Soul of a Human

Soon after Saphine and Clare were brought to the gathering hall, the teachers brought in more students. The healing adepts did what they could, and in a feat of monumental magic power, all the students brought were also saved. What was not communicated to the students was that not every missing student had been found, and a lot were still missing without hope of being found alive.

After Saphine was released from the healer's attention, her unconscious form was brought to Orth, Clare, and Mor. The three friends used the boys' loaned blankets to make Saphine more comfortable. They marveled at their luck, that everyone in their little group was still alive.

..........

The headmaster was gathering his little group for a last pass in the hope of finding a few students they had missed when they heard the silent splat splat of footsteps and a voice.

"Hello, hello. Amethyne~" The entity smiled broadly. "Just the one I was looking for." It giggled.

The headmaster turned around. "Mister Ruby, why?" he asked.

"Hhheadmaster... help... please." The now Ranbor thing croaked.

"Shhh... Stay quiet. The adults are talking." The entity shushed.

The headmaster stared in disgust at this creature, and with a simple nod, he telepathically conveyed his plan to his strike team.

"We need to capture it! We might be able to reverse whatever Ranbor has done to himself." He conveyed

"I'm against this. We need to put it down." Magnesitor disagreed.

"I'm with the headmaster," Amtis said.

"I can hear you ~" The entity interrupted their telepathic communication.

It started to laugh eerily.

"It's very naughty to exclude someone you are speaking to." It continued.

"What are you?" The headmaster asked, giving an almost unnoticeable nod to Malachy, who was already shuffling over.

Malachy acted fast, catching the entity in a stony grasp and leaving only its head free, just as Amethyne created a sphere of vacuum around this stony prison.

The entity laughed silently, stopping after a second and saying something. Then it got annoyed that no one could hear it, its stolen body slowly running out of air.

The headmaster smiled, giving a grateful nod to Malachy.

"Good job, it was easier than expected. Now we just need to keep this up until it passes out."

Malachy nodded and answered. "No problem."

But just as they let their attention slip for a heartbeat, the eyes of the entity lit up, and Malachy burst into flames, letting out a silent scream of pain and agony until a moment later, his charred ruin of a body crumpled to the floor. The shocked silence was deafening as the entity continued to laugh silently in its prison.

The shock broke the headmaster's concentration, and air rushed back to the entity.

"That was not nice." It said.

"Though I need to applaud you, depriving me of air was a good idea. Well, it would have been if I needed air at all." It cackled.

It looked at the others of the strike team and smiled. Amtis flinched at the piercing gaze while the others tried to stay calm.

"Now, who's next? ~" The entity asked sweetly.

The headmaster again moved first, now supported by the remaining six. Everyone unleashed a stream of water magic, cutting, drowning, and battering the stationary creature. This barrage of attacks generated an obscuring wall of steam, and while four of them kept up the pressure, the headmaster and Sugilty combined their power, creating a lance of ice and hurling it into the fray.

The strike team was rewarded with a pained scream of pure fury, followed by an exploding wave of steam and heat, tumbling them around. The entity walked out of the carnage, grimacing, with the melting lance of ice lodged in its body.

"You are DEAD!" It raged.

"I wanted to save you for last, Amethyne! I wanted to be polite and show my thanks because, without your limiter, I might have never amassed enough power to completely take over! But that's over now! You hurt me!" it continued to wail.

As the teachers tried to get back on their feet after being thrown down, the entity fixed Amtis with its fiery gaze. She just had enough time to throw up a defense of water, but because no one was able to support her, it got broken a heartbeat later. With this, the second member of the strike team was incinerated and turned into ash.

Any trace of amusement was wiped from the entity's face, replaced with a hateful expression. It walked slowly to where the headmaster had fallen, flames generating in its hands, forming long whips of licking heat. It cracked its flaming whips across Sugilty's face as she tried to buy her colleagues time to get back in the fight. Inflicting a gnarling burn scar across Sugilty's formerly unmarred face and dropping her in a cry of pain.

Amethyne scrambled back to his feet, reengaging with a barrage of vacuum slices, but this would be no more than a distraction, and that was all it was meant to be. He just wanted to give the remaining teachers enough time to disengage and get away. This thing was too much for their power. They would need more mages.

The remaining teachers got up, Hematon limping over to Sugilty, trying to help her. The others were getting ready to rejoin the battle. The headmaster recognized this error and shouted a warning.

"Get away! Get help!" he ordered, stunning the teachers into indecision, which would cost them dearly. Hematon was first to react, trying to get Sugilty to safety. This, in turn, drew the entity's attention to the fleeing woman. With a double lash, both fire whips caught around both of their necks and with an audible snap, the entity pulled back, snapping both their necks in the process.

This, in turn, enraged the remaining combatants, and they redoubled their efforts. However, with the entity's countering barrage, they didn't find enough time to use their most effective ice attack anymore. So they just did what they could. The teachers tried everything, and a few of their attacks had an effect. They wounded "Ranbor's" body, weakening the entity, but as one after another ran out of energy and, in turn, was burned to a crisp, the victor was set.

The headmaster, the last alive of his entourage, fell to his knees into the dust that was once his colleagues, looking up at the Ranbor thing in defiance. It, in turn, cocked its head, the broad smile returning to its face.

"Seems I was too much for you. Funny how this all fell together. You burned out before me!~" It said.

"Now, my dear friend, tell me. Where are the others?" It asked, the headmaster silently shaking his head in defiance.

"Oh! I know. Every time I have to ask, I will hurt you," the entity said like it had the best idea ever.

The headmaster's eyes opened in panic as the hand of the entity was placed on his chest, burning a hand-shaped wound through his robes and onto his skin. He screamed in pain, still not telling anything. But the entity now had time and patience. It would get the information, and if the headmaster croaked before that, it would just have to go look. Right now, it wanted to enjoy inflicting pain.

..........

Sometime after the last student was dropped off, a wounded student brought in a badly burnt figure. The adepts instantly wanted to help, but something in the student's gaze held them back. Maybe it was the eyes burning like wildfire or the smile broader than what should have been possible.

"Look what I found~" The student was saying.

"Now, now, where is my good friend? Saphine!~" Ranbor continued.

"We have something to settle before I fulfill my heart's desires!"