The Land Never Lost

Chapter 24

Belias stood on the highest branch of the tallest tree, looking up at the sky. The fallen were back at the tree house awaiting the lost boys' return. No movement in the sky created an eerie feel and Belias was good at sensing when something was wrong. He was now wearing a black raincoat. His signature rose was attached to it. His eyes darted back and forth from under the hood, knowing that entering Pan was random at best. A spark of green glittered in the distance and died out quickly. Belias noticed something was wrong, he turned to a random green bird and said, "Go get the Princess and the fallen." Belias jumped off the tree and flew quickly towards the group of boys.

Hawk was the first to notice Peter falling limply through the sky. "Scales! Come and grab Fin, Peter needs me." Scales flew towards Hawk, as if to say he understood. Hawk passed Fin to Scales and tucked his wings in a straight dive for Peter. Bear yelled over the wind, "Go Hawk!". Hawk was silently praying, his wings flapping desperately, when he finally closed the distance. He reached a hand out and grabbed Peter, pulling him close to his body. With all his might he tried to slow their fall.

He realized he was coming in too hard for a landing, so he turned around and took the brunt of the fall on his back. The other boys reached the ground shortly after. Bear set Fox down, who was now recovering from his injuries, and ran towards Hawk and Peter. The boy had been training with Leif and his healing abilities showed the fruits of it. Bear placed a huge paw on Peter's chest and channeled nemerald into his body.

Bear said, "I don't know what happened to him, so this could take a while." Hawk patted Bear on the shoulder and said, "Dude, what the hell was that power you used?"

Bear smiled shyly, but never raised his eyes to meet Hawk's, "It's an idea I've been working on. To be honest, I didn't know it was possible. I want to be a healer like Leif, but when I take on my spirit form all I want to do is hurt those monsters. That scares me. So I thought what if something could fight in my place while I support you guys. I just channeled all those emotions and released them, and out came the bear."

Hawk smiled and said, "Reliable as ever. I'm proud of you brother. You are awesome." Scales walked over and Fin had his arm around his twin, still unable to support his own body. Scales said, "Yeah you were amazing! You should've seen it, Fin, Bear totally saved our butts." Belias finally arrived where Fox lay sprawled on the ground.

"Bad mission?" Belias asked.

"Yup."

"Well at least you made it back safely."

Fox looked away in embarrassment, unable to meet the eyes of his mentor. The next few minutes were tense, waiting for the rest of the fallen to arrive. When they arrived they saw the boys and Belias surrounding Peter, who was still unconscious. Trinkett hit the ground and broke into a sprint towards Peter. Leif and Ramona ran after their princess and they all knelt down besides the boy.

"What happened?" Trinkett asked, putting her hand on Peter's forehead. Leif placed a hand on his chest, taking the place of Bear, and said, "You did well Bear. I can take it from here.". Leif closed his eyes and searched for what was ailing Peter. "He's not hurt, not physically at least. But there is a weight on his mind. I'll see what I can do Princess. Bear, I actually might need your help." Trinkett sighed and sat on the ground next to Peter.

An hour or so passed, but Peter remained unconscious. Trinkett decided to take Peter back to the tree house, along with Bear and Leif. She told the rest of the lost boys to debrief the fallen on the mission. Brutus, Blink, Belias, and Ramona stood opposite Scales, Fin, Fox, and Hawk. Fox recounted the plan, detailing every part play by play. "Then, I led them all outside where Fin and Scales were waiting, but that's when it all went wrong." Fox finished. Hawk said, "They waited until we thought we had the upper hand, then they countered us. And there were more than just twelve of them."