Seven(?) against the Convergence

[Alberich]

Tim followed Tamina, and when he saw that Desiree was down, he threw up a shield to cover the kobold's healing efforts and looked to see what was going on. Argus, Therese, and Rose should be able to handle whatever had done this, especially since they didn't appear to be fighting the battlemages.

He also paid attention to Desiree's injuries using his normal senses. If this was beyond Tamina's competence, he'd see about switching roles. Otherwise, he'd concentrate on defending Desiree. He ought to have felt grateful that he didn't have to lay hands on her this time, that there was a competent female healer who was free to do the job. Yes, really, he ought.

[Graybeard]

[OOC:

Tim followed Tamina, and when he saw that Desiree was down, he threw up a shield to cover the kobold's healing efforts and looked to see what was going on. Argus, Therese, and Rose should be able to handle whatever had done this, especially since they didn't appear to be fighting the battlemages.

There wouldn't be battlemages here. Unlike the warp gate, the airship terminal is not the property of Tsuiraku, and being in Rinkaiel, its security force would be Farrelian, non-magical, and hard to identify (and probably distincttly chaotic if not downright inept). Just a thing to keep in mind for what follows. Meanwhile:]

Sister Rose cursed inwardly. She'd been in the process of rather ostentatiously flashing her badge to Desiree, making sure that the few onlookers could see it and "verify" her bona fides if necessary, when suddenly, things had gone to hell in a handbasket. How had the elf managed that? He'd been sitting down perusing his papers only moments earlier, and although she had only been watching him out of the corner of her eye (her attention was focused on Desiree, after all), he hadn't seemed to move. Yet suddenly something had happened to Desiree. The elf must be a master of telekinetic magic, she thought. And he was on the hunt now...

Not too surprisingly, pandemonium was breaking out among the passengers-to-be. "I saw that!" one woman yelled. "That pretty girl just crashed through the window as if it wasn't there!"

"No!" a man called. "That big man pushed her!" (Rose, hearing this, had an approving thought; fear of the "big man" might be used to get this back under control.)

"No!" another man yelled. "She pushed her!" He was pointing at Rose. That, to be sure, was an unwanted complication, although nobody seemed to be taking him seriously.

Well, here goes, Rose said. She pitched her voice lower and louder than it usually was; any military officer learned that trick. "No, it was the big man! We have to stop him! He's a wanted criminal back in Isabel, a murderer!" That might even have been true; Luminosita alone knew where this elf had killed half elves. "Everybody stay where you are! You! Stop!" she yelled, and dived through the broken window.

Somewhere in the distance, an alarm bell was ringing.

-------------

Meanwhile, on the tarmac, Desiree, Anfisa, Tamina and Tim all found themselves suddenly pinned to the ground by an invisible magical force ... and the elf was simply dusting himself off in a nonchalant manner.

"Well, well, well," he chortled. "Looks like there's been a breach of security here. And what a pity, if someone bleeds to death because of cuts from that window..."

-------------

And Therese was giving Argus a puzzled look from outside the boarding area. "What just happened?"

[OOC: A request for anyone not to do anything too "final" here until Desiree gets a word in, following some off-line PM exchanges.]

[Jack Rothwell]

Ooc Not to throw a spanner in the works, but wouldn't the barrier tim put up offer some kind of protection, even just short term, against the elf's magic?/Ooc

[Graybeard]

OOC:

Ooc Not to throw a spanner in the works, but wouldn't the barrier tim put up offer some kind of protection, even just short term, against the elf's magic?/Ooc

This guy is an elf. And, as Rose surmised, his particular thing is telekinetic magic. He'd brush that Barrier spell off like it was a small child yelling obscenities.

[Drusia]

OOC: Um, I don't think Anfisa is on the tarmac. Alberich said she was "on the platform" - which I assume means she's still on the not-hurty side of the window. Thus, I'm not going to mention Anfisa, but if she's down here too (and if she is, she's likely hurt) just assume that Desiree didn't see her.
Also, I'm a little curious how Tim got down here so fast. Tamina, sure, she's got magical speed, but Tim must have jumped down like 20 feet with no magical padding or assistance. Aren't his legs hurt? Something to consider, anyway. [/OOC]

I blink.

Oww. I'm not sure what hurts worse, and there seems to be a lot of different things clammoring for attention on that point. And yet, somehow, I hurt less. My eyes focus and I see Tamina kneeling next to me with a healing spell. Tim too, although he's doing some sort of defensive thing.

"Watch out-" I start to say.

Suddenly something heavy slams down on me. I watch Tamina and Tim buckle as well - it's as if we just got hit by falling debris, but there's nothing here. I think they got it worse than I did.

"What do you know about the tower?" an unfamilar voice asks me. I turn my head just in time to get grabbed and hauled roughly up by the neck.

"What tower?" I gasp. The elf rolls his eyes in annoyance and mutters something I don't quite hear. With the hand that isn't around my throat, he draws a long steel knife.

"Anilis, please," I whisper. His face twists at my words and he angrily thrusts the blade into my chest. It feels hot and cold at the same time and I can't breathe again. He tries to manuever the blade, but it sticks fast. He swares, and I catch the elven word for rib.

It hurts no less - rather worse as he tugs at the knife - but a calm settles over me. Anilis has answered me. I consider for a second what to do with this last gift she's given me. And then I reach out and gently touch his cheek.

"See what you have done," I whisper. The effort makes me cough. There's red foam on my lips.

His eyes widen. He drops me, his dagger still stuck in one of my ribs, and clutches at his head. <"Children,"> he gasps in Elven, <"They were all children."> He screams, overwhelmed by his memories. I lay on the ground, smiling, bleeding.

So this is what it feels like to die.

This sucks.

I never even got to....

-- Desiree

OOC: The elf is currently having flashbacks to all the Errants he's killed with the clarity that they were effectively innocent children. This will likely not have a long-term effect (since it is just mind magic, however divinely inspired) but it serves as a momentary break in his concentration. Tamina and Tim should be free of his spell and able to act.

OOC 2: Desiree has been stabbed in her left lung and is currenly drowning in her own blood. The dagger (steel because the elf didn't want to try getting a Durus through customs) cut into one of her ribs and is stuck there. This saved Desiree's life (otherwise the knife would have slid up into her heart, which was the elf's intent), albeit only for a minute or two.

[Alberich]

Confusion reigned on the platform, where the stunned Anfisa lay. Security personnel -- such as any airship platform had in force, especially after Artifex -- were pushing forward towards the elf or shouting orders or demands for information. Almost everyone else was trying to get away from the danger.
And this included the couple of "good Samaritans" who picked up the stunned Anfisa on the platform and carried her back toward the airship. Her ticket was in order and tucked right there into the front of her dress. Of course she'd be taken on board immediately, to be looked at by a healer who'd already boarded.

* * *
Tim had been lucky not to be injured in his downward leap. Of course he'd been a little reckless to make it -- but seeing Desiree hurt like that, well, he just hadn't stopped to think. It helped that he was leanly built, strong-boned (his country diet included plenty of milk products), and generally fit.

One of the prime rules of battlefield healing, as Tim well knew, was that you fought off the enemy before taking care of the wounded. But given the way his defenses had just been brushed aside, it was obvious he had nothing to contribute to this defense. Only the mighty Argus and the omnicompetent Therese had any hope of standing up to this. So he concentrated on what he did best anyway: healing.

The next best thing was evacuating the wounded. Tamina, here, the Lord be thanked, had the strength and speed to move her - but first she must be stabilized. He laid hands on her and made his initial diagnoses with admirable calm under pressure, and applied the power he needed to keep her breathing while not letting air in through the wound. Then he barked at Tamina - "quick! let's get her back to Amalric!" - and took her legs to help carry her back to the Veracian ship. Amalric might be rough and terse, but he had the power they needed to shield her while they did a more thorough job of healing.

Plus, the airship-that-was-more-like-a-warship offered more and better cover than any of the civilian structures around here. Similar thinking was causing the Tsuirakuans to hustle the passengers on board their airship -- and if takeoff was a little premature, well, then, they'd just have to arrange alternate tickets and compensation packages for whichever customers were left behind. Except the elf. He wasn't even getting a refund. That'd show him!

[OOC: Tim knows this stuff better than I do, and I haven't time to read up to add medical verismo, so feel free to add details of what he'd actually be doing.]

[Drannin]

"Trouble," Argus said tersely to Therese, and started running. Harker ran ahead of him, the familiar seeming to come out of nowhere, like he always did, leading him through the crowd. Led by Harker, Argus emerged onto the platform.

He saw Desiree, lying in a pool of her own blood.

He saw another man, clutching his head and screaming.

Argus' eyes narrowed, and he summoned his magic.

[Jack Rothwell]

Tamina elected to ignore Tim's shout; with their attacker currently disabled and Desiree fading fast it was clear what the kobold's first priority should be. With a hissed word to the priest to hold the injured woman down and a whispered apology to the patient Tamina reached to the knife and pulled it free, releasing a free stream of blood to darken the increasingly speckled floor. She hurriedly pressed a glowing palm to the half-elf's ribs and poured healing magic into the torn flesh, sealing it closed as the patient's coughs brought up more sickly foam. There was clearly liquid still in the lungs, and drowning was still a serious danger.

As for how to get it out...

Tamina heard the echo of her teacher's voice in her head. Memories of advice, wise words imparted to her whenever she felt desperate in facing a crisis.

"You use a hook and bait to draw a fish from water Tammy. Cast your line, draw it forth..."

Without wasting further time, she steadied her patient's head and wiped the blood from mouth. She parted Desiree's lips, channelled a second time, then leaned over.

She covered the woman's mouth with her own and breathed a current of magically charged air into her lungs, all the while remembering what Argus had taught her about treating her magic as an extension of her body. She drew the breath back into her mouth with a grimace, then turned her head and spat out a generous mouthful of blood which wasn't hers.

"Lung's clear."She managed. "Safe to move now."

[Alberich]

Tim had done what he could to speed the process and stabilize it -- he was no match for Tamina in combat, but in healing he was on Desiree's own level.

"Let's get her back to our ship quick!" he said. He took Desiree's legs.

Once they got to safety he'd have to congratulate the kobold on a brilliant piece of battlefield healing. Female she apparently was, but innocent of combat she was not, and you could count on her in a tight spot.

[Graybeard]

[OOC: Rose would also be in on the healing, but no problem ... particularly since she's about to have a problem of her own.]

Bleeding from a few minor cuts sustained as she'd followed Desiree and the elf through the broken window, but nothing serious, Sister Rose was on the scene not long after Tamina; she was in top physical condition, after all, and adrenaline was a wondrous thing. It took only moments to diagnose the critically wounded Desiree's condition, and moments after that for her to begin summoning healing magic to help counter the wound. At least, she reflected as she worked, something had happened to the elf, Luminosita alone knew what. He had abandoned his illusion and was now staring off into space, with an expression on his face that looked like ... guilt? Since when did an elven hunter feel guilty about killing a half elf?

She was roused from her puzzlement, and her ministrations, by good news. "Lung's clear. Safe to move now." Tamina's words were like magic to her ears. She let out a long sigh of relief as the kobold and Tim started to move Desiree toward their airship. (Wasn't it closer to the terminal now than it had been only a minute or two earlier? Or were her senses just working overtime to put things in sharper focus than they'd been?)

That was the good news. The bad news was that the elf was coming around ... and Rose made a decision.

During her time in the military, Major Rose Nuria-Lucas had never killed a man. Oh, the troops under her command had killed plenty, and as she would shame-facedly admit if pressed, she'd done a few things to some (all in the name of "interrogations," of course) that had made them momentarily wish they were dead -- a fact that she repented in her prayers daily for years afterward. But she had never taken a life.

There was a first time for everything. Magic wouldn't work well against this adversary, even if she had been far better versed in combat magic than she actually was. But there were other ways to kill an elf. As the Peregin's head cleared and he glowered after his escaping prey, she popped the Pocket Dimension back open and withdrew the pistol she'd confiscated from her cousin, what seemed like years ago. A quick movement and the safety was off. She sighted quickly and pulled the trigger.

Click.

It had never occurred to her, after the battle in the mountains north of Goriel, to reload the gun.

And now the elf was turning away from Desiree, and toward her.

"Oh, crap," she muttered under her breath. And then, much louder: "ARGUS!!"