To Ally with the Guardians

Chapter 15: Catch

Matt and Bunny stared at the wreckage before them. They had examined the rest of what North had assigned them- or, more accurately, Bunny had examined while Matt had tried to begin a plan to save Haven, Vivian, and any Prophecy People, and now they were at the end of the chilly tunnel. Broken wooden beams intermixed with large chunks of ice, covering the sleigh exit and looking rather deadly.

Bunny shook his head. "North's gonna be so mad when he sees this. I'll probably have to help him fix it."

Matt didn't respond at first, too wrapped up in his thoughts. And when he did speak, it wasn't related to Bunny blowing up the tunnel.

"Didn't you say you were gonna have Duran and I read something about the Fearlings' and Nightmares' battle strategies?"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot. It'll be easier than me telling you all that stuff. We're finished anyway, so let's go grab it." He spun around and began making his way back across the slick ice to the main area of the workshop. Matt also turned, about to follow him, but a sound forced him to halt in his tracks. Bunny also froze, then slowly looked over his shoulder back at the collage of destruction behind them.

Matt retraced his steps and held his ear against the cave-in, listening as his heart pounded.

"Back up," Bunny whispered to him, motioning for him to come away from the sculpture of shards, but the teen didn't obey.

"Matt," a voice called from beyond the destruction, "are you there?"

"Yes!" he replied before the being would have any reason to think he wasn't. "It's Haven," he mouthed to Bunny. And she sounded like herself, too, not half Fearling and half human. He was hearing her voice. Matt felt his lips spread into a smile across his face, and he pulled his bag of curing orbs from his pocket.

"Be careful," Bunny mouthed back, creeping away from the end of the tunnel and taking his orbs out as well. "Fearlings are tricky."

"Can you get through?" Matt asked Haven, not moving back even an inch. "Can you, like, fit through here?" Fearlings and Nightmares could get through tight spaces.

"No." Haven seemed to step forward, and Matt could now see her dark form through the ice, although warped and fuzzy. He also saw several others next to her, looking more like ghosts than people. She wasn't alone.

His trembling hand clenched the bag even more tightly as he heard a loud Nightmare shriek. The last time one had shown up, Matt had lost his chance to save Haven. He would make sure it didn't happen again. A fire reignited in his chest at the thought; no matter what the Indicator told him, nothing could stop him now.

"Then I'll come to you!" he said. He was going to do it. He was going to save her.

Haven let out a chilling laugh that was more Fearling than her own and backed away from the ice, rendering herself unable to be seen again.

"We have to go get her!" Matt said to Bunny, bolting down the icy tunnel and falling with a thud. They needed to go out and around the workshop to where she was.

The Pooka hoisted Matt to his feet and began to jog as the human followed. "We'll get her, but we have to be careful." There was a hint of sorrow in his voice. And jealousy. "Fearlings are tricky. Pitch got possessed because they tricked him, so don't trust Haven. It's not really her, just corruption making her do things."

Matt didn't argue. Not now.

"We have to warn the others they're here," Bunny continued.

"They might've heard the Nightmare," Matt said, pulling ahead of Bunny's careful pace and nearly tripping again. In front of them, the smooth ice turned to wood-and-metal track. It had taken forever for them to get across it the first time, but Matt sped on with no intention of slowing, no fear of losing his balance. "We need to save Haven first. And Vivian and Prophecy People, if we can find them."