The Orb And The Onslaught {COMPLETE}

lliH ehT revO

It was the man from Cresswell, the one who had been grappling with the firefighters in the corridor. What was he doing there? In the same place as them and arriving at just the right time? Florence had a mountain of questions but Gladys was her first priority.

    The man was now leaning over the creature and the cats moved back for him, their fur was raised and they looked ready to attack the creature. Florence didn't know what to think of this man when the cats didn't react to him. But she watched him closely, walking stick at the ready. Though she didn't understand anything that was happening, she would be ready if he tried anything funny.

    All of a sudden a shrill screech came from the direction of the creature, despite having no visible mouth. It began to tremble violently on the ground, the man's hands were hovering half a foot above it. Florence could only assume he was using magik, there was no other explanation. The creature was moving so much it was almost a blur and then came a piercing cry that none of them would forget in a hurry.

    "We are more, we are coming!"

And then it imploded on the spot, leaving nothing but a black smudge on the hard wood floor. Florence, Quentin and Gladys were momentarily stunned, much to the amusement of the stranger. Florence quickly snapped out of it, she had a fair few questions she needed to ask before anything else happened.

    The man must have known because he held a hand up to her before she could utter a word and moved across the room to Gladys. Florence followed him and she was relieved to see that Gladys was already looking much better, the results were instantaneous. The stranger checked her over anyway, citing that they couldn't be certain how bad the effects had been.

    When he appeared to be satisfied, he straightened up and turned to Florence expectantly.

"I suppose you'd like to interrogate me now." His tone gave nothing away of what he thought, he wasn't even a little fazed by what he'd just done.

    Florence was about to answer when Gladys held a hand up.

"I need to know, the Ozur has gone hasn't it? It's not going to just reappear when you leave?"

    Gladys's expression was filled with a heart wrenching fear and worry.

"I swear to you it is dead, it won't return here ever again, but I suggest fortifying your home with Redyvine. Since this was its first stop from Othon and if there are others coming, they will undoubtedly be coming from there to here as well."

    Florence's eyes widened briefly and she peered at Quentin, who was too busy staring at the black smudge to have heard the man.

"Why would they be coming from Othon and stopping off here? And how do you know that anyway? Just, who are you?"

    The stranger was watching Florence again, a flicker of amusement crossed his features. He looked around forty or fifty, his black hair flecked with grey but his face was wrinkle free. His eyes were so dark they looked black. His dull clothes were unfamiliar to Florence and the blue cloak was fancier than any she'd seen before.

    "I am... a traveller, a messenger, A fountain of knowledge, if you will. I am known by many names. All you need to know is that the Onslaught is here and you must go to the scroll coordinates."

    A familiar looking scroll appeared in his hand, tied with a familiar blue ribbon. He placed it on a side table behind him and before Florence could utter a sound, he disappeared with a wide smirk on his lips.

    Florence growled in frustration, she snatched up the scroll and opened it to see the exact same words that had been written on the last one.