Lesley froze for a second, and then she moved.
She grabbed the glass piece from where a window had shattered, and tiptoed. Resting the glass piece against the thin wire, she began sawing at it for about a minute before Gusion's leg came loose and Lesley gripped his leg.
Harley hurried over and held Gusion's head, and they slowly lowered him onto the ground.
Lesley placed her thumb and forefinger on Gusion's wrist, trying not to focus on the fact that literally half of Gusion's chest was missing and that she could actually see a small part of his rib cage sticking out.
A faint beat pulsed, so soft that she almost missed it.
"He's still alive," Lesley said to Harley, who nodded and disappeared downstairs, no doubt to get the phone.
Lesley looked around the room which was in a state of disarray, and rushed over to the drawer, taking out the first-aid kit she kept for Harley.
The problem was that she knew next to nothing about first-aid.
She unwrapped a roll of bandages and stuck them onto Gusion's head, pressing at where blood was flowing out.
Now what? Lesley wondered, just as Harley teleported right in front of her. "Rafaela's coming," he said, and Lesley nodded. "Hold the bandage here," she instructed, and Harley scurried over. Lesley stood and ran down the stairs. Halfway through, she planted her hands on the bannister and hoisted her legs over, dropping down half the stairs and landing on one knee and one hand.
Snatching the rifle from the floor, she took in the house.
Gusion's signature daggers were embedded in the walls and monster corpses. A Statued Shocker was cut to pieces, and Lesley could easily sense magic pulsing in the house-residual magic was common in battles where magic was used. Lesley backed towards the kitchen and suddenly a chill raced up her spine. She whipped around, aiming her rifle, but nothing was there. She placed one foot into the area again and it suddenly felt as cold as night.
Dark Magic, she thought, just as a knock sounded on the door.
She opened it and Rafaela entered. "Harley said Gusion was hurt."
Lesley nodded. "Upstairs," she pointed, and led the way. Rafaela gasped at Gusion's state. "Who did this?" she asked.
"Dyrroth," Lesley snarled. "It has to be."
"Who?" Harley asked, but Lesley could barely hear him over the blood pounding in her ears. Dyrroth had broken into her house to kill her brother, and had very nearly sent her best friend to the netherworld.
"I can't heal him here," Rafaela spoke. "We need to get him to the hospital." Lesley nodded and hooked her arms under those of Gusion's, ignoring how pale his face looked now that Rafaela had cleaned off the blood. Harley teleported down and was waiting for them, helping them load Gusion's pale body into Rafaela's ambulance.
"Drive quickly," Lesley said, and Rafaela nodded. The engine roared to life and they set off, navigating the roads.
Unbeknownst to this motley crew, a quadrupedal nonhuman woke up on the outskirts of the city, aching all over and bleeding from his shoulder.
Flashes of what had happened the previous night crept through his mind, as he sat up straight, the throbbing in his right shoulder forgotten for the time being.
"Oh no," he whispered to himself. "Did I get roped in by Dyrroth again?"
Gusion was stuck in a nightmare.
His mind was replaying the events of the night. He remembered Dyrroth's smiling face, the Shadowbringer's stingers exploding his chest, the seemingly endless horde of monsters, and then the feeling of quiet dread that overcame him when his senses dulled, the feeling that told him that he would die here.
And then he didn't.
He'd struggled to live, and then his eyes were open, and everything was too bright, and his chest was burning all over again, and oh god it was so much worse this time.
People were standing over him, and he recognised Lesley's beautiful face, that he thought he'd never see again, and Harley's face and then Rafaela was there-
And then he blacked out again.
He'd wake up, for a few seconds at most, and then he'd go into oblivion again, until one day he stayed awake.
Rafaela was taking tests left and right, mother hen that she was, and Harley was gripping his hand as tight as a vice, but his eyes sought out Lesley, standing by the door, shifting her weight to one leg.
And he gave her a smile, just as Rafaela came into vision. "He's not dying. Now shoo, all of you."
Harley and Lesley left, but Gusion didn't miss her smile.
And his nightmare was over.
He'd tracked down the house.
He had followed the trail of shadow magic and had moved along it.
He didn't remember what had happened that night, but he could see this house, and he remembered the familiar feeling of travelling through wards.
He pushed open the door.
The house was seemingly unoccupied, and he crept through the rooms, and then he saw a photograph in an album.
It depicted a pink-haired girl, and a smiling boy. The duo had taken the photo against the backdrop of a big house, similar to the one he was in. He remembered the face from somewhere deep in his memory.
He looked into his eyes, and the boy's eyes widened.
"A Shadowbringer," the boy had said, eyes wide. "But you're supposed to be extinct."
He shook his head and continued looking through. He saw the boy in a few other photos, but the pink-haired girl occupied most of them, wielding a sniper rifle in them.
The boy didn't live here then. He prepared to jump through the wards again when he looked at the first photo.
The house in the backdrop was identical to the one he could see through the window. It was probably nothing, but it couldn't hurt to check.
He willed the shadows to swallow him, and then he was gone.
So here we are.
If you're confused, all will be explained in due time.
Rate and review, and I don't own Moonton.
