Zohar swallowed as he realized he was not only alone, the bubble was sinking into the cold, silent depths of Loch Ness.
Chapter Fourteen
Valdier:
* * *
The sun dipped low over Valdier’s horizon, painting the twin moons with hues of amber and rose. Zoran Reykill stood at the base of the ancient treehouse, a quiet hum of unease prickling beneath his skin. The soft breeze rustling the golden leaves above did nothing to ease the pressure growing in his chest.
It was quiet.
Too quiet.
There was a silence only a parent heard when something felt wrong, and right now, it was blaring.
Creon’s footsteps were soft but urgent as he approached. Zoran turned before his brother could speak.
“You haven’t seen them either,” Zoran said, voice low and clipped.
Creon shook his head. “The girls were supposed to be spending the night with Alice and Adaline, but Ha’ven and Adalard said Alice and Adaline told them that they were spending the night at our place.”
Zoran’s jaw clenched. “Zohar said he and the others were camping out in the treehouse to practice what they’ve been learning. I should have known better.”
One by one, the other dads arrived. Mandra. Trelon. Kelan. Ha’ven. Adalard. Vox.
All with the same expression—tight-lipped concern, barely concealed fear behind eyes sharpened by years of battle, diplomacy… and fatherhood.
“We checked the training fields. The palace quarters. Even the amusement park,” Mandra said, voice gruff. “Not a single one of them.”
“There’s no sign of Adaline or Alice either,” Adalard added, brows drawn together.
“And Roam, Jabir, Bálint—” Vox began.
“Gone,” Trelon finished, crossing his arms. “Just like the rest.”
In grim silence, they climbed the spiraling walkway up into the treehouse.
The moment they stepped inside, Zoran’s chest twisted.
Leftover supplies sat half-packed in a corner. Crumbs littered the floor. A rolled sleeping bag was shoved haphazardly behind a cushion, and someone had forgotten their boots. On the central cushion lay an open datapad… with a glowing, hand-drawn map of a strange world with a title above it: The Seven Kingdoms.
Zoran didn’t speak. He didn’t need to.
They were gone.
Zohar was gone.
Fury fueled by fear surged, hot and heavy. His symbiot pulsed along his skin, resisting his command, but Zoran closed his eyes and reached through their shared bond until he touched the symbiot’s last memory of the second link. The weaker one. The one that belonged to Zohar’s own symbiot.
The connection flickered.
Show me.
The symbiot resisted.
Zoran’s voice darkened in his mind. Now.
Reluctantly, like a child caught red-handed, the symbiot sent a flickering pulse of memory.
