Only the weak use their eyes... [open]

[Jannik]

This was great. Jannik was on cloud nine, she knew his song. His song, and was singing along with him. It was a dream come true, and now everyone at the party was going to be able to hear it! They too, would get to hear the epic tale of Jannik Drach the Great, performed by himself and his lovely knew friend. Only, there were suddenly arrows shot at the stage and it turned out to not be so great. He took a moment to blink in surprise, staring at his singing partner for a moment in surprise, when he realized the party guest were beginning to panic at flying arrows. Flying, flaming arrows. "Oh shite!" He swore, before he was diving off the stage. Taking his precious Lucy with him. The other mucians were taking the hint as well, and clearing the way before they got shot with flaming arrows. 

Jannik held his lute close to him and he started crawling under a table, when he happened to glance back at the stage, and his side kick was still standing there, frozen in place. "Move!" He shouted at her. "Do you want to be the girl on fire?!" He cried. He was looking around frantically, seeing people coming in, around the edges of the party and it caused a chill to run down his spine. His blue eyes flickered back up to the woman who he still didn't know the name of. She still wasn't moving. "Dammit!" He whined, crawling back out from the safety of the table, and running back to the stage. He vaulted onto it, surprisingly with expert ease and ducked his head as another arrow went flying by his head. He grabbed the woman's hand then, yanked her down, and into his chest. Covering her head with one of his arms. "Get to the table now, Move!" He urged her quickly. Jannik would move with her, forcibly dragging her if he would need too. 

[Dunstan DeGraff]

The wind was knocked from him, and Dunstan landed with an oof on the ground, as the unseelie was on top of him. The horn he'd used to blow a signal had flown from his hands as well as his butterfly swords. Momentarily defenseless, he did what having two big brothers clearly trained you for. He bucked his hips, trying to get the other man off. Unable to see their face due to the mask they wore, but Dunstan didn't really care. The man had drawn an knife, that he was trying to stab him with, and Dunstan's hands came up, grabbed his wrist, and using his strength to keep the sharp blade away from him. It wasn't before long, that the two of them where both wrestling around for the blade and trying to avoid getting stabbed by the other.

He could hear people moving around them, and he was starting to get concerned he might have picked the wrong direction to head in for the walk back to the party, but what was he to do about it now? The enemy was surrounding them all. With a sharp jerk upward with one hand, Dunstan was able to get a fist up, clocking the unseelie in the jaw. Giving him enough time to buck his hips again and get the knife flying away in a near by bush. Grabbing his leg, Dunstan was flipping them then, now with the advantage as he scrambled to his feet, his breathing slightly labored while he picked up his swords. 

Recovering from the punch, the unseelie stood, and came at Dunstan with another knife. He blocked easily, before he did his own attack, lunging at the other man with sharp quick movements. He was pushing him back, too focused on his opponent to realize he was nearly surrounded by the enemy himself. He could hear someone Shouting loudly about threats and giving a warning. He adverted his eyes for a mere second, realizing he was in some deep shit without intending to be then. A smart man would have bolted, put distance between himself and the enemy. But Dunstan was not a smart man. That is sometimes, and did what he could only assume was expected of him. He was to protect the people at the party and so that's what he would do. He knew what he was getting into signing up to be a guard, it was life or death. Well...Time to see how lucky Dunstan DeGraff actually was. 

There was a screech of metal as Dunstan's blade scrapped across the blade of his opponent. He didn't ease up on his attack, and just kept going at the man. He could tell from the look in his eyes he was starting to panic, unable to keep up with Dunstan's quick movements, when suddenly Dunstan was leaning back before is leg came up and he promptly spartan kicked his opponent into the nearest man that apparently did just not know when to shut up. His dark eyes took in the three others that had been near Mr. Chatty Cathy, and his hands tightened around his the hilts of his swords. 

[Deleted]

"To the princess!" Before he'd even spoken the words, the two of them were surrounded on all sides by Wardens and the royal guard, protecting both him and the princess. Then, a volley of fire rained upon them from the darkness. Where they fell, small fires erupted in the grass and on table linens.

On the outside, Rohan, blade in one hand, the other stretched across and back around the princess, keeping her tucked securely behind him, he was every bit the image of a protector, alert and ready for fall for his supposed future queen. On the inside, Rohan was reeling with the proof of what their own spies had told them. That, despite Allarick's cavalier assurances that he had the mystic situation 'completely under control' and that 'it wasn't a concern', there was in fact a growing contingent of rebels seeking to overthrow their tyrant king. This was the sort of thing he had been sent here to discover. Those hard eyes missed nothing even as they were surrounded, even as more arrows rained down towards them only to thud into tables and chairs, missing them completely. If he didn't know better, Gabriel might think that they were deliberately trying to miss the princess and himself. It was a thought that did not sit well with him.

What did they want? What were they waiting for? Then, the sounds of fighting came from the dark trees and the horn sounding the alarm faltered and cut off, Rohan's unease grew. Feeling the princess's grip on his jacket, he hooked his arm more securely around her. He turned his head just enough to speak over his shoulder loud enough for her to hear, his words coming out crisp and commanding. "Stay behind me. Do not let go of me. No matter what happens. Do you understand, Your Highness?"

[Oberon]

Caius was just raising his hand to give the next signal when one of his own men was tossed into him from behind, nearly knocking him off his feet as he stumbled forward. He turned with a snarl of rage to see who had done that and spotted a young man who had managed to get closer than any other. His anger vanished, and he laughed.

“You have no idea what you’re getting into, do you?” he murmured, and this time he successfully raised his hand with two fingers above his head. He silently counted to three, then dropped his hands to cover his ears.

Immediately, a young woman in the center of the gathering, apparently a noble, rose to her feet and screamed. The sound was sharp as a blade, and would nearly deafen anyone within six feet, and distract or disorient anyone within the circle of trees. Just as she did, several other mystics pulled their powers into play, causing chaotic fights to break out around the edges as they began to fight the guards head-on. (Feel free to invent whatever powers you like. Try not to kill every Unseelie please, I do need some to keep the conflict going!)

By the time the sound had ceased to echo, and people would regain their senses, the woman was vanishing into the trees, her red dress trailing behind her.

In the meantime, Caius had advanced on the young man, Dunstan DeGraff, and took a strong swing of his blade at the man’s skull.

[Cera Le'Orin]

She would lying if she didn't say she was terrified. And somewhere deep along with that fear, was anger and annoyance. Immediately, she wanted to berate her father for being so lax and needed to bring innocent people out into the cold, out into the open like this. As much as she was worried for his safety, she wanted to scream at him, because now look what was happening. Every Mystic in Teronna wanted his head on a silver platter, and he was making it a little too easy at the moment.

Fighting the urge to just try and run, Cera remained by Lord Rohan. Even surrounded by the guard as they were, she clung to the man like he was her lifeline, something she would probably try and deny later on. But right now, he was trying to keep her safe- they all were. All of these men and women were trying to protect her and their brazen king, and she prayed none were lost.

It took everything within her not to bury her face between the man's shoulders and will this all away, to pretend like it wasn't happening. Rohan was speaking to her then, and she nodded even if he probably couldn't see her. "A-alright...yes," she stammered out a reply. Before she could do or think about anything else, a sudden scream echoed from the gathering.

The woman in the red dress was so close, so loud, and although Cera tried to cover her ears, it was doing no good. She gasped in pain, flinching and reeling before she was stumbling when the world around her was suddenly dizzying. She felt like she might collapse.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

A pair of Unseelie moved toward the King and his protective entourage. Whatever their intent was, their approach was a threat. One that was to be taken seriously. But Sebastian was a practiced killer, like it or not, and he took the fight to them. His aggression seemed to play to his advantage. People with offensive magic always seemed surprised when someone came at them. Not all of them were mystics, however. Or if they were, their magic lay elsewhere, from the numerous arrows.

He ducked some flying rocks from the woman and skewered what was probably a minor earth mystic. She gasped and threw dust at Baird and some of the other guards as she fell, peppering them all with scratches and scraps. Baird stepped in front of another man who was clearly grinning despite the face mask. It was quickly clear why.

The snow around the mystic swirled up from the ground, creating a mini blizzard just as the scream ripped through the crowd. Most people, even most of the guards, were caught by the piercing note and disoriented.

The captain didn't. As the blizzard mage used the intense sudden cold and intense sudden noise to lunge toward Baird, Sebastian closed the distance, deflecting the man's blade with his own. It gave his fellow guard enough time to pull himself together and counter attack, cutting a deep slash through the man's leg. It wasn't a killing blow, but the pain was enough to end the storm before it started. It was also enough to create a safe haven for the moment from nearby threats. Now just to deal with those archers and everyone else.

"Keep the King safe." He ordered, making eye contact with Baird and some of the other guards. They were all capable.

He turned his attention back to the party at large. There were other guests to help. Cera too. What really caught his attention, however, was Rosemary running toward the far woods and the man lunging at her. Nothing about him looked familiar, but her terror...that was. He knew that fear intimately.

Sebastian also noticed Dunstan picking a fight with the talkative asshole. That was exactly what he wanted to be doing. Good. He kept an eye on that fight and moved toward the man reaching after Rosemary.

[Cian DeGraff]

"Getting some help, brother," he answered Rowan, wondering if the little rock trick would even work. There was a lot going on, so she may not notice, but he couldn't exactly call out or whistle either.

Fortunately, the ex-soldier was as smart and alert as he thought she was. He grinned stupidly under that mask before he had drawn it down.

Cian didn't think to worry about Aoife getting the wrong idea. That was only occurring to him when he noticed that look on her face. When she was seeming to express to her cousin to go to him, however, he could only assume she didn't truly believe he was one of the Unseelie. There would be time for explanations later, if they made it out of this mess.

A couple was nearing the edge of the brush near the two DeGraffs, and Cian was quick to usher them over where he told them to run for the castle. From what he had been able to see, the Unseelie had already congregated around the clearing. And just when he thought they might possibly be missing people on purpose with those arrows, all hell broke loose.

Just as Rosemary ran towards him, he immediately reached out to drag her into the safety of the brush, urging her to stay down. Not a moment after, the terrifying screech began to render anyone nearby useless. Fortunately, Rowan, Rosie, and Cian were out of the immediate radius, but he was still cringing at the sound. It made him pause for a moment before the sudden blizzard began to buzz around everyone.

"Stay down, alright?" he told the handmaiden over the chaos. "Run for the castle!" Cian was guiding her towards his brother who could possibly further help her get away from the battle, as he turned back to see where Aoife was and who else he might be able to sneak out amid the chaos.

The sudden storm abruptly died, and just as he was about to reach out for an elder nobleman rushing his way closer, one of the flaming arrows embedded itself straight through his neck. Looking around, more and more began to fall that hadn't been securely surrounded by guards- either by arrows or the random magics of the Unseelie. He should probably stay hidden, and gather as many people as he could, but Cian also knew he couldn't just wait there.

"I'm goin' in!" he informed Rowan before fully yanking the mask away and charged into the clearing. As his gaze drifted to the side, he noticed the sword-wielding Unseelie heading straight for his younger brother. Blue eyes went wide. "DUNNY!"

Cian was moving swiftly then, attempting to make his way to help, only to be stopped when a gust of wind picked up, nearly pushing him back. It halted him, and he almost missed the strange leaves that were flying towards them. One scraped across his cheek, cutting him with its magical razor's edge, and taking him clearly by surprise. So when more came towards him, Cian frantically tried to avoid them.

Looking ahead, he saw the man who must have been some earthen Mystic. The moment he tried to charge, the sorcerer was wielding that harsh wind against him, but he was desperate to push on. He needed to get to Dunstan.

[Dunstan DeGraff]

Dunstan took a second to recover as he watched the man stumble. Unaware to him, he was the one calling the shots. He twirled the butterfly swords in his hands, a slow grin appearing on his face in a lopsided smirk as he looked at the man. "Sure I do! I don't think it's you who knows what you're getting into. Or who your dealing with, turd blossom." Dunstan responded simply. Was he getting cocky? Maybe, but he was a DeGraff, and Dunstan DeGraff took great pride in himself as a fighter. He might not be Rowan size, but the ass hole was going to have to catch him first.

He raised his swords, eyes narrowing and smile falling as the man raised his hand. He watched his fingers suspiciously, and then looked in confusion as he covered his ears. It was quickly revealed as to why, as Dunstan suddenly covered his own to try and block out the womans scream. It was piercing his skull and he turned his head just in time to see the man advance on him. His dark eyes widened as he saw the flash of his blade, and Dunstan quickly brought his own up to block. Grunting at the force, he wasn't able to block completely as he felt the blade cut into his left eyebrow.

He shoved his arms upward, the sound of screeching metal sounded again before he deflected the man's blade to the side. Dunstan lunged forward the, prepared to block his next attack with one sword, while he used the other jab at his stomach. Trying to ignore the blood pouring into his eye while he did so.

[Lunari]

This was madness! This was ludicrous, and exactly why these filthy mages could not be trusted! Every day, this only reminded him of his wife's betrayal, of her magical seduction, of her lies. Every day he thought this war against the Mystics was the right thing to do and they deserved to be put down like dogs.

Now, he was completely surrounded by guards as the chaos around him grew out of hand. Tables and trees began to catch fire, people were running back and forth screaming. Suddenly, he was trying to shield his ears from the horrid voice that threatened to pierce through his skull. The king stumbled before he was able to right himself, becoming even angrier. "Get me out of here now! Where is my daughter?! The longer we stand here idle, the better chance they'll have to kill us!" The men were shielding him well, but he did not like the idea of hiding away like a mouse.

The king unsheathed his own sword from his side, which was usually just there for decoration, as he began to try and break himself free from the circle of guards. If they weren't going to get him out, he was going to find his own way.

[Aoife Lee Frye]

Aoife knew all too well that she wasn’t capable of protecting those closest to her, and Rosemary was almost definitely safer away from all this: the assembled nobles, the waves of Unseelie, the melee that was only becoming more and more hectic with each and every passing moment. The older woman would be more use without her cousin by her side too, and Cian would protect her, see her safely away from the party… wasn’t that what he was here to do? Protect the nobles?

A gloved hand found her cousin’s, resting upon Aoife’s shoulder, and gave it a light squeeze. ”I’ll be careful cousin.” She assured the younger woman, somehow managing to force a smile to her lips as she shooed Rosemary towards the trees. Grey eyes watching her until she was safely intercepted by the soldier with those blue eyes she was beginning to know a little too well.

Rosemary safe. Aoife returned to her senses just in time for the deafening shriek to knock her right back out of them. Instinctively, hands came to her ears in a vain attempt to block out the din as her vision swam in and out of focus. Teeth clenched, the mystic fought to bring her world back into clarity- sharp grey eyes searching for a weapon amongst the chaos. She would take a table leg at this point over the tiny blade which snaked its way snugly around her arm, reassuring to some degree but mostly useless in this situation.

She found what she was looking for in the grasp of a fallen mystic, the shortsword was a little too long for the woman and it’s previous owner had clearly not attended to it with the care it required- for several nicks and scratches marred the blade. A soldier’s weapon, though one that had been out of commission for some time: no captain would allow one of his men’s blades to fall into such a state of neglect. But it would do, for now, Aoife thought as she tugged it from the man’s limp hands- his wide albeit unseeing eyes seeming to question her as she did so.

The mystic had no personal loyalty in this fight. She was, after all, no longer in service to the crown. She was a mystic. She disproved of the methods the Unseelie used but she wasn’t indifferent to their cause. Despite this, Aoife did not pause to think who’s side she was truly on, instead she began ushering the assembled nobles towards the treeline, towards the route which she assumed Cian DeGraff had cleared.

She had shepherded six ladies to the trees when Aoife saw the curly haired soldier busting from the trees, eyes widening as he looked at something in the fray. There was no time to get involved, whatever it was- the mystic was certain the DeGraff could handle it.

At least she was, until she saw the man almost lifted from his feet by a wind that was in no way natural. But, she was too far away to help- at least without using grammyre of her own…

[Rosemary McIntyre]

Rosemary barely contained a yelp as the man took her arm and pulled her into the brush, but she trusted Aoife's judgment enough to keep quiet and hope this was the right person. She was just opening her mouth to ask who he was, when a dizzying shriek rang through the air, making her flinch and snap her mouth tightly shut as she instinctively tried to cringe away from the sound.

The man recovered before she did, instructing her to get to the castle. She hated that it was all she could do, but seeing as this was a mystic attack, using her own abilities to try and help was suicide. She may be sure she was a burden to those around her, but she didn't have an active death wish.

Rosemary did as she was told, and fled from the chaos in the direction he'd aimed her.

(toward Rowan DeGraff?)

[Deleted]

Jannik

Saffron had been in some kind of trance, hypnotized by the violence that seemed to dance in slow motion around her. She'd seen people hit each other in bars, sure, but this was different. These people were aiming to kill. She couldn't wrap her mind around it.

She heard the shouts of the other singer as if they were underwater: distant and unintelligible. The rest of the world was nothing to her until he quite literally yanked her back to reality.

Things seemed to burst into motion again, then, as he yanked her down to a crouch and urged her off the stage.

She wanted to argue with the smug idiot who wrote songs about himself, give him the piece of her mind she'd been planning earlier, but she was too scrambled to do it. All she could manage was a shaky nod as she did what he demanded. It wasn't until she was under the table with him that she managed to regain enough sense to speak.

"I--This is madness! I've never--" No, she still wasn't close to what she actually meant. Tears welled in her eyes that were sure to ruin her makeup, but she couldn't swallow them. She just turned to him with all that horror and panic written all over her pretty face "How can anyone do this?"

[Cassiopeia]

Alas, there she went. He'd hoped to earn back a bit of playtime with this charade, but there was no time to chase Rosemary McIntyre off into the wood. These others would have to do.

Magnus grinned as the fight really began, his silver eyes creasing into slits above the mask that hid his too-sharp smile. His sword flashed as he drew it and stepped into the fray, slashing down a careless guard. He laughed out loud as he drew the blood from the man's body with a flick of his wrist. What could have been a moderate wound became a fatal one as the man bled out in seconds.

The Marquis turned with sword raised to search for another target, only to see a familiar face headed his way. Oh, how generous of the Captain to put himself right where he was wanted! It would be extremely convenient if he could just behead Sebastian Arcturis here and now, without ever having to reveal his identity...

[Oberon]

Oberon smiled grimly as he saw blood dripping from the young man's brow and into his eyes, making the fact that his blow had been disrupted a bit more bearable. He spun with the movement of the deflection, rather than trying to fight against it, and danced forward, this time aiming for an arm--he hoped to cut the boy back down to one blade instead of two.

Focused on that one, he nearly missed the other. He drew back just a hair too slow, earning a slash along his side just where his waist bent. His immaculate white shirt now bore a growing blossom of red.

Irritated even more than before, he turned back to the smug child with a sneer. Even just the few sentences the young man had spoken was enough to complete the connection. He could sense the truth of the boy's motives as surely as if he'd laid them bare on purpose

"You really think that kind of shoddy swordsmanship is going to earn you the admiration you so crave, boy? You'd better get your act together if you want the rest of them to think you're worth the while."

[Dunstan DeGraff]

Dunstan felt the blade on his arm, but he was quick enough to make it a graze. He'd closed his left eye to combat the blood seeping down into it, and just adapted to using his one good one. He didn't allow himself to bask in the pleasure of cutting his opponent. It'd already been proven that Dunstan could bleed, but so could his opponent. Getting cocky was going to get him in a pickle, and he didn't want to be in that. 

He ignored what the man said for the most part, but it did cause a reaction. How dare he think his swordsmanship was shoddy! Dunstan had been using a sword since he could properly hold one. His free time always went to sword practice, and this mystic was not going to tell him his swordsmanship was shoddy.  A dark look passed over Dunstan's face as he bared his teeth at the man. 

Dunstan turned his focus onto what he knew was good at, which was agility and speed. There was a reason he used butterfly swords, they were shorter and more aerodynamic. He rushed the man suddenly, giving it his all as he did a series of lunges and slashes. Aiming for the injured part of the man, to make it worse.