Chapter 250
[PLEASE READ THE NEW AUXILIARY CHAPTER ABOUT THE SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT AND CONCERNS THE FUTURE OF Aether Beasts AND SOMETHING ELSE.]
I was pacing when I felt Sandra call out. I immediately alerted Misty and Zirani and with a nod, we linked hands, and Zirani and I prepared to port to the anchor, at least we tried to. What felt like a wall rose up, not only in between our link to the anchor but my bond with Sandra.
Panic flared within me and I tried to force myself past the wall, but with no luck. Then I heard Zirani curse.
"Someone's blocking her from us," Zirani said with a scowl on her face. "And the anchor. Thye must have realized what it was. Damn it."
"What do we do?" Misty asked, her eyes wide.
"We go after her," I said, heading to the door.
The others followed behind me as I made my way out of the vehicle and towards the edge. A green court guard glanced over and opened his mouth to speak, but then Zirani was past me, and all it took was a few words for him to move out of the way.
The first thing I did was head to the edge of the Red Ribbons area.
"There has to be a trail," I said.
"There is," Misty said, her eyes locked onto a part of the sands. I followed her gaze and found what she had spotted. "I'll lead the way."
I nodded and let her take the lead. Together the three of us sprinted along the trail and for a moment I considered how stupid the Red Ribbons were to leave a trail, or perhaps they had simply never considered they would be followed? That would be their mistake and I would tear them apart if they had hurt Sandra. No more hiding or espionage. This game ended today and they would answer for everything.
Misty ran as fast as she could, and I'm unsure if it was her vampire agility or an odd quirk that allowed her to glide over the sands with such ease. Whatever the case, i didn't care. If she could get there quicker then so be it
The desert around was silent save for the shifting of sand beneath my feet as Zirani also had a way of moving quicker on the sands. I probably would have been able to mimic it if I wasn't so focused on Sandra and the bond,
The wall was still there, and no matter what I did, I could not get past it. It blocked out everything save for the fact, that I knew she was still alive. That thought made me relax somewhat, but then I considered what they could be doing to her, and my anger doubled. Not just at myself for being so passive and nro suggesting something more active and aggressive when we knew this great danger existed, but also for not thinking that something like this could happen.
I was so damn passive most of the time, allowing myself to be led. I had considered that and that I would change slowly. Except now I realized that slowly wasn't good enough, and the longer it took, the more situations like this would occur. The goal for a long while had been reaching and getting ready for the expedition, and we had done it, but was that it? Had my fire flickered out?
I could only hope not.
If we would have confronted the Red Ribbons, then maybe there would have been a battle but we would have won. Maybe we could have planned to easily take them out with Aeverie's help. Instead of acting like lions, we'd acted like mice, waiting for proof while this great danger looming.
"We should have taken action from the start," I said.
"It would have led to conflict," Zirnai said.
"And?" I questioned. "We should have done something more the moment we found out about this danger. Maybe planned a raid, got the others involved. This is our fault... my fault."
"Aiden this isn't--"
"No, Zirani." I shook my head. "I don't want to hear excuses, not on my behalf. We'll take about things after we save Sandra, but we have problems we need to fix. We stopped when we shouldn't have. Slowed down when we should have sped up."
Zirani sighed and nodded and I knew she understood. Things had become more relaxed since the labyrinth and the month of training, and that had led to complacency in many ways. The Zirani in the tower would not have let this happen. The Zirani during the war between the sects would not have let this happen. I would have not let this happen.
We went on for what must have been half an hour and several times I cursed the sands that made it an annoyance to move at speed and myself for slowing down when the signs had been there. Signs that had told me to keep going and pushing as hard as I could. I should have stopped and figure out a way to move faster, but I didn't think I could get my emotions in check right now.
"Stop!" Misty raised a hand as we neared the peak of a dune. We crouched and looked over and down on a rocky outcropping where the Red Ribbons who had left were.
I almost bolted forward right then and there, but a hand from Zirani kept me still. "Wait."
Sandra was tied to what seemed like a greyish pilar, though its color was a very odd grey. Like something had taken the color from it. Whatever the case, Sandra looked unhurt and she was currently speaking with a vampire whose clothes were subtly different from the rest.
"Juveria, Hex, Hayley, Milenia, and... Vita!" Misty sounded shocked and pissed.
Vita, the vampire she was talking about sat on the opposite side of the pillar Sandra was tied to and seemed to be moving her head n tune with some unheard melody or maybe she just did that, either way, it was odd.
"There's the alchemist." Misty pointed to a hooded figure who was busy placing small objects in circles that had been carved into the rock.
"That looks familiar," I said, and Zirani nodded.
"Ritual," she muttered. "They're perfmoing some sort of ritual. Do... do you two sense that?"
"What?" I turned to her with a frown.
"Some of those things he placed on the ground." Zirani fornwed. "I recognize the feeling from the labyrinth...The energy."
"We need to stop this now," I said, turning to the others. "And I've just the plan."
Misty and Zirani turned their full attention to me as I laid out what we were going to do. These Red Ribbons were about to regret whatever the hell it was they were doing, and messing with Sandra even if she had put herself in this position and I had been stupid enough not to come up with a back up plan or considered the possibility of something like this happening.
As I opened my mouth to speak, a loud roar broke the quiet of the night.
_____
Sharp pain was what Sandra felt first when she woke, followed by the feeling of something restraining her. Glancing down, she saw what she expected. Bindings, some sort of enchanted rope keeping her in check.
From the feeling on her back, she guessed she was tied to one of colourless pillars.
"Looks like your awake."
Sandra winced at the sound, her ears ringing and she guessed it was a side effect of whatever they'd hit her with.
'Must have been a damn strong poison to knock me out in seconds.'
She'd also had her cloak on and had actively been using aether, and yet the psion had still struck her shock still which meant it had to be powerful. She looked up into the face of a blond vampire with girlish pigtails and dark eyes with red rings that glowed faintly in a slow rhythm. She was dressed in typical red ribbon garb though hers had a hood and seemed far tighter. In fact, it looked like it was made for stealth.
"I don't suppose you're going to let me go?" Sandra asked as she glanced around, taking stock of her situation.
"I'm afraid not. At least not yet," the vampire replied with a fanged grin. "We're still undecided, especially since we don't know if anyone's coming for you."
Sandra smiled. "Of they'll be coming."
'I hope.'
She wasn't sure if the message had got to them. It had felt like it did, but the anchor hadn't worked. They hadn't appeared. Suddenly, she noticed something off. There was something blocking her bond with Aiden. It was sort of like a wall, and though she knew he was still alive, she could sense nothing from him.
"We've blocked your bond so don't bother." The vampire leaned down so that she was at eye level. "Just remain quiet and if no one comes, then perhaps you'll only leave with some memories missing."
"And if they do?"
The vampire glanced behind her before shrugging. "A bloodbath." She frowned and the next words were more to herself than Sandra. "For you or I, I don't know."
Then everything was drowned out as a loud roar split the night.
The strawberry blonde vampire froze in place and the sounds of moving and low speaking that had been coming from behind her stopped. "I don't suppose that's one of your friends."
Sandra slowly shook her head as her instincts screamed out. A wave of aether washed over her and her teeth began to chatter at the sheer power. She began to shiver and her next words were heavy. "No... that's... oh fuck."
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