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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bandeeto" data-source="post: 302428" data-attributes="member: 2819">Academy of Flamecraft, Part 3.  Arcade.There was no device, no rune, no lever.  The Sphere apparently was designed never to fall.  Yet, somehow, we have acquired… another Rod of Cancellation.  A bargain has been made.Alix.  The Fireball rips through us.  She is angry.  Her sleep has been disturbed.  A strike, the Rod flares, crumbles to black dust.  The Sphere drops.  In the sudden darkness she is there, standing in the wreck of her bed.  The torso, arms, head of the golem lie in its midst.  Cadrienne’s dark, tight braid now flows freely over her shoulders.  The red robes glow.  Her words are flaming knives.  She knows us well.  Our families will pay.  But first, our friend.  She draws a dagger across her own throat.  Her eyes go dim.  She falls.  Cadrienne is dead.No.She gasps.  The timing was imperfect.  Mirata fled the body too soon.  Velendo and Glimmer leap forward.*******“Now what in the Nine Hells are we going to do?!”How is Cadrienne?“She’ll recover.  Which is more than I can say for some other poor souls unless we get going, already!”Search the room.  Quickly.  Dylrath, what do you have there?“Gee!  Check it out.  I think her bed usedta’ float.  There’s a long support bit that you can practically stand on.  Look at that!  It works!  Wheee!”“Terrific.  Be careful with that thing, apprentice!  You almost took my leg off.  (I’m gonna KILL that Guildmaster.)”“Hey, guys!  There’s a back room here.  And someone hung the old fanged tapestry on the wall.”Please remove it carefully, Nolin.“the mirror room is behind the tapestry. it’s closed.”“Oh, that’s just great, Tomtom!  Now all we gotta do is figure out how to make a major artifact work without blowing ourselves up.  Hey, Mirror!  Get our butts outa here!”“Guys?  Maybe this’ll work.”Where did you get that key, Dylrath?  “It was stuck in a secret compartment in that cubby over there.  Maybe if I stick it in the mirror and turn….”(Chorus) “Nooooooo!”******It was too late.  The Mirror bound itself to the lifeforce of Dylrath Birdhouse.  An artifact without parallel, in a child’s hands.He commands.  The mirror clears.  Snow.  Night.  She is ahead of us, wearing new skin.  The comatose girl, the blond mountain climber in the dragon’s lair.  She is marching with dread purpose towards a small house.  I do not recognize it.  Nolin gasps.  His daughter, Tasha.  ******“Remember, this is an innocent’s body we’re facing.  Be careful.”“We can Resurrect her later.  That is if she doesn’t get burnt all crispy by accident-like.  I’ll be real careful, Glimmer.  I’m gonna carefully stick a dagger right up her….”“Alix, that’s enough!  Boy, have I got a headache.  Here.  Calphas’s blessings be upon you.  And you, and you.  Let’s go already.”Now, everyone.******Nolin howls.  We charge.  She spins, grinning.  There are flames, and pain.  Tao’s bola flies forward.  A perfect strike.  Heh.  How unusual.  Tao’s bolas have always seemed to prefer Cadrienne over all other targets.  Mirata struggles.  Begin the binding, in the wizard fashion:  mouth, hands, feet. Suddenly, the body sags.  She is gone.  Searchlights of faerie light flash from my eyes.  The gem.  She’s in the gem.  Weapons slam down.  It will not break.  Behind our backs, Alix kills the girl.Doesn’t anyone carry a mace?  Keep pounding.  Alix begins to taunt her.  He mocks her, heaps abuse on the Headmistress of the Academy of Flamecraft.  Out of the gem, a spectral claw seems to reach for him and… is deflected?  More bargains, Alix?The reprieve is sufficient.  With a shriek, the gem shatters.  A screaming pillar of flame rises to the stars, melting snow sizzles.  It writhes towards the body, then recoils.  It moves towards us, menacing.  A hole opens in the gound.  The pillar is sucked down.  Scorched earth.Smoke.</blockquote>

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