Chapter 31 Non
Non
Being split in two was an odd feeling.
Almost as odd as seeing a duplicate of yourself running across the clearing while four hellish creatures flew after her. But I had to give it to myself, my arse looked fucking fantastic in that dressing gown.
It didn't hurt when Jazz used their power of separation on me.
I'd anticipated it would feel like fresh hell as they'd seemed so reluctant to do it.
But the only way this plan would work was if we had a decoy.
And although it was only a guess, I had a gut feeling that as the beasts were my father's minions, they would target me if I ran.
Thank Llyr that gut feeling paid off.
Oddly, Jazz didn't have much knowledge of how their separation power worked on people. They had only insisted that I couldn't be separated for long, as it would drain their power reserve.
Which meant I needed to execute my plan quickly.
We'd gone with the assumption that my duplicate wouldn't be able to wield, which was why we'd used her as the bait.
Although she seemed to have a consciousness of her own, I did feel some faint connection to her at the back of my mind.
Like the echo of her train of thought spoke to me before she did something.
The Cyhyraeth were clearly none the wiser, but she still needed to be wary of getting hurt. Jazz had no idea whether her death would mean I would kick the bucket too. This was exactly why my idea was total idiocy.
I nodded towards the remaining cluster of tents. “I'll take cover to the right, you can take the left. Try and land as many hits to their wings as you can. Once they are all grounded, I'll take it from there.”
Jazz nodded but seemed uncomfortable. “If we don't get them down quick enough, I'll have to pull my power back. You know that, right?”
“Just try and hold it for as long as possible.”
Making my way towards one of the pabells on the right side of the encampment, I crouched behind the fabric wall and waited for my duplicate to lure them in. This was where Jazz and I would take cover while trying to land hits to their wings again.
Between the two of us, we managed to get the first three grounded in a few throws. Carnwennan only made small punctures, but it moved quickly.
Jazz's Arf was slower due to its size, but the hole it tore was so large it grounded the Cyhyraeth with one hit.
So far, my plan had worked well. The creatures were furious when they couldn't pinpoint where our attacks were coming from. When one swivelled its scaled head towards Jazz, my duplicate started to wave and scream like a maniac, drawing their attention back to her.
The last one had been the hardest to hit. It seemed to learn our tactics the more we threw our weapons. So far, only Jazz had managed to nick the edge of its ear.
A heavy sensation started pressing down on my shoulders, but I brushed it off as exhaustion. I'd never pushed myself physically like this, and although we didn't really know how Jazz's power worked, it certainly felt like I'd been doing all the running that my duplicate had.
Carnwennan spun through the air, missing the last beast's wing once again.
As the dagger descended, I struggled to keep my connection to it.
It stalled in the air a few times, and I gritted my teeth and focused as hard as I could on the humming noise it made.
Putting everything I had into the throw, I hit the very tip of the beast's wing.
Not enough to take it down, but enough that it struggled to fly as quickly.
Once my dagger was back in my hand, another wave of exhaustion hit me. I was struggling to stand, so I braced my arm on the pabell next to me as my breathing became laboured.
A ground-shaking boom sounded in the distance. While I'd not been looking, Jazz had managed to rip a huge hole in the final beast's wing.
Finally, we could move to the final stage of the plan. And not a second too soon, as sweat was pouring down my face and back. Even my dagger slipped in my hands, they'd become so slick.
I pushed past the pain in my lungs, stepping out from behind the pabell.
Each of the four grounded Cyhyraeth bounded towards my duplicate as she continued to bait them perfectly. None of the beasts had noticed me as I sprinted towards them. What I was about to try next was completely reckless and, quite frankly, a death sentence.
I noticed movement from the tree line from the corner of my eye.
Glancing sideways, I saw a group of people being quietly ushered deeper into the woods, flanked by Dylan and Zenn.
Somehow, Dylan had seen through the illusion; the way he tracked me made me think he could tell the difference between me and the double.
His eyes locked with mine, making my stupid heart do backflips.
I just prayed he wouldn't interfere.
My duplicate and I ran headfirst towards each other as the creatures gained on us.
Over her shoulder, I could see the yellow venom dripping from their maws as they snapped at her heels.
Thankfully, the beasts only had two legs and seemed to prefer flying over running.
Even with my appalling fitness, I was able to outpace them.
From here on out, my plan consisted of one final and very foolish step.
Run headfirst towards the four vicious beasts, and hope and pray that such a stupid move would shock my power into manifesting.
But as I drew closer and closer to becoming a Cyhyraeth chew toy, my power was nowhere to be seen.
Even when Seren had kicked the shit out of me during training, it still hadn't manifested.
A blur of red darted into my peripheral. Jazz had managed to make their way to their final mark. They needed to be close enough to us so they could pull their power back once the beasts had been brought down.
Looking ahead, I saw there was less than ten metres between me and my duplicate; this close, I could see the grey pallor of her skin and the sweat that ran down her temples.
Fuck, is that how bad I looked? When I'd wavered next to the pabell, I'd certainly felt that bad.
I shouted the command for my duplicate to drop to the ground in my mind. We needed to finish this once and for all. I'd still not felt my power but hoped that when the Cyhyraeth did rip my head off, it might decide to appear and at least take them down with me.
As planned, she dropped to the floor. The beasts tracked her movement, but I lifted my arms and screamed, drawing their attention to me. “Here I am, you fuckers. Come and get me!”
Four sets of serpent-like eyes snapped up and narrowed on me. But my power was nowhere to be seen.
I'd been so sure that I'd meet my demise during the Anoethau, it was almost comical that I wouldn't even get a chance to compete in them now.
A manic laughter bubbled up my throat at the thought, which only seemed to anger the creatures even more.
Twenty feet. That's all that separated me from death. I cackled even louder than before, and the Cyhyraeth that led the pack let out a bone-chilling snarl.
And my power snarled back.
Not like this.
The beast leapt, its claws extended. Instinct told me to lift my arms to my sides, and as I did, my power broke free.
Took you long enough, I thought.
Couldn't let you have all the fun, it replied.
A curtain of shimmering shadows burst from the ground, forming a barrier between the Cyhyraeth and me. Their yellow eyes widened as they saw my power manifest, but they were running with too much force to stop themselves before being swallowed up by the darkness.
From somewhere nearby, a voice screamed my name. It could have been anyone, Dylan, Caerwyn, even Jazz. The roaring in my ears as my power poured out of me made the outside world inaudible.
Screeches and moans echoed through the clearing as the winged monsters collided with the darkness and fell into nothingness.
I'd forewarned Jazz that if I were unable to pull my power back, they'd need to step in like Dylan had in Granny's study.
Once the wing of the final Cyhyraeth toppled into the darkness, I commanded my power to pull back. I gulped down lungfuls of air, focusing on my surroundings. My duplicate was still lying on the floor in front of me; thankfully, she seemed to be unharmed.
Then my eyes focused on a bundle of red lying next to her.
Jazz.
They weren't moving. I dropped to my knees and reached for them, pulling their head into my lap.
“Thank the gods,” I gasped as I saw their chest rise and fall. They were breathing, but each inhale was far too shallow.
My duplicate knelt beside me, brushing a strand of hair from Jazz's forehead. “As the Cyhyraeth reached you, one of them managed to smack Jazz in the head with their tail. I didn't see any blood. I think they're just unconscious.”
Had I not had my closest friend's unconscious body in my arms, I would have found the conversation with myself super fucking weird. But Jazz was my priority; they needed to see a healer quickly.
As I stood, I slung Jazz's arm over my shoulder, lifting them to a standing position. Jazz wasn't heavy by any means, so this should have been easy, but as I stood to my full height, I felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest.
With no strength left in me, I dropped Jazz to the floor. I clutched my chest as searing pain seemed to split me in two. Next to me, my duplicate dropped to her knees, seemingly feeling what I could feel.
“It's their power.” My twin nodded to an unconscious Jazz. “We need them to pull it back and make us one again. They can't do it if they’re unconscious.”
Reaching for Jazz, I gripped the front of their habit and shook them in desperation. “Wake up and take it back! Make me whole again!”
The pain, which had started in my lungs, seemed to move to my head. Breathing was impossible, and my duplicate let out a wheeze as she fell to the ground.
Was this why Jazz didn't want to separate me in the first place? Had they known this would be the outcome if I stayed split too long?
We both lay in the singed grass next to Jazz, looking up at the sky. Soon, even the stars had become one big blur of light as every organ inside me started to fail.
I could barely make out the figures that stood over me, their muffled voices shouting at each other. All I could focus on was the blinding pain inside me.
My heart was slowing down, becoming more and more laboured with each beat.
Eventually, the pain became so great and my heartbeats so slow that I was certain each would be my last.
An almost inaudible voice whispered something to me.
Those creatures were at your beck and call, not your father's.
Thump, Thump, Thump.
Then my heart stopped.