicine. Her skull-cracking attack landed cleanly, not only with power but with an explosion of fire magic, killing her opponent.



Zell's relaxed victory pose was well timed. The battle was over, giving him all the time he needed to bask in the glory of his stylish method of dealing with the dark bolts and the wraith who ambushed him.



The library was a catastrophic mess. Upturned furniture, collapsed bookcases, a table currently on fire. Chunks taken out of the stone walls, paintings slanted or fallen completely. The only sign of the wraiths was small piles of emerald spectre dust, where they had died. The bodies of the four cultists were strewn about about the place.

Within view was a single door that led to the main corridor. Anyone with a good sense of direction and bearings would understand that this door would put them much further down the corridor and thus, past one of the guarded, puzzle-locked doors.

And then at the end of the room, in the corner, was the in-tact bookshelf against the wall where the book, Shattered Dreams would be.

It was unusual to feel pain going away as he inflicted it upon his opponents, but Adam was not complaining. Quite the opposite really, as he agreed to the Cleric's request and thanked James for his spell, grateful to no longer feel like he was one strike away from death. The Druid would need to thank Barracker as well once all of this chaos was over. It wasn't the best time now though; everyone was in the middle of fighting, after all.

And then, suddenly, they were not. It seemed like their efforts had paid off, and the best part was that nobody died this time. Of course, the knowledge that there were more creatures to fight deflated the man somewhat, but he was grateful all the same. Second Chance would need to advance to their next destination; however, there was something more important to ask first.

“Is everyone alright?”

Looking at Zell, Adam shook his head in a combination of amusement and confoundment, knowing at least one of them was okay for sure. He was a little tempted to tip the couch over - the Druid could sense a wooden frame underneath the couch - but he decided that the “party idiot” had earned his time on the sofa. MacKensie did not look as relaxed, though the red-eyed man knew she was tenacious enough to make it through whatever this temple could throw at her. It was part of her charm, even.

Once he knew everyone was alright, Adam went to the vampire and spoke. “Barracker, thank you for that barrier spell. It probably saved my life.” No days-long wait this time, just sincere gratitude. 

MacKensie stepped back in relief as Barracker dealt with the wraith. It was actually quite stunning to see that; while she and the others from Earth had such unbelievable abilities and magic, there were still clearly higher levels of power that could be reached, and Barracker exemplified this.

She returned the warriors handshake, her grip firm and the look in her eye filled with fire and gratitude. “How serious are your wounds?”

MacKensie suppressed a sigh and shook her head. "I should be fine." She flinched when the fiery explosion of Fenna's finishing blow went off. Seeing that Fenna herself was okay, she continued on to the Paladin. "Thank you for your assistance."

“Are you able to fight on?”

"It looks like there is no need," she answered, giving a small nod as she looked around the library. No enemies were left standing. Her brow furrowed momentarily when she saw Zell relaxing on a sofa, but thought better of inquiring further. Zell was Zell. That was an explanation enough. A more thorough view of the room confirmed that everyone was alive. James looked the most worse for wear, but he'd patched himself up and was at least able to walk. Whether he could he continue the mission was another story. Still: Victory. "Thank goodness. Good job, my friend," she smiled at Barracker squeezed his shoulder.

“Is everyone alright?”

"All good over here," she replied to Adam, giving him a thumbs up and a smile when he looked. Then she turned back to the Barracker. "That was quite the surprise, was it not? We thought that we were the ambushers but turned out to be the ambushed. This enemy is clever indeed." She was late to notice that he was wounded also, his dark, leather armour hiding the injury. "You are hurt. How bad is it?"

After inquiring about Barracker's wounds and checking to see if he needed anything, MacKensie saw Adam approaching, his red gaze showing his intent to speak with the Paladin, so she left them to converse, giving Adam a nod and pat on the shoulder as they crossed paths.

"Good job, James," she said as she approached the Cleric, a touch of his arm as she came to stand next to him. "How are you holding up?"

In a lazy effort to scan the room, Zell tilted his head back and simply rolled his neck from right to left. He was ready to get up and head toward the first sight of trouble, but there was none. Just a room that looked like a bomb had hit it. The Englishman's eyes went to the ceiling and he let out a breath. "Christ," he muttered to himself. "Whatever we're getting paid... we deserve double."

With an audible strain, he rose to his feet and picked up his sword. It was a little awkward to sheath it with his left hand, but he managed it and then went over to Fenna.

"Alright mate," he greeted the Dutchwoman. "I'll tell you what; me and your Sil make a great team. First outside on the temple roof and now in here... are you sure she's yours and not mine?" he joked. "I saw your little 'absorbing fire' trick. What the hell, mate, when did you learn that one? Pretty neat."

He rolled his injured shoulder a few times, trying to loosen it up and regain some mobility with his right arm. He would rather not fight left-handed, but it was looking like he'd have to for the foreseable future. His eyes landed on James and he realised that whatever he was going through was probably nothing compared to his best friend. "Damn, look at James," he said to Fenna. "We're going to have to keep him protected, going forward."

“Is everyone alright?” Adam called out to everyone.

Barracker appreciated the check in. He gave a salute and bowed his head to the Druid.

"That was quite the surprise, was it not? We thought that we were the ambushers but turned out to be the ambushed. This enemy is clever indeed." Barracker listened to her as he stepped to the nearest body, knelt down and tore part of the robe, to make use of the cloth for later purposes.

As the Paladin rose to his feet, MacKensie shot a look at his chest. "You are hurt. How bad is it?"

Barracker looked at his chest, blood was seeping through the leather. It felt warm to his touch, it did sting a little but the wound would have to wait until after the mission had been done. “Thank you for the concern, I will be alright. I will tend to it after the mission is done.”

As Barracker finished talking to MacKensie, the Druid came over. “Barracker, thank you for that barrier spell. It probably saved my life.”

Barracker felt good he could be of help. “I am glad I could be of use and offer some aid, the battle had very heated moments”. After, he had finished Barracker clasped arms in a warriors embrace with Adam and thanked him in return. The vampire told him how well him and the party did and it was a pleasure to fight alongside the young man.

Barracker thought to himself as he looked around towards the members of Second Chance. this is quite remarkable how each member is advancing with their source crystal abilities, he thought. He had the crystal for years and here they were less than a month in and already close to his level. Each of them will be beyond my capabilities soon enough.

Barracker saw that MacKensie was checking up on James and his wounds. Barracker turned to Adam, “If this secret passage does actually lead to the ritual chamber, get ready with those acorns to bar the doors. It will hopefully prevent enemy reinforcements from arriving”.

Fenna shook her hand after crushing the cultist's skull with the blunt end of her spear. She crouched down, slid her bag from her back, and placed it and her spear on the ground. "I'll be fine," she said in response to Adam's question. The only injury after the battle was a slightly burned hand; it hurt, but it wasn't life-threatening and if she ignored the pain she could still use it. She rummaged through her bag until she found the ointment and bandage she sought. After applying some cream on her hand and bandaging it up, she took a moment to observe the room.

Oh dear, they left quite a mess.

When Zell joined her she smiled. "We do make a good team," she agreed. "And if you keep appearing at the place that feels the most dangerous, there is a good chance Sil will keep appearng there. She acts on my emotions." At this point the falcon joined them and settled on the left arm Fenna extended.

At Zell's comment on her ability, she looked at her bandaged hand. "If I had to guess, it happened after we defeated Aurok, I felt something had changed but couldn't pinpoint what exactly. After the fire attack, I know how it works and I'm certain it works for other elements as well."

She followed his gaze and examined James as well. "We do," she agreed. Her eyes moved to the fire. "We should probably do something about that as well." While she didn't have anything to put out the flames - some rations of water, but that wouldn't be enough - there was always the option of letting it burn out safely. There was no wind in this room, so if nothing flammable was within fire's reach it should burn out without setting the room on fire. The last thing they needed was setting the whole temple ablaze with them in it. Although the fire mage was used to living here and had no qualms using it in a library. Either he was a fool, or confident that whatever fire would start here wouldn't spread. Still, better safe than sorry, so she went to the table - Sil hopping off her arm to stand on the floor as she approached the flames - and she cleared the area around the burning table.

He once heard someone say that some doctors in history were forced to operate on themselves because there wasn't anyone nearby to do it for them, at the time he thought it must have sucked for them. Now having been put in that exact situation he could say with certainty that it does, indeed, suck.

“Is everyone alright?”

"Somewhat"

He was slowly falling in love with this spell, it was making the itch of healing hit like a firetruck but at least it allowed him to walk without bursting his organs all over the floor. He gave some experimental steps and then some light exercises, they still had a problem to deal with and it would be better for him to know what his body could still do.

For a second the lack of blood made him go lightheaded but a hand held his arm before he toppled over.

"How are you holding up?"

Thank God for Mac.

"For the moment? No that good, the spell takes some time to fix everything but at least I am no longer in danger of bleeding out, thanks for asking" He directed a smile at her to show that her concern was appreciated. "What about you? I was distracted for the last part of the fight, do you need healing?"

Come to think of it.

"Hey! Zell, Kass, come here! I saw you get a nasty hit and there is no reason to not address it now, they likely know we are here so it's better to be on top of our game" He fished more supplies from his medical bag, he would use pure mundane methods but that was better than nothing.

Adam was grateful that everyone seemed to be okay. “Okay” being used loosely in James’ case, but he was intact and slowly healing his wounds. As long as Second Chance kept an eye on him, everyone would be able to escape this temple alive. 

The group's youngest member returned Barracker's embrace, smiling in response to his compliment. The Druid wasn't completely adjusted to the idea of hugging on a battlefield, but then again he wasn't completely adjusted to battle period. When in Rome, he supposed. When the Paladin suggested a course of action for their advance, the red-eyed man agreed.

“Right, or at least delay them a little. They might have another fire mage, so they could just burn their way in. We'll need to stay alert.”

Looking at the team's leader, Adam had another idea. Well, two ideas technically. The first was to pull the book so that the secret passage would be revealed, which he did. The second took place shortly thereafter; when he made the first tree to barricade the route with, he made sure to grab a sturdy stick from it, one strong enough to be used for support. He then offered it to the Cleric, not wanting him to fall over in his effort to keep everyone else fully healed. He had no doubt that MacKensie would help James as long as he needed it, but if another fight broke out,  the Ranger would be more useful in combat than as furniture.

The main ritual chamber was a huge room with high ceilings. The pues which had been moved to the walls gave the hint that this room was once used for congregation. Now the massive floor was covered in the Black Speech of the Dark Domain and the devilish symbols of the Oblivion Plane. Bones littered the floor. Blood stained it too. Robes of the sacrified - those who gave their souls to the power of Drath'tuthan, each of them making the Greater Wraith stronger, tethering his presence to the Mortal Plane more permanently.

Jon Gringot was stood in the center of a massive six-pointed star, each point marked with candles. He held the hair of his willing victim in one hand, his staff in the other, using his necromancer power to aid the process of Drath'tuthan draining the full life essence from yet another cultist. The victim's hair went white before his skin shriveled up and he died, his body turning skeletal before Jon let it fall to the side.

Jon Gringot, The Listener. He was once a mage of mediocre power and priest of the temple, specialising in the legal aspects of the Dark Domain and guiding the surrounding villagers in worship of Hades. Now he was more powerful than he ever could have imagined. He was the first to give in to a year of whispers from Drath'tuthan. His will and conscience was ground down little by little, until he finally allowed the spectre entry into the Mortal Plane and became The Listener, the head of the cult of Drath'tuthan, spreading the wraith's lies about eternal bliss in Hell, using brainwashing and mind domination magic to grow the cult's numbers and influence in the region.

Jon did not notice the entrance of Second Chance, at first. When he saw them, he recognized them for what they were. It was only a matter of time before adventurers were sent by The Guild. He did not waste time with words, and casted his prepared spell, Sonic Emission to sound a loud alarm throughout the temple. The Greater Wraith turned from transparent to very visible.

"You never should have come here!" he shouted at them.

Jon summoned 12 skeletons from the bones on the floor. Drath'tuthan summoned 4 Lesser Wraiths. Now there was a small army standing in the way of Second Chance and advancing on them. The alarm was loud and soon cultist would be swarming in from the two doors.

Drath'tuthan began charging powerful magic, and each adventurer would feel the energy swell in the room and know that whatever the greater wraith was doing had to be interupted if they were to survive this battle. Jon would identify James as the dedicated caster of the group and fire a blinding ray at him. The rest of the enemies would do their best kill everyone.

Fenna's mention of Aurok had brought Zell's mind back to that dreadful day in The Mazy Hillocks. Arthur. Clive. He'd barely spoken to either man in the short time they were together, but he felt the loss all the same. And then there was that metal ninja. Zell's mouth tightened as he remembered that faceless man - how hard it had been to even touch him when Zell and MacKensie rushed him, giving it their all. The bastard was still out there somewhere and no doubt; he'd want his sword back. Well, the Englishman would be ready for Round 2 if and when it came. They were stronger, after all. Which brought him to Fenna's actual point - she'd gained her new power when everyone gained that upgrade after the fight. Zell wondered if his general power had risen, seeing as he didn't get any new moves to add to his teleport.

"We should probably do something about that as well."

Zell followed Fenna's gaze to the fire, then tilted his head in concession. "Probably," he echoed, then went over with her to the table. They settled on clearing the area so that the fire could die out on it's own, Zell shoving what he could away with his feet, only using his arms when he had to. "I'll get the other end of that," he said when they had to move a sofa together. "Ready... hut." Once it was done, Zell dusted his hands off and nodded satisfactorily to Fenna.

"Hey! Zell, Kass, come here!"

Zell went over to James. "Yes? Oh fearless leader," he added with a smirk.

"I saw you get a nasty hit and there is no reason to not address it now, they likely know we are here so it's better to be on top of our game"

Zell paused for thought. He knew James had healing magic but wasn't sure if he had a limited number of uses each day, the same way he could only use his teleport 3 times per day. "How many spells you got?" he asked. "My shoulder's fucked mate, but to be honest, I'd rather fight left handed if it means you have a spare healing spell for emergencies. Better to have one and not use it, than need one and not have it, ye know what I mean."

After that was made clear, he unbuckled a few straps on his armour, then halfway took off his shirt to reveal a bare arm and shoulder. The wound was a nasty purple colour, an eight inch open cut across his shoulder just creeping onto his chest. "Bloody hell," he muttered. "I didn't realise it was that bad." No wonder he couldn't use his arm. "Alright, talk us through what I need to do. I'm useless at first aid."

Once everyone was ready, they followed Adam over to the bookshelf where the Druid pulled the book, Shattered Dreams. Zell was holding his breath, ready to react if this turned out to be a trap of some kind. Part of him was expecting a trap door to open up under Adam and drop the man into the lair of some giant monster. Zell was already picturing himself diving head first after him, drawing his sword as he flipped and landed in front of big'n'ugly, ready to throw down. Fortunately, nothing of the sort happened, and a secret passage opened up.

What they walked into left no doubts whatsoever that they'd arrived at the location objective. Zell broke from his rear guard position and went up front with Barracker. With Adam barring the way behind them, his place was on the front line. It had been a long time since he'd been in a church, (he used to occasionally go on a Sunday, as a child, when he spent the night at his grandparents house,) but he recognised the long pues that had been cast to the edges of the room, illuminated by the lamp light that came from the sconces that lined the walls. The lecturn at the front too reminded him of Sunday Mass, but nothing else was left in the room that reminded him of godliness. Quite the opposite, in fact. This was some of satanic nightmare now.

"What's happenin, pal?" Zell greeted when the robed man looked over at them. "Second Chance. We heard you've an infestation problem. We're the exterminators."

"You never should have come here!" was the reply.

"Well, I feel underappreciated," Zell said drily to Barracker.

Weapons were drawn, enemies summoned and a fight broke out. Zell did his best to maintain a position that would shield his friends from the skeletons, whilst avoiding attacks from the wraiths. It wasn't easy but at least the skeletons lacked real skill. The swordsman blocked one skelly whilst delivering a side kick to another one's chest, knocking it backwards into a third and flooring them both. He dispatched the original skelly before rushing forward and finishing the two on the floor before they could get up.

And back he pedalled to keep himself firmly in front of the back line, specifically James, who was healing quickly but still not 100%. There was plenty more threats to deal with and Zell barely had a chance to breathe before he was engaged again. He bobbed and shifted his feet to avoid a wraith, moving into the path of a skeleton that he could actually fight.

Ring-ching-ching!

In the backdrop, the robed man was commanding proceedings and the Greater Wraith seemed to be charging something nasty. "Not good."

This battle was going to be tough.

"Hey! Zell, Kass, come here!” James called out.

Barracker made his way over towards the Cleric and MacKensie, arriving as Zell did.

"Yes? Oh fearless leader," the swordsman spoke.

Zell’s smart mouth humour may not have been to everyone’s taste but Barracker was fond of it for obvious reasons. He addressed James, “What do you need?”

“I saw you get a nasty hit and there is no reason to not address it now, they likely know we are here so it's better to be on top of our game"

“I normally wrap myself up after the mission,” Barracker took the bag and started patching himself up with practised ease. The Paladin gave a nod of thanks.

"How many spells you got?" Zell asked. "My shoulder's fucked mate, but to be honest, I'd rather fight left handed if it means you have a spare healing spell for emergencies. Better to have one and not use it, than need one and not have it, ye know what I mean."

Under James’ supervision Zell began patching himself up and Barracker helped out with parts that were difficult to do solo. The Paladin noticed that James was struggling to stand without the help of MacKensie so he passed the medical supplies to her. “Here, hold this?” he asked, then put his leather jerkin and underarmour back on.

Barracker walked away to track down his shield that had smashed entirely through the bookcase giving way to a gaping hole made through. I need to keep an eye on James, he thought as he dislodged the shield from the wall.

As the vampire held his shield, he rotated his shoulders and gave them a stretch. “All set?” He checked with the others before placing his mask on. Everyone followed Adam through the secret entrance, sticking as a unit the party came across their final target. It was floating besides a follower with bodies littering the ground. Barrackers' gut told him he would not be trifled with. Zell was the first to interact with the man who gave an angry retort.

"Well, I feel underappreciated," Zell said drily to Barracker.

Barracker shot a mean smirk back to the swordsman as his pre-battle adrenaline started pumping again. “You know, you should meet my friend Krillen.” He was speaking a bit too casual, considering the circumstances, but Zell’s cool lack of seriousness was rubbing off on him. He looked back at the enemy but continued to speak to the swordsman. “I have a feeling that you two would get along great.”

The wraiths and skeletons that had been summoned advanced on Second Chance. The Paladin got into a duel with the closest wraith, man vs spectre, ghost blade vs claymore. The sound of the clashing weapons was strange, not quite like metal on metal but strangely warped somehow, as if a broken whistle was struggling to blow, over and over. The vampire eventually got the better of his adversary, resulting in the burning and screeching of the wraith. Then he flanked the wraith that was troubling Zell, with Barracker’s movement staying behind, and then ended the threat with a swift, powerful vertical slice. A couple of skeletons zoned in on the Paladin’s position. His shield arm was quick to move to defend against their attacks, and then he rotated himself to meet them.

“Here, hold this?”

"Of course."

After taking the bag of medical supplies from Barracker, MacKensie helped herself to some stretches of bandage and a couple of antiseptic pads. James had offered her first refusal, and she had stoically declined, not wanting to hold everyone up, but now that Barracker and Zell were taking the time to patch themselves up, she thought that she might aswell.

"You are right," she said to the party leader. "There is no sense in not being on top of our game for the final battle."

She hoped that the next battle would indeed be the final one. Second Chance had endured two already, and injuries were beginning to mount up. Staying next to James in case he needed some help standing, she carefully unstuck her clothing from her lacerations then rolled up her sleeve to pad and bandage her first wound. After that, she lifted her tunic and undershirt a little so she might pad and wrap her waist with the rest of the bandage roll. Once everyone was finished, she helped James hook his bag onto his person and they were off to the next room.

As everyone grouped up behind Adam while he found the right book to open the hidden door, there was a small interval of silent tension. MacKensie looked to her right to see the face of Fenna and whether the woman looked back or not, the frenchwoman pursed her lips in a solemn and determined smile. They could do this. Gold mission or not, the power of their bonds would see them through. Warrior bonds. Friendship. Strangers brought to an even stranger world. She had to believe there was a deeper reason for all of this. She had to believe that Fenna would hold her little boy and girl again. This belief she held fast so that she would not drown in the sea of anxiety that was constant danger.

The atmosphere changed as they passed from the relatively cozy and colourful library to the dark and dreary ritual chamber. Before she'd even laid eyes on the cultist and the Greater Wraith, she'd drawn her crossbow and dropped a bolt into it. Just the oppressive and foreboding air, in this room, alone was enough to make her ready herself. But even with the heavy weight of anxiety on her shoulders... even with the fear in her heart of potentially losing one of her comrades to an unthinkably powerful foe... even with the gravity of the situation before them, she couldn't help but smile - almost laugh, even - at the verbal exchange between the robed man, Zell and Barracker. She felt much lighter for it. It annoyed her - pained her, in fact - to say it yet again but, Thank God for macho dummies.

Aloud, she said, "Oh dear. Now there are two of them," as she looked from Zell to Barracker. She took a few steps to take a position on the flank, drawing her dagger with her free hand. "Would you two kindly take this seriously?"

When the fight started, she managed to let fly two bolts before requiring her dagger. The two bolts in question hit the same target, the first cracking the bridge between the eyes of a skeleton, before the second punched the exact same spot right through, creating a giant hole in the skull of an enemy that collapsed to the ground. Another rapid reload of a bolt that sat between the fingers of her dagger-hand's grip, then she cocked back and instantly switched from 'southpaw' to parry a sword that swung her way.

Her speed, agility and reflexes were far more than a match for the single skeleton in front of her, but what was more concerning was a Lesser Wraith drifting around to her flank. Even more concerning was the cultist and Greater wraith who were out of reach.

She dodged two follow up swings until the skeleton tried a high arcing downward strike, then caught the blade on her dagger and pulled it to one side, throwing the skeleton off balance and into her grasp. Seizing the bony enemy in a chinlock, her forearm under it's chin, she found time to aim over it's shoulder, right through the crowd and at the Leader Cultist, then fired.

Before she could see if her shot hit the mark, the Lesser Wraith attacked and she was forced to let go and hop out of reach of the ghost blade.

"Thanks"

It was awkward walking with a cane but he would be lying if he said he didn't appreciate it. The sting of the cut was still acutely felt even if the injury itself was almost fully closed he supposed. At the very least he was sure he would be able to remain mobile enough to not fall at the stiffest breeze.

Thankfully he was the most inured one.

After that was made clear, he unbuckled a few straps on his armour, then halfway took off his shirt to reveal a bare arm and shoulder. The wound was a nasty purple colour, an eight inch open cut across his shoulder just creeping onto his chest. "Bloody hell," he muttered. "I didn't realise it was that bad." No wonder he couldn't use his arm. "Alright, talk us through what I need to do. I'm useless at first aid."

"Looks bad, but not the worse that I have treated, what we got to do is..."



As he looked at the Greater Wraith a memory surfaced in his mind, not so long ago he had read about something similar, a necromancer who had become a lich, one of the hated enemies of Hades and his followers, in the story the lich almost managed to slay the party thanks to his regenerative abilities but the rogue of the party, fortunately, stumbled upon its phylactery, had she not destroyed it in time the story would have a very different ending. They shouldn't be able to stray too far from it so considering the room they were in...

"Guys! Seek the phylactery, it will be a bitch killing him without destroy-!" He shut his mouth before he managed to finish his sentence, with quick motions and an even shorter chant he managed to cast a barrier right in front of him, barely able to protect him from the scorching ray of light cast by the enemy necromancer. "Search the cabinets at the back of the room and destroy its phylactery!"

His piece said he started casting his lesser counterspell, he could tell it would just delay the inevitable but that was better than nothing. He would trust his party to take care of the smaller enemies.

As Adam blocked the doors, he couldn't help thinking of the Lincoln Logs he got for Christmas years ago, arranging multiple trees in neat rows like the present he received. Sizing each piece of wood so that it was just as large as the passageway behind the team, it would take a great deal of force for any enemies to make their way to Second Chance. Toys and decorating a tree while combating a cult - this was turning into a strange, bloody day. Christmas on Earth was definitely preferable to this.

This wasn't something the Druid wanted to dwell on though. Running to catch up to the others, he arrived just in time to see the opposing forces beginning to charge their way. James had instructed them to find the “phylactery” - whatever that was - but Adam didn't think it made sense to expose his un-armored self to enemy strikes. And the Cleric was too busy casting for the fisherman to ask what it would even look like anyway. Yeah, a different tactic would be needed, at least for now.

Instead, he grabbed two more acorns, growing them into full sized trees. Who would be the best targets though? Certainly not the wraiths, the ghostly stuff was better left to people that could actually hurt them. Skeletons though, the Druid knew from direct experience that they could be hurt. So with that in mind, he found a group of three or four of them that his partners weren't handling and sent an oak their way. It wasn't elegant, but they wouldn't be getting up again.

Seeing no more bones on the field, Adam knew he had to do something with the other tree he possessed. And seeing as the cult leader was a very real threat, the Druid sent his plant towards the Listener, hoping it would have a literal positive impact on the fight.

When they reached the room and the battle began, Fenna took a moment to see what happened around her before moving. Zell and Barracker seemed to stay closer to James, which meant she could focus on something else. Sil, recognising the skeletons as enemies from the fight when they met, dove onto the back of one of them, using beak and talons to assault the spine and rip out a disc. Once the skeleton fell, she moved on to the next.

Fenna used the blunt end of her spear to hit the skull of the closest skeleton, but it wasn't the target she was going for. The wraiths were an issue and Barracker handled the two closest to him, so she'd deal with the other two. She held her spear with two hands again - a painful reminder of her injured hand, but it wasn't that bad she couldn't fight with it.

James said something about a phylactery... what was that and what did it look like? She glanced only briefly at the greater wraith, that one had to be dealt with and she had an idea, but she needed a moment to focus and a clear path, she couldn't do that with the lesser wraiths floating around yet.

When the Lesser Wraith attacked Mackensie, she attacked it from behind and stabbed it in the back. It screeched and turned around, raising a sword to attack, but that left an opening Fenna could use to pierce it again. If she hadn't been able to catch it by surprise, she wouldn't have been able to finish it off that easily. Being busy with MacKensie's wraith, she didn't have time to prepare for the one coming for her or evade the ghostly blade coming down at her back, unless Sil would be fast enough to come to her aid, if she noticed the danger in time.

The quick reactions of James to protect himself from the Blinding Ray made Jon Gringot shake his fist angrily, growling in frustration. He moved tentatively a few steps to the side as he thought about his next move. His alarm continued to ring out throughout the temple. The skeletons were going down fast, as were the wraiths. This party was prepared. But the summoned undead were merely a method to slow the intruders down until help arrived. The cult of Drath'tuthan was a large group and those who were not adept in combat had blind loyalty and fervour in place of skills.

"Search the cabinets at the back of the room and destroy its phylactery!"

"No!" Jon blurted out, unable to contain himself. That blasted mage was too smart for his own good. Refusing to take risks, he chanted a spell, moving his hands and fingers to complete the conjuration, then turned about and cast Magic Barrier onto the pair of joined cabinets at the back of the room.

The Magic Barrier covered the cabinets completely and would deny anyone access, aswell as be impenetrable to physical attacks. But consecutive elemental damage, or a strong enough elemental attack would destroy the Magic Barrier. At least Second Chance wouldn't have to search out the phylactery - the highlighting barrier left no mystery as to where it was.

Jon began to cast again, about to summon 16 skeletons this time, but a crossbow bolt came seemingly out of nowhere and hit him dead in the chest. "Argh!"

It almost floored him, knocking him backward, but he managed to stay on his feet. He was powerful and quick with his magic, but all he saw was fighting ahead. He still had no idea who had shot him. Being an immortal lich, an effectively ageless zombie who had kept his mental faculties and intelligence, did not stop him from feeling pain and he held the bolt in his pectoral muscle as if to soothe his pain.

What he did see though was the oak trees grow in the background. A druid was with them. He watched the massive logs carefully, delaying his spell so he could be ready to-

"Aha!" His suspicions confirmed, he saw a great oak come flying towards him and he threw up a firewall with one hand, his other hand casting a powerful Drain Life Ray at the flying oak that drew all essence from the oak, petrifying it in real time. The oak was nothing more than a fossil as it hit the Fire Wall and disintegrated into dust and ash. The Fire Wall disappeared and Jon had marked the Druid of the party. "You!"




Drath'tuthan had barely moved throughout the beginning of battle, the majority of it's concentration reserved for the powerful attack that was being charged. But it did watch the battle dispassionately, seeing it's wraiths falling to Barracker and Fenna. They must have came prepared to do battle with spectres. But were all of the adventurers so well equipped?

When The Listener marked the Druid, angry and clearly wanting something done about the man who wielded trees as weapons, Drath'tuthan was about ready to summon more wraiths and now had his target.

Four more Lesser Wraiths materialized into the Mytherian Plane of mortals. And they appeared behind the back line of Second Chance, ready to strike at Adam and James.



Sil the Falcon's beak and talons would be useless against the wraith and Fenna would feel the pain of the ghost blade strike her back, passing through her cloak and armour as if it wasn't there, a single slash cutting flesh, barely missing her spine.

The Lesser Wraith raised it's sword high once more for a second attack that Fenna would be unable to dodge. The blade charged with white light and if no one intervened, Fenna would be hit with critical necrotic damage, putting her out of the fight. However, if the attack was blocked with weapon or magic, whoever blocked it would somehow recieve half the damage Fenna avoided.



Reinforcements began to arrive, barging through the main double doors that connected the corridor and ritual chamber. The first wave to arrive were the guards of the puzzle-locked doors in the corridor. 4 of them. 3 were armed with long spears but 1 of them was armed with a sword and spinning it around herself expertly.

The Listener heard Drath-tuthan's harsh commands inside his head, then angrily delegated the orders to the 4 cultists. "You two! Join the attack!" he shouted, then pointed at the others. "You two! Protect Lord Drath-tuthan! Do not let any of them reach him!"

Jon suddenly held his head in pain as Drath'tuthan roared. James had used a Lesser Counterspell that had interrupted Drath-tuthan's charging magic. It would only delay the inevitable, but James had bought Second Chance more time.

MacKensie and Adam had done enough to keep Jon from summoning more skeletons, but now he was moving his focus to kill the Druid and the Cleric. With the cabinets protected by the barrier, and cultists beginning to show up, it would only be a matter of time before Second Chance was overwhelmed by sheer numbers. But the magic users were the real threat. Particularly the Cleric.



Jon casted a Dark Beam and fired it directly at James. Dark Domain opposed Light, so a direct hit would do double damage and put the already-injured James out of the fight. With the Cleric hopefully distracted by the new Lesser Wraiths, he might catch James off guard.

Adam was kind of impressed by the level of skill the enemy leader used to block his tree. Even if he was an opponent, this display showed that he was not to be taken lightly. The feeling did not last long though, being replaced with annoyance at the new wraiths that the listener summoned to attack him and James. The Druid knew that his options were limited, both by the fact that he was indoors and that most of his attacks would not work on the new creatures. However, this did not discourage him; he knew that he was part of a strong group and Second Chance could defeat these and the other enemies somehow.

That did not mean that Adam intended to do nothing though. He had formed an idea in his head, thinking ...I just need to wait for the right moment to do it. In the meantime, I can defend my teammate. The Druid grabbed two more acorns, turning them into trees. He wasn't going to leave things to chance, especially not when the Cleric was injured and vulnerable to-

That!

The dark energy beam headed towards the team leader certainly was certainly something that needed to be dealt with. So with his powers, Adam tossed one of the oak trees at the beam, hopefully blocking it from inflicting damage to James. And while the listener was hopefully distracted by the tree-and-magic fireworks show, the red-eyed man fired a natural energy beam at the barrier blocking the cabinets. Hopefully it would destroy them, allowing Second Chance to execute the Cleric's shouted plan.

The other tree was reserved for blocking whatever attacks the nearby wraiths would create, or at least delaying them for a few seconds so someone else could kill them. Hopefully they wouldn't be anything serious, but Adam wanted to be prepared for whatever the enemy would do, along with giving the Mexican the opportunity to plan what they should do next.

“Are you okay, James? What do you need?” If the Cleric was injured, the fisherman would do his best to help him be safe. If not, the focus would be more strategic so they could defeat their opponents. Either way, Adam would do his best to help his team succeed.