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𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐃𝐈𝐄'𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐄'𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐓𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏𝐒 sounded hollow as the lone noise bounced off against the empty walls. Night still covered the Telmarine castle and its hallways with dark shadows, but beyond the windows at the horizon, a faint light lit up a small stroke of the sky as the sun slowly began to rise.

Elodie carried a bowl of soup in her hands, a look of concentration on her face as she tried not to spill any over the edge while she ascended the stone stairs. Noelle on the other hand, gracefully walked next to her and she almost seemed to float over the steps. In a comfortable silence, they set course to the improvised infirmary; Elodie mainly to bring the soup to Mina, and partly like Noelle to check upon Darkan as well.

Both of the girls weren't much of a talker as their tiredness resonated in their minds, and Elodie hated her own squeaky voice when she spoke up to indicate the right door. She cleared her throat.

'That one,' she tried again, nodding at the door at their left at the end of the hallway.

Noelle nodded as well, but before she could speed up her pace to open the door, some muffled sounds from the other side reached their ears. It sounded as if something had fallen over.

Noelle looked back over her shoulder at Elodie, raising a confused eyebrow, but she shrugged in confusion as well.

Suddenly, the door swung open inwards and Darkan stood in the door opening. All three of them froze halfway in their movements.

The Archenlander's skin was a pale blue, almost translucent, and white frost in swirling shapes shot over his bare upper body like some strange sort of flowers. He had thrown an unconscious Mina over his shoulder and when his unnatural bright blue eyes dashed between Noelle and Elodie, both girls understood this was no longer the Darkan they had known.

They had a very bad feeling about this, and Elodie suppressed the cold shiver running down her spine when his eyes like blue lights seemed to pierce right through her own. He cocked his head a bit to the side as if he decided on something and focussed his gaze on Noelle after that.

Elodie jumped forward, pushing her fear to the back of her mind, and she threw the bowl of soup towards his head.

'Let Mina go,' she demanded, but Darkan dodged the aim for his head by spinning out of the way in an eerily smooth movement. The wooden bowl clattered on the marble floor behind him, the soup splattering all over the ground, and the sound snapped Noelle out of her perplexed state.

She ran towards Darkan, her red hair flowing like fire behind her, and she grabbed Mina's waist in an attempt to get her loose from Darkan's grip.

A sound like shifting ice filled the air and Elodie stared in horror at Darkan's free hand. His translucent blue fingers grew longer and sharper, merging together in a deadly icicle.

Elodie screamed Noelle's name in a warning when his hand shot up, right towards her chest.

Noelle gasped sharply for air, and Elodie screamed wordlessly as the sharp icicle protruded out of Noelle's back. Scarlet blood dripped off the cold surface and the droplets fell in a ticking manner on the floor.

Tears filled Noelle's eyes as she tried breathing in again but pain soared all through her body. With shaking fingers, she enclasped the icicle, her friend's hand, that entered her body right under her rib cage. She searched Darkan's eyes, hot tears streaming down her cheeks, but his face was emotionless.

Darkness loomed at the edge of her vision and she felt her strength leaving her body with every droplet of blood that ticked on the floor.

Darkan withdrew his hand and Noelle took a few trembling steps backwards before collapsing on her knees. She felt the pain no longer, only a terrible coldness, and her vision blurred together in shapeless shadows.

Elodie succeeded in breaking out of her shock and she sprinted towards Noelle in an attempt to catch her before she could fully collapse on the floor. Elodie hadn't really thought about the consequences of getting too close to Darkan, and the sound of shifting ice made her realize her mistake.

She tried ducking under his arm that swung towards her, but her movements weren't as fast as his. In a flash, though, she noticed he had transformed his hand back, but then his fist collided with a harsh blow against her chest. The air got knocked out of her lungs and his unnatural strength launched her off her feet. For a moment, she soared through the air until her back smashed against the stone wall before crashing back on the floor, landing roughly on her stomach.

She struggled to breathe and every bone in her body felt as if it had been broken while colourful flashes and dark dots danced in front of her eyes. Between those flashes she managed to see how Noelle fully collapsed on the floor, her eyes rolling back in their sockets, and how Darkan stepped over her body; giving neither her or Elodie a second glance as he carried Mina over his shoulder and walked farther through the hallway.

And with those images edged onto her vision, the darkness overtook Elodie's mind. . .

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𝐀 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇-𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐊 left Elodie's lips and her eyes shot open when two pairs of hands turned her on her back. Blindly, she swung her arms through the air, half expecting it to be Darkan to finish the job, but another screech ─ not her own or Darkan's ─ split the air in half. Two hands caught her wrists and they forced her hands back on her chest as her vision sharpened again.

Ella and Peter sat at either of her side, and Ella clasped her own hands over her mouth to cut off her shriek.

'What? She scared me,' Ella muttered between her fingers at Peter who slightly shook his head before focussing back on Elodie.

Elodie stopped trying to hit them when she realized they weren't out to hurt her, and she groaned when the pain of the crash washed back over her in an overwhelming, throbbing manner. But even through the pain, she remembered the sharp icicle, protruding right out of Noelle's back, and she shot up straight. Her eyes frantically searched for Noelle while she tried to wriggle her wrists out of Peter's grasp as his body blocked her view.

'Take it easy,' he said in a seemingly calming tone, but a nervous timbre hid within his voice. 'Don't strain yourself, you have made a nasty blow.'

'Noelle,' she whispered, stopping her attempts to free herself as her physical pain overwhelmed her again. 'How's Noelle?' she asked with a cracked voice and she looked at Peter and Ella one by one.

Their crestfallen faces told her enough, though, and a sob tore its way up through her throat. She yanked her wrists free and moved around Peter on her knees, only to freeze by seeing the sight in front of her.

Noelle lay in a puddle of dark blood, her hair and clothing soaked by the liquid, and her face was as pale as the moonlight while her glazed over eyes stared into the infinite void of death.

Caspian and Caolán sat next to Noelle's still figure, their own bodies shaking silently in grief as the tears escaped their bloodshot eyes. The other Hogwarts students and Pevensie siblings stood around them at a few paces distance, but they too trembled and felt the tears burning behind their eyes as they tried to comprehend the loss of Noelle.

'What happened?' Peter asked Elodie in a soft tone, but she had lost all control over her voice as her eyes were transfixed upon Noelle's motionless form. Silence rang in her ears and her breathing became shallow. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't.

'Elodie,' Peter tried again, gently laying a hand under her chin and forcing her to avert her gaze towards him. He felt awful having to ask questions while she only just regained consciousness, but they needed answers.

'What happened?' he asked again. 'Where are Darkan and Mina?'

Elodie tried to recollect her thoughts as she stared into Peter's eyes that were as blue as a clear winter's sky. The colour calmed her down and she felt herself able to breathe again.

He softly stroked her cheek with his thumb and he gave her an encouraging nod.

She took a deep breath, ignoring the pain that stung her chest because of the movement. 'Darkan did this,' she said without a trembling voice, to her own surprise.

'But it wasn't him, not really,' she continued to explain when she saw Peter's shocked expression, and behind her, Ella had audibly gasped for air.

'I think the arrow was dark magic. He looked like those ice creatures we saw at Cair Paravel. The arrow wound must have turned him into one. And he took Mina with him. . .'

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𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓:

𝑬𝒍𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝑩𝒆𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒚 @ 𝒎𝒆
𝑵𝒐𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆 𝑶𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞_𝐏𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐞
𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒌𝒔𝒉𝒊 𝑩𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒆 (𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚) 𝒃𝒚 RockingGirl06
𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒂𝒏 𝑬𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒚 @ 𝒎𝒆
𝑬𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝑹𝒐𝒔𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒈 𝒃𝒚 -MoonlightRose-
𝒂𝒏𝒅
𝑪𝒂𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒏 (𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚) 𝒃𝒚 inej-ghafas

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