text: [Themes: grimdark fantasy, fantasy, female protagonist]
  
  The past memories are starting to become clearer and more vivid. You feel like you're starting to get closer to goal.
  
  Well you knew it was going to come to this one day, though perhaps there was a part of you that believed it was going to always just stay in the "talk" mode.
  
  Still, somehow you knew when he joined the Dark Order, it was the beginning of the end.
  
  Azrael.
  
  You aren't exactly sure what happened, but apparently he and Felsa fucked up Mr. Demar's talk with a rep from the vampire clans severely to the point where the rep was killed and now the plan to take over Nuro has to be now or never. (You're just glad it wasn't you who fucked up that potential alliance and Alec had indeed been telling the truth about being independent)
  
  You admit you still aren't sure how you feel about Azrael. First time you actually met him was outside the Dark Order when he miserably failed to impress you. Honestly, you were more than a bit surprised to see him when he joined the Dark Order given how horrible he is of a magic user.
  
  Still, somehow he's got a real skill for necromancy. Took you a long time to master what you're able to do with it. Even Trelik struggles with achieving some of the things you've seen Azrael do with seeming ease. It's like it comes natural to him.
  
  Maybe he's an idiot savant of some sort.
  
  In any case, Mr. Demar's called you in for a private discussion. You aren't exactly sure what about, but you're sure you'll find out.
  
  You enter Mr. Demar's office who is in the middle of writing something.
  
  "Ah, you're here. Good. Sit, I'll be done in a second."
  
  You sit down and wait for Mr. Demar to finish what he's doing which doesn't take long. He then puts away his quill and parchment and focuses his attention on you.
  
  "Okay, Miss Catalina first I want to say is how impressed I've seen you grow in your abilities. I took a risk on you and I'm glad to see it paid off. I know we haven't spoken much one on one with each other in these last couple years, but that's partly because you haven't really needed the supervision or extra guidance. I knew after the first few months of you joining, you were capable of being left to your own devices."
  "Well I was doing it long before I joined the Order." You say.
  "Indeed. That's why you're going to be playing an important role in the take over of Nuro, which is what I want to go over with you."
  
  Mr. Demar tells you the over all strategy of the plan. Quayle's job is to slow down time for everyone in the city (except the Dark Order), making them easier to take out. The demonologists will be doing the initial attack by opening portals to the infernal realm to unleash demons on the city. This chaos will put most in a state of panic and allow you and the rest of the necromancers to take advantage of the dead that the demons leave in their path. This momentum should be more than enough to bolster your numbers.
  
  "...And that should be enough to take over Nuro with minimal resistance as well as having enough defense for any immediate counter attack." Mr. Demar says, but you detect a tone in his voice that makes it seem like he's not sure of his own plan anymore.
  "We're going to win." You say as if to reassure him.
  
  He looks at you and smiles at what you're attempting to do.
  
  "Heh, that obvious huh? I suppose I do have my concerns. Not so much about taking Nuro, but more about keeping it. I really do wish we had at least another year to prepare. Hammer out that contract with Velzix and give another thorough read through of it for example. Maybe try to find a few more necromancers." Mr. Demar says.
  "I'll admit when I first joined I thought there would be more." You answer.
  "Well that is one of the reasons I took a chance on you. It's why you're going to be in charge of doing crowd control around the city close to the university."
  "Me?"
  "Yes. Why are you surprised? While I've said you're one of the better necromancers here, I feel you're probably the most versatile. And I don't mean just amongst the necromancers, I mean in the entire Order. I want someone who is better able to adapt to a situation as it unfolds. Sebastian isn't as skilled as you. Irwin...well the boy is pretty, but he's probably the weakest member among your ranks. Trelik, I'm going to have with me along with Felsa when we face the dean and whatever other faculty that opposes us."
  "Um, Felsa and Trelik?"
  "Yes, I understand your concerns on that, but Felsa is the best demonologist and I'm going to need her assistance in controlling Velzix for the attack on the dean's tower. She actually works better under my supervision anyway. As for Trelik, the closer I keep him near me, the less likely he's going to let his arrogance get the better of him and do something stupidly overconfident."
  "As you say."
  "Then there's Azrael. The newest to the Order and another I took a chance on, though I really don't know what to make of him still."
  "Same."
  "He is a very skilled necromancer, unnaturally so. I'm sure you can sense it. It's odd since he's at best a mediocre wizard in any other branch. Downright terrible in some branches. In a perfect world, I would have had a little more time to assess him better. I suppose if this all works out, I'll be able to."
  "So is he going to be under my command?"
  "Yes and no. I still consider you to be in charge of the necromancy end of things, but I feel Azrael would be better off working on his own. He's powerful enough that you won't need to supervise him directly. I'm going to send him a little closer to downtown area of the city. He can raise the dead from the graveyard along with whomever the demons kill."
  "Okay then."
  "Just a few extra things. I want to say. The first is more of a favor if possible."
  "What is it?"
  "Well I know it's not much of a secret about Irwin and myself. He's not the best necromancer, but he's not without talent. Still I told him I wasn't going to play favorites, so he has to pull his weight just like everyone else. However, if it is possible, look out for him. I don't mean at the cost of the overall goal, he knows the risks. But I would appreciate it if he came out of this alive."
  
  You're a little hesitant about being entrusted with someone's safety.
  
  "You sure it wouldn't be safer to have him with you then?"
  "Heh, no it would actually be worse since I'm going up against the best wizards in the world and I can't be distracted with worrying about keeping Irwin alive. I'll leave that to you."
  "Gee I'm...honored."
  "You sound it. But as I said, if things get tricky and it's a matter of saving Irwin or achieving a win in battle, sacrifice him yourself if necessary."
  "Got it. Anything else?"
  
  Mr. Demar leans forward and actually pats your hand.
  
  "Don't die. Make the others die and then make them serve you."
  "I will."
  
  A week later...
  
  "Sebastian watch the right side, there's mage guards coming down the street. Irwin raise these bodies, we're running low and apparently the demon lovers can't control their fucking summons." You exclaim.
  
  You, Sebastian, and Irwin are all in close proximity to each other making sure you keep an eye out on all sides for attacks. So far the battle hasn't been going as planned.
  
  Several things have gone wrong already. Quayle's time spell is having inconsistent effects for one thing. It hasn't slowed down your enemies as planned. The more major issue is the demons are not under demonologist control at all. They thankfully haven't attacked your side, but most of them are just following their own desires rather than any organized attack.
  
  For your part you've been doing your best to take out the Nuro's mage guards, but it's not been easy, especially when they're also backed up by regular rank and file militia.
  
  You look up at the nearby buildings in front of you and see a sizable amount of archers appear. In fact, here's more than enough to rain down on you all. You look to your right again and Sebastian is struggling to take out the mage guards.
  
  And then the archers unleash their arrows. You don't have the time to cast a barrier over the three of you, so you do the next best thing and summon a strong plague wind to at least blow the arrows away from your position, along with taking out the archers.
  
  It works for the most part. Some of the arrows are even blown back at the archers (who are choking to death anyway), one somehow even manages to find its way in the neck of a mage guard, providing some relief for Sebastian.
  
  Unfortunately unlike a magic barrier, it doesn't cover the entire area you needed. Some of the arrows still found their mark. Specifically Irwin who was still busily attempting to raise the nearby dead strayed away from you a bit and he was hit not once, not twice, but by several of them.
  
  You look to the left and see Irwin lying on the ground bleeding to death with probably several vital organs punctured. He's still alive, but he won't be for long.
  
  "Shit." You utter.
  
  As dangerous as it is to try to save Irwin right now, you have to try. You promised Mr. Demar you'd try.
  
  You run over to Irwin whose eyes are watering up and blood is coming from his mouth. He looks so scared right now. Like he realizes that up until now he's not just playing with the dead, he's about to become one with them.
  
  "Oh gods...I'm dying...(gurgle) I don't..." Irwin sputters.
  "You're not dying if I can help it. You'll see Mr. Demar again." You say and begin casting.
  
  Necromancers aren't generally known for healing magic, which has always been amusing to you since it's not that much different than raising the dead. You're just preventing the body from getting to the state when you have to raise it.
  
  Still Irwin's wounds are very severe. He's almost dead, but you begin to focus...
  
  And focus...
  
  "Damn it! Come on!" you mutter before.
  
  It's no use; you can't heal him from wounds this bad. Irwin's eyes roll up into his head and he makes a final gurgling sound before finally dying.
  
  "Fuck!" you exclaim.
  
  You feel a hand on your shoulder causing you to turn around nearly blasting Sebastian in the face.
  
  "Hey! Hold on! Wait! It's just me! We've put down the resistance in this section for now, but I think we better move to a different location, there are undoubtedly more Nuro guards of the magical and regular kind on their way and I'd hate to get surrounded like we almost did this time." Sebastian says.
  "Yeah, I guess. Fuck." You answer, still looking over at Irwin's body.
  "Hey that's not your fault."
  "I know it isn't, but I'm still going to hate having to tell Mr. Demar...wait is that who I think it is?"
  
  You see Azrael with a large horde of undead. At least someone's been doing well in this battle. Figures it would be that lucky fool.
  
  He asks where Irwin is, to which you point at his body. To your minor surprise Azrael raises it from the dead to join his horde. You aren't sure if Mr. Demar would approve or condemn, but you figure you won't have to answer for it either way.
  
  Azrael starts giving you and Sebastian orders like he's suddenly in charge, though his suggestions of him subduing the rest of the fighting force in the city while you both assist at the college isn't a bad idea given Mr. Demar probably could use assistance and nobody knows what's going on with Quayle's time magic.
  
  Since Azrael seems to have confidence in his abilities to take out Nuro's existing fighting force, you and Sebastian allow him to take control of the remainder of your undead and head towards the college.
  
  The college is in ruins even more so than other parts of the city. While the carnage and destruction is hardly surprising, what's more alarming is the fact that you're seeing buildings phase in and out of existence. You're also seeing plants grow and wither at accelerated rates. The eastern side of the college is displaying worse signs of the abnormality, and you're sensing Quayle is over on that side somewhere.
  
  "Shit, this is worse than I thought." Sebastian says.
  "I don't even know what to make of this. Obviously something's gone very wrong with Quayle's spell." You say.
  "Mr. Demar is probably over in the dean's tower if the explosions are any indication, we probably should help him and he can better help with the Quayle situation." Sebastian says.
  "If we don't do something about Quayle now though, there might not even BE a city left."
  
  Sebastian looks really reluctant to go anywhere near where Quayle might be, granted you are as well, but someone has to try to do something about this.
  
  "Sebastian you go assist Mr. Demar, I'll see what's going on with Quayle." You say.
  "What? I really don't think..." Sebastian says before you interrupt him.
  "Just fucking go alright? I'll be fine."
  
  Sebastian looks very reluctant to leave you and once again he looks like he wants to say more to you. Potentially even do more, but he's unsure.
  
  You roll your eyes and grab his hand with your own while patting the top of it with your other hand. He's a little surprised by your physical reassurance.
  
  "If we both survive this, you REALLY need to work on your self-confidence." You say and take your leave.
  
  As you quickly make your way through the eastern side of the college, you realize how damn dangerous this is due to the time holes popping in and out causing severe changes in the landscape. The only good thing about all this is nobody is around to attack you. Everyone is either dead or stayed out of this area.
  
  Still, a little protection might be in order.
  
  > raise the nearby dead
  No reason to let these bodies go to waste. They'll act as your shields. Besides, who knows if this area is entirely deserted, you might need active defenders.
  
  You raise up as many dead bodies as you see in the area and more as you see them heading further east.
  
  You proceed to head east watching the very landscape change around you. It's actually making you feel slightly dizzy. There is one building that isn't changing though. It's a small gray building sitting apart from the others. You don't even remember seeing it before during your time here, but that hardly matters since you're getting a very strong feeling that's where you're going to find Quayle.
  
  You get closer though a few of your zombies undergo drastic changes. The less alarming are the times when they walk into a time hole that accelerates their age turning them into dust.
  
  More interesting are where time reverses and they're living again. Not for long though since they eventually revert even further into embryos then nothing.
  
  Eventually you're within a short walk of entering the gray building, but the disturbances are popping in and out even quicker. You can't readily keep track of where they're located.
  
  Since you're certainly not going to risk walking through an area with a bunch of time holes, you start sending your remaining zombies to try to mark a safe way through. Unfortunately you don't have many left, and you soon run out before you can determine a secure path.
  
  While you're pondering your next move to proceed, you're mildly surprised to see Azrael approaching you again with several more corpses. You're guessing he must have succeeded in quelling the remainder of Nuro resistance. Impressive.
  
  "I see you chose to check on Quayle." Azrael says.
  "Yeah, I think he's in that small gray building over there, the only one that seems to be stable. I can't get to him though, well at least I'm not risking it, I sent some of my troops in there and I watched them either accelerate in rot and disintegrate, or even stranger actually turn back into their living selves until they eventually became babies and then nothing. In fact I'm getting out of here as it only seems to be getting worse. This plan sucks." You reply.
  "Well someone's gotta go in, so I guess I'll do it. I've risked too much already to fail. I suggest you go help Mr. Demar."
  
  Once again Azrael's giving orders like he's in charge. Not that his demanding suggestions aren't unreasonable, especially since you'd rather check Mr. Demar than deal with this time madness anyway. Still, it's a little presumptuous.
  
  "Wow, this whole thing has really made you really authoritative. You've come a long way since Enchantment class." You say.
  "Yeah well I've had a revelation that I'm really good at this necromancy stuff and I won't be denied my career in it before it's truly begun."
  
  Before you can reply, Azrael suddenly grabs you and kisses you on the lips.
  
  You always wondered what your first kiss might be like. Not bad, but he's still crossed a line.
  
  You push Azrael away and slap him in the face. Another time, you might've been more inclined to do more damage, but he's sort of necessary right now.
  
  "What the fuck do you think you're doing?! Just because you're not incompetent at one thing, doesn't automatically mean I'm wet for you!" you exclaim.
  "Well let me show you I'm not incompetent in two things then!" he replies.
  
  There's something inherently so silly about his advances that it's almost amusing. Or it would be any other time, not right now though.
  
  "Ha ha. Maybe later, like next century. Nice try though. But I will go help Mr. Demar seeing as that would be the best course of action for me. Good luck with the time storm there." You respond.
  
  You turn around and leave Azrael to deal with the Quayle situation. Hopefully he has as much focus on dealing with Quayle as he has on watching your ass as you leave.
  
  You head towards campus where various explosions are taking place, there's plenty of dead, though the corpses aren't in the best condition since most are in several pieces. However, you do find one intact corpse.
  
  You see Sebastian lying on the ground not far from administration building. He's got several severe burns and his innards are leaking out of him. He's beyond healing at this point.
  
  "Damn, Sebastian. You probably deserved better." You say and briefly ponder raising him, but decide not to.
  
  You enter the administration building. Smoke, fire and body parts look all around. In the distance you hear shouting followed by magic blasts.
  
  "TRELIK YOU TREACHEROUS BASTARD!" you hear Mr. Demar shout.
  "Ha ha! You're weak old man and I'm taking over this shit!" you hear Trelik shout back.
  
  You can't say you're too surprised that Trelik has betrayed Mr. Demar, though you thought Trelik might at least be smart enough to wait until AFTER securing the city. His arrogance will be his undoing.
  
  You go down a corridor where you think the voices are coming from, turn a corner and nearly run right into Trelik, who is somewhat surprised by your arrival.
  
  "YOU! Good, I could use a recharge!" Trelik says grabbing your wrist and attempts to drain your life force; you feel an immediate effect and drop to your knees.
  
  "See, had you gotten in that position sooner, you might have saved your miserable life!" Trelik laughs.
  
  And there it is, Trelik's arrogance being his undoing. You might be weakened, but you're certainly not defenseless. You mumble a few words turning your hand and part of your arm to bark, this is followed by razor sharp thorns coming out, slicing Trelik's hand enough that he has no choice but to let go.
  
  "BITCH!" he exclaims backing off and clutching his shredded hand. You think you might have even cut off a few bits of his fingers.
  
  Mr. Demar arrives just as you're getting up off the floor. Trelik looks around and sees he's trapped between the pair of you. With only one good hand, he realizes he's not going to win this fight.
  
  "This isn't over!" he shouts and pulls out a small vial in his belt, uncorking it with his teeth downing the contents making him intangible. Trelik then runs through the nearby wall.
  
  Mr. Demar rushes over to you to see if you're okay.
  
  "Catalina, you alright?" Mr. Demar asks.
  "Yeah, just woozy. Fuck, Trelik got away." you respond.
  "We'll have to get him later, my guess though is he's a non-factor for the rest of this battle. Underestimated his arrogance and stupidity though, I guess you were right about that. In any event, what are you doing here? I hope things aren't going badly outside the college too. Where's everyone else?"
  "Sebastian's dead and so is Irwin... my apologies Mr. Demar, I really tried to keep him alive."
  
  Mr. Demar looks down briefly in disappointment, but isn't overly concerned.
  
  "Hm, well the boy surviving this wasn't a certainty. I'm sure you did your best. Is there ANY good news?"
  "Azrael managed to put down the rest of the city's resistance and is currently attempting to handle the time anomalies due to Quayle. I don't know how he's doing on that front though since I came over to help you."
  "Knowing Azrael he'll probably come out of all this unscathed. Hope so because at this point it sounds like most of the Dark Order is dead. In any case, since you're here we need to finish off the remainder of the faculty."
  "Wait, you had Felsa with you, she's dead too?"
  "I'd be surprised if she isn't. When we first engaged the dean, I told her to stay close by even after he retreated. That idiot went chasing after him by herself, I would have followed if only to make sure she didn't get herself killed, but that's when the treacherous bastard Trelik attempted to kill me."
  "Okay, so where's the dean so we can take him out?"
  "He's probably cowering in his office, but I'll be taking care of him, I need you to hunt down a couple of other faculty members that split off from the dean during the initial battle. I don't think they got far since they both were wounded. Still, I don't want any of the senior staff getting away. The more skilled wizards we take out now, the less we have to deal with later."
  "You know where they went?"
  "Pretty sure they'll be trying to make it to conveyance building, it's the closest means of escape without leaving through the city gates. Before that double crossing demon left, I'm fairly certain Velzix destroyed the transport portals there, but it's possible he didn't get all of them or the escapees might even try to salvage together something there to get them out of the city quickly. I'd advise you head there first and show that there is no escape from the Dark Order."
  
  You nod and set out to conveyance building, which isn't that far from the administration building.
  
  You've never really been into conveyance magic. It's actually one of the harder forms to master and if you mess up, you could suddenly find yourself in a brickwall. You practiced it a couple times and it always made you nauseous. Not like you really want to travel long distances anyway.
  
  As you remember, the portal area of the building should be on the ground floor, so they shouldn't be far, though you're hoping they haven't already escaped.
  
  You get closer to your destination and that's when you hear some voices. You cautiously peak around the corner and see two humans, one heavily wounded male on the floor and a less wounded female fumbling around with one of the broken portals. The female looks pregnant.
  
  "I think I can get this working. I just need charge it up and we can probably at least
  teleport to the Brot Kingdom. David! You still with me?" the female says.
  "Huh...yeah yeah, I'm here Maggie. I...just...I dunno..." David responds.
  "Hey! We're gonna get out of this okay? All three of us! We'll get..."
  
  Maggie's attention shifts and sees you enter the room. You can sense fear in her, but she's definitely ready for a fight if she has to.
  
  "You...you're one of Demar's students aren't you? You're a bit younger than the rest I've seen." Maggie says.
  "Still old enough to end the pair of you." You reply.
  "Wait! Look, just let us leave. We're no threat to you. My husband and I aren't even important. Just let us go and we will not cause you any trouble."
  "Perhaps, but I can't take that chance. The best I can offer is to make it quick. Your husband isn't going to make it anyway. I can already sense that's he's near death."
  
  You fully expect her to try to attack next, but she doesn't. Instead she falls to her knees, crawling over to David and holding one hand over her stomach.
  
  "Please! I beg mercy! If not for either of us, then for my child! I swear to all the gods that we will never seek revenge or join any force against you in the future!"
  
  Maggie looks at you with tears in her eyes as she partially holds on to her husband, who looks like he's going to die soon. He's struggling to keep his eyes open, but manages to turn his head towards you and has a slackjaw expression.
  
  It's a rather pitiful sight and then comes the crying.
  
  Which then starts to get very loud very quickly.
  
  "Shit." You say and start to hold your ears. The bitch has cast some sort of sonic scream spell and it's enough to break any sort of concentration you have.
  
  You barely avoid a lightning blast and scramble to duck back behind the entryway for cover.
  
  "Dark art using cunt! Come out coward!" you hear Maggie shout followed by feeling the force of the wall you're hiding behind being hit.
  
  You aren't sure what she's casting, but it's obvious she's not going to let the walls stop her. She's unlikely to come out after you, but at this point she doesn't really need to. You'll have to move soon.
  
  You just aren't sure if you should just attack right now, or wait for an opening.
  
  > Attack
  You're not going to just wait until she blows the walls apart; you step out of cover and begin unleashing your own barrage of offensive spells.
  
  Maggie puts up a magic shield to stop your attacks, but you don't let up, you won't let her get a chance to retaliate.
  
  Eventually you hit her with a blast so strong, it pushes her off balance and her magic shield goes down as she awkwardly attempts to not fall down on her stomach.
  
  You allow yourself a small smile as her concern for her unborn child has put her at a disadvantage, you prepare to finish her off, but you are then suddenly hit by a jolt of lightning. It's not a fatal hit or even one serious enough to cause permanent damage, but it knocks you to the ground.
  
  David, who wasn't quite dead yet, managed to unleash one last attack of his own to help his wife. He sees you fall and then collapses back into unconsciousness for the last time.
  
  You attempt to get back up but this distraction was all Maggie needed to recover and now you're no longer in cover.
  
  You feel a great force, which slams you into a nearby wall. You hit your head hard enough that your vision is blurry. You attempt to put up a magic shield of your own, but you don't get the chance. Another great force hits you. This time it feels like your skull and bones being crushed against the wall and then everything goes black.
  
  You look around and find yourself back in the present, whatever that means in a place like this.
  
  Well that's definitely not how that battle went. Though it certainly could have given that it only takes one wrong decision to get yourself killed in combat.
  
  After a bit of reflection on what just happened, you realize you'll have to try again to reconnect later. When will that be? You never can tell.
  
  But it'll happen again. You'll reunite with your beloved.
  
  It's only a matter of time.