Within These Walls ((Open 9/28/12))

[Silas Parrish]

Tobias retrieved two of his arrows as he passed by the fallen ghouls on the way to the building in front of the guard tower. A great stone wall, slightly short of a man's height, rose up and encapsulated a great glass dome, built of iron framework. He kept as close as he was able to the giant, and hoped that his allies would do the same. The motionless ghouls were beginning to outnumber the moving ones, which was heartening, but the realization brought little comfort as the asylum itself seemed to scream in pain as something horrible tore its way into reality.
Tobias looked away, feeling his very existence being drawn upon and draining. Every terrible thought he'd ever had came back to him, then, but he forced himself to go on to the great greenhouse, hoping against hope that safety could be found there.  

[Mr_BlueCamo]

Araion saw that the group of people were making their way to one of the side buildings so he decided to provide cover fire for them. He saw that the fire arrows were working perfectly on the wretched creatures as he brought down several of them following the retreating group.

Atura saw the battle escalate but decided to go where the group of people were going the back way. It was while going through the back way that three wrights appeared and she was going to get her first taste of close combat with the creatures. She drew her tantō swords and sliced at the body of the creature, it stumbled but appeared undeterred Atura found this quite interesting. She then went for the head with one swipe the head was off the body then the body collapsed to the ground. The second creature lunged for her but she dodged and lunged her sword into the chest of the wright. She now had just one tantō and saw that the creature was alive with her sword in its chest walking towards her. She became somewhat frightened at how the creature still went on the attack with a sword in its chest, but remembered the decapitated wright then swiped at the head of the creature. Now that the second wright fell she aimed for the third, deciding to take it out by throwing knife, she took her knife out aimed for the head then threw it. It hit its mark and now she continued on the path towards the building.  

[Ty Gwynnia]

Shania had just tearfully finished smashing a few of the zombie-like creatures heads in when she heard the shout to run for shelter. She looked up from the mess on the ground to see that even more of the things had appeared, although how they did it she did not know. A firm metal hand grasped her wrist as Daniel returned to her side, tugging her in the direction of the group. Their horse whinnied in fear as ghouls fell upon it and she tried to free herself to no avail, tears springing to her eyes again as the noble animal fell beneath the clawing paws.

Daniel hated to leave the horse behind as much as Shania did, but he would not let its screams deter him. The death would not be in vain, he vowed to himself as the dryad began to cry. He stumbled forward as she cried out loud again, this time in fear. A ghoul on the ground had been feigning death and now grabbed at her exposed ankle. He turned to free her but uttered a cry of his own as spots danced before his eyes, a screech searing though his mind and seeming to come out of the very stones themselves.

An arrow with a barbed shaft took the thing in one eye as Tarbel'en spotted the struggling pair. A second and third arrow seemed to almost sprout from its chest as he fired them off in rapid succession. For good measure, Ruskie appeared from the surging crowd of smelly corpse-things and jabbed at its arm with his shortsword. "Go, we'll cover you!" He squeaked to the man and woman, and the trio forced their way through the crowd as Tarnbel'en peppered the undead with arrows.  

[Chibi Kitsune Warrior]

Eve followed the group closely as they fought through the ever growing horde of disfigured creatures. She hung back a little, struggling to keep the creatures from coming up on the slowly advancing group from the rear.
She shouted in excitement as they drew closer to their intended shelter. The battle was beginning to wear her down and she feared she wouldn't be able to make it much longer.
Her excitement was short-lived however. As they closed in on the building, Eve felt a wave of fear and anxiety wash over her. She had a horrible feeling that something was approaching. It was as if she could feel it's terrible presence. Her vision began to dim and blur and she could hear shrieking coming from all around. She felt an arm wrap about her as one of her companions, she couldn't make out who, pulled her to safety.

[+----------+]

It was getting close. The presence of the fools who dared to enter its territory grew stronger and stronger as it approached. It moved faster, shifting and rippling as it closed in on its prey. It was driven by its instincts, sensing and honing in on the small company's fear. Within moments, it would have them all.  

[Silas Parrish]

((Orcus, you wanna give us one more before I post again?))  

[Orcus Fieres]

Dæmon swept back around and struck hard at the masses of these dead men and elves before continuing his march to the gate. Once he got back into the motions, he kept a good pace until he finally reached the corner of the tower and then kept along the wall until he reached the nearby door. A small chain and lock were wrapped around the door. Dæmon plucked the small chains off the door with his cane and pried the doors open. He turned back to keep the beasts off of the group as they entered. "Get inside. I'll keep them off your backs for now--make haste." Dæmon took a knee and swung his cane around low, effectively pushing aside beasts, keeping them at bay.  

[Silas Parrish]

Tobias nodded gratefully to the giant and stepped into the dark greenhouse, wondering cynically what might be waiting inside to devour him and his companions. One by one the others filed in, and were greeted by a series of low growls. A mad dog leaped from the shadows, and landed squarely on Tobias's chest, knocking him over. There was no evil or unholy thing in this dog; it was merely driven mad with pain and hunger, as Tobias observed. He forced himself to stop thinking and analyzing, and instead focused on keeping the dog's jaws from his soft, very exposed throat. His bow was useless to him, so he reached for his knife, and made a wild slash at the animal. It lunged at his flailing arm, and clamped down on it with broken teeth. Tobias rolled over with the animal still clinging to him, and jabbed his knife into a valve box at the bottom of the stone wall.
"Help me!" he cried to the others.  

[Mr_BlueCamo]

Atura made it in through the back way in the greenhouse then saw one of the men struggling with a dog. So with no hesitation she threw a knife into the dog's head. She then appeared before them ready to make herself known as the situation settled.

Araion quickly slid down the ladder on the side of the guard tower and made a quick run for it. Bringing down wright after wright he got a sudden feel of fear and intimidation, he knew something was coming. "Hold the door for me big guy!" he said as he headed for the greenhouse.  

[Ty Gwynnia]

Daniel ducked underneath the giant's sweeping cane, still tugging Shania along with him, and burst into the greenhouse after the woman ahead of them did. Surprisingly, they beat the blond-haired elf to the building. Despite the glass dome above, he realized that barely any light came through. Shadows lurked everywhere and in every corner that he looked at there were lumps of indiscernible objects. The stench of decayed plants reached his nostrils and he held back an audible gag as he scanned the area. Most of the others he'd seen before the wave of undead had appeared had been able to make their way inside, including the man who'd spoken before although now he was pinned by a dog. A knife hilt gleamed darkly from its skull, so he deemed that the threat had been taken care of.

Shania, shuddering as the soles of her feet met the cold, dirty floor, clung to Daniel's arm as tightly as she could. The fear that she felt was only amplified when she stepped into the greenhouse. Why had they come here in the first place? She didn't like the feel of any of it, not even the air. Her flail's chain rattled noisily as she moved her arm a little, starting in surprise as her gaze wandered over to a prostate man. Her heart went out to him and she stepped forward, unsure if he was hurt or not. "Are...are you okay?"  

[Chibi Kitsune Warrior]

Eve regained some of her vision, despite the dim light, as her rescuer half-carried, half-dragged her into the green house. She was finally able to identify who helped her, and whispered her thanks to Galiel. He nodded curtly, and rubbed his eye trying to clear it of the blood that ran from a wound on his forehead.
Suddenly Eve could hear the sounds of a struggle and looked up just in time to see a knife fly from shadows and pierce the skull of a hound that had pinned one of the other refugees. Before she could even feel relieved at escaping the horde outside, a chill overtook her as if her blood itself was draining away. As her vision began to dim yet again, she thought she could see the walls crawling. With what, she couldn't quite make out.

[+-----------+]

There was a shriek as of many voices in agony as The Shadow ripped into the courtyard of the asylum. A large group of undead surrounded the entrance to the greenhouse. If it could have felt anything, it would have been pleasure. All his prey was trapped in one place. It wrapped itself around the walls of the greenhouse and appeared to seep liquid-like through the cracks and pinprick holes.  

[Silas Parrish]

"I'll manage," Tobias grunted as he slung the dog's twitching frame off of him and pried its jaws open. The wound was bleeding, but not life-threateningly so. He gave it a hasty wrapping, and froze in place as he realized the shadow was following them into the building, after all.
"I'm sorry," he said to his companions. "I didn't really think this would work, but we were no better off out there." He stepped over to the valve which held his knife, and extricated with a jerk. Suddenly, it appeared to rain inside the greenhouse, and Tobias realized that he'd triggered a still-working irrigation system. His mouth hung agape as he saw the shadow stop its advance at the water line.
"What they say is true! Demons cannot cross running water!" he heard himself cry with renewed spirit. His hopes began to fade as he realized that the running water would eventually stop, and then there would be nothing to be done about the shadow.  

[Chibi Kitsune Warrior]

The Shadow barely emerged from the wall, rippling and cascading along its surface. It prepared to attack the group huddled in the half light, ready to take them all in one fatal strike. Its dark mass began to swell, but before it could even come close, the ancient sprinkling system kicked on. The Shadow seemed to hiss and drew back, its bulk seeming to shrink back into itself. It lurked just above the surface of the wall for a moment before disappearing back into stone.

[+---------+]

Eve watched in horror as the walls seemed to enlarge. Her lips moved, but no words would come out. All of the sudden, Eve heard a strange groan and felt the refreshing cool of water as it rained down from the ceiling. To her surprise, the thing halted as if unable to continued through the false rain. She watched as it disappeared into the walls. Moments later, her vision began to brighten and her body warmed. The creature was gone.  

[Orcus Fieres]

Dæmon had stepped inside the greenhouse last, to keep the rest safe, only to notice one of the groups' members being pinned by a dog. Before he was able to pluck the poor animal from the man, a knife lodged itself in it's skull. Dæmon stopped himself from getting angry at this seeing as it seemed proper, although a bit cruel. He paid mind to the words of the others, but could not fully comprehend what the one who started the rain meant by demons not being able to cross running water. Dæmon gave a walk over to him and outstretched a hand. "Hello, I am Dæmon Alsk, should you want to call me by my name. I fear I do not understand what exactly you mean. Would you be referring to that," He pointed at the black ooze, "As a demon?"  

[Ty Gwynnia]

"Oh, good..." A violent shiver shook Shania again as she replied, this time from the artificial rain pouring from above. She breathed a sigh of relief and wiggled her toes on the stones. Once, she had lifted her branches to the sky, reveling in the rain, when a tree had been her home. Even though she was not with it anymore, the joy she felt from the feel of water pattering on her skin did not abate. "Demon?" she echoed aloud. "Is that what that was?"

Daniel eyed the walls warily despite the shadow's retreat, and his hand stayed on his still unsheathed sword. He'd bitten his lip hard at its appearance, prepared to fight to his last breath if need be, for both his love and for the strangers. With a swipe of his hand, he wiped the trickle of blood away. He didn't voice his concern to the others on how safe they would be after the water stopped flowing, or about the strange call that he felt in the back of his mind for the dark substance. It had been a mixture of repulsion and something else that he did not wish to identify.

"Oh dear, a demon..." Ruskie muttered, a warble of uncertainty in his voice. "That doesn't bode well."  

[Mr_BlueCamo]

Atura stood there as the Shadow came into the greenhouse and suddenly she was very afraid something that she had not felt since she was a child. But as soon as it appeared it disappeared and she still stood there will water fel onto her face.

Araion stopped and looked in shock as the Shadow covered the greenhouse. He thought 'Maybe a light arrow will work.' He then said, "Element light." But when he readied the shot the Shadow was gone. He quickly ran to the greenhouse with his bow still ready to fire. He walked in and saw that everyone was still there he then said, "Is everyone okay?"