Two more bits to go, I think. This may be done by my birthday (Saturday).
Susan was the first to notice the change in atmosphere. They were preparing the wolf-man for transport; it was a two days’ worth of hard travel to the nearest settlement, and hopefully a waiting dedicated disenchantment team. One good look at the item half-embedded in the wolf-man’s back had persuaded the party that trying to get it off in the field might be extremely dangerous, even if the tools they’d need to do it could be found here. The kind of dangerous that leaves craters in the ground.
So when Susan gasped and suddenly activated the protective circle that she had drawn around the preparation site, the rest didn’t waste any time jumping back inside of it. “What am I preparing for, Susan?” Maddie asked as she started activating general protection cantrips and magical energy accumulators. Anton, Jack, and Jill merely pulled out bits of armor from their packs. If there was a protective circle up, they’d need them.
“This school wasn’t as clean as they thought it was!” Susan carefully did not shout. “There’s something in the basement, and it’s waking up!” She looked at the brightening sky. “We stayed too long, and now the spirits of the day can roam.”
“Crap,” said Jill. She and Jack were already wearing sunglasses, to ward off the hideous light of the daystar. “Dayghosts are the worst.”