Heeding Gabrielle's Call

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 10, Post Number 235

-Fat Monsterland, midnight-

The night was cold and windy as Lucia and Gabrielle strolled into Fat Monsterland. Lucia was dressed in her usual gray long-sleeved shirt and long pleated white skirt with brown boots. In its holster on her right hip was Shining Light. Lucia was glad that she had worn a long-sleeved shirt and long skirt because it was really cold out here and the wind threatened to start blowing any minute now.

A crescent moon hovered in the cloudless sky as the pair surveyed the area in front of them. It was a wide open space with plenty of grass and a lot of trees further in the distance, but what really drew her attention was the moaning that carried on the wind. There was only one source for the drawn-out gutteral moaning.

"Zombies." Gabrielle informed Lucia of what the noise was... not that the blonde needed a reminder. She had been to Silent Cemetery a few times and knew exactly what was lurking somewhere in the distance.

"What are we doing here? Or rather, what am I doing here?" Lucia asked the angel.

"I've received word from my patron that some mages who might prove instrumental to defeating the necromancer we encountered in Silent Cemetery need help." The silver-haired angel replied. The Luminous Rose mage put her right hand on her hip.

"Really?" Lucia asked the angel.

"Really. They're a group of mages who use Holy magic not too different from your own." Came the reply. Lucia was curious. She suspected that she was far from the only user of Holy magic, but to hear that there was a group of mages who used it was a surprise to her.

"My patron told me that the mages are in dire need of help and are unlikely to survive the night without timely aid. As you know, I'm forbidden to fight the forces of evil directly, so I have to get the help of others to work for me." Gabrielle gave her a bit more information and reiterated that she was not allowed to fight the threat herself. Lucia crossed her arms over her chest.

"OK." Lucia said calmly. She was always up for a rescue mission and if said rescue mission resulted in rescuing mages who could help her stop that necromancer it was a bonus.

"We need to try and rescue the group before it's too late. I understand that they're fairly powerful, so they should be able to hold out for some time. However, we'd better not dawdle." The silver-haired angel outlined the objective. Lucia remained calm.

"All right then. It's time to get going." Lucia remarked. Moments later the moaning sounded again and quite a few humanoid shapes could be seen in the distance. The local undead were closing in and Lucia would need to deal with them before she could move on.

Not wanting to give her enemies the chance to move into their preferred range, Lucia immediately prepared a Seraph's Fury spell by channeling magic throughout her entire body. When the spell was ready she leaped into the air and when she reached the peak of the jump she froze in the air. Six golden wings of magic formed behind her and she flapped them towards the enemies, firing twenty-five beams of golden light in their direction.

All twenty-five beams hit the targets they had homed in on, causing them to disintegrate on the spot. The group of zombies had a chunk taken out of it, but there were still more to deal with. The moment Lucia's feet hit the ground she prepared a Seeker Burst spell with her right hand and when it was ready cast it, firing ten seeking projectiles the size of baseballs that homed in on ten of the remaining zombies. All ten of them hit and more zombies were disintegrated, leaving only a few more to deal with.

At least that was the case until another large group appeared on the horizon a short distance behind the first one.

Lucia was not pleased by that sight, but she would deal with the unexpected reinforcements soon enough. She had to get past the small zombie army if she wanted to rescue the people she was supposed to rescue. Lucia had plenty of crowd control spells to use and her magic was strong against the undead, so she could handle the zombies. Her concern was whether she could deal with them before they stalled her for so long that the group of mages was overwhelmed by the denizens of this area.

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"More of them." Gabrielle warned Lucia... not that the blonde needed any warning. She already knew what she was going to do and prepared a Seraph's Fury spell to wipe out a large chunk of the new group in one spell. When it was ready Lucia leaped into the air and flapped her wings, casting twenty-five beams of golden light that homed in on twenty-five of the incoming zombies.

The beams hit their targets and they turned to ash, leaving a somewhat smaller group of enemies to deal with. Lucia followed up Seraph's Fury by preparing a Seeker Burst spell. She held out her hands in front of her and channeled magic into them until a ball of magic the size of a basketball was formed. The ball soon exploded and fired a burst of ten seeking projectiles the size of baseballs that homed in on ten of the enemies.

Since the zombies made no effort to dodge or defend themselves whatsoever the seekers hit their targets and turned them to ash as well. Now Lucia faced a smaller group of enemies that was easier to deal with. She counted nine more zombies left... not that it mattered. Crowd control was something her magic was good at and it was especially effective against crowds of undead enemies.

Lucia thought for a moment about what spell she wanted to use and decided on a Light Beam spell. She held both hands out in front of her and channeled magic into them, then fired a wide beam of golden light once the spell was ready. The spell hit six of the zombies and disintegrated them on the spot, leaving only three standing. Lucia drew Shining Light and adopted a two-handed shooting grip before aiming at the head of the first zombie.

When she had a good aim on the target she fired a single shot, the report of Shining Light cutting short its moan. It paused in place and slowly spun a quarter-turn to the left before collapsing to the ground. Lucia followed up that headshot with two more successful headshots made in rapid succession. Now all of the zombies were dead and she could press forward.

"Nice work, Lucia. Now let's keep going." Gabrielle ordered. Lucia kept Shining Light out and moved deeper into Fat Monsterland, moving at a brisk walk.

-Deeper in Fat Monsterland, 12:17 A.M.-

Lucia and Gabrielle were now inside a natural corridor formed by a combination of trees and thick underbrush that was almost as tall as Lucia and was wide enough to permit seven people to walk side-by-side without difficulty. It stretched on for as far as the eye could see, but that was not the most interesting feature. The most interesting feature was that there were quite a few dead zombies lying on the path: Lucia counted seventeen near the entrance alone and more in the distance. Lucia carefully approached the closest one to the left and stopped two arm lengths away from it, then looked at its head. It was lying on its back and its milky white eyes were gazing lifelessly at the night sky.

"It looks like the group fought its way through here." Gabrielle stated the obvious. Lucia ignored that and focused on the stab wound through the skull that had been placed right between the eyes. Whoever did that had to have a lot of skill with a sword to inflict that kind of precise wound.

Lucia heard moaning coming from nearby and looked at Gabrielle.

"We'd better keep moving. It sounds like stragglers are on the way." The angel suggested. Lucia wordlessly obeyed, taking the lead and guiding them down the path that would hopefully take them to the mages she had been called to help. The blonde set out at a brisk walk and continued to move at that pace as the moaning coming from the sides began to gradually grow louder. Gabrielle followed at her right side.

-At the end of the path, 12:35 A.M.-

Lucia had had to pick off a lone zombie or two that must have arrived after the group had already fought through the path, but she had not had to fight a large swarm of zombies. Now she stood in another clearing that was as large as the first one she had passed through before entering the natural corridor. She looked around the area and spotted more zombies lying on the ground.

"We're on the right track, Lucia." Gabrielle commented as the wind blew her hair about. The blonde kept Shining Light out as she looked around for either active zombies or any of the mages who might have been sent to get help... or a mage who got cut off from the main group and was looking to escape Fat Monsterland. She was not seeing anything yet, but if she moved deeper into the clearing she might be able to find either of the things she was looking for.

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-Deeper in Fat Monsterland, 1:05 A.M.-

Lucia and Gabrielle had waded through areas littered with zombies that were really dead from precise stab wounds to the skull and partial bodies with burn marks that indicated either fire-based magic or Holy magic like she used. If fire magic had been used the area would have likely been scorched because there was plenty of flammable grass and trees around, so the blonde had the impression that Holy magic was responsible for the state of the dead zombies who had had part of their bodies blasted away. Now the pair were standing in a clearing where a figure in red was standing next to a pile of zombies who had had their heads bashed in with a heavy weapon.

"Do you see that figure in red standing in the deistance?" Gabrielle asked Lucia. Lucia nodded.

"Yeah, I see it. Neither of us are seeing things." Lucia calmly replied to let her guardian angel know that neither of them were having vision trouble.

"I sense that they have Holy magic. Perhaps they're part of the group I called you here to rescue. Go talk to them and see what you can learn from them." Gabrielle let Lucia know that the red-clad figure wielded magic of the same type as Lucia's and instructed the Luminous Rose mage to make contact with them.

"All right, Gabrielle. I'll go talk to them." Lucia replied. She put Shining Light back into its holster and began to approach the mystery person, hoping that she would not be mistaken for a walking corpse and attacked. Lucia approached until she could get close enough to clearly see the person and when she did she found herself looking at a diminutive red-haired young woman with braided hair and a large metal hammer clutched in their right hand. She was about a foot shorter than the blonde and wore a bright red dress with matching hat that looked similar to a beret.

"Hello?" Lucia called out. The person faced her and waved with their left hand.

"Hey there! It's nice to see someone among the living out here!" The redhead jovially greeted Lucia. Sensing that she was not about to get her skull caved in, Lucia dared to approach the hammer-wielding youth and saw that the redhead had a smile on her face. She also had a light coat of sweat on her forehead, suggesting that she had recently been in a fight.

"Hey lady! The name's Jessica! Nice to meet you!" The redhead introduced herself.

"I'm Lucia Winchester." Lucia introduced herself. Jessica made eye contact with Lucia and tapped the head of her hammer on the ground.

"You've got Holy magic too, huh?" The redhead asked. Lucia nodded.

"That's good, lady. I was here with my teammates to investigate some cult activity that was said to be happening here. I don't know if the activity's real or not, but what I do know is that there are a lot of zombies out here and I mean a LOT of them. Normally they aren't too bad, but tonight there are so many of 'em that you can't throw a rock without hitting one." Jessica explained what she was doing here and added the observation that there were many more walking corpses than usual moving about.

"I got cut off from my teammates some time ago and I don't know if they're all right or not. They went deeper into this place... if we follow the trail of dead shamblers they left behind we should be able to find them. Will you help me out, lady?" The redhead asked for Lucia's aid in finding her companions.

"I'll help you find them." Lucia replied. The redhead lifted her hammer off of the ground and used it to point over her shoulder at a natural corridor in the woods behind her.

"Thanks! I'm kinda winded from the last fight with a bunch of walking corpses, so you'll have to do the heavy lifting for awhile. I hope you have some crowd control spells because you're gonna be fighting a lot of dead people." Jessica expressed her gratitude for Lucia's aid and gave her some idea of what to expect when moving deeper into Fat Monsterland. Lucia had already dispatched a good number of the undead prior to reaching the redhead, so she knew what she was going up against. She pointed towards the corridor with her right hand.

"OK, Jessica. I'll lead the way." Lucia informed her new companion that she would be taking the lead. The blonde set out for the path with the redhead and silver-haired guardian angel following close behind her.

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-Inside the corridor, 1:13 A.M.-

As the trio walked with the blonde in the lead Lucia noticed more corpses dotting the path, suggesting that Jessica's teammates had fought their way through the natural corridor. Most of them had puncture wounds to the forehead, but there were also a few bodies that had been partially blasted away lying in the path. Jessica was quick to pick up on that and hustled ahead of Lucia to inspect the bodies. She stopped in front of a corpse that was missing its entire left shoulder and arm with a single puncture wound to the forehead. She looked down at it and hit it in the head with the hammer to be certain it was dead... Lucia winced at the sound of bone breaking and could not bear to look at Jessica's handiwork, instead looking the diminutive mage in the eyes.

"Yep. My teammates definitely passed through here." Jessica commented before wiping the head of the hammer off on the grass, wiping away some of the blood on it.

"It looks like they had their hands full because there's plenty of dead zombies ahead of us. It's like they left us a trail of breadcrumbs... if the trail was made of rotting bodies instead." Jessica made another observation. Lucia looked ahead of the red-clad mage and saw that what she had said was true. There were over three dozen bodies scattered like a trail of breadcrumbs that extended into the distance.

"I hope my teammates are OK. I think they'll be fine because they're some of the Order's best clerics and knights, but I haven't seen this many zombies before." Jessica commented to Lucia in a voice that sounded a little worried before hefting her hammer onto her shoulder.

"Let's keep going, Lucy. They're probably waiting on me somewhere in this area and all we have to do to find them is follow the path they marked for us!" The redhead told Lucia with a voice full of confidence that was different from the more subdued voice she had used just moments ago. Lucia let the use of a diminutive of her name pass without comment in favor of focusing on the job.

"All right, Jessica. I'll continue to lead the way for us." Lucia replied calmly. The blonde drew Shining Light and carried the Holy handgun in her right hand as she guided them towards the end of the corridor. She did not know what to expect once they emerged on the other side, but if what Jessica had said and what the blonde had experienced were true, they would have to battle through a lot of zombies to get to their destination.

-In the next clearing, 1:22 A.M.-

The trio had emerged from the corridor without encountering any opposition and were now standing in a clearing with more corpses scattered throughout the area. There was another natural corridor looming in the distance, but what had drawn Lucia's attention was the fact that there were only three zombies standing in the area roughly twenty meters away. They had their backs to the newly arrived mages and were facing the natural path in the distance without moving at all. Perhaps they had been outrun by their intended prey and were mindlessly waiting for it to pass through the clearing again. It did not matter to Lucia... she was going to take the chance to take them out before they could close in on the trio.

"Hey Lucy, do ya see that?" Jessica asked the blonde, pointing towards the three undead in the distance. Lucia wordlessly raised Shining Light and took a two-handed shooting grip, then aimed for the back of the head of the first zombie.

"I see it." Lucia replied with a minimum of words as she put Shining Light away and prepared a Seeker Burst spell. Her first impulse had been to shoot each one of them in the head, but then she got the better idea of hitting them all at once with a spell that made much less noise than the handgun. She knew just the one to use... Seeker Burst could fire up to eight homing projectiles in a single casting and the homing property made them much less likely to miss than a handgun shot, which could miss due to the target suddenly moving at the last moment or some other factor that could not be easily accounted for.

"You're gonna attack all three at once, right?" Jessica asked as the ball of golden magic in front of Lucia grew to the size of a basketball.

"Yeah." Lucia replied calmly. When the spell was ready the ball burst and released three baseball-sized projectiles towards the unsuspecting zombies. Each one homed in on a separate target and hit it in the back, disintegrating the zombies on the spot.

"Nice spell there, Lucy!" Jessica expressed approval of Lucia's Seeker Burst spell. Gabrielle simply looked at Lucia and nodded in approval. Once the enemies had been disintegrated Lucia looked about for more of them she might have missed, but the only other zombies in the area were already dead and lying on the ground.

"Let's keep going, Lucy! The path we need to take is right there!" Jessica urged the blonde, pointing towards the corridor with her hammer.

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-Inside the next corridor, 1:26 A.M.-

The trio of Lucia, Gabrielle, and Jessica were walking in the next corridor, which had more dead zombies scattered throughout it. They were obviously on the right track because the trail stretched from the entrance to the exit on the far side. They all showed signs of trauma like stab wounds to the skull or blunt force trauma to the head that smashed in the skull, which suggested that Jessica might not be the only Order member who used blunt weapons. Lucia proceeded cautiously in case more zombies forced their way through the underbrush to get to them.

"Hey, look! There's one of the ones I killed earlier!" Jessica pointed out with pride. She hurried over to a corpse that had a skull that resembled a smashed watermelon and stopped an arm's length away, then used her hammer to point at it. Lucia found it hard to look at the diminutive mage's work, but she took a glance anyway and saw that with its head rendered a mess it was definitely not getting up.

"I killed this guy on my way to where you found me, Lucy. I got separated from the others and had to fight my way out of the ambush, though that might be too strong a term to use. It was more like a swarm attack of individuals rather than a serious coordinated effort because these guys aren't smart enough to come up with a strategy!" Jessica informed the blonde.

"You're right on that one, Jessica. They aren't smart, but I'd say that's a good thing." Lucia remarked on the redhead's appraisal of a zombie's intelligence. It was for the best that they could not think because if they ever gained the ability to think and coordinate horde attacks jobs to Fat Monsterland or Silent Cemetery would suddenly become a lot more dangerous. The redhead looked at her and smiled.

"The only thing bad about zombies is that there's hardly ever one of them." She commented on the tendency of zombies to travel in groups. Suddenly a flash of gold light caught the attention of Jessica and Lucia, who jerked their heads sharply to the left to see what was going on.

"Oh man, I bet that light show's from Amanda! We'd better hurry!" Jessica informed Lucia that one of the people she was after might be in danger. The trio rushed through the corridor at a full run while doing their best to avoid tripping over dead zombies lying on the ground.

-In the next clearing, 1:31 A.M.-

When the trio reached the next clearing they saw a single figure standing in the middle of it. Arrayed in front of them was a force of twenty zombies rushing out of the next natural corridor. The lone figure turned towards the trio and started running. Jessica looked at Lucia.

"There's Order Cleric Amanda! I'm still too tired to really do anything, so it's up to you! Go help her, Lucy!" Jessica ordered Lucia to go to the aid of the person named "Amanda."

"I'm on it!" Lucia replied. She ran towards the person, who was a young blonde wearing a green dress and a green hat. When they were about to meet Lucia skidded to a halt and motioned for the person to pass her and when they were safely past her she prepared a Seraph's Fury spell by channeling golden magic into her body. When it was ready Lucia leaped into the air and put on a light show of her own as six golden wings sprouted from her back and she froze in mid-air. She flapped the wings towards the incoming zombies and fired twenty beams of golden light... each one picked out an enemy to target and zoomed towards the one it had selected.

All twenty zombies were hit in the chest by the beams and disintegrated the instant they were hit. Lucia slowly descended at the end of the spell and kept an eye out for any zombies who might have been attracted by the light show. In the meantime she heard footsteps behind her that soon walked around her and stopped a short distance to the right. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the green-clad young woman in greater detail.

"The timing of your arrival is impeccable, stranger." The other blonde calmly complimented Lucia.

"Her name's Lucia Winchester, but I call her Lucy! She's here to help us!" Jessica chimed in to introduce Lucia to the other person. The green-clad blonde faced Lucia.

"Please forgive me for forgetting my manners... this night has been a stressful one. I am Order Cleric Amanda." The young woman introduced herself to Lucia with a face that showed signs of fatigue and stress. Amanda looked to be slightly younger than the other blonde by maybe two or three years, but now was not the time to wonder about someone's age. The cleric kept eye contact as she spoke again.

"The Order has need of your help, Lucia. I do not know if Order Knight Jessica told you why we came out here, but we were trying to investigate this region for signs of activity from a cult we are currently fighting. We were traveling in a group of five when the undead swarmed us in numbers that were far higher than what we normally see in this area." Amanda told Lucia why the Order was out in Fat Monsterland. Lucia had already heard part of the story from Jessica, but the former did not interrupt the other blonde to inform her of that fact. She let the cleric continue her story in an effort to get more details on how the quintet had gotten separated.

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"As the senior Cleric in charge of the mission I decided to try and push through the undead because our mission was of the utmost importance, but I might not have made the smartest decision." Amanda confessed that it was her fault that the quintet had gotten separated. Lucia refrained from judgment and let the cleric talk without interruption. Amanda closed her eyes and took a quiet breath before resuming eye contact with Lucia.

"I have seriously underestimated the number of zombies we would face. At this point I am not certain if continuing to press on when we are so few is a wise idea. Our mission is important, but preserving the Order's numbers is more important still. Right now I only wish to find the three missing members of my team before we decide whether or not to press on." Amanda made another confession. Lucia and Jessica remained silent until the green-clad cleric said nothing else after that statement. Once the other two were certain that there was no more to be said at the moment they spoke up.

"That's a decision we're going to have to talk about, Amanda. I know that stopping that cult's what we need to do and all of us are really strong, but I don't think we can force our way through all these zombies with just five of us." Jessica chimed in.

"I'm willing to help you find the other three members of your group." Lucia stated what she was here to do. She would be glad to lend her power to the effort to rescue the missing people and she would be glad to lend her power to the effort to put a stop to the cult's activities out here, but the second part was something the Order members would have to decide. She was not part of their organization and thus had no say over what the final decision would be.

"We will have need of you, Lucia. I can detect that you possess Holy magic, which is a power we need right now. It is our best defense against the endless tide of the undead and it is what has kept us alive despite how few of us there are." Amanda welcomed Lucia's help. She then faced towards the next natural corridor and pointed towards it with the index finger of her right hand.

"We must get going. The others are likely in need of our aid." The blonde cleric gave the order to move on. She led the way while Jessica and Lucia followed close behind. Gabrielle brought up the rear... it was a surprise to Lucia that she had not been seen by the Order members, but the silver-haired angel might possess some way to be visible only to those she wanted to see her. The blonde would ask her once the job was complete.

-Inside the next clearing, 1:47 A.M.-

The trio plus Gabrielle had made their way through the corridor, which was full of dead zombies just like the previous one had been. Now they were in a clearing where a lone mage with pink hair and a pink and white outfit sat in the center. That sight spurred the party to rush over to her and see how she was doing.

"Order Cleric Amberlin, how are you doing? Are you OK?" Amanda made an inquiry into the pink-haired mage's condition. Lucia saw that she was about the same height as Jessica and did not carry a weapon. Amberlin also looked exhausted and struggled to stand up, but she forced herself off of the ground and turned to look up at Amanda.

"I'm really tired, Order Cleric Amanda. I got separated from Serena and Minerva and have been here for I don't know how long. I've been fighting off the zombies, but I'm not sure how much longer I can keep doing it. I don't think I can fight for much longer before I run out of magic power." Amberlin informed Amanda exactly how she was doing. The pink-haired cleric looked so tired that a strong gust of wind might knock her off of her feet. The group did not have time to ask any more questions of Amberlin because the sound of moaning carried on the wind, letting everyone know that they would soon be fighting.

"The undead are on their way. Get ready, everyone!" Amanda ordered them. The quartet faced the cardinal directions to cover all four directions an attack might come from. Amanda took the north, Jessica took the south, Lucia took the east, and Amberlin took the west.

Lucia raised her right hand and watched her assigned direction carefully. She spotted a humanoid shape in the distance and alerted everyone to where it was coming from. She prepared a Light Bolt spell and waited because the shape might be one of the missing Order members, but when it got close enough to see clearly it turned out to be a zombie. Lucia aimed carefully for its chest and cast the spell when it was roughly sixty meters away, hitting it with a bolt of golden light and turning it to dust on the spot.

"It's down." Lucia informed the others. However, it had not traveled alone because she could see a group of enemies that was at least fifty strong, if not larger than that. They were approaching from the corridor and the blonde knew that she would need to use all of her crowd control spells to have a good chance of stopping them all before they got in range to be a serious threat.

"More zombies coming from the east!" Lucia told the group.

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Lucia did not waste any time in preparing her go-to crowd control spell Seraph's Fury to take out roughly half of the incoming horde. She channeled golden magic into her body until the spell was ready, then leaped into the air and froze in mid-air. Six wings made of golden light sprouted from her back and she flapped them forward, sending out twenty-five beams of golden light towards twenty-five of the enemies heading for the quartet. Each one picked out a target and each beam hit its target in the torso for an instant disintegration: when Seraph's Fury was finished twenty-five of the zombies had blown away on the wind after being turned to dust.

The moment Lucia's feet touched the ground Amanda stepped in front of the other blonde and raised her right hand towards the enemies still shambling towards them. She closed her eyes and began to chant as her hand and arm began to glow gold. When the green-clad cleric opened them again she fired a wide beam of pale golden light with her right hand that engulfed the remaining zombies and disintegrated them just like Lucia's spell had done.

"Way to go, Amanda!" Jessica exclaimed in joy. Lucia looked towards the corridor and did not see any more enemies heading for them, but that did not mean anything. There might be stragglers not too far from here who heard the commotion and were on the way. Lucia still had plenty of magic power to spare for spells, but Jessica and Amberlin still looked winded and she was not sure how much magic power Amanda had left. The blonde mage turned her back to the corridor and looked towards the Order trio.

"I still have some magic power to spare, but I cannot cast the spell I used too often or I will not be able to contribute much to the search for the last two missing members of my team." Amanda answered Lucia's question without the latter having to ask.

"I don't have much in the way of magic reserves right now since I had to fight off so many zombies by myself before you guys found me." Amberlin told everyone her current status.

"Thanks to Lucia buying me some time to recover I have enough magic to sling some spells, but I won't be able to cast anything big. I'll have to leave that sort of thing to you and Lucy, Amanda." Jessica chimed in with a report on her fitness for combat. It sounded like the redhead was starting to recover from her earlier fatigue, but Lucia would not count on the diminutive mage to do a lot of heavy lifting. She and Amanda would have to carry the group to their goal.

Lucia looked down at Amberlin to ask if she could make the trip when she heard moaning coming from close by. The pink-haired cleric turned and pointed to the corridor.

"OVER THERE!" Amberlin warned the group. Lucia turned and spotted three zombies moving ahead of a larger pack of the undead that numbered roughly fifty strong. The blonde drew Shining Light and took a two-handed shooting grip, then waited until the first three enemies got a little bit closer before aiming at the head of the one on the left and firing. The shot hit and the zombie flopped backwards.

Lucia aimed at the head of the one in the middle and fired: its head snapped back and it crumpled to the ground. She aimed at the last one's head and fired for another instant kill when it collapsed on the spot. The blonde then put Shining Light back in its holster and held both hands outward to prepare a Seeker Burst spell.

A ball of golden energy the size of a basketball gathered in front of her hands and when the spell was ready the ball burst into ten individual projectiles the size of baseballs. Each one sought out a single target and each one made contact with the chest of a zombie. All of the enemies that had been hit by a seeker disintegrated on the spot, leaving forty more zombies to deal with.

"It is my turn." Amanda declared. She stepped in front of Lucia, held both hands out towards the horde, and closed her eyes. She began to chant as a golden circle formed in front of her hands and when the spell was ready twenty projectiles the size of baseballs sped out of the circle and towards the zombies. Each projectile was a seeker because each one chose a different target to home in on. None of the targets had the presence of mind to realize the danger they were in and try to dodge, so all of the projectiles hit their targets and the horde lost another twenty members.

The twenty remaining zombies continued to move towards the quartet, but now the once-formidable horde was not nearly as daunting as it had been minutes ago. The four mages could finish them off without too much trouble. Lucia would cast another Seraph's Fury spell to deal with the rest of them shortly.

[Post Word Count: 856]
[Total Word Count: 6,016/11,000]