Legendseekers Part 2: Mending The Broken

Troia snarled as she clashed against the first corrupted xyn that pounced at her. She slashed at it's face with her left paw- when she made contact with the corrupted xyn's cheek, with the protection of Athen's Mender spell, the black ooze from the corrupted's body simply glanced off of her forearm like water raindrops splashing away from a lily pad, with nothing sticking to her grey coat. The corrupted eyes, glazed in pure black, crackled with lightning as it registered what had happened. It howled in pain and lunged for her throat, and Troia in turn lunged towards it again.

As the two fought, more of the Royal Knights began to directly engage in physical combat against the Corrupted. The Lullay Knights stood back behind Royal reinforcements, casting spells to assist them. At least one Corrupted xyn had been captured and  subdued with a Lullay spell chaining it to the earth- for now, even as it writhed in pain, it was harmless until it broke free. The formerly silent Wingfell was now thrown into a crescendo of an uproar as more of the Royal Knights subdued their corrupted opponents, one by one. Together with her fellow Lullay knights, Athens fired more Mender spells from her horn to protect the Royal knights that fought on the ground and in the air.

Troia slashed down on the corrupted xyn's neck to crush it's windpipe, neatly knocking it unconscious in one blow. One scream pierced the air, and Troia's head immediately snapped towards the direction of the sound.

A civilian, cornered by a corrupted xyn, wailed as it clawed at their face. It was over in seconds. The cornered xyn shakily rose up, now corrupted as well. Troia's ears pinned down on her head, and as she hunched her body in a defensive stance, she could see that corrupted xyns were starting to filter into the city from the surrounding forest, and some of the royal and lullay knights that fell were becoming corrupted themselves. The numbers of the corrupted were beginning to swell- and some had shattered the doors and windows of buildings, prowling into the hiding places of civilians that had nowhere to run. Shrieks of agony and crying erupted from those buildings, too- and they immediately quieted, to only the sound of snarling. It was too late for them.

The heart of everyxyn that had not been corrupted yet was now surged with sheer terror. Even the prestigious Captains, able to rally their soldiers in times of desperation, could not keep the all-consuming despair of their own people at bay.

Knowing that the Royal and Lullay knights were being pulled away to directly assist with finding the secret to the waning moons. But the odds of winning now were increasingly slim by the second. How could the succeed when their own numbers were being turned against them?

"Troia!" She heard Athens cry out for her name. Something dark and  massive rammed into her body, and the sheer force of it launched her body into the ground several feet away.  A corrupted Vexyn had attacked- it growled, and slowly prowled up to her, step by step, gauging the reaction of its prey. Athens immediately leapt between them, and a blinding light erupted from the tip of his horn to frighten it away- it turned its head, stunned, and shied away a few steps. Athen's She felt his soothe magic bathing her in a warm light in an attempt to calm her- he was no Healer and could only do so much to quell the pain.

"Let me fight it!" Troia managed to snarl at Athens. "You need to leave!"

But before she could act,  memories of the past began to flash behind her eyes. First it was the sight of their corrupted vexyn father, his dark ooze crumbling to moondust- then his possessions being thrown into a fire to purge them from all evil after their his death, including Troia and Athen's favorite things-  young Athen's face, shedding tears as he watched the burning of the bonfire and everything that they shared together crumbling to ashes- Troia's mother's face darkening as she coldly turned away young Athens from the door of her manor, ushering young Troia inside- young Troia locking herself in her room and hiding in the dark, terrified to crawl out from underneath her bed, in case the corruption that came for their father now came for her too…

Troia could not move. Something felt stuck in her throat, but her muscles, frozen in place, would not let her swallow. Something wet brimmed between her eyes, but she could lift her paws to wipe them away.

The corrupted Vexyn had recovered from it's stunlock. Now properly seeing its chance, it crept closer to Athens and Troia- first it took one step, then two, then three, and then four....

Athens gritted her teeth and visibly bristled, positioning itself between the two again and planting her paws firmly into the earth. There would be no more chances to incapacitate this vexyn anymore.

Troia needed to leave now- at any cost.

And whatever would happen to Athens once she got Troia to escape, if this worked.... neither of them had the time to worry about it. What was done would be done.

"Troia! I don't have time to explain more than this," Athens shouted at her. "You must flee, for all of our sakes! Use the magic of my Moonsearch spell to take you away from here- you might be able to save the rest of us if you can find what the spell guides you towards! You can't worry about me!"

Athens's horn crackled to life with a second spell, sparks flying everywhere as she grimaced in sheer concentration. Before Troia could protest, the Moonsearch spell, combined with a calming Soothe magic, now formed itself as a luminous comet of light and launched itself at Troia. comet light spun itself around her feet, and she immediately stood upright, running yo to launch herself into the air to soar far into the sky as far as she could away from the city itself. The dulling pain from her injuries subsided lightly as the Soothe magic urged her on.

Damn that Athens, she thought, dully- the Soothe magic had subdued the rage and anguish from rising in her chest after what she had just been through. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself if anything happened to Athens now out of all times- and with Athens' magic even quelling the intensity of the emotions that wanted to erupt from inside- she could do nothing except to follow the guidance of the Moonsearch's comet.

Down far below, Athens managed a smile to himself before the vexyn pounced on him. The world suddenly went dark for Athens...

Troia had flown far past Wingfell's city. The comet containing the Moonsearch spell surged in its brightness, plunged into the forest below, and Troia dove down to follow it.

She looked around, warily, at her surroundings. Like the city before, the forest and streams running through it, though beautiful, were eerily silent and devoid of life. She couldn’t sense the influence of Corruption here, but at this point she could never be too sure- the adrenaline surging through her body had not subsided and she was on high alert.

What would Troia find here...?