"Of course," A man said on his phone as he stepped out of his rental car. The French landscape stretched out for miles around him as he looked around gauging the sheer seclusion of this place. He thought of how hard it must have been searching for this place, much less knowing what back roads to initially get here. He listened too the voice on the other end of the phone feeling the midnight breeze blow across the fields unimpeded from any sort of building or trees. The voice came too a stop and the man silently looked at the single story cabin before him. "I will report my findings too you and follow the standard operating procedure. Farewell sir."
The man hung up the phone, reached into his long black coat, pulled out his lighter and some cigarettes, then plucked one out of the pack and lit it. He took a long drag putting away the rest while dragging out a small book into his hands. He walked up too the picket fence gate, took a deep inhale, squatted down before the handle and blew a massive cloud of smoke at the gate. He saw the smoke climb up an invisible barrier just behind the gate and it illuminated many individual almost blade like wedges. The man repeated the process but on his second exhale he flicked the cigarette halfway through the torrent of smoke leaving his lungs in mouth. The smoke came too life as suddenly all the wedges jerked and spun for the cigarette, shredded the half cigarette into small slivers, "If I stuck my hand past the barrier it would have been cut away. So…"
The man reached back into his coat and grabbed a few vials from his right side. He placed them meticulously in order before him and next to his leather bound book. He reached behind him and pulled out a sprig of mistletoe from a bag he keeps behind his long coat followed by a handful of garlic, fennel leaves, holly, yarrow, and rosemary. Finally he set out a copper bowl before him, "Right."
The man opened his book and started a chant out loud as he took the mistletoe and placed it gently into the bowl. His next process was opening up a vial of red clay that he used to blow all over the gate. Next, his favorite part because he loved the smell of rosemary, he grabbed the rosemary and crushed it up over the mistletoe in the bowl till it was dust in his hands. The man drew a knife and cut a little bit of his hair then tossed it into the bowl.
The wind came to a stop but the man kept working as he placed the yarrow and holly into the bowl. He picked up the second vial and poured the contents into the bowl then whispered a magical spell, "Brenna."
The bowl erupted into a blue flame that burned brightly before it died down to a kindling flame. The man mashed up the garlic and fennel then tossed them in causing the makeshift pot to burn hotter then died down once more. He waited a few more seconds as the mistletoe burned before adding the final vial of an extract of horehound oil causing the bowl to instantly burn the contents to a black tar but the fire kept burning as his creation was a success. The man slid the bowl towards the gate and the smoke coming from the blue fire cleared a path for him to walk through.
The man stood up and repeated the process earlier with his cigarette finding a man sized hole for him to slide through. He stepped over the burning fire and walked over to the front door. The man reached into the left side of his coat and pulled out a corn husk doll and a object that looked like a stick with feathers and some mistletoe hanging off of it. The man traced the doorway with his stick finding it vibrating the whole time, a bad omen. He held the doll up to his lips and whispered too it in Icelandic after rubbing a balm of bay leaves and frankincense onto the doll.
The man put the doll onto the ground and took one step back as the doll sat up then stood in it's feet waiting for orders. The man kept waving the stick around the windows feeling each one vibrate the stick continually meaning something malevolent was on the other side till he came too one of the basement windows. He reached back into his coat heading for a special lining seam in his collar. He pulled out some belladonna knowing full well the properties of it he placed the plant into his mouth and began chewing. As he chewed on the leaf number his tongue was the first part of him to grow numb and once or twice he felt his teeth bite down on his tongue further spreading the effects of the plant. He reached for the doll and spat a little of the plant onto his index finger then rubbed the paste like substance on the doll's head where the eyes are supposed to be. He placed the doll back down, leaned on the house, then swallowed the Belladonna.
The man's eyes faded black almost instantly and he felt his own soul leave his body and shrink as it entered the doll's body. His vision came back but the first thing his sight saw was his dress shoes and gray pants legs going too his blue button up shirt, black tie and gray jacket. The man in the doll's body climbed up his cotton button up and pushed his head back. He paused and chuckled through his mouth of his actual body when he realized that his lack of shaving for the past two days has had his thin moustache grow back a bit on his upper lip and the rest of his face. The doll version of him forced his own mouth open in case of his body wanting to vomit back up the Belladonna. The man turned the doll's body away and towards the window. He growled in aggravation as he forgot to open up the window so he had to push it open with the doll's frail body.
After fifteen minutes of struggling with the window he finally managed to force it open enough for him to squeeze the straw doll's body through. The man dove into the darkness and he waited for his eyes to adjust too the area around him. He stood there looking around the basement taking in the environment, it was a standard basement, where was the danger that his talisman picked up? The man went for the stairs and he heard a stone on stone grind off to his right, only when he turned did he finally see what the danger was. In each corner of the room sat stone familiar crafted into the shape of dogs with purple glowing runes on their heads. The doll must not have been a trigger for them as the stone familiar only six feet away from him kept the purple faced rune aimed at the window he climbed away from it as he saw it was ready to attack.
He made the doll climb up step by step till he got to a thankfully open door too the basement, probably to allow for the elemental familiar to ambush however he got into the house. The doll walked through the threshold of the hallway and he froze again as standing at either end of the hallway entryways were more familiar each facing the main door too the house. The doll continued towards the front door and he found tucked away at each corner of the door were Runes each inscribed to erupt in an explosive fireball the moment something passed them. He stood there for a second realizing how much precautions for him to get inside was set up so he focused on his body once more. He felt the link with the doll give way then finally sever as he furiously blinked his eyes, rolled to his side, and force himself to vomit up the plant.
The man pushed himself off the ground and began to move back too the car. The man reached into his coat once more this time for his phone. He scrolled through his contacts until he got to Jason Kaur and dialed it up. He heard the ringing go through his ear piece so he put away his phone when he got too his car. The man fished out his keys as Jason answered the phone, "Sitrep?"
"Yeah," The man spoke as he opened the back of his car and grabbed a long case. He put it off too the side of the vehicle and took off his coat revealing a cross harness covered in vials, pouches, and hanging on either side of his sides were two Sigs. "This is the third house that is heavily defended on the inside, so I am expecting the results to be the same."
"You preparing for a breach Hebert," Jason asked with a very stoic tone. Herbert knew that meant he was worried for the French police detective.
"Yes sir," Hebert said as he opened up the case and inside was an ammo harness and his FAMAS G2. Hebert put the new harness over his shoulder strap harness, he clipped in and adjusted his gear according to how he needed to move before picking up his rifle. He slide the bolt back, grabbed the free magazine inside his gun case, slapped it home, and let the bolt chamber a five five six round. "Enemy familiar are all inside the building, we might not want the French involved with this."
"Copy," there was a pause in Kaur's voice before he spoke again. "Charles, do you got this?"
"Are you going to make a French joke," Hebert chuckled into the line.
"Maybe, if the situation warranted one," Kaur left a nervous chuckle. "I will inform the Mage association, you be careful, remember what happened to Yaquis and Tobin on the first house."
"How can I not," Hebert grumbled as he saw the photos of the two agents tore to shreds by the dogs. "Going now, I will call you back when I clear the house."
Hebert heard the other line close off so he sighed and begun to make his game plan. He recalled the four elementals in the basement and the two others in the entry hallway so it is safe to assume that there are more in the house. Hebert went to the back of the car and opened up the trunk and inside was a straw doll with the same size and dimensions as him. He repeated the same process as with the smaller straw doll but this time gave the doll more of the balm and stuffed actual bay leaves into it's head. The Doll came to life once more and it climbed out of the trunk like a human being without elbows and knees, the joints rotating as if it wasn't made of tangible straw. The body rotated each limb till it was standing straight up behind him as a looking figure encasing Hebert with a shadow.
"Alright," Herbert said and he looked at the door. He took aim at the door way and he flipped the safety off. Just as he did that his smaller doll on the inside of the building erupted into a ball of blue flame and dove at the runes activating them. In a flash of orange and blue fires the door too the house blew up and standing in the doorway was two humanoid forms with three glowing purple eyes.
The first form sprinted at Herbert with inhuman speed and awkwardness as the stone joints rolled in a flailing motion. The second panned off left then made a wide arc coming around too Herbert's exposed flank. Herbert squeezed his FAMAS' trigger sending a volley of armor piercing bullets into the stone humanoid familiar before him. The familiar was struck with each bullet and it swung around keeping it's head facing him but it's torso tried to repair itself. Herbert took the hint and squeezed off four more three round bursts striking it's torso twice, it's shoulder ounce, and it's head once. The familiar stumbled and then broke apart as the seal was destroyed.
Herbert looked too his left seeing the familiar leap and thrust a jagged limb towards Hebert. With little worry Herbert stood his ground as his straw doll stood between them and into the path of the arm. The doll physically hardened itself using Hebert's magic to make itself harder than stone. The stone familiar's arm bounced off of the straw doll and it rotated it's body sending another futile strike at the doll. Each strike that missed or reflected off the straw doll the familiar used to strike by rotating it's body like a weapon designed perfectly to kill. Herbert wanted to watch longer but the scampering of stone on wood caught his attention once more. The four dog like familiars came climbing out of the doorway looking around for what the source of the commotion was. Herbert took aim when the dogs looked at him then started a charge. Two of them took their positions moving for flanks while the first two came charging at him.
Herbert dropped to one knee and leaned into the next two bursts as each round crumpled away the stone familiar. Hebert watched as the familiar rotated it's body parts as they were damaged protecting the rune atop it's head. He switched to single round bursts and began focusing fire onto the rune, eventually destroying it at his last two rounds of his magazine. Hebert had to move fast as he saw the three dogs closing in on him. He dropped the magazine from his FAMAS not bothering with collecting it he reached into his ammo vest pulled out a new magazine and a vial full of water. He reloaded his FAMAS, uncorked the vial, and thrust the vial at a stone familiar leaping through the air. The water left the vial and in a split second, visible blue lines shown through Herbert's skin on his hand, and as the water splashed onto the stone familiar the moisture in the air seemed to flock towards the water. Herbert got up in a brisk jog while pulling the hammer back on his FAMAS. He brought the barrel to the direction of the next oncoming familiar. He flipped the firing style to fully automatic and squeezed the trigger completely obliterating the head and rune of the familiar.
Herbert dropped his magazine and fumbled for the next one watching as the familiar he threw water on was freezing in place by the moisture in the air. He was inserting the magazine when he felt a heavy weight slam into him from behind. He fell forwards causing the rifle and the magazine to go flying into the tall grass around him. A series of white hot burning pain shot through his back and Herbert cried out in pain. He tried to wrestle the familiar tearing into his back off but the solid stone familiar didn't relent. Herbert cried out once again as a solid piece of stone stabbed him into his side while two more dug into his back. He cried out in pain as the familiar put more pressure into his side and he began to try to think of a way out of this mess. A quick rustle caught his attention and he saw the grass part too his straw doll. The doll exploded into a controlled but wide spread out semicircle then flew out of sight for a brief second before the pressure was gone from his back and he roared in agony as the familiar's claws were pulled from his side.
Herbert cried out in pain as he felt weak, his body was becoming heavy and blood began to pool around him like a puddle of hot water. He started to sit up and the ammo vest slid off his body along with most of his button up shirt, both were soaked in blood. A heavy thumping caught his attention and he saw the humanoid familiar his doll was taking care of, now flopping around like a snakehead fish out of water coming at him. The damage his doll must have done was obviously superficial as the original body was shrunk down to around a four foot tall child, but what was left was a flailing weapon of jagged rocks.
Herbert drew one of his pistols and pushed himself to get moving. He staggered forwards looking at his car before him and he thought of using it for cover, but what he really needed was to patch up his wounds before he bled out. He looked at the Humanoid familiar behind him and he saw it was still rolling around at the same distance so if he kept his pace he could get too the car before it. He looked forwards and kept limping before whispering, "Bidh sinnsirean a 'toirt mo dhraoidheachd dhomh."
"Mo dhìonair, cuir leigheas air mo lotan agus cuir mo chorp còmhla riut fhèin," Herbert called out as he stumbled closer and closer too the car. He felt a tickling sensation crawl up his back from his beltline and around his side. He looked down to see moss spreading across his body and into his wounds. Under the covered part of the moss his body began to feel warm and comfortable to the point it distracted him. He heard a heavy thud behind him steering his attention back too the Humanoid familiar only so see it was gone. Dirt rained down onto his head and behind him a loud crescendo of glass, metal, and stone steered his attention back to the car. The ruined hulk of his vehicle sat under the writhing body of the familiar as it twisted it's body to face Herbert. He raised his pistol and squeezed five rounds off into the familiar and watched as the smaller caliber rounds only chipped the stone.
The familiar leapt from the car and tackled Herbert to the ground and stabbed into his stomach with a sharp pointed arm. Herbert cried out in pain and tried to raise his gun to the rune positioned on the familiar but it moved faster stabbing him in his arm. He cried out in pain once more looking at his hand. His cries stopped when he saw the moss violently crawl up his arm wrapping itself around his injury then spread too the familiar. The stone became brittle and broke off when the familiar tried to pull itself back. The moss turned into lichen as it quickly spread up the appendage of the familiar eating away the familiar's body. It fell back off of his body and tried to roll away failing as the second limb that was stabbed into Herbert was so brittle it blew up under it's weight and the body began to fall apart, then stopped moving entirely when the rune crumpled away.
Hebert laid their for a few seconds as he watched the moss begin to cover his body more and more. He looked to see plants known for their healing and disinfecting properties grow around him and in the moss. He groaned in pain as the feeling of roots spread into his wounds and use some unseen material to start closing up his internal injuries. Herbert stood up in agony then stumbled, nearly falling twice, over too his wrecked car, but more importantly a photo on the ground. He fell face first into the dirt next too the photo, the growing moss seemed to know what he wanted as it grew out too the photo and pulled the laminated image of a young blonde girl towards him.
Hebert heard a loud breaking sound near him. He looked up to see the straw doll standing over him taking vigil and he smiled. He closed his eyes and thought of the little girl, "Don't worry baby, I am going to see you soon, I promise."
He opened his eyes a few minutes later as the moss was encroaching his vision and wrist of his right hand laying on the ground before the photo and he swore through the pain he felt a distinct burning pain on his hand as his eyes played tricks on him as he thought he saw a small circle appear on his hand followed to what looked to be for jagged forms that resemble flower petals grow around it.
Herbert groaned as the world went dark and the moss finally covered his vision and the world went dark and a female voice whispered into his ear, "The fight for her."