Bran

Ice is sending the Ragers after Asher.

You need to protect him.

Cheddar

I will friend 1.

He's friend 2.

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Green

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Where was he? Green stood on a colorful dirt trail overgrown with grass, prickly shrubs, and a mix of leafed and evergreen trees. He couldn’t see the ends of the trail, but instinctively knew behind him was his mind — ahead was Asher’s. He was in their bond.

“Not again. Let me go!”

Asher’s voice; his paws were already sprinting him closer, weaving through rose bushes and around trees as he hopped closer to the entrance to Asher's mind.

“You are foolish, morsel. Did you learn nothing when last we met? Perhaps pain is a pleasure to you? That is why you choose to etch more of my power into your feeble mind.”

Green slowed, fear making his legs heavy. That was her voice. Lady Wraith, she was here?

“You need to hurry.” Meyonohk’s voice echoed through the trees. No. From the trees.

“What have I gotten involved with? How are you here?”

“This bond is my doing, child. Hurry, the etching nears completion and her spiders will turn on us.”

This was crazy; he needed to run, to hide; that was the bunny way. He wasn’t a wolf, bear, or cougar, he wasn’t a predator of any kind. “I’m just a little creature; there's nothing I can do.” His physical body was shutting down in the real — he was near the end. Green could feel it even here. “I don’t want to end.” His feet stopped on the path. “Meyonohk, break the bond — save us.”

“No. Do not let her power overwhelm you with doubt. Even now it flows down the bond, breaking against you.”

She was right. Green could feel the energy; it rolled through him, overwhelming him with fear and paranoia — dread. The word was dread; it froze his lungs and clutched at his heart. “Is this how he feels? All the time? How didn’t I know?” Asher’s mind was open to him, but this dread? The worst of it; this he had somehow kept hidden. How had the fledgling even been able to get out of bed?

“It is; but you can help him. You know who he is. You know who they all are. It is time, Sir Didmouse.”

Green had forgotten that name — his first name. Memories of his hay tray, his little ramp, the laugh she had when his tummy gurgled as he drank from the water bottle came back to him. Lady Wraith and her kin took the girl from him before she created this mock world of devouring; others too, so many others; but he wouldn't let her take Asher — never again.

“You carried me once before…”

“Enough,” said Green. “You had me at Sir Didmouse; feed me what you can.” Energy flowed from the bond’s vegetation, fueling Green’s muscles as he sped up the path, but this time he ran through the prickles — magic healing him as he charged.

“You have no power over me,” said Asher. “Not here; my walls remain intact. Even now, your spiders finish and fall.”

Green arrived at the open archway into Asher’s mind and slammed into an invisible barrier; even bonded, they couldn’t occupy each other’s minds — that was the way of Cutters. Asher’s mindscape was rimmed in walls of cracked ice, spiders worked on etching glyphs into its surface with mandibles and purple ink, but as they finished, they fell from the wall to their backs — ended — or some of them did; many were getting back up. “Asher! Look out.”

Asher spun to face Green, as did the spiders that had gotten back up after their work was finished.

“It has been long since I’ve seen one of my sister’s wards.” said Lady Wraith. Green couldn’t see her, but where Meyonohk’s voice came from the vegetation, her voice came from the spiders. “He need not worry, animal. My pets sense a delicacy for them to devour.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Summer’s itchy shed! She meant the bond. She meant him.

“Green, you need to go. Your barrier won’t be strong enough, not for her. How do I break the bond? It’s the only tactic we have.”

A swarm of floor spiders skittered as one for the bond’s archway. “Not the only one.” Green tilted his head forward, calling a translucent green barrier forth to block the entrance to the bond. It was stronger than any he could normally form, but in here, with Meyonohk’s power, it should keep the bond safe. If Asher did his part. “Alright, Asher. This is your brain. Kick her ass out.”

“I can’t.” Asher spun in a small circle, one hand clutched as a fist to his chest, eyes searching for something he could use. “What’s a weapon going to do? There are hundreds of them, Green.”

He was right. Green couldn’t count the individual spiders in the swarm as it closed with his barrier. “Stop using your eyes. Use that chess brain of yours. This is your mindscape — you are the weapon!”

“I can barely hold it together. Don’t you feel it?” Asher clutched at his throat.

“You live with it every day! I know now. You can do this. She’s the one who took your dad, your sisters, and then she took you from your mom. Are you going to let her win?!” Green couldn’t make out what he said, but saw his eyes focus as he muttered. His head jerked up to one of the ice walls for a split second before his eyes closed, his hands thrust out towards the wall next to the still working spiders. With a crack, a sizeable chunk broke free, floating in the mindscape; Asher thrust his arms forward in a sweeping motion, as if he were sweeping pieces from a board game; the Ice chunk followed the motion, slamming into the center of the swarm; it impacted and exploded, sending shards spraying throughout the mindscape. Asher screamed as a few shards caught him and spun him to the ground. He grunted, grabbed a shard, and pulled it free with a growl as he pushed up to his knees.

“That’s it. Get back up — fight.”

Asher groaned, ripped a second shard free from his abdomen. It wasn’t blood that dripped from the cuts, but color.

“We placed those walls. They must stay until the etching is complete,” said Meyonohk.

“Watch the walls, Asher. Keep them up.” Green cursed as more spiders closed. “Can you make new ones?” More spiders fell, recovered, and skittered towards the opening.

Hands on the ground, Asher nodded. “I’ll try.” His brow furrowed as his eyes closed. The first spiders slammed into the archway barrier with a screech and hiss. They didn’t fall over or turn away, instead they skittered against trying to push through — yellowish vapor rose between it and the barrier. They were eating through it. Between Asher and the archway, the swarm reformed.

A mound of ice pushed from the ground, spiders went over and around it. Boom! The mound exploded, spraying greasy spider smoke and ice in all directions.

Holy parsley! The kid was making ice mines. “Keep it up.”

They were smaller explosions than the first chunk, but more ice mines formed, taking out hundreds of spiders as they swarmed forward, but still dozens made it to and pushed against Green’s barrier. They climbed atop each other, eclipsing the bunny as they pushed against it. “Asher? They’re coming through.” Green backed away, pulling on the energy Meyonohk offered, sharpening his claws and teeth, fueling speed and reflexes. “My turn.”

“Hold them back,” Asher said. “The spell’s etching is done; I don’t need the walls anymore.” Asher stood with legs shoulder width apart and thrust his arms out towards the walls.

“More spice, morsel? Let us test the strength of your mind.”

“Asher, some spiders are heading your way.” Green wasn’t sure what would happen if those spiders broke Asher’s concentration. He was pretty sure it wasn’t good, but Green had his own problems. “Empty hay tray! They’re breaking through.”

“Help is coming. Asher Ardern can handle it. You must survive,” said Meyonohk.

“Me? What about him? If he explodes those walls while he’s at the center....” Diggy claws lashed out, turning the first spider breaking through into a puff of greasy smoke. “The others may not remember the vote, but I do. Help him, Meyonohk.”

“I do not forget. Fight on. Help is coming.”

Green felt a burst of energy and attacked the next spider, but another got through and drank from the bond; color flaked from the path as it drank. It only had a split second, but the spider got a taste before his claws ended it; then the next was through; then the next and the next. Green was dancing in a circle with teeth and claws slashing while back legs pulverized spiders into smoke, but each one got a sip of energy from the bond before he smoked them.

A quick glance showed Asher, eyes closed, arms still out as spiders scurried up his legs and through his clothing; the fledgling still held his concentration, and the walls groaned at his call, but the spiders crawling across him threatened his focus with every skittering step across his flesh. A vertical purple slice appeared beside Asher, then a second slash forming an X at the center of Asher’s mindscape… a Cutter’s X — Terri! She was using her magic on Asher, coming into his mindscape to fight at his back.

"Help is here," said Meyonohk from a nearby rose bush; her words causing its buds to bloom.

"Another thief of my power, but I'll allow it — she tastes like cinnamon. I wonder what you will taste like, sister?" said Lady Wraith. The spiders still within Asher's mindscape vibrated with ferocity, then each released a puff of smoke, and a second spider formed beside them. "Bitter? Dry? Let us find out."