Author's Note: So I took a little break from writing and then decided to write something nice and short off of an idea I'd had. 10k words later I had this finished. A rather violent alternate version of the second episode in which Hope fulfills her promise of vengeance on Landon. And fights a dragon.
Dangerous
"He's my best friend. And you? You seem vengeful," Rafael pointed out, having already heard a variety of rumors about the girl in front of him. She didn't seem like a threat but everything he'd heard said that he should avoid pissing her off.
Hope rolled her eyes, like he knew her. Whatever, he wanted to know why she was so anxious to find Landon then she'd show him. "Let me show you something," Hope said, intending to use one of the few vampire tricks she could use to share her memory with Rafael. Hopefully he wasn't squeamish because it wasn't pretty. "Close your eyes."
A moment later Rafael jumped away from her as Hope released her hold, his stomach churning at what he'd seen. A dozen plus people, now nothing but burned out husks, and his brother right in the middle of it. "What the hell was that?"
"Your best friend did that to a bus full of people on route 29 last night, and I am the only one who knows how to find him, so give me the engine thingy." Hope demanded, already tired of the delay. Where the hell was Dr. Saltzman anyways? He was supposed to have been here already.
"No," Rafael said, shaking his head and pulling away.
"I have actual magic powers," Hope reminded him, her gaze hardening. She wasn't going to continue asking nicely for much longer.
"And I have a long history of anger issues," Rafael warned, stepping toward Hope and glaring down at her. He towered over the shorter girl, and was far more imposing but instead of being intimated Hope just gave a dry laugh.
"I'm a Mikaelson, trust me when I say that you don't want to compare anger issues," Hope advised, glaring up at the larger teen, not intimidated in the slightest. Rafael losing his temper involved throwing a lawnmower through a window, the last time she lost hers they hadn't bothered counting the bodies. Eyes flashing gold she gave him one last chance, "Now give it to me."
"Take it, if you can." Rafael challenged, his eyes flashing gold to match.
Hope didn't hesitate any longer, her right hand shooting up as she started to cast, "Corporius impe-"
Rafael didn't give her a chance to finish, immediately striking out with a hook aimed at her head as soon he saw her try to use magic. It worked to cut off her casting, which was all he had really intended, but as Hope reached up and grabbed his arm he suddenly realized he might have made a mistake.
Using her right hand to latch onto Rafael's wrist after moving to avoid his punch Hope decided to end this fight now. Before Rafael could even realize what was happening Hope struck with her left hand, slamming her fist into his elbow right as she jerked back on his wrist with her right hand. The result was the larger werewolf screaming in pain as his right arm was violently broken at the elbow.
"Fuck!" Rafael screamed, pulling away from Hope, only his werewolf physique and the adrenaline pumping though his body keeping him on his feet. His right arm was completely useless now, as it was pretty much just dangling from the elbow down. Looking at it closer he just stared as he saw the bone poking through the skin, a steady stream of blood running from it.
"Give it to me," Hope said once more, holding her hand out. It would only get worse for Rafael if he didn't.
Rafael's answer was to throw the ratchet he was still holding at her head with all the strength he could muster. It didn't even reach her, Hope stopping it in mid-air a foot or so in front of her, her gaze hardening as she looked at it. Tilting her head slightly she turned her attention towards him, before flicking her wrist and sending it flying back at him twice as fast he had thrown it.
"Gah," Rafael groaned, doing his best to clamp down on the screams as the ratchet he had thrown embedded itself in his left shoulder. "You bitch."
"Really? What would have happened if I hadn't stopped it? You could have killed someone throwing it like that!" Hope pointed out, not exactly appreciating the hypocrisy of his actions. A foot-long metal bar thrown with a werewolf's strength was more than enough to kill an ordinary witch or wolf if it connected with their head.
"And what you're doing is better?" Rafael growled out, not really up for a lecture at this point in time.
"I could have killed you a dozen different ways," Hope said, rolling her eyes before focusing on Rafael and raising one hand, lifting the werewolf into the air telekinetically as she did. "All I want though is for you to fix what you've broken, do that and I'll heal you as good as new."
"Go fuc-" Rafael started, before being cut off.
"HOPE! What the hell is going on here?" Alaric yelled, rushing over to where the two teens had been fighting. He had taken a few extra minutes to talk to his daughters and somehow that had resulted in Hope treating their newest student like he was a pinata.
Letting Rafael fall painfully to the ground Hope turned to face the Dr. Saltzman. "He broke the sway something thing. So that we can't go after Landon."
"Then we'll take one of the other cars," Alaric pointed out, exasperation heavy in his voice. It wasn't like they had just the one car here. He actually had three different vehicles when you counted Caroline's and the van. Hell Hope herself had a car, a ridiculously expensive one, not that she ever used it. Not to mention all the other teachers' vehicles. "You can't tell me that you did all of this over that."
"He attacked first, I only retaliated," Hope pointed out truthfully. It just so happened that her retaliation was a lot more effective than Rafael's attacks had been. He hadn't even touched her, despite attacking with blows that could have severely harmed her.
"I'm not letting you go after Landon," Rafael managed to get out, having managed to rise to his feet. Just standing seemed to be taking everything he had though, which was understandable given what Hope had put him through.
"Luckily, you don't get a vote." Hope said, her tone almost taunting as she turned to glare at Rafael. Seeing him opening his mouth to argue once more she rolled her eyes, tired of the werewolf, "Ad somnum."
The simple sleep spell was enough to put the werewolf under, Rafael falling to the ground as if the strings holding him up had been cut. "Much better. This would have been far easier on you if you hadn't stopped me from using magic in the first place."
Alaric just shook his head at the sight in front of him, not pleased with any of it. He knew Hope, trusted her more than his own daughters in some aspects, and knew damn well that she wouldn't have done this if she hadn't been attacked first. Which did nothing to change the fact that she had damn near crippled their newest student. Still, there were more pressing concerns that needed to be addressed first, primarily Landon and the stolen knife.
"Guess we're taking your car then. Go get it while I take care of Rafael," Alaric said, calling Dorian on his cell as he walked over to check on Rafael. His injuries were pretty severe, but nothing that wouldn't heal in a week or so. Perks of being a werewolf. "And Hope, this isn't ok. We will be talking about it later."
"Right," Hope said quietly, not intending to argue. It wasn't like she had wanted to put Rafael in the infirmary, but she wasn't about to let him take his testosterone fueled temper out on her. It might even be good for him in the long run to learn what his limits were.
Pausing before heading towards the garage, Hope looked Rafael over once more, sighing at how badly she had injured him. "Have Dorian give him some of my blood from the werewolf cure stock, that will heal him. Just make sure they keep him asleep until it's out of his system." Last thing they needed was a freshly healed wolf chasing after them. Or even worse, a transitioning hybrid.
"Right," Alaric said, nodding in agreement. He'd get Emma to take care of it, maybe have them place Rafael in one of werewolf cells until he was back. He knew today was going to be a headache but he hadn't expected it to start before even leaving the parking lot. And it was likely to get worse as they still needed to track down an unknown supernatural and an equally unknown supernatural object.
"So, you want to explain why you decided to put Rafael in the hospital?" Alaric asked finally, having let the question fester between them for the last hour while they'd been on the road.
"He's not in the hospital," Hope pointed out sarcastically. "In fact if they've already given him my blood then he doesn't have a scratch on him."
"Hope..." Alaric said, a quiet warning in his voice.
"What? He's the one that sabotaged the Jeep and attacked me first." Hope said, defending herself.
"He's a newly triggered werewolf, you know he has to be having issues controlling his temper." Alaric said, giving Hope a quick glance before returning his attention to the road. Given how stupidly expensive this car was it could likely drive itself but he wasn't about to relinquish control like that.
"And that's supposed to make it okay?" Hope asked, her tone making it quiet clear that she believed otherwise. "Would it have been okay if it had been Josie he took a swing at? Or if Lizzie had been the one to have metal bar thrown at her head?"
Alaric sighed, looking over at Hope shortly once more. "You know that's different. I'm not arguing against you defending yourself, I'm saying there was no need to go so far." The damage she had done had been severe, and would have been crippling if Rafael was human. Even as a werewolf the damage to his right arm would've taken a week to heal if not for them giving him Hope's blood. And that was if it had even healed properly in the first place.
"And I'm saying you'd feel different if it hadn't been me he attacked," Hope argued. The rules were always different with her, both for good and bad.
"Yes I would have. Because I expect you to be better than that," Alaric said, not disputing Hope's point. He trusted Hope as much as anyone, it was the entire reason that he had her accompany him on the recruitment trips. She also had a temper though, one that she was typically very good at keeping contained, but when she let it loose the results were destructive. Honestly given what she was capable off Rafael had gotten off lightly.
Hope rolled her eyes at that, "Yes, I always have to be better. Except for all those times you need me to not be." The trip to Atlanta to find Rafael had actually been fairly tame for a recruitment trip, as the main reason Dr. Saltzman had her accompany him was for the times that things got out of hand. They had both done things they weren't proud of on those trips, things no one at the school would ever know of, so it was bit rich of him to keep telling her to be better.
"That's why I worry. I know what you're capable of, both good and bad. I trust you to do the right thing, but when you go off like you did on Rafael I'm going to be concerned." Alaric said, trying to put some rather difficult thoughts into words. What he couldn't just come out and say was that he didn't want her to end up like Klaus, even if they both knew that was what he meant. "Which is why I want to know what you intend to do when we catch up to Landon."
"Get answers. After that it'll depend on what those answers are," Hope replied succinctly. Turning her head she looked out the window, avoiding meetings Alaric's gaze. They both knew that she intended to do more than that. Whether she'd still feel that way once she had her answers she didn't know, she honestly hoped not, she wanted to believe she was a better person than that. But given what Landon had done to the bus there was likely only one way this ended.
"Fine, but we do this together. No running off on some vengeance quest on your own. For all we know Landon could be dangerous," Alaric said, Hope rolling her eyes slightly at that. She supposed it was possible, given what Landon had apparently done to the bus, but she wasn't concerned. Even if things somehow went haywire the spell she had brought along with her was the most powerful she had access to, a recreation of the spell the Hollow had once used to kill Elijah. Given that it had been powerful enough to kill an Original she had no doubt that it could kill Landon, regardless of what he really was.
Despite Alaric's earlier instance that he be there when Hope confronted Landon it hadn't taken much to get him to leave her on her own. Granted she agreed that they needed to get the woman they'd come across to safety as soon as possible, especially as she seemed to be in shock over what had happened. The fact that it would allow her to confront Landon on her own terms was just a nice bonus.
"A basement. Fitting, for a rat," Hope taunted, walking down the steps of the root cellar slowly. Tracking Landon here had been simple, he'd left a clear trail through the woods and the scent of smoke and ash was strong enough even a human could have followed it.
"Hope?" Landon said, honestly hoping that he was wrong as he looked up to see her. Before he could even get a proper look at her he found himself flung through the air, slamming into the far wall with a thud that made his head ring. "Hope, you have to list-"
"Shut up," Hope commanded, Landon complying instantly. She could smell the fear coming from him, getting her to smirk as he realized this was going to be even easier than she thought. There was no harm in being cautious though, "Mendacium cedo vulnus."
Landon squirmed uncomfortably as he felt the spell roll over him, looking around curiously when he didn't see any effect. "What did you do to me?"
Hope almost smiled at his concern, at least he had the sense to understand his situation. "I'm the one asking the questions, answer them truthfully and you won't have to find out. Now why did you steal the knife?"
"I didn't steal anyth-agh!" Landon started, before crying out in pain. Clenching his eyes shut he ground his teeth together to try and block it out. It felt like someone had just stabbed a hot knife into his stomach, and if not for Hope keeping him pinned to the wall with magic he'd surely be doubled up on the floor.
"Like it? This spell was practically made for you, as it'll activate any time you lie." Hope explained, Landon's eyes widening at the realization. There were simpler and more effective truth spells she could have used but it wasn't just the truth she was after. She wanted to punish Landon for what he'd done, and this way it'd be up to him just how badly it went.
"Fuck you, why should I even answer you at all?" Landon shouted, doing his best to put up a strong front.
"Because we're in the middle of nowhere and I can simply kill you anytime I please?" Hope pointed out, smelling the fear grow stronger. "Give me the answers I need and I may let you live. Now, why did you take the knife?"
"I don't know!" Landon shouted, wincing as he braced for the expected jolt of pain before realizing that nothing had happened. Letting out a sigh of relief, not having believed the spell really worked as Hope had described, he continued. "I really don't. I don't even remember taking it. I didn't even know I had it until it started glowing while on the bus."
"Where is it now?" Hope asked, even as she wondered how he could not remember taking the knife. He apparently couldn't be compelled and she would've noticed if he had been under any mind-control spell that strong.
"I... I dropped it," Landon said hesitantly, letting out another sigh as the spell didn't active. "In the woods, while I was running." It was the truth, just a half-truth that left out he fact he had picked it up afterwards and stuck it back in his jacket.
"Running from what? What did you do to those people on that bus?" Hope demanded, remembering the scorched bodies that she'd seen. The fact that anyone had survived was a miracle, much less that two people had. And from what she'd seen Landon had been right in the middle of it, he should be dead.
"That wasn't me! There was this woman, she was like breathing fire and she's the one who torched the bus. I barely made it out of there alive," Landon said, voice going an octave higher at the memory. How he made it out even he didn't know, the last thing he remembered was turning and seeing a wall of fire coming at him. He must have blacked out because the next thing he knew he was on the road outside a burning bus with a fire breathing woman coming after him. "I think she wanted the knife."
"Great. So there's a mystery fire-breathing woman after a magical knife that you can't remember taking and we have no idea where either of them are. You're so helpful," Hope summarized, rolling her eyes. If what Landon said was the truth, and it had to be given her spell hadn't activated, then it was likely the woman they had found was the one who attacked the bus. Which meant she needed to hurry and finish up here. "Do you have any idea where the knife might be?"
"I don't know, I lost i-" Landon lied instantly, not giving it a second thought until another wave of pain shot through him. This time it was even stronger than the first, as if he was being stabbed all over with molten blades, causing him to scream, not even trying to tough it out.
Hope jumped at first as Landon started screaming, before her gaze hardened as she realized why. "You just couldn't help yourself, could you?" Hope asked, the question mostly rhetorical as she stepped forward, searching Landon's jacket quickly and finding the knife almost immediately.
"Yeah well, old habits..." Landon got out, panting heavily as he tried to focus on Hope. Whatever spell she had used it apparently got stronger each time, a lot stronger going by how he was still feeling the lingering effects of the last lie.
"Well your old habits just used up your second strike. I'd suggest you don't take a third." Hope said, barely glancing at Landon as she instead focused on the knife. It didn't look like much, just a rather plain knife, not anything worth killing for. Or being killed for.
"What happens on strike three?" Landon asked, eyes going wide as he thought through the possibilities. Strike three was not good, nothing good had ever happened on strike three.
"I'm sure you can figure it out," Hope said, a rather dark smile on her face. In truth she was simplifying things to force him to talk, the spell being more complex than that. Each lie didn't just cause pain but actual physical damage, intensifying for each one told. It had been created to use on vampires, who could heal each time. She wasn't entirely sure what the cumulative effects would on a human but she had a good guess. "Now did this fire-breather say why she wanted the knife?"
"She didn't say anything. Just... fire," Landon said, trying to gesture with his hand and failing as they were still pinned along with the rest of him.
"Which you somehow survived. Without even a single scorch mark," Hope pointed out, Landon's eyes shifting nervously at that. She could've survived being inside the inferno the bus had been turned into, but there was no way a human should have.
"I don't know how I survived, I was too busy running for my life to care!" Landon shouted, wishing that Hope would just believe him. He had told her everything he knew, he just wanted to get as far from here as possible. "Please, just let me go. I've told you everything."
Hope's gaze softened at Landon's pleas, he really did look like just a scared teen. But she knew quite well how deceiving appearances could be. "One final question, then you can leave. You're clearly not just human, so what are you?"
"What are you even saying? I'm not a monster like you. I'm human," Landon said, shaking his head at Hope's accusation. Unbidden an image burst into his head, of the moment he had seen the flames rushing towards him on the bus, of a second set of flames wrapping around him to protect him. Flames that had come from him. At the same time the realization struck he also realized something else, that he had lied, the truth barely setting in before he began screaming as pain wracked his body.
Hope flinched back from Landon, releasing her hold on him as she watched him fall to the ground, his body twisting and contorting on itself as he screamed. Grounding herself she shook her head, looking down pityingly on the dying teen, "Liar." All he had to do was not lie, and he hadn't been able to for even a five minute conversation, failing three times. He had brought this on himself. Giving him one last look she turned to leave, there was still a fire-breathing woman to find and kill, she could dispose of Landon's body after that was taken care off.
Leaving the root cellar, Hope looked around, focusing her senses as she heard movement. It didn't take long for her to see the source, Alaric running into the view shortly. He was panting heavily and from the way he was looking behind him it was clear he was being chased. "Let me guess, there's a fire-breathing woman chasing you?"
Alaric looked at Hope in surprise before nodding his head in confirmation, "How did you... you found Landon."
"Yep," Hope replied shortly, avoiding meeting Dr. Saltzman's gaze. Instead she looked around for the woman, readying her magic to cast at a moments notice.
"Hope... what did you do?" Alaric asked, his tone indicating exactly what he believed she'd done. He knew what it meant when teens tried to avoid eye contact.
"Landon did it to himself. All he had to do was not lie, and he couldn't even manage that." Hope said, defending herself. That what she was going to keep telling herself at least.
Alaric opened his mouth to say something before stopping and forcing himself to calm down. Internally he was furious though, furious at what Hope had done and furious with himself for leaving her alone to do it. But he was also disappointed, he had wanted Hope to be better than her father but this was exactly what Klaus would have done, and that worried him far more than anything else.
"I..." Hope started to say, before stalling not even sure what she could say. The disappointment she could see in Dr. Saltzman's eyes hurt far more than she wanted to admit, it was a look she hadn't seen in a long time. Before she could try to think of something more to say she heard another noise, looking up to see the woman they'd ran into earlier approaching her eyes and throat both glowing red with internal heat.
"That's-" Alaric started to warn before Hope simply flicked her wrist and broke the woman's neck so violently he was surprised her head was still attached. "...that's taken care of, I guess."
"Landon mentioned that she was the one that burned the bus. So, no reason to hold back," Hope said, lowering her hand and wincing slightly. That made three dark magic spell used in the last twenty-four hours, minor ones when compared to the one she had in her pocket, but they still took a toll.
"You know you're not supposed to use dark magic," Alaric pointed out, ignoring the dead woman as he turned to face Hope. That was twice that he knew of in the last day, and she likely had against Landon as well. Then again given what they'd seen the woman was capable of it was probably best to not hold back.
Hope started to defend herself, before her eyes went wide. The woman she had killed was slowly pushing herself back to her feet, her head twisting back around as her body darkened and began to change. Noticing Hope's shocked gaze Alaric turned around, just in time to see wings bursting from the woman's back, her body continuing to change, growing larger and larger until what was unmistakably a dragon stood before them.
"I don't think earth magic is going to cut it this time," Hope said, before raising a barrier to block the roar of flames the dragon sent at them. Not being a fool Alaric stepped closer to Hope, minimizing the area Hope needed to shield as best he could. Nodding in thanks Hope quickly cast another spell, adding a freezing spell to her shield as she reduced it's size to cover just the two of them, letting the rest of the flames sweep on past, igniting the clearing and root cellar behind them.
After far longer than Hope was comfortable with the dragon finally let it's flames die, likely believing they were dead as had been her intention. "Phasmatos ossox!" Hope cast immediately, her eyes widening as she didn't feel the connection on the other end that she should of. Her fears were immediately confirmed as the dragon lowered it's head to them readying another blast of fire, "Crescere arbor!"
Heavy vines burst from the ground at Hope's quick incantation, wrapping around the dragon's snout to hold it shut before pulling it down to ground level. Focusing Hope cast the spell multiple times more in quick succession, binding the dragon with vines so thick they could barely see the monster. "I doubt that will hold it for long, so any ideas?"
"That was a bone breaking spell you tried first, right?" Alaric asked as he observed the dragon, having recognized the incantation as one Bonnie had used before. If Hope wanted too she could break every bone in an opponent's body at once with it, so the fact that it had no apparent effect was worrying.
"Yeah, but I couldn't feel any connection. I think it can block internal spells somehow," Hope said, really hoping that wasn't the case. While elemental spells were far flashier, what made witches so dangerous were internal spells. Why bother setting someone on fire when you could simply snap their neck or make their heart explode from fifty feet away? Yet somehow it seemed the dragon was able to block them. "I have one that might work, but I can't be sure and it would likely take me out of the fight as well."
Alaric raised an eyebrow at that, wondering just how powerful a spell Hope had that it could have that level of cost to her. Hope could channel spells that would kill even an experienced witch so if she was hesitant to use it then it had to be an incredibly dangerous dark magic spell. "Let's leave that as a last option then."
"I'm not sure we'll have a choi- look out!" Hope yelled, stepping in front of Dr. Saltzman and shielding them once more as another blast of flame came roaring at them. She had thought the dragon was still bound but it had apparently freed itself enough to send a torrent of flame into the ground below it, causing fire to rush out in all directions and burn away the vines.
"Above us!" Alaric warned, Hope looking up to see that the dragon was indeed trying to take flight. That couldn't be allowed to happen, the last thing they needed was passerby's on the nearby highway seeing a dragon to go along with the forest fire that had already been started.
"Ventus cataegis maxima!" Hope cast, her eyes glowing gold as she pulled on her vast reserves, the sky above them darkening with both smoke and storm clouds. As the dragon rose just above the tree tops a small tornado came roaring out of the clouds, driving squarely into the dragon's back and sending it hurtling into the ground below with a heavy crash. Not giving it a chance to get back up Hope followed up with another spell, "Terra lancea maleus."
Spears of made of compacted earth ripped up from underneath the dragon, doing little to the hard scales that covered it's torso but piercing through the thinner wings with ease. Realizing as much Hope focused her spell, aiming only at the wings and tearing them into shreds, splattering the area around them with blood. Falling to one knee from the strain she pushed her sweat drenched hair out of her eyes, taking a moment to catch her breath while the dragon groaned in obvious pain.
From behind her Alaric stepped forward, pulling something from one of his pockets and hurling a pair of small items at the dragon. At first Hope wondered if he had resorted to throwing rocks but the large explosion that followed cleared it up for her. "You brought grenades?"
"Sort of. One of the class projects for the senior Enchanting class it to make magical fireworks. Coincidentally if you make a few small changes to the spell and charge them enough they make very effective explosives," Alaric explained, a smug smile across his face as he did. There were more advantages to running a school for the supernatural than was at first apparent, although Caroline had always disagreed with his utilization of them. "Think that killed it?"
A roar and burst of flame from where the dragon lay answered his question, getting Hope to shake her head. "Nope, but this will," Hope said, pushing herself back to her feet. Eyes glowing gold once more she muttered the spell under her breath, electricity wrapping around her hands again and again as she built it's power. "Lyn hvil mål!"
Electricity flew from her hands like a bolt of lightning, striking the dragon in the head as it tried to rise and sending electricity coursing through it's body. She had always wondered why the older grimoires had such powerful elemental spells, never having seen the point when compared to what other dark magic spells could do. Now as the dragon continued to struggle, she wondered if they hadn't been created to fight monsters such as this, ones that were immune to the internal spells witches relied on.
Roaring the dragon tried to run, attempting to get out the range of the spell that Hope was continuing to funnel power into. It was futile though, as the injuries it had already sustained combined with the destroyed surroundings meant that it couldn't get far enough fast enough to escape her spell. For nearly a minute she kept it up, not stopping even once the dragon had quite struggling and fallen still, only releasing the spell when she was barely able to stay standing.
Falling to all fours Hope gasped for air, focusing on her breathing to distract herself for the way her insides burned. Now she understood why no one ever used that spell, the damn thing ended up hurting the caster as well, at lest when it was sustained for as long as she had. Anyone without her ridiculous healing ability would've killed themselves with it. "Fuck..." Hope groaned, letting herself fall to the ground and rolling over onto her back as she recovered. Now that she thought of it she remembered the grimoire noting that it had been meant for use by a team of witches. She had always ignored those notes but maybe there was merit to them after all.
"I think that killed it," Alaric said watching as the dragon's from began to crumble away. It was almost as if it was made of soot, crumbling and falling away in the wind as if it had never existed. Looking around properly for the first time he shook his head at the destruction around them. Between Hope and the dragon everything in a hundred yard radius was either torn to pieces, scorched black, or actively still on fire. It looked like a war-zone, which was admittedly appropriate.
"Where the hell did a dragon even come from? And why was it after the knife?" Hope asked, slowly getting back on her feet. She was still exhausted, but she wasn't about to just lay down and wait for her body to heal either.
"Those are both very good questions for which I have no idea," Alaric answered, walking over to edge of small crater that had been formed by the dragon's crash and Hope's earth spell. Lying inside he was surprised to see the woman from before laying there, having assumed she had disappeared along with her dragon form. Still, she wasn't moving, and given how bloodied, bruised and scorched her body was he doubted she'd be able too, if she was even still alive. "Looks like we might be able to ask her though."
Hope's eyes widened at that, shocked that the dragon was still alive. Was the dragon form capable of protecting the human form? Or was she just that tough? Forcing herself to move, she walked toward the downed woman, her eyes widening as she saw the woman start to rise, her eyes and throat glowing once more. "Move!"
Not being an idiot Alaric immediately threw himself out of the way, diving behind a mound of earth that had been torn up as a five foot-long gout of flame swept through where he'd been. Cursing he searched for a weapon, trying to find something to use before a dull thud reached his ears. Looking up cautiously he saw the woman slumped to one side, blood dripping from the knife that was embedded up to it's hilt, right between her eyes.
"She has to dead now," Hope said hesitantly, lowering her hand from where she'd thrown the knife, amplified by a telekinesis spell to make certain it found it's mark. If the dragon got up from that then she really didn't know what she'd do. Probably just let her have the damn knife and try to escape. There was no way it was worth all of this.
Less sure of that than he would like to be Alaric slowly approached the woman, sighing in relief as he saw that she wasn't breathing and that her still open eyes were glazed over. She was truly dead this time. "Guess that was the weak spot," Alaric said, the shock of having fought a dragon starting to set in. Turning as he heard Hope approach he shook his head as she saw how gingerly she was moving, "How are you doing?"
Hope tilted her head, wincing as she did, "A little nauseous, and my hands are still numb." And her lungs felt like she'd just run ten miles while the muscles in her arms that she could still feel were burning as if she'd been doing push-ups all day. She wasn't about to tell Dr. Saltzman all of that though, not when she would be healed in a few minutes anyways.
"That's part of why we ban dark magic," Alaric reminded her, not that she needed it. Dark magic violated the rules of nature, and that came with a cost, a physical cost in many cases that could cripple the caster. Add in that effective healing spells were some of the most complicated magic out there and it formed an effective barrier to abusing dark magic for most witches. Of course given Hope's abilities all of that went right out the window.
"This wasn't an earth magic problem," Hope reasoned, shrugging her shoulders. It had taken the most powerful elemental spells she had, spells taken from grimoires that had belonged to some of the most dangerous witches to ever live, to bring down the dragon. And spells of that magnitude weren't capable through earth magic.
Sighing Alaric stood back up from where he knelt, "I know. Doesn't mean I like it." If Hope hadn't been here then he would be dead. If he had brought Emma instead, then they'd both be dead. The only witches he could think of that might have been able to survive were Bonnie and Freya, and he was less sure of that than he would have liked.
So as much as he hated Hope using dark magic he had to admit that it had it's uses, but it always seemed to at the time. Looking around he shook his head once more at the destruction that'd been caused, they would need to hurry and get rid of the body before anyone showed up. "Think you can put out the remaining fire?"
"Of course," Hope replied, almost insulted that he thought she wouldn't be able too. Turning she looked around, noticing for the first time how much the fire had spread. Most of the clearing had been set ablaze, some still burning while the rest was scorched black, and the root cellar where Landon's body remained was covered in flames. "Adiuuatur."
Alaric just watched as Hope worked, the fire extinguishing itself as Hope moved her hands to guide the spell. "Thanks, I'll see if there's a shovel we can use... and get Landon's body," Alaric said, his gaze hardening as he remembered the last part. He had almost forgotten that Hope had found Landon first and he'd been in the root cellar. If he hadn't already been dead then he certainly was after it had been set afire.
Hope wisely didn't say anything instead just letting Dr. Saltzman walk off. She wasn't looking forward to the conversation they were sure to have once he saw for himself that Landon was dead. Sighing she leaned back against the remains of a tree, looking back at the dragon woman's body to make sure she was still dead. There wasn't any real need to get shovels, it would be far simpler for her to just use magic to bury the woman and Landon after all. "Hope!"Perking up Hope looked over to the root cellar, wondering if she'd misheard for a second before hearing Dr. Saltzman call for her again, "Hope!"
Sighing she pushed off from the tree, slowly making her way over there. What could he need her for now? Had Landon's body been burned badly enough that he wanted her to just finish incinerating it? That was rather dark but was probably better than just burying it would be. "I'm here," Hope answered as she started slowly making her way down the charred steps of the root cellar.
"Yes, well it seems that Landon isn't," Alaric said shortly, Hope giving a noise of surprise before rushing down the stairs.
Sure enough Landon's body was nowhere to be seen, just a large area of blackened flooring where he had been. "That doesn't make sense, he was right there," Hope said, pointing to where she had last seen Landon's body.
"Are you certain he was dead?" Alaric asked, no longer caring that Hope had killed the teen and instead more concerned about how he could still be alive.
"I heard his heart stop. He was dead," Hope said shortly. Honestly she of all people should be expected to know how to tell when someone was dead. "The fire couldn't have burned it away that completely..."
"No, it couldn't," Alaric agreed. Even if Landon's body had been set afire by the dragons' flames they hadn't burned hot enough or long enough to leave nothing behind. There should have been ashes at the least. Looking around he spotted something he had missed the first time, "Take a look at this."
"Is that blood?" Hope said, approaching the window Dr. Saltzman was pointing at. Stepping closer she ran her fingers against it, bringing it to her nose to smell. It was hard to make out past all of the smoke but it was definitely blood, which meant that it had to be Landon's. Realizing what that meant she rushed up the stairs back outside, searching outside the window. "There's more here."
Having followed her outside Alaric took notice of where the blood was and where they had been fighting the dragon. It looked like Landon had crawled out through the windows on the back side of the cellar, keeping it between them as he ran. By now he had to have at least a ten minute head start. "Shit," Alaric cursed, hurriedly pulling out his phone and pulling up his map app.
"There's a road about five miles that way," he said, pointing in the general direction Landon had gone. Fortunately they were in the middle of nowhere, and Landon hadn't headed toward the closer main road, but if he reached it then there was good chance he'd be able to get away for good.
"How is he even alive?" Hope said, that point still bothering her. She had known he was supernatural given the response to her last question but there weren't any that could resurrect that she knew of. It did help explain how he had escaped the bus though, he hadn't. He had died with the rest of the passengers and somehow resurrected then as well, although it appeared even he wasn't aware of that.
"Don't know, but I have some theories," Alaric said, running the possibilities through his head. His first thought had been of Rayna but the Huntress was long dead as was the magic that made her resurrection possible in the first place. Still it wasn't like he could criticize someone for not staying dead, he had lost count of how many times he had actually died. "Probably safe to assume that it wasn't a one off though."
"Good, that means I don't need to be gentle when I catch him," Hope said darkly, taking off the necklace she always wore. Focusing she sharped one nail with her werewolf claws, using it to slash open her palm and soak the necklace in blood before bringing it to her mouth and whispering a spell. "You can use this to track me, bring the car after you're done getting rid of the body."
Reaching out Alaric took, the necklace by the chain, watching as the blood-covered ring and charm rose up to point at Hope. A locator charm, if a rather crude one, which meant that she intended to go after Landon once more. "Are you fast enough to catch him?"
"I'm sure of it," Hope said, her eyes flashing gold for a moment.
Getting her point Alaric nodded, "Okay. Be careful though, we still don't know what we're dealing with."
"You just make sure you don't lose my necklace. And try not to take all day," Hope said, giving a slight smirk as she walked behind the root cellar before starting to take off her clothes. In her wolf form she would be far faster than Landon was and it would be much easier to track him as well.
Pausing to catch his breath Landon looked behind him once more, shaking his head in relief as he didn't see anything. He had been running ever since waking up in the root cellar. No, that wasn't right, he couldn't keep pretending he'd just woken up. He had died, and had somehow come back to life. And he had a feeling it wasn't the first time that had happened.
Everything had been on fire when he had revived, and his first thought had been that Hope had done so to hide the evidence. It had only been when he had crawled out through the window that he had seen the dragon and that the fire was everywhere. Part of him wanted to stay and see what happened, the smarter part of him had told him to run for his life and he had decided to go with that.
Hope had already killed him once and he had no intention of finding out if he would come back a second time. Fortunately he had heard what sounded like a car pass by in the distance so he had to be getting close to a road, and once there he could hitchhike to somewhere safe. Get to a town, find a way to make some money, then get a bus to the other side of the country. Seemed like a solid plan.
Getting a move on Landon started jogging once more, hoping he was heading the right direction. He knew basically nothing about the area but was pretty much assuming that if he headed in one direction and stayed going that way eventually he'd hit a road or a house or power-lines. All he had to do was keep moving, at least that's what he thought until he heard something running behind him.
"Oh fuck," Landon said, looking behind him to see a large gray wolf running after him. Turning he ran as fast as he could, praying that he'd reach a road or house soon. Unbidden he remembered how the last time he'd tried running from a wolf had gone and Hope's warning that she could have killed him. He doubted she would even try not to this time.
Seeing Landon after tracking him for so long fueled Hope's predatory instincts even more, lending her a burst of acceleration that let her close down on him in an instant. Leaping into the air she plowed into Landon's back, only a last second jerk of his head letting him avoid her fangs from clamping down on his neck. Instead she had to make do with ripping her claws into his back, tearing bloody streaks into it as they went to the ground.
Adrenaline fueling him Landon rolled over, pushing himself to his feet and ignoring the impulse to scream. "Killing me once wasn't enough for you?" He yelled, glaring at the wolf across from him. Probably not smart to taunt the werewolf but he doubted she was going to take it easy on him either way.
Not bothering to reply, and not really being able to, Hope lunged at Landon once more. As she did she saw Landon raise his arms up defensively, which would've made her laugh at the futility of it, had she still been able. Barreling into him she knocked him to the ground, using her much larger form to pin him to the ground before going for the kill.
She felt a wave of heat before she could though, the only warning she got as flames closed in on her from both sides. Leaping back Hope managed to avoid the worst of the flames, but she was still left with scorch marks on her forelegs, shoulders, and head. Wounds that burned and ached but were already healing.
"Yeah, so turned out you were right. Apparently I'm a monster too," Landon said, pushing himself to one knee, his flaming wings curved out in front of him like a shield. He didn't have any idea how to control them, or even how to activate them, but he was damn grateful for them at the moment.
Hope forced herself to stay calm, to not rush in as her instincts demanded. It was harder in her wolf form, but she had more control than most did. Growling she focused on Landon, her tail twitching back and forth behind her as she readied her next move. Seeing that Landon refused to make first move she swung her tail down with a wipe-crack motion, Landon's eyes going wide with shock as he was suddenly pushed into the ground by the force of the spell.
Having moved the instant she cast her spell Hope rushed around Landon's wings, instead going for his side. Her fangs sank deep into his side while her claws tore at his stomach and back while Landon struggled to move under the effects of her spell. Unfortunately it seemed his wings weren't bound by the same limitations, sweeping back to attack her quickly.
Knowing that she could heal from the burns they inflicted Hope didn't immediately leap back, instead clamping her fangs down tightly and ripping them away, tearing a chunk out of Landon's side as she did. Wincing as the flames reached her Hope ducked under them, rolling away ungracefully as they reached out from Landon's back and tried to reach her. Getting her feet back under her she focused her magic like a blade into her tail, spinning around as she avoid the flaming wings and sending it flying at Landon.
Luck was all that saved Landon's from being cut in half by the spell, Hope's aim having been thrown off by having to dodge his wings. Even then it had torn clean through his left leg, severing it just below the knee, and leaving him in shock as he stared down at it, before falling over as he lost his balance. Fear truly set in at that, he wasn't just going to die if he stayed and fought but be literally torn apart by Hope. That fear reminded him of what wings were originally meant to do, Landon pulling them back and flapping them hard, launching himself into the air with surprising ease.
Eyes widening Hope stared up at Landon as he flew into the air, reverting her transformation as she realized he was out the reach of her werewolf form. Raising her right hand she focused on Landon, latching onto him with her magic. "Icaeus!"
Any thought of escaping was quickly erased as Landon found himself hurtling back toward the ground, barely able to get a glimpse of pale skin from where Hope was before he crashed into the ground with a sickening crunch. Groaning he felt his wings fade away, apparently no longer to remain active with all the damage he had taken.
"You didn't really think you could get away, did you?" Hope asked, Landon forcing his head to turn so he could see her. She wasn't naked like he had thought she would be, instead wearing a simple black robe that shifted in a way that made him doubt it was real. Pity, he had hoped to at least have a pleasant image to take with him when he died.
"Can't blame a guy for trying," Landon said, groaning at the pain talking caused. He wasn't sure if it was because of the hole Hope had torn out of his side or the ribs that had surely been broken when he fell but it hurt like hell.
"I really can. Those flames of yours hurt," Hope said, holding up her left arm for Landon to see. It was still covered in burnt skin, having taken the brunt of his last attack, but was visibly healing even as he watched.
"Fuck off," Landon growled out, glaring at Hope as she just smiled down at him. He had a leg torn off, a chunk of his side ripped out, and a dozen different gashes across his back and stomach that might be fatal on their own. He was dead, it was just a matter of how long it would take his body to give out.
"I can make it quick, if you want," Hope offered, keeping her face blank to hide how she felt. It was clear when fighting Landon that he had just been trying to escape, he obviously had no idea what he was doing. If he had then he would have taken flight the second he saw her chasing him.
Landon just looked at her for a moment before nodding, not being able to move to stop her anyways. As Hope walked knelt down beside him he couldn't help but ask, "Do you think I'll come back again?"
"I'm not sure," Hope admitted, reaching down to wrap her hand around Landon's neck. She wasn't sure if she wanted him to come back either. By now the rage she had felt toward him earlier had long since faded, helped by knowing that it wasn't Landon that had torched the bus. But she was still wary of him, which was why she hadn't held back.
With a quick twist of her wrist she snapped his neck before he could say anything more, not in the mood to talk. It was a lot harder to be angry with him when she saw just how small he looked now, torn apart and bleeding from a dozen wounds that she had inflicted. She had been so angry earlier, had wanted to kill him, and now that she had done so twice she just felt empty. She knew how hollow revenge was but this time it felt even emptier than normal, likely because she knew that he hadn't done anything to deserve what she had done.
Shaking her head to clear it she stepped away from the body, letting the illusion she was using to cover herself fall away. Looking down she couldn't help but wince as she realized just how much blood was covering her. She never noticed it during the fight but as soon as it ended she could feel it clinging everywhere. Sighing she used a simple spell to siphon the blood off of her, before looking around to see if there was anything else that needed to be done.
All there was to do now though was wait, and as she didn't know how long it'd take Dr. Saltzman to get here there was no telling how long that would be. Shifting back into her wolf form she curled up on the ground, her ears perked up for any sound of someone approaching. It was more comfortable to wait in this form, and less awkward than standing around naked with a dead teenager's body nearby. Plus it dulled her thoughts and emotions, something she was grateful for at the moment.
"Hope!?" Alaric called out, following the charm that she had made further into the woods. The sun was starting to set by now, it having taken far longer to bury the dragon woman's body and then find the right road to get here than he would have thought. Add in that the charm only showed the direction she was in and he had to resort to yelling and hoping she'd hear him. "Hope!"
After another minute or two of walking Alaric finally heard something approaching, nodding as he saw the large gray wolf approach. Setting down his backpack he pulled Hope's clothes out and set them on top of it before turning the other way. "Thanks," he heard Hope say from behind him, the girl moving to get dressed.
"Did you catch up to Landon?" Alaric asked, keeping his eyes firmly ahead of him. It was more than a little awkward to just be standing there while one of his students was getting dressed behind him.
"Yeah, his body is a few minutes walk from here," Hope said, straightening her shirt out and making sure her necklace was clean before pulling her pants on. "Okay, you can turn around."
Nodding Alaric turned around, laughing as Hope shook her socks out to get the dirt and leaves off of them before pulling them on. "He's still dead? I would have thought he'd have revived already."
"I thought of that, and I have an idea as to why," Hope replied, pulling her boots on before awkwardly standing up. It always felt weird to have shoes on after spending any length of time in her wolf form.
"Care to share then?" Alaric asked, having had his own ideas and wondering how close they matched up. Of course it helped that he had Dorian doing some research for him while he'd been taking care of the dragon.
"It'll be easier to show you," Hope said with a shrug. Turning she motioned for Alaric to follow her, leading him to where Landon was. It was a longer walk than she remembered, but she had been in her wolf form earlier so she supposed that made since.
"Still dead I see," Alaric said, looking down on Landon's body as they finally reached it. Hope had done a number on the poor teen, that was clear. "I take it he put up a fight?"
"Yeah, had these giant wings made of fire. Couldn't get close without getting burned," Hope said, shrugging at the end. It hadn't ended up mattering of course, being burned wasn't much of a deterrent when you could just heal in two minutes anyways.
"Wings of fire, huh?" Alaric mused, thinking that Dorian and his first guess had been right.
"Yep. Remember how the root cellar had been on fire? And we know the bus was torched." Hope said, pointing out a few obvious things. "Well, what do you think happens if we add fire? Incendia."
Fire erupted from around Landon's body, covering him in a second before Alaric could even think to tell Hope not to. Well if their guess was correct it wouldn't matter, and if they were wrong then it just meant there would be less to bury. For a minute neither of them spoke, before Hope called his attention to something, "Look."
A good twenty feet from Landon something else had caught fire, Alaric taking a second to realize it was the remains of Landon's leg that had been torn off. Flames erupted from seemingly inside of it, before quickly disappearing as it was reduced entirely to ash. At the same time the flames covering Landon rushed out in roar, Hope quickly shielding the two of them from it, before fading to reveal an ash covered body.
For a moment nothing happened, before the body started to stir, Landon slowly rising from the ashes. "Well Mr. Kirby, I think you just answered the question of whether or not you were supernatural."
"What? What am I?" Landon said, the fact that he was clearly not human overwhelming the surprise he felt at Dr. Saltzman being here.
"If I had to guess, I'd say you were a phoenix," Alaric said, smiling slightly at his guess being right. Granted between the resurrections and flaming wings there hadn't been a lot of options. "So, what do you say we go back to the school and try and answer those questions I'm sure you have?
Landon just stared at him for a moment, mouth gaped open as he tried to process everything. Eyes darting to Hope he snapped out his shock, his eyes going wide with terror and then narrowing with anger as he pushed himself to his feet. "You must be out of your mind if you think I'm going anywhere with you after what she did to me!"
"Yeah, I was really only asking to be polite," Alaric admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "Hope."
With a flick of her wrist Hope snapped Landon's neck with a spell, causing him to crumple to the ground at their feet. Turning Alaric looked at her incredulously, "I meant for you to put him to sleep. Not kill him again."
"It worked, right?" Hope said, shrugging her shoulders. So maybe she wasn't as ready to forgive Landon as she had thought earlier. The confirmation that he couldn't die actually made her feel less sorry for what she had done to him oddly enough. "Now grab a leg, we still have to drag him back."
"Nope, you killed him, you can carry him back," Alaric said, ignoring Hope's protests as he headed to the car. Today had already been three different kinds of headache, and with the news Dorian had given him about how the football game had ended it wouldn't be getting better anytime soon. God he needed a drink.
"Seriously? You're just going to leave me with the dead phoenix?" Hope asked, staring after Alaric as he walked away. Shaking her head she knelt down, lifting Landon's body up and throwing it roughly over one shoulder. She supposed it was only fair, Dr. Saltzman had taken care of getting rid of the dragon's body, and he wasn't anywhere near as strong as she was.
As they walked to the car, she couldn't help but wonder what they would do when they actually got back to the school. Between what she'd done to Raf, the dragon attacking, the mystical knife it was after and Landon being a phoenix there was no way things could keep on going the way they had. Things were about to change at the Salvatore School, and she wasn't too sure they would be for the better.
Author's Note: This was a lot of fun to write, even if it took longer than I thought it would. There's something fun about having Hope do something like this, while still trying to make it seem like it could have happened in the show. And the dragon fight was just cause I wanted too. Still really tempted to tag this as Hope/Landon just for the hell of it. I won't be continuing it, but it would be fun to actually make that pairing work with this being the starting point. Anyways favorite, review, check out some of my other stories, the usual. Reviews are my favorite though.