Chapter 33
Blood on Crystals
At a snap of Amentia's fingers, Icy was pushed forward by a soldier and another pushed his spear into her arms. Icy clumsily grabbed the weapon and then let it fall to the ground with a loud clang.
- Your majesty, I don't know how to fight or want to do it. Please, listen to us... -
Amentia jumped on her, forcing Icy to dodge her by jumping to the side. But Icy wasn't fast enough, because she felt the sharp metal sink into her left arm. From the wound a large stream of blood began to flow and instinctively the witch tried to stop its flow with one hand.
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- Hey honey, are you okay? Do you have anything on your arm? -
Of course not, a sharp pain was nothing of that.
- No worries Mike, it's just a bit of a nuisance. You know, that old burn. - Lzzy answered, fighting against the impulse to open a portal there in front of everyone to run to Icy.
She did not respond to her messages. All right, she was busy. But what was she doing to make her muscles contract like that without her being able to stop them? "Damn it Icy! Where are you?" She tried to contact her telepathically, but she only felt the emptiness, a sign that Icy had voluntarily shut her out of her mind. If she still needed a confirmation that something serious or anomalous was happening, she had just received it.
She looked for the eyes of his friends and found Josh who, seeing the despair in her eyes, touched his temple with two fingers. It was the signal they had agreed for telepathic conversations.
"Something is happening to Icy!" exclaimed Lzzy, giving the bass player the impression she had shouted in his ear.
"Calm down Lz. If she keeps you out, she does it to protect you. You'll see that everything will be fine." he thought, knowing that his friend would hear him.
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Faced with the attack of Amentia, Icy had understood that she would have to fight to be heard and had tried to recover the lance she had dropped, determined not to use her powers to avoid worsening the situation, but the soldier had taken it back and now he looked at her scornfully. The warriors had created with their bodies a small arena that had the river on one side and prevented the others from intervening. Not that Sky was going to help her anyway, since he hadn't yet reacted in any way despite the insistence of the others.
How to defend herself? She had no weapons, she was wounded, and the blood continued to run copiously, how much time did she have before she fainted?
Amentia rushed at her again but this time she aimed at the legs with the spear shaft, making her fall. The impact with the ground took the breath away from the witch, who nevertheless managed to hear the satisfied laughter of Amentia and Darcy calling her anguished. She tried to get up by putting the healthy arm on a crystal. Fortunately, she hadn't fallen up on it.
- Who's in charge now? - the queen of Downland asked mockingly, but opened her orange eyes a moment later, her gaze fixed on a point beyond Icy.
At first the witch thought of a trick but, seeing the same terrified expression in the soldiers, she turned around. A strange creature was trying to get up from the ground: the oval head, devoid of eyes, was embedded on what must have been shoulders, shiny and semi-liquid like the rest of the body, here and there sprouted crystals that on the sides of the head were more protruding and sharp, like those of the tail that was forming at that moment. The posterior limbs were not even sketched while the monster was already trying to separate the front ones from the ground, remaining however hooked by some elastic filaments. The turquoise of the creature contrasted with the red imprint on its shoulder, which was shaped like a hand.
- What the...? - whispered the witch, amazed.
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On his throne, Valtor smiled with satisfaction. His little invention would keep the three witches busy and, why not, maybe it would get some important results too.
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- Witch! What have you done? - cried Amentia, preparing to face the new threat, which in the meantime had reached a considerable size.
- It wasn't me! - replied Icy moving away from the monster.
As if to demonstrate her words, the monster had its tail dart towards her. Icy flew up, barely avoiding the sharp points that decorated it. The monster gave a gurgling sound of disappointment and looked around for another target, but was struck by blue, red, and purple magic rays. Maria and Desirè had transformed and were attacking it along with Darcy. Icy flew to Stormy, but her legs gave way as soon as she set foot on the ground. Stormy supported her and made her sit with her back against a rocky wall, ready to defend her from whatever had come close to her.
Shivering with chills, Icy could no longer keep her hand pressed to the wound and the blood met with less and less resistance in its escape to the outside. She tried to remain conscious, but she realized she hadn't succeeded when she heard someone raise her injured arm and forced herself to open her eyes without knowing when she had closed them. But all she saw was an indistinct shape. However, she recognized the uniform of the Specialists of the early years and wondered who the boy with reddish hair who wore it was. Asking him would be useless, her hearing was gone, and she wasn't sure the voice worked better. "I shouldn't have flown" she thought, regretting having spent all her energy in that simple gesture. Was it really that easy to get her out? She doubted the boy could save her, she had lost too much blood. What effect would her death have on the others? Would they have been able to go on without her? And Lzzy, could she overcome the trauma? The only thing she could do for her was to keep her mind shut so she could feel less pain.
- Alec, leave the bandages alone, I'll do it! -
That was how Icy realized that her hearing still worked. A bronze stick with what looked like a luminous bubble at the end entered her field of vision.
- You don't want me to believe you have strong enough healing powers, do you? - the boy replied tightening the bandage around Icy's arm, causing her to spasm.
- I will still be more useful than that cloak! Let me do it! - said the voiceover peremptorily, which sounded familiar to Icy.
The soft light radiated from the scepter enveloped her and soon her strength returned, while the pain in her arm vanished. When the glow faded Icy blinked several times to focus. She found herself in front of an unknown boy, with brown eyes and red hair, an orange sword in his hand and a torn cloak. At his side, a witch with flowing black hair and ocean-colored eyes who wore a tight-fitting one-sleeve overalls, in cobalt-blue color. This covered her from shoulder to hand, while in the bare hand she held a bronze scepter at the end of which was what she had taken for a bubble, that is, a sphere with a clock inside. She didn't understand who the girl was until she noticed the silver "A" that stood out on the blue of the suit.
- Aire? - she asked, frowning as she heard how rough her voice was.
- In person. He's Alec, he accompanied me and my... friend, Henna, down here. The one that is helping the others to beat up the crystal giant. - replied the girl, pointing with her chin to the battle that took place not far away.
- You shouldn't be here. - Icy said after clearing her throat, - But it wouldn't have ended well if you hadn't arrived in time, so I'll turn a blind eye. -
Alec grinned.
- If you mean you won't refer it to Faragonda, well, nothing changes. To get here I borrowed one of Redfountain's crawls. - he said.
- In that case I will try to put a good word for you with the principals. - the witch of ice replied before standing up.
She still felt a little dizzy but was able to use magic again, so she transformed. She was about to take off and reach Darcy and Stormy, who had joined the fight when Alec and Aire arrived, when the brunette held her back.
- That thing is almost immune to magic. - she said, - Look at it: the attacks it has received so far have only unnerved it. -
- Assuming and not conceding that it has nerves. - said Alec.
Aire ignored him and went on.
- Before healing you I tried to send time back to make it back into a crystal, but the spell that gave it life is too powerful. - she said.
Icy realized she had been unconscious for more than she thought.
- I bet fairy dust would work, but we don't have any. The only chance is convergence. - she reflected aloud.
- Are seven witches enough? - asked Alec.
- We'll see. - Icy said reaching the others.
The natives remained in the rear, disadvantaged compared to the weapons and the powers of the "surface inhabitants", who nevertheless had their difficulties before an enemy that seemed invulnerable. The best results had been achieved by Maria, who managed to shrink the crystals on the tail by several centimeters thanks to the control she exercised on the gems. Stormy's lightning, Darcy's shadowy rays, every single attack was absorbed by the monster, which in turn distributed paws, bites and tail blows. Perhaps the problem was the very habit of witches to attack individually, which Valtor knew well and, if her reasoning was correct, he was exploiting at the time. Icy moved further and locked the monster in an ice dome to save time.
- Save the talk for later. - she said, preventing the other's exclamations of relief, - The barrier will not hold it for long. If single attacks have no effect, we must try to converge. It will be difficult, since we are on different levels, but we can do it. -
- Reserve plan? - asked a red-haired witch dressed in green and purple, which Icy supposed to be Henna.
- There is not. - replied Stormy dryly.
- It's too risky! - objected again Henna, pointing to a group of large and pointed stalactites above their heads, - The strength of the spell could bring down those stalactites, they do not have a strong structure like that of the cave. -
- Are you sure? - asked Desire.
- It's part of my powers. - huffed Henna.
The monster was about to break free, Icy felt her barrier weaken with each stroke. They didn't have time to think of another plan, so she erected a second barrier, which this time wrapped the space around them for fifty yards.
- Just hope it can stand. - she said to Henna.
The witches placed themselves in a semicircle around the monster, freeing their auras. It was the first time that Aire and Henna used a convergence so, aware of not being allowed to make mistakes, they accurately imitated the movements of the others. Each created a luminous sphere of several centimeters in diameter to then lift it and at the same time push it away from them, until it met with the other spheres. Melting down, the spells formed a large bubbling sphere of energy.
- Now! - shouted Darcy as soon as Icy's barrier gave way, and the witches cast their spell against the monster.
It was hit in full and emitted a growl of pain that went thinning more and more, finally becoming the strident noise of a mountain of glass that collapses on itself.
Once she was sure there was no longer any danger, Aire lowered herself and canceled the transformation, feeling weak as ever in her life. She had to use her scepter as a stick to stand up, so much the spell had drained away. Alec approached her, but she refused his help.
- I still have my dignity, thanks. - she muttered, but was too tired to look serious.
The fact that Henna seemed to be destroyed as much as she was made her feel less uncomfortable, despite knowing that she was in that state also because of the spell used on Icy.
- You won't believe this is enough to be pardoned, right? If you had not come here, nothing like this would ever have happened! - exclaimed Amentia, losing an excellent opportunity to remain silent.
- You are right your majesty, but we need your help extremely. Do you remember the fairies you teamed up with a few years ago? - said Brandon.
- Of course. My people proved very brave on that occasion. - the queen replied superbly.
- Well, those fairies and many others have been poisoned by the same wizard who created the monster you saw. The mottled crystals of your kingdom are the only thing that can save them, but we are not able to prepare the antidote. - continued Brandon.
- Why should I help you again? You bring nothing but dangers! - replied Amentia, less sure than before.
- You don't have to help us, - Icy said, canceling her transformation, - but them. They don't have to pay for mistakes they didn't make. Besides, that wizard not only threatens the surface, but also your kingdom, and without the help of the fairies it's almost impossible to defeat him. -
Amentia looked at her undecidedly, looked at the pile of dust and crystals that once formed the monster and then again the witch.
- You show that you are different from what I thought. And so be it, you will have the antidote, but you are officially banished from my kingdom. As long as I am queen, you will never set foot on my borders, none of you, and my army is witness to my word. - she said, and then turned to one of the warriors, - You, run to the palace and get the antidote. -
Brandon and Maria thanked Amentia, while the others allowed themselves shy timid smiles. Sky approached Icy and said, embarrassed:
- I'm sorry I doubted you, Icy. I know that things between you and the Winx have changed, but with Valtor's threat it's as if... -
- ... As if a building collapsed on you, I know. Don't worry. The most important thing is to have the antidote, right? - replied the witch supporting the gaze of the king of Eraklyon.