1 Prologue
The muggle war 13th December 2017, -15 years since commencement - 27 million live later -
It was like any other December night. The festive winds blew in a merry sing song, flirting with the hems of knee length skirts, while the smell of peppermint candy canes sifted through the slats of bakery doors.
The assortment of clergy, men of god-fearing will, young babes and their mothers, lay tottering about the establishments, offered by the economic cogs of Liverpool.
A gentle tune of a Christmas carol, trekked the wet ice along the runaway roads and subway tolls, to huddle towards the ports and the beach.
The harmony was beautiful; the waves and the salt melding with the notes of the song.
At the shoreline, amongst sea spray and mists, were the 168th battalion, garrisoned in watchtowers lined with the alloy - commonly known as 'wolf's bane'.
Harrased looking sentries stood gaurd next to artillery guns, with their weapons free of the safety switch, constantly eyeing their watches for the next change in shift.
In between all this profanity and dangerous lethargy, stood the commander, smoking his cuban cigar and drinking a 1783 vintage, to get some colour back into his frozen cheeks. With every swig of his glass, he blew rings of smoke, displacing the mist from it's station, as if challenging the Sea to solidify it's stance, and aid the brine reeking mists to turn to stone.
When no response came, he scoffed and blew some more smoke rings, perfectly concentric from one's line of vision as they disappeared into the folds of the night.
As the lull of the season indicated, it would be yet another uneventful Christmas, or the men atop these towers, hoped.
A loud 'crack' issued next to the commander, he froze in his action of picking out a fresh bottle of wine; this was his mistake.
A hauntingly scatted man, in black robes had materialised behind him, and before his hand could reach his 'glock', his adversary yelled 'reducto' and a black shot of light cut through the perfectly concentric smoke rings to hit it's mark, spraying the walls with blood and flesh.
'Wizards' - came the alarm, as loud 'cracks' issued at various points into the misty sea.
More curses were shot and paired with screams that cut through the song of the waves. .
The element of surprise had passed, and men in long cloaks and polished wands scampered for shelter.
Massive energy discharge escaped into the icy sea, boiling it's depths and issuing copious amounts of steam.
Reducto- crucio- gun fire.
A tower burst from its foundations, plunging the men into the unforgiving waters.
Boom-boom-boom -
the artillery began to roar, decimating the towers already claimed by wizards.
Boom- boom - bombarda maxima
- And a golden jet of energy hit the groaning artillery, blasting pieces of metal into the torso of the retaliating sentries.
.
Yet,the battle raged on- muggle against wizard, curse against .65 calibre amminunation, blood against walls, and sea against survival.
Oblivious to the carols and season's merry making, the sentries, finally,managed to claim the upper hand. They had restricted the remnants of the squad of wizards on the periphery of the north west tower.
They were seasoned fighters, matching bullets with precision spell work and counter curses. The sentries in their anxiety and obvious haste of maintaining control, let frag grandes fly, shattering the collar bones of the wizard resistance.
Protrego totalus - someone yelled, and a shimmering cube cascaded the wounded men.
The smell of blood enticed the gaudy beast in the sentries, causing them to empty their clips towards the cornered wizards. Sadly, the bullets simply flattened against the shield charm.
More bullets followed and the wounded began to piss in fear of imminent death.
But, to their surprise the muggles stopped their assault and retreated, their weapons still trained onto their targets.
Boom- boom- boom, one of the artillery cranked, shattering the protegro charm like brittle glass.
Boom- boom -boom; blood, bones and screams.
While Christmas dawned, yet another attempt to retake the wizarding city of Liverpool, had failed.
