The Tearing

The first thing I feel is the tearing.

Not of flesh, but of essence; as though the wind itself has been unmade. The world collapses into noise and motion, a thousand unseen hands dragging me through a storm of black wind. I reach for Caden’s presence, for the warmth that anchors me, but the void devours it whole. Sound becomes silence; light becomes dark. And I, the wind that once danced beside him, am scattered; a breath lost between realms.

I scream, but only silence answers. I try to move but I feel no body, no heartbeat; only a chilling panic gripping my mind.

Am I… dead?

Is this punishment for interfering?

Caden… I’m sorry, has all this been for nothing?

Shame washes over my like the bite of winter’s chill. My mind races, replaying every choice, every mistake. Until, when the end seems near, a rage spirals from within.

I must not give in. He has risen, and he comes for me… he comes for me.

I focus not on the void that swallows me, but inward; I centre myself within my own mind. I reach, searching for that feeling; that forgotten tether to the wind. Beneath the blanket of silence, I hear a breeze rushing through trees, caressing the grass. I gasp as the world erupts into light, my breath stolen by the sight.

I see a lush green field; the tall grass bows deep beneath the unseen wind. Grey clouds churn overhead like white water. Then the sky reaches for the land, and the warm air erupts into a tempest of fury.

At the storm’s heart, I see… myself; bound in shadow that threatens to pull me inward, into the dark. My form grows weightless, displaced by the gale, and I rise, joining the storm that swirls defiantly around me.

The vortex spirals into a force greater than nature, tearing trees, grass, and soil from the earth. I’m not merely carried by the storm — I am the storm. The wind howls faster, until it feels as though I’m no longer moving with it, but within it; a part of something vast and unrelenting. Here, in the chaos, I feel the comfort of home, and the strange sensation of being whole again.

I look down into the storm’s heart. My long blonde hair whips wildly. All but my shoulders and head are bound by shadow. My eyes remain closed, as if in deep concentration.

A moment of silence passes. I gasp; a surge of power shoots through my mind, washing over me like ice water. My gaze drops to the eye of the storm. My other self lifts her head, eyes snapping open.

I…

She…?

She’s staring directly at me, eyes shimmering with green and blue light. Her lips move, but no sound reaches me. Her voice is one with the wind, carried to me faster than sound.

“Aelren thar”

Find Him.

Her words pass through me like a thunderclap, tearing through the storm, through me, severing our shared essence. The gale twists, guiding me away from the black shadow that engulfs her.

Her power carries me faster and faster through the void. In the distance, the fortress rises from the mountains like a dark sun breaching the horizon; powerful, looming, inevitable. The gap closes fast. Too fast. At this speed, I’ll be splashed across its battlements.

As I hurtle closer, a tingling spreads through me, through head and feet, through extremities I no longer possess. Then the sensation reaches my face, my core. Something stirs within, echoing like a heartbeat; an ancient rhythm that resonates with Her power.

I feel something begin to take shape around me. A form. A living thing. I look down, uncertain, breathless.

White wind gathers, dense and luminous, cocooning me in its embrace. Two wings burst forth from its mass, slicing through the air, trailing long wisps of cloud in their wake.

I feel a face take shape, my features rising to the surface. My vision sharpens; what was once shadow becomes light. The air rushes beneath my wings, lifting me higher, higher still.

Her power releases me, and I glide through the currents like one born of flight. My movement is silent. My approach, unseen.

I spiral through the air, carving a path through the clouds; twisting, turning, testing this new form. I pierce through the top of the clouds, leaving their trail behind me. The warmth strikes my body, and I see the sun shining bright and pure, unfiltered by the dark below. In this instant, I almost forget my troubles. I float suspended, captured by this moment.

A soft updraft rises beneath my white feathers, and with it, I hear her voice carried on the wind: “Find him.”

The words ripple through my form, tingling beneath the surface. I break from my reverie, and words escape my lips before thought can intervene.

“Don’t worry, I’ll find him.”

I look down upon the blanket of dark clouds, and dread washes over me like ice rain. Nevertheless, I angle my beak downward, wings tucked tight, and plummet like a comet. The air parts around me, offering no resistance.

I hit the clouds with such speed I pierce straight through, leaving a gaping hole that widens and churns until the darkness swallows it whole.

Don’t worry, I’ll find him.

I’m coming, Caden.

The ground rushes toward me. I spread my wings wide to brake, and they flare outward like the wings of a firedrake.

One powerful beat halts my descent in an instant. The air detonates outward from the force, rippling across the field below. The ground shudders beneath the shockwave.

I hover just above the surface, suspended in the aftermath, white wind swirling in a furious halo around me. I feel my form begin to shift; the vast wings folding inward, their span shrinking with each beat. The storm recedes from my body, its power drawn back into my feathers.

When the winds finally settle, I am small once more; the white owl I was, but carrying within me the echo of something far greater.

The great fortress city looms just a short flight away. The cold gnaws at my feathers, stealing the sun’s warmth from my body; a cruel reminder that there’s no time to linger. I spread my wings and head toward the city, toward him.