They were hurt. As CJ tried to keep up with the soldiers he was checking on Mak’s Bond group behind them. When he opened up their entry again, there was a change.
|Mak’s Bond 22% Bond Affinity
|3 Unit Bond Hurt
|Members: Mak, Shell, Jai.
|M. Spd Avg(Hindered)
|>Facets
The pulsating green orbs next to their portraits changed as well, with Mak’s and Jai’s being yellow, and Shell a dark red. They were running on the map, but it looked like they were losing the race. The two enemy bonds were catching up with them.
He could see symbols on the red chevrons now. He didn’t understand what it represented at first, it seemed simplistic. It was a wheeled cart, shown with a spoked wheel and a line going through it. Did that mean they were riding carts? He didn’t understand, but he knew how to try to find out. If they were running for their lives, he could at least find them some more information.
He focused on the closer of the two chevrons, and it brought up that Bond.
|Rory’s Bond 50% Bond Affinity
|3 Unit Bond OK
|Members: Rory, Jak, Luka
|M. Spd Avg
|>Facets
The portraits were of three men, and two of them had ram-like horns on the sides of their heads! They weren’t wearing helmets, and from what he could see they were mostly wearing leather armor. He could tell their names and what they were wearing without ever seeing them. It felt, unfair. Their status was all green except the leader Rory who was yellow.
He focused on Rory, and got the man’s full sheet. But there were parts that were still obscured.
|Rory Unk% to next Milestone Unk of 10 Milestones
|Burdens Attunement Soulstone Tier 1 Human - Hillman
|Allegiance: Unknown Enemy
|
|Strength 6 | Control 4
|Stamina 8 | Resilience 4
|Command Avg | Health A.Avg | Mov. Spd Avg
|
|>Facets
|>Artifacts & Relics
|>Bond - 2
He tried to check the man’s attunements, but those were still unknown even to his eye. He didn’t know how useful this information would even be to the others, but it was time to find out.
“Hey so funny story,” CJ said while jogging. Larl and Mae looked his way, but Alyss was running ahead of them and didn’t bother turning around. The unbonded guards with them ignored him as well. The tension was high, and the soldiers were waiting for the fight that was chasing them down.
“Is this the time for jokes?” Mae asked.
“No, not… I meant I have something to say. It is about my eye thing, the weird one.”
“Go on,” Mae said. That seemed to peak her interest, she even shifted over closer to him. “What is it?”
He couldn’t really catch his breath while they were still running along, but he steadied himself. He knew a flurry of questions came with admitting what he could do. It also meant dropping any semblance of an advantage if it did turn out the people of Akahi weren’t going to keep him safe. But he made his allegiance, he couldn’t think about ditching them now.
“I can see the battlefield, like from above. I’ve been trying to figure it out, but it seems I can see details about bonds, and people in them.” He looked over to Mae, and she furrowed her brow as if she didn’t understand what all that meant.
“Give us an example, CJ,” Larl said.
He slowed down a little and ran over some information.
“Mak is Iron Attunement? His group got attacked back there, by two groups. One of them is led by a man named Rory, it says he is a Hillman, he has horns.” CJ looked from Larl to Mae.
Mae looked forward to Alyss, who had slowed down as well and was watching them over her shoulder. She started jogging backwards to talk to them.
“Who else is Mak with?” She asked, and he could tell it was to confirm what he knew and didn’t.
CJ looked again. “Jai and Shell.”
Alyss looked to Mae, “He could have learned all that before we left. He could just be lying to distract us from running.”
“Why would I distract us from running? I suggest more running. Mak’s group look like they aren’t going to make it, we’re next!”
“Still!” Alyss shouted.
CJ stopped and put his hands up. “Okay okay, the Hillman Rory is burden attunement, what does that mean?”
As Larl came to a stop, he thought about CJ’s statement. “It means mercenaries, usually. The Attunement of Burdens is often used by those who work the land, farmers and laborers. It makes them stronger and tougher. Mercenaries who have to live doing odd work will attune to burden to accomplish that.”
The bond ahead of them was about to reach the bridge, he could see the edge of it on his map. They weren’t so far behind, it gave him a little hope.
Alyss looked back up the road, toward Mak’s group. “You say they aren’t going to make it?”
CJ shook his head no, “I don’t know for sure, but they are already hurt.”
“After a fight, they’ll be slowed down enough that a second group can run them down.” Alyss said. She was back to her quiet tone, just loud enough that they could hear her. “I told him to stay far enough ahead that they wouldn’t get caught. I didn’t expect them to get run down.” Alyss rubbed her hand down her face, her lips were pressed in frustration.
“Should we go back for them?” Mae asked.
Alyss shot her a look of anger. “No, I’m getting you and your special guest to the bridge, and we’re leaving.”
Mae stepped toward her, “What if I-”
Alyss put a hand up, “I’m under Sir Byr’s orders. I don’t have to take your suggestions right now, Lady Mae.”
Mae’s eyes bulged under her helmet, but she didn’t fight it.
There was another enemy.
“Wait,” CJ said, spotting the new red chevron made him perk up. “There is another group of bad guys.”
It was the bridge. Two chevrons were there. The allied bond ahead of them turned and started back in their direction.
“Where?” Alyss asked.
“At the bridge,” CJ said. “Two of them, the group over there is retreating to us. We’re being pinched.”
“What kind of ashed ambush is this?” Alyss asked in a raspy whisper. She looked around, then came back to the group with a defeated sigh. “This is not the plan, this is not what Sir Byr promised. He said this would be simple, just a march through a field.”
Mae stepped up. “Alyss, what are we doing?”
Larl stepped up behind her. “Let her think, Lady Mae.”
“But they are coming from the rear as well, yes?” Mae added, pointing back. “Are we going to be attacked here? Should I be ready for a fight?” Her voice was ramping up in alarm with every few words, until she was almost yelling by the end.
Alyss shook her head no. “No, we aren’t staying here. Everyone forward!” She pointed toward the bridge. Her bond, as well as the unbonded guards, started their way toward the bridge with the waiting enemies.
“We’re going to break right through to the other side. No time to think, we will just do.”
It wasn’t a bad plan, if they had all of their forces. As far as CJ understood it, Byr left them with three bonds, made up of three soldiers each. The enemy had six, based on scouts. So far CJ could see two at their rear. He checked again, actually there were three. If the other three bonds were there, then they were already outmatched at the rear.
But the bridge had two enemies. If the fighting was even, how long would it take them to break through? Would it take so long that the enemies behind them caught up? They would be crushed, wiped out.
They needed another way out, they needed a different plan.
CJ looked at the map, again zooming out as far as he could. The path north would just take them further away from their destination, and eventually headed back into the mountains. It was possible, but it also meant they could just be chased down up there, and they might never get help.
To the South was the thick forest of trees, and now that they were closer he could also see a river splitting the forest in half.
He had an idea. He didn’t know if it was a good one, it was likely a risky one, but at least it was an idea.
“Alyss, wait!” He rushed up to her. “The river, I think I have an idea, but we have to get everyone we can over to the forest by the river.”
Alyss looked at him. She looked like she wanted to argue, but then she looked to Mae and Larl who were coming up to meet the two of them.
“We don’t have time to play around here,” Alyss said. “If we make a mistake, everyone dies. Think of that before you try to give me a strategic idea you just thought up.”
CJ nodded. “Look, I don’t want to die. I know it seems stupid, but your Duchess thinks I’m here for a reason, right? Back home, I studied strategy all the time, just not for actual battles.”
They all looked at him. CJ closed his eyes as he spoke. “I used to do battle simulations, like games. They were really in depth, and sometimes you needed complex strategies to make everything work in your favor.”
“Games!” Alyss shouted. “Games?!”
“I know!” CJ raised his hands. “I’m not treating this like a game, I promise you. But I wanted to be honest. This idea is because of all that practice. Just hear me out, we can continue marching while I pitch it to you.”
Alyss looked more than mad, but she didn’t say no. They started back East toward the bridge, and he laid out his plan to Alyss.
In the end, he found himself running toward the tree line. He could hear the river up ahead, see the water lapping on its banks.
“I swear to the mountaintop, this better work!” Alyss yelled.
This was going to work, it had to work.
Mae and Larl were huffing and puffing beside him, Mae clanking along in her armor. Not far behind them was Alyss’s squad. CJ knew that the other squad was nearby, the one that retreated from the bridge. They were led by a woman named Lyn.
When Alyss accepted his plan, a messenger was sent ahead to tell her the plan. It was at that point that Lyn went from a slow retreat back to the group, to a full sprint. The enemy seemed content to let them flee, and none of the enemy bonds were moving beyond a steady march.
That made CJ nervous. Alyss didn’t hate his plan, which meant it was plausible. But either his enemies didn’t think it would work, had a plan to make him look like an idiot, or he was still missing something. In the meantime, all he could do is keep running.
“What is the status on Mak?” Larl asked as they ran. “You can see that still?”
CJ knew the answer. Mak was captured, though he couldn’t say what happened after that. He watched it all unfold in his vision, he was overwhelmed by four bonds as the remaining two from the West continued after the rest of them.
“Captured!” CJ yelled. “Six, no seven bonds heading our way in total.”
The grass beneath their feet got thicker, they ran past a few brush, and then made it to the tree cover. CJ stopped running as everyone else did.
“Keep moving,” Alyss said as they got to the forest’s edge. “We don’t have time to leave any of this to chance. Get to the riverbank, go.”
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CJ nodded, but his heart was pounding in his chest. It felt like his blood was on fire. Back home, there was no way he would have even lasted this long. He noticed he was barely sweating, but he still didn’t have time to figure out why his body was changed, or how changed it was.
“Come on,” Larl said. The older man looked less winded than CJ. He motioned for CJ and Mae. Along with the unbonded guards, they stepped through the brush.
It was thick, with the density of trees increasing immediately. After only a minute pushing in, they were in the shade, with only brief glimpses of the sky overhead through the branches.
“You hear it?” Lady Mae gasped, “There it is, we made it.”
It was the river. He heard it was called the Boiling River, though the name was more figurative than anything. It was chill this time of year, and refreshing until it ran through the city up ahead.
The Duchess let out a tired laugh, then stamped it down. She looked at the guards around her, and changed her stance to better match theirs. It seemed she was still worried about her disguise. Whatever gave this a better chance of working, CJ was all for it.
“They are right behind us!” Came a shout from behind them. It was Lyn arriving, they we telling the truth. The enemy bond was relatively close, there wouldn’t be a lot of time before the fighting started.
Alyss said something back to them, but she wasn’t yelling so her soft voice didn’t carry all the way to CJ. Alyss and Lyn were discussing matters near the edge of the forest, and their bondmates were posted up at the edge of the tree line with their shields up and swords at the ready. This was where the fighting was going to start.
But up ahead was that river. It was loud, though the water wasn’t violent. It was a straight line of water here, though it curved before and shortly after. There was brush on their end, but the opposite side was just grass for some time before the trees on that end. It didn’t look too deep, but CJ wasn’t the best judge of depth, especially not while he only had one working eye.
“Okay,” CJ said as they got closer, “this is where you two take a little swim.”
Mae looked at him, then to Larl, then back at CJ. “Us two? You’re coming too right?”
CJ nodded, “Yeah. But if Alyss needs any information about their movements, I should be on this side to tell her. I’ll come across when she does.”
She shook her head. “Alyss said all you can do is be a burden on this side. Just come across, then she will follow.”
CJ looked back through the woods toward Alyss. There was shouting over there, and they were bracing for a fight. They were two groups going up against seven. They could use every bit of help they could get. He didn’t know what he could do, but leaving Alyss out like a worm on a hook didn’t feel right. This plan wasn’t to get her killed, it was to get as many of them out as possible.
“I know, I know,” CJ said. He looked back to Mae. “I’m not committing suicide, I just want to make sure my plan works, princess. Seriously, I’ll be right behind you.”
“Don’t call me a princess!” Mae snapped, sticking her soldier sword out at him, “I know exactly who and what I am.”
Larl gave her a pat on her shoulder pad. “Come Lady, we should leave while we still can. Sir Byr will be mad if we don’t make it to Scaleback.” He led her toward the brush, and CJ turned back toward the Akahi fighters.
A call went out, a battle cry. CJ could just make out red tethers over there. Then there was the crash of bodies against bodies. Weapons slashed down, crashed off of armor and other weapons, cries of pain and frustration went back and forth.
CJ creeped closer. Behind him he could hear the sound of people jumping into the water, and could make out blue markers moving across. The plan was working, no matter how slapdash it was.
Instead of charging the enemy, they retreated to here. They couldn’t take on 6 or more bonds in a straight up fight. They definitely couldn’t do it if they were going to get sandwiched between two groups. But the river gave them a chance. Rivers usually meant slow movement to get across, and being completely exposed to anyone on the banks. If the mercenaries didn’t have anyone covering the other side, they could get across, and then even their small numbers might be enough to keep the mercenaries at bay. Trying to charge across a river while people shot at you or stabbed at you, it was a death wish.
Now Alyss just needed to hold them off long enough for everyone here to get across, and then her unit could retreat to the river as well.
But the fighting, it was more brutal than he expected. When Sir Byr was fighting, the flames cut down the Ash Walkers with ease. But Alyss, when he checked her, she was Tier 1 like him. She was Iron Attunement, not Purity. She didn’t have the same abilities.
He ran over some of her ‘facets’ as they were running into position. The most impressive was probably ‘Hold Fast’.
|Hold Fast|
|Facet Skill of Iron Attunement|
|Hold Fast allows a temporary increase in durability against weapon attacks. All damage from weapons is lowered by 50% for the current engagement. Damage is lowered regardless of range. Ends immediately after the current engagement concludes. Doubles fatigue gained from the battle. A leader can use this ability for a whole bond.
|Can be Enhanced.|
If that worked how he assumed, it meant they could survive even against overwhelming odds.
As CJ watched, energy seemed to flow between the groups fighting. As they thrashed against each other, something flowed through their tethers, and CJ could perceive that flow pushing against each other like two bodies of water. Eventually, one overcame the other, like a wave rising over them.
In Lyn’s group, one of her soldiers fell to an axe. The soldier hit the grass in a collapsing heap.
CJ expected more blood.
Lyn herself grabbed the fallen man and started to drag him out of the fight, the other man fought while backing up. They were losing, they were retreating. It was only a matter of time before Alyss had to do the same.
CJ finally got a good look at these mercenaries. Unlike the Akahi soldiers, who looked like they belonged to a professional unit, these mercenaries were wearing leather armor and carrying hefty axes or brutal swords. As the portraits showed him, they had horns on their head, and most of them sported large beards of brown or black that were tied in straps of leather.
Lyn got the man back up in time to finish their retreat to the river. As they limped their way to the water she spotted CJ and yelled to him. “What are you still doing here? Shouldn’t you be across?”
CJ opened his mouth to answer, but a jovial voice behind him answered. “I didn’t want to miss all the action, go on without me.”
CJ whipped around and saw Larl and one of the guards there. “What are you doing here?”
Larl pointed to Lyn, who was rushing past him without pondering his answer. “I just told her, you heard that right?”
CJ turned on the priest, which made the guard take a step back in alarm. “I mean, this plan is so you and the princess could get out of here safe. Why are you-”
The priest raised an eyebrow at him, and CJ cut himself off. “This plan was never about keeping me safe, CJ. If you’re so worried, you should be getting yourself across the river, right?”
He was right, but CJ was still worried. He still thought he could be of some use. He didn’t know how, not yet, but he didn’t want to leave Alyss to die, or even get captured.
“That isn’t going well,” Larl said as he stepped up closer to CJ.
CJ turned back. He could see with his eye that at least 6 enemy units were there now. Alyss was backing her people up, but the tide was against them. Most of the units hung back, they were really only fighting a couple.
“She’ll break soon,” CJ said, “She has to retreat now.”
“Not quite that easy,” Larl said. “In a real fight, the enemy won’t just let you turn tail. They are fighting past their limits. Bonded souls can only burn hot for so long, before you are just like any normal person.”
That made CJ’s heart skip. Why did no one say that? There was a limit to how long the bonds could fight at a higher level? Then he did doom her!
“Alyss!” CJ shouted, stepping forward, “You gotta run now! Break off, they got across!”
The bodyguard looked back to CJ, and he could almost see her eyes go wide. She would wonder why he was still there, she was going to be mad.
The squad she was fighting backed up, and was replaced with another. The enemy was cycling. They were avoiding the burnout Larl was talking about by using many against one. He didn’t know why they didn’t just all swarm her, but the forest might have made that difficult.
“They are going to overwhelm her,” CJ said, looking at Larl. “She needs help, we have to do something.”
He looked to the sword and shield in his hands. He almost forgot they were there. He wasn’t trained to use them, but it was better than nothing.
“Without a bond, you would be less useful than a burned out soldier,” Larl said.
“Right!” CJ stepped toward him, “A bond. Byr was saying that people used to just do it, right? No need for one of those rings, you just needed…”
Larl looked at him with suspicion. “An oath, and a solemn urge to tether your soul.”
“Okay,” CJ said. He could feel his heart beating harder, something inside him burning up. “You and me, right now. We go in and save them.”
The fighting was getting closer. Alyss was backing off, their shields were being battered by axes.
“Not everyone can even hold a bond,” Larl said, “and without a ring it is said to be rather intense. I don’t think this is a good idea, CJ.”
CJ felt a sinking sensation. Then Larl smiled at him.
“But we should try it, just to see what happens.” He held a hand out.
CJ looked at the hand for a moment, swallowed hard, and then reached his hand out as well.
Then the guard with Larl stuck their hand out without a word. The guard didn’t look at him directly, so CJ stared at them for a brief moment. It was long enough that the guard stole a glance back at him, to see if he was looking. It was Duchess Madaleene!
CJ looked to Larl, and Larl was blushing like he was caught in a boyish prank. CJ was going to tell her to run, was going to remind her that this was all to keep her safe. But he didn’t have time for that, not while Alyss’s men were being cut down. He had to try this right now, so he gripped his hand over theirs, and held on tight.
He squeezed, and braced himself for whatever was supposed to come next. His cheeks were flush, his breathing was rapid, his legs felt wobbly.
Nothing happened.
There was a scream behind him, someone being thrown to the ground by an attacker. He didn’t want to look, he couldn’t. This should have worked, it was what Larl said. He could make a bond, and then they could help.
“Why isn’t it working?” CJ asked.
Larl shrugged, “I’m afraid it is a little more involved than that. Usually there is a lot of ritual and circumstance to try these, and even then they aren’t recommended.”
“Why didn’t you say that?” CJ snapped.
“I was hoping you knew something we didn’t,” Larl said.
“Okay, tips?” CJ said, his voice cracking.
Mae chimed in. “The story of the Twin Kings says they made an oath to each other.”
“Right,” CJ said. “Okay, that isn’t too hard. What kind of oath do you think?”
Larl had the view over CJ’s shoulder, could see the battle that CJ knew was happening right near him.
CJ wasn’t oblivious to it. He could watch the icons closing in. The fighting was going bad, and Alyss’s unit were being pushed ever closer.
“Whatever you plan to do,” Larl said. “I would do it quickly, they don’t have much time.”
“Okay!” CJ shouted. He was tense all over, and sweating. But more than that, he was terrified. If he lost here, then Akahi lost everything, he lost everything. It wouldn’t just be some random loss, it would be from his plan that he pressed them to try. For all he knew, Alyss could have succeeded at her press through the enemy lines. Now she was being cut down because of his experimental maneuver.
“Fight with me!” CJ yelled, his eyes darting between the two of them, “until we can free Akahi. Fight alongside me until we can win your home back, okay?”
It felt like something within his chest clicked, a switch flipped, a valve opened.
“Okay!” They both yelled back.
There was one more step, and thankfully he wouldn’t have to guess at it. His eye brought it up in plain text.
* Form New Bond? *
He nodded his acceptance, and yet another font opened within him. The rest was natural, like breathing in air, or swallowing food. Energy from his soul flooded out of him, coming from his core and sweeping through his body to find some kind of exit. He felt the heat in his heart, like the actual organ was being set on fire.
“Aaah!” CJ let out a groan of pain, that quickly turned into a shout of determination. He had to keep pushing or this wasn’t going to work. He had to hold it all together, or this could fall apart. The same way you might choke, he instinctively knew that this part could cut off halfway and fail.
He didn’t plan to fail, not here. He screamed as power swirled around within him, and then erupted as two white tendrils that arced up and out of his chest.
His vision on his right side fuzzed, the map jittering as letters started to error out again. The dark edges of the map filled in with white, shimmering as if under a heat haze.
Larl’s eyes went wide, Mae tried to step away from him. But he had their hands gripped tight. The two tethers of energy slammed into them, and both let out gasps as if the air was knocked out of them.
CJ could see his Soulflame flow toward them. It wasn’t the passive lines he saw on so many other bonds, it was like a backed up tube that grew thick with the payloads traveling toward the two of them. When the energy reached them, both stumbled away as he let them go. Mae grabbed her chest, and Larl flexed his fists and fought to stand tall.
Then the energy came back. Those two let out deep sighs of relief. But when their energy reached CJ his muscles locked up, his jaw clenching, everything in his body recoiled as if he was struck by electricity.
He could feel them. He could feel Larl’s excitement and curiosity at everything that was happening. He could feel Mae’s terror, pain, and desperation. He could feel where they wanted to step, wanted to look, wanted to move. Their breathing, their heartbeats, it all came through crystal clear. Mae’s boots were on too tight. Larl bit his tongue earlier.
It was the strongest rush he had ever felt. His body was buzzing like he was drinking 4 locos while plummeting to his death from a great height. But he felt powerful, he felt useful, and he wasn’t going to waste that feeling.
“Let’s fucking go!” He shouted, grabbing his sword from the ground where he dropped it.
Mae raised her sword, Larl a fist. They turned as one, and CJ could feel where each of their footsteps landed as they charged in toward the enemy.
Alyss was desperately fighting off two men, others lurked right behind them ready for their turn. One of her bondmates was on the ground while the other was trying to cover a wound to their gut.
CJ focused on one of the men, the pillar of the bond that Alyss was fighting. They charged in and attacked. He didn’t know how to fight with a sword. Mae knew a little, but had no experience. Larl knew, but didn’t have a sword. So they just attacked with wild swings. He didn’t intend to kill anyone, he just wanted to give Alyss time to escape. They pushed the enemy back with their shields, clashed their swords against axes, and kept up a terrifying war cry.
CJ wasn’t sure the enemy could see Mae and Larl giving off a faint white glow the same way he could. But the look in their eyes, in Alyss’s eyes, he hoped they could. It would make it that much easier to push them back and escape today.
“What are you doing?!” Alyss yelled.
“Run!” CJ shouted, “Run now!”
Even when he looked away to Alyss, he could feel where Mae and Larl were, and what they were doing.
Larl had an ability. CJ didn’t understand it completely, it was a Facet. But his body used it without a thought. When an axe came down on Mae’s head, CJ’s hand shot out, and Larl motioned toward her. Their soul’s ignited and an ephemeral kite shield appeared in the gap in her guard, blocking the weapon in mid air before fading away.
CJ turned back to Alyss to say more, but felt a sudden tension in his chest. It was like his heart skipped once, twice. He coughed, and his mouth filled with bile.
“Go!” He repeated, “We’re right behind you.”
Alyss didn’t argue a second time.
CJ couldn’t focus on his map enough to see her running, he just heard it. Instead he focused on the fight. They were fighting back, and they were fighting well. They were a blur of sword swings and shield bashes. The world burned around him, everything was hot, the whole world was this new power.
Then the enemy backed off. It was just the first one they were fighting, and CJ thought about the other units there behind them. They couldn’t fight through all of them. His body felt like a raggedy piece of jerky being lit by an open flame. He couldn’t fight all of them.
But then the others started to back away, there was confusion in their ranks. That was enough. CJ didn’t have to give the order to run to the river. The other two just turned and ran when he did. Before the enemy could strike at their rear, they made it to the water and jumped in. He left the sword and shield, Mae left hers as well.
The water was cold, but he still felt like he was burning.
The enemy started to chase them, but CJ could see Akahi soldiers on the opposite bank. They were waiting, some with bows.
He didn’t have to worry about the mercenaries, his plan was working. The enemy turned back without ever submerging in the water. They swam unmolested, and emerged on the opposite side.
As they were pulled out by soldiers waiting there, CJ could tell something was wrong. Larl was worried, Mae was in pain, and he… something wasn’t right with him.
“You did it!” Alyss shouted at him. “You moron, you did it!”
CJ chuckled. He was dripping wet, and everything was getting real blurry. He looked up and tried to catch his breath, but he couldn’t get enough air in his lungs. Something inside him was still burning too hot, still overflowing.
In the sky, he saw what looked like the silhouette of a person with wings. Was that an angel? Did they have angels here?
“What is happening to him?” Mae struggled to speak. Still, whatever they were seeing in him was worth her ignoring her own pain.
CJ could hear the words before Larl said them. “He’s cracking, we need to help him calm down.”
“Cracking?” Mae gasped. “What happens to us if that-”
He didn’t get to hear the answer to that question. His vision faded, and then he could feel himself falling to the ground as everything went black. The good news is he didn’t feel the impact as he hit the ground.
Even in the darkness he could sense them around him. It wasn’t perfect, he couldn’t feel their every step, their emotions, or their intentions. But he knew they were there, despite being unconscious he knew. It seemed that even in a situation where he was almost gone, it didn’t matter when he was in a bond. Their souls were connected, so he would always have some sense of their current status.
It felt strange, a level of connection he never felt before. Overall, it felt real good.