Anna stood, but it felt like the ground had been knocked out from under her. Peter stood with Halcyon right next to the young noble. Jeremy screamed, and lightning flashed between the Wisps. Andrew and Lord Arden were shouting into the magical maelstrom. Anna could hardly hear any of it.

Had Halcyon broken? His influence had soured all around her for several seconds. He’d gone from a pillar of strength to a weight trying to crush her in almost an instant. She’d known. She’d known before they started that this was too much for them to handle. There were too many other Wisps, they were already enraged. But… No. She’d stayed well outside the influence of the other Wisps. They shouldn’t have affected Halcyon.

But he’d tried to go to them. Anna had asked him to stay with her. She wasn’t strong enough to do this without him. But he’d broken. She’d seen his shade darken into violet. Then… Had Peter really grabbed him? The two were together now, Halcyon pulsing between Peter’s hands, looking stronger than before.

“So it was me,” Anna whispered. The thought made her nauseous. There was no aura of influence anymore, but she could still feel that crushing weight. She wasn’t good enough. She couldn’t do anything without Halcyon, and now he’d left her. The world started to spin.

“Anna!” Peter’s voice cut through the fog in her head. He was facing away from her, but he stood, braced against the storm around him, his head thrown back as he shouted into the air. “We’ve got this side! You can do it!”

Anna blinked. “But I can’t,” she whispered. Her legs finally gave out, and she fell to her knees, shivering. She heard Peter start yelling again, but his voice was drowned out by Jeremy’s scream. “I can’t do anything.”

Something else wormed its way into her head. It took her a moment to realize it wasn’t her own thought or feeling. A sort of mingled curiosity and fear. Consern. When she recognized it, she looked down. Her bracelet was glowing with a dim green light. But it wasn’t merely influence like normal. It was more directed.

Where is he?

Suddenly, Anna’s despair flared into anger. “Why do you only care now?” she screamed. “Why weren’t you helping before! I’ve been begging you!” She could feel the Wisps inside quailing at the onslaught of her emotions. Even as she raged, she doubted they really understood what she was saying. But her anger didn’t last long. The ground shook as the Wisps around Jeremy churned the earth, forcing Andrew and Arden back. Peter cried out with a sound that flickered between pain to defiance.

As Anna’s attention shifted, the Wisps in her bracelet began pressing at her again, with that insistent feeling. Fear for Peter and the others had thrust her anger to the side. She responded to the Wisps with the same feeling she’d had when she met Halcyon. “I need your help!” she whispered.

Ten lights made of blue green smoke burst from her bracelet. Their influence covered everything. Anna could hardly recognize her own emotions underneath the need to help the others. The ten weren’t calm in quite the way Halcyon was. They were determined. It felt like everything around Anna was sharpened and narrowed to a single point. All possible actions seemed to fall away. She had to get everyone outside of the group of Wisps.

Lightning flashed around Peter. He cried out and fell to his knees. Halcyon still pulsed in his hands, but not as strongly as before. Anna felt her panic bubble up underneath the influence, only to be forced down by the weight of her Wisps’ influence. She had to get them out.

But how? If she just walked in, her Wisps would offer some protection from the others, but they were still outnumbered. If she were to just march into the storm, she was sure the clash of magics would incapacitate her. And she wasn’t nearly as athletic as Peter. She doubted she’d be able to avoid the blend of rock and wind that Jeremy would almost certainly throw at her.

Of course there was the original plan. Weakening the storm by one Wisp at a time would take longer than she wanted, but she still didn’t know the magic she’d need for that.

A thought struck her. She started walking forward, and, underneath the influence, she focused on making herself as calm as possible. Her group would be outnumbered, but they were focused. They were feeding off each other for that focus. Hopefully they would pull from her calm as well. Just as Halcyon had pulled from her panic. Hopefully, she wouldn’t need to weave magic to catch them one on one.

Anna flinched as the fields of influence from the two groups of Wisps met. She saw Jeremy had as well. A thrum filled her head as the angry Wisps beat against her.

Why? Why? Why?

It’s not working! It’s not working!

What’s happening? What’s happening?

Fix it! Fix it!

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!

Where am I? What’s happening?

Where’d it go? Where’d it go?

Help them! Help them! Help them!

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Halycon! Anna latched on to that last thread in the chaos. She pulled herself in. She could feel the confusion and frustration of Jeremy’s Wisps, as if there were hooks trying to pull her out of her head. The green and blue Wisps around her pressed in, holding her together, keeping her focused on Halcyon.

“Anna, what are you doing?” came Andrew’s voice. “There’s too many of them!”

Anna heard him. She found herself unable to reply, though. She couldn’t turn to look at her other companions. She had to focus on keeping herself calm. On anchoring the Wisps so that they could help the others.

The two groups of Wisps met. Their light mixed, flashing around the three people they encircled. Anna took another step forward, and the ten blue green Wisps moved with her. Lightning crackled from the angry Wisps. Jeremy howled. A blast of wind came at Anna, but it seemed weaker than before. Or, perhaps, the other Wisps were protecting her.

One of the red stopped in their midst. The others seemed to just flow around the group. Anna felt the influence of that one become stronger, mixing with the one’s around her. They seemed to share in its anger. She forced herself to stay calm. Ten seconds. Twenty. A minute passed, and the Wisp’s color turned, flowing from red to yellow to green.

A shudder ran through the Wisps possessing Jeremy. With a cry of anger, the young noble stepped forward. The earth shifted under Anna’s feet. She slipped to her knees. She forced herself back to her feet, even as she heard the rumbling in the ground continue. She looked up again. In the smoky red light the Wisps put off as they spun, Anna kept seeing flashes of yellow.

Anna drew herself back to her feet and stepped forward. Several other red Wisps drew close. She could feel their anger pouring over her again. This time, she could feel their fear as well. She closed her eyes and focused. “You don’t need to be afraid,” Anna whispered. “We want to help you. All of you.”

She repeated the line over and over. After several minutes, she felt their influence change. The anger vanished. Then it would flare up again. She kept her eyes closed, not wanting any distraction at all as she tried to make herself into a calming presence. She stepped forward automatically every time she felt anger and fear weaken in the influence affecting her.

It was the laugh that made her open her eyes. She stood next to Peter and Halcyon. He was still on his knees, still panting. He grinned at her. Jeremy stood barely over a meter away, shaking, looking unstable. His eyes were unfocused, looking at something past all of them. Looking around, Anna realized, almost with wonder, that the two groups of Wisps were now the same size. Halcyon flared with blue light bobbing between the two of them. “I knew you’d get them out,” Peter said. Then his eyes rolled back. He went limp, falling into her.

“Peter!” She gasped, trying to catching him. He was too big for her arms, though, and he slipped to the ground.

The whole spell broke. Jeremy let out another cry. But it was only his own voice, all magic gone from it. He fell into the grass as well. The remaining red Wisps quivered. A small amount of lightning crackled between a few of them. Some were beginning to change color even as she watched. But the others scattered. They rose into the sky, then streaked away like comets. A few of the blue green ones gave chase and disappeared into the night with them.

In a flash, all of the influence had become one. There was a steady beat in Anna’s head as the Wisps pulsed with determination. The fear of the dozen or so new Wisps that had stayed and tinted their calm with unease. The whole lot of them shone with a hint of yellow. Her head ached with how full it was with others’ emotions. She felt a little bit of panic somewhere deep in her mind, connecting to the other Wisps as well.

“No!” She hissed to herself. “We’re safe now. I know things are confusing, but we’re trying to help. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid.”

Her vision turned blue as Halcyon floated up to her. Blue like the sky. She felt his influence cover her as he inserted himself between her and the rest of the Wisps. She latched on to his calm. She felt her breath slow down and become steady. The other Wisps all began to slow down as well. The yellow dissapeared from them. Most of theym stayed green, though a few faded to blue as well. Then, slowly, they began to descend, all of them, into the opal of her bracelet.

In moments, only Halcyon was left, floating in the palm of her hand. Her chest grew tight. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to…” She trailed off, not quite knowing what to say. His influence was still soothing and warm. Though she caught a little flash of yellow light inside him. It wasn’t the same as any of the other yellow Wisps she’d seen before. It was richer, a darker hue, like gold. It was only there for a moment. A little spark of joy or gratitude. She was barely able to make it out.

Anna heard footsteps as Andrew and Arden ran up behind her. She didn’t have time to turn before they arrived, Lord Arden dropping to his knees next to Jeremy, and Andrew stopping before her and Peter. “Is… Is he okay?” Andrew asked.

Anna looked down at Peter. She couldn’t see anything wrong with him, not that that meant much after being surrounded by so many Wisps. Still, even unconscious, Peter was smiling. “I think so,” Anna said.

“Idiot,” Andrew muttered, kneeling next to his brother. Anna transferred him over to Andrew’s arms.

“What about Jeremy,” Arden said. Anna walked over, dreading what shape the young noble might be in. She hoped to herself that he would be okay. Halcyon followed her as she bent to examine Jeremy. Again, there was nothing physically wrong with him. Unlike Peter, though, his face was expressionless, and his breathing was shallow.

“It’s too soon to tell,” Anna said. “Getting both of them to a bed will probably be the best thing for them, though.” The lord nodded, looking back at the young man.

“We’ll need to get the horses back to carry them,” Andrew said. “Anna if you could watch Peter, I can—”

“Um… I already got them,” said a new voice.

Anna spun around to see Hannah Thornwood standing nearby. She was leading the three horses that had run off, and one more which, presumably, she’d ridden herself.

“Hannah?” Arden said, eyes snapping up to her. “What are you doing here?”

“I… I followed you after you left.” No one replied to her. Arden seemed too stunned to say anything for the moment. Then he looked back at Jeremy. Anna dropped the reigns and ran to his side. “Is… Is it safe for him to travel?” she asked.

“It should be,” Anna said.

“Let’s get them home, then,” Hannah said.

Arden nodded. He lifted his son, and placed him gently into the saddle. Then he helped Andrew do the same for Peter. As they did, Anna realized Halcyon still hovered around the group. She was sure his influence was helping the others act. She hoped it would even help Jeremy and Peter recover. Even as she had the thought, she felt she felt a brief rush of determination in the Wisp’s influence. Then he moved to hover between the two young men on horseback.

“We should take them to the nearest village,” Anna said. “Hopefully, a good night’s sleep will be all they need now.” Sleep, she thought, and some help from Halcyon.