He may have been almost entirely convinced they didn’t want to kill him but he wasn’t about to risk the wrath of either of them. Aurora swallowed, blinking as he stepped out into the light and trailed after the creature that traveled seemingly on top of the snow rather than sinking down like he did.

“This way. It is not far.”

Aurora followed, glancing up at Bantrem as he walked up beside him as the three followed an incline in the land. The hut they’d been in was on a hillside, overlooking a valley below filled with a collection of similar structures. He swallowed, coming up beside Shaah and swallowing at the sight of the figures moving about below. Smaller and leaner than either of the two he’d already met, they raced between huts while others moved calmly about the business, seemingly unaware of the watchers high above them.

There wasn’t any chance at him getting away without being noticed.

“Look down. Tell me what you see.”

“I see a village, more of you and I see the trees. Is there something else I’m supposed to be seeing?”

Shaah glanced down at him, the growl gone from his chest and eyes blinking away something that resembled sorrow. He didn’t say anything at first, only turning his head back to the clearing far below them.

“I see these things too. But I see more. These are the last of us, so few. So many have been killed. Do you know why, Aurora?”

Aurora shook his head, afraid to do anything more.

“I have been told there are stories of what my kind is. No one ever speaks of the horrors of your own. Do you know why we no longer cross the Rift?”

“No.”

Shaah’s teeth bared, ears pinning back against his head. “For creatures who think so highly of themselves, you are…simple minded. I repeat and repeat and still you do not understand me. Do you?”

Swallowing, Aurora shook his head.

“The Rift is our protection. Fear of my kind protects us. Our weapons are useless against yours and yet you fear us. The Rift is the one thing between my clan and death,” Shaah growled, eyes focused on the valley below.

“Are you talking about the Dravara?”

“How else can I say this? Stupid, that is what you are.”

Aurora wasn’t sure why he was laughing but he stopped the moment Shaah’s lips raised in another snarl. “I apologize.”

“Do you believe this to be a joke?” Bantrem rumbled from behind them.

“No, I’m sorry.”

Silence.

“We are wasting time. I regret having him here. Get rid of him,” Shaah said suddenly.

“How?” Bantrem asked, eyes falling down to Aurora.

He didn’t answer right away, tail lashing behind him, but then turned with a glare to growl out a few words Aurora couldn’t comprehend.

“Understood.”

Stumbling backwards, Aurora nearly went straight to his back as Bantrem drew a long and rather cruel looking blade from behind his back. He backed into a tree, cursing and feeling his heart hammering faster in his chest. Aurora swallowed, watching as he advanced and held his arms out in front of him harmlessly.

“Just a moment,” he exclaimed, “I’ve heard nothing about this before. I didn’t know what the Dravara had done.”

Bantrem bared his teeth. “Are you accusing my clan leader of lying?”

“Not at all.”

“That is what you are saying, yes?”

Aurora cleared his throat, glancing around in a desperate attempt to locate something, anything that would aid in his escape. They’d overtake him in seconds if he tried running and throwing himself down the hillside would do nothing but cause even more harm.

“Wait, I’ll help you.”

Shaah barked out something that he could only assume was a laugh. “Do you beg now? You are late.”

Bantrem stopped, pausing and letting his arm drop back to his side. “You will help us?”

“Isn’t that what you want from me? You want someone to help you, someone to tell the truth to the others, correct? Or, even better, someone to stop things entired?”

A snort from both of them.

“That is what we ask,” Shaah hissed finally.

“I’ll do that. I can help you.”

The words triggered a change in Bantrem as he stepped back, sheathing his sword and perking his ears forward in interest. Aurora swallowed, heart still racing and every fiber of his being screaming to make an escape. But something told him they were satisfied with his answer.

“Do not take me for a fool. We will hunt you down if you turn your back on this. Am I understood?” Shaah asked, voice dropping.

Aurora nodded. “I’m not a liar. I’ll speak with Rowena as soon…as I get back. You can trust me.”

Shaah glanced up towards Bantrem, huffing and earning a growl in return. “Take him back. Do not harm him. He will not be missed by his kind any longer.”

“Oh, believe me, I haven’t been missed.”

Bantrem nodded for Aurora to follow and, without delay, he obeyed.

As much as he willed it to be a dream, things were beginning to clear. However, the clearer things became, the more realization of just what he’d agreed to was beginning to set in. He’d been punished before, beaten even, but he assumed that Rowena would do much worse if she found out what he knew.

He’d written and signed his own death sentence.

They’d been walking for quite a while and the feeling of Bantrem’s paw on his shoulder, the only thing guiding him along due to the blindfold that had been put back in place, was beginning to grow heavier with every step. He’d been instructed not to remove it until they had crossed completely and Aurora wasn’t about to test the limits of Bantrem’s patience.

No reason had been given for the blindfold but Aurora assumed it was only to protect the location of the clan, the very few who still remained. He’d attempted, very briefly, to keep track of how many steps they’d taken, which direction they’d been traveling, but the longer they thought, the more boring the game became.

The paw lifted and Aurora rolled his shoulders, staying still and listening.

“I am sorry for this.”

“I’ve been treated wor-“

His words broke off into a cry as claws raked through the fabric of his jacket, biting into flesh and leaving a fan of shallow bloody streaks in his skin.

“What was that for?” he hissed through clenched teeth.

Bantrem let out a series of nervous chuffs. “The others will believe you were taken. Speak to her. No one else, understand?”

Aurora nodded, still mumbling curses under his breath. “Were the claws entirely necessary?”

“We are across the Rift. You may remove your eye,” Bantrem paused, “shield.”

“Blindfold?”

He snorted. “Yes, remove it. Hurry, it is not safe once dark.”

Bringing his hands up slowly, hesitating when it pulled at the fresh slashes near his shoulder, Aurora removed the scrap of cloth that had been tied around his eyes. He blinked, squinting once more despite the fact the sun was beginning to set.

“I will…”

He trailed off, seeing nothing but a trail of footprints behind him, the only indication Bantrem had been there at all. Frowning, he raised a hand to press against the sound at his shoulder as he started off, limping more than usual.

“Son of a bitch.”

His knee, the same that never ceased to bother him, had worsened with the distance they covered and the thought of walking back was sickening. He was, however, mostly unharmed and miraculously alive, something he wasn’t so sure he was glad for.

“Wonderful, helping them. Abandoned just before dark without even a horse,” he mumbled crossly, “shit animals anyway, they are.”

Aurora been an officer for nearly five years and it was difficult to believe Daniel would spare him the knowledge of the clan. However, a liar would turn out to be the least of his worries.

~ ~ ~ ~

It had only been a few hours since he’d last seen Aurora but the more time went on, the deeper the belief he wasn’t coming back began to sink in. Memory of just what had happened had begun as a blur but slowly returned until he was too anxious, too concerned to sit still. However, as horrible as the thought of being inches away from an arrow to the chest was.

Aurora being gone, dead for all he knew, was worse.

They’d jokingly discussed death, however morbid that was, on more than one occasion and Aurora swore he wanted to go out fighting, with a bang rather than quietly. However, being abducted and slain by creatures of the Rift certainly wasn’t on either of their minds.

“Officer Norton?”

Daniel shook his head, looking up at the voice. “I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

A boy, new by the looks of it, stood before him, feet shuffling nervously. “You’ve been staring at the same place for a long time. I was told to either see if you were alright or take you to the infirmary.”

Daniel swallowed, not saying a word.

“Sir?”

“Of course…I’ll get right on that.”

“Get right on what exactly, sir?”

He didn’t mean to glare and the way the boy winced sent a pang of guilt lashing against him. “Patrols…I should go out again. I’m fine but I don’t need someone to check up on me. I’m just…shaken is all.”

“I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to-“

“Tell Rowena she doesn’t need to worry about me.”

The boy dipped his head, moving off quickly towards the keep and leaving Daniel alone once more. He pushed off the wall of the stables, watching as a stableboy ran up to his side.

“I wasn’t meaning to listen, but do you want me to ready your horse, sir?”

“Please.”

Rushing off again, the boy disappeared from his sight, hurrying off into the stables while Daniel headed towards the main gates. Rowena had spoken to him, briefly, on the events and he was half convinced none of it had happened at all.

Unique, the word she’d used to describe the encounter, still sounded wrong.

He knew what he’d seen and he knew how the behavior was different than that of creatures he’d come across before. A secret, he supposed, is what he’d been keeping since the day he was granted his rank. Things were different, entirely skewed, than what Aurora knew or thought he knew.

It wasn’t his fault, Daniel thought, he’d been instructed not to say a word of it.

The boy returned, reddish hair swept to one side with a push of his hand as he handed off the reins of his horse. Daniel thanked him, pressing a coin into the boy’s hand and watching as his tired eyes sparked.

“Thank you, sir!”

He nodded, not saying anything else as he climbed into the saddle and tapped his heels against the horse’s side. From what he’d been told, Aurora’s horse had returned to the stronghold not long after they’d set out, causing a bit of alarm when the horse came galloping through the gates, still screaming in fright, without its rider. He was glad his own steed hadn’t followed, returning shortly after unlike the wild eyed stallion of Aurora.

A patrol had been sent out to find them, the same that had eventually found him.

“Going out alone?”

Daniel pulled his horse to a halt before the gatekeeper. “Yes.”

The man nodded. “It’s getting dark, sir. Are you sure?”

“I won’t be long.”

“Watch yourself out there, Norton.”

The man stepped back then, signaling for the gates to be opened. Daniel watched, apprehension rising when he watched the doors swing open with a familiar creak and a groan the echoed in his head.

It wasn’t long before the stronghold disappeared behind them and they were galloping along, racing through trees that reached out like spidery limbs as the sun sunk lower down on the horizon. He didn’t want to look anywhere but ahead, fearing he’d be too frightened by the shadows stalking along beside him to continue. If he went the same way, rode up the same ridgeline, he could reach the Rift before the sun fully set.

But once atop the bluff, looking down across the rapidly darkening forest, he pulled his horse to a stop. The path wasn’t wide, large enough only for a single horseman to ride alone, but as he stared down it, he could have sworn it went on forever.

“We had less than six months and you had to ruin it for yourself, Aurora. Six months and then…this would be over with,” he mumbled, staring down at the ground. “You hadn’t so much as asked me a question about the Dravara all this time and suddenly-“

“I honestly didn’t think this should surprise you. I’m not sure I have the capacity for a voice of reason. You have to admit, as bad as it was, this isn’t the most idiotic thing I’ve ever done. So, really I see nothing wrong with what happened.”

Daniel didn’t have to look up to recognize the voice. “I hate you.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Aurora was smiling, grinning, in fact.

“I have to say, I expected some sort of a welcoming back.”

He removed a blood spattered hand from his shoulder, wincing as he did and watching as Daniel’s eyes widened at the sight of the crimson staining his hand. Daniel dismounted, walking forward quickly and reaching for Aurora’s arm despite how he backed away. Aurora turned, trying to avoid drawing attention to the obvious tears in his jacket, knowing Daniel would likely blow the entire thing out of proportion.

He wasn’t wrong.

“You’re hurt.”

“No, I’m fine.”

Daniel forced him to turn, stepping up behind him, breath hot on his neck as he tried pulling the shreds of the jacket away. “What happened?”

“Nothing, I already told you I was fine.”

“Aurora, what did you do? Are you alright? S-should I get help? If you can’t walk, I can-“

“Vex it all, Daniel!” Aurora snapped, tearing away from him and staggering backwards a few paces. “I walked here, didn’t I?”

However, much to his surprise, his sudden burst of anger didn’t seem to bother Daniel as he moved back to brush a hand over the tears in his coat. “Where were you? I thought you were dead. How did you…escape?”

“Ask me another question and I swear to everything good in this world, you won’t be speaking again,” Aurora mumbled crossly. “The shoulder can wait. I have to talk to Rowena, understand? Immediately, as soon as we-“

“You’re bleeding. Will you at least let someone look at it first?” Daniel asked, nervously reaching up to rub at the back of his neck. “How serious is it?”

Aurora’s eyes narrowed. “Will you stop that? You’re making me anxious.”

“Your horse is back at the stronghold but you can ride mine. I’ll walk next to you.”

Silence fell briefly before Aurora shook his head, nudging the brim of his hat up with a hand. Daniel chuckled then, flashing a smile. “How do you still have that?”

Aurora didn’t answer, walking past him and wincing as pain twitched down his leg, shooting from his knee and tingling in his frostbitten toes. He didn’t stop, hearing Daniel’s boots crunch over the snow as he followed, pulling his horse along with him.

They’d both be walking it seemed.

“Will you at least tell me what took you?”

“What do you mean?” he asked, sliding down the pathway that led back down towards the main road.

“Were there any n-names given? Did you see anything?”

Aurora glanced back at him, cringing when he tried raising his arms over his head. “Why do you care?”

“Were there?”

“Yes.”

“What question are you answering?” asked Daniel.

“Just,” he paused, shaking his head, “yes.”

Daniel took his arm. “Later?”

Aurora sighed, nodding. “Yes…later.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 19