The sound of combat reverberates through Strixhaven’s sacred temple. Debbie, hoping to hide in an illusion, casts Prestidigitation. Orestes snarls at the musician, “I’m not fooled! Come out so that I may kill you alone! You endanger your friends with this foolishness!” Orestes hurla a flame at Debbie, scorching her leg.
The musician then vaults over the wooden benches and swings her Mace of Smiting at Orestes as she sprints forward. In the wake of her pounding feet, Titania calls out a Protection from Evil spell. Debbie swings her mighty weapon…and misses. She continues past, charging toward the nearest shrine.
The altar of Talos looms before her, its stone surface dark and stained rust red. Golden plates upon a black altar cloth bear the remains of the small animal offerings made to the storm god. A pathetic mewing draws Debby’s attention to a small cage where a black-furred cat presses against the bars. Without hesitation, Debbie opens the cage, and the grateful creature immediately winds itself around her injured legs.
Titania flicks a spell that manifests as a searing mote that lights up the gloom of the temple interior as it streaks toward Orestes. The devil’s sneer deepens as the flames wash harmlessly over its infernal hide - the fire holds no threat for such a creature.
Hester’s Chromatic Orb sails past its target, shattering against the far wall. KFC’s follow-up Witchbolt barely grazes the devil’s shoulder, opening a wound that leaks black ichor down its arm. The creature snarls at the injury and fixes its burning gaze on the students. “You meddling kids! Give me Debbie!” Hester responds by conjuring a Shadow Blade in her hand. Shadows from the farthest corners of the temple flow towards owlin wizard to coalesce into a dark sword that she flicks at Orestes..
Angered, KFC channels surging and wild arcane energy. Her Witch Bolt crackles across the distance to envelope the devil, who bellows in pain, “You’ll pay for that, bird!”
Near the sanctuary’s carved double doors, Reyna’s Storm Sphere continues spinning around Orestes. The devil raises both arms to shield its eyes from the whirling debris as Reyna crackles lightning within the magical vortex at Orestes, igniting the profile of the enormous horned devil, who bellows in pain and rage. Reyna seizes the opportunity to hurl another Lightning Bolt, but the energy goes wide, zinging down the entry hall. Here, it punches a smoking hole through the stone wall separating the nearest shrine. This blast has exposed Debbie, who freezes mid-motion while reaching for the little black cat.
Orestes, fortunately, is turned toward her hexmates, its voice carrying clearly through the chaos: “Just give me Debbie Tylstine and you can all go home to sleep in your beds tonight!”
Beckaylee steps forward, her voice ringing with defiance: “Not now, not ever!” She raises her Wand of Fear, and pale red energy erupts from its tip, striking Orestes squarely in the chest. The devil’s expression transforms instantly. Its eyes widen and its lower lip begins to tremble as supernatural terror of Beckyalee overwhelms it. With a shriek of pure fear, it launches itself toward the exit on desperate wings. Barreling through the double doors, their hinges giving way, the devil departs at speed into the night.
Even before the resonant echos of the falling doors has faded, Debbie shouts, “Follow it!”
Racing after the fleeing devil, they can see it sailing above the quad, framed against the moon in the night sky. The hexmates pour out of the temple to give chase, following the disappearing figure into a nearby copse of trees. Titania’s form blurs and shifts as she assumes the shape of a golden eagle, her powerful wings carrying her aloft. She circles back to seize the great basin of holy water from the temple’s shrine to Kaliber, the goddess of law and life. So armed, Titania wheels around to pursue their quarry.
The others race through the trees up a cobbled pathway that winds toward higher ground. At the hill’s crest sits a modest cottage, smoke curling peacefully from its fieldstone chimney - the home of a Witherbloom professor.
They can hear the anger return to Orestes’s voice, as he begin to call “Debbie Tylstine will die!” The fear from Beckaylee’s wand has worn off.
Titania, in eagle form, soars above Orestes to tip the heavy basin upon him. Holy water cascades downward, missing the devil by mere inches. Instead, it splashes harmlessly onto the walkway to form a spreading puddle between the cobblestones. As she drops her wildshape, Titania plummets earthward, slashing at the devil with her conjured ice knife as she falls past it. She strikes the ground with a sickening sound, but rolls up to her knees, only lightly injured.
From the split rail gate that bisects the path, Reyna raises her Wand of Wonder and points it at their hovering enemy. An indigo mote shoots from the wand’s tip, expanding rapidly until it engulfs the entire base of the hillside. The summoned magical blindness affects everyone it touches - everyone except Debbie’s new cat, who sits calmly cleaning her face with one paw. The creature now, mysteriously, is an orange tabby. This color change is the last thing Debbie notices before she is plunged into blackness.
KFC’s chicken instincts take over, and she settles down to sleep with her head tucked beneath her wing. The others in the party commence a panicked clamor, which is subsequently drowned out by the curses and cries of the still-airborne Orestes.
Through the surprised cries and confused shouts of the blinded combatants, a door bangs open from the direction of the cottage. A woman’s strong voice cuts through the chaos: “Who is making such a disturbance out here?”
Hester follows the path and moves down the hill,, back toward the Biblioplex by folllowing the path by feel. And one by one, Reyna, Beckaylee, and Debbie, cat clutched to her chest, navigate their way up the hill to the safety of the cottage. The Witherbloom professor, Odalynn Scrang, surveys the scene and casts Suggestion at the devil. Her voice carries magical compulsion as she commands Orestes to return to the infernal pit from which it came. In response, the devil returns mocking laughter to the blood witch, and it echoes across the hillside .
Undeterred, the professor weaves her spell a second time, pouring more power into the enchantment. Orestes laughs again, this time with even greater derision, its voice carrying clearly in the night air. The creature has touched down on the grass only mere feet from Titania, who kneels, frozen, on the grass.
