A/N—Okay, I want to put this warning at the beginning of this piece. THIS IS A VERY DARK FANFICTION. It's rated T, because I can't write anything else (and I wouldn't if I could—T is my limit), but it's very dark, and very sad.
Disclaimer: Michael Scott owns this. I own nothing.
Summary: Cernunnos captures Flamel and Palamedes at Stonehenge. Will Shakespeare escapes with the twins, leading them to Newgrange, where he has to lead them on their destiny as best he can.
Please read/review! (: I answer all reviews, if you have PM available, and if it's not anonymous.
Gone Wrong
The police lights flashed blindingly over Stonehenge, casting brilliant white smears on the dust-covered stones. The contrast of the brightness and the shadows turned the ragged, stony structure of Stonehenge into a skeletal face that jeered at the five weak and trembling people who slumped, half-defensive, against the trilithons. Small sparks of aura ran up and down the stone—gold and silver, jade, olive, and yellow. The scents were overwhelmingly sour.
Growls and sirens pierced the night. The glaring shadows outlined raised hackles and glinting teeth, and the red and blue and white police lights throbbed over the dirty landscape like colored drumbeats, slowly drumming out the war chant of the Wild Hunt.
"They're getting closer," Josh panted tiredly, Clarent twitching agitatedly in his hand, like a dog pulling at a leash. He could feel the blood dripping onto his wrist, and it made him nauseous. "And either they're getting immune, or Stonehenge isn't working right."
"Sabotage!" Flamel spat. "Dee knew we were coming. He was ready."
"We should have gone to Newgrange, Alchemyst." The Saracen Knight's voice was sharp and hateful. "Dee would not have expected us to go there. Stonehenge was the obvious, and he was prepared. The Henge is weakening, and the leygate won't work."
"No!" Flamel was shaking violently. "No, it cannot be." He turned to Will, desperation in his pale eyes. "The twins and I merely lack the strength. You try, William."
"You're too weak," Palamedes snapped at the Bard before the English immortal could speak. "It will drain your aura. I won't let you."
"I should try," Will whispered. His lemon scented aura sparkled around him weakly as he glanced at the leygate. He pushed himself up against the rock and turned toward the trilithon, staggering into the opening. The Knight pulled him back, his green aura flaring as he shook Will.
"Do you have a death wish?" he hissed. "Your aura is depleted as much as theirs. You'll incinerate yourself!"
"What else is there to do?"
Their insides froze as a chilling howl shook the night. Palamedes let go of Shakespeare, and Flamel sank trembling to the ground, while the twins winced.
"Cernunnos," Flamel murmured. "There is nothing else to do. Unless you can activate the leygate, we are lost."
"He cannot," Palamedes replied. "He is too weak."
"Then you do it!" Flamel barked.
The smell of cloves spiked the air as the Saracen Knight attempted to bring the trilithon to life. For a moment the Wild Hunt recoiled, and then, suddenly, they howled in unison as the group gagged on the sudden stench of sulpher.
"STOP!" Will shrieked frenziedly, trying to pull Palamedes away from the leygate. "Stop, stop, Dee's tampered with it!"
Every stone in Stonehenge flared to life with a pulsating yellow glow. The keening of the Wild Hunt blended with Shakespeare's screams and the twins' cries, and the sirens moaned and wailed, while the police lights flash faster and faster, illuminating the shape of the Horned God in burst like lightning.