ShadowSong [Book 1 & 2: Complete] [NaNoWriMo16/17]

Chapter 51 - Poisoned Fear

Banshee brought the man claiming to be Wyvern into the Starlight Hall through a side door.

His steps were slow and unsteady, reminding Olivia of her own when she'd just regained consciousness after a bad seizure took her. His skin was pallid and gaunt, and now that she really looked at him, she realised his clothes were ripped and torn in several places. The fabric of his shirt and pants was dark enough to hide blood stains.

If this was Wyvern, he had met a far darker end than Golem was hoping for.

It took him long enough to follow in her steps that she considered going back and picking him up, but eventually, he reached her, and she had him stand against a wall where their conversation couldn't be overheard.

"I have three questions before I annoy Golem or Cryo," said Banshee. "One, what was the purpose behind sending Cryo and myself to track down Ella and Andrew?"

He snorted. "Busywork, to keep you distracted so you didn't get yourselves Dark or killed before the festival."

"Two, how did the stain on the couch on the second floor of the Starlight Hall get there?"

"What kind of question is that?" said maybe-Wyvern. Banshee raised an eyebrow and folded her arms. He relented. "Harpy spilled her coffee several years back. One of your first incessant questions was whether it was blood or not."

"Blood would have been more exciting," said Banshee with a shrug. "Okay, and three, what makes the Serpent different from a regular Manifested?"

"A slightly more intelligent question, I suppose," said Wyvern, the words followed by a coughing fit. "You're already convinced I'm Wyvern but want to make sure that, even if I were one of the Serpent's filthy minions, I'd be willing to give up information about it to continue the ruse. The Serpent doesn't have a fragment."

"Pretty much," said Banshee. She led him to the ramp, much to the interest of the crowd around her, particularly her own Offering line of people that were more than a little confused as Cryo and Golem's lines continued to move. "Go upstairs. I'll send Golem up after you in a minute."

Wyvern showed no hesitation about climbing the stairs, even if his movements were painful to watch. "Tell Golem that if he takes too long, I'll come down there and drag him up. The Offerings can wait. My news can't."

Under her frown, Banshee's eyes followed him.

She was wondering exactly what kind of tale they were going to hear from him when Wyvern collapsed halfway up the stairs.

Banshee's body reacted before she consciously made the decision to shadow shift and catch his upper body before he hit the stairs. At an awkward angle she held his head and shoulders in her lap, pressing the back of her hand to his forehead--it was hot. Burning. She looked around for help and found several people in one of the lines staring at her with wide eyes.

"You!" she said, pointing to a girl with long, brown hair. "Go get Cryo, now! Tell him I need him!" The girl stumbled in place before nodding and running off to Cryo's platform. Banshee pointed to a second person, a man with a really nice looking jacket. "You, go tell Golem that Wyvern's here and that he's not in good shape." He did so without further question. "You three, help me lift him up and take him up the stairs."

"But--we can't go up--"

"You have my blessing," said Banshee, dropping her shadow shift and trying to work out how she was supposed to lift Wyvern's body from this angle. "Help me get him up."

One refused to come up, muttering about Skypillar's wrath but two more took up the call, giving Banshee four pairs of extra hands to lift Wyvern up the stairs. She held the majority of his weight, but together, they got Wyvern upstairs and onto the couch with the coffee stain. He was still burning, his eyes now rolling back into his head as the rest of him was unnaturally still.