╚╩╩╩╝ Hamil ╚╩╩╩╝

We quickly arrived at the Gelling’s estate.

Pert set me on my feet and nearly had to catch me as the world was spinning in my view.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

I shook my head and focused my eyes and felt everything settle. “Yes.”

Looking through the gates that separated us from the large, dark building, I frowned.

Several, obvious-looking thieves and bandits were loitering outside the building, laughing amongst themselves.

Pert paused, stroking his chin.

“We don’t have time to waste.” I said, stepping toward the gate. I summoned my wings and felt them pierce through the back of my shirt as they spread out wide. “They need our help.”

I shifted my wings to their metal form and swept one through the thick chains holding the gates shut. The lock dropped to the ground as I pushed them open.

The bandits and thieves turned to see us and stopped. Quickly, they armed themselves and charged forward.

“Stand behind me.” Pert ordered in a low voice.

I obeyed and watched as the yellow aura that wrapped around the man started to flash as electricity arced through his body. The electricity all flowed toward his right arm as he lifted it over his head. The lightning gathered in his hand in the form of an orb of golden webs of energy. Thrusting his hand forward, the orb in Pert’s hand shattered as a deafening thunderclap boomed as a bolt of blue lightning erupted from his fingertips. The lightning lasted for barely a moment, but I could see the results after peeking out from behind the man.

Of the at least dozen men that were coming after them, only half remained. The rest were on the ground, a trail of charred grass and soil connecting them and Pert.

The sound of whinnying horse came from behind us. Turning, I saw the Astrid, Damian and Dame Austen. Their horses had been spooked by the loud noise, but they were here.

Pert turned his head and said in a loud voice. “Hamil and I will head inside, you three deal with everyone out here.”

Pert swept me off my feet and seemed to reach the door to the estate in a single step.

Setting me on my feet again, the man stepped up to the door, raised his foot and kicked it hard. The door didn’t break open. Rather, a good portion of the wall that the door was a part of came crumbling down. Inside the building, just a step away from where the door had just come down, was a servant woman. Seeing us, a mix of fear and joy mixed within her.

“They’re in the kitchen!” She cried out. “I’ll bring you there!” She then turned and hurried down one hall.

I followed after with Pert beside me.

╚╩╩╩╝ Astrid Nile ╚╩╩╩╝

Pert and Hamil left us quickly, as we hoped they would.

I’d personally seen the effect that Charlotte has had on Hamil. The boy had closed himself off from the world for most of the time that I’ve known him. He openly talked with everyone at home, but refused to have anything to do with anything or anyone outside of us.

Jaime was quite the opposite at first, but something had happened and she was becoming more and more distant. I’d wanted to talk with her, but never had the opportunity to.

Stepping up to the gates, I stared out at the several people readying to attack. They had seen Pert and Hamil leap past them, but decided to face us instead.

They all approached slowly. I decided that, this time, I would help more than just setting fire to something.

Activating my aura, I watched as several of our opponents did the same, including a few just past the trees to our left.

Shaking my head, I cursed just as I cast the same spell I had used before and set fire to the tree line.

Dame Austen acted at the same moment, moving silently. After spending enough time with the woman, I found that nearly everything she did created no sound. I wasn’t sure if it was skill or something magical, but it was like watching a ghost move through the battlefield.

With a single slice Dame Austen cut a man in half by the waist. Kicking this one’s chest, she spun and cut another man’s arm off. It was a spectacular sight, one that I was glad to watch as an ally.

Turning, I watched Damian punch a man, piercing right through the man’s protective aura and caving in his chest.

Taking a moment to regroup, I couldn’t help but feel a little useless having watched these two mow through enemies with apparent ease.

“Astrid, right?” Dame Austen asked, to which I nodded. “You need to take more action. I have been dodging attacks from their Mages this entire time. I’m already very tired. One wrong move and I would be in great danger.”

Nodding, I tried to remember what I had seen and which people to attack.

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“Damian. I am glad to have met a wielder of the Weeping Fist, but you are woefully wanting. The Weeping Fist draws strength from your sorrow, not your anger. Stop being so angry.” She chastised him.

Looking at Damian out of the corner of my eye, I could see that he was frustrated. He would usually argue when told something like this, but his silence spoke volumes.

“Now, let’s work together as a team.” Dame Austen called before dashing forward.

╚╩╩╩╝ Hamil ╚╩╩╩╝

The servant girl stopped at a door and shoved it open to reveal four people standing in a room.

Gareth was standing at the head of a long dinner table, gripping Charlotte’s wrist tightly. Beside them were a man who looked like a slightly older version of him and a suspicious man in a butler’s uniform.

Everyone froze in that moment, but Gareth was the first to act. He pulled Charlotte closer to himself and grabbed onto her hair.

“Leave here and nobody gets hurt!” He cried out, shaky and uncertain.

Before anyone else could do anything, though, I spotted something like a spark in Charlotte’s eyes. She lifted up the hand that Gareth was still holding onto and bit down on his hand.

“Gah!” The man cried out, releasing the grip he had on both Charlotte’s wrist and hair. Oddly, though, he was nursing the hand that was holding her hair.

Charlotte took her escape and lurched forward, hurrying toward Pert and me.

“If I can’t have you, nobody can!” Gareth shouted hysterically.

The man pulled a sword out from his belt and lunged forward.

“No!” I cried out, starting toward Charlotte.

Everything was going wrong. I was too slow. I wasn’t going to reach her in time.

I felt a warmth radiate from my chest, rushing through my body. This warmth all started to gather at my back.

Suddenly, everything stopped.

Everyone was frozen stiff. Charlotte was mid run and Gareth’s sword was a hair’s breadth from her back. Who I assumed to be Gareth’s brother was standing, staring blankly at his brother, his face wrapped in a bandage. It looked like the man had lost his nose somehow. Turning, I looked to Pert. The man was terrified. Enough so that he couldn’t move before things had frozen.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted something glowing behind me. Turning my head as far as I could, I saw a Magic Ring hovering between my wings. My wings looked different, too. They looked like droplets of water that had gathered on a glass. Surrounding and flowing through my wings were hundreds of spirits of rapidly changing colors.

I didn’t recognize the language being written on the Magic Ring, but it was hard to even see what the characters were, since thousands of them were appearing and disappearing in a fraction of a second. Staring at the ring for a moment, a splitting headache ripped through my mind, almost like a warning.

Remembering the situation, I turned back to Charlotte. I grabbed onto her and pulled her back to me and held her tight. Right as I did, everything unfroze and Gareth’s swing continued, digging into the floor.

Everyone paused, confused at what had just happened. Taking advantage of this confusion, I moved Charlotte behind me and stepped forward as Gareth started to try and pry his sword from the floor.

In one quick motion, I swung a wing out, catching Gareth’s arm at the elbow. The man stumbled back and watched as his severed arm fell to the floor, hand still clutching on to the sword.

I kicked the man between the legs and watched him fall to the ground and roll around in pain.

“Where are the others?” I shouted at both him and his brother.

Gareth rolled around on the ground, whimpering and clutching his stumped arm.

I turned to the brother.

He flinched and started talking before I could even move. “They’re in the dungeon!” He shouted.

“Where is the dungeon?”

Their butler chuckled and we all turned to look at him.

“It doesn’t matter where they are. They’ve most likely been eaten by now.” He explained.

Pert grit his teeth and stepped over to the man. “Tell us now!”

“Knowing where they are won’t help. It’s too late for them… and for your family back in Renae.”

Pert grabbed the man by his shirt and lifted him off of the ground.

“Do what you will. I will not betray my master.” The man said with a smile.

“Your loyalty is commendable, but your masters are pathetic.” Pert grimaced.

“Who said they were my masters? I am simply here to watch over my master’s pet.” The man said, then turned to me. “You remind me much of your father.”

Before he could say another word, Pert gripped tighter as lightning arced from his body to the man’s. The smell of burning flesh filled the room as the butler’s body trashed about before falling limp.

“We have to find Clem and Jaime!” Charlotte cried. “I don’t think we’re too late.”

“Me neither.” Pert said before turning to the two Gellings. “Where is the dungeon?”

Gareth’s brother immediately volunteered to take us all to the dungeons.

I started following but stopped and looked back into the dining room to see Gareth still writhing on the ground, wailing. Frowning, I turned and walked over to the human scum.

Kneeling down beside the man as he wept, holding his injured arm, I spoke. “You’re never going to lay a hand on Charlotte again.”

I then raised my wings high and swept them out, cutting both of his arms off at the shoulder. I then walked over to the sword Gareth had used to try and attack Charlotte and heated it on a candle’s flame and used it to sear both wounds shut.

“I was going to kill you, but I think that leaving you alive like this is a better punishment.” Hamil whispered in the man’s ear as he sobbed, frozen in shock.

Standing, my gaze locked on to the butler’s body. Thinking back to the man’s words, I wretched and nearly puked on the floor. Breathing hard I turned and saw that the group had left me behind. Hurrying after them, Hamil started repeatedly muttering a phrase to himself. “I am not my father.”

╚╩╩╩╝

Gareth’s elder brother led them through the halls of their estate, all the way to a long hallway with a heavy-looking door at its end.

“What happened with your nose?” Hamil asked the brother.

He flinched and paused before answering. “The white haired girl.”

“Jaime?” Pert asked.

“Yes. She… bit it off.”

“Bit… with her mouth?” Pert asked again, fear rising within him.

“Yeah, and I never saw her spit it out.”

“We need to move faster.” Pert hurried the man as he opened the door.

“Can I leave? I don’t like going down there.” The brother asked. “The monster is really scary.”

Pert whipped to face the man. “Monster?”

Nodding, Gareth’s brother answered. “A Plague Beast, I think.”

“The situation is far worse than I initially thought.”

“Why?” Hamil asked.

Pert didn’t ask, but hurried through the door and down the stairs.

Hamil followed closely and stopped when they came to a door. They could hear a commotion coming from behind it, but the door would not open.

Finally, Pert decided to kick the door open, revealing a group of frightened, haggard people. Half of the group was able to quickly run past them and up the stairs.

After the group had escaped, Pert could clearly see Jaime standing, her head hung and arms dangling at her side.

Hamil was about to grab Jaime and Clementine, both of whom stood a short distance away from the door, when Pert grabbed him.

“What?” Hamil asked, but Pert didn’t answer.

The man simply stared at Jaime as the shadows at her feet grew darker and more viscous, slowly rising up from the ground and wrapping around her body.

“Run.” Pert told Hamil. “Take Charlotte and get as far from here as possible.”

Jaime’s body lifted off the ground like a puppet on a string. The shadows enveloped her entirely and grew to an enormous blob of darkness that let out a deafening roar.