She paced by the door of the deserted guild, chewing on her lips and wincing at every crash and bellow outside. Her hands wrung around her freshly purchased bow, she'd plucked it off her back with the intent to charge right out and shoot some arrows at the demons, but just the sounds were enough to make her reconsider. They were violent and destructive, mingled with the war cries of several beasts. She raced to one of the large lacrima fortified windows, ducking to remain mostly out of view, but peering over the ledge to notice about five goblin-like creatures having crawled their way out of the dark rift.

Three walked around looking for ways to break open the doors and enter, while the two stuck around by the rift, almost as though they were expecting more friends. She swallowed and turned, to sit slumped against the that supported the window. 'They're here... They're already here... They're right outside.' she whispered to herself urgently while she waited for her fellow members to join her, incessantly she twanged the string of her bow as she attempted formulating a plan for what they could possibly do before more demonic creatures overwhelmed them entirely.

For the first time, Zyra Elroth understood what true fear felt like. Even when the bandits had attacked, Keryth had tricks up his sleeve to protect them, now... she wasn't sure even he could get them out of this. And they were stuck in here, they had to at least attempt fighting a few of these menacing critters, if they sat around inside and more of them appeared... They'd never be able to get out and the guild hall would be destroyed. She just hoped there were at least a few more Lamia's left along side the wood-elf duo.

It was no secret that Keryth didn’t want to be there. But he was given the task and he didn’t wish to piss off the higher ranking members of the guild. If he got kicked, then his only chance at finding that thief who took his precious dagger will vanish. So, he had bite it down and take it, even if it meant putting both his and Zyra’s lives at risk by fighting these filthy demons.

He walked up to the window through which Zyra was peeking and stood behind her to see the rift. It had opened slightly and a few of those nasty abyssal beings had already made its way out. They were safe inside—for now. Keryth knew it wasn’t going to stay that way for long. It was only a matter of time before these things overrun the place and feast on them. Somehow, it would seem Keryth had exhausted his quota of fear while waiting around for this inevitable event that when it actually happened, he took on a cold and practical demeanour.

“Try not to shoot me,” he told Zyra. With that, he patted her head gently and got onto the ledge of the window. From there, it was a simple few jumps to the lower ledges and he was down on the ground. It was nothing the rogue couldn’t handle. In just about three seconds, he was level with the demons on the ground floor, next to the large golden door. With his acrobatics he had attracted all five of the small demons that were trying to claw their way in. Now, they were more interested in wood elven meat than bricks and cement.

Keryth unsheathed both his daggers and took a counter-offensive stance. So far, the demons had not noticed his partner at the window. He hoped she downed a couple before they got a clue.

Fear. Fear isn't anything to really sneeze at. True fear, phobias, irrational fears, just small startles, anything that could make your heart race for all the wrong reasons, but, this wasn't something that was a deep rooted primordial fear for the green haired Fibi Hoenheim, recent addition to the Lamia Scale Guild ranks. No, she already knew what her deepest fear was, something she didn't want to see, in fact, she would welcome something as dangerous as this in place of going through what she kept as her deepest secret from most of the guild, yes, she knew what it was to be afraid of these things coming out of portals, but, they were also here for one reason, just to cause destruction, and to the place she was now calling her home.

Steeling herself, she had spent a short amount of time weighing her options left and right, up and down, back and forth. Should she go out and meet them head on? Should she hang back and pick them off? Should she provide support for her allies? Why was it that all this stuff had to happen when she just started working for the guild? It didn't matter, nothing of that mattered, right now, the only thing that mattered for Fibi, was the fact that these things were already rushing at their building.

Three newbies versus five goblins, and not a single genocidal knight to be seen. Instead, they had to play the role of the Gobbocidal warriors. Keryth and Zyra were already setting up, with Zyra in the window and Keryth rushing out to meet the things head on and get them all to face him. Fibi however would be rushing from the other side of the guild, right toward the other window. She skidded to a halt to open up the window, and then ran back several feet to wind up! No need to bust your skull busting through a window!

She ran back toward the now open window, and planted her right fist over her left palm, generating a small green light. As she came to the ground while a magic circle appeared behind her back, her hands came to the ground while the light dissipated from her hand in fist! "Holz Machen: Geysir!" As she landed within range, the spell would generate a magic circle on the ground under the goblins, safely away from Keryth enough that the wood would suddenly grow out from the magic circle's area in a one meter diameter.

It looked like a beaver chewed down fine tipped tree trunk, like the pointy end of a spear, with several other jagged protrusions of wood that would come upwards and deal damage to the goblins if any of them were hit, and maybe even send one airborne if it was right under the conic pillar that was just grown from right under their feet, literally.

492/1600

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Magic and Mana!:

She made a smart decision by waiting for her fellow Scales. Keryth and the other green-haired lady Zyra hadn't quite had a chance to exchange names with yet, both knew what they were doing. They both used the windows of the first floor, to make their way down. It wasn't too high. Keryth climbed down with ease, attracting the goblins away from the ornate door below them. She winced as the girl launched herself out too, hoping that the fall didn't hurt her.

Then she noticed sharp trunks sprout out of the ground. Three of the demonic goblins merely tripped, which was still helpful because it bought Keryth just a little more time to plan his moves. While two got caught amidst the branch like protrusions, nicking themselves and getting rather frustrated. Their haphazard and annoyed motions, made their predicament slightly worse. This was Zyra's cue. She notched up a mana arrow into her new bow and shot straight at the head of one of the goblins. Unfortunately, since he was moving so much Zyra missed and got his shoulder instead. He howled, for a moment, a screech that elicited a shudder down the wood-elves spine.

Then the critter managed to pluck the arrow out of himself. He used it to destroy the brambles around him and his friend. Zyra swiftly notched another arrow, chewing on her lips. This time taking longer to aim, as the elves split. The two that were stuck now made a bee-line for the green-haired girl, the other three were almost going to surround Keryth. Her eyes darted from one victim to the other. 'Oh! find a way to get them closer to the edge!' she exclaimed, wondering how they'd not thought to use that tactic already. Failing to notice that they already might have.

Bow shot used:

The five brainless bugbears were on their hasty way towards Keryth while he was mentally preparing himself to be diced by their sharp claws. Thankfully, help arrived. It would seem another fellow member of the guild had been waiting for the right time to cast her spell. His concentration was solely on the targets ahead of him that he did not notice her presence until he saw the magic circle underneath the demons. The goblinesque abominations noticed the magic circle too, but it was too late. Two of them were very much caught in the spell, while the other three near the edges of the spell managed to come free but were still thrown off balance.

The moment he saw them stagger, Keryth plunged into action. He dashed towards the demon on the left, which was closest to the edge of the moat. Before the demon could find its footing, he was next to it with his dagger thrust into its chest. Almost in tandem, he heard another abyssal cry, which told him Zyra had hit her mark. He didn’t turn to check as he was still busy with the one he was handling. Pulling the dagger out, he kicked the demon hard in its gut and it stumbled off the edge, falling into the trench.
One down, four to go.

Keryth was swift to choose his next target. He began running towards the one that was making its way towards Fibi. As he crossed the bridge, he put his left foot onto the end of the short wall that bordered it and kicked off, using the force to leap at the demon. With both his daggers up in the air, he landed on top of the demon, sinking the two blades deep into its back. The demon yelped, but it wasn’t dead. It simply shook him off and Keryth was down on the floor, rolling. He was smart enough to pull the daggers out and bring it with him as he was shaken off. The demon bled, but it didn’t look like it was in pain. It was as though the only emotion it could feel was hatred and hurting it only enhanced that inherent hatred. The monstrosity came at him with a vengeance as Keryth fell to the floor.

Zyra probably had the two he left behind to deal with. Besides, they were too far from her for him to expect a precise arrow. The rogue simply hoped their new ally had another trick up her sleeve to save his hide.

Meanwhile, the rift began to pulse, which meant they will have to deal with more of these things… or worse things.

Well, that did not go as planned. Fibi wanted to blast all five of them up in to the air, instead, she staggered three, and injured two of them. She needed more practice, or had to practice making her spells a bit more effective. Or maybe, these things, whatever they were, were just annoying little Ether sensors in disguise. Yeah, that had to be it. They could totally detect the ether she was putting out, and that meant they could tell where her spells were going to come from! No Fibi it's not, you keep telling yourself that though, live in your little fantasy world of fantasy magic and fantastical beasts. Far be it from the narrator to track back on to the task at hand.

Fibi had to focus quick. As soon as they were busy trying to free themselves, Fibi prepared to strafe around, putting herself in harm's way unless someone gave her covering fire. While the male elf was shoving one goblin off of the edge, and readying to fight another, Fibi made an arc around and lined herself up with the two that were caught by her spell earlier. Fibi put her left fist, vertically, in to her right palm, while a green light shone in between the two. She pulled her right hand back as a large bow of wood was formed from the light, while a green magic circle appeared behind her body. "Holz Machen: Lanze!" As she recited the spell's name, a large wooden arrow about a quarter of a meter in length formed in between the knock and string of the bow. She loosened her grip on the string, firing the arrow off at the two goblins that were busy with her Geysir attack.

It would be no contest. As the arrow left the confines of her bow, the bow shredded itself away in to wood chips that blew through the air and the arrow pierced in to the gut of the first goblin, sending it stumbling back to the edge, and down off in to the moat while Fibi huffed, only to be assaulted by another goblin! With three down and two to go before that portal shat out some more goblins, Fibi had to focus ont he one that was now on top of her. She shut her eyes, and crossed her arms over her face, trying to keep her throat and face safe from all of the clawing going at it.

Fibi writhed a little under the goblin, and thrust a foot up, trying to kick it back in the gut, which, as she did, showed her arms bleeding from all of the scratching and torn cloth over her arms. As the goblin took several steps backwards, Fibi put a damper on its movements. "Holz Machen! Schakel!" SHe crossed her right arm and left arm, curling all of her fingers except for her index and middle fingers in toward her palms. Pointing those four out in the shape of V's she generated one more magic circle, and fired off a set of wooden manacles, that would wrap around and keep the goblin's feet together, so it could hop and hobble, but, was pretty much a sitting duck, for now.

1043/1600

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Magic and Mana:

Zyra chewed at the inside of her cheek. She got to sit up here, still relatively safer than the other two who had taken the risk and put themselves in harms way to protect the guild. She was accustomed to such protection from elven guards, but not from her friend and guild mate. If nothing else, since she'd been offered such a luxury, she had to ensure that she was more precise with her shots. The last time wasn't good enough. The damn demon had the gall to pluck it out of himself and use her magical arrow against them. At least it dematerialized now.

She watched as Keryth kicked a demon off, and the girl who had joined them to help coordinated her shot in a manner that the the two caught in her spell were also knocked away. Considering one of them had already endured the damage from her arrow, he fell simply fell limp to the floor before rolling off with his friend. Zyra watched eagerly, notching yet another arrow in her simplistic bow. Now they each dealt with a demonic goblin each. Her work was made relatively easy by the girl who snared the one attacking her.

Keryth didn't have such an easy time though. He was on the floor and a bleeding creature made a lunge towards him. That was definitely the more pressing one to deal with. He was further away though. She had to ensure she knocked that one out, no one was harming her Keryth. Infused with that passion for her partner, her most powerful shot was rather precise, piercing through the creature's head, causing him to fall lifelessly before he completed his strike at the dark-haired elf. The other one was closer and trapped a swift weaker shot took him out.

There was no chance for them to celebrate despite having dealt with the five. From the rift emerged a nasty looking purplish bug-like creature. Zyra's eyes widened 'WATCH OUT!' she cried, pointing at the rift, fear replaced her triumph quickly. He had scythe like extensions from his arm-like projections. She didn't have anything more to shoot for the time being. Having exhausted the potential of her bow for the time being. She swallowed, when the creature screeched and shot two streams of purplish streaks towards the girl and then suddenly leapt towards Keryth. She had to make her way down.

Spells, Mana and The Demon:

As Keryth was shaken off and he fell down, their new comrade had already dashed past him and the demon he was dealing with to fight the ones that were caught in her first spell. Realizing that there was no one else close enough to save him, Keryth resigned to his fate and put up his arms in front of him as a final meek defence. However, there was no incoming attack. Instead, he heard the brief squelch of a sharp arrow piercing flesh, followed by a yelp and a thud. He opened his eyes, which were squeezed shut until then, and moved his hands away to see what happened to his attacker. It would seem Zyra had hit an arrow straight through his skull all the way from the window on the other side of the door. Keryth was impressed at not only the fact that she could shoot an arrow that far, but also do so with so much accuracy. He didn’t know his pampered little princess was so talented. But beyond impressed, the rogue was grateful to her for saving his life.

The dark-haired Wood Elf got back onto his feet, ready to deal with the last of the five lesser demons they were fighting. But before he could even move, even that one was taken care of with a combination of Fibi’s trap and another arrow from Zyra’s bow. Unfortunately, however, that wasn’t all the rift had to offer. It pulsed loudly one last time before opening even wider. And out came a demon that looked nothing like what they were fighting against so far. This one was a lot faster and meaner, with its scythe-like purple arms much longer and sharper.

The monster shot a purplish stream of energy towards Fibi, which would damage and slow her if it, and then almost immediately pounced to where Keryth was with both its scythe-arms ready to hack. The rogue swiftly reversed the grip on his daggers and held it ready to deflect the incoming strikes. He blocked the demon’s sharp limbs with his daggers, which sent purple sparks upon clashing. Almost immediately, both the demon and Keryth lifted their right leg in tandem to kick the other off. Both succeeded. However, unfortunately, the demon’s legs had extremely sharp protrusions that punctured Keryth’s torso. Meanwhile, his kick only knocked the demon back a few meters and did minimal damage thanks to the creature’s exoskeleton protecting it.

To make matters worse, the moment the demon was knocked back, it grew wings and went completely silent and invisible. If Zyra had made her way down through the window, the monster will sneak past Fibi and jump onto the ranger in an attempt to land a lethal strike with his two scythe-arms.

Well, she had managed to take down most of the goblins with her team, but, something else came through the portal, and as her shackle spell struck the goblin and knocked it over to the ground, her focus was brought off by the presence of something much more fearsome, it broke the wooden shackles on the goblin as it fell back, bonking itself on the noggin while Fibi turned to get up on to her knees, blood dripping down her arms as she got up to her feet.

While she didn't have the time to attend to it, the last goblin would have to wait, she had to help Keryth. He was being assaulted by some weird pruple bug thing. And it shot something at her. It struck her square in the chest, dispersing in to a little circle of magic, while the light hummed on to her body, slowing her down a bit. But, she brought her arms up and spoke, with a little bit of a slowed slur, "Holz Machen: Lanze!" Performing the same hand signs as earlier, Fibi would generate a bow made out of wood.

This time, she let fly the arrow, aiming it right for the beast's scythes. If it landed the proper hit, it would knock the beasts' scythes out of the way to strike the ground at the side of Keyrth's head, while opening the bug up for him.

Fibi had to slowly turn around, to see that goblin getting up, and charging at her without any sort of speed debuff on it. Great. She was about to get a light clobbering. Her hands already lifting up to try and cover her head and face as the thing grabbed some of the remnants of her magic to wield as a club.

1347/1600

Zyra was not as good as Keryth at climbing, but he'd taught her well. She learned swiftly since that skill had been the only way for her to get out and about to taste freedom, back when she was with the wood elves. Of course, the structures that she lived in before were far more in harmony with nature, she had a lot more to grab onto. The guild hall's surface was much glossier and without things for her to latch onto. So she half slid, half grappled herself down ledge by ledge.

Her warning had served her fellow companions somewhat well, although both of them sustained injuries. Had she been more well-versed in situations like these and not been so keen to prove her loyalty and friendship, she'd have realised that she was safer and more useful on high ground as a ranger. But her presence did still aid them in some way. She landed with a soft huff, wincing because her ankles hurt after taking the brunt of the damage from the fall. Keryth had just kicked the bug away just as the other girl threw a spell at it in retaliation.

The creature screeched as one of its wings shielded the damage from the girl's spells, but prevented the scythe-like extensions from being docked. Then he took a small leap into the air and went invisible. While she landed on padded feet and almost made no sound the whimper that escaped her lips was a give away. Next thing Zyra knew, she was on the ground on her back, with the creature on top of her. Her bow pressed against her palms and the only thing stopping the scythes from tearing into her.  It felt as though she was staring at death. 'Help!' her voice was strained.

Spells, Mana and The Demon:

Keryth was injured, but the damage was mitigated by his blocking, thanks to Zyra’s timely warning, and most importantly the arrow sent by Fibi that struck the demon’s wings, disorienting it enough for the rogue to take the opportunity and kick it away. Keryth almost immediately regretted creating that distance between him and the bug-like creature. The anguished demon went invisible and silent immediately after, making it impossible for him to know where it went. There was no doubting that it was going to come back after licking its wound. The dark-haired Wood Elf figured it was best to stick together with Fibi, narrowing down the location where the demon could strike. Besides, while helping him, the nature mage had put herself in danger and he wanted to return the favour.

Unaware that his ranger partner was on her way down, Keryth rushed to Fibi’s side as the demon approached her with a club-like weapon made out of her own spell. Not on my watch! he thought to himself as he dashed between Fibi and the demon. He swiftly used his left dagger to slice the nature club and stuck the right one into the demon’s throat. The dumb creature let out a yelp before falling down lifelessly. The rogue then turned towards Fibi to see if she was doing okay. That’s when he noticed something from the corner of his eyes; Zyra was down in the ground, and not up at her vantage point.

Keryth knew what was going to happen even before it happened. His body reacted involuntarily as he begun his run towards Zyra. He had just taken two steps towards her and the demonic-bug made itself visible, jumping on the Wood Elven ranger and pinning her down. The demon’s scythes were way too close to her neck with only her bow stopping them from piercing her. Keryth picked up the pace to get to her faster. While he was tempted to strike the demon from behind, he was afraid that would cause his sharp scythes to find their mark on Zyra. So, he first put his focus on getting the monster away from his partner.

The rogue ran slightly towards the left of where the demon had pinned Zyra and threw himself at the monster from the sides, knocking him away. Having seen that the demon was capable of flying away and becoming both invisible and silent. So, he immediately jumped on the monster to pin it down. “Your turn!” he muttered through gritted teeth as he put the demon down and struggled to keep him there. Keryth used both his daggers to keep the scythes at bay, but wasn’t sure how long he could keep it up. The demon was slowly overpowering him. The rogue hoped the two girls will put their arrows into the creature’s head and not get him in the process.

She was saved, and she had to act fast now. With the goblin shoved away and left lifeless, Keryth had saved her, and Zyra had somehow landed on to the ground? Oh come on, really?! Fibi was still in the process of moving slower, pushing up to her feet at a slow pace while Keryth rushed over to provide aid to Zyra. Don't worry about her, she'll help, when she finally starts to speed up.  In the time it took her to stand up and assume a casting stance, Keryth was already over at the area Zyra was in.

She was getting ready to cast her Lanze spell, but, Keryth was tackling the bug, and knocking it over. Rolling across the ground in a struggle with the bug? Fibi just tried to focus and pay attention, but, they were moving a little faster in her field of view. Too fast for her to keep up, stupid slow curse. When her field of vision started to slow down, and her body sped up, Fibi could see that Keryth was struggling to fight against those scythes now.

Generating a magic circle of green in front of her hands, Fibi placed her left fist in to her right palm, pulling her right hand back as she generated another bow, "Holz Machen: Lanze." As she let go of the wood string, the arrow went flying, and would strike the bug square in the back! Was that enough? Would the bug go down? As her bow turned to woodchips scattered about in the wind, she would ask, "Did we do it yet?"

1622/1600

Mana and spells:

It had to be now. Her knight in shining armor, or rather elven rogue in rag tag robes leapt to her rescue. She gasped softly as the sharp, translucent, purplish scythe like extensions of the demonic bug dug into her skin. The cut itself wasn't so bad, at least when it was fresh. Within an instant as the gash widened, and the sensitive inner layers of her skin were exposed to the arid cold air, it immediately caused her to wince and then cry out, as the burning, stinging sensation momentarily felt unbearable. Tears pooled into her eyes and her vision blurred.

The damned creature had made a small cut just beside her shoulder, under her collarbone, just as it was pushed off of her. At least this meant her movement wouldn't be impeded in any significant manner. Any higher and it could have potentially killed her, and if it was more to the outside, a wound like that across her arm may have left her rather useless. Unfortunately, she didn't have the time or the luxury to make the fuss she would've made back home. Keryth had put himself in danger and she had to act now. He had basically taken her place, except he had more of an advantage.

Just as he pinioned the monster to the ground, both she and the green haired lady had the same idea. She wasn't sure who he was referring to when he spoke, perhaps the human girl wasn't sure either. Regardless, within seconds they both had their own version of the arrows pulled. Zyra took just a moment longer to get her aim right, as she blinked away her tears, but she was also closer to the bug. Just as the creature started overpowering Keryth, he got skewered, by two arrows.

Spells, Mana and The Demon:

The member 'Zyra Elroth' has done the following action : Spin

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'Dice 100' : 48

His muscles began to ache terribly as he struggled to keep the demon down. The abyssal creature tried everything it could to throw him off. If it had the full power of its wings, it probably would have succeeded. Thankfully, the arrow that pierced those thin membranes had reduced its function enough.

It was just a few seconds. But it felt like eons. Finally, two arrows pierced the demon, one after another with just a fraction of a second interval between them. They were also so close to Keryth that it gave him goosebumps all over. He couldn’t blame them. It was a risk they had to take. One that the rogue would have taken without a second thought. He was just glad it paid off and he wasn’t killed in the process. The monster yelped at the first arrow, groaned at the second, and when its scythe-arms went limp, Keryth put both his daggers into its throat to ensure there weren’t any surprises later. His stab didn’t illicit any response; the creature had already died from the two arrows. Nevertheless, it felt good to stab the thing that was about to kill him and his friends. So, he did it again. And again. Then he rolled away from the demon and lied down next to it, panting.

“Yeah… It’s dead,” he responded to Fibi.

From where he was on the ground, he had a clear view of the rift, which began to pulse again. Keryth gulped. The last time it pulsed it sent out a monster that nearly murdered them. What was it going to do this time? If any more of these creatures came through, they were dead meat. The adrenaline had waned, and he was finally feeling the injuries in his torso. Unable to speak, he simply pointed at the rift with a pained expression, trying to warn Fibi and Zyra. But, thankfully, the pulsing this time meant a good thing. The rift expanded for a second, but then collapsed into itself. Reality was no longer warped. It was almost as if there was nothing there.

After a sigh, the rogue blacked out.

Well they had managed to pull through, through the thick of it all, they managed to win this fight. With the bug slain, the goblins tossed away, the rift snapped in to a shut. Fibi sighed and dropped down to her knees, arms back against the ground while her gaze was up at the sky. Now that everything was finally done, and the sky was finally clearing, everything could go back to nor-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" SHouted Fibi before she clutched on to the sides of her head and let it all out in one loud scream, relaxing back as she huffed and panted. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" okay, maybe she wasn't done yet. After a couple more, she finally took in a deep breath, and let out one last one for real this time, before she stood up, shaking.

She seemed brave the whole time, but now, it was more like she was frightened the whole time. "I need, a fizzy water, to calm down." She said before slumping over on to her side, figuring she dserved a nap as well, like Keryth had earned.

-Exit-

'Keryth!' she exclaimed, her eyes wide as he stabbed the carcass of the demon multiple times to confirm it was dead. She grimaced at the Abyssinian blood that spattered across him and the floor. His movements got more sluggish with each strike, she could see the adrenaline wearing off. Till his arms... in fact all of him went limp and he keeled over pointing to the rift. She wanted to scurry over to him, but his warning kept her rooted to the spot. Her eyes followed his indication. No... No not another one, we're going to die! her fears protested inside her mind, but she didn't have the energy to issue words.

Then just like that, the rift collapsed to a close.

She sniffled, inhaling deeply as though taking her first real breath since she began facing this threat. Then she blinked away tears, of joy and of pain which clung to her lashes before they to the ground. They'd done it and she had actually played a significant part too. She turned to eye the tall building behind her, there was not a scratch on it. Her first time stepping into danger and she survived, she did and so did the people she was fighting alongside. No casualties. She was jolted by the scream of the girl next to her.

Her head whipped around to check if their companion was alright. There were no visible dangers around, but Zyra was concerned nonetheless. Slowly she began making her way to the girl, turning ever so often to check if Keryth was reacting strangely to something or not. Another scream tore the welcome silence. Zyra's heart raced, but by the time she got to the girl, it would seem that she'd succumbed to slumber. Zyra stood their blinking. It's over.

The member 'Zyra Elroth' has done the following action : Spin

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'Dice 100' : 99