Taron pulls a small bag from a pouch on his belt and hands it to Asch.
"I'm going to go with Ephebe as back-up in case the Hunters try something again. There's ten gold in that bag." He says as he follows the group of family and friends.
"Hi Mom! Guess who can handle a werewolf!" He says with a smile as he gestures toward his torn clothes.
She smiled. "Well, it's good to see that you were actually paying attention to your combat training."
Krays' eye ridges lift
"Wow. Well, they definately know he's alive and where he is and what condition he's in. Impressive. He seems to be connected to several other people via a modified status spell...I hope that's something the headmaster can use."
She smiled. "Well, it's good to see that you were actually paying attention to your combat training."Taron pulls a small bag from a pouch on his belt and hands it to Asch.
"I'm going to go with Ephebe as back-up in case the Hunters try something again. There's ten gold in that bag." He says as he follows the group of family and friends.
"Hi Mom! Guess who can handle a werewolf!" He says with a smile as he gestures toward his torn clothes.
"Not really, I ended up just nuking him with a bit of pyrokinesis." He replies. "Turns out I can use my new emotions to augment my abilities. Who knew?"
"Keep it neither of us finished the hunt I'm not leaving the group with Ephebe unconscious just to rack up a few points. We'll just continue with our current scores at the next hunt." Asch says surprising everyone in the group.
As Ephebe's mother leaves, Spin looks around a bit helplessly. Finally, he shrugs, picks Ephebe back up, and follows her out the door and towards the Headmaster's office.
Aananda makes a slight detour to the student observation seats where she motions to James to follow and then heads to Ryo's office, trusting that the children would follow her.
She found Krays and Fieri still waiting outside the door with their prisoners. She nodded to them, knocked briefly on the door and then opened it.
"Ma'am" Krays says as he nods to Aananda. He waits for everyone one else to enter, then drags in Theo
Ryo's closing another door(that disappears a moment after it's closed) as Aananda is opening the door to his office.
"Oh. Come in. I should have known this particular group would show up, I had some free time. I suppose the little trap we came up with was a success? I'm assuming it is because my neice is only sleeping and not currently under malignant magic."
"A success beyond our wildest dreams," she said dryly. "I'm more than interested to hear exactly what got in to the game considering how much I kept out. I only saw two Hunters, but there were over a dozen thralls, and I get the feeling there are more Hunters out there. Sadly I was not able to capture any prisoners. And you need to hire a few new teachers."
"Keep it neither of us finished the hunt I'm not leaving the group with Ephebe unconscious just to rack up a few points. We'll just continue with our current scores at the next hunt." Asch says surprising everyone in the group.
Shares with Ryo the events of the snipe hunt, mainly the ghost and the information it shared, Lysander's help, and the arrival of the other hunter and it's thralls, and about the shadow and Theo...
When Krays finishes, Spin mentions the time-reversing action at the end and Lysander's original leaving remark about "the weapon".
"Wow...really?" he says to Spin.
A grin spreads across Spin's face, "Yah... it was pretty cool. Though i don't think I can still do it. Once I tried it, Ephebe seemed to fade from my head."
She raises her eyebrows in surprise as Spin describes what happened. She looks quizzically at James who just shrugged apologetically as if saying he has no idea how he did what he did to make that possible.
"Ryo, I've no wish to be on bad terms with your nephew, but that kind of threat...he should know better. Yes, I know, I know. It never happened, so you can't talk to him about it. But you'll understand if I feel the need to watch him more carefully now."
A grin spreads across Spin's face, "Yah... it was pretty cool. Though i don't think I can still do it. Once I tried it, Ephebe seemed to fade from my head."
"Hey, I bend reality, not outright break it. That's Phebe's domain. I guess that just used up the rest of the power."
"Okay, so we've got ghosts, thralls, and a network connecting all of them? Not to mention it seems likely Spin would have been a target of Lysander's had he not turned back time..."
"So, I have an idea of what to do to, but there is wisdom in the council of many. What are your ideas?"
"Well that ghost gave us names of different members should we look into those?"
"Ryo, I've no wish to be on bad terms with your nephew, but that kind of threat...he should know better. Yes, I know, I know. It never happened, so you can't talk to him about it. But you'll understand if I feel the need to watch him more carefully now."
"Of course. He was there to make her insecure and act like it wasn't a trap, though. You and I both agreed that that was a good idea."
"Well, first thing we need to do is locate all of them. Can we use the network connecting them to do that?"
"And we need some way to prevent them from creating thralls. I don't like having to fight innocent bystanders who have been brainwashed to follow instructions. It's....it's an awful lot like what Chan did to that silver. And when I say an awful lot I mean almost exactly identical."
"I thought dragons were immune to that kind of mental interference?"
"Well that ghost gave us names of different members should we look into those?"
"Of course. I'll run the names through the scrying nanites now." Ryo rolls up his sleeve so that the coil extending from his metal arm and attach itself to the computer while he talks.
"As for the thralls... we do know someone who is a bit of an expert on them."
"Ryo, I've no wish to be on bad terms with your nephew, but that kind of threat...he should know better. Yes, I know, I know. It never happened, so you can't talk to him about it. But you'll understand if I feel the need to watch him more carefully now.""Of course. He was their to make her insecure and act like it wasn't a trap, though. You and I both agreed that that was a good idea."
"It's the fact that he threatened her after the fact that bothers me. Whether he meant to act on it or not...you know we are not the most rational of creatures when faced with a threat to our mates. It was a stupidly dangerous thing to say on his part."
"I thought dragons were immune to that kind of mental interference?"
"My brother was...creative. And patient. Even dragons have a breaking point."
"Are Hunters normally careless? We've captured one of them, and they seemed more interested in protecting the ghost than this one. Is he a plant of some kind, or are they simply that...stupid?"
"Are Hunters normally careless? We've captured one of them, and they seemed more interested in protecting the ghost than this one. Is he a plant of some kind, or are they simply that...stupid?"
"If I had to guess I would say that he is simply more expendable in light of their long term plans. Especially in his current condition."
"Well that ghost gave us names of different members should we look into those?"
"Of course. I'll run the names through the scrying nanites now." Ryo rolls up his sleeve so that the coil extending from his metal arm and attach itself to the computer while he talks.
"As for the thralls... we do know someone who is a bit of an expert on them."
"Nala?" she guessed. "I mean, that's the only person I know who would know about thralls."
"Nala?" she guessed. "I mean, that's the only person I know who would know about thralls."
"An extra credit point for you, Miss Fieri. There are certainly people who would have been harder for her to control, and if we can learn why then we might be able to recreate that reason and temporarily have it spread to the entire student body, and even the teachers."
"Should I send for her, Aananda?"
"Nala?" she guessed. "I mean, that's the only person I know who would know about thralls.""An extra credit point for you, Miss Fieri. There are certainly people who would have been harder for her to control, and if we can learn why then we might be able to recreate that reason and temporarily have it spread to the entire student body, and even the teachers."
"Should I send for her, Aananda?"
"Yes, I think that would be wise. Anything that can give us insight into how to stop these people from taking over the minds of others is worth trying."
"Well that ghost gave us names of different members should we look into those?"
"Yes, I think that would be wise. Anything that can give us insight into how to stop these people from taking over the minds of others is worth trying."
Ryo pulls a screen up.
"Hello, could you please send Nala up to my office? I need to talk to her about something that requires a person of similar expertise. Thank you." He says as the screen disappears and he turns to his sister-in-law. "She'll be here in a minute or two."
Aananda nodded.
"Ryo...I have to ask. Do you have any idea how many Hunter Clans are left? Is it just this one?"
"I do not know. Lysander is the last true Sandwalker, and I assumed the Clan they fought was destroyed completely because he was alive to tell the tale."
"I do not know. Lysander is the last true Sandwalker, and I assumed the Clan they fought was destroyed completely because he was alive to tell the tale."
"And if some of them lived? Or were kept in reserve just in case things went badly? I raise the possibility now because I'd rather not have you come unhinged later if it turns out to be true. I'm more than happy to help you annihilate them if they are the ones, just to be clear."
"If you need help just ask." Asch says as he crosses his arms leaning comfortably against the wall.
"The only things I will require if these Hunters are the same that fought the Sandwalkers.. is for Aananda to set the nanites to 'repair' and for everyone to get out of my way and avoid eye contact." Ryo says quietly. "Thank you for your offers though."
There is a timid knock at the door.
Aananda puts a hand on Ryo's shoulder, and gave him a look of sympathy and understanding.
::If it is them, I will do what you ask and help you clean up the pieces after, brother.::
She stepped away when she heard the knock on the door.
::Thank you, sister.::
"Come in Nala, and don't be frightened. We need your help now." Ryo calls out so Nala can hear him.
Nala opened the door and stepped in her eyes widening with fear as she looked around.
"Wh-what could you possibly need my help for?" she squeaked.
"Thralls. Or, more specifically, what could make turning people into thralls difficult. The Hunters have revealed that they are going to use innocent students to fight us. We want to put a stop to that and I thought you could help us do that."
"Oh. Ummm....well....Some people are really indecisive naturally. They want someone to tell them what to do. It's a relief really. I collected a lot of those. But sometimes there was somebody with more...er, sense of themself that I needed to be my ally. Those take longer. And it's chancy. If you rush things you can get them to obey you, but it totally crushes their mind. They aren't really capable of creative thought after that. Then there are the ones like Jiminy. His mind is like a pit of quicksand. You'd drown yourself trying to control him. A brick wall isn't so bad. You can chip away at that. But if you want to protect people you have to make their minds confusing. Does that make sense?"
"It does. It sounds like we need a way to increase self-confidence and a way to make the minds of the students more confusing for outside sources. This has been a great help, Ms Zamarosok. Any advice on reversing the enthralling process?"
"...we need a way to increase self-confidence and a way to make the minds of the students more confusing..."