(I’m really sorry about the length. I kind of got into it. It’s 1,000 words long, yeah. It’s also riddled with grammatical errors. I added a summary under the spoiler if you don’t want to read it all. RJ- If something doesn’t fit with your character, just let me know, and I’ll change it, okay? Also, if something is incorrect according to Dresdenverse cannon, I'll change it too.)
[spoiler]
Dyers has a lot on his plate at the moment when a vampire summons a demon to take him out. Rudolph discovers the summoning chamber and gives chase. Dyers is attacked and manages to fend off the demon but falls off the side of his office building. Rudolph saves him through teleportation. The two manage to banish the demon. Fillian, being pursued by a warden leaves. Dyers gets a nasty headache.
[/spoiler]
Augustine Dyers
Whose Path Have You Crossed?
Story Title: Eternal Complications
The Red Court gangs were getting bolder and more violent by the night. His company was in the middle of negotiating a large business deal, White Council affairs were becoming an increasingly strenuous affair, and now, to top it all off, Augustine was beginning to believe that the Vampires were up to something utterly evil. Dyers just couldn’t seem to focus. It was all so maddening.
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It was some time after the incident with the Gambler and Rudolph’s murder of the gang leader. Fillian was fleeing from something dangerous. He didn’t know what it was but it only began to pursue him after he broke the so called first Law of Magic. As he ran, Rudolph thought of the mad hobo who had disappeared after gloating about his necromantic abilities. Rudolph did not want to vanish, so he kept fleeing from his unnamed assailant. And it was because of this panicked state that Rudolph did not notice the St. Louis Police CAUTION tape around the large hole in the ground.
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Dyers felt a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wasn’t a diviner, but he knew something was going down tonight. Standing up from a desk crowded with paperwork, Augustine exited his office and went out onto his balcony overlooking the city. Something just wasn’t right.
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Fillian woke up floating in a pool of water. He was in some sort of cave network. The hole he had fallen through was not visible. The water must have carried him away from the cave’s roof entrance. Rudolph waded to shore and collapsed in shock. He had broken his leg in the fall. Suddenly, he heard chanting. He was no expert but it sounded like a very powerful, and dangerous, summoning. Rudolph, wanting to learn more about whoever was attempting to summon something so hazardous, hobbled his way towards the noise.
A conversation echoed down the corridor as Fillian limped down the cave system.
“Why have you brought me here?” The voice sounded utterly otherworldly as if it were spoke by something not used to oral communication.
“Let us make this clear. We know your True Name. We don’t want to have to hurt you, but we will if you won’t cooperate.”
There was a long pause. The second voice sounded cold and calculating, a voice without remorse or compassion. Finally the summoned creature spoke, “Very well. What do you wish of me?”
“We want you to kill Augustine Dyers, a wizard who resided right here, in St. Louis.”
“And the payment?”
“Whatever you wish, within reason. After the deed is done.”
Another long pause followed. Then the creature said, “Very well. Let us adjourn.”
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Augustine Dyers felt something move into his office behind him. He turned to face a handsome man wearing an expensive suit and pants. Dyers instantly recognized him as one of the numerous Red Court Gang lords that operated within St. Louis.
“Hello, Mr. Dyers,” the man said curtly.
“Your attempts to kill me have all failed before, what makes you think it will work now?” Dyers asked as his hands reached for his tie and wand.
“We never killed you because we never brought decent company,” the vampire spoke as the door to Dyers’ apartment blasted off its hinges and demonic ooze entered into the room.
“You fools,” Dyers whispered as the vampire gang lord transformed into his alternate bat form and bull rushed him.
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Rudolph eventually managed to haul himself into the summoning chamber. Looking around, he was compelled to study the symbols drawn on the cave floor and the various magical items scattered around the room. However, he was more obliged to helping the wizard these horrid beings had targeted.
Rudolph followed a trail of slime, presumably something the creature left in its wake, out of the cave network onto the surface. He was in a park next to an office building somewhere in St. Louis, supposedly. The ooze led into the building. There was a sign on the door that read Dyers Corporation. Looking up into the night’s sky, Rudolph could see some commotion on a balcony on one of the upper floors. Limping to building entrance he could see the doors were locked and the elevators off. He had no choice, he had to journey through that “other place” to get to the balcony. He didn’t know its name but it was a dimension that the summoned creature would probably call home. He had only been there once, and he knew it was dangerous, but he had no other option.
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Dyers was tired. He managed to block off the balcony with a shield, effectively trapping the demon in his office. But the vampire just wouldn’t go down. It was wearing him down and he didn’t know how much longer he could fight.
With a flurry of motion they suddenly both fell against the balcony guardrail and tumbled off the side whilst grappling with each other.
Dyers felt gravity take effect and began to plummet through the air. In his panic he let go of the vampire. Before he could collect his wits, somebody apeared above him.
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Fillian messed up the reentry. After avoiding all the nastiness in that “other place”, he entered back into reality five feet from where he wanted to be. Instead of standing on the balcony, Fillian was standing next to the balcony in open air. Luckily for Dyers this placed the sorcerer in a position to save the wizard’s life. Grabbing on to the railing, Fillian managed to catch Dyers’ flailing hand. With great effort he hoisted Dyers up to the side of the balcony. Looking down, both of the men watched the vampire thrash its flightless wing as it plummeted through the air and smacked into the ground.
Both sorcerer and wizard looked at each other in contemplative silence. They shook hands and introduced themselves. Then they looked at the terrible monster wrecking havoc in Dyers’ office. Wordlessly, the two got to the business of banishing the creature. With their combined effort they worked through the night and managed to send the demon back from where it came.
Shocked at the price the vampires were willing to pay to control his innocent city, Dyers sat down at his desk while Fillian sat looking at the city. Perhaps he would come back someday, but he just couldn’t stay. His hunter was still on his trail. So he bid goodbye to the wizard and set out once again.
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Dyers woke up in morning with the biggest headache. He had, had the most tumultuous night. Vampire, demons, sorcerers, and now he had to talk to a warden about some lawbreaker. Was life ever going to become simple?
