Echoes in the Dark
18th of February 2007 A.D.
One step left, one to the right, cut and cut, both the leech things die with a feeble scream on your sword drowned out in an instant by keening that rises and falls, rises and falls like the beating of a heart, like the beating of your heart. For a moment it feels like something's trying to pull your blood out though your pores, a stone shard flies by Carlos' ear and the stone shifts underfoot out of tune with the tremors. Then as light flashes from Tiffany's eyes, adding the powers of Creation to the melange of mortal magic, for just a split second you see McCoy and McCoy... and McCoy, the old wizard split three ways and making three
near-identical gestures. All three spells, of life, of matter and of energy break apart at his command, you realize and then there is just the one of the old wizard standing just where he had been a moment ago, breathing a little more shallowly, hand upraised facing four shocked wizards.
Regained 4 Essence -> Now at 12/18 (Murder is Meat x2)
Whether they are shocked at the show of prowess, at the fact that you had cut the leech things up or just at the all consuming flash you could not say... but the one who had called 'Shoot', must have had his eyes closed since he turns tail to run, practically shoving one of his companions, dupes more like, out of his way.
"You're not... you're not leeches," the one who's
wearing a stone elemental says to which Carlos offers what you're pretty sure is a very bad word in Spanish as he rushes after the fleeing wizard, sword in hand, though from the way he's holding it it's clear he means to club them over the head with the pommel more than skewer them.
Reinvigorated you give him a helping hand by smashing his quarry on the vault of the tunnel, not hard enough to crack their head, but enough that they won't be getting up anytime soon.
"Leeches? What's going on?" McCoy orders with a force that wouldn't shame a drill sergeant, his moment of weakness noticed probably just by you.
"You're you..." the young woman who had tried to rip the blood out of your body starts. "Sorry sir, there are vampires in the hall and they have some kind of glamor on them, not just the usual, they can look like anyone. Can't tell until they're right next to you."
"Is Yuki OK?" Elemental boy interrupts as Tiffany leans in to inspect her.
"She will be," the once-Fallen says without looking up from her work. "Call me paranoid but I suspect whoever called these things up isn't on the Council's side."
"Called?" the third junior warden says.
"They're spirits from the Nevernever," you elaborate, though not going so far as to explain you 'ate' them. 'Metabolized their Essence,' Usum says.
It soon comes out why there are ambushes in the corridors. About an hour ago an attack on the Halls had started, though no one here knows anything as to how, just that they are vampires who can look like wizards and if you let them get close you're done for.
"Shit," you look over at McCoy, the same realization in his eyes that must be in yours. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"There aren't any vampires, just traitors presenting to be vampires, pretending to be wizards, sowing chaos and causing friendly fire."
"Add one more provocateur to be pile," you motion at the unconscious wizard.
"Traitors, what do you mean?
Who?"
McCoy puts an end to the line of questioning, all lines really. Now more than ever you need to get to the rest of the council. Thankfully the Warden Barracks isn't taken over, though it is almost empty since Warden Captain Luccio had sent a good portion of those on duty into the city right before the attack.
"How good are you with sound, any of you?" Tiffany asks as she is patching up the least wounded of the duo, looking around the wizards. "These tunnels all connect right? You could send out a general message in the clear to draw back to the Warden Barracks and
confirming there are traitors using glamours. It is not going to lower suspicions, but at least it will direct them and speaking of direction it will give the loyalists somewhere to go rather than bumping around in the dark."
"It would also confirm our location," you point out reasonably.
"Be a moving target then."
What do you do?
[] Send a shout through the tunnels as Tiffany suggests
[] Keep pushing through
[] Write in
OOC: Why would a wizard make a light trap? Because they think they are fighting vampires. On another note I was surre McCoy would have to pull out the Blackstaff to pull that trick with time, but no, he actually rolled the 6 successes he needed to give himself three actions to dispell with. 
