Unlocked: Rewritten

Chapter 36

Sophie

"Oh, thank goodness he's not..." Ruy's mother trailed off. Her husband held her as she cried at the sight of her son's thrashing body.

Everyone else was still teary, but glad that Ruy was in less danger of dying, and that Bullhorn had finally stopped screaming.

"What can we do to stop this?" Sophie desperately asked.

"I don't know," Elwin admitted. "When it comes to shadowflux, there's not much I can do, or comprehend. We can't bring Tam here to help reverse it or else Ruy would have another coughing fit."

"What about Lady Zillah?" Biana asked.

"Yeah," Sophie agreed, "She helped with the echoes that me and F-Fi..." She couldn't even say his name without wanting to break down.

Sophie had thought it was awful when Fitz had joined the Neverseen, but at least he had been alive then. Now, his death hurt even more than his betrayal. But she didn't have time to properly grieve anymore.

"I'll hail her right now," Maruca volunteered eagerly, and rushed out of the room.

Everyone broke into worried, whispered conversations, trying not to stare at Ruy's convulsions. Keefe walked up to Sophie.

"Hey." Keefe offered her a small smile.

"Hi."

"Are you okay? What happened? Where are Linh, Wylie, Tam, and Marella? Are they still at Havenfield?"
"I'm physically fine, but emotionally..."

Keefe nodded, and gave her a hug.

Sophie told him, "After you left, we were able to fight them off, thanks to Maruca. We were protected by her forcefield while Wylie blinded them and Tam bound them with those shadowflux cuffs. Tam had to stay at Havenfield because of Ruy, and the other three decided to stay with him. The Healing Center is pretty crowded."

Keefe turned his gaze to where the four Neverseen captives were and saw the dark rings around their wrists. He squinted at Sparrow, whose hood was still covering his face. "Why haven't we pulled his hood off? Or, wait." His gaze snapped back to hers. "Have you?!"

"We've tried, but he won't let us come near him. Every time we do, he screeches and gives everyone a migraine."

Keefe stepped toward Sparrow. "Maybe I can--"

"Don't!" Sophie held him back. "We don't want his screams to mess with Ruy. Don't worry, we'll find out who he is as soon as Ruy's okay."

Keefe sighed, nodding. "Okay, fine."

"How are Dex and Stina?" Sophie asked.

"They'll be okay, hopefully. Elwin will--"

He was cut off by the door to the Healing Center slamming open as Maruca announced, "Everyone, move out of the way! Let Lady Zillah look at him!"

Ruy's parents reluctantly stepped aside so that Zillah could see Ruy's hands.

"Oh, no..." Zillah muttered.

Sophie's stomach plummeted. Keefe held her hand.

"What's wrong?" Ruy's father asked.

"The shadowflux has to be removed," Zillah stated.

"Yeah, no kidding," Sophie mumbled under her breath. Keefe snorted. Louder, she asked, "How do we do that?"

"Normally, you would have a Shade command it to recede, but seeing as Tam cannot get near him without nearly killing him, that is not an option."