[quote]She was admiring the intricate design on the shield (a maze-like design etched into the front, spiraling outwards into a design that looked similar to a stylized set of bull's horns), when the lights suddenly went out. She looked up indignantly, and got out "Hey, who turned-" before catching sight of something that made her heart stop.

Dozens of eyes, belonging to almost that number of Grit. All looking directly at her.[/quote]

A chorus of fury snarled in Maria's general direction.

[i]Capture the live ones. Bring them to have their souls extracted. None were supposed to have escaped, this was a travesty that must be corrected.[/i]

Such was the motivation behind the fangs and claws and muzzles and hot foaming breath. More or less. Some were just hungry.

Scales and fur and a stench like rotted fish and cinnamon squeezed through the doorway, and a cascade of sharpness and death surged down upon Maria -- but they did not touch her.

The Grit flowed angry around Maria like chaotic water over a stone, and herself unhurt and unmoved -- she and the shield she was holding, and the bull-horn sigil that slightly glimmered under her touch.

[b]"Milady!"[/b] the enchanted robot called over the [i]pew pew pew[/i] of his flashing laser gun. [b]"Give me your trust, I'm coming for you."[/b]

The robot broke through the throng of Grit, and in one swoop he scooped up Maria and her new shield into one mechanical arm. Together they shoved through the chaos, blazing a trail through fur and feathers and enraged screeches. The robot broke a line on the teleportation sigil, and just as the portal was closing leaped through.

[quote]“Your Majesty.” Berry stepped forward, holding her chin up high and hands held neatly by her hips. “I do apologise for how rude this may sound but I must ask; Do you have any idea what is happening?”

"So, how are we going to deal with this problem?" Vincent immediately asked with a serious tone. "Hiding clearly isn't going to work. The effort put into the Wall was clearly wasted since the Grit cleared it so easily and are already working on getting the grounded Grit inside. From what I've seen our current pool of weapons to fight back are very much lacking." He then pointed towards the ceiling. "And what in the Hell is going on with the sky out there?"

The mile-high cave was obscenely beautiful, once Moth actually took notice of it, and the combat boots were damn comfortable. His stomach vibrated angrily. If the Queen was granting requests, Moth planned on first asking for lunch.[/quote]

The Queen looked from one face to another, her hands clasped tightly, her expression strained in fear of the answers to their questions. She gave Berry a smile that was both encouraging and grateful for her kindness, her eyes glimmered with humor to see that Moth had a more human concern, and she straightened properly to tackle the barrage of questions and criticism that dropped in Vincent's intelligent voice.

Before she could answer, a metallic clatter announced the arrival of the sharpshooter robot, who had leaped with Maria through the open portal only a millisecond before it snapped shut behind him. He knelt and carefully put Maria to her feet while the Queen rushed to take Maria's hands in hers.

"I'm glad to see you've made it safe. Thank you, Roy." She looked up to the robot, which stood and made a motion as if to tip an invisible hat.

The Queen scanned them all once more, and she bit her lip. "I was under the impression there were more of you." She glanced hopefully to the teleportation sigil -- but she had a sinking feeling that the Grit had been more successful in their pursuits than she had been.

She looked between Berry and Vincent, and she took a breath. "I will try to answer all your questions to the best of my ability. I hope I won't bore you, but I'd like to be fully honest with you all -- since we may be all that is left.

"Since the Grit first appeared during my father's reign, there have been . . . scientific endeavors . . . committed to understanding them." She winced a little -- it was a description much too kind for those amoral experiments. "About a year ago, one such experiment failed. If you will remember the sudden deadly explosion at the plastics manufacturing plant in winter -- that story was a coverup. Our research had been stolen and teleported out of the city. The Grit got ahold of it. Shortly after, rumors began to spread that the Grit had learned to fly. They've learned so much more than that, I fear."

The Queen stood rigid, her hands clasped tightly in front of her. She looked from one to the next of the survivors, summoning all her courage to continue.

"I don't quite know what has happened to the sky; I'm told that it only appears split to us, here within the walls, and nothing is wrong outside the city. I am not personally familiar with the research that was stolen, but it must have to do with it. But the sigil of protection that has kept us safe -- the shape taken by our roads, powered by all of us who live here -- ceased to function the moment the lightning struck the Spire. The Spire itself is the center of the protection sigil and the source of its power. This,"[/b] she spread her arms to indicate the entirety of the glimmering cavern, "is the power that had been keeping us safe. And now . . . I believe it is also the power that is to blame for the statues that now stand as gravestones throughout the city."

Her eyes flashed determined, and she raised her head higher, though her voice was still meek. "But all is not lost. The stone people can be returned to their former selves. We only need to draw a rune on the statues and place a soul stone on the rune, and the person will breathe again. It is a simple rune, I will teach it to you, if you don't know it.

"But the bigger problem is the electricity hovering over the tip of the Spire that continues to nullify the city's protection. I believe it is being controlled and powered by something outside the city, near the mine. Something flashed there just before this happened. The enchanted robots and their databases agree that in order to restore the city, a company should be deployed to the mine -- to find and destroy whatever is holding the city hostage."

She looked to Vincent, at once apologetic and willing him to understand. He was the frank and hostile voice of the group. "The Grit can be defeated, as long as they have not absorbed soulstones. Their only advantage is that they can use a sigil to resurrect their fellow Grit after death. We need only ensure that their resurrection sigils are destroyed, then proceed to destroy the Grit themselves."

The Queen released a slow breath, and she paused to allow all of this information to sink in. The people could be resurrected, the city could be restored -- if only.

"My only soldiers now are robots, which are incapable of activating sigils and runes on their own. They cannot revive the cityfolk. I have sent a squad to the mine, but I have not heard back yet whether they will be able to complete their mission. I suspect they will not be able to, for the same reason. I know it is a lot to ask . . ."

Her voice faded, and she looked each of them in the eye -- hopeful, desperate, yet somehow confident that they could and would succeed.