Silver Lining

Chapter 8 - A Warning Sign

Gareth slowly raised his hand towards the fallen mages on the ground . Soon Endora and Lance were floating in the air , still unconscious. He twisted his hand slightly and the two bodies were placed in a secure horse carriage  .

" Make sure to seperate them , I want the other two to come with me. Seren and Gareth , take the first carriage and go the Nether House - Lady Sabrina will be waiting for you there. Melina your coming with me ".

Cormac ordered his team of demon knights. As usual he held a sly grin , Cormac really did love to show off his authority and power. However that tends to change when Sabrina was around . He had his own motives for being under the rule of Lady Sabrina . Cormac was already plotting her demise , he had a pure hated towards Lady Sabrina because of the ultimate power she has over the Shadow realm and soon the Kingdom of Ocondra.

Although she wasn't here so Cormac had other plans for the remaining two mages on the ground . He needed to let out his frustration on the white assassin of how she slipped through his fingers .  Until then , Cormac has to lay low and hide his ambitions .

" Why are we separating these wizards ? Surely Mistress Sabrina wanted the mages all together at the Nether House . "

Gareth was always suspicious of Cormac and his intentions . He has always been devoted to Lady Sabrina - a little too much for Cormacs liking so he had to play it down for him. He was getting fed up with his own subjects questioning his orders and motives.

" We have been given new orders . It will be much more dangerous if we let the white assassin be around her comrades as she has more of a chance to escape - which we cannot   allow   again. Is that clear enough for you Gareth ? ".

Cormac spat harshly .He gave Gareth a scolding glare.

" Yes " ... Gareth slightly dipped his head in a nod.

Across the field of West Bay , Jervis and Rose hid in the bushes and were listening to the conversation between the demon knights .

" I can't sit here any longer and watch our friends be captured and beaten down , I'm going down now -"

Rose immediately held down Jervis' shoulder to prevent them from being spotted. Her eyebrows were furrowed as she continued to look helplessly at her unconscious friends.

" We can't risk being spotted . If they know we are the only ones left they'll be sure to capture us as well. We don't stand a chance against them "...

Rose was conflicted but she had to be smart in this situation , not reckless .

" Well what are we supposed to do ? Wait until our friends get taken to a place we can't find them ? Or worse until they decide to kill them ! "

Jervis was getting desperate, Rose could sense that . He never usually was good under pressure and always ended up being reckless without thinking of the consequences.

" I know this is hard Jervis but if we get caught who's going to save all of us then ? No one has escaped the clutches of the Demon Knights so we have big odds stacked against us . I have a a better plan than rushing in head on ".

Jervis was silent for a moment , debating whether to listen to Rose . His face hardened as he witnessed Lance and Endora being locked away in the first carriage. Silver and Ashley were next into being tied and locket up into the second carriage. He huffed in defeat and turned to Rose .

" What's your plan "?

Rose smiled , glad that Jervis always trusted her instincts .

" We follow their trail and track them down . When they are off guard at night time that's when we will strike and get all our friends back ".

Nodding Jervis was a little more relaxed now that they had a plan in motion , but something was bothering him .

" When Ashley woke up in the medical ward , did you notice anything off with her ? "

It was rather a peculiar question but strangely she did feel something was not right when Ashley arrived at West Bay . As if the balance in magic power had been disturbed and changed .

" Now that you mention it , I did feel some disturbance when I did a magic aura check on Ashley when she was unconscious. Something on her seemed to be spelled . I thought it was a type of protection spell but maybe that wasn't the case . "

"I have a feeling that someone dangerous was looking for her . It would make sense that Ashley takes some part of the return of the legendary demon Lazarus if the Knights of the demon are looking for her . Especially since you had a premonition of his return when you had contact with Ashley . "

Rose has been thinking of the exact same thing since her encounter with Ashley while tending to her wounds . It had been bugging her non stop but she didn't want to worry Silver or Jervis if it wasn't necessary.

" That is exactly why I had to use my magic on her last night . I feel so bad about it but it needed to be done ..."

"Wait what ?" Jervis was very shocked to hear this because she has never done this before to anyone at West Bay school.

" I enchanted the sound of her heart beat to my ears so if she was close by I can hear her but if she wasn't it would be very faint . In other words , yes it was a tracking spell ."

" Rose - "

" I know it was wrong at the time but that premonition scared me so it was more of a defence mechanism to me in case something like this happened. Now I'm glad I did it , we can easily track them now."

Rose watched as the first carriage holding Lance and Endora rolled away as the second carriage was about to leave as well .

" If you think this is going to work then I trust you ".

Rose was always grateful for the unbreakable trust between them . Makes her think there was more to him that he showed . Although the same could be said about her .

" Can you hear her heart beat now ?"

Rose closed her eyes and focused on the sound of Ashley's heart beat .

Thump ... thump ... thump ...

" Yes I can hear it clearly, it's a slow place but that's probably because she was knocked out ".

Rose whispered , opening her eyes again to focus on the remaining carriage .

The second carriage was now about to leave as a blonde man in shiny armour seated himself in the drivers seat of the horse carriage . A woman in black leather was about to board the front of the carriage when she froze and turned her head slightly to the side where Rose and Jervis were hiding in the bushes .

Rose held her breath as the woman in black looked directly into her eyes .

She knew they were hiding the whole time .

It was the most subtlest movements Rose had ever seen . The woman shook her head as if warning her not to interfere and stay hidden . Rose barley picked up the slow shake of her head but she confirmed the warning through the desperation in the girls eyes .

' Come to think of it , I've seen those eyes in someone else before ...'

Quickly turning on her heel the woman in black leather boarded the horse carriage . They rode away with great speed .

That's when Jervis tugged her sleeve and had a questionable face .

" Rose what did you see "?

...

" I think the woman in black is trying to give us a sign ".