Episode 15: Part 1

Connor paused and cautiously eyed the young fey woman again before sitting down by the pond. A short silence fell between them as a cool gentle breeze rustled through the budding leaves on the trees. After he took a breath he began to speak, "We were kids. Leanne MacClure... she lived across the street from me in a small red brick house with a tall oak tree out front and a little flower garden in front. She was the first person who wanted to talk to me when I moved here... who wanted to be my friend."

Leanansidhe glanced over curiously and continued to listen as Connor continued to muse, "We played together all the time. She was always curious and pushing boundaries. We'd always go on imaginary treasure hunts or pretend to be explorers in a strange magical land going on adventures. Your parents... I mean, her parents would scold her about being careful and not getting lost."

Leanansidhe frowned to herself as fleeting sensations seemed to pry at the very edges of her memory and consciousness... as if she were trying to remember fragments of a long forgotten dream. There was laughter, sunshine, and vaguely familiar voices.

"What happened to her?"

Connor shrugged, "I don't know. She just... disappeared one day and no one in town ever saw her again. Some people think she got lost in the woods. Others thought maybe she was taken."

Leanansidhe narrowed her gaze, "What do you think happened?"

Again Connor shrugged, but he looked troubled at having to dredge up the painful memories, "I have no idea. I just... her parents were heartbroken and they looked for years, but I remember the day Mr. and Mrs. MacClure gave up and moved away. They were never the same again."

"And you?"

Connor eyed the fey sorceress, "She was once my friend. My best friend. I guess as long as I've lived here, there are times I'll look into the woods and wonder if she's still there. When Quinton had been granted a wish coin, he had asked me what I'd wish for. I would have said to find out what happened to Leanne and to being her home."

Leanansidhe took several breaths as the odd feelings of deja vu and long forgotten memories kept clawing at her more. She slowly rose and turned to leave, "I... thank you Summer Knight. You've given me a lot to think about. You may go now."

"My name is Connor... Connor Walsh," he said with firm conviction as he stood and looked her right in the eye. "If that's really you in there Leanne, I'm asking you one more time to remember. If we really were friends, then we don't have to fight each other. Let me help you. Please... come home."

He reached out a hand and Leanansidhe hesitated unsure of whether to extend her own hand when they heard the sounds of rustling and breaking twigs underfoot. They both spun around and found themselves surrounded by the demon soldiers who Connor had battled before. Another portal opened depositing a fresh group of enemy troops along with the demon commander Malcaris. He eyed the scene with a sneer, "Oh... did I interrupt a little moment just now?"

Connor immediately swept his ring around and summoned his armor in a burst of fiery magic. As he drew his sword, he faced down the encroaching demon troops, "What do you want you monster?"

Malcaris lazily turned his gaze over toward Leanansidhe, "I'm making up for a mistake I made a long time ago... to catch one of the rare ones that got away. Hello pretty thing. Remember me?"

Leanansidhe recoiled in surprise and wore a look of both outrage and fear. More memories were assaulting her now... memories of fear, of monsters, of a chase.

"I don't know what you're talking about demon. Begone!" she fired back, "I serve Balor and his warrior host. You wouldn't dare try to take me."

Malcaris snorted, "Balor has pledged not to intervene as long as I am here. Guards, seize the witch."

The demons advanced and Connor was the first to clash with the monsters. As he hacked and parried his way through the scrum, he tried to block Malcaris's approach but was bogged down in the press of bodies. Leanansidhe also called her sword and began to fight the demons but was so distracted, she didn't see Malcaris edge around the battle and strike her from behind with a stunning spell cast from his blade. He gestured quickly to some more troops nearby as they produced iron chains, "Quickly! Seize her and let's be off!"

The troops snapped the cold iron chains on Leanansidhe's wrists and ankles to inhibit her powers before they lifted her up to carry her away into an escape portal. At that moment, Connor broke through a gap and witnessed the abduction of the Fomorian general, "Hey! Come back here!"

Malcaris laughed as he watched his newest prisoner get taken away through the portal, "It's too late Summer Knight. Unlike your friend, you have no use to me. Prepare to die!"

As the other demons regrouped around Connor to overwhelm him with their numbers, they were halted by a bright flash of lightning that momentarily blinded everyone on the battlefield. When Connor's vision cleared, he blinked in surprise and relief when he saw two familiar figures making their way into the grove. The demons took several steps back as they witnessed the two Vanguard Rangers Joe and Kara stride forward holding brass artifacts in the shape of keys which glowed with vibrant red and golden light.

Malcaris's eyes went wide, "No... you... what are you Rangers doing here?"

"What else? We're here to send you back to whatever miserable hellhole you crawled up from," Joe answered fiercely as he raised his artifact, "Kara, are you ready?"

The Gold Ranger nodded as they call in unison, "Vanguard Ascend!"

In a brilliant flash of celestial light, Connor stood in awe as he saw the two morphed Vanguard Rangers, their suits adorned with white and gold trim. Both drew gladius short swords from their sides and inserted their keys into the pommels, quickly transfiguring them into their personal weapons, a straight saber sword and a pair of scimitars.
"Let's take it to em," Joe called as he brandished his own sword, "Vanguard, take flight!"

Both the demons and the Summer Knight stood speechless as the two Rangers took to the air in a great leap and seemed to summon shimmering angel wings to give them extra lift. Moments later, the Rangers both swooped down like merciless birds of prey and mowed down the stunned foot soldiers of House Phoenix. Kara aggressively battered her way through the troops moving with superhuman grace and speed, parrying aside enemy blows and counter slashing with her other sword. With one more burst of divine energy, she swept aside a group of them with a blinding swing of her electrically charged scimitars.

Nearby, Joe confidently slashed aside several demons with his blade and engulfed them in wreaths of searing fire. While he did, he used his wings to shield himself from blows and then batter aside other enemies like an extra set of long arms. As he swept aside the foes around him, he dispelled the wings and tumbled free, pulling a second sidearm from his belt, a celestial looking pistol. Without breaking stride, he squeezed off several golden blaster shots which struck the remaining demon foot soldiers and destroyed them instantly.

"I don't have time to deal with you," Malcaris snarled as he made his escape through the portal, "You're still too late. I got what I want!"

As the portal closed, Kara delivered a final coup de grace to a fallen demon before sheathing her two deadly swords. Joe gave his pistol a twirl and holstered it with a nod before turning back to the speechless Summer Knight,

"Sorry we got here a little late. Is everything okay?"

"Wow... that was... amazing," Connor stammered in awe before the three powered down to survey the aftermath of the battle in the forested grove, "I'm fine... but the demons took another victim... someone I know."

Joe and Kara exchanged a grim look before Kara cleared her throat, "There was a sizeable force here. I believe the demons meant business with this target."

Joe frowned and nodded, "We should talk to Bishop. Until we can take some proactive move against the demons, we're going to keep chasing our tails."

Connor led the way out of the woods, "Let's go. There's no time to waste then!"

Later that day, everyone gathered in O'Doyle's tavern to rest and recuperate after their run-ins with the monsters. Stephen, Laura, and Noelle all reported fighting back against another demon raid resulting in another male classmate getting taken while Quinton sat off to side, still brooding over his failure to protect Kayla. While he sat stewing, Stephen sat down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder, "Easy Quinton... we'll get her back."

As the chatter at the table died down, Kristen cleared her throat and brought the meeting to order, "Everyone... after what you all had told me, I can tell you that Quinton gave us a useful clue as to where your captured classmates are being taken. You had mentioned the Hinterlands... which is kind of like a strange in-between place... a cosmic limbo in between the planes of reality."

"Okay, so if we know where the place is, how do we get there?" Quinton asked as he sat up straighter, "We might as well launch an attack and try to rescue the hostages."

Kristen grimaced, "That's where things become tricky. I'm afraid getting there and back is very difficult and for a Druid of my skill level, it may even be beyond me."

"What about Mr. O'Doyle?" Noelle asked hopefully, "He's the most senior one here. Maybe he could help open the way for us."

Kristen shrugged and chewed her lip, "It's worth a try, I suppose."

"So that's the brilliant plan? Go all in with guns blazing?" Laura asked skeptically.

"Hold on a minute," Stephen pointed out with concern, "If we get directly involved and try to take back the prisoners, couldn't that cause some huge diplomatic disaster? The fey and the demons have a formal treaty in place. We can't violate that."

"Not necessarily," Joe pointed out as he finished reading over a paper that Bishop had handed him, "There may be a way around this."

Bishop cleared his throat and patted Laura on the shoulder, "I did a little digging around some old texts and found some references to that treaty. It seems that the Cambion demons which the Vanguard Rangers had fought were in some ways familiar with the other demon houses of the Underworld. Not quite allies but not exactly enemies either. Laura helped me find a recording of the treaty in an old historical grimoire and it looks like it might give us some wiggle room."

The Red Vanguard Ranger placed the paper on the table, "The treaty specifies that the fey provide a suitable tithe of living subjects for the demons to do with as they see fit. It also states that no agent of the Four Courts shall harm or hinder the demons during this time and that the demons shall afford the same courtesy toward any fey present."

"We know that," Stephen insisted, "Quinton said there were fey soldiers working alongside the demons."

Joe smiled, "Pay attention to the wording Stephen, those soldiers are agents of the Four Courts. They can't interfere… but we can. You knights have ties to the Courts, but you aren't beholden to them either, neither are Kara and I. We'd be acting as free agents here."

"But what about us Druids?" Kristen asked, "Technically we have diplomatic ties to the fey so I can't get directly involved either."

Kara gave a sly grin across the table, "You don't have to. As long as you don't take up any arms against the fey or the demons, you're not interfering. You can still help us and be present in a noncombatant role."

Kristen smiled to Joe and nudged his shoulder, "Leave it to an attorney to worm his way around demonic contracts."

The Red Ranger gave a grim chuckle, "I've litigated against the demons once before and barely won. I'd rather not do it again if I can help it."

Kristen rose from the table, "Okay… if that's settled, then I think we should all regroup and get ready to plan the next step in our rescue operation. I'm going to speak with Mr. O'Doyle about a gateway to the Hinterlands."

Bishop nodded and folded his arms, "I'll start drawing up plans with the Rangers and knights for now. Maybe we'll meet back at your shop in two hours?"

Kristen gave a nod and head off while everyone else settled in for a quick meal to refresh themselves. As they sat, Noelle gave a curious look to Bishop and asked, "Are you really coming with us to fight the demons this time Professor?"

"I think it's probably for the best," Bishop smiled as he glanced toward Joe and Kara, "We've got a little secret weapon in our back pocket and you never know when it might come in handy."

Noelle exchanged a puzzled look with Stephen who was also sitting nearby while Laura wore a giddy expression to herself, "Oh my God…. I'm actually getting a chance to go into battle alongside the Professor Bishop and two Ranger heroes. It's like every girl's dream come true."

Noelle raised an eyebrow and moved to speak but Connor quickly placed a hand on her shoulder while quietly shaking his head. For now, they simply decided that it was best to stay silent and let the Winter Knight remain beside herself with her sometimes odd flights of fancy.

The pounding sounds of her footfalls echoed through the dark mysterious woods as Leanne MacClure blindly pushed through the dead petrified woodlands. Everywhere she looked was an opaque disorienting fog that made the dead gray of the leafless colorless woods even that much more alien and frightening. She never should have stayed out by herself and went poking her nose in the woods... though she couldn't even be sure these were the same woods at the edge of Somerset Valley. All she knew was that she had to hurry... otherwise those frightening monsters, or demon things would come for her again. She had to find a way to escape.

As she continued to run blindly, she heard the snarling and growls of the demon foot soldiers come to capture her again to bring her to whatever horrible fate they had planned. That was when she saw a twinkling light bobbing ahead of her, like a guiding pixie to lead her to safety. She ran as fast as she could after the sprite until it stopped and glowed a warm green color. As she got closer, she was engulfed in the warm soothing light as the dead gray chill of the petrified woods around her melted away.

Leanansidhe awoke with a start and looked about her surroundings. Her heart began to accelerate as she found herself in the same dead gray petrified woods while a damp fog hung over the landscape adding a greater feeling of desolation and dread. She sat up slowly and found that her wrists and her ankles had been bound in cold iron chains which would nullify her power and restrain her. Nearby a warm campfire crackled while a band of demon soldiers huddled around it and stood guard. Off in the near distance, she could also see a few tents of soldiers from various Faerie Courts, apparently involved in the operation as well.

The young sorceress glanced over and saw that she had been chained up with a group of other young people, all of them handsome, fair, or fit in one way or another. Most likely these were other captured students from Somerset Valley who had been victims chosen for the Tithe. She turned to see the girl next to her, a beautiful young woman with honey colored hair and a green jacket huddling up and trembling to herself in fear. The girl noticed Leanansidhe and sat up while speaking in a hushed whisper, "You're one of the new ones? Do you know what's going on?"

The general shook her head and pretended to play dumb for the time being, "Err... no. I don't. I'm afraid I'm still a little groggy."

The girl in the green jacket nodded before scooting over, "I'm Kayla. Are you a student at the college too?"

"Um, yes... my name is... Leanne," the fey woman said deciding to use that as her alias giving a quiet nod.

"Where are we? And what are those monsters going to do with us?" Kayla said in a hushed fearful whisper so as not to alert the guards.

Leanansidhe looked around again and shrugged. Wherever it was, it seemed the prisoners were being herded together in an intermediate holding place. Maybe some kind of limbo? She never really learned much about the finer details of cosmology and portal travel. She couldn't help but wonder if anyone would come and help them... if Lord Balor would maybe send a Fomorian warrior to come and clear this up. She had failed him several times and perhaps had fallen out of favor too. The thought frightened her, but she had to hold out hope that Balor would send someone.

Kayla put a comforting hand over Leanansidhe's and squeezed it, "We've got to hold out for some kind of hope someone will save us... right?"

Leanansidhe could only look up to her eyes and give a grim nod, "For your sake, I hope you are right."