Page 10 of Bizarre Bonds
An animosity they’d put behind them just a few days ago. An animosityIstirred up all over again with these bonds I never meant to form.
Our headmaster must decide it’s better not to dwell on that subject. He focuses on Raze’s question. “To begin with, I was hoping the five of you could share your observations on this rift and how you feel it compares to the one up north. You spentmore time analyzing that one than I did. Maybe you’ll pick up on something useful that I’ve missed.”
Mirage springs toward the rift, his ruddy fox fur rippling over his body, and then bounds away in a backflip that ends with a full-body shudder. “It’s just as creepy. Creeping and crawling right into my being.”
His agitation quivers into me, more potent with our new connection. He glances my way as if noticing me noticing him and quickly yanks his eyes in the other direction.
I’m constantly spying on them now, absorbing their inner states—not just the full-serving emotions they can’t help emanating, but every little scrap of feeling in between as well.
I can try to do something useful here. I tilt my head to the side, peering at the rift. “It does feel the same to me. And it’s about the same size. It makes me… want to get away from it. Nothing about it gives me the impression that the place on the other side is my home.” Even though I’ve spent more time in the shadow realm than the human world.
When I ease closer, a thicker waft of the rift’s energy washes over me. I frown. “It’s almost like it’s… pushing out at me. Pushing me away? But also dragging me in at the same time.”
Raze’s lizard tongue darts over his lips. “If anything, I think this one might be even more intense. The way the vibes come off it.”
The unnerving impressions stir up memories of standing by the other rift in the forest. Of that first moment my former captor hurled his sorcery at us again…
My gaze darts around us instinctively. But that’s silly. He’s dead—he couldn’t be here now.
Of course, I thought it was impossible for him to bethereat first too.
A question tumbles out of me. “Once a human’s dead, they stay that way. Always. Don’t they?”
Rollick’s tone turns droll, but he doesn’t mock me for the question. “In every instance I’ve encountered, and I’ve encountered a lot over the millennia.”
Okay, we should be safe from that one threat then.
“Are we sure thisisa new rift?” Jonah asks abruptly. “What if the first one made a much bigger jump than before and got more powerful in the meantime?”
Rollick snaps his fingers. “One of the first questions I asked myself. I left a couple of associates stationed near the original strange rift. They report that it’s moved a couple of miles, but it’s definitely still up there. ”
My heart sinks. “The protections Sorsha put around it—the steel and silver—they didn’t contain it after all.”
The demon offers me a softer smile than usual. “No, but it was a long shot. Sorsha’s going to venture up there regularly to move the protections as needed so we can still contain the creatures and their possible misbehavior. Of course, if this new rift hops around the same way, it could end up in a much more inconvenient location.” His smile shifts into a frown as he glances toward the city.
My gaze latches on to the tallest of the skyscrapers, standing at least ten stories higher than the others around it and glittering in the mid-day sun. Its brilliance shines through my nerves. “Maybe there’s enough silver and iron there to keep the rift away. That building could be a shield!”
Rollick chuckles. “The humans here are very proud of their recently built Diamond Victory Tower, but it’ll be steel and glass, not very useful to our purposes. Iron and silver are rarely used by mortals in large quantities these days.”
Despite his nonchalant pose, Hail obviously cares what’s going to happen at least a little. He shoves his hands in the pockets of his slacks. “How often are the creatures coming through this rift?”
“I haven’t witnessed any so far, only had my people round up a couple that were still making nuisances of themselves in the area. They seem to have a lot in common with their shifty friends up north.” Rollick pauses. “But perhaps we’re about to get a little more data on that particular subject.”
The blurred surface of the rift has started to undulate. More erratic energy washes over my skin, shoving me away while also yanking me toward it, the conflicting impulses raising the hairs on the back of my arms.
Apprehension flows into me from all of my men. An orange sheen flickers in my hair, revealing my own uneasiness.
Current mood-ring setting: creamsicle. If only it tasted as good.
A dark gray shape wavers through the blurred space and then plops down onto the solid ground below the rift. It appears we’ve found ourselves a… blob. Of fur? Or are those quills? Maybe a mix of both. Its main characteristic seems to be a distinctive lack of distinctiveness.
After a moment, the blob pushes itself upright and demonstrates its sturdy legs. Six of them.
It’s like a puppy-sized, furry-quilled insect.
I can’t tell where its body ends and its head begins—or which end its head is even at, for that matter. I’m guessing the direction it starts to trundle off in, presuming it walks forwards and not backwards.
With the weird beasts that rifts like this produce, that might not be a safe assumption.
