She nodded. “I pissed off a whole lot of mesmer to get them out. I set up some decoys, but I have no idea how well they’ll work. My guess is they’re going to be combing the forest looking for us.” She paused, then shook her head. “When I say a lot, I mean a LOT. Hundreds. I already killed at least a hundred of them, but there’s still so many more…”
“We’ll tell her to stay put and be on guard. They should have plenty of supplies until we can get them.” Derrick instantly took control, and she could see his eyes take on a faraway look, as if he was mentally organizing what needed to be done.
“There’s more.” His attention snapped back to her. “Like I said, I’m not sure how long I’m going to last. We’re going to need a pickup squad as soon as possible. The further into the plains we go, the more tired I’m going to be.” She paused, then sighed. “I really need a healer, too. I can’t heal myself very easily anymore, and I got a rather deep injury. It’s nothing life-threatening at the moment, but I need it looked at sooner than later.”
She paused again, then pointed the mirror to the side, showing the bound mesmer Tevon. “That’s the last thing. I found your brother, or what’s left of him.” She heard gasps from the other side of the mirror, then turned it back to her and away from him. “I need Mike and Scylla and their apprentices again. Have them come to the gate we’ll be using, if possible. Set up an infirmary room. I’m going to try and reverse the process with their help. I don’t think it’s something I can do alone, and I’m not even sure I can...but I’ll try.”
Derrick nodded, then choked out softly, “Thank you. Thank you for bringing my family back…”
She smiled, then shook her head. “You can thank me when it’s over and we’re all home safely. I’ll let Tisha keep you updated from now on though. I need to focus on getting us out of here.” They nodded and she handed the mirror back to Tisha. She could hear them holding their conversation quietly, though it was mostly Ashanna and Victor talking from the other end, so she figured Derrick went off to do as she’d asked.
The sea of trees still lay before them as they zoomed across the starry expanse of sky. The forest beneath seemed unnaturally quiet, the creatures scared into hiding by the fire she’d left burning for...however long she’d been down there. Glancing at her pocket watch, she realized it was around 4:30 in the morning. That actually made her breathe a small sigh of relief. If she could last until sunrise, get out onto the plains...things would be better.
Glancing at the mesmer she’d trapped, her thoughts hesitated. He wasn’t going to burn up in the sun like a vampire, right? She would probably need to cover him, just in case. At least weakened by the sun would make him an easier prisoner. Right?
How did they get from the center of the forest to the city and back in a night though? She understood that they were fast, but so was she! What was the trick? It had taken hours simply to get from the city to the woods, and hours more into the woods. She supposed that it would have to be all they did that night. It was a full-day excursion equivalent.
Her musings lasted until they hit the edge of the forest an hour later. Her meat stores were almost completely gone now; she had to continuously eat in order to maintain the two air bubbles supporting so many people. There went her hope of having an easy mana source. It was barely enough for a rescue mission! Of course, she was also trying not to think about the fact that she’d basically eaten almost two entire beasts that were double her size. Nope. Not thinking about that.
“We’re at the plains now.” She heard Tisha explaining their positioning into the mirror as they shot out from above the trees. As soon as they cleared the trees, she began to lower them as they flew forward. Just in case. Not that she was planning on a crash landing, but the closer they were to the ground, the less likely they’d go splat in case something happened. Her muscles ached, the tension of the night sapping her strength.
Further and further she went, trying to cover as much distance as possible. When the first rays of light peeked over the mountain, they were skimming barely fifteen feet above the ground, and she sighed as she heard Tevon try to hiss in pain. She hoped they were almost to the road, so she set the bubble down on the ground, the others spreading out instantly in a perimeter. Tevon was unceremoniously dumped on the ground as she threw a blanket over him to shield him from the light, at which point he settled down and stopped grumbling through his gag. They really didn’t like the light, it seemed.
She felt so tired, but they weren’t safe yet. She could at least get her babies to--she stopped dead, looking back to the forest. Her babies were in the base! They were too far away for her connection to link to them, though she could still feel them vaguely in that direction. She frowned. This hadn’t been part of her plan. She’d intended to return to the base and collect the animals to carry them as well as her babies.
Pulling out another mirror, she plopped to the ground, sitting there as the others looked at her cautiously. It was Hayden who stepped forward, asing quietly, “Do you want me to power the mirror?” She looked uncomprehendingly at him for a moment, then nodded. He sat next to her, putting one hand over hers as he asked quietly, “Who are we contacting?”
“Marcelle.” Her throat was raw, the word a dry croak. Hayden nodded and the mirror took on the misty quality of attempted connection. About twenty seconds later, it cleared to show Marcelle’s very tired face. Jade attempted a small smile. “Hey.”
Marcelle glared in the mirror. “Don’t ‘hey’ me! Why on earth did you go out alone? Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? You could have been killed! You--”
“Marcelle.” Jade’s voice stopped her tirade as she seemed to take in the condition Jade was in, as well as the fact that Hunter was next to her. He was even surreptitiously propping her up from the side, for which she was grateful, because it felt like she should just lay back and sleep for a few days. “You got the news from the king, yes? That you need to stay put until we can get help?” At Marcelle’s nod, Jade smiled slightly again. “Okay. I need you to break that a little bit. I need you to let my fellacai out.”
Looking thoughtful, Marcelle nodded. “They’ve been hovering by the door for a few hours now, but we weren’t sure what to do.”
Jade nodded. “Let them out. They’ll come find me. Actually, can you take the mirror to them?”
The bobbing of the shining surface let her know that Marcelle was doing just that, though she didn’t have to walk far. Drawn by the sound of her voice, her babies returned to the main room and were now fluttering around Marcelle. She let out a hoarse laugh when Lilith landed on Marcelle’s forehead, shifting to look at the mirror.
“Lilith, be a sweetheart, don’t land on Marcelle’s face.” Jade smiled at her tiny one, and she could feel the link through the mirror. That was interesting, and she wondered how it worked.
“We worried. So far away.” Lilith’s voice came through her connection, and she felt herself melting with love for her little ones.
“I’m okay. Marcelle is going to let you out. I’m in the plains. Can you come find me?” She used her most soothing voice to talk to the little queen, no doubt in her mind that her wonderful little ones could accomplish the task.