Storm Call

Familiar Introductions

Ender was the first to land at the house in the mountain, seeing that there had been no signs of any blue snow nearby. He took several small steps towards the door before everyone else arrived with Johann. They all were extremely dizzy and confused as to why they were there. Ender turned around and walked back to them before explaining what happened.

"When we were using that spell, I felt something pulling my energy," he told them, walking between Stella's legs while doing so. "Had I known it was Luna's house, I would've chose somewhere else." He stopped at the door shortly after saying this, seemingly waiting for someone inside to answer it. He heard light footsteps following a heavier set of them, which was most likely one of Luna's siblings, moving towards one of the windows. It opened, and there stood Clair, her older sister.

"It's about time you came back, Luna, especially with the snow being like this!" she shouted, sounding both concerned and glad that she hadn't been frozen. She then looked at the group and saw a new face before saying, "I see you've made a new friend, too! There should be enough room for everyone in here." With that final comment, she closed the window and opened the door, letting them all in.

After a bit of showing Liliona around the house, Luna told her, "There's only one place I can't show you or really tell you much about in here, but just ask me or one of my siblings if you need anything." She got a nod in return before they went back to the living room, holding everyone that was outside and her siblings. They were all deep in separate conversations, most of them about magic-related things. The family pet lyon, Liana, began to jump from person to person demanding back scratches or a quick play-fight, which confused everyone.

Stella was the first to ask a question. "I thought lyons were usually shy around new people, or is it because your scent is on us?" Luna wasn't sure, as this was the first time that Liana hadn't hissed at anyone or immediately hid when they came in. Seeing that she was also confused, Stella immediately said "nevermind" and proceeded to go upstairs. Ender followed from farther behind, making sure she didn't go in the wrong room. The conversations continued downstairs as the two continued.

"Where are you going?" Ender asked once she reached the end of the hall. She opened her wings in surprise after he spoke before turning around.

"I have to go. There's something that came up that I have to deal with."

"Then let me help y-"

"I don't want you to get hurt!" she shouted before quickly covering her mouth.

Ender replied, "Why now, specifically?" He was about to recount every other time they went somewhere dangerous together, but she answered before then.

"It's Ted. She's in trouble and I'm the closest to her."

"What kind of trouble?" Ender asked.

"She got in a fight and one of her wings is torn open in a cave full of crystal people. Fortunately they weren't as crazy as Xeno, but they were still relentlessly brutal." She sighed with both annoyance and worry before telling Ender, "Go get everyone else, but hurry. We don't have very long."

He hurried down the stairs, hoping that at least his own siblings would come, who he unknowingly passed on the way down. When he hit the bottom step, he began searching for their scents before realizing that they were above him. He immediately ran back up to the sight of Johann, Taylor, and Stella in their cat forms. Before long, he heard the others following him closely.

"What's going on?" Clair asked, concerned. She was the last one to reach the hallway and was greeted with the sight of everyone, excluding Luna and the dragons, in their alternate forms. They were whispering about something she couldn't quite hear. She gasped before asking, "Is there anything I can do to help?" Luna turned around and began staring at her sister's hat, which was embroidered with the shapes of Liana and Bo, the pet bat of Leon, their younger brother.

"I'll need the hat. It has some of my magic in it and I might need it," she told her. When her sister hesitated, Luna angrily shouted, "There are more crystalites we have to deal with! I need to be as close to 100% as I can without triggering that damn curse, and the hat has just enough to keep it that way!" Several objects in the hall began to float, each of them engulfed in a strange white aura that emanated from Luna. After some time had passed, she sighed and let everything go, all of it landing with soft thuds.

"This really isn't up for debate, is it?" Clair whispered as a reply. She walked up to the group, having to step over various things left from her sister's small temper flare, before taking the hat off and gently setting it on top of Luna's head. Once it touched her, it began to glow a soft navy blue, providing enough light for the two to see the floating dust near them. "At the very least, stay safe while you're out this time," she said after looking over her cuts and tattered clothing, most of which had already began mending itself. She looked at everyone else one final time before giving Luna a hug and going into a nearby room.

Before long, everyone decided on how they would get to where Ted was; Ender, Johann, and Milo would trudge through the snow, with Milo giving Sadie a ride, with everyone else flying themselves, except for Stella, who agreed to give Luna a lift in exchange for knowledge of the curse she had.

Unbeknownst to them, a crystalite had unearthed itself to see if the others began to come to their camp. Upon seeing that they were all leaving the house and headed towards the direction of the camp, it immediately buried itself and slid through the tunnel it burrowed. As soon as it made it back to the cavern that Ted was in, it began to shout.

"We have the others coming straight for us! To avenge our father, we must take them down at all costs! Ready your weapons, ready your shields! They are the worthy opponent! Our battle shall be legendary!"