Gone In 60 Seconds

Galia tries ringing the bell again, there are three very soft chimes, but nothing happens.
6 seconds.
Adalia tries to summon water to help destroy the chains. The air is so humid there isn’t enough water to pull from and what little water she can summon sizzles on the chains.
12 seconds.
Carindrina strikes the chain next to her twice, watching it crack open.
18 seconds.
Juniper looked from her mom to Adalia, trying to decide what to do.
24 seconds.
Midna let loose a torrent of arrows and the rest of the chains broke open. The magic circle flickered and disappeared. The kids were mostly unconscious and while they were alive, they were in critical condition. Hannah, however, was not breathing. Belladonna cried out for someone to save her.
30 seconds.
Furus dropped his instrument and grappled Onyx with his rope of entanglement. Furus tries to insult him, “Go back to Hot Topic and get better eyeliner!” His strange purple eyes, peering out from the body of a child but with this ancient look behind them, let out a pitiful, “Why?” as the ropes wrapped tighter around him.
36 seconds.
Belladonna lays Hannah gently on the floor, picks up her bow and sinks an arrow right through his back where his heart should be. She feels a small crisis of conscience as she is hurting someone who is currently bound and unable to defend themselves, but the silence where Hannah should be breathing behind her clears her head of doubts.
42 seconds.
Onyx struggled against the bonds and called out, “DROP THE ROPE.” to Furus.
Furus felt the magic hit him, and used to Galia, brushed it off, “I don’t fucking think I will.”
48 seconds.
Nira bent down to Hannah and tried to stabilize her. She saw the spark of magic go into her body, but she was still dead.
54 seconds.
Venus tried to decide whether she should attempt to shock Hannah back to life or whether she should attack Onyx. She decides to shoot an arc of fire over Galia and Midna’s head and lights the arrow that Belladonna had sunk into Onyx’s back on fire.
60 seconds.
Belladonna smiles slightly as she sees Onyx burned by the flame, but a loud gasping noise behind her had her whirling around to see Hannah taking a breath. She drops to her knees and holds Hannah again.

Carindrina feels the pressure change, used to being underground. Midna and Galia smell the scent of pine and the forest break through the sulfur. Nira, Venus, and Furus hear the echoing of chimes and see a group of people appear. Many of these people look like Galia (kitsune), but a few are other fey that they had seen in their first encounter with the Wyrmwood Court. Conspicuously missing are the King and Queen. A girl they didn’t expect to arrive was also in the crowd, her soft pink skin and sky blue hair striking in the dark room--this was the girl with the baby that a few of them had seen with James Stoneblood.

Carindrina tried to determine what they wanted, but she was in the other room and trying to see through the doorway was difficult. Adalia recognized several of Galia’s cousins and other family members. Belladonna stayed with Hannah, but the others began walking towards the door to speak with the fey.

The fey addressed Galia, “You called. Did you find them?”

She froze, “Yes?”

Nira got up and stepped in, “Yes, we found them. And that creature is responsible for all of this.”

A large woodland fey stepped forward to touch Onyx. He was struggling in the ropes, but Adalia stops him. Adalia asked why the King and Queen weren’t here and one of the fey answered that they can’t leave the forest, something is trying to kill them. Nira reminds them that they have now fulfilled the whole bargain. The fey nods, agreeing that they will be rewarded.

During this exchange, Onyx manages to break free of the rope and pulls a knife from his pocket, he waves the knife about wildly. Carindrina had been walking quietly forward, and at this bulrushes him, trapping him under her shield.

“I know you are scared, it is going to be ok.”

He sobs like a child, “I just wanted friends! They told me it would be ok! This would all be ok!”

His mind appeared to be that of a child even though he had this great, deep magical power lurking inside him.

“Who on earth told you that would be ok?!” Carindrina asked.

The fey look on in horror as this dwarven fighter crushes what appears to be a child. Belladonna brings Hannah through the doorway with her. As much as she wants Onyx to be fey, he isn’t. Nira realizes he is a dhampir, recognizes him through a few run-ins with dhampir from her religion. Many of these half-vampires become vampire hunters and seek to destroy vampires, but something is wrong with this one, instead of aging rapidly like they normally do, he doesn’t seem to be aging.

Furus can see just through the doorway and some of the children are starting to rise and move forward towards the group.

Onyx struggles under her shield, “Well, my...my…” and then goes limp, catatonic, unaware.

Furus watches the kids that were shuffling forward all thump thump thump thump and fall to the floor unconscious.

The fey ask Carindrina, “Did you just choke a child?”

Adalia steps in, “No! She didn’t!”

“We need to take him in for questioning, but he is a child.”

“You heard him, he stole the children. Right, there must be someone else.”

“I’m ok with more bindings to move Onyx, but we need to make sure the other children are safe.” Carindrina says, carefully getting up.

“Of course. If you gather the children, we can leave together now.”

The kitsune and fey help gather all the children and they wrap Onyx in a mass of vines and branches, strung between two large tree-folk. Galia tries to ask her family to have just Kitsune carry the children, they are very stand-offish towards her, so Adalia stands beside her and the kitsune relax, trusting Adalia. Carindrina walks up slowly and tries to figure out why Galia and her family are so awkward with each other, she isn’t ready to state allegiances to this strange fox girl just yet, but she has started to grow on her. Watching Galia’s mannerisms, Carindrina realizes there is a very strict cultural hierarchy and that there must be some social rules Galia is trying to follow. Adalia realizes this must be a precarious situation as Galia’s family does not trust her magic and to see another child with uncontrolled magic must be really difficult. The kitsune ask how the group ended up here as this is not in the material plane. Adalia tries to explain the portal they went through. They gather everyone together and ensure that as per Galia and Adalia’s request, all the children are carried by kitsune. One has gently taken Hannah from Belladonna and is working to try to heal her. Her breathing is shallow and Belladonna is very tense about her being held by a kitsune.

As they are getting ready to travel, Galia has them stop one more time. She goes to Belladonna and asks if she is OK travelling with the fey or if she wants to travel back the way they came. Belladonna hesitates, and says she would prefer to walk back the way they came. Belladonna will not leave the children. Galia says she could maybe get a few of her family to help walk back, but there is a lot of family drama.

“I want to make you comfortable and I want to protect these kids. I want to show you we aren’t all bad. I mean, this kid was the bad one and he isn’t one of us.” Galia nods to Onyx.

The group argues with her and says that they don’t have the time or strength to walk back through the castle with all the children. Carindrina says that she worries about trying to get over the bridges with lava and electrical fields. Belladonna agrees to go with the fey.

Galia takes Hannah from one of the kitsune and hands her to Belladonna. Belladonna grabs her, grateful, and hugs Hannah’s unconscious body.

Galia holds her hand out to Belladonna.

She looks at the hand, closes her eyes and grabs it. Galia gives her a small squeeze.

Everything goes dark.