A New Beginning

[Amanda Bishop]

Welcome to New York. It should be raining. Certainly, the woman reaching upward thinks so. Though a sudden downpour might slicken her climb above the piles of dead, surely... surely... it would cut the stench.

For years she has followed the Infinites' trail of genocide. At the site of the horrific cullings that once took place here, a dim recollection stirs within her. A memory of another time of... of what? A feeling. She had a name for it once but she no longer remembers what it was.

Like those who ordered the cullings, she is not of the humans. The humans were warned to flee. Most of them had. North America was no longer the province of mankind. Nevertheless, many humans refused to leave their homeland. And though she cannot condone their obstinace, she finds it impossible not to pity them. Standing above a collection of the recently culled, recently murder, she invokes a moment of silence on their behalf.

It does not last. The high-pitched scream, a sound like 'mother' drowned in tears and fear cuts through the air. The girl runs as if the Hounds of Hell themselves were on her tail. Even in her panic, she is a perceptive child. She runs straight to the woman shrouded in heavy clothing.

"a-HUH! a-HUH! They're comin'- THEY'RE COMING! a-HUH!" the girls tears run down her face in a river. "They got mama a-HUH and daddy a-HUH! They got 'em all and we're guh-GONNA DIE!!"

The woman is not of the humans. Nevertheless, she silently cradles the thrashing child in her arms. And in doing so, gives her the feeling she herself could not place. She gives her hope. Sadly, this too will pass. A flash of burning light illuminates that area, giving rise to the child's panicked scream of 'no.'

"They're... they're here..." the girl whimpers as her last strength of life drains out of her tired little body. Before the woman in the heavy clothing stands the hunting party of Horde Infinites responsible for this lost child's and so many other's nightmares. And now the woman knows what she must do. The Infinites are only a limb of the Horde, but one that the woman called Bishop is more than happy to break off.

The Infernal magic hurled at her by the attacking Horde mages is deftly dodged and avoided. Beneath her heavy clothing she is small and light of foot. Their flames burn at the coats and scarves but she quickly loses the outer layers of her protection, almost shrinking in size as layer after layer is removed. Her bright eyes shine with powerful Celestial magic and she lets the Infinites feel that light in full force.

[Fasdeus]

The ruins of this desolate world are filled with shadows, day and night. The fallen world of mankind is a world of endless darkness, even in the daylight. They all deserved what they got. The humans fear those shadows now. And they should. For within those shadows are the nightmares that have haunted them since the dawn of Eden. And something worse.

Encased within the darkness as if he were made of the very substance of shadow, Fasdeus sits and watches with detachment. The mages - Host and Horde - have forgotten one very key element of their existence. That they are human at the core. They are of this world, despite their powers. Fasdeus, Prince of the Nightflyers, Commander of legions, is not. And that alone is why he will hold them all for the fate of Eden.

However, the woman mage, wrapped in the light of the Host's so-called Celestial magic, does catch his eye. Perhaps it is her appearance - attractive for a mortal born only to die. Perhaps it is the ease of her movement - quick, agile and precise. Whatever it is, Fasdeus finds himself rooting for her to win this contest. The Infinite mages of the Horde far out number her and the irony of that thought is not lost on the Aos si. With a movement, have begun in these shadows and half finished on the grounds closer to the battle, Fasdeus joins the fray.

His spear, perfect in balance and deadly in weight, soars through the air as if the shadows had created it. at the end of it's arc, three Infinite heads and one hand later, Fasdeus extends his hand from yet another shadow and deftly catches the weapon. The confusion of the mages as they turn about, convinced that more attackers lurk in the shadows all about then, draws much of their magic away from the woman.

[Amanda Bishop]

Amanda was surrounded almost instantly. Her bright magic a beacon of hope in a sea of black mages. The girl clutched at her leg, through off her movements, slowing her down. It was a battle she did not expect to win now. On her own, she would have burned a hole through the Horde. But with this defenseless girl at her side she had to move and fight for two. Not something she was perpared for.

Suddenly chaos sprang through the surrounding Infinites. Cries of panick and battle came across the group. Bishop's heart rose. Another Host had come to her aid. With the knowledge of not being alone, she pushed her magic even harder. Even brighter. The lead mage of the group had put his troops between her and him and she was commited to ending this quickly.

"Trust me," she whispered to the girl as she bent over her, wrapping her clothes about the girl and springing upward with a short jump. The air beneath her feet swirled, took on a scent of flowers and springtime, and pushed her even higher. As she rose above the crowd she spotted the lead mage.

And the spear flying from shadow to shadow, slaying mage after mage with each throw. Her attention turned for just a second, and that was all it took. The ground sprang up at her in a violent earthquake directed from the feet of the lead mage. Bishop hit it hard, turned to protect the child and took another blast in the back. Ribs cracked. Bishop fell with a thump to the ground. she rolled off the child unto her back and wished suddenly that she hadn't. The Horde descended on her in a mob. Instantly Bishop's hands shot out, erecting a dome of white light over her and the girl. The mages pound with their fists and magic.

[Fasdeus]

"Enough warming up," Fasdeus jeered as his spear once again cut through a swathed of Infinites. The woman had the advantage and yet she stumbled. Mortals are so far from perfect, he mused to himself. The shadows within the crevice of the ruined buildings grew a leg, then another, then one arm after another and continued to form a body until at last, Fasdeus stepped from the darkness. Though the sky above was covered in dark clouds, the change of light caused the Aos si to shield his is for a moment.

The Infinites that were not piling on the woman stepped back from the sight of the made literally birthed by the shadows. Murmurs of confusion ran through them. "Who is that? What magic?"

Fasdeus tilted his head, "Something half in shadow, and half in light." With a flick of his wrist, the blood on his spear shot off the perfect blade. As the red droplets fell, Fasdeus moved in a blur of motions too fast for mortal eyes to follow. More blood chased after the droplets, freshly released from the Infinites' necks. When at last those discarded drops of blood touched the ground, four more horde mages fell with them.

Now the group assaulted the barrier created by the woman had something more to worry about. Their leader was pointing at him and shouting commands for his Infinites. "All that we see or seem, Is but a dream within a dream." From within the surrounding shadows, fasdeus called forth the umbral copies of his form, each other a near-perfect image of himself. Now it was the Infinites that were out numbered.

[Amanda Bishop]

Beneath the pile of swarming horde mages, Bishop could hear two things very clearly. First, the girl was screaming in panic again. Second,their was a voice mocking the horde with lines of...poetry? Perhaps this was the strange man in the shadows. Whoever it was or whatever he was doing, it was working. The Infinites were backing of her. Forming up in a circle to face an enemy. No. Many enemies. All coming from the shadows. Who were they? They don't look like Host mages and she had never heard of shadows magic. Shadows were dark and dark belonged to the Horde.

"Get up, Amanda," she found herself saying to herself. Bishop released field and stood up. The Horde were facing this new enemy. All of them. Amanda took the advantage now while she had it. Summoning the energy that her field had absorbed from the attack, Bishop converted it into physical kinetic energy and unleashed it on the unsuspecting Horde.

[Fasdeus]

"Cannon to right of them, cannon to left of them, cannon in front of them, volley'd and thunder'd;" Fasdeus mused. He stood in a balance combate stance, his shadow clones mirroring his movement. If they believed these were mere shadows, they would soon learn the strength of his Hand of Shadows glamour. "But you are not the brigade of such a grand tale. Although you do stand in the Valley of Death. The light exploded from behind the, burning at the rear flank of the Horde Infinites. Without considering, Fasdeus launched himself into the enemy. His spear struck quickly and true with every strike. No movement was wasted, no lunge without target, and no Infernal magic would stood him. There was a reason Fasdeus had risen to a Legionnaire Commander of the Unseelie army and this mortals would not live long enough to understand. It was not long befor Fasdeus and his shadow minions had killed their way through the enemy to reach the female Host mage.

"Storm'd at with shot and shell, boldly they rode and well, into the jaws of Death, into the mouth of Hell," he sand to her as he took a stance back to back with the woman. His shadows faded as he looked down at the child at her side. What was it he had just seen in those youthful eyes? What was this child?

[Amanda Bishop]

He was quoting poetry again. Amanda shifted slightly when she caught her strange ally eying the child at her side. There was something so strange about this man. His skin would have been perfect but for the weird lines that ran in it. She had to admit though that those lines only made him more exotic. And his hair match the skin in color. He was definitely not a Host mage. He might not even be human. But right now was not the time for this. The Infinite mages were thinned out but they were not backing down. There was still more of them.

Bishop gave her ally one more quick glance, "Can you keep them off me just a minute longer?" She didn't wait for a response. The air about her began to swirl again. Thise time not under feet but around her wrists. The force was growing and as it did she dipped her hands towards the ground. Loose debris shifted and then flung away as she move her hands closer down. It was time to end this.