Encounterlogs
Tabithas Odd Encounter Sr Legion 240313
The dark and stormy setting of the Devil's Cross provides an eerie backdrop for Tabitha, Meridith, and Miles as they confront a piece of the ominous entity known as Legion. Tabitha, the dedicated sorceress, aims to tap into the magical power of the crossroads to trap and confront Legion, attempting to undo its malevolent influence. As thunder roars and lightning illuminates the scene, the trio braces themselves for the worst. Tabitha explains the significance of crossroads in magical dealings while outlining her plan to draw a pentacle and perform a ritual with the hopes of capturing Legion within it. Meridith, adorned in tarnished armor and armed with her mastery over the blade, prepares to fend off any physical threats. Miles, devoid of magical abilities but equipped with determination and a rifle, supports his companions, focusing on the physical realm of their battle. Their unity and diverse strengths set the stage for an intense confrontation with the unknown.
As the ritual progresses, the storm intensifies, and unpredictable elements test their resolve. Tabitha's incantations combined with Meridith's tactical prowess and Miles' physical defense form a fragile barrier against Legion's advances. When physical manifestations of the entity and its minions attack, including sinister hounds and crows, the battle reaches a fever pitch. Amidst the chaos, a critical moment occurs when Tabitha, determined and desperate, injures herself as a blood sacrifice to bolster her spell. This act of defiance brings the entity to negotiate, signifying a breakthrough in their struggle. Through clever manipulation and unwavering courage, they manage to strike a deal with Legion, wherein it agrees to depart under certain conditions, thus achieving a precarious victory over the pervasive darkness. The emotional and physical toll on the trio is evident, but their bond and collective strength see them through the ordeal, highlighting themes of sacrifice, the power of unity, and the undeniable strength of human will against otherworldly forces.
(Tabitha's odd encounter(SRLegion):SRLegion)
[Tue Mar 12 2024]
On the Devil's Cross
Deep in the forest, two packed-earth roads meet in a crossroads overhung with dark-leafed willow trees. Bent over almost to touch the ground, the willow trees block out the sky, their long trailing leaves like shadowed arms that pass over cars driving through the area. Despite the abundance of willows, the center of the crossroads is kept clear, with a dark mark at its heart like the scar of a lightning strike.
It is night, about 37F(2C) degrees, There is a waxing crescent moon.
"Alright, then. Alright." Miles murmurs back to Tabitha, looking a little confused himself, before shaking it off. The bike is left behind as he steps through several puddles between he and the others. He doesn't remove his vest, nor tuck away his rifle, keeping it in his right hand while his left steers the beam of his flashlight to cut through the dark.
"You asked if you were where you needed to be, I said no, and then you showed up so I said yes..." Tabitha says, in some explanation.
Meridith gazes at the wicked weather and grumbles.
Howling winds seem to scorch the crossroads, lit by the crash of lightning. Out here in the woods, the mists seem to constantly linger: dark smoke that curls around the ankles of the trio out here -- whispering against the legs of Tabitha, Meridith and Miles.
Out here, Howling winds seem to scorch the crossroads, lit by the crash of lightning. Out here in the woods, the mists seem to constantly linger: dark smoke that curls around the ankles of the trio out here -- whispering against the legs of Tabitha, Meridith and Miles.
Meridith is adorned in tarnished armor, sallet tucked away at her bike. She rests a hand atop her hilt. "I know you're here you little bastard, watching." She trembles faintly against the wave of whatever emotion psychically strikes her and stands resolved. "Let's put an end to this," she says.
"That makes sense." Miles allows aside to Tabitha, finally getting it. He's a little slow today. Must be a result of the lingering magical assault by the Order. He jerks his leg toward the mist that trails about them, trying to scatter it away like you might with errant poultry, while his flashlight does it's best to pierce the dark smoke.
Tabitha shivers and works her neck about in a circle, hair frozen to her neck due to the mix of rain and snow. "Alright, Meri, you'd said that you had a hint, a lead... This here... I have felt power here." She spins to look into the vast of night, then to Meridith and Miles. "Crossroads are hold a lot of magical power. It is a place where many have made their bargains and deals with the devil. Where it typically starts..." She is no Ralph Macchio, though, and Miles is no Steve Vai, but one thing is for sure, Legion, in this respect, is the Devil.
Lightning -- it cracks closer, now, and it illuminates the crossroads in a sudden bright, white light. That hit way, way too close to home, and it casts the woods out here as a mass of chiaroscuro shadows that turn into awful, fading afterimages. The smell of burning wood, sizzling from the rain, wafts through the air -- smoke, real smoke. And with it? The smell of brimstone.
(re) Lightning -- it cracks closer, now, and it illuminates the crossroads in a sudden bright, white light. That hit way, way too close to home, and it casts the woods out here as a mass of chiaroscuro shadows that turn into awful, fading afterimages. The smell of burning wood, sizzling from the rain, wafts through the air -- smoke, real smoke. And with it? The smell of brimstone.
Meridith gazes at the shadows. "Fleeing before the light," she murmurs eased by the crack of thunder after it surprises her.
Miles may be hold a rifle, but he still feels disarmed out here in the storm, and thunder, and snow. There isn't a magical bone in his body, and unfortunately this isn't the sort of problem he can shoot away, or slap into handcuffs. The fellow clears his throat, nose wrinkling in distaste at the sudden stink, "Lovely." He comments, turning aside to Tabitha, "Following your lead here, Tabs."
"The last time I came here to assist with the destruction of a ritual, the shadows did not flee. Expect to find the spirits strong here. not to mention the less incorporeal beasts. So keep your eyes out.." Tabitha waves her smudge stick in the wind, trying to dispel the smell of brimstone. "I'll be casting a spell so ..." She seeks through her bag of goods for something. She pulls out her ritual knife, and she begins to draw up a pentacle around the crossroad. Winchesters had something right, right? "I will try to catch the devil within the circle, and perhaps we'll have something to bargain over it, instead of the other way around."
Meridith stands vigilant beside Tabitha, ready to draw her blade. She nods in her direction. "He threatened to sick his minions on me, but beyond Solomon, I know not of any we would fear in a fight. Autumn perhaps...the three of us can take them at least. By the time he can muster a proper fight, we may already have accomplished our goal," she says. Clearly, she's been analyzing the situation tactically.
There's a glance aside at the knife, and the pentacle that Tabitha draws up, "There really is no nice version of that, is there?" Miles comments somewhat wryly, affording her the light of his flashlight to work beneath. Something occurs to him as he watches her work, "Couldn't we just trap him in a can, and toss him into the ocean?" The sleeve of his left arm is rolled up as he notes this, and the scar flicked arm is extended toward Tabitha in a wordless offer, if she needs blood, she's welcome to it, it seems.
When Tabitha begins to draw a circle, the character of the shadows seems to change. At first? It's curiosity, almost, as if amidst the rain and snow there is some animating intelligence in the mists. Then, though -- as the circle begins to close -- the curiosity grows more troubled. It's as if the shadows, the mists, begin to rise, and they seem full of menace. Lightning cracks again, this time closer still -- it strikes just down the road. As it does, a flock of dark birds crosses overhead, circling the ritual space. Spies? They say bodiless spirits can possess animals.
Meridith shakes her head at Miles. "The water would erode the seal swiftly. He'd be annoyed, certainly," she muses.
Tabitha glances upward at the skies, darkening with birds, the sound of them filling her ears. "Distract them," she tells Meridith. "We do not know whose eyes they have." She shakes her head to Miles, "There is no other way. Well, we could sacrifice an animal..." Again, she looks upward. "Or many." Back down, "But our blood has more power. Mine... May have more." She does not slice herself just yet. No, she has sigils to draw. Protection sigils, entrapment sigils. "Dig through my bag, someone and get the salt? We want to fill the divits from my knife with salt."
Meridith pulls her bow and twists about. She lets out a sharp whistle, a warning cry, and then looses a hail of arrows into the swarm of birds.
"Pop the can in some tupperware, then." Miles suggests back to Meridith with a shrug, before jogging over to Tabitha's bag to do as she'd asked. "I have a feeling it's a conversation for another day, but you'll have to explain blood power to me sometime." He calls back to Tabitha while ruffling through her bag, and intimates. Eventually coming up with the salt, and moving to do as she'd instructed. He has to sling his rifle back over his shoulder, and clutches the container with his flashlight hand, using the other to try and block any wind or rain from interrupting his attempts to deposit the salt.
Arrows in the wind and rain are not, in the scheme of things, the most ideal of weapons -- but Meridith has some inhuman strength and speed and skill. The first arrow misses, as does the second, but the third strikes a black bird. It falls from the sky and hits the circle, scattering salt near where Miles has begun to spread it. It lies on its back, twitching, and for a moment it seems to have red eyes, fading slowly back to black.
For Tabitha, schooled in magic, some arcane crackle is beginning to tickle at her nose.
"Be sure not to break the circle." Tabitha says, standing inside of it, though not in the center. For easy escape? She's putting herself there as the pawn and sacrifice, so to speak, and hopefully not as the vessel. "Another day," the redhead agrees with Miles. Her gaze drifts upward to the birds, then to the one that has fallen and ruined some of the cirle. It will be a chore, given the weather. She is careful to tread toward the fallen bird, picks it up and drops it in the very center of the pentacle. "Avi will just have to forgive." She sniffs the air, and mentions to Meridith and Miles, "We will have to move swiftly." Then, she does not exactly kneel, seeking to get up and out quickly if need be, but she begins to dig into the soil in order to bury the bird in the crossroad.
Meridith scowls hatefully at her quarry as it falls before her. She shifts her position, watching dutiful. If the birds remain in range, she fires her shot, an act of defiance worn more out of desire than necessity. A middle finger of an act. She nods to Tabitha. She moves the perimeter of her circle, a vigilant sentinel.
Miles swallows down his knee-jerk reaction to stomp on the bird, instead focusing on his salt delivery. He's a saltboi now. "Who?" He chirps back over toward Tabitha, and re-doubles his efforts to ensure he isn't breaking the circle at her warning.
Out in the woods, something -- some things -- are coming towards the circle, but in the storm? Neither Meridith, Miles or Tabitha can hear them coming.
The circle is formed, then, and as it does there is a sense of tension inside it. Every fourth or fifth raindrop that strikes the area of the circle seems to sizzle, boiling off in a burst of steam, some testament that this wind and rain and sleet and snow is the herald of something unholy. As Tabitha buries the bird, it seems to stop twitching, but its blood is leaking slowly into the soil of the crossroads.
Tabitha steps back from the buried bird, mentioning aside to Miles, "A friend." But it is not the time to continue an explanation on why he'd have to forgive her. She bears to heat of the rain on her skin, luckily somewhat protected by the sweater she wears. A step back and she finally draws the blade of her knife across her palm. The blood drips into the soil, and she even flings it from her fingers toward the center of the crossroad, where the bird has been delivered. Each time, like a priest flinging their holy water through the halls of a haunted home, she inches herself backward. "If we are successful here, I hope that we can also destroy part of it's domain..."
Meridith bangs the hilt of her rapier against her breastplate, a solid metallic echo ringing out. She keeps a slow and steady rhythm against the rain. A clear challenge out into the darkness.
When Tabitha's blood begins to soak into the coil, it seems to glow, reflecting almost some ghostly fire. The mists are drawing close, now -- like creatures, like faces in the smoke. They begin to plaster themselves against the circle, as if clawing to get in. Outside the circle, one of the mist-things runs for Meridith, but it just passes through her, as if she wasn't there.
Meridith shifts her feet against the ground and draws a line in the road before her. As the creature surges forth her blade flashes out, striking air. She exhales softly. "Not tangible...perhaps yet. Are we concerned of holding the nightmare at bay?" she asks Tabitha. Eyes sharply focused.
Tabitha cannot really answer Meridith for she has begun to chant, that of a summoning spell, but of what? She does pause, flicking her blood in the circle once more, to note, "We will have to fight some of them, I'm sure, but we will, if this works, have leverage."
Miles remains silent, drawing his rifle and ensuring his club-like baton is in easy reach itself. The man posts himself somewhat beside and behind Tabitha, setting himself as a barrier between her and anything that might seek to prevent their task this evening.
Another mist-shape seems to hurt itself at Meridith, and it passes through her. Then one runs by Miles, still insubstantial. When they hit the circle around Tabitha, they seem to start climbing up upon themselves, as if black smoke spirits begin to coat the dome marked by the redheaded sorceress' circle.
More mist-creatures advance -- another moves on Meridith, but then there is an awful snarl, for in and behind the mist is a black hound, leaping with very real violence at the young woman.
Meridith is caught off guard, a thin yelp, but only for a moment. She recovers her wits and throws a hand forward as the beast encloses. "BEGONE!" she bellows, a wave of telekinetic force hurling the beast away from her. She flicks her bow around and steadies a shot, a whistle. "Miles!" she shouts to Miles, waiting for him to lead her fire, before loosing her own arrow.
"Yep!" Miles calls back to Meridith, acknowledging her own call as he raises his rifle to draw a bead on the beast. The deputy tracks it, ensuring that he isn't going to endanger Meridith with the shot before squeezing the trigger.
Now something seems to form inside the circle: a figure, shifting, full of mist and horns and red eyes. It's as if it is growing from the corpse of the bird, sprouting like some tree, and it seems to gain more and more form and firmness as smoke issues up in the center of the circle. It takes a step forward -- and then it looks confused. "How did you bring part of us here?" it asks Tabitha -- demands of her, really.
Outside the circle, the dog -- the hound, really -- is pushed back, and it howls. There's an explosion from Miles' rifle shot hitting it, but it seems to jerk with unnatural speed. Red eyes suddenly glare, as the hound has some unnatural agility, charging towards Meridith.
From behind Miles, a second black-coated hound emerges, leaping onto his back from the darkness.
Meridith whistles again stowing her bow and flicking her rapier around to meet the charge. She beckons it forth, then, yanks it suddenly towards her, rapier gleaming as she seeks to bury her blade into it. Her eyes focus, her body moves with grace. The worldly concerns fade as the act of battle takes its place.
Tabitha's eyes widen, big as saucers, maybe even surprised, surely not. She's a sorceress! But that surprise is replaced with a sudden realization. She is in the circle, even if so close to stepping out. She could, while it couldn't. "Welcome," she tries to say, without sounding like she's freaked out, even a little, even a lot. She tries to keep her distance. But stepping outside would make her susceptable to the hounds that Miles and Meridith fight. Yet ... Which are the lesser of the two evils, here? She asks "Which part are you, if a part at all?" All while holding her smudge stick up like it is her smudgey salvation.
The thing of black smoke steps towards Tabitha, and the horns seems to shift -- they blow behind it like ribbons, and then it smiles. The smile is a too-wide slash, and it reaches out, as if to touch the sorceress with black hands that inside the circle feel substantial. "We are Legion," it tells her. "But you can call me Valefor, if you like: for I will steal a little bit of you, for summoning me." A breath. "Never fear: for when I take, I also give."
"Oof!" Miles goes crashing down onto the ground, all elbows and knees and awkward landings as the other hound takes him by surprise. It's not a great look. His rifle slides out of his hands, and out of reach, skittering in a circle against the road. There is the more immediate threat of the hound though, which he tries to buck off of himself, while drawing his club and attempting to prevent it from biting him.
Now Miles is in the fight. The baton comes out, and it's a bar, held sideways with the red-eyed hound on top of him. Terrible, slavering jaws snap right in Miles' face, but the deputy's strength and the leverage of club keep the creature from closing those terrible white teeth on his tanned face.
Valefor's offer makes up Tabitha's mind, and when the dark hands touch her, she attempts to take that final step outside of the circle. Into the madness of the spirited hounds that seek to take down Miles and Meridith. "Legion has taken enough from me..." she eeks out, her skin crawling from the wicked touch. "And you do not get my soul...." She pauses, looks behind her, down, careful. She then speaks its name, "Valefor."
"I don't need your soul," the thing of smoke whispers. "We have it already, Tabitha Matheson." It shifts between the presence of the whole eidolon and the fragment of that being Tabitha has trapped here. When she moves to step outside the circle, though? It moves -- it moves inside her, and then she can feel it, feel it within her body. When she goes to leave the circle she cannot, with that -thing- riding her.
The hound on Meridith is fighting, too. When she thrusts at it it is a difficult fight -- the thing has inhuman, agile grace. Her sword leaves a wound along its flank, and then it seems to weep red blood that begins to burn. It snarls, wounded, and then it leaps on Meridith, as claws rake across her exposed face.
Meridith whistles again stowing her bow and flicking her rapier around to meet the charge. She beckons it forth, then, yanks it suddenly towards her, rapier gleaming as she seeks to bury her blade into it. Her eyes focus, her body moves with grace. The worldly concerns fade as the act of battle takes its place. (rep)
It's a tale as old as man itself. Monsters in the dark, hunting and snarling, and snapping at them. Only in this case, Miles and Meridith don't have a handy fire to back them up, just yet. The deputy grunts under the effort of getting the best at bay, but it's readily apparent he's going to get tired, eventually, or slip up. Before that can happen he tries to twist it up, and away, using it's own grip on his weapon to tug the beast to the side before letting one hand slip free. A taser is drawn up and from his duty belt, and slammed into the flank of the thing with the crackle of electricity. It may not be fire, but it's something.
"You do not have control over me!" Tabitha calls out, frozen in place when the demon slips inside of her. "I hate the whole of you! I reject the whole of you!" She seethes, "You own no part of me!" It may take some focus that she is suddenly struggling to keep, but she tries to begin a chant. The soil where the bird had been buried begins to bubble and break.
The hound on Meridith is fighting, too. When she thrusts at it it is a difficult fight -- the thing has inhuman, agile grace. Her sword leaves a wound along its flank, and then it seems to weep red blood that begins to burn. It snarls, wounded, and then it leaps on Meridith, as claws rake across her exposed face. (re)
Meridith grimaces as the thing springs atop her. She pulls her blade in a practiced motion between the creatures snapping jaws, but a claw manages to rake across her face. She bellows in anger and pain and hauls up attempting to kick the beast off of her, try to force back to her feet, or a low crouched position.
Miles' taser hits the dog on the side, and then it begins to convulse. It has a demon in it -- some piece of the eidolon or one of its servants, possessing the animal -- but it is still flesh and bone. For a moment, the very human someone is free, able to scrabble for a knife or a revolver.
Miles' taser hits the dog on the side, and then it begins to convulse. It has a demon in it -- some piece of the eidolon or one of its servants, possessing the animal -- but it is still flesh and bone. For a moment, the very human deputy is free, able to scrabble for a knife or a revolver.
The godling's strength sends the hound flying from her. She's bleeding, but it's on his back, twisting -- struggling to rise. It will regain its feet in a moment, but like her companion, Meridith for a moment has the upper hand.
Distraction, it inside causes Tabitha to speak the wrong chant, and there is a hiss from her. "No!" The redhead doubles down on her focus, speaking to Hecate, calling the Crone, the Maiden. To Valefor it would start to sound like a ritual for a mindward. To Miles and Meridith Perhaps gibberish.
Meridith springs forth, letting out a mighty cry against the storm. She glides across the ground with grace and tries to bury her blade between its ribs. Her cry seems to echo, carrying with it some mighty command of battle.
Inside the circle, it seems as if the redhead is trapped -- she is fighting the entity and the entity is fighting her. It's trying to force her towards the center of the circle, to unbury the bird, to end the spell, but it cannot. Her mind is too strong. By the same token, though -- she is fighting some inhuman thing, and cannot force it out of her. The stalemate is instants, but inside Tabitha's mind, it seems like hours.
Outside, Meridith's blade finds its home -- the dog twitches on the thing, shaking, even as from the storm-ridden sky a dozen crows begin to dive-bomb her in an orgy of black feathers and beady red eyes.
Inside the circle, a strained whisper from the portion of Legion Tabitha has trapped inside her: "Parlay," the entity breathes.
It's a terrible thing when the hound convulses and scrambles atop Miles, nobody likes to see a dog in pain. Not even one possessed by a demon. Thus, he attempts to put it out of it's misery. The taser is still pressed to it, like it's a lifeline in this storm, while Miles's free hand scrambles down for his service weapon- plucking the pistol free and jamming the muzzle between it's ribs, only then pulling the trigger.
Meridith cries out as the crows descend upon her, for a moment she panics. Then she flashes her blade up, striking air, she lets out a sharp whistle and tries to become a wall of steel, trying to fend them away from her.
BOOM. The hound's brains make a messy, red bloody mess in the Devil's Cross, and the thing convulses, limp, on top of Miles.
"Parlay," the entity inside the circle whispers to Tabitha. "What do you want, for us to part ways at this crossroads?" It is trapped. So is the redhead -- and with Legion, of course... everything is a bargain.
Gross. With a groan of effort and disgust both Miles heaves the corpse from atop him, and rolls to the side. There's a glance towards the birds that harass Meridith, and then toward the strange creature, Valefor, and Tabitha too. "You need a hand in there, Tabs?" He calls out, raising to a knee, and taking a few potshots at the birds harassing Meridith - though only while they're in the air, closer to the apex of their movements than to the young woman.
Birds circle around Meridith, now, and swords are not well suited for birds. The woman in armor slashes at them, but they are fast, agile things. Her sword seeks -- but it does not find. Miles' rifle, on the other hand? It's not a shotgun, and no one is yelling 'pull', but it's helping, winging one bird, then another... only for half the flock to split away and begin to dive on him.
Tabitha whispers out, "Get out of me ..." The words get louder, but its clear that she is strained and tired, and the fight has worn her mind and body, as much as she continues to call to Hecate to push Valefor out. Her determination may be strong, but she is weakening, too. "Stop this storm, and this attack on us. At least the storm. You seek misery to the town.. And I will not have it!" She grips her dagger tighter and then suddenly she calls to "Mother!". She plunges it into her thigh with a sudden scream of anguish, and a drop to a knee. The blood drips from her thigh to her knee, to the soil.
Meridith takes a half step back and springs across the boundary of the circle. "Miles! In!" She shouts. Her gaze shifts and she turns to rush to Tabitha's side. "We're here! Tabitha! We've got you!"
That knife plunges in, and with it there is a terrible rush of power -- Tabitha can feel it. Blood sacrifice has meaning, and as pain radiates out from her thigh every piece of that agony is given into her magic. Her scream is psychic, and as she shouts she coughs -- she doubles over, and she vomits out the mist-shape that calls itself part of Legion. It wavers there, expelled, taken aback.
Running is out of the question for Tabitha, and when she is on her hands and knees, she tries to stand, her clothing coated in red, her blood seeping into everything she wears. But, while Valefor is confused and coalescing, she croaks to Miles and Meridith, "Get me out of here, but don't disrupt the circle..."
Meridith leaps into the circle, and she nearly mars it -- it's a close thing, indeed, but her feet do not muss the circle. The piece of Legion inside the circle is wavering -- now is the time for Miles and Meridith to get Tabitha out.
Meridith nods and lifts Tabitha up unceremoniously and with little concern, moving swiftly to exit the circle.
Well, Miles's may not be a magical boy, but he's seen a Marvel movie or two in his time. He's already moving toward the circle when Meridith advises as much, hip-hoping over the line to ensure he doesn't break it. There's a single shot toward Valefor, more for his own satisfaction than anything, before the weapon is left to fall by his side, and hang from it's strap. His hands reach out for Tabitha then, assisting Meridith in lifting her.
Now Tabitha, Miles and Meridith are outside the circle, and some piece of Legion is inside it. It is beginning to regain its poise -- and when it does, it rages. Lightning cracks down again, as it rushes for the edge of the circle, trapped there inside it.
Meridith turns towards Legion. A piece of them at least. "See? I told you I knew what I was," she says bitterly. "Rage, rage all you wish, and then begone from this existence," she says in a low furious tone.
trembles in the grasp of Miles and Meridith, fear gripping her at where the entity and her were once trapped and where it rages within, unable to break the seal. "You.." Tabitha says, weak, leaning, and bloodies. "You will break this spell. And if you want to leave this barrier, you will leave Legion, as you claim to be a part of it. Without your word, it is here you will remain."
Miles leaves the taunting, and the deal making to the others, while foraging about in his duty belt for bandages. He immediately focuses on stemming the blood from Tabitha's wound, ensuring she doesn't bleed out in the act of doing good.
A low, raging look as the lightning flashes overhead. "We will end the spell," the thing says. "Lower your magics -- you cannot hold this forever," threatens that piece of Legion. "But release it, and we will make this bargain: this magic will end."
Meridith says "No. We can deal with the magic. It will wane on its own. We did not come here for that! We came here for YOU!"
"You have seen my power," Tabitha boasts, lying and making more of it. "And even if that is the case. I can for a while, and I have friends who can..." She wets her lips, tasting the salt of sweat and of the bile she'd choked up just moments earlier. "You are in a debt to us, Valefor, should we free you. You understand?"
Low, tense upset from the entity in the circle, and then the thing nods. "A debt," it agrees. "Release us, and we will release you and yours from the spell that afflicts you." Above, the crows seem to be circling higher, as if drifting away from the crossroads.
"Or we could just kill it!" Miles chuffs out, with no idea whether or not they could actually do such a thing. It's not a great feeling, putting his back toward it, while working on dressing Tabitha's wound. The hairs at the back of his neck stand up at this.
Meridith says "It doesn't exist Miles."
Meridith says "You can't slay an idea. Least while something still believes in it."
It likely knows that they cannot, and Tabitha is not going to admit that they cannot. At least, not yet? Ever? She meets the baleful eyes of the entity. "That is my deal, Valefor. To be released, break the spell, and give me your word for a debt owed to me at my own discretion."
Meridith gazes at the spirit. "Legion must be diminished. It isn't just service we seek, but a severing of your shared identity."
Inside the circle, the thing of smoke and horns and too-wide mouth step back. It stands in the center of the circle, and then it nods, slowly, at Tabitha. "You could have been our queen," it tells her. "But we agree -- and our word binds us." There is some magical finality to the statement, like a ripple of power.
Meridith scoffs. "Get your own, she's ours."
"It is a shame that you chose to follow that entity... Valefor." Tabitha says, lowly for Miles and Meridith. "I want you to leave this Legion. Be no more a part of it. Let your name no longer live on its tongue." is said louder for the trapped entity.
Tabitha murmurs lower, "One less demon name for it to spout as having consorted power with, one less for others to believe in."
Meridith nods in agreement to Tabitha.
There is a moment, then -- "Is this your debt?" The thing can sense that it is, and then it steps back. It reaches up, and it is like Scooby-Doo, pulling off a mask. That form, slim and horned, disappears into the mist, and the Black Goat smiles. "We are still here," it says to Tabitha, Miles, and Meridith. "One mask or many -- all of you belong to us." Then, with the bargain struck? The circle fades away, and with it the thing into the mist.
As the ritual progresses, the storm intensifies, and unpredictable elements test their resolve. Tabitha's incantations combined with Meridith's tactical prowess and Miles' physical defense form a fragile barrier against Legion's advances. When physical manifestations of the entity and its minions attack, including sinister hounds and crows, the battle reaches a fever pitch. Amidst the chaos, a critical moment occurs when Tabitha, determined and desperate, injures herself as a blood sacrifice to bolster her spell. This act of defiance brings the entity to negotiate, signifying a breakthrough in their struggle. Through clever manipulation and unwavering courage, they manage to strike a deal with Legion, wherein it agrees to depart under certain conditions, thus achieving a precarious victory over the pervasive darkness. The emotional and physical toll on the trio is evident, but their bond and collective strength see them through the ordeal, highlighting themes of sacrifice, the power of unity, and the undeniable strength of human will against otherworldly forces.
(Tabitha's odd encounter(SRLegion):SRLegion)
[Tue Mar 12 2024]
On the Devil's Cross
Deep in the forest, two packed-earth roads meet in a crossroads overhung with dark-leafed willow trees. Bent over almost to touch the ground, the willow trees block out the sky, their long trailing leaves like shadowed arms that pass over cars driving through the area. Despite the abundance of willows, the center of the crossroads is kept clear, with a dark mark at its heart like the scar of a lightning strike.
It is night, about 37F(2C) degrees, There is a waxing crescent moon.
"Alright, then. Alright." Miles murmurs back to Tabitha, looking a little confused himself, before shaking it off. The bike is left behind as he steps through several puddles between he and the others. He doesn't remove his vest, nor tuck away his rifle, keeping it in his right hand while his left steers the beam of his flashlight to cut through the dark.
"You asked if you were where you needed to be, I said no, and then you showed up so I said yes..." Tabitha says, in some explanation.
Meridith gazes at the wicked weather and grumbles.
Howling winds seem to scorch the crossroads, lit by the crash of lightning. Out here in the woods, the mists seem to constantly linger: dark smoke that curls around the ankles of the trio out here -- whispering against the legs of Tabitha, Meridith and Miles.
Out here, Howling winds seem to scorch the crossroads, lit by the crash of lightning. Out here in the woods, the mists seem to constantly linger: dark smoke that curls around the ankles of the trio out here -- whispering against the legs of Tabitha, Meridith and Miles.
Meridith is adorned in tarnished armor, sallet tucked away at her bike. She rests a hand atop her hilt. "I know you're here you little bastard, watching." She trembles faintly against the wave of whatever emotion psychically strikes her and stands resolved. "Let's put an end to this," she says.
"That makes sense." Miles allows aside to Tabitha, finally getting it. He's a little slow today. Must be a result of the lingering magical assault by the Order. He jerks his leg toward the mist that trails about them, trying to scatter it away like you might with errant poultry, while his flashlight does it's best to pierce the dark smoke.
Tabitha shivers and works her neck about in a circle, hair frozen to her neck due to the mix of rain and snow. "Alright, Meri, you'd said that you had a hint, a lead... This here... I have felt power here." She spins to look into the vast of night, then to Meridith and Miles. "Crossroads are hold a lot of magical power. It is a place where many have made their bargains and deals with the devil. Where it typically starts..." She is no Ralph Macchio, though, and Miles is no Steve Vai, but one thing is for sure, Legion, in this respect, is the Devil.
Lightning -- it cracks closer, now, and it illuminates the crossroads in a sudden bright, white light. That hit way, way too close to home, and it casts the woods out here as a mass of chiaroscuro shadows that turn into awful, fading afterimages. The smell of burning wood, sizzling from the rain, wafts through the air -- smoke, real smoke. And with it? The smell of brimstone.
(re) Lightning -- it cracks closer, now, and it illuminates the crossroads in a sudden bright, white light. That hit way, way too close to home, and it casts the woods out here as a mass of chiaroscuro shadows that turn into awful, fading afterimages. The smell of burning wood, sizzling from the rain, wafts through the air -- smoke, real smoke. And with it? The smell of brimstone.
Meridith gazes at the shadows. "Fleeing before the light," she murmurs eased by the crack of thunder after it surprises her.
Miles may be hold a rifle, but he still feels disarmed out here in the storm, and thunder, and snow. There isn't a magical bone in his body, and unfortunately this isn't the sort of problem he can shoot away, or slap into handcuffs. The fellow clears his throat, nose wrinkling in distaste at the sudden stink, "Lovely." He comments, turning aside to Tabitha, "Following your lead here, Tabs."
"The last time I came here to assist with the destruction of a ritual, the shadows did not flee. Expect to find the spirits strong here. not to mention the less incorporeal beasts. So keep your eyes out.." Tabitha waves her smudge stick in the wind, trying to dispel the smell of brimstone. "I'll be casting a spell so ..." She seeks through her bag of goods for something. She pulls out her ritual knife, and she begins to draw up a pentacle around the crossroad. Winchesters had something right, right? "I will try to catch the devil within the circle, and perhaps we'll have something to bargain over it, instead of the other way around."
Meridith stands vigilant beside Tabitha, ready to draw her blade. She nods in her direction. "He threatened to sick his minions on me, but beyond Solomon, I know not of any we would fear in a fight. Autumn perhaps...the three of us can take them at least. By the time he can muster a proper fight, we may already have accomplished our goal," she says. Clearly, she's been analyzing the situation tactically.
There's a glance aside at the knife, and the pentacle that Tabitha draws up, "There really is no nice version of that, is there?" Miles comments somewhat wryly, affording her the light of his flashlight to work beneath. Something occurs to him as he watches her work, "Couldn't we just trap him in a can, and toss him into the ocean?" The sleeve of his left arm is rolled up as he notes this, and the scar flicked arm is extended toward Tabitha in a wordless offer, if she needs blood, she's welcome to it, it seems.
When Tabitha begins to draw a circle, the character of the shadows seems to change. At first? It's curiosity, almost, as if amidst the rain and snow there is some animating intelligence in the mists. Then, though -- as the circle begins to close -- the curiosity grows more troubled. It's as if the shadows, the mists, begin to rise, and they seem full of menace. Lightning cracks again, this time closer still -- it strikes just down the road. As it does, a flock of dark birds crosses overhead, circling the ritual space. Spies? They say bodiless spirits can possess animals.
Meridith shakes her head at Miles. "The water would erode the seal swiftly. He'd be annoyed, certainly," she muses.
Tabitha glances upward at the skies, darkening with birds, the sound of them filling her ears. "Distract them," she tells Meridith. "We do not know whose eyes they have." She shakes her head to Miles, "There is no other way. Well, we could sacrifice an animal..." Again, she looks upward. "Or many." Back down, "But our blood has more power. Mine... May have more." She does not slice herself just yet. No, she has sigils to draw. Protection sigils, entrapment sigils. "Dig through my bag, someone and get the salt? We want to fill the divits from my knife with salt."
Meridith pulls her bow and twists about. She lets out a sharp whistle, a warning cry, and then looses a hail of arrows into the swarm of birds.
"Pop the can in some tupperware, then." Miles suggests back to Meridith with a shrug, before jogging over to Tabitha's bag to do as she'd asked. "I have a feeling it's a conversation for another day, but you'll have to explain blood power to me sometime." He calls back to Tabitha while ruffling through her bag, and intimates. Eventually coming up with the salt, and moving to do as she'd instructed. He has to sling his rifle back over his shoulder, and clutches the container with his flashlight hand, using the other to try and block any wind or rain from interrupting his attempts to deposit the salt.
Arrows in the wind and rain are not, in the scheme of things, the most ideal of weapons -- but Meridith has some inhuman strength and speed and skill. The first arrow misses, as does the second, but the third strikes a black bird. It falls from the sky and hits the circle, scattering salt near where Miles has begun to spread it. It lies on its back, twitching, and for a moment it seems to have red eyes, fading slowly back to black.
For Tabitha, schooled in magic, some arcane crackle is beginning to tickle at her nose.
"Be sure not to break the circle." Tabitha says, standing inside of it, though not in the center. For easy escape? She's putting herself there as the pawn and sacrifice, so to speak, and hopefully not as the vessel. "Another day," the redhead agrees with Miles. Her gaze drifts upward to the birds, then to the one that has fallen and ruined some of the cirle. It will be a chore, given the weather. She is careful to tread toward the fallen bird, picks it up and drops it in the very center of the pentacle. "Avi will just have to forgive." She sniffs the air, and mentions to Meridith and Miles, "We will have to move swiftly." Then, she does not exactly kneel, seeking to get up and out quickly if need be, but she begins to dig into the soil in order to bury the bird in the crossroad.
Meridith scowls hatefully at her quarry as it falls before her. She shifts her position, watching dutiful. If the birds remain in range, she fires her shot, an act of defiance worn more out of desire than necessity. A middle finger of an act. She nods to Tabitha. She moves the perimeter of her circle, a vigilant sentinel.
Miles swallows down his knee-jerk reaction to stomp on the bird, instead focusing on his salt delivery. He's a saltboi now. "Who?" He chirps back over toward Tabitha, and re-doubles his efforts to ensure he isn't breaking the circle at her warning.
Out in the woods, something -- some things -- are coming towards the circle, but in the storm? Neither Meridith, Miles or Tabitha can hear them coming.
The circle is formed, then, and as it does there is a sense of tension inside it. Every fourth or fifth raindrop that strikes the area of the circle seems to sizzle, boiling off in a burst of steam, some testament that this wind and rain and sleet and snow is the herald of something unholy. As Tabitha buries the bird, it seems to stop twitching, but its blood is leaking slowly into the soil of the crossroads.
Tabitha steps back from the buried bird, mentioning aside to Miles, "A friend." But it is not the time to continue an explanation on why he'd have to forgive her. She bears to heat of the rain on her skin, luckily somewhat protected by the sweater she wears. A step back and she finally draws the blade of her knife across her palm. The blood drips into the soil, and she even flings it from her fingers toward the center of the crossroad, where the bird has been delivered. Each time, like a priest flinging their holy water through the halls of a haunted home, she inches herself backward. "If we are successful here, I hope that we can also destroy part of it's domain..."
Meridith bangs the hilt of her rapier against her breastplate, a solid metallic echo ringing out. She keeps a slow and steady rhythm against the rain. A clear challenge out into the darkness.
When Tabitha's blood begins to soak into the coil, it seems to glow, reflecting almost some ghostly fire. The mists are drawing close, now -- like creatures, like faces in the smoke. They begin to plaster themselves against the circle, as if clawing to get in. Outside the circle, one of the mist-things runs for Meridith, but it just passes through her, as if she wasn't there.
Meridith shifts her feet against the ground and draws a line in the road before her. As the creature surges forth her blade flashes out, striking air. She exhales softly. "Not tangible...perhaps yet. Are we concerned of holding the nightmare at bay?" she asks Tabitha. Eyes sharply focused.
Tabitha cannot really answer Meridith for she has begun to chant, that of a summoning spell, but of what? She does pause, flicking her blood in the circle once more, to note, "We will have to fight some of them, I'm sure, but we will, if this works, have leverage."
Miles remains silent, drawing his rifle and ensuring his club-like baton is in easy reach itself. The man posts himself somewhat beside and behind Tabitha, setting himself as a barrier between her and anything that might seek to prevent their task this evening.
Another mist-shape seems to hurt itself at Meridith, and it passes through her. Then one runs by Miles, still insubstantial. When they hit the circle around Tabitha, they seem to start climbing up upon themselves, as if black smoke spirits begin to coat the dome marked by the redheaded sorceress' circle.
More mist-creatures advance -- another moves on Meridith, but then there is an awful snarl, for in and behind the mist is a black hound, leaping with very real violence at the young woman.
Meridith is caught off guard, a thin yelp, but only for a moment. She recovers her wits and throws a hand forward as the beast encloses. "BEGONE!" she bellows, a wave of telekinetic force hurling the beast away from her. She flicks her bow around and steadies a shot, a whistle. "Miles!" she shouts to Miles, waiting for him to lead her fire, before loosing her own arrow.
"Yep!" Miles calls back to Meridith, acknowledging her own call as he raises his rifle to draw a bead on the beast. The deputy tracks it, ensuring that he isn't going to endanger Meridith with the shot before squeezing the trigger.
Now something seems to form inside the circle: a figure, shifting, full of mist and horns and red eyes. It's as if it is growing from the corpse of the bird, sprouting like some tree, and it seems to gain more and more form and firmness as smoke issues up in the center of the circle. It takes a step forward -- and then it looks confused. "How did you bring part of us here?" it asks Tabitha -- demands of her, really.
Outside the circle, the dog -- the hound, really -- is pushed back, and it howls. There's an explosion from Miles' rifle shot hitting it, but it seems to jerk with unnatural speed. Red eyes suddenly glare, as the hound has some unnatural agility, charging towards Meridith.
From behind Miles, a second black-coated hound emerges, leaping onto his back from the darkness.
Meridith whistles again stowing her bow and flicking her rapier around to meet the charge. She beckons it forth, then, yanks it suddenly towards her, rapier gleaming as she seeks to bury her blade into it. Her eyes focus, her body moves with grace. The worldly concerns fade as the act of battle takes its place.
Tabitha's eyes widen, big as saucers, maybe even surprised, surely not. She's a sorceress! But that surprise is replaced with a sudden realization. She is in the circle, even if so close to stepping out. She could, while it couldn't. "Welcome," she tries to say, without sounding like she's freaked out, even a little, even a lot. She tries to keep her distance. But stepping outside would make her susceptable to the hounds that Miles and Meridith fight. Yet ... Which are the lesser of the two evils, here? She asks "Which part are you, if a part at all?" All while holding her smudge stick up like it is her smudgey salvation.
The thing of black smoke steps towards Tabitha, and the horns seems to shift -- they blow behind it like ribbons, and then it smiles. The smile is a too-wide slash, and it reaches out, as if to touch the sorceress with black hands that inside the circle feel substantial. "We are Legion," it tells her. "But you can call me Valefor, if you like: for I will steal a little bit of you, for summoning me." A breath. "Never fear: for when I take, I also give."
"Oof!" Miles goes crashing down onto the ground, all elbows and knees and awkward landings as the other hound takes him by surprise. It's not a great look. His rifle slides out of his hands, and out of reach, skittering in a circle against the road. There is the more immediate threat of the hound though, which he tries to buck off of himself, while drawing his club and attempting to prevent it from biting him.
Now Miles is in the fight. The baton comes out, and it's a bar, held sideways with the red-eyed hound on top of him. Terrible, slavering jaws snap right in Miles' face, but the deputy's strength and the leverage of club keep the creature from closing those terrible white teeth on his tanned face.
Valefor's offer makes up Tabitha's mind, and when the dark hands touch her, she attempts to take that final step outside of the circle. Into the madness of the spirited hounds that seek to take down Miles and Meridith. "Legion has taken enough from me..." she eeks out, her skin crawling from the wicked touch. "And you do not get my soul...." She pauses, looks behind her, down, careful. She then speaks its name, "Valefor."
"I don't need your soul," the thing of smoke whispers. "We have it already, Tabitha Matheson." It shifts between the presence of the whole eidolon and the fragment of that being Tabitha has trapped here. When she moves to step outside the circle, though? It moves -- it moves inside her, and then she can feel it, feel it within her body. When she goes to leave the circle she cannot, with that -thing- riding her.
The hound on Meridith is fighting, too. When she thrusts at it it is a difficult fight -- the thing has inhuman, agile grace. Her sword leaves a wound along its flank, and then it seems to weep red blood that begins to burn. It snarls, wounded, and then it leaps on Meridith, as claws rake across her exposed face.
Meridith whistles again stowing her bow and flicking her rapier around to meet the charge. She beckons it forth, then, yanks it suddenly towards her, rapier gleaming as she seeks to bury her blade into it. Her eyes focus, her body moves with grace. The worldly concerns fade as the act of battle takes its place. (rep)
It's a tale as old as man itself. Monsters in the dark, hunting and snarling, and snapping at them. Only in this case, Miles and Meridith don't have a handy fire to back them up, just yet. The deputy grunts under the effort of getting the best at bay, but it's readily apparent he's going to get tired, eventually, or slip up. Before that can happen he tries to twist it up, and away, using it's own grip on his weapon to tug the beast to the side before letting one hand slip free. A taser is drawn up and from his duty belt, and slammed into the flank of the thing with the crackle of electricity. It may not be fire, but it's something.
"You do not have control over me!" Tabitha calls out, frozen in place when the demon slips inside of her. "I hate the whole of you! I reject the whole of you!" She seethes, "You own no part of me!" It may take some focus that she is suddenly struggling to keep, but she tries to begin a chant. The soil where the bird had been buried begins to bubble and break.
The hound on Meridith is fighting, too. When she thrusts at it it is a difficult fight -- the thing has inhuman, agile grace. Her sword leaves a wound along its flank, and then it seems to weep red blood that begins to burn. It snarls, wounded, and then it leaps on Meridith, as claws rake across her exposed face. (re)
Meridith grimaces as the thing springs atop her. She pulls her blade in a practiced motion between the creatures snapping jaws, but a claw manages to rake across her face. She bellows in anger and pain and hauls up attempting to kick the beast off of her, try to force back to her feet, or a low crouched position.
Miles' taser hits the dog on the side, and then it begins to convulse. It has a demon in it -- some piece of the eidolon or one of its servants, possessing the animal -- but it is still flesh and bone. For a moment, the very human someone is free, able to scrabble for a knife or a revolver.
Miles' taser hits the dog on the side, and then it begins to convulse. It has a demon in it -- some piece of the eidolon or one of its servants, possessing the animal -- but it is still flesh and bone. For a moment, the very human deputy is free, able to scrabble for a knife or a revolver.
The godling's strength sends the hound flying from her. She's bleeding, but it's on his back, twisting -- struggling to rise. It will regain its feet in a moment, but like her companion, Meridith for a moment has the upper hand.
Distraction, it inside causes Tabitha to speak the wrong chant, and there is a hiss from her. "No!" The redhead doubles down on her focus, speaking to Hecate, calling the Crone, the Maiden. To Valefor it would start to sound like a ritual for a mindward. To Miles and Meridith Perhaps gibberish.
Meridith springs forth, letting out a mighty cry against the storm. She glides across the ground with grace and tries to bury her blade between its ribs. Her cry seems to echo, carrying with it some mighty command of battle.
Inside the circle, it seems as if the redhead is trapped -- she is fighting the entity and the entity is fighting her. It's trying to force her towards the center of the circle, to unbury the bird, to end the spell, but it cannot. Her mind is too strong. By the same token, though -- she is fighting some inhuman thing, and cannot force it out of her. The stalemate is instants, but inside Tabitha's mind, it seems like hours.
Outside, Meridith's blade finds its home -- the dog twitches on the thing, shaking, even as from the storm-ridden sky a dozen crows begin to dive-bomb her in an orgy of black feathers and beady red eyes.
Inside the circle, a strained whisper from the portion of Legion Tabitha has trapped inside her: "Parlay," the entity breathes.
It's a terrible thing when the hound convulses and scrambles atop Miles, nobody likes to see a dog in pain. Not even one possessed by a demon. Thus, he attempts to put it out of it's misery. The taser is still pressed to it, like it's a lifeline in this storm, while Miles's free hand scrambles down for his service weapon- plucking the pistol free and jamming the muzzle between it's ribs, only then pulling the trigger.
Meridith cries out as the crows descend upon her, for a moment she panics. Then she flashes her blade up, striking air, she lets out a sharp whistle and tries to become a wall of steel, trying to fend them away from her.
BOOM. The hound's brains make a messy, red bloody mess in the Devil's Cross, and the thing convulses, limp, on top of Miles.
"Parlay," the entity inside the circle whispers to Tabitha. "What do you want, for us to part ways at this crossroads?" It is trapped. So is the redhead -- and with Legion, of course... everything is a bargain.
Gross. With a groan of effort and disgust both Miles heaves the corpse from atop him, and rolls to the side. There's a glance towards the birds that harass Meridith, and then toward the strange creature, Valefor, and Tabitha too. "You need a hand in there, Tabs?" He calls out, raising to a knee, and taking a few potshots at the birds harassing Meridith - though only while they're in the air, closer to the apex of their movements than to the young woman.
Birds circle around Meridith, now, and swords are not well suited for birds. The woman in armor slashes at them, but they are fast, agile things. Her sword seeks -- but it does not find. Miles' rifle, on the other hand? It's not a shotgun, and no one is yelling 'pull', but it's helping, winging one bird, then another... only for half the flock to split away and begin to dive on him.
Tabitha whispers out, "Get out of me ..." The words get louder, but its clear that she is strained and tired, and the fight has worn her mind and body, as much as she continues to call to Hecate to push Valefor out. Her determination may be strong, but she is weakening, too. "Stop this storm, and this attack on us. At least the storm. You seek misery to the town.. And I will not have it!" She grips her dagger tighter and then suddenly she calls to "Mother!". She plunges it into her thigh with a sudden scream of anguish, and a drop to a knee. The blood drips from her thigh to her knee, to the soil.
Meridith takes a half step back and springs across the boundary of the circle. "Miles! In!" She shouts. Her gaze shifts and she turns to rush to Tabitha's side. "We're here! Tabitha! We've got you!"
That knife plunges in, and with it there is a terrible rush of power -- Tabitha can feel it. Blood sacrifice has meaning, and as pain radiates out from her thigh every piece of that agony is given into her magic. Her scream is psychic, and as she shouts she coughs -- she doubles over, and she vomits out the mist-shape that calls itself part of Legion. It wavers there, expelled, taken aback.
Running is out of the question for Tabitha, and when she is on her hands and knees, she tries to stand, her clothing coated in red, her blood seeping into everything she wears. But, while Valefor is confused and coalescing, she croaks to Miles and Meridith, "Get me out of here, but don't disrupt the circle..."
Meridith leaps into the circle, and she nearly mars it -- it's a close thing, indeed, but her feet do not muss the circle. The piece of Legion inside the circle is wavering -- now is the time for Miles and Meridith to get Tabitha out.
Meridith nods and lifts Tabitha up unceremoniously and with little concern, moving swiftly to exit the circle.
Well, Miles's may not be a magical boy, but he's seen a Marvel movie or two in his time. He's already moving toward the circle when Meridith advises as much, hip-hoping over the line to ensure he doesn't break it. There's a single shot toward Valefor, more for his own satisfaction than anything, before the weapon is left to fall by his side, and hang from it's strap. His hands reach out for Tabitha then, assisting Meridith in lifting her.
Now Tabitha, Miles and Meridith are outside the circle, and some piece of Legion is inside it. It is beginning to regain its poise -- and when it does, it rages. Lightning cracks down again, as it rushes for the edge of the circle, trapped there inside it.
Meridith turns towards Legion. A piece of them at least. "See? I told you I knew what I was," she says bitterly. "Rage, rage all you wish, and then begone from this existence," she says in a low furious tone.
trembles in the grasp of Miles and Meridith, fear gripping her at where the entity and her were once trapped and where it rages within, unable to break the seal. "You.." Tabitha says, weak, leaning, and bloodies. "You will break this spell. And if you want to leave this barrier, you will leave Legion, as you claim to be a part of it. Without your word, it is here you will remain."
Miles leaves the taunting, and the deal making to the others, while foraging about in his duty belt for bandages. He immediately focuses on stemming the blood from Tabitha's wound, ensuring she doesn't bleed out in the act of doing good.
A low, raging look as the lightning flashes overhead. "We will end the spell," the thing says. "Lower your magics -- you cannot hold this forever," threatens that piece of Legion. "But release it, and we will make this bargain: this magic will end."
Meridith says "No. We can deal with the magic. It will wane on its own. We did not come here for that! We came here for YOU!"
"You have seen my power," Tabitha boasts, lying and making more of it. "And even if that is the case. I can for a while, and I have friends who can..." She wets her lips, tasting the salt of sweat and of the bile she'd choked up just moments earlier. "You are in a debt to us, Valefor, should we free you. You understand?"
Low, tense upset from the entity in the circle, and then the thing nods. "A debt," it agrees. "Release us, and we will release you and yours from the spell that afflicts you." Above, the crows seem to be circling higher, as if drifting away from the crossroads.
"Or we could just kill it!" Miles chuffs out, with no idea whether or not they could actually do such a thing. It's not a great feeling, putting his back toward it, while working on dressing Tabitha's wound. The hairs at the back of his neck stand up at this.
Meridith says "It doesn't exist Miles."
Meridith says "You can't slay an idea. Least while something still believes in it."
It likely knows that they cannot, and Tabitha is not going to admit that they cannot. At least, not yet? Ever? She meets the baleful eyes of the entity. "That is my deal, Valefor. To be released, break the spell, and give me your word for a debt owed to me at my own discretion."
Meridith gazes at the spirit. "Legion must be diminished. It isn't just service we seek, but a severing of your shared identity."
Inside the circle, the thing of smoke and horns and too-wide mouth step back. It stands in the center of the circle, and then it nods, slowly, at Tabitha. "You could have been our queen," it tells her. "But we agree -- and our word binds us." There is some magical finality to the statement, like a ripple of power.
Meridith scoffs. "Get your own, she's ours."
"It is a shame that you chose to follow that entity... Valefor." Tabitha says, lowly for Miles and Meridith. "I want you to leave this Legion. Be no more a part of it. Let your name no longer live on its tongue." is said louder for the trapped entity.
Tabitha murmurs lower, "One less demon name for it to spout as having consorted power with, one less for others to believe in."
Meridith nods in agreement to Tabitha.
There is a moment, then -- "Is this your debt?" The thing can sense that it is, and then it steps back. It reaches up, and it is like Scooby-Doo, pulling off a mask. That form, slim and horned, disappears into the mist, and the Black Goat smiles. "We are still here," it says to Tabitha, Miles, and Meridith. "One mask or many -- all of you belong to us." Then, with the bargain struck? The circle fades away, and with it the thing into the mist.