Chapter 11
Twilight Sparkle eyed her friend and fellow practitioner of magic with a curious expression. Helix had refused to tell her where Dizastrous had gone in such a hurry and if Octavia going missing had anything to do with him, waving her off with excuses of how tired he was and how he promised he would explain later after he rested. He had been in deep slumber for some time now, and one of his possessions that he had set on the table next to him was giving off a humming sound.
Twilight approached the obviously magical item cautiously and gave it a scrutinizing look. It appeared to be an expensive amulet that bore an emblem in its middle, an emblem that matched the tabard Twilight had seen Helix pull out of one of his packs when he explained guilds where he was from. Twilight levitated the amulet in front of her and briefly wondered what the enchantment on it did besides make noise. Twilight levitated the amulet above her head, positioning it in front of the chandelier so that she could scrutinize the subtle distortion the magic caused to the light to judge how powerful the enchantment was.
"Hey Twilight, what'cha up to in here?" Spike asked as he entered the guest room that Helix was staying in.
Twilight startled at being caught snooping in her friends room momentarily lost control of her magic, and the amulet suddenly obeyed the laws of gravity and found itself falling around Twilight's neck. The purple mare went wide eyed as she looked down at the amulet that now dangled against her chest.
"You alright Twilight?" Spike asked, seeing the stunned look on the mare's face.
Twilight's mind however was now able to access the telepathic message system of Helix's guild, and a log of recent messages filled her thoughts. Scanning threw them her face grew paler and paler as she slowly turned her gaze towards the peacefully sleeping form of Helix. Twilight'ts lips moved, but no sound ushered forth from them, she was unable to speak.
"Twilight? Twilight!" Spike wailed in confusion and fear as he saw the way the mare that had raised him was acting.
As the little dragon ran over to the mare's side and began to shake her in hopes of snapping her out of the horrified trance she was in, the warlock in the room began to stir. Rubbing his eyes and letting out a long yawn Helix blinked his eyes to adjust to the light in the room. His gaze drifted about the room looking for the source of the noise that woke him with an annoyed look on his face. It was not long however before his eyes caught the tear filled stare of his friend.
"Twilight? What's wr-" Helix halted mid sentence when he noticed the amulet around her neck.
Helix leapt from the bed and stood upright, causing Twilight to finally break from her trance and take a quick step away from the towering figure of her friend. As Helix took a step forward, hands raised in a non threatening gesture, Twilight turned and fled from him, ignoring the apologetic tone in his voice as she galloped for the front door to the library.
As she burst from her home, eyes brimming with tears, she ran. Twilight fled with no destination in mind, her mind too occupied with how betrayed she felt, how easily she trusted this stranger who used her to find out about her land just so they could steal something.
Helix stared out the door Twilight had galloped through, his face painted with sorrow at how his friend had looked at him. His eyes drifted from the door down to the baby dragon who held a look of utter confusion on his face.
"What was that about?" Spike asked.
"I did something that should never be done to someone so innocent..." Helix said in a sorrowful tone.
"What was that?" Spike asked out of curiosity.
"I lied to her." Helix replied.
Spike wondered what kind of lie could be told to make somepony react like that. Helix in the meantime made his way out of the open door after donning his robes and assorted gear. His face was now stony and devoid of emotion as he left the baby dragon behind.
Helix made a beeline straight for Carousel Boutique, the only place he knew of that held two Unicorns he could trust. As he knocked on the door he was answered by a mare with a pristine white coat and styled purple mane.
"Oh Helix, what a pleasure to see you again!" Rarity said in a happy tone, hoping to ask the warlock about the cloth her wore.
"Rarity, I need your help, and the help of your younger sister." Helix said in a slightly urgent tone.
"Well, okay... But what do you need Sweetie Belle for?" The white mare inquired.
"The spell I need to cast requires two others to hold the magic while I weave it. Even an untrained person can hold the magic, they just need to possess some of their own." Helix explained, his mind racing with thoughts of how bad things would go without his ability to warn his friends their cover had been blown.
Rarity stepped aside and allowed the warlock to enter concern donning her face, "Did something happen? Normally I'd think Twilight would be able to help you with this..."
"She... Is not home right now, I don't know where she is at the moment." Helix said, telling a half truth.
Sweetie Belle trotted in and gave the Blood Elf an excited wave as she scurried over, questions she wanted to ask the man already on her mind. But when she drew closer, she noticed the serious look on his face and she drew to a halt just short of him.
"Sweeite Belle, I need your help with something." Helix said, kneeling down so that he did not tower above her as much.
"You want my help?!" Sweetie Belle asked in an excited tone.
"I need help casting a spell, and right now only you and your sister can help me cast it so that I can save one of my friends." Helix explained.
"Wow!" The young filly exclaimed at the notion of her being able to help the warlock.
"One of your friends is in danger?" Rarity chimed in with a concerned voice.
"Not yet, but she will be soon. Can I count on you two to help me?" Helix asked.
"Sure! What do you need me to do?" Sweetie Belle asked without hesitation.
"You simply need to bear with me and hold the magic I give you so that I can work with it." Helix explained as his hands began to swirl with nether energies.
Both sisters nodded and braced themselves, uncertain of what was going to happen. Slowly both of their horns began to give off a blue glow as they could feel magic being channeled through them. For rarity it was like she were casting a spell herself, despite she was not being drained of her own energy, but for Sweetie Belle it was an astounding experience. The young filly had not learned how to tap into her own magical reserve, so for the first time she felt the sensation of magic coursing through her horn.
Helix in the meantime worked the energies as he cast the spell. Novices needed minutes to cast this particular spell, but over his years and the many castings of it, Helix had it down to a science how to efficiently cast it and could do it in mere seconds after he started. In no time at all he focused the magic into the ground before him and a swirling mass of green and black formed on the ground. The two mares backed up abruptly as a tall hodded figure burst forth from the ground, towering over even the warlock. The dark cloaked figure then grasped the front of its robe and tore it open, revealing the swirling red and black portal that was within.
"Now I just need one of you this time so I can summon my friend." Helix explained as his hands began to glow blue with magic as he channeled energy into the portal.
Rarity felt the sensation of Helix offering magic to her, and she accepted it to flow through her horn once more as he worked on another spell. Though she was not a unicorn who specialized in magic, Rarity found the complexity and level of the spell fascinating. The weaves of magic the warlock was working was wondrous, and captivated the white mare as he worked.
"I'm not accusing you of anything, I just want to know what happened to one of my little ponies." Celestia said in a tired tone.
"And I assure you he is not the kind of man to kidnap anyone." Weaver returned to the princess of the sun.
"That may be, and the soldiers I dispatched were told to simply escort him back here. They were given orders not to harm him, I merely wish to meet him. If the mare is not with him perhaps he saw her on his way out of Ponyville in the dead of night." Celestia said, slight sarcasm towards the end of her statement.
Weaver frowned at the tone the princess had used, causing Celestia to stiffen up slightly. While Celestia was positive she held more magical power than the Blood Elf, she was able to feel the destructive power of it when she had a burst of anger not too long ago. If anger could trigger such a dangerous reaction to Weaver's magic, Celestia did not particularly wish to test her might against it.
"I know my sister has taken a liking to you, and because of this I am willing to show leniency to your friends if they broke any laws because they felt threatened. But I really must put the safety of my little ponies above all else." Celestia explained with a sigh.
Weaver let out a sigh, and opened her mouth to give another excuse, but she froze as she felt a tug on her physical essence. Someone was summoning her, the magic that pulled at her was familiar as well. Helix was trying to summon her. Why?
Celestia raised an eyebrow at the strange look the warlock had on her face. Weaver in the meantime was debating her choices. If she simply winked out of existence in front of the princess it would be exceedingly suspicious. But Helix would only summon her without warning if it was an emergency. Weaver's eyes darted back and forth as she weighed her decision.
"Is something wrong?" Celestia asked, a hint of concern on her voice.
"Uh..." Weaver began as she looked down at herself.
Celestia tilted her head at the odd behavior Weaver was displaying.
"Tell Luna I will get in touch with her when I can..." Weaver said offhandedly.
"What?" Celestia asked taken off guard by the statement.
"For the record, I did not know this was going to happen before now..." Weaver said as she winked out of existence in front of Celestia.
Celestia blinked a few times, unable to comprehend what happened. The warlock did not channel any magic, the obvious signs of it not present. The Blood Elf's hands had not been glowing in the slightest, but she disappeared.
Weaver in the meantime drifted through the nether portal she was sucked through and arriving at her destination strode out of the portal. Looking around her she noticed a mare and a filly next to her friend that had summoned her.
"What's up?" She asked, noting the astonished faces of the two ponies in her presence.
"Thank you two very much, but now I have business to attend to..." Helix said as he with a wave of his hands dismissed the portal and lead Weaver out of the Boutique.
After they left and made their way a short ways out of town Weaver stopped, causing Helix to turn around and face her.
"What happened?" Weaver asked cautiously.
"My guild amulet was stolen by the mare I was staying with..." Helix said with a slight cringe.
"Well, get it back from her then!" Weaver nearly yelled.
"She already managed to access the messages..." Helix said in a sullen tone.
"You don't necessarily know that, the entire system can be baffling to those who haven't ever used it before." Weaver said, trying to ease her own concerns about the implications.
"Twilight is a professional student in the arcane arts. It would have only taken her moments to figure it out. Not to mention... The look she gave me." Helix nearly whispered the last part.
Weaver gritted her teeth in anger, "And I suppose you feel too close to her now to deal with her how you should..."
Helix nodded slowly, he knew what Weaver meant. But Weaver merely sighed in exasperation. Procuring her own Guild amulet she accessed the guild master controls within the enchantment and demoted Helix's amulet from officer chat.
"That should keep her from accessing those messages and now I can at least warn Diz..." Weaver said with a frown.
"Even though she no longer has any proof, her word will be taken over ours..." Helix said dejectedly.
"Yes, so now you need to go find her and try to convince her you had no other choice but to lie to her." Weaver explained, a plan already brewing on how to deal with this.
"How do you propose I tell her that I lied to her and planned on betraying her trust? How can you make it sound like I had no choice in that?" Helix asked, still feeling down on how the young mare looked at him.
"You show her what I'm about to do to you." Weaver explained.
"What are y-" Helix never had time to react to the fireball that connected with his chest.
The magical robes he wore dampened the blow slightly and took no damage itself, but he could feel his skin sizzling underneath it. Helix gasped in pain and surprise as he doubled over in agony.
"Okay, hang in there Helix. Just stumble back into town and give your little friend a tear jerking story of how we are all being forced to do this. Tell her Lor'themar is watching over us and is pulling the strings. Good touch with the actual tears." Weaver said as she helped Helix back to his feet.
"Fuck this hurts..." Helix said through gritted teeth.
Helix pulled off his robes and winced as his scorched skin met the breeze. Weaver then fetched some bandages from her pack and began to cover the wound. Using magically enhanced healing would hide the wound completely, so it was out of the question.
"Think of it as a learning experience, now get out there and buy us some time. I will fill Diz in on what has happened and tell him to hurry." Weaver said.
Helix began to limp off towards the library, putting his robe back on as he walked.
"If you can't get her to keep quiet about what she found out, just stall her from sending any of those messages to the princess. If they know Diz is coming its all ruined!" Weaver called after Helix
In reply Helix merely raised a one finger salute behind his back walked away from Weaver, doubled over in pain as he tried his best to suppress the urge to magically heal his wounds.