Chapter 55: Digging Through the Wall

WISP

    It felt like forever until light shone in his face. He was curled up and half-asleep when there was a loud sound of something giving way. He was high on alert, baring his fangs, as a paw appeared.

    "Thank goodness he's alright," said a soft voice.

    "Wisp! Can you hear me?" shouted another voice.

    Wisp knew the voices well. Terra and Darren.

    Or was it Rho and Darren?

    "Oh... Thank the stars! Wisp! Wisp!"

    Mist.

    "I'm alright," Wisp managed to call out.

    "You got me worried sick, dummy!" cried Mist, furious.

    "I'm... I'm sorry..." stuttered Wisp as more of the blocking walls gave way.

    "Don't just say sorry, help us out!" cried Darren. "You can try and push the soil away. It's much weaker now."

    Soil? So whatever rushed at him was soil?

    "A-alright," Wisp said and dug at the opening. Soil flew onto his face, and he shook his head.

    "A small gap, not much to work on," sighed Terra, or Rho.

    Darren sighed. "We still need to try nevertheless," sighed he.

    "Is Escarda helping?" inquired Wisp, still clawing at the opening.

     "She insists on hunting instead," said Darren calmly, "and I don't see any reason why I should stop her."

    Reasonable, calm. That's Darren in a twist.

    "What happened? I mean, what could have caused this?" cried Mist.

    It was then Wisp realised his mouth was parched. "I... I don't know," he lied, not wanting to have the blame on Terra. It wasn't her fault anyway. It was Rho's.

    "Some kind of sneaky monster must be releasing spells," Terra suddenly said as another block of soil gave way.

    "Eh?" Darren cried.

    "Spells?" inquired Mist.

    There was a pause, and it was quiet except for the scratching noise. "Spells, well, when I was back with my former pack, we believed in monsters. They're lurking at night, and for every weird incident, they're the ones who caused it," said Terra. "Phenomenas are not their talent, but disasters are. We don't understand many things, but the Alpha said when the earth shakes, a giant is upset. When a flood ruins our area, it is said that a giant is crying. They do things without thoughts. It's their pure emotions."

    "You believe in those?" asked Mist, curious. "If the earth shakes, if it floods, we just accept the reality that it happens. We never consider about what factor or cause."

    Darren spoke up. "What you have mentioned are disasters, but this misfortune has only struck Wisp. Why is that?"

    Uh-oh.

    Wisp wanted to change the subject, but that'll look bad on him. He slammed his body against a wall of soil. It barely budged.

    "Perhaps this is how the earth giants hunt," Terra mused, and it came to Wisp that she has been bluffing. "They've never told me this kind of things could happen."

    It was Mist's turn to speak. "It's too unnatural for me to believe it's not caused by someone. I'll buy the giant story until I know what's really happening here."

    Darren didn't say anything.

    For a long time, they just kept on digging without another conversation.

    "Hold up, guys," said Darren suddenly. "We're close to completion."

    In a few minutes, there was a tunnel-like entrance which Wisp squeezed through. "Thank the stars," Mist breathed, embracing him warmly.

    "I hope you're alright, Wisp," Terra said, her eyes apologetic when he faced her.

    "I'm good, but thirsty," Wisp replied.

    "Come then," Darren said. "There's a small watering hole nearby, and we can help Escarda hunt as well."

    "Alright!" cried Mist and rushed ahead, and Wisp hypothesised that she didn't have any luck when she went hunting last night.

    Terra turned. "Come on, Wisp."

    Wisp turned to follow, but she wasn't done with her sentence.

    "I want to talk to you."

Author's Note: HAHAHA one chapter dedicated to the soil tower. Oops. Nothing much, I know, but the next one, I hope, will be fascinating.

Chapter 54: Battle at the Hill!

MIDNIGHT

    She and Lambda has rushed to the scene mentioned. "Beta? I mean, they share the same name, but why did Epsilon attack her?" cried Midnight as they crashed through bushes.

    "I don't know," Lambda briefly answered. "We need to stop him, though. All the monsters outside are bad enough, we don't need this as another trouble."

    Midnight nodded as they reached the foot of a rocky hill. Lambda looked at Midnight, worried. "Do you think you can climb up?"

    "Y-yeah, I'm sure I can," Midnight said, recalling the time she went here with Pi.

    Lambda nodded. "Good."

    Midnight wondered why Lambda didn't turn into a mountain goat to climb with more ease like Pi had. To each their own, she guessed. With a little difficulty she reached the peak, where Lambda was waiting.

    "Why don't you... go on?" Midnight asked as she caught her breath.

     Lambda shook his head instead. "Come, now."

    Midnight was more than puzzled by their leader's behaviour. Nodding, she and Lambda advanced and reached a point where even Midnight could make out the magical aura all around it.

    She started to growl. "Calm down," Lambda kindly said, and she glanced at the black wolf, who has a glowing blue aura around him. Even if it was a spell, Midnight was comforted by the sudden relaxed feeling she had.

    The two's pace started to increase. Lambda then skidded to a stop, followed by Midnight.

    In the center of the ring made by four dragons, a Komodo dragon was baring its fangs, fire dancing around its raised tail. Fire shot upwards towards a hawk.

    "Epsilon! Beta! Stop!" Lambda cried.

    Aside from herself, Lambda and the two fighting figures, Theta, Omega, Alpha and Iota were already on the site. Omega and Theta was casting spells to defend Beta while Alpha was trying to force Epsilon into another form. Iota was standing there, staring at Epsilon.

    "Enough!" cried Lambda as yet another fiery comet shot upwards. Beta flapped her wings, and water extinguished it midair.

    Somehow, memories stirred within Midnight. A hawk... A traitor...

    "Theta!" Lambda called. "What's the reason for this battle?"

    "I assume it's because they share names! After all, Epsilon never got to know this Beta," replied Theta.

    Lambda growled, frustrated.

    "He won't turn into anything else. It's hard to get into his mind," Alpha admitted, sighing. "His mind's defense was easy to break through, but what his mind is filled with was rage and it was impossible to get through that."

    "So... as long as there is bloodlust he won't stop?" inquired Lambda.

    "I'm confident of that," Alpha sighed.

    Midnight was silent. She wanted to raise a question if Epsilon knew she was a traitor, but she was told by Blaze, and who knew if no one else knew, or that she'd be wrong?

    "Have you tried everything?" Lambda said.

    Alpha nodded his head as yet more comets launched upwards.

    "Wave!" cried Beta from above and a blanket of water fell from the skies extinguishing most of the furious attack, and the rest was taken care by Omega.

    "This attack was solely launched towards Beta only," Theta sighed. "We couldn't get him to do anything else."

    Alpha shook his head. "Beta is not the most powerful sorcerer in this woods, but Theta and Omega are rather talented in defending magic... but, then, Lambda..."

    He paused and ran towards Lambda and whispered in his ear something Midnight couldn't hear.

     "I'm afraid of that," said Lambda after Alpha stopped whispering, "but Chi should have done a good work on it. She knows how dangerous it is."

    "I wonder," Alpha sarcastically said and continued to report. "We were unable to put a spell on Epsilon either. We tried trapping him, his magic overpowered it. We tried to force him to submission, or to cast a blackout spell on it, but he resisted. Or that he had placed plenty of spells for his defense."

    Lambda looked furious. "Then, I see no other choice," was his reply after long last. He raised his head and shouted, "Everyone, STAND DOWN! Move back!"

    Alpha was the first to react. "Come on, Midnight!"

    Midnight moved back and watched Theta and Omega retreat, followed by a hesitating Iota.

    "Beta, I want you to move back too soon!" commanded Lambda.

     A shrill cry was in the air, and avoided yet another volley of attacks. Lambda suddenly howled, and, from where Midnight stood with Alpha,  she could see his fur glowing. It was a soft, ethereal glow.

    "Watch him," Alpha urged.

    Midnight's eyes shifted from Lambda to Epsilon, who persisted in his attack, shooting fire, casting spirit-like comets at Beta, who dodged them or used her water to defend and deal damage at Epsilon at the same time.

    Midnight caught a sparkle from the corner of her eye. From the skies, like shooting stars, three wisps plunged into Lambda's body, and the wolf began to glow violently. Light engulfed him, and it expanded. When there was a roar, a majestic white lion stood in place instead of a battle-worn black wolf. To Midnight's surprise, the lion jumped up with agility she did not expect. She glanced at the skies. Beta had moved backwards.

    The white lion roared as it plunged towards Epsilon. The Komodo dragon hissed, upset at the interruption, and sent fiery arrows at Lambda's face.

    "Lambda!" cried Midnight. The distance between them was so close, and judging by Lambda's posture, it would be impossible to dodge but receive damage.

    "No need to worry," Alpha simply said, but Midnight was beyond comprehension to his words.

    However, the fire simply floated towards the lion's left, and as more fire attacks followed, the fire ball accumulated.

    The deep voice of Lambda seemed to be different, yet it was still recognisable. "Give it up, Epsilon!"

    Before the reptile could reply, the lion reached down to the earth, two of it's paws pinning Epsilon down. The fire around the lizard's tail accumulated to Lambda's collection as the lion spoke, "It doesn't have to be like this..."

    Again, Midnight was surprised by how soft the voice was, yet loud enough to reach them.

    The lizard responded with a hiss.

     "Sorry, Epsilon!" Lambda's deep voice spoke again. "It's for your own good."

    The lion's body trembled violently as there was a glow, like the three colours of the wisps earlier. "Is Lambda's body alright?" Midnight questioned.

    "He's borrowing the strength of the dragons," said Alpha calmly. "With hiss magic and the dragons' it'll be fine. They can definitely change Epsilon into another form and quickly weave a fabricated story."

    Beta landed beside them. "Darn... he's dangerous," she said to Alpha.

    "He has always been the one to lash out in battles," admitted Alpha.

    What? Really? The way he was so regal and proper in his deer form made the information hard to digest.

    There was a cry in the air.

    A Komodo dragon has it's jaws connected with the lion's forepaw.

    Lambda looked frozen, helpless as Epsilon removed his jaws. He patted the part where he had placed a bite and looked at the lion's frozen face.

    "Oh," he said in a mocking voice. "Did you forget I was given the power to command dragons?"

Author's Note: Did you guys forget about the hawk-traitor? Hurhurhur.

Whoa, this story took a twist I did not intend it to! The battle was fun to write, but I was focusing more on the magic than that, but whoa, I did not expect this battle to continue after this chapter, but perhaps it seems like Epsilon has changed my mind. Dum dum dum...

Chapter 53: The Last Unicorn

DUSK

    "Alright, that'd do!"

    When Dusk came to, she was no longer in Chi's hut. "You should have been more cautious, Chi!" the voice said again. "It could have been worse! You were lucky. She was lucky. You know magic well, and now..."

    "Stop whining about all these little details," huffed Chi.

    The other voice sighed. "You care too little for mortal lives. You should consider more."

    "Chh, not like they cared about us either," Chi said.

    "Oh? She's awake," said the other voice. Dusk wasn't sure how she knew despite her closed eyes, so she opened them instead, blinking, the dim light showing her a pale grey wolf, peering at her with large grey eyes.

    Dusk moved her legs around, lifting her head. "Where am I?" she questioned.

    "Magic has sapped a lot of energy from you," said Chi coolly. "Welcome back, Dusk."

    The other wolf who had inspected Dusk whipped her head towards the unicorn and cried, "Spirits! Don't lie to her at once that she has now finally gained consciousness!"

    They were arguing among themselves now. "It's true, though!" insisted Chi.

    The grey wolf sighed. "Chi, I know, but you know what was the main cause! Dragon ingredients causes those without magic in their blood to feel too weak. Yet you asked her to aid you in making the potion! As weak as you were, you should be able to withstand just one dragon ingredient! It doesn't sap a lot of energy, but consciousness and magic..."

    "Magic?" inquired Dusk softy.

    The wolf nodded. "Even if one doesn't have magic in their blood, it's taken from their lifetime, memories, which is why consciousness is needed. Miracles are a form of magic, indescribable dreams are one too. You need to have either strong magic in your veins or a powerful grip on your consciousness, or death might fall upon you."

    "Zeta, don't scare the poor girl," Chi said, and it didn't please Dusk to hear that her voice had warmth in it.

    "I'm not scaring her, I'm just telling her that she should stay cautious next time when someone tells her to help out," the wolf said, throwing a murderous look at Chi.

    Sighing, Chi said, "Alright, alright."

    "Also, about your feathers..." Zeta said softly.

    "Ah?" Dusk moaned, forgetting about them already.

    "On your left side," Zeta reminded.

    Dusk turned her body around and lifted her head, and saw that the feathers were longer than last time. "Any pain yet?" inquired Zeta.

    "Oh... Not yet," was Dusk's reply.

    Zeta nodded. "If anything, you should come and see me."

    "Have I been gone for long?" inquired Dusk.

    Chi shook her head. "Not really. Around an hour?"

    Dusk pretended not to hear her.

    "If you feel better, you should try walking off now, and tell me if anything is wrong with you," Zeta said in a kind voice. "It would be careless to notice oddities too late When it could have been sooner."

    Dusk raised her head and stretched. Looking into Zeta's eyes, she said, "Thanks for healing me."

    "Mhmm," Zeta said. "You're welcome."

    Chi was to go with her. They were a little outside of Zeta's hut, stopping because Chi insisted whenever she saw an exotic plant and collected them.

    "Why are you a unicorn?" Dusk inquired suddenly, the conversation between Chi and Zeta replaying in her head. "Unicorns symbolise purity, clarity, but you... you're sly and selfish. Why are you a unicorn?"

    "You're generalising unicorns," Chi huffed. "Many others did too, like Beta and Rho, so and so, but that's because Crystal was everywhere on earth, she just... she just had to be goody-two-shoes! Now everyone thinks unicorns are born with a pure heart, with a horn on their head, they don't!"

    Dusk was surprised. "Unicorns weren't born with horns?" she cried.

    Chi sighed. "You have to earn them. It's like a medal," she explained, though not so kindly. "For every deed that's honourable to the unicorn race, it grows. Slowly, slowly, it expands. However, this is going to be how my horn looks forever."

    "Why not?" Dusk inquired, puzzled.

    "The unicorn race is lost," Chi said, her voice has a new-found triumphant tone to it. "I am the last unicorn, who studied magic, escaped the era where humans and unicorns fought, and now standing here. My horn would grow if I did something to the race, but without the race, there is no honour to give the void."

    "That's not true!" Dusk exclaimed. "The race still exists, because you're a unicorn, are you not? You're part of the race, Chi..."

    "So if I honour myself, it'll grow? Hurhur," Chi scoffed. "I've tried, it didn't work."

    Dusk wanted to expand more, but the mood told her to drop it, so she opened up a new topic, "Who was this Crystal you spoke of?"

    "Crystal..." Chi murmured. "She was a unicorn back in the days. She had the shortest horn of the age level, and she never opposed the dragons, nor did she ever bad-mouthed them. She never joined duels. Hmph, being the goody-two-shoes who doesn't want to get a single scratch on her."

    "So how did we all get to know unicorns as this Crystal is? Doesn't sound like much," Dusk confessed.

    Chi strode forwards, and Dusk followed to keep up. "Oh, I know," she said, laughing, but it died away. "I never thought she'd be someone so... special either. Imagine this, Dusk. When we were travelling, we came upon rivers that were dirty, muddy and filled with horrible things that no one would or even survive after drinking from it. It's always been in the unicorn rules that we should never interfere with anything that isn't magic. So we went, but that Crystal! She should have her horn sawn off! She interfered with the natural cycle of who-knows-what and cleansed the river! Instead, her horn grew! It wasn't until years later until we saw a pure-white unicorn, with her mane and tail braided with flowers, her horn magnificent and long, curving forwards. She was singing, singing songs of heroic acts.

    "Imagine! Is it honour that you bring when you sing of yourself? Is it honour to disgrace the unicorns by breaking our law and creating an unbalanced world without magic with magic? Crystal helped humans, healed the dying with her horn, stopped various incidents with spells and incarnations every knew, but it's not fair, now! She has created the world in favour of the non-magics, and yet, she's being praised by us the magical creatures, who knew she defied our law, but..."

    Chi sighed. "Humans began to tell tales of Crystal, how magnificent she was. Blah, blah, blah. However, due to the lack of balance between magic and non-magic, our side started to go down. Those events she stopped should have helped in our favour, but that unicorn wouldn't allow it. Sooner than we knew it, humans were after us. Even after making pacts with the dragons, humans were more unreasonable. Those they hunted cut off the horns of the unicorns, taking our fur as well. I was furious, alright? I called out Crystal, our new leader for the longest horn, but she used her position as our leader to blind them. They were oblivious to the reality she bended. It was hopeless. Over the course of years, I have studied magic with Omicron, and he has lead me to the Silver Woods before, and so, here I am now."

    "So, that was the last you saw of them?" Dusk questioned.

    Chi shook her head. "No, I saw Crystal for the one last final time in this woods."

    "H-here!" cried Dusk.

    Chi was silent. She opened her mouth, but closed it again hesitantly. She stopped, so did Dusk, who nearly crashed into the unicorn. "It was when nearly all was lost. Crystal and her mate came here, seeking for more magic and power to overcome the humans. However, Lambda could not allow that. That would certainly disrupt the balance. The white lion, Lambda, had to stop the white unicorn, Crystal, and so, the great battle of magics occurred in this very woods. The unicorn leader fell, she was heavily wounded by Lambda's magic. Thus, the unicorn race has ended, after Lambda removed the mate who sought revenge.

    "I'm the last unicorn. My name is Chira."

Author's Note: Woah! We're pacing along quickly! A little about Chi and her race-

Chapter 52: Sssneak Away

WISP

    "Maybe I should try hunting instead," Mist offered. "I'm really wanting to go out there and stretch my legs."

    Wisp shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said.

    Mist gleefully jumped off and ran into the barren lands. There was no hope of catching anything there as far as Wisp was concerned of.

    Wisp was pretending to sleep as Mist slipped off. Counting down, he scanned around to see if Mist was still around. When he reached zero, he stood and checked again for the last time.

    No Mist in sight. Good.

    He bounded off to the mountain where Darren and his beginning pack lay. Hopefully, Darren would lay low now that Escarda had already went on a hunt.

    Quietly, Wisp sauntered up the rocky hill where Darren was. There was no movement to be heard by Wisp, and so he sighed, but kept cautious. Up the long way, Wisp slowly and stealthily travelled the winding path up. He hoped that whatever Darren and his little pack hunted could be his meal too.

    He knew it was stealing. He knew it wasn't right, but it was the only chance of survival.

    So far.

    Mist wanted a bunny, right?

    No, if it was a bunny Escarda received while hunting, it couldn't even sustain for the three of them. Maybe they hunted something larger? Or in large quantities?

    Wisp could hear the sound of paws scraping against the rocky surface. Wisp froze. Who could it be?

    Wolves may be nocturnal, but Darren is usually asleep at night and move a lot by day. Wisp hoped that they all followed their pack leader.

    The sound of the footsteps were gone. Suddenly, a spine-chilling voice said, "Yes, he was here."

    Wisp, hearing it, couldn't help feeling attracted to the voice. Despite it being fishy, but the voice seem to own some kind of mystical power that drew Wisp towards it. Before Wisp knew it, he was pacing forwards.

    "Who's there?" the same voice said, but it's melodic, and certainly wasn't panicked. Wisp then realised he was out in the open.

    He kept striding forwards, keeping the answer to the question to himself. He needed to see who said that!

    It was too feminine for Darren, and Escarda's voice was harsher. Terra... Terra's voice was less bold, more quiet.

    A brown wolf came to sight. "T-Terra!" cried Wisp, shocked.

    "You know... me?" she inquired, puzzling Wisp terribly.

    Wisp shook his head. "Darren introduced us to each other, remember?"

    "I'm afraid... not," replied Terra apologetically. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Rho."

    "Rho? I... but... but you're Terra!"

    The brown wolf laughed. "Terra has been my host for quite some time now," said the wolf, and suddenly Wisp felt uneasy.

    "Host?" he questioned hesitantly.

    Rho laughed gently. "I'm sorry, are you startled?" she inquired. "I'm Rho. However, I have been defeated in combat years ago, and I was beyond saving, so they removed my soul from my body, and my soul wanders freely."

    "You're... dead?" cried Wisp.

    Rho laughed again, and Wisp felt relaxed from his tense moment. "No, I wasn't, I was close to, but, not yet."

    "So... why are you in Terra's body?" inquired Wisp, studying the brown patterns of the wolf.

    "My soul was useless to do anything, so I needed a physical body. An outcast, Terra accepted my offer, and so here we are!" cried she, smiling.

    "We're friends, don't worry," Rho reassured. "It's not like I forced in to use her body or anything, OK?"

    "Does Darren know about this?" Wisp finally questioned.

    Rho, in Terra's body, shook her head. "No, but Terra told him that sometimes she wonder freely at night without remembering, and not to bother her when she does that. Really sweet of Terra, isn't it?"

    Wisp thought about it for moments.

    "What did you need from this little place?"

    The question seemed to attack Wisp, and he sub-consciously took a step back. "To h-hunt for food, of course!" he replied, a little hurt.

    "In the territory of Darren?" inquired Rho sharply, and suddenly Terra's warm green eyes turned blue.

    "There's a little meadow over here, and I-"

    "Don't lie to me!" screamed Rho menacingly, and somehow uncaring. "You're going to rob Darren of any food, aren't you?"

    "I... but-!"

    Rho's voice softened a bit, but it was still icy. "I'm not letting you destroy Terra's life. She never got anything but scraps in her old pack. It was fine when she and Darren finally got together! Don't you see? Stealing their food might just be what they need to starvation! Hunting is no longer easy as long as we're out here!"

    "Exactly, that's why I'm trying to hunt-"

    "You can't deny the fact you weren't going hunting!" snarled Rho. "Now reflect on your actions! You have the rest of your life to do it!"

    Suddenly, the earth beneath him began to shake. Wisp took quick steps backwards, but, in a blink of an eye, the ground around him rushed up, and he was enveloped in darkness.

Author's Note: I keep forgetting to post on here... oops... Have a chapter! Sorry for the past inconveniences!

Chapter 51: Inner Voice

MIDNIGHT

    "I see," said the wolf. "He... escaped, didn't he? I... I should have guessed. It's about time."

    The most logical thing to do was to report to Lambda after the transformation of Epsilon. The black wolf paced round.

    "Well, if he's out for Be- Rune, then very soon, that lizard would have been on it's way sniffing for any trail of magic it could find," stated Lambda.

    "Sniffing out for any trail of magic? He can do that?" cried Midnight.

    "Well," Lambda said after a short pause, "the Komodo Dragon has enhanced smelling senses, and with training to detect the faintest tracks of magic, I have no doubt that Epsilon can find Rune soon and be locked in a ferocious battle with him."

    Iota, once silent and shaken by the whole ordeal, cried out, "Is there a way to bring him back?"

    "As long as his bloodlust is high, then there's no bringing him back," Lambda said. "Possibly, only by beating Rune, then he can return to be calm, where Theta can cast her magic on him."

    Midnight and Theta were silent.

    "I shall see if Omicron could be of any help," said Lambda, looking at every one of them in their eyes. "While if there might be any other trouble, I expect you to call for Tresley, and he'll send me the message. If he is unavailable... I suppose that you should use your inner voice."

    While Theta and Iota nodded, Midnight stuttered, "I-Inner voice?"

    Lambda looked at the rest. "Go," he briefly said, "return to your duties."

    With that, Theta and Iota left. Lambda started to pace around Midnight, but, somehow, their gaze always met each other's. Lambda's steely grey eyes seem to study Midnight intently. "Now, Midnight," he said, "the inner voice I spoke of varies with each person."

    "You mean?" Midnight inquired, not understanding.

    "It's the voice of your soul. Everyone has it, but not everyone is able to project them. For example, a little bird who has been abandoned after feeling it's mother's love for a week. While all you can hear are it's noisy chirps, it's inner voice reverberates  within it's heart, wishing, hoping someone could hear it and save them. Often, I'm sure you have found yourself feeling that way in many situations."

    Midnight was silent. It wa true. Like that time when her mother was dead, and her father was so cold about it, she wished someone heard her lonely cries and comfort her. Instead, she comforted Wisp instead, and the young pup was incapable of doing so to her. Or the other time when she was upset on going for the Lone Quest, which she almost forgot at this point, and she wished someone else, like Shadow, would stand up to her and let her go with a pack. They never worked. They never heard her cries!

    "That no one... came to your aid."

    Lambda's voice sounded icy. Midnight knew it was true.

    "However, you can unleash that call, that cry for help," Lambda said, softer this time. "That is called your inner voice... unleashed."

    Lambda closed his eyes, and opened them, showing glassy grey eyes. Though his mouth didn't twitch, nor did he move again, there was an echoing voice that seem to come from every angle of the room.

    This... this is the inner voice.

    It was unmistakably Lambda's deep voice.

    "It is not only used to deliver desperate pleas, though often that is the use of our inner voice, the voice of the soul, but it can also be used to convey messages. However," Lambda said, eyes fixed on Midnight, moving his mouth as he spoke, "everyone has different ways to unleash them. This is the very first and basic step to magic. Unleashing your inner voice."

    "I'm nothing of magic!" protested Midnight.

    Lambda shook his head. "You don't have to be," he said. "Delta and Sigma started out clueless about magic, and yet, Delta is one of our most powerful healers. Someone's magic capabilities doesn't depend on their origin."

    "So... I can actually...?"

    When Midnight's words faded away to nothingness, Lambda continued, "Do magic, yes."

    "However, that would come later, only if you are capable to project that inner voice of yours, then it is time to continue to nurture the potential you have in magic," Lambda added, and Midnight nodded.

    Lambda started to pace around again. "How to project it, you might wonder?"

    Midnight was thinking about it, nodding furiously, her heart thinking, How I wish that I could prove myself worth to magic!

    Lambda stopped pacing around. "It depends on every individual."

    Midnight was about to question him, but Lambda continued talking, "Every individual has the will, the power, to do something, but often their inner voice cannot be projected, due to their shy nature, or the fact they don't want to seem desperate. Many factors make the inner voice unable to be extended to another individual, as due to that, it changes for every individual.

    "For example, mine is the fear that others would see me as weak. What hinders you to let go of this inner wishes? That is what you need to overcome to be able to release these desires, and that when you overcome it, only then can your heart feel free of any worries or restrains, and let it's voice tumble into the air, and it be known, as nothing else hinders you from saying it, or from it to be said, such as fear."

    Midnight was slightly shocked that fear dominated Lambda, but grasped the understanding easily. "It's that simple?"

    "It sounds simple, but it might not be as easy to execute," Lambda said. "Why don't you try?"

    The burning feeling in her heart, her longing to be able to perform magic, ached in her soul. She might have given hints to Theta and Zeta that she wanted to-! How was she being hindered? How?

    Then it struck her, that she would seem too desperate, loosin touch with herself.

    It can't be too desperate, it's only natural-!

    Midnight wa sure it'd work.

    Her heart was quick to lash back. Natural? Your wishes, desires, to become like one of them? Pah! You're no longer a wolf who stick to the rules of the Nyx Pack, Midnight, you've grown weak, ambitious, your mind poisoned by the words of those who reside here!

    It was true. All too true.

    I... but I-!

    She had no other words to rebel her heart with.

    "Don't worry," Lambda's voice suddenly said. "It's not as easy as it seems, and that for every situation, the requirements change, but I'm sure you'll do it fine."

    See? Midnight bitterly thought to herself. Even Lambda has confidence! That's not poison!

    Before any other thoughts could pass between her conflicting heart and mind, the panicked voice suddenly swirled in the air, speaking loudly, the voice echoing around.

    Lambda noticed it's presence before it cried.

    "Urgent! Epsilon is fighting Beta in the Dragons of Stone Hill!"

Author's Note: This is dim. There's no 'B' button there to bold my text. Ugh. Anyway, more magic concept! Yay! A longer chapter too. I might go on hiatus again... sigh...