"Where did the others go?" Rory asked, not stopping to turn to whoever was still with her. She turned into an alley, getting far away from the house. She tried to stick close to the walls in order to stay out of sight. She ducked under a few pieces of clothes drying from a string. Rory glanced around, unsure of what to do. She wasn't sure where to start with this all. This sounded a lot simpler in her head.

"As you suggested, we all split up. You're stuck with me, princess," Malakai told her, causing her to stop in confusion. She stared at him in bewilderment.

"Why did you stay with me?" she quipped, shaking her head at him.

"Because I wanted to," he admitted simply, pushing by her roughly as he made his way through the alley.

Rory scoffed bitterly before she stuck her hand out and grabbed his arm. She yanked him back towards her with a bitter laugh. "No, you don't get to do that. You can't just be a jerk to me one second, and then be protective over me the next. That little act of attacking Eliphas? What's your goal here? Finally fallen for my charms?"

"We don't have time to talk about how we feel, Rory!" he snapped at her, yanking his arm back to his side.

"Kai-" she slipped, not realizing what she had called him until he interrupted her.

"Don't call me that," Malakai barked out, a deadly expression on his face. She rolled her eyes at his anger towards something as small as a nickname. He stopped walking just before the end of the alley, leaning out slightly to check if the coast was clear.

"Wait, where's Aliya? The other amicordas?" Rory asked him, just now remembering the amicordas weren't present.

"I think they're in the woods right now, they'll probably come back if we need them," Malakai informed her quickly, not turning to face her.

"Anyone on broomsticks out there?" Rory joked before wincing immediately after, realizing it wouldn't make any sense to him. She made a mental note to stop referencing things from Earth, considering they had rarely translated the same way here.

"Why the Maloid would there be people on broomsticks?" he questioned incredulously with wide eyes.

"Forget it," she breathed out tiredly, stepping out from behind Malakai. She saw a small group of people heading into a house, and she quickly followed them. Glancing back towards Malakai, he nodded slightly in silent agreement.

They hastily pushed the people into the home, slamming the door shut behind them. Malakai lifted his hands and put a shield on the door to be safe. He turned back around, staring into the eyes of a frightened family. "Don't be afraid, we're not here to hurt you."

"We've heard that before," a young girl who didn't look to be over the age of twelve retorted sharply. She stood in front of her family, making Malakai smirk slightly at her bravery. She glared at him, her arms spread out in front of who he assumed to be a mother, father, and older brother.

"We promise, okay? I give you my word. We're not from your village. My name is Rory, and I'm from Fantamia. We saw your village and thought we could help," Rory tried to explain, wishing she had already thought of a spiel beforehand.

"I recognize you, princess," the mother spat in disgust, "you're royalty."

"I would go into why that's a very complicated 'not really,' but we don't have time, and this isn't about me. We want to help you guys, please let us," Rory pleaded, and when the family stays quiet, she took this as an invitation to keep speaking. "Do any of you have powers?"

"Why would we tell you if we did? For all we know you're with them," the father accused callously. Rory groaned into her hands, understanding their resistance but resenting it all the same.

Rory balled her hands together before stretching them away from each other. A ball of bright star energy formed and grew as she pulled her hands further and further apart. The family stared in wonder at her powers, glancing at each other. "Because I'm not. We're trying to help you- please let us! If you've heard of the Lucina's then you know that they wouldn't help the coven."

The family went silent for a moment, sharing wary looks. Rory lifted her head slightly, knowing they couldn't stay in this one home the entire time. "There are plenty of other people who need our help as well. You have one minute to decide if you're willing to fight back before we leave."

The young girl seemed to decide for them. Rory stared at the girl as she disappeared in front of her eyes. Staggering back slightly, as she felt herself get shoved somewhat. The girl reappeared, now next to Malakai and Rory, trace hints of a smirk on her face as she watched Rory gather herself.

"I'll help," she said bravely. Smiling down at her, Rory nodded gratefully. She turned back to her family pleadingly. "We can help people. You've always taught me to do what's right, and well... isn't this right?"

Her father pulled his lips in, rubbing his hand over his wrinkled face. "You're too smart for your own good, kid."

"You taught us that too," the brother commented, grinning at his sister. The parents smiled proudly at their children, nodding slightly.

The family all agreed to help, knowing where they could slip off to in the village and who to talk to. Considering this had gone well, they decided to continue with this plan of following people into their homes. They briefly got to know the family and their history with the coven. Apparently, the coven was suspicious of the youngest girl from the beginning, but she was clever enough to dodge them every step of the way.

"Thank you so much," Rory said as she turned back to them with an encouraging smile on their way out. The mother appeared reluctant for a moment before seeming to swallow her pride slightly.

"Thank you."

As Malakai and Rory left the house, they saw two coven members coming towards them. "Hey! Wait a minute, who are you two?"

"Oh no," Rory muttered before sharing a knowing glance with Malakai.

"Focus on sending your energy to your fists or feet when you attack. It'll make your hits stronger. Try not to blast too much, it'll draw more attention," Malakai murmured in a hushed whisper, facing away from the warlocks, so they didn't hear. She nodded subtly as the two men approached them. "I assume you've never fought before, try your best and I'll keep an eye on you."

One of the warlocks reached for her arm, and she lit her hand up with her energy. She pulled him towards her, swinging her hand around to his face with as much strength she could muster despite having never fought someone before. The force of the energy sent him down. He threw himself up to land on his hands, swinging his leg under her. She was knocked off the ground, but before she could hit the ground, Rory saw a green shield slip beneath her. It raised her off the ground at an angle towards the warlock, and she tucked her legs to her chest. She quickly transferred the energy from her hands to her feet. She pressed her feet to his chest, kicking them outwards harshly. The warlock was sent flying back, and he hit the wall roughly, landing on the ground unconsciously.

She turned to see Malakai fighting the other warlock. The man knocked him to the ground with a deep blue colored hex. He raised his hand up, intending to give the final blow. Throwing her hand out, Rory blasted her glowing energy out to him. The warlock was sent soaring in the air, landing unconsciously next to his fellow coven member. Both of them laid on the ground, not moving.

"If anyone's gonna kill him, it'll be me," Rory muttered, flicking strands of hair from her face.

"Touching, princess," he scoffed with a roll of his green eyes, making her to give him a sharp look.

Rory scowled at the two passed out men nervously. She not-so-gently kicked the man's foot, wondering if he would wake up suddenly. "Two unconscious warlocks might cause some unwanted attention. What do we do?"

"Rory!" Jumping at the sudden voice, she heard her brother before she saw him. Maximus rounded the corner, Channing not too far behind him, both sharing the same panicked expressions. "We need to talk!"

Frantically glancing at the two passed out men behind her, she began to stutter out a fake excuse. Malakai scoffed at her antics as he crossed his arms over his chest, not seeming to care if her brother knew if they attacked the warlocks. "Those two were passed out when we got here!"

"What?" Maximus froze, frowning in puzzlement.

"What?" Rory repeated, feigning innocence.

He paused for a moment, stumbling over his words as he noticed the two warlocks. Malakai huffed out before he stepped in front of the two unconscious men, blocking his line of vision. "Maloid, nevermind. We need to discuss this plan. We've got some people willing to fight, but then what?"

"Has anyone seen Bash? Or Emmett?" a female voice piped up, not sounding too far away. Rory winced, sheepishly looking at her brother.

"What do you think the odds are that the two warlocks right there are Bash and Emmett?" Rory asked the boys, almost not wanting to know the answer. However, approaching footsteps and murmurs of how 'they went this way' confirmed her worries.

"With our luck..." Malakai trailed off, gritting his teeth. Maximus ignored him, turning to Channing in desperation.

"Where do we go?"

Channing quickly analyzed the situation, hearing footsteps from all around. He glimpsed around for an escape before only one idea came to his mind. "The roof."

"The what?" Rory repeated with wide eyes.

"The roofs on the houses are high enough that they won't see us, hopefully," Channing explained, trying to act more confident in his plan than he actually was. He didn't wait for permission before he grabbed Maximus tightly by the arms. He squatted slightly before pushing off the ground. Due to his superior wolf strength, he was able to leap onto the roof with Maximus. "Best of luck!"

"Well, isn't that wonderful. Thank you, Channing," Malakai commented sarcastically, blinking quickly. He cast his hands downwards, swiping them quickly and making a big shield.

"What's the plan?"

"I think I can use the shield to lift us to the roof," he told her as he focused on strengthening the shield.

"You think?" she repeated warily, not wanting to step onto the shield.

Deciding not to answer, Malakai grabbed her by the waist and pulled her onto the shield with him. He tried not to overthink as he yanked his hands up, throwing the shield to the sky. Just as it passed the roof, he pulled them off. They landed harshly on the roof with a grunt. Malakai swept his hand slightly, sending the shield dissolving in the air. Rory had her face pressed into his chest, panting heavily. She immediately pulled herself away once she realized what she was doing. She rolled off him, laying flat on the roof next to him.

"I'm gonna kill you for that," she panted, her eyes frantic as she tried to press herself as deep down into the roof as she could. They heard the coven beneath them, now shouting around. Rory turned her head to steal a glance at Maximus and Channing. She saw the wolf try to calm her brother down, who seems to be panicking about the chaos breaking out beneath them.

"Now what?" Malakai whispered in a low tone.

"I'm not sure, I didn't think we'd live this long," Rory admitted quickly, her vision flickering back up to the sky.

Malakai stared at her in bewilderment, blinking hard. "You're joking, right?"

"Only sort of," she said with a humorless laugh. He huffed out in exhaustion, rubbing a calloused hand over his face.

"You have no idea how infuriating you can be."

"I take that as the highest of compliments." Rory grinned cheekily with raised eyebrows. She felt herself get more tired with each passing second, making her grow nervous. "Kai, I need to get more energy from the stars, I'm getting tired."

"Then just absorb the energy," Malakai shrugged, unconcerned.

Rory turned her head towards him, sheepishly biting her lip. "I left my bag back in Saffire's house. I forgot about it."

"Out of all of the bloody idiots, I had to get the worst one."

"You're the worst, Kai. That's not helping!" she groaned in frustration. He stared at her with a mix of irritation and amusement, not realizing his eyes had been tracing every part of her face, taking each detail in. He stared at her, distracted for a moment before she snapped him from his thoughts, not noticing his lingering gaze. "We need to get back to that house."

"How are we gonna get by the coven?" he pointed out, pointing a finger below them. She scoured her mind for possible scenarios to escape. She wondered if they could fight their way out, which seemed to be the only way now. When she didn't answer him, Malakai clenched his teeth as an idea popped into his head, knowing how she would react already. "Look, Rory, you won't like this, but-"

Since the idea had already occurred to her, she knew what he was about to say. "No, Kai. We can't do that."

"We might not have another option."

"So, what? We kill everyone down there, and then we say what, exactly, to the others?" Rory asked him harshly as she stared at him, waiting for his response with mock patience.

"...'whoops'?" Malakai offered weakly with a grimace.

"Right! Cause nothing quite says 'whoops' like accidental murder," she mocked slowly, narrowing her star-filled eyes at him. He didn't say anything to that, trying to think of ideas. He contemplated throwing a shield to cause a distraction, but he didn't want to draw attention to them.

Their thoughts were interrupted by an explosion.

Valsaire fell silent for a moment.

And then a chilling scream filled the air.