The Dresden Files RP- "Edge Town"

The spellcaster's in Maeve's pedigree where more then ready for magical and mundane assault- a two folded mystical shield came up, a solid disc with a snowflahe rune stretching it's diameter: the spell and bullets alike slamming against it and ricocheting away.

Two of the footman came through the shield- charging, sword's bared right for Tim and Terry, elven men clad in ice armor, eyes burning with light- the first came swinging for Tim only to find a pery waiting for him and a knock back as Hugin took up Kat's place at his flank, while Terry was left to fend against the other on his own.

Further up the slope, Fix rose, head held high. "Do I see what Hunter?" The Summer Knight demanded. "That I am doing what I must for the sake of the balance? Fulfilling my oaths to my Queen? Standing firm against the true enemy? I might not understand the full depth of what is taking place, but I have faith in my Lady, and faith in Seelie." He moved raising his blade. "You put your lot in with the wrong side- and I am sorry. We might have been friends once. Allies....But you choose your path."

When he swept his blade- it was in a brilliant arc of golden flame- that swept outwards in a parellel disc right for Jarl and Kat, but that was only the first step, as Fix himself was charging right on it's heel's, slicing his blade right for Jarl's gut.

The Huntsman lead Emilia deep into the tunnels, bow strong and at the read- down into the tangle of roots, red earth, and broken memories, dreams, and hopes- surrounding by shards of random, surreal, and mad bits of all Faerie-dom, mis-shapen toy soldiers seaming constantly hot on their heels. When they where a breath to close he would fire back an explosive arrow- by the time in shards of ice and broken mist. He seemed to, if not know for sure where he was going, have a general idea- and that idea was upwards.

They came to a massive column room, with a hulking root-pillar at the center, broken pieces of porcelain and piano keys spiraling around it to form....stairs. Upwards stairs that reached as far as the eye could see- they came hurtling into the room just as the Huntsman fired another arrow back where they had come, to the base of stair case.

"Climb!" He shouted as two more soldiers dropped from no where before him- he flipped one over onto it's back and fired an arrow into the helmet of the other. "Climb and don't look back."

Only when Emilia turned to comply- should she, she would find her path blocked. Another fire engine red soldier having dropped on all fours right before her- lance raised and ready to strike.

edited 20th Jul '14 3:19:16 AM by LMage

Jarl lifted his own sword and used it to unleash a gust of arctic wind. There was a blinding flash of light as Seelie and Unseelie magic met, clashes, and annihilated each other. He sprang to meet Fix sword to sword in his own furious charge.

"Don't you see what's going on here, you idiot? You're the ones threatening the balance! If a new Jack Frost isn't appointed the whole fucking world goes out of whack! It won't just be Unseelie that suffer when the dust settles, and Loki is leading you like the fucking Pied Piper. Open your eyes, Fix. This isn't right. This isn't balance. You're not Summer's attack dog, you're the watcher against the worst aspects of Winter!"

His eyes narrowed. "I don't want to fight you." That was a half-truth. The mantle was seeing an enemy. The mantle could smell Seelie blood in the air. The mantle could see a mortal standing in the way of Jack Frost and his champion, and the shard of him that was now tied to the Court was crying out in anger and hatred, crying for blood. But he was not his mantle yet. He could temper himself. Long enough to make him see reason. "But you're the one forcing my hand."

Or long enough to neutralize him as a factor.

edited 20th Jul '14 4:00:04 AM by math792d

"Watch out." Tim said and rammed the butt of his Spear on the ground with a muttered "Caun"...and a wave of gravity raced outward, aiming right at knee level of the advancing elves, followed by him using the length of his weapon to stab at one.

Kat meanwhile lend her own swords to the attack on the Summer Knight, aiming at Fix leg's to give Jarl an opening. "Blind obedience is foolishness, Knight of Summer. True service is service to the best interest not every word spoken. Be a Knight, not just a serf!"

Terrence shot once at the elf's face at close range before shifting out of his clothes and into a more athletic form for close combat. "Bark bark!" he added to Tim and Jarl's persuasive attempts as he leaped back from the footman, looking for a chink in his defenses to exploit.

Crap. She knew she was at a disadvantage in reach, strength and wouldn't have time to fire. A pain spiked in her head as she tried to cast, but she forced herself through it, willing a fire lance at the soldier. Preferably before its own attack could hit.

Terry's shoot slammed into the elf and sent it stumbling backwards- giving him more then enough time to shift and leap atop the elf, bury his fangs in a niche between arm and shoulder, and rip away.

Tim's gravity burst meanwhile slammed into the knee cap of the elf and knocked him to the ground- giving enough time for Hugin to viciously decapitate him in a single swipe- The shield shimmered and an arrow came racing through it- angled for Terry....and followed by a glowing shard of ice that flew for Tim.

Meanwhile, Jarl and Kat continued their dance with Fix- it was an odd match leading to a shaky stalemate. No matter how the cake was cut Fix was stronger and more experienced then Jarl more adatp at Fae Magic- but Jarl himself was better trained at both combat and magic in general, and with Kat backing him up...They broke even. Theoretically.

Sword clashed with sword- sparks flew as they cut and sliced and danced, two very very skilled sword's man. " Then I am well served- fighting one right now." He snapped at Jarl's comment, twisting under his blade and sweeping at the last moment to try and open a hole in Jarl's defense. I am not a dog, I am not a hound- I am a Knight and I have Faith, in Lily, in Summer." He turned with Jarl hopefully stunned and twisted to counter Kat's strike. " And in myself. I will fallow her to the last day if I must- but I will fallow her, no matter my doubts." He flicked and a fire-fly sized flash of Summer fire went spiraling at Kat, ready to explode into an inferno if it made contact.

He turned back to Jarl- head held high, cape flowing behind him, face set....He was regal. Proud. Like a stag in the open forest, a lion on the open plains. There was no fear in that nobility....Only determination. He dropped into a lower combat stance, blade raised and charged Jarl again with a long winding sweep.

" I know who I am." He spoke- not a snarl, not a snap, a simple deceleration. "Do you?"

Emilia's lance blared from her finger tips- burning right through the chest piece of the attacking knight, as she pushed past him- knocking him over the edge and too the ground. There was a sudden ugly screech filling the air- and a great beating of wings as something swirled overhead.

"Climb!" The Huntsman repeated as he stood firm at the base- holding. "And be ready! This is about to get ugly."

edited 22nd Jul '14 2:27:10 PM by LMage

Emilia nodded, and scrambled up the creepy looking stairs as quickly as she could. That last one had been much too close for comfort, and she bit her lip as she continued to climb.

Tim whirled his spear around, creating just large enough a gravity shield to both shred the icicle to harmless ice-powder and rip the arrow aimed at Terry into another, harmless flight path. But even this minimal-effort-maximal-effect spell brought more sweat on his forehead.

Kat meanwhile let herself fall onto her knee's, letting the summer-fire fly over her head - singing the tips of her hair - and switched her swords in her hands, letting the blunt edges fly for Fix lower legs.

"Two seconds" Max said as he quickly left the protective circle and silently moved to the rear of the group. Studying the terrain for a few seconds, he carefully placed a claymore mine along the path. Gently pulling out the tripwire, he affixed it to the other end of the path and quickly caught up with the group.

"Just like Vietnam" he muttered as he passed by.

Do you? Ouch. That stung. He brought his shield up to meet Fix's sweep and then sent a few rapid thrusts for Fix's shoulder and chest - anything that would be in danger.

His response was a lot different from that of Fix, even if it was spoken in exactly the same tone:

"Do I know who I am? No I fucking well don't." And at that moment he slammed his shield, as hard as he could, against Fix's chest to knock as much air from his lungs as possible. "Except a supremely dirty fighter."

Fix smoothly jumped- letting the swords race through thin air. But he never saw Jarl's slam into his chest coming and flew backwards, hitting the snow back first crunch of armor bending filling the air.

Over head more fire exploded, more wind, more ash. A glance upwards revealed what was going on: The Elgast hovered, mid air, both arms thrown out, eyes closed- ribbons of fire dancing around him as Maeve and Lily moved in unison, circling him, throwing up blast after blast against his magical defense- and weakening it.

"There is no hope." Lily spoke- her voice like fire itself. "Surrender and The Queen will judge you fairly for your actions."

"And you?" He snarled turning to sweep his arm at Lily- sending the ribbons of fire to her- she swept her arms smoothly, breaking them without effort.

"Have done as I must."

Maeve's laughter was pitched- a shard of ice slamming against The Elgast's defense- nearly piercing it. "You've run dry bud. You're batting out of your league. Ladies trump...whatever you are....every time. You'r outnumber and-" She twisted. Wind howled. The Elgast roared. "Out gunned."

Fix got to his feet, sword raised. "End of the line." He hissed. "There is no version of this story where you come out on top: villains get no happy endings."

Emilia climbed- up the winding shaft, jumping from gnarled step to gnarled step- at some point The Huntsman died or fled or broke or something because soldiers came streaming up at her, crawling like animals along the floor and wall- but she was faster and out ran them.

Up and up she went, and the steps beneath her feet became more root and wood and less broken child's toys, the earth turned from heady red to faded earthy brown- but the screeching got closer.

The tropes pulling back, suddenly halting and disappearing back down the shaft...It was the only warning Emilia got before she was dive bombed. The monster was massive, wide winged, with no eyes or faced only a long humming bird like scarlet beak, it's plumage a rainbow of colors as it charged, flew straight down for Emilia ready to spear her on the end of it's nose

Kat stood up and sheathed her swords, holding her hands at the Katana, ready to draw it again.

"And what makes you sure you are the hero of this story? Because Lily said so? Remember the story of the last Lady who thought that way?"

"I don't know, Loki's lining one up for himself at this rate. But of course you've got a stick shoved so far up your ass you're spitting splinters, so I guess that doesn't matter."

"You know who you are, Fix. That's fine. But let me ask you this: Are you proud of what you've become? When Dresden comes back and the symphony of frost and flame starts again, when the Summer Knight and Winter Knight clash, will you be able to look him in the eyes and say 'I'm a better man than that'? Can you?"

He thought of a particularly desparate gambit then. If it worked, they might be able to proceed. If he failed, they were in for a long haul. But it was the only option.

He dropped his sword.

"Get to it then, Summer Knight. Do your duty!"

edited 22nd Jul '14 2:58:23 PM by math792d

Kat looked at Jarl with a face that said Are. You. Crazy?

Jarl was grinning at Kat. Evidently.

Terrence jumped back off the elf, shifted to human, grabbed his gun-

And completely lost track of where he was going with that when he heard Jarl preparing to Sheathe the Sword. "Whoa no no whoa hey man no," he eloquently countered.

Kat swallowed a curse and adjusted her stance, ready to draw her Katana at Fix, should he strike down Jarl

Unable to stay for her momentum, Emilia mentally swore to herself, slid to the floor and emptied as much of her clip as she could into the creature's center mass whilst she skid underneath it.

It was like time had stopped.

Fix froze- blade angled, poised for the strike, teeth clicked together, face....shocked. Stunned.

Something battled within him- sense of duty wrestled with sense of honor dueled with raw primal instinct to act grappled with disbelief that the enemy was acting in so...such....a completely un-winter like fashion.

Fix stood there- frozen.

And the explosion hit- ball of fire and ice slamming into the earth leaving a vicious crater near the base of the slope, the plume of fire pierced by a single racing figure, a blue blur: Maeve threw her head back as she straddled The Elegast, hand pressing against his chest- she had him.

"Like I said." She hissed. "Out gunned."

It was like time had stopped.

Emilia's clip emptied, and the creature screeched it's high pitched call- sliding along the ground wasn't enough to protect her and a slice made contact, ripping open flesh from arm to torso, blood- tinted green splashed over the root's surface as the creature slammed into the column and curled into a huddle. Emilia kept sliding, pain wracking her form until she was dangling over the edge of the stairs- same wounded arm holding her up- pain slamming into ever nerv in her body.

The Eelgast only grinned.

Lily slid down along the slope calling out to Fix. "What are you doing?" But he simply held- locked in place.

"There is something you forgot in all your scheming and plotting." The Elgast hissed- his hand snapping around Maeve's wrist. "Winter might be vicious- cold and unrelenting and terrible, but Summer is primal- you can't give up, we just don't know when. We follow our hearts- right into the maw of doom, and right back out doom's skull if we must. Against reason, against logic, against duty, against honor- our hearts. Heroic songs are sung of Summer because we live while you exist, we love while you lust, we trust while you plot- lovers, friends, allies, strangers..." His eyes shinned for a quarter of a second- brighter then the sun itself without a single spark of magic. "Family."

Emilia slid- another quarter of an inch: her grip ready to break at a moments notice.

The Elegast's other hand found Maeve's neck and she starred in horror as some part of her brain clicked into place what was happening- she tried to pull away but her nature wouldn't allow it- the enemy was prone and vulnerable before her- and trap or no, no choice meant she simply couldn't resist. Couldn't turn away. Couldn't choose not too...

The Elegast pressed her hand against his chest right over his heart and it was to much, she screamed in a mix of horror and joy as her hand punched through his brittle ribcage and ripped out his heart.

The Elegast glowed.

Emilia's grasp slipped- pain overtaking her, and she fell. One simple choice could save her. Three simple words: I choose Sidhe.

Pure overwhelming gold over took his entire form and Maeve, bloody heart in hand, shrieked back from it like a spider from the sun. It rose: lifting from his body like a ghost, the perfect spitting image and shape of The Elegast till it swirled and reformed in a brilliant rush to become a massive dragon fly.....and simply flew downwards. Into the ground- straight and perfect.

Golden light filled the shaft- and the creature, the soldiers bellow, every grain of dust and dirt seemed to shirk away in blinding pain. Tumbling in free fall it was easy for Emilia to look up and see the bright brilliant golden dragon fly racing for her at break neck speed- burning with all the fire and beauty and primal joy and bitter fury and blind love that was Summer.

On some level she knew- she didn't even need words. If she just reached up...opened her palm....accepted it in. That would be choice enough- or she could turn from it, fall to the ground and die on the Underland floor. She could choose Sidhe or mortal. Life or death.

But she could choose- as it had always been meant to be.

edited 23rd Jul '14 11:20:44 AM by LMage

This post was thumped by the Stick of Post Thumping

The creature hadn't speared her, she wasn't quite that lucky. The messy incision left behind was deep, caked in dirt and every breath she took was more shallow than the last as the blood drained from her. Pain burned through her lacerated body, and she didn't need to look to know that she wouldn't be getting back up. She didn't know what had made her cling to the step she found herself hanging from; this was the end of the line and she knew it was only delaying the inevitable. Whimpering to herself, she wished she had the strength to let go as she spared a glance at the exposed bone in her arm, resolutely fighting to keep her alive. But why?

She had willingly given her life to defend Las Vegas, and she had managed to find peace with that. She would have made the same choice every time. But... it wasn't enough. It never had been. In the end, she'd been nothing more than a flea to a lion, no matter what meaning she had been able to prescribe to her actions, and it was only as she bled out, desperately clinging to the only lifeline that she had, that she realized the futility of her actions so fully.

Her grip slipped and she couldn't find it in her to let out a scream or a cry, and as she plummeted through the air her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden presence of a warm, soothing light burning away the shadows around her.

Emilia had fought for more than just those she cared about. She had defended countless lives from forces thought unstoppable to give them a chance to live. She had defended their right to forge their own paths, and if it had only been a shout into the wind it had been all that she could do, and had done so anyway. She had willingly died in the hope that others may not. Above all, she had always defended life itself and the chance for it to thrive, against all the threats that she could take on, and then some.

In freefall, she saw the light rush toward her, almost blinding. Distantly, she could hear it call her, though she could not recall what, if anything, it had said as the floor sped more clearly into her vision.

That should have been the end.

But there had been some part of her still willing to fight, the ruined left hand that had so desperately clung on before had reached out towards the light - a dragonfly, it became clear as it zoomed into her vision. Even as she wished for the ground to hurry and swallow her whole, she found herself contorting her mangled body to give her her best chance at life as her fingers twitched around the golden creature, not quite able to grasp it.

edited 24th Jul '14 3:20:01 PM by Patty

The light flowed into Emilia....And it was like being born again.

Every cell in her body hummed and burned, as if her bones themselves had caught fire. But it didn't hurt- the opposite it made her feel alive. It was like waking up from a long dream, coming home after a long time away- the Nevernever swirled around her and it ceased to be etheral and mystical and strange and became suddenly so very real- the mortal tint peeled back, and she was home. Warmth, strength, joy, love, bliss- all at once that slammed into her, burning with that same fire that washed over her entire body, sunk into the core of her being and became one with it. Flames crested around her in a beautiful perfect circle, her hair grew until it dangled nearly to her ankles, verdant green of the forest in spring.

Suddenly she wasn't falling she was rising.

It was like her entire body had turned to molten metal and it was molding and pulling into it's new shape all on it's own. Her fingers grew longer, he bones reshaped to be more curved, more brittle, more insect-like, her skull grew sharper, her cheek bones more profound and her eyes...they sunk a touch deeper into her skull as the irises turned from crystal blue to shinning gold single rush. The fire just kept burning around her- more and more intense by the second till the entire shaft was full of summer fire as she rose. Her clothes had long ago burned away completely but magic...magic was like breathing air to her now- suddenly she understood, she could feel it humming at her beck call, see the way it spun together and pulled apart and reformed. It wasn't a force to be commanded anymore it was part of her. Or rather...she was part of it. Almost on instinct the plucked strands came to form around her spinning into solid shape- a beautiful style golden gown held at either shoulder by silver leaf-shaped pins. She didn't even think it and it was there, like a reflex.

Like it was to rise.

Maeve dropped the bloody heart in horror her eyes locked on the spot where the Elegast had been.

The spot where Frey now lay- he stood, proud and told, fiery red hair, golden pauldrons and leggings- but bare chested and foot and armed still, a white cape wrapped around his shoulders- sex and love rolled off him, just casually, but with intensity that a hundred White Court could never match. And his emerald eyes locked down on Maeve.

"You- You-" She was hissing.

"I believe- the phrase is..." His musical light voice so different from the deep rich tones of the Elegast. "I had a 1 UP in my inventory."

The group didn't have long to enjoy Maeve's face of pure horror because it was at that given moment, that the earth shattered- a column of golden Summer Fire shooting into the sky. When it died down....there was a gapping hole in the middle of the slope, but floating over it was...

"Daughter mine." Frey said calmly as he stepped closer to Emilia- offering his hand. There was no undercurrent of sex this time- only...Fatherly love. And pride. There was such pride in his eyes. Maeve recovered quickly but Frey sent her flying back up the slope with a flick of his eyes and burst of raw pure will. There Lily got back to her feet as well.

"So. You have Chosen then?" She looked between them. "Both of you."

Frey smiled. "I Choose long ago- the trick is to set up the board so that your choice is the right one regardless." Suddenly, there was simply a spear in his halberd in his hand, from no where at all. "What was that you where saying my dear Winter Lady? About being out numbered and outgunned?"

Fix stood, rooted to the spot- all of the party had been out of the major blast radius so he was standing still....Perfectly still- locked in his own battle of wills with his choice and nature.

Jarl, in a rare moment of sheer pragmatism, ditched his shield again, drew his bow, nocked the anti-Summer arrow from Skadi and let it fly in a single fluid motion, taking maybe a second off to aim in the general direction of Fix's leg. He didn't know how much damage the arrow would do when Fix didn't have a mantle to take away the pain or the risk of infection, so he made sure to aim it somewhere where Lily at least had a good chance of patching him up before things got really bad. He'd decided on not killing him, mantle be damned.

He glanced over at the unfolding spectacle with his teeth grit. Once again the great and powerful had played their games, and once again someone had been presented with a choice that wasn't really a choice. An option that never would, or could be, considered one taken of their own free will. Once again, it had cost someone the life they wanted. He clutched his bow so tightly he could hear creaking from the wood.

"Welcome to the big leagues, Emilia. And goodbye."

It didn't take him long to take it all in, and as soon as he had, he realized that there was still work to be done. The Elegast had thrown this whole thing so they could get out of here, and there was never going to be a better time with the Summer Knight incapacitated. He picked up his kit and started legging it.

"No time to admire the scenery. Time to get out of here!"

Tim only took a long look at Emilia and bowed his head slightly, at the same time a calm - and heartfelt - goodbye and a nod of respect to the newly ascended, before he joined Jarl and Kat in their move, watching over his shoulder and ready to open up a Shield to cover their escape.

Emilia took Frey's hand, and landed on the ground, only now realizing that she, too, was barefoot. She didn't mind, she could feel herself rooted to the blades of grass beneath her, the life flowing through them. It was both overwhelming and reassuring at once.

She could see the rest of her companions, and sighed. What was left to say now? She inclined her head at Tim in return, and her lips curved into an encouraging smile to try and force the others on. Twice, she stopped herself short halfway through a word, and her brow crinkled as she tried to find the right words. When she finally spoke, her voice was far more assured, steady and measured, with a musical lilt to it that had never been present in the former changeling.

"Tempus fugit," she said, adding "and I really do hope to never see any of you again." Deep down, she knew that was true. Her own entanglements with the fae had led her to be sliced open from shoulder to hip, and the others should at least try and ensure they lived quiet lives. Mentally, she chided herself for the notion; she needn't say the reality of their situations. They had shown up the Ladies of both Summer and Winter, and it did not seem in any of their natures to avoid trouble.

As the others moved towards the world tree, she turned to the Summer Lady. "My Lady, whilst you may be able to defeat me alone, pause and ponder this: would the price you pay be worth it? Could you live with the weight of such a burden to bear?" She pointedly glanced at Fix. "Summer stands to lose and all else to gain by a resumption of combat, as I hope is becoming clear."

She paused, and turned her gaze towards the Winter Lady, also rising to her feet.

"Even if you weren't so thoroughly outgunned."

edited 24th Jul '14 3:36:47 PM by Patty