The pyramid shaped stone had strange runes that had been carved into each of it's facings. Hidden in a chest beneath a loose but heavy stone Aegir had hidden the half a dozen keys that he had collected over the years. Just six more and he would have them all though it had taken him this long to collect them.

Further in the cave as it twisted and turned had been a summoning device that he acquired for he never did know when or if he would need to conjure up Fafner. It was true that the two did not get along but still …

The device was little more than a podium etched with these green runes the top of which held a slot where one of the stones could be placed point down. It didn't matter which point down … one of the stones, the one that conjured Fafner was here sitting on a natural cave shelf.

But Aegir had trapped the chamber just as he had trapped his chest … A thought bomb, a psychic attack that would distract a would be thief long enough for Aegir to get there. The thought bomb was set up a ways into the cavern, not in here persae but along one of the routes leading here to give Aegir a bit more time to get here and respond.

The cave sat by itself in the heart of the woods as the demonic Slarr and his associate Birch stalked the two girls. Slarr of course had seen Vikky before and while he had no interest in the other girl as her hair color was all wrong, Birch did not mind this. One bit.

Slarr was determine to have Vikky though. No tricks were going to save her this time, he was going to force himself inside that tight little body, he was hard just thinking about it and that was probably why he was playing so much with her right now.

He was unaware that the cave was coming up. Birch did though he felt no danger at the hands of the girls escaping. At most they could take refuge inside the cave but would have to sometime. He wondered if he should get to making his move before the cave or letting them reach it to give them a false sense of security then take them once they came out. Birch looked to Slarr for suggestions. He wasn't one to generate more terror than necessary but Slarr may have wanted to relish this moment.

Slarr did … he was further ahead, above the trees. Currently he was invisible to avoid giving away his position. He was focused though on the girl he had encountered before. She got away then, she wouldn’t get away today! Birch was periodically making an appearance to herd the girls in the direction of the cave … a false sense of security mind you given that he did not mind playing with the pair at all … well Vikky at least, Birch could do with what he willed with the other.

How had she got into this situation? Vikky was desperately trying to ask herself that question. The only answer she had was that she wouldn’t. And yet she had. Why had she been out there again? Hadn’t she learned her lesson already? Apparently not. In that case she deserved anything that would happen to her.

Jogging alone. That had been confirmed to be dangerous. So she had attempted jogging with another student. It wasn’t even as if the two of them had known each other very well. Actually, not at all. It was just simply both the girls had been intending to jog to keep in shape. Some strange illusion of Vikky’s had told her she’d be safe if they were more than one. How wrong that was.

And now they were both fleeing from a strange tree-monster which purpose was obvious enough derived from the actions of all other monsters on the island. Vikky, dressed in a white shirt and blue training-shorts, was fleeing for all she had along with Ishtar. The brown-haired one of the two wasn’t even remotely considering if she was being herded somewhere, or if there might be more than one monster. At the moment… all that mattered was getting away. As quickly as possible, she turned so that she wouldn’t run into the tree-thing whenever she could…

(OOC: Oh gosh!!! I 'mreally sorry that I missed the start the thread. I want to apologize sincerely for taking so long to respond. Blease forgive me. )

Ishtar was running as fast as she could to try to get away from the creature that was chasing her and the new girl. The young women had literally ran into each other as they had each prepared to their morning jog. The two girls had decided that it would be better to jog together than alone. There was some parts of the campus that could be a bit creepy to jog through in the morning and it was better to jog with the company than go on her own. They had not gotten far when some sort large tree monster came out the woods nearby and began chasing them.

The blue haired haired girl nearly lost track of Vikky when she turned to try to get away from the creature. But she manage to keep make the turn with her fellow jogger as they tried to out run the tree creature following them. Anywhere they were going had to be better than any place than dealing with the monster that was following behind them. Or so Ishtar thought.

Birch was the physical presence here that had been herding the two girls. Either would do, though Slarr's presence told him whom he would prefer. Slarr wanted to have fun with them too. Apparently he had encountered one before and was denied.

Rather than wanting to tare into her at once he wanted to prolong her anguish. Whatever. Birch phased from one tree to another never having to travel all that fast. He remained behind them though he wondered why they had not split up yet. Perhaps they thought they had a better chance together? Perhaps one would ditch the other when it looked too bleak or maybe it was more practical in that if the split they did not wish to be the one that he pursued.

Birch kept phasing through one type of tree though to make it appear that he couldn't phase through other types though he figured that such a deception might not even be noticed by them. Still … He stuck behind them though as the trees thinned out. There was a clearing up ahead, a hill with a cave entrance faced them.

Somewhere behind them Birch was commanding them to halt, that if they did so he would let the girl off easier … that he only had need of one of them ...

Little did they know that Slarr had an aerial view of matters as the pair ran. Oh, how he was going to have fun with Vikky! Birch could have the other one.

Slarr's mind was partially a slave to his own lusts. The only thing that had kept him in check was the fact that here was a sweet, sweet strawberry. So ripe and juicy. But it was the last one in the bushel. Once it was gone that was it so he wished to savior it, suckle the juices clean off of his fingers.

He had a particular weakness for strawberries though strong enough to even tempt him from his preferred prey but today he could have flown past a dozen strawberry bushes without batting an eye. He was going to rape her of course. But he was going to suck all the juices off his fingers while he did it to savior the moment.

(I decided that once you get to the cave I'll switch to Aegir for the trap, then Fafner for the summons then back to these two for the aftermath, a slight change of mind )

Vikky kept on running. Apparently, Ishtar followed. It… it mattered so little. There was no safety in numbers. If they split up, there’d be a chance one of them could get to safety while the other was raped senseless, but… Vikky would never suggest such a plan. As such, the girls ended up fleeing together. Vikky personally hoped they wouldn’t end up being raped together because of this decision… but they probably would…

A clearing. A clearing with a cave. While it was true that it would be easier to distinguish a moving tree faster in a clearing, it could also be a literal death-trap. The same went for the cavern. Was the tree too big to enter the cave? Otherwise it was a horrible dead-end to run into. Probably dark and everything. Possibly home to another monster, Vikky was unsure if they lived in caves or whatever. For now, it mattered so little. Vikky ran into the clearing, trying to throw gazes over her shoulder or wherever to estimate if the chasing monster was too large to enter the cavern or not.

Ishtar struggled to keep up with brunette that was running in front of her. She was so scared that the blue haired woman almost tripped over a root. The young woman stumbled for a moment and looked like she was going to fall but the student managed to stay up on her feet and stay a few steps of the monstrous creature following Vikky and her.

The two of them soon found themselves in a clearing, one that had a cave. Ishtar wasn't quite sure where they were on the island, of course every time Ishtar was in the woods she seemed to get loss. Still the cave looked like it would be the place to get away from the tree like creature that was chasing Vikky and her. It looked too small for the creature for to follow, so maybe they could loose the monster there. All Ishtar could do was pick up her pace and try to get into the cave before it was too late.

It had been her first real look back t it. Yup it could fit, but would it? The tree was about the size of a man and didn't seem to be very quick. Adreniline and pnick hd played with their initial perceptions for it was not even clear of the tree before their instincts for flight kicked in. Perhaps that was why they had thought that it was larger than it was. A deception if this was a trap as Vikky suspected? They were out distancing it though at potions of time it began to gain on them stepping trough Elm tree to Elm tree as it pursued them, making up ground well enough while in the forest at least. The clearing did offer some respite from his bursts of movements and she realized that whatever he did to move through the trees had a sort range which made sense as to why he had not popped out in front of the girls. He couldn't.

Of course Birch was less about playing then Slarr so when the blue haired one stumbled a bit Birch would have taken advantage of the situation leaving Slarr to go after the other but he did not take quick enough advantage as the girl stumbled away as vines and other vegetation whipped about the spot that she had just been at mere inches away from her as she gets just beyond his effective range for controlling plants.

With Slarr watching from above he realized that the cave might be suspicious by itself but at the same time the pair had been running out of options.

Why no monster made this their lair was a simple issue really. It was too far from most typical areas to hunt. For a short while it was used by an ooze that simply move on after awhile and many still believed that it was in use. Few knew the truth, such as Aegir who had placed an item here of immense power along with a trap to delay any who attempted to steal the green stone.

Ironically Ishtar and Vikky were the only two students that had relations with Aegir both in the physical plane and in their dreams at the two extremes. Both had been targeted with rather intense nightmares too that had gone beyond the norm for him. Neither had encountered him in the dream realm though Vikky knew now that he could manipulate dreams.

Further their face to face meetings were far more pleasant of course.

The trap did not discriminate either. The node stood a constant vigil over the lone passage in the cave. No exceptions were given to it. If the node sensed intruders it was to use the Thought Bomb to delay them in making off with either the pedestal or summoning stone as the case may be as the stone was was still yet to yet to be used.

The two girls get into the clearing, that single mound here with cave entrance greeted them and the pair found their way heading there. To further matters Birch hesitated as the trees came to an abrupt end. It was almost as if he couldn't or wouldn't enter the clearing or didn't wish to give up the advantage that if had.

Make it easy on yourselves. One of you may leave. Decide.

He called out from behind them.

Gee. He was that small? That demon the other day could totally beat that tree up. … Not that would make any difference whatsoever if the tree-thing caught her, because Vikky could do just exactly as little against him. Vikky was rather hesitant to run into the cave, due to the fact she could figure that it would easily be a death-trap in there. … Fuck-trap, or whatever went these days. However, she noticed that the monster had stopped before getting into the clearing. … Did he not like the open air, or was he unable to get into it due to lack of trees?

Taking the risk, Vikky stopped before reaching the entrance to the cave, and turned towards the monster. She felt fear coursing through her, but hopefully she’d be able to brave through this one. Her eyes focused on the monster at the edge of the clearing, breathing heavily due to have been running faster than recommended for a longer period of time. OK, so that was about that. Was there some reason the tree-thing didn’t want to walk out where there was no trees? … Or was he fearing something within the cave? Vikky shot a quick look into the cave just to make sure no giant tentacle-like shadow-arms were stretching out to grab her from it. … Not yet, at least. … So, the tree wanted one to leave? … Hold on…

“D-d-do you, um, do…” Vikky swallowed, trying to speak without sounding so frightened. “What do you mean? One of us can leave safely? Or will the one who leaves the clearing be the one you capture because she’ll be walking into your wood…?” Alright, now to attempt getting information. … And probably fail and get raped… But, uh… If only one of them was needed, and he was planning on letting the other go… Vikky aimed a frightened look at Ishtar to see how she had taken this information.

Ishtar continued to run across the clearing as fast as her legs would take her. It was only when the blue haired girl looked for her jogging partner that she reallized that Vikky was nowhere to be seen. The student slowly came to a stop nearby the cave as she looked for her missing partner. Looking back, Ishtar spotted Vikky just standing in the middle of the clearing. The brunette was looking back at the edge of the clearing where the tree like monster had stood.

Why was the creature standing there and not chasing the pair, it did not make any sense to Ishtar. Vikky was not taking any chances, she took a quick glance over Ishtar's shoulder and back at the cave. The blue haired girl took a look herself, but could not see anything it was just merely a cave. No there was some other reason the creature was coming any closer, and it was that concerned the pair of women as they trying to figure out what to do next. It was then that the creature made an ominous request. It was for one of the girls to run off while the other one stayed in the clearing.

That didn't make sense to Ishtar. Vikky struggled to get a clarification for the from the creature. Still Ishtar knew she could not leave Vikky here, it would be wrong regardless of the result. She would not abandon her partner, even though she barely knew the brunette.

Birch looked on though he realized that Slarr must be going crazy restraining himself but the former imp wanted to draw this out. Now Birch was not remorseless. He needed to eat, plain and simple, so he was less sadistic then most provided a girl didn't put up any real resistance as far as he was concerned.

Resisting was fine, it was expected but things like using an open flame against him would have been unforgiveable … no one had used on yet. Birch gazed at the two women though. He was sort of hoping the brunette would stay then the other one could make her way out of here and possibly get away unless she was unfortunate enough to run across another one of the island's guests.

Vikky seemed to be considering it at least. Stay, go, her fate was sealed and that is when he looked towards Ishtar to see where she had gotten off to.

As it were there was no vegetation to command to ensnare either one of them which he could have done while they were rushing through the forest. Of course if one stayed he would give up the game that he did not really wish to play and get right to it.

One comes to me, the other heads off. It is that simple. I do not need the both of you but I shall take both of you if I have to wait you out, simply but I will need to eat more.

… It was that simple. One comes with him, the other leaves in peace. If he has to, the guy probably has the patience of a rock waiting for judgment day and could wait for them to go out into the woods eventually. He most likely stopped before walking out into the clearing because he had no power where there were no trees, but there was no way out except through his forest. … And the whole place was most likely trapped. No matter what direction they went out through, he’d be right there… Except for…

…

… NO, VIKKY, THIS IS A BAAAAAD IDEA!

…

Still, there were not all that much choice. Vikky frowned, knowing fully well how stupid and possibly dangerous this plan was. … It wasn’t even a plan, it was a choice of action based on a logical conclusion. Vikky wasn’t all that good at math, usually, but this was just plain logic. Out in the woods lead to his territory, where they’d be captured instantly. The other…

Vikky turned around on the spot, and went directly over to Ishtar. She held a serious expression, and as soon as she was within range she began to whisper.

“His territory is the trees. Going out in the woods in any direction will lead to instant capture. This cave might have been constructed artificially as a route between two or more places, meaning that if the cave has another exit, we might be able to escape. Got it? Let’s hope this is a tunnel. Let’s go.” Vikky turned back towards the tree-being with a small smile on her lips, looking at him standing on the edge of the clearing over there.

“You can’t follow where there are no trees, huh? Though luck. See ya. Run.” With that, Vikky turned to jog for the cave entrance. This whole plan depended on that the cave was a tunnel. In all probability, it was just a normal cave. … Which meant they’d be shamefully forced to come out and into that guy’s arms. But… as long as there was even the slightest possibility that there was a way out through there, it was worth a shot…!

Ishtar continued to stare at the creature as she was not sure what to do. The idea of leaving one of the girls behind while the other was forced to deal with the tree creature was something the blue haired girl could not even consider. Fortunately, her jogging partner came over and began to whisper in the blue hair girl's ear.

Ishtar only nodded a little as she listened to what the brunette was saying. It all made pretty good sense, the tree creature could not follow the pair if they ran into the cave. And if the cave had an exit on the other side of the hill then the pair of the joggers would be able to get away to safety. The monster would simply be left behind. It was then that Vikky turned and taunted the tree monster one last time.

With that Vikky ran, Ishtar blinked for a second, before she began to run too. The blue haired girl quickly caught up with Vikky as they jogged to the cave entrance. It was a gamble of the two women to try to escape through the cave. The two were hoping that there was an exit on the other side of the cave or the pair would have simply trapped themselves. It didn't really matter though, there was no other choice.

Birch could follow alright though a lot of his gifts dealt with vegetation and he was loathe to leave the serenity of it. In a way he was sort of hoping that Slarr half assed it when he looked into the cave earlier though he did not like playing games he harbored no sense of malice towards the girls.

Though he could always use a meal he was not famished and knowing what Slarr had in store … he could be malicious at times though part of the “game” was to pretend not to be able to be able to pursue them into the clearing.

It surprised him though Slarr had remained vigilant so far. The girls soon disappeared into the cavern, the mouth and some of the passage beyond had been illuminated by the golden light o the sun though it dimmed after a point to the stage that they could not go far without a light source though that was no going to be a problem as they tripped the Thought Bomb, no exceptions … the node waited as the pair moved into the cave then unleashed a telepathic attack on the pair.

Suddenly the cave was gone and the two were in a dreary castle. Vikky cast on a throne with a crown atop her head, Ishtar in loose fitting black robes near the Queen while a man remained knelt before them.

“Your Highness. There is no stopping the horde! It is at the front gates! We have to summon assistance of our own.” The bearded man stated, his gaze still cast down, numerous tares in his clothes and wounds beneath.

Aegir was alerted by the node that there was activity in the cave. Rarely did anyone press too deeply into it but he was one his way. Ironic it was Ishtar and Vikky. Perhaps he would have some fun with the later tough he ignored this as he went on.

The node randomly chose a scenario he was unaware of the one chosen for he would have gone with something unrelated with summoning it this case but he himself had yet to get there ...