The branches on the trees reached for him, stretching outward with sharp, jagged fingers.
Not again! I wasn’t even in the Sea! he thought wildly. “FIONN!”
There was still no answer from the chimera, no comforting presence, or looming guardian. So Kaleo ran. He ran until his lungs felt as if they might implode, all the while hearing the snarls of the beast that gave chase. None of his efforts seemed to matter. The beast still closed in on him. No matter how many times he zigged or zagged, how hard he pumped his legs or even tried to take flight, nothing changed.
“Let go!!”
The cry Kaleo heard made him stop mid-run, arms pinwheeling to maintain his balance. He knew the voice. Jaysen.
“Jaysen!” he called, turning himself around toward the sound of his friend’s voice. “Jaysen!”
“Kaleo!”
The young avian turned again toward the sound of his name, hissing at the twigs that scratched his face or snagged his clothes. He didn’t get far, feeling himself fall into rancid earth instead of taking another step. Something had his legs, binding him from the ankles up to the thighs in tight, crawling vines that stabbed at him through the fabric of his loose pants. He could not stop the scream that was wrenched from his lungs as he was pulled upside down, hanging unceremoniously above the earth with Jaysen bound head-to-foot beside him. The olven boy twisted inside his bounds, growling like a rabid dog, eyes a furious color of red that made Kaleo swallow back bile that rose up in his throat. Just ahead of them was the three-eyed creature that Kaleo had seen in the shrubbery.
“What is it?” Kaleo shrieked as if Jaysen could answer. He bent in half, trying to untangle himself. It did no good, the vines climbing further up his torso toward his waist to engulf him like they did to Jaysen. They made him feel weak and sluggish which made him fight harder. “Jaysen? Jaysen!”
The growling had stopped, all the fury gone so that the olven boy hung limp in his bonds. Panic seized Kaleo’s chest, making it difficult to breathe.
Focus, focus, focus - FOCUS! He commanded. The final focus drew out his Power. A wild conflagration of blue flame lashed outward in undulating waves that set the creature writhing, its tentacle appendages jerking and twitching within the flame that consumed them. Kaleo dropped to the ground, scrambling to his feet with the rush of Power still filling his veins. He glared at the monster, at the thing that hurt his friend. He cried out, the Power in his voice forming into sharp shards of ice that ripped the creature apart. Jaysen collapsed to the ground in a heap, still as death. Kaleo waited a heartbeat, two, three. When he was certain the thing would not piece itself back together again, he rushed to his friend’s side.
“Get up!” he said, shaking Jaysen. “Get- -
***
“- - up!” Kaleo gasped, sitting up suddenly in the dark forest on the outskirts of Fromaige in Damaskha.
He’d arrived the day prior, though his money only got him as far as Fromaige, which was on the other end of the country from where he wanted to be. It was a start, but also confounding given what he’d just experienced. Power still coursed through him, and his chest heaved in ragged breaths. He could taste the copper tang of blood on his lip and realized his nose let out a steady stream of crimson. His face and legs hurt and his throat so raw that breathing hurt, feeling as if he'd swallowed glass.
Kaleo!
“WHAT?” he cried, turning to see Fionn. It took a moment for the fear and panic to subside, for him to realize that Fionn was not, in fact, another monster but his beloved audeas. As soon as that realization settled, Power drained out of him and the young avian threw his arms around the chimera’s neck, squeezing as if his life depended on it. He only prayed that Jaysen found his way out safely.
Sensation filtered through to Jaysen’s mind before anything else. He was aware of a gentle breeze that set the leaves into a rustling song. Someone was nearby, he could feel them, feel icy fingers running through his hair and around the very sensitive tips of his ears. The smell of honeysuckle and sulfur followed next, making Jaysen’s skin crawl. He shot out of bed so fast he nearly collided with the opposing wall, tripping over everything in his path like an infant traversing a room full of discarded toys. The giggle that followed made him snarl, his head pounding and spinning in nauseating waves. He continued to move away, feeling odd furnishings and trinkets beneath his hands.
“What do you want?” he growled.
“So jumpy,” a woman purred. No, not a woman - another monster. Cartha was full of them, whether they were created or spat out of the Spellforged Crater straight from the Nine Hells. This one in particular delighted in tormenting Jaysen.
“Get out,” he continued, sinking into the furthest corner he could get into. He heard her shift, heard the clack-click-clack-click of her boots as she took slow, calculating steps across the marble floor to where he sat. He was aware of the heat of her body, the stench of her, the gentle caress of her breath as she crouched to his level and lifted his chin with a clawed hand.
“You’re welcome, by the way,” she purred almost directly onto his lips. “You should be more careful in Yira’s Realm, little lamb.”
Jaysen frowned, pulling away from Madhavi. He felt the confinement of the walls around
