The Witching Hour

Ch. 34

Avalonna

Avalonna rushed over to Connor's side and touched a hand to his forehead softly. The unconscious body of her younger brother unnerved her, but she felt some relief that Drakar was no longer controlling him. She knew now she must shift her focus, she had to find some way to free Lydia and Drow of the dragon's control and then banish Drakar himself.

Avalonna went over to pick up Connor, but the elemental creatures he summoned were without a master and still attacking wildly. She nearly got blasted with a column of fire, had her spirit dragon not shielded her. Avalonna said a silent thank you to her dragon and hurried towards her brother. The green dragon roared, seemingly growing stronger, and battled the remaining elemental beasts with ease. Avalonna carefully carried Connor and rushed over towards Queen Aurora for protection.

"What should we do?" Avalonna asked the elf queen as Cyra came closer and shielded the three of them.

"Cyra and I will be capable of aiding you in the banishment spell, but we cannot help if we are still being attacked." she replied. Her voice was graceful but strain began to creep into her words.
"We need to break Drakar's hold over your friends, as you did with your brother." She replied.
"If putting them to sleep is the best way, I know how to stop Lydia. However, your shapeshifter friend may be more of a challenge."

Lydia was moving at blinding speeds around them, and Drow was still charging as an elephant into an invisible barrier. With every hit, Aurora looked weaker and weaker. It was true, Drow would be hard to stop, but so would Lydia.

"How can we stop her?" Avalonna asked.

"There is much you do not know, child. With time, Lydia and Connor will share their stories with you. For now, know she is my daughter and a creature of the night. If we are to cause her to fall unconscious, we will need the power of the day."

Avalonna did not quite understand what had been said to her, but she knew what she had to do. At first, she was going to attempt to use fire, but quickly realized there would be no way for her to contain it to one target. She paused, not knowing exactly what spell to use, and let it come to her naturally.

"Solis!" She exclaimed and held out her hands.

"No!" Aurora called out next to her, but the spell had already been cast.

Avalonna felt a small amount of energy leave her as her hands shined as bright as the sun. Golden rays flew from her fingertips and enveloped around Lydia. The spell was working, it kept Lydia away as Aurora held back Drow. It had worked perfectly, but then Avalonna realized why the elf queen was worried.

The spell began draining larger amounts of energy than before as the light grew brighter.

"The spell you chose is too powerful for you," Aurora warned her.
"You are channeling the power of the sun, not just of light! It will keep draining energy until you faint." Aurora exclaimed as she cast spells to bind Drow's elephant legs.

Avalonna quickly found the elf queen's words to be true, and continued to feel weaker. The light in her hands was strong and bright, but the spark of life within her had began to dim.

"Don't worry, Val." A weak voice said from behind her. Connor had woken up and stood by her side.
"I will aid you. Solis!" He said and held her hand. The light shined brightly in their outward palms and sent Lydia flying back into the snow. She was alive, but unmoving as the sunlight began to dim.

"Thank you, Connor." Avalonna managed to say, her strength now returning to her.

"No, thank you, Val. You saved me, the least I could do is help you with an elemental spell." He replied with a slight grin.

The siblings surveyed the battlefield and saw Drow finally give up in his attack. Aurora's spell had cost him the rest of his energy and he retuned to his human form as he fell unconscious. Avalonna ran over to Drow to check on him and knelt beside him.

"He is fine, Avalonna." Queen Aurora said as she and Connor joined her.
"Or more accurately, he will be fine after time and rest. As will Lydia." She cast a glance at her daughter, seemingly unsure whether or not to attend to her.

"We have more pressing concerns at the moment." Connor said cooly. He need not say more, Avalonna could imagine how much he desired to banish Drakar.

"You're right, let's go." Avalonna replied after a moment.

Cyra stood over Drow and Lydia and tended to them with her spells. Avalonna smiled slightly to herself when they began to stir. She and her brother hurried with Aurora over to where Drakar was still chained.

"Cast your spell quickly!" Diamandra ordered, clearly exhausted from maintaining the holding spell so long. She and Nera had obvious signs of strain as Drakar stirred, trying to escape his binds.

"I commend you, witch." Drakar stated.
"I had not thought you would attack your friends, let alone your own brother. His dark half must have aided him in his recovery from my control."

Connor clenched his fist and approached Drakar. Avalonna and Aurora joined him and held hands.

"You will regret you attacked us, dragon lord." Aurora said.

"When we banish you, we will defeat the Nitehardts and rid the world of their evil." Avalonna added.

Drakar seemed to smile in amusement and his deep chuckle echoed in their minds.
"You think this is over, you think defeating them will be so easy. If it was, why haven't I been able to do so?" He said with a sneer.
"You stand no chance."

"We shall see." Connor said, looking firmly into the dragon's eyes. He and Avalonna held out their palms towards Drakar and concentrated on their magic. All three spell casters closed their eyes as the energy and words came to them.

"Exilium!" They all said in unison. The wind began to pick up and swirl around them and the snow blew off the ground near Drakar. The loss in energy Avalonna and Connor both felt was almost enough to make them collapse, but they were determined to finish the spell.

"Exilium!" They chanted once more. Drakar roared and thrashed angrily, but his chains held firm. The shadows and darkness around him began turning into light and he himself shined brightly. The wind swirled faster and howled loudly as the lights became blinding. Just as Avalonna and Connor were on the brisk of fainting, the lighs and sounds immediately stopped. Drakar was nowhere to be seen, and all was silent.