Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Rainforest

[Harry Dresden]

Harry Dresden emerged from the Ashen Steppes gate and immediately regretted his decisions, having gone straight from the hot, arid Steppes into the hot, driving rain on the other side of the gate. The wizard spluttered, as it felt like someone had upended a bucket of water over his head, before shaking out his shield bracelet and calling a disc of force into being above his head. It was a wasteful thing to do with magic, but he couldn't see for the rain at first. Still, this wasn't sustainable; running water drains magic, after all, and rain has a similar effect. Stepping away from the gate and under the cover of the nearest big, leafy tree he couldn't really identify, Harry let the shield fall and set to work summoning an umbrella, drawing the rainbow-bubble of Omnilium out of his hand and shaping it with his will. He was getting soaked anyway, since it took so long, but better to have it and keep the rain mostly off of him while he walked; he'd dry out eventually, and he needed to conserve energy; the rain would make it hard to cast spells, though not impossible. Anything to spare magical energy was a good thing, even if the dense forest precluded the summoning of a vehicle. A mount might be more useful, but then Harry would have to deal with riding an animal. He could; he'd ridden horses often at Ebenezer's farmstead, but he was fairly out of practice. It would be much easier, if less speedy, to just start walking.

Not that Harry knew much about where he'd be walking, just that he needed to head to the east, locate a river, and follow it southward until he came across civilization of some kind. His musing about directions and methods of travel was cut short by the sudden halt to the summoning process, leaving the wizard clutching a simple black umbrella, which he promptly opened. Facing directly away from the gate, the wizard began his trek into the trackless jungle, searching for the Animus River that would lead him somewhere new. Of course, nothing's ever really simple, and, unbeknownst to the wizard, a creature soon picked up his trail and began hunting him, the vibrant purple lizard with its colorful frill slowly closing in on the unsuspecting Chicago native.

Sure, it was just a Great Jaggi, but even that lowly monster could pose a threat to an unprepared individual, and Harry was not yet aware of his hunter.

Not that he'd be overly concerned with the Jaggi if he did know what they were, and that one was after him. They're rather disappointing specimens, honestly.

[Harry Dresden]

This place seems too quiet.

Harry thought this, despite knowing that he wasn't exactly an expert on rainforests. The last time he'd been in one, he'd been after a large gathering of Red Court vampires, so the eerie stillness was accounted for by the presence of not only a large number of apex predator vampires, but the Leanansidhe herself. His fairy godmother was an absolutely terrifying woman, after all. Throw in the presence of his fledgling vampire girlfriend, Susan, and then Blackstaff Ebenezer McCoy showing up late to the party, and the quiet then was natural. Then again, maybe rainforests were always like this. He'd never been in one when it was loud and vibrant, but this quiet still set the hair on the back of his neck to standing. It felt wrong. And this time, he knew that he wasn't part of the reason for it. After all, a wizard with a staff in one hand and a black umbrella in the other might be some cause for concern among those who knew what a properly prepared wizard could do with just about anything, but it didn't scare the wildlife into silence. That right belonged to predators who were genetically predisposed to kill whatever forest occupants they felt they could eat.

Still, the Great Jaggi had come upon his trail so late that it took a full hour of trudging in a generally eastward direction for it to catch up with Harry, counting the time it took the large lizard to rally its pack of lesser Jaggi and Jaggia and set off after tasty bipedal prey. The wizard had just stepped into a small clearing when the ululating howl of the Jaggi pack made him freeze momentarily, his instincts screaming at him to flee even as his rational mind asserted that this could be some kind of trap. The edges of the clearing slowly populated with purple and orange dinosaurs, heralding the arrival of their pack leader; the Great Jaggi was obviously in charge, being several times bigger than even the largest of the Jaggia and bearing a highly imposing, brightly colored frill that flared as it howled at Harry again. This proved to be the signal, as the clearing exploded into motion on all sides, lesser Jaggi leading the charge along with a number of Jaggia.

The wizard's umbrella left his hand, falling to the floor, forgotten, as he drove his staff into the ground and shouted; "Defendarius!" The spell took effect just as the first Jaggi pounced, and Harry felt a small drain on his stamina from the impact, followed by a slower, but steady drain as the driving rain eroded the abjuration. Thankfully, the wizard had a solution to fighting in rain. Not an elegant, magical solution, but a solution nonetheless. He rummaged through the pocket of his coat with his free hand, brushing aside a couple speed loaders and pulling out a Smith and Wesson Model 29. He dropped the shield as the last Jaggia rebounded off of the sparkling field of force, and fired once at it.

Now, a master marksman Harry was not, but the Jaggia that had just tried to hit him was still very close and recoiling from the impact. The .44 round impacted with the lizard's head with its signature thunderous bang, dropping it to the ground, stone dead. He turned and shot twice more, at two of the lesser Jaggi, dropping them with body shots; not dead, but wounded badly enough to take them out of the fight. The remainder of the lizards backed off slightly at the prey's bite, looking nervously at the Great Jaggi for encouragement. For now, the wizard had created a lull in the attack, one that he himself broke by firing the remaining three rounds straight at Boss Lizard. One shot pierced the frill, causing superficial damage. The next impacted with a painful-looking, but ultimately also superficial, spray of red on the creature's chest, with the final shot deflecting off a bony head plate. Without a free hand to reload, and with his hopes of ending this with his gun, and quickly, dashed, Harry dropped the revolver into his pocket and locked eyes with the large predator, leveling his staff at the lizard just as it began to howl the attack again. He called on Winter magic without even a conscious thought, not remembering that he was supposed to be avoiding relying on the power given to him by Mab in the heat of the moment. "Infriga! Forzare!" Freezing airborne moisture was trivial, given that there was so much of it; his ice magic would probably come easiest here despite the hot temperatures, just because of the ready availability of water. The burst of force propelled the hunk of ice at the Great Jaggi, cutting off its howl with a heavy impact that drove the wind from its figurative sails. The lesser lizards appeared to be backing off for the moment, perhaps viewing this as a fight between two pack leaders as the Knight's Mantle exuded its own predatory aura, challenging the authority of the creature that would dare attempt to claim it as prey.

Using a post of Winter Knight's Mantle, 3/4 SP remaining

[Harry Dresden]

Harry faced down the Great Jaggi, left hand drawing his blasting rod from his coat. He shook his left arm to make sure his shield bracelet cleared his duster sleeve, as Winter instincts pulsed in time with his heartbeat, chilling his blood even as his heart rate rose with the adrenaline rush. This overgrown frill lizard thought it could challenge him, make Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, the Winter Knight, its prey? It would pay for that transgression. The Wizard waited for the Jaggi to make the first move, and it didn't keep him waiting long, closing this distance between them with a leaping bite. Harry was ready for that, though; his left arm was already extended forward, and the Winter Knight formed a disc-shaped shield just as the monster's jaws were about to close on the outstretched limb. Instead of teeth biting flesh, the Jaggi recoiled from biting the disc of pure force. With a voice as cold as ice, Harry dropped the shield and followed with his next spell; "Fuego."

The wizard pulled on the ambient heat, ripping it from the area to compensate for the slow drain of running water. Ice crystals fell to the ground with a tinkling like windchimes, shattering harmlessly on the forest floor, as a gout of fire spread like a shotgun blast from the end of Harry's blasting rod. The Jaggi's scales were discolored where tongues of flame had burned it badly, and from the rasping hiss it offered him in return its insides had been similarly damaged. It wasn't out of the fight yet, though; it didn't waste any time before spinning and slamming its unburned hip into the wizard, sending him flying into a tree a few feet away. Harry impacted the unforgiving wood with a loud thump and an indistinct shout of pain and frustration. Only a lifetime of experience being thrown around by people and things bigger than him let him keep his grip on his staff and blasting rod. The Great Jaggi lunged at him once again, and Harry rolled away from the next bite, still too dazed to muster a spell. The monster spun once more, slamming the wizard into another tree, and this time his staff fell from his hands as his right shoulder hit the trunk before the rest of him with a resounding crack.

Some dispasionate part of Harry noted that it was a dislocation even as Winter cold seeped into the now-limp limb to numb the pain. He certainly knew what those felt like. He'd dislocated most of the little bones in his hand once, on purpose nonetheless. The great brute wasted its time howling its victory, giving Harry time to marshal a retort before it leapt at him again. "Burn, you stupid dinosaur. Pyrofuego!" The roar of an inferno filled Harry's ears as the massive conflagration caught the Jaggi midair, hurling it backwards and up through the trees. The badly burned corpse crashed through the forest canopy as its lesser cousins fled from the blast and the ensuing fire. Harry managed to struggle to his feet, pocketing his blasting rod and retrieving his staff. He could put that arm back in its socket, but he'd also just started a forest fire with his snap-decision counterattack. "Should've used an ice spell." A burning limb cracked off the tree the Jaggi body had impacted even as Harry made to leave. Surely that river couldn't be too much further. Once he found it, and some water, he could fix his shoulder. Until then, he'd just have to try and keep it steady.

Back near the flames, a Jaggia tripped over a discarded umbrella before scurrying away from the scary cold-fire man-thing.

Used Pyrofuego. 2/4 SP left today.