Sentry of the Arcane: Befall

Chapter Thirty-Two: Fitz

I must be still falling down the tunnel of saridian, since I'm still unable to open my eyes. After "waking up", I'm immediately aware of the wind blowing mercilessly in my face. Shivers running up my spine at the coldness of the wind, I decide to try to transmit to Donovan.

Unfortunately, he doesn't reply.

Fortunately, I now know that he's awake because he screams loudly. Very, loudly. Sighing loudly, I transmit to him again, Don't panic. I'm transmitting to you so there won't be a possibility of people listening in on our conversation.

Is this how Sophie feels when you transit to her? Donovan asks, making me wish that he can see the eye roll I want to do so badly. Man, this is creepy as heck! Wait- maybe I also have mind powers! I'm going to try!

I hear Donovan grunting with determination to inherit the telepathic abilities that Sophie and I have. Wishing that I could glare at the male Sovereign disapprovingly, I'm forced to listen to Donovan's pointless attempts. "Are you done yet?" I growl sarcastically. You're wasting time, I transmit to him, hoping that my annoyance is evident in the transmission.

Dang it- I was actually trying, Donovan thinks in disappointment, making me suppress my laughter. But anyways, what's up?

Well, for starters, we're still falling down a hole, I transmit, bitterness flowing through my veins. And I can't see anything even if I wanted to. The nerves to open my eyes are numb right now.

Whoa, same thing for me too, Donovan agrees nonchalantly, making me wish that I could roll my eyes right at this moment.

Suddenly, I get an idea. I'm going to try and track anyone's thoughts, I tell him. Then I might find out something.

What will you find out?

I don't know, I admit. But hopefully, I find something out. Pulling my consciousness away from the male Sovereign's, I begin to slowly track thoughts. First, I hear Donovan's thoughts, which are basically commenting on "how cool mind powers are". Sighing, I wait more in silence and expand how far I'm tracking thoughts. I can't even tell how much time has passed since we've been falling down here.

And then I finally hear it- someone else's thoughts. I force myself to stay silent as more and more different thoughts enter my mind. Before I know it, the murmur of thoughts become incredibly loud, like overlapping sirens playing just in my head. Groaning softly, I shut my eyes tighter than they already are as an attempt to calm the voices down to no avail. I take in a deep breath, preparing myself to deal with all of these voice. As agonizingly long seconds pass, I keep reminding myself that if I shut these thoughts out, I won't be able to find some sort of clue to getting the both of us out of here.

Because of that, I decide to try and sort through the loudest thoughts until I reach the quietest thoughts. The loudest thoughts are counting down from twenty; it doesn't seem like they're counting down for a good reason. Sighing when the countdown is the only thing that the people that I've tracked are thinking, I move onto the fainter voices.

The second wave of thoughts I tracked were all scattered. The one that was the most prominent was the thought about "how boring guarding an empty hallway is". I mentally note that while we're escaping, we'll surely run into some guards. I remind myself that I need to be prepared for anything.

I'm about to check the third wave of thought I'd tracked when Donovan exclaims, "Fitz! I can see you! I can see me!"

Frowning, I open my eyes to look at Donovan. My eyes widen when my mind finally makes the connection that I'm not staring at blackness anymore- I can move my eyelids again. Smiling softly, I wiggle my arms around slightly as we free fall down the tunnel. This must just be a tunnel without saridian, I think to myself. Sure enough, when I look up, I see a faint outline of thousands of dark red-violet crystals on the walls.