Stealing the Black Cauldron///A Descendants Applyfic///CLOSED

Chapter Three: Border Control

"So, if your dad is so powerful, why does he need you to use this for the spell?" Gracie asked, shifting her weight to one hip and pointed at what Hannah was holding.

The horn in her hand was carved of bone, much like many of the King's weapons and tools. There were symbols traced on the sides, and leather of... some kind of creature, was wrapped around the ends.

"My father will never be able to fully regain the power he had when he first lived." Hannah said.

"Yea, when King Arthur was a baby." CJ mumbled, lifting his head to look at Auradon ahead of them.

The trio were standing on the top of a - most likely incredibly unstable - roof. The King had given Hannah the strange horn and shooed them off without much explanation. It was night, a few hours since the trio was officially formed.

Hannah seemed to know what it was for though, now looking across the Isle and to the bridge that connected it to Auradon.

"So, he concentrates some of his magic into things. He grants his power to make things strong. To make them do what he can't just by himself." She glanced behind her, caught off-guard by her own last sentence.

"Don't tell him I said that." She quickly requested, looking back over to her teammates. The two just nodded, still a bit confused.

With that, she lifted the horn to her mouth and blew. A loud, scream-like bellow came from the bone, rattling in her hands to the point she almost dropped it. CJ reached over and held it up, helping her keep her grip.

Gracie jumped at the sound, backing away subtly from the two. "What the-..." She looked ahead of her and stopped. "Dios..."

~~~

"THE BORDER IS CLOSING!"

Sahira couldn't believe what she heard, jumping out of her dorm's bathroom and running to her roommate.

Etelvina Madrigal, her roommate - though the two weren't very close personally - was standing at the window. Her mouth was open in a gap, her dark eyes a mix of horror and confusion.

Sahira looked out the window and froze. "Holy sh!t..." She whispered.

Dark magic was swirling around the island as a death rattle rang through the air.

The entirety of Auradon woke up at the sound, running out into the courtyard. Etelvina backed away from the window, nearly tripping over a chair.

Sahira bolted out of the dorm, just barely grabbing a jacket and carelessly tossing it over her shoulder. She kept cursing under her breath, trying to understand the sight before her. They stopped in the courtyard, surrounded by masses of students who darted past each other to get a closer look.

A mist-like veil of darkness was encroaching over the Isle of the Lost. The few remaining gangs and juveniles that remained were racing across the bridge, trying to escape being trapped once more on the hellscape.

"Shit." Sahira choked under their breath.

The veil clamped down over the Isles, reaching the bridge. The runaways just barely escaped its grasp before being faced with another horror.

The barrier didn't just stop at the bridge. It pushed further, biting into the stone and metal. The magic sliced through the bridge, causing it to shake as it fell in masses into the water.

The VKs that just escaped shouted in fear and horror as the support creaked and crumbled behind them. As the bridge continued to collapse, read to drop them into the ocean with the rubble.

Sahira didn't exactly know why their body did what it did. But she ran toward the bridge, past the students still shocked and past the guards who didn't have time to stop them. They ran across the bridge and to the collapsing parts as the VKs desperately tried to be stable.

She grabbed a rope that was attached to the bridge, most likely for rescues, and tossed an end to the nearest VK. The kid, who seemed to only be twelve, grabbed it and held it tightly. They moved along it until they were closer to Sahira, trailing the line behind for the others to grab.

As that process went on, Sahira turned their attention to the farthest kid. She ran over, even as the bridge fell under her feet and grabbed the young child. "It's okay," she said, though she didn't think the kid could hear her.

She pulled the kid up and over to the others on the line, who quickly grabbed the child and helped them along.

Sahira took a moment to catch her breath, which was a mistake.

The bridge broke beneath her and she fell. The dust swarmed around her in a cloud as rubble followed her closely, like it would hit her. Before they could even scream, they were plunged under the water. It felt freezing for a moment, then her body stilled- just slightly.

The dust fell into the water, making it murky and impossible to see. Still she tried her best to move her weakened body away to dodge the rubble that fell into the water with her.

Air bubbles flew to the surface with a vengeance, as if they were trying to escape her and leave her airless.

She tried to block out the looming sense of death in her mind, but it felt more suffocating than the water itself. Her fingers twitched just slightly and they shut their eyes tightly, not wanting the darkness to be too scary.

Then, someone grabbed her from under her arms and pulled her up.

The two broke the surface and Sahira gasped for air. She choked out water and coughed until her lungs were sore. The person who rescued her swam back to the surface and - rather calmly - dropped her on the shore.

"That was kind of stupid. No offense." A voice sighed, hardly audible over the ringing in Sahira's ears.

"Be nice, be nice, be nice." Another voice whispered, drawing closer to Sahira. The voice helped her sit up and cough up the rest of the water in her mouth.

"What you did was very brave- very, very brave." Sahira turned to see a blonde student, their eyes soft and worried, but jumping around anxiously at everything. Sahira recognized them from the assembly- they were one of the students that raised their hand.

"Stop complimenting and get her to a medic." The other voice grumbled. Sahira looked over. Their vision wasn't very good, but she had never seen this student before.

"Yes, yes, of course." The blonde student nodded along and helped Sahira to her feet. Without another word, the three quickly made their way back up to the courtyard.

Sahira was rushed to the medical wing, but she glanced back at the two people once more.

"Ah, thank you, thanks again," the blonde student mumbled, looking up at the former-prisoner who helped them get Sahira out. "Uh- uhm..."

"Ray." He said simply, watching the Isle- now fully veiled.

Closed once more.