Shadowburn (2)

Chapter 10

He heard her scream as if from miles and miles away, underwater--but he heard it nonetheless. And he ran.

He ran and ran and ran but the closer he got, the worse the feeling in his gut became; the feeling that told him you're too late, you're too late, you're too late.

And then she was gone. Just... gone. She disappeared from his mind and from the ground and from the world as if she'd never existed. In the place where their link once rested so comfortably, there was nothing but silence, deeper and a hundred times more terrifying than the silence that coated her soul.

He collapsed amidst the tall plains grass, falling onto his knees from the shock of it. In front of him, a trench had been ripped into the ground, tossing dirt and grass and rocks every which way, as if one of the gods had reached down a finger and dragged it across the world.

In front of him, mangled and bent, was something that tore at him, tore at his soul and his heart and his mind.

He picked it up, turned it over in his hands. The feather on her hat was twisted at an odd angle, the brim a bit torn at the edges. He could still smell Sel' Thenarin's Flare on it, smell her--the ridiculous peony scented soap she insisted on buying for her hair, her only vanity.

Everything inside him shattered.

Thorn screamed, a hollow, agonized sound that echoed across the plains, caused every bird and crawling creature for miles to fall utterly, completely silent. She was gone. She was... gone.

She cannot be gone! He would not allow it, could not allow it. He screamed again, Faen fury and rage and power and fear and loss and pain all mixed together until he couldn't tell what he was feeling or thinking or--a flash of light, a puff of something other against his senses.

He looked up to see a blue pinpoint vanish, just caught the soft thud of something falling to the upturned earth.

He blinked at it. A... rock? A rock. It was... a rock.

But a very, very strange rock... red as ochre and shot through with veins of gold. He reached for it, and when he touched it, it didn't feel like a rock. Nor did it act like a rock, as it made a strange beeping sound. Thorn dropped it, frowning suspiciously, and then stared as it floated in the air.

Slowly, the gold veins began to move, shimmering until they joined together in a tiny curtain, which then opened, revealing the interior of the... object. Inside, was... a piece of paper? A piece of paper. It was a piece of paper.

"What by the elements..." Thorn reached out and snatched it--the moment he did, the small, strange thing imploded on itself, vanishing in a puff of fire and smoke that smelled entirely foreign to Thorn's senses.

He gaped for a moment, then unfolded the paper... only to have his heart still in his chest.

It was her handwriting, unmistakable, the curving, elegant Faerndesl words brushing over his senses like a balm. She's alive.

She's alive!

But still gone.

Quickly, Thorn's eyes scanned the letter.

He promptly dropped it with a vicious, furious curse.

After a moment of silent stewing, he picked it up again, reading it more slowly to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

'Brother-

Yes, this is from me, insane as it is; don't go worrying yourself like the idiot you are, I'm fine. I'll be gone for awhile; may or may not have gotten sucked into another world... and am now off to another one on an adventure. Don't worry--everything is fine, I am fine, and I'll be home... eventually. Soon, hopefully, depends on how some things... work out. Anyway, don't wait up. Help Raiden and all that... you know what to do.