Ender slapped his hand away, croaking out, “What do you mean it was meant to be?!”
“I don’t think there is anything to explain. It’s time for you to come with me, Ender. I’ll take you to where you belong.”
His body started to tremble for a whole other reason than the cold. The man’s words planted a small seed of hatred inside him that bloomed rapidly, growing with each second that passed. “Y-you knew…”
“I did what I had to do to guide you to the place where you belong, with me. And youwillbe coming.”
The beat of his heart thudded in his head, his rage beating down the devastation, as Ender let out an enraged hiss. “I’ll kill you!”
His fangs dropped when Halus grabbed his arm and dragged him up against his body. As the taste of poison filled his mouth, he tried to strike, but between one blink and thenext, he was suddenly no longer outside. The room he was in was dark, but he could see well enough from the bed he was now lying on. It had gray walls and a wooden floor, along with wooden nightstands, and deep-violet covers were over top of him. There were also two doors, one that notably had a series of locks along one side of it, marking it clearly as his cell door.
Ender’s vision spun with the jarring shift of reality, the throbbing of his heart growing louder in his head with his still rising and present rage.
As he realized he was now clean and bandaged, his clothes changed, and his healing days old, not hours, his hatred boiled over. Ender lunged from the bed, straight towards the locked door of his prison, clawing at it as he roared, “I’LL KILL YOU! I’LL KILL?—”
Ender’seyes snapped open as a scream wrenched its way out of his mouth. The sound kept coming, with the agony rocking his body. It felt as if his rage had claws, and it was shredding through him. And then it was.
Ender’s mind fell away while his body stretched and grew. The scream soon turned monstrous, echoing around the cell he was contained in.
Soren snapped awake,tears filling his eyes when a too familiar screeching roar reached his ears. The sound was likely causing terror to everyone else who heard it, but all Sorenfelt was utterly devastated… As that was what was surely to come…devastation…
“Ender…” he rasped in despair.
Shaking his head, Soren forced himself to get up, and with only pajama bottoms on, he ran out of his room. Rushing to the bridge, he reached it just as Kore did. Soren didn’t even acknowledge the Electric Elemental while he activated the rigged alarm they’d set up between the three ships for emergencies.
As the ringing started, he went right up to Kore, who’d either had taken time to attach the communicator or slept with it, and pressed the button on his collar to connect to the PA system. “Protocol Last Stand activated. This will be your only warning.”
“What do we do?” Kore rasped.
He met the Cryptid’s worried light-gray eyes, and stated honestly, “Try not to die.”
With that said, Soren sprinted back the way he’d come, starting to yell orders at anyone he passed, as more and more people rushed from their rooms.
Cyrus joltedback to consciousness at the sound of an alarm going off, his ears picking up shouting and screaming in the distance soon afterwards. Beyond that, there was also a sound that he couldn’t place, one that sent a shiver down his spine.
He met Killian’s startled gaze for a moment, before they both stumbled out of bed. He pulled a shirt on, and then followedKillian—who only had on one of his oversized T-shirts—out into the hall.
Running barefoot down the hall, people in various states of dress ran past. Those of Cryptid Means seemed to be trying to wake everyone up with warnings, but were also searching for something. He just wasn’t sure what they were warning about or looking for. Unsurprisingly, the commotion led them right to Ender’s ship.
“GO, GO!” he heard Soren shout, as they neared Red Herring’s breach point. “Find anything you can that we can use to block his path! He hasn’t broken out yet, but he will!”
As they rushed toward the Harpy, Cyrus almost hesitated when the man’s gaze turned his way. Soren’s eyes were filled with a burning hatred, literal fires seemed to be flickering inside his pupils, but it was what was underneath that pushed him forward—fear.
“What the hell is going on? Who are you trying to block?!” he demanded.
As if the Cryptid hadn’t heard the question, Soren snarled, “If you and your damn Fates would have just left us the hell alone, we wouldn’t even be in this situation!”
“Based on all the damn people panicking, we don’t have fucking time for your tantrum, Harpy! Just tell us what the fuck is going on!?” Killian snapped.
Cyrus shuddered at the power he felt in the Siren’s words, but easily pushed back the urge he had to respond in some way.
“Don’t you fucking dare try to compel me, Siren!” the Harpy roared, a southern accent slipping out with his words.
Cyrus blocked the man when he lunged for Killian, shoving him back with a hand to his neck. The man stumbled, but caught himself.
“Threaten him again and you’ll have a new problem, on top of whatever the fuck is going on!” Cyrus snarled.
“What is the point of arguing?! Who is that going to help?!” Killian admonished. “Just tell us what is happening!”
