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　　 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐙𝐙𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆, 𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐂 of Victoria's dress fluttered violently against her skin as she plummeted to the ground. She tumbled over mid-fall, her entire back slowing her down only ever so slightly. She plunged like a fallen angel from the heavens, however, the ground wouldn't have the softness one always imagined the clouds would have. There was no velvety bed awaiting her at the end of her descent.

Instead, four strong arms caught her in time with one hand supporting her head so it wouldn't crash against the ground. Caspian and Edmund's breath hiccupped in their throats, the adrenaline of catching Victoria causing their muscles to shake.

'Is she okay?' Raiden asked concerned as he tried to wrestle his way out of the sphere to try and help her.

Edmund's hand nestled into her hair, feeling the weight of her head as he didn't want it resting on the ground. He gently plucked her strands of hair out of her face and placed them where they should be. He lowered his head to level with hers. He paused to look at her from up close, imagining what her response would be if she were to awaken right that second. His nose was almost touching hers, but he was careful enough to keep his head up high enough.

Her breath tickled on his lips which resulted in a soft smile of relief. He tilted his head so his ear was hovering above her lips. 'She's still breathing,' he replied. 'Lucy, your cordial.'

Lucy's hand shot over to the pouch that had kept her cordial safe ever since she was gifted it by Father Christmas. She gasped when her hands touched the wet, sticky fabric and her eyes flew down to her belt where her pouch hung. She hastily opened the pouch to reveal the broken glass on which some remains of the cordial was still sticking.

She picked the pieces of the broken glass out of the pouch and displayed them in her hands. 'It's gone,' she whispered and teared up. Her present had lasted thousands of years, through war and peace and never did the glass as much as waver. The pressuring gravity controlled by the hags' magic of before had shattered the glass into fragments, the cordial swiftly leaking out and staining her pouch.

Edmund gently laid Victoria's head to rest on the ground after all and unsheathed his sword at once. When Edmund had realised that Victoria was still breathing, he knew that Lucy's cordial would have her woken up in no time. Now, there was no telling as to what would happen.

However, as long as Victoria was unable to defend herself, she would be defended for. Caspian followed his lead and picked up his sword that was still on the ground.

'Flo, you're good at climbing trees right?' Edmund asked as he took a look around to the chaotic scene in front of him. He had completely forgotten about the wolf pit controlled by the alpha wolf and the three hags that were carving ritualistic signs into the damp forest ground.

'That's going to be a breeze, but I'm not a star at lock-picking,' Florence answered, looking up at the tall trees.

Lucy plucked a few bobby pins out of her hair like one would harvest apples from apple trees. 'I think I might be able to help with that,' she said determinedly. She glanced at her older brother, who nodded at her in approval. His dark irises shone with belief as they always did towards her. He'd underestimated her once, not believed her when he should have. He'd never done so again since.

The two girls hurried to the nearest tree and began to climb. The bark of the tree was smooth and Lucy's hands kept slipping. However, Florence was a nifty tree climber and knew how to use everything to her advantage. She took hold of the first sturdy branch she came across and swung her legs around it.

Hanging from the branch with only her legs, Florence caught Lucy's hand and lifted her up to the branch. Once Lucy held onto the branch with her two arms, she watched as Lucy crawled onto the branch. Lucy then helped Florence sit onto the branch and they continued on to the next one.

Alexis shouted out a curse and bit her lip as tears sprang in her eyes. Her luck had ended and one of the wolves had locked its teeth on her lower arm. She violently yanked her arm, but the wolf's grip was too strong, making the deep slits rip further.

'You humans always have to be shown that something is impossible before you accept your fate,' the alpha wolf growled through gritted teeth at Alexis' attempt to fight his followers.

Alexis' spirit felt reborn and her hand moved the twin sword it was holding so fast into the wolf's skull, she could barely believe it when she felt the grip it had on her loosened. She watched like a hawk to the wolf crumble before her, its eyes rolling back into its sockets until it lay motionless in front of her.

'Did that look impossible to you?' she spat at the alpha and clutched onto the gaping wounds on her arm before collapsing through her knees onto the ground.

Kiano's sword was stabbed into the stomach of another wolf, though he left it when his gaze found the three hags. He charged over to them, his hands balling into fists. A rage bubbled up inside him, a rage focused on those who hurt his friends. Since the wolf that hurt Alexis was dead, he had a clear target in front of him.

The hags cackled mockingly, finding his bravery to come up to them empty-handedly beyond foolish. They conjured another spell with swift words and movements. A spell that should keep Kiano and the others as far away from them as possible; it acted as a force field.

Kiano could feel the force fighting against his muscles, but he powered through. His rage could make him an unstoppable force himself, where only the other's defeat or those close to him could bring him back to his senses. His blurred vision couldn't withhold him from reaching the three hags and swinging his fist towards their faces.

Despite the invisible force holding him back, his blows hit hard. His knuckles scraped open, leaving them bloodied. His blood stained their eyes, cheeks and jaws.

The hags could chant out another spell that resembled lightning and hit Kiano's torso. The impact managed to throw him back, which was exactly what the hags had wanted, though they were shaken up by Kiano's brute force.

Kiano caved in onto his knees and tumbled backwards through the mushrooms and tall grass, the moss smudging over his jaw. He fell in and out of consciousness with each clash against the ground. His feet found the forest floor and planted themselves against the soil to stop Kiano from tumbling any further.

The metal taste of blood lingered in his mouth and he spat on the ground to get rid of it. 'Is that all you got?' he scoffed and on trembling legs, he retrieved his sword that was stuck inside one of the wolves.

His view of the three hags got interrupted by the alpha wolf coming into his sight. The wolf's bared teeth mirrored onto Kiano.

'Well,' Kiano scowled. 'Come on then, puppy.'

The wolf charged at him, dodging Kiano's sword that came swinging to him and bashed its skull into his stomach. Kiano, however, had prepared himself for the attack, standing steadily on his feet and stabbing the sword towards the wolf.

He missed the wolf by mere inches, but it was enough for the canine to muster up the energy for another attack.

Chrys had the alpha wolf in her vision, though as she was about to shoot, Erin stopped her. Chrys' eyes shot to Erin's hand on hers and jerked her hand away. 'What are you doing? I had a clear shot on the wolf,' she asked in disbelief, almost screeching as she did so. Her cheeks heated up with anger. 'I had a clear shot on the wolf. Do you want Kiano to get hurt like Alexis and Victoria?'

Erin remained calm, only squinting her eyes slightly. 'Have you not noticed the difference in the wolves' behaviour? They're no longer attacking, they're observing. This is an honest fight for the alpha's position in the pack, all of the wolves can feel it. Shoot that wolf and you've killed their alpha and the cycle will continue with a new alpha,' she explained, while swiftly sneaking down the hill with Chrys trailing behind her.

Erin realised there was little they could still do to help from that hill. She checked up on Alexis through the trees and saw that she'd managed to walk over to Victoria. The huntress knew how to help the others escape from the spheres. She knew those traps inside and out; she'd placed them after all. Not to catch humans, but to keep the village of Lunnlia safe from the recent bear attacks.

These traps allowed her to catch a bear, but she didn't have to necessarily kill the animal. In the midst of it all, she didn't have time to feel guilt for the accidental trapping. Her arrows were long gone and she couldn't sit by and watch as everything in front of her unfolded.

The second sphere crashed onto the ground, freeing Peter, Raiden and Eustace. Florence and Lucy were beaming with pride high up in the tree, but were clever enough to hide once the sphere was loose.

'Give me your bow and arrow,' Erin demanded from Chrys, who obliged all too eagerly. She hummed a low melody while focusing her bow on Aiden and Harry's sphere. 'Tally-ho, tally-ho, draw your bow,' she hummed and let go of her arrow. 'Once the prey is clear in vision, don't forget to let go.'

The arrow dug into the lock that held the sphere together and broke it. Aiden and Harry were still cramped at the very top of their trap and didn't have enough time to prepare for landing. Chrys hurried past Erin to help Aiden and Harry escape from the metal trap, swatting the strings away from them to create an exit.

While Harry thanked her gratefully, Aiden could barely force himself to look at her. 'Chrys. . .,' he began, but trailed off as soon as he'd started.

'Not now.' Chrys waved off his failed attempt and moved to the other sphere with Erin. Hitting the lock right in the middle with the arrow, Erin managed to break the last trap that fell with a loud thud on the forest floor, out of which Hermione and Charlotte came. Chrys held Charlotte's hand as she crawled out from under the metal strings and Erin held onto Hermione's to help her out of her misery.

The triumph of being free was short-lived when a scorching heat of the depths of hell burnt on their skin. The air was lit on fire, a circle forming that made everyone near the spheres squeeze together to avoid getting burnt by the fire.

'It's starting to become really unfair to keep fighting against magic when you can't fight back with it,' Florence sighed.

'I never knew I could miss my magic as much as I do,' Alexis added and winced at the burning sensation in her wounds. An elbow in her back pushed her a step forwards as she tried to find Chrys. The throng made it impossible to spot her and she slunk back again to be further away from the fire

The only one still on his feet and free to go wherever he wished to go was Kiano. His hands and face were bloody, his lip dripping with it as it had split open. He was breathing heavily, but nowhere near done with his mission.

He readied his sword again and slightly leaned to the left. The wolf spared no other breath and jumped towards him, his jaw wide open.

The words of Kiano's father echoed through Kiano's head and for the first time, Kiano actually followed his advice. He placed his right foot behind his left as the wolf flew past him and with one violent swing, the wolf was no more.

The pack of wolves howled towards the sky for their fallen leader, before circling around their new-found alpha. Kiano glanced around the dozens of wolves that were looking at him, waiting for his first command.

'Rather impressive,' one of the hags hissed.

'Natheless, you're doomed if you reckon you and some animals could defeat us,' another one added through gritted teeth.

The fire was quickly engulfing the space of the others, forcing them to stand closer and closer together. The heat and lack of oxygen made Charlotte dizzy and she cramped her arms around Harry's shoulders, the tears rolling over her cheeks. 'I love you,' she said with a quivering voice. She'd been close to death more often than she should've been and every time, she'd made sure to let Harry know that she loved him.

Harry wrapped his arms around her, which made Charlotte feel some type of relief. If this was going to be the end, at least she had Harry hold her in her final moments.

'I love you too,' he whispered in her ear and gently stroked her hair as he tried to find a way out of the fire.

Peter looked up at the doomed sky that was further poisoned by the smoke of the fire and coughed as the air within the circle got unbearable. 'Now would be a good time to help us out, Aslan,' he said with slight spite. He grunted when others kept bumping into him and looked down because of a wet feeling on his arm.

Alexis was standing in front of him. She could barely keep her eyes open and she was coughing uncontrollably, still clutching onto her wounded arm.

Peter ripped a piece of his shirt and wrapped it around her arm. He felt the need to help her, even if this fire would burn them to death. The sight of her arm made his stomach turn. Not because of how it looked, but because she got hurt.

'Thank you,' Alexis mumbled.

The fire was killed as the three hags blew away from an explosion. The others that were trapped in the fire gasped for fresh air and clumsily drew their weapons while they tried to recover and understand what was happening.

Victoria's eyes shimmered with a blue spark, her arms still extended from the spell she'd fired at the hags.

Being trapped between Kiano with his wolf army and Victoria, the hags didn't need a fortune teller to predict what would be the outcome. The dusk they'd brought forth with them, sucked back into them as they vanished in a swirling tornado of black smoke. Their voices echoing through the still air.

'The Dark Lord will have his vengeance. . .'

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Tally-ho, tally-ho,

My goodness, I've searched for HOURS for a good gif and just couldn't find one that I was satisfied with, soooo I might change the gif later. I did a big f it now, cause I was so over it lol.

Anyway, there was so much going on this chapter, so sorry if your character barely managed to be in the chapter. Some characters may have been featured a lot and that's because I'd already planned to do that quite some time ago.

How have you all been doing? What's new in your life? How has school/work/internship been? I'd love to get a little life update from you all <3

As always, thank you so much for reading!!

xx Theresa

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