Mythic (NaNoWriMo14)

Chapter 19 - Choices

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Chapter 19 - Choices

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Cayden ran through the halls with Allegra and Kiou close behind.

He came to a skidding halt in the elaborate room outside the temple's heart where a large group of Unbound Mythics clogged the way forward. Cayden scanned the crowd but caught no sight of Rena or the djinn. The archangel stood off to one side, surrounded by his winged kin, preaching some nonsense about loyalty and faith to the fae around him. 

"What's going on?" demanded Kiou, stepping forward. Nazine was still slung over his shoulder but the weight didn't seem to bother him. "Brothers, sisters! Someone answer me!" 

It was some kind of mer that stepped forward, looking nervous about the flames that didn't char or scorch running across Nazine's robes. "The chaotic, Kiou. It's getting inside the heart." 

"And you're all standing around?" demanded Kiou. 

He placed Nazine on the ground against the wall and was promptly absorbed into the masses, leaving Cayden with a choice he didn't want to make. 

This was the chance he'd been looking for, the opportunity he'd been hoping to create with Rena's help, but it came at a cost he didn't want to pay. Cayden's gaze was pulled to the twin doors, the crumbling wall beside it. The djinn didn't want to let them leave, and this kind of distraction wouldn't happen again. 

Nazine's safety for Rena. 

There was no choice. 

Cayden shut down everything except the part of him that had absorbed the years of training. Protect your Mythic at all costs. It didn't matter that he was going to hate himself afterwards. It didn't matter that the guilt might eat him alive. Protecting Nazine was the only thing that mattered. 

Cayden turned his back on the doors. 

Nazine's body was burning. Kiou's dragon attributes might have been able to resist the heat, but Cayden's mortal form wasn't equipped for such extremeties, so he was left with one choice, one way to get the phoenix to safety. Nazine had to wake. 

Cayden stooped down and found Nazine's key, taking the crystal formation in the palm of his hand. It'd changed in the past week, exposing the central blue crystals and becoming a more open, solid shape than the one before. Cayden wasn't sure if that was a good thing, but for now, he ignored it and closed his fingers around the key. 

Wake, he told Nazine.

The order was followed as Nazine's eyes snapped open, greeting Cayden with a primal glint that softened as recognition kicked in. 

Nazine blinked. "Cayden?" 

Cayden released the key to Nazine's chest. "Yep. Let's go. We're getting out of here. Now."

Nazine, after gesturing for Cayden to pull him up and realising he was on fire, stood up by himself, using the wall as a brace. "Where's Rena?" 

"Doesn't matter," Cayden said through gritted teeth. "She's giving us the chance we need to get out of here. To get you out of here." 

Cayden started forward, but behind him, Nazine hesitated. 

"Let's go, Nazine!" 

Panic's cousins were taking over Nazine's expression, injecting themselves into his staccato movements. If Nazine hadn't literally been covered in fire, Cayden would have picked him up and carried him out kicking and screaming. 

"Rena's in that room," said Nazine, almost to himself. He spun around. "The chaotic, that's what it meant--"

"Nazine!"