[OPEN]

[dracobin]

Characters: Temeraire and YOU!
Date: April 26
Location: Outside the Palace of Landed Sky
Situation: Following the attacks, Temeraire calls the nascent Keeliai Aerial Corps to investigate the palace.
Warnings/Rating: Probably injuries as a result of encountering the barrier? Other exciting developments? WE SHALL SEE.

It was at once obvious something was wrong with the palace; in hindsight, he ought to have looked to it sooner. It was only that there were so many other things to occupy one's attention, when one's friends had been injured, and one's apartment had been converted into a makeshift shelter for one's kedan neighbors, and one's console flickered alarmingly, at the edge of one's vision, so one was never entirely certain if one was seeing it or not--

But now he kept the monstrous, spiky form of the palace firmly in view as he flew, with as many of his crew as he could carry clipped onto his harness. If there was anything that could be done, he resolved to find it; it was the least he could do, after his lapse in attention.

Comments

[bindsthedead]

Sabriel was whistling as she clung to Temeraire's side, calling up a wind to lift them and blow them towards the palace. The notes echoed and lingered in the wind- it was a pleasant sound, though Sabriel couldn't forget the unpleasant reason for their flight.

[dracobin]

Temeraire turned his head slightly as he flew, a little startled by the sudden boost of wind but disinclined to complain. Difficult as it was for him to hear Sabriel's whistling over the sound of his own wings, he found the snatches he caught of it oddly calming.

It was a moment before he spoke, hesitant as he was to disrupt the spell. "Do you suppose there is anything to be done about it? --The palace, I mean; it reminds me of Han, when he was forced to fight us."

[bindsthedead]

"We'd need that special water," Sabriel said, "Or some other way of purifying it."

Sabriel didn't say that even if she baptized every foreigner and Kedan, she could find, she wasn't sure if the group would have enough power to break through the barrier.

[dracobin]

Perhaps it would have been better to dissuade Temeraire early; as it was, he craned his neck around fully, eyes wide.

"That is right: I had not thought of the water. The bottle to Kithika--surely Evandau must still have it, should he not?"

After all, he reasoned, they had only just rid it of Malicant's influence; it did not make sense to leave it out in the open again, so soon afterward.

[gathersnomoss]

Zelgadis had been busy with the hospital, but days after the attack, he'd reached the point where most people needed rest and time to heal more than anything else, assuming they didn't do things like eat rotten food. He was still tired -- having spells that could draw out water meant they would be used -- and the flight spell was unexpectedly taxing.

But, if there was things going down at the Palace, they'd need to know. So he'd answers Temeraire's summons and was now flying by the dragon.

[dracobin]

Zelgadis looked a little tired, thought Temeraire, but then, a great many people did, these days. Still, he slowed his pace incrementally, casting a concerned eye over the mage.

"Can you sense the presence of magic other than your own?" he asked. "I mean to say--of course the palace is under his influence, but perhaps there might be some hidden way in, or some entrance he has overlooked."

[gathersnomoss]

"No, I can't," Zelgadis said. "Er... I mean I can't sense magic very well, not that I can't see an opening. I can try a few spells, though."

He was getting a generally hostile feeling from the palace, but it was hard to tell if that was any magical effect or just the architecture. Generally speaking, those feelings were more useful when there wasn't an evil looking building in front of you.

[dracobin]

"Pray do," said Temeraire. "Only take care not to overexert yourself; we will need all the energy we have, if we are attacked."

He frowned a little as they drew nearer; as of yet nothing stirred within the palace or on its grounds. Not that he knew what sort of welcome he was expecting, precisely--armed guards, perhaps, or some sort of projectiles aimed their way--but he could not help but feel suspicious.

[gathersnomoss]

Zelgadis nodded. "I'm using a low power spell. I might need a second to clear the air afterward."

He cast the dark mist spell, letting the water droplets fill the air, seeing if they behaved in ways a cloud didn't. Of course, the spell was normally used to obscure things, so this wasn't an easy task.

[fearlessherosheart]

Tazendra had been doing some scouting on her own. Well, she had, but currently she was nursing a headache and bruises from running into the barrier and was now contemplating the project. When she saw the force from the air, she waved and shouted. "Well!"

She'd lifted things into the air with magic before, but never just herself, but she was interested to see what they were doing, and if they would have more luck than she would.

[dracobin]

Movement near the ground caught Temeraire's eye: Tazendra, waving her arms and shouting. Evidently he was not the only one to have had the idea of looking into the palace. It was good news; at the very least, they would have more to go on if they shared what they knew of the situation.

He dropped down to meet her with a flick of his wings, landing beside her with a thump. "Hullo, Tazendra; how long have you been here?"

[fearlessherosheart]

"Since this morning. It is quite a curious change, and I am nearly certain the sorcerous barrier is new. I had not occasion to enter the palace before."

After all, it seemed a normal precaution that could have been triggered. Or it could be cast by the enemy. Either way, Tazendra wanted to take it down and find out what was going on.

[dracobin]

"A barrier?" Temeraire looked up, pupils widening as he took in the sight. "No, that was certainly not there before: I must have entered the palace half a dozen times, and never gone through anything of the sort--but then, of course, the palace was not under attack, at the time."

It was not as if it would be unusual--and perhaps it had been a sort of failsafe, to protect the palace, should Malicant come again. But it clearly had not worked, and now Temeraire was not sure if it was now meant to keep everyone else out, or seal something in.

"Can it be broken, do you think?" he offered. "Or ought it?"

[fearlessherosheart]

"Any barrier can be broken," Tazendra said. "However, there are two methods, strength and cunning. It does seem to be stronger than my first attempts."

At least after a couple of faints she's stopped trying to physically probe the barrier. And the guards presumably have decided it's more interesting to annoy Tazendra by refusing to respond to her attempts to pick a fight than to haul her off.

[kazilik]

Iskierka was not far behind, of course --though worried about her own crew, she, too, was feeling somewhat guilty about her lack of foresight. It would not be wise to burn down the palace, not at all, but she was sorely tempted to do so.

"What shall I do, Temeraire?" she says, turning to look at him inquisitively. "I shall, of course, fight anything we encounter, and likely win; that sounds the safest course."

[dracobin]

"I do not think our enemy is the sort to be fought with fire," said Temeraire, distractedly: arguing more for the principle of the thing, than for any particular reason. For all he knew, it might be some key weakness, and they did not know it yet.

"But you might sweep the sky before us with a little flame," he added, after a moment, "in case there is anything hidden ahead of us, which we cannot see."

[kazilik]

"There is always something that can be fought with fire," Iskierka replied snipping, lashing her tail as she turned to give Temeraire a skeptical look. "Though I suppose you are right, flame will scare anyone out towards us quite nicely."

[dracobin]

"Just because they can be fought does not mean they should," said Temeraire, "especially when we do not know whom our enemy might send out against us. He is capable of turning people's minds against them: I should not like to hurt anyone, if they are not in the right state of mind."

Not that anything of the sort appeared to be happening, at the moment: the walls of Fire Sector were soon behind them, and the spiky mass of the palace loomed ahead.

"We should have known," he said, after a moment, "of course the bombs would have been a distraction, to pull our attention away from the palace. But Evandau of all people ought not have been unprepared."

[solo_patria]

Enjolras, pushing his darker thoughts aside for now, was, of course, with Iskierka as he, too, peered out at the palace, looking for any signs of danger. Keeping his footing was still something of a challenge, even as he'd gotten practice in, but even so, he was making sure to check on the others of the crew, questioning them as to anything they might have noticed too.

"I've yet to find anything." He called to the others, a frown crossing his face. "Has anyone else managed it?"

[kazilik]

"I know just as much as you do," Iskierka replied, somewhat snippily. "If we might get closer, I would know more, but I must be cautious with you and the others aboard." What she wouldn't give for some of her old crew back -- though the new recruits were welcome, of course, they were still not dreadfully adept at being aboard a steaming, spiky dragon.

[solo_patria]

"Of course you must." Enjolras agreed, hoping he had not offended. It would not suit very well for Iskierka's Lieutenant to have upset her, after all. "I merely wondered if...your vision seems to be better than ours." He explained.

"But no, I do see what you mean. We would not want to go closer and have someone manage to fall, after all." The consequences of that would be beyond awful.

sorry to jump in unannounced!

[strategisch]

"Dear gods..."

What in the world had happened? Peering over Temeraire's scaled shoulder, the palace had turned not only impregnable, but downright ominous while he wasn't looking. The... decor absolutely screamed Malicant, as did every other disaster that had happened in the past few weeks, but where in the world did he muster the power to accomplish this? Wasn't the Palace supposed to be a protected area?

"Take care, I would not fly too close, or even overhead. I hope Han had time to escape..."

the more the merrier! \o/

[dracobin]

"I do not see him," said Temeraire worriedly, coming to a stop some distance from the palace and rotating his wings in a steady hover. "But he must have got out in time; I hardly think he would fit inside the palace."

And if he was not, well, their little band was hardly an army, but they might do some damage, might they not? "There must be some way of getting in."

[strategisch]

"It would be terrible if he were to be taken again, only just having escaped Kithika in the first place."

Not to mention Han was a large, powerful magic being, and could certainly cause damage if he were being controlled. But he had wings; he had to have gotten away at some point. Armin shakes his head.

"We'll see, but we'll do it carefully. What the Enemy wants is casualties. We won't be giving Him any."

[dracobin]

"At least he is smaller now," said Temeraire, "and less likely to level all of Keeliai at a blow."

Not that it was any sort of consolation; he counted Han as a friend, and Armin was right: it would be a terrible thing, to fall under Malicant's influence again.

"Perhaps if I were to throw something at the palace, to see what would happen," he suggested. "A rock, perhaps, or something softer?"