Hexus

=24= Intent

[12:49AM, November 1, UTC +08:00]

"I’m not sure what else to do," Victoria said, running her hand through her hair. She seemed a lot more uncoordinated ever since Walter left to check on the kids. "Are you sure you can hold on?"
"I’ll live."

Moira was doing her best to put up a good front, but inside she was dying. Literally. Rotting while alive was the most painful thing she had ever experienced. Actually, when she thought about it, it was the second most painful thing.

Having to listen to everyone’s emotional outbursts and being unable to shut them up was the most painful thing.

It was taking almost all her concentration to keep her natural energies rerouted into the stasis spell. She was extremely out of practice with remolding her affinity for time magic, since her Hexal channel always supplied it. But she knew she was fortunate; if her elemental affinity was fixed, she would have been dead over three hours ago. Victoria flipped through the many spell books, cursing and fretting as she went through unhelpful chapters.

Yes, keep up the dramatics. That’s what is going to get me out of this mess.

Moira grimaced as she felt a dull pain in her chest. Probably my heart giving up. The pain radiated into her neck and it hurt too much to even try to scream. She still had one more card to play, even though she knew it wasn’t a smart move. Not on a night like this.

Was hoping it wouldn’t come to this, but I need to buy time.

And I’m supposed to be a time mage.

Ironic.

She focused all her attention into her body, using a crude blend of water and time magic to slow down her metabolism. The world seemed to move in fast-forward, every moving object was duplicated in her vision, all the sounds were slurred and shrill. Some strange sound seemed to undulate in the background, but she was beyond caring. Victoria said something, but Moira could not make sense of it as her brain’s processing speed began to drop. Then the world vibrated as she felt a firm grip on her shoulders. She shut down the spell and realized that the grip was actually crushing, and that Victoria was shaking her with urgency. Part of basement roof had been ripped off, exposing the cracked walls and wrecked ceiling of the living room.

"Moira!" Victoria said. "What have you done?!"

Moira took a moment to readjust her mind to reality. One shoulder had popped out of its sockets.

"Let go," she said.
"What’s going on?" Victoria screamed.
"Let. Go."

Another shrill sound drilled into her ears, and Victoria screamed in horror as pieces of the roof collapsed beside her, missing her by inches. Moira tried to hurriedly rise from her seat. There was a snap. She cried out in agony, but through her aged larynx, it came out sounding more like a distressed bray. Victoria slid her arm under Moira’s shoulder and frantically moved her out of the way. Moira winced with every step, her fractured left leg shooting murderously into her nervous system. Amidst the debris, she could recognize that the segment of the stairs leading up from the basement had been blown apart. Victoria took in a nervous breath and there was a crinkling sound as a platform of ice formed in front of them. She dragged Moira onto it and they levitated into the living room.

"Mum, look out!"

They hit the ground. The wall above them crumbled into a dust and stone. Moira looked into the room. Walter was breathing heavily on one side, marred with blood and dirt. Agnes and Augustus looked like they were trying to blend in with the rug. Esther was the only one who seemed to be squaring off evenly, and her enemies were two large ugly four-legged spider-like metal things. Armed with canons. Controlled by Ecru the technomancer. He turned to face her instantly, as though all his senses had been set to find her within the giant matrix of reality.