Drifting Through Realities

by Thadius0

Chapter 22 - Night one

Drifting through Realities

Chapter 22 - Night one

Days until Wild Hunt - 2

The house was quiet. Eerily so. I almost could have been fooled into thinking that maybe, nothing would happen. Maybe, I would get off without anything coming after me. Maybe, just maybe, the Hunt wouldn't find me here.

Then I heard the giggling.

I had already gone through my house and incanted the revocation, just to be on the safe side, to make sure that no Fae could enter my home. I had no idea what had been said in this house, after all. Any and all invitations that someone had uttered would be grounds enough for a Fae to get in.

Then I felt that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was safe. The other residents of this city wouldn't be. And if this Hunt followed the same protocols as the last one, then...

Well, then I would be remiss if I didn't speak up or act to defend the town. The first night wasn't too bad. I could easily hold them off. Weaklings, really. Probing to find out where I was weak.

I would make them regret that. With one hand gripping a hurtstick for the Fae, and the other one gripping the hilt of Origin, I made up my mind as to how I would handle this.

---

The first thing I saw when I walked out of my door was a score of red-capped mushrooms on my lawn. Anyone else might think that it was a decoration. Or that I had a serious infestation of mushrooms.

I had a serious infestation, all right. And I wasn't fooled. But I played along to lull them into a false sense of security. I walked down the path leading through my lawn and waited. Three, two, one...

The moment the mushrooms turned to look at me, I grinned. Bloodcaps. And...now.

Just as the first one leapt at me from behind, I activated my anti-magic field and blasted them all back with its aura. The mushrooms screamed as they revealed themselves to be imps that fed on the blood of others, and writhed under my hurtful aura. One by one, they vanished, popping out of existence, leaving behind only red stains on my lawn.

I tried not to think about whose blood that was as I turned to the street. More mushrooms dotted the street on either side, trying to catch the unwary and trick them into walking past. I would have none of it.

I pumped more energy into my anti-magic aura and grimaced as the calculations were run in my right eye. I wouldn't be able to hold this level of power forever. Hopefully, though, I'd be able to do a sweep of the streets and make sure nobody fell victim to the little bloodsuckers.

As well, I started intoning the revocation wherever I went, doing my best to protect the city from what would happen during Night Two. There was so much to do to prepare and protect against a Fae assault. I only hoped I could ward off the worst of it.

As I went, I heard a moaning. Perfect. Banshees to help lay out the course. Naturally. I was surprised I hadn't run into any Pixies yet, but it was probably only a matter of time. I rounded a corner and saw the ghostly human-ish female form hovering in the middle of the air. The moment it saw me it started to put up a racket, one that I winced as I heard.

Normally the scream of a Banshee was more debilitating than just inducing a wince. I'd heard it so many times, however, that I'd grown used to it. As I approached, the ghostly figure fell to the ground thanks to my aura, but it didn't pop out of existence yet. That was reserved for when I pulled out my rowan-wood spike that had magnets embedded in it and ran her through with it. Then the Banshee faded out of the world.

I left before any of the ponies that had likely experienced that wail could recover and poke their heads out of their windows to see me. I was going to do this, and I was going to do it on my bloody own.

---

Fifty Bloodcaps popped, ten more Banshees banished, and I finally found the Pixies. The little lime-green sprites were playing in the local junkyard, putting up a hell of a racket as they examined various shiny things and banged them against one another. Normally I would be inclined to leave them be.

I knew, however, that the moment they found a local to torment, they'd switch targets. And I wasn't going to be having any of that. I was the one protecting this city from any and all Fae that might show up. The only really dangerous thing was, these little suckers were powerful, despite how they looked.

I raised a hand and intoned the revocation, and the sprites turned to me with an angry glare. As if they were asking who I was that dared to interrupt their fun. They flitted over to me and as one, they each assumed a form that I would associate with a troll. The twenty lime-green, hulking forms looked down on me, grunting and growling.

Yeah, Pixies could shapeshift. And unlike many other shapeshifters, their new massive forms functioned exactly as they looked like they would. My only real trump cards, in this case, were my anti-magic aura and my hurtsticks. The aura would force them back into their normal forms, and like all lesser Fae, my hurtsticks for them would destroy them. I forced myself to wait, be calm...

The pixies moved as one to ring me, and I grinned before flipping the aura up to as high as I could force it. They all screamed and wailed as they popped back to their sprite forms, and I quickly went from one to the next, jabbing them with the rowan wood and magnets. Each one popped out of existence and left a smear of ectoplasm on the ground, their only legacy that they were ever there.

The junkyard had been the last place I needed to check. I could safely assume, after having intoned the revocation everywhere I went, and also destroying any and all Fae I found when I found them, that I had finally, safely warded off the first night's waves. I checked my watch and found that it was about...four in the morning.

Shit.

This would totally mess with my sleep schedule. Not to mention the fact that someone would have heard something. Hopefully, none of the ponies would put two and two together and think that I had anything to do with it. I didn't need the publicity. I didn't need them to think I was involved, and I didn't need them to get involved.

I wandered my way through the streets again, until I found my home once more. Once I did, I walked inside, found my bed, and collapsed onto it.

I only had so many hours until the next night. I would need to be well-rested, and well prepared.

Comments

[badninja]

Hopefully Eric will stop being pig headed and tip off Vinyl and Octavia, as they are really his only friends. He could ask them to keep watch while he sleeps during the day.

[mastermenthe]

Neat

[BigLurker]

7430005 I think the terror would blot out the awe.

[AetherToast]

Yeah, things are about to go south. I am almost a hundred percent sure that Luna has caught on to what is going on around Canterlot. Guess the Wild Hunt goes by survival horror rules. Things are okay the first night, but as time goes on shit is gonna get real.

[sjo3989]

Thanks for the update! !

[badninja]

How is the next chapter progressing for you?

[Geminii]

I mean, Eric has access to Trace, Twilight, Luna, Celestia, probably mages from the Equestrian military... and the Hunt is something likely to count as a threat to civilians in the area. Not to mention any mad science weaponry the Dingbots can come up with.

[Ephedianroyalty]

This is pretty cool

[Rikki]

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10022354
Oh, well, sorry then

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