I had awoken to Catryine's scream of anguish, and not caring what I was wearing, I sprinted down the hall, towards the room where we had left Mother, Cat, and Zaish last night.
Cat was clutching Zaish close to her, rocking back and forth uncontrollably, while Mother gave them some space. I nudged her.
"What happened?"
"Zaish finally came out of his state from the gods, but he's unconscious now. I would say from the physical exhaustion." My mother sounded careworn, almost, tired with the effort of keeping Zaish from slipping into some sort of god-like abyss of existence.
"Should I gather the others?"
"Yes. You will have to make a decision, and you'll want to be here when Zaish comes around."
I sighed in relief that she had said when instead of if; Zaish was a crucial part of our entire operation, and I went off, to gather everyone from their rooms.
A few minutes later, everyone was in the room, including the elephant, as Cat held Zaish close, crying a bit.
"When did he wake up?" Kelem's voice sounded trite.
"About half an hour ago." Mother was quiet and measured. "He should fully come around within the next couple of days, but if you guys decide you need to take action sooner," She shook her head grimly. "You may have to go without him for a few days."
"I would stay with him." If any voice could sound teary, Cat's did, rife with passionate abandon and want for Zaish, for his well-being, and all of who he was, god-touched or not. "I would watch over him for you."
"Did he say anything before he passed out?" Kelem again, wanting as much information as he could glean, as was his nature.
"Something about protecting Avelyn, because they don't know, whoever they are." Mother's voice trailed off a bit, wandering into oblivion of mired thoughts and ponderings.
"Well, it's clear to me that we've got to make a decision." I didn't know what Zaish had meant by me being protected, but I sure as hell wasn't going to let that stop me from gaining what was soon to be rightfully mine back in the city; the title of Doyenne. "I don't just want to leave the poor guy here with you, Cat, because it will feel like we're abandoning him, but at the same time..."
I really wanted that title, and the power that it implied, damn it.
"I say we go back to the city." Aurienne chimed in, sounding sleepy, yet awake at the same time. "We should see if our friends have found out anything new,
since we haven't heard from them."
"I concur..." Kelem was cut short by the sound of pounding hooves outside; bewildered, we looked around, and Aurienne turned a sort of pale color.
I knew instantly where her thoughts went, but did not voice them.
We stayed silent, nobody leaving the room, as we heard the pattered feet of acolytes scampering to answer the door. Aurienne near shrunk into a corner as a voice, a familiar voice, was heard down the hall, as the conversation faded in and out.
"... Sent by friends of them... not here to charge you for... but I just wanted a... damn it, can you please just take me to them?"
Exasperated, tired, and angry, it was a voice that none of us really felt like hearing, much less dealing with at such a tenuous and important time.
But somebody had to do it. Seeing as I'd be doing this the rest of my days anyways, I supposed it couldn't hurt to start now.
Getting up, I walked to the door slowly. "Let me handle this." Rolling my eyes, I stepped out into the hall, to meet an incessantly raged Durmn.
