Chapter 2 - The Edge of Death

“Rhy?” came the half-choked whisper in the dark, “Rhy?! Ven?!”

“I am here… Rest.”

She frowned; the tone in his voice was defeated, fatigued and far away. A muted crackle and pop of a fire filled the silence around them. The last thing she remembered was pain, agony and the sensation that her skin was flaying off, the sight of her brother crawling toward her then collapsing, overcome.

Kitaraiya opened her eyes slowly, confused, the night sky and pinpricks of starlight far above, “Rhy?”

“Rest.” he whispered in return, “Just rest.”

“How?” she asked, closing her eyes and flexing her fingers experimentally.

“Not now. Just rest.”

She slowly rolled onto her side, the flicker and unsteady wash of light from the fire between them. She could see his eyes, the glow within them a shade of flames coloured blue. Her clothes twisted around her uncomfortably, clinging to her fur. Darkness surrounded him, every breath he took was deep and measured, his chest steadily expanding and contracting, his shoulders shifting slightly with the gentle movements. His eyes closed, that unusual glow extinguished momentarily yet playing in her thoughts.

She closed her eyes, the dry smell of the arid brush burning with oily smoke in her nose as she rode the edge of dreams. A gentle touch behind her neck, a breath in her ear, “Rhyker…” her voice whispered, “You are mine…”

She frowned slightly as she heard his rugged laugh coming from her lips. Gentle weight pressed against her and slender fingers on her chest. The hot rock and press against her pelvis, a flush of warmth ran through her as she half slept, languid memories in dreams that were not her own.

“Rhyker, please…” said Lia’s voice in her ear, impassioned.

Kitaraiya woke with a start, those amber eyes glowing with blue flame clear in her thoughts. She looked up again, the constellations had shifted, the stars had moved. Rolling onto her side, her eyes found Rhyker’s. The blue flame within them was no more.

“Rhy?” she said, her voice thick in her throat.

“Hmmm…?” he returned, not moving, still sitting cross-legged and hunched with the darkness draped from his rounded shoulders.

She winced, spreading her fingers, the fur sticking together and pulling with sharp tweaks. Slowly, she pressed herself up into a sitting position, a part of her surprised with the ease and lack of pain. She glanced about in the dark; they were nearby the abandoned wagons. A sharp shriek sounded from her left.

“Hendosphyre?”

Again, another shriek, not in greeting, but warning,

“…Hendosphyre?” she echoed softly in confusion.

A sudden snap of wings flicked in agitation and a heavy stomp of claws. The sound of wood rending, being splintered and torn in anger reached her.

“Sphyre, stop or I will send you back too…” Rhyker said tiredly.

Kitaraiya quickly looked back to her brother; it was not just fatigue in his voice, but pain. A sudden crash made her reflexively turn. The splintered remains of a wagon, now reduced to kindling with Hendosphyre glowering dangerously over it, his eagle sharp eyes on her, body tensed to fight if he had to.

“Sphyre!” Rhyker sharply barked.

The gryphon backed away, just out of range of the firelight, his eyes floating in the darkness as he paced back and forth.

“Rhy, what happened?” she asked, her eyes straying to the pacing gryphon occasionally.

“We are alive… That is all that matters.” he whispered.

Kitaraiya frowned, uneasy concern twisting at the pit of her stomach. A faint breeze ruffled her fur and drove the acrid smoke away from them. Immediately another scent replaced it, a familiar metallic tang. Her eyes widened, fear twisting at her. The smell of blood was everywhere, strong, overpowering. She could taste it, traces still mixed with her saliva. Looking at her hands in the dim light, the fur was matted and crusted with dark stain.

“Rhy?” she whispered breathlessly, stepping toward him and immediately being awarded a warning shriek from Hendosphyre.

She quickly glanced at the gryphon, his broad feathered chest lit with the firelight and now within striking distance. She raised her hand and backed away, grimacing as she noticed the dark stains on the gryphon’s normally lighter plumage.

“Sphyre… Let her be.” Rhyker said softly, still not moving from his position as the gryphon protested with a number of sharp beak clicks,

“Sphyre!” he said forcefully through his teeth, “Then I die here!”

Finally Hendosphyre withdrew angrily, launching himself into the air in a heavy bluster, his wings cutting the air and threatening to extinguish the fire.

Kitaraiya skirted the flames and knelt before him, she carefully reached out, slowing momentarily as she saw his inadvertent flinch away from her hands.

“Ven, what happened?” she whispered, gently touching his cheek.

“We survived, that is what matters.” he said, drawing his cloak tighter around him with a right hand.

She watched suspiciously, “Ven.” she said softly, reaching for the edge of his cloak and grimacing again as she saw the dark stain up her arms.

Carefully she drew it back, parting the surrendered fabric as he let his head hang. His muscled torso was bare yet covered in rust. Her eyes widened further as she uncovered more, sliding it down his limp left arm and exposing his shoulder. She gasped as the flickering light of the fire cast long dancing shadows over him, the deep jagged tears crusted with dried blood, though already healing.

“Gods…” she whispered in pain as her eyes slipped to the second thin chain that looped his neck, only one blue glow instead of two hanging from its valley, “Ven… No...”

“What is done is done, it was the only choice.” he whispered as she shifted around behind him.

“Oh gods no… Ven, no…” she said breathlessly as she laid eyes on his back and the ragged interlaced furrows and tears, “I… What happened?”

She gently raised his head and looked into his eyes and their hollow stare, “Ven, please.”

He chuckled tiredly, “You spoke Lia’s name while you slept.” he said quietly, “You spoke words that I had said. Felt things that only I have felt. You lied to me, telling me that you only saw a little.”

Rhyker grimaced from the pain, slowly letting his head hang slightly, “Maybe you can already see it through my eyes. Maybe you can remember what happened better than I do.”

Kitaraiya stared at him in silence, the crack and pop of a twig bursting in the fire the only sound between them. A sharp stab of fear cut through her with the thought, to see herself through her brother’s eyes. To see the monster that almost tore him apart.

“Ven... I, I can’t…”

He closed his eyes and swallowed, coughing softly, “Better to face and understand it with waking thought then relive it in nightmares.” again he coughed, grimacing while taking a deep breath, “With every drop of my blood you are gaining more of my memories, you will not get a choice to avoid it, any of it.”

She knelt behind him and carefully draped his cloak back around his shoulders, covering the angry wounds that no longer bled, but were instead healing over with fragile pink flesh.

“What was the last thing you remember, Tiff?” he asked as she sat close beside him.

She looked into the unsteady flames, the smoke wisping from the blackened fuel, “You crawling toward me,” she frowned, concentrating, “your eyes were on fire, then you collapsed. A terrible buzzing sound inside my head, then darkness.” she said, pulling up her knees and resting her arms on them.

“Hmmm…” he responded, his eyes on the flames, “It was in the air, the taint. My skin was burning from the inside out. I was coughing up blood. I heard you call my name and I turned...” he said quietly.

“You fell to your knees, something strange in your thoughts, your power, it was…” she frowned, closing her eyes, “I could feel it calling to me, a voice in the back of my mind…” she said quietly, her breathing coming in short bursts, “I looked at you, laying on the floor. The quiet fear of death in your eyes. I started to crawl toward you.”

Rhyker watched her silently, the wash of emotions on her face, “I understood…”

Rhyker’s thoughts moved slowly as a fog descended over his mind. He leaned against the door, its heavy steel cold under his fingertips. He coughed, tasting blood. The strange white light illuminated the flecks of crimson on his hand, the smears after he wiped at his lips. Another set of coughs racked his body, more crimson. The inside of his nose and mouth felt like they were on fire, stinging sharply.

“We have to get out of here, Rhy.” Kitaraiya said with a concerned tone evident in her voice.

He coughed again, looking at the door, frowning and stubbornly trying to make sense of the writing and symbols. His limbs were growing heavier by the moment, his strength fading. He struggled to contain the convulsions and slumped forward. Coughing roughly, he spat out blood and staring at it as it soaked rapidly into the sand.

“Rhy, we have to go now!” Kitaraiya growled before she coughed, her voice coming over a great distance.

He doubled over and leaned on the door. The hot burn in his nose and the sensation of blood starting to run freely. He coughed again.

“Rhy?!” she whispered roughly.

He turned to look, puzzled, the buzzing heat in his ears disorienting him. Pushing himself to stand, he struggled to keep his feet under him as the floor canted. With burning eyes he made out Kitaraiya kneeling, swaying slightly, blood staining her fur as her lips moved.

“Rhy…” she breathed out, her knees and balance finally failing and she crumpled to the sand.

“Kit?” he hoarsely called, staggering toward her as he forced his way through the blunt on the edge of his mind.

His skin was on fire, prickling and stinging, making his eyes smart as he drew on his thread, its flow sluggish while he battled to concentrate over the painful buzzing in his head. Clenching his jaw, he growled through the agony, that welcome fire burning through him as he dropped to his knees and started to crawl. On the edge of his blurred vision he saw tendrils of black, inky stains snaking from cracks in the walls, from corners and edges. The familiar roaring in his head grew, overpowering the sharp, serrated buzz. Surrendering himself to its embrace, he dropped to the sand and lay still on the razor edge of consciousness. The dark fire was gaining momentum, cutting through his screaming nerve-ends while the first of the inky black cloak formed beneath him.

“Rhy...” Kitaraiya breathed shallowly, her ragged breath barely reaching his ears.

Time lost meaning, each beat of his heart like thunder hammering at eternity. Seconds stretching into hours, mere moments passing as aeons while the darkness gathered, while his grasp on the thread within him forcibly closed its claws into an iron fist. Mere moments after closing his flaming eyes he opened them again. Darkness surrounded him, blunting and slowing the advance of the taint that was tearing the life from him.

Still lying face down and with a shaking hand, Rhyker dragged at his shirt and weakly pulled at its lacing, exposing two fine chains. Hooking a finger under them they slid out. He dazedly watched the black pendant of his birthright on one and two, small, steel-encased glass vials on the other. He swallowed, searing agony cut its path making him grit his teeth, sand on his cheek as he ground his face reflexively against the floor. Fumbling, he took one of the vials and pressed it to his lips, hesitating before taking it between his teeth and closing his mouth around it. The cold steel encasing the glass was a small measure of safety that no longer mattered.

He brought his teeth together, concentrating and listening. The steel started to dint until finally he felt a crack of glass. Liquid ethereal fire immediately flowed into his mouth, the scent of rosewater and memories from a different time and place. He rolled his head slightly, letting the liquid spill down his throat, swallowing, the pain already lessening as it tracked a gentle warmth through him that was both familiar and intimate.

Rhyker slowly raised himself, crawling toward Kitaraiya as his once Mistress’s ethereal fire revitalised him, battling the taint as it tried to end his life. Reaching Kitaraiya’s side he allowed the shroud of darkness to envelope them both. He growled as he knelt at her side, his eyes burning and spitting blue as the prickling under his skin lessened. She was shaking, her body convulsing as the taint continued to eat at her. Blood seeped through the fur around her mouth and ran freely from her nose.

“I have you, Tiff.” Rhyker said hoarsely through gritted teeth, his hands shaking as he struggled to lift her with the fleeting remnants of his strength.

With protesting arms he staggered toward the side entrance, swaying on his feet while he navigated his way through the rubble. Finally reaching the exit he set sight on the night sky through the cracks and holes in the structure above them, almost overbalancing on the few steps down. Free of the worst of the taint, he could feel those blue flames at work, restoring and flooding his body with energy.

A sharp shriek sounded off to the side and another a little ahead, Hendosphyre leading Calasylara out of the hulks that lined the roadway to the massive doors of the bunker. Without stopping, Hendosphyre quickly rushed to meet them, his concerned clicks and squawks non-stop as he passed them and came around on Rhyker’s left, matching his pace.

“Ahead, Sphyre. Go ahead.” he said, the veil of darkness now strengthening and gathering like storm clouds behind and around him.

His blue burning eyes picked out Calasylara hanging back, uncertain of this new side to Rhyker, waiting until Hendosphyre loped off ahead to run with him. Rhyker looked down at Kitaraiya as she quivered in his arms, her breathing shallow and wheezing.

“Soon Kit.” he said softly.

He could feel it now as he restrained the ethereal fire, Sialin’s fire. The second last vial used and only one remaining. He could control it, keeping it alight within him, prolonging its burn. A sad grimace came to his face as he quickly spat out a rogue splinter of glass, the fine stab in his gum already healed over before he had made a half dozen steps. He started to taper back the draw on the ethereal fire, holding onto and containing that healing flame for what he knew was to come.

Picking up his pace with his restored strength, Rhyker strode from under the broken roof, the night sky filled with stars that illuminated the landscape with a pale silver glow. Stopping near to where he had left his pack with the half-circle of wagons, he carefully lowered himself to his knees and laid Kitaraiya down. She was unconscious, though her shallow breaths had become stable from the short bursts of only minutes before.

He glanced at Hendosphyre as he came near, “Sphyre, you know what I have to do.” he said, meeting the gryphon’s eyes, “Sylara, control yourself… Keep her back until we need to, Sphyre.”

The great one remained silent and gave a nod, turning his head to look at his mate.

“I do not know what will happen, but I know this is the only way.”

Hendosphyre brought his head close, nudging Rhyker’s shoulder.

“If it goes too far, throw her off but do not attack her. Be ready to defend me if I can’t rise.” he said, divesting himself of his cloak and walking to the nearest wagon.

“Slyara, pin her down, Kit might not be herself, you have dealt with the monster before. Beat her back, delay her, but no claws or beak.”

Both gryphons watched as he stripped himself to the waist. Finally he stood barefoot, with only his pants belted at the waist and the dagger hanging in its sheath. Quickly returning to Kitaraiya’s side he undressed her, leaving her in her underclothes. The dark shroud blanketed the ground around them, boiling around Rhyker’s feet. He looked to them and nodded, waiting for them both to back away at the ready.

Kneeling beside Kitaraiya he gently touched her head, grimacing at the blood still trickling from her mouth and the gurgle in her breath, “I am sorry, Tiff.” he said, drawing his blade, “But it’s the only way.”

With eyes glowing with ethereal fire, Rhyker lifted the blade to the meat of his forearm and cut, his blood beading quickly and trickling down to his wrist. He lifted her head and carefully let his life drip into her opened jaw, smearing his blood on her nose and teeth. Moments passed slowly, until finally her eye opened, a glimmer of instinctual fear within them for a split second before her jaw snapped open, a savage growl erupted from deep in her throat. Quickly snatching his arm away he pinned her with a knee while she was still weak, clenched his teeth and cut into his shoulder at the base of his neck before flicking the blade away.

“I am sorry.” he said through gritted teeth, backing away and offering his neck as her body started to shift to that of the monster.