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About an hour later, I finally succumbed to my need to rest, though I was unwilling to admit it to my companions, who came to a halt beside me.
I felt so lost. Not because I didn’t know my destination—far from it—but because my mind was a mess. My nocs were attached to me, for better or for worse. Finally, I was confronted with the worst aspect of this odd arrangement.
Unfortunately, there was no way to carry out my covert mission for the empire with the loyal servants of our sworn enemy by my side. So, I had to think!
“What’s wrong, Sun?” Clem, the weakest of my tethered companions, asked again, clicking nervously as I thumped my head against the trunk of a sturdy tree, trying to knock some sense into my sluggish mind.
“I just need a second to breathe,” I lied, trying to fight through my exhaustion, knowing we would need to make camp for the night sooner rather than later.
“You’ll hurt yourself if you keep banging your head against the tree,” Kiar stated the obvious, his mismatched eyes gleaming like gemstones in the fading light.
“My heart aches more than my head,” I replied as I finally slid down to the ground to take a break.
The cold hard ground offered little reprieve, but I could not keep my eyes open a second longer.
Crossing his arms, Bracken knelt until he was eye level with me, humming, the vibration jolting me wide awake. Rubbing his chin, he nodded towards Clem and then Kiar.
“Poor thing. I told you I’d carry you. Tomorrow morning, I won’t allow you to refuse me. Kiar, I think our pet needs water. And food,” Bracken declared after some time observing me.
I raised an eyebrow in confusion until Clem folded into me, obviously weary as he clung to my robes. He pulled on my left sleeve, sucking the tip, and I realized he was hungry.
They probably all were, seeing as they had solid bodies once more. I acknowledged the gnawing ache rumbling in my own stomach for the first time. I was starving.
“Should we hunt?” I asked though I knew I’d have trouble catching a termite with a twig in my weakened state.
“I’m not sure that’s wise in your condition. Rest a while, and we’ll decide later,” Kiar commanded, curling his tail until it acted as a chair on which he could rest.
Kiar sat to my right as Bracken lifted Clem and me into his lap, stroking us both simultaneously on our backs as if we were pets of sorts or small children. Tucked into his fur, I was too warm to protest the intimate treatment.
I nodded off, awakening with a foggy mind, trying to shake away my embarrassment at being attended to by nocs.
Atlan, Jia, Tao, and a few other men escaped the prison. Surely more had evaded the rats, but I would suffer death before I allowed a fellow soldier to see me colluding with nocs again.
Or worse, snuggling with them, as I was doing now. The image of Atlan’s absolute disgust was still burned into my mind and made my heart heavier than it already was.
I didn’t know how long we stayed like that, bundled up in Bracken’s embrace with Kiar guarding us, pretending to be unbothered, as the batbeast held us.
But I could tell something was wrong with Kiar, his expression stormy, mood even worse as his gaze kept flicking to me, then Bracken’s arms, and then back to me. But I paid him no mind, more concerned with not being cold. However, after enough warmth sunk into my bones, I regrew my backbone and struggled out of his embrace.
Bracken let me down, huffing as they all turned their undivided attention to me.
Well, that was good because my wits were finally returning to me. If Clem had made this bond, he could undo it. I faced him, raising my chin resolutely.
“Clem, it’s time now,” I murmured, unable to look him in his solid black eyes, fists balled at my sides.
“Time for what?” he asked in a measured tone, and I knew he knew what I was after.
“It is time for me to be free. For you all to be freed from me,” I responded, my eyes locked on my frozen toes, hesitating before I continued. “It is time to break the tether, Clem.”
After a prolonged silence, I finally looked up at them. Bracken and Kiar eyed me curiously, a bit of concern gleaming from their narrowed eyes while Clem’s face was a veil of dismay.
“I’m… we’re not strong enough yet! The spell can only work when th-the vessel is stable,” Clem said, leaping from Bracken’s lap and clutching me with all four of his hands. “Let’s think about it some more in the morning…”
I felt like it was a lie, but who was I to argue with him? I was not a court magician. What I knew of magic was bestowed knowledge from those much more experienced than I.
Still, there had to be something we could do in the interim that wouldn’t involve me leading myself into a trap, putting myself at a disadvantage, against four nocs with the ultimate prize between us.
“During the battle, we were stronger when we fought…” Kiar offered, pausing, eyes darkening as he slithered beside me in a flash.
