Tarin struggled. Light-purple bands of Firmament strung themselves around his wings, and every movement caused them to burn through his feathers and into the bone and muscle beneath. He could break through them if he could just reinforce himself, but... Firmament suppression. He hated the tactic. It was cowardly. It was un-crowlike! Whatever Whisper had done, she had locked down his ability to manipulate his own Firmament, and Tarin hated it. He didn't even know why she'd chosen this approach. She had the ability to force people to do whatever she wanted with that weird Interface skill she used! What was the point in locking him down ? For that matter, he didn't know why she'd wanted to speak to him personally. He still gave her his best crow-glare, though. Even if he couldn't see very well. "I'm over here," Whisper said, her voice holding a touch of condescending amusement. Tarin adjusted his glare a few feet to the left, away from the remarkably similar silhouette of the nearby lamp. "You suppress Firmament!" he squawked. "I not see." Whisper looked curious, or so he imagined. He couldn't exactly make out whatever expression she was wearing on her pendant. "You're nearsighted?" Tarin scoffed. "I see near things better," he said. "...I suppose that is a refreshingly optimistic take on nearsightedness." She-Who-Whispers stepped away and back toward the glowing table. Her hands were folded behind her back, Tarin could see that much, but he thought he could see her wringing her fingers together. Was he seeing that right? ...eh. No point trying to make out what his eyes refused to see. He focused back on the Firmament sense he'd been trying to develop—now was as good a time as any to try to observe his surroundings through it. Read the latest chapters on NovelHub - completely free! "He will die if I do not assist him," She-Who-Whispers hissed at him. "What do you expect me to do? Watch? He-Who-Guards is not allowed to die!" "You make him die faster!" Tarin retorted— Tarin smelled burnt flesh and feathers. It took him a moment to even realize what had happened. The ragged, desperate breathing was his own; the burnt feathers came from the purple Firmament wrapped tightly around his wings. She-Who-Whispers had a hand held out to him, and the aura he sensed from her was... dangerous. He'd pissed her off, then. He would have laughed if his throat wasn't sore from the screech of pain she'd torn out of it. Was she a child? Even his most stubborn pupil had withstood more criticism than this before snapping. "You will not tell me how to keep my own partner alive." She-Who-Whispers's voice was low. Icy. "I not talk, he die," Tarin answered simply. "What could you possibly say to him?" There was an edge in Whisper's voice. Tarin ignored it. He dragged himself over to the table, noting with some satisfaction that the ropes of Firmament binding him didn't resist his attempt to move. Connecting to another person via Firmament was difficult at the best of times. Tarin could only barely do it with Mari— ...He missed Mari. The thought struck him suddenly. He took a deep breath. No time to think about that now. Connecting to another person via their Firmament was difficult, and he could only barely do it even with someone like Mari—but this was a special scenario. He-Who-Guards was all but stripped of every layer that would have proven a hindrance to such a connection, and Tarin had been studying how Ethan's connection with Ahkelios worked. He was relatively certain he could do this. "You not suppress my Firmament," he requested. After a moment, he felt the suppression lift, though the ropes remained to bind his wings. He could have chosen this moment to attack, but he didn't stand a chance against Whisper, and besides... Ethan wanted to help Guard. "What are you doing?" Whisper asked. "You quiet," Tarin said. He could feel her bristle in response. There was a sharp spike of Firmament that threatened to debilitate him once again—but almost as soon as it started, it stopped. He was too close to Guard now; any attempt to hurt him had a good chance of hurting the very fragile state the ruined silverwisp was in. Now he just needed to find a way to speak with Guard privately, and for that... he had an idea. Firmament manipulation wasn't as simple for him as it was for Ethan. What came naturally to him was reinforcement—moving his Firmament within his own body. External manipulation of Firmament was for other species; it never really came naturally to crows. It wasn't impossible. It was just very, very difficult. Crow Firmament was very tightly bound to them, with the sole exception being when they were performing an imbuement. That was how they were able to gift Firmament to one another, usually to the one chosen to be the next village leaders. The process was... very much like imbuement, actually. That was the process he tried now. Tarin gathered his Firmament, brushed his wings against Guard's core, and attempted an imbuement. A gift of Firmament—not forced, not insistent. An offering. All he had to do now was wait. He'd learned a few things from observing the bond between Ethan and Ahkelios. He-Who-Guards... hesitated. His core was unstable. He knew this—could feel his life slipping away every time he fought off Whisper's control. A part of him wasn't even sure why he bothered to cling to life at all; he'd long ago accepted his death, after all. It was She-Who-Whispers that couldn't accept it. He could have let go. He didn't know how much time had passed, but he did know that he could have chosen to simply let go at any point. He could have allowed his remaining Firmament to disperse into nothingness... Ah, but of course, Whisper would stop him. That was what the machines around him were for. Everything here was designed to lock him down, prevent his Firmament from leaving the table, let alone the room. He-Who-Guards was still aware that part of him was still clinging to life. He wondered if he'd developed that will to live somewhere along the way. Which left him with this choice: the question of what to do with that strange, foreign Firmament he suddenly found offering itself to him. Instinct told him to reject it and fight it as he did with every other attempt to interact with him, but something stopped him. What was this Firmament, anyway? It wasn't Whisper, he could tell that much. It wasn't even anyone he could see Whisper intentionally associating herself with. It didn't feel like a doctor or a healer, anyone that might be able to help him cure this malady. An intruder, maybe? But Whisper was right there. She would have stopped the stranger if she didn't want him around. He-Who-Guards was under no illusions as to how much power she wielded these days.