When The Heart Sings

Chapter 39

Darien's POV:

My blood was boiling. The sun was starting to rise and we had still not found Serena. Some of the warriors had returned to the war camp to summon help. It wasn't as if that group was doing any good sitting there amongst the tents anyways.

Hundreds of warriors were down below as they combed through thousands of tunnels that spread out in every direction. The bond twisted in my own rage, but Serena's end was quiet. I had felt several flares much earlier that had driven me into a directionless fury, but they had subsided not long afterward.

I was above ground where I would be easy to find if someone found her. My muscles trembled in the need to do something – anything – that might get her back in my arms again. What use was legendary strength and speed if you didn't know where you needed to be or what you were supposed to be fighting?

"Darien!"

I turned my head to see a warrior in the distance running towards me. He was splattered with mud and looked exhausted. No one would dare approach me in my current mood unless they had something to important to tell me. I swiftly closed the distance between us.

He flinched at my expression as he fell to his knees in exhaustion. He panted, "By the- war camp- Alex- wants you – to come."

Alex would not have sent someone to me lightly. I took off, my energy finally having an outlet. Why was Alex back by the war camp? I would find out soon enough. It had taken us all afternoon yesterday to walk to this campsite at their speed, but I ran that distance in a fraction of the time.

As I neared the camp I shouted, "ALEX."

His distant voice replied, "Over here."

I swiftly located him quite some distance from the camp. He was covered from head to toe in mud and scrat blood. How he managed to hunch over in those tunnels for so long was a mystery.

My hard and demanding eyes met his and he held out something in his hand. I immediately closed the distance to take Serena's hair clip out of his hands as I gazed at it in shock, "Where did you find this?"

He gestured to a small hole in the ground, "It was in a scrat tunnel down below. She managed to squeeze out this exit and her tracks take off in that direction at a run. I tried to follow them, but they disappear before long."

I gave him an odd look. He was an excellent tracker. Tracking a human in the soft forest dirt should have been simple. "Was there anything else in that tunnel? What do you mean the tracks disappear?"

Alex made a face, "Three half-eaten bodies of the warriors were not far from where I found that. Nothing else of hers though. The tracks just stop in a clearing."

I looked at the ground, Serena's footprints were clearly visible in the soft dirt. I swiftly followed them as Alex tried to follow me. I kept my pace slow enough that he could keep up. The tracks went from a run to a walk that looked nervous.

The tracks went in a surprisingly straight line towards the north. I inhaled as I realized that she had been following the bond towards me. It was the only compass or direction she would have had in the dark. Humans did not see well in the dark and I could see where she had stumbled over roots and sticks.

I paused with narrowed eyes as her tracks suddenly started backing up. A low growl left my throat as I saw the tracks of a large raptor. It left me confused though. The raptor's tracks approached and suddenly churned up the soil before taking off in a different direction.

I circled the area, but I found no trace of her tracks to show where they left the clearing. There was no blood splatter either. It was as if she had sprouted wings and flown away.

I looked towards Alex, but he was watching me tiredly. From his tracks, he had circled the area dozens of times trying to pick up her tracks. He was a better tracker than I was and I knew it. If he had not found her tracks, then I wouldn't succeed.

I was desperate and worried. I knew she had passed through here at some point, but had no further clues. I took a deep breath and shouted, "Serena! Where are you?"

I tilted my head and listened hard as Alex stood silently. Even my enhanced hearing could pick up no reply.