TRACK 22

Baby can you move it round the rhythm

Cause you know we're living

in the fast lane, speed up

It ain't no game,

just turn up all the beams

when I come up on the scene

(Lone Digger - Caravan Palace)

********

Archibald instantly tried to set them on fire, not allowing himself to mull anything over. There were many of them, they were apparently angry or determined to go against them, and... better to avoid putting doubts in the mouths of creatures they did not know at all. Had he been certain they meant no harm, he would not have done so, but something told him the complete opposite in this case.

The flame, as extensive as it could, enveloped the insects in front entirely. Those further back got in the middle of it as a consequence. And he extended the blaze to make sure it hit the remaining ones as well, wanting to get as many of them out of the way as possible.

He stopped firing after about twenty seconds or so, casting a glance first at Nari and then at Claire. And returning later to look ahead.

Instead of finding numerous charred insect corpses, these stood motionless in the air. Fluttering in place as if he hadn't hit them at all, still in their numerous -definitely too composed for his taste- swarming.

He tried again a second time when they resumed moving, trying to warm his own flame more, but the second attempt also resulted in outright failure.

From this, Archie saw the other two set to work in turn practically in unison after brief explanations and hasty concordances composed of glances and mild nods. He felt, in the process, his fur rise as they did so.

Nari created a subspecies of shield. It was, of course, composed of dense brambles that did not seem to have the slightest space for the creatures to pass through. It surrounded them on one side, pushing them to the other side, giving them only one path to take.

A path where Claire opened a Shadow Portal almost even without blinking, but taking in and out oxygen, her arms perfectly in place. Her posture was almost perfect and her magic came out with a strong vigor, creating the Shadow Portal before waiting a few sets of seconds for it to close around the creatures.

It seemed to work, for when both the brambles and the portal vanished, the insects were already gone.

But they didn't even have time to breathe a small sigh of relief that they came back and reappeared out of nowhere, as if ripping through space during the time of their passing, leaving blackish holes in the air at short notice.

Nari therefore tried to trap them in a simple enclosed cage, composed entirely of dense plants tightly tangled together. All she needed was a raised hand and the spreading of her own magic to create it. It took extremely little time and a serious concentrated look to get results. And a vague silence mixed with their faint sounds. They were buzzing in the cage all at once, almost creepily. It was definitely worse than the sound of the cicadas on summer evenings.

Archie let himself scan the plant prison for a few moments, waiting for signs that something was wrong before sighing, pulling up his glasses with one paw, and wagging his tail. "...We're off to a good start," he mumbled in a drawl, sniffing. "I guess we'd better warn Merlin about these creatures."

"Do you think there are more of them around?" Asked Claire, appearing partly nervous but visibly trying to keep calm, taking repeated deep breaths.

"I wouldn't be surprised," he found himself answering, trying to avoid a too-direct and acidic 'yes' that would probably have agitated her more. Which they did not need right now, really.

The inconvenient fact of those things was sure that the barrier would take the magic away from everyone, so if any were found beyond it, Nari could not trap them a second time. And that was quite troubling as a possibility.

"If they're an acclimated part of this dimension, it's more than likely," Nari quipped, her gaze focused on the cube of plants, before turning her attention away from it and back to the two of them. "This ecosystem is unknown to all of us. The only one who knows about it... is Dalai Sun."

'Yeah. He, who has lived in it for a millennium and something. He must have had a lot of fun.' Archie thought, unable to hold back internal sarcasm and letting a small snort escape.

They didn't have time to turn and make to get away from there when the cage suddenly exploded -all the brambles had been reduced to sieve in the center of them- stripping a choked cry from Claire as they threw themselves back at them.

It alarmed Archie to such an extent that every inch of his body screamed at him to throw himself into the attack immediately to defend them. His fur all stood up straight and he could not help but turn into a Panther to be faster, still blowing fire and showing his teeth and nails.

There were too many of them to take them one by one, scratch or bite them, and move on to the next. In the time of attacking one by one, there was the probability of being attacked by a dozen of them at the same time... but he could not stand still and do nothing about it. Every hit still did not work but stopped them shortly in their movements.

Nari started to hit them with various roots, going so far as to crush them between one thing and another. But even once jostled, crushed, slapped, skewered, or tied, those things would neither cease flying nor attacking. Archie found himself stepping in front of Claire and shielding her with a flare as he saw how many insects had set out to aim at her unison -and her shadow orbs started to take slightly longer to appear than the blows the semi-goddess delivered, whether they had effect or not.

More than one of the many insects managed to reach the Dragon anyway in between things, going to bite his right paw. Each bite was an explosive dose of pain that briefly paralyzed his muscles and caused him first to hold his breath and then to hiss.

He heard Claire's voice shout his name, but it became almost a background before the irritation that began to run through his veins tore through him. A hoarse, irate, threatening growl -that was particularly low in volume- came out from his mouth.

The rage, however, did not stop him from being shocked to see the insects fall to the ground, stone-dead after they detached themselves from his hurt limb. Something as anomalous as it was absurd.

Part of Archie, in all that mess, hoped that Douxie would not rush in at all to try to help them in case he sensed his emotions clearly, albeit so distantly -He was actually too far to be able to if he was still in the Castle Wing he had been working on- or if his Instincts kicked in. He was already struggling to defend Claire, let alone protect his Mage and her at the same time.

He could not hear his thoughts and feelings right now, not clearly, they overlapped too much. Same with the distant whispering of his thoughts. Had he made an effort, he would have been able to do so -both to listen and to talk to him- counting that they were active again, but he avoided it, returning rather to the attack. He was kind of occupied, really.

********

"But don't you feel hot? It's awful muggy," Jim said to Toby, seeing how his best friend seemed totally unperturbed by the temperature, while he felt almost disoriented by it, often searching for cool parts in the wall with his hands and unfortunately finding very few.

"No..." replied Tobes immediately, taking on a worried expression as he did so. "Are you feeling alright, Jimbo?"

Jim opened and closed his mouth, not knowing what to say. So it was not normal for him to feel this way? Maybe not. "Just... hot all over," he asserted in a mumble.

"Maybe you have a bit of a fever?" He asked, approaching him and resting his hand on his forehead -having to put himself on his toes a bit to succeed- frowning and taking on a confused expression. "Ah. Stone cold ..." he said. "I should have expected that, maybe."

A smile and a slight chuckle escaped Jim before he became more serious again. "...It's still new to me, too, in some ways."

"Maybe we should ask Blinky and Aaarrrgh? Maybe there is a fever for Trolls... If there is, they surely know how to handle it if you have it," he said, lowering himself a bit, no longer being on his toes. "I don't seem to have ever seen them have a fever, though. Nor do I remember them talking about something similar. But it could be, couldn't it?" He paused. "Did 'A brief recapitulation' mention it?"

"Not that I remember, no." He arched his eyebrow, finding himself straining his mind as much as he could between memories. "But I don't even remember reading anything about the Herd Instinct... or the..." he blanked. What exactly was the name that Troll had called it? It was something to do with attraction, but he couldn't really put his finger on it. All he knew was that it was the first time he had heard it.

'Maybe... Oh, yes!'

"...Or of Individual Magnetism. Unless I had removed it altogether. Or unintentionally skipped it."

It might as well have been. Both cases. Some of the information in the book had gotten into his head pretty well, but the others? They were a bit foggy, pounded out by the constant activities that had colored his days. It was hard to live normally with the title of Trollhunter which seemed to have drawn a big exclamation point on his back for magical creatures, especially ill-disposed ones.

"Another reason to ask then," said Tobes, suddenly quickening his pace upon seeing a crack in the floor, left in a corner, which he went to cover in a hurry before returning to him.

"You're right." He barely nodded, starting to air himself with his free hand and laughing when his best friend started to do the same with his own. But to him.

His good mood disappeared, however, with a wave of tension that made him stiffen from head to toe, a feeling of danger that manifested with it, and every hair on his body suddenly standing up.

'Speaking about the devil...'

His mind jumped up practically on its own, instantly suggesting to him who was in danger.

"Something's wrong," he asserted, immediately looking for the quickest way out of the Lower North Wing and into the South Central Wing instead, leaving the bucket on the ground and tracing his fingers over the Rune that still marked his skin. He started to run after also casting a glance at Toby, but just a little later than when he had returned it with as much alarm, in the process of them both running as fast as they could, a Shadow Portal appeared. Claire, Nari, and Archie emerged from it, breathing heavily.

His girlfriend closed it behind her back instantly. However, she was not fast enough to avoid the passage of about five big red insects, resembling some sort of winged centipede.

Archibald promptly set fire to them, or at least, tried to. Although he did, they did not die at all. They came out completely intact, as if he hadn't even tried, fluttering around the surroundings somewhat confusedly for long enough for Claire to create another Portal in a hurry, without explanation.

They jumped in together all in unison, ending up in another part of the castle. Steve let out a little squeal upon seeing them, while Sir. Galahad, who had been on his back, turned with a confused frown written on his face.

"What is going on here?" Asked the Knight, before anyone between Jim and Toby could even open his mouth, asking the exact same question.

"Many, many aggressive giant bugs that don't die..." replied Archibald, dry and visibly annoyed, going to lick himself above his right front paw. "...Except after they bite you."

"And they don't get trapped in the Shadow Realm. They come out of it easily," added Claire. "We tried."

This was very, very strange. It had never happened before.

"Giant bugs?" Steve blanched and his voice came out particularly high-pitched. "And how exactly are they? Are they dangerous? And how giant is giant, exactly?"

"They are like this." Claire tried to give their shape dimension between her indexes.

"We don't know exactly what they truly do," Nari said slowly. "I've never seen creatures with characteristics like that before. The most similar is the Sanshichu, but it's not them." She then added, staying very close to Archie and Claire and looking first one and then the other straight in the eye. All the while Jim found himself staring at the various bright red markings glimpsed among all the Dragon's black fur with wide eyes.

"...Can I see it?" The half-goddess asked again, diverting Jim's attention away from Archie and taking it in the direction of Claire, to whom the question had been directed, alarming him for a second time within minutes.

Claire nodded, immediately lifting one sleeve of her shirt, drenched in sweat. She too had red marks, but there were only two and they were wider than Archibald's, one a short distance from the other. They were definitely worse than simple mosquito bites.

"Do they hurt?" He asked, both to her and to the Dragon, the worry exploding in his chest and making it difficult for him to swallow, driving him even closer than he already was.

The mental image of the moths and the black liquid returned to land in his head, though he banished it as quickly as he could. He didn't have to think about it.

Concern and nervousness were also painted on everyone else's faces, however.

Archie simply shook his head. "Just an annoyance for me."

"For me, too," she said, staring at herself with a puzzled look. "They hurt more when they bit, but now I don't feel it anymore... except that I feel it swollen and it bothers me."

"So they're kind of like bees? Pain, but then nothing too bad, and... they die right after?" Asked Toby.

"So it seems..." replied Nari, thoughtfully. "But there are so many of them in the castle... Maybe the consequences of the bite, if any, increase in how many times this happens?" Nari went to look at Archie, who had already stopped cleaning his fur and seemed more than ready to take flight. His muzzle showed a mixture of not knowing and frustration. Not pain.

"Doesn't seem so to me," he said. "But I really don't know. If something changes, I'll tell you."

"Well, whether we do or not, in any case, we need to catch up with the others as well. And then we'll see what to do," said Jim.

His friends all agreed in unison. Yet another Portal was formed. They all jumped into it almost instantly, one after another.

********

"What did you want me for, Master?" Asked Douxie, entering the study and closing the door behind him, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand and partly wanting to look if he had a fan inside the bracelet storage.

Hisirdoux had not finished closing the cracks in the castle, but a sentry from Merlin had made an appearance during his work, inviting him to join him as soon as possible. And although there was a bad feeling beating at one side of his brain and being, making him feel all his hair standing on end, he had done it.

He was not able to tell one hundred percent whether it was the Instinct or not, something that made him want to do whatever this was as fast as he could. But he still obeyed his Master's request, whether he wanted it or not.

He was a little bit tense, and at the same time extremely curious about what he might want to talk to him about.

The Sorcerer's gaze came upon him when he got inside the room, stopping in place. His hands were resting on the table and his expression was absolutely unreadable. Hisirdoux ended up shifting his weight from one leg to the other below it just because of it.

After a small moment of silence and waiting -which was far too long for his liking, especially since he still wanted to check out for his Familiar as soon as possible, especially sensing a jumble of emotions running around, terribly unclear- Merlin moved away from his position, stepping closer to him, still maintaining his composed air.

"You need this," he said, going to cast a glance into the side of the room he had not even paid attention to while entering, being too busy pulling straight ahead to pay attention to what was in the corner of the study.

He took a little too much time to get to the conclusion of what he was really meaning, anyway, counting that it wasn't something lacking inside the castle. When he actually understood that what he was watching was actually it , he could not hold back an expression as confused as it was shocked, which then changed to terrified and perplexed.

It was a bloody armor, left on what was similar to a mannequin, this time, as it was not enchanted. The mannequin was shorter than he was, as the boots were left on the floor near it.

It was mostly black -the material told him something because of how weirdly shiny it was. It was not just metal. The alloy had gemstones set into it. But among the three thousand stones swirling around in his head, especially the many black ones, he could not identify which one it was just at first glance. It was well hidden in the metal. It would probably have taken Alice three seconds to identify it, though, counting that it was her field through and through. Still, it was definitely eluding him - with parts showing some cobalt blue shades- pieces of Agate? Perhaps?- and small white veins that run around it.

The armor, then, had runes engraved on his shoulder guards: Algiz and Thurisaz, both runes of defense and protection-which, yes, would not work without being able to use magic, just like Jim's Amulet, but were still quite useful outside the barrier.

The helmet even went to cover the face like a motorcycle one and had small blue horns that looked somewhat like those of a dragon. Just like the armor seemed to be made of small scales in certain places. Which was really cool to look at, actually.

It was beautiful, really. It was well made and everything. It was... even of his favorite colors, although Douxie doubted that his Master had made it aesthetically like that just as a matter of look... Really, it was beautiful.

But the more Hisirdoux looked at it, the more he ran his gaze over all its pieces... and the smaller and more confused he felt.

"What..." he mouthed, continuing to shift his gaze from it to his Master, not knowing where to keep his gaze.

A simple "Why?" slipped from his lips, totally uncontrolled, before Douxie instantly went to bring his hand to his mouth and mentally cussed at how ungrateful and rude he must have sounded.

"I mean... I'm extremely grateful, Master, but I've never needed armor before..." he moved his hand from his mouth to the back of his neck, twinges of anxiety churning in his stomach. "Why now?"

"For that very reason," said Merlin in a flat, serious voice. "You've never needed it before. In this case, however, you no longer have to just clean and run around the place." He paused. "And once beyond that barrier, you won't have your magic at your disposal. You need to be well protected."

Well, he was right about that, okay. But he had always done without anyway! Sure, he had also been hurt often, but... him? For him to have to wear armor? Really?

He didn't want to reject it, no, it would have been a huge mistake to even try, but it seemed so wrong and... weird! So... so damn inappropriate for someone like him! Like... like a tuxedo on a horse!

He would have felt less ridiculous at the idea of having to put on one of those gaudy suits that Abba had worn during the Waterloo performance! -In fact, maybe that one would have even appreciated it eventually, but who knows how tight and uncomfortable it must have been. Or maybe it was just an appearance and nothing more? He was almost interested in that

An armor on him ? It was wrong in every way. It was a waste if someone like him wore it. It would have been a thousand times better if he had given it to someone else.

He was not a Knight. He had nothing that could have defined him as a Knight, and maybe on the one hand it was better that way. He was not a nobleman. It made no sense for him to own an armor!

"You're the only one who doesn't have it at the moment," his Master said during Douxie's silence, turning his back on him again and going back to looking at the windows. "It would be risky and stupid not to have it. And if you got hurt, you would eventually slow us down."

That one sentence made him feel as if Merlin had just slapped him. He barely swallowed, the lump forming and locking in his throat. He held his breath unwillingly.

He didn't want to slow anyone down. No, he was not supposed to be a burden. He wasn't supposed to mess it up or come close again to do it. He wasn't supposed to, no. He didn't have to, didn't... he wasn't going to be a problem for anyone. Not even for his stupid mind fits and the clashing of his ideas with what should have been logical . Not even for how ridiculous and wrong he would feel. Not even for how he struggled not to feel new sensations of acid-forming in his mouth at even the idea of having such a thing on him.

It was a promise. It would not be the past, disappointing, stupid, useless self. He would do what his Master wanted. He would do everything for him and to help out. He had to demonstrate that he wasn't that child anymore, no matter what.

He tried to nod, but realized that the Sorcerer would not see him since his back was turned -Why would he see him? Why? There was no reason for him to do so unless he really showed him something.

"...Okay, I'll put it on," he said, therefore in a whisper, his voice struggling to come out.

And he forced himself to advance toward the armor as if everything was utterly fine. As if his hands were not shaking a little and itching with the desire to get into his hair and start to pull as hard as he could. As if the weight of those pieces of metal was not already almost unbearable just looking at it.

The knot in his throat persisted to stay.

Before he could even lay a finger on it, however, he stopped. The sight of a Portal not far from him was enough to freeze him in place, leaving him to listen to its melody. It was visibly agitated, the notes seemed to have no pause and chased each other with something slightly discordant.

This time -maybe because his mind had been too far elsewhere to have time to process the unexpectedness of the arrival and allow himself to be taken aback- he managed to avoid jerking and making unwanted noises.

All, but really all the Guardians came out, one after another, Sir. Galahad included, though his expression showed mild discontent. Whether it was because he did not like the means of transportation or something else was unclear.

Archie immediately went to fly beside him. Douxie's eyes caught immediately the red stains tracing one of his paws and the sight led them to go wide in horror.

"What the...?" He muttered, unable to finish his own question, too stunned to have any results. Immediately he grabbed his Familiar, hearing Archie only partly grumbling mentally at how indelicate his grip had been -a detail he passed over completely- and began checking each mark. Pure worry and tension attacked his brain and chest.

There did not appear to be any poison. There was no blood either. There didn't seem to be any burns or pus that could signal anything much, much worse, like a curse of some kind. It was just quite red in several places.

'Why are you like this? What happened?'

He laid eyes on the others to see if they had any themselves. It didn't look like it, on the surface. He wasn't near enough to be sure of it.

"Giant flying insects in the castle that seems impossible to kill bit us," summed up Claire hurriedly, noticing his confused look.

'What?... Us?'

'Me and her. But I'm fine, stop worrying.'

Douxie looked in Claire's direction again, his eyes open wide. "Are you alright?" He asked, receiving her nod shortly after and a soft "Yes, I'm okay." That reassured him a little. He then went back to Archie, still anxious enough to recheck the red spots.

'Bugs that are impossible to kill, huh?'

This was new. This was definitely new.
Sure, there had been some big bugs in Arcadia eating electrical appliances -for the great wrath of Zoe who had been cursing for hours and hours and had lost patience when they had gobbled up her old cell phone- but... at least those were dying with loud music!

"They aren't necessarily invincible," observed Archie suddenly out loud, leading him to arch an eyebrow. And making the others look just as confused. "But by our means at that moment, they had been."

"Not fire, not exile to the Shadow Realm or Shadow Magic by all means, not capture and not physical force," Nari observed, nodding. "Other options still might be there."

Douxie found himself nodding slightly. The options were many, yes, though those available to their magic were a lot less.

"Lady Claire, I would ask you to go into more detail about what happened," asserted his Master seriously. The girl, after a slight nod, albeit tense, started to explain the events.

It was also all too brief as a speech -to which Nari added herself with some comments, saying that they had no magical Aura, nor a Core of arthropods or distinct animals- and at its conclusion left more question marks than answers.

The Sorcerer's expression, during it, did not change much except that his forehead betrayed a few more wrinkles.

"I see," he said finally, dryly, pausing very slightly. "I'll take care of it when they reappear, assuming they attack us on sight a second time."

"Master..." Concern led him to look at Merlin, letting Archie take flight again, even though he partly wouldn't have wanted to. He still disliked the marks that traced his paw and wished he could check them better. "What do we do now? It is no longer safe to stay in the Castle if they cross the barrier without any problems. And if they are a local species, it is not safe for Sir. Galahad either."

Merlin looked at him and nodded. "We'll have to leave Camelot unprotected, but there is no other way," he paused. "Give yourselves a quick rinse, you smell like Kappas." He asserted, mostly casting a glance at the Knight, though the man did not take it badly at face value, muttering something about 'manly perfumes' that was overpowered by his Master's new talking. "Then we all leave right away. We go the last part of the way with the Rescue Shuttle. We are less close than hoped, but close enough," he replied solemnly, going to grab his own Staff.

That they were all stinking badly was not a surprising thing because of how hard they had worked and the tremendous heat, but having little time and being in several, well, it made it all rather uncomfortable.

'The square tub in your room?' thought Archie, leading him to look at it.

A bit dangerous and exposed, because he couldn't know where those creatures were. And much, much more uncomfortable than the tubs in the spa, so much so that he felt a backache just thinking about it, but... 'Absolutely.'

"There are small tubs in most of the bedrooms," he said, getting near to the others. "We have no time to do turns for the public baths."

He was gonna fill them all with his Magic if needed. He was pretty sure that the Taps in there weren't working anymore, just like those in the kitchens before they were fixed.

********

Fortunately, by the time Douxie had given himself a hasty -the quickest he could- wash, changed clothes, and returned outside the walls of Camelot as fast as he could, of the creatures there had not been a soul. Maybe the dimension of the Castle had given them problems, or maybe not. Still, wherever they were, they weren't near the corridors of the normal servitude.

The armor was quite uncomfortable. No, okay, it wasn't that it was uncomfortable per se, but the lack of habit made it feel that way to him. It was stiff and heavy compared to the freedom of a black sweatshirt and jeans or leather pants. For the most part, the tremendous heat did not help to improve that perception, so much so that he felt as if he had not washed at all.

But worst of all was the helmet. It was stifling. It was closed up to the point that he felt like he could see a third of what he should have been able to glimpse in it. It stuck all of his hair to his face, so much so that he would not have been surprised if, when it was removed, he found his face splotched with tomato-red spots and traversed by strands scattered in the most disparate ways.

Those on motorcycles were not usually light, no -Simon's was weighted quite a bit- but this one especially made him feel as if gravity had gained weight all at once.

It wasn't just that, then. There was some strange thing about that armor, really. Only he couldn't figure out what it was at all. And if, above all, it was just a feeling he had. He felt like... Isolated. The same perception of the Aura of the barrier in the distance seemed lower in volume. Again -he still didn't try to look at it, not even wanting to venture to do so.

'Maybe it's just a feeling because I don't see the situation in a good eye? Maybe I'm getting too many bad ideas... Arch?'

'I don't know. Maybe?'

Getting on the shuttle with the armor on made him feel like he was walking on eggshells. It was as if he was about to lurch backward at the slightest movement. It was awkward, really. He honestly didn't know how Steve had gotten used to his own in less than five minutes. Douxie doubted he could. Maybe it was his fault.

When he was on board, his gaze fell on the bags resting in the corner and on his Master, who had already inserted the Staff into the slot to lead the shuttle.

He took a big deep breath and approached him, tightening his lips. Merlin turned only for a moment and arched an eyebrow before turning back to look at the horizon, and Douxie found himself totally uncomfortable and speechless, so much so that he ended up falling silent.

One question, however, rose to his mind suddenly, driven mainly in his reaching to stare at his own pair of gloves, where Nari's Guarantee had disappeared, although he had not at all paid attention to when exactly. He had been lucky that it had. Nari must have thought of taking it away for him, probably as soon as she had been able to, while he had forgotten to change them when they had returned to Camelot with the second pair-he had been too caught up in everything else. Especially Zoe's lack of response, a fact that had not changed... or so he thought. His phone, except for music and photos, had completely gone off! It was almost utterly useless right now. Even if Ashildr had answered him, he could not know.

'If he had caught you with that, that would have been a problem.'

'...Yeah.'

Having a Guarantee was of no use at all in simply taking a breath of air and visiting. He would have had no excuses to give him. He would have had to explain what had happened for real.

"Master..." he began with a little uncertainty, bringing the Sorcerer's gaze to rest on him a second time. "I wanted to ask... I wanted to ask if you knew of a case or more of a Herd Instinct being activated for the first time in less than two weeks."

'In less than three days, but yeah.'

'Yes, okay, Archie, please. No need for being extra precise in details.'

"It is not possible," Merlin said point blank, not even thinking about it for more than a second. "The magical bond is not formed quickly, Hisirdoux. It's not an easy matter, nor something you can get to move faster."

"Yes, I know... I know that. But..." he was tempted to put a hand in his hair, but he only ended up smashing it against the surface of the helmet, letting out a grimace of pain. Both from his palm and from the noise that echoed in his ears. "Not even a small one as an exception? One due to... magical energies around or something? Or..." he wrinkled his nose and frowned.

Merlin shook his head, his expression serious and unbothered. "Except by bonds of connected souls, as you should know from experience, it is not feasible."

Well. Wonderful. This didn't clarify the Instinct's connection between him, Jim, and Claire at all. And Douxie knew full well that the three of them didn't have the soul bond. He and Archie had, with the tattoo that had formed on both of them after the whole ritual... But the three of them? No way.

He would have noticed something like that. So, how they sensed the Herd Instinct in his direction was an absolute mystery to him. It should have not been possible, but they had described the exact 'symptoms' .

He didn't know if he felt it in their direction, considering that nothing had yet happened that could make it one hundred percent clear to him. The danger that he had felt, he had felt it, but neither in the first nor in the second case had he felt it with certainty... And it had been perceived mainly because of Archie. That was for sure.

"Why these questions, Hisirdoux?" Asked his Master, returning to look first straight ahead and then around himself.

"Well, uh, we... It seems like me and..." Douxie couldn't finish his sentence, finding himself turning sharply at the sound of footsteps, which made him tense up briefly before realizing that it was Nari, Jim, Blinky, Aaarrrgh, and Steve.

'Ok, I need to calm down,' he thought.

"Black and blue?" The blond boy's voice exploded practically instantly when his eyes landed on him, awe written on his face before shaking his head a little. "Why didn't anyone tell me that it was possible to customize the armor with interesting features instead of just keeping it gray?"

"It suits you." The half-deity intervened instead, tilting her head for just a second as she scrutinized him -all while Steve let out one last series of offended comments and Jim retorted something that his hearing hadn't caught, but which was served to silence him with a pout- and then smiled.

"Thank you..." he replied softly, even if he still wasn't convinced at all by it. It continued to be too much for him. The feeling hadn't shaken off him at all and it didn't seem to have any intention of doing so. "...The others?"

"Tobes is almost done. Claire is already done, but she is waiting both for him and Sir. Galahad." Said Jim.

"Oh," Douxie raised his eyebrow. Hopefully, the Knight wouldn't take too long. "Well then..."

He was interrupted again in a very short amount of time, with one of the glass windows that had supported the passage of the Portal breaking drastically, the swarm of insects pouring out, almost in unison.

He immediately prepared to run his fingers over the runes by instinct, but he felt himself being pushed back by Master Merlin as if he were too much where he was.

Merlin immediately lifted his staff after he did so. A jet of green light streamed out of it. But anyway, other than the impact on the walls and the smoke that came out, there didn't seem to be any problems with the creatures. In fact, they continued to fly straight towards them as if it hadn't even made a dent.

"Master, I can try to help..." he tried to say, taking a hasty step forward. Doing more enchantments at the same time raised the possibility of having a clean hit that could have worked through them.

"No. Don't." Merlin snapped at him, immediately conjuring another spell. Also unsuccessful, although he stopped them for a few moments in the air, paralyzed by Telekinesis. "I will take care of it."

"But I can at least..."

"Don't argue with me. Just do as I told you!" He said -and almost shouted- visibly annoyed, turning around for a second only to give him a fiery look that this time made him step back slightly.

Douxie couldn't understand why he was so angry all of a sudden. He didn't feel like he had done anything bad. He was just trying to help, wasn't he? Where was the problem in this?

Merlin unleashed a great whirlwind of air, pushing them all backward and increasing the distance between them in the blink of an eye. At that moment he turned around and immediately started to approach the main departure station again.

"But we need to..." he tried to insist again, even if half-heartedly, more confused than anything else.

"No!"

Behind him -though Douxie didn't really notice- Claire, Toby, and Sir. Galahad appeared. All three in turn boarded the shuttle and it rose with the magic of his Master, leaving at maximum speed, so much so that Hisirdoux forced himself to grab the railing to avoid being thrown out.

"But Master, the..."

"I said no!" he screamed, panting a little after that. "You won't do anything. Stop insisting or I will muzzle you."

That shut him up instantly, making him close his mouth, this time holding his breath and biting back something that could have flowed out of it.

It took a lot -for his own senses, at least- but the vehicle ended up being stable.

Once it did, albeit still going very fast, and with the creatures still at its heels, the Sorcerer spoke again, saying something that he definitely did not expect to hear.

If the previous, past comment about 'slowing them down' had slapped him in the face, what he said in this case seemed to kick him straight in the stomach, as he felt his heartbeat stop for an instant.

Frustration, shock, confusion, and despondency crossed his gaze in sequence as his lips failed to form a decent word. Air and saliva caught in his throat and he found himself staring at him, feeling absolutely nothing anymore for a few moments. Not the wind rushing past him. Not the Guardians who were supposedly all around him. Not Archie, both in and out.

They were simple words -not many, but too many for him- that cut through the cacophony again... and not just for him, as everyone fell silent with equally shocked and confused expressions. Even the Knight was perplexed by him. They reduced the raven-haired wizard to complete silence, a harsh sensation occupying his mouth. Douxie didn't even notice yet another spell being cast by Merlin, which also didn't achieve even the slightest result.

"I don't want your magic," he had said. "Nor need your assistance."

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Thoughts? :'D
(I would really love to know them, since I sadly cannot read minds)