Tales of Midbar: Secret Priest
The Grotto - part 5

We materialized near the door where a large group of people had been struggling to get out. Now many were unconscious or on fire. Ice and Dwendra headed for this group so I went into the body of the chamber. It was now a scene of horror. Many people had collapsed and some were gasping for breath and some were on fire. I ran to the nearest mage, a nibey, and put one of my spare masks on him. He was with a nibey friend so I put my other spare mask on him. The thought occurred to me that perhaps I should replace Buxnir but between the darkness, smoke, horrific vibes and large number of psychics, I’d no idea where he was.

I went back to the fire station, remembering to materialize just after we’d left and grabbed two more masks. Breeze was there, getting a mask. I asked her about the emergency team.

“Monsters attacked!” she said. “Some killed but I managed to save most of them, resurrected several, but most are badly hurt. Fortunately, Eleprin’s there and is trying to heal them.”

I got back to the grotto to replace things seemed to have got more chaotic. I ran past a hipsickah who was screaming on the ground with her clothes on fire. I thought about killing her but decided I should concentrate on saving people. I put a masc on a nibeyah who was coughing badly. Then I felt a materialization field above me and projectiles started impacting around me. I looked up to see an anav falling with this tube around him, a bit like a Winemaker wedding dress, that was firing bullets in all directions. I started to cast a knockout spell on him but he dematerialized. I’d heard about the anavim who'd fought with the Monsters doing this in the battle of Minris. I saw another anav doing the same thing some distance away. I started running, looking for another mage I could put a mask on. I saw Yoldasia, who already had a mask on, taking her clothes off and heading back to the stage.

“I can’t let you do this?” said Ice who was near her.

“You want these masturbaters to get fornicated!” said Yoldasia.

“Not with Old Magic!” said Ice. “It never works how you want it to!”

There was some screaming from near the door, I think, accompanied by violent death vibes but none felt as if they were from psychics.

Just then something hit me hard and knocked me over. I rolled on the burning ground, using my protective magic but it still felt hot. I saw a strange creature, vaguely like a monkey but its neck was too long, its arms didn’t have joints and just bent anywhere, and it didn’t have eyes and had wings. It’s skin was like sand and I knew it was one of the winged ancients who were among the Monsters.

“In all the millennia we’ve been on Midbar,” I said, hoping the gift of tongues would make me intelligible to the ancient, “you’ve never communicated with us although we’ve tried to communicate with you. Why are you helping our enemies?”

“You shouldn’t use violence in a Holy Site!” came a reply but it was more in my head but not like normal telepathy.

“You can’t win if you obey rules the enemy doesn’t!” I replied.

It flew at me again, morphing its arms into whips. Breeze had anticipated this in my training and she was one of few people who’d actually fought these things. Nobody had ever managed to keep a captured ancient alive long and they always, until recently, ran away from humans. They had similar biology to Midbar’s other indigenous non-photosynthetic organisms, mostly hollow with sand grains, stones and bits of wood held together with a small amount of slime that contained the living tissue. This was mostly lipid with little water. Therefore the secret was to use a fire spell on it’s inside. I did so and the creature disintegrated into sand and burning paper. I guess as this one flew, it had a higher proportion of light materials.

More creatures, some ancients, some XT’s that weren’t from Midbar, started dropping. Anavim materialized with weapons and started killing anybody they could. None of them had associate magic. I used a combustion spell to kill a horrific creature that was killing some unconscious magi. There was an explosion somewhere and I felt a lot of violent death vibes. I didn’t know what had happened to Dwendra and hoped she was all right. Yoldasia had said she still had a lot of predestination lines but I was skeptical about Old Magic. I saw Yoldasia, standing on the stage naked, except for her mask (I could recognize her by her enormous breasts and the fact she was dancing and almost certainly casting a powerful Old Magic spell). I didn’t know what had happened to Ice. I saw Tom flying with a naked winged woman with short blond hair. I started attacking an enemy anav using killing magic but he teleported. Then I head Ice’s voice in my head.

“Teleport to the car park now!”

I only hesitated a moment. Ice wouldn’t give me such an instruction without reason.

I materialized in the car park. Of course it was black night so the only light was from the stars and mage lights. I lit a mage light. Ice and Breeze were already there and I was glad to see Dwendra, looking a bit singed with some yellowish liquid splattered over her and clearly upset but not seriously hurt.

Of course, there were a number of vehicles parked, some cars, trucks and buses. There were a group of apparently unconscious hipsickim in the sort of uniforms they give guards at shopping malls and hotels. Smoke was coming from a doorway in the side of the mountain. Ice was standing nearby, looking dazed. I started walking towards Dwendra. Vrenloa, Rilletteecket and Hubril materialized also looking as if they’d been in a fight.

“You OK?” asked Vrenloa. “I tried waiting for you to clear the stage but I couldn’t see very well.”

I took my mask off and smelt something disgusting.

“We were attacked by flying creatures!” said Rilletteecket.

“I saw somebody moving near the top of the grotto and went to investigate,” said Hubril. “Good thing I did.”

Tom materialized, several meters above the ground with his wings wrapped round his body. The naked winged anavah was hanging onto him, also with her wings wrapped around her. They unfurled their wings and made rough landings a few meters apart. It was clear they had a number of cuts and burns and their wings were damaged.

“Not so good without the avatars are you!” shouted the winged anavah and she wrapped her wings around herself again and dematerialized.

“There wasn’t much I could do,” Tom said. “I can’t fly with another person and I can only teleport anavim.”

“You’re hurt,” said Breeze.

“It’s nothing,” he said his wings rapidly withering away and being sucked into his back, “I’ve got regenerative nanites. Hurts like hell though.”

Breeze started waving her hands round him, obviously trying some sort of healing.

“Buxnir!” I said.

“I doubt any goyim will make it,” said Egrindreth. “They booby trapped the tunnel.”

“I’m afraid we’ve lost this battle,” said Ice. “We weren’t expecting the Monsters, we need a different name for them.”

“She was just boasting about how they were in the right and we couldn’t possibly defeat them,” said Tom. “She didn’t say what they called themselves and I didn’t think it was the most important question to ask.”

“We can’t declare war on a group we can’t fornicating define!” screamed Ice. “That katchey was working with them!”

Just then the ground shook and there was a rumbling from inside the mountain. There was a roaring sound from the air and something spitting flames came round the side of the mountain.

“Dwendra take us to your time!” shouted Ice.

We all ran together and grabbed each other. With a loud roar, dust and smoke erupted from grotto entrance.