2764/Zodiac Rising: No Stone Unturned (Part 3)

Zodiac Rising: No Stone Unturned (Part 3)
Date of Scene:	09 August 2020
Location:	Medieval Ruins outside Baia de Fier, Romania
Synopsis:	Serpens sends the remaining four Avatars of the Zodiac to find the last fragment of the Tablet of Zalmoxis... only to find they face more obstacles than they expected.
Cast of Characters:	Amanda Sefton, Ruth Aldine, Warren Worthington, Kurt Wagner, Carrie Kelley
Tinyplot:	Zodiac Rising

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Amanda Sefton has posed:
It's the wee hours of the morning deep in the valleys surrounding the little village of Baia de Fier in Romania. This is a rustic place -- a commune, in fact. It keeps itself afloat by artisanal means -- fine woodworking and glass-making being its primary exports.

Well outside the village, halfway to Pestera Muierilor -- a deep cave system that attracts many tourists annually -- is a squat compound with mostly buildings that look like they once might have been something out of a medival painting. There is crumbling stonework all around the perimeter of what might have been a walled abbey at one point in time. Now, it sits in disrepair, apparently abandoned and overgrown with the local forest.

Only one part of the compound displays any sign of life -- a sturdy stone building with a small garden plot in front, the rest of its stones meticulously scoured of vegetation.

Somewhere amidst the squat buildings, crumbling walls, and makeshift cottage, lies the last third of the Tablet of Zalmoxis. Surely, retrieving it from this barren spot shouldn't be too hard.

Ruth Aldine has posed:
A shooting star; one that summoned itself from the middle of Xavier's School and shot right into the sky. It twinkled and it was bright, but it moved faster than the speed of which the plain eye, and supernatural eye could see. In that cosmic, starry missle was a girl. Considered adult. No eyes and a rather bland disposition of the world. And that girl was not in pain, but asleep. Asleep as she grew to near ten feet tall, bulked, horned and spread into a brickhouse of bull. The phone she grasped in her sleep to learn to tweet turned slender, cylinder, and extended into a hammer that would make a carpenter weep from jealousy.

That shooting star traveled the world twelve times over. That shooting star seemingly stopped. That shooting star cause the earth to rumble as it approached the landing spot just outside of the perimeter of the abbey. Five miles, quite possibly. But landing not where she could be seen, but -felt-.

The hooves smack into the ground which causes a tremor, there was no kneeling. Only a loud snort and a deep huff that blew dirt from the large nostrils and cooled the bright red ring that burned and hung from her nose. Fingers curled around the handle as she let out an -annoyed- grunt. Smacking the handle against her palm, testing her hammer. All was -well- and good.

The Girdle of Taurus was probably the only other shiny thing that she wore upon her hips, the first noticible was the armor that covered her chest. The skirt of leather? Nothing remarkable, all for saving the lives of others who would consider her a man and them, mulch.

Warren Worthington has posed:
Libra, who's star hailed from an extreme luxury penthouse from Manhattan, made his way around the earth until directly over the location of the mission. Instead of making a loud and shaky entrance, he simply uses his wings to gently glide down to the ground, his hawk eyes staring out at the surrounding terrain to get a picture of what might be facing them. When he lands, he flaps his wings a couple of times before folding them against his form.

Attached to one side of his belt is a talon whip with long, sharp strikers on the end. Wrapped around his torso is a large, weighted net, and around his neck, a medallion in the shape of a shield. He rolls his muscular shoulders and cracks his neck before taking in a breath of the morning air.

He turns then towards Taurus, blinks a few times in that way birds can sometimes do, then nods. Once.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
On a small hillock overlooking the ruins of the medevial walled abbey a portal of inky darkness -- illuminated only by the occasional streak and flash of crackling yellow energy -- opens up and out steps a decidedly unusual figure. Tall, the figure is distinctly masculine though it is certainly no man. For one thing it's head is that of a lion, complete with ominous jaws and a mane. It's body is humanoid however and it walks upright. Despite the features, it is not fur of ochre or yellow that covers him, but instead a fine indigo color, shot through with streaks of brilliant electric yellow. An elongated quiver rests straped across his back, shafts that might be short spears or javelins poking out from the container and over the broad shoulders of the lionlike man. As strange as all of that might be a copper torc that twists in the strangests of configurations rests around his neck, a pair of golden lion heads marking either side of that torc.

For a moment that figure lingers there, almost swallowed up by the inky pool that stands behind him, occasionally illuminated by those seething flashes of energy. That mane fairly bristles -- with energy, with power and with pride -- and the humanoid lion finally steps away from that midnight portal at it's back as the energy suddenly winks out from existence as if it had never been. For a moment he stands there, atop that little rise of earth, surveying the ruins laid out before him. Then a throaty roar sounds, a deep rumble that echoes like a crack of thunder and Leo turns, that sharp-eyed gaze seeking out evidence of those he somehow knows will be joining him.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
The wind rustles through the leaves of the trees like an exhaled sigh of some long forgotten lover. It mingles with the creak of branches overhead, and the shush of grass and underbrush hinting at footsteps coming from far away. Another shooting star arcs gracefully in the night time sky, but doesn't settle on the ground so much as cast light on the forest surrounding the two Zodiac already here. The shadows peel apart as the very foilage itself makes to move; trees freed from root and dirt.

Virgo steps forward, solid and strong as an oak yet with the grace of a willow bending in the wind. Leaves and grass frush around her form in some organic seeming of attire over her bark-dark skin. The only true fabric is that of a Pashmina draped around her shoulders entwined with delicate vines of her own body to keep it in place. Eyes of fresh green leaves, lips of petals, hair of razor grass. She was her own camoflauge if needed.

Her head inclines to the others in greeting along with a whisper of breeze through reeds. "We've work to do."

Amanda Sefton has posed:
The tremor of Taurus' landing is felt all the way to the heart of the abbey, conveying to the power within that something stalks the night beyond the crumbling walls. Unheard by mundane ears, a thrum of sound ripples out from its heart, like the fading of a deep gong.

Walls once crumbling appear to gather themselves up, gravel and stone piling up and fusing to recreate bulwarks of ages past. Fire rushes over the top of the walls as ghostly apparitions, armed with spears, bows, and blades, form in the light, the flames fading to dance solely in their otherwise vacant eyes.

Clouds gather overtop the ruins, stirred by buffeting wings, lightning crackling between them, icy mist rising up from the ground within the abbey walls. Concealing that fog might be, once invaders step foot within it... but it will also conceal whatever threats lurk within.

The abbey, it seems, is not without its defenses.

Ruth Aldine has posed:
Their arrivals did not lack fanfaire from the Taurus. Each sense allowed her gaze in their direction, nods of acknowledgements met in kind. Right leg twists back and forth to dig hoof into the dirt, her thick lips purse in contemplation as she looks on ahead towards the abbey.

"Look. It moves." She says, her snout tilted towards the commotion that she herself created.

"We have work to do indeed, but it is not without it's setbacks." The grin that slowly appears upon her face as she stamps upon the ground, which creates a dust-up from the surface that aims straight up and solidifies. A shield was created from that mist, one that was snatched from the air with a lift of her arm and hung nearby.

"This is going to be fun."

Warren Worthington has posed:
Libra watches with a hawk's intensity as both Virgo and Leo also make their appearances. Then he watches as things seem to come back to life and offer a challenge to them all. Clicking his beak together twice, Libra spreads his wings. "Fun, yes, I suppose." A hand moves towards his whip and he removes it from his belt and lets the length unroll out beside him.

With a flap of his wings, he lifts himself off of the ground and reaches out to take in the feeling of the air around them. To get a sense of this fog and the clouds gathering atop them.

"Very well, let us see the strength of their air defense then." Without waiting for any of the others to offer comment or suggestion, Libra rises further into the air to take a position above the group, whip in one hand, his other hand getting his gladiator net ready to be used should any enemy make itself known to him.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
An old ruin suddenly coming alive, complete with ghostly defenders and icy mists is probably... not the strangest sight that is likely to take place today amongst these ruins. Still it is an impressive display none the less, the walls remaking themselves as if not collapsed and fragmented for centuries. The fires that ripple and rage and bring life back to long dead defenders. Quite the daunting display indeed.

Unfortunately however, the beseigers of today do not appear to be very impressed in the least and the prideful Leo is no different in that respect, giving a disparaging snort and a small shake of that crackling mane, those brilliant flashes of rippling golden energy flaring more brightly for a moment. "They waste our time," he growls, that sound low and rumbly and filled with a barely suppressed anger that such lesser beasts would dare defy their rightful king.

Reaching back over his shoulder he draws out one of those javelins from their resting place, hefting it casually in his hand for a moment, finding that center of balance. Then, with another beastly roar that crcks like thunder he rears back and hurls the copper shaft towards the walls below with terrific force. Despite the force, it would still seem like a fool's gesture at best. Except that the moment the copper javelin leaves his hand it seems to... extend, lengthening. Brilliant energy crackles all around it and an instant later it is more like a lightning bolt from the heavens as it strikes down at the enchanted ruins below.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
As the others move forward so too does Virgo. Each step leaves the ground beneath her feet blossoming with new life growing abundant. No flowers bloom here though, but rather the vines and weeds which she urges forward toward the walls themselves as she breeches the mist surrounding the path there. Weeds, tight and cloying, clamber up the walls. Vines reach and stretch for the archers linning the top to entwine, snare, and snag. Whether their weapons or them if they were unfortunate enough to not move, it made no difference to her.

"Rocks aren't my strength... but strangle weed, now." She smiles as her fingers curl in on themselves seeking to tighten the vine that she had sent up along the walls feeling the life of it in her grasp as it seeks to cut out life, or the semblance of it, that might stand in their way.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
From somewhere in the mist behind the walls, great catapults fling out flaming stone towards the four that approach the walls. Archers loose wave after wave of arrows, seeking to keep the intruders from coming too close. Swordsmen and axemen hack at the vines and creepers that threaten to tear down the walls upon which they stand.

Nevertheless, the vines are effective, loosening stones and ensaring defends that stand too close to their reaching tendrils. From greater distance, spearmen try to use their lengthened reach to free their compatriots, though only a few are truly successful. The defenders, however, are fearless in the face of death. After all... they've been there; done that.

Lighting strafes down from clouds above, crackling around the gate and turning the spikey portculis into an electric fence that repels Leo's strike and sends it into the ground. Nevertheless, stone turns black and cracks where the Avatar's lightning hits. Water that rains down from the clouds begins filling up a ditch that runs around the outside of the walls, revealing itself to be a moat swirling with magical waters.

Ruth Aldine has posed:
Taurus decides upon the direct approach; along with Virgo, she takes her stance near to the other zodiac, but ensures that any span of which she swings had a clear miss away from her comrade. And then it starts; the assault that brings the city ot further light, flying rock filled with fire aimed towards them which.. ironically, gives Taurus a bit of joy even though one hit could probably injure her counter parts.

But that was the stuff that she was made from, for as the first flying stone descends near to her, she takes a swing of her hammer to -not- smash it to pieces, but to send it right back to its origin. She had to move fast, however, launching two more that near-to-fell nearby, and giving a sideways toss of her hammer to hopefully smash apart the rest.

With one foot lifting, she slams it into the ground to send a shockwave through the catacombs that'll hopefully, momentarily shake up their defenses to allow the others to strike.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
When his bolt of lightening does not simply blast a hole in those reanimated walls the lion-headed figure snarls angrily once more, eyeing that blackened and cracked stonework with clear dissatisfaction. For a moment the avatar stalks back and forth along his chosen overlook, glaring down at the fortifications below him with a sort of fixed intensity in those golden eyes. But as his compatriots join the fray and bring their own gifts to bear his posture shifts, his pacing ceasing and instead he starts to march down the slope, down towards the fortifications that seem to grow more formidable with every passing moment.

As he stalks down the hill the little flares of golden energy burn brightly once more and grass actually sizzles underfoot, leaving blackened scars where his feet fall. But that stride lengthens, quickens, his body seeming to bend and contort as he picks up speed, pitching fowards precariously as if he has lost his footing and will simply roll right down into the waiting moat. But instead where a lion-headed humanoid stood there is abruptly a huge cat, as big as a small car, still indigo-furred but covered in crackling, flaring markings of golden energy. Two massive fangs jut from it's maw and it hurls itself down the rest of the hill. It's roar is no low rumble of distant thunder, but instead that of the storm directly overhead. The ground still blackens underfoot as those great clawed paws tear through the turf, leaving the scent of burnt greenery in it's wake and when it reaches the edge of that expanding moat it simply hurls itself up and across it. As big as he is he can't simply crest the walls in one mighty leap but those razor-sharp claws flex, slashing at stone as it tries to climb it's way up and over, it's lashing tail beginning to glow with it's own energy, coiling more like a scorpions as it begins to blast away with short bursts of power.

Warren Worthington has posed:
The waves of arrows sent in their direction are met with an uncaring bird-like stare from Libra, who makes a slight waving gesture and sends out a burst of air to shatter them before they can cause any of them harm, all while trying his best to avoid any of the rocky projectiles that are being sent in their direction.

With Taurus on rock-smashing duty, Libra reaches his arms up into the sky and begins to focus his mind on the air around them and above them. This place meant nothing to him. Any nearby population centers meant nothing to him. As far as he was concerned there was no reason not to push back hard against these defenses to try and accomplish the goal.

And so Libra makes every effort he can to turn the winds in their favor by conjuring up a large tornado to send in the direction of their target in the hopes that it may very well clear a path for he and the others.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Virgo may be smaller and of less stern stuff than stone, but that didn't mean she was without her own means of defense. As the firey rocks begin to fly she moves. Or rather the plants around her move to surge up around her like some protective barrier that melds, twists, and grows together to form a tangled weave of... Of her.

Larger than before and with thorns jutting out from her body she grows in size. No longer some mere sprite of the forest, but now a guardian of the green easily as large as her Earthen counterpart.

With a wicked grin she inhales... body swelling with branches and vine. The thorns which cover her erupt outward ejecting themselves toward the defenders with deadly accuracy. The added winds of Taurus only serve to fling them along at a more forceful rate.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
Taurus' thunder destabilizes the walls. They shake and the defenders upon the ramparts stumble. Those too close to the edge tumble off with eerie wails. Her hammer makes short work of the projectiles slamming down around her. A split appears in the wall where Leo's lightning struck, the earlier damage shaken loose by the quake of taurine earth magic.

Further application of lightning blasts craters in the walls, the mighty bricks shattering as the great cat assaults them with all his might. Defenders rush to thrust spears and send arrows in his direction, but he is feirce and swift and easily a match for his harrassers.

In the air, arrows and defenders' javelins are blown away like dust by Libra's formidable winds. The twister he creates clears defenders out of its path, bodies raining down on either side of the walls as the tornado wreaks its havoc in their midst.

In some few cases, the water in the moat seems to come alive, swirling up to capture falling men in the air and place them on the shore so they may continue to fight unimpeded by the dangers thrown against the wall. But they are now more vulnerable to the vegetation around them and some fall beneath Virgo's thorny rain of death.

Ruth Aldine has posed:
Bring it all down.

Seeing success that her stampede had brought on, Taurus continues and creates a path forward. No more hanging upon the perimenter to remain upon the defense. The wrecking bull snatches her arm out towards the air to summon her hammer back towards her, head lowered to put her crown upon full display, marching and creating those shockwaves like a petulant child angling for a treat.

Each fell wall does rise up should she pass, creating barries upon either side of her, which would possibly lift if attack or be flung in their direction to decimate more obsticles in their path.

Warren Worthington has posed:
Libra flies forward at a slow, steady pace, letting the tornado continue to do it's work while Virgo and Leo continue their onslaught. Spotting Taurus make her charge, he too decides it's probably best to go fully on the offensive and with a diving swoop, he makes for the water, attempting at a height where it cannot reach him, but low enough so he can use his thorned whip to lash out and strike at the attackers that the waters seem to be trying to keep alive, while with his other hand he shoots hardened bolts of air out at other soldiers to try to knock them away and, if possible, completely out of the fight.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
That menacing tail clears a path before him as he claws his way up the stone wall, those claws cutting into the fortifications like they were butter, climging higher and higher as that great, reconstructed wall begins to tremble and shake under the furious battering it has taken. Everytime one of the defenders on the ramparts above peer over the edge, or try to dislodge him his tail is there, sending searing blasts of lightning back up towards them, shaking stones loose and battering more rocks lose as he climbs higher and higher.

As the great smilodon crests the top of that wall he hisses, that electric tail flailing about much like a medieval weapon itself. You know, aside from the periodic bursts of lightning that leap from it, ready to char-broil the defenders. Those that aren't flung from the wall by those electric bursts meet tooth and claw -- a daunting thing indeed from the mammoth cat -- and as he breaches that hole in the defenses he leaps from his perch, landing in the courtyard beyond the walls and beyond the first set of defenses before turning back towards the defenders. Hind quarters drop and wriggle, tail quivering threateningly and then like any hunting cat he pounces on his waiting prey in a great rush.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Water. How silly. It wasn't her element, but ah, what moss and greenery might grow beneath or above was. Virgo grins in glee as bodies fall into the water. Those swept out of the moat back to their feet are tangled in vines, toppled by thorns. Another wave of her hand brings lily pads growing over the water surface creating it's own interweaving tangle of roots beneath. The next few that fall don't get out of the water easily as their legs are ensnared by the tangle of floating roots.

The plants grow thicker seeking to strangle the flow of water itself to create a path past the moat for the others as the water seemed as much a protector as the walls.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
As the Avatars, each in their own way, attack with the full force of their powers, the waters of the moat are choked and swallowed and the facing wall and its defenders are cut down and strewn out into the mist where they fade into the aether as if they never existed. And perhaps, to a certain degree, they didn't outside of this moment.

The storm above continues to lash, creating fields of lightning and cutting winds that are nothing to Leo and Libra, though may present some small impediment to Taurus and Virgo. From out of the mist within the abbey grounds, new threats arise -- great golems of stone that threaten to smash and pull limb from limb, creatures of ice and mist that can immobilize and drown their enemies, and fiery wraiths capable of burning life away in moments. They ring the neat cottage with its tiny garden plot, a merry lamp incongruently lit within its window.

Ruth Aldine has posed:
There were no more fallen walls to propel outwards; Taurus made due with what she had. She stops along the middle of the abbey, eyes to the sky as she sees her comrade lowering to join. With the other taking the walls and the vined Virgo making her stand against the magical waters, the new rumble of the stone golems draws a snort.

A loud snort that the bull-woman releases in mockery. Whatever or whomever that is defending this abbey will not stop, clearly, until they all were dead or gone.

But two could play at that game!

The hammer was twirled high above her head and smacked into the ground, allowing the surface to pit and rumble as her own rock golems begin to form. They gather at a roll; rocks from the four corners of the abbey come to her command and stack themselves of snowmen made of pure rock and stone. Each complete with their sounds and growls, grunts and groans as if stretching new bones and issuing complaints of growing pains.

A look to Libra, and a tilt of her head and another snort.

"After you, bird man."

Warren Worthington has posed:
Libra looks back up to the sky and frowns for a moment, then his attention is back down on the ground and the new enemies that are being summoned forth to face them. Making his best bird-grin in the direction of Taurus (which looks more like a bird sneer if anything). "Very well." Landing upon the ground, he uses his arms and his wings to conjure up enough air to build several mini-tornado elementals and sends them forward. Not at the stone golems, nor the creatures of ice, but rather straight at the fiery wraiths.

As they near the wraiths, the tornado elementals seem to build up strength, using their strong winds to not put out the flames of the wraiths, but rather to push them towards the creatures of ice and mist. To make the enemy's elements of fire and ice contend with one another and not with Libra and his three comrades.

"If this works and creates an opening, take it!" He hisses at Virgo and Leo.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
With the outer defenses wiped away -- the walls fallen, the moat drained and the defenders presumably returned to whatever graves that birthed them -- that massive smilodon turns back towards the cottage, clearly the object of their search here, and it's new defenders, again letting out that thunderous roar as his tails twitches and lashes angrily behind him, all aglow from the electrical energy pulsing and seething through it.

But he does not immediately throw himself into the attack, does not immediately hurl himself towards the cottage. Prideful as he might be, Leo has allies on this battlefield -- ones that are better suited to deal with some of those animated golems. Just as he can ignore the storming heavens above -- indeed, even enjoy that occasional bursts of lightning -- he ignores the figure of fire entirely, leaving that to his allies. And while he might be able to batter the stone golems eventually, the answering animated rock figures that rear up out of the ground would seem a better counter.

So when Leo suddenly barrels ahead, those electrified claws tearing at the cracked and broken stone courtyard just as easily as they did the grass, he barrels straight at the golems of ice, that lashing tail battering them with a stead stream of electric bolts, leaping and hurling himself towards the door of that cottage.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Moving forward wasn't a problem when it's suggested. The opening made, Virgo rushes forward. Tree and branch, leaf and vine, all surge forward in a wave of foilage which she rides toward the cottage not far behind Leo.

The mass she had gained peels away from her leaving her a smaller, more nimble target than before. The bulk of plants that had coiled around her are flung outward toward the cottage not to seek to destroy this time, but to create a barrier wall that might hinder another of those behemoths from coming in too close before the target was reached.

It's the fire in that lantern which most catches her eye. So simple a thing. So mundane here among all of this... The only seemingly ordinary thing. Right now that felt very not ordinary. Whether it was true or not, she opts to let her instincts guide her by flinging out a solitary limb seeking to shatter the lamp and cast their fight in darkness once again.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
The earthquake Taurus creates make it difficult for the stone golems to keep their footing, though the ice creatures on four legs and the fire wraiths that float in the air have a much easier time of it. The stone golems engage with their taurine countparts in a loud clash of smashing stone and rolling boulders. It sounds much like an avalanche, unsurprisingy. Sometimes defeating the golems, sometimes torn apart by them, they are nonetheless entirely effective at keeping the stone creatuers occupied and out of the Avatars' way.

The fire wraiths flare as the wind whipping about them fans their flames. They resist the demand of the wind to blow them off course, but most ultimately stagger into their icy allies, sending up pillars of fog and steam as bodies of opposing elements collide and struggle to recover themselves. Again, this helps to clear the way, though it plays merry hell with already poor visibility.

Leo crashes into the stout door of the cottage. Arcane wards flare on its surface, activating a repulsive force that propels the great cat away. However, he is on four legs and in the form of one of the most dexterous creatures on Earth. It's very likely he lands on his feet and recovers swiftly enough to launch a counter attack made easier now that the wards are glowing -- easier, in the sense that the web the wards create is clearly illuminated now. And once seen, more easily identifiable. It consists of overlaid elemental runes -- fire, water, earth, and air in varying positions and patterns. The Avatars, of course, are creatures of the elements, each attuned to one of those signs...

Except Water, of course. There is no Water sign with them on this mission, more's the pity.

But maybe there are ways around that, even as there was with the moat.

The window, however, blazes with similar wards, protecting the lamp within. And the figure that moves about in the center of the room it illuminates.

Ruth Aldine has posed:
Taurus' job was easy at this point. No movement necessary. She was of the earth, she created the golems to stave off the others, she created the path at which the others can run through. She also created a.. similiar copy to Leo. Seeing the avatar blown back from his attack upon the cottage, gave her the thought that assistance was needed. It was like a symphony, the clawed hand reaching towards the earth to summon more rock, creating a four legged wolf to run at the lion's side. Never equal in power, but both of them combined could create enough force to hopefully break that barrier. The rest would be left to the others as Taurus focuses her efforts on her distraction tactics.

Warren Worthington has posed:
Libra caught Leo's actions out of the corner of one birdeye, and taking note of the reacion, the winged man swoops down towards him and gives a nod. "Everything at once then?"

Letting out a breath, he raises one hand above him to the sky and his other out before him.

Above him, the winds begin to howl and the rain that as splashing around them? Gusts of wind begin to direct it towards the door and those runes. At the same time that he's doing this, he begins sending forward small bursts of air at the runes.

"Worth a shot." He says with a gritted beak as he tries to keep his focus.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
Well at least he doesn't have to worry about being pummelled by all those golems.

Again Leo finds his brute force method blunted by duplicitous enchantments, the massive feline hurled away from the entrance to the cottage like an annoying gnat. And while that great size might make him look unwieldy, he shows himself every bit as agile as any other cat, twisting in midair with that casual graze, landing in a crouch amidst those broken cobblestones, flexing claws anchoring him before he skids very far.

That fearsome maw curls in a snarl once more, those massive fanged teeth on display once again. Despite the form, his voice still comes, rougher and more beastial as Libra settles in beside him and Taurus' stone wolf joins them at the forefront. "Yessssss. Overwhelm these pathetic enchantmentsss," he agrees. Of course those enchantments didn't look quite so pathetic when they were hurling him away moments before.

He does not immediately hurl himself back towards that portal but instead joins the other avatars in directing the full fury of his power towards that door -- or more specifically the runes that flare up there with their defensive magics. Lightning bolt after lightning bolt lashes out from his tail, raw energy pitted against subtler magics as he tries to simply scorch those protective markings from existence.

Only once that torrent is unleashed does he join the stone wolf, again leaping towards the door, claws flexing once more, lashing out to scratch and batter and smash.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
"It seems so," Virgo agrees as she too saw the results of Leo's attack on the door being as close as she was. Her own attempt unfortunately only made her aware of the figure within. Potentially the one that was bringing these other guardians to life, or else one last final guardian inside? There was one way to find out.

As Libra brings wind and water to the equation she merely chuckles with a gesture. Fine moss grows up from the ground to make it's way to the symbol for Earth since her counterpart was occupied still. Then she pauses considering. If the rain weren't enough, perhaps...

Lifting her palm she frowns. A single bud grows there and expands. No bud this but a cactus. Small still yet capable of holding the element that was missing should the rain fail.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
It is, after a fashion, a sort of brute force that is used against the wards. No gentle untying but an overwhelming activation, as runes meet the elements that are their strength. Fire repels Leo's electricity, but Water absorbs it and falters, glowing and flashing like a short circuited wire. Air resists the air, but it is deflected against Earth, which has less tolerance for such thing, beginning to disintegrate into sandy motes, disolving beneath the foliage that inadvertently protects it. Nevertheless, the water directed from the rain by wind and leaf falls against the Fire sign, causing it to sputter and flicker in strength. Only the Air sign remains, diminished by the absence of its fellows. It is no proof against the sturdy attack of stone wolf and lashing cat.

The door to the cottage flies open, its hinges giving way to the brutal assault. In the center of the room, a homey cottage space of wooden floors, stone walls, and cheery hearth, stands a slender man of indeterminate age. An elemental circle glows around him, glyphs hanging in the air around him as he tries to summon more magic to defend himself. But he is obviously flagging, strength worn thin by the ferocity of the fight thus far.

Ruth Aldine has posed:
The creation falls around their feet as their combined efforts, even if hers were indirect were successful. As they fall, the hammer is lifted and set upon her shoulder, coming up behind the three others as the extry to the cottage was made clear.

"If you wish to remain alive, you will cease!" She bellows. The there was a threat in her words to the mage, a threat of a mountain from not too far away to land atop of this very cottage, prize or no. The threat to draw the boards from the floor to swallow him up whole.

A wooden coffin which would render the mage alive yet immobile for the rest of his days.

"If. You. Are. Wise."

Warren Worthington has posed:
Libra decides to take another tack when seeing their foe for the first time. Where Taurus bellows and makes noise, the winged hawkman decides to make his whip more visible and cracks it to the side. "You are growing weak, you cannot hope to stand against us for much longer. Why not simply... take a rest and conserve what strength you have left, or..."

He lets his eyes fall onto the mages, a finger running along the whip.

"You can become the next David Carradine my friend. And while you won't enjoy it. Let me assure you, I will."

A pause.

"So give us what we seek and we will be on our way."

Kurt Wagner has posed:
As the enchantments barring their way forward begin to give way and unravel, as the physical door proves no obstacle at all to their entry Leo steps forward into the cottage itself, electricity still crackling and humming between his claws. As he crosses that threshold he again shifts, that great cat having no chance to enter the room, but instead seems to melt in on itself until it is is that lion-headed humanoid that steps into the room, indigo-colored fur still streaked and marked with that crackling energy that seems to play just beneath the surface of that furred flesh.

The snarl that comes through that still formidable -- if not quite so intimidating -- maw seems all the louder for being in an enclosed space, reverberating off the walls in an unspoken threat and he reaches back over his shoulder for one of those copper javelins. "Your enchantments and parlour tricks mean nothing to us enchanter," he sneers. "What was taken will be returned. Now," he adds, that implicit threat in his snarl made very visceral indeed. Even with that weapon held aloft, prepared to hurl one of those lightning blasts he begins to scan the cottage for their prize.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
The man does not look startled, nor intimidated. Just tired... He speaks in heavily accented English, responding to the language he hears the creatures before him speak. "You... are not the ones I thought to see overwhelm this place. That is not why Gaia had you fashioned."

Gaia? It's a shame the souls that provide the vessels for the corrupted Avatars may never remember this conversation. Because as far as these Avatars know, Serpens is their master. Not the Elder Goddess Gaia.

"I know what you seek, Starlings. You shall not have it from my hands. Nor will you have my life, now." The mage summons his power, pulling in much strength, the elemental glyphs swirling around him in a cascade of light. His hands rise over his head. Between them, a stone materialzies, archaic markings etched into its rough surface.

As his fingers curl over the edges of the fragments, he speaks a word in an ancient tongue unheard in these lands since Ancient Greece ruled the Mediterranean.

A great wind rushes out from the circle in which he stands, a flash of light and crash of thunder accompanying it. The walls of the cottage are blown outwards, its roof clean off. The pressure wave is like that of 10 tons of TNT, flattening the ruins in which the cottage sat.

When the storm and the rain and the mist clear as the presser wave dissipates... the circle in which the mage stood is empty, both he and the table gone.

Ruth Aldine has posed:
Gaia? For a moment, the bull hesitates. Was there something amiss?

"Gaia is no Master of mine!" Those words were cause enough for Taurus to step forward to strike. Her hammer shifting from shoulder to palm which was soon raised high into the air. The threat to smash the man to pieces was there, until the tablet was revealed to them all.

The hammer lowers as a hand reaches out to try to snatch it from it's place. But it was too late. The explosion rocks the cabin as arm raises to shield her face, head tilted to the side to avoid the major blowback from damaging her sight.

But she does not move.

Her feet were firmly planted, body hunkered forward.. and once the dust had cleared..

..."Fuck."

Warren Worthington has posed:
"I'm more of a Hawkling than a Starling. Do I look like I shine?" Libra raises the whip, ready to lash out if any more lip is given. What happens next is far beyond his own expectations.

The wind catches Libra's wings and sends him flying far into the air in an uncontrolled tumble upwards, "Ohhhhh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttt." His words lowering in volume the farther up in the air he goes.

After what seems like forever of being knocked up, he starts falling, and after spinning around a few times, he gets his bearings and glides back down to the ground, where he falls to his knees. "Damn, I did -not- see that coming."

Kurt Wagner has posed:
Like the other Avatars, Leo appears to be a little taken aback by the petty enchanter's words, that low, threatening growl sounding once more deep in his throat. A servant of Gaia? No, there is only one that he serves -- for now at least.

When it becomes clear that there will be no easy surrender, no pleading for life, for mercy he snarls once more and hurls that copper javelin towards the mage, seeking to impale him on that bolt of energy that extends from his hand. But he too is a moment too late, that blast battered away by the sheer shockwave that explodes outward, overwhelming everything in it's path.

Or at least almost everything. He is not nearly so large in humanoid form and as that shockwave hits him Leo has no choice but to give way, blown backward and staggered by the sheer force. But clawed feet dig into stone, claws every bit as formidable -- if not nearly so long -- sinking into the ground. The sound of stone screeching underfoot is entirely washed away by that pressure wave and the lionlike humanoid falls into a crouch, bringing those clawed hands to bear as well as he ducks his head against the flying debris, letting that maelstrom of energy wash over him until it passes.

Lifting his head he stares at the center of that devestation, at the cottage that is no more and the enchanter who is no longer present for just a moment before lifting his head and roaring, fury echoing in that sound as it reverberates in the shattered valley. "The master will not be pleased," he snarls as he rises back to his feet.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
A small portal opens in the vicinity of the flattened cottage. Through it, a tall man, cloaked in a dark green robe, his face concealed beneath a golden mask, steps into the humid night air.

Serpens.

The Master looks at the carnage to the environment and at the state of his Avatars. No. He is *not* pleased.

However, this setback will only delay his plans, not scuttle then. He pins them with a dark look and turns back to the portal.

"Come." The command is simple, but filled with dark compulsion.

"This is not the end."