WINTER WONDERHELL[EVENT|Aliannah&Elias]

Knight of the Aurora

Two days had barely even passed and a healthy dusting of snow already covered the streets of Magnolia town. Yet the near-constant festivities not only seemed to keep themselves up in the face of the rapidly-plummeting temperatures, but they seemed to even be growing. Tiny light lacrimas of green, red, white, and all sorts of brilliant jewel-tones now lined every building in the town and soft tones of white, orange, and yellow flooded the streets during the night. Laughter and hot chocolate flowed freely and so did the gift-giving. Elias ended up having to dip into his meagre savings for a winter outfit of his own. Brown boots, multi-use but otherwise nice with an ankle cut. Long-johns under a pair of forest green pants, a bit of a looser fit, otherwise fine. They matched well with a low crew-cut blue sweater and dark grey overcoat. Finished off with a simple black scarf he’d found in a corner stall. Normally Elias hated using black in any of his clothing, but tiny snowflakes stiched of silver threads patterned each end. He had shelled out a small fortune for the thing. Resisting the temptation was impossible, though, and it wrapped up his outfit perfectly.

Still, the christmas vibes had already begun infecting Elias and no one should ever have to spend the holiday alone. He didn’t know how much Aliannah appreciated the holiday but Elias was hardly going to allow something so trivial to detract from the holiday spirit. The cold drives people together. Around fires and into groups for that ever-necessary warmth and with being in such close proximity to others, the people themselves were bound to get closer together. Combining that with a little bit of thoughtful gift-giving, plenty of laughter, and not-so-healthy helpings of food always created a great holiday in Elias’ eyes.

That first point still concerned Elias though. The act and energy put into giving a christmas gift was never something to be taken lightly. It had to be personalized, particular, heartfelt, and above all, something the recipient would appreciate. Yet for the first time in his life, Elias found himself at a loss at what to get his only real holiday companion. The interesting times and small talk on the high road and Aliannah’s initial discomfort with festivals hardly gave Elias enough information to work with. Nor could he ask her, those kinds of questions never got anywhere. People had a silly habit of saying they didn’t really want any gifts for the holidays. They never consider exactly what the act of gift-giving means to both the giver and recipient. Elias always considered himself the type to care far more about the act of giving than of receiving.

Few people wandered the streets even just past midday and most of the stalls remained closed. Only the regular-season boutiques and restaurants welcomed the occasional pedestrian and even those places had their hands full preparing for the festival rush. Christmas was still a few days away. That left Elias plenty of time to find a little bit of a gift. Though he had to find Aliannah in the first place. The two had split up the previous day to chase down a few necessities and she hadn’t been there when Elias checked the following morning. So he wandered through a silent snowfall, trying to think of the places Aliannah might be. That night, he decided, would be the night that he found something to give his friend.

A familiar blonde stood ahead in the road. Aliannah. Enjoying the simple joy of Magnolia’s winter landscape. Elias could all but feel the smile on her face from a few feet away. A part of him was surprised to see it and the rest was absolutely delighted.  A smile overtook Elias’ face.

“I have a feeling tonight’s gonna be a good night,” Elias said as he approached Aliannah. “This snow is perfect so far. And I heard of a Santa parade they do only on the first snowfall. I was wondering if you’d like to go to that?” Elias couldn’t think of a better opportunity to learn more about his newfound friend, especially since he hadn’t known her for very long. Submerging oneself in the Spirit was always the perfect way to figure out a gift.

WORD COUNT: 1282 | 8000

Knight of the Aurora

For a moment, Aliannah appeared years younger than she seemed. Almost full of a childish glee at going for a parade. No one, Elias decided, should ever have to go their entire lives without seeing a holiday parade at least once in their life. Yet at the same time, he wasn’t surprised. His friend certainly hadn’t talked about herself much but behind blonde hair and a pretty face he saw the shadows of a life roughly lived. He had seen that even back in a nameless town in the cursed lands. Killing looked to be something that came easily, what was surprising, though, was how comfortable she had gotten with Elias.

She even went so far as to grab the edge of his coat. A tangle of golden hair fell over her face before she shook them to the side and her eyes gleamed. Elias felt that she would even be jumping up and down had she not been holding onto him. He imagined faint golden light outlining Aliannah’s form just as she asked to go.

“Of course,” Elias said, “I’d never turn down the chance for a good parade.” A comfortable laugh escaped his lips and settle into a comfortable smile. Aliannah’s eyes widened and her hair fell to cover what Elias thought was a blush as she pulled away.

The parade itself certainly appeared to be common knowledge among the townsfolk, so only a few simple white flyers dotted the town. Elias stole a quick glance from a lamppost to make sure he remembered. Most of the parade travelled down Magnolia - the street that seemed to be the namesake of the town (or vice versa?) - before turning onto Oleander Avenue and twisting its way through smaller streets before returning to its starting place at town hall. He had found distressingly little information about the parade itself but it was sure to be delightful when old men clamored about the pride and passion they’d been putting into their work every single year. So much pride that they didn’t let a single secret slip after a free pint of ale. It excited Elias more than his face could possibly show.

Elias hadn’t noticed the last few seconds pass and now he’d caught himself staring. Staring. Staring.

“It should’ve just started by now,” He said, finally breaking his gaze. “I’m pretty sure if we go this way,” he pointed vaguely southeast, “We should be able to find the beginning. Not to mention there’ll be plenty of shops around. And food. I could really go for a hot chocolate.”

Part of Elias wanted to reach for Aliannah’s hand as he started walking. Her excitement, though, seemed to directed towards the parade and Elias remained gloveless in the winter air. His right hand still managed to slip free of its pocket despite the cold. He made sure to walk close to his friend, keeping a light conversation on the walk over.

“We haven’t talked much about ourselves,” Elias said, stopping to order a hot chocolate from a smaller stall. There weren’t a lot of interesting things Elias could think to talk about, mostly his family and their tendency to spend as much as they could afford on their holiday celebrations. Not that they were on the wealthier side of families in Minstrel, but Elias’ parents put a lot of heart into their celebrations and that made a huge difference in a country where money made everything. Their touch was personal, literally. Both Mother and Father put their own backs into the holidays rather than hire workers to do the heavy lifting for them and that paid off. Gift giving, too. Everything was made with their own two hands. They saw it as a point of pride. Elias had a little sister back home. Adah, all full of wit and a fiery temper that betrayed her aptitude for softer magics. She had a real talent and deserved the family heirloom more than Elias ever could. At the same time, though, he had the sense that Adah’s magics would conjure something even greater. He really had to write her a letter. Elias and his mother hadn’t parted on the best of terms and he chose to leave the reminiscing at that all while asking questions of his own, both of family and blatantly directed at things she might like as a gift. He had no idea how Aliannah would react.

The strings of people grew thicker as the two approached the route of Magnolia’s Holiday Parade. Elias hadn’t been the only one with the bright idea to camp out well ahead of the route in hopes of finding a good spot. Even a cursory glance along the road showed homeowners and shopowners alike renting out their balconies and rooftops for parade-watchers. Though the thickest of the crowds weren’t anywhere close to wandering down quite yet, and Elias had spotted a smaller gap in the crowd with no one to fill it.

He would try to grab the girl’s hand, arm, or anything and pull her closer. The parade approached and Elias would show Aliannah to a front-row spot just as the parade rounded the bend, led by a giant floating sleigh all cherry red and pulled by enchanted reindeer. A giant Santa Claus waved to the crowd, throwing wave after wave of miniature presents - and even that remained in the distance. Easily a dozen more floats had yet to be seen.

WORD COUNT: 2940 | 8000

Knight of the Aurora

No wonder Aliannah always shut herself off in crowds, she’d spent most of her life alone in a hospital room. A wave of sadness washed over Elias, no one should ever have to live a life like that. At least she had her twin. A little bit of color her days better in the face of a hospital’s sterility. Elias transformed that sadness into a quiet resolve to make sure Aliannah’s holidays didn’t disappoint. He couldn’t allow it, not even in the legendary town of the Fairies. Elias could feel Aliannah’s face lighting up as the parade rounded the corner. An almost heavenly radiance lifted his spirits. It was an infectious feeling. The smiles of everyone around her broadened just from the quiet cheer the little blonde exuded. Elias almost couldn’t recognize her from the dead-eyed killer he had met what almost felt like a lifetime ago.

The parade approached. Aliannah’s cheer even reached Santa Claus himself, he threw one of his candy-filled packages. Just a few chocolates, but perfect. She motioned for Elais to take one. “Thank you.” He said while popping it in his mouth. Dark chocolate and caramel topped with sea salt. His favorite, the sheer coincidence of it couldn’t have been anything other than fate. The day was destined to finish well.

Holiday tunes followed Santa’s sleigh. Dozens of men dressed in toy soldier costumes marching in perfect time proudly playing their holiday tunes. They set a beat to the rest of the following parade. Baton twirlers in flowing, frosty blue dresses spinning in such a perfect sync that their cheer infected each and every step. The mayor himself marched with the local Wyvern Scout troop number Two Eighty-Four and their own float, a giant rolling snowflake.

So much cheer and so much pride. Magnolia town itself put its back into each and every one of their celebrations, but Elias found it hard to believe anything could possibly top the magic passing before his eyes. Each float held its own look. Even the most boring sounding of groups found itself walking along with a charm and a smile. The local chess committee had a castle fashioned of ice with their members playing game after game atop each of four towers. A women’s group built a miniature winter wonderland topped off by a christmas tree knitted entirely out of yarn. Streamers, applause, music, they all overwhelmed Elias’ senses with delight to the point where he almost felt like a kid again, anxiously waiting for the day he could open boxes under the tree.

“This,” Elias whispered, “This is more incredible than I ever could have imagined.” Red flushed through his cheeks the moment he realized he spoke aloud. Though only one man to his side chanced at a knowing smile. The parade entranced everyone else.

Even though her back was turned, Elias thought he could feel what passed through Aliannah’s head. That same childish glee neither of them had felt for a long long time. At least that’s what he liked to think. Surely that smile she had shown proved as much.

As the final float passed by, Elias chanced at a question he couldn’t ever imagine himself asking. “So what would you like from Santa this year,” he said from behind Aliannah.

WORD COUNT: 4618 | 8000

Knight of the Aurora

No sooner had Aliannah whispered her dreams of a forever that everything, as a way of putting it, went to shit. Screams shattered the holiday air and the freezing cold finally extinguished warm feelings in his chest. Magic. A sinister, destructive, and dangerously purposeful magic swept across Elias’ lips, sweeping away everything he was about to say. Aliannah had already taken a step towards the danger. The panicking crowd parted around her. Elias followed suit. One step and the pale rainbow of the aurora cloaked his form, rapidly shaping itself into an unadorned set of light field plate just as his foot hit the ground. The next step came a deep blue cape lined with white fur. His steps felt lighter, faster. Breaking out into a sprint, Elias called to him one last weapon: the wintry chains. A simple wooden handle flashed into his hand and a frostbitten chain extended from one end. The action may have been preemptive but that didn’t stop the sinister feeling in the air.

Moments later as Elias stepped through the last strands of the crowd, he finally  got a view of the chaos. A white and red portal filled the air with the slight scent of peppermint, only to be taken over by five polar bears, each standing on their hind feet and clawing at the innocents around. Insane giggles and the crack of a whip washed over the polar bears’ roars. A little elf, all dressed in black and white, clung to a saddle on one of the polar bears while shouting unintelligible commands to the rest. Elias couldn’t even tell if the bears understood the little thing, only the whip which threw them into a bloodthirsty rage. They had already clawed two people to death. Blood already stained the powdery white snow and holiday storefronts.

Elias always considered himself to be a calm person. Cool, though not always the smoothest. He liked to think he always approached a situation objectively and rationally. Not this, though. Two people had been clawed to death on Christmas and the air of the holidays had been shattered for the town. It was inexcusable and it set Elias’ blood to a boil. His muscles clenched and he sprinted even faster as Elias let out a battle cry.

The elf spotted him. He shouted something and his whip cracked. A polar bear let out a roar and swiped one paw, shattering a pillar of ice which launched Elias into the air. The momentum kept the wizard flying, but the sudden loss of movement threw off his balance and he was struck squarely in the chest by a frosty snowball thrown by the evil elf. It didn’t take a moment for Elias to respond in kind. His chains lashed out and wrapped themselves around the little elf and Elias wrenched it free from its saddle and slammed it into the snow below.

“Asshole,” Elias shouted just as the Elf’s head struck the flagstones. The elf only laughed and Elias conjured a bolt of red light, striking the Elf again.

“It’s all part of the plan,” The elf said with a giggle. “Christmas is over! Cancelled! Forever!” the thing let out another fit of maniacal, nasally laughter in the midst of all the chaos.

Elias swore. He couldn’t do much while his chains held the elf in place. It didn’t make for a very practical weapon and, of course, there remained the problem of the five polar bears running loose. They were thankfully ignoring Elias and the elf, perhaps out of some kind of combination of fear and the knowledge that their evil little master would be done in by Elias’ magic, but that the whip still held pain for them and they would be forced to obey if they got involved. Stuck in a trap of his own making. Stupid. Elias would have punched himself for making such a mistake if he were anywhere else.

Hopefully Aliannah had his back.

WORD COUNT: 6081 | 8000

Knight of the Aurora

The fight had just barely begun when Aliannah’s words split the chaotic air and the town’s flagstones began to crack and the air changed, becoming more humid and stale. Heat washed up from below the earth while the sky became thick with black, billowy clouds. First the people and their screams faded, then the town, and finally the snowfall began to slow. Those few remaining flakes hit the ground with a barely audible hiss and the little elf’s smile dropped from his face for barely a moment. A poker face if Elias had ever seen one. All that remained now was Elias, Aliannah, their enemies, and that faintly swirling portal, that stupid red and white swirling portal.

Elias stole a glance back toward his friend. That peaceful glow he had been so happy to see was gone and her crystal eyes had been replaced by tempests. Nothing existed behind her face other than pure, unadulterated hatred and Elias could feel the pressure of it from where he stood.

Only Elias stared too long. His chains had released their grip and a quick flick of his wrist barely deflected another strike from the Elf’s whip in the midst of panicking polar bears. A blade erupted from the thing’s chest before Elias could so much as raise his arm for a retaliation. Aliannah pulled her blade from the ground and the elf and paused, barely meeting Elias’ eyes for a moment before her gaze slid past and her head dropped. Where he would have expected shame or sadness in the girl’s eyes, yet instead a growl resonated from the back of her throat. All full of a predatory need for blood. The wizard didn’t have any time for guesswork before wings erupted from her back and with a great flap her angelic wings, launched herself into the sky for an isolated rock covered in polar bears.
Following would have been an option if more wintry creatures emerged from the portal. Confusion captured both Elias’ face and that of an elf riding a giant christmas tree. He could have sworn even the tree gave off a gasp of shock before focusing it’s gaze on Elias. All three of their eyes seemed to lock on each other for a moment which felt almost like an hour. Only Elias shifted in the wake of a stifling breeze and a flat stone cracked and the christmas tree, of all things, reacted immediately by launching a trio of christmas ornaments at mach speed.

Green whizzed past Elias’ eyes before blue and red struck him in the back. The wizard responded in kind with a stop. Numerous spikes of ice erupted from the ground, small chunks out of the christmas tree and one even struck the elf in the chest. The ice shattered into shards of pale blue light before the wizard filled the air with his chains. One lash snapped a branch, another shattered an ornament and at least two others others struck the body of the elf before either of the two took a chance to react. A single snowball flew through the air and struck Elias in his face. He stumbled backwards before conjuring a pillar of ice to launch him in the air. A string of tinsel wrapped itself around the pillar just as Elias’ foot left it and his chains lashed out again, knocking the elf off its perch on the christmas tree, crashing town to the stones below. A sickening crack announced the breaking of the little thing’s neck.

More tinsel of red and white filled the air, wrapping its way around Elias’ arms and legs before slamming him into the earth below. Elias let out a yelp of pain and the wintry chains escaped his grip, fading into pale white light. The wizard struggled and pulled at the tinsel as the ground below him shifted and cracked. A red and green present, wrapped as generically as possible broke through the stones and a weird network of roots raised it before Elias’ face. Another, smaller root wove its way around the gift, slowly lifting off the lid to a faint golden glow before opening it completely.

WORD COUNT: 7764 | 8000

Knight of the Aurora

Trapped, motionless, Elias couldn’t do anything but stare deep into the present before a blast ice and freezing wind smashed into his chestplate. A dent the size of a watermelon collapsed, knocking the wind out of his lungs and making it even harder to breathe. The tinsel losing its grip was the only blessing Elias felt he could count. The moment he could freely move his legs, a pillar of ice launched him into the air, which would have been a great thing had his cloak decided not to disappear in midair. A bare few moments passed before Elias already started to feel heavier and the ground began approaching suspiciously fast. Too fast to panic. Elias tucked and rolled the moment his feet touched the ground. Strands of tinsel grasped the air helplessly where he would have been if he’d made the mistake of sticking his landing. That seemed to be a trend; none of Elias’ enemies reacted well to speed. Every attack missed so long as the wizard was moving. Though the lack of his cloak made that very movement so much harder. Losing his only speed spell, even temporarily, could prove to be the end of Elias if he ever got caught on the wrong foot.

Even so, he stole a glance over at Aliannah tearing her way through a gang of Elves and polar bears. He couldn’t tell much from so far away. All he could really make out was a blur of scythe and wing. The girl only slowed down enough to be seen for a bare moment and that caught Elias’ eye was a single bloodied sleeve. Two more ornaments struck his back and Elias face planted into Hell’s cracked stones. The wizard let out an audible curse as his armor cracked into a thousand pieces of pale, multicolored light. Defenseless. The wizard managed to dodge more flashes of yellow and red before responding with a blast of his own. With an outstretched hand, he launched a basketball sized sphere of wavy, pale red light which slammed into the tree in what Elias guessed to be its eye. The monster let out an audible groan. It sounded like a mix between a human and the wind rustling through branches. Elias wasn’t about to give himself time to contemplate it more before calling upon the last weapon in his arsenal. Carnwennan. The wizard called out the weapon’s name and it appeared in a gust of wind. A shortsword, somewhere around 30 inches in total length with a well-polished blade and a simple birch wood grip. A chill rose from around Elias’ feet as a pale blue mist rendered him invisible to the naked eye.

The christmas tree stopped attacking, clearly surprised at Elias’ sudden disappearance. It began reaching out with strands of tinsel, trying to figure out from where Elias would decide to strike next. Strands of red and white probed further and further out before the wizard finally decided to capitalize on its confusion. He whispered a word of power and became formless, yet solid. Just like the wind itself. A mere instant passed before Elias found himself above the tree. A simple thought and he materialized, though still invisible, and brought his blade down the center of the tree’s trunk.

He couldn’t feel the cuts. The tree almost sliced too easily beneath Carnwennan’s edge and it had been cut almost perfectly in half by the time Elias’ feet touched a branch-covered ground. Audible cracking seemed to echo through the empty land as the once-living christmas tree slowly fell apart. Tinsel unravelling and ornaments shattering against the ground beneath it. Normally Elias would have looked away from such a sight but his heart burned and his hand twitched too much to look away. That monster had ruined Christmas. It had to pay and even outright destruction was too light of a price.

The sweet taste of victory didn’t last. No sooner had Elias managed to catch an extra deep breath than more monsters emerged from the portal and Aliannah’s trail of slaughter grew closer. More polar bears and a few more elves emerged. Elias didn’t hesitate to start cutting into as many as he could. They couldn’t see him, not with the Cloak of the Wind and that made it all the easier to harass the creatures while those in the front found themselves slaughtered by Aliannah’s scythe. They were winning. Finally. Elias cut the throat of another elf before thinking more. Once the last of these Christmas-ruining beasts was cut down, he would finally cut the portal in half and hopefully, just hopefully, he might be able to scavenge together a half-decent ending to the best day of the year. Hopefully.

But those wishes never lasted. Another christmas tree led the charge against Elias’ angelic friend and it had caught her with another present, wrapped up in snowflake paper before a great flash of light… erased her clothes?

“I swear I’m not looking!” Elias shouted just after getting an eyeful Aliannah’s almost too-thin form. Blonde hair flowed and fresh blood splattered her porcelain skin before the wizard could tear his eyes away. He stuck his shortsword in his belt, reappeared, and sprinted in Aliannah’s general direction while ripping off his coat. “You can put on my coat!” Elias shouted again while balling up the coat and throwing it, “It might be a little big though!” He drew his sword again and sliced apart another wave of tinsel while slowly turning invisible. He kept up the onslaught, being careful to keep his back to Aliannah while keeping enough distance between her and the monsters for her to cover herself up. Two more elves fell while trying to trap Elias, their cherry red blood staining his invisible blade while it tore gashes across the flanks of any polar bear who dared approach too close.

Then something else started to emerge from the portal while Elias plunged his sword into a polar bear’s skull and kicked aside two more elf corpses.

“HO HO HO,” sent a chilling echo through the air. Overpowering even the roars of the polar bears.

Seven feet of rolling fat clad in crimson and dirty white stepped out from the portal. The giant man waddled with a bloodied ax on his shoulder and a muddy brown bag full of soiled gifts. On his shoulder sat a crackling elf carrying a silent, golden jingle bell and behind him trailed another blood-soaked polar bear and a christmas tree laden with red ornaments and tinsel. Santa Claus himself had joined the battle with his crimson-covered honor guard.


Kill Count:

• 3 elves
  
• 2 polar bears
  
• 1 christmas tree

WORD COUNT: 9757 | 8000

Knight of the Aurora

Elias had just stared into the face of beauty and terror at the same time.

What a fool he was, thinking that Aliannah had needed any protecting. She probably would never have noticed with the tempest of rage, blood, and light she’d become. The soul of an angel corrupted into a weapon worth nothing more than the lives it cut down. Elias had only taken a glance backwards, just to make sure his friend was okay. Instead her form glowed with a sinister gold. Simply meeting the girl’s blinding eyes blew away every scrap of wind mana cloaking his body and knocked him to the ground.

She thanked him for the coat in some kind of multi-voiced melody. A chorus? Elias got up to follow only to meet her steel-like arm. She didn’t even need to say the words and the wizard got back on his knees, unsure whether to keep watching Aliannah and his jacket fluttering around her legs or to turn away and spare himself some image of the girl he’d known mere minutes before smiling brightly at a parade.

Or had it been hours?

Didn’t matter. A spell slipped from the angel’s lips. A command so powerful even he felt compelled to comply.

Elias could’ve sworn he was closer to Aliannah’s strength. No, what he saw now proved he couldn’t hope to possess a fraction of her power. The girl simply bursted at the seams with magic and something told him that few ever got to behold that power.

She sunk to the ground. The world itself seemed to sigh. Elias started to move towards her and hesitated. Aliannah hadn’t ever been one for talking, he knew that, but it seemed that she had been hiding so much. He took a breath and a step forward. The least his friend deserved was a hug.

So he approached Aliannah from behind, slowly, as she stared at a dusting of snow on the ground and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. A bit of an awkward side hug, but maybe the gesture would be worth something.

“Come on,” Elias said quietly, “Let’s get you some clothes.”

And the cracked hellscape slowly faded into flagstones.

WORD COUNT: 0000 | 0000