Faunel Tether
When Frein offered his wrist without hesitation, Elizzel took a step back. His meiyal core was a plain circle with six unsealed meiyal marks. Unlike most natives whose marks took a certain pattern—like the Princess’s candlelight pattern—the Visitor’s was formless a wave with only specific sharp edges to give it some sort of detail.
“What’s wrong,” he asked.
“You know your core’s basically the most important part of your body right now, right?” Elizzel implied her question. “It’s basically the only thing protecting you from Brymeia’s meiyal atmosphere.”
“Yeah, it’s also the one that’s killing me. Let’s not forget that.”
“I just thought you’d hesitate.”
“Is that what the other Visitors did?”
For the first time in a while, Elizzel wished she could recall what the others did. “I don’t remember.”
Frein shrugged. “Just go for it, then.”
“Fine.” Elizzel held his arm. There was a certain weight to it. Her flimsy little hands could barely wrap around his wrist. Even while relaxed, she could feel the training and hardship the muscles around his arm went through—his whole body went through. For a while, she observed him.
He kept a natural stance, relaxed but still tensed enough to spring into action at a moment’s notice. Elizzel could see his eyes following her observations. He was allowing her to study him. She could see his Siffera as a steady form of Meiyal Art Drawn in reality. A nurtured pattern and Art she’d never seen from anyone else for a long time.
At least, from what I can remember. Elizzel opened her mouth and leaned closer to his wrist. Her small fangs would be sharp enough for this. She just needed enough penetration to ingest the meiyal from his core and tether a connection.
“Wait a sec,” Frein interrupted much to her chagrin. It was difficult enough for her jaw to fit his wrist. “What if my core was on a different place?”
Elizzel reluctantly disengaged. “What do you mean? It’s right here.”
“Just hypothetically.”
“Then I’ll bite there instead.”
“What if it’s on my back or someplace that’s inconvenient?”
Elizzel could feel her patience wearing thin, but she humored the question. “I’ll pinch it and bite off from the skin, as long as I can make a connection with your blood that’s directly above your core, it should be enough.”
“What if it’s the floating kind?”
“I don’t think Visitors would have the floating kind. I don’t remember.”
“What if it’s—”
Katherine slapped his shoulder. “Get your mind off the gutter and have her bite you already.”
“Fine. Sorry. Go ahead, Elizzel.”
The faunel squinted at his mischievous grin. She mentally prepared to deal with more of this attitude in the future. She did sign up for it. That much, she was sure.
With a bite, the surge of his meiyal filled her with a nostalgic feeling. Elizzel wished she could remember why. The memory was a blur, but she longed for it, like a sweet dream instantly forgotten after waking up.
Tears formed from her eyes as she turned into pure meiyal of swirling pink and indigo. Elizzel entered this precious meiyal core as though she’d returned to a place she belonged.
----------------------------------------
There was no time to be mesmerized or entertain any questions. The moment Elizzel fused into Frein’s core, the Visitor sat in meditative position. He ignored any inquiries from Kristel and Enza, so Katherine didn’t even try.
At the same time, the Lady of the Void felt a touch, a subtle scan. A chill ran up her spine as the feeling quickly retreated. With a flex of her meiyal core she Opened it to her surroundings and Influenced the area with her existence.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
I, Alone, Am the Center, a Void Control Technique. While modern times had classified the term interchangeably with Nightmare Control Technique, the purpose remained this same. Through this Technique, Katherine scanned a five-kilometer radius for all signs of meiyal attuned creatures. It allowed her to identify these creatures one by one, segregating Nightmares into their classifications.
She processed every feedback, not even caring for subtlety with the Technique. She simply needed to know whether there were any Forest Jaws near them or not.
Nothing. Just a bunch of Fallen and lesser Nightmares. Unlike earlier, there seemed to be more of them. Katherine didn’t like that sign. There could be trouble if more of them gathered.
She decided to maintain the Technique active to serve as a ward. It continuously drained her meiyal but the neat thing about Void Control Techniques was their compatibility with other meiyal disciplines. She could continuously feed I, Alone, Am the Center with her own Milled meiyal instead of the one that generated from her core. And unlike the other two companions with her, she could continuously Gather and Mill even if the meiyal was influenced by the Nightmare.
Opening her core didn’t strain her as well unlike other Void Lords and Ladies. Void Mother Selfiya had pointed out that this was due to her unique meiyal system that floated outside of her body.
“Your core is essentially always Open. Instead, train to Close it when you need to.”
“What’s happening to him?” Kristel asked, Enza close to her heels. Katherine dismissed the memory and focused on them.
“All I know is that they’re both inside his Exhibit. She’s forcing him to integrate with the Emerald Guidance.”
“But he doesn’t have enough meiyal marks.”
A quick peek confirmed that Frein still only had six unsealed marks. Katherine just shrugged. “I’ve never heard of Faunel Tethering either. We can only hope this works. I’m afraid we’re getting surrounded.”
“What do you mean?” Kristel asked. She reluctantly moved closer and subtly raised her arms. The Nightmare influence was starting to get on her nerves, a creeping doubt slowly but surely breaking her confidence.
“I count eight of Those That Fell Off a Cliff, and multiple dozens of lesser Nightmares. I think the Forest Jaws are encouraging them to box us in so they can ambush us when we’re busy killing fodder.”
Katherine Drew her Spatiera and retrieved her long coat, tying its arms to her waist. She held Kristel’s shoulder with one hand while she gathered her hair in a ponytail with the other. “You still know Kaimera, right?”
The Princess gave a nod. She had determination in her eyes, but the stiff reaction belied her internal conflict.
“Don’t worry,” Katherine started, tying her ponytail. “I’ll make sure we get out of here safely. Can you convert it to Kaimfra?”
“Yes.”
“Good. You can handle the lesser Nightmares; kill them with fire. I’ll deal with the Fallen. If we get rid of them fast enough, those three Forest Jaws might have second thoughts.”
Just then, the first signs of trouble appeared. Far deep within the forest, a pair of glowing yellow eyes started to appear, followed by a silhouette vaguely of human shape. It listlessly walked, arms swaying in rhythm to its lethargic steps. The skin on its face drooped loosely like its jaw.
A lesser Nightmare.
More of its kind appeared, wearing vestiges of the different mortal, bipedal species known to Brymeia. They flocked around them, until they were completely surrounded by glowing eyes.
Frein remained unperturbed, sitting still with his eyes closed. Enza sat beside him and slowly melded into her surroundings. Katherine didn’t have time to consider how long the yuma could maintain her Nature’s Favor.
“Sam,” she called out her M.O.B.I.L.E. which whirled around with concern. “Send out a distress signal, try to reach all sweeping channels.”
“Oh, we’re in a real pinch, aren’t we?” Sam bobbed up and down, expressing his excitement. “The Nightmare influence might disturb the signal, though.”
“It will, but this level shouldn’t be strong enough to completely block out the High Palace Network or any patrols from the Sanctums from reaching our signal. As long as we can direct them to our location, that’s all we’ll need. Feel free to use as much meiyal as you need.” She knew well enough that Sam could regulate his meiyal consumption efficiently.
“Alright, I’ll take care of it.” Sam zipped back into her pocket. “Make sure you don’t die!”
Katherine Drew a blade Meiyal Art. Kristel did the same, but she sent out an obvious concern. “Don’t you have anything stronger?” she asked.
“I do, but this is an information battle,” the Lady explained. “We’re currently fighting two against three. Until Frein can join us, we should avoid showing those Forest Jaws our hand.”
“But I thought we’ll end them quickly?”
“We’ll try. If I reach Art fatigue too soon, it’ll be dangerous.”
Kristel nodded and Drew a second blade. She enveloped them in Kaimfra, the flaming version of the weapon enhancing Art, Kaimera.
“When you’re halfway through your reserves, let me know,” Katherine began as she took a step forward. “Let’s send them a greeting.”
One of the lesser Nightmares had spotted them. It let out a coarse roar, its eyes turning from yellow to red. The eyes behind it followed suit, creating a spectacle of crimson eyes in shadows. One by one, they suddenly kicked off into a sprint.
Katherine’s blade doubled its length as she raised it across her shoulder. She held it with both hands and let it hang on her back. Her meiyal core burst to life, painting the surroundings with intensified colors. She fed her Meiyal Art with a significant portion of her reserves and manifested it across the blade.
With a step, she leaned forward, heaving the sword in a wide arc and Drawing the Meiyal Art in reality.
“Katastrofera!”
The view in front of her vanished for a split second. A slice in reality tore through space, cutting trees, rocks, dirt, and lesser Nightmares as though they were already sliced apart in the first place. Then the force of a whirlwind followed, blasting everything in front of her with such strength, they were instantly eradicated into nothing.
When the Art vanished from reality, so did everything that it sliced through.
The blue rays of the sun shined down on a cone of emptiness within the forest. It was quickly filled in by more lesser Nightmares followed by the skeletal, rib-like limbs of Those That Fell Off a Cliff.
----------------------------------------