Chrysalis

Where is it coming from? It's hard to tell. I dive deep into the Vestibule, following that single thread of Will, trying to trace it back to the source. The ant is in pain, wanting to be saved. Wanting me to save them.

Just what could be happening?! What is going on?!

[You have to be calm, Anthony! I don't understand, what is the matter?] Eran tries to calm me.

[We have left an ant behind and they are being hurt! I will not wait!]

The moment my gravity well is ready, I cast it and lift myself off the ship. It takes a little while, but I begin to rise rapidly. As I desperately try to determine where my missing sibling might be found, I snap out another mind bridge to Tungstant.

[One of us has been left behind in the city and they are under attack! Organise a quick headcount so we can find out who's missing!]

[What?!] she gasps. [I'll do it immediately!]

Come onnnnnnn. I know you're in there somewhere. But where?!

I rise up, the Silver City gleaming before me, stretching so far, and climbing so high. Above that rests the Golden City, a hazy cloud far above me. Dammit! I have to be able to squeeze more out of the Vestibule! Where the heck are they?!

I grab hold of that wavering thread and tug on it, trying to trace it to its source. It's thin, far away. How did they move her so far away from the rest of us so quickly? A gate?

It's above! The Golden City!

With a thought, I work my Gravity Well and rise even faster, whipping up into the air. Faster, dammit! This stupid mountain is hundreds of kilometres tall, it'll take forever to reach the top!

Eran is still trying to reach me with a mind bridge, but I rebuff her attempts. If the brathians can't help me right now, then they're pretty much useless. I'll have to do this by myself.

I know who's done this. Or at least, I heavily suspect who it is. That Grand Priest just couldn't resist. I seriously didn't think he'd try and take one of us while we were guests in the city, but his greed must have got hold of him.

He won't get a second chance…. If I don't get my sibling back, then there is going to be hell to pay!

No, I can't think like that. I will get her back, and there will still be hell to pay!

I pull more mana into myself, converting it into gravity mana and preparing a few spells, keeping them under control for the time being. Who knows what I might need to get in there and bust my sibling out?

More mind constructs begin to reach out to me, coming from the city, but I push them away. The Golden City is growing in my vision as I draw ever closer. It's like a vision of heaven, but in this moment, I couldn't care less. Through the Vestibule, I receive a constant stream of distress that I latch onto and home in on.

I'm coming, dammit!

A burst of light flashes incredibly bright, momentarily blinding me, but I don't stop moving. Well, I don't stop moving until I run into the solid wall of air that snaps into place.

More mind bridges, trying to snap onto me, but I force them away and rip into the wall with my mandibles and minds. In moments, it crumbles away and I am rising again, only for another to form in seconds.

When my vision clears, I realise what is happening. The flash of light was a group of Mages using some sort of teleport spell, like Brilliant. They've appeared several hundred metres away and are using their magic to bind me in place. What the heck?! I haven't even done anything wrong!

Begrudgingly, I allow one of them to connect to me, one I recognise.

[Rathwyn, what the heck are you doing up here?]

I can see him raise a brow from all the way back where I am, stuck in a box of air. Not that he appears calm. He looks rather concerned really.

[I think the more appropriate question is, what the heck are you doing up here? Now that the trade mission is over and your fleet has departed, you no longer have legal grounds to enter the city. If you want to come back inside, you'll need to apply at the port like everyone else.]

[One of my siblings has been abducted,] I tell him shortly. [Now let me loose so I can retrieve them. You have five seconds.]

I mean, I'm being super patient with them, given the situation.

There is furious discussion amongst the mages, but when five seconds passes, Rathwyn hasn't gotten back to me. So I rip their cage apart and begin to rise once more. When they attempt to reform it, I'm ready and shred their mana before it can solidify around me.

[Anthony… Anthony! Wait! You can't do this! There are proper channels you have to go through!]

[One of my siblings is dying, Rathwyn! You think I'm going to wait for red tape?]

The man is clearly out of his mind. He needs a nap, a cup of tea, a sabbatical. Why else would he raise this irrelevant nonsense?

[We don't have any evidence that your claim is true!] he cries desperately as the Mages continue to attempt to bind me. [I don't even know how you could possibly know what you are claiming to know! Give us a little time to verify your claim and the–]

[Nope.]

If I couldn't sense the endless stream of distress pouring through the Vestibule, I might have listened to what Rathwyn had to say, I might have been patient and worked through the necessary channels, but that isn't the world I'm living in. My sibling is in pain. Great pain. I have no idea what the heck is being done to them, or why, but it sure as heck isn't a pleasant experience.

Another second of delay is intolerable to me.

The Mages continue to attempt to stifle me as Rathwyn pleads for patience, but I cut off his mind bridge and use my many mental constructs to rip into their attempts to slow or stop me. Forget about being delayed, I need to go even faster!

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