53: The Inner Circle
Katrina took a deep breath, wiped away her tears with her free arm, then swung Joel’s weapon into action. Phoenie helped lower the beams as they weakened, Theseus and John soon appearing at her side to assist. Two, three, five victims recovered. Six, seven. Katrina offered her coat, Theseus his jacket, armour and shirt, Phoenie her jumper, Ms Anderson her blazer. Ms Chiltern remained away from the tragedy, pacing back and forth in her untainted cloak. Phoenie glared, but there wasn’t time for arguments. Eight were rescued when the order came.
Get away. Now.
“We can’t just leave them!” shouted Theseus towards Faye.
You cannot save them.
“She’s right,” said John, checking his instruments, “Re-enforcements are on their way…”
***
The ritual’s centre was a dense shell of corruption, terrifying horse-headed auras surrounding it like a protective barrier. The yellow streams of Earth mana flooded the chamber from all directions. Phantasia wanted to dive into that cocoon of suffering and dispel its influence, destroy the ritual and save the sacrifices, but to do so would tear her apart. Not that she stood much chance against the upper tier of shaman. Even hiding in the twisted shadows of the archway, and on a higher plane, it felt as if the slightest slip would reveal the girls’ presence to the masters of this ceremony.
“They’re the true followers of Alastor. His ‘Inner Circle’,” explained Ms Chiltern in hushed whispers. “Those other shaman were just lackeys. Acolytes sent out to do the dirty work without knowing the big picture. These are the real deal, so don’t expect to have much of an advantage if they notice you,”
Ceres grunted, her voice still hoarse from her previous encounter. “Well if it were just a lackey that drained me like this, I ‘ain’t about to risk me sanity wading into these bastards,”
“Wait until the attack starts, then we should try and distract them,”
“What attack?”
There was a sudden flux, a rearing of auras like bristling fur as the followers of Alastor reacted to something on the physical plane.
“That one,” said Ms Chiltern, “Lieutenant Anderson is dealing with things that side. Do what you can to help her. This whole thing is happening faster than we anticipated. Something is definitely wrong.”
The Nature Studies teacher broke from cover and charged towards their opponents, confronting one head on. Their wills clashed in a battle of mental and spiritual power, Ms Chiltern’s aquatic aura twisting around the equine hulk of her adversary’s, finally locating an opening and striking him down. As he fell stunned, two move jumped forward to overwhelm her, at which point Korrigan burst forward, covering ten metres in what seemed like three skips. The trainee witch lashed out with her own aura as if it were a blade, catching one of the shaman off-guard.
“That girl’s full of surprises,” mused Ceres, “You gonna help ‘em, ‘Tasia?”
The Inner Circle was falling fast, Ms Anderson’s attack felling those confused and disorientated by the two witches. Someone else was involved though. Another group, their auras obscured by the corruption. Phantasia danced around the perimeter of the chamber to get a clear look and confirm what she was hoping – indeed, the flaming lion of Theseus was perched at a crack in the wall, Faye and the others with him. There too was Joel Gibson, his aura cracked from a magical assault, crawling away with help from Kaori. Phantasia wanted to reach out of Faye and ask her advice, but she still lacked the ability to project her own power beyond a few metres without assistance. Looking towards the escalating corruption, she knew there was no time for a chat.
