[b][u]Chessmaster and Mackendrick[/u][/b]

[i]You failed.[/i]

The words were spoken flatly. Yet Mackendrick imagined they held some accusation as the reverberated in his skull. “Well, I have very good reasons-“ He began, only to fall silent as he was cut off. [i]You let two girls, barely with any power of their own, not only delay you long enough for the tide to turn, but also stop you from killing at least one of the diplomats. There are no, ‘very good reasons’ for your failure. [/i] “The girls didn’t stop me, who had help by the way, common sense did. And besides, I nearly killed one.” He muttered. When the demon population in the Great Hall began shrinking, and the number of master level mages began increasing, Mackendrick had decided to leave, rather than finish his objective or the girls who were fighting him. He probably could have finished what he needed to do, but likely would have died in the process of trying to escape. Survival trumps professional pride, no matter what the scenario. [i]We don’t want to hear your excuses.[/i].

“I could probably get back into the College and kill the diplomats.” Not to mention, kill the two who had distracted him for so long. It had been a fun game, but now they were the reason for his failure, and this conversation. The presence of the voice was beginning to give him a headache. [i]No. You lost your chance. Go meet with Legion. You’d serve a better purpose there.[/i] Abruptly, Mackendrick felt the voice leave, and with it, his headache. A small sigh of relief escaped him. 

Back in their prison, Chessmaster was pacing again, their separate personalities diverging once more. “You should have killed him for his failure. “ His sister hissed. His brother snarled in agreement. “Perhaps. But pawns like that take time to create, and that’s the one thing we don’t possess. If he survives the game, and fails to redeem himself, then we will kill him. You don’t take your pieces off of the board without gaining something in return, or having replacements.” Chessmaster countered. “You’ve been staring at the board for too long.” His brother noted. 

“Thousands of Centuries, to be exact.” Chessmaster said, idly. He had their head turned towards the board once more.

[i]Althalus[/i]

The first thing Althalus became aware of when he awoke was pain. Intense pain, everywhere he had nerve endings. Which was a good thing, he supposed. That meant that even though he had indeed passed out in the medical ward, he was still alive. The fact that he was on a cushioned bed and not the hard ground meant he probably wasn’t being saved for a later lunch by a demon. Probably. The soft sounds of people going to and fro in a medical ward helped assure him that he wasn’t about to be eaten. He didn’t open his eyes or give much of a sign that he had awoken. It was much preferable to put off the real world for a while longer. [i]Now…just what in the name of the Gods happened..[/i] It was all just a little bit blurry. He remembered being in the medical ward when a Demon suddenly attacked.

He remembered a Snow Elf trying to help, only to throw up, and he remembered his own attempt to stop the demon. Doubtlessly, that was the direct cause of his pain. But why had he thrown himself at the demon? Suddenly, as he spent several minutes grasping at the elusive memories, it all came flooding back to him. Lyn. Mar. Xyden.

He shot up into a sitting position and immediately regretted it, cursing for a few moments. His body didn’t like him laying there. It [i]really[/i] didn’t like him trying to sit up. “Mar?! Lyn?!” 

[b]Aramir[/b]

After being lucky enough to survive the night, and catch a glimpse of Auriel to assure herself that the elf was still alive, Aramir was tired enough to fall asleep as soon as she hit the pillow of her bed, the sleep deep enough that she didn’t have any nightmares. She awoke to the sounds of a damage College being repaired, slowly but surely. Seeing as she couldn’t really help, still weak from overusing her blood when Zaad decided to have his fun with her, she wandered. Everywhere she went, the scene was largely the same. Visitors from other nations pestering the College Teachers, people gathering the dead for burial and the wounded for treatment, people repairing what damage had been done by the demons, and some survivors simply staring off into the distance, amazed to be alive. 

The College was a mess. And Aramir had a sinking feeling that this was only the beginning. 

[u]Uicle[/u]

Uicle was having a far more trying time than most. Rather than getting the worried members of the College’s guests who were just happy to be alive and wanted to know what would be done to prevent this from happening once more, he got the angry ones who wanted to lay the blame at the College. Specifically, anyone who could have done magic that could have stopped this. Couple that with organizing the Golems that were still functional to help the College staff, and dealing with those Golems that weren’t functional, destroyed or severely crippled by the Demons, his patience was low. But, to give him credit, he did try.

“I’ve told you before. The Headmaster is resting from being poisoned. The Archmage is resting as well, from saving the College from being destroyed by demons.” He repeated for perhaps the twentieth time, far more calmly than he actually felt. “Where is the Demonomancy teacher then?” The Djarkel officer demanded. He seemed to be the spokesperson for this group. “He’s busy making sure this can’t be repeated. I don’t know where he is though.”That was a small lie. Golems in the forge for repairs could easily see Tyrael working at the forge. However, this lie didn’t seem to placate the man. “Then find him!” Uicle gave up. “Fine.” Uicle summoned a metal bird. “Follow the golem. It’ll lead you to Tyrael.”

As the group left, Uicle sent a message to Tyrael, through one of the golems closest to the demonomancy teacher. “I may have sent a particularly annoying group of guests to you. Feel free to kill them. I’m sure we can pass it off as they died in last night’s attack.” As soon as he turned to get back to work, a large loose piece of stone came crashing down onto his shoulder, severely denting it. “Hah. Very funny.”