AETHER BEASTS

Chapter 213

Sandra was lying on her bed when I entered the room, and looked to be in a state of peaceful slumber, however on closer inspection she was far too still, and the only sign of movement was the erratic rising and falling of her chest. It was not a smooth rise and fall, but like she was struggling to breathe.

I quickly approached the bed, followed by Misty as the lost queen's focus turned to Sandra.

"Don't touch her," the queen snapped when I went to lay a hand on her forehead. "Let me out."

I hesitated, but only for a moment. The next the lost queen manifested beside me, and I stepped back as she gazed down at Sandra. She looked just like she had the last time I had let her out. Porcelain skin and dark eyes deeper than any pit. She was beautiful and striking, not at all like one might think if they only knew her by her personality. Her pointed ears looked like the fae I had seen though slightly different, and her onyx hair contracted with the pale blue dress she wore, the color of ice.

The very air in the room seemed to still in her presence, and I was keenly aware of just how powerful she was. The only reason I had won last time was because of my divine power, not my own capabilities. Without that and the fact she was my bonded, she could likely obliterate me right here and now.

"Wow," I heard Misty breathe as she looked at the queen. "Is that her?'

I nodded as the lost queen sneered and lowered a hand to Sandra's forehead. Due to the fact, that her mind was the mental equivalent of being naked I could tell her sneer was not directed at the Sandra, but something whiting her. I tried to use my arcane sense to detect what and checked our bond, but I could sense nothing wrong. Just a feeling of quiet and like everything was normal.

"Like a mask," I muttered.

I felt through my bond with the lost queen as she directed a drop of her power into Sandra. I whistled internally What she considered a drop would be a large lake for others. The power moved and began to weave itself around Sandra's mind, creating a shell before some of it split off and began to strike at something.

"What is it?" I asked aloud, my question not really directed at anyone.

"Strings," the lost queen replied, and her sneer was gone, replaced by a worried look, though it was not directed at whatever she was cleansing from Sandra's mind.

"So something is wrong with her then?" Misty asked.

"There is," The lost queen said. "Though not for much longer. I didn't expect this, but I shouldn't be surprised they would send someone."

"You know who did this?" I asked.

The lost queen shook her head. "No, but I do know what did this, now no more questions. Let me focus. Whoever did this, formed it in such a way that getting rid of it would leave the person with permanent damage. They probably assume there's no one skilled enough to break it completely."

"And you can?"

She turned and raised her chin. "Whoever did this is but a soldier compared to me, a queen. Now, no more questions!"

I nodded and watched with Misty as the lost queen worked on Sandra. I could tell through her bond that she was getting rid of something, but I couldn't for the life of me sense it. At least not with my arcane senses.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Misty asked mentally. "Can we trust her?"

"For this, yes," I replied, considering what all of this meant. Someone or something had placed something under some sort of mental influence which might very well be the cause of her odd behavior, and the bet, but why?

Had it been Kai or a member of the Umbrin? The way the lost queen spoke made it sound like it was something she was familiar with.

In the middle of my musings, the door opened, and Zirani stepped in, looking angry. She spotted the lost queen and turned her gaze to Sandra. She slumped in relief then motioned me and Misty over to her.

I approached warily, and Zirani must have understood why. "It's gone."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Whatever was in my head is gone," Zirani said. "I broke it a minute after you sent the first message about Sandra. I was already on my way back.."

"Do you know what it was?"

She shook her head. "Not really. It was a nasty little thing, tired to leave a scar as it went. It didn't work, luckily, but it was like a sharp string. It was too dull however to do any real damage to my mind and all it took was some aether and an excursion of will to get rid of it. It was a bit difficult since I couldn't sense it with arcane sense. Luckily, I didn't need to as I do possess other senses and natural abilities that other races do not. I flooded aether in and flushed it out. it's clear that something is at play that we were not aware of. Whatever it was, it was not made out of aether, at least not any form I have ever seen before. In fact-"

Zirani glanced at the lost queen. "It was very much like her power."

"Well she's clearly familiar with it," I said. "She said as much. In any case, we need to wait for her to finish helping Sandra, and then we can ask some questions. Honestly, I'm surprised she's helping us in this."

"Perhaps she's made her choice," Zirani muttered under head breath before shaking her head and turning to Misty. "And you?"

Misty shrugged. "I don't think whatever it was had affected me or else the queen over they would have said so, and well, I haven't been acting strangely the past few hours."

"Zirani, do you think this is why she made the bet?" I asked.

"Yes and no," Zirani said. "I think it pushed her to make the decision. It might have been an outlandish idea in her head that she would never acutely do, but the strings took hold, and well, here we are, though I do think this is the Umbrin's doing. They could be lying, but they seemed shocked when she made the suggestion and this power is foreign, not to mention we never made a binding oath, and while I'm not one to break agreements, something like this might make me do so. I won't rule them out though"

Zirani turned to me. "You still want to fight?"

I frowned, but before I could reply, there was a loud cough, and we all turned to see Sandra sitting up, with a hand over her mouth, coughing loudly.

I rushed over and the lost queen made way. She felt clammy, but a quick check through the bond confirmed that she was ok. I glanced over at the queen and nodded gradually. She simply stared at me for a long moment before disappearing and heading back into her core.

"What happened?" Sandra shook her head and blinked several times.

"What do you remember?" Zirani asked.

"After our talk, I got a headache and decides to rest." She frowned. "I don't remember falling asleep."

"Is that all?"

She nodded then pressed a hand to her head and winced. "My head hurts."

"So does mine," Zirani said. "But it would pass. It seems something snuck a bit of power into our heads and embossed with our minds, though it was worse for you than me. I'm not sure what their reason was, at least not comply, but it might explain a few things."

"Like the mental shroud?" Sandra asked.

"Sort of," Zirani answered. "But the power was not dream aether, and it didn't shroud our minds or change any memories or as such, but instead smaller things. Sandra, do you remember the bet?"

She nodded. "I-I do."

"And what do you think of it?" I questioned.

She frowned. "It was a stupid thing to do, but I…"

Her words trailed off as a visible look of confusion appeared on her face. "I don't remember why I did it."

"Then we know one of the reasons at least," Zirani said. "And it could lead us to whoever did this. It could be the Kai or someone on his side, or someone planted these strings beforehand and used them at the right time."

"Which would mean someone was watching nearby or it had to be someone there," Misty said.

"Not quite," Zirani said. 'We don't understand this power. It could have activated on some sort of trigger or might have allowed someone to watch from a long-distance away. There are a lot of possibilities, and lucky for us we can narrow it down. I know you can hear me, lost queen. This isn't over, come back out."