Survivor

Chapter 2

Sorry, I know that cliffhanger was mean, but I just had to do it. ;) FLASHBACK SPOILERS AHEAD!!

"What do you mean gone?" Sophie asked grinding her teeth angrily. If the Neverseen had touched one feather on Silveny's wings there would be hell to pay.
"Let's let the man speak before we go all Rage Monster on him," Keefe whispered back fanning the air between them roughly.
"I mean they weren't in the sanctuary. Just gone. But we found this." He said sighing as he pulled out a thick black armband with a silver eye stamped on it. Sophie tugged on her eyelashes nervously, her heart tripping over itself in shock. She swore she could see spots dancing in her visions until a hand clutched her own, squeezing it tight in reassurance and affirmation. She looked up to see Keefe looking into her eyes and breathing in deeply, signaling for her to do the same.
"This is a new low. I mean animals?" Lihn gasped and it was kind of scary to see such anger play out on the little hydrokinetics face.

All of her friends looked ready to fight, they all loved Silveny, Greyfell, and their babies just as much as she did and it was plain they would do anything to get them back.
"We're going to check out the sanctuary again, to make sure they're not still there, but Grady we could use yours and Sophie's help just in case they're hurt," Alden responded.
"Of course," Grady replied putting a gentle hand on Sophie's shoulder.

Sophie quickly flattened out any wrinkles in her crimson tunic and pulled on the thickest cape and gloves she owned. The path to the sanctuary was cold, to say the least. She paced back and forth trying to work up the nerve to walk out the door, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was going to happen at the sanctuary. She was startled by the sudden knock on the door. She expected Edaline or Grady but Fitz walked looking positively gorgeous in his dark-colored outfit and cloak. Stopping her pacing as he took her hand she sighed and leaned in to him taking deep calming breaths.
"We will get them back Sophie." He said soothingly muttering it against her hair.
"How can you be sure?" She asked tears spilling out of her eyes.
"Um, have you seen our support group?" He responded. She looked up as her friends had all filed into the room giving her reassuring smiles and nods. Sophie let out a choked laugh through her still running tears.
"I take that emotion shift as a good thing right?" Keefe asked from where he was leaning against the wall. She nodded with a faint smile, he pushed off the wall and joined in the hug with her and Fitz. Only to be joined by many more pairs of arms until Sophie was at the center of a warm group hug, excluding Tam who hung back a little but put a hand on her shoulder in his own form of quiet support. Detangling herself from the mess of arms she led everyone downstairs to get ready to leap to the sanctuary.

Sophie had known it was a mistake to move the Alicorns back to the sanctuary after the babies were free from the troll slime (name courtesy of Keefe Sencen of course). The sanctuary prevented them from teleporting away in case of danger, but the council had agreed the baby Alicorns needed to be protected until they were old enough to teleport like Silveny and Greyfell and where better to be safe than at a protected animal sanctuary.

They trudged through the thick snow, shivering slightly in the cold despite the skills they learned from Exillium. Once inside the Sanctuary, everything looked normal, Mastodons grazed peacefully and multiple verminions were seen sprawled our all over the grounds but of course, no Alicorns.
"Where did you find the armband?" Grady asked scanning the visible area as if a dozen people in black cloaks would just be standing about in the open. Alden pointed to a small outcrop of rocks. As they made their way over a slight glimmer of light caught Sophie's eye, it was coming from a nearby grove of trees. Peeling off from the group Sophie walked towards the trees sifting through the fallen leaves and various other debris to find a small silver Neverseen pin. Opening her mouth to call everyone over she jumped in surprise when a hand clamped over her arm and another over her mouth. She tried to transmit to someone, screaming out mental pleas for help, but upon seeing the bracelet that now appeared on her wrist she knew it would be futile. A small silver bangle was clamped tightly around her wrist inlaid with small gems. It was an ability restrictor. Model 2.0.