What have we here? a man or a fish? dead or alive?

[jackrackham]

The festivities at the City Hall feel far from civilized, and the general air of celebration carries with it a sense of unease. He'd been told to be prepared for something strange and possibly deadly to happen tonight. Eliot had said to be prepared for anything, so he and Anne had brought their swords. It feels both comforting and strange to have it at his hip again, especially when the power unexpectedly cuts out.

Instead of sticking around to see the ritual effigy-burning, they collectively decide to head towards the boardwalk and see if there is anything less likely to cause mayhem happening there. Jack buttons up the front of his coat as they walk. The night is crisp, but he's comfortable as they approach the ocean.

He points towards the south, then looks towards Eliot. "We arrived down that way. On the shore. Didn't you say that you arrived in the water?"

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[jackrackham]

"Whatever you did, do it to this too, if you have more." He slides his dagger out of its sheath and, with a steady glance towards Anne, offers the blade sideways rather than pointed forward. He knows that Anne is slow to trust, but there's something more there with Eliot that seems different than just plain distrust. He wonders if he should ask her about it, but right now is definitely not the time.

"Spread out, and keep an eye out for anywhere we might funnel them through." He nods back to the street leading into the city, wondering if just moving around is enough to draw the creatures closer. "Move that way. That seems like the best option at the moment, but I'd like a better one if we can find it."

He spares a quick glance towards Eliot's sword before he heads off, taking the lead. He doesn't know how experienced Eliot is in battle, but trusts Anne to pick up any slack if need be. As he approaches the next creature he encounters, he sheathes his sword and approaches instead with his dagger in hand. He drops a knee down onto its back and plunges the blade in roughly at the base of its neck, surprised when it slides in as if there had been no resistance to the blow at all.

So that's what Eliot's magic had done.

He laughs, stands, and looks to find the next creature.

[eliotwaugh]

Eliot can't help startling a little when Anne just jabs a blade at him; he wants to make some kind of retort, ask if she thinks that's really necessary, but they're not that familiar. She's made it clear how she thinks of him, and Eliot feels stuck between wanting to win her over and not wanting to give her the satisfaction. Either way, he thinks, he's going to come off a little rude at this point. There's nothing to be done. They have, literally, bigger fish to fry.

"Made it sharper," he answers as he does the same to her blade, and Jack's dagger. If they're being brusque tonight, Eliot can play along. He would compliment Jack on his strategic thinking but he's already taken off. It's going to be a numbers game, and with seemingly no end to the amount of monsters crawling onto the beach they'll need to be fast and efficient to reduce the number that make it inland.

He makes for a small group of them at a jog, grimacing as he gets close. They really are fucking hideous, with their distended almost-human faces and gnarled clumps of hair. Going for the head or neck seems like it's worked well for the pirates, no reason why he shouldn't do the same. Just like dispatching a lobster. Of course he's never known a lobster to give the kind of nasty guttural hiss these creatures do, like the first one does when the blade sinks in. The enchantment's good, and the merman dies quickly enough, but Eliot's stomach turns at the way it thrashes. He could do better.

With the next one he sends an electric current through the rapier, a quick bright flicker that seems to draw the monsters' attention. The one he stabs twitches and goes still almost instantly, and Eliot grins. This is much more palatable. He dispatches a third and then backs up a pace, looking for Anne and Jack.

"I think they're drawn to light," he calls, feeling incredibly energized. "Do we want more light?"

[annebonny]

Whatever mild satisfaction Anne takes in Eliot's little start is swept under the clear utility of it, once he explains. She likes sharpening her own blades, but this is different, and she won't say no to an extra edge.

She keeps back, her eyes on both Jack and Eliot as they veer off—Jack can handle himself, but she's not letting him out of her sight, and Eliot... she doesn't know what to expect, but at least she knows she don't want to see him dead.

Jack kills one of the things easy, laughs and keeps moving; Eliot works quick and smart, far better than she would've guessed, and it's with grudging respect that she watches as he finishes one, then another, this time with a flash of light like he's done something more.

And the light seems to work faster, and it does seem to draw them, so after sparing a glance to make sure Jack's seen it as well, she moves in quick toward Eliot, lunging past him and slashing through a creature that was near closing in. The strike is so much easier this time that it throws her off balance, her muscles tensed for greater resistance, but she recovers quick and adjusts her weight before holding out her sword again, hilt-first this time.

"Do it," she says, less a bark and more an agreement.