The Necromancer's Stone; Aftermath

Thalia dropped off of her chair to her knees.  She didn't have to in order to tell that her mother was already dead.  Immortals were hard to kill, no denying that, but it wasn't impossible.  The right spells, set over the right elements, would overcome even their great resistance to death.  Part of her father's teachings had included teaching her some of those methods, and as Hal managed to pin the assassin's blade to the wall Thalia managed to get a clear enough view of it to make out which means had been used.
Two of the most magical elements in the universe; the stone made when certain words were spoken over the blood of someone who was still living, and the organic metal that comprised the bones of a Nielda.  Her mother's killer had used a weapon forged of both.  Then it had a series of runes and alchemic patterns engraved on them; spells to penetrate wards and ultimately even immortality.  It was quite a piece of craftsmanship, and Thalia couldn't place every pattern to a spell.  Whoever made it was a true master, worthy of great honor and praise.
The wielder, on the other hand, needed to die horribly, slowly, and creatively and she needed to start doing so now.  Thalia grabbed the nearest weapon, a redwood staff that Liane had left leaning against the counter while she'd been drinking, and went after the offending personage, leaping over the action and sweeping the staff in a nearly hundred and eighty degree arc as she landed.  It might have made it further, but it was blocked by several chairs, three unlucky innocents, and a magical barrier.
The girl was a mage then, and clearly a very talented one.  Still, even if she were equal to Thalia's unstoppable force, she still had to contend with the immovable object that was Hal.  For someone with no apparent magical talents, Hal was not only holding his ground but keeping their adversary on the defensive.  Any attempt she made to counter his assault was reversed easily, and followed up with a devastating series of blows.  Thalia's efforts might not be enough to overload the assassin, but it kept her from being able to upsetting the imbalance of her battle with Hal with any sort of magic.  After a few frenzied minutes it became clear that their opponent had little experience being on the defensive.  She was starting to panic, surrounded by flame and frost, steel and blood she couldn't help but realize was mostly her own.  Thalia could feel the edges of her thoughts seeping through; 'what the hell' being the most prominent, and close thereafter the desire to escape and..read?  Thalia glanced at the leather pouch on her belt, where the assassin had stowed the book she had read from after stabbing Liane.  The book was important to her, important enough that it had to be consulted immediately after killing an immortal.  That meant it was important enough to come back for if she managed to flee.  Thalia unleashed a thousand tendrils of flame, each covered in as many thorns of ice as could be fit onto them.  Then, as they forced themselves through every gap in the already weakened magical barrier, Thalia darted in under their cover and snatched at the pouch.  She felt it in her hand and then saw the armored elbow coming down.



"Ah good, she's coming to."
The Fuzzy Librarian had been wrecked.  Thalia could make out half a table embedded in what had once been the third floor, but all the rest of the first floor furnishings had been demolished.  The second floor, and indeed much of the third, were similarly non-existent.  She could actually see the stars through the roof, which she knew to be at least four floors up.  That might have been the splitting headache though.
"Where's Hal?"
"He's right over here Hun."  Replied a woman's voice.  It was light, but strong.  It reminded Thalia of her mother, only more steady and sober.    "Fraid little Rea did a number on him after you went down.  He's alive, but his beard'll never be the same again."
Thalia tried to run to his side, but found a pair of furry hands were restraining her.
"Hold still fireblood, the curse is still affecting your clothing.  We wouldn't want you running about naked, would we?"  The second voice was calm, but rough.  But more importantly it sounded, canine.  The rounder sounds were longer, like a howl; the harsher ones were barked, quick and jarring.
"We certainly wouldn't; disgusting hairless creatures."  Another canine voice, but less calm and more soft, a woman most likely.
"Speak for yourself Luninda, I think our little friend looks just fine."
"That's because you're one of them, stormchaser."
"Racism has no place in battle Luninda; the Oracles ordered us to protect the Dark Lady.  The color of her fur,"
"Or rather, lack thereof."
"Is of no importance to our task.  And you will do well to remember that."
"Yes Jaron.  But I will not like it."
"That is a choice; do not forget it."
"Could you two stop flirtin and finish disenchantin the damn outfit?"
"Right."  The two Canines spoke as one, with almost military coordination.  Thalia spotted a flash of something blue, electric blue in fact, out of the corner of her eye.  Another few minutes passed and then she heard a squelching sound from all around her and she felt, underdressed.  The woman, the one who seemed to be in charge, started giggling.
"You meant to do that!  Dammit stormchaser, you meant to do that and you know it."
"I'm afraid I must agree with my comrade; you could have avoided that if you'd tried."
The giggling continued intermittently as the one they called stormchaser replied.  "Course I could have, but then I wouldn't have gotten to see the looks on your dear young faces."
Luninda began swearing in what Thalia could recognize as Ga-Vok, causing the giggling to escalate to full blown laughter.  But as she became aware of her vulnerable state Thalia decided to take matters into her own hands.  She snapped a towel into existence over her and then again to turn it into a skirt and blouse.
"Oh good, you can still use magic.  I was a bit worried there Hun, it was a pretty nasty curse."
"So you decided to leave me naked on the floor of a bar?  What kind of rescuers are you people?"
"Why, the dirty-minded, whimsical kind of course."
Thalia sat up and looked at her rescuers.  The two Ga-Vok; Jaron and Luninda, were sitting calmly and swearing passionately while stamping about the room, respectively.  But the other woman, stormchaser, was surprisingly familiar.
"Tala?  Grandmaster of the Pantheon?  What are you doing here?"
"Two members of the pantheon died within an hour of each other, obviously I'm investigatin."  She was quiet for a moment, staring at Thalia like she expected her to ask a question.
"All right, who's the other one?"
"I'm sorry to be the one to bear this news but..your dad is dead too.  She got them both within minutes of each other."
Thalia let the news sink in.  There was no one to attack this time.  And she'd already started to make plans to kill the girl responsible for killing her mother.  Now she had to plan revenge for both of them.  It wasn't like they'd ever really been there for her.  Her father had been nothing but cold and heartless, and her mother hadn't even been that.  Still, it had been nice to know they were there.  Now she was an orphan.  She was legally an adult so it made no difference really.  She'd keep going, and she'd get revenge, and she'd keep going.
"Dark lady, this may be a bad time, but we need you to kiss the boy-Nielda in order to break the curse affecting him.  I think it would be in your best interests to do so quickly.  Neither Luninda nor I are particularly good with sympathy or Nieldic grieving customs, and stormchaser is..."  He paused and seemed to ponder his words for a moment.  "What is common word for", he barked and yipped for fifty odd seconds, "I am not sufficiently familiar with your language."
"What Jaron means is that I've got problems expressin my emotions.  Its actually a lot more complicated than that, but you kinda get the point?'
They didn't need to tell her twice.  Thalia had already made it halfway across the room, on all fours, before Tala had stopped talking.  She leaned over Hal, who seemed to be conscious, and from the looks of things, had been for the whole exchange.
"I'm sorry."
She kissed him gently and then curled up next to him and started crying.