ELRETH

Elreth blinked.

"Unconscious?

"

She'd forgotten about that. It was how the Anima brought humans over for the Rite of Survival.

Her parents looked at each other then and Elreth felt her father's anger, still crackling after all these years over what had been done to her mother when they brought her into Anima. But if they hadn't, Elreth and Gar wouldn't even exist.

She looked at her brother. She was certain he could feel their parent's anguish, but he chose to ignore it.

"If you ever have to bring an enemy across, or someone who is at risk of harming you for any reason, bring them through unconscious. If they aren't hearing and seeing, they can't be tempted,

" Gar said.

"When a Protector takes me across, I don't get attacked by the voices, but I can feel it happening around me. It's like there's a shield. Sometimes I can hear what the voices say to the Protector, sometimes I can't. But I can always feel that there's a… battle going on. The thing we don't know is, what would happen if I broke contact with them? We know two people can't enter the Traverse independently—they'll both disappear. What would happen if the person you were taking across attacked you? Or got scared and broke away? We haven't had it happen yet, praise the Creator. But we're aware that we don't know how it works. So we have to be really careful. We've even tied people together at times, just to be sure.

"

Elreth sighed.

"I thought the idea of the Protectors was that they stopped the risk of the crossing,

" she said tiredly.

Gar shook his head.

"No, they just protect others. The danger is still very real to them—more so, because without them you might lose the other Anima as well.

"

"And I think…

" her mother piped up suddenly,

"I think that the voices hate the Protectors,

" she said slowly.

"I think that usually they're just trying to tempt people, or threaten. Trying to manipulate them so they can get their own way. But with the Protectors it's personal.

"

"How?

" Elreth's heart sank. Would there never be an end to this picture? How could she lead a people and work against an enemy with never-ending risks?

"Once the voices recognize a Protector, I think the voices specifically want to hurt them. To break them, or to scare them away from ever crossing again. Because they can make it safe for others. And the voices don't want that. They want everyone vulnerable. So… so I think the Protectors have to be really careful to guard themselves, too.

"

Elreth tugged nervously at the end of her braid and waited, but everyone else seemed to be waiting for her. So she lifted her hands.

"Okay, well… Is there anything else I should know? Anything else I need to understand?

"

Aaryn shifted his weight so his solid warmth pressed lightly into the back of her shoulder, just reminding her that he was there. She wanted to curse herself. She was growing frustrated already, feeling sorry for herself—and she wasn't carrying what he carried.

Of course, he wasn't the ruler in charge of saving the entire world of Anima, either. She took a deep breath.

Creator help them both.

*****

AARYN

He could feel Elreth hitting her limit. She'd always hated problems that you couldn't create rules to solve. She was brave and strong and practical. She would happily go toe-to-toe with a bigger, stronger male, because she knew she could rely on her skill. She would meet any enemy with confidence and strength.

But the intricacies of Anima—of managing people's hearts and minds… she'd always been a little guilty of simply declaring things as she wished them to be, disregarding that when Anima weren't in agreement, they would just… resist.

Like her father, she had a naturally optimistic outlook, and loved people—so generally expected them to love her back.

But something like this… a problem that shifted and moved. That couldn't be expected to be the same one day after the next… this would drive her crazy. And she was already on edge.

He took her hand again and held it in his, his own chest tight so that he didn't feel like he was getting enough air when he inhaled.

For a moment it all seemed overwhelming. How were either of them ever going to navigate all of these problems, let alone save others while they did it?

But then he looked at Elreth who was listening to Gar tell her that they would have to just fill her in as they went, because the whole picture was so complicated there was no way to remember everything in one morning.

And he watched her deflate for a second… then her eyes narrowed and she lifted her chin a little.

"Okay,

" she said, nodding.

"Okay. Then I guess we head back and see if anyone's tracked down that human yet.

"

Everyone made noises of agreement and turned for the opening of the tunnel into the main cave and started walking, each of them talking quietly with the others.

But Elreth held back. They were the deepest into the tunnel, so the others all walked ahead, and when Aaryn stepped out, she held his hand tighter and pulled him to a stop. When he turned she let go of his hand to make the sign for 'wait.'

He looked at her silently, but didn't question. Let the others walk ahead and around the corner into the main cave, towards the entrance.

'What is it?' he signed.

'Death. Death everywhere. For you too, not just me.' Her eyes were pinched and pleading with him to understand. 'I don't know if I'm strong enough. And I want to help you, too. But I'm afraid this is so big it will take me away when you need me. Or what if I really do meet something I don't know how to fix and you're gone…? How are we going to do this without losing sight of each other?'

Everything inside him wanted to crumple into a ball of childish tears. That she'd be thinking of him in the middle of this…

He didn't even sign anything, just stepped up to her, took her face in his hands and kissed her. Long, slow, soft. Let her feel how much he loved her, and how grateful he was for her.

Then when he straightened and her eyes shone up at him, he shook his head. 'In this together, remember?'

It was a relief to see her smile.