Chrystianna led the four cats and two youths to Crowley House when they arrived in Silvermoon. The cats disappeared only for Amalthea and Lysithea to come down from upstairs as if they'd been up there the entire time. After trying some of the specialties, Maddox, showing that he wasn't just a naive and clueless child, played a naive and clueless child at just the right time and suddenly begged his brother to take him Terranthea to play.
Going along with the act, Chrystianna made a big show of having him get the agreement from his mother and the Crowley sisters. In the end, Chrystianna left the Crowley House alone with her guards, leaving the Icestorme delegation there.
Amalthea didn't waste much time in arranging the trip. Lysithea volunteered to take them over and explain it to Deianira and Honora.
Mason had to admit, he was very curious about Terranthea as well. He wanted to understand their operation there. Now that travel was possible, he hoped to help out if possible. They were about to activate the array when Delaney suddenly stepped out of the shadows.
She was surprised to see someone in the Bridge room. "Aunt Lyzzie," she said. Her journey back to Emphyralis was smooth. No one questioned her when she went to the Cruinog-Emphyralis Bridge. When she arrived in new Bienskurr, she immediately traveled back to Crowley House before anyone could even register that she'd been there.
Lysithea was surprised. "Y'all back already?" she asked.
Delaney shook her head. "Just me. I had to look for something in the Book of Heck, but even Great Granny couldn't find what I was looking for, so I'm going back to Terranthea to do some research," she explained, glancing at the well dressed Icestorme boys and their guards. "What's all this?" she asked.
"I'll help you research whatever it is. This is Mason and Maddox Icestorme. They're going to Terranthea," she answered plainly. Delaney didn't ask anymore questions. She joined her Aunt and the guards. They activated the Bridge and arrived in the basement of the underground Crowley House on Terranthea.
Curious about who was using the Bridge, Deianira and Honora appeared. Lysithea explained the situation to them. Honora took over as hostess to settle in the visitors. They along with some important members of the operation lived in the house, most of the others who did missions fighting Demons stayed in the bomb shelter some distance away from Crowley House. Honora promised to take them see once they settled in.
Lysithea and Delaney went to the den where Lysithea's computer setup was. "What are we researching?" she asked. There were other people in the study, namely a couple and their baby. They were Ruby Dragons who had come to Terranthea to study their technology. Romily Scarletflame, her husband, Wilson Redstorme, and one year old baby, Pasha Scarletflame, were almost always there.
Romily, being a Ruby Dragon, had an ability called Technopathic Sync, which traditionally allowed a Ruby Dragon to telepathically sync with their creations, giving them more concise control, strangely allowing her to travel the internet as almost a conscious body of thought. She was quite omniscient online and was able to hack almost anything needed.
She'd been watching the baby taking apart an electric rc car with his father when she heard their conversation. She looked up, waiting for an answer.
"The Wild Hunt," Delaney answered. "If you can't find accurate information on the internet, try and see where I can find resources in libraries and museums," she instructed.
Romily nodded. She turned around in the swivel chair she was sitting on and touched the computer on the desk. Her pupils dilated as she entered the internet. Soon, the printer began to work as information was being printed.
"Why are you researching this?" Deianira asked. She'd followed her daughter and sister to the study.
Delaney explained the situation of Cruinog and the overlap of the legend of the Wild Hunt.
Wilson glanced up. "Ah, if only I could be in two places at once. Their odd technology sounds fascinating," he said regretfully.
"You don't have enough here to keep you entertained? Don't think I don't know what you made for Lazarus Darkfrost," Romily said.
Wilson cleared his throat. "Look, son, ah. It goes back together like this," he addressed his child in an awkward change of subject and began to put the rc car back together again much to the entertainment of the child.
Deianira snickered and began to sort through the papers that were being printed. "Let's get started then," she said. Delaney and Lysithea immediately prepared to settle in for research. They were used to this. The Book of Heck spanned hundreds of years, but they often had to find information on their own about certain Demons.
Honora noticed when she came back down from upstairs with the guests. "I'm going to take them to the shelter," she said. She'd find out what they were up to when she returned. Three hands waved her off.
"Don't mind them," Honora said. She led the two through underground tunnels until they arrived in the bomb shelter that had been enlarged by magic and Topaz Dragon Terrakinesis.
The person in charge of the operation at the moment, was a Gold Dragon from Sunfyre named Varuka Trueheart. Honora explained the presence of the two boys from Icestorme.
"Sightseeing, eh? I'll take them oot for a turn!" a booming voice came from their waist. Glancing down they saw a dark skinned, brown haired dwarf with a bushy beard and bright yellow-brown eyes. Gorka Deepheart was a Topaz Dragon freelancer who came to help expand the shelter, but stayed to help fight demons. He was jovial, sometimes bashful, but very spirited.
Honora chuckled. "Okay. I'll leave 'em to you," she said. She left them in care of the experienced Dragons and soldiers here and returned to her sisters.
With sparkling eyes, Gorka passed out disguise cloaks to the boys and guards while explaining some things to watch out for while they were out. "We'll be oot for a wee," he told Varuka.
She glanced at him with strangely cold golden eyes. "Don't cause trouble," she warned him.
Gorka merely chuckled at her warning. After putting on the camouflage cloaks that made them look like local humans, even Gorka looked like an ordinary little person, they left the shelter to explore the world above and the city of Nova Aurelea, which they had already purged of Demons. Now Nova Aurelea was becoming a haven for witchborn who didn't want to leave Terranthea.
Finding himself as eager as his little brother, Mason followed the Topaz to see the world of Terranthea.
--
Bienskurr Mountains, Cruinog
Britiana took ZsaZsa back to her tent. She took out two chairs and they each sat, facing each other. "Just relax," she told ZsaZsa. ZsaZsa released a breath and tried to loosen her tense muscles. Britiana nodded and took her hand. She projected her consciousness into ZsaZsa's mind. This was different from Chrystianna forcefully trying to read the Nyxie's memories. Britiana didn't strictly use Telepathy. She combined it with Clairvoyance so that she could see others' mindscapes. Perhaps it might even be its own uncategorized ability similar to Dreamscaping, except that she couldn't manipulate the mindscape at will.
Upon entering ZsaZsa's mindscape, or her inner world, she saw a vast, lush land filled with twinkling gems, and stars in a twilight sky. "Memories. Show me your memories of last night," she urged.
Suddenly a house appeared in front of her. The architecture was similar to Raven's ancestral home so Britiana reasoned it must be ZsaZsa's childhood home. Britiana entered the house and found a hall of doors. Most of the rooms were labeled with certain things, she ignored them and headed toward a door in a shadowy corner of the hall with fog coming out of it.
She approached the door. She could hear hoofbeats and a horse whinnying muffled through the door. She tried to open the door, the fog seeping from it grew thicker.
She scoffed. "This is your mind. Give me the strength to open the door," she encouraged. She saw that the fog was being pushed back by a force. She turned the knob and pushed against the door with all her strength.
The door gave way and she tumbled inside, falling in front of a huge black horse that was rearing as if attempting to stomp her. The horse had blue flames around its hooves, tail, and main. Its eyes glowed blue. Upon the horse sat a man dressed in black. He didn't have a head, instead he held a pumpkin carved with a fierce face emitting the same ghostly blue flames. The horse whinnied and reared again as the man threw the pumpkin at her head.
Britiana snapped back to her own body with a shaky breath. ZsaZsa was pale and clinging to her hand. Her eyes were red as she held back her emotions. Britiana reached out to hug her. Since she was inside her memory at that moment, she felt her fear, confusion, and loss of self. She also felt the malice pouring off the being in waves. It enjoyed hunting.
It took ZsaZsa awhile to calm down. When she did, she straightened and wiped her eyes, where a few tears had escaped. "Sorry," she murmured.
Britiana shook her head. "There's no need to apologize," she said. "Stay here and rest. I'll send Raven in," she said.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
ZsaZsa nodded.
Britiana left the tent and Raven went in to see her niece.
Britiana was a little pale from forcing her way into that memory, but she still took a minute to rally the last of her power to project the image to everyone present. When she swayed slightly, Isa quickly caught her. He promptly brought her to sit and gave her some Dragonwyne.
Lazarus' face turned dark and he clenched his fists when he saw the image. He'd seen the aftermath, now he saw the cause. "So, how do we kill it?" he asked.
Darius wasn't very happy either. "That's what we're going to find out," he stated and looked over the ledge into the valley below.
"How do we lure it out?" Amadeus asked.
"It likes feeding on the Earthborne. It must have singled out ZsaZsa because her vital energy was similar to an Earthborne, but much more abundant than Raven's," Britiana explained.
"So we need bait?" Amadeus considered.
Britiana nodded. She looked at Alistair. He suddenly stiffened. "M-my lady?" he said hesitantly.
Others looked at him as well. He really had a chill. "I'm not an Earthborne hybrid!" he suddenly exclaimed.
Amadeus looked at him disdainfully. "Do you have to be with three Mages here?"
"You can disguise him as an Earthborne Hybrid?" Darius asked Britiana.
She nodded. "I just have to infuse his Astral Body with an Earthborne aura. The Dullahan should sense him to be an Earthborne similar to ZsaZsa with abundant vital energy," she answered.
Alistair rubbed the back of his neck. "My Astral Body doesn't last very long," he said.
Britiana waved a hand. "The fog affects the perception of time. It won't take long. It found ZsaZsa almost immediately in the fog. Eve is right, the Dullahan doesn't control the fog, it just takes advantage of it to hunt the Earthborne and other fae that might wander into it," she said.
Even frowned slightly. "That still doesn't explain how it got here," she said.
Britiana shook her head. She didn't have an answer for that.
Isa however, finally spoke. "How do Dullahan come into being? Are they born from parents, from nature, or other forces?" he asked.
The Earthborne huntress had no answer to that. She thought for a long time about what she knew about the Dullahan. "I've only ever heard about them on the Isle of Eeyre where they hunt the dark places and death places," she said.
"This planet is dying. Maybe that's how they form, from death energy. This Dullahan might have formed from the death of so many Earthborne, which is why it likes to feed on them. From what you've said, it sounded like they mostly fed on humans before," Amadeus said.
Eve's expression cleared. Then she laughed derisively. "We're so arrogant, believing in our own superiority that we never paid too much attention to humans and other races. We're too ignorant of our own world. We're paying the price because of that," she suddenly declared. Her laughter trailed off into a devastated expression. She moved away from the group to collect her emotions.
No one bothered her. Facing the near extinction of one's people wasn't something anyone could handle with aplomb. The Dragons present were all born well after the Plague, but they still felt the weight of it to this day. Too much had been lost when the elder Dragons died. The rebuilding would last for generations. The Earthborne were facing the same situation.
As time ticked by Darius moved to the edge of the ledge. He looked toward the ancestral ledge where light was coming through the opening. He frowned. He knew it would take more than a day to make the hundred or so trips to evacuate everyone. "Does the ancestral have protections from the fog?" he said aloud.
"Mm," Eve answered as she approached. "Even if it didn't, the Dullahan hunts out in the open," she answered.
Darius hummed in acknowledgment. He estimated the time to be close to when they came the night before. "We should prepare," he said to his sister.
"Aman, ask Raven to come out," Britiana said. The ever silent Noxie moved to ZsaZsa's tent and called for her. After a moment, both women came out.
Britiana explained her plan to Raven. Raven understood. She took out some supplies. She pricked her own finger and dropped a few drops of blood on a piece of paper. She used a brush to draw a symbol with it. She activated the spell and the blood glowed. She flicked the paper at Alistair. The paper hit his chest and disappeared. For a moment he was covered with an aura that gradually faded.
The Dragons looked at him then nodded. "Yes. Now he feels like an Earthborne Hybrid," Amadeus declared.
Alistair made a curious face. "Does this make me the High Magus' son?" he asked.
Raven suddenly laughed. "I'll name my first son after you," she said and pinched his cheek.
Alistair blushed. "I'd be honored, Grand Magus," he muttered.
Imre interrupted the moment. "The fog is coming," they said. They had been keeping an eye for it.
Darius grew serious. "Aman, Imre, shadows. Get as close as you can to it," he told them. The Noxies turned into darkness and blended into the shadows of the night.
Britiana handed Alistair a crystalline artifact. "Use this is you can't hold the Projection any longer," she told him.
Alistair became serious and took it. He knew what this was. It was a very rare artifact made from a type of Draconite that could boost psionic abilities. It wasn't commonly used because of the side effects which left the user nearly catatonic for several hours. "Then, I'll trust my body to my lady and lord," he quipped.
He shimmered, seemingly producing a double image for a split second. He held the artifact but he wasn't strong or experienced enough to control his main body and Astral Body at the same time.
Below the ledge, the fog billowed through the valley like a tsunami. Even in its silence, it was terrifying to the observers above. Almost as if sensing them, the fog tried to fill up the valley to reach them.
"Protect Raven, Eve, and Alistair. Get higher," Darius suddenly ordered. He transformed and snatched Alistair in his claws.
Amadeus and Lazarus draped cloaks over Raven and Eve and activated them, encapsulating them. They put them away. They transformed and jumped off the ledge only moments before the fog covered where they'd been observing. They found higher perches, the fog swelled again but couldn't reach them.
"How tenacious," Lazarus said.
"Is it alive or is something controlling it?" Amadeus was slightly incredulous.
Darius found a safe place to set Alistair down. "I can't sense anything. Briti?" he asked his sister.
She shook her big head. "It's the same as last night. It's blocking and confusing my perception," she answered, whipping her tail in agitation.
"I hear something," Lazarus said. He tilted his head. "Hoofbeats. A horse galloping," he said.
"I see it. In the fog. A blue light," Isa said, and pointed in a certain direction.
There was a whinny and then the crystal in Alistair's hands lit up. "It hasn't been long enough yet," Britiana exclaimed. She jumped toward him, transforming as she landed. She quickly Shielded him with her power, cutting off the mental link between him and his Astral Body. The artifact stopped glowing.
He suddenly woke up with a terrified gasp as he shimmered. "It found me!" he exclaimed before passing out due to the artifact activating.
"Is he all right?" Darius asked.
Britiana scanned him and nodded. "It's the side effect of the artifact," she explained. "He should wake up in about an hour."
"There's something happening," Lazarus said. Everyone turned their attention back to the fog.
They could still see the blue light, but now there were darker spots. They could hear hoofbeats and more whinnying. Multiple horses. "It's the Noxies," Amadeus said.
"Everyone help me blow away the fog," Britiana suddenly said. She didn't have time to wait for Raven to wake up. Everyone here was at least second tier.
She began chanting. They joined her. The wind began to blow through the valley. Last time it took two fourth tier and two third mages, but now they only had two third tier mages and four second tiers. It was a slow process, but they concentrated on the area around where they could see the blue fire. Britiana controlled the wind to circle around them.
Soon, an opening opened up in the fog. They could see the Noxies fighting with the Dullahan. It attempted to throw the glowing pumpkin at one of them, but they stabbed it with their enormous horn. It exploded in a burst of blue flame.
The Dullahan's horse reared, whinnying in rage and tried to kick the offending Noxie. No...not the Dullahan's horse.
The creature below had a rider on its back, but when one of the Noxies crashed into it, they went right through it as if the rider was an illusion. Everyone was surprised by that.
She gave a nod. Darius jumped off the mountain he was perched on, changed into his humanoid form, and fluttered toward the opening with his white wings. He tossed a cloak at the Dullahan while the Noxies had it distracted. They immediately jumped away, turning into shadows.
Before the Dullahan could figure out what was happening, Darius activated the cloak and captured the horse-like creature. Darius brought the capsule to him telepathically.
Britiana warned.
Darius shot up toward the sky, changing into a Dragon, wings fist as the wind barrier broke and fog tried to follow him like a water spout.
Britiana blew out a breath and sat down beside Alistair heavily. Isa flew over to her, transforming and helped her drink some Dragonwyne.
Darius found a new perch.
"That was close, boss," Amadeus said, feeling that if he weren't currently a Dragon, he'd be covered in sweat.
"Tell me about it," Darius grumbled.
The silent billowing fog spread out as far the eye could see, but seemed to have a limit to how it could reach. The Dragons continued to perch and rest. The Noxies, still in the form of darkness, moved to the shadows near Britiana and Alistair. No one bothered waking the Earthborne women. It would better for them to wait out the dawn safely in stasis. Darius suspected that the fog wouldn't retract until the sun made an appearance. Britiana agreed with that assessment.
--