Lady luck had once more proven to be a cruel mistress. The only thing Adrian had to show for his arduous efforts were a handful of new nicks and bruises to add to his body’s ever growing collection. The mage honestly wasn’t all that surprised that there wasn’t much to find in the Lightworks, it had only been a few weeks since he had last checked it after all, but the lack of progress was really starting to grate on his patience. In fact, he was just about to give up his little expedition entirely, but that was when the pillar of light carved its way through the sky. The luminance all but blinded the young man, and yet he could not do little more than put his hand in between his eyes and the harsh radiance. 

It took several moments for the surprise induced by the phenomena’s abrupt appearance to wear off, but once it did Adrian all but broke out in run towards the origin of the light. Whatever it was, the city clearly did not like it as the ground groaned from its landscape drastically shifting. [i]Like hell I’m going to let this get away from me,[/i] Adrian silently vowed, although it would not take long for him to begin to question that very thought. Because even though it was not unheard of for the creatures that hid in the shadows to travel in packs, the monstrous swarm that was converging upon the pillar of light left him with an absolutely dumbfounded expression as he stopped dead in his tracks. For almost as far as his eyes could see the creatures were piling one over another, trying desperately to reach the light, almost as if it had personally offended each and every one of them.

A good string of curses followed, as the astonishment gave way to fear. Sure he was no slouch in combat with his magic, but he did not entertain the idea of being able to deal with all of that on his own for a moment. With a deep breath, he did his best to push his apprehension aside and press on. Even though the creatures thankfully seemed to pay him little mind, Adrian did everything he could to not push his luck with them. Thus he followed them with care, hoping to not catch any of their attention. And if they did, he was quite ready to run with his figurative tail between his legs at a second’s notice.