The pathways this time of the year a delight to see. The vibrant green grass shines in the sunlight, flowers are in full bloom, and there are even little creatures running about now that the harshness of winter is long gone. If you're in need of a study break or want to procrastinate, a stroll through the pathways is definitely in order.

After making your way to the heart of the pathways, something shiny catches your eye. A gold coin lies on the ground. If you look at it closely, you will notice that it is quite old. You may begin to wonder how the coin wound up there, but no clear answer is available. What is clear, though, is that this isn't the only coin strewn about. Another few coins can be seen in the distance, nestled in the grass off the pathway. Beyond that, next to a burrow near the edge of the forest, lies another pair of coins.

Dare you follow the trail and do some collecting? Or do you think it is best to leave the coins be?

Out for a quick study break, Emmalyn roamed the pathways, trying to clear her mind and body of the stress of exams soon to come. Her step was light and she almost didn't see the little coin on the ground near her left foot. She stood a moment, wondering if another student had just dropped it, but her glance around found her alone. She reached down and picked up the little coin, turning it over and over in her hands. "Where did you come from?"

She once again looked up to see if another student was around, but a glitter of gold just off the path caught her eye once more. "Oh, there are more. How strange." Her curiosity, as usual, got the better of her, and she started off towards the coins, following them towards the edge of the forest, collecting all she found...

Did the Gnomesies hear foot steps outside of their burrow????

NO. NO. NO.

This they could not have! The biggest, fattest, bravest little Gnome poked its head outside of it's burrow just far enough that you couldn't see it, but it could see you! They were free Gnomes! Why was this hoooooooooman trying to wreck his home? They weren't in any hooooooooooman garden! The bravest Gnome was going to teach this hooooooooooooooooooooman some manners! This hooman was not taking his pretties!

When the girly hooooooman (Emmalyn) wasn't looking, the brave little potato head jumped out of his burrow with a war cry, that sounded more like a burp, and start to kick at her left foot before biting her ankle.

THAT WOULD SHOW THAT HOOOOMAN!

Startled by a loud burping? sound, Emmalyn whipped around just in time to see a little gnome appear. It started kicking her then biting her. "OUCH! No, get off of me!" She screamed as she fumbled for her wand. She hand't expected to be attacked on Hogwarts grounds, and wasn't ready to defend herself.

With her pocket full of gold coins forgotten, she tried with all her mite to free her left leg from the gnome as her hands continued to search her pockets for her wand. At last her fingers wrapped around the handle and she pulled her wand free from her robes.

"Stop it! Please stop! You are hurting me!" Tears were streaming down her face as she desperately tried to think of what to do to get the gnome off her leg. A spell finally came to mind and she pointed her wand at the gnome and shouted "FLIPENDO!" then immediately pointed her wand to the sky to cast green sparks to hopefully call for help. She had no idea where the gnome had come from and was fearful there would be more.

Noble had ventured out on to the grounds to visit Haruldur, and wasn't too far from the eccentric man's door when he heard that shouting. He perhaps wouldn't have thought much of it, teenagers prone to raising their voices to unbearable pitches when outside, until he turned his head in that direction and saw green sparks fly up too. He changed his course now, a scowl on his face as he unholstered his wand. So close to the edge of the forest, it was better to be safe than sorry. Even if it was probably just an unfortunate prank

...admittedly, he was a little surprised to see a flustered Emmalyn Walsh on his arrival. The usually shy Hufflepuff was not someone he would have thought to choose the edge of the forest to explore. It took a moment to realise what was the cause of her floundering, and Noble raised his wand. "Irretio!" He circled his wrist and flicked his wand up at the gnome, casting the ensnarement charm. He'd rather not risk hitting the Hufflepuff that was already scared of him with anything too much worse.

Only moments after casting the green sparks into the air and attempting to removed the biting gnome from her left ankle, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Fearful of another attacker, she once again pointed her wand and started to command another defense spell, but stopped just before casting it when she noticed it was a professor. Professor Noble to be exact.

The next few moments were a blur. He spoke much quicker than she could comprehend and suddenly vines and other greenery started wrapping themselves around the area of the gnome. She shook her foot with all her might and broke free just before the vines were able to take hold of her as well.

With her heart still pounding, she stumbled a few steps back and stared, wide eyed, at Professor Noble. What in Merlin's beard had just happened? Her ankle was throbbing where the gnome had bitten her and she looked down to see blood soaking through her sock. "No" she whispered as her legs went wobbly and the ground seemed to suddenly shift to the right.

She was on the ground before she could utter another word. Fully dazed from the ordeal, she could do no more than stare at the fuzzy edged objects before her and wait for the panic to subside.

No this was becoming a funsie! The brave potato head kept kicking and biting at the girlie's left ankle. But when the hoooooooooooman pulled out her wand and cast a spell he JUMPPPPPPPPEDDDDDDDDDDD out of the way!

OH NO. NO. NO.

The brave little Gnome blew a raspberry at the girl and began kicking and biting her again. She was NOTTTTTT taking his GOLDIES!!!!!


Another BIGGGGGGERRR HOOOOOMAN! Oh, boy! It was just not the brave, fatty, Gnome's day. He tried to run from the next spell but was soon caught up in all the vines the GIANT HOOOOOOOOMAN sent at his potato-headness.

The little guy started thrashing about and screaming, "Gerroff me," and many curse words that would not be appropriate for anyone to hear, let alone a little girl.


When the GIRLY HOOOOOOOOOMAN went crashing to the ground the Gnome went silent for a moment, before pointing his finger and laughing hysterically. Maybe this was a good day after all.

HE STILL WANTED HIS GOLDIES BACK! HE FOUND THEM FIRST!

Violin music? This piqued her interest. Other than herself, Quinn really hadn't heard anyone else play the violin at Hogwarts. Not outside the music room at least. Whoever it was, was clearly on the newer side, but had some talent that practice would hone.

Quinn let herself be drawn to the music, curious to see who it was playing. She rounded the turn in the pathways and stopped. Of course it would be the person she was dreading seeing the most. Wasn't that the epitome of her luck?

"Em...Hi, Rylee." She shifted awkwardly, unable to bring herself to look Reese's sister in the eye. The older Gryffindor probably hated her. "It sounds, em...it sounds great. How long have you been playing?"

After about a minute of being dazed on the ground, Emmalyn's panic level finally subsided enough for her to focus on what was happening. She could see Professor Noble, which oddly eased her panic even more, and the gnome? (she needed to take a good look at her COMC book to be certain) was now entangled in vines.

Seeing that she wasn't any longer in immediate danger, she slowly sat up and inspected her bitten ankle. Her initial assessment, before collapsing to the ground, was she had been left with no more than a bloody stump. However, upon further inspection, her ankle was only littered with tiny puncture wounds. None of which seemed life threatening and most likely required no more than a band-aid.

"Professor Noble, sir, that creature attacked me." She pointed to the Gnome, who seemed to be getting a big kick out of her being on the ground. "Wait, YOU saved me? You came. I sent the sparks up and you came." A small smile spread across her still bewildered face. It went against everything she thought to be true of Professor Noble. She had been almost certain the man hated her and only put up with her in class because he had to.

It was only when she started to get up off the ground that she remembered her pocket full of coins. She wondered if she should tell him about the coins, or wait until she got back to the castle and tell her Head of House.

It took a few moments to close the distance to Emmalyn, his gaze primarily on the gnome and the vine he'd conjured, wand raised in case he needed to add reinforcements. It seemed that his spell had landed well enough though, and he turned his attention to the Hufflepuff now, having somewhat missed her collapsing in the meantime. She'd already calmed down as he approached and crouched down beside her.

"The common garden gnome, Gernumbli gardensi," he replied with a nod. "Usually only a pest, but the ones around Hogwarts seem quite territorial." He eyed the gnome flailing against the vines a moment, a growing urge to silence it. He guessed it had the Hogwarts older student population to thank for teaching it that kind of grotesque language. He pursed his lips, toying with the idea, before opting against it as Emmalyn spoke again.

He turned to look at her properly now, a hint of amusement playing on his lips. "You sound surprised." And she looked it too. She needn't be though, he had a duty of care to his students. He was a father too, even if his little girl wasn't so little anymore. "I was headed to see Professor Baldvinsson when I saw your sparks...seems like I came at just the right time. They're stubborn little blighters if you don't know her to deal with them properly. Rude too." He shot the gnome a stern look at the laughter erupting from it at the young Hufflepuff's misfortune. "How's your ankle looking?" He didn't have any medical supplies on him, but it wasn't too far to either Haruldur's or Paul's offices if needs be.

"I'm guessing you haven't covered de-gnoming yet in Care of Magical Creatures?"

Over and over again she played the same note, until she was absolutely positive she was playing it correctly each and every time. Then onto the next note she went. It was extremely repetitive but this was how she was going to learn to play. Start small and work through it. Just like dancing and quidditch. If she couldn’t focus on just one note she wouldn’t be able to play a full song.

It was about the time she had reached the third note that someone greeted her by name. The voice only was enough to make her want to get up and walk away. Quinn. Of all the people that could have happened upon her and her terrible violin playing it had to be her. What had she done to the universe to deserve this?

For several moments Rylee said nothing. Her mind racing, trying to find a way out of talking. She could ignore her or tell her to go away but this was Reese’s girlfriend. All she needed now was more reason to drive her brother away sooner. And it was just Quinn that she was upset with lately… it was everything.

“Hello, Quinn,” Rylee finally managed by way of greeting. Her blue eyes focused solely on the violin in her hands. “Mm… it doesn’t but it’s better than it has been.” No sense in lying about how her playing sounded. “A few weeks.” Not very long at all.

Gosh this was awkward. Probably even worse than their first encounter on the train and every other time after that until they had figured things out and became friends. That was before though, now she had no idea what they were.

Oh, there was no doubt in Quinn's mind now. Rylee Prichard hated her. She could feel the ice under Rylee's short, all to cordial replies, so cold it would probably rival the Northern Norwegian winter Quinn would be experiencing the next six years. At first Quinn didn't respond, she just stood there, mouth gaping as she tried to figure out whatever magic words she could say to fix this...but there weren't any, were there?

"I'm sorry," she whispered finally, collapsing dejectedly onto a nearby stump. It stung. It really stung. Despite the fact the two started off not liking each other, Rylee had become a good friend to her, and Quinn had messed it up already. "You hate me..." It wasn't a question. "I get it. I do. And I'm really sorry. I just....I don't know how to make things right. I never do..."

The silence that hung in the air between them though brief felt like forever. Rylee disliked silence. It was boring and boring just didn't suit her. There was clearly friction between her and Quinn. She herself was part of the reason and she knew that. She wasn't trying to come off as mean, that wasn't how she was, anyone knew that but she didn't know what to say.

Rylee very carefully laid her violin and bow back into it's purple case. She didn't much feel up to playing anymore. Nor did she really want an apology from the younger girl. Sorry wasn't going to work... but maybe it was a start. In her eyes it was Quinn's fault, if she didn't leave than neither would Reese. It was that simple, only it wasn't. Nothing was going to change her brothers mind once he had decided something.. not even her and she wasn't going to beg, cry or make a scene. Not today. What was done was done.

"Nothing will make it right. You're going to do what's best for you and he's going to follow because that's how he is." The protector, the sweet badger that he was. "He's made up his mind and no one can change it." Only time would make things better. "I don't hate you... I never hate anyone." Dislike yes. Hate no. Did she dislike Quinn. Yes, at one time she truly did but that had been because the girl had disliked her. She didn't feel that way anymore, over time they had become friends and that's partly why she felt so annoyed by it all.

"I'm not angry. The anger didn't last long." She was being honest. When she had first been told she had been furious. Seconds later that changed and she had been in tears. It was like her first year was going to be repeating itself all over again soon and not because it wasn't time for one of them to attend Hogwarts, but because one had chosen to go somewhere else. It was something she was going to have to get used to.

Rylee's words were like a dagger twisting in her gut. Quinn looked away and wiped away the tears welling in her eyes. There was nothing to say to counter Rylee's words, and they both knew it. Everything said had been the truth. Except the part about not hating her. Oh, Quinn knew Rylee didn't "hate," but it was obvious that Rylee felt as close to it as possible where Quinn was now concerned, and that was the equivalent of hate for Rylee. She had to feel that way. How could she not? Quinn had promised her she wasn't going to take Reese away from her, and now she's essentially broken that promise.

"I never asked him to come with you know? He choose that and..." She sighed, knowing that wasn't going to help.

Why did it always have to be this way? Why was it that for everyone else to be happy, Quinn had to be miserable. Deep down the old wish she'd never been born was beginning to stir again. Everything would, it seemed once again, be better had she simply not existed in the first place to mess things up.

That was part of it though, part of her decision. She needed to escape, everything, and start over somewhere new, free from herself, and her life, and everything she screwed up.

Quinn sat there, letting the silence linger as she struggled to find words to explain everything. "You're right. I'm sorry. I should have just kept my mouth shut and run away without saying anything, like I originally planned..." But she hadn't and now because of it, she'd broken a promise and Rylee was right to hat...to feel the way she did about Quinn.

She stood suddenly, not waiting for a response, and turned to leave.

Professor Noble was crouching at her side, and he didn't appear to be angry with her. She hadn't meant to get so close to the forest or to the Gnomes. In fact, she hand't even known the Gnomes were out there. "That one was rather upset with me. I didn't mean to intrude on his territory. And, I agree that they are quite rude." She surveyed her ankle once again, making sure there wasn't some sort of strange gnome poison on her that would infect her. She made another quick mental note to read more about garden gnomes.

Emmalyn smiled back at the professors statement. She really had been surprised that it was he who saved her. "I'm sorry I distracted you from your meeting with Professor Baldvinsson, but I'm truly grateful you came to my rescue." She hopped up and tested her weight on her left leg. "It seems to be only minor flesh wounds, not bad ones at all. A good wash and some bandages will have it healed up in no time." She tried to keep the cringe out of her smile as she thought about the stinging that was soon to come when she had to wash all the little puncture wounds.

She stood a moment, contemplating what to do next. For the first time in almost two years, she felt like she could trust Professor Noble, and she was having trouble processing it. "Sir?" She paused as she looked into his eyes. "Sir, I have to tell you. I found these." She fished a handful of gold coins out of her pocket. "They were next to the path and lead me all the way out here." She tried to read his face and determine if he would be upset with her for picking up an unknown object off the grounds. They were obviously not dropped by a student.

Rylee hadn’t meant to hurt Quinn with her honesty but she wasn’t about to lie to the girl either. Nothing good would come from lying nor would anything good come from her trying to ignore the situation. As much as she wanted to push it from her mind and act like it wasn’t going to happen that only lasted so long. Each day that passed bringing them closer to the end of the term was one day closer to the start of next term. There was no going back and no way to change it.

“I know. He told me. We spoke about it.” They had spoken for hours each saying what they had needed to say. Everything had gotten out into the open and though she understood why Reese felt the need to follow Quinn it didn’t make it any easier.

Words were hard. Feelings were harder. Rylee never had any trouble expressing her own happiness or excitement but when it came to being angry or upset, those were emotions she had trouble with. People weren’t used to seeing her that way, therefore she tried her hardest to hide it anytime she did. Which in turn made it tough to talk about and words generally failed her making it seem like she as being rude or much more angry than she really was.

This silence needed to stop, it made her feel so uneasy. It once again felt like an eternity until Quinn spoke up. The younger girls words making her cringe. “No you shouldn’t have. That would have hurt a lot of people… my brother included. He most definitely would have went with you and something could have happened to the two of you.” Did she not understand how dangerous running away was?!

And then Quinn was walking away. What the heck?! Rylee sighed running a hand through her long ginger locks. A part of her wanted to let Quinn leave but another stronger part of her wanted to get up, grab her and pull her into a tight hug. Something had to be done before things got worse and none of this would be able to be fixed. “Quinn? Sit down... “ she called to her letting out a breath. “Walking away doesn’t help. It only makes things worse.” So did keeping things bottled up inside and not talking about them. This was a lesson she was still learning herself.

There had to be something they could do to make this easier on them all.

"MEAAAAAAAAN HOOOOOOMAAAAAAAAAANSSSSSSSSSS!" Screamed the flailing bravest potato head. As the too meany hoomans spoke he thrashed around his vine cage trying to find a way out. He was pretty close to his burrow....maybe he could dig?

The little potato dumpling started digging as best as he could, and soon enough he dug himself a hole. With a cackle he popped his head up out of the hole, screamed some very profane things, blew a raspberry and retreated to his burrow.


GOLDIES WAS NOT WORTH CAGINGS!

"Oh, I'm sure Professor Baldvinsson won't mind." The Icelandic man was always late, the opposite to his own need for punctuality, so he rather suspected that Haraldur wouldn't have even noticed his absence. He watched her look over the wounds, standing up himself as she tested her weight on it. All was looking promising, and he assumed she'd be on her way shortly. "Are you alright to go back to the castle yourself?" he asked. He would accompany if needed, but he figured that might not be something she wanted. As for the aftercare...it seemed like she had a sensible head on those shoulders. "Gnome saliva isn't poisonous, but do go seeing Healer Macmillan if you notice anything out of the ordinary over the next few days."

Noble grumbled as movement caught his attention, and the gnome burrowed downwards and escaped. However, he felt no need to go after it. He doubted it'd be coming back any time soon, and quite frankly, it wasn't the first living thing at this castle to call him mean. Far from it. He started to reholster his wand, before turning back to Emmalyn at that 'Sir'. "Yes?" His brow furrowed, which turned into a full frown as he saw those coins. Coins like those from the hoard. There was no way they could be out here. The museum had put strong safe guards on the exhibition by the Great Hall.

"By the path?" Noble levitated one from her hand for a closer look. "A trail of them, you said? Where exactly did it start?"

It was a relief to hear him confirm that the gnomes were not poisonous. "Yes, I'm fine to get back to the castle and I'll have it looked at if anything looks off." She was sure it would be just fine, but the reminder that she could visit the healer put her mind even more at ease.

Her head spun towards the direction of the gnome and her jaw dropped at the words coming from its mouth. She had heard most of the words before, but the little gnome had a few new ones that made her blush. She wondered how the creature had learned such words from living on Hogwarts grounds.

Thankfully, or not, Professor Noble refocused her attention by asking about the coins. "Yes, by the path." She answered as one of the coins lifted from her hand for him to inspect. "The trail started about fifty meters that way." Her right hand pointed up towards the paths, near the smallest tree by the path. "I followed the coins down to here, picking up one every few meters or so." Her eyes traveled along the path she took to where they were, looking to see if she had missed any along the way. "They seemed to stop right before the forest. Well, I think they stopped. I couldn't see any more and I wasn't about to step foot in there to take a closer look."

The skeletal figures move surprisingly fast, away from the fire and crowd of people, using the pathways of the school grounds to navigate further. Long corpse like fingers slowly curl around branches to move past them. The horde of bony creatures drag themselves through the vegetation with their already torn attire further shredding on the bushes. Some have their mouths gaping open, chins dropped down to their bony chest, all with white lifeless eyes and all moving in the same direction as they push on, seemingly unstoppable.

The silhouettes of what appears to be ancient Viking helmets are gradually more difficult to notice due to the night air settling around them. A revolting stench linger around them as they move forward, away from the fire, light and resistance by the lake and towards the cold, dark safety of the pathways.

And then onwards... Onwards...

He had needed some time to himself and his thoughts, though TIME was hard to come by these days with everything he had stacked on his plate. While all the distractions were a blessing in that he didn't have to THINK too much...it also wasn't allowing him TO think and thus the vicious spiral of Hufflepuff angst continued.

So the fifth year was sitting off to the side, idly twirling the coin he had collected from the under the lake adventure all the way at the start of term between his fingers and sort of just....zoning out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by INFERI!

The skeletal figures move surprisingly fast, away from the fire and crowd of people, using the pathways of the school grounds to navigate further. Long corpse like fingers slowly curl around branches to move past them. The horde of bony creatures drag themselves through the vegetation with their already torn attire further shredding on the bushes. Some have their mouths gaping open, chins dropped down to their bony chest, all with white lifeless eyes and all moving in the same direction as they push on, seemingly unstoppable.

The silhouettes of what appears to be ancient Viking helmets are gradually more difficult to notice due to the night air settling around them. A revolting stench linger around them as they move forward, away from the fire, light and resistance by the lake and towards the cold, dark safety of the pathways.

And then onwards... Onwards...

He was accustomed to all the night time noises, typically a nocturnal creature or two scattering about in the night, so all the rustling in the bushes and such did not unnerve him at all. In fact, it was a bit comforting to think himself surrounded by creatures at this moment. Alone but not really alone.

That is....until the stench reached his nostrils.

Oblivious to the chaos that had ensued down at the lake - the distance and foliage enough to block out the noise and light from the flames - Derf leaped to his feet and stood in the middle of the path, his coin now clenched between his fist as he peered into the darkness. He knew this smell to a certain degree thanks to a certain Ravenclaw and her approved studies that, well, he still couldn't believe had been approved and WHY Hogwarts staff would approve Necromancy to be studied within it's walls...but he and Jessa had come to a mutual understanding of silence on the subject. He knew she wasn't hurting anyone or being malicious, the studying being a focus more on the cycle of life and death, so that was that.

But this smell...it was stronger than anything he had encountered before. This wasn't just one dead kneazle coming...

And then he heard the clanking of metal and his hand dove into his pocket for his wand, thrusting it out in front of him and - thankfully - his reflexes kicking in to take on a defensive sort of dueling stance as he remained on the balls of his feet, ready to move and act...

..........he couldn't POSSIBLY have been right when he had gone about his cave spiraling and conspiracy theory...could he?

This was just, you know, one of Jessa's experiments getting way way WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY out of hand...yes?

YES!?

Quinn stopped and turned back to look at Rylee just a moment. "Nothing would have happened to Reese if I didn't tell him I was running away. Only me." Reese would have gotten over it eventually, and he and Rylee would be together and Rylee wouldn't hate her.

She glanced back down the path in the direction she had started, then sighed and sat down. "Look, I'm sorry, okay. It's just when things get..." Quinn's voice trailed off in a strangled noise. She was no longer looking at Rylee, but behind her. "In....In..."

It was a little bit of fear keeping the word from getting out, but more the shock and surprise of seeing the undead invade the school. "Rylee, move! Inferi!" In a flash, her wand was in her hand, but....what spells are effective against inferi?

"... wouldn't mind playing as Beater myself actually, if I wasn't a Seeker," Abra was saying to Bel, as he walked side by side with her on their way through the pathways. It was getting fairly dark, so he was naturally getting a little twitchy, but it wasn't so bad what with having a friend for company. One hand in his pocket, the other hand had a beater's bat hanging by its strap from his wrist, and he was twirling it around as they walked. "Though, nothing really matches the rush of catching the snitch, you know?"

Twirl, twirl, twirrrrl the bat.

Actually, maybe it was a better idea to not go flinging the beaters bat around in the air while it was this dark, in case he accidentally caught Bel with it. As a captain it was probably wise to show that he could handle the Quidditch equipment without, you know, injuring other people during the simple act of returning it to the-...

... What was that smell?

That was the only thought Abra had enough time for before hearing the nearby shout of something like... 'Inferi'... uhhh. Someone else a little way along the pathway stood in a duelling stance, wand outstretched. UhhhhHHH. Human-like skeletal silhouettes hurrying towards them through the dark. UHHHHHHHHH.

"No." That was a squeak. A definite squeak. They had walked right into something.......... bad.

"I probably would think about it too. I know I'm strong enough." She'd be all like 'see these guns' as evidence if Bel wasn't currently balancing a bat of her own on her fingertip and making necessary funny faces and physical back and forth adjustments in order to keep it on its end. "Mostly I just wanna be good enough at all the positions so I can help my team as best as I can, y'kn--hey, is there a corpse flower around here?" For real, had Myers got hold of another one that was now in bloom because there was a definite stench going on.

She'd been talking enough that other people's shouts hadn't made it into her ears, but she DID stop when Abra did (having to swipe at the bat to catch it when her momentum no longer kept it upright).

No? No what? No.... not a corpse flower? No she wasn't strong enough to be a beater? No she.... her gaze followed where Abra's was.

......


.........?

"...... is this.... is this... this isn't like... y'know, a Brit thing is it?" Some kind of... costumes? Or something? For an event? Or... uh.. oh hey! Derfael! Wasn't a Derfael thing, she was pretty sure, she knew D well enough by now that... um.

Yeah she DID know better. Even as she asked, her Aussie accent was a tone of absolute disbelief at what she was seeing. Her mind hadn't really caught up with... what was... going on with... those weren't... surely they weren't....

Bel looked around for Professor Hirsch. This was probably a DADA exercise or something right? Because actual uncontrolled free-roaming dangerously loose inferi wasn't... a thing that happened, was it?

Because you know what? Guess who had two thumbs, was a Hufflepuff, but also didn't have her wand right now? This girl!

She DID have a beaters bat though, and those were strong enough to thwack iron balls so.... Bel brandished it, and shot a look at Abra. Uh....

.... batter beater up?

Skylar's pace was quick along the grounds due to the adrenaline combined with own long legs, but apparently it was nothing for those bony skeletal figures. What was their athletic training because it was SERIOUSLY impressive how fast they could move?

And suddenly the inferi semes to be right in front of her and her co-captains she could make out on their other side.

"wands out!!!" Skylar managed to choke out, wondering if the zombie creatures would go around or... ?.