Eliphas examined the guards carefully, taking in every detail. He watched their every movement: the way they talked, how they held themselves, everything. He fixated on one guard, in particular, the witch with a snarky attitude. Rory rolled her eyes when he whispered that she would be the easiest for Rory to impersonate. The girl had stark black hair, jaggedly cut to her shoulders. She wore the same uniform as the rest of the coven, fitting her comfortably. There were only two guards; they needed to get one of them to go upstairs to get the other guard alone.
Rory waited anxiously for the plan to commence, knowing that as soon as they started, she couldn't back out. They chose Rory for a few reasons, but mainly because she had seen more of this place than the others. Despite her protests, they believe she'd know how to work Caeler. She promptly reminded them that the last time she thought she outsmarted him, he carved into her hand. She knew she learned from that mistake, but the idea of confronting him again still terrified her.
"Wait, are the amicordas still in the village?" Rory murmured to Eira, who nods. She felt terrible that she had forgotten about her loyal vulpide, but with everything going on, she forgot.
"Yeah, when we were being taken away, I saw them in the woods. They seemed to understand not to move from where they were. I'm sure when we get out, they'll help us," Eira explained in a quiet voice.
Eliphas had told her that the glamour wouldn't last forever and wouldn't be quite as strong when she was not as close to him. Rory thought that once she got to Caeler, she wouldn't need the disguise- she hoped so, at least. The problem was that she wasn't sure how long it would take to find him in the castle. When Eliphas turned away from the witch, she knew it was time.
The warlock turned away from the guards, his back to them. He closed his eyes and seemed to do a spell in his head. An explosion could be heard from upstairs, making everyone jolt in surprise. The guards immediately jumped to their feet. "What was that?"
"We need to go check!" the woman shouted demandingly.
"No, I'll go. You stay here with the prisoners," the man told her. Before she could say anything else, he was already running up the stairs. Rory then realized how lucky they were that both of them didn't go upstairs and that the diversion worked. They were also incredibly fortunate that the woman was the one who stayed behind. Eliphas had studied both of them, but Rory could act as the woman the best. Then again, their entire plan revolved around them having dumb luck.
The witch turned to the prisoners, a sneer evident on her face. "What did you do?"
"Not too much... yet," Eliphas grinned before twisting his hand. "Funem! Silentium!" the witch was immediately immobilized, falling to the ground, he placed a silencing spell on her as well. She wiggled around as if bound by an invisible rope. The spell was different from the one used on them all earlier. "Habere..." he continued carefully, pulling his hand towards him. The witch was magically dragged towards him, hitting her head against the cell. "Oh, oops!" he said insincerely. "Lastly... reserare."
The lock to the cell was open, the door swinging out. He pulled the witch in, shutting the cell door quickly. Eliphas didn't undo the body bind as he crouched down above her, grinning widely in pride. "Hello there!"
"What is this, you twat!" she spat at him, grunting against the invisible rope. Eliphas hadn't realized he had lifted the silencing spell, quickly placing it back over her. Her mouth continued to move, but no sound came out.
"Don't ask stupid questions, you know exactly what we're doing," he rolled his eyes before he turned to Rory. "Down here, twinsie."
She obeyed him eagerly, ready to commence the plan. Eliphas held his hand to her face, his other hand hovering over the witch's face. He took a deep breath before the palms of his hands turned a light blue color, glowing slightly.
"Geminae." Rory knew the feeling would be strange, but she had never felt anything like it. She could feel her body shifting and morphing into the witch beneath her. Her hair shrunk to her shoulders, taking on the deep black shade. She watched in awe as the rest of her body changed.
"How do you feel?" Aidan checked in concern.
"I'm fine, I feel ready," she told him as the last of her body finished morphing into the witch beneath her.
"All right, you know what you're doing?" Maximus checked as Rory placed her hands on the witch.
"Of course I don't," Rory denied before closing her eyes and focusing.
"No, why would you?" Aidan muttered sarcastically, letting out a stressed sigh.
Rory ignored him, trying to get into her mind. Grunting slightly, she forced herself not to pull away. She felt something strange, almost as if something was pushing her back. "I think she's fighting me," she murmured absently, attempting to pry open her mind. "Come on..." Rory urged as she tried to push against the mental barriers, lifting her head slightly before she felt her give. "There we go,"
Rory dug for the basics; all she really needed was the witch's name and some other standard information. She never looked for specific things before; she usually just got thrown into a memory against her will. She pictured the witch's mind like a book; all she needed to do was look through her table of contents and find which pages to flip through.
The name jumped at her unexpectedly.
Lyra.
Rory searched for anything else. She got the names of any family the girl had and found the name of her amicorda, who happened to be one of the small dragons that roam the sky. The other guard's name, Neil. She also got a glimpse of a card. It was an invitation from the coven to an event. Scanning the card, she saw it was an event to prepare for the Pacem Ball. It was tonight.
The annual ball coming up had slipped her mind; she knew they had to get out by tonight. She had no idea how this event would go, especially since this coven was invited to it. They had no choice but to go to it, people they cared about were going. Innocent people were going, and if they weren't there, the coven might kill everyone. They had no way to warn them. Rory pushed aside this memory, not wanting to overthink about the disastrous night ahead of them. She wondered if there was a way to create a communication device like a cell phone; she made a mental note to go back to this idea.
After getting everything she needed, she closed the book.
Rory opened her eyes, inhaling sharply as she let go of Lyra's shoulders, the witch glaring at her. "Her name is Lyra; I have some information about her life in case I'm asked. The other guard's name is Neil."
"Well, Lyra. You're gonna help us with something. You're gonna get us out of here, sound fun?" Malakai toyed with a coy tilt of his head. She squirmed slightly, clearly trying to talk despite the spell on her. "Actually, you don't have much of a choice."
"Shall we?" Eliphas quipped, turning to Rory. She nodded once before the two brothers grabbed her arms harshly. Rory kneeled to the ground as they shoved her arms behind her, crossing them roughly. She grunted involuntarily, craning her head up. Eliphas placed his hands over Lyra, sweeping them across her body as he murmured a spell. "Evanescet..." her body slowly began to become invisible, her icy glare being the last component of hers to disappear.
"Sorry, little sis," Aidan apologized sheepishly in a whisper as she grunted again at their tight grip. She quickly let out a stressed laugh.
"We all ready?" Rory checked once with everyone. They nodded at her and she turned her head to the stairs. Taking a deep breath, she began to wiggle in their arms as she screamed. "Neil! Neil, come down here!"
It took a few pauses before they heard a set of running footsteps heading down the stairs. They all glanced at Channing, who was listening carefully with his wolf hearing. "We're safe, it's just one set of footsteps, I'm guessing the others are dealing with that explosion."
The other guard, Neil, burst through the cell doors. He gaped at the sight in front of him. "Lyra! What the Maloid..."
"Neil! Get me out of here!" Rory snarled, her voice imitating Lyra's nearly perfectly with a thick and heavy accent. "They attacked me and locked me in!" Neil rushed to the cell, looking affronted by the sight in front of him. He turned back to the door as if to shout for help.
He opened his mouth to speak before Eliphas cast the same body bind spell on him as he did with Lyra. He repeated exactly what he did before, bringing Neil into the cell. Eliphas fell to the ground in exhaustion; all the spells he was holding must take an immense amount of energy. Channing kneeled down next to him, making sure he was okay.
"One last thing... I'm not sure if this will work," Eliphas told them honestly, panting slightly. He flicked his wrists up, his arms shaking. "Dimisit!"
It felt as if a set of shackles were lifted from their wrists. Rory felt her powers rush back to her, and she was sure the others felt the same. Aidan stared at his hands with excitement, immediately lightning his hands up with fire. Rory gaped at Eliphas. She was amazed at how many spells he was able to hold at once- it made her wonder just how powerful he truly was. Aidan threw his hands out over Neil, fire roaring above him.
"You can let go of his spells, Eliphas. I'll hold him," Aidan offered confidently. Eliphas sighed slightly in relief, releasing the spells. Aidan held fire over the warlock on the ground, making him scatter frantically in fear. Saffire waved her hands around, pulling the bars of the cell off the wall. She slammed them down over the warlock, keeping him locked in place. Neil glanced nervously at Rory, still believing she was his friend.
"I hope you weren't planning on going anywhere, Neil," Rory smirked as her brothers let her go. Neil was speechless, frowning as she stood up, brushing her hands on her pants. "Eliphas, why don't you let Lyra make an appearance?"
Lyra was quickly shown on the ground, her eyes wide with fear as she stared at Neil. He quickly realized what happened, sighing out silently. He attempted a spell, but Rory assumed not actually saying the spell made it more difficult. Rory grinned smugly as she slowly knelt in front of Neil.
"Let's chat! Well, actually... it'll just be me doing the talking, but who cares about the technicalities?" Rory said cooly with a shrug. "I want some information, and you two are gonna help me get that."
She slowly circled Neil on the ground as if he was her prey. Tilting her head at him, she thought carefully about what to do next. Rory leaned down behind him, her hands placed on each side of his head.
"It will be much easier for you if you simply let me into your mind. I don't necessarily want to have to hurt you... but if you don't give me what I want, we will have no choice but to cause you pain." Rory closed her eyes and used the same method she did for Lyra. She opened Neil's mind like a book.
She searched for the other coven's locations. They needed to know where they were hiding. They were snakes who slithered into the depths of their holes, and they needed to know where they were going. The coven prided themselves in working in the shadows, hiding from the rest of the world. They wreaked havoc in these shadows, and it was their job to bring light to the shadows. To make them pay. Rory saw flashes of the location they were currently in, Valsaire in front of her eyes.
Flash.
Fantamia.
'The coven's in Fantamia too?' Rory wondered worriedly. The tall white building stood in front of her, looking nothing like the building they were in right now. If she had seen it before, she never would've guessed it belonged to the coven. The bright nature surrounded it, the brightness of the white blinded her slightly, making her squint her eyes.
Flash.
Liberan.
She wouldn't have known it was Liberan if she didn't hear Lyra's voice in the memory. Lyra approached the coven, the memory glitching every few moments as she got closer and closer to the tan-colored building. Rory could feel the blazing heat even in the memory, the sun shining brightly above her. She got a quick glimpse of the realm, looking much like Fantamia but simply with a bit of a different color scheme. The bright colors were surrounding her.
Flash.
Benela.
Another voice told her this; this time Neil's speaking in the memory, his voice filled with disdain. This realm had a deeper color scheme, dark maroons and browns filled the area beautifully. A deep brown building was in front of her, shorter than the other buildings, a bit more plain. Navy blue flowers led the way to the white doors of the coven.
Rory took her hands off Neil's head. "I saw the locations, and he had directions to each in his head too."
"Perfect, are you ready for the next step?" Channing asked her. Rory could tell he was genuinely asking too, making sure one last time that she was comfortable doing this.
"Yes, hold the spell for as long as you can," Rory ordered Eliphas sternly, who dipped his head once in agreement. She gave a reassuring look to everyone once before stepping out of the cell. She took a deep breath, preparing herself. She made sure her hand was turned in and hidden, not even the glamour would cover that.
Hustling up the stairs, she put an angry expression on her face, one full of disdain and annoyance. She shoved open the door carelessly, popping out her hip as she glanced around. People in the coven were running around busily, and she assumed it was for the preparation of the Pacem Ball. There didn't seem to be any trace left of an explosion, making her a bit confused. She saw a warlock approach her, and she immediately placed a dark look back on her face.
"Are you all right, Lyra? We heard you shout."
"And how kind of you to come to my rescue," Rory sneered sarcastically, impersonating Lyra well, "I was fine. I called for Neil so that he could switch with me. What was with the commotion?"
"There was an explosion, nothing too serious, just some of the food for the gathering. One of the cooks must've done a spell incorrectly with some of the food," he explained to her with a shrug as they walked down the hall.
"Hm, for the Pacem Ball?"
"No, for the event before it," he clarified, squinting his eyes at her.
"Of course, how could I forget?" Rory laughed nervously before swallowing thickly, reigning in her fear. "Is Caeler there already? I need to speak to him."
"Why do you need to speak with Caeler? Have you ever even spoken to him before?" the warlock questioned skeptically in a high-pitched voice. Rory wished she hadn't jumped into it so quickly, but she was on a short timetable.
"Oh, loads of times! You're just never there because he doesn't care for an audience with you," she insulted coldly, tilting her chin up smugly. "Some of us are important, though. He knows potential when he sees it."
"Right... well, he's giving his speech soon to the rest of the coven. You might be able to catch him before he leaves for the Pacem Ball," he informed her, not as suspicious as before.
"Lovely," Rory nodded with a venomous grin before she hastily marched away from him. Having no idea where she was going, she listened for his voice. She remembered it all too well, and it haunted her thoughts along with the grin he had on his face as he carved into her hand.
She heard it.
She heard Caeler's proud voice booming through the halls.
Rory didn't fight the smirk that crept onto her face as she made her way to the room with the rest of the coven in it. Waltzing into the room, she saw people herded around a stage. All of the witches and warlocks held champagne glasses in their hands, bubbling drinks inside of them. A man dressed in a formal suit with tan skin approaches her. As he got closer, she noticed the green accents in his skin, similar to Eira's. She realized that the people in their army were serving them food and drinks, Rory fought the urge to apologize to them, knowing it would blow her cover immediately. The man handed her a glass, and she took it in her hands silently. Caeler stood arrogantly above them, giving them a speech that sent chills down Rory's spine.
"Tonight... we will take back what is ours! Tonight is the first step in taking back the lands that are ours! We gave these people their powers... their lives. But they've seemed to have forgotten that. Tonight we remind them who they owe their lives to. At the Pacem Ball, we will show them who owns them!" Caeler shouted passionately. The people in the crowd murmured in agreement, making him smirk. Rory had to admit, his words were powerful, and they resonated well with the rest of the coven.
"So, cheers my friends... to the beginning of it all!"
The coven raised their drinks in celebration and excitement, shouting happily. Rory locked eye contact with Caeler, smirking at him. Because she looked like a coven member, he reverted his eyes away from her before pausing. He turned his attention back to her suspiciously. She tilted her head before she raised her glass at him, not taking her eyes off him. She elegantly took a sip of her drink, cockily grinning at him.
Turning away, she handed someone her glass. She threw a look over her shoulder before confidently sauntering out of the room. Rory knew she was pushing her luck. He had no reason not to alert everyone of who she really was. Risking it, she looked behind her and saw Caeler following her.
Rory took a deep breath before making her way into a vacant room. She stood near the windowsill, staring at Valsaire. She gingerly dragged her finger along the cold window, flinching slightly at the temperature. She waited for a few moments before Rory heard the door close. The glamour began to fade away, and she was pleased with the timing of it all. Her hair changed back to her brown hair, her waves cascading down to the bottom of her back.
"It was a lovely speech," Rory spoke up as she turned around. Caeler stared at her with an unreadable expression. "If I didn't know what a psychopath you were, I might have even been inspired..." She trailed off absently, thinking back to his speech, "'the beginning of it all,' hm... very inspirational! I was impressed!"
"How did you get out of your cell, little star?" Caeler questioned, promptly ignoring her.
Rory paused, holding herself back. She hated that name. "You should be aware that the only reason any of you are alive right now is that my brother has decided not to burn the air from this room and everyone in it."
"If he did that, you would surely all die with us," he shot back without missing a beat.
She thought back to Malakai's words, a sad smile on her face, but one with a twinge of acceptance. "Maybe that's the price we pay," Rory paused for a few moments, getting her confidence back. "We're going to leave, Caeler... and you are going to let us. If you don't, we will kill every last person here, and that's just a start."
Rory slowly strutted over to the warlock, a dangerous expression on her face. "We know where you hide. You think you're a secret... a fleeting whisper in the wind, a monster in the shadows..." Rory taunted slowly. She could see the anger on his face as she spoke, but this only made Rory want to continue. "But you aren't. We know where you cower off to, and we are not afraid to use this information to our advantage. We have learned the locations of your coven's other locations, thanks to your very vulnerable guards. So, I advise that you let us leave, free of harm. If you do not, we will kill you all."
The warlock said nothing as he stared at her. "This was a nice chat. We should have more of these. I do hope to see you at the Pacem Ball tonight. Because as we all know, the stability of peace wears the crown in our lands, and she demands an audience," Rory pointed out in a silky tone thick with arrogance.
"Indeed, she does."
"It was a pleasure..." Rory paused with her mouth still open, her eyes sparkling with mischief and power as they darted up and down the warlock. She danced her finger across his chest elegantly as she slowly strutted past him. She leaned in close, her mouth directly next to his ear. "Doing business with you, little warlock."