Hallowturne was never a pleasant time.
Nahele tried to make the best of it in recent years with his children, but it was hard to shake the feeling of unease. And nearly every year that gut feeling was proven right.
This year was no different.
When Asra’s upbeat voice floated over the radio the first week, he had been nervous. The next week, Bellerophon had snuck out, declaring that he had rescued someone when Nahele finally found him. The week after that, Hiroko had gone to assist with the Harlequin Imps while Nahele kept the children entertained at home.
Every week, there had been multiple townsfolk being hurt. He honestly just had hoped that this last week could be calm.
As the spiritual radio crackled to life on their counter and the hauntingly cheerful host announced the next event, Nahele looked to the sky. Fire-breathing beasts.
He was here now, helping to trap the beasts. All those with wings were asked to assist, and by his side flew Ori. Ori had a net strapped to his back, while Nahele held a lasso. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest at the thought of what the creatures would do if they got far into town.
He had to help.
But even as he watched the beasts swoop and soar, he could see it. They looked…
“They’re scared”, Ori whispered. Nahele gave him a nod. Whatever the spirit had done to conjure them here, the beasts were confused and frightened being away from their home. His grip on the rope tightened. The plan was for Ori to go in with his Spiritualist magic with his net as back up, and Nahele to act as support to wrangle the beast if it got aggressive, at least until they could get it calmed or onto the ground.
A bolt of magic soared into the air and struck the side of one of the bats. It broke away, flying quickly as it screeched. Other Finley with wings were flying toward the rest of the bats, so Nahele and Ori turned toward the one that had broken away from the rest. The Nostra, more riled up now, was flying fast, shooting a spout of fire onto the ground below. It hit a house, but a team of water draken were there to assist. The Nostra spotted the two of them and instead of flying at them, swooped down further away.
“It’s probably trying to avoid being attacked again”, Nahele shouted to Ori. But as he followed after the bat, his heart stopped.
It was trying to get away from what hurt it and was heading right toward where-
A burst of fear flared in his chest and Nahele dove down at the bat.
“Ori get ready!”
“Right!”, Ori answered, swooping down behind him.
Nahele grabbed the lasso he carried as the bat raised its head, fire glowing in its sharp toothed maw.
Yelling, Nahele threw the rope, landing the loop over the Nostra’s snout. With a hard pull, he yanked the Nostra’s head up.
A spout of purple fire erupted from the beat’s mouth as it roared. Its claws swiped the air as its wings flapped frantically. Ori’s paw glowed orange as he began to channel mana to calm the creature down.
The Nostra strained against the rope, snapping and sparks flying from its mouth. Nahele just held on.
He wouldn’t let another Hallowturne disaster befall this town. Not if he could help.