Auriel had barely started looking around for Deven when all hell broke loose. The demons that guarded the College, creatures she had come to take for granted over the time that she had been there, were out in great numbers today. Even so, she had hardly noticed them. Until now.

A number of the fiends had broken away from their posts, weapons drawn, attacking anything and everything, whatever was closest to them drew their ire immediately. The babble of voices that almost always filled the mess hall changed drastically in a moment that seemed to drag on, screams and shouts filling her ears. Her hands went immediately to her weapons and she stepped to relatively clear area of floor, looking around for any threats. She wasn’t near the halls edges where the most Demons were, but a few were functioning as servers and some of them had drawn blades. For a moment she thought she was safe, but then one voice cut through the screams, or to be more specific, one word - Zaad. The Demonmancy teacher seemed to be shouting something at him. Auriel realised with shock that whatever was happening to the other demons might just be affecting Zaad too, whirling around just in time to see his four crimson eyes bearing down on her. They burned with an intensity and hatred she had never seen from him before and for a moment she considered running. One did not simply outrun Zaad though, and she quickly decided against such foolishness, raising her weapons into a guard stance.

Zaad felt fear, confusion and hate all rolled up within his head. It was too much, like in a few short moments his head was going to explode and end him if he didn’t shoot. His finger tightened upon the trigger slowly. Eyes fixed, fear and adrenaline poured through his being, upon the tall Wood Elf just within sight. She was unaware of the danger while she defended herself and all he could do was fight a losing battle. [i]Why did he hate her so much?[/i] The question drove a doubtful nail deeper than ever, giving him reason to resist. His mouth managed to utter a simple, meaningful sentence. “I’m sorry…”

That’s when a whip made from several ribbons of thin flesh, greyish white in color, invaded his eyesight. It lashed out and wrapped several times about his hands, pulled them together until he couldn’t move them. His finger had become pinned, immobile, while Tryael’s gravelly voice shouted at what he was doing. Zaad’s face turned to the Demonomancer’s direction with his own reply, a mixture of anger and spite, to it. “Like the Inferno I fucking know! I can’t...shit, it burns like hell. I don’t know why I god-damn hate her so much. Something’s not right...Khan’s mind, I can’t hear him very well. Ahhhh….” 

Any farther talk was drowned out by Zaad’s hoarse yells. His body tensed and seized slightly, his face twisted into pain before he pulled the trigger. The gun was aimed at Auriel’s temple but at the last second, he had managed to jerk to the side and set it’s target off by several critical inches. He knew he wouldn’t miss her. That was impossible, yet he had to minimize the damage. That was when he felt what remained of his soul once more consumed by his sin again. 

For one moment Auriels voice joined the chorus of screams that rang out over the mess hall, a gash appearing along her cheek as though Zaad had reached out and slashed her lightly. She had no idea how he had done it, but if he could attack from that far away she had to close the range. She began bounding forward, painfully aware of the stinging sensation on her cheek, and willed the flame on the candle nearest to Zaad to grow and reach for his outstretched arm. She knew what heat did to him, and she hoped that whatever magic he was using against her would be disrupted if she glassed part of his arm.

Zaad instantly relaxed his arms, no longer in control as his greed took over. Thoughts not like him filled the demon but he only answered in silence and a wild look in his eyes. All four were filled with nothing short of hate towards Auriel. His arms struggled to rip free from Tyrael’s grip, his teeth turned up in a snarl and squeezed off about two more shots before the bitch had drawn closer. Each one was betrayed by a loud bang and a flash of light, showing the direction he was aiming at though it was sloppily done. He was so consumed on killing her that he didn’t notice the swoosh of the candles beside him. His head jerked to try to protect his arm, however he was too slow. Pain filled his mind causing him to scream in painful fury as Zaad felt his arm solidify into a glassy layer and then ripped from Tyrael’s grasp. His arm cracked and broke into two pieces, the farthest crumbled into shards then blackened to reform into his being. Slowly his shattered arm reformed back with claws that he used to shred into what binds still held him. There wasn’t any sharp remarks or quick retorts in his freedom which would likely send chills down his once allies’s spines. It was too clear something wasn’t right. 

Auriel leapt up onto the long bench that served as a chair for the table next to her, hearing more of the loud bangs that preceded Zaads magical attacks as she went. In the same motion she continued forward and up, her foot landing on a clear spot of the table as a whizzing sound went past her ear. Another biting pain appeared on her side, eerily similar to being struck by Siala’s arrows so long ago. Two more long steps and she was upon him, leaping from the the table so she could bring her entire weight down on him in the head of her axe, which she willed to heat as much as possible while maintaining its edge, aiming the weapon at Zaads head with little regard for her own safety. She noticed Zaad was being weirdly silent, and it creeped her out quite a bit, but even if she had wanted too, it was too late to stop the attack.

Zaad’s eyes seemed to plead for her to finish him yet his body wouldn’t allow her to finish the task. When she stepped up and leapt high, her axe raised to bury deep within his head, the demon shifted to the shift. His gun vanished and claws started to form upon his hand. They twisted in wick and sharp blades as his raised his hand to slash at her waist, the image of her entrails being disemboweled in his attack in his head. He never got a chance. He flinched when he felt the heated blade dig into his shoulder. Sand crackled into glass as the blade’s impact easily shattered it apart. The sound rang through Zaad’s ears with a high pitch that seemed to break into his mind, driving his berserked mind to slightly fade. The Sin’s energy still pounded into his head but for a few precious seconds he was sane. 

“Kill me, now. Please…” He managed to whisper loud enough for Auriel to hear then his claws rushed forward to severe her arm from her weapon embedded in him.

Auriel didn’t have time to ponder Zaad’s sudden exceedingly strange behaviour, letting go of the axe that was embedded in Zaads form and pulling her arm clear of his wicked claws. At the same time, she brought her heated dagger, held reverse grip in her other hand, around to slash at Zaads chest. The grazing wounds from earlier stung, but they weren’t yet slowing her down, and they didn’t feel like they were bleeding too badly right now, though if the fight lasted too long they would take their toll.

Zaad felt the glass form where the blade struck once more. It seemed like Auriel couldn’t manage to stop him as his teeth gritted from fresh pain and his claws flicked back around. It aimed to graze her middle but he forced himself to stall. To slow down and allow it to barely brush by, his mind swept once more into the Sin’s effects. His eyes flared with new red from the pain, his claws aimed to downward slash at Auriel’s shoulder to her hip. His mouth twisted his teeth into jagged points that gave him a wild look. 

It was about to hit when flames submerged against his side, the blaze licked up around him yet they avoided Auriel as if they had a mind of their own. From just a short distance away, the Pyromancer teacher, Xeric, had flickered out her wrist to shoot out flames that crystallized Zaad’s claws making them shatter when they impacted upon Auriel. It didn’t hurt her other than blunt force as it rang out alongside his scream. Xeric wasted little time and caused a tingling within her student’s body, one Auriel would know very well, to boost her Magic’s effect. 

“Auriel, light him up!” She shouted, another blaze shot to join Auriel’s. 

Auriel tried to dodge back from Zaads next strike - too late. Rather than the sting of a blade though, it was more like a punch, and to Auriels pleasant surprise, she wasn’t bleeding all over the floor when she glanced down. Half of Zaad was glass from someone elses attack. Normally she would be unhappy for someone else interfering in her fight, but in this case, she was relieved. Zaad was a fearsome opponent and her magic was not yet powerful enough to defeat him. At least not on her own. As the sensation of another Pyromancer boosting her power rushed through her, she realised Xeric must be nearby, confirmed by the shout to attack Zaad. Drawing flames from a number of nearby candles and amplifying them considerably, she commanded them to coil around Zaad and envelop him completely. It would leave him as nothing more than a scary looking statue until someone let him go by shattering him.

As the flames subsided, Auriel looked wistfully at her axe, still embedded in Zaads shoulder. The ironbark hilt was blackened, but undamaged, merely coated in thin layer of soot. It was most likely still very hot however, and embedded in Zaads form. Removing it may very well shatter him, and that would put them back at square one. She couldn’t handle that, so she simply left it where it was and raised her dagger to guard against any other demons that might think she was an appealing target. “Thank you Xeric.” She said softly, mostly to herself, directing a brief smile to her master as she prepared to re-enter battle.