"Cedric?" Luna felt no lie in his heartbeat. "Why are you here? Why did you act so untrustworthy? How are the vines not able to get near you?"

     Cedric wouldn't meet her eyes. "I'll tell you later, Song of the Moon. I had a suspicion that's what you were, Luna. But now isn't the time. Didn't you just explain that to him?" He pointed to Rul.

     Reluctantly, she nodded. "I assume you don't need any help seeing, or are you secretly blind?"

     "I have a few secrets, but blindness isn't one of them. Come on."

     Luna motioned to Rul. "Rul, after you."

With a glare at Cedric, the forest dragon led the way into the base. The two Drómdí and one Cí'mehia in vines followed.

✦ ✦ ❦ ✦ ✦

     Myrkr woke up in a bed. When she opened her eyes, she immediately closed them with a quiet groan. Where is the darkness? The room was brightly illuminated and white. Is Delrahj okay? What happened to the lady?

     "Rul," a soft voice said. Female? Male? "How is Delrahj?" Female.

     "Stable," came a deep voice in reply. "He'll live."

     "I'll get Yeshíva. Maybe she can help his healing."

     "I will accompany you. You have not been in this base for very long."

     "Thank you." Footsteps and the clicking of talons led away, and a door opened and closed.

     Myrkr slowly opened her eyes, letting her eyes adjust to the brightness. Once she was able to see, she looked for Delrahj. She saw the ruby and ice Drómdí, but she didn't care. Delrahj was in the bed across from hers.

     Quietly, she made her way to his side and tapped his shoulder. When he didn't wake, she gently shook him. His eyes opened a slit. "Myrkr...?"

     She stopped him with a hand and placed a finger over her mouth to indicate silence. "Are you okay to move?" she whispered before looking around and removing her hand. "I don't know where we are. The Cí'mehia might have come back with reinforcements."

     Delrahj looked at something over her shoulder. "If we were in Mion's territory, I would be dead. You would most likely be dead too. We are safe, Myrkr. Get more rest. You're not in the best mental state." He closed his eyes and before long his breathing was slow and even.

      "So I do this on my own, then," she whispered to herself. "Not waiting for this Yeshíva to arrive."

     There was a door at the end of the row of beds. After listening through the wood, Myrkr opened it and stepped out. Darkness surrounded her like a blanket and she instinctively reached for something. There was nothing there. Do I normally have a bag? Never mind. I don't now.

     She slipped out of the room, and had to rely on hearing to move. There might have been two hallways, one leading to the left and the other straight forward. She chose the latter.

Since she wasn't naturally blind, she was slow in making progress, so Myrkr used the right wall to guide her as well. She closed her eyes to keep them from straining in the dark.

     Myrkr kept that until she found a door. She tried the doorknob, but it was locked. Damnit. She was about to keep going when she heard footsteps ahead. A gasp. Immediately, she turned tail and sprinted back the way she came, her footsteps echoing. When they got louder, she steeled herself before turning down the other hallway. If I run into a wall, I'm dead... she thought. Footsteps gained behind her, and she kept running. She had to listen carefully so that she knew when she was close to a wall.

The hallway was long, and when Myrkr passed a door, she could hear different accents of the different creatures. Rumbles of dragons, purr of cats, and the growl of wolves. Keep running or die, she told herself. If Delrahj wanted to lay down and die, so be it. I will not.

✦ ✦ ❦ ✦ ✦

He chased her, and smelled her fear-scent. The young Cí'mehia surprised him when she turned down the other hallway, nearly slamming herself into the brick while doing it. Why was she in the medical wing if she was so physically fit? If she could outrun him, she was perfectly fine with fighting. What had Rul thought was wrong with her, other than being naturally effected by the darkness?

Her breathing wasn't ragged, and he saw the hallway's end. Curious about how she'll deal with it, he slowed down just a bit. She already was outrunning him, but her uncertainty and blindness would make it incredibly easy for him to catch her.

The Cí'mehia started to slow down, and she hissed to the left and then to the right. There only was a hallway leading to the right, so when she actually started running again he was impressed. But he had enough of being impressed. Putting on a burst of speed and the Cí'mehia girl being not too far ahead, he launched himself at her and caught her tail and then her legs. Almost instantly, her tail and ears vanished. But her legs couldn't be changed to vanish.

There was a thud, and a grunt from her, as he pinned her down. "What do you think you're doing, running around like an idiot?" he asked. "You should have stayed put in the medical wing."

She growled. The Cí'mehia had the audacity to growl at him? If he wanted to, he could slit her throat right now. "I don't fancy dying easy," she growled with the cheetah accent all Cí'mehia had, though it was less.

So the Cí'mehia thought he was going to kill her? Not totally unexpected, considering she probably was brought here under Rul's special toxin, being disoriented, and not knowing much after the Cí'mehia assassin came to silence Delrahj a few hours ago, if memory and reports served true. "I'm not here to kill you," he said. As he spoke he got off of her, but watched her closely. The smallest twitch could tell him if she was going to run again. And, with what he's heard of her, that wouldn't be entirely unexpected, either. Slowly, she got up off the ground and her Cí'mehia features came back.

"Then why were you chasing me?" She was poised to run or attack, whichever helped her live.

"I'm going to lead you back to the medical wing. Don't try leaving again." He grabbed her arm and initially she resisted, but she was Cí'mehia, he was Wí'chú. It didn't work. Wolves had more strength than cheetahs. "I am stronger and older than you, I suggest you don't waste your energy."

She grumbled something, but followed. Not that you have much choice, little Cí'mehia.

     "Where am I?"

     The questions have started. "You are in the Ziixi Academy."

     "What?"

     "Are you the one that has no memory?"

     "I have memory!" the Cí'mehia growled indignantly. "I have memories of Delrahj."

     "Before the fight with the assassin?"

     "What's it to you?" she retorted. "I don't know you. I'm not going to be giving out free information about myself when I know next to no one."

     "Those other Drómdí, the ones in the medical wing, you know them. Or knew." They were almost back now. Then he could report to Rul about her mental state.

     "One of them seemed to think as much, too," she said, suddenly quiet. "But I have no memory of him. Only Delrahj."

     "Is there anything else from before Delrahj? How did you know where he would be?"

     "There was..." she trailed off. Then, seemingly deciding to tell him, she continued. "There was a voice. In my head. It, he, she, called me. That was when I woke up with three Drómdí and a humanoid watching me. That was when I went to Delrahj's aid. That's all I know."

     "You have many more memories than just those, Myrkr." She flinched at her name. He pretended not to notice, since she could see nothing but blackness. "You have much more of a life than this."

     "Yet I have no reason to trust you, nameless, faceless stranger."

     "You told me all you remember. Do you not care who knows this, or are you lying to make it seem like unimportant infromation?"

     Myrkr growled. "Then who are you?"

     "They call me Chiv."

     "What's your name?"

     "So even with a blank mind you are still observant," he said. "Chiv is short for Chivriel. It means protector in Wí'chúl."

     "Wí'chúl?" Myrkr asked, confused. "What is that?"

     "Similar to your tongue, Cí'mehial," Chivriel replied. "Like Ysmí, your way of saying Ysamaldrí."

     "Ysmí?" She struggled to pronounce the word, Chivriel noticed. Did she normally say Ysamaldrí?

     "Most Cí'mehia don't refer to the golden Ysamaldrí, they refer to the emerald Ysmí. They are literally the same, and Ysamaldrí herself keeps the difference alive. She appears to them, to you, in her secondary, emerald form. Do you really know nothing of this?"

     "I barely know what Cí'mehia are, Chivriel. I feel like it was only a recent revelation. I know nothing of my culture, either by lack of knowledge or this... amnesia everyone seems to think I have."

     "Hm," the Wí'chú murmured to himself. "Very well. We are here, Myrkr. Stay here until Yeshíva comes for you. She will take very good care of you."

     "Hey, I can walk, talk, think, and fight, can't I? There's nothing wrong with me." Myrkr resisted again.

     Chivriel sighed and let her go, causing her to stumble back, unexpecting the action. "Then wander. But while we know you are an ally, no one knows it is you. You can be killed." He opened the door for her, and she slowly stepped toward the light. Nothing else was able to be seen, for her. He lashed out his arm and grabbed hers again, and quietly gave his last bit of advice. "You don't have the Eye, young one. The only ones who can't see are in that room, and you. We all can see perfectly fine. Not everyone will know what you look like."

     Chivriel started pushing her through the opened door. "Oh, and you did?" she snapped back, trying to elbow him in the process. She hit hard muscle, and he noticed a change in her face. She was surprised, and for a moment he smelled her fear-scent again.

     "I did. I watched over you in the Forest as you grew up with the Crím Drómdí. I watched you in the halls, and I pose as an instructor here. You and I will see quiet a bit of each other before this is over." With Myrkr in the wing and he leaving what light she could see, he heard the soft voice of Yeshíva. "Yesh will be with you shortly."

✦ ✦ ❦ ✦ ✦

     He walked back into the darkness, his black fur blending well. She heard a soft voice, and tried to decide what to do. Pretend to be asleep? No, Chivriel would talk to the "Yeshíva" that has been mentioned over and over. Prepare to attack? Negative, Chivriel was right about being blind here. She sensed the magic, but it was so broad she would never be able to disenchant it. That left one option.

     Yeshíva walked in, her glowing blue eyes leaving a trail of light as she moved. Her scales were vivid and lively in color, reminding Myrkr of...someone. Brilliant green, mixed with many flowers and scents, made Myrkr's senses overpowered for a moment. That was until the dragoness spoke.

     "Hello, Myrkr," she said in a half polite, half cheery voice. "How are you feeling?"

     "Just fine," Myrkr replied curtly. "I have no broken bones, no sprains. Obviously I'm no longer unconscious —"

     "You still have amnesia," the dragoness said calmly. "Would you like me to take a look?"

     "At what, my brain?" Myrkr spat at Yeshíva, tail bristling, eyes narrowing, and ears flattening. "Not a chance."

     "Calm down, Myrkr. No one here wants to hurt you." Yeshíva started toward the Cí'mehia.

     Myrkr hissed and back away, tail lashing. "That wasn't what Chivriel told me. Stay away from me," she growled.

     There was a change in Yeshíva's eyes. "Please calm down, Myrkr," she urged gently. "This will make it all the easier." Suddenly, the life dragoness started to look strained, vains in her neck and along her legs bulging slightly. More than they had before.

     Myrkr then noticed little holes in the walls. They were like flat donuts, about six inches in diameter. In the middle, with at least an inch diameter hole, was a small passage blocked by a six-part circular door.

     She only noticed it because the middle suddenly retracted, the six parts moving to open. Vines came out.

     Myrkr looked around wildly, seeing more of the vine-hatches open, revealing vines. "I'm sorry I have to do this," Yeshíva said, her voice strained. "But you won't leave me any choice."

     Like snakes, the vines turned toward her. Before they would dart at her — for she believed that was what would happen, no doubt — she leaped toward Yeshíva. The vines missed, though one almost got her tail, and Yeshíva reared up with a small roar and tried to slap Myrkr down with her wings.

     Myrkr got traction before then. Like from a catapult, the Cí'mehia launched herself into the darkness. Blind, but not defenseless.

     Vaguely remembering the path where Chivriel caught her, she ran. And ran. Yeshíva wasn't happy and stormed after her.

✦ ✦ ❦ ✦ ✦

     Sanguine woke up in a startlingly white room. He half expected to be in the Ziixi medical wing, but then he took a deep breath... smelling...

     Myrkr! He also smelled Shimmer, and two other scents. He eased open his eyes further to see Shimmer sleeping in the bed next to him, another Cí'mehia who was bloody and wounded across from him. What he didn't immediately see was Myrkr. He also saw the beds closest to the door tipped or knocked in a way that wasn't intentional originally.

     Then he woke up more fully, and scented Myrkr's fear, and a bed with its sheets tossed. Probably hers.

     Silently, he got out of bed and shook Shimmer awake. "Shimmer!" he hissed. She slowly woke up.

     "Sanguine, you son of a —" Without being blinded by the white light and room, she immediately was on alert. "Now I remember. Damnit, where is Myr?" She quickly got out of her bed, noting probably all Sanguine had noted before.

"If I knew, I would have dragged you out of bed. I have to wonder where we are, and why we look like we're in some med wing. But a fight must have happened here..."

Shimmer was already headed for the door, grabbing the knob. "Then let's follow the scents and —" She opened the door. "What the hell? It's pitch black here, too. Well, we'll have to follow scents."

Sanguine put his hand on Shimmer's shoulder once he got behind her. "Luna's not here, either."

"Then we have one more Mythic to search for." She was about to step into the darkness.

"Shim, stop," a calm voice said from the darkness. "Everything's fine. There's just been some... security problems." Cedric pushed Shimmer back into the light.

"Where the hell is Myr, then?" Sanguine demanded. "She should be here! And Luna!"

Cedric looked back into the darkness. "Luna is fine. She told me to come see you guys, since she'd assumed you would be alarmed. I guess I didn't get here before this 'Yeshíva' they were talking about. From the scents, I'd say Myrkr tried to make a break for it, and Yeshíva wasn't too thrilled about it. They'll be back shortly."

"You underestimate Myr?" Sanguine questioned, sounding insulted as if Cedric had said that about him.

"On the contrary. I said soon, not immediately."

"This is serious, Cedric!"

"I am being serious. You all don't have what these Mythics dub 'the Eye.' There is an enchant on these secret halls to make it impenetrable darkness to those who were not invited — it's assumed that one of them would be with their guest without 'the Eye.'"

Sanguine started to pace. "Where's Myrkr then?"

     "Probably being hun — er, chased, by Yeshíva."

     That answer wasn't reassuring to Sanguine. "What the —"

     "Calm down, Sanguine. I'll bet Myrkr didn't calm down and Yeshíva tried to calm her down before the flight. Just stay calm. They're going to try getting her memory back."

     "How so? She didn't know them before, did she?"

     "Admittedly, probably not."

     "Then how?"

     Cedric didn't answer. Sanguine's stomach churned. I have a feeling this will end very badly.

✦ ✎ ❦ ➳ ✽
Hello! Hope you guys enjoyed, and I want to let you know that I am going to be revamping this series. Now, this book will finish, and the next I have planned to complete as well. But some things I don't like and wish I could change, while also knowing that would through off the plot and what happens just noticeably. So on deviantART I am working on the 'canon' (or at least version two) of Mysterious Realms: Revak Feykro. I figured I'd let you guys know.

March 4, 2017 Edit: Just a few things here and there, typos and a few words.