Quentin feverishly flipped through a book on shape shifting as Julia paced around him.
"There has to be something in here that can help us," he lamented.
"What if we didn't actually change ourselves into owls?" Eliot asked. "What if we created an illusion instead?"
"All I know, is that this thing, The Beast has a head full of freaking moths and what eats moths? Owls." Quentin seemed frantic.
"Okay, Q, let's gather ourselves here." Julia stopped pacing and sat next to Quentin. "Lots of animals eat moths. Bats, birds, frogs, spiders, we can't count on any one thing to work against The Beast. Besides, I'm guessing the moths are just a shroud, I mean, he is part human, or human-ish, isn't he?"
"Julia's right," Margot began, "besides, turning myself into an Owl is so last season." She winked at Eliot and they chuckled.
"Okay, I have no idea how you guys can laugh at a time like this, but unfortunately you have a good point. What the hell else can we do?"
A light bulb flashed over Eliot's head.
"Cute spell, Eliot, does that mean you have an idea?" Julia smirked.
"No, miss snitchy, that IS the idea."
"What?" Quentin looked up.
"Okay," Eliot rose to his feet for the drama of his audience. "So, it might sound silly, but moths are unequivocally drawn to..." He snapped his fingers and another glowing bulb appeared, "...Light! Even if The Beast's whacko head of moths is just some weird spell, they act like real moths, as we saw when he attacked Dean, right?"
"Right," Penny joined in.
"Then we can use a giant light bulb to at least distract the moths while we use battle magic against the monster underneath." Eliot finished his theory.
"Why not?" Penny shrugged, looking at the others. "What, you got a better idea?"
"I guess not," murmured Quentin.
"This didn't work out the way we planned, did it?" Julia struggled to talk as she looked over at Quentin's smoking body.
"I guess not," he wheezed, "I love you, Jules."
"I love you, Q."
"Best friends," he reached out his hand.
"Forever." She barely touched his before her last breath gave out.
The Beast had obliterated them all.
He burst forth into the classroom in the middle of a lesson, his head of moths wildly spinning. The five students burst into action, conjuring their light bulb spell while the other students cowered under their desks. The professor had been disabled first, slashed at the femoral artery with a cutting spell. Eliot created the white static light bulb with his hands, using Quentin as a support guide, while Julia, Penny and Margot attacked The Beast with battle spells. The moths fluttered towards Eliot, for a moment.
"Pathetic," The Beast condescended. And he was right. They were completely out of their league.
The Beast grabbed hold of Eliot's light bulb and burst it, exploding sparks and glass shrapnel all over the classroom. He used the electricity generated as his own weapon, striking down the students with bolts of lightning, cackling in laughter all the while.
They didn't stand a chance.
