10.

Effie had lost herself to the frenzy of the fight, her body twisting and anticipating the enemies' attacks, her magic guiding her moves and lashing out around her…

She didn't know how long she had been out there, trying to stop an army by her lonesome self, long enough that dawn had turned into day and day was slowly turning into dusk. The sky was darkening. Or maybe it was her sight. She was pretty sure it was the sky though. Winter. Night falling early.

But there wasn't time for that kind of contemplation.

She had killed the three pestering witches but the demons kept coming, they boxed her and her fighters back toward the Village. They were losing ground. Their safe perimeter was shrinking more with every passing second.

Her body was exhausted. She had been fighting for… hours. Her muscles, her kicks… She was weakening. Her magic was weakening. Her nose was bleeding – had been bleeding, kept bleeding – and all she could taste was iron. She pulled more power deep from the Earth, some more deeper from the Hellmouth but there was only so much she could call up and she was…

"Get back inside!" she shouted for what must have been the hundredth time because… Well, because she had watched too many children die that day and a tiny bit of her heart broke every time. They weren't winning this. They weren't.

And there were still groups of her brave kids out there. Thresh was relentless, refusing to let her handle it by herself, and he wasn't the only teenager insisting on fighting… They had fallen mostly back on defense, leaving her to shoulder the brunt of the actual attacking but…

The perimeter around the Village was lost. The checkpoints swallowed by the army of demons.

They needed to retreat. The Village's gates were within sight. It was a simple matter of…

The wards around the Village would hold, would protect them, but that meant a proper siege, that meant they would be cut out, that meant...

She didn't see the polgara demon up until the spike that prolonged his forearm stabbed her in the side. Magic immediately flew to keep her from bleeding out but she didn't have enough.

Enough power.

Enough energy.

Enough…

She fell on the ground, lifted her hand to send a meek fireball that at least managed to make the demon take one step back…

Not enough.

Not enough.

The spike rose, ready to begin its deadly descent into her chest, and she scrambled to conjure her magic into a frail shield that would never hold, to… Would Peeta feel the wards slip when she died? Would he be able to pull them back up in time? Would he…

Three knives hit the polgara demon's chest in quick succession, making him stumble back. She didn't pause to think, she instinctively rolled to the side to avoid the potential strike. The knives wouldn't stop him but it would slow him down. Usually, she would have gracefully bolted back to her feet and finished the demon but, right then, all she could do was get on all-four and look up…

She looked up right in time to see the stranger dash past her, sword in hand. The polgara fell, his head rolled off his shoulders and stopped its bouncing race a few inches away from her hands.

Effie planted a foot firmly on the ground because she didn't believe in miracles or in mysterious men suddenly appearing out of nowhere to save her. Tried as she might, she didn't manage to get back upright. Her head was spinning, her side ached and she felt like she was toppling on the very edge of a bottomless abyss that…

Not only did the man curse at the sight of the demon army besieging them like it was a great inconvenience but he also grabbed her arm without asking first, hauling her upward, ignoring her small cry of pain.

It annoyed her to give out that much and she clenched her jaw, her hand flying to the wound on her side. He glanced down but quickly decided it wasn't a priority. He wasn't wrong but still.

She supposed she should have been grateful for being back on her own two feet. Even if that meant she needed to lean on him to stay that way.

"You're Trinket?" he asked, walking backward toward the Village and dragging her with him. His eyes didn't linger on her, he was too busy watching their immediate surroundings. He had sheathed back his sword across his back but he was holding a knife firmly in his free hand. "Got your message."

Their surroundings were an important thing to watch, she reminded herself, and she forced herself to look around too, happy to notice her side of the battleground was empty. She had left a substantial hole in Snow's army.

"Abernathy?" she asked, her voice sounding far too faint to her own ears.

"Yeah." he confirmed quickly. "You're lucky, sweetheart. I was in the neighborhood."

She saw Thresh had spotted him and she lifted a hand to prevent the teenager rushing to a rescue he had no hope of winning if the strong arm wrapped around her torso was any indication - or that was necessary, for that matter.

Mags had come through after all.

At the end of all things, she had come through.

Even if it was only one fighter.

At least he looked like he knew how to handle himself.

"Retreat!" he called out, his grey eyes finally taking in what her own little army was composed of with horror. Had Mags warned him it was mostly kids with her? Probably not. "Tell them to retreat, for fuck's sake!"

Her children were hesitant to follow the stranger's lead.

She had told them a hundred times to retreat already and they hadn't bothered to listen.

Her head was spinning, she was dizzy… She felt like throwing up but she knew if she tried it would only be heaving and bile. She hadn't eaten in…

She didn't remember how long she had been out there…

She didn't mean to lean harder against him all of a sudden but with another curse he hastily adjusted his grip on her. "Shit. Don't fucking die on me."

"No dying." she promised. Fainting, that was another problem but dying… No, that wasn't in her immediate plans.

"Back inside!" he roared again, over the chaos of battle. "Now! Can we hold the Village? Hey, lady?" He gave her a rough shake. "How fortified is that place?"

"Safe." she mumbled. "Get me back inside. They'll follow."

It wasn't entirely innocent on her part.

The wards on the Village would instantly kill anyone with ill-intentions against her or her children. If he wasn't who he said he was or if he had a hidden agenda, well… Too bad.

She let him half-carry, half-drag her back toward the gates, satisfied to see she had been right and Thresh had taken advantage of the small respite she had earned them and had started ordering everyone else to retreat inside too.

They passed the gates and Abernathy didn't, in fact, collapse dead at her feet so she figured maybe miracles did happen after all.

She was a little annoyed he had been forced to save her, though. It didn't make for a good first impression. Men who saved you once tended to assume you needed saving all the time after that. She had never needed saving. Never.

"That's some fucking powerful magic you've got around this place." he grumbled with a big whole body shudder.

So he could sense magic. She filled that away as an interesting information. He wasn't a witch, though, she didn't think. She got no whiff of power coming from him.

She made an effort to detach herself from his side even as Thresh closed the gates behind the last child scrambling inside, dragging a crossbow that looked far too heavy for him.

"Mind your language. There are children around." she chided him, trying to convince herself she wasn't as dizzy as she felt. "Come along, then."

She took one step up the street. The ground seemed to vanish under her foot.

The last thing she heard was his crude curse as he tried to prevent her head from hitting the ground.

°O°O°O°O°

Gale was skimming through the books, desperate to find a hint of Sejanus… If that was even the vengeance demon's real name… He had found a mention of another one called Malice who granted people's dying wish… Everything else, so far, was useless information…

It was also hard to focus with Madge and Mellark taking books off the shelves every few minutes only to close them and toss them away… They were looking for… Gale wasn't sure. A miracle?

Peeta was frantic, hopping around the library, using his staff as a makeshift second leg, he wanted to find a spell or something that would help Trinket… Madge didn't seem to think such a thing existed and, if it existed, she didn't seem to think they would find it in time.

All in all, they were all so tense that none of them startled when the house's front door was kicked open, as if they had all been ready for another disaster.

"Mom!" Mellark exclaimed when he spotted the witch. She was being carried bridal style by a stranger.

Except, Gale realized with a start, it wasn't a stranger.

His hair was cropped so short it had probably been shaved recently, the beard ate half-his face but not enough to hide the big ugly scar that ran all the way from his forehead to his jaw… The scar tissue ran over his eye, making the eyelid look a little puffy, which meant one of his eyes looked smaller than the other. It was all very…

But Gale would have known that man anywhere. He had spent enough time watching his every move with suspicion.

"Abernathy!" he shouted right after Mellark called for Trinket, surprising the man who paused on his way to the living-room long enough to study him.

"I know you, kid?" he asked, his voice gruff and short. He carefully laid the witch down on the couch.

Any explanation he could have given was cut short by Mellark accidentally knocking into him in his haste to reach the couch where Trinket was valiantly trying to sit.

"Mom!" the teenager panicked.

"I am fine." Trinket promised but her voice sounded frail and she looked white as a sheet. There was dry blood crusting her upper lip and a myriad of cuts on her arms and neck…

"She ain't." Abernathy scoffed. "She almost killed herself with all that magic and she got nicked in the side."

Mellark batted the witch's hands away when she tried to hide it from his perusal. When he finally got a good view of her – bleeding, Gale saw – side, the boy glared at his adoptive mother. "That's not a nick. And you've been out there too long. I told Thresh to get you back inside…"

"I tried." Thresh said flatly from where he was leaning against the living-room's doorframe, the picture of calm. He hadn't escaped the battle outside unscathed. He had a deep scratch on his cheek and his clothes were covered in what Gale supposed to be demon blood.

"It is nothing." Trinket dismissed. "If you could just…"

Mellark pursed his lips and glanced at the man who was looking around with a mix of sorrow and curiosity on his face. "You didn't tell me you managed to find him. You told me to go to bed and that you would get some rest. And then you went back outside."

"Good thing I did or the team you had selected would all be dead." the witch retorted. "Now, please, heal me so I can…"

"What? Get out again and get yourself killed?" Mellark snapped. However, he did press his hand over her wound. There was a blinding flash of light that made Gale avert his eyes. They found Abernathy's again instead.

"You're here! You're fucking here!" He couldn't help the relief in his voice, the stupid baseless hope that it meant, maybe, the man could help him fix…

But there was no spark of recollection in Abernathy's gaze, no more than there was in Madge's, Mellark's or Trinket's. "Didn't know I had a fan club."

"How did you get here so fast?" Mellark asked, a bit harsh.

"Can someone bring me in the loop?" Madge cut in, annoyed. "Who's that?"

Abernathy smirked at the girl with some sort of amusement. He didn't do the small pained wince he always did for a second when he looked at Madge.

Because Madge looked so much like her aunt. But that version of the man didn't know her aunt.

"Haymitch Abernathy." the man introduced himself. "Demon hunter for hire."

Madge frowned and turned to Gale. "Your Haymitch Abernathy?"

"Sorry?" Abernathy scoffed, right as Gale groaned his disgust at that possessive pronoun.

"Long story." Trinket interrupted. "Vengeance demon. Meet the reason you never became a Watcher and we are all in this mess in the first place. He is also why I called you. Rumor is you work miracles. We could use one."

Abernathy took that in stride. While Gale blushed crimson – and was annoyed by how ashamed he felt – the demon hunter processed the news and shrugged it off in the same breath. "Never wanted to be a Watcher. Bunch of assholes."

"Language." Trinket scowled. "But my thoughts exactly." She looked him up and down, assessing. "How did you get here so fast? Mags made it sound like it would take days to track you down and, then again, you coming here did not seem likely…"

"Told you. I was in the neighborhood. Call it fate. Would have gotten here sooner but there are a lot of demons between the fence and your Village." He shook his head. "Had to cut a path through. Took me the whole day."

She stared at him a few seconds longer and then sucked an abrupt breath. Mellark took his hand away, that displeased pout still hanging on his lips. "That's the best I can do."

"It is more than enough." she assured him, pressing her palm where his hand had just been. The wound didn't seem to be bleeding anymore but Gale wasn't going to creep closer to be sure. She squeezed Mellark's shoulder, her eyes softening but only for a second. Then she was back to her cold distant witchy attitude. "We need to strengthen the Village. Night is falling, that means the vampires will come out to play… We need…"

"We need to get the fuck out of here." Abernathy cut her off.

She stood up, glaring at him, but started wavering on her feet… The man's hand shot out to steady her at the same time Mellark grabbed her forearm. She shrugged both of them off, jutting her chin higher in the air.

"We are not abandoning the Village." she snapped. "It is our best chance of…"

"Getting killed?" Abernathy snorted. "I've seen your little army, sweetheart. The ten year-old with a crossbow bigger than him was a nice touch."

There was so much disgust and judgmental loathing in his voice that even Gale winced.

Trinket looked furious.

"I have been holding the Seam for twenty years." she hissed. "And we have been in an open war for ten of them…"

True, Gale mused. And during that weird breakfast briefing the day after the Reaping, Abernathy had claimed Trinket would likely only be able to hold it for a couple of weeks on her own… It seemed to him as if they had all severely underestimated what the witch was capable of – good or bad.

Then again, he had apparently severely underestimated just how crucial Abernathy had been to the Seam escaping Snow's tyranny so…

"No, sweetheart." Abernathy replied, cold and sad but not entirely hostile anymore. "You've been surviving in the Seam for twenty years. You didn't hold shit. This place's only here 'cause Snow likes his games and enjoys a little challenge. Now he's clearly decided he's done indulging you, case in point the siege outside."

She glared at him harder and a cloud of puffy dark smoke surrounded her… A shiver ran down Gale's spine. The threat felt only too real.

"What?" Abernathy smirked, apparently not at all bothered by the menacing magic filling the air. "You're gonna smite me 'cause you can't bear to hear the truth?" He shrugged. "Shouldn't have asked me to come here, then. Ain't big on flattery and sugarcoating."

"I asked you to come here to help me save the children." she growled, striding toward him with an accusing finger pointed at his chest. "Not so you could waltz in here with your demeaning pet names and belittle what I gave my life to."

"Then let me help you save the kids." he retorted without missing a beat, taking a step forward despite the oppressive magic still surrounding her. Gale wasn't sure if it was brave or reckless. "I'm telling you trying to hold this place ain't the solution. Sooner or later, you're gonna lose control of the magic and the wards are gonna crash down. And by then we're all gonna be too weak from hunger or thirst to fight our way out."

Gale wondered if they realized they were now standing almost toes to toes.

Mellark, Madge and Thresh were all frowning, looking taken aback by her behavior. Truth be told, the witch hadn't betrayed that many emotions since they had picked him up on the side of the road so he figured she wasn't prone to that kind of outbursts in this world.

It must have been an Abernathy-related thing, then. How fun. They were complete idiots around each other even in an apocalyptic world.

"So that is your solution?" she scoffed. "Fighting our way out?"

"Of course not." He scowled right back. "I ain't a complete idiot. We sneak out."

"And then what?" she snarled. "Fall directly into their traps?"

Abernathy looked so smug right then…"Haven't you been listening? Told you. I cut a path through."

Trinket opened her mouth to argue and then slowly closed it, frowning as she let that sink. "You cut a path through."

"Would wait for daylight." he advised. "No sense having to fight vampires and demons when demons are enough. But, yeah, if you've got a map, I can show you. We need to be swift though. I killed a few of them, burned some of their outposts on my way in but it won't take them too long to send back-ups. Paid off the guards at the fence too. They know to expect a lot of refugees." He shrugged. "Thought you had more… You know… adults around who could help in a fight but… It's doable."

"If it was that easy, we would have done it before. Very few people manage to reach the fence." Madge remarked, arms crossed over her chest. "And there are too many of us. We would never…"

"Exactly how clear is the path?" Trinket cut her off, not once taking her gaze off Abernathy's.

"Clear enough if you can all handle a few demons and if your kids can follow instructions." he offered. "The way I see it? Best option you've got. It's worth the gamble 'cause, right now, the odds ain't in your favor, sweetheart."

"Mom…" Mellark hesitated. "If there's a chance… The Village…"

"Yes." she answered at once. "I know."

The Village really couldn't be held much longer, Gale mused.

Trinket and Abernathy stared at each other a little too intensely for a few more seconds and then she finally looked away. Her blue eyes traveled from Mellark to Madge and finally settled on Thresh. She looked both relieved and sad. At least until it was covered up by a blank mask.

"Very well." she whispered. "At daylight. You will lead them out. Peeta can second you. He knows everyone, they trust him…"

"What do you mean you." Mellark immediately shook his head. "You're coming too."

"Someone will need to distract them while you make your great escape." Trinket replied, reaching for his shoulder.

The boy avoided her hand, his eyes filling with tears. "You're not staying behind."

"Darling, I think even stupid as they are they would notice fifty children sneaking out the back door…" She smiled at him sadly. "Besides… This does not end until Snow is dead. Perhaps this is my chance to…"

"Get killed?" Abernathy scowled. "You won't get anywhere near Snow and you know it."

"I have to try." she argued. She seemed lost and way younger for a second, her gaze drifted around until it settled on Madge. "For Maysilee."

"Then I'm staying too." Mellark declared.

Her face immediately hardened. "Do not be preposterous. You…"

"I won't make it very far and I will slow down everyone." the boy interrupted with a hard self-deprecating smile. "They're better off without me and you could use the help."

"I'm staying too." Madge bravely offered. "For Aunt Maysilee."

"Your aunt would never have wanted you to die for her." Trinket snapped.

"Oh, but she would want you to?" Mellark snorted bitterly. He searched Madge's eyes for a long time and then gave her a harsh nod. "We're staying too. And you can try to force us to go, sure, but I'll remind you you taught me everything about magic and I can defend myself well enough, so… Yeah."

"I won't go either, boss." Thresh said, standing straighter. "Don't even try to make me."

Gale lifted his hand in the air, a bit hesitant. "Me neither. Cause I've got to fix…"

"Not now." Madge snarled and he wisely chose to shut up. This Madge was scary.

There was a terrible tension in the room as Trinket regarded them all one after the other, her eyes shining with emotions that she eventually blinked away. "Very well…" She turned toward Abernathy who was staring at her strangely. "If you would…"

"No." he cut her off slowly. He looked down at his boots, a deep frown creasing lines on his forehead. Then he studied him, Mellark, Thresh and Madge in turn. His gaze lingered on Mellark with some regret but he eventually turned toward Thresh. "You looked competent out there. You think you can lead a group?"

"I don't want to leave if Effie…" Thresh argued.

"Yeah. And I'm betting the others won't want to either." Abernathy retorted. "Cause she looks like someone people would happily die for."

Trinket seemed to puff in outrage. "I would never…"

"Didn't say you would." The man lifted a hand to interrupt her. "Just that some people inspire undivided loyalty. That's all." He was silent for a moment, watching her, and then looked at Madge. "You should go too. Cause, the others, their best chance? It's to get out of here while the path I made is still clear. And they won't go if you don't 'cause I'm guessing the three of you are the leaders of this band of ragamuffins. I'm gonna stay and try to keep your reckless witch alive."

"I'm still not leaving." Mellark argued stubbornly.

Abernathy only spared him one glance that focused mostly on his missing leg. "Fine. You stay, the others go."

"Peeta." Trinket argued at once. "You…"

"Look, I'm gonna stay behind too." Gale interrupted what, he was sure, would be more pleading on her part for the boy to leave and more arguments from the other boy about staying. "I have to try to find that demon but if, really, it all goes to shit, I'll make sure Mellark reaches that fence wherever it is. Deal?" Trinket studied him, clearly not happy. He tried his best to look like someone competent who fought demons on a regular basis. She wasn't buying it so he shrugged. "Hey, it's in my best interest too. If I find out how to summon that demon, I'm gonna need Mellark's magical expertise, so…"

She still wasn't happy with it.

But she stopped arguing.

Hayffie met, there's a plan and possible death looming... What could go wrong?

I'm also very sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger but we're going on a tiny bit of hiatus. I'm going to post a Christmas story a chapter a day starting monday and up to the 24th so no update for this one next week, we will see each other again on the 26th instead! But don't miss some fun Christmas shenanigans coming Monday... Operation Grinch awaits you!