The old man stood behind a large desk in a dark room. He was leaning over it, scribbling notes into it as another man, dressed in heavy plate, stood at attention on the other side. The faces were blurry, jumbled, and every time Aedin tried to focus on their features, the scene would shift, and he couldn’t quite figure out who he was seeing.

“There is a good chance a student coming to visit here shortly will need to be expelled,” the old man said, keeping his gaze strictly on the notebook beneath him. He sounded muffled, like he was talking underwater. “If his removal is necessary, I’ll signal you as he leaves. Do you understand?”

“It shall be done, sir,” the armored man said.

“He will probably have an early dismissal. His brother will be with him, so take a few of your men and see to it that they don’t run into any trouble on the road,” the old man responded. “Those Vael’Strix are nasty beasts, who knows who they’ll attack next.”

The last few words began to trail before everything in sight moved downward in one swift blur. Aedin had to close his eyes to keep from vomiting, but when he opened them, an entirely new scene was in view: Aeris and Eloric, walking side-by-side through the forest on the route home. The sun was still high, though, which means they should have still been at Lyceum for another few hours. He had to hold back a flash of annoyance.

Do you understand? Aedin remembered the words coming from the old man’s mouth, like poison from a snake. Surely, though, Aeris and Eloric couldn’t have gotten into that much trouble. Who could they have pissed off so badly they’d both be expelled? Aeris had a big mouth, but he would never be so obtuse as to openly insult someone with that kind of power... would he?

Aedin yelled to them, at a volume he was sure they’d hear at this distance. But... nothing came, his voice was muffled. What the hell is happening, Aedin thought. Aedin took another step forward as something in his peripheral caught his eye: five fully armored and armed guards, following his siblings closely. The Althalite colors displayed prominently throughout their uniforms. To Aedin’s surprise, they moved remarkably silent, despite donning heavier gear than anyone in Somnare would ever have access to. Then, he saw it, the Althalite hand command for attack, which he had seen months ago when he ran into a group of them clumsily wading through the forest on a hunt. Aedin felt a tight snap, and his body whirled through what felt like the entire continent in only a second.

As he woke, the scenes of his brothers were foggy, like any dreams fades into memory, but a very real, very painful sting had just erupted from his face. He opened his eyes to see Breka, covered in blood and dirt and bruises, yelling at him to wake.

“You idiot...” Breka said, falling into his chest and pouring tears onto his leathers. “I told you... I told you to fucking wait...”

A wave of guilt cut deep in his chest, deeper than anything the visera had caused.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered quietly, completely pathetic as she weeped into his chest. If he had listened, they might not have ended up where they had, they might not have been killed by...

Stolen novel; please report.

“We’re alive,” Aedin whispered. “But... how?”

Breka looked over his shoulder and nodded toward the gruesome scene behind him. A snow white Vael’Strix stood atop two visera corpses. Its beak was onyx, broken only by the deep emerald blood coming from its prey. Aedin watched as the Vael’Strix effortlessly dismembered them limb by limb, moving in sharp, calculated thrusts and pulls. Aedin lifted himself from the ground, and in doing so, snapped a branch beneath the weight of his foot.

The Vael’Strix snapped to Aedin, staring him down with a set of glowing white eyes. A flash of his dream returned, the signal to attack his brothers, before a high, airy voice entered his mind.

“Go to them,” it said. It was a command, not a suggestion. “At your home. Now.”

And suddenly, Aedin understood. He hadn’t just dreamt about the old man, the guards, and his brothers. Aedin had dreamwalked, courtesy of the Vael’Strix that saved his life, and if that were true, then it meant Aeris and Eloric...

Aedin ran, leaving behind Breka as she screamed for him to come back. It was fine, she was safe. The Vael’Strix was with her, and he had no choice but to believe it would keep her out of harm for now.

He kept running. He focused on the rhythm of his legs, putting one foot in front of the other. He reached out to the Tether and let out a sigh of relief as the connection responded. His body lightened, his muscles tensed, allowing him to drastically pick up his pace. Moments later, he was running faster than he ever had before. A moment more and he was moving faster than he ever thought possible. Branches blurred in his vision as he passed through them, dodging most but taking scrapes and gouges on the arm whenever necessary to maintain momentum.

The power of the Vael’Strix coursed through his body like a drug. He had never felt this strong of a connection to the Tether before; it was euphoric, but he didn’t have time to take it in. He reached deeper into the connection, desperate, hoping that his body became even lighter, even faster. He needed to get to them as soon as possible. It was midday when he saw them in the dreamwalk, and it was sunset now. The math propelled him even further, and his body started to revolt against the movement. His wounds shot pain throughout his entire body as they ripped longer with every stride. He ignored it. It’s just pain, he thought to himself.

As he leaped over a large pond, he looked down momentarily, and he could have swore he saw his eyes glowing a hot white. Doesn’t matter.

At this rate, he might just make it in time... he might be able to save them. The forest around him became increasingly more familiar as he started to think about what scene might be waiting for him. Thoughts of his brothers, Eloric dead on the ground or Aeris somewhere lifeless in the forest filled his head, and his glowing eyes started to tear. Faster, he thought, wiping his eyes clear. Faster. Faster. Faster.

Soon, the outline of his house came into sight, and he could hear screaming coming from outside of his shed, which looked like it had been disassembled entirely. It was Eloric. He took one final leap, clearing a large stretch of forest and the entirety of their house in a single thrust. Just let them be alive, please, he thought.

As he flew through the air, he suddenly felt like every fiber of his body was being branded by a hot iron. Every muscle wretched in pain, as though they were being split entirely in half at the seams. Aedin pushed through, focusing on landing directly in front of Eloric, who was on his back, facing the four men. He had an old wheat scythe that had been sitting at the back of the shed for years, and had it pointed toward the man closest to him. When Aedin’s legs finally made contact with the ground, the soft earth beneath him pummeled up and splashed around him. When it settled, there were four armed guards brandishing swords almost perfectly upward toward him.