Game was 3/14/20; due to COVID-19 Wendy and Paul used Skype to participate. Not my preferred method, but it worked.

William says firmly, “I’m not on board with killing.” He then decides to carefully search the office to keep his mind off the impending attack. Josh declares, “My place is to do what I am told,” but then he remembers the cameras outside. He finds the bank of monitors and quickly determines there is an external feed, and that it records this office. The data uploads to an outside server every three hours, and the next upload is in less than sixty minutes. Realizing this job is outside his technical expertise, he texts Ray Curran, who immediately responds, “What’s up, CuteButt217?” Josh takes a photo of the monitors and setup and then sends it to Ray. He texts, “We need to delay this upload, and you’re better at this than I am.”

Ray replies a minute later, “Yeah, I can do that. What am I agreeing to?” Josh texts, “It’s easier to explain in person. How soon can you be at the Smith Campus parking garage?” Ray responds, “Fifteen minutes.” Josh texts, “Del’s here if you can make it in ten.” Ray immediately replies, “ON MY WAY!!” As Josh waits, Mick continues examining the C4 and Dr. Ranjip and Polly quietly prepare for the upcoming violence. William finds several concealed niches in the walls, all empty except for one. He finds an ancient dagger in one compartment; the handle is so old it’s more verdigris than anything, and the blade has a purple sheen – which ripples and then stretches for William! William scrambles back and closes the compartment.

William also finds a safe hidden behind one of the wall monitors, which is cleverly installed on a barely visible hinge. He swings the monitor and manages to pick the lock on the safe. He opens the safe carefully, and then steps back when a puff of dust escapes. Nothing else happens, so he leans in and finds an ancient scroll just lying there. The scroll is tightly rolled up, and the caps are so ancient the original lacquer is black. The paper is brown with age as well, so William asks Polly for help. They carefully extract the scroll and William decides to save it for Abby.

Meanwhile, Leta, Veltis, Abby, and Anita follow Violet down the stairs and to the gate blocking the sub-basement. Violet then pulls out a medallion and starts chanting softly in Greek. She places the medallion at the top left corner of the gate, and then traces a complex mandala from left to right, then down, then right to left, and finally back up to the starting point, chanting the entire time. The ward immediately goes dormant, but Anita takes careful note of how powerful this work is.

As they step across the threshold, they are hit with a strong smell of stale human sweat and sawdust. They can taste hot asphalt in the back of their mouths, and then recoil in horror as the gray concrete walls are sweating! Violet heads down the hallway and the hunters follow, but their footsteps are absorbed by the linoleum, and sound ripples under their feet and to the walls. Anita silently frets while Leta and Veltis share a knowing look: this is a ward meant to hold back a moderately-powerful demon or something similar. Abby remains grimly silent, eyes fixed on the back of Violet’s head.

Violet leads them down the hall silently, to a large metal door. The top half of the door is painted a peeling industrial blue, but the bottom half is mostly spiderwebs of rust – and then they realize the ‘webs’ are moving! Violet performs another chant at the door and unlocks it. She swings it open, and the women all gag on the stench of unwashed humanity. They hesitate, and then Anita steps inside. The room is lit by a flickering sodium bulb and is maybe ten feet by ten feet. The floor is covered in moldy sawdust, and the walls have spiderwebs of rust crawling to the ceiling. In the center of the room, a young woman is chained by her neck, arms, and legs to a bolt in the floor.

The figure turns to Anita and stands up straight… which is about 6’5”! The figure is painfully thin and her limbs twitch in unnatural ways – and sometimes shrink into her body! Her face is covered by years of matted, unwashed hair, until she parts her hair like a curtain. The face leering at Anita is no longer human, as her teeth are wet asphalt and her eyes flicker like a car’s rear lights! Anita realizes the girl’s fingernails are long – and also look like wet asphalt. The being stares at Anita and then rumbles, “Hello. You are not Konstantin.” Her voice contains traces of the human she once was, but mostly it sounds like metal twisting like metal – like a car crash.

Anita retorts, “I certainly hope not,” as Leta enters the room. The being shifts her eyes to watch Leta, while Violet stays outside. Abby remains outside as well, as she doesn’t trust Violet. The being rumbles, “Why are you here?” Anita notices the webs of moving rust on her chains, but they recoil from symbols engraved into various chain links and padlocks. Anita says carefully, “To meet you.” The creature chuckles and replies, “Are you here to fight against the hated Uratha?” Anita and Leta realize there are wards carved on the floor under the sawdust, but the rust streaks are slithering their way!

The creature cocks her head and hisses, “What do you want to know?” Anita replies, “Whatever you can tell us.” The creature smiles widely – and the smile goes past her ears and to the back of her neck! Her head flops backwards and a grey, slug-like tongue whips out at Leta! Leta and Anita scramble backwards,¹⁾ but both see various car logos imprinted on the tongue! The tongue whips around the room in a 360◦ arc, before it retracts. The creature’s head snaps forward, and she snarls, “You are joined!” Anita assumes the creature is talking about The Witch, and eyes her geist. For her part, The Witch is hovering nearby, unwilling to approach the creature.

Anita makes a comment about her geist, and the creature stares at her blankly. She growls, “You are both joined.” Anita and Leta share a look, but Anita says, “Leta doesn’t have a geist.” The creature again stares at her blankly, and then growls, “You’re a Fog Man.”²⁾ Anita has utterly no idea what that means, but then the creature smiles inhumanly widely again and croons, “I know who you are. Konstantin told me of you. You are Ana Eva Vanessa Maria Perez-Montoya.” Anita rocks back in shock and Leta exclaims, “Wait, your name isn’t Anita?” Anita grumbles, “It’s a nickname.”

The creature looks at Leta and croons, “Hell-Girl. You must be Leta Mackenzie and that thing on your shoulder is Veltis. Where is Joshua? I am told he is very pretty.” Rattled, Leta retorts, “We keep the pretty ones to ourselves.” The creature titters and then whispers, “Are you here to kill me?” Anita asks, “Why would we do that?” The creature snorts and retorts, “Because I am trying to escape?” as she gestures to the rust. Leta wonders if the car sigils are a sign this creature has absorbed some of her environment.³⁾

The creature chortles, “You are all joined. I can see the book shining under your meat.” Anita whispers, I think she means the totem,” and Leta nods. Violet suddenly screams in terror and Abby yells out, “Totem!” The creature goes berserk, howling and thrashing, trying to reach The Academitrix as the totem floats at the door. She snarls, “Magath!” Anita and Leta step to the doorway and Anita ask hurriedly, “What?” The totem stares at the creature with cold hatred and growls, “A magath. A spirit that has devoured spirits outside their choir.” The hunters are still lost, so the totem explains tersely, “I am a knowledge-spirit. I consume other knowledge spirits, or spirits of a similar theme. If I consume a car-spirit, for example, I will become an abomination. A magath.”

Anita says slowly, “I think I’ve got it. How do we save it?” The totem eyes her and says flatly, “I believe decapitation works on most things.” Anita recoils but Leta nods. The totem gestures to the creature, which is now hurling clicking sounds at them. She growls, “Look at it. There is nothing left of the human. It’s just a meat-vessel for the abomination.” Leta offers, “Fire?” and Anita mumbles, “Tree pretty, fire bad.” The totem rolls her eyes and retorts, “Tree rotten, fire good.” The hunters stare at the totem and she snaps, “Do you have any idea how much Buffy: The Vampire Slayer I’ve seen?” Abby, Anita, and Leta eye each other and grudgingly concede the point, the totem is bound to Smith College after all.

Leta again suggests, “So, fire?” Anita sighs and replies, “We don’t know if that would compromise the garage.” Behind them, Violet gets to her feet, shaking, and rasps, “I’d suggest waiting until the C4 is gone.” That brings them up short, and Anita replies, “Good point.” They eye the creature, and Leta jibes, “Is it swearing at us in Morse code?” The totem sighs and says, “It’s First Tongue. And yes.” The hunters retreat and Violet shuts the door quickly and reestablishes the wards. The totem vanishes.

Back in Violet’s office, Ray struts in as only a teenage boy can possibly do, clearly trying to impress Del. Josh greets Ray warmly, but Del mostly ignores him. Dr. Ranjip and Polly eye the boy, but William suppresses a shudder as he recognizes the boy’s features are like the vampire Elisa Mae, bringing up some uncomfortable memories. Ray tears his eyes away from Del and her pantsuit, and Josh performs quick introductions and then starts to explain. He admits they are entangled in something very dangerous before he stops and asks Del carefully, “Did you sister tell you what happened last night? Where we went?” Del nods, looking bored, so Josh frankly tells Ray, “We’re trying to stop some dickheads who sent us into the Underworld last night.”

Ray asks, “Are they monsters?” Josh hesitates and then asks, “How do you define monsters?” A shadow passes over the boy’s face and he replies softly, “Vampires. Werewolves too, I guess. But mostly vampires.” Josh reminds Ray, “Some of those monsters are good people trying to protect their own. But in this case, we’re dealing with a group of humans who use supernatural tools to do horrible things, and really have no idea what forces they’re unleashing.” Ray chirps, “Do you mean the Aegis?” Polly chuckles as Josh deflates a bit and admits, “Yes.”

Ray nods and says, “Network 0 has had run-ins with them before. One guy, bald and with a goatee and way too many guns came after us to take footage we had of someone using a magical sword.” Josh nods as he recognizes Konstantin, and Ray eyes the monitors, He pulls out his laptop and starts hacking into the system. A few minutes later he crows, “I’m in. These guys have shitty security. Do you want me to stop the upload?” Josh shakes his head and replies, “We’re afraid that might warn them.” Ray purses his lips as he scrolls through files and then enters a few commands. He says, “OK, I’ve set it up that last Monday’s files will upload instead. Hopefully they won’t realize the trick right away.”

Ray does a little more puttering and says, “OK, the exterior server is at… the Northampton airport? Or really close to there.” Josh nods and then Ray freezes. He says, “Josh, I have a strange question for you. Is this place rigged to explode?” Josh admits, “Yes. I did say this was dangerous.” Ray stares at him and says flatly, “You might want to lead with ‘explosives’ next time.” Josh concedes the point and says, “I want you and Del gone. We’ve reached the ‘very dangerous’ stage of this.” Del frowns as Josh texts Anita, “Is it ok if Ray leaves here with Del?” Anita texts back as the women rush down the hallway, “Yeah, sure, kinda busy.” She then sends, “Tell Del there’s money in the glove compartment if she wants to take it and bring the kid to a coffee shop.”

Josh insists this is where Del takes her leave, and the other hunters agree. Del rolls her eyes and snaps, “Fine, I’ll take the kid to Starbucks. I’ll take the money Anita doesn’t think I know is in the glovebox.” Josh thanks her, and she leaves with Ray. Josh texts Anita the news, and Anita replies, “We’re going outside for fresh air.” Josh tells the others and William decides that is a great idea. Mick refuses to leave the C4 but is fine staying behind; Violet returns to her office and just sits at her desk. It’s 5:45, so there’s still forty-five minutes until Chelsea arrives. The hunters regroup outside, and William and the others note that Leta, Veltis, Abby, Anita, and Violet are dragging in huge gulps of the cold night air.

The hunters sit on the grass and Anita declares, “That was Satan’s butthole.” Veltis retorts, “It wasn’t that bad.” That brings Anita up short, so she offers, “Satan’s sweaty gym shorts?” Veltis concedes, “Ok, about that bad.” The hunters quickly swap stories, and William hands the scroll to Abby. She carefully unrolls it, and the hunters look over her shoulder to see cramped writing covering the scroll. They quickly realize there are two languages here; the first is the original work, and the second is someone translating it into ancient Greek in the spaces between the original lines and in the margins.

Abby whispers, “This is a ward. This is the ward in the basement. This is what they used to cast it. But it’s not complete, some of the translations have crumbled away at the edges. That’s why that thing’s influence is still leaking out, the ward isn’t complete.” Anita mutters, “When in doubt, half-ass it.” Abby looks up at Leta and Veltis and says, “I’m sure you’ll want to pass this along to the Lucifuge?” They both nod so Abby carefully re-wraps the scroll.

The hunters wait patiently in the cold air until 6:30, when a black car with state plates pulls up in front of them. Chelsea steps out wearing jeans, boots, a thin coat, and mirrored sunglasses. She carries a briefcase and has a backpack slung over her shoulder. She strides over to them and growls, “Hello. I wish it was longer until I saw you all again.” Josh apologizes but lays things out quickly. The hunters debate their next move until Dr. Ranjip cuts in, “Agent O’Malley should stay here with Officer McManus, he can’t help in a fight right now. Ray and Del are safely out of the picture. We should meet our reinforcements at the airport and deal with the AKD.”

The hunters agree, and Chelsea enters while the hunters head to the cars. Abby, Leta, and Veltis get into Anita’s car while Polly, Dr. Ranjip, and Josh ride with William. Josh calls MacLeod’s cell phone.

MacLeod is at Fitzwilly’s, enjoying a late dinner of ribs, and his phone rings. He answers automatically, “MacLeod.” Josh greets him, and MacLeod replies, “Hello to you too. What terrible do you bring me?” Josh admits, “A lot. We’re dealing with the people from this morning. In about ten minutes, things are going to get… heated. Please bring the Captain a milkshake. But I called you first this time!” MacLeod replies dryly, “Thanks. I’m going to finish my dinner, and then go talk to the chief.” He hangs up, but frets that Josh didn’t sound eager, but stressed out instead.

William, Josh, and Polly argue over who should call Vandernoot, until Josh dials her number – and then puts it on speakerphone and holds it out to William. Vandernoot is still in her office when her phone rings. She immediately recognizes the number and sighs with exasperation as she answers, “What?” Josh chirps, “Hi! We’re about to make your bad day even worse. But we’re forewarning you this time!” Vandernoot sighs and growls, “How?” Josh replies, “It’s about the people from this morning. They’re near the airport and we’re going after them. Can you pull the police officers there out?” Vandernoot retorts, “Sure, I’ll just send them… where?”

Josh replies, “Oh! The Smith parking garage. Mick’s there. I mean Officer McManus.” Vandernoot snaps, “Why? Is it going to blow up?” Josh goes silent for a moment and then replies, “We’re trying to prevent that.” Vandernoot yells, “What?” Josh hurriedly explains, “We’re trying to stop it. Well, Mick is. We brought in outside help, but it’s rigged to explode. Well, it’s been rigged to explode for a while now.” Vandernoot slumps at her desk and rasps, “Why couldn’t you just play lacrosse like a good boy?” Josh replies carefully, “If the lacrosse fairies showed up first, I would have. But I got called by something else. We’re heading to the airport now to meet our other allies.”⁴⁾

Vandernoot howls, “You have air support?!” Dr. Ranjip suddenly interjects, “Look on the bright side, Captain. We did veto the Sopwith Camel!” Vandernoot yells, “Who are you friends with? And why were you at the garage in the first place?” Dead silence answers her and she snaps, “What, did you leave some cherry bombs there?” Josh replies quickly, “Not cherry bombs, more like C4. There’s a milkshake on the way; thanks for your support!” He then terminates the call. Vandernoot stares at the phone as MacLeod walks in with a milkshake from Local Burger. She looks up at him and growls, “They called you first?” MacLeod nods as he hands her the milkshake, and she continues, “Did you know they’re letting the boy near explosives?” MacLeod frowns and replies, “I did not. I’ll have to talk to William.”

In Anita’s car, Leta calls Milan. The phone rings twice, and then something picks up and schlorps. Leta says, “Hi, Bob, it’s Leta. Is Guiseppe there?” She gets an affirmative-sounding schlorp, and then sucking noises as Bob brings the phone to Giuseppe. Leta hears Giuseppe say with a trace of exasperation, “Thank you, Bob.” Giuseppe then takes the phone and says, “Hello?” Leta chirps, “Hi, Giuseppe!” Giuseppe sighs and replies, “Oh, it’s that tone.” Leta plows forward, “So, I may have allied with a mummy, but that’s not the bad part! We found the bastards that hit us last night and we’re going to kill them!” Anita snaps, “Oi!” and starts muttering in Spanish. Leta says to her, “This is Giuseppe. He made you eggs.” Anita mutters, “They were very good eggs. So good you upstaged my grandmother. Kudos for that.”

Giuseppe accepts the compliment and Leta quickly explains the situation. She admits, “I’m still going to kill them – for vengeance – but I don’t want to start a war between the Lucifuge and the Aegis Kai Doru.” Giuseppe replies flatly, “If you strike the Aegis, they will strike back.” Anita start humming the Imperial March from Star Wars, and Leta snaps, “No! They don’t get a cool theme song!” Giuseppe sighs and says, “I will inform the Lady. Good luck.” Leta says sincerely, “Thanks.” She then ends the call.

Both cars pull into the main entrance of the airport at 6:50 PM and see Hakim’s plane coming in for a landing. They get out of their cars and head over to the airstrip as the plane lands and taxis to a stop. The pilot recognizes the Troys and simply drops the stairs to them. Hakim descends with Amira and five Arab women in full combat gear! William immediately recognizes them as the Amazonian Guard from Libya! Hakim catches his gaze and says simply, “Colonel Gaddafi owed me a favor. Well, several favors, actually.”

Leta looks around and spots the property by the end of the airstrip, separated from the airport by a waist-high black chain link fence. Most of the property is in shadow, but she points and says softly, “We believe the statue of Bast you’re looking for is there.” Hakim goes very still and then snarls softly, “Oh, it is. It definitely is. I can feel it.” Leta eyes the property and muses, “We could really use Bob right now.” Anita asks, “Who’s Bob?” Leta says, “A pink tentacle demon. A lesbian pink tentacle demon, actually. She was disappointed when she found out Polly was in a relationship, but she liked Josh.”

Anita stares at her and then says, “I’m done. Everyone wants to be friends with Josh.” Josh chirps, “Not vampires! Or True Fae. Or the Aegis.” Leta grumbles, “Oh, the True Fae would love to be your friend. That’s the problem.” Josh concedes the point. Hakim suggests reconnaissance, and the hunters agree. As they head for the property, Josh, Leta, Polly, and William perform the Morale Support tactic.⁵⁾ Anita, Abby, and Dr. Ranjip just go with it while Hakim and Amira listen and assume this is a pre-battle ritual. The Libyan women don’t speak English, so they have no clue.

It’s 7:15 when they slip between the fence and canvass the property. They see three buildings: the main house by the road, a big red barn, and a weather-beaten outbuilding that’s closest to the airstrip. The property appears dilapidated, with piles of junk everywhere, but the hunters think one group of pallets is concealing a gun-turret. They also see a white van concealed in the barn as someone opens the door to the barn, and Dr. Ranjip silently identifies the van as the one the Aegis used in their attack. They spot a sun globe on a noticeably clean pedestal in the middle of the property and note two three-man teams patrolling the grounds quietly.

Unfortunately, Anita stepped on a branch and one of the teams immediately pivots towards the sound. They start inching closer, but they haven’t seen the hunters yet. Josh quickly retreats to the airfield and the cars, he intends to stay in the Buick Skylark since William still has a working police scanner to keep abreast of the NPD, and so he can coordinate communications with the cell. The other hunters crouch down in the tall grass; the black fence is between them and the property, but now they’re facing the area between the barn and the outbuilding. William reaches down and grabs a rock. Silently he whips the rock towards the outbuilding and hits it – and it clangs!

The three AKD hunters immediately pivot and rush towards the outbuilding to investigate, and William mutters, “I bet the relics are there.” Anita unlocks Passion Boneyard and senses roughly eighteen people moving about, the two patrols, the one guy by the barn, and the rest in the house. However, she can’t cover the entire property and whispers her findings with the caveat, “There’s probably more in the house.” Unfortunately, the sun globe noticeably brightens, detecting Anita’s deathly magic. The man coming from the barn sees the glow and breaks out into a run to the house, but the five Amazonian Guard pull out throwing knives and whip them at the man. He collapses mid-stride, with all five blades embedded in his neck!⁶⁾

Unfortunately, while the man didn’t have time to raise an alarm, his corpse is in a relatively lit part of the lawn. Leta scrambles over the fence and jogs forward as she unleashes her demonic vestments and grows infernal claws! Hakim simply rips the fence apart and walks through, leaving a gap for the others to follow. The allies hustle onto the property and Leta whispers, “Where is Bast?” Hakim’s eyes narrow and he points to the outbuilding, confirming William’s theory. The hunters quietly debate if they should secure the relics first, or deal with the AKD first. William reluctantly counsels, “The AKD first. We don’t want them coming up on us while we’re trying to take the relics.”

Hakim reluctantly agrees and Amira murmurs something in Arabic to the Amazonian Guard. Anita frowns and then hisses, “The second patrol is heading this way!” William whispers, “Hide!” and the allies melt into the shadows. The second patrol walks right by them and fails to notice the allies – or the corpse! They do spot the increased glow on the sun globe and one radios in, “Sir, something’s wrong.” There is a burst of static, and then the hear Konstantin snarl, “Lock it down, those damn wolves are back!” The five Libyans pull out another brace of knives and throw them silently at the patrol, dropping all three men with precise strikes to their necks!⁷⁾

Konstantin snaps, “Report. Report!” He then howls, “Full alert! The werewolves are here!” The allies hear an ominous whine from the pallets and drop to the ground as the turret rises and sprays silver bullets in a 360◦ arc! The clamor is obscenely loud, and Josh runs back to the cars with his arms covering his head! The gun sprays bullets and spins until it runs dry with a distinct click. Then the globe suddenly lights up like a full moon, sending silver light throughout the property! However, the light has no effect on the hunters or their allies, but the first patrol races over – and stops dead when they realize their foes are not werewolves, but the hunters they dropped into Hell last night!

Leta charges first, driving her claws into the first man’s face and then ripping, flensing his face clean off his skull! Blood sprays into her mouth and she finds it delicious but resist the impulse to consume the man entirely. Veltis leaps at the second guard – and then shifts sizes! He lands on the hapless man as the size of a gorilla, breaking ribs and puncturing lungs! Hakim calmly strides up to the third guard – and then claps his hands on either side of the man’s head, crushing it like a melon!⁸⁾ Leta exclaims, “Do all your kind do that?” Hakim looks at her quizzically, and Leta says, “Merat-Su did the same thing.”

Hakim frowns and asks Amira, “Do I know Merat-Su?” Amira replies, “Yes. The courtesan.” Hakim grunts, “That doesn’t narrow it down. Ask me later.” William fires his service pistol at the globe and hits it!⁹⁾ The globe shatters, releasing a purple mist that flies away. Someone in the house yells, “I don’t hear howling!” Leta immediately howls like a wolf so convincingly they hear Konstantin scream, “Shapeshifters!” The AKD immediately cycles their radio channels, and several windows in the house are opened and automatic rifles poke out!

The AKD opens fire blindly as six men rush out of the house to the reliquary! William, Polly, and Dr. Ranjip dart out to try and beat them there, but Leta, Veltis, and Anita simply fire their respective flame powers! One of the AKD hunters screams, “Warform!” when he sees Veltis in the shadows, and two of the chargers drop from the flames. Hakim smiles and says proudly, “Time for a classic!” His jaws descend and scarabs pour out of him, swarming towards the four survivors and attacking! The five Libyans calmly open fire with their AK-47s, dropping the remaining men and allowing the scarabs a chance to feast!¹⁰⁾

Three AKD hunters burst out of the reliquary, intent on reinforcing their comrades, but Dr. Ranjip unleashes his fear-power. Polly and William shudder, but the three men collapse in fetal positions, catatonic, after voiding their bowels!¹¹⁾ Dr. Ranjip shudders and whispers, “Delicious.” Leta yells, “We’re not here to gorge!” Polly and William race up to the door of the outbuilding and see three more people. They open fire as the three AKD hunters dive for cover, hitting two of them. The third screams into her radio, “It’s the Troys!”

A woman in body armor and carrying a battered shield and a sword races out of the house and barrels for Leta! Leta blasts Hellfire, but the shield absorbs almost all of it, and then the hellfire jumps to the woman’s sword! She slams into Leta, batting her arms apart with a shield bash, and then rams her sword through Leta’s torso! Leta coughs up blood as she fights going into shock and she rasps, “Rude!” Veltis charges in with his claws, but the shield shifts and absorbs his attack completely. Hakim drives his fist forward as well, but the shield shifts again and absorbs most of his strike. Hakim also snarls, “Rude!”

Dr. Ranjip, Poly, and William enter the reliquary and Dr. Ranjip unleashes his fear-power again. It’s less effective this time, as something in here drains some of it, but it is enough to throw all three people off their game. William charges one of the women and she screams, “Oh God, the clown!” William coldcocks her and she drops. Polly charges the unwounded man and he cries, “I returned that library book!” She knocks him out with a vicious pistol whipping.¹²⁾

Anita unlocks Pyre-Flame Rage and sends the unnatural heat into the AKD champion, causing her to slow down in disorientation.¹³⁾ Leta claws at the other woman, but the shield again absorbs it, although she sees cracks spreading along the shield’s surface. Veltis sees the same thing and takes a gamble. He unleashes his full Hellfire at the woman, knowing the shield will absorb it. It does, but it overloads the relic and shatters it! The flames on the sword snuff out, and the AKD champion pulls the sword free of Leta’s torso. Leta gasps as some of Veltis’s hellfire strikes her, but it’s a lot easier to handle that.¹⁴⁾

Hakim swings in behind the woman and then punches his fist into her back! She stiffens and gurgles as he partially pulls her spine out! Hakim then looks to Leta and says, “I apologize. Do you wish to finish her?” Leta croaks, “Nope!” so Hakim rips her spine completely out of her torso. Anita watches in horror as the woman’s skull rips free of the back of her head!¹⁵⁾ The AKD hunters in the house fall back further to regroup and swap weapons, and Leta gurgles, “I need more blood.” Anita yells for Dr. Ranjip’s help, but then they start falling back to the reliquary anyway. Dr. Ranjip discounts the last remaining AKD hunter in the reliquary and runs outside to help. Polly and William handcuff the last AKD hunter, a younger woman.¹⁶⁾ They realize the three hunters in here are more academic then military.

Anita suggests, “Spiritual arson?” as she gestures to the house. Leta nods and Anita tries to unlock Pyre-Flame Rage but fails.¹⁷⁾ Dr. Ranjip reaches them and immediately starts working on Leta. Suddenly, howls echo through the farmhouse, and Leta howls back. They then hear screaming, and Josh asks over the speakerphone, “Leta was that you?” The hunters see massive shapes tearing into the AKD hunters inside and realize the Smith’s Daughters Pack arrived to help… somehow.¹⁸⁾ They see Konstantin at an upper-story window looking terrified, ad then he pulls out a medallion and rubs it – and then he vanishes! Leta screams in rage!

Konstantin stumbles out of a purple mist disoriented – and right in front of Josh! Josh shrieks, “Academitrix, if you can hear me, Konstantin escaped and he’s by the airstrip!” Konstantin’s head snaps up and he sees Josh; he grins evilly as he straightens up with his rifle, but then something massive lands on the Skylark and leaps! Konstantin screams in horror as a massive, primordial wolf monster lands on him and bites his head clean off!¹⁹⁾ Josh gags but recognizes the pink stripe of hair, so he opens the glove box to look for mints.²⁰⁾

Four massive wolf-monsters march out of the house, blood and offal dripping from their claws and muzzles! The five Libyan women shriek and collapse as the Lunacy takes them, and Amira leans in and says quietly, “My lord? New plan. Never piss those things off.” Hakim eyes the advancing werewolves and muses, “I think I did, once, and it ate me. Deeply unpleasant.” Leta and Anita stare at him, but then Anita asks, “Josh, are you ok?” Josh replies weakly, “No. Granddad, do you have any mints?” As they approach the four Uratha shift to Dalu form to appear more human, and Valerie spits out someone’s ring at Anita. She looks down at Leta, who croaks, “I howled real good, but then I got stabbed.” Valerie lets out a booming laugh and then asks, “So… who are these assholes?"