A/N: Much shorter chapter, but next chapter is going to be longer, and a great deal more details and background is going to be covered, so it'll be a few days before it's updated again. Please bear with me and remember to read and review!
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Whoever said that traveling by spatial gate from one place to another was the best way to travel, lied.
Completely and utterly, totally, fucking, lied.
The moment they had passed into the gate, the feeling of having their stomachs ripped out then slammed back in, repeatedly, was not something any of them ever wanted to experience again. The speed that they had been going at as they dove into the gate had also driven the breath from their lungs, stealing the ability to scream.
Cold was what they had felt for what seemed like an eternity, and honestly all three of them were far too scared to even consider going against the orders to keep their eyes closed. It felt like it took forever, being where ever they were, but warmth was soon engulfing them once more, quickly followed by their stomachs settling. Shivering slightly at the rapid changes, Erik blinked his eyes open, something he reminded himself to thank Cris for later when he saw the lunar slayer again, and felt his jaw drop at the expanse of water spreading out below him.
He could see what looked like interlocked plants below the surface, and some islands that appeared to be moving in the distance, with the water rippling above it. Shifting his gaze, he looked past Lucy's shoulder as he had ended up as the last passenger when Nathair had ducked down and scooped them up from the path that they had been racing down, and he could see Bix in front of Lucy, hunched down behind Nathairs head in an attempt to block some of the wind whipping past them.
Looking further, he could see they were rapidly approaching a large house set back from the white sands of a beach, and the large cherry wood deck that already had a few people waiting on it. Even a he watched, he saw a flare of light and a rather tall blonde busty blonde with strawberry blonde hair appear next to the dark haired man he recognized as Cris. He could see the stunned looks on their faces, and he was just lifting his hand to wave to them when he seized. The screaming soul was back and stronger than before. He immediately felt blood erupt from his nose, and the migraine that slammed into him fought for dominance in his head with the soul crying out for help, and didn't even realize he had cried out himself.
"Erik?! Erik come on man, hang on for me buddy!" Bix called back to him, glancing over his shoulder to see Erik with his hands clamped to his ears once more, blood flowing from his nose, eyes clenched shut, and even with his teeth gritted and wind in his ears, Bix could hear the high pitched whine coming from his friend. And then Bix saw him start to slide to the side, and felt his heart slam into his throat. "Lucy!"
Seeing her boyfriends eyes widen in fright, she was quick to twist in place, and instinctively lunged to catch Eriks coat but he was already too far. Between his natural weight, and adding in gravity, then including the speed in which they were flying, Lucy managed to catch a handful of his coat, but was yanked sideways as well. A string of curses escaped her as she felt Bix slam into her side, trying to hang onto them both, but they watched in growing horror as Eriks coat was torn from her grip, seeing him tumble through the air, shouts echoing out to them from the house.
And then they too were air borne, Nathair having whipped around, using the momentum, flinging them so they continued towards the house as he tucked his wings in and dove towards Erik who was free falling and didn't have a way to fly. He felt Bix's power pulse, and knew he had managed to call his babies to him, catching him and Lucy before they landed painfully. Mentally cursing up a storm, he could tell that Erik had blacked out from the soul slamming back into his consciousness. He had been worried something like this would happen, that was one of the few drawbacks to spatial gating, it tended to cut off communications of any sort from other planes until they were all on the same plane once more. This distance covered in that spatial jump had been great, and he had hoped he'd be able to get them landed before the soul managed to reach Erik once more, but obviously that hadn't worked.
Pumping his wings furiously for more speed, he managed to get under Erik in just enough time that his belly skimmed the water before pushing hard to lift them back into the air. He cringed slightly at the contact Erik made on him, hearing some cracks and snaps. Pumping his wings carefully, he eased himself into the water, folding his wings once more, and moved through the waves, using his wings to keep Erik centered on his back so he wouldn't slip into the water below. A few minutes passed and Nathair was sliding up onto the sands of the beach, meeting the others as they hurried down to pull Erik from his back, and he could see a pair of hands already glowing a silvery blue.
He could feel the familiarity of this mages magic and had to fight the urge to wrap around him in a protective coil, though the urge to do so was rather strong. There were priorities, and he knew Erik was one of the first things on that list.
"Ok, I was able to get the bleeding to stop, and heal the broken bones that came from landing on you, but I don't know how long that is going to last if Xally is still reaching out for him." Cris explained lowering his hands with a sigh. Turning his attention on the rather large snake who was looking back at him with a sheepish look, he tilted his head to the side a bit.
"You're Nathair right?" Cris asked. He was still having trouble wrapping his head around what he had found out when Kaleb had linked all of them, and was struggling with the sense of jealousy he had as he felt like he was looking at the serpentine version of himself.
Gulping slightly with nerves, Nathair nodded, realizing he wasn't sure how Cris was going to take their particular connection. He certainly wasn't expecting the sudden embrace he found himself in as Cris wrapped himself around what he could only assume was Nathairs neck. The purrs he suddenly heard though reminded him so much of his parents that he couldn't keep himself from relaxing even if he wanted to. Instead he dipped his head to embrace Cris, pulling him in closer for better hug. Pulling back, Cris took a deep breath, meeting Nathairs bright green eyes.
"How is she?" He asked softly, emotions thick in his voice.
"She's safe, misses you, but for now we need to focus on Erik. You'll all be seeing her soon enough." Nathair answered with a short flicker of his tongue. Nodding, Cris stepped back but kept close, keeping one hand resting on dark blue scales even as they turned back to the rest of the group. Running his eyes over the gathered mages, Nathair found himself drawing up a little taller, tucking his wings in a bit more neatly before bowing slightly, specifically to Arman.
"It is a pleasure to finally meet all of you. I've been dreaming of a better situation than this one that we've found ourselves in, but I'll take it." Nathair greeted softly, green eyes warm as he straightened once more.
"The pleasure is ours as well. Are you truly who you say you are? Another son of Nurem the Lunar dragon?" Arman asked, nodding his head in return. He was being overly cautious, he knew it, but after everything his family had been through in the last number of years, he'd learned to tread carefully when new things presented themselves.
"Yes I am." Nathair assured, running his gaze over every mage standing before him. He could feel the tension, the worry, and knew that he need to hurry things along. Tilting his head slightly, Arman swore he saw a smirk settle on the serpentine face before his jaw dropped as information was rattled off that only one person, or he should say creature, knew. Thankfully the information was put directly into his head, and from the corner of his eye he saw his son, Kalebs, jaw drop.
'Arman Pradesh, peacekeeper and Ambassador of Bosco, sound mage whose power is similar to that of Eriks, and can hear souls. It's how you manage to keep from getting caught in any traps or entanglements at diplomatic meetings. You were taken in as kin by my adopted mother Nurem, the lunar dragon slayer, mate to Draco the celestial dragon, and mate to Venenum the poison dragon. The same dragon who Erik has a lacrima from. You have a total of eight children, two of which are blood related, the others you adopted from various walks of life, saving them from worse. At one point, shortly after Nurem joined you here, Nurem witnessed you returning home at around dawn and smelling distinctly, intimately, of King Altiene.' Nathair paused, easing closer to the man he saw as kin, even though this was the first official time they were meeting each other
'Further more, you have a taste for bluenettes, but they can be rather hard to find, and with the exception of your wife who you did fall heads over heels for, you've harbored the secret that you have a soulmate out there. The blood of an archangel mage runs through you, and while you are not a full archangel mage, because it has never been tapped into, the magic in your bloodline drives you in other aspects, like instincts, to know the truth when someone is speaking to you, or when they are lying, and a drive to find your soulmate. Your son, Zen, was born an archangel mage and is rather powerful.' Nathair finished with a innocent tilt of his head even as his eyes gleamed with mischief, loving that he was being stared at in shock by Arman and Kaleb.
Then Kaleb jolted like he had been hit by lightning and couldn't stop the hand that reached out to grip his fathers shoulder.
'Is...you said IS powerful...he's...he's not...is he?' Kaleb asked mentally, his mental voice ragged and cracking as he stared at the massive snake before them. Turning to him, Nathair lowered his head slightly, pressing the top of his head into his torso soothingly.
'Yes he is...and that is a fight that has to wait a while longer, as we will need more help with that particular battle. That help is waiting for us to complete our current task.' Twisting his head slightly to open an eye and catch Armans scared to hope, yet desperate gaze, Nathair stretched out a wing to curl around, and pull Arman closer to them. 'Yes Arman, your son is very much alive, and a slave, but right now we need to focus on the immediate trouble. The soul that Erik is hearing to the point of tearing his own out, is Xally. I know she was due to be home a while ago, but she never arrived.'
'No..no she didn't...we go weeks, months without talking sometimes, we thought she was traveling some after finishing her schooling.' Kaleb confirmed after swallowing hard, bracing Arman when he felt his fathers knees buckle at the new information about his second born son.
'She was captured by a slavery Pergrande group. I don't know everything regarding them, but I know they have her, and we need to get her back first. She is Erik's mate, and by extension of my father, he is a extended part of this family. If we don't get to her first, her own soul is going to break, and he will die.' With that Nathair turned back to the rest of the group, seeing them all with worried and confused looks on their faces, he shifted his gaze to Cristoff.
"Cristoff, please grab Erik, keep him under for now, we need your help keeping the nosebleeds and migraines at bay. We all need to gather inside, as there is much information to be given, and I'd much rather have everyone sitting down for it." Nathair said, and once Cristoff had Erik cradled in his arms, he followed him, the rest of the family following close behind.
Watching his family, his incomplete family hurry into the house with a giant snake, Arman kept Kaleb at his side for a moment before striding into the house as well.
'Kaleb, for the love of all that is good and holy, everything you heard, with the exception of Zen, I want you to purge from your memory, especially the one concerning Altiene, do you understand?' Armans voice was firm, but his trembling hand exposed the riot of feelings spinning through him.
'Whatever happened is between the two of you, let's focus on getting the rest of the family back, and we'll discuss the other things he mentioned later. Especially the bluenettes...' Kaleb smirked slightly, ducking the cuff he nearly got across his shoulder, before following him into the house where others were waiting.