Wrath of the Falleni Sun

[Leona Stevvains]

"Seriously? You could not have picked a better spot to meet our newest recruit?" Leona Stevvains wiped the sweat from her brow as she struggled against the golden dunes of outer Fallien. The deck of cards at her hip glowed with an orange hue in reply. The prophet sighed as though she was just given a sassy reply from the normally inanimate objects. The heat from the sun was intense today, even for the desert country and it was all the Judgement Card could do from reaching for her canteen every couple of seconds.

"I don't understand why an ice mage of all things would be here of all places."

She stumbled onto one the dunes, her exposed skin against the searing hot granules. She yelped quickly and leapt off of the dune, her cheeks a flushed red from the sudden temperature increase. she rubbed her cheek to shake some of the specks off of her flesh, a scowl upon her features. She brought her hands to her face and pulled them down to make a droopy face. Why did she not send Vincent or Alyssa for this mission?

"Oh yeah, because 'I don't do enough for the Hiearchy'," she spoke with venom in her voice as she mocked Vincent Cain, "I just revived the whole group, found the library of Khal'Jaren and recruited most of our current Major Arcana. Nothing major whatsoever though. Thaynes damned assholes..." she thought about her last comment for a moment before she looked up towards the sun. "Sorry Father."

Her eyebrow raised as she winced and continued to look at the sun despite so many warnings to not do such a thing. Something was off about the large orb of orange. Furthermore, the heat seemed to intensify exponentially in the time it took the futbol player to get up from her prone position. She shook the strange image off and looked forward to her destination, a small oasis in the distance complete with three palm trees and a small pool of clean water. Leona never understood how such bodies of water could exist in the middle of a desert of all things, but decided not to question it as she soldiered on towards her goal.

She did not even notice the star above her creep even closer.

[Smushing Pumpkins]

"Beth llanast Rwyf wedi gotten yn. Yr wyf yn sicr yn Ffwl." Billy sighed, walking further down the road leading away from the Outlander's Post. Not only was he a Fool for being here in the first place, he looked like one as well. He'd removed his red cloak and wrapped it around his forehead, two fuzzy ears peeking out of the crimson turban. He'd been smart enough to trade a fortune for water in town, and somehow managed to walk out on his own accord. Maybe the guards didn't notice the canid kobold, or maybe they just thought he would die and didn't care. Sure enough, he did feel like he might die. His tongue languished out the side of his mouth as he panted.

He shouldn't be here, and he knew it. While he found the towering golden dunes and the culture of people within the Post to be beautiful and interesting, this was not a land to visit without being prepared. He learned that when he first came off the boat. His first steps on the hot sand-packed streets had been painful. He’d bought a pair of leather bags to slip over his paws and now his steps were exaggerated and almost marionette-like. Better burned cheeks from embarrassment than burned feet unable to walk, he thought.

I'll just explore a bit and see what there is to see, and then go home. Next time I won't be so silly.

He looked down the packed sand road that cut between the dunes, waves of sand moving across it in an undulating dance as the wind pushed them. He wasn’t sure what there would be to see, but it seemed a shame to waste the boat ticket he’d been given after a traveler’s fortune had been “stay home, it’s safer”. Certainly he’d given that man good advice. It almost looked as if the sun were growing larger as he stood there and watched. Was it a trick of the heat or did it look angry?

[Leona Stevvains]

The larger the oasis grew into Leona's vision, the dryer her throat became. The searing heat reached new levels with each step towards the pool of water before her. She could feel her clothes, soaked with sweat, as they stuck to her body. Her breaths became short by choice to prevent any more hot air from entering her vicinity. She was about two hundred feet from her goal. now. She stuck her tongue out only to find the burning sun dried her mouth out rather quickly.

One hundred and fifty feet and she reached for her canteen once more. As she unscrewed the top of the container, she took a heavy breath and allowed the water to enter her system slowly. The liquid was no longer cold, the metal canteen wrapped in a green sash no match for the Fallien environment during the most intense hours of the day. She wanted to gag as the water ran down her throat and rehydrated her. How she wished that she could switch the flask out for some whiskey, that she was not a recovering alcoholic, and that she could black out and just be at the oasis.

One hundred feet and her heart began to beat frantically as she pulled her cleats out of the sand with each motion of her walk. She could see the few palms that shaded the water from the orange ball of fire above them now. Several cacti gathered around the watering hole as well, as though the plant life knew this was their only reprieve from burning death. She was so close.

Her vision was blurry at fifty feet, and her foot missed a single step. She twisted on her ankle and fell to the ground. Her eyes began to fade until her body hit the ground and felt the brown magma of Fallien's earth below her. She screamed and jumped to her feet though no sound escaped her parched throat. She reached for the canteen again but now felt it much lighter, completely empty. The prophet bit her teeth and carried on, for she knew if she did not continue, there was a high probability of her death in many time lines.

She was fifteen feet away when she fell again, this time on several green blades of grass that surrounded the water. The blackened shade of the trees hid the sun just enough to give Stevvains the strength to roll over. She laughed as she looked up at the large leaves that tried their best to protect her from the rays. She raised her hand and gave a solitary gesture to the sun before she witnessed a hole burn through one of the tree tops, only to expand in colors of orange and grey. Her eyes widened as she covered her gaze.

The sun was angry, and the sun was close.

[Smushing Pumpkins]

Billy had the feeling that he should turn back, retreating to the safety of the city. However, something else told him that following the movement of the star ahead would lead to something seemingly... important. His tongue hanging out, lagging at the side as he panted, the Corgyn halfheartedly ran towards the dune that the light was descending towards, and the tops of the oasis trees seen just beyond the peak. His red turban bobbed on his head and he kicked sand behind him as he climbed. As he moved over the top of the peak, he saw the woman below collapse onto the grass under a tree. The sun bore down, now, the warmth of the orange light now like a dangerous fire. With a yelp the magician rolled down the dune and burst into a run towards her.

"Miss!" he cried in his barking accent, "Gwyliwch allan! Watch out!"

The staff in his hand waved before him, and he called upon the forces of air. His air shield blasted forward and struck the leaves above her that were burning. They were sent flying, ashes and smolder trailing them as they fell. The sun too was deflected, but only barely, sent backwards just enough to give it pause. What was this thing? Surely not the true sun, Billy thought as he arrived at Leona's body. In his experience, it must have been some fae with dark intent upon mortals, not that many of them were benevolent. He scooped up The Judgement as best he could with one hand on her forehead and one just over his mouth. With a quick incantation, his hands were cold, clean icy water trickling from his palm to her lips.

"No worries! Billy Corgyn here!"

[Leona Stevvains]

As soon as the water began to trickle into her mouth, the girl's eyes shot open. He body convulsed several times as she looked to her would-be savior. The prophet's pupils were dilated and her pulse grew more rapid. She coughed up a fit, the water that entered her system just as quickly leaving it as she shook uncontrollably. She opened her mouth but found her throat to dry to get the words out. She needed to tell this unique kobold-like creature that he was who she searched for, and that her body was going through shock due to his kindness.

Instead, she merely pointed upwards towards the sky. The trees that stood nigh leafless now bursted into flames, the orange ball of fire ever closer than it had been before. Leona realized now that she could see the creature that there was a face upon the faux sun. It's teeth were gnashed as though it held a grudge against the two beings before it, and it's eyes were the size of volleyballs, huge and black and very very angry. Leona coughed again as she tried to get her allies attention to their nemesis, though her seizure body made such an act difficult.

"B-b-b-b-beat it..." she managed to stammer out before once again losing her consciousness.

[Smushing Pumpkins]

Frowning at the woman, Billy turned back to the sun ahead. Mae pobl mor ddramatig, he thought, nonplussed by the theatrics the woman was displaying. He didn't quite understand humanity, though he'd met little in the way of humanity since he'd been driven from his home. The burning sphere ahead seemed more familiar, for it wasn't truly a sun, he realized now. The angry sprite may well have been from the fae realm but being half fairy himself didn't make them kin.

He found himself loping away from the seizing girl, holding his staff aloft and shaking it to gain the attention of the fel star. "Hey you! Hey you!" he called. He had to get it to attack him, away from Leona. It was hard to swallow past the dryness in his throat and he felt like he was a wilting lettuce leaf in the heat. Breezes were few, far between, and anything but cooling but they helped. Finally when he felt that he'd pattered to the other side of the oasis and the seer would be safe he began to cast a spell. A softball sized lump of ice formed between his clawed fingertips, dripping even as it was created. With a grunt, he heaved it, throwing it at the sun. He wasn't sure what he was worth here, a pup just come from the litter for the first time, but he couldn't just let the woman die here.

Sure that the sprite would attack him, Billy readied his staff and poised to strike or burn.

[Ioder]

“I will never understand why she always insists on doing things the hard way. You have so many pawns to use, why risk it?” A white winged apparition cried as he emerged high in the sky above the small oasis. Till now Ioder, Leona’s successor, had be hiding behind the glare of the sun waiting like he had been asked. This wasn’t an uncommon circumstance as Leona never went anywhere without some kind of ace in the hole. And as it stands that was him, armed and ready to fend off any conflict, even this.

Just as soon as he revealed his existence to the Corgyn he tucked his wings and began a nose dive toward the unconscious seer. As he descended he started a tight spiral releasing a wonderful dust like aura with every rotation. The reflective aura shinned bright sharing the same intensity as the faux sun. He knew that it was up to him and the Corgyn to deal with this alone. Almost at the last second before he would hit the ground Ioder stretched out his wings catching a small gust allowing him to softly and safely land next to Leona.

After a quick look over Ioder assessed that her injuries were not serious and could wait to be attended until later. So thinking on his feet Ioder focused pulling in of his dust like aura together to form a copy of him standing opposite of Leona’s unconscious form. And without a sound Ioder’s Visage scooped up the seer and took to the skies. The original seraphim turned to look at the battle ready dog-man establishing eye contact. He held a firm look of determination plastered on his face.

No one messes with Leona.

“Hey you, Dog, thanks for the help protecting the Seer but is fighting this thing really the best way to deal with the situation?” Ioder said as he raised his hand conjuring a marvelous ball of white energy between his palms. “I’m not even sure how to hurt this thing?” as he spat his last word he gripped the white light and released his attack up at the faux sun creature. The ray of energy crashed on the monster’s surface melding with its fiery nature.

No good.

[Smushing Pumpkins]

Billy scarcely had a moment to react to the entrance of the angel when the newcomer’s attack only served to intensify the false star’s rage. Two more ice orbs were ready in his hands and he hurled them, panting. His magic was nearly run dry and the ice barely seemed to phase the monster above them at all. He began to back up, ducking towards the duo as the sun began a quick descent for them. As the kobold dove, the sun blazed by him, sweltering and ferocious before it swooped back up into the sky.

“Yes yes, maybe we should run now Birdman?” he panted as he jumped to his feet, one hand brushing sand from his knees while the other held tight to his mantle wrapped and twisted on his head, threatening to teeter off.

The Corgyn wanted to run, to leave this cursed place behind, but he couldn’t just leave him here with the woman. Something about that seemed wrong to him, even if common sense told him to let them fend for himself. Eyeing the wings on the stranger, Billy jerked his snout towards Leona.

“Can you fly away with her? I’ll keep his attention, yes. Then I run when you are safe.”