Hylltywyll was furious. He'd just helped her, brought her maids back to give her a fighting chance in this battle, and this was what she did in return? Let herself get skewered and then sick their enemy on him? He'd make sure she never lived down their deal. Letting herself be defeated had no bearing on their agreement and Hylltywyll had already fulfilled his part of the bargain. She owed him now. Making an enemy out of him in such a situation only proved her even more of a fool than he already knew she was.

Dietrich looked at his compass, the needle pointing almost directly behind him. He didn't care about the woman he'd been battling moments ago or the maids carrying her away. Not anymore. His sole focus was on the small Fae he'd been targeting from the beginning. The one that so far had cost him both of his subordinates by tricking Tombo and he still didn't even know what he'd done to Bettie. All he knew was he had heard muffled screaming coming from below the ground.

Cold iron rapier in his right hand and magic compass in his left, Dietrich began to run toward Hylltywyll. He couldn't see him, the Fae hidden in the shadows, but he could tell where he was thanks to the compass.

Hylltywyll growled in anger and annoyance. He already knew the Fae hunter had countermeasures for direct magical attacks. That shield was a pain. But that was fine. Hylltywyll didn't specialize in direct attacks anyways.

He raised a hand and focused his light magic. In front of Dietrich, a form of light suddenly materialized and then solidified, the light dimming down and revealing... Another Dietrich.

A perfect copy of the Fae hunter stood facing him, but mirrored. In its left hand was the rapier and in its right hand, the compass. The scars, damage to his armor, the dirt on his pants. All of it was switched to the opposite side like he was standing in front of a mirror. The magic duplicate moved exactly as he did, reflecting all of his movements.

Dietrich didn't slow his charge. He ran forward, swinging his rapier at the copy of himself, not caring for the Fae magic. The mirror image did the same charging at him and swinging its own rapier. The tips collided and bounced back. Dietrich tried to simply go around it, ducking to get under its arm, but it did exactly the same as him.

The two foreheads collided and they both fell backwards. However, there was now one difference between the two. The mirror image made the same facial expressions, but its forehead was unharmed. Meanwhile, Dietrich felt his forehead burning as if he'd been lying in the sun all day. His forehead was the angry red of a serious sunburn.

"Fuck!" He cursed out loud, the mirror image copying the movement of his lips but making no sound of its own.

---

Hylltywyll's Mirror Mimic

The hand slapping her face stirred her from slumber, but it was the hand pressing into her chest to stop the bleeding that really woke her up. Gwendolyn coughed, spattering blood on Jess’s cheeks. “Ewww” The newer maid whined, before Milli told her to shut it. Her main priority was getting Gwen out of here alive. The contract she had signed, they had all signed to indenture themselves to the Mystwuds in exchange for magic specified that much. It was every maids responsibility to ensure their master survived, no matter what.



Gwen’s hand reached up, caressing Millicent's face, and mouthed “I’m Sorry” before the gentle stroke turned into a grasp. The magic drained from her soul, siphoned through an iron grip into her master. She saw a look of panic on Jess’s face, though Mori’s remained as content as ever. The last thing she saw before the world went black was Gwen taking a writhing, haggard breath. All part of the job. (1)



Millicent’s unconscious body collapsed onto the ground as Gwen sat up with a start. The air was cold in her lungs, Jess sat before her staring in horror. “I’ll make it up to you” her master said, as the young maiden turned to try and run. Gwendolyn grabbed the back of her collar, and brought the other hand to hover over the womans solar plexus. The magic drained from her was sweet, untouched, and pure. Jessica passed out, and her master lowered her limp body to the ground with care.



She closed her eyes and exhaled dramatically. The vapor of excess magic was visible leaving her mouth like breath on a cool winter night. The hole in her chest had closed, it’s only remnant a small tear in her dress, and a trail of blood down her back. Gwen got to her feet with Mori’s assistance, the feline maid none too fazed about all that had happened so far. Her back arched, and Gwen let out an otherworldly cackle.



“I HOPE YOU FEEL THIS FAIRY. I HOPE IT FEELS GOOD. MAY IT BE THE LAST SUCCOR YOU RECEIVE IN THIS LIFE, BECAUSE YOU, AND ALL WHO HELP YOU ARE MINE. I-“



“Shut it girl” Siathriah whispered, her catlike form stood on Gwendolyns shoulder like she had been there the entire time. In reality, the patroness had popped over as soon as her conduit was back up to see just what in the hells was going on with all of her magic. “Your mouth is writing checks I don’t want you to cash.”
Major Vampiric Healing x2
Gwendolyns summoning pact: Light Fae Siathriah

"I think you don't understand your situation. We made a deal, and I've fulfilled my part of that deal while you haven't. You owe me, and you've set the Fae hunter on me. Are you connecting the dots yet?" Hylltywyll's voice asked in Gwen's ear, a silent fury audible in his much quieter than usual voice.

He wasn't just angry. He was beyond furious. How she could think she owned him in her situation, he had no idea. Her foolishness seemed to know no bounds, as she proved again and again. Making a deal with a Fae and then immediately making that Fae angry at her. Was she trying to provoke him?

Hylltywyll crept through the shadows, Dietrich distracted with the mirror mimic he'd created. With a wave of his hand, the compass revealing his location disappeared from Dietrich's hand as if it had never existed. The Fae hunter looked to his now empty hand with a mix of surprise and anger, but couldn't do anything about it. With that taken care of, Hylltywyll didn't have to worry about being tracked any longer. He could escape from here.

But first, he needed to show Gwen a reminder of who was holding the power in their deal now.

The shadow of a massive sea creature emerged from the ground directly in front of Gwen, swimming up into the air above her for a moment, before dissolving into black seafoam. Objects began to fall to the ground, raining down on Gwen and her maids. Coins, bits of clothing, a crossbow and some cold iron bolts. All that remained of Bettie and her equipment. The items embedded themselves into the dirt around the group. Whatever method she was using to track Hylltywyll before was apparently different from Dietrich as no compass could be seen among the scattered items.

---

Mind Parasite
One With the Shadows
Remove From Existence

The monstrosity dissolved above them. Gwendolyn stared up, slackjawed at the sight. Mori didn’t seem to notice, and Siathriah gave a general unimpressed vibe whilst still staring into the darkness of the trees.



Things had certainly gone out of hand since Siathriah had last been able to scry through Gwendolyns eyes. Her servant was covered in blood, drained and then filled of magic, had drained two of her subordinates, and made a pact with some random fairy in the woods. Not to mention the fae hunter that was currently busy fighting with himself. Another of Gwen’s messes to clean it would seem. She would start with the easiest problem to deal with.



“Dietrich, leave us. Get as far away from here as you can and do not return. We are done.” The many eyed fae exile shouted to the woods. The leader of the late fae hunters stood straight against his mirror image, saluting himself, and bolted off into the woods. Oddly enough, though expected, the shimmering copy bolted alongside the man, accompanying him deep into the darkness of the night.



“Now, Fairy. I know that you can hear me through my subordinate here. Give me your name, and we shall come to an agreement.” She hissed through her wide, smiling maw. “I will permit that my subject overstepped, and offer an apology in her stead.” Gwendolyn looked down, her fervent hysteria now only turned into shame in her patrons presence. This was absolutely like her father forcing her to apologize to the auctioneer for tipping over a vase. 

Hylltywyll gave the cat an even more unimpressed look.

"Did you really think I'd fall for that old trick? Only someone as stupid as your subordinate would fall for that." He scoffed. "You can't have my name, it belongs to me. And the deal was with her, not you. She's the one who owes me, needs to come to an agreement with me, and she's the one that needs to apologize to me herself."

He watched Dietrich run off into the trees along with his mirror image. He furrowed his brow in annoyance. He wanted the Fae hunter dead, and now this dumb cat had made him run off, still alive. She was as annoying as the snotty noblewoman she called her subordinate. A match made in hell that he didn't want to deal with any longer.

Hylltywyll sneered at the cat and raised a claw up. He plucked at the air and Gwen and her Fae patron could both feel something between them snap like a thread being cut. Another pluck, another snap. Hylltywyll watched, as through his eyes, he could see the formulae arcanum for the spell allowing the Fae being to manifest on Gwen's shoulder being unwritten. With each pluck, he pulled one more character out of the formulae, making it less and less stable. This was a powerful spell, but it would break like any other.

---

Continuum Shatter

Siathriahs many eyes narrowed at the indignation of this lowly fae. She had been away from the courts for too long, her influence had certainly waned significantly. Though it stood to reason, this little runt had no idea who he was messing with.



“Fine. I will do you the favour of allowing my subordinate to apologize. Gwendolyn, speak.”



“I…I’m sorry.” She said, voice cracking with nervousness. She could hardly move, the imposing presence her patron was exuding was overriding her motor functions. Even her breath was tied to how often the fae feline on her shoulder was breathing.



“Unfortunately it would seem that she did indeed agree to an exchange. I would be willing to offer the favour you now owe in exchange for hers. Unless you would like to sign a similar contract as her? An exile court for misbegottens such as yourself? You’re welcome by the way.”



The magic plucking at the projection she displayed was rather annoying. It would take a week to untangle all the strings connecting herself and Gwendolyn were he to actually sever them. She could just order Gwendolyn to return to the manor as soon as possible to repair them, but it would hinder her efforts in the capitol. She would have to manipulate this cretin to leave it alone.



“What do you say. We can end this amicably, I can even recall Deitrich and instruct him to give up the chase. I seem to be capable of quite a few favours that could benefit you.”



It may have been short sighted to send a Fae hunter to retrieve the mumbling armour before it could reveal it’s message. Whatever entity that it seemed to be warning of had the potential to reinstate her in the World of Wonder… it was worth whatever price to be paid.

"You think your subordinate apologizing for themself counts as a favor? You really are pretentious aren't you? I don't owe you anything. You have no favors of mine to exchange for hers. If you want to take her debt on for her, then you would owe me still, and I would have much higher expectations from another Fae than I would for a human, even if that Fae is a stuck up reject like you. If you don't want to take her debt on, then you can be quiet. And being quiet wouldn't count as doing me a favor either." Hylltywyll responded bluntly.

There was no mirth in his voice, no enjoyment of playing a trick or making a deal. He was in full business mode now that he was annoyed and dealing with another Fae. He would make her know that he wasn't to be taken lightly. He wouldn't be cheated out of his deal by such a pathetically petty attempt as that one. Who did this cat think she was, trying to pull that bullshit on him? Tricking people into deals was one of his greatest talents. Second only to his amazing skills in magic. This cat Fae was nothing to him.

He reached up and plucked another bit of formulae arcanum, tangling the strings holding the Fae to her subordinate. As he did so, he stared at the cat with an entirely unimpressed look in his eyes.

"I'm not so easily tricked as you seem to think I am. If you continue to think you're better than me, then I doubt this conversation will get either of us anywhere. I can deal with Dietrich on my own now that he's alone and without that annoying compass. You reek of Fae who got into the court of wonder once and then thought they were better than everyone else because of it. You know they've elected inanimate objects before, don't you? Getting into the court isn't that great an accomplishment to speak of."

Pluck. Another invisible string attaching Gwen and the cat snapped. Hylltywyll's finger curled, his nail resting on the final bit of formulae he would need to scratch away to fully break the spell, waiting.

“Oh you’re an easy one aren’t you. A yappy little puppy barking through the fence at things they can’t understand. Unlike insignificant little dogs like you, I don’t do tricks for free. You should find it a favour that I deem you annoying enough to acknowledge.” The widemawed feline shot back with a grin. She was oh so very under his skin, and she loved it. Like wearing a mink scarf that babbled in her ears. Though, the court comment was uncalled for. Indignation like this was to be expected of rabble, throwing refuse from below at those they couldn’t hope to touch in this lifetime.



“Gwendolyn, would you so kindly take care of this situation. I would like the camp to be summoned here posthaste. Also, drink that little potion I gave you.” Siathriah whispered into her thralls mind, before returning to address the gremlin in the forest. Gwendolyn nodded, pulling two potions out of her pouch before downing them both. One was black, tarry in texture, and slid down like molasses while the other, silvery and roiling with energy slid down far easier. She clutched her chest, an intense crushing pain radiating from her heart, and held out her right hand. Magic swirled in her palm, and a point of a finger threw it into the forest between her and the researchers campsite. Gwendolyn collapsed onto the ground, foam exuding from her mouth, and “W…Wolfe…” escaping her lips with one last breath. She could feel confusion through the ring on her outstretch hand grasping at the dirt, before everything turned to black.



“Oh well, you can stop plucking at my magic already, your grubby little paws are messing with the finish. I’ll be taking my leave, have fun prying a favour from a corpse. I’m sure the four guilds in the camp would be enthralled with whatever story you have to sell them. Tata, you may pray we don’t cross paths again. Mori, make sure the caskets are yew and not some lesser wood.”



Mori knelt off to the side of the mumbling knights armour, inspecting the curious piece. her form bouncing back up to standing once she was addressed, only returning a cheery thumbs up to the slowly disappearing patroness. The wind in the woods began to pick up, leaves and sticks blown around the clearing as a loud howl began to echo throughout the forest. Gwendolyn's last gift, a loud ass tornado to wake the entire research camp.
Light Fae: Telepathy
Cadavaberry Potion

Crafted



A Potion that drops the imbibers heartrate down to near imperceptible levels, putting them in a temporary state of suspended animation. Drinkers will be perceived as dead to all besides an expert. Affects that target an undead will not apply to the drinker of this potion. Has two uses per topic.
Potion of Storms: Call Tornado
Mori: Thumbs up
Jess: Unconscious
Millicent: Unconscious
Gwen: Dead
Siathriah: Unsummoned

The corners of Hylltywyll's mouth lifted slightly at the indignant response from the annoying cat. If anyone was getting under anyone's skin here, it seemed the little gremlin had gotten under the cat's. Calling him a dog. Ha. Didn't she know that dogs ate cats? He looked at the cat with a smug smile of his own.

"Heh. A corpse." He replied sarcastically as he watched her fade away, ending the spell on her own. Or almost ending it on her own. Maybe it was a little petty of him, but he found it quite enjoyable to pluck the last bit of formulae from the spell and leave the strings in a tangle just before she could disappear or give a retort to his words. She'd no doubt have to take some time to undo that, and just knowing that gave him some satisfaction.

Now, about that tornado. He looked at the tornado beginning to form that would have woken up the entire camp with all the noise. That wouldn't do. Not when he still had business to attend to. With a snap of Hylltywyll's fingers, the spell petered out and dispersed into nothing in an instant.

He looked down at the "corpse". Time to pry that deal from it.

"Playing dead won't work on me. I can see the mana running through your body. I know you're still alive, and you won't get out of our deal by faking your death."

Hylltywyll looked at the last remaining conscious maid and locked eyes with her. A subtle flash of violet lit his cyan pupils for just a second, but that second was all it took.

"Wake her up." He commanded the maid, pointing a finger at Gwen, and she obeyed, charmed by his magic.

---

Continuum Shatter
Counterspell
Vampiric Heritage-Chaos Touched
Powerful Presence

Mori’s blank look turned quite serious at the command. She offered a quick salute, before quickly kneeling at her masters side. This was certainly the second worse shape she had seen Gwendolyn in, the first she was sworn never to reveal. (it was a bachellorette party in the Capitol last year). The feline-kin deftly took some gloves from her waistbelt, snapping on the white gloves as though she were to perform a medical procedure.



Gwendolyn could hardly breath. Whether that was an effect of the potion, or the fact she was lying face down in mud, who was to say. She certainly couldnt open her eyes as all of this was going on. She could feel hands shaking her back, before lifting her torso up by her armpits. Glimpses of blue light entered her eyelids as Mori jostled her around, shaking the noblewoman like a toddler with a doll. Her neck hung limply and her arms flailed loosely with the movement. The fuck was Mori doing.



Mori looked up at the fae before her, offering a shrug before threading her arms underneath Gwens and grabbing onto her wrists. The scene that followed would be extremely morbid if this noblewoman were actually dead. Mori sat behind her master, and lifted her arms as if they were her own. It was a macabre display of puppetry with a supposed corpse as the marionette. Something that would surely get laughs at some middle class theatre play. The maid lifted her masters right arm, offering the fae a limp wave as she manipulated the limp head to try and imitate life.



Gwendolyn was furious. When she got out of this crap Mori would be cleaning the dungeons with a fucking toothbrush.

Hylltywyll chuckled at the maid's manhandling of the prissy noblewoman. He could tell if she was conscious of what was happening to her right now, she wouldn't be happy about it. Humiliating her just a little was fun, and she deserved it for trying to pull one over on him. This was a great opportunity.

"Heh. How about another deal, little miss corpse? You can pay me... ten years of your youth. Not like you'll need it when you're dead. And in exchange, I could give you this cool, refreshing snowball. How about it? Is it a deal?" Hylltywyll said tauntingly, holding his hand up where a ball of snow quickly materialized.

He glanced at the maid, who in turn puppeted the limp Gwen's head to nod up and down. Hylltywyll smiled mischievously and tossed the snowball lightly. It sailed in an arc through the air, coming down right onto Gwen's face.

"You're supposed to catch with your hand, not your face. Or does that cat of yours make you act like her dog? Oh well. A deal's a deal you know." He said with a shrug.

The entire time, he watched Gwen closely, looking for her to move on her own.

If her face was capable of carrying blood at the moment it would be bright red with anger. Now the bastard was signing deals on his own terms. Annoying pest, she would absolutely crush this little gremlin into the ground. But right now, She had to wait. Mori was doing as expected, enjoying her little puppet show whilst waving her masters arms around. All she had to do was wait…



The snow dripped from her face, cleaning it slightly. An eyelid opened slightly with the impact revealled the creature had come out of the woods. Frustratingly, it would seem that the twister had failed to attract any onlookers. Cmon Mori, a little more to the left, she thought as the maid mimed her master pretending to be a dog. There was a significant amount of doubt as to how much of this exactly she was being controlled to do. But, alas, her patience paid off. The corner of her eye showed a chance alignment, between her arm and the little bastards scrawny legs.



Activate



She thought, breaking the potions trance with a surge of mana and empowering the sigils on her gloves. A vacuum with the force of a hurricane brought in air towards her open palm, sucking in dust and debris, and hopefully a little fae man. Gwens eyes filled with malice as the feeling returned to her body.

Gauntlets of the Howling Gale (Sold, but i'm still in a bunch of threads with them)



3pts/MAT



A pair of blue steel gauntlets that are worn on the hands and cover the forearms. These gauntlets can fire out a small blast of wind, knocking back an enemy up to 10 feet, or can be used to summon a gust of wind towards you, pulling an enemy within ten feet towards you. This can also be used to knock away ranged projectiles. Has no effect on spells. Once used the wind function can not be used again for three post.

"Hey you, you're finally awake." Hylltywyll said as he saw suddenly burst into motion.

He raised an eyebrow as some magical runes on her gauntlets lit up. As it wasn't actually her casting a spell, the formulae arcanum wasn't displayed. It must have been the gauntlets with some enchantment built into them. He could feel the air suddenly start to whip past him toward her open hand, attempting to drag him forward.

"Hmph!" Hyltywyll huffed with a scowl on his face. Did she think he couldn't counter her magic just because it was coming from an item? So naive. She really underestimated him again and again. Like her feline master. It was getting on his nerves.

He waved his hand and the vacuum ceased in an instant. The runes on the gauntlets dimmed and then vanished entirely, the enchantment erased along with any enchantments on any of the rest of her belongings.

"Are you done? So quick to resort to violence. Are you sure you're a noblewoman? Aren't nobles supposed to have manners? What did you even think pulling me toward you was going to accomplish? Is your plan to get out of our deal by killing me? You'll have a harder time doing that than just doing whatever I might ask you to do as your favor."

He looked at the maid and silently commanded her to let go of Gwen and come stand in front of him. He could tell his control over her was going to end fairly soon, but not before he made sure she wasn't going to be able to rejoin her master's side in this conflict. As soon as she was standing with her back to him, he took the opportunity to clamp his jaw around her ankle. The moment he seemed to be harming her, his charm on her dropped, but it was already too late. The magic flowed out of her, into Hylltywyll, until she lowered herself to the ground and lost consciousness.

Hylltywyll looked back to Gwen with a smug grin. Now it was just the two of them, face to face.

"Now, let's talk, huh? Want to know something fun that I'd bet your little patron never told you?"

---

Enchant This
Wicked Desires

She watched from her position prone on the ground as Mori succumbed to the creatures power. The feline was her last hope, and she was now truly alone. She could barely move, but still, her arms attempted to lift her body off of the dirt. Is this how she would die? Covered in mud, blood, and sweat? Incapable of even the attempt of resistance to the inevitable. Her eyes met the creatures, he was saying something but all that resounded in her ears was the thump of her heart and ringing. A second or so brought it back into focus, and she conjured up the will to spit the blood in her mouth at his feet in response.



“You all think… you’re so much…better than us. All of you.” Gwen offered, deep raspy breaths interrupting her speech. “Despite all this…Despite our failures… you’re wrong.”



The strength in her arm evaporated, a soft thump echoed around the glen as her body fell once more. The suit of armour the only indifferent witness, though even it’s record of the events here were no more than incoherent.



“I don’t care… whatever you have… to say, meaningless… might as well… just kill me.”

"Tch." Hylltywyll clicked his tongue in annoyance, his brow furrowed.

She really planned to be so obnoxiously defiant that she even refused to listen to information that was helpful to her. Well fine, in that case he wouldn't tell her anything. She didn't deserve to know what he knew.

"Oh, what I had to say had more meaning than you thought, but never mind then. I'll just keep it to myself." He said as he walked over to Gwen's side and used her skirt to wipe the blood off of his bird-like feet. He wanted to punish her for that, but he was sure any punishment he gave would either be less than she deserved or it really would turn her into the corpse she so badly desired to be. He had no intention of letting her die though.

"Why would I kill you? Then I wouldn't get that favor you owe me. That'd be a bad deal for me. I think I'll wait and ask for that favor later. You don't seem up to anything at the moment." He taunted as he walked around to stand in front of her again, just out of reach if she was hiding enough strength to move her arm again.

"There's something odd about you. I saw you bite that guy, and your maids. Do you need to drink magic to heal?" He asked, noting the odd, very unladylike behavior of the noble lady. He could recognize it as very similar to some of his own tendencies now. The need to consume the magic of others, the inability to heal his body without a fresh meal. It was quite a burden, especially when he has such powerful healing magic. Being able to use it on anyone but himself was seriously annoying. Damn frog. At least there were some benefits he'd discovered since being cursed.

"Need a snack? Maybe I could give you one, but, oh yeah, I guess that'd be another favor. You'd rather die, huh?"