Post Tenebras Lux

Influxibus Malis

Aelin ran out of the main doors of Hogwarts, Anne and Ominis not far behind her.

"Aelin! Stop!" Anne called after her.

But Aelin kept running in the direction of the Forbidden Forest, determined to find Sebastian. She felt her heart start to race. She feared that her nightmare from the night before was coming true, and Sebastian was truly in danger.

Once she entered the Forbidden Forest, she looked around for any signs that Evangeline and Sebastian had come through. Anne and Ominis caught up to her and helped in her search.

"Over here, Aelin. Look at this." Anne was looking at a fresh puddle of blood on the ground.

Aelin and Ominis walked in Anne's direction.

"There are bloody footprints too, look." Aelin pointed out the footprints to Anne.

Ominis held out his wand in the direction that the footprints were pointed in. "I can sense dark magic in the area. They must have come this way."

The trio followed the footprints until they faded into the mud.

"Can you still sense anything, Ominis?"

"Yes, this way." Ominis led them in a bit of a different direction.

They walked for a little longer before seeing a sudden crack of lightning in the sky nearby.

"Do you think that was Evangeline's magic?" Anne asked.

"It has to be. Let's go." Aelin started to run in the direction of the lightning.

~~~

Aelin finally made it to them. Evangeline was on her feet, throwing spells at a group of poachers and dark wizards. Sebastian was laid on the ground nearby; unmoving.

Aelin ran over to him and knelt to the ground. "Seb!"

She put both of her hands on his face and continued to call his name, attempting to wake him.

"Seb, please! Wake up!"

His eyelids fluttered for a moment, before he opened his eyes slowly. "Aelin?"

"Seb, what happened?"

He took a moment to get acclimated to his surroundings before he spoke. "Evangeline asked me to come with her to help her find some artifact she read about...We were ambushed by dark wizards."

Aelin looked back over to Evangeline who had finished off the last of their adversaries.

"Hands off, Malfoy." Evangeline scowled and pushed her away from Sebastian. "Are you okay, Sebbie? I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you."

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Don't 'Sebbie' me...Only my sister can call me that."

Evangeline smirked. "Would you rather I call you 'Seb'?"

Aelin narrowed her eyes at the girl and was about to speak up, but was cut off by Sebastian.

"That nickname is reserved for Aelin only."

Sebastian's voice was colder; angrier than she'd ever heard it when he was addressing Evangeline.

Aelin stopped to think for a moment. She supposed that she was the only person who she ever heard address him as 'Seb'. Most people simply called him 'Sallow', aside from Anne and Ominis who opted for 'Sebbie' or his given name of 'Sebastian' respectively.

"How about I call you 'Bash' then? Or 'Bastian'?"

Ominis finally stepped in. "This is hardly the time to discuss nicknames. We need to get out of here."