Guardians and Bonds
(This chapter goes back in time, before Doya set out in search of Dana)
Enjoy :)
Doya's POV
I stood at the edge of the chamber, blood drying stiff against my ribs. I reached for the Veil again, but it refused me. It had never happened before.
I had been trying for days but the Veil had rejected me every single time.
I thought it was the injury, but I'd already healed enough to move through the strain of the Veil.
I tried one more time, and the force hit me and threw me to the floor. My breath seized from my lungs, iron flooding my mouth.
I lay there, stunned, staring at the ceiling.
I forced myself up, ignoring my shaky hands. I pressed my palm to my chest, trying to calm myself.
"You tried to cross," a voice said quietly.
I turned.
Ascend Kaelric stood near the entrance, looking at me like I was a mess.
"I've crossed injured before," I croaked. "This isn't new."
"No," he agreed. "But that is."
He stepped closer. His eyes focused on my shaking hands, then to my chest, then my face.
"The Veil didn't reject you," he said. "Your power did."
My stomach dropped. "That's not possible. I'm doing everything right."
He didn't argue. Instead, he asked, "Who were you trying to reach?"
I said nothing.
It was forbidden to abandon my duties as High Bound.
"You should not leave your responsibilities behind, Doya," Kaelric said. "The burden of a High Bound is not one to forsake."
I remained silent. If only he knew what really mattered to me.
"I see you have a bond with the Guardian," he said. "Every Guardian before her was tethered to someone. And Dana..." He tilted his head. "She appears to be tethered to you."
How did he know? Even I did not fully understand the connection I shared with her.
"That explains it," he said quietly.
"Explains what?" I demanded.
"You should not be carrying this much residual force," he said. "Not without consequence."
"I'm not carrying anything," I responded.
He hesitated, then shook his head once.
"That," he said, "is what makes it dangerous."
My brows drew together.
"What's happening to me?" I asked.
Kaelric's eyes dragged over me. Then he spoke.
"Dana is drawing closer to the Cranium." He paused, looking away. "Initially, whenever she exhumed power, the residual energy flowed to you. But the tether is fraying."
My heart dropped.
"Power moves within her," he went on. "Whether she can control it or not, you are tethered to the current of it. The excess feeds you."
My eyes remained wide open, I couldn't blink.
"It amplifies you," he continued. "It strengthens you beyond what your frame should be able to contain."
"And?" I pressed.
"When she reaches the Cranium and becomes fully tethered to it, that current will sever." His voice lowered. "You will lose your source."
My source?
Dana is my source?
"What happens to me when I lose it?" I asked.
He did not answer. The faint concern on his face was really disturbing.
"What happened to the bonds of the previous Guardians?" I asked again, hardening my voice. "Tell me."
"What happened to them does not matter," he said. "The only thing that matters is that she reaches the Cranium." He stepped closer. "Even if it requires a great sacrifice."
My heart jolted at the word sacrifice. I did not know what to think. Dana's mission mattered. The world depended on it. But the thought that it might cost me my life...
"Clean yourself up and return to your duties," Kaelric commanded, already turning away.
I remained on the floor long after he left. It felt like my life was quietly falling apart.
Over the next few days, sleep abandoned me. During the day, I lost my focus, even while on duty. High Bound Dorasmus began to notice. At times, I felt Dana calling for me. I tried to pass through the Veil again and again, but each rejection weakened me more.
It was torture. Feeling her, knowing her fear, and her pain, and being unable to do anything.
Sometimes her location flashed in my mind when I felt her. She was in the north. I was certain of it. But leaving the Temple was impossible.
Then one day, during a meeting with the other Bound, it happened again.
I felt her, but this time it was violent.
Cold spread through my limbs as my body began to shake. Whatever Kaelric had warned me about, it was getting worse.
I needed a solution.
After the meeting, I went straight to the archives.
Many scrolls were restricted, especially those concerning Guardians, but my rank granted me access. I rifled through brittle parchment and fading ink. It took me about three days before I found it.
An old scroll, buried under the dust and spider webs.
Guardians and Bonds.
I carried it to a table and read carefully, line by line. Near the end, a drawing caught my attention. An urn. According to the text, it could store residual energy, sustaining those tethered to a Guardian after their source began to fade. It had bought previous bonds time.
I still found no record of what happened to them. I suspected the truth, but I refused to name it.
I rolled the scroll shut and made my way to the temple's reliquary. I saw the urn, matching the illustration from the scroll. It was medium sized, etched with unfamiliar symbols.
I lifted it and eased the lid open.
The air that came out of it rushed into me. I gasped, startled by how alive I suddenly felt.
Someone else's residual energy, I guessed.
I sealed the urn and kept it close.
When I returned to my quarters, I hid it well and began planning to leave the Temple. I had to find a way to reach Dana.
When the time finally came, and everything was in place, I saddled my horse. I placed the urn inside my satchel. I packed food, a water container, and a small pouch of coins.
That night, I rode toward the Temple gates. The guards on night watch spotted me approaching from the distance.
"Who's there?" one of them called.
"I am High Bound Doya. A mission has been set before me. Open the gates and allow me passage," I ordered.
The guards didn't hesitate. They knew better than to delay a High Bound. The gates rose, and I passed through. If the Ascend learned I had left, I would already be far gone.
I rode through the night without rest. Sleep had become a stranger ever since the bond began to fray. Some nights I camped, leaning against my horse. Other nights, I rode forward, refusing to stop. Days later, I reached the seaport and boarded a ship heading north.
The sea journey was brutal and lasted days. I hardly stayed above deck. It was too cold, I thought I would die before getting to my destination.
We finally arrived at the northern docks. I grabbed my horse and stepped off the ship. The winter air hit me. Snow covered the docks. I got on my horse and rode for the nearest settlement.
Hopefully, there was an inn nearby.
I found one, tied my horse out front, and paid for a room.
Morning came and to my surprise... my horse was gone.
I sighed, went back inside, and paid for another night.
Day by day, I siphoned small portions of my energy into the urn, just enough to keep myself standing. It drained me more than I liked, but it was necessary. It bought me time.
The next morning, I started looking again. I had no clue where Dana was, I just knew that I was closer. I moved through the markets, scanning faces, not really paying attention to anything, when I saw it.
A poster.
Her face and Kumbuye's face stared back at me.
A bounty?
I exhaled slowly. She had gotten herself into trouble again.
I tore the poster down, folded it, and slipped it into my satchel. My skin had grown dry, my hands were pale, the winter was killing me.
By sundown, I felt her again. The pull was intense, her location appeared in my mind once more, but I was exhausted, my steps were dragging as I moved through the narrowing streets. I found a quiet corner and sat, cutting a small portion from the bread I'd bought earlier and tucking the rest into my bag.
As the sky turned dark, it happened again.
This time, I saw her in the forest.
I stood immediately and followed it. I pushed through the trees, moving as fast as my body could. Smoke rose in the distance, and I pushed forward, until I saw her.
My breath caught as I moved closer, I actually did it. I actually found her.
She was crouched beside Kumbuye.
"D-Dana." I whispered.