Chapter 14

Ella Spotted Felix and landed beside him. He had his bow and was shooting at the on coming men. Things were not yet very heated as the men were falling into the traps that had been laid along the sands. She could hear men yelling and boys shouting. Could hear fires burning and arrows whizzing threw the air. She saw her boys running as if in slow motion. And then there was no noise, and she sprang into action. The charmcaster in red was lobbing fire right on top of them. Ella had her wings carry her to a treetop. She saw the fire heading straight for her and put out her hands. Every airborne fireball then changed direction and headed back for the beach. She focused on the flames caught in the leaves of the trees and coaxed them out of existence. The fire was gone. She looked back at the woman in red and could see her fuming, literally. Ella waved at her tauntingly from her place in the trees. The charmcaster summoned another fireball and Ella doused her in water. The charmcaster screamed in frustration and drew her sword, pushing her own men out of the way to get into the fray.

Ella swiftly jumped back to the ground. One of the boys ran into her and fell down. His pursuer tried to take a swipe at Ella but she turned his sword into a boa constrictor, and left him to fight his own battle. She pulled the other boy to his feet and reunited him with the other boys. Ella worried about what had happened to the creature from the beach.

Pan, do you see that creature? She asked in her mind. The men at the shore loosed a volley of arrows. She put up a wall of energy and they bounced off.

"Felix!" She shouted hoping he would understand. He signaled to the other boys to release their volley of arrows in response. Their arrows broke through the wall, while it deflected three more enemy volleys. The men started to retreat and the boys cheered, but Ella's heart sank. They're going to charge Pan's forces all at once, she thought with dread.

PAN! She shouted across their mental channel.

Ella? Came the confused relpy.

Who else? The beast Pan, do you know where it is?

I see the creature we're trying- She cut across him.

They are all charging toward the flowers, right now. If the creature's over there too than you need our help.

Ella-

Show me where he is. Pan sent her the image of the white beast throwing aside lost boys; she could see Home Mountain behind him. They wouldn't be able to run over and help protect the way to the starflowers with the beast in the way.

"Boys get in a circle, actually make that two circles, hand-to-hand in the middle and the archers on the outside around them. Inner circle join hands, outer grab onto one of their shoulders." She quickly arranged them in that way. "Pan needs out help, I'm going to put us back into the fray and your going to break here," She indicated where Felix stood. "And reform the lines, got it?" There was general nodding. "Okay brace yourself." She gripped the shoulders of the two boys next to her and sent magic into the web of interconnected lost boys. She knew where they needed to be, and she could get them there. She felt something in her gut and she all of a sudden felt dizzy. She fell to the ground, and struggled to get up and assess their situation. She heard the clatter of battle but she was so out of breath. She rolled over onto her knees and her head spun wild. Too much, maybe it was to much. She dug her fingers into the soft dirt of the forest floor and tried to get air into her lungs. All of a sudden she felt her breathing level, her worn muscles felt strong again and the pit in her gut where magic came from once again seemed full. She frowned and almost looked round for Pan, but then noticed the fait green light where her fingers had dug into the ground. She stared at it a moment then smiled and leaned forward to kiss the ground.

"Thank you Neverland. I will protect you."

She returned to her feet and rejoined the battle felling more powerful than ever.

Pan flew over his boys keeping his eyes open for the creature. As predicted, half of the men stormed Ella's forces plus one charmcaster. Luther and Ray headed for Pan's side of the island but the didn't yet join in the battle. The let their men swarm forward. Most of Pan's archers had been in the trees for the talk on the beach and no they were right in the line of fire. They had taken down quite a few men but now they were trapped. Pan's first job was to get them out of there. He went to the ones in the front by the shorelines that were already swarmed with men. He raised an level of sand to make a temporary wall between the men and his boys in the trees further back and gave them time to escape. Once all the lost boys were out of the way he toppled the wall onto the oncoming men burying them for a moment. Back in the air he saw traces of white; they needed to take Lazarus down. He landed next to The Twins who he had left in charge.

Have you got things under control here? They nodded, identical smirks that screamed mischief plastered on their faces. One heft a knotted club and the other along sword. Split your hand-to-hand in half, half for you and half for me. We need to hunt this creature before it hunts us. The nodded and pretty soon Pan was leading his small group of boys against the beast. They had ropes, and the plan was to tie it down so they could kill it. Pan was fairly certain things were not going to go down like that, but something needed to be done. He really needed to keep it away from Ella and her boys and from Pan's small group protecting the Starflowers. He heard a thump and Pan crouched low signaling the other boys to do the same.

"Stop." He said to them lightly. They all did, no one dared move. There was such stillness that nobody breathed, nobody blinked.

But the beast still charged at them through the green foliage of the forest. Two of the boys wasted no time, looping the rope around it's hind legs. It growled as it's hind legs were pulled of from beneath him and struck at the two boys with his tail. Pan charged the head flashing magic in it's eyes which caused him to rear back in pain. His long black tongue shot toward Pan with accuracy that he should no longer have after Pan blinded him. He rolled to the side and trying to seal the beasts mouth shut with magic. The boys took advantage of the opportunity and roped his front legs pulling them out from under him. The beast still head his head trained in Pan direction, like a snake, guided not by sight but smell. He moved in one fluid motion and pulled his legs free; they boys couldn't hold him. He pounced on top of Pan.

Ssstupid child! It growled. This form doesn't feed on flesh, it can if I wisssh it but I crave sssomething much much sssweeter. It laughed deep and menacing and it made Pan's skin crawl. Even worse still was the silence it made to whisper into. I feed on fear dear boy. It said, yours shall indeed be something I shall cherish!

Pan's reality changed before his eyes.

The beach was littered with bodies. All the lost boys, even the little ones they had kept safe in Home Mountain were strewn across the shores. Neverland was painted red and Pan was left alive, barely, to bare witness. Jaquelin tossed fire into the trees and there was no one left to stop her from burning all that green to ash. Pan could hardy breath and he knew he was going to die too. He heard a scream and turned his head in the direction of the noise. The white beast walked up to Lu and Ray. In his mouth, wounded and screaming was Ella. She cried and hit at the creature and screamed. She kept calling him, and yet he could do nothing.

"Pan! Help me! Please!" She was going to die. She was going to die and al Peter Pan could do is watch. How could this be real?

"PAN!"

How could this be real?

Peter's eye's snapped open. That one call was real, one amidst all others and if was enough to bring him back. He reared back for Lazarus and magically tied the ropes to nearby trees, once again trying to help the lost boys subdue him. Pan's heart was going a million miles per hour. Had that really been,

Ella? He asked tentatively

Who else? The beast Pan, do you know where it is? He huffed a sigh of relief

I see the creature we're trying- She cut across him.

They are all charging toward the flowers, right now. If the creature's over there too than you need our help.

Ella- He tried to argue.

Show me where he is. Pan sent her the image of the white beast in front of him, throwing aside lost boys. She didn't reply. She needed to stay where she was.

Him and the boys continued to trade blows with the creature. They were giving it superficial wounds and more or less just making it mad. All of this further complicated by the fact that the black blood he bled, stung like acid. Pan bent trees down making a cage for the beast. The boys roped him into place and he was finally trapped. Pan smiled raised his sword and thrust it down into the beast's head. But he never hit his mark. The beast had shrunk back into a man and fled after flashing Pan a smirk. Pan started to pursue Lazarus when he heard a shout from the forest where his boys were set up.

"Drive them from the forest! Put them back on the beach!"

He knew it was Ella. How did she get over on this side of the island? Were her boys with her? Who was guarding Home Mountain? He growled in frustration and rallied his boys back to their position between the beach and the Starflowers.

When he arrived he saw two half- circles or archers, and hand-to-hand's running all over the place.

"Ella what are you doing here?" He asked her.

"Coordinating an attack while you took care of the beast." She said as if it were the simplest thing on the planet.

"Who is defending home?"

"There's no on to defend it from, Pan. They're all attacking here."

"Empty!" One of the archers called. Ella grabbed a hand full of leaves from one of the bushes. The leaves were about as long as her arm, she blew on them and they changed from their flexible green form into solid rock.

Another boy ran in looking out of breath.

"Hold!" Ella called as soon as she saw him.

"They're rounded up in the east." The boy wheezed at her

"Left ready!" Ella called raising her hands and shaking back her sleeves like a conductor. "Fire!" All the boys from the left semi- Circle let their arrows fly eastward. They flew high and Pan was frowning in confusion until Ella closed her palms and twisted her arms inward. The arrows turned into snakes and reigned down on the men at the beach.

"Clever." He commented and Ella smiled at him.

"The hand-to-hand's are getting them out of the forest." Just then Felix came up to her

"The East forest is clear, or as clear as its going to get." He told her.

"Pan can you put up a wall between the east and the beach? We just need to corral them on the beach." Pan nodded and left to do so. He Put up a Sand barrier and fired it so that it would stand. When he got back to Ella she told him to go ahead and do the same in the west. When he came back this time all the lost boys wee gathered. Archers had moved to the back. He made his way to Ella who was in the very front where yet another wall.

"We're gonna tear it down and charge. The archers still need a hill. One of us will have to stay in the back. You want the front or the rear?"

"Front." She nodded at him. There was a pause for a moment

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"Go." She said, quietly . Pan tore down the wall.

A/N: So this one wasn't so bad right? Yeah i though i was okay. I changed something in ch 12 so Ella knows who hurt Felix. I think it will be relevant in the next chapter. A secondary reminder: I apologize in advance. (Watch me get to this awful thing and nobody cares- Okay what ever) I love you reviews. Shout out to geekchic8428, insertisernamehere, and kykyxstandler your reviews along with everyone else's make me buckle down and write. I love everyone who reads here. Thank you