The Forsaken Arts

Chapter 50: Rally

Having made his way down the stairs and out through the main doors, Naitosai took a sharp right and saw that Thengol was no longer unconscious, but instead making his way back to his feet.

"...Hey, you okay man?" Naitosai asked while helping him up.

"Yeah... I'm fine." he grunted.

"You just fell four stories, take it easy."

After placing Thengol's arm around him, he noticed that his pant leg had a hole in it and was soaked with blood.

"Dude you should sit down, clearly you're hurt."

"Nonsense, I'm fine. Where is he anyway?" he stubbornly replied.

"Who.. oh you mean Curran? He disappeared into Grove Forest, the others gave chase."

Gripping his leg firmly, Thengol gave a quick but forceful squeeze as a pop sounded off, aligning his leg back into place.

"Then that's where we should be." he replied with a serious tone as he darted off towards the forest as well.

How a man could fall four stories, then simply pop his leg back into place and sprint off was a mystery to Naitosai. Looking down at the ground he noticed the blood that had started to dry as the outer ring of the puddle was a much darker shade than the center.

If that amount of blood came from him... then how could he...? He briefly shook his head to regain focus and took one final glance at the window to where his mother was.

"Llaw, I'm counting on you to keep her safe." he muttered before following suit towards the Grove.

Back in the recovery center, Llaw assisted Cecilee as she was trying to sit herself up, "How do you feel?"

"Ready to kick some ass." she replied with a gentle grin while rubbing her neck.

He was happy with her answer, glad that her fire did not die out completely, but instead rekindled itself.

"Wha...what happened, how did I end up here?" she asked while standing up and examining herself in front of a full length mirror.

She traced the minor scratches on her porcelain face down to the vivid bruising on her neck.

"You really don't remember?" he asked with a sympathetic stare.

"Remember?" she whispered, once again taking in the person who was staring back at her. The death, carnage and destruction from the battle all came flooding back.

"Mikhail!" she shouted while bolting towards the hall.

Before she could make it to the doors Llaw grabbed her by the arms.

"Take your damn hands off me!" she screamed while frantically pushing him away.

"Listen to me damn it, Krinx has him but we have a plan to get him back!"

Numbed by the news, she simply stared back at him with her emerald eyes. Endless scenarios played through her mind of all the things that could have happened to her youngest boy.

Quickly the worst imaginable thought took hold as tears began to well up in fear. Still holding her by the arms, he loosened his grip as the tears in her eyes finally rolled down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you. I just didn't what you to do anything rash."

Shaking her head, "I just want my son back." she replied in a defeated voice while grabbing Llaw's robe.

Drawing her into his arms, "I know, I know. I promise we'll get him back. The way Slarant explained it to us, with Curran's help everything is going to be okay."

Slarant? She thought as the tears subsided.

A vivid recollection of the man who abandoned her in the middle of a horde of creations still left a bad taste in her mouth, but if there was a way to get her son back, any option was better than none. After regaining her composure she pulled away from him.

"Great, that asshole's back.. Where is everyone anyway?" she inquired, glancing around the room.

"Good question." he responded while walking up to the window. "Naitosai ran off in a hurry to check on Thengol."

Curiously enough, she walked up behind him. "Umm okay then, where's Thengol?"

Llaw stared out the window with a dropped jaw as she came around to his side, looking down as well.

"Umm, hey Llaw, what are we looking at?" she asked puzzled as to why they were staring out of the window.

"Well... Thengol was down there a minute ago." he said hesitantly.

"What!?"

"Yeah, Thengol's body was there moments ago and Naitosai said for me to watch after you, he must have run down to go check on him. I honestly have no idea what's going on around here but apparently everyone left in a hurry. In any case, I'm not going to leave you. Guess we'll just have to wait it out till they get back." he said in an attempt to not excite her.

Turning back from the window, he realized that he had been talking to himself. He looked back out in time to see Cecilee running out from the front entrance.

"What the hell, how did she...!?"

Outside she knelt to investigate the scene. Thengol... what happened?

She outlined the dry patch of blood while searching her surroundings. Off in the distance she noticed several tracks of footprints leading into the Grove.

"Ceci! Wait!" Llaw shouted from the window.

"I promised that kid I'd watch over his mom." he muttered as he ran out of the room in chase of Cecilee and the rest of the group.