No! No! I had been on the brink of remembering, the memories swirling up and fighting their way out of a murky, misted swamp, only for them to crash back down under the dark surface and vanish into nothing.
Why! Now all I could remember was a feather, soft, tufted white feathers behind pale ears and pale locks, and a glimpse of a face blocked behind an impenetrable veil. I had been so close this time! Now I remembered all over again the dreams — not the dreams themselves, but that I had dreamed them at all. The memories darted and skimmed like dragonflies over water, only for all the flashes of recollection to die away with every second of wakefulness that layered over them so heavily.
My hands flew to my head, pressing against my temples like they could squeeze out the growing pain knocking in my skull like hammering blows. Now it went from painful to downright agonizing, the splitting pressure building like a geyser until I thought my eyes would pop out of the straining sockets. My head! My head hurt! It hurt so bad—
Lust still held me in his arms in a bridal carry, nestling my head carefully against his chest with the help of his tail to steady my shoulders. Thank God he didn't seat me on his arm the way he always did before. I wouldn't have had the strength to both keep my skull from shattering to pieces and hold onto him at the same time.
And still the veil remained.
I couldn't see him. The boy with the feathers. That face... that laugh... everything, all of it concealed behind a blankness that shouldn't be there.
Unnatural, Mammon had said before.
Interference.
My memories... my earliest years, all of them gone.
And the boy whose existence I knew so intimately, a ravaged yet immaculate hole left in the abyssal darkness — but the boy I could not remember.
Unnatural.
Interference.
Everything is jumbled.
"I know you," I gasped, lungs filling with something thicker than air, too heavy to breathe. Oh, God. I was drowning in nothing. My head— "I know you, I know I do, but I can't—"
"Sable, love, shh, it's all right, I have you."
Lust didn't understand. None of it. He was already following Mammon at a quickening pace, wending through the trees of the thick grove they had dodged into. He didn't understand that I had to stay if I was to remember and get back what I'd lost.
Or what had been taken from me.
"It's moving faster," Mammon growled ahead of us. "Get to the end of the valley and go through, don't let it corner you. It's big enough to keep you busy and go after Sable at the same time if you let it catch you. Go! Now!"
"Don't be ridiculous, Mammon. You were certain neither of us can hold it off alone, but now you want to be a hero and remain behind? We'll continue moving together. We can all retreat to safety and plan our next move there."
"This is the plan! If you don't have a better one, follow mine!"
Too late. An indescribable tension swallowed up the air in the grove, siphoning away the muggy warmth, the faint rustling of the leaves, even the fierce throbbing of my pulse in my neck. Time froze, and the noise climbed to a roar, or a great hiss, or simply a bellow like a fierce, monstrous wind howling deep in the trough of a towering canyon.
It's coming for us.
The thought was numb.
And wrong.
Because—
It's already here.
And it's coming for me.
The explosive burst that propelled us forward would have snapped my head off my shoulders if Lust hadn't pressed me tight to his chest. For a paralyzing second, I thought something had struck him and sent us flying, but I soon realized the reality. He was sprinting forward, bolting in the opposite direction to put as much space between the fast-approaching creature and us as possible. No words. No hesitation. Lust was simply running to save my life, because in that instant he must have realized the same thing I did.
Earlier, Mammon had been half-right and half-wrong. It was true that we were all being hunted. His beastly instincts had been accurate about that.
But whereas the creature was mindlessly starving for them, slavering for the flesh of any prey within reach, and even the threat of powerful, demonic strength couldn't dissuade it from the pursuit...
For me, it searched.
Somehow, its single-minded intentions became divided, splitting in two. For me — there was something other than the ravening hunger, something different under the many unnatural layers and scents that Mammon could make no sense of.
Something changed.
Why?
When?
How?
"It's coming for Sable!" Lust growled as he ran. "You said it was coming for us all, not for her!"
"It was! Something changed just now. We both felt it at the same time, don't turn this on me!"
"Why! What caused it!" All of Lust's typical, drawling elegance was gone. "I sensed no magic. There isn't even a siren nearby!"
"Don't ask, I don't know the answer. Just run! It's drawing on that other power again. Twice its size now, still growing! And it's gathering power. Get ready to dodge!"
So it wasn't only me that was utterly bewildered by the sudden transformation of the beast. The drilling, crushing point of its monstrous intent had washed over me with no warning like a storm that materialized out of nowhere. Didn't Mammon say it had returned to the siren carcasses near the cave? How could it already be here! It had closed the distance so fast! If it was truly as large as Mammon hinted it was, should it be able to move so quickly? Clearly it had, and not only that, its aura was so overwhelming that we could even sense the instant it gained awareness — of me.
It was still coming for me. I could feel no charging, pounding hoofbeats or gigantic paws striking the ground like I'd expected, yet already I sensed the sheer massiveness of whatever pursued us so relentlessly as Lust leaped and ran up the sharp slopes leading out of the valley. What could it even be! What would make two Princes, even weakened, flee confrontation rather than meet it head on?
And why was that creature's attention focused on me? What did it want from me that it couldn't get from Lust or Mammon?
... Was I really prey?
Or was I something else?
Unnatural.
Interference.
The earth quaked and lurched, plowed up under Lust's feet with such violence that it launched both of us into the air. I saw nothing. I understood nothing. All I knew was that one second, I was there with Lust, and Mammon's hand had grasped my arm as if to steady me with his strength, too. Then the next second... gone.
I was in the air, released. Flying forward with the momentum still, but with neither Lust nor Mammon anywhere near. Here one second, gone the next.
And when I landed in a rushing stream of cold water, I was all alone.
***
I could see.
That was the first clue I wasn't conscious. I must be dreaming for my eyes to have suddenly recovered, and besides, the memory of my last moments before tumbling into this place was completely intact. As intact as it could be while missing a vital physical sense, anyway. I could only guess Lust had been attacked and that we had become separated, knocking me out instantly and bringing me back into my dreams while in reality, I was sprawled on the ground with my tongue lolling. That must be the reason I could see that I sat in an impossibly familiar stream, surrounded by vibrant grassy banks with the rays of a warm sun kissing my skin.
Except... when I was in my dreams, I could always remember the rest, too. Awake, those exact recollections always faded, leaving me with only the frustration of knowing I was forgetting something but failing to retrieve the memories. Now, however, I felt exactly the same as I did when I was awake. Sore, exhausted, heart still flying as I placed my hand over my chest to slow it — not to mention I was still wearing Lust's borrowed robes. Never in a million years would I ever dream of myself wearing these.
Not to mention that it hurt like hell when I slapped myself. No, I did not wake up. And that splotchy red patch growing on my thigh was a little too convincingly detailed for this to be a dream...
But then, why could I see? There was no other explanation. I simply had to accept it. I must have fallen unconscious, and the only thing that could wake me was time. Meanwhile, I ought to enjoy my time here.
Until the sound of splashing interrupted my reverie. My gaze lifted, searching out the source of the noise... and my heart dropped.
On the other side of the river — was not a young boy with white-blond hair and feathers behind his ears.
On the other side of the river... was a man, older than he should be but unmistakable, undeniable. That hair. Those feathers. That sweet, angelic smile and bright blue eyes that sparkled as he stepped into the water with arms outstretched in warm greeting.
"You really did it," he called, gliding towards me. "You finally found me!"