Solstice War - Gathering

[willysilver]

The Solstice was upon them. When the sun went down the magic began to swell, the veil between this world and the Other Side thin as vapor. Mortals could sense it, even, though they may not have a name for it. They gathered together, not realizing the animal instinct of safety in numbers.

But all around the city, from the dark parts, fae began to come together as well. Unseelie filled the city- boggarts and Red Caps and things unseen for many a year with bright eyes and sharp teeth. But they were tricksy, dangerous and malicious but no worse than they ever were. The real threat, the ever present danger this year, were the Milesian that crawled out of the sewers and tube tunnels to prowl they city. They were hunting tonight. They had eyes black and soulless, eyes too wide for their white, gaunt faces. Larger than their eyes were their mouth. The smile of needle fangs glinted in the street lights. Long arms ending with spidery, spindly fingers reached and clawed at passers by from the shadows.

There was a war in the city tonight and the nature of the foe, the Milesian, meant no bound mortal needed to be near any battle. Death would come to one or the other if a killing blow came down.

But there was hope. Seelie fae prowled the city as well, fighting for Light and Air. Even the Queen had seen fit to step through with her sword and shield. Such was the threat to the Fae way of life that the Milesian presented.

The longest day of the year dawned but the sunlight did nothing to frighten off the dark forces. The longest day of the year simply meant the things that went bump in the night were attacking in the light.




(Tag in, tag around! Open all week so check back. Have fun with your adventures. If you don't want any Milesian, there are plenty of Unseelie, too. Day or night, whichever works for you.)

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[phouka]

The Phouka's blade flashed and slashed, hacking away at the Milesian that appeared. His colour was high and his eyes bright with mad glee as he killed the one with only one arm, then whirled on the other.

"Beware the teeth!" he called in the middle of the fray.

[wispofathing]

Curnen only barely heard him, her world narrowing down to tearing the Milesian's face to ribbons. The words didn't entirely make sense until she saw that mouth full of shark teeth snapping at her fingers.

That brought her back to herself, a bit.

The nail was still in her pocket, and she whipped it out and scratched the Milesian across the throat making it roar in pain. It was barely a graze, but she may as well have delivered it a devastating blow.

She was aware, distantly, that this should be her reaction even holding the thing, but her skin wasn't irritated in the slightest.

[phouka]

The battle was hard fought, but the Phouka managed to swing hard and take off the head of the Milesian before him. Then he had time to watch Curnen. The nail had scratched through the pale, thin skin and black smoke coiled up out of the wound. The creature shrieked in pain and fury and tried to shake her off. Phouka could see it had no hope. The vicious little faerie had very nearly finished him off.

[wispofathing]

Curnen grinned, showing too many teeth of her own and all of them gone pointed. She sang, low and cold,

Gold is for the mistress -- silver for the maid --
Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade.
"Good!" cried the Baron, sitting in his hall,
"But iron, cold iron, is the master of them all."

The wound went from smoking to flame, and the creature thrashing under her dissolved into dust in moments.

[phouka]

The Phouka's eyes widened in surprise, but pride was what formed his smile.

"Ah!" he cried. "Victorious in battle! Very good, little bird, very good."

[wispofathing]

Squatting on all fours with her hair in a mess and her eyes and teeth gone inhuman, Curnen resembled more a wild animal than a girl. It felt so familiar that it hardly occurred to her that this was wrong.

But for all that, she grinned at the praise.

[phouka]

The Phouka had seen many a fae at the palace. One thing he truly missed from home was the variety of beauty the fae embodied. Humans were all so similar and ordinary.

In this moment Curnen was quite beautiful.

"Shall I see you to safety? Or would you like to join me in battle?" he asked.

[wispofathing]

A question, and she had to find an answer. Curnen shook her head as if to clear it and worked to summon speech. She pushed herself to her feet as she did so. "I'm not sure. This ain't a part of my heritage I ever thought I'd have anything to do with," she admitted softly.

[phouka]

"But it is here. It is the night all fae fight. Will you join me, or will you go home and forget yourself?" the Phouka asked gently.

[wispofathing]

Curnen thought about that, then said slowly, "Unless I absolutely gotta, I'm not touching Unseelie." That had political implications she knew were above her pay grade to make. She was already riding so many lines just by being in the UK at all. "But the other ones, whatever the hell they are, yes."

[phouka]

"Milesian. They were once fae but now they are rotten shadows. Evil beyond measure."

The Phouka broke into a wide, bright grin.

"We can kill them all!" he exclaimed.

[wispofathing]

Curnen threw back her head and howled like a coyote, a feral sound of bloodlust and triumph.

Bliss would smack her upside the head and drag her away by the ear if she knew.

[phouka]

"Come. Come, I smell them on the wind. Come and we will destroy them all!" Phouka said, tugging at her sleeve. Seeing her like this, hearing her howl, he felt such a kinship with Curnen that he wanted to slaughter all the Milesian and then celebrate by telling the moon tales of their heroism.

[wispofathing]

Curnen grinned wide at his excitement. "Lead the way."

[phouka]

He gripped his sword in one hand and Curnen's hand in the other. The Phouka paused to tilt his head up to sniff and immediately caught the scent.

"This way," he said, and struck out toward dark places.