Rowena Revenclaw's POV
The battle against the goblins and giants was becoming increasingly intense as they had managed to break through the barrier using their dragon.
Once the barrier was broken, Godric and Salazar had to fight it together, which left us without two of the castle's best wizards for a while. Helga, my mother, and I had to deal with the seven giants who rushed onto the battlefield while the other professors and older students faced the goblins.
It wasn't easy to take down the giants when they outnumbered us, but we managed to do so without suffering serious injuries, something that is very difficult to do in these kinds of situations.
I was about to go and help Godric and Salazar when one of the young wizards we had left to protect the castle ran towards me, shouting,
"Professor Ravenclaw!"
I stopped and turned to see the young man. When he reached me, he rushed to say, his voice ragged with breath.
"No... they're not... their daughters... they're not in... in the castle."
My blood ran cold, I felt my legs weaken, Helga managed to catch me before I fell to the ground as she said,
"Rowena, calm down, we need to know what happened first. "
Helga turned to the young man and said,
"Explain yourself, what do you mean they're not here? "
The young man was visibly nervous before speaking.
"Miss Selene was searching the entire castle for Miss Helena without finding her, several of us joined her in the search but she was nowhere to be seen...
then... then Miss Selene asked one of the house-elves and they told her that Miss Helena had left the castle... Miss Selene ran to the tower where her eagle is and flew off on it to look for Miss Helena."
I felt the blood drain from my body with every word I heard, I pulled away from Helga's hands and grabbed the boy by the shoulders as I asked him,
"Which way did she fly?"
The boy was about to speak when I noticed Artemis flying toward the castle with Helena in her talons, crying and calling out Selene's name.
Something was wrong with Artemis's flight; it was slow and wobbly. Seeing her like that, I knew Selene was in danger, since her health was reflected in her familiar. I ignored the boy and ran toward Artemis, arriving just in time to catch Helena as Artemis began to fall.
I felt my soul leave my body as Artemis stiffened and her feathers turned to stone.
My mother and Helga had already caught up with me. Mom stood beside me, equally surprised, as Helga passed us and went to Artemis. She began examining her, casting a few quick diagnostic spells before turning and saying,
"She's still alive, she's alive, but her magic is very weak. She seems to be entering a state of stasis."
Mom took Helena from my arms, who was still crying and asking about her sister. Once she had Helena in her arms, she told me,
"Concentrate. Let's not waste any more time. You must find her quickly. From Artemis's condition, we know she's still alive, but she's weak. You have to stay calm so you can find her quickly and take her to the castle to heal her."
I wiped the tears from my face as I tried to calm myself a little and called Osi. Once my familiar was close, I made him grow, mounted him, and flew him in the direction Artemis had come from.
The next few minutes were the longest and most tense I'd ever experienced. I flew for what felt like hours until I found traces of a battle. There were trees and rubble everywhere. Seeing the extent of the damage only increased my anxiety. I followed the trail of the fight until I reached a huge crater. Inside the crater was what looked like half the body of a giant.
I had Osi fly lower and closer to the crater to look for Selene... I couldn't find her anywhere.
I didn't know whether to feel relieved or worried. On one hand, I was glad she wasn't there, and on the other, I was anxious to find her soon. My baby needed me, and I needed her.
I spent hours searching without finding even the slightest trace of her... I was about to circle back again when I saw Celes approaching. I thought it was my mother coming to help me search, but to my surprise, it turned out to be Salazar.
When he was close enough, Salazar looked me in the eyes silently. He didn't need to say anything; I knew what he wanted to ask. I could only weakly shake my head, not trusting my voice to form the words without crying.
I saw him close his eyes and clench his fists before he said,
"Go back to the castle."
Before I could say anything or protest, he continued.
"You can't keep looking for her in this state... you won't be of any help... go back to the castle and calm down a bit... you still have Helena who needs you too... you need to be the strong woman you've always been, not just for yourself, you must be strong for Helena... for Selene... you have to be well so you can look for her... go back, calm down and go be with Helena, she needs you right now, but she needs the strong woman you are... don't worry about things at the castle, just go to your youngest daughter and rest, I'll keep searching in your place."
I wiped away the tears that were running down my face; I didn't know when they started falling. I inhaled and exhaled a few times to try to calm myself, and with a final sigh, I nodded to Salazar before telling Osi to return to the castle.
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