The world gave way around her. Swirling wind in her ears began a distant whistle, and the cold numbness sunk into her bones. "What?" She breathed, misting the air before her.
Tarram's ears flattened against his skull as guilt masked his face. Wind flattened his messy mane down, now exposed to the elements with the loss of his helm tucked under his arm. Meeting her gaze, his mouth flapped with no sound, his voice lost to him now.
And so they stood, silent, Chiara's eyes burning into him as her pain became a secondary concern. The trees beyond, the salvation of the shore, long forgotten. All that whirled through her head now was raw, unkempt emotion embroidered under the numbness of her skin. "Why?" She croaked, her throat growing dry in the wind.
Tarram's body quaked violently, ending at his head as if trying to dry off in the middle of the blizzard. Patches of snow and ice that sat on his armor refused to let go despite his shaking, so he gave up trying. "Out there," He said finally, raising a hand to point behind her, back out onto the river, "You saw what the ice did to the rest of them. It did the same to him, I had no other choice. He was too far gone."
"He wouldn't snap like them." She tempered her voice to a chill and listened to her thoughts, stopping herself before she roared at him in an outburst. It can't be true.
"He did!" Tarram replied, not bothering to hide his heated tone like she was. No regret for what he has done. "He lost his mind, damn it! I'm starting to think you have too, wanting to go back out there! Can't you hear it?!"
"Hear what?" She bared her teeth as his ears flattened against his neck, shocked. "Stop toying with me like a cub and spit it out, or so help me I will tear your throat out and leave you out on the ice for that thing to devour!"
"That monster is the problem!" He presses a claw against his temple. "It gets in your head, fills it with thoughts that aren't yours, makes you threaten your friends like you are right now! Sabinus, Rytazz, they both fell for it! I bet Sellwic and Remus," He paused as he choked up, saying the name of his best friend. "I bet they're lost too! So stop threatening me and think! We need to get away from that thing, or we are all going to die and Gold Warband will just be another casualty of war!"
Chiara paused. Mind buzzing with thoughts, she froze in the adrift lake of red emotion and surveyed what she knew, forming puzzle pieces out of thin air with the new knowledge. Some fell neatly into place. Others refused to click. "Tarram, I saw Remus and Sellwic." She admitted, returning to the raspy tone as she recalled. "You're right, they weren't right in the head." It felt like a betrayal to say out loud, especially seeing the pain in her warband member's face. So she steeled herself despite her pains, and spoke clearer. "But it's not affecting me. And how do I know it's not gotten to you, when you admit that you killed our Legionnaire?"
It better be a good excuse.
"He attacked me first! I defended myself!" Around them, the blizzard finally began to wane, letting Tarram's magically-imbued flame armor hiss and steam. "Roaring nonsense about me being a weak-willed traitor of all charr." As he spoke, the ice they stood on creaked and whined as before. "We can't stay here. You know that island we were standing on? That was the monster that just swallowed Sab. This thing is an ambush predator, and we are still in its territory. Let's get off the ice, and I will tell you everything that happened. I promise."
"We're so close to shore, and that thing is huge." She pointed out, the idea of leaving the river making her sick to her stomach. All behind Tarram, trees jutted bare from the ice, proving her notion. "We can search for his body from this distance, and go get it off the ice. I will not leave him here!"
Tarram's worried expression was an insult she could not stomach. She turned her back on him, facing out towards the ice they had come from, watching as cracks raced along the trail of scarlet red her blood had left behind. They'd argued for so long, she hadn't recognized the growing pool of cold red at her feet, dipping down into those cracks. This confessed murderer has the gall to tell me what to do? She thought, stepping forward towards the river as she heard Tarram step back and curse. With the blizzard dying, there was a chance that she could find her love. Alive or dead, she had to. He would do the same for me. She found strength in her wounded leg to keep going, taking the next step rather than limp. It hurt less than before, and far less compared to the pained calls from behind her.
Tarram bellowed her name, pleading and ordering her to come back in equal measure. He couldn't follow without stripping now that the blizzard was dying. Every movement away, further onto the river, made his voice raise an octave in delirium, but she didn't stop. Not until he fully snapped, and roared at her an insult the burned like fire. "He never even loved you!"
She stumbled, good hand briefly shooting out in case she slipped and fell from the shock of what she heard. Chiara's flattened ears still heard his footsteps. Daring to get closer after that?
"Just come back. It's not worth dying over him. He loved you about as much as he cared for the rest of us. Making you stay loyal while he slept around, treating you like a toy. It's not fair to you."
As he spoke, an idea formed in her mind, a blessing as if carried on the wind. It gleamed with potential like a star, and she focused up once again even as she spoke to him as a way of distracting him a little longer. "You don't know him like I do, Tarram. Don't be jealous!"
"I'm not jealous, I'm fucking scared Chiara!" He roared in reply, sounding distant as she brought her hand up over her chest, her mind focused on imagining the line she had used before. This time however, she ignored Rubrum's flickering light and sought out her stronger connection. It wavered around her, lost. She cursed ranger magic for not being so flexible, and tried again, casting the strand out to her left as Tarram continued to speak. "All our friends are dead! They've been slaughtered and devoured by some icebrood monster under the ice YOU'RE CURRENTLY STANDING ON! I don't want to lose you too!"
Something brushed against her magic, catching her breath as she focused on it. In this cold, the only living things crazy enough to be on the ice had to be Charr. And if it reciprocated her connection, it had to be Ry. "It's gone! I need to find Rytazz!"
"You're not listening at all!" The ice behind her cracked and splintered, but she ignored Tarram's cry of alarm and rejoiced hearing him take further steps back. "The blizzard is dying, and my armor is warming up again. I can't stay here. Please come with me!"
The line snapped tight, linking her heart with her lover's somewhere to her left amidst the retreating fog. She could have cheered aloud, were she not so exhausted. I have to get to him soon, before I pass out. Her legs, though still numb, did not feel as heavy as she pushed them forward, stepping harmlessly over cracks in the ice.
"Chiara, don't! Please!" Tarram wailed, but she pressed on. Step by step, limp by limp, she had to make it.
Alive or dead, she had to know.
Tarram lied to me. This is proof that Rytazz is alive. This connection, stronger than even the one I have with Rubrum. Charr would gag when I called it what it is, but this love is going to save his life.
Tarram's cries faded into the fog as she walked, still dripping blood from her wounds. A trail she could follow when she found Rytazz and brought him back. Until then, she followed the line set before her, tail beginning to swish behind her in the dead winter.
At first the blizzard threatened to pick up, wind growing louder in her ears, but then it began to fade once again. The wind circled around to press against the arch of her back, daring her forward, encouraging her as the snow began to shift from a crystal clear white sheen to a dirty gray, coating the ice, masking what could be . I can't turn back. I have to find him.
Their connection dipped below the ice, and then flew up once again, beckoning her forward. It shined bright for her.
The fog, however, barely receded from her vision, obscuring a fair distance before her. She strained her eyes out towards the edge of the imaginary line, praying she could pierce the fog with her green gaze and see some shape manifest. And when it did form, standing in the distance, her heart nearly leapt out of her chest as her fur stood on end. "Rytazz?!" She called out, overjoyed.
The charr figure's head jerked up, arms and legs hanging limply at its sides. Barely a shadow in the darkness, she shivered with worry as she didn't see his tell-tale gorgeous gaze before he called out to her. Weak, but still in a voice she could recognize. "Chiara?" Rytazz called to her, as raspy as she had been with the news of his apparent demise.
I knew it. She began to purr despite her surroundings and circumstances, limping a step closer towards him. "I knew he couldn't kill you! He lied, just to hurt me! You golden-eyed bastard, you're too stubborn to die!"
"Tarram? I knew it. Knew he had turned traitor." Rytazz snarled, a hand briefly clenching into a fist before returning to a neutral position at his hip. "Knew you hadn't."
"I would never betray you, Rytazz. I love you."
"I know. Now come here."
Heart pounding, she stumbled towards him, a smile plastered across her snout. "You always know what's best, Ry." She cooed, letting go of the imaginary, magical line as it dropped back down to point under the ice, and not at her love. He must have let go of the connection, and that's okay. It served its purpose, and was failing as she lost her focus to what mattered.
He was here. Standing, safe, and strong as ever. She thought she would have to find a way to carry him back herself, but now it looked as though he would be holding her. She daydreamed of being cradled like a cub, carried off the ice by her savior like he had done when he first found her in the mountains, nurturing her back to health, seeing the jealousy flare in Tarram's eyes. Things wouldn't be the same as they were, but with him? I don't need anything more.
A snap around her tail brought her focus back, yowling in pain to her mate who made no move to help her. She whirled as the pain released, and snarled at the drake standing in the cold. "Fuck off Bonfazz!"
The red beast, half-coated in ice, stared up at her with zero hint of anger in his deep, serpent eyes. In fact, his gaze was a pathetic gleam, yellow eyes full of concern and despair. His long tail swept along the ice, clearing snow away as the deep gray gathered behind her to cover the blood trail she created. And from his massive maw came a small sound, a whining plea.
"Ignore him." Rytazz ordered, drawing her gaze back to him in the mist. His hand raised long enough to beckon her with a crooked finger. She smiled and took a step, remembering all the times he had done the same exact motion to get her into his tent. Some of the best moments of my life come from in his tents. Perhaps we could, even here-
Again, she was dragged from her daydreaming and shambling forward by a sharp pain up her spine, and she whirled with a kick this time, smashing her bad leg against Bonfazz's head. The resulting strike barely budged the drake, and sent another roar of pain erupting from her maw. She collapsed to the floor, grasping her shin tight, biting back hisses of agony and glaring her hatred at the drake.
In those serpent eyes, beyond the base level of concern, sat something she had never seen in any animal before in all her years of hunting and few months of training as a ranger. A fire in the orbs, blazing brilliantly with defiance. It was such raw, powerful, conscious emotion that it gave her pause, momentarily chasing away her pain to capture her focus in its grasp.
What am I doing?
She snapped back to reality in an instant, the thought bringing another tumbling down like patches of snow falling from one branch to another, causing an avalanche. She whipped her head back to Rytazz, relieved to see he was still waiting for her, and began to stand when Bonfazz grasped her tail once more. "Call off your stupid drake, Ry!" She exclaimed, turning back to hiss at the salamander as he stood freezing in the blizzard and cold. She waved a hand to shoo him, but did not budge. Only glared at her more ferociously, and raised his lips in a soft hiss of his own as his eyes briefly darted to view his master past her.
"I cannot."
"Why not?" She spat at him, briefly forgetting her place thanks to the pain in her tail. It was the only part of her body that wasn't turning numb again, thanks to the drake and his warm maw biting it over and over.
"I simply cannot, Chiara. Not without you."
His sensual tone seeped into her fur, giving her the warm feeling in her chest she had tried to conjure without him. She took another step towards him, watching the fog peel back away behind him, allowing his golden armor to shine towards her while still concealing his fur and face. Behind her, Bonfazz demanded attention by scratching at the ice.
The creature! Her eyes darted down to the ice below her, reminded of just how far she had walked out when a simple brush of her foot revealed the clear blue floor and a bottomless, murky depth below it. "Ry, we have to get off the ice!" She exclaimed, looking back towards him as the blizzard winds pushed against her face.
Fog raced forward around his form, concealing him until he once again became a silhouette against a backdrop of grayish-blue. "We are safe here, Ch-"
"The hell we are!" Chiara interrupted, immediately following it up with an apology towards her superior. "Rytazz, I'm sorry, but there is a massive fucking monster under this ice! Tarram said he pushed you under, you must have seen it!" She paused to clutch her hand wound, the sting a reminder of what happened to the rest of their warband. "Please, let's get off the ice together!"
The blizzard began to rise in full force, her body pelted with snow, but Rytazz refused to move. "I can't move, Chiara. Too injured."
"Then I will carry you!" She called out over the wind, claws digging into the ice as she rocked to step forward again. Her wounded leg still whined in pain at it, but she found strength to stand in the cold. The blizzard numbed her pain enough to limp towards him again.
Bonfazz's head suddenly rushed between her legs, painfully forcing her split as he bowled her over onto the ice. When she lifted herself on her good elbow, pressing her fur against the cold floor, she found the drake glaring at her, his body curved to block her from the direct path to their master. She opened her mouth to roar, to berate the drake for his insult, when his eyes caught her gaze once again. It felt like staring into the eyes of her mother after Chiara did something foolish; concerned and disappointed in equal measure. It clicked a final piece in her puzzle into place, and she turned back to Rytazz, and his blank face in the fog. Shouldn't I be able to see...
"Ry, open your eyes."
Rytazz's form didn't respond to the command, but he still spoke to her. "I cannot. It hurts to have my eyes open. Tarram blinded me." Beside her, Bonfazz let out a throat growl, and the blizzard began to grow stronger around her. His words rang in her ears anyways, as if they were in an empty room together. "Come here."
"I'm not." She paused to wet her lips, thinking of how wrong this is to say but feeling as if she has to. "I'm not sure I should. Please, open your eyes and I promise you that I will come get you."
"I cannot." Rytazz growled into her ear, giving her a shiver completely separate from the cold. Not from pleasure, not the shivers of delight that consumed her when he said her name in bed, but a tremor of fear.
Amidst growing mist, she placed a hand on Bonfazz's hide to steady herself, feeling returning to her leg as she whimpered in pain. "Just for a moment, Rytazz. That's all I need."
"Do you not trust me, cub?" His tone would have been accompanied with a slap across her face, if the past was anything to go off of. She wanted to come closer and give up this insane resistance, but the memory of what Tarram had said still held strong in her mind.
She glanced down at Bonfazz, watching Rytazz's most trusted and faithful ally glare death and fury upon him. It was enough to chase off her final doubts against something being very wrong about this whole situation, and she turned her green eyes back to where Rytazz's gold ones should be. Still unable to see his wounds that kept his eyes shut, she replied honestly, speaking from the depths of her conviction in the hope that it would help him to understand why she needed this. "Of course I trust you, but I have to be sure! Please, just for a second!" A gust of wind on her side forced her further against Bonfazz, her wounded leg protesting the movement, begging her to step away from the angry drake. Bonfazz, for his part, stepped closer to her and lifted himself up to keep her standing.
Her claws scraped along his hide as Rytazz fidgetted, arms spasming and chest heaving before he took a step towards her. For a brief moment, she saw his armor once again, glimmering without a trace of snow stuck to it before it was consumed again as the fog followed him. It may have been gold, but it wasn't good enough. "C'mon, Rytazz." She whimpered, tail tucking under her legs as her body quaked from the cold once again.
"I cannot d-."
Amidst the numb cold turning to a burning pain in her body, she screamed at him with blind rage. "OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES."
As soon as the words left her maw, his eyes flew open. Their piercing depths claimed her as they always had, deep enough to get lost in for hours with no end in sight. No sign of damage to murder their beauty; instead they sparkled with a new radiance she had never seen before.
She gasped at those blue eyes, feeling her head pound as her heart went into freefall. The same blue that had coated Sellwic and sat in the eyes of Remus's brother now claimed him, and it was enough to break her resolve. Her legs wobbled and caved, sending her stumbling back. But her eyes never left Rytazz's as she fell, even as he moved.
Rytazz's body lurched backwards, tugged by something in the fog as snow began to fall once again, pelting her and Bonfazz with fresh clumps. Then, with an immoral wail, he flew backwards, leaving a brief indentation in the thick fog of his form. The image was burnt into her mind forever. Then the ice erupted around her, cracks spawning and rupturing as she fell backwards in surprise. The frozen ground before her flew upwards, taking her and Bonfazz with it.
Amid a rain of debris they sailed with, Chiara remembered how she had seen Sabinus die.
Her eyes widened and she flailed in the air, desperate to change her course as she already knew what was coming. Her arms and legs cried in pain, but a spike of warm adrenaline kept her moving, soaring high like a blind, panicking ball of fur.
The drake proved heavier, and fell back to the ice under her with a powerful bellow as she flew beyond, rolling to his feet between the brief tumbles she made where she could see him. Then her gaze focused on the pool that had been formed in the ice, coated by fog.
That behemoth creature's gaping maw surfaced from the water, throaty wails rising from its maw already. From the strange angle she had been forced into, the sight of its interior was far more visible; a deep, cavernous mouth, filled from front to back with rows upon jagged rows of icebrood teeth, the limited visibility and light making it look as though the interior was spiraling.
Another revolting hacking noise brought out further cause for alarm. First, a sputter of green mucus ruptured from the monster's throat, a lubricant for what followed from deep within its throat; the same white spiral spear that had impaled Sabinus, launching forward, held by a string of muscle.
Chiara flailed one final time, screaming as she heard it swish through the air, sailing within a tail's distance of her form as she reached the height of her arc through the air and began to fall back towards the ice. With a prayer to whatever the hell would listen in this horrible moment, she begged for the ice to be solid enough to not crack and prepared to collide.
Her back erupted in pain as she came down, roaring to the sky above her as she slid backwards away from the cracks her collision had formed. The snowstorm slowed her before she could ever dream of stopping herself, but she had still gained a few feet of distance from where she had landed, which now began to pool from the cracks. Grateful for that small gift of luck, she checked every limb to make sure she could still operate. When claws and toes responded, she groaned and laid back, staring as the blizzard's snowflakes began to swirl around her into the sky.
A massive thud beside her grabbed her attention, neck snapping to her left to watch the spear that had nearly impaled her get dragged away by its strange, fleshy rope back into the fog. And then she was alone.
For what felt like an eternity, she waited for another explosion of ice to send her flying again. Another chance for that massive fish of pure white death to try and catch her. She wasn't sure she could dodge another assault, with how much pain was shooting through her every nerve. The cold, the sprained limb, the bleeding hand, and now the agony emanating from her back all compounded upon her form, leaving her sapped of strength. The idea of escaping off the river was becoming distant, carried away on the frigid northern wind this blizzard brought with it.
Just a few seconds. Please don't come for me. She begged mentally, not caring if it could hear her or not, only worried about getting those precious few moments to recover. But the wind around her laughed at the notion and only grew worse, pushing snow up onto her side, letting it seep into her already-soaking clothes, right to the bone.
Soft pawsteps in the snow made her lift her head. With her horrible luck, her immediate thought had expected some sort of wild beast to wander onto the river just to devourer her like her mother had been. Instead, as she craned her neck up to look over her body, she watched the shivering red form of Bonfazz slowly march up to her, letting out a raspy hiss with that same fire still alight in his eyes. Smoke even went as far as to push out from his nose, dispelled by the maelstrom in an instant.
Chiara laid her head back down, but Bonfazz refused to let her even object to movement. With a familiar chomp on her tail, she groaned and cried as she sat up, the pain pleading with her to stay down even as Bonfazz moved around her. Her wounded arm refused to support her no matter how hard she tried, so he shoved his head under her arm and lifted her up on that side, letting her crawl with his assistance. She gulped to swallow her agony, then nodded her head and began to move on all fours, leaning hard against the drake as she whined with every step. Their progress was slow, and he was as cold to touch as the ice on her hand and knee pads, but in her heart she knew they had to move before they froze to death. They had to get away from the monster.
He's gone. She realized as she crawled with her mate's pet, hoping that it was the right direction to take them off the river. Gone and it's all my fault. Her claws dug into the ice, painfully splintering the surface as she tried to ignore herself and focus on her movements.
Vulnerable as a cub, she crawled forward obediently with Bonfazz as her guide. She scanned the horizon, but the droplets of blood she had left as a trail back to shore was buried under freshly fallen snow. Even her attempts to contact Rubrum with her magical ranger-line failed her as her thoughts beat down her instincts with magic, leaving her to put her faith in Bonfazz, unable to do anything but follow where he led her like a blind gladium.
He's gone. She whispered internally to herself. Gone, and it's all your fault. Her mind's voice warped to sound like him, those piercing gold eyes returning to the forefront. You should have been there. Tears welled in her eyes, memories slowly sinking into place until they drowned her, making breathing difficult as her thoughts beat her to a pulp like a cub in Blood's Fahrar. Every time Rytazz had helped her, miniscule or massive, all of it flashed into her mind.
A distant splash behind them broke her free from her overwhelmed thoughts, but her attempt to lift her head only ended in more pain. Dismayed, she lowered herself down and continued to crawl as snow piled on.
I need to rest. She heard the splash again, closer this time, but didn't bother with attempting anything more than the movements she could manage. Each limb kept in a steady pattern but constantly barking in agony. Even her untouched right hand burned with cold, and her claws having dug into the ice did little to help. And her thoughts, now back in her voice, piled on. I was so stupid, thinking I could make a difference.
The ice under them shook, forcing a gasp from Chiara as the jolt shook her from Bonfazz and sent her sprawling on the ice. Among tears bursting from sobs, she curled up in the ice and shook her head as Bonfazz approached. "Leave me alone!" She cried to him as he looked at her, bringing her knees up as she laid on her side. "Save yourself." Her voice dropped to whisper. "Let me die."
You need to rest. Rytazz returned to her head in a gentle murmur as her vision began to swim. Bonfazz refused to move from before her, but she couldn't see any more than a blur of red on a backdrop of blue and gray. Sleep, Chiara. It's okay. I'm not mad.
That's all I am afraid of. Chiara whispered back, imagining herself standing before him, carefully stepping into his embrace. Please don't be mad at me. I'm sorry I couldn't save you, or the rest of Gold.
Just stay here. I won't be mad.
Flame erupted from Bonfazz's mouth, brilliant despite his shivering body. It fought back the fog that threatened them from all sides, snow melting as it neared, giving them a brief moment of respite. Chiara barely felt the heat of the flare, but it miraculously burned her swimming vision into normalcy, giving her a brief moment of feeling something beyond the elements. And then, in the distance, she heard two roars from both directions.
One was deep, foreboding, and instilled the chill of fear back into her heart. It erupted from the river, sounding as though it was carried under the ice and dropped right under them to be echoed. The beast was coming for her. It found her.
The other was a single word, cast from somewhere in the fog they had been crawling towards. The voice was familiar, just as scared as she was in the moment, but with an undertone of hope. "CHIARA!" Tarram called out, and she could hear his heavy boots begin the approach towards where Bonfazz had signaled. The wind fought the sound, trying to push it away, but in his fervor he just made himself louder, to let her know he was coming.
She clawed her way out of her self-hate, fighting back the phantom of her love with all she could manage, and began to move, dragging herself with one arm before propping herself up once again on Bonfazz and resuming her crawl towards salvation. Her head pounded, flooding once again with images and torturous thoughts, but she shut it out. All her focus was on moving fast as she could manage to get off the ice. Survival before her sanity.
The footfalls of Tarram's boots grew louder with every second until the massive guardian nearly collided with her as he raced out of the fog, skidding to a halt before her. With his arrival came a dramatic change in temperature; the blizzard vanished in an instant, and his armor heated the air around her. She hissed at its warmth suddenly seeping into her body, but knew better than to resist anymore. When he grasped her good hand, she lifted herself up and fell on him to carry her, no matter how much it burned to touch the metal.
Ice hissed and whined under him as he carried her as fast as he could, letting Bonfazz race ahead into the fog. His voice rose from under his flaming helm, interrupted only as a particularly bad step sent crackling splinters shooting out from around them. "I thought you were lost, until Bonfazz-" He adjusted where he stepped, though the ice still protested. "Bonfazz came back to get me. It was incredible. He had such a determination and power when he charged that I thought he was possessed."
The sight of Bonfazz's eyes on the ice, fueled with a blinding flame she had never seen before in any living creature, flashed through her mind. "Yeah." She whispered, throat still dry from all the blowing wind. In fact, with the rising heat, she began to realize how dehydrated she had become. Trees began to protrude from the ice once again, a sign of the approaching shore somewhere in the distant fog. Bonfazz's prints lead the way in the rapidly vanishing snow ahead of Tarram, and even the horrid thoughts that had hung over her head melted away. We're going to make it. Every step gave her more power, like the river was surrendering her spirit back to her. There was still pain, but it no longer demanded her full surrender. Below them, the ice grew thinner, turning into pools and splintering further as Tarram placed his heavy boots down.
A rumble across the ice pushed him faster, practically dragging her along now. She hopped on her one good foot with him, groaning every time her foot dipped into the cold pools that erupted around them due to the dying ice. Fog gave way to dirt ahead, and Tarram cheered under his breath. Chiara's throat rumbled with a purr as the realization settled they had made it, and with one final thud they stood on dry land after what felt like an eternity on ice. Heart pounding after so long being frozen, she fell to the dirty ground and laid still, beyond grateful to let her screaming limbs finally rest. We made it.
A dam broke inside her, and her tongue began to wag freely for his ears alone. "I'm so sorry I didn't want to believe you, Tarram." She stammered towards the sky, safe in the aura of fire he exuded at all times. "You've saved my life twice now, even after I said those things and pushed you away. I didn't want to believe you." The dawning understanding of that fact filled her eyes with tears. She would have hugged him, if he didn't have the potential to roast his magical armor now renewed. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay." Tarram muttered to her, grunting as he straightened up a little now that they were off the ice. Chiara could practically hear his heart calm itself from its harsh pounding in his metallic chestpiece. "I'm just glad you're safe."
Bonfazz's sudden hiss beside her drew their attention, but Chiara didn't bother trying to look until another sound tickled her ears. "Chiara. Come to me."
She sat up too fast, crying out in pain as Tarram held her upright. Her soft green eyes straining against the fog, she scanned its dark horizons with her poor chest begging her to get away. This wasn't a call like before. Fear had replaced the notion of eager subservience now, and they vied for control inside her body.
Rytazz's form cut through the fog again, just as limp as before as he stood on the ice. One hand raised again, beckoning her forward as his voice tickled her eardrums, piercing right to her brain, warming her fur as if he were right next to her. "Come back to me, cub. You can save me." The blue eyes that forced their way through the fog to grab her attention promised so much. Her heart, almost at his behest, began to pound painfully into her ribcage, knowing who it belonged to, demanding to return.
"What's wrong?" Tarram asked quietly beside her, holding her carefully through her quakes of fear as she stared at the specter of her mate, seemingly returned in the flesh. Her whimper as his only answer, he strained to look out at the fog. "Do you see something?"
"D-do you not?" Chiara stammered, unable to break her gaze from her legionnaire, her lover, her master.
Tarram's shake of the head didn't dispel her concern. In fact, it hammered home her despair. No one can help you now. It said, echoed by Rytazz's soothing croon. Come back to him. "Back to me."
Her body felt heavy and limp. Just as he looked, standing there on the ice with his regal and powerful body. Every fiber of her heart, every thought in her brain demanded her to go back to him. He'll take your pain away.
"Let's get out of here." Tarram murmured, and picked her up without warning, carefully placing his armor against the arch of her back and the crooks of her knees to avoid touching bare fur and hurting her. With a single turn, the connection between her frozen mate and herself shattered like a weak iron tool thrown into a pool of lava
"Chiara." He hissed at her one last time, with enough malice to make her flinch, before his sway was broken with the loss of their eye contact..
A sigh of relief escaped her, though the image of Rytazz getting dragged into the murky water of the river once again stalled her rejoicing of freedom. Once it faded, she murmured to her last surviving friend. "It's gone." She glanced down as Bonfazz rushed past, trampling roots and bushes while carving through the snow in their path to make way for the canyon they had first entered from. "We've really gone in a circle on that river?" She asked, groaning and reaching up to rub her throat as they marched. Above their heads, the snow turned to sleet, relentlessly pelting them down.
"I guess so." Tarram replied grimly, then added with a gentle cough. "This whole mission is Bubar, Chiara. It is best we are on this side, where we can get back without taking a whole new path." Bonfazz waited for them to escape the howling winds in the woods for the relative safety of the canyon, then bolted ahead, following the same footprints they had left when they arrived back to the camp, now filling with the drizzle that earned the region its name.
Without a further word spoken, Chiara hung limply in Tarram's arms and did all she could to think of something beyond the river. What could be said to Efram when they got back with only two remaining in their warband? Would he even believe their story of a giant river monster? The canyon wind rushed against her back, bringing colossal shivers along her spine. She grit her teeth and pushed further against Tarram, letting his radiant heat be her bulwark against the cold that followed them.
With a single turn around a bend in the canyon, they were in the abandoned Dominion camp. Bonfazz laid curled up near one of the tents, snow and ice chunks resting around him as he shook with cold. Chiara met his gaze, expecting to find the fire that had inspired her, but instead found the calm gaze of a tamed animal. The fire, whatever it had been, was no longer necessary to keep lit. Then her gaze drifted over the camp, watching as propaganda posters were bombarded by the rain, tents that haven't already collapsed in the snow quickly becoming on the verge of it. The fireplace in the center is still as dull as when they arrived.
And all with no sign of her devourer.
"Rubrum?!" She called out, and heard her pet chitter from the tent Bonfazz guarded. Weak and scared, distant no matter how close she was taken to it.
She fell out of Tarram's hold with her eagerness, catching herself on Bonfazz just as she had done in the river. The old, freezing drake barely made a sound, simply stood from his position and helped bring her into the flimsy tent to see the state of the massive scorpion. No sign of him, only a deep hole into the wet dirt. Papers lined the floor, dipping into the makeshift shelter Rubrum had made for himself. But as she arrived, he emerged to greet her, shivering and sluggish.
Chiara whimpered at the sad sight of him, his beady eyes cast to the ground, and as soon as he was close enough she let go of Bonfazz and dropped to him, holding him close. As she spoke, the storm only grew worse, as if it was trying to cover up her words. "I'm sorry I left you here, Rubrum. I'm sorry that Rytazz and Sellwic and Remus and Sabinus are all dead." She bit her lip and rubbed her wet, cold glove against his back, wishing she had some flame magic to gift him. "I'm sorry for everything."
The slashing claws of the devourer wrapped around her waist, holding her tight against him despite how much colder she made him. His chitin pressed against her wet leather armor and right down to her pelt, but she could think of nothing else to do for him. She had to warm him. He was going to die otherwise, with the storm growing.
Soon, her heartbeat began to match his. Every twitch, every spasm, allowed her to breathe again without fear, knowing he was still alive. She pleaded with the world, begged him to keep moving despite the chill, hoping that her body could warm fast enough to make everything better. "You're going to be okay." She promised, hating herself as her words sounded so hollow. "I'll keep you safe." She willed her body to heat up, pleading with herself as her devourer continued to shiver. Each second ticking by let him slip further towards the end, she could feel it. "Tarram!" She wailed over the rain outside. "I need a fire lit, YESTERDAY!"
Tarram's voice outside, fighting to be heard over the pouring weather, only served to further the dampness in her eyes. "I can't do anything in this storm!" The tent flap flew open, allowing the cold wind to storm inside with the juggernaut guardian, bombarding his back with cold, wet rain. His armor hissed in agony, mimicking the startled anger of the drake as he caught the falling droplets that survived long enough to cling to Tarram as he moved inside the shelter, leaving the tent's entrance flailing in the wind. "How is he?"
"Terrible," She whispered, refusing to pull away as Tarram's cold metal gauntlet grasped her shoulder. "Set me on fire or something. I can warm him."
"That's not going to help anything, Chiara. Even if I had the strength to pull up some sort of flame." He kneeled beside her, careful to place his knee between the scythes of the shivering beast. "The cold has gotten to all of us."
"Bonfazz lit a fire out on the river!"
He turned to regard the drake behind her, swallowing before stating. "I think he is out of fire too." He moved to touch Rubrum, his gauntlet perhaps holding a little bit more warmth. "We have to rest before we can think of getting another flame going."
Rest.
Chiara's body spasmed, and she bared her teeth at him before his gauntlet's palm could reach its destination. "Don't you dare touch him!"
Tarram's hand pulled away from the devourer's head as if he had just been snapped at, his gaze locking to hers as she continued to growl every ounce of fury she could muster that wasn't devoted to her devourer. "Chiara, I-"
All memory of their friendship, the fact that he had saved her, all of it was thrown into the air to be target practice. "Don't talk, don't you even try to get in my head!" She curled her tail around her leg for some small comfort, all the while her hand found grip at one of Rubrum's stiff limbs. "I don't need to rest, I need to save my devourer!" Heart pounding, she laid her body across him, hoping the blood flow would be enough. His shivering only worsened. "I can save him. I have to save him."
Tarram made no movements, only stared blankly within his enchanted helmet, so she refocused her efforts on her dying pet. The shivers were becoming distant from each other, and weaker. She prayed her racing heart would make her warmer as she tore off her damp leather shirt in a blind rush, tearing it around the waist in her rush before tossing it aside. Her fur wasn't much less drenched, but she had to try everything. With her bare chest against his cold chitin, she closed her eyes and willed her body to warm. Every fiber, every hair on her, she begged to be ignited by a spark. The same spark that had allowed Bonfazz to help her on the river, she now wished with her soul to be granted. She thought of her mother with a warm fireplace, her mate with a warm hug, her legion with a warm welcome. Flames and the sun, the burn of liquor, all of it.
A mother now long dead, with a cub in the legion she loathed. A mate who always wanted what was best. A legion collapsing, splintering, dying as flames do.
She bit her tongue to stop the onslaught of horrid thoughts, her hands gripping Rubrum so tight the strain made her ears ring with the sound of his exoskeleton cracking. She jerked her hands away in terror, startling Tarram as he slinked to the door to shut it, but found no wounds on or sign of discomfort from the devourer. With a heavy heart, she laid herself back down, feeling colder than before after being dragged back into her mind, shivering worse than Rubrum.
Tears flowed freely from her as reality could not be ignored anymore. "I'm sorry." She whispered into the back of her beast. "I'm so sorry Rubrum." Her voice squeaked and then gave up, but she continued to mouth the words as the rest of the tent lost her focus entirely. Tarram and Bonfazz sitting cramped together hardly mattered anymore.
Rumbrum's quakes of cold became small eternities apart, interrupted only once by a violent one of her own that made him hiss weakly with worry, reassuring her he was still alive. She tried to comfort him and have him save his strength with words, but they exited her mouth with a soft drone. She could only find a way to communicate when she felt a familiar tug at her heart.
The magic bond they shared, faded gold and as thin as hair, still gave her strength. With her instincts as her guide, she tugged back against the ethereal line. He responded in kind, and she fired back, waiting only a second for his reply. In the vast emptiness of her mind, they fell into a tempo not unlike a heartbeat, playing tug-of-war with the magic connection between them. A smile found its way back onto her lips for a second as she urged the pattern faster. Rubrum's lagged attempt at mirroring it dashed her hopes.
"Rubrum, you can do this." She tried to signal down the line as she shook him gently in the real world, sensing only for a second that the storm outside had only grown worse. "Don't go." She pleaded, pressing her face against him. She pulled the line once more, and again her efforts proved his growing weakness. Her brief reprieve from crying found its end as she sobbed on top of her pet once again, the point hammered home by a single thought echoing within.
"You Failed."
It hissed with every breath she took in, taunting her as she desperately tugged at her pet's lifeline, growing louder until it drowned out all others. Her pet's responses became non-existent, but she didn't want to give up. She couldn't. Her instincts commanded her to keep trying. I can't lose him too.
A hand snapped her from her delirious movements in fantasy land, shaking her gently until she snapped her head back to look at the perpetrator. "Chiara, please stop. He's gone." Tarram murmured, helmet cast aside so she could look into his face and somehow find comfort. She shook her head in defiance of his words, looking down at her beast as the shivering stopped completely.
The cold sadness in her mind overflowed, dripping down to her heart, and sizzled on the thin cord that hung from her. It ignited like a fuse, burning up, building towards her heart. Despair and depression turned to rage and anguish, and when Tarram again called out her name, she responded with a roar. The fury at the world at her losses whilst being helpless, a jagged reminder of her mother, culminated in her head thrown back and her eyes shut tight, exclaiming her rage towards the storm outside. Tarram fell backwards against Bonfazz as her vocal cords, immersed in heartache, grew powerful enough to drown out even the sleet storm outside.
Then, with all other distractions fought back, she returned inwards, grabbed the slack golden string that still pointed in the direction of her pet, and pulled with all her mental might, like ripping an engine cord on a faulty charr car.
She expected pain; the sudden detachment of something vital to her, seeing as how wrapped up her body was in the connection. She wanted her heart squeezed until it shattered into bits, allowing her release from all the pain. Instead the line followed her pull, briefly tightening and then going slack once more between them as her unnatural, rage-fueled strength wrenched the anchor at the other end from its placement.
She jolted back to reality as gravity threw her to the floor, hissing in pain as her jaw slammed shut from the impact to brutally remind her of her missing tooth. Her vision swam. Thoughts turning heavy as pure gold, it took real effort just to turn her head as she searched the gray, dirty tent. Tarram and Bonfazz looked just as startled as she; The drake's nostrils flared as he sniffed the air, and Tarram met Chiara's gaze with his own wild eyes. "What did you do?"
She struggled to think of a reply, or really think at all. She felt like she was mentally swimming through tar, slogging around in her brain as it was coated to lock her in. Sleep beckoned sweetly to her, clinging like moss to a rock, thick like the buzz of alcohol, trying to drag her down.
Chiara blinked, and found her eyelids refused to reopen, heavy and defiant of her will. Tarram's call of her name sounded sluggish and drunk, mountains away from the few feet she had just seen him from. She would have reached for him, if her arms responded; would have spoken, if her tongue didn't weigh as much as orichalcum. Blinded, muted, and weakened beyond belief, she laid her stomach against the ground, shivering as the paper did little to repel the cold dirt, and let her world collapse. The dirt began to feel soft, the sounds warped, the screams and grasping of her only living bandmate were barely recognizable as she plunged into darkness, just praying that wherever she woke up, her vanished devourer would be there.