Adventuring...

Estrella's arms were littered with goosebumps, and she fell over as she heard the scream. She scrambled to get up, running after her friends. She hadn't seen what the thing was, but she had the feeling that she really didn't want to know.
 
The wind rushed around George's ears, blowing his hair into his eyes, and as the deafening scream reached his ears, he instinctivley raised his hands to cover them. He turned his head to attempt to catch a glimpse of the culprit, but with no such luck.

He broke into a run, following the rest of the group, but his height and the size of the cave made that a difficult feat. In the darkness, he could have sworn he felt something brush past him, but passed it off as paranoia again as he tried to keep up.

As he ran, he caught the top of his head on a jutting out piece of rock. Shouting a string of expletives, he bought his hand up to his head, and felt the warm sticky liquid on his hand as he pulled it away again.

"Bugger! This place is like a bloody rabbit hole!" He shouted over the din.
 
Ford turned and saw that George had hit himself on the head, and cursed inaudibly over the noise. He wanted to go back and grab him, but the passage was too narrow to do so. He thought he felt something go through him, and a cold feeling passed over him, freezing him to his bones, but the sensation passed almost instantly. He had no choice but to continue going. He charged forward, wanting to get out of this deathtrap as quickly as possible.

He ran, tripping over rocks and outcroppings in the dark tunnel. Suddenly, as Ford was running at full speed, the ground underneath him disappeared, and just as instantly as the ground had gone, freezing, still water enveloped him. The air was shocked right of Ford's lungs and he sucked in a mouthful of bone-chilling water. Ford struggled with his heavy robes underwater. It was getting harder to move, the water was becoming jelly. Just as Ford was about to give up, he broke the surface and coughed up a lungful of water out, and gasped for air.
 
Looking up, George saw that he'd fallen behind, and started to sprint on again, ignoring the burning pain in his head above his right eyebrow. Suddenly, his foot caught on a loose rock and sent him flying through the air. Why do I have to be so bloody clumsy all the soddin time? He thought briefly, just before he crashed into the water with a sickening splash.

He threw his head back, and drew in a harsh breath of stale air, shaking his hair out of his eyes. The water was freezing, and George tried not to think about just what he was treading in at the moment.

The air was not so dark in here, and the wind had gone, as if it was confined only to the passage they had just emerged from, as if something was trying to force them this way. Snapping his head to the right, he saw a figure in the water a couple of feet away.

"Hey...mate, you okay?" He choked out.
 
Amid a flurry of coughing, Ford choked out, "Yeah." He started treading water, and looked around, there was a small island about thirty feet away, in what seemed to be an underground lake, there was a stone obelisk on it that gave Ford a particularly anxious feeling, but he made a decision. "Everybody, go to that island," Ford said, and pocketed his wand, in case somebody needed help.
 
As Kale heard the ear peircing scream it gave him goosebumps all over. A blast of light littered the cave and the ground gave out under the group, throwing them into chilling cold water. At the moment he hit the water, he gasped for air breathing deeply...looking around he looked out for the others, hoping and praying that everyone was okay. "Is everyone okay?" Kale shouted looking for Sabriel, Ford was in his eye sight and seemed fine. Treading water under him he made his way to where Ford and George were near the little island.
 
As the scream reached Sabriel's ears, she began to run with the rest of the group. Not sure where the horrible scream had come from, she tried to look around her surroundings, but to no avail. As she followed the others, a piercing cold chill ran through her body and then quickly passed. That was really weird, she thought to herself.

Trying to keep up with everyone, the ground suddenly gave way and Sabriel found herself underwater. Almost the same cold chill as before ran through her body. As she tried to reach the surface, someone kicked her on top of the head as they were furiously trying to tread water. As she descended farther into the water, Sabriel found it very hard to keep holding her breath. She furiously tried to swim to the surface, and right before she reached the top, she breathed in some water.

As she broke the surface, Sabriel coughed up some water and finding it hard to breathe tried to swim as fast as she could to the island.
 
Kale looked around in the darkness, he had seemed to drop his wand at one point as the floor collapsed throwing everyone in the water. Patting himself down it wasn't in any of his pockets, his eyes widened...as Kale looked around more for the others he finally saw Sabriel break the surface of the water. With a sigh of relief he was happy to see that she was okay, hopping back into the water he pulled her towards him, "Are you okay Sabriel?" he asked in a concerned voice and a serious face. He looked around for Estrella and his heart almost dropped, I hope shes okay.. he thought to himself scanning the water and up above
 
Sabriel gave a smile as Kale jumped back in the water and swam toward her, even though it was quite hard for her to breath. "I'm fine," she reassured him. Treading water she looked around and said, "Is everyone okay?"
 
Bruin had fallen a little bit behind the others as it was hard to get his larger frame through the narrow passageways despite the incentive of possibly being followed by something unpleasant. Bruin stopped in his tracks as he heard splashing sounds and the others hit the water. Opting not to get wet himself, he said Accio Broom and waved his wand up the passage they had just come. Much to his delight, a broom came rattling down the passageway, bumping occasionally off a wall or rocky outcrop and finally, into his outstreched hand. He mounted the broom and slowly eased himself forward over the water, his feet skimming the surface as he progressed slowly. He looked down to see if anyone needed assistance or a tow over towards the island.
 
Shrugging, Estrella dove into the water, rather facing freezing than the unnameable thing behind them. She doggie paddled to the island, pulling herself up onto it. Shuddering, she asked through chattering teeth, "Is everyone okay?"
 
George looked around and did a quick head count to make sure that everyone had made it out of the cave ok. When he was satisfied, he pulled himself on to the small island, his wand still in his hand. He attempted to wring some of the water out of his clothes, shuddering at the cold, but to no avail. With a quick and complex flick of his wand, a stream of hot air started to emit from the end, and he used this to quickly dry himself off.

Looking around at the shivering group, he held up his wand as an offer. "Anyone else want? I can't promise it'll get rid of the cracking smell, but..." He shrugged.
 
Ford scrambled out of the frigid water, and took a mental count, too. Everybody here, good. He to a survey of their surroundings, knowing now that everybody was out of the water. The island was a small deal, maybe fifteen feet at the widest, made of stone and black sand. The water was a pale greenish color, and was illuminated from underneath by a sickly green glow, casting such a light on the domed ceiling. The surface of the water was deathly still despite the fact that they had just been swimming in it, not thirty seconds ago.

"Is everybody okay?" Ford asked dryly.
 
A ghostly form howled loudly behind the students, screaming a scream that comes from millenia of pain. Appearing as a misty cloud, it followed close behind the red haired man into the water and stayed there. Watching them. Studying.

They quickly made their way to the shrine in the center of the lake. The form coalesced into a vaguely human form. A man, wizened with age, with a beard. His cloak clasped at the neck and revealed crude copper and leather armor beneath. A circular shield in his left arm and a sword in the other, he seemed to be one who knew how to use his weapons. Slowly he rose from the water, standing erect, his face like stone, staring at the intruders. The water was still around him.

He let a deep gutteral roar grow in his throat. Starting at frequencies too low for human ears, and elevating into the audible range. It seemed to reverberate deafeningly throughout the chamber, escalating in amplitude. Then it stopped suddenly, and the ghost spoke. His voice was deep and commanding, and held a thick accent, unknown to the students.

"YOU HAVE INTRUDED UPON SACRED GROUND. LEAVE NOW, OR YOUR LIVES SHALL BE FORFIT."
 
Estrella fell over to the ground as she heard the voice, trembling in shock and fear. "But how are we going to get off this thing?" She whispered, shuddering. There was no question that they had to leave, and quick.
 
Ford glanced over to Estrella quickly before returning his gaze to the apparition in front of him. "Not entirely sure," Ford stated through gritted teeth. He had never expected to meet anything such as this in New Zealand, given the designs on the ghost's clothing, armor, and shield, it was definitely of ancient Gaelic origin. Could this be related to the voice I heard?

"George," Ford said emotionlessly, he was getting into the same groove he entered upon playing Quidditch. There was nothing there but the goal, no emotion, no wants or fears. The only difference this time was that he was not entirely sure what his goal was. "This might require some ace flying, we're going to have to summon our brooms and leave quick if things get nasty."

He stepped between the others and the ghost, standing ankle high in the freezing water, which was now colder, if such a thing was possible. He held his out his wand out to the ghost, he was unsure if he could actually do anything to it, especially with his limited spell vocabulary, but he was going to try anything, if necessary. "Who are you?" Ford demanded of the spectre.
 
As Kale had heard the loud and commanding scream of the what looked like a ghost. He went into complete shock...he was speachless with wide eyes and mouth wide open. At that he strode towards Sabriel and grabbed a hold of her hand, with cold chills and still dripping of water.
 
Bruin had a broom, but knew that the others were without. He also knew that the others were not going to be able to get out of here by going back into the water. Bruin recalled a spell that Professor King had taught him before they had gone into the Borely that was meant to protect against dark beings. He had no idea whether or not it would help or not, but was willing to try anything to get around this thing and hopefully help retrieve a few brooms for the others. It appeared the knight wanted them off the island as badly as they wanted out of her safely, so he decided to take a chance.

Without waiting for the ancient warrior to answer Ford's question, Bruin uttered Prostatevo Apo Skotadi and flew in a wide arc around the knight, taking care to stay out of striking distance of the sword. He arrived safely at the opening to the passageway and pointed his wand down it, keeping a wary eye on the knight. He shouted Accio Brooms down the passage, hoping that the spell would be effective despite his concentration being somewhat compromised by the presence of the knight.
 
The ghost watched as the boy on the broom circled around him, casting a old spell upon him. He gave a deep, guttural laugh. "Such base magic," he growled. He began to incant something, the words were foreign to the ears of the others around. Runes on his shield and sword began to glow in a ghastly glow that outshone the rest of his form, then he smashed forward through the barrier. A shattering of ethereal glass exploded into the room, passing through the students painlessly.

He did not care that they were trying to leave, he would rather have it that way. Though he would like to engage in combat, he was rusty at it, not having fought for hundreds of years. "I am Conri Mac Giolla Ri, warrior and general of the Tuatha De Danaan, adviser to Mac Cuill, Mac Cecht and Mac Gréine, last true High Kings of Eire," the ghost expounded proudly. "A more appropriate question," he stared right at Ford, "Who are you, young wizard, to question me?"

He ignored the boy on the broom, letting him proceed in getting them out of his domain. He was unconcerned with them escaping, the one speaking to him seemed curious enough with why Conri was here, he had no worries of them leaving.
 
(((I laugh as that's not base magic :D it's ancient according to borely mansion...)))
 
Two brooms rattled down the passageway towards Bruin and he quickly tucked them under his arm and flew back around the knight towards the others. It didn't appear that he was interested in killing them, yet anyways, although it would certainly appear to be within the knight's abilities based upon the rather powerful looking magic that he could conjure.

It also did not appear that the protective spell Bruin had attempted was going to serve much purpose from this point on. Bruin touched down beside the others and held the brooms out to whomever wished to grab one. It would appear that if they were going to fly out of here, then they would have to double up.
 
Ford had no idea what the spell was that Bruin cast, but it didn't seem to bother the ghost at all. Ford was not concerned about the shade killing them, it didn't seem interested in that. But Ford was now interested in why this thing was here, and was it connected with the voice he heard.

"I am Ford Harkonnen. My companions and I are students at Hogwarts New Zealand, the school which inhabits the castle above," Ford said, hoping to keep on the ghost's good side, in order to get get some information, "Why are you here?" He demanded.
 
As the voice spoke, Sabriel spun around and saw the ghost. Though he seemed very intimidating, for some reason she wasn't afraid of him. Instead she was quite intrigued at who he was and what he was doing down here. As Kale grabbed her hand, she gave him a reassuring smile.
 
Estrella kept her mouth shut, watching Bruin fly off on his broom, who didn't seem to bother the ghost at all. "Yeah, I have to add to Ford's question. Why are you in New Zealand exactly? You don't look like a native."
 
The audacity of the young ones brought faith to Conri, the courage, or at their age, stupidity, of man had not weakened over the millennia. He smirked, "This place was colonized by the druid's long before your petty castle was built here. The Earth holds many secrets," he said, his voice trailing off into a hiss. As he did so, the water's glow increased quietly, then disappeared, leaving them all to stand in utter darkness. The only light was given off by Conri's faint ethereal body. "There is much to your world that you don't understand," his deep basso growling from everywhere around them, an enchanting and mystical quality had crept into it. The dome suddenly illuminated: ancient writing littered across it, moving and coalescing into something. Glowing faintly in green and blue, the script formed a vaguely familiar shape: a map of Earth, except there was a continent in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. However, upon closer inspection, there were other differences. Alaska and Russia were connected. There were less Hawai'ian Islands, and many other things.

"I was sent here to watch over our encampment," he said gravely, "In life and death. You have intruded upon sacred ground, you will leave now and warn others as to the divinity of this place. You shall not return."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Back
Top