Book of Myths
It's incredible, how fast the wolves
are able to move across the tundra. Their paws hardly seem to touch the
ground as they fly over the snow, the cold wind whipping through their
fur and back over the mages (and the fox) riding atop their backs. The
five travelers will find quickly that there's no room to relax on this
journey. They must grab hold tightly to keep their balance, lest the
wind and the velocity knock them to the ground. Thankfully Henry's
magick protects them from the worst of winter's bite, but they can still
feel the lick of cold lashing at their skin as they ride.
This is a harsh land. Beautiful, but unforgiving.
For
awhile all they can see is empty snowdrifts. But gradually, the sight
of a distant mountain range materializes on the horizon. Without the
wolves, this journey will have taken them a long time. Perhaps that
thought will bring some small measure of comfort to those still
wondering if they made the right decision.
Gradually they draw
nearer their destination, leaping and sprinting over rolling drifts.
The mountains ahead grow taller and more distinct with each yard. At
some point they will be able to make out a cave in the distance, carved
into what looks like a sheer wall of ice. The mountains themselves, in
fact, are made of ice - not stone. In the light of the sun, they seem to
glow a pale shade of aqua. Something has unspooled itself over the
ground past the entrance to the cave: a long, white serpent's tail, its
scales shimmering in shades of blue-green iridescence where the light
hits it.
There is very little in the way of cover out there.
Only a few low snowdrifts - just tall enough to crouch behind. Beyond
them, the ground is flat snow and solid ice.
The wolves stop
running before they get too close. Slinking close to the ground, they
detour off to one side, creeping silently over the snow. The little
beacon of light stays with them for awhile, then rises up into the air,
shoots over and stops, hovering, just above the cave's entrance. This
is, it would seem, their intended destination.
They stop
behind a drift, and Henry looks to the others, reassuring himself that
all are well and ready. "When we go in, we must let the wolves lead. Our
strengths are range and cleverness. And I will not have you dying by
dragon-breath on my watch."
ElijahThe ride is
lovely, in the very least. It's long, or at least it feels long, and
after awhile the land turns into less land and more snow. Just drifts
and a harsh, overwhelming sort of mountain of ice. Something that would
seal itself shut or bury them in the ocean if it ever melted.
This
was a land of almost unending cold, though, he knew good and well that
the likelihood of all of this crumbling beneath their feet was slim.
This was a place that was almost the very idea of ice. Once they stop,
he has a chance to look around, listens to Henry and for once his
imagination isn't wandering. He's present, or as present as Elijah
believed himself capable of actually being.
Exhales, waits to see his breath before he takes a quick look at that tail again.
Gives a thumbs up, exhales slowly.
"Glad we're all on the same page," on the not dying courtesy of dragon's breath, that is.
KiaraShe keeps her eyes open on the way there.
It's tempting to close them and Kiara does
bend low, arms wound into the fur of the great wolf below her; fingers
gripping at its sides as it makes quick work of the distance. She turns
her face into the beast's pelt and then, as the mountain begins to
unveil itself in the distance; rises up and watches it grow nearer; her
dark hair whipping out behind her like a wild, curling banner.
The
sight of the dragon's tail, massive and protruding from the depths of
the cave sends tension into the Verbena's frame, she's focused and grim
as they creep down behind a drift of snow, her breath pluming out before
her as they ready themselves to face - was there really any way to
prepare yourself for what they were about to?
Kiara's fingers
reach for Elijah's hand and she takes it without sparing the other a
glance; but Elijah can feel the intention to it; the way the brunette
seems to impress her feelings into one, brief capture of his hand;
imprinting things into his skin in a sudden flood of familiar warmth (stay safe, be careful).
She
nods at Henry and her jaw clenches; her hands rubbing absently over her
jeans. "I'm ready." She's not, her heart is racing, beating wildly
inside her chest but somehow - her voice comes out steady. She does
spare a moment for their wolf allies, Kiara, and sets a hand on one of
their massive coats as they pass, murmuring some wish for caution.
Book of Myths"Do you think I do not know you are there?"
The
voice, deep and powerful, rumbles out from inside the cave. The mages
feel it as much as hear it - the way it shakes the ground and vibrates
into their bones. The sound of it is echoing and cavernous.
"Do you think I do not smell you? That I did not feel you coming across the tundra?"
The dragon's tail slides along the ice, moving in a slow slither as its owner shifts inside the cave.
"I knew you were here the moment you arrived, Amara. I have been waiting for you for a long, long time."
Those
last words rumble so deep it makes the snow shift under the wolves'
feet. The alpha bares her teeth and glances at Leah, but says nothing.
Whatever this particular development, it does not change her plans. The wolves give a little shake and crouch down to allow the mages to dismount. Henry and Red hop off quickly.
They
do not seem as surprised as perhaps they should to hear that name on
the dragon's tongue. Leah though? She goes frozen-still, then gives this
sudden shiver. It takes a moment for her to climb down from the wolf's
back, and when she does she seems... angry. A little disoriented. She
closes her eyes and puts her hands over her ears and bares her teeth
like she wants to snarl the way the dire wolves do.
There is a
conversation that needs to be had. But they have no time to have it.
The dragon is moving. They can hear it, claws scraping on ice, scales
sliding over scales. And then a great, horned head appears at the
entrance to the cave. Iridescent-white like the rest of it. Pale,
luminous eyes. When it breathes, crystals of frost form in the air.
This thing is no more a fire dragon than the land around them is in summer bloom.
The dragon takes a step out of its cave, spreads its wings and roars.
For
a moment, everything is sound. Booming, echoing, ringing. Then the
alpha lifts her head in a howling challenge and the wolves leap over the
drift.
ElijahThere are some things he knows
by touch, and would have been able to distinguish what Kiara's hand felt
like even if they were cloaked entirely in darkness. She might not pay
him a second glance but he does look at her, turns his attentions there
and he does squeeze her hand a little. Enough to remind her that he's
there, that he's heard, that he's actually paying attention or regards
her enough to actually heed her instructions.
Stay safe. Be Careful.
But
then, there is a sound. Something that resonates more in his chest than
in his ears. The way he always thought dragons would sound, the way
that it seems to know without having to know. Things seem to click into
place for a second, eyes cast to Leah and her fire that was once there,
the way the earth hadn't wanted her here, the way it had tried to steal
her fire and he thinks of Amara Renata- firebird priestess- and he can
draw conclusions. he can make parallels even if he doesn't know her, he does have enough faith in the cycle to be almost certain their dragon wasn't mistaken.
He hops himself down, gives the dragon a second look.
"Doesn't
look that big," he tells himself, curses under his breath and says
something else in some language only angels and Henry would know.
(ladida, you know, just prepping things with prime for prime 2, because prime is made of awesome and win
KiaraAmara.
The dragon calls Leah Amara
and there's a beat where she's not the only one who freezes. Kiara too,
stops and what little color her face had contained seems to drain away
in an instant as her eyes shift to the fiery mage as she puts her hands
over her ears. Kiara's eyes close for an instant and her expression is
some mixture of comprehension and dawning horror.
Oh, God.
They open again and flick to Henry with this bright, fierce look there's no time to quantify because the dragon is moving.
Its great body lashing the ground as it moves and the Verbena slings
her backpack off her shoulders; jams a hand into its depths and pulls
out a small drawstring purse; she's sliding her pack back on and tipping
the contents into a hand before the dragon has fully stepped out into
direct sight.
The pagan's expression is stricken, pale and
fearful but there's determination in those dark eyes as they fixate on
the wings that snap open as it roars. The sound of it seems to vibrate
Kiara's bones, she closes her eyes and grits her teeth against the sound
and squeezes her fingers tight around the dried leaves in her hand.
[Let's work a little Entropy up in here, oh yes.]
Elijah[Starting!
Prime 2- Pew Pew! Diff 3 + 2 (sphere) = 5 -1 (because he actually has
practiced this as weird as that sounds)= diff 4]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (7, 9) ( success x 2 )
Kiara[Entropy 1, I forget the title, locate disorder and weakness? Anyway, Diff 3 + 1, -1 Foci]
Dice: 3 d10 TN3 (2, 6, 8) ( success x 2 )
Book of Myths[The wolves get one Init score. They fight as one. +7]
Dice: 1 d10 TN1 (8) ( success x 1 )
Elijah[5+d10]
Dice: 1 d10 TN4 (5) ( success x 1 )
Book of Myths[Dragon +8]
Dice: 1 d10 TN1 (9) ( success x 1 )
Book of Myths[Henry +5]
Dice: 1 d10 TN1 (8) ( success x 1 )
Book of Myths[Leah +6]
Dice: 1 d10 TN1 (3) ( success x 1 )
Kiara[Ack! +5]
Dice: 1 d10 TN3 (6) ( success x 1 )
Book of Myths[Red +6]
Dice: 1 d10 TN1 (10) ( success x 1 )
Book of Myths[And the order is:
Dragon: 17
Red: 16
Wolves: 15
Henry: 13
Kiara: 11
Elijah: 10
Leah: 9]
Book of Myths[Leah loses a round being freaked out]
ElijahThis
is Elijah. This is Elijah not losing his shit over the fact that there
is a dragon who very adamantly wants to wreck Leah's world and, by
extension, probably the worlds of everyone with her.
This is
Elijah casting the most basic and effective form of magical defense he
knows on something gigantic. Just keep focusing, this has to work, because it has before.
(Keep casting, sugar cube! Prime 2 really does work)
Kiara[Kiara is extending her casting this round, more Entropy to find any weak spots in Puff the Magic Dragon]
Book of Myths[Henry attacks the dragon with fire]
Book of Myths[The wolves all attack the dragon's wing (grounding it would be good)]
Book of Myths[Red bolts off at top speed towards the cave. Apparently he has an idea.]
Book of Myths[Dragon activates charm: Armor]
Book of Myths[Dragon spends 10 Essence and gains 8 soak dice against agg damage]
Book of Myths[Red does his thing]
Book of Myths[and the die of fate says...]
Dice: 1 d10 TN1 (8) ( success x 1 )
Book of Myths[the wolves do some serious damage to the dragon's wing. It is grounded and takes 20 damage]
Book of Myths[There
is a lot of wind swirling around this dragon. Henry is going to convert
some of it into fire. Spirit 3 / Forces 3 diff 6 -1 (practiced) -1
(resonance: ardent)]
Dice: 3 d10 TN4 (2, 8, 10) ( success x 3 ) [WP]
Book of Myths[he will extend into next round]
Kiara[Rinse
and repeat as earlier. Okay let's get the diff correct this go around.
Diff 6, +1 for extending, -1 focus and I think some WP here.]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (7, 8, 10) ( success x 4 ) [WP]
Book of MythsEverything
has weaknesses. Even dragons. Isn't that how they're usually killed?
Looking at this one, Kiara is hard-pressed to imagine it having many
vulnerabilities, but there is... one.
If this is a winter
dragon (an ice dragon) then surely it's vulnerable to fire? Watching it
move, the way its scales seem to harden as it draws its focus, its clear
that its defenses will be hard to breach through normal means. And
unlike many dragons of legend, Kiara can find no chink in the armor - no
tiny weak spot where an arrow or a bolt of heat might strike true.
But
then it opens its mouth to roar at the wolves, and she sees soft, pink
flesh. She sees an open passage leading down its throat.
Not a very appealing option. But a firebolt aimed at just the right time and place? That might do some serious damage.
Elijah[prime 2- extending?]
Dice: 2 d10 TN5 (9, 10) ( success x 2 )
Book of Myths[Since the dragon took damage, she gets a new Init roll. Hah. +8]
Dice: 1 d10 TN1 (6) ( success x 1 )
Book of MythsIt
happens very quickly, as these things always do. The wolves are on
their prey within seconds, ripping and shredding into the dragon's wing
with their huge, terrible jaws. Looking over the top of the snowdrift,
the mages will be able to see first hand just what kind of threat they
escaped when they allied with these creatures. The dragon is tough
though. Some of the bites land on scale and clink uselessly against the
spirit's armor. But one, the alpha's, wrenches through the long
wing-bone and snaps it in half.
The dragon opens its mouth and roars in pain and anger, sending the snow whipping up in little cyclones with its good wing.
From
their vantage point on the ground, the mages work their effects. Kiara,
gaining what insight she can into the beast's weaknesses. Elijah,
conjuring a blast of primal force. Henry, transmuting wind into fire.
But Leah... she hesitates.
And
Red? Red has his own ideas. He's off like a scarlet bolt across the
ice, making for the entrance to the cave. Distracted as it is, its
likely the dragon may not notice something so small and silent.
Book of Myths[Leah gets her shit together and decides to try this Prime attack thing]
Elijah[Prime
2: Again again! Keeep continuing on with the casting. We're going to
actually release the dang effect this round (hopefully)]
KiaraKiara's crouching there, watching the wolves tear into the dragon.
She
doesn't flinch when there's the terrible crunch of bone snapping and
being torn away; her eyes narrowing against the wind, rather, she's
deducing, the brunette. Her dark eyes focused on the dragon as if it
held (and in part, it did) the keys to their survival. Elijah and Henry
are both working and there's a beat, as the dragon roars and throws its
weight around that she twists, her voice rising urgently over the sounds
of fray.
"You have to aim for its mouth. When it opens it, that's the only weak point. It's armor is too thick. Aim for the mouth." She turns back, jaw set and her teeth sink into her lip until she can taste blood. There's a shiver and she focuses anew.
[Hey it's a Prime party, let's all Prime 2 together.]
Book of Myths[Henry extends his effect]
Dice: 3 d10 TN5 (2, 2, 10) ( success x 2 ) [WP]
Book of Myths[That... was supposed to be a declare. Not a roll. Sorry.]
Book of Myths[Dragon closes distance to Leah and bites her (split action)]
Book of Myths[Wolves be like - excuse us, we're attacking you]
Book of Myths[and the die of fate says...]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (2) ( fail )
Book of Myths[the die of fate says the dragon shakes them off and keeps coming]
Book of Myths[Second split Bite -3]
Dice: 5 d10 TN5 (2, 4, 5, 5, 6) ( success x 3 )
Book of Myths[Leah is obviously going to revert to defensive action and try to evade. -1 WP]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 7, 9, 10) ( success x 4 ) [WP]
Book of Myths[er... that's 3. Ignore that WP. She spent one to do the action. But still, narrowly escapes!]
Book of Myths[Actually,
let's just take that roll I did by mistake. So the total is 5
successes. Or 11 fire damage. And oh, hey, look at that. The dragon's
armor doesn't work on Fire. Dragon loses 11 essence.]
Book of Myths[That was Henry. Sorry. I can type names.]
Kiara[Okay,
so. We're gonna do this: Prime 2! Diff ... 5? +1 for targeting that
mouth, -1 for focus (Blood). We're definitely going to need to extend, I
suspect.]
Dice: 3 d10 TN5 (6, 7, 9) ( success x 4 ) [WP]
Book of Myths[Dragon loses 8 more Essence from a bolt of prime down the gullet (ow)]
Elijah[Prime
2: Because pewpew. Diff 3 +2 (sphere) +1 (targetted) +1 (extension): 7 -
1 quint (because I said WORK) -1 resonance (because "Magic, do what you
will")
Dice: 2 d10 TN5 (8, 10) ( success x 3 ) [WP]
Book of Myths[and again, dragon takes another 14 damage!]
Book of Myths[And in case anyone is wondering, it has 37 left]
Book of MythsThe
wolves warned that Leah would be in danger. Even they didn't know how
right they were. The dragon gives a wrenching spin that sends the wolves
sprawling across the ice. There are snarls and a couple of sharp
whimpers as the dragon breaks away, lunging toward the mages. The ground
shakes beneath its feet when it lands. When its eyes fix on Leah, it
rears back and opens its jaws, striking out toward her with a vicious
snap. Leah, her eyes widening in terror, turns to run, and she only just
barely manages to escape the tearing strength of its massive, hooked
teeth.
She's running headlong toward the only shelter she can see - the cave.
The
dragon parts its jaws to snarl, but before it can turn to chase after
its quarry, Kiara and Elijah release two consecutive blasts of pure
quintessence straight into the beast's open mouth. It gives this
surprised, pained, hissing roar (there is a sound like air moving
through grass, whistling slightly) and lurches back away from them,
snapping its jaws shut tightly and giving an unhappy shake of its head.
Behind it, the wolves get to their feet and dive in for another attack.
Book of Myths[Leah runs from the inevitable attack she's sure is going to come her way]
Elijah"OhholyjesusLeahgetthecrown!"
[action: run like Hell towards the cave]
Kiara[More Prime attacking! Kiara's going to keep the dragon's focus on them as long as she can to buy them time.]
Book of Myths[Henry goes for another Fire attack]
Book of Myths[Dragon uses charm: Quake]
Book of Myths[Wolves attack the dragon. Naturally.]
Book of Myths[and the die of fate says..]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (9) ( success x 1 )
Book of Myths[The
wolves lash at the dragon's legs and underbelly, and the alpha leaps up
and gets a hold of the dragon's throat, tearing a deep gash in its
neck. Some kind of irridescent glowing ooze seeps out of the wounds.
Dragon takes another 20 damage]
Book of Myths[Dragon
spends 5 essence and starts an earthquake. The ground rumbles and
cracks, and the ice above the cave entrance begins to fall in large
chunks. Everyone standing must now make a reflexive Dex+Ath roll at diff
8 not to fall over.]
Elijah[This is the part where we faceplant]
Dice: 4 d10 TN8 (1, 4, 4, 7) ( botch x 1 )
Kiara[Dragonquake! Rumble, rumble. Dex + Ath.]
Dice: 6 d10 TN8 (1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9) ( success x 2 )
Book of Myths[Leah - ah!]
Dice: 5 d10 TN8 (1, 2, 4, 5, 10) ( success x 1 )
Book of Myths[Wolves roll as one]
Dice: 7 d10 TN8 (2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 8, 10) ( success x 3 )
Book of Myths[Dragon probably will not fall from her own quake, but still...]
Dice: 8 d10 TN8 (1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10) ( success x 1 )
Book of Myths[Oh right, Henry]
Dice: 3 d10 TN8 (5, 7, 9) ( success x 1 )
Book of Myths[Well that was a surprise]
Book of Myths[Henry tries his effect at +2 diff because distractions]
Dice: 3 d10 TN4 (3, 7, 10) ( success x 3 ) [WP]
Book of Myths[Augh, that was diff 6. Still 3 success though.]
Book of Myths[Dragon takes another 7 damage]
Kiara[Prime
2: Give the dragon the worst sore throat ever. Diff 5, +1 targeting
(throat), +2 (stuff is going on), -1 focus (blood), possibly extending
as before.]
Dice: 3 d10 TN7 (4, 5, 6) ( success x 1 ) [WP]
Book of Myths[Elijah falls and loses a turn]
Elijahaction: Become acquainted with ground.
Book of Myths[Leah makes it to the cave's entrance. Where a bunch of ice is now falling in her general direction...]
Book of MythsThe
tide is turning. Perhaps the dragon can sense it, because it uses its
next act not to attack but to defend, calling forth a groundshaking
earthquake that rumbles and cracks the ice. The wolves, nimble as they
are, manage to keep their footing, as do most of the mages. Elijah,
unfortunately, is not so lucky. He loses his balance and topples over,
landing on his face in the snow. One of his feet gets twisted at an odd
angle beneath him, and he has to fight to get standing again.
Henry,
seeing Leah running for the cave, does his best to lure the dragon back
toward himself, shouting as he fires off another pluming burst of
flame.
"Hey! Over here you worthless excuse for a dragon!"
The
dragon isn't that stupid though. It knows (or thinks it knows) what it
needs to guard against. Not the wolves. Not these three ragtag mages.
They've nearly killed it, but its own life is not the thing its trying
to protect. So it gives one last roar and charges headlong for Leah and
the now-collapsing cave.
Ice is falling in larger and larger
chunks. The cave is crumbling. Above it, there is a sound... like a
rushing wave. But there's no water here...
An avalanche. And a sheet of snow is coming down, down.... heading for all of them.
Book of Myths[Leah.
*sigh* Really? Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck this dragon. Fuck the umbra.
Fuck this entire day. *has Spirit 3 epiphany* *turns around and hits the
dragon with fire*]
Elijah[Action!: Roll over, and attack the dang thing: Prime 2? Yes, yes Prime 2]
KiaraThere's
a beat where all Kiara can feel is her heart, slamming against her
chest. It's all she can hear, too. A pounding in her ears, almost like a
rushing - no, wait. The Verbena's eyes widen. They drop to where she
can barely see Leah now, through the collapsing snow and the dragon's
charging form. Somewhere nearby is Elijah, too.
"Leah!" Kiara screams, there's horror and fear and it slices through the brunette like a knife. "No! Elijah."
There's no time. She focuses her energy and unleashes another blast of pure Prime toward the dragon. "You leave them alone."
[Whoop, one more Prime blast.]
Book of Myths[Henry is going to cast a protective shield on Leah so she doesn't get crushed]
Book of Myths[Dragon
uses its last 5 essence and sacrifices itself to hit Leah with its ice
breath. It was a brave dragon, in its way. We shall miss it. No, we
shall not miss it. But hopefully it will re-birth itself in a better
place where it can just be a dragon and not worry about protecting silly
crowns.]
Book of Myths[the wolves are going to gtfo]
Book of Myths[The wolves run from the avalanche]
Book of Myths[Dragon hits Leah with 5 agg]
Book of Myths[Leah soaks maybe?]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (4, 7, 7, 7, 10) ( success x 4 )
Book of Myths[Hells yeah Avatar 5]
Book of Myths[Dragon dies. Leah takes 1 agg. Henry does his thing. Spirit 3 / Forces 2 diff 6]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 8) ( success x 2 ) [WP]
Book of Myths[That had Life 2 as well. I know what I'm doing, honest.]
Kiara[Re-directing Prime blast to get rid of some of that ice playing stacks on Leah. +1 for extending, -1 focus, yadda.]
Dice: 3 d10 TN5 (9, 9, 10) ( success x 4 ) [WP]
Book of Myths[Kiara's
blast fires off at the ice descending above Leah's head and carves a
MASSIVE hole in it. She manages not to get hit with anything. That is,
until the avalanche hits...]
ElijahInt+survival: did Ian ever cover Avalanche Survival Techniques when they went camping?
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 3, 8) ( success x 1 )
ElijahAction: (since there is nothing to poke with prime)... run? -1 WP
Elijahdex+athletics: Running?
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 7, 8) ( success x 2 )
Book of Myths[Welp.
Leah can't even kill the dragon now. So she's gonna hit the snow with
fire instead. Spirit 3 / Forces 3 / Prime 2, diff 6 -2 (burning
resonance x 2) (Forces specialty applies: Fire)]
Dice: 4 d10 TN4 (4, 8, 10, 10) ( success x 7 ) [Doubling Tens] [WP]
Book of MythsThe
dragon dies. It doesn't drop to the ground, broken and bloody, the way a
mortal dragon might. Instead its body shimmers and goes dim -
incorporeal. Fading into a cloud of frost. The last thing it does before
it goes is open its jaws and release this violent gust of frozen wind.
The blast hits Leah full on, and she shudders from the cold, but manages
to stay standing.
Then the dragon disappears.
Perhaps,
for a brief moment, those left standing will have time to realize what
they've just done. Something that until recently they likely would have
assumed impossible.
Perhaps they are too busy trying to stay alive. Or trying to keep their friends alive.
Henry
does his best to protect Leah, conjuring a faint shield of protection
from the falling ice. It isn't much, and it doesn't last long. Luckily,
Kiara's attempt to obliterate the danger proves more effective, as her
attack blasts through the falling sheets and rips a hole in the cave's
ceiling big enough to leave Leah out of reach of the collapse.
Elijah,
left with few options but to run, does so. As he turns, he can feel a
rush of wind as the wolves bolt past his shoulder. He's turned, so he
won't see what happens next, but Henry and Kiara do. They see Leah open
her mouth and scream - only what comes out isn't a human sound at all.
It sounds like a bird - like a raptor - and there's this bright, sudden
glow of flame that spreads out into two burning wings at her back. Just
before a massive explosion of fire erupts around and above her.
Then
the avalanche hits, and there isn't time to tell if she survives. If
Red is still alive in that cave somewhere. There isn't time to do
anything but run.
It sounds like the ocean. Funny how much it sounds like that. Like they're about to get hit by...
The wave crashes around them, and everything goes dark and quiet.
ElijahHe
doesn't have time to say anything. He just hears the sound, and it
sounds like the ocean and something in his stomach turns and he runs. He
runs like he's never run in his life- he doesn't want to get stuck in
an avalanche, knows that his friends haven't turned tail and tried to
break through with him.
He doesn't see what happens, just hears a sound, like the ocean, and the world goes dark and quiet and he knows he needs to go up
and he's made enough progress to still remember where up is, plants his
feet on what he presumes is solid ground and reaches upward, swims,
pulls, pushes, does whatever he can think of to do because he didn't think to hold his breath and that's what he thinks is going to be the problem.
It
doesn't matter if it's sand or water or ice or blood, if there's no air
you'll die. Suffocate, drown, be crushed by the world around you and he
doesn't want that. When he pulls up he can finally feel something like cold air instead of wet snow.
Elijah
tries to pull himself out of the snow, can't push forward to feel any
other living presence. Just knows it's cold, and just knows that he's
the one who had the running start.
So, instead, he tries to listen. Maybe he'll hear someone, maybe something other than wind and stillness.
"Fuck," he hissed. Panic hasn't set in yet. It's getting there, though.
KiaraThe
momentum of it knocks the Verbena off her feet. There's barely time for
her to cover her face and half turn as if somehow doing so and offering
her back to the oncoming wave of snow would make a difference before it
hits and Kiara is buried in it; there's a rushing roar as it pours over
the mountainside and covers everything in its path and then - nothing.
Silence and a tiny smattering of snow drifting down in the avalanche's wake.
And
buried in there, Kiara breathes in a sudden, spasmodic way. Her body
engulfed in the crush of it; she can't breathe and for a moment there's
nothing but panic. Such an instinctive, human reaction before she
squeezes her eyes closed and forces her body to listen; to slow the
rapid thunder of her heart. Of this, she has mastery - it's freezing but she reaches down with her feet; feeling for the earth beneath her.
Striving for the connection.
The strength contained in the earth below.
Kiara[Life
3: Strength of the Earth, Umbral style. Diff 6, -1 focus, I mean what
else is there to do right now but focus on getting out, -1 Quint because
why not. She's not exactly getting anywhere fast is she.]
Dice: 3 d10 TN4 (2, 6, 7) ( success x 3 ) [WP]
Book of MythsThere's
little sense of where the others are - let alone what kind of state
they're in. One can only hope that they made it. Where Kiara rests,
buried deep within the snow, she feels as though she's suffocating. The
snow is in her eyes, her nose, her mouth. It melts when she breaths but
not enough. Can she die that way here? Does she even actually need
breath in this place? Perhaps the reason she does is because she
believes she is alive. And so so she is alive.
The
reason doesn't matter. She needs to breath and she can't. Not enough.
Only these little, shallow wisps of oxygen. But she pushes her foot
against the ground and she forces herself to calm. To focus. And she
draws the strength of the earth up through her body.
When she
pushes at the snow, she finds that she can move it a little. That she
can dig in these achingly slow little movements. It's frustrating work,
especially when she has so little air and the world is black and
pressing in on her. But she does make headway.
Elijah is
luckier. He ran, and when the wave hit he manage to swim partway to the
surface. When his hand breaks through, he can feel the cold kiss of open
air. There's a long moment where he tries not to panic. Swears under
his breath against the snow.
Then something dislodges the snow
next to his arm. A paw, digging through the surface. He can feel the
snow being pulled away, feel his arm being freed. Finally teeth latch
down on his shirt and give a hard yank.
And he breaks free.
The
wolf drags him out onto the surface, then drops his arm, looking him in
the eyes with this quiet note of concern. It's the same wolf he'd
ridden on their journey to find the cave.
"We said we'd help," he speaks. "We keep our promises."
Then he turns and trots toward where the other wolves are digging in two other places.
If
Elijah turns to watch him go, he'll see something else in the distance.
A figure running through the snow wreathed in flame, and a tiny dot of
trotting beside her. The fox is carrying something in its mouth that
glints silver in the sun.
"Elijah!" Leah shouts. "We have to get Kiara and Henry!"
Elijah[Int+enigmas, diff7. Because I'm pretty sure my friends are dying and I'm stressed because this is stressful]
Dice: 6 d10 TN7 (1, 3, 4, 5, 5, 9) ( success x 1 )
Kiara[Strength + Ath, nnnngh.]
Dice: 8 d10 TN8 (2, 4, 4, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9) ( success x 3 )
Book of Myths[Edit: omg, so many typos. So many. "and a tiny dot of red trotting beside her."]
Book of Myths[Kiara successfully digs her way to the surface]
ElijahThere is this moment when the world feels like it wants to slip, like some part of him wants to break down and fracture and it doesn't.
He doesn't know yet that this is a possibility, could have very well
slipped in and out of breaks with reality earlier in life and never
noticed because everything seemed like a fracture in reality, truth be
told. We digress.
There is a wolf pulling him to the surface
and he doesn't have words, doesn't know what to say except that he wants
to hug the damn thing and that it was a bad idea to not take them along. He was on his feet soon enough, looks to the distance and hears Leah, calls back.
"I'm gonna look for Henry!" because Kiara wasn't a sixty something year old man with bad knees.
He
darts off to follow along with one of the wolves in the distance. Puts
his ear to the ground. They seem to have a good scent on things.
"Please be okay?" he asks, hopes he hears something. Wouldn't care who he found just so long as it was someone.
KiaraThe wolves are digging into the layers of snow and it must feel like a futile moment.
There was just so much
snow and it had buried the place where Kiara and Henry had been
standing. Surely they couldn't have survived long under that much snow.
Suffocation could be as real as it felt, after all. Convince the human
body that there was no air and hyperventilation was entirely possible.
Kiara keeps her eyes closed.
Keeps
her breathing light and as even as she can afford to make it; her arms
pinned to her sides; her ribs throat aching with the need to breathe in.
And then, she can feel it. The seep of energy flowing into her; the
tender brush of the earth under her fingertips; setting them twitching.
Sinking beneath her skin and curling around her legs.
It's a rush, a jolt of
sudden adrenaline and the Verbena kicks out, hard. Or as hard as she's
able to and moves an inch. Another. There's the desire to cry out of
pure frustration and perhaps it's that, as much as anything. A pure,
stubborn will to survive that has her coil all her energy into a sudden
movement. A sharp, animalistic snarl as she pushes at the snow with all her might -
And a hand bursts out of the snow.
Something wet and twitching finds it and there's an answering whuff.
The Verbena keeps kicking and a snow-smeared head and shoulders appear
from under the dislodged snow. Her lip is bleeding badly (a deliberately
inflicted wound) and she seems disorientated for a moment, blinking
rapidly in the light.
Oxygen floods her lungs and the Verbena sets her hand on the ground, content for a moment it would seem, just to breathe.
Book of MythsWhen
Kiara breaks the surface, the wolves move to get out of her way,
allowing her space to rest - to breath. Then there is a hand on her
shoulder and it feels warm.
"You're okay, you're
okay.." It's Leah, kneeling down to wrap her arms around Kiara's
shoulders - holding her tightly for a moment as though to reassure
herself that the other Verbena is really alive. There's a sudden breath
and then "Thank you." Her flames feel soft where they lick at
Kiara's skin. They melt the snow remaining there, leaving her dry. Then
she's gone a moment later, rising to help Elijah and the wolves dig
Henry free. If he was even still alive.
Elijah follows the
wolves, pressing his ear to the snow in a frantic attempt to hear...
something. Anything. But there's nothing to hear. Are they digging in
the wrong place, or is Henry unconscious? Or worse.
"It's
okay," Leah says, softly, as she comes rushing over. "We'll get him
out." The wolves are digging fast, dislodging great piles of snow with
their powerful legs, but it isn't fast enough and Leah sets her hands on
the snow and says something in a voice that doesn't wholly sound like
her own and isn't in any language Elijah or Kiara will understand
(because no one has spoken it for thousands of years) and her eyes glow.
Book of Myths[Aaand melting the snow. Same as before.]
Dice: 4 d10 TN4 (2, 4, 5, 6) ( success x 4 ) [Doubling Tens] [WP]
Book of MythsAnd
then the snow sizzles and melts and rises into the air in clouds of
steam. When it finishes, there is Henry's form curled into a ball in the
crevice, unconscious but alive.
Red drops the thing he was
carrying and races down to look at him. When he presses his nose to
Henry's face, he utters a plaintive whine.
Then Henry inhales in a gasp and opens his eyes.
ElijahIt
doesn't dawn on him to hide the fact that he is terrified of the
prospect of losing his mentor. That this would be it for him, he didn't want to study with anyone else, he didn't want to be
around anyone else, he wanted to study with Henry. He wanted to share
stories and incorporate the old man into his life and introduce him to
Jenn and give him a freaking house key and build this person as a fact
of his current existence.
And he might be dead. He might be unconscious, what if they were in the wrong place and Elijah couldn't reach any further than he had. Leah tells him it's okay, and he's looking at her like he desperately
wants this to be true, like she has to know something he doesn't-
because that wasn't hard. He was, by far, the least experienced person
here. Took a lot of things for granted.
The snow is gone and
he looked relieved for a brief moment, which then was kicked aside by
the silence. Red pokes him, Elijah bridges the gap, should probably give
Henry a chance to breathe, but he hugs him anyway.
"Je craignais tu es mort," because he wasn't taking the precious seconds it took to translate.
Kiara"I'm okay." Kiara echoes after a moment, her voice raspy.
She's
tentative as she pushes herself to her feet, the strength she'd
channeled, pulled out of the ground itself still thrumming through her
veins. She feels - surprisingly energized considering what had just
happened and for a moment, all the brunette can do is stand there and
stare at the point where the cave was, where (had it only been minutes?
It felt like hours) there had been a towering dragon.
Now,
there's nothing but the snow and the sounds of desperate digging,
followed by the sizzling sound of Leah's working melting it down. By the
time Kiara's moved to stand beside the others, Henry's been uncovered
and Elijah has all but thrown himself down over the older man, saying
something in French the Verbena doesn't understand, but - comprehends
the meaning behind.
Gratitude. Relief.
She catches
sight of the glinting object Red had dropped and moves to stand over it,
staring down at it with a complicated expression twisting her features;
her supple mouth into a frown. "You found it," she offers simply and
doesn't move to pick it up but glances instead across at the other
Verbena. Studying Leah's face with no tiny amount of consideration.
"Are you alright?"
Book of Myths[Leah is going to heal this 1 dot of agg]
Dice: 4 d10 TN5 (5, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 4 )
Book of Myths[well that was overkill]
Book of Myths[Leah's dice are appropriate tonight]
Book of MythsThere's
a note of quiet panic in Leah's eyes when she sees Henry's motionless
body, but it relaxes when he opens his eyes. There's a moment where she
looks at him with this complicated expression. Then she turns and walks a
few paces away. She stops beside where Red dropped the crown, her eyes
drawn to it. But when she looks at it, there's no sense of relief or joy
- no gratitude at being reunited with this lost relic.
This crown that had once been hers.
She just looks... sad.
"Red
found it," she answers Kiara quietly. When she looks up, there are
tears glistening in her eyes. "Physically, yes. A little frostbitten."
She holds out her hands, and Kiara will see that there are places where
the cold left the skin blackened. There's a patch of it on her cheek
too. She takes a breath and closes her eyes. Murmurs another word in
that ancient tongue and the wounds heal like nothing ever happened. She
bends down to touch the crown, and there is this.. arrested heartbeat.
Almost, she can't make herself do it. But then she wraps her fingers
around it and lifts it from the snow.
The crown: truthfully,
it's more of a circlet than a proper crown. Surprisingly simple for
something so valuable. Just a silver band inlaid with a few simple,
elegant designs (they look a bit like bird feathers) and notched with
settings for nine stones.
But whatever used to be set there... the stones are gone now.
Still, the crown hums with mythic resonance. If they're quiet, they can hear it. The way it pitches higher when Leah touches it. (Like it's coming home.)
"The
stones are gone," she says, her voice cold. Exhausted. Embittered.
"It's useless without them. We did all this for a trinket."
Back
in the crevice, Elijah is clutching Henry, holding him, uttering his
desperate relief. And Henry is smiling and laughing and wrapping his
arms around his apprentice like he'd be just as happy to stay there with
him all day. "Non, mon cher ami. Je n'aurais pas partir tu."
ElijahThe
sound is one of utter relief, followed by incoherent sounds of even
more relief. They could have forgotten all about the crown for all he
cared, if they hadn't come back with Henry he would have been
inconsolable. Even if it did have all of its pieces. Even if it
was a completed relic. Somewhere at the back of his mind, he hears this,
puts it together catches the bitter tones and knows...
No,
doesn't know. Elijah has no ties to his past life beyond the warnings
his avatar has uttered all of once- you've faltered before. Just the
once, before the world went silent and dreams stopped being shitshow
nightmares where Nothing reigned supreme.
He takes a minute
before he finally gives Henry a chance to breathe, and a hand up to
actually stand because heaven knows it can't be comfortable having a
lanky twenty-something piled on top of you like an overeager puppy.
"Well," he announces, "we just found out that the quest is going to take a little longer than anticipated."
Seems, at the very least, that if the desire to search was still there, he was volunteering his services.
KiaraThe stones are gone, Leah says and Kiara's eyes drop to the glinting object in her (now fully healed) hands.
She
doesn't seem as dismayed as she perhaps should considering the apparent
power in the artifact but then again, for all the fact she was nearly
smothered by a mountainside full of snow, the Verbena seems remarkably
contained but for the way her hand trembles just a little as she seeks
to slide it around Leah's body, bracketing the other woman in a brief,
supportive embrace.
She watches Elijah and Henry's reunion
with a tiny, half formed smile for a moment and then takes a deep,
cleansing breath. There were things she wanted to ask, questions that
needed answering - among them, what happened now, to the crown, to the
search for the stones and whoever had taken them from this place - but
Kiara doesn't seem particularly inclined to ask them, as much as her
eyes speak of them when they cut across to the others, to Leah's
expression.
"Not for nothing." She does say, after a while. Her eyes dropping to the circlet. "At least we know where they aren't." Then, she squeezes at Leah's side lightly; offers her hand as it falls to her side.
"Let's go home."
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