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A sword buried deep inside her heart, it was over for the witch.

Slowly, the villain began turning into a gel-like substance. Black wisps ate away at her flesh and she sank into the earth below, like ice cream that had fallen onto the sidewalk on a scorching summer day. Her petrified head fell meters away from her sagging body, eyes flitting frantically as the stone spell consumed her. Soon, a dying gurgle left her throat and she disappeared into the barren wasteland, her melted remains seeping into the cracks and crevices. Only a black wisp lingered on the spot she stood on.

The Lost Souls had won, but just barely. All of them were running low on energy and while everyone sustained scratches and bruises, a few of them had suffered worse injuries. Lesley's in particular was a wound that not even time would be able to heal. It would be a constant reminder of the witch, Nowhere, and all the perilous journeys they had to endure.

Hakuren pressed a hand to his bleeding shoulder, there were dark circles under his eyes and he looked ready to pass out. "Heh, what do you know, we beat the odds again. So far, they've been in our favor." The ice mage let out a weary laugh. He turned to grin at Leon, but the wind mage wasn't even listening. He was standing still, mouth agape and hands clenched so hard into fists that his knuckles had turned white.

It took Leon a couple of moments to regain his bearings. "Oh...God. Lesley, your hand." He spun around. "Avian? Martini, Songbird? Lesley lost a hand." Maybe if they tended to it as soon as possible they'd be able to remedy the situation. He held onto his own hand and felt his knees wobble. Nowhere was taking more and more from them all the time. Their memories, their friends, their lives. How much time had passed since they had gotten on the train? His dad had probably called up the entire police force. A frown tugged on the corners of Leon's lips. Or maybe he hadn't, maybe no one cared at all. "Can it be healed?" His eyes flitted from teammate to teammate, everyone was looking very much out of it, but they still had a dragon and a rider to save.

"Good job you guys!" Riley gave both Inadi and Leila taps on the back and two thumbs up. Like the others she was covered in scratches and bruises, but the girl was still high on adrenaline that she didn't really feel a thing. "Harper!" She made a dash for the boy who was crumpled on the ground and gave him a kind smile. "You did good," she reached out her hand and waited for him to take it, and when he did he was yanked to his feet. Riley noticed the difficulty he had when trying to stand so she grabbed his arm and tugged it over her shoulder. "No complaining, just take it easy." Riley had it so most of Harper's weight was on her then she began hobbling towards the others.

Harper muttered a thank you and allowed the girl to drag him along, he was more out of than he thought.

Riley chattered on in an attempt to raise his spirits, but as soon as her eyes landed on Lesley's hand it were as if all the words she had wanted to say had died. "Lesley..." Aside from Vince, Lesley had been the other person she had spent her first two weeks in Nowhere with. She passed the wobbly Harper to Hakuren then made her way towards the unicorn. She didn't know what she was doing, but she clasped Lesley's remaining hand between her own and looked him in the eyes. The thought of losing him the same way they had lost Vince, it was scary. "You'll be okay," she declared. The girl had aimed to sound reassuring but in the end her voice turned scratchy, almost as if she were about to cry. Her grip on Lesley's hand tightened before she nodded. 

Hakuren let out a sigh, "is everyone okay? Whether we like it or not, we still have a bratty dragon to save."