All the Stars Between Us

Back to the Present

Everything seemed to fade away... and then reappear. But this time, Thalia could see that they were in the dungeon again, back in her cell. The shadows rendered them invisible, but she could somehow see out nonetheless.

"Hello?" Came a meek voice from the cell opposite her.

"Caspienne!" She exclaimed. "Hold on, I'm going to get you out." She said quickly. She looked around for something to break her out, but saw nothing. All of a sudden, she felt something snap around her, and she looked around her in time to see the shadows dissolve rapidly and sink into the back of the cell.

She turned around, just as Lilith let out a little cry and collapsed. Kinaria caught her, lowering her to the ground and resting Lilith's head on her lap. Lilith's usually glowing skin was now pale and taut, and all the colour seemed to have drained out of her face.

"Is she..." whispered Thalia, not wanting to complete the thought.

Caspienne gasped, covering her mouth.

"Gods, no," Said Kinaria thankfully. "But she is extremely exhausted. She used to be able to make distances like that in her sleep, but with the baby using up all her reserves of strength, she can't function well enough to use large amounts of her strength like that." She shook her head slowly. "I shouldn't have let her." She said in a low voice.

"Take Lilith." Said Thalia firmly. "Take Lilith. Shapeshift into something and get her out of here, okay?" She grasped Kinaria's shoulders.

Kinaria looked a bit guilty at leaving her there, alone, but she nodded her head resolutely, grabbed Lilith, and jumped out of the window. 

Thalia screamed, and ran to it, but suddenly there was a silver flash outside the window, and she couldn't believe her eyes. It was Kinaria, but at the same time, it wasn't. She was in dragon form. She had shining grey scales and a resplendent chrome tail.

Lilith was nestled between two of her scales, and looked at peace. Kinaria's eyes, however, were the same, only larger. They shone with Kinaria's familiar bravery, and Thalia smiled at her.

Kinaria let out a low snort, blew smoke out of her nostrils, and was gone in a flash. Dragons, as everyone knows, are extremely stealthy, and Kinaria (despite the sheer enormity of her form) was barely noticeable if you didn't know to look. A flash of silver here, and a flick of a tail there, Thalia was sure they'd get home alright.

Now for her predicament. She picked her sword up, and went to look for a way out. She needed to get out. No longer was she going to let Maeve have the upper hand. She had her sword, and she was ready.

She went to raise her sword again, but all of a sudden, her legs gave out and she slid down to the floor slowly, convulsing.

Her vision went fuzzy and dimmed, and she suddenly felt another, potent presence at the back of her mind. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew she wanted to know why it was happening, so she reached out and merged her consciousness with the unknown entity at the edge of her mindscape.

Her back arched and her glowing, pearly-white eyes shot open as the voice took over. Her convulsions were becoming more frequent, and she gasped as she lost control of her senses.

The glow seemed to take over her entire person, engulfing her in a bright light. Caspienne was trying to behave as if she was unfazed, but she actually cared about the girl. She wanted her to survive. Thalia was the first to show her any real kindness, and Caspienne couldn't let her go. Maybe they could even be considered... friends?