Worlds Splitting

Where is the shadow singer?

"You remember nothing at all?" The female paced in front of her throne. 

"I remember eating dinner, if that helps." Rhys had told her enough times.  

Her mate had his arms crossed and was staring at Rhysand. He didn't seemed to have blinked for the entirety of the time Rhys had been in the room. Aedion was leaning against the wall wearing an expression that reminded Rhys of Feyra learning to read. Where was his mate? This was getting ridiculous.

"What's your name?" The female had stopped pacing. 

"Rhysand." He answered her, "High lord of the night court." If the title meant anything to her she didn't let it show on her face. 

"I'm Aelin, Queen of Terrasen." She gestured to the male. "This is Rowan, my mate. I think you've met Aedion, my cousin." Her voice was strong. At the moment, her face was lined with concentration. 

 "This is Cassian, my general commander." Rhysand realised his list fell a bit short compared to Aelin's.

"I suppose he's the one that managed to make steam come out of my cousin's ears?" She smirked.

Rhysand was saved from the embarrassment of Cassian answering that statement from the arrival of a large golden-white wolf. 

It bounded through the open doors and seemed to jump into the form of an exceptionally good looking man. His blonde hair was even longer than Aelin's, but it somehow made his bronze skin and prominent cheekbones look more masculine. 

"Aelin." He gasped, seeming not to notice Cassian and Rhys. "Aelin. Your- Your people have just- gone. All over Terrasen people have been reported missing. Hundreds of them."

Aelin, looking confused, opened her mouth to say something but the man continued. 

"There's more. People are appearing too. They're not from our world Aelin. They've just been waking up here. Not as many as have disappeared, but still a fair hundred. "

Hundreds had appeared here? And even more vanished? This defiantly wasn't some joke. Feyre. Where was Feyre. Rhys began backing towards the door. Was she here? Or was she still home? Or was she somewhere else entirely?

"How do you know they're not from our world, Fenrys?" Aelin asked.

"They are different to anything I've ever seen." The wolf-man, Fenrys, looked genuinely scared. "Some have green skin or stand ten feet high. I've been told of one who seemed to appear and disappear in clouds of shadows."

"What?" Cassian's sharp words made Rhy's halt his slow escape. Cassian strode towards Fenrys and stood in front of his, extending his wings slightly. "What did you just say?" 

Fenrys took a step back, seeming to only just notice Cassian. It didn't take him long to get over the surprise. "I said I've heard that one of the new creatures can vanish in a cloud of shadow. That was how it was described." 

Rhysand understood what had triggered the connection in Cassian's mind.

"Azriel." He stalked back away from the door and joined Cassian in front of Fenrys. "Where? Where is the shadow singer?" 

"Shadow singer? You know him?" Fenrys took a step back in an attempt to escape the illyrian's radiation of dominance. 

"Yes." Cassian snarled, spreading his wings further. Rhysand had never seen him so vicious apart from when faced with a threat. "Where is he?" 

"Cassian." Rhys said  softly, raising a hand to his generals shoulder. Cassian shook him away and took another step towards Fenrys, who seemed to be too shocked at being apposed by a Illyrian warrior after all the other challenges of the day to respond. Rowan, Aelin's mate stepped forwards then.  

"If act like that towards my friend I think you'll find yourself missing an arm." He said softly. 

"Is that a threat?" Cassain barked, spreading his wings to their full extent above him and turning his attention to Rowan. Rhysand had never seen him loose control like this. 

"Cassian. If you become their enemy we will not find Azriel. We don't know who else is here and we won't be able to if we don't co-operate. Feyre might be here somewhere. Or Mor, or Amren. Or Nesta." 

Cassian's wings snapped shut that that. He took a step away from Rowan, shaking his head slowly. 

"Fenrys, where was their friend seen?" Aelin smoothly stepped between the three males, forcing them to all take a further step back from each other. 

"Allsorook, I was told." Fenrys said, seemingly relieved that Aelin had taken charge of the situation. 

"Aedion, uncuff Rhysand and take him to Allsorook to find his friend. Rowan, send messages to Ardalan, the Wastes, Fenharrow, Eyllwe, everyone. I don't see why this would just happen in Terrasen. We need to start working out whose gone and whose arrived. Fenrys you stay with me, we need to work out how were going to organise this." 

Before Aelin had even finished speaking, Rowan had turned into a bird and flown right over Rhysand and through the ajar door. Aelin had marched up to Fenrys and was discussing some elaborate plan of gathering anyone who had appeared in her world. 

Aedion winced quietly as he undid Rhys's iron chains. That made sense, Rhys supposed. It was another world, a world where iron did effect fae. 

"Do you want to take a horse or do you want to fly?" Aedion asked Cassian as they strode out of the castle. 

"I'll fly." Cassian grunted. Rhys could tell he just wanted to get going. 

"I'll fly too." Rhysand said, letting his wings flow from his shoulders and stretching them out. "Can you turn into a bird too or you want me to carry you?" He asked Aedion. Cassian sniggered.

"I'll take a horse." They'd reached the stable. Aedion made straight for a horse with the name 'Farasha' nailed to it's beaten in stall door. 

"Are you kidding?" Cassian bristled. "It will take us months to get anywhere if we're riding a horse."

Aedion just smiled at him before leading the huge black mare out and slapping a saddle across her back, strapping it on with military efficiency. It wasn't long before the horse, much to her displeasure, had been fitted with a bridle and wore Aedion astride on her back. 

Cassian and Rhysand took to the skies, both keeping their paces limited to allow Aedion to keep up with them.

"I'll see you there." Aedion called up to them before kicking the horse into a run.

Farasha took off through the city surrounding the castle at such speed frightened citizens where leaping out of her way. Rhysand watched Cassian almost fall out of the sky in an effort to accelerate before speeding up himself. 

Flapping his wings as fast as he could, Rhysand still struggled to keep up with Aedion as he left the city and began to steak through the open fields beyond. He knew he should be concentrating on keeping up with the demon-possessed horse, but he could not stop himself scanning the country below him for a sign of his mate.