Chapter 212: 212
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(Soren)
The minute Serena flies through the wall, the portal of white, shimmering light closes up behind her, engulfing her form in an iridescent glow before she and my brother all at once wink out of existence.
For a brief few seconds I stand there, shocked, my body trembling as the silhouette of her form fades from my mind, her existence spun away on the wind. Not a trace of her is left, a subtle scent or hair, or fluttering scrap of cloth, nothing but a ringing emptiness, and a hollow ache in my heart. It is that moment a link inside me snaps.
Snaps like a rope being wound down to its last thread, brittle and liable to breaking entirely once the strain of life becomes too great to handle. I can feel it- that tether that binds me to her, the one I had latched on to for so many weeks, months, years, wisped away into the darkness, into somewhere unknown, a mere echo of the strength that it was. The only inkling of its existence is a faded twinkle in my heart, a whisper of a memory that is no longer there, and an aching chasm of emptiness.
There is no doubt about it.
She is gone.
Serena, I call out to her through my bond, but the link is weak, frayed, the distance between us conjuring too great a rift to be overcome. But in the light of a grieved heart and a milling anger, desperation causes to soul the do many illogical things. And so I call out again:
Serena come back...
But she won't come back. Deep in the illogical chambers of my unbeating heart, I know there is one certainly amongst all others that's nature is of unquestionable undeniability. She isn't coming back. Not for a long while.
Finally, for the first time in nearly a thousand years, my body gives in.
Breathlessly, I fall to my knees, my fingers clenched into fists, a sudden rage taking hold of me as I bring them up, raised to fight the invisible attacker of sorrow and regret that weaves its way into my already embittered mind. But fear and desperation have already leeched their fill off my mind, despair has coursed through my blood like a tidal wave of death, and in my bones an icy cold saps away my logic, crumbling my rationality. Rage boils.
Then, after a short moment of hesitation, I send my fists crashing down onto the ground in one swift movement, trembling shockwaves of power spilling out from the point of contact, cracking the ground beneath it. How could I be so stupid? How did I not realise?
"No," I whisper, the rage bubbling away as quickly as it came, replaced by a sullen emptiness, an aching void in the chasm of my heart that groans with the loss of its counterpart. I knew too late what she planned to do, too late and she had figured it out before me- but now she is gone, left to the fateful hands of my brother, and the mercy of his whim. But from years of living with that guiltless creature, I can assure he has no mercy to spare, only lies and deceptions, and his grandiose ability to manipulate reality.
Being bitter about it wont get me anywhere.
Shadows recede and suck back into my form like a vacuum, the red swirling marks on my arm fading, wings settling in defeat, slumping against the silhouette of my body. Crumbling is a good way to put it. I am crumbling.
The silence echo's her words, her voice, and the mocking words that taunt my head with jeering remarks.
Gone, they whisper. Gone.
And it's all my fault.
"I can't believe I let this happen! How could I be so foolish? Why didn't I see it?" I cry, hitting the ground once more, and once more the earth shakes beneath us, crumbling away at my touch until all that is left is a gaping imprint in the ground, solid rock crumbling away into nothing. Glaring at it, my mind once again begins to slip away into that grief ridden state of decay.
I hear a shifting behind me, a rocking of movement and a padding of feet, sparks of black fire dancing in the periphery of my vision, but nothing registers, and all at once I am left feeling out of place, listless, as though nothing is really real.
Except it is, and Serena is gone.
Just as I had her back. Just as she was mine. Gone.
The silvery laughter plays in my head once more:
"Gone," it jeers. "Alone."
I shake it away.
"She left us," whispers a horror stricken voice approaching behind, the young dragon- now in human form. I do not look up. In a mindless daze, he begins pacing up to the wall- the place his hand on the spot of disappearance, his eyes blurred, unfocused. He sways there for a moment, his magic seeping out against the wall before sinking back into his hand.
Clearly whatever he is after, he doesn't find it.
"She abandoned us. She went with him. Serena left us, Soren. I didn't think she would but-"
"She did not abandon us," I spit with a low, menacing growl, rising from my knees as I dust myself off, wiping my hands on my bloodied and torn shirt. At last some sense resumes in my mind, a trickle of cognition that strings me back to reality. "Don't you dare insult my sovereign Lady in such a manner. She knew what she was doing. And I…" I pause for a moment, my throat working. Whoever thought I would be so careless? "I made a mistake."
"You can't have known Azrael was going to put up a portal, Soren, you must not blame yourself for that," Kal nags, but I am hardly listening, instead reaching out across some unknown distance, feeling for that bond, the familiar tug at my heart that I had so grown to love. But there is nothing, nothing, just a hollow emptiness lingering in its depths, and a welling pool of fear. Wherever she is, I hope she is safe.
"I can't believe she went with him," Kal exclaims under his breath, shaking his head with a melancholy, drawn expression. "I thought she was with us, I thought she wanted to help us. But the way she rushed to him as he was about to leave..." closing his eyes, Kal shakes his head as he leans against the wall for support.
Gently, the little white fox plods up beside him, teetering on wobbly feet as he buts his head against Kals leg, blinking in a slow, fox-like way.
Another tug resounds at my heart.
Kal and Ithuriel are mates. And though while one side of affection may be more prevalent than the other, the fact still remains.
The two of them are mates.
And yet I have lost mine. Just another pitiful mockery to toy with my feelings.
Steadying my breath, I move over to take hold of the flame where I left it in the centre of the room, watching the shine through my fingers with a dull curiosity. Everything all at once seems stale, lifeless, into comparison of what it was, a shade of what it was. Not even this eternal flame can shed any light onto the matter. The world, once again, has become dark.
But perhaps there is one notion that can bring back a spark.
"She did not leave us to betray us, Kal," I admit, sighing into the air as I come to stand beside him. For a moment, Kal does a double take.
"What? Are you telling me that Serena deliberately running through a portal with Azrael isn't betrayal? Soren, I know you love her very much but-
"She did not betray us," I insist. "And if I catch you saying otherwise, I will skin you alive," I warn, clutching the eternal flame close to my chest as I stalk over to the other end of the room, trying my best to ignore the emptiness of my chest. Kal gives me a hard look of disbelief- a look that I promptly ignore.
"I heard every thought that flew through her head, Kal. She realised what Azrael was doing moments before I did. And she knew that if he went, we would not find him again- at least not until it is too late. He knows where the souls are, Kal. Serena has gone to stop him, and-" I add, peering into the eternal flame. "She is going to help us find him. She isn't a traitor, Kal. She is our spy."
Throwing up his hands, Kal makes a long and convoluted groan, picking up the little white fox at his feet and clutching him close to his chest, a long, drawn expression twinning on their faces.
"Soren," he says sternly, his fingers running absently through the white foxes hair, steadying its shaky form with a series of soft coos.
"How on earth is she going to be our spy when Azrael knows full well she has every intention of killing him and handing him over?"
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(Soren)
The minute Serena flies through the wall, the portal of white, shimmering light closes up behind her, engulfing her form in an iridescent glow before she and my brother all at once wink out of existence.
For a brief few seconds I stand there, shocked, my body trembling as the silhouette of her form fades from my mind, her existence spun away on the wind. Not a trace of her is left, a subtle scent or hair, or fluttering scrap of cloth, nothing but a ringing emptiness, and a hollow ache in my heart. It is that moment a link inside me snaps.
Snaps like a rope being wound down to its last thread, brittle and liable to breaking entirely once the strain of life becomes too great to handle. I can feel it- that tether that binds me to her, the one I had latched on to for so many weeks, months, years, wisped away into the darkness, into somewhere unknown, a mere echo of the strength that it was. The only inkling of its existence is a faded twinkle in my heart, a whisper of a memory that is no longer there, and an aching chasm of emptiness.
There is no doubt about it.
She is gone.
Serena, I call out to her through my bond, but the link is weak, frayed, the distance between us conjuring too great a rift to be overcome. But in the light of a grieved heart and a milling anger, desperation causes to soul the do many illogical things. And so I call out again:
Serena come back...
But she won't come back. Deep in the illogical chambers of my unbeating heart, I know there is one certainly amongst all others that's nature is of unquestionable undeniability. She isn't coming back. Not for a long while.
Finally, for the first time in nearly a thousand years, my body gives in.
Breathlessly, I fall to my knees, my fingers clenched into fists, a sudden rage taking hold of me as I bring them up, raised to fight the invisible attacker of sorrow and regret that weaves its way into my already embittered mind. But fear and desperation have already leeched their fill off my mind, despair has coursed through my blood like a tidal wave of death, and in my bones an icy cold saps away my logic, crumbling my rationality. Rage boils.
Then, after a short moment of hesitation, I send my fists crashing down onto the ground in one swift movement, trembling shockwaves of power spilling out from the point of contact, cracking the ground beneath it. How could I be so stupid? How did I not realise?
"No," I whisper, the rage bubbling away as quickly as it came, replaced by a sullen emptiness, an aching void in the chasm of my heart that groans with the loss of its counterpart. I knew too late what she planned to do, too late and she had figured it out before me- but now she is gone, left to the fateful hands of my brother, and the mercy of his whim. But from years of living with that guiltless creature, I can assure he has no mercy to spare, only lies and deceptions, and his grandiose ability to manipulate reality.
Being bitter about it wont get me anywhere.
Shadows recede and suck back into my form like a vacuum, the red swirling marks on my arm fading, wings settling in defeat, slumping against the silhouette of my body. Crumbling is a good way to put it. I am crumbling.
The silence echo's her words, her voice, and the mocking words that taunt my head with jeering remarks.
Gone, they whisper. Gone.
And it's all my fault.
"I can't believe I let this happen! How could I be so foolish? Why didn't I see it?" I cry, hitting the ground once more, and once more the earth shakes beneath us, crumbling away at my touch until all that is left is a gaping imprint in the ground, solid rock crumbling away into nothing. Glaring at it, my mind once again begins to slip away into that grief ridden state of decay.
I hear a shifting behind me, a rocking of movement and a padding of feet, sparks of black fire dancing in the periphery of my vision, but nothing registers, and all at once I am left feeling out of place, listless, as though nothing is really real.
Except it is, and Serena is gone.
Just as I had her back. Just as she was mine. Gone.
The silvery laughter plays in my head once more:
"Gone," it jeers. "Alone."
I shake it away.
"She left us," whispers a horror stricken voice approaching behind, the young dragon- now in human form. I do not look up. In a mindless daze, he begins pacing up to the wall- the place his hand on the spot of disappearance, his eyes blurred, unfocused. He sways there for a moment, his magic seeping out against the wall before sinking back into his hand.
Clearly whatever he is after, he doesn't find it.
"She abandoned us. She went with him. Serena left us, Soren. I didn't think she would but-"
"She did not abandon us," I spit with a low, menacing growl, rising from my knees as I dust myself off, wiping my hands on my bloodied and torn shirt. At last some sense resumes in my mind, a trickle of cognition that strings me back to reality. "Don't you dare insult my sovereign Lady in such a manner. She knew what she was doing. And I…" I pause for a moment, my throat working. Whoever thought I would be so careless? "I made a mistake."
"You can't have known Azrael was going to put up a portal, Soren, you must not blame yourself for that," Kal nags, but I am hardly listening, instead reaching out across some unknown distance, feeling for that bond, the familiar tug at my heart that I had so grown to love. But there is nothing, nothing, just a hollow emptiness lingering in its depths, and a welling pool of fear. Wherever she is, I hope she is safe.
"I can't believe she went with him," Kal exclaims under his breath, shaking his head with a melancholy, drawn expression. "I thought she was with us, I thought she wanted to help us. But the way she rushed to him as he was about to leave..." closing his eyes, Kal shakes his head as he leans against the wall for support.
Gently, the little white fox plods up beside him, teetering on wobbly feet as he buts his head against Kals leg, blinking in a slow, fox-like way.
Another tug resounds at my heart.
Kal and Ithuriel are mates. And though while one side of affection may be more prevalent than the other, the fact still remains.
The two of them are mates.
And yet I have lost mine. Just another pitiful mockery to toy with my feelings.
Steadying my breath, I move over to take hold of the flame where I left it in the centre of the room, watching the shine through my fingers with a dull curiosity. Everything all at once seems stale, lifeless, into comparison of what it was, a shade of what it was. Not even this eternal flame can shed any light onto the matter. The world, once again, has become dark.
But perhaps there is one notion that can bring back a spark.
"She did not leave us to betray us, Kal," I admit, sighing into the air as I come to stand beside him. For a moment, Kal does a double take.
"What? Are you telling me that Serena deliberately running through a portal with Azrael isn't betrayal? Soren, I know you love her very much but-
"She did not betray us," I insist. "And if I catch you saying otherwise, I will skin you alive," I warn, clutching the eternal flame close to my chest as I stalk over to the other end of the room, trying my best to ignore the emptiness of my chest. Kal gives me a hard look of disbelief- a look that I promptly ignore.
"I heard every thought that flew through her head, Kal. She realised what Azrael was doing moments before I did. And she knew that if he went, we would not find him again- at least not until it is too late. He knows where the souls are, Kal. Serena has gone to stop him, and-" I add, peering into the eternal flame. "She is going to help us find him. She isn't a traitor, Kal. She is our spy."
Throwing up his hands, Kal makes a long and convoluted groan, picking up the little white fox at his feet and clutching him close to his chest, a long, drawn expression twinning on their faces.
"Soren," he says sternly, his fingers running absently through the white foxes hair, steadying its shaky form with a series of soft coos.
"How on earth is she going to be our spy when Azrael knows full well she has every intention of killing him and handing him over?"
SorenThe minute Serena flies through the wall, the portal of white, shimmering light closes up behind her, engulfing her form in an iridescent glow before she and my brother all at once wink out of existence.For a brief few seconds I stand there, shocked, my body trembling as the silhouette of her form fades from my mind, her existence spun away on the wind. Not a trace of her is left, a subtle scent or hair, or fluttering scrap of cloth, nothing but a ringing emptiness, and a hollow ache in my heart. It is that moment a link inside me snaps. Snaps like a rope being wound down to its last thread, brittle and liable to breaking entirely once the strain of life becomes too great to handle. I can feel it- that tether that binds me to her, the one I had latched on to for so many weeks, months, years, wisped away into the darkness, into somewhere unknown, a mere echo of the strength that it was. The only inkling of its existence is a faded twinkle in my heart, a whisper of a memory that is no longer there, and an aching chasm of emptiness.There is no doubt about it.She is gone.Serena, I call out to her through my bond, but the link is weak, frayed, the distance between us conjuring too great a rift to be overcome. But in the light of a grieved heart and a milling anger, desperation causes to soul the do many illogical things. And so I call out again:Serena come back...But she won't come back. Deep in the illogical chambers of my unbeating heart, I know there is one certainly amongst all others that's nature is of unquestionable undeniability. She isn't coming back. Not for a long while.Finally, for the first time in nearly a thousand years, my body gives in.Breathlessly, I fall to my knees, my fingers clenched into fists, a sudden rage taking hold of me as I bring them up, raised to fight the invisible attacker of sorrow and regret that weaves its way into my already embittered mind. But fear and desperation have already leeched their fill off my mind, despair has coursed through my blood like a tidal wave of death, and in my bones an icy cold saps away my logic, crumbling my rationality. Rage boils.Then, after a short moment of hesitation, I send my fists crashing down onto the ground in one swift movement, trembling shockwaves of power spilling out from the point of contact, cracking the ground beneath it. How could I be so stupid? How did I not realise?"No," I whisper, the rage bubbling away as quickly as it came, replaced by a sullen emptiness, an aching void in the chasm of my heart that groans with the loss of its counterpart. I knew too late what she planned to do, too late and she had figured it out before me- but now she is gone, left to the fateful hands of my brother, and the mercy of his whim. But from years of living with that guiltless creature, I can assure he has no mercy to spare, only lies and deceptions, and his grandiose ability to manipulate reality. Being bitter about it wont get me anywhere.Shadows recede and suck back into my form like a vacuum, the red swirling marks on my arm fading, wings settling in defeat, slumping against the silhouette of my body. Crumbling is a good way to put it. I am crumbling.The silence echo's her words, her voice, and the mocking words that taunt my head with jeering remarks.Gone, they whisper. Gone. And it's all my fault."I can't believe I let this happen! How could I be so foolish? Why didn't I see it?" I cry, hitting the ground once more, and once more the earth shakes beneath us, crumbling away at my touch until all that is left is a gaping imprint in the ground, solid rock crumbling away into nothing. Glaring at it, my mind once again begins to slip away into that grief ridden state of decay. I hear a shifting behind me, a rocking of movement and a padding of feet, sparks of black fire dancing in the periphery of my vision, but nothing registers, and all at once I am left feeling out of place, listless, as though nothing is really real.Except it is, and Serena is gone.Just as I had her back. Just as she was mine. Gone.The silvery laughter plays in my head once more:"Gone," it jeers. "Alone."I shake it away."She left us," whispers a horror stricken voice approaching behind, the young dragon- now in human form. I do not look up. In a mindless daze, he begins pacing up to the wall- the place his hand on the spot of disappearance, his eyes blurred, unfocused. He sways there for a moment, his magic seeping out against the wall before sinking back into his hand.Clearly whatever he is after, he doesn't find it."She abandoned us. She went with him. Serena left us, Soren. I didn't think she would but-""She did not abandon us," I spit with a low, menacing growl, rising from my knees as I dust myself off, wiping my hands on my bloodied and torn shirt. At last some sense resumes in my mind, a trickle of cognition that strings me back to reality. "Don't you dare insult my sovereign Lady in such a manner. She knew what she was doing. And I" I pause for a moment, my throat working. Whoever thought I would be so careless? "I made a mistake.""You can't have known Azrael was going to put up a portal, Soren, you must not blame yourself for that," Kal nags, but I am hardly listening, instead reaching out across some unknown distance, feeling for that bond, the familiar tug at my heart that I had so grown to love. But there is nothing, nothing, just a hollow emptiness lingering in its depths, and a welling pool of fear. Wherever she is, I hope she is safe."I can't believe she went with him," Kal exclaims under his breath, shaking his head with a melancholy, drawn expression. "I thought she was with us, I thought she wanted to help us. But the way she rushed to him as he was about to leave..." closing his eyes, Kal shakes his head as he leans against the wall for support. Gently, the little white fox plods up beside him, teetering on wobbly feet as he buts his head against Kals leg, blinking in a slow, fox-like way.Another tug resounds at my heart.Kal and Ithuriel are mates. And though while one side of affection may be more prevalent than the other, the fact still remains. The two of them are mates.And yet I have lost mine. Just another pitiful mockery to toy with my feelings.Steadying my breath, I move over to take hold of the flame where I left it in the centre of the room, watching the shine through my fingers with a dull curiosity. Everything all at once seems stale, lifeless, into comparison of what it was, a shade of what it was. Not even this eternal flame can shed any light onto the matter. The world, once again, has become dark.But perhaps there is one notion that can bring back a spark."She did not leave us to betray us, Kal," I admit, sighing into the air as I come to stand beside him. For a moment, Kal does a double take."What? Are you telling me that Serena deliberately running through a portal with Azrael isn't betrayal? Soren, I know you love her very much but-"She did not betray us," I insist. "And if I catch you saying otherwise, I will skin you alive," I warn, clutching the eternal flame close to my chest as I stalk over to the other end of the room, trying my best to ignore the emptiness of my chest. Kal gives me a hard look of disbelief- a look that I promptly ignore."I heard every thought that flew through her head, Kal. She realised what Azrael was doing moments before I did. And she knew that if he went, we would not find him again- at least not until it is too late. He knows where the souls are, Kal. Serena has gone to stop him, and-" I add, peering into the eternal flame. "She is going to help us find him. She isn't a traitor, Kal. She is our spy."Throwing up his hands, Kal makes a long and convoluted groan, picking up the little white fox at his feet and clutching him close to his chest, a long, drawn expression twinning on their faces."Soren," he says sternly, his fingers running absently through the white foxes hair, steadying its shaky form with a series of soft coos."How on earth is she going to be our spy when Azrael knows full well she has every intention of killing him and handing him over?"
