Mythic (NaNoWriMo14)

Chapter 29 - Bonded

Cayden had Nazine sitting upright, doing everything he could to keep the phoenix conscious when two figures tumbled out of the shadows, one a whole lot less gracefully than the other. 

"Kat?" he said before his eyes recognised the second figure sprawled across the ground. "Rena!" 

Rena coughed as she got to her feet, her hands clutched protectively over her chest. She was dirty, scratched, and her clothing torn, but she was alive. Cayden was just processing this fact as her fingers tucked under the chain at her neck and lifted out a familiar flame-coloured crystal. 

"It's okay," she breathed, turning to show the shadow Mythic. "Kat, it's okay!" 

"Get it on Nazine," said Kat. "Now." 

"What?" said Cayden as Rena scrambled to Nazine's side. "You shadow walked with Nazine's key? What kind of irresponsible, idiotic--"

Kat grabbed Cayden's arm and pulled him away from Rena. She turned to face him, her eyes dark.

"We didn't have a choice," she hissed. "Any longer around that hotspot and I might not have had a Rena to bring back. Heavens knows I don't have time to go to another city and find another Mythic capable of feeding him either. It was a risk I needed to take, and it paid off." 

"You had no idea if it would," said Cayden, struggling to keep his voice down. "You had no idea--"

"She's going feral, Cayden," said Kat. "Her eyes were dilated. She wasn't talking straight. I think her sanity already snapped back there but she somehow managed to pull it back. I can guarantee you, that won't happen a second time. The next time she slips, she's gone. We don't get her back."

Cayden went cold. Not just because of what it meant for Nazine, but-- 

"So she can't feed from me?" he asked instead, pulling himself back on track. 

"No," said Kat. "We need to go with the other plan. It might just be the thing that keeps her with us until we get Nazine to Leristith, too. So there's your added benefit." Cayden remained silent as Kat chewed her lip. "Not to mention, we have another problem. Melis' group was with the hunters. I'm pretty sure she was the one Rena was fighting."

Cayden rubbed his forehead. "By the rotted scales of a mer, this situation couldn't get worse. Did she recognise you?" 

"Definitely," said Kat, expression grim. Cayden swore. "Probably won't be happy that I left her in the grasp of a treant Mythic, either. She'll be at Leristith before us with that earth elemental on call. I can only hope she'll excuse our actions when she learns they were for the phoenix." 

"Cayden, Kat!" called Rena, ending their conversation. Nazine was still out of it. "Was something supposed to change? I put his key on, but he's still... still like this."

Cayden had a word for what he was. 

Dying. 

"We have to feed him," said Cayden, kneeling beside Rena, keeping his eyes on Nazine. "You have to feed him."

Rena's wild eyes turned to Cayden. Kat had been right--they were dilated, even now. 

"Cayden, I can't," she whispered. "I can't feed off you. Please, don't make me--"

"I know," he said quietly. He didn't want to lose her. This empathy, this ridiculous self-sacrifice she'd committed herself to. "There's another way to boost your ley enough to feed him."

Rena tilted her head, ears forward, attentive. "What?" 

Cayden licked his lips. "You bond with me."