“Emma!”

I wasn’t sure I had ever put so many of my emotions into just one word as I did then. My frustrations, longing and so many other emotions that I couldn’t even begin to fathom, all seemed to be encapsulated into that one word. As she stood before me, the perfect picture of majestic brilliance, I couldn’t help but wonder if I could ever sort out my emotions when it came to this woman.

“What are you doing here?” I found myself at a loss of words, asking the first question that came to my mind.

Emma just raised an eyebrow in reply to my question, her amusement evident. I wonder how long would it be before I stopped embarrassing myself in front of her.

She replied, a hint of a smile still present on her face, “I like spending time here, David, among familiars. A feeling I think you will appreciate, now that you have one of your own.”

Unsurprisingly, I found myself agreeing with her. I was vaguely aware of the presence of a second core at all times within myself. Even in the short time we had been bonded together, my familiar had helped me in more ways than one. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that I was alive today only because of my familiar and its parent.

Since she was the one who had introduced me to familiars, I asked her about something that was bugging me, now that I was painfully reminded about my familiar in this Sanctuary. “The parent of my familiar took it away, given that it was still a newborn. I was wondering how I would find it if I wanted to check up on it?”

In reply, Emma’s smile grew even wider, as if I had just finished telling a very amusing joke. She said, “You won’t find the familiar. Not until it wants you to find it anyway. It's normally the familiar who finds its own bonded Untethered when it judges itself to be ready. It could be a while before your own familiar seek you out, given that it is still young.”

It was at this moment that Frank decided to butt in our conversation, which I was grateful for. “Okay, if you two don’t mind, could you tell what in Luna’s name is going on? You didn’t make a stellar effort in explaining things to us. And what's this about you getting a familiar?”

Emma wisely decided that it would be better for her to proceed with the explanation. She explained to them all about familiars. The fact that miasma-monsters can choose to bond with Untethered and how that affects a monster and an Untethered. It was the same explanation that she gave me, with a few tidbits thrown in when Samuel or Frank asked a question.

To say Frank and Samuel were perturbed by Emma’s explanation was an understatement. I could relate, of course, having had the same experience a few days ago. It wouldn’t be wrong to say one’s entire world-view might be turned on its head once you realise that something that is meant to be your fated enemy could also bond and function together with you.

We stood there in silence for a moment before Frank said, “That still doesn’t explain how you got your familiar, David? Correct me if I am wrong, but I am pretty sure I haven’t seen any monster hovering around you.”

I could only heave a sigh before proceeding to answer, “In some ways, I have got to thank Frost for getting my familiar.” That gained the reaction I had expected. Samuel was on edge immediately, while Frank’s face gained a stormy expression. But before they could mull over Frost for too long, I proceeded with my explanation, “I have told Samuel this before, but when I was here before for the purposes of training, Emma had voiced her suspicions to me about there being a potential traitor in the Council.”

“There’s no two ways about it. I didn’t believe her at first. Or it would more correct to say that I didn’t want to believe her. But the mere possibility of there being a traitor in the Council was enough to rob me of my peace of mind. So I went to the location where we had been ambushed by the griffin so that I could find conclusive proof that the griffin had me lured there and that someone was after me.”

“And I did. I found the proof. In an abandoned apartment in the area were three baby griffins who had just  been born. Three progeny of the griffin we had the pleasure of encountering. The griffin came and collected her babies, but not before one of them bonded to me.”

They could only nod at my tale before Frank said, with a wry smile and a shake of the head, “Only you, David. Only you.”

I had no retort to that remark since I agreed with that sentiment, at least partially. The number of mishaps and adventures I had gotten myself into in my very young life as an Untethered was nothing short of remarkable.

Samuel interrupted my introspection and asked, “So, what are we going to do now? Not that this place isn’t nice but I’d really like to go back home. Also, I don’t think we are welcome here at the moment.”

Before I could reply to that, Emma exclaimed, “So, I guess what I heard is true then. About you three not seeing eye to eye with the Council.”

I could only silently nod at that, not aware of Emma’s possible reaction. From what I had understood, Emma seemed to be working for the Council in some capacity and I didn’t want the tense relationship between me and the Council to affect my relationship with Emma.

Contrary to my expectations, Emma’s reaction was rather tame. She gained a melancholic look on her face before saying, “I am not surprised that you didn’t agree with the Council on this matter. The Council is rather reluctant to admit its own mistakes. Don’t judge them too harshly though. They have been almost as badly affected as you and Frank. I wouldn’t judge them solely on this event.”

I wanted to contradict Emma before I thought better of it. After all, she hadn’t disagreed with our reasoning, she had just asked us to keep an open mind. And no matter how tainted the Council’s reputation had become due to the actions of one of its former members, it certainly wasn’t irredeemable. All of us could only nod at her, doing our best to keep our thoughts in check.

Emma just acknowledged our responses with a smile before saying, “Don’t let me keep you from returning then.” With that, she turned around to leave when Frank quickly shouted, “Could you show us the way out, please? David here isn’t a reliable guide.”

That earned another bout of mirthful laughter at my expense, much to my embarrassment, before Emma nodded and led us out of the sanctuary to the headquarters.

Samuel and I found ourselves back at Samuel’s gym after a long day. The day had been exhausting, both physically and emotionally. I wanted nothing more than to lie down on a bed and not wake up for a few days, at least. But alas, duty called.

Frank had decided to part ways with us as soon as we had exited the headquarters. He still couldn’t control the passive aspect of his ability and had started draining my life force as soon as left the headquarters. Seeing the effect he was having on Samuel and me, he had decided to go his separate way so that he could seek some semblance of control over his power. While his reason had been justified, it was still very hard to part with him so soon after the turbulent events of the last  day.

This also meant that it fell upon us to tell Frank’s girlfriend, Lucy of his departure. And more importantly, to pick up the pieces of the Untethered in the area after the disaster of Frost’s betrayal. The Council had stated that they would send someone to take control of the area in the near future since there was no candidate presently suitable to take up the mantle of being a Council member, not after Frank had declined their offer.

Samuel had implored me to explain the situation to the Untethered in the area, suggesting that it would be better for the Untethered in the territory to learn the full facts from a familiar face before the Council took control of the scene. Samuel’s request had a lot of merits and I did go to the club, announcing that there would be a meeting in the evening to explain the aftermath of the battle that had taken place yesterday.

In the meantime, I had the dreary task of informing Lucy of Frank’s decision to leave. She had been very understanding, especially after I told her that Frank had vowed to return as soon as possible, once he had control over his ability.

In contrast, it had been much more difficult to placate the other Untethered at the meeting. There had been confusion, grief and a multitude of other emotions among the various Untethered, which no amount of consoling or reassurances could resolve. I found myself at my wits’ end when confronted with the masses of Untethered demanding explanations regarding the cause of so much death and destruction. Some were even puzzled by the appearance of the Council on the scene since most of them were unaware of the existence of the Council.

I couldn’t decide what to divulge to the crowd, having no desire to spill the secret of the Council’s existence. Even though I was at odds with the Council, I still understood the need for their existence to be kept a secret. After trying the answer their questions to the best of my ability, I could only evade further questions saying that someone would be there to get a grip on the situation and resolve their queries to their satisfaction.

I had been quick to escape that arduous ordeal with Samuel, much to the amusement of my companion. I might have taken the coward’s way out by heaping all the responsibility on the Council but I didn’t feel too bad about it. In my opinion, they were just about to reap what they had sown.

Thus, we found ourselves back at Samuel’s gym. It seemed such a long time ago when I was trying to convince Samuel of the veracity of my story regarding the betrayal of Frank. I forced myself not to think back on the past, determined to let bygones be bygones.

As far as I was concerned, a new chapter in my life had just begun. A chapter filled with peace and various opportunities to explore my powers as an Untethered. I was looking forward to the future where I wouldn’t have to always be wary of Frost or other Council members or griffins or even the Grim Reaper.

But fate can be a cruel mistress and can lay all your best-laid plans to waste. Any thoughts of some semblance of peace were tossed out of the window the moment an intruder entered the gym, much to the alarm of Samuel and me. It wouldn’t have been nearly as surprising as it was if the intruder belonged to a recognisable race.

The c reature was vaguely similar to humans in the fact that it had the same number of limbs as humans and stood upright. And that’s where the similarities ended. The creature was fully orange in colour, with holes in its arms and neck from which metal rods protruded. Its eyes were pitch-black and pupilless, giving them an eerie appearance.

We were even more startled when it spoke up in our language, its voice gravelly and serious. But none of this was in any way comparable to the message it had for us.

“Greetings, earthwalkers! I come here with sombre news. Earth is about to be invaded. In thirty days which will most certainly spell the imminent doom of your entire race!”