Good God I'm so sorry for not updating for nearly a year – college will do that! I am determined to get this finished before I go back, only a few more chapter to go!
Obsidian was foul. The three witches had always known this, had felt it every single day they had spent there, wasting. But now they felt it with the eyes of outsiders, and it was no better than before. In fact, it was far, far worse. As they hurried after the Winx and co, dodging branch after withered branch towards the central caves, the sisters shivered in unison, keenly remembering every hour they had ever spent longing for somewhere else to call their home, their only reprieve was the profane struggling of a still-bound Valtor.
"You three alright back there?" their mother called, with almost hysterical joviality. They each mumbled a 'yes', although they doubted whether they meant it. All too soon, the company reached a small path, compressed on either side by towering walls of slime-covered rock, which led them into a vast cavern, three gaping caves chiselled into its far wall.
The Trix shivered again.
Crimson light poured from each cave, inhuman cackling echoing within. With a deadly silence, they emerged.
"Well," Belladonna drawled agonisingly slowly, "look what we have here!"
"Mmm, very interesting. We did warn them what would happen if they came back, didn't we?" her sister said, slipping with ease in and out of several petrified bodies.
"I believe so," chuckled the third witch.
"They obviously ignored us. How very rude." Belladona's tone was light, as if just discussing the weather with a stranger.
"Very rude indeed. We'd better do something about it," the second witch said, relishing her words with a near childish excitement.
"Let's," was all the third witch said before laughing her attack. A surge of power, crackling with lightening, gushed forwards, angrily colliding with the rock ahead, narrowly missing the fairies who had dodged it. This irritated the ancestresses, who growled together, before joining their magic.
"Go and find the others," Griffin commanded the Winx and Trix, "we'll hold them off." The look on her face told the girls that she was not to be argued with, so they took to the air, gliding swiftly out of the cavern and into a wide valley. The rock, looming fifty feet above them, dripped with water.
"Where do we even start?" Stella lamented.
"We'll show you where Mandragora usually hangs out, they'll probably be there. You wouldn't find it unless you were looking for it," Icy replied, not once looking any of them in the eye. Her sisters followed wordlessly, unsure how helpful she was willing to be.
They crept on foot through the boggy grounds, eventually arriving at a large area of low hanging willow trees, dead and scraggy, although still with plenty of branches. Sweeping apart the branches, Icy stepped into a sort of tunnel, so low that she had to bow her head, that opened out into another, smaller cavern. This one was surprisingly bright, homely, even. The girls stepped inside, admiring it.
Up ahead, almost at the far edge of the cavern, Mandragora stood, an amused grin dancing across her pursed lips.
"Welcome back, traitors," she purred, taking a bounding step towards them. "You know they'll kill you when they're bored playing, right?"
"They'll have to try pretty hard," Darcy snorted. Mandragora rounded on her, until Stormy's hand shot out, gripping her arm tightly and spinning her around to face the fuming witch.
"Cut the crap, Mandragora," Stormy hissed, "tell us where Bloom is." Looking over at Darcy, she rolled her eyes and added, "and Riven."
"Oh, they're right over there. Go and get them." Mandragora suddenly relaxed, stepping out of the circle now formed around her by the fairies.
Despite their immense suspicions, the girls moved cautiously towards the small hill where, upon a closer look, they found to seat Bloom and Riven. Bloom's eyes were stained with tears, her hands shaking.
But Riven's eyes were harsh, daring the two girls who now stared at him to come closer.
…
The Trix stared down the boy holding Bloom, eyes flaring, forming a barrier between Riven and the Winx. The air around them dripped with tension and hatred. Darcy internally groaned, instantly regretting for the millionth time the things she had done to the boy who was her best friend. Looking into his eyes now, she doubted they could ever get that back.
"You pixie-loving cowards want her back?" Riven's voice was deep but vacant, gripping Bloom's arms harder.
"Obviously," Icy spat, barely containing her rippling anger, not quelled at all by the events of the last few weeks.
"Well, then," a voice chuckled from behind the group, "you three had better come with us, then." Mandragora and Valtor strode out from behind a cluster of wilting trees, joyless grins plastered on their lips.
"My mistresses have been looking very hard for you three," Mandragora drawled, "I never liked you. You were so entitled. You've never worked for anything, you just expected it all to fall into your path. I hated you. And now I get to hand you over for what you really deserve," she cackled, the madness in her eyes never more evident. The Trix felt each Winx girl flinch at the sharpness of the witch's laughter.
"Don't touch them," Bloom spluttered, pre-occupied with the pressure of Riven's hands on her arms. As much as she hated to admit it, it warmed Icy's frozen heart to hear.
"Oh, changed your mind, fairy? I've heard you every day for three years say that you hated these three traitors." The witch spat. She moved forward, stepping deliberately toward the Trix, backed firmly by the Winx but none of them daring to move.
"Alright then, if you won't come with me to save darling Bloom, as I suspected you wouldn't, then I'll have to take you with me forcefully," the power she had been given rippled around her. Preparing to take a precisely aimed shot, Mandragora pulled back her lip and growled.
She was stopped by an almighty rumbling, followed swiftly by Belladonna's distinct screeching. The rocky side to the cavern caved in, rock flying. Everyone ducked and flung up hands to cover their heads as three flickering shapes blundered through the collapsed wall.
The Company of Light flew after them, shots of light and dark flying. The witches shrieked, more maniacally than Icy had ever heard them, and it frightened her. She had felt fear only a handful of times in her life, but that was the worst. The realisation that these were not people that could be manipulated or reasoned with, but creatures that wanted her – and her family – dead.
A wayward shot Riven squarely in the chest, causing him to release his prisoner. Bloom, stumbling roughly down a small incline, fell into Darcy's waiting arms, dragging her towards them.
"Take her out of her!" Dorothy commanded, her airy voice suddenly deep and sure. Nodding to her mother, Icy gripped Bloom by the wrist and began to make their way quickly and quietly towards the passageway towards the portal, still waiting in the darkness outside. Making it across the passage, they found themselves once again in the vast cavern lined by the three caves in which their ancestors existed.
"Come on, fairy, move," Stormy growled as Bloom began to fall behind. Icy gave her a look, almost, almost, in Bloom's defence, and her youngest sister fell silent. Before long, the twisted colours of the portal came into view.
"Go," Icy pushed Bloom forward, glancing behind her before taking a step towards the gateway.
"And where," a frosty, wicked voice stopped them, frozen in place, " are you all going?"
