Feathers & a Dash of Magic

Chapter 55: How is This Fight Not Over Yet?

CW: blood, bullet wounds, burns, and death (that last one is still just hunters)

Kayda was wrapping up a bullet wound on someone's leg, who was being held down by two others because of the pain. Luckily so far not many have been hurt, and the two witches had made several healing potions. They just had to wait for it to work, and it seemed to be working fast since it didn't take long for the person to calm down. Though as soon as their breathing evened out, they passed out.

She sighed as she stepped back, the other two people picking up the injured and moving them somewhere else. She quickly washed her hands with a wet washcloth, which was already stained red, before moving to a cleaner wet washcloth to avoid giving anyone an infection. She jumped at the sound of gunfire, though it was quickly stopped. Hopefully that was Remus stopping them.

However soon enough, several figures varying from different sizes ran into the camp. She instantly recognized Roman, only for her heart to break when she saw Virgil unconscious in someone else's arms. He was covered in bruises and bandages.

"Kayda!" Roman called, rushing over to her. Several of the magical creatures stopped at the edge of the makeshift camp, looking around cautiously at the humans.

"Roman, is he okay?" Kayda asked as the witch grabbed her arm and pulled her over, she already had a healing potion in hand. "What happened to him?"

"I don't know," he admitted. He let her go and opened his arms for Virgil, though Cynthia looked at Kayda with worry. "It's okay, she's going to help, she's known him longer than I have. Everyone here has, and they're all here to help." He looked around as he said it, making sure all of the creatures heard. There were so many of them, how many others were there?

Cynthia hesitated for a moment but carefully gave Virgil to Roman. The fairy whimpered for a moment, but Roman quietly shushed him.

"The-the potion will help him, right?" Kayda asked. "I-I know I'm new to magic and all, but they've healed everyone so far, it has to help, right?"

"My potions can't heal iron burns on fairies, so anything caused by iron won't be healed." Roman walked slowly as he brought Virgil over to an area that was set up with blankets and cushions for the injured to lay. He carefully lowered Virgil to the ground, wincing at every pained noise the fairy made.

Cynthia whimpered, tugging on Elliot's arm. The witch put a hand on hers, giving her a comforting look. "What about healing magic? That should heal him," they told them.

Roman shook his head. "Healing magic is the one thing I'm not good at. My brother on the other hand is, he's fighting right now but I will find him and send him back. However I won't be coming back until every stone of this place is demolished."

He held out a hand for the potion Miss Kayda was holding, and she quickly gave it to him. He opened it and carefully opened Virgil's mouth, pouring the potion in slowly.

"I-I thought you pour it on the injuries," Kayda said. "You told us to do that."

"That only works for external injuries, open wounds. This heals that too, but it also heals internal injuries." Roman gestured to the bruises that were slowly disappearing, the giant, purple one on his side quickly vanishing behind some bandages as it grew smaller. "I'm going to kill the people responsible for this."

"Well, your fox already has," Elliot told him. "That guy he tore up, he was the one in charge, and the one that took Virgil into... well the room they did this to him."

"That's... that's comforting to know. And thank all for protecting him. Do you think you can stay back here to keep the others calm?" Roman gestured to the antsy creatures. "I have a lot on my hands currently."

"Just be sure to get everyone out before you destroy the place."

"I will. I'll make sure everyone is free, and every hunter is dead."

~~~

Remus poured a green potion onto a lock, watching as it dissolved the iron like it was boiling water being poured on ice and snow. He pulled open the cell, several creatures running out except for a young centaur. He tried to stand, but struggled since one of his front legs was missing.

"Shit, hold on," Remus cursed, rushing to their side. He pulled out an acorn and opened the canteen, pulling out some water with magic to cover the acorn in it. Once it was in, he helped him stand up and held the seed closer to the leg stump, that was thankfully fully healed, and grew a wooden prosthetic. "Will this help?"

The centaur leaned on for a moment to test it. Remus got out of his way as he took his first few steps. He smiled widely, tears coming to his eyes.

"Thank you," he whispered, making Remus's heartbreak. His voice was so scratchy, and he wasn't the only one, others were quiet or couldn't speak at all.

"Just follow me, everything will be okay," he promised them, holding a hand out for the centaur to take, which he did. He must have been really young, maybe ten or eleven because he was as tall as the witch.

He walked slowly with the centaur, going down the empty halls. They almost have everyone already, they just need to keep moving. The fighting seems to be dying down, and Remus hoped it was because all of the hunters have been dying.

He felt something crawl up his leg and jumped slightly, until the weight was on his shoulder. Rascal appeared as if from thin air, though the witch knew better.

The centaur jumped when she started speaking, now just realizing she was there, but they seemed to calm down a bit as he overheard the conversation. He was lucky to still have his core, they took other things from him like hair or blood.

"They have Virgil?" Remus asked. Rascal chittered something in response, and he smiled wide. "Good. Well, Roman doesn't need to worry about the other prisoners, we're almost done freeing them."

"Everyone's being freed?" the centaur asked.

Remus looked over with a soft look. "Yeah, don't worry, we're getting everyone out of here. Do you have family here?"

The centaur tensed up. He looked away and shook his head, his lip trembling slightly as he fought down tears.

The witch frowned, feeling more anger rise up in his chest. Oho, he was going to have so much fun getting rid of the hunter scum that was there. "Don't worry about it, kid, we're going to bring you somewhere safe. What's your name?"

"Kayden."

"Well Kayden, once we get out of here, you can stay with me. Until we can find a safe place for you, that is, I travel a lot and fight monster hunters often. But after this is all over, I'm going to take a break, so you have plenty of time."

"Okay, thank you sir."

"Hm, sounds weird. Just call me Remus. Ooh, or dad- ow!"

Rascal bit his ear before he could finish speaking, effectively cutting him off.

"Dad? O-only if you're sure you're okay with it," Kayden said shyly. "I-I never met my real dad."

Remus felt his heart melt. He was joking at first, but now he's not so sure. He was going to adopt this kid and make sure he's going to be as safe as possible.

He heard footsteps coming their way, the smell of gunpowder getting stronger, and he sighed. "Can you close your eyes and hold your hands over your ears real tight for a moment? And don't open them until I say so no matter what."

Kayden looked confused for a moment, but he nodded and did as he was asked. They stopped walking and Remus stood in front of him, pulling out some seeds and opening his canteen again. As soon as the group of hunters ran down the hall, stopping to point their guns at them, he threw the seeds at them and let them rapidly grow.

Blood flew everywhere as the men shouted in pain, but Remus made sure to cover everything with branches and leaves. He smiled at his work before tapping Kayden on the shoulder.

The centaur hesitantly opened his eyes and let go of his ears, looking over to Remus in worry. The witch gave him a warm smile, and Kayden looked up to see the plants covering the section of the hall.

"Don't worry, it's fine now," Remus reassured him. "Let's keep moving."