Nix Terra

Fall - 14

 "No-" Lavender breathed, gripping the ground. "No." She kept saying it in horror as the map of Nixta on the sinister screen changed from black and white to red, as each of the tiny red dots expanded. "No..." She put her hand over the gunshot wound, spilling red on the floor just as the dots spilled red on the screen.

Finnikin tumbled to the ground next to Lavender and tried to hold her up. He pressed a gloved hand over her gunshot wound and applied pressure. "Lavender say a protection spell, now. You're bleeding out and I don't know any. Please, Lavender."

"They're all gone." Lavender breathed, "Everyone in Nixta- We failed."

"We saved every other city in the Below. Lavender, what's the incantation?"

Lavender murmured the spell, and Finnikin immediately began repeating it and applying more pressure to the gunshot wound. "Finnikin move your hand up slightly, you're putting the pressure in the wrong place. Don't waste your power on a healing incantation, you're not a healer. Use an ice spell, to freeze the blood over the wound."

"Won't that make it worse?" Finnikin asked.

"Just do it."

Finnikin nodded and followed Lavender's instructions.

Lavender tilted her head to the side and looked out the door of the control room back into the main hub. The scientists were still incapacitated on the floor, and the skeletons seemed to have completely subdued the armed Agents outside.

A door swung open in the main hub, and a group of soldiers marched in, armed to the teeth. Lavender's heart jumped in her chest, then she recognized the distinct uniforms of the United Mage Republic Militia. "I can't believe it-" Lavender murmured. "They actually came."

The group fanned out, checking all the doors. More troops marched in, accompanied by Pyromancer technicians, who were probably there to act as the necessary experts on explosives.

Finnikin looked up too, immediately calling for help. "Over here! We need help!"

The final group of soldiers entered with a healer and one Mr. Corey Gesly. His familiar dreads were pulled back in a professional ponytail and was pointing around the Niagara base. Gesly had gone from being the accused in this case to being the authority.

"There they are!" Someone shouted. "Miss Necros! Mister Frost! Are you hurt." A small team of three hurried over to them: two soldiers and the healer.

"Yes!" Finnikin pleaded, "She was shot protecting me- Be careful, there's witch hazel infused in their weapons."

The healer got to work tending Lavender's wounds while the two soldiers checked the control panels and the disabled Agents. The soldier who was observing the brute murmured, "Two civilians, single handedly took down this terrorist operation..."

The other soldier responded, "She's not a civilian, Miss Necros worked for the Nix Terra Unit before the textiles were stolen. The general has big plans for her."

"Quiet, please," the healer commanded. "I need to focus on this healing incantation so please, a moment of silence."

The soldiers grew quiet until the healer had finished her work. She successfully removed the knife and the bullet, then worked her magic. It did not quite leave Lavender unscathed, but she would be able to get up and walk around until she was admitted into a real hospital in the Below.

"Miss Necros, you have a visitor," the soldier by the door said.

"Lavender- Finnikin." Corey Gesly entered the room.

"Corey what happened?" Finnikin asked, getting up from Lavender's side to hug Corey. "Did they finally believe you were here to help us?" Finnikin let go of Corey and moved to lean against one of the control panels, which had been completely deactivated.