Thyra, who had landed on the ground with a thud, looked up at Yasmine, unable to move, as she rapidly walked up to Elroy who was still on the ground. "Ugh. That hurt." Thyra groaned as she moved sat up. Before she could act, Yasmine had already walked into the shadows. "No!" She called out.
Yasmine seemed to have blocked out every sound that was around her. She bowed her body and knelt on the ground, holding Elroy by the back of neck and pulling him to her chest. The mana that was being used to control the shadows that were sucking up the life force of the boy was siphoned into her own body, much to Thyra's surprise as she was still watching the two of them.
Yasmine did not seem to notice her piercing stare as she continued to siphon the mana into her body. Then, when all the mana was siphoned off, the shadows disappeared with a burst, leaving Yasmine and Elroy on the ground.
She set Elroy back on the ground. Seeing as the mana on his body had reduced significantly, leaving only his meager body mana, he was no longer in her sights of the things that could increase the mana amount in her own body. She stood up, and set her sights on the little animal that was fighting alongside the male that had stopped her from going to her brother. It was the only other thing that had much mana pouring out of it.
Just as she had taken a step forward, something heavy smacked itself onto the back of her neck and her eyes fell shut as she passed out. Her limp body fell into a man's grip. He was tall, towering over her own frame. His hair was a chocolate brown that fell to his shoulders in light curls. A few strands fell over his eyes which were a bright blue color that resembled a bright topaz. These eyes were hidden behind a pair of glasses which he pushed up his nose.
"That was easier than I expected." He tilted his head to Thyra who had managed to find the strength to stand.
"That's because of your inexhaustible mana pool, Stilow." Thyra complained, but she still had a small smile on her face. "Thank you for that."
"It seems that watching her family being attacked like this caused her innate instinct to be triggered. Since the amount of mana in this place is so little, she began to siphon from the things with a lot of mana in her sights. If we left her for much longer, she could have manifested her power, but in the process, it would have affected her growth and she would have experienced a backlash."
"I see." Thyra nodded her head in understanding. Leave it to the second smartest out of all of them to figure it out. "Then it's all good." She raised her hands, giving him a thumbs up.
"She still managed to siphon out all the mana that was controlling the shadows. It may have a negative effect on her." He looked down at the female who was in his hands. Her hair was brown, and fell down into his hands in pools of chocolate. The thought of the treat caused his stomach to rumble slightly.
Thyra gave him a glance. "You're hungry, in this predicament?" she asked as she walked up to them.
"It cannot be helped," he placed his free hand on his stomach, "I missed the midday tea due to our departure to this forsaken land." He tossed Yasmine to her. "I shall go and assist those two," he gestured to the male and female who were fighting Jason Boise.
"Alec said he would take care of it. Although he does not have an extensive mana pool to siphon from in this place, there is enough for him to summon a low-level spirit beast. Thus, he believes he can take care of it." she had just said that when they watched the older man jump onto a tree branch, and hang on it like a koala.
The two of them could not stop their jaws from dropping as they stared at the man. His movements were agile, almost as if he had practiced it a million times before, despite the fact that he only had one arm at the moment. The man, Jason Boise, opened his mouth wide. Another ear piercing scream made its way out of his throat. Stilow rubbed his ears with his hands. "Good grief. Does he have banshee blood in him?" he glanced up at Jason.
"We may not be able to know that unless Leylanie comes here before he is taken care of. After all, only one banshee knows another."
Blood dripped from their ears, but none of them seemed to mind. Stilow shook his head, ridding it of the ringing noise that was plaguing it, before he waved his hand. A weapon appeared seemingly out of thin air, falling straight into his hands. It resembled a gun, and its nozzle was long. However, when he cocked it, he did not need to use bullets.
He raised the weapon, and aimed it at Jason Boise. Jason, as if sensing that someone was about to attack him, turned his head to look at the direction where Stilow was. Stilow was slightly surprised that he had been discovered before he even shot at him, but it did not deter him.
He poured his mana into the weapon that was in his hand, and raised the gun higher. Then he pressed on the trigger. Although Jason had practically become a puppet, his instincts still called out to him, to flee lest he dies. Thus, he moved just slightly before the blue ball of compressed mana hit him. Nevertheless, he was too late, as he did not manage to completely evade the ball of mana.
The mana hit him on his remaining hand, causing him to lose his grip and fall to the ground with a thud. Thyra placed Yasmine down next to her brother before turning to walk up to Jason together with Stilow. Stilow still had his gun raised in caution as they walked up to the man. Vadmira hovered a few centimeters off of the ground as she was carried by her shadows to move to Jason.
Alec also took in a deep breath as he lowered his sword and walked up with the others. Having lost both of his arms, Jason was writhing on the ground in pain. His body was curled up, very much like an infant, and tears streaked down his cheeks. Once the four had stopped before him, he slowly peeled his eyes open to look up at them. He tilted his head slightly as he looked at them.
His eyes were pitch black, with the black bleeding into the whites of his eyes. "Elroy, Yasmine, Skylar?" He called out. It almost made them think that he had gotten his senses back. However, just after he had called out their names, his whole eye turned black, and he began chanting once more, "Get Skylar Boise, get Yasmine Boise, get Elroy Boise." He repeated over and over as he pushed his body up, despite his bleeding arms.
"Should we really kill him if he's just a puppet?" Thyra asked.
"Even if we do not," Stilow turned his head slightly to look at her, "he will die of blood loss. He has lost both his arms after all."
"I guess that's tru…" she had barely finished speaking when the man fell back to the ground with a thud. The tears that were trickling down his face continued, and he turned his head frantically, looking for something. His head stopped moving when his eyes landed on the two children who lay side by side a few meters away.
A small smile made its way up his lips. "Yassie is alright. El is alright." He spoke in a low voice that was so hoarse, it would have been impossible to understand if they were not standing so close to him. However, they heard him, and they tilted their heads to look at the two siblings.
"I heard one of them calling him their father." Thyra said.
Even Stilow was surprised by this information. "They used their father as a puppet to kill his children. How horrid."
"They do not want the prophecy to be fulfilled, how is that a surprise?" Vadmira spoke in her airy voice that seemed to be carried by the wind. "Even if they did manage to survive, they would continue to question their familial bonds. 'My father tried to kill me, what if brother tries to kill me next?' It would forever remain a memory that they will not be able to get rid of."
"How did they even manage to pull this off in this place?" Alecc cocked his head slightly as he asked. "The mana here…"
"That is not what is important at the moment," Stilow spoke up, "How are we going to get back, or should we just wait for Lady Violet to open up the portal."