I hope that the explosion wasn't Unser, because I think that the TacTeam professional that I had met only a few days ago would be furious to find out that he had been used against his own men in such a way.
My eyes shift to black as we move together through the Wastelands, visibility already an issue, and there's a few times that Brutus or August have to catch me as I stumble a little, but I refuse to slow down.
I don't know what was here before the Resistance turned it into this battleground, but there’s a lot of debris on the ground, rubble and charred wood, enough that it's clear that people definitely lived here before all of this chaos and death arrived.
There’s a small hill that we have to climb to get to the area that the smoke is billowing from. There are crowds of people streaming down from the top, most of them wearing Tac gear and very clearly ours, but there are some Resistance running along beside them in fear of what is happening down there.
I scan all of their faces just in case I see someone that I recognize from Gryphon’s TacTeam, but I don't see anyone or anything else that is of any use to us. We slow down a little as the crowd gets closer to us.
It's harder when they're moving like this, and I have to raise a hand just to steady myself, but I pick them off one by one, until it's only TacTeam personnel making their way down the incline. I can feel the ripple of frustration from North that I’ve been the one to take them out. I know that this will be something that is brought up later, but I also think that it's better to be safe than sorry. Especially when, in this case, sorry is a knife in the back.
North breaks away from us to start directing the men, issuing a retreat now that we’ve arrived. Nox continues up the incline and I follow him, desperate to find Gryphon. I'm terrified of what I'm going to see on the other side of this small hill. If I were with any of my other Bonded, I would be reaching out to hold his hand right now for some comfort. Instead, I reach down and place one hand on Brutus' head, a small connection to the man I have tied myself to for all eternity. I'm sure he would rather die than accept that affection.
When we get over the top of the hill, I regret having my eyes shifted as I see the damage wrought beneath us with crystal clarity. There’s bodies strewn everywhere, except instead of the clean death of a soul being ripped out of them, or the blood-soaked demise of a shadow creature, these ones are unrecognizable, in pieces around us.
Please, please tell me where you are. We're here. We've come for you. Please, just tell me where you are.
I'm desperate to hear back from Gryphon, but there is still nothing down the line from him, my words bouncing off of the barrier in his mind. There’s only the small reassurance that he is still breathing, his heart is still beating somewhere
“Let your bond out,” Nox says, his voice grave as he looks over the damage.
If anyone's gonna find him, it'll be the bond. I let my eyes slip shut and then I surrender to the dark god inside of me.
It’s not happy.
Oleander’s bond
The Damaged Dark One and I spend over an hour searching for my Bonded One.
My other Bonded all move off to help the survivors of the explosion leave this area and take out any new enemies that arrive while they're doing so. I can feel that my Bonded is alive and in pain, but it's still difficult to pinpoint exactly where he is in the mess and rubble that has been left behind by the Trigger.
He has to be unconscious.
I'm tempted to request that my Dark Bonded One bring me some Resistance to snack on to get a power burst so that I can find my Bonded One a little faster, but I become single-minded in this search.
The girl is terrified inside of me, fretting about our Bonded. No matter how hard I push, she doesn't go to sleep, always aware in the back of my mind as I work. There are a few survivors. My Damaged Dark One mostly directs me to kill them, whether they're ours or not.
“They're too far gone,” he says quietly, glancing up at the smoking epicenter on this godforsaken field that we’re stuck on. “We don't have any Healers with us, and to Transport them… they wouldn't survive the jump.”
I nod and do as he directs, happy for his humanity to direct what is right in this situation.
I'm almost ready to cast my Gift out and tear everyone to shreds, when finally I feel him nearby. The relief from the girl and the echo of the others realizing we’ve found him is palpable, all of them checking in with the girl while I work.
I go to my knees beside him, looking over the damage and fighting the urge to wipe out every living thing in a ten mile radius.
He's a mess.