Forest Bay

"I never said they were MY hobbies..." Vendetta smiled.

As the Treant was summoned, a few cultists hung back, but others were too far gone and kept running at the two, knives, axes and other weapons bared.

Vendetta stared up into the treefolk's newfound face.

"The rhyme was a nice touch. Cute, really."

The treant swept its branch like arm and slashed into a few cultists, catching one of them on the upswing and taking him with it.

"Effective, too."

Quick as a whipcrack, she dove towards the treant, becoming black smoke. She entered the treant through its face, and the creature tottered around as it began to rot from the inside, wet black chunks of wood beginning to fall from it. 

As it swung around, it caught more cultists, sending a few flying. A few hit a house wall opposite, and didn't get back up. Others appeared dazed, and tottered in the wrong direction, weapons bared on an invisible foe.

The treant collapsed to the ground in a dead, rotted heap of composted plant matter. 

Vendetta wandered through it, becoming a solid form again.

"That's quite the gift you have. Send more if you like, but I do not wish to kill either of you. I need messengers. A pile of corpses does not give the same information you both can. You mentioned guardians? Tell them I exist. Tell them Forest Bay will burn- oh, wait, do excuse me a moment-"

One last cultist was running towards Estella and Mathos, the others wisely hanging back after seeing the Treant, a few already dead from the Treant, and others lay injured or dazed upon the floor. 

In a fluid motion, Vendetta lay her hand under his chin, and he stopped moving, his eyes bulging a little.

"Now now, I did say 'no' to the killing, didn't I?" She looked back to the two, smiling in an "I'll handle it" kind of way.

"Although I don't doubt that the magical girl could rip you apart herself, I have other plans for you. Hold still."

The cultist shook with fear as Vendetta opened her mouth, showing her teeth, her face taut as if she were screaming at the top of her lungs- but there was no sound. The cultist shook violently as all shadow seemed to seep from him, absorbed into Vendetta's being. 

She let him drop to the floor, a pale white husk, the noise echoing around the street. He shook, eyes unblinking. He cast no shadow in the pale light of morning.

"I'm Vendetta. Pleased to meet you."

Bazyl held Raija’s shoulders in an attempt to keep her still. Her circling was only making him dizzy. Can you track the roar, Bazyl inquired to Ozuhus. Bazyl fixed his face to seem like he was mulling over their next moves carefully.

Of course. Is that a wish… or? Ozuhus teased, already aware of the forthcoming answer.

No, but I can offer you a portion of my-

Bazyl was cut off as Ozuhus boomed into his mind. Your soul already belongs to me. Your mind is infested with my magical energy. Your body… your body will soon become mine as well. There isn’t much for you to offer me aside from mild entertainment while I await my payday.

The response forced a frown onto Bazyl’s face. He remembered the night he agreed to Ozuhus’ deal and basically sold his soul.
Don’t fret. I’ll lead you to your death down here, Ozuhus responded with a grin. The beast is down this winding staircase. At the bottom, the room splits into three different corridors. It’ll be the left path. Do be careful, human. Just as you search for the beast, it searches for you. It wishes to feed on your flesh.

Bazyl sighed, “Raija, since you have the ability to shadow surf as you put it, I’d like you to cling to the walls as we did during the city. Alana, you can illuminate our path so you take point.” Gripping his sword, he held it up and pointed it at the looming darkness below. “My sword can lead us to the beast,” He lied, gesturing for the females to continue moving.

Raija stiffened as Bazyl touched her. "Whoa whoa. You didn't even take me out yet!" She joked around. Looking back at him as he seemed to zone out. "Uuum..." She said waving her hand in his face, then he sighed. "Of course I can shadow surf. Where am I going though? Ah whatever." Rai jumped into the wall, fusing with the shadows, and disappeared from the other two. Going on in the catacombs.

Mathoss just stared as the Treant attacked and stuck down several of the cultists but then his jaw drop as Vendetta went into the treant and corrupted it and then defeated it turning it into rotted plant matter and he just stared with his mouth open as she seemed to drain one of her followers of his energy and turn him into a white husk

Mathoss made a growl of fear "hello... she's not normal..."

Estella hummed as he felt a little weakened from casting the summon "I've heard of such magic, it is the type that defeats ours bringing destruction and death while our clans brings creation and life for the most part" She hummed "I would say it is a pleasure to meet you Miss Vendetta but I can not condone you coming to Forest Bay and destroying it. The people here may be against those who wield strange powers and abilities but there many more who accept us and I will not allow you to destroy my home."

Mathoss hummed "what she said and I got to ask is why. why do you gotta destroy forest bay."

Maria would smirk dashing around the flames almost as if dancing. “Oh my…you wield fire but clearly you are mediocre at best use what you are actually good at or are you one of those weak all-rounders who barely make a difference in the battlefield” She snapped.

“Needless to say I am done here tonight is the night oh and do me a favour tell Speyers when he wakes up I got a friend to visit his dear daddy” She requested while flipping her bangs out of her face.

----------
The Catacombs were about to get much worse as they began to rumble rapidly and then silence until a strange mixture of female and male voices interrupted the group.
“You know you lot shouldn’t have come here” A voice muttered from the darkness.

“My venom once it in you well you won’t be leaving here you may even kill each other” The creature hissed.

Alana headed onwards as Raija zipped into the walls and Bazyl brought up the rear, sword in hand. She could hardly tell, but Bazyl seemed distracted, as if he was thinking hard about something. Something about that smelled odd, but there was already so many things setting off her senses down here that she couldn't be sure of anything.

When the creature below spoke and taunted them, Alana steeled herself. She knew to remain calm, she wasn't going to let some voice rattle her. She'd seen some atrocities in her long, long life, and this wasn't going to lead to one.

"If I end up killing either of you, or you kill me, no hard feelings, I guess?" She spoke flippantly, moving forward, her blue flames alighting more of the path.

=  = = = = = = 

"Yes, girl, I sense that power of life in you. Like I said, it's a gift. People often forget that life and death cannot exist without the other, and that one is "good" and one is "bad". Life brings creation, vitality, but can also prolong pain and suffering. Death is finite, but it is merciful."

Vendetta paused, the silence punctuated only by a cough from the shadow-starved psychopath on the floor.


"I'm bringing that mercy to Forest Bay. I cannot...I cannot tell you why, but every fibre of my body drives me to blanket this town in a comforting, finite sleep. I couldn't stop myself from doing this if I wanted to."

Her voice dropped an octave, and became more human, more real, less harsh.

"And that's why you need to warn your guardians. This is not....not what I want- it's not m-"

She shook her head, and lifted her hand. The shadow-starved psychopath raised slowly into the air with it, shaking a little as the morning sun hit his blindingly white skin.

"Run fast and true, little darlings. Death is coming for Forest Bay, and you are it's first line."

The shadow starved man collapsed into gray dust in midair, and she lowered her hand gently.

Mathoss made a face "How can you be driven but have no reason, you're not making any sense."

Estella hummed "I see it... I see that you are nothing more then a puppet or I should say a vessel"

Mathoss blinked "huh? A vessel?"

Estella hummed "yes, she is being controlled Mathoss, by what I'm not sure but I can sense the thing controlling her. It feeds off the shadows of all it can get it hands on."

Mathoss blinked "what can we do?"

Estella hummed "if we fight her, we will only destroy the outer vessel not the being controlling her. I'll have to do research to find a way to separate them without killing the host. So for now we will do as she says and pass on a message."

A siren sound was heard as several police cars pulled up and several humans piled out.

A human ran up to Estella and Mathoss "Matcat!" He stated as he had a gun out "status report."

Mathoss nodded his head at Vendetta "she's the leader of the cult, we managed to come at a standoff. We got several of the cultist who were behind the mass killing down, several more are injured and a few are well running around in a disoriented daze but take caution, this woman isn't human and neither are they."

"got it. All units hold defensive positions, anything hostile comes at you take it."

"Copy that."

Estella hummed as she looked at Vendetta ready to cast another spell "We will not run from death." She stated "so if you decide to bring it we will stop you Miss Vendetta." She proclaimed

~~~

"eh we'll pass on the message." Wesley stated

Theodore smirked as he focused on the ground "what's that growing on your feet."

Roots were starting to form and harden into wood on Maria. If she didn't stop or counter the spell, she would be binded by them and trapped.