More that DateGed awoke with a start, realized that it was just a dream, and then remembered the last time he had dreams about the Gruagach, and his mind stayed on his guard.Great, the Gruagach. That thing is coming back, soon, isn't it. It will be hard to stop. And Hermian says that Sanctuary disappeared... He rolled over Wow, that was a whole year ago? That was only a year ago? Almost, yup. Back when all I could do was use Iru with force of will behind it to cause effects...and now I'm almost back to that, because of Gideon's Banishment... He gripped the blanket tightly as he fought back anger. It's time to use my magic at the rate which I should be. Starting now! ...even though it's just after midnight, Ged thought to himself as he sat up in bed and threw on the blanket for warmth over his tunic. Taking his glasses from the small box table and throwing them onto his face, he thought, I will start with the issue putting the people of the Realms in more immediate danger. He picked up his Yes/No stone from his pouch beside the bed. "Fortune Tell, can the creature which menaced me in my dream be killed with normal weapons such as swords, axes, and hammers made of common metals?" The rock spun in his palm to reveal No. Alright, to be expected. He grabbed his wooden eyeball from his pouch next, "Fortune Tell, what kind of weapon is needed to kill said creature?" And he glared at the wooden eyeball, willing the answer to appear before his eyes. After a minute of intense scrutiny, he saw Kyomi pouring a potion on a sword. It gleamed with a magical light after she did so. What does that mean? "Fortune Tell, what was the potion in the previous answer?" To that answer in the eye, he saw new spell-casters pouring over a book, and one of them pointed to Potion of Enchant Blade. ......oh. He placed the eyeball down and raised the Yes/No stone up. "Fortune Tell, can any weapon which inflicts magical damage when swung harm the monster?" The rock spun in his palm to reveal Yes. Excellent! Hmm... though I'm out of seer spells today. I actually used all of my Seer magic at that event and felt really good about it, plus I helped a lot by doing so, maybe now I'll finally be motivated to just keep spending them and Getting Stuff Done. He looked back to the eyeball, "Where is the creature most vulnerable to strikes from enchanted weapons?" He saw that it valued movement above everything else. Ok! I think that's everything I needed to learn, tell people to hit the Gruagach's legs with magic. Hmmm, a fortune tell and a vision left... "Fortune Tell, would the ritual involving a priest or priestess, a knight, a magus, and the spell to request interventions from divine being still work to weaken the spell of banishment on the elf bound in the Mysts which cause forgetfulness whose color is purple?" And he held up the Yes/No stone. It seemed to spin forever before landing on Yes. Pondering the simple answer to such a complicated question, Ged became aware of the guest room where he was (which Tria called 'their room' back in the day), being awfully chilly. That's odd... Ged bent forward and picked up his warm, tan tunic and put it on, before thinking about what to use his Vision for. You know what... Ged set up his Circle of Protection, beside his bed. "Only my magic may be in here, circle of protection!" and then got out of bed, stepping in while holding his Yes/No stone and eyeball. Checking that all of his protections are up, he put down the Yes/No stone in the circle, stared into his eyeball, and asked, "Vision: What effects on Faerie would Rosetta's release have?" Ged saw many different images that all assault his senses, overwhelming his mind with a myriad of different 'endings'. Left reeling and breathless on the floor within his circle, the only clear thought that comes to Ged's mind after a few minutes of calming down was that the effect would all depend on the what, the who, the when, the why, and the how of Rosetta's release. Ged lay on the floor a little longer, gathering himself. The question was worth asking, but will have to be made more specific. ...Tomorrow. Or the next day. For now, it's time to go back to sleep. Ged broke his circle, and cautiously stepped out, remembering all the times that only stepping out of the former area of the circle caused Paradox to strike him. Nothing obvious happened, so he gathered the rope up and climbed back into bed, puts his foci on the box table and attempted to get back to sleep. ----- Ged had another dream, somewhat. He dreamed that the Grove was crying, an odd feat from trees. The hearth was cold and empty, no laughter in the house that once was a home. The hedge around the yard was all but dead, and a fine mist hung over the land... ----- Ged woke up. The clock bonged again downstairs, it was two in the morning. "Yeah..." said Ged out loud, irritated. "I know, I know. We've got to get Rel back. I'm working on that, too." But as he spoke, Ged noticed two things: his voice involuntarily wavered like a man who is very cold. The candle light lamp usually hung low has been snuffed out, plunging the guest room in total darkness. It felt like the first frost. "Point of Light," said Ged, casting a purple light at once. The bed area was lit slightly, doused in shadows from the violet light created by his hand. The window shutters weren't moving in any wind and yet they had been opened, allowing the outside air into the room. There was the slight cr-cr-creak of weight on another bed, across the room into the darkness. Ged threw his point of light across the room toward the noise, but as soon as it left his hand cast another one, "Point of Light!" to create a second violet glow. There was a rather large hiss as the light bounced off the wall. The light rolled under a guest bed, revealing nothing much about the corner save that whatever was in it was massive. Ged froze, then slowly and carefully moved to make sure that he wasn't tangled or anything at all in his blankets. Shifting into a position where he could jump in most any direction, Ged called out across the room, "Who's there? Who is it?" There was a nasty grunt, followed by a long exhalation. The cold in the room was tempered by a languid breeze of warmth - moist and ill-smelling as it traveled past Ged. Another hiss, another creak, soon followed by splintering as a heavy Creature made its way towards the young adventurer. In the back of Ged's mind, he could hear Tara talking in a sing-song voice: "Deep within the forest dark, lies a beast with baleful bark. Feasting on an infant's soul, cross its path and pay the toll!" Stupid Harkon. Ged stuck his light behind his ear while flinging a magic missile at the Creature's legs, darting for the door. "JANUS!" he called out. "AYMISE! GRUAGACH!" With a blast and a snarl as it reeled, strips of decaying vines shot with frightening speed toward Ged, he nimbly dodged with some fancy footwork and got to the door. As the monster barreled down on him, Ged was barely able to catch the door frame with his hands to keep himself from stepping into Nothing. The monster hissed again, drawing itself up and attempting to use the walls and bed for leverage to move, its legs healing from the first missile blast. Good to note. So, a dream. No matter. Ged turned around and braced himself on the wall next to the door, and began pouring all his magical strength into battering the creature, focusing first on the legs. "Magic Missile! Magic Missile! Magic Missile!" He soon found that focusing entirely on the legs, while whittling down its skin around the bone, seemed to do nothing to slow it down as it used its other two appendages to move forward, snapping at Ged! He threw himself to the side at the last moment, trying to get the creature to smash through the wall and be in danger of falling into the Void itself. Even to the point of spending my Resist Death if it means I escape with the creature in a particularly precarious position. He then scoots to as far as he can get in the few moments he has, and begins focusing his magic on the arms. "Magic Missile! Magic Missile! Magic Missile!" With a mighty crash and much splintering, a puff of dust rose up, covering a bit of the room as it shook. The monster screamed as it toppled into the trap Ged faked it into. Careening into the nothing, a silence followed... Until Ged felt a hand on his shoulder. Ged exhaled quickly, trying to push as much exhaustion and shock out of his system as he could with that one breath, while spinning around, pivoting on that shoulder, to look at who touched him. The arm of the other shoulder rose as he prepared another Magic Missile. However, Ged saw Laika, who seemed just as frightened as he was. Ged jumped. "Laika!?" he said incredulously. "What are you doing here?" Laika's response was flat: keeping a hand firmly on Ged's shoulder, a searing pain exploded in Ged's mind and in his side as Laika pulled a bloodied dagger away from Ged, and shoved him back. Laika then pointed at Ged. "Aurora, I ask that you banish Rosetta back to the place from whence he came." "Resist Death!" sputtered out Ged. "You traitor!" Blood poured forth from the wound. What?! That's not right! Wait, I used it on the Gruagach. Then Armored Cloak should've gone off--I didn't recast! What does it matter--Isn't this a dream?! "Aurora, I send Rosetta away, sacrificing my magic so that the seal will get stronger." Ged focused all of his strength and gasped out "Chattur'gha Kara Mantorok." The runes appeared as Ged remembered them, but Chattur'gha and Mantorok both sputtered and crackled as though being held back against their wills. Laika drove his dagger through Kara, and although it was just a rune in the air it shattered, tinkling like glass: sharp and cutting as it rained down on Ged. "Stop it, Ged! I'm trying to save you!" Laika snapped. "I thought you knew better than that," Ged struggled to get the words out, "But I guess I was wrong, mortal." Ged let himself appear to slump for a moment, but gathered his power in his hands, letting a barrage of magic missiles loose at Laika. "Magic missile! Magic missile!" With two violet, violent jerks, magical energy was hurled at Laika's chest & dagger arm. With a bright flash, indicating hits, the smell of acrid burning flesh stung Ged's nostrils. Laika's head whipped back, his dagger stuck cleanly in the wall behind him by the force of the blast. And then the caster turned his gaze back on Ged... And Ged could see that with a quarter of Laika burned away, a new arm and a new half of his face was re-forming, quite grotesque and made of many fangs and tendrils. Laika's maw released a terrifying hiss. ------------ The room was dark and cold. Ged sharply drew in a breath, then slowly let it out as he looked around. He growled under his breath. "I'm going to find out what it is about the Gruagach that causes those dreams..." he muttered. The candle light had gone out, and it was cold in the room. Probably because there was no hearth in the guest room to keep it warm. Ged cautiously checked himself for any wounds. While there were none he could see, Ged did find small sharp pieces of crystal or glass in his bed. Yikes. "Point of Light!" Ged carefully stayed where he was and tilted the blanket to let the ones on it roll off onto the floor, then used it to sweep the bed clean enough to get off, carefully, and began shaking out the sheets. Now tapped for divination magic and completely exhausted, he laid himself back down, re-casting his Resist Death. "Most powerful spell of all, the ability to cheat death. With this spell I fear no monster, blade, nor magic. Armor has nothing on this. Let it be known that I can Resist Death!" And, tired of the Gruagach's games, Ged removes his glasses and pushes everything away from his bed. Just try to ignore any dreams coming your way from it, and just find the quickest way out of any that do come, he told himself. With that, Ged drifted back off to a dreamless sleep. |
Created by Janna Oakfellow-Pushee at 10-09-12 02:17 PM
Last Modified by Janna Oakfellow-Pushee at 10-09-12 05:10 PM