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[b][u]Cuttersbury: Trail towards Drych Lake[/u][/b]

When Trixie responded in the negative, Quentin's heart sank a bit. He really had hoped that Trixie was going to be the superheroine she said she was and save him (and, by extension, everyone else). This Big Bro Varren was bad news.

POW. Down went Moira and Syed. POW. Down went Trixie. POW. Down went Estelle. The Pride was getting a royal beating. In spite of himself, Quentin remarked, "[i]Daaaaamn.[/i]" He would not be surprised if some of them felt those blows for the next week. Aria called out, "I'm going to distract him! Attack while you can."

Quentin touched his fellow mage's arm.

"Marcus, gimme a boost. We gotta make this work."

The water mage broke out into a run for the tree again. Marcus, understanding his brother mage, gave Quentin a magical bounce. Quentin shot up into the air and landed high in the tree, perching himself along two branches. Quentin knew he looked like a treehugger when he did this, but he wrapped his arms around the trunk and concentrated. He could feel sweat breaking out on his forehead and his cheeks reddening from the exertion. The mage sucked in air through his teeth and shouted down, "Keep him away from me! This'll take a lot of work!"

Quentin shut his eyes and focused intensely on the lifeblood flowing through the tree. Water pulsed up from the ground, sucked in through the roots, coursing through the wood and out to the tiny veins on every little leaf. The tree croaked in his ears. It was inaudible to anyone not so connected to the tree.

[i]~I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't have to. I'm so sorry. There's no other way. You're the best tree a dude could ask for.~[/i]

The tree made a noise only Quentin could hear. It was like the sound of the last of a liquid being drained through a straw. Tears streamed from the water mage's eyes and down his cheeks. For a moment, he was grateful he was a relative novice; if he had real talent, he would have been able to desiccate the plant entirely. As it was, all he could do was draw hard from the leaves and branches. That was more than enough. Quentin hoped that whatever was going on down below him to distract the varren, it was working and keeping it away from him...