Kamar-Taj
Coughing, Maya quickly cleared the dust and debris with a wave of her hand. Mordo and Wong were leaping to their feet, having been knocked back like Stephen had been in the blast but much faster to recover as their years of training kicked in.
All the pathways to the Sanctums were blocked, Kaecilius's explosion having had the effect he wanted in bringing the ceiling of the Seeing Room down at the edges where the doorways had stood. Not that the blocked doorways really meant anything but the implication that Kaecilius had had enough control to affect how his blast would impact the explosion once it went through the gateway into Kamar-Taj was disturbing to say the least.
The part of Maya's brain that was still level worked through all of this information in one second; the larger part of her brain that was gripped with fear wanted her to depart immediately for the New York Sanctum, the doorway to which Stephen had tumbled through. However, decades of training checked her and Maya soon regained her head.
"Stephen-"
Mordo began worriedly as he looked toward the door but Maya said swiftly, "He will be safe as long as Daniel is there. But London needs us now."
Mordo nodded, immediately falling into professional mode as well. Maya looked at Wong.
"Fetch Ama." She ordered and Wong nodded before he almost disappeared he opened a gateway to the Ancient One's last known location so quickly. Mordo knew his own instructions without Maya needing to say it aloud - if Wong was the messenger, he would be part of the guard.
Without a word and with a synchronization that spoke of their many years of training together, he and Maya conjured up their own gateways and they entered the London Sanctum.
It was absolute chaos in the building. The Sanctum's few guards had fallen, overcome by their attackers' numbers even if they were matched in skil and Kaecilius's followers were already starting their retreat for reasons Maya couldn't explain. Nor did she have much time to think as Kaecilius's followers noticed her and Mordo's arrival right away.
There were five of them on the upper level where Maya and Mordo had appeared, and the fighting began almost as soon as they stepped foot into the Sanctum. Mordo had his Staff of the Living Tribunal out before they even landed and he cracked it at the nearest of Kaecilius's men. Maya meanwhile conjured up Eldritch war fans, similar to the Ancient One's own signature preferred Tao Mandalas, and she swiftly cut through her first opponent before he could raise a sufficient defense. He cried out as he fell and Maya felt a brief pang before it was swiftly snuffed out as another woman charged her. Maya caught the woman's arm swiftly, blocking the attack before she launched her own offense. The woman lasted a little longer but it wasn't long before she, too, fell with a cry as Maya's fans cut through the woman's neck.
The Zealots, as Maya had heard the group had named themselves over the last few months, were good but they had once been students at Kamar-Taj. Students under Kaecilius. And while they were good, they weren't as good as Kaecilius; and Maya had always been the stronger fighter between them.
That said, they were still good students and they not only had the advantage in numbers but also the power of the Dark Dimension behind them, as evidenced by the red butterfly-shaped markings embossed on their foreheads and the shattered pattern on the skins around their eyes. It gave them a brute strength she was unused to and Maya grit her teeth as she kicked and swung her war fans and ducked to avoid the Zealot's glass-like conjured shards that they apparently preferred to use as weapons. Probably because the mirror-like shards were drawn from the dimension they received their power from, Maya thought bitterly.
Still, her own strength and advanced training as a master kept her alive and soon Maya was working her way deeper into the Sanctum as she fought off her attackers. Mordo was making similar progress on the other side; but as the Zealots' were forced to the end of the corridor under her and Mordo's combined power, they suddenly turned and ran away.
Maya and Mordo gave quick chase, following the Zealots down the stairs and gaining on them; only to screech to a halt and dive for cover when Kaecilius, who had been standing in the middle of the entry hall, lowered the blast he had been accumulating while his Zealots had been holding Maya and Mordo off. Much more powerful than the blast he had released hastily earlier on before Maya's arrival, this attack blew right through the roof. Maya barely managed to block the ceiling from falling on her head as the entire Sanctum blew up around her.
She ran and crashed through the window before the building could collapse completely, and she used quick magic to throw herself far into the alleyway to avoid landing on the broken glass. She coughed as the dust flew up around her from where the building had caved in on itself, and she raised her head to see Kaecilius and his followers had escaped out the front door before it collapsed.
They were sprinting down the street, and Maya launched to her feet to chase after them. A flash of familiar green and black robes appeared not far away, between her and the escaping Zealots, and Maya yelled at Mordo, "Stop him!"
But even as Mordo chased Kaecilius down the street, Maya right behind them, more Zealots moved to block them. First Mordo and then Maya were forced to stop as they dodged blows and fought off their attackers, who seemed content knowing that the only end that they could meet now was death if it meant Kaecilius could continue on, unhindered, to complete their higher cause.
And that was what he did. Maya watched helplessly as Kaecilius swiftly conjured a gateway through which he disappeared with two other Zealots before she could break off the connection with a crack of her own Eldritch whip.
"NO!" Maya shouted, frustrated before she was forced to block yet another Zealot's kick.
Her anger made her a vicious opponent, and the Zealot fell far swifter than he would otherwise have under her Eldritch fan. But there were still eight left, and four on one was no easy task even for her and Mordo. As she fought, Maya could feel her emotions slipping and growing increasingly agitated. They didn't have time for this.
To her left, Mordo was growing equally frustrated and impatient. As he kicked away yet another Zealot, Mordo yelled, "Where could he have gone?"
Maya's jaw just tightened in response. With the London Sanctum fallen, there were only two places Kaecilius could have gone and her heart hammered as she prayed for either Kaecilius not to be in New York or for Stephen to have left the Sanctum and returned safely to Kamar-Taj when he had managed to regain his bearings. Agamotto had to have listened to at least one of her pleas... didn't he?
117A Bleecker Street
New York Sanctum
Stephen wasn't quite sure what to do.
After getting painfully to his feet, he'd stumbled out the front door of the building he'd found himself thrown into, only to find he was in New York City. For a brief moment, emotions choked him as he found himself back in the city he had called home before reality came crashing back down. Especially as he drew several strange looks from passersby who eyed his outfit, never mind his dusty and a little bloody appearance, questioningly.
Stumbling back inside, he shut the doors to what had to be the New York Sanctum Wong had spoken of earlier, and for a moment he stood facing the closed doors. The symbolism was not lost to him and Stephen felt the return of the longing and a little bit of anger that had not been a constant of his life since he befriended Maya.
Why had this happened to him? What had he ever done to deserve this fate? His old life just slammed shut in his face, all former friends and colleagues deserting him with their backs turned - well, almost all of them. And the only way back, the only glimmer of hope he'd had, was still such a far away dream that looked less and less like it was ever going to be reality.
Stephen gripped the door handles tightly with his shaking hands before he sighed. Exhaling deeply, he loosened his body and released the tension. This was getting him nowhere.
More to find something else to occupy his mind, Stephen turned back into the building and he wandered up the majestic staircase as he searched for some sign of life.
"Hello?" He called as he wandered about the various corridors of the upper level before he paused as something caught his attention at the far end of one hallway.
Slowly, Stephen approached what appeared to be three French windows at the end of the corridor. Except, they couldn't be windows of the actual building because each one showed a very different landscape; and none of them were New York City. Stephen warily approached windows as he looked from the thick, humid woods in the left window and to the snowy mountain range in the right before he stopped in front of the center window which showed him a stormy cliff right over a raging sea.
Tentatively, he opened the doors and he squinted a little as a fierce wind blew in his face, spraying a little bit of rain and sea water as the waves crashed into the rocks right in front of him. Stephen shut the windows, puzzled, before he noticed a round, glowing globe on the wall beside the window. Beside all the windows, he realized.
He reached over and spun the round knob, and his eyes widened as the sea disappeared from before him and the window instead opened up into the middle of a desert. He stared out at the sand dunes that stretched for as far as the eye could sea, untouched by humanity.
"Huh."
Abandoning the windows after a moment, he continued his path deeper and further up into the building, wondering where the master and guards could be.
"Hello?" Stephen called as he made his way into what appeared to be the attic. The roof was lower on this floor than the others and it seemed the main purpose of the room that expanded the length of the building was primarily used for storage. But it was no dusty and abandoned room like most attics were. Instead, it looked akin to a museum as glass displays stood proudly showing off their contents while trunks, vases, standing ornaments and antique tables that boasted more strange items were scattered about quite strategically to please the eye. The walls were also lined with more antiques: large plates in gold and silver, weapons like axes and spears that had clearly not been used as of late and a strange metal net.
Stephen wandered about before he paused near a standing-length glass display and he stared at the thick red cloak that floated inside. And when he said floated, he meant literally floated as the cape hung without any stand in the center of the case, the edges fluttering as it moved itself to watch him, turning to face him as he slowly rounded the case to come to a stop right before it.
Stephen turned away from the cloak after a moment and he followed a stream of natural light to the source, where he stopped once again as he saw a huge window shaped almost exactly like the eye of Agamotto he still wore.
A strange rumbling from behind made him turn and he frowned as he saw the ground shake slightly below the stairs as if there was a small earthquake. Following the steps down one floor, he traced his path back to the main staircase that led to the entrance hall. But at the sight that met him, Stephen hastily pulled back, curling in on himself as he hid behind the carved doorway and he carefully watched a tall man in dark robes standing in the center of the entrance hall.
The man stood with his back to Stephen, facing the doors of the Sanctum which were swirling and shifting as though their very reality was being broken down. The shifting was what had been causing the building to tremble and Stephen watched worriedly as the shifting grew stronger and stronger, bending away while the floors and surrounding walls also turned in on themselves like they had done for the Ancient One in the mirror dimension.
The master standing below slowly stepped back, keeping away from the bending reality but he never went too far nor did he take his eyes off the door just as the doors finally bent away and disappeared to reveal Kaecillius and several of his followers.
"Daniel," Kaecillius greeted as he stepped confidently into the building with his followers right behind him. "I see they made you master of this Sanctum."
The man Stephen now recognized from a brief introduction over the winter as Master Daniel Drumm answered in a deep and low voice, 'Do you know what that means?"
Kaecillius faced the man and his expression was almost regretful as he answered, "That you'll die protecting it."
The door behind him reappeared as he spoke and reality settled itself back into place now that he had broken through the protective barriers. None of the sorcerors below seemed to notice or care as the two sides, one rather outnumbered, stared each other down.
Kaecilius moved first, extending his hands and a shimmer in the light told Stephen he was holding some kind of glass-like shard. The two Zealots with him did the same, but Master Drumm appeared unfazed as he stared them down.
The Zealots moved first, the only woman in the group launching forward. Daniel reacted quickly, blocking her attack with his Relic, a stave of sorts, and Stephen was shocked to see that where the glass appeared to impact Daniel's stave, the air itself cracked with bursts of orange magic from the Relic… and an odd shatter like broken glass.
Daniel moved swiftly after that initial block, knocking down the woman before blocking an attack from the male. Before the Zealot had a chance to recover, Daniel had knocked him in the head with his stave, sending the man crumpling down. But the Zealots were strong, fueled by a powerful but dark magic, and Daniel barely had time to defend himself again from the female, sweeping her off her feet as he whacked her hard on the knees, when he was attacked by the male. He wasn't fast enough this time and Daniel growled through gritted teeth as he was cut deeply in the thigh when the Zealot got below his defenses, before he crumpled to his knee in pain.
Stephen realized what was going to happen a second before it did, and his body reacted instinctively.
"Stop!" Stephen yelled, leaping over the staircase railing at the same time Kaecilius stabbed Daniel right in the stomach.
Kaecilius looked up at Stephen's cry with such casual surprise it almost made Stephen shiver. He was also belatedly realizing just how bad of an idea leaping out had been as he found himself awkwardly staring down at the three Zealots from too far up the stairs to be of any help to the badly wounded Daniel… and for Daniel to be any help to him, if he could even get up.
Fear pumped adrenaline through his entire body as Stephen stood tensely stuck between fight or flight while Kaecilius pulled his shard out of Daniel's stomach and prowled around Daniel, watching Stephen with great interest.
"How long have you been at Kamar-Taj, Mr...?" Kaecilius trailed off pointedly and Stephen grimaced.
"Doctor." He corrected warily, eyes flickering between Kaecilius and Daniel. Daniel was panting as he lay on his hands and knees, barely able to raise his head enough to stare at Stephen in disbelief. Run, his eyes seemed to scream.
But Stephen couldn't, not when he hoped Kaecilius might be distracted enough to ignore Daniel until help came. Because help - and Maya - would come… right?
"Mr. Doctor?" Kaecilius's skeptical repetition drew the former doctor's attention again. Stephen pulled a slight face.
"It's Strange." Stephen corrected again, his fear warring with brief annoyance. Kaecilius paused.
"Maybe." He said thoughtfully before he shrugged casually. "Who am I to judge?"
And then before Stephen could do or say anything, Kaecilius plunged his strange weapon right into Daniel's chest, stabbing him in the heart and killing him instantly but painfully.
Stephen's body reacted automatically as he saw the Zealots begin to move as soon as Kaecilius had. Toward him. Stephen quickly drew on his training, creating an Eldritch whip just as the Zealots ran across up the side of the curved building and up to him. His eyes darted from side to side as he watched the two Zealots coming at him from either side while Kaecilius strolled forward toward the steps at a more leisurely pace.
Realizing who was coming first, Stephen whirled to block the attack from the female as the blonde woman launched at him. He wasn't fast enough and the woman kicked him right in the chest, sending him stumbling back. But Stephen's mind, running at twice it's normal speed as adrenaline shot through his entire body, saw the other Zealot coming from the corner of his eye and he knew what was coming.
He allowed a kick to fall through his defense, knowing he wasn't strong enough to beat the Zealots if he engaged physically for too long, but he used the momentum to his advantage as he turned and swung his fist right into the female's face. She went tumbling back in pain while Stephen whipped around to block the other Zealot's attack, stopping the strange shard with his Eldritch whip before whacking it at the man and making him stumble momentarily.
Sensing movement from behind, Stephen leapt back behind the railings he'd jumped over earlier, dodging the woman as she stabbed at where Stephen had been a second prior. Spotting a vase in the corner, Stephen grabbed it with his whip and sent it smashing into the male Zealot's head.
But Kaecilius had made it closer by then and, realizing Stephen was stronger than he'd expected, the sorcerer threw his shard at Stephen like a javelin. Stephen blocked it with his whip, although he was surprised by the brute force of the attack when the shard bounced off his whip. Realizing he had a brief and possibly only window of opportunity, he beat a hasty retreat and fled into the corridor he'd come from.
If he could get to the windows, the ones that led out to the forest or the desert, surely he could escape and find a moment to get back to Kamar-Taj.
Unfortunately, fate (or Kaecilius) it seemed had other plans… and Stephen was dismayed when the corridor seemed to lengthen, taking the windows further away from him. He glanced back as he ran to see Kaecilius and his Zealots standing at the end of the corridor where the older man raised his hands as he shifted the reality of the room. Turning forward, Stephen tried desperately to keep running… but he wasn't moving. He realized why a second later as he looked down and saw the floor shifting continuously like a moving walkway, keeping him in place.
With nowhere left to go, Stephen stopped running and turned back to face Kaecilius and his Zealots, quicking drawing on the Mystic Arts to summon Eldritch Tao Mandalas. The circular weapons appeared around his hands as he willed and Stephen leant back on one leg as he held his fisted hands, shielded by the weapons, apart in the classic defensive stance Maya had made him repeat more times than he could count.
He was ready… and then the Tao Mandala on his right hand flickered before it disappeared.