Damien got to the carriage in half the time it had taken them to run from it as Kastra healed his insides. He almost ripped the door off as he burst inside, hands reaching out as his two swords shot into them. Not sparing another glance around, he bounded out and ran toward the mountain, eyes burning with hatred as the white-haired sylphen beside him bounded along with the same fury, thunder rolling out from deep in her throat.
He could see the Hellials retreating. He understood it then, that Alexa had been the point of this raid. He wished he'd knew it before. They could have done something, set something up... the whole raid was strange in the first place! Yet he'd dismissed his feelings of being targetted and this is what was wrought.
He ran as fast as his legs would carry him and then ran faster. He began launching himself through the sky with pillars from the ground, picking up speed. He couldn't use other techniques for fear he'd waste his mana, and he'd need it if what he saw from up high was any indication. At least 15 Hellials had lived and were retreating, alongside a large group of individuals that looked similar to the Dresmyr but were orange in coloration. He assumed those to be the Nivari, and if anyone that felt like speaking had been alongside him they'd say he assumed right.
A few hundred feet away after Damien had sent himself up again, he noticed two figures sitting on the ground across from one another. The two seemed odd, alone around all the bodies, one small and dainty while the other appeared huge, almost half as tall one of the carriages when sitting. To Damien's surprise, the smaller one stood and took off running toward the mountain. After a moment, it lept into the air and flew, leaving the other, much larger figure sitting very, very still.
Damien adjusted his course slightly, begging his overactive mind to be wrong. After a few more launches, he beckoned the ground to rise up and meet him before receding, slowing his fall and killing his moment as the terrain seemingly rolled to a stop like a wave of water losing its momentum, stopping directly in front of the figure and confirming his suspicions.
"You're the leader of the guard," he stated incredulously as the Minotaur looked up at him, surprise evident on her face as she glanced between him and Kastra.
"What are you doing here, boy! You and your Fae-"
"Silence," a word rang out, coming from every angle possible all at once and striking the Minotaur in a very real way as her large face contorted in pain, hands reaching up to hold her head.
"Kas-" a smaller voice started as a figure blurred into shape, immediately quieting at the icy glare that originated from Damien's left shoulder.
"You swore to protect, and yet you sit here chatting with one of them," Kastra stated, watching as the Minotaur lifted her eyes and tried to retort only to realize she couldn't produce a sound.
At that, the Minotaur stood up and began angrily gesturing, taking a heavy step forward.
"They took my wife," Damien stated cooly. "Did you see them do that?"
The Minotaur froze and her eyes widened. Slowly, her head nodded as she broke away from his stare, turning to look toward the mountains. Damien's eyes followed suit as she looked away.
"You watched her disappear that way?" he asked, staring hard at the Minotaur who refused to meet his stare. "Well? DID YOU?" he shouted, leaking some of what he felt into his words finally.
After a few more seconds, another nod. Damien's head tilted back as he looked up into the darkening sky and chuckled lightly. Finally, the Minotaur looked up and recoiled backward when his eyes met hers.
"Pray I never see you again," he said, turning and moving away.
He felt Kastra's spell disappear and was about to leap away when an angry voice yelled at him from behind.
"You think I'm scared of a death threat, boy!? You don't know the situation, the threats! She'd have slaughtered my company to the last, and then the people!"
Damien stopped himself and turned around, face expressionless as he stared into her eyes, disgusted with what he saw. It was so simple to him, in his eyes. What she was saying here, the selfishness behind her reasons. Behind everyone's reasons, his own included. The excuses.
His head fell into his palms.
She had a job and forsook it for people she knew. They had trusted her, trusted her judgment, trusted her to protect them, to do their job. They'd put their faith in her, in all of them, and she...
"That's all this planet knows, isn't it..." he mumbled, head falling into his hands. "I tried so damn hard. I really did. The dungeon, Hellial, Fae, Cedar, Arion, Ezra, that twisted, sick room under the academy... This. I tried, so fucking hard. I rolled with it all. Got in trouble, accepted it, wanted to make sure I kept a bit of me, regardless of how ridiculous it seemed..."
"What are you-"
"But fine," he interrupted with a small chuckle, looking up suddenly as the Minotaur recoiled again, meeting his eyes as his voice lightened and he shrugged. "Fine. You win. This place," he paused, gesturing around with his right arm, his voice elevating to a roar, "WINS! You want to play GOD!? You get to decide who lives and who dies because you're stronger?! They all TRUSTED YOU! WE, TRUSTED YOU!" he yelled, stepping closer to her.
"You think I don't grieve for this?!" she yelled back.
Damien just shook his head and stared at her for another moment.
"Hey, what's your name?" he finally asked.
The woman's expression was one of disbelief at first, and confusion. It seemed she wanted to be indignant, angry even, but a glance to his shoulder and then back into his eyes put a hold on whatever retort she was about to make.
"Why?" she replied finally, nervousness radiating through the captain's voice and posture.
Damien shrugged and laughed lightly.
"Because if she's hurt, I need to know who I come for. What is your name?"
"You threatening me again?!" she asked, raising her voice in fake bravado as she stepped closer to him as well. "I-"
Thunder rolled in the clouds above as a bright flash of light hit the ground a few hundred feet away from them, cutting the woman's tirade short as she looked up and then back down at the man before her. Once again, she shrunk back, but this time due to the electricity that crackled around his frame. Damien knew what that would look like to her in this weather. Insanity, to use that element during a storm, but he was done hiding. Done pretending he was weak. If he hadn't been, maybe he'd have been the target instead of Alexa. Or maybe there wouldn't be a target. Maybe they'd have been against the idea of attacking because of the potential loss.
He'd never know.
"What is her name, Marci?" Damien asked, turning to the faintly glimmering Fae on the Minotaur's shoulder.
"It's Marciel-" she started, before cutting short at Kastra's glare.
"She broke our agreement. Our contract," Damien said, teeth grinding as he went back and forth between apathy and anger.
That seemed to spark something in the little Fae, as he'd expected, and she looked away. Nervous. Deciding. Avoiding the Minotaur's gaze.
Sad.
Damien could see her emotions as plain as day, as if she were a part of their own pact, but he didn't care. He pushed a little more.
"She allowed Alexa to be captured. My family. Kastra's family... Your family. What, is her name?" he asked again.
Marciella met his eyes finally, and her face adopted one of complete neutrality. She flew up, away from the Minotaur a few feet, and opened her mouth.
"She is Rouna, leader of the sixth unit in the Fornal Guard Company."
"Thank you," Damien nodded as Marciella stared back coldly, nodding in return.
Damien looked back over his shoulder to the figures retreating into the hillside, then glanced back at Rouna. She stared defiantly up at him, eyes brimming with anger and a bit of fear that had worked its way in after hearing Marciella's words. Everyone knew the Fae returned death in kind. Damien understood the Minotaur knew her fate was tied to Alexa's.
Finally, Damien turned away, and began moving towards the mountain.
"I would make the same call," Rouna yelled after him, halting his steps one final time. "I'd do it again because it was right! It saved lives! I don't care if I die for this, I saved them!"
Damien sighed and turned back, eyeing her false bravado while contemplating her misunderstanding. He shook his head and her confidence wayned again, brow creasing in uncertainty.
"You think I'd kill you?" he asked. "Tell me, Rouna. Do you have a spouse? A sister? A father?" Her eyes widened as Damien laughed slightly and shook his head. "No, I wouldn't let you off so easy."
"The Fae pay blood in kind, they do not kill those unrelated. There are rules," Marciella stated plainly, staring hard into Damien's eyes.
Damien met her gaze coldly.
"I don't give a fuck. I am done playing by the rules in a world where everyone else cheats. Pray she lives, because if not, I am coming," he promised, turning back to Rouna.
"You are a representative of our kind. There will be repercussions," Marci continued, her mask of apathy crumbling slightly at his words. "Kastra will be punished as well, they won't allow you to slander our kind. You will be brought in and judged."
Damien met her eyes for a moment longer before turning around, setting his sights on where the smaller figure had disappeared into the mountains a few minutes prior.
"Guess I'll burn that bridge when I come to it."
"Kas-" her voice began, abruptly cutting off as a barrier from Kastra shut out the sound of rain, Marciella, and the minotaur's heavy breathing.
He'd spent too much time here already and he had a detour he'd need to take to handle something he should have long ago. If he had, maybe this wouldn't have happened. If he'd been faster. If they'd trained harder. If he hadn't been so soft...
Too many ifs. Damien crouched down and grabbed the stone beneath him, feeling with each movement how the Minotaur sat frozen on the ground, tears streaming from her eyes. Damien propelled himself upwards and into the sky, wondering on one last if.
If he'd be able to pay blood in kind.
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Marciella watched as her former favorite best Human friend shot off into the dark sky, angrier than she'd been in millennia. This was why they didn't allow Humans the equals pact. They were bloodthirsty! They broke Fae law all the time and ignored their promises! But so had the Minotaur beneath her. In fact, Marciella had felt her decision to stay behind was dishonorable and wanted to flee to help Kastra and the others, but didn't know if Rouna would live. Marciella had grown to like this one, just a bit more than others, and...
And she'd looked over a fault so huge that a Human had to point it out to her. Kastra had been disappointed, she had seen it in her eyes, even through the barely restrained fury. Her sister, the one she truly felt was her sister... She felt like she almost didn't know Kastra anymore. She'd never seen Kastra display so much emotion, so much pain, so much hatred. Those of her family didn't even show that much fury when speaking of the old gods.
Marciella flew up a little higher and looked down at the fool who'd caused this, almost expecting to see a reflection in the water and blood of herself and not the minotaur. She wanted to be angry, wanted to want revenge, wanted to bite and claw at the one below her, but in a way she understood. Marciella herself would sacrifice a hundred Humans if it meant saving a thousand Humans. She'd also sacrifice a thousand Humans to save one Fae. So, sacrificing one Celestial to save tens of her own? Marciella could understand that.
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But he was right in a way; it still felt wrong.
The Minotaur looked up and met her eyes, not even glaring like Marciella had grown so used to seeing of late. It was more a look of resignation. Rouna knew that if he wanted, if they wanted, they could make good on Damien's threat. It was a look of fear derived from staring up at a monster. Of expectance. The look all people gave the Fae.
All except one family. Her Human family. The one she'd ignored, hoping to add another to it.
The look hurt more than Marciella expected it to. She turned away from those eyes and flew toward the flames behind her, feeling her heart close a little bit tighter around her games and her mischief.
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Emily woke up slowly to the sound of a gentle pitter-patter hitting the roof of a tent. It appeared to be just around the crack of dawn if the light shining in from outside was any indication, and just as was usual, she seemed to be the last awake in her-
"Wha?" she garbled out in surprise, glancing to her right.
There, Vanessa lay tangled up in the same blankets as hers, holding onto her with a death grip as she slept. Emily's brows knit in confusion and a bit of worry until she looked to her left and saw her husband, also sleeping, looking as peaceful as ever with his shirt off, exposing his wonderfully toned upper body, only covered by a huge bandage and sling across his left shoul-
Emily stopped herself, shaking her head as she tried to remember how they'd gotten here. Garrett was injured? He appeared ok now, if breathing a bit raggedly, but mostly fine. If Vanessa was sleeping, surely he was ok. For all they pretended not to get along, Emily knew they both cared about one another as family.
'In that case, time to indulge,' Emily squealed a little inside, turning back to Vanessa now that she knew her husband was definitely as stable as he was going to be.
So rare were the times she actually got to hold this beautiful woman. She didn't even know herself if she just wanted to be friends or take her for a ride someday, but Emily knew for certain that she wouldn't let a chance to cuddle and... harmlessly touch on the Celestial pass, especially when the other party was holding her tightly already. Her hands reached out gently, and she jumped when thunder rang loud and oppressive overhead. After waiting another few seconds, she continued forward and her arms wrapped around the woman, feeling her wonderful curves as she flushed slightly, staring hard into Vanessa's face for any indication she'd be waking up. If she did, Emily was sure she'd get beaten. She always did the few times they'd slept together and she'd gotten caught being handsy.
Strangely, Vanessa didn't seem to be waking though. Maybe she was exhausted from healing Garrett, Emily wondered, but perhaps she was tired from crying too. That tended to take a lot out of a person, regardless of who-
'Wait, what?' Emily wondered to herself, wondering why she'd just thought that as her hands jumped off Vanessa's body in shock.
She sat for a while and stared hard at the other woman's face and body, looking for signs she'd been crying. Everything appeared normal... it wasn't obvious she'd been, save for the two streaks of cleaner skin that ran down... from... her...
'Why would she be,' Emily wondered. 'Because of Garrett?'
She heard a dripping sound, much too close to her head to be the rain on the tent. Looking up, she wondered where it was leaking, but despite her incredible eyesight from being a Rogue, she didn't see a single hole or spec where any liquid had gotten inside, seeping through the fabric or otherwise. So where had-
Another dripping sound splashed, this time it had landed right next to her ear though. She lifted her hand up to touch the spot and felt it was damp on her pillow, indicating more than one droplet had fallen. Confused, her left arm moved away from Vanessa to the other side of her pillow, by Garrett. Her arm brushed across her face and-
"What in..." she mumbled again as her arm came away wet, sitting up.
Was she crying? And if so, why? Nothing had happened to warrant this lately, except for the raid of course. After all, that's where Garrett had gotten hurt, Damien and she had been stabbed, and Alexa-
"Em," Vanessa said, sitting up and staring at her with a concerned look.
"Hey you," Emily choked back. "It's so weird, I'm crying. I can't really seem... seem to stop either. I don't, why am I-"
Vanessa pulled her into a hug and stroked the back of her head as Emily started sobbing into her shoulder. The world seemed to be constricting around her a bit. Her family, her kids were-
"Oh god, I'm... I, is she-" Emily stuttered, a hand reaching down to her midsection.
"She's fine, she's fine," Vanessa assured her, immediately lifting a weight off Emily's shoulders. "She's completely fine, I promise. I checked, I healed, I double healed. I spent an hour going over you. I even ignored your silly husband to do it," Vanessa said, eliciting a pained chuckle out of Emily.
Suddenly, the world didn't seem to be so bad as she held the Celestial tighter for a moment before backing away. Looking around, she tried to piece together the rest of the jumbled puzzle in her brain and realized something odd.
"Hey, if... where are the kids? Why aren't they with us?" she asked, pulling away from Vanessa.
Vanessa looked away from Emily's gaze, out at the entrance to the tent, adopting a look she always did when she felt guilty, or when she felt like she had something to say that was going to hurt, similar to the time they'd lost a party member. Emily's heart began to beat faster again.
"Ness? Where are-"
"Alexa got taken, Em," Vanessa finally answered.
"Taken? That's funny. That girl wouldn't let any-"
"It's no joke. She... they targetted her. Specifically. Probably because of her family name. The Hellials took her."
Emily smiled and shook her head, waiting for the Celestial to stop with the joke. It was in poor taste right now, and would have been in any other situation as well. But no matter how long she waited, Vanessa's eyes never once quirked upward. Her face... her expression... it stayed the same.
Slowly, Emily's smile drifted off her face.
"Where's..." she started, but let the question fall on her lips.
She knew exactly where her son and Kastra were, if not dead. The fact that they weren't here meant one thing.
"I tried to stop him. I really did. I-" Vanessa started, choking up as fresh tears started to fall.
Emily stared at her friend and felt her heart catch in her chest. She knew she was right, but hearing it from Vanessa made it all too real.
"I did a bad thing, Em, trying to keep him here. I told him... I implied that..." Vanessa kept cutting off, looking down at Emily's bump. "But he still... I think it only made it worse and I'm so sorry and-"
Emily reached out and dragged the Celestial into her this time as the Ice Queen herself wept into her shoulders. Emily stroked her hair and shushed her best friend, trying to calm the shaking woman's body. It was working slowly, but not fast enough, so Emily let her hands travel a bit and soon, Vanessa was smacking her away lightly. That always seemed to work.
Once Vanessa wasn't shaking any longer between her sobs, Emily spoke up again.
"How long ago did he leave?"
"About... about an hour ago," Vanessa replied quietly, sniffling.
"I wonder if he's there by now," Emily mused, causing Vanessa the look up and jump slightly as more thunder rang out above.
"He shouldn't have gone alone; there were so many-"
"He's not alone though," Emily said, pulling her head back. "He has Kastra, and Emra too, I bet. They'll be fine. They'll look out for each other."
"How do you-"
"He'll make it back," Emily assured her. "He definitely will. They'll all make-"
Emily's words cut off as night turned to day in the camp, except that wouldn't be quite right. It had gotten brighter than day. The outside fabric of the tent had lit up like someone was shining the brightest light spell she'd ever seen on it, so much so that she shielded her eyes in her friend's chest. After two full seconds of the immense brightness, it finally dimmed and went away. Both women looked at each other with a knowing panic and slammed their faces into their pillows, crushing their hands over their ears as hard as they could as people shouted in wonder outside. A few seconds went by, but they wouldn't be lulled into a false sense of security. When the sound hit, it nearly blew their eardrums regardless of their attempts to protect themselves. The ground shook from the vibration like it was splitting apart, the quake lasting for just as long as the light had itself, if not a bit longer as a wave of heat assaulted the camp moments later.
Finally, the shaking subsided and Emily began to laugh a little bit, before cackling like she were mad. Vanessa joined in after a moment as both women began to hear screams of agony outside their safe zone.
"I told you he'd be ok," Emily stated, looking over at her poor unconscious husband who was now bleeding from his ears. "I almost feel bad for those that took her."
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Damien was darting through the trees, ever chasing at the backs of those in front of him with Emra by his side. They'd pulled so far ahead with their ability to fly that he didn't know if he'd ever catch them. At least Kastra had gone ahead in case he lost them but finally, after almost an hour of rain, the smell of blood from some creature attack, and a tension Damien hadn't felt since the day of their first expedition, they'd stopped. He was about a mile behind, but Alexa had stopped getting further away, so he jumped up, stepping on the air as he got above the trees.
Looking left and right, away from where the Hellials were surely camped, he found an outcropping of rock, an opening in the otherwise densely packed forest. It would do.
He let himself fall back to the trees and landed in one of their canopies, cushioning his landing with air as he hopped through the branches to the ground. He began making his way toward the rocky opening at a sprint that was aided by the wind, each step carrying him further and faster, though it wasn't enough to keep up with his Sylphen. Even though the forest seemed to bend to his will as trees, bushes, and roots swayed out of his way, Emra effortlessly stayed ahead of him, sensing his intent. He was a bit jealous. He'd worked hard the entire trip up to learn how to move things out of his way a bit, it seemed to simple to him now that he understood the way it was all connected, but to others, it would be a phenomenon only accomplishable by someone who was communed. Yet even then, the Sylphen remained impressively in the lead.
"They're coming closer now," Kastra warned.
Damien didn't care. He ran on. He didn't care that the Minotaur had seen him use wind magic to further launch himself with his pillar, he didn't care that everyone had seen him in his deadliest capacity with lightning, and he didn't care about the black shadows that danced around in the treeline, following him like ghosts. He knew what they were, what they were after. They'd begun to follow him around ten minutes ago and seemed content to guide him toward the Hellials, only coming close when he strayed from the path, but now that he was breaking away...
"Two coming from the left," Kastra stated.
Damien nodded. He couldn't see them well, but he trusted her.
"Tell me when."
"Two, one... now," she said in a monotone voice.
Damien let a blast of electricity discharge into the air on his left and heard two shrieks of pain erupt from less than five feet away. He ignored it, didn't bother to look. He didn't know if they were dead or not, nor did he mind much. His gaze remained forward, making sure he didn't trip and kept his pace.
"Five from the right, staggered a half-second, two from the back a second behind... now."
Another three discharges, lightning exploding out his side like a tree branch followed by a second surge, searching for something to ground into and finding it almost immediately. The figures shrieked again and then Damien was left alone... for about a minute.
But that was all he'd needed.
"Thirty from the front. Some with shields. They're determined."
"Fine," Damien said nonchalantly, thankful they seemed to ignore Emra.
Once again, he lept into the air and began stepping into the sky, something he'd rarely done since his youth and only recently been practicing in combat training again. He was glad they'd started utilizing it, too. It was a boon, but had been hard to re-learn after letting the skill go unpracticed for so long. Now though, Damien lept through the air with ease, soaring above the treetops. He knew the creatures couldn't get him up here, though he moved slower, which is why he'd opted to travel along the ground. It was hard to concentrate on countering his steps with enough pressure already, let alone trying to speed up...
Finally, he was above the outcropping. Emra was already in the opening, having lept up and out of the treetops without the aid of his wind magic. Looking around though, he didn't really know why he'd even come to the outcropping. He thought it might work anywhere, but at least here he could see the sky clearer, so maybe it would work better?
Damien let his body fall to the ground and cushioned his landing crudely, slipping off the rock he'd chosen due to its slick surface from the rain. He felt his leg open up along another nearby rock and felt a warm liquid travel out and down it. He ignored it. Emra licked it.
"Surrounded. Hundreds," Kastra apprised him of the situation once again.
"Thank you, love. I hope this works then or we're dead, huh?" he replied back cheerfully.
"We were dead if we went that way as we are anyway," Kastra replied with a shrug, adopting his air of recklessness.
"I don't know, we might have handled it," Damien replied.
Kastra didn't respond.
The shadows grew closer around Damien and finally, they stopped hiding their forms. Countless Shades poured out of the forest, standing a mere twenty paces away while staring at him, calculating. Emra growled a deep, dangerous sound. A few of the Shades actually hesitated and backed up a step but finally, one stepped forward. Damien opted to wait, just a moment, to see what they wanted. He didn't know if he'd be himself after this, anyway.
"You are reckless, Human," it spoke in a raspy tone.
Damien shrugged. It seemed to not appreciate that as an answer.
"What do you want?" he asked eventually.
"Cooperation," it replied, annoyed, as if that was obvious. "You threaten the balance. You must-"
"No," Damien stated, cutting it off mid-speech.
The creature looked taken aback, annoyed, infuriated, and surprised all in one. Damien was just going off his general sense of the monster's body language though, since he couldn't really see a face of any kind.
"You don't know what we offer, how can you ref-"
"No, stop. Go away, I'm busy," Damien interrupted again, shooing with his right hand.
"Lesser beings," Kastra added.
That seemed to rile up more than just the one in front as the entire group began to shuffle about, some hissing, others growling... It felt as if Damien were surrounded by wild animals, intelligent and not.
"You will obey or you will die here, mortal," the leader rasped out angrily.
Damien's left eyebrow quirked upward as he decided it was time. Either he started now or they'd likely die. He wasn't pretending he might be able to kill all of these before they'd tear him to shreds, he wasn't even sure he'd killed the others on the way here or just hurt them a bit. He knew Kastra understood just the same as the moment his eyebrow lifted, she flew to the top of Emra's back and sat down into her fur, looking up at him with a sad expression that resembled a smile before patting Emra's beautiful coat and then looking upward in a challenging manner.
"Then you-"
Damien took his eyes off her and looked up, reaching inside himself to pull at a connection he'd felt his entire life on Eleria. He pushed mana into his voice, pushed intent into his words, and let them fly.
"Hey, you. Let's make a deal," Damien's voice rang out, deep, darker, different, the words almost choosing themselves in a way he felt was right.
The Shade stared at him, seemingly confused for a moment as if wondering if Damien were talking to him. It glanced around until a change occurred in a few of the other nearby Shades, each going rigid as if panic had overtaken their bodies for a moment.
"NO! STOP HIM YOU FOOLS!"
The thirty or so Shades that had gone rigid screamed out and began charging forward, faster than normal legs could carry anyone. Damien watched them come, watching their claws come ever closer. He could have held a few off, but he didn't care to. It either worked or it didn't, though they both believed the plan had a chance. If it didn't, well, they were pretty done with this world anyway.
Though it wasn't done with them.
An arch of light shot down from above, striking the trio with what he thought was enough intensity to melt the rock beneath them all in an instant while reminding Damien of an old sci-fi show he used to watch on occasion. He couldn't tell if the rock had actually melted away, though, as he couldn't see. The world had gone completely white.
'Beam me up, Scotty.'