Summary:Another test on the arcane barrier over New York Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongNone |
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Central park is abuzz with activity on the north end. An odd 'sculpture' has appeared in the last twenty four hours and resisted any attempts to move or demolish it. By the time WAND got wind of it, it had already drawn quite a crowd who believed it was some kind of guerilla modern art installation. It has since been quarantined and Koa Turner, the agent in charge, has called one of his main consultants in on the matter.
At the moment Koa is supervising a small field team of uniformed agents while the police keep people back. Not that there are many at this point. They've mostly dispersed at this point and there's only a few lookie loo's about.
Koa himself is not uniformed but in his usual collared shirt and slacks. He's writing things down, or possibly sketching on his sketch pad.
RING RING
A push bike makes it way towards Koa and the agents, avoiding the few people who are loitering to have a look. When it stops next to the Wand Agent, Keiko Kurita gives him a searching look. "You rang?" She asks as she dismounts and locks her vehicle up.
"Is that another stelae or something else?" At least she's trying to use the proper words for these things. "When did it appear?" She's jumped to some conclusions but they're educated ones.
"Keiko." Koa looks up. "Yes. I did. It appeared in the last twenty four hours and it does appear to be another Stela." Stelae being the plural of that word. "I was hoping that you could…"
There's a tingle on Keiko's tattoos and Koa and several - but not all - of the WAND agents look up and flinch downward as if something had been descending. There is nothing at all in the sky.
"You couldn't see that could you?" Koa says coming up from a crouch.
"See what?" Keiko asks as she rubs her arms and looks at Koa.
"All I saw was you and some of the others taking cover. Was there something there?"
"Energy that just washed over the city. Something came down out of the sky and slammed into a barrier." Koa straightens up. His phone is going crazy. "Yeah. Someone just tried to breach that geomantic barrier again, or that's what HQ is saying. I don't think that…"
Whirr. Koa cuts off and looks at the Stela which just made a sound.
Whirr. Whirr. The black and yellow portion of it has bulged out and it's bulging in Keiko's direction.
"Why the hell is it doing that…?" He mutters, not that he expects her to have an answer.
Whirr. Whirr. Whirr.
That nose is vibrating the promethium on her back-tattoo. Like it's a… resonant frequency or something.
"I felt something but that's it." Keiko answers, looking around. Nothing. She can't see anything and her tattooes aren't reacting anymore.
"Why's it doing that …" The small peruvian turns towards the pillar, taking her quarterstaff out and extending it. "And why is it making the tattoo on my back itch."
Koa peers closer. "I'm not sure. It's emitting some kind of-"
This is not a day for Koa completing sentences. There's a rip in reality behind them and two of the agents cry out as several Lifeless come through. They're tall, thin and gaunt creatures each a head above the size of an average man but deceptively strong. And behind them there's what looks like a human male and female, both dressed in tattered cloaks over some kind of black metallic scale armor. Both bearing long, thin rods made of the same black metal as Piotr's sword. Soulsteel.
"Fulminaris!" The woman shouts and lightning goes from her rod right toward Keiko. The park is now alive with the sound of gunfire as the remaining WAND agents begin to attack the Lifeless with the most convenient weapons to hand - their sidearms. Not that those seem to be doing much good.
"… pulse" Keiko grunts rolling her shoulders trying relieve the sensations that start at the base of her neck and end at her hips. It's a big tattoo. "Who the hell are they?"
Her quarterstaff twirls as the small woman squares off, quite prepared to fight the first thing that reaches her.
She's not there long as the lightning arcs out at her. She tumbles nimbly, barely avoiding the strike - so close, it makes her hair nimbus around her.
The cloaked male doesn't hesitate either, pointing his dark rod at the WAND agent "SOLARIS!" It's bolt of pure sunlight that spears towards Koa. Hot, so very very hot.
"The ones in front are Siffror's." Koa yells as he mag dumps into one of the lifeless to very little effect. As it comes up on him he seems to draw in power and flows out of the way with an almost liquid quality to his movements. His next punch flattens the creature that just took fifteen bullets.
"The ones in back are-" Koa has to dive out of the way. It's acrobatic. Different from the way the agent usually moves. She's only seen him do that once, really. When he comes up, his arm is glowing green and his right hand has his pendent.
"Alright you asshole." He mutters and flicks out a giant green asp toward his attacker.
"Aquia!" The woman shouts. One of the water mains nearby bursts, sending a geyser into the air. A geyser that splits into hundreds of shard like bolts and begins to rain down in Keiko's direction, following her like some kind of horrible hydrous snake.
If Keiko could give Koa a flat look, she would. She knows what the Lifeless are, after all. "I meant the other on—-" The spirit caller rolls to her feet in a smooth movement, touching the tattoo of Bella and calling the demon-wolf forth. It takes a few seconds before the creature appears, snapping and snarling already - responding to Keiko's temper, it seems. "Sic em, Bella." The wolf bounds forward and leaps for the woman - not to knock her over though. The huge canine jaws try to close on the staff and drag it from her, just as the water spell fires.
The first bolts of water pierce Keikos shoulders causing the peruvian to cry out in pain. And then she's covered in her demon-scale armour, eyes blazing bright yellow as her quarterstaff strikes the Lifeless that lumbers near her and she starts her march towards her assailant.
As for Koa, the asp strikes out and is parried by the mans staff, sent wide as it makes it attack. "Good try." He taunts, angling the staff to point at the ground at Koas feet "Tellus!" he calls. The earth beneath the agents feet rolls and rumbles, sharp shards shooting up at him.
Koa reaches a hand out as he's shaken and takes two shards of rock on the shield and another in his thigh. It hurts but it's not critical at the moment. It takes a moment but the woman finds the water she was controlling ripped from her and formed into a giant hammer. A hammer which swings down at two of the lifeless and sends them flying before it flies right at male.
"Your friend there is a crap water-mage. Watch a pro in action!" He taunts back.
The woman looks surprised when Keiko transforms but she can't really do much. Her rod has been grabbed by a very angry looking demon-dog and rather than play tug of war she lets it go and grabs a knife from her belt. With a swift motion she cuts her hand and lifts it.
"Siffror slathani carvulho!" Kieko feels the very air seem to thicken in front of her and may understand what has happened. She's being warded. The mage is trying to banish her from the area. And it BURNS.
Bella leaps away with the staff in her mouth as the ground around Koa shakes and shatters. Using one of the broken peaks as a leaping point, she aims herself at Koa. She's taking the staff to the Agent. Can he use it?
Keiko slows, each step a struggle, biting her lip as the pain of the burn rips through her. The only sound is a very angry growl though - the tattooed woman channeling her rage. Bella disappears in a puff of smoke and Keiko's armour as well. Another step though and then another as the very stubborn and determined somewhat demonness continues her march towards the woman.
Koa might be feeling some of this though - he has a piece of Keiko's soul after all and those collars are linked.
The male is bowled over as the Lifeless fly at him, the earth ceasing its shaking for a moment. Then he's on his feet again, gesturing with that staff and gathering earth into little arrows that he sends hurtling towards Koa.
Koa usually has to study and understand an artifact before he uses it but in situations like this there is one other option. Just push magic into it and see what it does. That is what the Agent does now. He has no idea WHAT it will do or even if it will do anything.
The answer is a bit amazing though. The staff begins to spew forth the raw arcane energy he puts into it as spellfire. Which suits Koa just fine. He waves it around like a flame thrower. He DOES notice that the end of the rod is being consumed by the fire so he's not going to be able to do this for long but hey. When in Rome. That should put the rest of the Lifeless to rest and probably send the male scurrying.
Koa DOES have to take a few more shards though. He's bleeding pretty apparently now.
The Ward strains as Keiko tries to walk through it. And she CAN make headway. It probably helps that she isn't fully demon so the ward isn't fully effective. Bits of her armor start flaking off and as she gets closer the woman puts her other hand up and puts even more power into it.
It's not enough though. Keiko will be able to reach her.
There's a problem with forcing raw power through an artifact. Koa is probably aware of that. He can feel the device heating signifcantly, even as the end of it is consumed. The male does indeed start to scurry, darting hither and thither trying to avoid the spray. "You fool…"
This time the staff is swirled around "Caeli…" he calls out and Koa is caught up in wind. It makes the arcane fire flare and flutter in dangerous directions.
As for Keiko, her armour is gone - banished in the first seconds of the womans spell.
Another painful step and another, it's sheer determination that keeps her moving. Her quarterstaff twirls and she brings to bear as soon as she is close enough.
No comments about the blistering on her skin.
The wind means that Koa can't continue to safely fling fire at the mage. But there IS something he can fling. Something the mage would probably never think to fling. The rod. He cocks his arm back and hurls the hot metal at the man. It whistles through the air - burning THROUGH one of the last lifeless as it goes.
When Keiko strikes the magus the ward falls instantly. She falls back, gripping her wrist and opens a tear in reality behind them. "William!" She calls to the man. They're leaving. Now. She doesn't give a second glance to the other WAND agents but she does look at Keiko.
"Your queen is destroying your soul. Turn back before it's too late." And then she's bolting.
As the staff reaches the male, it explodes in his face. Koa had let go of it just in time, otherwise he might be missing a hand or worse. The male cries out, the wind drops as he turns and bolts to that tear. His face is raw mess, Koa can see it.
Keiko is breathing hard, blisters and burns covering her skin. The pain must be excruciating but she doesn't whimper, just stands there and mutters "Darkchilde …" then louder "It is not my queen who destroyed my soul but the Nightfall." And then the woman is gone.
"Koa?" Keiko finally manages to croak out "Who were they?"
Koa is breathing hard but not as bad as Keiko is. When he uses magic to fortify himself like that he can taste - a little bit - what it would be like to be something more than he is. Something inhuman. But then he has to come down to earth and the magic burns in his veins even as it empowers him.
"If I'm not mistaken Cerise Baker and Willaim Thale. They're mutants, who went missing a couple of months ago. They SHOULD be about six and five. And they shouldn't know magic."
Ananym and now these two. It's a good bet that the rest of the thirteen are with them too.
"We need to secure this site and check on the pillars that are left. It can't be coincidence that they showed up as there was another attempt to breach the barrier. If that shield falls, New York is done for."
Keiko frowns at Koa and moves to his side, taking he chin in her hand and turning his eyes to hers. No concept of personal space that woman. "You took a lot, didn't you? Let's get you somewhere you can recover." beat "You're not going to try and eat my soul again are you? I'd hate to have to beat you."
She probably couldn't beat him when he's like this.
"Someones taking the children, putting them in a dimension that moves faster and training them." Keiko shakes her head "And they turned up with the Lifeless." She might uneducated but she's not dumb and her deductive abilities aren't half bad either.
"Tell whoevers in charge to do what they need to, you're coming with me."
Bossy little thing.
Koa's eyes are bright. Too bright. A bit different from when he projects. And less magic too than that but still a lot. "I took in enough and no I'm not going to try to eat your soul. But you've got it wrong. You're coming with me."
He starts to move toward the truck. "We've got to check and secure those pillar sites. Now. Because all hell is breaking loose and the faster we have a handle on it the better."