Matriarch - Search: Sisters

Furor quickly left the Matriarch, thoroughly disturbed by the pained noises she emitted. Cheior and Kaimana followed at a more leisurely pace. Between the two ideas the sisters had discussed earlier, all that was left to do was look for more help. Furor blindly led them to the mouth of the cavern where a large haedian stood with papers in his hands. 

“We’ll help look for more help,” Kaimana said to the haedian when Furor didn’t move to explain their appearance. 

“Very good,” The haedian nodded, “Hand these out.”

Cheiro took the papers in her second limbs before the sisters nodded and exited the tunnels. The tunnels were large enough in places that they could fly without much trouble. In other places, the three empyrians had to crawl or even crouch to fit through. They weaved through the crystalline paths. The crystals around them flickered, causing the colours to shimmer across the stone surfaces around them. 

Cheiro had been casually dropping the fliers as they went, hoping that if anyone stumbled upon them, they would read them instead of just trampling over them. The path they flew was fairly empty, but any reosean they did pass they handed them a flier and briefly explained their cause. Kaimana and Cheiro took turns explaining the situation. They were both surprised by Furor’s silence and lack of enthusiasm given this was all her idea to begin with. 

Furor was falling behind, still lost in her thoughts. She was rattled by the noises the Matriarch could create, but unknown to her sisters, it had more to do with the noises interfering with her magic. Furor was blind, as many liked to forget because of how well she moved. Her magic, she developed to act like her eyes, an echolocation of sorts, but the vibrations from the Matriarch’s cries completely threw off her ‘vision.’ It had been so long since she had truly been surrounded by darkness like that. 

“Furor!” Kaimana called, “Look out.”

Furor scoffed, but then immediately ran head first into a stone pillar. She fell to the ground in a heap before she groaned and tried to sit up. Kaimana and Cheiro’s wings rustled in a hurry to get back to her. They landed beside her and Kaimana helped her sit up. 

“What’s going on with you?” Cheiro whispered, not necessarily gently, but not as harsh as her usual tone.

“I couldn’t see,” Furor whispered back, “Her cries messed with my magic vision.”

“Can you see now?” Kaimana questioned, her tone suggesting it wasn’t a big deal. 

“Yes, but I have been isolated like that in years. I don’t want to go back,” Furor explained through gritted teeth. 

“We won’t, we can finish handing out fliers and then return to the surface,” Cheiro proposed. 

Furor nodded and then shook out her body as if it would help remove the unsettling feelings clinging to her. Cheiro gave her one last look before she jumped into the air, wings extended. Kaimana and Furor followed shortly after. The trio continued until they came into a large space. It looked like a library, but instead of shelves of books it was filled with crystals. 

“Can I help you?” A gentle voice asked from somewhere in the library.

It was quickly echoed by two more voices, each more chaotic than the other. 

Two white and yellow haedian landed on the rocks in front of them. They almost looked like twins, but there was a distinct difference in the black markings covering them. The pair twisted their heads at the same moment and parroted the question. 

“Uh,” Cheiro started, thrown off by the unusual behaviour, “We’re trying to enlist some help to free your Matriarch.”

Cheiro passed the pair a flier each, but she felt like she was speaking to the owner of the voice that had yet to appear. Kaimana and Furor looked around the colourful crystals that lined the shelves of the space. They were trying to spot the third haedian who had spoken earlier. 

“We can’t help,” the first voice said. We have to protect the library, but I know of others who can.”

The three sisters looked around, trying to find the voice's owner, but he sounded so far away. 

“Where would we find them?” Kaimana asked and carefully flickered her ears around as if trying to locate where the answer was coming from. 

“Continue straight through the library, and you’ll come to another open space. The haedians there will gladly help their Matriarch,” the voice answered, but the words faded at the end, like he was moving away. 

The unusual pair of haedians in front of them climbed up the shelves as if they were following the unseen haedian. They still held onto the fliers so the trio was satisfied they had at least done something to inform these haedians of the help needed, even if they refused. The three empyrians looked around once more, waiting for something to appear but nothing did. Silence surrounded the sisters, yet somehow, they knew they weren’t alone. 

The sisters followed the directions through the library to the new space in the tunnels. This one was filled with tables and places to rest, and there were also lots of haedians milling around. Cheiro quickly passed out fliers to her sisters and the three separated to talk to as many haedians as they possibly could. Some haedians were more receptive than others, but ultimately they had managed to talk some into helping the Matriarch. They watched groups leave the space and head towards where they were needed. 

[929]