After catching a chilled breeze in his power, Cryo redirected it and rode it towards the temple, soaring over the small piece of central Sylrael that stood between his house and the canals before crossing into temple grounds.

From his bird's eye view, it looked a lot like a giant, gold, eight-pointed star. Each tip was marked with a skyshrine, the only exception being the easternmost point of the star of which was hidden under the Celestial's eye. It was in the dead centre of this that the flower-like Core chamber sat, and with every skyshrine linked by the temple buildings, Cryo didn't think he was wrong in saying that the whole thing looked a little bit like a fence.

Cryo let the breeze take him to the Starlight hall where he landed in a large, elegant archway carved into the top of one of the towers to create a delicate pavilion. Stepping off the ledge and onto the floor, he unfroze his arms and stretched out the muscles. Flying didn't use as much of his energy as it should have, but any longer than a few minutes of it and his muscles would start to feel it.

Cryo took the spiralling ramp down the hollow stem of the tower to the fifth floor and onto the platform that edged the room, overlooking the fourth floor below.

Sure enough, there was Banshee. Cryo leaned against the waist-height edge of the platform, watching her. She moved like smoke and mist through the various, oddly shaped pieces of starstone that jutted from the walls and floor of the room, her white-amber flood of hair following her like the shadow she currently lacked.

She leapt from one piece to the next, her boots barely touching before she was reaching for the next and scaling the wall, twisting her body mid-air to seemingly throw herself off, but what was actually a perfectly calculated movement that perched her on the tallest, thinnest spire of starstone in the room.

Cryo realised that Banshee still hadn't noticed him and decided to get her back for the featherbrain comment.

Her back turned, she didn't see him freeze his arms to his wings and glide off the ledge. Talons outstretched, he aimed for her shoulders, but some instinct alerted her. Banshee turned, caught sight of him, and a heartbeat before his talons would have closed around her biceps, she moved and he was left grasping at nothing but air.

Cryo boosted his height and turned with a flap of his wings. He scanned the room, finding Banshee landing on a thicker, more stable platform. Freezing shards to his fingers, he flung them in her direction, not willing to give her the chance to assess the situation. Again she moved like she was weightless, throwing herself forward, fingers catching a half-wall of starstone. He expected her to drop or leap to the side. She caught him by surprise when she pushed up on her arms, brought both feet between her hands, and shot herself straight at him.

With a curse, Cryo froze the air directly in front of him into a thick, smooth sheet of ice that levitated by his will.

In his mind's eye, without handholds, Banshee slammed into it and fell. In reality, the tips of Grief and Joy plunged through the ice, anchoring her to it. Cryo, more than a little shocked at her new tactic, didn't react in time as she flipped herself up over his ice wall and flicked him in the centre of his sternum tattoo to announce her victory.

Cryo melted the wall she sat on, grinning at him. Banshee fell, laughing as she landed lightly on the starstone below.

"It doesn't count for as much if you didn't have your daggers on you at the time," he said, landing and unfreezing his arms to stretch them. "How would you be able to take me out without them?"

Banshee wiggled both her daggers clutched in her right hand. "Actually, I pulled them both out before I flicked you. So yes, I had my daggers."

Cryo scowled. He hadn't noticed that. "Where'd you come up with that trick, anyway?"

"Thought it up a few days ago," she said, stepping closer and sheathing the daggers. On the thicker piece of starstone, her shadow reappeared as she shifted out of it. "Didn't really wanna lose twice to the same tactic from you. I'm glad it worked."

He conceded. "Well, I certainly wasn't expecting it."

"I know," she said, her grin only widening. "Someone was a slowpoke getting here."

"I can take my time when a Manifested doesn't require our attention," said Cryo. "We both know that I'm faster than you when there is a true need."

"Flying is cheating," said Banshee, poking out her tongue. "Would you like to look at the tablet before we go, or are you happy enough to let me explain the plan on the way over?"

Cryo swept a hand towards the door. "Would I be right in assuming that you've spent a fair bit of time going over the information DragonFae gave us?"

Banshee scrunched up her face as they walked towards the spiral stairwell. "Not as much as I would have liked. I spent like, fifteen minutes going over it after you left the Hall, but aside from that it's all been memory since the tablet's been dim with me."

She briefed him on the way down, showing him the map on the tablet. "Andrew--Centaur--lives in central Cevinari, so I figured we'd start there since it's closer to the temple. They're both in free learning but neither seem to have a sponsorship. The temple offered them both one. Cen--Andrew declined outright. Ella--Hydra's real name--accepted initially but dropped out a few months ago."

"Do we know where they currently are?" asked Cryo.

"We have addresses, names and pictures," said Banshee. "I figure we start with where they live, see if they have any relatives, if they're working anywhere and go from there. Worst case scenario, we go to their school and embarrass them in front of the whole class."

"Let's hope we can spare them that," said Cryo as they reached the bottom floor and strode out into the inner courtyard. He froze his arms to his wings and turned his back to her. "Would you care for a ride? Considering I wasted your obviously well-planned time, it seems the least I could do."

"Talking about saving time when you talk like that," said Banshee, her shadow disappearing before she climbed onto his back. The only reason he knew she was there was that her fingers had appeared over his shoulder. He couldn't feel her knees or her shins on his back. Shifted into her shadow, she weighed literally nothing. 

"Ready when you are," she said somewhere close to his right ear.

Cryo spread his wing-frozen arms and gave them a test flap to ensure they wouldn't be obstructed by Banshee, but she'd positioned herself well. Within a minute, they'd flown over the temple grounds and were soaring over central Cevinari.

"There," said Banshee, pointing towards a cluster of tall, adjoined apartment houses near the edge of the district. She leaned far enough forward that Cryo could see her face. "That's his house."

Cryo took her word for it and landed right by the front door. The action drew them more than one stare, but neither he nor Banshee paid much attention to it past an acknowledging wave in the direction of the onlookers. It came with the territory of being a Luminary, and they had a job to do.

Banshee took the lead and knocked on the door. When there was no reply, she tried again, stepping back to glance through the windows.

"Hello?" she called. "Andrew or anyone who might know him, you around? Aaaandrewwwww!"

With still no reply, Banshee turned her attention to the nearby spectators who were holding up Liaisers and coming out of various nearby buildings.

"Do any of you know where we might be able to find Andrew?" she asked. Most gazes turned skyward in silence, but the one or two that continued to look at her were the ones she zeroed in on. "Do you guys know him?"

"Indeed we do," said one. "We've been neighbours to his family since he was born. Nice kid, always been quiet, helpful. He didn't change much even after the city found out he'd been Centaur. Said he was disappointed it didn't last, but he didn't need that power to do good in the city."

"Is this still his residence?" asked Cryo, gesturing to the house.

"His parents still live here, but Andrew moved out with his girlfriend, Melissa, a few months ago. He used to visit quite often, but he hasn't been around recently. Apparently he's been busy with work."

It made sense. Some people took on a sponsorship while they trained for it in free learning, and others just went straight to the hands-on approach to learning a trade. "Would you be able to show us where his new residence is on the map?"

"Of course, Cryophoenix."

With those directions, Cryo flew them to outer Cevinari where Andrew had supposedly moved, but they didn't find him there either and no one around seemed too sure who he was, let alone where he or his girlfriend might be.

"Maybe he's at work," said Banshee, stepping away from the door of the empty apartment. She glanced back at it, chewing on her bottom lip for a moment before she turned back to Cryo. "Wanna go see if Hydra's a little easier to find and check back later?"

"What's the thought?" asked Cryo.

"I dunno," said Banshee, one of her hands brushing against Grief's sheathed hilt. "That house just seems... you don't feel it?"

Cryo looked at it. "It seems normal as far as I can tell. Why?"

She shook her head, hand dropping back to her side. "I'm probably just imagining things with what Fae and Golem said about the Serpent. Let's go find Hydra."

Cryo didn't fly them this time with Banshee insisting that she wanted to run. He flew over her, watching the amber-white ombre streak that was his partner sprint, leap and flip gracefully across the rooftops in one fluid, unbroken movement. Every so often, he caught glimpses of crimson when her garb or markings showed but for the most part, she was a blur. When she moved like this, he was sure that the only reason flight was a little faster was because it was a straight line and Skypillar's chilled winds were literally under his command.

Soon enough they were in inner Sylrael, near yet another cluster of apartments. In the usual Sylrael style, there was a little more familiar elegance to their architecture, especially when compared to Cevinari. Banshee stopped on one of the rooftops five or so floors off the ground scanning the area.

"There!" she said, pointing to a group of people standing by the corner of a street. One of them had dark hair in pigtails. Ella--the girl who'd once been Hydra. "That's her!"

Cryo followed Banshee as she leapt, landing on street level like a puff of smoke. Side by side, they walked towards the group who'd just noticed their approach. They nudged each other with excited whispers, the ones who'd had their backs turning around to see what their friends were pointing at--all except one.

As soon as Ella looked up and saw them moving towards her, she ran.

Cryo hesitated, barely able to believe it as Ella shoved her friend out of the way and bolted down the street, but Banshee didn't. She took off after Ella, but avoiding the people slowed her down and Ella rounded the corner, disappearing out of sight.

"Cryo, air!" called Banshee.

He obeyed. One, powerful flap levelled him with the tops of the buildings, another shot him off in the direction that Ella had taken off in. She wasn't hard to spot--Cryo just had to look for the disrupted crowds, the way that heads were turned as the girl fled.

Banshee had almost closed the gap, having taken to climbing the walls and leaping off the various window ledges but Cryo decided to ensure Ella wouldn't get away. He got ahead of Ella as she turned into a narrow, mostly empty street and let himself fall. In the wing beat that steadied him in the air once more, Cryo froze the rush of air his wings created into a wall of ice, trapping Ella between a shadow and a cold place.

Cryo landed on the wall, folding his arms. Ella's hands hit the wall in frustration and turned to find Banshee behind her.

"Ella?" said Banshee gently, stepping forward with her hands out. "It's okay, we're--"

Ella's hand went into her boot. "Leave me alone!"

With the words, she lunged forward, something sharp flashing in her hand aimed straight at Banshee's face, but Banshee was faster. She moved like parted smoke, grabbing Ella by the wrist and throwing her forward to pin her wrist against the wall. Cryo took the initiative and trapped Ella's hand there with ice.

Banshee stepped back, her voice harder now. "Try again, Ella."

"I said to leave me alone!" screamed Ella, lashing out with her rollerblade in Banshee's direction once more. She wasn't close enough to strike anything, but the next time her rollerblade hit the ground, Cryo froze it there.

"Kid, you're going to cool off, or I'm going to make you," said Cryo.

Banshee glanced at him, amused. He ignored it.

Ella glared at him. "Who are you calling kid, kiddo? I'm a year older than you are!"

"If you start acting like it, I may treat you as such," said Cryo. "Why did you deem it necessary to attack my partner?"

Ella snorted. "You talk like one of those temple lot. I can't be bothered with you."

"Those are big words coming from an ex-Lumi," said Banshee dryly. "Why'd you run when you saw us? We were only checking on you. Fae was worried you and Centaur might be in trouble since she hadn't heard from you in a while."

Ella hesitated. Her eyes flicked to Cryo before going back to Banshee. "Fae said that?"

"More or less," said Banshee. "Considering you ran, I'm guessing something's wrong."

"I--" Ella cut off, licking her lips. She shuffled as much as her icy restraints would allow. "I couldn't risk it."

Cryo was more than aware of the way Banshee stiffened at the words, her gaze shifting to the mouth of the street.

"See something?" asked Cryo.

"No," said Banshee, her fingers back on Grief's hilt. "And that's the problem. It feels like Andrew's house. You really can't feel that, Cryo? It's like we're being watched."

"It's the Serpent's aura," said Ella quietly. "I remember feeling it too, when I was still Hydra. They know. They've seen me with you now."

"The Serpent's nearby?" said Banshee. "Can you feel it now?"

Ella shook her head. "It just means that the Serpent has influenced something in this area recently. It doesn't have to be nearby to do it. Only Luminaries can feel it. You're merged with your Ascended, and it's your Ascended that's reacting to it."

Cryo still had no idea what they were talking about. All he felt was a slight breeze, made cold by the wall of ice he stood on. "Why did you flee when you saw us?"

"I think one of the Serpent's minions might have Andrew," said Ella. "And if they've seen me with you, I don't think that's a good thing."

"Why?" asked Banshee.

Ella looked to Cryo. "Can you let me out of the ice now?"

"As long as you understand the consequences if you attack Banshee again," said Cryo, and melted the ice.

Ella rubbed her wrist and shook out her previously frozen foot. "Andrew and I used to meet up regularly, even after he moved. A few weeks ago, he stopped answering his Liaiser. I tried to track him down, found nothing. There was a guy inside their house, looked shady as an Other-touched shadow--no offense intended."

Banshee just shrugged. "None taken. How do you know the Serpent's related to this?"

"Because they've tried to get me too," said Ella. "I've fought off at least two people I'm sure were under the Other's command. They were talking about bringing down the skyshrines, recruiting people to help them do it. One approached me with the offer five or six weeks ago on my way to free learning, and when I declined, I found one of them in my room waiting for me a week later."

"Why not tell a Lumi?" asked Banshee. "There's an Offering every two weeks, there should have been a chance for you to find a Lumi at one of them. All six of us were in attendance."

Ella gave them a grim smile. "The Serpent's minions reminded me that they know where I live. They know my family, my friends. The implied threat was enough to make me realise I'd have to save Andrew myself."

Something still wasn't sitting right with Cryo. He played these games enough as Jason, and he knew when someone was avoiding a question. "This still doesn't explain why you ran from us."

"It was... dumb," said Ella with a reluctant sigh. "In my mind, I couldn't be seen with you because it might mean they'd hurt Andrew. I've been working on a plan to get him out, didn't want them forcing me to change it or move it up schedule." She held Cryo's gaze. "Now that you two have more or less made that a reality, you may as well help me get him back."

*+*+*+*  

A/N - ShadowSong is now a serial deal. 

Updated weekly. Different story arcs, all interlinked, all playing part in the overall master plan I've cooked up. Lots of arcs to go before that though, don't you worry. I'm suuuuper excited for one of them. 

If you have any ideas or situations that you find intriguing, feel free to throw me a comment at any point, I have a whole lot of ideas but there's never too many ;D 

Throw the chapter a vote if you liked it? <3