OathBlade (Wattys2015)

14. Alliance*

One side of Elery's face was hot. The other side was chilled and damp. Those sensations came first as she woke from what felt like a long and strange nightmare. Dim light danced across her closed eyelids and she groaned.

"She's waking up," Zethir called.

Rapid footsteps crunched dead leaves and grass. The sound grew louder as the steps grew closer. Then the shuffle of leaves near the cool side of her face preceded a gentle hand that rested on her forehead. "Elery?"

"Cylphi...?" Her own voice was foreign to her ears. She opened her eyes and wrinkled her forehead. "Where am I...?"

Cylphi bit her lip then collapsed atop Elery to hug her tight. "I was so afraid! When he brought you up you were so cold and...it was as if you'd been drained of your aura!"

"He..." She groaned under even the minimal weight of her caster friend but returned the hug nonetheless. As her sluggish brain revived, collecting all of what she heard, she tensed. "Isandel? He—"

"Yes, he brought you up." Dakkan brought a handful of wood past her and put it on the nearby fire. It popped and spit before accepting the offering. "Then fell asleep."

She sat up and gently pushed Cylphi aside. "He fell...asleep?"

The lycar gestured to a fallen log. Isandel, once again in the form of a seryn, lay sleeping as though nothing had happened.

Elery gritted her teeth and tried to stand.

Cylphi held her shoulders. "No! You still haven't recovered, you're going to hurt yourself. He fed you a portion of his own power but until we can get you to an auraclade you cannot exert yourself. I don't know what sort of cast you used, or even how you used it, but you allowed whatever familiar you gained to take far too much aura."

"It...was crystal." She touched her chest. Her fingers met not warm metal but cloth. Someone had removed the top portion of her armor.

Taelin shook his head. "That isn't possible. Crystal casters aren't able to use their power for combat."

"I don't care how it should be," Elery said. "That is what happened. I withdrew a familiar from a crystal spire in the dragon's nest and used it to subdue him." She picked up a rock and threw it, hitting Isandel in the side.

He woke and looked over, then smiled. "Well, Princess is awake."

"Why did you save me?" she demanded.

"Is that not what a pact partner does?"

She furrowed her brow. "You...accept?"

He sat up and stretched. "I vowed to her if any could draw her from her prison I would ally myself with them."

She looked around. The trees remained clustered around, forming a tight circle to seal them in. However, the ground appeared untouched. "How did you do this?"

"This entire forest is surrounded by etherium. Do you think the barrier casters are the only ones who profit from that?"

"So then, you are a geomancy familiar?" Cylphi asked.

He laughed and tore a strip of cloth from his robes, then tucked his flowing hair back to bind it. "I am no familiar, nor am I one of your pact spirits. When I leave this forest I will not fade away, only to be called out like a mongrel to his master's side. I come from a world far beyond yours can leave whenever I see fit. In fact, that is what I've planned to do once we've put an end to our mutual enemy. I grow weary of this life."

"Then you are of more use than I anticipated." Elery stood and walked to the nearest tree, brushing her fingers against it. "I do not wish to keep you hidden. I would have you at my side, displayed to my enemies, always ready for what may come."