30.

I had fallen asleep again, because the next time my eyes opened the room was bright; sun pouring through the small window high above the bed. I sat up and found Alvar gone, the sheets cold beside me. Smiling, I found a neatly folded pile of clothes at the end of the bed and a strange looking fruit. I slid the clothes on; a black long sleave and long black pants, and threw my new biker jacket over the top. It took me five minutes to get all my weapons together in the right places, but the smile did not fall from my mouth. Although I was hungry, I still felt more energised than ever before and the extra weight brought by the horns didn't seem to have an effect.

Plucking the spiky pink fruit from the bed that resembled the shape of a banana, I wondered if the alien food would have any effect on me now that I had absorbed most of The Anima's power. I decided I would heal if it brought me any issues and began to peel it. The inside was blue and fluffy and tasted like pomegranate and apple juice. Moaning into the fruit, I went in search for another; pulling open the door of the bedroom. Immediately, I was lost. The hallways were filled with the same blackness as before and it was impossible to tell which way would lead me down to the throne room. Just as I was about to give up, I realised there was something I needed to try. Breathing deep, I opened my mind.

It was like unlocking a door with a brand new key; something inside me just clicked. As soon as it was open, the door to my powers, I knew exactly where to go. My body had already made a map of the entire building, and knew which hallways led where, which rooms held who. There was a red dot high up in the castle; my other half was eating breakfast in the company of her hound. Alvar and Lucius were down in the throne room, discussing the current predicament we were stuck in. Lucy was with other creatures, including her own kind, somewhere high in the tower. And I didn't need my new abilities to know Beast flew above the city capital, scouting for his food. To him I sent an image of my horns and shattering the mirror. Feeing him laugh suddenly, he sent back an image of The Anima's horns and a knowing thought of how much I had absorbed.

"Should we test them out later?"I asked him as I headed down a flight of stairs approaching the throne room.

"I believe Ly has already organised a space for you to train them up before you two are linked." He grumbled, feeling like his duties were somehow being taken away from him.

"Don't worry," I laughed through our bond, "there are some things we must work out together, some things even she can't explain."

I felt him nod as we both retreat into our own thoughts, thinking of the ways our bond may have changed.

I drifted through the halls, automatically turning this way and that way until I had reached my destination. There was no glass wall between the throne room and the main room anymore; the threat averted of the two First Plane Fae. Sitting on the chairs of one of the many tables now propped around the throne, Alvar and Lucius were locked in conversation. When my feet made a light patter on the ground, both men shot up in their seats.

"Nice to see you, Horney." Lucius grinned, wagging his eyebrows at me.

"Call me that again and I'll gladly gut you with these horns, Lucius." I flashed my teeth at him and he flinched.

I snickered under my breath, enjoying feeling a slight pitch of fear and concern in his emotions before they disappeared again. Suddenly, I grinned, realising I could feel his emotions without his consent. Without thinking it over, I pushed a small amount of my power towards Lucius, attempting to reach a direct mental link with him. Instead, the faerie suddenly flew backwards, crashing over the table before toppling to the ground.

My hand shot over my mouth as I stared in horror. Alvar began to laugh, leaving Lucius to get up on his own.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know I could do that." I stammered, trying to fight the tiny smile growing on my lips as Alvar continued to laugh.

"Don't apologise!" Alvar howled and shoved Lucius back to the ground before he could get up.

Lucius tackled Alvar with a cry and the two began to wrestle; Alvar laughing and Lucius angrily trying to gain the upper hand.

"While I'm glad you are all relaxed," Ly entered the room, her power flowing in an invisible black mass around her, "we have work to do."

Alvar and Lucius broke apart, smiles gone. I wondered briefly how she had descended the tower so quickly. When Ly turned away, Alvar snickered. Lucius punched him. Rolling my eyes, I followed after her, ready to explore the new power that had managed to throw a member of the Kings White Guard across the room.

"I have arranged a space for you to experiment with your powers for the next few weeks. And an elder of magic will visit every morning to give you a task." Ly spoke as she pushed open the doors that led into a burnt field out the back of the castle.

"Weeks? Don't we need to get out of here?" I asked, concerned.

"Yes, we do. But I have seen the outcomes if you do not train, and in order for us to be successful you must strengthen before we attempt to be successfully bound. Otherwise, the force we need to use will rebound and destroy this plane completely."

She was matter of fact about it, which only made the concept of imminent failure more terrifying.

"Great," I said sarcastically under my breath.

"It will all be fine so long as you train every day and don't slack off."

Ly stopped in front of a small section of the field, the grass cleared in a circle. When she raised her hand, two large Wraiths materialised.

"These two will get you whatever you require as I am busy today. I still have most of the survivors housed in the castle, and it's beginning to become overcrowded. Have your gryphon help you today as well. And please, only call me if you are in desperate need."

Ly's lips were pressed together, none of her words forming a question. I simply nodded, not wanting to make her angry. It was strange, not knowing how my darker self would respond to given situations. I could only assume what would piss me off would do the same to her also, so noted to shy away from any annoying behaviours. Alvar and Lucius had stopped behind us and were staring at the Wraiths with a mixture of disgust and curiosity. Ly nodded and turned to go.

"Wait!" I called, she turned with a raised brow, "is all the food safe to eat here? I was only allowed to eat certain things before, and I'm starved."

"I imagine the latest development of your strength will keep you from dying if you eat our food. But stick to what the cooks give you, and don't ask for seconds. Lots of people are starving here, especially those that don't feed like we do."

Smiling tightly, she turned and was gone; stalking back towards her castle. I crinkled my nose just thinking about the kind of things some of the creatures ate. I knew some in the First Plane ate all kinds of horrendous things, including humans, and wondered if it was the same for the Shadows. But the thought of people starving killed the small itches of hunger in my gut, and would keep the sensation at bay for hours.

Beast landed heavily on the other side of the field, blood on his mouth. He had killed a rodent; one of the less developed shadow species, and didn't like the taste. The sun reflected off his shiny golden feathers as he approached, refracting tiny rays of light onto the burnt brown grass. I smiled. Beast rammed his head softly into my stomach, waiting for a scratch on his neck.

"I have come to assist you."

A man in a long black robe materialised in the centre of the clearing. I jumped back and Beast surged forwards to create a barrier. The man waved at Beast, unaffected by his aggressive stance, twinkling his fingers. Lucius snorted, earning him a wink from the black robed man. Alvar looked at me sideways, a smile playing on his lips.

"Today we will focus on the bond between you too and your healing powers." He gestured to Beast and I, waving his fingers about like he was sprinkling fairy dust.

Beast swung around to my other side, his big head nudging my side as we both stared at the cloaked old man. We shared our unease; both thinking the man would have a crooked sense of reality with those mannerisms.

"You two should practice your combat training," he addressed Alvar and Lucius with a clap of his hands, "I believe your own space has been cleared for you over there." He flicked his fingers in a general direction and turned back to Beast and I.

Alvar stifled a laugh and shrugged, shoving Lucius in the direction the crazy man had pointed and kissing my cheek. I lifted my hand in a half wave and smiled. Lucius made a kissing face. Alvar slapping him for it.

"We will test your ability to heal on your creature." The elder grinned and rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Then we will do some other bond tests. If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm the one whose supposed to teach you how to control your new powers!"

"And how would you know anything about them?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, I used to be the assistant of both the late Umbra and The Anima, while they were still joined. I am the first fire fey." He bowed, low and graceful. I was taken back, considering his age and ability he would have been one of the most powerful beings within all worlds. Despite his behaviour, his years of experience earned him respect. "Now, back to your power."

The Elder reminded me of my dad whenever new evidence of "aliens" was found. Immediately, he would jump into his work with such enthusiasm that the world around him would be forgotten. Including his children. This elder was looking at me like I was his new evidence, something to work on to distract him from the crumbling world he was stuck in. I figured, for the time being, there was no harm in indulging this man, especially if it would help break fix the broken world.

"What are you suggesting?" I looked at the man cautiously, mulling over the meaning of his words in my head.

"I mean we should cut off one of your Gryphons toes so you can remake it." I laughed nervously; perhaps the smoke in this realm had gotten to his head. He was totally insane.

"You are not cutting off his toes."

"I don't think it's up to you." The old man pointed to Beast who had already willingly outstretched his foot towards the man.

"Beast! You are not letting him cut off your toe! We don't even know who the hell he is!" I demanded, wanting to kick him up the side for being so unreasonable.

"I trust you. You can make it grow back." He tilted his head and projected his emotions: trust, loyalty, and determination. "Besides, I believe he knows what he is doing."

"Okay," I said aloud. I sighed, and said to Beast, "but don't blame me if it doesn't grow back and you end up missing your pinkie."

The elder grinned and began to mutter under his breath. His hand snapped out and a large blade materialised out of the air.

"Whoa," I took a step back, holding my hands out in front of me. The thing was way too large to simply cut off a toe.

"Don't worry!" The man waved the blade at me and began towards Beast.

"Just, be careful!" I nibbled my cheek nervously.

Beast gave the man his right paw and turned his head away from the blade. In one swift motion, the man cut off one of Beasts toes, throwing it to the side before the blood could spurt onto his clothing. Beast wined quietly and closed his eyes, but didn't jerk or move from his spot on the ground.

My heart jolted and the gold thread of magic binding our souls throbbed. Without my command, it lashed out and held onto the injured cord. Although I was not touching Beast, or commanding my magic, his toe quickly regrew. The bone and muscle quickly mended, sporting a brand new shiny claw at its centre. I placed my hand on Beasts' hind to steady myself.

The elder began to laugh.

"Oh! Oh! This is just perfect. I bet you could do so much more than just a little toe! Look! You can do something that small just on instinct! Oh! This is amazing."

He started forwards, blade raised as he reapproached Beast. The Gryphon lifted his head lazily, as if very sleepy, and stared at me happily.

"What, so you're just going to keep cutting his limbs off?" I shouted, watching in horror as Beast prepared his leg for amputation.

"Essentially, yes." The elder said, raising the cleaver above his head.

Before I could scream, Beast's paw was sliced from his limb, crimson blood spurting from the gaping wound. My mouth fell open and my head began to pound. The Gryphons emotions swarmed over me; pain, anger, concern, and determination. Beast didn't move, he watched as the blood pooled put beneath him. Alvar and Lucius broke away from their sword fight to stare at the furry dismembered paw. My magic didn't act automatically this time, the task either too complicated or sensitive for it to work immediately.

"Well don't just stand there!" The elder yelled, waving the bloody cleaver at me.

I unfroze, running the few steps forward and collapsing next to Beast. His determination flashed in my mind, fuelling my own. I knew he believed in me and that was enough to give me the confidence I lacked. Carefully, I brought his bloody leg into my lap, wincing as he fidgeted under my touch. Placing both hands around the bloody stump, I dug inside me to find the golden thread that connected our life forces. It glowed, anticipating the flood of power I gradually feed into it. The thread coiled around the power, growing stronger. Behind my eyelids, I examined its length to find the broken link. I found the frayed piece and began to carefully glue each fibre back together.

Beneath my fingers, the paw began to regrow. First came the bone, the spindly ones poking sharply into my palm. Beast twitched, but pain no longer flowed in the brain waves shared between us. Then came the muscles, the nerves and the tendons, fibres knitting together slowly. Like a glove, the skin grew over next, sprouting the dark fur that covered most of Beasts body.

Completed, Beasts new foot was an exact replica of the one lying in a bloody mess on the ground, down to the very placement of fur colours. I sat back with a sigh, covered in browning blood. Beast sat up, testing the strength of his new foot and nudged me with his head. He gave me a look like I had just given him a bag of his favourite lollies, tongue poking out from his beak playfully. I laughed and shoved his face away, suddenly very exhausted. There was perhaps only so many limbs I could create in a day.

We spent the rest of the afternoon testing how far we could travel before losing our mental connection, but no matter how far he flew we always seemed to be able to speak. The further away, the smaller and quieter his voice got, but it was still there, right in the front of my mind. Our lunch break was only a half hour, but we were given enough fruit to satisfy us all. Beast refused the food and demanded we start back up again, and this time try to push each other out of our minds.

Alvar and Lucius had finished an hour earlier and began to watch our display, sitting on the side of the cleared circle. Lucius had taken it upon himself to throw half joking insults at the Elder magician. Alvar shouted half words of encouragement and mockery in the same breath each time I groaned with agitation. I could block Beast if I tried hard enough, but he could not shut me out. Each time he tried, the power only got stronger; desperate to keep our connection alive.

When the man finally called the experimental day off, I tackled Alvar to the ground. I laughed as we crashed into the grass, his lips clumsily finding mine. I giggled against his skin, falling happily against his body, revelling in the way we fitted together.

Lucius grunted and moved away. Beast landed with a thud on the other side of the field, snapping his jaws in exhaustion. Alvar broke away from kissing my neck to stare into my eyes. Reaching up, he grabbed my horns and pulled me down, our noses touching lightly. Neither of us moved; our eyes locked. I wandered through the map of his eyes, lost in the darkness of his iris'. I didn't want the moment to end.

"Sorry to barge on in," Ly's voice broke through the tranquillity of the moment, shattering the state of happiness that had solidified over our bodies, "but my patrols have picked up a disturbance at the border. It seems one of the old portals is killing the earth around it."

"What the hell does that mean?" I sat up from Alvar's lap, rising to meet my doppelgängers gaze.

"It means the few weeks you have to adjust just turned into a few days. We have to bond as soon as possible or this entire Plane will implode."

- end of part 3 -

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Hey guys! Part three is done!

How are you feeling about the overall development?

If there is anything you have found confusing/found any plot holes in this part, be sure to let me know so I can fix it in the future :)

Comment your thoughts!

Vote if you enjoyed :)

xx Charli