Bloody Thorn

As the group approached Bloody Thorn they all felt a sense of unease. “Be on your guard, that feeling could just be a magic shield that we are passing or it could be something more sinister.” Diamond told them as Ghost, Whisper, Phoenix, and Winter all took to the air on their own. They drifted beside the two dragons, phoenixes, and griffins for a moment before they drifted down towards Bloody Thorn.

“I do not like this. Be on your guard.” Phoenix told them all, using the mind link for safety. Diamond had them all concealed but that did not mean that they could not be heard if they spoke out loud. The reason for Phoenix’s comment was the quiet they all noticed when they landed. There were no homes scattered through the grounds, and only one massive pack house.

“I will go see if I can tell what is going on inside.” Ghost commented.

“The rest of us…spread out. See what can be seen.” Phoenix ordered. “Diamondflame? Be on alert. Something feels off.”

“Understood.” Was the dragons reply. They all spread out, the pack grounds themselves were quite small. Nothing stood out as being truly wrong, or of the Dark. But all of them felt uneasy. Ghost would not make contact with them until after he was clear of the pack house, as the other three came back towards the front of the packhouse they settled to wait for Ghost.

“Something about this place feels familiar.” Winter commented abruptly. The other two looked at her, now even more cautious than before.

Inside the packhouse Ghost was in shock, this pack most definitely belonged to the Dark. All the ground floor rooms were set up with chains on the beds, whips and other devices hung on the walls. Every single room smelled of sex, fear, and death. In most of them there were humans, and werewolves either bleeding out or already dead. Ghost thought he was going to be sick as he continued to explore. There was nobody in the dungeons but he did come upon the rest of the pack.

Almost all were male, but there were some females. It was clear that the females were of the Dark as they were happily recalling how the had helped their mates torture some of the prisoners.

“Chort? When is the next auction? I do not know that any of our current ones will survive the night.” One of the women asked, “I want more to play with.”

“Not until June. We could ask Shadow Ridge if they have some they could sell to us, they usually capture a handful of slaves to play with.” One of the males, the one they called Chort, replied.

Ghost had heard enough, he made his way back towards the main entrance. Arriving at the door he felt a jolt go through him, he quickly discovered that he couldn’t move. Worried he tried to mind link, only to discover that he couldn’t.

“Well, well, well. Seems we have an intruder. I can’t see you but the trap has sprung.” Chort taunted as he showed up in the hallway.

Back outside the four Haloing-wolves felt the link with Ghost become blocked. “Are you certain that it is not Ghost blocking the link?” Diamondflame asked.

“Very. Something is wrong. Do we have enough people to start a strike?” Phoenix answered. Whisper was desperately trying to stay calm. She could tell that her mate was in danger.

“Yes. I have told the scouts to send out the alert for backup. They are also heading back to Rosewater to help set up first aid tents.” Diamondflame answered. The three on the ground could sense Diamondflame, Cooper, and Sparks drifting closer to the ground. Sparks landed first, followed but the other two. “Be ready, we have no way of knowing how many are in there or if they are able to call for backup themselves.” Diamondflame instructed.

“Understood.” Everybody replied. The signal was Diamondflame revealing himself, ideally they would just blast through the door of the pack house. But they had no way of knowing where Ghost was or if there was anybody innocent inside. Diamondflame took a deep breath before releasing the invisibility spell on all of those outside the pack house, he made sure to keep Ghost invisible. He could sense Ghost, but he could not communicate with him. For a moment nothing happened, then the door opened and Chort stepped out. He stared up at Diamondflame's massive form for a long moment.

“Oh shit.” Was all that Chort said as he slowly went pale.

Diamondflame snarled before swiping out a massive paw, effectively decapitating Chort with his claws. He did not hesitate, he could sense the darkness inside of Chort. Blood went everywhere, and the other members of the twisted pack came racing out. An alarm sounded throughout the pack land, and a heavy shadow formed over Bloody Thorn. Before a shield went up Diamondflame was able to grab Ghost with his magic, yanking him onto his back. Thunder roared, Diamondflame looked at Winter who shook her head. The storm was not hers. They were in trouble.

Everybody took to the air, in hopes of getting clear of Bloody Thorn before it was too late. Dragons and griffins surrounded them, all belonging to the Dark. “Diamondflame what do we do?” Sparks asked desperately.

“Take defensive positions” Was the order. “Winter, try and take control of the storm. Turn it against them. The rest of you, prepare fire spells and slow them down. The three of us will be in the air, we can do more damage there.” Diamondflame flew low to the ground so that Ghost could get off.

“Stay clear of the pack house, the wolves inside are corrupted.” Ghost added.

“Okay, form a square. Just like we practiced.” Phoenix ordered Ghost, Whisper, and Winter. Diamondflame, Cooper, and Sparks got up in the air power humming around them. Cooper cast a shield around the other four, allowing them to cast their spells out but stopping any magic or Dark individual from getting to them. Just as he finished casting the shield werewolves poured out of the pack house, armed with heavy weapons that could do serious damage to even a dragon the size of Diamondflame.

“Change of plans, you four focus on those on the ground. We can hold our own from the air until help arrives or until you have destroyed those with weapons.” Diamondflame ordered, he sounded worried.

“Understood.” Phoenix replied as he threw fire at one of the enemy combatants only to have it blocked by a Darkmage. Phoenix swore vividly, realizing just how bad this could go if help did not get to them quickly.

“I cannot hold the shield.” Cooper cried through the mind link. He cried out in pain as he fought for his life in the air, and the shield dropped. Whisper quickly cast one herself but knew she could not hold for long.

“Winter, focus on the darkmage. If we can destroy him then perhaps we can aid those in the air.” Phoenix instructed his mate. She nodded and focused her own power on the darkmage with Phoenix. He was a powerful non-haloing, he could hold against one but not both of them and within a few minutes he was burned to ash with lightning. Destroying the darkmage allowed the combatants in the air to move more freely as the storm stopped.

“Winter can you cover us with a storm?” Sparks asked desperately, even though they were not fighting the storm they were still outmatched. Getting no response Sparks looked to the ground and noticed that Whisper had collapsed and the others did not look so good. The enemy in the air was also throwing spells at them, and Winter was the one currently holding the shield. “Diamondflame they cannot hold much longer, and neither can we.”

“I know.” Was the blunt response.

“You will not have to, we are here.” Sapphire called as she struck at one of Coopers opponents, shredding wings and tearing out its throat. Sparks turned in the air to fight another opponent and saw several dragons, griffins, and phoenixes joining the fight. Blue Moon Haloing’s were on their backs, some were going to join their pack mates on the ground, others were fighting in the air with heavy weapons.

The battle went on for hours, but the tide had turned as those of the Light were now winning. Just as they thought they had won a fresh group of Dark Ones came out of the woods, none were Haloing but all were Darkmage's. Cooper was down, he could no longer fly and was vulnerable on the ground. Several other Haloing’s were with him, all injured, all being taken care of by phoenixes then flown out by those assigned to get them to safety. Up to this point none of the Haloing’s had died but all were tired.

The Darkmage’s had both spells and weapons that could harm or even kill a dragon. “Were are they coming from?” Sapphire asked tiredly.

“Perhaps they have their homes below the surface?” Ghost suggested. “There were only 20 people inside the pack house when we got here. I did wonder about the lack of housing outside the pack house. I had assumed that it meant that everybody lived inside, perhaps they have homes underground.”

“That is possible. Not all of these guys are wolves are they?” Sapphire asked curiously.

“No, some are definitely human.” Phoenix replied. He was barely on his feet, Winter was unconscious and injured. Quartz landed beside them and Phoenix lifted both Winter and Whisper onto her back, once she had them secured with her magic she took off again. A larger dragon guided her out and away from the battle before returning to the fight.

“Diamondflame?” Sapphire asked. He knew what she was asking, he had one more spell he could use. He had avoided using it until now because of the destruction it would cause but their options were becoming very limited.

“Are we certain it is necessary?” He asked, he reached out to check the energy of those around him and discovered that it was time to use the spell. Nobody could hold for much longer, more than half their force was down from injuries. That did not include those who could no longer cast spells because their magic was far too depleted. “Everybody off the ground.” He ordered. Those who could not fly were assisted by those who could, a darkmage attempted to trap some of his people with thorn filled vines. Quartz and Danio were able to get them free and up in the air.

"Ghost, were there any innocents inside? Anybody we can get out?" Sapphire asked, she looked around and realized that Ghost was too busy fighting off an opponent to answer. "Diamondflame....do it."

“You will not beat us!” One of the enemy on the ground yelled as he took aim at the great beasts in the air. “You will not escape!”

"Nobody I saw inside would survive, most were either bleeding out or already dead." Ghost answered, "I would be shocked if they did not kill them before coming outside."

Diamondflame took a deep breath, then reaching into a deeper level of his magic, he summoned the molten lava from deep beneath the earths surface. The ground shook, trees toppled from the force of the tremors, then the ground exploded. Those on the ground did not even have time to scream before they were dead, destroyed by hot magma. The heat could be felt even from high up in the skies, nobody moved for a time. Despite not knowing what was coming next, they had succeeded partly here. They had destroyed a city corrupted by darkness, and one that was part of the sex ring that they were attempting to dismantle.

Containing his spell was the most difficult part, keeping the red-orange liquid from spreading outside of Bloody Thorn’s lands took a great deal of energy. He managed to keep it contained as the burned stone turned to liquid, and smoke rose up from the zone of destruction. Diamondflame could sense the shock from those around him, it was not a spell he enjoyed using, just one that he was capable of. It would be years, potentially hundreds of years, before the area was habitable again.

“Remind me to never piss you off.” Phoenix commented drily. Diamondflame snorted in amusement as Sapphire reinforced the shield around the pack land, ensuring that the magma would not spread even after they left.

“Let us get too Rosewater, we all need to rest.” Sapphire told them all.

50 Haloing’s had come to Bloody Thorn, 10 were able to fly to Rosewater under their own power. The rest had either been cleared from the battlefield or were being carried by those who could still fly.

The little scouts had to fly up to the larger beasts to get the injured and exhausted down to the ground, the medical tents took up most of the massive field and there was not enough room for the larger beasts to land. They would have to shift to Haloing form in the air, then land. Once on the ground Diamond looked around, his skin covered in blood and healing cuts and bruises. Sapphire landed beside him, also looking the worse for wear. Finding Healinggem they walked over to her.

“Any dead?” Diamond asked bluntly.

“No. There were some serious injuries that needed a Healers attention but for the most part it is just exhaustion. I am assuming that nobody thought that Bloody Thorn would turn out like this.” Was the quiet reply.

“No, the scouts felt uneasy when they did a fly over. And we all noticed the same uneasiness when we got close by, but none of us expected this. We will debrief everybody in the morning.” Diamond told her. She nodded in understanding.

“I now understand why you asked that medical tents be set up. We can house everybody, just not in the same building.” Dominik told them as he approached, he looked curiously at Sapphire.

“Dominik, this is my mate Sapphire. Sapphire Dominik is one of the leaders of Rosewater and a powerful mage.” Diamond introduced.

“Thank you for allowing us to be here, and to use your city as a medical base.” Sapphire thanked Dominik.

“Not a problem, I am just glad we can be of help. Crystal and Amber are learning lots with so many of you here.” Dominik told them both cheerfully. They both smiled before heading to one of the guest houses.

It was a restless night for everybody, nobody who had been at the battle was able to sleep. Early in the morning Diamond got up and walked to the window, Sapphire just watched him and waited for him to speak about what was on his mind. They both could sense something, although she was unsure what it was.

“We are failing.” Diamond told her suddenly.

“What do you mean?” Sapphire asked as she sat up.

“Hope is recovering, but Peace is not. You have felt it, just as I have. Darkness is falling, and if we do not find that phoenix it will fall.” Diamond told her as he turned around.

“All we can do is attempt to get to the phoenix before it is too late. But you are correct, Darkness is falling and it has become even more clear that we are at war. We must keep looking for allies.” Sapphire told him softly. She got to her feet and went to stand with him at the window. The stars above were white in the black sky, the moon a silver crescent.

Just then there was a knock on their door, extending their senses they recognized Cooper. Sapphire went to let him in, wondering what he wanted.

“I hope I did not wake you guys up.” Cooper stated, when the two of them shook their head he continued speaking, “I think we should send word to the Phoenixes, we need Angel. And we need a stronger force here, more warriors. We got lucky at Bloody Thorn. We might not get lucky again.”

“Dominik and Nanook will love that. More of us here, using this city as a defined base to strike at Shadow Ridge.” Diamond commented drily.

“We all need at least a day to recover from Bloody Thorn, let us take it and speak to them. Maybe us providing continued protection here at Rosewater will be enough to have them agree.” Sapphire told them both, “It is a good idea Cooper.”

“We will speak to them when they get up. I will contact the others, send word we need more warriors.” Diamond told the two of them. Sapphire and Cooper nodded in agreement, Cooper then left to return to his own room while Diamond and Sapphire returned to bed.

At dawn Diamond contacted the fortresses and Blue Moon, all agreed to send more warriors and scouts to them in case they were needed for Shadow Ridge. Sapphire went to speak to the human leaders, they agreed to host the large force that was coming. Sapphire and Diamond then went to the tents that had been set up in the large field, Healinggem met them outside one of the tents.

“Nobody here is battle ready as of yet. All injuries have been healed but nobody has the strength to do much of anything yet.” Healinggem told them bluntly.

“We know. We just wanted to let you know that Angel and Blaze are on the way, as well as a few more Healers from Dragania and griffin fortress.” Sapphire told her quickly.

“We are going to take today and rest. Tomorrow we will all meet up and discuss Shadow Ridge.” Diamond added. Healinggem nodded in understanding.

“Good, if there is a bigger fight there we will need more Healers.” Healinggem told them bluntly before walking back to the tents that housed those who still recovered.

“Well, that is that. I think we should do what we said we would do. Go rest.” Sapphire told Diamond tiredly. He just nodded and followed her back to their room, wondering if they would sleep at all.