<div class="floatleft">(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EuCNP5gWgAY1JRO.jpg)</div>There were many things Talia was often expected to do. Kill ghouls, exorcise spirits, and even hunt for the nasty creatures that lingered in the dark woods around Oakthorne City. It was her job, after all, she was a huntress. So why, why in Spirit’s name was she acting as an honor guard for the mayor’s wife? For a seance of all things! There were many things one could do to summon spirits and demons, summoning circles, occult rituals even blood sacrifice at a crossroads. However, the one thing that never, never worked were fucking seances. It was pretty much a fancy social gathering for bored wealthy women, and there were so many here.<br/><br/>In the past hour, she’d been forced to endure introduction to over 20 women of the upper class. Some had even come from other cities just to participate. The hostess was a famed witch of some sort of another…supposedly. So far no one she’d run into had set off alarm bells or activated the protective rune necklace she wore. They were just…women regular women and it was maddening. The whole thing wasn’t even set to begin for another hour and if she was forced to make small talk with one more noble she was going to hurl her fucking sword at the wall. This was a waste of her talents and a waste of her time, as one of the better huntresses out of the academy she was supposed to be out in the woods hunting wraiths, not babysitting nobles.<br/><br/>Blowing a strand of red/orange hair out her face she pushed off from the wall where she was stationed and slowly edged her way around the sitting room. There were a handful of other huntresses here, all novices, all more than happy to entertain the nobles with tales of their rather minor exploits. “I’m checking outside for anything,” she informed one who nodded and shifted her focus to the mayor’s wife so she was not without protection. “If anything happens in here, use the horn yeah?” another nod followed by a salute and Talia walked away her footsteps silent on the plush carpeting.<br/><br/>Just as she was about to step out a bell rang and the chatter immediately quieted. A strange current traveled up Talia’s spine and she raised an eyebrow before turning her attention to the staircase. A veiled woman dressed in deep plum slowly descended, oh…oh no that was an actual witch, she could see her eyes glowing faintly behind the veil. Slowly she approached the mayor’s wife and tapped her shoulder. “Ma’am we need to leave, this is not something that will end well if you continue.” but the woman did not respond, instead her eyes were focused on the woman as she reached the final step. “Oh calm down Huntress Talia.” the older woman muttered. “It’s just a bit of fun.” yeah a bit of fun that was not going to end well if the witch couldn’t keep control of what she summoned.<br/><br/>With a sigh, she stationed herself against the wall and watched as the women took their seats. Hopefully, this was just a smoke and mirrors thing, with no actual magic involved. As she watched it seemed that…for the moment that was all it was. A little sleight of hand to keep the nobles entertained but as the seance progressed she could feel the energy start to shift. It went from light to heavy and syrupy like molasses tricking down the back of her throat, the sweetness was quickly followed by the taste of sulfur. “Fuck she’s summoning a demon! Huntresses ready yourselves.” Running foreward she jerked the mayor’s wife out of the seance ring and practically shoved her out of the main door. The rest of the group did the same, but the witch was too far into it to be stopped safely. Talia was going to have to kill her quickly because she could feel the energy reach its peak state. The demon was going to manifest soon. Running forwards she drew her sword but she never made it to the witch because the energy coalesced around her and exploded outwards throwing both her and the other huntress’s back. Her head hit the wall and she winced. Standing she ran again and just as another burst of energy threatened to hit she struck, thrusting her sword deep into the witch’s heart. As she did though, something black flickered out of the witch’s shadow and drifted into hers and she failed to notice it. She had not stopped the caster soon enough.