Chapter Twenty-Eight

L aikynn keeps pace with me as I rush forward, and I realise that the rest of the creatures have now disappeared, most likely deciding not to follow the crazy woman talking about, hearing distressed cries.

“They are faint, but I can hear them now. You are right. Something is extremely hurt.” Laikynn suddenly announces.

I slow down as I reach the base of one of the trees and finally find the creature that is making the sound. It’s unlike anything that I have ever seen before. Its body is about the same size as my forearm and furry, and it has huge leathery wings with wicked sharp claws on them. Its face is cute as hell with huge ears, and it kind of looks like a bat from the earth realm, apart from the fact that it is a deep purple and it’s not entirely solid. The edges of the creature are wispy and smoky, almost as if I could wave my hand and the breeze would disperse it entirely. I’ve only seen a creature with wispy edges in the Void once before, and that was after Grey got stuck in the Void; the creature was different; the only thing they have in common is the wispy edges.

“Oh my,” Laikynn mutters, awe in his tone that I don’t have the time to question.

The creature opens his eyes having heard Laikynn, and I am utterly shocked to see pure gold ones staring back at me. His breathing is laboured, but he still tries to move back away from us, injuring and weakening himself more.

I hold my hands up, “Please don’t move. I promise neither of us will hurt you. I want to help.”

I am so unbelievably relieved when it stops trying to move away and watches me cautiously instead. I can see the light fading in its swirling gold eyes, and I begin to panic. Looking over him as closely as I can, I can’t see any visible injuries. I can’t let him die, I just can’t, and because of that, I do something that I wouldn’t usually do with a creature that is completely unknown to me. I reach forward and lay my hand on its chest. It tenses slightly, obviously unsure what my intentions are, but when I just slowly and carefully run my fingers across the fur on his chest, he relaxes, and starts to close his eyes.

“Unbelievable.” I vaguely hear Laikynn mutter.

Please, please don’t let him die. I can’t accept that I was drawn to him, that I heard him, and yet I cannot save him. I beg internally although I don’t know who the fuck I’m begging. I watch as his chest stutters, and with the panic that I’m going to lose him within seconds, I call on my magic, I don’t have healing magic, but I still call on it, I reach deep inside my pool of magic, and I order it to heal the creature before me, to make him whole again and restore his life force. My magic surprises me as it rushes to do as I have asked it, and I watch in fascination as my black and purple glittery magic envelops the wispy creature, and its breathing evens out, its eyes popping open to watch me with caution.

As soon as my magic dissipates, having done what it was supposed to do and saved the bat-like creature, I lean back, feeling exhausted and acknowledging that I probably shouldn’t have used my magic while I was still healing. I fall back onto my butt leaning against the tree as I try to keep my eyes open so I can make sure that the creature is okay. He flaps his wings and slowly gets to his feet before realising that he’s okay and getting excited; he starts to chirp and squeak as he flaps his wings and does this cute little dance.

When his eyes land on me, they fill with affection and then concern as he slowly walks over to me with his wings folded behind his back and nudges my cheek with his cute little nose.

I smile as I cautiously stroke the fur on his chest and then look behind him to see a wide-eyed and open-mouthed Laikynn watching us, “Laikynn, I’m going to pass out now. Make sure he’s okay, please.”

I stay conscious just in time to see Laikynn nod in confirmation and the creature squeak in alarm as I once again tip sideways and pass out. At least this time, I land on a soft bed of moss.

**********

When I stir awake, I realise that I’m in my room, I briefly remember other times when I woke up here and back in the Void, but it really took it out of me healing that creature, Oryn, the name comes to me and vaguely remember him telling me that’s what his name was before I passed out again.

I kind of don’t want to move just in case I end up passing out again, I have no idea how long I've been slipping in and out of consciousness and in and out of the Void, but I get the feeling that it has been a while. I also want to go back to the Void to check on Oryn and to make sure that everything is back as it should be over there now, but for the same reason, I stay still. I don’t want to pass out again. Breathing deeply, I start to relax since I have been awake for longer than the previous times; I also become aware that I am not in bed alone and, in actual fact, I can sense them all in here, and all of them are asleep.

My heart skips that they’ve all stayed with me, and I can’t even begin to imagine how worried they must have been when I suddenly dropped and then started bleeding. Of course, my bladder suddenly starts to scream in protest before I can really relax and enjoy being surrounded by my men. I need to get up, and I hope like fuck I don’t pass out again on the way to the bathroom because I have a horrible feeling that I’m going to wet myself, and that is an embarrassment that I don’t want to live through.

Slow sitting up, my bladder needs are forgotten momentarily when I realise that Poca, Meri and Oryn are curled up in a giant pile to the left of me, the sight of them all together fills my heart with happiness, and I love that Meri and Poca have already accepted Oryn as one of them. When Poca opens his eyes and looks up at me in relief, I reach out and stroke between his ears.

“Thank you for accepting him. I don’t remember much; did I gain another protector?” I ask him barely above a whisper. Poca nods in response, so I ask, “What did the guys think when he suddenly showed up, with his wispy edges and unusual look?”

Poca snorts quietly once and then simply winks at me before he closes his eyes and seems to go back to sleep.

“Fine, don’t tell me, you brat,” I mutter, and I swear that he does his version of a chuckle again.

I slowly try to scoot to the end of the bed so that I can get up, trying not to wake up the pile of creatures that were on one side of me and Zev, who was lying on the other side of me, with Loki behind him. As I get to the end of the bed, I take a quick glance around at the others, and I’m surprised to see that it looks like they’ve all been here for a while. There are empty mugs scattered around and trays of empty dishes from where they’ve eaten in here, and I’m starting to think that I may have been out of it for longer than I thought I was.

Shit, we’ve got so much to do with the last faction; this is the last thing that we needed, me taking an extended fucking nap.

I ready myself to stand, worried that I’m going to collapse since I’ve been out for a while. Surprisingly as I stand, I find that I feel stronger than I think I have ever done, my magic is even humming happily under my skin, and I sigh with relief. Now that I’m not worried about passing out on the way to the bathroom, I quickly pick my way over my men and various obstacles as I let myself into the bathroom.

I have never been so glad to pee in my whole life, and I’m actually surprised about how long I pee for. I’ve finally finished, and I’m feeling a hell of a lot better than I was. My only problem now is that I’m fucking starving.

“Farren!” I hear Kill call for me sounding almost frantic.

“Has she gone back into the Void? She stayed out for a lot longer that time. I thought we were finally done with it,” Reaper replies, sounding defeated and tired.

I don’t want them to be panicking about where I am, and I can't stand the defeat that’s in their voices, and as the others all join in with their opinions I pull open the door.

“Farren!” Loki exclaims, seeing me immediately and rushing toward me, lifting me as he wraps me in his arms and peppers kisses wherever he can reach.

“Holy shit, am I happy to see you up and awake,” Kill exclaims as he plucks me from Loki’s arms and squeezes me tightly.

“How long was I out for?” I ask them all as I’m passed around for hugs and thoroughly enjoying it, “I vaguely remember slipping in and out of consciousness, but I don’t remember much.”

Since I’m currently in Grey’s arms, it’s him that I end up looking at to answer me, but he pauses before he tells me, and I brace myself for the answer.

“You’ve been in and out of consciousness for two days,” Storm interrupts before Grey can answer me. I spin around in Grey’s arms to stare at the rest of them.

“Two fucking days?” I exclaim, and when they nod, I add, “Well, fuck. I need to eat because I’m fucking starving, but then we need to get planning. Did you guys decide how we’re going to approach getting into the last faction?”

“Are you sure you’re up to jumping straight back into it?” Mayhem asks, his brows furrowed slightly.

I nod, “Yeah, absolutely, I actually feel amazing, but I definitely need to eat.”

“Alright, give me a few minutes, and I’ll grab us all some food,” Grey says, heading toward the door.

“I’ll come and help,” Kill offers.

“Me too,” Zev replies as he follows them out.

I make my way to sit back on the bed and reach my hand out, alternating between stroking Poca, Meri and Oryn, and I can’t help but smile when Oryn nudges my hand with his cute little nose and asks for more pets. He hasn’t spoken again, but I’m guessing that might be because we’re here and that he may be like Laikynn and can only talk in the Void.

“Farren, what the fuck are you doing?” Rival asks, sounding confused.

I frown, but when I realise that Storm, Mayhem, Loki, and Reaper are all looking at me in the same manner, I reply, “I’m stroking Meri, Poca and Oryn.”

Reaper’s eyebrows hit his hairline, and he asks, “Who the fuck is Oryn?”

Mayhem moves from the chair that was pulled up next to the bed and sits on the edge of the bed instead as he looks at me concerned and suggests, “Maybe you should get some sleep, being unconscious isn’t really like resting and I’m starting to think that maybe you need some actual sleep.”

I resist the urge to smack him, barely, and question, “Are you telling me that you can’t see Oryn?”

They all shake their heads as Loki replies, “I only see Meri and Poca.”

Reaper pulls a strange face and takes a deep breath inhaling through his nose; his eyebrows dip slightly as he tilts his head to the side and inhales again, “I can smell something that isn’t familiar to me, I picked it up earlier but it was so faint, and I was so worried about you that I didn’t think much of it.”

“So she’s not sleep deprived and losing it?” Storm questions him, and I flip him the finger.

Something occurs to me, and I poke Poca until he looks at me with highly amused eyes, “You knew they couldn’t see him. You could’ve fucking told me; I think Mayhem nearly had me bloody committed.”

“I did not,” Mayhem replies, sounding indignant that I’d suggest it.

“So you’ve gained another follower,” Loki comments with a wide smile.

His smile looks slightly off, and it prompts me to study him closer as he and the others discuss this latest development of mine. He’s got the slight impression of bags under his eyes, and he honestly looks exhausted despite the fact that he was snoring happily not that long ago. I don’t know how long he managed to sleep for, so he very well could just be tired, thanks to the worry that I’ve put him through in the last day or so. The thing that’s worrying me though is that none of the others look as affected as he does, and it’s making me worry that something else is going on. I’m going to have to keep an eye on him.

“Who’s got another follower?” Grey asks as the others make their way back into the room, either carrying trays or making sure that the door is open enough that the other food trays that are being floated in behind them, courtesy of Grey, don’t get stuck.

I’m unashamed to admit that as soon as a tray of food is placed down in front of me, I don’t even bother trying to work out what I’m being served as I practically fall on the food in my haste to eat it as quickly as possible. I knew I was hungry, but I’m not even paying attention to the guys as they explain about Oryn, and I’m vaguely aware that I’m being asked questions that I’m ignoring entirely in favour of stuffing my face. Once I finish everything on the first tray, a second one quickly replaces it, and I think I smile gratefully and mumble around a mouthful of food; thank you, but then again, I’m so distracted that I can’t be sure.

Finally, I feel full, and I lean back on the mound of pillows behind me, taking notice of everyone else in the room since I first started eating. I can’t help but snort in amusement at the look on their faces; each of their expressions is varying degrees of shock and awe.

I shrug, “Sorry guys, I guess I was hungrier than I thought.”

“I’ll say, damn Farren, that was freaking impressive,” Zev mutters, making me laugh, and the others join in.

“Loki said that you have a new follower?” Grey starts and adds, “That’s followed you from the Void, and that only you can see and Reaper can smell?”

I nod, “Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. He was dying, and I used my magic to heal him. I then passed out because technically I should’ve been healing and not using my already struggling magic, and then from that point, I only remember bits and pieces. He and Laikynn stayed with me the whole time.”

“I have no idea how to respond to any of that,” Reaper mutters gruffly, staring at me like he’s wondering what the fuck I could possibly say next.

“Your magic healed him?” Grey asks, not sounding as surprised as the others look but more curious. I think he’s beginning to put something together, but whether he will ever be able to tell me or not is an entirely different question.

“Yeah,” I reply simply.

I want to tell them my theory about the Void, but I want to go back a few more times to really affirm my idea before I bring them in on it, and besides we have something more important that we need to deal with right now.

“Interesting,” Grey replies, and when everyone gives him a searching look, he simply shrugs.

Storm smacks his hands against his legs, gaining everyone’s attention as he stands up, “If everyone is finished, and Farren is certain she’s up for it, then I think we should get rid of the food trays and head to the library so that we can do the spell to work out where the cursed object is in the last faction and make a plan to get in there and break it.”

“You guys have a map for the last faction? That surprises me considering the reputation of them,” I ask.

Reaper smirks, “Xerxes came through for us again.”

“Nice.” I reply with a proud smile and then look at Storm, “I am definitely up for getting straight back to work but I do need to have a really quick shower, so I’ll meet you all there in like ten minutes?”

Storm nods as his eyes soften slightly, “That works. Take as much time as you need.”

Before any of them gather up any of the food trays, they all come over to give me tight hugs before heading out of the room. Reaper is the last one to give me a hug, and he pulls me right up onto his lap, tucking his head into my neck and breathing deeply.

“We didn’t like that one bit,” he mutters.

“I’m sorry,” I reply softly, running my fingers through his hair and making him shudder.

“Not your fault, never again,” Ryu’s voice comes through, and I squeeze him tighter.

“That was kind of a contradiction but I promise that I will try my hardest not to do it again.”

“Good.” Is Ryu’s blunt reply and it makes me smile.