The Servants seemed to have more or less given up on anything but living at this point. The suicidal tactics of the Morgana forces had gotten their Familiar killed, and now that their aura had collapsed, they stood virtually no chance of recovery.
They couldn’t even feel the link with Wolfe anymore, and the disconnect from their aura was like the loss of a loved one. It had left a gaping emptiness inside that they couldn’t seem to get past, and it was slowly swallowing their entire lives in a pit of despair.
Wolfe didn’t need to use a bond to see that they were suffering, so he went over to where they were staring into nothingness and silently got to work.
The damage from the poison wasn’t too hard to fix. It was just that it was almost impossible for a witch to recover even if the damage was repaired.
But the servants had an advantage. Even though they couldn’t feel it, they were still bonded to Wolfe. The collar-shaped Mark disappeared when their aura collapsed, but Wolfe could still feel it, and once the damaged nerves were patched, he forced the group full of mana and moved to stand in front of them.
“I have given you a dose of mana. Absorb it to rebuild your aura. That is an order.”
While saw their bodies respond involuntarily before their minds processed his words, and they slowly turned to look at each other in shock. They had been so numb that they didn’t feel him working or notice his presence, but they could see that the marks were back, and the faintest vestige of an aura was forming.
“That’s better. I didn’t give you permission to give up just yet, so keep working and regain your strength. You will need it very soon.” Wolfe managed to say before he was tackled and embraced by five bodies at once.
“They seem happy to see him. I thought those five were lost.” One of the Sylvan witches whispered to the woman sitting next to her.
“Look at their necks. He’s got to be the one they were sworn to. Now that he’s here, he can likely rebuild their aura. I heard he saved the little witch. Mary, I think her name is.”
Both of them looked to the triage area, where Mary was out of bed and gently petting Pup, who was still unconscious.
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“You look well. But what’s with the gun? You had plenty of magic when you came to save us.” One of them asked from behind him.
“I enchanted the rifles so that the bullets can carry spells. It increases the range and accuracy of spells like [Fireball], so I can just point and fire them into the army ranks.
Apparently, witches have trouble with the enchanted rifles because they need to gather the mana for each individual spell as they go, but I did a few belts of ammunition, and they worked well enough.
I’m not sure the enchanted bullets are actually safe for general use, though. The spell is charged with mana to keep it mostly activated all the time, and stacking magical items can make them unstable.
I will upgrade weapons for everyone if we get time. Swords are great, but with that gas, we don’t want to get into melee range with the enemy. They will just pop smoke, and then every witch whose armour goes down takes permanent damage. Even a shot every couple of seconds is enough to even the odds, I think.”
“If we all had these new rifles, we could draw from you instead. As long as you supply us, we only need a little ability to use mana, and we can do the hard work for you.
The two Elders aren’t bad guys, but they struggle with even the basic magic that you can do. They are great fighters, though, and we all relied on their strength more than a few times.”
Wolfe drummed his fingers on the ground as he listened, then an important thought occurred to him. “Where it’s our littlest helper? I haven’t been called Mister Wolfe in a while.”
The girls smiled softly at the memory, then frowned. “She’s in Sylvan City. She was underage, so Sylvan took her in to finish her schooling. They say she has promise, according to their testing, so she will probably be a full-fledged witch when she grows up.”
“That’s good news. She deserves time to grow. I don’t think the mundane army will breach the city, there’s still enough hidden power, and I’ve broadcast the trick to destabilize the anti-magic munitions.
The mutants have been helping me out inside the Frozen Wastes as well and throwing any that they capture into a magical vortex that formed at the site of one of the attacks I launched.”
That caught the attention of other witches from their original unit. “Is that where you ended up? What about the Lieutenant?”
“She’s fine, waiting with Stephanie, the Familiar Cat, for me to return.”
The witches shook their heads and smiled. “Trust you to find a way out with the boss and your pet cat while the rest of us ran for our lives. It sounds like you’ve done pretty well for yourselves too.”
“Not bad. We’ve had good luck destroying mundane army units as well. The locals can’t stand them, so they help me out and report their movement. It makes targeting them easy.”
The conversation fell silent for a while as the bonded witches who were here drew all the mana they could through Wolfe to try to recover the aura that they had lost to the Nerve Gas attacks.
They were just about to heat an evening meal before the sun went down when they heard the sounds of transport vehicles coming down the road from the south, meaning they were likely Witch Coven vehicles.
The drivers didn’t hesitate at all and pulled into the clearing near the overhang. The door of the vehicle opened, and a clear female voice called out into the evening silence, seeming certain that they were in the right spot.
“We are an evacuation team from Morgana Coven. We have been sent to gather Lady Reiko and everyone in need of healing. The Coven Mistress has found a secret technique to heal gas damage.” The voice called.
“Would it involve someone like me?” One of the Elders called back.
“Indeed it does. That sounds like Elder Noxus, right? The Patriarch is the one who told us where to find you. He got your message when you began to retreat.”
The nurses began to pack up their patients and move into the open, and the vehicles that Morgana Coven sent started loading the wounded right away.
“Is Reiko here? We need her back in the city. Her position as the heir to the Morgan Family is public knowledge now, and the new council is getting nervous without her there.” The rescue worker asked.
Wolfe answered for her. “She is. Take her, plus Mary and Pup, back with you. They need each other, and they need time to heal.”
Then he turned to Reiko. “You will be able to build strength through me, even from home. At least, I am pretty sure you will be able to. Take care of Mary, she’s going to have a long recovery, and she’s in no mental shape to do it on the battlefield.”
“I will. Look after everyone else. There is safety in numbers, so try not to run off on your own again.” She complained, then gave him a tearful hug and went to collect Mary.
Wolfe brushed a stray bit of moisture from his eye. He was definitely allergic to goodbyes. They always left him all tearful and choked up. At least, that was the story he told himself. Because everyone knows gangsters don’t cry.
