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Post by Hugo Allbrass on Jun 21, 2015 13:12:17 GMT
"They're still coming!" Allbrass could see no end to them, it was almost as though the snow itself was creating them, an endless supply of ravening beasts. He ducked under the leap of another and fired off a lance of searing blue flame ahead of him that burst apart the next two or three.
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Post by Marie Boogaart on Jun 23, 2015 21:20:36 GMT
"We must move!" She dealt with a second wolf and moved to Hugo's side, firing spell after spell.
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Post by Hugo Allbrass on Jun 23, 2015 22:54:31 GMT
"Move then," Allbrass said, "I'll hold them off."
He slashed his wand efficiently back and forth, slicing through the spectral wolves nearest him.
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Post by Marie Boogaart on Jun 24, 2015 7:43:19 GMT
He was the better fighter.
She broke into a run towards the portal back to Amsterdam, turning to fire a spell regularly.
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Post by Hugo Allbrass on Jun 24, 2015 7:53:30 GMT
Blast after blast after blast... Allbrass stood in the centre of a closing, charging tide of snow and fanged hatred loosing bolts of red lightning and coruscating green fire at the creatures that seemed to be without number. His Sidestep charm was shredded and he cast and recast a magical shield to keep them from him as he backed away as best he could.
It would be a good way to go out, he thought.
And how can man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods
What place did he have in the world now that the guns had fallen silent. A spectral wolf sank its teeth into his leg and he acted without thinking, jabbing his wand into the creature and blasting it apart.
To hell with giving up, he thought. There is always another enemy, and always another fight to win.
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Post by Marisa Blanton on Jun 24, 2015 8:08:57 GMT
"Stop!" Her voice echoed in the thin air. Below her feet was a circle of runes burned into the ground by her wand, glowing a dull green. She stamped on it and the light erupted from it's center, spreading out in a circle.
The snow stopped falling and became still. If the wolves were made of it, then they would too.
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Post by Hugo Allbrass on Jun 24, 2015 10:22:10 GMT
Everything stopped, silence fell, the wolves were no more.
Allbrass, breathing heavily turned slowly around and looked at Marisa. A long moment passed in which concern flickered over the old soldier's face. He was so used to battling, he'd missed the simpler solution.
"Well done," he said gruffly, "Very well done."
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Post by Marie Boogaart on Jun 24, 2015 11:26:10 GMT
She came back. She'd never gone far, checking that Hugo was following and slowing down when he didn't. "Clever thinking."
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Post by Marisa Blanton on Jun 24, 2015 13:01:11 GMT
Marisa flushed. Praise from Hugo Allbrass, that was...genuinely surprising. "I wouldn't have had time to do it if you two hadn't drawn their focus." Which was true.
"We should get you banaged up a bit, if we're going to keep looking."
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Post by Hugo Allbrass on Jun 24, 2015 22:40:21 GMT
"Flesh wounds," Allbrass said, "I can close them with a word."
He used his wand to seal the wounds over. It was not exactly healing, more like using transfiguration to create flesh-covers for the injuries. He'd do a more lasting healing spell later.
"Let's carry on?"
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Post by Marisa Blanton on Jun 24, 2015 22:55:50 GMT
She nodded. "Keep an eye on the snow. I don't know how long that spell will last."
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Post by Marie Boogaart on Jun 25, 2015 1:12:46 GMT
She did just that as she followed, keeping her eyes on the snow near and far. Normally her pocket sneakspotter* should have warned her, but it had totally missed the wolves. This was another dimension, things were different. That concerned her greatly.
*: Wim was still working on the name, he said. It didn't yet have the right ring to it
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Post by Hugo Allbrass on Jun 25, 2015 11:08:16 GMT
The distances seemed wrong. They walked for hours and seemed to draw not much closer to their destination in the west, then suddenly in a heartbeat they were there. Tall trees loomed up and towered over them and the air was rich with magic and the sense of being watched.
"Hate places like these," Allbrass muttered.
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Post by Marisa Blanton on Jun 25, 2015 13:40:07 GMT
"You been in many?" Marisa looked up, finding the sky between the trees. She shivered.
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Post by Supporting Cast on Jun 25, 2015 15:21:58 GMT
She found the sky through the trees, and then that bright gap was obscured by a dark shape falling with a suggestion of ragged wings though it was larger than any bird had a right to be. It fell hard and straight and when it stood it stood as a man, a young man with ancient eyes.
"I am Gur Aryeh," he said, "and you survived the wolves of winter."
He sounded approving.
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