,,A ray of light in the darkness"
Three days later, in the morning
Shalidor, Kharazim, Ithilden, Spectrale, and Mithrandir were sitting around the table, eating breakfast.
"Shalidor-" began Ithilden, but the mage cut him off.
"No, Ithilden." said Shalidor putting two fingers to his forehead.
"I didn't even ask anything yet!" laughed the druid.
"You were gonna tell me to put another fuckin' ointment on my back, I swear, if I have to stay with my cloak off for another day…"
"No, no, no, I wasn't gonna ask that, it's fully healed." laughed the druid further.
"Great, 'cause I wouldn't have let you. AT ALL." said Shalidor firmly. The other Archmages singgered.
Fannaeras then came into the room, yawning and stretching.
"Lara isn't up yet?" he asked, surprised.
"No. But you know she patrolled all last night, so that'd be a good explanation for her late sleeping." replied Mithrandir.
"No signals last night, I assume?" asked the blood-elf.
"None. Else we wouldn't have slept so well." replied Kharazim, taking a sip of coffee.
"Think it'd be a perfect time to return her favour…" smirked Fannaeras.
"You mean, revenge?" asked Shalidor, smiling.
"It's not a fucking revenge, it's called returning the fucking favour". he replied, and walked towards her room.
The Archmages exchanged looks of confusion and slight worry. As Shalidor got up to see what was happening, they heard the moust unexpected sound to come out of the warlock:
Yodelling.
Shalidor collapsed back in his seat, doubling up with laughter, while the others were also laughing heartily.
"I… can't believe… Fann… would actually … yodel…" said Spectrale through his laughing.
Lara came back with Fannaeras moments later, giggling.
"I have to say that was a good comeback, Fann." laughed Lara, rubbing her eyes.
"Gladly do it another time." laughed the elf.
"We'll see about that one." she smirked back.
They sat down and ate, then went to the feeding grounds, to see the wolves, and they also burst out laughing when they heard what happened earlier.
"The tides have turned a little, haven't they?" asked Runt, still chuckling.
"We'll see for how long that lasts." replied Fannaeras. "And we'll also see if I need to put traps in my room." he added, causing more laughter.
"We should really go hunting." said Claudette, stretching and admiring her claws. "This is one of the last caribous there are left." she added, touching the carcass with a paw.
"Well, let's go then! What are we waiting for?" replied Stinky, jumping up.
"Actually, wouldn't it be way easier just for you guys to kill 'em?" asked Runt, tilting his head at the Archmages.
"No, Runt." answered Kate, glaring at him. "We're doing this the normal way, it's good exercise for future hunts. The Archmages aren't gonna be here forever."
"Alright." said Runt, putting his ears back, clearly not wanting to annoy his mother.
"You have quite a lot of control over your pups even if they're all grown-up, Kate." chuckled Lara.
"It was built in years." replied the she-wolf, smiling.
"Do you mind if we just watch the hunt?" asked Shalidor. "Staying in the tree-house and staring at the map is kind of fucking me up, to be honest. We anyways have portable crystals that notify us of anything going on."
"Sure! I'd be bored to stay staring at something all day long too." shrugged Fleet.
"We're coming too." said the other Archmages. "I don't think any of us really enjoy doing nothing while staring at a map."
"Come on, let's go! Chop-chop!" said Kate bossily, getting up and leaving. The wolves and the mages followed.
About an hour later
The wolves were stalking and slowly prowling towards their unexpecting prey, a caribou herd. The drew-filled grass made no sound, thanks to their hunting techniques. They could've sneaked up on almost anything, while remaining as silent as ever, and successfully take their victim down. The caribou kept on grazing peacefully, completely unaware of the predators wich surrounded them.
Suddenly, Claudette jumped on a big male's neck, taking it down and Fleet injured both its legs, stopping him from bolting and helping his lover to hold him down. Kate and Garth, being experienced hunters, managed to take down caribous by themselves. Two other alphas took down a big female caribou, while Stinky took down the female's two cubs.
The caribou herd started a stampede, but it already lost a fair few members. Leaving the already dead ones or the bleeding ones behind, the wolves started chasing the herd. Once again, Fleet and Claudette took down one, Stinky and Kate another, Garth a smaller one, and the two alphas a big one. They let the rest of the herd go away, but their numbers were diminished.
"Good job, everyone!" shouted Garth.
"You did good, Claudette, Stinky. It was a very good third hunt." smiled Kate.
The Archmages weren't listening though. They were staring at something else, which was looming amongst the trees. It looked like a wolf, but not any wolf…
"Mom?" asked Kate carefully, having noticed what the mages were looking so attentively at.
The wolf started running away. The Archmages and the wolves promptly chased her.
The chase continued for about five minutes, then the she-wolf got a huge burst of speed and left only black, faint lines behind her. Shalidor missed an immobilization ice spell.
"Dammit!" exclaimed Shalidor. "She got away."
"But she left a trail…" said Spectrale, pointing at the ground.
"Then let's go then!" said Kate impatiently, but Spectrale stopped her. He threw a small stone on the ground and they were surrounded by a light gray circle.
"So we're not overheard." he explained. "Now -"
"What do you mean?! We must chase her!" shouted Kate. "It might as well our only chance to save her!"
"It might as well be a really nice laid out fucking trap!" shouted Fannaeras, even louder than her. "Please, trust us on this. We can't just go blindly, leaving the territory and everything unprotected, who knows what he's got waiting for us! It's not very hard to block teleportation or portals."
"Fine." sighed Kate.
"I'm sorry, I understand you want your mother back, I would too. But we must not act rashly." said the blood-elf, now on a compassionate tone. She nodded.
"Right, I think Shalidor, Mithrandir, Spectrale and I go see what these trail lead to. Must be something. You three should go back to the territory, to protect it."
"Hol' up." said Spectrale. "We started a trap war in the last few days. How 'bout we continue it? You could just PRETEND to leave, then come back, but you can't let the Babadook know. If he's planning to assault the territory, then he'll have a nice surprise waiting for him." smirked the Nightingale.
"I like how you're thinking." smiled Kharazim.
"Think we should go with this plan. Sounds good, and we might have a shot at killing the Babadook and at freeing Eve, at the same time." agreed Lara, nodding.
"I have a perfect way to do this." said Fannaeras pulling out some runed stones. You fill this up with blood, and it will simulate your presence, even project clones if you want it to. Perfect distraction." smirked Fannaeras.
"That's quite a bit of blood…" said Mithrandir, slightly apprehensively.
"Well, the good shit costs, you know." shrugged the blood-elf, and handed the three Archmages a stone. They cut their arm slightly, and let it pour on the stone. It absorbed it and eventually was filled with blood.
"Alright, next?" asked Ithilden, after they healed themselves.
"You put it down, hold your finger on it, you say 'Memento mei praesentia'. It'll light up, and make itself invisible. When you wanna go back, you focus on the location you left it in, and draw a bit of blood. One drop is enough. It'll transport you back almost instantly, with a bit of pain." he explained.
"Alright. Seems simple enough." shrugged Kharazim.
"It has way more intricate uses, but you don't need to know 'em." smiled Fannaeras.
Spectrale deactivated the stone for camouflaging.
"Alright, let's go after Eve, it might be our only chance. You wolves should go back, it'll be dangerous most likely." said Spectrale. The Archmages nodded and walked out of sight, while the wolves went back.
Next to a tree, barely visible, the Babadook grinned, and disappeared.
About half an hour later later
The cool wind was blowing gently through the bushes, as Kharazim, Ithilden and Lara teleported back to the territory, undetected, thanks to amulets given by Spectrale. They waited this much to be sure the Babadook would think that they had left. They placed Fannaeras's stones in the very back of the wolves' den. They all mouthed at once: "Memento mei praesentia", and Ithilden covered the now invisible runed stones with stones and rocks. They then teleported back.
"There you go." they said, giving the amultes back to the Nightingale.
"Did it work?" asked Fannaeras.
"Yeah. They glowed, and became invisible." nodded Lara.
"You should be perfectly fine, then. Good luck." nodded the blood-elf.
"Same to you, friends." answered the night-elf.
Shalidor, Spectrale, Fannaeras and Mithrandir went to pursue Eve's trail, while the others used their own spells to become invisible, and waited around the territory. The wolves were getting nervous, having no idea when the Babadook would appear, if he even will.
About one hour later
The four Archmages were still following the same trail as before relentlessly. Shalidor had cast an Alteration spell of speed, so they could approach their goal faster. The trail finally came to an end, in the very back of a small dark cave. Shalidor quickly put Magelights. The trail led to Eve herself, but she didn't seem… awake. She was laying down, her eyes closed. And she seemed to siphon energy from a crystal…
Fannaeras reached her first.
"Her vital signs are clear, but something is off…" he said.
They all started examining the crystal.
"It's some kind of gateway, must be." murmured Shalidor.
"Should we try it out?" asked Spectrale.
"I mean, do we have a better choice?" asked Mithrandir, shrugging.
"True." replied the Nightingale.
They all put their hands on the crystal, all making the same sign with their fingers. Shalidor then chanted an incantation, and all their eyes shined a bright gray.
Back at the territory
Fleet and Claudette were cuddling in Fleet's den, watching the grounds distantly.
"Did you think of anything?" asked Claudette.
"Maybe Serafina if it would be a girl. Sera for short… what do you think?"
"It's beautiful…" she smiled dreamily. "I thought of Flint for a boy… you know, he'd also be named after you."
"You say that only 'cause you misheard my name as Flint when we first met." he replied, nudging her playfully. "But I really like the name, though." he quickly added as she shot a playful glare at him.
They cuddled closer and nuzzled each other lovingly. They soon fell asleep, hugging one another affectionately.
The sun reached its highest point in the sky. Spread throughout the territory, the three Archmages didn't dare shut one eye, all their senses tensed for any kind of penetration of the defenses.
Back with the other four Archmages
When Shalidor opened his eyes and stood up, they weren't in Jasper anymore. It was kind of a shadow realm…
Fannaeras rose up the next.
"What the fuck…" he began. "This some kind of illusion?"
"Ain't sure…" answered Shalidor.
The other two Archmages rose and looked around confusedly.
"We can't teleport out of here." announced Mithrandir, after he tried opening a portal.
"Well, trail's dead, we should look for Eve nonetheless, who knows, maybe we find her…" said Spectrale thoughtfully.
They walked forwards. They could hear many whispers around them, by different voices, but almost all were indistinguishable. Some of them in children's voices, others in a monstrous voice, growls…
The Archmages began walking faster, and Shalidor also cast the Alteration spell once again for speed.
They finally saw Eve, who was laying down, but she was pale as a ghost, and some of her bones could be distinguished. They hurried towards her. Shalidor would've healed her, if he would've had what to heal. There were no wounds.
"Eve! Are you still alive?" asked Shalidor, shaking her a little.
"I… am… but… weak…" she answered quietly. Her breath was very shallow. "He keeps me… so he can continue using…" she started coughing. "My body… I've been here… for so long…"
"It's been only a few days." said Mithrandir, worreidly.
"For me it feels like it's been years…" she replied.
"We need to get the fuck outta here!" said Shalidor hurriedly.
"Guys… we might have company!" shouted Spectrale.
Deformed children or adults, and shadows of the Babadook were slowly approaching the Archmages, all smiling creepily and unsettlingly. Spectrale unsheathed two , Shalidor summoned three atronachs, of storm, fire and ice, while Fannaeras was drawing runes where the shadows were about to step.
"Hold them back! I'll try to get us out of here!" yelled Mithrandir. He put his hands together and started muttering spells, while his ring started to shine a fiery shade of orange.
The shadows began approaching faster, but Fannaeras raised his hands and all the runes exploded with green flames, while atronachs were launching fireballs, showers of ice, and lightning bolts. Shalidor, instead, formed between his hand a great orb, and when he unleashed it, hundreds of lightning bolts shot out, bouncing from one enemy to another, destroying the shadows immediately. Spectrale kept using shadow-step, to appear and disappear through the oncoming mass of shadows, cutting down many at a time, before disappearing and reappearing in another spot, to cause even more chaos. Mithrandir was separating his hands slowly, and a bright yellow orb was forming, and it was getting larger.
As the the Archmages kept on fighting the oncoming onslaught, successfully holding them back, but using very much energy. They knew they couldn't hold one forever. But, at the perfect time Mithrandir shouted one last word and the orb launched itself forward, creating a shining portal.
"GO! NOW!"
Fannaeras and Spectrale dashed through, but as Shalidor made to grab Eve, a shadow of a Babadook suddenly appeared, grabbed Eve and threw the human in the portal before he could do anything else. Mithrandir then quickly ran in too, narrowly dodging the shadows that tried to grab him.
At the territory, earlier
Lara, Ithilden, and Kharazim were patiently waiting in three different parts of the territory, for any sound or sign. And, after half an hour, they finally heard it. A barrier was passed through, and the crystal showed them exactly where. It was very close to Kharazim. As Lara and Ithilden teleported there, Kharazim was right on it.
In the feeding grounds, the Babadook, in shadow form, was approaching an unexpecting Stinky and Ann rapidly from behind, but one jump-kick from Kharazim denied that approach completely. Stinky and Ann quickly started to back away, and ran to call for help.
The creature swiftly got up, but the wolves he wanted to kill were already out of range. He barely parried Kharazim's fists, and managed to throw him away, only to be impaled in the back by Lara. The monster didn't manage to slash her, as she dashed away fast enough. Ithilden started burning him with sunlight, but he quickly went into shadow form, and reformed behind him. The druid parried his right claw, dodged his left one and he rose roots which engulfed the Babadook. He slashed free, and bit Kharazim's left fist hard, but the monk punched him in the chin with a flaming fist which made the Babadook release his grip on him. Then his right palm briefly shined as he hit him right in the chest, sending him backwards. Kharazim started healing himself, as Lara dashed in managing to get a slash on the monster's side, then she was forced to parry and deflect his hits. With a deflect, a short feint and a half-pirrouete, he slashed the Babadook across the chest, leaving him bleeding pretty bad. The monster managed to slash her hip before she could dash out, though. The creature released a dark mist, which engulfed a part of the feeding grounds, blinding the Archmages. Ithilden managed to disperse it with sunlight, but the Babadook achieved its purpose: healing. He had only a shallow slash across the chest left.
He charged at the druid, but Lara diverged it's path with a short, but strong gale. With that Ithilden could predict where he would land, and rose sharp rocks, which impaled the monster. It screeched loudly, shortly staggering the Archmages, but they quickly recovered, and tried to hit it, but the monster managed to escape.
The wolves then came in to help. The Babadook grinned and went for them, he wanted to get rid of the Archmages' helpers. He slashed Kate and Garth across the muzzles, which were unlucky enough to be first, and tried to went in for the kills, but Kharazim jumped in to stop him, with lightning fast fists, and a powerful kick. Ithilden quickly encased the wolves in roots, and was healing Kate and Garth. He blocked Kharazim's second kick, and threw him into the base of the mountain, causing rocks to cover him.
Lara tried to stab him from behind, but he deflected her blow perfectly, and slashed her hip once again. It was bleeding worse than before. She dashed away, but she barely reacted in time when the monster dashed straight after her. She parried the blow aimed for her head, but his claws passed through her abdomen. She lifted her up, but Ithilden summoned a rock golden, which hit the Babadook hard. It dropped Lara, which quickly shielded herself and started healing. Ithilden then caught him with a sunlight beam, which burned the creature intensely. He once again disappeared, and appeared behind the druid. Ithilden was expecting it, but he fell for a feint, and was slashed across his stomach and then across his chest. He blinded the monster with a quick spell, which gave the rock golem enough time to grab the monster, and slam him against the ground. The Babadook slashed it to pieces quickly, but Ithilden was already encased in roots, healing. The Babadook tried to go for the wolves, which the druid left encased in another barrier, of rocks and roots, against their wishes, of course.
He started tearing at it, but was managing very little. Then, out of nowhere, Kharazim appeared and did the Seven-Sided strike, and with the element of surprise, landed all of the kicks, then hit him one last time, right in the face, sending him flying backwards. As Kharazim went in for another hit, his leg was bitten powerfully from behind and he was thrown back. He knew instantly who it was. He blocked Eve's swipe with his bracer, and punched her in the guts. That made her pull back, but then the Babadook made her a sign, and she sprinted towards the wolves, which were now free. Ithilden focused his magic on healing himself, and the roots protecting the wolves were weaker. While Kharazim was trying holding back the Babadook, Eve charged at the wolves. Kate dodged her attack, and alongisde Gart, they managed to pin her down.
"Mom! Do you recognize me?!" shouted Kate, while tears were rapidly forming in her eyes.
To their surprise, Eve's eyes were getting less red.
"No, I can't attack my own daughter… leave me alone…" she stopped trying to knock Kate off her. The Babadook made another sign and her eyes got redder again, but not for long. Her eyes were going back to their normal yellowish-brown color.
"I… won't… touch… my… DAUGHTER!" she screamed, and the red went out completely.
"Kate…?" she said weakly, and passed out.
The Babadook screamed angrily. It knocked a weak Kharazim down, and rose its claw for a final swipe, but a whip of fire caught it from doing that. Its other was frozen by a glowing arrow which penetrated it. Then an ice spike went through it's abdomen, and finally Fannaeras got draining bounds on him. Ithilden started burning it with sun rays, and Lara was healing Kharazim, which was bleeding profusely from multiple places, including his neck and face.
The earth suddenly cracked beneath the Babadook. It opened a deep fissure with boiling lava a the bottom. The Babadook released a wave of dark energy, freeing himself from the bindings, and staggering the mages. Before they new it, the Babadook fell in and the fissure closed, as it was never there.
"FUCK THAT NATHREZIM!" yelled Fannaeras, startling everyone. "We almost fucking had it!"
"Look at the bright side, we got someone back…" smiled Shalidor.
They all looked at Eve, which was laying on the ground. Ithilden immediately started to heal her back, as Lara helped Kharazim walk towards them.
"Are you alright?" asked Claudette, looking at the monk.
"Yeah… could've been worse." shrugged the mage. "By tomorrow, I'll probably be able to walk too.
"You were very close to dying, Kharazim…" said Lara scoldingly. "I barely managed to save you there! No way I'm letting you walk tomorrow!"
"Alright, alright." he said. "Think I need some rest…" he added quietly.
"Only think so?" giggled Lara. "Come on." she guided him back to the tree-house.
"We're going too, I think. We used lots of our power tonight." said Shalidor tiredly.
"We can't thank you enough for getting our mother back." smiled Lilly widely, and nuzzled each of the Archmages briefly.
Fannaeras laughed.
"Alright, now that we're done with that too, let's go back."
"I'll remain a bit longer, to make sure Eve will recover, alright?" said Ithilden. "I'll come back later."
The mages nodded and walked back towards the tree-house. Neither of them felt like using energy to teleport.
The sun started to set lazily, as Ithilden carried Eve back to Kate's family den. All the wolves felt relief beyond words that she was saved. Kate and Lilly didn't leave her side that day at all. The druid then walked back, to check upon the other Archmage's wounds, as well as his own. The wind rustled gently through the grass, as all of the Kingdom could know another short period of peace.
In the summoning room
The Babadook climbed out of the crack to find himself where he was originally summoned. The Nathrezim was facing him.
"You're doing well so far, but what you almost failed today, and I might not always be there to get you out of danger. Remember that."
The Babadook didn't reply, neither looked at him, only growled slightly.
"I couldn't get your servant out too. You'll have to find another puppet, it's not my concern. But you almost killed the monk though, at least that much. Go." he said coldly as he opened a portal.
The Babadook left without even a glance at the Nathrezim.
A/N: Yey, Fannaeras kept his promise! But will Eve recover completely from this horrid ordeal? Dum-dum-dum, you'll find out in the next chapter! Hope you like my new chapter title format! Thanks for all reviews, favs/follows so far, and yeah, I updated a bit late, but school & life exist, you get it. Peace!