Hope

The town of Scintia was the closest town to the barren lands and that was where Sarah, Elena, and the unconscious Melissa had to lie low.

They hid in the home of a farmer who lived alone. He hated the advances the Demon Lord was making against the human world so he was happy to aid anyone who went against him.

The farmer, due to the barren lands that surrounded him had to travel a distance to his farm, out in the main city of Xernia leaving only Sarah and her companions.

"She's still unconscious?" Elena inquired Sarah

"Yes, she is. It was a really powerful spell she used," Sarah said as she went ahead to take a seat.

"I wonder how many of them were captured and are currently being held there," Sarah said.

"I guess we'll just have to find out later when she wakes up".

Later that evening Melissa woke up holding her head as she stumbled to the living room, she saw Sarah already sleeping on the chair she was sitting in, and Elena standing by the window keeping watch.

"Hi," Melissa said weakly as she entered the room and sat on the chair just beside Sarah.

"Are you ok? Elena asked.

"I should be, just having a terrible headache. You have something for it?" asked Melissa.

"Well not really, but I do know a spell that can fix it," Elena said. She approached Melissa and closely observed her eyes, with her hands she pressed lightly against her head and reached for her staff on the table in front of Sarah, and with a special healing spell, Melissa's headache was gone.

"What spell was that?" Melissa asked, "I don't feel a thing now".

"It's a spell only druids can use I'm afraid," Elena said as she chuckled softly.

"Seems you guys are having fun," Sarah said as she pandiculated.

"If having a headache seems fun to you then have at it," said Melissa and they all shared a laugh.

"I've been meaning to ask El, where have you been this whole time?" Sarah asked Elena as she sat back down.

"Well, speaking freely: I have a history with Principal Pierre, and I didn't want to make things look awkward," Elena said. "But when I heard the news about a large demon ship in Paris, I went around Normandy looking for the other druids who'd stopped practicing, and got a lot of them willing to join the war".

"So you've been recruiting druids the whole time?" Melissa asked.

"Yes, I have," said Elena.

"How many of them did you manage to convince?" asked Sarah.

"Almost a hundred," Elena said. "And they're in Normandy awaiting orders".

"I'm surprised, almost a hundred druids willing to fight. This changes a lot" Sarah said.

"What d'you mean?" asked Melissa.

"After we rescue Brilda and the council women, we'll head back to the human world and we'll individually go around all the different countries and we'll convince them to join, If they do, their number and that of the druids in addition to the help we'll probably be getting from the Angel race will be able to mount pressure on the Demon Lord and his forces, and we might even stand a chance at winning," Sarah explained.

"What if they don't listen?" Melissa asked.

"They'll just have to, it's their world that's in danger. It's the Angel race I'm more skeptical about, there's a large chance they won't join," Sarah said as she heaved a sigh and rested her back on the chair.

"I guess we'll just have to let Peter worry about that," Melissa said.

"Sometimes I feel guilty for sending the kids there," Sarah said.

"There's nothing you could've done Sarah, you did what you had to," Melissa said.

"But knowing the Angel race, they're very hostile to Intruders," said Sarah.

"Alice is very smart, I'm sure they'll figure a way out to make their case to the council of Queens," Melissa said.

After the farmer returned that night, he gave them descriptive information of the way the soldiers had been mounted in every corner of Xernia, which was the Demon realm's capital and the place that housed the Castle. He also alerted them of the tight security he had to go through to enter Scintia and other mages that were stationed in the town.

"How do we leave for the barren lands without being seen?" Melissa asked.

"That won't be much of a problem," Elena said, "I'm a druid and I can alter the weather".

Elena drew the circle of summons and sat within it and began to mutter incantations, after about ten minutes the clear night sky that was filled with a beautiful crescent Moon and bright stars disappeared under the dark clouds of rain. Mist and fog covered the streets and in no time, it started to rain heavily in Scintia.

They left the farmer's house into the street and before they got three houses away from the farmer's house, they saw two mages standing on either side of the street. They were about to take a bend that presented itself just before the two mages but Elena urged them to keep moving.

The rain that fell on the city of Scintia, blinded everybody that stood in it so they were not able to see Sarah and her friends, so it was quite an easy journey out of the town and into the barren lands.

From the outskirt of the town in which they stood, they could see lights in the far distance which indicated the prison site, so Sarah opened a portal and they came out just a few meters from the first building on the site.

"I see three guards standing at the entrance to the facility," Melissa said.

"I don't know if we'll be able to just open a portal in and out of here since we don't know how the place is designed," Sarah said.

"I would've used the weather-altering spell but I'm sure we'll be spotted," Elena said.

"We'll just have to go with brute force. Sarah and I will engage the guards in battle and you Elena, you'll undo the locks and tell everyone to gather in one place. While I hold them off, Sarah will create a portal directly to the school in Lyon, I'm sure it's still a safe spot," Melissa said.

"And you?" Sarah asked.

"I'll leave with a portal too, to the school. They won't be able to follow after us since they haven't been to the school".

"Ok then, it sounds good", Elena said.

Sarah started the attack by quickly using the instant killing curse to take out the guards at the entrance, then in the blink of an eye, the whole entrance was swarming with guards attacking with different spells which forced Sarah to create a protective barrier. Elena sneaked around the back unnoticed while the guards were busy with Sarah and Melissa.

"Draco igneus!" Melissa bellowed and a fiery dragon appeared and burnt some guards to crisps. The guards were surprisingly very many as they kept on pouring to the entrance, then Sarah muttered under her breath: "Aperterra," with her hand stretched out to the gathering guards and immediately the ground underneath them tore open and swallowed them. Afer the spell had hit, Sarah fell to her knees breathing heavily but was helped up by Melissa.

Meanwhile, Elena had already entered the prison grounds and with a spell, she unlocked all the gates and the human prisoners came out rejoicing, but suddenly a curse from above killed one of the humans and when Elena looked in the direction the curse came from she saw Blaron, the priest of priests.

"We knew you'd come here, human," Blaron said as he floated down from the top of the cell. "Where's Sarah?" he asked, "I'd like to see her".

"You'll have to get through me first," Elena declared.

"That won't be necessary," Blaron said on seeing Melissa helping Sarah into the prison yard.

"Why are you here, isn't this place too low for you?" Sarah asked as she left Melissa and stood on her own.

"Indeed Sarah, but I came to wait for you," he said.

"Well, here I am,"

"I see that!" Blaron said and immediately he hurled a spell at her but she blocked it. Melissa and Elena tried to interfere but Sarah stopped them and told them to stick to the plan.

So Elena took the few surviving humans who were malnourished and smelled like death and left the prison yard.

"I don't see Brilda or the council women there, Melissa, please go find them".

"You won't see those two easily Sarah," Blaron said.

"What have you done with them?!" Sarah asked furiously.

"Nothing yet, they're still here, on these grounds but you'll have to kill me first to see them," Blaron said, and immediately Sarah who was already weakened attacked with a temporal paralysis spell but he reflected it and she blocked it. She attacked with the same spell again and again but Blaron kept on blocking it.

"Melissa, go get them to the school!" Sarah yelled and Melissa ran off toward Elena and the rest of the prisoners outside the prison yard.

"Ventoso!" Blaron bellowed and Sarah, slow to react got hit by the spell and a large gust of wind came swooping her off her feet, lifting her almost twenty feet in the air, and threw her down but before she could crash into the ground she bellowed:

"Pulvicumus!" and instantly the ground under her developed a bed of sand that broke her fall.

"Temponervorum!" the priest bellowed as he walked closer to her but she blocked it as she struggled to stand up. "You're too weak to fight me Sarah, just give up,".

"You're right, I'm too weak to fight you but I will not give up!" Sarah yelled and instantly she threw sand to his face and he lost his footing as he tried to dodge and instantly Sarah hit him with the temporal paralysis spell, immobilizing him after which she conjured enchanted locks and bound him with it. "Now tell me where they are!".

"Or you'll kill me?" Blaron asked smiling sinisterly.

"Or I'll kill you," Sarah said fiercely, but first I'll torture you, ego dolo-"

"Wait! wait! Sarah, no need to be so hasty now," Blaron said. "They're within the walls of the last cell, there's a cell inside that cell and that's where they are." Sarah left him and went to the cell he showed her, and with an un-cloaking spell undid the charm on the wall and saw Brilda and Mrs. Delphine sitting hopelessly on the floor looking drained of life. She broke the gates and brought them out but when she came out she didn't see the priest where she had left him.

She walked to the spot he was and saw traces of teleportation powder and she smiled and said:

"Sly old man," she got back to Brilda and Mrs. Delphine, who barely even recognized her and she opened a portal to the school and they left.