Inked Emissary

Chapter 18: Power

  "Okay, Stiles you are bleeding bad," Lydia said behind him, ever the voice of reason.

  Stiles looked down at his hand, the blood slowly trickling between his fingers and over them to drip to the floor. Then he looked at Ide at his feet, crouched down, patch of fur matted with blood. It hurt. A lot.

  The Spark knew that he was too weak to heal his familiar and Ide separately but he was loathe to join in front of so many people. Only Tommy, Sarah, Mitchell and Malia had ever seen it. Not even John. It was something that showed his full power. When he joined with the she-wolf, her form could be seen like a green ghost wrapped around him, not unlike a kitsune fox spirit. His eyes also turned green, every rune on his body would also glow with the colour of his magic. 

  But he had to, they were so much stronger together. So he did.

  He reached out and Ide stood, they looked into each other's eyes and Stiles placed his hand on the top of the wolf's head. She dissolved into the leaf-green sparks and their bonded appearance took effect, obvious by the gasps and intakes of breath.

  He held out his hands, the magic in his veins washing away all self-consciousness as he let green flames lick up the entirety of his body, closing the wound easily. He then looked over at the Nogitsune it seemed... afraid. That was a first. He felt a growl from Ide rumble through his body, leaving through his mouth- the only physical one in the pair at that time.

  Remembering the banishing he had preformed calmed the anger the seeped through him. The adrenaline, from letting all of his magic to the surface, building instead. Ide and Stiles cocked their heads slightly, ghostly wolf and Spark simultaneously watching the dark spirit.

  They then built and focused their joined power. It surged down to Stiles' hand which he waved before him as if swatting a fly. In a way he was. The Nogitsune was torn away in a gust of black smoke leaving no sign that it had ever stood there.

  The rush magic pulled Stiles and his familiar apart. The she-wolf's claws skittered on the floor as she reformed and had the brief struggle to regain balance, Stiles himself stumbled a bit. They had never used so much magic in one go, never preformed something do powerful, something considered a challenge with words. They were beyond that now though.

  Stiles turned to his friends to see all of them gobsmacked and Mitchell looking like a proud father.

 "I think that we should go see the other part of the problem. The main part," Stiles said, the buzz of the magic in his blood fading and leaving room for the embarrassment to reassert itself," I'd like to get dressed first though.

  His blush was very obvious, he knew it.

***

  After Stiles had showered and changed they had got straight to business. Stiles, Malia and the Sheriff got into Stiles' jeep, John, Sarah, Tommy and Mitchell got into John's car while Scott and Kira took Scott's motorcycle and Chris took his car with Liam and Melissa.

  Stiles led the little convoy, partly using the memory of the night before but mostly the pull to guide him. Ide was restless in the back of the jeep, showing how Stiles felt internally through her continuous wriggling. The pull from the Nemeton had been so strong before, it had taken every ounce of his will power to turn away from that power. He knew that the pull affected different creatures in a variety of ways he also knew that it was almost impossible for creatures of magic like the Sparks and Warlocks to resist the pull. He could feel it as he drive towards it, something in his chest, a tight sensation that eased the nearer he got, that easing becoming slowly more and more addictive.

***

  They pulled up on the side of the road closest to the clearing. Stiles could feel the power as an insistent presence in his mind and knew that the proximity was starting to effect the wolves as well.

  They all started to make their way through the undergrowth, sticks snapping under foot, leaves crunching and brambles grabbing at clothing. Ide lead the way, weaving in and out of the flora with the grace of the wild animal of which form she taken. This close her grey fur was rippling with green sparks, as it had been when they had woken up. The pull... Stiles couldn't bare it, it took every bit of his control to not start running towards the source of his want.

  They finally reached the clearing and there it stood. The great tree took all of their breath away, the twisting branches reaching out and dragging across the ground, the trunk thicker than any other tree that stood. Despite its majestic appearance, it was the aura and the history that did it. The Nemeton should be a stump, a disk of wood big enough to comfortably seat four men.

  Stiles, having seen it once before that day, broke out of his revelry before anyone else and took another step closer. He could feel the power emanating from the tree with even more intensity now that he was fully awake. He wanted to take another step, and another. He wanted, no needed, to reach out and touch the trunk, feel the bark and tap into some of that power.

  "Stiles? What are you doing?" Mitchell asked behind him.

  "This is definitely the reason that so many creatures are being pulled to Beacon Hills," Stiles said as a reply, not really answering the question but not really caring as a haze settled over him.

  He continued walking, Ide at his side, the world seeming to dissolve, his friends no longer mattering. As he got closer he was able to put a hand out and run his fingers through the leaves. The initial contact sent shivers down his spine. Then he reached the trunk and stopped, hesitating for the smallest moment. The moment passed and he lay his palm flat against the rough trunk of the Nemeton, a full body shudder taking hold. He was aware that the world started to look more green as he felt all of that power flood through him. It wasn't enough though, he needed to be closer.

  Stiles looked down at Ide, her fur wasn't grey anymore but green, almost translucent. Their gazes met, they wanted the same thing. A whine rose in the familiar's throat and Stiles felt the need so badly. He shut his eyes and tilted his head back. The Spark felt his familiar leave and he followed her, through the trails of power.