7. Sunder

seven

Sunder

My consciousness awakens slowly, a dull ache pulsing at the back of my skull. But as I come to, a gnawing sense of dread grips me with icy fingers. Mira is gone, ripped from my grasp by that loathsome creature. His mocking presence lingers in the air like a foul stench. My heart pounds with fury and fear, for I do not know what unspeakable fate he has inflicted on her. My soul burns with the need for vengeance.

But first, we must get her back.

I blink, and the world swims into focus.

There's a purplish scorch mark in a circle around us, a bruised circumference marking the crime. I snarl, my teeth bared in a feral display of rage. The image of that smug, rotten weasel striding towards us burns in my mind.

Us.

Where's the Third?

Panic grips me like a vice as I frantically scan our surroundings, desperately searching for any sign of him. Has the Second taken him too? My heart throbs in my throat. Mira and the Third. If he has both of them in his grasp, I don't know what I'll do. They are…they…

"Third?" I yell, my voice pitched with desperation.

My ears prick at the faintest sound, and I sprint towards it with wild determination. The noise echoes through the eerie silence, urging me on as I hurl a fallen log out of my way. And there, behind it, is an all too familiar orange figure. Only this time, he lies motionless in the dirt.

Frozen in terror, I realize that my worst fears have come true as I approach his tiny body. So defenseless. My fingers still as I reach for him, fear halting them. What if my fingers do not find warm fur, but hard, cold instead?

He lets out a strangled gasp, his breath caught in his throat like a desperate bird trying to escape. It's a sound that's barely audible, but it carries the weight of a thousand unspoken words and emotions.

He's alive.

My body trembles with pure, overwhelming relief. With my heart pounding, I snatch up his small, fragile form in my arms before it can slip away from me again. Every fiber of my being screams out in desperation to protect what is now safely within my grasp.

Although as far as cats go, he is quite tiny, his small body in my hands feels too frail. I tuck him into the crook of my elbow, carrying him to a nearby moss-covered rock where I can survey him.

"Where does it hurt?" I gently probe his fur with my fingers, hoping to find what might be wrong.

I cannot lose them both.

He releases a small mew again, and yellow Chroma flickers around him. My hands adjust as his form changes until his human body is resting in my arms.

I do not know if it's my yearning for Mira, or if the events of finding the Second have overwhelmed me too much, but I don't stop myself. I clasp him tightly, my fingers digging into his hard back with a desperate grip. My nose burrows into his neck, inhaling the familiar scent of him.

With hesitation, his large hands reach around me and envelop me in a tight embrace. I cling to him, trying to absorb every ounce of warmth and comfort that he offers in this moment of chaos. Relief washes over me, yet a twinge of guilt pulses through me for seeking comfort in his arms.

"You were worried about me." The tenderness in his voice is impossible to ignore. A trickle of his yellow healing Chroma flows between us, washing away the aches in my body.

I pull away, my eyes betraying me with unshed tears. I stand and turn my back, chastising myself for this display of weakness. Quickly wiping my traitorous eyelids with the back of my hand, I announce through the gravel in my throat, "The Second has Mira."

I hear the Third stand. "Where?"

"I'm not sure. Look," I point to the circle of violet ooze that marks his exit.

The Third nods. "Like an evil snail."

I shoot him a look. "We must find them," I say, ignoring his comment. "Have you seen this method of travel before?"

He inherited quite a bit more Chroma than we did, it seems. I've never seen transportation like he used, stepping out of nowhere. What is this creature?

"It reminds me of the Portals between realms but also not. It's… different somehow."

My hand scrubs down my face, pulling the skin as taut as my body feels. Blowing out a frustrated breath, I say, "Yes, that was my first thought, too. I wish I knew she was safe."

On instinct, I reach for our bond. I find it easily tucked away in the sacred corners of my mind. No twinkle of amusement or even fear pulse from the threads that bind me to Mira. It's muted and gray, like she's being shielded. But at least I know she's alive.

"He must have something planned for her."

We both feel the weight of that and share a look.

The Third's face is drawn tight. "What does he want with her?"

"Aside from the obvious?"

"Can you make sure I know what the obvious is?" he says with wide eyes.

I blow out a breath. "She is a beautiful woman, our mate, and she's the Vessel, used to create Dan'thiel once again. I'm sure that swine would love to use her and bend her to his twisted will."

It is strange. Once, I thought of Dan'thiel as myself. Now, however, I feel distinctly… like I'm talking about someone else.

"Does he want Dan'thiel to be made again?" The Third asks.

The way he says it, he must also consider the High Elf prince to be a separate entity. I cannot think about what that means for us right now. All I can focus on is finding Mira.

"If he did, why wouldn't he also take us?"

I turn back to the Third. "What do you mean?"

"Don't we all need to bond in order to complete the merge back into Dan'thiel?"

The Third, for all the fluff in his brain, has a point. "Perhaps he doesn't want us to merge our soul shards. Perhaps…"

My eyes widen. I remember the Second. Not in a real way, but on a deeper level. Instantly, I knew him and felt an understanding when he stepped into the clearing. Knew his soul. It's darker than the rest, holding the most hidden parts of Dan'thiel's personality. The parts we each deny in ourselves.

"What?" the Third asks breathlessly.

"Perhaps he doesn't want to become Dan'thiel at all. He already has his Chroma back. What if he plans to—" I cannot bring myself to say the word "-hurt Mira in order to prevent that from happening."

I see the moment the Third figures out what I'm saying. His eyes go round, and water builds in the corners. "No. No, he can't…"

"He could, Third. We must find her before he does."

"Where the hell are they?" He cries, fear and rage burn through his tears. My mind races, flashing with possibilities.

"The Second smelled like Yurghen to me, too. And yet he channels without a bond. Is it possible that he was this apprentice we've been looking for? Perhaps that's the knowledge he sought from Yurghen, to channel Chroma without the Vessel. Maybe something more. Something more sinister."

He could be anywhere. Where would he have gone? Perhaps in the port city of Helios Gate, where there are enough criminals to drown his misdeeds in. I snarl. The Third shoots me a glance. "What? What is it?"

I take a deep breath, my fists aching as I clench them. "The only lead we have is that he seems to use the Portals to get around. Where's the one place around here that is brimming with Chroma?"

The Third's eyes widen. "The Sacred Grove."

I nod, my pulse a deafening thunder in my ears.

Without another word, I turn on my heel and sprint east towards the Sacred Grove, the place where Chroma flourishes, where the Veil between realms is thin and portals pop in and out of existence at random. Anything is possible there, and yet it's so heavily guarded.

Centaurs swarm the area, looking for any illegal trespassers in or out of the portals.

The Third shifts to his cat form, taking the lead to scout our path as my feet pound a breakneck speed through the forest floor.

Let's hope The Keepers of the Portals don't remember our scent, but if they do, we'll be ready.