Earlier…

“State your intentions!” A thick accented Mir-Cognate bore his teeth. His foot was still pressed on Keoni’s chest, making it hard for her to breathe.

Her vision was beyond cloudy, all she could see were blobs of light in her sight. Any magic left in her body seemed to be harming her. Keoni’s whole being felt as numb as rubber. She opened her mouth to speak, but her voice didn’t comply.

Kaedin lingered nearby, helpless as the Cognate pushed his knife harder against the soft skin of Keoni’s neck. Ryley finally spoke from nearby, though Keoni couldn’t see him.

“We don’t mean any harm. Uhmm, Izov.”

The Cognate glared at Ryley with a look of disgust on his face. “Cheak muhtohiy ajo ew quch punvauvo ij un injaph, Phys-Conidae.”

Ryley winced, clearly hurt by his words.. “Please let my friend go.”

“She poses a threat.” The Cognate answered. “Her ability to bend magic will be taken from her to protect the country of Finx.” It sounded like he was reciting it from memory, not from the knowledge of Physcia.

Kaedin stepped forward. “Off her, Poww.”

Poww stared in shock at Kaedin. “But… but you…”

“Off.”

Poww obliged, stepping off of Keoni and dissolving his weapon into the air. It’d felt so real, Keoni didn’t realize it was made of magic.

Kaedin proceeded to tell him something in Miraen, which Poww nodded and stopped shaking.

“Under the law of Finx, I can’t let you into the Mirae.” Poww finally said. “Even if… even if… umm.”

“It’s alright.” Ryley told him. “Can you send us back? Gently.” He added.

“Yeah… I can do that.” He glanced at Kaedin one more time before opening a Mir-Gate below them, returning them into Keoni’s home.

Keoni was still laying on the ground. Her head felt light, but the dizziness was slowly fading away.

Ryley bent down next to her. “Are you alright?”

"I just had a magic knife held to my throat, do you think I'm alright?" Keoni angrily responded, feeling her neck for any cuts.

Ryley was taken aback at her response. She had never sounded angry. Ever.

She noticed his surprise, realizing how she snapped. “Sorry,” She glanced at her hands. “I… my head is spinning.” Her vision was still blurry and spotted. It seemed to very slowly fade away, though.

Ryley helped her stand up and lean up against the wall. “Take your time.”

He walked into the kitchen, looking for something easy for her to eat.

Caste suddenly flashed into view. The light triggered Keoni’s dizziness, and she jumped. “Caste! Don’t scare me like that!”

“That’s deserved, Keoni,” Ryley giggled.

Caste opened his mouth, but a loud rapping on the door interrupted him.

Keoni smiled with elation as Caste jumped from the sudden sound. “I wish that was planned.”

“You have to answer the door. You know it’s a check.” He said.

The mood faded quickly. “But-” But you’re a Mir-Cognate.

“Trust me.”

Uneasy, Keoni walked across the room, still queasy, and opened the door. Three Mir-Hunters, not bearing the symbol of the Quuarks, rushed inside. Ryley and Keoni rejoined Caste on his sides.

The first one cleared his throat. “Due to sightings of Miraen activity in this household, we have been authorized to search it and its inhabitants. Denying such orders will result in interrogation and other punishments.” His voice was squeaky, and he sounded like he was on the verge of laughing. However, he was human, taller than Caste by just an inch, and severely lacked any aura of authority.

“The name is Galen Howells, and I plan to conduct several tests while looking for intruders.”

“Go right ahead.” Caste said in a very good Physical accent, stripping any evidence of Mirae from his voice. He never had the thick diction like Qaye did, but he still had faint signs of who he was. Keoni was impressed, but still worried. If the tests worked, she didn’t know what would happen.

“First test!” He called, grabbing a flashlight-type tool from his belt. He held it close to Keoni’s face, forcing her to squint from the light it emitted into her eyes. The light irritated her existing headache. Galen stared at her face before moving to Caste, who did the same thing, and Ryley, who too squinted, confused.

“Passed!” He said cheekily. Keoni had trouble deciphering if he was a real person at this point. Caste looked like he was already so done. Keoni didn’t exactly understand what Galen was testing for, but clearly it didn’t work on Caste.

He then withdrew a tiny knife from its sheath around his belt and approached Keoni, holding out his hand. “Give me your arm.”

Keoni obeyed wearily. Quickly, he cut into her wrist. “Ow!” She yipped, trying to pull her arm away. He held it in place as blood leaked out. It trailed down her wrist and dripped onto the floor, where it joined Caste’s blood from way earlier that she hadn’t cleaned up yet.

He finally let go, walking up to Caste. He held his arm out, looking bored out of his mind. He did the same thing, but surprisingly, Caste didn’t jump, flinch, or say a thing as the red liquid oozed out of his arm. He just stared blankly.

“Used to having your blood drawn, cutie?” Galen asked Caste, who glared at him.

“Don’t call me cute.” He growled, not answering the question. It made sense though: Caste probably did have his blood drawn a lot with the Quuarks.

“Feisty~” Galen responded, “Definitely not a Cognate. They never growl.” Caste was clearly displeased at the stereotyping, but didn’t show it.

Thankfully, he didn’t say anything about it and wiped up the blood when Galen went to test Ryley. He, too, flinched at the knife as it cut his skin. While Galen was distracted, Caste moved both of his hands behind his back.

Keoni gave him a look as if asking, “What are you doing?” He didn’t respond.

“Third test!” Galen exclaimed, leaving Ryley to try and stop himself from bleeding.

This time, he pulled out a small device, holding it up.

Keoni watched as Caste conformed something with his hands. “Protecting you,” he mouthed. She really wished that he didn’t choose to resort to violence.

He held the device up to Keoni, watching it like something unordinary was going to happen. He did the same to Caste, and Ryley.

“Middle one, show me both your hands.” He ordered.

The object he was holding vanished in an instant and Caste held both of his hands up.

The device started flashing.

Keoni could see panic in Caste’s eyes as he returned his hands behind him and conformed the orb again.

The flashing stopped. Somehow, whatever effect it had dampened the device’s effect.

Galen squinted. “I think you’re a Mir-Cognate.” He looked right at Caste, who just watched him blankly.

“With what evidence?” He asked, unwavered. Keoni’s heart was pounding.

“You look like a hybrid, which is evidence enough for me to bring you in.”

“I am a Sitiso, a type of mountain goat, for your information.” He frowned. “I can show you my birth certificate if you don’t believe me.”

Keoni knew he wasn’t, and that definitely wasn’t a real species. But it didn’t sound like Miraen, as the ‘S’ sound was very uncommon in their language.

Galen looked convinced that was true, but before he said anything, another knock on the door sounded. One of his other men answered.

“Galen,” A woman barked as she entered. She was much bigger, scruffier, and older. “Are any of them deformities?”

“No.” He responded. “I did the fancy flashlight trick and everything.”

She glared at him. “And show me how you did it.”

He pulled out the flashlight, demonstrating on Keoni, who again squinted, avoiding the light in her eyes. She still wasn’t sure what that was accomplishing.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, grabbed his flashlight, and walked up to Ryley. “Like this.” She hesitated. “Will one of you dopes come help me?”

Caste glanced over at Keoni, but quickly moved his head back to watch what she was doing with Ryley.

“Have him hold his mouth closed with both hands,” she said, glaring at Ryley to obey. “Hold those hands in place with both of yours.”

Ryley was now in a pin, the only free things being his legs. Clever, Keoni thought, looking at Caste to see his response. His expression was again blank, but she could see.

He was afraid.

The woman held one of Ryley’s eyes open, and with the other, turned on the flashlight.

“Gah!” Ryley yelped, impulsively struggling out of her gasp. The light was right in his eye. Eventually, the both of them let go.

“See? That’s effective. I bet you don’t even know what you’re looking for, you pampered idiot.”

Galen clearly didn’t. Keoni didn’t even know what he was doing.

“Look for it again.” She walked up to Caste. “Hold the mouth and hands.”

As he complied, she again held his eye open. “Galen, get over here.” She grumbled. He quickly joined her.

She turned on the flashlight, glaring at Galen. “Now, are his pupils retracting or dilating?” Caste was pulling away from her, but he was restricted. Keoni caught a glance of his pupils.

They were most definitely dilating. Keoni’s heart skipped a beat and raced, pounding in her body.

“Dilating.” Galen answered.

She rolled her eyes. “Do you even know what that means? Dilation is growing, retraction is shrinking. Now, are the little black dots in his eyes growing, or shrinking?”

“Growing.”

She whipped around. She was too slow, as Caste had already sent the person restricting his movement tumbling onto the floor. “Ryley, do you understand Miraen?” He demanded, ducking.

“A little?”

“It’ll have to do.” He moved to the other side of the room. He started giving Ryley orders in Miraen.

Keoni stood there, confused. He was now fighting off four different people, but he wasn’t harming them: only keeping them away. Thankfully, Ryley seemed to understand as he motioned for Keoni to follow him.

The four managed to ram Caste into the wall, still trying to pin him down. “Now hurry!”

None of them were skilled enough to take on Caste, however. He quickly shook off two of them, blinding them with quick flashes of magic, a trick that Keoni would remind him to teach her later.

Keoni followed Ryley very quickly into her pantry and up the secret ladder to the roof of the apartment. “I quote on quote translate what Caste told me. ‘Go up and jump.’” He reached the roof, nearing the edge where it dropped down a couple stories to the semi-busy streets.

“That sounds like him.” Keoni commented. “I say we trust him.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Ryley stared at her. “You’ve known him for a week, and you’re just totally okay jumping off a building because he told you so?”

“Yes.” Keoni stared back. She quickly pressed the Rune in her bag against her forehead to check with Kaedin.

Kaedin phased into view on the edge of the roof they were running towards, immediately speaking. “The faster you get off the roof, the faster Caste can catch you both in Limbo. The more delay is the more time they have to neutralize him.”

Keoni glanced at Ryley, then remembered he couldn’t see them. “Just jump.” She sighed.

Ryley frowned, then finally walked closer to the edge, peering over. “Alright.”

Keoni grabbed his wrist, taking a deep breath. She jumped off, feeling the wind rush against her. Ryley was right next to her.

They passed through a portal with a familiar wooosh! Landing on the ground of Limbo.

Keoni still felt sick, but she ignored it, standing up and looking for Caste. He was right next to the two, with his hands behind his back. The four Mir-Hunters were all glancing around, as confused as they could be in the foreign black void.

The woman who’d scolded Galen started sneaking up on Caste, her footsteps silent. It was very clear Caste knew what she was doing by what he said:

“Take one step closer to me and you will find your bloody limbs and decapitated head turned into a scarecrow I will most assuredly use to scare your family out of their fields until they die of famine.” He snapped. Normally foxes were almost unable to look angry or fierce, though Caste looked like he could kill an army with his glare. His soulless pupils Keoni just now noticed contributed to his horrific comment.

The woman, horrified and shocked, returned to the three men.

“Are you actually going to do that?” Ryley asked him quietly.

He smiled and mouthed “No.” He paused. “I haven’t done this in Physcia, but it should be easy.”

“By the will of the Mirae,” Caste immediately started. “I ask for the safety of the Mir-Cognates and the Phys-Conidae that the memories of these four weak-linked individuals return to The Nexus. The memories of their lives will remain with them, however, they will forget this day as any other ordinary day in their limited lives.” He walked up to them, and held out his hand. Immediately, streams of misty light poured into his palm from their heads, and they all knelt in unison.

He tossed the light into the air once it was done, watching as it scattered across Limbo. Caste returned all of them to the Physical World, where Keoni noticed they were just in the park behind her home. Thankfully, it was unoccupied.

“That’s easier than just killing them.” Caste brushed his hands. “Though quite draining. Now, fill me in.”

Keoni rubbed her head. “How much has Qaye told you?”

“Last I heard, Ryley had Mino, which I assume Qaye fixed.”

“Quick question: have you ever gotten it?” Ryley asked. Caste shook his head.

“Most Mir-Cognates are unaffected.” He answered.

Ryley didn’t say anything after that.

“His dad went back to work. We’re hoping we convinced him to stop hunting for you. Since then, Ryley’s just been studying Miraen and I’ve been listening to Kaedin.” Keoni explained, not mentioning her encounter when she opened the gate.

He glanced at her chest. “You’re not looking too good right now.”

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “I sense your Miraen body is at war with your Physical body. The two are contradicting and that’s not good for your Link. Are you sure something isn’t wrong?”

Keoni shrugged. “I guess I feel a little lightheaded.”

“Htoch'j unvkch.” Ryley said to Caste, who responded with an impressed look.

“You’re lucky there’s no ‘r’s in those two words.” He teased.

“It was good; I’m not letting you make fun of me.” Ryley scowled, though he clearly wasn’t upset.

Caste hesitated, thinking and dropping his teasing tone. “Are you sure, Keoni?”

She didn’t respond. She still felt dazed.

“She opened a Mir-Gate and a Cognate stopped her.” Ryley explained.

“I didn’t ask for you to tell him.” Keoni frowned, glaring at him. She intended not to be embarrassed and scolded by Caste for getting caught so easily.

Caste looked at Ryley and told him in Miraen: “Zo yukowap.”

Keoni was starting to be annoyed by the two constantly speaking in a different language. The headache intensified, causing her to clutch her head as more of the stupid spots appeared in her vision.

“Keoni, listen to me very carefully.” Caste instructed, taking a step toward her. She saw him reaching out for her. Instinctively, she pushed his arm away and backed away.

“When a Mir-Cognate blocks you during a Mir-Gate, it can and will dislocate your link. If you get too emotional, you will die. Please try to calm down, for your safety.”

Keoni took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She let out her air in her lungs.

But the magic around her shifted, and made her uneasy. It played with her feelings of fear and anger like a dirty child’s trick.

The magic warned her of danger. It seemed she could only hear it now.

What is happening to me?!

On impulse, she lashed out at the danger lurking near her. A powerful, green-lighted burst shot from her hand and hit Caste right in his chest.

It sent him crashing several feet away from her. He clutched his chest, clenching his teeth. She’d hurt him.

Ryley stepped away from her. Something kept screaming at her that Caste was some sort of real threat. She fired at him again, trying to protect herself. She didn’t understand how she felt the way she felt, but one thing seemed to be clearer.

The magic in her was finally strong.

Caste stood up as the beam came barreling toward him. With one unenthusiastic movement, he caught it like a baseball and dissolved it.

Her failure to hit him made her growl.

“Keoni, the dark magic is telling you things that aren’t true. You have to ignore it.” He called out, walking toward her.

He was lying to try and get her to stop. It was painfully clear. She fired again, this time with what she felt was a more powerful shot.

The beam betrayed her, slowing down as Caste caught it again. He closed his hand. “Keoni. There’s a reason Finx banned dark magic.”

She knew for a fact he was just trying to stop her. Her teeth were fully bared in a snarl as she tried to back away from him, her arms and hands ready to strike with magic and her feet in a wide stance.

Ryley looked mortified in her peripheral vision, though he didn't matter. What mattered was the ancient, powerful Mir-Cognate standing in front of her that was just dismissing her attacks.

Caste was looking at her in a way that just screamed annoyance. Keoni was not to be the cause of someone's annoyance.

She could feel the anger coursing through her body, almost like adrenaline, but way stronger. Dark red clouded the edges of her vision, blurring her arms. The only thing that mattered right now was Caste.

He was walking towards her with his hand out, probably ready to blast her with some 'simple trick' that would normally knock her out. But not right now. Now, she had to win.

Yes… give me more…

The voice gave her strength. Her back exploded in pain, but Keoni didn't flinch. She could feel the magic enhancing her body to help her win.

It was only a moment, but Keoni felt different. She could feel something extra on her back, then realized that they were wings.

These wings house your energy… use them however much you want…

So she did. She gathered more energy than she thought possible into a giant mass. A pure, writhing mass of anger and fear held above her head that was the size of a house.

Yes, she could tell that this would free her of Caste once and for all. She put everything into the launch of it, sending it at a speed incoherent to a bystander. She…

She could tell that something was wrong.

Nothing is wrong. You are powerful and unstoppable.

Her creation started diminishing as it approached the Mir-Cognate. He held his hands up, creating a force of his own.

The mass was now only the size of a mattress. It trembled and shook as it crashed into Caste, throwing him back.

He skidded onto his feet as it forced him further from her. He held it steady, his whole body quivering. His hands were glowing as a misty field ate through it, turning it into a glowing pink.

It quickly shrank down to a small orb, which Caste then squeezed in his hand, destroying it.

Caste teleported up to her in a flash of light.

No!!

He drained all of the magic out of her, and slowly the pain started to creep into her body like vines.

She fell to the floor of Limbo, feeling weaker and weaker as all magic left her. She could see his finger reach for her face to create a circle. It traveled slowly in her vision until he completed the light, snapping his fingers with a flicker.

. . .

Ryley ran as fast as he could right as Caste fell onto his hands and knees, panting.

“Keoni!” He called out, skidding to a halt and bending down next to her.

“She’s fine.” Caste murmured, sitting up and staring at his hands. “I’ll wake her in a moment.”

Ryley was shaken, yet amazed, by the fight that both Keoni and Caste put up. His head was forcing all questions to the tip of his tongue, ready to explode.

It didn’t look like Caste was ready for them, though. Ryley noticed exactly why he was looking at his hands.

They were blue, soaked with an oozy, sticky liquid. “What is that?” Ryley asked, taking a closer look.

“Blood.” Caste answered. “Not Keoni’s; mine, to clarify. I know you’re going to flip onto your stomach otherwise.”

Before Ryley could ask anything else, Caste spoke again. “I’ll explain what happened, since I can tell you’re dying to know.”

He breathed out. “When traveling between the two worlds, you leave yourself very vulnerable to anybody. Both of your bodies are in sync, working to make everything function correctly. In Limbo, your two beings combine, and some people… some people just cannot handle that, and it always kills them. It gets even worse if your portal between worlds is interrupted. Since you are so vulnerable at that time, it’s as if you open your arms and let your enemy stab you right in the heart and just hope the knife plugs your vitals.”

“Caste, please stop it with the descriptive metaphors.” Ryley held his hands up.

Caste shrugged, continuing. “Keoni exposed herself to pass through, and because a Cognate stopped her, the whole alignment of the Mirae and the Physical existence had to shift to adapt to the sudden change. This shift is exactly what kills everyone. She’s lucky she survived that. But since her link destabilized itself, she was not secure. As a being. Her link slowly started fixing itself, automatically, but when the search happened, her anxiety likely agitated her recovering link and that’s what started… um… all that.”

He looked around for something to clean the blood off his hands. “She exhibited great power in all the wrong ways. That vulnerability probably allowed for a lot of dark magic to incorrectly influence her mind.”

Ryley, surprisingly, understood what Caste said. “And that’s what caused her to attack you.”

Caste nodded, accepting a handkerchief Ryley always had in his small bag. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Caste reached over and awakened Keoni, lifting her head up. She blinked multiple times, glancing at Caste and Ryley.

Weak, she couldn’t support her own head. “I’m sorry,” She whispered. “I didn’t know what was happening.”

“It’s not your fault.” Caste said, the most gentle Ryley had ever heard him.

“Then who’s is it?” Keoni asked, her eyes not focused on anything.

“Nobody gets blamed in incidents like these, in Limbo.” Caste explained. “Now don’t worry about it and just try to gather back your strength.”

“Aren’t there hospitals for this kind of thing?” Ryley pointed out.

“If she’s not going to recover, I can take her to Jefu for help. But I get the feeling that she’ll be just fine.” Caste lifted her body up more. “Keoni, can we go back to your apartment?”

She nodded weakly.

Caste traveled the three of them back into Keoni’s home, where he carried her over to her couch and laid her down softly. “Get some real rest, not some magically induced sleep.”

Ryley grabbed the nearby throw blanket and laid it on her. “Is there anything else she needs?”

Caste shook his head. “Just some calm. She’s already stable enough that I don’t need to support her.”

He walked into her kitchen and washed his hands. “If that ever happens to me, I advise you, get help from a Defender. I doubt it will, as the last time it did… y’know, I’m not gonna talk about that. That’s too embarrassing.”

“Is it a common occurrence?” Ryley actually wanted to know what happened to Caste to make him use his magic on others with the intention to kill them.

Caste shrugged. “It depends on a lot of factors. It’s normal, though, in the situation Keoni was in.” He glanced over at her. “All the more reason I need to teach her everything I know.”

An idea came to him. “Say, what is this building called?”

“Keoni’s apartment complex? I think it’s like… Stoneferry?”

Caste froze. “And we’re in Everton… I think I lived here.”

He retraced his steps. “I know this sounds odd, but I grew up in Kramery, then moved out here to Everton, as it was way closer to Finx. I spent most of my time here, then was killed in Jefu after a raid. I was told to go speak to the little tailor shop I worked at, then they told me to run to Brasa. Allé, I had no idea that I’ve probably interacted with someone related to you. Since Everton was established, at least.”

“Caste, Keoni nearly died and you’re here making connections about something that happened to you, what, 50 years ago?” Ryley pointed out. He tried not to think about how the fox had lived for millions of years.

“Nono, the thought came to me as I probably lived in this very building at some point. I’ve likely been evicted for not paying rent, but still.”

What an odd man.

“Do you need any help with studying Miraen?” Caste finally asked. “I’m way more fluent in Physica than Qaye is, and could probably help explain things better.”

The book he was using was still at his house. “Sure.” He answered. “I think it’s best if I practice in front of you instead of Mir-Cognates who find me insulting, like the last one I talked to.”

“What’d you say to them?”

“I just said Isov, which means ‘please,’ right?”

Caste snorted. “Yes, it does mean ‘please,’ but you’re really going to have to work on how you say that. You just called me a hoarder.”

Ryley rubbed his temples. “Oh dear. I hope I didn’t pronounce it like that to him.”

“I don’t think you did, as you’re still alive.”

Keoni groaned. “Kaedin, I don’t think that’s a veryofoodidesh…” she murmured, sound asleep.

Caste rubbed his hands as this time, red blood was leaking out from small cuts in each of his palms. Ryley was curious why his blood had changed colors, but didn’t say anything as he walked back to the sink and washed himself off again. “I forgot to not let her shot hit my hands. I would feel horrible if these injuries were much worse.”

It made a bit of sense why the Mir-Hunters drew their blood, now. They were looking for that blue blood, but it clearly wasn’t how it worked for Caste, seeming how his blood here was crimson. Likely, his blood changed colors based on where he was. They were doing the right thing in the wrong place.

“If Mir-Cognates are immortal, how come you can get injured?” He asked instead.

“Hypothetically, let’s say you ‘killed’ me right here, right now. What do you think would happen?”

Ryley thought for a second. He knew that Mir-Cognates had “Host families” where they were reborn into the Physical world. He’d also seen the horrible injuries that Caste had on his back (which were now miraculously fully healed) that would’ve definitely killed him. He couldn’t quite piece together how those two worked, though.

“Can you just sustain any injury without dying?” He guessed. It was a clear no as Caste winced.

“I would interrupt my Mir-Link myself if that was the case. Quuark torture would get a whole lot more gory. You’re close, though. Our Physical bodies can get hurt, feel pain, and are completely normal, in your terms. And they can die. So when a Mir-Cognate’s Physical body dies, it immediately gets sent to the Mirae in order to keep our Mirae body alive.”

“Like a gate opens?”

Caste nodded. “If you killed me right now, you would be thrown through an unstable gate and into the Mirae, since you’re standing close to me.” He continued. “Our Mirae bodies are the bodies that are immortal. Any pain that we feel is all Physical, which is why the Mirae is ‘painless.’ However, if I were to die, all my pain would be transferred to my Mirae. It’s really complicated when a Physical body actually dies. I don’t even fully understand it.”

“Urghh. I don’t think I’ve felt so sick in my life.” Keoni commented, squishing her eyes. It took him a second to figure out she was still sleeping.

“I guess the best way to put it is… I can’t fully die.” Caste finished.

Ryley would love to know how that felt: dying, but not. Caste had experienced it countless times, and Ryley would probably never.

“Caste!” Keoni yipped. “Oh, I am so sorry! I…” She stood up, startling the Mir-Cognate. Caste quickly ran to her, settling her back down, and reassuring her.