The Argents are the first to arrive at the Hale house after Scott and Isaac. Allison spots Scott's 'all-clear'-mark by the second oak tree and gives her father a nod. They pull up in front of the burned out remains of the Hale house.

Allison is out of the SUV before it fully stops and opens the back. She starts prepping her and her dad's gear as Chris walks to meet up with Scott as he jogs out of the woods.

"Perimeter is clear," Scott says in a normal tone. "Isaac is keeping watch just in case but I think the intruders are all at the Nemeton, they didn't send anyone here."

Chris nods. "I spoke with the Sheriff; he finally got a fresh lead on the Pendleton case so he has to follow it up. He said don't break any laws he can't ignore but to call him if we need the Sheriff to show up."

Allison joins them, handing her father his gun belt while she secures her quiver behind her. "Lydia is on her way to the hospital to be with Melissa. Danny picked Deaton up and should be here soon."

"I don't like this," Chris says. "The new moon is coming up, and while I'm no expert, the few rituals I do know that are this close to a new moon are not good."

"Isaac and I will scout ahead," Scott says with quiet authority. "We'll get a headcount and see what they are up to. You guys get the rest of your gear. When Deaton and Danny get here, grab them and meet us at the Bluff."

Chris and Allison nod as Scott jogs back to the woods. The Argents move back to their vehicle. They both take their stun rods, or bangsticks as Stiles likes to call them. Chris keeps his sidearm but chooses a crossbow over the heavier firearms. If they were just dealing with cultists, it will be hard to explain wounds caused by military-grade ammunition but arrows and crossbow bolts could simply be excused as a hunting 'mishap'. Allison settles on her bow but also adds a few more ring daggers to the ones she habitually carries and a brace of throwing knives. They just finish locking up when Deaton and Danny arrive.

A few quick pleasantries and the four quickly move towards the Bluff. They know something is wrong because almost immediately they are met by a golden-eyed Isaac.

"Whoever they are," he says without pausing for breath, "they know about us. They created a boundary using mountain ash."

"How far from the Nemeton?" Deaton asks.

"The ward line we found is a little over a hundred feet from the Nemeton," Isaac says to everyone's shock.

"That's...a lot of ash," Danny says awed.

"There's more," Isaac continues. Allison steals a look at Isaac. She was staying alert, listening to Isaac's report while keeping watch of her surroundings but Isaac sounded worried. She doubts the others picked it up, they didn't know Isaac that well, but she did. "Scott says it smells different."

Deaton looks grim and without a word the group picks up their pace. They soon catch up to Scott who they find standing still, head cocked to one side. When he sees them arrive he says in a low voice, "I've been trying to listen in. I heard at least three distinct voices, all male. They are in a rush, something about getting the ritual done and leaving before anyone knows they are here."

Deaton quickly kneels by the ash, Danny quickly joins him.

"There's something different about this," Deaton murmurs. "This is mountain ash but they added something..."

"Something metallic," Danny says, "I can almost taste it...like copper."

"Blood," Deaton breathes out, his eyes wide. "They added blood to the warding line."

"So I can't just push through it?" Scott asks.

"No!" Deaton says swiftly. "You mustn't! This reeks of magic! No telling what will happen if you try to break through. Nothing with even a hint of the supernatural can cross this without triggering it and I don't know what will happen if it does."

"Can we break through it?" Scott asks impatiently.

"Yes," Deaton says confidently. "But I have to get some things from my car. I didn't expect to run into this."

"Go," Scott says firmly, "Isaac go with him."

With a quick nod, the two quickly head back to the Hale house.

"Scott," Chris calls out quietly. When Scott turns his way, he continues. "Alan said nothing with a hint of the supernatural can cross. Not all of us here are more than human."

Scott blinks for a moment. He wants to say "no!" but he knows he needs to know what's going on. Also the Argents are arguably the best fighters they have, even without supernatural abilities. Plus with Chris there, he won't let anything happen to Allison.

He looks worriedly at the ward line at first but Danny can hear the unspoken question and answers it. "They should be able to cross safely," he says confidently. "They have to allow animals to cross or the ward will be triggering all the time."

"Go," he says, making a snap decision, "and head towards the Bluff anyway. It should give you a good view, provide cover and it'll give us someplace to head towards when Deaton breaks through the ward."

Chris nods and he signals Allison to stay put as he steps up to the ward line and quickly goes over it. Chris grins as he hears everyone exhale loudly behind him. Allison quickly crosses the line as well.

"Maintain radio silence," Scott says. "We don't know if they have sharp hearing. Use your judgment if you think it better to withdraw or engage, but if you do decide to fight, I can't promise you how quickly back-up can arrive. Remember, you just need to interrupt the ritual, steal or break one of the pieces then they can't go through with it. You don't need to stick around."

Chris can't help but smile proudly at Scott. He's taken to his lessons really well. He's learning to be a leader, not just taking everything on himself; he's allowing others to take part and trusting them to get the job done. He's so proud that when he says, "Yes, sir," he says it without irony.

"Also," Danny adds quickly, "there's a big chance that when the ward comes down, it'll come down with a really big bang."

"Got it," Allison answers him. She smiles at Scott who smiles back at her, Allison quickly but quietly follows her father deeper into the woods towards the Nemeton.

Watching Allison and Chris disappear into the night, Scott literally keeps an ear out for them. But he also wants to keep from fretting too much so he turns to Danny.

"Hey Danny, what did Deaton mean by this thing reeking of magic? Isn't what you guys do kinda like magic?"

"Yes and no," Danny answers. When he sees the look on frustration on Scott's face he continues with a grin. "Wait let me explain. It's a matter of context. Yes, what we do looks like magic but that's because most people don't understand what we are doing, they don't see the connections, the cause and effect. If you called Allison on your cellphone and talked to her in front of someone from the 1600's he would think you were using magic."

"So this ward line was created in a way that Deaton doesn't understand?"

"If that were true, he wouldn't know how to collapse it," Danny explains. "Context. To us, Scott, what we do is part of the natural order of things. Not always understood by most but it has its place. When Deaton or even Ms. Morrell say 'magic' they mean unnatural things. Things that shouldn't be."

"I shudder to think what they consider 'unnatural'," Scott says.

"Well the Darach would be one," Danny supplies, "even the kanima would be considered unnatural. And a pack full of alphas...you know I never understood that. How can there be a pack of alphas? By submitting to Deucalion, didn't that mean that they were not alphas?"

"Asking the wrong werewolf here, dude," Scott says and then with a grin, "maybe you can ask Ethan when he gets back."

Danny snorts. "I already did."

"What did he say?" Scott says, honestly intrigued because he didn't quite understand it himself.

"Nothing," Danny snorts, "he just looked embarrassed and changed the subject."

"I bet he did," Scott says with an innocent look that would have fooled no one.

"Get your mind out of the gutter McCall," Danny says with a huff but Scott can see his lips twitch.

Scott barely hears the Argents, they are incredibly good at moving quietly. He has to focus his own alpha-enhanced senses just to keep track of them. Judging from their speed, they should be at the Bluff—really just a group of boulders clustered together at a rise which allows a high vantage point looking down into the clearing where the Nemeton stands—fairly soon.

Scott turns back to Danny. "So 'us', huh?" When Danny looks at him with a puzzled expression, Scott elaborates, "You just grouped yourself with Deaton and Morrell."

"And Stiles," Danny says softly. He shrugs, "I always knew weird shit was happening but the worst part was not knowing, because I didn't know where the next hit was going to come from." Danny looks up to meet Scott's eyes. "I know I came late into the game, but I never felt more like I belonged than here."

"Besides," Danny says with a grin, "I get to do magic."

Before Scott can say anything to that, Deaton and Isaac appear. It seemed that Isaac had carried Deaton to speed things up.

"Not if I can help it," Deaton says grimly.

"What's so bad about the blood?" Scott asks.

"Blood is probably the most powerful reagent you can use," Deaton says as he starts unpacking all sorts of paraphernalia from his bag. Danny quickly moves beside him to help. "We don't have time to get into the fine points but let me simplify: magic, for lack of a better term, needs sacrifice to work. Blood is the most powerful sacrifice you can make because it—more than anything—symbolizes life. It ties man, the natural and the supernatural together, nothing is more powerful. But precisely because it is so powerful that it can also corrupt; especially if you get into the habit of forcibly taking the blood of others and using it; but conversely there is nothing more powerful than blood willingly given."

Deaton quickly arranges things to his liking and starts a low chant as he starts burning some herbs and waving it in a set pattern. Danny steps back, obviously out of his depth but he keeps his eyes on Deaton.

"How powerful?"

Danny looks at Isaac. Scott stands beside Isaac waiting for Danny to answer.

"Well, if you believe in that sort of thing, a willing sacrifice once saved the souls of all mankind, two thousand years ago."

Isaac blinks. "That's real?"

"Is Jesus the son of God?" Danny asks. "I dunno about that, but there is a reason why the Catholic Church has the most powerful wards on the planet. They understand the power of blood and sacrifice. Unfortunately that knowledge also makes them very susceptible to corruption."

The three teens suddenly fall silent as a red shimmer appears like a misty wall over the ash. Deaton opens a vial and with a word throws its contents at the shimmering wall and as the fine dust sticks to it and seems to slowly eat the wall. Deaton doesn't stop chanting and sweat starts to bead his forehead. Scott can smell ozone in the air and the hairs at the back of his neck start to rise. He can feel an almost oppressive weight bearing down on him. He knows his eyes are flashing red, he can feel himself involuntarily shifting.

"Is it about to come down?" Scott asks, tensing.

"No Scott," Danny says with a frown, "Deaton is just about to start."

Scott looks worriedly and then towards the spot where the Argents disappeared to, hoping he didn't send them to their deaths.