The Source

Chapter 23

                                                                   Liam

Liam and Fiadh were running full speed again finally nearing the end of the tunnel after their almost two day trek when he abruptly felt like someone had stabbed him in the gut with a white hot blade. He dropped to his knees as debilitating heartbreak filled him overriding the physical pain.

Fiadh went to help him but then looked up at the same time he did hearing the sky crackle and boom right before a downpour of rain and hail began pounding into the earth above their heads.

"Aiden! The baby! Run, Fiadh!" Liam grunted in pain as she helped him get to his feet.

They reached the end of the tunnel within moments propelled by his air magic but exited into gusting wind and frigid ice that had now joined the torrential rainfall and cloud to ground lightening.

They could only see the stronghold when the lightening struck because complete darkness had fallen over all the land. Fiadh shifted into a mountain cat sharpening her night-vision as she lead the rest of the way to one of the few hidden caves Taranis had also made close to the base of the mountain before she shifted back.

"We cannot stop here, Fiadh! I have to get to her!" Liam exclaimed in desperation.

"I know you want to go to her, but we cannot just charge in there. We have to stick to the plan. If she is truly your mate, I need you to focus on the bond that you share. Is she alive?"

He closed his eyes and took deep breaths before he answered, "Yes."

"Is she gravely injured?"

"She is physically injured in some way but the heartache is the worst."

"Can you tell anything else?"

He was quiet for a few moments more as he searched deep trying to get anything he could that would help them. "I think she is unconscious," he finally told her as he went to the cave entrance and saw that the rainstorm was subsiding but giving way to bitter cold and endless night with ice and frost covering every part of the earth. Liam's voice cracked as he uttered, "I know what happened."

"No! Not the child!" Fiadh gasped with tears in her eyes.

"The plan remains the same as long as she is alive. Go. Send or bring word back quickly though."

Fiadh shifted immediately into the form of a crow and was gone from sight blending into the dark. Her first run was to gather as much information as she could about where he was keeping Aiden and to find a way in undetected.

Liam sat down inside the cave using his fire magic to warm himself against the biting temperature as he sent love, comfort, and support into the mating bond that he and Aiden had both not spoken of despite knowing they both felt it in hopes that it would reach her and aide in the hurt that was now in their hearts. They had lost their son before they were even allowed to see him or hold him. The voice of the elements told them there would be trauma, but never did he imagine a loss such as this.

Liam threw protective air magic around the cave and wept.

Fiadh returned hours later after Liam had shed every drop of moisture from his body, but when she saw his red eyes and tear stained face, she wrapped slender arms around his neck only to begin weeping herself. "My deepest sympathies, Liam. I cannot even fathom the loss you and Aiden feel. He will be remembered and celebrated always. I will make sure of it."

"Thank you, Fiadh. Where is she?"

Fiadh continued to cry but kept her voice steady as she reported, "She is in the chambers that we knew he had designated for her. There is a female in there that seems to be caring for her. Aiden is in a state of unconsciousness that I sense she put herself in. Her body is pale and lifeless. I have never seen her look so dull. Blood still stains a dining hall that I can tell belongs to Aiden and the baby from scent alone."