Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Rainforest

[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