Howl's Moving Castle Fan Fiction ❯ The Broken Wall ❯ Chapter 3: The Lost ( Chapter 3 )

The Broken Wall: Part V of the Wallmaker Saga

Chapter 3: The Lost

“Run!” The silver-haired child-woman screamed madly at the cluster of wizards and soldiers.

But her voice failed as Deirdre was assaulted by a series of ghost blows and horribly painful sensations. Her legs burned as though they were on fire and she screamed madly as a horrific sensation akin to the hunger of the Dull Wall latched onto her arm. The mad relief she experienced as it subsided was fleeting when she felt something pierce her chest and knew full and well nothing had. Still, she choked and put her hand in shock to the wound that was not there. Door moaned and wailed as she followed suite, thrashing in agony only to collapse to one knee not far from her twin.

“Dreiddy, what's wrong!?” Shan cried in panic.

“Don't touch me… I don't want to hurt you, stay back…” Drie gasped lamely.

“Sister, sister, sister!” The raven-haired child chanted aloud anxiously like a spell, reaching for her insistently.

She tried unsuccessfully to scramble away from the hovering little boy, but by that time the pain subsided. Akarshan seized a hold of her, both seeking comfort as much as he wished to give it. Indeed, the twins clung to each other in horror as a burst of otherwind battered them.

As a portal like the mouth of hell ripped open on the ground, Mrs. Danna rose up through the gate.

The Wallmaker's children shrunk from her in terror as her emotionless grey eyes settled on them. Suddenly, the misty plumes of their breath were bright in the air. As she appeared, winter seemed to spread through the streets in spite of the bright summer sun overhead. Black ice caked the cobblestones as the daemon queen towered over the chimera's prone form. Slowly at first, the yellow fire crept back under the former healer's thin skin, and with it came the familiar reek of the madness beyond the Wall. In her hand, hissing like it was loath to be in contact with the woman, was a silver knife. For some reason the sight of it made Deirdre light-headed with dread.

The bells silenced once again as a second wave of daemons came crashing over them.

Like an avalanche rushing down from the huge mountains above the village, the spirits ushered with them another earthquake. The shouts and cries of the soldiers were lost in the roar of the quake. But Danna stabbed the knife at the deluge and the vibrant elementals split around them. In a mad chorus that sounded like the end of the world, the spirits wailed and screeched as the buildings around them trembled. The earth spirits tore up the ground, hurling about great boulders and clouts of dirt as they were buffeted by winds powerful enough to flatten the city. Boiling water exploded from the street gutters, running against the laws of sanity up the side of the row hours only to pour like great spears in the air. Gouts of flame spurted from the street lamps, crawling down the posts like living creatures.

With a savage laugh, Mrs. Danna mocked the futile efforts of the children of the ancients as the area around the Dark touched mortal remained unaffected.

“Get up, Door!” The former healer commanded and the chimera stood immediately, her colorless eyes blank as a puppet's.

“Let her go,” Deirdre snarled.

The child-woman's eyes went black as a moonless midnight sky, suddenly made fearless by her love for the other. As the silver-haired girl shot to her feet with Akarshan in her arms, her former captor brought the knife to the other's throat. The blade hissed as it met the daemon's skin; both Danna and Drie winced as identical burns appeared on their necks.

“Or what?” The woman of ice and fire barked scornfully, negligent to the chaos around her, “You can't harm me, lest you harm yourself.”

“Door! Can you hear me!? Give her heart back, you don't need it!” Deirdre shouted at the other with wild desperation.

“She can't hear you, little one,” Danna replied icily, although her grey eyes were gleaming dangerously. “She serves her purpose, just like we all must. Look around you; this is the end of all things. The balance is broken and soon even the Dull Wall will crumble.”

“This is your fault! You did this!” Akarshan shouted at the daemon queen as he shook his fists at her, forgetting his fear in much the same way his sister had.

“Silence, boy!” The daemon queen's voice split the chaos like a lightening strike as yellow black fire began seeping from her eyes. As she spoke her voice literally dripped with hatred, “Do not speak to me of blame; by your hand the world will end!”

As she spoke, Danna pointed the knife at Door, acknowledging the daemon's former incarnation, “You know nothing! I saw this Doom through that mirror with my own eyes ages ago; if I were not here another would stand in my place!”

Suddenly the former healer's voice twisted, torn ragged by the sharp barbs of endless misery and self condemnation. “My son… My husband… They died because I was too afraid to do what I must. I knew what was going to happen and I tried to block it from my mind. I was a fool to try and escape what I saw. I hope that my teacher would take my prophecy and do well with it. But I was wrong, and I paid the ultimate price for my weakness. I have agonized these six years over why Agyrus killed them, but let me live. But I understand now. Even as possessed by the Dark as he was, he knew I would serve a greater purpose. He knew that I would live to see the return of the Walbreaker, who you hold in your very arms.”

“You're crazy!” The silver-haired child-woman screamed incredulously, “Everything that has happened is because of you. You let the Dark out! If anyone is the Wallbreaker it's you!”

“Say what you will, child, but I know I am right!” Danna declared with absolute confidence as she brushed off the Deirdre's words.

The regal woman's voice became distant, like she was quoting something from an ancient tome, “It was said there would be twins in the Wallmaker's line: one will be the bringer of light and the other the bearer of the ultimate sorrow.”

“I used to think you would be the Wallbreaker, child. It's why I stole you from your parents; it's why I named you Deirdre, bearer of sorrow. I was wrong about you, but still I had to be sure. It doesn't matter what you've become, Deirdre. I made you an offer once and it still stands. You can still help me save this world,” The Daemon Queen's voice was gentle, almost pleading. “Give me the boy”

 

“No… He's my brother!” Drie whispered fiercely, hugging Akarshan close in her arms. Her twin was trembling with dread, shocked dumb by the mad woman's words.

 

“I don't want to hurt you, child. The future of our race is in your hands. Give me the boy!” The cold woman demanded all softness fading as she spoke in a voice like thunder.

 

“NO!” The Wallmaker's daughter screamed defiantly.

 

Instantly, the former healer side stepped and backed against the other. With an expression of horror, Deirdre watched as the daemon queen dissolved backwards into Door with the ease that someone slips on a coat or dress. Suddenly Earin disappeared, leaving behind only the chimera. The other twitched and shuddered, then flexed her claws with the smooth grace of a predator. But Danna wasn't truly gone, just like Door wasn't Door anymore. The Wallmaker's daughter could tell the moment her twin raised cold grey eyes to regard her with a resolved expression Door would never wear. With a feral screech, the daemon surged forward with her obsidian claws extended. But Deirdre had anticipated this and she erupted into the sky, propelled into the air on a pair of enormous silver feathered wings that ripped through the back of her shirt.

 

As she rocketed into the dome of the sapphire heaven, the child-woman cast a glance back over her shoulder only to see wings the color of night just below her.

 

xXx

 

Nalir stared up at the broken spire, which was dark and foreboding. The small young wizard's heart was currently beating madly in the cold pit of his stomach.

 

It had resided since the ceiling in his mother's room had been ripped to shreds. He had been listening to his mother recount the story of how she had located Earin Danna when they were bombarded with stones and debris. The Mardan youth had managed to keep them from being crushed to death with a hastily cobbled shield. But not before his mother had been struck in the head by a falling beam. Wizard Peoter, one half of the Captain of the Wizard's guard, had just been to see them when the whirlwind hit. The red garbed sorcerer had dug them out of the rubble, returning instantaneously as Nalir called him for help. Had Peoter not returned so swiftly, Nalir was not sure his mother would be alive. He clutched madly at the amethyst scrylass Merra had shoved into his hands just before the gurney man carried her off on a stretcher to the healer's ward.

 

Her face was covered in blood and she looked so pale; just the memory of if made him faint.

 

After that Peoter had wordlessly taken him by the elbow and numbly he had followed along silently. His mind, however, was not nearly so quiet. The Herbalist and Master Yewin were both in attendance in the healer's wing. They would see to his mother. She would be fine, Nalir told himself again and again as the copper haired sorcerer steered him through the labyrinth of hallways. The palace was in chaos once again, and common people as well as magi rushed about in a panic. Some even were still screaming, which did nothing to ease the young sorcerer's unease. Peoter paused frequently to speak with several red garbed men and women, and then his eyes went pale and distant. No doubt the man was communicating with his twin, wherever he may be; it must have been far because the be-speckled man swayed.

 

The red haired youth was not so impressed my mind speech as were some of the other apprentices. In addition to his ability to see, Nalir also had the ability to speak and hear at distances. Smugly, the young wizard confided in himself that he could no doubt talk to the Emperor of Ingary at this very moment if he dared. But the black clad apprentice was startled from his private adulations as the Captain ushered him straight into one of the antechambers of the late sorceress Suliman's study. The black robed young wizard was further flabbergasted to find the Wallmaker already there. The wizard Howl was currently ripping huge light bulbs from curtained niches in the walls.

 

There were six all together and just the sight of them gave him a horrific chill.

 

“What's the news, Peoter?” The Wallmaker queried nonchalantly, acting if it was perfectly normal to be suspended half in the air while smashing holes in the King's walls.

 

“A storm surge flooded Porthaven simultaneously as the windstorm hit here and an earthquake struck Market Chipping. All attacks appear to be born of daemon magic,” the twin replied soberly. Howl gave a start at the mention of the village's name, his brilliant blue eyes widening as he paused in his work.

 

“Any word from the village?” The Wallmaker's voice was thin and tense.

 

“I'm afraid not, my Lord. Although Dieter informed me that he left Barimus at your castle with Lady Sophie.”

 

That seemed to give the raven-haired man some comfort, because he began tugging at the metal rigging in the wall with renewed vigor.

 

“Can you scry, Nalir?” Howl half shouted at him as he tore a long cable out of the wainscoting. It sparked viciously like a long metal snake, and Nalir jumped fearfully, unconsciously retreating behind the Captain. Much to his embarrassment, the tall man grinned at him sympathetically.

 

“Y-yes,” The red-haired boy replied hesitantly.

 

“Find elder Tirut,” Howl commanded briskly, still pulling on the wires.

 

“But I need water…” Nalir began lamely, turning the scrylass upside down to show it was empty. Immediately Peoter was gone and he returned with a jug of water from the sideboard. The serious faced sorcerer filled the bowl till it overflowed. The vessel responded to the Mardan apprentice's power immediately, showing his faded elderly teachers in some distant corner of the palace. There were several other Councilors' with him as well as the ruddy bearded face of the Healer Mage. The young apprentice nearly jumped out of his skin as the Captain of the Wizard's guard lean down to peer over his shoulder.

 

“He's in the west wing with Reth, Tarrma,” Peoter relayed.

 

“Good, would you mind fetching them? Oh, and Peoter! Bring me an electrician!” The lanky man replied without looking up from his work. The twin wizard evaporated out the door leaving the green-eyed apprentice feeling completely lost in the presence of the great Wallmaker. Furthermore, what in the world was an electrician?

 

“Nalir… how's your mindspeech?”

 

“I'm ever so sorry for shouting at you earlier, Wallmaker, I apologize completely,” the thin boy turn as red as his hair as the words rushed out of his mouth in a very Trissa like manner. As elder Tirut's apprentice turned to bow deeply to the raven-haired wizard, sloshing water out of his scrylass all over the floor. The handsome man paused, still holding a handful of sparking wires.

 

“No need to apologize…”

 

“But you're the Wallmaker!”

 

“If it makes you feel any better, I've shouted at King Ferdinand on several occasions,” Nalir was as shocked by that as he had been by the fact that the wizard remembered his name.

 

“Mindspeech, Nalir! We haven't time for pleasantries.”

 

“I can communicate with anyone I've spoken to in person…” The young sorcerer replied quickly, still pink with embarrassment.

 

“Good, find me some high level apprentices and some wizard guards. We need to move these light bulbs up to the shield room as quickly as possible. There might be another wave of windstorms and we need to get the shield back up as soon as possible.”

 

Shortly after, the velvet robed boy found himself standing in the shattered remnants of the shield room. The screaming wind was no less vicious here than any other place outside the palace. Just the sound of it turned his blood to ice making him want to shrink small and hide behind something tall.

 

“Why aren't they attacking us, Nalir?” Ryden was suddenly at his side, staring in trepidation at the wailing mist spirits that hung back on the edges of the room.

 

“They're afraid of the orbs the Wallmaker brought in… The Wizard Howl said Sorceress Suliman enchanted them a long time ago to be used to expel tainted daemons. Apparently the Witch of the Wastes was stripped of her greed daemons through their power. The Wallmaker thinks he can make the shield run off of them.”

 

“How?” Ryden was awed.

 

“It makes no sense to me, something to do with wires and bottled lightning.”

 

“We'll, whatever they are they give me the heebie-geebies,” the Dun colored apprentice replied with an anxious glance back at the light bulbs.

 

They both turned their eyes to where the wizard Howl was working with several red garbed magi and a spindly commoner to hook the strange glass orbs up to a cable that snaked back down the hallway. Trissa and Hedera, who were excellent fliers, were currently in the air with Peoter, carefully hoisting the orbs into place through a system of magically controlled ropes. Secretly the Mardan boy was incredibly impressed with the two witches. Even if he could fly, he would not have been brave enough to go into the air with all the daemons about. As many Councilors as he and the Captain was able to drum up were ringed round the workers, looking rather unsure of what the Wallmaker was doing.

 

The cracked spire loomed over all of their work like a bad omen.

 

Long ago the glass obelisk was a giant focus, so the Wallmaker had explained briskly. It had been intended to be used in conjunction with magic and had no internal sorcery of its own. According to the Wizard Howl, the spire was very receptive to any kind of magic that was fed to it. Apparently they were going to substitute the bulbs for magi sorcery.

 

A new circle had been painted on the ground in gold paint hastily snatched up from one of the maintenance rooms. Circumscribed within it was a six pointed star. The circle was a binding spell, one that would hopefully negate the dispersal of magic that would occur due to the crack in the spire. At each of the points was set one of the enormous glass orbs with funny metal coils inside of them. Each bulb sat atop a box-like plinth, from which sprouted a series of metal cables full of colorful wires that the electrician had connected to each other. The man was currently working on hooking up the main power line leading to the circle, which snaked off down the hallway like a huge synthetic tree root.

 

“Who's the old geezer with the Wallmaker?”

 

“That's an electrician.”

 

“Never heard of it. What's that?”

 

“I haven't the faintest idea, why are you asking me all these questions!?” The young sorcerer replied irritably.

 

“Just curious, Nally. You normally have all the answer is all…” the dun colored apprentice seemed hesitant and then finally spoke, “How's your mom?”

 

If anyone ever questioned that the Magi race was cursed, there was no better proof than its orphaned children. Ryden's parents were both dead, having died even before the Mardan War in some magical accident. Hedera and Trissa were orphans as well, but he did not know how they had come to loose their mothers and fathers. Both were apprenticed to the same teacher, Sorceress Tarmma. She was a plump witch who favored bright colors, sweets, and encouraged rivalry as a study aid. Perhaps this explained why the girls squabbled so much. In spite of their losses, they all lead relatively normal lives growing up in the Royal Sorcery Academy.

 

That was at least until recently.

 

Nalir looked down at the small pool in the scrylass he held clutched in his hands and felt his knees begin to tremble. He could easily check for himself on his mother's condition, but he was too afraid of what he would find.

 

“I don't know,” he finally replied uncertainly.

 

The red-haired boy turned himself away from conversation by returning to his watch over the sky. Howl himself had asked it the two apprentices would scan for signs of another sky finger. And the darkening clouds were beginning to make the Mardan boy fearful. Ryden must have agreed with him, because he began peering at the dark spots with a grime expression. The two young sorcerers could see glimmers of magic in the clouds.

 

“Wizard Howl, the sky!” Nalir shouted back over his shoulder.

 

The lanky man was currently in the air with the Captain and the other red guards. Rising higher, the freckle faced man peered with fierce green eyes at the sky. The wizard said something to the Wallmaker that the boys could not hear.

 

“Hurry!” The raven-haired man shouted.

 

The anxious tone of Howl's normally urbane voice sent a thrill of fear down the diminutive boy's spine. The Councilors, who had previously watched from the sidelines, suddenly hastened forward and join hands around the circle as the last bulb settled into place. Since the cracking of the spire, the witches and wizards had become more compliant when it came to requests from the Wallmaker. At the same moment, a dark finger of sky descended from the boiling clouds above, and with it came a wind screaming with the voices of thousands of spirits. Just than, a bolt of electric fire shot from the sky; as the lightning struck the fractured spire, it came alive for a moment. Humming brightly, the broken spire filled the room with warm golden light.

 

“It's going to work!” Howl crowed with an ecstatic laugh and began waving wildly at the wily mortal who held the final cable, “Plug it in!”

 

As the grizzled old man plunged the master cable into the connection that joined the circle of bulbs, a crackling current of electricity surged through the line. One by one the orbs burst into incandescent fire, drowning out all sound as they resonated deafeningly. The Councilors were enveloped in the rainbow hues of their sorcery as they directed the technologically born magic inward to the broken glass obelisk. Long dark shadows stretched backwards from the magi in the powerful light of the spire and the night sky seemed to shine in the dim outlines of the descendants of the stars.

 

Responding immediately to the power that surged out of the enchanted glass spheres, the spire flickered at first and then erupted into radiant white light, which it hurled at the dark sky above. As the circle of magi dropped their persuasive enchantment, the light from the bulbs continued to flow into the obelisk. Assaulted by the steady current, the clouds overhead evaporated, exposing the bright blue above as the daemons fled the sound and smell of the synthetic magic.

 

Instantly, the sky finger dissolved.

 

The Wallmaker's shouted of joy was lost in the hum of the glowing orbs, although the wizard's eyes were alive with sapphire light. As the lanky man sunk to the ground, he almost fell over backwards trying to stare upwards with a dazzling grin at the slowly forming gossamer dome that draped like a curtain of gold over the clearing sky. A great shout of triumph echoed through the shattered remnants of the shield room as the defenses of the Capital were restored. The magi all rejoiced in the blinding light that filled the cracked spire. But in their excitement, almost no one noticed that Peoter faltered in the air, his cry of pain lost in the cheers.

 

But Nalir saw.

 

The Mardan unconsciously refused to look at the cracked glass point for fear of blinding himself. Merra had scolded him several times for staring in fascination at candles. However, his unfettered eyes picked out the suddenly unconscious freckled twin. However, the black robed boy was as flightless as any commoner and the falling sorcerer was out of the range of his kinetic magic. Nalir could do nothing but shout at a crowd of sorcerers who were blind and deaf in the spire's power. Madly grabbing at Ryden's shirt, the young wizard pointed uselessly at the sky. But his friend laughed and picked him up jokingly, thinking his diminutive companion was celebrating the success of their efforts. As Nalir struggled unsuccessfully, he watched in horror as the copper haired man sank slowly at first and then began to fall like a stone from above. As he plunged from above, the green-eyed magi felt his heart fall with him.

 

Suddenly, a streak of green shot across the broken dome of the shield room, sailing down from on high through the screeching morass of mist daemons that fled the spire's light. Nalir immediately recognized the Markl and the Herbalist's apprentice. For some reason the russet haired boy was garbed in healer's green, not that it mattered; the pair were propelled through the air on what appeared to be a garden hoe. But the Mardan recovered from the shock of seeing the brown-eyed boy quick enough to send a frantic message to the Wallmaker's apprentice.

 

MARKL! GET PEOTER!

 

It was apparent that the two already had their sights fixed on the falling sorcerer. In the same way a great sea bird scoops up their prey from the waves, Markl launched himself from the garden hoe and caught the Captain feet mere feet from the ground. Although the wizards tumbled to the ground in a pile, their impact was no worse that falling from bed. Theresa landed with far more grace just about the same time that the Wallmaker swooped down form the sky.

 

“Markl!” Howl shouted.

 

The lanky man rushed forward to fall on his knees into a rough embrace with his apprentice before pulling back to regard the unconscious wizard he held with unguarded dismay. Nalir and Ryden reached their side just as the herbalist's apprentice wafted a small bottled under Peoter's nose. The wizard jolted wide awake, his face pale and twisted with horror and his distant green eyes mad grief. Blinded by tears and rage, Peoter shot out his hand, trapping Howl's arm in an iron grip.

 

“Dieter!” The twin keened in abject bereavement, fighting against the raven-haired man's restraining grip, “I can't hear him! He's dead! She killed my brother!”

 

“What!? Who!?” Was all the Wallmaker could reply, shock robbing from him all words of sympathy.

 

“The Daemon Queen… She's escaped!”

 

Howl looked as if Peoter's words had punched him in the face for this news could only mean one thing. Somehow, the daemon in the workshop had broken free of the binding circle.

 

At that moment all Howl could think about was Sophie and his children.

 

xXx

 

With Calcifer's help, the red wizard altered the circle magic on the front door to take him to the King's office in the airship. The little spark had wanted him to go and find Howl through another doorway in the palace; flat refusing to do anything else but that. It had taken a great deal of shouting and cajoling to convince the fire daemon to help him. Sometimes the living flame was so like the Wallmaker it drove the blond man to distraction. And so he was quite flabbergasted when someone else commandeered the door by knocking on it.

 

“It's Sophie!” Cal cried, flaring up in the hearth.

 

Indeed, as soon as he threw open the portal; the Royal Sorcerer stared right into the startled face of his brother's wife. Her brown eyed flew wide for a moment, and then she remembered having left the blond man downstairs as she flew from the castle. Looking beyond her, the golden-eyed man immediately recognized the kitchen at Cesari's.

 

“Everyone inside right now!” The silver sorceress ordered briskly as she fell back only to usher into the castle the entire Hatter family.

 

“Company! Oh, what a lovely surprise! Would you like some tea?” Granny witch cried happily as the living room began to fill. The old witch started up from her chair and went to put on the kettle only to find the fire had gone missing.

 

“Sophie, get inside right now!” Calcifer cried anxiously, flying from the hearth to hover above Barimus' head. But the Wallmaker's wife lingered just beyond the archway, and Nox loomed behind her ominously.

 

“I can't… I have to stay and find the children,” she explained hastily. “Cal, will you look after my family?”

 

The fire daemon seemed hesitant, as though the only thing he wanted in the entire world was for the little witch to come back into the castle. After a moment, he nodded solemnly.

 

“No, Sophie, it's not safe out there!” Honey cried tearfully over her husband's bald pate as she clung to the little man.

 

“Yes, stay with us!” Lettie demanded as she struggled in Alex's grip. The caterer gave every indication she would rush down the stairs and pull her sister inside the flying castle if she could get free. But the brown-eyed mother was not paying any attention to the blonde cook.

 

With a gaze full of iron persuasion, the Wallmaker's wife turned her attention to the Lord Councilor. “Barimus you have to get the army to leave! The daemons see us as a threat. Nox and I might be able to get the ancients to stop the attacks, but they won't listen to us as long as the military is present in the wastes.”

 

The blond wizard stared at her for a moment as though what she asked was impossible. He then nodded resolutely and spoke cryptically, “And the daemon?”

 

“They're my children… I will take care of them,” The silver-haired mother replied coldly and she turned away.

 

“Sophie!” Lettie screamed just as the front door slammed shut.

 

Just as Barimus made ready once more to activate the circle magic on the back of the door, the dial beside the archway spun with a musical chime and pointed to red. Abruptly the door was yanked open and Howl came charging into the castle. Following hot on his heels was Markl, who held a tearful Theresa by the hand.

 

xXx

 

As the door shut behind her, Sophie was seized by the most powerful sense of foreboding she had ever experienced.

 

Immediately, she spun on her heel only to find that Nox had disappeared. She caught sight of him immediately; the tall snow-haired man was leaning out of one of the enormous kitchen windows. An expression of such fierce consternation twisted his normally serene features and the brown-eyed witch felt fearful of the star daemon for a moment. As she approached, he cast his amethyst eyes in her direction and softened immediately.

 

Danna has found the children… They are there! With that the darkly tanned man pointed at the sky over the village.

 

At the daemon queen's name, Sophie rushed forward to the window ledge to stare in horror in the direction the man-daemon indicated. In the distance, she could see what appeared to be two enormous birds fighting. One had wings the color of starlight and the others were as black as tar.

 

We must go! Nox's voice echoed like a deep brass bell, heavy with worry and apprehension.

 

Abruptly the ancient seized her hand and rocketed up into the air, stretching to transform into the shimmering ethereal being she had met beyond the indigo veil. Blinded by the screaming wind and the bright light of the cold white sun, the world dropped away as they cut into the vast sapphire firmament. Flying faster than she had in her entire life, Sophie arched through the cure of the heavens only to return to earth holding a falling star by the hand.

 

Hurtling from above, Nox and the brown-eyed mother drew near the embattled daemons instantaneously. As they did the horrific screeching of the tainted spirit filled the silver sorceress mind with dread. The dark-winged creature hovering in the air had shed every last stitch of its humanity, and in its place stood a clawed and fanged monster filled by the Dark. However, it was strange because it no longer attacked Deirdre; instead it screamed and thrashed in the air, clutching at its head as if fighting its own internal conflict. Sophie's daughter hung in the sky effortlessly, not far from the daemon, her gigantic silver wings held high almost as if to ward of her attacker. To Sophie complete and utter dismay, her lost daughter held Akarshan in her arms. Although her horror turned to abject confusions as the little witch realized her children shouting encouraging words at the tainted spirit. Their shouts were practically drowned out under the deafening wind that filled the vast emptiness around them.

 

“Fight her, Door! You don't need her!” Drie cried desperately.

 

“Come with us, Door-sister! Drieddy's right, you have us now,” Shan cheered with sincerest of hopes.

 

Again the tormented creature screamed, seeming to vacillate wildly back and forth between remorseful longing and bloodthirsty murderousness. The silver sorceress picked out with keen eyes the daemon's face; its eyes faded from an icy grey to the deepest black only to melt into a heartbreakingly familiar shade of sapphire blue.

 

“Silver sister… Little brother…” The monster warbled with the deep metallic chorus of the Dark, which sent a chill through Sophie's heart. However, like a ray of sun piercing the gloom, another voice cracked through the madness that reached from beyond the Wall. As the cerulean hue intensified, the other reached out its hand to the twins as if pleading to be saved from the madness by which she had been consumed. Trusting in the love she felt for her other, having faith in the spirit's ability to choose its own path, Deirdre reached out and took Door's hand.

 

“NO!” Sophie screamed as the daemon's eyes immediately faded grey once more as a feral snarl split the monster's face.

 

But in that moment Nox released his grip on the silver sorceress' and hurled like a shimmering meteor down at the daemons below. Like a hawk plunging down on its prey, the shooting star struck the other just as she ripped open a portal to the otherworld. Still holding onto Deirdre's hand with a vice-like grip, the child-woman and her brother were yanked through the gate along with Door and the elder star.

 

Tucking in her arms, Sophie propelled herself through the gate on a burst of otherwind moments before it winked out of existence.