His four legs ran over the ash-covered ground, the forest was on fire, while people's cries echoed in a distance. Hisfurry wolf form dashed over the ground, the wind burning his eyes and airalmost suffocating him with all the scents. Nightmane ran with purpose in mind, knowing Blake's scent by heart while Jaxon perused his surroundings.
The shouts had quieted down, only explosions could be heard now but they were muffled like they were underwater. Sniffing the air, Jaxon came to a halt, growling at the strange barrier in his way. Focusing on turning back to his human form, he glanced back to see Elliott already turned back and pacing back and forth along the barrier.
Jaxon soon followed suit, focusing on turning back with his clothes on which always was a risky task for him. Elliott could do it flawlessly and Kai... Jaxon grimaced when Kai's nude form came up beside him. Shameless in his display.
"Put on some damn clothes," Jaxon hissed and threw the clothes Kai had been carrying at him. Kai just shrugged and put on some clothes while Jaxon touched the barrier. His hand went through unharmed.
Elliott tried it as well with the same result. "It seems like it is letting us through."
"Not only you," Owen said, coming up from behind them. Refugees poured into the barrier, letting them through without a problem. Freya, Clover, and Millie came up beside Owen, helping some stragglers get through. "From what we can tell, it only keeps the attacking witches out."
"What about Blake?" asked Jaxon, not seeing his favorite coinín anywhere.
"The last time I heard, he was at the parking lot which should be at the center of this barrier. If I was a gambling man, I would think he or that archon of his is the one who is erecting the barrier," Owen said, helping the last people into the barrier and following them. All the others followed suit, Aeron poking the barrier for a few seconds with a grimace before Haley pushed him inside with an eye roll.
"How many attacked?" Elliott asked, walking by Owen.
"From what we can tell, all of them. We have even seen teenagers among their ranks. Scarlett Graycrest is leading them from the back."
Walking past the main school building, they soon had a wide view of the parking lot. Children hid in cars while their parents sat by them, watching the barrier with worried expressions. A few were hurt and were pulled inside the school to be healed. Anyone who could fight was putting up a line between the parking lot and the witches towards the river.
At the center of the parking lot stood Ahriman, holding his hands over a strange golden fountain while Mya, Hamish, Dale, and Blake stood around him. They glanced up when Jaxon shouted, and Blake's face lit up with recognition, holding out his arms for Jaxon's assault. His arms shaking, Jaxon lifted up his little coinín, perusing him for wounds. Only when he was sure there was none did he let him go.
"Is this all?" asked Mya, her face filled with worry.
"No, but those further away ran to Mactire. I doubt the witches would be so insane that they attacked a human village," Owen said.
"Let's just hope that the local police don't show up. It will be fucking hard to explain this situation," Kai muttered. "Please, tell me you have a plan."
"I'm a tad busy here," Ahriman replied, not letting the fountain go with his gaze. "You will need to find Nemain and Frank Lloyd. Nemain has most likely set up his Hearth of Ire close by. Destroy it and things might calm down."
"That is all fine and well, but don't you forget that Nemain, an archon, is most likely guarding it," Dale pointed out. "What the hell are we going to do against an archon?"
"Jaxon and Alex should be able-" Ahriman glanced up, frowning at the lack of a cat in the group. "Where is the cat?"
"He and Raine went after Frank. They could still track him," Elliott said grimly.
Ahriman grimaced, looking down at his fountain again. "Then Jaxon will have to do it. His anax form should at least be strong enough to distract Nemain while the others destroy the hearth."
"Is an anax that strong?" Jaxon asked in confusion. Sure, he felt invincible as an anax but it shouldn't be at a god-level power.
"To fight a fully powered archon? No, but he won't be at his full strength. Similarly to me, he has to sacrifice some of his power to the hearth in order to keep it going. I sacrifice my mana, and so must he along with some blood sacrifices if I remember correctly. He most likely has the blood sacrifices already done, but he will still need to put out a continuing flow of mana to the hearth which means that he will be weakened and distracted."
"So, we do have a chance."
"Yes, but a small and risky one. Nemain is a warrior and has a magical spear that can drain mana. Don't get pierced by it. Also, when the hearth is destroyed. Run with whatever you can muster because when it is destroyed, Nemain will be back at his full strength."
"What about you?" asked Jaxon, thinking that he would feel a lot safer if Nemain fought another archon.
"I need to stay by the fountain and keep it up. Didn't you listen to what I said?" Ahriman said, rolling his eyes. "Or do you want the witches to slaughter the people here?"
"Then we need to-" Elliott was interrupted by Aeron who looked at them incredulously.
"Have none of played any computer games?"
Everyone just stared at him, not replying.
"Does packman count?" asked Kai with a shrug.
"I play Tetris and candy crush on my phone," Mya chippered in like this was the most important answer of the century.
"That's not-" Aeron let out a groan. "Tower defense. If we see the hearths as towers and the goal is to destroy the enemy's hearth then their goal is the same. If our hearth is destroyed then the barrier vanishes and the witches attack. Nemain win. We cannot just go off to destroy the enemy's hearth without protecting our own."
"But no one can enter the barrier, right?" asked Blake, looking at Ahriman who had a conflicted look on his face. His mouth was tense as he opened it to reply.
"I don't know."
"What?" Kai snapped.
"I do not know the limitation of this hearth. My powers changed and so did the limitation."
"Archons have limitations?" Mya asked with interest.
"Yes, it was put there by the anterions. It is a rule of the world that the greater the power, the greater the limitation. In archons cases, we cannot directly control people. We can affect them by using our hearth to lower their inhibitions, which is what Nemain is currently doing. His hearth will give the people in the area the sudden instinct to go into a rage when something negative happens to them. It is still the humans choice to control themselves though-"
"It will be harder to do with their inhibitions haltered," Owen replied grimly. "That explains why I had burst of anger coming over me all day. I smashed my desk to pieces because my pencil broke. "
"Excuse me!" Mya asked, glaring at her husband who avoided her gaze. "I will not be the one cleaning up that mess."
"So you can imagine the rage the witches felt when you stole the khadga," Ahriman agreed.
"We don't have time for this," Elliott groaned rubbing his temples. "Mom, you stay here with Dale and dad. Protect the hearth. The rest of us need to get going. Find the hearth, have your phones on you in case you find it. Do not attack recklessly."
"We will most likely only get one chance with this, let's not waste it."
*****
Darkness had started to fall, the sky rumbled like it knew what was coming. Alex grimaced as he ran across the glade, praying it would rain as it would remove the trace of his father.
"Where the bloody hell is he going?"
Raine came up beside him. His eyes watching the shadows, and sniffing the air.
"The trace leads that way," Alex said. "It seems like he is running away. It leads away from Claerwen valley."
Raine's eyes turn back, glancing toward the area where the school should lie though the view was covered with trees.
Alex could see the witch hunter's thoughts clear on his face. "You think this is a false trace."
"I have been specially trained to be able to scent dark magic. That is how I recognized your father in the infirmary though taking the form of the boy who also had dark traces on him was a stroke of genius. So far, the trace of dark magic has been there. Faint but present. Now, it is gone. The trace of dark magic leads back to the school, while your father's trace, now without dark magic, leads away from the school."
"I didn't know you can smell dark magic," Alex replied, following Raine's gaze. It would make sense for his father to turn back to meet up with Nemain, but should he trust Raine's senses or his own?
"It is a rare gift that takes years to hone," Raine said before starting to move towards the school.
"Wait, what if-"
"If you don't trust me, then continue on your own, but I have done this for a long time. Scents of people can be hidden and distorted, but traces of dark magic cannot," Raine interrupted him. Not even looking back as he walked. "It is up to you to choose, I have no intention of wasting time to convince you."
"If you don't trust me, then ask yourself, what would your father do?"
With gritted teeth, Alex forced himself to exhale. His body relaxed. His father would not leave without what he came for and Alex instinct told him that this was not over for his father. He would turn back.
Without any further complaints, Alex followed Raine.