The Howling

Chapter 17 (Luna's POV)

Before we could do anything, the silent chaos in my mind was ripped apart by an earsplitting mental howl of pain. The sound ricocheted through my mind and filled it so that it seared from every direction.

The howl tore through my mind like a tornado, both strange and familiar. Strange because I hadn't heard such a tortured cry in a long time. Familiar because I knew the voice at once. It made no difference that K was not human when he cried out.

K had jumped in between Dardan's magic and us. K had been thrown aside with the force of it. K was in agony. Dardan vanished, leaving everyone to run towards K. Except me. 

Everything was on fire. I felt like someone had doused me in gasoline and set me ablaze, pain radiating from every cell in my body. This hurt so much more than everything I'd ever been through. No whips, no guilt, no cuts had felt like this. Pain wasn't a strong enough word for what I was feeling. I wondered if I was screaming.

I heard, from what felt like far away, the shouts of the others as they rushed to find K. But I couldn't move. I was just lost in an unthinking stupor, holding with all my strength to the numbness that kept me from realizing what I didn't want to know. 

Just then, Solon gripped my arm as he said, "Luna! Luna! Look at me! We found K! He'll be fine, alright?". The sound of his name unleashed the thing that was clawing inside of me-a pain that knocked me breathless, astonished me with its force. I ran toward where the others were gathered. 

As I had known he would be, K was crumpled against the wall, framed by splintered rock. Everything was red. All the terror and pain I'd felt crashed into me again in an unstoppable tidal wave. His eyes were closed. His pale hand had fallen limp beside him. His heartbeat was weak, faltering. I decided to not move, I was just there beside him, kneeling in his blood.

Fire burned through my chest and head, but I couldn't separate out the different kinds of pain. I was afraid to touch him. He was broken in so many places. I could make it worse. 

I heard my own voice, rambling the same words over and over again. His name. Again and again like a record skipping. But I wasn't in control of the sound. I heard myself screaming Shion's name, but he was already there, kneeling in the blood on K's other side. The words pouring from my mouth weren't words anymore, just mangled, heaving sounds. Sobs.

Shion's hands traced from K's scalp to his ankle and then back again so quickly, they blurred. He pressed both hands to K's head, seeking ruptures. He pushed two fingers tight against a spot 3 inches behind his right ear. 

I couldn't see what he was doing; K's hair was saturated with crimson. A weak cry broke through K's lips. K's face spasmed with pain. I cried out. Shion said calmly, "He's lost some blood. All the bones on the right side of his body are broken."

A howl of pure rage ripped through the room, and for a second I thought it was from Taki or Fuma. I touched their minds-they were getting a makeshift stretcher ready-and realized that the sound had come from me. My heart felt like it was trying to escape my chest, escape the pain. 

The anger surfaced then, like a fist punching through the center of my chest. I wanted so badly to break Dardan, to rip him into long, slow strips. So much pain and so much blood and I'd never be able to make him answer for it. It wasn't enough that he would die, that he would burn. It would never be enough.

Pain, there was pain that the numbness couldn't reach. Pain that was both inside and outside my mind. The pain was high-pitched and dissonant, swelling into a crescendo. I reached out mentally for something to hold on to, and found a life ring waiting. Heli whispered mentally, "He'll be okay." 

Heli showed me a thousand memories of K and I, taken from my own mind. K smiling, K laughing, K reaching for my hand, K holding his arms open for me, K staring into my eyes with fascination, K walking next to me, K sitting beside me, K pressing his hand against my cheek, K holding my face and pressing his lips against mine. A thousand different scenes with K, healthy and whole, alive and happy, and with me.