Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="spyscribe" data-source="post: 1314796" data-attributes="member: 5808">Part the Twenty-Sixth: In which we pose the question: pitcher of endless water… or greased pig?Lira wrenches her eyes away from the sight of Thatch throwing himself on the ground in an attempt to tackle a sliding spinning pitcher while simultaneously shouting: "Stop! Stop! Stop!"Under circumstances any less dire, it would be hilarious.  Even now it's a little bit funny.But Lira looks away because Professor Alexandra is asking her a question."Can you use scrolls?"Lira takes the two rolls of parchment tentatively.  "Umm... Sure?"The Professor nods briskly.  "I'm going to the check the vault.  I'll signal you if the fire gets through."Lira nods, and takes a moment to examine the vaguely familiar magical writing.  She can recognize the spell as pyrotechnics, and she's familiar with the theory of casting from a scroll, but it's not something she's actually done before.A challenge then, she thinks, with mental if not actual eye-roll, Ehkt will be so pleased with me.  Behind her, Reyu regains her feet and flutters the fan at the flames creeping down the corridor.  A gust of wind blows them back to the ruined wall of the greenhouse, but the force of the rushing air rips the delicate lace from the fan’s ribs.  Reyu tries the fan again, but the thin cloth merely flaps up and down, useless.  She tries again, nothing.  If Reyu were given to colorful invective, she’s certain now would be an appropriate time to let fly.  However, she is not.  Instead, she retreats to the corridor intersection and joins Essela and the students in their efforts to maintain a line of retreat out of the building.  Meanwhile, Lira runs for the north classroom.The good news is that Anvil and Dennis have succeeded in keeping the fire away from the wall the classroom shares with the alchemy vault.  The bad news is that the flames creeping across the floor have them nearly surrounded.Lira positions herself in the doorway, unrolls the first scroll, and begins to cast...##Anvil is distracted from his task of Maintaining the Line by a flash of light--nearly blinding in its intensity.  When he blinks away the afterimage he finds that half of the room has stopped burning.  In the doorway stands Lira, unrolling a piece of vellum with a second blank sheet lying at her feet."Hang on" she warns Anvil and Dennis.  "It's about to happen again."The two men shield their eyes, and Lira once more begins to chant.##Thatch is completely focused on tracking his foe.  Actually, it’s not that different from catching chickens back on the farm…  Except that the chickens weren’t spraying hundreds of gallons of water a minute.  Of course, chickens don’t generally ricochet either.  Okay… It’s this way, off the back wall, here it comes... and gotcha!Thatch dives for the sliding pitcher, snags the handle with one hand as it skitters past, and then holds on with all of his strength.  "Stop," he tells it firmly, and the pitcher obediently stills.##Back in the entry hall, the wall shared with the south classroom barely retains the right to be called a wall.  Essela isn’t sure if this is a good thing or not.  On the one hand, if the wall is no longer there, it can’t be on fire anymore.  On the other hand, then the only thing left to burn will be the floor in front of the building’s only exit.At least there isn’t a second floor Essela thinks as she coughs hard to clear smoke from her lungs.  She jumps at a tap on her shoulder from Thatch."Can I try something?" the young fighter asks.Essela raises an eyebrow.  "Be my guest."Thatch braces himself against the non-flaming wall of the corridor and faces into the heart of the fire.  Thatch makes sure the pitcher is braced in both hands and against his chest, and that his feet are solidly on the floor."Fresh geyser."The kickback is strong, but Thatch grunts and holds his ground.  The jet of water pounds through what's left of the wall and douses a path all the way back to the greenhouse.  Even better, the area under the water-stream doesn't relight.  Tentatively, Thatch slides a few feet to his right.  He keeps his grip on the pitcher and begins dousing a new swath of flame.  At last, he thinks, progress.Meanwhile, in the north classroom, Dennis, Anvil, and Lira look in satisfaction at a room largely free of fire.  Then, as they watch, the flames begin to creep forward again.##Professor Alexandra has been keeping close watch on the interior walls of the alchemy vault.  Minutes pass, and they remain untouched.  She reaches forward to feel to wood and finds it still cool under her fingers.  Then, dimly she hears Anvil call, "Professor, we could use a little help here."Hurrying towards the inferno of the North classroom, Alexandra is greeted by the sight of a building nearly in ruins.  Every surface is dripping with water and stained black with smoke.  Although the flames seem to have receded somewhat, the near side of the greenhouse burns strongly."If you have something which can aid us, I believe now is the time." Anvil suggests.Alexandra appraises the situation and quickly agrees.  She picks her way forward, around burning desks, through a narrow path cleared to what used to be the structural wall between the greenhouse and the alchemy building.  Now, it has burned completely though.  Professor Alexandra steps through the remaining timbers to stand in the corner of the greenhouse, and casts.A small flame creeps up and catches on the hem of her skirt.  Alexandra ignores it.  Dennis watches the fabric smolder and is just wondering if she should do something to help when a silvery vortex begins to form in front of the Professor.Suddenly, a vortex become a cone and shoots forward, enveloping the flaming greenhouse in a wash of bitter cold.  Without the heat to burn, a great trench of flame sputters and dies.Farther inside the alchemy building, Lira fires off a final ray of frost, and catches herself against a charred timber, spent. Thatch brings the stream of water around to the last of the flames, far from the vault.Cut off from any new fuel sources, the remains of the greenhouse soon burn themselves out.</blockquote>

Verification