You Lift Me Up on the Wings of a Psychopath (Points to whoever immediately thought of Eagle's Wings by Michael Joncas)
"Wow. I gotta admit. I did not see that one coming. Gotta give the man some points there," said Reiley. "Not the bloody time you git!" facepalmed Alistair as Arthur rushed Alecai. Alecai gave Arthur a smug look before jumping through the window and making a break for it, flapping his wings as he ran. Arthur swore and ran after the man, wings spread until he realized something.
"The moron can't even fly!" gasped Francis with disbelief. Alecai started flapping his wings desperately before being tackled by a very livid Englishman. "Ivan, secure what's left in that pot he had earlier. Perhaps we can get you your wings back afterall. And you, you arse, are going to pay for everything you've done," said Arthur. Alecai squirmed fierecly, trying to break out of Arthur's grip.
reiley whooped, swinging a fist in the ear. "Good tackle Bunny. That brilliant!" he said. "Could you make yourself useful and perhaps get me some rope or something to tie him down with?" asked Arthur, trying to avoid Alecai's wings from hitting him in the face. "Oh, right!" reiley turned and ran to the house. Five minutes later, the Irishman came back with an armful of rope. Together, the two brothers quickly immoblized Alecai. reiley even brought a couple of large rocks over to make sure the man couldn't try to fly away again.
Allistair came over to Arthur carrying a large book. "There's a spell in here that should help us wrap things up here. I think you should take a swing at it. reiley and I are going to have to act like your reserves," he said. Arthur raised an eyebrow and took the book from him, flipping to the spell Allistair had marked. "Is it dangerous?" he asked. Allistair shook his head. "Not if reiley and I keep contact with you while you preform the spell," he said.
Arthur glanced at Alecai, who was practically spitting with rage, fighting to get out of his bonds. He smirked. "Try as you might you aren't getting out of that. And we can fly faster than you can run. Face it. You're done for lad," he said, despite that Alecai looked decades older than himself. "Why bother?! You're fledglings are probably dead by now! My minions would have ripped them to shreds!" he shrieked.
"Actually, mis amis have just informed me that our nest is safe along withour fledglings. You have nothing left," said Francis. Ivan walked over to them, holding the large pot before putting it in Reiley's arms. "But before we have our fun, I do have some of the questions. That is the spell that Arthur wants to do is to kill you," he said, pulling out the pipe and twirling it in his hands. Alecai's eyes widened in fear, just as he realized how bad this really was.
Arthur shook his head. "Oh, we're not planning to kill him. We'll leave that to you. What we're going to do is going to be much worse for him," he said. Ivan's smirk widened. "I see. Then proceed. I see no problem with this," he said. Arthur smirked back. This was one of the first times he and the Russian have managed to almost become kinda friends "Thank you mate. We shall do so happily," he said. Ivan grinned and backed away from Alecai, giving him a menacing look as he did so.
"What do you need us to do Arthur?" asked Reiley, looking serious for one of the first times during all of this. "You and I are act as reserve magic. We got to keep contact with him as he does the spell and channel our energy to him to make sure the spell goes through without draining him. Got that?" said Allistair. Reiley nodded as Alecai's eyes widened. "What? No. No you can't do that! Not after everything I've done! All my work!" he shouted.
Reiley and Allistair shared a smirk before positioning themselves on either side of their younger brother, each placing a hand on Arthur's shoulder. "Whenever you're ready Art," said Allistair. Arthur smriked, looking down at Alecai as he used a finger to find his place in the book. "NO! NO DON'T! I-I'LL GIVE IVAN HIS WINGS BACK! HONEST THIS TIME! I'LL GIVE YOU ALL WHATEVER YOU WANT, JUST PLEASE-" screamed Alecai before being cut off.
"I suggest you shut up before you end up losing your teeth," said Ivan, tapping the pipe against the palm of his hand. Alecai quickly swallowed, but his eyes watered up as he gave them a silent begging look. Antonio rolled his eyes. "Por favor amigo. You think we're really going to back off because you give us lagrimas de crocodilos? (crocodile tears)," he asked. "You deserve it. Every part," said Arthur before beginning to read from the book.
The book started to glow, as did Arthur's green eyes. Alecai started to whimper, trying to wiggle away desperately. Arthur kept reading from the book before starting to chant. As he started chanting, Reliey and Allistair's eyes started glowling as well. They're hands started glowing where they were touching their brother. The glow from the book spread from Arthur to Alecai. Alecai's eyes shot open wide.
Alecai started screaming, howling with pain. He writhe in his bonds, fingers clawing at the ground as he fell forward as far as the ropes tying him to the nearby trees would let him go. Francis looked on with a serious face, Antonio with a look of disgust mixed with horror. Ivan had a wide grin on his face. Arthur had a look of pure concentration on his face in his semi-trance.
The spell started to reach its climax as Alecai's screams got louder, his wings starting to smoke. Arthur repositioned his feet so he was more ground, throwing a glowing hand toward Alecai. Alecai let out a screach when his wings suddenly disappeared in a flash of mist. "You are not worthy of wings. Say goodbye to them forever," said Arthur in a menacing voice. Alecai screamed before passing out.
Reiley and Allistair quickly caught their brother, bringing him to a tree so he could sit against it. "Will he be okay?" asked Francis, looking worridely at Arthur. "Y-Yeah...He's just drained," panted Reiley. "I c-can see why the spell called for two back up reserves," mumbled Allistair. Francis nodded and turned to Alecai. "What do we do with this pathetic loser?" he asked.
Antonio frowned. "I have a feeling that if he was allowed to live he'd spend the rest of his days trying to find away to kill us all or get those wings back. He's muy peligroso (dangerous) to us alive," he said. Ivan smirked. "Don't worry. He won't stay alive for very much longer," he said. Francis made a small look of disgust but didn't move to stop him.
"Shouldn't you do it now while he can't try to escape amigo?" asked Antonio, gesturing to Alecai's prone body. Ivan shook his head. "Nyet. I want him to be awake for this," he said with a chilling smile. "I don't blame you mon ami. The man was tres horrible," said Francis. Ivan twirled the pipe, grin growing wider. Both Antonio and Francis suppressed a shudder as Ivan did so.
Arthur stirred slightly, opening his eyes. "W-What…?" he asked. "You finally brought the bastard down Bunny," said Allistair. Arthur blinked, looking a bit dazed. "You took his wings away," said Reiley. "Are you done with your revenge?" asked Francis. Arthur nodded slowly. "Ivan can have his now, if you don't have anything in mind," he said. Francis shook his head. "I'm sure what Ivan will do will be more than anything I could think of doing to him," he said.
Arthur nodded. "Ivan, you can have your fun then," he said. Ivan grinned before kicking Alecai in the ribs, hard. Antonio flinched as he heard a sickening crack as a rib broke. Alecai woke up with a swallowed scream before looking up at Ivan. Ivan smiled menancingly down at him. "Hello old friend. Remember those games you used to play with my sisters and I whenever we missbehaved? Let's play again for old times sake," he said.
Francis and Antonio immediately turned to face Arthur and his brothers, blocking the latters' view of what was going on, as Alecai let out a bloodcurdling scream following a sharp WHACK! They all flinched as there was another scream. "The bastard deserves it. Every bit of it," muttered Arthur. Francis grimaced at another scream. "Should we worry about someone hearing and trying to come rescue him?" asked Antonio.
"Rhys took the crystal ball, but I think we're far enough from the nearest village for there to be many issues. Alecai did build out here because he wanted a secluded place for his little experiments," said Allistair, pulling out a flask and taking a swig. "Hand some of that over here," muttered Reiley, sticking a hand out. "And besides, the nearest village is under lock down because of those creatures. Unlikely anyone will make the trip out here anytime soon," he said.
There was more screaming, but this time it didn't seem to have a definite end. Ivan was shouting at Alecai in a mixture of English and Russian. After a few minutes, Ivan walks over to them with a smile. The silver pipe in his hand was splattered with blood and there were droplets of blood on Ivan's face as well. "I am the finished with him. Is it possible that I can use the potion to get my wings back?"
Arthur rubbed the side of his face tiredly. "It's possible. I'll have to look through his house and his books for any notes over this. It seems from this spell book that he has been researching and experimenting with the idea for a while...but for himself. Apparently he needed feathers from your sisters wing and your spit to do it. I can't guarantee anything," he said. Reiley shrugged. "Or we can skim to make sure it isn't dark magic before we dump the goo on him," he suggested.
Allistair frowned. "That's not entirely safe either...but it would make flying where we need to fly that much easier," he said. Arthur nodded. "Everyone spread out and look for his journals," he started before Ivan shook his head. "He told me where they were a few seconds ago. They're in a cabinet that's been jinxed to curse anyone who tries to mess with it under his bed," he said.
Allistiar nodded. "I'll come with you to undo the hex," he said. Ivan smiled and the two turned to walk to the house before Allistair paused at where Alecai laid gasping and choking. "What do you suppose we do with this git?" he asked. Ivan gave them an innocent smile. "I thoght we could him here to die choking on his own blood. I'm sure he won't disturb us while we look through his journals," he said.
Francis shuddered. "Non, we have to make sure there's absolutely no chance that he can come back or do any harm ever again," he said. Ivan's smile wavered a little but he nodded. "Da. I suppose you're right. Francis you may finish him off. I do not wish to see his face again," he said. Francis nodded and pulled out a dagger. Wings stretched, he thrusted the blade into Alecai's heart. Alecai gasped before going still, eyes going dark.
Francis left the knife in the body, standing up. Ivan nodded and went to the house with Allistair following him. Arthur slumped against the tree, glancing at Alecai's body. "It's over. It's finally over. That man can never go after any of our kind again," he said quietly. Reiley nodded. "Now the only thing this man can do is grace us with his ugly mug, even in death. Someone should probably get rid of the body," he said.
Antonio stood up, brushing off his clothes. "I know a nearby ravine I can throw him into," he said. Arthur shook his head. "There's a lake nearby. Just make sure he doesn't float back up," he said. "Bueno. I shall do that instead then. I'll be back in about twenty minutes," he said, spreading his wings and taking off. The Spaniard swooped down at the body, grabbed it by the ankle, and flew off.
Reiley chuckled. "All we have to worry about is Mattie getting his wings back. Good thing Rhys is already on the case! With that stick in the mud on the case, we won't have to worry about anything really. Rhys won't let anything get in his way and can be trusted to do the task correctly...Don't tell him I said that aloud," he said. Arthur managed a smirk. "I'll be sure not to. ….Thank you Reiley…," he said, pausing for a bit.
Reiley blinked at surprised before laughing. "Ah lookie here. My little brother is showing some affection. Don't thank me Artie! I would have done anything to help you get the boys back and stop all of this. They're my kin too. I'm just glad I don't have to see you moping about or hear your angry ranting anymore. Maybe now you can finally be a happy drunk instead of the Debbie Downer you've been all these years at the bar," he said.
Arthur felt his eyes smart a little but swore it eas because he was exhausted. He opened his arms and blinked when Reiley immediately embraced him hard, picking him up a little. Reiley set him down, a wicked grin on his face. "Don't worry little deartháir (brother). I won't tell Allistair about our little heart to heart. I just hope that this means I can spend more time with my little Bunny," said Reiley, still hugging him. Arthur made a face. "Don't bet on it," he grumbled, cheeks pink.