The first meal of the day turned out to be a simple but effective meat and jam sandwich that LoVelly took with a sincere thanks to the woman they found in the kitchen cooking. They hadn’t seen her before and when LoVelly mentioned as much she explained that she was the owners daughter and that her father had taken the driev to run errands around the city. Once she''d said it Mezalie agreed that she could see the resemblance; the woman had soft, kind features, sloping eyebrows and a complexion like that of a nearly translucent page with visible veining in some areas. Like her father she was also petite, carrying her weight low. She offered Mezalie another sandwich, hot and melty off the pan, when she shook her head and politely declined the woman smiled and slid the sandwich onto a waiting hotplate on the other side of the stove instead.


    There was nobody else in the kitchen with them and the woman and while LoVelly happily munched and carried a conversation Mezalie kept thinking about the loop. She was thinking about the books, about the writing that had swirled up and taken her to a place where the beautiful and terrifying memories were stored. She did her best to engage, reminding herself to breathe- which she was getting better at, she thought, but she kept losing herself in thought. When LoVelly was finishing up his last bite, moving to wash his hands and cooing praise over how delicious the meal had been, Mezalie moved to stand beside him.


    “I think we should go back to the city archive library one more time,” she said slowly, as if she was still forming the idea as it came out.


    “I thought we were going to check out all those leads we looked up yesterday?” LoVelly asked.


    “We will,” Mezalie shrugged. “I just have this theory and I want to see if I’m right or not. Then we can go.”


    “What kind of mystery are you solving?” The woman asked with curiosity. She turned her back to the stove, leaning gently on it. “Sorry, I don’t mean to eavesdrop.” She added with a tinge of embarrassment.


    “We’re looking for a friend, actually.” Mezalie quickly supplied as Lovelly dried his hands.


    “Oh no, are they missing?” she asked with concern.


    “I don’t think so. We’re just having a hard time connecting.” It was mostly the truth even.


    “Well, I wish you two luck on your search. The city is so busy right now in preparation for the Sol season I can’t imagine that helps narrow it down.” LoVelly let out a small laugh at that.


    “Thank you.” he told her. They offered their thanks again and then they set off across the city once again. The streets were flooded with people much more now than just a couple driev’ ago. Droves of people had been arriving in the city just in time for the farmers unions meetings. Even more would arrive still as soil prep and machine maintenance wrapped up and planting began.


    There was standing room only on the street car as they shuffled in, tucking into a little pocket of space in the corner. There was a subtle shift in the warm comfort of being pressed side to side. Now when Mezalie felt the inexplicable rightness of having LoVelly near it didn’t ring alarm bells in her mind, instead soothing her fraying nerves.


    When they arrived at the city archives it too was bursting with people but Mezalie knew exactly where she was going this time. She led them up the crowded stairs, up past the floor they searched before, all the way to the top. It was set up much the same as the floor below but along the right wall was a set of shelves that stretched the length of the wall, protected by clear sliding doors between people and the books on them. At the front of the room was a small podium and behind it sat a short, round man with a button nose and dark eyes that reminded Mezalie of a drunem.


    Mezalie went directly to the enclosed shelved, tugging LoVelly along behind her. The person behind the podium looked up when they approached but otherwise paid them no mind. She scanned the shelves, finding that they were labeled by subject and then on from there down to author. She didn’t know where exactly to look but she knew what to look for: old, leather-bound and made to withstand time. She was looking for something that looked like a textbook and at last, on a high shelf she spied what she wanted. A row of blue spined books with titles written in a very minimalistic and blocky script with the occasional round, empty circle. Mezalie pointed up at the books and grabbed LoVelly’s attention, directing him to her find.


    “What does that say?” She asked quietly. LoVelly looked intently, squinting and lifting his heels up to get just the tiniest bit closer.


    “I don’t…oh. Wait. That’s a…” he absently brought his hand up and began to draw the letters in the air as he sounded it out. “I think it’s something to do with fenoperable machinery.” Mezalie looked positively giddy next to him.


    “Lov’ you can read Kargeine. That’s incredible. Bizarre, but incredible!” she told him.


    “I don''t know if read is the right word. I don’t think I understand it that well but I can read the letters I guess.” He tried to explain.


    “That’s okay. We can work with that I think. Let’s see if we can take them out to look at.”


    When they approached the person they were greeted with a smile.


    “Wanting to look at some of the special handling books?” They asked, obviously having seen them looking.


    “Yes, please.”


    “Alright, there are a couple of rules.” they began, standing to follow them back over. “These books cannot leave the floor. Please do not damage them or mark them. No food or drink on the same surface or a surface above them. Other than that just take care of them. Most of these are older than our ananas.” Mezalie pointed out the blue tomes on the upper shelf. The person pulled a set of keys from their locked and unlocked the sliding door and turned to Mezalie, “you can go ahead and grab them so I don’t have to get a step.”


    “Thank you so much.” LoVelly said as Mezalie pulled four books down and the librarian slid the case shut again.


    “Happy reading!” They responded.


    They took the books to a table not terribly far from the case. Mezalie quickly opened the first one, the one LoVelly had identified. She flipped through a couple of pages and pressed it over to him, waiting expectantly. He leaned in close, brow wrinkling as he placed a finger to the page.


    “It’s some kind of manual.” He paused, skimming the page before turning it over. “Wow. I can’t believe I can read this. But honestly, it’s a lot of technical language and I don’t really understand it very well.” He flipped the page until stopping on one with an image of a partially deconstructed for detail, convergence marker. The words around it detailed what the individual parts were and where they belonged. He flipped the page and he could feel Mezalie nearly vibrating out of her seat waiting on him to tell her what it said. He read it over a couple of times before he felt like he understood enough to repeat it back.


    “It’s talking about how the markers were just used to…convert natural fen into usable product. They were placed on top of natural wells of fen. The concentration at those places allowed for people to create things that nobody could make on their own. They used them to create fuel for-” he paused to wipe the back of his hand across his nose where he felt an itch but recoiled when it came away wet. He looked down at his hand to see dark, wet blood there.


    “Are you okay?!” Mezalie’s voice came out much too loud in the relatively quiet room.


    “Yeah. I just- my head hurts.” he complained, wiping again at his nose where he felt another drip of blood forming.


    Without warning, a siren blared outside the building. Everything fell silent, even the air felt still, as everyone in the building, probably in the city, froze.


    “Oh no. He’s here.” Mezalie whispered with no small amount of dread.


    ***


    The trip over the mountain pass was winding and as long as ever. It only took them the nente to make it all the way through though. The worst of the cold had passed for the season and the road was clear enough to take their small caravan of TVE to safely travel. Nimel had spent most of their time staring out the window at the view of the mountainside. They had never been over the mountains before.


    When they finally made it down the other side it was still several lof before the twinkling of the city lights came into view. They only spent a few dib taking in the sight before they got up and to head to the lower deck. They were all instructed to meet once they arrived on the outskirts for further briefing. For all they were told that this was a diplomatic outing it certainly felt more like a military movement in practice. Not that Nimel knew what that would be like. There hadn''t been a formal military since before they were born.


    Down below, Sahayna and Teramyn were already standing around the already cramped table. They didn’t see Carmis but that wasn’t out of the ordinary. He would pop up eventually when he was needed. He was always quick to disappear when they arrived places and thus avoided having to help unpack, too.


    “Our Tevvy is the only one we’ll be taking all the way into the city. The only streets large enough to accommodate a TVE are still narrow and we want to avoid damage.” Teramyn was saying.


    “And we don’t want it to come across hostile.” Sahayna sharply added. Her hat was tipped back on her head, wide brim pointing up toward the sky.


    “Of course.” A man across the table agreed. He was the head of the royal guard and in Nimel’s opinion he was a bit full of himself about it. Of course, he was extremely talented and he was chosen for his position in Ahshka’s regime for a reason. Nimel just thought he could be a bit more humble about it.


    Nimel placed himself at Sahanya’s side, ready as they slowly took the road in. Teramyn once again went over his plan to appeal to the city’s open council to give up the girl and maybe even her accomplice for good measure. If they would not then Teramyn would instead bring in the additional TVE’s and they would search the city by force.


    Nimel wasn’t sure what to make of the whole thing. It felt dangerous, this thing they were doing. It felt wrong too but they were in no position to stop it. They had their instructions from the Order and deviating now could cause even bigger waves in the aftermath. Their knuckles were white where their hands were balled into the fabric of their dress.


    As soon as they were reaching the first settlements along the road leading in they could hear it, a siren wailing from within the city. It tied their stomach in knots to hear as it got louder and louder.


    Nimel, as predicted, was instructed to stay back in the TVE while Teramyn and Sahayna and a few of the guard approached a large gathering of people outside the Council building. Carmis however went with them, of course showing up at the right moment to whisk away with them.


    Now was their chance though. Once the TVE was mostly empty, only a few of the guard and the operating team were left on board. They quietly slipped to the back of the craft, to the emergency exit in the back. It was a tiny door with a hatch nearly rusted shut and it whined when they put their body weight on the lever to force it open. There was no alarm sensor connected to the old door anymore so nobody would notice them slipping out the door and closing it behind them. They imagined that the negotiations in the Council Hall would likely last at least a lof. These kinds of things were never quick. Plus they had to first appeal to the crowd outside to let them through.


    Nimel stayed hidden in a nook between two large thrust fans on the back of the craft. They pulled from the pocket of their dress a small but dense, heavy stone. It smelled of smoke and it held a warmth within it that soaked into their hand. There was a single sigil hand carved onto one surface of it. Nimel focussed their fen deep within their core and held the stone tightly until they began to feel a tingle that spread from their hand and quickly to the rest of their body. They felt themselves begin to shift, contorting, shrinking and twisting into a new shape entirely.


    On newfound wings they took flight and quickly soared across the city and much like Tewey had done for them, they aimed to deliver a message. It was strange however, to look through eyes that were not their own and for a short while they feared they wouldn’t be able to carry out their task due to simply being lost.


    Once they dropped down lower, closer to the streets, the light from the driev lamps was strong enough that they could read street signs and storefronts. Only once did anyone pay them any mind and it was another drak, who perked up and Nimel felt curiosity brush their mind as they passed by but that was all the encounter was. They continued on, recalling the lof after lof they had spent memorizing the paths they could take, memorizing landmarks to help them find their way.


    When they landed it was about as ungraceful as it gets; a rolling tumble at best. But they landed near enough to their desired location nonetheless. There were groups of people out on the streets looking stricken as the siren rose and fell in the distance. It could be heard anywhere in the city. Nimel crawled on foreign limbs into an alley closest to their landing site before willing their body to change back.


    It felt like popping a seam and suddenly their own body exploded out of the compressed little body of a drak. They were dizzy and disoriented, fingers and toes tingling as they gathered their bearings. They wobbled on their feet but managed as they pushed themself upright. Nimel braced their arm against the alley wall as they took a deep breath, trying to recuperate from the exertion of flying that they were not used to.


    At least they were close.


    They took a tes to gather their bearings but pressed on nonetheless. Time wasn’t a luxury they had currently. They peered out at the street and the people pouring out into it. There was a nervous energy in the air. The sirens continued to ring. Nimel quickly shook themself out and took off down the street at a jog on legs they were much more sure of.


    When they found the address they were searching for they nearly let out a yip in glee, nearly. Instead they knocked on the door they’d stopped at, trying not to convey the panic they were currently experiencing personally. There were several tes that nothing happened, no sounds or indications that anyone had heard or was there. They waited, unsure if they should knock again. Was it loud enough? Would it be rude to knock again? Mid-spiral the door was opened and relief flooded them. A tall man stood in the doorway, alarm as plain on his face as the sound of the siren in the distance.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    “I’m looking for Briha. I have a message for Datsa.” They said as evenly as they could. The man’s eyes narrowed at them for a moment, scrutiny open and obvious. For a breath Nimel was worried they had, in fact, gone to the wrong address but finally the man opened the door further and gestured them inside.


    Once the door was fully closed and locked Briha turned toward them, expression serious. “You sent the drak?” He asked. The two of them stayed there by the door, going no further into the room.


    “Yes. I sent a drak earlier this ven after I received one from the Order.”


    “What is going on out there? Why are the sirens going off?” he asked.


    “The Grand Wizard of the Royal Court of Aleary Ahshka is here. He’s demanding to speak with the open council in order to find a girl he’s looking for.” Nimel explained. Briha’s expression said that the explanation left more questions than answers.


    “Teramyn is here? What is he thinking!?” Nimel wasn’t sure how much they could say but they considered that Reyra trusted this man. She wanted the information passed along to him so badly that she’d sent Tewey of all draks to deliver the message. And they had come all this way.


    “A drak was sent to me by the order asking me to pass along a name. They said that someone named LoVelly was identified in the prophecy and we’re looking for them to find out what role they may play.” Nimel watched Briha’s face make a bizarre expression that they couldn’t name before going blank.


    “LoVelly?” he repeated in surprise.


    “Yes. That is all I was given. I can’t stay long either. I have to get back or I’ll be missed.” They spilled out, anxiety starting to creep through them.


    “I met a LoVelly recently, actually.” the tall man said. His eyes narrowed and his face scrunched in before he asked, “you said Teramyn is looking for a girl too?”


    “Yes. He brought half the royal guard in order to search the city if he has to. That’s what’s caused all this commotion.”


    “What’s her name? Does he know her name?” the man asked with desperation.


    “Yes. Her name is Mezalie.” They told him. The man shook his head and released a sigh that rightfully should have deflated him.


    “You’re not going to believe this,” Briha said with a somewhat hysterical smile.


    ***


    Once they’d convinced the angry mob to let them pass and proceed inside the Council Hall, Teramyn, Sahayna, Carmis and their three guards didn’t have to wait to request an audience. At least half of the Council was there waiting in the main hall for them. Teramyn counted nine of them but only one stepped forward when they approached. A woman with long golden hair falling to her low back, younger than Teramyn or Sahayna but still with fine lines around her eyes and little wrinkles between her brows. He stepped forward to meet her.


    “Teramyn of [   ], what is the meaning of this?” Her voice carried a barely contained anger, a brittle edge to her words. He narrowed his eyes at the slight but otherwise kept his composure.


    “Firstly, Council member…?” he paused.


    “Rawlen.” She replied.


    “Well, Council member Rawlen, it is Grand Wizard Teramyn of the Royal Court of Ahshka. You will do well to remember it.” He had even worn his hat for the occasion. He noticed the muscle in her jaw flex at that but like him, she retained her composure.


    “Of course, very well. My question still stands. You come into this city without warning and with an army. I hope you did not expect a warm welcome.” Another council member approached her and placed a supportive hand upon her shoulder. Her head whipped around, barely contained seething on display, but she stopped and took a deep breath before turning back to Teramyn. “Well, go ahead. Tell us what you think you’re doing here.”


    Teramyn knew that he needed to bring the tension in the hall down to a more manageable level and he needed to do it quickly. He needed a smaller area to cover so many people’s emotions but he could start with Rawlen at least. The others would likely follow her lead. And pleasantries and custom dictated that they at least be granted an audience to be heard.


    “I promise you that we do not come with ill intent, despite what you may think.” Teramyn directed the majority of his focus on soothing Rawlen’s bubbling temper. “We are simply looking for someone who is in the city. Once we have them we will leave.” He noted as Rawlen took a deep breath, shoulders dropping just the slightest bit.


    “How do you know this person is here?” She countered, but her voice held significantly less vitriol.


    “She’s stolen something from the crown and I am able to track it. I’ve tracked it here to the city as of this dreivette.” he explained, hoping that his fen would sway her to his aid. He really didn’t want any violence or collateral damage to the city or its people. However they knew better than to underestimate what the girl could do. He’d seen the aftermath and they would need as much help as they could get in subduing her.


    “We do not recognize your monarchy here and your matters do not concern us.” The man who’d stepped up behind Rawlen spoke.


    “I assure you that the girl we are looking for is a danger to your people and it will concern you if she is not apprehended.” Teramyn insisted.


    “Perhaps we could all convene in a chamber and further discuss this? Time really is of the essence if we are going to stop her from leaving the city.” Sahayna suggested, speaking up finally. Rawlen placed a hand over her eyes, massaging her temples for just a tes before sighing.


    “Follow me. We will make this quick. I want you out of the city by the end of the driev.”


    ***


    There was a bubbling anxiety in the air as everyone in the library all looked at each other with varying levels of confusion and fear. Many people had sort of drifted towards the exits, some people left entirely but many stayed put, unsure what was happening or what was best to do.


    “Who’s here? That wizard guy?” LoVelly asked. Mezalie nodded to which he asked, “Are you sure it’s him?” She nodded again.


    “Yeah. I can…I can feel it. The creature can feel it I think.”


    “What do we do?” LoVelly whispered.


    “I don’t know. My plans are historically not that great.” Mezalie hissed back. “I think we just need to leave.” She reached over and flipped the cover of the book closed and stacked the books up on the table. She turned back to the podium but didn’t see the person who had opened the case for them there. She figured it was better than nothing and she jumped up and took the books to the podium, setting them neatly atop it before retreating back to LoVelly.


    “Let’s go to the back. We can leave from there.” She motioned to LoVelly to follow her, away from the groups of anxious people and away from prying eyes. LoVelly’s fen would be too noticeable out in the open as they were. Once there were a couple of shelves and a half-wall between them and anyone they could see she stopped and turned to him. “We’ll have to use your fen. I don’t think we can go back to the inn for our stuff.”


    “Not that we had much,” he shrugged. It would have been nice to keep the change of clothes at least.


    LoVelly took a deep breath and pulled on his fen, trying to let the muscle memory kick in and help him create the portal. He felt it stir in his chest and wind its way down his arms but then it just… stopped. Like it hit a wall and try as he might he couldn’t push past it.


    “That’s not good,” he murmured.


    “What’s not good? LoVelly please tell me you can get us out.” The anxiety was creeping in and LoVelly could hear it.


    “I don’t know. I don’t know. Something is wrong.” He panicked.


    “Okay. Let’s think about this. It is what it is about your fen right now. We need to come up with a back up idea.” She grabbed his hand and quickly pulled him back toward the front of the building, toward the stairs. She wanted to get out, out, as quickly as possible. She didn’t like feeling trapped inside. It reminded her too much of being in the TVE that driev. “Let’s keep moving. If nothing else we can walk out if we have to.”


    They skirted around the bustling crowd. People ranged from sounding bored to sounding near hysterical. The alarm still screamed in the distance. They took the stairs down to the ground floor and Mezalie saw that one of the city employees was directing people and trying to create some semblance of order among the chaos. She didn’t look back as they slipped out the main doors and nobody tried to stop them.


    Outside the alarm was even louder, wailing from somewhere nearby but she wasn’t sure where. Being situated on the very top of the hill gave them the vantage point to see down into the rest of the city as it rolled out away from the foothills and into the fields long past it. From there they could see the little blob that was a TVE parked in an open square near the heart of the city. There was enough light both from the city lights that she could easily make out the bright metal hull. It was near the street car station hub and Mezalie felt her stomach drop. If they took the streetcar it would take them right to them. If they didn’t they would have to walk and it could take them all day to get across the city and out. They couldn’t retreat the other way into the mountains either, they had no supplies or way to survive the weather or hazards.


    She started walking. There was nothing else to do about it. They would have to walk, they couldn’t risk taking a car. And she couldn’t stand around and do nothing. Her anxiety demanded that she do something about it. She made sure that LoVelly was following and she reached back, silently making the request and LoVelly answered it by taking hers. She used it to pull him along faster. They weren’t running but it was a near thing.


    “What are we doing? Are we just going to walk?” LoVelly puffed out, trying to catch his breath. She realized that she was going to exhaust him faster than herself and she needed to be aware of that.


    “Yeah. I guess so. The street car takes us too close to them. We can’t risk it.”


    “It’ll take us all driev to walk across the city. And then where will we even go?”


    “I don’t know! I told you my plans are not good. I don’t know what else to do though!” They were headed down the hill and when they reached the bottom Mezalie followed the fork to the left, toward the edge of town. She thought perhaps they could skirt around everything if they were fast enough. She told LoVelly as much.


    “Okay. Okay. We can come up with something as we go. It’s not ideal but that''s nothing new.” He was saying. “I''m going to keep trying my fen. See if I can get something to work.” They quickly passed by a group of people gathered outside of an apartment complex. The two of them did their best to sneak by and not draw attention to themselves as they went. For a short while they just walked quietly, looking away from people they passed and switching between an easy walk and an almost jog now and then. The anxiety rippled back and forth between them, unable to tell what belonged to who anymore.


    “Did you notice-”


    “How are they even-”


    They both began to speak at once, stumbling over their words as both stopped.


    “Sorry. Go ahead-”


    “No, it’s okay. You go ahead.”


    Despite everything they both let out a tiny snicker at themselves. They always seemed to be tripping over each other. Mezalie said nothing but waved at LoVelly to speak,


    “I was just going to say, how are they even going to find us? It’s a pretty big city.” LoVelly finally said. Mezalie considered this.


    “Well. I mean, they’ve followed us all the way here didn’t they? They must have some way of tracking either me or the monster.” She reasoned. They’d even used LoVelly’s fen to get to Temal so it’s not like they left a trail.


    “That’s true.” LoVelly sighed.


    “But you’re right. It is a big city. We might be able to sneak our way out just by being careful about it.”


    “We have to try, I suppose,” he shrugged. “What were you gonna say?” He looked to her expectantly.


    “Oh. Just that it doesn’t feel so overwhelming when we touch anymore.” She shook their joined hands to illustrate. “Remember how bad it was at first?”


    “Yeah. That’s nice actually. It made me feel like I wanted to throw up sometimes.” LoVelly admitted and then after a pause, “do you think we could steal a tevvy?” His brows were furrowed as he was clearly working something out in his head. Mezalie squinted at him, wondering how she had actually been inside his mind and still she did not understand this man.


    “Probably? As long as it’s not locked. I could get it running but I can’t pick a-” she was saying when she came to a dead stop. Looking at LoVelly with wide eyes. “The siren stopped.” And sure enough as they stood quietly and listened, the air was silent once more.


    “Maybe that’s good?” LoVelly said with optimism. Mezalie started walking again, pulling him along.


    “Let’s not stop to find out.” She didn’t even want to be in the same city. “How’s your fen?” she asked and he could hear the anxiety in her voice again.


    He once again focussed on pushing his fen out and away from his core, down into his hands for manipulating. This time, he felt it burning in his core, bright and wild. It quickly spread down and to his hands, finding no opposition like it had earlier. He dragged them to a stop.


    “Mez. I think I can do it. I think I’ve got it.” he said excitedly. He pulled both hands up, dropping hers and he tried again to open a doorway. Again though, his fen seemed to hit a wall. He grumbled in frustration, confused because it had just worked, he hadn’t done anything different…


    And then it clicked.


    He quickly grabbed Mezalie’s hand and laced their fingers together. She looked surprised, watching him intently. He quickly peered around the empty street around them but sure enough there weren’t any other people around. They were on the edge of town and there weren’t many houses or people. A lot of the large old buildings were seasonal storage or warehouses. Surely there were some people but none around to see them.


    He immediately felt the difference, the inferno of fen that swiftly swept in to mingle with his own he recognized now as Mezalie, of course. Her fen seemed to give his the boost he needed to overcome whatever seemed to be stopping him. He raised his free hand to try to pull open a door once more. He felt his fen building and he could see the shimmer as the space began to ripple open.


    Mezalie slapped her other hand up to her head, hissing and gritting her teeth.


    “Are you okay? What’s wrong?” he dropped his own hand turning to her and before she could respond she let out a pained grunt, stumbling a bit and LoVelly tried to catch her with their joined hands but suddenly he was struck with a blinding pain in his head. He let out his own pained noise, taking a deep breath trying to focus through it.


    Mezalie went down to her knees and took her hand back to herself to cradle her head in both hands. As soon as she did, the pain in LoVelly’s head subsided. He heaved in several heavy breaths and shook his head, clearing it of the last of the pain haze. Mezalie was whining out the last of her air and all he could hear from her were little wheezes. He dropped to his knees beside her, placing a hand on her back for comfort but he was again hit by a blinding pain and he sharply retracted his hand.


    He didn’t know what to do.


    “Mez! What’s wrong? What’s happening?” She turned to look at him, pain etched across her face. He saw her lips move but no sound came out and then she took a gasping breath.


    “I dontknowithurts.” She wailed out finally. Her voice sounded strange, garbled and frayed.


    LoVelly felt it before anything else, a deep unease that made him want to squirm away. It raised the hairs on the back of his neck and he knew what would follow.


    A pulse of energy violently rippled out from Mezalie, dragging her and LoVelly to their knees and rattling the buildings around them. She screamed as she hit the ground, writhing in pain. A thick, black ooze began to bead up on her skin. It was starting to engulf her and he didn’t know what else to do so he reached out. He forced himself to move the tiny distance between them and reach out for her. His vision began to sway and colors were starting to bleed together. He reached out blindly, swiping back and forth until finally he found her.


    The pain was blinding and immediate as soon as he touched her but he refused to recoil. He let the bubbling, hissing ooze consume him too. He wouldn’t lose her. Not again.