the challenge, bring order to the whole

[braveandstupid]

Comments

[praevaricatio]

Elena didn't answer, either.

( He shoots her a 911 text and nods to his husband. He gets a (13) for perception. )

[maleficum]

[It feels almost like a shiver. It glances over Ezra's skin, like a chill up his spine. He doesn't know where or why, however, and David and Jaqueline don't seem to notice either.

But when David tries to open a door, using the bedroom door again, all he sees is the hallway when he opens it.]

... That's not good.

[praevaricatio]

( Ezra shakes out his shoulder, not liking this sensation before he realizes what has just happened. )

Something's blocking your magic. And - I'd guess - ours.

( Thinking quickly, he moves to the safe in their closet, spinning the lock before opening it. Taking one of their totes, he fills it with cash, their passports and takes out not one, but two guns they have registered (magic can't be the only thing you're proficient in, in the Colony) and brings everything out, handing his husband one gun. )

I don't have a third.

( But, he throws his gun down on the tote before moving to above the opposite wall to their crossed antique swords and carefully taking one down, offering it to Jacqueline. )

Best I got.

( He also knows someone is at the front door, he gets an (11) to see if there's anyone outside of their bedroom window. )

[maleficum]

[She reaches for the sword and swishes it around to check the weight. "It'll do."

Ezra glances down and he doesn't see any people. But he does make out a thick line of some kind of dark dust that seems to be wrapped completely around the house, cutting off the means of escape somehow.

David takes the gun and joins him at the window.]

Looks like mountain ash.

[praevaricatio]

We're fighting our way out.

( Which he can do. He took down a demon with a devil's trap and not much else. But, it's been a while since he's been to the range. Is it like riding a bike? Only the dice can say... )

They knocked at the front door, think they're at the back?

[maleficum]

I wouldn't be surprised.

[This seems like a full scale ambush.]

Do we have a third option for getting out of here?

[praevaricatio]

That window?

( But crashing down anything will alert the hunters. He thinks. )

We don't have a basement, or an upstairs. We have a front door and a kitchen door. Do we hide?

( And then, inevitably, kick ass. )

[maleficum]

["Not many places to hide with no magic."

David ponders for a moment, letting his eyes scam over the rooms they have available.]

We need to find out what they've got us trapped in here with. Ez, you want to handle that while Jaq and I handle the distractions?

[He does not want to leave his husband alone with Jaqueline, so it's either that or Jaq goes hunting for their way out - and that out could involve her leaving them to rot.]

[praevaricatio]

( He doesn't trust her, or anyone with even marginal ties to the Colony but when it comes to marching orders, technically (thanks, Harvey!) he's outranked. )

Be careful.

( Moving to the window, he attempts to quietly unlock and slide their bedroom open. ...(2) )

[maleficum]

[It works in Ezra's favor that all the hunters are on the other side of the house, because while they hear something (4), they can't pin down what unit it's actually coming from. In the meantime, David and Jaqueline make their way into the main area and find convenient places to hide as they wait to see how impatient the hunters get.

It turns out, not very, as a few minutes later, the door kicks open.]

[praevaricatio]

( Ezra slips out, trying stealth on for size as he adjusts to the cool of the evening. First, he approaches what David thought was mountain ash. (13) for identification? )

[maleficum]

[It certainly looks like mountain ash. But he knows enough to know that it's not only mountain ash. While it would keep them contained, it wouldn't be able to effect their magic within the barrier. If magic is well and truly off, it must be cut with something.

Somewhere behind him, the door to the apartment gets kicked open.]

[praevaricatio]

( Great, go back and help or find and get magic. Can he kick along the line breaking the circle? Does he smell anything familiar? )

[maleficum]

[Kicking along the line to try and break it won't work out in his favor. He'll feel the reverb as it shoots up his leg and won't let him out. But the smell is distinctive, a floral scent that he can't quite put his finger on.]

[praevaricatio]

( And a (4) at searching his small property won't exactly help. Fuck. He'll walk along the edge to see if there is a patch of something buried or growing, something floral. Is it recognizable that he would remember it from his husband's alchemy or in general? )

[maleficum]

[With that roll, hard to say. But if he can find another way to break the line, it doesn't really matter too much.

And somewhere behind him, he might here a quiet burst of gunfire. Unclear who's shooting though.]

[praevaricatio]

( What if he grabs a branch and tries brushing the line away, element to element? He sweeps it along the edge to see if it budges.

Stop worrying him, narration. He's worried enough! (

[maleficum]

[It's slow and heavy. When the branch comes up against the line, it becomes harder and harder to budge, almost as though it senses the magic on the other end.

But if he pushes hard enough, a dent does form in the line.]

[praevaricatio]

( he gets an (8) to really push the branch and fight against the magic. jesus.

should that not do anything, what if he gets to his hands and knees and starts to dig at it, to dig under it. )

[maleficum]

[Well, he does make a little dent. But not enough to fully break the line.

He can try again if he wants.]

[praevaricatio]

( He hits an (8) again, but he pushes at the same point again. )

[maleficum]

[He's struggling. He's struggling so much. But he is still making progress!

You can do it, Ezra. The narration believes in you.]

[praevaricatio]

( maybe the third time's the charm, because the gunfire fuels his next big push (14) )

[maleficum]

[It is! As the stick drags through the ash, the line breaks and Ezra will be able to feel the surge of magic coming back to him again.]

[praevaricatio]

( And, presumably, his husband and Jaq. Stick in hand, he casts a quick accuracy spell, a blue ethereal light traveling around the stick and dissipating... )

Accur-ahte.

( he heads back to the house to the side door. is it broken into? )