When The Heart Sings

Chapter 42

Darien's POV:

I scowled at the lieutenant who was trying to update me on the areas they had checked. They had moved their focus closer to the area where her tracks had disappeared, but there had been no luck in finding her as they scoured every part of the forest. I knew my eyes were partially black as my temper threatened to snap again. It made them nervous - and I didn't care.

Serena was human, how could she just disappear into thin air? It frustrated me and perplexed everyone else as well. I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose as I focused once more on the bond. It was riled up from my emotions and aggression, but I wasn't picking up anything from Serena's side though.

That meant she was either asleep, unconscious, drugged, or simply not terrified. Considering that I occasionally felt a few shifts from her end, I suspected it was the latter case. It was as if she was occasionally somewhat nervous or uneasy, but not truly scared. And that confused me.

Where on this wretched planet could she possibly feel halfway safe? It was a riddle that was driving me insane. Alex was also clueless. Try as I might, I had no ideas and I couldn't find a way to pick up even the faintest hint of a direction from the bond.

The lieutenant was still blabbering away, "-and we are out of places to look. We should call off the search in case the enemy uses our distraction to attack."

A snarl left my lips as my eyes opened to glare at him. He paled as he found himself on the receiving end of my displeasure. He swiftly apologized and promised to send more people out on further sweeps.

I exhaled gustily in frustration. Alex had suggested that I stay in the camp since Serena could track me. She would have an easier time if I was stationary. It made sense, but I was ready to kill something at this point. The bond was demanding that I go to Serena, but I had no clue where she was.

The creaking of a large branch above me made me look up. A pair of yellow slit-pupiled eyes looked down at me as a female Dranek perched on a wide tree branch above us. The lieutenant and Alex both followed my gaze and froze. The blue-skinned creature blinked slowly at me, "Are you the one they call Darien?"

I had not expected such a light and delicate voice from something larger than me. The Dranek must have caught rumor of my strength and had sent a scout to investigate. I didn't care what they thought, all I wanted was my mate. "And if I am?" My tone should have warned her that it would be best for her to just leave.

She blinked again, "Your mate misses you. Soulmates should not be apart."

That comment got my undivided attention. I focused on her, "You know where Serena is? Is she okay?" I couldn't quite keep the worry from coming through my demanding tone.

She tilted her head as she continued to calmly watch me, "She is unharmed and safe. I will guide you to her."

She jumped to a nearby branch and disappeared into the leaves with a speed that the average Tarulk would have been struggling to keep pace with. However, I was far from normal. I tracked the sound of her passage through the tree canopy and easily matched her pace as she travelled unseen through the camp.

Less than a minute later, she ran on the ground ahead of me. She picked up speed as she noticed I was keeping pace with her. I sped up a hair to run alongside her, "Is Serena okay?" I used my senses to try and get a read on her. My speed and stamina were surprising her.

The odd blue creature was starting to breathe harder with the intense pace she was setting and uneasy with my proximity, but answered nonetheless, "She is unharmed. We found her wandering around in the forest behind our lines and she is being cared for in our camp like one of our own."

She whistled and some breed of blue raptor I had never seen before walked out of the trees. It had a saddle on it. The Dranek swiftly swung herself into the saddle and touched her heels to its sides. That creature was fast. But not as fast as me.

The knowledge that this Dranek was leading me to my mate lent strength and speed to my muscles. She picked up speed since I was still keeping pace with her mount.

The pace had me breathing hard before long. The Dranek glanced back and slowed the raptor down. I eyed up the raptor, but it was too small to match the tracks I had seen in the mud.

Serena had disappeared without a trace and I began to wonder if one of these Dranek had grabbed her before travelling through the trees. That would not have left any tracks. They could very well be trying to lure me away from the camp to ambush me. If they tried, they would not have enough time to learn from their mistakes.

I knew we were near the battle lines. If you could call them that. From what I heard, it was mostly an area that Tarulk tried to sneak through only to have an arrow hit them as a warning. I didn't see or hear any of our sentries, but I picked up several heartbeats high in the trees that belonged to the Dranek sentries. Their heartbeats were heavier and slower.

The sentries were too far away for me to get a read on, but I kept tabs on the female in front of me. Her mind reflected some unease and, oddly enough, a slight sense of protection. For some unknown reason, this Dranek felt the need to protect me.

I got a bit closer and tried harder. There was determination with a fierce undertone. There was something else she was guarding, and she was hell-bent on protecting it. I once more regretted that I was unable to truly read thoughts.

I hid my reaction as a flicker of Serena's face passed through her thoughts accompanied with curiosity. She had actually seen Serena in person and Serena was the one that this Dranek was determined to protect.

The possibility of them bluffing to get me alone had crossed my mind, but this dispelled that thought. The bond pulled harder at me after seeing that image. I was breathing quite heavily now, and we had been running for almost an hour at a good speed. We had passed the battle line quite some time ago, where the hell was their bloody camp? At the south pole?

I failed to see how they found Serena wandering around out here. A Tarulk would have been hard-pressed to get from where we had been camped all the way out to this remote location. And how had she gotten past both sets of sentries?

I narrowed my eyes at the female's back as I caught a flash of something she was suppressing. This Dranek was hiding something.