"Well, this is fun," I grumbled and crossed my arms as the snow drifted past me. The only place to get a look over the area was the field museum.
Even then there was quite a bit to the actual aquarium. Taziel's eyes shone above mine, piercing the drifting snow the best she could.
"Don't complain, My Host," she said from next to me, wings raised to shield me from the worst of the wind, "We have an actual chance here, a chance to strike a real blow against Anduriel."
"And somehow I'm still standing in the middle of a blizzard. I just wanted to spend some time with Aiko."
That got a smile from her, "Mmm, true. Thank you."
Sighing I shook my head and kept looking out into the night. Anduriel. Nicodemus Archleone. They were the biggest threat but so were his allies.
Noose around his neck or not, my Sword would be able to deal with him if I got close enough. My guns should work on the rest.
Would the Sword work on The Fallen themselves?
Taziel frowned in thought, pursing her lips, "Yes and no," she mused, "Not while in the coins. If released and used on the actual bodies, then yes. But not the way things are now."
Can the fallen be released?
She shook her head, "Only two beings could and neither of them would. Lucifer and Father working together."
…So yeah, that'll happen.
Taziel rolled her eyes and nodded, "As you say, My Host," she grumbled.
Movement.
I shifted a bit to the side to put a pillar more between me and the aquarium. Shapes moving through the snow on the roof of it. Eleven of them.
Eleven beings just as powerful or more so than myself.
"Well then," Taziel said and disappeared from next to me, "It's time."
Nodding, I knelt down and got my gear from the satchel. Helmet went on my head, I was already wearing the armour beneath my jacket.
Picking up the two smgs, I stood back up and manifested our wings, peering into the dark. The shapes were gathering by the middle of a section of the roof.
"Remember, My Host," Taziel whispered in my ear, "Once the Circle goes up, there will be very limited amounts of magic accessible. That's when we need to strike. They have several powerful spellcasters that could easily disable us."
Or kill us.
"Our defenses against magic are limited," she agreed with a sigh, "We need to acquire some artifacts for defense. I finally found a Host I can work with, I don't want to spend the next couple of centuries finding another compatible one."
You know you love me.
With that, I spread our wings in the wind and took to the air, flying high and fast into the air towards the top of the cloud layer.
I was wearing dark clothes, had black wings and stuck close to the layers of the cloud. Even Denarians were limited in their perceptions, and even they had no reason to be alert for an aerial assault… and they had the same weakness as most humans. Humans don't look up.
Slowly circling half a kilometer above their heads on silent wings, I peered down through the falling snow.
Grenades. I wish we had actual grenades.
"There were none available, My Host," Taziel agreed, "But yes, that would have been most helpful."
With that we just waited and circled slowly.
I could feel Taziels hatred bubble in the back of my head as we watched the shapes far below and I could feel her pulling on hellfire, gathering enough that I could feel the pressure of the magic all through me, burning behind my eyes.
Taz, are we going to have a problem here? Unless we work as a team here, we are so impossibly fucked. Only reason this is even possible is because of the incredible element of surprise, the distraction from the people they are attacking and the fact that the Circle will keep most magic out. If you are going to be wigging out on me the moment we run into Anduriel's Host, we are canceling this thing right now because then I'm dead and you are back in their clutches again.
"I can control myself, My Host," she said softly, "If there is something my kind is known for, it's self-control."
All self-control has its limits, Taziel.
"I can handle it."
Nodding to myself, I banked again and slowly circled. Soon, very soon now. Just needed to wait for the...
The air filled with sudden tension and the building beneath shook with sudden power as beams of incredible power lased and speared to form a massive pentagram around the center of the building.
Even with my minor magical abilities I felt the magic in the air grow stale.
Seconds later, the shapes beneath broke through the glass roof of the building and fell inside.
"That's our cue, My Host," Taziel purred into my ear, "Let's rock."
Grinning, I folded my wings and allowed myself to go into a freefall, letting the weapons hang in their straps as I gripped a pair of flashbangs.
A pair of powerful tugs ripped the pins from the flashbangs as I flipped upside down, a twist of my left wing sending me into a spin as I fell.
Throwing the flashbangs down through the hole before me, I then quickly gripped the guns again.
As I fell through the hole in the roof, time slowed down to slow motion and the spin turned into a slow turn as I raised the guns.
My left arm moved on its own as Taziel took it over, allowing me to focus on my right one. A squeeze of the trigger and I fired a burst into the head of a lobster looking thing with two big whip-like things on it's back.
The flashbangs detonated beneath me and I shifted my aim towards the statue like Denarian chasing Dresden.
Squeezing the trigger, I blew it's head into little marble pieces and shifted aim once more as Taziel squeezed the trigger on the other gun, sending a burst into Rosanna, the demonlike Denarian's head getting jerked to the side and fell.
Enough.
Turning the fall into a flip, I spread my wings and beat them hard to slow down. Landing in a crouch, I threw myself backward across the water with my wings.
Aiming again, we resumed firing. I took aim at Tessa, the large buglike Denarian. If I remembered right it wouldn't kill her but it should slow her down quite a bit.
Bullets ripped into her exoskeleton and she screamed and scrambled out of the way. Taziel meanwhile emptied the rest of her magazine towards Deirdre.
Her titanium like strips of hair lashed and formed a shield between us and her, bullets sparking off it.
Landing on the other side of the pool, Taziel let me have my arm back and I dropped her spent rifle. Sliding slightly at the landing, I spread my wings for balance as I took the rifle I still had ammo in and took more careful aim, opening up at a Host covered in shaggy looking feathers, sending the rest of my bullets into its tentacled head.
With a massive roar Magog launched himself across the pool, the massive ape like Denarian pounding across the water, and swiped towards me with a huge clawed hand.
Ducking beneath the attack I reached into my jacket and swept my sword upwards. The first cut went across his chest and he roared loudly enough to shake the ground.
Not my first Brute, buddy.
Moving on, I tossed my spent gun into the air as I moved, a flick of my wings sent me to the side and I cut down hard, the heaven made blade separating his ugly head from his body.
Tessa gaped in my direction, looking like somebody had slapped her with a live trout as Magog fell, "You!?"
Slipping the sword back into my jacket, I caught my gun and quickly reloaded it. I didn't bother answering.
Bullets didn't work on her, so I opened up at the remaining Denarians as I flew back across the pool. A little tree like Host brought up a shield of magic between her and me, but I just held the trigger down and it collapsed as it drained her limited magic, allowing the bullets to rip into her.
As I landed, I dropped the spent weapon and pulled my pistol and sword, turning to Tessa and Deirdre, "Me," I finally answered her, "But I assume you mean my companion whom is very cross with you," I said and fired a bullet towards Deirdre, mostly to keep her shielding herself with her hair.
Tessa snarled, "That's impossible! You can't be here!"
I gave the sword a whirl and moved towards them as I grinned, "We're not, we're just a bad dream. Close your eyes and we go away."
Deirdre screamed and launched herself at me, titanium hair lashing out like whips, kicking up dust and sparks from the rock beneath us.
I fired two more times and then raised a wing to block her first thrust. Spinning, I lashed out towards her in turn, moving behind my wings as my feathers turned harder and sharper than any steel.
My sword flicked and cut several of her locks off and she screamed and tried to launch herself backwards.
I didn't let her, trapping her hair between a pair of wings as I moved to cut at her head. Tessa and another Denarian, a demon fish looking fucker attacked me from the other side.
Letting her go with just a slash of my sword, barely taking her left hand off at the wrist, I launched myself backwards with my wings to avoid the first attack and raised my pistol, emptying it towards the fish demon, aiming at its big empty eyes.
It screamed but didn't go down, throwing itself at me.
Ducking, I moved to the side and lashed out with two wings, catching it in a scissor movement, sending it to the ground in two pieces.
Standing back up, I flicked the blood from my lower wing and once more faced off against Tessa and Deirdre, turning towards the two Fallen.
Tessa snarled at me, hands spreading and power flickering between them as I pointed my sword towards them, "Take your shot. How many of those do you have in you? More than my companion can heal through? Especially in here?"
Deirdre clutched the end of her arm, titanium hair thrashing around her as she struggled up to stand. Their double eyes glaring at me, burning with hatred.
I let Taziel keep an eye on Tessa as I turned my own to Deirdre, "Does your father know you keep this kind of company? Yet alone dress like that?"
Dust kicked up around them as Kincaid opened up at them in short efficient bursts. Deirdre screamed and lashed out, wrapping her mother in her hair and launching herself up towards the hole in the roof.
Damn it!
Following them would be a losing fight though, as soon as they were out of the circle Tessa would be able to burn me to a crisp with a lucky shot.
Turning around I looked up at where the Hellhound was standing. He was aiming at me. Giving him a fencers salute with my sword, I walked over to the fishman and lopped off his head before moving towards the next mostly intact Denarian in the area.
For all I knew, they had healing powers. If they didn't have a chance to return, they had a tendency to dissolve.
Fhump!
The massive circle went down and I could feel magic return to the area. Just in time for Dresden to return around the corner, The Archive walking along with him.
The girl was safe.
Good.
Taziel appeared next to me, her arms crossed, "Indeed. We may not have been able to complete all our objectives, but we did manage to cut off a significant amount of their resources and stop them from capturing The Archive. Very well done, My Host," she said, looking pleased.
Dresden also had access to all the magic in the area now and didn't look happy to see me. That's less than good.
Putting the point of my sword against the ground before me, I turned to them, folding my wings away and Taziel closed her eyes before I reached to unlatch the helmet, dropping it onto the floor.
Fighting my way out of here was not an option. Didn't want to either.
Diplomacy it is.
