They left angels singing in the branches of a burning tree

[abyssalarcana]

Who: Caedra and Ivar
What: Nautilus murder adventure with demon mom and viking son
Where: Outside the city
When: A few days in early February
Warnings: Violence and gore likely, will update if needed

As soon as Ivar begins to recover, Caedra searches her house for her mirror. Used successfully to scry on the city while traveling on the ship, she hasn't needed it much since, and when all of the objects she saw tried to crawl away from her, many of them ended up getting shattered in her angry retaliation. Fortunately, the mirror sits intact where it had buried itself under the sofa cushions.

She watches the vision that emerges from the casting. That nautilus creature, the Host, with the knife Ivar had described. Still embedded deep in its eye, it travels with its companions. She scans the surroundings - and fortunately the city skyline, such as it is, isn't far. The mountains are familiar. She can get them there. They set off.

It takes little more than six hours to come to where she had seen them. The frost lies disturbed from the manipulations of their tentacles and Caedra turns to Ivar, setting a hand on one of his shoulders.

"Shouldn't be far now, and they won't be expecting us to come from the sky. Are you ready?" she asks, as she begins to cast flight on them both. They won't know what hit them.

Comments

[ragnarsson]

Going on a hunt with Caedra promised to be most exciting. He'd barely been able to fight off even one of these creatures when they attacked him. He wanted to see the true power that the demon could wield, the kind that would utterly obliterate them. After all, he wanted that knife back.

Ivar is thankful for the flight spell. He's limping quite badly by the time he finds them. For a time that has become countless, he curses his stupid, easily broken legs. They are both his greatest asset and his worst weakness. He nods, taking the axe he has strapped to his back out. These things might be powerful, but they still bleed. "Let's do this."

[abyssalarcana]

"Right!" Ah, what a treat to spend time with someone who understands the joy of violence, the rush of death at one's own hands. That taste for murder she remembers acquiring so early on, that has only increased in the last half-century.

From above, as they speed their way across the sky, Caedra spies the pack of beasts making their way in a long, slow circle around the city, as if watching and waiting for anyone to dare to venture too far from the outskirts. Perhaps they have learned that charging in head-on is dangerous to them also. There are four in the pack - one in the center, three flanking. Do they care for their injured? Are they guarding her and Ivar's target?

"The middle one - I can't tell from up here if that's yours, but I'm guessing it might be. Either that or the one just behind it. I'm going to fly closer so that I can tell which it is. Once we know, we can single it out from the rest."

Rather like wolves, perhaps. The others might help fight; they have the advantage of numbers. That would be exciting. With a grin over at her companion, she tucks into a dive until - yes, that's the one, right there in the middle. The knife's hilt is dark against the creature's swollen eyeball. As she swings by in an arc, Caedra extends her blade and slices across the top of the nautilus' head, and the green flame that races along her blade singes its nearest companion as well as she moves just upward again, keeping herself in the air.

[ragnarsson]

The idea of death and destruction is utterly intoxicating to the teenager. There's nothing else in the world that brings him such joy and satisfaction all wrapped up in a nice violent package. He hangs back slightly, letting Caedra take the lead. He enjoys watching her work. She's like a goddess of war.

Once he can tell that the injured one is in the middle, he pulls out his axe. He's brought his more heavy duty weapon this time now that he's not being caught unawares. He'd been outnumbered last time, but with Caedra by his side, the odds are going to be even in this new fight.

He dives down, swinging the axe at the injured one. But its companions aren't going to let it just be given up to the two violent hunters. The one nearest to him whips out a tentacle, trying to snag him closer.

[abyssalarcana]

"Ivar, go up!" Caedra calls out as the movement catches her eye. It's half intended as a warning to him about the beast, but also half about what she's about to do. She's flown a bit too far away to help in close range as she came out of her dive, but she fires a black eldritch bolt into the center of the cluster of hosts. On impact with the shell of one of the creatures, it blossoms into a massive ball of flame which licks outward, searing flesh and blackening the edges of their shells.

The one reaching for Ivar has to withdraw its limbs rapidly or risk burning them off, and of the group, it and one other react quickly, tucking themselves in. The other two aren't so lucky and squeal in pain at the flames, which burn out quickly against the damp flesh but leave their mark in blisters and charred keratin.

"Are you all right?" she calls out, though she doesn't glance over. He'll respond if he is. She's intent on following up her attack with another from her sword, ready to target one of the suffering creatures that looks like it's about to run off, but she's still some distance off and it's moving as quickly as its burned tentacles will take it.

[ragnarsson]

Upon hearing Caedra's warning, Ivar banked up sharply, just barely avoiding ending up getting roasted with the mollusk-like creature. Truly, Caedra's powers are an utter wonder to behold as the beasts squeal in pain. The smell of the roasted creature is extremely odd, something like if a snail or fish skin was thrown onto a fire.

When she calls out to him, he's already got a ready answer. "Not a mark on me that won't come off!" He responds. He gets closer to the one who was initially injured by his knife. This time, the tentacle wraps around his arm, but he's prepared for it. He uses the axe to lop off the tentacle just a little ways above where it had grabbed him. The creature withdraws what's left of its appendage with a sharp cry of dismay.

He takes a quick moment to glance over and see how Caedra is handling the creature she's intent on going after.

[abyssalarcana]

Good, good - not only that Ivar is all right, but more importantly, that he's tearing into the beast that dared threaten him, if those sounds are anything to go by. Caedra's target, meanwhile, keeps trying to lash out as she gets close but otherwise seems determined to flee and she grows tired of the chase. It can run. There are others to dismantle.

She wheels around midair and kicks out as one tries to grab at her when she dips too low past it. Angry and vengeful, the tentacles whip upward but she kicks them aside and then plunges her rapier into the base of one of the limbs. It tries to jerk backward but she moves with it, letting the blade sink in deep and spread its Abyssal rot into the nautilus' flesh.

"Kill it, then!" she says with glee. "Take your revenge for it stealing your knife!"