Glacia Near Yllestad, Evening
Armin had been the first of the Blood in Jonothon's group to panic and run through the shield. He hadn't been the last. Steadily, one by one, the Blood on the team had given in to the psychic battering that the witchblood was unleashing upon them, and more landens had fallen along the way, either to psychic cries of pain, or to their own fatigue, collapsing and being left in the snow as the shield left them behind.
The air was running out, and Jonothon's last power pack was in the red. His heart ached to leave them behind, but lingering behind to pick up those too weak to carry themselves was no longer an option.
The last of the Blood in his group, a Summersky Healer with shaking hands and a tear-streaked face, was relaying messages back and forth with their aerial guides as best as she could, though she keenly felt every single life as it slipped away behind them.
"We need to bear left," she managed, in a voice wrung dry from sobbing. "The Consort says that if we keep going forward, we'll run ourselves right off a cliff."
"But the wind..." A few of the beleaguered soldiers began to protest. Left was the same way the wind had shifted to. The cloud would continue following them if they went that way.
"Left," she repeated tersely, and bit back a cry of anguish as another man stumbled and fell. "The Consort says left. There's a cave."
"You heard her," Jonothon ground out, changing direction just a few feet short of where the ground would have ended underfoot for them entirely. "Follow me, unless any of you have suddenly developed the ability to fly."
Just continue forward," Warren said, his every word being relayed by the man he was carrying with him. "There'll be a cliff face just a few minutes' run ahead of you. Follow it south, there'll be a cave there. Stay on course... the path you're following is going to get narrow fast, and it's a long way down from there."
He sighed, watching the group switch directions, following his word to the last syllable. He didn't dare look back at the swath of destruction left behind by the sweeping smoke. There were too many screams left behind in that corpse of a forest. Too many failures.
"Bob, send a message to Karla. Tell her that we've got them heading for a cave, that they should be able to make it there before they run out of air."
Only air. Nothing could replace Jonothon's spent energy packs. But at least when they died, not that Warren would have Bob relay as much, they'd have a few minutes of breathing clean air, first.
Perhaps it would almost be kinder to have them suffocate and faint, have them slip out of consciousness entirely before the witchblood destroyed them all, instead.
It was only two minutes between the cliff and the cave. Two minutes at a dead run, all thoughts of conserving oxygen lost, now, to a gnawing panic that was taking over them all. The smoke was still too thick to see through, and the group on the ground had to take Warren at his word, had to hold out hope that there was, in fact, a cave up ahead.
Jono himself had been getting woozy, his feet dragging underneath him as the quality of air he was breathing while both running and trying to keep up a steady hum dropped to a level well below tolerable.
And then, like an oasis carved out of crumbling rock, they found the cave, breaking through the smoke and leaving it behind them for an instant of clarity. The cloud hadn't reached it yet, the air inside the cave would still be breathable, and they had perhaps a few seconds to make the dash...
Jonothon's shields slammed up against the opening of the cave a heartbeat before the gas itself reached it. Those that had made it in could almost appreciate the cool, fresh air that they were greedily sucking in. Could almost ignore the agonized screams of one more person who had fallen just a little too far behind to make it in.
Jonothon locked eyes with the man, a middle-aged farmer with two daughters back home, as he met his fate, like all of the others before him.
"Tell Karla," he murmured, not so much as blinking away from the horrors outside, "that we've made it to Worthington's cave."
He hesitated a moment more, and then he added, a little more quietly, "And tell her that it's been an honour to serve."
The shield had begun to flicker. They'd made it to the cave, just in time for him to see the last of his energy reserves slipping away.
Karla "They've made the cave," Karla reported, eyes full of tears she wasn't yet able to shed. "Jono's made it in and sealed it up tight. They'll stay there for--" the lump in her throat choked her and she swallowed it back. "--for as long as they can."
For as long as they had air. For as long as Jono's powerpacks held. Neither option was very long at all.
Raven "I will go get them," Raven said with no hesitation. She'd kept a tight hold on her panic and horror once they'd realized what was happening, but her heart was racing, and she needed to make certain Jono and the others would be safe from the witchblood.
"I will teleport to the cave and bring them back," she said, taking a step back to begin to do just that.
Karla Only to be stopped by Karla's hand on her shoulder. "Absolutely not," Karla said, tears already brimming in her eyes. "I can't risk you, too. It's too dangerous. I can't--we just have to accept--" She fell silent and just shook her head.
"I forbid it."
Raven "Karla, no!" Raven protested, fighting back tears as well. "I can do this! I can save them! I have to!" Accepting it was impossible. Her heart was already broken enough.
"Please," she said again. "I cannot let them die. I...I cannot let him die."
Karla "You can and you will." Karla's tone brooked no disobedience. "Jono knew what the dangers were. He knew that he might not--might not come back from this."
She pulled Raven in for a tight hug. "It will take you too long," she whispered. "You think I want him to die? He's like my brother. But his pack is already failing. Even if you get there in time, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to get everyone and get out."
She hated herself for denying this, for sentencing Jono, sentencing her people to this painful death. But she couldn't risk Raven, too.
"My answer is no."
Raven Raven clung to Karla, shaking and not fighting the tears that streamed down her cheeks. She'd seen so much death already. She had known that would be the case when she agreed to come to Glacia to fight for Karla's home, but somehow she'd never thought it could be one of her friends who paid that price. The idea of losing anyone of them was crushing enough. That it was Jono made it even worse.
It took her a moment to find her voice again, and she made one last plea. "Please," she begged. "I have to try."
Karla Deep breath. A long, shuddery deep breath that seemed to come up from Karla's toes. Jono agreed with her, at least. If he'd asked for rescue, she didn't think she'd have it in her to say no, even knowing that she'd likely risk Raven along with him.
"No," she said, looking into Raven's eyes. "Do not ask me again. The answer is no."
Raven Raven stepped back, nodding and wiping her eyes. She understood what Karla was saying, and why she was saying it. But she couldn't agree. She'd already made her decision before she had asked Karla for her permission.
Bowing her head, she whispered, "I am sorry." She couldn't meet Karla's eyes. "And I hope you will forgive me."
Lifting her arms, she teleported to the cave.
Karla *Jono.* He had no idea how hard this was for Karla. Jon was stubborn about his inability to maintain any kind of psychic contact. She felt like she was screaming down a line connected directly to his brain in order for him to hear even a whisper. *Jono, I'm here.*
There was grief in her mental voice, grief and guilt and an abiding sorrow too deep for words.
*You're not alone.*
Jono The shield flickered again. Jon took a half-step backward, motioning for his handful of survivors to move farther away from the cave's opening, still.
When he heard the voice, there was a moment of dubiousness. Just an instant of uncertainty that travelled back along that line as he wondered if that flicker had led to smoke in the cave. Maybe he was losing his mind now. Maybe exhaustion was catching up to him.
Still, a second later, that confusion was followed up by a tentative reply.
*... Karla?*
Karla *Took you long enough.* A flicker of humor, almost immediately gone again. *I--you're stuck there, Jono. Do you have enough battery life to hole up until it blows over?*
The regret in her voice suggested she already knew the answer.
Jono *Might've if we'd been standing by the cave the whole time. I've used too much getting us this far.*
Jono took another deep breath, threw his all into another low hum, eyes on the barrier as faces ghosted in and out of few, screaming, accusing, crying for help and inviting him to come and join them.
*Might have minutes.* The barrier flickered again. *More likely, we've got seconds. But we... fought the good fight. We won't be going softly.*
Karla *You understand that I can't let Raven rescue you, right?* Karla asked him, her guilt deepening. *I want her to! I want nothing more than to let her try. But I can't, Jono. I'm so sorry, but I can't.*
Jono *Then don't.* Jonothon's voice was tired. Resigned. *She's too important to Glacia to risk. Too important to you to risk. There's already smoke seeping in. I'm watching the barrier die, fighting to keep it up. I don't even know why. The wind isn't going to change. There's no golden chariot here to sweep us away.*
It flickered again. A woman standing a little too close coughed, whimpered, and tripped deeper toward the back of the cave.
*If she comes now, she'll only be caught in it too. You're doing the right thing.*
Karla *It doesn't feel right,* Karla sent. *It feels like I'm abandoning all of you to die.*
It hurt. And it was the correct thing to do, the strategic thing to do, but it didn't feel right. This decision would haunt Karla for as long as she lived, she knew that much all ready.
*I'm going to be with you. Till the end.* It was all she could promise. *When it comes, you won't be alone. And you won't suffer.*
Jono *Everyone we've lost has suffered,* Jonothon shared. It wasn't a protest. Not really. It was a lament. He didn't want to go the way they had gone. He knew pain. He knew it intimately. But this was something else. This had him terrified. Everybody they'd left behind tonight had died in agony.
He was the coward who was thankful that Karla had offered. He was the leader who would take the only bullet in the gun that was offered to him while everybody else screamed.
And he loathed that about himself in that moment, deeply and viscerally, while something deep inside that wasn't entirely him sneered and called him lesser.
*Thank you for being here, Karla. I... I mean...* He wasn't entirely certain when he'd gone from actively wishing to die to being so damn afraid of the knowledge that he would. *Don't get into too much trouble without me.*
Karla *Without you?* Karla sniffled. She wanted to make a joke, but nothing sprang to mind. Just the horrible realization of the gaping emptiness that 'without you' entailed. *When this is all over, I'll go get Joni, okay? And your strat. Maybe I'll even learn to play.*
And would butcher the lyrics of every guitar song in his name.
Jono *Joni's with April. Strat's in my room back on the island. And I swear, every time you destroy Enter Sandman I'll find myself putting serious consideration into coming back to haunt you.*
At least he could try to keep the banter light. Even if the thread of terror travelling between them outweighed the lightness of his words.
He couldn't be serious about this for too long. Not when he was so bloody scared.
Karla *Well, there goes any motivation I might have had to ever learn them properly.* Karla said. *It's 'Welcome to our Glacian band,' right? That's the line?*
She was arguing with Raven, clutching at her and forbidding her to go and save Jono, but she gave no sign of that in her mind. No reason to burden him with this. Just keep it light. Let him know he'll always be loved. Keep his mind away from how close death and possible rescue both were.
Jono Jonothon fell completely silent for a moment as the shield dropped entirely, a split-moment of mind-rending terror that didn't entirely fade when a desperate howl caused it to lift again. He backstepped, ducked low, tried to avoid the black wisps that twisted in the air around them.
*I think this is it, luv. I suppose if nothing else, there'll be a lovely lady on either side as I go.*
Or, at least, the lady on the other side said that she would try.
*Love you, little sister.*
Karla *Love you, too, brother-mine. Let me know when--RAVEN!*
Raven Much as she hated disobeying Karla's direct orders, there was no way Raven could do nothing when there were people who needed her. She didn't care about the risk to herself; she only wanted to get Karla's people -- and especially Jono -- to safety.
She teleported into the cave, startling many of those within, even some who had seen her demonstrate her power before. The black smoke that accompanied her movement between dimensions certainly didn't help.
"Do not worry, I am here to help," she said reassuringly, despite her own fear. "I will get you all to safety, I promise." Even if she'd never teleported a group this large before. She could do it.
Jono So help Jonothon, the black smoke curling through the cave caused even him a moment of panic, ridiculous as it was. After all, he was the one standing closest to the mouth of the cave, struggling to keep the opening sealed.
But there had been that creeping fear that the cave might have another way in, and for a half a second, Raven's smoke confirmed it.
He didn't say a word. He didn't have near enough focus to direct his voice two ways at once with his power so bloody low. But he did make a gesture for his men to run toward Raven. And, though many still seemed bewildered by the idea, some did.
Just as Jonothon's last power pack ran out, and the nightmarish roil of witchblood started to creep into the cave.
Raven Raven stretched out her arms, releasing her Soul-Self. Her body started to glow with a strange purple light as she opened a portal -- no, became a portal -- to the netherverse.
This way. Come into the light. Hurry! Her voice wasn't coming from her lips, but from her Soul-Self as its wings stretched out to fill the cave, none-too-gently pulling to her any who weren't obeying Jono's gesture. As each person came close enough to touch her, they vanished into the purple light and were held safely under the rose-violet skies of the netherverse.
Concentrating on keeping the portal open, she didn't see Jono's shield collapsed, but she felt the spike of fear as the witchblood smoke began to creep into the cave. Jono! Come to me now! she yelled.
Jono Jonothon lingered behind for only a moment. Only long enough to take quick stock of who was moving and who wasn't. Only long enough to grab those who were too exhausted to move, to shove them bodily at the safety of the light.
It wasn't until the last bedraggled soldier was out of sight that he moved toward Raven himself, first at a run, and finally as a desperate stumble as his lungs began to burn.
He would make a mental note to yell at Raven for disobeying direct orders later. Right now, he wasn't thinking about much of anything except moving forward, and not screaming.
Raven Raven's wings wrapped around Jono, making certain he didn't fall before he reached her. She drew him into the netherverse with the others and quickly closed the portal. The smoke couldn't touch them now, but it was rapidly moving toward her.
She felt strangely heavier in a way. Teleporting herself was as simple as breathing. A small group took little effort as well. But a group this big took all her strength to keep them together and prevent them from being randomly transported to another dimension. She refused to fail. Too many lives were depending on her now. There'd been enough death already, and she wouldn't allow any more if there was anything she could do to prevent it.
The witchblood smoke was inches away when she stepped into the netherverse herself and opened another portal. Purple light flared and black smoke billowed in an open space next to Karla's camp, and when it faded, Jono and his troops were there, with Raven standing in midair a few feet overhead. She had enough time to register confusion as to just how she was floating before falling to the ground, drained of strength.
[And one more for the night! Follows Part one, part two, part three, and part four! A little more to go and then we'll be done with the spam. Preplayed with all the lovely ladies threading within, NFI, NFB, and OOC is, of course, still love.]
The air was running out, and Jonothon's last power pack was in the red. His heart ached to leave them behind, but lingering behind to pick up those too weak to carry themselves was no longer an option.
The last of the Blood in his group, a Summersky Healer with shaking hands and a tear-streaked face, was relaying messages back and forth with their aerial guides as best as she could, though she keenly felt every single life as it slipped away behind them.
"We need to bear left," she managed, in a voice wrung dry from sobbing. "The Consort says that if we keep going forward, we'll run ourselves right off a cliff."
"But the wind..." A few of the beleaguered soldiers began to protest. Left was the same way the wind had shifted to. The cloud would continue following them if they went that way.
"Left," she repeated tersely, and bit back a cry of anguish as another man stumbled and fell. "The Consort says left. There's a cave."
"You heard her," Jonothon ground out, changing direction just a few feet short of where the ground would have ended underfoot for them entirely. "Follow me, unless any of you have suddenly developed the ability to fly."
Just continue forward," Warren said, his every word being relayed by the man he was carrying with him. "There'll be a cliff face just a few minutes' run ahead of you. Follow it south, there'll be a cave there. Stay on course... the path you're following is going to get narrow fast, and it's a long way down from there."
He sighed, watching the group switch directions, following his word to the last syllable. He didn't dare look back at the swath of destruction left behind by the sweeping smoke. There were too many screams left behind in that corpse of a forest. Too many failures.
"Bob, send a message to Karla. Tell her that we've got them heading for a cave, that they should be able to make it there before they run out of air."
Only air. Nothing could replace Jonothon's spent energy packs. But at least when they died, not that Warren would have Bob relay as much, they'd have a few minutes of breathing clean air, first.
Perhaps it would almost be kinder to have them suffocate and faint, have them slip out of consciousness entirely before the witchblood destroyed them all, instead.
It was only two minutes between the cliff and the cave. Two minutes at a dead run, all thoughts of conserving oxygen lost, now, to a gnawing panic that was taking over them all. The smoke was still too thick to see through, and the group on the ground had to take Warren at his word, had to hold out hope that there was, in fact, a cave up ahead.
Jono himself had been getting woozy, his feet dragging underneath him as the quality of air he was breathing while both running and trying to keep up a steady hum dropped to a level well below tolerable.
And then, like an oasis carved out of crumbling rock, they found the cave, breaking through the smoke and leaving it behind them for an instant of clarity. The cloud hadn't reached it yet, the air inside the cave would still be breathable, and they had perhaps a few seconds to make the dash...
Jonothon's shields slammed up against the opening of the cave a heartbeat before the gas itself reached it. Those that had made it in could almost appreciate the cool, fresh air that they were greedily sucking in. Could almost ignore the agonized screams of one more person who had fallen just a little too far behind to make it in.
Jonothon locked eyes with the man, a middle-aged farmer with two daughters back home, as he met his fate, like all of the others before him.
"Tell Karla," he murmured, not so much as blinking away from the horrors outside, "that we've made it to Worthington's cave."
He hesitated a moment more, and then he added, a little more quietly, "And tell her that it's been an honour to serve."
The shield had begun to flicker. They'd made it to the cave, just in time for him to see the last of his energy reserves slipping away.
Karla "They've made the cave," Karla reported, eyes full of tears she wasn't yet able to shed. "Jono's made it in and sealed it up tight. They'll stay there for--" the lump in her throat choked her and she swallowed it back. "--for as long as they can."
For as long as they had air. For as long as Jono's powerpacks held. Neither option was very long at all.
Raven "I will go get them," Raven said with no hesitation. She'd kept a tight hold on her panic and horror once they'd realized what was happening, but her heart was racing, and she needed to make certain Jono and the others would be safe from the witchblood.
"I will teleport to the cave and bring them back," she said, taking a step back to begin to do just that.
Karla Only to be stopped by Karla's hand on her shoulder. "Absolutely not," Karla said, tears already brimming in her eyes. "I can't risk you, too. It's too dangerous. I can't--we just have to accept--" She fell silent and just shook her head.
"I forbid it."
Raven "Karla, no!" Raven protested, fighting back tears as well. "I can do this! I can save them! I have to!" Accepting it was impossible. Her heart was already broken enough.
"Please," she said again. "I cannot let them die. I...I cannot let him die."
Karla "You can and you will." Karla's tone brooked no disobedience. "Jono knew what the dangers were. He knew that he might not--might not come back from this."
She pulled Raven in for a tight hug. "It will take you too long," she whispered. "You think I want him to die? He's like my brother. But his pack is already failing. Even if you get there in time, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to get everyone and get out."
She hated herself for denying this, for sentencing Jono, sentencing her people to this painful death. But she couldn't risk Raven, too.
"My answer is no."
Raven Raven clung to Karla, shaking and not fighting the tears that streamed down her cheeks. She'd seen so much death already. She had known that would be the case when she agreed to come to Glacia to fight for Karla's home, but somehow she'd never thought it could be one of her friends who paid that price. The idea of losing anyone of them was crushing enough. That it was Jono made it even worse.
It took her a moment to find her voice again, and she made one last plea. "Please," she begged. "I have to try."
Karla Deep breath. A long, shuddery deep breath that seemed to come up from Karla's toes. Jono agreed with her, at least. If he'd asked for rescue, she didn't think she'd have it in her to say no, even knowing that she'd likely risk Raven along with him.
"No," she said, looking into Raven's eyes. "Do not ask me again. The answer is no."
Raven Raven stepped back, nodding and wiping her eyes. She understood what Karla was saying, and why she was saying it. But she couldn't agree. She'd already made her decision before she had asked Karla for her permission.
Bowing her head, she whispered, "I am sorry." She couldn't meet Karla's eyes. "And I hope you will forgive me."
Lifting her arms, she teleported to the cave.
Karla *Jono.* He had no idea how hard this was for Karla. Jon was stubborn about his inability to maintain any kind of psychic contact. She felt like she was screaming down a line connected directly to his brain in order for him to hear even a whisper. *Jono, I'm here.*
There was grief in her mental voice, grief and guilt and an abiding sorrow too deep for words.
*You're not alone.*
Jono The shield flickered again. Jon took a half-step backward, motioning for his handful of survivors to move farther away from the cave's opening, still.
When he heard the voice, there was a moment of dubiousness. Just an instant of uncertainty that travelled back along that line as he wondered if that flicker had led to smoke in the cave. Maybe he was losing his mind now. Maybe exhaustion was catching up to him.
Still, a second later, that confusion was followed up by a tentative reply.
*... Karla?*
Karla *Took you long enough.* A flicker of humor, almost immediately gone again. *I--you're stuck there, Jono. Do you have enough battery life to hole up until it blows over?*
The regret in her voice suggested she already knew the answer.
Jono *Might've if we'd been standing by the cave the whole time. I've used too much getting us this far.*
Jono took another deep breath, threw his all into another low hum, eyes on the barrier as faces ghosted in and out of few, screaming, accusing, crying for help and inviting him to come and join them.
*Might have minutes.* The barrier flickered again. *More likely, we've got seconds. But we... fought the good fight. We won't be going softly.*
Karla *You understand that I can't let Raven rescue you, right?* Karla asked him, her guilt deepening. *I want her to! I want nothing more than to let her try. But I can't, Jono. I'm so sorry, but I can't.*
Jono *Then don't.* Jonothon's voice was tired. Resigned. *She's too important to Glacia to risk. Too important to you to risk. There's already smoke seeping in. I'm watching the barrier die, fighting to keep it up. I don't even know why. The wind isn't going to change. There's no golden chariot here to sweep us away.*
It flickered again. A woman standing a little too close coughed, whimpered, and tripped deeper toward the back of the cave.
*If she comes now, she'll only be caught in it too. You're doing the right thing.*
Karla *It doesn't feel right,* Karla sent. *It feels like I'm abandoning all of you to die.*
It hurt. And it was the correct thing to do, the strategic thing to do, but it didn't feel right. This decision would haunt Karla for as long as she lived, she knew that much all ready.
*I'm going to be with you. Till the end.* It was all she could promise. *When it comes, you won't be alone. And you won't suffer.*
Jono *Everyone we've lost has suffered,* Jonothon shared. It wasn't a protest. Not really. It was a lament. He didn't want to go the way they had gone. He knew pain. He knew it intimately. But this was something else. This had him terrified. Everybody they'd left behind tonight had died in agony.
He was the coward who was thankful that Karla had offered. He was the leader who would take the only bullet in the gun that was offered to him while everybody else screamed.
And he loathed that about himself in that moment, deeply and viscerally, while something deep inside that wasn't entirely him sneered and called him lesser.
*Thank you for being here, Karla. I... I mean...* He wasn't entirely certain when he'd gone from actively wishing to die to being so damn afraid of the knowledge that he would. *Don't get into too much trouble without me.*
Karla *Without you?* Karla sniffled. She wanted to make a joke, but nothing sprang to mind. Just the horrible realization of the gaping emptiness that 'without you' entailed. *When this is all over, I'll go get Joni, okay? And your strat. Maybe I'll even learn to play.*
And would butcher the lyrics of every guitar song in his name.
Jono *Joni's with April. Strat's in my room back on the island. And I swear, every time you destroy Enter Sandman I'll find myself putting serious consideration into coming back to haunt you.*
At least he could try to keep the banter light. Even if the thread of terror travelling between them outweighed the lightness of his words.
He couldn't be serious about this for too long. Not when he was so bloody scared.
Karla *Well, there goes any motivation I might have had to ever learn them properly.* Karla said. *It's 'Welcome to our Glacian band,' right? That's the line?*
She was arguing with Raven, clutching at her and forbidding her to go and save Jono, but she gave no sign of that in her mind. No reason to burden him with this. Just keep it light. Let him know he'll always be loved. Keep his mind away from how close death and possible rescue both were.
Jono Jonothon fell completely silent for a moment as the shield dropped entirely, a split-moment of mind-rending terror that didn't entirely fade when a desperate howl caused it to lift again. He backstepped, ducked low, tried to avoid the black wisps that twisted in the air around them.
*I think this is it, luv. I suppose if nothing else, there'll be a lovely lady on either side as I go.*
Or, at least, the lady on the other side said that she would try.
*Love you, little sister.*
Karla *Love you, too, brother-mine. Let me know when--RAVEN!*
Raven Much as she hated disobeying Karla's direct orders, there was no way Raven could do nothing when there were people who needed her. She didn't care about the risk to herself; she only wanted to get Karla's people -- and especially Jono -- to safety.
She teleported into the cave, startling many of those within, even some who had seen her demonstrate her power before. The black smoke that accompanied her movement between dimensions certainly didn't help.
"Do not worry, I am here to help," she said reassuringly, despite her own fear. "I will get you all to safety, I promise." Even if she'd never teleported a group this large before. She could do it.
Jono So help Jonothon, the black smoke curling through the cave caused even him a moment of panic, ridiculous as it was. After all, he was the one standing closest to the mouth of the cave, struggling to keep the opening sealed.
But there had been that creeping fear that the cave might have another way in, and for a half a second, Raven's smoke confirmed it.
He didn't say a word. He didn't have near enough focus to direct his voice two ways at once with his power so bloody low. But he did make a gesture for his men to run toward Raven. And, though many still seemed bewildered by the idea, some did.
Just as Jonothon's last power pack ran out, and the nightmarish roil of witchblood started to creep into the cave.
Raven Raven stretched out her arms, releasing her Soul-Self. Her body started to glow with a strange purple light as she opened a portal -- no, became a portal -- to the netherverse.
This way. Come into the light. Hurry! Her voice wasn't coming from her lips, but from her Soul-Self as its wings stretched out to fill the cave, none-too-gently pulling to her any who weren't obeying Jono's gesture. As each person came close enough to touch her, they vanished into the purple light and were held safely under the rose-violet skies of the netherverse.
Concentrating on keeping the portal open, she didn't see Jono's shield collapsed, but she felt the spike of fear as the witchblood smoke began to creep into the cave. Jono! Come to me now! she yelled.
Jono Jonothon lingered behind for only a moment. Only long enough to take quick stock of who was moving and who wasn't. Only long enough to grab those who were too exhausted to move, to shove them bodily at the safety of the light.
It wasn't until the last bedraggled soldier was out of sight that he moved toward Raven himself, first at a run, and finally as a desperate stumble as his lungs began to burn.
He would make a mental note to yell at Raven for disobeying direct orders later. Right now, he wasn't thinking about much of anything except moving forward, and not screaming.
Raven Raven's wings wrapped around Jono, making certain he didn't fall before he reached her. She drew him into the netherverse with the others and quickly closed the portal. The smoke couldn't touch them now, but it was rapidly moving toward her.
She felt strangely heavier in a way. Teleporting herself was as simple as breathing. A small group took little effort as well. But a group this big took all her strength to keep them together and prevent them from being randomly transported to another dimension. She refused to fail. Too many lives were depending on her now. There'd been enough death already, and she wouldn't allow any more if there was anything she could do to prevent it.
The witchblood smoke was inches away when she stepped into the netherverse herself and opened another portal. Purple light flared and black smoke billowed in an open space next to Karla's camp, and when it faded, Jono and his troops were there, with Raven standing in midair a few feet overhead. She had enough time to register confusion as to just how she was floating before falling to the ground, drained of strength.
[And one more for the night! Follows Part one, part two, part three, and part four! A little more to go and then we'll be done with the spam. Preplayed with all the lovely ladies threading within, NFI, NFB, and OOC is, of course, still love.]