A Dæmon's Heart

Chapter One
The End

The osprey dæmon could only trill consolingly; a halfhearted attempt and little good it did. Aki raised a hand to soothe the bird as he had tried for her. Neither felt the impact of the other's efforts as they grieved together.

Dr. Sid watched, trying to decide between minds. The world was saved, that was no longer an issue. There was work to be done, but he was not sure that he, himself, was the fellow to do it. His thoughts wandered instead to the matter of Cpt. Edwards, and, despite the sad circumstance, that it was probably better this way than had the younger man lived through the ordeal below. The old man couldn't help feeling guilt, even as he knew this.

Gray had left New York without Aieese, the hawk having been struck down and torn apart by Phantoms before she could reach her human. The captain had been alone, and only a half of himself since their escape.

Sid wouldn't have wanted to live as a separate; he couldn't imagine anyone who would. Despite his better nature, he still felt sick every time he saw one, and detested the way the USMF made use of them.

His musing was interrupted as a dæmon leapt upon the console in front of him, and his own startled and flexed her wings. The silver fox doe stood tall on all four feet, staring at the motionless body set into the flight chair.

The rabbit jumped to the floor, and ran aimlessly around the cockpit until Sid triggered the door. In a blur, she was gone. The doctor didn't wonder at the behavior; it had been his experience that every individual took separation in a different way.

Aki's dæmon fluttered, and the woman looked out the window at the setting sun. The first words she spoke since the Leonid Crater were drained of vigor, but not without hope.

"What do we do now…?"

---

"…That they're gone? What's gonna happen to us?"

The lounged lynx dæmon paid little attention to the piteous mewling. Instead, he took a minute to worry at the harness strap across his chest before returning focus to the washing of his face and forepaws.

"You can't tell me you don't care!" the rabbit yelped, thoroughly disgusted with the other's demeanor, "You can't!"

The lynx stood up and stretched. The rabbit dashed into a corner as the feline lunged. With one large forepaw, the larger dæmon pinned the smaller, and ran his raspy tongue from her black-silver head to her fluffy white tail.

"There; all better," the lynx growled, "So get over it."

The rabbit sniffled, and disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. The cat snorted. If a rabbit could cry, a lynx could roll his eyes.

---

The arctic owl flittered and chirped, landing heavily and noisily on far edge of the control panel.

"Kvasir," Sid said, "Shush."

Sorry, the dæmon thought, I only wanted a better view.

I know.

The signals were weak, but through the interference there were several things of interest. The most impressive were reports on anomalies worldwide, including the disappearance of the Phantoms.

Dr. Sid flicked the receiver off, turning just so as to look up at the young woman looking over his shoulder, "What do you think?"

"I'm not sure," In the darkness, Aki merely stared at the blinking board, "It sounds chaotic."

"You know more about military matters than I do," Sid sighed, "Wouldn't you say it's a safe guess that they're going to want to know what happened?"

"Yes,"

The older scientist could have thrown a tantrum, had that been his temperament. He wasn't sure, but he didn't think they were in the best of situations. While he understood her mood perfectly, now wasn't the time.

In comprehension, Aki's dæmon squeezed his talons into her shoulder and screeched. The woman snapped alert, ducked her head, and apologized.

"Not for me so much, but for yourself."

"I don't believe that."

Sid's eyes crinkled with a sad amusement, for now it was his turn to apologize.

"Aki," the tone was serious, "Do you think this ship can still fly after all it's been through?"

"I don't know," the woman blinked, and began checking various panels and readouts. Her dæmon trilled and took flight to the other side of the cabin.

"You realize," Sid said, "They're going to want to investigate sooner or later, and may not be so happy to find us alive."

"We might have to wait for them to come get us, then," Aki replied, "I'm not sure we can take off the way we are."