The tea kettle wailed as steam billowed from its spout. Sean filled a cup with steaming water, “Did you pick out a flavor?” He asked as he poured hot water into a second.
	“Ah,” Harold browsed various tins and boxes, “How about this orange infused chamomile?”
	“A fine choice,” Sean agreed, “I have some students working on shields. Perhaps I should have them do more?”
	“Some evocation in their study plan would be a good idea,” Harold suggested, “Mine are trying with abjuration and necromancy, but most are struggling with what they call ‘the dark arts,’” The evocation president scoffed as he put the tea bags into both cups, “I want them to learn healing magic– without becoming priests.”
	“Don’t you have a priest in your evocation classes?” Sean asked.
	Harold nodded, “A good man,” He removed his robes and hung it over the back of his chair. The two were sitting in Sean’s dorm room around a large work table that Sean did his presidential work at. It was late, but the two had work to do, thankfully they had a spell that could help them get eight hours of sleep in merely one hour. Harold began rolling up his long sleeves and unbuttoned his collar. He quickly brushed off his slacks and sat down. Sean was in a similar outfit, a much dressed down version of their usual attire. Still they managed to find a way to wear their house reds and blues respectively, Harold cleared his throat, “Perhaps we need to combine our classes? The students still need to learn self defense. Xavos and Loxley could lend a hand. Perhaps Arthur too since he will be around for a few days?”
	“Galahad? I am surprised you– You merely wish to keep an eye on him, hm?” Sean sighed, immediately relenting as Harold’s lips turned into a sheepish smile, “Fine. You are right he may be of help. The students respect him.”
	“Perhaps we can bring more houses together for it?”
	“Aye.”
	“What do we do for food? Supplies are dwindling,” Harold inquired, “The student volunteers can only prepare so much and bring in a few morsels from off campus.”
	Sean nodded slowly, “We could band together and fund a delivery? Rice, wheat, meat, potatoes.”
	“What about fruit? We cannot have them getting scurvy,” Harold added, half-jokingly.
	“When did you become a nutritionist?” Sean chuckled, “Lemonade mix will suffice. We can buy that in bulk. Perhaps some sweets are in order as well, some way to keep our morale up,” The abjurationist sighed, “I just wish this would end. The students do not deserve this.”
	“Yes, I agree,” Harold folded his arms and leaned back in the plush chair, “What I would not give to end this right now.”
	Sean exhaled in an exhausted fashion. Before he could reply, the knocker on his door slammed a few times, “Enter,” He called, expecting it to just be the night watch reporting more rustling in the bushes. 
A student entered in pajamas, “Sh-she demanded to be shown to you, Sean.”
	“Hm? Who?” Sean asked, standing to greet his guest. A woman entered, she was small and had minty green skin with black curly hair. She had the Seeker’s armband on and had obviously been crying given her red, puffy eyes. Sean recognized her from Arthur’s talk, “Rald, wasn’t it?” He recalled, “Is something amiss?” He hoped he had not said anything strange at their first meeting.
	“My–My brother,” She panted, having just run across campus, “He went out into the woods, to chase the Butcher…”
	“Alone!?” Harold roared, leaping to his feet, “What is he thinking!?”
	Rald shrank away. She shook her head slowly, “N-no. He went with Carly the journalist, Sophia Hamilton, and Reccoa the sorceress.”
	“Carly!?” Harold put his hands on his temples, “I always knew she would get herself killed for one of her so-called scoops. Sean, we need to go after them. Now.”
	“Agreed,” He threw his robes on. With the wave of his hand, his sword and staff flew off their racks and into his hands, “Do we know where they went?”
	“They stole some maps from the DHIF guys and have an idea where to go,” With a shaky hand she held out the copy she was left with, “We should be able to track them down.”
	“Right,” Sean sighed, “What has gotten into everyone?” He grumbled to himself as he started to grab other materials, “You, Alex,” He pointed to the student by the door, “Wake anyone you can,” Sean used a spell to copy the directions that Rald had and gave it to the student, “Come after us in an hour, give everyone enough time to get ready. Get Grandmaster Arthur and the others if you can as well as Zucarius.”
	“That should not be necessary,” Harold declared, already heading for the door, “We will be back in thirty minutes.”
	“Harold, we cannot take this lightly,” Sean insisted, following him out with Rald right behind him, “No matter. We need to leave immediately.”

	“There,” Fredrik’s hands were firm as he tightly bandaged up Blud’s scalp, “You four,” He began, sizing everyone up as best he could in the dark and damp of the night rain, “Are quite foolish to be out here at this hour and in this weather,” The golden clad wizard scolded. The rain practically bounced off his outfit, each droplet plinking off his golden plated robes, something he seemed to have whipped up in the past few days. Blood was on his hands from the goblin and sectare, having tended to their wounds after fending off the fiendish Butcher. The two had a few bandages on their bodies now, a little shaken, but the appearance of the metalmancer had given them a much needed boost to their morale, “May I ask why you are getting into fights with monsters? Were you never taught to avoid creatures of the night?”
	The stern voice behind the mask made the members of the ABUG shudder slightly. Carly cleared her throat, “We’re going to stop the Butcher, Fredrik. We’ve followed the DHIF’s lead to this area, but what they didn’t consider is that this guy is pretty much exclusively active at night."
"And during the rain!" Blud added. 
Carly nodded, "Lo and behold! It is out and we are hot on the trail!”
	Fredrik folded his arms and shook his head, “You cannot be serious. The four of you against this monster? Just what are you thinking?”
	“We are thinking that it bleeds, therefore it can and will die!” Blud retorted, “And I’ll be the one to do it if I have to!”
	“If we can at least find its burrow, or home, or magical realm and at least one of us escapes, we can rally everyone! Muster the troops and all that! Plus, if they’re alive like we assume, that will heavily raise morale across campus!” Sophia explained.
	“Why did you not 'muster the troops' before this? Why did you four have to be the ones to go? Do you realize you could have been killed?” There was no playfulness or grandeur in Fredrik’s voice, which gave the four pause.
	"I mean… yeah, but we can't just sit around campus," Blud protested. 
"We take fight to Butcher, we butcher him instead! Almost had him!" Reccoa agreed.
	"Butcher be damned– you could have caught a bullet from one of the DHIF agents or hell, a bolt from one of the patrolling students!" Fredrik snapped at the four. 
	While Sophia, Blud and Reccoa shrunk back, Carly only felt emboldened, "A risk I'm willing to take if it means saving Fairgarland!"
	The golden wizard spun around on her, his eyes glaring at her through his mask, "Don't pretend you're some kind of hero endangering these three for your petty little newspaper, you didn't even fight to protect them!"
	"Lecture me all you like, what were you doing out here in the first place?" Carly bit back, pointing an accusatory finger at the metalmancer. 
	"What does that matter?" Fredrik deflected, shoving her hand away.
	"What were you doing here?" Sophia echoed the question. "You couldn't have known we were out here unless– no, you still have that?"
	Fredrik groaned. "Yes. Fine. You're correct," He reached into his robes and pulled out a necklace, the gemstone glowing lime green softly in the dark.
	"Is what?" Reccoa asked, both Carly and Blud mimicking the sectare's curiosity.
	"It's an auspice stone," Sophia explained, "We had them when we were still… together. They're supposed to warn the wearer of their other's danger."
	"I have always kept it on my wall for it is quite the pretty thing. Tonight for the first time it warned me. I was awoken by its eerie green glow and nervous whispers," Said Fredrik as he put it away, "I began to scry for your exact location. When I found you scrapping with the fiend in question I came running."
	"Well. Thank you," Sophia bowed her head, "But we must carry on. Even you can understand this monster needs to be put to a swift end."
	Fredrik reached under his mask to rub his forehead and pinch the bridge of his nose, “I assume I cannot talk you out of this?” Everyone shook their heads collectively. 
	"Fine. You four are just going to add to the missing list if I do not tag along." He quickly made his way through the four and pressed on through the night, "Keep close,"
	The others quickly fell in line, not wanting to be left behind.
	"Wow. He's like a completely different person. None of his usual quips or taunting," Carly let out a sigh of relief, "I thought he was gonna clock me one for sure."
	"He'd never do that. Even if you do deserve it," Sophia vouched for the golden wizard, but even so, he was acting stranger than usual. Or perhaps more accurately he was exactly as he had been in years past. It felt like it was more than just their brush with the Butcher that was bothering him, but it was not her place to ask. Not anymore.
	"So… Auspice, huh?" Blud idly inquired, "How's that work?" He asked, Reccoa nodding beside him, the two staring at the white cat-witch.
	Sophia blushed, "It has a… lock of my hair in it," She whispered back.
	"Ooh… And he kept that?" Carly hissed, even now she was hungry for any form of gossip.
	Sophia shook her head and shrugged, "I didn't know either. I disposed of mine, I let an anti-mage focused knight destroy it for his training in exchange for helping me with my magical theory thesis." 
	The group of five continued their trek, black splotches of magic ooze were scattered about. Blud and Reccoa both frowned as they scanned the area, “What is it?” Carly asked under her breath as she continued to look around with her thermal camera. 
	“Animals. Gone,” Reccoa replied, “No owls, they’re usually in woods. No bear. No deer. Active in late fall, teacher says.”
	Blud nodded, “And all the fruit on these bushes have been plucked. I used to come out here when I was younger and forage with my siblings.”
	“We are getting close, hm?” Fredrik swallowed nervously. A chill seemed to come over the group as they neared a clearing. The trees here were bent and twisted in strange ways. Every tree had been straight up and down between the campus and here, but now they were bent at angles up to ninety degrees. In the clearing were only five trees, the bushes and grass had been removed or burnt away, leaving only dark mud, coagulating with the goo the Butcher seemed to leave behind.
	“They were right,” Sophia took a deep breath, “But their notes do not seem to include this clearing.”
	“Only active at night and in the rain,” Blud replied, “Does it have something to do with the mud? This stuff looks real nasty.”
	Fredrik was drawn to the few trees in the area. It was a ring of oddly bent and twisted trees covered in vines that bore mauve fruit, each covered in odd bright bumps, nothing like he had ever seen before. In the center were three tree trunks that came up to conjoin and twist together to form a big, fused trunk that rose high into the air. It was hard to tell if this tree bore any fruit, but the vines that crept up it were an unnatural shade of blue.
"This must be where it lives." He thought aloud.
	“You’re right,” Carly pulled a sketch from her pocket, “The DHIF were sniffing up this tree before. The base in the photo we were privy to looked a lot like this. But the base, they’ve split somehow.”
	“Could it be that it splits open during these stormy nights?” Sophia put a finger to her temple, “I can sense some conjuration from it– the teleportation kind.”
	"So where is it?" Asked Blud, a new spell crackling on his fingertip. 
	"See that there? At the center? That must be where this magic Sophia sees is," Fredrik replied, "It's likely in there," The metalmancer reached into his robes and threw out a handful of gold dust that glittered with magic. It quickly began to swirl and swarm like angry flies. It moved to Fredrik's hands and he grasped at it, pulling a sword's hilt from within the swarm. The cross guard came next followed by the long, slender blade, all encased in a shimmering magical gold. 
	"Ready yourselves, we do not know what it has prepared for us," He warned, staff in one hand, sword in the other, “If this is truly the entrance to its realm, we must also be prepared for the worst. I cannot imagine what hellish nightmare it has constructed for its victims.”
	Sophia shook from the cold and terror of the situation. She wanted to believe the students were alive, but if this was a demon or some such, she would have to be ready to see a grisly scene. She gripped her staff in both hands, preparing a spell beforehand this time. Reccoa had her red crystalline casting implement ready. Blud had a spell cast onto his hand at the ready and Carly was putting new tape into her video camera, “We are about to step into the Butcher’s lair,” She told the camera then panned to her allies, “We, the ABUG, are steeled and prepared for whatever is on the other side of this portal. The DHIF were right about the beast’s location, but got the time and weather wrong for their investigation. The Butcher is lying in wait. Blud, get out there,” She goaded, readying her photo camera in her other hands. Blud froze for a moment, looking to Fredrik who shook his head. Sophia had half a mind to destroy the devices, feeling that Carly only cared about her paper even now. But, she had to consider another use; video and photographic proof would be the best way to get more helpful people involved should they fail. The cat woman sighed as her ears flattened against her head. 
	"I'll go first," She announced.
	“Sophia,” Fredrik heaved a heavy breath, “Allow me,” He stepped into the thick mud. He felt himself sink in up to his ankles, the goo and mud pulling him down. With a grimace, he took a few steps into the clearing and looked for the monster he was after. 
	A shimmer on the edge of his vision demanded his attention. With a deep breath, he filled his lungs with a golden wind. As he exhaled, the golden flakes covered the invisible assailant with shining, yellow specks of light. Even in the rain the butcher was visible and obvious. But in the blink of an eye, the beast vanished. Fredrik felt a twinge of fear for the others as he searched for the beast. Behind him, everyone moved into the clearing, “The portal,” Blud looked to the cluster of trees, “We can make it!”
	Fredrik looked as well, “No, we should try to fight it outside of its domain,” He glanced at the just as antsy group.
	“Could we even leave? I am sure you have all heard about how dangerous a portal to an unknown realm could be,” Sophia mewled nervously as she gripped her staff, “And do not look at me like that, Carly. I cannot teleport through realms and I have an awful suspicion that’s where we will go.”
	“It’s certainly not of our own realm, and we are definitely not dealing with that creature in their home territory,” Fredrik quickly agreed, “Let us try to draw it out instead.”
	“How?” Reccoa wondered.
	“I got just the thing,” Blud licked his lips in anticipation. Though the deep mud slowed the little goblin down, he started to wade toward the trees within the area with the others following him. He pulled a small metal device from his pocket that when a button was pressed, would produce a small, white and magical flame. The goblin resisted the urge to eat the berries on one of the strange vines. Sophia frowned as she watched him touch the damp bark. She opened her mouth to protest, but the goblin was quick to put the flame to the berry producing tree, snickering at his own sudden act of arson. The white flame engulfed the vine, slowly burning it and the berries away. The tree beneath only acted as kindling, despite the rain. The magical white flame burned and shined brightly. The goblin’s malicious cackling was suddenly stopped by a blood curdling screech. Blud moved as fast as his little legs would take him and got to burning the next tree. 
	“Get down!” Fredrik hollered, shoving the goblin just after he set the next berry bearing vine alight. The golden wizard was blasted by a wave of burning black magic. Fredrik’s cloak burnt, the brilliant gold started going up in an unnatural, dark fire. 
	Carly spotted it first, “There!” She pointed her cameras at the still sparkling assailant. It stood near the trio of trees, waiting for them to make the first move.  Sophia, despite her heart pounding hard enough to shake her body, still held her spell at the ready. Reccoa was faster, unleashing her’s first and shouting in rage as she threw her own fire back, “Careful! Don’t burn down its portal!”
	“Trying!” The sectare shouted, her mass of fire turning to a stream as she crossed one arm over the other. The Butcher vanished again and the flames struck one of the last berry producing trees, setting it ablaze with similarly magical flames. She shouted over her shoulder in Japanese, seemingly at her beetle companion. Her crystalline shards floated around her in a circle, each one glowing a bright red, “Now where!?” She growled, “Portal?” She wondered before talking to her familiar again. Fredrik pulled himself out of the sticky mud, now covered in black gunk and ash. Part of his mask was melted, the left side drooped slightly, turning the face into a horrible frown. 
	“AH!” Blud screeched as the Butcher grabbed him, appearing from what little darkness remained as the flakes began to vanish. Sophia’s spell was finally released. Three tiny portals opened, each one unleashing their own attacks. Lightning from the first, which the Butcher managed to dodge by contorting its torso, bending far back with the head nearly touching the ground. Next was a ray of scorching fire, which managed to hit the beast in the shoulder and last was a flurry of frozen spikes that each struck into the monster’s chest, all with a satisfying PLINK. It reared back, “GET AWAY FROM ME!” Blud screeched in the only way a cowardly goblin could. He reared his hand back and reached out with an open palm and unleashed an unrefined blast of mana right into the butcher’s masked face. The blast knocked Blud down and made the Butcher reel. Fredrik and Sophia worked on gathering the energy for their next spell while Reccoa was catching her breath, having overdone it. 
	“We must have it on the ropes now!” Carly cheered. 
	“I doubt it! Blud! Get out of there!” Fredrik snapped as he unleashed another flurry of golden darts. The Butcher put its hands up and guarded itself with its arms. Fredrik ran at the beast, sword at the ready. The goblin was struggling to move. Sophia mewled and hissed and swore as her next spell fizzled. Blud made another shrill yelp as the Butcher gripped him with its big, green, and leathery hands. The goblin slapped against them, but froze as he stared into the now cracked skull. The Butcher reared back; everyone tried to cast a spell to stop it, but Blud’s lithe body was thrown across the clearing, right into the trio of trees where he immediately vanished. The golden wizard, just moments too late, ran his sword through the Butcher’s chest. It cried out and blinked away in a puff of darkness, leaving Fredrik and his sword dripping with blood.
	“BLAAD!” Reccoa screamed, fizzling her spell purposefully and sprinting into the trees, following him right into the portal.
	“No!” Fredrik yelled, but it was too late. The hot-headed sectare had already disappeared into the portal after the goblin, the two going who knows where. He returned to staring at the Butcher, ready for another bout. The unnatural flames crackled and popped around them, the rain fell, and the wind howled in their ears. A strike of thunder boomed in the distance. The golden wizard felt sweat on his brow from beneath his mask. There was no emotion in the Butcher. It held its arms at its sides and just stared, its head cocking slightly as if it was curious as to what the group would do next. The golden wizard was quickly running out of options, unsure of what he could do even now. Sophia stood at his side, shaking from the repeated failed spells that started to cause pain through mana burn, “We should return,” He decided.
	“What!? It's right there! Kill it!” Carly shouted.
	Fredrik shook his head, “We know where its nest is. It cannot move its domain in just a night. We cannot do this.”
	As he took a step back, the Butcher stepped forward. Sophia shook her head, tears welling in her eyes, “I don’t know if we can make it out… I cannot cast again, Fredrik! I’m sorry!”
	“Then you two need to go,” Fredrik decided, “I can handle this. For a time.”
	“And then what!?” Sophia demanded, she grabbed the wizard’s arm.
	“You’ll just have to save me later.”
	“But–”
	“There is no time. Carly has all the proof we need to mount a rescue. Take care of her, Miss Hamilton, she’s the one you really have to watch out for,” There was a bit of playfulness in his tone once more. It was almost enough to make the witch cry.
	“We’ll come back for you!” She mewled.
	“Of course you will,” Fredrik grinned from beneath his ruined mask.
	Carly was already turning heel as she clutched her cameras to her chest protectively. Sophia ran, not daring to look over her shoulder. 
	Fredrik cast a spell to quickly fix his mask, might as well die fashionably, he decided, “Come on, you bastard. I’m right here! To me!” The golden wizard prepared his last spell, leveling his sword at the approaching fiend.

	Night had come. Galahad had spent his night studying and training himself. While the spell scroll was well written, Arthur’s script was a bit difficult to transcribe. The young wizard had been at it for a while, but now the magical incantation was inscribed into his magical tome full of spells. Just like all spells he had written in, the magic contained in the words seemed to writhe as it tried to escape the pages. Galahad rubbed his eyes and slammed the book shut, “Ugh,” He groaned from his weariness. His eyes shifted across his desk to the letter. Tonight was the night. His clock ticked and slowly approached two AM. It was nearly time to peel off the wax seal and read it. He closed his eyes, for just a moment– at least to him as the weariness was slowly overtaking him. With a stretch, he reopened his eyes and glanced at the clock again. Three seventeen. A blink had turned into a wink of sleep. With a low swear, he grabbed the letter and ripped it open. 
	Grandmother’s handwriting. It would have been comforting if the writing was not cause for alarm. ‘At precisely two o’ five, open the spell scroll case and cast the prepared spell targeting the goblin Rald Raxpidallia.’ Galahad felt his heart sink. Grandmother was a diviner, if she was doing something like this, there was something very, very wrong. He lunged for the phone on his side table, ‘One missing call from Rald R.’ That was all he needed to confirm that something was amiss. The duelist broke the seal on the case and looked inside. There was a tiny leather pouch, some loose papers, and a scroll bound in silver twine. Galahad had already been clenching his jaw out of stress from the sudden news, but now he felt as though he could shatter his own teeth as he undid the twine around the spell scroll. He was late. Of course he was. Grandma should have foreseen that with her damn scrying. But the future will always change, just like the duelist found in his own studies. Damn divining spells, a frustrating and futile school of magicks. Galahad’s eyes felt like they were burning up as he glared at the magical text on the scroll. It was a special kind, almost everything necessary to cast it was burnt into the very text that had been transcribed. He willed the magics into him while he focused on his friend, Rald. As the spell was cast through him, he felt drained of mana. On the carpet, a line of glowing yellow magic had appeared. It sparkled, enticing him to follow. Galahad took a deep breath, grabbed his cloak, threw the hood up, and took up his sword and staff. His friend was in trouble, that much he knew and he had a feeling he knew exactly what it was. A vision flashed before his eyes only to confirm his suspicions, a cloaked figure with a frightening bone visage. Galahad grit his teeth even more at the thought of that creature getting its horrid claws on his friends. He wouldn’t be caught off guard again by that monster.
	He left, quickly tying on his cloak as he hurried out of the dorm dimension. In the lobby of the tower was a trio of students reading through tomes and studying together, “Uh, G-Galahad?” One of them stammered, “A-are you trying to go out?”
	“Yeah,” He growled while putting his sword on his belt.
	“B-but President Manus said we can’t go out, emergency status and all,” The second student whined, her canine ears flattening on her head in worry.
The third stood in his way before the door, “You’re gonna get us in trouble, Galahad. I know you’re close to–”
	He was cut off as Galahad gripped his cloak and threw him aside. The other two gasped as the boy lay in a heap on the floor, “Get up. I barely shoved you,” He sneered at them, “This is an emergency. Keep watch or go to bed, just stay out of the way,” Without another word, he left the dorm and vanished into the stormy, dark night, dashing away.

	Carly panted, her voice was hoarse and rough, “Sophia,” She pleaded. The cat witch was doubled over, leaning on a tree as she vomited up shimmering, blue ooze. The excess mana from all her fizzled spells was leaving her body. She shuddered and slowly followed, coughing and sputtering as the weary duo tried to get back to campus, “We have to go, come on,” Carly urged as she took one of the cat’s arms over her shoulders, dropping a small camera in the mud. The journalist left it behind, carefully trying to keep the important cameras safe in her bag and around her neck.
	“I… Can’t…” The cat wheezed.
	Carly looked around before tugging Sophia along, “Just walk, I'll keep you on your feet.”
	Sophia nodded slowly, doing her best to keep her legs moving in pace with the journalist. She was soaked completely through, but there was no time to even worry about casting a rain repellant spell, not that she'd even be able to, she belittled herself. Pain wracked her, and her legs were begging her to stop, “Please, I need a moment,” The cat mewled and wheezed, “Just keep going without me.”
	“No! Come on! No one is gonna believe me! They’ll believe you!” 
	“Carly…” Sophia fell to her knees and tried to catch her breath. The two were covered in mud and rain, each too weary to press on. 
	“Dammit…” Carly put her remaining camera in her bag as she panted heavily, “Do you think it came after us?”
	“No… Fredrik is holding his own, I know it,” The cat-witch looked around. The early morning rain chilled her to the bone now. Her ears twitched as she heard something over the rain, “Oh no.”
	“What?”
	“I hear someone, footsteps in the mud,” The two thought about it for a moment.
	A thought occurred to Carly, “Wait. The Butcher floats, who is out here?” She took a deep breath, “HEY!” The journalist yelled, much to Sophia’s chagrin.
	The steps hurried closer and three forms appeared out of the rain and darkness. Each had a light at the end of their staves. Carly felt immediate relief as a bright light shined on the two weary witches, “Carly?” Harold called, “Oh, you two look terrible. Just what were you two thinking, running around out here in the rain!?”
	“Miss Sophia,” Sean’s voice was stern as he helped the lady to her feet. A simple spell dried her off and removed the mud from the lower half of her white robes, “You two…” The student president shook his head, “I am glad you are safe. We need to get you two back to campus.”
	“Just a sec,” Rald looked between them and around the immediate area. She instinctively began to check the witches with a few spells, “Sheesh, Sophia, what happened to your mana?”
	“Lots of miscasts, Rald,” She groaned, gladly accepting a sizable mana potion to ease her ailment. A shot of liquor chased it that made her gag.
	The goblin looked each of them over and shined her light to the nearby bushes and trees. The words Sophia feared came from Rald’s quivering mouth, “Where’s my brother?" The goblin looked to Sophia, "Where is Blud? Where’s San?”
	“Ah, w-well…” The cat trailed off as lightning flashed and thunder followed.
	“Rald… the Butcher tossed him into its portal,” Thunder boomed again, as if to add to Carly’s statement, “And that sectare ran right in after him. We didn’t stand a chance… and Fredrik… he showed up to help us but...”
	"NO!" Rald cried out, trying to run off on her own before Sean grabbed hold of her.
"Stop it! You're only going to put yourself in danger with your emotions running wild like this!" He reprimanded her, holding the goblin tightly even as she fought to break free.
	“It’s worse than I feared,” Harold grumbled to Sean before taking hold of Carly, “Which way, where is the beast?”
	Sean’s face turned to a frown, “Even with the two of us, can we deal with this? This monster is beyond anything the two of us have dealt with before.”
	Rald relented in the abjurationist's arms, a cry of frustration escaping her lips, “This thing won’t show up again until the next stormy night! If we go into winter, will we even get this chance again? What about everyone else still trapped by the Butcher? What about my brother? We can't leave them to their fate!” Rald protested, tears welling in her eyes. 
	Sean put a hand on her shoulder, “We shall handle this. The three of you should return to campus.”
	“Come on, you can't send me back…” Rald whined, “I can help!”
	“I cannot put you at risk,” Sean insisted with a firm tone, “It would be ungentlemanly of me, Miss Raxpedallia.” 
	“Ugh,” Rald groaned, “Don’t use that crap with me. Come on, we’re losing darkness fast.” 
	“I cannot allow a lady to be put in danger on my watch!” 
	“I am not a lady and it's not on your watch, it's my decision, dammit!” The goblin woman shouted back, “There is nothing lady like about a goblin! I’m going with or without you!”
	Sean could only stare at the minute, glaring woman. She was a lot more daring than he had expected her to be. He hesitated, not having the heart to deny her anymore. Harold cleared his throat, bringing him back to reality, “We do not have time for this.”
	“Agreed,” Sean relented, “Then you two, get Zucarius. He will know who else to wake. Go through the night watch if needed.”
	“Here,” Carly gave Rald a camera, “Get lots of photos,” The goblin nodded, figuring out how to turn it on quickly, “Just follow that fire,” The journalist pointed, “Sophia, can you teleport us back?”
	“I think so, grab my robes– gently,” She hissed. She took a moment to compose herself, taking a deep breath before she cast her spell. The two quickly vanished in a puff of green smoke.
	Turning, the three hurried towards the flames. Rald could only think of her brother, hoping against the worst. They arrived quickly despite the mud and dark. White, black, and red flames all crackled and popped as the trees were all slowly engulfed and consumed by the magical fire. The rain still fell, but the darkest clouds were starting to let up. Rald got a photo of the scene. Sean waved his hand, calming the flames before they could spread to the rest of the woods. He pointed his staff at the clearing and said a single magic word before nodding and glancing over to Harold, “It must be there,” He pointed to the trio of twisting trees.
	“Where does it go?” Harold wondered as he stepped into the ooze and mud. Like the others, he found himself slightly sinking into it. 
	Sean took a deep breath before answering, “Another realm, I believe. It is definitely not connected to anywhere nearby.”
	Rald’s heart was pounding as she hung back for a moment. She was ready to help before but now that she was here, part of her feared what she couldn't see beyond the twisted portal. She was terrified of what this other realm could be. A hellish nightmare? Maybe the realm known as the Onyx Sands? She had always heard that it was a wasteland where the sun beat down on anything that lived above the blackened sands and would cook them alive. Nothing could survive that, but if not there then where? This Butcher definitely wasn’t from the High Tyirath. 
	“Rald!” Sean motioned her to follow, “Come, we must hurry.”
	“R-right…” The goblin timidly stepped into the mud, “Yuck,” She complained. Her ears twitched. There was an odd noise in the wind coming from behind her. The usual whistling in her big green ears had been replaced with a weird buzzing. It was getting louder. She swallowed nervously and hurried her slow trudge, “I can hear something!” 
	“Hear something?” Harold held his staff at the ready, “Is it out there?”
	Sean glanced at the trees and then the slow moving goblin. He picked up the hem of his robes and took a few long strides over to pick her up, “Come on, we are going.”
	“We’re just hopping in!?” Rald protested after she was held under Sean’s arm. 
	Harold smirked, “That’s where your brother is, isn’t it? We’ll get him and be back for breakfast,” The president of evocation quickly stepped into the center of the three trees, and vanished unceremoniously.
	“Ready?” Sean asked, holding her tight.
	Rald took a deep breath, “As much as I can be.”
	Sean went in with Rald first. The goblin felt herself stretching as she was taken to the other end of the portal. Then she was squashed, almost making her lose her dinner. Her body felt like it was twisting to a breaking point, she wanted to cry out but the bright orange void she was in felt like it was suffocating her. In an instant, it was over. Harold, Sean, and Rald all panted and picked themselves up before looking around the clearing they were in. Rain still fell around them. The trees on the edge of the clearing were charred, but not alight and yet still they grew berries. They were much larger than any the three had seen before, “Very odd,” Harold mused aloud, “Did it work?”
	“Yes,” Sean looked up and felt the rain on his face, “The rain is warm. Look there, beyond these clouds, the orange of dawn.”
	Just like he said, all three of them could see it, “It's too early for that. Where are we?” Rald wondered as she started to make her way towards the sunlight. 
	Sean glanced around, the surroundings puzzling him. The black ooze was everywhere underfoot now. Towards the sun and down a small path that had not been there before, the three traveled. Harold stared at all the trees that flanked them on either side, each one contorted into painful shapes or impossible loops. Berries of various colors, orange, purple, blue, metallic red, shimmering rainbows, void black, and many others grew everywhere along the path. The abjurationist cast a few spells to determine where they were. Rald, curiously picked up a berry, its colors were an opalescent white. She licked her lips as she felt the big juicy fruit in her hands. Bringing it to her lips, she couldn’t wait to taste it. Sean used his staff to shove it from her hands, “Ow! What the hell was that for!?”
	“Did you eat any of it?” Sean shouted in a panicked voice, “Did you eat any fruit!?”
	“N-no…”
	He sighed with relief, “Both of you. Don’t eat any of them.”
	“Why? What is the matter?” Harold stretched his back, “Poison?”
	Sean frowned at him, “No. We are in the realm of the fey.”
	“The Fey Lands?” Rald gasped, “So the Butcher is… a fairy?”
	“It certainly makes some sense,” A fourth voice made the three jump. Galahad stood behind them, hand on his chin with his form buzzing and shimmering, “The blinking, the charming, I can see it,” He shrugged, considering everything he knew about their quarry, “Though the magic being so vile in nature is strange.”
"What in blazes are you doing here, Loxley?" Harold demanded, his weapons drawn.
	Galahad seemed to ignore him, still considering options, “Maybe we should have brought Miss Manus? She's fey, she would probably be able to suss out this monster.” 
	“No,” Harold pointed a finger at him, “Do not put her in danger. You should know better. And– are you using a haste spell? That is just going to cut a chunk of years off of your life!”
	Galahad shrugged quickly and just as swiftly raised a staff in the air. The shimmering light around him vanished and he exhaled heavily, “Not if you do it right. I’m sorry I didn’t pick up my phone, Rald.”
	Rald hugged him around the waist, “I’m just happy you’re here now.”
	“How did you find us?” Sean wondered with the tilt of his head and a skeptical glance.
	Galahad looked a little sheepish, “I was tipped off. Shall we move on? We have people to save,” He jumped back as Sean cast a spell aimed for him, attempting to touch his chest, “What? A dispel?” Galahad tilted his head. 
	Sean straightened himself before raising his staff again, “For illusions. I don't want to take any chances in here."
	"If you're really Loxley you wouldn't be against that, would you?" Harold concurred with the abjurationist, raising his own staff.
	"Sorry to disappoint you, Harold, but it's me,” He smiled at the prince.
	“Yeah, and I could smell that it was him,” Rald agreed, taking to his side, "You're both being ridiculous!"
"We're in the Feylands, can you really trust your senses?" Harold argued.
	Galahad sighed and held up his hand revealing the rings on his hand, “One of them is iron. You of all people should know fey don't care for it. I used a divining scroll and got here right after you. We have better things to do than bicker. Come on," Galahad was already moving on.
	Harold glanced at Sean who gave him a wary look, but he nodded, “If it is iron then it is Loxley,” When the two looked. Rald was right behind Galahad, prompting them to follow.
	As they moved away from the clouds, the dawn’s light illuminated the odd plants of strange colors. Reds, blacks and browns were prevalent, different from the usual bright colors they imagined the fey realm to be full of. The only other colors came from the sky and berries. The rain still fell, but much more warm and gentle than in their home realm. Rald kept marching on, doing her best to ignore the new enticing smells around her. But yet, beneath them there was something alluring and familiar. She looked to the side and ducked to see beneath the berries, “Oh! Look at that!” She pulled on a plant to show the men behind her.
	Galahad’s face scrunched up but he knew the smell, “Gore and viscera,” He gagged. Carcasses of various animals were littered beneath many of the plants, their blood soaking the soil. 
"What on earth…?” Harold put his hand over his mouth to keep from wretching. 
	"They're being used to feed the berries along the path." Sean pointed out, "Look…" Deer, squirrels, birds, and even cougars all laid dead, some of them dry as bones with the plants completely wrapping their roots around them, others were freshly killed for what seemed like yesterday, “Did the Butcher do this?”
	“We did see it covered in blood and gore sometimes,” Rald explained.
"And the forest life has been thinning out…" Galahad added solemnly, “That would explain how, but not why…”
“Fertilizer I presume,” Sean added, “Is it compelled to cultivate these plants?”
The goblin breathed a heavy sigh of relief, “Oh thank goodness there’s no people here. That means they have to be alive! Right?”
	“Are you sure?” Harold pressed, “How can you be so sure? Look at all of this. They could be mixed into this and we'd never know it!”
	“There's a different smell to the races of men and demi-humans compared to animals. And before you ask, no, I find it repulsive as a city goblin, but some of the more wild forest goblins would love it,” She shuddered.
	“How long were you on this case with Carly?” Sean asked.
	“Since shortly after the duels,” Rald replied and the group moved on, “Blud saw it first, then Soph’ who went to Carly and I got involved since I told them what my brother knew. San– Reccoa only got involved tonight. We didn’t know who we could trust! We thought it was a student doing this! I was ready to take down that weird necromancy president to save the campus! We were sure this Butcher was carving up students!”
	“Edelgarde Hiersing is a wonderful and upstanding lady,” Sean protested.
	Harold smirked, “I could see it.”
	“Look,” Galahad pointed through the trees. More colors were coming into view, “A… house?”
	“More like a tower,” Sean noted. “Why is it upside down?” Standing on a single point, a cone of various pastels rose above the forest. The single point of the cone barely touched the black ooze and mud but stood up perfectly straight on its tip. A foundation with a set of stairs leading up to a door at the center of the roof was their pathway in. At the top of the tower was a door and going down it there were various windows of all kinds of shapes. Each floor, with five total, were blue, red, yellow, blue, and green from the top down, all were very pastel. It was an almost refreshing sight, had it not been so strange and frightening. Sean and Harold frowned at it, “Is it in there?” The abjurationist wondered, a twinge of fear in his voice. Rald took a picture of the tower.	
	“Probably,“ Said Galahad. With his staff in hand, he stomped up to the inverted tower, “We’re not going to find out just standing here.”
	“Should we press on? Do we think we need support for this?” Sean pressured the others, “If the four of us–”
	“Help is on the way already, aren’t they?” Rald scoffed, “What are you, scared?”
	Sean's face went red, “Of course not! I am merely concerned with everyone’s safety!”
 The prince stroked his beard, "We are already here, Sean. I think we can handle this. Do either of you know much about realms? Can we close it?”
	The abjuration president cleared his throat, “I have more than a passing familiarity of pocket realms– and I am certain you all know of them as well. As I recall, if we find the anchor for this realm and sever it, that should close it off. If we can close it, we will all be forced out of the only portal connection. This may be the fey wilds, but someone anchored a tiny section of it, lopped it off from the rest and,” With a pause, the president frowned and adjusted his tie, loosening it, “Placed it and this monster right outside our campus.”
	“We’ll shut this down and obliterate the Butcher,” Galahad decided, quickly taking charge, “I don’t care if this fey monster vows to kill me when it reforms. I’ll kill it again and again. You can shut this realm off, right?”
	“Of course. I have the knowledge necessary but I may not have the mana,” Sean replied, quickly opening a spellbook that floated before him and cross referencing a small leather bound journal.
	“Rald, I know its a big ask, but can you give Sean–”
	“Yes,” She quickly answered, “I am more than willing to be his mana battery.”
	“Good. Rald, walk behind me,” Galahad said before trying the door,
	"Locked," he cursed before hitting it with a blast of mana. The door did not budge, "And warded, too," he noted before he looked at the window beside the door. It seemed to him that the ward was weaker there. He quickly bashed the lowest window out with the butt of his staff and cleared the broken glass with a spell, “Sean, you come next, then Harold. Scream if it grabs you. Stick close.”
	“Who died and made you leader?” Harold indignantly sneered, "I should be leading us in there. If memory serves, you were stunned the last time we fought this beast."
	Galahad turned to him, a glare on his face. His fiery eyes looked as if they'd burn a hole in the evocationist, "Harold, right now is not the time for our petty rivalry. If you want to go in first, be my guest, but if I go in first I can have a ward up so that you can throw whatever you got up your sleeve at the first thing that moves. So put your ego aside for one damned second and focus. Or we're dead." Harold opened his mouth to protest again but Galahad cut him off swiftly, “The Butcher caught me off guard once but it will not happen again, I swear.”
	The prince was red in the face and shaking, but soon he took a deep breath and nodded. Sean shook his head, "So remind me, what's the plan from there?"
	“Find the captives, destroy the Butcher, have Sean destroy the anchor, and everyone gets dumped into the real world. Easy,” Rald recounted with a smirk on her cat mouth, “Come on! I need to know my brother is alright!”
	“He is,” Galahad started to squeeze through the small window, “I’m sure of it.”
	“He isn’t gonna be when I find him,” The goblin was helped through by Sean who handed her off to Galahad through the window. The small, inverted attic was dusty and had a few boxes sitting on the ceiling, each collecting grime. Fey runes in permanent marker labeled each one. Rald was trying to make it out while trying to get her footing on the four angled walls that came to a point, “It says memories? I think?” She guessed.
	Sean and Harold entered the inverted attic, each struggling to maintain their balance, especially in such a small space, “There,” Harold pointed to a trapdoor. With the wave of his hand, he pushed it open with a red and glowing disembodied hand. A ladder ascended from the trap door to the floor above leaving the group ladderless, “Of course.” The prince griped with a roll of his eyes.
	Galahad grabbed a blue, faintly glowing length of silk rope from his bag, “Grab this, and hold it up there,” He tossed a length to Harold’s magic hand. Galahad readied some telekinesis to tie it to the ladder, but Sean and Rald were quick to work in tandem with their own magical hands to tie a knot, “Ah, good,” He smiled at them.
	Rald started up the line before anyone could protest, stopping before climbing to the next floor to look around, “Nothing. Looks like a bedroom.”
	Galahad went next followed by Sean and Harold. The rope was pulled up and with three gentle tugs, the rope’s knot came loose and was put over the duelist's shoulder. Like the goblin said, the room was a bedroom. The four stood on the ceiling, a bed sat on the floor above them with a nightstand and a dresser against the wall. A wardrobe stood on the ceiling near the next floor, its doors, made of shiny, waxed wood, sat ajar. There was a spiral staircase leading up to the next floor. Unfortunately, it was going from the floor upwards to the floor of the room above upside down, leaving them to guess how to get to it and climb up. 
	Sean knelt down and checked the ladder. With the wave of his hand, he removed a few screws. It started to fall upwards, but Harold was able to grab it with his already summoned hand. Sean sighed, nodded, and checked his spell book, “Can you move it so it is leaning against that wardrobe? We should be able to climb off that to make it up to the next floor. It may need a little jump. Let me…” Harold did as instructed. Sean’s magic words inverted the ladder’s gravity, allowing it to be set against the ceiling and leaned against the furniture. 
	Galahad went up first without a word. He pulled the wardrobe’s doors open and climbed inside. With a deep breath, he leapt to the hole in the inverted floor and grabbed on. As he tried to pull himself up, the others used various spells to give him a push. Galahad found himself in a big kitchen and dining room. He felt a wave of relief as he saw the other students. They also sat on the ceiling, each one quietly eating berries of numerous colors and drinking from fancy cups. The big dining table, oven, stove, and pantry were all on the ceiling. Holmit, Angerdese, Fredrik, Blud, and Reccoa were all here along with what seemed to be every other missing student and faculty member. With a smile, he tied his rope to a handrail and let it down to the others, “Hey, Rald, I found Blud and the others!” His back was turned for just a moment, long enough for a chill to course through him. He knew that feeling. A pre-casted spell came from him, a wave of force that battered everything on the floor. Candles fell over, the chandelier jingled, and the invisible Butcher was sent backwards into the kitchen. Another spell from Galahad revealed the Butcher’s cloaked form. Every student and faculty member suddenly turned their heads to stare at Galahad with blank expressions. Fear struck him, but his hands kept moving as he prepared his next spell. Harold was climbing up next.
	“Galahad! What’s happening!?” Sean called.
	“It's here!” Harold called for the abjurationist. The Butcher crossed its arms and moved past the students. A wave of dark gaseous magic was spread towards the two wizards. Galahad was fast, pushing the magic back into the charmed mages with a wind-like force, stunning them for a time as they gagged from the foul spell. In an instant, he moved his hand back into himself, dragging the Butcher across the floor, right into him. Galahad’s dagger was out in another instant, plunged deep into the beast’s chest. It cried out as it began to lose blood. Harold followed up with a thrusting attack of his own, lashing out with his rapier and then slashing the monster across the chest. It blinked away, clutching its bleeding chest. Harold let loose a bolt that struck it, making it cry out in pain again. Like a spider, the Butcher leapt up to the inverted floor and began to crawl along it, disappearing to the floor above. 
	The gagging and coughing charmed wizards had all gotten up now, their fruit and water all clattering to the floor. Rald and Sean had climbed up, “What’s wrong with them?” The goblin whispered in fear as they stared at the lifeless expression in her brother’s eyes.
“Charm magic. To the extent they are being mind controlled,” Sean explained, “Too many to dispel them. We need to knock them out and keep moving.”
	“Did you learn Arthur’s spell?” Galahad asked as he went to his spellbook, “He gave it to you, right?”
	“Mister Loxley, it's only been a day! I have duties! How am I supposed to–” Sean yelped as the first students lunged at the four. He quickly used a force spell to knock them back. Fredrik had grabbed Galahad but was pretty easily thrown back in with the others. They were simple thralls in their current state, only able to tightly grip their target. 
	“Ugh,” Galahad grit his teeth and began reading through his tome, “You’d be a much better wizard if you weren’t bogged down by house politics, Sean!” He began to chant and call forth the magical words. Harold delivered a non lethal shock to a few, stunning them for a time. Sean pushed them away and Rald cowered behind him. Prayers escaped the goblin’s lips, sent to whoever would listen to her.
	“Get off!” Harold cried, as four student’s grabbed him. He struggled to cast another spell as his arms were gripped. Sean was struggling as well, he was quickly running out of mana, and was unable to stop it as two more grabbed him. 
	Rald moved back, hiding behind Galahad now, “Hurry…” She pleaded.
	“Fall!” Galahad cried with a booming voice as his staff was lifted into the air. His two hands were white knuckle as the spell came forth. All the air was sucked out of the room, sparing his allies. Each of the mind controlled people fell to the floor, all their mana and the air in the room was sucked out and straight into Galahad’s staff. The spell ended and with the rush of wind, air returned to the room with a pop and a burst of energy. Galahad’s staff crackled with power while his allies sighed with relief. He hit the butt of his staff on the inverted ceiling and absorbed the mana. Each of the students fell on their backs, faces and sides, too weary to move and simply left to writhe and groan.
	Harold eyed the duelist who was shuddering from an acute excess of mana. Sean got a better look at the students who had been missing since the start of the fall, “A bit thin,” He noted as he checked their bodies, “But healthy enough. We need to get them out of here and cured as soon as possible.”
	Galahad gripped Harold’s shoulder and siphoned mana into him then did the same for Sean. It was very much not a warm and intimate exchange and both of them flinched at the sudden burst of energy. He didn’t have time to reach out to their souls and gently give it over, they had to keep moving. Rald frowned, “But there’s too many for you to remove the spell from, right? What do we do?”
	“If the caster dies, the charm does too,” Galahad replied as he gave her the rope. Next, he cast an anti magic barrier on her, “Our mage hands can't reach up there, so you'll have to tie the rope. My magic will keep you safe.”
	“W-will it?” She shivered in fear.
	“Here,” Sean laid on another barrier, “Trust us.”
	“Okay,” The goblin was filled with determination, “How do I–” Sean’s magic changed her gravity, making her float upwards to the next floor, “Wooooah,” In any other scenario she would have been having a great time. She took a picture quickly of the three wizards and all the students and faculty strewn across the 'ceiling.' Rald was now on the top floor, the biggest of the bunch. She did not spot the Butcher. She found herself in a living room. Couch, coffee table, wide screen TV, a nice leather recliner, and even a table that seemed to have a few hundred piece puzzle being done on it. Rald grabbed onto the stair railing and began to tie a knot. Sean’s magic ended and she gently returned to the inverted ceiling. A blast of magic seemed to bounce off of the magic barriers. They shimmered but stayed attached to her. Rald turned to see the Butcher nearly right on top of her. The cry was stuck in her throat as terror gripped the goblin. The monster’s hands couldn’t reach her, the barriers warded them off, but for how long? Rald clutched her wand in a shaking hand and made a sign with the other. She couldn’t form words as the creature kept trying to claw through her shielding. The first of the two seemed to pop. Rald shut her eyes tight, tears threatening to roll down her cheeks. With a motion of her hand, rotating her wrist twice before thrusting it forward she sent a blast of mana, completely unrefined and full of desperation. It left her body and struck the Butcher squarely in the face. Rald was blown back, falling down the hole in the floor to be caught by Sean who was on the way up. She clung to his robes, blubbering and shaking from the quick experience. With one hand free, Sean got to the top of the rope, still holding the shivering goblin. 
	He was unsure of what to do, but he shook her gently, “Sssh,” He cooed, “It’s okay. Look, it’s gone.”
	Next up was Galahad. He scanned half of the room and found nothing, frowning when he saw how upset Rald was. When he looked to the rest of the living room and the furniture within he discovered a shocking scene. Chunks of bone laid on the floor. It was the Butcher’s mask, of that he was certain as he picked up the few chunks to briefly examine them. Across the room, a single window was open, letting in a bit of warm rain, “The anchor isn’t here. It must be on the roof,” Galahad decided.
	“Out the window and up onto the roof then, Loxley?” Harold groaned, “I grow tired of climbing and chasing.”
	“It will end soon,” Sean said, gently lowering Rald to her feet, “Galahad is right, we are close to this anchor. All the aetherial energy is converging here.”
	Rald was quiet as she wiped her eyes with the hem of her robes. Sean and Harold looked around, both looking for an easy way up. Galahad clenched one hand in front of his face and exhaled softly. He brought the fist down to wind up for his spell and then thrust it forward to the ceiling as he shouted in a magical tongue. A hole exploded in the corner of the ceiling in a flash of red fire. The tower shook and groaned as rubble coated the interior, rain pouring through the hole. Harold grit his teeth, “Loxley! What on earth are you doing!?”
	“Making an entrance,” He snapped back. He shuffled through his spell tome for a few pages, “Can we make some stairs or a ladder with all this?” 
	“If I had a bit more–” Sean started.
	“Rald,” Galahad grunted and moved a hand toward himself, beckoning the coffee table towards himself with magic. It scraped across the hardwood only to be torn apart by the goblin’s magic. She brought her hands together above her head and slowly brought them apart, dismantling the wooden furniture into usable planks and scraps. Sean nodded and carefully used his staff to bring every piece in place to form a staircase of rubble and wood. With the slamming of his staff on the floor, the abjurationist set them in place, “Shall we?” He nervously asked.
	Galahad swiftly flicked a hand towards himself with a single word. A ward of blue magics began to swirl around himself, “Follow closely. Everyone knows what they need to do, right?”
	There were nods all around. Despite the uneasy looks on their faces, they ascended to the top. Warm rain continued to fall. Harold rolled up his sleeves and drew his sword up. Sean put another shield on Rald and got ready to move to his position. The goblin took hold of his robes, knowing what her duty was. A warm stone was clenched tightly in her other hand. Galahad climbed up, staff at the ready. In the center of the stone floor was a black structure. It was about two feet across on either side, coming up about a foot. The sides were etched with red magical runes, each one pulsing with power as they collected the mana in the air. A red mass of crackling crystals was held within the black construction. Little bits of red lightning would arc off and strike the stone around it, sizzling in the rain. The Butcher stood between them and the magical device. The skull mask was gone, having been obliterated by the goblin. The creature’s skin was wrinkly, dark, and green. The face of it was small, too small for its big round head, sunken in beady eyes, loose cheeks, and a mouth like a goat. Long, pointed ears stuck out on the sides of its head. It held its hands out to defend itself with its dark swirling magic. 
	There was fear in the beast’s eyes. It lurched down, its crooked and rotting teeth bared at the wizards. Its aura of fear made Rald’s skin crawl. Goosebumps broke out on everyone’s skin as the feeling of warmth from the rain faded away. Galahad was sneakily casting a spell beneath his cloak, but the first to move was Harold. The wizard’s staff let loose a powerful bolt of lightning, crackling and leaving a scent of ozone in the air. The Butcher dashed to the side, getting only nicked by the spell. It responded by lashing out with a wave of foul magic from its palm. Sean put his hands up, creating a curved barrier for the four that the spell slid off of and dissipated. Galahad ceased his first spell, with a scowl he decided a different course of action was needed. He brought out his sword and raised it above his head. With a few magic words, the weapon began to glow. Slowly, he brought his staff down the blade, revealing the glowing red enchantment he had placed on it. He held the magicked sword in one hand and wielded his staff in the other. Harold raised his staff and cast a spell on himself, creating half a dozen illusions of the prince before rushing forward. Rald tossed the stone in her hand at the floor. In a pillar of swirling flames, a creature of magma and stone appeared. It had a form like a gorilla with two massive fists formed from obsidian and plates of stone covered it like body armor. The rain hissed as it turned to steam across the flaming hot body. The goblin pointed at Sean, “Protect!” She ordered. It nodded, watching the two as they slowly started towards the black monument. It was trudging behind them, working up some kind of magic, what exactly Rald didn't know, but she hoped it would be enough to keep them safe.
	Harold forced the Butcher back as it tried to prepare another magical attack. The enchanted rapier cut into the thick robes that the beast wore. A wave of the Butcher’s hand let off another spell, this time it was a barrage of black bolts. The evocationist’s sword cut through a few of them, but a couple managed to strike his staff arm, making it go limp. He could barely keep hold of his staff. Galahad pushed him out of the way as the Butcher charged up another attack. The duelist feinted to one side, making the Butcher dash to dodge the strike and misfire its spell. As he brought his sword down from a short distance away, the red sword left his hand, moving in close to perform a long slash downward into the creature. He managed to dig into its shoulder before it dashed away, whining in agony as blood continued to seep. The sword swiftly flew through the air, putting itself firmly back in Galahad’s hand. 
	“A good strike!” Harold called. The feeling had returned to his arm, but the holes left in his flesh and clothes looked and smelled rotten. 
	Galahad swiftly ran his staff down his sword, changing the magic from a red spell to yellow. The yellow magic moved like an after image of the sword, “Just keep the pressure on!” He called back, “We can do this!” With a glance over his shoulder, he saw that Sean was already at work. The abjurationist’s staff and spellbook both floated next to him as he waved his two hands over the crystal. Rald held a hand on his waist with her eyes closed. Her mana slowly seeped into Sean’s body and soul as he worked. Her gentle arcane touch softly reached in, trying not to distract the wizard as he worked. The Butcher looked at the two, seemingly understanding what they were doing. Harold and Galahad stood between the creature and their friends, “Is your arm fine?” The duelist asked.
	“Fine enough. Follow my lead,” Harold ordered, holding his long rapier parallel to the floor. Galahad nodded and spun his sword in his hand, realigning his grip. Harold held his staff up, creating a cluster of magical bolts that began to spin around himself. Galahad paused, checking his tome for a moment before summoning his own cluster of ice spikes. They hung in the air over the Butcher who stared at all the magic, “That almost looks like my spell!” Harold laughed.
	“It was too good not to make a similar copy of,” Galahad smirked back. Harold lunged forward with a stab only for the beast to leap into the air. Galahad’s magical ice began falling like rain onto the creature, tearing again into its cloak and skin. Harold’s attack swarmed like a colony of wasps, each one attempting to bury itself into the Butcher. Many found their mark, skewering it in the air,  but the Butcher vanished with a blink spell. Galahad waved his staff, moving his barrier to Harold as the Butcher tried to run him through from behind with a large, black spike it had formed on its hand. Harold swung around, cutting it again, this time on the collar. There were numerous holes in its robes now, but it wasn’t slowing down, now lobbing a ball of black magic at the two working on the crystal. The fire elemental used its arms as shields for itself and leapt into the attack. Its arms sizzled and the rocks melted. The fire creature seemed to whine in its fiery and elemental language, but it stood firm. 
	“Keep it up!” Harold shouted back.
	Galahad was on top of the creature before it could strike again. He brought his sword to his left and slashed with it. The after image vanished as the Butcher brought up a black barrier to defend itself. The sword was blocked by the dark magic, only for the yellow magical energy to come in from the right, digging into its ribs. It lashed out with a cry, a powerful wave of magic cut through Galahad, knocking him to his back. The barrier on Harold as well as the magic on his sword vanished. Galahad’s sword and staff clattered to the ground and he laid still, eyes rolled back into his head. Harold tried to rush forward to help, but the black magic was making him cough and wheeze. He suddenly felt as though he had two left feet, stumbling and tripping over himself. The Butcher had formed a wicked blade from its arm, the same one that nearly did him in moments ago. Harold looked to the wounded elemental and reached out an arm, pulling in its latent power as a swirling, powerful flame and then unleashed it from his now burning arm. The flames cleared out the smog and charred the Butcher, making it cry out as it tunnel-visioned on going for the kill. The robes burnt away, revealing its wretched, wrinkly, and malnourished form. It was inhuman with long, spindly arms and short legs with cloven hooves. Harold shook off the rest of the foul magic, ready to keep fighting. He summoned forth three flaming swords that hung in the air around him. He was on the Butcher before it could try to harm Galahad or Sean again. 
	The beast turned to him. It was shaking and its inhuman, animalistic face was full of fear and anger. Panting and groaning, the beast touched the injuries on its chest, each of them oozing a bit of blood. The pouring rain washed away the sanguine liquid, the reddened water all spilling over the side of the tower. The Butcher struggled, turning its arm into a weapon again. A flurry of blows came from Harold, his rapier was blocked, only for his magical swords to deliver a few burning slices to the creature. It shoved off the swords and thrust forward with its big spike. Harold easily parried and followed up with another slice. The Butcher retreated, wiping off its wounds before coming back in for another attack. Harold smirked, ready for another riposte. The Butcher’s weapon was swung from one side and Harold went to block. It hit his rapier, quickly shifting from a long spike to a thick club carrying its momentum. Harold’s sword snapped from the force and he was sent sliding across the wet floor with a set of broken ribs. The prince gasped and hacked from the pain and the air being knocked from his lungs. 
The Butcher stumbled, having been hurt all over. The wounds across its body were numerous but not very deep. It looked about, Sean was still casting, Rald was on her hands and knees trying to catch her breath, she was wrung dry of mana. The damaged elemental stood by. The monster fell as it tried to get closer. With a struggling hand, the Butcher threw another spell, a single bolt of black magic. Once more, the dutiful fire elemental took the hit. With a groan and a hiss, the fire went out and it slumped down into dark stones that slowly crumbled to ash. The monster had an opening now. A hand gripped the back of its neck as it tried to stand. It shrieked loudly and its body spasmed as it tried to escape. 
	Galahad scowled, tightening his grip on the Butcher. The iron ring on his finger burnt the creature’s flesh more than any spell had. The sure sign of a fey creature. The fire raged inside Galahad, his wrathful spirit was ready to bring the Butcher low. Both panted, exhausted from the fight, the Butcher still hissing over its harm from the searing ring. The duelist found himself hesitating despite that, he stared into the beast’s face and watched it silently beg for its life. The tortured eyes, despite being sunken in, almost reminded him of Manus. Dark green eyes like moons on a canvas of black, they stared up at him, shrinking as they focused in on his own. It knew it was about to die. If they had been blue like hers, he might have felt a little more pity for it.
	“It is done!” Sean cried, his voice full of weariness. He fell to one knee as a CRASH rang out across the land and a rumbling came from underfoot. Galahad could feel the realm coming down around them as the red crystal broke apart bit by bit, turning to dust and then into nothingness. A horrible cold swept through the realm, the pleasant creamy orange sky was replaced with a black void. The tower groaned and began to list one way. Galahad lost his footing, the Butcher squeezed out of his grip, and scampered away, crawling down the side. The duelist swore, but could not pursue it. The world had gone dark.

	Out from the portal, students and faculty members were spewed out into the mud. Each of them lost their footing, getting stuck in the filth as they writhed on the ground. Galahad felt ill, as he expected for someone just forced out of a realm. He quickly got to his feet and summoned his staff to himself, the dark, burnt oak flying through the chaos into his hand. The dark of the early morning was slowly being eaten away by the dawn’s light. Harold writhed in pain, Rald was nearly unconscious, and Sean carried her in his arms and started checking the charmed students. The Butcher was trying to crawl at the edge of the clearing, dragging its beaten and bloodied form through the mud. Galahad scowled and stomped toward the creature with all the energy he had left. He grabbed it from behind, gripping its neck as the iron ring began to sear the beast again. With the last of its strength, the Butcher cast another spell. Galahad’s magic protected him, but the magical creature shook itself loose from his grasp. It turned as it moved away, a mix of terror and hatred showed on its ugly, wrinkled face. The two stared each other down as Galahad drew his dagger. He began his march forward, with the Butcher baring its teeth and starting to move towards the duelist, slowly preparing another spell. 
“Melwyn Duilleag, mi ag iarraidh ort stad!” A voice was heard. The Butcher stopped in its tracks. It stood, merely staring at Galahad now. The duelist’s hands gripped his dagger and his mind mulled over whether he should go in for the kill now, “Stay your hand, Galahad,” Miss Manus ordered with the authority of not only his teacher and house president, but the authority in her as a fey princess.
	Galahad looked at the Butcher, it was shaking now, struggling against the magic that Miss Manus had used. The mind controlled students were starting to rouse. Sean was still up, Rald in his arms, and Harold was gripping his side, trying his best to remain still on the ground. Numerous others followed Miss Manus into the smoldering clearing, Zucarius, Carly, Sophia, Arthur, Nambra, and the two DHIF agents– Peter and Theodore– just to name a few. Each of them began to work on healing the enthralled students. It was a slow process to clear the charm from them, leaving the fey-witch and duelist to deal with the Butcher. Manus easily walked atop the thick, gooey mud as she approached the Butcher, “Manus, stay away from it!” Galahad called, “It nearly killed us!”
	“He will not harm me, he is no more than a ghillie dhu,” She replied calmly. Miss Manus stared at the gentle, fey soul within the creature.
	“Look around you!” Galahad shouted, “These students are its thralls! It uses dark magic! It nearly killed Harold! Someone heal him for God's sake!”
	Miss Manus shuddered as she neared, “His soul has been corrupted, but this creature is pure of heart. I will cleanse the foul magic from him. He is innocent, Galahad.”
	“Pure of–” Galahad stomped to her side, “A creature pure of heart doesn’t do this,” He pulled his robes apart and lifted his shirt to reveal the painful, black burns on his chest, his flesh eaten away, “It is a monster. One cut. That’s all it takes to free these students.”
	Xavos and Zucarius were hurrying over, “Please, Zucarius, I will handle my own kin,” The two elder wizards glanced at one another, but gave them space, each ready to act at a moment’s notice. The students had begun to rise to their feet. Each one slumped slightly, no more than thralls awaiting their master’s order. The faculty and students that had arrived held their staves and wands at the ready. Arthur, after stabilizing Prince Harold continued to work on healing the others along with those that could assist him.
Galahad stepped in front of the fey witch, putting his hand on her shoulder to stop her, "Manus, I'm telling you–"
	Miss Manus’s gaze was off of the Butcher for only a moment as she frowned at Galahad and in an instant it sprang back to its feet, lunging forwards at the fey-woman, reaching out with its big hands. Galahad was faster, turning and grabbing it, slamming it down in the mud, singing it with his iron ring. Miss Manus was shaken, both by the sudden attack and by the screeching that came from the already grievously wounded fey creature, “Galahad, stop! Please, I just want to help him. Do not slay my suffering kin! He is merely enthralled, just like the students! He is not himself! He is not just a monster!” 
	The duelist eased his grip, looking back at his president. A sharp pain made him yowl, the Butcher had bit his hand and in the same moment a long, sharp shaft of magic was thrust through Galahad’s shoulder. It had been aimed for the duelist’s heart, but Galahad had moved, not having the time to use magic to defend himself. While the feeling of kinship with the fey still remained, Miss Manus saw nothing but the dark, monstrous power surging within the ghillie dhu. The fey-witch felt a dark power reaching out to her own heart. She struggled to move, left to wonder if Galahad had died because of her. The Butcher froze suddenly. It began to look dazed, its head swinging back and forth as if searching. It began to stumble about, unable to maintain its footing before it was swiftly ensnared by a score of red hands pinning it to the ground. When Manus looked she saw that Xavos had been the one to cast the spell.
“Are you alright, dear?” Zucarius was at her side with Xavos on the other, the red wizard attending to Galahad. Manus struggled to form words as she stared down at the motionless duelist, “The boy is tough, he will be fine,” The dean assured her. Some faculty had begun to summon stretchers as they tried to figure out how to put the students on them. Those that had been cured were taken immediately to the infirmary. Although Galahad was easily loaded onto a stretcher himself, it did little to ease the sudden shock felt in the fey witch's heart.
	“Manus, my dear,” Arthur strode to her, “This creature, the ghillie dhu, what can you do for it? I can feel the dark magicks gripping its heart. I cannot quickly heal these students, and though the creature's charm is waning, and it may not have the mana, it can still command them to attack.”
	Miss Manus looked at Galahad again as he was taken away on a stretcher, holding in tears, the fey woman nodded, “Affected by magic or not, his pure fey heart will listen to my high position.”
	“We shall leave it to you,” Arthur gave her a slight bow. Xavos glared, his casting hand itched to end it now, but the disapproving look of the dean kept his hand still. He released his spell on the Butcher.
	Miss Manus stared at the dazed monster. Twisted and dark, its soul needed purging, cleansing, renewal. Zucarius had a spell cast on the creature, most likely some kind of illusionary terrain to confuse it. She took a deep breath, and commanded the creature to kneel.
	“Melwyn Duilleag!” By invoking its true name, something that she magically knew with her princessly status, the creature was forced to kneel. The fey-witch checked her tome of magic for a spell, flipping through the pages until she came across the one she needed. Once found within the magical pages, she read the magic words aloud, burying the Butcher in mud and stone, keeping it completely still. It shook its head, bleating in a weak panic. Miss Manus cleared her throat and spoke in her fey-tongue an ancient incantation. Though none present knew the words, they knew in their hearts that she was calling upon the powers of the spirits and fey of olde. Her voice thundered with the words, her arms lifted up toward the heavens, her eyes glowed, and her mouth shone with magicks long forgotten by the younger races of men. Those present watched as the wind picked up around her and the ghillie dhu. The cold winds of her home realm blew through the grounds. The gentle rain turned to snow, the puddles froze and everyone nearby was shocked to the core by the chill winds. The chanting continued, louder and just as demanding as the elements were bent to Manus’ will. The Butcher cried out, ice began to cover it. Like a crystalline structure, the ice formed harsh angles on its shining, opaque surface. The form was spat up from its entombment, leaving a hole in the ground where it was once buried. It was now completely frozen. The cold winds ceased and Manus knelt down. She took hold of its hand, feeling the heat completely gone from its body. The first part was complete. She brought her hands together, right in front of her heart. She closed her eyes and whispered a prayer in her native fey tongue. A small, blue flame appeared in her hands that she blew onto the ice-covered creature. The cleansing flame set the ice alight. Dark, ghoulish, smoke came from the fire, a screech could be heard in the air as the dark presence burned. Only once the screeching had stopped did Manus breathe in and lift her hand. From the ice and fire, the ghillie dhu was expelled. The ice had turned black and the smoldering flame started to vanish. It laid in the mud and heaved. The few onlookers were enraptured by the cleansing, most never having seen fey magic like this before. Soon after, each of the mind controlled students and faculty collapsed, every one of them slowly regaining control. They wondered where they were with a few even crying as the feeling of imprisonment left them. Among them Xavos spotted Yilandra Utosh, whose purple skin had dulled into a faded gray. Without a moment’s hesitation he went to her, gently lifting her to her feet while giving her part of his mana.
 	Covered in new leaves and vines that sprouted from its very flesh, the ghillie dhu took the form of a young man with olive green skin and long black hair. His eyes had changed from dark green to a vibrant yellow on black. He wore the leaves and plants like clothing with a dark tunic and brown, patch covered pants, “Rise, kin,” Manus told him, taking one hand and pulling him up. His weariness was plain to see as he dropped to one knee in front of the princess.
	“Can he tell us what happened?” Theodore asked as he started to scribble in a notepad. He brushed some snowflakes from it quickly and looked to the fey princess. Manus relayed the question in the fey tongue. The ghillie dhu shook his head and clutched it shortly after. He spoke in a gravelly voice, like a man awakened from a long slumber exercising his vocal cords once more. Theodore frowned as he listened to the odd, almost elven speech grumbled out by the ghillie dhu.
	Miss Manus nodded, “He remembers coming and going from a portal near here. He could feel a dark presence. It almost seems like he was trying to find it or destroy it. But as we can see, he lost.”
	Zucarius frowned and looked at Arthur, “You don’t think…?”
	“No. It could not be,” He whispered in reply, “Whatever it was took hold of this fey. Let us hope for nothing more. But… I must look into this more just to be certain.”
	“It must have moved on,” Xavos harrumphed, “At least I hope– pray so,” The old wizard began to conjure flames to warm the students and spoke softly as he consoled Yilandar Utosh, color slowly returning to her. The elemental was very glad to see him, but too tired and hungry to speak. 
	“So do we take him in?” Theodore asked Peter.
	“Nah. We can’t arrest someone for being possessed, otherwise we’d have to bring in everyone here,” The elf sighed, “I’ll write up the report for the boss. See if anyone else has anything to say. Make sure you get a statement from anyone who went after it tonight.”
	Miss Manus put her hand on the ghillie dhu and spoke in her ancient tongue. In a glow of blue light, he vanished, “I have sent him home to tend to his wounds,” She announced, “There is no need to keep him here.”
	“Agreed,” Zucarius nodded. The elder wizard sighed with relief and his shoulders slouched, “Let us tend to the other students.”
	“Blud!” Rald shouted as she ran to her brother. The goblin was woozy as his sister wrapped her arms around his neck, “I was so worried!”
	“Eh, I’m fine, fine,” He grumbled, “It's colder than mom’s rage, ugh.”
	“Snow?” Reccoa asked, letting the flakes fall into her hands. 
	“Are you all okay?” Carly asked as she reunited with the rest of the ABUG, “Blud? Reccoa?”
	“Wow, Carly,” Sophia smiled as the duo nodded, “I am surprised you are not demanding your camera back.”
	The journalist glared for a moment but shook her head, “I can be worried about more than just material possessions, you catty fool. But do you have it, Rald?”
	“Of course,” She handed it over quickly, “I hope the pictures help.”
	Sean shook his head, “So are you all in some sort of club?”
	“Well,” Carly sighed, “The ABUG should be done now. To conclude our final meeting, I hereby pronounce the Anti Butcher Union Group as dissolved, having completed our mission. Thank you all for your help, and now I will write the most exciting article of my– of our lives!” She cackled, “Oh! I need statements, speak, tell me what happened Rald! Sean, I will get yours soon!”
Sean frowned and stepped away, giving the group a chance to speak. He looked to the duelist who was still unconscious in the care of the chirurgeons. He thought to himself as he watched the young Galahad’s arm and shoulder be wrapped up in a bandage and have a spell cast on it. He was groaning and clutching his head as the rest of Karak-Albrac checked on him. Even Holmit, the dwarf who had been enthralled moments ago was now looking over his fellow councilman. Sean’s eyes wandered to Arthur, how had Galahad so quickly and easily learned the old Grandmaster’s signature spell and to such a powerful extent? Sean had gone over it and transcribed it into his spell book, but he had been unable to practice in the short time he had.
	“Do you think so now? Do you agree with me?” Harold asked as he snuck up on his fellow class president, his entire chest wrapped tightly in bandages, “You look just as suspicious as me now,” He grunted softly in pain.
	“I just cannot fathom how it is possible, Harold,” Sean folded his arms, “If he is related to Arthur and Nambra, they are all doing a very good job acting. I would not think Nambra would be able to keep it up especially if she learned he was in danger.”
“What if it isn’t an act?” Harold proposed with a wince and a smirk, “We both know of spells that can modify memories.”
	“But on such a scale? Who else would have known Galahad in his youth? The Hamiltons, your family maybe, and how many others? No one I’ve spoken to even thinks that Arthur has a son! This is a potentially world wide modification of memories, Harold. Everyone knows Arthur Maxamillion. Is that even legal? Ethical? Possible?” Sean hissed, undoing his tie.
	Harold shrugged, "Not every caster cares about the ethics or legality behind a spell, and besides, with such a spell, who would remember to bring them to court?"
	“I do not think it is possible. At all," Said Sean, still struggling to undo his tie.
	"All magic was thought impossible once, long ago. What’s even less possible is for Loxley to learn Arthur’s spell overnight, and to such an extent."
	"Harold, be reasonable. He is a very studious man, even you can see that much.”
	“I do, but you’re the one being unreasonable,” Harold pointed out, “It is impossible to learn any spell to that extent in a single night.” 
	Sean shook his head, “Think about what you’re suggesting: a world-wide memory wiping spell? He doesn’t even know the divination to do it.”
	“Then he had help,” Harold dismissively added, taking a labored breath.
	"What’s truly more reasonable here, friend? You need to come to terms with the most likely explanation."
	“Go get yourself sorted out, Harold. I think the pain is getting you to speak nonsense.”
	Harold shrugged and sighed, turning to walk away, “Very well, but you’ll soon see I was right all along. Good night– or is it morning now? No matter,” He shook his head and stepped to one of the chirurgeons and gladly laid out on a stretcher, eager to have his pain eased.
	Sean looked toward the rising sun, “I do not believe it to be so,” He told himself, “Impossible is what it is.”
	“Sean!” He perked up as he heard a familiar voice. Rald was calling to him, “Wanna go get breakfast with us? Least I could do to thank you for helping me out when I asked!” Reccoa, Blud, Rald, Carly, and Sophia were all grouped together, obviously itching to get away from the woods.
	“Uh–” The list of duties he had to attend to was flushed from his mind and he immediately ripped off the tie from around his neck and tossed it aside. The danger had passed, a bit of celebration was in order. In fact, he needed a mimosa and another chat with the fetching goblin, “Certainly! I would be delighted to join you! P-Perhaps we could catch a movie or something later, too?”
	Rald was taken aback by his offer but gave him a smile, “I’m gonna fall asleep during it, Sean,” She laughed.
"We both will," He replied with a smile.
The goblin's smile widened, “I’ll think about it over breakfast, mister president.”
	“Oh! Manus!” She called out, noticing the transmutationist president. She quickly rushed to the fidgeting fey witch, Sean following after her, “Are you okay?”
	“I am fine, but Galahad is, well,” She sighed deeply.
	“The man will be fine,” Sean assured her with Blud and Reccoa nodding along with him, “You should come along to clear your mind.”
	The fey woman shook her head, “I must tend to Fredrik and Holmit. They seem to be fine, but Holmit and Angerdese are famished and Fredrik is still wounded. They were probably fed, but not enough.”
	“Are these not very filling?” Rald showed her the few berries she had picked up.
	Manus smiled softly and took one, “Perhaps not enough. Would you please inform me on what you saw? Perhaps tomorrow after everyone has rested,” She gave it back to Rald who quickly took a bite.
	The goblin’s face scrunched up, “Uegh, sour. Are they all that bad?” Manus gave a sheepish shrug and a little smile, “Well. Thank you,” Rald smiled, “I’ll keep an eye on Galahad for you. Once I can sleep a bit, I’ll head to the infirmary!”
	“I would very much appreciate that. Thank you all, have a good… morning, I suppose,” Manus stepped away and reunited with her council members. 
 
	The sun had risen before everyone cleared out of the area. Arthur and Zucarius worked to ensure the portal was completely closed. The ABUG had breakfast with Sean and parted ways. Sean and Rald both fell asleep watching a movie at his dorm. The Karak-Albrac council was brought breakfast by Suzie before they all retired for the day. Galahad remained bedridden and unresponsive for two days. Once the news of the Butcher’s defeat spread, students returned to finish their finals and then went home for the Christmas season. Just in time for the holidays, joy and relief reached everyone’s hearts. A shadow had been lifted from Fairgarland.

. . . . .
	
	Miss Manus’s tea had gone cold. Notes, papers, journal entries, and various other scribbles and words. 
	“First year performs a massive upset,” She read aloud. The duel he won. He had gone from a mewling student who needed tutoring to a powerful wizard commanding the respect of his peers. Although he had gained a massive surge of confidence from this and being inducted, he still asked for tutoring. She found it all quite strange. Now, days later after his recovery, the wizard was near silent and distant from the rest of his peers. Manus felt immense guilt over getting him hurt, but she still felt she was right. 
	From what Sean had said, Galahad had used Arthur’s signature spells during their time in the fey realm. How could he have? He had only just gotten his hand on the spell that pulled mana and air from the victim’s lungs. It made sense he could cast the moveable shield, he was definitely an abjuration expert and that spell had been out in the public eye for a time, “An expert. A master, even?” She mused, “Nonsense. Harold’s craziness is affecting me, is it not?” She shook her head and stared at the papers.
	“ABUG and friends defeat and banish the Butcher!” The headline read. There were pictures of the Butcher, of Galahad, Harold, Sean, Rald, Blud, Reccoa, Sophia, and even Manus. Carly must have snapped a photo of her during the cleansing ritual. There was a blurry photo of the ghillie dhu as well. Carly had a very compelling and interesting story written down of their plight and fights against the monster he had become. Fairgarland’s other newspaper couldn’t even compare to what Miss Halestorm had put in her own paper. There were few exaggerations in her story, which made it all the more believable for a change, and now that woman was even more bold and assured by everyone around her. Manus could recall when Carly’s reporting had gotten Harold and Galahad into their little spat. It was all so strange to her, especially now that she respected Carly for putting herself on the line for this. Though in truth, she didn’t appreciate that the journalist had gotten the two goblins, Sophia and the sectare sorceress involved. 
	Miss Manus sighed. A few presents sat on her bed, ready to be handed out to her friends. She was tired. Very tired. With a nod, Manus reheated her tea with her magic and got to eating her breakfast. She needed to prepare for the next term, but Christmas was just around the corner.

Chapter 19