It shouldn't have been like this, of that Tosh was sure. The weather back to normal, tigers and the wild cats gone, she'd forgotten that there were still predators out there. It wasn't even that she'd been very far from her hut, Tosh had found a little clearing only a few minutes walk away. It seemed safe enough, it had been safe enough every other time she'd come here.
She'd been surprised when the boar had burst out from the bushes, even more surprised when it didn't just turn around upon seeing them. It hadn't though, It had seemed mad almost, pawing at the ground and charging toward them. Tosh had scooped up Jackson and jumped away, not sure what she would do without any weapon. She didn't even realise that she'd screamed.
I wasn't exactly running at top speed due to my injured leg, but it didn't take me long to see where the screaming was coming from. There was a small woman holding what looked to be an infant in her arms, backing away from some creature charging towards them.
An infant? Hell's bells, talk about being in the right place at the right time.
The creature looked like it had some kind of pig face, but there are any number of demons that look like that; apparently it's a popular form of ugly. I fished my blasting rod out of my pocket and pointed it at the thing, grateful that I had use of my fire magic back. "Forzare!" I bellowed.
Nothing happened. Well, nothing except the thing turned and looked at me. I guess stopping it charging was at least some temporary solution.
She hadn't expected a man to appear out of the woods, but then, nothing should have surprised her at this point. That he screamed at the beast and pointed a stick at it and shouted in what sounded like latin made it seem even more surreal.
The boar turned, and while she'd hate to say she acted only to save herself and Jackson, Tosh started moving in the other direction. She moved slowly, telling herself it was the sensible thing to not attract the animal's attention, and not because she was shaking.
I looked down at my blasting rod, wondering if Mab had damaged it in some way. I shoved it into the pocket of mydu ster, keeping an eye on the boar. Apparently it had decided that I, while interesting, was not as tasty as a baby, so it had taken off after the woman again.
I ran towards it, concentrating to channel all of my energy and holding out my bare hand, yelling another spell. Again, nothing. And this time, I realized that it felt wrong. It was like the magic just... wasn't there
( ... )
Nothing about the situation is good. None of it. The boar had finally stopped charging her and was looking back at the man. The insane, injured, mad man who Tosh had never seen before. Of course, there were enough of those people about, it didn't strike her as that odd, not right now. Right now with a no weapon and a baby that was squalling in her arms in the middle of the woods, she was just concerned about what would happen next.
Tosh backed towards the trees, it wasn't as if she was abandoning the man, but she needed to get Jackson away from this thing, shushing him as she moved.
I started moving backwards, though not as fas as I should have been as the boar ran at full speed towards me. Now that the woman was farther away, I let out a curse.
I decided to try one more bit of magic, trying to calm myself and concentrating with all my might to channel energy into my shield bracelet. Nothing.
Okay, I thought, not everyone uses magic. What do other people do? Look at Batman! He doesn't even have super powers! Of course he also had a billion dollars and an indestructable suit that the boar would probably just bounce right off of.
So, Batman out of the picture, I tried the next best thing: What would Michael do? Besides, pray, that is.
Answer: Slice it to ribbons with his big-ass holy sword.
And in fact, I did happen to have said big-ass holy sword slung over my back in a scabbard. Except I was afraid to use it. Because even if saving a woman and her baby from some wild creature was probably a righteous endeavor, I still wasn't a righteous guy. I'd said before that I wasn't going to take up the
( ... )
To be fair, Tosh hadn't gone far. She had a baby to look out for, and that was more important than anything. Even still, leaving the man to be gored to death wasn't something she could do. She'd found a stout branch when she heard him calling out for her, turning back with the branch aloft in her hand.
"Over here," she walked toward him, through the trees, Jackson whimpering into her shoulder. "I suppose I don't need this then?"
"Ah... no, I've already got the big stick thing covered," I said.
And then thought that maybe I should qualify that, so I held up my staff. I'd started using the hockey stick because even if I was technically "out" as a wizard, it tended to attract less attention that walking around with, well, a wizard's staff. From a distance, you can't even see the runes carved into it. Until I use it, that is, at which point they light up like track lights. Right now it just looked like a hockey stick with weird carvings.
"Are you okay?" I asked her as soon as I got close enough. "And, um...?" I nodded to the baby.
"Of course," Tosh smiled, embarrassed now that she thought of it. What could she do with a stick, against a boar when she was carrying a three month old infant? She realised that she had never seen the man before, something that hadn't really registered with all of the stress.
"I'm fine, and thank you. I appreciate what you did back there. I really do. I..." Tosh shook her head, kissing Jackson's head again as she shushed him, "I've not seen you about before."
"It was no trouble, really, or rather it wouldn't have been if..." I looked down somewhat forlornly at my staff. "No, ma'am, you haven't seen me around here, as I'm pretty stumped at the moment as to where here is. I'm assuming that Chicago didn't suddenly..." I looked around at the jungle. "Go green."
"Chicago?" Jackson was settling, she'd dropped the stick and given him her finger to grasp and play with. "You're likely going to think I'm mad, but you and your hockey stick are on an island. It's a bit of a mystery as to how anyone gets here and... Thank you, still. For the boar."
"An... island?" Was this some new method of getting me out of the way? A tropical island. It had Summer magic written all over it. Hell's bells, as if the Goats Gruff weren't bad enough...
"This will probably sound like a bit of an odd question, but are there, uh, monsters here? Or... fairies?"
Tosh tried not to laugh. She almost succeeded, her lips pulled inward for a moment as she composed herself. "There's a goddess here, and at least a few aliens, but no fairies as far as I've seen. Though I have heard Peter pan is about."
Shaking her head, she looked at him apologetically, "I'm sorry. It's a shock. this place it drags people from all over. Some sort of rift in space and time, magic, no one really knows what it is. People appear, people disappear. It just happens."
Of course, until recently I'd thought that the billy goats gruff were just a fairy tale, too...
I listened to her explanation, which really didn't clarify a whole lot, but at her mention of magic, I worried my bottom lip between my teeth and then said, "See, the thing is, I'm a wizard."
I blinked at her, and then looked down at my staff. When I looked back up again, I could tell she was holding in laughter.
"It's a... wizard's staff," I said sheepishly, and then added, "Trust me, it would be really impressive if my magic were working. Light shows and things going boom and all that."
The sooner I found a way out of here, the better.
"Oh, uh - " I transferred the staff to my other hand and added, "I'm Harry, by the way. Harry Dresden."
She'd been surprised when the boar had burst out from the bushes, even more surprised when it didn't just turn around upon seeing them. It hadn't though, It had seemed mad almost, pawing at the ground and charging toward them. Tosh had scooped up Jackson and jumped away, not sure what she would do without any weapon. She didn't even realise that she'd screamed.
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An infant? Hell's bells, talk about being in the right place at the right time.
The creature looked like it had some kind of pig face, but there are any number of demons that look like that; apparently it's a popular form of ugly. I fished my blasting rod out of my pocket and pointed it at the thing, grateful that I had use of my fire magic back. "Forzare!" I bellowed.
Nothing happened. Well, nothing except the thing turned and looked at me. I guess stopping it charging was at least some temporary solution.
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The boar turned, and while she'd hate to say she acted only to save herself and Jackson, Tosh started moving in the other direction. She moved slowly, telling herself it was the sensible thing to not attract the animal's attention, and not because she was shaking.
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I ran towards it, concentrating to channel all of my energy and holding out my bare hand, yelling another spell. Again, nothing. And this time, I realized that it felt wrong. It was like the magic just... wasn't there ( ... )
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Tosh backed towards the trees, it wasn't as if she was abandoning the man, but she needed to get Jackson away from this thing, shushing him as she moved.
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I decided to try one more bit of magic, trying to calm myself and concentrating with all my might to channel energy into my shield bracelet. Nothing.
Okay, I thought, not everyone uses magic. What do other people do? Look at Batman! He doesn't even have super powers! Of course he also had a billion dollars and an indestructable suit that the boar would probably just bounce right off of.
So, Batman out of the picture, I tried the next best thing: What would Michael do? Besides, pray, that is.
Answer: Slice it to ribbons with his big-ass holy sword.
And in fact, I did happen to have said big-ass holy sword slung over my back in a scabbard. Except I was afraid to use it. Because even if saving a woman and her baby from some wild creature was probably a righteous endeavor, I still wasn't a righteous guy. I'd said before that I wasn't going to take up the ( ... )
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"Over here," she walked toward him, through the trees, Jackson whimpering into her shoulder. "I suppose I don't need this then?"
Reply
And then thought that maybe I should qualify that, so I held up my staff. I'd started using the hockey stick because even if I was technically "out" as a wizard, it tended to attract less attention that walking around with, well, a wizard's staff. From a distance, you can't even see the runes carved into it. Until I use it, that is, at which point they light up like track lights. Right now it just looked like a hockey stick with weird carvings.
"Are you okay?" I asked her as soon as I got close enough. "And, um...?" I nodded to the baby.
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"I'm fine, and thank you. I appreciate what you did back there. I really do. I..." Tosh shook her head, kissing Jackson's head again as she shushed him, "I've not seen you about before."
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"An... island?" Was this some new method of getting me out of the way? A tropical island. It had Summer magic written all over it. Hell's bells, as if the Goats Gruff weren't bad enough...
"This will probably sound like a bit of an odd question, but are there, uh, monsters here? Or... fairies?"
Reply
Shaking her head, she looked at him apologetically, "I'm sorry. It's a shock. this place it drags people from all over. Some sort of rift in space and time, magic, no one really knows what it is. People appear, people disappear. It just happens."
Reply
Of course, until recently I'd thought that the billy goats gruff were just a fairy tale, too...
I listened to her explanation, which really didn't clarify a whole lot, but at her mention of magic, I worried my bottom lip between my teeth and then said, "See, the thing is, I'm a wizard."
Reply
She really was trying to not laugh.
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"It's a... wizard's staff," I said sheepishly, and then added, "Trust me, it would be really impressive if my magic were working. Light shows and things going boom and all that."
The sooner I found a way out of here, the better.
"Oh, uh - " I transferred the staff to my other hand and added, "I'm Harry, by the way. Harry Dresden."
Reply
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