Chapter Text
The abyssal smog kept propagating over the wild hunt’s locations, even with their bright magenta glow— the smoke made it harder to locate their exact positions.
Ever since Rerir had regained his strength utilizing the khuvaki cannon, the wild hunt had grown more rampant, more dangerous. That in itself is bad news for the light keepers who had been working overtime throughout the night, scattering their forces to cover more ground over the attacks. This too is a pain in his back for Flins himself.
Thinking about having to write the reports of each incident kept piling onto his desk at the lighthouse makes him grimace.
Flins raises his lantern once more in an attempt to dispel the abyssal filth— the fog did disappear, but it remained and kept multiplying itself as the sound of the enemy drew near. With an iron grip on his spear he quickly turned around and swung it at the wild hunt.
“γύρνα πίσω εκεί που ήρθες!” He muttered under his breath.
The fae fought and weaved through the onslaught of attacks deep into the night, from afar the fight looked as though it were a dance.
Though he need not breathe, the stench of the abyss kept choking him, attempting to extinguish the burning flame inside him the more he moved. It slowed down his movements and left the fae coughing and sputtering. Combined with the exhaustion of hours and hours of fighting made his head spin.
The grip on his spear tightened as he started to lose his footing, using the weapon as leverage. This left a perfect opening for the wild hunt to attack his vulnerable back, Flins caught it at the corner of his eye and every instinct in him ordered himself to move—get out the way, yet no matter how hard he tried his legs just won’t budge.
Πολέμησε, τρέξε, κίνδυνος, κίνδυνος! Move!
The wilderness hunter’s axe hit him square on the back sending Flins flying across the field crashing into the stony cliff near the light-bathed platform. He coughed up a bit of blood and attempted to stand up, only to get hit by another stray abyssal fire straight into his gut.
The fae braced himself, clutching his abdomen as he fell to the ground. Heaving—he looked around in an attempt to locate both his weapon and lantern which had slipped from his grip the moment he was hit, finding the weapon stuck into some rocks and his lantern shattered lying on the ground. Azure flames that once danced wildly had started to dim and flicker.
His eyes grew heavy even if Flins tried to fight it, the exhaustion gnawed on his very being no matter how much his mind screamed at him to get the lantern and get out of this danger. His limbs feel like stone, he couldn’t move. The rays of sunlight had started to glow, signifying how long he had spent in this place fighting the never ending hoard.
His vision slowly fades, his head spinning like never before. Every inch of his mind fought to stay awake long enough to send a distress signal, or whatever message warning the inhabitants in the surrounding area. But to do that now is far too late.
The screams of the wild hunt is all he hears before the world goes dark.
—༄—
The frost moon scions have been made aware of the spread of the wild hunt the moment the light keepers had arrived more frequently. Lauma is no stranger to treating wounds amongst her group, but with the increase in activity from the wild hunt—more light keepers ended up injured or worse at the frost moon enclave.
Her group had remained vigilant, making sure children don’t wander too far and made sure to report sightings to anybody that is able to help quell the attacks.
Most recently Lauma has heard one of the priestesses inform her of an outbreak in the ravine near the light-bathed platform, with the additional information that a lightkeeper was already there to take care of the issue.
However, that isn’t what concerns the Moonchanter in the slightest.
“You’re saying that the wild hunt near that area has not been cleansed?”
The priestess bowed, “Yes lady moon chanter, the sounds of battle from earlier have gone completely silent. And I haven’t seen the lightkeeper walk out from the battle zone either.”
Knowing that another life was lost to the wild hunt made a pit in her stomach, with a heavy heart Lauma will try and find that body for the lightkeepers and their family—as long as the corpse has not been desecrated by the monsters.
She needed to think, these attacks have never been this severe since the records dating back five hundred years ago; this is the concern that Lauma needs to raise at the next meeting at the Favonius hideout.
“Hi Lauma!” Paimon’s voice chimed in with liveliness, the traveller following behind with a friendly wave. “How have you been, Lauma? We’re passing by so might as well come to see how you all are doing.” Aether adds in after. Then he notices the heavy atmosphere where they are standing. “Did something bad happen? You don’t seem too well”
Lauma sighs with a heavy heart, “Recently, there has been an outbreak of the wild hunt nearby—and it seems the lightkeeper sent to dispel the darkness has passed…”
The air hung heavy with thick tension, no one dared to say a word—they only stood in silent condolences before Aether spoke up. “Do you have the location of the breakout? Or any descriptions of this light keeper? Maybe we’ll be able to retrieve the body for you.”
Lauma shook her head, “I appreciate the effort Aether, it's just that…”
“The area still hasn't been cleared.” the priestess added in.
“That won’t be too much of a problem for us!” Paimon said, voice dripping in confidence. “But what does this light keeper look like, hair, eyes and all.”
The priestess thought for a moment about the small glimpse she might’ve gotten of that light keeper. “I only saw a few glimpses from far away, I couldn't say for sure what gender they are. They had long blue hair, if I recall correctly.”
That revelation struck them all like a chord, Paimon's distressed squeak broke the silence and the priestess excused herself. Lauma didn’t know what to think—even if she and the ratnik had not been that close, it still brought her distress to know someone close is either already dead or is dying as they stood.
Aether cursed under his breath, if this situation was anything like how it was when he and Paimon were trying to find him after Sousi's murder; when then Flins was already struggling against Rerir. Flins is in grave danger. “We need to move, now.”
“I shall join you, in case he needs immediate aid.”
No more words were said as they all sprinted to where the ratnik was last seen.
—༄—
They all heaved with how fast they all ran, entering the area truly shows the severity of the situation. Aether notes to himself that the environment reacted the exact same way as it did when Flins was in combat with the sinner.
Abyssal fog scattered about the entire area just like it did in nothing passage, wild hunt scattered in small groups—yet larger in number. Though Rerir might not be here personally, it is undeniable that he might’ve known about Flins being here and sending more enemies his way.
Aether isn’t sure whether the sinner still wants the fragment of his heart back, or he’s simply taking revenge on the ratnik. The blond shook his head, trying to make sense of all of this currently is unnecessary. Their objective is to find Flins, send word to the light keepers about the situation, attempt to quell the wild hunt as best as they can; but if they can’t? Get Flins out of here and back to the frostmoon enclave as fast as possible.
“The abyssal stench here is so strong, I can barely make out the ravine…” Lauma broke the silence, making sure to scan every part of her surroundings for the lightkeeper–wherever he might be.
She activated her skills, the feeling of dendro thrumming beneath her skin as she resonated with Kuuvahki. Hoping that the elemental energy from her moonwheel can at least help light the way. “We need to be quick, if we can locate his lantern, Flins will surely be nearby.”
Aether nodded, he quickly attacked the wild hunt monster who attempted to attack him. “Lauma, Paimon you two can keep your eyes peeled for any sign of blue fire. I’ll try to distract the wild hunt and look for him at the same time.”
“Don’t split up for now, we don't know the risk level of the area.” Lauma added, her skills already bouncing along, distracting many of the hunt. The traveller already nodded thanks to the moonchanter, following the elemental deer and clearing the path for everyone else. “Lauma is right, Paimon can barely see anything in here.”
The three of them quietly traversed the terrain with caution and keen eyes. Scanning every nook and cranny for a sign of azure fire, leaving not a single stone unturned. It truly doesn't help that the area is incredibly moist, the ravine and river cutting the island in half makes the rock there dangerously slippery. One wrong move and one could easily sprain your ankle or risk worse injuries.
Aether wonders if that is the reason Flins fell to the wild hunt, one small misstep in a dire battle like this can easily result in death. He shook his head, attempting to get rid of these pessimistic thoughts as another monster fell to his blade. He has to keep his hopes up, that fae is strong–he wont fall so easily. Right?
Lauma kept walking along, knocking out a few of the wild hunt in the process. The light from her elemental energy illuminates enough of the surrounding area to know where she should or should not step. She just hopes that maybe the priestess that reported this to her had already gone and sent word to other lightkeepers about the situation–even if it was not ordered by her. Lauma had already decided that the best course of action when they eventually find Flins is to get him out of danger; no matter what it takes, she couldn't bring herself to let a friend die out here.
The search went on for a while until Paimon let out a shriek, pointing towards something glimmering in the light. “Look! Isn’t that Flins’s lantern?!”
All three of them ran towards the object. Aether carefully took the lantern in his hands and carefully inspected it, part of the glass was broken with shards lying on the damp ground. He nearly lets out a sigh of relief when he sees the Azure flame still alive within its container. Though it still worried him greatly. Where once it used to dance and flicker–mesmerizing any who stared into it, now it laid dim–barely considered an ember and slowly dying out.
“Aether! Over here! We found him!”
The traveller’s head nearly snapped with how fast his head had whipped around. He nearly lurched at the sight of Flins’s condition, placing the lantern in Paimon’s hands gently before walking over to check on more of the damage himself.
Aether couldn't exactly see the details of his right side since Lauma is busy checking over the wounds. The ratnik is slumped against the cliff side, an arm along over his abdomen, a dark spot of what he assumed to be blood seeped into the fabric of his clothes—his well-kept attire was torn in many places. Each sporting wound that has a chance of becoming infected, or already are.
Flins’ face seemed to show no emotion, he looked serene as if he’s just sleeping. If it weren’t for the blood dripping from his brow Aether could’ve chosen to believe that over the overwhelming reality that is crashing down on all of them.
The blonde carefully clutched on the other side of the fae, now only noticing the concerning pool of semi-dried blood Flins was sitting in. His breath hitched once he realized how pale Flins looked, if the ratnik’s appearance isn’t already pale enough—he practically looks like he’s…
“I feel a pulse! It’s weak, just barely there.” Lauma spoke up. Relief washing over her face, the moon chanter let out a shaky exhale. Knowing that Flins could still be alive eased her heart just a little bit. “We need to get him out of here, as soon as possible.”
Lauma still looked incredibly concerned, paimon already offering to quickly fly to the frostmoon enclave to give word to the other frostmoon scions.
“Gently lift him up, make sure to support his back, don’t jostle too much. Some of his wounds have started to dry out by now.” Lauma added when the traveller picked up the light keeper and Paimon can be seen holding onto Flins’ lantern ready to fly after the others.
Aether nodded, gently supporting the unconscious man in a bridal carry even if it was a little awkward with how tall Flins is. Lauma is already running towards the frostmoon enclave and he follows suit.