Help...
Sophie stopped in her tracks at the plea. She turned to face Fitz, who had accompanied her on her random, unplanned trip to the outskirts of a forest. Fitz looked just as shocked as her.
"Did you hear that?"
Fitz nodded.
"I'm tracking the voice."
Sophie closed her eyes and stretched out her consciousness. We're coming to help. she transmitted in the general direction. At the word "help", the voice was back and Sophie began sprinting into the forest. She didn't care that it was late at night. She wasn't afraid of the dark.
Fitz easily caught up with her and hurried beside her. Soon, Sophie halted, opening her eyes. Then she immediately closed them. No. What? What? Lying on the grass, wounded, bruised, and unconscious, and with black veins spreading through his right arm, was Councillor Kenric.
Sophie screamed and swayed on the spot, and Fitz had to keep her steady. "What happened?"she asked him fearfully, with no idea how he would know. "There's only one way to find out," Fitz whispered, offering his hand. Sophie took it, and together, they dove into Kenric's mind.
The most recent memories surfaced first - figures clad in black cloaks with a symbol on the sleeve. A white eye in a circle.
The Neverseen.
Let's start from the Everblaze, for context.
Fitz transmitted.
Sophie nodded, feeling giddy.
Everblaze, she transmitted to Kenric.
Instantly a memory came floating towards the "surface" of his mind.
Kenric was restraining Fintan; he pushed Oralie, Fitz and Sophie away, towards the window. "Go!" he yelled, but Sophie didn't hear. She was still searching for the name of the unregistered Pyrokinetic. Brant, Sophie thought bitterly.
Oralie had grabbed Sophie and Fitz. There was a hubbub of yelling, then the three of them jumped out of the window, leaving him with Fintan.
Surprisingly, Fintan opened his eyes. He shouted something that made the fires momentarily halt. "Councillor Fathdom. I know you are a talented Telepath. Would you rather die here or come join the Neverseen?" "I... do I have a choice?" Kenric asked desperately. "No," Fintan immediately replied. "Just a test to see if you are willing. So?"
Everything blacked out for a moment; Kenric must have closed his eyes. "No." He said firmly. "I'd rather die." Fintan looked disappointed. "Stubborn fool," he muttered. He seized Kenric's arm and released the fires, and leaped away just before it engulfed them. Moments later, a sweet smelling cloth was pressed against Kenric's nose and mouth. He fell to the cold hard ground, sedated.
Kenric woke up on the floor somewhere. He knew nothing. Where was he? How long had it been? Who was he?
"Councillor Fathdom. How wonderful to see that you are awake. Nobody else knows that you are here." A bored voice said. Councillor Fathdom. That was his name. Wait, no. Was it Elgar? That sounded familiar. Elgar.
"Well. Our new recruit has been constantly asking questions of you. Which makes me doubt his loyalty. Perhaps he is reporting to the Black Swan girl. The Moonlark." Fintan continued, a snarl creeping into his voice. "But Kenric. I wouldn't know. You would."
Kenric! That was his name. "What is his name?" Kenric asked bravely. "Oh, you haven't guessed?" Fintan smiled. "Well, we always thought the Sencen boy would decide to join."
"Not Keefe..." Kenric moaned. Fintan's smile grew. Then he left the room.
Sophie and Fitz watched Kenric's life with the Neverseen. It was as miserable as could be, especially since there were no gnomes willing to help them. All the memories seemed vaguely blurry, and at times there were long, black, empty periods. Kenric had probably been regularly sedated. Finally, the newest memory came into focus. Keefe's mom held a shamkniv, and beside her, Gethen and Vespera stood, Gethen holding a melder and Vespera telekinetically holding a blob of blue-coloured goo in front of her. Soporidine.
Gethen shot Kenric in the head, paralyzing him. Kenric could only watch with horror as Gisela carved huge, curved wounds onto him. He wanted to yell from the pain, but his mouth couldn't move. Seconds later, Vespera launched the soporidine at him and he blacked out again. He could only think one thing - help. He hoped he would be able to transmit it, but before he could, he fell into a dreamless oblivion.
Sophie was furious. So was Fitz. But at least they knew how to fix Kenric. "The Council did demand some soporidine antidote from Fintan, right?" Sophie asked. Fitz nodded. "I could ask Oralie for some - wait, no. Not her. This could break her." "It could." Sophie replied. So she patiently waited while Fitz leaped away to get some antidote from Councillor Terik.
Minutes later, Fitz glittered back into sight, holding a handful of orange slime. He ran over and pressed the antidote into Kenric's arm. There was no reaction. Sophie had just begun to lose hope when Kenric started to stir. Slowly, he opened his eyes.
Soooo, here's a wonderful little cliffhanger for you. I am working on Part 2 and sorry if this sucks... I can't write that well. Anyway if you're reading this, please check out my Sophitz fanfiction, Betrayal. Also please check out the book of Oneshots, Moments of You, by my friend @stxrlitseas-, it's really awesome.
~me