I know I shouldn't have drunk as much as I did last night but we sort of got carried away. It was approaching midday when I eventually surface and even then I was still the worse for where. I'd probably been in better condition if Dierdre hadn't tried to get me out of bed with a Logrus tendril in the early hours of the morning. Walking the pattern with a hangover and then smashing it into a Logrus tendril doesn't do wonders for you.
Anyway by the time I'd made it to the roof of the gatehouse what ever crisis there had been had passed. It must have involved Charity for she was now with Alfred, Allagahn, and Fred - who looked marginally better than I did.
I suppose that before I relate the rest of today's events I should deal with yesterday or at least last night. Yesterday was much the same as the day before until after we finished the evening meal. Then as I said we got carried away. At some point, round about the 11th bottle or so Allagahn showed up. I'm not sure how he arrived but he had the audacity to shake me awake - if I'd been in a fit state I'd have slapped him but it was just about all I could do to stand.
I have a vague recollection of making it to my room, and him knocking on the door, but there was no way drunk or not I was going to have sex with him. I told him to get lost. I think he asked about beds, because I distinctly remember telling him to go to Ikea.
And that as they say was that. Anyway up on the roof we set to discussing the enemy's strengths and weaknesses. Charity's Generals, appear to be a very sane and sensible lot, and seem to have matters in hand, despite what appears to be the obvious paranoid interference of Allagahn. I noticed Fred slip away during his paranoid ramblings and in the end I did likewise. If he wants to get himself killed so be it - but then he very nearly succeeded.
It was perhaps an hour later when we gathered in the hall, without Allagahn. He'd done his hotheaded thing and charged off supported by a storm summoned by Alfred. He hadn't returned. Despite this we set to discussing matters relating to Rodian, and the restoration of the Great Seal. Why is it I have a feeling of impending doom in relation to this? After much a to do we eventually decided to have a crack at the Keep of the Four winds, so I trumped Deirdre and after an imperturbable wait she answered - she wasn't happy with me, but she did send tendrils to fetch us into the tower.
This allowed us to use the trump painting to observe the Keep and work out the best way in. What ever way we chose we were going to have to avoid alerting the enemy whilst we formed the trump gate. Whilst we toyed with ideas Charity decided that she wanted to try and find Allagahn. To save her the hassle of drawing a trump sketch I lent her my trump.
When she pulled him through the gate he was a complete mess his armour clanking and grinding, rather than hovering noiselessly above the ground as it usually did. It was also noticeably slowing him down - I doubted it weighed any more than mine did and mine had no effect upon me when unpowered.
We then had to go over the same ground yet again, although it turned out to be worthwhile. When he rescued Alfred he been using the pattern to scry him out. In desperation to get through to Alfred he'd started shouting through it and eventually made contact and woken Alfred up. Now I know you can't physically shout through the Pattern Lens therefore he must have used some form of telepathic shout or more likely pushed a filament of the pattern into Alfred's mind.
Pattern filaments or tendrils as they're more often called I know a little about having been shown one use of them by Fiona, and worked out a second use to get Dworkin's door open. After a further clarification and discussion of what we were about we set to. There were six demons on the roof, one large Rodian type, two smaller Rodian types, two large black demons and one small blackish demon. We had arbitarilty divided these amongst ourselves, such that my primary target was the small Rodian demon and my secondary target was the large black demon. Charity had chosen to take the large Rodian demon and the other small Rodian demon, and Allagahn would take the small blackish demon and then the other large black demon..
I brought up the Pattern , dropped the scrying lens into place, extended a filament, and shoved it into the demons head. There was the briefest of resistance and then I had complete control. Whilst I waited for the others I poked about in its brain. There wasn't much there - it hated, not only every living thing but also those of its own kind that were ranked above it, and it bullied those who were ranked below it. It was quite a way down the food chain. It was very wary of both the big black demons and the little blackish demons, although they were supposed to obey it.
A tap on my shoulder stopped my digging in its memories. A felt the familiar presence of Charity, and asked her what had kept her. Apparently the bigger Rodians are tougher. As we looked about, the small black demon turned and headed for the door off the roof. Allagahn had obviously failed. The two large black demons were turning to tackle us but the closest one never made it. I grabbed its arm and transfered my control, snapping the synaptic cortex of the Rodian as I left. It would be dead by the time it hit the roof. I made a quick assessment of my new body. It was far more combat capable but not as strong or durable. This was offset by its tougher hide and sharper claws. With my new combat capabilites it was a simple matter to close down the other small Rodian and kill it. The little demon, who I now found out was a shaman had reached the door. The large Rodian demon had been gutted by my brother Retroika, which was in the process of leaping across the roof at the shaman. I raced in the same direction. As I arrived i saw my compatriot reel backwards as if struck by a hammer blow and then collapse to the floor. It looked like I was on my own. I reached down and grabbed it by the throat something "I" normally wouldn't have done. I felt the surge of its mind, then the look of horror on its face as its probe bounced - now it was my turn. I slammed into its shields which collapsed like a rice paper screen, and took hold of its mind. Transfering consciousness, I snapped the synaptic cortex of the Retroika warrior, and let it fall.| Back | ||||
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| Supporting Cast - Cordelia | The Keep of the Thirteenth Hour |