"Eryon! Eryon!" Mordrick shouted into the surrounding flames.
He was convinced his friend was mad but still he couldn't leave Eryon to doom himself.
And so he kept looking for his friend, walking through ruins and burned bodies.
After walking and shouting for miles, Mordrick saw a hooded figure in black a few feet ahead of him.
The hooded man was standing in front of a building half engulfed in flames.
He sighed, knowing it was his friend and ran up to meet him.
"Eryon! I'm sure you've lost it at this point. We must return home and don't you…" Mordrick was cut short.
"There are two ladies in there. They are the only survivors and they might not be anymore if we don't do something," Eryon said blatantly.
Mordrick's eyes went wide. The other fairies had thought all of the mortals were dead. And even if they weren't dead, the fairies wouldn't have done anything to help.
"I'm going in and you're going in with me, Mordrick." Eryon said.
"But…" Mordrick began.
"They don't deserve to die. We failed their kind, this is our last chance." Eryon said.
And he ran into the building, now almost engulfed with flames.
Mordrick hesitated then followed and caught up with Eryon.
"They are at the topmost part of the building," Eryon said over the smoke to his friend who was at his side.
The lower and middle part of the building was still burning up.
Mordrick pointed to a burning staircase and they ran up the building walking on the parts that had not been totally engulfed by the fire.
They eventually reached a door which was at the topmost floor and Eryon kicked it open with his feet.
Both men ran into the room looking around for the survivors.
And then they both saw her, the first female.
She had her arms covering another figure.
In a beat, Eryon looked to his friend and saw him staring at the first lady and instinctively, he did what he had to do.
He focused his eyes on the second lady hurdled in the first's arms.
Mordrick looked over at his friend who was staring at the second lady and then he rushed forward to help the first who, on drawing closer, was unconscious.
"How do we get them out?" Mordrick said to his friend who already had the second female in his arms.
The Phoenix fairies were immune to fire but now that they had the mortals with them, it was impossible to carry the two females through the fire.
"The fire is getting worse, Eryon, say something." Mordrick yelled.
"I tried using my powers before when I was outside the building but it didn't work," Eryon said worriedly.
At that moment, Mordrick transformed into a phoenix with the first female on his wings. And he flew off.
Eryon followed suit behind him.
And they both flew to the immortal realm in silence, aware of what they had just done.
****************
When they arrived at the immortal realm. They both transformed to their normal fairy form.
Eryon motioned to his friend to put the ladies down.
The two females were still unconscious as Eryon and Mordrick lay them on their sides, on the grass at the foot of a tree.
They were on the outskirts of the Yeti clan.
Mordrick rushed over to a nearby river. He needed some water to drink and space to think.
Meanwhile Eryon checked the first female for any obvious injuries. And then he checked the second.
They were both okay, just unconscious.
After checking, Eryon sat some feet away from them.
Mordrick came back with water in a leaflike cup and sat beside Eryon.
"What do we do now?" Eryon said to Mordrick, his face in his hands.
"No Phoenix fairy can know of this," he continued.
"Why didn't you think of that when you made the choice to go there," Mordrick said with a sigh.
"We can take the ladies to another clan," Mordrick suggested.
"Humans aren't welcome anywhere in the immortal realm, Mordrick. That's not an option," Eryon said exasperated.
"You have a friend in the Griffin clan, don't you?" Mordrick said.
"We can't leave them, with just any fairy. Yes I have friends but we can't. We have to hide them with us." Eryon replied.
"And what, like they won't eventually be caught and what will happen to us?" Mordrick said.
"I know but…" Eryon started.
"I asked because if you have a friend in the Griffin clan that owes you a favor, we can ask that fairy to keep them in hiding till we figure things out." Mordrick said.
"Yes I do know someone. But will it work?" Eryon said worried.
"We have no other option for now. We take them to the Phoenix clan, we get exiled. We might as well go for a better option." Mordrick said.
They went back to the females on the grass and carried them in their arms. They took an unused route to the Griffin clan making sure they weren't seen by any fairy.
But there was something the two friends were yet to say out loud. The curse. They had both been cursed.
Any fairy who mingles with a mortal would fall in love with the mortal at first sight.