Force of Magic

Lies

Chapter 20

A/N: Hey everyone, welcome back! Good to see y'all here and thanks for being patient with me. Now, Gabeherdon308 owns the OCs and I don't own TDP, I'm just the writer.

"Where are Callum and Ezran?" Claudia asked as Rayla and Trezac joined them.

"They'll be along soon, Ezran's just packing up the dragon," Rayla replied.

"It's been a pleasure to have you all here," Lujanne mused, "I truly have enjoyed you all sneaking past my defenses and desecrating this sacred place these past few days."

"Then maybe your defenses should've been better," Trezac muttered. "It doesn't take much to realize it's magic."

Lujanne glared at him before putting a smile to her face again, "It will be lonely, quiet, but lonely without you."

"I'll miss you so much!" Ellis exclaimed running forwards and hugging the mage's legs.

"Ellis, you will always be welcome here," the moon mage reassured, patting her head. Eva barked, causing her to chuckle as she rubbed behind the wolf's ears. "And you two little one," she pulled out the collar, fastening back to the wolf's neck, "I doubt you need the illusion anymore, but at least you can have this as a reminder that someone's always watching out for you."

Trezac turned, watching Callum and Ezran emerge, "We should get moving."

"Yay, time to go to the magical land and do whatever," Soren drawled as he got up and stretched.

Leading the way down the path, Trezac glanced behind him, noticing Claudia and Soren falling behind. "Rayla," he spoke quietly motioning with his head to the talking siblings.

"You they'll try to pull somethin'?"

"Definitely," he nodded. "I can handle Claudia. You got Soren?"

Rayla smirked, "I've been looking forward to getting some payback." She came to a stop, turning back to face them "It's going to be a long journey, let me just go around this bush-corner and see if I can find some berries or something."

"How about I help," Soren offered following after.

As they left, Trezac leaned against a tree, tilting his head low so Claudia couldn't see him watching through his bangs. The sorceress looked nervous. Biting her lip, she raised her arm into the air, eyes beginning to glow violet. "Sniahc otni nrut. Idej eht dna secnirp eht erutpac. Stnepres otni stelecarb ym nrut."

The bracelets on her wrist came to life, and two glowing snakes fell to the ground. Hissing, the two serpents slithered towards Trezac and the princes. Pulling out his lightsabers, Trezac swung, decapitating one, and hurling his second blade through the other, slicing it in half. Without missing a beat, he used the force to summon the thrown blade back to his hand and he landed in front of Claudia, holding the two glowing sabers to her chest. "If you were going to try to betray us, you should've at least been convincing about joining us."

"Trezac, I know this feels like a betrayal. But I have to do what is right, I have to take you back home."

"What's right?!" he growled. "You're talking about doing what's right? You were trying to keep a baby from its mother! You were trying to keep a war going, knowing countless lives would be lost even though we found a way to end it! You take the lives of innocent creatures for your own power! You sided with inquisitors! So no, you don't get to lecture about what's right Claudia, cause it's clear, you don't know what that is. Ellis! Do it!"

The girl grinned, turning her wolf around and pulling the collar off. "Moonstone collar trick."

The collar began to glow, and green streams of magic swirled back into the stone. At the same time, the princes and Zym vanished in a similar fashion. "They're illusions!"

"Wait!" Soren called from below. "They're not real?"

"That's what illusions mean Soren!"

The knight growled, glaring at Ellis. "What did you do to them?!" Charging forwards, he raised his sword before something latched onto his arm. Next thing he knew, Soren was trying to keep his arm from being burned off. Shaking the limb, he managed to get the firefox off, holding the wounded arm close.

With a proud bark, Agir ran up the slope, leaping into Trezac's bag as Ellis made her escape. A strong force-push shoved Claudia back, spilling the contents of her bag on the ground. Taking his chance, Trezac leapt into the trees after Rayla, climbing up the same branch. Light flashed in the sky, and the pair grinned as Phoe-Phoe flew down, the cheering princes on her back. The moon phoenix swooped over, using her talons to pick the pair up before flying higher into the air, allowing them to climb up onto her back with the others.

"Claudia! They're getting away!"

The sorceress, stumbled to her feet, looking around and picking up one of her fallen trinkets. "No, they aren't," she growled. "Edssessop ti tsaeb eht fo htarw eht nommus I, tsaerb s'nekcark fo nroh siht mrof!" Violet-red fire emerged all around her as flames crawled on her arms. Sending the magic out, flame turned into what appeared to be a violet and yellow tentacle, which wrapped around the phoenix and its riders, dragging them back towards the ground.

"Claudia! Please! Don't do this!" Callum pleaded.

"Callum," Trezac growled, "She's not going to listen to you!" Thrusting out a hand, Claudia slid back up the mountain, gritting her teeth trying to pull them in as Trezac kept using the force to try to get them away. It was clear, Soren and Claudia were not their allies; they needed to get away from them, as soon as possible.

On the ground, another figure appeared, throwing out a chain. It wrapped around Claudia's wrist, and the new man pulled the mage back, causing her to drop the source of her magic, ending the spell. "What're you doing?!"

"Defending them for you!" the newcomer exclaimed as Soren came up behind him.

Phoe-Phoe flew away, taking them away from the Nexus and their former friends. "You were right," Callum sighed.

"I wish we weren't," Rayla apologized. But you needed to know the truth."

-.-

"Anything?" Eleven drawled as she slammed the door to the dungeon open. Where Viren sat in the same spot he'd been in for hours looking at the mirror.

"Not much, though, I have discovered that the mirror is just that on their side, a mirror. They can't see us."

Eleven growled, rubbing her eyes. "Then, how are we supposed to take advantage of this?!"

"I don't know, not yet at least," he sighed sitting back down in the chair, looking at the mirror intensely.

Following his gaze, Eleven raised a brow. So far, all this elf was doing was going in and out of wherever that was and reading the books. He set down another book on the desk, swinging his hand out and the fire went out. That made her brow rise a bit; a mage, perhaps observing him wouldn't be a total waste. He came to a stop, looking at the mirror. Tilting his head, the elven mage waved his hand again and the fire went out, plunging him into darkness.

Eleven couldn't help but grin as a pale, four-fingered hand emerged and pressed against the glass. Perhaps Viren was wrong about his initial observation. If that was the case, then this little thing would be very useful to her and her master's cause.