by Trina Bates
-Love you Grun, thank you for everything. I hope you’re right. Now, please send up a prayer to Alyria and the mother of the sea to help guide us on this journey. I’ll see you soon.- I tell him with an image of me smiling warmly to him sent after.
I think of nothing but my Valkyrie sister, her loving smile, strong personality and warrior ways. I push my will into teleporting directly to her and feel the ground beneath me start to change after I close my eyes.
Opening them, the sounds of battle ring loudly in my ears as I take in the gruesome scene before me. Torunn and Gor are fighting back to back with Vie and Cynide on each side of them and the, what I guess to be, Slurms attack them from below, the ground a bloodied mess with a green ooze type substance oozing out of the strange eel-like creatures. I see their looks of relief and feel the touch of Cynide and Vie’s minds as I draw in the fury I enjoy so much and push my Hellfire beneath us all and into the ground, willing it to only kill only those that mean us harm. The hard stone beneath our feet heat up, and my fire turns a strange green as we watch it seep in the floor, decimating the ugly creatures and sinking deep into the ground under us.
“I didn’t know they could come up through stone, Cynide,” I growl out trying to temper my rage. It’s not her that my ire is meant for and I can feel that she knows it. “You should have mentioned that, I thought it was just dense soils,” I finish, nodding my head to my brother and Torunn who heave out breaths of relief and take the moment of peace in strides.
“The others were separated when Alastair came looking for them. We were leading the way when all of a sudden they were just gone,” Torunn says, her voice filled with her own panic and anger at the entire situation.
“Don’t worry, we’ll find them,” I tell her placing my hand on her shoulder to try and ease some of her worries.
“We will, and I am glad to see you safe and...” she pauses, cocking her head to the side as she stares intently at the sword in my hand, the questions glance at it, making me hold it tighter. “That you have recaptured what was once lost.”
“Long story short, Alastastor tried to capture me, well he did, but I went back to Yggdrasil since I couldn’t teleport within the room he had me in, Grun told me to call to Blade of Oblivion, I did and well, here we are after it came back and I portaled to you,” I tell her quickly and making myself out of breath from talking so fast. I look over to Gor and say, “Thank you, I know it came back due to some of the magics you infused in it. I was so regretful when I thought for a moment I had lost it for good.” He looks away shyly with a small smile starting to form on his face and nods his head to me.
“Which way shall we go? If Alastor took your men, they are most likely in the same situation you were, no way to use magic or teleport out.” Gor wonders to us as he looks to his Agathion and starts talking to him. I can tell by the way he looks at him and the blank look on his face that they’re formulating a plan and soon enough my thoughts are validated.
“Vieruz says he can feel the essence of another like me, I think he is speaking of Merrick. He is confident that he can take us to him, but we must make haste.” Gor says already following the retreating form of the large beast.
Torunn, Cynide and I race after them both as I ready my magic and my sword.
The familiar yellow tether places itself in front of me once more and I fret when I see we are going away from it, not to it. I know we can’t rescue my mother until we are all back together again, and that’s the only thing that keeps me going as I take another step forward.
“Vieruz says we are gaining on Merrick’s essence. We should be with them shortly, little sister,” Gor shouts over his shoulder, still running after his Agathion.
“Thank fuck!” I exclaim, making Torunn turn her head to me in question.
“Nothing.” I laugh out smiling at her, “Another term of my world,” I say making her face turn with more befuddlement and then she shrugs her armor-clad shoulders and turns away from me once more.
Right before I about slam into Gor’s giant back as he stops so abruptly, Torunn’s arm thankfully pulls me back and saves us both from the impending crash.
“Thanks,” I grind out trying to steady myself on wobbly feet.
She smiles at me, and we both turn our heads to Gor’s back as he talks assumedly to Vie.
“He can smell them all right here but there is nothing, no doors or hidden ones at that. He is sure of it. It’s like they are right on top of us, but we cannot see them,” he says with a pout, his voice low and angry.
“This is exactly what it was like for me. The room Alastor kept me in was nothing but stone walls. But he was able to walk right through,” I mutter scrunching my eyebrows and feeling the walls once more. I know I didn’t feel anything give when I was trapped, but I have to try everything.
“Can you teleport us inside? The Agathions can follow when we are there, so if we are all trapped you can take us back to Yggdrasil as you did for yourself. Leave the Agathions here so we can teleport back to this location. That will give them time to find Siv,” Torunn’s wise suggestion makes a grin form on all of our faces.
“Hold on to me, Cynide, are you and Vie okay with that?” I ask.
-That is the best plan I have heard all day, yes we are. Be safe and I will await you here to know when to start running.-
I swear if she could make facial expressions, her eyes would be slits and she would be rubbing her greedy little paws together, and laughing maniacally.
-I love you,- I tell her and laugh as I close my eyes, readying myself to teleport while my brother and Torunn hold tightly onto each of my arms.
I can feel us all start to teleport, but then it feels as if I’m being blocked by something unseen or felt. I open my eyes and see identical looks as I have etched onto Torunn and Gor’s faces.
“What is wrong, I feel a shift, but then it goes away? I get rooted to this ground once more,” Torunn says with frustration. I want to punch something, since this is my fault that I can’t teleport, but I know my mates mean more to her than she will ever let on.
“I don’t know, I get the same itch, but I can’t scratch it,” I tell her making her yet again, confused. She shifts from foot to foot, uncomfortable, trying to find the meaning behind my words.
“Ugh, I know what you’re feeling, I just can’t seem to break through whatever is stopping me.” When I get that out, her eyebrows go back to their respective places, and her perturbed look is gone she stands straighter, taking a deep breath and tilts her head to me. Before she looks away I see her roll her eyes and it takes everything in me not to say something. Brat.
“What are we to do?” Gor asks.
“I wish I had the answer for that, but I don’t. If you both don’t mind, I want to try it a few more times, but this time add some of my magic behind it,” I say with my own voice higher than normal. I’m hopeful that it will work, but I really have no idea and that scares me.
“O course, stay true, clear your mind and get us in there, we have faith in you.” My Valkyrie sister says, grasping onto Gor’s hand as she puts her weapons away in their sheath. I look down to their joined hands and keep that image in my mind, thinking that’s what I need to be doing with my men as I pull the growing magic inside of me to the surface and imagine it fueling my need to teleport as I once more think of my guys’ faces and try to reach them.
A smile grows steadily on my face when the ground beneath me shifts and I feel the change in texture under my booted feet. Before my eyes are even open, I’m encased roughly in multiple sets of arms. There are so many things being said, so many voices in my ears that I can’t make out who’s saying what. All I know is they are words of love, relief, worry, and a few sniffles. I open my eyes when I don’t feel Torunn and Gor’s hands gripping me any longer, but am still unable to see anything. As a huge chest in my line of vision and I’m still being pressed from all sides.
“Okay, I can’t breathe and I really need to feel each of you, but separately,�
� I huff out with a laugh.
All at once, I'm left standing alone, everyone taking their warmth with them causing me to pout. I look for the person who had my face smashed into their chest.
I blind my long haired, sexy Rhett with my megawatt smile. He's standing in front of me in his black shirt, and grinning with relief in his eyes, hands twitching at his sides from wanting to reach out and grab me once again.
Before either us can process it, I fling my arm out, thrusting my sword until I feel the weight of it taken from me, and I'm jumping into his waiting arms. Our movements are so automatic, my legs wrapping around his hard waist as his arms encase my torso with all of his strength and warmth.
“I was so fucking worried about you, gorgeous. We all were, you have no idea the frenzied mess we turned into when we turned around and saw you were gone,” he growls low into my hair, desperation in his voice as he hugs me tighter and I kiss his neck, almost letting my tears fall, but roughing it out, trying to keep my feelings from leaking my emotions to them.
“Where did you go, what happened?” he asks me before I have a chance to reply to his first confession.
“As Cynide told you, Alastor took me into some secret room, much like this one. I couldn’t get out so, I called on Alyria to get me home when I couldn’t teleport out. As per usual, I asked for guidance and then came back here after Grun helped me get my sword back. Vie can sense Merrick, so we searched until we could feel you and then I teleported us in, wait!” I scream out, jumping out of his arms and search for Cynide’s mind.
-Cynide, we’re in. Search now, I’m taking us all back to Yggdrasil. I will give you just a few minutes to search out for Siv. If you haven’t found her by the time we teleport back, it’s okay. We will help with the search. Be careful, stay close to Vie and stay hidden!-
-Of course, go now and you do the same,- she tells me and I can tell she’s already started to search, her mind feels farther away.
“Everyone, hold onto me, I’m getting us the fuck out of here,” I say turning around to take Rhett’s open hand, smiling up at Ebbin when I look over to see who took my other hand. He smiles gratefully back and when I see we’re all connected in some way, I close my eyes and once again ask Alyria for help.
Mira:
Thankfully no one fell, we’re all upright, and I’m ready to finish telling them all what happened when Alastor took me. We land by Alyria’s statue, and I take a moment, placing my hand on the base, giving my silent thanks to her, and give my attention back to my group.
Before I start talking though, I turn letting go of the hands I was holding and rush into Ebbin’s waiting arms. He holds me tight and rocks me from side to side while he kisses the side of my cheek when I nuzzle into his neck.
“I’m so glad you’re safe. When I saw you were gone, I froze. I couldn’t speak or move. I stood there, looking at the empty hallway and my chest started to ache. I can’t lose you, Bugs, I can’t. I know we all stuck to the plan, we stayed together, but when I couldn’t feel your mind, I was totally rooted. Rigar, Enbarr, and Caius all started a war in my head, where you went, their theories, their fears too. I don’t want to ever feel that again,” he whispers into my ear, the agony and outrage flowing from him hits me harder than expected.
I don’t know how long we stand there, but it seems like an eternity when we finally do pull away. I look into his tortured eyes and smile.
“I love you so much.” There are no promises that I can make to help ease his mind, so I leave it at that. With all the uncertainty of our mission, I don't want to make any promises I don't know if I can keep.
I lift up on my toes and kiss his cheek before I turn out of his arms, smiling when I notice Rhydian is standing right beside me with open arms and a welcoming smile.
“You doin’ okay, baby daddy?” I quip trying to lighten the mood. At the mention of my nickname for him, he kisses the top of my head once and backs away, resting his large hand on my stomach. A smile spreads across his face as he looks up and smirks at me. He pulls me in for a simple kiss and turns me into Merrick’s hard chest.
“Trouble seems to always follow you, but I wouldn’t have it any other way, as long as you're always in my life, and safe,” he growls out the last words seductively, making me smile into his shirt that I’m plastered against.
“Alright grouchy, let me go, but first kiss me.”
With a passion I needed badly, he bends me back and smashes my mouth with his own. His kiss is fierce, like him, hot and heavy. I moan into his lips and open for him. Biting on his bottom lip when his tongue sweeps into my mouth. My thigh is between his leg and I can feel how much I get to him, as much as he does me. He moves one of his hands to the back of my neck, twisting my hair in his hands and then palms my ass roughly as he groans. We separate, breathless and needing more. I bite my own bottom lip and smile up at his hooded eyes.
“Fuck,” he grinds out, holding the back of his own neck while I take a deep breath.
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” I laugh out.
I turn and look at my group, everyone safe and looking amused, but my heart stops when I don’t see Blue.
“Where the hell is Blue?!” I exclaim. Pissed at myself for just now noticing she’s missing.
“She went missing along with those five strange creatures right after you did. You are our priority, so we started searching for you, love,” Merrick says from behind me, still holding onto my waist. I turn and frown. I know I would have done the same, but I can’t help the grief that swarms me. I let her down. Not only did I not even notice she’s missing, I completely left her alone. To her own devices and those strange beasts, in Hell.
“We have to go back, now. I can teleport us all to her and then to Cynide and Vieruz,” I say to them, reaching my hands out, waiting for them to all take hold.
No one moves and my eyebrows scrunch in confusion.
“Mira, can you not simply, teleport to Siv?” Torunn asks. My earlier resentment surfaces from when we first got to Hell.
“No, when I tried, I couldn’t feel her. I think she’s still too unfamiliar to me. I can find you all because I know you, love you. But with her, there’s still too much left out,” I tell her, frowning to the ground.
“I see, that is alright. We will get through this, no matter what. But I do not think teleporting to your friend will benefit us. We do not know what those beasts are. Once we get Siv, we will convene once more and look at our options. I do not think we should stray from finding your mother first. Blue looked happy to see those... things. I think she will be safe with them. They seemed to know her, and want to protect her as well. Do not forget, they also saved you,” she points out, making me think a lot harder about the things that had taken place right before I was taken.
The beasts, they were surrounding her, licking her and she was crying into them. Anyone would have been able to see and feel the love she held for them. Thinking on it, I know Torunn is right. We need to find my mother first. Blue can take care of herself and I have a feeling she has help now. Siv is weak, and not even able to pull herself back to her own world. I have a terrible feeling that he has her either sedated or very badly wounded. We need to get to her first.
With my mind made up, I tell them all what transpired, in detail, after they all soak it in, I grab for them once more and pull us back Hell.
Cynide’s little lynx form is right in front of me when I open my eyes. She and Vieruz are staring at two large doors. They are over ten feet tall and damn near as wide. Wood, with gorgeous silver artwork on the edges with two large handles that are carved out of silver as well, giant and medieval looking. “Cynide,” I whisper. Her little body, and Vie’s large one swing around so fast I have to take a step back so I don’t get stomped on.
-Mira! You startled us!- She screams in my head making me wince.
-I’m sorry, did you find her?- I ask her, hope blossoming in my chest. The sooner we find Siv, the sooner we can leave this horrid place.
-
We did, she is locked behind this door, but we are unable to get in. There is something blocking us from even misting in.- She tells me, she sounds perturbed and angry. Looking down at her, her eyes narrow in malicious slits as she glances back at the door, clearly pissed off that it has bested her and Vie. I want to comfort her, but that would no doubt only anger her further.
-It’s not your fault. Stand back and we’ll see what we can do.- I lean down and kiss her small head letting go of my previous worries, and turn, ready to address the rest of the group.
Placing my hands on my hips, “They think Siv is behind the doors, but they can’t even mist in, I feel like it’s a trap. If something as pure and strong as our Agathions are unable to break through, being of this world, whatever this...” I pause, waving at the door like a confused maniac, “is... it doesn’t feel right. Cynide told me previously, she was able to go anywhere and everywhere in this castle before. I know it was in a different form, but this still seems off,” I explain our situation to them all, eyeing the door like it’s about to sprout a head and swallow us all whole. I have that image in my mind, and I roll my eyes when I hear a few snickers from behind me. It might have been a strange image, but I wouldn’t put anything past Alastor.
Rhett walks confidently by me with Merrick on his heels. I turn my head to the side wondering just what it is that they’re doing. When they both reach their hands up and place them on the doors, I watch in fascination as Rhett’s familiar fire takes over his body, and Merrick's skin takes on a deeper blue hue.
“I can feel there is something deep within, something, someone wants to stay hidden, but I can’t tell when or if there’s anything we need to worry about,” Merrick says, turning to us with a scowl. I can tell he’s upset he can’t be more help, so I walk up to him and hug his waist.
“Sorry, love,” he grumbles.