Delayed, eyes I know but I have been so busy lately what with having to attend practices for the Christmas production at my church that had opening night this past weekend and I have more shows this upcoming weekend. As I type this, I'm keeping track of time because I have to get ready for tonight's show as well. In spite of the temptation of letting this wait until I have an ample amount of free time, I decided I should just do what I can now and finish whenever. I left things off on a pretty dramatic point – or at least I hope it was dramatic – at the time I didn't know where I would take things when it came to this chapter, I still don't know, but I guess we'll just have to see, right?

~Rolyn~

Chapter Fourteen: Extract

"We have to help her," Rolyn murmured. Piper merely nodded in agreement as she watched with worried eyes as the brunette flew towards the school, more importantly towards the school infirmary. Professor Marina was still calling out to her vain. The aqua haired disciplinary did not hide her frustration as she was torn between going after the rogue girl and remaining behind to keep the rest of the girls in check.

"Let's do it," Piper said as she locked eyes with Rolyn briefly. Rolyn gave a quick smile before turning towards Alex and Dawn. They hadn't exactly been included in the conversation but they certainly were in the decision to help their friend. Alex was the first to be consumed by light and fully transform. Rolyn and Piper quickly followed and Dawn was just transforming when Professor Marina called them out.

"Not you girls, too…" The instructor grumbled, narrowing eyes that matched her hair in color. The four freshman fairies hovered over the crowd of gathered students, gaining the same attention May had received when she had taken off. Everyone was easily ignored as Rolyn barked the order for the girls to follow her. Marina growled in frustration as she watched the girls fly off leaving a trail of sparkling fairy dust in their wake.

"Sorry Professor Marina!" Dawn called back over her shoulder. Marina rolled her eyes. She didn't see the point in fretting over this. She knew very well that these very same girls have been pinned against witches before and came out on top, mainly because of their ability to utilize the Quintessence as a group and not just separately. She trusted that they wouldn't give her reason to fear. She wouldn't worry.

Unaware that she was being tailed by her roommates, May fluttered into the infirmary. The gaping hole in the wall caused her eyes to widen, but really had her attention captured were the deep, guttural screams passing from Drew's lips. It sent unpleasant shivers down her spine as she took in the situation. Azazel and Aziza were incapacitated and the Headmistress was caught in ice much like May had been the first time she had encountered the witches. Drew remained trapped with the three witches surrounding him, all of them with eyes closed as the black fire May had come to know as the Demon's Flame slowly crawled from his body and separating equally to find new homes within the three witches.

It wasn't hard to realize just what was happening and May couldn't help but wonder why no one had thought to extract the demon's Flame from Drew a long time ago. By the way he was screaming and writhing in pain, she's actually a little glad they didn't. What if this killed him?

"Drew!" May called out and Jasmine's eyes snapped open, irritation flashing in them. The three witches were more than halfway done with the extraction spell and with this power, they'd be unstoppable from accomplishing the real task at hand. She wasn't about to let the human interfere now. May had been a thorn in her side for far too long now.

May gathered an attack in her hand, unsure of what else she could do. A ball of raging fire formed in her open palm and she raised to aim at the closest witch within range which happened to be Michelle. Pulling her hand back and releasing, the fire flew through the air, spiraling perfectly only to be engulfed by its darker counterpart midway towards its target. May's eyes widened. Last time her fire had been effective against the Demon's Flame…what had she…

"It's not going to work,"

May whipped around as Piper moved to hover next to her. "Not with their full negative Quintessence gaining control. The Demon's Flame was suppressed only because Drew had half positive Quintessence in him." She explained gravely. May's heart dropped past the soles of her feet. Was she useless then? There was nothing any of them could do?

May's mouth hung open as she cringed when Drew's voice cracked from strain. He had been screaming a lot. Groaning May shook her head and brought her hands over her head. She felt a familiar fire flow through her veins as the Dragon's Flame released itself. She brought her hands down and the Dragon went barreling towards the three witches and Drew also, but May was too frustrated to care.

Retaliation came almost immediately and the backlash caused multiple screams. The negative Quintessence was painfully heavy and weighed down heavily on each girl as they all fell to the floor, their wings useless. May gasped, her blue eyes going wide as the infirmary was engulfed in black fire that seemed to move with less grace and more ferocity than the fire May was used to. Over the dull roar and crackling of the dark flames, May could hear the manic laughter.

Jasmine stood at the forefront of the witch trio, flexing her hands as a malicious grin overtook her features. The negative Quintessence…it was all so perfect; perfectly chaotic and destructive and this was only a fraction of the actual power that once existed. Compared to what she had seen the keeper of the Dragon's Flame could do, she felt ten times stronger…strong enough to do as she pleased.

"Jasmine," Michelle's low voice cut through her thoughts. "We stick to our plans…" The witch reminded her leader and Jasmine almost forgot how the other girl could read minds. It wasn't any better that her abilities were probably enhanced by the newly gained power. As tempting as it was to simply take the Dragon's Flame now with it sitting in front of them, scared and suppressed, Michelle was right in reminding Jasmine to stick to their plans.

"Very well," Jasmine sighed. She locked eyes with the brunette, a smirk playing her features as she noticed the fear in those wide blue eyes. The girl had every right to be scared because once they had everything in order, they were coming for her. "Later fairy losers."

Michelle waved her hands and they disappeared in a swirl of their newly attain black fire. With the source gone, the remaining flames slowly extinguished to show the destruction that had befallen over the Sentry school infirmary. No one moved for a moment until Piper pulled herself to her feet, her wings twitching as they regained their strength.

"Drew…" The fifteen year old flew to the unmoving form that remained curled up on the floor of the infirmary. May was quick to follow, watching as Piper turned her older brother over so that he was laying on his back. Piper's eyes stung with tears as she cupped her brother's cheeks. It didn't look like he was eve breathing.

"Let me help," Alex suddenly interjected sliding between May and Piper. "Being a fairy of nature means I have a connection with life…I can heal him." She said lowly as she brought her hands to hover over Drew's chest. Both May and Piper watched as Alex's hands glowed a faint green that slowly slithered to the center of Drew's chest before being easily absorbed.

Behind them, Rolyn released their Headmistress from her ice person. Jennifer gasped for air as the ice shattered around her. She blinked her eyes rapidly, glancing around to take in what had happened. Her breath caught in her throat as she noticed the three girls hovered over Drew's motionless form. Giving Rolyn a brief look of gratitude, the Headmistress bounded over, sliding to the floor on the other side of her son.

"Oh Drew…" Jennifer murmured. Tears gathered in her eyes as she cupped her hands over her mouth. She thanked the heavens that he wasn't dead, the shallow rise and fall of his chest was testimony enough that he had survived, but seeing him like this…weak and vulnerable. She could feel how faint his Quintessence was. It flickered as though it would go out at any moment. "What did they do to you…"

"They…" May began quietly. Jennifer lifted her bright green eyes to stare at the brunette. May refused to meet the eyes of her Headmistress. She didn't know how to say this. Was it a good or bad thing that the witches had run off with the negative energy that has been tormenting Drew his whole life? Had been Drew been depending upon its energy so much that with it gone, he was this incapacitated?

"They took the Demon's Flame, Mom," Piper said as she glanced up briefly at her mother. Jennifer's jaw visibly clenched as she looked towards her son to inspect him for further damage. "The extraction spell they used was strong…very intense dark magic that would strain anyone. It's only by sheer will that Drew survived it."

"Of course," Jennifer murmured. "Because the Demon Flame isn't supposed to be taken. It is supposed to be given, just like the Dragon's Flame. The power will be unstable anywhere but with Drew."

"W-What?" May murmured.

"He should be okay," Alex interjected as she pulled her hands away. "His Quintessence is a little weak, but it should regain strength over time." She diagnosed with a nod. Piper murmured a thank you and Jennifer smiled sadly.

"As long as he's okay…"

"I apologize so dearly for the trouble those girls have caused you, Jennifer. They were my responsibility and I failed as a Headmistress," Jordyn said sadly as she bowed her head. It had been a day since the entire ordeal concerning the three senior witches had transpired. Jennifer had not even thought to tell Jordyn about it. The witch had noticed the three girls were missing when they did not show up for any of their classes and were not found in their dorm.

"It wasn't your fault Jordyn." Jennifer sighed. "You did all you could with those girls. Not everyone can have the same ideals that we do." Jennifer smiled albeit a little halfheartedly. Jordyn merely nodded with a hum.

"Negative Quintessence is a heavy thing…I'll admit it is hard to see the good in it or believe any good can come from it." Jordyn murmured. "At a time of my life I was much like those three girls. I only sought destruction and dominance. At one point I almost had it, but there is nothing satisfying about the darkness. It is much better to be loved than to be feared."

"It is the motto we all should go by," Jennifer murmured.

"I don't know where to start," Jordyn admitted suddenly. "Those three witches are an interesting bunch, with one as a headstrong leader, another as a muscle and another as the brain power. It's a dangerous combination and now that they have the Demon's Flame, a power this dimension barely understands…how are we supposed to retaliate? We don't even know their motives."

"They can't just be after the Demon's Flame," Another voice inserted. Jennifer and Jordyn both turned towards the double doors of the office and both smiled lightly at the appearance of their old friend. Josh Alvarez was almost like family to Jennifer. He knew her husband at one point and there was no one that she could trust more with teaching her son than the pack leader. "Your boy only had a fraction of the power Jennifer," Josh pointed out as he approached the pair. "Albeit it is strong even at such a minimal level…it probably isn't the main target."

"What do you believe they are after then, mutt?" Jordyn inquired. Josh shot her a narrowed eyed look at the quip at his species.

"I come from a purebred line of werewolves, thank you very much," He growled. "And I believe you have no room to talk about lineage with such a…dark ancestry." Jordyn narrowed her eyes at him.

"Focus Josh," Jennifer interjected before Jordyn could retort. It was old news that Josh and Jordyn couldn't exactly see eye to eye. Yes, Josh could accept the fact that Jordyn was what you could refer to as a good witch, but werewolves were practically born to hunt down negative Quintessence. It was imbedded in their DNA.

"Well, knowing witches like the ones we are dealing with, I say they are after something bigger, however they are wise to know they would not take on this bigger power with the abilities they already have." Josh explained, turning away from Jordyn.

"Bigger power…" The witch Headmistress murmured.

"The Dragon's Flame," Jennifer gasped. Josh merely nodded once.

"But the Demon's Flame is no match for the Dragon's Flame at its full power. Even if the witches had the Demon Flame at full power, they would never be able to defeat the Dragon's Flame." Jordyn pointed out quickly.

"Caroline's daughter may have the Dragon's Flame, but she has no idea what she truly possesses. The Dragon's Flame is far stronger than what that girl is capable of from what my son has told me," Josh retorted. "She is holding back, whether from fear or from distraction. She can summon the Dragon, but she cannot summon the power that can destroy worlds if she so wished."

Jordyn snapped her mouth shut, knowing it was true.

"Right now, those three witches are more powerful than the keeper of the Dragon's Flame," Josh sighed. "Congratulations Jordyn, your students are smarter than I presumed." Jordyn growled low in her throat.

"Josh please…" Jennifer said lowly.

Josh shrugged, smiling lopsidedly and showing of elongated canines. "I guess I should take my leave. I merely came here to inform you of my ideas and drop off the boys. They wanted to see how their teammate was. I will be in contact again soon Jennifer about what we should do. I have a feeling that a storm is coming and you know a dog is never wrong about oncoming storms." Josh smirked as he sauntered out of the office.

"Good riddance. I was sure I was going to get fleas," Jordyn murmured as she crossed her arms over her chest. Jennifer shot her a pointed look, but smiled despite herself at the comment. Jordyn and Josh's relationship was so…amusing. And she needed something like it as a time like this. "It sounded like he said we should expect the worst."

"I believe we should," Jennifer sighed. "When Drew was a child and he couldn't control the Demon's Flame…our worst experience with it was when he set the Metric Forests to flames and destroyed it entirely. It has not grown back since then. When the Demon's Flame terminates…it terminates indefinitely."

"What do you propose we do?"

"First, if Josh is right about those girls being after the Dragon's Flame, we have to hide it," Jennifer murmured. "If they manage to attain it, all is lost."

"Of course," Jordyn said lowly.

"Second, we gather the faculty and brief them on possible attack retaliation options Senior students of all the universities should be given the option to fight as well," Jennifer said with a nod.

"What of the younger students?"

"We cannot allow them to be involved. They are not ready."

"None of our students are ready until they graduate in our eyes. Maybe it should not be our decision to choose who fights and who doesn't," Jordyn said smartly.

"You are beginning to sound like Josh," Jennifer said with a sort of smirk. Jordyn made a gagging noise as her expression contorted in disgust. Jennifer couldn't help but laugh lightly. "It is not so much of a bad thing. I believe you are right. We will need all the power we can get to debilitate those three."

"And what happens when we do?" Jordyn asked. "Last time I checked, a power like that has to be given, not taken."

"You are right. Because of this, the longer those girls have it, the more unstable it will become. However if someone who had the power previously takes it back…" Jennifer trailed off as she stared off past Jordyn.

"You'd really subject your son to that again?" asked Jordyn in a tone just above a whisper.

"I…don't know…" Jennifer murmured.

"Good to see you're not dead."

Drew stared at Jason blankly as the werewolf grinned cheekily while sitting the edge of his bed. Since the infirmary wasn't exactly the best place to be right now, the green haired boy had been relocated to a vacant dorm room. It was fine, minus for the walls were a soft purple with bright pink carpeting and blue furniture. He had been peacefully ignoring the female oriented room by getting lost in a book that had been brought to him by his sister when the door to the room had burst open.

He couldn't say he was angry that his team had shown up unannounced when he was trying to relax and regain his strength, but he was a hint annoyed. In spite of this, he was glad he had something other than a book to distract him. He would never admit it vocally but Drew still a little shaken from what happened almost two nights ago. He didn't know it was possible for the Demon's Flame could be taken. If that was the case, he would have gotten rid of it ages ago. However the process to get rid of it was…horribly painful.

And now…now he just didn't feel the same. He presumed he was used to the negative energy so with it absent, the difference would be obvious. He felt lighter…warmer and strangely much weaker. He had been getting visits from the fairy of nature…what was her name…Alex; she had explained that he was completely healed and well and his power should be strong and at normal levels and yet he felt this weak and tired. Drew never depended on the Demon's Flame for power…so why did he feel this way?

"We're glad you're alright, Drew," Aden said with one of his sweet smiles. "When Headmaster told us what happened…you really didn't deserve all this happening in one go."

"Thanks…" Drew murmured.

"So…The Demon's Flame, huh?" Jason suddenly interjected. Drew turned a glare on him. "Hey, my dad didn't tell us everything. It was Zindell that filled in the blanks and gave us the whole story." Jason was happy when Drew turned his glare off of him and turned it on Zindell who was smiling nervously.

"Our friends deserved to know…especially since now we're probably going to get the backlash," Zindell said quickly in his defense.

"What do you mean?" Drew asked as his eyes narrowed further.

"Headmaster instructed we all prepare for possible attack," Paul inserted. "But not on our school. He believes the witches will return to Sentry and he wants us to be ready to help."

"My dad has reason to worry. I can feel it in the atmosphere," Jason inserted with a shiver. "They're planning something…something big."

Drew groaned, shaking his head. He couldn't help but feel slightly…guilty? He didn't know why he felt guilty, but he guessed he felt it – actually he knew he did. The prince of Acumen never guessed. This was partially his fault. He never saw the Demon's Flame as anything but a burden…something to hinder him down her path to becoming the vision of light he wanted to be for his planet. He never entertained the thought that while the Demon's Flame was in him, he was responsible for it. He didn't want to be responsible for it.

He could have put up more of a fight. He could have realized what was happening and prevented it. A much as he didn't want this dark power, he was its keeper. He separated it from the world and now it was unleashed and only heaven knew what kind of damage it could do on the Magix dimension…on any dimension really.

But…

"But what about May?" Drew said quickly. "The Dragon's Flame overpowers the Demon's Flame by a long shot."

"While May does house an incredible power, she hasn't a clue how to use it," Paul said with a shake of his head. "If anything, she's in the most jeopardy. Those three withes could easily overpower her with the way she can't harness her powers fully."

"May is fine with her powers," Drew snapped. Paul's brow furrowed briefly and Drew caught himself. "I mean, she has suppressed the Demon's Flame, how can she not again?"

"Because the Demon's Flame feeds off of negative Quintessence…something those witches have a lot of," Zindell explained with a shake of his head. "Not to mention the power gets more unstable the longer it's away from you."

Drew nodded slowly. He knew very well what would happen if the Demon's Flame was taken rather than suppressed completely until extinguished. He came from the planet of intelligence and technology for heaven's sakes. He quickly corrected his idea that having the Demon's Flame taken was something he should have thought of before. It was much safer with him rather than out there…as much as he detested it…as much as it destroyed him.

"Drew…?" Aden addressed quietly. "You okay?"

"Just thinking," Drew retorted automatically.

"We're really in for it," Jason sighed. "But hey, we've been training for this for almost two years." He gave a wolfish smile.

"Yea, but what's going to happen besides us putting up a fight? In the end, they'll still have…" Zindell quickly snapped his mouth shut when the door to the dorm room creaked open and a familiar brunette stepped in. All eyes turned on the blue eyed girl who smiled nervously.

"Hi…" She said with an awkward. "I just wanted to see how Drew was doing."

"What a coincidence, we were just leaving," Jason said with a smirk as he glanced back at Drew. The green haired prince glared him for what seemed like the umpteenth time since the werewolf had shown up. "You wouldn't happen to know where Rolyn is, would you?" He asked with a perked brow.

"In the South courtyard, but she's practicing with her flute so I wouldn't…" May trailed off as Jason transformed and was off on all fours before she could finish. "Never mind…" She murmured with a shrug of her shoulders.

"We'll see you later, May," Zindell said with a kind smile as he ushered Paul and Aden out. May merely nodded as they left the room and Zindell quietly closed the door shut behind them.

With the room clear of any other occupants besides Drew and May, the brunette swallowed and approached his bed. She managed a small smile as she stood at his bedside, hands clasped behind her back. "How are you feeling?"

"Weak, but better," He responded truthfully.

May nodded slowly. "That's good to hear…I'm sorry that this happened to you," She murmured.

"Why are you sorry?" He asked with a perked brow.

"Because…I was there and I was basically useless to help you," She said as he lowered her head. "I guess you were kind of right when you said I was weak." She added with an awkward laugh.

"I was out of line in saying that," He said quickly. May lifted her eyes to meet hers. "I was just frustrated and I took it out on you, if anyone should apologize, it is me. I always talk about becoming a great King one day when I lack the most basic trait of all the Kings before me. You could teach me a thing or two about humility."

May smiled lightly. "Thanks…"

Drew smirked back. "No problem…"

Oh my goodness that took so long. And my butt is sore from sitting and typing. Please appreciate my sore butt. Anyways, I should have gotten this done a long time but as I said on Facebook, I was pretty busy. I don't even know how I managed to balance everything. Thank you all for being patient and reviewing up until now and sticking with this minus my lack of keeping my updating schedule on track. You are all unbelievable perfect and I owe you a lot. Anyways the next chapter shall be here soon and we will start following the path of Pinx a little more. I'm sure the similarities will be obvious.

Feedback would be much appreciated.

~Rolyn~