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What had once seemed just a phantom light or a strange effect of the deepening dark near Umbra began to slither nearer and nearer to the lake and those gathered around it. Tendrils of sickly indigo snaked their way over the water, sensing...tasting...looking for those most vulnerable to feed on...those for whom the absence of their bond was a distraction to the point of detriment. Those whose hearts were so twisted up with pain they were like a beacon to the spell. The Grimmerie's magics wound around Pappila and Equus, the movement so swift and aggressive as to be shocking to those in witness. It cloaked both their forms fully, masking them from view.

Cervus leapt to his feet and back away from the victims, drawing the bow off his back in one smooth, instinctive motion, and nocking an arrow.

"Faith preserve us!" he hissed out, eyes wide, at the unknown magics now feeding off two of his court members.

The squire had noticed Muris and his monarch's distraction, but was puzzled as to what they had spotted. His horsetail felt charged with electricity, and worry was eating at him as he turned his head to spy the lavender cloud swarming near the towers of the Moon Court.

Equus snapped back to attention when he was spoken to directly, red heat rising in his cheeks for being sidetracked from the importance of the current conversation. The ongoings of the darker castle had nothing to do with him, his attention was required here. He nodded, speaking up for the first time in his deep baritone after all others were done. "Yes, Lord. It will be done as quickly and efficiently as possible."

He ignored the exchange of glances that took place between Filix and Aesculus through sheer obstinacy; the warrior was not blind but neither did he need to acknowledge court romances. It was none of his business.

Suddenly the light was upon him, twining up his ankles, around his abdomen and finally constricting like a serpent around his face. He choked, staggering and falling to one knee from the pain. The squire reached for his sword though he knew it could not help him, his sweaty palms slipping from the pommel and numb fingers unable to grip. Equus' skin was on fire, his blood running in hot-thin rivulets to his panicked heart. The Fey bit back on a scream, clenching his jaw so hard that it popped.

Distantly, he heard someone crying out in horror, but he couldn't focus on much of anything beyond the agony of his body being warped by the magic.

Was he going to die here? Helpless before his king and his former love?

The hurt rose higher and he could no longer ask himself questions, he could only try to fight back.

Then, just as quickly as it had advanced, the torture was over and he was on tiny hands and knees, gasping for oxygen like a fish out of water and trembling from spent adrenaline.

Ardea gasped a little in shock and fear as the light came close. The bright light, it hurt the place in him that was not there, the place where the feeling of longing for his Kithain remained. The pen slipped from the scribe's fingers as he put a hand to his chest, drawing a shuddering breath at the pain he felt.

But the spell, whatever it was, had not come for him. Ardea fought to keep control of himself, to shut out the fear and the intensity of the phantom pain, so that he could observe well enough to record this later. The better his recollection of this, the better the chance that there might be some way to undo... whatever the lights were doing. Was this what Feles and now Cervus had warned them about in the forest?

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Ursa moved towards the two children with a grimace on her face. She looked about ready to try out some of the curses she had picked up on her trips to Gaia. "OK, someone is going to need to help me carry them to the Infirmary next to my room. I want to keep an eye on them overnight, and it would probably help if there was someone there for them to answer any questions." She glanced around at the others gathered there. This was a total disaster. They had lost their best military tatician and their master of the arcane arts in a single blow. True, they would probably regain their skill, but until then they were horribly vunerable.

And even more of the burden would fall on her shoulders...she could only hope she would be strong enough to carry it.

Ursa moved to pick up Equus, and lifted him easily off the ground. She immediatly started towards the castle, talking to herself as she walked, muttering out plans and ideas, trying to come to grips with the problems lying before them. She would need to find Fey to volunteer to care for these two, if they were reverted in mind as well as body. Additionally, she would need the help of one of the others in th research portion, as she could not complete all of the work by herself. Finally, someone would need to take over Equus's task of organising defense...but she had no idea who could do that. Maybe Filix or one of the others would have an idea.

The cacophony of noise above him was easily ignored; the boy was much too self-conscious of the fact that he was very close to vomiting to really note the conversation taking place.

Something had happened, an event of epic proportions, but there was nothing for him to latch onto, no memories of how he had managed to find himself on the ground and in such poor condition. The Fey recalled pale purple light, intense, searing pain, and then this: That was the whole of his legacy of life in this world.

He was half-tempted to give up any shred of dignity he might have reclaimed and lay down on the cool, soft soil to rest for a few minutes and try to regroup and collect his thoughts. But those considerations were quickly upended when he was picked up with little ceremony by an individual he did not immediately recognize.

Equus bit back a yelp, a faint blush tinging his cheeks with embarrassment that someone was carrying him, actually had to carry him because he felt weak with some unknown illness.

He clamped down on his tongue, hoping that these Fey were of the friendly variety. The Fey closed his gritty eyes, exhaled a breath heavy with inheld bewilderment and pain, and rested in the bear-Fey's arms.