Feathers & a Dash of Magic

Chapter 53: Haha, the Building Went Boom!

CW: talk of surgery against their will, talk of experimenting and death, surgical scars (all in the beginning), torture/interrogation, iron poisoning, pain, animal abuse, and a giant explosion

Cynthia laid curled against Elliot's side, the witch rubbing her arm. Well... former witch, are you still a witch if your magic core had been cut out decades ago? How long had they been there? How many fairies have they seen die just like this one will soon?

When they first arrived, they thought they were going to die just like every witch before them. But the hunters kept them alive to experiment on, which is where most of their scars came from. How long did it take for the surgical scars to outweigh the scars from all their fighting?

Cynthia was a lot younger than them, she's been there for maybe five years now? It was hard to tell. Griffin came with Elliot all those decades ago, but he's stopped aging before that. It's been long enough that they've become a family, they care for each other and anyone else that might end up in their cell, even if they don't have much longer to live.

This fairy was no different, though with what they had done to him he might end up dying faster than most. Iron poisoning is what always gets them, and Virgil already had it bad. He probably had some valuable information that the monster hunters wanted, and had refused to tell them.

He reminded Elliot of someone though... But they've met so many fairies it was hard to tell. His feathers were a dark purple, he was probably stubborn if he refused to tell the hunters anything after being hurt this bad, and he just had a familiar face, though ever so slightly different.

A door opened and footsteps soon started to echo down the hall. Creatures stirred in their cages, chains softly clinking against each other. Cynthia tensed up next to Elliot, who held her a bit tighter.

Morgan stopped in front of the cell, three hunters by his side. One unlocked the cage and stepped back as the rest walked in. One pointed a gun at Cynthia and Elliot, the second held a gun at Griffin, who growled quietly. Virgil still rested against him, having passed out a while ago.

Unfortunately, Morgan wasn't keen on letting him rest. He walked over to Virgil, Griffin getting defensive but didn't move. The hunter pulled out a knife and crouched down.

"He-he's not awake," Elliot told him, wanting to keep Virgil from more pain.

Morgan ignored them as if they never said anything and grabbed the fairy's hair, pulling him forward and lifting the knife to his throat. Virgil gasped in pain, the burn of the knife waking him up. He tried to pull away but Morgan held him tighter.

"Don't struggle, you've already learned that makes it worse. Now... do you want to be a good little pet and answer my questions?

Griffin growled louder but the hunter pointing their rifle at him hit his beak with the butt of it. Virgil whimpered as the knife dug further into his skin.

Should he tell them? He didn't want to be hurt worse, please don't let him be hurt worse. But he didn't want Roman to get hurt. Even if the hunters are only going after Remus and Janus, those two getting hurt or worse will hurt Roman. Plus his witch could end up in the crossfire, he could be found out too!

But Virgil didn't want to die. He knew that Morgan wants him alive, and that he won't kill him there and then, but he could still be hurt badly and end up dying as a consequence. What should he do? What would Roman want him to do? And Patton and the Millers, Miss Kayda and Mr. Johnson, he didn't want to leave any of them.

Cynthia shook Elliot's arm, whimpering. The witch shook their head, holding her closer and into their chest so she wouldn't see. They couldn't do anything, not unless they wanted to get shot.

The knife was moved from his throat to his exposed shoulder, the flat of the blade being pressed against his skin, making the fairy gasp in pain again.

"I..." Virgil whimpered, trying to get the words out. Guilt built up in his chest, he wanted to cry but at this point he was probably too dehydrated to.

Before anything else could be said though, there was a loud boom that shook the building.

~~~

Roman's heart pounded as he felt them get closer and closer. There was a wide, but overgrown trail that led to whatever place Virgil was being held, and the witch was starting to get impatient. They were so close, Virgil just had to hold on a little longer.

"The building's in sight, stop here," Logan whispered, setting down some binoculars. Since they were in the first carriage, once they stopped everyone behind them did.

Roman didn't wait much longer, jumping off of the carriage and rushing to the back. Logan jumped off too and went to the carriage behind them, to tell them that they were there.

People started to offload the weapons, trying to be both quiet and fast. Remus had a belt with pouches on it, full of potions. He had a whole crate of a certain kind of potion in his arms, instead of small vials, inside it held jars.

Roman himself had a similar belt full of potions, but also seeds and acorns. He had a canteen of water hanging on his side, to use to fight and to give to the seeds. Everything had to be perfect, he couldn't mess this up, no one could.

"Are we ready?" he asked Logan when the alchemist came back.

"Almost, we just need to finish setting up," he responded, carrying one of the boxes full of the jars. "Put a glamour over me, we can't risk being spotted."

Roman nodded, doing as Logan asked. They ran over to the side of the wall, the giant building almost overwhelming. They were so close to Virgil that it ached. Just a little longer, they need to hold on a little longer.

There were several other crates already set up alongside the wall, all full of the same potion. It had taken forever to make it, and they had to be really careful while handling them. Once Logan placed the last crate down, they ran back to the forest.

Almost everyone was already hiding in the brush, Remus keeping a glamour over them. Everyone else was back at the carriages, setting up medical camps for anyone that gets hurt. Darrell was hiding with them, Rascal on his back. Roman managed to convince Remus to keep the others safe, and not follow him, on the condition that both Darrell and Rascal come with him. The less casualties on their side, the better.

Once Roman and Logan reached them, Logan grabbed a crossbow and Roman grabbed a sword. He pulled out a small red vial, the same potion as the ones in crates, and handed it to Remus.

"Why don't you do the honors?" he offered, giving his brother a smile.

Remus brightened and jumped in place. "Really?"

Roman nodded, and the green witch quickly took the vial before he could change his mind. He dropped the glamour as Roman quickly took over, holding up the vial towards the wall before pulling it back and throwing it as hard as he could.

The moment it hit the wooden crates, it exploded, causing a chain reaction as the rest of the potions exploded. Everyone covered their ears and ducked down, Roman made the plants in front of them grow rapidly to protect them from debris, but it was over soon enough. Dust started to settle down and a large hole in the side of the wall was revealed.

The moment Roman lowered all of the plants, Remus shouted, "Charge!"

Everyone sprang from their hiding places and rushed forward, Roman grabbed onto Darrell and jumped onto his back as the giant metal fox ran with everyone else. In no time, they were in front and on their way to save Virgil.