“You want to know? Fine! I’ll tell you.” Soren laughed, though the sound was oddly heartbreaking, his accent still present and clear. “Ender haslostit. He, at this very moment, is a giant rampaging snake, trying to break free from the cell he chose to sleep in last night.
“And he will. Because no matter how much he hurts himself in the process, he will continue to chase the revenge he is owed. Killing anyone he comes across, as he attempts to hunt down and eat the fucking bastard who betrayed us to the humans, cruelly setting everything in motion for his own gain.
“Aha, and guess what? You probably know him, CyrusGrimm. At least, you should, since he is a relative of yours. Haven’t seen him in a long while, though, but I wonder, do you happen to know what Halus Grimm is up to?”
Cyrus’ eyes widened as his heart started to race. He struggled to stop himself from instantly denying the accusations, even if he didn’t know the name. “W-what did you say?”
“What—aha, that’s right, you don’t know, do you? Then again, the world doesn’t know, because they hid it.
“Well, here’s the truth… Your family let that bastard, Halus Grimm, expose our location to the humans, and then they let themburnus to the ground! Hell, they blew most of our city off the FUCKING MAP!” Soren screamed, a sob slipping out after the Harpy grabbed onto the front of Cyrus’ shirt. “You did this! You did this to him!”
He didn’t know how to react, so he just stood there as the man blamed him, until Severo suddenly appeared, the Shadow Dweller yanking Soren away.
Cyrus flinched when a hand grabbed his. He swallowed as he looked at Killian.
“IT’S HIS FAULT! IT’S ALL HIS FAULT!” the Harpy screeched, his body igniting, as feathers started to sprout out of his skin, and the man struggled to get to him now.
“ENOUGH, SOREN!” Severo roared. The fire obviously was not burning him, or if it was, the Dweller managed to ignore it. “You know damn well that Cyrus is NOT responsible for what happened to the Gorgons. For fuck’s sake, he wasn’t even born yet!”
After a tense few seconds more, just as swiftly as it had come, the fire went out, and the feathers disappeared. Soren started to sob harder as he sagged in Severo’s hold.
“Yeah, ah—but it’s his fault he’s here now!” The Harpy swayed on his feet. “Ender wouldn’t even be HERE if it wasn’t for him!”
They all froze when there was this awful booming noise, with an almost triumphant screeching roar following it. Soren spun, staring down the short connecting bridge onto Red Herring, before turning to look at them. His eyes were full of tears and hopelessness as the sound of something large crashing into things in the distance could be heard.
“I… I didn’t think…he’d break out this soon…” the Harpy rasped, sounding broken. “He…” Soren swallowed, more tears trailing down his cheeks. “He wanted me to…eject him… I couldn’t—ah… I couldn’t do it…”
“Is there any way to contain him again?” Cyrus asked.
Looking as if he didn’t even see him anymore, the Harpy just shook his head.
Then what were they supposed to do? Just die? No! There had to be another way…
Killian flinched as the cry of the creature Ender had changed into echoed around them, sounding much closer this time. He looked at the clearly heartbroken Harpy for only a second more before turning to Cyrus with determination.
Finding the same determination reflected in the Fate’s eyes, he didn’t hesitate. “We need to find him.”
Cyrus just smiled and nodded.
“I—” Severo started to say.
“You, stay here!” Killian ordered stiffly. “Let’s go, Cyrus.”
He took off at a run into Red Herring, with Cyrus on his heels.
“Please…” Soren sobbed behind them. “Please, save him…please…”
Save…not stop… But then, what else could a brother ask for?
As they rounded a corner, the others no longer in range or sight, Killian asked, “Plan?”
“I could try to freeze him in time?”
“For how long?”
“I don’t know. And I honestly don't know how long he’d be able to remain frozen and live.”
Killian frowned. “If we can freeze him, maybe he can be shoved into the Shadow Realm until he calms down?”
