Brennan falls through the trump contact and pulls the thing with him. It changes as it comes, and it was in contact with Jerod and Khela as well.
Jerod, Khela, and Huon are dumped elsewhere, into the early evening chill. Huon lands on top of a pile of armed people, which now includes Brennan.
He grabs the sword from the spear-damaged Khela, staggers to his feet, and starts running down the mountain.
Khela hasn't yet staggered to her feet, but is trying to do so.
From the castle, someone shouts, "Halt! Everyone halt!"
Someone is vigorously ringing the alarm bell.
Brennan masks his confusion by spitting blood, seawater, and bloody seawater out of his mouth while he assesses the situation. Whatever he makes of Khela's situation and wound, he's focussed on Huon, with the green sword, running for the hills. There's no possible way that the castle staff are going to catch him.
Brennan doesn't halt, either. "Come on," he growls, and begins wriggling to his feet. When he does, he sprints off after Huon, hopefully with Jerod and keeping a careful eye on the terrain. If Huon looks like he's going to Trump away, he throws the spear and uses an instant working of Time to reduce the flight time to as close to zero as he can get. Brennan doesn't think that'll be necessary-- who'd take his call?-- but like a very cynical boyscout, Brennan is always prepared.
He also outlines, but does not execute, a similar working to help him and anyone with him catch up to Huon, if Huon is too fast.
"Sorry" is all that Jerod says to Khela as he bounces to his feet immediately and sets off in pursuit of Huon, not pausing as he heads off, pulling a dagger out of his belt at an opportune moment and whipping it at Huon's back.
Huon heads straight for the trees, and reaches them, getting amongst them quickly and slowing pursuit. He's bleeding from the wounds that didn't bleed before.
Jerod holds his dagger until a good opportunity arises and flings it. It should've hit, but doesn't. The trail of blood runs out and it's clear to the two cousins that Huon has indeed figured out that he can shift shadow on Kolvir.
Luckily he's still close enough to follow into shadow. From behind them, Brennan and Jerod hear the sound of hoofbeats. The castle are organizing mounted pursuit.
"Let's go." Jerod says, continuing the pursuit. Huon can shift Shadow, but Jerod's got a talent for following the shifts and he's going to use it. On the way, he makes sure to find a couple of horses real quick so he doesn't tire out.
Brennan smiles when he sees the blood trail-- it pleases him that Huon is bleeding, but more important, it'll keep the trail easy to follow.
Brennan is leery of doing anything that would throw Jerod's work off, so there is absolutely no Sorcery from Brennan, nor even any Pattern shifting of Brennan's own. But at least he can keep a watch for mundane threats while Jerod concentrates. "I'll keep watch," he says. When the horses appear, he suggests, "Horse bows," because, again, he doesn't want to manipulate the Pattern counter to Jerod's activities, unless Jerod so directs.
The animals that appear would be fully outfitted and ready to go, and if Brennan's comments get through soon enough then the bows would also appear. Jerod is not bothering to care about damaging shadow to acquire what he needs - he obtains it quickly and without delay. Jerod also has a distinct advantage in chasing Huon - he's following a target that is a Prince of Amber, probably trying to shift as rapidly as possible to avoid pursuit, while bleeding and carrying a Pattern blade. That alone would allow others to pursue without difficulty. Jerod's difference is that he's going to be sure to watch for the differences in how shadow is displaced, in case Huon decides to try to alter his trail to deflect pursuit.
They are not halfway down the mountain when they come to a clearing that does not exist in Amber. Huon was no more than halfway across it when Jerod and Brennan reach the edge of the clearing. Behind them was there were hoofbeats of additional pursuers.
Ahead of them, and ahead of Huon, were a group of men in uniforms, with rifles. They seem quite surprised to see everyone. Huon looks back, and calls out to them to protect him.
First, what uniforms?
They are unrecognizable. No known friend or foe of Amber or the Golden Circle.
Jerod decides it is highly improbable that gunfire will work and continues the pursuit of Huon, using the momentary pause that Huon has taken to close the distance. He is certain Brennan will do something suitably appropriate and perhaps even nasty in support.
When they clear the woods and see Huon running, looking over his shoulder and calling for help, Brennan's smile deepens. He gives a blast on the whistle he'd stuck between his lips, both to let whatever Family member is following in pursuit know where they are, and so that the answering horn will break the riflemens' morale.
Brennan's spot assessment of the clearing leads him to focus on Huon. If these are Huon's men, or their Shadows, Brennan's not extremely impressed with their weapons-- less so given whatever Jerod is doing with the Pattern, and his own armor and speed across the clearing. He bears down on Huon, never letting him out of his sight, continuing to close the distance. There will be no slipping away into Shadow in the chaos that's about to happen. Ideally, there will not even be any shifting any more obstacles in their way or fighting against whatever Jerod is doing. Instead, there will be mad scrambling to get out of the way of the hail of arrows Brennan shoots at Huon, or better yet some additional bleeding as the result of a failed dodge. If Brennan doesn't hit him, he's trying to get close enough to switch to the spear and tackle him.
Huon deflects the first shot with Khela's sword, and the second hits a solder who intervenes between Brennan and Huon.
Brennan's own Pattern manipulation is defensive-- his bowstring isn't going to snap. His horse isn't going to throw a shoe or step in a gopher hole. He's not going to get hit by a stray bullet, etc.
The troops get in front of Huon and there is a quick attempt to fire a volley, but most of the rifles fail or misfire. If they had had time to so, they would have broken, but Jerod and Brennan and Brij are almost upon them. The rifles have sharp bayonet attachments.
When the rifles misfire, as Huon hides behind Shadows, Brennan's smile widens another notch until it could fairly be considered a Bleysing grin.
Having found a pair of metsubishi filled with ground glass powder in his coat pocket, Jerod subsequently tosses them into the troops in front of him just prior to taking the horse through the ranks.
[metsubishi: hollowed out egg shells or thin rice paper balls containing powders, toxins or other suitable materials for use at medium to close range against single opponents or small groups. Typically used by ninjas. Gotta love Japanese culture..:) ]
Troops start to fall near Jerod and the line is effectively broken. The way is clear, but if Huon's goal is what it seems to be, Jerod does not believe his mount will beat the man to it. He could get there just after him, though.
As Jerod is lobbing his weapons at part of the line and barreling through it, Brennan manages a running dismount and slaps the horse to send it into another part, hopefully scattering the men. Brennan carves a path through the remainder on foot, directly toward Huon. A veteran of many wars, Brennan displays a malicious genius for fighting on a confused field. He uses both ends of the spear as he scythes through them, tripping, stabbing, pushing one man into another... and if at all possible slamming one of the soldiers into Huon.
Brennan's footwork and skill get him clearly behind the line. He's on foot and not far behind Huon, who has also cleared it. He doesn't gain on the Prince but Huon doesn't lose him. Huon is fast and good and running to a line of machines.
Heading for the door, Robin opens it, gestures for Brij to proceed her and immediately has no idea where she's going.
Brij blithely leads the way, turning twice and reaching a grand staircase.
Robin blithely follows, knowing better than hassle a 'native guide.'
There's a young man walking up, and his eyes get larger when he sees Brij and Robin. Brij smiles at him and steps rather closer to him than Amber protocol normally would allow. "Can you help us find Prince Bleys? We're supposed to meet him for dinner."
"Y, yes, Ma'am-- Your Highness! The Prince will be in the Library, then. That's where the Princes gather before meals." He looks dazed, and it seems likely that he'll remember this incident for a long time, but he manages to say "Follow me, please, Your Highnesses."
Robin's green eyes wander back and forth between the page and Brij in confusion. As she struggles to figure out what's going on some of her father's and Aisling's comments regarding clothing drift back into her mind. Ooooohhhhh.
As they reach the next landing the boy looks to the left, raps on the wooden bannister twice, and makes a gesture with his hand. Robin catches a glimpse of another page moving away quickly towards a less-grand staircase. It seems that the castle servants have their own form of Cadence, as if they were Rangers in a very different sort of forest.
A small chuckle escapes the girl at the subtle communication. She wonders if that particular rap means 'Danger, half-naked Royal coming through' and did they use it for herself on the way to the ball or Daeon as he wandered in.
Thoughts of Daeon bring Robin's mood down again and she shivers as she walks through a very different sort of forest - a dead one.
The page opens a door to a tall room lined with books and windows. There are several heavy stuffed chairs, and the walls also have a number of paintings on them. Prince Caine is seated on an orange sofa.
From the sidebar, Prince Bleys turns. "Good evening. Would you like a before-dinner drink?"
"A pear cider would be nice, thank you," Robin answers. If she's going to have to endure this, she might as well start with fond memories. Very fond memories. A quiet smile lines the girl's lips and she drops her eyes, remembering that miraculous, miraculous moment at the masquerade.
"Of course. Brij?"
"You know what I like," replies Folly's mother.
"That I do," says Bleys, making a third drink.
Caine walks over to the bar as Bleys is finishing his bartending. "Something for you? Dry Martini, perhaps?"
Caine smiles, humorlessly. "Have you or your sister learned anything about where we were?"
Bleys shakes his head. "No, and she was called to Xanadu to assist Corwin, who is looking into Cambina's death. It's nights like tonight that I desperately want to believe in a vast conspiracy to attack us, because I'd prefer if the current number of concerns was artificially high."
Robin can certainly agree with that statement. Taking her cider with a nod, the girl wanders away from the convocation of Princes to perch at a windowsill.
Caine turns to Brij. "Bleys tells me you're from Texorami. I've sailed there, of course." He looks at her clothes. "Certainly it has a warmer climate than Amber."
Yep. All sorts of poking going on. As she takes a sip from her cider, Robin decides that she vastly prefers poking with sharp pointy things to poking with words.
Brij looks up at him, with a half smile on her face. "Sultry nights and baking days. I'll certainly miss it if Amber is always this chilly."
Bleys intervenes. "I don't think we'll stay here long, Brij. No one will, really." He smiles over to Robin's window perch. "You've been to Xanadu, haven't you Robin? I'm afraid that neither Caine nor I have spent significant time there. Certainly I haven't been able to tell Brij what it is like."
"I've never been to Xanadu proper, sir. Only to the place that became it. But given the King's fondness for Texorami, I'm sure that there will be much that evokes that Shadow there." Robin's brow furrows, that didn't come out as clearly as she'd like. And was definitely lacking in pokiness. Darn words.
A bell rings, and a servant walks in. "Supper, My Lords, My Ladies." He bows and departs.
Bleys scoops up his drink. "Perhaps you can tell us of the place that became it over dinner." He holds out his arm and Brij takes it.
Caine watches for a moment, bemused, then holds out his arm to Robin.
The girl cocks her head for a moment. Then can't repress the surprised chuckle. Okay, if that's the way it's going to be, one at least shouldn't make Caine suffer with the sulky niece.
Robin tosses back the rest of her cider and leaves her glass on the window sill. As she approaches Prince Caine, there's wariness in her steps and yet a humorous twinkle in her eye. As she gently rest her hand on the Prince's forearm, Robin playfully attempts to determine if Caine is also wearing an forearm-sheath, and if so, what kind and what it's loaded with.
Caine leads her in. He's got a knife at his belt, but no forearm sheath. "She reminds me of Harmony Vesper, back in the day..."
"Mmmm..." Robin hums non-committedly. She didn't know Harmony Vesper back then. "Well, at least this one won't get all old and waspish." She adds with a twinkle in her eye, her mind cast back to Vere's waltz.
The table is set for four, so there is quite a bit of empty space at it. The head and foot are empty and the seats are across from each other in the middle. Bleys helps Brij into her seat and waits for Robin and Caine to sit before taking his.
Caine picks up his soup spoon and pauses, the first bite on the way to his mouth. "Well," says Caine. "A busy day. Anyone have news they wish to share, apart from the death, the missing Queen, the war, the other war, or the evacuation?"
At that moment, the alarm bell starts tolling madly from the courtyard.
Robin's laugh escalates into a whoop of joy and she bounds out of her chair, heading for the courtyard. Saved by the bell! A crisis -- maybe even some killin' this time -- instead of a family dinner. The universe is kind!
Bleys and Caine are on their feet as well, and two steps after them, Brij.
Robin gets to a corridor and turns to her left, towards the bell. "Other way!" shouts Brij, and shortly Robin is heading out into the keep. The gate is open and a Rebman woman stands in it. She's doing something to herself and a green haze rises from her shoulder.
As soon as Bleys appears, the green girl speaks. "It's Huon, Prince Bleys. He has stolen my sword and is running down the mountain."
Venesch comes up with a half-dozen horsemen and Bleys says, "Yes, we'll need half of those." The men dismount and Caine and Bleys and Brij mount up. This operation takes only seconds. From somewhere, Bleys has acquired his own sword and he is riding with it unsheathed.
Caine says "Let's hope he doesn't know he can shift on Kolvir."
Robin, never that keen on math in the first place, makes sure that a fourth horse opens up for herself. As she looks from the Princes to the Castle to the Rebman, her eyes widen in alarm. Oh, no, no, no. She's not being elected to 'stay behind and guard' this time.
Nudging her horse into a tight circle, she leans over to the hazing woman and offers her a hand up. "C'mon, green girl. Time's a wasting." She says with a grin.
[Regardless of whether Khela takes her offer or not...] Robin then kicks her horse into a full out run, both to give chase to Huon and to avoid hearing the order to stop.
Khela grins back. "Best offer I've had all day." The horse isn't skittish, but it does carry two and starts off slightly behind Caine and Bleys. Khela leans in close behind Robin and speaks into her ear. "Don't let me distract you." She leans back and starts to chant, and the horse starts to cover more ground, making up the distance that Bleys and Caine opened up.
There's a clear trail of blood on the ground. After a few moments, Bleys slows and Caine and Robin catch up. He laughs. "He's shifting! Follow me!" Bleys leaps ahead, clearly following the trail into shadow. It's not a hard trail , almost as if someone was trying to make it easy.
Robin could, with Khela's help, overtake Bleys, but he's clearly pretty good at following the trail.
Hmmmmm... nope, Robin decides, it's definitely charge a fever. Robin kicks her horse forward attempting to overtake Bleys. The only nod to caution she makes is to try and gain some lateral distance between herself and the Prince. Thus to hopefully spread the fire, or dodge some of the landslide, or ride around the trip-wire or otherwise wrinkle whatever ambush is coming at them.
There is a piercing whistle from the clearing ahead.
Robin comes out in the middle of a clearing, which Bleys is now circling to the right. Behind her, she hears Caine's horse go off to the left, as if the two Princes have determined her plan and gone with it.
"Lir!," Khela exclaims when the horse comes into the sunlit clearing. A small force of soldiers, armed with guns like those Huon brought to the Isles, are turning to face Brennan and Jerod, who are a half dozen yards away across the clearing. Huon is behind them, and is shouting for help. Her cousins are charging after him.
Behind Jerod, Brij bursts into the clearing on her horse. "Huey!", she shouts.
A savage scream of joy erupts from Robin at the sight of Huon. And the knives start coming. As many and as fast as she can, Robin hurls steel at Huon while guiding the horse with her knees. Sadly all of her throws are non-lethal in intent. Happily, she is pretty nasty about crippling and maiming intents.
Robin is convinced that she's hit Huon, but it doesn't seem to have penetrated his armor. The guards swirl around and the overrunning cousins get in between her and him quickly.
Khela puts a hand on Robin's shoulder for balance and throws a trident with a mighty grunt. It comes down beside Huon.
Robin can follow through the opening Jerod made or she could make her own hole. Brij, who was beside Robin, is clearly following Jerod.
Huon reaches a line of wheeled vehicles and jumps on the smallest, a two-wheeled affair. There are several similar machines beside it.
Jerod definitely knows that the ignition properties of internal combustion systems are not viable (ie: no spark, wrong air to fuel ratio, etc) as he pursues Huon. He is so certain of it that he'll break reality itself to ensure it.
Jerod tries this and, while the world tries to comply, he is pouring power into a space filled with users of power and real things. There is a great crack, and a blinding flash and Jerod finds himself having become elsewhere. What once was firm meadow grasslands is now a muddy mess, and Jerod's horse bogs down. It is only Jerod's excellent horsemanship that keeps the horse from breaking a leg or throwing Jerod.
[Card Draw: The Usurper...]
For good measure, he hefts his own spear and heaves it into (and through) the machine that Huon is absconding with (he still has his father's sword with him) as he spurs his own mount forward for a last burst of speed.
The spear flies straight and true and goes through the machine. Jerod is no longer here to see the result.
Jerod's intention (assuming he believes it to be remotely feasible) is to leap from the horse and hit Huon, knocking him off the motorcycle and to the ground. From there, it's close range fighting, either with weapons or aikido and ground fighting (aptly suited for use against armored targets).
Robin whoops gleefully. Given all the combatants, the melee's shaping up into a classic cluster. And Robin definitely wants a piece of that. Not totally trusting Brij (or the green girl at her back) at this point, Robin decides that she can handle the girls while the boys can handle the poor doomed motoraden.
She pulls her horse in closer to Brij intending to use the former Jerod hole and keeps herself ready to foul anyone who needs fouling. And hopes that Bleys and Caine have the periphery closed by now.
Brij pulls the dagger from her bodice and is preparing to throw it when Jerod flashes away, as if he has been struck by lightning. The flash and the boom make the horses shy and rear. Khela goes off the back and into the swirling mass of troops. Luckily, almost everyone is blinded by the retort.
Brennan runs like a madman to keep up. When Huon hops on a motorcycle, Brennan picks his moment and throws the spear. Not at Huon himself, but at the wheel, adjusting for possible motion, aiming to get the spear between the spokes. He'll grab Khela's trident on the way past or conjure another weapon to make up for the loss.
Huon sees the spear coming and dives off the bike. He rolls on the ground and leaps onto a second bike. He kicks at the line of other motorcycles and takes off.
Ideally, that will work, and the cycle will be fouled. If it fails, Brennan will grab a motorcycle himself and continue the pursuit. It will be fueled up and in good condition. And have a rifle.
Brennan lifts up a bike and rights it. It takes a precious few seconds, but it starts and he begins his renewed pursuit of Huon, who is heading for a dirt path between two trees.
"Bleys, Huey's on the motorbike!" For a small woman, Brij has a shout that carries remarkably far.
"So is Brennan!" Brennan calls out with some exasperation-- he has no idea who this woman is, and can't decide whether she's trying to get Huon killed, or get him killed. But with Jerod gone, the odds have changed in a direction Brennan does not like. "Robin! With me!" Brennan hasn't even seen Robin, but he heard her a moment ago and hopes she hasn't vanished, too.
Dung! Robin squawks in surprise as she gets her horse under control. One cousin significantly poofed, her passenger lost, a melee with rifles developing near Amber... but, but, but the prey is running! And bleeding! The girl hisses in frustration.
Then Brennan's voice pierces her conflicted mind and her voice lifts in an answering hawk's call She can't resist the huntsman's horn anymore than she could stop a sunrise.
Kicking her horse forward, Robin charges through the rest of the melee with fine disregard for what's under her hooves. The ranger sticks with what she knows and ignores the motoraden in favor of the nimble hooves that have got her this far, as she chases after Huon and Brennan.
The horse is a good one, well trained for war, and has no trouble going through the last of the melee. Whatever magics Khela did to make it faster seem to be lingering despite Khela's absence.
The bike Brennan picks up and rides is a sturdy affair with a sturdy modern quiver that holds a sturdy modern shotgun, which, without Jerod's suppression, should fire. He'll nudge reality back if necessary. He does his best to keep up and catch up with Huon, using one the only two advantages he's got-- Huon, by virtue of leading, has to do the navigation and more spot checking for obstacles. When Brennan has done the best he thinks he's going to do in the short time available to him, he uses the other advantage-- shadows. Since Huon is dodging between trees, there must be shadows, plain mundane shadows, thick about the area forming a natural highway for Skiaza. At a good moment, Brennan sends Skiaza out through the shadows toward Huon. The intent is to have poor Skiaza (who Brennan bribes with future rewards and threatens into compliance) cover Huon's eyes with darkness while he's in full flight at high speed through trees.
As she rides, Robin turns a weather-ear to the song-weaves of the worlds round her, trying to determine how much of what is safe to do and how much has already been torn up.
It's stressed here and none of the sounds are normal. It's hard to say if it's going to recover when the sources of the stress leave.
Robin hears hoofbeats all around her; the Princes are to either side, and if she looks back, she sees Brij and Khela catching up to her.
Brennan does not expect Skiaza to commit suicide, or cling for more than a moment or two before Huon forces it off with Pattern. But Brennan uses that critical moment of distraction, even if it's just a swat with the Pattern Sword, to shoot at Huon or his bike as circumstances dictate.
[Card time!.. Phoenix, Reversed!]
Skiaza leaps from shadow to shadow as if they were connected, and at a crucial moment wraps himself around the head of the fleeing Prince. Brennan takes that opportunity to fire his shotgun and manages to pepper the rear wheel and the possibly Huon's back with shot.
Skiaza leaps back off, as if thrown by an explosion. Huon looks up at a rapidly approaching tree and desperately throws the bike to the left, missing the forest giant by mere inches. Instead he finds himself turned perpendicular to the mountain and in less than a second, flying off of it.
Brennan arrives first at the cliffside that Huon just flew over, and sees him plummeting into an unexpected ravine. Caine, Bleys, Robin, and then Brij are close behind.
There's a lot of broken branches at the top, and in the mostly dry river bed below, the motorcycle lies burning.
"Damn," says Khela.
Brennan's smile, which had broadened to nearly Conner-esque proportions at the sight of Huon tumbling arse over appetite over the cliffside, fades as he surveys the wreckage. "I don't see a body," he growls to himself and anyone who may be in earshot.
He doesn't waste any time determining that the ravine wall simply must have thick, ropy vines that he can rappel or scrabble down. It's got to be faster and easier than hankering up Weyland's tower, so Brennan goes about as fast as he reasonably can, letting gravity do most of the work and his gauntlets absorb the friction heat. The shotgun is slung across his back, and he'll find a good spear at the bottom of the cliff. Ordinarily, he'd fly down, but with two-- two!!-- Pattern blades in the area, he's not going to push his luck.
"Deep Dark Green!" Robin growls as she reins her horse in at the edge of the ravine. "Dung. Blasted. Shit." The litany continues as she throws herself out of the saddle.
"Okay, Uncles-dearest, that's a Dragon chasm that Brennan just scarpered down into. I'm going after him. Can you guys do whatever kind of magically-mighty thing you can think of to help us get back?"
"Robin!", says Bleys. Once he has her attention, he tosses her a leather-wrapped package. "That will get you back. Don't let Huon have it."
Catching the package, Robin immediately disappears it into some secure portion of her anatomy/apparel. And while she's there, she digs out her Arianrod-hair bracelet and slips it on. "Thanks," she allows.
Robin turns a tight grin and worried green eyes to Bleys and Caine as she lowers herself over the edge, preparing to follow Brennan at speed.
"It's a pity Julian isn't with us," Bleys says after Robin is gone. "He has a way with Dragons."
"Khela, with me," says Caine. "Brij, with Bleys." Robin hears the sounds of hoofbeats heading apart.
When Robin reaches the ground, a quick look backwards shows Bleys and Brij riding double on some sort of horse-monkey, which is climbing down the vines using its opposable thumbs. There's no sight of Caine and Khela.
Once on reasonably level ground, [Brennan] takes up the pursuit again, trying to find the trail. hopefully there will be a nice mundane trail of blood to follow, but he will use the Third Eye to help if necesary, as both Huon and the Pattern Sword should stand out quite clearly.
There's no blood at all, except on the bike. To the best of Brennan's ability to guess, he fell off early.
Brennan looks back up the path that he'd come, and sees Robin reaching the bottom and Bleys and Brij riding something that might seem normal in some shadow, but not here.
With his third eye, there's plenty of brightness and the verdant forest is practically pure white. It's unclear where his renegade uncle is.
That's... unexpected. And unsettling. Still, Brennan trots to the burning husk of the motorcycle, reasoning that if Huon lost his grip on the blade-- there's always a chance that they'll catch a lucky break, here-- that it should have landed in about the same area. It also lets Brennan site from the crash site to where he parked his own bike up above, which is where Huon's bike began its short, explosive flight. If Huon landed, he should have landed between here and there and started another trail as he limped away. If he didn't land, he should have done... something... along that same vector. He does this initial siting mundanely, at first.
Brennan sees what Jerod saw, which is to say that the bike crossed the ravine and hit a wall and bounced off, hard. It would have passed through some heavy foliage on its way to the wall.
Brennan is also frustrated at the lack of information that the Third Eye gave him, and is unwilling to concede the point so easily. By the time he trots over to the crash site, he has decided on a course of action, which he puts into effect. Instead of merely looking with his Third Eye, he pushes his senses into the Astral Plane, but slowly. Based on the shock of pure white he saw with the Third Eye, he expects his Astral Sight to be similarly over-saturated with whatever Power is in this place, but he wants to know what type of energy this is, if he's encountered it before. The Astral view should help him, here. Whether he has or not, if there's a type of energy that dominates, he adds a twist of Entropy, filtering that energy out of his viewing, hopefully letting him see other sources of energy with greater clarity.
Brennan does not spend a lot of time on this-- an instant should let him know if this is at least a viable approach.
It just sort of dims out everything. Brennan is pretty sure this is the characteristic of a place that is brimming with life and the living.
As Brennan investigates, Robin has his back. She draws her sword and keeps her eyes and ears open in all directions as she trots over to him.
On a ridge overlooking the far side, Jerod, or someone who looks like him, is scanning the area with some sort of looking glass.
Well, that's a relief. Robin scratches search-universe-for-poofed-cousin off her mental list.
Robin sees signs of recent dragon activity.
Not a relief, not at all.
She waits until it looks like Brennan's immediate business is done before murming to him out of the side of her mouth, "You're in a Dragon chasm, cousin. Step carefully."
"What does that mean," Brennan asks, "That I shouldn't set the trees on fire, or that something else will do it for us?" Despite the casual phrasing, and the mostly rhetorical style, the message is received.
"Heh." Robin chuckles grimly. Yep to both questions.
Bleys reaches the bottom and his beast knucklewalks over to Robin. He is about to speak when, from the trees lining the far side, a voice echoes out: "He's here, Bleys! In the tree on the far side!"
Bleys looks up. "Conner? Can't assume it's a trap or a lie, so I guess we're tree-climbing. Luckily, my malcavallamico is good at that, aren't you, boy?" He pats the odd hybrid creature. "Are you armed?"
"Sure am. I grabbed a shotgun. Hard to believe there are places this whatsit is natural," says Brij.
Bleys is about to ride off, but turns. "Anyone want a ride?"
Robin shakes her head. "Don't want to cluster." But it's obvious that if she wasn't on high alert, she'd definitely be interested in meeting the malcavallamico.
"No, not just yet," Brennan says. Brennan is visibly annoyed at something, and that something is the failure of his Astral vision to pinpoint Huon. He does take a glance in Bleys' direction before letting the spell drop, just so he can work out later how to get around this difficulty in the future. Does Werewindle show up as a separate, visible source of energy distinct from the background? For that matter, now that Robin's mentioned the Dragon, does the background energy show up as similar to what Brennan saw when he reviewed Daeon's death, or is it just a general living-life aura?
It's a riot of life, in the air on the ground, in the ground, in the trees, etc.
Brennan doesn't waste time studying any of this, just takes a glance for further contemplation at a time of greater leisure. He also doesn't immediately set to climbing. He does begin scanning the trees-- normal vision, not Astral-- to see if he can spot Huon in the direction Conner indicates. If he does, he takes a shot. If not, he still stays on the ground saying, "Flush him back down here if you can. Holler if you can't." He gives that evil, counter-Conner smirk again.
Brennan glances at Robin, waiting to see if she's a tree-swinger or a ground-pounder. Either way, Brennan is ready to keep up with them on the ground, provide spotting, prevent Huon from dropping and running, and generally keeping in coordination and tightening the noose. If he moves very far on the ground, he'll find a horse.
Robin meets Brennan's eye with a nod and a firming up of her coverage of him and 780 degree watchfulness. While she's definitely got issues with Huon, there's bigger concerns on her radar right now. And if her family is going to go stomping around in a mine-field, Robin can at least call warning, hopefully before something explodes.
"Crap" Jerod says, looking around briefly to evaluate his situation and his mount. He also takes a moment to get a feel for the reality of the place he is now at, sifting through the shadow and pattern energy that is certain to be swirling around his impromptu entry point.
Jerod feels he hasn't been pushed far from his origin, but far enough. There is no battle here, although it looks like there once was. He is neither very close to a pattern nor very far.
His immediate goals assuming his survival is not in peril are:
a) Get out of the mud. With or without the mount. If the horse cannot be extricated, then he will leave it and move off himself. He is certain to be able to find harder places in the mud to step and quickly move out - whether this can be done with the horse is up to the universe. If the horse doesn't come along, Jerod easily finds another one.
The horse can, with effort and some nudging, be freed from the mud.
b) Once out of the mud, Jerod travels for a short distance before stopping and digging quickly down a couple of inches into the earth. He knows from the bleed-over between realities that points exist where items and people and even effects and temporal flow can move from one reality to another. He also knows that he's created a big hole in reality through his efforts, so it is highly probable that the effect of his transport would have caused other items to travel as well, such as his spear, which he is certain to find.
His effort to retrieve the spear is not successful.
c) With mount acquired, Jerod now considers Huon. Where he is will be uncertain, for Huon is definitely going to be shifting shadow to escape the pursuit that Jerod is certain will be continuing.
Thus Jerod decides not to pursue, but instead to bring the prey to him, recalling lessons from his father and comments from Random and Corwin. If patterns can be likened to a dip in reality, a gravity well as it were or an attractive point for reality and those possessed of reality, in keeping with the axiom that all roads to Amber, Jerod will create his own road for Huon. Jerod shifts shadow only a little to find a suitable point to await Huon's arrival, one where firearms once more will not work.
Huon is certain to be using a motor vehicle of the type that Jerod last saw him attempting to acquire. Accordingly, Jerod finds a moderately flat area of level ground but strewn with small boulders, rock outcroppings and pebble pools that make for difficult travel for a motorcycle but that are of little concern to mounts such as horses. To the west, several hundred yard back is the steep ravine with its drop of many hundreds of feet to sharp rock outcroppings below, the sun behind him and in the eyes of anyone who emerges from the forest that lies to the east, the forest that Jerod knows Huon must travel through in his efforts to escape from Brennan and the others, and that Huon will come from, a single primary path leading from it into a deceptively deep pebble pool.
Jerod finds his place to wait, retrieving a bow and a quiver of arrows for use. Then he focuses his mind, summoning the Pattern and building the well of reality. He uses his impressions of Huon and the sword and the feel of Pattern's imprint on the blood of Amber, creating a magnet for Huon and the sword, an easy path for his journey, a gradually increasing incline from which Huon cannot immediately escape. It matters not that some time may have passed since Jerod departure from the field of battle, as he will compensate here. He sets his trap and waits.
From the west, there is a crash and the smell of burning oil.
Westward ho...
....for a few hundred yards and then Jerod stops to look over the cliff edge and see what's up.
On the far side of the ravine, Jerod sees Khela, Robin, Bleys, Caine, and Brij. Brennan is climbing down. At the bottom is a smashed-up motorbike.
Jerod pulls out a pair of binoculars and scans the ravine, tracking from where Brennan started down to the motorbike and then spiralling outwards in a visual search arc to cover the various routes that a flying individual might have taken after leaving a motorbike in mid flight. He is not concerned at the moment for checking for sorcerous activity, given that both Bleys and Khela are on the other side.
He makes quick note of the unknown woman with the others, memorizing the face for future reference.
There are several reasonable arcs for the motorbike to have taken. But the most likely, based on some damage to the vegetation on the far wall, is one where he went up, through some trees, and the bike hit the far wall and before landing in the heap it's in.
Brennan and Robin have climbed to the bottom, Bleys and the short woman are almost down as well. They're riding a beast out of shadow.
From the trees, Jerod hears a voice echo out: "He's here, Bleys! In the tree on the far side!"
Upon hearing the voice, Jerod tracks the nearest stand of trees relative to the most probable flight arc and the heap of busted bike, eliminating ones that are too open to afford concealment before settling on the remaining option or options. Though the possibility of deception exists, Jerod discounts it given that sorcerous power could be detected and if Huon is the sender, he's lighting himself up. As Jerod does this, he reaches into a pouch and pulls out a set of three phosphorous fragmentation grenades, quite certain that they will work.
He takes a quick moment to consider Robin and Brennan, decides that they are sufficiently far enough away to not have to worry about shrapnel and then lobs a grenade into his selected target, timing the arc of the throw so that it will land in the tree a half second before detonation to ensure combustion ignition of the tree that it lands in. The second and third follow into secondary targets immediately thereafter.
The grenades fly where Jerod wants them and he ducks briefly behind cover to avoid the shrapnel and the blast. When he looks back up after the triple boom, the white eerie light of the phosphorus is still glowing, and the trees are burning. They are very green this near the water, but they aren't fireproof.
From further up the ravine comes a great roar, much louder than the frag grenades. When Jerod turns to look that way, he sees two things. The first is Caine and Khela, riding a horse that seems to be running on the air, coming directly at the ravine. The second is a great, scaled dragon, chasing them and bugling. Flying, then circling the trees, setting some on the edge on fire.
As would be expected with the appearance of such a monstrous beast, Jerod is momentarily distracted, but only for a moment as he curses himself and returns his focus to the trees, scanning for movement. Caine and Khela can regrettably serve as bait for their unwarranted guest. Jerod does not consider the possibility that this is indeed the one true dragon, given the distraction factor that would provide and the importance of chasing down Huon. For such a legendary creature, he decides he will leave it to his uncles to deal with. After all, they're uncles.
That leaves Huon using the confusion of the moment to escape and Jerod uses it to watch for him, though he takes the opportunity to ensure that a large duffle bag can be found close by with ordinance suitable for an escape, should it come to that.
Jerod walks along the clifftop and finds a duffel bag, all the while looking down into the trees where someone might be escaping.
What he notices through the rising smoke is that it looks like several of his relatives are on a branch about 2 meters down. That part of the tree isn't on fire, but it could spread quickly.
They're probably close enough that he could call to them.
Jerod watches silently, examining the angles and listening to his relatives as their conversation progresses. From his perch above them, he spots the tinge of the green sword as Bleys and Huon work their byplay.
Deciding that the snowflake principle may have merit in this situation, Jerod picks up a small stone, perhaps an inch in size, sights in carefully and tosses the stone at the blade, going for accuracy rather than power. It may prove to be of no effect, or it might be a useful distraction against Huon. Jerod will let Bleys decide that.
Jerod watches for a moment, learning the periodicity of Huon's defense, and drops a stone exactly where he means to, hitting the blade unexpectedly from above. Oddly, Jerod hears the sound of it both in front of him and behind him.
He turns, picking out the direction that the sound came from. One advantage of living underwater is an appreciation of acoustics and how sounds can travel in strange and unusual ways that surfacers would not normally consider. There must be an opening to the cliff- side niche Huon is hiding in and Jerod will now find it.
Jerod considers the option of sending a warning to Bleys of his intentions but for the moment decides against it. A warning to Huon would be unacceptable, and right now with the gunfire and the unexpected activity above, Huon will be more nervous, more likely to focus on immediate survival instead of evaluating his general surroundings for exploitation. An opportunity thus presents itself.
Assuming Jerod finds the other end of the niche, his actions are predicated on the entry that he finds. A large one, sufficient for him to enter, means he goes in with his sword out. A small one means he needs to use something else to flush Huon out, like a grenade or some kind of gas charge.
Jerod finds, hidden by a bush, a wide vent opening into the ground. It looks like the ground collapsed here and leads down just a few feet into the cave that Huon is taking refuge in.
Jerod slides down the scree and finds himself on a narrow ledge overlooking a deep cave. The scree is steep, and it would be time-consuming but possible to get out that way, assuming the rocks didn't come down while climbing.
The cave is well-lit from an opening a little further away, and something below is also lit, or reflecting outside light.
Last modified: 25 July 2009