In a larger cavern, a cold stream rushes below, between what look like frozen waterfalls of mineral growths, illuminated by slowly pulsating crystal growths. A small tour group of academy cadets – most of them canine, and most of those of the poodle variety – is led across the bridge. An older instructor, a poodle with a bit of a beard on his muzzle, barks, "… where you will learn more about steadying yourself against the insidious influences of magic… "

On the other side of the bridge, another small group is led along, including two Lapis, a Cervani, a Jupani, and an Exile. An elder Jupani in orange robes leads the group. "… before we start anything today, I'm going to show you around the underground facilities here. Partially, this is underground for space considerations, since there's only so much room on the surface. But also, it's because if there's a mishap, it's easier to contain… "

Envoy takes in the scenery with wide eyes. "Are some of these crystals of Sifran origin?" she asks Iona, her group leader.

Iona nods. "That is what we believe. These veins of crystal you see run through all of Rephidim Sky Island, so far as we know. We believe that the core of the sky island is made up entirely of this material. It has properties that we believe are related to magic, but which we do not fully understand. Alas, Sifran crystal is highly resistant to magical experimentation. In fact, it is the only known substance to be totally resistant to Earth Magic … or, at least, Earth Magic as we know it."

Following along and listening closely, Cadet de Bellefeuille keeps an ear perked towards the tour guide. She proceeds along with her hands folded behind her and her tail slowly wagging from side to side beneath her cape. "I do not suppose there are specific courses one can take dealing with magic resistance?" she asks the tour guide.

The tour guide of the Academy group, meanwhile, is headed the opposite way across the bridge than that of the apprentices, such that the two tour groups are converging. The bearded poodle answers, "There are some courses that specialize in exercises to strengthen the mind … but resistance to magic depends to a great deal on your strength of will, not any rote exercises."

"Perhaps the crystal is resistant because it is alive?" the Exile suggests, then notices the group approaching from the other end of the bridge.

Iona nods. "There are some who believe that. But if it is alive, it is a sort of life we do not understand … and one with which we have not yet learned to communicate."

"I will keep that in mind, instructor," says the poodle near the front of the group of cadets. It does not appear the woman has spotted Envoy just yet. "Are there materials specifically resistant to magic, or used to combat it?"

A collie next to Elise murmurs, "Eh. Here come some mages right now. They look like apprentices. Be careful they don't cast any cantrips on you. Apprentices are always making pranks."

Elise raises an eyebrow and glances away from the tour guide to the approaching apprentices. "I am sure they would know better than to challenge cadets of the Academy with such nonsense," she murmurs back to the collie.

The bearded poodle doesn't seem to notice the collie's remark, replying, "Why, yes. Thistlebark, found primarily in the Nagai Empire, is held to have strong properties resistant to spirit magic. Also, silver has odd properties … in some cases being especially conductive to certain types of magic, yet resistant to others. Furthermore, it is rumored that iron from the world of Abaddon is highly resistant to all types of magic, though that hasn't been exhaustively tested… "

The Exile does indeed recognize one of the cadets from the vermin incident in Freedom Park, but doesn't say anything. "Do we have to wait for them to pass?" she asks Iona, gesturing to the cadets.

Iona looks to the oncoming group. "Oh. Hmm. I wish they'd made this bridge a bit wider. Ah … class, let's head over to this observation deck here. Let's see if we can identify some of the crystal groupings while the cadets from the Officers' Academy pass."

From across the bridge, the poodle's eyebrows can be seen to raise when she spots Envoy. Like Envoy, she does not move to address the other. Instead she continues talking with the tour guide. "I presently carry an Abaddonian sword. I originally bought it for the novelty, but I am pleased to hear it may very well resist magic."

Another poodle – is that Eustace in the group? – rolls his eyes, just barely visible in the corner of Elise's vision, as she talks about her sword.

Summer-Forrest looks out at the crystal growths. "Well … aren't those all artificial? I haven't even mastered naming all of the natural ones, without telling about the magically enchanted ones… "

Envoy doesn't need to look at the crystals, since she's already seen them, so she watches the cadets pass, spying Eustace in the group as well, letting an expression of surprise cross her face.

The poodle woman smirks slightly at the eye rolling. "You know, Cadet do Varr had been saying earlier just how interested he was in hearing about Abaddon. Could you fill him in? I am certain he would be so pleased to listen." She glances over at Eustace, smiling a bit.

Eustace just wrinkles his nose in return, sighing. He seems to be distracted from noticing Envoy, as the academy tour guide goes into a verbose rehash of what any average Rephidimite citizen who doesn't have his head in a hole would have already heard about Abaddon and the Gateway Tower and the "iron rush".

Elise steps out of the way of the tour guide so that she is behind him as he explains Abaddon to Eustace. Eustace may just catch her snickering softly, even though she hides any obvious signs of being amused by keeping her head turned off to inspect the crystal.

"Are these sorts of mineral growths exclusive to sky islands?" Envoy asks her own guide, "Or can they be found on the surface as well?"

Iona says, "Sifran crystal is found in many sites associated with the First Ones and, presumably, the ancient people known as the Sifras. There is some debate over whether certain sites were built by the Sifras or the First Ones… "

There is a rumbling sound that echoes through the cavern.

Cadet de Bellefeuille's snickering is cut short by the rumbling. She glances around the cavern to search for the source of the disturbance.

Iona's ears perk up. "Earthquake?" Of course, the notion is absurd on a sky island. "This is not a drill! Everyone! To the nearest surface access … " She pauses for a moment, then points across the bridge, toward the way the cadets are coming from. "That way!"

A similar command comes from the bearded poodle, though he takes slightly longer to register that something's amiss. "Cadets … turn back. I want you to file back the way we came in an orderly fashion."

Eustace yelps, "What … what's going on? Is this some sort of Earth Magic?"

"Yes, instructor. Shall I take the lead?" asks Elise as she steadies herself.

Envoy blinks and rubs at the base of her horn, seemingly distracted from the rumbling. She does, however, respond to Iona's voice and follows the others along the bridge, keeping a bit of space around her in case she needs to use her wings.

The cadets start to turn about, though the bridge is fairly narrow, and in the face of a true emergency and already a bit of nervousness around unfamiliar magic, it's not the most organized of maneuvers.

Iona raises her nose, as if sniffing. "Oh dear. This is deliberate… Hurry!" She rushes along, but the group soon comes up to that of the cadets, causing a bit of a bottleneck.

Still distracted by the growing magic, the Exile somewhat unthinkingly calls ahead, "Somebody watch Eustace – he's afraid of heights and might slip."

There's a cracking noise above, as a cluster of glowing crystals breaks free and plummets, streaking down toward the bridge.

The crystals look to be about the size of a grand chandelier, and have a similar appearance.

Cadet de Bellefeuille pauses once she hears the Exile's comment. She allows group members to pass her until she is in line with Eustace. The crack gets her attention however, and she jerks her head up. "The crystals are falling!" she shouts.

Envoy stops in her tracks and looks up at the falling crystal. "But I thought that didn't react to magic," she says, and then jumps over the side of the bridge so she can use her wings.

The cadets make a mad scramble for the far end of the bridge. Rockjaw throws Summer to the floor of the bridge, then throws himself over her. Spring-Meadow just shrinks down next to the rail. Iona lets loose with the only held spell she had at the moment. She blathers some nonsensical word, then shouts, "Fastgrow!"

Snapping out of her terrified stare at the descending crystal, Elise whips around to grab Eustace and shove him in front of her and down to the ground, away from the impact point before she dives to the ground herself.

Several rocks dislodge from the ceiling, along with the crystals. The rainbow-colored crystals smash against the stone bridge, sending sharp fragments flying everywhere!

Once she sees that nobody is falling, Envoy levels off her own fall and starts to beat her wings, climbing back up towards the bridge.

A crystal shard jams into the back of Elise's uniform … but the "ceremonial" armor appears to have been sufficient to stop her from getting impaled by the broken crystal. It definitely is not of the Sifran variety, but of the "rainbow" type, enchanted by Earth Magic. (Not that Elise would know this.)

Summer sobs, holding Rockjaw, who looks … pretty bad. Iona looks like she's taken a few hits, too. Meanwhile, the rest of the cadets disappear into the corridor across the bridge … just as another rumble sends several rocks crashing down.

The bridge is cracking … and the way to the other side (and the most readily available way to freedom) has been largely blocked off.

Eustace pushes Elise off of himself, yapping, "What … what are you doing? Are you trying to get us killed? I … " He suddenly notices the big shard sticking out of the back of Elise's uniform. "AAAAA!" he shrieks. "You've been impaled!"

Meanwhile, the vines and mosses around the bridge have started growing at a visibly accelerated rate … but whatever purpose Iona might have had in mind, they don't seem to be accomplishing much of anything.

Envoy decides not to try landing on the bridge, when she sees the damage. Instead she keeps climbing up towards the ceiling of the cavern, trying to sense if magic is still working to loosen more of the rainbow crystals.

"Agh… !" wails Elise as the fragment causes sufficient impact into her back to be considerably uncomfortable. Dazedly she lifts herself to her knees and turns to stare at Eustace. "Oh, you are all right… how nice," she tells him before reaching for his arm and pulling him up. "Come, we need to get off this bridge!"

A few more pebbles fall free … and it looks like there's another crystal growth loose … but then, some of the vines near the rainbow crystal growth start to expand and entangle the crystal. The crystal still falls free of the rocky face … but the clasping vines retain their grasp, and the crystal growth swings down and toward the wall of the cavern, rather than falling directly onto the bridge.

Eustace seems positively amazed at Elise's show of fortitude despite being (to his perspective) run through with a crystal shard, and he hasn't anything more to say as he dumbly follows Elise's lead.

Iona gets shakily up, along with Spring-Meadow, who helps her along. She sees Summer … and Rockjaw. "Summer … we have to go. There's nothing we can do for Rockjaw. The bridge won't hold much longer."

"NO!" sobs the Cervani.

The female poodle pulls Eustace off towards the unblocked end of the bridge as fast as she can move. Her steps are however rather wobbly. Her face still holds a blank dazed expression that shows she may not have completely recovered from being hit – or the shock.

Envoy drops back towards the bridge, deciding that the air isn't necessarily safer if something should break loose and swing around. She homes in on Summer's cry though, and angles towards her. "Iona!" she calls down, "Can you dispel the magic? It's still going on!"

Iona barks, "I could try … but I need to get to somewhere safe to perform a ritual! It will take me time to prepare a dispel to fight a ritual of this magnitude!"

The stream seems to have swelled a little in its banks along the cavern floor, but it doesn't seem to be increasing at any especially fast pace.

Elise makes it up to where Iona and the apprentices are clustered. It takes careful steps to avoid shards of broken crystal still on the bridge floor.

The Exile lands next to Summer and Rockjaw. "You have to go, Summer. I'll take him down to the floor of the cavern until help arrives… "

Summer looks up at Envoy with tear-filled eyes. "Please … you've got to save him… "

Upon reaching the others, Elise turns around to check for Eustace. "Cadet do Varr, are you well? Have you been struck?" she asks him quickly as she inspects him for any obvious damage.

Iona gently but firmly pulls Summer up to her feet. "We have to go. Rockjaw doesn't want you to be here with … everything falling apart around us."

Eustace looks down. "I … I'm all right. Just … a bit shaken." He clears his throat.

"Don't worry," Envoy smiles, trying not to look worried herself as she tries to get a good hold on the heavy apprentice.

The other poodle smiles at Eustace. She lifts a arm and points towards the reachable exit. "Then go! Run before something happens!" She tugs on his arm a little to get him to move.

Iona moves a bit, wincing with each step. "I … Summer, Spring-Meadow … are you both okay? Go back the way we came and head to the surface and find help. I am going to go over there – " She points to the far end of the bridge. " – and try to work a ritual of dispelling. I don't think I can make it to the surface without help, and I'll slow you down."

Spring-Meadow nods. She looks to the Exile. "Thank you, Envoy. Now come on, Summer. We've got to go! We have to find someone who can help Rockjaw." She looks a bit dubious about the prospect of that, as she glances at the severely wounded Jupani, though. "Let's go!"

Summer nods uncertainly, then follows after Spring-Meadow. "I'll be back!" she calls back to the others.

Eustace rushes behind the two apprentices. "Hey! Show us where this exit is!"

Envoy finally get her arms under Rockjaw's shoulders and locks them around his chest, hoping she's not causing more damage as she drags him back over the edge of the bridge. She has to exert a lot of energy just to keep from dropping into the stream though, as she tries to aim for the nearest cavern wall.

The second cadet remaining, Elise, does not follow Eustace. Instead she splits off and heads towards the other group leader Iona and stands at attention. "Ma'am, I offer my assistance!"

For the moment, fate seems to be in Envoy's favor, as she finds a solid-looking rocky alcove forming a ledge above the stream on the far end.

Iona leans against a stone rail, catching her breath, and plucking a crystal shard out of her arm. "Okay. I need to find a level spot … at the end of the bridge … start my ritual… " She pants heavily.

Envoy lays the unconscious Jupani as far back as she can, and turns to see if the bridge is still holding up.

There's another loud rumble. More rocks fall. One of them is falling toward the bridge … not about to land on top of anyone, but the bridge is not going to survive this impact!

"Can you not simply abandon this?" asks Elise of Iona. She turns to gesture towards the bridge. "Remaining is suicide! Th-… The bridge will be destroyed!"

Iona yelps and lurches toward the edge of the bridge. The falling boulder smashes through the arch of the bridge, and the two halves crack and collapse.

The Exile spreads her tired wings again, and tries to climb back towards the collapsing bridge… or rather, towards the end where Iona and the others where heading.

The stone under Iona's paws breaks away, and the Jupani just manages to grab onto the edge … dangling by her hands over the cavern stream several feet below.

Elise's eyes widen as the bridge collapses. She dives towards the Jupani's arm and reaches to grab hold of it.

The poodle now has a hold on the Jupani's arm, but her strength isn't quite sufficient to pull the Earth Mage up onto more solid ground.

There's another rumbling down the corridor that Summer, Spring-Meadow and Eustace disappeared down.

"Can you pull her up?" Envoy calls, still heading for the ledge.

At last, the Exile makes it up to the ledge, where the bridge used to be attached.

"Hold on!" shouts the cadet as she holds on to the woman's arm with all her strength. Her free hand now swings to grab on to something least she be dragged off the cliff as well. "No! And I cannot hold her forever!" replies the poodle.

Envoy flattens onto the rock and tries to reach Iona's other arm. "Something's coming! I can't tell what it is, though it… it feels strange."

Alas, nothing readily presents itself as a good anchor for Elise to grab hold of. The railing fell away with the bridge, it seems. However, the Exile manages to grab Iona's other arm, and that helps the effort considerably.

With a heave-to, and Iona scrambling for purchase against the rock, the Exile and Gallee manage to haul the Earth Mage up onto the ledge. Iona collapses, panting heavily as soon as she's on more solid ground.

"What is it, Iona?" Envoy asks, probably before the mage can catch her breath. "How do we hold it off?"

Dust drifts out of the corridor that Eustace and the Cervani and Lapi disappeared down, along with the sounds of clattering rocks.

Iona pants, "I … I sense it, too. It's … it's coming from upstream … it's … " She pauses, forcing herself to breathe more steadily, and closes her eyes in concentration, as she murmurs incantations.

The cadet falls back on to the ground, bumping the imbedded crystal into her back and causing her to yelp. Wincing from both exhaustion and pain, the Gallee takes a moment to rest and try to remove the shard from her back.

Envoy looks to Elise, then looks up towards the veins of glowing crystal to see if they are reacting in any way. To the poodle, she says, "Iona's trying to tell which sphere of magic is involved. I think the tunnels have collapsed, but it doesn't look like the cavern is filling with water, so we might be able to follow the stream out."

The shard pops free. It's a pretty wicked piece of crystal – sharp, but easily broken.

Iona, her eyes still closed, pants, "It's Earth Magic. The focus is moving this direction. That either means the caster is coming this way, or … " She opens her eyes. "Or else it's a golem or elemental."

Cadet de Bellefeuille simply stares at Envoy blankly as she moves the crystal around in front of her so she can see it. Her head dips and the Gallee dazedly examines the item before looking up again. "I, mm… Golem? What?"

Envoy blinks at Iona. "How many mages would it take to collect so much energy? Can you use any of it?" Pointing to the glowing veins, she says, "If the Sifran crystal is immune, maybe you can… ground the power through them or something?" She doesn't look very confident about that suggestion however, and looks down at the stream.

Elise shakes her head again in an effort to snap out of her daze. She takes a deep breath and exhales once before stopping and holding up the crystal towards the others. "Could we not use these crystals and my sword to defeat what is coming? My sword is an Abaddonian blade."

Iona opens her eyes. "If … if it's an elemental or golem … it won't be able to pass through the Sifran crystal. Or it shouldn't be able to. I don't know how much that will help us. And as for how many mages … this shouldn't be happening unless the wards have collapsed. And that would … " She pauses, panting. "… that would take a deliberate act of sabotage."

The Jupani looks as if she may swoon, and carefully leans away from the drop-off to the stream. "Yes, I think it's an artificial construct. It would take multiple mages in concert … and this is no accident."

"The sword!" Envoy says. "If it is an elemental or golem, then the sword might disrupt the energy if you hit the right spot. It worked for me against an ice elemental, sort of."

Iona looks to the crystal shard that Elise is holding. "That is not Sifran crystal you're holding there. That's one of the gemlights grown magically to illuminate the caverns and catacombs here. For all I know, the construct might eat that."

Iona says, "If this is a golem … there are many types … but the most common has a gem heart somewhere in its bulk. If you chop off pieces of it, it will just grow new parts from its surroundings … but the gems serving as its 'organs' cannot be replaced."

"Gems?" the Exile asks. "What sort of gems? Can we affect those with more Earth Magic?"

Iona nods. "The 'gems' may be crystal, or any number of types. It varies too greatly to explain … in … what little time we have. But, yes, you can fight Earth Magic with Earth Magic. It would help if you knew what sort of stone was used for the 'vitals'… "

The cadet glances down at the crystal for a moment before she shifts it to her off hand and uses her free hand to draw her sword. The blade slides free with a smooth metallic sound, and the cadet pushes herself back up to her feet. "We should get ready to fight it then. Instructor, you need to be away from where it may surface."

There is another rumbling from further upstream … and then the water starts receding, retreating downstream … as the stream bed runs dry.

Envoy chews on her lip in thought. "Maybe," she says, in a hopeful tone, "it's coming to rescue us?" As the stream trickles out, though, she looks towards the downstream tunnel to see if it could be used to escape.

It looks like it may be possible to head down that way … but there's no telling how tight things may get further down. At present, though, it looks like the best candidate for escape, other than simply staying and hoping for rescue.

Iona says, "Unlikely. There's no reason they would send a golem to rescue us … so soon." She crawls back against the cavern wall.

The Gallee takes a few steps towards the drop off and peers down at it. "If the two of you can locate the heart of this elemental, I will attempt to strike it. However, I, am uncertain how well I can fair against such a creature."

"It's getting closer," Iona pants, "but it's slow. You may be able to outrun it, going downstream. But you haven't much time, whatever you're going to do."

"Cadet," the Aeolun says to Elise, "I think you and I should head to the cavern floor. It will probably show up there first, and we could keep it away from Iona long enough for her to find a way to disrupt it." To Iona, she asks, "Will that work, Iona? Can you stop it if you had the time?"

Iona nods. "I'll start working on a circle, just in case. But … I would need an hour, at this level, to do a full-blown dispel. It may be more practical for me to just try a Minor Spell to weaken it. That I could do in a much shorter amount of time."

"If I get close enough, I might be able to see where it can be hurt," Envoy looks to the poodle. "What do you say?"

"But what about the two who cannot fight it? I cannot simply flee and leave people to perish," responds the cadet. She then glances towards Envoy and nods slightly before she begins looking for a way to climb down. "I will try, Mage Envoy. Do stay behind me," she replies as she searches.

Although the bridge has broken away, Elise still manages to spy some roughly cleft rocks that form an irregular staircase of sorts leading down to the floor of the cavern. However, mineral deposits make the very bottom of the floor very slick, and the stream bed looks quite slippery indeed.

Envoy tries to calm down, hoping to get a sense of where the intruder might emerge.

The rumbling gets louder … and some of the gemlight crystals upstream start to dim.

"It's interfering with the dweomers," explains Iona. "It's coming through the opening, rather than through the rock itself. It must be a golem, rather than an elemental … I … I think that's a good thing, in our case. I hope."

The Exile takes the more direct route down, using her wings to glide. "If there's only one, we might be able to keep it confused," she says to the poodle.

Quickly the cadet dashes over to the unusual staircase and begins carefully heading downwards, lest she slip. "The area down here appears slick. Is there something you can do to assist me in traction while not aiding our potential opponent?" asks the Gallee as she walks down.

It looks like Elise might be able to move up and down along the stream here, without too much risk of falling … but leaping to the other side could only be accomplished in a couple of narrow places, and with a slight chance of mishap. Of the two defenders, Elise's mobility is definitely more restricted.

"A good idea, Mage Envoy. We may also be able to force it to slip. When it falls, I can strike," replies the poodle.

Envoy sits down on the former stream bank, and starts to chant while focusing on the path Elise is taking, in an attempt to make the surfaces easier for the Gallee to grip.

So far, whether or not it's Envoy's assistance, Elise seems to be keeping her footing on the uneven cavern floor.

As the Exile chants, the cadet proceeds carefully along the stream bank until she is at least five steps beyond Envoy. Here the cadet readies her sword and lays her ears back. "I … had hoped I would live to graduate… Father, watch me! First Ones, grant me courage!"

Just then, the rainbow crystals at the far upstream end of the cavern go out entirely, and some of them even shatter. A mound of mud oozes out of a crack in the rock, flowing into the cavern. As it pushes all the way in, water starts flowing around the mud again, trickling back across the stream bed. Meanwhile, the mud shifts to one side and starts to form into a large roughly humanoid form, headless, a bit taller than a Titanian.

There are visible several rocks in the mound of mud … and they sift their way toward the creature's "hands", forming two rocky fists. A faint glow appears, as a tiny gem comes to the surface, looking like a single "eye" peering out from the creature's chest – or where its head might be located.

Envoy doesn't quite let go of the "Glue" cantrip once Elise is on the cavern floor, and turns her focus to the mud creature. She doubles her voice, and her volume, as she tries to make the golem stick to the stream bed… or at least slow it down a bit.

"By the First Ones… oh my… " The poodle's eyes widen at the sight of the creature, and her sword begins to wobble as her hand shakes. "I … had hoped I would survive to graduation… "

As near as Envoy can tell, she didn't mess up on the incantations … but whether it's a fluke of bad luck, or whether this thing is just too powerful (or, rather, the mage or mages controlling it), the cantrip doesn't have any noticeable effect on the creature's mobility.

The golem continues shifting in place, the humanoid form rising a bit … though its lower part doesn't split into legs. Rather, it looks like a serpentine tail. More than anything, the golem now resembles an oversized headless Naga fashioned of rock and earth.

Iona's chanting can be heard off to the wayside, as she carefully arranges pebbles, and traces lines on slate with broken pieces of chalk.

Envoy abandons her cantrip to save what strength she has left, and moves further away from the golem. "Iona!" she calls up towards the ledge, "It's taking on the shape of a Naga."

The cadet begins stepping backwards away from the golem as well. "Yes, it is most certainly serpentine. How competent are golems as fighters?"

"Golems take on the shapes of their controllers," the Exile tells Elise. "Remember to look for a Naga Earth Mage if you get out of here."

Iona nods, her eyes still closed, as she keeps on chanting.

The Naga golem's cyclopean eye scans the room … and alights upon Envoy. The earthen coil begins to shuffle about, as the golem slowly slides downstream.

"Halt in the name of Rephidim Temple!" the cadet yells at the golem as she tightens her grip on her sword. "You will proceed no further!"

Envoy backs further downstream, away from Iona's ledge.

Alas, perhaps that cantrip of Envoy's was helping Elise more than she realized. At that moment, her foot gives way, and she slips.

The Naga golem's cyclopean eye immediately turns to regard the poodle.

The poodle glances towards Envoy and her slip. She frowns greatly for a moment before she turns towards the golem. "We … know of your plan! How foolish you were to come here, right where we want you!" she tells the golem, pointing her sword at it.

"Hey wormy!" Envoy calls from the other direction. "Come pick on a golem a third your own size!" She doesn't really expect it to turn, but wants to know if it can hear.

Alas, Elise finds herself falling completely on her tail now, as her other foot gives way.

"In fact we ar-… Whaa!" The poodle's left leg swings out in front of her and the armored cadet falls back on her behind with a groan.

The Naga golem seems to be ignoring Envoy for the moment … and begins to rumble toward Elise. If nothing else, she looks like the more easily reached target.

The golem shuffles southward … getting closer to Elise.

Not having time to develop much of a plan, Envoy just takes to the air and heads for the top of the golem, hoping she can dislodge or grab the eye-gem before the monster can react.

The cadet uses her sword as a crutch and goes to push herself back up to standing before leveling the weapon again at the golem. She glances around quickly for the safest escape route.

Envoy manages to impact the "head" of the snake-golem, which gives surprisingly easily … so much so that Envoy passes right through a section of the mud. The form quickly solidifies, though, the gem-eye shifting position. One of the big rocky hands reaches up, making a swing at Envoy, as the golem temporarily halts its approach toward Elise.

Meanwhile, it looks like Elise could try to retreat southward along the bank, or else back up the irregular stairs to where Iona is working on a spell.

Seeing her chance now that the golem is distracted, Elise lifts her sword and takes a large step closer to slash at the eye.

The Exile tries to pull in her wings to avoid getting them caught… and also so that she might hit the water before running into the upstream wall of the cavern.

Envoy manages to avoid colliding with anything solid. Meanwhile, Elise's sword-swing cuts a chunk of mud out of the coiled section of the Naga-golem, but she's not quite high enough to hit the eye.

Still, as a chunk of mud flies from the golem, it looks like it takes a few seconds longer for the golem to reform to its original shape and "heal" the "wound" than it did for it to recover from Envoy's grab for its gem-eye.

Looking up from her missed slash, the poodle immediately takes whatever time gained from injuring it to try and dash away from the creature.

Envoy gets back to her feet after landing and tries to get further away as well. "The iron in your sword must affect it!" she calls back.

"Yes, it seems!" calls back Elise as she tries to get away before a return attack is made.

The golem turns about, returned to normal, and starts creeping southward toward Elise … but it then pauses when it reaches the broken bridge. It slowly swivels, turning to look in Iona's direction.

"What does it want?" Envoy wonders, moving back towards Elise. "Do you think you can cut through one of those arms if it tries to climb to the ledge?"

Once far enough from the creature, the Gallee spins around to once again level her sword. Her ears perk up as she sees it is not bearing down on her, but rather facing Iona. She considers this for a moment until Envoy lands near her. "Perhaps it is an assassin here to kill someone. It certainly cannot destroy the college alone, and trying would only be futile. So I think it was sent here either to get something or to kill someone. Perhaps the cadets or one of the mages. And yes, I think I can do that, but I need to get higher," she answers Envoy before she glances around for closer steps.

Alas, the only visible steps seem to be right next to the golem. Getting back up the ledge would involve getting uncomfortably close to the monster.

"And the steps are… blocked," adds Elise.

"I might be able to draw it away from the ledge," Envoy says, eyeing the creature. "From the top, you might be able to hold it off if it tries to climb."

The poodle glances towards the ledge above her and then turns towards Envoy. "Would you give me some assistance? I cannot get up right now; I will need help."

The golem raises a stony fist, and looks like it's about to make a grab for Iona. It begins to shift its coils to elevate itself further up the ledge where the bridge used to be.

Envoy urks, "It doesn't even need to climb!" She runs towards the creature's coils. "Come on, try and cut it through the base!"

The cadet dashes along after Envoy, and when she nears the creature, she wedges her feet in a wide stance and takes a large sideways chop into the golem's now extended base.

The golem's torso is now up the ledge, and unable to do much to try to parry the attack. Elise's Abaddonian blade cleaves through the coil like a hot knife through butter, and mud goes flying. The upper torso of the golem suddenly falls away from the ledge … and splits off from the muddy coil as it falls into the stream!

The muddy tail quickly loses its shape and dissolves into a big mound of mud … but it looks like the rest of the golem isn't done for quite yet.

"It worked!" Envoy yells, as the golem flails about. "Now what?" she asks Elise.

The poodle blinks a few times as the creature falls in two before her. "Well! I told you to halt. It's your own muddy fault for ending up like that," she tells the monster in a rather snooty tone. She then glances at Envoy. "Well, it is disabled, but not vanquished. We need to finish it off," she tells her before taking a few careful swipes at the golem's flailing arms.

It's a good swipe … but there's a problem in that plan. The golem's flailing arms have a lot of rocks in them. *chink!* That can't be good for the edge of the blade.

Meanwhile, some of the mud pile starts to shift, and sloughs over to start rejoining with the flailing body of the earth golem … though it's still going to take a while to rebuild.

Iona stops chanting, and opens her eyes.

"There's a spell that can make mud dry out," Envoy says, "but my last attempt didn't affect it much." To the golem, she calls, "Hey, what do you want, anyway?" She picks up a rock to throw, then stops when she hears Iona finish, and looks towards the ledge.

The poodle staggers a little as her weapon rebounds off the arm. She reaches over to hold her sore arm with the hand holding the crystal and pauses, looking down at the shining bit. "Perhaps… Here," she hands the crystal over to Envoy, "use this to distract it. It may want the energy, and it will allow me to get a better strike."

Iona smiles at Envoy, then utters the last word of her spell. It sounds a little like "goop". She directs her hand at the pile of sloughing mud … and the water starts separating from the mud … until the mud quickly dries and cracks.

It looks like … until the steam wets the mud again … the Naga Golem has a lot less mass to work with.

Envoy grins, and tries to catch the monster's attention with the crystal. "We need to get it out of the water, before it can draw new mud from the stream bed to rebuild itself."

The gem eye of the golem turns toward Envoy … and it plants its rocky fists downward, lifting its abbreviated torso out of the stream, as it begins to fist-walk out and onto the relatively dry bank.

"Instructor! Can you use your magic to cut the water off for a while?" Elise calls up to Iona before she turns back to watch the golem. "Mage Envoy, would you fly over behind it so its back faces me? Lead it on and when you run out of room, fly up and out of its way. I will try and hit it from behind."

Iona pants, "I'll … try." She drops into chanting once more.

Envoy nods, and backpedals away from the golem. At least it can't strike out while it moves now.

The golem turns to face Envoy, leaving its back to Elise. For the moment, it seems to be ignoring Iona off to the side.

The cadet dashes at the Golem with her sword held far back behind her with both hands gripped on it. When she nears the monster, she pulls her sword back and leaps. On the way down, she swings the sword with both hands in a grand arc intended to cleave it in two.

The sword strikes true, cutting downward through the monster's bulk. There's a crunching sound … but when the sword comes out the other side – thank the First ones – the blade is still intact. The golem, however, doesn't seem altogether … all together.

The crystal "eye" splinters and fragments, and the golem splits into two parts. The right arm collapses in a pile of mud and jumbled rocks. The left arm flails about. A glittering gem is visible, partially exposed in the middle of the earth golem's cleft torso.

Envoy drops the crystal and halts her retreat. "See if you can cut out that exposed gem without breaking it," she asks Elise.

Cadet de Bellefeuille drops to a knee with her sword stuck into the mud directly below where it passed through the golem. She lifts her gaze and her ears perk up. "Rephidim will not be bullied by the likes of you!" she yells at it before lifting her sword up, turning it slightly, and swinging it upward at an angle intended to slice the gem free.

With a well-placed stroke, the mud is cut free … and the gem is knocked into the air, bits of mud falling from it, as the rest of the golem begins to break apart into dirt and stone.

Unable to reach for the gem right away due to the momentum of her blade, the cadet simply watches it trail through the air.

The Aeolun rushes forward to try and catch the gem.

The faintly glowing gem lands in Envoy's hand. In her magical sense, it "feels warm" … and she can also sense that the magic holding the golem together has broken down past the point of repair.

Meanwhile, the stream slows to a trickle … but only after washing away a considerable portion of the muddy remnant of the golem.

Elise gives a sigh of relief as she sees Envoy catch the gem, and smiles. "Well! I do believe we are successful. First Ones be praised!"

Envoy holds onto the gem tightly. "Maybe the mage left a magic signature in the gem." She looks around, then says, "Well, we're still stuck in here. Can you help me get Rockjaw over to Iona's ledge?"

"Yes, I will do that. However," Elise lowers her voice, "did you not think it strange the golem reached for that instructor, and that she had decided to remain in this cavern despite it being extremely unsafe?"

"No," Envoy says. "Iona wasn't in any condition to run, and she was the only source of active magic aside from the golem. It went for each of us before turning towards the mage, after all."

"Very well. It is only speculation. We, after all, do not yet know wh-… " she says, pausing to peer down her muzzle at Envoy, but not at her face. Instead, she looks up at her forehead. "You – your horn that is – is glowing. Is that common?"

Envoy blinks at Elise, and stares at the gem in her hand. "It is still active, and I can feel some sort of energy flow. My horn does not normally do that, no." The Exile tries to toss the gem away, just to be safe.

The gem doesn't adhere to Envoy's hand or any such thing, and it's easily enough tossed.

"Is my horn still glowing?" Envoy asks the Gallee.

The poodle woman reaches over to pluck them gem from the air and places it in her free hand. She presses the gem against her sword in an attempt to dampen whatever effect may be going on. "Yes it is," she answers.

The gem stops glowing once it touches the blade … and then suddenly shatters into several pieces … fortunately not with enough force to hurt Elise's hand.

The gem shattering causes the Gallee to jump. "Eee!" she yelps. However, upon seeing she is not missing her hand she rolls her eyes and closes her hand around the fragments.

The Aeolun frowns. "Why would it make my horn glow?" She reaches up and touches her horn, feeling for anything unusual.

Nothing unusual presents itself. After a few seconds, the glow fades.

Elise looks up. "I am afraid such questions should be taken to a Mage. I am simply glad it stopped, although it is unfortunate the crystal has shattered."

"It might have been trying to create a new golem," Envoy finally says, "and was reacting to my crystalline components. Or else… "

Elise tilts her head to the side slightly. "Or else… ?"

Envoy stares at the fragments for a moment. "Or else I'm being paranoid again. There's no reason for anyone to go through all this trouble to get me, after all." She grins, as if the idea was silly, but it doesn't reach her eyes.

There's a sound of cracking rock down the corridor behind Iona. Then, there's a voice, whinnying, "Hello? Is anyone in there? Is anyone hurt?"

Iona, meanwhile, is slumped against the cavern wall, resting. It looks like she's taken the time to pluck out a few more crystal shards and to wrap her wounds with makeshift bandages ripped from the hems of her robes.

Happily, Envoy turns towards the ledge, and calls up, "Yes, hello! We have two injured people!"

The cadet opens her hand again and lowers her gaze to peer at the fragments. "You … have crystalline components? How odd. Although your being an Exile would make you – and what you may carry – rare. I do believe the golem would be more likely here for you than, say, I. Or perhaps it was sent after Cadet do Varr. Regardless, we need to leave so we may report this immediately."

It takes some more clearing away of the rock, with a bit of magical assistance, and the foursome – Envoy, Elise, Iona and Rockjaw – are taken up to the surface. Iona is patched up and consigned to bed rest for a while, while Rockjaw requires more extensive care with the Life Mages … who seem to have their hands full as it is. It turns out that there were several simultaneous attacks across the campus of the College Esoterica, involving golems, elementals, and even some undead constructs.

Several mages have been seriously injured or killed, and word is that war has been declared on Rephidim by not only the Nagai Empire … but rumor has it that Babel may have allied with the Nagai as well, and a few smaller nations in an effort to "rebel" against Rephidim.

Whatever the cause behind all of this, Envoy and Elise have made it out alive and safe for the time being, and have successfully defeated a supernatural monster. Not bad for a cadet and an apprentice.