Same as It Ever Was (Part 27)

Nala looks at Raeluin, pinned down, very much unable to act or do much of anything than to continue to make people very, very uncomfortable. She looks at her beloved, who is fighting on her behalf, and...

"I wish..." She looks at Raeluin, her face breaking into a sneer. "I wish you'd go away somewhere small and tiny, where you'd never bother anyone ever again, and you'd never, _ever_ come back!"

Aryia's grasp suddenly becomes very empty as the prince pops out of existence.

Nala stares vacantly at where the prince had been for a moment, and then blood trickles down from her nose.

"Nala!" Telanmo calls out, and he rushes out to grab her as she faints--getting her before she can fall down to the ground.

The remaining knights of the Prince of the Summer Court now look very nervous. Even if their faces are covered by their odd helmets, their body language (and reluctance to do much of anything) is evidence enough.

"Spare us!" One knight cries, bowing to one knee. "Please! We act only on His Highness's orders."

That draws a sharp turn of the head from another knight. "Fool! He could have merely disappeared to test your loyalty. You know what the penalty for deserting the Prince is! Are you so foolish as to court death?"

"_They are going to kill us!_" another knight shouts in defiance. "They may be mortals, but that hardly matters in the face of their power, now does it?!"

"The Queen will have you hunted down from whatever lonely corner of Quelynos you plan to flee to, and she will have the First and Last Sun kill you himself!" says the still-loyal knight, even if it's only barely.

GAME: Aryia rolls punch: aliased to weapon0+2: (16)+31+2: 49
GAME: Aryia rolls crunch: aliased to 2d10+strength+2+1: (8)+7+2+1: 18
GAME: Riptide rolls 1d20+18: (8)+18: 26
GAME: Riptide rolls 1d20+18: (9)+18: 27
GAME: Aryia rolls 1d6+1: (4)+1: 5
GAME: Aryia rolls punch: aliased to weapon0+2: (5)+31+2: 38
GAME: Aryia rolls crunch: aliased to 2d10+strength+2+1: (9)+7+2+1: 19
GAME: Simony rolls knowledge/nature: (1)+12: 13 (EPIC FAIL)

Aryia blinks owlishly as the horrid prince all but vanishes from her iron grip. There is a look of annoyance- she brought him all the way over and was ready to make him pay- but alas, he was poofed else place. Looking for a way to vent, she sprints across the surface of the pool, zipping behind the back line before launching herself up on high.

The pugilist rides the back wall down, only to kick off last minute, bulleting a horrid kick to the loyalist's leg that makes their helmeted skull crash into the ground. Aryia hits the ground with a follow up elbow drop, making a rapid THUD-CRACK-THUD echo in the chamber as she cartwheels back up to her feet.

GAME: Riptide rolls 1d20+18: (12)+18: 30
GAME: Simony rolls cmb: (16)+17: 33
GAME: Rune rolls sense motive+1: (6)+25+1: 32

The Goblin snorts and guffaws as Nala wishes Raeluin away, though that laugh is muted as Nala topples, though Telanmo keeps her from hitting the ground. As the knights begin to show doubt in the battle going their way, Simony raises her voice. "Flee! The young woman has wished your master away into insignificance! Flee if you do not wish to share his fate!"

The still-loyal knight is then struck down! "FLEE OR PERISH!"

She makes a show of winding up with her hammer... but lands a rather ineffectual blow.

With some of the guards starting to stand down, Rune's eyes look between them, eventually snapping to the one who has decided to run his mouth. Aryia seems to get to him first, her impressive martial arts likely making the man regret his life choices up to this point. It would be all too easy just to stab him and make him an example to the others.

However, Rune squints, stepping forward with her blades outstretched as she crouches right next to the knight. "You see... I don't think your prince is coming back from where our friend over there just sent him. And maybe, just maybe your queen will hunt you. But tell me this..." She taps her blade against his dented helmet.

"Would you and all your friends rather die right here and now? Or would you be brave enough to live, and chance that she never finds you." She looks at him, and then at the others. "This is your one chance to choose your fate. Lay your weapons down and leave this place, or prepare yourselves to meet your gods." Her voice has the very real threat of death in it, accented by the blades already coated in the blood of their comrades.

GAME: Zeke rolls Diplomacy: (16)+16: 32

Zeke lowers his sword, the crystalline weapon still ready to fight, stained with the blood of his foes. Stained crimson and brown. He spreads his wings in a mighty arc and into the void in that remains in the wake of Rune's obvious threat and kindness he speaks as well. "This one will grant you leave. Leave and live! The Dragonfather does not wisssh for death. Go. Go home and wait for your lord if you will, or flee to the housse of the Unsssseelie King. Perhapsss you will find sssome clemency there."

He gives them an ounce of hope, and prays to the Dragonfather that they take it.

GAME: Telamon rolls talky: aliased to diplomacy+5: (18)+36+5: 59
GAME: Harkashan casts Resurrection. Caster Level: 19 DC: 27

"Enough!" Telamon's hand comes up, and the crackling form of the lightning elemental mimicks his motion. And then he pauses, watching the majority of the knights lose heart in the face of the assault.

"Enough," he says in a calmer tone. "Take your wounded and dead, and begone from this place. I care not where you go -- though as my compatriot suggests, you might flee to the Unseelie Courts. You do not have to go home -- but you can't stay here."

Telamon's hand drops, and the lightning elemental's fists lower as well. "There is enough death in the world. I see no reason to increase it."

As Zeke begins to speak, and the group of Fey are clearly well in his allies hands, and Raeluin is... well, currently nowhere to be seen as far as he is concerned, he moves back to the fallen body of the great dragon. "Shankahar! I require your aid." The Sith-makar calls for his twin-kin.

He then settles down, and begins to take multiple lava stones from his bag, and slowly begins to place them in a wide circle around the fallen draconic one. "Your bond will be important in ensuring their soul finds their way back to them - after such a cruel spell."

Shankahar goes quickly to Harkashan's side as directed. "Yes, kin," he rumbles, picking up quickly on what Harkashan's doing. He sprinkles the stones with some holy water that he produces from a bag on his belt.

Meanwhile, Telanmo is holding onto the fainted (and nose-bleeding) Nala like his life depends on it. "Yeah, I think you'd better take them up on their offer," he calls out to the Summer Knights.

A heartbeat later, the weapons are thrown down as demanded, although they flicker out of existence. The knight that's currently stunned and somewhat stupefied-looking has his weapons pulled off of him and tossed down to the floor by an ally.

"We surrender." It's a murmur that's said by all but one (the stunned one). There's no more fighting. For now.

GAME: Simony rolls 10d6: (39): 39

The Goblin turns and runs towards the stricken Nala. As she gets closer, her voice is raised in prayer as she calls upon her God's powers. A familiar pale white light reaches out to touch those near Simony, wounds begin to knit themselves together, pain begins to fade.

Crouching down, pale hands go to the young woman's face, fingertips gently opening an eye. "Nala?! Are you alright?"

Zeke lowers his sword completely seeing that the soldiers are finally throwing down their own arms. His sword becomes fingers and a hand once again, and he cleans the limb off with a bit of cloth from an interior pocket. "Telamon!" He calls out to his friend, looking toward the archmage. "Thisss one asssksss that you open a gate to a plassce near the Unsseelie court. Sssso that thessse may decide where they wisssh to be. Thissss one doesss not want them to be here when the dragon risssesss onsce more."

Aryia holds a glowing fist cocked back, pointing down at the severely concussed knight with her other hand. The threat was as clear as the bared blades and hammers on the other side of the line.

But then- peace. The mute exhales slowly, the cracked onyx skin fading back to grey. She shakes her hands out, kicking the prone over and wrenches their arms behind their back. Though, for a beat, she reaches up to yank the helmet off. She blinks. A scarred visage is revealed, though where there should be no eye from the scar, there is one. "Either you had some fucked up punishment or this is some twisted fashion statement," she notes with a hand before yanking them to their feet. <Handspeech/Tongues>

With hostilities over, Telamon dismisses the elemental, letting it dissolve back into strands of shadow-stuff that vanish. A quick glance to check on Nala as Simony tends to her, before Tel nods to Zeke. "Agreed. I wouldn't want to be here either." His dark eyes twinkle, albeit with a restrained mien, and he walks over to where the soldiers huddle. Deliberately, he begins to chant, holding out one hand as the other describes a circle in the air. There's a crackle of energy, and a spiraling ring of silver and blue light opens, wide enough for the soldiers to limp through. "Now, be off with you lot. I've work to do."

GAME: Telamon casts Gate. Caster Level: 20 DC: 30

With he decision seemingly made by the knights, Rune pushes herself back to her feet, but she continues to hold her weapons at her sides. "Good choice." Though she may be particularly good at turning enemies to giblets, the rogue doesn't exactly take pleasure in it.

With the others already preparing to have the knights dismissed from the location, Rune turns to where the clerics are already preparing to deal with the untimely demise of the dragon. "Let's just be careful. This wasn't exactly what we were expecting to run into here, so we've still got a threat looming that could show up at any time." Her blue eyes flick to Zeke, but quickly away again as she moves closer to those gathered in the center of the chamber.

With the aid of Shankahar, Harkashan manages to tether the soul back to the body. The holy water and lava stones serving as a way of binding it, softly urging it to return to where it belongs. To its own body, and to not go to the Grey Halls, as their Story is not yet complete.

Harkashan ends up urging Shankahar to sit back to back, and begin to heal her body and the wounds upon her body, as they draw the dragon's soul back into her. A wonderful blue-grey glow starting to erupt from the circle at its center!

The fae woman who has had her helmet taken off stares down Aryia. As Aryia noted, there's a deep scar across her face, and another one about one eye that looks like it was made by a deep wound. There shouldn't be an eye there. Yet there is. "His Highness will regenerate broken or missing limbs, but he will not permit us to glamour over the scars we receive in defense of him," she says. "The scars are ours to bear as reminders of our sacrifices."

"And our mistakes," says another knight, who removes his helmet to reveal a similarly-scarred face, with a large scar that runs from chin down the neck. He looks at Zeke, Telamon, Rune, and the others who offered them peace. There's gratitude in his eyes that he cannot speak. "They are considered gauche to reveal in front of others in the Summer Court, so we cover our faces under helmets."

"I don't think you'll have any problem with that where you're going," Runelei offers, adjusting a red-black strand of hair as she looks at the knights. "Now go, before Nala wakes up."

The knights do exactly as suggested by Runelei, departing through the gate. But Nala... doesn't immediately stir from Simony's healing.

Meanwhile, Shankahar is murmuring the prayers as he sits back-back with Harkashan, a mirror of Harkashan's fire for the serpent of water. Nepantla's body restores and rejuvenates. Her scales look wetter and wetter, and the bodies of water off to the sides actually swell and abate as though they were part of the ocean, part of the river, not stagnant bodies of water.

Her voice sings softly. "Tlachichiquilco in tihuih in tinemih tlālticpac: nipa centlami, nipa centlami."

Nala stirs, her eyes fluttering open.

"In tlā nipa xiyāuh in tlā noceh nipa xiyāuh ōmpa tonhuetziz." Nepantla sings again.

Then so, too, do her eyes surge open, and the waters still suddenly. "Zan tlanepantlah in huīlōhua in nemōhua."

Nepantla raises her head to look at the group, and then she shakes her head, followed by her body. Far more rapidly than a snake would shed, a thin layer of _something_ like skin falls off of her. It sparkles in the light like spiderwebs. "I am renewed."

Simony eyes the knights with a bit of sympathy in her expression. "It's a poor healer who intentionally leaves behind scars.", she says softly, before returning her attention to Nala. She pats gently at the woman's cheek, and then startles as Nala's eyes flutter open. "Easy, we've got you. Are you hurting anywhere?", the Goblin asks gently.

Zeke bows low to the dragon as she is restored to life. Her words are truth, and he is honored to hear them from her. He stands between her and the (hopefully) departing fae. "Ssssa. Thissss one isss glad to sssee you returned Honored One. Peasssce upon your nessst, and peassce upon all placesss." He bows again and then stands to his full height.

Telamon holds the gate open for the guards to depart, watching them scurry through the portal. Once the last has departed, he lets the gate snap shut in a shower of sparks as he turns around to watch Harkashan and Shankahar perform their ritual... bringing Nepentla back from death.

It's no small feat, even when the death was unnatural. But Telamon believes in his friend, and he knows that sometimes the Harpist releases souls when it isn't their time. He's proof of that, after all.

As the dragon rises, he bows as well, for in this place one must show respect to its guardian.

"Nothing in nature is ever perfect, and if the Summer Court can't look at beauty without the stories behind it, then the court is nothing more than shiny marble opulence," Aryia gestures with a scowl before watching the knights leave. Once they were gone, and only then, does she turn back around to watch the ritual unfold.

She gives a low whistle, quietly clapping and peering over her shades as she idly returns to group proper before bowing with the others. <Handspeech/Tongues>

One eyebrow quirks upward at the reason for the scarred faces of the knights, her nose scrunching slightly at the level of control that the fae courts seem to have over their people. "Scars are signs that we've survived. The right people will see you for who you are, scars and all." She doesn't press further, though. It's likely that time will tell what fate these knights will find for themselves.

As the ritual begins, her focus is on the casters and on the form of the dragon, her ears listening to those words, but staying silent. It is only when she has been fully restored that Rune bows once more, though it is a brief gesture before she sets her eyes on the room, continuing to stand watch.

As Nepantla's body begins to restore and rejuvenate, Harkashan internally celebrates the revival of a great dragon. Once her voice begins to sing, he rises, offering his hand to Shankahar and urges him forward, before stepping back.

He watches more quietly as the dragon opens her eyes and sheds something, moving aside to join with Rune. Stepping to her side at first, looking upon the dragon with her, before he interlaces his fingers with her to quietly enjoy the moment and stand watch alongside her.

"I'm fine. I think. My head hurts." Nala cringes as she seems to feel the weight of waking up. But she gets onto her own two feet, albeit leaning onto Telanmo and holding onto him.

Shankahar and Runelei come together in an almost mirror configuration of Harkashan and Rune's pose. Runelei is admiring Nepantla's shed-scale beauty, looking at the wispy substance left behind from the rapid molt.

"Peace upon all places." Nepantla sounds almost amused as she looks at Zeke, her head nodding gently. "All places..."

And then she looks at Harkashan and Rune, very specifically. "And all times. Greetings, chosen of They Who Desire Change. Greetings, Fatebreaker-Fatemaker." Then her eyes slide to Zeke. "Greetings, Ipalnemohuani. I welcome and greet you all again. Now that the prophecy has been complete, may we discuss what is to come next?"

-TBC