2014.12.29 - Demon Danse

Having noticed it earlier in the day while stopping at a clients apartment to drop off a lost item that he was hired to find Harry has spent most of the night studying the barrier with his mystic senses his wizard site though he's kept holstered. Twice now the barrier has grown in size each time increasing by about five blocks once at midnight, and again about 45 minutes ago. Now with his beetle parked just around the corner, Harry studies the barrier in a dark alleyway, the tall black clad figure not looking the least bit inconsipcuous. He seems to be waiting for something every now and again looking off to the eastern horizon and back to the barrier.

Most people of course are unaware of the barrier... though about fifteen minutes ago Harry spotted a dented yellow cab driving along the road that suddenly veered and stopped, turning around to go the other way. It may or may not have something to do with the white clad, cowled figure showing up now, inspecting the border for himself. He spots the towering Harry before long, who also seems to be milling and intent, and walks over. "Don't suppose you happen to know what the hell this is?" he asks, gesturing to the displaced area.

If there was a thing you could consider Robyn's hobby, then it was trying to get the drugs off the street. But to bust a den at times, you had to trail it, and that needed legwork. As she was doing exactly that, she stalked the roofs of the Bronx, her quiver filled with sharp hunting arrows, maybe two dozen. Suddenly he stopped, as she had felt a ripple on her spine. She knew that feeling, and it did not invoke very pleasant memories. When she was ripped from Earth to Myst, there was this blue light and swirling portal and then the ripple along her spine. As she crossed back, it was a purple vortex of light, and the same ripple ran over her back. And now, this was the third time she experienced it, but there was no light. However, she did stop in her tracks, quickly pulling out one of her arrows to peer around what might have changed. As it happened, she was just on the other side of the street of Harry, just... on the opposite side of the barrier.

A footstep sounds down the alleyway, and an aged gentleman in somewhat dated clothing emerges from its depths. Leaning lightly on a cane, the man regards the others with a polite nod. When he speaks, his voice is quite hale and deep, saying, "Well, this hardly seems a normal state of affairs, does it? It seems we must intervene, let the encroaching Never Never release something of greater danger into the world than a few specters." He reaches up to idly stroke his well-trimmed beard, looking to Harry in particular. "Well, Dresden?" he asks, as if prompting some particular action.

Harry Dresden spins around his staff coming up in a protective gesture when he notices the cape.. pointing one thumb back to the barrier he asks "So you can sense it?" he asks "I've got an idea, it's a weakening in the fabric of reality, heading to a pretty nasty place.. Right now I'm just waiting to see if sunrise will wipe it away like a lot of spells do. It was still here at midnight, so I don't think it's Winter Court magic.." he explains reaching out to brush his hand against the invisible surface of the barrier thoughtfully before his head snaps around once more at the sound of his name "I'm sorry, but you have me at a disadvantage. have we met?" he asks not recognizing the other man.

Moon Knight tenses in turn when the staff is raised, but doesn't make any first attacks since he did surprise the other man. Thankfully it looks like they are here with the same intentions. The cowled man nods to the question.. "Yes, though I haven't seen anything quite like it before. It sounds like you have, though..?" he turns as well at the new arrival; it looks like this disturbance is attracting the attention of more than just the pair of them. Seeing as he knows less of the situation than these two appear to, Moon Knight steps back a pace and listens to them talk for now.. glancing around for any others that might have been drawn to this disturbance, his eye catches on Robyn across the street.

Robyn's good right eye darts over the area, the arrow following where she looks. Slowly she rotates clockwise around her axis, then stops at she was facing where she had come from. No swirling portal? But the shiver was pretty much the same... was it hidden or something? Slowly she moved back in her tracks, her head and shoulders under the hood visible over the edge of the roof for the Moon Knight down on the other side of the road. Again she stopped, right at the edge of the barrier, where she had felt the shiver. Carefully she lowered to try to the ground under her feet, keeping the strung but not pulled arrow on the bow with her right while she tried to touch the ground at the place. There was something off, but... what?

The old man approaches, cane tapping lightly as he does, and when he reaches Harry he extends his right hand. "Kent Nelson, sorcerer. I suppose you might call us colleagues of a sort." He smiles faintly, inclining his head, and then turns a more serious look back toward the rift. "As to this, I should think some manner of ritual may be needed to seal the opening. Am I correct in thinking you have some level of experience with such affairs?"

"Uhh.. Harry Dresden Wizard." he says simply reaching out to shake the mans hand. "I have some dealings with things like this. It might be a ritual.. it might just be something really big already came through and this is the after effect." he says simply as the first rays of sunlight flares over the city and nothing happens. "Huh.." he comments "It didn't go away.. so yea.. there's got to be a ritual powering this thing on the other side." he says simply before turning to look at Moon Knight. "How're you in a fight?" he asks not asking Kent for his bona fides - Moon Knight has stepped to the mouth of the ally to get a better look at Robyn on the roof. He turns to answer Harry, though, replying, "If it comes down to a fight, I can hold my own. You think there's someone in the middle of all this causing it, then?" he sees Robyn poking around right by the barrier...yeah. Looks like another interested party. He waves her down if she spots him, and with dawn only just breaking his silver white outfit still stands out fairly strongly.

Robyn's finger digs into the dust on the roof a bit trying to find signs of whatever caused the tingle. But nothing seemed to turn up until her good right eye spotted something in the corner. Standing up she took her bow fully again, peering at the gathering on the other side of the barrier she didn't see. But then the Moon knight tried to beckon her over. Once more the eye wandered, then the arrow wandered back to the quiver and the bow accompanied it, so the hands were free. She didn't cross the barrier et, instead she did move parallel to it till she was at the edge of the building. A bit distance was built again, then she jumped, crossing most of the street in a planned way and impacting in an awning to the club right next to the alleyway the men were in. It took some time for her to get up to the roof again, this time just over the three. "You don't happen to place some portal over there and hid it?"

Nelson stands by, hands resting lightly on the handle of his cane. "Well, if I may render any assistance in dispelling this power, please let me know. I've some experience with such things, but you--if I may say--have a certain renown for handling this kind of problem, and I'd sooner not interfere more than is needful." He raises one hand to cough into it delicately, adding, "And as might help avoid any needless property damage."

Harry Dresden quirks a brow again and shakes his head muttering something that sounds something along the lines of 'everyones a critic' "What ever is happening is probably happening on the other side into the nevernever" he says pausing when the girl shows up and asks her question "no, but something has." he says simply motioning to where the barrier intersects with the alleyway. "I'll open a way into the never never, and we'll see what's on the other side. I'll go in first, if I don't come back out within a minute, don't follow, it could be that the way opens into a lake of lava, or poisonous gas and i'm dead." he explains as he brings his staff up, runes on it starting to glow as he gathers his power. Loudly he states 'Aparturum' in pesudo latin making a slashing motion with his staff that causes a golden green slash in the air to open... The tall wizard slips through the parting a few moments later his arm reappears motioning for everyone to follow..

Moon Knight is fairly impassive through all this-- or at least as far as anyone can tell with his face in shadow. He glances to the others when Harry beckons them all in. "Well, anyone up for taking out arcane horrors and patching up space time before breakfast, that looks like our cue." he steps through the flaring rift, his cloak blown about a bit before it too vanishes to the other side.

From her position above them, Robyn can't really see the rift, but as they all seem to depart, she steps forward and the shiver is there again as she crosses the barrier another time. Quickly she scales down the wall to follow them, pulling out her bow and one of her arrows out. Four edges gleam in the dim light as she crosses the portal, preparing for the cold running over her back again. The golden eye did shed a tiny bit of light, but enough for seeing it was by far not.

Kent responds to Harry's flashy opening by fishing into his coat's breast pocket and producing a pair of smoked-lensed spectacles. He slides these on, shading his eyes from the light show, and then remains standing there, leaning lightly on his cane and waiting patiently for the wizard's return. Casually, he remarks to the others nearby, "Don't worry too much. Despite appearances, he's really quite good at what he does--or, at least, so I have heard."

The other side of the portal is as different as well.. night and day, the dawning light fades and the group finds themselves on a grassy field the city gone. If one is knowledgeable about the topography of New York City they would recognize that they are on what would be New York if the city was never built. And before the four intrepid adventurers about a hundred yards away.. A bond fire the size of a three story fire house and a circle of dancing.. /beings/ of some sort... Moon Knight looks around when he arrives. He has no trouble seeing in the dark, but with that huge fire, that's probably not the least necessary right now. He finds Harry, walking over and nodding towards the flames and the dancers. "I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that -that's- our problem..?"

"I can say for sure... We're not in Kansas anymore." Robyn comments snarkily, her feet touching the swampy ground as she lifted her bow a tad "I don't know the names of either, but I think if those are the evils, then we should start kicking ass. Anyone has a ghetto blaster and a copy of Shoot to Thrill for background music?"

When Kent does step through the portal upon being beckoned in, he glances around thoughtfully. "Hmm. Yes, that makes sense--a primordial reflection of sorts." Then there's the fire and the dancers, and Nelson peers at them more closely, examining them with his mystic perceptions to see what manner of things they might be.

Harry Dresden sighs "Demons.." he says as he sees them dancing, several larger horned toad looking ones happen to look over to where the portal is. "They're fast, they're strong, and they're not the real target.. The Dancing circle and the bond fire.. if we can destroy that the spell ends. The energy they've spent already had to have taken them centuries to gather, they literally had to sacrifice some of themselves for it." he says pointing to a pair of glowing white bodies in the fire. "If you've got iron tips in that quiver, use them, but retrieve them afterwards.. Steel and Iron's like nuclear fallout in this place" he says as the demons start to run towards the group and he himself starts running sideways trying to lead one off "Hey, over here ugly!" he says bringing up his quarter staff "Forzare!" he yells sending a ball of force into the side of one of the toad demons.

"Iron? Steel tip on aluminum shaft... I did not pick my Myst stuff today, just regular hunting gear. This is going to be costly..." Robyn's comment shows she is not happy about the idea of losing them, but she does pull back the arrow on the compound bow. The string pulls over the reels, building up more power than pulls at the arm seemingly, but that's the benefit of a compound. Moments pass before the arrow pierces through the air, hissing angrily as it spirals towards its target, the sharp steel blades gleaming in the fire shine.

Sweeping his cane around him in a wide arc, Kent conjures a spherical shield of force around himself. Floating slightly off the ground, he advances, now wielding the cane not unlike a wizard's staff. As Robyn readies herself, Kent makes no move to press ahead until she has had her chance, instead stepping aside and giving an "after you" sort of gesture. "Alas," he laments with a sigh as the arrows fly, "such violence." Then, as if in direct contradiction to the words, he thrusts the cane at one of the demons, sending a shaft of pure, golden light toward it--light that will undoubtedly not mix well at all with a demon's physiology.

And when steel hits demonic flesh the demon lets out a shriek and a howl its body tearing as if made of Styrofoam, green ichors spraying out everywhere before the golden light washes over it leaving it burnt to cinders. The other robot gets a good smack in the knee with the globe of force knocking it off if's feet. Soon three more of the demons show themselves, letting out a loud roar spikes appear on their arms and are flung towards the sorcerer and huntress as the knocked down demon goes on all fours and starts to run towards Harry "The casters! someone try and get to that bond fire the others can't join in on the fight and keep the spell going." he says as suddenly the baying of hounds can be heard off in the distance "And we've not got a lot of time!" he calls out too..

A quick grab to the quiver pulls out another arrow, this one not bearing a fixed blade setup but instead three hinged blades which are intended to unfold inside a deer or boar so the hooks hold the arrow inside. In its base position a rubber band holds them fast, but it would break on impact. again the creak of the pulleys breaks Robyn’s silence, her breathing stops a moment and then the wicket arrow with its steel tip goes to travel, piercing not only into but through one of the attacking demons with the force of 120 lbs. The tips rip open from the rubber ring and send the demon to fiery cinders as the momentum of the arrow carries it further into a second unlucky one which was storming at them. "You take the casters, I take whatever closes in!"

Kent levitates higher, resting both hands on the grip of his cane, and leans it forward like the throttle of a sports car. His orb of light darts forward, headed for the bonfire, and as he draws near he raises the cane like a wizard about to throw down with a nightmare of shadow and flame. He seems almost to murmur to himself, yet his sonorous voice rings out across the field: "By the waters of Nile and Styx I bind you. By the light of dawn I ward you. By the powers of Order I command this sundering cease and Balance be restored!" And this time, when he raises his hands, he holds not a cane but a shaft of pure golden light, the suggestion of a bright staff topped with a fiery ankh.

The steel does what it's always done against the supernatural, it destroys them. The first demon goes down, the second falters but keeps coming the one on all four leaps into the air and Harry lets loose another spell "Forzare! Magnus Forzare!" he yells as first a shaft of force, then a large pulse slams into the demon mid air.

'Let me help Harry, your god mother is coming, with me we could deal with these demons, and her once and for all.' Lasciel says cooing in Harry's head. "Shut up Lash, if you want to be a help quit talking to me when I'm fighting toad demons." he says starting to head towards the ritual circle. With Kents casting there is a pulse of dark light from the circle several of the demons in the circle turning to ash the fire at the center changing from a sullen red to a bright azure blue. "What ever you did, it almost worked.. but it's pisssed them off" the tall wizard yells bringing his blasting rod up the sigils starting to flare with red light as he channels power into it. "Fuego!" he screams mixing hellfire into the spell it hitting another dancing demon and cutting it in half but still not ending the spell..

Moments pass in which not one but a pair of arrows get propped upon Robyn's bowstring, one left and one right of the middle finger. Pulled back and reloaded, each one only gets a tad less than the possible 60 lbs, but that still is enough to hunt small deer. They diverge just as they pass the aluminum alloy of the bow, one of them flying straight towards the already harmed demon while the other wobbles a tad towards the other attacking demon, just drawing a long scratch over its shoulder. Instead of grabbing for another arrow after releasing the string, it is a dagger which gets pulled out from the shaft of her left long boot. A swift step, and then she tries to ram the blade into the chest of the demon she just missed...

The mystic backlash from the resurging bonfire blasts back against Kent, and the sorcerer is blasted backwards by several yards. His shield melts away around him, and he seems to fade away into an eruption of pure light. For a moment it may seem that the old man has been summarily obliterated, but then that golden glow reasserts itself, holding the shape of a great ankh for a shining second or two.

Then the shape fades, revealing a figure in blue with a flowing cloak and helmet of gleaming gold, arms held to his sides so that the ankh fades smoothly to his silhouette and then himself. As the light fades, the new figure advances smoothly, legs held straight down, heels together, beneath him and arms extended to his sides, the hands crackling with energy. Then, in a voice quite indeed like Hell's bells, he speaks:

"Denizens of the Nevernever, your power has exceeded its rightful place. You enter now into the domain... of FATE."

"Hells bells.." Harry says as he sees just who exactly he's working with. "no wonder he knew who I fricking am!" he breaths in surprise before turning his head to Robyn, the demons going down, the one missed distracted by the light show of fate. "Hey Robin Hood, start heading back to the portal.. if he's going to do what I think he is, you want a head start! I'm bout to cross the streams here myself, so you might want to run just for that!" Harry calls out to Robyn as he brings both his blasting rod and staff up and starts to cast mixing in a little bit of hellfire "Maxima, Maxima Fuego, Maxima Fuego Forzare!" the energy building in his spell as he ignores the dancing demons and attacks the bondfire directly..

"What about the arrows? Those are 43 dollars I shot there!" Robyn complains as she drags her dagger free from the demon she just stabbed, dusting off the ashes and cinder before she tries to retrieve at least the two that have been stuck in one demon. "And you said not to leave Iron, Mr. Hellfire."

As Doctor Fate draws near the epicenter, he again raises his hands. This time there is no staff, suggested from light or otherwise. Instead, his hands raise high their crackling power, and that ankh aura flares around him once more. As its brilliant light bathes the area, Fate twists his hands, and the very stuff of the Nevernever begins to rise around the flames of the bonfire, folding in upon it as Fate begins to twist its own power inward, using the gravity of the spell itself to collapse it. Again his voice rings out:

"All those not of this realm would be well served to withdraw--before the magics are released! I will turn their own spell against them, using its power to seal the Ways--Wizard Dresden, clear our path!"

"Ahh yep, yep, that's my queue." Harry says as he starts to run "Little Lady, you might want to do what the cosmic entity is asking.." he says simply "The steel can go rust for all I care." he adds flicking his staff towards the girl "here, this'll help you on your way..Ventas Servitas!" as a rush of air moves to press at her back forcibly but not dangeriously so..

It wasn't danger free, but robyn did bite upon the grip of her dagger as she snagged the pair of arrows, just as she was hit by the gush of wind trying to bring her back to the gate "faif f'e m'n w'' faid fad iron if a nuke e'e" she muttered against the gagging hilt, but as she hat at least the pair of those she turned around to try to give heels while replacing the two into her quiver. It took about a dozen yards till she had the dagger in her hand again, peering at Harry "I said, says the man who said that Iron was a nuke here."

Doctor Fate spares a moment to twist one wrist, and each of Robyn's arrows suddenly rips itself free of wherever it had been lodged. The arrows then fly swift and true, flung right back out through the portal and into the normal world. It doesn't do, after all, to leave these things laying around.

Then, as the others make their way toward the rift, Fate again raises both hands high. His ankh aura completely envelops him in shining gold, and his power begins to pulse in waves as it builds, and the full weight of the ritual is twisted back in upon itself....

Harry Dresden makes sure he's through the portal only after the gust of wind carries Robyn through. "Disperdorius!" he cries though not fast enough that there isn't a flare of light and head from the portal before it fully shuts down. Sending harry flying head first into a dumpster "ohh, that stings..." He groans he says before he slumps down on his butt. "You ok?" he asks...

The serviceful wind seemed to have been a tad too eager in blowing Robyn through the gate as she had ended with her shoulder bashing into the wall on the other side of the ally. "I'll live..." she muttered, as she rubbed her right arm and fiddled a bit to get the dagger back to the sheath. "You owe me a beer at oblivion... when my shoulder is back in order."

"Buy you a steak sandwich too.." he says moving to stand up.. "My beetle's around the corner, you need a ride anywhere?" he asks..

"I had endured worse and had to walk, so no. It's not too far to the subway."