Tarin took a step forward and lifted his sword. The Infernal was already as good as dead, but that was not good enough for him. He gripped the blade tight and swept it down in a steady arc, beheading the rebel in one smooth stroke. The head flew from the Infernal's shoulders from the force of Tarin's blow and bounced along the ground four times before coming to a stop.
"Sir, Ambrose is barely breathing!"
He spun and sheathed his sword in the same breath, glancing towards where Vice was kneeling beside his newest Wolf. It was fortunate that Tarin did not get rattled easily, particularly in battle situations. Ambrose was in bad shape; if Tarin had to guess, he would say that the Fae would not make it through the night if not given professional help. While Vice was surely aiding him with whatever remained of her magic, she was not a Curer, was not trained in the healing arts to the level that the Curers of the castle were. They needed to get him back to Azure.
"Wulf!"
Tarin blinked. He had forgotten the Eternal was there. When he turned his head, he saw that Isaiah was back on his feet now, and though he looked in poor condition as well, he did not seem to be in much pain. However, he was shouting curses, and yelling Tarin's name over and over again as he pounded on the heavy shield Tarin had built up to protect Serena from harm.
Then Tarin saw why he was trying so desperately to break through the wall, and he did not think any further. He just ran.
The human girl that had followed Isaiah through the Portal was on the ground, unmoving except for the occasional twitching of her arms and legs, as if the muscles were spasming of their own accord. She was partially hidden from his view due to the height of the wheat surrounding her, but as he got closer, Tarin thought he could see drool dribbling down her cheek. Her eyes were closed and her face was scrunched in what could only be pain, though she did not make a sound.
He gathered all of that in a passing glance - passing, because what was happening to the human was not nearly as alarming to him as what was happening to his princess.
Serena was propping herself up on the invisible wall of magic with one hand, but even as he watched, she seemed to half-collapse against it. Her arm folded as if it had lost its strength, and she whimpered from her slumped position. He could see her hands trembling, her eyes blinking more rapidly than they should be. It was when her legs began to wobble that he forced the wall to crumble and put on a burst of speed in order to catch her before she fell to the ground, pushing Isaiah aside as he did so. Even if the Eternal did bring her back into the Realm, it would be a long time before Tarin would trust one of his kind to lay a hand on his princess.
He was painfully aware of the bareness of her back; not just because touching her skin made the magic flowing through his body seem to go haywire, but because she was cold as ice. He had not been expecting the temperature, and it shot from his arms into the rest of his body the instant she tumbled into his grip, surprising him enough that he nearly dropped her.
Tarin gathered the princess up into one arm and moved his free hand up to her face, gently but persistently rubbing his thumb along her cheek, trying to get her to respond to the touch. "Princess. Princess, can you hear me?"
Her eyelids fluttered, but she could not seem to speak past the chattering of her teeth. Meanwhile, the human girl was still on the ground, looking like she would be screaming if she were not somehow trapped in her own skin, prevented from acknowledging anything but her pain. Serena, at least, seemed semi-conscious, but her trembling was growing severe enough to cause Tarin's panic to rise with renewed vigor.
"Vice. Vice, I need you!" he called. He began rubbing Serena's upper arm with his hand, hoping the friction would do something to raise her body temperature, though he did not notice any change. "Vice!"
"Sir, Ambrose--"
"Give him to Isaiah," Tarin snapped. He did not have patience for this. "Those potions you brought, I need one, now. And a blanket."
He knew that Vice would not have tried to argue with him again, and sure enough, it was only a few seconds before the princess was draped in a woolen blanket. Vice stood in front of Tarin and dangled a small vial filled with magenta liquid between them, her eyebrows raised in question. Tarin merely snatched the vial from her, popping the cork off with his thumb even as he gestured at the girl on the ground with his chin. "I've got this. You give her the other one," he ordered, and Vice nodded and ducked away.
Serena moaned softly in his arms, and he could have sworn that she got even colder, to the point where even he was shivering. His only relief stemmed from the fact that her breathing had not seemed to be disturbed yet.
"Princess. Princess, if you have any control over your body right now, please swallow this," Tarin murmured to her. Then he tugged down her lower lip with his thumb and tipped the liquid into her mouth in a thin stream, hoping that she would not reject it. He let loose a breath when the vial was empty, and he heard the sound of his princess swallowing the last of the potion...
...and her breathing seeming to stop altogether.
Isaiah, standing beside him the whole time, found the ability to speak before Tarin did.
"What have you done?" he demanded. Tarin did not see where he put Ambrose, but then the Eternal shot a hand up to Serena's neck, and only in his shock did Tarin not bother to stop him. Presumably, the Eternal found a pulse, as some of the tension seemed to dissipate from the set of his shoulders. However, he pulled his hand away and glared at Tarin.
"It's weak," he stated icily. "I suggest we get her to your best Curers. Now."
"I was already planning on that, thank you, Eternal," Tarin finally snapped, though the words lacked the harshness he had been hoping for as he watched Serena's eyelids fall closed entirely, without even any indication of her eyes moving beneath them.
"What's happening to her?"
A new voice. Tarin turned his head toward it only long enough to gather that it was the human girl speaking - then his eyes were back on Serena. Vice had given the human the same potion that he had given Serena; a concoction that was meant to preserve humans' physical well-being for a time as they were exposed to the Realm's atmosphere. It had clearly worked on the girl, but Serena...
"It must be because she isn't really human, Sir," Vice jumped in, squeezing his shoulder for support, or perhaps she was trying to draw his attention away from the sleeping princess' face. "The potion might only work that way on pure humans."
"We need to go," Tarin declared. Vice nodded her assent and bent down to pull Ambrose back into her grip. Tarin swallowed as he surveyed the damage; Serena in trouble, Ambrose approaching death, Vice exhausted, Isaiah injured, and a human girl... it was not a sort of situation he was happy with, and what made it even worse was the fact that they were about to head back into the scene of the main battle.
"Is Serena okay?" the girl asked with a shaky voice. Her eyes were as round as coins.
Tarin ignored her and started to run, and he immediately heard Vice take up behind him. He readjusted Serena's weight in his arms so as to jostle her as little as possible. Her hair hung down over his arm, dangling towards the ground. She did not move at all but for what he caused through his movements. It was terrifying.
What he would not have given for just one more Fae in that moment. Vice was supporting Ambrose, and it was all she could do to keep up with him. With the princess in his arms, he was incapable of concentrating on another task, and it would have been ridiculous for him to accept one when he was caring for one of the most important people in all the world. However, it would have been very helpful if there was another Fae to carry the human girl along. The Eternal was faster than humans, at least, and could keep up with Tarin now, as he was not moving at his swiftest pace. The human girl, on the other hand, moved painfully slowly. Isaiah was trying to help her along, but that only ended up slowing them both down, and while Tarin was willing to leave an Eternal behind, he knew that the human girl must be of some sort of significance to his princess.
They ran until the suns rose. They were miles from Equinox, and the human girl was slung across Isaiah's back. It was when the Eternal's breathing grew labored enough to annoy Tarin that he decided to halt his steps. They would make no progress this way.
"At least we're in Lymeryth," Isaiah spoke up, shrugging as he placed the human girl down. She stumbled slightly, clearly tired and scared and confused. Her eyes remained trained on either Serena or Tarin's faces at all times, but she did not seem about to make any move towards them.
"Lymeryth is enormous," was all that Tarin said, dismissively at that, before turning to Vice. "Can you contact your sister?"
Vice gently lay Ambrose down on the ground. His chest still rose and fell, but not in a measured pattern. Blood soaked the front of him, and though it was dried now, the sheer amount of it still made Tarin's stomach do a somersault. He did not want Ambrose to die. And he could not allow Serena to remain in this state for as long as it would take them to get to Azure at this pace.
Vice mumbled a few things under her breath. Tarin could see the dark bags under her eyes, but he was sure they were under his as well. Nobody had expected a fight; just a hurried trip back and forth between Azure and Equinox to retrieve priceless cargo. He should have prepared for more possibilities. He should have planned better. It was his fault, this failure of command; he knew it. He had just been so anxious to leave after hearing the news...
If one did not know the twins, they would have thought that Vice had simply called up a reflection of herself then. However, Tarin could discern the small differences; for example, Vice's face creased with much more ease than her sister's did. This was probably due to the fact that Vice was normally the one talking, smiling, expressing herself amongst the others. Contrarily, Vex was much more reserved with her expressions, only handing them out rarely, and her lips were almost always sealed tight, her sister being the voice for the both of them. It was eerie, until one got to know them. Then they just got used to it, though they did not understand the connection any better, as it was something the twins did not care to explain. Tarin liked to think that he understood their bond at least better than other Fae; he figured, though it was nothing more than a guess, that their bond was similar to that of his with Serena, or at least created through similar, unknown means.
"What is it, Vice?" asked Vex. She was panting, and she tugged her hair up into a ponytail even as she spoke. Her lavender eyes were wild, not focusing on her sister for longer than a second at a time.
Vice glanced at Tarin, and he stepped in front of her to address her sister. "Vex, I need another Fae. Two, if possible. And I need them now."
Vex blinked at the request, then twirled, creating an interesting view for them on this side of the magical contact as they watched her nearly-transparent sword slice through an invisible enemy. Then she coughed once and turned back to Tarin.
"I haven't seen Birches since the start of the fight, and Dallin was dragged into the curative wing a while ago," she explained, her face grim. "These Infernals are much better trained than they were before, Sir. We're still winning, of course, but the cost is greater than it's ever been."
"I don't need the Wolves in particular," Tarin responded, ignoring the flood of dread and anger that threatened to overwhelm his sanity at her words. "Just send me a spare Fae or two."
Vex thrust forward with her sword, and Tarin almost smiled, imagining the impaled Infernal at the other end. She kicked him to the ground and slid the flat of her blade along the leg of her pants, rubbing off the blood.
Then she seemed to look more closely at Tarin. Her eyes glanced over the young woman he was carrying, the state of his clothes, the appearance of whatever others in his company that were in her line of sight. Anybody else might have asked questions, but fortunately, he was speaking to Vex, and all she did was nod.
He gave her their relative plans and whereabouts, and then Vice killed the spell. He worried for a moment that she would not be able to recover after collapsing briefly, but she shook her head at him and remained determined, draping Ambrose's arm over her shoulders. He was completely unconscious at this point, so he could not support himself at all, but Tarin had the suspicion that it was easier for Vice to half-drag him at this point than to lift him up and carry him completely.
Then they were running again at Tarin's bequest, in an attempt to meet the approaching Fae as soon as possible.
_____________________
Isaiah was really sick of running.
The Fae woman was carrying someone, and Wulf was carrying the princess, so it was left to Isaiah to carry Lyla. He was not thrilled by this for obvious reasons. Eternals were more physically enhanced than humans, sure, but that was a natural result of the environment they lived in. After being away from Perpetuum for so long, it would take a while for his body to readjust: a fact that Wulf did not seem concerned about.
In fact, Wulf did not seem concerned about him at all. The general had barely said anything to him, let alone shown any gratitude for his actions. Granted, it had been a pretty wild night - and morning - so far, but a brief 'thank you' would not have hurt anybody. Or at least, he could slow down a bit, so that Isaiah and Lyla were not lingering so far behind.
The human had tried to talk to him for a while, and he had answered a few of her questions quietly. Serena was going to be fine, he kept saying. They were heading towards her home, he told her. The one carrying Serena was named Tarin, and she could trust him to keep her safe. Of course, Isaiah did not really know the extent of the truth in what he told her, but what did it matter? Lyla had already fallen asleep, and he was now carrying her in his arms just as Tarin was carrying Serena. And his arms were as tired as his legs.
So, it came as an immense relief to him when he saw the two Fae bolting towards them.
Tarin stopped running - thank goodness - and met the two females as they reached him. Immediately, they ducked their heads in respect to him, and one reached out her arms: a clear offer to take Serena off his hands. However, Wulf shook his head instantly and jerked his head towards his fellow warrior - the one who had been stuck with the burden of the injured man - and the female dropped her arms and darted over to them instead.
It was more than a little annoying to Isaiah that he could not hear anything that was being said, as he was still jogging to catch up to the Fae. It was clear that Wulf did not care about him, but it would be to his detriment if he ignored the welfare of Lyla. Serena would wake up and be pretty upset if she found out he had left her best friend somewhere in the Fae forest, if he had to guess.
As if he could read his thoughts - which, who knew, maybe he could - Wulf turned and eyed Isaiah. The Eternal could see his lips moving, and then the other female Fae began to jog towards him. Isaiah nearly sighed with relief; he could already almost feel the ache of his arms lessening as the Fae grew near.
Then she was in front of him, and the weight of Lyla was being transferred into her arms instead. She flashed a small smile at him, but did not speak a word before darting away again, only pausing for a second beside Wulf before apparently getting the okay to continue on, back to the castle, presumably. Isaiah would not know, as he only reached Wulf's side just as the Fae was about to take off again.
Then he did something he perhaps should not have done, though it was done in a moment of thoughtlessness that he would have taken back, if given the chance: he grabbed the general's arm, in a foolish attempt to keep the man there for a second longer as Isaiah caught his breath.
Isaiah was not even surprised when he suddenly found himself on the ground, his mouth full of dirt. He was not sure how he got down there, but he knew that it had been quick, and that his back was throbbing with pain.
"Do not touch me, Eternal," Wulf hissed from above him. Isaiah did not even bother to clear the forest floor from his eyes in order to see the angry Fae. However, he did spit the dirt out of his mouth as he rose onto his knees so that he could respond.
"You know," he began testily, "I don't know exactly what I've done to deserve this kind of poor treatment. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have the princess back. She would still be lost in the middle of a world you can't even get to. So maybe it's not too much to ask for you to stop treating me like--"
"Enough," a female voice cut in. "That's enough of this. Sir, we need to get back, now."
Maybe they said something more to each other, or maybe they just exchanged a look. Isaiah did not know, because he was still blinking out dust as he heard the sound of them break into running once more, and he cursed out loud, scrambling to his feet and frantically rubbing at his eyes.
Once he could see again, he had to squint to see the two Fae snaking in between the tree trunks and leaping over streams. He had to push himself to the limits of his endurance just to keep them within sight all afternoon.
All afternoon, that was, until they reached Azure at last.