Gate One (3)

It seems I was drunk. Apparently the forest is the gate, I missed that part at some point. This means we are where we are supposed to be so we can meet this mage. Neither Zee (or anyone else) has decided to give us a name, but we all seem to be looking for him. Drex, the trigger-happy felyne, wants to kill him and I am pretty sure Zee does too. My arguments in favor of keeping his knowledge fall upon their deaf ears. Tweek, on the other hand, can see some of my purpose. Jack, I am not sure about him yet.

We all do agree, that stopping him from destroying this realm would be our primary goal. I learn that this place is tied to Quiddity through some magic called dreamscape, and that Jack is a blessedm'n. He is from the dream-sea and most likely the best key I have to learning the secrets of that plane. The knowledge the mage has is still my priority, but it seems NekRa has furnished me with more keys to learning.

Zee apparently has a way to bring the mage to this gate, and we are to stop him from destroying it. She fades away around the same time we stop paying attention to her, "I suggest you get ready" she says.

"For?" I ask.
"He's coming."

"You dirty girl, we'll talk about that later...." I respond while queuing the "combat" playlist on my media player. My coat tenses.
A large humanoid appears near us. He appears human, but stands at my height. In his hands is an ornate staff that bleeds power as he readies it. He is clad in blue robes, under his hood he appears quite young and angry. Guns fly into the hands of those around me, plan 'b' then . "If you think you are going to get away with anything you have another thing coming," he says as wings sprout from his back. Rising into the air, he points his staff towards the ground and and begins to concentrate.

I dodge into the cover of the forest, Jack follows me. Drex is already shooting, and missing, to my right. Tweek begins climbing the wagon, the silver-haired human has still neglected to draw his weapon. The cascading force of the fire that springs from the ground lifts Tweek and Drex into the air, singed.

Jack, using a form of power I have never seen, puts up a barrier of energy to protect himself. Drex climbs the closest tree near the mage, and attempts to jump at him and starts falling through the branches. Tweek is shooting, his rounds slicing through the blue satin sleeve, but they fail to disarm him. I try to speak to him, reaching out with my mind, but he chooses to ignore me. I can wait, although my claws itch.

The mage turns to the falling felyne and belts him with his staff in the back of his head. He lands on the ground with a thump. Jack begins turning his power against the flying mage to no noticeable effect. As soon as the cat hit the ground bullets were streaming into the sky from his guns. Hit, the mage fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. Drex immediately runs over to the body, his hands pass through it.

I am next to arrive at the body, the words of NekRa's Blessing already forming on my lips. To strike down a man of knowledge, without any attempt of negotiation at the least, is a sin to my order. Here is a man who is reaching beyond his capacity, endeavoring to become greater than the gods intended. With the power he must wield inside his mind, would it not be possible to find a way to reach those goals through other means? Would he achieve more, and destroy less, if he had a novice to facilitate him? These idiots simply gunned him down.

He awoke. His eyes, like cascades of granite, locked onto mine. I saw ages in those eyes. "May NekRa guide your ambitions" was all I was able to say. The rest of them looked at me incredulously as the mage swiftly stood, and batted Drex into the trees. Tweek launched himself into a grapple, attempting to hold his arms. I move in from the side, wrenching the staff from his one-handed grip, then rolling out.

The mage becomes surrounded by a fiery supernova attempting to blast everyone from him. Most of us get down and are clear of the blast, except me. I fly into the forest, hit a tree, and black out for a minute. As I wake, Jack dives in with an implanted blade that is sheathed in his wrist. The mage falls a second time, shit. Plan 'c'. Someone called out, "Tzak, he's dead again!"

Down again, I go back to the corpse, it is dead this time. I collect my thoughts for a moment, keeping a grip on the stolen staff, before beginning the Rite of NekRa. After speaking several lines of words that hurt the ear to listen to, he rises. His is face glossed over, completely void of all expression or life. I take his robe. "Don't kill it!!"

The world around us begins to fade, although the rest of them become more 'real'. Jack has been looking at me.

"Wait a minute, your a necromancer and a healer? That must be awful handy."

"The servants of NekRa are very...diverse." I reply. The surrounds are becoming nothingness, then I realize something, the booze. I run back to the wagon with the risen mage, getting it to carry the massive bottle, then return to the rest of them. By this time we find ourselves on the shore, somewhere else.