Love for my beta.
WARNING: graphic depictions of violence
Newt and Tina walked hand in hand to the amphitheater, nerves flowing quickly through their veins. Tina slowly sipped her coffee, the heat warmed her body and prepared her mind for their mission that day. Newt talked enthusiastically about freeing Sahale, excited to have his friend back among them again. A small group had begun to gather in the center of the village, talking in low voices as they waited for the rest of the volunteers.
"Newt. Tina. We haven't had the pleasure of formally meeting. I am Iye," The older gentleman introduced himself and shook their hands respectively.
"Oh yes, I remember. You command the smoke spirit." Newt thought back to Hassun's practice battle as he grasped Iye's hand.
"Yes! Just like Achak." Iye nodded.
"Achak? So you're related to…" Tina trailed off while trying to remember where she had first heard that name.
"Eluwilussit is my father," Iye beamed with pride.
"Ituha, glad to see you're coming along," Machk said as he joined the group, giving a warm hug to the older woman. "Nice to see you joining as well, Iye. Your spirits are a boon to this mission. Is everyone well rested and ready?"
"I'm so anxious, I couldn't sleep a wink. Luckily Newt had some wonderfully fresh Colombian coffee beans hidden in his case so I can function on caffeine today." Tina smiled while clutching a steaming mug of coffee.
Mika, Hassun, Rowtag, and Istas all showed up as the sun threatened to spill over the horizon and begin a new day.
"We are all aware of the plan?" Winema looked around at the faces before her, all nodding in agreement. "Alright, when we arrive we-"
Winema was interrupted by a black bird that swooped low over the heads of the group and transformed into his human body in the center of the circle.
"So when are we going to save my brother?" Chogan asked presumptuously.
"Chogan!" Mika said with surprise.
"I'm sorry, Chogan," Winema stepped towards the teenager and reached a hand out and placed it on his shoulder. "You don't know the plan and there isn't enough time to brief you. I don't want you getting hurt." He shrugged her hand away, feeling condescension in her tone.
"Or in the way," Rowtag scoffed and crossed his arms.
"He's my brother! You have to let me come!" Chogan pleaded.
"He has a point," Hassun piped up, trying to get back in Chogan's favor.
"I understand that you want to help your brother but you are unaware of the danger we are about to face. This isn't an amphitheatre battle, we are going up against real foes able of harming and possibly even killing us." Winema attempted to explain.
"Hassun doesn't even have his binding yet! He's a bigger liability than I am." Chogan grumbled and looked at the ground. Hassun shuffled his feet as he tried to ignore his friend''s cutting remark.
"Winema, why don't we allow him to come? He can stay in the back by me and help the receivers." Ituha smiled warmly at her chief.
"Alright," Winema turned to face Chogan. "You are to stay by Ituha the entire time. If you are to deviate from that plan then you will be bound to the village for an entire year. Is that understood?"
Chogan continued to look at the ground and mumbled incoherently.
"I said is that understood?" Winema's shoulders erupted in golden feathers as she bristled with annoyance at Chogan's dissonance.
"Yes, Winema," Chogan submitted to his chief.
"Does each team have their crystal ready?" Winema turned to the leaders of each group and they each held out their respective quartz stone. "Remember, as soon as your whole team is together, you travel immediately. Do not wait on the knowledge of the other team's safety as they might have already traveled home. Chogan, you are now a part of Ituha's team."
"What about Sahale?" Chogan asked as he moved to stand by Ituha.
"Sahale will travel with Newt, Tina, and myself. You are not to approach him until we are back in the village. The sun has breached the horizon, everybody in position?" Winema asked and got confirmation from each team. "Here we go."
Each team leader uttered a clear "Olibamkanni" and the groups of warriors faded into the sunrise.
oOoOoOoOoOo
The four groups appeared in the forest at the edge of the wizarding village. A rooster crowing softly in the distance was the only sound that drifted through the dawn's first light. The stillness in the air gave a false sense of peace.
"Ituha, Iye, Mika, and Chogan will wait here. You will provide cover for the rest of us as we bring Sahale back. Here is the communication stone," Winema presented a piece of turquoise to Ituha. "I will alert you when we are heading back this way. We are expecting heavy fire so be prepared for chaos." Winema said then turned towards Hassun. "Are you sure you are willing to come with us?"
"I can do this," Hassun said assuredly.
"Alright, let's advance. Iye, provide some fog for cover." Winema turned towards the village, a large pasture sat between the forest's edge and the village. A low fog spread out in front of them, allowing respite from prying eyes. "Let's move."
"Mika, watch my babies for me and we'll be back in a jiffy." Newt said quickly and set his case at the confused girl's feet before returning to the rest of the rescue party.
The groups set off at a crouched run towards the buildings at the edge of the village. They flanked the alley, pressing their backs against the walls while Tina checked for guards.
"Homenum revelio" Tina whispered and waited for the charm to report back. "Clear," she announced and followed Winema down the alley towards the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as Machk and Istas brought up the rear.
They halted before taking a left turn down an alley towards the DMLE and Tina performed the charm once more.
"There's two guards outside of the back wall. They must be expecting us." Tina whispered back at the group.
"Machk, how about you go give them a little fright?" Newt asked of the large man.
Machk gave them a wink and transformed quietly into a large brown bear, shaking out the fur on his neck before rounding the corner towards the unsuspecting guards. A loud roar sounded as the rest of the group waited for a clear path. Two shrill screams filled the alley, fading as the guards disappeared deeper into the village.
"Okay, come on." Tina said as she led the group towards the back wall.
"Is that what I think it is?" Istas asked as she pointed to a fresh puddle of liquid on the ground.
"He must have really been afraid of bears," Rowtag let out a robust laugh along with Machk.
Newt stepped up to the wall and waved his wand silently over the stone.
"He's alone. Hassun, are you ready?" Newt asked and stepped back.
Hassun nodded and planted his feet firmly to ground his magic. "I'm ready."
"Istas, freeze it." Winema instructed as Istas crouched down, placing both palms flat on the ground. The dirt in front of her erupted in frost, slowly creeping up to the stone wall between the alley and Sahale's cell. The wall began to freeze over, ice crackling as it crawled across the rock.
"Watch out, it's about to get hot," Rowtag flashed a smug smirk at Tina causing her to blush slightly.
Rowtag lined himself up with the cell wall. He snapped his fingers, creating a small ball of fire like he would use for illumination.
"What's that puny thing supposed to do?" Istas couldn't help but laugh at her brother.
Rowtag only offered another smirk in response and began to whistle softly at the fire in his hand. The ball grew wildly as he blew the air into it until he was holding a quaffle sized flame.
"You might want to step back," Rowtag warned the group, pursing his lips again as he threw the ball of flames at the stone. He whistled louder this time and the fire grew even bigger before exploding with a thunderous impact, crumbling the wall and scattering dust all around them.
Tina waved her wand to drive the dust away, revealing Sahale bound to a chair that had toppled over with the force of the blast. The others stood guard as Newt stepped into the ruined cell.
"Relashio," Newt pointed to the shackles that held Sahale. "And there we have it, Bob's your uncle!" Newt grunted as he lifted him up to his feet. "Are you hurt at all?" He attempted to make eye contact but Sahale was lost in a world of thought.
"We need to move!" Winema instructed. "Keep an eye on him. Hassun, put the wall back"
Hassun began to command the stone to reassemble to it's previous position but was stopped by a stranger yelling from the other end of the alley.
"I told you idiots it wasn't a real bear!" The guard shot up a spark of light into the air and cast a caterwauling charm which was triggered immediately. A high-pitched shriek filled the town to alert the other guards that Sahale was escaping.
Hassun moved his new wall to block the guards from rushing to their end of the alley and the group began to flee in the direction of the forest. Machk took on his bear form and Newt hoisted Sahale up on to his back, using a sticking charm to keep the disoriented man from falling off.
"Everyone, head towards Iye and Ituha's cover." Winema reached up and touched the turquoise stone on her forehead, relaying information back to those in the forest. "I'll watch from the air," She said and leapt from the ground and out of the alley. Winema spread her arms wide and her body erupted in golden feathers as she lifted off towards the sky.
"She's a bloody Thunderbird?" Newt stared in awe at the woman soaring over the vast field then she turned around to face their attackers.
A blast of blue light whizzed by Newt's face, drawing his attention back to the encroaching guards. Almost twenty men had left the maze of alleys and were now closing in on their escaped prisoner.
"Machk, get Sahale to the forest. We'll cover you," Tina instructed the bear who gave a quick nod then bounded off towards the trees. "Ready, Scamander?"
"Ready," Newt replied and the pair began to fire a slew of stunning spells towards the guards. Their dueling styles harmonized, Newt blocking and disorienting while Tina stunned and subdued their assailants.
Ituha and Iye had advanced towards the fight, engaging in their own duels to drive the combatants back. Ituha had turned her arm into a large snaking limb that lifted her attacker off of the ground, her other arm blocking his spells with the thick bark that now covered her body. Iye had his opponent confounded, trapping him in a swirling pillar as the guard struggled to breath through the thick smoke.
Winema flew above the battle, swooping low in an attempt to distract the guards. She soared up high and sent a flash of lightning to crash down in front of a straggler towards the back of the pasture. He wasn't hit by the blast but he already appeared as if he'd been fighting, despite having just entered the field. The tattered man wandlessly made his way through the action in search of something that seemed gravely important.
Rowtag and Istas stood side by side, sending out an endless barrage of ice and fire at their attackers. One guard attempted to advance on the siblings and shot a stunning spell aimed directly at Rowtag. He shot a stream of flames at the attack but the spell broke through, hitting Rowtag in the shoulder and knocking him to the ground.
"Help!" Istas screamed out, still fighting back the spells that hurtled towards them while clutching on to Rowtag and shielding him with her body. Having knocked his attacker unconscious, Iye rushed to help and sent out a blanket of smoke to block the guard's sight as he helped Istas drag Rowtag back towards the forest.
Machk reached the safety of the trees as Sahale seemed to emerge from his stupor, sliding off of the bear's back and gaining his footing.
"Sahale!" Chogan ran to his brother, hugging him tightly and burying his face in Sahale's shoulder. "I am so sorry. I tried running to you when you were stunned but they held me back and-"
"Chogan, it's okay. Look at me," Sahale pushed Chogan back to look in his eyes. "You're here now. There was nothing that could have stopped them, we were ambushed."
Mika rushed up to the reunited brothers. "I'd hate to break up the family reunion, but we're supposed to have our teams together to get back to the village. You're the only one's to come back and nobody left me with a crystal or a stone to tell Winema."
"I'll go to her," Sahale said and took off into the air towards their chief before anyone could interject.
"Damn it, what is he thinking?" Machk shouted.
"Fuck it, she can bind me to the village if she wants. I have to go after him," Chogan said and followed his brother into the sky, ignoring the disapproving shouts of his friend and girlfriend.
"Incarcerus," Newt shouted, shooting ropes out of his wand to subdue the guard he was fighting. "Alright there, Tina?" Newt asked as he ran over to provide cover for her.
Tina proved to be excellent at dueling. She seemed to understand the patterns that people fell into, using that knowledge to predict which spell would be cast next. Putting up another shield charm before the guard had even begun to speak, Tina turned to survey the state of her comrades.
"I am, but they aren't." Tina pointed to the hawk and blackbird darting through the air as they dodged spells left and right. One man seemed to be fervently after Sahale, shouting off dark curses as he chased after the two birds. Tina sent a final stunning spell towards her attacker and took Newt's hand, leading him across the field to aid Sahale and Chogan. Hassun rushed towards the attacker from the opposite side of the pasture.
Suddenly, a slew of magical creatures swarmed out from the forest. A swarm of Doxies attacked one of the guards, sinking their tiny teeth into his skin all over his body as he flailed wildly attempting to tear the tiny creatures from him. An Occamy grew to the size of a basilisk once it had left the forest and grasped two guards with its serpentine body, constricting them until they lost consciousness. Knocking two guards down with extreme force, an Erumpent barreled through the pasture and tossed back its head with delight at being able to run again. Blue and green wings of the Swooping Evil soared across the field, blocking spells from hitting the rescue party as they focused on saving their own.
"Come and face me like a man, Sahale. Flying scared like a little bird can only get you so far!" Ernest shouted up and fired another spell towards the hawk with a wand he nicked off an unconscious guard. The jet of blue light missed him by an inch, hitting the tree behind him with a devastating spark.
Tina aimed a Stupefy at Ernest's back but the stream of light disappeared around 20 feet from the intended target.
"He has a protective shield up!" Tina fired a slew of spells attempting to break the invisible barrier. "Newt, I can't get in," Tina shouted, a frantic look emerged in her expressions as she tried desperately to get through to rescue her friend.
Winema summoned lightning to repeatedly hit the dome that enclosed the hectic fighting, but nothing could break through the dark magic that kept them away from their comrades.
A rock emerged from the ground, narrowly missing Ernest as he leapt to the side, still firing off spells at Sahale.
"I can get through!" Hassun shouted, "his shield doesn't cover the ground!"
Ernest sent another spell aimed towards Sahale. Hassun thrust his fist into the ground, causing a wall of stone to emerge and attempt to block the stream of dark magic that hurtled towards the hawk but the curse shot past the stone. There was a bright flash of light as the spell made contact and Ernest's shield dropped, leaving him defenseless, but all eyes were fixed to the sky as they tried to determine the outcome of the curse.
The light subsided and momentarily seemed ineffective in harming Sahale when Chogan lost his connection to his spirit. He had been forced into his human form and was plummeting towards the ground, not a sound was uttered as the shock gripped everyone into stunned silence. A gruesome crunch broke through the air as Chogan's body collided with the rock wall created to stop the curse that stole his wings from him. The bones in his back broke instantaneously as a small trail of blood dripped down the stone. Chogan's mangled form rolled off of the wall and fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
A deafening screech filled the air as Sahale dove towards the lifeless form splayed on the ground, changing into his human body as he reached Chogan's side.
"Chogan, it's okay. Look at me," Sahale held on to his brother's hand as tears began to fall from his eyes. "I'm here now." He attempted to cradle Chogan in his lap but his ragged breathing stopped his efforts.
"Newt!" Tina screamed as she rushed towards the boy, "do you have dittany in your case? Something, anything!" Tina knelt beside Chogan as blood began to sputter out of his mouth
"Tina, it won't...he's not…" Newt couldn't find the words to say.
"How does it feel to have your heart shatter just like that poor boy's bones?" Ernest yelled out to taunt Sahale.
"You bastard!" Hassun shouted and began to hurl rocks at Ernest as he started to flee. "Now you aren't man enough to fight back?" Hassun mocked the man and threw up a rock wall to stop him from escaping.
Ernest backed into the stone and barely had enough time to scream before he was impaled by the horn of a large and angry Erumpent. The beast emptied the liquid from her horn deep inside Ernest's chest.
"Tell me how your shattered heart feels." Sahale said coldly as the liquid bubbled inside Ernest. The murderer's eyes were filled with fear as he exploded, leaving nothing but the charred ends of two legs where he once stood.
Sahale turned back to his brother, the blood continued to trickle out of his mouth as he lifted his watery eyes upwards. "You're going to be okay, brother," Sahale choked out.
"No. I'm not. It's okay, I can't feel anything below my neck anyway." Chogan chuckled but his laugh turned into choking on the blood that gurgled up into his throat.
"Chogan!" Mika ran up and slid down next to his body, running her hands over him as she tried to survey the damage. "Tina, what can we do?" The young woman asked frantically.
Tina simply shook her head and turned away, not wanting to show the tears that began to stream down her face. Newt wrapped his arms around her, breathing steadily so she could match the rhythm of his chest as it rose and fell then led her to the safety of the woods once her breathing had normalized.
"Chogan, I love you! please don't go," Mika cried out, her face wet with tears.
"I don't," Chogan coughed up more blood, "think I have much choice in the matter. Take care of Hassun, Sahale. He's going to be lost without me." Chogan coughed again but there was no more intake of air as his lungs had filled with blood. He closed his eyes as he choked on the crimson liquid bubbling out of his throat. The noises subsided and Chogan's head dropped to the side. Sahale clutched his brother's body to his chest, silent sobs wracked his body as he was consumed with grief.
A group of blackbirds began to fly overhead, seemingly cawing out their condolences as Chogan's spirit went back into the earth. Newt's creatures slowly retreated back to their home in his case, knowing that their help was no longer needed.
Winema landed next to the group of grieving warriors. "We need to get back to the village," She touched the stone on her forehead alerting the group in the woods to travel back home. "Sahale, lift his hand to the crystal so we can bring his body back home." Sahale was stuck staring at Chogan's empty face. "Sahale, the guards are gaining consciousness, we have to move," Winema's voice snapped him out of his stupor and he clutched Chogan tightly to his chest as they faded away. The blackbirds continued to circle over the pasture, their cries carrying grief with the wind.
