We head off into the forest, away from all of the corrupt bullshit and death. And with every step into the woods that we take, it seems to grow even quieter, as if the animals don’t dare to so much as breathe and draw the attention of the apex predators in their midst.
***
“Fuck!” My head jerksup at Atlas’ cry, snorting in amusement as he scrambles away from the pile of dead field mice and birds piled up near him. His glare falls on me immediately. “What the hell is this shit?”
I prod at the fire that I managed to get going, waiting for them to wake up about five miles out from Achlys’ city of ruins. “They realized you can’t provide for yourself and are catching food so you don’t die.”
He eyes the morbid gift with distaste and side-steps it to come join me closer to the fire. “Like a damn cat?”
A twig snaps and his breath hitches in his chest, going for his gun, and I put a hand on his arm to stop him. The panther’s shoulders roll as he stalks closer, its black fur split by the vibrant blue lightning streaks the water in this area provides.
Bypassing the macabre offering, it prowls closer, stopping directly in front of Atlas who isn’t even breathing anymore. It opens its maw and a squirrel flops onto Atlas’ lap, spit splashing up with the impact.
“Exactly like a cat,” I confirm, reaching out a hand palm down.
The beast comes over, ducking his head beneath my hand and arching up so I stroke down its body. His tail flicks against my face before he pivots and does it again twice more before settling in at our feet, stretched out and head resting on massive paws.
“Just...I can’t deal with this yet.” Atlas swipes a hand down his face and flicks the squirrel off. The changeling glares up at him and he freezes, realizing his mistake. Swallowing, he picks the offering back up by the tail and carries it over to the original pile, patting the top once like he’s saving it for later. “Thanks.” Appeased, the beast settles back down. “Where are the others?”
I hitch a thumb over my shoulder. “Washing up in the river. You’re the last one to recover.”
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” He eyes the fish that I’m roasting as I pull it from the flames and set it on the large stone beside the fire to cool down.
“We need you at full energy to get us to the prison. Wouldn’t do us any good to wake you up prematurely.”
His eyes widen and the color drains from his face. “Excuse me?”
I use a jagged rock that I’ve spent the better part of the day sharpening to start tearing into the fish for edible bits. “How else are we getting up there?”
Atlas is already shaking his head, but he doesn’t hesitate when I gesture for him to start helping himself. He flicks a wary glance at the panther, worried about insulting it by ignoring the corpse pile. Ultimately though, hunger wins out and he nearly inhales every piece.
“What good is it going to do for us all to be separated again? I can’t even tell you where we’ll end up!” he snaps, glaring at his hands like they personally offend him.
“Then I guess you’ll just have to keep practicing until you get it right.” My words are flippant, but I mean every one of them. “You said it looked wrong last time, right? So keep creating them until they look right before we ever step foot inside of one.”
He narrows his eyes, taking the last piece of meat before I toss the rest directly into the fire. The last thing we need is one of the changelings turning into a fish on dry land. “It ran off of my energy before, I think. My blood.”
I nod my head, scratching behind the changeling’s ears at my feet. “So you need to see if you can fuel it a different way. Maybe because we’re all tethered together, we can get it to leech the energy from all of us rather than just you. Then it won’t cripple you and might be more inclined to keep us together.”
He sighs. “I wouldn’t even know how to start. Last time I was desperate and pissed off.”
“Still have plenty of reasons to be upset. Focus on those if you need to.”
He gives me a strange look, considering, before slowly drawling, “You do it.” He meets my withering look with amusement, a thrill sparking to life and waking him up better than I ever could, looking more like the Atlas I know.
“Excuse me?”
He gets to his feet, shaking out his hands. “You can manipulate emotions now. If I have to practice, you should too. Get me pissed off enough to manage creating a ring without tipping yourself over the edge and going on a rampage.”
Tongue in cheek, I stroke a hand down the panther’s back, letting the silken coat on my fingers distract me while I think it through. Annoying, as he usually is, but he isn’t wrong. I have so much less control, and as easy as it was to bash that fae’s skull in, to destroy Achlys’ shield...
I could hurt them if I’m not careful. I’ve already caused Cambria enough pain with our misunderstandings in recent weeks, like it’s in my blood to destroy everything that I touch.
“And if I manage it, then you have to agree to let me test it out first.”
Atlas narrows his eyes while I simply smirk, the changeling at my feet rising to sprint off after a rabbit with a snarl. Remaining seated, I rest my arms on my knees, leaning forward casually, indifferently. By the way his eye twitches, it’s already working. I don’t need to use any special abilities to piss him off when he’s been annoyed with me for days and simply breathing ticks him off.
“Deal.” A flash across his eyes that I know is mirrored in mine, can feel the shimmer of power working through my system like a shot of whiskey warming my blood.
