Tempest:
Walking through the castle's dark corridors was not fun but I knew we could not leave Layla's parents or aunt behind nor could we leave little Nyx. They had to be rescued. I lead Alex and Damien away from the dungeon to the upper levels of the castle they followed not saying anything but on guard nonetheless.
I was glad Alex was back to his normal healthy self because something told me before this was all over, that we were going to need a lot of his magic. Damien kept us hidden in the shadows, a very cool gift if you ask me. I wasn't very good with direction. Usually, I followed my instinct but if I had to guess I would say we were heading for the west tower.
We walked and climbed a lot of steps for at least a good 35 minutes. This castle really was huge and the purple smoke still covered every room we went through or walked into it really was everywhere. Finally, we came to a big door made of solid wood. There was definitely a spell on it, it had a strange reddish glow.
"Well, here we are, your mom should be behind that door, Damien."
He reached out instinctively but just before he could touch his fingers to the door Alex's hand shot out and caught his wrist.
"Don't touch it. The spell placed on the door is really not something you want to touch. I know you are anxious to see your mom but give me a few minutes, ok?"
Damien nodded and stepped back. Alex took his place standing in front of the door looking at it. A look of concentration on his face.
Alex
The spell was at least not that difficult to remove, but then I guess it was more to keep Damien's mom inside rather than keeping people out, and going on what I have seen and heard so far nothing happens in this castle without Loki's saying so.
"Ok, it will only take a minute or two to remove the spell but be on the lookout. It's not like I can hide my magic but I am going to place a sealing spell over us and the door so that the "witch" Nyx talked about won't sense my magic."
"Can she do that?"
"Yes, but the sealing spell should work and protect us even if she is really powerful."
"Ok do what you have to. I keep us as close in the shadows as I can."
"Ok here goes."
I first placed the sealing spell over us and the door, smiling to myself when Tempest remarked that the spells' blue and green sparkles were like fireflies.
Sealing, spell done, I started removing the spell over the door. My hands wove the pattern in the blue and green light that was the color of my magic. Finally, the pattern was complete pushing the pattern forwards against the door. I said the ancient words of the removal spell. Instantly the spell sealing the door was gone and the reddish glow vanished.
"There it is done you can go in now Damien."
"That was really something to see and I have seen a lot. I was raised by a very old Druid lady but she wasn't nearly as powerful as you are. Thank you, Alex, I mean it. I have waited for this moment for a very, very long time."
"Do you want us to wait outside for you and your mom?"
"No, thanks Tempest but it is best we stay together. Come on let's go meet my mom."
Damien
To say how I felt at this moment in time would be impossible. I was feeling a lot of emotions all at once but as I reached for the door handle to open it. I realized the biggest emotion was fear. I was a fully-grown male Elf yet I was scared, what if I wasn't what my mom dreamed me to be because surely, she had dreamed of what type of man or person I would be, what if I fell short of her expectations.
I haven't seen my mom since I was a little boy of seven. I remember that day when my Dad was murdered and my mom captured, we came home from visiting Layla and her parents. It was Layla's third birthday. She was too little to remember me or my parents that was almost sixteen years ago.
Pushing the fear and dark thoughts away I gave the door a push it opened without a sound stepping into the room I looked around it was a lot like Layla's dungeon room it was also filled with purple smoke except it wasn't in the dungeon and the furnishings weren't that fancy or new the room was emerald green and black and cold only one candle burned and it was placed at a small table used for reading it was in the far corner of the room near the tall windows the room was so cold. At first, we did not see my mom in the room. She was standing at the second-tall window looking out but it was clear her mind was far away.
Tempest gave me a little nudge and a small encouraging smile.
Walking toward my Mom I noticed she had aged a bit and she had a scar on her face. I knew Loki gave it to her, the guards talk in whispers and when you hide in the shadows you hear a lot of things.
"Mom?"
She did not seem to hear me placing my hand lightly on her shoulder. I tried again.
"Mom, it's me, Damien."
She became as still as if she was carved out of stone for a few seconds then she slowly turned. I was taller than her even though she was quite tall herself. Her eyes went wide with shock and then she threw her arms around me and hugged me so tight I was surprised she had so much strength, tears were running down her cheeks but when she let go of me, she had the most beautiful of smiles on her face.
"My, little boy I had to make sure you were real. I have dreamed of this for so long. Let me look at you."
Smiling she said….
"Well, little you are not my angel you grow into a very handsome strong male. You remind me so much of your father."
Then fear replaced the joy in her emerald green eyes:
"You are brave my angel, so brave but you and your friends are in grave danger. It is nearly time for Loki's witch to strengthen her spell on the room and me. She must not find you here. Loki already has little Layla, if he goes through with his plan and forces her into marriage, he will be unstoppable."
"Mom we came to get you and I knew about Layla don't worry. I have been keeping an eye on her and I think Loki made a big mistake taking Layla. Besides mom, she won't leave without you."
"But… how they will know someone helped me. Loki will think it is Layla and his anger and punishment will be terrible."
"He won't get Layla or her powers not while I'm still breathing."
My mom looked at Alex and Tempest but really saw them for the first time.
"You are a druid, are you not, young man?"
"Yes, mam I am."
"And Layla and you are destined?"
"Yes, mam"
"Then you must be very powerful indeed."
"And you dear?"
"I am Layla's best friend mam, but we are more like sisters."
Just then the small clock on the far side of the wall chimed it was 19:30.
"They will be here any moment now you must go."
"Not without you."
"But my dear angel, you have to listen, they must not find you or your friends."
Before I could say anything, Alex chimed in urgency in his voice.
"Mam, does the spell prevent you from leaving the room? Or is the spell just over the windows to stop them from opening like with the door?"
"I can leave the room if the spell over the door is lifted and the windows are spelled so they don't open. The witch placed a weakening spell on me, every night since I was locked in this room as the purple smoke started to lose its power over me, I guess I got used to it somehow."
"So, the spell will be broken if the window breaks. Mam, can the windows break?"
"Yes, but why?"
"Because I have a plan, Tempest, make does vines outside the window, grow to cover half of the window so if someone wanted to climb down them, they could. Damien, be ready to hide us all."
Tempest stared at the window that Alex pointed out the vines grew instantly she was very good at that like most Light elves it was easy but she was really good. Alex quickly ran to the window, placed his hand on it, said a few words I did not hear, and then placed a very heavy-looking book upright against the window running back towards us. He grabbed Tempest and my mom's hands and nodded. Grabbing his shoulder, I pulled all of us into the shadows just in time to hear footsteps coming. They were still far away but moving fast.
"WE NEED TO MOVE NOW."
Alex whispered urgently he muttered something under his breath and waved his hand above us all and then we ran through the door. As the door closed behind us Alex quickly placed his hand on the door and instantly the red glow was back over the door. The moment the red glow appeared we heard glass shattering inside the room. The footsteps were very close now and they must have heard the glass shatter.
I pulled my mom and friend so deep into the shadows they were all shivering, cold as they were, none of us made a sound.
"They should not be able to see us or hear us or even know we are here."
"You hide in the shadows, that is your gift. I wondered, I was taken just before your gift should have started manifesting."
"Yes, is it bad?"
"No, my Angel it is not, your father always wanted that gift. I am glad you have it."
Just then a young woman, about my age in a scarlet red dress came walking past. She had raven black hair and cold brown eyes. She was beautiful but like the way a dangerous animal is beautiful. She had an air about her that said she was bad news. She had two guards with her.
She looked cold and unkind and cruel. She placed her hand on the door and the red glow vanished. She opened it and took one step inside.
"SHE IS GONE! HOW?"
Then she saw the shattered window and the vines a few leaves were poking in through the window
She ran to the window and leaned out the book Alex placed against the window must look like the object my mom would have used to break the window.
She turned to face the guards and they all stepped back noticeably.
"She escaped because you could not remember to remove the vines from this part of the castle! You, stupid elves! Go make sure that Loki's new toy is still locked up and do be quick about it."
She stormed out of the room and was gone disappearing in the maze of corridors.
Alex
We ran so fast my lungs felt like they were on fire we had raced past the guards to make it to Layla before they did.
Lucky, we had Tempest she, made the trip back to Layla's dungeon room in minutes if it wasn't for her gift, of finding things we would have gotten lost.
Bursting through the door Dominic and Layla jumped to their feet.
"Layla the guards are coming to check up on you."
She gave us one look, over to make sure we were ok and that we had Damien's mom.
Then she ran past us, closed the door, and nothing short of ordered Damien to hide us. Tempest grabbed Dominic's arm and pulled him towards us, Damien instantly hid us all while Layla ran to her closet and grabbed a big fluffy robe, and big fluffy pj's. Pulling the pj's on over her clothes and kicking off her shoes she quickly pulled on the robe as well then, she undid her braid and had just finished messing up her hair when footsteps at the door sounded. The door burst open and in it stood two very confused-looking guards.
"I hope there is a reason you just burst through the door; I was just going to go to sleep."
And to be fair if I did not see her putting her pj's and robe on over her clothes I would have believed she was going to go to sleep too.
"Hum? We had orders to make sure you were still here."
"Well, I am and I don't think Loki would be pleased if he knew you had stormed into my room this late, at night so if you value your lives, I suggest you leave now."
They turned pale at her words and left immediately locking the door as they left.
"You are amazing, you know that."
Tempest said as we all came out of hiding. Layla sank down on a chair beside her.
"Honey, you, ok?"
She looked up at me as I went over to stand in front of her and for the first time, she let me see just how tired she really was and how hard she was fighting to keep it all together. And I felt my heartache, I wanted nothing more than to hold her and make her feel safe. I didn't want to see her look so drained and almost defeated ever again.
"I am fine, I am just glad it worked and that they believed me."
"You are quite resourceful my dear."
"Aunty Brie I am so glad they saved you."
Getting up she went to hug her aunt.
"Thanks to you my dear I am somewhat free but safe we are not."
"Well, it is a start on my plan. First, we get you your powers back."
"My powers back my dear, I fear that may not be that easy."
"Sure, it is if you will just stand still for a moment mam, and let me do what I do best, work some magic."
I went to stand in front of Damien's mom
"May I have your hand mam? You said that Loki's Druid placed a weakening spell on you, it will take a little while but I will be able to lift it, and then Damien will hand you the potion that makes you immune to the purple smoke, even more than you already are and Tempest if you will bring some of the strengthening potion over as well and Layla honey you should try and rest a bit you haven't slept well in a while and maybe you will be able to, knowing we are all here with you."
"I am ok, Alex really but if it will make you feel better, I will lie down a bit, but not too long we have a lot still to do, and just so you know you are the one that needs his strength right now none of us can do the type of magic we need for the rest of my plan."
"I am fine, don't worry honey, now go to sleep and let me do the hard stuff ok. O and honey, you and I both know you are not fine. Remember I can sense what you're feeling.
Smiling and my poor attempt at a joke and my very small hints. She climbed into bed Dominic stood next to the bed and looked so much like a guard I had to smile. Damien and Tempest were busy getting the potions ready.
Taking Damien's mom's hand, I saw, that she kind of looked scared.
"It is going to be ok; it won't hurt."
"It is not that, it's just I haven't had my powers for such a long time. What if I don't have any control over them."
"Is your special gift something that can hurt others?"
"No, my gift is not like that, rather some of the Dark elves considered my gift, not a gift at all. My gift is my voice; it can compel or inspire or whatever I choose to use it for."
"Why would the other elves think that the gift of, compelling is not a great gift to have?"
"Because I rarely used it, I believe in free will my dear, and under the new rule that was…"
"I get it but, how were you taken, then?"
"Because I realized too late that my powers were being weakened. All the elves' powers were. Loki's father had the Dark druid place a weakening potion into Nutt's water."
"So that no one could fight back, that's how he murdered Damien's Dad so easily."
"Yes,"
Her voice broke a little and tears filled her beautiful eyes.
"I am sorry, then that is all the more reason to get your powers back we might need your gift."
Holding her hands tightly in mine, I started removing the weakening spell; it was complex and draining but after a while, the spell started losing its hold on Damien's mom it took all of an hour to remove it completely. When it was done at last Damien and Tempest handed Damien's mom the two potions.
She drank them and power surged around her. It felt good and kind and warm.
"You have to drink some strengthening potion to Alex that looked draining."
"Thanks, Tempie."
Drinking the potion, I stood and walked over to the bed Layla was fast asleep. She looked so peaceful, I hated the thought of waking her but the timeline was now even shorter thanks to the dark druid and her evil weakening spell.
"Honey, you need to wake up, we have to save the others."
She opened her eyes and looked dazed for just a bit and so cute. All I wanted to do was kiss her like really kiss her, but that had to be her choice. It only took a minute for her to be fully awake.
"It is done Aunty Brie has her powers again."
"Yes, she does and before you ask, I am fine"
She looked at me for a minute or two to make sure for herself that I was indeed fine then she was back to queen mode taking charge.
"Then we should get a move on with the rest of my plan."
Layla
Getting out of bed felt hard like my body and my mind had two different ideas. Plus, I could not shake the thought of dragging Alex down next to me and just cuddling till I fell back to sleep. But we still had my parents and little Nyx to save.
Getting up and taking off the rob and the pj's I went and got my shoes back on. There was no time for braiding my hair so I just made a messy top knot.
Facing the others, I knew that the hardest part of the plan was still to come.
"Ok this is where it gets very tricky, Alex you have the powder that makes people forget right."
"Yes, lucky we had some in the house and I did not have to make it."
"Ok, Damien you Dominic, and Tempest will go and get little Nyx and bring her back here. Tempest you will use the powder to make anyone that you find around Nyx forget she was ever there. Damien will hide you in the shadows and Dominic will watch your, backs. Meanwhile, Alex, Aunty Brie, and I will go and rescue my parents."
"What? Magnus and Artemis are still alive?"
Aunty Brie looked shocked but joy filled her eyes at the same time
"Splitting up Layla is not a good idea plus how will you even find your parents without me or Tempest to guide you."
"I don't like it Damien, but our time is short and we have to save all of them. This is the only way we can do that."
"I don't like it and we are not doing that I am not doing that."
"Me too"
"And me"
I knew what they said was true and I didn't like the idea either but two rescue parties made sense, luckily Aunty Brie saved the day.
"I may have a plan."
We all looked at aunty Brie.
"Druids can cast speed spells, am I correct?"
"Yes, we can, why?"
"Cast a speed spell on Damien and Me he can carry little Nyx. I can use the powder on anyone around Nyx plus she knows me. She will be far more willing to come with me than any of you. We can be back here in no time then we all can go to save Magnus and Artemis."
"That can work, is a speed spell complicated to do Alex will it be draining?"
"No, it's a simple spell ok but Damien and you have to stand really close together Mam."
"Please all of you call me Aunty Brie, which is much less formal."
She went to stand right next to Damien. He still looked apprehensive but much less stressed.
Alex held out his arms and the beautiful bright blue and green of his power flowed over Damien and Aunty Brie.
"Please be safe and come back."
"We will, my dear be safe all of you, we won't belong."
"Alex, you hide all of you if anything happens get Layla out of here, ok promise me. He must not get Layla no matter what, understand"
"I promise we will be fine now you better hurry."
With that, the two of them left and all we could do was wait.
It felt like hours we all kept glancing at our watches but the hands ticked by so slowly. Half an hour after they left Damien and his mom returned with a sleeping Nyx. She looked even smaller asleep than she did awake and she was tiny. Damien placed her in the middle of the bed and I wrapped the blankets around her little body.
"What if someone comes in while we're out or what if she wakes up."
Tempest and I asked together
"It's ok I have an idea."
Standing next to the bed Alex laid his hand lightly on Nyx's head he whispered something and Nyx was surrounded by the blue and green light of his power then she vanished.
"Where is she, where did she go?"
I know I sounded a little alarmed but I felt very protective of Nyx. She was so young and she had nothing but hell in her short life.
"Everything is fine, Honey she is still on the bed fast asleep, and will be like that until I remove the spell. This should keep her safe."
"Guys I just thought of something, what if something happens and we can't for whatever reason get back here to get Nyx, don't you think it will be better to take her with us? Then if something did happen, we are all together."
"Dominic has a point; I just don't have a good feeling about leaving Nyx here."
They all looked at me and to be honest I didn't want to leave Nyx behind. Granny always said to trust my instincts and time had taught me to trust my friends' instincts too.
"You are right we should take her with us. Dominic, you can carry her so she is so small you won't even feel her weight."
"I may be able to help with that."
Taking a big soft wrap out of the closets Aunty Brie folded it and tied it together to form a sling thing that Nyx would be able to lie in and be comfortable but also made it easier for Dominic to carry her.
"Thanks, Aunty Brie this will work great."
Damien picked her up after Alex removed the vanishing spell and placed her in the sling that was now around Dominic's neck and shoulder.
Tempest and I meanwhile, found two fluffy wraps that we placed over Nyx inside the sling so that she will stay nice and warm and cozy.
"There she should be safe and warm and Dominic's hands are free should he need them. Alex, you have all the potions we will need?"
"Yes, everything is in my backpack."
"Ok, Dominic you, ok?"
I had to ask, knowing that all of our emotions must be kind of overwhelming for Dominic. I had to ask, my best friend was one of the strongest people I knew, but I still needed to know he was ok because I knew the emotions, he will be feeling soon won't be good and bad emotions are never kind to Dominic.
"I am still, good Layla, my bond with Tempest helps a lot. She is like my anchor and holds me centered."
"Then I am very happy to hear that."
Looking at all of them, I knew I needed to prepare them for seeing my parents.
"I want you all to know that when we get to my Mom and Dad's cell, it is not a pretty sight, it is bad and we need to get them out tonight. Alex will remove the spell that locks the door and get it open and while he does that, we will all be lookouts. We have to rescue my parents tonight or my Mom won't make it."
My voice kind of broke on the last line of my small not so epic speech.
"We will do it Layla; I have faith in that."
Tempest knew me so well she knew that going back there to my parent's cell scared me because I did not know if my Mom would be ok, she had faith and I knew at this moment she had faith for both of us.
"Then let's go."