With every step back towards them, something miraculous happened. Too small to notice at first, but growing stronger and stronger, louder until it was buzzing inside her. For the first time, she felt like she could breath, like her heart belonged to her again, and a sort of peace settled thick and heavy like a blanket on a cold winter’s night over her.
This was the right thing to do. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she was doing exactly the right thing.
Eidolon didn’t see her at first, he was too busy gloating over the chained and bound creatures writhing in pain on the ground. The glade was large, but the dragons dwarfed the space, but somehow not the dark spirit. Her heart shattered into a million pieces as she saw them, all of their wounds and covered in blood.
And then a fury rose inside her. A fury so strong that nothing could stand in its way. Not fear. Not doubts. Certainly not some bully. She almost laughed at the thought of calling the powerful dark spirit a bully, but it was true. With the fury came something else. Calm. Utter calm. Because she knew whatever happened next, she really wasn’t a coward and that was all the strength she needed.
Something cracked inside of her and she froze for a second, still yards away from the unaware Eidolon. A door had opened, or been smashed to smithereens and suddenly, it was like she was covered in warm sunshine, blissful peace. And then the power flooded her, more than she had ever felt before, and with it came a sense of surety. This was where she was meant to be, this moment had been waiting for her her whole life.
It felt like hours passed but it must have only been mere seconds. She took another step forward and then another. She felt as heavy as a moment, and as buoyant as air itself, as if the entire earth was reaching out to greet her, to welcome her.
Hazel watched in slow motion as the dark being turned towards her, sensing the influx of massive energy in the atmosphere around them. With a snarl he lunged not at her, but at the one thing he never should have. The men that she loved. He didn’t stand a chance.
With a howl like an avenging storm Hazel shot out both hands, aiming right at the place the creature’s heart would be if he’d possessed one. His movements were slow and clumsy, and she was like the breeze itself, dancing around him. He had time to shoot just one bar of black flame at her, and she was blinded for a moment, looking away.
There was a moment of shock as she saw the sun just dipping down below the horizon, dusk falling like a colorful gossamer fabric around them. Eidolon’s shriek of rage drew her attention back. As she stood there, she drew on every moment of fear, every ounce of pain and terror he had caused her and with a scream of her own pushed out a wave of bright violet light, so bright it was almost white but she could see herself in it. All of the things that made her, her.
She watched Eidolon’s gaze widen in shock, and there it was…fear of his own. With one more massive effort she flung the light straight at him, watching as he exploded into a burst of tiny black flecks, and then the flecks themselves carried away on the breeze. As if he had never been at all.
Except the evidence of him was still right in front of her. With a cry, she ran to them. A flick of the wrist later and the chains cam unbound, falling noisily to the ground. Her heart stuttered in her chest as she realized that they were both motionless, and then it hit her. The harvest moon. It was tonight!
Drenched with panic she turned to the sky, watching in horror as the big orange orb rose ever higher. She cursed at it, pleaded with it, but still, they didn’t move. Beyond distraught, she threw herself in between them, half on both of their large forms, sobbing into their scales as her heart was ripped from her chest. Desperate, she pushed every one of magic she had into them, trying to bring them back.
Suddenly, there was a jolt underneath her and she hastily pulled back, staring down at their forms as they began to shift right in front of her. In the blink of an eye there were two, perfectly formed men where the dragons had been, and she shrieked in relief as Jayce slowly blinked open his beautiful golden eyes.
“You’re alive!” She laughed, still crying the entire time, “I can’t believe you’re alive.”
“Of course we are,” Nika said raspily, “We have our very own witch to look out for us.” Hazel threw herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around him and then immediately jumping back as she remembered his wounds.