What to do about Magik?
Author's note: This story just grew a bit too big for one chapter, so this is Part 2. I chose to put this story in What to do about Magik because this really is that kind of situation from the Dragaeran point of view.
Plus I likely will get more hits this way (ah… evil intent). And dang, looks like it will be at least one more chapter, perhaps two.
Part 67a: Aliera finds the Easterner to be more then she anticipated
The two battled.
Colorful magics filled the air as the swords clashed. And to Aliera's surprise this sudden sword stood up to the full power and impact of Pathfinder. Most normal swords would fail before the full power of a Great Weapon, but this silver burning sword that the Easterner wielded with skill did not. And the topic of magic was equally daunting. Aliera was a very skilled sorceress, not the best in the Empire, but better then almost anybody else and this creature was demonstrating a level of proficiency that exceeded Aliera's, and was using spells she had never seen before.
To make things worse, so many of Aliera's spells were being shredded, which reminded Aliera of the Vlad's Spell Breaker chain as the effects were similar.
In short, Aliera was losing. Losing combat wise and losing magically. Something her sword Pathfinder made mention to her on the bound they shared.
(We are losing Mistress).
Aliera tended to the abrupt when speaking, even with her sword. (Tell me something I don't know.)
Most people when confronted by a Morganti, much less a Great Weapon, were less then inclined to fight. But this demon Easterner, and demon did fit the bill as small red horns had grown on the forehead of this Magik, did not appear to be intimidated if her wicked grin of delight was any indication. Also Illyana was aware of soul protecting magics so likely the Morganti weapon was less of a threat to her then Aliera undrestood.
And yes the sword was dangerous to Illyana, but it would take more then the normal nick from a Great Weapon to destroy one such as her.
Aliera gave a sweep with Pathfinder that should have lopped off the Easterner's left arm, but the Easterner stepped in close while rotating to her left and used the black spiky armor of her left arm to both redirect, block, and trap Aliera's sword while smashing her own sword with a punching strike that impacted upon the base of Pathfinder, causing the sword to be flung from Aliera's hands.
Pathfinder twirled in the air, to land ten feet away upon the ground. While at the same time Illyana gave the elf a vicious club to the head as her right hand, still holding the sword struck Aliera with the flat of the blade. With that Illyana stepped back, but still holding her sword. Illyana assumed that the fight was over as a good stunning blow to the head tends to always finish things.
She was wrong.
Pathfinder flew from the ground into its mistresses right hand just as a major explosion flung back Illyana. She was barely able to bring her sword into place to block a strike from Aliera that would have cut her in twain.
With that, and a few very choice words from Aliera, combat resumed. Shortly thereafter, Morrolan teleported in, or as close as he could due to Aliera's teleportation block. Who, upon seeing the altercation jumped to the immediate, and very understandable, conclusion that his cousin was under threat. It took a long sprinting run before he was able to engage with Blackwand, but then it was two against one.
And now Illyana found herself on the defensive as she strove to not be outflanked by the pair. The horns on her head grew in size as a devils tail flicked into existence behind her. The twin attacks were causing her to be pinned against the sea of chaos at her back, a tactic that would defeat most people as liquid chaos just so liked to dissolve everything. But not one who could teleport via her mutant ability to summon teleportation dots from Limbo, dots that did not care a wit about the teleportation block Aliera had raised.
With a flash of light she was fifty feet away and now behind them. The fight had been fun but again Illyana was here for a different purpose and at this rate either of the elves were going to end up dead, or even worse, she might be; although the more likely outcome if she were to lose would be some kind of encumbrance as they had been attempting to caste some kind of binding on her. So, first a crib from Steven as she cast the Seven Rings of Raggadorr, which was defensive spell used to deflect the various magic attacks cast be the two as they sprinted in her direction. So, safe for a moment she gave a wave and a shout of …
"I'm just here for the impending apocalypse! It's been fun! Ciao!"
And with that she teleported away. And Pathfinder, much to Aliera's vexation as she uttered a few choice words that Morrolan felt was beneath the dignity of her station, was now unable to locate the wayward demon.
"#$% #&%%!"
"She has escaped us." Was Morrolan's statement.
Aliera did not take this observation well. "#$% #&%%!"
"Is such language really necessary cousin?"
Apparently it was.
"#$% #&%%!"
Morrolan gave a sigh… then they both teleported to Druz mountain after first telepathically communicating with Sethra as to the details of what had occurred; and Aliera had recovered her composure.
"#$% #&%%!"
Or not. Sigh…
Part 67b: Our Antagonist/Protagonist seeks a more complete understanding
With that Illyana did a series of teleports while cloaking herself in a cloaking spell to hide her location from sorcery as obviously the bitchy blonde elf must have some method of tracking her. Which shortly resulted in Illyana ended back in Adrilankha, the city she had first shown up in, not that she knew the name, but this time in a location that was filled with humans and not elves.
Hmm… a rather smelly location was Illyana's first thought. Apparently the magic that was used to keep things clean was not in use in this location. Hmm… as she examined her surroundings in depth, there was also almost no magic in use as well. Which made her muse upon just how magic might be utilized here. And when one muses upon a question, does not the musing lead to the desire for answers?
And so, she set out to acquire some answers. Within an hour, she was ensconced within a very nice house, in a different part of the city, confronting a most irate male elf. An elf constrained by the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak as Illyana had decided to keep with the Stephen theme as to spell selection.
"I have some questions and I figured I'd go to the top for the answers."
The elf in question offered a suggestion that she should indulge in solo sensual pleasure, although he did not quite use those exact words (think about it). Followed by a threat.
"You do know your dead, right?"
The elf in question went by the name Demon, and yes he was well named. He was high up in the Organizational side of the House of Jhereg, meaning the Mafia. Illyana, in pursuit of some answers had located an illegal establishment, which was an unlicensed gambling den, and had gone up the chain of command via the simple inquiry 'and who is your boss?'. Now there is no top level boss in the Jhereg, just a council, but the Demon was, shall we say, kind of first among equals. And to do what Illyana had done, meaning breaking into his home, disabled all protective magics, incapacitating his staff, and imprisoning him with this very unknown spell, was something that was not looked upon favorably by the Demon.
"Dead?"
The Demon was must specific. No rage in his statement, just the cold utterance. "Dead."
"I must say, I find your attitude must unproductive."
Which prompted another suggestion as to just what she could do with that opinion and where in her anatomy to store it.
Illyana had dealt with tough guys and hard cases before. But the elf's cold resolve did impress her. "I believe you are called the Demon?"
"Yes."
"Physical, behavior, or deed?" Was her mild inquiry.
"Deed." Was the Demon's answer to this Easterner. Only a fool messes with someone nicknamed the Demon. One way or another this female was…
Was…
The Demon's thoughts skipped a bit as the scandalously dressed Easterner stepped back and with a slightly ironic expression had started to morph. First the devil tail had flicked into existence behind her, and as the tail gave a lazy kind of swish, her inciters had grown while horns had grown on her forehead. Her blue eyes had faded into a burning yellow glow of power with no irises. Then her feet morphed into goat hooves as her blonde hair, and her eyebrows began to burn with flames. Her prior revealing outfit shifted into an even more disturbing sensual display as a very tight and revealing chain mail bikini took its place.
A shake of blonde burning hair then she started to wander around his office. "Ah… better."
This was all just an illusion… right? Was the Demon's thoughts, illusion being the demon form.
"Hmmm, do you have something to… ah… this will do." As she located a liquor cabinet. She ignored the bottles on top and knelt down to rummaged in the cabinet, then extracted an unmarked decanter. A sniff, after removing the glass stopper, followed by an approving tone of "Mmmm, smells like peaches."
With that she rose, splashed a bit in a glass, and took a sip while holding the cup in her left hand. "Definitely peaches. Nice Brandy."
"Wine." Was the Demon's reply, he noticed a bit of her hair had caught her drink on fire. Not that it appeared to bother her as she took another sip.
His reply had not been an answer Illyana expected. "How on earth is this wine?"
"It's made from fruit." An answer any Dragaeran would understand and agree with. Her confusion just served to show that she was not Dragaeran, but… just what was she?
She sat back against another small desk, her rather trim buttocks resting on the top with a bit of a jingle of as her armor shifted, and likely gave the fine wood a few scratches.
Her appearance was very much like a…
"Physical, behavior, and deed Mr. Demon. I also believe I out rank you, and I might add that I know some who would take offense at your assumption of such a name, as you are not a member of the club, but I'm a more forgiving individual. So… might we converse or is a more… terminal demonstration necessary?"
With that the female demon was holding a sword that burned with silver flames in her left hand, and the power broiling off the blade was what convinced the Demon that she could not be of his world. He offered "I find your arguments compelling, I fear I may have been hasty in expressing my dismay at both your presence and this confinement you have placed me in. Might we continue these discussions without such encumbrances?"
The grin she gave him was one he found to be almost reflective as the sword vanished. "I'd hate to think that you might mean to attempt me harm. I find it so annoying when folks attempt to stab me with soul destroying instruments. Most bothersome."
The Demon had given no outward sign as to just where this demon had planted her ass, which was right over where the concealed Morganti dagger was hidden from all possible sorceries of detection. And yet, that was where this demon was, which was obviously a hint.
"Bothersome is not a term for Morganti weapons that I've ever heard used before."
The blonde demon no longer sounded so cheerful as her eyes narrowed. "Bothersome… I have been known to kill things that become… bothersome."
"I see, then I will endeavor to avoid such a definition of my person."
A comment that appeared to regain her good cheer. "Nice… I think I might like you. You're the first elf who has bothered to converse, unlike the others."
"Others?"
She started counting on her fingers as she got off the table and began to walk around admiring some art work on the walls, after first refreshing her glass. "Let's see, there was the elf in the street, the one with the big sword, then there was the coffee shop, I mean Klava shop, the clerks were polite I suppose after the altercation with the other patrons. Then there was this blonde female elf with the nice sword… Aliera I think her name was, she was kind of fun but got really upset about something I said."
The demon was not one to be easily surprised, but her statement was of concern. "Aliera? Aliera e'Kioron?"
"Yes… that was her name."
"You killed Aliera e'Kioron?"
"No, I did not kill her, we fought. Then this other male elf arrive, he also had a nice sword, big black one. We all fought before I decided that things were getting too serious as I'm just here for the apocalypse so I decided to teleport away before things got too out of control."
The sudden flood of highly concerning statements was difficult to process.
"Apocalypse?"
"Yes."
"Is… this apocalypse your doing?"
"No, I try to avoid doing such things any more."
"Anymore?"
A bit of a shrug from her. "One tries." Then a bit of an explanation, likely trying to put the Demon at ease. "I was having some issues back then."
And no, the Demon was not put at ease as the thought of a demon with "issues" was of high concern.
She continued. "So… are you going to try to kill me if I release you, and bear in mind that those who try to lawyer upon on this if they lie tend to get rather dead."
A grin from the Demon. "No, I understand that I spoke in haste. I bear you no ill will and offer you the hospitality of my house."
"I accept."
That's when she dismissed the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak before sitting down on a couch.
After a brief check of his person the Demon stated. "May I make myself a drink, this is all a bit much to take in."
A grin from her as her demon form faded away leaving the blonde female Easterner sitting on a scorched couch where her hair had rested. "Sure. I understand. It can be a bit much."
The Demon proceeded to do just that, and to keep his distance from the desk with the Morganti dagger. The Demon was a prudent man after all.
Part 67c: A meeting of unlike minds
"And that's how Cawti and I ended up at Dzur mountain."
Ended up in that they were in Sethara's study, the one with various books on the walls, a nice table to sit around and various comfy chairs to reside in.
The image is frozen and only Vlad is talking. He is sitting in a two person couch with Cawti on his side. The two Jhereg (the lizards, not the people) were noshing upon two freshly killed Tecklas that were upon a silver tray that was on a side table against a wall. Only Vlad is moving as he gives you, the reader, a brief summary.
"Love this whole breaking the fourth wall thing. Now I've been a frequent visitor to Dzur mountain the last few years, but more frequently Castle Black. Cawti is really only friends with Aliera, but most of the others present are either friends of mine or acquaintances. First off is Sethara, dressed in a black gown, I've described her already, she's the one sitting at the head of the table with the glass of wine that she'll barely touch because of the whole undead thing she has going. Then there is Aliera, the drop dead gorgeous blonde over by the black bookshelf having some red wine and looking like she'd like to strangle somebody, she's also dressed in black and silver. I'm very happy that I'm not the source of that irritation."
And yes Aliera looks very very angry.
"Morrolan is the tall Dragaeran dressed in black and silver over at the other end of the room, likely a wise choice as Aliera is obviously in a mood about something. But now for the others, there is the Necromancer, she's also one dressed in black, I hope you've noticed the theme by this point. She's the one sitting on the right side of Sethara and looking very calm."
Necromancer: She comes from a place called the World of Seven Doors, and it is said that she "knows six of them...and she is not entirely unacquainted with the seventh," a fact that supposedly even astonishes several of the gods. She's called the Necromancer because she apparently does not have a name, or at least one that she's willing to share. So when she first manifested on Dragaera she accepted the respectful title of "The Necromancer", given to her in honor of her unprecedented powerful facility with planes of existence and necromancy in general. And yeah, if you've rolled snake eyes then she's the best at bringing you back, I know from personal experience.
She looks vaguely like a Dragon, but with the typical pallor of an undead. Her personality, what I can tell, is distant and very reserved. She shows few social graces and tends to take every question absolutely literally. I believe most of her social failures are because she is unfamiliar with Dragaeran etiquette, even though she's been here for several hundred years. I've found that the Necromancer is much more comfortable dealing with you if you're dead, which may be why she gets along so well with Sethra. Really big gun power wise as at various times she's supposedly reanimated armies of the dead as well as opened and close portals between the planes. She's one of the few people I refrain from being a smart ass with; and if you can't figure out why that is then you really need to remember the hazards in my line of work.
"It occurs to me that I've not yet described the Jhereg."
(I've noticed boss.)
(Shut up Loiosh.)
Loiosh: My familiar, most witches have one. He's a small, think shoulder sized, venomous flying lizard, something like a miniature wyvern. He's fully sentient, and spends most of his time making snarky telepathic comments to me and I have no idea where he got that from. I raised him from an egg so he's lived his entire with me, resulting in that he's completely at home in cities and among people, less so in the wild. I share a telepathic bound with him. He's as intelligent as your or I with a brain the size of a walnut. Not as clever as me (Thanks boss) as his motivations are fairly basic (safety and food), but he's a lot more sensible (Damn straight, somebody has to be). Oh, and their bite is poisonous.
Rocza: She's a wild-born female Jhereg that I summoned to help me when I was in dire straits, Rocza opted to remain with the Provider (that me by the way) and become Loiosh's mate. She doesn't understand "soft ones" or their ways very well, so Loiosh tends to act as a middleman when I need to communicate with her. Female Jhereg are larger than males, and Loiosh sometimes has to remind Rocza to only distract Vlad's our, not necessarily poison them to death.
"Oh, and Cawti, the lovely lady cuddled next to me, is my wife. We met under interesting circumstances that are out of scope for this little story."
Cawti: She's known as the dagger of the Jherag, meaning she's an assassin. Partially skilled witch but lacks a familiar. Better at throwing a knife then me. Kind of retired as an assassin, yeah kind of means not but… kind of. Love of my life. Oh, and NOT a damsel in distress.
"And me, perhaps a few more words of general description."
(Few? Boss you love to talk about yourself. Oh, and just who the heck are you talking to?)
(Shut up Loiosh.)
Vlad Taltos: I.e. me. I suppose a few more details might aid you, the reader. I'm a male Easterner. Unlike most humans, I belong to the House of the Jhereg because they're the only ones who sell noble titles to Easterners and my deceased Father bought a title before he died. I have been told that I tend to be rather cruel and selfish but is it my fault that the world is a harsh place? As I said before, I'm an assassin, but only for Dragaerans as I don't do work on humans, work being assassinations, I'm ok with killing anything that is trying to kill me.
I run a small crime territory. My preferred weapon is a rapier, or whatever pointy things I happen to have on my person at the moment, and Spellbreaker, a long golden chain that disrupts magic spells that I have wrapped around my left wrist.
"And with that it's time to end the fourth wall breaking and get on with the story."
It was Cawti who asked about the elephant in the room, the elephant being an angry Aliera.
Morrolan gave a wince of pain as he rubbed his brow. "A trifecta of insults. The demon declared that Aliera is diminutive in stature, and that her father was lacking of both intellect and birthright."
Cawti was briefly confused. "Birthright… oh."
Like wow. Cawti and I exchanged a glance. The demon had called Aliera's father a bastard. That… was… unheard of. Meaning Aliera that is.
Morrolan gave a brief rundown of the fight and that... "Now the demon cannot be traced by sorcery, which is most vexing. We found the demon to be very skilled with sword and magic."
A sniff from Aliera. "Not so skilled that she fled."
Morrolan ignored that little snipe from Aliera. "And mentioned that she was here for an apocalypse before she vanished."
Not good, meaning apocalypse. Although the fact that she held off both Morrolan and Aliera was also really bad on the bad news front.
I frowned as I asked. "So even Pathfinder is unable to…"
"Find the evil bitch!" Finished Aliera, hissed really.
"So… why us?" Was my inquire to the group, although I had a suspicion.
"The demon was in the form of a female Easterner." Stated Morrolan.
"Who dresses like a prostitute!" Added Aliera.
Okay… not the responses I was expecting. The prostitute remark that is, and the Easterner comment now that I think about it.
Morrolan then held up two strands of long hair, which turned out to be blonde. "And we have these."
Ahhh, that was what I was expecting. "So witchcraft."
A node from Morrolan. "Yes, I would like you to assist me, plus, the fact that the demon has assumed to form of an Easterner implies that the two of you might have insight into her character."
Part 67d: Our Antagonist/Protagonist has a more successful social interaction
"Might I inquire as to when you arrived?"
"You may."
"Then I shall."
"I await your inquiry."
"I shall then give it. When did you arrive?"
"Hmm, several hours ago." The blonde Easterner demon pulled a most strange time keeping device from somewhere, a flip of a long nail opened the cover and odd numeral and glyphs were projected after a few gestures. "Three hours, fourteen minutes, and twelve seconds ago."
"That is good."
"In what way?"
"The numbers did not contain the sacred number, I would be most concerned if they had."
"That is just how long I have been here. I was a bit early."
"When is this apocalypse meant to take place?"
Some different gestures and the projected glyphs change. "From the prior time I stated, the remaining time would have been fourteen hours, two minutes, and fifty six seconds."
The Demon's eyebrows rose as he did the math. "That would imply that you arrived…"
"Seventeen hours, seventeen minutes, and seventeen seconds before the apocalypse. Like I said, I'm a bit early."
"That… is of concern."
"Sacred number?"
"Yes… seventeen is the sacred number."
"Unfortunate, but understandable as an apocalypse tends to attract things like that."
The Demon took a long pull on his glass before asking his next question. "Might I inquire as to the nature of the impending disaster?"
"You may."
"Excellent, I shall formulate my query."
And he did.
And she answered.
Resulting in further inquires from the Demon that gained him knowledge of just what she was planning to do. Leaving the Demon with some small glimmer of hope as to the possibility of a future, although not one she offered any assurances of.
"Yes… I understand. To attempt such is not something one can offer guaranties of success."
"Exactly."
"One final question if I may?"
"You may."
"Why?"
The blonde Easterner did not answer at first, instead she went and refilled her glass, gave it a swirl, a long sniff, and then a sip before turning to answer him.
"Resolve."
The Demon frowned as he thought upon her answer. "Resolve?"
Her tone had bee conversational, but had ended with a harshness, and a momentarily flash of fire in her eyes. "Resolve. Some time ago I was forced to cut my own heart out and crush it as it were. All to do what was needed. To save those I cared about. And to do that, to stop what was to occur, all I had to do was slay my apprentice, one I thought of as a foster child."
Ahhh, resolve. That was something the Demon understand. If you travel past rage, past despair, past grief, there you will find resolve.
"I understand. I too have done such."
A questioning look from her, then perhaps she glimpsed more of what he was, resulting in just a node from her. Then it was her turn to ask questions and his to answer. And so she learned various details of this world. Of particular interest was the Imperial Orb, the Serioli, the Seventeen Houses, and a good place to eat (she was getting hungry).
As she rose to depart, after finishing her drink, she hummed a bit, it was another song that rather defined her intent. An act that prompted an inquiring look from the Demon.
"A song that's kind of stuck in my head. Goes like this."
It's my life
It's now or never
But I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive
…
She finished. "From a band called Bon Jovi."
The gist of which to the Demon was "Ah… resolve."
"Yes… I think it is."
With that she vanished in a light disk as if the teleportation blocks around his house were nothing, which he supposed they were.
Best to make some plans if the Apocalypse was less then complete was his thought. But first… another small drink, and a toast.
To Resolve