Main Menu
Search
Wiki Search
|
News » Night of Darkness: 9B
Night of Darkness
Chapter Nine - Part 2
Eddie had to yell out the obvious, "Those worms are eating Fulton Hall!"
Fred moved up attempting to make sense out of what he was seeing. The worms were thicker than Fred's arm. While he could make out an occasional head, the lengths of body that showed between breaks in the stone gave no impression of being near the end of their bodies. Seeing the head of one worm put itself against a wall and suddenly move through the stone had Fred understand that action needed to be taken.
"I am going to my room to get the dagger that Terish gave me."
"What? I thought we were not supposed to kill these things."
Fred pointed to a thick mass of putrid semi-burnt remains on the side of Clabbers Hall as he said, "They are killing themselves. At least we can help save Fulton Hall."
Sometimes troubles can also supply answers.
Night of Darkness
Chapter Nine - Part 2
Eddie had to yell out the obvious, "Those worms are eating Fulton Hall!"
Fred moved up attempting to make sense out of what he was seeing. The worms were thicker than Fred's arm. While he could make out an occasional head, the lengths of body that showed between breaks in the stone gave no impression of being near the end of their bodies. Seeing the head of one worm put itself against a wall and suddenly move through the stone had Fred understand that action needed to be taken.
"I am going to my room to get the dagger that Terish gave me."
"What? I thought we were not supposed to kill these things."
Fred pointed to a thick mass of putrid semi-burnt remains on the side of Clabbers Hall as he said, "They are killing themselves. At least we can help save Fulton Hall."
As the two turned to rush past Fulton Hall towards Fieldman, Absorrin moved from a group of students to face the pair. "I like logic that allows me to do what I wanted to do. Here, have one of my daggers. Not sharpened by fairies, but sharp all the same."
"Give it to Eddie. I will go get my dagger, then return to join you. I presently believe the more we are armed, the better."
"Don't lose hope, Fred."
"Lose hope? At present I am worried about losing my chance at an education."
"Then go arm yourself. Eddie and I will hold the line until your return."
Fred took off towards his dorm. He had to run part of the way on Albertson Drive because the sidewalk was crowded with spectators. The worms stayed active in the building, so those watching did not feel threatened. Fred felt like lecturing the people, warning them of possible trouble to come. He rushed on however knowing that he really did not have the answers to return to any hecklers.
He did not wait for the elevator, but took the stairs. Fred had his keys in his hand when he stopped at the door to his room, so quickly managed to open the portal. He moved to his side of the room trusting in his organization to quickly gain him what he needed. In opening the drawer where he had stored the dagger, he however started wondering why he was needing such an item. He had always thought of educational institutions as safe places. Even on those previous occasions when trouble arose, it had always been the students who were first shielded. He thus felt out of place reaching for the dagger, if not actually in the wrong for handling the item instead of trusting in the proper officials. The effectiveness of the weapon had him put it with written material whose wide and long pages could fold around the blade putting a barrier between fingers and the sharp metal edge. Some need to check his facts had him reach for a folder containing the flyers and fact sheets on the university. Thoughts of rushing suddenly left his mind as he sat down and looked at the material he had filed away.
The question that he heard a number ask was what those attacking the campus wanted to gain. The thought had been that the university had secluded some secret device of power. Looking over the flyers, there however was no mention of the campus having any protected secrets. In fact, the flyers declared that knowledge was to be shared. He completely stopped and stared at one part of a shiny leaflet. Wondering if it could actually be an answer, he folded it to stick in his back pocket before picking up the dagger and moving to return to the worms.
Fred dashed back down the stairs, then exited through the back door to avoid the crowd that he remembered along the front side of the building. There however were a number of students gathered in the commons. Fred looked at the mass of spectators wondering if he had made the right decision in coming out the rear portal.
He expected that Eddie and Absorrin would be back on the opposite side of Fulton Hall. That was where he had left them, and he could not think of a reason that they would move. Fred however wanted some assurance that he could actually provide some help to those he felt had already started the attack.
He broke through the layer of spectators to see a number of students working with wands to attempt magic spells enabling them to safely remove a worm. Fred moved up wanting to help, but also wondering if they had truly discovered some technique to safely resolve the situation. He approached to hear the group talking of one student who had the skin of his hand burnt by touching the worms making mystic manipulation their only option. Fred looked at the dagger in his hand, then considered the best option to ask those already at work if they wanted his help. Before he could ask, one however turned to speak to him.
"Hey, Fred. Met you in Lott Hall following Terish before you and he fought the dragon. We couldn't hurt these things, but think we are having luck with magic."
Fred did indeed recognize Darren Glocken, but did not want to disrupt what was being done. "Tell you what. If another worm tries to attack, I will use my dagger on it."
Those with Darren agreed with that plan. Fred thus moved up near the wall looking for signs of activity by the worms. The animals were not numerous, but they also did appear to be spaced out throughout the wall of the building. He thus allowed that there could be more than a few active. He did not see any targeting those working on one worm, but also did not see the worms attacking anything but the quality of the structure.
Fred turned his gaze to study those watching the activity. He was particularly looking for those wearing the robes of the Degorthans. Seeing none fitting any previous image, he looked simply for anyone that seemed to enjoy the spectacle. As he studied the crowd, he remembered that remarks making fun of the catastrophes were common. They had annoyed him at the time, although he had not troubled himself to learning the identity of those with the strange sense of humor. He now considered that the statements might have come from comrades of those causing the trouble, but found himself unable to match up the faces of anyone watching with anyone that had previously made one of the offending jests.
His attention was brought back to those working with the worm as Darren said, "Fred! Over here, on the other side."
Fred looked back to the wall, then moved around those powering the magic to study the wall in the opposite direction than he had been looking. A worm was not directly heading at the others, but there could be no doubt that it was coming closer. Fred did not rush to the attack, but tried to assure himself that a moving section of worm connected to the offending worm and not the one already being attended to by those with the wands. Only when a head revealed itself did he rush forward with the point of his dagger.
The round mouth that turned towards him did not truly look dangerous. There were no sharp projections that he could recognize as teeth. The mouth did not open and close, giving Fred the impression that he could safely stick his hand down into its throat to deliver a good internal blow. The reflection of sunlight off of a slimy coating however had him remember that another student had seriously hurt his hand by touching a worm. Fred thus avoided the mouth, but moved to only get close enough to have the tip of his dagger move along the skin of the worm.
The effect of the edge of the blade slicing the hide of the animal was almost immediate. The worm stopped moving, then its form began to solidify. Fred moved back as he saw the wall seal as the creature that had been eating through it became a part of it.
A voice screamed out, "Way to go, Fred!" Eddie came running up with a dagger in hand as he added, "While the other animals we were better off not killing, these we need to kill. I cannot explain it, but Absorrin said that the worms are conjured just from the rock and not the wards of the building. They are disrupting the wards however, so if we can kill them quickly then the building will still be partially protected"
A movement of robes caught Fred's eye, but he relaxed seeing Doctor Norbotten move to them to say, "The young man is correct. This is a different type of conjuring."
As a loud explosion was heard, Fred returned, "Yes, but the worms are killing themselves."
Another drastic sound became obvious as it ceased. Those around Fulton Hall made a noticeable loud gasp as the lights in the building went out. While Fred thought that the worms had finally fully disabled the electrical system of the building, Doctor Norbotten said otherwise.
"It is about time that security shut down the power. Now we can get to restoring things."
"Well, security is probably still busy at the library. The students over there are attempting to pull a worm out."
The Dean of Admissions for the school of magic turned and moved away from Fred and Eddie, although both quickly began to follow. Those working with magic to remove a worm spoke among themselves with anxious tones as they tried to prevent the animal from escaping. Doctor Norbotten stopped to look over what the students were about before making a statement.
"I assume that there is a plan should you manage to be successful."
Darren looked away from the activity to see who had spoken, then he said the name of another young man who turned to look at the faculty member and make the identification. "Oh, hello Doctor Norbotten. Thought you might want one of these worms to examine."
"Hello to you, Doug Slaughter. How are you expecting to present the worm to me for the examination?"
"Well, if we can remove it from the wall, we should have a good hold upon it."
"Your faces are looking a little flushed. Just how long do you believe that you can maintain the control?"
Fred did not see the student show any reaction to the statement, but confidently continued to look at the elder. "If we can get it out of the stones of the building, controlling it should be easier."
"And just what experience do you have working with animals that would make you so certain?"
"Well, I don't, but Keith here was the one to teach the horse to fly in the last homecoming parade."
"Ah, yes, I do recognize Mr. Cliffords. I believe that this little escapade will only result in disaster, but it might reveal something as well." Doctor Norbotten seemed to notice that Fred wanted to make a retort, so moved back to speak unto him. "A number of the worms have already been killed by their consumption of electricity, so damage has already been done. You and Eddie Morten have both proven yourselves able to kill a worm. I thus find it acceptable to risk capturing a worm in the hope of learning more information."
Fred wanted to protest, but stayed silent not wanting to challenge the elder. There had been factual support for the conclusion, so Fred felt unjustified to speak unless he also had some evidence. His nervousness had him move the dagger near his shirt, and he jumped back when the cloth parted as the edge of the blade came near. He changed his stance to have the dagger at the ready should the action with the worm prove dangerous.
While the worms might supply answers, Fred decides to prepare himself for the worse.
Posted by TerishD on Monday, October 29, 2007 (11:43:17) (471 reads)
[ Administration ]
|
|
Related Links
Article Rating
Average Score: 0
Votes: 0
Please take a second and vote for this article:
Options
Last Posts
Last 10 Forum Messages
Total Hits
We have received 22708134page views since April 2003
|
Search
Chat_Room
News
