《Young Flame [Book 2 (chapters 47-99) Stubbing 24th March]》 Chapter 1: Funeral Pyre Life can¡¯t get worse than this. I don¡¯t understand anything anymore. Why does the world have to be unfair? Why do I feel so empty? Everything is numb. I know I should be bawling, but the tears refuse to come. I want nothing more than to run to my mummy and cry into her warm embrace. I want to; I want to so much, but she is no longer there for me. Without her I don¡¯t know what to do, I don¡¯t know how to do anything without her. I wish to just go back to before when I could run to her warm embrace and forget the world as I sleep in her arms. But I can¡¯t. I can¡¯t deny her death. Not with the unquestionable funeral pyre consuming my attention. The inferno burns brightly in contrast to the dark, sandy landscape. Wisps of flame rise high into the air above. The moon having hidden away not long past. My tribe sits in silence around the pyre, patiently waiting for the Ember Moon¡¯s appearance. The elders of our tribe sit closest to the flame, ready to begin the ritual. A cinder catches the wind, blown away from the pyre; it ebbs and sways unpredictably, following no predetermined path. It floats in front of me for a moment and I attempt to reach out for it. The wind, as if knowing my intention, whirls the ember out of my grasp and around my arm. Its motion; teasing, before the wisp drops to the sand below my feet. Its glow is gone as the desert consumes it. My gaze locks on the remnant cinder. Now ash, indistinguishable from the surrounding sand. Unable to reignite. Unable to reunite with the flame it originated. Once again, I am confronted with the fact there is no way for her to come back to me. I should be crying for her, but I can¡¯t. What would she think if I can¡¯t even cry for her at her funeral? She must be so disappointed in me, maybe even as much as I am in myself. A subdued red light catches my attention from the corner of my eye. Turning slightly, I¡¯m embarrassed to realise I¡¯ve been so focused in my own head that I have lost control of my flame again. My hair, hanging from the side of my face, is lit in bright red fire, exposing my lack of control to everyone around. I quickly clamp down on it, returning my hair to its physical form. I am ashamed of myself, I¡¯m a disappointment to the tribe. I should have enough control to stop an outburst like this. I¡¯m already nine, I should have been on top of this a year ago, but still, I fail. The sudden touch of a hand on my shoulder startles me. Turning, I see my Uncle Rivin. His sombre expression stares down at me. Is he disappointed in me too? I can only be glad he isn¡¯t yelling at me for losing control like he usually would. Instead, he only nods towards the pyre and I realise I¡¯ve been lost in thought for a while. I stand and walk towards the pyre with Uncle beside me. The Ember moon has appeared in the night sky above, its glow tinting the desert a deep red. I glance up towards Uncle. His blue and black hair is short but is still the same colour as mine and my mum¡¯s. The slight motion of his hair makes the blue flicker like flame, but he hasn¡¯t lost control, that¡¯s just how it looks. Just the same as my mum¡¯s does. Did. I stop a few steps from the fire. It burns many times my height, fuelled by the ring of elders encircling the pyre. I hesitate to take the next steps, unsure how I can ever willingly say goodbye. It feels like saying goodbye for good, I don¡¯t want her to leave. I know she is gone. I know that in my head, but I don¡¯t want to accept it. I don¡¯t want to lose any more of her. I want to cling to everything I have left of her, even if it''s simply her memory, and it scares me I might lose that if I accept her death. I feel Uncle put his hand on my shoulder. ¡°Solvei, I know it¡¯s hard, but you need to do this. Just say whatever you wanted to say before we lost her.¡± He says, giving me a slight push. As much as I don¡¯t want to do this, I feel like not doing it would be somehow worse. No, I know avoiding it will be worse. I will regret it if I don¡¯t say what I can the last time she might ever be able to hear it. Once she returns to the Eternal Inferno, there will be no more chances. This is the only time I have. Settling my thoughts and gathering my courage, I take the last step through the wall of flame into the pyre. The flames are warm and they embrace me completely. At the centre of the flame, I see the remains of the timber used to ignite the ritual pyre, now barely charcoal. The flames are obviously supplied solely by the elders'' efforts. I make my way to the bed of charcoal and lower into a seated position. I let the comfortable heat of the flames nestle into me and let my body shift into flames. My form retains the same shape, but takes on the appearance and nature of the flame around me. I push my inner flame out to mix with the surrounding pyre, the flame of my elders easily willing to cede control to me. My tongue twists and nothing comes out when I finally try to talk, too many words want to come out at once. So I try to start simply. ¡°Mummy, I wish you weren¡¯t leaving. I don¡¯t know what to do without you. I want to properly wish you on your path to the eternal inferno, but I also don¡¯t. I don¡¯t want to say goodbye to you yet, I already miss you too much. I¡¯m selfish and greedy, and even though I know you¡¯ll be in a better place, I still want to hold you back.¡± I feel myself choking up. It¡¯s a struggle to continue as involuntary sobs make their way out with my soul-baring speech. ¡°But, as much as I don¡¯t want you to go, you still need to go. So, goodbye mummy, I hope Eldest Ember guides you on your journey to the eternal inferno. I will always remember you. I¡¯ll miss you and I love you.¡± It hurts so much to say my farewell. An emptiness seems to swell within me. I try to push everything I have into the surrounding fire, stirring the flames and pushing them to grow to greater heights than before. I push everything I have into the flame, hoping the hurt will go with it. The flames spin around me and I stare up through the flames at the Ember moon through them. If I don¡¯t get to keep my mum with me, the best I can do is hope the eldest ¨¢ed can help her on her way. I can''t help the wail I let out as I burn through as much of my energy as I can, trying to push the pyre¡¯s flame to my limit. The deep red of my flames rage and flare into the sky. I push myself till I¡¯m exhausted, to where the pain of my body hurts more than that of my soul. I gather my thoughts and control my emotions like my mother always taught me, and regain my form. I pull my energy back from the flame and allow the ritual pyre to return to the elders'' control. I step out of the fire and see my uncle there waiting for me. Feeling battered and exhausted, I hug him. I know it¡¯s over now. Mum is on her path and I¡¯ve already let her go. I know it was the right choice and I can''t turn back on that now, even if it feels so much worse than before. I feel Uncle embrace me before lifting me up. I push my face into his shoulder, trying to hide my crying from anyone that can see. Uncle carries me back to a spot far from the flame. He sits down with me in his arms and I feel the warmth from his inner flame encompassing me. His warmth mixes with my own flame and supports it. The Kindling process fills me with warmth and I can¡¯t help myself but relax. It¡¯s not as good as when mum did it, but it still feels nice. With heavy eyes, I watch as the pyre grows, the blaze searing far higher into the sky than when I was inside. The flame is also a much brighter orange colour than the red it was before.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The fire is much hotter than two minutes ago. I know the elders probably reduced the rank of the fire when I went in, but considering it is Auntie Kay I see in the pyre, the heat and strength of the fire are probably all her work. I¡¯m momentarily amazed at the show she puts on and stare in awe at the twirling fire as it reaches far into the sky above. My admiration is interrupted when I hear Uncle grumble from above me. ¡°Must she really show off even at a time like this? The elders are going to make her regret it later.¡± I glance up at him questioningly. ¡°Is it really so bad?¡± I ask. Uncle catches my eyes and ponders my question. ¡°No, I guess not.¡± He responds after a moment. I feel him rubbing my head, so I relax into the warmth of the Kindling, letting it soothe my exhaustion and smother my conflicted emotions. ??? When I wake up, it''s to the jostle of the furs beneath my chest. I look up from my laying position to see we have already packed up and begun travelling from our campsite last night. I have been laid on the wagon of furs and carpets we use to decorate our ger. Uncle Rivin is pulling the cart ahead of me, so he must have let me sleep here. That¡¯s kinda weird for him. He usually wouldn¡¯t let me anywhere near the furs, what with the lacking control I have over my flame. Maybe he is feeling generous after last night? Well, I best get off before I do make a mistake and set everything alight. It should be fine as we have ways to fireproof a lot of the stuff we have, but it¡¯s not completely foolproof. I know better than most with how many of my own clothes I¡¯ve burned through. Moments I really wish everyone else in the tribe would forget. The last thing I would want is to accidentally burn through everyone¡¯s bedding. As forgiving as most of my tribesmen are, I doubt I would get off without punishment. I probably wouldn¡¯t be able to forgive myself either. Landing in the sand, I enjoy the heat of the grains as I dig my toes in. For some reason, I feel much more refreshed than I have in weeks. I quickly catch up to Uncle, greeting him amongst the quiet chatter of the rest of the clan. It is only apparent to me now how silent everyone has been since the disaster occurred. Last night¡¯s ritual must have been more helpful to everyone than I would have thought. I notice the same is true for me as well. Despite how painful thinking about how I will never see my mummy again, I feel like I can move forward now. It feels like the world isn¡¯t going to end anymore. Smiling a bit at the thought, I ask Uncle Rivin. ¡°Hey, where are we going now?¡± I know we were travelling south for a week after the tragedy with us losing so much of our family, but now that we have held their memorial ritual, I¡¯m not sure what the plan is. ¡°The elders have decided we will check out an old mining site the records show is in the area. They hope to find some minerals there,¡± he says. I look in the direction we are travelling and then back at the moon looming low behind us. ¡°We¡¯re still moving south?¡± I ask. ¡°It¡¯s too risky to travel back the way we came when we have no knowledge of those who attacked us. We figure it would be safest to travel southwest for a time, before going north again. It¡¯s already uncomfortably close to the coast as is.¡± I¡¯m not very interested usually in where we end up going as lots of the desert looks the same. Rocklands and mountains can sometimes be unique, but the desert is the same no matter where you are. So when Uncle mentions the mysterious coast I¡¯ve always been told is a terrifying and horrible land of death, I can''t help but be interested. ¡°Have you been to the coast before, Uncle? What was it like?¡± I ask. I¡¯ve been told some crazy things about it, always saying how bad and scary it was. Even if I¡¯m told it''s a terrible place, I can¡¯t help but want to see it. It sounds so different I can barely imagine it. I guess my excitement is pretty visible because Uncle gives me a glare. ¡°Solvei. Get that thought out of your head. We will do our utmost to avoid it at all cost and you shouldn¡¯t be so curious about such dangerous things.¡± His attention returns forward, continuing to pull the wagon as he answers my question. ¡°I¡¯ve been there once before, but far west from here. It differs greatly from our lands; there are many dangerous plants and animals there, but the weather is the most terrifying thing. Even if you find cover to protect yourself completely from the storms or fog, you can''t do anything when the air you breathe begins cutting at your throat.¡± The look he gives me makes sure I know he is being serious, and I gulp at the idea. The air itself attacking you? How is that even possible? It sounds ridiculous, but Uncle doesn¡¯t lie, especially not things like this. To mask that his warning only makes me even more interested, I divert the conversation. ¡°Where is Auntie Kay? I haven¡¯t seen her since I woke up.¡± Smirking a bit, Uncle says, ¡°She¡¯s off hunting.¡± I look around the caravan, trying to find anyone else missing. ¡°Who went with her?¡± I ask. ¡°No one, she¡¯s not allowed back until she brings her own weight in meat.¡± He says, chuckling. I gape in shock. Everyone knows how hard it is to find creatures out here. Well, maybe not that hard, but sand-worms and jerboas would take forever to catch enough to reach her weight. The only thing I can think of she might catch is scorpions or snakes, but they are impossible to find unless you are pretty much right on top of one. Dingoes or fennec foxes are also an option but I haven¡¯t seen any in days, so I¡¯m not even sure they come this far south. Uncle Rivin just laughs at my reaction. His voice booming louder than I have heard from him in a week. Calming his humour a bit, he continues. ¡°I said last night she would be punished. She was much too wasteful, so of course the elders are gonna give her a hard job while she¡¯s trying to recover.¡± I feel bad for Auntie, but I can¡¯t say anything about it. I mean, I had less energy left last night than she did and I don¡¯t want to get in trouble too. So keeping quiet seems like the best idea. It¡¯s not much later when Elder Cyrus approaches us. ¡°Morning Solvei, did you sleep well?¡± he says. ¡°Yes elder. I feel very energetic today.¡± I answer. With Auntie Kay still on my mind, I don¡¯t want him to think I¡¯m still tired from last night. Who knows what kind of hard work he might make me do? Elder Cyrus is one of the five remaining elders in the tribe. All of them would usually make decisions for the tribe together, but elder Cyrus is usually the first one to take action in emergencies. ¡°Has your grandfather spoken to you recently?¡± elder Cyrus asks. I look at his face as he asks. I think he looks a bit hesitant to ask, but it is harder to read his emotions from his face than others. ¡°No, Pop hasn¡¯t spoken to me since that day.¡± And it¡¯s true, my pop has been avoiding me since mummy passed. If I didn¡¯t have Uncle always by my side this past week, I¡¯m sure it would have hurt more. But even so, I have always loved playing with him, so it hurts a bit that he doesn¡¯t want to see me. ¡°Well, you shouldn¡¯t worry too much, he¡¯ll come around. He still loves you, he just needs time, I¡¯m sure.¡± Elder Cyrus tries to encourage me. ¡°Ah!¡± Elder Cyrus looks directly over my head, opposing the direction of travel. ¡°Looks like Kay was quicker than we expected. What do you think she caught?¡± he says to Uncle Rivin. Both Uncle and I look back at the spot far behind us. I can barely even make it out, how does elder Cyrus know it¡¯s Kay? It appears I¡¯m the only one having trouble because Uncle points out. ¡°She¡¯s carrying a sack. Maybe she got lucky with a couple of foxes.¡± Uncle shrugs, but still seems interested in what she might¡¯ve brought back. When Auntie Kay finally catches up with us, I see she has a large self-satisfied grin on her face. She throws the sack at elder Cyrus¡¯ feet and smugly states. ¡°My weight in game, as requested.¡± She¡¯s acting suspiciously. Both Rivin and Cyrus¡¯ eyes narrow at her. Instead of acknowledging the two, she just winks in my direction and I can''t help but grin with her, even if I don¡¯t know what she¡¯s being so mischievous about. Elder picks up the sack with hesitance. Acting like something might pounce at him the moment he opens the bag, he unties the neck and lets the contents fall to the ground. What drops out is hundreds of black charred¡­ things. I can¡¯t tell what they are because they are already all burnt to a crisp. ¡°What¡­ is this?¡± Elder Cyrus seems more annoyed than confused. Maybe he already knows what the black things are. Auntie¡¯s smirk seems to grow with the question and repeats herself. ¡°My weight in game, of course.¡± I can¡¯t help but try to stifle my giggle. As if emboldened by my humour, she continues. ¡°I didn¡¯t think I would have to repeat myself to you, Elder.¡± I look over at elder Cyrus and he does not look amused at all, but I see Uncle trying to hide the small twitch at the corner of his mouth. ¡°I understand that. But I want you to tell me why you have brought Jerboas that are in such a terrible condition. Really, is there any flesh left on any of these rodents?¡± Cyrus interrogates her, but Kay¡¯s smile doesn¡¯t waver. ¡°Well, you said to bring back my ¡®weight in game¡¯. I don¡¯t remember you specifying anything about its condition.¡± She picks up one of the charred jerboas and continues. ¡°It¡¯s not like we can¡¯t make use of them anyway.¡± She swallows the animal whole as if to prove her point. Elder Cyrus just sighs. He seems more exasperated than angry. ¡°So what? you just found a swarm and fried them all? You were supposed to work for this.¡± Auntie puts on a face of fake annoyance and replies. ¡°Hey, do you even know how hard it was to pick up all of these rodents? There¡¯s hundreds of ''em there. It took me so long.¡± ¡°Obviously not long enough.¡± Elder comments, before giving her a command. ¡°Add them to our supplies, then. And don¡¯t try to skirt your duties next time.¡± After saying this, he walks back to the front of the caravan. After he is gone, Auntie offers me a jerboa, which I take after she cuts it up a bit. ¡°Isn¡¯t it bad to anger Elder so much? What if he makes you do something worse next time?¡± I ask Auntie, worried about how much she provoked elder Cyrus, even if it was funny. Instead of Auntie, it is Uncle Rivin who answers. ¡°I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be given a harder task next time, but Elder Cyrus isn¡¯t mad. I¡¯m sure he finds it just as amusing as we do. Why do you think she isn¡¯t being punished right now?¡± I see Auntie Kay nodding along. So maybe they are right. But why wouldn¡¯t he laugh if he found it funny too? While I chew on half a jerboa, Auntie groans, realising Elder left her to pick up all the rodents once again. Chapter 2: The Chthonic We stopped to camp for the night about an hour ago. It took a while to help the adults set up the gers, but now that our shelter for the night is set up, I have some free time. I decide to go angling. Grabbing my angler line and checking that my knife is secured to my waist, I walk until I¡¯m a couple hundred paces from camp. Sand spreads in all directions around me, the desert extending far beyond my line of sight. The mountains in the north are the only remotely interesting difference along the horizon. Well, as boring as the desert is, at least angling is always kinda fun. Crouching low to the ground, I unsheathe my knife and hold it in front of me, ready to strike with a twitch of my arm. I dangle the angler line from my other hand and slowly drag the rock tied at one end along the sand. My angler is a string made from a bunch of animal hairs tied to a stone at one end. Uncle had shown me how to make them myself a year ago, and ever since I¡¯ve been forced to remake my angler whenever it breaks. I preferred when he let me use the one he made, his don¡¯t break as easily as mine do. I make sure to keep the angler at arm''s length from my body. I¡¯ve had my fingers bitten enough times to have learnt my lesson. I tug on the string, dragging the rock through the sand for almost ten minutes when finally, I get a bite. With a burst, sand flies everywhere and a sand-worm bites at the stone of my angler. With its teeth latched around the stone, I quickly bring my knife down onto its back and cut through the soft flesh. The worm, almost as long as my arm but as thin as a finger, squirms around on the sand without its head. It always creeps me out how they twist and squirm when they die, although it doesn¡¯t take too long for the worm¡¯s erratic movements to still. Mum told me once that the sand-worms misunderstand the movement of the stone as that of a jerboa. Because of this, we can mislead them into thinking they can get an easy meal, which allows us to have an easy meal. I still think it¡¯s amazing that they can feel movement through the sand. It''s no wonder you can find them everywhere, cause jerboas are everywhere. It must be like a free lunch for them whenever a swarm of jerboas run along. I catch two more sand-worms, these ones slightly smaller, before the sun sets and I have to rejoin the tribe. I quickly show off my catch to uncle Rivin. After receiving his praise, I get to skinning the worms. We could just eat all of it, as they are super delicious, but the skin can be used in the lining of our tarps. We could use it for other stuff like clothes, but to create a tarp needs hundreds of worm skins. So after skinning the worm and storing the meat for myself, I toss the skin in a cart piled up with them and other unused animal parts. ??? A few days later, the sand is finally replaced by rocky ground. While the colour of everything stays the same, at least the landscape itself differs from the horrible repetition of the sandy desert dunes. Not by much, though. While the possibilities of these rock-lands can sometimes be impressive, with massive boulders balanced in seemingly impossible ways or vast valleys and canyons. Most of the time, rock-lands tend to just be the same as the desert, but with rock instead of sand. Fortunately, today seems like a lucky day. The sheer walls of the canyon rise high around us as the elders lead us through the wide, bowl-like valley. The rattle of our wagons being pulled over hard rock echoes around us, overwhelming the quiet chatter from a few of my tribesmen. Many of them have their eyes glued to the surrounding canyon, wary of an ambush or pursuers. The attack over a week ago had not been the first, but it had been, by far, the most devastating. We had lost nine of our own and I¡¯m ashamed to admit it, but I hadn¡¯t even paid attention to any of their losses except my mum¡¯s. My chest hurt now even thinking about her and I know many of those around me feel the same way. Many are worried. The first attack we fought them off without issue, but the monsters tracked us down within the week and slaughtered over a third of us. My elders don¡¯t tell me anything, not thinking I can ¡®handle¡¯ the news. But they talk, and they don¡¯t always realise I can hear them, thinking I¡¯m asleep or just not paying attention. I¡¯ve overheard them talking about the concerning ability our pursuers have of controlling water. Water is¡­ not really something I know anything about except how ¡®dangerous¡¯ and ¡®scary¡¯ my elders tell me it is. But, when I see even the strongest of my elders shifting their eyes in paranoia, I can¡¯t help but feel a knot in my chest. I look up at the walls of the canyon closing around us the further in we go. The canyon slowly closes into a ravine with towering cliffs blocking the sky from all but directly above. A shrill whistle echoes around us and we slow to a stop at elder Cyrus¡¯ signal. I look to the sky in search of the source of the whistle. It is rather easy to spot the bright glow of the fiery bird. Her wings each as long as I am tall and flames a bright yellow are unmistakable from this distance. She flies at an envious pace until she reaches our caravan and lands on the wagon at the front with the other elders. Elder Enya is one of the most amazing ¨¢ed I know. Her binding with fire has reached the highest rank our tribe has seen in generations. At least that¡¯s what my mum said. She idolised her, so, of course, I think she¡¯s incredible too. Everyone gathers around elder Enya, wondering what she has found. Because of her ability to alter her form, elder Enya has the greatest capability for scouting. Of course, we don¡¯t rely solely on her, but she can cover so much more ground than anyone else. ¡°Everyone, I have found a cluster of chthonic. They have dug themselves into the walls of the gorge ahead of us and are likely to ambush us should we push forward,¡± Enya says. I¡¯ve always found it strange to hear her voice coming through her beak in this form. ¡°Is there any way around?¡± elder Cyrus asks. Enya was probably expecting his question, as she was quick to answer. ¡°There is, but it would delay us a few days at minimum and it would take us through chameleon territory.¡± The elders seem thoughtful and unsurprisingly auntie Kay is the first to insert her opinion. ¡°If there is risk either way, then why not just push through the gorge and take on the chthonic? At least we know we¡¯ll get something from wiping them out. I¡¯m sure their tunnels are filled with ore.¡± Her broad smile and the fact that she is almost bouncing on her feet make me think she¡¯s more excited at the idea of a fight than any interest she may have in the ore. Uncle does not agree, though. ¡°If we go through the Chameleon¡¯s territory, then at least a fight isn¡¯t guaranteed. If we are careful, those fat lizards won''t even bother to move.¡± Ready to defend her opinion, auntie turns to Uncle Rivin. ¡°You know what those things prey on, right? What happens if¡­¡± Auntie Kay is interrupted by elder Cyrus. ¡°Stop, stop. Yes, we all know what would happen if there is a nest of those around, so we will proceed with our current path,¡± he says, then looks at uncle. ¡°Objections?¡± Uncle shakes his head nonplussed, and then we are off again. Elder Cyrus approaches uncle and me once the caravan begins moving. ¡°Solvei, I believe now is a good time for you to learn to fight. I¡¯m not going to have you fight just yet, but I want you to be there watching when the fight starts. Make sure that you stick close to Rivin now, okay?¡± Elder Cyrus says. ¡°Really?¡± I ask. I have always been kept as far away from fights as the tribe could keep me. I always hate that I am the only one who isn¡¯t allowed to take part. If we ever need to fight, everyone in the tribe will join in. No one in our tribe wouldn¡¯t fight for the protection of their family. Of course, some are stronger warriors than others, but everyone knows how to wield a weapon, and our flames when needed. Everyone except me, that is. I¡¯d always been told to wait until I was older, no matter how much I try to prove I am ready. So if I am finally being given the opportunity to be included, I will happily jump at it, even if I am only being allowed to watch. Unfortunately, uncle doesn¡¯t seem to agree with me. Dropping the shafts of the wagon, he raises his voice at the elder. ¡°You can¡¯t! It¡¯s still much too early for her. And it hasn¡¯t even been two weeks since we lost a third of our tribe. Why would you risk her now?¡± he pleads. He simply wants to protect me, but it annoys me he won¡¯t give me the opportunity to prove myself. I want to contribute my part to the tribe. I want to show everyone that I am valuable, even if I¡¯m not as strong. And if I can learn to fight too, I might be able to prevent any more deaths in the future. At the very least I won¡¯t be a burden on those who would protect me. I know I can¡¯t do much now, but if I try, I might find a way forward for myself. I might discover a way to be beneficial to the tribe. As I¡¯m about to argue against uncle Rivin, elder Cyrus does it for me. ¡°It is exactly because we had such loss that she should start. There is a greater need for her to learn now than ever.¡± He says sternly, locking eyes with uncle. After holding his gaze for a moment, Cyrus sighs and continues. ¡°Besides, what will happen if we get into another conflict we can¡¯t handle? She should be able to protect herself should she find herself in a situation where we cannot help her.¡± At elder¡¯s words, uncle turns away, looking towards the rest of the caravan that has now opened up a generous distance between us. He snatches the handles of his wagon from the ground and begins moving again without a word.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Elder Cyrus shifts his attention to me. ¡°After you have watched how we fight for the first time, I¡¯ll have Kay begin your weapon training. You want to learn the spear, right?¡± I nod emphatically at him. ¡°Yes, elder!¡± The spear is the weapon my mum used. She was the best in the tribe with it and was even allowed to use one of our tribe¡¯s special relic weapons. Her spear is made of dark silver metal with pearly white engravings lining its length. The three relic weapons we have are unique as they enhance our control and power over the flames pushed through the weapon. Mum described it as the weapon becoming like an extension of her arm. Now that I am finally allowed to train with the spear, I want nothing more than to make my mum proud and earn the right to use our tribe¡¯s cherished spear, just as she had. ¡°Good.¡± Satisfied, elder Cyrus nods and walks off. I run back to uncle¡¯s side and settle into a comfortable stride beside him. We walk in silence for half an hour before uncle speaks up. ¡°Solvei, stop here for a second.¡± he puts down the handles of his cart once again and removes a small red pouch from his belt. He turns and hands it to me. ¡°I should have given this to you a while ago now. It was your mother¡¯s.¡± I gingerly take the pouch and pull the strings to look inside. Mum¡¯s dark glass marble is held within. She always held onto it when she was still with us, she thought of it as a lucky charm. The marble is the size of my palm. The glass looks impossibly dark and I¡¯m unable to see out the other side at all. Despite the marble¡¯s incredibly black glass, the focal point at the core of the marble is clear to see. A bright pink flame frozen within the marble is completely visible from any direction, as if the marble was not even there. The flame is incredible to look at. It doesn¡¯t move at all but still seems to burn strong. The colour itself is unheard of. I¡¯ve seen elder Cyrus reach a blue near-invisible flame, but never anything like this pink. ¡°Solvei.¡± Uncle Rivin snaps my attention away from the marble. I look up and lock eyes with him. ¡°I need you to promise me you will keep yourself safe. I need you to promise that when we engage the enemy, you will do nothing but stay by my side and put yourself at no more risk than necessary.¡± I don¡¯t want to worry Uncle so much, so I give him an immediate response. ¡°I promise, Uncle.¡± Uncle has changed a lot since mum passed, he no longer raises his voice in every conversation and his temperament has become much calmer. I appreciate everything he has done since she left us. He¡¯s stayed right by my side ever since mum was taken and moments like this show how much he cares. I wouldn¡¯t have thought the same before the incident. Both he and mum taught me to control my fire. He used to get angry at me a lot when I failed in the tasks he gave me, and afterwards, he would give me harder and harder objectives to reach. I thought he hated me. I feel guilty for having thought that. He has proven he cares, I was probably sulking because his training was so hard. I hope he stays this way though, an angry Rivin is a scary Rivin. Nodding in contentment ¡ª and probably not knowing about my inner thoughts ¡ª uncle returns to pulling the wagon along as elder Cyrus calls for everyone to fall into position. The last of elder Enya¡¯s feathers merge into her arm as she finishes her transformation. Having spent the past thirty minutes changing back into her more standard form, it looks like she¡¯ll be joining the fight this time. The elders all concentrate at the front with a few more of our better warriors. Kay is walking there beside them, holding her poleaxe casually over her shoulder. Me, my uncle and the three other wagons are concentrated towards the centre of the formation. As we move further into the ravine, a group of three on each side separate from the caravan and begin scaling the sides of the gorge, following our caravan from above. As we advance, our formation solidifies. The better warriors take the front with their weapons, while everyone else takes a position behind them. The line of tribesmen curves around our wagons, covering the front and sides while only leaving a few at the rear. Or at least that¡¯s how it should have gone from memory. Now, the loss of so many members is so much more obvious than before. Whereas previously, a wall of ¨¢ed stood at the front and still left some to guard the rear, now we only have four at the front and only Enya left to defend our back. Of course, if a fight actually starts, Uncle and the three others pulling their respective carts can easily join in. I have seen each of them effectively wield their own weapons after all. But with so many missing, it feels empty. We travel like this for nearly half an hour. I try to watch along the gorge walls for the chthonic or the tunnels they are known for. I don¡¯t see anything, but the elders must have because elder Cyrus calls for us to halt. With a flick of his wrist, Cyrus sends a flare into the sky and then commands everyone. ¡°Defensive positions.¡± Still not seeing any enemies, I cast my gaze around the gorge. I don¡¯t see any tunnel openings or anything else we should be worried about. The other wagon carriers around us drop their handles and join auntie Kay and the elders at the front, forming a line across the ravine. Uncle leads me behind the carts to join Enya, who hardly acknowledges us and keeps her eyes scanning the walls behind us. This is usually where I would be taken away by Uncle and sometimes another tribesman until the fighting is over. The few times our tribe had been surrounded, where we couldn''t run, I¡¯d been hidden under a wagon and Uncle would make sure I never had the chance to actually watch any fighting myself. When everyone is in position, a flicker of movement attracts my attention to the top of the right ledge. The flanking groups on both sides of the canyon descend with hurried steps. When did I lose sight of them? I hadn¡¯t really been paying attention to them, but I would get grouched at by Uncle if he¡¯d known, saying I don¡¯t focus enough on my spatial awareness. As the flankers reach about a third of the way down, they disappear from sight. From where I am, it looks like there can¡¯t be a gap large enough to even hide an arm behind, and yet three ¨¢ed easily disappear. On both sides. I look up at Uncle but his face remains still, he doesn¡¯t seem surprised at all. Turning back to the ravine walls, I finally realise what they found. It must be the chthonic¡¯s tunnels. I never thought they¡¯d be so well hidden, how did elder Cyrus notice them so quickly? I cast my gaze across the rest of the valley ahead of me, how many more are hidden from sight? Is there one right beside me? I glare at the closest rock wall, daring it to hide a tunnel from me. Shrill, high-pitch shrieks crash through the silence of the area. Smoke billows out of the tunnel entrances, both the two that our tribe used to enter, and many more along the walls ahead of us. I spin around, making sure the wall beside me doesn¡¯t suddenly become a tunnel. The shrieks pick up in intensity and a creature that can only be one of the horribly ugly chthonic surge out of a tunnel ahead of us. The creature has long arms with terrifyingly long claws scratching deep into the rock underneath as it throws itself towards our defensive line. Its wild, erratic eyes twitch, scanning over my tribe as it charges towards us. The chthonic reaches incredible speeds, its long blade-like claws digging into the hard stone as it launches itself forward. I grab at Uncle''s arm as the creature literally throws itself towards our tribe with no hesitation. It doesn¡¯t even come close. The chthonic is burnt to a crisp the moment our tribe hurls our fire towards it. Scorched ash is all that remains. While the single chthonic was early to the fight, its brethren are not far behind. Hundreds of the monsters erupt out of the tunnels. They quickly fill the gorge ahead of us, rushing with unwavering blood lust towards us. Their mad fixation on us has them clawing over one another, cutting into many of their own in their attempt to get to us as fast as possible. The sight drains the strength out of my legs and I hug myself to Uncle¡¯s side. He is quick to put an arm around my shoulder and hold me close. I appreciate it, half hiding my body from the charging monsters. The chthonic are throwing themselves into the constant stream of fire our tribe is throwing out towards them. So many of them die immediately. But many still break through, either flinging themselves over the streams or shambling over the walls at the sides. Those jumping over the wall of flames are immediately cut down, preventing the chthonic from breaching their formation. Those climbing the walls suddenly screech in pain as the walls they are climbing ignites. Most are burnt on the spot and the chthonics that survive launch themselves at my tribesmen have their bodies pierced, cut open and body limbs cut off before bursting into flame. Over the sound of the chthonic shrill screams, a loud roar cuts the air. The wave of monsters still for a moment, then split down the middle. A chthonic larger than any other stands between them all, holding itself with its arms, legs barely touching the ground below it. Its claws are longer than the entire length of my arms and they dig deep into the stone below it, simply under its weight. One more roar reverberates in my ears as it charges through the other chthonic, shredding any of its brethren that don¡¯t get out of its way in time. Its claws tear apart the stone below it, sending rocks flying. Its speed increases with every swipe of its long arms. Both my pop and elder Angarika run forward into the path of the monster. Pop holds his long sabre, while Angarika readies his halberd for the gigantic chthonic charging towards them. Both weapons are burning a bright near-white yellow, the flames hot even from as far as I am from the fight. The giant chthonic catapults itself towards the two elders, both claws posed to strike. I am only able to see elder Angarika block the claws, but Poppy¡¯s arm moves too quickly to see. It¡¯s obvious what happens, though; pop cuts the massive chthonic right down the middle. Both elders step out of its path and let it collapse behind them before moving deep into the chthonic crowd. The fallen chthonic screeches and lashes out at the closest of its kin for a few moments before the life finally leaves it and its movements slow to a stop. Pop and Angarika push through the chthonic, dismembering or killing with each swing of their respective weapon, sometimes launching waves of scorching hot flames through the horde. The fight does not last much longer, many of the remaining chthonic scramble to escape. The flanking units cut the stragglers down as they come out of the smoking tunnel system. I shiver a bit at the remaining bodies buried and burning within piles of ash. The chthonic are terrifying, horrible creatures. But they could do nothing, even with them outnumbering us by an incredible amount. They attacked and were all slaughtered. How could something so scary be dealt with so easily? How can we take these insane creatures out without a sweat, but lose so many to a small group of strangers? Thankfully, it doesn¡¯t look like anyone was injured in the fight. Uncle Rivin nudges me and I realise I am still clinging to him. Loosening my grip on his body and grabbing his hand, he slowly leads me to the burning pile of corpses. I am hesitant to go towards such an ugly scene, but Uncle is insistent, pulling me along. Once he considers us close enough, we stop and he says to me, ¡°Remember, we have taken their lives, so it is up to us to make sure they have not perished for nothing. Take their energy, Solvei, send out your inner fire and consume them.¡± I do as he says and send out as much of my inner flame as I can. It coats the ground as it approaches the leftover corpses. My darker red flame, much weaker than everyone else¡¯s fire, slowly eats away at the flesh of the monsters. I have to look away because of how disgusting the view is, but as much as I look away, my inner flame is still a part of myself and I feel the creatures burn away, fuelling my flame and enhancing myself. Really, I¡¯d get a less detailed image of the disgusting creatures if I only had to look. I¡¯ve killed plenty of sand-worms myself and consumed plenty of creatures in the same way, but it feels different this time. These creatures that had such blood-lust for our deaths, creatures we slaughter without hesitation. It¡¯s not like I regret we killed them. We have to do what we can to survive. And if we try to leave them be, it¡¯s unlikely the chthonic will return the sentiment. So why do I find it hard to watch such a scene? Why is it hard to watch their deaths if it is for our survival? Maybe I pity them, or maybe the deaths in our tribe have shown me how sad death is. I finish burning through the corpses I¡¯ve been allowed and move away as everyone else burns a portion for themselves. I return with Uncle to the wagons to set up our ger. With a tunnel network to explore and many needing time to rest after the fight, we¡¯ll be here for a few days. Chapter 3: Spear Training After uncle and I set up our ger, elder Cyrus and auntie Kay come to talk to me. Elder goes over the battle and explains the process we took. He shows me the signs in the area that indicate the presence of the chthonic. Elder Cyrus explains that we hadn''t stopped where we did solely because he noticed the tunnel entrance. He explains that the geography of the ravine would funnel the enemies into a concentrated point, which allowed us to fire upon them easier. This is where he ordered us to stop. He also tells me that the flank group''s task was to create as much fire in the chthonic tunnels as possible to force them out, which led them into us. After a long lecture about the battle, he leaves me alone with Auntie Kay to learn spearmanship. ¡°Olvy. Are you ready?¡± she asks. ¡°Yes! Let''s start. Let''s start!¡± I exclaim. Jumping on my feet, I am so excited to finally start, especially after having sat through Elder¡¯s boring lecture. Auntie laughs and passes me one of the wooden sticks she brought with her. ¡°A stick?¡± I can¡¯t help but ask. It is a straight bit of wood without even a sharpened point. Any attack from an adult would destroy this thing in a second. ¡°Of course,¡± she says, as if it¡¯s obvious. ¡°A proper spear will be too heavy for you, so you get a stick.¡± ¡°But won¡¯t we burn it when we attack?¡± I ask. She seems amused by my words. ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t think your control was that bad.¡± I know I have poor control, but it¡¯s not that bad. I don¡¯t want auntie Kay to think of me that way, so I immediately deny her. ¡°It¡¯s not! But don¡¯t we coat our weapons in flame? How would that not burn the wood?¡± Auntie is smirking at me now. ¡°Of course, by controlling your flame. How else?¡± She proceeds to show off and coat her own wooden stick in fire, before stopping the flame and showing it still in the same condition as before. I know I can¡¯t do that, so I look at my feet, disappointed I will not be allowed to learn to wield the spear. It¡¯d be easy if we treat the wooden stick like we do our clothes, they can handle some heat, but tinder like that would burn in a moment in my hands. I¡¯d been so excited to learn the spear, I¡¯ll be letting my mum down if I can¡¯t learn her weapon. ¡°Ah. Olvy, sorry. I was just messing with you. You don¡¯t need to control your fire that well yet. Keep your flame in your grasp and you¡¯ll do fine.¡± Kay says. ¡°Really? But how can I attack without fire?¡± I ask, relieved but still not understanding how I can use a weapon without fire. ¡°Well, the base of spear arts doesn¡¯t use fire. We enhance our weapons with flames because it is natural for us. There are races out there that use these same weapons but cannot use fire.¡± It seems strange, another race that can use weapons but can''t use fire? I imagine a cute fennec fox standing only on its hind legs and trying to swing a sabre in its forelegs. I giggle to myself at the strange image. ¡°Why don¡¯t you show me where you are in your control, Olvy?¡± Kay asks. I bring my eyes away from Auntie and stare at the dusty stone below. I don¡¯t want her to think I suck at it any more than she might already. I am about to refuse, but her expectant face makes me reconsider. She is trying to help me. The least I can do is be honest with her. So while I bring up my arm, I try to lower her expectations. ¡°I¡¯m not that good, I still lose control sometimes.¡± I start by creating a flame on my hand, the crimson flame pops into existence without issue. I grow the flame in my palm until it reaches about as high as my hand is wide and begin to concentrate. It is easier to make larger flames than to control the minuscule changes to the flame. So I want to try and push myself to do something I still struggle with. I try to keep control over the flame while also separating it from my form. At the edges of my palm, it begins to separate. I raise the flame until only a strand is left connecting me with the flame. I take a breath and concentrate, focusing with everything I am to remain in control for the next part. I cut the thread, splitting my attention into parts. I struggle to keep control over the flame hovering above my palm. It is a lot like dividing myself into sections. I need to focus on this now separate flame, but I also need to focus on myself at the same time. The flame flickers and falters under my watch. Not wanting to fail with Auntie still watching, I push more of my attention away from myself until the flame steadies. Success! I did it! I have a small bit of flame hovering a finger length above my palm. It may not be very impressive compared to the others in the tribe, but this is the first time I¡¯ve properly been able to do this. I proudly show it off to auntie Kay, grinning up at her. She is sharing my grin at the moment. ¡°That¡¯s amazing Olvy! Good job.¡± After holding the grin for a moment, she smiles sheepishly while not making eye contact with me. ¡°That¡¯s great Olvy. But, uh¡­¡± she doesn¡¯t continue. Instead, she moves her hand to pull some of my hair from behind my ear. The hair she pulls into my sight is blazing with my red flame. I gasp, and the small ball above my hand dissipates as I grab at my hair, forcing control over myself again.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. It¡¯s so embarrassing. I was so happy to have succeeded, especially with auntie Kay there to see. But having lost control of myself like a little girl, I can¡¯t help but feel ashamed. ¡°C¡¯mon, you did well. You still separated your inner fire from your body. That¡¯s a great achievement. I¡¯m sure in no time at all you¡¯ll have better control than me,¡± Auntie says, trying to cheer me up. I am relieved a bit that she doesn¡¯t think too badly of me, and I can¡¯t help but imagine a time when I can get control as good as hers. Everyone knows she¡¯s extremely skilled for her age, only losing to the elders who have years of experience. ¡°C¡¯mon, why don¡¯t I show you how to hold a spear?¡± She has me pick up the wooden stick again. I put more effort than necessary to make sure I don¡¯t lose control of myself again. Embarrassing myself in front of her once is enough. ¡°The first thing you should know is that there are different styles for fighting with the spear, the core of these styles is the stance you should take.¡± She picks up her stick and places her hands near the blunt end. ¡°The first stance is the simplest, used with a basic style focused on thrusts.¡± She moves her feet and body into a stance and I try to imitate her, placing my hands on the bottom of the makeshift spear and spreading my legs like Auntie. ¡°For this stance, keep your legs about shoulder width apart and keep your hands the same length on the shaft of the spear.¡± She relaxes from her stance and comes over to me. I try to hold the stance as she inspects me. ¡°Bring your front leg back a bit and turn your foot to face where you¡¯re looking. Your back foot should face in the perpendicular direction.¡± Kay twists my body with her hands so I¡¯m facing in the direction my left leg is pointing. Moving up to my hands, she pushes my rear hand further back on the spear. ¡°Your hands should be far back on the spear, but do be careful to keep some sticking out a bit so you can readjust without losing your grip. For this stance, you want to keep your left hand on the pole with your palm facing away from your body, while your right palm should face towards it.¡± She flips the direction I am holding my left hand in the way she says. Holding it like this feels a bit unnatural, I would usually keep my hands facing the same way when picking things up. I know Auntie Kay knows what she is doing though, so I let her move my hand without complaint. ¡°Finally, you want to keep your back hand at your hip and you have the basic stance,¡± she says, giving me a once-over before continuing. ¡°Good. Now we can move on to how to properly thrust. The first thing you should know is the task each hand has. Your forward left hand is your guide and will be what you use to control the aim of your spear. The guiding hand helps you target either an opponent''s head or chest.¡± Kay shows this by moving her left arm up and down while in her stance. I mimic her, moving my stick up and down. Tempted to try striking, I push both my arms forward, trying to thrust like I¡¯d seen done by others. ¡°Nice try, but you¡¯re doing it wrong. If you¡¯d let me finish, I would¡¯ve told you how to strike correctly.¡± Worried that I have annoyed her, I look up as she tries, but fails to suppress her smirk. ¡°You don¡¯t want to thrust with your forward hand, just leave that to control your thrust. Your back hand should be where all the strength comes from. Keep it at your hip and try to move it as little as possible until you thrust. When you do thrust, you should be twisting your body to give yourself more power.¡± As she tells me what to do, she guides my body through the motions slowly with her hands. ¡°Now I want you to try a thrust yourself.¡± She says and I do as told. I stop myself from pushing with my left hand and only push with my right. When I do so, it feels weak, even in my hands. ¡°You¡¯re not twisting your body, Olvy. Try again. Move your hips and legs.¡± And so, for the next few hours, she teaches me to throw a simple thrust. I am disappointed we spend so much time on only one move, but auntie seems happy. She compliments me whenever I do the strike correctly and eventually moves on to introducing footwork into the strike. It is essentially just taking a step with the thrust, but Kay says it increases the strength of the thrust by a lot. By the time the sun set, my body feels like lead and the moment I make it to my bed in the ger, I am out. ??? It¡¯s been a few weeks now since I started my spear training with Auntie. She¡¯s had me working until exhaustion every day since. The rest of the tribe was busy mining in the tunnels the chthonic left for whatever resources they could find. Those first few days of training were intense, but mostly filled by doing the same few movements over and over. It was tiring and boring. On the second day, auntie taught me a few more attacks achievable with the basic stance, which I was then forced to repeat until I couldn''t feel my arms. I thought learning the spear would be fun. Memories of watching my mum dance with her spear made me want to learn it. I found it interesting. Even if I thought it would be challenging, I never imagined it¡¯d be as boring as it is. We eventually moved onto a new style, this one far more interesting. At least it was at first. This new stance and style rely much less on thrusting strikes and more on sweeping strikes. Auntie Kay says this style is better when fighting by yourself, compared to the thrusting style, which is best when standing side by side with allies. As interesting as the style sounds, the process of learning it is the same as the first. Many long hours of repeating the same movements, until the boredom almost hurt more than my arms. Well, I complain about the boredom of it, but it¡¯s not much different from the tedium of walking for ten hours straight. Once we began travelling again, my training time reduced to a few hours in the evening after we set up camp for the night. Apparently, the tunnels the chthonics dug were much more beneficial than expected. There were deposits of both cobalt and coal, which is an incredible find for us. The elders even said we could skip the mining site we planned our next stop at, much to everyone¡¯s relief. Those hunting us had been waiting at a few of the ¨¢ed communal resource deposits in the area. Somehow, they have information exclusively shared amongst the ¨¢ed. Considering we aren¡¯t local to this part of the wasteland, we have to rely on information from generations ago. This is particularly annoying because there are some places we found completely stripped of resources. Enya spotted the hostile groups waiting in ambush a few times. Finding supplies now is great as we were running low and the location we planned to go has a decent chance of us running into our unknown aggressors again. It is a good thing we found coal. My reserves were running low and relying only on hunting animals is not reliable. Of course, it was possible, but I¡¯d spend most of my day angling to get only barely enough. Other animals could be hunted, but I can¡¯t do that myself yet. For me, and any other young ¨¢ed, coal is important. My inner flame is not yet hot enough to sustain myself from other rock types like cobalt that the rest of my tribe do. Coal burns at a low enough temperature that even my flames can burn it. If I consume enough coal, I can easily go a week without eating again. We can consume animals to strengthen ourselves, but they aren¡¯t the greatest for actual lasting energy. Now we''re heading towards a known timber acquisition site. With as scarce as wood is in the wasteland, there is an understanding held between all the tribes to only take what is necessary. This is especially important because the charcoal created with this wood makes up most young children¡¯s diets, where they are too young even for normal coal. The timber site is west, so I only have a few more days to enjoy the rocky landscape before we are back in the sands of the desert. I can only hope that we will be given a few days again to rest when we reach it. I don¡¯t enjoy having to continually travel, even if I am used to it. [STUBBED] Chapter 4: Kenna Tribe Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 5: The Coast Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 6: Collapse Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 7: Only One Step Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 8: New Path Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 9: Raetamen Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 10: Second Pyre Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 11: Morning Ride Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 12: Fisross Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 13: Welcome to Glorias Home Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 14: Leal Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 15: The Herald Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 16: Furnace Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 17: Mage Academy Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 18: Trapped Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 19: Escape Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 20: Introspection Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 21: Conflagration Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 22: Wailing Woodland I Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 23: Wailing Woodland II Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 24: Wailing Woodland III Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 25: River Fort Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 26: POV - General Mudra Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 27: Kelton Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 28: The Slums Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 29: Introductions Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 30: Thieves Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 31: Found Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 32: Closing In Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 33: Cano Manor Infiltration Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 34: Cano Manor Exfiltration Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 35: POV - Tore Hund I Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 36: Mercure Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 37: Serron Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 38: The Void Fog I Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 39: The Void Fog II Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 40: Teine Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 41: POV - Tore Hund II Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 42: The Source of Despair Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 43: Moribund Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 44: POV - Tore Hund III Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 45: Return to the Void Fog Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 46: Retribution Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D [STUBBED] Chapter 47: Final Pyre Book 1 is now stubbed. If you have read book 1 and are looking for book 2, then that starts on chapter 48. As per Kindle Unlimited''s exclusivity terms, I unfortunately, can no longer host the chapters of book one on RoyalRoad. I could have deleted the chapters entirely, but I wanted to keep the comments on each chapter available to any who wants to read. (mostly for myself, haha.)Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! If you are interested in reading Book one, you can find it over on Amazon. It launches on the 7th of Jan. I''ll also post the link to the Audible version when the link for that goes up too. Thanks for reading :D Chapter 48: Moving North... Again Charred grass crunches under my foot as I step over the blackened landscape. My bare foot passes through the ash and I debate removing my other shoe. After the fight in the Void Fog, I discovered much of my clothes in tatters. While I am immune to sword swings, everything else I have on me isn¡¯t. I¡¯ve lost one shoe, the left side of my pants and much of my shirt. But all of that meant little because I lost Leal¡¯s jacket. The sword must have damaged the heat resistance I inscribed in the leather and left it at the mercy of the magma lake. The incredible work of my uncle on the other bits of clothing is the only reason they hadn¡¯t completely deteriorated as well. So, my first goal is to find some new shoes and a jacket to keep myself safe should it rain again. I try to ignore the lopsided gait wearing only one shoe does to my step as I walk over the remains of the grassy fields after the pyre. The further I walk, the prouder I become. I only intended to burn the area around the barn, but it went far past my expectations. I¡¯ve already walked what must be leagues and I still haven¡¯t found the end to the spread of the grass-fire. My legs carry me away with haste. I know I can¡¯t stay here; even if I¡¯m not being chased anymore, I still don¡¯t want to be around in the area when people come. Maybe I should feel bad for burning someone¡¯s barn and all the crops in the area¡­ but I just don¡¯t. I was able to give all the lost ¨¢ed a better send off than anyone could have hoped for. It doesn¡¯t matter if they needed it; I needed it more. As I breach the summit of a hill, the sight of a city comes into view. It¡¯s clearly an ursu city. There is just an obvious difference between the buildings of New Vetus and the ones of the Zadok Kingdom. While it¡¯s good to know the Void Fog didn¡¯t take me too far away, it also means I have a long way to travel to reunite with the others. I¡¯ll have to travel through ursu land, then that root forest again before trying to get past the wall north of Kelton. And that is just returning to where I started. It will be hard to find the others, but if I can do the same as elder Enya, I¡¯ll be able to cover a lot more land than before. But first, I need new clothes. The city is far too quiet. As I come up on the border of the city, I¡¯m confronted with the strange sight of¡­ nothing. There is no movement, no wagons, no ursu moving around, heck I can even hear the wind blowing around the buildings. It¡¯s so quiet. Between the buildings, down one of the city¡¯s main roads, the only visible change is that wagons appear. Or, well, the remains of them. The Henosis¡¯ metal cars are aplenty, but not a single one is undamaged. Other Empire army supplies and fortifications line the street, but there is a distinct lack of life to go with them. Were the Henosis beaten? Then where are the ursu? Well, if there¡¯s nobody here, there¡¯s nobody to stop me looking through the homes. I climb up the tall steps in the closest building and after searching only two homes, I find a jacket small enough to replace the one Leal gave me. It is still far too large and I have to tie it in half to wear it without it dragging along the ground. I don¡¯t even try looking for replacement shoes, there isn¡¯t a chance I¡¯ll be able to wear any they have. With something to protect me should it ever rain, I push on through the city. It doesn¡¯t matter where I look, there isn¡¯t a person in sight. Only when I reach the central section of the city, do I get some idea. Before me is something that can only be called a bloodbath. The plaza below the Continae is painted crimson. Albanic bodies are everywhere, but not one is whole. Torsos and limbs lay everywhere. The worst are the piles of mush pooling in craters. It¡¯s a disgusting sight. I¡¯ve seen people die before, many of them in horrible ways, but there has to be hundreds littering the area. What did this to them? It isn¡¯t still here, is it? I twist my head at the surrounding buildings, eyeing each shadow and window in case it¡¯s still around. The city remains as silent as ever. I¡¯m about to leave as fast as I can before my feet stop under me. My head turns back to the many, many bodies lying here, all untouched. The intoxicating satiety I experienced from the General¡¯s corpse dug into my thoughts. Can any of these bodies give me that same feeling? Against my better judgement, I return to the massacre. My flames flick out, reaching for both blood and flesh. I attempt to ignore the texture as my fire burns through the area. I twinge in frustration as none of the bodies satisfy that same need I¡¯d discovered consuming the General. They all seem too¡­ weak? It¡¯s like their flesh is of a lower quality. Like eating those twiggy shrubs when you want barrels of coal. It just isn¡¯t enough. I search through them all, cleaning each litre of blood from the ground until you¡¯d be troubled to even know the carnage was here. Nothing tastes even slightly filling and I realise I¡¯ve wasted my time. It takes until I¡¯m out of the city again to realise the flaw in my thoughts. I burnt through the corpses of hundreds of people, but only cared that they didn¡¯t have enough energy to satisfy me. I haven¡¯t always been like this, right?Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Unnerved by both the emptiness of the city and my own actions, I move out again. The paved road leads me north for many hours and I can¡¯t help but wish I had a train to travel on. I¡¯m not sure where exactly I am in New Vetus, but the country is huge enough that it will probably take me months to get anywhere. I still have to try changing into a bird and fly the distance, but I want to find somewhere safe to do so. I don¡¯t know how vulnerable I¡¯ll be while transforming and I don¡¯t want to risk getting caught unawares by whatever slaughtered all the Henosis back in that last city. On the road ahead of me is a caravan of the Empire¡¯s cars, also devoid of life. There are dozens of the heavy wagons just parked in the middle of the road, abandoned. Upon approaching, a scene not unlike that of the last city appears. Devastated landscape surrounds the cars, with crushed and dismembered bodies lying everywhere. The only thing that remains intact are the cars themselves. My flames give into greed and consume the bodies as I walk up to the first of the cars. As I climb up, I become aware of the many ursu corpses tightly organised within the storage space. Each body is arranged side by side so tightly, I don¡¯t think it would have been possible to fit more of them in. What is strange is that the corpses are intact. Well, not exactly intact, as many have numerous bullet wounds and missing limbs, but compared to the albanic corpses around, these bodies seem almost pristine. Whatever attacked the Henosis obviously avoided damaging the bodies of the ursu. Is it targeting only the Empire soldiers or any non-ursu? As I look over the ursu corpses tightly compressed in the Henosis cars, the temptation to pass my flames over them rises. The strength of the ursu has to make them more filling than the albanics, right? The feeling of the albanic just isn¡¯t enough. I¡¯m tantalised by the possibility that the ursu might fill that hunger. I shake my head with aggression to clear the dangerous thoughts. I can¡¯t risk it. Something intentionally avoided these corpses for a reason. If I so much as damage a hair on their bodies, I could be painting a target on my own back. For now, I¡¯ll settle with the minimal satiation I can get from the albanics remains. I continue to follow the road until it curves to the west. So far, my travel has been incredibly quiet. Neither animals nor people disturb me as I continue forward, which is extremely odd. I¡¯ve passed many farmsteads and ursu homes as I travel. Most of the land seems fine; undamaged, but still abandoned. Not wanting to follow the road to the wherever it travels in the west, I manoeuvre north and walk through the forsaken farmland. The organised nature of crops makes walking through far easier than it otherwise might have been. The ursu have massive appetites, and massive appetites require massive farms. I¡¯ve known intellectually that much of the ursu¡¯s land is used for farming. I¡¯ve known that ever since Leal told me, but seeing the vast agriculture spanning between horizons is surreal. And they just up and abandoned it all. From the presence of the Empire¡¯s vehicles, I assume that this is a part of the land they have already captured, so it makes sense that they would have left before the area is ransacked. That also means I should be closer to the isthmus, which is a lot further away from Zadok than Morne was. It will be fine as long as I haven¡¯t somehow landed myself on the completely annexed eastern half of New Vetus. If I have, then travelling north will do nothing but take me to the sea. Even the thought that I might be stuck in the Henosis Empire controlled territory doesn¡¯t worry me too much. They are obviously dealing with something far more threatening than I ever could be and even if I end up walking toward the sea, I can always walk back. It will take a long time, but my trip is probably going to take a while anyway. I have hope that flying might let me travel the normally months¡¯ long journey in a reduced time, but I¡¯m in no rush. I¡¯m feeling great just experiencing my freedom while I have it, after months of being stuck in that cage. After even longer stuck in that furnace. Being able to fly excites me immensely, not just because I¡¯ll be able to travel freely, but because of the limits it removes. The wall in Zadok won¡¯t block me, oceans won¡¯t stop me, and mages will not catch me. My chest is giddy with the thought of flying. Elder Enya once told me what it was like, but the wonder I¡¯d experienced was subdued by disappointment when she told me it took her decades to manage it. To be able to twist her form enough to fly, she had to increase her binding with fire to a rank far higher than normal. She sacrificed all her time to raising it, neglecting the improvement of her control and temperature to focus solely on her binding with fire. So, the fact that mine has risen to where it is in such a short time is odd. What exactly is the Void Fog to morph my very being so deeply? If it has changed me so much, what other beings might it have changed? Now that I think back to it, I should have realised sooner. All the creatures I came across within it were far different from what I am used to. The sand-worms acted far more aggressive than normal and they launched themselves out of the sand like bullets. It also explained why the colossal-worm was far larger than normal. That ursu, the one far larger than any other I¡¯d seen. He helped me. He knew what was going to happen, he must have experienced it himself. Is that why he is so large? The Void Fog twisted him to be far larger than normal? The fog didn¡¯t make me any taller, so how it decides what it changes must be something unique to each creature. The magpies too, other than there being millions of them, I¡¯m unsure what was different about them. They didn¡¯t look physically different, either. A sudden thought slaps me and I¡¯m ashamed I didn¡¯t think of it before. Is the big ursu the one going around killing the Henosis? He tore open the thick steel of the train capsule I was trapped within with ease; he would definitely have the strength to crush the albanic in the ways I¡¯ve seen. I¡¯m conflicted about the giant. He broke me out of that train, and then helped me in the fog, but the amount of damage I¡¯ve seen left in his wake leaves me terrified of his strength. Even his presence had me freezing up, the sheer power he exudes is overwhelming. The fog has enhanced me, but I don¡¯t believe I could survive for a single second if he ever directs his strength towards me. I can turn my body ethereal now, but I still believe a punch from his enormous fist would be enough to end me, regardless of physicality. If I can do anything about it, I¡¯ll try to steer clear of wherever he is. On the small chance I come face to face with him again ¡ª and I¡¯m unable to avoid him ¡ª I¡¯ll thank him properly. Ahead of me I spot the perfect place to hide away to try my change. It¡¯s an old looking shed sitting beneath the shade of a couple of trees. The building looks decrepit and unused, perfect to hide away for a while when I have to worry about people coming across me in a more vulnerable state. I pick up my pace, approaching the only door into the shed. In an area where I haven¡¯t seen or heard any sign of life in almost a day, you can colour me surprised when the door slams open and I¡¯m suddenly looking down the barrel of a gun. To think the only place I thought would be a good place to hide would happen to hide the only living soldiers I¡¯ve seen. Chapter 49: Henosis Regret The dark interior of the barrel isn¡¯t as plain as I assumed. Inside the metal tube are visible markings curved circularly into the depths away from any light. I raise my eyes from the gun aimed at my head to the soldier holding it. After surviving swings from the General¡¯s sword, guns don¡¯t seem all too terrifying. I narrow my eyes at the albanics who walk out behind him, encircling me with their guns held upright, but keeping some distance between us. A total of eight were hiding within the small shed. I don¡¯t make any moves to startle them, nor do I cower under the threat of being shot. Many of the soldiers¡¯ eyes struggle to remain on me for long, flickering over the horizon in all directions. It¡¯s as if they expect some terror to come out at any moment. The first of the soldiers readjusts his gun to one hand and wipes his sweat on the leg of his pants. ¡°Why are you here?¡± his eyes narrow at me. ¡°Corporal, she¡¯s a little girl. Should we really be holding our rifles at her?¡± one soldier asks from my right. None of the other soldiers say anything, but a couple send glances at the first soldier. ¡°Just because she¡¯s young doesn¡¯t mean we should forgo protocol. Wilhelm, August, restrain her.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do that.¡± The words come out of my mouth before I even realise. The idea that I¡¯ll be trapped again does little but infuriate me. Despite my words, there are still two who approach me from behind. ¡°The moment you touch me, you will burn,¡± I warn. My eyes never leave the Corporal in front of me. His brows furrow, and I¡¯m glad that my seriousness gets through to the man as he puts his hand up. ¡°Stop.¡± The two approaching from behind do as he says, but don¡¯t back away. The Corporal stares at me for a long moment, his eyes flicker to the pilfered jacket and damaged clothing. ¡°Why are you here?¡± He asks. ¡°I¡¯m lost,¡± I reply simply. He doesn¡¯t seem happy with my response. His frown grows and I hurry to continue. ¡°I¡¯ve been walking for days, but everyone has disappeared. I walked through one of the ursu cities earlier, but all I found was a massacre.¡± That seems to settle him some. ¡°How did you get here? This is the middle of a battlefield, or well, it should have been.¡± I go to say I don¡¯t know, but the words don¡¯t come. Not because my lips won¡¯t spit out the words, but because I¡¯m suddenly filled with an intense reluctance to lie. An intense desire to prevent trapping myself within my own false words. I realise that not only don¡¯t I want to hide anything about myself, but I can¡¯t. Pretending I was an albanic in Zadok made me feel a sense of entrapment, and now that my mind has snapped into a single rope, I can¡¯t lie. Lying won¡¯t allow me to be truly free. How annoying. Maybe if I just tell bits of the truth, but not everything, will that work? It¡¯s worth an attempt. Even if I fail, none of these soldiers are mages and I doubt they have the same strength as the General. It¡¯s strange, but I don¡¯t feel afraid of them at all. I feel I can deal with each of them and barely take damage; those bullets will do nothing against my new, less physical body. ¡°I was travelling with some soldiers, but some giant killed everyone and now I don¡¯t know where I am.¡± Okay good, no feeling of revulsion by omitting information. I just have to hope they don¡¯t ask why I was travelling with the soldiers. ¡°Why were you travelling with them? Who was the officer in command?¡± Damn it. Why couldn¡¯t he have just left it there? ¡°Um¡­ because¡­¡± I can¡¯t think of a way to answer. I can¡¯t even say ¡®I don¡¯t know¡¯ as that would be a lie. The Corporal isn¡¯t impressed. ¡°Continue with the restraints.¡± He orders the two behind me. I turn to glare at both of them. ¡°Touch me and you¡¯ll regret it.¡± Twisting back to the Corporal, I give him a warning I think will make him respond a bit more intelligently considering the still wondering eyes of the other soldiers. ¡°Be careful about firing your weapons, who knows which ursu might hear you.¡± His reaction is immediate, but still too late. The two lay their hands on me, trying to pull my arms behind my back. I don¡¯t give the opportunity. In but a moment, their arms are engulfed in flames and they are screaming. The sight of the two behind me suddenly embroiled in a blaze must terrify the jumpy soldiers. Three of them fire on me, too late to hear the screaming order to ¡°hold your fire,¡± from the Corporal. I barely feel the bullets as they pass through me, my body reforming around them in but a moment. Not moving from my spot, I wait until they all calm down and follow the Corporal¡¯s order. I¡¯m tempted to burn them all, they did attack first and are a part of Henosis. They are definitely not my favourite people, even if I¡¯ve gotten some retribution from the General.Stolen story; please report. I pull my flames away from the burning arms of the two now rolling on the ground. As little as I care about them, I¡¯d still like to get some information on where I am, and I could hardly do that after killing some of them off. The Corporal is panicking now, head spinning between horizons more than his soldiers. Looks like I¡¯m close with my guess; they are hiding from the giant ursu. If those gunshots reach that ursu¡¯s ears, I don¡¯t want to be mistaken for one of the albanic. So, against the common guidance of my tribe, I let go of my control. The Henosis soldiers stop their fearful searching and lock back onto me. My change is enough to have them raising their guns at me again. It¡¯s surprisingly freeing to just let the world see me as I am, and I can now understand why the Agni tribes don¡¯t bother to hold themselves back. But, as good as it feels, it means too much to my tribe to ever permanently forgo controlling my flame. The soldiers seem unsure how to proceed, so I figure I might as well take the lead. ¡°So, I don¡¯t actually know where we are. I know we¡¯re in New Vetus somewhere, but it¡¯s a pretty big country. Can you tell me where we are?¡± The Corporal doesn¡¯t answer immediately, instead his eyes flicker between the men cradling their burnt arms behind me to the rest of the soldiers surrounding me. I don¡¯t care too much about how long he takes, but there¡¯s no way he will want this to last. ¡°Corporal. Your orders?¡± the man beside him asks, concern lacing his tone. ¡°I¡­¡± is all the Corporal can manage, the indecision of his thoughts lacing his expression. ¡°Fuck this.¡± One soldier to my left lowers his rifle to his hip. ¡°I¡¯m not waiting around here to be found by that monster.¡± He says and storms off back toward the city I came from. ¡°Private Hermann. This is insubordination!¡± ¡°Fuck off. I¡¯m not hiding in that fucking shed any longer. You don¡¯t have a clue what the fuck you¡¯re doing.¡± Private Hermann twists on his feet to raise his middle finger at the Colonel, continuing to walk backwards as he does. The wind stops dead and I suddenly get a really bad feeling. The Corporal doesn¡¯t notice, his face twisting in fury at the man walking away. He turns his gun from me and aims it at Private Hermann whose back is turned. ¡°No!¡± the man besides the Corporal dives into him and loud bang rings out. Private Hermann drops, dead before he hits the ground. The soldiers devolve into chaos. While the Corporal brawls with the soldier that tackled him, a couple more jump in. I¡¯m not sure whether they want to join the fight or separate them, but fists are quick to be thrown. Two of the soldiers have taken for the hills, sprinting away as quick as they can while the Corporal is stuck in the brawl. Most of the others stand around shouting at each other and only one approaches the downed Hermann to check on him. The entire scene is an absolute mess and I can¡¯t help but watch in shock as they all seem to even forget I¡¯m here. The four men pile on top of each other, grappling and punching, their weapons all but forgotten. I watch as the two running away reach a line of trees they use to hide from both my and presumably the Corporal¡¯s line of sight. I guess things haven¡¯t been perfectly pleasant in that shed of theirs. A cracking boom deafens me a moment before I¡¯m showered in dirt. The air crackles as I turn to the source of the explosion, keeping as motionless as possible. The dust settles around a crater in the same place the Henosis soldiers were brawling not a moment ago. None of them are there anymore, instead that giant ursu looms above. The dirt finishes falling from the sky as I watch him glower at the soldiers. The Empire¡¯s men stand rooted to the spot, like me, unable to move in the presence of the being before us. The giant gives them no time to respond either, dashing towards them only a moment after arriving. I knew he was strong before. I¡¯d seen him tear a massive chunk of metal in half, but I never could have imagined this scene. He crashes through the first soldier, leaving nothing but a bloody vapour while swinging the massive sword that blows a gust into me while slicing straight through the two other men unable to register his speed. Again, he is gone, leaving me surrounded by blood-soaked soil. The sound of creaking has me turn to watch the tree the other soldiers passed not long ago collapsing from a large missing section at its base. I hesitate to move. He never attacked me, but who knows what might turn his attention to me. I¡¯ve never seen someone move so quick. Even the General hadn¡¯t come close to the speed and strength this ursu pulled off. Even with that weird sword of his, how could he have ever believed he could compete? The giant returns to my line of sight, stepping over the fallen tree and casually walking towards me. I want to do nothing but run and hide from his burning gaze. My flames burn stronger and with increased intensity as he closes the distance. Even I don¡¯t know whether I¡¯m trying to act stronger than I am or if it¡¯s an appeal telling him I¡¯m not an albanic. I just hope his power isn¡¯t directed toward me. His footsteps reverberate through the ground as he walks up in front of me. I can¡¯t move my feet, not while he looks down at me with such intensity. The air moves with each breath he takes. I would have a better chance at survival diving into water than going against this ursu. ¡°You live.¡± The deep bass of his voice fills my chest more than my ears. I nod stiffly, not knowing what else to do. ¡°With your mind intact, too,¡± he says, quiet but clear. ¡°Congratulations.¡± Even through the fear of the ursu before me, I realise it is because of him I made it through the fog. Showing fear to a man who has helped me is nothing less than rude, but I can¡¯t help the instinctual terror I feel. ¡°Thank you,¡± I manage, unable to look him in the eye. ¡°Is the Empire¡¯s General dead?¡± I nod. How does he know I fought the General? ¡°Good.¡± Before I can blink, he is gone again. I look south to see him already far in the distance, and it only takes a few seconds before he is out of sight. I release a staggered breath, finally relaxing. My form is pulled back under control, and I look around at the bodies he left behind. There is no doubt now what caused all the devastation in the city and it¡¯s calming to know he doesn¡¯t want to hurt me, but his entire existence just seems so unreasonable. I don¡¯t care for the Henosis, but how is someone supposed to deal with a monster like that? From what I¡¯ve seen so far, the ursu has single-handedly halted the invasion. Soldiers have scattered, petrified he might find them. But why did he take so long to fight back? Couldn¡¯t everything have been resolved if he crushed them when they first landed? He¡¯s doing it now ¡ª and not holding back ¡ª so he must have his reasons. It¡¯s just sad things had to reach this point. Well, now that I know what¡¯s killing everyone for certain, I don¡¯t need to be so worried. I can try changing my form for the first time and hopefully catch up with the others. My gaze falls to the remains of the soldiers. Maybe a quick snack first. Chapter 50: Flight Now that I know the cause of destruction in the area has no intention of harming me, I feel more comfortable to stop where I am and actually try to become a bird as elder Enya did. The more I think about what it might be like to fly, the more excited I get. The usefulness of flying doesn¡¯t even need to be stated. It¡¯s a bit of a dumb worry, but I¡¯m a little scared that if I change my form, I might be unable to change back. Like, maybe I stuff up the transformation and get stuck in a weird half state between my current form and that of a bird. I know it¡¯s stupid to even worry about that. I have far too much control over my body for that to ever be possible, but the subtle fear remains. My legs curl up underneath me and I sit on the grass a distance away from the once gruesome carnage left behind by that giant¡¯s massacre. I still don¡¯t know his name. If only I¡¯d had the courage to ask after he¡¯d saved me. Now in a comfortable position, I close my eyes and try to picture the bird that elder Enya became so long ago. My form flickers, scatters and moves under my will. I focus on the large wings that held Enya aloft, the bright undisguised flames constituting each feather. A weave of fire, rather than a single whole. My arms morph, tugging and compressing at me. I direct the shape in line with my memory, feeling the strange, yet not unpleasant sensation of my limbs twisting away from anything close to familiar. It takes a while for them to fully form, but when they do, the oddness of not having fingers hits me harder than anything else. I crack an eye open to peek at how different my arms look. In place of my arms are long, fiery feathered wings that look extremely out of place on my normal body. My arm¡­ no, wing, moves and bends in places that feel extremely abnormal, like suddenly being able to move my elbow in the opposite direction it used to allow. I¡¯m not done yet. My eyes shut again and I focus on changing the rest of my body to match my new appendages. I try to change my chest to match that of elder Enya, but soon find it difficult to transform myself any further. I can¡¯t push myself to grow any bigger. But a bird doesn¡¯t need to be big. I don¡¯t know why I didn¡¯t think to become smaller when growing my wings, but they are far too large as is. With the new direction in mind, I shrink my wings and much of my body while forming my chest, legs and head into the image of my elder. Eventually, the reshaping of my body ends and I have the full, indisputable body of the bird from my memory. I attempt to stand, but it is far different from what I¡¯m used to. I struggle to even figure out how I should place these newly taloned feet underneath me. It feels like I¡¯m a child learning to walk again. I swing my arms wide, trying to keep my balance as I put my feet under me once again, but am surprised by how big these wings are. They easily touch the ground below me despite standing on my legs. I really shouldn¡¯t be surprised; avian anatomy isn¡¯t exactly familiar, after all. I spread my wings wide and find that they far surpass my old height from tip to tip. My new height though, leaves me standing at about my old knee level. I take a few hesitant steps with my wings pressed against the ground to help my balance. This is so strange, but I¡¯ve done it. I¡¯ve fully changed my form like Elder Enya. It took me a long time to do, but I¡¯m proud to finally achieve one thing our tribe always considered an impressive feat. Giddy with excitement to finally fly, I hop from foot to foot, trying to hurry myself to becoming comfortable with these legs. My balance still avoids me though, and even with a few stumbles, my patience is at its limit. I flap my wings like I¡¯ve seen Enya do, like I¡¯ve seen plenty of birds do, trying to will myself into the air. Worse than being unable to get into the air, my flapping does nothing but send me off balance. My beak dives right into the soil before I can stop myself. I pull my head out with a squawk. Upon hearing myself, I let out a chirrup. I can¡¯t speak. I distinctly remember Enya being able to, so why can¡¯t I? Disregarding that for now, I go back to trying to fly. It never seemed hard for the big birds to take off as long as there was some wind, and there¡¯s plenty of breeze today. I spread my wingtips as far apart as I can, breathing in the air as it touches every scalding feather on my body. I push myself off the ground with a little hop and bring my wings down with strength. My talons dig back into the soil. I don¡¯t rise even slightly. My wings cut through the air rather than pushing against it. Even now, with my wings held against the wind, I don¡¯t feel the resistance from the air I expect. A short chirp drags my beak to the roof of the shed. I surprise myself by twisting my neck far further than I¡¯m used to. A small bird, nowhere near my size, watches me with what must be amusement. Does it think my troubles are funny?Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. The tiny bird chirps, as if confirming my thought. I screech at the creature, terrifying both it and myself with how loud it is. The bird scampers off, pumping its wings with gusto. Even its terrified flying still annoys me. It flies, while I¡¯m stuck on the ground, unable to figure it out. I glance over my burning feathers, admiring the pattern woven by the flames. Did elder Enya like hers as well? Is that why she never hid her flames while as a bird? Wait¡­ I¡¯m an idiot. Of course, I need to actually make my form physical before I can fly. Excitement returning with this new discovery, I try to return to physical and away from ethereal. My body resists me as I slowly force my bird form into physical flame, but it only takes a minute before I succeed. I try to push it further and control my flames to hide them as I was taught to do, but it¡¯s far harder in the body of a bird. It¡¯s like I¡¯m back to being a child and unable to control my flame again. Is it really so much harder to do when I¡¯m not in my natural form? I ignore that for now. I don¡¯t think my flames need to be so physical that they can¡¯t be seen for me to fly. My wings lift once again and the difference is immediate. The wind rolls around my wings and gives an incredible amount of push. I stumble under the heavy weight the breeze places on me, only barely keeping my feet. A single push of my wings is enough to launch me off the earth. I beat my wings and try to catch as much wind as I can. My eyes are forced wide and aware, despite the temptation to brace for impact. I¡¯m glad I don¡¯t. The ground passes below me. I¡¯m flying. I let out an involuntary screech at the achievement, interrupting my rhythm and almost sending myself headfirst back to the ground. My wings steady, almost locking in place, and bring me into a steady glide. I fly for hours. The feeling of it is just too good, too freeing. I fly until it becomes as natural as walking and my wings ache from effort. Trying to head up towards the sun had been unfortunately disappointing. If I could get closer to the Eternal Inferno, I would get warmer right? Apparently not. Before long, the temperature drops instead of rising and I couldn¡¯t climb anymore. I was also hoping it might have been possible to see my family in the Eternal Flame, even if that sounds stupid in hindsight. After landing back at the shed, I return to my normal body. Surprisingly, it only takes a bit over ten minutes to change back. Is my binding actually greater than what Elder Enya¡¯s was? It doesn¡¯t take me long to set up a place to sleep in the shed and I¡¯m out. ??? On my second time changing into a bird, I realise I don¡¯t want to be the same type of bird that Enya became. I want to leave that as a memory of her and take on a form for myself. The bird I decide on is smaller than the eagle Enya based her form. Instead of the bulky legs and stocky body, I settle with a much sleeker appearance. It looks rather innocuous despite also being a predator of the skies, which I think is perfect for me. My version of the bird turns out bigger than its inspired source, but there¡¯s only so much I can compress the flames of my body. Plus, I need to carry the huge jacket around with me, so a little extra wing size will help. After wrapping my new talons around my things, I take to the sky. The breeze through my feathers is indescribable. How could elder Enya not have spoken of this feeling more often? I¡¯ve never felt something so freeing before. No-one could cage me, trap me or lock me away while in the air. I¡¯m as separate from everything as I can be. My wings angle me north, towards the border between New Vetus and Zadok. At least this time I won¡¯t have to travel through the Wailing Woodland, I can just go over. It doesn¡¯t take long in the air before I find the edges of the area Henosis invaded. There are ursu walking around, sifting through the damaged remains of the Empire¡¯s weaponry and vehicles. I soon fly over a city, the largest one so far. An army of ursu flood the streets. This is my first time actually seeing the ursu soldiers, I realise. Back in Morne, I¡¯d seen the recruiters and official soldiers wearing full body uniforms covering every portion of their bodies except their beefy hands and face. The soldiers below all wear sleeveless vests, the uniformity of it alongside their cohesive conduct being clear indicators to me they are soldiers rather than normal civilians. There is one thing I notice that tempts my curiosity. I swoop lower to get a better view of the ursu around. My appearance spooks some of the ursu and I note to myself how visible I am to those below. Only a rare few ursu hold any of the guns I¡¯ve become so used to soldiers carrying. Both Zadok and Henosis had every albanic equipped with their own rifle, so it is strange to see the only guns held by ursu are pilfered. Even then, the weapons are deformed to allow their bulky fingers to reach the triggers. Instead of guns, most ursu wield hefty weapons I am more familiar with; spears, axes, halberds, and even some huge hammers. All of their weapons would be incredibly unwieldy to anyone except those of their height and weight. Seriously, I doubt I¡¯d even be able to lift the smallest of their spears. Around the largest continae I¡¯ve seen, even larger than the one within the Void Fog, is the heaviest congregation of ursu military. They swarm the open area like an aggravated ant nest. While most soldiers stand in orderly lines, there are many cheerful murmurs from the crowd as they talk amongst themselves. The attitude between a few arguing men at the foot of the Continae is far more tense and distressed than the lax air of those surrounding them. It¡¯s plainly obvious that these ursu are the ones in charge. The way they hold themselves is enough of an indication, even while arguing they exhume an unwavering confidence. I¡¯m tempted to go lower and hear what is being said, but there are already far too many eyes on me than I¡¯m comfortable with. I don¡¯t want the big guy to have any reason to come after me and the best way to do that is to avoid the ursu as much as I can. Fortunately, that is easy when you can fly right over them. Now that I have wings, my travel speed is almost a nonissue. While I can¡¯t reach the speed that trains can manage, I¡¯ll be able to move around at unthinkable speed. It shouldn¡¯t take me more than a few days to reach the river border of Zadok. Time I can use to get my voice to work in this form. Chapter 51: Cleithrophobia It took me longer than learning to fly did, but my voice is finally recognisable through my beak. Strangely, the sound of my voice is entirely determined by the shape of my throat and mouth. It was easy to replace the bird throat with what felt more natural, but it became a bit of a problem trying to speak without a mouth and lips. Of course, I tried switching my beak back with a mouth, but that made flying far too annoying. The beak is surprisingly good at cutting through the air. Instead, I had to change my throat and tongue over the course of a few days until I felt comfortable that my voice was mostly identical to normal. I now also have the ability to make my voice incredibly high or low pitch too, so that¡¯s fun. I might get a good scare out of someone one day. Leslie is definitely going to be my first target. While I¡¯m worried about how I might find the others, I¡¯m far more excited about reuniting with them. I know where they were planning to go, so as long as they didn¡¯t make any major deviations to their plan, I¡¯d have a good starting place to search. Amongst the northern states, there are two that border the Zadok Kingdom; the Kingdom of Joiak and the Vanguard. Joiak is a small nation that is supposed to have separated from Zadok a few generations ago. Supposedly, the kingdom doesn¡¯t discriminate against those with darker hair. The Vanguard, on the other hand, is a nation with a well-known hatred for the Theocracy and is open to any immigrants that flee north. That¡¯s about the limit of what I know, but Ash and the others were heading to the Kingdom of Joiak last time we were together. It¡¯s not much to go on, I know, but I¡¯m feeling inexplicably confident I will find them. If I can find where they¡¯ve been, I can ask around if anyone has seen them. After only a few days of flying ¡ª with proper nights of rest ¡ª I reach the river I¡¯ve been looking for. I already assumed so considering it is ursu controlled land I¡¯ve been passing these few days, but I am still glad it isn¡¯t the sea that shows up before me. I may be able to fly now, but there isn¡¯t a chance I¡¯m going over such a large body of water. The Wailing Woodland never appeared below me as I flew and only now do I realise it doesn¡¯t span the border, as I mistakenly assumed. Really, I should have guessed, considering Zadok¡¯s army marched south-east rather than directly south. I wonder what happened to the Zadokans that attacked the ursu. There was no sight of them in the areas I passed, so I can¡¯t imagine their invasion was successful. Did they retreat or were they slaughtered like the Henosis? I look west up the river. There is no reason for me to pass the fort like last time. I can just glide over the river now, after all. But I want to see Finn again. I didn¡¯t realise it at the time, but he put his job on the line to help me out when he did. The reaction when the others in the caravan thought I was a darker-haired albanic was telling. I want to see him and while I might lose a bit of time catching up with Leslie and the others; I am already a month or so behind them. A quick detour will hardly matter. My wings sweep me west. I¡¯m heading back to the original route through Zadok. It takes a day to reach the familiar fort built over the river. Surprisingly, I find no other forts along the river. There are a few watchtowers, but even they are sparse. My talons press down within the grass and I have to pull back on the fire that tries to spread from my touch. I could have flown right into the fort, but it will take me almost fifteen minutes to change back and I¡¯m not comfortable doing so around so many people. I stand and walk toward the gate I passed only a few months ago. It feels like so much more time passed than reality. The building is the same, but even from a distance out I can tell there are nowhere near the number of guards manning the fort as before. There are none at the top of the walls and only two wait before me. As I approach the final distance, the guards take longer than they probably should to notice me. Too busy talking between themselves to pay attention until I am right next to them. ¡°-ole just up and left. Ya think they¡¯d notice if I took my vacation early?¡± I catch the end of their conversation. I clear my throat. ¡°Excuse me. Is Finn still around?¡± The man who spoke flinches away from me with an ¡°eek¡± while the other man looks me dead on with annoyed eyes. The first guard turns and lifts his musket right in my face. My eyes narrow at the threat and I frown toward the frightened man, who takes a hurried step back, keeping his gun pointed right between my eyes. I¡¯m about to step forward and burn the damn weapon out of his hands before his partner beats me to it. He grabs the gun by its barrel and jerks it out of his hands. ¡°I knew you were incompetent, but I never would have guessed you¡¯d hold your weapon at a child.¡± ¡°Oi! Give that back!¡± The guard that snatched the weapon doesn¡¯t, instead he turns to me and narrows his brows. ¡°What¡¯s a child doing out here all alone anyway? Where did you come from?¡± his eyes flicker over my jacket, which is obviously too large for even an adult albanic and to my hair. I guess I can understand his suspicions better than the last time I came through. This time though, I don¡¯t have any intention of hiding what I am. My hair engulfs in a bright orange fire. I want them to know what I am, but there is no need to go against the standards of my tribe too much. Just enough that they¡¯ll know my hair colour doesn¡¯t matter.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I¡¯m successful in removing his suspicions. Unfortunately, it is replaced with hostility. He hefts his own gun right in the same position his partner did not a moment sooner. Irritated, I send out a quick burst to incinerate the weapon in his hand. Too late. The bullet pierces right through my head before I can burn the gun out of his hands. I feel a slight tingle as the shrapnel piece passes through me, but I¡¯m left otherwise unaffected. He throws away the weapon he¡¯s holding and lifts the one he snatched from the other guard. I didn¡¯t leave that weapon alone though, the trigger already red hot by the time he lifts his weapon. A sizzling finger is all he¡¯s left with as he jerks the second weapon away before even getting off a shot. ¡°Back off,¡± I growl. My eyes flick to the first guard who stands there stunned, then back to the one who shot me. He¡¯s already tried to kill me twice, once more, and I won¡¯t be as forgiving. I continue glaring and hold my ground as the man grabs at a knife on his belt. ¡°Hold! Stand down!¡± a familiar voice shouts, but the man before me doesn¡¯t hear. He is just about to make his last mistake. My flames roil, prepared to end his existence the moment he touches me. But he doesn¡¯t reach me. His partner ¡ª the one who until now has done nothing but stand stiff after his own gun was snatched ¡ª grabs the albanic under the arms and pulls him away from me. The man struggles against his restraint. ¡°What are you doing? Let me go! Don¡¯t you see one of Chernobog¡¯s spawn right in front of you?¡± Behind the two struggling guards, Finn and a couple of others run, wielding their own guns. He looks over me and I¡¯m a bit disappointed he shows no recognition. I trust the situation will be handled properly now though, so I pull back on my primed fire, leaving only my hair aflame once again. That calms him and the guards beside him down enough that he turns his attention away from me. ¡°What the fuck do you think you are doing, firing against protocol?¡± Finn demands from the man still being restrained. The guards flanking Finn watch me like hawks as he interrogates the guard. ¡°It¡¯s one of Chernobog¡¯s. Fuck protocol, it needs to die.¡± Finn glances over at me. ¡°I don¡¯t remember fire ever being a part of Chernobog¡¯s domain. Would that not fall under the category of light rather than darkness?¡± His eyes widen as he looks over me. ¡°Wait, Solvei?¡± I give him a small wave. It¡¯s nice to know he remembers me. Finn flicks his attention right back to the guard who shot me. ¡°Even if there was one of Chernobog¡¯s spawn present, why did you not follow protocol and sound the alarm while they were still far off?¡± His eyes bear into the younger albanic still holding the man. ¡°You weren¡¯t doing your job, were you?¡± The young albanic turns to look away from Finn while his partner is indignant. ¡°Fuck you Finnigan! Bastards should¡¯ve left me in charge instead. I¡¯ve been doing this too long to be stuck on fucking gate duty.¡± ¡°Calm yourself or I¡¯ll have you locked in the cells for the next week.¡± He scoffs. ¡°You can¡¯t do that. This place can¡¯t function if you lose any more veterans.¡± ¡°Sure I can. You three, take him to a cell. I¡¯ll deal with this one.¡± He says and points a thumb at me. ¡°Wait, no. Stop!¡± As they hurry to take him away, Finn calls after them. ¡°And kid, don¡¯t think I¡¯ve forgotten the negligence of your duty.¡± Finally free, Finn turns to me. ¡°Y¡¯know, it would have made my job so much easier last time if I¡¯d known you weren¡¯t albanic.¡± ¡°How so?¡± I ask. ¡°It¡¯s a strange thing. I can lose a lot of social status simply talking to a dark-haired child, but it becomes a complete non-problem if that child isn¡¯t albanic.¡± He shakes his head. ¡°So, you¡¯re an ¨¢ed, right? Why come back here?¡± ¡°Yeah. I wanted to stop by and thank you for the risk you took helping me move to Kelton.¡± ¡°Kelton? Gavin didn¡¯t take you to Serron?¡± he asks. ¡°No. He tossed me out of the caravan when found out how dark my hair was.¡± Finn kicked at the stone beneath his feet. ¡°That bastard. He owed me.¡± He glanced back at my still burning hair, reminding me to take control of myself again. ¡°Like I said before, this would have all been solved if you hadn¡¯t pretended to be one of us. It¡¯s doubtful you could have integrated well in Zadok, but nobody would have stopped you moving to the northern states. We get the rare non-albanic trader through every now and then and they rarely have issue as far as I know. Well, as long as they¡¯re not ursu.¡± With those four other guards now out of sight, I realise that there really aren¡¯t many others around. Last time the area within the fort was teeming with life, now it feels almost as empty as the ghost towns of New Vetus. ¡°Where is everyone?¡± Finn looks around and sighs. ¡°Our army was slaughtered in the invasion, barely a hundred returned. All the albicants in command of the fort fled, leaving the common guard to defend the border. Plenty of those deserted as well.¡± He shakes his head before continuing. ¡°Come. I¡¯ll get you something to drink while we talk out of the cold.¡± I follow him to the barracks. ¡°No drink, thanks. But I¡¯ll have a snack if you¡¯ve got anything.¡± ¡°Dwight! Man the gate,¡± Finn shouts across the courtyard before opening the door for me. As I step through the threshold into the barracks, I¡¯m overcome with a sudden inexplicable anxiety. My fingers tremble as I look around at the entrapping walls that seem far too close. Unsure why I feel this way, I take another step into the building, ignoring the tension in my chest. The soft click of the door closing behind me changes everything. The trembling of my fingers spread to my entire body. Tightness in my chest grows until I¡¯m choking, unable to breathe. I take in ragged gasps as my eyes flicker around me. Nothing has changed around me, but I can¡¯t help the overwhelming fear of being trapped. The brickwork walls are nothing but the bars of my cage. I¡¯m trapped again. How did this happen? How am I here? ¡°Let me out! Let me out!¡± I slam my body against the door of this new cage, amplifying my heat until the handle and hinges melt under my assault. I tumble out into open air again. On hands and knees, I scramble away from the cage they try to trap me in. I flop onto my back and look up at the sky. Each breath is a struggle and I can¡¯t get enough air with each pant. Numbness fills my limbs as they continue to shiver. Soon, I get a hold of my breathing and my body stops trembling. It doesn¡¯t feel real. This feels like a nightmare. The blue of the sky distracts me from everything around and I lose myself in the sight of the Eternal Inferno. The blazing orb in the sky seems so inviting and terrifying all at once. ¡°Solvei!¡± I finally realise my name has been called a few times now. Finn is standing over me, keeping some distance, but his voice is worried and I can¡¯t comprehend why. ¡°Solvei. You need to calm down and stop your fire.¡± What? I look around and see myself, the front door of the barracks, and much of the ground between us engulfed in a golden flame. When did that happen? I quickly extinguish it all before anything else can burn. Finn kneels beside me, but still hesitates to come too close. My gaze turns back to the door, realising for the first time that it¡¯s no longer attached to the barracks. It takes a few more moments for me to truly comprehend what happened. I panicked? I felt more fear than ever and lost control. It is humiliating. Quickly rising to my own knees, I look at the ground between Finn and I. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t know what happened.¡± I don¡¯t understand. Why did I react like that? I¡¯ve been through so much already, shouldn¡¯t I be immune to fear by now? Even looking back, I don¡¯t really know what I was so scared of. I just felt a nonsensical terror of suffocation and entrapment. ¡°Are you okay? Have you calmed?¡± Finn asks. I nod, unwilling to meet his eye through the embarrassment of the display. ¡°Come, let¡¯s get you something to eat and a place to relax.¡± Chapter 52: Revisiting the Scar I bite down on the dry biscuit and enjoy the feeling of it almost evaporating in my mouth. While waiting at the side of the barracks for Finn to return, I try to calm my trembling fingers. I no longer feel like I¡¯m trapped and unable to escape, but my body still seems to refuse to calm down. When Finn handed me a tin of his biscuits, my sizzling skin melted the paint right off the lid. He told me not to worry, but I still feel bad about it. Thinking about what happened is almost as terrifying as the experience itself. I¡¯d lost control of my body and thoughts. I¡¯d gone into a panic trying to get out and I was lucky I hadn¡¯t hurt Finn in my haste to burn through the door. Footsteps drag me out of my funk, and I look up at Finn. ¡°You feeling better now?¡± He asks as he sits beside me. ¡°Yep, your biscuits taste great.¡± I hold my hands together to hide the shaking. ¡°Sorry about the door. I really don¡¯t know why I acted like that.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. One of the boys will have it fixed up by the end of the day.¡± We sit in silence while I eat another biscuit from the tin. Eventually, Finn speaks. ¡°What do you plan to do now? I don¡¯t know how long you¡¯ve been outside Zadok, but the failed invasion has sent everyone mad. It¡¯ll be impossible to get through the wall now. I¡¯m sorry, but I do not know where you can go.¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna find my friends in the northern states.¡± Finn turns to me with furrowed brows. ¡°That¡¯s going to be impossible. There¡¯s no way north that doesn¡¯t have you passing the wall or through the Theocracy.¡± I fail to suppress my smirk. Finn is missing one small little detail. ¡°Oh, it¡¯ll be easy. I¡¯ll just fly over.¡± I smile wide at him, knowing how impossible the idea of flying would have been two weeks ago. ¡°Fly? What?¡± he blinks at me. ¡°Yep. I can fly now!¡± I might have even transformed right there. Unfortunately, it still takes me a while to switch forms, so it¡¯ll be weird to wait around for fifteen minutes to show off. ¡°Right¡­¡± What? He doesn¡¯t believe me, does he? Well, I wanted to avoid this, but I guess there¡¯s no choice now. ¡°Give me a few minutes and I¡¯ll prove it.¡± My body returns to the flickering of flame as I morph back into my falcon form. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Finn rises to his feet and takes a step away from my sudden blazing body. He¡¯s unnecessarily worried. Really, it still surprises me how much these people are startled by a tiny bit of fire. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m hurting myself. I need to remember fire is like water to them, just the presence can be enough to make them nervous. A few minutes of awkward silence passes before the process is done, and my voice comes back. ¡°See? Easy.¡± I flap my wings and fly up to sit on the roof of the barracks. ¡°I can get over that wall, no issue.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± is all Finn can manage as he stares up at me. In this form, I¡¯m still readily visible; flames not being the stealthiest of things to have feathers made of. The only other guard in the courtyard other than Finn stares with a slack jaw. It¡¯s probably bad to feel this way, but I enjoy their awed looks as they observe the form I put so much effort into crafting. ¡°Right, well, that explains how you appeared south without passing through the fort.¡± ¡°Ah no. I only learnt to do this a few days ago. Some things happened and I got tangled in the war in New Vetus.¡± I don¡¯t want to go into detail about what happened, so I only give him a vague explanation. ¡°Thank you for your help, Finn. And thanks for the biscuits, they¡¯re tasty,¡± I say from my ledge. Finn finally snaps out of his daze. ¡°Solvei, before you go, I should tell you it¡¯ll be best if you don¡¯t return to this fort. The ursu are bound to invade us in the coming days and when that happens, there is little chance this place will remain safe.¡± ¡°You will get out before then, right?¡± I ask, now worried about his safety. He smiles at me and nods. ¡°Be careful out there, Solvei.¡± I smile back and wave goodbye, before realising I can¡¯t smile and my wing probably makes the motion look odd. ¡°See-ya.¡± With a sweep of my wings, I¡¯m once more soaring through the air. The wind against my feathers finally calming my remnant trembles. It¡¯ll be annoying, but I might have to avoid going inside buildings again in case I have another panic attack like that. Rainy days are going to be miserable. Shaking my head to clear the thoughts, I angle north, ready to fly as far as I can before night hits. ??? The wall is a sight to see. I never actually got a look at it when I was in Kelton last, but now that I have a literal bird''s-eye view, it¡¯s thoroughly impressive. The stone wall extends as far as I can see from west to east. Unlike the fort, the wall is not lacking in soldiers. It¡¯s almost to an excessive degree considering they had less than ten albanics manning the fort. I glide over it with hardly a flap. It¡¯s almost anticlimactic how easy it is considering the past difficulty we had getting through. Would I be able to carry them over now? I doubted it. Even with the largest wingspan I could make, I doubt I¡¯d come close to being able to lift another person. Also, considering I don¡¯t have full control over my flames in this form, it¡¯d be hard to say if I can refrain from burning them. With the sun setting, I opt to search for a place to rest before I become even more visible in the sky than I already am.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. I drop into a dive. The stables approach with thrilling speed. I pull up at the last moment and hide myself inside. A pholo resting within startles at my sudden appearance, shrieking through the enclosed space. I land on a wooden beam and motion for the pholo to calm down. Maybe it was stupid to fly in without checking first, but the exhilaration of diving and my prioritisation of not letting my sleeping space be discovered encouraged me to disregard my usual cautiousness. The pholo won¡¯t calm down, so I launch myself back in the air before anyone can come looking. For now, I¡¯m hidden well enough against the reds and yellows painting the sky from the setting sun, but if I take too long I¡¯ll be a beacon to all as I try to find a place to nap. I find another open air stable, this time with no pholos ready to screech my presence to all around. Comforted by the many openings in the surrounding walls, I settle down and revert my form. As great as flying feels, being a bird just doesn¡¯t feel as natural as my normal form. I curl up on a pile of straw, heating myself to ward off the cold. The days are getting colder. Soon, winter will hit with full force and I¡¯ll feel nothing but the lethargy as with most years. I used to get sick every winter with my tribe, but hopefully I¡¯m strong enough now that I won¡¯t need to worry. Even if I don¡¯t get sick, I still hope to find my friends before the torpid month arrives. Winter was usually the only time in a year we would stop travelling as a tribe. We would set up with resources stockpiled in the months prior and rest. To keep our body temperatures from plummeting through winter, we would spend most of our time within the gers, sharing the warmth and limiting our energy consumption. I could always push through the cold with my own strength, but the amount of food I need to consume would multiply. With so many resources around, I doubt it¡¯ll be a problem, but I still would rather be with the others before the fatigue set in. Well, I still have a few weeks before the worst of the chill hits. That should be plenty of time. ??? The scar left by the Void Fog is quite the sight. From high above, I can see the extensive basin now half drowned in water. Much of the edges of where the fog touched must have collapsed and slid into the scar, filling the once smooth surface with debris and loose rock. The remains of people¡¯s homes visible amongst the stone and dirt. I glide over the vast newborn canyon toward the stream of water trickling over the ledge. The creek I last saw my friends comes into view. While I know there is little chance I¡¯ll find anything left behind of them, I still want to try. The area we separated was consumed by the fog, but I fly low over the edge looking for something. I don¡¯t even know what I¡¯m looking for. Old tracks in the ground or maybe one of them dropped something that¡¯ll let me know they weren¡¯t consumed as well. After such a long time has passed, there is probably nothing to be found, especially considering I don¡¯t know exactly where they ran after we split. A congregation of albanic in my peripheral vision pulls my attention from scouring the ground. Many stand around a sculpted wooden pillar in silence. Around them are thousands of tents. These tents aren¡¯t like the large circular gers I¡¯m used to, instead they are small things at most enough to house two people. The triangular tarps look like they will topple with the slightest gust. I glide down and land on the branch of a tree. Close enough to see, but hopefully hidden by the foliage. An albanic approaches the pillar holding a ring of carved wood. They lift the ring and link it to a chain of near identical rings circling the pillar. Once she twists the ring into place, the albanic bows her head and turns to the rest. As she returns, another steps forward and does the same. It¡¯s an odd thing, witnessing the albanic¡¯s funeral. That is what this is, without a doubt. The solemnity. The silence. The emotion that permeates the air. Nothing else brings that same feeling. It is almost enough to have me tearing up even though I don¡¯t know whom they mourn, simply because of the memories it dredges from within. The people they mourn. Were they devoured by the Void Fog as well? Are they dead, or simply still trapped within? Do these people even know it¡¯s possible their family might still be alive? Well, if they don¡¯t, it¡¯s probably for the best. If they haven¡¯t escaped yet, it¡¯s not likely freedom will come to them soon. My wings launch me off my perch and I fly over the tents. I consider transforming to ask around, but it¡¯ll take too long to do so and switch back for such a low chance that someone might have seen them. I spot someone pointing up towards me and shouting to her neighbours. Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. They¡¯ve already spotted me, I might as well ask if they¡¯ve seen Ash and the others. I angle my wings to bring me down until I land on a table only a few metres from the woman. Her eyes are wide and staring as she backs up a few steps from me. ¡°Hi,¡± I say. ¡°Have you seen a group of¡­ uh,¡± I realise I didn¡¯t think about how I could describe them that might differentiate them from any other albanic in the area. ¡°Did you see a lady travelling with a group of teenagers about a month ago?¡± Unfortunately, the woman doesn¡¯t respond, her eyes widening further than I thought was possible. I¡¯m about to ask again when a man runs around the side of a tent with a shovel and stands before the woman. ¡°Shoo, fowl. Shoo.¡± He swings his shovel at me, but doesn¡¯t get close. Fowl? Did he just call me a chicken? I look down at my carefully crafted fiery plumage. I¡¯m obviously a falcon, can¡¯t he see that? A huff comes out of my beak as I glare at the man. I¡¯m not a chicken. Flames roil across my body at the indignation. I notice it happen and immediately clamp down on the annoyance I feel. Really, my control suffers when I¡¯m not in my base form. It¡¯s not even worth getting angry about, anyway. A sigh escapes me before I ask again to the gathering crowd. ¡°About a month ago, did anyone see a group of teenagers and a woman walking north from here? It would have been right after the Void Fog showed up.¡± The silence following my words lasts only a moment before the raucous chatter starts. Amongst the conversations, the first woman I talked to finally gathers her wits and steps forward past the man with the shovel. ¡°Uh, there were many people who moved in and out of the town at the time, so it¡¯ll be hard to say,¡± she says. ¡°Miss birdie, what are you?¡± ¡°Miss birdie,¡± I repeat under my breath. She could at least refer to me as something a bit cooler than that. Anyway, how often will I have to repeat that I¡¯m an ¨¢ed? I can imagine it¡¯ll be a lot considering that most who know of us ¡ª which there won¡¯t be many if my time in Kelton is indicative ¡ª don¡¯t know we can shift shapes. Elder Enya spent decades to do this much and I¡¯m very much an oddity now that I think about it. So instead, I want to have a bit of fun. ¡°What do you think I am?¡± I ask with as smug of a tone as I can manage. She and many of the others around gape at me, calming much of the chatter. ¡°You can¡¯t be, can you? One of his messengers?¡± I have no idea what she¡¯s talking about, but it looks like they took the bait and took a ¡ª probably wrong ¡ª guess about what I am. I try to exude an air that I¡¯m impressed they figured it out. Even if I¡¯m not sure what they figured out. Suddenly, each of them kneel before me with lowered heads. Uh¡­ that¡¯s a bit more than I expected. I expected them to some animal that learnt to talk, or at worst, think I was some monstrous creature. I was prepared to fly away if they got aggressive, but I wasn¡¯t prepared for this. Blatant worship. What exactly do they think I am? ¡°Oh, Belobog¡¯s messenger. Thank you for blessing us after such a disaster. It means the world to us that we remain in his heart.¡± ¡°Uh...¡± What do I do? I can¡¯t tell them I¡¯m not who they think I am; they¡¯d be crushed. Or pissed. ¡°Well, I should be going. There''s somewhere I need to be.¡± I try to brush them off and take to the skies again. ¡°Wait,¡± One of them calls. A middle-aged man with a strong build throws himself before me. ¡°Before you leave, please take care of the Void-touched. We can¡¯t reach our grain silos and the albicants refuse to send the army.¡± Void-touched? ¡°I really need to be going though,¡± I say, trying not to be pulled into their mess. Many more of the albanic before me throw themselves at my feet¡­ talons. ¡°Please,¡± they plead, almost in sync. Looking over them I can¡¯t help but feel sympathetic. I remember a time when I wished I was given a helping hand, a magic solution to my problems. I also remember my trust being betrayed. Gloria taking advantage of me taught me a valuable lesson; I¡¯m not about to trust these people farther than I can throw them. On the other hand, Ash and the others never let me down when I thought they would, so maybe it¡¯ll be fine to help just a little. I¡¯ll fly off as soon as something suspicious happens. Really, the only reason I¡¯m even considering this is that I don¡¯t have to worry so much about getting hurt anymore. Unless whatever it is has the same strange sword the General had, I¡¯ll be fine. ¡°What is a Void-touched?¡± Chapter 53: Void-Touched I really shouldn¡¯t have offered to help, but I felt this Void-touched is something I need to see. I have my suspicions of what it might be, especially as it appeared after the Void fog left. I fly low through the series of silos and warehouses. The albanics said the creature should be in the area. They spotted it a few times, but the townsfolk have been too wary to approach. Considering how quickly they were to slap a title of divine messenger on me, I¡¯m not putting any confidence in the fearful descriptors of the being. For all I trust these people¡¯s judgement, the creature might be a wild dog or something. Wary as I am of these albanics, I turn to watch them poking their heads over their makeshift barricade. Constructed of broken furniture and miscellaneous scrap, I doubt the short wall could stop anything they couldn¡¯t fight off themselves. I should probably be annoyed that they are willing to let me go, yet don¡¯t take a step out themselves. They are quick to risk my life while they cower where they think it¡¯s safe. But if anything, I¡¯m relieved. They couldn¡¯t do anything to me if they tried, but I still prefer not to have them following me. The first sight that there is something here that might be a bit stronger than a mangy wild dog is the hole in the wall of the grain silo below. The lack of damage in this part of town makes it stand out. I fly closer, careful of anything that might jump out at me. My caution is for nought as the silo is empty. A thin carpet of grain litters the ground both inside and surrounding the silo. A crash echoes through the deserted area. I regain height and glide toward the noise. It¡¯s not long before I come across what looks like a normal albanic, if more filthy than I¡¯ve ever seen. The albanic, a woman, is hunched over and tears into a barrel with vigour. As I circle above, I notice she¡¯s skin and bone. The ragged and torn clothes barely cling to her emaciated form. Rotten vegetables fall around her as she gorges on the contents of the barrel. Her arms continue to shove handfuls into her face. I land on the branch of a tree behind the albanic. I thought I was quiet, but obviously not enough; she turns to me the moment my talons grasp the wood. The creature that locks eyes with me is anything but one of the albanic. Despite the similar hair and body, there is no way that face and chest could be from the same race. The creature¡¯s mouth nearly splits her head in half it is so wide. A fat tongue hangs between razor-sharp teeth. The most horrific part is that her chest is torn open, like her rib-cage was pulled apart as if they were a set of doors. Crushed paste of half digested vegetables mixed with a black substance pours out of the disgusting chest cavity. There is no intelligence in her eyes. No comprehension of the pain she should feel. Only an insatiable hunger. Eyes filled with gluttony that judge whether I¡¯m worth eating. She turns back to the barrel before her, completely ignoring me. I guess she doesn¡¯t think fire will taste too good. Wait, can she even comprehend what fire is? No, that doesn¡¯t matter. What matters is I¡¯ve found the Void-touched. It¡¯s hard to look at the woman as she continues to stuff food down her throat. Not only because the sight is quite gruesome, but the idea I could have become like this. This is what happens to someone that doesn¡¯t focus their psyche when the hooks of the Void Fog change you. I can¡¯t pretend this creature is anything else. I can tell just by looking. The Fog twisted any sentience away from her when it tore her open, looking for her strongest desire. The more I think about it, the more sad her situation must have been. Her scarily skinny body, her unending hunger, and even the changes to her mouth. She must have been starving before her changes, hunger being the desire the Void Fog latched onto. If I had to guess, the changes made to her didn¡¯t include this tear in her torso. No. After the Fog had its way with her, she was left with such intense cravings that she tore her own chest open with the amount she consumed. I can¡¯t help but picture myself in a similar position had I not known to focus my mind, to tie my thoughts together. I really owe that giant ursu a lot. Time passes as I struggle to figure out what to do. The pity I hold for the former albanic stops me from just leaving, but I¡¯m unsure of what I can do to help her. With the damage to her chest, I can¡¯t imagine she¡¯ll live for long. Actually, I¡¯m surprised she¡¯s still moving. The moment she tries to eat the gruel that fell out of her own cavity is the moment I resolve myself. I can¡¯t let her continue like this. It¡¯s cruel. My body morphs back to normal before I incinerate her body. She hardly reacts as her body burns away, simply continuing to gorge until her body simply doesn¡¯t let her anymore. Like the other creatures within the Void Fog, her body is filled to the brim with energy, but there is no pleasure in consuming it. She isn¡¯t a soldier, nor has she done anything to deserve such a fate. Like myself and the other ¨¢ed, she was brought into this without a say. When nothing of her remains, I retake my falcon form and fly north again. As I fly over the heads of the albanics crowding the barricade, I can¡¯t help but be frustrated by their actions. Or lack thereof. The Void-touched woman was in a pitiful state, but there was hardly much for them to fear. If they were courageous enough to approach her, they might have ended her suffering sooner.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. I don¡¯t talk to them again, not in the mood to humour their misunderstanding. They¡¯ll have to find the courage to check the area themselves. So I set my sights on the northern states, ready to find my friends. I kind of expected it, but there was nothing in the area to clue me to their presence. I¡¯ll have to trust that they went the same way we initially agreed on. ??? The border between Zadok and Joiak is a rocky expanse littered with canyons, valleys, and not a touch of arable land for leagues. Traversal through this geography must be a nightmare. The only path between the countries winds back and forth so often I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if one had to walk four times the distance I need to fly. Have I mentioned how happy I am I can fly? There is a surprising amount of contrast between the northern and southern borders of Zadok. Down south near New Vetus, there is an incredibly dense population and defences spanning the entire border. The north¡­ lacks all of that. Villages are common enough in the countryside until the rocky valleys start, but from there all life peters out. I don¡¯t spot a single defensive fortification along the northern areas I pass. It¡¯s rather odd. I guess they don¡¯t expect any attacks from Joiak. Or, more likely, they are just petrified of an ursu invasion. Not that I can imagine the ursu being ready for any attack like that in the near future. Eventually, I come across signs of life again. Albanics walk the path below with their pholos laden with supplies. Roadside buildings gradually appear, nothing more than traveller¡¯s rests, yet enough to signal that I¡¯m close to Joiak. As I close in on the first city of the nation, doubts infiltrate my thoughts. What if they never made it here? What if they got stuck in Zadok? Will I even be able to find them if they are in the city before me? The city itself is hugged by the walls of a canyon, buildings crowd the limited space. They might be anywhere in the thousands of structures, or maybe they¡¯ve already moved on. There is no way to know. People waiting for entry flood the dirt road leading to the gates of the city. I guess my friends and I aren¡¯t the only ones wanting to get out of Zadok. I fly back until I find a crevice in the rock out of sight and quickly change forms. I considered flying straight into the city, but the people at the front gate processing the arrivals are the most likely people to have seen my friends. With a glance over my form, I realise I forgot to find new clothes while I was passing through Zadok. The ones I have are in shreds, but at least I can wrap myself in the ursu coat. I¡¯ll have to find something more presentable in the city. Hopefully, they¡¯ll have a way for me to earn it without gid. Money is annoying when you don¡¯t have any. Worst case, theft has always worked. As I approach the queue before the gate, a few albanics cast curious glances towards me, but refrain from approaching. I¡¯m controlling my form so flames aren¡¯t visible, but I haven¡¯t doused my hair in filth so the blue strands are apparent to any who look. To people of only white and shades of grey, I¡¯m sure even that is odd. I¡¯m not about to hide what I am anymore, but if they can¡¯t tell by my appearance, then that¡¯s on them. It took well over an hour before it was finally my turn to be led through. I follow a woman wearing a similar uniform to the guards in Zadok, but without the adorning weapons. She leaves her grey hair on open display, which leaves many of the crowd staring, obviously not used to the visage. I¡¯m taken through an almost identical process to what I experienced when first entering Zadok, garnering at most a raised eyebrow when she asked about my race. When she is done asking all her questions, I jump in to ask about my friends before she can run off to the next person to be processed. ¡°There¡¯s been a lot come through since the Zadok Kingdom¡¯s failed invasion. A surprising amount of high purity, too. There are many groups that match what you describe, so I can¡¯t say definitively where they might be now.¡± The woman says, to my disappointment. ¡°Though if they were struggling for gid when they arrived, your best bet is the worker¡¯s association.¡± It¡¯s not assured, but at least I have something to go on now. After thanking the woman, I rush down the street and ask the first person I see where the association is. Soon, I walk through the large open doors of the worker¡¯s association, grateful that they remain open behind me and are one of many entrances left unblocked. The place is busy. Five albanics sit behind desks attending to the many people queuing before them. Great, another waiting game. I just want to find them already and these interruptions are slowing me down. I complain and moan within my mind, but line up anyway. The stress that the doors might close at any moment has me checking behind myself repeatedly. As I look around, I¡¯m quick to notice that I¡¯m not the only non-albanic waiting. In the line to my left is an odd lanky looking being. Its short round and headless torso is held above the heads of the surrounding albanics by six long, flexible limbs protruding from its sides. I¡¯m not the only one staring, either. It¡¯s such an odd shape for a creature and its limbs move with a fluidity that suggests a lack of bones. The being approaches the counter and speaks to the lady behind the counter. His voice is obviously male, but he has a strange floaty speech pattern. A cough snaps me back to the lady before me and I realise I¡¯m at the front of the line and the woman before me is waiting expectantly. I step forward and try to pretend like I¡¯m not embarrassed about being caught staring, but the raised edge of the woman¡¯s mouth makes me doubt my success. ¡°Hi. Did you see a group of teenagers come here a few weeks ago? Two girls and three boys, two of them twins.¡± ¡°Friends of yours?¡± she asks. I nod and she flicks through the book before her. ¡°What are their names?¡± ¡°Ash, Leslie, Kerry, and the twins are Demi and Medi.¡± She takes a moment to turn the pages. ¡°Ah, here we are. Hired by Mr. Marshall¡¯s Textile Mill. They left for Valtin sixteen days ago.¡± They were here? They were actually here! ¡°Where is Valtin?¡± I ask, almost bouncing on my toes. ¡°It¡¯s four days¡¯ travel. Take the northern city exit and follow the road west. Good luck finding them.¡± I thank the woman and rush out of the building. It¡¯s so relieving to hear they got out safely. I had refused the possibility that the Fog had grasped them, but now that I know they reached Joiak, it is a weight off my mind. In my excitement, I almost morph into a falcon right there and then, disregarding all those around. Almost; I still need to get replacement clothes, then I can go reunite with my friends. I hope they are being treated well by Mr Marshall. Chapter 54: Mr. Marshalls Mill I Valtin is burning. Or at least that¡¯s what I think the first time I see it in the distance. Massive plumes of dark smoke rise over the city. As I fly closer, it becomes apparent the smoke comes from many towers spread through the city, rather than any actual fire. The nearer I get, the fouler the stench of the air becomes. I would usually be attracted to the scent of burning coal, but there is something attached to the odour that makes me cringe in disgust. It only took me a few hours to fly here. The winding roads continue through the nation, not limited to the border at the edge of Zadok. Mountainous landscape is hardly an issue when you can fly. A train¡¯s horn blares as it departs the city, heading north through a tunnel dug through the mountainside. Didn¡¯t the Ursu claim to have created the train? How did they get their hands on it so far north? Wait, the Henosis had a perfect understanding on how to use them. Did they have them too? I shake my head. It hardly matters if the ursu created the trains or not. I¡¯m here to find my friends. As I land on the ledge of a building, I look down on the people walking the dark streets. Albanics are still the predominant species, but there are others now. I spot a few of those strange six-limbed creatures and several other beings completely alien to me. Near constant banging reverberates from all around, overwhelming the sounds common in other populated cities. Under the smoke darkened sky, I¡¯m far more visible than I want to be. Before anyone spots me, I find a secluded place and regain my legs. I brush my hand against the wall of the alley as I come out, only to bring back a thick layer of black muck. I scorch the lingering substance off my hand and look up at the wall it came from. The entire building is coated in it. Not just that, every building is. Alright, no touching the walls then. I look down at the black road before me. Not the ground, either. This is hardly what I imagined after all that talk of a better place to live than the dredges of Zadok. It took a while to find Mr Marshall¡¯s Mill. The people on the street weren¡¯t particularly willing to help, often ignoring my questions outright. Eventually, I got an answer and made my way to one of the larger factories in the area. A long brickwork building with two massive chimneys on each side. The air reeks with an intensifying musk as I close in on the mill. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever smelt something I want to avoid burning as much as whatever is causing this stench. It¡¯s like something rotten, but at least I would be fine with burning a decaying substance. This just makes me retch. I try to ignore the scent as I walk through the gate into the premises. The gate guards barely pay me any mind. I find it odd that they sit facing the mill rather than outward, but I¡¯m not here to judge how they do their job. As I approach the entry where many people, adults and kids alike regularly pass through a narrow door, I feel tension rise within my chest. It¡¯s the same as back at Finn¡¯s fort. An irritating, illogical fear that I¡¯ll be trapped once I walk inside the enclosed space of the building. I stand there, garnering stares from the passing workers as I bemoan the ridiculousness of being unable to walk into the building. The door is made of wood; there¡¯s no way it could stop me if I want to leave. I try to reason with myself, but the tension doesn¡¯t disappear as I watch the door. ¡°Solvei? Solvei!¡± before I can turn to the voice, I¡¯m tackled from behind. ¡°Oh Belobog, I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re okay. We thought the worst when you never caught up to us.¡± It¡¯s Kerry. I¡¯m so happy to see her again. To know she is safe brings a smile to my face and I hug her back. ¡°C¡¯mon, you have to see the others.¡± Kerry pulls me by the arm around the back of the textile mill toward a small outbuilding in the corner of the fenced property. A couple metres from the door, I have to tug at her arm to stop her from bringing me any closer. ¡°Can you bring them out here? Please?¡± I ask, rubbing at my forearm. She gives me a confused look before agreeing and entering through the door. In the moment I have to look through the gap, I¡¯m horrified by the conditions within. Dozens of kids lay beside each other in the cramped confines of what I¡¯d thought of as a storage shed. Most of them look no older than eight or nine. It¡¯s the filth inside that shocks me the most. That black muck I¡¯ve seen through town is caked on every surface within. It¡¯d be cleaner if they slept outside. I don¡¯t have to wait long. Soon, they are rushing outside. Even the twins, who I assumed didn¡¯t really care for me considering our lack of interaction. I¡¯m quick to notice Leslie isn¡¯t there and while Ash and the twins hurry to crowd me, they look exhausted. Filthy too.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Solvei? You¡¯re actually okay? Thank Be¡ª¡± ¡°We knew you weren¡¯t dead!¡± ¡°We knew you were alive!¡± the twins say together as they crush me between them. My smile is irremovable as we reunite. I feel bad that I thought they didn¡¯t care. It¡¯s a bit difficult to return the hug of the two taller boys, but I manage. ¡°You have to tell us what happened. Where have you been?¡± Ash speaks over the teary eyes of the twins. I nod to him. ¡°I will, but I want Leslie to be with us first. Where is she?¡± The joy of the reunion wipes off his face, instead replaced by fatigue. His eyelids droop and arms seem to flop at his side as he looks toward the main building. ¡°She¡¯s still working. They gave her more hours for an¡­ outburst of hers a few days ago.¡± His eyes fall back on me before he frowns. ¡°You should probably leave while you still can, too.¡± ¡°What are you talking about, Ash? If anyone can help us out of here, it¡¯s Solvei.¡± Kerry glares at him before turning to me. ¡°Right Solvei?¡± I look between them, slightly confused. Ash is about to respond, but is interrupted by another kid coming out through the door. ¡°I know you lot are new, but you should really get inside before the overlooker comes out with his cane.¡± The girl, likely the same age as me, has deep discolouration around her eye. Deep hues of purple and red dye the skin above her cheekbones. As I look closer over her body, I spot many other causes for concern. Her body is skinny, far too much to be healthy. Her fingers have a similar level of bruising to her eye. Scabs and scars cover each digit. ¡°Okay. We¡¯re coming.¡± Ash says as he, Kerry, and the twins move back inside. I lower my eyes to each of my friends¡¯ hands, seeing much of the same bruising along their fingers. My jaw clenches and I have to focus to settle the sizzling within me. Ash stops at the door. ¡°Solvei, aren¡¯t you coming in?¡± I turn to the large adjacent building. ¡°No. I think I¡¯m going to have a little look around.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t! You¡¯ll get hurt.¡± I give him a glare that makes him take a step back. ¡°Don¡¯t get into trouble, okay? We still want to hear your story.¡± I ignore Ash and walk toward the mill. I¡¯d have to be blind not to notice the foul nature of this place, even if it wasn¡¯t permeating the air. Horrid sleeping conditions, work that leaves them so exhausted, and the isolation and entrapment. Those guards were looking inward for a reason. There are too many parallels to my time with Gloria. I want to have a look at what it is they are doing inside the building. I¡¯m still unable to just walk inside, but I should be able to get a decent idea looking through a window. A huge machine takes up the entire open floor. From wall to wall is a large moving mechanism with thousands of strings connecting to other parts of the machine it moves back and forth from. Adults stand working on one side while the kids crawl after the moving apparatus under the suspended threads. I watch for a while, but there are no breaks. They all just keep crawling back and forth, trying to keep their fingers away from the wheels that hold the machine. Eventually, one of the boys is unlucky; he screams over the constant banging within the building as he finches back, holding his fingers. I can¡¯t see their condition from where I am but despite the other people inside watching the kid who looks no older than nine holding himself in pain, none move to check on him. After only two rotations of the machine without the kid underneath, the threads stop moving. A door slams open at the far end of the building and a man thunders down the aisle towards the boy. I can¡¯t hear what he is yelling, but as soon as he reaches the kid, the man¡¯s cane is already swinging. I have to look away. My inner flame is already bubbling within me. Should I watch any longer, I fear my anger would explode to the surface. It truly pisses me off to see this happening and there isn¡¯t a chance I¡¯m leaving it as is. I approach the front door and burn off its hinges. There¡¯s no fear of entrapment when there¡¯s no door to close. The people around say nothing, but move out of my way regardless. As I step into the mill, the reek of the air almost sends me running back out. Whatever they are burning is disgusting. The heat inside is rather nice, but isn¡¯t it too hot for albanics? Also, with the amount of dust floating about, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the very air itself is flammable. I rush over to where the man continues the pummelling of the young boy and stand between them. It¡¯s a struggle to hold myself back from torching the man, but I¡¯m worried that might send the whole building ablaze. ¡°Leave him be!¡± I stand before him with clenched fists as the heat within me does nothing but intensify. The man is momentarily stunned by my presence, but is quick to regain his composure and scoff in my face. ¡°Who do you think you¡¯re talking to, child? He¡¯s not done his job properly, so he must be punished. As shall you for the backtalk.¡± He raises his cane and swings it at me. I stare him dead in the eye as the stick passes right through my head. It¡¯s hard to clamp down on my flame before it ignites the air, but I manage. Shock and confusion are plastered on the man¡¯s face. The first attempt isn¡¯t enough of a warning for him, though. He tries to whack me again, only to receive the same outcome. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare move! The owner will be out to deal with you in a moment,¡± the man declares as he scurries back the way he came. Once he¡¯s out of sight, I look down at the boy hugging himself on the floor with pity. This is horrible. Once I get everyone out of the building, I¡¯ll burn it to the ground. First, I need to find Leslie. Another door blocks the way to the stairs and with a careful application of cinders to the hinges so that only the wood of the door burns, I have another door lying on the ground. I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m gonna do if I need to enter a place that I can¡¯t cause such property damage, but I¡¯ll worry about it then. I tear into the second floor and immediately spot her along the side wall. She looks far too tall to be crawling under the machine with the other kids. Leslie, of all people, I couldn¡¯t imagine taking this sort of treatment sitting down. And of course, as I approach from her side, the consequence of her resistance becomes apparent. A brace is locked around her leg, connected to the wall with an iron chain. Her back looks horrible, much of the cloth and skin is torn off in alarming gashes. She doesn¡¯t notice me even as I stop behind her. ¡°Leslie¡­¡± I start. It¡¯s hard to even look at her in this state. She jerks at my voice. ¡°Solvei?¡± she looks up at me. Before I can even process it, she has me in a death grip. Tears streak down her face as she presses into me. ¡°You¡¯re here to get us out, right? You¡¯ll save us,¡± she sobs. Leslie was always such a strong person, never backing down from a fight, even against the adults we stole from. Now, she¡¯s like a different person. To see her pleading for help like this is just wrong. ¡°Of course. Once everyone is out, this building is cinders. The people who did this to you will wish I was as quick when I deal with them.¡± Chapter 55: Mr. Marshalls Mill II ¡°Everyone!¡± I call out over the banging of the machine. ¡°It¡¯s time for you all to leave.¡± These people can¡¯t stay here if I want to freely use my flames. They especially can¡¯t stay considering I plan to burn it to the ground. As irritated as I am that these workers don¡¯t protect those being beaten right in front of them, they aren¡¯t the ones I want dead. None of them so much as stop their work at my demands. I can tell they are listening. The glances out of the corner of their eyes are proof enough. But they ignore my words and continue as if I¡¯m not here. ¡°If you don¡¯t leave, you¡¯ll be trapped in my inferno as it annihilates the building.¡± I give my warning, and yet they don¡¯t move. Why is this so frustrating? I¡¯d give them a display to prove I¡¯m not joking if only I wasn¡¯t so worried that the air might explode in the presence of a flicker. Well, so be it. My priorities are my friends first. I¡¯ll get them out and come back to give the owner and his overlookers what they deserve. I grab the chain linking Leslie to the wall and, with barely a thought, melt right through the metal. My arm reaches under her shoulder and I try to help her to her feet. It¡¯s not until I¡¯ve taken a few steps with her toward the exit do I realise what I¡¯ve just done. My eyes widen as I turn to the remnants of the chain lying on the floor behind me. I burnt through iron. The major adulthood milestone of my tribe. A sad smile graces my lips as I move toward the stairs with Leslie. Not like it means much now. I bang on the door to the shabby kids¡¯ sleeping quarters before pulling it open. Now that I¡¯m not stuck in that dusty mill, I freely let out my flames. I need to be taken seriously. I refuse to be disregarded by those I¡¯m trying to help. So, if that means a bit of intimidation, then so be it. With my frame now outlined by fire, I raise my voice to be heard by all. ¡°Everyone out! We are leaving.¡± I probably should explain in more clarity, but the anger and frustration of everything I¡¯ve seen leaves me impatient. My friends are quick to follow me. Ash and Kerry encourage the younger children to follow. I approach the gate with far less following than I hoped. It seems the fear beaten into them far exceeds what a bit of intimidation can do. The gate guards scamper to block our path as we near. ¡°What do you lot think you¡¯re doing? No leaving without the master¡¯s permission.¡± One of them says. ¡°Move aside,¡± I growl, not bothering to restrict the raging inferno from bubbling to the surface any longer. The man hardly hesitates to step forward with his baton raised. It¡¯s all I need to wrap chains of scorching embers around his ankles, muscle melting off bone in a moment. His shrieks send the other guards stumbling back, but my chains follow and disable each of them like the first. I¡¯m not giving a reprieve to their lives until I know they¡¯ve atoned. I turn to the kids following me. Most have an awed expression of shock as they look over the downed men that no longer block their escape. ¡°Well? Hurry up!¡± I don¡¯t have time to deal with all these kids, so I turn to Ash. ¡°Lead them out. Once I¡¯m done here, I¡¯ll catch up.¡± Now, I have to figure how to get all those workers out of the building so I can bring it down. ¡°Oi! Stop them!¡± a shout comes from the now missing door to the mill. Oh? I guess I don¡¯t need to go looking for the owner. A man in a suit lacking the wear and tear of the other men storms out of the mill, four others following close behind. This must be the Mr. Marshall and his overlookers. They chase after the children who ran the moment the owner¡¯s voice reached them. The first one gets within a few metres of me before I act. It looks like he was intending to ignore me, which is simply foolish. My flame wraps up his leg, burning through flesh and sending him tumbling amongst the pile of guards still screaming in pain. I leave my eyes on the owner even as the overlooker collapses behind me. ¡°What do you think you are doing?¡± he shouts, but halts his run together with his last three overlookers. His eyes flicker between me and the escaping children with frustration. ¡°Sir, this is the girl.¡± I recognise the overlooker at the owner¡¯s side as the one who swung at me earlier. ¡°Mr. Marshall, correct?¡± I stare down the aging man. ¡°I hope you are ready to pay for what you¡¯ve done.¡± ¡°What I¡¯ve done? And what have I done, little missy? Everything here is perfectly in line with Joiak Kingdom law.¡± He looks down at the men I¡¯ve crippled before addressing the overlookers at his side. ¡°Back off, boys. Let her go. I¡¯ll have the merc corps chase her and those children down.¡± Let me go? I almost laugh. ¡°I think you are confused, Mr Marshall. I¡¯m not going anywhere.¡± Fire bursts out from me and I let my form completely shift to enhance the point. ¡°And neither will you.¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The overlookers don¡¯t react quick enough. All three of them scream as my flaming tempest engulfs their bodies. The fear that rises in the owner¡¯s eyes is the exact thing I was waiting for. A grin crawls across my face as I relish in this scum¡¯s terror before I give back the same pain he inflicted upon my friends. ¡°The mercenary order won¡¯t let you go if you do this,¡± he says as he stumbles away from the writhing overlookers. ¡°You¡¯ll regret it if you kill me!¡± Does this man think spouting nonsense will help him? Even if this mercenary order has the strength to come after me, it would have been worth it to end this monster. ¡°She might, depending on whose pockets you¡¯ve layered.¡± An unfamiliar voice says over the whimpering of crippled men. I turn my head to see one of those strange six-limbed creatures standing just outside the gate of the mill. Large expressive eyes are visible through the membrane of his orb-like torso. He lacks any of the other physical characteristics I would normally associate with a face; ears, nose, not even a mouth. Even without all those features, his eyes express a distinctly amused nonchalance. ¡°So? Who is it? Which official will seek vengeance for you?¡± ¡°You! You¡¯re a merc, are you not? Deal with this brat. I¡¯ve paid Mr. William a fortune for his services.¡± ¡°Mr. William. Mr. William¡­ I¡¯m unfamiliar with that name. Are you sure you weren¡¯t scammed?¡± The odd being¡¯s cheery voice questions. ¡°Oh! He told you he was above third class, correct? I¡¯d hate to call one of the lower officials a scammer, but that would explain why I don¡¯t know his name. Either case, this Mr. William doesn¡¯t have jurisdiction over me.¡± The owner seems flustered by his words, but they are nothing other than a distraction to me. I step over the body of an overlooker, the man shivering despite the body-wide burns. With each step I take, I gather my flames around me. The owner¡¯s brows furrow and a scowl wrinkles his face as I stand right before him. I hold my flames back from touching him, I want to try something different. Almost predictably, the man doesn¡¯t just stand there. He reaches a hand into his pants pocket and pulls out some short metal thing. The owner flicks his wrist, exposing the blade, before plunging it right into my chest. I hear that odd man at the gate behind me shout but ignore him. I pull my hands up and grasp at the hand holding the blade. The skin sizzles under my touch, but I push his hand deeper, showing just how futile his last attempt was. And ever is it worth it. The scowl morphs. His eyes widen in horror as he jerks his arms away. They slip out of my grasp with ease, but I still have more for him. The flames I¡¯ve had burning close explode around us, creating a dome trapping the owner with me. Again, I¡¯m careful to keep my fire from touching him directly. He deserves worse. I grasp the blade and pull it out of my chest. I inspect the piece as I slide the blade back inside its housing. Ornate patterns are carved into the steel that make it look like a fashion accessory rather than a weapon. I pocket it, he won¡¯t be needing it soon. The owner has finally realised there is no escape without pushing through flames hot enough to melt skin. ¡°Fine. Take the children, take all of them, just let me go.¡± I ignore him and slowly begin rising the temperature in this enclosed space. ¡°Do you want money? Is that it? I¡¯ll give you a million gid if you let me go.¡± He is sweating now, the drops stream down his face. The sweltering heat not yet reaching the temperatures of a furnace, but it will be soon. ¡°What do you want?¡± he pleads as he tears off his suit and shirt, desperate to escape the intensifying heat. ¡°Nothing. Not from you.¡± Strangely enough, the sweating on the man¡¯s body stops. His skin flakes and dries. He gasps with each breath like he can¡¯t get any air and his eyes shrivel in his head. His body isn¡¯t burning and other than the drying skin and eyes, there is no clear sign it will end any time soon. At least, until he collapses. With a clutch at his chest, the owner stills on the ground. I really expected him to last longer if it was just heat. No sense wasting energy now. I pull down the dome surrounding us and head toward the mill again. As I¡¯m pulling my fire under control, the six-limbed man from before ¡ª still standing just outside the gate ¡ª calls out. ¡°Yo kid, you probably shouldn¡¯t burn down the mill. The country won¡¯t care about some replaceable manager, but they¡¯ll care a lot if you destroy one of their biggest manufacturing plants.¡± I glance back for a moment, considering his words. But only for a moment, because I realise I don¡¯t care. Any place like this should be burnt to the ground, regardless of how many people want it operating. I turn and head inside. The workers have obviously been watching the events outside through the windows and yet so many of them still refuse to leave the post of their work. The machine never stops. A long leather belt connects the machine to a spinning wheel sticking out the side of the wall. I place my hand over it and snap the belt moving the contraption, all the while careful to stop myself igniting the very air. The spinning threats and rolling wheels come to a stop. With no more work, these people shouldn¡¯t have any more reason to stay. ¡°It¡¯s time for everyone to leave if they don¡¯t want to be roasted like Mr. Marshall.¡± I don¡¯t spare them another glance as I walk up the stairs and do the same for the next three floors. Leslie wasn¡¯t the only one locked in their working position. Many children on the upper floors seem to live in their workstations if the filth along the floor was any sign. It takes some time to get through each of their chains. I wait on the top floor until I feel everyone should have escaped. Any deciding to stay after has nobody but themselves to blame. As I light a flame before me, my concern for the dust in the air was far more than validated. At the touch of even a short flame, the air explodes around me. The sound of glass shattering overwhelms the roar of the inferno for only a brief second. My flames spread to each corner of the room in a moment, engulfing everything in its way. I walk down the stairs, prepared to ignite each room individually, but there is no need. The fire spreads without a need to help. Really, how had this place not burnt down before I showed up? I¡¯m glad to see they took my warning seriously and none of the workers remain. I leave the mill before it can start collapsing on top of me. The crowd of workers stares with open mouths as I walk through the fire engulfing the building. They move aside for me as I approach the gate. Strands of flames branch out and end the lives of the overlookers and guards still prone on the ground. Some of them crawled some distance away and some find themselves as the punching-bags to many of the children once locked up. Even a few of the female workers join in. The large eyes of the tentacle-limbed man follow me as I walk toward my friends. A small rodent not dissimilar to a jerboa now sits upon his head¡­ body¡­ whatever. The tiny creature wears a strangely formfitting bit of clothing. Is that his pet or something? It¡¯s strange to dress up an animal, isn¡¯t it? As I walk down the street where I can see my friends congregating with the other freed kids, I notice the six-limbed man following me. I spin on my heel. ¡°What do you want?¡± I don¡¯t want to deal with any more people. I just want to talk with my friends again. ¡°Oh, you know, just curious to know what an ¨¢ed¡¯s doing so far away from the wasteland. You¡¯re quite strong for your age, y¡¯know,¡± His chipper voice chimes. The rodent sitting on his head scoffs. ¡°A bit more than that; she took a cane right through her head. Acted like she didn¡¯t even feel it.¡± Ah, so the rodent isn¡¯t a pet. Some other sentient species? I feel a little bad for making the assumption. ¡°Ah yes, that is a bit hard to believe. I don¡¯t recall any other ¨¢ed being able to do that. Donk ¡®em hard enough and they fall like anything else.¡± I narrow my eyes at that statement, preparing to fight if I need to. ¡°Chill girl, chill. I¡¯m not here for conflict, even if I would have rather you not burnt the mill. I¡¯m not gonna stop hearing complaints by the brass if they find out I was in the area. No, I want to make an offer.¡± Somehow, I can tell he¡¯s grinning even without a visible mouth. Chapter 56: Remus ¡°You see, my group and I find ourselves in a bit of a pickle at the moment. Due to some unfortunate events, our trusty and reliable mage is gone. Left. Now, we flounder as she searches new horizons.¡± The being puts on a dramatic display as he walks by my side. I wanted to walk off and leave him behind, but he doesn¡¯t seem to understand I am ignoring him. ¡°Without a mage, our most eminent role, our team ceases to function. What is the point of fighting if you cannot advance, after all? We cannot simply take any odd mage, either. No, they must have at least the minimum capabilities of self defence against the atrocities we face. But for shame, uncovering capable mages not chained down by prior obligations is an arduous undertaking.¡± His eyes roll upward in his head until they lie right underneath that tiny sentient rodent. ¡°But Jav tells me you have what it takes. You may not be a mage, but both ¨¢ed and ¨¢infean can bend hyle to their will. Which means it would be no issue teaching you how to operate the ritual. My only concern is whether you are skilled enough to survive our battles. I trust Jav, but you are younger than my great granddaughter.¡± We turn a bend in the road and I finally see my friends ahead. I run off from the rambling man to rejoin them. ¡°Oi, aren¡¯t you listening?¡± is the last I hear from him before I return to Kerry¡¯s embrace. She laughs as I return her tight grip. They won¡¯t be forced to work in that horrible place again. I want no one to experience what Gloria put me through. To know the time they spent in that mill was probably worse than what I experienced is saddening. As I look over some of the bony bodies and hollow eyes of the kids around, I can¡¯t help but feel glad I got here before things got worse for my friends. I feel bad for the other kids of course, but knowing that they are in pain just doesn¡¯t hit me as that of my own friends''. ¡°Thank you, Solvei.¡± Ash says as Kerry and I separate. ¡°I never knew you were so¡­ capable. Sorry for doubting you.¡± I shake my head at him. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have been so easy the last time we met.¡± I approach Leslie, who is stretching and enjoying the open ¡ª still murky ¡ª air. She must have been stuck in there a while. I drop to my knee beside her and, using my hand to separate the metal cuff from her leg, I melt it off. The heat must have still got through to her as she flinches and I almost fail to stop the hot metal from sizzling her skin. Thankfully, she settles down and lets me eat through the heavy anklet. I now know why my elders never went for wood and coal themselves. They may say it¡¯s for the sake of the younger ¨¢ed, but there is no way the taste isn¡¯t the largest factor. This is amazing. It¡¯s more of a heavy flavour than the sweetness of wood, if it even makes sense for a taste to be heavy. I have to remind myself that the iron is still around Leslie¡¯s ankle, so I don¡¯t just incinerate my way through it. Once done, I let go of her leg and take the remaining pieces for myself. Leslie shakes her leg, a grin rising to her face. ¡°Thank you. What now? I don¡¯t know about you guys, but I¡¯m about to pass out.¡± I look to Ash. As much as I got them out and everything, I never really thought about what to do afterwards. Where are all these kids going to go? Ash returns my look. I guess he expected me to have some idea what to do? I shake my head and shrug. He sighs and drops his head. ¡°I guess we tell them to form groups and find a place for themselves. We might have to resort to old methods if we can¡¯t find a trustworthy place.¡± He pauses for a moment to look around the black muck covered city. ¡°I think we should move away from here first.¡± ¡°Good plan. Good plan. Well, it would be if Joiak wasn¡¯t disgusting everywhere you go.¡± The six-limbed man steps into the conversation with his small partner still on his head. ¡°Ya see, that business you just burnt down, little lady, was not the exception. That is the norm in this country. Real unfortunate actually, you got a bunch of kids like yourselves trying to find greener pastures outside Zadok, and Joiak is all too willing to put them to use.¡± ¡°Now. I have a proposal,¡± he says and turns to look directly at me. ¡°I can pull some favours and get each of these little kiddies and your friends into a far more friendly country within the pact. There won¡¯t be no working to exhaustion like here. Heck, some of the younger ones might even be adopted into loving families.¡± He doesn¡¯t turn, but the eyeballs in his head move out of my sight and he strides away from me as if that is the new front of his body. Jav, on his head, remains facing me. ¡°I could do that, but it would be incredibly inconvenient for me to do so without reason, don¡¯t you think?¡± his eyes once more swivel in his head to lock on me. ¡°So here¡¯s the deal. You join my team for a bit and I¡¯ll make sure everyone here gets nice and safe. What do ya think? Good deal, yeah?¡± Is he serious? Can I even trust him? He put no effort into stopping that bastard of a man mistreating all these kids¡­ but I guess he also didn¡¯t stop me from tearing through the owner and his men. What is so important about this ritual thing that they need me for it?Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Look kid,¡± the little jerboa-like person says. ¡°I know my friend can be a bit¡­ overwhelming, but we are really kinda desperate for the help you could bring. I promise we mean no harm to you or your friends.¡± I guess it might be fine if it¡¯s just for a little. But I need to make sure I¡¯m not being trapped in some contract or environment like my friends had been. ¡°Okay, but only if I¡¯m allowed to leave if I don¡¯t like the way you do things.¡± ¡°Splendid. Now, we need to confirm if you¡¯re actually qualified.¡± The man flicks his limbs outwards, away from my friends, creating loud cracks through the air as each limb extends. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t think it would be that simple, did you? You still have to prove to me you can survive the things we face.¡± Jav jumps off his head and surprisingly, a couple of flaps extend from his small suit, letting him glide to the ground. With his flicking done, all six limbs rest on the ground to keep him upright. Unlike bipedal or quadruped creatures, his limbs all seem equally capable of attacking and being used for mobility. ¡°So little lady, are you ready for a spar?¡± I nod to him and give a last glance at my friends watching over us in silence. Leslie has passed out on the black road and Kerry kneels over her. Ash and the twins watch. ¡°Just don¡¯t get hurt, okay?¡± Ash says and the twins nod beside him. I smile at them. It warms my heart to know they care. I bring my attention back to my opponent and I walk some distance away from my friends so I can let loose without worrying about them. If this man wants to test me, I have no intention of holding back. I don¡¯t wait until he¡¯s ready. Immediately, I lash out with a torrent of fire. My inner flame grasps at his torso and I try to burn through his thick, rubbery skin. The heat now able to melt iron hardly does anything. Like with my fight with the general, his skin hardly burns under my assault. ¡°Disappointing heat for an ¨¢ed, but I guess you¡¯re still young.¡± Is he mocking me? I feel for any openings and find his mouth at the bottom of his head. My flames rush through, pushing to burn him from the inside out. With a flick of a limb and a slide backward, I find my flames losing their grip on his body. Knocked aside as if they are but a pest. ¡°I do like your willingness to take what advantage you can, but you¡¯ll definitely need something to focus your flames in the future. There¡¯s just no oomph in your attacks.¡± He¡¯s definitely trying to irritate me now. I swipe at him again, raising my temperature as far as I can. But I don¡¯t come close. With a push of his limbs, he flies to the side at a speed I can hardly follow. I¡¯m unable to turn my body fast enough to keep up with him as he springs off the ground without stopping. I jump away from where he is, expecting an attack. But it doesn¡¯t come. Instead, he stands casually behind where I was. His eyes smaller than before. He glances off the side to his small partner. ¡°Jav, are you sure you weren¡¯t mistaken?¡± Jav grins back at him, razor-sharp teeth peeking through his tiny mouth. ¡°Just attack her already, you¡¯ll see.¡± He sighs, his torso drooping with the slackening of his tentacles. ¡°Sorry little lady.¡± As soon as he finishes his words, alarm bells go off in my head. I throw myself to the side as his limb cracks through the air right where my hand had just been. I hadn¡¯t seen him move at all. ¡°Oh? Nice reaction speed,¡± he compliments, but it isn¡¯t enough to stop him from following up. A second tears right through my upper arm. It is forced into wispy flames before reforming after a second. The feeling is uncomfortable, but not painful. I attack him with my flames again and try to regain the space between us. He stands there observing me with widened eyes. ¡°Amazing. I see what you mean now, Jav. Let¡¯s see how far she can go.¡± I don¡¯t have time to retreat. Warnings blare in my head from each direction. He¡¯s attacking so many times at once I have nowhere to go, so I brace myself for the onslaught. Arms, chest and legs; He tears through them all with nary a delay. My body splits open in places for moments before snapping back together. I hear one of my friends scream my name from the side, but I¡¯m too busy to focus on that. Each impact is an annoyance, but I have no way of stopping them like I did when fighting the General. I don¡¯t have the Void Fog and its creatures to help me this time. What can I do to fight back? Do I just stand here and take the abuse, hoping my body can take it indefinitely? He¡¯s stopped holding back now. He freely goes for my head as much as he can. I stop trying to pull myself back into a physical form and leave my body¡¯s flames visible to all. I don¡¯t want to leave this as is. I need to fight back. My flames swirl around me, covering my arms and legs while he continues his onslaught. In a few seconds, I¡¯ve done what I need to. I straighten under the assault. He can¡¯t hurt me, so I have no need to be afraid of getting close. He is too fast for me, so I just have to hope his arrogance lets me get close enough to do what I plan to do. I dash forward, glad to see he doesn¡¯t move, willing to take whatever I¡¯ll throw at him. I don¡¯t know if even this will be enough, he can brush off my flames after all, so it might be hopeless. But it¡¯s worth the attempt. I launch toward his torso and latch on with my newly grown talons. They don¡¯t cut into his rubbery skin, but they give me enough grip that I¡¯m able to hold on when he tries to flick me away like he did my inner flame. I grew talons from my hands and feet to give me the grip that I just couldn¡¯t hope for with fingers. Well, I hoped to tear into him, but I¡¯ll have to settle with this. Hugging myself around his head, I struggle to remain in place as he dashes around the area with speed I can hardly comprehend. Once I stabilise myself, I engulf the both of us in flames. I¡¯ve already been shown I can¡¯t really burn through him, so I intend to burn through all the air before it reaches him. He¡¯ll suffocate if he doesn¡¯t breathe. Through my flames, I notice his tentacles reaching for small pouches hidden between the base of the limbs and the torso. From within each pouch, he pulls a metal encasing for the ends of each tentacle. The metal is some combination of three metals I¡¯ve never felt before and no matter how hard I try to melt them off his limbs, they remain cold. I feel the difference immediately when he hits me with the metal plates. The ethereal flames of my body spread far from my body with each impact. Too far to reform myself with any haste. It¡¯s not long before I lose my grip around him and I¡¯m sent flying off his back to the filthy pavement. ¡°Wow, I¡¯m very impressed. The name¡¯s Remus. Welcome to the group.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± what? Remus puts the metal gloves back in their hidden pouches and walks toward me. We¡¯re not fighting anymore? ¡°That was amazing little miss. I¡¯ve never seen an ¨¢ed with such a close relationship with fire. Please, what is your name? I mean, I heard your friends say it, but I would like to hear it from you.¡± ¡°Uh, Solvei.¡± Isn¡¯t this a bit too quick of a transition? I thought he was trying to kill me a second ago. I definitely was trying to do the same to him. ¡°Well, Solvei, I look forward to working with you.¡± Chapter 57: Leaving Joiak It only took a few days for the people Remus organised to arrive. The large caravan contains many unfamiliar species. Plenty of Dohrni ¡ª which is what Remus¡¯ race is apparently called ¡ª as well as creatures with strange bone like extensions make most of the group, with albanic only taking a small percentage. I¡¯m surprised Remus put this much effort into supporting a bunch of kids he doesn¡¯t know, even if it is for a deal with me. Really, I wouldn¡¯t have been opposed to work with him even if he didn¡¯t help. Once my friends are safe, I¡¯ll need a way to improve myself. Strengthen myself. Remus has already made it clear we will find ourselves in positions to grow. Dangerous as they may be, these opportunities could be invaluable. My fight with the General and Remus has shown me I can never truly be free to do what I want unless I have the strength to back it up. If Remus will bring me to places where I can consume creatures to enhance my strength, then I¡¯ll jump at the chance. It¡¯s a bonus that he¡¯s willing to go this far to bring me in. Of course, I¡¯ve experienced the despicable side of too many beings to trust outright. I¡¯ll be careful and keep my eyes open, but I won¡¯t assume he has bad intentions from the start. My friends have taught me the error of that line of thought; paranoia isn¡¯t helpful. ¡°So, what is this ritual you need me for?¡± I ask Remus now that we are on our way out of Joiak. He was in a hurry to leave and planned to have the kids move with the people he organised rather than with us, but I am adamant about staying with my friends until I know they are safe. So now, the eight of us move away from the other kids. I¡¯ll check in to make sure they reach somewhere safe later, but for now, I think it¡¯s fine to leave them. ¡°Oh! Hmm, have you ever met an enhanced? People like myself with greater strength than their bodies should normally be capable of. Remember how your flames struggle to burn my body? Well, that¡¯s a good indicator for someone with a body pushing the limits.¡± I nod. The General must have been one of these enhanced and so must be that ursu giant. ¡°The ritual is the only way those not with an extremely high connection with an element can enhance their bodies beyond limits. ¨¢ed and ¨¢infean can directly consume the dead, making the ritual unnecessary. Technically, us fleshy creatures can take on the strength of the creatures we eat, but I¡¯d love to meet the person able to scoff down the immense bodies of some of the beasts we fight.¡± ¡°Is that what Henosis and New Vetus do? Fight monsters to get stronger?¡± I ask. Remus¡¯ eyes shrink at my words. ¡°No. I don¡¯t think the ursu have worried about enhancing themselves for over a century. There is a reason they are losing the war. Henosis, on the other hand, doesn¡¯t have strong enough creatures in their peripheral to power their strength. They power their conquests with something far more despicable.¡± More despicable? Oh. I guess it isn¡¯t a huge leap to use the corpses of your enemies to empower yourself. Should I avoid telling Remus I ate the dead albanic soldiers? ¡°New Vetus isn¡¯t losing the war anymore,¡± I say. ¡°Huh?¡± both Remus and Jav on his head turn to me. I guess they didn¡¯t know. ¡°Some giant ursu slaughtered the entire army. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the remnants are fleeing back to the Empire right now. Assuming they escaped his wrath.¡± ¡°Fu¡­ damn. Hund is still alive then. And I¡¯d thought the old fella finally croaked after not appearing in a century.¡± ¡°You fought him?¡± I can feel my eyes widening. Remus laughs at my question. ¡°Fought Hund? I¡¯m still alive and well, which is not something anyone who Hund has lain his eyes on can say. I¡¯ve seen that ursu fight though, and he felt more like a titan hiding in ursu fur than anything else I¡¯ve seen. I still have nightmares from that day.¡± Jav stares at me. ¡°You saw him, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± I look over at my friends listening in as they stuck together. I¡¯ve noticed they¡¯ve been a bit withheld around Remus and Jav, I¡¯ll have to make some time for us to talk alone soon. ¡°Some Henosis soldiers were fighting amongst themselves and he showed up. The soldiers didn¡¯t last long.¡± ¡°Wait, how long ago was this?¡± Jav asks. ¡°A bit over a week ago. Why?¡± ¡°You made it all the way here in a week? How?¡± Oh, right, they don¡¯t know yet. A grin grows over my face and I glance at my friends. The curiosity in their eyes makes my smirk widen. ¡°You¡¯ll just have to wait and see.¡± I laugh at the dissatisfied expressions that take place.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Remus is looking at me with his wide eyes I can just tell are smirking. He doesn¡¯t know, does he? He hasn¡¯t seen me do any more than grow some talons, that wouldn¡¯t be enough for him right? ¡°Hey, you¡¯ve met other ¨¢ed before, right? Not many know about us this far from the wasteland.¡± Maybe some have pushed out from the wasteland before me. It¡¯d be nice if I could meet some in the northern states. ¡°Yeah, I have,¡± Remus says. ¡°But it was fifty years ago when I travelled into the wasteland. I¡¯ll tell ya, that place really ain¡¯t friendly to anyone but you ¨¢ed. If you don¡¯t take a water mage with you, you¡¯re done. Any liquid disappears from your bottles no matter how tight they are.¡± ¡°So you¡¯ve never seen any ¨¢ed in the northern states?¡± ¡°Nope. Honestly, I¡¯m surprised to see you up here in pact territory. You lot stick to your own far more than most.¡± ¡°Pact territory?¡± I ask. ¡°Yeah, what you call the northern states. Most of the nations amongst the pact lie next to the titan alps, which regularly has powerful creatures descend. The pact is an agreement between these countries to share military strength; the mercenary order. Which is what you¡¯ll be joining once we introduce you to the rest of the team. The politics of sharing the mercenary force between so many nations creates problems, which ¡ª¡± ¡°Which is not something she should worry about.¡± Jav rises to his feet on Remus¡¯ head and glares down. ¡°The only thing we should worry about is getting these kids somewhere safe before we take their friend out to climb the alps. Don¡¯t forget how young she is, Remus.¡± Okay, that irks me. With everything I¡¯ve gone through, being treated like a child again is not something I¡¯m happy about. Just as I¡¯m about to protest, Jav speaks again. ¡°I¡¯ve had enough of this chat for a bit. Remus, launch me.¡± Jav stretches his small arms and tail as one of Remus¡¯ limbs wrap around his torso. In a moment, the air cracks as Remus¡¯ tentacle whips through the air. Jav nowhere to be seen. Did¡­ did he just throw Jav? I try to look through the air for the little rodent, but it¡¯s as if he¡¯s vanished. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t bother looking, you¡¯ll never find him,¡± Remus says. ¡°Did you just throw him?¡± I¡¯m incredulous. Why would he do that? ¡°Of course.¡± Remus looks at me oddly. ¡°How else would a Volan get the air they need to fly? They¡¯re not birds, you know.¡± ¡°Volan?¡± ¡°Yeah. You know; Jav¡¯s race. Despite not naturally having wings, they love flying.¡± I¡¯d seen the guy glide before with that suit of his, but the idea that he would use it to actually fly is baffling. ¡°How far did you throw him?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Remus raises one of his limbs before his face in a thinking pose. ¡°We¡¯ve never measured it, but Jav complains about how hard it is to breathe when I throw him too high, so I usually hold back a bit. So¡­ maybe two or three leagues?¡± Eh? He¡¯s joking right? But as much as I try to find the humour in his eyes, it¡¯s not there. This enhancement is quite something. I don¡¯t have any other answer to how Jav could survive being flung like that. I slow my pace to let Remus walk ahead, and I rejoin my friends. ¡°Solvei, what kind of weirdos do you have us travelling with?¡± Leslie asks. It¡¯s good to see her spring back to her old self. The state she¡¯d been left in when I found her was horrible and I hope she never has to experience something like that again. I hope none of them do. ¡°Are you going to be okay with them? It feels wrong that you¡¯re the only one that needs to pay for our safety,¡± Ash says. ¡°It¡¯s hardly paying. I get to know you¡¯re safe and, well¡­¡± I lower my voice so Remus can¡¯t overhear. ¡°I see this as an opportunity to grow, to gain strength for myself.¡± Ash watches me close as we follow a good distance behind the Dohrni. ¡°You still need to tell us what happened after we lost you.¡± ¡°Yeah, you mentioned it only took you a week to get here. What were you doing in all that time? How did you get here so quick?¡± Kerry asks. I scratch at my arm, not sure where to start. ¡°I couldn¡¯t outrun the fog and got trapped inside for a while. Eventually, I got out only for the Henosis to catch me.¡± ¡°Wait, the Void Fog didn¡¯t kill you?¡± Kerry gapes. ¡°No. It¡¯s an indescribable place, but nothing it passes is destroyed, simply taken somewhere else,¡± I say. ¡°Anyway, I was imprisoned by the Empire for most of the time I was gone before this giant ursu went and killed them all. He was huge, like six of me tall.¡± ¡°He¡¯s the one you and Remus were talking about before, right? Hund?¡± ¡°Yeah. I didn¡¯t know his name was Hund, but it was terrifying just being near him.¡± ¡°So how did you get back as quick as you did?¡± Leslie asks and, upon seeing my growing smirk, she groans. ¡°C¡¯mon, you can hardly keep us in suspense forever.¡± ¡°Hmm, fine. But it¡¯ll take a while to show you, so no peeking until I¡¯m done.¡± There¡¯s nothing worrying around us, so it should be fine to change while we walk. I want to keep it a surprise until I¡¯m done, so I create a wall of my flame to cover me as I start the transformation. The time I take to transform has lowered a lot, but I still can¡¯t manage much faster than fifteen minutes for a full body change. I wonder if I¡¯ll ever be able to change on the spot? When I¡¯m finally done, I compress my flames into myself, but stop before the outline of my form becomes visible to any outside observers. I can be a bit more creative with this, right? I might as well put on a show for my viewers. I twist the flames around me, hopefully dragging the eyes of any not already paying attention. The vortex of flames spins around me so fast it roars in my ears. With a flick of mental control, I explode the flame in all directions. I fly hidden within a flare as it shoots out from the eruption of spinning fire, leaving the space I was just standing empty. I fly high enough that I can use the sun to hide my body from my audience below. Below, the faces of my friends are shocked. I laugh a little as they search around for me as the remnant flames disperse. My amusement halts as my attention turns to Remus. His humoured eyes are locked on mine. Was he able to see through my display? I can¡¯t help but groan. At least I still have my friends to surprise. I control my flames so they won¡¯t burn and be careful of my talons as I glide down to land on Leslie¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Hey,¡± I say as I touch down. She screams and stumbles away, leaving me to flap to regain my balance and land safely on the ground. I laugh at her reaction, my giggles dragging the attention of the others. ¡°Solvei?¡± ¡°You like?¡± I spread my wings wide to show them off. ¡°Some things happened, now my binding is far higher than before.¡± ¡°Binding?¡± Ash asks, but Leslie interrupts. ¡°That¡¯s so cool. Damn ¨¢ed get the best abilities.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t a normal thing for ¨¢ed. Well, at least not for any of the ones I¡¯ve met,¡± Remus says as he approaches me. ¡°I¡¯d say you¡¯re closer to the threshold than anyone I¡¯ve met. I don¡¯t know how you managed it, but I can¡¯t wait to see what happens when you increase your connection more than you already have.¡± His eyes grin wide. ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be spectacular.¡± Chapter 58: Motivations Once we made it out of the twisting roads of Joiak, our path became far more direct. Good thing too, even though I¡¯ve only been able to fly for two weeks now, going back to walking is nothing more than a pain. ¡°So, I should have probably asked this earlier, but where are we going?¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t I said?¡± Remus asks. ¡°We¡¯re going to the Meja Matriarchy. It¡¯s our group¡¯s home and once your friends get settled in, you¡¯ll be able to see them between jobs.¡± ¡°How far is that?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s far, but it shouldn¡¯t take long once we reach the train station. Really, it¡¯s quite annoying that Joiak doesn¡¯t allow passenger cars within their borders.¡± Ah, so not long at all. I groan and look up at the sky. Why didn¡¯t he tell us that sooner? I catch movement from the corner of my eye. It looks like Jav is back with dinner. The small creature lugs behind him a fully grown deer. Even if I¡¯ve seen it a few times before, it still looks odd to see him trying to carry something probably fifty times his weight. Well, maybe carry is the wrong word; Jav drags the deer along the ground, leaving a long trail of blood from wherever he killed it. ¡°Jav, why don¡¯t you ever call for help? I¡¯m sure some of us could carry it back much easier than this,¡± I ask. He glares at me over the hoof in his grasp. ¡°I don¡¯t need help to get dinner sorted. Why don¡¯t you mind your own business,¡± he says before going back to tugging. I¡¯m a bit put off by his response. Why is he so hostile? I just want to help. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him. He just gets cranky when people assume he can¡¯t do something because of his size.¡± Remus walks up behind me. ¡°I do not!¡± Remus chuckles as Jav cuts into the deer. Again, it looks odd because of his diminutive size. I¡¯ve always been the smallest amongst any group of people, so it feels kinda strange to be on the other end now. I leave him alone for now. Even as I watch him struggling to start a fire that I could have roaring in moments. He wants to do it all himself, right? It¡¯s best I don¡¯t butt in, no matter how slow his attempts to start a fire are. I return to my friends, who are piling up their own stockpile of wood for a fire-pit. A sudden gust of wind brushes over us, making me shiver and amplify my heat. The others don¡¯t look any better, each of them rubbing their hands together for warmth. They look up at me expectantly as they sit around their gathered bundle of sticks. I consider playing dumb for a moment, but the cold is already making me burn through double the amount of food I¡¯d usually need. I can¡¯t imagine what it¡¯d feel like for them; they have no way of heating themselves, after all. Soon everyone is cramming around the warm campfire. I¡¯m really glad for the bountiful resources around, there¡¯s no way I could have kept moving like this through the lowering temperatures if this was the wasteland. I hope this winter doesn¡¯t last long. As I look over my friends, I realise I forgot about someone. ¡°Hey, what happened to that woman who led you to Joiak? What was her name? Ivory?¡± ¡°After all that happened with the Void Fog, she sent us north on our own. I can¡¯t blame her though, she had family lost to the Fog. She wanted to continue looking for them,¡± Ash says over his shoulder but doesn¡¯t move away from the heat. ¡°Oh, right. We were staying in her cousin¡¯s backyard, weren¡¯t we,¡± I murmur. How was I so lucky to escape and receive help when uncountable others died within its grasp? Even those who escape the Fog are twisted beyond recognition. Against the Void Fog. Against the Titan. Is there even anything someone can do other than hope for survival when such otherworldly disasters strike? Will I ever be strong enough that such events no longer worry me? Or will I always be trapped by the endless fear that an incomprehensible disaster is waiting right around the corner to devastate me and all I care for? Even taking Remus¡¯ deal, will it be possible to gain the strength to fight off such nightmarish existences? Existences that can annihilate the world around them without notice. No. It will never be possible. I can¡¯t even conceptualise ever contesting Hund¡¯s strength, no matter how much I think I can grow. But does that matter? There will always be something greater, something that can terrify regardless of your strength. But if I never put in the effort, I¡¯ll never be able to fight for the things I want when they are within my power to take.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. It is impossible to advance to where nothing can entrap me. But if I don¡¯t push forward, I¡¯ll be trapped in a world of my own fears. If I don¡¯t grow, I¡¯ll never be able to escape the paranoia of the intent of those around, never able to freely exist amongst those I want to consider family. It¡¯s something I¡¯ve been worrying about; I might have to leave my friends behind if I want to join this mercenary group. They¡¯ll hardly be able to follow me and there is no guarantee I¡¯ll get to see them often. Remus has been rather casual about it, but the areas we will go and the creatures we¡¯ll face are not something to be taken so carelessly. The bird from the Wailing Woodland, the colossal-worms and so many other creatures I¡¯ve seen come nowhere near the strength of the Titans, yet they pose a great danger by themselves. If I hadn¡¯t been gifted with such a perfect means of escape by the Void Fog, I never would have considered joining them. Even if Remus had thought I was capable without my ethereal-flame defence. But I have the capability. Maybe it¡¯s arrogance, but I now feel like nothing can hold me. Even if I know it is false, the feeling permeates my being. I want, no, I need to spread, like the growing cinders of an incipient fire. Intensifying my flames until they can no longer be extinguished is something I truly want. I look over at the five I¡¯ve grown close enough to call my friends. They huddle together, chatting around the fire. I think of Leal, my first friend outside of my tribe. How might she be doing? Now that New Vetus is taking back lost ground, is she and her mum doing better? Will I ever be able to see them again? I now have new people to live for, but simply living isn¡¯t enough. I don¡¯t want to have them taken from me like my tribe was. As I am now, I can protect myself. I can escape most things that might do me harm. But my friends don¡¯t, and I don¡¯t have the strength to protect them. If I lose any of them, I have no way of finding them. Should they be trapped ¡ª like they were by the owner of that mill ¡ª they have no way of escaping. I need to be strong enough that I can stop that. I need to be capable enough to find them, to find Leal again. I can only do that if I press forward. Consuming the general has opened my eyes to how much strength can be gained by felling the strong. I¡¯m certain his death and Teine¡¯s sacrifice are the only reason I¡¯m already able to burn through iron. If Remus and Jav hadn¡¯t appeared, I would have decided on the same course. I simply now have someone to direct me, rather than an unguided search for beasts to hunt. I should enjoy the little time I have left with them before we have to go our separate ways. ??? ¡°Not long now and you can meet the team. Our place is just a bit further down the road,¡± Remus declares as he points with one of his long, boneless limbs down the path breaching the thick forest vegetation. We had not long left the fortress Baansguard. From the outside, it doesn¡¯t look like much. Reminiscent of a large slab of stone or maybe a small mountain. It was only once you entered its core that you could see the true magnificence of the city within. A large central area of open space inside gave a perfect view of the layers in which hundreds of thousands of people lived. Carved into the rock were large platforms that hold innumerable buildings. The ceiling visible above the large space in the centre of this huge fortress glowed bright like the sun, the heat it gave off felt similar too. I struggled a lot in the city, and I refused to leave the central area where I had a clear view through the ten metre tall tunnel leading directly out. As long as I had a clear view to the outside, I could hold in the anxiety about being trapped. But it still made my goodbyes with my friends frustrating. Thankfully, they seemed to settle into their newly given lodgings rather easily. It was some building with a bunch of other teenagers. A trade school, Remus had called it. They would be taught a profession, along with the other orphaned kids. I am satisfied that they will be treated well, but I¡¯ll only truly know for sure when I next meet my friends. The long tunnel out of the city had been a rather long walk. There had to be somewhere near two hundred metres of stone separating the city from the outside world in every direction. It really couldn¡¯t be considered anything but a fortress. What exactly did they expect to need to protect the city from? As we left the city, I¡¯d asked if I should fly so Remus could move at a faster pace. I¡¯d seen him move in our spar. There¡¯s no way this was his normal travelling speed. But he seemed content enough to continue at the slow clip, so I reluctantly followed by his side. Two hours of walking from Baansguard and only now are we getting close. If I¡¯d flown, I could have been here in ten minutes. No, maybe even five. Baansguard is the farthest west city in the Meja Matriarchy and also one of the closest dwelling of the sentient races to the Titan Alps. There is no way you could miss the mountains here. It doesn¡¯t matter where you are in the world, from the western edges of the wasteland to the southern portion of New Vetus; the mountains are always visible. Most of the time, they are a part of the background. Like the moon during the day; always there, but only paid attention to for directions. Not here, though. We are so close that a quarter of the sky is dominated by the very heights. No longer are the mountains dimmed by distance, their feet are right before us. There is a reason they are called the Titan Alps. Like the Titans are incomprehensible beings thousands of times larger than normal creatures, these alps dwarf all mountains as if they are nothing more than pebbles. Any gap in the canopy, the Alps remain visible. Ever looming over all. Soon, we enter a clearing and Jav throws himself off Remus¡¯ head, the wings of his suit gliding him through the open window of a wooden cabin built in the centre of the section of forest-free land. A large verandah extends out of the other side from where Jav flew in through, furnished with couches, tables and an entire outdoor kitchen. ¡°Bloody rat! Use the front door!¡± a voice shouts from within the cabin. I look up at Remus beside me, his eyes grin back at me. ¡°Well, it¡¯s time to introduce you to the team.¡± Chapter 59: Team Luis-Eight Remus walks right through the heavy front door sitting on double-swing hinges. I push into the doorway and block the door while the yelling within grows more audible. ¡°Damned fucking rat, how much damage do you have to cause before you stop using the window as a door?¡± ¡°Oi! I didn¡¯t break anything this time. Why don¡¯t you learn not to put your things under the window I enter from?¡± ¡°Which window don¡¯t you use? I can hardly keep this place smelling fresh if I can¡¯t use the windows. You lot drag in enough muck as it is. You didn¡¯t even wash the blood off your wingsuit before coming in, did you?¡± Not moving a step further inside than the doorway, I watch as Jav stands on a countertop exchanging verbal barbs with a man wearing an apron. I¡¯d seen plenty of his race in Baansguard, seemingly the most populous in Meja. If you look closely, his central, fleshy body looks similar to an albanics, except without the rest of the limbs from elbow and knee down. Antler-like protrusions from many points in his body remove any other similarity one might see between his race and that of an albanic. From his spine, the antlers wrap around his body, protecting his soft skin in a way reminiscent of a bony rib cage. The protrusions also pierce out of the back of his arms and legs, creating branch-like limbs that reach beyond the protective cage. Short antlers rise out of his head like a crown. The variation I¡¯ve seen between the khirig is incredible. The man before me has thin, workable fingers made from the stone antlers and his cage is tight around his vulnerable body. Some in Baansguard had huge antlers with thick cages that prevent you even peeking at the body within. But those large khirig lack visibly working hands, so I don¡¯t know how beneficial it would be for the added defence. ¡°Stop it you two, you¡¯re putting on a bad first impression.¡± Remus turns to me while wrapping a limb around the khirig with the apron hanging off his cage antlers. ¡°Solvei, this is Ossian. He takes care of our home while we¡¯re out.¡± Ossian brushes off Remus¡¯ tentacle. ¡°I also take care of these slobs when they¡¯re here.¡± Remus laughs, his eyes squinting in humour. ¡°Yes, and we¡¯re grateful for all you do.¡± ¡°Not all of you.¡± He turns to glower at Jav already digging food out of the cupboard. ¡°Anyway, this is Solvei. She¡¯ll be joining our team.¡± Ossian focus snaps to me. ¡°This one? Are you sure? She hardly looks out of her preteens. Where are her markings? You¡¯ve gone senile.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not that old,¡± Remus rebuts. ¡°She¡¯s not an albanic Oss, she¡¯s an ¨¢ed. I promise she can handle herself,¡± Jav cuts in before returning to stuffing his face with biscuits he found. ¡°An ¨¢ed? Like from your stories?¡± Remus nods at his inquiring eye. ¡°Well, if you¡¯re sure.¡± Ossian lowers himself to my level before whispering just loud enough so the other two can hear. ¡°Hey, they didn¡¯t kidnap you, did they? You¡¯re not being forced?¡± Remus rolls his eyes and Jav throws the now empty container at Ossian¡¯s head. While he rubs at one of his head antlers, I shake my head. ¡°No, I came here willingly.¡± ¡°Well, if you¡¯re sure.¡± He rises to his branch feet again and storms over to the cupboard. He pulls Jav by the tail and tossing him to the other side of the room. Jav gracefully glides to a stop, still eating a slice of cake he found. Something nudges my back and I definitely don¡¯t squeak when I see what has gotten so close without my notice. A huge panther, almost too big for the door, stares down at me from its excessive height. Without thinking, I try to slam the door in its face, but the heavy door comes to a hard stop against the creature. With a huff, it walks inside before laying on a large couch that I¡¯m surprised doesn¡¯t collapse under its weight. Still grasping the door, I move back to the doorsill. ¡°So she¡¯s the one?¡± a new voice asks. It doesn¡¯t take long to realise it¡¯s coming from the panther now relaxing on the side of the room, its head tilted in my direction. Okay. With all these new intelligent beings around, I should hardly be surprised anymore. From now on, I¡¯ll assume it¡¯s smart until proven otherwise. Still¡­ even if it¡¯s a sapient race, those teeth are huge. Massive sabre-teeth exposed outside its closed jaw tell of a naturally predatory species. ¡°Yep, this is Solvei. Solvei, this is Gr¨ªmr. They¡¯re one of the portian.¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Portian?¡± I ask, unfamiliar with the race. Well, I¡¯m unfamiliar with a lot of the races around, so it isn¡¯t surprising I don¡¯t know. ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re a race of ¡ª¡± ¡°No!¡± Gr¨ªmr interrupts. ¡°No, she doesn¡¯t need to know.¡± Remus looks at Gr¨ªmr with concern. ¡°Are you sure? She¡¯s an ¨¢ed you know. Like the ¨¢infean, there shouldn¡¯t be a problem if she knows.¡± ¡°She is?¡± the big panther¡¯s eyes scan over me. ¡°Even still, I¡¯d prefer she didn¡¯t know.¡± He tries to smile at me, but with a maw lined with teeth bigger than my hands, I don¡¯t think it gives the same image I think he intends. ¡°Solvei, you can just think of me as a big cat. It¡¯s good to meet you.¡± ¡°Uh, sure.¡± If they¡¯d had that conversation without me present, I¡¯m sure there wouldn¡¯t be any issue. But now my curiosity is piqued. What about his race does he want to hide? ¡°So, where are the ladies?¡± Remus casts his gaze around the room as if they¡¯ll pop out of thin air. ¡°Where else do they ever go? Bunny is training and Doe is probably at the Order offices in Baansguard,¡± Ossian says. ¡°Oh well, I guess we¡¯ll have to wait until they¡¯re back.¡± Remus drops into a chair across from Gr¨ªmr before looking over at me. ¡°Solvei? What are you standing over there for? Come in. Relax.¡± I shake my head a bit too abruptly. ¡°No. I¡¯m fine over here.¡± ¡°Well you¡¯re letting in the cold,¡± Ossian says. ¡°At least shut the door.¡± Rather than doing as he asks, I pump up my body temperature. The room quickly heats from proximity. ¡°Oh! Ha, I guess that works too.¡± Ossian turns to Remus. ¡°I see why you chose her now, finally had enough of the chill up the mountain?¡± Remus sheepishly scratches at the top of his head. ¡°The thought may have crossed my mind. But no, she is definitely capable enough to join us. For now, we¡¯ll have her only fill the role of ritual technician, but I think she will be able to join in on the fights after a bit of training from Bunny. If we didn¡¯t already have Jav, she would have made a perfect scout.¡± Ossian¡¯s head nods in understanding. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t want the little guy to lose one of the few things he¡¯s useful for.¡± ¡°You know I can hear you. Do you want to wake sharing your bed with a snake?¡± Jav¡¯s voice yells from another room. Ossian¡¯s smile becomes strained and he remains quiet. Remus¡¯ eyes rotate around the surface of his head until they land on me. We stare at each other for a moment before he rises from his chair. ¡°Y¡¯know what? I think we should go introduce you to Bunny. If we leave her alone, who knows how long she¡¯ll stay out?¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± Gr¨ªmr, the large panther, asks. ¡°You know how she reacts to being interrupted.¡± He climbs off the couch and follows close behind Remus. ¡°Who said anything about interrupting? We are only going to observe.¡± I step aside before following them into the forest the other way from where we arrived. Thankfully, there¡¯s no more pressure to go inside. I can¡¯t handle the anxiety and fear I know will explode should the door close on me. I¡¯d rather keep my issues to myself, even if it may cause issues when night comes. How I¡¯m gonna tell them I¡¯d rather sleep outside, I¡¯m not sure. As we move between the trees, the sound of rushing water reaches my ears. ¡°Where are we going?¡± I ask. ¡°There¡¯s a clearing beside the river where Bunny does her training.¡± Remus casts his eyes back at me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we won¡¯t go near the water.¡± Loud footfalls and panting sound out as we move through the last of the dense tree line. My eyes immediately catch the albanic woman that must be Bunny. She is nothing like what I expected, considering her name. Bunny obviously notices us, sending a glance our way, but continues her¡­ training. Hefted above her head with both arms is a boulder that must be larger than I am. She sprints back and forth between the line of trees and the river¡¯s edge, pressing the heavy rock off her shoulders at each turn. She¡¯s the strongest looking albanic I¡¯ve ever seen, her muscular arms could compete with an ursu¡¯s. Seriously? Her name¡¯s Bunny? ¡°This, Solvei, is Bunny.¡± Remus answers my inner question. ¡°She¡¯s a weapon master and by far our best fighter.¡± I definitely don¡¯t doubt she¡¯s a good fighter. Bunny drops the boulder and I can feel the ground shake from the impact. Instead of acknowledging us as I expect since she¡¯s stopped running, she unsheathes a thin blade from her waist and takes a stance. The dance that follows seems far too elegant for such a heavily muscled woman. The gusts created from her swings don¡¯t seem as strong as the General¡¯s had been, but her strikes are far more deliberate and are delivered with swiftness the General couldn¡¯t hope to compare. ¡°In the future, I believe she can help you learn a weapon. You¡¯ll need something with impact for the times your flame won¡¯t be enough.¡± ¡°Shut it in the peanut gallery,¡± Bunny yells. ¡°If you want to watch, be quiet. I¡¯ll be done soon.¡± And so we stand there watching as her blade slices through the air, audibly tearing through it with intense strength. Few in my tribe focused on the sword, but the movements remind me of the fluidity my elders expressed while wielding their respective weapons. With a final flourish, she sheathes her blade and relaxes. ¡°So, you finally found someone?¡± Bunny turns and walks up to us. She scrutinises me with her gaze. Cover her in fur and add a little height and she¡¯d be indistinguishable from an ursu. She¡¯s already taller than most albanic by a good head. ¡°Yep, meet Solvei; an ¨¢ed we met in Joiak of all places. Solvei, this is¡ª¡± ¡°Tetsu.¡± She grasps my shoulder in her firm grasp. ¡°Call me Tetsu.¡± ¡°You might as well accept it now. She¡¯ll be calling you Bunny soon enough.¡± ¡°Tetsu.¡± She repeats, glaring down at me and squeezing my shoulder. I¡¯m uncomfortable being held like this. I can feel the tension rising the longer she takes to remove her hand. The stare and squeezing intensifies to a point where I can¡¯t handle it anymore. My shoulder loses its form and wraps her arm in flame as I jump a few steps back. Tetsu looks down at her hand with a frown. Like Remus, my flames do nothing and she brushes them off with ease. ¡°I see why you were willing to choose one so young.¡± I glare back as her eyes dig deep into me once again. ¡°Now that we have our replacement, we can finally go hunting again, correct? Tonight?¡± ¡°Whoa, whoa, whoa. I still need to show her how to work the ritual.¡± ¡°You can do that as we travel.¡± ¡°I¡¯d prefer she knew what to do before we get in any trouble. I also wanted you to train her in a weapon.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± she says nonchalantly. ¡°I can do that as we travel.¡± ¡°At least let us wait until Doe returns.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I want to introduce her to Solvei.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because she¡¯s a part of the team.¡± Tetsu raises an eyebrow at him. ¡°No, she isn¡¯t. Doe¡¯s a part of the Order¡¯s bureaucracy. She isn¡¯t one of us.¡± Remus hesitates, looking uncomfortable for the first time since I met him. ¡°Maybe not, but we can at least try to be civil.¡± The two stare down for a moment before Tetsu speaks. ¡°We leave at midday tomorrow at the latest. If she doesn¡¯t arrive before then, too bad.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Remus sighs. Tetsu eagerly turns to me. ¡°So what weapon did you want to learn?¡± I don¡¯t even need to think about it. ¡°The spear.¡± Chapter 60: A Quick Hunt It didn¡¯t take Tetsu long to find a couple of spears for us. She holds out the long pole of steel and I wrap my fingers around it in the same grip I remember Auntie Kay teaching me. The familiarity is enticing and I can¡¯t help but stare. Tetsu releases the spear into my grip and I immediately get pulled to the ground under the unreasonable weight of it. The thing has to weigh as much as I do. I crouch and lift the spear in my hands, but it is insanely heavy and I struggle to do more than hold it against my thighs. ¡°Stop,¡± Tetsu says and takes the spear out of my grip. She stabs the base into the ground, leaving it standing upright, and sweeps her hands under my elbows. Tetsu lifts me into the air, sending me into a panic. I¡¯m already changing to incorporeal and scorching her arms when she lets me go. I try to calm my tense body as I glare up at the woman who held me without warning. ¡°You weigh nothing,¡± Tetsu says and jogs back to her weapon stash. ¡°Hurry and teach her the ritual while I make a stick,¡± she shouts to Remus as she runs to the line of trees lugging an axe over her shoulder. Remus and I watch as Tetsu slaps her hand into trees one after another until she is no longer in sight. ¡°Well, Bunny won¡¯t be long, so we best get started.¡± He turns and leads me back to the cabin. As I wait outside for him, I hear a loud crack echo through the forest. A more subdued thump follows it. ¡°Looks like Bunny found a tree she likes.¡± Gr¨ªmr¡¯s voice startles me. I¡¯d completely forgotten he was behind me. Something so large shouldn¡¯t be allowed to be so quiet. I wonder how she got the nickname Bunny of all things. I just can¡¯t see how it fits her. It¡¯s not like she introduces herself like that. Another crack echoes around us as Remus comes out holding a scroll. ¡°Wow, she¡¯s impatient.¡± Remus turns to the forest at the sound of another thwack. ¡°She¡¯s been stuck waiting for months now and you bring someone she can share her art with. Of course she¡¯s excited,¡± Gr¨ªmr says. ¡°I guess we better hurry then.¡± Remus unrolls the parchment in front of me. ¡°Solvei, your task for the next while is to memorise this ritual. Usually, I have a mage run their hyle through the inscription to show how it works before they attempt to craft it with their element, but fire and paper aren¡¯t exactly good friends.¡± On the scroll, the inscription is configured with a large and small circle. Inside each circle are thousands of lines detailing what look like completely random patterns. ¡°The large circle is the placement for the target. We¡¯ll place the remains of our hunts within. The small circle is the output, where the receiver will take in the energy transferred from the target. Please be careful with it. Getting another copy will take a long time if it gets damaged.¡± I nod and carefully take it from him. It looks hard, but I need to do my best to memorise it. ¡°So, do I just make this shape and it¡¯ll work?¡± ¡°I think so? Most mages I¡¯ve met have been able to power it without any issue. Even those who¡¯d never seen it before. I¡¯m not a mage, so I can¡¯t tell you if there will be any differences between using the inscription and creating it with your fire.¡± My flames come to life in the air, attempting to mimic the intricate pattern as close as possible. But it¡¯s slow work; each line has to be focused on so that its placement is perfect. I quickly lose myself trying to making it match. ¡°Hey. I¡¯m done. Let¡¯s get back to it.¡± I look up in time to catch the pole thrown at me. Tetsu is already striding toward the clearing we found her. The wooden pole feels smooth to the touch and perfectly straight. A spearhead is expertly affixed to the end of the wood. I¡¯m downgraded to a stick again. It¡¯s not all bad. The stick weighs about as much as the spears back in my tribe. Not so light that I can swing it around freely, but I can pick it up with no problem. I swing the weapon experimentally. It feels good in my hands. I¡¯m happy I can finally get back to learning Mum¡¯s weapon. ¡°Hurry up!¡± Tetsu snaps from ahead. ¡°Right. Coming.¡± ??? Doe never showed up, so as per Tetsu¡¯s wishes, we leave the moment the sun reaches its peak. Remus is the only one who seems resistant to leaving so soon. Jav jumped at the chance as soon as he heard and Gr¨ªmr is fine to go along with everyone else.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Okay, so who¡¯s holding the kid?¡± Tetsu asks as she jogs on the spot. Why would someone hold me? Is it for speed? I already know three of them can move a lot quicker than me and it wouldn¡¯t take much to assume Gr¨ªmr can move quick too, considering his body. ¡°Should I change? Flying will be quicker.¡± ¡°No, I want you memorising the ritual. Gr¨ªmr should be a stable enough ride,¡± Remus says. Gr¨ªmr looks at me oddly, but lowers to a crouch and lets me climb onto his back. As soon as I¡¯m comfortable on his neck, Tetsu is already running off. ¡°You ready?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks as he rises to his feet again, the others already out of sight. ¡°Yes.¡± The scroll almost slips out of my hands as Gr¨ªmr dashes after the three. He dodges and weaves through trees as I try to stabilise myself with the fur at his nape. When I said yes, I didn¡¯t expect him to hit a sprint right away. I¡¯m lucky I didn¡¯t fall off. We catch up and if it wasn¡¯t for the trees whipping past us at insane speeds, I would think this is a casual jog with the lackadaisical effort they put into their movements. It may not be any faster than I can fly, but the trees passing at such speed makes it difficult to focus on anything but grasping at Gr¨ªmr. I try to unroll the scroll, but it flutters in the wind like crazy. I¡¯m only barely able to keep it steady by pushing it into my ride¡¯s fur. This is a horrible place to do this, but I have to try anyway. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be able to focus on the parchment enough to achieve anything, and I would really rather spend my time flying than in such close proximity to someone who is still a stranger. ¡°What did you mean before?¡± Gr¨ªmr¡¯s voice reaches me. ¡°You said you can fly? How?¡± ¡°Remus hasn¡¯t told you? I can transform my body. If I become a bird, I can fly just like one.¡± ¡°Is that something only ¨¢ed can do? Remus has spoken of your people before. He described you as similar to the ¨¢infean, but none I¡¯ve met could change their forms.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not common. My elder was the only one other than me who I know could do it. Who are the ¨¢infean? I¡¯ve never-¡± I¡¯m interrupted by a branch whacking me in the face. I try to duck, but I¡¯m not quick enough. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s movement around the trees is too fast for me to react while focusing on the parchment. Fortunately, the branch passes right through my head, only leaving me a little disoriented. Unfortunately, Gr¨ªmr snaps to a halt, sending me flying over his head. I crash into the forest floor amongst roots and leaves. I groan and check the scroll in my grasp, making sure it wasn¡¯t damaged. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry! I¡¯m still not used to this b¡­ uh, I wasn¡¯t thinking. Are you okay?¡± The large panther stands over me. I give him an annoyed glare as I rise to my feet. It didn¡¯t hurt or anything, but I¡¯d really rather fly under my own strength than be thrown around like that. I see this group as a strong and capable bunch, but how can one be that clumsy? Did he forget I was sitting on top of him? In mid conversation? ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I say and climb onto Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back again. If it happens again, I don¡¯t care how quickly Remus needs me to learn the ritual, I¡¯m flying. ¡°Uh, you asked about the ¨¢infean right?¡± I unroll the scroll again, intending to ignore the large creature under me so they might not become distracted and send me flying again. Gr¨ªmr runs along in silence for a few seconds before my reluctance to speak becomes clear. He doesn¡¯t take the hint, though. ¡°The ¨¢infean are another energy race like yourself. Similar to how you ¨¢ed are bound to fire, they are to lightning. We portian owe a lot to them for what they¡¯ve done over the centuries. The other races have a tendency to see us as their enemy, regardless of our intentions. Most of them stick to the north at the edge of the ice plains, but there are plenty living within pact territories.¡± As much as I try to ignore him and focus on the inscription before me, I can¡¯t help but listen as he talks. It¡¯s always interesting to hear more about the world. I wonder what he¡¯s hiding about his race that makes most sapients hostile? I mean, these big panthers look threatening enough as it is and if it weren¡¯t for Gr¨ªmr¡¯s open secrecy, I¡¯d assume it was just because of their appearance. There¡¯s obviously something more. ¡°They¡¯re good swimmers, did you know? But they refuse to touch the water unless it¡¯s as fresh as can be. Glacial rivers are their favourite. When I was a kid in the¡­ uh, when I swam with them, I was always impressed by the speeds they could reach.¡± It looks like Gr¨ªmr is a fan of these ¨¢infean. While he continues to blabber about his experiences with them, I cast my sight toward Tetsu running ahead of us. She carries a massive pack strapped to her back that one might assume is filled with camping gear and whatnot for our travels, but is instead loaded with nothing but weapons. I watched her pack it. Half the weapons she shoved in there I¡¯ve never seen before. The spear she made for me, along with many other pole weapons, are tied in bundles and strapped to the sides of the pack. I haven¡¯t a clue what she could need them for. Spear training with Tetsu had been eye opening. Only after fighting against her did I realise that Auntie Kay had been soft with me. I knew Auntie hadn¡¯t been putting her all when teaching me, but when I compare her to the no holds barred attitude of Tetsu, I realise just how careful she¡¯d been with teaching me. Tetsu is a monster. I hope it¡¯s because she knows I won¡¯t take any lasting damage from her strikes, but with the way she acts, I can¡¯t rule out that she simply doesn¡¯t know how to hold back. She was nice enough to guide me on my forms. She told me that most of the forms she knows for the spear would be useless for me because of how little I weigh. If I was to use it effectively, I would need to learn how to move quickly and always deflect rather than block. She was familiar with all the forms I remembered and told me which would be better to focus on at my current size and weight. It was after her guidance session that she invited me to a spar. I don¡¯t know how she considered that a spar, every second of that fight I spent trying to recover from a spear piercing or cutting through me. Tetsu might as well have used me as a practice target for all I accomplished trying to hit her back. There is one important thing I learnt fighting her though; I¡¯m not truly as invulnerable as I¡¯d assumed. The faster and harder she hits me, the further my intangible body flames are sent. If an impact spreads my flames far enough, it becomes hard to pull myself back together. I found the actual sharp blade of the spear to be easier to deal with than the shaft. If the sharp edge cuts into me, my form simply bends around it. But if a blunt edge like that of the shaft hits me, it makes it a lot harder to keep myself together. It is something I¡¯m incredibly glad to find out now, and not somewhere it might get me killed, but I¡¯m also stuck with Tetsu knowing. There is no way she didn¡¯t spot how much slower I recovered when she used her shaft, especially considering she only used the blade after the first few times. The same thing happened when I grasped at Remus during our fight. The impact he caused with the metal gauntlets dispersed my body enough that he could simply brush me off. I¡¯m suddenly not feeling as safe and assured of myself as I had been yesterday. Well, whatever. There are still worse things to worry about. Like water. Like ice. Like the snow-capped mountains we are currently sprinting towards. We¡¯re gonna stop before we reach the snow, right? Chapter 61: Snow It¡¯s rather strange. We put all this time and effort into climbing the mountain before us, and yet the ridgeline beyond seems no closer. I cling tight to Gr¨ªmr¡¯s fur as we run through the snow-laden slope. An icy gale rolls over us and I increase my heat to push away the cold. Why are we moving through here? Couldn¡¯t we have stuck to the areas without such a deadly carpet? They aren¡¯t trying to put me in danger on purpose, are they? I cling tighter to the fur and consider changing to give myself flight and escape any possibility that Gr¨ªmr might toss me off again. ¡°You look like you¡¯re enjoying yourself, Gr¨ªmr,¡± Remus muses. ¡°If only we could say the same about your passenger.¡± ¡°It¡¯s incredible. She¡¯s like a living heat pack. The higher altitudes won¡¯t be a problem if she can keep this up.¡± Alright stuff this. I¡¯m not going to put myself in danger to be someone¡¯s back warmer. I change my legs first and dig my talons into Gr¨ªmr¡¯s hide. Beside a curious glance back, he doesn¡¯t complain. Despite pressing in hard, the sharp points on my feet don¡¯t pierce through. By the time my transformation is complete, we are approaching the summit. The mountain is probably tall in its own right, but the speed at which we scaled it and its position underneath the Titan Alps makes it feel like nothing more than a hill. The moment I take wing, we surmount the peak. I ignore the sigh of disappointment from below as I stare in amazement at the view before me. The Titan Alps have always been a constant companion. It is always visible. Always present. To see it so close and clear is incredible. Snow covers the Alps as well, but unlike the mountain underneath me, the snow only reaches the lowest rung. While still far above me, the white sheet eventually ends and unmarred black and grey stone blocks out the sky. ¡°From this point onwards, Solvei, is where we hunt,¡± Remus declares with three limbs raised toward the mountain ranges before us. The land between here and the Titan alps gradually increases in altitude, leaving most of the ground white. ¡°You never said anything about the snow.¡± There isn¡¯t any way I¡¯ll be working with them if I¡¯m constantly in danger. ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much, as long as you control the heat you give off, like I¡¯ve seen you do, you¡¯ll be fine until one of us pulls you out.¡± I give him an incredulous look as I circle above. That¡¯s hardly reasonable. Am I supposed to just let myself freeze out here? I¡¯m already burning through far too much resources to keep myself warm in these icy conditions, I¡¯ll tire myself out in no time if I try to keep a temperature difference so that I¡¯m still warm on the inside while forcing my exterior cold enough not to melt snow. I can do it somewhat when I¡¯m trying to lower my outer temperature to interact with others, but it¡¯s almost impossible to force my body that cold. Why does he assume I can do that? ¡°There¡¯s no way I can do that. Do you know how hard that is?¡± Remus just looks up and tilts his head¡­ body at me. It looks odd. ¡°Don¡¯t think about it too much.¡± I almost jerk out of my flight as Jav appears beside me. ¡°Remus expects the best in everyone. If he believes you can do it, then there is a good chance you can. Even if you don¡¯t believe him, you only need to get through this trip. I¡¯ve put an order in with my sisters to get you proper snow gear to fit. You shouldn¡¯t have to deal with those oversized clothes after we get back. And trust me, their work is so good you won¡¯t get a drop of water on you even if you decide to go swimming. Although, probably best not to try it.¡± I guess it¡¯ll be fine just this once. ¡°I¡¯m not changing back, though.¡± I¡¯d rather keep flight available to me than be susceptible in my normal form. ¡°That¡¯s fine. Do what makes you comfortable.¡± Jav glides down to land on Remus¡¯ head again. Tetsu is already charging down the mountainside, too impatient to wait while we argue. The rest of us are soon to follow behind. As I glide above while they sprint their way down, I cast my sight across the valley before us. While most of the area is blanketed in snow, with the exception of the lower altitude of the valley that drops into a river, an almost perfectly circular region to the west lacks the white cover entirely. The area, half a league wide, sticks out from the surroundings. ¡°Hey, can we hunt over there?¡± I call to Remus and direct my beak to the area I won¡¯t have to worry about the snow. ¡°No.¡± Remus answers immediately. ¡°We never go near there. That¡¯s the home of the Ice Glutton.¡± ¡°The Ice Glutton?¡± ¡°It may not be in the realm of a Titan, but it is still far from anything we could hope to take on. As long as we leave it alone, it¡¯ll stay near its home and only come out to gullet some snow.¡± ¡°It just stays here? A mountain away from people?¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Yep. Hasn¡¯t moved from the spot since it arrived over a century ago. Good thing too, cause the last time a hunting party was formed, none survived.¡± I send one last glance toward the only extensive area without a buildup of snow. It¡¯s annoying. The only place that looks at all appealing to fly toward just happens to hold some unbeatable monster. ¡°What about above the snow? Do you ever go there?¡± I nod toward the Titan Alps above. ¡°We¡¯ve certainly tried, but no. I don¡¯t think you would want to try either. If you think it¡¯s cold here, I don¡¯t think you could imagine the chill up there. It takes months to prepare for a journey to the Middle Elevation, and that¡¯s not accounting for the time it would take to traverse. Sorry, but you¡¯ll just have to learn to work around the snow.¡± Remus picks up his speed and we close the distance on Tetsu. ¡°Has anyone tried to climb over the Titan Alps?¡± ¡°Plenty. If any have succeeded, they never made it back. It¡¯s the biggest cause of death for Beith class mercenaries. They tend to get bored after a long time without a good fight and go looking over the mountain. Well, that or they hassle the Theocracy and Empire.¡± ¡°So, does anyone know what¡¯s on the other side of the mountains?¡± ¡°Nope. But people like to guess-¡± ¡°It¡¯s a land of endless conflict. Men and women fight for their lives every day with weapons and talents unheard of.¡± Tetsu stops dead in her tracks to interrupt. ¡°Don¡¯t you already have that here?¡± Remus asks. ¡°Hardly. Most people cower in their cities not even knowing what a monster is until it butchers them.¡± Remus sighs at his teammate. ¡°Like I was saying, people like to guess at what might be over there, but nobody knows for sure. I like to think it¡¯s just the same as over here, with plenty of people trying their hardest to live the best lives they can.¡± ¡°It¡¯s definitely the home of the Titans over there, why else would they name it the Titan Alps?¡± Jav says. I look at Gr¨ªmr, expecting him to give his thought as well. He takes a moment before he notices my gaze. ¡°What? I don¡¯t know what¡¯s over there. I couldn¡¯t even guess.¡± ¡°Now that you mention it, Jav,¡± Remus says. ¡°Maybe that Titan who climbed the Alps near two years ago was trying to meet its family?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even say that,¡± Gr¨ªmr says. ¡°I don¡¯t even want to think of the chance that those things aren¡¯t perpetually sleeping. Could you imagine the death that crocodile Titan could have inflicted should it have passed through inhabited land rather than the wasteland?¡± Ah yes, all the lives that were saved by it choosing to devastate my tribe instead. No longer in the mood to talk, I fly higher. The air seems to get colder with every extra metre I rise, but I just burn through it. I¡¯m getting hungry from how fast I¡¯m expending energy, but I can wait. I just need some time to myself so I don¡¯t fall back into a slump. I¡¯m not even given time to clear my head, though. Remus launches Jav into the air and soon the little Volan flies beside me. ¡°Remus sent me after you. Is something wrong?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± I don¡¯t mean to snap at him, but that¡¯s how it comes out. After a moment of silence, Jav speaks. ¡°You know, you¡¯re a part of the team now. So if there¡¯s anything you need help with, just ask. We¡¯ll be waiting for you.¡± I watch him glide back to his resting spot on Remus¡¯ head. I guess making space for myself without being noticed was too much to hope for. Will I really be able to hunt out here with them amongst all this frozen water? When I agreed to work with them, I never expected to be thrown into such a hazardous environment. I instead pictured fights with wolves or colossal-worms where I¡¯d have no need to worry about their claws or teeth. In my head, there never would be any genuine danger. Now the question is, do I still want to go forward knowing it will actually be dangerous? I need to grow, and if all creatures strong enough to enhance my growth have the same resistance to fire as each of the members of this team seem to have, then I¡¯d have no chance of bringing them down. If I could even find creatures outside the Titan Alps without their help. Remus has already organised a home for my friends and all the other victims of the mill. If I don¡¯t at least put some effort in to help them, then I haven¡¯t done my half of the deal. Worst-case scenario, Remus might even go back on his promise to provide them safety. For now, simply following along seems like the best course. I can¡¯t stay away from them any longer than I already have. I¡¯m hungry, but all the trees in the area are covered in white slush. ¡°Hey.¡± I call as I get close. ¡°Do you mind shaking the snow off that tree?¡± I ask Remus. He gives a glance to Tetsu, who is already approaching the tree ahead of her. She places her muscular arms around the thick trunk and shakes. If it was anything but a tree, I¡¯d assume she was trying to strangle the life out of whatever she¡¯d caught in her grasp. Cracks and groans from the tree accompany the sight of falling snow. Tetsu brushes the powder off her shoulders as she steps away from the deep arm shaped depressions left in the cracked wood. ¡°Thanks.¡± I land on a branch and enwrap the tree in flame. ¡°Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to take a break,¡± Remus says and takes a seat in the snow under the flaming tree. Tetsu looks annoyed, but I can understand the impatience that comes with getting so close to something you¡¯ve missed. Even if the thing she misses is fighting. ¡°So how far until we reach wherever we¡¯re going?¡± I ask. ¡°Not long at all. Only a few more hours until we reach the roach colony hotspot. They¡¯re the perfect creatures for you to practice the ritual; they aren¡¯t too dangerous, they¡¯re close to home, and best of all, you¡¯ll never run out.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how you could ever consider that a good thing.¡± Jav cringes. ¡°They are ugly things and their meat tastes disgusting.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the only one I know who has tried to cook them,¡± Gr¨ªmr says. ¡°What? Not all bugs taste bad. Crickets are delicious.¡± ¡°Normal crickets or blood crickets?¡± ¡°Both. But you have to slow roast the blood crickets for a good five hours before they are edible. Usually not worth the effort.¡± While I take my time to burn through the tree, Tetsu has pulled out some chain weapon with a knife linked to the end. The blade tears through the trees as if they are paper. How does a single person get so good with so many weapons? None of my elders ever branched away from the single weapon they learnt. ¡°Not gonna practice forming the inscription while you have the chance, Solvei?¡± Remus calls up to me. Oh, right. I still need to do that, don¡¯t I? I can hardly take the parchment back from Gr¨ªmr¡¯s pack where I left it while burning through the tree, but I can try forming it from memory. I create the two circles and try to fill them in with as many of the lines as I remember. I don¡¯t get very far. A good portion of the smaller circle is filled, but I''m not sure I got them perfect. Trying to fill the larger circle is too much for me; I can¡¯t remember a thing. I look down at Remus, expecting to see disappointment, but he stands there holding the parchment up above his head for me to see. ¡°Good job on your first attempt, but you still have quite a bit to memorise.¡± A breath escapes me. Yeah, I do. Chapter 62: The Ritual ¡°It¡¯s time to move,¡± Tetsu says the moment I finish burning through the last of the trunk. She¡¯d been so focused on her weapon practice, but still must have been paying attention while I ate away at the tree. I¡¯d consumed it slowly, to give myself a little extra time to practice the ritual, but I guess there is only so much I can delay her impatience. There was no need for me to eat the entire tree, but I wanted to have enough energy to last a good long while in this chill. I should also be good to expel quite a bit of energy in any fight we take. I take to the skies again as the rest continue their run through the valley between mountains. Remus flings Jav far into the skies ahead of me, but he quickly disappears in the distance. Thirty minutes later, he returns and I fly low enough to hear as he lands on Remus. ¡°They¡¯ve moved further north since we last came through, but they definitely need a bit of population control. They¡¯re overflowing at the moment.¡± ¡°Wonderful! We can hit three birds with one stone.¡± Remus¡¯ eyes grin. ¡°Anything to worry about in the area?¡± ¡°Nothing on the surface, but I did spot signs of burrowers to the west. River flow is too low for anything threatening to be hiding within. And I didn¡¯t see anything in the skies. Should be all good.¡± ¡°Good, good. I¡¯ll stick with Solvei. You three enjoy yourselves.¡± As if waiting for those words, Tetsu dashes ahead without a word. Gr¨ªmr and Jav follow behind her. I try to speed up, but I can¡¯t reach their speeds even with flight. Remus matches my pace. Time passes and I almost think I might have passed them or gone off track when I crest the ridge and finally find what I¡¯m looking for. The slope beneath me flattens into a plateau between mountain ranges, and standing out from the snow covered ground are hundreds of thousands of brown critters crawling over each other. It is a disgusting sight even if they were tiny like normal bugs, but no, these things are as long as my legs. Bigger than I am as a bird. A mountain of the bugs is blown into the sky and I spot Tetsu wading through the endless roaches with a grin as she swings dual sabres. Jav is flying ahead of me and Gr¨ªmr is sitting off to the side, the both of them letting Tetsu have her fun and doing as much as they can to avoid touching the bugs. Tetsu is dripping in some foul brown-black sludge. The same goop that bursts out when she cuts through the roaches. ¡°We left a pile of carcasses over there.¡± Jav flies close and nods toward a mound of the unmoving brown bugs. ¡°Perfect, we can get started right away then,¡± Remus says. I bring myself down to land on Remus¡¯ head and prepare myself to get through this. I can hope it¡¯ll be quick, but I have a feeling it won¡¯t be as easy as Remus keeps saying. It takes me a while, but I feel like I¡¯ve formed my flame to match perfectly with the inscription held by Remus. The shape doesn¡¯t really feel different from normal. The pattern doesn¡¯t create any extra effect just by running my flames through it like Remus said. I compare my suspended flames to the parchment for the hundredth time, but I can¡¯t spot any differences. Everything looks identical. So why doesn¡¯t the ritual work? ¡°Are you sure this thing is supposed to do anything? The shape is right, but it doesn¡¯t react in any way more than I¡¯d usually expect.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± He leans over and inspects my flame spread above the ground. If he spots any issue with it, he doesn¡¯t say. ¡°I think you might have to use that scroll, after all.¡± ¡°I thought you needed it? Wouldn¡¯t I destroy it?¡± ¡°Well, yes. The hyle of fire is still fire, so the paper won¡¯t last long. But if you can understand how it works before you incinerate the page, there shouldn¡¯t be anything to worry about.¡± ¡°What is hyle?¡± Remus¡¯ eyes roll in his head to look up at me. ¡°Er, well I can¡¯t give you the technical details because I don¡¯t know enough about it myself. What I do know is that it¡¯s the form that any element can take to flow freely through physical materials. Have you ever seen a mage¡¯s tattoos glow? That¡¯s the hyle of their respective element cycling through their bodies. To my understanding, hyle is the only reason you can have stone or water mages and inscriptions.¡± So the hyle of water was what Leal had running along her tattoos? Is there a hyle of everything? If you converted an element to hyle, can you send it through walls? Huh? I¡¯ve done that before. I¡¯ve made hyle when I interacted with those inscriptions; at Leal¡¯s mage academy, the manor in Zadok, and Henosis¡¯ weapon. The inscriptions for each passed through walls, but I had no trouble passing my flame through them without needing to burn through the buildings. I can do it. It shouldn¡¯t be any harder than controlling fire normally. I reach for the paper, ready to figure out what it is I¡¯m doing wrong, but Remus pulls it away before I can reach. ¡°Don¡¯t be hasty. You still need to memorise it before we should risk running your flame through. We have plenty of time while Bunny enjoys herself.¡± I groan, but do as he says. This is gonna take forever. ??? Two days have passed and only now do I feel confident I can completely recreate the inscription from memory. After the vast majority of roaches were wiped out and the rest scattered to the horizons, Tetsu took off to the west. The group seems wholly unconcerned about her actions, so I can only assume she does this often.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Maybe it¡¯s because of the difference in the way we taste, but I find the roaches to be rather good. With all Jav¡¯s talk about how disgusting they are, I expected worse. Their outer shell is resistant to my flames, not so much that I can¡¯t burn through, but enough that their gooey interior incinerates the bug before they lose the exoskeleton. I wouldn¡¯t call them sweet like sand-worms, but they definitely taste similar. While the energy within each bug comes nowhere close to the creatures in the Void Fog, the sheer quantity makes up the difference. Unfortunately, I still need to keep them for practice with the ritual, so Remus only lets me eat a relatively tiny portion. A tiny portion that may have been about a hundred times my body weight, but compared to the plateau buried in the roaches, it is nothing. ¡°So, Ready to do this?¡± Remus brings the roasted thigh of some creature Jav hunted to his concealed mouth. ¡°Are you sure? You¡¯ll lose the scroll.¡± I want to confirm it¡¯s okay for the last time. I¡¯d hate to have him regret his decision after it¡¯s already gone. ¡°Yep, no worries. It¡¯ll take some time to get another, but I might squeeze a more efficient ritual out of the upper brass.¡± Remus lays the scroll on the hard soil. With all the fire I¡¯ve had over it in the past few days, it¡¯s no surprise the snow melted away. Even the ground dried out enough for me to land without issue. I still remain a falcon as the ability to fly away at a moment¡¯s notice is just too important. Remus picks up a roach carcass and places it so it is touching the centre of the large circle and places the tip of his own limb in the little circle. ¡°Should you really be touching it? What if I do it wrong and the inscription doesn¡¯t do what it¡¯s supposed to?¡± ¡°Well, you better get it right then.¡± He grins at me. ¡°How else are we going to see if it works if we don¡¯t have a target?¡± Does he really have to add more pressure than I¡¯m already feeling? Well, if he thinks he¡¯ll be fine, then that¡¯s enough for me. I place a talon on the page, careful to not tear through the paper or burn it. With a deep breath, I push my flames through the lines of the inscription. I try to keep them as cold as possible and watch as the lines light up in a deep red. Around the glowing lines, the scroll burns away. The burning inscription remains suspended ever so slightly off the ground, but it does not break down like the rest of the scroll. My flames flood through it and I finally see that I could never have achieved this simply by replicating the shape. The lines are unimportant. It¡¯s the action that each line represents that matters. A straight line reduces the heat from one point to another, while a three-pronged star with curved lines uses two points to create an empowering effect at the third. There are so many of these unique tiny shapes that create differing effects. Only when the ritual actually starts do I realise I¡¯ve felt this sort of reaction before. Those odd actions the Henosis had me perform to power and activate their weapon. It¡¯s not identical. Actually, it¡¯s not even that similar, but it gives me the same feeling when my flames run through the inscription as each little shape reacts and plays off each other to create the effect of the dissolving roach before me. Small, hardly visible motes float off the carcass toward the inscription where they are condensed and directed toward the smaller circle and into Remus¡¯ tentacle. It doesn¡¯t take long for the roach to be torn apart by the ritual, but I¡¯ve already seen what I need. With nothing more to tear apart, the inscription falls away from my control, crumbling into ash. ¡°So, figure anything out?¡± Remus asks. I nod, but don¡¯t acknowledge him any more than that. In moments, I have the recreated inscription from my memory formed in flames before me. As fast as I can, I find shapes in the pattern and give each their respective action that I felt during the ritual. There are many shapes, but I think I successfully created a replica of each one. Now, I just need to reproduce the effect of each shape within the inscription with what they should have. The inscription is not simple at all, so I don¡¯t imagine this will be a quick process. I¡¯ll need to memorise the changes as well. I sigh to myself. Hopefully, this won¡¯t take long. ¡°Is she done yet?¡± are the first words I hear from Tetsu upon her return. ¡°She¡¯s doing well,¡± Remus says behind me. ¡°No. Now go have a bath, you reek,¡± Jav says. I turn to the group lazing around behind me. Except for Tetsu, they are all laying in the snow as if it¡¯s a comfortable couch. ¡°I¡¯m done. I was done a while ago now. I just wanted to memorise it properly.¡± Tetsu¡¯s eyes light up, as do the others as they rise to their feet. ¡°Finally!¡± Tetsu is covered head to toe in the blood and muck from whatever she¡¯d been fighting. Maybe I should have waited until she¡¯d washed to announce I¡¯m done. Remus grins. ¡°That¡¯s great Solvei, I knew you could do it.¡± ¡°We have a mountain to get through.¡± Tetsu nods to the roach piles. ¡°No time to wait.¡± ¡°No, Jav¡¯s right. You need a bath first.¡± ¡°Wha? But¡­¡± Tetsu looks to her other teammate, hoping for support, but Gr¨ªmr holds a paw over his nose and pointedly doesn¡¯t look her way. ¡°Fine, but don¡¯t you start without me.¡± She runs off to the nearest river. ¡°You might as well start,¡± Gr¨ªmr says. ¡°She won¡¯t be long.¡± I barely even spread my flame over the area when Tetsu rushes back. ¡°Wait!¡± She¡¯s dripping wet, but still looks filthy. ¡°You didn¡¯t even wash yourself,¡± Jav says. ¡°Sure I did. I dove in and everything.¡± ¡°What, for a millisecond?¡± ¡°It was at least a second.¡± Groans resound amongst the team. ¡°After the first round, you¡¯re going to scrub yourself properly,¡± Remus says. ¡°Uh huh, sure,¡± Tetsu says dismissively, already looking over the inscription burning in the air as wide as I can make it. I¡¯m unable to spread it to the nearest mound, so I wait until they¡¯ve piled up the roaches beneath the large flaming circle. With how excited Tetsu is, it doesn¡¯t take long for everything to be in position and they stand underneath the small circle. For the final time, I look over my work. I make sure there is no missing line and each has the appropriate effect attached. Nothing is out of place. With a deep breath, I connect the last few pathways. Immediately, I feel my fire flowing almost without my input. I could pull them back if I need to, but for now, I leave the inscription to guide me through the intensely complicated process of breaking down the dead bodies and direct their energy to those waiting in the receiver circle. It¡¯s an incredible sight. The blood and ooze around the roaches are the first to dematerialise. The hard shells don¡¯t seem to put all that much defence against the ritual. Despite their resistance to my flames, they break into pieces and disperse into the air as they rise toward the burning inscription. The sound is not something I expected. My flames roar in a repetitive, deep thrum. It¡¯s not a noise I thought I could ever have associated with flames. Each thrum shakes the very air. The shell and inner flesh of the roaches continues to flake and separate, being sucked through the inscription and charging into the bodies of the three in the circle. Wait¡­ three? I look around to see Gr¨ªmr sitting off to the side. Why didn¡¯t he join them? He catches my inquisitive gaze. ¡°The ritual doesn¡¯t have as much of an effect on me as the others. They help me out in¡­ other ways.¡± Okay. He¡¯s being vague again. I¡¯ll worry about him later, I still need to focus. Eventually, the last of the bugs are gone and I feel the inscription powering down, taking the heavy sound with it. ¡°That was beautiful, Solvei. Good job!¡± Jav jumps on Remus¡¯ head. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s gonna be a lot more convenient than having to wait for someone to draw it out every time.¡± Draw it? ¡°Didn¡¯t you say mages create it with their element?¡± ¡°I did.¡± Remus confirms. ¡°And technically they do. They combine their element with the paint they use on the ground. I¡¯ve seen ¨¢infean and some of the better mages create inscriptions in the air like that with their element, so I figured it would be easy for you. Also, much more convenient for us; we don¡¯t have to wait while you prepare.¡± I just stare at him for a moment. ¡°Isn¡¯t that too much expectation to have?¡± Jav snorts. ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it, kid.¡± Chapter 63: Katobles ¡°The katobles is just over this hill,¡± Jav calls over the strong wind. It took us all day to get through the remains of the roaches. Even then, there were still thousands remaining by the time Tetsu became impatient and encouraged us to get back to hunting. Remus gave me the go ahead to fly around burning the left overs. Now that I can effectively create the ritual with a wave of my hand¡­ or wing, the others are keen to push further up the Titan Alps. Remus makes sure we stick close together as we move through the mountainous ranges, not letting Tetsu run off on her own again. ¡°Bunny, hold back a bit this fight, will you? Let the others get into the flow of things, it¡¯s been a while since we¡¯ve all fought.¡± He does that weird thing with his eyes, where he looks at me through the top of his head without actually turning his body. ¡°Solvei, it¡¯s up to you whether you want to participate or not. You know what your job is. As long as you do that, you are free to sit out. If you want to fight, be careful. Katobles might look tough, but their true danger is in the toxic fumes they breathe. I don¡¯t know if they are effective on ¨¢ed or not, but watch out.¡± I fly over the hill and it¡¯s not hard to spot the creature we are after. A massive, grey, stocky beast stands tall over the line of trees a few hundred metres ahead. It is a quadruped and has a distinct similarity to the pholo used to pull wagons. The only visual differences I can spot ¡ª other than the obvious size difference ¡ª are the long, trunk like legs and the extended neck that hangs its head below the white canopy. For now, I gain some altitude and watch the others sprint toward the beast. At about a hundred metres out, Remus flings Jav toward the katobles. The small volan¡¯s wingsuit stabilising him and a glint reaches my eyes. He moves too quick to see, but as I watch the beast, small lacerations appear all along its neck. A hundred cuts, each with barely a trickle of blood. I catch sight of Jav again. At an insane speed, he spins around the ankle of the katobles. Short, barely noticeable blades extend from his suit, continually cutting into the leg of the creature. Each pass barely digs into the skin, but the volan spins around hundreds of times a second, cutting ever so slightly deeper through the tough skin. The katobles cries out in a low-pitched bellow as it pulls its leg away before slamming it down on the earth. The beast grunts with aggression as it backs up. With his remaining speed, Jav joins me in the sky, watching over the creature as the other three move toward it. The katobles curls its head up between its front legs until it touches its underbelly, using its trunk like legs as protection. In the time Jav was cutting through the creature¡¯s neck and leg, Remus, Tetsu and Gr¨ªmr position themselves around it. Tetsu rushes in from the front with a long halberd and strikes at the back of its head. The blade pierces cleanly into the neck of the beast and it lets out a deep bellow. The katobles brings one of its thick legs down, attempting to squash Tetsu, but she dodges by millimetres and springs up the other leg. She looks like she¡¯s about to bounce off the leg even higher when Remus calls out. ¡°What did I say, Bunny? No taking it on yourself.¡± She looks disappointed, but acknowledges by letting herself fall back to the ground. She dashes back to her position in front of the creature. The katobles doesn¡¯t seem to want to let her go though. It lowers its body and lets out another bellow before charging after her. Tetsu dodges the beast¡¯s large body with ease, and as I watch her, I can see her physically holding herself back from striking the beast as it continues its charge. It knocks down a good hundred metres of trees before it slows to a stop. Remus and Gr¨ªmr don¡¯t give it time to prepare another charge. Remus¡¯ whip like arms slam into the katobles front leg where Jav sliced deep into the skin while Gr¨ªmr barrels through its rear one. With the legs on the right side of its body knocked out underneath it, the beast falters and tumbles to its side. The resounding crash shakes trees while the creature grunts and bellows. The two are quick to capitalise on their downed foe and rush in to strike at its head. The metal gauntlets on Remus¡¯ limbs pound into flesh with repeated cracks of air. Gr¨ªmr takes full advantage of his claws and teeth by tearing through the thick skin protecting its skull. ¡°Gas!¡± Jav shouts from above. ¡°I see it!¡± Remus yells as he and Gr¨ªmr dash away from the uncurling head. From its place on its side, the katobles¡¯ head moves away from its chest, breathing out a deep, opaque purple mist that soon hides the creature from sight. Trees wither and die as soon as the gas touches them. None dare approach the toxic fumes. I fly closer to Jav as I hear heavy thuds of the Katobles rising to its feet. ¡°How do you deal with that?¡± I ask. Jav glances at me before returning his sight down below. ¡°We wait it out. It¡¯s only dangerous when it¡¯s dense enough to see. The wind will disperse it in a few minutes.¡± I look down at the others below. Tetsu has walked a distance off and is practising her stances with the halberd and Remus is flinging stones into the obscuring fumes to little effect. Gr¨ªmr is laying down beside him as if now is the perfect time for a nap. They are all very casual about this. Do they fight these katobles often? I¡¯m curious about this toxic breath that stops even people as strong as them from pushing through. I fly low over the cloudy purple gas and send down a small ball of my inner flame. If need be, I¡¯m prepared to expel it, but I¡¯ve never seen poison able to taint my flame, so I¡¯m not too worried. My flame lowers until it touches the fumes. I tense up, expecting it to be painful or something unexpected to happen, but none of that comes. My fire burns right through the gas without resistance. Well, that¡¯s good. It feels a bit anticlimactic considering how seriously the others treat the toxic mist.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. I might as well make myself useful. I spread my flames wide around me, then fly through the purple gas, scorching through as much of the substance as I can. It doesn¡¯t take long before I can make out the katobles within the remaining fumes. My wings sweep the air beside me and I fall into a dive. I curve under the beast¡¯s body and cover as much of it as I can in my flames before pulling back above. The toxic gas sits in pockets around the area. While I can burn through the substance, it is not naturally flammable, so my flames don¡¯t spread unless I¡¯m close enough to do it myself. I rush down each of the remaining patches to burn through while I watch my flames spread over the head and forelegs of the katobles. The creature snorts and grunts as it rubs its head against the ground, trying in vain to remove my fire. As far as I am above the creature, I don¡¯t have full control over the flames, but I can still feel as it spreads over the thin, wiry hairs that cover its body with my minimal directing nudges. When the last of the purple mist is gone, Remus and Gr¨ªmr dash toward the exposed beast. The tall creature limps on the leg attacked by both Remus and Jav, while it continues to rub its head into the dirt below. It doesn¡¯t notice the returning attackers until they throw themselves onto its head and start pummelling through its skull. The katobles intensifies its efforts, now slamming its head to the ground and rubbing its forelegs over it, trying with the desperation of a cornered animal to remove those tearing into it. Not much longer does the beast last. Both Remus and Gr¨ªmr¡¯s skilful avoidance of being squashed, and their continual beating and clawing has the katobles bellowing its last as it collapses. I land on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back as they approach to confirm its death. ¡°Good job, Solvei. Knowing you can burn through that toxic gas will be lifesaving next time a katobles wanders into inhabited land.¡± I look at Remus walking beside us. ¡°These are common?¡± that thing was harder to take down than a colossal-worm. ¡°Not common, but there are accidents every year. We don¡¯t cull their numbers much because they eat the roots of many poisonous plants in the lower portion of the Stepps often frequented by people. Sometimes the katobles follow the scent of pollution right back to the cities. Joiak is the country most commonly hit by katobles.¡± ¡°C¡¯mon, we¡¯re burning daylight.¡± Tetsu rushes to my side. ¡°Start up the ritual already.¡± I go to complain about her constant nagging and impatience when I see Remus and Jav giving me pleading eyes themselves. I guess the energy they¡¯ll get from this beast is a lot more than the roaches we dealt with before. I take to the air once more and quickly spread my flame wide. I won¡¯t be able to cover the entirety of the katobles with the inscription, but I can position it in the centre of its body so it will hopefully still take it in. It takes a little work to make sure it¡¯s all correctly made before I start the ritual. The heavy pounding through the air as it powers up is irritating, but I ignore it and focus on the inscription as the energy redirects from the disappearing corpse into the bodies of the three mercenaries. As the ritual progresses, I notice that only the parts of the katobles directly underneath the large burning circle is vaporised. In the remains of the corpse is a massive cylindrical hole, cut cleanly through its chest. So the ritual won¡¯t take in anything but what is directly placed over or under it, even if it is a part of another whole. What would happen if I angled it to the side? How far would it be able to dissipate corpses? As the first round of the ritual comes to its conclusion, I prepare to try it out on an angle, but I¡¯m stopped by Gr¨ªmr¡¯s voice. ¡°Blizzard incoming, we¡¯ll have to give up the rest.¡± Everyone turns to a distant covering of white as it crawls over the mountaintop to the north. Remus and Jav immediately start trekking away from the corpse and I¡¯m surprised to see Tetsu follow them with hardly more than a groan of disappointment. Not wanting to waste any of the leftover katobles, I pass my flames over it and try to eat through it as quick as I can. ¡°Solvei!¡± Remus calls with concern lacing his voice. ¡°You of all people should be worried about the blizzard. Hurry!¡± Quick to abandon my attempt, I fly to the others, their pace set much higher than on our way up the mountains. I cast my eyes back on the wall of white that appears to build up on the top of the mountain for a while. It doesn¡¯t move any closer to us, instead growing over the entire ridge of the mountain. Much of the Titan Alps above the blizzard disappear behind the buildup of white. Then it falls. In moments, the mountain rising high above and behind us is gone, consumed by the snowstorm as it tears down the slope. The terrifying speed at which it tears down the mountain reminds me far too much of the ocean fog. I look away and pump my wings as hard as they¡¯ll move. Loud rumbling slams through me and sends shivers down my back. I don¡¯t focus on anything but getting away as fast as I can. My head doesn¡¯t turn away from the open air before me as the deep rumbling intensifies. I don¡¯t look at the others running, nor do I turn to watch the frozen water barrelling toward me. What am I doing? I¡¯m not a terrified child anymore. I should think about this properly and not let myself fall into a blind panic. Forcefully dragging my head down to the group below, I see they are sprinting off to my left together. My head turns behind me and I have to suppress the panic that tries to overwhelm me as I feel my stomach drop. The blizzard will be upon us in moments. Only ten seconds ago, it was leagues away. The top of the snowstorm catches my eye. I take far too long to realise I can just fly up and avoid it entirely. But the moment I change my course from flying away to gaining as much altitude as I can, I hear Jav¡¯s voice shout. I¡¯m barely able to turn my head in his direction before an impact slams me out of my flight. I flail, trying to get my wings straight again before I realise I¡¯m being pulled along by something. My flames shoot out on instinct, trying to incinerate whatever is grabbing me. ¡°Stop it, you idiot. Stop fighting me!¡± It¡¯s Jav? I hate the feeling of being pulled along, but I hold myself back from burning the volan. ¡°Have you never heard of the matron of winter? Never fly over a blizzard.¡± Jav finally lets go of me, and I crash into the fur of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back. They are all still sprinting as fast as they can move and Gr¨ªmr doesn¡¯t acknowledge my presence. ¡°Solvei, we have only a couple of seconds. Cover yourself with your jacket and don¡¯t let go!¡± Remus shouts over the intensifying rumbling. I scramble to pull my jacket over myself and cling to Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back. My wingtips slowly begin their change into taloned fingers so I can better hold the coat around myself. The blizzard hits. I can feel the heavy impact as a wall of snow almost knocks me off my mount. I cool down my body as much as I can, hoping anything that lands on me won¡¯t melt as we move. A few minutes pass with constant pelting through the jacket. My body shivers from the freezing temperature, but I don¡¯t dare raise my heat. The cold might be bad, but water is a thousand times worse. The rumbling calms and the thrumming against my back stops. I wait, still grasping the jacket tightly around me as Gr¨ªmr¡¯s repetitive steps shake through me. Minutes pass until Remus gives me the all clear. ¡°Solvei, you should be fine now.¡± I peek out before shaking off the buildup of snow covering my jacket. With the snow gone, I heat myself up again, revelling in the warmth after freezing for so long. Behind us, the blizzard has slowed at the bottom of the valley. It still moves up the side of the mountain we are climbing, but at a far slower pace than before. What a relief that¡¯s over. Chapter 64: End of the Hunt ¡°What the fuck do you think you were doing? Everyone knows how stupid it is to fly over a blizzard. You¡¯re better off freezing to death inside the snowstorm than trying to move over one.¡± Jav lands beside me, face morphed into a scowl. ¡°What?¡± Why wouldn¡¯t I go over? It looked like the safest place at the time. ¡°Ja~av,¡± Remus calls with a singsong tone. ¡°She¡¯s no volan, did you forget? Your bogeymen and fairy-tales mean nothing to her.¡± ¡°Oh... Right. Uh, sorry.¡± Jav looks away. ¡°Look, the frost spectres that follow above blizzards are some of the most dangerous creatures you can come across. We have a children¡¯s story told amongst us volans. The Matron of Winter. She was the mightiest mage of her time, able to bend blizzards to her will. She wiped out armies and monsters alike with the ice storms she conjured. But it hadn¡¯t been enough for her. She wanted to see more of the beauty that lay in snow.¡± Jav points up at the mountains behind us. ¡°She climbed the alps and made the blizzards there her own. With her mastery over ice, she flew high through the storms. She pierced through the heights of the blizzard in order to view it all. Nobody knows whether the sight she saw was as beautiful as she hoped. The Matron of Winter froze to death.¡± ¡°While nobody is sure if the Matron of Winter was a real person, or even if the frost spectres are real,¡± Remus starts. ¡°It is true that there are things in this world that are impossible to take on, no matter how much strength you gain. Every culture ¡ª especially those along the Titan Alps ¡ª has stories warning against the arrogance of challenging the unknown. Even that which you think of as your strength, might become your end.¡± ??? After that scare with the blizzard, we ended our excursion and head back to the lodge I met Gr¨ªmr and Tetsu. I was surprised to see Tetsu not fight the idea of ending the hunting trip. Her constant one minded focus on fighting and growing had me forget she was also training me in the spear. Once we were far down the mountain enough that snow no longer covered the ground, she addresses me. ¡°Solvei, change to normal.¡± She, nor any of the others, slow at her words, so I land on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back and morph. As soon as I¡¯m done, I look up questioningly at Tetsu, only to barely catch the thrown spear in time. ¡°From here until we get back, you are going to practice your forms.¡± ¡°On Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back?¡± I ask incredulously. ¡°Yes, on his back. You need to be prepared to fight, no matter where you are.¡± I look down at the wooden spear in my hands. My hands move to their proper placements along the shaft as I move my legs around the sides of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s neck. I take a swing, trying to get comfortable with the panther¡¯s movement. ¡°No. Stand up.¡± Tetsu¡¯s gruff voice commands from behind. ¡°What? But I¡¯ll fall off.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. If you lose your balance, I¡¯ll put you right back on.¡± I glance behind me, hoping she¡¯s kidding, but she retains the same seriousness as always. With one hand grasping my spear and the other a handful of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s fur, I drag my knees underneath me. Once I feel steady enough, I try to place one foot on his back. I¡¯m lucky Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back is so wide; there¡¯s plenty of space to stand. It¡¯s only when I let go of his fur and try to rise, does his pace falter. Gr¨ªmr dashes over some felled tree and sends me tumbling off his side. Before I reach the ground, Tetsu has me in her grasp and places back on top of the portian. ¡°You have very little heft, so perfect balance and speed is a must if you want to fight. Weapon or no,¡± Tetsu chides. Gr¨ªmr looks over his shoulder at me. ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°No apologies.¡± She snaps. ¡°Don¡¯t make it easy for her. Dash around as many trees as you have to.¡± Gr¨ªmr snaps his head back to the front, but I¡¯m thankful he doesn¡¯t start making it impossible for me. In fact, I can feel him straighten his back. It doesn¡¯t help much, but I appreciate the sentiment. Once again, I lift myself to my feet. The wobbles in my legs don¡¯t disappear as I try to rise, so I fall back into a crouch. I remain there for only a moment to catch my bearings, but that is a moment too long for Tetsu. ¡°Stand up now or I¡¯ll add dodging practice to the exercise.¡± A glance back reveals her juggling a stone the size of her fist. She goes to throw it upon seeing me look, so I scramble to rise. Thankfully, the stone doesn¡¯t come, but it¡¯s still a challenge to keep standing as Gr¨ªmr dashes through the trees. ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there, swing your spear,¡± Tetsu shouts in my ear.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I can¡¯t keep my balance when I focus my everything on doing so, and she wants me to swing? It¡¯s impossible. Impossible, it may be, but Tetsu is still waiting behind me with that stone ready to throw. I grasp the spear in my other hand and try to do a basic angled slash, but as expected, what little balance I gained is lost and I fall off again. This time Tetsu doesn¡¯t catch me. She lets me hit the ground before scooping me up. ¡°If you don¡¯t think you can do it, then you¡¯ll never be able to do it.¡± ¡°But how can I think I can do it without actually doing it?¡± I shout back, frustrated at her and her methods. ¡°How can you improve, if you don¡¯t believe you can improve? How can you fight, if you don¡¯t believe you can fight? How can you continue to live, if you don¡¯t believe you have a chance?¡± She sits me back on Gr¨ªmr and looks me in the eye. ¡°Sometimes, you have to ignore what you believe, and just do.¡± She slows her pace until she¡¯s right behind us again. Just do, huh? Well, what¡¯s the worst that can happen? I get knocked off and winded when I slam to the ground. A bit of breathlessness means nothing if I can improve myself. So, I suppress my doubts, tying them up in a bundle of threads and shove them out of my mind. With the experience I have from the Void Fog, doing so is far easier than it otherwise might have been. My mind is clear. No doubts. No beliefs. Nothing except the intent to rise to my feet and swing my spear as Tetsu instructed. I stand. My feet are steady. I grasp the spear in both hands and swing. Once. Twice. Gr¨ªmr jerks to the right and I try to adapt to the sudden movement. My feet slip out underneath me and I slam headfirst into the trunk Gr¨ªmr was trying to dodge. I groan as I sit up. I hear Tetsu let out a giddy chuckle as she grasps me by the shoulders and spins me to face her. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anyone learn to suppress their thoughts so quickly. Oh, you¡¯re going to be a pleasure to train.¡± I won¡¯t say it to her face, but her grin scares me. ??? I lay face down on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back as we come into the clearing around the team¡¯s cabin. I¡¯m so exhausted I can barely look up as the line of trees clear. I thought she was just trying to scare me into doing the exercise properly when she threatened to throw rocks at me. Nope. After I¡¯d shown her I could restrict my thoughts, she didn¡¯t go easy on me. Which is strange, because I thought she¡¯d already been overworking me. She had me trying to dodge her thrown stones while continuing my practice swings standing on Gr¨ªmr. I figured I¡¯d ignore them at first and let them pass right through me. But each time I did, she would strike me with the large steel ball of something she called a modified flail. Despite being incorporeal, the weapon still disturbed enough of my body to send me flying off the panther. After a hundred times of slamming into the ground at intense speed, Tetsu raised the difficulty again. I hadn¡¯t been able to stand straight on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back for over ten seconds yet and she wanted to add more for me to do? She made me send out a wave of flame with each strike of my spear for the next two hours until we finally made it back to the cabin. Exerting as much energy as I could with each swing. I¡¯m tired and starving. Expelling that much flame in such cold temperatures drained me of all the energy I have to spare. I eye one of the large trees surrounding the cabin as Gr¨ªmr slows to a stop. With what little I have left, I crawl toward it and torch the thing. As my fire chews away at the tree, I idly wonder what cobalt might taste like. I haven¡¯t really tried to eat any metal or rock since I found out my flames are hot enough to melt iron. I wonder if I could get the team to get me some? ¡°Where the fuck were you?¡± I hear a raging voice from the cabin. I turn to watch a khirig ¡ª the same race as Ossian ¡ª march out toward Remus. Her antler like extensions are far more slender than Ossian¡¯s, almost hugging the soft body inside. ¡°What were you thinking? Not only did you stand around with your tentacles up your ass as one of Joiak¡¯s major factories burned to the ground, but organised trafficking for everyone to see? Joiak has slashed their funding and the top brass are pissed!¡± ¡°Those were children being mistreated. Do you really think I should have stood by and watch as their lives are ruined?¡± Remus remains calm, but stares down this new woman. ¡°I don¡¯t care if they are Actaeon damned pixies. What? You don¡¯t have the authority to decide the laws and morals of another country. Especially not one that contributes so heavily to funding the Order.¡± She looks past Remus toward me. ¡°Uh, you have a tree on fire.¡± Remus¡¯ eyes spin to me for only a moment before spinning back. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. It¡¯s only Solvei.¡± ¡°Solvei? As in the girl who burnt down the mill and killed a bunch of the factory¡¯s managing staff?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± Remus¡¯ voice returns to its usual chipper tone. ¡°We took her in as the new member of the team.¡± The woman looks at him before sighing in exasperation. ¡°Is she at least worth it?¡± ¡°Very much so. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s possible to get a better fit.¡± The khirig nods and walks past him, heading toward me. With my back against the tree, I watch her curiously. With a short bend of her leg antlers, she introduces herself. ¡°Solvei, I am team Luis-Eight¡¯s manager. My name is Doe.¡± I just nod to her, still too exhausted to bother with talking. ¡°Now, Solvei, I¡¯m not too familiar with how your people do things where you''re from, but here you need to follow the laws set by each country you enter. You cannot go around burning people and their property. I need you to promise me you won¡¯t do what you did in Joiak again.¡± Doe looks down on me as I sit on the ground. Despite the tiredness permeating my body, I rise to my feet. I approach the woman, keeping my flames burning the tree behind me. When I¡¯m a single pace from Doe, I glare up into her eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t care who they are; if someone wants to lock up and abuse others, they don¡¯t deserve to live. I will never make that promise.¡± I keep my eyes locked on hers as she takes a hurried step back. Remus rushes in between us and wraps a limb around me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Doe, we¡¯ll make sure she doesn¡¯t get into any trouble.¡± ¡°Uh, yeah. Okay.¡± Even as she responds to Remus, her eyes keep flicking back to me. There¡¯s an odd, worried look to her as she backs away. Is she¡­ scared of me? I don¡¯t know how to feel about that. What does she have to fear if she hasn¡¯t treated anyone horribly? I narrow my eyes at the thought. I¡¯ll have to keep an eye on her. Turning away from me, she continues addressing Remus. ¡°The brass isn¡¯t happy with you. They¡¯ve assigned your team to the Breach defence until they decide what to do with you. Now that the Titan¡¯s path has finally cooled, monsters are descending the mountain at an accelerating pace. You should probably expect to be sent in deep after this mess.¡± With her piece said, she rushes back inside. A chuckle behind me makes me jump. ¡°Good one Solvei. I always love watching that bitch squirm,¡± Tetsu says. ¡°She¡¯s a part of the team. Stop calling her that,¡± Remus half-heartedly chides. ¡°No, she isn¡¯t.¡± I zone out their bickering and return to my seat against the burning tree. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve felt like this in a long time; exhausted, but not tense. It feels nice. Chapter 65: Bleed We left the cabin early the next morning. They¡¯d been fine to let me sleep under the verandah on a comfortable woven-thread couch. Gr¨ªmr slept across the table from me on his own couch. I¡¯m thankful they haven¡¯t questioned my reluctance to enter any buildings. I can¡¯t tell them I¡¯m petrified of being trapped. It¡¯s unreasonable to think I¡¯d be trapped inside a building entirely made of burnable timber, I know that, but I can¡¯t help how I feel. They will think I¡¯m weak if they know. So for now, while I can¡¯t lie to them, I¡¯ll refrain from telling them. Thankfully, we left without Doe. Although she¡¯s apparently going to join us in a few weeks after we arrive at our destination, I¡¯m glad I don¡¯t have to see her. Maybe I¡¯m being too quick with my judgement, but anyone who¡¯s okay with what the people at the mill were doing is not someone I think I could ever like. It is especially bad that she wants me to never help anyone I might find in those circumstances. I fly low over the heads of the others as they run through the vast plains toward the base of an enormous black trail that winds up the entirety of the Titan Alps. ¡°So, where are we going?¡± I¡¯d been a bit too tired last night to listen as they talked about the plan going forward. ¡°We¡¯re joining the garrison at the Breach. They¡¯ve been experiencing an uptick in attack frequency for a few months now. We expected to be sent there as soon as we found our new team member,¡± Remus says. ¡°We¡¯d have been there months ago if you accepted one of the mages the Order offered.¡± Despite the accusative words, Tetsu¡¯s face remains indifferent. ¡°You know if I had, I wouldn¡¯t have been willing to push our team into the riskier fights.¡± Tetsu affirms his words with her silence. ¡°You said there were attacks? What¡¯s attacking?¡± I ask. ¡°Well, until a few months back, it was just heat based or fire resistant creatures. Beings that could traverse the molten rock left by the Titan. Now, they are experiencing many known Lower Elevation creatures descending the mountains. Apparently they¡¯ve even had a few from Mid Elevation descend.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about you guys, but Doe said the brass was angry.¡± Gr¨ªmr¡¯s claws tear through the soil as he runs beneath me. ¡°I somehow doubt we¡¯ll be sitting on our laurels with the other Luis rank teams.¡± ¡°Oh, absolutely,¡± Remus cheers. ¡°We¡¯ll be sent right into the Titan¡¯s nest.¡± Tetsu cracks her fists. ¡°Not much of a punishment, if you ask me. We haven¡¯t had a good challenge in a long time.¡± ¡°Hmm? It was only six months ago we pushed to the Middle Elevation. Was that not enough for you? Even though it scared away poor Dyani?¡± ¡°Six months is a long time, old man. It was really unfortunate Dyani turned out to be such a coward. I¡¯d hoped with her arrogance she might have enough thick skin to stick with us.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a rather unfair statement, don¡¯t you think? She stuck with us through all the lower elevation.¡± ¡°I agree with Bunny,¡± Jav says. ¡°Dyani was fine to gloat while her spells were effective, but the moment she faced something too much for her, she broke down. Nothing wrong with that; everyone faces their inferiority eventually. But she quit. Didn¡¯t even attempt to try anything new. She didn¡¯t want to learn to work around the creatures her spells couldn¡¯t hold.¡± I¡¯m assuming Dyani was the mage they had before I came along. No wonder Tetsu has been dying to fight; six months is an eternity to be doing nothing but training. ¡°Still, you shouldn¡¯t badmouth the efforts she made.¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t that the main reason we went looking for a replacement rather than taking one from the Order? You didn¡¯t trust their personality judgement,¡± Jav says. Remus doesn¡¯t respond. He looks away with a playfully guilty expression. I ignore their bickering and turn my attention toward our destination. The Breach is somewhere at the base of that thick, black line that winds up to the top of the Titan Alps. It is insane to think that the impossibly tall Titan I¡¯d seen collapse an extensive range of cliffs with its sheer size could be considered tiny next to the Alps above. Why did the Titan climb the Alps? It¡¯s not going to come back over while we¡¯re here, is it? ??? The Breach is a horribly devastated area, but not an unfamiliar sight. The Titan¡¯s once molten path left hard black rock in its place. It made a surprisingly convenient road for walking. Which is fortunate because none of the surrounding land remains stable after the creature¡¯s passing. I¡¯d already seen how the Titan had flattened the cliffs down at the coast south of the wasteland, but to see the same happen with an entire mountain is something else. The ridgeline that stood in the path of the Titan, is now a valley. A three hundred metre depression in the mountains where the rock liquefied and flowed anywhere it could. If any trees or plant life had been in the area, it is impossible to tell now. The garrison had been established half a league from the extensive black path, far from the unstable, fissure-ridden ground. It is a simple-looking place. Many large log cabins make up the living area. There are no stone walls or defences surrounding the camp. Is this really the central command for defence against an influx of creatures? Considering all the talk I¡¯ve heard of the danger this place poses for the nearest nations, there don¡¯t seem to be all that many people here. Only a few hundred, if the number of buildings is any indication. Compared to the armies both New Vetus and Henosis fielded, this is nothing. I understand that those with enhancement can achieve so much more than regular soldiers, but it¡¯s still odd to see a defensive position with such a minimal force. Said defensive position doesn¡¯t even look like it¡¯s meant to defend against anything, unlike Baansguard.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. As we approach the outer ring of the encampment, I hear chatter from the centre. We walked the last five hundred metres to the garrison. Remus said it was good manners. I even changed back to my normal form while we took our time approaching. I figure it will be easier introducing myself and talking to the people in the camp with my normal face than that of a bird. As we pass through the first row of buildings, a door slams open, making me jump and instinctively bring flames up around me. ¡°Remus, you old fuck. Good to see ya.¡± Some khirig with the thickest antlers I¡¯ve seen wrapping his body storms out through the door. A quick look around tells me I was the only one who apparently didn¡¯t know he was going to jump out of nowhere. I calm myself and hide my flames away. The khirig¡¯s long arm antlers wrap around Remus, trapping the dohrni¡¯s limbs under his spheric body. Remus¡¯ head wobbles around as he tries in vain to free himself. I can¡¯t help amusement at the sight. I know he can probably get out if he wants and none of the other team-members are hurrying to free him. ¡°Oho, who is this little one? A bit young to be out here aint ya?¡± The man sends a curious glance to Remus, who has finally wormed his way out of the man¡¯s grasp. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you too, Hirsh. Solvei here is our replacement for Dyani.¡± Hirsh looks me up and down before frowning at Remus. ¡°I¡¯m disappointed Remus. When did you become a baby snatcher?¡± Snorts erupt from Tetsu and Jav before he continues. ¡°We don¡¯t have to worry about some furious parents laying siege, do we? We¡¯ve already got enough to deal with from the mountain.¡± I catch Remus¡¯ eyes narrowing at Hirsh and the two that laughed before returning to his normal cheerful expression. ¡°Nope, no parents to worry about. But Jav and Bunny did convince Jelena to stop by.¡± That immediately snapped the smile off Hirsh¡¯s face. ¡°You didn¡¯t. You¡¯re kidding¡­ right?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll have to ask those two. They¡¯re the ones who talked to her.¡± Remus turns to me. ¡°Come, Solvei, Gr¨ªmr. Let¡¯s leave them to it.¡± As I follow Remus deeper into the garrison, I turn to watch Jav backing away from a furious Hirsh. Tetsu stands there trying very hard to pretend like she can¡¯t hear him. ¡°Who is Jelena?¡± I ask. ¡°His sister. They¡¯re a loving family, but she can be quite¡­ intense.¡± As we follow the cacophony into the central section of the garrison, we come across a diverse congregation. On one side, there are many tables with people either talking and drinking or crowding around, cheering and shouting. The other side has a training area with a weapon shed that seems almost unused in comparison. ¡°I¡¯m going to talk to the defence manager. You two get comfortable,¡± Remus says and walks toward a building with large open doors with many others frequently moving in and out. I follow Gr¨ªmr, feeling the eyes of some people watching us across the open area. I expect him to join the raucous crowd near the tables. Instead, he walks off to a secluded corner near the training field and lays down, content to relax and not interact with the other people around. That¡¯s not something I want, though. I¡¯m curious as to what has everyone¡¯s attention at the table. They sometimes quieten down, only to be followed by a chorus of cheers or derisive shouts. I leave Gr¨ªmr¡¯s side and approach the table, feeling his eyes on my back the whole way. A small bit of space is left for me to peer over the table. I get a few odd looks from those who notice me, but the majority leave their focus on the game before them. There are six people holding cards with twice as many watching over their shoulders, trying their best to peek at the cards the players hold. In front of each player are three cards with numbers one through six and varying patterns drawn. Players keep their hands on three separate cards, some hiding them from the people around and others freely showing them off. They sometimes remove a card from either the upturned or hidden ones and throw it in a pile while picking up another to replace it. Each time one of them does so, they place a coin on the table. The coins look like gid, but their design is different. Most likely, it¡¯s another form of currency. Once each player has finished replacing cards, the men and women standing behind them throw coins in front of a player of their choosing. I notice most of the money lands before the player with a four, five and six on the table before him. The players each reveal the three hidden cards to everyone and resounding groans fill the silence. A woman at the other end of the table ¡ª and the only person who put a coin in front of her ¡ª cheer as the pile of money is pushed towards them. I watch a few more rounds as money quickly changes hands until a player who loses each round since I started watching stands up for the next person to take his place. A dohrni moves to take his seat, but his eyes catch mine. ¡°Hey kid, do you want to play?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll teach you.¡± Someone in the crowd groans. ¡°C¡¯mon, don¡¯t slow the game down.¡± ¡°I promise to keep her moving.¡± I push around the crowd and sit in the chair, legs pulled up under me to get more height. The man places his tentacle on the back of my chair and leans forward to guide me. He directs my cards for a few rounds, telling me which card combinations are better than others and betting in my stead. He introduces himself as Ligo; a member of team Fearn-Thirty-Two. The game turns out to be rather fun. I even win the fourth round. ¡°So, who¡¯s kid are you?¡± At my questioning look, Ligo rephrases. ¡°Who are your parents? Did one of the team managers bring you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m no one¡¯s kid.¡± I stress the word. ¡°I came here with my team.¡± The table goes quiet. I guess more people have been paying attention to us than I thought. ¡°Right. And which team?¡± he asks with amused scepticism. ¡°Luis-Eight,¡± I answer and swap out one of my hidden cards. I just need a four and I¡¯ll have a mid-set; five of a kind. The card bends under my fingers as I take a peek at the one I just picked up. A grin threatens to overtake me, but I clamp down on it. Everyone is looking at me; I don¡¯t want to let them know I have a winning hand. ¡°Uh huh, okay. And how did you get on Remus¡¯ team?¡± It hardly matters to me if he doesn¡¯t believe my words. ¡°He asked me to.¡± That seemed to get a round of chuckles from the mercenaries around the table. It hardly matters what they think, because I win another round. I grin as the pile of coin is pushed toward me. Ligo and those who bet on my hand take their winnings. Ligo places some coins in my hand. ¡°Here. You¡¯ve had a pretty lucky start. You should use your own to play.¡± I play a couple more rounds until a familiar face lands on the table beside me. ¡°What ya doing, Solvei?¡± Jav asks. ¡°I¡¯m playing, uh¡­¡± I turn to Ligo, who¡¯s eyeing Jav. ¡°What¡¯s this game called?¡± ¡°Bleed.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I turn back to Jav, who¡¯s peeking at my hidden cards. ¡°I¡¯m playing Bleed. How¡¯d you go with Hirsh?¡± ¡°Prick wouldn¡¯t believe me when I said I didn¡¯t tell his sister to come. Well, I see you¡¯ve made yourself comfortable amongst this lot. How about I join ya?¡± Jav walks across the table to the seat of the player to my right and takes the cards out of the tip of the dohrni¡¯s limbs. ¡°The fuck! What do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± he shouts, rising to his full height. ¡°Taking your place.¡± Jav sits with his tail hanging off the edge of the table, paying the man no mind. The dohrni, enraged by Jav¡¯s attitude, reaches forward to grab at the volan. Someone grasps his shoulder before he can and leans in to whisper. The bluish-grey colour of his skin turns clear grey at whatever he heard and takes a few steps to the back of the crowd. ¡°You weren¡¯t lying, were you?¡± Ligo says behind me. ¡°About being a part of Luis-Eight.¡± I look curiously back at him. ¡°No. Why would I?¡± Jav laughs. Chapter 66: First Mission Jav and I walk away from the game table with heavier pockets. I won a couple rounds and left with more than I started with, which is not exactly surprising considering I had nothing. I have no clue what the value of the ten coins in my hand, but it feels great to win. Jav is really good at Bleed. After he came in, he seemed to win at least half the rounds. His own bag of winnings makes mine look minuscule. I¡¯m not sure how he did it, but he seemed to always know exactly what everyone else had and would only pay to replace cards when he would win the round. Of course, I wasn¡¯t the only one to notice this. The other players backed out of buying cards whenever Jav did. The crowd also placed their bets on him whenever he did so. It made his wins less profitable, but he still came away with far more than anyone. I place one of the coins in my mouth and taste the metals inside. There are two incredibly distinct flavours that fight for domination of my taste as I burn through the metal. I recognise one ingredient from that knife in the Cano manor. It tastes a thousand times better now that I can actually burn through it and I relish as it melts over my tongue. Jav is staring at me. ¡°What?¡± I ask. He stares at me a moment longer, before lifting a paw to his face. ¡°First, don¡¯t put coins in your mouth. Who knows where they¡¯ve been? Second, that coin was worth far more than the metals that make it. If you¡¯re hungry, we can buy you some.¡± I look down at my remaining coins. ¡°Where?¡± ¡°Come, there¡¯s bound to be some greedy merchant brave enough to risk their life for a bit of gold.¡± Jav leads me to an area with three large wagons. Other than the group of five sitting around a campfire, the place is empty. ¡°Hey, do any of you lot have metal or ore?¡± Jav calls out. At once, the people crowding the campfire perk up and dash toward the wagons. A pair of khirigs open up a wooden door to show the many wares inside. A duo of a dohrni and a volan do much the same with their own wagon. It¡¯s the last one that catches my attention. It Isn¡¯t a race I¡¯m familiar with. They have a stocky body with short arms and legs. Their skin is a brownish-green colouration with bubble like texture; it looks like their body is covered in millions of warts. The large head takes up a good portion of its body and is split by a wide mouth. The being¡¯s large, bulging eyes watch us as it unloads a crate from its wagon. The khirigs are the first to speak. ¡°Metals and ore, for decoration or weapons?¡± ¡°Neither. It¡¯s for this one to eat.¡± Jav points my way. An expression of befuddlement paints their faces. ¡°To eat?¡± the dohrni repeats, his tentacles freezing in the motion of unpacking. ¡°If it¡¯s for consumption, do you want to try a selection, or is there a specific metal you¡¯re after?¡± the wart-man is quick to adapt, I¡¯m not even sure he hesitated for a second unlike the other four. He quickly brings a heavy crate in front of us and I realise he¡¯s waiting for my reply. ¡°Uh, the selection?¡± I say, unsure how much these coins are worth. He nods to me and pulls out a leather-bound roll of finger length rods. ¡°It¡¯s strange to see a heqet this far from the seas,¡± Jav says as he observes the trader unloading the range of metals. ¡°It¡¯s even stranger to see a heqet not trying to tear the throat out of anyone in their vicinity.¡± Jav looks to the four that had shared a campfire. ¡°Well, you know how it is. Gotta break away from tradition sometimes.¡± The heqet laughs as if he said something funny. ¡°Go on kid, see which ones you like.¡± With his encouragement, I pass a flame over the metals. Not enough to burn through them, but just enough to get a taste. ¡°So, what brings you here, anyway?¡± Jav asks. ¡°I came to sell the weapons I collected in Riparia.¡± Jav¡¯s eyes widen. ¡°You have Riparian weapons?¡± The heqet shakes his head. ¡°Not anymore. They sold quick. Now I¡¯m stocking up on unique creature parts before heading north. It¡¯s rather frustrating that most mercs prefer to waste those resources on themselves instead of sell them.¡± ¡°Well, we have to improve ourselves somehow.¡± ¡°Yes, but is it so much to ask just to save the odd claw or two?¡± ¡°Usually, yeah. It¡¯s a pain in the ass to carry that stuff back with you unless you have someone dedicated to the role.¡± As I taste-test each of the metals, I come across one that makes me salivate more than any other. The silvery-white metal tastes absolutely amazing. There isn¡¯t a single thing I¡¯ve ever had that even comes close. ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve found one, have you?¡± his grin spreads across his entire face when he sees which one I¡¯ve focused on. ¡°You have good taste, young lady.¡± He laughs to himself again. ¡°What you have there is quality platinum. That quarter kilo rod, I can part with just for you at eight hundred paccs.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. I¡¯m not sure how much that is. It sounds cheap compared to the prices in Zadok. I turn to Jav to see his opinion. He¡¯s narrowed his eyes and scrunched up his brow at the heqet. ¡°Why exactly do you have that much platinum on you?¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s a favourite inscribing material for the Riparians. But if we are talking about using a metal for consumption, then I admit it¡¯s unnecessarily expensive. I can sell you as much cast iron for one thousandth of the price.¡± As if they were waiting for the opportunity, the other traders push themselves into the conversation. ¡°If it¡¯s cast iron you want, we have kilos to sell. We¡¯ll give you a good deal?¡± At the interruption, the heqet¡¯s protruding eyes narrow dangerously. He turns and pulls an axe I hadn¡¯t seen from behind his back. ¡°Back the fuck off my deal!¡± he screams, aggressively stepping toward the other merchants with axe raised. Jav tenses, ready to jump in, but the heqet stops himself. ¡°No, calm. They¡¯re not worth it. Calm. Calm.¡± He murmurs to himself, only barely audible to my ears. ¡°Sorry about that,¡± he says, turning to us with his cheer returned. ¡°Never easy fighting nature. So, where were we?¡± I walk away three iron ingots heavier and three coins lighter. I bought one from each of the trader groups to make it fairer. It¡¯s an incredible challenge to carry each of the two and a half kilo chunks, but I¡¯ll be having a massive feast with this. I¡¯ll have to see if I can get someone in the team to carry an ingot for me when we travel. My eyes lock on Gr¨ªmr. I walk up beside him and drop the heavy ingots on the grass. With a sigh of relief, I drop to the ground next to him. How did my tribe carry cart-loads of this stuff? I struggle even with this much. ¡°Hey Gr¨ªmr, do you mind carrying my dinner in one of your bags when we travel again?¡± ¡°Sure, what did you get?¡± he turns to see me pointing at the ingots. He blinks before letting out a short laugh. ¡°No problem, but you¡¯ll have to tell me how it tastes.¡± ¡°Thanks!¡± I smile at the portian. It¡¯s a shame I couldn¡¯t get any of that platinum. Seriously, it was too good. I¡¯m definitely going to look for some in the future. I don¡¯t get to sit for long. Remus finally comes out of the command building and rejoins us. ¡°We¡¯ll be heading out right away. Where is¡­¡± he looks around before spotting Tetsu alone in the training area. ¡°Bunny! Let¡¯s go!¡± he shouts over the background chatter. We follow him as he strides out of the garrison. ¡°Solvei, if you want to fly, you better change now. We¡¯ll be moving quick.¡± I jump on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back and do as he says. If ever given the option, I rather the freedom of flight than being carried. The moment my change finishes, Remus increases our speed to my maximum flight speed. It¡¯s a challenge to keep the pace, but I manage. ¡°So why are we out so quick? Don¡¯t tell me the brass sent their orders for us already?¡± Jav asks. ¡°No, the defence manager had no knowledge we were coming until I stopped by. We¡¯ll have to wait until after this job to see how bad I pissed them off. Let¡¯s just hope it isn¡¯t another Mid Elevation incursion.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯s the mission?¡± Tetsu asks. ¡°Got a young Fearn team on scouting duty four days late with their report. The three other Luis teams they have on site are already watching major choke points with the highest frequency of attacks. Command were going to wait a few more days before they shuffled their numbers to have one of the Luis to investigate. We came at a convenient time for them.¡± ¡°Wait. What about the Beiths? They don¡¯t have any on the roster?¡± Jav asks. ¡°There were supposed to be two, but both have gone missing. They aren¡¯t the only ones either; a third of all Beith mercs have disappeared without a trace. Another third refuses to move from their home posts and the rest are already busy.¡± ¡°Damn, you¡¯d think with how much they¡¯re paid, they¡¯d have some urgency to do their job,¡± Jav gripes. ¡°Well, how far off are they? Is it worth me having a look yet?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give you a boost in an hour. They should be watching over a deep gulch further up the Stepps.¡± This isn¡¯t the first time he¡¯s mentioned some place I¡¯m unfamiliar with. I lower my height until I¡¯m right above Gr¨ªmr. ¡°What are the Stepps?¡± I ask. Gr¨ªmr strides along behind the rest of the team. ¡°It¡¯s the lowest series of mountains along the Alps. Above that is the Lower, Middle and Upper Elevations. Beyond that is the Summit Line. We usually hunt in the Lower Elevation.¡± Oh right, the Middle Elevation was where their last mage quit. ¡°So, the Lower Elevation is where we went last time?¡± ¡°Oh no, far from it. That was still the Stepps. We would never have taken you to the Lower elevation without making sure you¡¯re properly equipped. It¡¯s not exactly as easy to traverse above the Stepps, even if you can fly.¡± If creatures like katobles are common in the lowest and weakest region, then what kind of terrifying monsters hide up at the summit? Titans? Is there anything that even comes close to them? Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯ll be going that high up the mountain any time soon, so there¡¯s nothing to worry about. ¡°The scouting team we are looking for, what do you think happened to them?¡± I¡¯m still mostly unsure of what these Alps hold and even if the Stepps are the lowest, the blizzard shows there are still things to worry about. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Gr¨ªmr hesitates. ¡°I¡¯m not going to lie; usually when a team doesn¡¯t send their report on time, it¡¯s likely they are dead.¡± I nod. I figured that would be the circumstances. ¡°But what could have killed them?¡± Gr¨ªmr glances up at me with a concerned look, but answers anyway. ¡°Anything really. But Remus specified the youth of their team, which usually means they let their strength get to their head. A scouting team is not supposed to engage anything unless they have a hundred percent certainty of victory. The fights they may take are supposed to be of no challenge. If I was to guess, I¡¯d say their ego pushed them to fight something out of their league.¡± ¡°What are we supposed to do if they are dead?¡± ¡°We confirm each of their deaths, hunt down what killed them, and return with their bodies. If that is not possible, we bury them on the mountain.¡± ¡°Bury them? Why would you bury the dead?¡± Gr¨ªmr gives me a strange look. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it better to give creatures and people a purpose after death? To let their lifeless bodies support those still living rather than decay into nothing.¡± A deep, throaty growl rumbles from Gr¨ªmr¡¯s chest. ¡°People are not like animals, they should be given proper respect as they move into the afterlife. Perverting their bodies once they are no longer there to defend themselves is the most despicable of acts.¡± That goes against everything my tribe has ever taught me. I cannot agree with the wilful misuse of life. They may no longer be alive, but it would be a greater disrespect to them if they meant nothing to the world after their death. ¨¢ed may not leave bodies behind after death, but our flames are returned to the Eternal Inferno to be cycled back into the world. The thought of being buried after death, of being isolated with no way back to the Inferno is horrifying. ¡°No, you can¡¯t do that!¡± I can¡¯t help but raise my voice at the image. ¡°Don¡¯t take away their freedom to return to the world. Burn them, feed them to creatures or use them in the ritual for all I care. Just don¡¯t lock them away.¡± I glare down at Gr¨ªmr and he returns it with a low, rumbling growl. ¡°Hey, hey. Stop it, you two.¡± Remus smacks Gr¨ªmr on the back of the head. ¡°Everyone has their differences in culture and beliefs, but don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a bit early to be writing off those kids as dead? You can fight over what we do if it ever comes to that point, but for now, let¡¯s not act like children, alright?¡± I flap my wings and gain some height, intending to ignore the one that treats the dead with such cruelty. A few minutes later, Remus throws Jav far ahead of us. We¡¯ll be coming up to the scouting team soon. Whether they are still alive or not is something we¡¯ll need to wait and see. Chapter 67: Missing It took Jav a full fifteen minutes to return from his flight ahead. The volan lands on Remus¡¯ head as per usual, so I lower my altitude to hear what he found. ¡°I couldn¡¯t find them anywhere. Except for their camp equipment, there is no sign of them anywhere. The camp doesn¡¯t seem to have been used in days either. No sign of battle. No beast presence. Unless they dug their own grave¡­¡± Jav looks my way. ¡°Uh, sorry.¡± He turns back to Remus. ¡°I have no idea where they¡¯ve gone.¡± ¡°Alright then, we best have a look at their camp first.¡± I follow above the others as they run along a ten metre depression at the bottom of the V-shaped valley. The smooth walls of rock that surround them have strange lines running across it that make the land look almost like it has layers. I wonder what causes it to look like that? Soon we reach the scouting party¡¯s campsite. It sits up the slope of the valley, away from the depression at the bottom. There are a few tents abandoned and a burnt out fireplace that hasn¡¯t been lit for a week. ¡°It definitely looks like it¡¯s been unused for a while. All their hunting gear is gone, but their rations are untouched, so we can assume they at least left the camp without issue. But the problem is they shouldn¡¯t have gone far from their camp in the first place.¡± Remus brings a tentacle up to scratch the side of his head. ¡°For now, we search individually for any signs of a fight. Solvei, I want you to stick with Bunny.¡± With his orders given, Remus throws Jav and rushes further along the valley toward the Alps. I fly over Tetsu as she climbs the slope to the left and Gr¨ªmr takes the opposite side. ¡°So¡­ what are we looking for?¡± ¡°Bodies, blood, broken trees or branches. Anything that might result from a fight. Even creatures known to eat people whole leave signs of their presence behind.¡± There is sparse tree cover through this valley, so it¡¯s unlikely we¡¯ll miss something should we come across it. It¡¯s strange that Jav hasn¡¯t seen anything. Where could they have gone? What might have happened that nothing is left behind? Maybe they¡¯re not dead and instead trapped somewhere, waiting for help. I shiver at the thought. Not much could be worse than that. Tetsu reaches the ridge overlooking the entire valley and I rise only so high that I can still see the ground below in detail. I don¡¯t know where to look. Everywhere just looks the same to me, but I keep at it. A series of shrill whistles echo over the hills, making me look back to the gulch, trying to find the source. ¡°Solvei,¡± Tetsu shouts from far below. ¡°They found something, lets head back.¡± I drop to her side again as she descends the slope. I hope they haven¡¯t found anything too horrible. It would be nice to find the scout team unharmed, but I know how unlikely of a scenario that is. Really, we can only hope to find that they didn¡¯t suffer when they died, or at least determine what caused their death. We meet back with Gr¨ªmr at the depression. Without a word, the three of us rush after Jav and Remus. Even speeding through the flat-bottomed gulch, we take a good half an hour to catch up. The two stand off to the side, waiting for us. In the middle of the depression is another old campfire. There are no tents to accompany this one, but the leftover bones of some roasted creature are piled in the cold ashes. ¡°As you can see, our scouts have pushed quite a bit further than they should. The fire is cold, but considering their report was due four days ago, I¡¯d say they were here at least a week ago,¡± Jav says. ¡°Five days,¡± I interject. ¡°What?¡± he asks, everyone¡¯s eyes falling on me. ¡°The fire. It died five days ago.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Remus asks. ¡°But that would mean they were pushing up the mountains with only a day until their deadline. The shortest time a Fearn team could cross that distance would be two days. A young Fearn team? Closer to four. Were they late coming back from pushing up the mountain? Then what happened to them between here and their camp?¡± That can¡¯t be right. ¡°The fire back at the camp went out seven days ago.¡± It¡¯s more likely they were heading up the Alps. ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± Jav crosses his tiny arms and furrows his brow. ¡°I can see a bunch of arrogant kids pushing above their rank, but complete negligence of their duty? Something isn¡¯t right.¡± ¡°Well, there¡¯s no point pondering it here. We¡¯ll move forward, see if we can find anything else.¡± Four hours later, deep in the snow wrapped mountains, we still haven¡¯t come across any sign of the missing team. Jav is constantly in the air, coming back every five minutes for a boost through the air. I can only imagine how much ground he¡¯s covering with the speed he moves.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Do we even have a chance of finding them if Jav hasn¡¯t spotted anything yet? ¡°Alright, this is far enough.¡± Remus seems to agree with my thought. ¡°We should have seen something by now.¡± Tetsu casts her gaze over the surrounding horizon. ¡°There¡¯s something that¡¯s been bugging me. Where are the fauna? This is supposed to be a hotspot, so where are all the descending beasts? Where are all the creatures that inhabit these mountains?¡± I look around. She¡¯s right. Even in that hunting trip, there was plenty of small time wildlife that lived in the areas alongside the more dangerous beasts. Now? The area feels dead. If there were any in the area, they are long gone. That, or they¡¯re hiding. ¡°Yes, I noticed that as well.¡± Remus¡¯ eyes flick to the Titan¡¯s path on the Alps above. ¡°I think, for now, we should head to the Titan¡¯s trail. If we¡¯re to find anything, I¡¯ll bet it¡¯s there.¡± I¡¯m tired from hours of flying at my top speed, but it doesn¡¯t look like we¡¯ll be taking a break any time soon. ¡°Tetsu, do you mind if I rest my wings a bit?¡± I refuse to go to Gr¨ªmr. I¡¯m still annoyed at his horrifying treatment of the dead. At least for now, it¡¯s only words, but I don¡¯t know how I could stand it if he tried to bury a body in my presence. I hope we don¡¯t find that team, simply to avoid the possibility they¡¯ll have their bodies prevented from reentering the cycle. ¡°Sure.¡± She lifts her arm for me to land. Her thick biceps don¡¯t budge as I drop my entire weight on her. I know I don¡¯t weigh much, but still, it must be uncomfortable to run with your arm extended out like that. I scoot onto her shoulder so she can drop her arm again. ¡°What could make the area as bare as it is?¡± I ask once I¡¯m settled in the nook of her neck. ¡°Strong beasts. For an area as large as we¡¯ve experienced, we¡¯re probably facing one from the Middle Elevation. For everything to be in hiding means that whatever it is, hasn¡¯t been hiding its presence. Which makes it all the more strange that we can¡¯t feel it.¡± ¡°Could it already be gone?¡± Tetsu frowns. ¡°I don¡¯t know what would be worse. If, as you say, it has already moved on somewhere it might cause irreparable damage. Or it is hiding its presence only from us.¡± ¡°You think it might ambush us?¡± I twist my head, looking for something that might be hidden. ¡°That might be a possibility, but it¡¯s not what we are most concerned about. A creature that has enough strength to confidently exude a presence, but stop itself around us, means it isn¡¯t some stealth focused ambush predator. No, it shows the most dangerous quality you can find in a beast; intelligence.¡± ¡°I thought you liked a hard fight?¡± From what I know of Tetsu so far is that the more challenging the fight, the better. She glances at me out of the corner of her eye. ¡°Of course, but when a beast avoids the fight because it believes there is a chance it might not win, that makes them annoying. The smartest can hold grudges. My father used to tell me of a time he was hunting one particularly intelligent creature, only to find it had skirted him and left the city behind him in rubble.¡± So there¡¯s a creature like that around here? Once more, I involuntarily cast my gaze around the area. ¡°If there is a creature in the area, the best scenario is that it does attack us. We are far better equipped to deal with a Mid Elevation beast than most other teams down below. No need to be worried.¡± I¡¯m not worried. But as I go to tell her as such, I realise how childish they might seem. Instead, I jump off her shoulder and take flight. It¡¯ll probably take up to an hour to reach the Titan¡¯s path from here. Maybe we¡¯ll get lucky and find a proper explanation for what¡¯s going on. As we near the path of the Titan, the quantity of beasts does a full reversal. Instead of none as far as we can see, we struggle to move for more than a few minutes before stumbling upon some new creature. Each beast is quickly dealt with and I¡¯m surprised we don¡¯t stop to use the ritual on their bodies as we pass. Instead, we barely even slow to confirm the kills. The most common creatures we brush through are wolves. Identical to the ones I struggled against in the Wailing Woodland. Many of them are larger than the biggest of those I faced, but somehow seem far less intelligent. They throw themselves at us, regardless of how many of their brethren we cut through before them. At least the wolves from that woodland were smart enough to cut their losses. Is that what Tetsu meant about the more intelligent beasts? They could have attacked me at any time after they retreated into the woodland, but they¡¯d learnt to avoid me rather than attack. I couldn¡¯t imagine if creatures like the roaches had that sort of intelligence. They may not have much individual strength, but they could cause immense damage if they coordinated their numbers. The devastation that is the Titan¡¯s path comes into view before us. It¡¯s almost unthinkable how much rock and earth has been gouged away from the being¡¯s passing. What must it be like to be so large, so heavy, that you leave trenches in the land hundreds of metres deep anywhere you go? Does it even notice the ground caving in under its immense feet? I peer down into the wide expanse of black rock. While there are a lot of creatures down there, I would hesitate to say it¡¯s a horde. The beasts keep their distance from other creatures, growling or screeching at those who get too close. They seem content to remain in proximity while they follow the long, descending path. ¡°Why do they only go down?¡± I ask. Most don¡¯t even attempt to climb the edge of the path, they stick to the easy road down the mountains. Remus steps to the ledge overlooking the path. ¡°These are the common residents from the Lower Elevation. It¡¯s instinctual for them to strive to reach for lower altitudes. They know ¡ª even if not intellectually ¡ª that it is safer down here. The predators of the Alps are not something they can protect themselves from. The barrier between the Stepps and the Lower Elevation is usually too much for them to breach, but now they have a way.¡± ¡°Unfortunately for these creatures, they need to be culled,¡± Tetsu says. ¡°They will destabilise the ecosystem if they create too much of a presence in the Stepps.¡± She steps forward and falls down into the deep recession of the path. Remus sighs but nods and falls after her. ¡°Solvei, wait.¡± Gr¨ªmr approaches behind me. I angle myself so I can hover in the wind with only a few quick beats. I don¡¯t want to land on his back at the moment. ¡°Solvei, I¡¯m sorry for my aggression earlier and I¡¯ve thought about our¡­ conversation. I can somewhat understand your reasoning to refuse burials, but for my people, using the body of sapients is the worst taboo.¡± Gr¨ªmr turns his head toward the others already rushing through the extermination. ¡°I hope it doesn¡¯t come to this, but should we ever have to deal with the remains of a person, would it be fine to cremate them without you consuming them? Just let a natural fire take them.¡± I still feel like that¡¯s a bit of a waste, but I can agree to that. With a nod toward him, I drop down into the path to help the others. As long as he won¡¯t go burying people around me, I think everything will be fine. Chapter 68: Overzealous It didn¡¯t take long at all to clear the immediate area of life. It¡¯s really quite unfortunate for these creatures; they try to leave a place of danger, to create a safer life for themselves, but we cut them down for the sake of maintaining a pre-established status-quo. Even I can tell these creatures aren¡¯t worth hunting for their energy. Is it not possible to integrate at least some of them into the local wildlife? ¡°Aright. Well, it looks like if there ever was a higher tiered beast, it never came through here. It might¡¯ve left from closer to the Chasm, but we don¡¯t have the time to go that far. For now, I think it¡¯s best to head back. See if we can spot anything we might have missed,¡± Remus says. ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯ll be better to clear the path on our way down?¡± Jav asks. ¡°I doubt we¡¯ll find anything heading back the same way.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no sign of anything too dangerous heading down the path. We may as well let the Fearn teams earn their pay.¡± As we travel back to the abandoned camp, it becomes apparent that whatever terrified the wildlife is long gone. Signs of local wildlife have returned. The whistling songs of birds, the rabbits dashing to their burrows, and the chirping of crickets. They aren¡¯t exactly frequent, but it tells us that whatever was here has moved on. The issue is that we don¡¯t know what the creature is, nor where it has gone. For all we know, it¡¯s some unthinkable horror heading right for the garrison or some undefended village. We arrive at the Fearn team¡¯s camp, still as untouched as we left it. They haven¡¯t returned while we were looking for them. It was unlikely to happen ¡ª considering how wide Jav¡¯s search range is ¡ª but I¡¯d still hoped for an optimistic resolution. At least we don¡¯t need to worry about dealing with their bodies, as horrible as that sounds. I¡¯d been thinking about Gr¨ªmr¡¯s apology. Thinking about my own feelings. While it is true that burials go against my tribe¡¯s teachings, no one in my tribe would have reacted with as much hostility as I did. Upon reflecting, I realise that it¡¯s my fear of entrapment messing with my thoughts. I still think it¡¯s one of the worst ways to treat the dead, but if I think of it as an eternal, impassible entrapment, then that would mean my tribe is still stuck under that cliff. I cannot accept that. I gave them a funeral pyre to send them off. There is no way that wasn¡¯t enough to guide them to the Eternal Inferno. There were plenty of cracks through the earth for their deceased flames to escape. The fleshy bodies of most creatures on the other hand, would have no way to break free of their tombs in death. Their bodies would not be found useful for those still living, and therefore, would be forever trapped with their decaying bodies. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s proposition to cremate the corpses without making any use of them goes against my uncle¡¯s teachings, but it doesn¡¯t horrify me as much as burial. I can begrudgingly agree to this middle ground, even if I¡¯m not happy with it. Remus lets out a deep sigh at the sight of the camp. ¡°There¡¯s no way around it. We¡¯ll just have to report their disappearance and the presence of a strong beast in the area. We can¡¯t delay our return any longer than we already have.¡± It¡¯s rough. To know our efforts were for nothing is depressing. As strong as the members of this team are, if there¡¯s no fight to take or road to follow, then nothing can be done. The Fearn team is missing, likely dead, and we have no explanation for it besides a few animals going quiet. Is there some creature now roaming the Stepps that leaves no trace of its passing and can kill without dropping any remains? I can only hope other teams don¡¯t go missing as well. ??? It is dark when we finally return to the garrison. Remus and Jav head for the command building while a khirig guides the rest of us to the house we¡¯ll be using for our stay here. It¡¯s smaller than the cabin they have for themselves near Baansguard, but still plenty of room for the five of us. Fortunately, there¡¯s a porch running around the front and side of the building. No couches like the team cabin¡¯s verandah, but the few wooden chairs will be fine to sleep on. The loud chattering from where the mercenaries collectively drink and gamble echoes off the buildings. Even as late as it is, there are still plenty enjoying themselves. As I take a seat, Gr¨ªmr eyes me from the front door. He seems to hesitate for a moment before lowering his head and moving inside. I relax back into the chair and look up to the glowing red moon as Eldest Ember declares her presence. From here, it¡¯s only possible to see the highest tip of the moon peeking over the Alps, but the Ember¡¯s light still reaches us. The summit ridgeline is enveloped in the crimson light, silhouetting it from the sky above. My fingers brush over the small pouch with Mum¡¯s marble. I¡¯ve not opened it in a long time now. I¡¯ve come so close to losing it before that I don¡¯t take it out for fear of dropping it. I wonder what they would think about where I am. About what I¡¯ve done. Mum, Eldest Ember, the rest of my tribe. Would they be proud that I¡¯ve come so far? Might they be disappointed that I haven¡¯t returned to the wasteland? What would they think of all the people I¡¯ve killed? Gloria, the Henosis soldiers, the Empire¡¯s General, those at the mill. Would they think everyone I¡¯ve killed was justified? Or say I should have found another way? I don¡¯t regret what I¡¯ve done at all. But the thoughts of my family mean a lot to me. If they were to label what I¡¯ve done despicable, I don¡¯t know how I¡¯d react. I¡¯d be devastated, at the very least. After all that has happened in my struggle to survive, will they still welcome me when I return to the Eternal Inferno?The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. These doubts are pointless. I¡¯ll never know until I die, and I don¡¯t plan to find out for a long time. I continue watching the Ember Moon. The Alps make it seem higher in the sky than I¡¯m used to. ¡°Hello.¡± I lower my gaze to the khirig rising the steps of the porch. It¡¯s that man from when we first entered the garrison. I forgot his name. ¡°Hi.¡± I expect him to continue past me and knock on the front door. Instead, he drops into the chair next to mine. ¡°You¡¯ve been on the tip of everyone¡¯s tongue recently, you know? Nobody can stop talking about the young mage that Remus found out of nowhere.¡± I¡¯m unsure how to respond. It doesn¡¯t really matter whether people are talking about me or not. If anything, it annoys me they think I¡¯m a mage. ¡°So, Solvei right?¡± At my nod, he continues. ¡°From one mage to another, tell me. Where did you learn? How do you hide your markings? You must have an excellent teacher to have caught old Remus¡¯ eye.¡± I look over the black markings etched into his antlers. Right, a mage. If it weren¡¯t for the clear indication ¡ª and him saying so ¡ª I never would have thought he was one. His antlers make him an immense presence, far taller and bulkier than Ossian back at the cabin. Compared to the thinner stature of the mages from the Empire and even Leal¡¯s scrawniness ¡ª for an ursu ¡ª he didn¡¯t seem to fit the mould. ¡°I¡¯m an ¨¢ed,¡± I answer simply. Being so far away from the wasteland is rather inconvenient. At least in New Vetus the ursu knew of our race, even if the knowledge was limited. ¡°An ¨¢ed? I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m unfamiliar with the term. Is that some albanic family?¡± A bubble of irritation rises in my chest. I¡¯m fine with him not knowing what I am, but being mistaken for an albanic bothers me. ¡°No! It¡¯s my race.¡± I wreath my fingers in flickers and pull back on their physicality. He stares for a moment before lighting up. ¡°Oh! The fire people from Remus¡¯ old stories. Damn, kid, you¡¯re far from home. He used to tell many stories about his travels when I was your age. Your people were one of them.¡± I look the khirig up and down. He calls Remus old, but I got the impression this man is old himself. ¡°How old is he?¡± ¡°Oh, he¡¯s an absolute fossil. Been around for at least a good century and a half, at the very least. We suspect he¡¯s long past two hundred, though.¡± A hundred and fifty years? I thought he was old, but that¡¯s insane. I sit in silence for a moment, just considering how much he could¡¯ve done in such a long life before my attention is dragged back to the khirig sitting next to me. ¡°What was your name?¡± I ask. ¡°What? Am I not interesting enough for you to remember after our first meeting?¡± His smirk is the only indicator that he¡¯s joking. ¡°I¡¯m Hirsh, Mage of team Fearn-three.¡± ¡°What type of mage are you?¡± please be anything but a water mage. ¡°I¡¯m a water mage.¡± Damn it. ¡°Do you want me to give you a little showing?¡± ¡°No.¡± I scoot a little further away from him. ¡°Nonsense. My nieces and nephews love watching what I can do. I¡¯m sure you will too.¡± He rises to his feet and I stumble to my own not a moment later. Whatever he wants to do, I don¡¯t want to be anywhere near. He walks down the steps and stands before the house, while I scamper off in the opposite direction and climb over the porch railing. I crash into the ground. As I pull myself to my feet, I cast my sight back to watch an immense volume of water pouring out of the ends of his antlers. His markings glow a bright white-blue illuminating the waves of water rolling off his body. In the dark, post Ember-Moon night, the water is both as mystical as it is terrifying. It seems to almost float as it leaves Hirsh¡¯s antlers, but gravity soon takes hold and pulls it to the earth with the rest pooling around his legs. A mound of the liquid amasses around the khirig. It collects under his feet before lifting him off the ground, raising him on a pillar of water higher than the building. I want to be ready if he does anything, so I scuttle backwards while keeping my eye on the water flowing around him. The water stops gushing out the ends of his antlers and at the same time, several bright lines cease their glow. There are still other markings lit, unaffected by the dimming of nearby patterns. He lifts his arms and new lines shine. Immediately, spinning discs emerge from the column of water. A grinding hiss rings out from the many rapidly rotating blades. Several of them spin around the water pillar, but most rush down to the puddle surrounding him. The blades of water tear through soil and rock as they speed away from his central water concentration. I notice that each of the blades stop before reaching the end of his puddle of water on the ground, but they still cut through air and earth as they spin around his suspended body. Calm, still, unmoving water is too much for me, so why do there have to be people able to wield it so terrifyingly freely like that? The latest activated marking dims and the buzzing water discs fall into the puddle below. ¡°Solvei? Are you watching?¡± Hirsh turns to see me backing away on the far side of the house. ¡°Why are you so far away? Come on, I¡¯ll give you a ride.¡± Another set of markings light up, this time much closer to the constantly lit ones. The water bunches up underneath him and carries him forward on a wave. He speeds after me at nearly the same pace as team Luis-Eight travels. I twist and launch into a sprint, but without my wings I¡¯m nowhere near fast enough. I¡¯ve put some distance between us already, but it wouldn¡¯t be enough. ¡°Stop it!¡± I shout desperately. Is this really going to be my end? Not to the Empire responsible for hunting many of the ¨¢ed. Not the Titan which tore my tribe from me. I¡¯m going to go out not to some terrible evil, but to some overzealous idiot too excited about showing off? No, I refuse. There must be some way and I will not give up until I¡¯ve found it. Droplets of water splash over me from the wave closing in on me. My oversized jacket stops most of it, but the water that breaches the exposed areas burn on contact. I ignore the stinging pain and pump my legs. Jets of flame blast back into the wall of water closing on me. I pull back my inner flame so it isn¡¯t myself touching the water. Hopefully, it scares him back from chasing me. I hear his laugh from behind. ¡°So you want to play, do ya? Alright, I¡¯m game.¡± He¡¯s an absolute moron. Instead of backing off, it only encouraged him more. My flamethrowers spearing into his wave do nothing but billow out steam. I only have the time to glance back for a moment to see him activating another set of markings. I wish I could change my form in a second; that would solve everything right now. But I¡¯m still stuck with a fifteen minute limit. I can¡¯t switch to a bird for an easy escape, nor can I think of anything else that might save me now. My only chance is if I can get into the building ahead of me. I¡¯m still terrified of being locked inside. My arms stiffen even thinking about what I¡¯m going to do. But it¡¯s that or death. Maybe if I hadn¡¯t been so afraid, I could¡¯ve hidden inside our team¡¯s home instead of running away, but I¡¯m already too far. It feels like I¡¯ve been running for ages, but barely a few moments have passed since he begun the chase. With each step I take, he cuts the distance between us, but I also close in on the door to my safety. Something speeds by out of the corner of my eye. I turn to watch as a wall of water speeds around my side and curves ahead of me. Another from my other side does the same. Before I can react, they close in and seal off my only escape, completely encircling me with the khirig water mage. I never made it inside the building, but the overwhelming pressure in my chest of being trapped burns. I turn to face down the coming wave and the imbecile with it. My flames smoulder around me, prepared to incinerate the khirig who will kill me, even if it¡¯s the last thing I¡¯ll do. The droplets are agonising as they splash against my face, but I hold my glower at him. ¡°Fuck you!¡± Chapter 69: Departing The khirig and his towering wave of water close in on me. A secondary wave extends out of the one holding Hirsh aloft and reaches for me as if it were a hand. I look into his oncoming eyes with overwhelming disdain, ready to explode and tear him apart. For the first time I see him hesitate, his eyes widen as they lock on mine. But it¡¯s too late. The water is almost upon me. He won¡¯t pull back in time. A world shattering crack pounds through my chest and a visible shockwave slams the water flat into the ground. Before I can even process what happened, I feel an impact in my back and the world spins around me. My chest slams into the earth. I hadn¡¯t even realised I¡¯d been flung through the air. My body is quick to twist back to the khirig and the mass of water behind me, but it¡¯s not there anymore. Water floods the ground, but only in the direction opposite to me. In place of the wave stands Remus. He is unmoving, looking down at something in front of him. I follow his gaze and see Hirsh, his body buried in a crater. ¡°What the fuck! Remus?¡± the khirig groans and tries to move, but he can¡¯t seem to get up. ¡°What the hell are you doing? This¡¯ll take weeks to regrow.¡± He tries to move again, but one of his large antlers cracks and snaps off. Remus remains still. Unusually quiet. I feel something touch my shoulder and turn to see Jav. ¡°You okay?¡± he asks. It doesn¡¯t feel like I should be; my arms still shake and my face aches, but I nod anyway. ¡°Yeah. Thanks.¡± I turn back to Remus and Hirsh. ¡°Ah, fuck. That hurt, you old fool. What was that for?¡± I can only barely make out the narrowing of Remus¡¯ eyes. ¡°You attacked my team. One of my own.¡± His voice is cold. Far from the ever cheery tone he always maintains. ¡°What? No. I was just showing the kid what I could do. I do that with all my brother¡¯s and sister¡¯s kids. A little ride around the camp is all.¡± I can hear the worry entering Hirsh¡¯s voice. It seems like he hasn¡¯t seen Remus like this before, either. Remus takes a step toward the downed khirig before a crack of thunder rings out and Hirsh bellows a scream. The dohrni¡¯s tentacle pulls back from the pained man. ¡°You didn¡¯t stop when she ran from you? You didn¡¯t stop when she pleaded? I did not watch you grow up to be so inconsiderate. Be thankful I don¡¯t tear your horns from their roots.¡± Remus¡¯ tone remains flat and quiet, but there is a fury barely hidden beneath the surface. Another crack thunders out, followed by a scream. With a final glare, Remus turns and walks to me and Jav. ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asks as he bends down before me. His cold gaze returning to cheery as if it were never gone. ¡°Uh, yeah.¡± I¡¯m put off by the jerking of my emotions. I still haven¡¯t calmed down from the overwhelming fear. How can I be more fearful of being trapped than water? I¡¯d prepared myself to dive into a building, but when I was confined by the wall of water, it felt far worse than the agony of water sizzling away at my flames. ¡°Thanks for the help,¡± I say. ¡°Naturally.¡± He rises to full height again and addresses Jav. ¡°Get her ready. I¡¯ll get the others.¡± I jump to my feet immediately, trying to hide the shivers running down my arms. I don¡¯t want them to think I¡¯m weak. They can¡¯t know my embers ache with terror. Will I ever get over this fear of being caged? No matter how much strength I gain, will water always be an impossible hurdle for me? If a water mage was to attack me and I didn¡¯t have my team around to help me, Could I ever compete? My team¡­ It was strange to see Remus get so mad for me. Until this point, everything had been so casual. They¡¯d all been too welcoming. So much so that I assumed they were just happy to have someone who could fill the role. I didn¡¯t really think they considered me a part of their group. A part of their team. But they protected me. They got mad for me. They already considered me one of them and I¡¯d just not noticed. A sigh escapes my lips. I thought I¡¯d resolved myself to be more trusting after Ash proved me wrong, but I fell into some of the same doubts. Even when they showed patience in teaching me and a willingness to work with me. ¡°We got our mission orders from the brass. There are quite a few bits of bad news, most relevant of which is that we¡¯ll be heading out immediately. No time to sleep.¡± Jav eyes me as I finally calm myself properly. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re alright? We can help, you know?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± I should probably tell them of my issue with entrapment. I¡¯ve wanted to hide it to hide my weaknesses, but if tonight has shown me anything, it¡¯s that I might need to rely on them to cover those weaknesses. If Remus and Jav hadn¡¯t appeared when he did, I would be dead. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you later.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Jav then unstraps a satchel from his back and presents it to me. ¡°Here. We were lucky my sisters got your outfit here before we left. You can use the bag when you want to fly.¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. I pull out the gift to inspect it. The cloth is a full body piece that seems will cover every surface of my body except my hands and face. Hardened boots are sewn directly into the outfit, leaving nowhere for snow or water to drip down into. ¡°There should be gloves, goggles and a mask in the bag. You should be able to zip them into the suit and leave you entirely covered. As far as I know, it should keep you safe from snow. And maybe water too.¡± I stare in amazement at the workmanship of it. This is amazing. It would be an incredible thing to bring back to the ¨¢ed tribes if it holds back water as well as Jav says. ¡°How do I put it on?¡± it¡¯s all one piece, so I can¡¯t see where I¡¯m supposed to fit in unless I flex myself in my incorporeal form and worm my way in. Which won¡¯t be quick. Jav steps forward and unzips the front where I hadn¡¯t even noticed a seam. He shows me the same type of connection at both the sleeves and the hood, where they would connect to the gloves and mask. This is really too good to waste with the temporary flame resistance inscription I¡¯d been using up until this point. I need proper materials to give this outfit the proper protection it deserves. ¡°You think that merchant will still be awake?¡± ¡°Merchants out here are always ready for a sale. But we shouldn¡¯t take long; Remus expects us out in five minutes.¡± ??? The heqet merchant didn¡¯t have one of the metal types I remember my uncle often using for the inscription, but silver ¡ª the metal in the kitchenware I¡¯d stolen from the Cano mansion ¡ª turned out to be a decent replacement. It was costly, but in combination with copper and aluminium, I think they will work great. I also had to get a ceramic bowl that would withstand the heat of the melted metals while I mixed them. Now that I have everything I need, I just need to wait until we stop for a rest and I can write out the inscription into my new suit. I can¡¯t wait to throw away these worn-out rags. Jav and I leave the garrison to find the others waiting. As soon as he notices, Gr¨ªmr rushes to my side. ¡°He didn¡¯t hurt you, did he, Solvei? I¡¯m sorry, I should¡¯ve stayed outside with you. I should¡¯ve noticed when you were in trouble.¡± His ears lie flat on his down-turned head. With this level of concern he shows, I feel foolish for holding a grudge against his opinions. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine. Do you mind if I ride with you for a bit? I¡¯d like to get some sleep before we reach the snow again.¡± Nobody has said it yet, but there¡¯s no doubt in my mind we¡¯re heading back up the mountains. The big cat¡¯s ears flick up, and he raises his head. ¡°Sure! No problem.¡± He then lowers himself for me. Remus speaks loud enough for us all to hear. ¡°The brass have given us our orders and we are to head out at once, which is a good thing because if we were to stay at this moment, I may be tried for murder come tomorrow morning.¡± He laughs, but there is no humour in his tone. ¡°We have been given the unreasonable task of following the Titan¡¯s path to discover the source of previously unseen species that have been attacking our defensive positions for the past months. They are expected to originate somewhere in the Middle Elevation.¡± ¡°You¡¯re kidding? No prep?¡± Gr¨ªmr exclaims. ¡°Nope.¡± A silence hangs over us for a time. I¡¯m still new to the dangers of the Alps, but everything I¡¯ve heard points this mission to being unreasonably difficult. It¡¯s likely a death sentence. But I have no issue with that. Not that I¡¯m planning to die, but as long as it gets me away from this garrison right now, I don¡¯t care how difficult the coming days will be. I never want to be near Hirsh again. ??? I was lucky enough to get some sleep before we reach the snowline. After our first hunting trip together, Gr¨ªmr learnt to run a tad smoother. I found his thick fur coat rather easy to nap on, even with the constant movement. I requested we break before the snow and now that we are here, I can¡¯t help but feel giddy. Not only do I have this incredible new outfit, but I¡¯m going to recreate one of the enhancements I¡¯d only seen my uncle inscribe, never helped with. As I couldn¡¯t melt metals on my own, it had been all but impossible for me to perform any of the more difficult protections for our clothing. I lay out the suit and accompanying equipment and prepare the bowl along with the metals I bought. I don¡¯t have a perfect memory of how much of each metal I need to use, but going off feeling shouldn¡¯t be too bad. Uncle specified the mix of metals used only really affected the efficiency and maximum temperature a small percentage. The jump from using no metals to what I¡¯m doing is huge, so I¡¯m not too worried about getting the best ratios. A perfect mix of metals would only increase the max temp by maybe five percent. I can tell by the way my fire interacts with the silver that it will be the most important part, so I melt down the entirety of the silver I brought. Next is to add enough copper and aluminium to give me enough total volume to work with while limiting the loss of efficiency a smaller portion of silver would cause. A pure sample of silver wouldn¡¯t work, but as it¡¯s the lowest quantity of metal I have, I need to be careful not to dilute it too much. ¡°Wow. Jav really didn¡¯t cheap out on your welcome gift.¡± Remus inspects the outfit in front of me. ¡°Huh?¡± I look down at the cloth. How much did this cost? ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s good you¡¯ll have something to protect you.¡± Back to my project, I hold both the copper and aluminium bars in a hand and slowly melt them into the bowl. Once I¡¯ve only half of each metal bars left, I stop. The silver has solidified at the bottom of the bowl, leaving the other two metals to sit on top. I can only see the aluminium on the surface, but mixing the bowl with my finger swirls some of the copper colour into the mixture. Uncle told me that once the metals melt and are mixed for a few seconds, the drawing process needs to be done immediately. The inscription required the metals to be together, but not truly combined. If I spend too long heating and mixing them, it might not work. So, while keeping the metals from cooling into solid, I use the tip of my finger to paint the patterns into my new snowsuit. If I was with my tribe, I could have used a proper tool for this, to make the strokes perfect, but I¡¯m limited by what I have on me and what that trader could sell. As I paint, I realise that these are not the same inscriptions as the ritual. I don¡¯t know how it works, but the patterns I learnt from my tribe don¡¯t follow the same logic of the lines in inscriptions. Actually, I can¡¯t seem to see any form of logic other than the pattern that repeats both horizontally and vertically. Also, unlike the ritual inscription, there are many parts that are not touching. The logical lines of inscriptions always connect to each other. These patterns from my tribe do not. Eventually, the process is complete. Only a tiny bit of the liquid metal remains in the bowl. I bring forth a flame to test it, ready to pull back if it damages the cloth even slightly. My fire touches the suit and I jerk it back. There is no damage. I let out a sigh of relief and put my flame back over the outfit, waiting for any part to damage. My tribe¡¯s pattern does its job though, and even if I have no idea how it does so, the snowsuit is protected. The goggles were the hardest to do. There wasn¡¯t enough surface area on the rims and band to draw the pattern, so I had to write over the clear panels. It might obstruct sight slightly, but it¡¯s better than burning them in the heat of the moment. With my work complete, I don the outfit. It fits surprisingly well, even the sewn-in boots don¡¯t slide around and fit tight. ¡°Looks good.¡± Remus gives his usual eye grin. I can¡¯t help the smile that rises in return. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± Map Currently known areas: Pathing taken by Solvei (and the Titan) up untill chap 69: 1. Chthonic Tunnels 2. Shipwreck/ Kenna Tribe If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.3. Cavern Pass 4. Raetamen (Mining Town) 5. Fisross 6. Morne 7. Kelton 8. Serron 9. Void Fog encounter and capture 10. Railway Depot 11. Train Derail/ Void Fog eruption 12. Exit the Void Fog 13. Crossing into Joiak 14. Mr. Marshall''s Mill 15. Baansguard 16. Team Luis-Eight Cabin 17. Hunt 18. The Breach Garrison If you are interested in the course of the invasion before Hund was let loose, I have that below: Initial landing of Henosis forces: Stalemate for a time: Surround: Semi-Conquered: Chapter 70: Centipede The path remains clear until the first major checkpoint. No creatures swarm this far down; the teams further up the trail thinning them out. We pass several other teams as we head up the mountains, but never share more than a passing greeting. The others have obviously been holding back for me. Now that I am willing to ride with Gr¨ªmr again, the others don¡¯t need to slow themselves for my flying speed. That, and they have a reason to push through the Stepps as fast as possible. A gradually growing influx of creatures has put a strain on the Mercenary Order¡¯s defensive positions. These beasts are varying, but each is of a type never seen prior. The most worrisome issue is that it apparently takes five Fearn teams at the very least to assure a kill without losses. That there are so many of them is a cause of concern for all relevant parties. The upper brass of the Order would have sent a few of the Beith mercenaries to investigate under normal circumstances. Due to a combination of Remus and I having pissed the Order¡¯s management off, and a lack of available Beith mercenaries, we are stuck investigating instead. Alone. It¡¯s not the worst, though; at least we¡¯ll get to consume stronger beasts than we¡¯ve yet faced. I¡¯m feeling far more confident now that I have this snowsuit. Maybe I can actually learn to participate with my spear without worry of the snow under my feet. I¡¯ve hardly had the time to practice, so I doubt the time I can fight with a spear alongside the others will be any time soon. Tetsu might continue teaching me as we travel, but for now, the team seems far too keen on moving up the mountains as quick as possible. Jav glides back to his perch on Remus. He¡¯d been flying ahead, scouting the path we¡¯ll be taking. ¡°We¡¯ll be getting our first look at one of those creatures soon. It moves at least as fast as us, so maybe fifteen minutes until intercept.¡± ¡°Anything you can tell us?¡± Remus asks. ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s a big fucking centipede.¡± ¡°How big exactly?¡± ¡°Bigger than a centipede should ever get; about the length of a house.¡± ¡°Alright then, I guess we¡¯re about to see just how strong these things are. Bunny, you take front. Solvei, want to go for a flight?¡± He asks it like a question, but it feels more like a request, if not an outright order. I¡¯m disappointed to put away my new outfit already, but I do as he says and start my change. As soon as the icy breeze flows over my body once more, I realise how good the suit is at keeping my heat contained. I hardly needed to strain to keeping my body temperature high. Now in my falcon form, the frosty wind forces me to burn hotter. In the air once more, I have a better view of the path before us. I can see the centipede approaching at an incredible pace. Its yellow legs almost look like they are rolling backward as the creature speeds down the slope with its jagged, zigzagging skitter. It¡¯s hard to get a good idea of its size at this distance, but even without it is obviously fast. The ground passes underneath it from tip to end in a fraction of a second. I look down at my team. Tetsu is charging head on toward the creature, with Remus and Gr¨ªmr spreading out from her sides. Jav still sits with Remus, but I imagine as they get closer he¡¯ll be thrown again. A hiss announces the centipede¡¯s awareness of the incoming hostiles. Jav flies toward the creature, closing the vast distance in but a moment. His short wing blades slice through several legs before it can react. But when the centipede does react, it is with lightning speed. A razor tipped leg thrusts toward Jav faster than I can comprehend. Jav twists around the sharp leg and curves through the air to cut off another leg before letting his momentum pull him high into the air, barely dodging the next six bladed leg strikes. Even as it strikes at Jav, the centipede never stops moving. Its eyes lock dead on the albanic charging head first. Tetsu brings down a massive war-axe on the head of the critter as they collided. Four of the being¡¯s front legs lift to hold back the swing just enough that the axe barely cuts into the creature¡¯s exoskeleton. Tetsu abandons the axe now stuck in the creature¡¯s head and holds her arms out to grasp the two large fangs snapping closed around her. Their impact has Tetsu sliding back twenty metres from the momentum of the creature before she gets enough of a grip under her to pull it to a stop. The fangs come so close to the sides of her chest, but with her strength she keeps them from snapping closed. The centipede doesn¡¯t just sit there trying to win a battle of strength. It curls its body around, trying to stab or grasp the woman while she is stuck fending off its fangs. Before it can do so, Gr¨ªmr charges in and slams into the centre of the centipede¡¯s trunk. The creature jerks away from Tetsu and is lifted into the air from Gr¨ªmr¡¯s heft before it lands on its back. The panther is quick to mount it and use its large teeth and claws to tear into the softer-shelled underside of the centipede. The bug curls up around Gr¨ªmr and jabs a number of its sharp legs into his side and back. He snarls and continues tearing through the wound he¡¯d created. Grey blood gushes out and covers Gr¨ªmr¡¯s fur.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. The familiar thunderous sound of Remus¡¯ limbs crack through the air as he impacts the axe already lodged in the creature¡¯s head. The axe cuts clean through the centipede, splitting its head in half, but the creature still moves. It writhes and coils, stabbing as many of its legs into Gr¨ªmr and trying to crawl out from under him. Jav and Tetsu return to the fight. Jav continues cutting off as many of the legs as he can, prioritising those stabbing into Gr¨ªmr and avoiding what must be instinctual reactive strikes from the centipede. Tetsu steps forward and grasps the remains of the creature¡¯s head, pinning it still and halting its constricting. With an unmoving target, Remus has an easy time crushing through the exoskeleton with his whip-like tentacles. It is only a matter of time now until the centipede dies. Maybe I should have helped, or participated somehow, but I didn¡¯t know how I should. They all work so well with each other that I don¡¯t know if I might get in their way if I try to help. If I were to engulf the area in flame, I¡¯d just be limiting my team¡¯s line of sight. I know how ineffective my flames are against beasts like this. The body of the creature finally slows. Its legs still twitch and move as if walking, despite its body being overturned. Remus and Tetsu help remove the centipede¡¯s legs lodged in Gr¨ªmr. Crimson blood flows from the wounds and mixes with the blue of the centipede¡¯s coating his hide. He barely seems to mind what looks like grievous wounds. ¡°So, what do you think about one of them?¡± Remus asks Gr¨ªmr with an amused tone. ¡°Please, don¡¯t even consider the thought.¡± He seems to hardly notice the many wounds lining his back and sides. ¡°Are you going to be okay?¡± I ask, looking at his bloody fur coat. Gr¨ªmr looks up at me, then back at himself. ¡°Huh? Oh, don¡¯t worry, this is nothing. I¡¯ll be back to perfect shape in an hour.¡± ¡°That felt rather weak for a Mid Elevation creature,¡± Tetsu says as she retrieves her battleaxe. ¡°You don¡¯t suppose it¡¯s a swarm type, do you?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare even put that thought in our heads, Madwoman,¡± Jav says. I catch a small upward twitch at the corner of Tetsu¡¯s mouth. My flames spread out over the centipede to shape the ritual while I change back to normal and hop back in the comfort of my outfit. Its insulation feels amazing. ¡°It is good that they aren¡¯t that strong,¡± Remus says. ¡°If we¡¯re lucky, they come from somewhere in the Lower Elevation and we won¡¯t even need to go through the effort of reaching the Mid.¡± ¡°How long will it take to reach the Lower Elevation?¡± I ask. ¡°We¡¯ll likely have to fight a few more of those things, so three days sounds right.¡± ¡°What should we call them?¡± Jav asks as the last motes of the centipede disappear into the inscription. ¡°Bugs.¡± Tetsu ties her axe back into the side of her pack. ¡°Oh yeah, why not? I¡¯ll just tell you we¡¯re facing a bug anytime I scout something. Good luck if it turns out to be a swarm of blood crickets or a thermite hornet.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± Tetsu grins. ¡°No, no. You won¡¯t be doing that, Jav; we don¡¯t need any unnecessary confusion. Just call them centipedes for now. I doubt anyone here would mistake them for the regular sized ones. Let the teams back home decide their name.¡± I burn through the small portion of centipede left over and remount Gr¨ªmr. In no time, we are sprinting through the mountains again. Plumes rise behind us where our speedy movements disturb the snow. In the next few days, we tear through many of the centipedes. The higher we move, the more often we come across them. They weren¡¯t the only creature, but each we come across was far easier dealt with. It is hard to believe considering the immense amount of land we¡¯ve covered, but apparently we are still only on the Stepps. ¡°How far is the Lower Elevation from here, anyway?¡± I ask. Jav stokes the campfire. An array of fish sit above the flames, simmering under the volan¡¯s careful eye. ¡°About another day. You¡¯ll know when we¡¯re there.¡± I wait a moment, expecting him to elaborate, but he remains quiet with his attention entirely on the burning fish before him. ¡°Why? What¡¯s there?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll just have to wait and see,¡± Remus butts in, his eye grin more teasing than usual. That¡¯s annoying. Can¡¯t he just tell me instead of messing around? My annoyance must have been visible on my face as he lets out a chuckle. ¡°I heard you did pretty well in bleed for your first game. How about we all have a game?¡± Remus materialises a deck of the cards out of thin air. Tetsu¡¯s eyes narrow. ¡°Is Jav playing?¡± Remus turns a questioning gaze to the small cook. ¡°Of course,¡± Jav says. ¡°I¡¯m out.¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Both Gr¨ªmr and Tetsu immediately refuse to play. ¡°Oh come now, we don¡¯t have to play for bets. Just a nice friendly game.¡± Remus tries to encourage them. ¡°It¡¯s never a friendly game with Jav,¡± Tetsu says. ¡°You¡¯re just scared of losing,¡± Jav says. ¡°The battle of strategy is the only battle you¡¯re not confident in.¡± The internal conflict Tetsu feels is as blatant as a charging beast. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll beat you this time.¡± She frowns, but sits with us. Jav grins at her and turns to Gr¨ªmr. ¡°You¡¯re not going to be the only one to sit out, are you? How lonely.¡± Despite his words, Jav is grinning ear to ear. Gr¨ªmr sighs and, without more prodding, drops beside Tetsu. ¡°Excellent. We have a fifth player now, so do we move up to three decks or stick with two?¡± ¡°Three,¡± Gr¨ªmr and Tetsu say in unison. ¡°Oh look, the fish is ready.¡± Jav proceeds to some sort of powder to the fish before handing them out to everyone. I¡¯m surprised I¡¯m even given one; I still have my iron to eat through. The thin metal stick that skewers the fish rests in my hand as I inspect it. Fish come from the water; I watched as Jav dove after them earlier. They are a strange existence, completely opposite to me. The silvery blue creature in my hands can only survive in the water. The idea just seems so bizarre. I poke at the charred scales of the fish, expecting to be burnt like I¡¯m touching water. But I don¡¯t feel any pain, instead it feels soft and springy. Remus eyes me as he deals out the cards. ¡°There¡¯s no water in the fish if you¡¯re worried. Well, no more than any other animal, and you have no problem with them.¡± I take it in my hands, and slowly rise the fish to my mouth. Hesitantly, I take a bite. It¡¯s delicious. As surprisingly good as it is, I can¡¯t see myself ever willingly putting myself close to water to get some for myself. My cards in front of me are horrible, there¡¯s no way I¡¯ll win this round. I look around at the others to see if their public cards are any worse than mine. Everyone gorges on their own fish. Both Tetsu and Jav savour their meal while the other two dig in without care. ¡°So,¡± Jav starts after everyone has finished eating. ¡°I know Remus said there wouldn¡¯t be any bets, but the game just isn¡¯t the same without. How about just a tiny wager?¡± An hour later, Jav finds himself with another pile of coins before him. Gr¨ªmr and Tetsu are both visibly deflated in depression. Remus, despite having lost more to Jav than anyone, seems more happy than usual. He packs away the cards, whistling all the while. ¡°Never again,¡± I hear Tetsu groan, getting a grunt of agreement from the big cat next to her. It¡¯s getting late now. I crawl on top of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back, away from the snow-laden ground and snuggling into his comfortable fur. It surprised even me how quickly I¡¯d become accustomed to sleeping on Gr¨ªmr, but when the alternative is the cold ground, I find his thick fur coat far more appealing. ¡°Enjoy your last night of peaceful rest,¡± Remus says. ¡°From tomorrow, we won¡¯t be able to be so lax.¡± Chapter 71: Crevasse My wings stretch wide, floating in the breeze high in the air. I look down at my team far below, bare pinpricks in the distance. I sail through the skies with nary a sound, waiting for my target to move within range. These winged beasts have shown incredible hearing in my past attempts, but this time I plan to catch it by surprise. It flies underneath me with its leathery black wings and I decide it¡¯s now or never. My wings pull into my side and I fall into a nosedive. The wind whipping against me and the ground rushing toward me is exhilarating, but I focus myself on my target. Ever so slightly, I spread my wings to angle myself toward the flying creature. It has yet to notice me, but my past attempts prove that it only needs a moment to twist the situation to its advantage. Pull my talons forward just in time to slam into the creature¡¯s back. A perfect landing, if I say so. My impact ¡ª right between the base of its wings ¡ª sends us spiralling, but I dig my sharp claws deep and clamp down with my beak. The bat screeches, vibrating my flames right to the core. It disturbs my fire and threatens to rip my body back to ethereal, but I hold on. The first time I experienced their ultrasonic screams, I hadn¡¯t expected it at all and dropped from the sky when my wings lost their corporeal form. I knew now to defend myself against their screeches, but it is still an extremely odd feeling to have your body try to ripple away from you. The black wings spread out again as the creature tries to regain its stability. As it does, I reach out my flames and begin burning through the rubber-like wings. Another screech rings out, shaking my flames as it tries to twist on itself and bite at me. I fail to pull my wing back in time, and it tears straight through it. Unfortunately for the bat, it hurts him more than it does me. I use the opportunity to shove my flames down into its gullet, careful to only push non-inner flame laced flames into it to avoid any burning its saliva might cause me. It¡¯s not nearly as dangerous as water, but even the bodily fluids of creatures can sting somewhat. It snaps its jaw closed, cutting off the flames within its maw. The bat slaps its wings back into me, knocking me just enough to dislodge me. My talons tear through the back of the creature and I let go with my beak. I¡¯ve already burnt through its wings enough that it won¡¯t be escaping this free fall. My wings snap wide, immediately slowing my fall to a crawl. The bat struggles to flap its wings and regain control, but the air does nothing but tear through the already damaged membrane. Another ultrasonic screech slams into me as the beast cries upon realising the inevitable. The noise only audible through the feeling it makes in my chest. A thump is the only sound that comes from the bat¡¯s unimpressive collision against the ground. Snow gets blown everywhere, but it doesn¡¯t look like the creature will have died from the fall. Sure enough, the crippled bat crawls out of the snow crater. I don¡¯t have to worry about fighting it amongst the snow, fortunately. In moments, my team tears through the beast, leaving it no time to fight back. These bats are another of the new beasts that have been descending the mountain since the cooling of the Titan¡¯s path. Nowhere near as strong as the centipedes, but their flight has been a cause of worry for the Mercenary Order. It¡¯s hard to stop creatures like these that can completely ignore the defensive choke-points set up to funnel the descending monsters. I rejoin my team. Smoothly gliding onto Gr¨ªmr as the others finish the bat. It went rather well this time. I wasn¡¯t discovered until I¡¯d already latched onto its back. Last time, my wings caught the wind a bit too audibly and it was enough for the bat to hear me coming. I¡¯d been completely unable to catch the creature, even spreading my flames after it. Jav had to come and knock it out of the sky instead. ¡°Nice job, Solvei!¡± Gr¨ªmr glances back at me before turning to the dead mammal. ¡°What made the brass think that these creatures are coming from the Middle Elevation? There¡¯s no chance they could survive long that high up, right?¡± ¡°Apparently it¡¯s one of the older Beith mercs that believe they are coming from the Middle Elevation. It¡¯s not too hard to understand why; there aren¡¯t any known ecosystems in the Lower Elevation or on the Stepps that these creatures might be coming from. Mid and above are the only places unexplored enough that there might be some region we haven¡¯t seen.¡± ¡°Sure, but if that¡¯s the case, then do we even need to worry? If some previously enclosed ecosystem lost its barrier to the outside world, then why don¡¯t we just let the mid-tier beast wipe them out?¡± Remus casts an eye our way. ¡°It¡¯s rather rash to assume they are all weak because of the few we¡¯ve seen. In any case, our job is investigation; even if they are overwhelmed by the surrounding species, we still need to confirm it.¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Regardless of whether or not they originate from the Middle Elevation, we still need to move out of the Stepps. We are getting close now. What looks like a massive wall of ice extends far to the distant horizons, an obvious representation of the change between the ranked regions. The air is thin now. At this height, not only is the air freezing, but it makes breathing far more difficult. It¡¯s been fine for now, but whenever I fly at any significant altitude, I have to spread my flames wide to reach as much air as I can. The others don¡¯t consider the bat¡¯s corpse to be worth the time it takes to perform the ritual, so I wrap it in my fire and take it for myself. I wonder if there¡¯s a way to speed the process up? Not that I care too much; anything the others don¡¯t want, I can take for myself. With the bat eaten, I go to take to the skies once more. The more bats I knock out of the sky, the more I get to consume after all. ¡°Hold on, Solvei.¡± Remus stops my launch. ¡°The skies get rather treacherous from here on. I want you to stick with us.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± My wings relax at my side. ¡°Should I switch back?¡± ¡°No, being able to fly will make the transition between the Elevations easier.¡± I peer up at the looming glacial wall. ¡°Do we have to climb that?¡± ¡°Yep! But that¡¯s not the tough part of making it into the Lower Elevation.¡± I glance at him curiously, but his innocently smiling eyes give nothing away. I turn back to the massive wall ever so slowly getting higher above us. Despite their incredible pace this entire journey, they slow down the closer we get to the Lower Elevation. Right now, we are moving at half my maximum flight speed, which is far lower than what we¡¯d been travelling for the last few days. The Titan¡¯s path cuts right through the glacial wall ahead of us. Unlike the rest of the path that we¡¯ve followed until now, there is no black rock remnant creating an easy road for us. Instead, a forest of massive jagged, vertical shards of ice lies ahead, likely formed by the melting of the ice wall. It doesn¡¯t look any easier to traverse than the frozen precipice. I can¡¯t help but stare in awe whenever I look at the incredible geographic change such a disaster has brought. Anywhere except where the Titan has passed, the glacial wall remains the same height. Nowhere else is there a blemish. A powerful gust of freezing cold wind blows into me from the deep abyss below. I vigorously beat my wings until I¡¯m back amongst my team. A large chasm drops far into the earth before me. Nervously, I approach the edge once more. This time I fly only a few metres away from my team. The extensive opening between the ground beneath me and the wall of ice ahead drops into nothingness. It is too dark to see how deep it is. If not for the mound of black stone bridging the gap along the Titan¡¯s path, I¡¯d have no idea how my team might pass this crevasse. Actually, how did they? I cast a glance at my land-bound teammates strolling leisurely across the last stretch of black rock. They¡¯ve said they usually hunt in the Lower Elevation, so how do they get across this chasm? Flying away from the edge, I follow close behind the others. We move slowly across this auspicious igneous rock-pile of a bridge. Unlike before, we have slowed to almost a crawl as we move over the filled ravine. The wind picks up the further we cross into the crevasse. Despite only flying a couple metres off the ground and the curved edge being far to each side, I find my flight buffeted almost to an uncontrollable degree. The chilly wind pelts my wings, threatening to send me far into the sky before I can resist. I crash into Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back and warm myself from the cold. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s fur gives an appreciative shake at my warmth. If the wind was this bad here, covered by hundreds of metres of stone, what would it be like out over the chasm itself? ¡°The Alps become treacherous from this point on, Solvei.¡± I hear Remus call over the loud whistling of the wind. ¡°We won¡¯t be able to travel as fast as before. Make sure you are always beside us. Even teams as experienced as us need to be wary here.¡± ¡°How do you cross this thing normally?¡± ¡°The only way you can; down and back up again. It¡¯s only something like a thousand metres down.¡± Remus is far too casual for the words he says. ¡°Well, that¡¯s how far down you need to go. You can usually find a fallen glacier shard bridging the gap. Below that, the ravine can go much further down.¡± ¡°Fortunately for us,¡± Jav cuts in. ¡°There are many fractures and caves running through the glaciers. They¡¯re hard to see from here, but there are always thousands of interconnected passages through the ice. They make the climb up much easier.¡± Caves running through the ice? I do not like the sound of that. It definitely seems like something that¡¯ll knock me back into another panic attack if I can¡¯t see a way out. I really need to tell them about my fear. I should. They deserve that much. But as I open my mouth to say something, doubts run through my mind. How can I tell them about something so debilitating? Will they think poorly of me for having such an unreasonable fear? Even as I cling to Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back, being saved from a gust blowing me away, I can¡¯t say it. The unnatural bridge unfortunately doesn¡¯t reach the entire length of the chasm. From where we are, it curves downward into the glacier. We got to skip most of the trip down, but it looks like it won¡¯t be completely without a climb. I struggle within myself to say something about my fears to my team as we walk the last stretch of igneous rock. I peer at Remus walking at the front. Jav, like me, clings to his ride. The wings of his suit stored away, but the wind still knocks around his light body. I look down slightly and catch Remus watching me. I snap my head back into Gr¨ªmr¡¯s fur. Why was he watching me? Does he already know? He can¡¯t read minds, right? No Solvei. Stop being stupid. He was only looking at you. It means nothing. ¡°Oh? How convenient,¡± I hear Tetsu say. ¡°Looks like we won¡¯t be needing to climb today.¡± I pull my head out of the thick fur and look forward. At the end of our bridge, in the wall of ice, is a cavern. Wide enough for each of us to pass through with ease, but I can¡¯t help but feel apprehension at the sight of it. The glacial cave curves away from the entrance after only a few metres. There is no way I¡¯ll be able to enter without falling into an involuntary panic. I catch Remus¡¯ eyes boring into mine. There is no doubt he knows something, and yet he hasn¡¯t judged me poorly¡­ I think. I don¡¯t have a choice now. I have to swallow my doubts and just tell them. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I should have told you this earlier.¡± Chapter 72: Glacier I tell them my fear. My crippling apprehension for being in apparent positions of helplessness and being trapped. I tell them what caused it. Everything about the Void Fog and how I had to twist my consciousness to stop myself going mad like the Void-Touched. I sit there, expecting anger or disappointment, or at the very least irritation. I don¡¯t meet any of their eyes as I fidget with my wings in front of my body. ¡°Huh. I always thought there was something more to the Void Fog than everyone assumed. The monsters it sometimes spits out are always incredibly unique,¡± Remus says, not even mentioning my fears. ¡°That explains how quick you were to learn to suppress your thoughts.¡± Jav joins me on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back. The large cat not complaining about his passengers. Jav takes a few steps until he¡¯s right in front of my beak. I try to turn my head away, but he puts his paw out to stop me. ¡°Look me in the eye,¡± he says, and I have no choice but to do exactly that. ¡°I don¡¯t care what sort of misunderstanding you have about this phobia of yours. As long as you put the effort in to help yourself and find workarounds, it doesn¡¯t matter how crippling it is. Your team is here to cover your weaknesses, just as we do for each other. Now, are you going to let this stop you?¡± How else can I answer that? ¡°No.¡± ¡°Good, because if the caves are too much for you, we¡¯ll have to climb. I hope you¡¯re ready. Oh, and you should change back for this; you really don¡¯t want to be flying around here.¡± I twist my head to the others and see none of the irritation I¡¯d been expecting. Huh. I guess I have been overreacting. But it¡¯s still embarrassing to speak about something that makes me so weak. To hide from the humiliation, I take Jav¡¯s advice and begin my transformation. It is interesting to see how each of my team approaches the vertical climb. Tetsu has pulled out a pair of curved knives and stabs each deep into the frozen wall for leverage. Gr¨ªmr looks incredibly odd walking up as if it were the surface; his claws slicing into the ice under his feet. Jav has it the hardest; I can¡¯t tell if he feigns sleep, or he¡¯s actually taking a nap on top of Remus. The dohrni doesn¡¯t mind his passenger as he fits his long limbs in any thin crack he can find and pulls himself up. My arms are wrapped around Gr¨ªmr¡¯s neck. I¡¯m unable to reach my hands with how thick his neck is, but his thick fur is a good enough handhold anyway. The heavy cracks resounding with each stab of Tetsu¡¯s blades into the ice do nothing but stress me out, and for good reason too. Another swing of her blade fractures much of the surrounding ice. A section of the glacial wall dislodges and tilts away, taking Tetsu with it. Only a quick reaction from Remus saves her; he jumps off the wall and, with a crack of his whip-like limbs, shatters the dislodged ice before pulling her back to the wall. This has happened four times now. You¡¯d think Tetsu would learn to be softer with her blows to the ice. But no, she continues to slam her arms into the wall without so much as an acknowledgement that she was close to plunging to her death. We only have another three incidents before we reach the base of the forest of ice pillars. This region of the glacier ¡ª damaged by the passing Titan ¡ª isn¡¯t as easily traversed as I¡¯d hoped when I¡¯d seen it. The massive shards of ice are like the walls themselves, but there is no ground to stand on between them. Between each spike leads down into the extensive tunnels and fissures running through the ground underneath us. Instead of a ¡ª relatively ¡ª easy climb up a single slope, we need to jump from one pillar to another. Maybe that wouldn¡¯t have been an issue if these shards weren¡¯t ten to twenty metres away from each other. Yet Tetsu hops between the pillars with ease that even Remus couldn¡¯t hope to mimic. She launches off the ice with both legs extending at the same time, not even bothering to use the knives to get a grip before bouncing off once more. Oh. Bunny. I can¡¯t help but let out an involuntary laugh. A laugh which attracts her attention. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I get it.¡± I declare, smiling up at her. ¡°You get what?¡± she raises an eyebrow. ¡°Bunny!¡± She scoffs and jumps away as a round of guffaws erupts from the rest of the team. A satisfied sigh escapes me as I gaze at those around me. I was foolish to think they would think less of me for my phobia. It is good to see that the team has quickly returned to their usual camaraderie.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Tetsu¡­ no, Bunny has never complained about their nickname for her. Of course, she reacts upon hearing it, but if she truly had an issue, I¡¯m sure she would ask the team to stop. I hold tight as Gr¨ªmr pounces to the nearest pillar. The heavy cat¡¯s claws dig deep into the ice. Deep gashes follow the movement before our momentum comes to a halt. He lifts his paw to continue climbing when an intense crack reverberates through the area. More cracking sounds out until an echoing crash washes over us. I can feel the rumbling vibrations in the ice even through Gr¨ªmr. There¡¯s no sign of where the loud noise came from, but as I look around, one of the tall ice shards we passed only a few minutes ago cracks and topples into its neighbours. The base of the pillar cannot hold its weight and shatters, dropping the collapsing ice down into the tunnels underneath. The second tall shard cracks from the impact and slams into the next pillar. It comes to a rest, dangerously ready to fall, but not quite dropping. Despite the visible collapse of a pillar we only just passed, that isn¡¯t what I¡¯m worried about. The initial crashing noise was far heavier than the collapse of the pillar right behind me. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°Part of the glacial wall collapsing,¡± Gr¨ªmr says, before continuing up the ice. ¡°Is that normal?¡± how do they know it won¡¯t happen while we¡¯re climbing? ¡°Unfortunately. In the past, they¡¯ve tried building bridges across the crevasse, but having a few million tonnes of ice fall on any structure is a quick way to destroy it.¡± ¡°What do you do if it collapses when you¡¯re climbing it?¡± ¡°You fling yourself as far away as you can and hope you don¡¯t die from the fall.¡± I can¡¯t tell if he¡¯s joking or not. ¡°Of course, Luis teams like us won¡¯t have too much of an issue if it happens. And there are well-charted areas that are monitored for stability to allow the lower ranked teams passage with little risk.¡± I hug myself tighter into Gr¨ªmr. The very fragile structures around me added to the list of things I¡¯m not thinking about. Along with entrapping caves below and the unbelievable amount of frozen water around me. Yes, definitely not thinking about any of those things. Not thinking about them. Not thinking about them. Damn. After a while of climbing through the forest of spikes, we come to the edge of the Titan¡¯s path and pull ourselves up the last wall of ice before we are on flat ground again. A plane of wavy glacier extends far as I can see. A constant upward slope of ice peppered with holes and fissures. Looking back down into the Titan¡¯s path, the pillars of ice extend through it until I can¡¯t make them out anymore. There is a distinct lack of mountains or rock for leagues from here, leaving the far-extending glacier as the only thing in sight beside the peak of the Alps that hulk beyond. We don¡¯t stand around long. While not inside the path anymore, we actually have stable ground on the outskirts of the where the Titan has travelled. The path itself is almost triple as wide and five times deeper than back in the Stepps. I guess the heat of the Titan melted the ice much easier than it did rock. My team speeds into a jog, but nowhere near as fast as I¡¯d become used to in the past few days. I also notice the team is more structured in their relative positions as we run along the inclining ice. Even when Remus throws Jav, he isn¡¯t gone for thirty minutes each time like before. Now, I can see him even at the maximum distance he travels. That playfulness I¡¯ve felt amongst the team until now isn¡¯t gone exactly, but it feels subdued. More serious. I follow their lead, keeping my eye out for any of those creatures we¡¯re supposed to be following. ¡°So¡­ how are we supposed to find where the beasts are coming from if they all use the glacial tunnels? I have yet to see any on the surface,¡± Jav says as he comes back from his most recent flight. ¡°For now, we continue on,¡± Remus says. ¡°We still have a reason to believe they are coming from the Middle Elevation. If we cannot find a sign of them once past the worst of the glacier, then we can come back and search through the tunnels.¡± Gr¨ªmr grumbles beneath me. ¡°Let¡¯s hope it doesn¡¯t come to that. We have more than a few reasons for that to be less than ideal.¡± We continue our gradual trot alongside the ledge, heading up the slope. Hours pass and I get lost in the fascinating reflections of the sunlight through the ice. It is mostly transparent, so the patches of glacier that aren¡¯t covered in snow gives me an incredible view of the intricate weave of tunnels and fissures below. The light distorts the image and the blue tint eventually stops me seeing any lower, but it¡¯s an enrapturing sight. I notice Gr¨ªmr¡¯s ear twitch and a moment later he shakes his head and I feel a shiver run through his body. The temperature is horribly low now. I¡¯m glad I stopped flying; my snowsuit is incredibly warm. I feel bad for Gr¨ªmr out in the open to this cold. After having been on my ride for so long, I feel I owe him. I unzip the connection locking my gloves to my suit to allow my inner flame to engulf Gr¨ªmr¡¯s fur coat. The chill and lack of air make spreading my flame incredibly difficult, but I burn through a good portion of my energy to heat the portian up. I snap my gloves closed once more to keep the chill out while keeping control of my flame. It is almost the limit of my ability to keep my flames burning with such little air. I hope we don¡¯t have far to go until we reach the Middle Elevation; it¡¯s extremely difficult to breathe already, I can only imagine it getting worse the higher we go. Despite the warm blanket I¡¯ve given Gr¨ªmr, he ignores it. His ear twitches again, and he picks up the pace until he¡¯s right next to Remus. ¡°Comfortable?¡± Remus asks with smirking eyes as he notices my flames. Gr¨ªmr doesn¡¯t react to his comment. ¡°We¡¯re being followed,¡± he grunts, almost too quiet for me to hear. We are? I¡¯m just about to turn to look around, but Remus¡¯ words stop me. ¡°Solvei, stop!¡± He says hurriedly. ¡°Don¡¯t let them know we know.¡± He turns his sight back ahead of us but addresses Gr¨ªmr. ¡°Where? How many?¡± ¡°A few hundred metres directly behind us. Just one. It sounds like it¡¯s crawling through the tunnels.¡± ¡°Beast?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t tell; the sound isn¡¯t distinct enough.¡± Remus pauses for a moment. ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll continue as we are for now. Tell me if it closes the distance or you lose track of it.¡± Even though everyone walks the same as before, I can tell they are far more wary of their surroundings now. Each depression in the ice possibly hiding an ambush. There is something out there following us, but that it only follows and doesn¡¯t attack is worrying; is it the only one? Are there more waiting ahead and the one behind is readying to pincer us? The most dangerous thing is the lack of information we have. I can¡¯t help but feel the worst possibility is being surrounded, so why don¡¯t we engage the thing following us while we have the upper hand? I don¡¯t know, Remus is the most experienced with these things. I¡¯ve only known him for a few weeks, but I trust his judgement. Chapter 73: Portian It is incredibly hard not to turn and look for our tail. Even harder to not let the silence get to me. Now and then, I notice the flicking of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s ear. I¡¯ve come to realise it¡¯s an unconscious reaction he makes whenever he hears something from whatever is following us. I strain my hearing, but I can¡¯t pick out anything from the constant groaning and cracking of the ice underfoot. As far as I can tell, the entire glacier is empty. There are no creatures in any direction. I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s normal or not here, but it is definitely different from the high number we¡¯ve come to expect in the Stepps. Is the thing following us some beast stalking its prey, or is it something intelligent? Could it be someone from the races I¡¯ve already met following us? If so, what reason could they have for it? My wild guesses are baseless, but with no information other than Gr¨ªmr hearing sounds behind us, all I¡¯m able to do is speculate as my team and I walk in silence. How good must Gr¨ªmr¡¯s hearing be if he can not only make out a sound from over a hundred metres away, but can distinguish it from the background noise and determine that it¡¯s caused by something following us? We travel for hours with barely any change until Gr¨ªmr finally informs of our pursuer¡¯s actions. ¡°It¡¯s closing the distance now. It¡¯ll be maybe ten minutes until contact.¡± ¡°Alright, in a minute, I¡¯ll send Jav out. We¡¯ll continue on as we have, but the moment it breaches to the surface, Jav will call the attack.¡± When Remus flings the small volan through the air, I notice he doesn¡¯t go directly up as usual. Jav flies far ahead of us before curving around behind us. He stays within a hundred metres of the ice, taking long sweeping circles in the air to retain his speed. I wonder why he doesn¡¯t rise any higher. ¡°Fuck.¡± Gr¨ªmr¡¯s sudden curse pulls our attention. Under our curious gazes, he is forced to explain. ¡°I heard it. It¡¯s a mountain panther,¡± he says with hesitance. ¡°Oh.¡± I catch Remus¡¯ eyes flicker to me, before laughing. ¡°Well, I guess you¡¯ll be talking earlier than you expected.¡± Gr¨ªmr grumbles in response. Is this about that secret of his race? It¡¯s definitely that. What does it have to do with the creature following us? ¡°It¡¯s only fair. She was willing to share her fears; about time you reciprocate,¡± Bunny says with hardly a glance our way. ¡°Oh? And you¡¯ll offer your own fears?¡± Gr¨ªmr snaps. ¡°I fear nothing.¡± She flicks her head around to glare and he returns in kind. I don¡¯t have time to ponder what the secret might be. A whistle cuts through the air behind us and we all turn at once. A large panther ¡ª identical to Gr¨ªmr ¡ª is crouched not twenty metres from us. A Portian? Why was one of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s race creeping up on us? Jav drops from above, cutting a deep gash in the side of its neck. He curves in the air, ready to strike at the other side. The panther is quick to react now that it¡¯s aware of the volan, moving its head out of the way and swinging a clawed paw at him. It strikes nothing but air. The three with me are quick to dash toward the Portian, ready to engage it while it¡¯s distracted. Remus arrives first and whips a gauntlet-wielding tentacle forward. The panther notices the new threats just in time, leaping away as the metal encased limb tears through the air hardly a whisker away. It¡¯s a thinking person. Why are we attacking without even trying to talk first? The panther backs up, eyeing each of my team as they surround it. It scrunches up its muzzle as if it smells something horrible and snaps its head to Gr¨ªmr. The portian growls, losing sight of anything around it beside Gr¨ªmr. Its eyes hold a murderous tinge. Not caring for the other threats, the panther dashes forward before crashing into Gr¨ªmr. I¡¯m sent flying off his back, but my suit is enough to keep the thin layer of snow from touching me as my back slams into the ground. Both panthers tumble down the slope of ice, rolling over each other as they try to bite and claw at each other. Tetsu and Remus follow close behind the interlocked pair, striking whenever they find an opportunity. Gr¨ªmr lets out a guttural roar as the long sabre-teeth of the panther dig deep into his neck. The other portian doesn¡¯t get away with any less damage; Gr¨ªmr¡¯s claws tear through much of its chest while gauntlets and sword damage its flanks. They roll to a stop with Gr¨ªmr pinned underneath. The panther continues to receive more damage from the two attacking its sides but ignores them. Its entire attention is on tearing Gr¨ªmr apart.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. I don¡¯t get it. Why does it have such a one-minded aggressiveness to one of its own kind? With a jerk of its head, the panther tears a chunk of flesh out of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s neck. He hisses in pain as Remus¡¯ tentacle slams into the being¡¯s face, sending it flying down the glacier slope. Gr¨ªmr rolls back to his feet and coughs up blood. More gushes out the huge gash in the side of his neck. A choking sound of gurgling escapes his throat as he tries to breathe through the blood. He doesn¡¯t look alright at all, but he turns to the panther rising to its feet again ten metres away. One of its hind-legs is limp, bent the wrong way, while deep wounds cut up much of the other flank. Despite the damage taken, it still pays no attention to the two at the sides of Gr¨ªmr. Another deep growl rumbles from its chest as it begins its desperate offence. With one leg completely useless, it struggles, but still dashes toward us with speed far greater than it should be capable of. Jav drops in from behind it and cuts through the tendon in the back of the panther¡¯s leg just as it tries to push off, sending it back to the ground. It howls with its murderous gaze continuing to burn into Gr¨ªmr. Despite the loss of the use of both rear legs, it continues to crawl forward. Bunny¡¯s sword swings down and cuts halfway through its neck. The panther stops for a moment, but even as the focus in its eyes fades, it resumes its desperate crawl. The sword is jerked out only to come down once more, decapitating the beast. There was no intelligence in that creature. Nothing but a murderous desperation I hadn¡¯t seen since the chthonic. What exactly caused the portian to act as it had? Maybe that¡¯s the wrong question. My team had been unhesitating as they engaged the creature. So what is it that makes Gr¨ªmr different? I turn back to the portian, but my thoughts are put on hold as I¡¯m reminded of his injury. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s laying down and pressing his paws into the wound as a river of blood continues to gush from the wound where a chunk of his neck is missing. I hurry to his side. ¡°Should I cauterise?¡± I ask, as I avoid the blood pooling on the ice. He chokes out a gurgle, but upon hearing himself, settles to nod. I push my flames into his wound, quickly burning closed the tubes of blood. After that, I take more care to only lightly burn the areas that feel like blood is gushing from. With how open his wound is, it¡¯s far easier to stop the bleeding than it had been for Ash¡¯s leg, despite the far greater area of damage. ¡°Doing alright over there, Gr¨ªmr?¡± Remus asks jovially. I turn to see him calmly walking past the headless corpse. Isn¡¯t he being far too casual when his friend has such a grievous wound? Gr¨ªmr nods to Remus, equally carefree. As if he isn¡¯t missing a third of his neck. He¡¯s acting like it doesn¡¯t even hurt. ¡°What?¡± I blink at my teammates. For now, I¡¯m going to ignore the wound that Gr¨ªmr seems to have almost forgotten about, if the way he stares at me is any sign. He seems far more interested in watching me with concern than his own mortal wound. Or at least what would normally be. If he doesn¡¯t care about it, then why should I? I try to tell myself, but really I just need a distraction from the deadly looking wound. ¡°Why did a portian attack so mindlessly?¡± I ask, but everyone looks toward Gr¨ªmr. I turn on the injured panther. ¡°What is it that everyone knows about you that I don¡¯t?¡± He opens his mouth to speak, but coughs and blood trickles down the side of his maw. My anger subsides slightly at the sight, but he hardly reacts to what must be incredibly painful. After coughing and spitting out a globule of congealing blood, he finally clears his throat enough to speak. ¡°Um¡­ Would you believe if I said that was my ex?¡± he says with a nervous grin. He gets a round of snorts from the others, but I just glare at him. ¡°Okay, sorry.¡± He points to the dead portian. ¡°That is a mountain panther, not a portian. In some very specific and difficult to achieve circumstances, us portian can, uh, repurpose the bodies of beasts.¡± He ducks his head as if expecting me to lash out. Repurpose bodies? Doesn¡¯t everyone do that? He specified the panther wasn¡¯t a portian, so does that mean he, what¡­ took their bodies? Bunny sighs. ¡°He¡¯s skirting the topic. Portians are parasites that live by taking the bodies of other creatures.¡± Gr¨ªmr jerks at her sudden revelation. ¡°But we never take sapients.¡± He turns to me. ¡°And I¡¯m sure ¨¢ed are immune, anyway; I know ¨¢infean are.¡± That¡¯s it? That¡¯s the big secret? I don¡¯t see why he would care about hiding it. It doesn¡¯t seem much different from how I would burn a corpse or we enact the ritual or even simply using a corpse for parts. What was he so worried about? There are a thousand things in the world more terrifying than someone that can wear another being like armour. Although, it is a bit gross. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± I can¡¯t help but say. Gr¨ªmr stares at me uncomprehendingly. ¡°What did I tell you? Nothing to worry about with the ¨¢ed.¡± Remus claps two of his tentacles together before rubbing them. ¡°Now that all the drama is over with, we have a panther to sacrifice. Solvei, start up the ritual. Do you want the head, or a leg?¡± I follow Remus and proceed with the ritual as I burn through the head for myself. I wonder how Gr¨ªmr takes over a creature? Is there a limit? Could he take over a Titan? I doubt it, but how big of a creature can he control? Do they have to be alive? Or dead? So many thoughts run through my head about the possibilities. As they do, I realise why he¡¯d been so concerned about my reaction. If he could take over a beast, then what might stop him from taking over the body of a sapient? I¡¯m sure the very thought causes a lot of tension between the portian and the other races. Strangely, I find myself not even worried about the possibility of it happening to me. I don¡¯t even know how the portian might control the bodies, but I somehow, almost instinctively, know that the control of my own flames can never be taken from me. After I¡¯ve finished running the ritual for the team, I turn to Gr¨ªmr, only to see that the entire gash in his neck has recovered. Replaced with a furless patch of unblemished hide. I¡¯d seen it after the first centipede fight, but at the time I¡¯d just thought the wounds weren¡¯t as deep as they looked. Gr¨ªmr regenerates incredibly fast. No wonder he didn¡¯t consider it an issue to take the damage he had. As I inspect his newly grown neck, I catch him glance my way before turning his head and pretended we hadn¡¯t locked eyes. I guess he¡¯s still worried about what I think. As much as I wish they hadn¡¯t left me in the dark, I can¡¯t say this new information has changed my opinion on him. The fact that he likes to bury people is still far more shocking. I jump on his back, ready to continue moving, but Gr¨ªmr jerks under my touch. I raise an eyebrow as I look down at him. ¡°You¡¯re fine if I keep borrowing your back, yeah?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± He hesitates. ¡°You¡¯re not afraid?¡± I laugh. It¡¯s such a strange sight; a massive predator of a beast being so concerned over how he is seen by others. ¡°No,¡± I say. ¡°Should I be?¡± He shakes his head as he trots along the ice. I swear I heard him purr for an instant. If he did, he clamped down on it immediately. Well, at least he¡¯s happy. Chapter 74: Dahu A week has passed since we climbed into the Lower Elevation and only now do the mountains breach through the glacial plains. The steady slope of ice continues undisturbed around the peaks that breach the surface. Despite what should have been the easier path ¡ª following the rather flat glacier ¡ª the Titan never veered from its line. As the number of mountains increases ahead of us, so too have sections of glacier been carved away. Whenever the Titan passed a mountain, it left an immense amount of molten rock to melt through the surrounding ice. Due to the vast alteration of the landscape, we can no longer travel beside the path. No creatures have blocked our path since the panther tried to sneak up on us. Most likely sticking to the tunnels in the ice. I¡¯m surprised even the bats do so; they have wings, so why not use them? Every so often, Jav flies over the path to watch for anything that might be too big to take the tunnels. Considering how long we¡¯ve already gone without a fight, I feel like he might be wasting his time checking. My team has warned about how we¡¯ll likely come across Middle Elevation creatures on the way up, but so far, it¡¯s been disappointingly quiet. The panther that tore Gr¨ªmr¡¯s neck apart was a Lower Elevation creature that populate many of the higher mountains of the region. I¡¯d asked Gr¨ªmr about his body and while he¡¯d been hesitant, he told me he had taken the panther after he lost his previous body in a fight six months ago. He didn¡¯t specify many details beyond that, but it must have been from the same time they lost their mage. I wonder what they faced that split the team as it had. Bunny readjusting her pack drags my attention. She¡¯s taken out another unique weapon and stored the short axe she¡¯d been holding for the last few hours. The new weapon has two short, curved blades protruding from a central grip. ¡°What is that?¡± I ask. Not for the first time, either. I¡¯ve asked so many times now that I swear she chooses the ones I don¡¯t know simply to show off. ¡°This is a haladie. The Wyle kin created them in Laverna long before the Henosis Empire absorbed the country.¡± She spins the blade in her hand. ¡°These blades aren¡¯t the best in a direct confrontation, but they are great for techniques relying on deception and trickery.¡± Well, either it¡¯s to show off, or give herself the opportunity to talk about the weapons she loves. ¡°Martial styles using the haladie rely on feints and sleight of hand to breach an opponent¡¯s defence. I would love to meet the people of the Wyle kin, but since they lost their homeland, they¡¯ve been impossible to find.¡± ¡°Why do you carry so many different weapons, anyway?¡± I ask. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you take only two or three and not worry about that massive pack?¡± ¡°No.¡± She twirls the curved double-blade in her fingers. ¡°Who knows when I¡¯ll need a specific type? It¡¯s better to be prepared and not need it, than need it and not have it.¡± I mean, I understand what she¡¯s saying, but as I look at the bag, I can¡¯t help but feel she is a bit too prepared. Exactly what kind of situation would require one type of blade over another? ¡°Then, if you could only have one weapon, what would you choose?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ask such impossible questions.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have a favourite?¡± ¡°I have too many favourites.¡± ¡°There has to be something that sets one weapon apart from another, right?¡± ¡°Of course. The quality of make means everything. I¡¯ve learnt how to craft my own weapons, but nothing beats a true professional at their craft.¡± I remember Jav¡¯s reaction when he heard that heqet trader had been trading ¡ª what was it again? ¡ª Riparian weapons. Were they made by professionals? ¡°Are Riparian weapons good?¡± ¡°In a sense. The Riparians are abhorrent weaponsmiths, but their inscriptions are unparalleled. It is almost impossible to get your hands on one of their weapons. The Riparian clans aren¡¯t often open to trade with outsiders.¡± ¡°Huh. I guess that trader must have been lucky to get his hands on some,¡± I ponder aloud. ¡°What?¡± Bunny stops dead in her tracks. ¡°What trader?¡± she turns and pulls me off Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back, holding me in her grasp. I just barely hold down the pressure screaming at me to burn her arms off, to escape her grasp in whatever manner I can. My body doesn¡¯t lose control, but I still feel an intense anxiety rise the longer her hands grip my shoulders. ¡°Where did you meet a trader selling Riparian makes?¡± Her eyes are as intense as her tone, boring deep into me in her desire. Remus¡¯ tentacles slap her arms off me, letting me drop to the thin layer of snow. Once again, I¡¯m grateful for Jav¡¯s gift as it blocks out the slush of frozen water. Bunny appears confused by Remus¡¯ actions before she looks back at me and has the decency to look embarrassed. ¡°Where is that trader?¡± she asks again. This time keeping her hands to herself. ¡°Jav and I met him back at the garrison.¡± ¡°Jav knew and didn¡¯t tell me?¡± for the first time since I¡¯ve met her, she actually looks angry. She clenches her fists so hard I can see the muscles in her arms bulging. ¡°Oh, I can¡¯t wait till he gets back,¡± she says as she turns her attention up the Alps.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Almost as if summoned by her words, Jav flies over a mountain crest ahead of us. After noticing him, it is only a moment until he rejoins us. As soon as he touches down, he¡¯s speaking. ¡°We¡¯ve got a¡ª¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡± Bunny is immediately in Jav¡¯s face, glaring at the volan. ¡°Huh? Tell you what?¡± Jav blinks at her. ¡°That you met a trader with Riparian weapons.¡± Jav glances my way with annoyance plastered on his face. I raise my arms in question. How was I supposed to know I shouldn¡¯t have told her? ¡°The trader only had words to show, no weapons. He was a heqet; no doubt in my mind he was lying.¡± ¡°You still should have told me.¡± Bunny huffs and steps away from Jav. ¡°If there¡¯s even the possibility of meeting someone in with the Riparians, I need to try.¡± ¡°He was¡ª¡± Jav cuts himself off as he looks toward the mountain ahead of us where he just came from. ¡°This isn¡¯t the time. We have a dahu ahead of us.¡± That got a reaction from the team. Bunny immediately cut her complaints and dug through her pack while Remus and Gr¨ªmr¡¯s stances grew straighter. Bunny returns the haladie and takes the large hammer from the bundle. She drops her pack on the ice behind her and swings it experimentally. One side of the hammer¡¯s head is flat while the other concentrates into a sharp point. ¡°Solvei, sky again,¡± Remus orders. ¡°Try to stay over the ice. Don¡¯t fly near any earth you can see.¡± I begin the change while he hurries to organise the rest of the team. ¡°To think the first mid tier we come across is a dahu.¡± I hear Gr¨ªmr grumble underneath me as my wings form. ¡°Are they that dangerous?¡± I ask. Gr¨ªmr drops his own packs to the ice beside Bunny¡¯s. ¡°Yes. They¡¯re slow and have weak bodies, so they aren¡¯t exactly the worst. But reaching them is a pain in the a¡ªah, behind.¡± Remus jumps in as he tightens his gauntlets at the ends of his tentacles. ¡°Fortunately, we have the benefit of ice below our feet, so we¡¯ll have more time to react to its attacks.¡± He looks up at me as I take to the sky. ¡°Solvei. This is your first time seeing what something from the Middle Elevation is capable of. I want you to stay far from the fighting, alright? This isn¡¯t a beast to be taken lightly. Oh, and remember; don¡¯t fly more than a hundred metres above the ground.¡± I hold eye contact with him for long enough to know how serious he is. I want to at least try to help them. To prove my worth, not just to my team, but to myself. Against Hirsh, I¡¯d been unable to do anything, and he wasn¡¯t even intentionally trying to fight. How will I ever get strong enough to defend myself if I don¡¯t fight? I need to find ways of dealing with my weaknesses, both water and my fears. Currently, both are crippling. Even the smallest of either takes me out of a fight. Consuming strong beasts will only help me so much. I need to discover for myself ways to improve. Bunny is teaching me the spear, but I¡¯m nowhere near ready to use it. Really, the only way I can think of improving is to participate in fights like this, but as I look at Remus, I see he won¡¯t budge on his position. Reluctantly, I nod and rise a few dozen metres. My eyes pass over the mountain looking for the dahu we are waiting for. It takes a few minutes, everyone patient and unmoving until the creature crests the ridge of the mountain protruding from ice. I don¡¯t know what I was expecting, but a small goat-like creature was not even close. It treks down the mountain, either paying us no mind or not having noticed us. My team below me stands as still as they can, ready to rush forward at Remus¡¯ command. Before he can though, the goat halts its steps. Unnervingly, its head swivels toward us. Its glowing amber eyes clear even from such a distance. ¡°Go!¡± Remus shouts as he flings Jav straight towards the dahu. The goat bleats. The sound isn¡¯t loud, nor does it echo, but I can hear it as clearly as if the creature were right next to me. Its mouth opens; each tooth has the same amber glow as its eyes. The dahu¡¯s eyes turn away from my team as it lowers its head to the earth underneath it. Jav tears through the air, closing the distance before I can blink. His tiny bladed wing-tips angled to slice through the neck of the goat as its teeth dig into the ground. Just when I expect to see blood gushing, the earth around the dahu explodes. Massive spikes of stone throw dirt and loose rock far into the sky as they pierce the ground in a ten metre radius of the goat. Jav glides back amongst the rest of the team. ¡°Sorry, I wasn¡¯t quick enough,¡± he says as Remus wraps a limb around him once more. ¡°It¡¯s fine. We¡¯ll just do this the normal way.¡± A flick of the limb sends Jav above the dome of stone spikes. The dahu has encased itself in interlocking jagged stone. It can control rock? At least it seems limited to only a ten metre radius around it. Nearly the instant I think that, towering spikes tear through the ice right below where my team is running. The glacier cracks and groans as the stone pushes through it with little resistance. Fortunately, my team¡¯s reaction is quick and each of them is out of the way of the spikes coming at them. They don¡¯t slow for a second. The dahu doesn¡¯t seem pleased that its attackers aren¡¯t dead. The blue tint of the glacier darkens to grey. I can hardly comprehend what I¡¯m seeing, but thousands of giant pillars spike through the ice. An irrefutable jungle of stone rises from beneath the glacier. My team evades the spikes nearest them, but they can no longer charge toward the dahu with the speed they had. Gr¨ªmr slows the most; his large body unable to move between the dense congregation of pillars. Both Remus and Bunny take to using the very pillars to traverse. Remus slings himself from pillar to pillar, but Bunny takes the lead, rocketing off each pillar with powerful kicks. Above, Jav glides, waiting for an opportunity to strike and keeping an eye for any unexpected occurrences. They seem to have no issue. At the pace they¡¯re moving, they¡¯ll reach the goat¡¯s protective dome and shatter their way through in no time. Even with hundreds of metres to climb, Bunny is preparing to swing her hammer already. Her feet press into the stone pillar, ready to bounce forward. As she does, her foothold sinks away, burying her leg deep in the spike. Bunny is off balance for only a second before she brings her hammer down on that which holds her leg. She bounds forward the moment she touches the cracked ice below. Each time Bunny or the others come into contact with the stone, it crumbles, trying to grasp them. Her hammer swings remain effective. Even as the stone tries to collapse in on itself before the impact, the pillars still shatter. The dahu somehow knows exactly where my teammates are. I¡¯m not sure how, considering it has blocked its own sight with the dome it built around itself. Things change the moment Bunny reaches the border between the glacier and mountain. She charges through the last of the thousands of stone spikes and sprints up the steep incline. The forest of pillars lean toward her, fracturing the ice as the thousands of tonnes of earth force its way through. A constant deluge of shattering and groaning resounds. ¡°Volley incoming!¡± Jav shouts over the deafening sound, but loud enough that Bunny hears. She abandons her climb and throws herself back down the cliff just as the entire forest of stone spikes throw themselves out of the ice toward her. They hardly travel fast, but the insane mass behind the volley of stone projectiles leaves a terrifying image as they curve through the air. Below, where the spikes once were, is a devastated region of glacier. Much of the ice drops into a new depression. Like a miniaturised mimicry of the Titan¡¯s path. Neither Gr¨ªmr nor Remus are in the remains. I only barely spot them amongst the airborne spikes as they smash into the mountainside. An explosive bang slams through the air from the impact. Each spike splinters against the cliff with such force, the ground appears to ripple. Somehow, Remus and Gr¨ªmr escaped that. They roll down the mountain before coming to a rest beside Bunny. Did they get swept up in that barrage or did they intentionally ride it? I¡¯m not sure which is worse. They all seem okay, even after having toppled a hundred metres down the slope. A rumble echoes through the air as they begin their sprint up the mountain. Despite only having restarted their run, they are forced to split and run for the sides. Above them, the cliff face the volley shattered against destabilises. The entire stone shelf moves. A massive rockslide bears down on my team from above. Chapter 75: Rockslide The entire cliff face slides down the mountain. A moment is all it takes for fractures to crack through it. The falling cliff crumbles into enormous boulders as the rock accelerates. Each boulder speeds down the slope, indiscriminate of what is below. As fast as my team is, there¡¯s no way they can get away in time. Gr¨ªmr runs to the left, while Remus and Bunny try to escape to the right. Already, shrapnel rains down on their heads. It¡¯s incredible to watch as they dodge the leading boulders rushing past them. Their luck doesn¡¯t last. With the massive amount of rock still falling on their heads, a single mistake is all it takes. Bunny stumbles, the ground collapses under her feet as she tries to dodge another rock the size of her body. Unable to react in time, the boulder collides against her back, slamming her into the ground. She doesn¡¯t move, even as a shower of debris falls on her. The worst has happened. Is she dead? She can¡¯t possibly be. A rock like that couldn¡¯t be enough to kill her, right? She is only prone for a moment before Remus has her legs grasped in his tentacles. With a spin and a flick of his limbs, he throws Bunny far to the side. Out of the way of the rockslide. She crashes hard, but out of danger. Remus lost all the momentum he¡¯d gained by launching her to safety. He cannot regain his speed before the rock engulfs him. I lose sight of him in the immense landslide. Gr¨ªmr escapes out the other side¡­ well, not safe, but in far better shape than the other two. Despite Remus¡¯ orders, I fly to the mountainside. I can¡¯t just sit out while they are hurt. Bunny rises to her feet and I¡¯m flooded with relief that she¡¯s okay. She holds her chest and I¡¯m sure the impact really hurt her, but she¡¯s alive. That¡¯s all that matters right now. Bunny looks down at the rockslide as it slows into the devastated area of the glacier, then turns to me. I¡¯m trying not to think what might have happened to Remus. There¡¯s no way anyone could have survived that. ¡°Go find Remus. He should be fine; a bit of rock won¡¯t hurt him as long as we deal with the dahu.¡± She turns her attention up the mountain, where the dome hiding the dahu sits right on the top ledge of a new vertical cliff-face. ¡°I¡¯m going to stop it causing any more damage.¡± I look down over the fallen cliff. How exactly does she think he¡¯ll be fine buried under millions of tonnes of rock? But if she has confidence in him surviving, then I guess I should be hopeful. Bunny is already sprinting up the mountain again when I leave for the churned up sea of rock. I don¡¯t have a clue where I should start my search. As she rushes toward the fortified dahu, Bunny dances around the stone spikes piercing out from below. They aren¡¯t as tall as they were before, but they jab at her with far more speed. She twists, jumps and slams her way through the rapid spikes as she closes in on the spiky dome. Gr¨ªmr is slowly making his way up to the dahu from the other side, but he doesn¡¯t seem to face the same aggressive defence that Bunny does. Both Gr¨ªmr and Bunny reach the dome within a second of each other. The portian charges head first into the dome, leveraging his weight to smash through the defensive wall. Bunny does much the same on the other side, swinging her hammer into the stone before her. Both breach their respective portions. The stone collapses under the immense impacts. The dahu bleats. Once more I hear it clearly despite the distance. The loss of parts of its defensive wall unnerves the creature. Neither of my teammates can react in time as the entire stone dome slams into them. The goat foregoing its defence to send them away. The stone spikes knock them back. Bunny scrambles against the ground, her momentum dying just as her feet slide over the ledge of the cliff. The goat already has pillars of stone rising to wrap its body in a dome once more. Both regain their footing and rush back toward the dahu. They won¡¯t reach it in time before the dome is rebuilt. Jav drops through the air. I realise I forgot about him until now. He glides right through the open space in the stone and falls out of sight behind the rising walls. The spikes interweave and close the defence around the creature, locking Jav in with it. I can understand the others able to take some blows, but I¡¯m pretty sure Jav doesn¡¯t have the same thick skin as the others. I retain hope. If, as Bunny says, Remus is fine even with a mountain falling on him, then why wouldn¡¯t Jav? I¡¯ll have to trust Jav has some way to keep himself safe. Movement below has me drop amongst the rock. He¡¯s actually okay. I can¡¯t help but be shocked. Remus climbs out through the rubble he¡¯d been buried under. Deep purple discolourations cover his usually blue skin, but he¡¯s alive! I drop to his side to help him, but in my bird form there¡¯s little I can do. He pulls himself through the gravel, pushing aside boulders as easily as the smaller stones. A couple of bangs ring out, which drag my attention up to the dome at the top of the cliff. Bunny and Gr¨ªmr have breached through. This time, there is no reaction. The dome doesn¡¯t explode outward, nor do any more stone spikes emerge. Remus laughs as he looks up. ¡°I hope you like goat; it¡¯s one of Jav¡¯s favourites.¡± So they killed it? Not a moment later, my question is answered. Bunny walks out with the head of the dahu and raises it above her head for us to see. Its eyes and teeth glow amber even in death. ¡°So, is that normal for the Middle Elevation?¡± I ask, shocked by the power put on display by the beast. ¡°The ground there is a touch more stable. Ignoring that, then yeah.¡± The amusement in his eyes is clear. I hear a crack in the distance as a portion of the glacier fractures. Seriously, the collateral damage from that goat is insane. ??? Jav takes the best cuts from the dahu and leaves the rest for the ritual. Despite the obvious power wielded by the creature, the team seems more interested in Jav¡¯s cooking than taking in that strength for themselves.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. It doesn¡¯t take him long to get the steaks sizzling over a fire. Turns out, when Jav dropped on the dahu, he¡¯d been able to slice right through its neck with only a few spins. How something capable of so much damage could be so easily killed, I don¡¯t know. Then again, the creature didn¡¯t make it easy to get close. After being left to watch them struggle, I feel frustrated. Frustrated that I¡¯d been left out of the fight, but mostly because I know I couldn¡¯t have helped, regardless. The head of the dahu sits there with the rest of its corpse, teeth glowing and waiting for the moment we use it as fuel for our growth. The others may be patient, but I want to get stronger sooner rather than later. I¡¯m tempted to just take the head for myself, hoard the energy I can burn out of it and enhance my flames. The thought runs through my head, but I can¡¯t do that. Not after all the effort the others have put forward to welcome and help me. It¡¯s the same as when I was with my tribe; I¡¯m protected, but can never help when it truly matters. I grab my spear from Bunny¡¯s pack and walk off to practice while the others relax after their fight. With each thrust, I think about the force behind the dahu¡¯s stone spikes. Each swing, Remus¡¯ cratering whips overwhelm me. I look at the strength behind my own attacks and see nothing. When my flames don¡¯t burn and my strength can¡¯t compete, how will I ever stand by their side? For now, my only use is the ritual I provide the team. I won¡¯t say it, but after such an intense fight, the fact that they would rather put off the part that I can actually contribute¡­ well, hurt isn¡¯t the right word. It makes me feel unneeded; like the ritual isn¡¯t as important as they¡¯ve led me to believe until now. Even as I swing my spear to unleash my frustrations, I know I¡¯m overthinking things, but I can¡¯t help but feel like nothing has changed in the two years since I¡¯ve been without my tribe. Despite everything I¡¯ve been through, I¡¯m back in the same position of being protected by others and not able to contribute. These thoughts cycling through my mind will do nothing but continue to frustrate me. So I channel the emotion into my movements and attempt to blank my mind. ??? The next few days pass rather uneventfully. Well, as uneventfully as it can be now that creature encounters are increasing again. The glacier still passes through the valleys between mountains, but the Titan¡¯s path continues straight, uncaring for the mountains it left half molten. Now that it is a direct path once more, we no longer avoid the creatures that might have followed the tunnels in the ice. At least we know we didn¡¯t miss some hidden biome under the glacier; the bats, centipedes and other creatures we are following have shown themselves again. I keep up my spear training, dedicated to improving in any way I can while I can. Bunny is all too keen to help. This high, the snow seems to lack the same powdery feeling to it. Instead, it is nearly as hard as ice itself. I can walk along it without fear of sinking in. Even if I fall over, I¡¯ll probably be fine. It goes to show how much heavier Gr¨ªmr and Bunny are; they fall through the hard snow to their knees. Jav, Remus and I walk along above the two with hardly an issue. It looks like Gr¨ªmr¡¯s regenerative speed is unique to himself. After the fight, he¡¯d had a few bumps and bruises that cleared up in a matter of hours, but Remus and Bunny are less fortunate. The purple colour has darkened into a red and spread over much of Remus¡¯ body and Bunny fractured a rib being crushed by that boulder. It¡¯s hard to tell if they don¡¯t feel pain from their injuries or if they¡¯re just really good at hiding it from me. Even with the damage they¡¯ve taken, we continue moving. We have yet to face another mid tier beast, fortunately. Or, maybe that¡¯s unfortunate. The dahu¡¯s body was dense with compressed energy, the teeth were especially energising. As much as I want more of that empowering feeling I get while consuming those creatures, I shouldn¡¯t wish another fight of that scale upon the others. Not until I can fight as well. We are here to investigate the source of the new monsters, not to hunt. I should be grateful for the creatures I get to consume on the way and not hope for more from the Middle Elevation. As we move further up the alps, I can¡¯t help but notice that each mountain is far less¡­ whole. If I look beyond the damage caused by the Titan, there are still sweeping regions where land just ceases. A series of deep gouges in a mountain appear to be terrifyingly large claw marks when viewed from far away. Craters hundreds of metres wide disfigure much of the landscape. Plant life has also diminished, leaving only the most resilient to thrive in the cold, thin air. Air which has been doing a number on me. Even with my new snowsuit, the cold permeates everything. I¡¯m able to push it off by eating beasts and the iron in Gr¨ªmr¡¯s pack, but every day I feel myself growing more exhausted. The thin air is difficult to breathe and leaves my flames weak. ¡°Hit me!¡± Bunny commands as she jogs backwards. The landscape has become treacherous enough that the team has slowed to my speed. If they continue at their previous speed, they are apparently far more likely to fall prey to the ambush predators common in the Middle Elevation. We haven¡¯t come across one yet, but Remus believes it is worth being careful. I sprint toward her and swing with an overhead diagonal slash before jerking my arm back and thrusting forward with as much strength as I can manage. She falls for my feint, but I¡¯m not fast enough to get the thrust through her guard before she reacts. Her overwhelming strength knocks my spear to the side. Brushed away as if less threatening than a gust of wind. ¡°Your technique has improved by leaps and bounds,¡± Bunny says as she jumps over a protruding rock without turning around. ¡°But your strength hasn¡¯t improved since we started. Normally, strength is the easiest to improve; all you need to do is train, but it doesn¡¯t seem to help you.¡± I lower my grip on the spear and sweep at her legs with as much force as I can muster. Bunny simply lowers her body and catches the spear right below the blade, not showing the slightest of having felt the impact. She jerks her hand and I can do nothing as she pulls the spear from my grasp. ¡°Even with all the energy you¡¯ve taken, your strength is not increasing. It feels like I¡¯m being hit by a five-year-old.¡± She throws back my spear and turns to Remus. ¡°Hey, you¡¯ve dealt with her kind before. How do they improve their strength? I know they are supposed to be rather deadly once they¡¯ve mastered their weapon, assuming those old tomes on southern weapons weren¡¯t filled with misinformation.¡± I glance his way as well, curious about anything he might know about my people. He shakes his head. ¡°No, I travelled with them for some time, but I was always an outsider. Anything they considered important, they kept to themselves. That includes everything about their growth and weapons.¡± He looks at me. ¡°Sorry Solvei, you¡¯ll have to figure it out yourself.¡± I nod to him as I think about what I might have to do. I¡¯d been following Bunny¡¯s guidance until now because she said it was the best way, but if an ¨¢ed¡¯s strength comes from somewhere else than these flesh people, then it¡¯s understandable she can¡¯t help. My first thought is covering my spear in flames to somehow enhance my strength. Even before the flames extend the weapon¡¯s length, I realise it won¡¯t work. Auntie Kay never engulfed her spear in flame when we trained, yet she still could manage far greater strength. I try to think about what my elders had done in all the times I¡¯d seen them fight. Nothing other than them wreathing their weapons in fire comes to mind. What else could they have done? A stray thought comes to mind. What was it that my tribe emphasised training over all else? Well, it was easy enough to try, I might as well see. ¡°Can you tell me if this is weaker than my previous strikes?¡± I ask Bunny before I prepare myself. I lower the control I have on my body, letting it return to its natural unhidden flame. My body reaches closer to ethereal than the physical it usually is, not so far that I can¡¯t hold my spear, but enough that I can tell for sure. I step toward her and swing with all the strength I can manage. It¡¯s hard to tell, because my strike is stopped just as easily as before, but I think it was weaker. ¡°Yeah, that one felt like an infant tapped me.¡± I glare at Bunny for her comment, but it confirms what I need to do; it¡¯s time to get back to training my control. ¡°Uh, guys? Did anyone see where that came from?¡± Jav says as he lowers from the sky. At the edge of the Titan¡¯s path is a centipede crawling over the ledge toward us. ¡°No?¡± ¡°Well, it wasn¡¯t there two minutes ago.¡± Chapter 76: Meltdown After making quick work of the centipede, we climb to the ledge of the Titan¡¯s path to see a large fissure in the ground. It¡¯s not an unusual sight along the unstable earth parallel to the path, but I don¡¯t think any of us expected anything to be down there. ¡°You don¡¯t think¡­¡± Gr¨ªmr trails off as we all stare down into the darkness. We¡¯re not on the glacier anymore, so there shouldn¡¯t be anything underneath us. Well, as far as I¡¯ve been told, there shouldn¡¯t be. I look over at Remus to see what he thinks. ¡°Whelp, only one way to find out.¡± He winks back at us before throwing himself down the into the depths. Both Jav and Bunny follow soon after, but I can¡¯t do it. I can¡¯t push myself to jump into the earth like that. What if it caves in on me? Gr¨ªmr stands by my side, not even taking a step toward the crevice. He lays by my side and fakes a yawn. ¡°You know I¡¯m kind of tired. I think I¡¯ll take a nap here while the others do all the hard work down there.¡± Whether he¡¯s playing around or is just a poor actor, I¡¯m not sure, but I don¡¯t think I can express how appreciative I am for his consideration. I don¡¯t want to go down there, but I don¡¯t know what I¡¯ll do if I¡¯m left alone up here. I sit down and lean into his fur. My body pushes its heat to warm the both of us, even though doing so burns through far more energy than I should. The frozen air leaves a dull ache through my body the longer I¡¯m exposed. Even burning hot, I can feel it permeating through me. Ever so slowly getting worse. I really hope they find nothing down there. Hopefully, the centipede just fell down into the crevice and we only saw as it crawled back out. As I huddle in close, I look out over the land below the alps. It¡¯s incredible how high we are. A carpet of clouds dot the land as far as I can see. We have come so far already, but as I glance up at the peak of the Alps above, it only feels like the mountain has gotten higher. The world below me is serene, beautiful even. Despite the danger, there is so much more to the world than the empty husk that is the wasteland. So many curiosities to see. Simply being here, taking in the sights, fills me with questions. Is the horizon curved or is it a trick of the eye? Why are the Alps bigger than normal mountain ranges? I glance down the fissure my teammates descended. What lurks where we cannot see? Despite the dangers to my kind, I really think the ¨¢ed should explore beyond the borders of our wasteland. If I could survive out here, there is no reason the adults can¡¯t. The world may be dangerous, but there are far more resources to be found. We would never find ourselves wanting again. Eventually, the resources in the wasteland will dry up, and when that happens, all ¨¢ed will be forced out regardless of how fearful they are of what is outside. Gr¨ªmr and I continue to wait in a comfortable silence until the others come back. ¡°So? Lead anywhere?¡± the vibration I feel through his fur as he speaks makes me want to lean into him more, like a soft bed, but the others are back so I give up on comfort and rise to my feet. ¡°You won¡¯t believe what we found,¡± Remus says. ¡°There¡¯s a tunnel, about ten metres wide, that follows under the path.¡± ¡°Really? How far does it go?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know. We walked for a while without finding an end. It¡¯s definitely where those creatures are coming from; the tunnel was crawling with them.¡± ¡°So we¡¯ve found it then?¡± I ask. ¡°We can go back and report it now, right?¡± Remus shakes his head as Bunny approaches my side. ¡°Unfortunately, we still need to investigate. We need to know what¡¯s at the end of that tunnel.¡± ¡°But we can continue on the surface, right? Go down and check every now and then. You said it follows under the Titan¡¯s path, right?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks for my sake. ¡°That will take too long. And we can¡¯t afford to split our strength.¡± Remus looks at me as he says that, and my chest clenches. I have a bad feeling. ¡°But, Solvei¡­¡± Gr¨ªmr turns to me with concern. Now something screams a warning in my head and I take a step back. I¡¯m stopped by Bunny, who puts a hand on my shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she says. ¡°But facing your fears is the best way to cure phobia.¡± I feel my body tense at her words, but she has me in her grasp and in moments we are falling into darkness. My arms lash out, trying to free me from her iron grip. I kick and wriggle. Nothing makes her let me go. My chest writhes and my form abandons its physicality. She is already sprinting through the tunnel, my bright yellow flame illuminating the walls of the cavern as we pass through. I struggle in my outfit, feeling far more trapping than it had a minute ago. My breath comes in ragged gasps and my eyes flicker all around me, looking for some way out. As my panic rises, I worm my way out of the snowsuit. My flames clawing their way out the arm and neck holes. I feel a strange sensation of extreme calm as my body splits into three. It doesn¡¯t last long. My body pulls back together and with it, a sledgehammer of overwhelming pressure sends me sprawling. I feel the hard rock under my fingers. Without thought, fire explodes from me. Searching for the way out. Any escape I can. My feet kick at the ground and I¡¯m sprinting away from Tetsu. Flames scorch the walls of the tunnel. Where did she bring me from? Where is the way out?Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. I run and run and run. The walls around me close in, squeezing at my sides. The darkness gets darker. The dark rock under my feet grasps at me with each step, trying to hold me down, to keep me locked away. But I will not give up. I¡¯ll keep running until I¡¯m free. A crack! A tiny fissure in the tunnel''s side. Without a moment¡¯s hesitation, I throw myself into it. The incorporeal nature of my form the only thing letting me through. I scamper through the tiny opening until it ends at a wall. My fingers dig into the stone, melting right through. I claw my way up the wall, scampering to reach the sky as fast as possible. Rock digs into my back as I climb. If not for my arms able to bend around the tight curve between stone walls, I wouldn¡¯t be able to move them. Molten rock from where my fingers dig flows down the wall in tiny cascades. I glance up, but I still can¡¯t see the way out. It¡¯s here. I know it is. It has to be. My hand hits something. I try to put my hand above me again, but I hit rock again. A ceiling? My body trembles as I send my arms to the sides, looking for the path up that has to be there. Not only don¡¯t I find any way up, the walls clamp down on my sides. I scream. Fire detonates around me as I push everything I have into burning through the rock above. I dig at the rock, scooping it away as it melts on contact. Everything around me glows red. I scrape at the ceiling with desperation, but I slip. The rock above my head falls out of range as a feeling of weightlessness overcomes me. Dread. Horror. My escape evades me. My arms slam to my side as an impact rocks my back. It takes until a drop of molten rock lands on my face for me to realise I¡¯ve fallen. The glowing earth above still searing hot. I¡¯m tired. My flames rage at the surrounding walls, soon engulfing me in a flood of lava, but I don¡¯t move. I can¡¯t. I¡¯m unable to tell which way is up. Am I on the ceiling? Floor? Maybe I¡¯m stuck to the wall? It doesn¡¯t matter; the darkness encroaches almost as fast as the rock. It¡¯s hard to breathe. I¡¯m exhausted. What am I doing? I¡¯m not free yet. I need to do everything, anything I can to stay free. Never again shall I stay trapped, even if I die trying. It¡¯s hard, but I rise to my feet again. My hands try to find a grip in the wall, but the molten rock keeps me from getting a good grip. Regardless, I keep trying. I push my arms deep into the stone to get as much of a hold as I can. Ever so slowly, I pull myself to the ceiling again. Aches ripple through my body from the exertion, but I¡¯m so close to my escape. I burn. I burn so hot it hurts. The rock liquefies at a touch, so I have to dig in with my legs just as much as I burn away with my arms. The darkness is terrifyingly close now. Everything except what¡¯s directly in front of my eyes might as well not exist. Each scrape brings me closer to escape, but I feel the walls clamping down on me now. I push my arm forward again, only to miss. What? I¡¯m falling again? But I can feel the walls hugging me. Squeezing me. Crushing me. Why is my escape leaving? Everything is dark now. ??? ¡°What the fuck were you thinking?¡± ¡°I never thought her reaction would be so severe.¡± Tetsu peers into the tight crack Solvei somehow wedged herself inside. ¡°She told you how terrified she was. Did you not consider how she might feel for a second?¡± Gr¨ªmr snarls as he glowers at her. ¡°Just shut up and help me get her out. I can¡¯t hear her struggling anymore.¡± This hadn¡¯t been what she wanted. Tetsu thought there might have been a bit of panic ¡ª It was all but certain the girl would lash out ¡ª but if it helped her get over her fear, then it would be worth whatever anger she might receive from the girl. Magma flows over Tetsu¡¯s arm as she tears off a chunk of rock, widening the opening. It surprised her how much heat she could feel from within. It exceeded what Tetsu thought the girl could manage. ¡°That was more than the desperation a simple fear could incite. It seems the Void Fog is quite insidious.¡± Remus stands behind Tetsu as she continues to tear away at the wall. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Gr¨ªmr, don¡¯t blame Bunny for this. We agreed together that exposure therapy would have the best chance at helping her. It is my fault this happened.¡± The fissure widens enough for Tetsu to get a view at the glowing cavern. There isn¡¯t a spot along the tight crevice that hasn¡¯t liquefied. Magma rolls down the walls and pools below. Solvei isn¡¯t in sight; likely submerged in the molten rock. ¡°Remus, can you get her out?¡± Tetsu asks as she pulls out of the tight passage. Better to have the most flexible of them in the tight passage. Without a word, Remus does as asked. He squirms his way through and comes out with the young ¨¢ed in a moment. She is limp in his limbs, lost to unconsciousness. Her body flickers in flame, no longer hiding what she is. Despite the damage she just caused to the chamber, her flames are weak. She gives off far less heat than normal. ¡°Gr¨ªmr, pass me her iron.¡± The portian is quick to pull his packs off and rummage through them. With precision that would have been impossible for a normal mountain panther, he pulls out the metal ingots between his claws. Remus takes them and holds them against the child¡¯s chest. It looks strange to Tetsu, but Remus is the only one on the team that knows anything about the ¨¢ed and their biology. ¡°So what now? Do we go back to the surface?¡± Jav asks. ¡°No, we still need to move on.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll take Solvei and wait on the surface.¡± Gr¨ªmr moves to take her from Remus, but he raises a limb to stop him. ¡°No. We¡¯re not splitting up. I don¡¯t want to risk you two having to face a mid tier alone.¡± His eyes move back down the tunnel where the darkness is impenetrable. ¡°Besides, we¡¯ll need our full strength going forward.¡± Gr¨ªmr growls. ¡°How could you be willing to put her through that again?¡± ¡°I like it as much as you do, but she needs this.¡± Remus looks down at the sleeping girl. ¡°If she doesn¡¯t learn to work through the panic, how do you think she¡¯ll manage if we¡¯re not there to help her?¡± Gr¨ªmr snarls, but says no more. He walks to the wall of the tunnel and strikes out, his claws slicing deep through the rock. She understands how he feels, but Remus is right; Solvei needs a push to get past this. The girl refuses to enter buildings for fuck¡¯s sake. If she doesn¡¯t get over her phobia, she¡¯ll never be able to manage in civilisation. Not to mention how unfair the world can be sometimes. If she continues to push for more strength, there is no doubt in Tetsu¡¯s mind Solvei will face challenges that won¡¯t be so kind as to only leave her with fear. Thoughts of her father and the near vegetative state he¡¯d returned in after his ultimate battle dig their way into her mind before she can shake them away. She doesn¡¯t want to think about him. Too painful to imagine the imposing weapon-master she¡¯d always idolised be reduced to what he¡¯d become. Luckily for Solvei, she slept for the subsequent days as they ran through the tunnel. The wide cavern often had cracks in the side, leading to fissures on the surface. Plenty of places for the bugs to crawl their way to the surface. The further they seem to travel, the more dense the population of their targets becomes. Solvei¡¯s sleep was anything but pleasant. She would toss and turn in calm moments, then lash out in a panic, her flames trying to burn at anything they can grasp. Gr¨ªmr had taken over Remus in taking care of her. The portian clearly seeing much of his old ¨¢infean relatives in the girl. He was usually far more reserved around people, especially those he hadn¡¯t known for years. They eventually come across the source for these creatures. The tunnel¡¯s black rock underfoot changes to a smooth grey stone that slopes upward until the tunnel they¡¯d been following pinches off. In the centre of this new stone floor is a hole large enough for Gr¨ªmr to fit in lengthwise. Tetsu jumps down first. The ground under her feet made of the same stone as above. She looks around, only to be shocked at how far she can see. A low ceiling cavern extends before her at an upward slope. It is dark, but in the low light Solvei gives off, she can see that the two layers of stone keep an almost perfect three metre separation for as far as she can see. Not just in one direction, but all around her. Just where in the Grand Champion¡¯s name does this lead? Chapter 77: Illness Pain. That¡¯s the first thing I notice through my cloudy thoughts. My body aches and screams for me to return to the void of nothingness. But a part of my mind lashes out, refusing to stay still any longer. I feel like I¡¯m being pulled at both ends; stretched to my limit. It¡¯s hard to think through the intense migraine, and my body refuses to move when I try to open my eyes. I¡¯m familiar with this feeling. I haven¡¯t felt it in years, and I¡¯d hoped never to again, but it looks like the cold has been too much for me. I can feel the thump of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s footfalls through his back. We must still be travelling, then. I wonder if we¡¯ve gotten close to the Middle Elevation yet? Sudden memories of Tetsu forcing me into the entrapping grasp of the underground tunnels slam into me. My mind forces my eyes open, ignoring my body¡¯s resistance. The smooth grey ceiling confirms my greatest fear and I jerk, trying to escape. A pained gasp leaves my throat, but that seems to be all I can do. My body is exhausted and refuses to move when I command it. The tension through my limbs amplifies the aches of sickness. My body shakes involuntarily and I try my hardest to force a reaction. Anything that might get me an escape. I spread my flames, but they flicker and die, refusing my commands. I¡¯m running on fumes, I realise. All the energy I had is gone. Now, I barely have enough to survive and my body won¡¯t let me kill myself anymore. But¡­ but trapped down here as I am, I might as well be dead. I try to roll over, to open my hands or send out my flames, but nothing does as I want. I choke and struggle to breathe from my desperate attempt to move. ¡°Solvei, you need to calm down. It¡¯s alright. You¡¯re not in danger.¡± I hear a voice. Gr¨ªmr? I can¡¯t tell. There¡¯s too much haze over my mind. It¡¯s hard to think straight. With enough struggle, I eventually twist to my side. I pant and try to catch my breath, but I can now see the cavern is long. I can¡¯t see the end, but the walls aren¡¯t closing in on me. It¡¯s too much effort to turn my head, but in each direction I see, the cave doesn¡¯t end. Somehow, I slow my breathing, but my body still shakes from the pain and fear. ¡°Solvei, you are not trapped. Calm down and regain yourself.¡± Remus is in front of me now. He wants me to calm down? Doesn¡¯t he realise how horrifying this situation is? If I don¡¯t do everything I can to get out, then¡­ Then what? I don¡¯t really know what happens then, but I know it is bad. Terrifyingly bad. Why doesn¡¯t he understand that? ¡°I know this is hard, but you have to try and work through this. You will never overcome your fear if you let it overwhelm you.¡± I try to deny him, to shake my head or tell him that being confined like this is the worst thing imaginable, but I can¡¯t even manage that. My migraine intensifies. I can¡¯t fight off the growing darkness any longer. I awake again, this time without the haze over my mind. The body tremors start as soon as I realise where I am, but I can at least think straight. My body is still resistant to what I tell it, but I can open my eyes. We are still travelling under the ceiling of grey stone. I gasp for breath and feel a writhing compression in my chest. I¡¯m about to struggle again, to push my flames out and try my hardest to find any way out, when my head is grasped in two firm hands. My head is tilted up to face Tetsu. ¡°Get a hold of yourself,¡± she snaps. ¡°There is nothing for you to fear. There¡¯s no reason we can¡¯t make our way out. You are not trapped.¡± For a moment, I¡¯m stunned. She was the one who brought me down here. She forced me into this situation. It was Tetsu who trapped me and she has the nerve to yell at me? A well of anger bubbles within me. I glare at her with all the spite I suddenly feel. She betrayed my trust. I told her my fear, and she abuses it. ¡°How could you?¡± I try to demand, but my voice is barely audible to my own ears. She hesitates, visibly backing away from me. Remus jumps in before she can answer. ¡°Don¡¯t blame her. It was my idea,¡± he says. ¡°I thought it would help you face your fear.¡± I narrow my eyes at him before looking up at Jav, who turns away from my gaze. ¡°Were you all okay with this?¡± I ask incredulously. ¡°Gr¨ªmr wasn¡¯t.¡± I feel a low growl underneath me. My chest burns, but I don¡¯t know whether it¡¯s the overwhelming fear, the sickness permeating my body, or the betrayal I feel. ¡°I trusted you.¡± I twist my head away from them as far as the aches will let me. ¡°It worked, didn¡¯t it? In your anger, you ignored that fear,¡± Jav says. Is that what he thinks? I¡¯m not trembling in fear while I rage at them? No, I wish that were how it was, but I just don¡¯t have the energy to scream and thrash despite how much I feel I should be.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. It¡¯ll tear me apart if I continue to focus on these emotions. They¡¯ve betrayed me, but Gr¨ªmr didn¡¯t. I focus on that. Gr¨ªmr is still on my side, even if the others might not be. His fur is warm under me and I take comfort in the proximity. As much comfort as I can manage while my body writhes in anxiety. I focus on my breathing, pulling my mind into myself to keep my eyes away from the stony cavern. It¡¯s all I can manage not to scream. I know, logically, that this is unreasonable. Just because I¡¯m in an enclosed space doesn¡¯t mean there isn¡¯t a way out. ¡°Can we leave?¡± I plead into Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back, only loud enough for the panther himself to hear. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I want to as well, but I need you to hold in there.¡± Even the only one I can trust won¡¯t help me. I force my eyes closed and try to relax enough to fall asleep. Hopefully, by the time I wake, we¡¯ll be out. ¡­ I can¡¯t sleep. The tension continues to strangle me every time I think about where I am. Nothing I do can remove it from my mind. I focus on the thuds shaking through Gr¨ªmr¡¯s chest, the faint beats that come every few seconds, and the repetitive lifting and falling underneath me. Anything that can distract me, I latch onto. We better not be down here long. ??? We¡¯ve been down here so long. Without the light of the Eternal Inferno, I have no way to tell how long has passed, but it must be days. The pressure squeezing me never gets better, but somehow, I push through. My exhaustion recedes enough that I can move my arms and flames again. It is incredibly difficult to hold myself back from lashing out again, but I manage. I don¡¯t want to be stuck unable to move my body again. While some of my energy is back, my sickness pounds me as intensely as before. Through the dizziness I sometimes hear the team speaking, but it¡¯s been mostly incomprehensible through my headache until now. I have some strength back, but I keep my head firmly in the fur before me. I¡¯m in control of myself now, but who knows what might happen when I look at the walls enclosing me once more. I¡¯d really rather not lose myself to another panic attack. I can hear the others arguing now, their raised voices flaring my migraine. The most that filters through my foggy thoughts is that they can¡¯t decide where to go. Some change must have happened and now there is conflict on our path going forward. I refuse to lift my head, so I can¡¯t know what has changed. Whether it¡¯s a change in the landscape or some monster, I don¡¯t know. They soon settle down though, to the relief of my psyche. Time passes in thankful quiet. Except for the occasional sound of some unfortunate creature being crushed, the journey is about as pleasant as I can hope for. I feel horrible and my body fights against me at every moment, but I¡¯m able to close myself away in my tiny world on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back that definitely is not trapped under the earth. It hasn¡¯t worked yet, but if I keep telling myself we are running along the open mountains with sunlight bearing down on us from above, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll eventually calm down. I feel something touch my back before I hear a voice. ¡°Solvei.¡± I can¡¯t tell if it¡¯s Jav or Remus, my mind slow to recognise the voice in its lethargic state. ¡°You are doing great. You¡¯ve held on for so long. I need you to work with us here, alright? I need you to open your eyes.¡± I shake my head with vigour, only to worsen my migraine. There¡¯s no way I can do that. It¡¯ll make everything worse again; I won¡¯t be able to think past the fear. ¡°If you can¡¯t do that, please hide your fire. Just for a bit, okay?¡± I can pinpoint the voice as Remus¡¯ now. I¡¯m not controlling my flame? A flush of embarrassment runs through me as I feel them out in the open without even realising. The feeling is muted against the pain and tension consuming my body. I consider for a moment to keep myself as I am, simply to spite Remus after he put me in this position. But doing so would be going against my tribe for the sake of an inconsequential defiance. I don¡¯t reply, but I force my body back until it¡¯s physical enough to hide my flames. ¡°Thank you,¡± he says before I hear him scuttling off. All is quiet for the next few minutes. Quieter even, than it has been for a while. Their steps are near silent. Only what I assume is Tetsu¡¯s footsteps can be heard, but even they are muffled. Despite his size, Gr¨ªmr can be deadly silent. What are they doing? Why are they sneaking? I¡¯m answered by a deep growl rumbling along the cavern and through my chest. It isn¡¯t loud, but it shakes the cave regardless. An intense presence screaming its power to the world. If I hadn¡¯t already been ensnared in anxiety, I¡¯m sure the terror of this familiar feeling would engulf me. Only two beings have ever made me feel like this. A presence so intimidatingly absolute that even as my eyes snap open for the first time in days, I am frozen. My body screams to escape my confines once more, but a deeper, more primal part of me refuses to move. In the darkness, I can barely make out the team members huddling close together. Everything is silent. Nobody makes a noise, nor is there any sound from what caused that growl. As the seconds tick by, I wonder if it has left. Whatever it was, gave me the same instinctual terror as Hund. A similar all-encompassing sensation to the Titan. Without warning, the cavern rumbles. I hold tight to Gr¨ªmr as an earsplitting bang rips through us. A heavy grinding joins the clamour of rocks falling to the ground of the cavern. Something big is scraping against the stone ahead of us. None of us dare move. The grinding quietens until all I can hear is tapping. The sound you would expect from hitting stone with a metal pole. It echoes along the low ceiling without rhythm. We all shrink away from the noise, hoping the source won¡¯t notice us. The tapping stops. The sound of something massive grinding and tearing apart the stone returns, but only for a short time until it quietens again. A wet splattering noise replaces it. Hardly even audible after the intense noise of rock being pulverised. Minutes pass as the sound continues. I look to my side, wondering if any of the others are planning to move away yet. It¡¯s nearly impossible to see them with how dark it is, but from what I can see, none dare move a muscle. Even Tetsu, who I¡¯d assume would charge in to a challenging fight without restraint, remains frozen. Her eyes glued to the origin of unsettling noises hidden in the dark. The wet noises eventually stop, only for both the tapping and grinding to return as whatever is before us moves away. I¡¯d probably feel relieved if I was anywhere but in this cavern. The rest of the team doesn¡¯t have the same reservations. Each of them lets out a breath and their bodies loosen as the tension leaves them. I watch as Remus flops down onto the ground, his limbs spread wide around him. A touch of envy mixes with the tension I still feel. Even with the fear of that monstrosity gone, my terror of this simple enclosed space still has its grasp on me. I¡¯ve been doing well. Maybe it was the instinctual feeling that forced me to freeze, but even with the creature gone, my panic doesn¡¯t escalate more than I can manage. I don¡¯t strike out randomly at my surroundings. ¡°I guess we now know how that other hole was made.¡± Jav¡¯s voice echoes from ahead of me. The beast only just left. Why is he over there already? Does he want to bring it back? Against my wishes, Gr¨ªmr approaches the volan. As we get closer, I spot him through the darkness looking down at the ground before him. Gr¨ªmr stops by Jav¡¯s side and only then do I realise what he¡¯s talking about. Before us, a massive section of the stone floor is gone. But instead of another tunnel, it drops into another cavern a hundred metres below. A blue glow carpets the cavern below us, its dim light hardly enough to make out anything in the area below us. The biggest shock is that the stone under our feet isn¡¯t half a metre thick. Assuming what I can see on the other end of the hole before us continues on our side, we¡¯ve been wandering over this massive cavern without knowing. ¡°Solvei, sorry to ask after everything, but could you give us some light?¡± Remus stops beside us. I almost refuse, but he¡¯s not looking down with the rest of us. His eyes are locked on the ceiling ahead of us. Begrudgingly, I do as asked. The light from my arms is enough to light up everything before us. A hundred white orbs the size of my arm stick to the ceiling with a slick paste. Are they eggs? Chapter 78: Convalesce ¡°So¡­ should we destroy them? I¡¯m not sure I like the idea of more of whatever that was running around,¡± Jav says. ¡°No,¡± Tetsu says. ¡°Did you not feel that presence? We don¡¯t have a chance if it comes back.¡± I look down at the glowing base of the cavern below. Large swathes of the glow go dark in areas silhouetting¡­ something down there. The light isn¡¯t bright enough to actually see what the shadows are, but if there is more than one of those things down there, I really don¡¯t want to stand around here. Actually, even the one is too much. ¡°Bunny¡¯s right.¡± Remus stares up at the eggs on the ceiling. ¡°This is our limit. Thanks to whatever that glow is, we know there is an entire unexplored ecosystem down here. We won¡¯t have to search that last hole we found. Now is the time to report back.¡± As he takes a step back, the familiar skittering sound of a centipede comes from the other side of the hole. I pump my flames a bit to get a better look, feeling exhausted even from this slight effort. The creature is already digging into an egg, eating whatever undeveloped creature it can find inside. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not good,¡± Remus says as I hear more critters all around us. ¡°On the off chance that thing actually cares about its babies, we should probably run.¡± And like that, we are off. Gr¨ªmr lunges after him, and the rough motion immediately flares the aches in my body, reigniting my migraine. I shut my eyes to try and push away the pain, but it isn¡¯t helpful. There is no sound of grinding rock nor the tapping from earlier. All I hear as we run is the scuttle of many centipedes rushing for a free lunch. Whatever left those eggs, thankfully, doesn¡¯t return. We slow after Remus decides we are far enough from the hole. ¡°Alright,¡± he starts. ¡°Where¡¯s the way out?¡± ¡°You weren¡¯t paying attention? Again?¡± Jav says, exasperated. ¡°Just go east.¡± At the blank looks he receives, he sighs and points in a direction. ¡°Just walk that way.¡± Again, we are back to walking through the endless flat cavern. I feel capable of looking around without losing my mind in panic. So¡­ progress. I don¡¯t know how Jav can tell where we are. It looks the same no matter how far we travel. Regardless of how he does it, he exudes a confidence that doesn¡¯t make me doubt his ability to find the exit for a second. That is until he has us stop where there is no hole in the ceiling and looks around in confusion after days of walking with confidence. ¡°It should be here.¡± ¡°Oh my, what¡¯s this? Jav lost his touch?¡± Remus gasps. ¡°And to think he was so confident all this time.¡± ¡°Not the time,¡± Jav snaps, looking along the ceiling as if it will pop into existence. ¡°I¡¯m not wrong. It should be here.¡± Remus sighs. ¡°Alright. Everyone fan out and see if you can find it.¡± Gr¨ªmr and I rush off. With my body as reluctant to work with me as it is, it¡¯s a challenge to brighten my flames. I push them so we have a decent amount of light to work with, but despite that, we find no signs of our entrance. We search for a long while, covering several hundred metres from the point Jav claimed the exit should be. Not a hint of the entrance to be found. But that¡¯s not to say we find nothing. ¡°Everyone,¡± Tetsu calls through the dark. ¡°Get here now.¡± Gr¨ªmr and I arrive to see her standing over what looks like a golden-brown, flat-bottomed bowl. ¡°What did you find?¡± Remus says as he approaches. ¡°Not sure. It looks like a pastry, but I¡¯ve never seen one so hard.¡± She pokes the toe of her boot at the offending bowl and it clatters along the stone as if it were rock itself. Jav is off Remus¡¯s head and scoops the pastry off the ground. ¡°Old man, I didn¡¯t realise you ate these? I thought you hated acting your age?¡± ¡°What?¡± Remus¡¯ eyes widen as he gets a closer look at the bowl. ¡°That¡¯s not mine.¡± ¡°Then this is concerning,¡± Jav says, putting strength into his arms until the thing cracks apart. ¡°What is it?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks. ¡°A pie. A pastry hard enough to survive some abuse. It¡¯s used to contain meat for safe consumption while travelling. They¡¯re an outdated practice as the inedible crust wastes a lot of space.¡± Jav pauses as he looks around the cavern. ¡°Someone else has been down here.¡± ¡°But¡­ why? Did the Order send someone before us?¡± Tetsu asks.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°No. They shouldn¡¯t have. Even if you ignore the fact that this was more of a punishment than a mission, they sent us alone because nobody else was available.¡± Remus rests his head on a curled up tentacle. ¡°I think for now we should just focus on getting out. We¡¯ll trust that Jav¡¯s sense isn¡¯t off and that the Titan¡¯s path is above us. Bunny, can you please?¡± Without a word, she pulls out her war hammer and swings it so the spike smashes into the stone above our heads. The loud clang sends a jolt of pain through my head. Her hammer did nothing more than bounce off the stone. A thin scratch is all that marks the spot she hit. After watching her smash though thousands of tonnes of stone against the dahu, it is shocking to see her hit cause nearly no damage. ¡°Wha¡­?¡± she obviously feels the same way She lines up her strike again, but is no more effective than before. In fact, the ceiling seems to have damaged her hammer more than it did the ceiling. The sharp tip on the back of her hammer is ever so slightly duller. Remus shoos her out of the way and dons a gauntlet. His tentacle moves too quick to see, but I hear the thunderous crack reverberating from his swing. Even his attack leaves nothing more than a dent the shape of his gauntlet in the ceiling. ¡°Well,¡± He starts. ¡°This is worrisome.¡± Each of the team casts their gaze around the cavern in obvious concern. It seems I¡¯m the only one who doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s going on. ¡°Is that¡­¡± Gr¨ªmr pauses. ¡°Is all of this¡­ ranked stone?¡± ¡°It appears so.¡± ¡°Well, shit. It looks like Solvei was right to be worried about being trapped,¡± Jav says. His words feel like a spike being nailed into my chest. When there was a way out, I hadn¡¯t been able to stop the panic attack coming on. But now they say we are actually trapped? I can¡¯t stop the delirium that envelopes me. I go to lash out but find no energy responds. Darkness takes me. ??? My eyes open to a wall of blue light. I blink and groan from the pain that assaults me. I guess it¡¯s too much to ask to sleep until I feel better. As I look around, I realise it isn¡¯t a blue wall, but a thousand blue glowing dots around me. Tiny little flying insects that weave in amongst themselves a metre or two above the ground. Wait¡­ we didn¡¯t go down into the home of that monster, did we? I can¡¯t see the ceiling. Not a good sign. The ground under Gr¨ªmr¡¯s feet is uneven soil with protruding jagged rocks, not smooth stone. The glow-flies must be the source of the blue glow I saw looking down that hole. Despite possibly being in the home of some Titan and being trapped underground, the panic that has consumed me ever since they dragged me down here, has calmed. I still feel horribly sick and lacking energy, but the overwhelming desperation is gone. The fear is still there, but I feel like it is manageable. It¡¯s both more natural and yet somewhat subdued. Maybe it¡¯s because the cavern is much larger, or I¡¯ve just burnt through all the effort I¡¯m willing to go through in my efforts to escape. Something about these options doesn¡¯t seem right to me, but I¡¯m grateful to think with a clear mind again. Now, I can figure out how I¡¯m going to get out of here. If this team tries to stop me from getting out, then it might be time to separate from them. ¡°You¡¯re awake!¡± Gr¨ªmr says as I readjust my position. ¡°Yeah.¡± I manage, still feeling tired. ¡°You¡¯ve been out for weeks. We were worried.¡± The team comes to a stop and surrounds me. It is uncomfortable to have everyone¡¯s attention solely on me. Especially as vulnerable as I feel right now. Remus steps before me and dips his head until it¡¯s below mine. ¡°I am deeply regretful of the actions I have made. I apologise for not treating your concerns with the sincerity they deserve. My actions were intended to help, but that is no excuse for the suffering I have inflicted on you.¡± He tilts his eyes up in his head until he¡¯s locking them with my own. ¡°I talked about the arrogance about the younger teams, but it was my own arrogance that landed us here. If I had listened to your fears, I would not have put you in such a dangerous place. For that, I am sorry.¡± I don¡¯t know how to react. I turn to the others to see their reaction. Both Jav and Tetsu bow their heads to me as well. Even Gr¨ªmr lowers his head underneath me. I don¡¯t know why; it¡¯s not him I feel betrayed by. ¡°I am sorry,¡± Tetsu says stiffly. Jav nods at her words. ¡°You should have seen Gr¨ªmr¡¯s outburst. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen him so angry. He made sure each of us regret what we did.¡± I don¡¯t know if I should believe their apologies are sincere. What if they¡¯re trying to bait me in with a false sense of security only to betray me once more? Just as Gloria did. Well, regardless of their intentions, if I can use their intent to make up ¡ª genuine or not ¡ª I¡¯ll use them as much as I can to find a way out. I give them a small nod to appease them. ¡°What happened?¡± I ask. Gr¨ªmr takes the chance to jump in. ¡°After you fainted, we spent a week walking through the flat cavern, looking for any sign of a way out. We had no luck; the cavern was identical almost the entire way through except for the holes created by that large egg-laying monster and a few other insignificant oddities. We found nothing in our search, so we decided it was best to look down here.¡± ¡°So, how do we plan to get out?¡± ¡°We hope to find a path down here. There was nothing for us to find up there. The entrance we came through has seemingly been replaced by ranked stone,¡± Remus says. ¡°You want to find your way out¡­ by going down? Won¡¯t we just reenter that cavern if we climb up again? And what¡¯s ranked stone?¡± ¡°Ranked stone, or any ranked element, is the enhanced version of that element. Think how we are strengthened people of our own race; it is like that, but for stone. That cavern above us is entirely made of ranked stone. Which, I should be clear, is insane. Many of the stronger Middle Elevation beasts can only create or influence a small amount of the stuff. Imagine all the rock the dahu manipulated, all of that compressed to the size of your hand.¡± I look down at my hand and struggle to comprehend the exact magnitude of what he is talking about. All I know is that this ranked stone is strong. ¡°There are few things that can break through ranked stone. None of us can. So we come down here on the assumption that the area acts like the Middle Elevation; there may be paths that shouldn¡¯t exist if you mapped it out. It is not impossible for a path to lead to the surface that somehow avoids the flat cavern above.¡± It sounds hard to believe, but I¡¯ve already seen the inside of the Void Fog, so it isn¡¯t unimaginable. Still, it feels like a bit of a stretch as our only option. ¡°There¡¯s really no other way?¡± Remus avoids eye contact and acts like he hasn¡¯t heard me. ¡°The monsters,¡± Tetsu says in his place. ¡°We could lure one of them into reopening the entrance.¡± ¡°No. If we do that, the likelihood something will go wrong is enormous. We can¡¯t risk it.¡± That sounds terrifying. But if it is a way out, it¡¯s definitely worth considering. In the corner of my eye, I spot the hovering glow-bugs start to thin. Remus notices too. ¡°We should get moving. For now, we¡¯ll continue to look for a way up and only consider baiting one of those things if we have no other option.¡± I cling to Gr¨ªmr and we dash away from the area of dwindling lights. Chapter 79: Bug Trap Despite how bright the glowing bugs seem to be, they don¡¯t light up the surrounding anywhere near as much as they should. A faint blue outlines rocks and stalagmites nearby, but that is the limit to what it illuminates. I stand on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back to look over the layer of glow-bugs. They span far into the distance in every direction, leaving dark spots in many areas. The bugs keep their distance from us, indicating that each shadow isn¡¯t representative of the size of what is hiding within. So, not every dark area will hide one of those massive egg laying creatures. Well, hopefully. Remus¡¯ plan leaves me rather uncomfortable. At the moment, it seems like all we¡¯re doing is wandering aimlessly. We¡¯ve avoided the dark spots for now, instead ambling our way through the sea of glow-bugs until we find a wall. Even after days of walking, we¡¯ve yet to come across one. Bats screech overhead occasionally. They swoop down to consume swathes of the glow-bugs and usually there is no prior warning. Suddenly, clumps of the glowing specs disappear. They steer clear of the dark areas, so we¡¯ve had no need to worry, but the entire fact that there are creatures above my head that I can¡¯t see approach is bothersome. I want to light up the area with my fire, but Remus told me not to. He¡¯s worried that I might attract the monster we have no chance of facing. Honestly, I think it would be worth the risk. We need information, but it¡¯s hard to learn anything if we can¡¯t see. If that creature does attack, then great; we can direct it to the ceiling and I¡¯ll have a way out again. Nothing but my freedom matters. A deep growl thunders through the air and the five of us freeze. The glow-bugs all stop in midair. Constant interweaving movement forgotten. The presence is back, undiluted and bearing down on me. It feels like the creature is watching, right over my shoulder and ready to consume me whole. A bang crashes from far ahead of us. It sounds like that monster is tearing through the ceiling again. None of us speak. Unanimously, we switch direction. Even an hour later, everyone is still looking over their shoulder and jumping at shadows. Or, more specifically, the patches lacking glow-bug light. ¡°How much longer are we going to do this?¡± I can¡¯t help but ask. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we try something different? Those creatures can¡¯t be hiding in each of those shadows; can we light them up just to check?¡± ¡°I understand your impatience, Solvei, but we cannot rush,¡± Remus says. ¡°This place is unfamiliar. I¡¯ve already put us in enough danger. I don¡¯t plan to take unnecessary risks.¡± ¡°But we¡¯ve seen nothing new for days! How long do you want to keep us down here?¡± ¡°As long as needed to get you out safe.¡± His eyes stare into me, lacking any of his usual amusement. Absolute seriousness and dedication. Without words, he tells me it¡¯s a promise he would die to keep. I shut my mouth, stifling any more complaints. I don¡¯t like it. It feels like we¡¯re not even trying to get out at the current pace. What if we miss out on an exit because we are being too cautious? I want to believe Remus. I want to believe in his apology and that he wants to get out, but the longer it takes for results to materialise, the more I doubt his sincerity. ??? I¡¯m finally feeling better. Not about being stuck down here. No. My sickness has finally receded to the point where my body fully listens to me and I actually have energy again. It surprised me that Remus packed iron ingots in his and Gr¨ªmr¡¯s pouches. Apparently, he knew enough about my people that he could treat me when I was unconscious. I packed only the three ingots for myself, thinking it would be enough. But Remus seemed to pull more out of nowhere. The underground area we¡¯re in is far warmer than outside and there¡¯s no snow on the ground for me to worry about. For the first time in a while, I walk with my own strength. Even before I got sick, I was either riding Gr¨ªmr or flying. It¡¯s been years since I got sick like that. The last time was in a particularly cold winter with my tribe. Back then, I had to ration how much energy I used to keep warm. I couldn¡¯t just burn through all the local resources as I¡¯ve been able to lately. Jav hasn¡¯t been flying around as he usually would. The amount of things in the dark ¡ª especially above us ¡ª holds him back from looking around. Not that there is anything for him to see in the dark except the glow-bugs. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s odd.¡± When Remus stands tall on stretched limbs, he is easily the tallest amongst the team. He stands above the layer of glow-bugs and watches something in the distance. Gr¨ªmr pushes himself to stand on his hind legs, clearing Remus¡¯ height easily. It looks uncomfortable for him, but it lets him see whatever is going on. I retract my statement about Remus being the tallest. I crouch down low on the soft soil to get a look underneath the blanket of floating bugs. It¡¯s not hard to spot what the others have seen. Swarms of the small lights are flowing towards a single point. The density of the light grows to a much greater brightness, but somehow still refuses to illuminate the surroundings. At the point of highest concentration, the glowing spots float down to the ground before disappearing from sight. ¡°What do you think it is?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks as he falls back on all fours with a thud. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I guess we¡¯ll find out.¡± I was worried Remus might want to stay cautious about this, too. Maybe the bugs will show us a way out. As we get closer to the strange acting bugs, the soil underneath our feet changes to a spongy surface with hundreds of plate-like mushroom growths. Somehow it¡¯s even softer to walk on than the soil had been.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. The glow-bugs don¡¯t seem to react to our presence as we move in closer. Instead of keeping a good few metres distance from our group, they hover ever closer as the density of lights around us increases. We are close enough now to see the fungi growths spiral around a central point. It is here that all the bugs seem to be attracted to. They all swarm around an opening in the centre of the organisms. What are the bugs so attracted to? We get closer, taking careful steps until we¡¯re right on top of the opening. The thing hasn¡¯t reacted to our presence, so I doubt it is anything more than a normal plant. We all take a peek inside at the deep hole that must run far into the ground. Thousands of the glow-bugs rush inside the opening and fly at the walls, getting themselves stuck. The light inside is so intense it¡¯s almost hard to look at. Before I can react, the tunnel of fungi convulses and I¡¯m tugged backwards. I land on the soft ground and look up, only to be splattered by some liquid. I panic, thinking that I¡¯ve just been drenched in water. A flame flares out and the substance ignites. It burns off quicker than anything I¡¯ve ever seen. In barely a second, all of it is gone. One moment, the sticky substance covers my face ¡ª that I now realise did not sting like water ¡ª the next, I¡¯m engulfed in a fireball. I gather my feet underneath me and push myself up. The others have all been lathered in the goop as well. Well, everyone except Jav. Somehow, he avoided any of the sticky liquid from hitting him. ¡°Ugh, yuck.¡± Remus tries to wipe the substance off his body, but he manages nothing but to spread it. ¡°What is this stuff?¡± Gr¨ªmr has a similar issue, unable to get any of it out of his thick fur. The hole where the goop came from doesn¡¯t seem to move anymore, so I walk up to them. ¡°Should I burn it off?¡± ¡°No,¡± Remus responds immediately. ¡°We can¡¯t risk attracting attention.¡± Well, if he wants to stay all sticky, then that¡¯s on him. A single glow-bug lands on his head, sticking itself to the dripping ooze. ¡°You two, don¡¯t get distracted,¡± Tetsu says. ¡°Look up.¡± Around the three of them, a cloud of the glow-bugs condenses. Attracted to whatever substance is coating the three tallest members of the team, the bugs swarm. For a moment, it just seems like a neat sight; the tiny creatures must really like the smell to close in like that after they¡¯ve kept their distance for so long. It seems completely harmless¡­ until it isn¡¯t. ¡°Ouch.¡± Tetsu swats a bug off her arm. Her eyes widen visibly as she looks at the spot where she was bitten. ¡°We have a problem; they can pierce my skin.¡± The situation immediately becomes serious. No longer are these tiny creatures harmless insects, but a threat considering the innumerable quantity. Remus and Tetsu take to swatting thousands of them out of the sky before they reach them. The wind created with each swing sends many more spiralling away. Even so, the glow-bugs get closer. The ever-growing number swarming in droves. Jav flies through the densest parts, but can only ever stop as many as he can cut. I look to Gr¨ªmr to see him rolling around on the ground, crushing all that latch onto his hide. Uh¡­ I guess that works just as well. Despite how many of the bugs are being killed by the second, the density of the lights only ever increases. We need to get rid of that substance coating them or they will never stop coming. Remus catches sight of my flame the moment its light comes into being. ¡°Stop Solvei. You¡¯ll do nothing but attract that monster.¡± Even as he says so, he swipes away at the bugs digging into his flesh. He doesn¡¯t bleed, but in the moment before the bugs can latch back on, I see the deep purple welts marring his skin. None of the others are faring much better. Gr¨ªmr is even leaving clumps of fur on the ground behind him as he scratches and rolls, trying to get rid of the bugs. This is hardly the time to care about some bigger what-if. These bugs are going to eat their way through the team if I do nothing. I disregard Remus¡¯ orders and flare my flames out to the bugs and the goop coating the three. As my fire touches the swarm, I can¡¯t help the gasp of shock that escapes my lips. Not only do my flames incinerate them with ease, but each of them contains a similar amount of energy as the average non-enhanced soldier. Every single one. Gluttony overcomes me and I spread my flames as wide as I can to consume as many as possible. The liquid coating Gr¨ªmr, Remus and Tetsu ignites, enshrouding each of them in a massive fireball that creates huge plumes of smoke above them. I¡¯m not worried about them; they¡¯ve already shown how resistant they are to my flames. While the heat of my fire increases when burning through the gooey substance, it isn¡¯t too much hotter than what I can normally attain. I¡¯m lost in the indulgence of these impossibly nutritious bugs. The feeling overwhelms any thought of keeping my flames contained. I spread them as wide as they will go, and consume everything I can. Remus shouts for me to stop, but the feeling of satiation is too good to stop. That is, until a terrifying hiss tears that feeling out of my chest. I freeze on the spot. The hiss reverberates through every part of my body. A quaking crash shakes the ground under my feet. My legs wobble underneath me as the tapping returns, sounding more like a cratering impact with each tap. A massive creature moves into the flickering light of my flames. Its large bulbous body towers ten metres over us. Several long spindly legs carry the being forward, shaking the ground with each step. Its next growl snaps me out of my reverie. I try to pull my flames back to myself, to hide us within the darkness again. I should have just extinguished them where they were. My flames pass over the hole between the mushroom like growths. The fluid coating the tube inside ignites. It takes hardly a moment for the entire hole to explode. A pillar of flames rocket into the sky, lighting up much of the cavern. There is only enough light to see for a moment, but in that time I spot at least two more of the monstrosities clinging to the ceiling in the distance. Hisses resound from everywhere in the cavern, drowned out by the screech of the monster right on top of us. My flames continue to burn down into the earth, far deeper than I ever expected the mushroom thing to dig. My eyes snap to the opening. It¡¯s tight, but it¡¯s our best hope of escape. I felt the explosion travel deep into the ground. ¡°The hole!¡± I shout to the others. ¡°It¡¯s a way out.¡± Of course, I don¡¯t know that for sure, but it¡¯s better than any other option we have at the moment. Not even taking a moment to doubt my words, Remus orders everyone inside. Jav is the first in, flying straight down the tunnel and I chase not far behind. I try to turn back to watch, but Tetsu jumps in after me and pushes me deeper. My flames still burning through the spongy ground of fungi let me see as Remus and Gr¨ªmr dash toward the hole. The crashing sound of the monster¡¯s mighty heft closes in with each moment. Gr¨ªmr rams his head into the back of Remus, sending him flying toward the hole. One of the sharp, spindly legs smashes down on Gr¨ªmr, piercing through his back without so much as an ounce of resistance. His spine is severed and the momentum of his upper body tears away the last muscles connecting his body around the claw and tarsus piercing through his chest. His body splits in half. The remaining upper half tumbles toward the hole. Remus pulls Gr¨ªmr¡¯s head down into the hole after us. Hind legs abandoned. Remus squeezes through the tight tunnel with an ease none of us can compare, tugging what¡¯s left of Gr¨ªmr down with us. The tunnel is far too tight for the panther. The ground quakes and rocks fall on us from above. ¡°Keep moving down!¡± Remus shouts. The hissing of the creature above continues as it tries to dig after us. Thankfully, the monstrosity behind us cannot dig as fast as we can descend. After we drop what must be a hundred metres, the sounds of digging above ceases. I look at Gr¨ªmr. A pang of dread floods my body. Crushed between the far too tight stone surrounding us, he is unresponsive. I don¡¯t want to lose another person I¡¯m close to. I place my hands on the side of his head and hope to see life in his eyes. Instead, a tear opens in the back of his neck and tiny, sharp, spider-like legs pierce outward. A tiny black arachnid with ten spindly legs crawls out of the cut. ¡°Gr¨ªmr?¡± I ask, slightly bewildered. The small thing pushes its body up and down, which I guess is a nod. Huh. ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± I say. Chapter 80: Adaptation This is not what I wanted. I was hoping for a way back up, not to move even further from the surface. Now, we have no option but to continue downward. Our path back, blocked by that monstrosity. At least we¡¯ll be progressing and not wandering around aimlessly. Hopefully, there will be a way to loop around to the surface down here. That is, assuming this tunnel doesn¡¯t just end. ¡°Solvei! What were you thinking?¡± Remus doesn¡¯t yell, but with the tone he uses, he might as well be. ¡°I told you not to use your fire. So what made you think erupting like that was a good idea?¡± ¡°Should I have left you to be eaten by the glow-bugs?¡± If I didn¡¯t do what I did, they would¡¯ve continued to bite away at their bodies. Why is he mad I saved them? ¡°Compared to what you brought down on us, yes. Those flies would not have posed much of a problem.¡± The bluish membrane of his skin is still littered with blisters and welts, so I can¡¯t help but doubt his words. We got out alive, so is it that big of a deal? I look at Gr¨ªmr; reduced to an arachnid smaller than Jav. For what happened to his body, I do feel a bit guilty. But if it¡¯s to escape, then I don¡¯t care about the cost. I don¡¯t care? I wouldn¡¯t care if they died? For me to escape? That sounds so wrong¡­ but I can¡¯t say I¡¯m not willing to do anything for my freedom. Keeping my freedom is the greatest desire I have, but I never would have considered sacrificing others for my selfishness. At least, not intentionally. I¡¯ve only thought this way after being trapped down here, haven¡¯t I? Remus sighs as he watches me devolve into thought. ¡°Just do as I say from now on, regardless of how illogical it may seem to you.¡± I don¡¯t respond. These thoughts of mine have inflicted far more worry in me than I could have expected. They betrayed me¡­ but I don¡¯t want to lose any of them. I don¡¯t know if I want to stay with them after what they did, but they don¡¯t deserve death. Now that I think about it logically and not with the fear clouding my judgement, they were trying to help me. Even if their method of ¡®helping¡¯ was horrible. Their intentions were good, but they should have talked to me first, at the very least. Even as I think that, a part of my mind combats the thought. They are the ones who put me here. They are the ones who trapped me. Now that I¡¯m aware of it, it¡¯s easy to push it to the side, but it¡¯s concerning that it¡¯s there at all. I close my eyes as I crawl after Tetsu. Remus follows behind me and Gr¨ªmr sits on my shoulder. Bizarre how our roles are now reversed. As my body moves through the tunnel, I focus inside myself. The rope of my thoughts and desires appears before me. As tightly bound as it was after the Fog. I inspect the knots within. The twists in the threads that cause the greatest conflicts of interest. Where my smaller, individual desires go against the greater direction of the rope and snap away from the direction they once wished to move. The knot that once represented ¡ª or maybe caused ¡ª my intense phobia of being trapped has snapped. The loose threads retying themselves in a knot completely different from the original. Some threads have yet to tie in with the rest of the whole, but it is obvious something has changed. My fear of being trapped is no longer there, instead something more complex has taken its place. Is it possible that under the intense mental strain caused by constant fear, the knot snapped and was forced to evolve into something that wouldn¡¯t kill me? My phobia kept me from acting rationally to escape, which forced me into an inescapable loop. Since the reactionary fear did nothing to help me escape, it has changed. The only issue is¡­ what has it changed into? I can think straight now, but I seem to be flooded with thoughts of choosing the most excessive methods to escape. Including sacrificing those I care for. So because an entirely emotional response was ineffective in helping me escape, my rope of desire has decided that a purely logical response is a better replacement? No morals? No interest in the things I care for? That¡¯s an obscene overadjustment. Well, it¡¯s good that I know what¡¯s changed. Now, I just need to find a way to avoid hurting the others when my mind forces those ideas upon me. Should I tell them? Of course not. Think about how they used the last sensitive bit of info. I don¡¯t trust them not to betray me again.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Before I have the chance to think more on it, Tetsu drops into an opening ahead of us. I fall after her and land in her arms. She places me on the ground, ignoring the other two who drop beside us. It¡¯s another tunnel, travelling horizontally instead of vertically like the one we came from. The ceiling is low, so I need to bend my neck, but it forces Tetsu and Remus to crouch. It¡¯s still better than crawling, so neither of them complains. Did that mushroom plant dig all of this, or did it just grow in the tunnel already there? Charred earth mars the walls even all the way down here. It doesn¡¯t continue through the larger tunnel, so I assume this was here before the mushroom. I wonder if I can get any of that sticky substance? It would be an incredible weapon. Even my team¡¯s bodies were burnt a bit from the explosion when it ignited. Not even my hottest flame can do that yet. Also, being able to attract those juicy bugs would be amazing. The tunnel we¡¯ve fallen into has two ways we can go; straight ahead, or where it curves out of sight behind us. We all follow Jav when he points to walk straight ahead. We don¡¯t walk along the tunnel long before it branches into two paths. Jav leads us down the left without pause. ¡°Be careful. There are scratch marks along the ground. Some creature frequents this tunnel a lot.¡± I look down and sure enough, they are there. But I have no idea how he can tell they belong to a creature rather than just the natural shape of the cave. I don¡¯t doubt him, but I would have ignored them if I were alone. Bunny takes the lead, with Remus following behind me. Jav sits on Bunny¡¯s shoulder rather than the dohrni for once. As probably the only one of us that still has his bearings, we rely on his directions to find our way out. I keep close behind as Bunny picks up her pace. The tunnel curves often, bending down and to the side. As we pass, the thickness of the cave changes, but mostly stays wide enough for us to move without trouble. The path branches again. We have two possible paths to follow. ¡°We should veer to the left from here, but only a single set of scratch-marks lead that way. I can¡¯t see a returning set,¡± Jav says. ¡°How many go the other way?¡± Remus asks. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say, there¡¯s no way to tell the scratches apart. Either we have a single creature moving back and forth many times, or there are over ten that have passed this way.¡± ¡°So either follow the well-beaten path and come across whatever these creatures are or head into the tunnel that we know one of those creatures hasn¡¯t returned from.¡± Remus leans over my head as he has a look for himself. ¡°Can you tell how old the scratches are?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then I think it¡¯s best to follow the scrapes. Let¡¯s hope whatever leaves them isn¡¯t too strong.¡± We continue for hours, coming across many such branches in the cave system. Each time we come across a fork, we always avoid the paths that don¡¯t have a returning set of scratches. Some trails split, only to combine again when the tunnels reconnect. There are plenty of caves that either don¡¯t have any scratch marks or have two sets, but every time we check those paths, we come across a dead end. So, regardless of what danger the creatures that leave these marks might pose, we continue to follow their trail. Gr¨ªmr cannot talk without a body to use. So whenever I ask him questions, he¡¯s limited to nodding or shaking his body. ¡°So, how do we go about getting Gr¨ªmr a new body?¡± I ask to the team. It isn¡¯t something I¡¯m all too clear on yet. ¡°We will subdue an animal and hold it still while he digs his way into their brain.¡± Bunny taps the back of her own neck. ¡°Most creatures get quite restless when they feel it. It¡¯s a good challenge to keep them pinned as he does his thing.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, we don¡¯t have the luxury of choosing or planning our fights. Everything down here is still unknown, so he¡¯ll have to settle with whatever we can manage for the time being.¡± I look down at Gr¨ªmr. He raises two of his front limbs in a ¡®what can you do?¡¯ gesture. It¡¯s hard to imagine what it would be like to lose my body. I can¡¯t imagine it¡¯s an easy thing for him to adjust to; to lose the strength that body contained would be rough. If the team wasn¡¯t here to help him find a new body, how would he be able to do it himself? There¡¯s no way he¡¯d have the strength to compete with anything, right? Could he do it if he caught something off guard? But if he has to dig into their head, there is no way a creature wouldn¡¯t feel that. They would do everything they can to stop him. Now that I think about it, we¡¯re heading along a path we know leads to unknown creatures and yet we are down a good portion of our fighting strength. Without Gr¨ªmr, we¡¯ll have to rely on Bunny and Remus to take the brunt of anything we face. With Jav taking stabs whenever he can get the chance. Although, from how I¡¯ve seen Jav fight so far, I don¡¯t know how well he¡¯ll do in this tight space. They need someone to pick up the slack, right? I never got the chance to fix my spearmanship. ¡°Tetsu?¡± I ask. ¡°Can I have my spear?¡± She unlatches it from the bundle with ease and passes it back to me. Not saying a word. ¡°Solvei, I don¡¯t want you joining any fights for now,¡± Remus says from behind. ¡°What, but why?¡± I turn to him. ¡°Because I don¡¯t know what to expect. Stay at range and use your flames if you have to, but keep your distance.¡± He places two of his limbs on my shoulders and I¡¯m pleasantly surprised I don¡¯t feel the tension that rises anymore. I still don¡¯t want them there. In fact, my desire to whip them off is just as strong. Only now, it isn¡¯t an emotional response tearing my gut apart until he lets go. ¡°I need you to protect Gr¨ªmr while we fight. Can you do that?¡± ¡°Okay,¡± I concede. Even if I can¡¯t try out my spear, I can still see if I can burn these creatures. My flames have only gotten stronger recently. I¡¯m just not sure if it will be enough. I grip my spear as tight as I can and focus on my body control. Instead of only pushing my body to where my flames lose their brightness and become indistinguishable from fleshy skin, I go further. I push the physical flames to the limit of what I can achieve, and then I push harder. I have no idea how effective it might be, but I hope it gives me added weight behind my swings. It¡¯s a struggle to focus as hard as I am and get no visual response. I can feel my flames getting denser, but I¡¯m unsure how much that is actually helping. I want to ask Bunny to take one of my hits and tell me how much better it is to what I was doing before, but now is not the time. She is busy watching ahead of us in case anything appears while we¡¯re making our way through. ¡°Hey, do you hear something?¡± Jav asks suddenly. I look at Gr¨ªmr, who usually has the best hearing, but he shakes his tiny arachnid body at me. Right, that hearing must have been from the panther ears. ¡°What is it?¡± Tetsu asks. ¡°I swear I heard¡­ talking.¡± Chapter 81: Mermineae ¡°There are people speaking ahead.¡± We creep forward, as quiet as possible. My footsteps are light, but I can¡¯t help but wince whenever my boots scuff against rock. The tunnel splits in three paths. The one on the right ¡ª with all the scratch marks ¡ª also splits further in. ¡°The voices are definitely coming from where the scratch marks lead.¡± Jav¡¯s voice is almost too quiet to make out, even as close as I am. The volan turns his head back, looking over my shoulder at Remus. The dohrni nods to Jav in some unspoken agreement before we walk toward the voices. The moment Jav passes into the right tunnel, he stops and tilts his head, listening for what I still cannot hear. He leaves Bunny at the front and dashes back to the branching section. ¡°The voices are coming from this way as well,¡± he says. ¡°They are quieter, but I can still hear them.¡± Without even turning to see if we are following, he begins his trek through the tunnel unmarred by scratches. The order we walk flips and now Remus is ahead and Bunny is behind. As we creep through the tunnel, a faint murmur tickles the back of my ears. The indistinct echo of voices finally becomes audible. High pitched and squeaky, the chorus of conversation amplifies with each curve in the tunnel. I clench my fingers around the shaft of my spear. Each step taken with the utmost care. I hold my breath and breathe through my flames, doing my utmost to keep them as physical as I can. The last thing I want is to give off light now. The cave narrows as it inclines upward. I cringe as Tetsu squeezes her way through the tight passage, dragging her body across rock. I can hear individual voices now. They are all high pitched, but there is a distinct difference between some of them. They laugh and joke and speak in rapid sentences, but I still can¡¯t make out their words. This isn¡¯t some animal¡¯s squeaks or barks. Despite it not yet being distinct enough for me to hear, it clearly has the structure of language. These are people ahead of us. I haven¡¯t heard any race speak with such shrill voices, but there is no doubt in my mind that whatever is down there, they are intelligent. I thought nobody had been down here before us? Did these people leave that pie back at our entrance? Bunny knocks a rock loose from the ceiling and I freeze at the loud clank sound it makes as it clatters along the ground behind me. I¡¯m not the only one to do so; both the two at the front and Tetsu herself stop, cringing at the sound. The sound of chatter stops. None of us dare move. We remain motionless for a good minute before the conversing starts once more. Although it is stays somewhat subdued to before. No longer do the high-pitched voices laugh and joke; they keep their volume restrained. Remus raises a limb at Tetsu and while her face drops into a frown, she nods in acceptance. The two ahead of me continue on, leaving her behind. I scuttle after them, not wanting to miss out when I hadn¡¯t been told to stay behind. Past Remus, the tunnel opens up. He stops just before the tunnel drops into a cavern. The voices are loud now, echoing off the walls and amplifying their words. I peek around the other two as they look down into the cave. Our tunnel ends at a five metre drop. From our vantage point, five short figures are¡­ well, not clear, but visible. The darkness shrouds them too much to make out any details, but their slender forms are about the same height as me. I strain my hearing, trying to make out the words over the intense echo and their companions¡¯ constant interruptions. ¡°¡ªhate these tunnels. They creep me out.¡± ¡°I know what you mean. I¡¯m seeing shadows in the corner of my eyes.¡± ¡°And to think we still have to wait months down here. I¡¯m gonna go insane.¡± ¡°Stop complaining, you lot.¡± A sixth figure appears from seemingly nowhere. They march out of the shrouding darkness toward the five other figures huddling around each other. ¡°Our casualty rate has been rather low so far. You should celebrate that these tunnels are safer than the plains.¡± ¡°Safer? You¡¯re joking! We know nothing about what¡¯s down here. We lose someone at almost every second branching tunnel. At least on the surface, we can run and hide. We know what we are dealing with up there. If anything wanders into this cave, we have nowhere to run!¡± The sixth sits amongst the others. ¡°Do you not believe our task noble? A bit of time in an eerie cave is nothing if we can succeed. Or do you consider yourself more important than our cause?¡± ¡°O-of course not, Forvaal. It¡¯s just hard to imagine the beyond as anything but a folktale.¡± ¡°Fear not; it is real. Even with these rotted eyes, I saw it for myself. Under the deep blue sky, I stood unobscured. And yet, here I stand.¡± The speaker takes a moment before continuing. ¡°The calamity has given us this path. We must secure it before the all-powerful Kalma returns. Even she will not touch us should we persevere.¡± The response to his fervent speech is subdued, but I can still hear murmurs of agreement. Where are these beings from? They can¡¯t actually be from the other side of the Alps, can they? Maybe there is somewhere in the mountains they come from. But¡­ what is their goal? Some place called the beyond? Unless they mean the Stepps and the land back that way. If that¡¯s right, then they might know a way back up. I glance over at Remus to see what he thinks. We can¡¯t just go down and introduce ourselves. I¡¯ve seen enough of the races to know it isn¡¯t uncommon for them to be hostile toward the unfamiliar. Actually, I wouldn¡¯t say it¡¯s unlikely for them to be aggressive to those of their own. The Empire showed no hesitance in Zadok.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Remus is still watching over the group. All five of them continue to talk amongst each other. Wait five? What happened to the sixth? As I peer into the dark, I notice the one they called Forvaal has gone missing. If only it was a bit brighter, I could see where they went. The voices continue talking, either ignoring their missing friend or not noticing their lack of presence. ¡°So, Piiv. Are your kits joining us anytime soon?¡± ¡°Riis will. I haven¡¯t heard from the other three in a year.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s horrible. I really liked Iraas. That hob hated when it was his time to become independent.¡± ¡°Yes. I just hope it wasn¡¯t the centzon or revontulet. It would be horrible if they had to suffer before their end.¡± Remus backs away from the ledge, snapping me away from eavesdropping further. We ever so slowly move back through the tunnel until we reach Bunny. Remus makes a motion with his limb and she crawls back the way we came. As soon as we are far enough away not to be heard, Jav speaks. ¡°Have you ever seen one of those beings before?¡± he asks, angling his head toward Remus. ¡°No. Never,¡± he says. ¡°I never thought it was possible, but I think they are from the other side of the Alps.¡± ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°We need to report this,¡± Bunny says, only to receive an annoyed glance from Jav. ¡°And how do you propose we do that? In case you¡¯ve forgotten, we still don¡¯t have a way to get back to the surface.¡± ¡°Yes, we do.¡± Remus¡¯ eyes stare through the darkness toward the camp of strange creatures. His words make me narrow my eyes and I glare at him. He knows a way out? And he hasn¡¯t said it until now? Before I can jump to any more conclusions, he continues. ¡°Those beings. They mentioned they¡¯d seen our side¡­ assuming ¡®the beyond¡¯ is our side of the Alps. If we follow them, we might find our way out.¡± That¡­ might work, but didn¡¯t they mention they would be there for months? I¡¯d really rather not be down here so long. How long would I last before the knot of my psyche makes me do something excessive? ¡°That might take a while, and none of us are adept at skulking. Also, there¡¯s something else I should say.¡± Jav waits until he has everyone¡¯s attention before continuing. ¡°I¡¯ve been keeping track of our position. Right now, we should have been well above the ground near the crevasse. I¡¯m not sure whether the world here acts stranger than the Middle Elevation, or that group of creatures is between us and our home. Either way¡­ I¡¯m lost,¡± Jav struggles to admit. ¡°So we¡¯ll have to find our way around them if we want to determine if these tunnels open into the crevasse. Could that be how they made it to the surface?¡± Remus ponders. ¡°Like I said, I don¡¯t know. If my senses were accurate, we should have breached the surface days ago.¡± Remus¡¯ eyes flicker to Gr¨ªmr. ¡°Whatever we decide, we shouldn¡¯t rush. I think it¡¯s time to search some of those tunnels those beings haven¡¯t charted. Maybe we can find Gr¨ªmr a body.¡± With our objective decided, we move out once more. Bunny takes the lead and we carefully look down the scratched tunnels for any of those creatures before we sneak through them. We move away far enough that my body relaxes, the beings behind us too far to hear even if we make a ruckus. As we trek through a slightly wider part of the tunnel, I feel something odd above me. Even as I look up, I can¡¯t tell anything different about the stone ceiling, so I return my attention to Tetsu¡¯s back. I¡¯m just about to practice thrusting my spear again when an explosive crash booms behind me. A rush of air billets my outfit and dust spreads around us. I turn. Not fast enough. It feels like I¡¯m moving in slow motion. Behind me, one of those beings I overheard before has Remus pinned to the ground. Its sharp fangs dig into the dohrni¡¯s head as he struggles underneath the creature. It is an extremely slender creature with four legs and a tail. Its forelegs have each of Remus¡¯ limbs trapped, even as he whips out, striking at the being¡¯s side. Its fur is oddly the same colour and texture as the stone ceiling above us. I¡¯m snapped out of my stupor as Bunny tugs me away, brushing past me with a short-sword raised to strike at the ambusher. The creature snaps its head to her, releasing Remus from his bite but not the pinning grasp. Its eyes are a cloudy grey, but as it stares at Bunny bearing down on it with her blade, they glow. The grey light intensifies the closer she gets. Her sword comes down on the creature, but it doesn¡¯t flinch. I feel a rush of shock as the blade bursts into dust the moment it strikes the beast¡¯s fur. Before she can adjust to the loss of her weapon, another of those creatures drop on Bunny from above. I can¡¯t help but doubt my eyes as she struggles against the wiry looking form of the creature that drops on her. Bunny grapples with it, but it¡¯s obviously comparable to her in strength. ¡°Solvei, go! Take Gr¨ªmr and run!¡± I don¡¯t even think twice. My feet take me away without a moment¡¯s hesitation. I can¡¯t even turn around to watch them being overwhelmed. My mind is in conflict. I want to go back and burn through those that would harm my team. But at the same moment, my mind won¡¯t risk it. My legs are snatched away and make me sprint through the tunnels against my will. Tiny, hurried taps scratch at my neck. I look down at Gr¨ªmr, who frantically gestures behind me. I turn to see one of the creatures rushing me down faster than anything has a right to. The being cuts the distance between us faster than I can take a step. Its claws pierce through my chest and I can feel it tearing through the back of my outfit. The creature¡¯s intelligent eyes stare into my own with surprise, but no remorse. Flames explode out of me, engulfing the slender creature with intense heat. They incinerate the creature¡¯s fur, but I can feel I won¡¯t be able to get far through its skin. The creature squeals. A high-pitched shriek that almost competes with that of a bat. It pulls its claws back to itself and desperately tries to put out the fire. I use its moment of distraction to run. I can¡¯t continue down the tunnels with their scratch marks, they¡¯ll just catch up to me once they realise the fire isn¡¯t going to kill them. They were hidden along the ceiling. That¡¯s how they caught us off guard. Their fur blends perfectly against the rock they clung to, so there is no way to see them. If there are any ahead of me, I need to make sure before I get ambushed. My flames spread over every wall through the tunnel before and behind me. I¡¯m indiscriminate. I don¡¯t know if their camouflage can hide from my probing flame, so I scorch every surface I come across. Ahead of me, I feel the tunnel split three ways. Behind me, the creature has finally shaken off its fright and has resumed its chase after me. There is no time to waste. It¡¯ll be on me in moments. I dash down the tunnel with only a single set of scratch marks. One of them came down here before and didn¡¯t return. I can only hope that whatever killed it won¡¯t be dangerous to me. My flames reaching ahead of me burn through roots dangling from the rock above. It¡¯s strange, but the roots seem to angle towards the heat of my flame. They grasp at it and try to hook into it, but my fire burns through it with ease. I realise the familiarity of this taste almost too late to stop it. Thankfully, I pull the heat out of my flames before it reaches through the rock in the ceiling. Any later and the entire tunnel would be engulfed in an explosion. A waste for it to go off before my pursuer reaches me. I grab Gr¨ªmr off my shoulder, uncaring how rough my grip may be. I push him under my hood and tighten it closed. It¡¯s about to get rather sticky, and I don¡¯t know how well his small body could handle an explosion of that intensity. The roots grab at me, showing far greater strength than their thin width would suggest. I burn them off each time they grab me, but only as far as they can reach me. The more there to slow the creature behind me, the better. When I finally reach the base of the fungi tube filled with sticky substance, I risk a glance behind me. The being rushes around the corner with terrifying speed. What¡¯s more terrifying, is that it is no longer alone. Two more of its brethren follow in its steps. I pull myself into the tunnel above, covering myself in the viscid liquid as I worm my way up. Without a second of hesitation, the creatures follow me. I can¡¯t help but sneer at them. They better hope their ugly snouts can handle a bit of heat. Chapter 82: Merminea Trap Behind me, the creatures claw at the walls. The tight, sticky tube cakes them in flammable substance. The first one looks like a naked jerboa with its fur burnt off. Those scrambling after, find the liquid soaking their fur. ¡°Give up. We won¡¯t kill you,¡± the one closing in on me yells. ¡°You think I¡¯ll believe that after you shoved your arm through my chest?¡± I shout back, incredulous. It¡¯s fortunate that they aren¡¯t as fast moving vertically as they are on the ground, otherwise they would have caught me already. The further I can get them through this tunnel, the less space they¡¯ll have to escape. ¡°Your friends are dead. Don¡¯t think they¡¯re coming to help you.¡± ¡°Gr¨ªmr, make sure you¡¯re hidden,¡± I murmur just loud enough for him to hear before raising my voice. ¡°You think I need help?¡± I stop where I am in the tunnel and glare down at them. They are close now, but that¡¯s fine. They won¡¯t be getting out unscathed. ¡°Do you not see where you are?¡± the corner of my lip raises in a sneer. They seem to realise ¡ª their widening eyes and immediate halt in their climb more than clear to my burning eyes ¡ª but it¡¯s too late. In the narrow walls of the tunnel, I engulf everything in flame. The viscous substance explodes with hardly any effort. My flames spread with the explosion, farther than I¡¯d usually be able to control under normal circumstances. A chain reaction amplifies the flames as they continue both above and below. It takes all my control to stop the heat escaping through the exits in both directions. I guide all that explosive power on the three below me. Every bit of power within my grasp enhances the heat within the tunnel. The flame twists and burns through each contour and opening I can find on the creatures below. Intense heat burns their lungs and stomach just as much as it does their skin and fur. Their screams combine in a high-pitched squeal. There is no care for me anymore. The only thing they can focus on is scrubbing away at their simmering skin. They fall down the tunnel, uncaring to grasp for a handhold. The sheen of bright yellow liquefied rock coating the tube does nothing to slow their fall. Far above me, I can feel the energy flowing through me from the glow-bugs caught in the flames. As much as I¡¯d love to revel in the feeling and grasp for as many of them as I can, I need to make sure of this. I don¡¯t know how resistant their bodies are to heat and fire, so I need to put my all into it. I take a hold of the goop-enhanced blaze above my head and force it down. It passes my body and only because I know Gr¨ªmr is still with me do I not relish in the heat. I push it past me in a raging torrent towards my pursuers. Well, they aren¡¯t really pursuers anymore. I watch as they fall against the ground in the tunnel below. My flames never relenting with their intention to cremate these ¡ª now furless ¡ª beasts alive. Their screams and desperate pleas are music to my ears after they tried so hard to catch me. After they ambushed my team. I don¡¯t believe their words about having killed Remus and Bunny. Those two are far too tough to be killed so easily. No, I just need to make some distance and they¡¯ll find their way back to me. The one I¡¯m most worried for is Jav. These tight tunnels are the complete opposite of his favoured environment for fighting. Not to mention he doesn¡¯t have anywhere near the strength of the other two to fight in close quarters. The screams have gone quiet. I let out a sigh of relief and calm the rapid breaths I hadn¡¯t realised I¡¯d been taking. The energy from the dead creatures below trickles up to me, filling me with power comparable to the dahu, if a bit lower. The strength of their energy is intense, but still beaten by the sheer quantity of glow-bugs I burnt through above. Even with the explosive power of the substance lining the walls of this shaft, I hadn¡¯t been sure if it would work. People enhanced to that point just seem so untouchable. My flames themselves couldn¡¯t come close to hurting them. Well, unless taking away their fur coat and leaving them bare to the world counts. But once past the surface layer, I can¡¯t burn further. Still, despite my weakness, I beat them. I may have had to use the environment to my advantage, but I won. It feels good. And that thought immediately makes me feel guilty. The others are still stuck down there with who knows how many of those creatures. Three made it past them, so it¡¯s hard to believe they are still holding a strong defence. I hope they made it away okay. If they made it away with Jav, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be able to track down where I¡¯ve gone. I just need to trust in them for now.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. I take out the heat from the walls so I don¡¯t have too much trouble climbing up. There might not have been much of the molten rock, but it still makes a layer between me and the hard rock that I can actually grasp. Just as I¡¯m about to resume my climb, the ground shakes and a loud bang crashes through me from above. Not long after, a familiar screech echoes down to me. That monstrosity, again? Seriously? I can¡¯t help but lament my fate as the giant above lumbers around without care for who might be in a hurry to leave these tunnels. It tears through the earth above, but there is a long distance it needs to dig before it can reach me. No time soon will it reach me, but it¡¯s only a matter of time before more of those rodents chase me up from below. Hopefully, they¡¯ll be hesitant to chase me once they see the still burning corpses of their comrades below. For now, I can do nothing but wait for the giant arachnid above to leave. I can feel the earth shaking around me. Will it leave before the beings below me chase me up? Without the help of the explosive liquid, there is no chance I¡¯ll be able to fend off any more. Every second that passes feels like an eternity. I can feel the giant above continuing to investigate what must have been a bright flash of light. What¡¯s below me is unknown. Are they sneaking up on me? I saw how effective their camouflage was; could they be closing in on me in this very tunnel without my knowledge? I blast a jet of flame through the chute below me just to be safe. I don¡¯t feel the stealth-rats ¡ª for lack of a name ¡ª but it doesn¡¯t reassure me much. The shaking from the arachnid above recedes. It is finally moving away. Slowly and quietly, I creep up the tunnel. I pull back on my flame, letting the tunnel go dark. Aware that danger is both above and below, I keep my eyes peeled. Nothing makes a noise as I breach the surface into the enormous cavern, to my relief. No scraping from below and the monstrosity has lost interest, returning to the darkness out of sight. I pull my hood down, letting Gr¨ªmr escape from the tight spot at the back of my neck. He looks around at the far swathes of glow-bugs before looking back at me. His small face isn¡¯t exactly expressive, but the way his front legs softly pat me, I¡¯m sure he¡¯s trying to be supportive. A wry laugh escapes my lips. I don¡¯t deserve his sympathy. I ran without a second thought, not even considering the possibility of helping. If I¡¯d lit the stealth-rats alight, while I probably couldn¡¯t have hurt them, the shock of their burning fur could have given my team the time they needed to escape. What am I supposed to do now? I know I need to move away from this tunnel. I can hope the stealth-rats don¡¯t follow me up here all I want, but it¡¯s best not to leave it to chance. Like the last time I was in this cavern ¡ª I assume it¡¯s the same one ¡ª Gr¨ªmr and I avoid the dark spaces empty of glow-bugs. As we move between the swathes of flying insects that keep their distance, I can¡¯t help but be tempted. If I could eat all these lights bursting with energy, I¡¯d grow faster than I¡¯d ever thought possible. If I can just get my flames hot enough to burn through the stealth-rat¡¯s skin, I won¡¯t need to worry. Of course, I can¡¯t just spread my flames wide and reach for them. That would be just asking for those monstrosities to swarm me. So, until I figure things out, I¡¯ll have to abstain. Do I leave clear markings of the path I travel? Or do I hope they can find me without it? If I make the path I¡¯ve taken too clear, the stealth rats could use it to track me as well. I do not know where to go, so I just pick a random direction and walk. ¡°Solvei.¡± I hear Jav¡¯s voice behind me. They found me far quicker than expected. I turn as Jav lands on the ground before me. A clear lack of the other two following him. He looks relieved to see me. I sure feel the same way. ¡°You got out safe,¡± he says with a sigh. ¡°Where are the others?¡± I ask. Gr¨ªmr crawls up my arm and with the way he looks at Jav, I¡¯m sure he¡¯s as concerned as I am. The scornful grimace that graces his features is not the response I wanted to see. ¡°They¡¯re not dead,¡± he says, but despite his words, he still looks frustrated. ¡°Those things took them as captives. They are strong, all of them. They overwhelmed us. It¡¯s only because of their unfamiliarity with the dohrni and volans that I could escape. Remus flung me away before they could grab him again.¡± They are alive at least, but being taken prisoner sounds just as bad as death. I mean, my interaction with the stealth-rats was enough for me to know they were strong, but it¡¯s hard to believe those two could really be beaten. ¡°We have to get them back!¡± Jav raises his head to look me in the eye. His tiny hands clench by his side. ¡°How?¡± I ask. I want to get them back as much as Jav, but they beat our strongest team-members. How could the three of us hope to take them on? Seriously, I¡¯m the biggest amongst us now. Jav turns his head away. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know.¡± He looks off into the distant glow-bugs before snapping back to me. ¡°First, we should find a body for Gr¨ªmr. Those shadows we¡¯ve hesitated from approaching, we¡¯ll have to enter them; hope there is something usable.¡± I glance at the closest of the dark spots. This is something I wanted to do before we split with Bunny and Remus, but doing so with only our strength makes me hesitate. ¡°How well can you fight without being thrown?¡± ¡°Decently. The added momentum from Remus¡¯ throws are incredible, but don¡¯t doubt for a second that I can¡¯t fight without him.¡± Okay, that¡¯s good to know, but my own strength is still a problem. If whatever we face is immune to my flames, then I might as well not be here. I need to get my spearmanship to where I can actually be effective with it. How much time do we have to get our team back? I clamp my fists over the pole of the weapon in my hands. There¡¯s no point pondering. I need to practice immediately. The less time wasted, the better. We are still too close to the exit of that tunnel that leads to the cave system underneath us. I¡¯ll create some distance, then get my spear to the point where it is usable. ¡°Hey where are you going?¡± Jav calls as he scrambles up my leg and sits on the shoulder opposite where Gr¨ªmr perches. ¡°You think we should stay near the exit of that tunnel?¡± ¡°Ah. Right,¡± he says dumbly. His eyes drop to the tear through the chest of my outfit. ¡°What happened?¡± I trace the tear in the fabric with a finger. ¡°One of those stealth-rats shoved its arm through my chest,¡± I say. ¡°Sorry for damaging your gift.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Once we have some time, I¡¯ll fix it up for you.¡± I nod in thanks. We are going to free Remus and Bunny. We will as soon as I figure out how to stop my head from screaming at me to abandon them and run. I hope nothing bad happens while I prepare. Chapter 83: Grímrs New Body I focus on my body. The flames of my very being twist and condense under my will. With a deep breath, I push my body further than I have before. As long as my flames weren¡¯t visible, I¡¯d never had a reason to go further. Until now. When my body is in this controlled state, it expends less energy, but pushing it further has never been worth the mental strain, despite the possible increased efficiency. Another breath and I wrestle with my control to push myself one step further. It¡¯s hard. I can feel a headache coming on from the strain, but I need to try. I don¡¯t need to reach the same strength as the others, just enough that I can hopefully pierce the skin of whatever creature we find hiding in the shadows. With all my concentration, I condense my body, but even swinging my spear in this mental state might be hard. I don¡¯t really need to worry about slipping to where my flames become visible; I¡¯ve grown enough that it isn¡¯t an issue anymore. Unless I push myself now, I won¡¯t be able to manage this level of control in a fight. The goal is to pierce the stealth-rats¡¯ skin. If I can do that, then I¡¯ll have nothing to worry about. I don¡¯t need to worry about being hit. In fact, I can use their attacks to my advantage. I doubt they¡¯ll expect their attacks to be pointless to me. The only one of them that knows is nothing more than a pile of ash. I don¡¯t need to be the most skilled spear-user. I just need them to think they got me so I can pierce them before they realise their mistake. No! There¡¯s no reason to risk myself for those two. Just leave them and find another way. My focus collapses at the intrusive thought. I¡¯m not sure how I¡¯m supposed to move forward with their rescue when my own mind refuses to agree with me. I try to enter my mind and forcefully unravel the knot in my strands of thought, but it is nothing more than a wasted effort. I can rearrange some of the loose threads that represent many of my thoughts or desires in line with the rope¡¯s overall direction, but the knot remains stiff. I can hardly leave my team behind. If I am the only one to get out, I would feel horrible. Why? I¡¯ll be free. Who cares about those who put me in this position in the first place? I know they did, but I don¡¯t want to leave Remus and Bunny behind. Nobody deserves to be trapped. They don¡¯t deserve to be imprisoned by those stealth-rats. But helping them doesn¡¯t help me escape. So there is no point in doing so. Yes, it does. There¡¯s no way I can escape with my strength as is. I need them for their strength at the very least. ¡­ The knot is quiet. Does that mean it¡¯s finally agreeing with me? I sigh in relief before returning my focus to controlling my body. There¡¯s no time to waste. I return my body to the same level of physical as before. With my spear in hand, I strain my mind to keep my body steady as I strike the weapon forward. The bladed tip bounces off the stalagmite I used as a target. I leave only a scratch on the rock. There has to be something else to it. My swing is definitely stronger, but it still doesn¡¯t come close to what I need. I¡¯ve a few ideas if I could practice with my flame, but those monstrosities are attracted to any light I give off, so I can¡¯t try them out. I close my eyes again and bring my body back to the limit I can continually manage. The strike with my weapon is momentary. I don¡¯t need to hold my body in its extra physical state for any longer than the attack takes to hit. Once more readying my weapon, I step forward and command an impulse through my body. For an instantaneous duration, I feel the spear move with an ease I couldn¡¯t have managed before. The blade once more rebounds off the stone. With the impulse of control ending, the spear jerks my arms wide. A jolt of pain runs through my mind from the backlash of the sudden explosive push past my limits. My control is lacking, but this is still far more than I could have accomplished back in my tribe. The stalagmite has a rather large indent marring its surface now. It¡¯s not the clean cut through I was hoping for, but it¡¯s still pretty good progress. ¡°Can you not be quiet with your practice? What if you bring down one of those massive things?¡± Jav complains as he looks nervously up at the ceiling. He¡¯s almost a completely different person without Remus by his side. His nervousness and impatience are almost contagious, but I can¡¯t let myself fall victim to those if I want to have a chance of escape. It¡¯s something that the knot is actually useful for. I can feel a catalogue of emotions ¡ª primarily fear ¡ª that I¡¯m able to work around because of the knot. Something far better for my survival than the amplification of those feelings as the last version of the knot caused.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°What¡¯s a bit of training going to help right now? We should be looking for a body for Gr¨ªmr.¡± ¡°No. A few hours won¡¯t make a difference if they¡¯ve taken Remus and Bunny captive. I need at least enough strength to not be worthless in the fight. Or do you think you can take on whatever¡¯s in those shadows alone?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like we can¡¯t escape if things get tough.¡± ¡°Do you really want to stake our lives on that?¡± I ask. ¡°We need to be as prepared as we can. At the moment I won¡¯t be able to pierce most creatures¡¯ skin. If I can get to that point in only a few hours, don¡¯t you think that¡¯s worth it?¡± He grunts and digs his feet through the loose soil, but says nothing. That¡¯s enough of a confirmation for me. Time to push that impulse as far as it can go. I¡¯m not looking forward to the headache that¡¯s coming. ??? ¡°So, what do we have to do for Gr¨ªmr to take a body?¡± I ask as we creep toward an area void of glow-bugs that isn¡¯t so large as to hide one of those arachnid monstrosities. ¡°Incapacitate, but don¡¯t kill it. Doesn¡¯t matter if we have to cause some damage, as long as it can¡¯t scratch at Gr¨ªmr.¡± ¡°What if I burn it?¡± He glances up at me as he crawls along the ground. ¡°No fire. We don¡¯t want to attract anything that¡¯s not what¡¯s in front of us. Only use it if there¡¯s no other option.¡± We still have no idea what we¡¯re sneaking up on, so we split to approach from differing directions. As I move to the side, I notice something strange. The bugs that should be visible on the other side of the dark area disappear. The glowing lights dim as I put the darkness between me and the bugs. Is the darkness not caused by a lack of bugs? The light doesn¡¯t cut off immediately, so I don¡¯t think it is something solid blocking the way. Whatever it is, I¡¯ll figure it out when I¡¯m closer. I approach with my spear raised, ready to strike at a moment¡¯s notice. I keep my eyes peeled for anything that might attack. From the corner of my eyes, I notice that the light behind me is dimming now as well. I stop where I am and check the darkness again. The way everything goes dark reminds me far too much of the Void Fog for my liking. I stare into the darkness. No matter how much it worries me, I know this isn¡¯t the Void. It doesn¡¯t have that same feeling. This darkness doesn¡¯t have that intense emptiness I¡¯ve only ever felt from the Void Fog. I can¡¯t see Jav through this darkness. Hopefully, we¡¯ll reach the creature at the same time. A rustling noise of something sliding across soil and stone reaches me. The darkness suddenly intensifies to where the bugs behind me disappear. I hear a startled yelp from Jav through the darkness ahead of me. I rush forward. Jav must have been attacked before I was ready. My feet almost stumble right into him when he finally comes into view. The shroud surrounding us makes it so I can barely make out his outline. In fact, the only reason I can see him is because he¡¯s moving. Wait, no. As I look closer, I realise there¡¯s something moving under him. Somehow, even though it¡¯s as close as Jav is, it is almost impossible to see. ¡°Sit still,¡± he grunts at the creature underneath him. ¡°Solvei, bring Gr¨ªmr here. It¡¯s not ideal, but it¡¯ll do for now.¡± I do as he says and carry Gr¨ªmr closer to the creature Jav is struggling to grapple with. It¡¯s a rather strange sight; Jav obviously has far more strength than whatever it is, but considering it is three times larger than him, it throws Jav around. He tries to dig his feet into the ground, but the loose soil hardly helps. I crouch down over the creature and put my weight into holding it still. Now that I know my weight increases with greater control in my body, it makes this easier, but the lizard below me still jerks me around with strength I can¡¯t compete with. Gr¨ªmr crawls down my arm and up the spine of the creature. Only now that I¡¯m as close as I am, can I see it properly. A pale white lizard with short legs wriggles under my arms. Its head is wider than its body and has what I think are gills at the back. Aren¡¯t gills only for fish? There isn¡¯t any water around, is there? Jav lets me take over the job of pinning the thin lizard. Instead, he grasps its head and front legs and holds them tight. I realise why the moment Gr¨ªmr cuts into the back of its neck. Its struggles until then feel like token efforts in comparison. It bucks me off and I¡¯m forced to dive back on it in an awkward position to keep its back legs from clawing at Gr¨ªmr. Gr¨ªmr himself is fast and efficient. Somehow avoiding many of the blood vessels as he cuts a path into its spine. Once he has dug deep enough, he slides each of his thin legs into the cut and buries himself inside. The lizard¡¯s desperate struggles collapse into disorderly twitches. It continues sporadically twitching for almost a minute before it stops moving. Jav lets go and I follow his lead, giving the white lizard space. The first thing I notice is that the darkness has receded and I can see the glow-bugs again. The lizard¡¯s body jerks again. I look to Jav, but as he does nothing but watch, I remain still. A few more twitches along its body and I watch as it rises to its feet. The lizard¡¯s head twists to look our way and I notice for the first time, it doesn¡¯t have eyes. ¡°Everything good, Gr¨ªmr?¡± Jav asks. The lizard, no, Gr¨ªmr, opens his mouth and hisses in response. Upon hearing himself, he stops and settles with a nod of his head. ¡°Alright. We¡¯ll have to look for a stronger body. Something you¡¯ll actually be able to fight with. But for now, you¡¯ll have to settle with that.¡± As I watch the lizard that Gr¨ªmr has taken as his skin, I can¡¯t help but think about the darkness it could shroud itself in. ¡°Hey, Gr¨ªmr. Do you think you¡¯d be able to recreate that darkness?¡± I¡¯m not sure whether it¡¯s possible. Gr¨ªmr might be able to take over its body, but does that mean he can replicate their abilities? He tilts his head at me, but he doesn¡¯t move, so I can only imagine he is trying. His white scaled tail twitches and his back legs jerk forward, sending him toppling. Just as I¡¯m about to drop to my knees and see if he¡¯s okay, the area around him darkens. The darkness only surrounds Gr¨ªmr. Not nearly as wide-spanning as the lizard managed, but he succeeds in shrouding himself in a black mist that makes him almost impossible to spot in the dark cave. It¡¯s quite the amazing ability. It¡¯s hard to say whether this would beat the camouflage of the stealth-rats. ¡°Looking for a stronger creature might be unnecessary for now.¡± I try to look Gr¨ªmr in the eye before remembering he doesn¡¯t have any. ¡°What do you think about sneaking into those stealth-rats¡¯ camp?¡± Chapter 84: Scouting the Captors ¡°Getting Gr¨ªmr a body that can actually fight takes far more precedence at the moment. How do you think we could help Remus and Bunny without the strength he can give? What would sneaking in help, if we can¡¯t fight our way out?¡± ¡°Any creature that could have a chance against those stealth-rats is not something the two of us could hold down long enough for Gr¨ªmr to take over. Did you not see how we were tossed around by a lizard as weak as that one?¡± I gesture to Gr¨ªmr, before putting down my hand, realising I might as well have called Gr¨ªmr weak. ¡°We¡¯re better off getting reassurance that they are still okay first before we enact any stupid frontal assault,¡± I say. Jav grits his teeth as he considers my words. ¡°And what if he¡¯s discovered? He won¡¯t get out in a body like that.¡± I hesitate. I¡¯d been so focused on actually moving forward with my plan, I hadn¡¯t paid attention to the danger Gr¨ªmr would be in. This knot¡­ I really need to get a proper awareness of how it is influencing me. At a tugging on my leg, I look down to catch Gr¨ªmr winding his way up my body in his new, lithe form. Similar to a snake, he wraps around my torso and rests his head and forelegs on my shoulder. Is this his way of agreeing with my idea? He nods his head to me, reading my thoughts. I don¡¯t want him to risk himself, especially against the competent hiders he¡¯ll be trying to sneak past, but I don¡¯t have a better idea. Jav lets out another frustrated grunt and paces back and forth before us. ¡°Even if that¡¯s what you both think is best, we¡¯ll still have to wait until Gr¨ªmr can control that body well enough for him to actually go through with it. If we need more strength by then, it¡¯ll be too late to get him something better.¡± ¡°I still think this would be better,¡± I say. ¡°We can hardly attack them head on. You two could sneak in and free Remus and Bunny while I distract them. If we can find another of those fungi bug traps, I might even hurt some of them while you and the others run.¡± I¡¯m really liking how this plan is looking now, but we still need to get information first. Gr¨ªmr needs to sneak in so we can learn where they are being held. I also want to know about that stealth-rat that could destroy Bunny¡¯s weapon with a glance. Is it unique to that rat or are more capable of doing it? I didn¡¯t see any mage markings on him, so it might be something different. Wait, Gr¨ªmr still can¡¯t talk. So how will he tell us of what he sees? ¡°How are we going to communicate?¡± I say to the lizard resting on my shoulder. Gr¨ªmr just shrugs at me. ¡°Give it time,¡± Jav says. ¡°He can make some slight alterations to its biology. I wouldn¡¯t at all be surprised if that¡¯s the first thing he¡¯s working on, considering he¡¯s not practising his walking or that darkness creation ability.¡± Gr¨ªmr tilts his head away slightly. Somehow, he manages to look sheepish even without eyes. Well, if we have to wait for Gr¨ªmr anyway, I might as well get back to it. With my spear grasped tightly in my hands, I thrust forward at an imaginary enemy. I try to synchronise the sudden, intense increase to my physicality as best I can with the moment it is supposed to hit. I¡¯m getting better, but I still have a long way to go. ??? I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d be so worried for him. After he left, I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about all the things that might go wrong sneaking into those stealth-rat¡¯s encampment. This new body of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s can climb walls with almost more ease than it can walk along the ground. Combined with the shrouding ability it has to hide itself, there should be no chance of him being discovered. But I can¡¯t help but remember the stealth-rats hiding along the ceiling to ambush us. What if Gr¨ªmr walks over one of them without seeing them? I very much doubt he¡¯d be able to stay hidden if he¡¯s literally touching one of them. I am glad that the stealth-rats don¡¯t make fires. If they light the cave even the slightest, they would see the abnormally dark patch crawling along the stone ceiling. It took a good few hours before Gr¨ªmr was confident enough in his body to head down into the tunnels below. In that time, I¡¯ve improved to where I can slice through stalagmites. It¡¯s still to be seen whether it¡¯s enough to pierce the skin of those with a decent enough enhancement. Any attempt to push my control further is like hitting a stone wall. It will be a long-term effort to improve. In the meantime, I¡¯ll have to try some other ways to better my fighting ability. A few of my ideas will have to wait until we¡¯re out of this cavern, though; the monstrosities lurking above aren¡¯t as ignorant to bright lights as they are to sound. Jav, being the only one amongst us with nothing to do in the meantime, struggled immensely with impatience. Many times as Gr¨ªmr and I prepare ourselves, he would pressure us to hurry, but would achieve nothing other than disrupting our focus. I may have gotten annoyed at him at some point and told him to go for a walk. It was probably not a good time for him to be wandering by himself, but by the time he came back, Gr¨ªmr was ready. I look down the tunnel once more, worried about how long Gr¨ªmr was taking. He¡¯s been gone near two hours now. Longer than I expected him to be gone.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°I¡¯ve got good, bad and worse news.¡± Gr¨ªmr pops out of nowhere. The shadow of the shaft receding before my eyes. ¡°From what I heard, they are both still alive. Unfortunately, they haven¡¯t been kept here. They¡¯ve been sent back through the mountain, toward the merminea homeland. That¡¯s what they call themselves; merminea.¡± Gr¨ªmr¡¯s voice sounds strange now. Not the familiar deep growl of his panther body, but a much lighter hissing tone. It¡¯s hard to pin the voice as Gr¨ªmr¡¯s after I got so used to his last one. ¡°That¡¯s great! We can catch them off guard in transport.¡± Jav grins for the first time since we landed in this mess. ¡°And that¡¯s where the worse news comes in. There¡¯s more mermineae that way. A lot more.¡± That wipes the smile off Jav¡¯s face, but after a moment of thought, he doesn¡¯t seem too disappointed. ¡°That¡¯s still good. It doesn¡¯t matter how many there are, there¡¯s no way they can cover every tunnel. As long as these caves branch as often as they have, we¡¯ll be able to find a place to ambush them.¡± ¡°How are we going to track them?¡± I ask. We can¡¯t just walk along the path that the merminea frequent. I¡¯d rather not be found out before we can help our team. ¡°Gr¨ªmr and I will find where they¡¯re heading. We¡¯ll worry about how we¡¯re going to free them once we¡¯ve decided on a place for the ambush.¡± ¡°What about me?¡± I ask, but Gr¨ªmr turns and speaks to Jav before he can answer. I wonder why he even bothers turning his head if he can¡¯t see in that body? ¡°I don¡¯t like the idea of leaving her alone. You should stay with her.¡± Jav frowns. He obviously doesn¡¯t like the idea, but he doesn¡¯t outright refute it. To be honest, I don¡¯t like it either. I want them to believe I can take care of myself. It¡¯s true that each of them are stronger than me, but that doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t survive on my own. Also, I haven¡¯t really forgiven Jav for what he and the two we are trying to save did to me. The altered knot has let me push past it, but what they did was horrible. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine by myself. You two should find the rest of our team.¡± My biggest concern at the moment is Jav. He¡¯s been acting far more agitated than I¡¯ve come to expect from him. I¡¯m worried about being alone with him. I don¡¯t know if he might lash out from the stress or chase after Gr¨ªmr when he leaves. Jav jumps at the chance to go after Remus. ¡°She¡¯ll be fine. We go find the two, then we meet up with her before hitting them.¡± Gr¨ªmr looks at me, unsure¡­ or at least that¡¯s what his body language expresses. The lizard face doesn¡¯t seem to move much. ¡°Are you sure, Solvei?¡± I nod to let him know I¡¯ll be fine. ¡°Alright. We¡¯ll find a route that the merminea don¡¯t use and come back for you. We¡¯ll be quick. Stay here and wait for us.¡± Jav tugs his tail and they¡¯re heading down the vertical tunnel before I can say goodbye. Well¡­ now I¡¯m alone, for the first time in a while. I can either wait here and practice my spear some more, or I can go for a bit of a wander. They won¡¯t be back for a good few hours. Will that be enough time for me to find another mushroom tube? I lick my lips in anticipation. I might even find another path down for the three of us. I shake my head at the greedy thoughts. We need the explosive jam to help fight off the mermineae. I can¡¯t be thinking of eating now. We especially can¡¯t afford to have one of those giant monstrosities forcing me into the lower tunnels right now. I¡¯ll just find one of the fungi traps and take some of the viscous substance and that will be all. No burning through the immense swathes of nutritious, tasty glow-bugs. No matter how tempting it might be. I avoid the dark patches as I look for my target. Those lizards might not be the most dangerous, but there¡¯s no reason to believe they are the only creatures lurking in the shadows. It¡¯s possible we got lucky and found the only non-deadly creature when we got that body for Gr¨ªmr. It doesn¡¯t help that many of the shadows move, so I have to keep an eye out in case something is sneaking up on me. I wander forward, looking for any signs of another bug trap. A good hour passes before something finally catches my eye. The glow-bugs in the air have an ever so slight bias to moving to my right. It¡¯s unnoticeable if you look at the bugs themselves, but it becomes apparent when I cast my focus wide along the clouds of glowing lights. As I walk with the bugs, they ever so slightly increase their speed until they¡¯re all moving as a cohesive unit toward a point ahead of me. I¡¯ve found another fungi trap. The flat, mushroom-like plates grow out of the ground in a good five metre radius of the funnel the glow-bugs flow into. I step on the mushrooms, and they are just as soft and springy as I remember. When I make it above the hole, I have to hold myself back from flaring out at the bugs surrounding me. Having so much energy around me, but being unable to take a bite, is almost torturous. I must have forgotten what happened the last time we came so close to this thing. Distracted by the surrounding bugs, I¡¯m splattered with a face full of goop. Only barely do I stop myself from reacting instinctively and burning the substance. It¡¯s a liquid ¡ª even if viscous ¡ª but it doesn¡¯t hurt like water. With my hands, I wipe the explosive jam off my face. The glow-bugs are swarming me already. Their tiny maws biting at both the substance and my body underneath. As their mandibles pierce through my solid flame, they pop. Their tiny bodies exploding from the flames they try to eat. Even as hundreds of crackles declare the death of bugs over my arms, chest and face, I clamp down on my inner flame. I can¡¯t let the explosive liquid go up in flames right now. Both because I need it for our fight against the merminea and the monstrosities that crawl over the ceiling of the cavern. I snap off a few of the platelet mushrooms below my feet and wipe the jam off my body. Taking a few more of the mushrooms, I reach into the tunnel and pull out a thick layer off the walls. I use a few more of the fungi to create a makeshift container. Hopefully, the bugs won¡¯t be able to eat through it before it can be of use. With my goal in hand and a continual intake of energy in the form of tiny zaps around my body, I head back to the tunnel I was told to wait. As I walk, swathes of the bugs follow in my trail. Each of them attracted to the smell of the jam I¡¯m carrying. It¡¯s worrying, the mushroom seems rather resistant to their mandibles considering they could pierce through the enhanced skin of my teammates, but they still find their way to the viscous liquid. If Gr¨ªmr and Jav take too long, I might not have any left. Once I¡¯m back at the tunnel, I try to dig a hole to bury the thick ball away from the greedy jaws of the glow-bugs. Unfortunately, the soil is only about as deep as my hands before I reach the rock underneath. Instead, I try to pile up soil on top of the mushroom container, but it seems to do nothing to stop the bugs from getting at it. The soil might as well not be there. I eventually drop into the tunnel. Low enough that the creatures above won¡¯t see the light from my fire, but high enough that I¡¯ll have time to react to anyone coming from below. I set up a barrier of flame above me that the glow-bugs pay no attention to as they flock after what must be an incredible scent. So now, I get to sit here comfortably, while thousands of tiny lights feed themselves to me without needing to do so much as raise a finger. It¡¯s nowhere near the energy I get from just exploding the fungi tunnel, but the constant stream is nice. I can tell immediately when Gr¨ªmr and Jav are back. Despite the light of my fire above, the tunnel goes dark. The cloud of darkness deepens around me before receding and leaving Gr¨ªmr in view. Just Gr¨ªmr. ¡°Where¡¯s Jav?¡± I ask as I get up, ready to head down into the tunnels. Gr¨ªmr hisses. Upon hearing himself, he stops and tries to speak again, his voice still layered with an annoyed hiss. ¡°Jav is an idiot.¡± Chapter 85: New Plan ¡°The idiot didn¡¯t stick to the plan. Jav jumped to try and free Remus the moment he thought we were alone with them.¡± ¡°Were they expecting you? How did you get out?¡± I ask. ¡°I don¡¯t think they were, but they camouflage themselves when they¡¯re resting. Jav succeeded in nothing but getting himself caught. They didn¡¯t even need to put in much effort. I stayed out of it. Maybe I should have helped, but there was nothing I could have done.¡± A groan escapes my throat. I knew Jav was wound up, but I never thought he would do something so stupid. We already had a plan. ¡°Why would they capture? Why not kill them?¡± When the Henosis imprisoned me, it was for a very specific purpose. But the mermineae didn¡¯t even know we were down here with them until we dropped on top of their camp. What could they want from them? ¡°Information, I¡¯d guess,¡± Gr¨ªmr hisses. ¡°With how close the merminea encampments are to the nations of the pact, they would be after any source of info they can find. But this is concerning; what are their intentions on this side of the Alps?¡± We remain quiet for a time, mulling over the loss of another member of our team. It¡¯s just the two of us now. It¡¯s almost funny how it¡¯s the ones who betrayed my trust and thrust me down here in the first place are the ones who have been trapped themselves. Like the world itself is punishing them. Without Jav, the chance of us freeing our team is slim. As small as he was, he was still our strongest fighter. At least, while Gr¨ªmr is stuck in this body. Even if we were to find a stronger creature now, my flames could do nothing but destroy the body we intend to use. At least Jav could have cut their tendons without making the creature unusable. No point thinking about what might have happened had Jav not been a fool. ¡°What do we do now?¡± I¡¯m not about to make the same mistake as Jav and throw what freedom I have away. I¡¯d only been able to consider the thought because we might have actually stood a chance of freeing them if we were smart. Only if we were smart. There was no way we could have fought the merminea. If we had Jav with us, escaping to the large cavern was possible. It¡¯s not like we needed to fight the merminea to free Remus and Bunny. A decent enough distraction would have been good enough. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Gr¨ªmr starts. ¡°I can keep following them. This creature¡¯s stealth works well enough, but there¡¯s not much we can do to help them.¡± I should just leave them down here. The twist in my desires decides to show itself again. As much as I¡¯d love to leave Jav to the fate his own impatience brought, I don¡¯t want to abandon them. I still need a way out. There¡¯s no way for me to free them, but if we follow the merminea captors, they¡¯ll eventually lead us out of this labyrinth of caves and tunnels back into the open air. My argument appeases the knot of my psyche. Despite how it can twist my thoughts in ways that disgust me, I prefer this so much more over the uncontrollable fear that used to be in its place. With its cold logic, I can actually argue my point. I¡¯ll just need to see whether it remains tied to my surface thoughts after I escape, or recedes like the phobia did. It¡¯ll be nice if I can actually enter buildings now. Still, I¡¯m not looking forward to the time it doesn¡¯t agree with my arguments. I can only imagine it¡¯s as cooperative as it is because I do not know any other way. Would it force me to abandon Gr¨ªmr if the opportunity presents itself? I can¡¯t help but worry about the possibility. I glance up at the wall of flame burning above. The flow of glow-bugs suiciding into my waiting stomach has slowed, but many still chase the sweet taste out of their reach. I joined this team to get strong; to grow my power. Even if it¡¯s not the way they expected, nor the way I wanted, they¡¯ve brought me to the perfect place to achieve that promise. ¡°Do you think you could follow them and guide me along the cavern above?¡± I ask, not turning from the crackling bugs above. ¡°I might as well make use of the time we¡¯re stuck down here.¡± ¡°I can, sure. But is there even any point? I doubt the two of us could do much to help.¡± ¡°Not as we are, no. The merminea are travelling to the other side of the alps, right? That will not be a short trip. What¡¯s to say things won¡¯t change by the time we reach the other side?¡± I know he can¡¯t see me, but I give him an earnest stare. What I¡¯m going to do may or may not be entirely intelligent, but it¡¯s the best option I have. ¡°What are you thinking?¡± ¡°We never got around to doing the ritual on them, but did you know those glow-bugs give an insane amount of energy?¡± A slight chuckle escapes my lips. ¡°I¡¯m going to be detonating every bug trap I can find.¡± ???The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. It took a while to convince Gr¨ªmr that my idea wasn¡¯t actually suicidal. Apparently, the last two explosions had left their marks on him. Not only because of the giant arachnids with their terrifying screeching, but the explosion itself shook him, even protected as he was. I appreciate the concern he shows, but compared to some creatures I would have to face to get an equivalent amount of energy, this is far easier. Facing that dahu alone would be nothing short of impossible. I¡¯ve gotten away better off in both of the other explosions, so I know I just need to crawl into the tunnel before detonating. That way, I can avoid the arachnid when it comes to investigate. It should be safe if I wait for a good thirty minutes after each blast. If I do that, I should be able to go through a few every day. After Gr¨ªmr reluctantly agrees to head down after our team and their captors, I leave for the fungi tunnel I last visited. I keep the ball of boom jam under an arm as I move. It has lost its purpose now that we¡¯re not planning to engage with the merminea, but it will still be useful to have by my side for an emergency defence. Though I have to be careful when I use it, as it is almost certain to attract one of the arachnid monstrosities. I get the same feeling from those things as I did from Hund. Even able to deform into intangible flames, the thing would have no trouble killing me, regardless. After all the time I¡¯ve spent in the cavern, I¡¯ve learnt they don¡¯t react to sound. I can make as much of a racket as I want and yet they never drop to look. Still, they are up there, somewhere, so I¡¯m always nervous they might drop unexpectedly at any point. When I reach the fungi tunnel, I drop the ball and don¡¯t hesitate to dive in. I get the goop all over me, but it hardly matters when it¡¯ll explode in a few moments. I wriggle down as far as I can go before the substance slows my movement. As soon as I let my body relax, the tunnel explodes around me. A thrum of power blasts through me and I relish in the heat that results. So much hotter than anything I can yet make. Hopefully, that changes soon. I¡¯m already far stronger than I should be for my age. My flames are already moving on from orange into a yellow; the same colour most of the adults in my tribe can manage. If this works out the way I hope it does, I wonder how hot I¡¯ll get? Maybe my flame will reach the same blue that only Elder Cyrus could manage. I wonder how other ¨¢ed would react to me? The binding I have isn¡¯t something any but the most dedicated achieve, but I was able to raise it in an incredibly roundabout way. The heat of my flame is far greater than should be possible for my age. I¡¯ve consumed many a strong creature, but the wasteland isn¡¯t exactly empty of its own nourishing beasts. Isn¡¯t it too strange that I¡¯ve grown as I have from so few creatures and people? Chameleons and colossal-worms wouldn¡¯t be short of energy and while we avoided them in most circumstances, there have been occasions where one would be taken down. Why were there so many of the adults who could only manage a yellow flame and nothing more with those creatures around? At the growth rate I¡¯ve experienced in the past months, there should have been more with greater flames. Is it just easier to reach the golden flame than it is anything higher? Do the creatures out along the Titan Alps just give more energy than those back in the wasteland? Or has the Void Fog changed more than my mind and binding? I¡¯m snapped out of my thoughts by the loud pounding of the arachnid above. It seems this one is determined to dig out the source of the flame still burning through the tunnel. The ground quakes and loose rock falls from above. I pull back on the remaining flames, snuffing the light from the tunnel. The monstrosity continues to tear through the ground after me. Nervous that it¡¯ll get close soon, I drop further down the shaft. Despite how similar it feels, I¡¯m glad this thing isn¡¯t actually a Titan. It can¡¯t devastate the earth with its sheer presence like the truly incomprehensible being did. I shake my head at the thought. Why am I comparing the capabilities of monsters? It¡¯s a bit like putting a dingo and a chameleon next to each other while I¡¯m a jerboa. Either would squish me. The arachnid eventually loses interest and the sounds of its heavy limbs tapping against the ground fade. I count out the next ten minutes before I risk climbing up. I say it¡¯s nothing similar to a Titan, but it¡¯s hard to think that when looking at the damage it leaves in the wake of its attempt to dig me out. A good one hundred metre deep crater is all that¡¯s left of the mushroom ring. Although, it¡¯s hard to prove whether the monstrosity or my explosion destroyed it. No sign of the arachnid, thankfully. If I can replicate this as many times as possible on the chase after my team, I might even stand side by side with them in a fight. Well, one can hope. I¡¯ll need to see if even a small flame will attract those arachnids. If I can switch forms and fly around as a bird, I could reach many more fungi traps than only walking would allow. It might be harder for Gr¨ªmr to find me, but I can always make regular trips back to see if he¡¯s looking for me. Well, no time like the present. I move back down the crater until I feel safe enough, then send out some of my inner flame in the shape and size of my falcon form. It flies away from my hiding spot as quickly as I can manage. My control is what lets it fly, not the wings, but I still make it flap to at least give it the appearance of a living creature. Far from what I expect, nothing drops from above. Instead, in bare moments of flying above the swarm of glow-bugs, something absolutely massive rockets through my bird. My flames scatter over the creature¡¯s exoskeleton and the picture it paints does nothing to reassure me. A centipede. But somehow far larger than the ones we¡¯d seen in the higher cavern and on the surface. No, this is bigger. Ten times larger, at the very least. It doesn¡¯t make a sound after decimating my flames. Something that big should shake the earth when it falls to the ground again. But no, there isn¡¯t so much as a whisper. Even disregarding its silence, there¡¯s no way that thing should have been able to hide. None of the shadows I¡¯ve seen would be large enough to hold it. There¡¯s not a chance it could hide under the swarm of lights; its massive size wouldn¡¯t allow it. Has that thing been there the entire time I¡¯ve been moving through this cavern? Where has it been hiding? I¡¯m suddenly overcome with a feeling of nervousness and hesitance to move forward with my plan. What else might wait to crush me in a lapse of awareness? The feeling doesn¡¯t last long. My psyche¡¯s knot of desire quickly suppresses the tightness in my chest. I let out a calming breath. It doesn¡¯t matter what else is invisible to me; this is the only plan I have. I can¡¯t give up on it just because there is another creature I have to add to my list. I¡¯ll get nowhere if I hesitate at every obstacle. Especially when the obstacles are likely to punish me for that hesitation. Still, it¡¯s probably better I wait down in this hole of mine for a bit. Too bad flying is out of the question. That would have sped up my growth an immense amount. I shouldn¡¯t be surprised the world doesn¡¯t want to make my life easy. It hasn¡¯t so far, why would it now? Chapter 86: What Lurks in Shadows Three days and ten explosions later, I worry how long Gr¨ªmr is taking to join me. It shouldn¡¯t be hard for the little blind lizard to follow my trail; his nose is good enough to pick out the burning remains of my¡­ exuberance, from hours away. It shouldn¡¯t be a challenge for him to find the scorched base of the tunnels that have been detonated. And yet, he¡¯s late. I continue forward, looking for more fungi tubes to blow up. The energy I¡¯ve gained from the glow-worms so far hasn¡¯t been enough to leave a visible change to my flame, but I can feel the incremental growth with each firestorm. Without Gr¨ªmr by my side, I¡¯ve felt far more lonely than I expected. The knot suppresses my emotions from influencing my actions, but walking toward the unknown alone leaves me with a tension in my chest that I can¡¯t ignore. It won¡¯t stop me from advancing, but I still feel uncomfortable. The only time the feeling recedes is when I¡¯m enjoying the intense heat. If only it lasted longer. As I continue forward, toward what I think is the other side of the Alps, I spot a strange dimming in the wall of lights before me. The density of glow-bugs decreases. Curious but wary, I approach slowly. It¡¯s not a shadow like I¡¯m used to seeing, just a gradual decrease in their number the further forward I travel. I¡¯ve seen too many dangerous things in this cavern, so I approach with as much care as I can. Beyond the lights, there is nothing. A vast expanse of darkness that expands as far as I can see. Not a single glow-bug moves toward the darkness. It¡¯s almost like an invisible wall prevents them from passing a certain point. A well of dread rises in my chest as peer into the darkness. Is there something in there? Another massive creature that the glow-bugs know to avoid? I stumble backward before catching myself. Not panicking, I ever so slowly back into the embracing swathes of lights. That monstrous centipede could hide amongst the lights somehow, despite its size. I don¡¯t want to know what doesn¡¯t even bother hiding. I return to the last tube I exploded. The darkness expands so far in each direction, it will take days to move around it. Probably. I also want to be near my hiding hole in case it moves. The arachnids above react incredibly predictably and that centipede hasn¡¯t shown itself other than that one time, but who knows how this third giant might react? For now, I¡¯m just going to wait right here until Gr¨ªmr is back. ??? I wait hours, hoping for Gr¨ªmr¡¯s return. He specified no time to expect him, just that he¡¯ll meet in a couple days, not that there is any day-night cycle down here to use as a reference. I¡¯ve been going off a feeling. Nothing measurable. Maybe it¡¯s the same for him, and he just doesn¡¯t realise that it was time for him to come back. I¡¯m not sure what I¡¯d do if he doesn¡¯t come back, if he was caught or killed down in those tight tunnels. His body lets him hide, but there¡¯s little he can do in an actual fight. Maybe it would have been better to look for another host. I still haven¡¯t searched the other shadow patches. The only one we¡¯ve checked so far hid a creature that was easily manageable. What¡¯s to say they won¡¯t all be as easy? Of course, the fact that I¡¯ve already come across three giant monstrosities does not give me confidence in the likelihood of a safe search. It doesn¡¯t help that whatever is in those shadows is more likely to notice me before I do it. The longer Gr¨ªmr takes, the more agitated I feel. I don¡¯t enjoy doing nothing. I want to get out there and continue my growth, or progress through the Alps. Anything to make it feel like what I¡¯m doing actually has worth. I¡¯ve been practising my spear, but I¡¯ve hit a wall. No matter how hard I try, I can¡¯t push my control any further. My swings refuse to hit harder. What I really need now, is something to practice on. I can¡¯t do much more just swinging at nothing. As much as I dislike the idea, I¡¯ll have to approach one of those shadows eventually. If there are creatures I can handle in them, it will be an incredible help to my improvement. I still have fought no one other than Bunny with my spear. Before I¡¯m forced into an encounter with those merminea, I want to be comfortable with my weapon. As it is, I¡¯m not even confident I¡¯d be able to scratch them. ¡°Solvei.¡± I jump to my feet and point my spear toward the voice, before realising my mistake and lowering it. The black mist disperses around Gr¨ªmr¡¯s body. ¡°Don¡¯t do that. I could have stabbed you,¡± I grouch. ¡°You haven¡¯t moved as far as I expected.¡± He brushes off my gripes. ¡°Why¡¯d you stop moving?¡± he asks as he tilts his head toward the massive shadow. ¡°There¡¯s something ahead. Something huge. I wanted to wait for you before trying to move around it. What took so long?¡± ¡°Ah. I found another of those tunnels you¡¯ve been exploding. I was hoping to catch you after you blew the one I found. Anyway, come. There¡¯s a path to the next one with no scent of the merminea.¡± He drops into the vertical shaft.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. I follow close behind. I¡¯m glad to see he¡¯s still okay and hasn¡¯t been discovered by those merminea. ¡°You¡¯ve been loud lately. I¡¯m surprised the merminea haven¡¯t been able to hear you. I can almost feel the ground shaking from your explosions.¡± He says as crawls into the tunnel below. ¡°You¡¯ll be careful, won¡¯t you? Don¡¯t do anything reckless.¡± ¡°Gr¨ªmr, look where we are. Simply being here is reckless. Anything could be hiding where we can¡¯t see.¡± While my mind jumps to the immense centipede I¡¯d seen, there¡¯s no reason to worry him further. ¡°I still don¡¯t want anything to happen. I¡¯ve been able to overhear much of what the merminea has been saying. There¡¯s a good couple of months before they¡¯ll reach their destination. Promise me you won¡¯t take any rash actions.¡± I nod seriously to him before realising the pointlessness of the action. ¡°I¡¯ll be careful,¡± I say. ¡°But you have to promise the same.¡± He lets out an amused breath. ¡°Of course.¡± I know I should get used to it, but I don¡¯t like being alone. It¡¯s only been a few days and yet I¡¯m already feeling incredibly relieved to have Gr¨ªmr at my side again. I have my own task to accomplish. If I can¡¯t handle a bit of time by myself, how am I going to handle the next couple of months? ¡°We¡¯ll probably have to keep our meetings as sparse as possible from now on,¡± Gr¨ªmr says after a moment of silence. I expected it. Having Gr¨ªmr run between me and those he¡¯s following would be nothing if not time consuming. If he fell too far behind the merminea, we might lose them. I knew it was coming, but it¡¯s still disappointing to hear. Well, at least without him around, there¡¯s no chance the knot will force me to betray him. It¡¯s something, right? Really, I just don¡¯t want to experience that same isolation as in that oven. There are more important things going on than my own issues. The rest of the team probably are in a far worse situation than my solitude. ¡°How are they being treated?¡± I ask, trying to distract myself. I care about them, even if I still struggle to forgive or forget what they did. Gr¨ªmr stumbles, tripping over his own feet. He hesitates before responding. ¡°They are being treated fine. Nothing to concern yourself with.¡± Gr¨ªmr is as bad a liar as he¡¯s ever been. It¡¯s obvious that they¡¯re not being treated well. I don¡¯t ask any further. I don¡¯t want to feel guilty for considering this their punishment for betraying my trust. I follow him through the winding tunnels. Not a single scratch mark to show the past travel of mermineae. How Gr¨ªmr can remember his way, I have no idea, but he leads me to the familiar sight of a tunnel filled with roots. No, not roots. Now that I don¡¯t have to run for my life, I see they are a whitish-brown fungi that hangs from a hundred points in the tight tunnel. A very slight blue glows from the hole in the ceiling. I¡¯m surprised the glow-bugs come down this far. The tubes are at least a few hundred metres deep. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about waiting for me. I¡¯ll find you when I get the opportunity. The merminea have been travelling that way almost consistently.¡± I note the direction he points his head. ¡°Take care of yourself. I¡¯ll see you in a few weeks or if they change their course.¡± The black mist shrouds him once more and I can barely give a ¡°goodbye¡± before he¡¯s gone. A sigh escapes my lips. Well, I might as well get back into it. I ignite the fungi tendrils around me and watch as they burn into the ceiling, leaving small holes in their place. The flames continue through the earth until they reach the tube that contains all that explosive jelly. As in the many times prior, I let the comfortable heat wash over me. I watch in curiosity as the jets of flame travel through the deep tunnels. They bend and follow the branching caves for quite the distance, charring stone as they blow their way past. It doesn¡¯t take long for a giant arachnid to attempt to dig for my flame. Really, I¡¯m so thankful it¡¯s as dumb as it is. If it didn¡¯t give up, it would get to me in no time. If it was smart, it might even wait in ambush. Even though I¡¯ve experienced it so many times now, the thrum as its legs smash through the earth still unnerves me. As always, it gives up before it even reaches half way down the tube. It returns to the darkness of the cavern and opens the way for my exit. Again, I wait a good half an hour to begin my climb. Just in case. As I breach the tunnel into the cavern, I¡¯m welcomed by the sight of glow-bugs¡­ on only one side. This tunnel has only led me to the very edge of the massive shadow. No. As I look around, I realise that I¡¯m well within the expansive darkness. I¡¯m sprinting for the safety of the swarm of lights before I even realise my legs are moving. Ten metres, thirty, fifty. After running over a hundred metres, I finally reach the safety of blue bugs. It¡¯s only after I¡¯m within that I remember the bugs don¡¯t offer any true safety by themselves. Only the awareness it gives of the other creatures in this cavern. I twist on the spot, expecting something unthinkable to be bearing down on me. Nothing. It¡¯s all in my imagination. I shake my head at my impulsive actions. I¡¯d already seen the shadow, so why did I react so panicked? Why didn¡¯t my knot suppress my instinctual terror? Whatever. I¡¯m out now and there¡¯s nothing coming for me. I remember Gr¨ªmr¡¯s directions and immediately set out. I don¡¯t want to stay around here regardless if something is chasing me or not. It is behind me now. As long as I keep moving, I don¡¯t need to worry. In my haste to move away from the extensive field of darkness behind me, I almost stumble straight into a comparatively tiny shadow in front of me. Not so close that whatever is hiding can see me ¡ª I hope ¡ª but close enough that I can see it isn¡¯t the shrouding mist of darkness. Instead, I can make out the silhouette of some beast ahead of me. It¡¯s big, but not the same scale as the Arachnids, especially not that giant Centipede. It¡¯s about the same size as the panther body Gr¨ªmr used to have. Definitely not the same shape, though. While the silhouette isn¡¯t exactly clear, there are two large shapes at the side of a smaller central body. Slowly, I back up. I don¡¯t want to deal with this now. Not while the massive shadow still looms behind. I take another step back and try to circle around the creature, losing sight of the silhouette. I may not see it anymore, but the loud snap that rings out halts my next step. Before I even realise why I¡¯m doing so, I throw myself out of the way of something snapping toward me. I spring to my feet before the creature can attack me again. As I take another step away and ready my spear, I finally get a good look at what attacked me. A pincer about the size of my body opens to reveal two lines of jagged teeth. It must have clamped closed as it sprung toward me. The pincer hovering in the air moves back as the arm and body it connects to come into view. Considering the size of its claws, the body is rather small. About equal to the creature¡¯s oversize pedipalps. The only reason the thing can even keep its balance is the long, thin legs that stretch wide off its body. Looks like I¡¯ll be practising my spear earlier than anticipated. Chapter 87: Pseudo-Scorpion Now that I have a better look at it, the creature looks like one of those tiny scorpions I used to see in the desert. Only cut in half and enlarged. It doesn¡¯t have a tail and its midsection is far smaller ¡ª in relation to the claws ¡ª than that of a scorpion. I tighten my grip on my spear and take a step back to open some space. A glance over my shoulder shows nothing but the darkness behind me. Nothing is charging out toward us after the loud echoing snap from the half-scorpion. That short moment of distraction costs me. As I turn around, the claws of the creature fly toward me and I¡¯m unable to jump away fast enough. It slices through my hand, sending my spear flying off to the side and tearing right through the sleeve of my outfit. The claw doesn¡¯t leave any lasting damage to me, of course, but I¡¯m now disarmed and my snowsuit is torn above the glove. I take another step away. The scorpion retracts its pincers to its side, ready to burst forth with its next strike. It scuttles forward, trying to get within attacking distance again. The darkness is still behind me and my spear is on the other side of the scorpion, so I try to back away to the side. The scorpion keeps at the same pace as me as I try to circle my way around. As soon as I have a clear path to my spear, I abandon all caution and dash toward it. The scorpion¡¯s claws explode forward, barely grazing past my head. I pick up my spear without issue. Now that I¡¯m on the other side, I can easily just run off. I don¡¯t need to worry about the darkness looming behind it if I don¡¯t engage. But isn¡¯t this the perfect opportunity? The scorpion isn¡¯t anything dangerous. Well, not to me. My snowsuit might say different. The next patch without glow-bugs I try to run into might hide something I can¡¯t fight. Or maybe all I¡¯ll find are the blind-lizards, which won¡¯t be much of a challenge. Against my better judgement, I raise my spear again and wait for the half-scorpion to approach. It does so slowly, almost seeming unsure of how to attack. The pincers on its long arms sway from left to right and brush across the ground. Well, if it isn¡¯t going to attack, I might as well take the initiative. I thrust straight forward, hoping to pierce it with one blow. The sharp tip of my weapon grazes off the scorpion¡¯s carapace, leaving nothing more than a shallow scratch on the hard surface. I realise the folly of my decision to attack it head on almost too late. I¡¯ve put myself right between its pincers. There¡¯s no way I¡¯ll be able to back up in time to avoid them snapping at me, so I go the only other direction I can think of: right between its legs. I crawl under its body as I hear two loud snaps ring out one after the other. It knows I¡¯m under it and immediately tries to scuttle backward to keep me in front of it. In a moment of inspiration, I wedge the back of my spear into a rock and angle the sharp end into the joint between its body and pincer. The creature backs up with enough force that the spear pierces right through the hard carapace and into the vulnerable inside of the limb. The scorpion screeches and twists away from the sharp pain in its joint, but only pulls the spear along with it. Before it can move too far away, I clamp down on my control as hard as I can and slam my entire body onto the spear, jerking it down and through the bottom of the joint. Another screech escapes the scorpion as it backs away. One of its pincers now drag along the ground, limp. I spring to my feet and rush around to the side with the injured limb. If it can¡¯t attack me with that pincer anymore, I should be able to attack it without worry. I can¡¯t risk using my flames, so I need to use anything that might give me the advantage. It tries to spin and face me while backing away, clicking its remaining claw to threaten me. It is in pain and feels in danger, so it wants to scare me off. If you didn¡¯t want to be in danger, you shouldn¡¯t have attacked me. I run around its side faster than it can spin. Once I¡¯m near its back, I rush in and bring my spear down in a downward swing. I push a heavy impulse through my body, trying to put as much weight behind it as I can as the sharp tip comes down on the centre of its body. I¡¯m rewarded with the bladed tip slicing into the carapace. It doesn¡¯t dig in deep, but it¡¯s proof that this method works. I doubt anyone else in my team would have any issue cutting this scorpion up ¡ª except Gr¨ªmr in his current body ¡ª so I still have a long way to go before I¡¯ll be able to pierce the skin of the enhanced, but this is a good start. I jerk the spear out of the scorpion and move around its back again before it can spin on me. The next swing is aimed at the joint of between a leg and its body. Even if I can pierce its carapace, it¡¯ll take too long to fell if each strike is shallow. I need to slow its movement. Instead of the joint I was aiming for, I hit slightly lower on its leg. I put in the same amount of effort as what let me break through its back, but the angle of its hard leg ricochets the blade down into the soil. The scorpion spins on me and snaps out once more. I expect to tug the spear along with me and dodge with ease, but the spear doesn¡¯t budge. My strengthened blow wedged it in the rock beneath the soil. With my unenhanced tug, I¡¯m sent off balance and the pincer slams closed around my head. I apply the proper strength to free my spear and back up. An annoyed glance is all I give the remains of my hood. I need to be more careful; I still need this outfit for when I finally escape these caves. Wading through snow without its protection does not sound fun. The scorpion snaps its pincer a few times, confused how it didn¡¯t catch its prey. Determined not to make any more mistakes, I dash toward its weak side again. As soon as I run, it turns to me, but it is too late. My spear thrusts straight into the joint of its front leg. I glide my hands up the shaft of the spear and push another impulse through my body. I twist, severing the leg entirely as I continue running behind it.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Before it stops screeching and can turn on me, I bring my spear down on the rear leg I missed before. This time I hit dead-on. The blade cuts through with ease, removing another leg. Without two of the three legs on its weakened side, it can¡¯t keep its balance. The scorpion collapses as it tries to turn to me. The opportunity presents itself, so I take it. I chop off the remaining leg before it can push off the ground again. Like the last swing, I feel the carapace shattering beneath the weight of my spear. The scorpion can do nothing but squirm on the ground now. With its remaining legs, it drags itself away from me, trying its utmost to put its claw between us. It screeches. I¡¯m not sure whether it¡¯s in fear, pain, or just from the futility it must feel. Maybe it¡¯s all. Maybe it isn¡¯t even capable of those thoughts and it is just instinctual screeching. Whatever the case, it would be cruel to extend this longer than it needs to be. I jump on its back, careful not to be knocked off by the jerky movements of the dying creature. Once I¡¯m above its head, I ready my spear and thrust down. The spear really is better for thrusting; while the swing earlier only barely got through the carapace, my thrust pierces through the bottom of its head. The half-scorpion doesn¡¯t die immediately, so I pull back and spear through its head once more. Its struggles slow, but many of its limbs still twitch. The pincer opens and clamps closed in a loop. One more thrust stills it for good. I drop to the ground and look over the motionless scorpion. It¡¯s the first creature I¡¯ve killed without relying on my flames. I definitely have a lot to work on, but to know my practice and training with the spear hasn¡¯t been for nothing feels great. My outfit could have been spared the damage, though. Besides the hole in my chest, both the hood and one of my sleeves have severed. I pick up both from where they lie on the ground and shove them into a pocket. When I rescue those three, I¡¯ll make sure Jav fixes it up, just like he promised. My eyes hover over the corpse before rising to the void. Luckily, whatever is hiding in there has shown no intention of interrupting our fight. But I won¡¯t be able to just burn through this corpse as I normally would; even if whatever is in the massive shadow doesn¡¯t react, those arachnids above definitely will. I lug one of the severed legs over my shoulder and move on for the next fungi trap I can find. While I did fairly well to disable the scorpion, I realise I need to be faster. It could only hit me when I was caught off guard. In a fight like that, I need to react quicker so I won¡¯t be hit even if I¡¯m surprised. The first pincer that hit me caught me when I was distracted by my surroundings. While I can¡¯t say being aware of my surroundings is bad, I¡¯ll need to make sure it doesn¡¯t come at the cost of my awareness of the enemy before me. I should have at least created more distance and gauged the scorpion before worrying about the shadow. The second hit was entirely on my unfamiliarity with the spear in an actual fight. Whether or not I should have abandoned the spear after it didn¡¯t come out isn¡¯t something I can know for sure. In a more dangerous fight, leaving myself unarmed might be just as bad as letting the enemy get a hit on me. What I can improve, is my understanding of how my spear might react when different strength is applied to it. I had no idea I lodged my spear in the earth until I tried to tug it. I feel like the only way I can improve this understanding is to just use the weapon more. Become more familiar. As I walk, I continue to replay the fight in my mind and think of ways I could be better. Opportunities I¡¯d missed in the heat of the moment and pointless movements that I¡¯d have been better without. Eventually, the slow biased movement of the glow-bugs becomes apparent once more and I follow them to my next meal. I hear the squawking of the bat before I see it. The outline of the creature is all I can see in the blue glow of the innumerable lights surrounding it. It seems I¡¯m not the only one who uses those fungi bug-traps to have an easy feast. The bat crawls along the ground, jerking its head into the swarm of lights every few moments. The bat approaches the hole in the centre of fungi growths and throws its head in the stream of bugs. It¡¯s obviously enjoying the meal, but I¡¯m curious how it will deal with the jam that fungi tube spits out when you get too close. As expected, the viscous liquid spurts out and covers the bat. It screeches; the ultrasonic noise loud to my ears even as far as I am. It is too far to disturb my flames, fortunately. The bat mustn¡¯t have had a plan to deal with the substance. It stumbles back and tries to wipe at it with its wings, to no effect. The glow-bugs soon swarm the creature, intent on the delicious juice coating the bat¡¯s body. Another screech rings out as the bat realises their roles are reversed and it is now the one being eaten. With a flap of its wings, the bat launches into the air. It flies right through the thick layer of bugs. As it breaches the top, a wave of the blue lights follow after it. It looks like every bug in the area chases the bat into the air. Millions of tiny glowing dots chase after a single creature. The light intensifies around the flying bat as the bugs swarm. That terrifying, chest shaking growl rumbles through the cavern a moment before the bat disappears along with a large section of the swarm. The earth shakes as an arachnid monstrosity lands on the ground. Only visible from the outline of the many glow-bugs still spread through the air, the creature looms tall. I freeze, hoping that it won¡¯t notice me as long as I don¡¯t make a noise. Barely a second passes from it crashing to the ground before a bang tears through the air, far louder than even the impact of the arachnid. As difficult as it is to see, I can still make out the arachnid being launched a good hundred metres. Almost as if it appears out of the swarm, the giant centipede rushes the arachnid and slams its forcipules into its side. I don¡¯t find the heavy impacts shaking the air anywhere as frightening as the silence in which the centipede closed the distance. Its weight alone should rattle the earth. It is unsettling. I flinch as the arachnid slams many of its front legs into the centipede. The echoing clatter of metallic reverberations almost too loud to handle. With impossible ease, the centipede lifts the arachnid off the ground and slams it down on its head before twisting around it. The centipede constricts around the arachnid while it tries in vain to slam and bite its way out. But the centipede has the weight advantage by a factor, so it is all but impossible for it to escape. I try to make myself as small as I can. Their fight ¡ª if one can even call it that ¡ª has taken them to the edge of where I can still make their outlines. Should I make a run for the fungi trap? Or should I just wait and hope they don¡¯t crash their way over here? Before I can make my choice, a deep cracking and groaning echoes through the cavern chamber. The arachnid¡¯s terrifying screech shakes my body before cutting short. A wet crunch accompanies the deformation of the arachnid¡¯s silhouette. The glow-bugs return to their normal height and I lose sight of the centipede uncurling from the dead arachnid. The remains of their fight disappear into the darkness. Nothing makes a noise. I think¡­ I¡¯m just gonna lay here for a bit. I don¡¯t want to be the first creature to make a noise after that. Getting a taste of that arachnid¡¯s corpse would be nice, but there¡¯s no chance I¡¯m risking any proximity with that centipede. As soon as I can, I¡¯m diving down that tunnel and running far away. Chapter 88: Growth I¡¯ve been down here for months. Thankfully, I never got caught in the middle of the fight between giants. In as long as I¡¯ve been travelling through this cavern, not once have I seen the giant centipede afterwards. While the arachnids will often drop on the creatures after they get swarmed by the uncountable bugs, the battle between giants was a once off. It¡¯s surprising how common it is to find bats or the residents of the shadows trying to get a feed from the fungi traps only to find themselves as paste under the giant arachnids massive weight. I catch sight of it at least once a week on my journey. After burning my way through hundreds of the fungi tubes, it has become routine. Despite the immense strength they show and the instinctual fear I feel in their presence, the arachnids are predictable. Not once have they acted different to what I¡¯ve come to expect. They always react to bright flashes of light and chase it down. They will usually ignore flashes of less illuminating light, but will chase it down, regardless, if it stays lit long enough. I may have done some experimenting once I¡¯d become more comfortable with their predictability. In the hidden depths of a fungi trap, I¡¯d had a flame bloom far above until an arachnid attacked. My goal had been to see if explosively enhanced flame could damage its body. I might have been trying to push above my level, but after all the energy I¡¯d been raking in from the glow-bugs, I wanted to see if I could take on something bigger. Of course, I never should have been hopeful. Even at the hottest temperature, my flame could not scorch a single thin hair. Engulfed in flame as it had been, it never changed its actions. It tried to dig to me, so I simply dropped deeper into the tunnels below. Despite the terror its screeches inflict upon me, I treat the monstrosity as nothing more than a nuisance or an obstacle to avoid. Because of the arachnid¡¯s inflexibility, I¡¯ve become so accustomed to detonating the fungi tubes that I¡¯ve been able to increase the number I hit per day to fifteen. I can leave the safety of my hole only a few minutes after it gives up digging without worrying that it¡¯ll come after me. The only thing that takes time anymore, is running the distance to the next mushroom trap. While I don¡¯t think there is any true pattern to the layout of the tubes, they always grow about the same distance away from each other, so it is always easy to find the next. Just run in the direction I need to travel and veer off whenever I notice the strange behaviour of the glow-bugs. It¡¯s no more difficult than that. The immediate benefit of constantly eating these nutrition intense bugs is that I always have the energy to push on. I need far less sleep than normal and I can run almost non-stop at my top speed without issue. It¡¯s not even close to the speed I can reach with flight, but it¡¯s something. I don¡¯t need to be running as much as I have been. The merminea Gr¨ªmr and I have been tailing aren¡¯t in any rush to get through the tunnels. But sprinting around lets me gorge myself as much as possible. It¡¯s insane how far the Alps extend. I¡¯m sure I would have ran Zadok Kingdom¡¯s length twice over by now. Maybe even three times. And yet, the merminea have shown no sign of rising to the surface, according to Gr¨ªmr. It feels like every visit from him is getting further and further separated. I always look forward to his return. It¡¯s the only time that is broken up by the monotony of running and detonating. Hmm¡­ maybe monotony is the wrong word. I really enjoy blowing up those fungi tunnels. Disappointingly, even with all the energy I¡¯ve gained in the past weeks, my fire has only gotten a bit hotter than what the explosive jelly could reach. It¡¯s a significant improvement over what I could do, but my flame is still a bright yellow rather than anything more impressive. I was really hoping to at least come near the blue hued flame Elder Cyrus sometimes showed off, but I¡¯m not even close. Instead, the amount of flame I can influence has exploded. It¡¯s hard to measure my capabilities as many factors influence the strength or intensity of my flames in any circumstance, but using a general standard can help track my improvement. Where before I could probably have filled a five metre radius sphere of flame for an hour before exhausting myself, I could now fill almost fifty metres for the same time. At least, that¡¯s how it feels. I¡¯ve hardly had the chance to experiment except when exploding the fungi trap. The range at which I can control has stretched farther from my body as well. I never truly had a maximum distance, but the further my flame is from my body, the harder it is to influence. Before, ten metres would have been my effective maximum for full control. Further than that, the flame would react with less precision until about a hundred metres, where I¡¯d only be able to feel the flame. This is, of course, assuming that my fire is isolated. Should my flame rocket out two hundred metres, I would still have been able to feel through it and control it to some extent. Now, my range has multiplied near tenfold. I¡¯m almost certain none in my tribe had a range as far as what mine has become. Elder Cyrus definitely had the widest, but his effective range wouldn¡¯t have been over fifty metres. I¡¯m already double that. The range has made searching the lower tunnels almost easy. Even if I don¡¯t travel down there often, I can just send out a wave of flame and I can see all the branching tunnels. Another change I¡¯ve noticed since my energy has exploded in strength, is that I can feel sources of heat in the cavern. As long as they are within my effective range, I can feel the temperature of the bats. No other creature down here seems to give off any heat, but it explains that odd feeling I had when the mermineae ambushed us.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. While before, it was subdued. Now, I¡¯m able to make out individual limbs from the thermal sense. If I¡¯d realised what I¡¯d sensed back then was the heat of a warm-blooded creature, then my team might¡¯ve never gotten into this situation. The wave of flame I sent through the tunnels didn¡¯t reveal any sign of the mermineae. Hopefully, I haven¡¯t wondered off track without noticing. I¡¯ve already been stuck down here far longer than I ever wanted to. Only the promise of an exit has halted me from doing anything excessive. Should I have any reason to believe those I¡¯m following don¡¯t actually have a way out, there is no doubt in my mind that the tangle of my psyche will push me to do something drastic. Even though it is almost a death sentence, it might even push me to fly to the ceiling, relying on the chance that I won¡¯t die from the impact before the monstrosities tear through the two layers of enhanced stone. I last met with Gr¨ªmr only a week ago, so there isn¡¯t anything for me to worry about as of yet. Beside my ¡ª numerous ¡ª gorging sessions, I¡¯ve made time to look into the shadows that hide both the blind-lizards and pseudo-scorpions. Other creatures hide within many of them, but none have been much of a challenge. Beating them with my spear has been easy. Well, except one. But that never attacked back, so I was given free rein to use its shell as strength practice for my spear. Even after months, I¡¯m yet to pierce it. My technique has improved immensely. After that first fight with the pseudo-scorpion, I have kept my outfit from tearing much more. There is a tear over my chest and my other glove is gone, but the rest is still mostly intact. On the other hand, the amount of force I can push into my thrusts and swings has stagnated. Actually, I think with the amplified energy within me, my control has worsened. Any improvements or gains from practising my spear and control every day are offset by how far my capacity has grown. Now that I think about it, how did the amount of my flame increase so drastically without the temperature following suit? I¡¯d always been told it would grow naturally along with my capacity. Is that wrong? My circumstances are extremely unique. I am very aware that my recent growth is not natural, so is that why my heat is lagging? Or do I have to figure out the proper method to increase it? It¡¯s improved to the same temperature the explosive jam used to push it to, which should be just enough to fight against the mermineae. I¡¯m worried that it still won¡¯t be enough to fight against the more enhanced of their race. At the very least, I hope the expanse my inner flame can now cover will be enough of a smokescreen to let my team escape. I detonate another tube of explosive jelly and relax into the heat as the heavy thuds pound through the earth. At this point, I could just cast out my fire to reach for the glow-bugs myself, but I enjoy the extra boost the substance gives my flame. Even after all this growth, I¡¯ve settled into a loop of doing the same thing every day. After looking down on the arachnids for their predictable actions, I¡¯ve gone and become the same. Well, I¡¯ve not changed my actions simply because they are so effective. I hardly have to worry when I¡¯ve done the same action a thousand times prior, but becoming complacent isn¡¯t doing me any favours. But¡­ how can I increase the number of bugs I¡¯m consuming without putting myself at immense risk of retaliation from the giant centipede or arachnids? I already leave immediately after the arachnid stops trying to dig me out, but maybe I can increase my running speed somehow. A way to know for sure which direction the next fungi trap is would be nice too, but I¡¯m not sure how to approach that. If I can apply extra strength to my spear strikes by focusing on my control, then I should be able to do a similar thing with my running, right? As I climb out of the crater that used to be the top of the mushroom tunnel, I push into a run. First, I try to increase my physicality. Rather than speeding me up, it does the opposite. With my control at the limit, it makes me feel like I¡¯m pushing against a strong wind compared to before. From the obvious negative results, I change up my approach. I still need to be careful not to become visible, so I pull back on my body until my flames are on the border of emitting light. I¡¯m sure this point between physical and not looks strange; the surface of my body ever so slightly flickers, but the light usually partnered does not appear. Nobody looking at me closely would mistake me for an albanic now. My eyes glow when I¡¯m like this, but it isn¡¯t any more intense than the surrounding bugs¡¯ light. I¡¯m faster than usual, but not by much. As I transition between the two states, I notice that while I don¡¯t feel like I¡¯m pushing against a wall anymore, I can¡¯t push the same amount of strength into my legs. Is this a balance thing? Do I have to figure out the sweet spot between the extra strength I get from more weight against how much that weight works against me? I play around with my control for the time being. There isn¡¯t anything else I need to worry about until I reach the next fungi trap. My weight changes back and forth, but it seems I was wrong; there is no ¡®sweet spot¡¯. Only reducing my weight seems to increase my speed. That is¡­ until an idea passes through my mind. I come to a halt, dropping my shoulders and tilting my head back. Why didn¡¯t I think of this weeks ago? I run again. This time I keep my upper body on the verge of flames, but solidify my legs to the most I can push them. It makes controlling my body harder, as I have to split my focus away from just keeping a grip on my form, but it¡¯s manageable. My speed increases by a good twenty percent over my previous maximum. Why did I never think to split my focus to different parts of my body? It¡¯s not like I didn¡¯t know I could do so; I¡¯ve changed my hands into claws without changing the rest of my body. Whatever. I know I can now. I should be able to improve my spearmanship again with this. As I run, I experiment with the most effective distribution of control. Quickly, I find that I can¡¯t push my body to the same maximum mass with my mind split between so many areas. It doesn¡¯t matter so much for running, but I can imagine it might become a problem when using my weapon. The more weight I can put behind my spear, the better, after all. As obviously beneficial as this is, it does nothing but make me want to change my form. If I don¡¯t have to worry about the light I give off when not in my standard form, I could extend the length of my legs to give me a longer stride or lengthen my arms for better reach. Wait, Bunny taught me to use the spear in my default shape, but why do I need to keep the same form as her? Could I not just grow an extra set of arms and use two spears? So many ideas to explore. So many I can¡¯t because of the monstrosities I¡¯ll attract doing so. If I want to experiment with these improvements, I¡¯ll need to spend more time in the tunnels underneath. Doing so will cut into the amount of bugs I can consume, though. The solution is simple, and yet difficult. I need to improve my control so that I can hide my flame even with a morphed body. This will solve almost all my problems; I¡¯ll be able to fly again, increase the force behind my spear and give me the opportunity to practice and try new things, all while still hunting down the swarms of bugs. Of course, if improving my control was that easy, I would have done so already. I¡¯ll need to figure out a way to push it to the next level. ¡°Solvei.¡± I jerk away from Gr¨ªmr¡¯s voice to my side. ¡°Stop doing that!¡± I say, embarrassed at being caught off guard. ¡°You¡¯re back early. I didn¡¯t expect you for at least another week.¡± Not that I¡¯m complaining. Gr¨ªmr drops the cloud of black around him. He looks exhausted. Now that I think about it, he must have been moving incredibly quickly to catch up to me while I was running. ¡°The mermineae.¡± He pauses for a breath. ¡°They¡¯ve reached the exit.¡± Chapter 89: Ascend ¡°Really?¡± I can¡¯t help my excitement at the news. ¡°Finally?¡± ¡°Well, yes,¡± Gr¨ªmr says. ¡°But there are a lot of mermineae crowding the path. Even alone, I don¡¯t think I could sneak by them.¡± He looks up at me in concern, but even with his worries about the number of enemies we will face, I feel nothing but giddiness now that we are so close to getting out. ¡°Well then, let¡¯s go. There¡¯s no reason to wait.¡± ¡°Wait. We still need to prepare. I need a stronger body than this if you are going to get through. Nothing good will happen if we go as we are.¡± I spare a glance over his pale lizard body. ¡°Nothing in this cavern would be too helpful. Well, except for the monstrosities, but there¡¯s no chance of touching them. You are better off keeping the stealth ability than switching.¡± Gr¨ªmr cuts off a hiss as it leaves his throat. ¡°You¡¯ve been looking through those shadows? I told you to be careful,¡± he chides before pausing for a few seconds. ¡°Solvei, I don¡¯t know how we are going to get past them.¡± I know the knot in my psyche is influencing my thoughts right now, but this is my first opportunity to escape in what feels like forever. There is no chance I¡¯m passing this up. ¡°Let¡¯s go check it out. What other option do we have?¡± I try to keep my tone serious, but I¡¯m not sure if I truly hide my exhilaration. Gr¨ªmr gives me a worried glance before he turns and leads me away. ¡°It¡¯s a few days¡¯ travel.¡± I last met Gr¨ªmr a week ago, so we shouldn¡¯t be this far away from the mermineae. Did Gr¨ªmr direct me to the side before, or is he leading me away right now? He wouldn¡¯t be leading me away from the exit now, would he? No. Out of our team, he¡¯s the one I trust the most. I can¡¯t wait to get out of this horrible underground cave system. The swathes of glow-bugs I¡¯ve gorged on have got me through, but I miss the sky. I want to smell air that isn¡¯t stale. Once more, I¡¯ll be free. It doesn¡¯t matter what I need to do, I¡¯m getting out. ¡°So, in those areas devoid of glow bugs, you faced nothing too dangerous, did you?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks as he crawls along the ground beside me. ¡°You didn¡¯t go looking down in the tunnels below?¡± I send a questioning gaze to the lizard, who cannot notice it. ¡°No. Nothing too strong. A few tears in my outfit are all I needed to worry about.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± he says. Is it? It would have been better if there was something strong enough for Gr¨ªmr to take over. If that was the case, we might have had better options before us than simply sneaking by. I realise that what we¡¯re doing will be dangerous. Each merminea is strong enough to be comparable to the enhanced members of our team. No matter how much fire I have at my command, I¡¯m never going to push my way through too many of them. Well, unless the three mermineae that I already killed in the centre of a fungi tube explosion were the strongest of their race. Then, this might be easier than I could have hoped for. But I¡¯m not about to put all my hopes on that slim possibility. I want to have a look at the exit the mermineae are guarding before I decide on any plan. We spend most of the next few days in an uncomfortable silence. Gr¨ªmr stays in a state of thought for most of the time and any time he goes to say anything, the words die in his throat. I try to start conversations on my own, but they always fall off after a few terse exchanges. Still, his presence makes the trip more comfortable than before. Loneliness isn¡¯t enjoyable. Eventually, we reach another of those massive shadows that cover everything from one side to another. Gr¨ªmr walks straight toward where a giant monster is obviously hiding without even hesitating. I grab his tail before he can leave the safety of the glow-bugs. ¡°What are you doing? We don¡¯t know what¡¯s hiding in that darkness.¡± Gr¨ªmr looks back at me oddly and I let go of his tail immediately; I hate when people hold me like that. I shouldn¡¯t do the same to others. ¡°The exit is ahead. This is how they reach the flat cavern above,¡± he says and waits for me. The monster is covering the path out? I shouldn¡¯t even be surprised that the only place I refused to check is the way up. ¡°Okay,¡± I say. If these mermineae can get past whatever hides in the shadow, then I¡¯ll just have to do the same. Better than waiting down here. The lack of worry Gr¨ªmr expresses about what lies ahead also gives me a reason to push on. Instead of continuing forward like I expect, Gr¨ªmr jumps on my leg and climbs up my body until he¡¯s wrapped around my neck and torso. ¡°There are mermineae ahead. I¡¯m going to cover you in darkness, alright?¡± Before I can even question him, the black shroud wraps around us and I can no longer see. ¡°You¡¯ll have to point out where we¡¯re going if you plan to keep the both of us obscured like this,¡± I say and Gr¨ªmr simply nods his head straight ahead. I was already worried enough about going into the giant shadow, but now I don¡¯t even have the reassuring light of the glow-bugs at my back. Each step I tense, expecting something to jump at me. Or to stumble over the sleeping form of some Titan undisturbed until now.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I¡¯m about to speak up and ask exactly what I should expect ahead of us when Gr¨ªmr interrupts me. ¡°I smell them; they aren¡¯t too far ahead,¡± Gr¨ªmr whispers in my ear. ¡°Be quiet from now.¡± How am I supposed to avoid them if I can¡¯t see them? I almost vocalise my concern when I feel something that answers that question for me. A hundred metres ahead, there is a patch of heat far warmer than any of the surroundings. Last time I felt this, I didn¡¯t know what it was. Now? My heat sense has improved that I couldn¡¯t mistake it for anything but what it is. A merminea The first I¡¯ve seen in months. Well, I still haven¡¯t seen it, but the point is the same. I can tell where it is just from the body heat it exudes. No longer will their camouflage let them ambush me. I divert my course to avoid it, but soon notice it isn¡¯t alone. As I push further into this darkness, a few more appear in range. Each keeps a good fifty metres between each other, but they all remain motionless. As I move closer, the detail improves and I can distinguish each limb. I creep past the first only twenty metres away. The merminea doesn¡¯t move. So much so that if it wasn¡¯t giving off so much heat, I¡¯d think it was dead. There is no movement in its chest to show that it is breathing. I move between the mermineae, careful of any motion around me. It¡¯s unsettling walking through the pitch black and knowing there are enemies all around. Has Gr¨ªmr felt like this the entire time we¡¯ve been down here? The constant stress must have been hard. Soon, I notice something strange. Ahead of me, I can feel the heat of a few mermineae, but they aren¡¯t on the ground. They seem to be suspended in midair. Curious, I creep ever closer. More appear above the others, almost vertically. After the point where they rise into the air, I can feel none. I cast my gaze upward, pointlessly looking for the mermineae through the darkness. Do they have ropes to the ceiling? Is that how they get out? But why would they put them within the shadow that doubtlessly holds some terrifying existence? I come very close to slamming my head into the stone wall that appears in front of me before I can react. For a moment, I just stand there, passing my hand over the surface that extends out of my reach and sight. I struggle to suppress my groan. Of course. I¡¯d gone and misled myself. There was never a terrifying monster hiding in this shadow. It is dark simply because there is nowhere for the glow-bugs to travel this way. The cavern wall. That¡¯s all that hides within. I feel foolish. After seeing the arachnid and centipede, I went and fabricated some imaginary monster. I could have risen to the upper cavern at any of the walls I now know I came across on the way through the Alps. A tap from Gr¨ªmr snaps me out of my self-ruminations. He jerks his head up above us, obviously thinking I don¡¯t know where to go. Rather than letting him know how stupid I feel for my mistake, I push on. The wall is smooth. Few places for me to grab and pull myself upward. With no other option, I look around to make sure Gr¨ªmr¡¯s darkness shrouds me completely. The last thing I want is for those mermineae to see the light I¡¯ll give off. Limiting it to only my fingertips, I push the heat of my flames until I know I¡¯ll be able to dig through the rock. Gr¨ªmr twists his head as he feels the heat from my glowing orange fingers. He digs his claws into my shoulder, obviously questioning my action, but I don¡¯t have an option if I want to climb the wall. I try my hardest to keep my flame hidden as I amplify the temperature, but it seems as impossible as hiding my flames in bird form. I¡¯ll have to rely entirely on Gr¨ªmr to keep us hidden. My fingers sink into the stone with ease. After the past few times climbing this way, I¡¯ve learnt that putting too much heat into my hands will do nothing but melt away the handhold I¡¯m trying to rely on. By keeping the heat high enough to slice through stone, but only limiting it to my fingertips, I can lift myself with the rest of my hands without worry of slipping. I wonder about the walls. Do they encircle a massive cavern or are they more like pillars that can be walked around? Whenever I came across one of these massive shadows, I always descended into the tunnels underneath and sent my flames in search of the next fungi tube to rise to the surface again. Not once did I try to go around. I can no longer feel the heat from the mermineae on the ground below, so I should be near the half-way point in my climb. It¡¯s not hard to find how far I am from the ceiling. When I¡¯m in range to sense, it would be impossible not to feel it. Above me there are tens of mermineae climbing around and through a vast hole. The hole is about twenty metres away from the wall, but many mermineae move from the ceiling of this cavern into the flat surface of the cave above. I can¡¯t make out the full size of the hole from where I am, but it¡¯s big. Obviously a hole made by an arachnid. I have to stop before I reach the top of the wall. A large heat signature moves into the edge of my sense range. It gets closer while I remain motionless and I realise it¡¯s a swarm of mermineae. The detail improves as they move toward the ceiling hole and I can see at least a hundred moving together. As much as I want to stay still to limit the risk of being seen, I¡¯m too close to the direct path down the wall. With as much speed as I¡¯m willing to risk, I scale the wall until I¡¯m well off to the side. And it¡¯s lucky I put some haste into my movement; the group of mermineae flood through the hole, not stopping for a second before they race down the wall where I was not a moment ago. They don¡¯t seem all that quick while climbing upside down, but the moment they reach the wall, they rush down with speed I couldn¡¯t hope to compare. I wait, still, until they are all far below me before continuing up. Not wanting to remain in a position to be found, I don¡¯t approach the hole directly. Instead, I curve up the wall, planning to climb around to the other side of the hole and enter that way. I¡¯m much more likely to be noticed going in directly. I reach the ceiling and push my fingers into the rock to melt a grip for myself. Or at least, I try. The rock doesn¡¯t melt under my heat. I can¡¯t even feel it warming up. Right. Enhanced stone. Of course, I can¡¯t burn through the rock that Remus and Bunny couldn¡¯t smash their way through. Instead of digging my own handholds, I¡¯m going to have to rely on the stalactites that drop from the ceiling. They will not be easy to climb across. I doubt my grip strength is enough to carry me to the hole before I fall, so I need to do something else. Fortunately, Gr¨ªmr¡¯s shadow leaves me with an option I haven¡¯t really been able to make use of in the past months. First, I grow claws on the tips of my fingers. I would lengthen my arms, or maybe change my body to imitate a dohrni, but I¡¯m not too sure if the shadow can hide all the light I would create. After watching Remus, I know dohrni bodies could traverse this obstacle without issue. Instead, I settle with changing only my hands and feet. I morph my feet to allow myself to grip the stalactites without dangling from only my arms. Before long, I¡¯ve changed them to be rather similar to the talons I¡¯m familiar with, only with more surface area to grip. I can¡¯t dig in with my talons, so it¡¯s best not to rely only on the grip I can get from their sharp points. It isn¡¯t long before I¡¯m ready. With glowing hands and feet, I grasp the first of the stalactites only barely visible through the dark shroud. I tug at the rock formation to make sure it¡¯ll remain attached to the ceiling and my grip won¡¯t come loose. Before I reach with my other arm, I focus on my body and make sure I weigh as little as possible without becoming visible. There might have been a better way to do this, but trying to push my legs higher up the wall while I slowly creep backward along the ceiling is far harder than I expected. I¡¯m not at all worried about the fall. Even before all my improvements, falls were never too damaging. What¡¯s actually worrying is that I don¡¯t believe the mermineae around me wouldn¡¯t notice us falling. Awkwardly, I hang from my hands and talons and make my way around. I was right to think the other side of the hole would be less populated. There¡¯s a few I have to avoid when I climb over the edge, but I get into the shallow cavern without issue. Now I just need to hope my luck keeps up. Chapter 90: Supersized Angling I stumble away from the hole, moving toward the space with no thermal presence. Talons are not very comfortable to walk on, and I struggle to move without staggering. Thankfully, none of the mermineae have noticed my presence yet. I can only be thankful that they don¡¯t have a fire to light their way. It¡¯s understandable down in the cavern below, but if they had a source of light up here, then Gr¨ªmr¡¯s shadow would stand out. Gr¨ªmr points his head in the direction we need to go, but even without his input, the higher number of mermineae that way would be enough of an indicator. The slender creatures are far less wary than they were down below. They all move around together and talk without restraint. Despite the increased number of mermineae, I feel much better walking around knowing that they aren¡¯t all that alert. There mustn¡¯t be too much danger in this cavern for them to be this lax. I follow along the congregation of mermineae, keeping them at the edge of my sense range while I weave through individuals that lay unmoving at the peripheral. It takes a while, but I know I¡¯ve found the exit as soon as the number of mermineae exponentially increases. The point they surround is far out of the range of my sense, but there¡¯s no doubt in my mind that is where the mermineae are coming from. That¡¯s where I am going to leave from. Where I¡¯m finally going to be free. Thankfully, even my psyche knot knows that just rushing forward right now will achieve nothing. I need to get a better idea of the layout to think of a way past them. I feel Gr¨ªmr tightening around my chest, either from distress or an intentional warning. Whatever he wants, I ignore it. I push closer to the mermineae than I¡¯ve dared before, coming within metres of the nearest. The hum of chatter through the cavern is more than enough to cover any sound I make as I crawl forward. Several mermineae hide along the low ceiling, but they are easier to avoid than the ones on the ground. I wonder how they¡¯re able to cling to the smooth surface of the rock without digging their claws in. They aren¡¯t digging their claws in, right? It¡¯d be horrible if all of them can easily pierce the ranked stone that even the strongest attacks of my team hadn¡¯t been able to do much more than scratch. Without being able to see for myself, I have no way of knowing. My thermal sense is good, but nowhere near detailed enough to see the individual claws or fingers. The cold stone is completely invisible. When the tunnel above finally reaches my sense, Gr¨ªmr is squeezing tightly around my neck. Amongst the many hundreds of heat sources ahead of me, there are some moving through a spot where there should be stone. I quickly lose track of them, the stone between us preventing me from feeling the heat, but it is enough to know I¡¯ve found my target. I can feel Gr¨ªmr digging his claws into my shoulder and only barely holding himself short of snapping at me. It¡¯s obvious I¡¯m too close to the surrounding mermineae for his comfort. I do feel anxious myself, but I¡¯m so close to getting out. Just a hundred metres forward and I¡¯ll be on my way out. To Gr¨ªmr¡¯s displeasure, I press on. There has to be some way to pass. Something to give me a method to get through them. Right now, the only options we have are to sneak by without their notice¡­ which will be near impossible, or attack them head on and break our way through¡­ which is just as impossible. I could also get a stronger body for Gr¨ªmr and use him as a distraction to get through alone. My psyche sneaks in that last option, but the likelihood of it working is so low that it doesn¡¯t even argue when I refuse it. As I look over the dense crowd of the mermineae, I feel a grin coming over my face. I have it. There is a way I can get through with little¡­ well, maybe a lot of risk, but it¡¯s guaranteed to work. I finally relent to Gr¨ªmr¡¯s silent protests and make my way out of the pack of mermineae. Really, we are lucky to not have been noticed. Their eyesight mustn¡¯t be all too good if they don¡¯t realise they can¡¯t see parts of the tunnel they could before. Well, I¡¯m not about to question what goes my way. First, I need to find another hole to the cavern below. I could use the one I entered through, but the less mermineae around, the better. Choosing a random direction, I move away from my exit. In a short while, I¡¯ll be back. Once we are a respectable distance away from the mermineae, Gr¨ªmr hisses in my ear. ¡°What were you thinking, Solvei? Do you want us to be caught?¡± I did get a bit overwhelmed in the moment; I admit. The exit attracting me like a glow-bug to explosive jelly. Never should I have got as close as I did to the swarming mermineae. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I got an idea. I know how to get us out.¡± Gr¨ªmr perks at that, his anger all but forgotten. ¡°Really? How?¡± I avoid looking at the lizard on my shoulder. There is no chance he will like what I have planned. ??? I couldn¡¯t find another hole to the cavern below, so I settle on returning to the one we entered through. Travelling the hundreds of metres along the ceiling is hard, but eventually I reach my goal. I can¡¯t feel the heat of the mermineae through the stone above me, but I should be close enough for what I have in mind. Gr¨ªmr didn¡¯t like my idea. Actually, he vehemently refused to let me go through with it at first. But with my freedom in sight, I wasn¡¯t willing to let this go. When I moved to do it by myself, he finally relented.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°It would be safer if you wait a distance away until I¡¯m done,¡± I say as I adjust my grip on the stalactites I hang from. I¡¯ll be able to handle a few hits, but if Gr¨ªmr gets unlucky, he¡¯ll be dead in one. ¡°No. This plan is already far too dangerous. I¡¯m not leaving you in more danger than absolutely necessary.¡± There aren¡¯t any mermineae crawling on the ceiling this far from the wall, so it¡¯s not like I¡¯ll be spotted. My glowing hands and feet might give me away to the monstrosities, but considering my plan, it¡¯s a small risk to take. Gr¨ªmr would have been safer keeping his distance, but refuses to leave me visible when I do what I¡¯m about to do. Well, there¡¯s no point holding off for longer than necessary. The constricting pressure of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s body mirrors my nerves. The quicker I do this, the sooner we¡¯ll be out in the sunlight once more. I focus on my target a hundred metres ahead of me, right below where the tunnel leading upwards should be. It takes almost all my focus to ignite the tiniest fire from this distance. I would have no trouble creating it next to me and then sending it away, but there is no point risking myself. In moments, I amplify the flame over the ceiling. It burns a bright yellow and lights up everything around as it spreads over the stalactites. I¡¯m unable to even char the rock, but that¡¯s not my intention. My flames light up the massive cavern below like a miniature sun. It doesn¡¯t take long for the screeching to start. I grip tight against the ceiling and double check that the flame is far enough from me. An arachnid monstrosity¡¯s bulky body scuttles along the ceiling with far too much speed to seem natural. It slams its front legs through the rock. The impact quakes through my hands and before I can tighten my grip, my fingers slip out. Dangling from my legs, I don¡¯t relent on my flames. I keep them burning around the arachnid until it is joined by a second. The tapping of its legs across stone and the tearing through rock threatens to loosen the grip of my legs as well. A chorus of high-pitched shouts of terror reaches my ears. The arachnids have found the mermineae. From the light of my flames, I can see the pedipalps of the arachnids grasping at the slender creatures before swallowing them whole. My flames spread into the cavern above, but each of the mermineae are already fleeing at an incredible speed. I feel around with my flame and realise I missed the tunnel by a rather extensive distance. The flames along the ceiling slide into their new position where I want the monstrosities to dig. One follows my flames, but the other continues tearing through the rock as it chases after the screaming rodents within. This works far better than I expected. If I keep going, I should be able to lead the arachnids to dig right through to the tunnel above and clear any opposition we¡¯ll face. It works, but their screams reverberate through me. Somehow, their voices seem louder than the immense quakes of these near Titan existences. No. I¡¯m so close to freedom. They are in my way, so I need to remove them. If they don¡¯t run away, they will have nothing but the might of these arachnids to deal with. But¡­ I still hope they choose to run away. With one arachnid tearing into the tunnel above similar to how it would chase me down into the fungi tube below, I finally decide to pull back on my flames. But in the last moment before my flames go out completely, a glint from below catches my attention. My eyes widen and I immediately grasp tighter on the stalactites. A tremor stronger than anything the arachnids have caused rocks the world. Even putting an impulse of strength into my grip, the shaking of the earth nearly tears me right off. The giant centipede has slammed into the ceiling. Without my flames, I can¡¯t see how much damage it unleashes, but the sound of screaming mermineae quickly dies out. In their place, the arachnids screech at the new rival to their hunt and launch themselves at it. I hear a crunch as an arachnid is caught in the jaws of the centipede. It shrieks in pain as the second arachnid slams into the centipede from its other side, knocking it loose from the ceiling. A few seconds pass before the slam of the three monstrosities hitting the ground reaches me. The sounds of their brawl rumbles through the cavern. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s claws dig into my shoulder again, but I don¡¯t complain. I need to get out now. If I wait to be certain that those giants won¡¯t come back up, then I¡¯m just asking the mermineae to block my way. I need to use their confusion and terror to escape while I can. I clamber along upside down until I come across a new entry to the cavern above and pull myself up. It is only once I¡¯m on solid ground do I realise a problem I didn¡¯t think of until now; the ceiling above me doesn¡¯t have stalactites for me to climb across. I have no way to get up to the tunnel above now that the ground is destroyed. The stone under my feet shakes from an impact below. I put my hand on the ground to steady myself while the earth settles. There¡¯s no time to worry about whether I¡¯ll be seen or not. I need to act now. I settle to change into my falcon form for the first time in months. I will my body to morph as fast as possible. Surprisingly, the flames of my form are more willing than ever to do as I want. It¡¯s still not as fast as I want, but it¡¯s far better than before. ¡°Keep your darkness as thick as possible,¡± I tell Gr¨ªmr. As my body size shrinks, I notice Gr¨ªmr weighing me down far more than before. There is less of me to grasp onto, so I feel him grasping at places that restrict my movement. ¡°Don¡¯t grab my wings,¡± I say, and he quickly obliges. It takes five minutes to change. Far too long with the constant tremors from the brawl going on below. When I¡¯m finally done, I¡¯m only as big as Gr¨ªmr, which isn¡¯t great as I need to lift double my body weight. I give an experimental flap of my wings and find that while it¡¯s a struggle, I can lift us off the ground. Before I can throw myself into the air and fly through the tunnel, an explosion of rock pelts me. Stone shrapnel tears through me from the side and I feel the plane of stone under my talons drop away. I spread my wings wide, hoping that the monstrosities throwing each other across the cavern can¡¯t see my flame through Gr¨ªmr¡¯s darkness. I beat hard, fighting against our combined weight to drag us to the freedom I¡¯ve longed for. The screech of the arachnids behind me feels so close. Just like the other times, the only sound coming from the centipede is the devastating impacts as it smashes against the arachnids or the stone of the cavern. Gr¨ªmr has kept my view clear of darkness, but the angle I have to see is only enough to keep the tunnel above in my sight. The colossal fight is all but invisible. I can only hope the same is true in for me. The flames from my head light the way and I dart forward with as much speed as I can gather. I move past the cratered remains of the tunnel just as another quake shakes the earth and air around me. No mermineae block my path to the wide tunnel above. I break out into the large tunnel of black rock. Despite my mindless state the last time I was up here, I recognise this as the tunnel under the Titan¡¯s path. I¡¯m so close now. Another tremor loosens the dark rock and I¡¯m almost hit by a chunk that falls in front of my face. I can see movement in the distance. Most likely, the mermineae that ran away are waiting for the monstrosities below to stop their brawl before they approach again. I turn to the side that looks like there are less of them and fly forward. It¡¯ll be hard to sneak by them, so I¡¯ll just have to fly past and find an exit before they realise what¡¯s going on. The open air calls me. Chapter 91: Freedom The tunnel is thankfully tall enough that I can fly over the heads of the mermineae without issue. Black stone above allows me to shoot past them without notice. While there are a few of the mermineae active in the centre of the tunnel, most hide themselves on the walls of the cavern. I need to be able to see the exit, so Gr¨ªmr leaves a small gap in the darkness ahead of me. It is only a matter of time before one of the svelte creatures notice me through that tiny opening. I push my wings to the limit, flying as fast as I can past the many camouflaged mermineae I can sense hiding in wait. Hopefully, the entire fact that they are hiding doesn¡¯t mean they are expecting me. It¡¯s concerning, why else would you camouflage yourself except to ambush someone? I finally spot a break through the walls. There¡¯s no doubt in my mind that is the path to freedom, the number of unhidden mermineae before it is telling. Well, those mermineae are going to be a problem. There¡¯s no way I can fly into that narrow passage without them noticing. Not when I¡¯ll have to weave my way past them to get through. There are few options for me; I either pass this opportunity up and continue down the tunnel until I find a better, less populated tunnel, or I brute force my way through them. My impatience to reach the surface might be influencing my thoughts too much. Without much of a thought, I blast the group with my flames and incinerate the fur off their skin. Each of them shrieks and scratches at their body to free themselves from my flames. I use the distraction to dart between them and through the breach in the wall. No longer do I have stealth on my side. The screams of the rodents behind me attracts the attention of every mermineae in the crevice to me. All that¡¯s separating me from the surface is this fissure and the enemies within. The light shining through the split in rock above is blinding. It leaves the black cloud I¡¯m shrouded in exposed like a blemish on the world. There are a lot of mermineae camouflaged along the walls above. I can feel them. Each one is looking squarely at me. I don¡¯t have time to back down now. Finally, I completely unleash all the power I¡¯ve worked months to build up. The tunnel explodes in a cascade of flame. I replicate the intensity achieved by detonating the fungi traps entirely with my own strength. Many of the creatures above me scream and flail like those before, but there are exceptions. Three of the mermineae clinging to the walls ignore my flames even as they scorch their skin. One throws themselves at me and only the cover of flames allows me to curve out of the way of its strike before it plummets below. The next two are less willing to throw away their positions. They wait until I fly close enough to strike. I try to do the same thing with the second; blind them and jerk my body around their extended arm, but after seeing what happened to the last of its brethren, it instead snaps out and grasps my wing. His hand passes right through and my momentum carries me up to the third. I need a second to recover the physicality of my wing, which stops me from dodging the third¡¯s claws. They pass right through my fiery plumage and chest, but rather than that being it, I feel the weight on my back dislodge. Gr¨ªmr slams into the wall. Hard. I hear a snap and his body goes limp. I quickly pull back on the flames around him before they burn him like the mermineae underneath me. Thankfully, he lands on a protruding rock away from the mermineae. I¡¯ll be able to pick him up without issue. I flap my wings and gain more height. So close. I¡¯m so close to escape. What? No. I need to get Gr¨ªmr. Why am I flying away? I breach the surface and find myself in the bright blue sky. The moon high in the sky and the Titan Alps welcome me. Euphoria floods my chest. I¡¯m finally free. The feeling lasts for only a moment before it drains to dread. I snap my neck down to the fissure beside the familiar sight of the Titan¡¯s path. How could I? How could I abandon him? I toss my bag with my outfit and spear to the side and dive back down, willingly throwing myself back into that horrific tunnel. The moment I fall below the surface, I recoil at the mental backlash. The knot screams at me to get back to the surface. My wings jerk in an attempt to pull myself back up, but I¡¯ve already gained too much momentum. I drop like a rock toward the motionless Gr¨ªmr and the merminea holding him by the tail. My talons pierce right through his eyes and the fire in the crevice reignites with greater intensity than before. The merminea tries to pull me off, but each time his clawed fingers try to grab at me, they do nothing but slide through my incorporeal form. My talons and beak are the only things left physical as I claw and strike at it. I continue to amplify the heat around it until the merminea finally releases Gr¨ªmr. If you don¡¯t let me grab Gr¨ªmr, I¡¯m just going to keep coming down here. The threat only works somewhat. It gives me enough fight against the knot¡¯s control to fall to Gr¨ªmr and pierce my talons into his back. I don¡¯t have the time or mental control to care about how I get him out, just that I get him out.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Now, with every part of my mind collaborating, I rocket upward. Away from the mermineae still struggling against the cinders burning through their skin. I wasn¡¯t able to kill any, most swiping away my flames before they became fatal. But none got away without deep burns through their skin, which is incredibly encouraging. I¡¯m not helpless against them. Once more under the open air, I let out a sigh of relief and look down at Gr¨ªmr. The lizard is still not moving. Lacerations litter the pale body, many of which couldn¡¯t be only from the mermineae. Shrapnel from the cavern exploding around us must have hurt him without my notice. As long as he¡¯s still fine on the inside, we¡¯ll be okay. I soar down and pick up my bag before darting away. The mermineae scatter across the ground below. There are almost as many as in the tunnel below, but I can¡¯t see a single one. Even with the light of the sun and knowing exactly where they are with my thermal sense, I still can¡¯t spot them. Their fur taking on the colour, pattern and texture of the snow and rock around them with uncanny precision. We are obviously not in the same place we entered. While still at a high altitude of the Alps, the land far below is not familiar in the slightest. From my vantage point, the land appears far flatter than I¡¯m used to. As far as I can see, there are no major hills or mountainous terrain beside the Titan Alps itself. Actually, the appearance of the Stepps lacks much of the trees that populated the other side. It¡¯s hard to tell from this distance, but direct channels leading away from the Alps discolour much of the land beyond the Stepps. Mostly, they are straight, but sometimes the lines of damaged land curves or widens. I stretch my wings wide and just enjoy the moment. Feeling free once more is amazing. I¡¯ll need to find where my team has been taken, but for now I just want to relish in the calm that I¡¯d all but forgotten about in my long stint within the Alps. The moon ahead of me looks higher than I remember and there¡¯s a faint vertical line below it, like a scratch mark in the sky. I feel an ever so slight tapping on my talon and look down to spot Gr¨ªmr in his tiny spider-like appearance, half protruding from the back of the lizard. ¡°Is the body dead?¡± I ask, slowing. He nods to me and climbs the rest of the way out and clings to my talon. ¡°Do you need it?¡± if the body is of no use to him, I might as well. He shakes his small body and gestures with a leg to the limp lizard. With his permission, I burn through it, thankful not to have to deal with all the extra weight anymore. After months of glow-bugs, it¡¯s rather underwhelming. Though, the flavour is decent. I¡¯ll have to find Gr¨ªmr another body. A task that might be rather hard, as much of the open plains before me appears uninhabited. There might be no other option at the moment to fly until I find something. Landing in the snow with my torn outfit isn¡¯t something I want to do. Remus, Bunny and Jav will have to wait until we get ourselves sorted before we can even think about freeing them. Hopefully, Gr¨ªmr has some idea of where they might have been taken, because I wouldn¡¯t know where to start. Now that my mind is free from the influence of the knot, I realise my actions in the tunnel were rather horrific. Hundreds of mermineae were killed by leading the monstrosities to them. I don¡¯t truly regret what I did, as it lead to my freedom and those that entrap and imprison others deserve nothing less. But the mass slaughter by incomprehensibly strong beings reminds me far too much of the fate that befell my tribe. As much as I hate that they would imprison rather than kill, they are still people. I¡¯ve seen their sapience. To cause the same sort of devastation that killed my family is not something I want. Even as I consider how horrible it is to murder all these people, I know I would do it again to protect my freedom and the freedom of those I care for. While I don¡¯t know if I could ever forgive those three for what they did, I don¡¯t want them to suffer that fate. Death would be a better outcome. Light scratching at my feet has me look down at Gr¨ªmr, who jabs a leg backward, gesturing behind me. I twist my neck to find what he¡¯s indicating to and my flames chill the moment I spot it. High on the Titan Alps is the mountain¡¯s namesake. A titanic buzzard perches between mountains that appear minuscule beside it. Even so far away, it is still far too close. How did I miss it as I came out of the tunnel? Despite its brown and black feathers, the avian Titan appears to shimmer in the sunlight. Visible distortion warps the entire outline of the creature, but nothing stops me from seeing it twist its head. The air seems to freeze around me as the eye of the massive bird locks onto me. My breath catches and I lock my wings. Even as I lose altitude, I don¡¯t adjust my flight. I don¡¯t dare make any motion that might keep its attention on me. The Titan¡¯s eye peers right through me. It feels like it sees much more than that which is visible. My entire being is exposed. My past, my thoughts, my fears. The Titan tears me apart piece by piece until there¡¯s nothing left. The world around me fades out and I can¡¯t see anything but that giant eye piercing through me. Until the eye turns elsewhere. The world returns to me and I feel like I¡¯ve been twisted inside out. My wings snap wide and I forcefully pull myself back into stable flight. The snow awfully close for comfort. I glance back to the Titan once more, but it is glancing somewhere far to the north. It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s not looking this way anymore. I calm myself and check to see Gr¨ªmr clinging to my talon. I offer my other taloned foot and he quickly scurries inside the bag with my outfit. Didn¡¯t Jav say the Titans were all on the other side of the Alps? Was that true? There aren¡¯t more Titans in the plains below, are there? Now that I think about it, where has the crocodilian Titan gone? Its molten path has gouged just as much out of this side of the Alps as it has near the pact nations. The remnants of its path move out of sight far in the north-west, toward the moon. At least it¡¯s far enough away not to worry about, which is far better than the Titan behind me. Still, the mountainous buzzard isn¡¯t moving from its perch, so I should count myself lucky. I move away from the croc Titan¡¯s path. The mermineae populate the area far too much for me to be comfortable staying near. They all stay hidden, but I¡¯m not willing to risk staying near them now that I¡¯m so visible. Wait, why are they staying hidden? Even as the thought goes through my mind, I¡¯m too late to react. Before I can process what is happening, my entire body is torn away from physicality and my flames are dispersed so wide I¡¯m unable to even think straight. When my mind stops spinning, I feel my body separated into several balls of flame careening toward the ground below. I spread my internal flame and connect each of my separated parts, but my body is slow to come together again. Whatever hit me was moving far too quick. I couldn¡¯t get a proper look even as it shot through my flames. Whatever it was, I can¡¯t find it. But that is hardly my biggest concern right now; the frozen water below is approaching rapidly. I won¡¯t be able to pull myself together quick enough to avoid the snow. Chapter 92: Enantiorn Eagle My body snaps together a moment before I crash into the snow. I¡¯m already dropping too fast. There¡¯s no way I¡¯m pulling out of this dive. The only thing I can do is clamp down on my form and try to cool my exterior as much as I can without chilling the heat within. If I can keep all my heat inside, I should be fine. I smash headfirst into the thick white cover and find myself buried deep. The layer of snow rises well over my short stature while in this form. I flail with my wings and drag myself on top of the white powder. Despite my best efforts, the snow melts around me. A sheen of water stings as it pulls energy out of my flames. On top of the snow, I hold myself up with the tips of my wings. I try my best to keep my talons from sinking. My bag with Gr¨ªmr has fallen fifty metres away. I need to get over there. I try to minimise how much of my body is touching the snow, but even with only my talons and the tips of my wings, the speed at which it is melting is concerning. The longer I stay still, the greater the pain becomes. I scuttle along the surface while I look up; I need to find what attacked me. There¡¯s no point taking to the sky again if I¡¯m going to be hit with such intense force again. With wings spread wide, a large bird glides through the air far above. My first thought is that the Titan has chased us down in the moment I stopped looking, but the plumage of differing shades of blue says otherwise. The Titan buzzard is still far away on the Alps. The bird above has four long wings that allow it to twist through the air at incredible angles. The eagle curves up, flying upside down and in the opposite direction after an impossibly sharp turn. It doesn¡¯t seem to have any more difficulty flying like that than it did upright. Angling its neck, the bird looks down at me before falling into a dive. Its beak appears more like an axe-head than something that should be on the head of an eagle. It accelerates far faster than should be possible simply with the help of gravity. From hundreds of metres in the air, it takes barely a second for the four-winged bird to run its talons through me once more. Five metres long and a wingspan nearing twenty, the eagle dwarfs me. Its talons run me through, but don¡¯t split me apart like the last impact. I hold onto my physical form for as long as it takes for the bird to return to the air and away from the snow melting around me. I tear my body past the claws and I¡¯m hit by a throbbing pain through my chest. My torso is far slower than it should be to pull together. There¡¯s something more to the blades on its feet than a simple physical attack. Before the bird can whip its head around to bite at me, I spread my flames wide and climb out of its reach. The intense wind catches at my wings as I try to climb up the leg of the eagle. As my flames spread to cover the bird¡¯s entire body, I notice I can¡¯t reach its feathers. Not only that, my flames intensify and burn brighter as we twist through the sky, leaving a trail of fire far behind us. The eagle twists once more and brings its beak down to bite at me, but as it closes down on me, my flame explodes outward completely involuntarily. It blows me far out of the maw bearing down on me. It takes a moment to adjust myself and catch the wind under my wings again, but I¡¯m fortunate to have been blown toward my pack and Gr¨ªmr. I skim the snow and scoop up the bag as I pass by. As fast as I can, I fly toward the path left by the Titan. The mar on the landscape only a few hundred metres before me. With a twist of my neck, I monitor the eagle that seems to have gained an incredible amount of height in the moment I lost sight of it. It twists its body and dives again. Even with almost five hundred metres between us, I don¡¯t hesitate to throw the bag into the snow once more. I brace and force my body as intangible as I can. The sharp axe-like beak slices through the right side of my body and dismembers my wing. I tumble through the air and crash into the snow once more. Agony jolts through my body. This isn¡¯t something I¡¯ve felt since I fought the general. The flames of my wing don¡¯t return and I¡¯m forced to regrow it. Unlike my fight with the general, I don¡¯t feel near as drained from the loss of a limb, but that doesn¡¯t change the fact that without my wing, there¡¯s no way I can reach the fissures beside the Titan¡¯s path. No chance the bird leave me enough time to regenerate. The bird is resetting itself for another dive. I don¡¯t know how I¡¯m going to deal with the next one. Without my wing, I can¡¯t fly. All I can do is pull myself along the snow that melts below my fiery feathers. A few minutes. That¡¯s all I had to enjoy the freedom of the sky before it was taken from me again. The air around the bird is just like that when I faced the general. If I don¡¯t figure a way out of this, I might not survive. What can I do? My spear? No, that along with my bag and Gr¨ªmr are too far to reach. Not to mention it¡¯ll be hard to use without arms. My flames have already shown to be ineffective. They can¡¯t even touch its body. The strange bending of light around its feathers, while they seem to amplify my fire, completely blocks the bird from being damaged.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. The only option I can think of is to unleash. Burn everything in the surrounding air. It might not hurt the eagle, but there¡¯s a chance it will scare it off. Doing so will almost certainly melt the snow around me and I¡¯ll be left dealing with a pool of water, which is just as bad. I don¡¯t have the time to come up with anything better; the four-winged creature far above twists into a dive. I stumble toward my bag while a firestorm erupts from me. A twister of fire spins up toward the incoming projectile of a bird. In seconds, my flames meet the falling bird and leave no room to dodge the intense heat. Instead of being scared off as I¡¯d hoped, the eagle flaps its wings and my body is flattened against the ground. A gust of wind stronger than I¡¯ve ever felt pins me to the earth. I stare in disbelief as my flames burst outward in every direction except where I intended. The intense wind blasts away not only my flames but also the surrounding snow. At least I don¡¯t have to worry about water now. I try to move my wing and talons, but the wind is too strong. Somehow, even while incorporeal, I¡¯m still pushed back. As tightly as I can, I grasp at the flames still spreading with the gust and pull it back. It¡¯s the only option I have left. The eagle is closing in faster than I react. My flames won¡¯t be enough. The firestorm burning through the air rushes back towards us, but it won¡¯t reach in time. There¡¯s nothing left I can do. Seriously, I struggle for months to get back to the surface and I get taken out by the first beast I come across out here. If the Eternal Inferno wasn¡¯t an apathetic existence, I¡¯d assume it was messing with me. No one else could be this unlucky, right? What will Gr¨ªmr do without me? I can¡¯t imagine it¡¯ll be easy to find a new body by himself. The eagle bursts through what little flame I could put up in the time I had. It doesn¡¯t even blink. My greatest strength, nothing more than a slight annoyance. I notice movement in my peripheral, but I can¡¯t look away from my death as it speeds down to me. What am I thinking? Am I just going to lie here and accept what¡¯s coming? Of course not! There¡¯s one thing I can do. It¡¯ll hurt, but pain is better than death. I mix the fire of my body with my inner flame and push it out the side of my body. The agony is as unbearable as losing my wing, but I achieve my goal. I rocket off to the side. My small falcon body is flung out of the way of the eagle¡¯s path. It hurts as much as it does because I¡¯m essentially cutting off my body to do this. I haven¡¯t been able to make my inner flame solid yet, but using the mass of my body, I¡¯m able to push myself out of the way. The eagle screeches, sounding like it is in pain. I¡¯m not sure how. Did I hurt it somehow? Did the firestorm break through its defences when it slammed back together? No, I can still feel my flames burning around it. The bird¡¯s defences haven¡¯t been breached¡­ so why? It continues to shriek and I turn my head to watch it fly to a high altitude once more. What just happened? Before I can question further, I feel a hand wrap around my neck. I¡¯m pulled to the rough, furry side of my captor and the land blurs around me. I focus on the one holding me and realise it¡¯s a merminea. They run along with three legs while holding me and my pack with the other. I¡¯m extremely uncomfortable in its grasp, but I hold myself off from squirming. For whatever reason, one of my enemies wants me enough to jump in the giant eagle''s way. I¡¯ll do everything I can to stop it from keeping me captive like its race is my team, but until we are away from the bird, I can hold myself back. The merminea dashes around, showing incredible speed that none in my team could come close to beating¡­ except Jav after being flung. It digs its claws into the hard earth and cuts near all our momentum. In a moment, we slam down into a tight crevice I hadn¡¯t even noticed. I fall out of the speedy creature¡¯s grasp and fall to the ground as the merminea digs its legs into either side of the fissure and stares to the sky. The eagle passes over our haven. While the merminea holds still to the walls above, I open my pack to make sure Gr¨ªmr is alright. He moves to climb out the moment he sees my missing wing, but I shake my head and push him back inside. I do not want the person above to know Gr¨ªmr is here. The fact that the merminea didn¡¯t hold on to me any longer than needed is a good sign, but it is still a part of the race holding my team captive. I don¡¯t know what it wants, but I¡¯m not trapped here yet. ¡°You are intelligent, yes?¡± the merminea twists its head to face me while clinging to the walls above. There¡¯s no more sign that the eagle is coming for us, but I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it is still in the air above, just waiting for me to rise to the air once more. My wing regrows outward from my chest, but I¡¯ll have to wait a few minutes before it¡¯ll be usable at all. For now, I¡¯m stuck with this merminea. ¡°Yes.¡± At my confirmation, he drops to the ground beside me. I scramble back slightly, putting myself in front of the pack as I observe him. His eyes are a cloudy grey with a slight glow that dims with each second. So that merminea I saw turn Bunny¡¯s weapon to dust a while back isn¡¯t the only one. Assuming the glowing grey eyes actually represent that power. He stops a few paces from me, looking down at my regrowing limb. ¡°You are from the beyond, yes? Your friends came here before you?¡± he asks with his shrill, male voice. I warily nod. He knows of my team that is held captive. Will he try to make me join them? If so, I¡¯m not about to let him take me. Flames churn within me, ready to burn him should he try anything. Thankfully, he keeps his distance. On his hind legs, he stands far more still than I thought possible for a living creature. His foggy eyes inspect me with an unreadable expression. ¡°You and your friends, I want to ask of your assistance.¡± I tilt my head in confusion. The merminea already have them captive. Why is he coming to me to ask for help? ¡°You people already hold them prisoner. Why ask me?¡± The merminea doesn¡¯t shake his head, keeping still despite the furrowing of his brows. ¡°No. Not those ones. Your strong friends.¡± ¡°The people you hold are the only people I know.¡± Who is he talking about if not for the three of my team? ¡°Not me. Traitors. They doom all mermineae with their blasphemy.¡± So he¡¯s not a part of the group that holds my team? Maybe we can work something out. He might help Gr¨ªmr and I free the others. ¡°What do you need help with?¡± I¡¯m not sure who these ¡®other friends¡¯ are, but if I can do what he needs, we should be able to come to an agreement. ¡°Stop them fleeing. Mermineae cannot leave the plains. Divine wrath will punish all for their cowardice.¡± Chapter 93: Caavaa ¡°What do you mean? How are we supposed to help with that?¡± He wants us to stop the other mermineae moving through the Alps. That they are trying to reach the other side ¡ª the ¡®beyond¡¯, as they call it ¡ª isn¡¯t surprising. We¡¯ve passed thousands of them on our way through the mountain, after all. But I don¡¯t know how he expects us to stop so many. Instead of answering, he climbs the narrow walls of the fissure. ¡°Come. We will assist with freeing your friends, then you can return the favour. That is what you want, yes?¡± The merminea stops before breaching the surface and glances around with his camouflaged head. He knows what I want on top of appearing to know where my team is being held. But the entire fact that he¡¯s so willing to help me free them makes me suspicious. Why would he be so open to betraying his own kind? Not that I have many other options than to follow him now. That eagle attacked me after only a minute of flight. I have no choice but to assume that is the standard out here. I¡¯d been so happy to return to the sky after so long without it, but I¡¯m now in another environment where flying is too dangerous. This merminea knows how to traverse the surface. Hopefully, moving with him will let me learn how to avoid the predator of the sky. The most concerning thing to me is the high likelihood of this merminea being exactly like the others. If he has woven this idea of the ones holding my team being traitors, then I might be just following him into a trap. Maybe my flames scared them enough that they didn¡¯t want to take me head on. I have to discard the possibility after a second of thought. Why would this merminea save me from the eagle if he just wanted to lead me into a trap? It wouldn¡¯t make sense. So, despite my better judgement, I decide to trust him for now. Whether he wants to help me free my team or not will become clear soon enough. I just need to make sure to not to give him too much information. Nothing could have missed the firestorm I unleashed through the sky. There¡¯s no doubt he knows how strong my flame is after that¡­ I¡¯d like to call it a fight with the four-winged bird, but struggle would be a more appropriate word. I could stay in my falcon form and pretend to be unable to change my appearance, but I¡¯d have to give up on the protection my outfit would offer. I¡¯d rather not face the elements when any benefit I would get is limited. As long as they don¡¯t find out that most physical weapons have no effect on me, I should be fine. Hopefully, those eyes of theirs will be the only thing dangerous to me. With my mind decided, I change the focus of my morphing. Instead of trying to regain my wing, I let my body return to my default form. Despite asking me to follow, the merminea doesn¡¯t seem to be in any hurry to move. His body remains stiff as he peeks out over the land. As he remains still, his fur visibly changes. The snowy white darkening into a grey and black to reflect the stone beside him. It¡¯s quite incredible. Even as I watch him closely, he disappears against the stone he rests upon. Not even the outline of his body is visible. He doesn¡¯t complain that I take my time, patiently waiting until I¡¯ve changed and donned my outfit. Once done, I climb up the wall below him. I can feel his heat, but seeing his head move from what appears to be nowhere is rather unsettling. He fixes me with a stare as he inspects my body. I have my spear in hand and Gr¨ªmr hides within the pack strapped to my lower back. The merminea, appeased by my readiness, reaches his arm out to grab me. I drop off the wall before he can reach me. I¡¯ll follow him, but I¡¯d rather avoid his grasp if I can. His hand freezes as I fall away from him. Grey eyes watch me with an intensity that doesn¡¯t suit the cloudy, unfocused gaze. ¡°You are not able to hide, yes?¡± I just stare at the merminea. What does that have to do with him grabbing at me? ¡°Great birds attack on sight. I will hide you so the enantiorn eagle does not hunt.¡± He reaches his hand forward once more, inviting me into his hold. I groan. I¡¯d really rather not, but if he¡¯s right and the eagle above attacks anything it can see, that would explain why all the mermineae I¡¯ve seen remain hidden. With a sigh, I reach my arm forward, inviting him to grab me. In moments, I¡¯m tugged to his chest and we are speeding along the surface again. It might have been easier on him if I¡¯d remained in my smaller bird form, but with how much snow we¡¯re running across, I¡¯m glad to have the protection of my outfit, regardless of how many holes it now has. His fur is rough. It feels like I¡¯m being held against the grainy bark of a tree, but instead of the pleasant smell of wood and nature, he reeks of decaying meat and filth. This might be a weird thing for me to say, considering I¡¯ve never had one myself, but when was the last time he bathed himself? I¡¯m bigger than I was the last time he carried me ¡ª nearly as tall as he is if he were to stand upright ¡ª but he has no issue hugging me against himself as he sprints along the surface. My legs squeeze at the sides of his torso to keep me steady. It is uncomfortable in his grasp. My knot doesn¡¯t flare and force me to fight my way out, but I can¡¯t help but squirm. To distract myself from the uneasy feeling, I speak up. ¡°So, what¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°I am Caavaa. Forvaal.¡± Caavaa? Forvaal? Are they both his name? Forvaal sounds familiar. ¡°Caavaa, why do you call the other mermineae traitors?¡± I ask. ¡°They go against the will of Kalma. All mermineae shall be punished for their hubris.¡± ¡°Kalma?¡± ¡°God of decay. We are her servants. When she learns mermineae flee the Buzzard¡¯s Hunting Grounds, her wrath will not stop at only those that run. They are foolish to fight against fate.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it God? Does that mean this Kalma is like the two beings Ash told me about? Belobog and Chernobog; the gods of light and dark known to the albanic. Well, if she¡¯s anything like Hund, I can see why they¡¯d be worried. I¡¯m not sure why a few mermineae leaving their homeland for a safer place would make this Kalma angry. It¡¯s not like their entire race would travel through the mountains at the word of somewhere safer. The tunnels are far too dangerous to risk that. ¡°How do you plan to stop them?¡± I ask. It¡¯s not like we can just kill them all, they are still his race after all. I doubt he¡¯d be willing to go that far. Killing a few that are in my way isn¡¯t above me, but I wouldn¡¯t go killing them in the hundreds just for the sake of it. ¡°Close the entrance. That is why I want your friends; they opened the way, they can close it again.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± It wasn¡¯t one of the mermineae that tore those holes in the enhanced stone? Is it the same person who left that pie? ¡°A year ago. Warriors with strange abilities took down great birds as they descend the mountain. Outsiders. Yet not hostile. They do not listen; not to our requests, nor our threats. You and your friends, we need to request your aid.¡± We are moving quite far from the Titan¡¯s path now. The land is near perfectly flat as far as I can see. Unlike the other side of the Alps, the mountains and hills seem to have ground down into a gradual slope over the lower elevation and the Stepps. No wonder those birds are so deadly; beside the fractured earth provided by the path, there is nowhere to hide. If there were people from the pact nations that moved here, then they¡¯d have to be at a level of strength greater than my team. There couldn¡¯t be all too many of those, right? Maybe Remus will know who they are. ¡°You have powerful people of your own, don¡¯t you? Can¡¯t you seal the opening yourself?¡± I ask. ¡°No. Those of us with strength can only destroy. Gifted the decay eyes by the great Kalma, Forvaal can remove any boundary, but not rebuild it. Outsiders are needed to seal the passage, while we kill all the Forvaal traitors that may reopen the way.¡± Forvaal must be a name for those with those cloudy, grey eyes. How could someone just be given power? I assume the decay eyes are what destroyed Bunny¡¯s weapon. It must also be what Caavaa used to scare off that eagle. How powerful must this Kalma be to gift others with such strength? The ones he calls outsiders¡­ I wonder why they don¡¯t respond to the mermineae. Assuming there were no lies in his words, he thinks that only those from the same place as them could convince them. If that¡¯s true, he has a reason to try and free my team even without me requesting so. But I can¡¯t help but see the flaw in his thinking. Even if the people who came here are from the nations we came from, that doesn¡¯t mean they will listen to us. There is no guarantee they¡¯ll hear us out if they have ignored the locals. Is this some misunderstanding in culture? I¡¯ve seen plenty of differences between races and people as I¡¯ve travelled, so I know that something that might be natural to one, might as well be taboo for another type of people. Is this merminea projecting his assumptions on how others will act? If so, I have no plan to correct his mistake. If he knows that people from across the mountain aren¡¯t all friendly with each other, he would be far less likely to help. We speed along the snow for a while longer. It¡¯s a struggle to be held as I am, but I push through the tension until the light disappears. I watch the path ahead of us, but we are already inside the hole in the ground by the time I notice it. A shallow cave within the hard packed soil. The sunlight filters through the entrance behind me, lighting the small space. It¡¯s more of a burrow, with enough space to fit only a few mermineae. Mermineae I can feel along the walls, but unable to see. I¡¯m unceremoniously dropped to the soil. It¡¯d be annoying if I wasn¡¯t so happy to be out of its grasp. ¡°Caavaa, what is this? And why have you brought it here? Does it don corpse-skin? Did you bring one of the centzon to us? Are you trying to doom us more than we already are?¡± a feminine voice squeaks from the wall as a merminea moves out of concealment. ¡°Fear not. It is an outsider, not centzon,¡± Caavaa says. ¡°There was an explosion at the exit. I followed this one away from it. The quakes rumoured to follow the outsiders; this one is the cause.¡± He gestures to me with a clawed hand. Wait, they¡¯ve been hearing my detonations? I guess that¡¯s why he assumed I was intelligent and not some beast when we met. ¡°They will help?¡± The female merminea turns her attention fully on me. ¡°It¡¯s small, no? the other outsiders were larger.¡± ¡°Yes. We free the outsiders, then they assist us.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Solvei,¡± I introduce myself, somewhat annoyed at being called both ¡®it¡¯ and small. My attention drags away from the two visible mermineae and lands on the one still hiding along the wall. I can feel the heat of its body, but still can¡¯t spot its outline. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m so happy you¡¯re with us. The traitors don¡¯t understand how much danger they are putting all of us in. Many of them have never met our god, so I can sympathise with their ideal, but the Forvaal should know better.¡± She speaks with such expressive words that her lack of body movement seems odd. ¡°May the great Kalma¡¯s wrath never curse our meeting. Solvei, it¡¯s great to meet you. I¡¯m Aana.¡± As we lock eyes, I notice that while hers have the same shade of grey as Caavaa, they are nowhere near as cloudy. Her gaze is focused and intense. ¡°So,¡± I start, sending a glance to the merminea still hiding in the corner of this burrow. They know there is someone there, don¡¯t they? ¡°How do we plan to free my team?¡± Caavaa opens his mouth to speak, but is interrupted by the third merminea finally coming out of hiding. ¡°Wait. We have no assurance that they will return the favour once we free them, no?¡± ¡°A favour in return for a favour. You think otherwise, Muuro?¡± Caavaa asks. ¡°They are not mermineae, don¡¯t forget. You wouldn¡¯t trust a centzon or revontulet in the same conditions.¡± ¡°Both would murder a merminea before agreeing to help.¡± ¡°And yet both are intelligent species. These outsiders are different, how?¡± Caavaa frowns, but doesn¡¯t respond. ¡°This is still the best option we have, so I¡¯m not against the idea,¡± Muuro says. ¡°I just want some assurance that they will reciprocate the assistance we give them.¡± He stares at me. His grey eyes not as cloudy as Caavaa¡¯s, but still far more than Aana¡¯s. What does he want from me? I push the bag holding Gr¨ªmr out of his sight and grip my spear. His gaze immediately snaps to the motion and I realise my mistake. By trying to hide it, I¡¯ve done nothing but attract his attention. I take a step back under his scrutiny. Thankfully, he doesn¡¯t push the issue, but he definitely knows I¡¯m hiding something now. ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much,¡± he says. ¡°Let¡¯s just get to know each other first. The more we understand about each other¡¯s intentions, the better off we¡¯ll be.¡± I don¡¯t know how to feel. His smile is as fake as Gloria¡¯s once was. My first impression of the other two has been¡­ at least not bad, but Muuro sends off warnings in my mind. There is something off-putting about him. ¡°I¡¯ll start then. I am Muuro, from the far western plains. Our goals are twofold; stop mermineae fleeing the plains and prevent our god hearing about their attempt. The three of us are here to infiltrate the traitors and work with the Forvaal clergy to save our race.¡± He turns to the other two. ¡°Is there anything you want to add?¡± Aana speaks up. ¡°I¡¯m a local. I¡¯m intimately familiar with the Euroclydon winds and how to survive them. Please rely on me if the Titan goes hunting.¡± Uh, what¡¯s this about a titan going hunting? ¡°No,¡± Caavaa says. Are we not going to acknowledge what she said? ¡°Well then, it¡¯s your turn, Solvei.¡± I can¡¯t help but narrow my eyes at the way he says my name. He sounds friendly, but I can¡¯t help but feel there are daggers hidden in his tone. ¡°You saw me while camouflaged, how?¡± The other two mermineae turn their head in surprise, but I know I wasn¡¯t all too subtle with my gazes earlier. ¡°I couldn¡¯t see you. I felt you.¡± ¡°You¡­ felt me?¡± ¡°Yes. I can feel the heat you give off.¡± ¡°Huh,¡± Muuro seems slightly off kilter, but recollects himself rather quickly. ¡°Then. Next question.¡± His eyes narrow at the bag on my lower back. ¡°You are hiding something, yes? Show us.¡± Chapter 94: Traitors I try to say I¡¯m not hiding anything or any other lie, but the words freeze in my throat. I¡¯ve not needed to lie in such a long time that I¡¯d forgotten the changes made by the Fog prevent me from saying anything but the truth. Of course misleading by limiting the information I give has worked, but how can I do that in this situation? I can¡¯t show them Gr¨ªmr. Not while he¡¯s in such a vulnerable state. ¡°I¡¯d rather not.¡± With a hand over my bag, I step away from Muuro and make sure there is nothing to block an escape attempt should it be required. ¡°Come now, we can hardly work together if you¡¯re not willing to trust us.¡± He steps toward me, rising to his hind-legs and looks down on me. The other two mermineae stand off to the side, thankfully not getting in my way, but also not opposing his actions. My flames churn beneath the surface, ready to retaliate should he attack. I¡¯d rather have their help to free my team, but I don¡¯t need them. It isn¡¯t like they are the only option I have; Gr¨ªmr and I could figure a way eventually, but that will take time. I¡¯ve been out on the surface for barely any time at all and I can already tell it is just as hard to survive out here as down in the caves. The mermineae camouflage for a reason. It might take me far too long to figure a way to safely traverse these plains before I can reach Remus, Jav, and Bunny. Just as I¡¯m about to refute him once more, I watch his eyes slide to my right. There, standing on my shoulder, is Gr¨ªmr. ¡°What are you doing?¡± I blurt. Why would he come out now? Doesn¡¯t he realise how dangerous this is for him? What if they decide to use him as a hostage? There¡¯s no way he can defend himself as he is. I try to grab him and push him back in my bag, but he just scurries over my fingers and gives me a glare. Ah. It¡¯s too late to hide him anyway. The mermineae have already seen him, there¡¯s no point hiding now. ¡°This is Gr¨ªmr. He¡¯s a friend.¡± Gr¨ªmr waves as I introduce him. I open my bag to show that it was only him hiding within. ¡°Happy?¡± I glare at Muuro. ¡°Uh¡­¡± he stares dumbfounded at the portian. ¡°Not what I expected, but we can work with that.¡± Each of the mermineae seem rather disturbed at the sight of him, having taken a step away from us since he¡¯d shown himself. How rude of them. ¡°Your tiny friend,¡± Caavaa starts. ¡°He was with you the entire time?¡± I nod before bringing the topic back to what is most important. ¡°So, how are we going to free my team?¡± Muuro inspects me and Gr¨ªmr with his grey, unfocused eyes. ¡°You can both fight, yes?¡± Before I can answer, Caavaa does for me. ¡°This one made explosions that spooked the traitors. Fire does her bidding, and she transforms into a bird; like a tiny vermilion,¡± he says. ¡°The insect, I do not know.¡± I look at Gr¨ªmr, silently asking whether I should tell them. He bobs his body in affirmation. ¡°Are there any creatures in this area that are strong, but not impossible to subdue? Gr¨ªmr can make use of them if we give him the opportunity.¡± ¡°Sure, there¡¯s plenty,¡± Aana says. ¡°But make use of them, how?¡± I hesitate and look down at Gr¨ªmr for a second time. I know he doesn¡¯t like people knowing what he can do. He gives me a serious look and nods again. Well, if he¡¯s fine with it. ¡°He can take over their bodies by digging into the back of their heads.¡± Each of them takes another step away and their faces twist in disgust. Aana even reaches for the back of her neck in a display that clearly shows what she¡¯s thinking. The excessive reaction is shocking. I know he was worried about people¡¯s reactions in the past, but I thought it was mostly his own self-consciousness. It¡¯s not that horrible. There are plenty of dangerous things in the world. The Titan watching over the plains at this very moment is at the top of the list. Gr¨ªmr slumps on my shoulder before the light taps of his feet climb up my neck. He settles in my hair and none of the mermineae take their eyes off him. It takes a second for them to realise their mistake, but they don¡¯t close in again. Even Muuro, who was in my face only moments ago, now keeps a wide space between us. ¡°We need time to prepare, an alicanto is perfect,¡± Caavaa says. ¡°Strong. Big. Not impossible to beat. Will make the plan easier.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll have to wait for the night. Do keep your distance until then.¡± Muuro says and moves back into his corner of the small burrow, blending back into the wall. ¡°Wait, what¡¯s the plan for freeing my team?¡± ¡°Your friend gets his body tonight, then we tell you.¡± Caavaa walks to the exit of the burrow. ¡°Traitors will become suspicious if I¡¯m gone much longer,¡± he says and rushes out. ¡°Where¡¯s he going?¡± I turn to Aana, the only one still visible. ¡°He¡¯s spying on the traitors. The clergy doesn¡¯t have the numbers to oppose them directly, so we have to wait for our opportunity. We are here to forward information home.¡± ¡°Sure, tell the outsider everything.¡± Muuro¡¯s shrill voice grouches from the wall. ¡°She¡¯s gonna tell who?¡± Aana snaps back. ¡°Two minutes ago, you were spouting about being open with each other. This is different, how?¡± Muuro doesn¡¯t respond, so she turns back to me with a huff. ¡°Well, Solvei, I¡¯m glad to finally meet someone from a race that isn¡¯t hostile. I¡¯ve heard stories of people like that in the far west, but it¡¯s great to know that the beyond has some too. I guess a peaceful land is bound to have peaceful people.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Peaceful people? That¡¯s quite the bit of misinformation. Although, compared to this side of the Alps, ours might actually be more placid. I won¡¯t know until I see more of the plains for myself. ¡°Do you mind telling me about the beyond?¡± Aana asks as she sits before me, keeping a decent distance between us¡­ or between herself and Gr¨ªmr. ¡°I¡¯ve grown up hearing tales about it, but nobody had been there before this year. Is it true the moon doesn¡¯t bleed at night?¡± ¡°The moon bleeds?¡± I ask, but Muuro interrupts us once more. ¡°You are asking about the beyond. Why? Now, more than ever, it is blasphemous. Some might assume you are a traitor yourself if you are too curious.¡± She doesn¡¯t move, but her eyes turn to the hiding merminea. ¡°You are curious too, no? There are many stories, but which are true?¡± ¡°Curiosity is fine as long as you do not act upon it. The world is harsh, but the great Kalma is harsher. If she were to learn of your disloyal thoughts, death would be a blessing.¡± ¡°I know!¡± Aana snaps. ¡°I know how terrifying she is. I¡¯m trying to stop the traitors right now, no?¡± ¡°You still do not know the true lengths her spite can reach,¡± the bodiless voice says. ¡°Our eyes are not the only thing she can change.¡± Aana grits her teeth and stares off into space. She¡¯s obviously done with talking. This Kalma sounds horrible. I hope I never meet her. ??? When Caavaa finally returns, the light of day has disappeared. He takes one step into the tight burrow, says ¡°Come,¡± and leaves. I¡¯m surprised by the simplicity of his command, but the two mermineae don¡¯t hesitate to follow. Slowly, I creep out after them. I¡¯m worried the eagle will dive after me in the dim moonlight. ¡°Don¡¯t delay, Aana. Cover our guest,¡± Muuro says. ¡°Me? Why? You should carry her.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the jill. She will be more comfortable with you, I¡¯m sure.¡± Aana casts a wary glance at Gr¨ªmr where he sits comfortably on my head. ¡°Worry not.¡± Caavaa holds out a fur blanket that blends with his own hide. ¡°I pilfered a cover from the traitors.¡± He hands it to me and I immediately cringe from the texture; it¡¯s sticky and hard, not at all like any cloth I¡¯ve felt before. As I look closely, the fur is all held together by some type of hardened sap. Against my better judgement, I give the blanket a sniff and almost retch. It smells worse than it feels. ¡°What is this?¡± I ask warily, holding it at arm¡¯s reach. ¡°Merminea fur. You can hide with that,¡± Caavaa says. Ugh. I guess the mermineae aren¡¯t very good craftsmen. With a feeling of disgust, I look down at the sheet of fur. Once Gr¨ªmr has climbed off my head and wedged in the crook of my neck, I toss the heavy blanket over my head like a cloak. I shiver as the slimy coat sticks to my hair and shoulders. This better not be the only way to survive the plains. Even as I stand here, the fur changes colour to reflect the snow my feet sink into. It¡¯s a good thing that I avoided getting the boots or lower half of my outfit damaged while I was in the caverns. As long as I don¡¯t fall over for long, I should be fine. It¡¯s strange that the mermineae¡¯s fur retains its camouflaging characteristic. Maybe when we free the others, Jav will repurpose their fur into an actual bit of clothing for me. Without waiting so long as to confirm that I¡¯m properly hidden, Caavaa drops to all fours and skulks away. Both other mermineae follow suit and I¡¯m left to catch up, hoping that their gift is enough to hide me from anything above. I glance into the sky, looking for any birds flying overhead, but the moon captures my gaze. The faint line I noticed in the sky earlier now glows as bright as the moon itself. It reaches from the horizon in a perfectly straight line until it reaches the moon. A tear in the sky. There is no other answer; something has cut the sky between land and moon. Did it happen while I was in the Alps? Was it the Titan? I don¡¯t know if anything else would be strong enough to do such a thing. The path of the crocodilian Titan leads that way, so it must be. What does this mean? Is the world going to fall apart? The mermineae around me don¡¯t seem to consider it worth any attention, so has it been like this for a while now? At least it doesn¡¯t seem immediately dangerous. I shake my head. There¡¯s no point worrying about it. I wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything about it, anyway. I just need to focus on the task ahead of me. It¡¯s time to get Gr¨ªmr another body. Hopefully, this one will be strong enough to last. ??? We travel in silence for nearly an hour until we reach the largest disruption in the constant slope I¡¯ve yet seen. Where the snow thins, I can see smooth grey stone curving over the landscape for quite a distance. A shallow dome that expands for a league. Beyond the field of stone, I see the familiar sight of a glacier. Further down the Alps, it expands to the sides and takes up much of the land as it had on the other side. So, we are on the Lower Elevation. Then, after I free my team, as long as we head below the Stepps, we won¡¯t be in danger of dangerous beasts like that eagle. I¡¯m not going back. My friends are back on the other side of the Alps, but I cannot put myself back into those entrapping caves. If the team wants to head back after we rejoin, then they¡¯ll do so without me. A glint catches my eye from ahead of me. At first it looks gold, but somehow the colour is green the second time I spot it. ¡°We are lucky,¡± Caavaa says. ¡°An alicanto. At the first mountain we check.¡± I glance over the area before us once more. Mountain? What mountain? At most, this mound of stone can be considered a large hill. ¡°Solvei.¡± He calls to get my attention. ¡°We will assist, but don¡¯t expect us to decay our eyes for you. We can hold the alicanto only if you bring it to the ground. Whether your tiny friend succeeds is up to you.¡± What does that mean? They won¡¯t decay their eyes? Do they mean they won¡¯t scare that bird with that eye power he used when he saved me? ¡°Okay. Should I know anything for the fight?¡± Caavaa hums. ¡°The alicanto¡¯s first reaction when caught digging is to fly off. You will need to fly.¡± His eyes drop to the spear in my hands. ¡°It is covered in metal, so that will have limited usefulness.¡± I nod and toss off the sticky cloak with a glance upward. Relieved that there are no birds diving for me, I grow my wings. I don¡¯t have any time to experiment with any forms that might let me use the spear while I¡¯m flying, so I settle with the familiar falcon form I¡¯ve used so much now. But, I don¡¯t want to take this fight without the benefit my weapon can bring, so I¡¯m going to have to rely on something I learnt to do only earlier today. I light up the surroundings like a burning pyre amid darkness. As the flames of my arms morph into wings, I engulf my inner flame around the weapon and slowly let go. Rather than falling to the ground below, the spear floats within my fire. A mental tug rolls the pole in a slow strike, speeding up into a spin as I become more comfortable with this new feeling. It was painful earlier, combining the fire of my body with my inner flame. But doing so finally let me realise what I was doing wrong for so long. Physicality isn¡¯t directly related to how far I push my control. Sure, having better control over my flame helps, but I could have an impossibly excellent control and I never would have been able to force my flames solid. The flame of my body is just somehow¡­ different. It would be impossible to reach the same corporeal state with my inner flame. It also explains why my body is so slow for a fire. To give physicality to my inner flame, I have to cheat. Instead of just burning through air to empower myself and my flames, I need to use the weight of the air itself. Of course, the air doesn¡¯t weigh that much, so mass I can supply from other sources helps as well. I can burn through the earth to give my flames weight. To give them grip where they never used to. The downside of this is that I need to rely on my own supply of flames rather than the flames that might be created by burning through things. After months of munching through those glow-bugs, though, this is not much of an issue. I take to the air, my spear following in a cradle of flames. I am ready. Chapter 95: Alicanto Controlling my spear without my hands is far harder than I expected. Even the lazy twirls around my body feel like I¡¯m trying to balance it with a foot. It¡¯s a bit like when I first grew my wings; the unfamiliarity of using my flames to grasp makes my actions feel alien. Cycling through strikes and thrusts of the variety of styles I know helps me gain familiarity and speed in my actions, but it doesn¡¯t stop feeling strange. Doing so while focusing on flying only amplifies the feeling. I realise now the importance of the balance training Bunny had me do. I need more experience splitting my focus. I fly toward the flickering gold and green glint until I can make out its avian shape. The grounded bird is digging through the earth. It mines into the stone amongst piles of boulders and loose rock. Metallic scrapings echo through the air as its beak, talons and wings grind through the earth. I cast a glance down to the three heat signatures following close beneath me. They are blending with the ground, but it doesn¡¯t seem like they are going to back out now. The grinding cuts off and the bird rises from the hole. Moonlight bounces off the creature''s shiny body, the light as bright as if it were day. Its feathers glimmer and shift between gold and green. The alicanto¡¯s wings snap wide and it screeches up at me. I guess there¡¯s no hiding my approach when flames writhe around me. The bird¡¯s screech doesn¡¯t sound natural. Like when it was digging, it sounds more like the scraping and grinding of metal. As I close in on it, the alicanto doesn¡¯t wait for me. It flaps its large fifteen metre wingspan and takes off. I¡¯m surprised and somewhat thankful it doesn¡¯t take me head on. I¡¯m still carrying Gr¨ªmr in my pack, so I¡¯d rather avoid any heavy impacts. It¡¯ll be especially bad if this bird can hit as hard as that four-winged eagle could. Now that I think about it, why am I holding the bag? I quickly toss it into the surrounding flames to be carried alongside my spear. Gr¨ªmr should be fine floating around until I need him. Unlike the last avian I had to deal with, this one is slow to rise. It takes multiple flaps to pull itself into a stable flight. Despite the slow movements, the amount of turbulence the bird stirs through the air says much about its strength. The thing must weigh tonnes. The alicanto gradually speeds up, but it is no trouble for me to catch it. Other than its large wingspan, the bird has a long rope-like tail of feathers. Feathers which, as I look closer, are far more inflexible than they should be. I glide behind the bird for a few seconds, waiting for the perfect opportunity to present itself. The longer I wait, the faster the alicanto becomes. It¡¯s impressive how fast this creature is moving, considering how slow it was to get off the ground. Impressive as it is, I can¡¯t wait any longer. It might get faster than me if I wait for an opportunity that won¡¯t present itself. I cut the distance between us in a moment. The alicanto twitches and I only barely halt my momentum in time to prevent the bird¡¯s tail smashing through me. The tail whips through my wing, which quickly reforms. It¡¯s a relief it doesn¡¯t possess that same ability as the other bird to tear me apart without regard for the incorporeal state of my flames. There was something I noticed when the tail tore through my flames. Even the way the tail flicks around for another strike only confirms what I felt. The feathers are all metal. The tail acts more like a chain than anything natural, with movements that bend only at joints. What with how slow it was to start its flight, its entire body might be metal, not just the feathers. Will Gr¨ªmr even be able to take over a creature like this? Well, no point having doubts now. I shoot a jet of flame out of my back, pushing me under the second tail-swing in a way that would be impossible for a normal bird. For that instant, I use the new mass carrying inner flame to propel myself while removing the physicality of my wings. As soon as the sharp chain of metallic feathers soars over my head, I snap my wings back to corporeality and give myself a boost with a jet of flame. I rocket toward the metal bird faster than I¡¯ve ever moved. With my inner flame grasping my spear, I launch it forward. It does nothing other than bounce off its metallic feathers. I¡¯m not surprised; it¡¯s too difficult to put much weight behind my flames to breach the bird¡¯s defences. To stop me from reaching its back, the alicanto twirls in the air. Razor feathers slice through my body without resistance, but it does nothing to me. Not worrying about Gr¨ªmr, still floating amongst the trailing storm of fire, I slam into the metal breast of the bird without a touch of damage to my body. As fast as I rocket into the bird, it means nothing in the face of the weight it possesses. The alicanto stops its twirling and levels its flight again, but that doesn¡¯t mean I have nothing to worry about. As I cling to the underneath of the metal bird with my talons and clawed wingtips, its feathers buzz as they oscillate. I watch in surprise as the feathers leave their natural position. A metallic scraping scratches at my ears as each feather weaves past one another. In seconds, the plumage moves at a terrifyingly dangerous speed. Feathers cut through my talons and wings and before I know it, I¡¯ve lost my grip. Unwilling to let the bird take the advantage, I bring the firestorm down upon it with an intensity I¡¯m still not used to. I can feel gold and silver along with more common metals and some that I don¡¯t recognise. If I can burn away the feathers defending it, I can make an opening for Gr¨ªmr.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The bird hardly reacts to the flame spreading over its body. Curving its wings, it soars high. It gains altitude quickly, but its momentum dies with altitude. I trail behind it, but keep some distance between us; I don¡¯t know what it¡¯s planning. The alicanto slows to a stop in midair. With a mighty thrust of its wings, it plunges toward me with near max speed. I¡¯m right below it and there is no mistaking that I¡¯m its target. The bird has finally given up running and plans to take me head on. It¡¯s an intimidating sight; so much weight nosediving toward me. This is an opportunity, so I resist the urge to dodge. I cast my bag away from the incoming beast and grasp my spear in my talons. I can¡¯t put much weight into the weapon with only my inner flames physicality. It¡¯ll be more effective to hit it myself. With flame jets bursting from my wings, I rocket up into the plummeting mass. I doubt my spear can do any damage if it is a glancing strike, so I need to make sure it¡¯s a direct hit. The alicanto dives with its razor like beak first. Dangerous talons poise to pierce me. Its body has too much sloped armour. Nowhere I hit will give me the purchase I need to pierce. Not with the limited weight I have in this body. Nowhere except the eyes. It¡¯ll be difficult to hit, but that¡¯s the only place I¡¯ll be able to do any damage. I line up my spear, twisting in the air so I¡¯m rising with my talons ready to thrust the spear through the bird. It leaves me exposed to being run through by the alicanto¡¯s beak, but I should be fine. The metal bird falls with insane momentum. I rise with explosive thrust. The impact sends me sprawling. It takes a few seconds for the flames of my body to come back together enough for my thoughts to be comprehensible. Quickly, I look below. My spear is missing, and the alicanto continues on its spiral toward the ground. Did I get it? Did my spear pierce through its head? Or have I flung it into the distance somewhere? Even if I missed, I don¡¯t have the time to waste searching for my weapon. I pull my wings to my side and chase after the falling mass of metal. My flames have been trying to burn through its feathers this entire time, but I still haven¡¯t succeeded. An explosion of sound rocks me as the alicanto impacts the earth. Dust rises from the crater it leaves, but the crash wasn¡¯t enough to end the bird. It screeches to the skies. The metal grinding sounds rougher this time, like scratching rusted metal. The spear is there. Wedged deep in the creature¡¯s eye-socket is the shaft of my spear. The wood is in splinters, but there¡¯s no doubt I hit my mark. The mermineae, still hidden, rush toward the crash site of the alicanto. I beat them there, slamming into the head of the bird, trying to push the spear deeper. I achieve nothing but scattering my body. The bird doesn¡¯t even flinch. The alicanto is glowing. Not only from the reflection of the moonlight, but also from the heat of its feathers. A deep red glow rises beneath the gold and green shimmering. It should be far hotter than the melting temperature of most metals now, but I¡¯ve only been able to heat it to this point. Regardless, its exterior is softening now. It shouldn¡¯t take too much longer before Gr¨ªmr¡¯s opportunity will present itself. I¡¯ll have to protect him from the heat while he digs in. The mermineae dash forward, their fur darkening under the illumination of my flames and the alicanto¡¯s reflection. They grab at the creature¡¯s wings and tail, their claws dig into the metal and pin it to the ground. The razor feathers zig-zag along the bird¡¯s surface, trying to cut through the offending claws, but they fail to inflict significant damage. The alicanto jerks, trying to pull its extremities back to itself, but while the mermineae stumble and struggle against its efforts, they keep it pinned for long enough for me to get to work. I stand on top of the metal bird, its feathers tearing through my talons, but that does nothing to stop me. With a hop, I land on its head. It snaps around at me, but with its wings pinned as they are, it cannot fling me off. The metal around the shaft of my spear is the first of the creature to melt. It¡¯s only a matter of time now and the rest of the metal will melt. I¡¯d rather Gr¨ªmr not have to recover from an entire melted plumage, so I decide this is good enough an entry. My talon grabs the spear and I jerk it out with as large of an impulse as I can push through this body. The weapon can hardly be called a spear anymore. Snapped near the tip, it¡¯s a disappointing sight. Well, now I got something for Bunny to do when I get her out. My flames tear through the cavity and the bird shrieks once more. It looks like there is flesh inside the creature. Only the feathers and a thin outer layer are metal. I float the bag with Gr¨ªmr down to my side and hurriedly open it. Thankfully, he jumps on my offered wing without delay and I bring him to the cavity, where he disappears. The alicanto¡¯s struggles escalate. A flurry of movement whips the wings and tail out of the grasp of the mermineae. I can¡¯t have it getting rid of Gr¨ªmr, so I wrap myself over the missing eye. The razors of the alicanto tear into me as it tries to remove me. I hold tight. As long as it¡¯s trying to get me off rather than dig Gr¨ªmr out, we¡¯ll be fine. The mermineae try to regain control of its limbs, but the freed tail whips them all off their feet. The creature twists and flails in its panic. My eye twitches as the mermineae back away from the beast. They give up far too early for my liking. I can understand self preservation, but we only need to last a little longer. The shadow-lizard didn¡¯t take near as long as this is taking. I know this bird is larger and far stronger, but my grip will not last forever. Not while the alicanto rolls around and scratches at me with its sharp metal talons and wings. Each feather is fast approaching its melting point. My flames covering the huge bird slowly bring the temperature higher. Far higher than should be required to eat the metals lining its body. It¡¯s hard to think that not long ago, I hadn¡¯t even been able to melt iron. Despite the feathers¡¯ refusal to melt, they are softening. Each time its wings or tail slam into the stone or its own body, the feathers bend. The grinding sound only grows louder and more grating as the feathers scrape along one another with heavy resistance. With nothing able to dislodge me from its head, the alicanto changes its approach. Its wings and talons dig into the earth before it slams its head into the ground. The impact dislodges me immediately, but the bird doesn¡¯t seem to notice. It continues to smash its head against the stone until the soft metal bends and the creature¡¯s head twists at an unnatural angle. I worry that its desperate actions will crush Gr¨ªmr as he¡¯s wedged deep within the flattening metal head, but the alicanto¡¯s actions slow. A few more stone shattering impacts and the bird collapses. The grinding feathers come to a halt. I jump on top of the creature¡¯s head while extinguishing the inferno. I¡¯m sure Gr¨ªmr has succeeded, but I¡¯m still worried he¡¯s hurt. The eye cavity is nothing but a mess of blood and flesh, no way to see Gr¨ªmr inside. With how much damage the bird caused itself before it lost control, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it killed itself. ¡°Gr¨ªmr? Are you okay?¡± I ask, not sure if he can hear me through the thick head. I wait for a moment before the body jerks underneath me. After steadying myself, I let out a sigh of relief. I don¡¯t know if that was him trying to respond to me or just making himself familiar with the new body. It¡¯s similar enough to the way the lizard acted after Gr¨ªmr took hold that I¡¯m confident he is fine. Chapter 96: Preparation I poke at a feather on the alicanto¡¯s neck. Despite it no longer spinning around the bird¡¯s body, the plumage remains sharp. The bird twitches again. Gr¨ªmr must be having trouble learning to control this beast. While it took a few moments to put the reins on the lizard, he has yet to achieve more than spasms even minutes after entering the alicanto. I twist in my mounted position to the mermineae trio closing in on the downed bird. I spare them a suspicious glance. They said they will help once the bird is grounded, but the effort they put in was minimal at best. Were they hoping Gr¨ªmr and I would fail? Or were they trying to gauge what we can do? Whatever their intention, they¡¯ve only succeeded in making me annoyed at them. Much of their hides are scratched up with shallow cuts. Their arms and claws are damaged by the grinding feathers when they tried to pin the bird. A gash in two of their sides and one¡¯s chest from the chain-like tail. As bloody as the wounds look, they are only skin deep. As irritated as I am with their lack of help, the alicanto they lead us to is the best I could hope for. There aren¡¯t too many things that¡¯ll come out unhurt from a dive from this heavy bird. It¡¯s strong and while slow to accelerate, its powerful wings can push it to incredible speeds. ¡°Your friend succeeded, yes?¡± Caavaa asks as he approaches the twitching bird. I watch him carefully, uncertain he won¡¯t pull something before Gr¨ªmr can control his new body properly. The mermineae stop a few metres from us, thankfully. They inspect the still hot, deformed feathers along the wing of the downed beast. ¡°Yes.¡± I don¡¯t tell them any more. If they know it¡¯ll take time for Gr¨ªmr to learn to adjust to his new form, they might take advantage of that. Their actions in that fight remind me that while we are working together, I shouldn¡¯t expect much from them. They care more about achieving their goal than helping me. If Gr¨ªmr and I were to die, it would be a setback at most for their plans. The wings of the alicanto finally move with structure and not the twitchy jerks it had until now. Their long fifteen metre wingspan stretches wide. Metal groans under the effort. The wings freeze in place and the singular remaining eye of the bird opens up before me. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s new eye seems to wander randomly until it lands on me. A swirl of green and gold light glistens in the moonlight''s reflection, almost like they are lights in of themselves. Considering the power of this beast must sit near that of the dahu, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they are glowing all on their own. Gr¨ªmr winks at me. I take that to be his confirmation that everything is alright. His eye rolls forward and his wings grind as they clamp closed to his sides. I have to lean forward and hold on to the neck feathers as Gr¨ªmr slowly brings his talons underneath him. He stumbles around for a while until he steadies himself and steps forward without falling. The mermineae back off. Their faces unable to hide their revulsion. I don¡¯t really understand it; it¡¯s not like it¡¯s them being taken over. Is this sort of reaction normal to Gr¨ªmr? It would explain why he was so hesitant to tell me what he was when we first met. ¡°Your races are common in the beyond, yes?¡± Aana asks with hesitance. I turn to her before Gr¨ªmr tries to follow suit. His head twists in the right direction, but his feet aren¡¯t quick enough to account for the change in balance and we topple to the ground. ¡°Yeah, I think so,¡± I say, trying to ignore the many tonne bird flailing beneath me. The mermineae exchange glances. It¡¯s obvious they are hiding something. Whatever thoughts they¡¯ve had amongst each other, they don¡¯t share it with Gr¨ªmr and I. I narrow my eyes at them, but before I can question them, the feathers beneath me buzz. They tear through my talons, and I realise I¡¯m still in my falcon form. I should change back before Gr¨ªmr is ready to leave. ¡°So, what¡¯s the plan to get our team out?¡± I ask as I glide off Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back. They¡¯re still yet to tell me what they have planned. I haven¡¯t questioned their lack of openness until now, what with Gr¨ªmr¡¯s new body taking precedence. If they still don¡¯t answer even now, I think it¡¯s time we part ways. I don¡¯t want to work with people who will try to lead me on. ¡°A few days we have to wait.¡± those are not the words I want to hear, but I hold myself back from interrupting. ¡°I shall infiltrate the holding camp and remove restraints. You can create a distraction, yes?¡± ¡°Uh, sure.¡± I lower my eyes to the spear-tip, which is all that remains of my weapon. ¡°Do you just want me to spread fire through their camp? Your people will be hurt and I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be able to tell you apart from the others.¡± I¡¯ll do what needs to be done to free my team, but I doubt Caavaa will be fine with the slaughter of his own people. ¡°That is fine. Traitors deserve no mercy.¡± I can¡¯t help but stare at him. Our goal is only the freedom of my team. He should consider the deaths of his people as something to be done only if necessary. Well, if he has no issue with it, I probably shouldn¡¯t hold back. Who knows what kind of counterattack might reach me if I¡¯m lenient on my enemies. ¡°I¡¯ll give you the signal to start once I¡¯m at a reasonable distance. Take care not to be seen.¡± He points to his eyes. ¡°The Forvaal, those with decay eyes, will not let you off.¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Yeah, he doesn¡¯t need to tell me. I already know to be careful around the mermineae that can turn things to dust. Thankfully, it doesn¡¯t seem all powerful. Caavaa could only send away that four winged eagle for a few seconds with his. Then again, that bird brought me close to death, so being able to scare it off even a moment is impressive. My body finally finishes changing back to my natural shape and Aana tosses the sticky cloak of shed fur. I grumble, but pull it over myself. Even at night, there must be things to hide from. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s shiny plumage isn¡¯t exactly well hidden, so I can only feel the disgusting cloak is rather unnecessary. ¡°Your friend will collect the captives in the commotion,¡± Caavaa says. ¡°And what will Aana and Muuro be doing?¡± I ask. It seems like Gr¨ªmr and I will do all the work. Sure, they have the information we need, but considering they expect us to help them afterwards, they aren¡¯t participating much. ¡°They¡¯ll be waiting to hide you after your escape.¡± It is obvious they are putting all the risk on us. If this fails, only Gr¨ªmr and I will be in any real strife. Even so, I won¡¯t complain. But they can definitely expect me to reciprocate; neither me nor my team will risk ourselves when we look for those outsiders. ¡°I must head back,¡± Caavaa announces. ¡°Muuro, Aana, please lead them to the observation point near where the outsiders are being held. You know the one, yes?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Aana lowers her head. ¡°May you remain hidden on your journey.¡± Caavaa returns the gesture. ¡°To you as well.¡± And with that, he runs off, fading from sight in moments. Aana turns to me. ¡°Get some sleep. We¡¯ll head out at first light.¡± And with that, both her and Muuro skulk away from Gr¨ªmr and me until they come to a stop nearly at the range of my sense. I¡¯d think they might be planning to run off if they hadn¡¯t gone in different directions. Actually, just because they¡¯ve gone to rest apart from each other doesn¡¯t mean they won¡¯t run off. Well, they¡¯re hardly going to run off now; they¡¯ve already helped Gr¨ªmr get a body, they¡¯ll be expecting something in return soon enough. I make my way over to Gr¨ªmr. The massive bird is far longer than the panther he used to inhabit, but with his wings at his sides as they are now, he is only a fraction larger than he was. Beak to talon, he¡¯s only three or four metres. The chain-like tail is about as long as both wings; fifteen metres, and the feathers flare out at the end creating a remarkably sharp blade. The moonlight dims and the reflections off his new shiny plumage die along with it. As the metal bird fades into the darkness of night, I notice an ever so faint light from its sole remaining eye. I was right in my assumption that like the dahu and Forvaal, the creature¡¯s energy burns through its eyes. Do all creatures get this glow when they are strong enough? Or is it just some? No, it is definitely only some; Hund¡¯s gaze was powerful, but his eyes didn¡¯t glow. Not even slightly. Do the glowing eyes represent some ability or power that is unique only to them? It would fit with what I¡¯ve seen. The dahu could control forests of rock and the Forvaal can do that weird dust thing they call decay. Is the ability of the alicanto to spin its feathers? Or is it simply how its outer body is replaced by metal? It looks like Gr¨ªmr has finally got the hang of walking on his massive talons and has moved onto stretching his wings and tail with dexterous motions. ¡°Doing alright in there?¡± I ask. I know the brain of the bird can¡¯t have been left in a good state after the amount of knocks it took. The head is still bent out of shape. I¡¯m not sure if Gr¨ªmr can fix the deformations. He nods to me without a break in his movements. He keeps his focus on balancing with his heavy wings and tail stretched to their limits. I guess he considers mastering his body much more important to do right away, rather than morph his throat to allow speech. We are still out in the open, so I don¡¯t blame him for his choice. He¡¯s not as lucky as me. He doesn¡¯t have one of the mermineae¡¯s cloaks. One of the sticky, stinky, rotting blankets made from the horribly rough fur and some unspeakable substance that I¡¯m not even sure I want to know where it comes from. Wait, why did I think he was the lucky one in this situation? The Ember Moon¡¯s flames ignite and cover the plains in its familiar red glow. The bright shine from the alicanto¡¯s body returns, but this time it is a deep crimson, not the gold and green colour it previously took. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s eye lands on me and I¡¯m glad it¡¯s my friend in there, not some beast. The glowing blood-red eyes are rather eerie, especially considering Eldest Ember¡¯s light has changed this bird¡¯s appearance entirely. I can¡¯t tell if it¡¯s the light playing tricks on me, but the feathers and maw of the bird seem far more intimidating than before. The feathers are more jagged and the beak opens for a line of sharp teeth I swear weren¡¯t there a few minutes ago. It is only when I see the spiky metal ball of feathers at the end of his tail, do I know for sure that his body has changed with the Ember Moon. Gr¨ªmr opens his razor-toothed beak and takes a single step toward me before his limbs lock up and he slams into the ground. I wait a few moments, but he doesn¡¯t move. ¡°Are you alright?¡± I ask. Gr¨ªmr winks at me ¡ª is it a wink or a blink if he only has one eye? ¡ª and I take that to mean everything is fine. Maybe he¡¯s just trying to control a new aspect of his body he found. I don¡¯t know. But I¡¯m sure he knows what he¡¯s doing. I¡¯ll leave him to it for the night. ??? In the morning, we are moving before the sun rises. Gr¨ªmr is back to the same way he looked before the Ember Moon, for which I¡¯m thankful. ¡°What was that last night? Did your body change with the Ember Moon?¡± ¡°Ember Moon?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks before shaking his beak. With my merminea cloak, I¡¯m riding on the back of Gr¨ªmr as he flies after the two running below. Apparently the birds of prey in the area are hesitant to attack other predators of the skies unless desperate, so riding Gr¨ªmr is far safer than flying with my own wings. Which is rather frustrating. Maybe I should cover myself in flames to make myself look bigger than all the other birds. Would they attack me then? ¡°The midnight light seems to send this body into a frenzy. I was receiving signals of intense hunger that didn¡¯t make sense and the body began moving entirely on reflexes, so I had to lock down the muscles and joints. I¡¯ve never seen something like it in any of the other creatures I¡¯ve been in. The closest would be the instant reflex of some bugs.¡± ¡°What about the changes to your body, though? The jagged feathers or spike-ball tail?¡± ¡°The what?¡± Gr¨ªmr tries to turn his head to me, but the still deformed shape of it prevents him getting an eye on me. ¡°I didn¡¯t notice any changes. The body didn¡¯t recognise anything was different.¡± ¡°Huh, well you definitely changed. You became a far more intimidating bird there.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to look into it tonight.¡± The sun finally breaks past the horizon and I cover my eyes, expecting to be blinded by the reflection off Gr¨ªmr¡¯s shiny plumage. But¡­ nothing. It¡¯s like the metal doesn¡¯t reflect the sun¡¯s light at all. The green and gold sheen remains, but it is dark, like it¡¯s in the shade rather than direct sunlight. This new body is incredibly curious. I can¡¯t wait to help Gr¨ªmr figure out its secrets. But first, we need to free our team. Only a brief trip and we¡¯ll see them again. This mission is going to go perfectly. Chapter 97: PoV - Remus Remus had experienced many things in his life. He¡¯d met many races and been to places most couldn¡¯t fathom. Despite how much he¡¯d seen, he knew that there was always something more waiting out in the world to discover, but never did he think he would see the other side of the Alps. It had been a good decade since he¡¯d been on his last travels, and while he¡¯d considered a vacation sometime soon, he never expected to be thrust into these new lands in the way he had. The Alps were impassable. That fact was common knowledge for centuries. You can¡¯t travel far through the Middle Elevation without breathing equipment, not to mention the ever-increasing dangers one faces as they climb higher. In comparison, the journey through the tunnels beneath the mountains was incredibly tame. The whole idea of a cave system running through the entire Alps still boggled his mind. There were plenty of mining operations in the Alps that had never come across the underground caverns. It was unthinkable to think they¡¯d always been there. The journey to this new land was not exactly¡­ comfortable, in any sense of the word. He was usually fine with a bit of discomfort, and if it weren¡¯t for his junior team-members, he might have even treated it like a holiday. But the treatment of the mermineae toward his compatriots left nothing but a foul impression of his captors. The mermineae¡¯s method of torture was the same as the way they lived; primitive. It was almost a walk in the park compared to his time in the war prison of West Henosis. The mermineae¡¯s attempts relied heavily on their claws or blunt force, nothing creative at all. The most frustrating part was that he gave them the information willingly; there was no reason to hide what he knew. The sensitive information he could never disclose, were never questions asked of him. He gave up information like strengths of mercenary members and important locations with hardly any hesitance all to prevent them hurting his team, and yet they did anyway. The information was public anyway. They¡¯d be able to find out everything from asking any member of the Mercenary Order they picked up along the way, so he never held back. Remus tugged at the bindings locking his tentacles together. A thick sap-like substance that wouldn¡¯t loosen no matter how the force applied. The mermineae were incredibly uncivilised. Not having even the most basic of amenities for a comfortable life. They hide themselves with their camouflaging fur against predators and hunt with their teeth and claws, not even assisted by weapons. He could hardly consider them more than beasts. The only thing that might indicate potential growth is the rotten rug tossed over Remus and his two teammates. The sap that holds the furs together being the same that binds his limbs. The warmongers of the warring isles would be considered an advanced civilisation compared to these merminea. And yet, despite their lack of advancement, they have strength comparable to his own. Each one of them equivalent to a Luis ranked mercenary at the very least. Remus looked over his two comrades with frustration. Their own limbs locked and weapons confiscated. He had seen none of the mermineae carrying them on their travels, so he had to assume they didn¡¯t bother bringing them along. They don¡¯t use weapons themselves after all. Bunny was as strong willed as her father. Her eyes glared at any merminea that glanced her way. There was no reason to hide any information she knew, especially after Remus told them in front of her, but she held back anyway. Jav¡­ had not lasted so long without problems. He had been loud and aggressive against their captors for a few weeks after his questionable attempt to free Remus and Bunny, but after that, he¡¯d pulled into himself. He only talks now when absolutely necessary. It was both sad and infuriating to watch his young friend¡¯s fall. A bundle of leaves landed on the ground before him. Remus looked up to a set of grey eyes. The Forvaal were the strongest of the mermineae. Even without that strange ability of theirs to reduce an object to dust, they have the strength to go toe to toe with the best of the Luis mercenaries. He didn¡¯t doubt there were some amongst them that could compare with the Beith ranked. ¡°Rub those into the bindings. Be subtle. Do not move until the bird arrives.¡± The Forvaal blended back into the earth after murmuring his piece. The words barely loud enough to register. Remus stared after the Forvaal. ¡°Huh.¡± Bunny inclined her head in question. ¡°It seems we have a benefactor.¡± Remus knew that if this merminea represented a group opposing their captors, the only reason they¡¯d have to free them would be to gain information themselves. Well, he wasn¡¯t about to ignore this gift. He squirmed his way over to the pile of long dry leaves. The restraints making movement difficult. He pressed the sap-like substance into the pile left between them and tried to rub them in. There was no guarantee that these leaves could somehow remove the sap, but Remus would risk himself before he let the other two try it themselves. Bunny looked like she wanted to jump on the chance, but her own restraints and biology stopped her from moving. For now, she¡¯ll have to be patient; something he was surprised she still struggled with, despite being stuck so long. Jav huddled into himself, ignoring anything happening in the real world. Remus felt like his body wrung every time he looked at his friend. It was times like this that he wished he¡¯d focused more on increasing his strength rather than exploring the world. Many of the Beith mercenaries he¡¯d once stood side by side with, were now leagues ahead of him. If he had replicated the effort they put in, his team would not have fallen into such a situation. Remus rolled back and forth over the long leaves. A build up of dust piled from around the leaves as they ate away at his restraints. Eventually, he felt the sap drying up against the membrane of his skin. It only took a small tug with his limbs to crumble the bindings that had locked him away for months. Without being obvious to any watching mermineae, he stretched his muscles that had become stiff after so long being unused. He moved on to freeing Bunny, who was squirming where she lay as she watched, envious of his freedom.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Jav didn¡¯t notice what was going on until no sap remained on his limbs. ¡°What?¡± he looked down at his now free hands with confusion. There would be no easy escape for Jav this time. They had torn his wingsuit to shreds after his capture. It was good to see him react to the world once more. Remus had been afraid that he would remain a shell if they¡¯d ever escaped, so his immediate reaction was rather relieving. Even if he didn¡¯t think the volan would be okay for a long while. This whole situation, Remus felt responsible for. He¡¯d treated the search through the caverns as another of his exciting adventures through an undiscovered place. He should have pulled back when half his team showed heavy resistance to push on. But no, he¡¯d just gone and put everyone in even more danger. Jav¡¯s father, his old teammate from decades ago, he wasn¡¯t sure he could face him should they ever return. He¡¯d let his old friend¡¯s son fall prey to such horrible treatment in his care. Bunny peered out from under the cover of shed mermineae fur. She looked to the sky, obviously looking for the bird mentioned. She turned her gaze back to Remus with a raised eyebrow, remaining quiet. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how we¡¯ll get out.¡± He answered her unspoken question. ¡°but we¡¯ll need to wait for the signal before we make any attempt. Let¡¯s hope they have a decent plan.¡± Jav was still looking at his hands. Remus touched the tip of a limb on the small volan¡¯s back. ¡°We¡¯re getting out. You think you can push through for a bit?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Jav¡¯s eyes don¡¯t seem to focus, but he responds regardless with an affirmative hum and a nod. ¡°Mm¡± As soon as Remus got his team out of this mess, he was going to make sure they were fine. He¡¯d already underestimated the effect of mental health when he¡¯d sent Solvei into a prolonged panic-attack. He wouldn¡¯t make the same mistake. Once out of the mermineae¡¯s clutches, he needed to find Gr¨ªmr and Solvei. They must still be trapped down in the depths of the Alps. He could only hope they were still hale and surviving. Maybe they found a way up in his absence. There was no point in worrying now, not when he still needed to get these two out of danger. He¡¯d seen the girl¡¯s eyes; she was a survivor. No matter how much she feared, he didn¡¯t doubt she¡¯d find a way out. He knew from the start the young ¨¢ed had the determination to push onward. Her desperate gaze in that first spar he¡¯d had with her had shown him not to treat her as a child. Doing so would have been an insult to the challenges she¡¯d already faced. Despite their ages, Remus believed Solvei had a far better chance of escaping than Gr¨ªmr, assuming she got a proper grasp on her terror. Gr¨ªmr was far less likely to take any risks to reach the surface. That also meant he was likely to survive longer down there, even if it meant becoming a part of the ecosystem. Remus hoped the two of them could rely on each other until they reached safety. As the sun lowered in the afternoon sky, Remus could feel the tension exuding off Bunny beside him, her impatience doing her no benefit as they wait for the signal. Jav didn¡¯t really seem to process what was happening, but he was aware, which was good enough for Remus. He put a tentacle around the volan and lifted him to his head. Jav twitched at the touch, but didn¡¯t fight his grasp. A flash of light shone from the north. Remus¡¯ eyes swivelled in the direction as Bunny twisted her neck. For a moment, he doubted his sight. The unforgettable burning falcon flew toward them. Remus couldn¡¯t help the chuckle that escaped him. It was so relieving to know she was alright. ¡°I guess the bird we were waiting for was Solvei, after all.¡± He felt giddy for the first time in a while. Hopefully, she came with a plan and wasn¡¯t hoping to take on the bunch of mermineae alone. The ¨¢ed wasn¡¯t heading directly for them, instead she seemed to aim for the area Remus knew most of the mermineae were hiding. How she knew they were there, he didn¡¯t know. Well, she was the signal, so he might as well follow their plan. He tossed the cover off their heads to the confused squeaks of the nearby merminea. Bunny wasted no time throwing herself at the nearest of the sounds, snapping one¡¯s neck before it even realised what happened. She was best with a weapon, but that didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t fight without one. Unfortunately, they could only get the jump on one. The next arm-wrestled their way out of her grasp as she tried to do the same to them. The snap of Remus¡¯ whip-like limbs sent a few mermineae sprawling, but they quickly fade out of his sight, camouflaged against the ground. He grunted, passing his gaze over the surrounding, knowing that they¡¯ll try to sneak up on them in a moment of distraction. He needed to ignore these and get his team to safety. There was no way the three of them could take on the entire congregation of mermineae. His eyes fell back to Solvei, to see what her plan was and to be sure she was okay. But he could hardly believe what he saw. As the ¨¢ed in her falcon form closed the final distance to the camp, the flames surrounding her exploded. In moments, a flashover of bright yellow fire smothered the camp. This was far greater than anything she¡¯d been able to achieve the last time he¡¯d seen her. More than that; this was more fire than he¡¯d seen any other ¨¢ed achieve. The golden flickers hugged his form but did not burn. They were hot, of course, but not enough to breach the enhancement of his outer membrane. The same was not true for the mermineae around him. High-pitched screams met his ear. After all they had done to his team, he could not say he cared all too much for their pain. The flames were difficult to see through, but the mermineae visible before him were no longer covered in the fur that made them so hard to spot. Remus took advantage of the creatures¡¯ pained flailing to take the offensive. He shattered spines and crushed the heads of those too busy crying in pain to defend themselves. A laugh echoed above Remus¡¯ head. ¡°You get what you deserve, bastards!¡± Jav didn¡¯t move to join the fight, but he seemed to enjoy the retribution laid on those who¡¯d caused him so much pain. Of course, not everything can go perfectly. Bunny, who¡¯d been beating on a merminea, was blown into Remus. A powerful strike by one of their captors as they flew in through the cover of flames caught her off guard. Remus absorbed the impact and dropped her at his side. The new merminea crouched on all fours and glared at them with its glowing, cloudy grey eyes. Flames licked across his skin, where no fur remained, boiling the surface of its body. Despite the bubbling skin, its focus entirely on Remus. The merminea bared its fangs and hissed, a sound like a combination of a whistle and a growl. The glowing of its eyes intensified, and Remus felt a deep, sharp pain through one of his foremost limbs. He dashed to the side before flinging himself toward the Forvaal. Even as fast as he was, it wasn¡¯t quick enough to hit the mermineae. It scampered to the side and dashed toward Bunny, who stood ready to retaliate. Remus peered down at the throbbing pain in his tentacle, only to find it gone. Reduced to dust and spread through the flames. The fight was still going. He couldn¡¯t focus on it now. He rushed back, hoping to get the jump on it while it was engaged with Bunny. It was not to be. As soon as he came within striking distance of the merminea, it dropped to its forelegs and kicked at Remus. Its claws cutting deep into the limb he¡¯d flung forward in attack, before scurrying out of the range of retaliation. Remus stood beside Bunny, prepared to rush forward once more. He couldn¡¯t afford to let the Forvaal attack them with those eyes again. With no clear way to stop it, he needed to put all his effort into not giving the merminea a chance. ¡°Weren¡¯t you told to wait for the giant bird?¡± a familiar voice asked from the shroud of flames. Not a moment later, golden chains materialise out of the flame and wrap around the Forvaal, tripping it in mid step. The burning bird flew in with talons poised for the merminea¡¯s eyes before it could regain its balance. A wet squelch and a screech announcing that she¡¯d hit her target. The giddy feeling was overwhelming now, and he couldn¡¯t help but let out a guffaw. ¡°It¡¯s great to see you again, Solvei.¡± Despite the pressing circumstances, it really was. The Forvaal was quick to gain distance as it clutched a hand over its bleeding eye. Unfortunately, there was still another glowing orb to worry about. Now, all they needed was Gr¨ªmr, and the team would be united. Chapter 98: Rescue Did Caavaa not tell them they were supposed to wait for Gr¨ªmr? Because they acted immediately and didn¡¯t wait for the large alicanto to pick them up, many of the mermineae have taken notice. The Forvaal I got the drop on is only one of many able to ignore the pain of their burns. Through my flames, I can feel three already circling us, waiting for the opportunity to strike. More are heading toward us through the smokescreen provided by my flames. If they hadn¡¯t brought attention to themselves, I could have kept the mermineae¡¯s focus entirely on me while they escaped with Gr¨ªmr. Where is that metal bird, anyway? He should have been here by now. There¡¯s no point lamenting the plan¡¯s collapse. I can only adapt as the situation proceeds. Many mermineae have already stopped bothering to attack my distractions and are making their way toward us. I did not want the entire focus on me when I attacked, so flying amongst the flames, imitations of myself appear in and out of existence. As far as I know, the mermineae have no way of discerning my true body, so many would attack these birds and be shocked at the ineffectiveness of their actions. Of course, it is not the attacks of the normal mermineae that I¡¯m worried about, but the Forvaal. I¡¯ve not yet seen if their decay eyes can harm my body, so I¡¯d rather not take the risk. Thankfully, my inner flame seems wholly immune to whatever their power is. I felt nothing, so the only reason I knew they attacked me was the shocked response of one of the Forvaal that failed to damage one of my fake falcons. Only two mermineae have been able to swipe my flames off their bodies, but it never takes long for the firestorm to close back in. These two are the ones I¡¯m paying the most attention. They are likely the strongest mermineae in the area and our greatest threats. One is moving toward my team while the other is thankfully running off in the opposite direction. I feel a shift in my flames. ¡°Bunny, behind you!¡± She spins on her heels and smashes the instep of her foot into the face of the mermineae flying toward her. It had tried to attack her while her back was turned, but unluckily for it, I can feel their movements. Blood gushes out of its nose as it lands on its back. The merminea scrambles to get its feet under it again, but Bunny¡¯s boot slams into its head, crushing it into the stone beneath the puddle of wet snow. The one eyed Forvaal glares daggers at her. Worried that it might be attacking with its remaining decay eye, I dart forward once more, aiming to make the creature symmetrical again. It isn¡¯t to be. The Forvaal, aware of my existence now, dodges my swooping talons and retaliates. His claws bisect me, but I¡¯m quick to regain myself. I turn to attack it once more, but his eye locks on me and shines grey. An instant of unbearable pain assaults me. Agonising. It¡¯s like being doused in an ocean of water. I am forced entirely incorporeal, and the pain abates. Belatedly, I realise I am screaming. I shut myself up. Now¡¯s not the time to be yelling. My body is still in one piece, although I feel smaller. I need to kill the Forvaal before he can do any more damage. The fogginess in his eyes spreads as we lock gazes. Without the physicality of my flames, his decaying eyes can do nothing. I can do nothing but wait until he¡¯s done. My flames already surround him, but they cannot burn through him fast enough. ¡°Die already!¡± the merminea shouts as his face scrunches in pain. The glowing grey of his iris leaks into the pupil and white of his eye. His gaze grows ever more cloudy and unfocused as he tries to use the ability on me, to no avail. He finally pulls his sight from me, his hands grasp over his remaining eye as he grunts in pain. With a jet of flame behind me and a flap of my wings, I jerk forward, ready to tear his other eye out. Before I can, Remus and Bunny slam into him, hitting the Forvaal with coordination so that the creature isn¡¯t able to make space for itself. Now that it cannot evade their strikes, the brutal pelting it receives ends its life. We have more mermineae surrounding us, but they continue beating into its head until it is nothing but paste. ¡°Solvei, are you okay?¡± Remus asks as he steps away from the burning remains. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I say. ¡°We just need to hold out until Gr¨ªmr gets here.¡± Those eyes were painful. I felt much of my body disappear in an instant under his gaze, but I can still fight. The mermineae around us are using my flames to hide, likely waiting for a perfect opportunity. I can feel my flames sizzling their skin, but I cannot see them with my heat sense. My own flames near blinding compared to their tame body temperatures. Remus and Bunny stare into the flames wearily. The surrounding crowd has grown to seven now and plenty more are on the way. I push my flames outward to give my team visibility on those around us, but that was a mistake. Without the cloaking flames, all merminea dash in together. We struggled to take on even one, how are we meant to take on all at once? Thankfully, most aren¡¯t Forvaal, but that they can still think about attacking while the skin burns off their backs means they are all stronger than average.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. I shoot out of the way, not willing to take them on. Thankfully, it seems both Remus and Bunny are of the same mind. They jump, trying to throw themselves out of range. Jav clings to Remus¡¯ head like usual as they soar over me. While I¡¯d been hoping the mermineae would collide against each other now that their targets have disappeared, it was too much to ask for. They halt their momentum and dash after my team, ready to attack them the moment they land. A massive displacement of my flames warns me of an incoming threat from above hardly a moment before it slams into the ground. I rocket into the still airborne Bunny¡¯s arms as the giant metal bird tears along the ground, sending up a spray of water and rock. The mermineae are too slow to notice their incoming death. The red and yellow flames reflect off the golden green feathers as the alicanto slides across the stone, pulverising each mermineae in its way. I¡¯m impressed Gr¨ªmr knew where to aim. He obviously came in at full speed, so how did he see through my flames and time it so perfectly? Do alicantos have another sense they can use beside sight for precise targeting? Gr¨ªmr grinds to a halt, covered in merminea blood. I jump out of Bunny¡¯s arms, thankful for her protection from the spray of water and snow. I wave them toward Gr¨ªmr¡¯s hefty body. ¡°Go to Gr¨ªmr. He¡¯ll get you out.¡± Once I¡¯d known what was going to happen, I¡¯d pulled back on flames, not wanting my inner flame to sizzle from the water. But now that my firestorm is gone, every mermineae in around us can see. Gr¨ªmr wiped out a few with his landing, but there are far more around. Remus doesn¡¯t even hesitate. ¡°Gr¨ªmr, that¡¯s an amazing new body!¡± he shouts as he rushes ahead. Bunny climbs on top of the alicanto after Remus and Gr¨ªmr rises to his feet. The bumps and dents from the last fight remain, but there are no new ones from his landing. It¡¯s frustrating how slow he is to get in the air again. The mermineae rush us in droves. I recreate my inferno around us, blocking the sight of the Forvaal and hopefully terrifying those who¡¯d been burning from my previous attack. Many flee, but the stronger of the lot still close in. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s wings create intense gusts as he slowly gains air. The wind pelts the mermineae, mixes with my flame, and crashes through them. They lower their chests to the ground and scamper forward, uncaring for the wind or flames that cut over their heads. I recreate the chain of flames I used to trip the Forvaal, using it to grab at their feet. A couple stumble, but the rest either notice the grasping flames early and evade or break through them. The low centre of mass allows the mermineae too much control of their movement for my weak inner flame chains to stop them. As I fly over Gr¨ªmr¡¯s head, I realise he¡¯s moving too slow. The mermineae will be on top of us if he takes any longer to rise. As heavy and powerful as the alicanto is, the mermineae know how to take one down. We don¡¯t have time to waste. My gaze lands on the gash in the stone where Gr¨ªmr¡¯s landing threw away all the snow and water. The alicanto is an extremely heavy bird, so I don¡¯t know if my plan will work, but it¡¯s worth the attempt. I focus my flames on the gouge through snow and melt my way through as much stone as I can. Rather than burning it for energy or leaving the molten rock, I redirect the mass through my flames. The first of the mermineae throws itself on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s wing and I see him tilt as the creature tries to bury his wing in the ground. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s tail sweeps around and knocks away the next three closing in while Remus whips a limb into the head of the one grasping the wing. Unfortunately, the disruption to his flight has brought Gr¨ªmr¡¯s glide back to the ground. His talons scrape against the ground as he tries to regain height. The only way for him to gain air before the rest collapse on him is if my plan works. I hope it¡¯ll be enough. I direct the mass carrying flames underneath the giant bird and blast him. My flames roll along beneath him and continue to roast the underside with jets of flame. He¡¯ll have to forgive me if it gets too hot. I try to cycle the flames with mass, but I find with each impact against Gr¨ªmr, I lose some of the weight. We are quickly approaching a distance too far for me to continue extracting mass from the stone. Unless I burn through the snow and water below, I¡¯m stuck with what I¡¯ve already taken. Despite these problems, the fires blasting into the underside of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s wings work far better than I¡¯d expected. Even as the mass dies away from my flames, there still seems to be an effect. Curious. With a few mighty beats, Gr¨ªmr pulls the team out of the range of the mermineae jumping in the air after us. As I pull away the last of my flames covering the mermineae below, I feel the strongest of them come to a stop. I¡¯d been monitoring this one ever since I noticed it wipe off my flame with ease. The moment I look down at it, the bright grey glow of his eyes pierces my flames. I force my body incorporeal. Despite acting before I felt it, the sting of the Forvaal¡¯s eyes still pounds through my body. It was only for an instant, but it¡¯s still too much. Directing the mass of the burning air into a jet, I throw myself amongst my team. My wings don¡¯t work when they are immaterial, after all. A hand from Bunny holds me steady and I let out a sigh of relief to be out of that Forvaal¡¯s sight. I¡¯ll need to figure out a way to fight them without leaving myself vulnerable. A short grinding screech from Gr¨ªmr alerts me we are not yet out of danger. I snap my head around and quickly realise what is wrong. The outline of his wings is decaying. Not only that, his tail is rapidly losing length. The Forvaal has not stopped its offensive. ¡°Keep moving!¡± I shout and engulf Gr¨ªmr¡¯s body in fire. How far does that ability work from? We¡¯re at least a few hundred metres away now. My flames burn underneath Gr¨ªmr¡¯s wings again, hoping for that same effect I¡¯d noticed before where he seemed to get more lift even without mass pelting him upward. In the meantime, I spread my flames wide to hide our exact position from the Forvaal¡¯s eyes. It doesn¡¯t seem to work. Even blocked from sight as we are, Gr¨ªmr¡¯s wings still fall away to dust. I push the mass from the air into the flames. Maybe it is a reckless action, considering how much it hurt to feel the decay of my body, but I have no other ideas to protect Gr¨ªmr. As soon as the thin barrier of physical flames is in place, I feel an ache through them. It¡¯s nowhere near as bad as if it were my actual body. Thankfully, the decay Gr¨ªmr experiences stops and he can focus on getting us out. Far too long does the ache through my inner flame continue. Gr¨ªmr has almost reached my fastest flying speed by the time it stops. We must be at least a league away from the Forvaal by now. I flop on my back now that I don¡¯t have to worry about protecting us. There is a lot of energy at my beck and call now, but it is mentally draining to control it all. It would have been easier if I hadn¡¯t tried to split my focus so much. ¡°Wow, you two. I¡¯m not complaining at all, but what happened in our time apart?¡± Remus seems to be as cheerful as always. Although as I look closer, Jav huddles into himself and isn¡¯t looking around. Bunny seems fine, but she¡¯s not speaking. Maybe Remus is trying to keep a strong front for them or at least cheer them up. I feel a bit bad for considering their entrapment a good punishment for how they dragged me down into the caves. There are still reservations about what they did to me, but I¡¯ve worked so hard to get them out. We should all enjoy the freedom they¡¯ve regained and worry about what we are going to do later on. Despite my conflicted feelings, it really is good to see them again. Chapter 99: Reunion ¡°Ah, so it wasn¡¯t you we were supposed to wait for?¡± ¡°No,¡± I say. ¡°The plan was for you three to not attract any attention until Gr¨ªmr could swoop in and pull you out.¡± Now that I think about it, we¡¯re lucky he was quick to realise what was happening when he came crashing down. ¡°Good job Gr¨ªmr. How¡¯d you time your attack so perfectly? I didn¡¯t think you could see through my flames.¡± ¡°Attack?¡± Gr¨ªmr tilts his still deformed head back. ¡°Oh right, yeah¡­ my attack¡­ I uh, just figured that was the right time.¡± I stare at the back of his head for a good moment before letting out a laugh. He¡¯s still such a horrible liar. ¡°You crashed, didn¡¯t you?¡± I burst into giggles at the wordless glance he sends back. It¡¯s been ages since I¡¯ve felt this relieved. The constant pressure and worry I¡¯ve been subject to pops like bubbles with each laugh. I may hold reservations for what they did, but I¡¯m glad we are all finally free. ¡°Flying is harder than you think,¡± Gr¨ªmr rebukes, only to send me into another fit of giggles. He realises his mistake quickly. ¡°Well, this bird is. I was too far away when you started your distraction, so I tried to hurry. By the time I was close enough, I couldn¡¯t slow down quick enough.¡± The last streaks of twilight dim and leave only the moon to light the land beneath us. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s metallic sheen glows, but the outer edges of his wings lack the same lustre. It¡¯s a good thing Gr¨ªmr doesn¡¯t feel the pain of his body in the same way a normal creature would. I¡¯m sure it would be excruciating. ¡°I¡¯m going to take us down, alright? This body is starving, and I¡¯d rather not lose another so soon.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going to crash land again, are you?¡± I tease. ¡°Probably. I can¡¯t feel my feet.¡± As Gr¨ªmr slowly lowers his speed and altitude, Remus takes the opportunity to speak. ¡°I need to properly thank you both. I appreciate you came for us over such a long distance. There¡¯s no doubt in my mind it must have been difficult. Solvei, even after my poor decisions, I owe you everything for getting these two and myself out.¡± Bunny nods seriously, but Jav still seems mostly unfocused. He¡¯s looking out over the landscape, but isn¡¯t paying attention to the conversation. I¡¯m sure whatever they went through must have been hard. I feel asking about it would be the wrong choice. After escaping the Henosis soldiers, the last thing I wanted to think about was what happened while I was with them. True to his word, Gr¨ªmr doesn¡¯t land softly. He slows himself enough, but his chest and head still slam into the ground. We grind to a halt after a few metres. I throw myself off to check his condition, but the underside of the alicanto is in a far worse state than the upper side we¡¯d been sitting on would indicate. The Forvaal tore away his entire metallic protection. Not a feather remained down there and each taloned foot had all but disappeared. Despite the critical state of his body, Gr¨ªmr drags himself a few metres from where we landed and slams his beak into the stone. I¡¯m worried he¡¯ll hurt himself even more, but soon he¡¯s dug a hole deep enough to bury his head. His movements change and a grinding crunch accompanies the bobbing of his head. I guess he¡¯s found something to eat. Thankfully, Gr¨ªmr had the awareness to drop where there is no snow cover. I¡¯d change back now, but as a show of faith, I left my bag and snowsuit with the mermineae we are supposed to meet later tonight. Okay, maybe I didn¡¯t really care about giving them any assurances, but risking my outfit while I was the focus of hundreds of mermineae wasn¡¯t something I wanted to do. It was just easier to leave it with them. Bunny and Remus both stretch. Sighs of contentment come from each as they stroll in the open. I know Aana said that the birds of prey won¡¯t hunt near others, but it¡¯s concerning how visible we are. We were originally supposed to fly immediately to the meeting point, but I don¡¯t blame Gr¨ªmr for taking a break after the amount of damage he¡¯s sustained. I hope he can get his body fixed up, finding another one as good as that might be hard. I planned to set Jav and Bunny on their tasks to fix my outfit and spear as soon as they were free, but seeing them now stops me. Making demands now would be inconsiderate. I¡¯ll give them some time before letting them pay me back. My eyes fall on Remus¡¯ missing limb. During the fight, I had felt it fall away into dust through my flames. It is good he¡¯s still alive, but if I¡¯d been quicker, he might have come away unharmed. Strangely, as the dust remnants of his limb passed through my flames, not a single fleck burned. Remus¡¯ eyes roll back in his head and he catches me staring. He wiggles his stump and gives me his usual eye smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Solvei. A quick visit to the Lu-Lum family will get this fixed up as if it weren¡¯t ever gone.¡± His eyes rise to the ever watching Titan perched on the Alps. ¡°Well, that might take some time, but don¡¯t think I¡¯m any weaker without it. This is hardly a scratch to me.¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I don¡¯t comment. I¡¯d actually thought it would be easier for him to recover from a missing limb. To know he needs to meet with someone to regrow it is an awakening. ¨¢ed can regrow limbs by eating. After watching Gr¨ªmr¡¯s speedy healing while he was a mountain panther, I¡¯d assumed all fleshy creatures were like that. Is there any other odd assumption I¡¯ve made that is simply wrong? ¡°What happened since we were separated? You have grown like a wildfire.¡± His eyes grin. The word choice obviously amusing to him. ¡°Gr¨ªmr followed you. I ate bugs.¡± He gives me a perplexed look at my excessively brief explanation. I let out a chuckle at his expense before going into more detail. I tell him of the lurking monstrosities, my spear fights with the creatures in the shadows and the massive amount of energy the glow-bugs provided. ¡°So that was you?¡± Remus asks, and at my confused gaze, he continues. ¡°Our assailants were becoming increasingly nervous as we moved through the tunnels. They¡¯d been hearing the quakes through the earth and let their fears run wild with what it might be. It was particularly bad for the group watching over us, as it always seemed near. They¡¯d come to think we were cursed.¡± Remus lets out a chuckle. ¡°It¡¯s amusing to know it was you the whole time.¡± I smile at hearing that. It hadn¡¯t been an easy trip for myself, so to know I made it worse for the ones we were following is satisfying. Bunny sits down and listens in halfway through my retelling. She looks around, obviously searching for my spear once I tell them I¡¯d learn to carry it in my flames, but I soon tell of the fate that befell it. ¡°We need new weapons,¡± she speaks for the first time since we freed her. ¡°I¡¯m uncomfortable without one. I¡¯ll make you one once there are materials for me to use.¡± I follow her gaze over the plains beneath the Alps. There¡¯s no obvious trees anywhere to use in creating the weapons she might want to make. Bunny probably wouldn¡¯t have an issue using entirely metallic weapons, but that would most likely be far too unwieldy for me. Gr¨ªmr is still gorging in the hole he¡¯s dug himself. He must have a smell for metals in that body, which will be incredibly helpful for both me and Bunny. ¡°So what about those mermineae? I assume you were working with the one who freed us from our restraints. Are they truly on our side?¡± Remus asks. ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± I say. ¡°They seem determined to oppose the mermineae that captured you. They call them ¡®traitors¡¯. Though, as much as they say they need our help, they don¡¯t risk much in their support.¡± ¡°They need our help?¡± Remus asks. ¡°Yeah. Apparently we aren¡¯t the first to cross the Alps. The ones that came before us don¡¯t listen to their requests, so they want us to talk to them on their behalf.¡± His eyes widen. ¡°Did the mermineae not try to force them?¡± ¡°I think they were too strong for them. Caavaa said the outsiders ignored their threats. They were quick to move from the Alps, but the mermineae couldn¡¯t stop them.¡± Remus¡¯ eyes lower in a frown and he goes quiet in contemplation. ¡°Do you know who they are?¡± He raises his eyes to meet mine once more. ¡°I have a hunch.¡± He pauses before continuing. ¡°Actually, there is only one group it could be, but I don¡¯t want to believe it. It means they¡¯ve abandoned their oath and left the pact nations undefended.¡± Now that I think about it, Remus is supposed to be one of the stronger mercenaries, right? Who are these people that can brush off the mermineae when not even he can? ¡°Who?¡± I ask. Remus absently pokes at the stub of his limb. ¡°The Beith mercenaries. Many of which I am friends with¡­ or at least I was. I¡¯d known some were missing, but I never thought they would leave the younger generation to defend against the Alps alone.¡± So the elite mercenaries that are meant to remain on standby for major threats are on the opposite side of the Alps from the land they are supposed to protect? Are my friends no longer safe where I left them? ¡°Will the people of the pact be okay?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know. Without the Beith mercs to defend them, I¡¯m not sure the Mercenary Order will hold off the mermineae invasion.¡± ¡°Invasion?¡± I ask. I knew they were trying to get to the other side of the Alps, but there is plenty of land along the Stepps that I thought they¡¯d settle in. Was that too na?ve of me? Remus glances up at Jav, who¡¯s still to react to my existence, lost in the starry sky above. ¡°I¡¯m afraid our interrogators made it quite clear their intentions. Besides, there is almost no chance the countries bordering the Alps will cede the land. The wealth of resources they¡¯d lose would be astronomical. Thankfully, those in charge of their invasion are the last to push through the Alps. There should be a few months before war ignites.¡± ¡°The last? No, Caavaa said there were still far more coming. They are running from their god. From what I understand, every mermineae not part of Kalma¡¯s clergy is on their way to reach the ¡®beyond¡¯, as they call it.¡± Remus¡¯ eyes fall on me. His intense gaze searching for any fabrication in my words. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then we need to find my old friends, not to help this clergy, but to prevent the destruction of every pact nation. Why does this Caavaa want to stop his own race?¡± ¡°Fear. The three I¡¯ve met that oppose the mermineae trying to cross the Alps are all terrified of a being they call Kalma. They believe if she finds out the mermineae race is trying to flee, they¡¯ll face a horrible fate. Even those who don¡¯t run.¡± ¡°Damn.¡± Remus turns to watch Gr¨ªmr climb out of the deep hole he¡¯d excavated in the stone. The alicanto appears in far better shape than when he started his feast. So eating metals can recover his body? That¡¯s helpful. ¡°We¡¯re going to be busy for a while.¡± ¡°You want to work with the clergy?¡± I ask. ¡°We have little choice. We don¡¯t have the time to solve this ourselves. If our goals are aligned, we might as well.¡± I still don¡¯t like how they have refused to take on risk themselves. It makes me feel like they consider us disposable. ¡°Just be careful around them. I don¡¯t trust them.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Remus nods. I¡¯d wanted to just live again once we freed the trio. If the mermineae expected me to risk myself for them after this, I would have just walked. This side of the Alps might be dangerous, but it¡¯s a whole new world to explore. If it meant I have to go through the Alps again, there isn¡¯t a chance I will return. I was content to leave my friends in the safety of the pact nations and go travelling. Maybe I¡¯d eventually find another path around the Alps and I¡¯d be able to return. But now that I know they are in danger, I¡¯m forced to get caught up in all this mess with the mermineae. The clergy better live up to their goal. Just as the Beith mercs better return to the pact nations. I didn¡¯t leave my friends there only to be thrust into the midst of war. I¡¯d seen how that had destroyed Leal¡¯s life. If I can prevent the same happening once more, I will. Chapter 100: Tense Alliance I hate rain. It¡¯s impossible to avoid, makes the air hard to breathe and worst of all, it hurts no matter the energy I have. Regardless of the strength I¡¯ve gained, water is still as terrifying as it was when I was a child, freshly separated from my tribe. A lot of things that I was once scared of, now hardly faze me. But there are two things that I¡¯ll never lose my fear of: Titans and water. Now, I get to experience both. I clutch to Gr¨ªmr¡¯s chest, suspended as he cuts through the downpour. So close to the wall of water, I have no choice but to focus on the only other thing I can see, the buzzard Titan. Peeking past Gr¨ªmr¡¯s metallic tail trailing behind us, I can make out the outline of the impossibly massive bird resting upon the horizon. The creature is hard to make out through the rain, but I¡¯d much rather focus on the terror that is leagues away than that which surrounds me. Without my outfit, every little splash that hits me, feels like I¡¯ve been whipped. Gr¨ªmr has done an amazing job of covering me, but every now and then, a drop makes its way onto my fiery plumage. After being trapped for months underground, I thought I¡¯d be fine with anything as long as I wasn¡¯t stuck under stone and rock, but this is definitely worse than being down there. I¡¯m trapped clinging to Gr¨ªmr. The only thing I can do is hope the rain lets up soon. We still need to meet up with the mermineae before I can get my outfit back and have at least basic protection against the weather. Hopefully, Jav will snap out of the funk he¡¯s in and fix up my snowsuit soon. Placing my focus on the giant bird behind us might not be the smartest thing, but it¡¯s easier to keep my mind off the water than following the land below. There is nothing interesting down there, so my focus always returns to the water¡¯s proximity. Water and Titans. Why do they have to exist? What would life be like if neither were around? I¡¯d probably still be with my tribe back in the wasteland. A weak child slowly increasing the heat of her flame in the comfort of family. If I had the chance to join another tribe, would I? Should the option present itself, would I return to the life of wandering the deserts with a new family? Sometimes I feel nostalgic about those quiet moments with those close to me, and I realise how far away those memories are. Not only are they years in the past now, but I¡¯m physically far from the wasteland now. An impossible distance, considering I¡¯d have to pass the Alps to return there. But¡­ while the idea of a new tribe and the simplistic life I might have with them is appealing, I don¡¯t think I could. I¡¯m not even really sure why. The outside world is filled with dangers far exceeding what we faced in the wasteland. Birds that can cut me clean in half with a simple swing of their wing. Mystical disasters that create worlds with the things they consume and twist them in excessive ways. The extensive list of entrapping threats. Even without considering water and Titans, the lands outside the wasteland are horrifying. And yet¡­ I don¡¯t want to go back. My tribe is already dead. I¡¯ve accepted that years ago now. If I was to go back, adopt the same lifestyle I did all that time ago, it would feel like everything I¡¯ve done since has been pointless. Er¡­ maybe not pointless, but it¡¯d definitely be like feigning ignorance of the changes both around me and to myself. I¡¯ve gained far more strength than I¡¯d thought possible when I joined Luis-Eight. So much more, yet it is lacking compared to the beasts we face. When will it be enough? I joined them to gain enough strength to avoid being trapped again, but the entire action of joining this team was what landed me under the Alps. So is it better for me to back off and stay away from what is dangerous, like most ¨¢ed tribes do? Or should I continue to push head on into danger, risking my freedom and life for the chance of greater strength? So which is better, a conservative attitude avoiding all risk, or an aggressive push to gain better defence? The question itself is flawed. Without sight of the future, it is impossible to determine which is better. The former worked for my tribe until a risk too great tore everything apart. Henosis mages shook us out of our comfort. The Titan tore us apart, and no preparation could have readied us for that. The latter has already bitten me. If I hadn¡¯t been so willing to push for more strength, I¡¯d have never been trapped. I never would have ended up over here, separated from friends. But, then again, I also never would have gained this much energy. A gust of wind brushes a few raindrops over my back and I flinch away, hugging myself closer to Gr¨ªmr. The rest of my team is riding on the alicanto¡¯s back. Unlike me, they can stay out in the rain without care. The water not eating away at their bodies like it does mine. I can hear them talking, but the wind¡¯s strength is too great for me to distinguish any words. It didn¡¯t take long to get Bunny talking again, simply asking what weapon she¡¯d want to make first set her off on a spiral of ideas and weapon names that sound like gibberish to me. We¡¯re currently looking for the burrow that we agreed to meet at after freeing our team. We should have reached it hours ago, but the rain has made it all but impossible to find in the dark.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. It was an hour after we dropped below the Lower Elevation into the Stepps that the rain hit. The crevasse on this side of the mountain is almost non-existent. Much of the glacier had fallen into its depths, leaving only the sudden shift from ice to earth as the only sign it was there in the first place. It¡¯s actually crazy how fast the mermineae can move. From what I can tell, they can reach nearly triple my maximum flying speed while entirely on the ground. Of course, once Gr¨ªmr gets moving, he far surpasses that, but it doesn¡¯t help that we have such a great distance to cover. In an attempt to hide from the rain, I decrease the size of my body. Literally shrinking away from the water. I¡¯m able to cut the size of my bird form in half, leaving me marginally smaller than Bunny¡¯s head, but larger than Jav. Any further, and I hit a wall. The energy within me doesn¡¯t want to compress beyond a certain density. My chest aches when I push it too far, so I have to settle with this size. It¡¯s better, but the odd gust of wind still whips a few drops of water over me. The angle of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s wings notably drops, and we descend. I look down, trying to find if he¡¯s found the meeting point. The weather interferes with my heat sense, so it is impossible to feel if any mermineae are below. There, far ahead of us, are the landmarks we¡¯ve been looking for. A curved crater dug in the ground and three boulders stacked on top of each other, both separated by a hundred metres. As Gr¨ªmr slows down, he curves us off to the right of the landmarks. The two iconic formations pointing toward our meeting point with Aana and Muuro. Gr¨ªmr comes in to land three hundred metres from the boulders. The well-hidden burrow only comes into view as Gr¨ªmr¡¯s talons slam into the earth. It¡¯s a much better landing attempt than when we were trying to free the others, but he still has some work to do. His wing closes around me. I¡¯m thankful for the cover as he trots forward before diving into the hole. It¡¯s far too small for him, but it takes almost no effort for him to widen the opening and worm his way inside. I, along with Remus, Jav and Bunny, fall into the burrow while Gr¨ªmr carves out a side of the wall for himself. Immediately, I fly to the back corner of the small space, keeping as far away from the puddle of water near the entrance. Once I¡¯m certain there¡¯s no threat of the water reaching me here, I notice the four heat signatures hiding along the walls of the burrow. One of them is crawling away from where Gr¨ªmr just took out a chunk of the wall. I was only expecting Aana and Muuro, so I¡¯m immediately put on edge. Do they plan to ambush us here? They know I can see them when they stay hidden though, so why wouldn¡¯t they attack as soon as we entered? Regardless, I need to warn my team that there are more than expected. ¡°Aana? Muuro? Who are the other two hiding?¡± I demand, readying my flames to strike at any suspicious movement. Thankfully, Remus and Tetsu are quick to guard, standing ready. They take longer to respond than I¡¯m happy to forgive, so I flare my flame in warning. The walls char under the sudden lick of flames. I spread a flicker toward each of the hiding mermineae, both showing my team where they are and telling the mermineae that they cannot hide. ¡°Whoa, whoa. There¡¯s no need for that. We helped you, did we not?¡± Muuro finally drops his camouflage and walks away from the wall. Aana follows not long after. It¡¯s the other two that remain hidden that I worry about. I¡¯m about to snap at them that this isn¡¯t the time for games and maybe shorten their fur a bit, but Remus jumps in before I can. ¡°There¡¯s no need for us to be hostile. We have the same goal.¡± With a casual smile in his eyes, he gestures for me to calm down. Jav isn¡¯t with him as usual. He¡¯s still with Gr¨ªmr near the entrance. Remus must have set him aside before speaking. I guess he isn¡¯t ready to face those that have tormented them for so long. In fact, as I glance over at Bunny, I can tell she is barely holding back the fury in her eyes. ¡°We want to work together, but we can hardly do that if you refuse to show yourself.¡± Remus gives an intentional look to the places I pointed out. Aana bites her lip as she looks between us and the hidden mermineae. She¡¯s obviously nervous about something. I focus on the heat given off by the two creatures, trying to get any more information about them without igniting them where they stand. The silence stretches as the two mermineae still refuse to show themselves. Muuro speaks up for them. ¡°If you could please just treat the¡ª¡± ¡°I guess there is no point, then. Come, Saad. There¡¯s no point if they know we are here,¡± a gruff voice speaks. The two mermineae finally show themselves. Both have a wiry coat of fur with so many patches missing that I¡¯m surprised they could even hide themselves. The speaker has a large scar running the length of his body, with an ear missing and one of his sharp teeth exposed by the damage. Saad, the other, has loose skin over much of his face in contrast to the usual tautness mermineae have. They are obviously far older than the norm. They stand more assured of themselves than even the arrogant Muuro. The most notable aspect is the entirely grey eyes they share. Forvaal, but the cloudiness of their eyes has spread to leave no white nor pupil left. Neither seems to look in any particular direction, but they have no trouble approaching Remus. Muuro lowers his head and steps out of their path. I¡¯m annoyed they ignore me and head straight for Remus. I mean, I was the one who¡¯s done all the talking with the mermineae until now. Most of the work was done by me and they should know it, unless these Forvaal never talk. There¡¯s no way it wasn¡¯t intentional. I was the one that pointed them out and spoke first, after all. Even if I¡¯m annoyed at their obvious slight towards me, I shouldn¡¯t care this much. It¡¯s better that Remus take over the discussion. Not only because he is likely far better at negotiating than I am, but I¡¯ll probably let my agitation get the better of me if I have to deal with them directly. I note my bag on the ground by Aana¡¯s side. I quickly grab it and fly back between Gr¨ªmr and Bunny. Not so close to the water, but also not near the mermineae. I gave a moment of consideration to whether I should stay in my bird form for a quick escape, but the heavy thrum of the downpour outside makes the decision easy. I have Gr¨ªmr to carry me away if things go badly, anyway. ¡°So, you will talk to the outsiders on our behalf?¡± the old Forvaal with the scar asks. Both Aana and Muuro act far more restrained in the presence of these two elderly mermineae. They bow their heads and hesitate to speak. ¡°Like I said, we have the same goal.¡± Remus¡¯ eyes, while cheery, hold steadfast on the Forvaal before him. ¡°I need to have a chat with them myself. You see, the mermineae travelling to our homeland would be problematic. So, assuming you want to keep them here as my team-members have told me, our partnership should be natural.¡± The tension is near tangible as the elderly duo remain motionless, unspeaking in response. Bunny¡¯s fists clench and the two younger Forvaal¡¯s eyes dart between their elders and our group. Saad grunts, and the scarred mermineae bares his fangs. I¡¯m not sure if he¡¯s trying to grin or threaten us. ¡°Yes, natural,¡± he says. ¡°May the great Kalma not curse our collaboration, and shall we achieve our mission without her knowledge.¡± He clasps his hands in front of the patchy fur of his chest. ¡°Welcome to the Euroclydon¡¯s hunting ground.¡± Chapter 101: Pointless Games Remus and Taanoraa, the scarred mermineae, keep most of the discussion between themselves. Once a common ground had been determined, they moved onto confirming the lesser important terms of our cooperation and information trade. I don¡¯t believe for a second they are being entirely open with us, but it isn¡¯t something I can do anything about. The other elder, Saad, has backed off from the talks, grunting only a few times at comments of his fellow. The mermineae is even less approachable than the others of his kind. A sneer almost permanently affixed across his face. The Beith mercenaries we chase are apparently only a few days¡¯ travel southeast of here. The Forvaal clergy have tails attached to them, so it shouldn¡¯t be hard to find them. Whether Remus can convince them to help us is the greatest concern at the moment. Of course, only if you ignore the risk working with these mermineae poses. Why did the Beith mercenaries come across the Alps in the first place? For so many of them to abandon their posts as defenders of the pact nations, they must have a reason. If that reason is important enough to travel so far into unknown lands, then will they even put it aside to help us? Will they listen? There¡¯s no point worrying about it for now. We need to find them first, and we can¡¯t even start travelling until this damn rain lets up. Seated by Gr¨ªmr¡¯s side, I look down at my arms. The damage from my time beneath the Alps has left my sleeves in tatters. Now that I have time and don¡¯t have to worry about hiding my flames, I can try out some alterations to my form. The lack of sleeves means that the outfit is almost worthless as a protection against the rain. I should look at the bright side; it gives me the opportunity to see if any of the ideas floating around in my head to improve my spearmanship would work. Slowly, from beneath my original arms, I grow a second pair. It feels¡­ strange. Unlike when I grew wings, it isn¡¯t completely alien, but more like I¡¯m feeling an echo of my first pair. I move my arms and find the lower pair following the movements of my main limbs. There is a fair bit of mental strain I have to put into manipulating them independently, but the more actions I take, the easier it becomes. A bellow from Remus gains my attention. I don¡¯t know if he¡¯s just trying to get along with the mermineae or if something they said was actually funny, but it isn¡¯t important. As I¡¯m lowering my eyes, I can¡¯t help my attention falling on the hyperflexible tentacles he has. Without a moment of hesitation, my four arms mimic the dohrni¡¯s limbs. As with every time I try a different form for the first time, it is an odd feeling. The long appendages are particularly difficult to grasp at things. The lack of dexterous fingers really interferes with how I¡¯m accustomed to holding things. Even the talons of a bird are far easier. I hear another chuckle from Remus and almost ignore it, but from the corner of my eye, I see him watching me. I tilt my head at him before I realise he¡¯s laughing at me. Indignance fills my chest from his obvious misunderstanding. I don¡¯t know exactly what he¡¯s thinking, but he¡¯s definitely confused. My arms return to normal as quick as they can and I avoid eye contact. I¡¯ve lost my motivation for exploring, so I fall back into practising my control. A ball of cinders appears in my hand and I toss it in the air. The weight I give it lets it fall back into my hand without issue. Throwing it again, it hits the ceiling and bounces back. I have to keep a bit more focus on retaining the mass with the flames than I would sustaining a normal fire, but it actually acts like a real ball now. I¡¯d spent so long back in that furnace trying to figure this out. Now I can do it without faking it. As long as I keep a tiny portion of my focus on having the ball retain its shape, it doesn¡¯t splatter across the dirt ceiling. As the ball rises and falls, I try to push as much of my control through it. I want to compress the flame. Not only shrink the flame, but keep the heat and intensity of a larger flame in a smaller space. Unfortunately, just like my body has a block to how small I can become, my flame refuses to compress any further without me removing some of the energy. I know there should be a way to push past this blockage. Well, I don¡¯t know for sure, but why wouldn¡¯t there? I¡¯m certain Elder Cyrus could do it. The heat of his flames was always far greater than every other ¨¢ed. I just need to figure out how. Movement from my side has me turning to Jav, who, for the first time since we freed him, seems to move with intent. He walks up to me and stands there, unable to look up at me. It¡¯s an awful comparison to the self assured Volan he used to be. His wingsuit is in as bad of a condition as my outfit. The wings obviously torn to prevent him flying off after he was captured. Jav¡¯s downcast gaze makes me realise just how small the volan is. His attitude always seemed larger than his body. Now that it¡¯s gone, I realise he¡¯s like a jerboa amongst giants.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. I recall the feeling of intimidation I struggled with when I was living amongst the ursu. ¡°Solvei,¡± he starts, scratching at his hand resting against his chest. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for abandoning you back then.¡± He still cannot look up at me. What does he mean? The time when he got caught? But he¡¯s the only one who suffered from that mistake. He¡¯s visibly struggling to speak any further. A pang of guilt hits me. He¡¯s obviously been through a lot, and still, he thought about how he left us. And I was harsh enough to consider it a just punishment. I don¡¯t know if I can forgive the betrayal yet, but I don¡¯t hate him. I don¡¯t hate any of them. Never should I have wished this sort of treatment on them. He is not in a condition for me to keep any grudge against him over what happened months ago. ¡°Jav¡­ there is nothing for you to apologise for. It was unfortunate what happened. That¡¯s it. Gr¨ªmr and I survived just fine on our own. You were just trying to save your friends. There¡¯s nothing wrong with what you did.¡± I lay down so I¡¯m closer to his level. ¡°We are out now. You can move on from what happened down in those tunnels.¡± Jav finally raises his head. Our eyes catch for a split second before he averts them. He hesitantly nods. Oh, I will not be so forgiving the next time I come across mermineae. I turn my head to glare at the four across the burrow from us. But no, they aren¡¯t the ones who did this. I¡¯ll focus my anger on the next group of ¡®traitors¡¯ we meet. It seems Remus and the scarred mermineae, Taanoraa, have finalised their discussions. Both of the elderly Forvaal move toward the entrance beside Gr¨ªmr. Aana and Muuro close behind. ¡°Well, there¡¯s no reason to delay,¡± Taanoraa says. ¡°Shall we meet your old comrades?¡± He wants to head out? In this downpour? Thankfully, Remus doesn¡¯t even need to look my way to know how much I¡¯m against that idea. ¡°No. We need to wait until the rain stops.¡± Taanoraa narrows his eyes at Remus, before pivoting to me. ¡°Suit yourself.¡± He squeezes past Gr¨ªmr, who blocks most of the exit. The other Forvaal follow close behind. ¡°Catch up to us when you can.¡± And with that, the mermineae are gone. It is just our team again, and I¡¯m thankful for it. I just can¡¯t get comfortable around them. Except for Aana, they all come across as duplicitous. It¡¯s the same feeling I got from Gloria, like poorly hidden contempt, disguised with a smile. Well, the two elderly ones weren¡¯t smiling, but it still felt the same. Remus lets out a sigh. ¡°This will be rough. Those grumpy old farts remind me far too much of the bureaucrats back home.¡± ¡°Are we still going to work with them?¡± I ask. ¡°For now, we will. Though I¡¯m uncomfortable leaving the task of halting the mermineae¡¯s encroach entirely in this clergy¡¯s hands, we shouldn¡¯t oppose them. At least until we know more.¡± ¡°These Beith mercenaries we are going to find, how well do you know them?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure who we will find, but I¡¯ve worked with most on the roster over the years. It¡¯ll be hard to tell if we can convince them until I know who we are dealing with.¡± Hopefully, the Beith mercs will be more than willing to help once they realise the danger the nations face in their absence. ??? The rain continues its downpour for hours. As we wait for it to let up, the five of us relax together for the first time in what must be forever. We have the urgent task of protecting the pact nations, but none are willing to put me in danger. I appreciate their consideration. Even before we found ourselves stuck beneath the Alps, it had been hectic. I can¡¯t remember the last time I just sat down and talked about nothing like this. Bunny must be desperate for some form of weapon. She tugs out a worrying amount of her own hair that had grown rather long in her captivity. Binding it into rope, she somehow straps a bundle of jagged stones to her fist. She calls it a caestus. Well, I assume the actual weapon would look better than the wrap of hair and stone she keeps readjusting. It¡¯s good to know she hasn¡¯t changed. Jav, on the other hand, mostly keeps to himself. The apology to me being the only moment I¡¯ve seen him interacting with the outside world. Remus is paying close attention to him, staying by his side and giving him words of reassurance and comfort. As we climb out of the burrow after the rain, I stick to Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back. I know my boots should keep the water soaking the ground off my feet, but I will take no chances. The sky seems clear, not a bird in sight. Well, except the titan. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s body seems to be an effective deterrent to those dangerous creatures. Hopefully, they stay away from us. Hmm. Now that we are all together, could we take on that four winged eagle I¡¯d faced? I¡¯m curious, but there¡¯s no point asking for a fight we don¡¯t need to take. Especially with no certainty of victory. Gr¨ªmr stretches his wings and the others join me on his back. He takes to the skies, heading for the next meeting point. Half the day passes travelling at the incredible speeds the alicanto reaches. We make it to the agreed meeting point, but I can¡¯t feel any mermineae around me at all. It looks like we got here quicker than them. They should be here already. I cast my sight over the horizon, but that hardly tells me where they are. I¡¯ve seen how fast they can run. Even accounting for Gr¨ªmr¡¯s flight being faster than their running, they left hours before us, so why aren¡¯t they here? ¡°Where do you think they¡¯ve gone?¡± I ask. ¡°Who can say,¡± Remus says. ¡°They might not have gone anywhere and are just trying to pressure us. I¡¯ve seen tactics like this a million times.¡± Pressure us by¡­ not showing up on time? I¡¯m not sure I understand. My confusion must have been clear on my face as Remus lets out a chuckle. ¡°It¡¯s a politician¡¯s tactic. Rather pointless and annoying, but they are trying to show to us we aren¡¯t important to them. Also, considering they¡¯ve yet to tell us where the Beith¡¯s are, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s their way of saying we can¡¯t work without them.¡± He casts his gaze over the horizon before continuing. ¡°But if this is a political game, it¡¯s rather otiose. More likely, they¡¯ve stopped somewhere along the way. They may report to their clergy, but if that was the case, a single one of them would have been capable of delivering the information.¡± They aren¡¯t planning another ambush for us, are they? I look around while simultaneously feeling for any out-of-place heat signatures. But I find nothing. I guess we¡¯re going to be waiting for them. Chapter 102: Beith When the four mermineae finally arrive, they run in from the west. I guess they aren¡¯t even trying to hide that they went somewhere. ¡°Come.¡± Taanoraa announces their presence without visibly showing himself. ¡°We have no time to delay.¡± And just like that, the four of them run off again, this time heading south. Would saying ¡®hi¡¯ hurt? We all mount Gr¨ªmr once more and head after the hurrying Forvaal. They are quick enough to escape the range of my sense by the time we rise to the air, but it doesn¡¯t take long for us to find them again. I keep Gr¨ªmr informed of the whereabouts of our guides. He keeps his altitude low enough to keep them within range of my sense. A full day of non-stop travel. We cross an incredible distance before the mermineae stop for a rest. Good timing too; the Ember Moon will burn the sky in a few minutes and we¡¯ll get to see that strange reaction Gr¨ªmr¡¯s body has. We drop to the earth and I balk as the mermineae put space between us. They seriously don¡¯t even want to try getting along with us? Whatever. At least Remus should understand what I was talking about now. Red slowly devours the sky and the dark moon reappears. I watch Gr¨ªmr closely this time, not wanting to miss the changes as they occur. Even ready for them, I almost miss the transition. Most of the changes are subtle, but fast. Razor feathers split into jagged saw-blades. The tail peels outward, curving in on itself until it becomes a ball of protruding spikes. The crimson glister of his metallic coating has no hint of the green and gold from moments before. His beak opens to reveal two rows of vicious, predatory teeth. A growl rumbles out his chest, a deep oscillating whirr. The teeth begin moving, spinning along his maw to add a buzzing noise to the creature¡¯s growl. Its wings slam into the earth and it rises to its feet, ready to pounce forward. Before I have the chance to worry that Gr¨ªmr might have lost control, its joints lock and it topples beak first into the ground, stiff. The buzzing teeth cut through the stone with ease, almost like the hard rock is nothing but paper. Hmm¡­ we¡¯ll need to be careful not to fly on Gr¨ªmr during the Ember Moon. He¡¯s obviously not got control of it, so I¡¯d hate to see what would happen if we¡¯re a thousand metres in the air when the change comes on. The Ember Moon eventually recedes and Gr¨ªmr can relax his body from the toppled metal statue he¡¯d become. Tail, feathers and beak return to their original shape. It¡¯s pitch black for a minute, but soon a trickle of moonlight returns the glow to his feathers. ¡°That¡­ is strange,¡± Gr¨ªmr says as he inspects his wings. ¡°It¡¯s usually only metals that this body craves. But under the midnight light, it becomes a ravenous carnivore.¡± ¡°Is there no way for you to stop the change from initiating?¡± Remus asks as he passes a limb along the flat tip of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s tail. ¡°Not unless I hide from the light. The process is completely separate from the nervous system, so it¡¯s not something I can influence. The movements it makes under the influence of the midnight light aren¡¯t orders from the brain, so I can¡¯t control it.¡± ¡°So we should keep away from danger at midnight. Or do you think it would be better to look for something better? Something without such a flaw?¡± Remus asks. ¡°No, no. I could hardly hope for a better body than this.¡± Gr¨ªmr curves his tail and the grinding sound starts up again as his feathers weave through each other. ¡°It might take me a while, and a lot of energy, but I think I could put something in place to give me control in the altered form. This might be rash, but I think I want to commit to this body.¡± ¡°You sure? There are probably plenty of species out this side that we have yet to discover.¡± Gr¨ªmr nods. The movement looks much smoother now that his head isn¡¯t completely deformed. Feasting on metals has done wonders. ¡°Yes. We aren¡¯t here to explore and I think it¡¯ll be hard to find something with more utility and combat potential than this that wouldn¡¯t be impossible to defeat. Besides, I can be helpful to both Bunny and Solvei with this.¡± ¡°Splendid.¡± Remus turns his smile to me. ¡°Then, Solvei, if you are okay with remaining as our mage, Gr¨ªmr will join us in the ritual from now on.¡± Well, it¡¯s fine for now, but if they plan to head back through the tunnels, we¡¯ll have to part ways. There¡¯s no chance I¡¯ll be going down there again. ¡°Do we have time to worry about the ritual, though?¡± I ask. ¡°You¡¯re right, there are more important things to focus on, but if the opportunity presents, we won¡¯t miss it.¡± Too bad they can¡¯t just go underground for a while and eat glow-bugs. That worked pretty well for me. ??? We¡¯ve been following the mermineae for a few days now and finally, we are closing in on where the Beith mercs should be camped out. The landscape is as consistent as always. The only discrepancy is the wide, shallow river cutting down the Stepps. Now that we¡¯ve come down the Alps far enough, there is plenty of plant and tree-life around, but none are tall. On the other side of the Alps, it was common to see tall trees that rose far above my head. But here? I¡¯ve yet to see a plant taller than myself. Far ahead of us, the recognisable four-winged shape of an enantiorn eagle is visible. It is almost too far to see, but I watch as the large bird nose dives toward the earth. It must have found something to prey on. I wait for it to return to the air with whatever it has caught, but it doesn¡¯t. A handful of seconds pass and it still fails to rise. ¡°Huh,¡± Remus says but doesn¡¯t elaborate. The mermineae below spread, separating from each other as their pace slows to a crawl. I tell my team about their actions, but they are just as curious about what happened to the enantiorn. We fly a few hundred metres ahead of the lagging mermineae before I can make out the shape of the eagle.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Or, what¡¯s left of it. The bird is in halves, bisected right down the middle and now lies dead. There¡¯s a dot moving between the two pieces, but we are still too far away to see. ¡°Well, looks like we¡¯ve found them,¡± Remus says. Really? Already? ¡°I kinda thought it would be harder,¡± I admit. ¡°Whelp, I¡¯ve yet to talk to them. There¡¯s still time.¡± That Beith mercenary cut the enantiorn in half in moments. The same bird that gave me so much trouble, beaten just like that. I know they are supposed to be strong, but as Remus said, they were his old comrades. I thought they¡¯d only be a touch stronger, not this much. It makes sense. After all, the mermineae could not touch them, and they¡¯ve been out here for months at the very least. I doubt the first thing that attacked me out in these plains is the most dangerous thing around. The eagle is probably one of the most common creatures¡­ which is pretty concerning now that I think about it. We¡¯re lucky to have made it so far without being attacked ourselves. It¡¯s a surprise we¡¯ve found them so quick. The mermineae have been leading us out this direction, but have refused to give any information and only tell us to follow them. On one hand, I¡¯m happy about the separation between us, but on the other, we¡¯d be able to work far more effectively if we properly cooperated. We know what our role is, so we move ahead without discussing with the Forvaal. Not wanting Gr¨ªmr to be mistaken for a normal predator of the sky, we drop to the ground a few hundred metres from the enantiorn corpse. From here, I¡¯m finally able to see the Beith mercenaries. There are three; two dohrni and one khirig. Remus takes the lead, Bunny following close behind with two holstered knifes she¡¯d crafted from the metals Gr¨ªmr found. Both the handles and the sheathes made from sapling wood. Not the best materials, but she seemed to make it work. Unfortunately, we¡¯ve yet to come across anything she can use to make a spear shaft for me. I walk alongside Gr¨ªmr with Jav on my shoulder. The volan has opened up somewhat, enough that we don¡¯t have to worry about him getting caught lost in his mind mid-fight. Though, participating will probably be a ways off from now, and not only because his wingsuit still needs repair. As I look over the team, I realise just how unprepared we are if a fight is to break out. Only Gr¨ªmr and I are at full fighting potential. Remus says he knows most of the Beiths, but they came across the mountains for a reason. What if they don¡¯t like the idea of being followed? I¡¯m suddenly reminded of the Fearn team that went missing, and a pit of dread wells up within me. Did the Beith mercenaries kill them because they were caught making their way up the Alps? Nobody knew that they had been sneaking across, so they must have been actively hiding it. Did they murder members of their own organisation just so they wouldn¡¯t be found out? The Beiths ahead of us stand awaiting us. They aren¡¯t too far now, but they stand relaxed, confident of their strength, despite our unannounced appearance. ¡°Remus,¡± I hiss. I keep my voice quiet as I¡¯m unsure how good their hearing is. His eyes spin in his head and lock me with a questioning gaze. ¡°The Fearn team.¡± He nods with an understanding look before turning ahead, his pace unfaltering. I guess he¡¯d already considered that. It¡¯s a relief to know he¡¯s not blindly assuming they are his friends. Hopefully they are, and they have nothing to do with the death of the scouts from back then, but we need to keep our guard up. ¡°Remus?¡± One of the dohrni asks with surprise marring his face. The man is huge. He stands a head taller than Remus, and each of his tentacles are twice as thick. Two massive war-hammers rest in a curled limb, each about as long as he is tall. The weapons look quite dangerous, but he holds them in a non-aggressive manner near the heads. At his side, equally relaxed, is a khirig. Unlike the others of her kind, her antlers are sharp and sleek. They don¡¯t branch like normal. Her cage exposes much of her chest, but each of her antler limbs looks like a sharp blade in of themselves. Both have the iconic markings that oust them as mages. But while they have a fair number of the lines wrapping around their limbs ¡ª or antlers in the khirig¡¯s case ¡ª neither come close to the other dohrni. The last of the group is tiny. Well, not as short as me, but still tiny for a dohrni. While the others have the markings of mages, they look more like fighters. This one cannot be confused as anything else. Her markings leave not a speck of unblemished skin. In many places, the markings overlap one another. From what Leal taught me, I thought that was impossible. ¡°What are you doing out here?¡± the tall dohrni asks. ¡°I could ask you the same, H?ki,¡± Remus says with apparent cheer. ¡°Last I heard, you were on defence standby in Boreen. Did the Order give you leave?¡± Before H?ki can respond, Remus addresses the other two with a dip of his head that almost looks like a bow. ¡°Imiha, Cairin, a pleasure.¡± The khirig responds with a nod, but the short dohrni looks annoyed. ¡°I see you¡¯ve already made friends with the locals.¡± H?ki glances behind us where I can feel the merminea lingering. So he can see them even while they¡¯re hiding? ¡°That¡¯s so very like you, Remus.¡± He laughs, his eyes snapping over the rest of my team before returning to Remus. ¡°I don¡¯t know why you bother.¡± ¡°Yes, you know me well. I¡¯m an appreciator of unique cultures, and that¡¯s why I¡¯ve come here, to preserve our own.¡± Remus words sharpen as he finishes. The smaller dohrni huffs and crosses a pair of tentacles. ¡°Have you come to take us back? I¡¯m sorry you had to come so far, but we have no plans to return.¡± ¡°What is so important for you to leave the nations defenceless? Why come all this way?¡± H?ki chuckles. ¡°Defenceless? Hardly. The Order has more Beiths waiting around than ever before and all we do is get called for creatures the average Luis team could manage. A few of us leaving for a year or two won¡¯t hurt when we haven¡¯t been needed for five decades. It¡¯ll be good for the growth of the Luis teams to deal with some greater challenges.¡± ¡°These lands are incredible hunting grounds,¡± the khirig speaks up. ¡°We don¡¯t need to prepare anywhere near as much as the Mid Elevation to grow the same amount. Leave us here for a while and we¡¯ll come back stronger than ever.¡± ¡°Oh? That sounds great. I¡¯m sure that abandoning your posts is worth the extra growth.¡± Remus¡¯ tone sounds jovial, but I can tell he¡¯s pissed. ¡°Did you know that these locals have flooded down the path you opened and are ready to invade?¡± ¡°What?¡± the small dohrni stands shocked, but the other two seem unfazed. ¡°Hey, we weren¡¯t the ones to open the way. We arrived months after the first Beith.¡± Remus sighs. ¡°Regardless, I need your help to stop them. We¡¯ve already met with some mermineae willing to help us, but it wou¡ª¡± ¡°No.¡± Remus is silent. Even the short dohrni turns to H?ki, incredulous. ¡°Forgive me, my hearing must be failing me. I thought you just refused.¡± Remus¡¯ voice is calm, but there¡¯s no mistaking the furious undertone. ¡°Why should I sacrifice my gains when there are plenty of others out here? Unlike you, I have no intent to let myself fall behind.¡± ¡°I can understand wanting more strength,¡± Remus says calmly. ¡°But you would abandon your oath to protect the people?¡± ¡°What are they gonna do? The Order¡¯s lapdogs weren¡¯t invited, so by the time we return, they won¡¯t be able to do shit. Besides, that oath is only for public opinion. The Order only ever cares about the deepest pockets.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Remus turns to the other two. ¡°And you both will make the same mistake?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The khirig nods with a bored expression. ¡°How could you?¡± The small dohrni turns on H?ki. ¡°There¡¯s a limit to how thoughtless you can be,¡± she says and storms over to Remus¡¯ side. ¡°Thank you, Imiha.¡± ¡°Shut it,¡± she snaps at Remus. ¡°What are you doing?¡± My body goes rigid at his words. The Beith mercenary¡¯s presence floods the area as his eyes narrow. I grit my teeth and push down the instinctual fear that rises within me. The dohrni¡¯s power floods the air the same way the arachnid monstrosity¡¯s growl would. I feel Jav flinch, and Gr¨ªmr lowers his chest to the ground while flaring his wings. Bunny unsheathes her weapons but Remus remains still, undaunted by the intimidating aura billowing off H?ki. Only barely can I hold myself back from attacking. My flames churn within, ready to strike. I shouldn¡¯t attack until Remus acts. ¡°You are not welcome to leave.¡± Power laces H?ki¡¯s voice, directed at Imiha. An intricate pattern illuminates along her skin, far more complex than anything I¡¯ve seen before. H?ki¡¯s presence recedes, only to be replaced with another just as intense. ¡°Try me.¡± Chapter 103: Imiha ¡°You¡¯re going to leave us after all we¡¯ve done for you?¡± H?ki sneers. ¡°We¡¯ve given you priority on all hunts for years and now you¡¯re just going to leave? We had a deal.¡± ¡°Our deal never incorporated leaving my people defenceless. I¡¯m not about to abandon them.¡± H?ki lets out a short sharp laugh. ¡°Your people already abandoned you. They didn¡¯t care when they cast you out, so why do you?¡± A rush of amber light spreads through Imiha¡¯s markings and a swarm of stone spikes rise out of the ground, surrounding the two opposing Beiths. I¡¯m reminded of the dahu¡¯s abilities, but these spikes are thinner. The spikes surround the two but don¡¯t attack. While I watch, the recognisable silvery-grey of iron seeps out of the rock and coats each spike. ¡°You know not what you speak!¡± The glowing amber light swirls around her body. ¡°They were fooled by Listis. He killed mother, I¡¯m sure of it!¡± H?ki uncurls the limb holding his war-hammers and holds them out to his sides. His own single-layered markings come to life in a deep purple glow, lighting a spiralling pattern down the limbs toward the weapons. Nothing obvious changes about the hammers, but I don¡¯t doubt it¡¯ll be dangerous. ¡°I don¡¯t care what you think happened back in Meja. We have a deal and you have a duty to fulfil your end.¡± ¡°The only duty I have is to my people. I¡¯ll finish the deal once I know they¡¯re safe.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not falling behind again.¡± Before I realise what¡¯s happening, I¡¯m stumbling back from the sudden wave of his presence. It explodes over Imiha¡¯s and hits me almost like a physical wall. An unnatural panic runs through my body, only suppressed because of my familiarity with the feeling. H?ki¡¯s hammer shatters through a wall of stone in front of Imiha. I hadn¡¯t seen him move, nor the rock that rose from the ground to block his attack. Despite his hammer moving at incredible speeds into the stone, only a few of the shrapnel shards come our way. Most of the stone flies toward where he came from. The khirig behind him almost lazily dodges the speeding projectiles. H?ki must have come in at an intense speed, but something strange happens. For a brief second, he hangs suspended in the air before he falls backward. He tumbles through the air, accelerating until he is thrown back as fast as he came in. H?ki slams his hammers into the ground, halting his momentum immediately. The surrounding spikes all angle toward him and shoot out of the ground. Each does not differ from a heavy iron spear. H?ki jumps to avoid the flying javelins, but I watch each of them slow in mid-air before accelerating toward him, where he has nowhere to dodge. I thought it was supposed to be impossible for mages to control their element when they weren¡¯t connected to it. So how is this possible? Is it the double layered markings? A slight disturbance in the air is my only hint that something odd is happening. Imiha sends many more stone spears up into the air around H?ki, but instead of trying to pierce the dohrni immediately, they spin around him. The longer they move through the air, the faster they become. I can¡¯t see any individual projectile any more, only the blurry haze where hundreds of them pass. H?ki isn¡¯t falling. I take far too long to realise, but he¡¯s suspended in the air. He spins around, fending off the many spears shooting at him while the ring continues to grow. The same odd disturbance holds both him and the javelins aloft. I¡¯m prepared to ignite the dohrni, as I¡¯m sure both Gr¨ªmr and Bunny are tensed to jump forward, but Remus signals us to hold back. Ivory and amber markings illuminate across Imiha¡¯s body and I almost miss the sudden pattern that lights up beneath the others. All the stones spinning at an unbelievable speed immediately snap toward the centre, toward H?ki. His own markings flare. H?ki blurs, moving too fast for me to follow, but the stone projectiles that miss fly off to the horizons in every direction. Each javelin is out of sight before they can crash to the earth. Somehow, H?ki is unharmed. He stands on the earth below where he was suspended and glowers at Imiha. She takes a step back, apparently unnerved that he¡¯s without a scratch. He lifts his hammers, ready to fly forward in an attack, but Cairin appears at his side and whispers something in his ear. I don¡¯t know what she says, but it stops him from attacking. His glare switches from Imiha to Cairin, but relaxes his stance. H?ki tsks. ¡°Fine. Do what you will, but I expect you back in six months. That should be more than generous to wipe out those uncivilised creatures. Not a day late. I don¡¯t think you¡¯d like the consequences if I have to come looking.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Imiha says, the glow receding from her markings. H?ki huffs and returns his glare to Cairin before walking away. His own markings continue their deep purple glow as he storms off. Cairin doesn¡¯t follow immediately. She smirks at Imiha. ¡°Like mother, like daughter. No wonder the Meja matriarchy doesn¡¯t want to be a matriarchy.¡± Amber markings light up along Imiha once more and stone spears pierce the ground around Cairin, ready to pincushion her. Before any of us can react, the khirig appears in front of Imiha, too fast for the stone spikes to touch. She slams the flat of her blade antlers into Imiha and sends her crashing along the ground.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Don¡¯t forget you only reached where you are because of our pity. Without us, you¡¯d still be a powerless child with aspirations greater than you deserve.¡± Cairin looks down on Imiha with a calm expression. ¡°It still shocks me you think you have a chance, princess,¡± she sneers. A flash of her markings and the khirig is besides H?ki, walking away without a glance back. Imiha stands with many shallow cuts and a large bruise across her head bleeding through the tattoos. She watches the two other Beith mercenaries moving away with fury in her eyes, but doesn¡¯t give chase. A marking with a dark green hue illuminates across her body and before my eyes, the cuts close and the purple bruise returns to unblemished skin. I¡¯ve never seen mage healing before, but this must be it. Remus¡¯ eyes widen at the sight, so it must be an impressive feat. ¡°Thank you, Imiha,¡± Remus says only for her to turn her glare to him. ¡°I¡¯m not doing this for you,¡± she snaps and walks past him to Bunny. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet the daughter of the former Grand Champion of the Vanguard. I hope your father¡¯s recovery is coming along well?¡± her tone is completely different talking to Bunny. What did Remus do to gain her ire? Bunny bows her head. ¡°Unfortunately not. The last I saw him, there was no improvement.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s too bad.¡± She glances over Bunny¡¯s shoulder to the rest of us. ¡°You have quite the interesting team here,¡± she says, pointedly ignoring Remus. ¡°A wingless volan, an unadjusted portian, and¡­ an albanic child?¡± Imiha steps past Bunny and approaches me. She is strong, so I don¡¯t want to anger her, but my flames churn beneath the surface in case she tries anything. We need her help, so I don¡¯t step away even as she gets close to my face. ¡°Did you bring your niece with you? Isn¡¯t that rather reckless? This isn¡¯t a playground, you know.¡± She reaches a tentacle and brushes my cheek. Her eyes widen at the touch. ¡°Oh! No wonder. She has so much energy for one her age. She¡¯s no albanic, she¡¯s an ¨¢infean.¡± I open my mouth to correct her, but she pushes the tip of her limb over my lips to stop me. ¡°No, no. I haven¡¯t had a puzzle like this in ages. Let me have this,¡± she says and can¡¯t do anything but stare at her, perplexed. ¡°You¡¯re not an ¨¢infean either, your hyle is similar, but it¡¯s not the same. Oh! You¡¯re an ¨¢ed, right?¡± I hesitantly nod to her and she lets out a cheer, apparently forgetting her anger at Remus and the two Beiths. She wraps her tentacles around me and pulls me into a hug. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s so great to meet you. For such an interesting race, it¡¯s a shame how isolated you keep yourselves. And for such a cute kid to be the first ¨¢ed I meet.¡± She squeezes me tight and I struggle in her grasp. Jav has already abandoned me to this torture. I cast a pleading gaze to Remus, Bunny, and Gr¨ªmr, but the best I get is a look of pity from Bunny. Remus looks amused, and I still don¡¯t know how to parse the expressions of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s bird body. It is uncomfortable, but I¡¯m glad I don¡¯t panic anymore. ¡°Can you let me go?¡± I ask as calmly as I can. ¡°Oh sorry. It¡¯s been such a long time since I¡¯ve seen a child, I couldn¡¯t help myself. My teacher¡¯s enthusiasm for ¨¢ed and ¨¢infean has rubbed off on me,¡± she says with grinning eyes, but as she looks at me, her smile withers into a grimace. ¡°I heard it¡¯s rare, but some ¨¢infean can change their shape. You wouldn¡¯t happen to just be pretending to be a kid, right?¡± She¡¯s loosened her grip enough that I can break out and put a few paces between us. I hear a laugh from Remus, but I don¡¯t get it. ¡°Why would anyone pretend to be young?¡± ¡°To make people underestimate them,¡± she says almost too quickly, her eyes smiling as if her expression never changed. ¡°Does that work?¡± I ask. ¡°Not really. Those on an equal standing with someone who can morph aren¡¯t likely to care about appearances.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about Solvei. While she can morph, I¡¯m quite certain she¡¯s the age she says she is.¡± The sour look returns to her face as she turns to Remus. ¡°Don¡¯t think I¡¯ve forgotten how you walked away. I¡¯ll work with you to stop the invasion of Meja, but don¡¯t try that buddy-buddy act with me.¡± Remus sighs. ¡°There was a vote. The people decided what they wanted.¡± ¡°The vote was sabotaged from the start. Listis would never have succeeded if the Mercenary Order didn¡¯t take his side.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been ten years. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s time to accept that the people wanted something more than the old monarchy?¡± ¡°If that were all, then I would. But that bastard killed my mother. I can¡¯t leave Meja in his bloody hands.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not worry about that for now,¡± Bunny interrupts. ¡°Do you know where any of the other Beith teams are?¡± ¡°No. We came across one a while back, but these plains are immense. I haven¡¯t the faintest where they might be,¡± Imiha says. ¡°That¡¯s not ideal. We need to close off the path soon or the pact nations will be overwhelmed.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not all bad just yet,¡± Remus says. ¡°We have at least a month to search before we need to make our move. But before we get ahead of ourselves, we should introduce you to the mermineae we¡¯ll be working with, Imiha.¡± ¡°That¡¯s ¡®your highness¡¯ to you or at the very least address me as princess Imiha.¡± ¡°Oh come now, don¡¯t be so stiff,¡± Remus complains. Imiha wraps a limb around my shoulders again. I hadn¡¯t been paying attention to her creeping close to me. ¡°Only you. The rest of your team can call me by my name. Only you I want addressing me properly.¡± ¡°It¡¯s hardly proper, you¡¯re not a princess anymore,¡± Remus says, but at her intense glare, he quickly backtracks. ¡°Of course, that¡¯ll be no issue, Princess.¡± Remus waves for the mermineae to come, but they don¡¯t approach immediately. They creep toward us, remaining wary and hidden. ¡°I¡¯m curious, Princess Imiha. How did you convince the Lu-lum family to teach you?¡± Remus asks. ¡°That¡¯s private.¡± She eyes him up and down before laughing. ¡°Oh, I see why you¡¯re asking,¡± she says, but doesn¡¯t move. Remus lets out a disappointed sigh. ¡°Yeah, I thought that might be too much to hope.¡± His eyes linger on the stump of a limb. Aana and Muuro come out of hiding. The two older mermineae remain a distance away. ¡°Everything is settled now, yes? No more fighting?¡± Aana asks, keeping her distance from Imiha. That show of power must have concerned her. ¡°Yes, everything is sorted. This is Imi¡­ Princess Imiha.¡± Remus corrects himself at the slight presence she lets out. ¡°She¡¯ll be helping us out for the next while.¡± ¡°Uh, just her?¡± Aana asks. ¡°Yes, just me.¡± Imiha approaches Aana, seeming to tower over the mermineae despite not being all that much taller. ¡°Am I not good enough for you?¡± she asks while leaking her presence. ¡°N-no, you¡¯re good,¡± she squeaks. ¡°The other two that were with you are gone, where?¡± Muuro steps forward, expressing far more confidence in Imiha¡¯s presence. ¡°They¡¯ve gone to hunt. They won¡¯t be helping.¡± ¡°Do you know the location of any others?¡± Remus asks. ¡°Yes, there are two within a month¡¯s travel, but we had been hoping this one would be enough.¡± Muuro glances at Imiha. ¡°Going after the other outsiders would be cutting it rather close. Most should reach the path in just under two months.¡± ¡°Unless your plan doesn¡¯t involve us fighting at all, I think it¡¯s best we go in as prepared as possible.¡± Muuro glances between the two dohrni before looking over his shoulder where I can still feel the elderly mermineae. ¡°Let us talk it over,¡± he says and disappears back into the fields behind us. Now that everyone¡¯s attention is on the fleeing mermineae, I back away from the dohrni that seems far too comfortable grabbing me. ¡°Hey, where are you going? I¡¯ve never worked with an ¨¢ed, I have some experiments I want to try.¡± Damn, she¡¯s just like Leal. What¡¯s with mages¡¯ obsession over ¨¢ed? Chapter 104: Heavy-Handed Diplomacy ¡°Come on, please? It¡¯s not like it hurts you.¡± Imiha follows me as I run off. ¡°No!¡± why doesn¡¯t she just leave me alone? She¡¯s only been with us for half an hour, but I¡¯m already sick of her attention. It was fine to start off with, being nothing more than the curiosity Leal had with what I could do. Very quickly, that harmless curiosity has grown to a dangerous fascination. She chases me now with a knife she grew from the ground, intent to cut me open and watch the transition of my physical flames into incorporeal. It might be true that it won¡¯t hurt, but I¡¯m not letting her cut me up simply because she wants to. The mermineae are still discussing between themselves what to do. I don¡¯t know what the issue is. If they just tell us how to find the other Beith mercs, we could fly there and be back far quicker than it would take them to lead us. I know what their game is. They don¡¯t want us to become self-sufficient. They want our help, but they also don¡¯t want to give us too much freedom. My biggest concern at the moment is that they might plan to have us killed during the tunnel entrance offensive. Why else would they be so hesitant to let us find more of our strong ¡®friends¡¯? If I was to guess, they want us to have the strength to close the tunnel, but not enough to fight against their own Forvaal. Gaining too many of the Beith mercs to our side might be a concern for them. ¡°Please?¡± Imiha pleads. ¡°It¡¯s incredibly rare for a mage to risk taking fire markings, so we never get to research it in great depth. You don¡¯t understand how great this opportunity is.¡± ¡°No!¡± I dodge her grasping tentacles. ¡°And what do you mean risky? I¡¯ve seen plenty of inscriptions using fire.¡± ¡°Inscriptions and markings are two completely separate sciences. They may be based on the same principals, but their canvases require immensely different considerations.¡± Thankfully, she slows to a halt as she goes into her explanation. I consider running off while she¡¯s distracted, but there¡¯s no way she¡¯ll let me get off that easily. Unlike Bunny, Imiha never seems to lose track of her surroundings when talking about her interest. ¡°Fire and more recently, lightning, are used for inscriptions because of their efficiency. Not only do their hyle forms experience less loss in physical mediums, but they are also far easier to create without a living being. Both elements naturally occur in a state closer to their hyle forms than other types, which makes the conversion easier.¡± Amber markings light up across her body and a stone chair rises beneath her. Something presses against the back of my legs and trips me into a chair of my own. ¡°These elements also exhibit far more of their natural characteristics while in their hyle form than other elements. We aren¡¯t sure what the reason for this is exactly ¡ª I could go on all day with theories ¡ª but it makes them rather volatile when passing through living bodies. Stone and water, in comparison, don¡¯t take on physical properties in their hyle form, so they flow through skin with more ease than our own blood. That¡¯s why you¡¯ll find them to be the most common.¡± ¡°What about the other two elements you used? One healed you, but I¡¯m not sure what the other was. What are they?¡± If she¡¯s being open, I might as well find out where her strengths lay. ¡°Oh, that was nature¡­ or life¡­ or growth. Nobody can really agree on what it is. I was taught how to use a couple of nature markings, but even those who spend their whole lives researching it don¡¯t truly understand it. The other is a secret.¡± She smiles and her body glows amber again. The chair I¡¯m sitting in moves toward her and before I can jump out, she has me in her grasp again. ¡°Now I don¡¯t want to force you, but I really want to see how your body reacts.¡± She waves the dagger in front of my face. ¡°So tell me what you want in exchange and I¡¯ll do my best.¡± I¡¯m not getting out of this, am I? A quick glance around reveals each of my teammates pretending to not be paying attention. Seriously, Gr¨ªmr, couldn¡¯t you think of a better way to look busy than drawing circles in the dirt? After how pissed Imiha has been with him, I can understand why Remus is keeping his distance. But why won¡¯t anyone else take her attention? I glance at the knife in front of me. The iron blade crafted entirely from the earth. It¡¯s not that being cut by it would be all too bad, I¡¯d hardly feel it after all. If I let her get away with doing so, she is going to raise the stakes for the next thing she wants. Where will it end? With her wanting to see how well I can swim? No thanks. But¡­ if I can get something out of it, then just this once would be fine. ¡°Can you make me a spear?¡± I point to the knife in her hand. ¡°Oh? Sure.¡± A flare of her markings and an iron spear rises from the ground. ¡°I¡¯ll make you a better one once we¡¯re in an area with better metals than iron. Unfortunately, I haven¡¯t figured the marking to create steel yet, so it¡¯ll have to do.¡± I lift the spear and find its weight far too great. I try to push my strength, but it still feels too unwieldy.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Could you make it lighter?¡± She touches the spear and a good amount of iron falls out of one end. It is much better now; far heavier than the wooden shaft spear I had before, but still not so heavy as to slow me down. From the corner of my eye, I swear a disappointed expression passes over Bunny¡¯s face, but as I turn toward her, she¡¯s as impassive as ever. ¡°Well? It¡¯s my turn.¡± Imiha waves the knife in front of me, and I snatch it from her hand. If I¡¯m going to get cut, I¡¯ll do it myself. I bring up my arm to where the dohrni could see, pull my sleeve back, and slam the knife through it. My amputated arm reverts to flames, as does the stub. Tongues of fire reconnect the separated parts of my arm as soon as the blade has passed through. Hardly a second passes before my arm is whole again, and only a couple more before my flames are hidden. Imiha watches on with curiosity. Her gaze is intense, and I feel a sudden regret about my choice. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have given this to her. She turns away from my arm and looks me in the eye. ¡°That doesn¡¯t hurt?¡± I shake my head, but that just seems to excite her further. She looks about ready to pile on more requests when I feel the Mermineae finally return to us. This time, it looks like their elders have joined. ¡°We have decided to lead you to the closest known outsider. Any more would mean leaving the offensive far too late,¡± Taanoraa says as he reveals himself. ¡°Excellent! We appreciate your help.¡± Remus is quick to take the reins. I can see why he did; Imiha seems ready to leap in his stead. After the aggression she has shown, I can¡¯t imagine it remaining civil should she speak. I¡¯m having enough trouble myself holding back criticisms. ¡°¡­But if you simply told us where to go, we could accrue enough people to be sure the path can be closed. Not just temporarily, but for good. With flight and our new friend, we can make that distance in a fraction of the time.¡± That is a nice way to say we¡¯d do better without them. I mean, I agree completely, but there¡¯s no chance they¡¯ll accept. ¡°No. that will not do. You will not find your way with directions alone,¡± Taanoraa growls. I expected it, but it¡¯s still annoying to hear them deny us. You could almost pin them as our enemies rather than allies, considering how much they are trying to limit us. I notice Remus¡¯ subtle warning too late. Imiha steps past me, striding toward the elderly mermineae with a near unnoticeable application of her presence. She is expressionless. Neither anger nor curiosity mar her features as she stands tall. Aana and Muuro take a step back and bow their heads, but the two cloudy eyed elders stand their ground. After leaving them to stoke in her presence for an extended time, she finally speaks. ¡°You know, it has been a while since I¡¯ve had to deal with these games. I am always amused by the ploys of the weak and will often humour them, but right now, I am not in the mood. Do not think I am unable to find our targets on my own. Out of respect for this alliance we have, I shall let you show your worth.¡± She pauses a moment, looking each mermineae in the eye. ¡°Tell us what you know and I¡¯ll consider you comrades.¡± She turns and walks back to my side before twisting her eyes back to them, unleashing the full force of her presence. ¡°Do remember: if you are not comrades, you are enemies.¡± Her suffocating presence disappears in an instant, like it was never there. I¡¯ve really got to learn how to do that. The two older mermineae growl at each other. They speak far too quiet to hear, but it is clear they are frustrated. Imiha stands tall and proud, as if she already knows the outcome. Sure enough, Taanoraa speaks up, disgruntled. ¡°So be it, we shall tell you, but you must take one of our own. Aana, join them.¡± ¡°What?¡± Aana squeaks. ¡°But, Forvaal¡­¡± ¡°Do what is required of you, jill.¡± ¡°¡­Okay.¡± With a defeated look, she hesitantly approaches us. The other Forvaal only wait around long enough to tell us where they have tracked the other Beith mercenaries. As soon as they are done, they run off, leaving a nervous Aana to watch as they leave. They still only tell us of the location of two more. If they¡¯ve been monitoring three groups, then there¡¯s no reason to believe they don¡¯t know where more are. I guess this is their last attempt to limit our strength. Fortunately, Imiha has a way to find more without the mermineae. ¡°How are you able to track the other mercenaries?¡± I ask Imiha out of curiosity. Maybe we¡¯ll be able to find more that will help us in the time before we return. She gives me an eye smile and leans down to whisper. ¡°That was a bluff.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± I say dumbly. It makes sense, though. I didn¡¯t even consider her to be lying about something like that with how strong she seemed, and the mermineae have shown little diversification in their abilities, so it would be easy for them to make the same mistake. ¡°They had little choice but to do as I say, even if they saw through it. The only asset they had was those locations, but they stretched that advantage more than they should have. So I gave them an ultimatum; either let it go, or become our enemies. Considering their position, they can¡¯t afford to risk the latter. Actually, this is something Remus should have done himself.¡± Imiha spins her eyes away from me and raises her voice. ¡°Dotard, why didn¡¯t you push them from the start? Now is hardly the time to be obsequious to those primitives.¡± Aana flinches. Whether because of the intensity of Imiha¡¯s tone or the insult to her race, I don¡¯t know. Remus gives out an exaggerated sigh. ¡°What ever happened to that polite young girl you used to be?¡± upon seeing her unamused expression, he cuts the jokes. ¡°We are in their land, completely cut off from backup and resources we would have back home. The last thing I wanted to do was strain our relations with the only ones we have to help us. I think your threat was hasty.¡± ¡°Letting them step all over you was hardly a better alternative. Besides, I¡¯ve dealt with their type; they never had any intention of retaining diplomacy. They see us as nothing but tools at their disposal,¡± she says and turns her gaze to the only mermineae left. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right?¡± Aana squeaks at the attention but wriggles out an answer. ¡°I couldn¡¯t hope to understand what the High Clergy Forvaal are thinking.¡± ¡°Sure, sure. Pleading ignorance is fine, just as long as you understand that those superiors of yours have left you with us as a sacrifice. They don¡¯t expect you to survive. If they did, one of your superiors would have come themselves.¡± Aana lowers her head, neither agreeing nor protesting. She¡¯s probably fretting over her new role as is. Imiha¡¯s words wouldn¡¯t do anything to help that. Not wasting the daylight we have, we climb Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back and take to the air. Even as big as his body is, there¡¯s not much room for any more people. Hopefully, the next Beiths we find have their own way to fly. Imiha¡¯s markings light up once more. Ivory this time. Suddenly, even without beating his wings, Gr¨ªmr accelerates at an alarming rate. We reach his top speed and surpass it in only a few seconds. I look up at Imiha, who¡¯s sat uncomfortably close to me. She returns my gaze with a wink. I guess we¡¯ll be travelling far faster than expected. Chapter 105: New Weapons Our first target was last seen to the west, near what was described as a dead forest. The information given by the Forvaal clergy is dated. We¡¯d be lucky if it¡¯s within two months old. The mermineae who¡¯d followed the Beith mercs would have had to run near a month to reach the Forvaal we¡¯ve associated. That¡¯s assuming the ones who collected the information didn¡¯t go somewhere else to share, as is more likely. It has taken us two weeks of flight to make the distance, so it¡¯s hard to say if the Beith mercs will be anywhere near. Considering the delay of information, we¡¯d be lucky if they are still within a week¡¯s travel. The trip had been uneventful. Birds of prey mostly left us alone, even when we found ourselves close enough to see them. Those that didn¡¯t, quickly dropped out of the sky from a rain of stone spikes. The amber glow of Imiha¡¯s markings flowing out the tips of her tentacles and forming rock before her. It was the same with those Henosis water mages. Hyle allows them to store their elements in their bodies without repercussion. Anyway, it turns out that Imiha has access to a ritual version with far greater efficiency than what I learnt, so I¡¯ve essentially lost my job. She can even create the inscription with her rock, which is something I remember Remus saying most couldn¡¯t do. Was he just giving me false compliments, or is Imiha just one of those rare existences? Well, she¡¯s a Beith mercenary for a reason, so I¡¯ll assume it¡¯s the latter. I¡¯m not too concerned about not being the one to do it any longer. Maybe if she¡¯d joined us before we¡¯d fallen into the Alps, I¡¯d have felt bad; unneeded or unwanted. But now? My motivations are different. I know I can hold my weight in a fight beside them. I don¡¯t think I would care if they didn¡¯t want me either, I¡¯d just accept it and move on. Gr¨ªmr lowers us over what can only be the mentioned dead forest. The name is apt. Thousands of stumps are all that remain of what must have once been an impressive forest. Most of the stumps look like they¡¯re wider than I am tall, but none rise much higher than the same height. We land amongst the dead forest and, despite the name, there is plenty of life. From the base of each stump, a ring of saplings grows, blooming wide foliage that I¡¯d mistaken for dried grass from the air. While I can¡¯t see any sign of small wildlife, there are plenty of bugs flying and crawling around. On closer inspection, even the thick stumps themselves are alive. The points where the trunks had fallen from have grown over and healed. I shake my head. We¡¯re not here to look at the environment, no matter how curious I might be. ¡°So, where were these friends of ours last seen?¡± Remus asks. ¡°It should be somewhere nearby. They said on the eastern border of the dead forest.¡± ¡°And how big is this forest?¡± I ask. ¡°Um, I¡¯m not sure. It usually takes about two weeks of running to go from one side to the other. I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯ll take to fly.¡± I groan a little inside. Many of those around me obviously feeling the same annoyance. We¡¯re already so late, and we have such a large search area. How are we supposed to find them without some immense luck? ¡°We rarely go near the northern side either, as a centzon dwelling is near there,¡± Aana rambles. ¡°Centzon?¡± Imiha asks. ¡°Huh? Oh. They are horrible creatures. Unlike most dangers of the Euroclydon Hunting Grounds, they don¡¯t kill. No, what they do is far worse. If they catch you, they cut the fur off your back, skinning you alive before leaving. If blood loss doesn¡¯t kill you, it won¡¯t be long before the birds do.¡± Aana involuntarily shivers. Ugh. That sounds horrible. I¡¯ve seen how much they rely on their camouflage capabilities. If they lose that, they have no chance out on these plains. Imiha glances to the north as if she¡¯d be able to see them and hums in consideration. ¡°What was your plan to find them once we arrived?¡± Remus asks. ¡°I couldn¡¯t imagine attempting a blind search two weeks later than this and returning with any haste.¡± ¡°In that case, we would have been able to remain in contact with their tails. Flying as we have has made that impossible,¡± Aana says. ¡°If we can find any of my kind in the area, they should direct us toward them.¡± Aana has become more comfortable with us over the past weeks. We placated her initial fear after doing nothing to harm her. Though she¡¯s still terrified of Imiha, especially when her temper is tested. ¡°Then it looks like we better split up. I¡¯ll take our little merminea here and the rest of you will go for a flight.¡± I¡¯m no longer the only one who can detect the mermineae. Imiha can sense them through the earth, which means our search will be much easier. Well, it is still just the two of us in this vast expanse, so we have to be lucky to come across one by chance. ¡°Before you leave, Imiha.¡± Bunny steps forward. ¡°Could you help me with something first?¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Of course, Tetsu. What is it?¡± I should have known it would be about weapons. Bunny plans to make weapons. She has Imiha pull up a large amount of rock, which soon has iron seeping to the top. Bunny collects it and sorts the iron next to various other minerals, including a type of coal you would usually only find in the deepest mines. If only the ¨¢ed back in the wasteland knew how to do what Imiha can do, we¡¯d never go hungry. As Imiha forms odd shaped tools for Bunny, I ask her about it. ¡°Do you think it would be possible for me to learn to raise a meal out of the ground like this?¡± Imiha shakes her head as she works. ¡°No, that¡¯s impossible, as far as I¡¯m aware. For two reasons: first, the higher your binding with a particular element, the more difficult it is to use another. Both you ¨¢ed and ¨¢infean have surpassed the threshold for your bodies to exhibit aspects of your respective element. The second reason is far more simple; the marking ink cannot survive in your body.¡± Ah, damn. That would have been convenient if it was possible. ¡°Solvei, come here.¡± Bunny calls me. She places much of the iron in a large, thick pot. ¡°Could you melt what¡¯s inside without melting the container? If we had the equipment from back home, we could make better quality steel, but this will have to do. Also, if it¡¯s possible, try to cycle the flow of air into the mix.¡± I place my hands on the rim of the pot and push my flames into the mixture. Immediately, I realise why she specified not to melt the pot. It¡¯s well within my abilities to turn it to sludge along with the iron if I¡¯m not careful. As my fire licks over the metal, I notice she¡¯s put in a small amount of coal and limestone alongside the iron. The iron itself, like the spear Imiha made, is¡­ unclean, for a lack of better term. The mixture quickly melts from my heat, and I have to hold myself back from consuming it. I¡¯ve been spoiled for choice in snacks lately. This small amount of iron is not something I need. My flames cup at the air and try to push them into the pot, but I just burn through the air instead. How am I supposed to mix air in? I don¡¯t have any better idea, so I lean over and push my arm into the molten metal, careful to keep physical. The thick liquid doesn¡¯t flow easily, but I can fold it over itself, trapping pockets of air inside. It¡¯s probably not at all effective, but it¡¯s the best idea I have, as Bunny proposes nothing better. It¡¯s only my arm submerged, but it reminds me of the comfort of the magma I¡¯d experienced in the Void Fog. One day, I want to make a pool of molten rock. I can¡¯t imagine something more relaxing. Imiha, crouched at my side, watches with interest. ¡°You know, it¡¯s really strange to see a kid throw their hands into such heat.¡± I look at her oddly. ¡°What¡¯s strange about it? I¡¯m sure you could do the same without issue.¡± ¡°Well, I could, but it¡¯s not at all comfortable. No matter how much you enhance your body, the conditions it favours never changes.¡± One of her tentacles joins my arm in mixing before she pulls it out and shakes it. ¡°What¡¯s hot is still hot. I can push through it, but my body still screams at me, even if there is no damage.¡± ¡°Wait, so you feel pain from this?¡± I¡¯ve not cared about engulfing my team in flames because they don¡¯t get hurt, but what if they¡¯ve been pushing through agony this entire time? ¡°Hmm, no. It¡¯s no longer painful in the normal sense. More like our nerves think they should be in pain, so they let us know.¡± The ivory markings light up along her body and a thin stream of air pushes down on the molten metal, making it spin even without effort from me. ¡°There, that should mix in air far better than your labour.¡± ¡°What is that?¡± I ask, pulling my arm out of the spinning liquid. It looks like she¡¯s controlling the air, but the effect seems different from what the enantiorn eagle or the general¡¯s sword demonstrated. She could throw heavy stone with those ivory markings, so is the wind just that strong? Still, it doesn¡¯t have that same clear distortion in the air that I¡¯d seen from the other two. ¡°I told you. It¡¯s a secret.¡± She stops the stream of air and the swirling liquid slows. A lot of iron falls to the bottom of the pot. It feels a lot cleaner than when we started. Above the iron is a layer of mixed materials. ¡°Hey, Bunny?¡± I call. ¡°It¡¯s only the iron you want, right?¡± ¡°Yes. We¡¯ll pour out the slag before the next step,¡± she says. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± I burn at the top layer. It doesn¡¯t taste all too great as it¡¯s a lot of the stuff I¡¯d find in rocks rather than anything that would give much nutrition, but it¡¯s easy enough to remove it from the iron. ¡°Huh. That makes this easier.¡± She tosses a handful of powder into the iron and motions for Imiha to start her air gun once more. Once we let the iron stop spinning once more, I eat through another, thinner layer of slag. The process continues for quite a while. We pour the iron, now steel, into moulds, and I keep them warm while Bunny hammers them into shape. It takes a lot longer to make weapons than I thought it would, but we replace the weapons we¡¯ve lost, so it¡¯s worth it. She gives me a spear far heavier than the last she¡¯d made me, but like the one Imiha created, the heft should help me. I just need to get used to it. It¡¯s still not anywhere near the weight of the spear Bunny made for herself. Besides the large array of weapons for her own use, she also recreated the gauntlets Remus used to have and a pair of tiny knives that could only be for Jav. ¡°That was surely worth it, but we¡¯ve already wasted enough time,¡± Imiha says as she moves toward the merminea. ¡°I¡¯ll see you lot once I find our target.¡± Aana squeaks as Imiha wraps a limb around her and jumps away, accelerating through the air. I feel bad for her, but it¡¯s better her than me. ¡°For someone who still considers herself a princess, she doesn¡¯t act like it,¡± Remus says now that Imiha is far out of hearing range. ¡°She¡¯s changed a lot since I last saw her.¡± I climb up Gr¨ªmr after Bunny, but she lifts me up and holds me before her. I tilt my head back and look at her curiously. She looks away before our eyes can lock. ¡°Thanks for the spear, Bunny. This is much better than the one Imiha made,¡± I say. She nods, still not looking down at me, but the corners of her mouth rise ever so slightly. ¡°How do you even know her, Remus?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks as he slams a gust of wind into the earth below and takes to the skies. ¡°And why does she hate you?¡± ¡°Well, after the last queen became bedridden, the princess had her entire guard replaced. I was only meant to be a temporary part of her entourage, but once her mother passed, Imiha became inconsolable. Despite the idea of a reformation being desired by the populace for a good thirty years at that stage, she thought everything was a ploy. When she lost her position, she felt betrayed by everyone. It¡¯s worrying to see she still hasn¡¯t moved on, but at least she¡¯s no longer the mental wreck she was.¡± Remus¡¯ summary of past events puts everyone in a reticent mood. But there¡¯s one thing that¡¯s been concerning me since we met Imiha. ¡°I understand a little from the context,¡± I start. ¡°But what is a princess?¡± Everyone turns and stares at me. Even Jav, who¡¯s been mostly withheld; and Gr¨ªmr, who should look where he¡¯s flying, turn with stunned expressions. Remus is the first to speak. ¡°How have you gone so long without knowing?¡± Chapter 106: Euroclydon Okay, so Imiha is the child of the previous leader of the Meja Matriarchy. Turns out, in Meja, being the daughter of the previous ruler meant you would be the one to lead. Or, at least, that¡¯s how it used to be. The leader of ¨¢ed tribes were usually the oldest or strongest, but not always. Elder Cyrus was both, and everyone trusted his judgement. There were other tribes that the leader was neither, but the tribe trusted them enough to make decisions. Though, comparing the way our tribes considered leadership to any nation I¡¯ve been to would be hard. A leader in our tribe never had absolute power. They were simply the ones everyone listened to during high-intensity moments. When time was not of the essence, everyone¡¯s thoughts could be heard. The Chairman of New Vetus had no blood relation to the previous ones, as far as I¡¯m aware. I might be wrong. I never learnt much about how he came to power while I was there. Now that I think about it, I never really paid much attention to the structure of the nations I wandered through. Everything was so strange that I just accepted things as they were. But as we pass through the lands resided by the mermineae, I have to wonder if they have their own governing structure. They have no buildings of their own. Weapons and clothing seem like obscure concepts to them. They can make those horrible cloaks from sap and their own fur, so it¡¯s not like it is impossible for them, more like they choose not to. Are the Forvaal clergy their leaders with the god Kalma as the ruler on top? Or are they only a faction amongst the mermineae? Despite the clergy being immensely opposed to their escape from the Euroclydon¡¯s Hunting Grounds, the mermineae seem to have the coordination to organise so many of their race to move toward the Alps. The Forvaal we are working with have not mentioned any group besides themselves. But is it even possible for such a large number of people to unite spontaneously like that? The clergy simply call them traitors, never going into detail about our enemies more than that. Are they hiding the existence of another group from us? Why? I snap out of my thoughts as I feel the familiar thermal shape of a merminea below. They stand rock still, as the mermineae tend to when they feel threatened. ¡°There¡¯s one below,¡± I call and direct Gr¨ªmr down. The merminea remains frozen stiff as we land ten metres before it. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s landings have improved immensely. His talons no longer leaving gouges through the earth. It is only when Gr¨ªmr takes a few steps toward the merminea, that it bolts. The camouflage of its fur remains intact as it weaves through the old stumps. ¡°Wait, we only want to talk.¡± It seems that the sudden movement was enough for Remus to spot despite their camouflage. Gr¨ªmr takes to the air again and I point out where our fleeing target is. Bunny jumps off and tackles the merminea out of its sprint. Remus follows close behind. ¡°Stop squirming, we won¡¯t hurt you.¡± I don¡¯t know whether it was Remus¡¯ words, or just the merminea freezing in a panic, but they comply. Bunny loosens her grip, but doesn¡¯t let go. ¡°Now, we are looking for some ¡®outsiders¡¯. You wouldn¡¯t happen to know where they are, would you?¡± ¡°N-no.¡± The merminea¡¯s eyes dart between each of us surrounding him. ¡°You¡¯re the first I¡¯ve seen.¡± ¡°None of the other mermineae around here mentioned seeing anyone?¡± Bunny asks, her grip tightening. ¡°There was one a month ago, but they¡¯ve long since left.¡± ¡°Where did they go?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± The mermineae lets out a panicked yelp as Bunny squeezes him. ¡°I really don¡¯t, I swear on Kalma¡¯s fury.¡± Remus sighs and waves for Bunny to let him go. The merminea doesn¡¯t wait a moment and dashes out of sight. ¡°Whelp, I guess we need to keep looking,¡± Remus says and we climb up Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back once more. Before Gr¨ªmr can beat his wings, we spot Imiha speeding toward us, flying a metre above the stumps. Her ivory markings change pattern and she slows to a stop beside us. Aana tumbles out of her grasp and trips on her own feet. On all fours, she scampers around Gr¨ªmr, using him as cover. ¡°Oh, come on, it wasn¡¯t that bad,¡± Imiha says to the cowering merminea. ¡°Why did you have to attract them like that?¡± Aana shouts around the thick metal body. ¡°Why not? It¡¯s not like those overgrown birds could hurt me.¡± ¡°They¡¯d be able to hurt me!¡± ¡°Oh, nonsense. I¡¯d never let them through.¡± Imiha focuses her attention on us. ¡°Anyway, we¡¯ve found where our target has gone. There¡¯s a lake a little way south-west from here. Apparently, that¡¯s where they¡¯ve been the past few weeks.¡± ??? Damn, why did it have to be a lake? I would have taken the snow covered Alps over this. I know a lake is a large body of water. Every time I¡¯ve been near large bodies of water, things have never gone well. The first, with the titan, and then later when I was shipped across the sea as a captive of the Henosis army. Hopefully, the Beith mercs are only near it and we don¡¯t have to go too close.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. As I look over Gr¨ªmr¡¯s head, I can only barely see the lake at the edge of the horizon, so it should take at least fifteen minutes to reach it, even with the boost Imiha gives Gr¨ªmr¡¯s flight speed. The wind whips against my face, and it¡¯s only with the help of Bunny holding me steady I don¡¯t fly off. It might make it easier on me if I reverted to incorporeal¡­ but this is fine. ¡°Shit! Land! Now!¡± Imiha¡¯s hurried voice cuts through my thoughts. ¡°What?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks as we all look back at her. Imiha is not looking our way. Her eyes have spun around and watch directly behind us. It doesn¡¯t take long to notice what has her so alarmed. The impossibly large buzzard, Euroclydon, has spread its wings. Despite the distance, the creature still looks massive. Its brown and black feathered wings twist the light in a spectacular manner that is captivating to observe. Then, the wings beat. They don¡¯t make a sound, but the light twists around each wing. The image of the Titan disappears within a sphere of immensely distorted air. ¡°Land right now, you moron! We don¡¯t have time!¡± Imiha screams and before he has a chance to bring us down, she¡¯s already using that strange element of hers to rocket us into the ground. Gr¨ªmr slams headfirst into the earth and sends us all flying. I feel a pull around my chest and see Imiha has a tentacle around Jav and Bunny as well. We speed through the air, her ivory markings glowing with intensity, before we slam into a stump. ¡°Lay yourselves flat or hide behind a stump!¡± she yells to the other two. What is going on? Why is she so panicked? I try to lift my head to look at the Titan again, but Imiha holds me down. Frustration wells in me, and I¡¯m about to push out of her grasp when it hits. The bang is earth-shattering. My ears involuntarily drop out of corporeality as the rest of my body shakes. Intense wind, stronger than any I¡¯ve felt, slams into me. A visible barrier of wind rushes overhead, distorting light as it moves. Gr¨ªmr holds himself flat to the earth, doing as Imiha said. It isn¡¯t enough. His wings catch in the gust despite his best efforts to keep them bolted at his side and he¡¯s sent flying. His body slams into a stump, bending around it in a way that would be excruciating for anyone but Gr¨ªmr. The stump stops him from flying off, but I note how many of the nearby stumps seem to edge upward together. A cloud of dirt and debris blow overhead, blocking light and raining loose rock down on us. Day turns to night in moments, lacking even moonlight to see. I light up our surroundings, but it doesn¡¯t help the haze flying past in the wind. We huddle together in the cover of the stump. Both Remus and Aana have found their own. Soon, the wind eases and my hearing returns. Chunks of stone, dirt and wood splinters rain down from above. A cloud of dust lingers in the sky, but without the intense wind, we can finally relax. What in Eldest Ember¡¯s name was that? We¡¯d have to be hundreds of leagues away from the Titan at the very least. Sure, the wind was strong, but it couldn¡¯t possibly cross such distances so quickly, right? Gusts thread through the tree-stumps around us, creating a low humming whistle, but no longer is it strong enough to be near as dangerous. Gr¨ªmr, no longer pinned, rolls to the earth and remains motionless. His spine must have snapped on impact. There¡¯s no other way his body could have bent like that. Hopefully, he¡¯ll be able to fix himself up without issue. The saplings that previously grew from the base of the stumps have all ripped clean off and shred in the wind. The foliage is no more. Imiha¡¯s limb still wraps around me tightly, but considering the circumstances, I¡¯m not too worried. It¡¯s strange to think about, but not long ago, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to deal with her hold, even under the threat of a Titan attack. It¡¯s nice to know I have more freedom of thought than before. A sudden, terrible migraine rips through my mind. I hold my head and the pain recedes. What was that? Did the Titan cause that somehow? I look around, but nobody else seems in pain. Imiha peeks over the trunk toward where the Titan was resting. It¡¯s impossible to see through the cloud of dust, but she is intent on not moving her eyes. The winds continue to slow as the dust storm falls around us, layering our bodies with dirt. I burn anything that lands on my outfit. What would have happened if we¡¯d still been in the air when that hit? I can¡¯t imagine a pleasant landing, assuming we aren¡¯t torn to pieces by the intense blast in the first place. We wait in silence until the dust thins enough to see the horizon again. The Titan¡¯s massive body soars to the north. As the buzzard descends the Alps, a tempest accrues beneath it. The storm spreads down the slope far ahead of the Titan, enshrouding everything in clouds and dust. Imiha sighs in relief as the incomprehensible being flies past the horizon, out of sight, and away from us. The winds still whip past us, but they are closer to natural gusts than the unbelievable crushing force its wing-beats triggered. ¡°Wow. That was¡­ incredible,¡± Remus says, rising from behind his stump. I can only agree. Incredible¡­ and terrifying. What would that have been like if we were still near the entrance to the tunnels? Could the Titan have dealt with all the mermineae for us? One can hope. ¡°Thankfully, it¡¯s not coming our way,¡± Imiha says. ¡°We can relax.¡± ¡°Have you experienced that before?¡± Bunny asks. ¡°Thrice. The initial wind is bad, but you don¡¯t want to get stuck anywhere near where it flies.¡± I head over to Gr¨ªmr¡¯s side. He¡¯s rolled to his chest and I hear a sickening crack as his spine realigns itself. ¡°Are you alright?¡± I ask as I pass a cool flame over his plumage, cleaning off the accumulating dirt. ¡°No problem,¡± he says. ¡°Just going to be stuck here for a few hours until my body¡¯s spine is healed.¡± ¡°Your bones are metal, right? Would heating until malleable make them easier to fix?¡± Gr¨ªmr eyes me for a moment. I don¡¯t know if he¡¯s considering my words, or has a problem with my proposition. ¡°That might work, but it would definitely damage the muscles and tendons. Those are surprisingly harder to heal than an alicanto¡¯s bones.¡± I settle in by his side and stare into the sky. We¡¯re in a hurry to find the Beiths, but there is nothing to be done when our ride can¡¯t move. Such a tragic event will halt our search. I¡¯m not at all ecstatic that we have put the trip to the lake on hold. Nope. Clouds roll in from over the horizon, approaching at incredible speeds. It¡¯s not thick cover, but the grey blobs roll above, threatening to drop their payload. Flashes of light spark out from many. Each cloud its own small thunderstorm. Unlike normal lightning, the flashes of light don¡¯t travel to the ground. They stay entirely isolated within their dark blotches. I watch each one as it moves toward us, ready to dive under Gr¨ªmr¡¯s wing should they decide to be less self-contained and pelt me with their concerning liquid. I¡¯m trying to ignore the fact that the Titan is actively wandering around. The sheer presence of the other one was enough to nearly put an end to my tribe. Only due to fortune did I survive myself. If that monumental bird comes anywhere near us, I can¡¯t imagine being so lucky twice. Even if we saw the Titan coming toward us, is there anything we can do? I doubt we¡¯d be able to run out of its path before it reaches us. The being had to have travelled a hundred leagues in only a few minutes. There¡¯s no chance of outrunning it. I shake my head and pull my head from the clouds. The Titans are natural disasters, there is no avoiding it if it comes. Not even the Beith mercenaries could survive the proximity of a creature like that. Jav seems far more alert than he¡¯s been in a while. He holds an incredibly thin needle in his hands and works on his suit. Did Bunny make that for him when she was making all the other weapons? Or did Imiha? Remus appears pleased as he watches over the volan¡¯s shoulder. I guess the shock the Titan gave his system was enough to wake him. Hopefully. he¡¯ll be able to return to himself soon. Imiha walks up beside Gr¨ªmr and rests a couple tentacles on his back. Green markings glow, and within a minute, Gr¨ªmr is standing up and shaking his plumage. The feathers spin around one another like tiny weaving saws. I guess we¡¯ll be heading to the lake immediately. Damn. Chapter 107: áinfean ¡°Hey, can we skip this one?¡± I ask. ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be fine with whatever Beith we find at the next search point.¡± As we approach the expanse of water, I lose my nerve. Just the sight of it is enough to make me want to run. The water sways back and forth. Waves crash against the shore, climbing a dozen metres across the earth before receding. ¡°Come now, there¡¯s hardly anything to fea¡ª¡± Remus cuts himself off before reconsidering. ¡°Alright, you, Gr¨ªmr and Jav stay back. The rest of us will head on.¡± I didn¡¯t actually expect him to agree, but I¡¯m not about to complain. Even if he knows I fear the water, it didn¡¯t stop him from forcing me onward the last time I was terrified. It¡¯s good to know he¡¯s reflected on what he¡¯s done. But it¡¯s not like he needs all of us to talk with whatever Beith mercenary they find. Imiha is strong enough to at least put up a fight. In a stressful situation or when he decides something is important, I don¡¯t think I could ever trust his decisions. I don¡¯t hate my team for what they did, nor can I hold a grudge after what they experienced, even if I haven¡¯t forgiven them. Hardly any time passed after I told them of my fears when they forced me down into those tunnels. I understand their reasons now, but how can I know their own ideas of what is good for me won¡¯t conflict once more in the future? I can never truly trust Remus, Jav, or Bunny again. Gr¨ªmr is the only one who stood up for me at the time. The one to stay by my side throughout those entrapping tunnels. Only he, I would trust with my life. That¡¯s not to say I plan to pointlessly throw myself into a position where my life or freedom would be threatened. But should the day come where I have to choose, I¡¯ll rely on Gr¨ªmr over anyone else. We land a good few hundred metres from the lake and the others head on without us. Jav is quick to pull out his thin needle and work on his wingsuit. I watch as he works to fix the wings with thread scraps salvaged from other parts of his clothes. His tiny digits move with rapid precision to reform the material between his arms and torso. ¡°Will you have enough to remake them?¡± I ask. He startles at my voice but quickly calms. ¡°Uh¡­ I need to dismantle much of the suit to get the wings to basic functionality. My sisters have always been better at this, but it should let me fly again.¡± Despite his timidness, it¡¯s great to see him getting better. I¡¯m not sure if there¡¯s anything I could do to help him recover, but that he has something he¡¯s working toward is a good thing. I shouldn¡¯t mention that he won¡¯t get much of an opportunity. If he flies without Gr¨ªmr by his side, he¡¯s likely to get torn apart by an enantiorn or any of the other massive birds we¡¯ve seen scouring the plains. There¡¯s a reason I¡¯ve stayed in my default form the past few weeks. The scattered clouds still speed overhead. The winds from the Titan must be blowing far stronger at higher altitudes for them to cross the sky this quickly. Brief flashes of light within each continue with regularity. They are concerning when directly overhead, but the phenomenon is oddly soothing to watch. A blinding flash of light fills my vision, followed momentarily by the thrumming crack of thunder. From many of those small isolated thunderclouds, originates a series of forked lightning that snaps together in a mighty bolt that strikes the lake. I jump to my feet. I¡¯m not the only one startled; Jav flinches, sending the tiny needle flying out of his grasp. That lightning strike was brighter than any other I¡¯ve seen. As I look over the lake, a plume of vapour rises from the area of impact. The clouds above no longer flash with energy. It must have all been unloaded into the lake. It can¡¯t be a coincidence that the lightning hit as soon as our team approached the lake. Against my better judgement, I get Gr¨ªmr to take me closer. I don¡¯t want to go anywhere near all that water, but I need to make sure the others are safe. We retrieve Jav¡¯s needle and walk toward the shore. I stick to Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back, keeping as far away from the wet ground as I can despite the boots that should keep me dry. The wind blowing over the lake keeps the waves rough. Every time they crash against the bank, I worry that it¡¯ll come all that much closer. ¡°We don¡¯t have to do this, Solvei. They¡¯ll be fine by themselves,¡± Gr¨ªmr reassures me. ¡°I just want to get close enough to see them. No more.¡± There, along the water¡¯s edge a few hundred metres away, I spot them. Thankfully, they all appear fine. They¡¯ve moved fast to get so far around the lake. Gr¨ªmr stops and we watch them travel along the shore. It¡¯s good to know they¡¯re okay. That lightning bolt must have been coincidental after all.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. I¡¯m about to ask Gr¨ªmr to take me away from the water again, when a spark of lightning chains out across the lake. Unlike before, it doesn¡¯t drop from the storm-clouds above. It originates at a point ahead of our team and lasts for multiple seconds. Enough time to see that beside the bright white core of the lightning, it tinges the air with a hint of violet. The thunder rolls through us like a series of chuckles, before abruptly cutting off with the end of the light-show. None of the arcs came close to us, but I can still feel the tingle of electricity in the air. ¡°Shit,¡± Gr¨ªmr breaths beneath me. It¡¯s not like him to swear. ¡°What?¡± ¡°That¡¯s Spenne. No doubt in my mind.¡± Gr¨ªmr seems concerned, but that name means nothing to me. ¡°Who?¡± ¡°He¡¯s one of the few ¨¢infean in the Mercenary Order. Easily the strongest.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯s the problem?¡± Gr¨ªmr struggles to answer immediately. ¡°I don¡¯t like saying this, because his nieces and nephews are close friends, but he¡¯s a lunatic.¡± He pauses. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you this now; don¡¯t trust him. He has an outgoing and cheerful exterior, but he won¡¯t think twice about tearing you apart if he thinks he¡¯ll find amusement in it.¡± I look closer toward where the lightning originated and spot a white figure just as it dives into the water. ¡°I should also mention he is probably the only ¨¢infean to fear nothing.¡± My team reaches the shore, but don¡¯t follow. Soon, a disturbance in the water announces the ¨¢infean¡¯s return. He trudges out of the water with a massive flat, scaled tail in his grasp. Each step he takes out of the water only shows how large the creature is. It¡¯s at least fifteen metres long, and he drags it out like it¡¯s nothing. A chuckle, like rumbling thunder, echoes through the area. It¡¯s kinda creepy how far his voice rolls. The sleek creature he pulls from the lake is already dead. It¡¯s a strange-looking animal. Lacking legs or arms. Instead, flat growths appear in odd areas of its grey scaled skin. It¡¯s longer, and more snake-like, but the creature is very similar to the fish Jav caught back near the pact nations. The fins ¡ª I remember them being called ¡ª and tail are similar enough to make the comparison. Spenne, the ¨¢infean, approaches my team. His booming voice audible even as this far, but the words aren¡¯t clear. ¡°How strong is he?¡± I ask. Unlike the last Beiths we found, Gr¨ªmr could recognise who it was simply by the power shown. I want to know what we¡¯re dealing with before I rejoin my team, especially if the ¨¢infean is a lunatic. ¡°He¡¯s the strongest of his race. There is no contest, nobody comes close. Amongst the Beith mercs, he¡¯s probably one of the top that aren¡¯t a part of the Order¡¯s trusted inner circle.¡± ¡°With Imiha on our side, how do we fare if a fight starts?¡± Gr¨ªmr gives me a concerned look. Hey! There¡¯s no need for that! I¡¯m not planning to fight. I just want to be prepared in case it comes down to it. ¡°Imiha is strong, but she¡¯s young and unrefined, as are you.¡± I give him a glare, but he continues on. ¡°Spenne is older than Remus. To put it simply, we don¡¯t stand a chance if he turns against us.¡± So what? He¡¯s comparable to Hund? I hope not. ¡°Should we join them?¡± I ask. I¡¯m unsure if we should hide from such a person. ¡°Yes. He already knows we¡¯re here, so there¡¯s no point waiting around.¡± I¡¯d like to say I¡¯m surprised that he would know we¡¯re here, but considering I can already feel heat from a hundred metres away, I have no doubt someone so much stronger would have their own methods. That, and we haven¡¯t really been hiding ourselves. Gr¨ªmr is pretty big. As we skirt our way to them, I glance up at the tumbling clouds above. In the short time since the ¨¢infean pulled at their energy, they have charged once more. Brief flashes light up within them as they coast through the air. It feels like it¡¯s been far too short a time, but here we are. I¡¯d hoped Gr¨ªmr would take a slower route. For some reason, I¡¯m nervous about meeting this ¨¢infean. Did Gr¨ªmr¡¯s talk of him being a lunatic get to me? I¡¯ve got to shake that thought from my mind. Treat him as I would any other on our first meet. ¡°Ah, finally! Everyone¡¯s arrived.¡± His voice still thrums through my chest like thunder. Not every ¨¢infean is like this, right? It¡¯s just cause he¡¯s strong. Spenne is strange. The most noticeable thing is the slick white wraps that wind around each part of his body like bandages. In the small areas of his body left open to air, like his eyes, mouth and some places along his arms where the wraps have loosened, arcing electricity thrums. As an ¨¢infean, he is similar to ¨¢ed in that his body is formed completely by the element he is bound. But he doesn¡¯t seem to have any intent on controlling and hiding his electricity as we do our flame. Every few seconds, an arc zaps out through the wraps and winds down his arms or along his spine. He stands on two legs that protrude from the torso that continues in a thick tail not unlike that of the fish he pulled from the lake. His upper body is hunched and long, thin spines poke through the white wraps along his spine. The face of the ¨¢infean is wide, flat and pointy, like the edge of a dull axe. His eyes, small beady things that glow with power, lie on the top half of his head, while a wide, tooth filled maw spans the bottom. Spenne fixes the three of us with a glance before he returns to Remus. He shows no interest in us. ¡°Of course, old friend, I will definitely help. How could we ever let these creatures attack our homes?¡± I can hear a constant humming of electricity simply being in the ¨¢infean¡¯s presence. Each time he speaks, the humming amplifies, giving his voice a strange frenetic tone. ¡°But, more importantly, who wants some fried fish? I¡¯m not great at making the crumb from back home, but you wouldn¡¯t believe how great these whoppers taste.¡± Spenne slaps his hand on the belly of the fish, and lightning cracks, forking over the corpse. Thunder booms and I have to clamp down on my urge to back away. The power that fills the air really is like nothing I¡¯ve felt from anyone but Hund. And I¡¯m almost certain he hasn¡¯t used his presence. The bolt of electricity was brief, but the body of the fish falls apart in cubes, as if cut by a knife. He must do this often; the fillets are all perfectly cooked with branch-like patterns through the meat. I glance over at Remus, who seems concerned, but resigned. If what Gr¨ªmr was saying is true, this ¨¢infean might be more than helpful when we have to face the mermineae. But he might also be too big a risk to keep around. There¡¯s probably a reason he¡¯s out here alone, without a team. I¡¯m just glad he isn¡¯t another Imiha, determined to open me up like a research subject. Wait, he¡¯s an ¨¢infean, why isn¡¯t she trying to cut him open? What bias. I send a glare at her, but she just looks back in confusion. She¡¯s oddly quiet, and I notice she¡¯s backed off to let Remus take the lead. Is she afraid of Spenne? The ¨¢infean swallows a chunk of fish about the size of my body in a single gulp. Yeah, okay. I don¡¯t blame her.
Chapter 108: Siege The third Beith location was a bust. They were long gone by the time we arrived and so were any of the tails meant to be following them. We spent a week to search, but by then it was already falling far too close to our deadline. It would have been great if we¡¯d found a few more, but it can¡¯t be helped. Spenne is strong enough that we probably won¡¯t need to worry about any of the mermineae getting in our way. Preferably, we would have had more strength backing us in case Spenne proves Gr¨ªmr¡¯s warning true. It¡¯s hard to see, though. The ¨¢infean seems like a rather jovial man, if brutal in a fight. Despite being overwhelmingly stronger than the creatures around, he is more than willing to go all out to obliterate from existence and tear the skies with lightning. I¡¯ve taken to muffling my hearing any time he runs off for a fight. Thankfully, Spenne spends most his time talking to Remus about old times and recent battles, leaving me out of it. We arrive back at the mermineae¡¯s meeting point and, despite their usual reluctance to show themselves, Caavaa and Muuro approach us unhidden. I wonder where the two elderly ones are? I can¡¯t feel their heat anywhere nearby. ¡°You succeeded in finding another,¡± Caavaa says. ¡°There will be no issue fulfilling your upcoming task, I hope?¡± ¡°Yeah, rodent extermination is kiddie work. No issue.¡± Spenne then turns to me. ¡°Oh! no offence.¡± Really? I can¡¯t help but stare at him. Was there really a need for that? We have hardly even spoken this whole time, and now he calls me a kid. I hold back the irritation from showing on my face. Caavaa has no intention of doing the same. His eyes narrow at Spenne¡¯s words. ¡°Your task is to close the path. Nothing more. Clear the way to the tunnels, but kill no more. I don¡¯t want you murdering the Clergy members hiding amongst them.¡± ¡°Oh right, of course.¡± Spenne pats his chest. ¡°We¡¯ll follow your orders to the letter.¡± He finishes with a wide grin, showing off the sparks that make up his teeth. Of course, the ¨¢infean¡¯s words do nothing to assure Caavaa, so Remus steps forward to mediate. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we plan to commit to our side. We have no reason to kill those of you trying to stop the invasion.¡± Caavaa¡¯s glare flicks between Spenne and Remus before he waves an arm at Muuro, who sprints off. ¡°Good. The attack will happen soon. For now, rest.¡± He turns and crawls back into his burrow. I¡¯m assuming that Muuro has run off to tell the rest of their clergy that we are ready to move. We are within a day¡¯s travel of the entrance, so it shouldn¡¯t be long before we proceed with the attack. I¡¯m concerned about the details of the siege. The Forvaal have been reluctantly cooperative at best, and have a nasty record of laying the entire risk on us. Will they do the same in the next few days? Once Caavaa is out of sight, Remus turns to Spenne. ¡°Just this once, hold back until we seal the path.¡± The ¨¢infean hums, acting oblivious. ¡°I¡¯ve known you for well over a century,¡± Remus says. ¡°Don¡¯t think your plan isn¡¯t abundantly clear. I won¡¯t stop you. Just let us seal it off and get out of the way before you have your fun.¡± Spenne remains frozen. Is he pissed? I glance around to see everyone as tense as I am. All eyes are on Spenne. We aren¡¯t all about to be attacked, right? The ¨¢infean¡¯s jaw drops. ¡°Remus?¡± he turns away, gesturing to the dohrni. ¡°This isn¡¯t Remus, is it? I¡¯m being fooled.¡± I¡¯m not sure why he¡¯s having this reaction, but at least he¡¯s not attacking. Spenne snaps back to Remus. ¡°You¡¯re serious? What did they do to you?¡± ¡°Right now, the safety of my team is most important. I would rather you don¡¯t go overboard, but I can¡¯t stop you,¡± Remus says. ¡°So I need to stress this; will you wait until they are safe?¡± ¡°Yeah, no problem,¡± Spenne agrees without delay. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you not so pacifistic, Remus. Do you want to join me?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s too bad. It¡¯s gonna be fun.¡± I swear the zapping grows louder as he grins. ??? There are a lot of mermineae. By a lot, I don¡¯t mean a couple hundred or thousand. No, there have to be tens of thousands moving along the slope ahead of us. Most still keep their camouflage up, but the sheer number of them remove any hope they might have had of remaining hidden. We all sit on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back and wait for the attack to begin. The Forvaal Clergy will make the first move. We just need to stay out of sight until then. You¡¯d think that would be hard considering the size of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s alicanto body, but we aren¡¯t the only ones to have noticed the immense mermineae presence. Birds of prey swarm the skies. Each looking for an easy meal offering itself up to them. For the first time since I¡¯ve been to this side of the Alps, I can truly see the desperation the mermineae have to leave these plains. They continue to push toward the tunnel entrance, despite the birds diving from above. One of the enantiorn eagles dive toward some unfortunate soul, but before it can reach its prey, it screeches and pulls back into the clouds.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. The Forvaal amongst the mermineae put a lot of effort into protecting their people, but for every bird they successfully turn away, two more take off with someone clutched in their talons. Many die every minute, but the mermineae still march forward. ¡°This Kalma must be quite the character,¡± Spenne ponders. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen fear cause such solidarity before. Most creatures I¡¯ve seen will stab their best friend to get away from what terrorises them.¡± We watch as another merminea is plucked from the surface, screaming until the bird¡¯s talons end its existence. The merminea¡¯s neighbours move on with little more than a glance after their fallen brethren. Spenne hums in curiosity. ¡°Have they told you where one might find this Kalma?¡± He¡¯s not planning to meet her, is he? I¡¯m sure he¡¯s strong, but I struggle to believe it¡¯s even close to what these people consider a god. ¡°No,¡± Remus says. ¡°But if you go looking, please don¡¯t give her any reason to cross the Alps. There are some creatures that should be left alone.¡± We are supposed to wait for the signal before we attack. Once we hear it, we are to do whatever we can to get to the tunnel. As usual, the Forvaal don¡¯t share their plans with us. All we know is that there should be enough of a distraction to allow us ease of passage. Well, that¡¯s what they claim. I don¡¯t believe for a second that it¡¯ll be that simple. There are so many of them clambering around the Titan¡¯s path that I can¡¯t help but doubt the mermineae we¡¯re working with. Unfortunately, the buzzard Titan didn¡¯t wipe out these mermineae when it went on its hunt. While the Titan¡¯s resting place is still an immense distance away, near the top of the Alps, I thought the damage here would be far more intense considering how strong it was hundreds of leagues away. Though, looking around, I see that there isn¡¯t much to damage. The slope is already as flat as can be. Any greater detail is hidden beneath snow. Is that why this side of the Alps looks like this? The winds of Euroclydon have worn away the mountains that were once here? ¡°Are we too late?¡± I ask. Considering the number of mermineae swarming as far as I can see, there can¡¯t be any more coming, right? ¡°We shouldn¡¯t be,¡± Imiha says. ¡°But these numbers are concerning. If there¡¯s more¡­¡± ¡°How do they feed this many?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks. ¡°For them to travel together like this, it can¡¯t be sustainable.¡± ¡°It probably isn¡¯t,¡± Bunny says. ¡°They¡¯ll have to split and hunt within the tunnels. The deaths they accrue against the birds up here will be nothing to the losses they expect to take down there.¡± The mermineae must treat the death of their own kind like an assured thing to go through with this. What is their life like for them to feel this is their best option? It¡¯s not like the tunnels will be the only difficulty they will face. I almost feel sympathetic towards them. Almost. They¡¯re still threatening my friends¡¯ home. A low, droning bellow rolls over the slopes. The mermineae freeze at the out-of-place noise. It¡¯s a strange sight. One moment they are easily visible due to the sheer number of them moving. The next, they have all disappeared. Then, chaos erupts. Amongst the thousands, many throw themselves on their neighbours. Claws tear through chests and teeth rip out throats. In moments, the white landscape drowns in crimson. The coordinated assassinations devolve into frenzied brawls as the ambushers leap from their first kills into the crowd. Most don¡¯t survive, immediately retaliated upon by the surrounding mermineae, but they have achieved the chaos that was promised us. Mermineae lash out, not knowing who is friend or foe. ¡°Well, that¡¯s one way to start a fight,¡± Spenne says as he tugs at the bindings around his arms. ¡°What are you waiting for? Let¡¯s get down there.¡± Gr¨ªmr tilts his wings and we fall into a dive. We can¡¯t attack the tunnel entrance directly. It would put us in a direct sight line of the Forvaal defenders. If we don¡¯t want Gr¨ªmr to be torn apart before we make it to the crevice, we need to approach from the ground. Some opportunistic birds have taken to diving alongside us, so our approach couldn¡¯t be any better hidden. Our choice to not attack the tunnel directly is proven to be for the best. The birds diving near the path die in moments, each one decaying to dust before they have a chance to pull away. They must have the strongest of the Forvaal defending that position. It¡¯s going to be hard to break through if they move their attention to us. The clergy should deal with them soon, but relying on them for anything leaves a foul taste in my mouth. I wait until Gr¨ªmr scrapes along the surface at full speed before I let free my flames. They spread to engulf everything, but struggle to keep up with the pace of this metal bird. Gr¨ªmr glides barely a metre above the ground. His heavy wings crush heads of any unaware mermineae. We tear through hundreds before one throws itself at Gr¨ªmr¡¯s beak, angling his body just enough for Gr¨ªmr to face-plant into the earth at speed. We are all flung off his back. Thankfully, Bunny grabs me in mid-air, so I don¡¯t have to worry about a face full of frozen water. She sets me down, and I send a nervous glance down at my boots, buried in snow. It¡¯s fine, it will not leak through. The mermineae that pulled us to the ground didn¡¯t survive the crash, squashed between Gr¨ªmr and the earth. The earth ripples, rises and propels the snow away from us. The wall of stone now circling us also blocks the sight of any Forvaal. I give Imiha a nod of gratitude now that I have environmental conditions that I don¡¯t have to tiptoe around. She grins back before turning to the mermineae now flooding over her wall. I don¡¯t give them any time to attack, igniting everything in the area. The fur burns off their backs before they can even scream. They don¡¯t last long enough for my flames to burn much further. A booming crack of thunder accompanies a flash of light and every mermineae in my flames drop dead. The energy of the ¨¢infean¡¯s lightning felt¡­ oddly good. It didn¡¯t impede my flames. Instead, for a brief instant, I felt heat and intensity I couldn¡¯t hope to replicate. Despite the power behind it, it didn¡¯t hurt or hinder my flames. In fact, I¡¯d say it enhanced them. I turn back to Spenne and we lock eyes. A toothy grin grows along his face, arcs of electricity zapping around him almost seeming to grasp at my flames. ¡°Oh kid, I was wrong about you. This really is gonna be fun.¡± I¡¯m not sure what he means, but I can¡¯t help but agree. A bolt of lightning snaps out, covering an incredible distance past the walls that surround us. I¡¯m surprised to find out my flames follow with it, letting me control fire far further than I normally could. The intense bolt cuts through several mermineae, killing them instantly. My flames burst out from the path of lightning and engulf many of those surrounding. ¡°Hey kid, can you make as much smoke as possible?¡± Smoke? I nod in agreement, even though I¡¯m unsure why he wants that. If I want to make a lot of smoke, that means I can¡¯t use my flames to eat the energy out of things, nor can I add mass to my flames from the surrounding material. I need to let things burn naturally. He better have a good reason for this. It¡¯s a waste to throw away resources. I notice Spenne¡¯s wraps around his hands have loosened, leaving his electricity to arc out into my flames with little control. He no longer sends bolts beyond the sphere of my fire, so I don¡¯t have that easy method to spread my flames, but fire is nothing if not insistent. It is a fire¡¯s nature to burn and grow. Extinguishing a flame is far more difficult than nudging it into an inferno, even for my own flames. Just the tiniest influence has the fire beyond Imiha¡¯s walls spreading between mermineae. I don¡¯t even need to mix my inner flame amongst the fire and risk touching the snow. With how many mermineae surround us, it¡¯s actually quite worrying how fast it spreads with only the tiniest of nudges. Gr¨ªmr finally digs himself out of the earth and we move forward. Imiha¡¯s walls follow along, keeping us surrounded. The seven of us push forward, slicing through any mermineae between us and the tunnel. The real challenge still lies ahead. Chapter 109: PoV - Tetsu Tetsu lunged forward, her falchion piercing the neck of her opponent. She twisted and jerked the blade out as her body flowed forward. In her other hand, a second blade swung through the chest of a merminea scrambling at the flames scorching its fur. She didn¡¯t like to admit it, but the dual short-swords had always been her best weapons. It just allowed for so much freedom in a fight. Of course, the downsides often made them unusable, especially in contests of strength, but when she could dance around her opponents like this, there was little she was as skilled at. It was a point of pride to be well-trained in all weapons. She didn¡¯t want all her hard earned skill to be hidden behind one in particular. Her father was once a master of every weapon in the family storage, but nobody ever mentioned anything but his immense talent for the halberd. As much as she wanted to be like her father, she did not want people to see her the same. But right now, pride had to take a step back. She needed to perform her best. She¡¯d already lost to them once, she wasn¡¯t about to let that happen again. Each mermineae was naturally strong ¡ª likely due to the environment of their growth ¡ª but they were not skilled in combat against other sapients. It was still frustrating how they got the jump on her. If so many hadn¡¯t ambushed them, Tetsu was sure that she could beat them in a grapple. They were running forward at a decent pace. With Imiha¡¯s walls leading the way, it wouldn¡¯t be long before they reached the entrance to the tunnels. There was no doubt in her mind she needed to be prepared for the opposition they would face. A merminea rushed through the surrounding fire with a crazed focus on the young girl beside Tetsu. She stepped into the path of the creature¡¯s attack and swung a falchion at its neck. The merminea was dead before it could register the sharp edge of steel. The blade sliced through with ease. Tetsu forced every fibre of strength she could manage into her strike. The mermineae fell to the ground, its head rolling by its side. The corpse left to burn behind them. It was likely an unnecessary level of effort directed at the creature; it would have died regardless and Tetsu doubted the ¨¢ed would have been in danger, anyway. But Tetsu couldn¡¯t help the anger she felt when she saw the girl in danger. She knew she shouldn¡¯t. It was an insult to Solvei after everything she¡¯s been through. With how much the girl has grown since they met, she doubted there was much that Tetsu could defend her from that the ¨¢ed couldn¡¯t fight herself. Why did Tetsu have this feeling of wanting to protect the girl now? Why didn¡¯t it show itself back when she commit the act that would ruin the trust the girl had placed in them? As much as she regretted the past, it could never be changed. She could only work toward making it right. A second horn blared, scarcely audible over the rolling earth, roaring fire and crackling thunder already muting much of the outside chaos. Only a few seconds after the horn ended, a massive plume of dust rose ahead of them. The group didn¡¯t stop, but they each looked to the ash spreading through the sky. Something happened near the guarded entrance. Tetsu knew the clergy were planning something, but from everything else they¡¯d seen, she never expected it to be this big. Well, whatever it was, it would have distracted the defenders. The resistance they faced loosened. Whatever caused all that dust must be far more concerning than Tetsu¡¯s small group. Solvei¡¯s flames wrapped around Tetsu like a warm blanket rather than the inferno it was for their enemies. Her ability to hold back against her allies had improved tremendously, even considering her flames burnt far hotter than they used to. Between the ¨¢ed¡¯s flames, the ¨¢infean¡¯s aggressive shocks and the mage¡¯s earth piercing those who pass the walls, there wasn¡¯t much for Tetsu to do. Only the luckiest and most incensed mermineae made it close enough for her to enjoy the thrill of the fight. Months had passed since she could use her weapons. The makeshift blades she¡¯d made were¡­ decent, but she missed the proper craftsmen-made ones back home. Steel weapons just didn¡¯t last long against creatures with strong defences. ¡°There¡¯s a crevice ahead,¡± Imiha shouted over the cacophony of battle. ¡°Alright. Be ready to face intense opposition,¡± Remus said. With little fanfare, the group dove into the tunnel as soon as Imiha¡¯s walls pass over. Tetsu¡¯s feet slammed into some unfortunate soul. She felt several ribs shatter beneath her boots, but paid it only an instant of her attention. Tensing her legs, Tetsu pounced on the first Forvaal she sees. The creature had no time to activate its eyes, one blade pierced its chest, the other right between the eyes. She kicked out at the next Forvaal, whipping its head away from her. It wasn¡¯t enough to do much damage, but it stopped the creature¡¯s eyes burning her. Two swipes with her blades were enough to end it before it could regain its senses. Five mermineae stood before her, two of which were Forvaal. Their eyes glowed, ready to burn into her. Tetsu bounced forward, intent on stabbing both before they could. Spikes shred out of the walls, pin-cushioning each merminea before she could reach them. Tetsu looked back at the others, who had cleaned up the rest of the defenders of this crevice. All in all, a rather clean entry despite the number of Forvaal amongst them. Spenne, Gr¨ªmr and Solvei would remain above, defending their entry point. Tetsu disliked the idea of leaving Solvei and Gr¨ªmr. The mermineae were bad enough, but she¡¯d heard plenty of stories about Spenne¡¯s predilection toward collateral damage and fratricide. She didn¡¯t want to leave Solvei up there, but Tetsu wouldn¡¯t force her again, even if she thought it would be safer. They pushed forward through the tube beneath the Titan¡¯s path, searching for the transition to ranked stone and the tunnel within it. Imiha crushed and pierced mermineae with ease. The environment made the mage¡¯s magic unbeatable even for the stronger Forvaal.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Despite the number of mermineae down in these tunnels, they held a less fierce defence than they¡¯d been expecting. After only a few minutes of tearing through the wide tunnel, they found their target: a four metre wide hole bearing down through a three metre thick layer of ranked stone. Things had gone worryingly well. Too many things had gone better than expected and now Tetsu was waiting for the one thing to go horribly wrong. Plans with this many unknowns never went this well. Walls rose around them, blocking off any path except for below. Imiha sat before the hole, amber markings lighting the otherwise dark tunnel. ¡°Once I start, I won¡¯t be able to defend. Directing ranked stone is too difficult for me to be splitting my focus.¡± Imiha¡¯s eyes dropped to the stub that was Remus¡¯ limb and let out an annoyed grunt. ¡°Come here.¡± Imiha really should have healed Remus earlier, but at least she¡¯s doing so now. Tetsu didn¡¯t know what the history was between the two, at least deeper than the surface, so she didn¡¯t think it was her place to judge. It was good that Imiha was finally putting aside her reservations. Remus smiled down at the younger dohrni. ¡°Thanks, Your Highness.¡± Tetsu had been a part of his team for years now, and she still couldn¡¯t tell if Remus was joking at times. Imiha just ignored the possible sarcasm and got to work. The ranked stone ever so slowly crept forward. Tetsu knew Imiha was an incredibly talented mage, and yet this is still as much as she could do with the near indestructible stone. It raised questions of how the mermineae knew it could be done. There was an immense difference between destruction and creation. Remus, with his newly regained limb, took to the tunnel below to fight the mermineae clambering to rise. Tetsu would join him, but the walls erected by Imiha wouldn¡¯t last. As expected, the walls crumbled, decaying to dust from the strange visual power of the Forvaal. The clergy had done their job of causing a distraction far better than she¡¯d expected, but it looked like things were about to get difficult. Tetsu prepared her weapons, waiting for the moment the first of them stepped through the new opening. She pounced as soon as the opportunity presented, flying past the first with a swipe at its jugular. It was imperative to keep moving. She couldn¡¯t stop to confirm her kill, lest her advantage be wasted. There was no mermineae behind the one passing through the opening, so her momentum took her to the rock face of the wide tunnel. With power in her legs gained from many years of training and enhanced by plentiful hunts, she sprung to the rearmost of the ten mermineae. The wide tunnel was almost the perfect battlefield for her favourite type of fighting. That style also happened to be the cause of that infernal nickname bestowed upon her. She would never tell them she secretly enjoyed the name. The target she flew toward was one of the oldest forvaal. Like Saad and Taanoraa, their eyes were entirely grey. They were blind, but that seemed to matter little to them. The old Forvaal must have some other sense, as they twisted out of the path of her blade. Her strike connected, but not deep enough to be fatal. The Forvaal held its bleeding neck and shouted a command to the others around. In the brief moment Tetsu slammed into the wall, she inspected each of her opponents. There were only three Forvaal amongst them besides the old one. She could only hope to succeed if she took them out first. The foggy eyed¡¯s reactions were too fast to waste time on. Tetsu launched forward again, her blade swiping the eyes of one and her boot cracking the jaw of another Forvaal before they slam into the tunnel wall. Before her feet touched ground and she could pick up speed again, Tetsu felt a blaze of agony across her back. It was as though tiny, hot hooks pulled at every muscle and nerve she had. In a motion trained by countless hours of effort, she threw the sword at the last Forvaal. Relying only on her memory to aim. She stumbled to her hands and knees. Blood pouring down her arms as she tries to bite down the pain. This was no time to be tending to her injuries. Tetsu kicked out beneath her. Her thrown falchion rested a few metres off the third Forvaal, who clutched at their bleeding arm. She needed that weapon back. More importantly, she had to kill that Forvaal before it could focus its eyes on her once more. Tetsu sprung forward, eyes only for the Forvaal. Her tunnel-vision was a mistake. The other mermineae, now realising they couldn¡¯t keep up with her explosive movement, moved to intercept. Claws dug into her side, the disturbance redirected her trajectory. Tetsu, no longer in a position to swing her blade, turned to body slam into the Forvaal. Before the Forvaal could lower its eyes to her, Tetsu thrust her blade through its jaw and out its snout, holding its head up while she punches its exposed neck. She wailed on the merminea until, with a snap, its neck twisted unnaturally. Through the agony of her back and side, she pushed off the dead Forvaal. Not quick enough. A pair of mermineae plough through her. Tetsu let out a gasp as her back ground along the earth. It was excruciating. Like hundreds of molten razor-blades slicing through her skin. She swung her short-sword, but a merminea blocked her arm. Her blade failed to pull blood, but the strength of her blow stunned the creature. Its partner lunged forward, biting into the flesh of her arm. She refused to let her weapon go, but she could not pull her arm free. Tetsu wasn¡¯t about to lose to these fucking creatures again. She punched the throat of the merminea biting her arm. She winced in pain as its teeth sunk deeper, but so did her enemy. The moment the merminea¡¯s eyes shut, she dropped the blade from her pinned hand to the other and thrust it into the side of its head. She couldn¡¯t fight anymore. There were still too many for her to take on and there wasn¡¯t a chance that elderly Forvaal would be weak. She could only praise her luck that it didn¡¯t burn her with his eyes. Whether that was by choice or because it couldn¡¯t, she didn¡¯t know. It was stupid to push her advantage as hard as she had. She would have had a better chance if she kept the defensive advantage. The first merminea sitting on top of her regained its senses and grabbed her beneath the chin, claws sinking into the skin of her cheek and neck. She tried to swing her arm, but it caught her wrist, stopping the blade only centimetres from the side of its head. Tetsu pushed with all her might to kill this creature. She only had moments to deal with it before the others of its kind would be all over her. Her muscles bulged under the pressure, slowly edging the sharp tip closer. The claws dig deeper into Tetsu¡¯s face and the merminea quivers as the blade slices through the fur of its neck. Just a little further. Suddenly, the resistance to her blade arm died and her falchion slides through her opponent¡¯s head with ease. She rolled out of the way, expecting to be dived upon by the remaining mermineae, but it didn¡¯t come. She looked up to see Jav spinning a thousand rotations around the first two mermineae, deepening wounds to their throats and tendons with each pass. Slowly rising to her feet, it became apparent that Jav wasn¡¯t the only one to come to her aid. Remus fought against the elderly Forvaal. The dohrni danced around his target, only attacking when the opportunity presented itself, but mostly stayed out of retaliation range. It was the sort of fighting style utilised when facing an opponent of far greater enhancement, yet was less skilled a fighter. Enhancement level was the great equaliser, but if they didn¡¯t have the skills to use those immense energy reserves, then they were nothing more than a tough punching bag to those who had spent years training. Of course, that would still be made difficult due to the mermineae around them. Tetsu forced herself to her feet, ready to jump into the brawl despite the immense pain assaulting her body. Before she could even reach her first target, it was taken from her. A pillar of earth crushed each merminea. Even the elderly Forvaal. Imiha was done. ¡°I¡¯ve closed it just enough for Gr¨ªmr to pass through,¡± Imiha said. ¡°I¡¯ve amassed a ball of enhanced earth we can drop after us and I¡¯ll be able to seal the tunnel in moments.¡± The dohrni walked up to Tetsu and rested a tentacle on her upper back. She winced, but attempted to ignore the pain as green markings glowed over Imiha¡¯s body. ¡°Now, how about we go get the other two before Spenne tires of waiting?¡± Chapter 110: Thunderstorm The clergy have something terrifyingly strong rushing around outside our walled area. Every few seconds, a plume of dust rises through the air. Whatever is causing all that damage, they are quick. One moment, a cloud of dust forms in front of us, the next, behind us. The majority of mermineae seem completely unfazed by our presence. They either rush toward whatever it is they are fighting, or flee. Most flee. I¡¯m surprised the clergy is even holding up their end of the deal. It¡¯s almost suspicious how effective their distraction has been. Between Spenne and me, none of the few mermineae that still try to rush toward us survive. Gr¨ªmr hasn¡¯t even needed to lift a talon. Despite how effective it is at spreading my flames, Spenne has stopped casting bolts of lightning out into the crowds beyond. The wraps around his hands now tightened and hiding away the volatile electricity within. Instead, he rushes around, fast as lightning himself. With his wide jaw, he bites into the poor victims that clamber into my inferno. Branch-like patterns glow beneath their skin before inviting me in. My flames run through the forking burns in their bodies and incinerate the mermineae from the inside out. I would have liked to practice my spear against them, but Spenne doesn¡¯t give me the opportunity. He throws himself after each like a ravenous beast. Outside our stone circle, the fire has spread rather far, but it won¡¯t be moving much further. The thinning crowds of mermineae make it nearly impossible for my flames to spread from fur to fur without direct control. The small nudges I¡¯ve given the fire have been enough to spread a good few hundred metres, which is incredible considering the only sources of fuel are corpses half submerged in melted snow. Dark clouds of smoke hover above, spreading far over the surrounding slope. I can¡¯t help but look up at it mournfully. So much wasted resources. Uncle Rivin would be disappointed. Whatever reason the ¨¢infean has for the smoke, it better be good. A loud crash has me turning to the wall behind us, only to watch as it crumbles to rubble. Another massive plume explodes out of the new crater formed just outside our ring. It looks like whatever the clergy brought with them accidentally destroyed our defences. Well, hopefully it¡¯s that, and not them attacking us. I prepare myself anyway. Something that can cause that much damage so quick would be at least at Imiha¡¯s level. Through the obscured air, a merminea climbs out of the crater. Well, it has the shape of a mermineae, but it is impossible to see it directly. A cloak of ash and dust flows off its body. It jerks its neck to something unseen; the motion accompanied by a wave of dust blowing away from its head. On both forelegs and hind-legs, it tenses before it disappearing from sight. Another plume rises a few hundred metres away, likely the creature landing. Was that really a merminea? Its movements are far too wild and feral to consider it as one despite the similar shape. If they had this creature hidden, then why are we even here? Couldn¡¯t it just kill any that tried to pass the Alps as Hund did with the army invading his land? ¡°Solvei, Gr¨ªmr. It¡¯s time to go.¡± Remus climbs out of the crevice. They¡¯re done already? Well, I¡¯m not about to complain. I climb up Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back, ready to take to the air again and leave this place. Spenne lets out a rumbling chuckle and unwinds the wraps around his arms. ¡°About time!¡± My team climbs out from the ground, but doesn¡¯t move away. Within my flames, I feel Remus has regrown his limb. Did Imiha finally forgive him? Well, if we¡¯re all done, then there¡¯s no reason to stay around. Gr¨ªmr tilts his head back at me in a way I¡¯ve learnt to associate with him being perplexed. I¡¯m unsure what the look is for, but he finally starts moving. Only¡­ toward the crevice. I finally realise why my team hasn¡¯t moved away from the hole; they plan to go back through those tunnels. No. There¡¯s no way. I jump off Gr¨ªmr and backpedal. ¡°No. I¡¯m not going back down there.¡± I may not feel that terror of being trapped anymore, but I will still do everything I can to keep my freedom. Sealing myself beneath stone again is just asking for problems. Not only will my knot prevent me from going through with it, but I¡¯ll have to tell them of my mental rope. About how likely I¡¯ll be to stab them in the back. I can¡¯t. ¡°I¡¯m staying here.¡± Frustration crosses Imiha¡¯s face, but the others show resignation and concern, like they expected this, but hoped otherwise. Well, they shouldn¡¯t have expected any different. I¡¯ve made my plan to stay on this side of the Alps abundantly clear. If they expected I¡¯d want to go back through the tunnels once we were above them, they are sorely mistaken. So what now? Is this where they betray my trust for a second time and drag me through? Gr¨ªmr walks up to my side and turns back to the others. ¡°I have no reason to go home anytime soon. I¡¯ll stay by her side. You all have a job to do. Make sure the nations are prepared. There are surely still enough mermineae down in those tunnels to threaten our homes.¡± Gr¨ªmr brushes my side with the edge of his wing. ¡°We¡¯ll find another way around, eventually.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll stay too.¡± Bunny steps forward. ¡°No, you won¡¯t,¡± Imiha immediately rebukes. ¡°Your influence in Vanguard is far too important to let you stay here.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Bunny stops her advance toward me, obviously conflicted. ¡°Are you lot leaving or not?¡± Spenne asks. ¡°I¡¯m getting agitated.¡± His white wraps now dangle from his elbows, exposing the intense energy of his arms to the world. Wild electric arcs spark out through my flames, many zapping along the ground. Static empowers the air. Like his sparks moved through my flames with ease, I find my flames energised by the intensity in the air. What is he doing? While my attention is elsewhere, Bunny slams into me, pulling me into a hug. I panic, thinking she¡¯s trying to drag me down with her again. As soon as I flinch, she lets go. ¡°Please come back safe.¡± With that, she backs up to the rest of the team. ¡°We¡¯ll meet again,¡± Remus says with a rueful smile. Jav waves from Remus¡¯ head as they descend back into the depths of the Alps. I am¡­ sad to see them go. It is too bad the only way back is through the Alps. Hopefully, there¡¯s another way¡­ but if there is, the mermineae should have already found it. ¡°Finally!¡± Spenne raises his exposed arms above his head. Rapid sparks spread out from him, striking at anything they can find: burning corpses, stone, Gr¨ªmr. Gr¨ªmr doesn¡¯t seem to mind, though. Spenne shouts and I feel the thunder rolling through my chest. An explosion of light blinds me and a body shaking crack almost deafens me. I feel it before I see it. My flames rocket up into the air, following a thicker lightning arc than I¡¯ve ever thought possible. Even as my eyes readjust and confirm what I feel, I struggle to believe it. Two thick, continuous, forking beams of lightning strike the dark smoke clouds above with such ferocity I can scarcely believe it. Thunderous laughter rolls off the ¨¢infean with each pulse of energy he thrusts into the sky. The electricity seems to find a home amongst the sky overcast with smoke. Lightning spreads further, zapping the air outside the cloud of ash and smoke. I can¡¯t turn my eyes away from the sight. Each second Spenne pumps more energy above, the darker the world seems to become. Despite the blinding arc of electricity right before me, the blue sky around the smoke darkens into a black thunderstorm. I don¡¯t know where these clouds are coming from, but before long there is no clear sky to be seen. The ¨¢infean¡¯s beams abruptly cut off, forcing me to squint to readjust my sight now that everything is so dark. The daylight has gone, but the sky is still lit by uncountable lightning strikes arcing through the storm above. Spenne casually rewinds the wraps over his hands. I still can¡¯t take my eyes from the sky above. I can feel the energy thrumming through the air. My flames hijacking the lightning each time an arc crosses the sky. I¡¯m confused by his purpose. It¡¯s incredible, but what does creating this immense lightning storm help? The ¨¢infean turns to us with arms raised, gesturing to the sky he created. ¡°I hope you two are ready.¡± He grins as his voice thrums through me. I can¡¯t help but feel we should have long left already. The sky suddenly quietens. Lightning stops and thunder abates. Spenne clenches his fist as if grasping the air and tugs downward. At his command, the world erupts in chaos and noise. The sky ignites with a thousand bolts striking the earth at once. Some lightning strikes combine into major arcs of electricity, bridging the sky to the ground. These arcs tear through the slope, frying thousands in seconds. The sound is constant. Loud booming overwhelms everything else. I can intimately feel each strike around me. I can¡¯t control the electricity, but it wouldn¡¯t be hard to just reach out and ignite everything around it. Even a league away, far further than I¡¯ve ever been able to feel, the lightning almost begs me to use its power. A bolt crashes into Gr¨ªmr, but he just stands there, unfazed. The energy simply passes around his metal plumage before flowing into the ground. The same can not be said for any other bird still in the skies or the mermineae running along the earth. Vermilions, enantiorns and all other avian hunters fry in midair faster than even the ground creatures are obliterated. Gr¨ªmr nudges me, snapping me from my daze. ¡°We should leave.¡± I nod to him wordlessly and climb onto his back. I circle my flames around us, preparing to give him a boost once he takes off. We barely gain any air when an explosion of dust slams us into a wall of earth. I tumble off Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back and a cloud of particles obscures my vision. It doesn¡¯t burn. I try to clear the dust and ash from the air, but I can¡¯t consume any of it. Wait, no. That¡¯s wrong. The dust is burning, but I can¡¯t feel anything from it. It¡¯s like the particles have no energy at all, which can¡¯t be right. I¡¯ve never felt something without energy. I didn¡¯t think it was possible. The dust quickly disperses, my flames burning it away despite the contrary sensation. A vast swathe of earth is now gone and at the centre, a massive concentration of dust keeps my flames at bay. Once the cloud clears enough for me to see, the frenzied merminea becomes visible. The energy deficient particles pour off the creature¡¯s body faster than my fire can burn through. I can¡¯t see the being through the mass billowing off it. The creature shrieks. A guttural howl like nothing a living creature should produce. With all four legs tensed against the ground, it leaps at Spenne. The ¨¢infean lets out a thunderous laugh. ¡°Yes! Come!¡± Spenne twists a moment before the merminea reaches him, His thick finned tail slamming the creature to the ground. Much of the earth disperses in dust as the merminea descends beneath the surface. The ¨¢infean doesn¡¯t leave it at that. Hundreds of arcs of lightning tear into the crater before joining into one colossal beam unleashing untold power from the skies. When the lightning stops, I have only an instant to see what this merminea looks like before the dust covers it again, and what I see is horrifying. Hollow sockets are all that remain of any eyes it might have had, but that isn¡¯t even bad compared to the rest of its body. There isn¡¯t a touch of skin. Muscle, bone and organs are all exposed, and each are in a decrepit state. Almost like they are falling apart. The dust is its very body decaying at an accelerated rate. How can it even move like that? There¡¯s no way it isn¡¯t excruciating. Spenne cares little for my horrified concerns. His grin grows wider and he drops his arms into a stance that makes him look like he¡¯s ready to charge. ¡°You survived that? Great! I was starting to think coming here was a waste of time.¡± ¡°Murderer!¡± the merminea¡¯s voice comes out in a raspy struggle. Sparks rush out of Spenne¡¯s tail as he rests it back along the ground. The occurrence must surprise him as he lifts it to show a large section where the white wraps have decayed. ¡°Well, that¡¯s annoying,¡± he says. ¡°But no matter.¡± He lowers his tail, but doesn¡¯t let it drag along the ground as he usually would. It hangs suspended behind him. The merminea doesn¡¯t wait any longer, lunging at the ¨¢infean. Spenne grabs the creature by the arms near the shoulder, stopping its offence dead in its tracks. The wraps around his hands immediately decay, exposing the electric arcs of his body to the open air. He flings the merminea away to give himself space and unwinds the white bindings from his arms and head. The merminea charges once more, a blind attack on his enemy. Spenne just waits for it to get close and then strikes out. He snaps his maw over the head of the merminea, biting it clear off. Before it falls over, Spenne swings an open palm into its chest. A lightning bolt strikes from the storm above at the same instance and he sends the merminea flying. It crashes through Imiha¡¯s wall of stone and obliterates it. It all happens so quick that I forget we are trying to get out. Gr¨ªmr digs the tips of his wings into the wall and uses them like fingers to pull himself up. I blast a burst of solid flames beneath me and join him on top of the wall. A little trick I¡¯m happy to have learnt. I¡¯m just about to help Gr¨ªmr take off again, when two rather concerning events happen. The dust merminea climbs out of the wreckage, headless, but still moving. While that is bad in itself, the two new merminea standing on the wall opposite me are far more worrying. Both exude as much dust and ash as their friend below. Chapter 111: Viisin The headless merminea walks out from the remains of the wall. A gash through the land shows exactly where Spenne sent him flying. As I watch, the dusty silhouette of its head regrows. It starts as a nub and slowly regenerates into the pointed snout shape unique to the merminea. I thought flesh creatures had brains in their head which they couldn¡¯t live without. Or was that just a few races? Each of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s possessed bodies has been like that, but maybe the mermineae are different. It¡¯s hard to tell if it¡¯s hurt because of the shroud, but it walks without issue despite taking a direct hit from Spenne¡¯s powerful lightning. Unlike what I expect, it doesn¡¯t rush in for the attack immediately. Instead, the creature''s new head points up toward the duo of new arrivals. ¡°This is what you want?¡± it gasps out with its gravelly voice. ¡°You are so opposed to our people find a better home that you would rather an outsider slaughter the lot?¡± The merminea spits, but the action does nothing but blow out a plume of dust. ¡°You refuse to bear the weight of their deaths yourselves.¡± One of the two standing on the wall speaks up, his voice a similar hoarse croak. ¡°Former Viisin Noriis, we did not bring the outsiders here to murder our brethren.¡± It turns toward Spenne, who is being surprisingly patient as they talk. I can¡¯t tell if the creature is angry or not, because dust shrouds its face, but I¡¯d say it¡¯s pretty likely. ¡°We only intended your death,¡± it says, turning back to the first dust merminea. ¡°Former Viisin?¡± the creature below chuckles, a harrowing and painful sounding laugh. ¡°I am Viisin until the day Kalma takes back her gift,¡± It says the word as if chewing on something foul. Is that why their bodies are like this? Some gift from Kalma? If it causes your body to be in a constant state of decay, how could it be anything but a curse? ¡°And if you didn¡¯t bring them for the slaughter of our kind, then why?¡± The two¡­ Viisin? They don¡¯t reply. Rather, they attack immediately. Noriis is already looking down at the crevice. It¡¯s too late to blind the Viisin from our purpose. A massive explosion of dust obscures the three as the duo sends the lone creature sprawling. Spenne looks around confused, as if he never expected to be ignored while his rain of lighting continues in the background. A frown crosses his face and he looks after the trio of Viisin as if he¡¯s been slighted. We¡¯ve already held around long enough. I nudge Gr¨ªmr to take off again just as a heavy crack of thunder blows through me. Spenne is gone. Looks like he¡¯s chasing after the Viisin. In no time, we are speeding through the skies. We face no opposition. No birds of prey fly around, nor are there any Forvaal waiting to burn us from below. The vast thunderstorm has left the land a horrorscape. The sky is dark, only illuminated by the constant flashes. Below, all that remains are corpses. Some are charred, some lay in pieces, some still burn from the fire. There is not much snow remaining. Instead, the ground is a muddy quagmire of dirt, water and blood. I grip Gr¨ªmr¡¯s feathers tighter. Beyond the slaughter beneath us are numerous gouges through the land, likely a consequence of the fight between Viisin. I don¡¯t care for these beings. They¡¯ve caused nothing but pain, worry and stress for us. I don¡¯t like the mermineae, but this is still a hard sight to take in. Thousands of bodies lay dead, and we are leaving without returning their energy to the cycle. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be fine. They aren¡¯t buried after all. Once the storm clears, the avian hunters will have a feast for a good while. Sudden, intense energy rushes through my body, down into Gr¨ªmr. It is both incredible and painful. Too much heat even for me crashes through my body for an instant before it¡¯s gone. The flash of light and rumbling thunder tell me we I was just hit by lightning. It¡¯s different, feeling it directly rather than through my inner flame. I feel myself trying to reach for that intensity and take it for myself. I yearn for that heat, but I know I¡¯m far from that capability myself. Like Magma when I was a child, any more than an instant of that heat would be excruciating. The lightning passed through Gr¨ªmr as well, but he seems to have barely felt it. Or maybe he¡¯s just putting on an act. I know he pushes his bodies further than they should naturally go. I hope he doesn¡¯t hide his problems from me. It is only the two of us now. It¡¯s not likely Spenne will follow along with us. Even if he wants to, I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d want that. The ¨¢infean is strong, immensely so. But if we meet anyone that might not have the same resistance to his electricity, he¡¯s already proven the concerns of my teammates.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Maybe that¡¯s being cruel. He did wait until the others were gone, as was asked of him, after all. There might be a way to work with him by giving him battles with no allies around. Well, it¡¯s not like we need to worry about that anymore. The path is closed and my team is on their way to kick-start the nations¡¯ defence. Assuming they aren¡¯t already aware of the threat. All Gr¨ªmr and I need to do now, is find another way back. The only options I can think of, are to follow the Alps to the south and eventually out west, near where the wasteland should be. The other option is to follow the trail of mountains north. I don¡¯t doubt it¡¯ll be a long travel, but we can fly; it¡¯ll be far quicker than it otherwise might have been. The constant zapping in the thunderclouds above and lightning strikes halt. I turn my head back curiously. Is Spenne finished? Did he kill the trio or did they kill him? A massive dust plume rises from right above where the tunnel should be. A pit of dread rises in my chest at the sight. Ranked stone can resist the Viisin¡¯s decay, right? It was mentioned a Forvaal¡¯s sight wouldn¡¯t be able to reopen it, but these Viisin are on a completely different level. Will it still hold them off? Without warning, the storm unleashes a single, incomparable lightning arc down into the cloud of dust. A gust of air slams into us along with a deafening boom of thunder, sending us hurtling away. The beam continues to burn down on the earth for nearly ten seconds before it cuts off. The air feels empty. The static that has accompanied us for a while now is simply gone. There are no more dust clouds, nor are there more arcs of lightning. I hope that means the Viisin are dead. As concerning as Spenne is, I¡¯d much rather have him around than the mermineae that just saw the death of many of their people at the hands of an ¡®outsider¡¯. I don¡¯t want to think about the scenario where the fighting hasn¡¯t concluded and it¡¯s simply fallen into the cavern below the surface. If they¡¯ve reopened the tunnel in their brawl, my team will soon have more to worry about than the mermineae already down there. If that¡¯s the case, Gr¨ªmr and I will have to figure something out before we can even consider wandering off on a blind search. ??? I don¡¯t know what to do. We¡¯ve come back to the burrow we used as a meeting point with the mermineae, but there is no sign of the clergy members. Even after waiting a full night, no one shows up. I hoped to find them again to learn if the tunnel has reopened, but it doesn¡¯t look like they¡¯re coming. Are they dead? Or are they simply wiping their hands of us? Not everyone on the slope died. As we flew further away from the centre of chaos, we passed by many mermineae fleeing down the Alps. It would have been great if we could just swoop down and question one of them, but there was no chance any of those running away would know. If the Viisin broke through the tunnel, I hope the others made it far enough away before then. I¡­ wish we could have stayed together longer. It is obviously because of my resistance that we have been forced to split. I selfishly hoped they would stay with me despite the current concerns. It is unreasonable of me, I know, but I didn¡¯t want them to leave me. Gr¨ªmr has stayed with me, and I¡¯m grateful, but it also makes me feel guilty. He won¡¯t be able to see his home for a long time because of me. How can I make it up to him? ¡°Solvei, we can¡¯t wait around here any longer,¡± Gr¨ªmr says. ¡°Then where do we go?¡± I ask. ¡°How could we stop the rest of the mermineae from passing into the Alps?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Gr¨ªmr shakes his heavy head. ¡°But we shouldn¡¯t stay here. If any of those Viisin follow us¡­ well, I don¡¯t like our chances.¡± My flames churn in my chest. If they act logically, then there¡¯s no reason for them to come for us. We weren¡¯t the ones to kill all those mermineae. We aren¡¯t a threat to them. But I can¡¯t help but feel they won¡¯t see it the same way. A lot of this whole situation doesn¡¯t make sense to me. What was the purpose of sending us in at the same time as the attack by the Viisin? I¡¯m assuming I understand this right; the Viisin duo that I didn¡¯t hear the names of are part of the clergy, while the other, Noriis, is with the traitors. For the closure of the tunnel to succeed, Noriis would have to be dead. So why didn¡¯t they send in the other two to kill the Viisin first? Maybe they were so assured of themselves that they could kill Noriis before they could realise the tunnel was being sealed, but that is incredibly foolish. The alternative is that they didn¡¯t care about whether the path was closed or not, they just sent us in as a distraction or maybe in an effort to have us killed. But even that seems strange, the Viisin have enough strength that our presence ¡ª before Spenne ¡ª would mean nothing to them. Why not just kill us before any of this happened? The clergy has shown they have the strength, so why don¡¯t they simply take control of the entrance themselves? No matter which way I twist their actions and motivations, there always seems to be a piece missing. I don¡¯t know what to do now, but Gr¨ªmr is right; we shouldn¡¯t stay any longer. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡± I climb to his back, and he spreads his long metal wings. ¡°I want to know if the path is still open, but we can¡¯t go back. Let¡¯s go have a look at the mass migration of mermineae. They¡¯ll be the first to learn if the tunnel is permanently closed.¡± I¡¯d hoped to put all this behind me. Once we did our part to stop the merminea invasion on my friends¡¯ home, I¡¯d wanted to just enjoy the experience of searching new lands. But my friends are still in danger. I can¡¯t relax until I¡¯m certain the threat is gone. If I was strong enough, I would cross the Alps and stop the mermineae myself. But I¡¯m not. I¡¯ve gained a lot recently, but taking on an army would be too much. I¡¯m still nowhere close to the level of Hund. Even if I was strong enough, I couldn¡¯t cross the Alps anyway. My mind won¡¯t let me. My decisions, limited by nothing other than my nous. An intense, stabbing pain assaults me. I clutch my hands over my eyes and nearly tumble right off Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back. Knives twist through my mind for an agonisingly long few seconds. When it finally abates, my mind is blank and I do nothing but stare into the sky. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Gr¨ªmr¡¯s concerned voice brings me back to focus. I shake my head. ¡°Yeah, I am now.¡± ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± This isn¡¯t the first time experiencing this pain. It¡¯s hit a few times, but never this bad. Hopefully, it¡¯s nothing to worry about. We already have too much to focus on. First, let¡¯s find out if the mermineae are still moving to the Alps, then I can worry about lesser issues. Chapter 112: Pivot It¡¯s troubling, but there was never any lie about the threat of mass migration. The first mermineae are far closer to reaching the tunnel than we were told; only a day¡¯s travel at most. The only respite was how split they travel. Gr¨ªmr flies low, keeping the ground just within the range of my thermal sense. The mermineae hold an almost constant fifty metre separation from one another as they travel. At first, I thought this was a good thing; if they aren¡¯t densely packed, then there can¡¯t be too many of them, right? That couldn¡¯t be any further from the truth. We travel above for an hour, but they just never seem to end. By the time we reach the other end of their numbers, we must have travelled almost ten leagues. How many hundreds of thousands are there? I was worried Forvaal amongst them would burn us out of the sky, but other than freezing at our presence, they never reacted to us. We dove and snatched three mermineae during our flight, but not once did their surrounding kin attempt to help them. It is fortunate for us, but it¡¯s still shocking to see the lack of effort they put into saving their brethren. How is a race like this, that cares so little for one another, able to unite enough to travel such a long distance together? None we interrogated knew anything about the tunnel being sealed. Either the information didn¡¯t travel fast enough, or they have been given no reason to stop moving. It would be nice if it has remained sealed. I¡¯m not about to be complacent, though. Until we get some form of confirmation that they have lost their route through the mountains, I¡¯m going to assume the path is open. But¡­ what do we do? I doubt flying along and burning any mermineae I see will be an effective use of my time. I¡¯m more likely to bring those Viisin down on me than I am to put a dent in their advance. Should we go looking for the other Beith mercenaries that are supposed to be wandering around the Euroclydon¡¯s Hunting Grounds? But we have no idea where to start. Even when we had the directions from the clergy, it had still been tremendously time consuming to find them. One group we still weren¡¯t able to find. Even if we had more strength at our side, we would need to hold the tunnel so that it couldn¡¯t be reopened. I doubt Spenne or any of the other Beiths we find would sit still on guard duty for long. There¡¯s a reason they¡¯re not waiting around back in the pact nations. I cast my gaze over the plains, hoping for some idea to hit me. My eyes fall on the Titan, resting in the heights of the Alps. I shake my head. Reasonable ideas, not suicidal ones. We fly without purpose for a few more minutes before I give in and voice my idea. ¡°What if we lead the Titan to the tunnel?¡± Gr¨ªmr jerks, hard. His wings tilt upward and catch enough drag that I¡¯m sent rolling over his head. A swift jet of flame halts my momentum and I pull myself back on top of Gr¨ªmr. It¡¯s surprising how quick I can stop myself when I¡¯m incorporeal. He readjusts his flight before he can fall into a downward spiral. ¡°Are you mad? We were lucky the creatures down in that cavern didn¡¯t crush us the last time I went along with your plan.¡± ¡°It worked then, didn¡¯t it?¡± I ask. I don¡¯t mean to sound arrogant, but I really don¡¯t have a better plan right now. ¡°The Titans are on a level far beyond anything comparable. An attempt to manipulate one would be insanity.¡± I know that. I know how devastatingly dangerous the Titans can be. But I¡¯m just trying to throw ideas out there. Everything else we¡¯ve come up with is simply a variation of ¡®find more Beith¡¯ or ¡®massacre the merminea¡¯. Neither of which is all that helpful now that we know the existence of the Viisin. Spenne, apparently one of the strongest Beiths, couldn¡¯t kill one, despite the unbelievable power he¡¯d thrown into his attack. How many more of these are hiding amongst the mermineae? The only relieving aspect of the Viisin is that they can¡¯t hide like the rest of the mermineae. I assume. Eldest Ember, I hope they can¡¯t pretend to be normal mermineae. ¡°Then what can we do?¡± I snap. ¡°Would you rather we go find their god and say her believers are trying to run?¡± That¡¯s a far worse idea than trying to bait the Titan. I¡¯d much rather deal with something that pays me the same attention one would a bug than the being venerated from fear. I huff in annoyance, lay back, and stare up at the sky. The line between the moon and horizon hasn¡¯t changed. Much to my relief, it seems my first assumption that the line was a tear created by some Titan was wrong. Well, I don¡¯t know it isn¡¯t for sure, but it hasn¡¯t opened wider in the time I¡¯ve been in these plains. The line distracts me every time I look at the moon, that I¡¯ve never really noticed that the orb approaches far too close to the Eternal Inferno to be normal. I swear it used to be twice the distance at its closest. Is the moon getting closer? What happens when it hits the Eternal Inferno? Will Eldest Ember be okay? If she joins the Eternal Inferno, then who will look over the lands? Who will burn away the darkness? If that were to happen, I can¡¯t imagine what horrific future awaits. It¡¯s taken something like three or four whole years to get this close. If we have the same time until they collide, then that is ages. I¡¯m sure Eldest Ember will save herself in time.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. I snap my head away from the moon. Enough with thoughts of terrifying possible futures. Huh. What else besides Kalma are the mermineae scared of? Revontulet and centzon. ¡°Gr¨ªmr!¡± I jump to my feet, nearly tumbling off his back again. I really should get back around to practising my balance. ¡°Go back to the Dead Forest.¡± ¡°Why?¡± he tilts his head back at me. ¡°The centzon! The mermineae are absolutely terrified of them. Almost as much as they are of Kalma. If we can talk to them, it¡¯s possible we could have them fight for the tunnel.¡± ¡°And let another race learn to reach our side of the Alps? A race that scares the one we already have a problem with?¡± I drop again. I hadn¡¯t considered that. Of course, we can¡¯t just tell them there is a way across the mountains. How do we know they won¡¯t do the same as the mermineae and add another problem for the people back home to deal with? Do we even have a reason to believe they¡¯ll want to attack the mermineae? They might even consider them leaving the plains a good thing. No, we still know nothing about them. The only thing we know is they enjoy skinning mermineae alive, but who knows if that¡¯s actually true. What we need now is information. With little other option, finding where they live and learning anything we can about them might be our best bet. ¡°I still think we should go,¡± I say. ¡°We don¡¯t have to tell them about the tunnel, but gauging their thoughts might give us something to work with.¡± Gr¨ªmr hums, unconvinced. ¡°It¡¯s this or the Titan idea.¡± If he¡¯s going to be this resistant, I just have to force him to agree. He tilts his head back at me, giving me a dirty glare, but he changes direction regardless. I hate forcing him like this, but we¡¯ll get nowhere otherwise. Gr¨ªmr lets indecision cloud his judgement too often. I noticed it back in the caverns, and it¡¯s showing itself now. When there are no good options, he becomes overly passive, like waiting around will solve everything. Actually, that¡¯s unreasonably harsh of me. He wasn¡¯t indecisive when it came to staying by my side. He hardly took a moment before he gave up the opportunity to return home. Without Gr¨ªmr¡¯s speed, it might take me years to find a way back across the Alps. I still need to test whether the avian hunters will attack me if I make my bird form look bigger. It¡¯ll be at least a week before we reach the Dead Forest. By the time we return, the entire swarm of mermineae will have entered the tunnels. It¡¯s frustrating, but we have no way to prevent that. We can only try to limit any more passing afterwards. If the centzon turn out to be trustworthy, it might even be worth sending them down. If they wipe each other out, all the better. For now, I have a lot of time on my hands. I need to get back to improving my control. My physical flames have been an incredible asset so far. They aren¡¯t all too strong. Any decent application of strength will break through them, but the utility they provide is impressive. I can throw myself around with jets, carry things, and make an adequate wall against the decay eyes of the Forvaal. More physical creations like the cinder chains were alright for tripping mermineae up, but they break far too easily for my liking. I¡¯d like to improve my control, as I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll increase the solidity of my flame, but like my efforts to compress my fire, I¡¯ve hit a wall. Nothing I seem to do or practice seems to allow any progress. There¡¯s something I¡¯m missing and until I find out what that is, I¡¯ll be stuck. So, instead of wasting my time, I turn my attention to the odd effects I¡¯ve noticed recently. Primarily, how my flames still help Gr¨ªmr gain air quicker even without bound mass. I thought by pelting the underside of his wings with my solid flames, it would be like throwing a thousand tiny rocks at him. Not enough to hurt, but enough to push him upward. But there was still some effect pushing him upward after they¡¯d lost their tangibility. I take a loose strip of cloth from my pocket. Remains of the gloves my outfit used to connect with. During our travel, Jav was nice enough to repair much of the torso, but the full sleeves and hood were incorrigible. Immediately, the cloth tries to fly off in the intense wind. I twist in my seat, trying to block the breeze with my body, but that makes very little difference. I huff in annoyance and cast a spherical shell of physical fire around me. It¡¯s not totally effective, but it¡¯s blocks enough of the wind that my little strip of cloth doesn¡¯t immediately fly off when I open my palm. Despite my less than optimal testing conditions, I¡¯m ready to see if I can replicate that unexplained lift effect. First, I apply a tiny stream of physical flame to the underside of the cloth. As usual, I prevent the flame from eating at the threads of the cloth. It takes barely a thought these days to prevent things I don¡¯t want from burning. The cloth flutters in my grip, trying to fly off. Not at all surprising. It¡¯s the same thing as pushing it with my finger, but testing it doesn¡¯t hurt. I let the fabric settle before the next trial. Stripping my inner flame to its normal state, I push it against the remains of my glove. At first, it blows up, away from the flame, but after the initial rush upward, it falls limp. Strangely, completely entrapped in my flame, it droops faster than in normal air. What is going on? I¡¯m sure I replicated exactly what I did. Using both types of fire, I try again, but get the same result. I groan in frustration as I try to remember exactly what conditions pushed Gr¨ªmr higher. ¡°You alright back there?¡± the very object of my confusion asks. I pocket the cloth, and twist to Gr¨ªmr¡¯s head, dispersing the shell as I do. ¡°Gr¨ªmr, do you mind if I wrap you in fire?¡± I might as well make sure the conditions are as close as possible. ¡°¡­sure?¡± he says, but the hesitance and confusion are clear. I don¡¯t hesitate, sending out a massive ball of fire beneath us. My inner flame rockets upward, consuming all of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s impressive wingspan in a blazing pillar. There is some lift at the start, but it doesn¡¯t give us much height. ¡°Uh¡­ why are you doing this?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks. Was it just luck the first time it happened? I¡¯m about to pull back on the flames when I notice Gr¨ªmr isn¡¯t flying straight anymore. He¡¯s gradually angling downward despite his wings remaining horizontal. Gr¨ªmr notices after I do and, in a panic, beats his massive wings. That seems to let him balance out his flight, making space from my flame at the same time, but as soon as the fire engulfs his wings once more, he¡¯s falling again. He Is forced to flap his wings to stop from losing altitude. Gr¨ªmr gives me an annoyed glance, and I quickly extinguish the pillar. This isn¡¯t the same effect as I witnessed back during our escape, but it is definitely interesting. Could I drop birds out of the sky by covering their wings? It¡¯ll at least make their flight difficult. Now that I think about it, I wasn¡¯t consuming the air when I gave Gr¨ªmr a boost. Could that make a difference? I cover myself once more and hold the cloth out in front of me. This time, I prevent my inner flame from eating the air as it blows over the fabric. It actually flutters this time. I check the shell in case there is a gust from outside causing it, but even a third try shows I don¡¯t need to create the taxing physical flames to give Gr¨ªmr a boost anymore. Experimenting further, I find my flames don¡¯t even need to touch the cloth to move it. A small application of heat below forces the air up and the cloth flutters almost as much as it does in the midst of my fire. It seems almost contradictory that my flames seem to be more effective when they aren¡¯t consuming the air. What could I do with this? ¡°Hey Gr¨ªmr, can I cover you in fire again?¡± I receive a groan in response, but that isn¡¯t a no. Chapter 113: Minefield It took a while of flying, but finally we¡¯re getting close. I¡¯m sure of it. Once we reached the Dead Forest again, Gr¨ªmr and I head to the north. We had no idea exactly where they might be other than the general direction, but neither of us could think of a better idea. We definitely had plenty of thoughts on what might go wrong, though. They might attack without so much as a greeting; maybe they¡¯ll listen to us but do nothing other than waste our time; or even trap us. We don¡¯t even know if they are actually sapient. I¡¯ve only assumed they are because the way Aana described them made them seem methodically cruel rather than just savage as a normal beast would be. I let out a breath. Unsupported thoughts like these do nothing but make me stressed. We¡¯ll find out whether we can work with them soon enough. We actually have a reason to believe they are nearby now. The forest of stumps ended a while ago. But instead of a natural end, it was an immediate transition into an area where the earth had been flipped upside down. Exposed to open air, lay a dense underground expanse of roots. The clear cut marks and missing wooden stumps screamed a logging zone. We have seen no mermineae with a need for wood, so it is a good sign that these centzon are close by. It also shows they have intelligence, which is a relief. The roots below the surface were interesting to see. The base of each stump intertwining to create a carpet of wood buried beneath the ground. It explains how the stumps survived despite everything else being blown away; each one has the support of the entire forest to keep it grounded. In near no time at all, we come across a long narrow canyon, which is a unique sight in the otherwise flat plains. Considering the timing, there¡¯s no doubt in my mind these centzon reside somewhere along this gorge. We coast along, searching down in the slot canyon for any sign of movement. Its narrow walls block much of our sight, but I can¡¯t help the groan that escapes me when I see what is at the bottom. Water rapids rush along the chasm depths. The intense flow sends water as high as halfway up the vertical walls when it slams against rock. I take it back. The timing means nothing. This is just a place they get the water they need, not a place for them to live. My hope is immediately crushed as Gr¨ªmr speaks up. ¡°Look, there¡¯s a tower ahead.¡± Unfortunately, he¡¯s right. About half a league ahead of us is a structure positioned on the edge of the narrow canyon. No other structures surround it. It¡¯s a good indication if they can build, but the sign of a single building means there will be more. Considering I can¡¯t see any, I know I¡¯m not going to like where they are. In no time, my fears are confirmed. We fly high over the tower and beneath it, within the narrow canyon, is a vast number of structures bridging the huge earth walls. A city suspended over water. How much worse could it be? It¡¯s okay. There isn¡¯t anything I need to worry about. I can fly even without wings now. It may be nowhere near as efficient or controllable as using wings, but shooting out bursts of physical flame would be enough to stop me falling to my death. It would still be better if I didn¡¯t have that thought looming over me for my entire time here. And hey, maybe there will be no need to enter the city, anyway. Inspecting the city from this height doesn¡¯t give us much more information other than the knowledge that they are intelligent enough to build hanging structures. Even the tower anchors to the inner wall, rather than using the surface as a base. I¡¯d like to get lower and look over the city from closer, but considering Gr¨ªmr¡¯s body, I¡¯d rather they don¡¯t think we are a beast looking for a meal. Instead, we are going to have to approach from land. That¡¯s the only way I can think of that will give them the impression we aren¡¯t here to attack. As soon as we land, a few hundred metres from the tower, I feel the heat of a few creatures rushing to surround us. At first, I think they are mermineae. They are invisible to sight and have a similar form. But a few things differentiate them from the creatures I¡¯ve seen till now. These beings are slow. They don¡¯t even reach half the average merminea¡¯s speed. Their shape is wrong too. While they seem similar, their bodies are definitely bulkier and taller. They don¡¯t have that distinct flowing run that only the lithe merminea bodies can produce. ¡°They¡¯re surrounding us.¡± I inform Gr¨ªmr. ¡°Don¡¯t point them out this time. It¡¯ll be easier to talk if they think they have one up on us.¡± I nod and take the lead. Gr¨ªmr is controlling a creature that they would already be familiar with, one that usually lacks intelligence, so he follows behind with his beak to the ground. I need their attention on me, the one completely unique to them. It¡¯ll be better for us if their thoughts are curious rather than defensive. Forgive me, Uncle Rivin. I let go of my controlled body and leave the flames of my form visible to all. I wouldn¡¯t go against my tribe¡¯s teachings if it weren¡¯t necessary. Emphasis on how different I am to anything else they¡¯ve seen is the best chance we have of them not opening with hostility. Whether that¡¯s out of paranoia or curiosity, it matters little. The bulky, hidden shapes I assume are centzon keep their distance as I approach the tower. It¡¯s a strange structure. The main support pillars are a whole piece, like they¡¯ve been cut right out of the side of a cliff. Long metal hooks protrude from the front. Massive platforms of stone rest on its top and back; the side facing the canyon. How it would ever survive the Euroclydon¡¯s wind, I do not know.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. More centzon surround the two of us as we continue our walk. None yet show themselves, but that might be because they don¡¯t know we¡¯re here to talk. Time to fix that. ¡°Hello,¡± I call out, forcing myself not to look directly at any of them. ¡°We would like to talk.¡± None show themselves, but they creep forward. Some are as close as thirty metres away now and yet they still don¡¯t announce their presence. I cast a concerned glance back, but Gr¨ªmr just returns my gaze. So much for hoping he¡¯d speak up too. Upon taking my next step, the ground opens around me. Pointy teeth slam into me before I can even blink. They pierce my head and disperse it into flame without resistance. What is this? Some giant earth monster? Is this similar to a colossal worm? I try to figure out what¡¯s going on while my head and sight reform. The familiar taste of metal runs through another point in my chest and in my hand. I hear a grinding clank too late to react and I suddenly feel myself jerked downward, beneath the earth. Something heavy slams down from above, jolting both me and the metal teeth down. The jaw gripping me clamps down harder. I¡¯m trapped? My flames lash out around me, burning anything I can touch. Another bang rocks the earth and the stone above presses down with far more force than before. This isn¡¯t the time to be panicking. I¡¯ve already moved beyond that. I can work through this. The first thing I notice is that this isn¡¯t some creature. The teeth are metal and arrayed far too disorganised to be some monster¡¯s maw. It¡¯s lucky my body can revert to incorporeal, the crushing pressure pushing down on me right now is immense. Far more than I could ever hope to survive if not for my unique body. First, I set to eating away the metal spears through my chest. I could simply walk out of it, but I¡¯d like to keep my outfit intact. The metal is something I¡¯ve never tasted before. It¡¯s like steel or iron, but there is something else added. Regardless of what it is, it melts just as fast as iron. I move my flames on to everything else around me, burning my way back to the surface. Now that I can inspect my surroundings properly, I realise that this whole thing is a contraption. The metal teeth attach to two stone frames which clamped closed around my sides. Both sections bind to a complicated mess of metal. Above me is a massive slab of stone. The centzon must have slammed it over me, to block my escape. Once I burn through the stone, I realise it isn¡¯t the only layer. Above is another, thicker slab. How did they even move these massive pieces in such a short time? They definitely weren¡¯t carrying them. The stone, metal and earth all mix in a molten pool around me. The flames in my chest churn. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve been this incensed in a long while. Who do they think they are to trap me when I¡¯m trying to greet them? I wasn¡¯t planning to fight, even if they attacked us. Just running and trying another approach later was the plan. But I can¡¯t do that now. I¡¯m never going to let anyone who tries to trap me get off without the burns to remember their mistake. The last of the stone above crumbles away and the sounds from above filter in. Gr¨ªmr is screeching in rage. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard him like this, but the buzzing and grinding of his body amplifies his hateful squawks. Only some shouted words are coherent, focus on making himself understandable lost in his rage. Flames erupt around me, blasting out of the molten earth pooling around me and spreading as far as I can push them. Gr¨ªmr is trapped under a contraption not dissimilar from what dragged me underground. Long metal teeth pierce his wings, locking them to the ground with the weight of heavy cubic stone blocks. As my flames spread over the four centzon standing around Gr¨ªmr, I make them burn. I care nothing for asking their help any longer. All that matters is the incineration of the beings that dare attempt to trap us. Their fur coats pulverise, stripping them of their camouflage. Beneath the colour changing fur is another layer, a thin cover of fur that is far harder to burn. My flames don¡¯t let up even as they sprint away. I incinerate through this second layer and dig into their skin. My flames spread toward the further centzon, but they back away before I can attempt to immolate them. I direct my focus to the contraption pinning Gr¨ªmr. The joints are all made with that strange metal, which makes tearing it apart simple. Once each joint is soft enough, Gr¨ªmr jerks his wings free from their prisons. With leverage regained, he shoves the stone clamping down on his back off to the side. Each of my enemies has backed up outside my range, most able to extinguish the flames coating their hides despite my intent to keep them burning. I clench my fist in irritation. I hadn¡¯t even been able to kill one of them. With a short jet beneath me, I launch out of my molten hole and return to Gr¨ªmr¡¯s side. Now that my flames cover everything around us, I can see that the ground isn¡¯t as simple as it appears. Beneath the flat earth visibly indistinguishable from the rest of the plains, is a frightening collection of contraptions. Traps. There are only a few paths forward that don¡¯t lead one through another snare. As my flames burn into the small cracks between these heavy contraptions hidden under the surface, I feel an array of moving parts. Massive axles and gears constantly rotate metres beneath the static surface traps. I look down at the tear right through the chest of my outfit. Jav just fixed this. The fire twist around me, roiling in anger and wanting to scorch through everything. I know I¡¯m unreasonably infuriated right now. But I can¡¯t help it. Everything has just been stacking on top of me in these past months. The mermineae that treat us with barely disguised contempt. The stress of constant danger. But worst of all, the rage from my betrayal which I¡¯ve had no way to vent. I¡¯d wanted to burn them alive, but I couldn¡¯t do that. I still care for them. Now, these centzon, these beings that I have no attachment dare attempt to trap me? I need to keep on good terms with them, but right now, I do not care. I just want to scream at the world that it can¡¯t mess with me anymore. I won¡¯t let it. My flames stop eating the air. Like with my small experiment, they let the air move with it. I fuel the flames with my energy and allow the air to carry them naturally. The change isn¡¯t obvious immediately. The widespread fire slowly continues to spread toward the centzon near two hundred metres away. I halt its onward march and wait to see the changes for myself. Gradually, the wind picks up. The grass and other small flora flutters, bending toward my flames as the wind rushes in. The centzon I can see soon feel the effect. Their fur quivers as the air blasts past them. The effect on my fire is far greater than I¡¯d even hoped. The rushing air carries my flames hundreds of metres into the air without so much as a push from me. With a small nudge, the flames spin around me. It¡¯s slow at first, but the wind picks up again and the firestorm grows. Twisting and rising, the firestorm grows another few hundred metres. The spiralling twister blazes hotter over my centralised body than should be possible. The base of the firestorm melts away rock. I make sure each and every trap I find is properly reduced to molten slag. The centzon watch on from a distance as I obliterate their contraptions, though most tilt their heads up toward the towering flames. Most of the centzon that lost their camouflage coats have run off into hiding, but I can still sense the rest of them. Do they think they are hidden? I tilt the twisting pillar of flame toward the largest group, hoping to drop the firestorm on their heads. Cinders rain down on them, but most of my burning storm disperses before it tilts enough to engulf them. For a moment, I¡¯m disappointed, but that last only until I notice the new effect created. My flames rotate in several horizontal columns that jettison an enormous amount of flame out over the land between us. It takes almost no time until the air caught beneath this rush of fire heats to the point of ignition. I hardly have to put in any effort at all. The airflow and fuel along the ground allow the fire to spread at an incredible pace. It takes no time for the massive fire to consume every patch of grass between me and the centzon, engulfing them in my inferno. Never again. I¡¯ll forgive no one that tries to take my freedom. Chapter 114: Centzon The centzon scramble to escape the flames, but there¡¯s no avoiding it this time. The blaze spreads astonishingly quickly. What distance they had is swallowed in seconds, leaving them with nowhere to escape. Their camouflage coats burn off their backs as the centzon attempt to flee. I now realise it is a cloth made from mermineae fur rather than their own hide. I relish in the feeling of just letting go for once. Fire is meant to spread and burn. Holding back for the sake of ¡®civility¡¯ or ¡®cooperation¡¯, what¡¯s the point of that? These beings are likely just going to work against our interests, just like the mermineae did when they should¡¯ve had every reason to collaborate. A whistle-like siren blares through the roar of my firestorm. I turn toward the tower now adding to the dissonance, and push the flames toward it. We¡¯re getting well out of my range of control now, but the firestorm is still all too willing to spread. Gr¨ªmr nudges me with his beak, but I ignore him. He wants me to pull back, but I won¡¯t. They don¡¯t deserve mercy. I was willing to be friendly at first, but these creatures need to be shown that I¡¯m not to be messed with. I belatedly note that the centzon are collecting around a few openings in the earth. They pile in one after the other. Do they really think that will be enough to escape? I simply direct the flame down the narrow stone tube after them. As the last of the centzon close a heavy hatch behind them, I¡¯m suddenly cut off from the fire down with them. I can still feel it ¡ª barely ¡ª but without a direct connection, I cannot control it. The centzon beneath the surface are quick to extinguish my flames, but they don¡¯t get away without some serious muscle-deep burns. It¡¯ll only take a few seconds to melt through the hatch¡­ is what I think until I actually attempt to melt the stone. I can¡¯t even feel it heating. I try burning around the hatch. The earth melts with ease, but as soon as I reach the shaft, I find it made of the same heat-resistant stone. It¡¯s like the suits my Henosis captors wore. The reminder really doesn¡¯t help my mood. I want to burn after them, but that irritating siren still blares in my ears. The firestorm is just about to reach the tower when the sound cuts out. Heavy banging takes its place. A rhythmic clanging of stone and metal colliding. All along the edge of the canyon, running hundreds of metres to both sides of the tower, rises a massive stone wall. Sections rise without uniformity, but once they slam into place, a daunting bulwark stands as one. Intricate contraptions of metal line the stone. If the field of traps is any indication, it will be better to destroy them before their purpose is revealed. I don¡¯t dare think that all their defences are as ineffective as the ones I destroyed without effort. I push forward, intending to melt the structures as fast as possible, but I¡¯m too slow. From the top of the walls, flowing streams of water shower the stone. Fortunately, I spot the action fast enough to strip the inferno of my inner flame. It¡¯s not instant, but I take them away from the point of impact to get off safely. The firestorm slams into the wet wall and blasts over it. An immense amount of steam rises, but the wall takes no damage. I consider for a moment pushing my inner flame back into the inferno and forcing it up and over the wall. Before I can proceed with my plan, huge, metre wide vents slide open along the walls. Powerful torrents of water blow out of each new hole in the walls. I¡¯m immensely grateful for my hesitation to act. If I¡¯d still had a part of myself in that, I can¡¯t imagine the pain that would follow. Strangely enough, the firestorm isn¡¯t put out as quickly as I thought it would at the touch of water. A phantom ache stings my chest as I feel the flames at my peripheral dying off, facing opposition to its previously unhampered growth. I want to take control, to send my flames up the tower and down the shafts, but I can¡¯t. As much as I want to punish these creatures for their attempt at snatching my freedom, the gushing water is far too great of a threat. Why did it have to be water? So much of the liquid is blasted out along the wall. In no time at all, the pools of water grow into a flood. I have to climb Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back as, even hundreds of metres away, the water flows over the land. They must be pumping an ocean¡¯s worth of water up into the plains. Their stone walls block it from falling back into the canyon, leaving the entirety to spread and fill the pits where their old traps once rested. Lava cools as an immense amount of steam rises. Soon, the firestorm has no ground to stand on. Only the air burns as the wind continues to feed it, but with nothing to grasp onto, it eventually weakens and disperses. ¡°Solvei! Are you with me?¡± ¡°What?¡± I ask dumbly. What does he mean? I¡¯ve been here the whole time. ¡°You need to stop. Remember why we¡¯re here.¡± No. I can¡¯t. It¡¯s happened far too many times now. I will let no one get away with treating me like shit anymore. If I let them go, then nobody will ever get it through their heads that I¡¯m not going to let them get away with messing with me. ¡°Take me over their wall,¡± I tell him. ¡°No, you can¡¯t kill them. We still need them.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°If you won¡¯t help, then I¡¯ll go myself.¡± I immediately start on growing wings. It¡¯ll be hard to get past their walls with the rising steam, but I¡¯ll do what I must. ¡°Stop this! Do you really want to leave the merminea invasion unopposed? What about the people who can¡¯t defend themselves?¡± Gr¨ªmr could stop me easily if he truly wanted. The water is flowing past his talon as we speak, after all. But he doesn¡¯t, so I continue my change. ¡°These creatures have already shown their colours. They wouldn¡¯t help us, regardless.¡± Gr¨ªmr slumps. ¡°Is that really what you want? You won¡¯t put aside this slight for the sake of those back home?¡± Why are you looking at me like that? I¡¯m not the one that started our interaction with an attempt to entrap the other side. Why should I be the one to back down now? The disappointment in Gr¨ªmr¡¯s eyes is devastating. He¡¯s been by my side so long now. He¡¯s one of the few people I¡¯d trust to always have my best in mind, so why is he against me? Why doesn¡¯t he understand why I need to do this? ¡°They¡­ they tried to trap me¡­ us,¡± I manage. ¡°I just can¡¯t let that go anymore. It has happened too many times now. I need to make sure the world knows it can¡¯t keep doing what it wants.¡± He needs to understand why. I don¡¯t want him to look at me with those eyes filled with disapproval and sorrow. It hurts too much. I twist my head toward three centzon that just moved close enough for me to sense. They must notice my attention as they lower their cloaks, allowing us a clear sight of them. They trudge toward us through the knee deep water. ¡°Let me deal with this, alright? You don¡¯t have to like them, but please don¡¯t attack again.¡± I want to refuse. To keep the wrath churning my smouldering flames. But I give in. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s disappointment has already put an end to my anger. If they decide to attack again, I won¡¯t hold back, even if I have a lot of water to avoid now. Now that we have a clear look at the centzon, it is clear they relate to the mermineae, if distantly. Their bodies are hardly similar, but their tapered snouts, limb structure, and ears are too close to ignore. In a way, it¡¯s like how ¨¢ed naturally appear similar to the albanic; alike, only with a superficial glance. Unlike the mermineae, the centzon are stocky, tall and stand with a slump that leaves their backs raised higher than their heads. In a word, I would describe the mermineae as slender, and these, not. The trio approaching us each carry a thick pole of stone. I would equate it to a tree log, but the metal braces lining its length surrender its nature as another of their contraptions. Is that their weapon? I¡¯d usually not be concerned about something physical able to hurt me, but they show clear understanding that I can¡¯t handle water. Could they have filled each with the horrid liquid? They are large, though not exactly tall because of their slump. If they were to stand upright, I¡¯d say they¡¯d stand at the midpoint between an adult albanic and ursu. Gr¨ªmr stands still, eyeing the approaching centzon with his wings rested by his side. The trio gets closer. Thankfully, even though they take their time, the water doesn¡¯t rise higher. The vents still pump an unbelievable quantity out over the plateau, but it continues on behind us rather than flood around us. Gr¨ªmr rears his beak. ¡°We would like to talk, not fight,¡± he says with a raised voice. The centzon stop. Clear surprise crosses their faces as they look between one another. They speak amongst themselves before the centre one steps forward. ¡°If you wanted to talk, then what was that?¡± he asks in a gruff voice, gesturing to the damaged land and raised walls. ¡°Do your greetings always comprise destruction and fire?¡± ¡°You attacked us first!¡± I accuse. ¡°Nothing would have happened if you hadn¡¯t tried to ensnare us.¡± If they had just listened to us, nothing would have happened. ¡°Solvei,¡± Gr¨ªmr chides, giving me a stare. I just huff and turn away. My body has completed its transformation now, so I could fly off, but I¡¯m still concerned they might attack Gr¨ªmr while I¡¯m in the sky. I keep an eye around us in case any other centzon are approaching. There aren¡¯t any visible to my heat sense. Either these three are their strongest and they¡¯ve been sent here to take us out themselves, or they are distractions for another force. Gr¨ªmr addresses the three as they come to a stop ten metres from us. ¡°I apologise for the offence. My junior partner is rather sensitive to the idea of being trapped. Please forgive her.¡± I turn to glare at Gr¨ªmr. They¡¯re the ones that should apologise, not us. And I really dislike the way he phrases my absolute despisement as nothing but a sensitivity. ¡°I see,¡± the middle centzon says. ¡°What are you? You carry a weapon and cloth that I am unfamiliar with, so I¡¯m inclined to believe you are not uncivilised.¡± He indicates toward the bag and spear that rest in my taloned feet. ¡°But I¡¯ve never seen your likes before. An alicanto that speaks and¡­ a fire? Or are you some vermilion variation?¡± ¡°We are from across the Alps.¡± I watch the centzon¡¯s expressions closely. They seem surprised and curious, nothing overly concerning. They don¡¯t share glances or murmur amongst each other, which I might have taken as them being greedy to travel there themselves. Well, they might still want to. I¡¯m not about to claim to be a perfect interpreter of their thoughts from body language alone. ¡°She is an ¨¢ed. Fire beings from far south. I am¡­¡± Gr¨ªmr hesitates, clearly thinking about what to tell this stranger. If he fears or is disgusted by Gr¨ªmr¡¯s race, we probably won¡¯t be able to make any agreement with these people. I narrow my eyes at them, asking them to do so. I still want to scorch them to cinders. Gr¨ªmr lets out a sigh. ¡°I am not an alicanto. I am what is called a portian. We take over bodies of the beasts we beat.¡± I drop my eyes to Gr¨ªmr. It¡¯s surprising he¡¯s admitting it. He is usually so concerned over what others will think of him, that he¡¯ll keep it hidden regardless of how important it might have been to say. He kept me in the dark until he literally couldn¡¯t hide it any longer, and I was his teammate. The centzon take this in stride, seeming more interested in Gr¨ªmr now than anything else, including our origin and my race. It¡¯s somewhat amusing not being the target of someone¡¯s wonder for once. ¡°Like the teki?¡± the centzon on the right asks, leaning forward. Their interest and lack of reaction to his self explanation visibly surprises Gr¨ªmr. ¡°The teki?¡± ¡°Yeah, those anatla that possess revontulet and cause all sorts of problems.¡± Despite his words, he sounds rather excited. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what an anatla or revontulet are, either,¡± Gr¨ªmr says, obviously put off by the direction of conversation. The centre centzon steps forward again. ¡°Not to worry, any creature related to the ones that put the cranky revontulet in their place is welcome here.¡± He glances my way. ¡°Though, please control your ¨¢ed. I¡¯d rather not have to flood our great regna.¡± I try to burn a hole in his head with my gaze¡­ not actually starting a fire. The trio turns around and waves to the tower and the torrent of water shuts off in moments. The centzon gesture us to follow them. What? Didn¡¯t they come out to fight? They¡¯ve still got their weapons in hand and everything. I glance around us, expecting this to be some ruse. But no, the water level is dropping and with a heavy clank, the walls unlock and lower back into their original position, hidden beneath the ledge. They flipped from aggression to friendliness because¡­ Gr¨ªmr is similar to another race? I just can¡¯t wrap my head around it. Didn¡¯t I almost kill a bunch of them? And they are fine letting me in the midst of their city? Gr¨ªmr takes a few moments to follow behind the trio, obviously as flabbergasted as I am. Wait, what was that about a flooding?
Chapter 115: Curiosity I¡¯ve found that keeping finger like claws on the end of my wings to be incredibly helpful. Particularly in moments like this. While one of my talons is busy holding my bag and spear, I have both wing-tip digits dug into Gr¨ªmr¡¯s feathers. I might be a bit hot for him too; the metal warps beneath my claws. I should have killed them all when I had the chance. Why did I have to crumble at the thought of making Gr¨ªmr disappointed? We wade through the last of the water before the tower, but much of it flows down into the chasm below now that there are no walls in the way. The centzon trio lead us to a platform beneath the tower with a worryingly lively gait. Neither the centzon looking down from above nor the ones waiting on the platform seem angered. Curiosity and confusion they have in excess, but not a single one seems even annoyed that their assailant is now being welcomed into their home. Once we are all positioned on the metal-rimmed stone platform, one of the centzon off to the side turns a valve. Now that I¡¯m looking, there are several valves and levers arrayed along each section of stone within reach¡­ and some sections that aren¡¯t. Before I can look further up the interior of the tower, Gr¨ªmr jerks beneath me. I grasp his feathers tight and look around, ready to strike at these creatures if they lead us into another trap. None of them act as if anything is wrong. Nor do they look at us with hostility. Instead, I notice the source of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s movement. Our platform is falling. Not fast. No, we are being lowered by another of these centzon¡¯s contraptions. As our stone ground lowers below the stone floor of the tower, I realise there¡¯s nothing underneath. The major pillars of the tower connect to a massive brace that locks into the wall of the canyon. More of their city ¡ª their regna, as they call it ¡ª comes into view as we lower. It is unlike anything I¡¯ve seen. Their metal and stone contraptions cover everything in the canyon. When I say everything, I mean it. All three hundred metres down to the water below and spreading wide to both sides is their artificial creation. I don¡¯t think there is a single portion of the wall that hasn¡¯t been replaced or improved. The most common structures are enormous, spanning platforms holding entire streets of buildings and homes suspended hundreds of metres in the air. There are regular bridges and the occasional larger building that span the entirety of the canyon cavity. I nervously tighten my grip at the sight of water dropping along the wall from above. It trickles more than a few metres away, but it¡¯s still enough to keep me tense. ¡°So what brings you to our regna?¡± The centzon asks as the platform clanks to a stop. He steps down to the wide bridge and directs us to the far side of the canyon. ¡°We are mostly here to discuss the merminea,¡± Gr¨ªmr says. I¡¯m surprised we have no issues walking. Gr¨ªmr isn¡¯t exactly small or weightless, yet the bridge doesn¡¯t budge under his heft, nor do we face any issues when the centzon lead us into an enclosed area carved in the rock-face. It¡¯s concerning to enter, but enough of one wall is exposed to open air that I don¡¯t consider it entrapping. I can only thank the changes to the knot for that. ¡°The yoe? What about them?¡± The centzon slide their log-like weapons into a slot in the wall and twist them into place. Now that I¡¯m looking, there are a hundred of the things along the wall we just passed. At first glance, they didn¡¯t seem any different from the number of other contraptions around. They lead us across the space to several long tables. The centzon that has led the conversation till now takes the head of the central table. He invites us to sit, which in Gr¨ªmr¡¯s case means sliding a few of the chairs out of the way. I remain on his back for now. There are a lot of curious gazes following us. As soon as we¡¯ve settled in, the rest of the tables immediately fill with the other centzon that can¡¯t help their wandering eyes. ¡°First, I¡¯d like to ask your opinion of them.¡± ¡°What¡¯s there to say?¡± the centzon shrugs. ¡°The animals are good for their fur, something indispensable for us hunters, but I can¡¯t say I care for them in one way or the other.¡± A loud clang echoes through the alcove and the centzon looks up in delight. ¡°Ah, it looks like the cooks are just as interested as everyone else in our guests. I assume you have the same diet as a normal alicanto?¡± At Gr¨ªmr¡¯s nod, he turns to me. ¡°And you¡­ uh, firewood?¡± he guesses. ¡°Anything,¡± I say, trying my hardest not to snarl. I hate this. They actually seem like nice, welcoming people. I hope they prove otherwise, then I can slaughter them all without issue. Why is it I¡¯m never just given the freedom to punish those who do me wrong? No. I got my vengeance on Gloria, the general, and the mill owner, so I guess I can¡¯t say never. But I hate facing problems I can¡¯t just incinerate.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Several centzon enter the large hall. Unlike those I¡¯ve seen until now, these seem far shorter and less muscled. They are far closer to a mermineae in proportions than the rest sitting in this hall. They bring out platters and place them before each sitting centzon. The one that has been doing most of the talking so far is the first to be served. The massive head of some bird I¡¯m unfamiliar with now taking up a good chunk of the table width. Each of the centzon on our table gets an avian head, but none as large as the head of the table. On the surrounding tables, there are other cuts of bird meat and some fish heads. Is there some relevance to who gets what? Maybe it¡¯s decided by rank. In that case, the one we¡¯ve been talking to must be their leader. Or at the very least, the highest in this room. Those serving us can¡¯t hide their curious glances our way. I guess they don¡¯t get guests here often. Gr¨ªmr and I soon get our own plates. My mount getting a pile of that unique metal of theirs and I¡­ get a bunch of different things. They¡¯ve filled my plate with fish, bird, tinder, metal, and a bunch of random stuff that I¡¯d assume they just picked off the ground if not for the ornate presentation. They¡¯ve somehow even made rock look appetising. ¡°Well, I think introductions are in order,¡± the centzon leader announces. ¡°I am Tzilac, Celotl Hunter.¡± He waves a hand over the rest of the centzon. ¡°And these are my hunters.¡± A short, unified shout from each startles me as they respond to his acknowledgement. I quickly clamp down on the flare I almost snap out at them. Now is not the time. ¡°I am Gr¨ªmr, mercenary of the Order guarding the nations of the pact.¡± He motions his beak back at me. ¡°This is Solvei. Though never officially inducted into the Order, she is undeniably an important part of my team.¡± With that, Tzilac gestures for our plates and moves to start his own. I hop down to my meal, not about to miss a free feast. Before I start though, I realise none of the centzon in the hall have begun eating themselves. They all wait for Tzilac. Their leader grabs some strange-looking utensil, obviously another of their contraptions. He positions it over the skull before him and, with a clench of his fist, a loud crack rings through the room. A series of similar snaps follow it as the rest of the centzon on our table crack their own birds¡¯ heads. With another utensil that looks like a scoop with a clamp, he picks up a section of the cooked brain within. He raises it in a toast before bringing it to his mouth and swallowing whole. A cacophony of slurping rings through the hall as everyone digs in. I pick up the sample of their metal they¡¯ve given me. I¡¯ve already melted through and eaten plenty of it back when I destroyed their traps, but eating metal directly is always pleasant. Not exactly necessary, as I get all the taste and nutrition through my inner flame. Maybe it¡¯s the extra texture I can feel on my tongue, but it¡¯s always nice to eat directly now and then. I leave the stone and fish untouched. Stone is¡­ not disgusting, maybe bland. I don¡¯t really get all that much energy from it either. Fish I¡¯ve found tastes good, but I can never get my mind off the fact they come from water to ever not feel nervous when eating. Doesn¡¯t matter how dry it looks. ¡°So¡­¡± Tzilac starts, and I take a moment to realise he¡¯s addressing me, not Gr¨ªmr. ¡°That weapon and cloth of yours¡­ do you mind if I see them?¡± I really don¡¯t want to, but as I turn back at Gr¨ªmr, he¡¯s giving me a pleading gaze. Ugh, fine. But it¡¯s not because you want me to. With a physical flame, I send them over to Tzilac, ignoring the fact that I do this entirely because Gr¨ªmr wants me to. The centzon inspects my spear first. ¡°Hmm, sloppy metalwork and rough craftsmanship.¡± I almost lash out at him. How dare he criticise Bunny¡¯s work? But it isn¡¯t even my self-restraint that holds me back. It¡¯s the sudden, unnerving silence around us. Each centzon has stopped eating. They each look our way with blank, unblinking stares. Without the curious looks they¡¯ve all had till now, it comes across as incredibly creepy. ¡°It was all she could make out here without her equipment,¡± I defend Bunny¡¯s skill. There is no change in the hundred motionless gazes. ¡°But this cloth¡­¡± Tzilac continues. ¡°Is incredible! How are they able to make the threads so tiny? And each is perfectly sewn without flaw.¡± He throws my spear back at me. I catch it with ease, too tense to let something like that surprise me. ¡°I would love to learn this! The girls on the lower platforms will do amazing work if they could replicate this.¡± Almost as if it was all my imagination, the centzon around us return to their meals. Those looking our way ¡ª which is still most of them ¡ª are as curious as they were before. Did I¡­ just miss an opportunity to get them to attack me again? Wait, no. Stop thinking about that initial trapping. If I hold my frustrations, I¡¯ll never be able to move forward. Plus, they¡¯ve shown they can pump water to the plateau above. It wouldn¡¯t be a stretch to assume they can do that anywhere. I nervously glance around for any vents I might have missed. ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s get back on topic. What exactly was it you wanted to talk about the yoe?¡± ¡°There soon won¡¯t be any more in the Euroclydon¡¯s Hunting Grounds.¡± His immediate reaction is surprise, but that quickly morphs into confusion. ¡°What exactly do you mean? The yoe are as numerous as blades of grass. I can¡¯t hardly imagine them all disappearing.¡± ¡°They¡¯ve discovered the path through the Alps. Right now, they are all trying to make their way across.¡± Tzilac¡¯s eyes flicker between the two of us. ¡°You can¡¯t stop them, can you?¡± Gr¨ªmr flinches, and I can¡¯t help but sigh at my friend. Did he really have to make the answer so obvious? ¡°We don¡¯t know for sure. The mermineae have control of the tunnel entrance, so we can¡¯t return.¡± Tzilac nods. ¡°Alright, we will help you. We hunters have a rather important reason to keep them around ourselves.¡± My gaze drops to the thick coat hanging over his shoulders. It¡¯s strange they are immediately willing to help us. I mean, they are known to skin the mermineae alive, so I wouldn¡¯t say they are all too good friends with them. But again, they skin people alive¡­ why are they willing to help us when they treat them like that? ¡°But in return, I want a free trade of technological secrets and research between us and your home.¡± ¡°I can definitely try to get that, but I¡¯m not an official diplomat, so I can¡¯t make any promises,¡± Gr¨ªmr hedges. ¡°Hmm¡­ in that case, lead a group of centzon observers that I will provide through these nations of yours. We can discuss trade deals with the relevant people then.¡± Tzilac places his hands on the table and rises to his feet before pausing. ¡°Your people honour favours, correct?¡± Gr¨ªmr nods with ease, but I can¡¯t help but think back to Imiha breaking the deal with her team. Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯ll be telling them about that. But to assume anyone will hold their honour when strained, I can¡¯t help but feel is foolish. ¡°Come, I¡¯ll introduce you to Eztli before I organise some things. She¡¯ll give you a tour of our regna.¡± This all went far too well for me to be comfortable with. Gr¨ªmr seems satisfied and rises to follow the centzon, but I can¡¯t help but be suspicious. Maybe I¡¯m paranoid, or maybe it¡¯s because I still hate them for trying to trap me. Regardless of whether my distrust is valid or not, I¡¯m going to keep my guard up and eyes open. Chapter 116: Regna I follow Eztli into another elevator as I poke at the new patch of my outfit. The first place they took me was their textile workshop. In return for letting the centzon gush over the alien cloth, they fixed up the holes their traps had torn in my outfit. The quality of their work was far lower than Jav¡¯s. I doubt their work would do anything to block the flow of water. It¡¯s not all bad though. They took it upon themselves to sew a layer of mermineae fur over the top. I was resistant at first ¡ª reminded of the disgusting cloak given by the mermineae ¡ª but I¡¯m glad I let them. It doesn¡¯t stink or feel rough. Like the centzon hunters, I have camouflage for myself now. I¡¯ll need to fireproof this second layer soon. The metal they have is still strange to me, so without a true understanding of how my fireproofing patterns work, I¡¯d rather not experiment. Our elevator clanks to the next lowest platform. We¡¯re about halfway down the gorge now. There is a lot more housing and structures cramped in the same space down here than the higher levels, but considering the hunters reside up there, I¡¯m not surprised. I thought the hunters were the standard size, but with each floor we drop, it becomes clear they are the exception, not the norm. The hunters stand a good two or three heads taller than the rest of their kind. Whether they get more space because of their size difference or their obviously higher social rank, I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s not like their average citizen is in any sort of the difficulties I¡¯d seen back in the Zadok Kingdom. Even as far down as we are, the platform is absolutely littered with random contraptions everywhere. Most lay unused, but some see constant use. The trolleys and cargo lifts always have something being transferred from one side of the platform to the other, or even between levels. Like under the plateau above, there are plenty of massive gears and axles that spin just out of reach on the canyon walls. I¡¯m unsure what their purpose is, but considering the hefty weight I can only assume they hold, they must be important. ¡°Ahead is what most consider the best view of the waterwheel in the regna.¡± Our guide, Eztli, is a rather stiff character. She shows the same curiosity as the rest of her kin, but spends most of the time trying to make sure we don¡¯t become aware of it. It is unfortunate for her, that her eyes betray her. They near constantly stray back toward us any time she thinks we aren¡¯t looking. Gr¨ªmr and I approach the ledge Eztli motions toward. She¡¯s right, it¡¯s quite the sight, but I don¡¯t think it brings about the same feelings in me as the centzon might experience. Below, is a massive spinning wheel reaching from about a third the way up the canyon down into the depths of the water. It fills the entire width of the canyon and scrapes awfully close to both walls. The wheel in all its height and complexity might be impressive, but I can¡¯t tear my eyes from the water tearing through the gulf. There is so much, moving so fast, that as much as I try to tell myself that I¡¯m safe up here, I can¡¯t stop the rising stitch in my throat. ¡°So,¡± Gr¨ªmr starts. ¡°Beside the hunters, do any centzon rise to the plateau above?¡± I back away from the ledge, not thinking about what is only a hundred metres below. ¡°We do not. The only time we would, is during a relocation after the destruction of our regna. But with the loss of a regna, there are few survivors,¡± Eztli says. She acts like it¡¯s a common occurrence. With this complicated labyrinth of contraptions and constructions they call a regna, I couldn¡¯t imagine it taking anything less than entire lives to create. What could¡­ that¡¯s a stupid question. I already know there are several incomprehensible beasts in this world. It¡¯s not a stretch to assume some creature can break through their immense defences and destroy the regna. If it wasn¡¯t for all the water, I might have destroyed them all. ¡°How does one of your kind become a hunter?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks, clearly pushing the conversation away from any mention of death. ¡°One must contribute to the regna.¡± She turns and leads us to a conveyor. ¡°Many jobs can give opportunities. A miner might conceive a technique for more efficient resource extraction, A cook discover a way to improve energy provided by a meal, or even those on the bottom rung finding a better way to fish.¡± She invites us on the conveyor that leads up to a section of the regna dug directly out of the wall. I¡¯m surprised it doesn¡¯t buckle under Gr¨ªmr¡¯s weight. I¡¯d assume there would be at least some warping in the metal joints considering he is as heavy as thirty of the centzon. Maybe only ten of their hunters, though. ¡°Well, that¡¯s supposed to be the case,¡± she continues as we slowly pass over a thirty metre drop. The hard stone of the platform below a much more relieving sight than the water. ¡°But you will be hard pressed finding any hunters that didn¡¯t originate from an engineer role.¡± I tune out their conversation as she continues to show us around their home. Gr¨ªmr is trying his best to keep us on good terms with them, even to go as far as being completely honest with everything we¡¯d originally agreed to be vague about. I know I¡¯m being unreasonable. Their entire race has shown nothing but curiosity, even though it should be obvious that I¡¯m the one that just attacked their home. I¡¯m incredibly suspicious of their lack of hatred and anger being directed our way, but maybe that¡¯s just me projecting.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. My flames thrash around me, visible as I think about how we have to rely on the help of these people who trapped us. The writhing fire doesn¡¯t even scare the centzon around me. Instead, they watch on in wonder and awe as my inner flame flickers over my body in ways that would be deadly to any of them. I can feel a few children having followed us for a while now. I left myself visible to scare them¡­ not give them a show. My anger and frustration can¡¯t even be blamed on the knots of my psyche. This is all completely natural, unlike the fear I used to feel. What I want¡­ is an excuse to let go. To vent against the world that keeps stoking my flame, but won¡¯t let me incinerate the stick that is doing so. As much as I¡¯d initially placed the centzon as my targets to roast, I need to let that go. Knowing how things have gone so far, I¡¯ll get a new focus soon. Whether it¡¯s the mermineae or some new evil, I¡¯ll have to see. ??? The centzon hunters do not waste time. Before night falls, we are already back on the plains and travelling. Our goal is one of their sibling cities; another regna about a week north. Unfortunately, that week is at their pace. If Gr¨ªmr flew a few of us, we¡¯d reach it likely within a day, but they refuse to even consider flying. Well, it¡¯s not like the ten we are travelling with are likely to all fit on his back. Another hunter party is heading west. Their objective much the same as ours; convince the other regnas to join the fight. ¡°So how likely is it that these other regnas will join us?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks as we walk past hunters reconstructing gears and rolling out pre-built traps. ¡°Oh, there¡¯s no doubt that they¡¯ll help us. We just need to convince them to invest more of their resources into this venture than they would by default.¡± Tzilac walks beside us with that same contraption weapon slung beneath his arm. I¡¯m back to riding on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back. It¡¯s the best way I¡¯ve found to avoid the questions or conversation of the centzon around me. Gr¨ªmr has been kind enough to take on all communication, so I¡¯m allowed to hide away and soothe the irritation for these people that ¡ª probably ¡ª don¡¯t deserve it. The camouflage layer to my clothing is admittedly great. It does a great job of keeping me hidden against the green and gold sheen of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s metal feathers. After application of a basic fire resistance on the fur layer, I can simply show my flames when I want to be seen, rather than open it up like the centzon do. It¡­ is somewhat against the teachings of my tribe, but I doubt those teachings could have considered this scenario. It should be fine. At least the centzon leave me alone while I¡¯m hiding on Gr¨ªmr. ¡°Resources?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks. ¡°Do you mean more hunters?¡± ¡°Well, sure there¡¯s that, but we¡ª¡± Tzilac trails off before a grin plasters over his face. ¡°Actually, I think it would be best to let you wait and see.¡± ¡°We met some incredibly strong mermineae last time cloaked in dust. Do you think you¡¯d be able to compete?¡± ¡°You faced the cult leaders? The cultists are trying to leave too?¡± Tzilac twists to the centzon by his side, one that was with him when he first came to face us. ¡°Patli, go inform Xipil. We¡¯ll need the heavy-hitters.¡± Patli is off running without another word. ¡°Cult?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks simply. ¡°The direct worshippers of the fake god,¡± he spits. This is the most heated I¡¯ve seen Tzilac get. It¡¯s good to see they aren¡¯t as perfectly averse to wrath as they pretend to be. I should push for more. ¡°What makes you think she¡¯s a fake god? What even makes one a god?¡± He spins on his feet and points toward the Alps, where the Euroclydon watches over all, peering worryingly close to us. ¡°That is the only thing that could be considered a god. Kalma, the fake, is a being far from comparable to the true gods of this world.¡± Tzilac lets out a breath to calm himself. ¡°Though her strength is undeniable. Her claims of godhood are as unfounded as they were four hundred years ago, but fighting her is impossible.¡± ¡°Are the Viisin too much for you, too?¡± I ask, ignoring Gr¨ªmr¡¯s warning glance. ¡°We¡¯ve been fighting them in these plains for hundreds of years. Of course, we¡¯ve developed ways of dealing with them. Us centzon are intelligent beings and we shall adapt and overcome our tribulations, unlike the savage yoe that leave their bellies in the dirt and subjugate themselves to a creature that does not deserve worship!¡± Whelp, I guess they really hate the mermineae. I¡¯d thought they were putting too much effort into assisting us for it to be simply to save the source of fur for their hunter clothing. It¡¯s actually quite a relief to know they have a completely justified reason to participate in what is most likely going to be a massacre. I would trust motivations supported by rage and hatred over logic any day. That¡¯s just how people work. Tzilac hides his anger well, but now that I¡¯ve seen that insight, I¡¯m sure he¡¯s seething, waiting until he can get his hands on those that do him wrong and burn them until they are nothing but ash. At least he has a target for that anger. I can hardly stay fuming at the centzon for trapping me; they¡¯ve been far more cooperative than we ever expected. I¡¯m still irritated with them, but I won¡¯t lash out. What type of weapon would the centzon have to deal with the Viisin, I wonder? I¡¯m assuming it¡¯s some sort of contraption, considering their obvious focus toward traps and machinery. But then again, I haven¡¯t seen them fight. Nor have I seen what their log-like weapons can do. Do they have mages? Or at least some variant of them? Every race I¡¯ve come by so far has at least some capability of it. Whether it be the markings of the eastern races, the natural manipulation of both ¨¢ed and ¨¢infean, or the weird gifted decay of the mermineae. If they don¡¯t, that would only make the structures they¡¯ve made all the more impressive and daunting. ??? As I¡¯ve said, this camouflage is amazing. I don¡¯t need to stick to Gr¨ªmr¡¯s side all day now to defend against the dangers of the plains. As long as I keep low to the ground, I¡¯m all but invisible to everyone¡¯s eyes. Of course, the moment I use my fire, my camouflage expires. The fur has an odd tendency to want to imitate my flames and I have no idea how to stop it. Getting some space to myself for the first time in a while is great. The pace set by the centzon isn¡¯t anything I can¡¯t keep up with. The improvements to my ability to redistribute weight across my body having improved my running speed by quite a lot. It¡¯s also been great to get some actual spear training in. I¡¯ve spent most of my time in the past few weeks riding Gr¨ªmr working on my balance. I have absolutely gotten better, but I haven¡¯t really been able to apply that to any of my fights recently, considering I¡¯ve gone back to just trying to burn everything that might be a threat. I really need to hold back on my flames and just try fighting with my spear. I¡¯ve already seen that despite the absolutely devastating inferno I can create with all the energy I have, I lack the intensity to kill stronger enemies. Sure, I can char them a bit, but they can just push through until either I¡¯m dead, or they are far enough from me that I can¡¯t hurt them. If I can¡¯t even breach the Viisin¡¯s cloak of dust, how could I hurt them? ¡°Revontulet ahead!¡± Tzilac calls. ¡°Circle to the right.¡± A revontulet? The beings that have the unfortunately extreme likelihood of being possessed? I search ahead, and there¡¯s no missing the massive white creature tearing its maw into the corpse of something even larger. It has to be at least twice as tall as I am, and far longer from snout to tail. A pure white fox. A fox that I recognise. It¡¯s the same intelligent creature I¡¯d seen back in the Void Fog. Chapter 117: Recognition The revontulet is, without a doubt, the same fox I saw back in the Void Fog. I don¡¯t know if this is the exact same one I saw back then. If each revontulet look similar enough, then it probably isn¡¯t. Still, it¡¯s an incredible surprise to see a creature I¡¯d glimpsed back across the Alps. If there was any doubt the Fog ignored the logic of distance, it has now departed. There is the possibility one found their way to our side, but I find it unlikely. Somehow, the idea that the Void Fog can surpass any barrier just seems more believable than a revontulet rivalling Hund¡¯s strength would go unnoticed. Especially considering their unique body shape compared to the other races across the Alps. Does this mean there¡¯s a way to travel across the Alps through the Fog? That would be so much better than needing to use the tunnels. But¡­ how could I find it? The last times were spontaneous, and I¡¯m no longer being changed by it, so it has no reason to appear around me as it did last time. Would it even welcome me? The Void Fog assisted me last time, but assuming I could even find a way in, would it remain on my side? I can¡¯t help but feel the answer is no. The Void Fog did as I wished because its creation in New Vetus was connected to my desires. It was intricately linked to me. If I found my way in, it would no longer follow my will, but that of whatever creature the Fog is changing. It¡¯s disappointing, but I¡¯m not about to get an easy path back. Now that I think about it, why don¡¯t I consider the Void Fog itself as trapping? It¡¯s like an entirely separate world locking me within. Of course, I know how to escape, but I should still have a similar response to the thought as I would about diving into the tunnels¡­ but I don¡¯t. Exactly what are the conditions for something to ¡®trap¡¯ me? I shake my head. Not the time to be thinking about this. We still have the revontulet ripping flesh from the corpse it stands upon. It has somehow caught an absolute mammoth of a bird. Easily five times larger than Gr¨ªmr¡¯s body, the bird of prey ¡ª or the preyed upon bird ¡ª isn¡¯t something I¡¯ve seen before. The centzon lead us far around the revontulet and its catch. The revontulets are the other race the mermineae are terrified of. But unlike the centzon, I didn¡¯t have a method to find them. Now we have. Could we convince them to help us too? The one I¡¯d met in the Void Fog hadn¡¯t been hostile. Uncaring, maybe, but not hostile. ¡°You think we might get a revontulet to help us?¡± ¡°If it were a teki, then absolutely, but it¡¯s better to leave the revontulet alone,¡± Tzilac says. ¡°They are a grumpy lot, but they won¡¯t bite as long as you keep out of their way. Having a revontulet by your side is no better than tying a noose around your own neck. They¡¯ll turn on you in a moment of whimsy.¡± Ah. So they¡¯re strong, but unreliable. I wonder if Spenne would get along with them? I¡¯m self-aware enough to know my growth has been unnaturally fast. Even with a perfect environment for energy consumption, I¡¯ve probably grown more than normal. The blocks I¡¯m facing with my control and heat, I just somehow know I skipped it for my energy growth. I¡¯m not totally sure what is the source of my improved growth, but no doubt it is a part of me that was changed by the Void Fog. Considering the only other person I know that survived the Fog with their sapience intact is the strongest ursu ¡ª by far ¡ª I have to assume the revontulet from the Fog is of comparable strength. ¡°How strong are they?¡± I ask, trying to get information about a species that may prove dangerous in the future. ¡°Hmm¡­ you¡¯ve seen the cult leaders, they¡¯re about as strong as them on average.¡± I can¡¯t help but widen my eyes at that. ¡°Their entire race?¡± ¡°Well, sort of.¡± Tzilac scratches the side of his head. ¡°Those called revontulet are simply ice foxes of the northern Icebelts that have lived long enough to gain sapience.¡± That is a surprise to hear. I¡¯d never considered the possibility that a creature not born with intelligence could grow into it. That surely couldn¡¯t be the case for all creatures. The arachnids down under the Alps were all dumb as rocks, despite being terrifyingly dangerous and likely old. I send a glance toward the buzzard. How intelligent are the Titans? Do they realise how many lives they end with a simple movement? Do they have a reason to care? I doubt I¡¯d be able to remain unmoving for long, even if I knew countless lives depended on it. If they weren¡¯t people I knew, would I even care? We continue with our detour, all except for Gr¨ªmr remain hidden from view. There¡¯s no chance the fox hasn¡¯t seen the bird, but our obvious avoidance is apparently enough for the revontulet to continue gorging on its meal and ignore us. ¡°How long does it take for them to become sapient?¡± I ask. ¡°About a hundred years? Give or take,¡± he says. ¡°I don¡¯t envy those of them that decide to have children. Who¡¯d want to deal with a feral beast for a century before you can even start to be proud of them?¡± ¡°You have kids?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks. ¡°Yep. Five. My oldest is amongst the group headed west. He¡¯s been a Palotl hunter for a few years now.¡± Tzilac talks at length about his children. My attention falls away to the horizon, not caring that his second daughter is at the top of her class, or that his youngest recently made their first gizmo. Besides the revontulet behind us, there is very little of interest to withstand my boredom. Well, back to training. I have to get past these walls sometime.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ??? Finally, after days of running, we arrive at the second city. Resting along another gorge ¡ª I wonder if it¡¯s the same long canyon as the other regna? ¡ª sits two towers. This city has a whole extra tower. Separated by a greater distance than the last regna¡¯s width. With the regna still far in the distance, the centzon pull us to a stop. Tzilac waves to one of the hunters by his side and they step forward, unstrapping the large contraption from his back. The hunter places the flat bottom of the metal cylinder on the ground. With a grunt, he tugs a section from the side, which twists into place with a click. Now, the log has a crank. The centzon leaves the handle alone for now and places his hands on both sides of the contraption. With a quick twist, another click is audible, almost satisfying to the ear. The weapon slices into three sections. No, ¡®slices¡¯ is wrong. The parts remain connected, but they slide along one another with ease until the contraption is leaning away from us, while remaining upright. The hunter kneels low behind the weapon and seems to make tiny adjustments when looking toward the towers. His hand returns to the crank and he winds it until the machine creaks under the pressure. He presses a few odd switches and buttons before reaching into the back pocket of his heavy coat and pulling out a tiny, stone marble, barely the width of my finger, and shoves it in a slot near the top. He rises back to his full, slouched height and just when I think he¡¯s done with whatever he¡¯s doing, he kicks the thing. Instead of toppling like it should, a loud crack rings out and the something speeds out the top of the weapon, too fast to see. It reminds me all too much of the whip-like snap of Remus¡¯s tentacles. Seconds pass before a low, droning hum returns from the towers. The centzon wait, so Gr¨ªmr and I do the same. The droning noise slowly dies out and after a few minutes a slow, repeated bell¡¯s gong replaces it. Everyone finally moves again, so I take a closer look at the contraption that just sent the stone well over a thousand metres. ¡°Is that what it¡¯s for?¡± I ask as I crouch beside the centzon, who in a few motions, has it looking like it did originally and back in his hands. ¡°Why didn¡¯t it topple when you kicked it?¡± The hunter looks over my shoulder to where I feel Tzilac nod his head with a shrug. Instead of slinging the contraption over his back, he pulls it up for me to see and tugs out the handle once more. ¡°Its mortar mode is far from the most impressive thing this beauty can do. Here, try winding this.¡± He gestures for me to the crank while he holds it in one arm. Doing as invited, I place a hand on the crank and try to spin it. It doesn¡¯t budge. I try with both hands. It doesn¡¯t budge. Not wanting to fail a third time, I shove as much control and weight into my arms and shoulders as I can, and push. It moves, but hardly anywhere near as much as I wanted. The centzon laughs. ¡°You got quite the bit of strength for a young elemental.¡± I stare at him oddly. ¡°A what?¡± ¡°You know, the creatures that surpass the binding threshold of their bound element. Quite a few revontulet have reached that point with ice in the past. There are also some unique ones to the east.¡± Wait, so any of the other races could become like ¨¢ed if they raised their binding with fire? Huh. Does that mean these other elementals might know how to raise one¡¯s binding? The Void Fog was a short-cut for me, but I don¡¯t know how Elder Enya raised hers, so I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve been able to raise it since. Maybe I should try to find them one day. Well, only if I can¡¯t get back to the other side of the Alps. If I can get back home, I should try to find the Agglomerate and ask the elders there how I might reach the next threshold. The hunter places his own hand on the crank and spins it, this time not while grounded. He lifts the base so I can watch as a flat metal ring twists into a drill and rotates a good arm''s length out of the contraption. So it digs into the ground. That¡¯s why he was fine with kicking it. He slaps a switch on the side, and the drill snaps back into the contraption. ¡°How bout I show you some of the most useful modes?¡± As we walk toward the regna, he does exactly that. He twists what I thought was supposed to be a weapon into a bunch of configurations that I don¡¯t think anyone could consider as such. A mode for fishing, digging, and even some weird method of telling the time. He never showed me any weapons, not that I believe for a second it doesn¡¯t have any, but I guess the centzon do have some wariness within them. Honestly, I¡¯m relieved. Until now, they¡¯ve been far too welcoming. It¡¯s kinda creepy, in a way. If I was in their place, I never would have let the possible dangerous people into my home. Nor would I have been so quick to listen. The slow, rhythmic bell chimes as we approach the closest tower. We would have been well into the field of traps at the last regna by now, so in curiosity, I pass a tongue of flame over the surface. It takes no time to find a crack and my flames soon envelope a contraption right beneath my feet. I stop in place, but the centzon continue on without care. Despite the hazardous earth, not a single trap triggers. I spread my flame further through the cracks in the ground, careful not to melt away the contraptions this time, and find the heavy stone gears and axles unmoving. So they¡¯ve deactivated the entire field for our approach? Is that what this slow alarm is for? To indicate the approach of friendlies rather than enemies. I hurry to catch up to the others and ask, ¡°did that stone somehow tell them to deactivate the traps?¡± Tzilac glances down at me. ¡°Yes. It¡¯s a method we use to communicate. We hit one of the hidden bells that informs of our intentions. We are safe to approach as long as their tower¡¯s bell is ringing.¡± Centzon hunters await our arrival at the base of the tower. One rushes forward once we are close and grabs Tzilac in a headlock. Without breaking free, Tzilac takes the hunters in a headlock of his own. ¡°Ah, brother, it¡¯s good to see you again.¡± The new centzon twists his head within the tight grip, appraising each of us standing behind Tzilac. ¡°You didn¡¯t bring Xipil? Shame.¡± They separate and Tzilac laughs. ¡°No, I¡¯ve left an important task for him. He can¡¯t stay by my side forever. Now, we have some important business of our own to discuss. It¡¯s best not to wait around.¡± ¡°Of course, of course. Come.¡± Tzilac¡¯s brother leads us towards the elevator. The tower appears similar enough to the last. A mix of metal and stone rising high above. Hinges, gears, valves and levers decorate the walls the entire way up. Like last time, many of the contraptions that I¡¯d assume are there to interact with, are far out of reach. Why would they place them there? My curiosity must be obvious as Tzilac calls out to a centzon standing by a wall of gauges, ¡°Atl, take the girl for a tour of the tower. She seems interested. Her partner here, Gr¨ªmr, should be enough for our conversation.¡± I glance at Gr¨ªmr, but he just shrugs in return. ¡°You¡¯d rather stay up here, right? Try not to burn anything.¡± I return a glare at his unfunny attempt at humour. Before long, I¡¯m left alone with these centzon I don¡¯t know. I shouldn¡¯t feel like this. I spent weeks on end without Gr¨ªmr being by my side in the tunnels. But I can do nothing about the bubble of concern as I watch Gr¨ªmr descend away from me. ¡°So, you¡¯re interested in our tower right?¡± the centzon, Atl, says jovially. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll like it; the view is incredible.¡± I somehow doubt the sight from this tower could beat that of flying, but I follow him up the stairs, anyway. The slow, repetitive bells finally cut out as we make it up the last flight. Likely giving warning to the field of traps¡¯ reactivation. Atl talks about how each lever has an important purpose, but I lose my focus over the plateau. I was right, it really isn¡¯t much of a view. All there is to see is the gorge behind us and the Alps ahead. As with every time I look over the giant mountain range, my eyes eventually fall on the Euroclydon. The hard gaze of the predator locks far to my north. It is clear as day when it decides its prey. The hunt has begun. A loud, screeching siren blares from a horn right beside my ear. The ground beneath me jolts as the tower shifts. Centzon rush around, shouting, and I cannot tear my sight from the buzzard. I belatedly realise just how dangerous this situation is. I¡¯m in a tower, about to be hit by a gust that can tear trees to splinters. The Euroclydon beats its wings. Chapter 118: PoV - Caavaa Despondence was the usual state for mermineae. It was the frustrating, terrible, hopeless state of the world they were forced to live that birthed nothing but cynicism. Mermineae feared each day would be their last. Death was so common amongst the race that by the time one was an adult, they would be numb to the pain of loss. Caavaa had lost so many close to him, and yet he still felt dismay in his chest at the demise of his two most recent partners. He¡¯d known they would die. He thought he would die. The infiltration amongst the traitors had gone smoother than they could have hoped, but the successful mass-ambush was still not enough to compete with the sheer numbers. They¡¯d successfully assassinated as many traitorous Forvaal as they could, sacrificing thousands for the effort, but once he¡¯d seen the power of the Viisin, he questioned whether those deaths were even necessary. He¡¯d stayed close to Aana and Muuro, hoping to protect them once the element of surprise was lost, but they had been unlucky. Their kills had been clean, yet they weren¡¯t prepared for the retaliation. Caavaa had arrived only seconds after his own kill. That was still too late. Everything had devolved to chaos after that. The Viisin joined in a brawl, tearing through more of his kind than the outsiders as they butchered their way forward. Caavaa had fled. It may not be his proudest moment, but in a battle like that, where even the skies turned against them, nothing short of the Viisin could compete. The Viisin did compete, and now two lay dead. Beaten by the power of an outsider. It was the first time he¡¯d seen the strength of the Viisin, but it wasn¡¯t a surprising sight. They¡¯d been given their power from god herself. What was downright baffling, was that the outsider not only stood toe to toe with Kalma¡¯s chosen, he actually killed one. It was unthinkable. With his belly close to the earth, he ran at full-pelt until the Temple came into view. It was not a place any merminea liked to be, but there was no choice for many. The slaughter that would follow should Kalma decide the mermineae were lacking in their dedication would take many years to recover. Caavaa lost eight siblings and his mother in the last culling. Thankfully, she¡¯d remained appeased for the past few years, so no major disaster had occurred since. Caavaa knew that if she ever found out about the current issues, the punishment would be far worse than they could imagine. As much as he didn¡¯t want to be here, he had a job to do. Taanoraa and Saad had tasked him with bringing information to the Viisin Neero. It was vexing that the two of them weren¡¯t doing this themselves. Bad enough that they didn¡¯t contribute to the battle at the tunnel, they had to slide this responsibility onto him? The two of them had lost both their sight and the gift of decay with excessive use, but they still had far greater strength in their bodies than most Forvaal. Lives as long as theirs were a rarity. As his seniors, Caavaa couldn¡¯t argue against them, no matter how much he thought they were self-centred pricks. The Temple was a mighty structure. Built with generations of hard labour by his predecessors. Wide and sloping upward, it was designed to survive the intense winds of the Euroclydon¡¯s regular flights. A flight of stairs rose on both sides of the pyramid, leading to Kalma¡¯s throne; a room of comforts, where the god spent most her time. Mermineae didn¡¯t like structures, it went against their very nature. A large blemish on the land like this would leave them exposed for leagues around. But what Kalma orders, she gets. The most horrible thing about the structure is that if you are on the top half of the pyramid when the Euroclydon spreads its wings, death is assured. Reaching the earth before the blast hits would be impossible, and taking refuge in Kalma¡¯s throne would result in a fate worse than death. Caavaa made his way past the Field of Discipline, where the pained screams and wheezes of gradually decaying mermineae dug into his ear. As with every time he¡¯d been here, he tried his hardest to keep his eyes locked on the dirt below so that the rotting, living bodies of his kin didn¡¯t disturb him. As always, it failed. He swallowed a nervous knot in his throat as the scent of decomposing flesh burnt his snout. He had to hold his breath to push on without retching. It wouldn¡¯t be pleasant to attract attention to himself. Caavaa crawled his way up the stairs, nearly slipping a few times on the smooth stone. Before he breasted the final steps, he took a deep breath and suppressed any emotion that might show on his face. As soon as he took a step over the ledge, a wave of pressure crashed into him. He pressed his body close to the ground on instinct, trying to make himself as small as possible. The presence of the god was suffocating. He would prefer to keep his head bowed and crawl back down the Temple, but doing so was more likely to drag Kalma¡¯s attention to him. He strained the muscles of his neck against an intense instinctual desire to freeze and hide. Slowly, he brought his head away from the ground, and tried his hardest to glance toward Viisin Neero without observing the god. He failed. Kalma lay on a large cushion crafted by an enslaved centzon with a mixture of down and fur that he assumed only a small portion was merminea¡¯s, considering the lack of camouflage.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The god was completely hairless. If Caavaa wasn¡¯t so terrified, he might have considered it ugly. Her small stature and thin, almost emaciated body belied her overwhelming strength. Caavaa stifled a sigh of relief at the fact she wasn¡¯t looking his way. Her temper was known to explode at the smallest of things. It was best to keep even the smallest of noises stifled. ¡°Hmm¡­ these are delectable. Where did you find them?¡± Every fibre of his being froze, screaming at Caavaa not to move. The voice washed over him without intensity, and yet parts of himself melted away, only to be replaced before he could feel pain. Each word brushed through his being and scraped at everything he was. Kalma took a bite out of a strange white fruit. Her upper fangs protruding outside the lip of her mouth as she swallowed the last bite. She snatched another out of the hands of a young, trembling Forvaal standing by her side. ¡°Thank you, Goddess Kalma. My two children died to retrieve these from the wall of the great trench.¡± The jill let sadness reach her face as she stood there with the bundle of fruits in her arms. ¡°It¡¯s a shame, they¡ª¡± ¡°Shut up,¡± Kalma snapped. Caavaa tensed, knowing the Forvaal likely wouldn¡¯t live the next few moments. Surprisingly, nothing happened. The god continued eating in her laid back posture. Nobody died. No one was screaming. She must be in a good mood. Kalma¡¯s tails waved gracefully through the air. Both thin limbs just as grey as the rest of her skin. It was the best indicator they had to tell she was exceptionally happy right now. For what reason, Caavaa didn¡¯t know. But it meant she still had absolutely no clue about the traitors¡¯ escape attempt. Still prone at the entrance to Kalma¡¯s throne, Caavaa finally locked eyes with the Viisin he needed to talk to. In as close proximity as they were to the god, the Viisin appeared rather normal, lacking the cloak of dust that expelled from them everywhere they went. Neero looked like any other merminea, except for the empty eye-sockets in his head. The Viisin bowed their heads toward Kalma, before lowering their chest to the ground and pacing to Caavaa¡¯s side. One of the god¡¯s large ears resting at the top of her head twitched toward Neero as he brushed by Caavaa and down the Temple¡¯s steps. Caavaa moved to follow, wanting to be as far from Kalma as soon as possible. But just as he¡¯s about to follow down the steps, he risked a glance back. Kalma¡¯s large eyes dug into his chest. Her curiosity terrifying considering the information he hid. Laying further back on her cushion, she hung her head back and flashed him a sinister grin. The fact she¡¯s relaxed does nothing to calm the sudden panic that gripped him. He couldn¡¯t tear his eyes from hers. She knew. She knew and was only playing with them. Caavaa found his breaths coming in shorter and shorter gasps. With each moment her eyes pierced him, his terror rose and hyperventilation intensified. Only when he was tugged out of her sight by a jerk to his tail, was he able to snap out of the onset of panic. He didn¡¯t move, letting himself be dragged down the steps by the Viisin, expecting the god to come and send him off for punishment amongst the other in the Field of Discipline. But Kalma didn¡¯t come. Like the jill before, he was let off. She didn¡¯t know. Relief overwhelmed him so much that it takes a moment to realise the Viisin has dragged him halfway down the Temple. He scurried out of his grasp and joined Neero in his descent. ¡°You have news, I take it?¡± Neero didn¡¯t delay. Caavaa sent a nervous glance back, concerned they were still within hearing range. ¡°Yes.¡± Without another word, Neero led him past the decaying mermineae. Kalma¡¯s power able to keep them alive for as long as she liked, tormenting those she despised with never-ending pain. As the two reached a secluded space, the Viisin turned to Caavaa. ¡°Speak.¡± He struggled to collect his thoughts. Usually Caavaa was better than this, but the few moments he¡¯d been the focus of Kalma¡¯s attention had left him unsettled. Neero glared at him expectantly, the lack of eyes doing nothing to diminish the Viisin¡¯s scrutiny. ¡°The mission was a failure; the path remains open,¡± he said. ¡°Two Viisin are dead.¡± Neero grunts, his voice much harsher than a moment ago. ¡°I know. I killed one of them.¡± The shroud of ash slowly fell off the Viisin, apparently too far from Kalma to suppress it. ¡°Tell me of the outsiders.¡± Caavaa frowned in consideration. Had his two seniors really sent him only to report that the outsiders could no longer close the tunnel? He¡¯d thought the deaths of the Viisin were the most important detail to deliver. It wouldn¡¯t be long before Kalma realised their presence missing. ¡°They won¡¯t be able to reseal the entrance. Most have returned through the Alps.¡± Neero looked strangely unconcerned. They¡¯d have very little hope of stopping the flood now that the path was not only open, but widened. ¡°Most?¡± The Viisin asked. ¡°We¡¯ve had reports of three outsiders that have not returned to their lands. Two of which travel together and aren¡¯t much worth themselves. The other is the lightning elemental that instigated the mess that battle became. Neither, I believe, is capable of resealing the hole.¡± Neero hums. The sound growing course as his throat struggles to keep from falling apart under the accelerating decay. ¡°You may leave.¡± Caavaa doesn¡¯t need to be told twice. He turns and doesn¡¯t look back. ??? Neero waited as the coward left his sense range, ignoring the growing agony assaulting every fibre of his being. Paying it any attention was a mistake only the young made. The squirming, screaming, and whimpering forms of the mermineae in punishment blazed in his inner eye. They hardly had much decay eating through them, but each pleaded for death. He suppressed a snarl as he walked through the Field of Discipline, uncaring where he placed his foot or how many breaks and cuts he caused. They were weak, unable to handle even the slightest pain, and yet they dare annoy him with their incessant whining. He started back up the stairs of the Temple, idly noting that the stairs had worn away in the Titan¡¯s winds. He would have to have them replaced. Again. The only senses he¡¯d kept with the ¡®gift¡¯ Kalma had given him, was hearing. All else withered away with the constant deconstruction of his body. Though, he¡¯d long lost his sight even prior to the ¡®gift¡¯. In place of his old senses, he¡¯d gained a new one. One reliant entirely on observing decay. It was not something he¡¯d have originally thought would be a good way to see, but apparently, everything was falling apart on its own ever so slowly. His own body shone in his sight, and while the stone steps beneath him were dull, they were still visible. Only the god herself, he couldn¡¯t see. Kalma was like a void, completely invisible if not for the very air itself being ever so slightly visible. The path left by the Titan as it tore through the Euroclydon¡¯s hunting grounds was the only thing that came close. The Viisin returned to Kalma¡¯s throne to find she¡¯d already cleared the room of any other merminea. The god, relaxed on her cushion and facing Neero, exerts pressure through his body. Unlike before, where he returned to the state he¡¯d lived before her ¡®gift¡¯, he now decayed at an accelerated rate. A mountain of dust flowed down the Temple behind him. He forced himself not to gasp for air, despite the intense breathlessness that came from his lungs disintegrating in his chest. ¡°Are you going to tell me? Or do you feel like waiting a bit longer?¡± ¡°The outsiders are on their way home,¡± he choked out. ¡°Only the lightning elemental that killed my partner remains a threat.¡± ¡°Wonderful!¡± she cheers, not letting up on the deconstruction of his body. ¡°Go find the three on foreigner hunting duty and make sure the elemental won¡¯t be a problem.¡± He bows and crawls back the way he came. Now he had to find the other Viisin under her direct orders and go hunting. The mermineae were fools to think Kalma wouldn¡¯t know. She always knows. Chapter 119: Boxed-In The rapid expansion of distorted air quickly obscures the Euroclydon before the ground lurches out beneath me and I lose my footing. I slam on my back and twist to regain my feet, but find the surface continuing to slide away from me. The tower is tilting. We¡¯re falling, but the blast hasn¡¯t even hit yet. How? ¡°Hold on!¡± Atl shouts as several handholds jut out of the stone floor. I grasp at the closest protruding rail as the grinding and creaking of the tower mixes with the blaring alarm. The tower jerks once more, and we are falling faster than should be possible. Our floor quickly transitions to a wall before we slam into place. I only barely hold on as the sudden stop almost throws me down into the gorge below. The tower now rests at a right angle, our viewing box suspended directly over the centre of the canyon. Beside me, the many centzon on the tower with me hold their own handrails. The regna is much like the last one I saw, but now, everything seems alive. Not only are all the gears spinning and pistons thrusting, the structures themselves are moving. A bridge directly beneath me twists on itself. Rock scraping against rock as the two sections split before rotating toward their respective wall. The massive building constructed between both sides of the canyon divides into four sections, each blooming away from a central spinning pillar. The four quarters slide along the vertical surface before they slam into place and gradually pull inside the wall. Spinning ever faster, the massive column remains where the building once stood, connecting the canyon walls. I can hardly understand what I am seeing. Their entire city moves! Lost in awe at the sight, I almost lose my grip on the handle as the tower yanks back into motion. A hand from Atl holds me steady against the wall, seemingly experienced with this. My eyes flicker back to the moving regna below. The many platforms where most centzon live are not untouched by this strange occurrence. They were slower to start, but each massive slab of stone rotates into the gorge wall where huge sections of stone have flared out, like fingers ready to grasp and pull. The second tower lays horizontally over the gorge and slowly pulls into the wall it¡¯s attached to. Is that what¡¯s happening to us? The tower hasn¡¯t fallen, we¡¯re just folding away like everything else? Everything disappears so quick. They all slide into or rest flush against the walls of the canyon. If not for the waterwheel below and the spinning pillar once hidden within a building, I would never have realised this place was inhabited. Maybe a bit of an odd-looking canyon at most. Even as I think that, the hundred metre tall waterwheel rises from the water and settles within a space in the rock. A slab of stone and metal push out from the opposite side and lock the wheel in place, hiding it from view. Finally, the pillar bridging the walls snaps in half. Locks holding both sides together open and each side flies into a slot on their respective sides. A tremor runs through my hands as it slams into place. The regna is a contraption. Every part of it. I¡¯d thought there were just plenty of concerning, but neat moving parts throughout the city, not that the city itself was a trap. I realise far too late that I¡¯m being locked in. Trapped. Again. The ceiling of the tower slides into the rock wall and the room goes dark. There is a moment of complete, absolute silence. The grinding of the gears comes to a halt and not a single centzon breathes. Of course, the moment does not last long. The tower slams deeper into its hole and I lose my grip. A maelstrom of noise erupts around us. The grinding and groaning of gears, stone straining under the immense pressure abusing our tiny enclosed room. I slam into the ground now below me, but I hardly notice. While the Euroclydon¡¯s winds pelt the contraption surrounding me, I¡¯m struggling to keep myself still. Trapped once more by the centzon, the knot within me demands action. I need to free myself from their clutches. Burn a hole through stone and escape. I scream in my mind, my voice leaking out without intent. I¡¯ll be exposed to the Titan¡¯s winds if I free myself now. Where exactly will I go? The bottom of the gorge is a river. If I melt away the wall protecting me from the deadly gusts, I¡¯m likely to send myself spiralling into the depths below. Not to mention all the centzon around me. Would they survive if I exposed this little protective hole to the elements? We still need the centzon¡¯s help in taking the path. I can¡¯t see them remaining friendly if I cause a dozen deaths. My psyche¡¯s knot doesn¡¯t care. It wants me to burn my way out, and I can feel the flames flicker around me, illuminating the space and every centzon within view. They grow and spread toward the wall and former ceiling. A couple of hunters step away, startled by the sudden spread of my fire. It¡¯s supposed to be logical, so why doesn¡¯t it understand why this is a horrible idea? Tremors shake my hands pressed against stone. The flames go against my command, scorching the wall that keeps us safe. A few centzon shout in panic. I am a prisoner of my own mind. Agony. I clutch at my head and fall to my side. My flames spasm and curl back around me. It feels like my mind is tearing, straining from the pressure of being tugged separate ways. Fire writhes around me. I¡¯m unsure whether it¡¯s trying to protect me, or eat into my head.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. I¡¯ve finally realised. I¡¯m not free. I haven¡¯t been free since the Void Fog changed me. My desire for freedom may have amplified, but it was twisted. I was gifted everything I needed to avoid any form of entrapment, but in doing so, the Fog chained a part of me I¡¯d never even considered. Something far more important than what a simple cage could contain. My freedom of thought. The pain flares again. The rope of my psyche pulls taut by the realisation. Each point of resistance, each knot in my rope, strains under the assault, inflicting unmitigated anguish through my being. If I can never do the things I want to do, because the changes to my mind forcibly prevent me¡­ nothing could be a worse prison. I want to lie. I want to enter homes. I want to return to those I care for. The idea of being stuck in a box, unable to escape, is the most terrifying thing I could think of¡­ but I would take that over these chains on my mind. Worse than the pain of water sizzling over my body, the knots snap. One by one. The smallest fraying first, then gradually tearing through the larger ones. Most I don¡¯t even know what they were a blockage for, constituting too few threads of thought for coherence, but they all snap regardless. My body feels distant. The centzon surround me. I can see them, feel them, but they don¡¯t seem real. My thoughts grow sluggish, like swimming through molten rock. Are they here to hurt me? Kill me? Trap me? I send a wave of fire at them, but my inner flame only seems to constrict my body. Never have I had this little control. Each second, the world creeps further from my grasp. I¡¯m nothing more than a child again, crying out at the world and incapable of control. The knot, the largest and most intrusive bundle of conflicting desires, is all that remains fighting against the strain of my rope. It lashes out. It floods my mind with memories, the most horrible feelings I¡¯ve ever experienced. Grief and loss. Overwhelming terror. Pain. The knot fights my control, shoving me out of my own body. I can feel its intentions. It is not malicious. It just wants to keep me safe, keep me from losing my freedom as I have so many times now. Virtuous it may be, but shunting me into a corner of my mind is worse than anything I can imagine. I won¡¯t be able to live with this in my head. I can¡¯t. The picture of my rope of desires comes to the forefront of my thoughts. It looks more frayed than it¡¯s been since the Fog. Each snapped knot, now a mess of threads poking out of the coherent whole. I reach out and with only a moment to brace myself; I tug. The pain is excruciating. I scream and the knot screams, but I hear no sound. My mental grip doesn¡¯t loosen despite the pain. If I let go now, I¡¯ll never be free. I need to do this. The knot tightens, threads snapping each second. The bundle of conflict screams louder, deafening me despite the distance of my body. My very being is tearing apart, but I continue to pull. With one final agonising yank, the screaming stops. I¡¯d hoped for relief, from the pain, from the memories, but it does not come. My mind throbs as the threads of desire try to reorient. The knots try to wind themselves together once more, but the constant pressure keeps the fraying strands from tying. I don¡¯t feel good, but my mind is my own once more. Gradually, the world comes back into focus. Centzon surround me, peering down from a good metre separation. I turn my head. My body isn¡¯t in pain, but the lingering aches of my mind echo across my form. Flames wrap me in their warmth and I notice I¡¯m half submerged in a shallow pool of glowing rock. I get a hold of my flames, suppressing them and hiding my form. At least I try to do that. My body is sluggish and my fire is slow to do as I want. I push myself until I¡¯m seated, noticing that the grinding of stone has stopped. The winds have stopped. Past the centzon obviously concerned for my sake, the wall between us and the canyon is intact. Somewhat molten and definitely thinner than before, but intact. Thankfully, I didn¡¯t breach the wall and subject all of us to our deaths. The enclosed space of the tower still surrounds me. The opening in the wall ¡ª where stairs used to be ¡ª now opens to the large central columns of the tower. No longer are the stairs visible, having moved out of the way while I was stuck in my mind. Small torches line the walls and light the tower interior. It is enough for me to see there is no path out. I am trapped, and yet my decisions are my own. No longer do I need to flail in panic or sacrifice choice to remove myself from this situation. Unfortunately, that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m fine being stuck like this. I¡¯ve gotten rid of the knot limiting and controlling my actions, but freedom is my top priority. Only now, I don¡¯t need to sacrifice others¡¯ lives for my gain. I can stare at this wall as long as I want, and there¡¯s no urgent need to burn my way through it. Slowly, I rise to my feet. My body responds to me better with each second, and my flames finally listen to me. I¡¯d be embarrassed at unwillingly losing my grip, if I wasn¡¯t so exhausted. The pain and effort taken to snap the knot out of my psyche has left me drained. I want to do nothing other than pass out and get some rest. But, while my mind is free, my body is not. I don¡¯t want to break my way out, but I still don¡¯t want to be stuck in this enclosed space. ¡°All clear!¡± the shout echoes through the prone tower. The surrounding group twists their heads as one, all but forgetting about me as they rush off in a burst of activity. Only Atl remains by my side, giving me a moment of much needed space. ¡°We¡¯ll need to get positioned. Are you alright to walk?¡± I blink up at him, his words taking longer than usual for my tired mind to parse. The tower jerks around us, sliding out of its lock with a clank. The proceeding groaning of gears finally makes me aware of my surroundings. They are reopening the tower. I won¡¯t be trapped. I hang my head back in relief. The barrier to the gorge opens up and exposes us to sunlight. The walls around me slide along stone, but the ground underneath me doesn¡¯t move. Realising I¡¯m standing on earth and not the tower, I quickly grab my spear and follow Atl¡¯s lead to what was a railing, but now works as a platform. The centzon rush around me, using the plentiful rails to climb to different gauges, levers and valves. Atl looks down at me with curiosity. I turn away from his gaze. I¡¯m sure I left a shameful display, squirming on the floor like I did, but considering what I¡¯d regained, I could hardly manage a mote of embarrassment. We slide out into the open and I get a perfect view of the damage, or lack thereof. Each centzon structure is flush inside the wall. Their regna designed perfectly to fold away at a moment¡¯s notice. Really, in the panic of the Titan¡¯s incoming blast, I hadn¡¯t really payed much attention to how fast their mechanisms moved. An entire city, able to fold away within the six seconds it takes the Titan¡¯s blast to hit. And I¡¯d thought the first ursu mining village was impressive. My legs dangle over the edge as I sit again. Our tower slides into place over the canyon and freezes in place. The first structure to follow is the waterwheel, which quickly slots back into place and spins under the immense strength of the river below. The river itself has been whipped into a frenzy. Its rapids tearing up the canyon faster than I ever want to see water moving. The wet walls of the gorge tell of a far more dangerous situation than I¡¯d thought. During the blast, not only would I have had to worry about the wind, but also the water flung high. Soon, the buildings, platforms, and bridges unlock from the wall and reset themselves in their original state. I watch over the massive contraptions as they work. There is no rush this time, so everything moves with an ease ignored while time was of the essence. The longer I watch, the harder it becomes to focus. My fatigue washes over me as the tower finally starts moving back upward. I try to stop myself, to remain awake, but it¡¯s an impossible game. I fall asleep, feeling truly free. Chapter 120: An Easy Fight I A few weeks have passed since I¡¯d regained full autonomy. I don¡¯t feel much different. Even as I think about travelling through the Alps again, I can¡¯t stop the shudder that runs down my back. The idea of being stuck beneath a mountain of stone I cannot melt through fills me with dread. If I was given another chance to join my team, would I? Do I have the nerve to put myself through that again? I can¡¯t say for sure. Without the enforced fear and manipulations of the knots, there should be nothing stopping me from jumping at the chance¡­ but hesitance and doubt still overwhelm me. I can¡¯t even blame it on anything but myself anymore. I¡¯m a coward that would put my freedom before my friends¡¯ safety. The wheels of my ride rattle and clank beneath me. One axle must be slightly out of alignment as it clicks every full rotation. Maybe I should introduce the centzon to Henosis; at least they had a smoother riding experience with their vehicles. The picture of the inverse occurring and the Empire getting their hands on the mechanical prowess of the centzon immediately makes me fear for the future. The few centzon regnas we¡¯ve pulled into this attack are heavily interested in a trade of technologies. If they are that interested after simply seeing the sewing talent of Jav¡¯s sisters, I¡¯d hate to see what would happen should they shake hands with the Empire. As I look around at the convoy of multiple hundred siege engines ¡ª which is what Gr¨ªmr called them ¡ª I can¡¯t help but question if this is the right action. Can we trust them not to take the mermineae¡¯s place as our aggressors in their search for new knowledge? Well, it¡¯s too late for these thoughts, regardless. They are helping us for now, and if they turn on us in the future, we¡¯ll just have to deal with it then. Beside me, Gr¨ªmr absently pumps a lever with his heavy taloned foot. I might have considered our ride to be impressive to not buckle under his weight, if not for how heavy this massive machine was itself. Behind us, clear trails remain of where the wheels dug through the earth to drag us forward. In any other scenario, I¡¯d be concerned about something finding our trail and following it to us. But out here in these vast plains with so many huge contraptions, I¡¯d be more surprised if something couldn¡¯t find us. We¡¯ve had countless birds fly down and investigate already on our trip. Gr¨ªmr keeps his eyes forward, watching for the first sign of resistance that should come any time soon. We¡¯ve been busy since the Euroclydon¡¯s last hunt, so even though we¡¯ve been beside each other most of the time, I¡¯ve never had the chance to speak to him about my mental state. My eyes drop to my hands, fidgeting in my lap. No, there¡¯s been plenty of times I could have told him, but I never did. Despite telling myself I would talk to him, I¡¯ve been too wrapped up in nervousness to speak up. My mind always falls back to the last time I talked about my thoughts and fears. Even though I trust him more than anyone else, it¡¯s still hard. There¡¯s probably no true need for me to tell him, but I should and the more I think about the necessity of things, the harder it¡¯ll be to just take the step I need to take and actually put my faith in him. I take in a deep breath. ¡°The Void Fog changed me.¡± I realise how sudden and confusing I might sound, so I quickly say, ¡°I mean, more than my body. For the longest time, my mind was bent in ways I wish it weren¡¯t.¡± Feeling foolish, I look up from my hands to see the alicanto¡¯s entire focus on me. He doesn¡¯t speak, but his welcoming gaze encourages me to continue. ¡°I know you already know that the Fog altered my body, increasing my binding to what it is, but that¡¯s not everything. I¡­ it altered my mind. Remember the overwhelming fear I used to have? That was forced upon me. It wasn¡¯t natural, yet I felt it all the same.¡± My eyes are in my lap again. Heavy scratching makes me raise my head. Gr¨ªmr scoots closer to me and slowly sweeps a wing over my back. An obvious act to comfort me. I laugh at his stiff motions, but it comes out choked. ¡°In those tunnels, I pushed through the fear until the changes gave up and adapted. Instead of fear, my very thoughts and actions were taken from me. There were so many times I wanted to stab you in the back, to sacrifice you for a chance at escape.¡± I am actively sobbing now, leaning into the winged hug. His metal feathers aren¡¯t particularly comfortable, but I don¡¯t care. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m sorry those thoughts crossed my mind. I¡¯m sorry I¡¯ve been so hard to deal with. I¡¯m sorry you haven¡¯t been able to go home because of me.¡± The words, apologies, all my guilt just flows out without restraint. A self-deprecating laugh bubbles up through the sobs. Why am I doing this? We¡¯re on our way to start a war, and I¡¯m here crying about an unchangeable past. ¡°You¡¯re free now, right?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You specified ¡®were¡¯. The Fog doesn¡¯t have its grip on your mind anymore?¡± ¡°Uh, yeah.¡± I say. ¡°Back in the regna, I was trapped and fought to regain control.¡± Gr¨ªmr nods, as if expecting this. I guess I had passed out for a good few hours. Of course he¡¯d know something happened. ¡°Don¡¯t concern yourself with what happened before then. I am here because I want to be and you never went forward with any of those thoughts, even while your mind wasn¡¯t your own.¡± He looks me in the eye. ¡°Solvei, I don¡¯t truly know what you¡¯ve been through, and you¡¯ve done incredible to grow as you have, but you can rely on others. After we¡¯re done with the mermineae, we¡¯ll celebrate you overcoming the Fog. Magnesium is your favourite, right? I¡¯ve gotten better at telling the difference between metals. We¡¯ll go on a search for some, yeah?¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I nod, not lifting my head because of the shame I feel. I¡¯m not a child anymore, so why am I acting like one? Why am I being comforted when Gr¨ªmr should be angry at me? I stand and push past Gr¨ªmr¡¯s wing to stare far ahead of us, trying to calm myself down with some distraction. We¡¯ll have to fight soon, so I need to get over this. Staying as emotional as I am won¡¯t help anyone. It¡¯s comforting to know Gr¨ªmr doesn¡¯t blame me, but the knowledge doesn¡¯t reduce the guilt I feel. He¡¯s right, I¡¯m free now and I should focus on that. The hole is visible now, which is concerning. Rather than the thin fissures along the side of the Titan¡¯s path, the entrance is now massive. A large section on the border between blackened rock and normal earth has opened. A pit leading to the depths of the mountain. It is clear now, the battle between the Viisin and Spenne caused more damage than I¡¯d imagined. Strangely, only the ranked stone on the side of the titan¡¯s path is damaged. A near-perfectly straight line separates the enhanced stone from the void that drops to the dark cave. The mermineae aren¡¯t visible yet. We already assume the largest congregation of them has already passed into the Alps, so it¡¯s not a surprise they aren¡¯t populated enough for their camouflage to become ineffective. Hopefully, that means we won¡¯t face much opposition. Without Imiha or Spenne with us, I¡¯m concerned about what will happen if we face a Viisin. Tzilac has assured us they can deal with them, but we¡¯ve still not really seen them fight. The extent they¡¯ve shown so far is the harpoons when a bird of prey attacks. The hunters hit them then drag the birds to the earth where they are ended without struggle. I¡¯d expected to face at least some opposition before we got this close. Unhidden as we are, they would have had days to plan ambushes to slow our approach, but we experienced nothing. It should be encouraging, as it means there really aren¡¯t all that many of them to face, but I feel tense all the same. It might be the concern over the Viisin, or it could be the approach of my dreaded choice. Finally, at the edge of my range, I feel the heat of a merminea. They scuttle away almost as soon as we reach them, but every few seconds we catch up to them. At the speed we¡¯re moving, there¡¯s no way we¡¯re outpacing a mermineae. More likely, they are just watching us from a distance. A horn blares from off to my left, followed by many more along the line of siege engines. The front of the caravan slows and spreads, allowing the lagging machines to thread between them. In no time, a long line marches toward our target. ¡°Solvei, Gr¨ªmr, we¡¯ll be starting soon. As we¡¯ve discussed, please remain with your machine.¡± Tzilac slaps the back of our siege engine in emphasis, before moving a row back to his command position. I¡¯ve been all but banned from using my fire. Apparently, the heat and visual impairment gets in the way of their machines¡¯ effectiveness. For now, I¡¯m stuck using my spear on any mermineae that get close, which is something I¡¯ve been meaning to do for a while. I need to improve my spearmanship and not rely on my flames for everything. With an army backing me, this is the best possible place to improve. There are four rows of heavy stone machinery in the centzon¡¯s army. The first are the largest contraptions in their arsenal; massive, bulky things that could be mistaken for a wall in themselves. Egg-shaped machines in the second row cover the gaps between the weapons of the first. The third row ¡ª the row we are a part of ¡ª contains an array of different sized siege engines. The final, rear row is a series of towers on wheels. While larger and heavier than the front-line machines, they don¡¯t appear anywhere near as dangerous. They are likely only used as command centres for the hunters¡­ is what I would think if I hadn¡¯t already seen how they their regnas work. I don¡¯t believe for a second they are as simple as they seem. As we reach a league away from the hole, we grind to a halt. Almost as soon as we do, mermineae creep into my range. They are slow, but there are a lot. ¡°They¡¯re sneaking up on us now,¡± I say to Atl, who¡¯s our siege engine operator. ¡°About a hundred metres away.¡± He nods, unsurprised. ¡°We have ways to find them. As much as they think they¡¯ll have the jump on us, it has been a very long time since a yoe caught us unprepared.¡± He points to one of the egg-shaped contraptions ahead of us. ¡°Just watch.¡± Four centzon hunters each pump the crankshaft embedded in the back of the mechanism. Despite their combined strength, they still seem to struggle to spin it. They spin the shaft until it stops moving with a click and slides within. Three of the hunters immediately run back to our row, clambering up both our engine and our neighbours. A similar group does the same further along the line. The last remaining hunter stands behind the egg contraption holding a lever, but looking ready to bolt at any moment. What are they waiting for? The mermineae are getting closer by the second. I grip my spear tight as the mermineae prowl within fifty metres of our front line. Even in the small range I can feel, there are already hundreds. It¡¯s not nearly the same density as the last time we attacked, but there are still so many. A siren blares. The mermineae freeze. The centzon before us pulls the lever and sprints back to the safety of our siege engine. Nothing happens. Seconds pass, and I¡¯m ready to turn and question Atl, when I hear a heavy clank. Like something falling into place. The egg-shaped contraption springs forward. From stationary, it lurches forward, its uneven form flinging it high into the air as it rolls. The machine lingers in the air, soaring toward our frozen enemies. As I watch, the skin of the egg twists inside out, leaving the once smooth stone and metal exterior as a disorganised mess of protruding blades and spikes. A few hundred metres to each side, I catch sight of a couple more of the egg-contraptions flying. The weapon slams into the ground just outside my sense range, but the bright red blood dyeing the snow leaves no doubt of the deaths inflicted upon its first bounce. On the second impact, the egg hits the tapered end and bounces back our way, tearing through dozens of mermineae as it does. We made the first attack, but our enemies don¡¯t stand and take it. The thousands discard attempts at subtlety and sprint toward us. Forvaal amongst their ranks work to melt away the weapons shredding through them, but the eggs prove to be self-propelled and continue to roll around in completely random directions. The rest of the centzon army hasn¡¯t been stationary in the meantime. The front line of siege engines flare walls of stone wide, clanking as they lock with their neighbours. I knew the centzon liked their walls, but to bring one to the battlefield? I quickly learn that those leading machines carried not only their walls. As the mermineae throw themselves at the wall, they find themselves limbless. I can¡¯t see what cut into them, but what I can is the transformation of vehicles holding the walls. The wheels twist sideways, and the machine decouples from the wall. Now, each moves along the newly set defensive structure with the smooth effortlessness of a rail. A crew works a series of controls to direct the machine. A piston slides out the back as the centzon pump their cranks and I finally get an answer to their purpose; the piston disappears from my sight, but the congregating mass of mermineae on the other side of the wall are either pulped or sent flying. ¡°Good, right?¡± Atl grins down at me. My awe must be showing on my face. They¡¯ve barely even dipped into their collection of machinery and yet the mermineae can¡¯t do anything. The egg in the distance finally slows to a halt, the Forvaal melting away enough of it to stop it doing anything more than spinning on the spot. It spins for a few seconds, but when it¡¯s clear it isn¡¯t moving, the mermineae ignore it¡­ which is a mistake. The egg explodes. Hundreds of blades and spikes from the remains of its exterior burst outward, ripping through hundreds of mermineae unlucky enough to be nearby. Atl laughs at my side. ¡°They never learn.¡± The gaze Gr¨ªmr passes over the battlefield is far different. Concern and resignation the most I can pick out from his body language. Well, at least it¡¯ll be an easy fight. Chapter 121: An Easy Fight II Despite their losses, the mermineae continue to throw themselves against the centzon¡¯s defensive wall. Their efforts were often in vain as the wall itself tears them apart and the slingshot ram ploughs through any that remain. I¡¯m not sure how that massive piston works, as the wall still appears fully intact whenever it rolls away. Then again, I don¡¯t really understand how any of their machinery works. Several mermineae jump over the wall, bypassing the defence entirely, but are shot out of the sky by the harpoon launchers or descended upon by the hunters with their own weapons. I finally get my first look at what those logs can do. Some hunters¡¯ contraptions become spinning saws that remind me of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s plumage. They cut right through the mermineae with hardly any application of force. Is that what is on the other side of the wall? Do spinning blades bisect our attackers? The buzzing saw is by far the hunters¡¯ favourite weapon against the mermineae, but there are some that use different forms. A piston with a spike or blunt head used with enough force to kill in one strike, regardless of impact point. A shoulder mounted cannon that pelts the mermineae with hundreds of tiny pellets that remind me far too much of those bullets used by the albanics. I haven¡¯t seen a single use of water. It is relieving to find their weapons aren¡¯t filled with water ready to attack me. Though, it¡¯s still possible they are carrying some with them. Hopefully, without the river to pump water from, they won¡¯t be able to hurt me easily. I shake my head to clear the suspecting thoughts. They¡¯ve yet to show anything suspicious. I can¡¯t keep treating everyone I meet like they¡¯re looking for ways to end my life or steal my freedom the moment I turn my back. I¡¯ve been in plenty of vulnerable states while with them, and they haven¡¯t once tried to end me. After I¡¯d regained the freedom of my mind, I¡¯d spent days in an exhausted haze. If they¡¯d attacked us then, I wouldn¡¯t have survived. They¡¯ve already proven they are on our side ¡ª at least for the time being ¡ª so I should try being more trusting. The machinery from our row finally joins the fight. Our two adjacent siege engines unfold into three large spinning wheels cutting into a wide tube. In moments, the machine flings a boulder half as tall as I am over the wall and into the mass of mermineae. I can¡¯t follow its path after it passed the wall, but I can definitely track the corpses it leaves behind. The stone rolls far further than it should, considering its arc. But that isn¡¯t the weirdest thing. It doesn¡¯t tear through them in a straight line. It curves far off to the left, even taking some mermineae in their sides. ¡°You idiot!¡± I hear the shout from the origin of the boulder. ¡°Match your ammo to the enemy!¡± The other hunters on the weapon grumble, but got to work. The next projectile out of the machine appears much the same at first; a stone sphere, but it quickly becomes apparent the difference between this boulder and the last. The ball splits into several flat discs that fan out as they pass the wall. Spinning at an astonishing rate, they hover through the air before the mermineae find themselves once again at the mercy of the hunters¡¯ weaponry. Some discs continue spinning out of the range of my sense, slicing through any not hugging the ground close enough. Others¡¯ flight are disturbed, and tumble along the earth like runaway wheels, but still sharp and fast enough to cut. I glance down at my spear. I¡¯m not going to get the chance to practice, am I? ¡°Is it usually this easy for you?¡± I ask. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s eyes finally snap away from the bloodshed before us. He looks like he wants to say something, his eyes darting between me and Atl, but keeps his silence. ¡°Against the yoe? Yeah, they never learn. We adapted to their swarm methods centuries ago and they¡¯ve never thought to try anything different. But what can you expect from animals?¡± He shakes his head with a sigh. ¡°The cult is a different story. The unnatural power of theirs can be rather frustrating.¡± As he says that, a portion of the wall before us decays before our eyes. A concentrated effort of the Forvaal must have finally breached our defences. ¡°But we¡¯ve worked on countermeasures.¡± An egg-shaped contraptions launches through the new gap in the wall, obliterating the many trying to rush through. Like the first ones, this egg spins and jumps around amongst the mermineae without resistance. Each of the rams along the wall stop. They dig into the ground and instead of moving along the fortified walls, they lift the wall and push it inward. The damaged section is ejected, and the wall locks in place, reformed. In only a few seconds, the rams are back to slamming through groups of mermineae and the breach is closed. ¡°But the cultists are still yoe at their core. They never learn. Never adapt.¡± We stand there for a minute, just watching the never ending swarm of mermineae continue to throw themselves to their deaths. Near the edges of our lines, they try to move around us, but what appear to be far more controlled versions of the egg weapon protect our flanks. The large wheels move fast and cut off the enemy¡¯s attempts at repositioning. Another new siren blares from the towers behind us. Immediately, most of the hunters around us abandon the siege engines, leaving only a few to continue their operation. Atl clambers off the side of our own. ¡°We¡¯ve spotted a cult leader. It¡¯s time to leave if you don¡¯t want to get caught in the crossfire.¡±Stolen novel; please report. The hunters trigger the rest of the egg contraptions which bound over the wall as their operators flee to the rear of our formation. The hunters controlling the moving wall rams jump off and follow. Gr¨ªmr and I climb off our siege engine ¡ª which has yet to see any use ¡ª and join Atl as he flicks a lever and runs for the back towers. Despite not having any more operators, the pistons along the wall continue to slide along and hammer through the wall. ¡°If you don¡¯t need to be on them to operate, then why have any hunters manning the machines in the first place?¡± I ask. ¡°They can only run a short while with no one to operate the cranks,¡± Atl says and points to a ram. ¡°If you pay attention, the piston has a repetitive pattern. Without a hunter to guide it, they need to rely on simple cycles.¡± He is right. There are only three places where the ram breaks through the wall now, rotating through each in order. The Forvaal decay another hole through the wall, but the machines don¡¯t close the gap as they did before. Mermineae flood through, still struggling to break through the barrage of projectiles. The command towers groan as we pass them. I glance up, unsurprised to see the first stages of a transformation. The walls twist and the upper platform of stone slides outward. Even at my low angle, the long barrel is easily visible as it rises high into the air. It is entirely made of that strange metal the centzon use. The tower rattles as the barrel stops rising. It spins as it angles down on the front line, exposing an absolutely huge contraption at the barrel¡¯s base. Each of the commanders jump off the flat viewing platforms and take a position upon the machine. We make it to the rear of the towers, each of which now supporting its own long barrel as an explosion erupts from the wall. The wall is well out of my sense range now, so I have to twist on my feet to see the source of the explosion. A dust-cloud billows from a wide missing section in our defence. It¡¯s not far from the breach left by the Forvaal, but it is easily on a far greater scale. The Viisin is finally here. Barely visible through the smoke and ash is a silhouette of our greatest threat. The centzon have shown absolute superiority until now, but I struggle to see how they could beat this being. I saw it shrug off decapitation, after all. It jumps forward, obliterating the first siege engine on touch. In near-perfect unison, the towers unload on the Viisin. The massive barrels launching another projectile every second, loud clanks and thunks proceeding each blast. The sustained fire from hundreds of rounds does more damage to our defences than the Viisin has yet managed. Despite the damage it takes, it stands strong. Legs, arms, its head; it doesn¡¯t matter what part of the Viisin¡¯s body is annihilated, it heals through it. It doesn¡¯t take any permanent damage, but the continuous fire prevents it from advancing. Instead, it dashes to the side, intent on destroying much of the other defences and siege engines along our line. Some of the projectile launchers throwing spinning disks hit the Viisin, but they decay on contact with its skin, leaving no damage at all. This isn¡¯t all they have planned, right? It¡¯s obviously not effective. Even if the cannons are incredibly powerful, it means nothing if we can¡¯t kill the Viisin. I glance to Atl at my side, but he seems completely unfazed by the ineffectiveness of their weapons. He turns to me and I look away, but I¡¯m too late. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, this is just supposed to stop the cult leader from approaching. Normal projectiles don¡¯t work on them. We have these auto-cannons to blast it with special, pressurised capsules that explode upon impact and pelt them with shrapnel designed to decay far slower than normal. It lets us actually hurt them.¡± Hundreds of mermineae rush through the new breaches made by a combination of Forvaal, Viisin and auto-cannon efforts. I now realise that many of the machines after the wall are long range, so the swarm of mermineae faces almost no opposition until they reach the siege weapon Gr¨ªmr and I rode on. The mermineae must trigger some mechanism as the ¡ª until now ¡ª unused machines now blast liquid all over the attackers. I clench my fist. For a moment, anger bubbles in me as I realise they had me riding on the machine they¡¯d filled with water. But that anger quickly fades as I notice the liquid is black. It¡¯s not water. Each of the strange liquid carrying machines starts rolling forward, pushing past the mermineae and coating them all as they pass. Atl touches my shoulder. ¡°I know we said to hold back, but you can go ahead for now. Try not to damage our machines, please.¡± I look at him, confused, before sliding my attention to the now visible black mermineae. Unsure, I throw a stream of flame forward, careful to keep my inner flame away from the liquid. As soon as a single spark touches the black substance, everything before me engulfs in fire. My eyes widen and I quickly shove everything into the fire. The liquid is unlike anything I¡¯ve felt before. It¡¯s like the flammable jelly down in the tunnels, but amplified, compressed, and oh, so much more tasty. My fire spreads over everything in an instant. My flames are pushed far hotter than they¡¯ve ever been, glowing bright yellow, then white, then strangely, they disappear. Well, they disappear from my sight, but I know they¡¯re still there, burning and incinerating anything they touch. It¡¯s a struggle to hold myself back from annihilating those contraptions so inconveniently in my way. ¡°Don¡¯t touch the oil-wagons,¡± Atl says, only barely quick enough for me to stop eating my way up the streams. Each of the wagons now rolls past the remains of the wall, coating every mermineae it passes in my new favourite food¡­ or, I guess, drink. That feels strange to think. I¡¯ve never drunk anything before. The mermineae and the Forvaal amongst them try their hardest to break the machines, but an extra thick layer of the centzon¡¯s strange metal delays their attempts. ¡°How do you deal with something that can not only brush off most attacks, but will actively recover from the hits that reach them?¡± Atl asks suddenly. The Viisin stops ploughing through the defences and throws itself toward the oil-wagons now deep amongst the mermineae. ¡°You hit them so hard they don¡¯t have a chance to recover.¡± The Viisin lands on the wagon and that¡¯s the last thing it does. There¡¯s a flash of light and my flame involuntarily rockets through the air, spreading with an intensity I¡¯ve never felt. Only a moment later does the blast rattle my body. Atl pulls me out of my stupor. He drags me under the arch of the tower, alongside Gr¨ªmr and all the other centzon. After a few moments, a rain of metal shards falls from the sky. I listen to the rapid thunks as the shrapnel pelts the tower above us. I can¡¯t feel the Viisin anymore. Either it is dead, or it is now outside the spreading flame. I shake off Atl¡¯s grip and poke my head around the side of the tower. Smoke rises hundreds of metres in the air before curving outward. My flames linger within the rising clouds. What was that? It felt more intense than being hit by Spenne¡¯s lightning. I almost missed it, but in the fraction of a second, I felt heat near incomprehensible. Something I¡¯ve never felt before. Lightning was similar, but there was some distinction between the feelings. The mermineae that remain now flee. I really don¡¯t understand how they could keep trying to overwhelm us when they saw their kin dying by the hundreds before their eyes, but at least now they give up. Unfortunately, they flee down into the Alps. Don¡¯t they know we are here to cut our way back to the east? They are going to die by going down there. Is their god, Kalma, really more terrifying than facing the centzon? The memory of Hund tearing through an army is all the answer I need. At least we know the centzon can fight off the Viisin. Hopefully, we won¡¯t have to deal with any others until we reach home. Huh¡­ I guess I¡¯ve already decided. We¡¯re going home. Chapter 122: Fortified The breeze through my feathers is amazing. I¡¯ve been too hesitant to just spread my wings and fly lately. It¡¯s mainly because of the threat of those giant birds that could be anywhere, but I really should have tried flying in proximity to Gr¨ªmr¡¯s huge form earlier. My friend is keeping his word about finding me a magnesium deposit. I¡¯m not sure exactly how he can tell where to look, but he says it¡¯s like having a third eye; there are some colours he can see that his past bodies couldn¡¯t. After the obliteration of the Viisin, we faced no opposition as we moved to the vast hole. The centzon made short work of converting their machines into fortifications. Within a day, they already had their field of traps set up and that moving wall aligned over the ledge. There were still several oil-wagons that survived the explosion. I¡¯d watched the hunters repurpose the thing into one of their traps. I¡¯m not sure how I feel about them leaving bombs as strong as those lying around. ¡­I wonder if they¡¯ll give me some of that oil if I ask? The two of us soar along for a few hours until Gr¨ªmr finds a deposit. I take the time to enjoy myself, knowing that the moment we enter the tunnels, I¡¯ll be back to that constant stress. I still need to tell Gr¨ªmr that I¡¯ve decided, but¡­ there¡¯s a difference between telling myself I¡¯m ready, and actually saying it. Gr¨ªmr has been kind enough not to push me. Even as much as he wants to go back, he considers my opinion before anything else. I have to tell him, but I want to extend the time I have just a little. I suppress the pang of guilt that rises from my selfishness. Gr¨ªmr slows his descent and touches down with an ease he couldn¡¯t have managed a month ago. He takes barely any time to slice his wings into the earth and dig. I could probably just melt my way down, but if I didn¡¯t want to leave a pool of molten sludge, I¡¯d have to eat all that rock. Not an appealing prospect. Gr¨ªmr tears through the earth. His metal feathers slam into stone and come back unmarred. As thin as they are, I¡¯d assume they¡¯d bend easily, but no, they stay straight and sharp. A large chunk of our target clunks on the ground before me. It¡¯s the good stuff! I quickly engulf the magnesium filled rock with my flames, enjoying the unique crackling as I peel it away from the stone wrapping it. I leave a small chunk to swallow. As it reaches the inside of my body, I enjoy the burst of heat that ignites once it warms enough. Gr¨ªmr chomps through a slab of his own as he climbs out of the deep hole and lays at my side. We stay there for a while, simply relaxing before we have to return to our responsibilities. Gr¨ªmr is quiet, but his presence is comforting. ¡°I think I¡¯ll be fine now, Gr¨ªmr. Let¡¯s go back. Let¡¯s go home.¡± He turns to me, surprised, but soon it morphs to concern. ¡°Solvei¡­ I appreciate it, but there¡¯s no need to force yourself into this.¡± ¡°No. I can do it,¡± I say before he can continue. If he gives me a reason to back down, it might tempt me. I need to do this. If I don¡¯t push myself through this challenge now, then what will happen next time? Will I cower and back away then? I don¡¯t want that to be who I am. Those I trust ¡ª those I care for ¡ª I don¡¯t want to leave them in danger. I want to protect them. Even if that means I have to push myself. ¡°It will be hard¡­ but this is something I need to do. I¡¯ll never be able to return if I don¡¯t force myself now.¡± Gr¨ªmr gives me an encouraging smile¡­ or at least his eyes and body give off that impression. His metal beak isn¡¯t exactly capable of facial expression. ¡°I¡¯m proud of you, Solvei.¡± ??? It had been hardly a week, and yet the centzon¡¯s fortress had grown far more than I¡¯d expected. The defensive wall now completely encircles the massive hole in the earth. They¡¯d hidden their trap field now, too. Between the repurposed siege engines and a convoy of materials from the nearest regna, they¡¯d put together an impressive defence. One that had been tested regularly by the mermineae still down inside the earth. None of their attacks were any more than probing strikes by the mermineae that didn¡¯t even have decay eyes, so the centzon had no troubles warding them off. Now is the time I¡¯d been dreading for days. I¡¯d agreed to challenge the depths again, and I will have Gr¨ªmr by my side, but it¡¯s still nerve-wracking as I stare down into the dark cavern that hides those massive arachnids and centipedes. We¡¯ll be making our way back through the alps, leading the centzon the entire way. Because of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s size, we¡¯ll be travelling through the caverns, only digging down into the tunnels when we come across those massive cave walls. I¡¯ll have to go back to keeping my flames hidden, which isn¡¯t something I¡¯m looking forward to, but at least I¡¯ll have more time to practice my spear. ¡°Here.¡± Atl hands me a canteen that appears no different from the containers they use to hold water. I hold the thing far from my body and give him a conflicted glance. Why exactly is he handing me water? Is this a threat? No, I shouldn¡¯t assume the worst; they¡¯ve proven their trustworthiness enough by now. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t give me that look,¡± Atl huffs. ¡°Open it.¡± My eyes linger on him a moment longer, looking for anything I should be concerned about, but see nothing. With hesitance, I twist the lid as slowly as I can and hold the bottle away from me. Once the cap separates from the container, I swoon at the scent.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. He¡¯s given me a canteen of that hyper flammable black oil. It smells incredible. Atl chuckles. ¡°You better portion it out. We won¡¯t be able to take our war-machines with us, so we can¡¯t carry any more.¡± I take a deep breath of the fumes coming out of the bottle. Yeah, definitely better than the explosive jelly in the glow-bug traps. ¡°Thank you,¡± I say as I reluctantly replace the lid. I wish they¡¯d given me a different type of container, though; I¡¯ll be nervous about a mix-up every time I open it. Thunder rumbles in the distance. I look up, expecting to see an approaching storm¡­ but there¡¯s nothing. Not even a cloud in the sky. Wait, Spenne? I¡¯m proven right when, in the distance, a branching flash of light spreads across the horizon. The thunder rolls over us seconds later, but by then I see more lightning bolts fork outward. The ¨¢infean quickly appears, zipping across the earth in jagged motions. Now able to see Spenne, I realise he¡¯s not alone. Explosions of ash blow into the air each time he makes a jagged motion in his sprint. The distance closes incredibly quickly and the sirens of the fort ring out around me. I can see him clearly now. His white wraps are in tatters, exposing his electric body to the world. He¡¯s being chased by Viisin. Not one. There are four of them behind him, and Spenne¡¯s leading them right to us. I immediately rocket toward the nearest tower, burning an immense amount of energy to blast myself forward with a jet of physical flame. The centzon don¡¯t know that Spenne is on our side. They¡¯re just as likely to hit him with those massive explosions as they are the Viisin. I slam into the tower and tumble onto the viewing platform. With how urgent this is, I care little for a stable flight. ¡°The lightning elemental is a friend,¡± I shout to Tzilac over the blaring alarm, using their own term for our races. The hunter leader barely looks my way before pulling a lever amongst the tens at his side. ¡°The way is open. Make sure he comes to our tower and our tower only,¡± he orders. I assume he means the only safe path is directly to us, so I spread my flames, not to burn anything, but to show the ¨¢infean that I¡¯m here and guide him. My fire spreads wide so he couldn¡¯t possibly miss it, before concentrating it on a thin line between him and myself. Spenne turns in mid sprint and flings out a lightning bolt that chains between the four chasing him. Each of them stumbles and collapses, but it isn¡¯t enough to kill them, just halt the chase until their legs regrow. Fortunately, the ¨¢infean understands my signal and stops dodging to the sides. He runs directly for us. The moment he¡¯s within a dozen metres of the tower, Tzilac slams the lever back into place. Just in time too; the lead Viisin follows the path Spenne took, but runs right into the field of reactivated traps. The Viisin has absolutely no time to react once the ground beneath it opens and snaps around it. Like the trap that originally pulled me into the earth, the teeth cut right through the Viisin. But unlike the one I experienced, it doesn¡¯t drag the creature underground. It simply holds the Viisin still for a second. And that is all that¡¯s needed. While the gifted mermineae is stuck, the earth opens to its side and a barrel of metal taller than I am flings toward the Viisin. The creature can do nothing but watch its incoming doom. My body shakes from the explosion. Like the one a week ago, I can feel the tremors through the earth as a blast of air rushes past me. Once again, a shower of shrapnel rains down from above. I belatedly note pieces of metal wedged into the ceiling a short distance above my head. I¡¯d completely missed those over the quaking explosion. I jump as a hand lands on my shoulder. ¡°Whoa, that¡¯s quite the bomb you¡¯ve got there.¡± Spenne stands over me, somehow getting here in the few moments since I¡¯d lost track of him. ¡°Thanks kid, I owe ya one.¡± He looks up at the centzon still looking out over the trap field. ¡°And to this group too, it looks.¡± There are barely any white straps around him anymore. The arcing electricity of his body continually flows out of his feet and tail, scorching the stone ground. Is he unable to stop it? Is that why he wore those straps? It takes a while for the smoke to clear. We wait, ready for the last three Viisin to jump over the trap fields and attack us, but they don¡¯t come. Eventually, it clears enough to see, but the trio just stand there, watching us. ¡°What are they doing?¡± I ask. I know that one of the other Viisin just died before their eyes, but I¡¯ve seen them jump far distances before. Why don¡¯t they just jump over the field of traps? ¡°If there¡¯s one thing the cultists and yoe have learnt, it is to never attack our fortifications,¡± Tzilac says. His hands never leave a set of levers while his eyes stay locked on the Viisin. ¡°They know how futile the attempt would be.¡± The Viisin pace around the centzon¡¯s walls for a while, obviously frustrated. After a tense half-hour, they turn on their heel and dash away. Were these Viisin a part of the fleeing mermineae? Or the ones trying to stop them? If it¡¯s the latter, then there shouldn¡¯t be an issue with the centzon setting up here. But in that case, why were they chasing Spenne? ¡°What did you do?¡± I accuse. ¡°Hey! Nothing! They just came after me,¡± he says with arms raised in defence. ¡°Unless they somehow realised I found out what they were up to.¡± ¡°What they were up to?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going to like this, but the Viisin have been hunting down other Beiths for months now. I think I¡¯d just become their latest target.¡± I¡¯m not sure why he¡¯d think I care. It¡¯s his and the other Beith¡¯s fault we¡¯re in this mess. If they hadn¡¯t opened the path through the Alps, none of this would have happened. ¡°We should get going. We were ready to leave before you showed up. Now that you¡¯re being targeted, are you joining us?¡± I ask as I step on the rail of the tower. Spenne breathes in deep, before letting it all out in a huff. ¡°I hate running, but even I know when I¡¯m outmatched. I could take one, not their whole fucking hit-squad. It was fun while it lasted.¡± ¡°Alright then.¡± I jump off the tower, ready to meet with Gr¨ªmr, and finally face the Alps again. ??? Dropping into the enormous cavern again turned out to be easier than I¡¯d anticipated. Sure, I am nervous to be under the earth, but actually being down here, and not experiencing any of those past horrors, is a relief. I glance around. The glow-bugs are nowhere to be seen. We¡¯ve travelled quite far now and yet they still don¡¯t appear. Back in the cavern we dropped into, with the sunlight shining through the half-circle in the ceiling, it had seemed empty, but I¡¯d assumed that would change as we follow the path of destruction I leftover a month ago. It hasn¡¯t. No matter how far we lead the centzon through the cavern, the glow-bugs never appear. Unfortunate. I¡¯d been hoping for another snack on our way through. It¡¯s not all bad though, the giant residents of this cavern seem to have left with the glow-bugs. I know this for sure, simply because Spenne seems completely unwilling to control his lightning. We keep him at the front where we won¡¯t be hit when the arachnid monstrosities inevitably drop on him. But miraculously, despite shining like a thousand glow-bugs, he remains unattacked. The tunnels I exploded through on my way here are still as charred and dug up as I left them. No more of that explosive-jelly to play around with. Well, whatever happened to all the creatures down here, it¡¯s given us a clear path to follow and no need to creep around. Unfortunately, it is clear the mermineae use the lack of danger up here to their own advantage. With the centzon and Spenne, we have no trouble fending them off, but that I left them with such a clear path to our home is troubling. After a while of travelling with the centzon, Tzilac confirms his ability to both follow the damage I left behind and track the passage of mermineae. We agree to meet them once he and his hundred centzon hunters make their way to the other side of the Alps. So Gr¨ªmr, Spenne and I take advantage of the concerning lack of monstrosities in these caves to cut our expected travel time to a mere fraction. I fly on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back, while Spenne remains as bait ahead of us. Our ¨¢infean¡¯s not too happy about his role, but he did say he owed me one. Hopefully, the mermineae haven¡¯t caused too much damage by the time we return. Chapter 123: PoV - Doe Doe opened the set of double doors with a calm poise which poorly reflected her inner turmoil. The commandeered town hall was an old, rickety wooden building that was closer to a cabin than the command post it had become. She wasn¡¯t happy to be this close to the war-zone, but she¡¯d been given orders ¡ª with no uncertain terms ¡ª that she was required to be here. Why? She did not know. Ever since the team under her management went missing, she¡¯d been stuck in a limbo of paperwork and concern. Most of her time was spent trying to clean up the mess Remus and his new adoptee caused in Joiak. The Kingdom had pulled all funding from the Mercenary Order. Of course, the Order wasn¡¯t about to take that ¡ª regardless of whether the problem was made by one of their own or not ¡ª and pulled out the mercenaries in the nation. Only a few bottom rung Saille teams had been left to satisfy the terms of the pact signed by each nation. It was an open secret that a nation only got as much defence as it paid. Originally, the Order had begun as a shared army between the nations of the pact. It would protect the borders of each country as if they were all one collective, and each nation would invest in the cause. That model had barely lasted a generation. Nations that didn¡¯t have contested borders started pulling back on their funding. Disputes between two nations of the pact also couldn¡¯t take advantage of their shared army, which led to many relying on their own militaries again. After many failed reworks of the treaty, the current system of hired military had formed. The birth of a horrid cesspool of corruption and bribery. Its flaws ¡ª major as they were ¡ª still better than the alternatives. Doe had to wonder how Joiak was handling the sudden invasion. Not well, she predicted. These new creatures appeared from nowhere and within a couple of weeks had already taken South Boreen and cut the Joiak Kingdom off from the rest of the pact. Doe took some sadistic delight in that. They¡¯d been giving her so much grief recently considering negotiations with them had been dropped on her shoulders. The Order wanted her to fix the mistakes of the team she was supposed to control, despite knowing just how fickle mercenaries could be. Joiak had wanted the head of the girl Remus brought back, but there were two problems with that. First, she was Remus choice for replacement. The old dohrni had become incredibly picky with who he allowed on the team. She¡¯d been trying for months to find a mage he would accept before he found her. The second problem, well, she¡¯d disappeared along with her team. They could hardly have the head of someone who they couldn¡¯t find. ¡°Commander Darton is expecting me. Where can I find him?¡± Doe asked one of the two dohrni scratching away in their log-books at the front desk. Dozens of team managers like herself rush in and out of the surrounding rooms. ¡°Doe Maral, I presume?¡± She said, not looking up from her notes. ¡°He¡¯s waiting. Furthest room up the stairs.¡± Doe gave a nod and said her gratitude, hiding the annoyance at the lack of respect shown. She stepped toward the set of stairs at the back of the foyer. She needed to remain civil and not let other¡¯s rude, dismissive attitudes impede her work. She didn¡¯t know why she¡¯d been called here. Without her team to direct any orders toward, she could only think of a couple reasons they might ask for her. The knowledge from her talks with Joiak, or her team had come back. The former was far more likely. Any team missing in action for more than a month ¡ª particularly once they¡¯d passed the crevasse to the Lower Elevation ¡ª was as good as dead. It was unfortunate, as it meant she would likely be stuck with a Fearn team for a while before she could find herself in charge of another Luis. Direct management for a Beith seemed impossible now, especially with over half the Beith roster having up and disappeared. Only a few weeks before the invasion from the west, by a race apparently never seen before, there had been word spreading that the Beiths were gone. Most had considered this blatant misinformation, with the Henosis Empire as the most likely instigator. A meeting with her superiors had revealed the truth. Most of the strongest defenders of the Order had up and fancied off to some new land, whisked away by the thought of growth. The top brass had fired the Beith¡¯s managers for failing to control them, but Doe knew that was just them trying to pass the blame and save their own asses. This was a failure of the system. For so long, they¡¯d bridled their strongest mercenaries with the temptation of supporting their growth. It was not easy for someone to become as strong as the Beiths, so they usually gave those that found success plenty of support, regardless of their personalities. As long as they had no ties outside the pact nations, the only thing that mattered was the strength they could return to the organisation. Enabling those with dubious loyalty was an obvious mistake in hindsight, but controlling those whose sole desire was strength was simple when you held the only path for them. It was impossible to predict they would abandon their role without the knowledge that there was another path. At least it made sense why they wanted Doe¡¯s team to investigate. Remus was both experienced and trustworthy. They hadn¡¯t sent him and his team up the Alps and out of their depth for a simple punishment. They¡¯d sent them there because they¡¯d lost trust in the Beiths.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Well, the brass could have sent their hounds ¡ª the Order¡¯s loyal inner circle that have been given more opportunities for growth than any Beith ¡ª but like any nation¡¯s elite, they would remain hidden until no other option remained. Doe arrived before the large wooden door that lead to the commander¡¯s office. The second floor was near empty, unlike below. Only one of her khirig kin worked away at a desk beside the door, ignoring her as she stepped forward. Doe made sure her antlers were as clean and sleek as ever and pat down her robe-suit before she rapped her thin bone digits on the wood. The door opened and she was led in before she registered who answered the door. Remus gave her that idiotic eye grin of his as she stared. ¡°You¡¯re not dead,¡± she stated after collecting herself. This was good. She wouldn¡¯t have to worry about a demotion if he was still around. ¡°How kind of you to notice.¡± His mouthless grin only seemed to widen. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you, too.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s the rest of your team?¡± Doe asked as he led her to the desk of the commander she was here to meet. She quickly gave a bow to her superior. Low enough to show respect, but not so low that she might come across as lower in standing. While he was technically higher rank than her, she had greater bureaucratic power. ¡°I am here as ordered, sir. I assume Remus is the reason I¡¯m here?¡± ¡°Hmm, yes. We¡¯ll catch you up with that in a moment,¡± Commander Darton said from his place behind the large desk. ¡°I sent Jav back to his family. Despite his wishes, I believed he needed some time to recover.¡± Sending his partner home at the beginning of a war? Doe worried that the old man might not be taking this seriously, but she also wasn¡¯t particularly knowledgeable about the state of the war, so she held her tongue. ¡°We met Princess Imiha while we were gone. Her and Bunny have gone to convince their homes to take this threat as seriously as possible.¡± The former Princess of Meja was one of the Beiths that had abandoned the pact nations? That was not something Doe had expected. ¡°While that sounds great,¡± Darton said. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t expect any help from the Vanguard. I received word yesterday that the Theocracy has launched their own war.¡± ¡°That isn¡¯t good. We¡¯ll need everything to fight off the mermineae invasion. They aren¡¯t something we can ignore,¡± Remus said. Doe couldn¡¯t argue there. These mermineae had wiped South Boreen off the map within a week of their first appearance. Darton nodded, as if he¡¯d heard this before. ¡°We won¡¯t, but this is still not the worst possible circumstance. We¡¯ve been concerned about the Empire to the east. They¡¯ve been poking at our defences for a good month now. If they were to attack, and if these mermineae continue their relentlessness, then I¡¯m afraid there might be nothing we can do.¡± ¡°Regardless of the action Henosis takes, we cannot hold anything back. That is our only chance,¡± Remus emphasised for the second time. Doe could tell when someone was trying to convince her of something, she just didn¡¯t know what these two wanted from her yet. ¡°What happened to the rest of your team? The portian? The ¨¢ed?¡± Doe hadn¡¯t known the kid was an ¨¢ed when she¡¯d met her. She didn¡¯t even know what an ¨¢ed was at the time. She¡¯d thought the kid was an insane albanic, or at least the child of an insane albanic that forced fire markings on her. Fire mages had the unfortunate caricature of being completely masochistic or mad. That was the only explanation one could have for setting their own body on fire for the sake of using the element. When she¡¯d seen the literal fire in the young girl¡¯s eyes, Doe could admit to being unnerved. From what little she knew about mage markings, they only went skin deep. To burn one¡¯s own eyes and not flinch seemed impossible. But it turned out her assumptions had been wrong. She was an ¨¢ed; a race adjacent to the ¨¢infean. In a way, it was like a bucket of cold water over her initial fright. ¡°Gr¨ªmr and Solvei are still on the other side of the Alps. There were some circumstances. They¡¯re staying over there for the time being.¡± She¡¯d heard it before, but it still mystified Doe that these invaders came from beyond those titanic mountains. She¡¯d grown up with nothing but fairy-tales about what was beyond, but nobody was supposed to have found a way through. Now? An entire alien army had come. It seemed unreal. ¡°Come here. Let¡¯s not waste what time we have,¡± the khirig commander grunts. ¡°This is the land they have taken so far. They cut us off from Joiak, so we have no intelligence in that regard, but we expect them to hold out for a few weeks at the very least. They may lack the Order¡¯s support, but they are wealthy enough to have their own elites tucked away, I¡¯m sure.¡± Doe took the invitation and glanced over the map. As she¡¯d expected, the entirety of South Boreen had been taken, from the Alps all the way to the Vanguard¡¯s border. What did surprise her, though, was the line drawn up along the Alps. It rose as far north as Meja. ¡°Why haven¡¯t we stopped them along the Alps?¡± she wondered aloud. ¡°Have you forgotten your history lessons?¡± Darton asked. ¡°Setting up defensive positions along the Alps would be asking for a massacre. The mermineae only seem capable of this due to their race¡¯s natural camouflaging and familiarity with such danger.¡± He looked to Remus for confirmation. ¡°What¡¯s even more concerning, is that each of them is naturally as strong as the average Fearn, with plenty far greater. The only thing we really have in our favour is the lack of variation in the way they fight. Once you¡¯ve fought one of their Forvaal, you¡¯ve fought them all. While I¡¯d like that to sound reassuring, the average Forvaal is about as strong as I am, and there are likely thousands.¡± ¡°Are there any stronger than the Forvaal?¡± The commander asks, sounding suspiciously rehearsed. ¡°I never met one, but what are the odds that there aren¡¯t? I¡¯d bet on there being plenty at least equivalent to the Order¡¯s inner circle,¡± Remus said, looking directly at Doe, despite the question coming from Darton. Ah. She knew what they wanted from her now. ¡°So, Doe. Are you willing to do this tiny little thing for us?¡± Remus pleaded. ¡°Tiny? I¡¯ll be demoted for even bringing it up!¡± ¡°But if we fight this war how it would normally play out, everyone will be dead by the time we bring them into play.¡± The commander slammed the flat edge of his arm¡¯s antlers on the desk, sending the map and a stack of papers to the floor. It wasn¡¯t particularly intimidating considering Doe had spent most of her career surrounded by powerful mercenaries. Remus motioned at Darton to calm down and stepped before Doe. ¡°With all the Beith¡¯s managers already demoted, you are one of the highest ranked in the Order that has direct communication with the top brass. If you don¡¯t convince them, you won¡¯t have a career anymore. The Mercenary Order will be done.¡± Doe ran her digits along her antler cage, creating an irritating scratching noise. It was an old stress habit she¡¯d thought she¡¯d moved on from. She didn¡¯t want to even consider the idea of approaching her superiors about this. Demotion wasn¡¯t even the most concerning risk she¡¯d take on. She could be labelled a traitor. Put to death. What if they listened to her and the hounds died? They would lay the blame entirely on her. ¡°I¡¯ll have to think about this,¡± she said and made her way out of the office without waiting for dismissal. How would she even approach that meeting? She¡¯d have to soften them up first. Maybe she¡¯d take them out to a nice restaurant before having them choke on their food as she made her proposal. At least then she wouldn¡¯t have to deal with the fallout; they¡¯d be dead. Was she really going to go through with this? Could she convince them to unleash the inner circle? Chapter 124: Return There was no way for us to remain hidden during our journey, both because of the pace we kept and Spenne¡¯s complete disregard for subtlety. While running past thousands of mermineae we pretended not to notice, I¡¯d once asked him why he didn¡¯t control his electricity. He¡¯d looked at me like I¡¯d grown a second head. Apparently, ¨¢infean are much like the Agni tribes in that they don¡¯t bother controlling their bodies. Luckily for the mermineae, they freeze whenever they notice us, clearly not knowing how visible they are to my eyes. I¡¯ve considered burning through them as we travel, but Gr¨ªmr has been adamantly against it. I¡¯m not sure why. Their race has done nothing but cause problems for us. It¡¯s not like it would have been reasonable for me to go through with it, anyway. Despite only cutting away the tiniest portion of the mermineae¡¯s army, I would tire out far too fast spreading my flames like that. So, we run without acknowledging their presence. For three weeks. While a far shorter duration than my last trip, the time still feels like centuries. I may have overcome the limitations on my mind, but I don¡¯t think I could ever be comfortable underground. It doesn¡¯t help that we¡¯re on a timer. The longer we take, the more damage the mermineae might do. The entire path I had originally taken is clear of its usual residents. Fortunately: making our trip easy, and unfortunately: providing the same ease for the mermineae. It¡¯s relieving we don¡¯t have to deal with the monstrosities, but those very monstrosities could have wiped out a sizeable chunk of our problem. Far ahead of us, light finally breaches through the permeating darkness. Three weeks with nothing to look at beside Spenne¡¯s backside hasn¡¯t been fun. I perk up on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back, abandoning my latest attempt at breaching the wall I¡¯d been stuck slamming against for so long. I¡¯m not the only one to notice. Gr¨ªmr metal feather flutter beneath me and Spenne¡¯s body involuntarily zaps the ground around him. The air charges with static, and I don¡¯t have to see the number of mermineae that lay ahead to know he¡¯s preparing to attack. I throw myself off Gr¨ªmr without so much as a thought to the danger. With a risky burst of flame, I slam into the ¨¢infean¡¯s back and try to pull him back. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡± He jerks his head back at me, confusion marring his face. ¡°Why not?¡± As he sprints forward, the density of mermineae grows, confirming the likely scenario of our approach on the exit. ¡°You think they don¡¯t have Viisin at this exit? If you attack, you¡¯ll bring them down on us.¡± ¡°Great! I¡¯m feeling good and ready to take ¡®em on again.¡± I groan and try to tug his head back, but he doesn¡¯t budge. ¡°Gr¨ªmr and I need to get back to the others. Can you at least wait until we are out of the way before you try to kill yourself?¡± Spenne hums in consideration. The thunder rumbles through my chest from the contact. ¡°Alright. But I want you to join me for another battle in the coming war.¡± ¡°Fine!¡± I throw myself off his back as he veers off to the side. Gr¨ªmr slows his flight and I jump on his back. With how long I¡¯ve spent riding the large alicanto recently, I¡¯ve had plenty of time to practice my balance. My balance isn¡¯t the only thing I¡¯ve been trying to improve, but it is by far the only focus that has led to growth. The heat of my flame, my control, focus, and binding are all aspects that just don¡¯t seem to want to improve, no matter how hard I try. Well, I don¡¯t even know how to improve my binding in the first place, but I¡¯m sure it¡¯s possible. So when I wasn¡¯t banging my head against one of those walls, I was staving off boredom by practising my balance and spear-work. The same way Bunny first trained me. Even if it had been at my request, Spenne had been a bit too happy to throw rocks and electric arcs my way. As we move a few leagues off the side of my path of destruction, the glow-bugs become apparent once more. There aren¡¯t many, and they concentrate far off in the distant dark, but it is a sign that they are specifically avoiding the area where there are no more bug-traps. If there had ever been any doubt of me being the root cause of the missing ecosystem, it is clear now. It is entirely because of my greed and hunger that an uncontested path is available to the mermineae. I¡¯m not sure what to think about this. If I hadn¡¯t done what I did, I wouldn¡¯t have had the power to free my team. But having done so might have doomed our home.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. No. It¡¯s stupid to think that; they could already make it across the Alps even with all the dangers of the caverns. At worst, I just cut the time it took them to pass. ¡°You think the rest of the team got through okay?¡± I ask Gr¨ªmr. The thought has bothered me for a while now. Imiha is strong and can probably fight off however many Forvaal they face, but she can¡¯t compete with a Viisin. Do they even know about the Viisin? ¡°I trust Remus enough to believe they¡¯ll get through fine. He¡¯s not the strongest, but he¡¯s got more experience in situations like this than anyone else.¡± ¡°He¡¯s got experience escaping an unthinkably massive cave system through a hundred thousand creatures that would kill on sight?¡± I ask with slight amusement. Gr¨ªmr chuckles, his chest vibrating beneath me. ¡°Nothing that specific, but he has a long history of getting his teams out of dangerous situations. Also, remember that Imiha is with them. She should be able to cut her own hole to the surface.¡± As we close in on the light, skirting the border of the lifeless cavern, it becomes clear the entrance is far wider than it had been when we first passed through. In retrospect, it should have been clear from the light itself. There are still many tunnels above one would need to pass through to reach the surface. The light shouldn¡¯t reach this cavern. Had the Viisin torn open the path on this side as well? A thick section of the ceiling exposes the sky above. It is wider than the other side. Did the Viisin get caught in a fight here too? Is that why so much of the ceiling is simply gone? Or did they just widen it to allow the mermineae a less congested path? Now that I think about it, if Viisin can tear through the ranked stone like this, then why did the clergy even bother to have us try to close it in the first place? As long as the traitors have even one hidden away, they can just reopen it in a moment. Before the Viisin began chasing him, Spenne found evidence that they had been going around killing all the Beiths even while we were working with the clergy. Which side are they on? If the ones hunting down all the Beith mercs are a part of the traitors, then why? It is because of the Beiths that they even have a path to follow. They¡¯ve been hunting them too long for it to be revenge for our attack. Maybe they were trying to kill all the ones that had the capability of closing the path in the first place¡­ but again, that makes little sense, considering the Viisin can reopen it with ease. The clergy have proven themselves to have a decent knowledge of what is going on in the plains. They directed us to Imiha and Spenne, after all. So I find it difficult to believe that they didn¡¯t know the traitors had their own Viisin wandering around. Then, are they a part of the clergy? Their knowledge of each Beith¡¯s location can be explained if they had been actively hunting them down. But why? What reason do the clergy have to go after us? Sure, if they¡¯d started doing so after that battle, I¡¯d pin it on them being angry at Spenne. But again, they¡¯d been doing this since far before that battle. Their focus is to stop the mermineae from leaving the plains, right? Then why had their strongest been wasting their time hunting down outsiders? It was as if they didn¡¯t care for the reasons they told me. Does Kalma even exist? Of course she does. The centzon spoke of her themselves and the mermineae have shown genuine fear at her mention. Were the strongest perhaps not as terrified of the god as the rest of their kin? But that Viisin during our first attack on the tunnel seemed intent on freeing the mermineae from her grasp. He¡¯d been clearly hateful of the clergy Viisin trying to stop him. The whole thing was a confusing mess. What is true? How much of what the mermineae have said is fabrication? Well, nothing changes. The mermineae remain our enemies, regardless of the details. Whether it¡¯s the traitors or the clergy killing the Beiths, it doesn¡¯t matter. Until we¡¯re given a reason to think otherwise, we¡¯ll fight both. A deep growl rumbles through the cavern before I hear a heavy thunk. I freeze as the arachnid monstrosity¡¯s presence washes over me. Without time to even process, the large silhouette scuttles out of the darkness and chases the light ahead of us. ¡°Shit! Go!¡± Spenne shouts as he bursts out of the monstrosity¡¯s path with a crack of thunder. ¡°I¡¯ll be back to take you up on your word. Prepare for a good fight.¡± He laughs as he leads the giant toward the crowd of mermineae. Gr¨ªmr and I just watch as the terrifying creature chases the ¨¢infean. A mindless animal chasing bait laid before its eyes. ¡°Well, I guess it¡¯s just the two of us again,¡± I say. ¡°Lets get moving in case there are more around.¡± Gr¨ªmr grunts his approval and directs his flight toward the massive hole in the ceiling. Hopefully, the Viisin and Forvaal will be too busy with the monstrosity Spenne is leading through their numbers to notice our escape. I crouch, hands gripping feathers on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s neck as we fly over thousands of mermineae. Ropes made of sap and fur dangle from the ceiling, but most of them scale the ceiling ahead of us. There must be a wall further down the cavern. There are so many of them. Even more than there were when we attacked the other entrance as a team. How exactly are we going to fight off this many? I¡¯m certain the average strength of these mermineae is far above that of the people on our side of the Alps. Do we have enough at the strength of my team to hold them off? I hold tight, expecting a Forvaal to burn us out of the sky, a Viisin to jump at us, or any form of opposition. But it doesn¡¯t come. We fly out into open, chilly, thin air without so much as a breeze to block our way. The mountainous landscape falling away to the lands that are home to my friends. The ones I left behind so long ago. Gr¨ªmr sticks low to the earth, flying above crowds of mermineae in a dash to get as far in as short a time as possible. I peer to the south, hoping to glance the home I¡¯ve not been to in years. Not since my tribe died. Unfortunately, the Alps block the wasteland from sight. If I want to see it again, I¡¯ll have to return. But not now. Now, I need to assure the home of my friends remains safe. I¡¯d been too young, too powerless to stop the Henosis Empire¡¯s invasion of New Vetus. I am neither anymore, and I will do everything I can to stop it this time. I¡¯ve been front and centre to what can happen to good people when strained by war. Gloria had always been a cruel manipulator, but the rest of her race had been nice to me, until war made their lives hard. Ash, Leslie, Kerry, and the twins are immigrants to Meja. Will they face the same disdain I did back in the ursu¡¯s country at the height of war? I don¡¯t want that. Gr¨ªmr and I are finally back, but we have a lot of work to do. First though, I want to head to Meja and make sure they are safe. If I meet my team on the way, then that would be perfect. Chapter 125: War Gr¨ªmr and I fly north, descending the Alps as we go. Well, we intend to. That is, after we backtrack south to cross the crevasse over the bridge left in the Titan¡¯s wake. Gr¨ªmr adamantly refuses to flying over the chasm. I know the wind is strong, but he¡¯s a big bird; more relevantly, he¡¯s a heavy bird. He will plummet as long as he closes his wings; it¡¯s not the Euroclydon¡¯s gust, after all. But he is determined to take the safe path. I wonder if the mermineae attempted to cross the crevasse before they found this bridge, or did they simply follow the titan¡¯s path down? There¡¯s no reason they would have known about the chasm until they came across it themselves. On the other side of the alps, there is no crevasse. Is that a result of the Titan¡¯s winds too? Once clear of the bridge ¡ª and the mermineae swarming it ¡ª we agree to head back to Meja. That¡¯s the most likely place we¡¯ll find our team, assuming the pact nations aren¡¯t completely overwhelmed yet. The invasion has long since begun. We knew that coming in, but to see the defensive structures along the Alps destroyed is troubling. Nothing remains of the garrison I¡¯d learnt to play Bleed. Hopefully, the mercenaries fled and held the mermineae away from people¡¯s homes. We won¡¯t know until we leave the Steppes if they succeed or not. Are they holding the mermineae at bay, or have they been overwhelmed? It is unfortunately clear they have not pushed them back, but one can hope that all is not yet lost. ¡°When Spenne comes to have you join him in battle,¡± Gr¨ªmr says. ¡°I would prefer if you don¡¯t enable him.¡± I look down at him, confused. Gr¨ªmr keeps his eyes locked ahead, refusing to look back at me. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hypocritical of me to say, considering I have no intention of backing down in this war, but I don¡¯t want you to kill unless necessary.¡± ¡°Why not? They¡¯re our enemies, and I¡¯ve killed hundreds already.¡± Gr¨ªmr twists his beak back to me. ¡°That is exactly the problem.¡± He pauses, his eye flicking over my body before he turns ahead again. ¡°I¡¯m afraid for the day you learn exactly what that means.¡± I scowl. Of course I know what it means. They¡¯re dead. There¡¯s not much more to learn. And good riddance. Gloria, the General, the mermineae; they all deserve death. What does he think he knows that I don¡¯t? Why doesn¡¯t he just say it if it is so important? I don¡¯t respond, and we descend into silence. I force my eyes to the horizon. It¡¯s strange not to see a perfectly flat line anymore. The hills and mountains paint the landscape with definition that the plains lacked. Doesn¡¯t Gr¨ªmr realise I¡¯ve killed because I couldn¡¯t have survived otherwise? The moon still hides behind the Alps above, so I can¡¯t check if the scar beneath it is still there. What could it mean if it really is only visible on the other side? Does Gr¨ªmr really think killing is bad? What about hunting? Or survival? Is killing to live wrong in his eyes? I wish I could see the wasteland again. Is Gr¨ªmr disappointed by the actions I¡¯ve taken? No matter what I try to think about, my mind always drifts back to Gr¨ªmr¡¯s words. The tension of this silence doing me no favours. I want to be mad. I want to shout why he¡¯s wrong, but the words get stuck in my throat. I¡¯ve done nothing wrong. ??? It was too much to hope that they held the mermineae at the nations¡¯ borders. Hundreds of metres in the air, I stand upon Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back as he flies over the ruins of what was once a city. Portions of the defensive walls are simply gone, as if removed from existence. I¡¯d been told that the Forvaal go slightly blind each time they used their decay eyes. Was that a lie? They¡¯ve been incredibly quick to burn their own eyes if that¡¯s the case. The city is silent, so we move on. I would like to imagine the residents evacuating and the mercenaries deciding to hold defences further back to wait for reinforcements. While everyone¡¯s homes are destroyed, they are still alive in the safety of some other city further ahead. They have trains here after all, they can still move faster than the mermineae can run. I would like to, but the red soaked streets dispel any illusion. This isn¡¯t the first settlement the two of us have come across. Neither is it unique in its residents¡¯ misfortune. The bodies do not remain, and I can only assume what the mermineae have done with them. Despite the murder, I see no problem with the mermineae returning their bodies to the cycle, but I can tell Gr¨ªmr is struggling with the thought. I pat him slightly on the back, but I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s helpful at all. It might be easier to console him if I were to share his beliefs, but I try not to be annoyed for now, not about his strange counter-intuitive traditions nor his words from days ago that never seem to leave my mind. The mermineae could have approached our nations with diplomacy, but no; they chose to invade. Each metre we fly is another ripped from the dead hands of those who once called this place home. When will we find the border? How far have the mermineae already pushed? Even with the Henosis Empire¡¯s clear military advantage over the ursu ¡ª ignoring Hund ¡ª they¡¯d taken over six months to push to the heart of New Vetus. The more land we find overrun, the worse the situation appears. Gr¨ªmr changes course, angling a touch further east. I soon hear why. Slight popping and crackling prelude the tiny bursts of light on the horizon. Explosions. But none so big as what the centzon are capable of.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Finally, we¡¯ve found the war. I rise to a crouch, ready to jump into the fray with my spear in hand. Rather than rushing in, Gr¨ªmr slows down. I tilt my head at the giant bird, but he gathers his thoughts and speaks. ¡°Solvei, I¡­¡± His eyes roll over my form. Something makes him pause. ¡°Please be careful.¡± he turns toward the approaching battle. I don¡¯t know if battles are supposed to be like this, but it is pure chaos. Thousands of mermineae wail on a defence of pact nation races numbering only in the hundreds. With coordination, the mages unleash varied elemental attacks while the more physically attuned try to hold the swarm off. Their attempts, while somewhat effective, are pointless against the continual onslaught of mermineae. Some particularly powerful warriors amongst the defenders hold off good portions of the mermineae advance by themselves, but even they can¡¯t stop each bounding over their line. A continual rain of metal is the source of the explosions. Each missile of iron drops from the sky and explodes on impact. Unfortunately, they only seem to kill upon a direct hit. Shrapnel tears into those close by, but they survive. I follow the trajectory back to their source and spot hundreds of cannons similar, but far smaller than the ones centzon use. Each supported by large wheels. Many volans fly above the battle, some dropping to the cannons and their crew every few moments. Unlike how I¡¯m used to seeing Jav fight, none of these seem to actively participate in the battle. A few metres behind the front line, which I assume are the mercenaries, is a mess of disorganised soldiers holding guns like I¡¯d seen the Henosis. The mermineae that have already bypassed the mercenaries¡¯ defence tear into these soldiers. The gun wielding races panic and fire blindly. Just as many shots hit the backs of a friendly soldiers as they do mermineae. The bullets do nothing more than slow the beasts down, while each bullet into a soldier almost guarantees death. The mercenaries hit by the panic fire appear to come off less injured, but the mages are vulnerable. Several collapse from rather unfortunate shots. I haven¡¯t even seen a Forvaal use their eyes yet, and the defence is already crumbling. Some mercenaries riding beasts chase mermineae going for the line of cannons, but their rides cannot keep up, and soon the rear weapons are being torn apart. Gr¨ªmr and I finally reach the battle. The portian comes in at full speed, tearing through the dozens that don¡¯t dive out of the way in time. I throw myself off Gr¨ªmr and ram my spear into the back of a rather unfortunate merminea that just survived my friend¡¯s devastating swoop. Heavy scraping and a cloud of dirt tells me they pulled him to the earth, but even without the ease of flight to cut through mermineae, Gr¨ªmr has enough weight that he just slides along, crushing those still in his path. I look back to my own fight once Gr¨ªmr rises to his feet. I plan to steer clear of the mercenaries¡¯ defence. There¡¯s no chance I want to be anywhere near the water mages as they fight. I¡¯d wanted to practice only my spearmanship, but they look like they¡¯re struggling, so I have no choice but to unleash my fire while running around with my spear. I shouldn¡¯t go so far as to create a firestorm; its uncontrollable nature is a bit much to let loose so close to friendly fighters. As I dash around, shrouding my spear in physical flame to boost the strength of my thrusts with a momentary blast, I keep an eye on the mercenaries. There is one particularly tall albanic that tears through mermineae like they are nothing but rodents. In his hands is a longsword with a ripple-like blade. A flamberge¡­ which is strange that I actually know that. I guess Bunny¡¯s been rubbing off on me. I wonder where she is right now? An explosion from my side peppers me with hundreds of tiny bits of shrapnel. I should focus. Stop letting my thoughts wander. My eyes drop and I find my outfit in shreds. Really? I¡¯m ready to turn up the heat and burn these mermineae where they stand despite the source of my irritation being from my side, but my eyes land on the albanic again. In moments, an arm and a leg disappear, leaving him to crumple to the ground in agony. I dash toward him, intending to help, but a wall of water rises before him, startling me. With as much physical flame as I can handle in the moment, I blast myself backward, hoping the water won¡¯t chase me. It remains still. Through the distortion of the liquid, another mercenary drags the albanic flamberge wielder to the rear of their line. I jerk my head to the side, looking for the grey eyed Forvaal hidden amongst the swarm. Are they waiting for the stronger mercenaries to show before burning them? My flames spread to cover as much ground as I can reasonably control and I push the heat to my max. Bright yellow flame burns through hundreds of mermineae. Their screams bring up Gr¨ªmr¡¯s words to the forefront of my mind, but I quickly shove them out. The mermineae that aren¡¯t dying in my fires are the ones I need to target. I dash to the first, spear raised at its chest. The Forvaal notices me coming and leaps back, eyes already flicking my way. I¡¯d seen this coming though, and add mass to the flames surrounding us. It stings a bit as the Forvaal decays through my physical flame, but it is manageable compared to the pain a direct sight-line would bring. With all the clear open ground around us, I can keep the physical flame fed without digging too deep into my reserves. I run at him again. This time, he stands still for me, absolutely trusting in his ability to kill me before my spear can touch him. To his credit, he eats away at quite a lot of the flame coating my weapon before I pierce him between the eyes. No need for anything fancy, if he¡¯s going to just stand and take it. Not that I¡¯d trust myself with anything fancy, yet. I don¡¯t wait and move toward the next, trying my hardest to hide within my flames so this one doesn¡¯t notice my approach. I almost succeed too, but the creature¡¯s round ears twitch and it leaps out of the way at the last moment. Still not enough to avoid the spear running them through, but it saves the creature¡¯s life. It hisses at me, but once again, the flames block its eyes from turning me to dust. This Forvaal is quick to realise, and it backs away, limping as it does. I press my advantage, raising my spear for another lunge, but there is no need. In the chaos I¡¯ve brought, the mercenaries finally push back. A volley of stone projectiles clatter against the Forvaal as it backs away from me. The rock knives barely pierce its fur, scratching or bouncing off without so much as a flinch from the creature. Now realising it¡¯s stuck between me and the mercenary army, it turns to attack the easier targets. Well, I won¡¯t miss the opportunity if it wants to show its back. With a jet of flame, I burst forward, my spear ready to thrust. I¡¯m knocked away before I can reach it. Another Forvaal collides with me and sends us tumbling to the ground. Damn! I haven¡¯t been paying attention to my surroundings. The Forvaal doesn¡¯t even try to use its eyes, instead it scratches at me and tears my outfit apart even more. Seriously, I need to find clothes that won¡¯t be destroyed in a single fight. This is getting frustrating. As the Forvaal wails into my chest and throat without result, the concern and fear becomes palpable in its eyes. They glow a deep grey, but I¡¯ve already got my physical flame burning into them, both blocking his decay ability and boiling its eyes in its head. It shrieks a high-pitched wail and doubles its efforts into my chest and head, which simply flicker around its claws. It may not have the strength to hurt me, but I¡¯m mad about my outfit. My spear slams into the side of the Forvaal¡¯s head. It jolts to a stop for a second, but quickly resumes its assault. I¡¯m sure I hit its brain, but the damn thing still moves. Well, whatever, it isn¡¯t much of a problem. I move my flames along the length of my spear and in through the wound in its head. With easy access to the brain inside its head, it quickly burns away. Inner organs tend to be much less resistant to my flames than fur and skin. I scorch the blood off my clothes and spear and rise to my feet. The mercenaries are as far as a few metres from my fire now, hesitant to move inside. Do they think I will burn them too? The defensive wall of water before many of them is a bit too close for comfort, so I back off my flames, exposing the few Forvaal that have yet to flee. They don¡¯t last long. Even if the mercenaries were having trouble till now, they are quick to push their advantage and flank the mermineae my flames could not reach. The battle is soon won. Too bad thousands of soldiers from the rear now lay dead. The unenhanced truly have little hope against the mermineae. Considering the lack of strength even their weapons could provide, I struggle to understand why they are even here. Is there a reason they all had to lose their lives? Chapter 126: Fire Mage It felt good to use my spear. It might have been possible to wipe the Forvaal if I¡¯d let loose a firestorm, but with so many allies nearby, it would have been too dangerous. I¡¯m really glad the mermineae are so easy for me to deal with. Some mercenaries are strong, almost to my team¡¯s level, but still struggle when fighting too many of the standard mermineae. I¡¯m fortunate in the sense that no matter how many come at me, as long as they burn, they cannot touch me. Gr¨ªmr is helping carry our dead to the far rear of the line, where they have pitched temporary structures; tents. The sight of them dredges up old memories and I have to tear my eyes away. They are far too similar to ger for my liking. Most of the soldiers and mercenaries focus on the strange metal bird helping them work, so I get to walk around undisturbed. They keep their distance, but never take their eyes off him. I pass another row of piled bodies as I make my way to the cordoned off section of the former battlefield for the injured. The dead are taken away, but those needing treatment stay. I¡¯m slightly tempted to burn the bodies and reuse their energy myself, but the vast majority are unenhanced, which would be worthless for me now. Best leave them for others to make use of. Wait, Gr¨ªmr¡¯s around. Are they going to bury them? For now, I put it out of mind. We¡¯re already at war with the mermineae, I don¡¯t want to start any dumb internal conflicts that would be better avoided. I finally find the flamberge albanic, still without his arm and leg. I find it strange that he hadn¡¯t been healed immediately. He¡¯s obviously one of their stronger warriors, so I¡¯m surprised they didn¡¯t have him rush right out to the battlefield again. Even more surprised he¡¯s still in this state. He sits in the back of the carriage, staring up into the sky. The pholos strapped to the wagon lay asleep. It is strange to see the creatures again. I¡¯d thought only Zadok had the animals because they don¡¯t have the trains every other country seems to. Then again, there aren¡¯t exactly any rails out here. Do the pact nations not have those cars? Or is that something only the Henosis Empire has? I climb up and sit across from him. I¡¯m not all too sure why, maybe curiosity? Thick, crimson-stained bandages cover the stubs of missing limbs. His arm at the shoulder and leg just above where his knee should be. When he doesn¡¯t lower his head after a minute, I ask the question on my mind. ¡°Why haven¡¯t you been healed?¡± ¡°Are you mocking me?¡± the albanic drops his gaze to mine, scowl on his face. It slackens when he sees me, but confusion takes its place. ¡°No,¡± I say. ¡°I just thought it strange they didn¡¯t want one of their strongest continuing to fight.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not possible, you know.¡± His eyebrows furrow as he looks over the tattered remains of my outfit. ¡°Why are you even here? Did you not evacuate before those beasts attacked? Wait, are you even albanic?¡± His eyes widen as they rise to mine. ¡°How can you tell?¡± I ask, surprised. While my flames are hidden, most just assume I¡¯m an albanic too. Even the albanic themselves. I flicker my body to flame and back to confirm his guess. ¡°No reason,¡± he says while locking eyes. Huh, maybe the blue of my hair and its dark shade were enough for him. I had covered it in dirt and grease when I was intentionally trying to hide, after all. ¡°That was you before? The fire that helped us?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± He bows his head, the action somewhat stiff in his seated position. ¡°Then, thank you. It is likely because of you that my team and many others are alive.¡± His gaze drops to his missing leg as he speaks. ¡°Your team? Where are they now?¡± I glance around as if they¡¯ll pop out of nowhere. ¡°Also, what did you mean it¡¯s not possible? My teammate had his tentacle regrown in a fight.¡± Remus said he would have to wait until we got back across the Alps to restore his limb, but then we¡¯d come across Imiha. There has to be more amongst the nations that can heal, right? ¡°My team is debriefing with the commander now. And your team must be incredibly lucky to get one of the Lu-lum to support you in battle. They typically refuse to be anywhere near conflict zones. I¡¯ll be enjoying a nice day long train ride north just to be put on a waiting list.¡± He clenches his only remaining hand. ¡°Who knows what might happen out here by the time I¡¯m back?¡± I don¡¯t respond. I don¡¯t know how. This battle was a victory, but it was tiny in the scheme of things. There are still hundreds of thousands of mermineae. What¡¯s to say these few hundred mercenaries won¡¯t face overwhelming numbers next time? Gr¨ªmr and I can¡¯t stay forever. We need to get back to Meja. Gr¨ªmr is still helping them carry bodies, so I settle to wait until he¡¯s ready to leave. I want to head back as soon as possible, but I¡¯m sure he feels the same way, so I¡¯ll be patient. My eyes wander over the encampment. The area for injured people I¡¯m currently sitting in is the only place where both the soldiers and mercenaries intermingle. Outside, they steer clear of the other. Despite the number of casualties amongst the soldiers, there are still far more of them than the mercenaries. A flock of people leave the largest of the ger¡­ tents. They spread out amongst the mercenary teams resting after their fight. Each wear clean, formal clothing that is out of place amongst both mercenaries and soldiers. A group of three albanics and a pair of khirig walk our way. I assume this is my limbless friend¡¯s team. They seem more interested in me as they approach.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°Yo, Mors. Who¡¯s this?¡± an albanic woman jumps on the wagon and sits shoulder to shoulder with the flamberge wielder ¡ª Mors. ¡°She¡¯s the cause of all that fire.¡± ¡°Really? But she¡¯s so young.¡± I twist my head back to the khirig standing behind me. Her antlers giving her an impressive height over me. ¡°Is that really so strange? Is there no one my age as strong?¡± ¡°Incredibly,¡± Mors says. ¡°The only ones that even have the possibility are mages, but kids talented and driven enough are incredibly rare. Plus, there aren¡¯t many that would risk letting their kids experience the world before they¡¯ve taught them everything they need.¡± The woman across from me leans further into Mors¡¯ side. Another albanic man leans over, inspecting me. ¡°And yet I can¡¯t see a single marking on your body.¡± His eyes widen and I have to groan. I know what¡¯s coming. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to be an ¨¢ed would you?¡± Typical mages. Thankfully, the khirig behind me speaks up, so I don¡¯t have to respond. ¡°Oh! The commander is looking for you.¡± She steps back and waves her long antler arm to someone off in the distance. The rest of the team winces at the khirig¡¯s action. Another khirig steps forward to pull down her arm. ¡°The commander isn¡¯t too happy with you, so prepare yourself,¡± the woman beside Mors says. ¡°Huh? Why? Didn¡¯t I help?¡± I¡¯m aware of my strength enough to know that there would have been many more dead if I hadn¡¯t joined the fight. Why would their leader be mad at me? ¡°You did, and we are all thankful, but-¡± ¡°You!¡± The shout makes me turn. A short female albanic with a uniform adorned with many medals stomps her way toward us. A bored-looking man follows on her heels. Despite his slouched posture and baggy clothing, I can tell he¡¯s the most dangerous person here. I can¡¯t feel it. Not in the way you could immediately tell when someone was strong. No, he doesn¡¯t show his presence. Instead, I can feel the energy moving along and around his skin, just beneath the clothes that cover every millimetre of his body beside his face. He¡¯s a fire mage. He notices my gaze on him rather than the commander currently asking the khirig behind me whether she¡¯s certain I¡¯m actually the one she¡¯s looking for. An amused smirk spreads across his face as we stare at each other, but he says nothing, and does nothing as the albanic woman pushes between us again. ¡°Present yourself!¡± ¡°What?¡± I stumble to my feet on the wagon as she puts her face far too close to mine for comfort. ¡°Your name and team.¡± She crosses her arms and glares. I look around, hoping for any of these mercenaries to either explain why she¡¯s mad or calm her down. When neither comes, I return my attention to this rude woman before me. ¡°I¡¯m Solvei, with Luis-Eight.¡± That turns some heads. As with back at the garrison, the name of Remus¡¯ team is enough to attract attention. Even the commander¡¯s eyes widen slightly before she narrows them at me. ¡°Why did you not announce your presence to me when you arrived?¡± ¡°I arrived in the middle of battle. Why would I do that? So many more would have died if I hadn¡¯t.¡± My eyes flicker to the mage standing behind the commander and I realise something I should have when I first saw him. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you help?¡± I jump off the wagon and push past the commander, who lets out a gasp of indignation as she stumbles out of my way. She¡¯s clearly unenhanced. The fire mage keeps his calm attitude while I close the distance. He¡¯s a full head taller than me and I don¡¯t enjoy having to look up to him, so I engulf myself in physical flame and lift myself to his height. I lift myself a little higher, so now I¡¯m the one looking down on him. ¡°You were here. Why did you leave these people to die?¡± I can feel the well of flames hidden within the markings beneath his coat. ¡°You are strong enough to kill all the mermineae yourself, so why did you not help?¡± Still unmoving, he grins at me. ¡°I would have loved to join.¡± He directs his gaze to the uniformed woman. ¡°But Commander Irena here wouldn¡¯t have it. Maybe you should ask her for details.¡± I return my focus to the fat lady once more, the deep scowl doing nothing to hide her anger. ¡°It appears you are still a child, despite your strength. You cannot win a war by saving everyone. Some sacrifices are necessary.¡± ¡°What?¡± I¡¯m more shocked than angry. They intentionally let those soldiers and mercenaries die? I¡¯d assumed it was negligence, not intent. ¡°What do you mean ¡®sacrifices¡¯?¡± ¡°Beiths must remain out of battle until we can force the enemy to show their elite.¡± Her eyes flicker to the fire mage before returning to me. ¡°Not only did you give yourself away, which might have been fine if it were you alone, but we have no hope of hiding our Beith now.¡± She calms herself before she continues. ¡°They have all the cards they need to deal with us in the next battle.¡± That is absolute foolishness. Keeping your best mercenaries from fighting for only a slight advantage in information? Sacrificing thousands for that information? It just seems wrong. I feel the thread of fire as it approaches from behind me. I¡¯ve felt it ever since the fire mage created it. Right before it connects with my flame, I send a curious glance the mage¡¯s way. I¡¯ve never met a fire mage before now, but I really feel like he has absolutely no idea what he¡¯s doing. He¡¯s guiding the fire with horrid inefficiency. It¡¯s like he¡¯s trying to strangle it in the direction he wants it to go. Even when I struggled with my control as a child, I was never this bad. His fire links with mine, and I feel him try to gain control. His grasp moves over the flame carrying me and to my very body. I can feel him trying to influence my fire. He doesn¡¯t even come close to being successful, but the attempt itself is invasive. Infuriating. I crush his attempt in an instant and amplify the heat of the tether between our bodies. My fire rushes into his body. The markings resist me in the same way I might have trouble stepping over a stone in my path. I burn the fire in him until the clothes he wears ignite, scorching away to reveal markings glowing bright yellow with my flame. He screams. His bored, uncaring attitude melting away along with the skin beside his markings. I really shouldn¡¯t kill him; he¡¯s probably needed for the defence of the pact nations, but I can¡¯t calm down. Did he really think he could snatch control away from me that easily? I absently note my inner flame is twisting around me. The carriage is on its side as my flames have incinerated its wheel. One of Mors¡¯ team has picked up the commander and taken her away. Everyone keeps their distance. The fire mage before me collapses to his knees and I lower myself to the earth. His body is resistant to my flames, but I¡¯m scorching the muscles inside him just as much as my flames run over his skin. The markings give me free access to his entire body. ¡°Did you really just try to use fire against an ¨¢ed?¡± There¡¯s no need for me to make myself taller when he¡¯s kneeling before me. His head bowed low to the earth. His ragged breaths wheeze with effort. ¡°I thought mages were supposed to be smart, so why is it they tend to make the dumbest mistakes?¡± I lift his head, wanting to see the fear, the acknowledgement of his mistake. Attempting to violate my fire, no matter how poor the attempt, is unforgivable. When his eyes reach mine, it is not fear or regret I see, but mad joy. He laughs as he tries to amplify the fire within him, which does nothing but make me press harder. He winces before hiding it with another grin as his body melts and burns. He tries again, but I don¡¯t give him the satisfaction. I step away, only to find Gr¨ªmr standing behind me. I clutch onto his plumage as I rip my flames out of the insane mage, who gasps and collapses face first into the dirt. ¡°Let¡¯s go. I don¡¯t want to stay.¡± Not with a commander willing to sacrifice her people for the slightest advantage, and not with the mage who thinks he can control me. I just escaped that which bent my mind against my will, and now someone attempts to take my very being away from me? Gr¨ªmr, ever on my side, takes off without a word. Chapter 127: Letty ¡°Should we have left like that?¡± I ask, laying my head into the sharp feathers of his neck. ¡°Probably not.¡± His chest rumbles beneath me as he speaks. Even if we should have stayed, I¡¯m glad Gr¨ªmr listened to me. I¡¯m glad I don¡¯t have to be near that mage again. If I had to be around him any more, I would have burnt him to a crisp, even if the insane bastard enjoyed it. Sharing our flame, or Kindling, is a private thing. Intimate even. It is done between family. But to not only have someone attempt it forcefully, but for a non-¨¢ed to try, with the artificial control of those markings, is insulting. He attempted to join a song when he could not sing, so he squeezed his hands around my throat to pull me to his level. I should have killed him. Just the thought of his action is enough to infuriate me once more. I will never experience Kindling with my family again, but this deranged mage thinks he can come in and force it upon me? To take it further and try to control me? ¡°Why did he enjoy it? I felt his body melting under my touch, but he didn¡¯t care.¡± ¡°Well¡­ fire mages have a reputation for not being completely sane,¡± Gr¨ªmr says. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve a better idea than most about how fire doesn¡¯t mix with people¡¯s bodies. Common perception is they burn away part of their minds to wield fire as they do.¡± ¡°Common perception?¡± I ask. ¡°Well, I prefer not to listen to general opinions like that. Most consider my kind as dangerous monsters, after all.¡± Now that I think about it, Gr¨ªmr is the only portian I¡¯ve met. Do the rest stick to themselves, or do they just hide in bodies without anyone knowing? If the rest of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s race share his views on sapient bodies, the latter probably isn¡¯t likely. ¡°What about what she said? Do they really keep the strongest fighters from fighting?¡± ¡°Is that what angered you? It only applies to the Bei-¡± ¡°No, no. Well, it did annoy me, but I attacked because the mage tried to put his influence over my flames.¡± I push myself off his back and rest on my knees. ¡°But then, why was the commander so furious? I¡¯m no Beith, so there should have been no issue with me eradicating the mermineae.¡± Gr¨ªmr sighs. ¡°You revealed our elite is a fire mage, even if unintentionally. If our foes were any but the mermineae, they¡¯d be bringing water mages to the next battle. Also, you should be aware by now, you are easily within the range of a Beith. You overpowered the commander¡¯s allocated elite, after all.¡± I had thought he was incredibly strong at the start, hadn¡¯t I? ¡°But his control was horrible. There¡¯s no way he could have beaten me.¡± Gr¨ªmr snorts. ¡°You sound just like my old friends talking about lightning mages. But that¡¯s exactly my point; even if his control was lacking, you took him out without resistance. This is someone who¡¯s considered an elite for his fire-wielding capabilities, losing to his own element.¡± I smirk a bit at that. They must see the mage as completely worthless now. Really, why would they even bother trying to control fire when such a thing is so completely beyond them? But regardless of the control he lacks, he is strong enough for the Mercenary Order to keep him in reserve. I can kinda understand the logic; lose the first battle so you can win the ones that count. But what is the point of having the gun-wielding soldiers around? Their weapons were almost completely ineffective against the mermineae. Only incredibly lucky shots could down one of their opponents before they were on top of them. Were they bait? Living targets? Is that all they¡¯re good for in war? It just seems so inefficient. ¡°Then why not move the Beiths around after each battle?¡± I ask. ¡°Have the fire mage here one fight, and have them switch with the nearest Beith. Maybe bring in a physical fighter as replacement.¡± ¡°Too much of a risk.¡± Gr¨ªmr shakes his head. ¡°If the enemy ever found out, we¡¯d face their full offence without the support of our hidden elite.¡± ¡°But these are the mermineae we¡¯re talking about. The only ones amongst them that don¡¯t hide are the Viisin, their elite. Should they really hold back when they all have the same abilities?¡± ¡°How certain are you that what we have seen is the extent of their abilities?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± wouldn¡¯t they have shown more against the centzon if they had anything more to give? The centzon seemed pretty sure they had nothing more than their Viisin. ¡°It¡¯s never good to confuse your assumptions with fact. We have a good reason to believe they have nothing more, but we should always consider the possibilities. The Forvaal¡¯s power comes with the cost of their sight, so why is it not possible the Viisin or some other type of mermineae have an ability that requires a much greater sacrifice?¡± I peer past Gr¨ªmr¡¯s head over the land ahead. ¡°Besides,¡± Gr¨ªmr continues. ¡°It will take a lot of convincing to change the methods of the Mercenary Order, even if it is the right way to fight the mermineae.¡± I look behind me, at the Alps, and finally realise something¡¯s wrong. ¡°Where are we going? Why aren¡¯t we going to Meja?¡± ¡°The major forward operating base. I was chatting with some of the other mercenaries and got a rough idea of what¡¯s going on. There¡¯s a good chance we¡¯ll meet Remus there.¡± I swallow my impulse to insist on continuing toward Meja. I need to check up on my friends, make sure they¡¯re safe, but I know it¡¯s probably better to meet with our team first.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. This time, we follow the appropriate procedures when arriving at the military outpost. After we land ¡ª Gr¨ªmr terrifying a bunch of soldiers and lower ranked mercenaries as we do ¡ª we move toward the largest building in the repurposed town. There are a whole lot more people around here than back at the first battle-site. The flight wasn¡¯t long, but there were soldiers almost everywhere along the border and we could only thank the extensive fortifications put in place and the mercenaries mixed amongst them that the mermineae haven¡¯t pushed past them completely. Those guns and field cannons might not be much on their own, but with enough to rain iron on the mermineae if they got too close, it is enough to make them hesitate in their attack. None of those defences would mean much if the Forvaal join the battle, but the soldiers and their weapons are just barely enough to hold the normal mermineae at bay. Though, I do wonder how they deal with the mermineae¡¯s camouflage. Gr¨ªmr attracts eyes as we walk through the wide street. His massive golden-green body shining in the early evening moonlight. It is only when we reach the large double-doors to the command building that we realise he couldn¡¯t possibly fit inside. Well, he could, but I don¡¯t know how we¡¯ll get him out without breaking through the wall. ¡°I¡¯ll see if I can get them to come out and see you,¡± I say. Gr¨ªmr is a lot stronger than he was in that panther body, especially now with how well he can control his body. Could he be considered at the level of a Beith now, too? I push through the doors and approach the two dohrni women at the front desk. Their membrane a deep purple compared to the blue of their male counterparts. They don¡¯t notice me until I speak, too busy with their work. ¡°Excuse me, could you ask the commander to come down to meet with us?¡± ¡°Name and reason? Wait, you want the commander to come down for you?¡± the dohrni on the left finally raises her eyes to me, her partner following suit a moment after. ¡°Solvei, and yes,¡± I say. ¡°I was told I had to present myself to the commander when I showed up, but Gr¨ªmr can¡¯t come inside.¡± I gesture over my shoulder where the alicanto pokes his head through the door. ¡°Gosh, girl. What happened to you?¡± she jumps to her tentacles and circles the table, eyes glued to the remains of my outfit that barely cover me. ¡°Uh, we got into a fight earlier today, and I wasn¡¯t as careful as I should¡¯ve been.¡± I look down at Jav¡¯s gift. It is going to be much harder for him to fix this up than it was before. ¡°I can¡¯t let you walk around like this. You¡¯re coming with me right now.¡± One of her limbs grasps me by the hand as she leads back toward the double-doors. ¡°Tell Darton he¡¯s got a visitor,¡± she calls back to the other dohrni. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in five.¡± I send a baffled glance toward Gr¨ªmr as he moves out of our way. The bird finds this amusing? He doesn¡¯t even hide the amusement in his eyes as he watches me being carted off down the street. I peer down at my hand, knowing I could burn her grip off at any moment I want¡­ but I don¡¯t. This is the first time in a long while someone has grabbed me and I don¡¯t have the immediate urge to tear out of their grip. She leads me toward a building with wide glass windows. Behind the panes, three wooden life-size replicas of an albanic, khirig and dohrni lay collapsed to the side. Heavy wooden crates take the space I assume the fake people might have stood. I¡¯m led past a couple of soldiers standing guard and through the front door into what I¡¯m sure was a clothing store at one point, but is more of a storage room now. Some clothes hang on the wall, but large wooden crates fill most of the space. ¡°So, Solvei ¡ª Ah, call me Letty ¡ª how¡¯d your clothes get all torn up? You didn¡¯t get hurt, did you?¡± Letty says as she tears open a crate, revealing piles of folded cloth. She grabs one and holds it up over my chest. It hangs low to my knees. There are a bunch of soldier uniforms in the box. Apparently unsatisfied, Letty tosses the shirt to the edge of the crate, but misses and it falls to the floor. She doesn¡¯t seem to notice and grabs another. ¡°A Forvaal got a bit angry at me. Tore me open before I could do the same,¡± I say. ¡°What?¡± her tentacle freezes as she grabs another shirt. ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± a gruff old voice grouches from the back of the store. ¡°Letty? Those are military fatigues. You know you shouldn¡¯t be going through them.¡± Her eyes linger on me for a moment longer before they spin to the old albanic walking toward us. ¡°Come on Nomar, the kid needs something to wear.¡± ¡°Not the army equipment, she doesn¡¯t. Check what we threw out the back; there might be something there.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t toss them?¡± She discards the second brown cloth back into the box and drags me toward the back door, leaving the old albanic to grumble about tidiness. It¡¯s much darker in the back room, so I ignite my hair for some light. Just as many crates in here leave little space to walk around. Most of these are open, though. The first we pass is a box stacked upon others with several identical guns. I¡¯m curious to how they work, so I reach out for one, but notice Letty¡¯s attention before I can touch them. ¡°Can you, uh¡­ stop your fire? There are a bit too many explosives in here for you to be doing that.¡± Her eyes flick to the door we just came through. ¡°You¡¯d better stop before Nomar comes back. He¡¯s not exactly polite in the best of times.¡± She laughs, but it is strained. I don¡¯t delay and do as she asks. She pulls me further into the dim room, taking me away from the crate of guns. I¡¯ll have to see if I can grab one for myself. They aren¡¯t exactly the best weapon, but they can do a lot of damage to those who cannot resist the impact. The speed they hold would be great if I can figure out how to launch my spear like it does the bullets. ¡°Right, Solvei.¡± Letty says, but I get the feeling she¡¯s not actually addressing me. While I¡¯m led to the side wall, where a pile of cloth lays discarded behind a row of crates, she rolls her eyes back in her head toward me. ¡°You¡¯re the ¨¢ed on Remus¡¯ team, right? He¡¯d said you were young, but I didn¡¯t expect you to be this young.¡± ¡°Remus is here?¡± I ask. It has only been a few months, but it feels like so much longer since they made it through the tunnel. Does he know about the Viisin? Probably not. I should hurry to meet him and tell him about the threat beyond the Forvaal, but¡­ the sooner I meet him, the sooner I¡¯ll have to tell him about my mind. Even if Gr¨ªmr has been nothing but understanding, I still want to put it off. ¡°Yep, he¡¯s been meeting with the commander almost every day since he arrived.¡± Letty lets go of my hand and climbs over the crates, grabbing an array of coloured clothing from the pile. ¡°So, skirt or pants?¡± I look at the two pieces of clothing she holds up. Somehow, in only a few moments, she¡¯s found garments that appear close to my size. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Either way, they¡¯ll just get damaged the next time I try to use my spear.¡± Getting in close enough to use my weapon always ends up with my enemy able to strike back, so no matter what I go for, it¡¯ll be destroyed before long, just like the snow-suit I¡¯m wearing. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be so boring. That¡¯s it, the skirt for you.¡± She pushes the clothes into my hands and pushes me into a corner, obscured from sight. I¡¯m not really sure why she¡¯s adamant about keeping me out of view, but I do as she says. While I put on the new outfit, lamenting the lack of boots to go with it, Letty continues. ¡°I don¡¯t know about getting clothing that¡¯s indestructible, but I¡¯ve heard some luxurious garments imported from Riparia have self-mending qualities. Maybe you can look into something from there? They are exorbitantly expensive, but if you¡¯re a part of Remus¡¯ team, you should have enough cash in no time.¡± I walk back into view with new clothes on my back and Jav¡¯s gift in hand. The number of tears through the outfit really interfered with the fur¡¯s camouflage, so I never had the chance to try sneaking around with it. Maybe I can keep it and have it remade when I meet Jav next. I will absolutely look into the Riparia clothing once I¡¯m able, but that will have to wait until this war is over. Letty stares down at me, unsatisfied. Does she not like the outfit she chose herself? ¡°Solvei,¡± she starts. ¡°Remus welcomed you onto his team despite your age, so I know you are strong¡­ but that makes me concerned. The Mercenary Order will do everything they can to slap a leash on you, especially now that most Beiths have run off. Please know that you do not have to do everything they say. Take care of yourself first.¡± Chapter 128: Commitment Letty¡¯s words remain on my mind as we walk back to the town hall turned command centre. If the Mercenary Order wants to chain me down, it would be just another on a now rather long list. Of course, I¡¯ll never let them, but it is concerning that I can¡¯t seem to go anywhere without something or someone trying to control me. They¡¯ve done nothing so far, so I don¡¯t intend to take any drastic actions. Though I acknowledge Letty¡¯s warning with my full being, I cannot fight the mermineae if I¡¯m always expecting betrayal by those on my side. I¡¯ll be careful and aware, but that is all I can do for now. Gr¨ªmr is right where I left him. By his side is an albanic wearing a similar formal uniform to the female commander I pissed off earlier today. Remus is there too, his cheerful tone cutting through the gloomy air of the rest of the people rushing through the street. ¡°Solvei! It¡¯s great to see you!¡± his eyes remain as joyous as ever. ¡°I hope your trip back wasn¡¯t difficult?¡± while still cheerful, I can hear the concern in his tone. ¡°It was¡­ fine.¡± I look around, expecting the rest of the team to show themselves. ¡°Where¡¯s everyone else?¡± ¡°Off on their own tasks for now, unfortunately.¡± ¡°As much as I¡¯m sure you lot want to enjoy your reunion, we are at war. I don¡¯t have time for idle chatter.¡± The albanic I assume is the commander pushes in front of Remus. ¡°What can you tell me? Has anything changed since your separation? What are the mermineae¡¯s positions, numbers, anything? Tell me all that can help.¡± He turns between Gr¨ªmr and me as he speaks. I guess they haven¡¯t talked yet. Letty waves to me as she passes back through the double doors. I give her a small nod in thanks before turning to the commander. ¡°I don¡¯t know about exact numbers, but there are a lot still moving through the Alps. They aren¡¯t our biggest concern. The mermineae have Viisin, which are strong enough to tear holes through ranked stone.¡± ¡°Wait, they have that capability? Then why have us close the tunnel in the first place?¡± Remus asks. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about it, and the best answer I¡¯ve come up with is they were trying to flush their traitor¡¯s Viisin out,¡± Gr¨ªmr says. ¡°Unfortunately, Spenne joined their fight and put a target on himself. They were hunting him down when we next met.¡± ¡°So, strong enough to have that ¨¢infean running, huh?¡± the commander considers. ¡°Not good.¡± ¡°They¡¯re a bit like the Forvaal; there¡¯s no variation in how they fight,¡± Gr¨ªmr says. ¡°Their power likely all comes from Kalma.¡± The commander turns to Remus. ¡°You¡¯ve mentioned this Kalma, their so-called god. Is there any chance she might show up on the battlefield?¡± ¡°I hope not. Both merminea factions are entirely against letting her find out. If they fail, it¡¯s hard to say how she¡¯ll act. She might cripple their army, or she might massacre all, our side included. She¡¯s an unknown, but considering the depth of the mermineae¡¯s fear, we can assume her reaction will be vicious.¡± ¡°Shit. I guess sending a team to probe her is off the table.¡± The commander bites the knuckle of his finger as he paces. We are attracting attention now. These two had to come downstairs to meet with Gr¨ªmr, but that does nothing to keep the conversation private. The old albanic isn¡¯t oblivious of the ears either. He turns in his stride and opens the door. ¡°We¡¯ll be in the shed round back, send them my way should any managers come looking,¡± the commander calls to the two dohrni in the foyer before walking past us and around the side of the building. ¡°Come, I¡¯d rather keep some of these details from spreading.¡± The ¡®shed¡¯, as he called it, turns out to be closer to a guest house linked to the town hall by a brick path. While smaller than the main building, the doorway is just as large. ¡°Is that the outfit Jav gave you?¡± Remus asks as he falls into stride by my side. His eyes falling on the mermineae fur sewn to the outside. ¡°Yeah. I¡­ haven¡¯t been able to keep it in the best condition.¡± ¡°No worries.¡± He takes the outfit from my hands. ¡°I¡¯ll send it to Jav and his sisters. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have it back in only a couple weeks. Plus, Jav would be happy to hear you¡¯re safe.¡± ¡°What about Bunny?¡± ¡°Ah, she was pulled into another war. We probably won¡¯t hear from her in a while.¡± ¡°Another war? Not with the mermineae?¡± Is the Henosis Empire trying to invade other countries again? ¡°Unfortunately. The Theocracy ¡ª as opportunistic as they are ¡ª sent an invasion force into the Vanguard the moment they saw weakness.¡± So neither Jav nor Bunny is around? That¡¯s disappointing. As much as I¡¯m hesitant to tell them of my regained freedom, I¡¯d wanted to do it all at once. Now, I guess I¡¯ll have to figure out how to say what I want to say to Remus alone. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about damaging the building. Break down the walls if you have to; the owners are no longer with us,¡± the old albanic says as he opens the double doors. I follow Remus through the door. Gr¨ªmr hesitates, eyeing the building as if he doesn¡¯t want to touch it. His eyes fall on me and his wings droop in defeat. Gingerly, he presses himself through the doorway, his large wings gouge divots into the wooden frame, even resting against his chest as they are. He ducks, but still tears off the head jamb. Remus closes the doors once Gr¨ªmr¡¯s entire body is inside ¡ª not easily, but they do close when he puts in some force. There is some space for the large bird to move around now, but I can imagine getting out again will be a challenge. At least there isn¡¯t anyone here.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Now that we don¡¯t have any sticky ears, I¡¯m going to go into some sensitive information. You have Remus¡¯ trust and praise, and for my purposes, that is enough.¡± ¡°Hold on Darton,¡± Remus says. ¡°I¡¯d like to hear their good news first.¡± ¡°Good news?¡± the commander ¡ª Darton ¡ª repeats. ¡°Well, that would be a pleasant surprise, but are you certain they have any?¡± Remus, instead of responding, casts a curious gaze our way. ¡°We found a¡­ like-minded group that helped us take the western tunnel entrance,¡± Gr¨ªmr says. ¡°Take? You mean to say you seized the entrance rather than simply passing through?¡± Gr¨ªmr nods. ¡°The centzon are a particularly capable race. There are nearly a hundred coming to support us from the rear of the mermineae invasive force.¡± ¡°Oh? Only a hundred? How do they compare to our elite? Are they equivalent to our average Beith, or better?¡± Darton asks, his hand scratching at his white, short-trimmed beard. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t say. We never saw them fight. Not the strongest of them.¡± Gr¨ªmr shrugs, accidentally slicing a hole through the wall. He drops his wings and pretends it never happened, but his eyes continue to flick back to the large new opening to a side room. ¡°You never saw them fight, yet you managed to take one of the two major choke-points between our nations and theirs?¡± Commander Darton is disbelieving and I don¡¯t blame him considering Gr¨ªmr¡¯s vague answer. ¡°They build weapons,¡± I say. ¡°Weapons strong enough to kill a Beith in a matter of moments.¡± I consider the weapon the Henosis Empire tried to have me power. They put a lot of effort and resources into making that operational, do the centzon have to put a similar amount of effort into creating each of those Viisin-killing bombs? ¡°Manufactured weapons powerful enough to take out an elite? That is a concerning thought.¡± Darton furrows his brow. ¡°What is their reason to ally with us?¡± While Gr¨ªmr details what they want to the commander, I¡¯m too busy focusing on how this is news to him. Does he not know that the Henosis Empire is working on something similar? I¡¯m not sure I want to tell Darton how I know, so I approach Remus while Gr¨ªmr explains the centzon¡¯s objectives. ¡°Henosis has something similar,¡± I say. ¡°They¡¯re working on a bomb that can kill elite. They tried it during their war with New Vetus, but the Void Fog got in the way.¡± Remus stares at me for a long moment. Maybe he doesn¡¯t believe me. I¡¯ve told him about the Void Fog, but never my time being held captive. I never so much as want to think of it again, but if he needs me to, I¡¯ll tell him. ¡°Alright, thank you.¡± Remus turns his eyes back to the others, his tone flat. ¡°Keep this to yourself for now. I¡¯ll talk to some¡­ people who will need to know, but for now, it¡¯s best this doesn¡¯t spread.¡± I guess it¡¯s good I didn¡¯t tell Commander Darton then? I hadn¡¯t really thought about it until now, but if war is determined solely by the battle between those at the top strength, and those of lesser strength are only used to bait out information, then being able to make a weapon to remove one of those elite would change everything. ¡°All right, I think it¡¯s about time I told you why I brought you here,¡± Darton says. ¡°This morning, we got word that the Joiak Kingdom is still holding on. This came as a surprise as we wrote them off as dead, along with the Zadok Kingdom, which has been silent since the war started.¡± The commander walks up to the fireplace. ¡°The mermineae have been nipping at the Vanguard¡¯s ass since their initial unhindered advance, and now that we know Joiak isn¡¯t done for, we have the opportunity to cut them off and surround them. It is clear these creatures have no history of warfare strategy. They simply attack where they find weakness.¡± He grasps an old fire-poker and lifts it before his eyes. ¡°Battle after battle now, we¡¯ve been on the back foot. It is time we fought back.¡± Commander Darton turns to me and Gr¨ªmr. ¡°Under regulation, I should assign you as Beith rank and have you wait in the back-line until the entire operation is a bust, but this needs to work. I am going to have you both on the front.¡± ¡°What? No! I thought you wanted her as a messenger.¡± Remus stomps in front of the commander and flicks the fire-poker out of his hand. ¡°I¡¯m not leaving her to the battlefield.¡± Commander Darton remains still as his eyes follow the poker as it lodges into the brickwork wall beside the fireplace. He has no enhancement of his own, so I¡¯m sure Remus¡¯ anger must be terrifying, but he remains steadfast. Calmly, his eyes turn back to the dohrni standing tall over him. ¡°We¡¯re stretched thin here, Remus. Every day we lose more ground and the mobile mercs we have to patch our defences are growing weary.¡± Darton turns my way. ¡°I need everything I can get my hands on if this attack is going to be successful.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t let you. She¡¯s too¡ª¡± ¡°Remus,¡± I interrupt, before addressing the commander. ¡°I will help. The way the Order keeps their strongest on the sidelines is not something I agree with.¡± ¡°Solvei.¡± Still looming over Darton, Remus¡¯ eyes watch me. ¡°Getting you involved in that mission up the Alps was a mistake. I don¡¯t plan to continue that mistake. I¡¯m not letting you be pulled into this war.¡± ¡°Let me? I¡¯m sorry, Remus, but I¡¯m not about to back out now.¡± I have my own reasons to fight, limited as they are. Gr¨ªmr is as frustrated as Remus, but at least he doesn¡¯t voice it. I appreciate both their concerns, but I¡¯ve been fighting for my survival for years now. It¡¯s about time I fought for something more. I want to protect the home of my people. I can¡¯t say if I will ever call the pact nations my home, but I want to protect the families of those I care for. For a long while now, I¡¯ve been selfish. Only prioritising myself. While I could blame the Void Fog¡¯s manipulations, that would be nothing more than a lie. My team, the former homeless kids from Zadok, and even Leal; I want to make sure they do not experience the grief of losing family. ¡°You don¡¯t want this, Solvei. Trust me,¡± Remus pleads, but I ignore it. What¡¯s different now than back in the Euroclydon¡¯s hunting grounds? It was mermineae slaughter then, and it¡¯ll be mermineae slaughter now. ¡°When do we start?¡± I ask Commander Darton. He eyes Remus for a moment before clearing his throat. ¡°You¡¯ll have a week to prepare. If all goes well? We¡¯ll cut the mermineae off in another.¡± Remus walks to the fireplace and crouches without a word. Darton reads the room well enough to make his hasty exit, brushing past Gr¨ªmr and out into the warm night air. The door buckles and doesn¡¯t latch, leaving it to hang ajar. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s eyes follow the fleeing albanic, and I can tell he feels uncomfortable. His eyes flick to me, a curious yet hesitant quirk to them. I shake my head. I need to talk to Remus, but I¡¯d much rather Gr¨ªmr stay with us, even if he doesn¡¯t speak. A few steps and my hands tug the fire poker from the wall. My feet place me at the dohrni¡¯s side, and my hands restore the iron stick onto its rack. Delaying the inevitable, that¡¯s all I¡¯m doing. ¡°I know you only have the best intentions.¡± The fireplace ignites before us; I need something to fiddle with while I speak. ¡°But I need you to stop treating me like a child. You didn¡¯t when we first met.¡± Remus¡¯ eyes follow my flames as they burn yellow and the surrounding bricks glow. I lower the heat, not wanting to damage the fireplace. ¡°I brought you onto the team because it had been a relatively controlled environment. Originally, you were only meant to support us where I could always be around to watch over you. A few years would pass like that. You would fight only when I thought it was safe. Eventually, you would have enough experience to join us properly.¡± His eyes turn to me. ¡°Everything has gone completely out of control since. If you are sure you want to do this, I won¡¯t force you. I won¡¯t make the same mistake again. Just as long as you¡¯re willing to run if it is ever too much.¡± He looks away before he can see me nod. I¡¯m willing to go to battle, but survival is still a priority. I wouldn¡¯t sacrifice myself for another. Though, I would try my utmost to save them if I cared for them. ¡°One last thing,¡± Remus raises his voice so we know he¡¯s talking to Gr¨ªmr as well. ¡°I won¡¯t be able to join you both. I¡¯m stuck heading north for the next while and likely won¡¯t return before the battle starts, so Gr¨ªmr, I¡¯m entrusting you.¡± Gr¨ªmr nods seriously, and I can¡¯t help but roll my eyes. At least now Remus isn¡¯t completely opposed, but I still have one more thing to talk about. He shouldn¡¯t take my admission badly, but there is always the lingering chance that will bother me until I actually go through with it. Chapter 129: Cutting Off
Marching along with thousands of soldiers is a rather unique experience. Despite my short stature, I keep up rather well with the many far exceeding my height. It shows how far I¡¯ve come since the little girl who had to ride on the back of her uncle¡¯s wagon for half the day. Our first battle will begin the moment all the troops are in position amongst the dug-in line. Gr¨ªmr and I are to meet with the Luis teams for this dedicated section of the front before working with them to take down any priority targets that arise. I had my little talk with Remus, admitting to wanting to leave him to the mermineae and save myself. How I had considered their treatment by the mermineae a proper retribution, despite the horror they¡¯d endured. He just laughed it off, saying it was a fair judgement in a stressful environment after what they¡¯d done. He appeared happy to hear I¡¯d overcome the Fog¡¯s influence over my mind. We approach the temporary quarters of the teams we will be working with. There are four teams waiting for us. Mostly comprising albanic and khirig, they chat amongst their own as we stop before them. Their eyes linger on us before casting over the remaining soldiers marching into position. Their murmurs grow louder as they don¡¯t spot what they expect to. ¡°Where are our reinforcements?¡± A khirig mage steps forward, her markings weaving through her antler chest cage. ¡°We are it,¡± I say. ¡°Don¡¯t joke kid. Why are you even here? Sure your bird looks tough, but we expected to at least double our strength.¡± Gr¨ªmr sighs. ¡°Yes, you can expect us to at the very least double your fighting potential.¡± The khirig frowns, but an albanic amongst the other team speaks up. ¡°So we have an arrogant portian and a child in unsuitable clothes as backup? And they expect us to push back those creatures? The brass surely love us.¡± Gr¨ªmr flinches at the mention of his race, and I look down at the clothes I¡¯m wearing. They do seem a bit too colourful compared to what everyone else is wearing, but with my snowsuit back in Jav¡¯s hands, I¡¯m left with whatever spares I can get my hands on. Letty scrounged up a selection for me, which is good because I don¡¯t believe the ones I¡¯m wearing will survive a single battle. ¡°What I wear matters little.¡± I walk past them, toward the front-line with Gr¨ªmr close behind. It would have been more beneficial to work with them to form some strategy. Well, I was mostly hoping the mercenary here would direct me. Despite being in a team for a long time now, I¡¯ve barely relied on teamwork or cooperation for any of it. The khirig mage grabs at my arm. ¡°It¡¯s unsafe. You ca¡ª¡± My arm slides from her grasp as it devolves into flames. I snap my head back at her. ¡°Do not grab at me,¡± I snarl, intentionally letting the flames of my body grow visible. I¡¯m annoyed, not truly angry, but I need to give them a reason to respect me, at least somewhat. They cannot be getting in my way. ¡°Obstruct me again and I¡¯ll burn you to charcoal. I¡¯m only here for personal reasons. Don¡¯t think I won¡¯t just because we¡¯re on the same side.¡± I may have laid it on thick. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s eyes stab into the back of my head, but I ignore it. It might have been rude, but it isn¡¯t particularly untrue. I really don¡¯t care for them, but if they fall in my firestorm, there will be less to protect the home of my friends. Well, that and Gr¨ªmr would be unhappy with me. The Luis teams leave us to walk toward the front line, either aptly intimidated, or simply intelligent enough to let us pass in silence. Soldiers rush around, lugging ammunition and other equipment into position before the innumerable field-guns roll. Gr¨ªmr and I will take the leading point of this offensive, with the mercenaries backing us up and the unenhanced soldiers behind them. The fields before us are silent. Not a mermineae in sight. They should be out there somewhere, waiting for a weakness in our defence before they rush us down. We expect to face resistance as soon as we push the line forward, but until they attack, I don¡¯t have a target. None are within the range of my sense. I¡¯m strangely nervous coming into this fight. Not sure why? It¡¯s not like this is my first battle. Maybe it¡¯s the immense number of people we have on our side. As much as I¡¯d like to trust those on my side, I still struggle with applying that willingness to trust. I¡¯ve simply been hurt too many times by those that should have been on my side. ¡°Solvei, after this is done ¡ª once we no longer have to deal with war ¡ª I want you to meet more people. I¡¯ll introduce you to the ¨¢infean and my kind,¡± Gr¨ªmr says as we walk past the last defensive line onto the crater riddled battlefield. Is this really the time? ¡°Sure, Gr¨ªmr. Once this war is over.¡± I ignore the fact that he brought this up after my not so civil interaction with the other mercenaries. A deep, chorused bellow heralds the unified movement of the army. The line of riflemen and artillery move as one. Compared to the individualistic actions of the mercenaries following a suitable distance behind the two of us, the unenhanced soldiers show immense coordination. What might an army of Luis level enhanced soldiers look like? Or even Beith? If the strong were a part of the disciplined military rather than a separate organisation, what would that look like? The encroachment of our army isn¡¯t fast in any sense of the word. The combined march limited by the slow field guns ready to fire at a moment¡¯s notice. I¡¯d asked Commander Darton why he didn¡¯t just send us in with a team of the stronger mercenaries at his disposal. He¡¯d shown willingness to use what he had, and a concentrated attack would be best to wipe as many of the mermineae out as possible and cross the distance between us and Joiak in the shortest time. Turns out, there is more work for the military than simply being bait for information. They are required to seize and hold vast stretches of land. An attack by any reasonably enhanced enemy could cut through them, but they couldn¡¯t take the land away without a numerous force of their own. Well, unless they went around killing every soldier. Not even most Beiths had the energy to do that.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. No surprise that Hund is stronger than most Beiths. Decapitation strikes are so common simply because the line of defence can often be meaningless against those of greater strength. The pact nations have experienced this enough times that their commanders have become near immediately replaceable. I felt a bit bad for Commander Darton when I heard that. Not so much for Commander Irena. We¡¯ve been walking for a good few dozen minutes now, and we still haven¡¯t faced any opposition. It¡¯s strange; I¡¯d expected to face opposition immediately. I guess this area is less of a focus for the mermineae? If so, then our job will be easy. I unbuckle the flask from my hip and twist off the cap. With a deep breath, I bask in the fumes rising from the oil. So many times in the past weeks I¡¯ve been tempted to delight in its taste, but the thought that I might never get to experience such nectar again stays my tongue. Experiencing the delicious aroma is enough. Volans fly overhead, returning from far downfield. They land amongst the army, which comes to a unified halt with little delay. That¡¯s all I need to know the mermineae are coming. ¡°Give me a signal if you need help. I¡¯ll keep an eye out,¡± Gr¨ªmr says and takes to the air without delay. ¡°Same to you!¡± I run toward our enemies, controlling and shifting my weight for extra speed. I¡¯m already far from our line, but the further I can hold the mermineae, the better. Cannon-fire booms and explosions pelt the land ahead of me. Through the smoke and rubble, it is hard to tell if they are even hitting anything, but I can¡¯t imagine the mermineae able to pass through the onslaught of iron without taking some casualties. Finally, as I approach the metal downpour, the mermineae enter my range. They run at full pelt through the artillery bombardment. The soldiers¡¯ aim is spot-on despite no clear sight-line. Even without the ability to fight like Jav, the volans of the army are still incredible scouts. Fire swirls around me as I push it to grow and consume. In minutes, a firestorm brews further than I can normally control. The smoke from the initial artillery salvo giving me a perfect environment for the rapid spread of self-fuelled flame. In the intense heat of the blaze, even the Forvaal struggle to push through. They avoid my fire, trying to skirt its sides. But the heat spreads fast, sparks ignite already roasting debris from the deluge of iron. Soon, my fire spreads half a league across. I can barely even feel the edges of the flame as it spreads without control. Thousands of mermineae die. I feel their coats vaporise before their flesh incinerates. Some survive long enough to flee back out the rear of my flame, but most collapse, burnt alive before they can escape. I peer back at the Luis teams amongst the hundreds more mercenaries staring upon my world of flame with shock. It¡¯s delightful to see. No longer am I the one watching on as others with far greater power do as they like. Now, it¡¯s me being looked on with awe and fear. There¡¯s no chance they¡¯ll interrupt me now. The mermineae are too scared to approach my flames. Time to push on them, then. ??? Honestly, I probably should have foreseen this. Our operation to cut through mermineae controlled land and reconnect with the Joiak Kingdom had gone near perfectly. It only took two weeks, but I¡¯m more exhausted than I think I¡¯ve ever been. Fuelling such large fires drained me of so much of my energy. After the first battle, I had to pull back a bit on how much influence I had on my firestorms, leaving their spread to rely entirely on natural growth. We are lucky the mermineae hadn¡¯t destroyed the rail tracks ¡ª likely out of a lack of understanding ¡ª so travel and logistics between the nations is rapid. But when Commander Darton and some other important people travelled to Joiak to coordinate the next phase, things became messy. There would usually be no issue and they¡¯d want all the help they could get in such a situation, except for one small thing. They still want me dead. Turns out, a young girl able to wield as much fire as I do is rather rare. Who knew? Really, I don¡¯t know why they care so much about me. I was doing them a favour by cleaning out that textile mill. Well, unless they are all scum like the mill owner¡­ If that¡¯s the case, maybe it would be better to leave them to the mermineae. The point is, Joiak refuses to work alongside the Mercenary Order while I¡¯m still alive, and Commander Darton refuses to kill me while I¡¯m as valuable as I am. It is no exaggeration to say I¡¯m one of the core reasons the operation went as smoothly as it did. So now, while the stalemate in discussion goes on, we are stuck defending the land taken instead of jumping on the opportunity to push forward. To pressure them while they¡¯re surrounded. I start up another inferno, letting it spread amongst the ranks of mermineae before pulling my inner flame from it. The firestorm blazes nowhere near as intense as it might with my influence, but it is enough to scare off many of the mermineae. Gr¨ªmr and I have been stuck flying along the defensive line for weeks now, joining the fight whenever the troops down below appear to have trouble. The past few days, the mermineae have grown desperate. They attack our defences almost without care for my fires. Between the borders of the pact nations and Joiak, the only place these cut-off mermineae have to go is south into Zadok. As far as I¡¯m aware, they don¡¯t have a military even comparable to that of the pact nations. So why are they rushing for our defences with so much fervour? They couldn¡¯t have taken the entire country already, could they? The mermineae below are far greater than what we¡¯ve yet had to deal with. Are they finally deciding to deal with us seriously? The fighting has been tough, but nowhere near the challenge they showed over in the plains. Will the Viisin show themselves? Once they do, it shouldn¡¯t be long before they finally bring the Beiths out to play. I take my time to change back into my normal form. Flying is fine for speed, but it prevents me the use of my spear. I don my replaceable clothes, keeping the repaired snowsuit in my bag. It¡¯s kind of annoying to have more than one set of clothes, but when I¡¯m fighting as close as I do with my spear, damage is bound to happen. I want to make sure the outfit is intact when it rains. As Remus had said, Jav got it to me in only a few weeks. Neither of my teammates returned alongside it, unfortunately. No word why. I leap off Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back, his eyes following me as I fall amidst my firestorm. Through the regular recent battles, Gr¨ªmr and I know what to expect from the other without even talking. I land amongst the remaining mermineae. Well, I say land, but it¡¯s more of a crash. My flames disperse on impact. It takes a moment for me to pull myself back together and leap toward the nearest mermineae engulfed in flames. Dropping like this is pointless ¡ª I could slow my descent with my physical flames or use jets ¡ª but it¡¯s fun. Gr¨ªmr soars above with a lingering shroud of my fire to block a Forvaal¡¯s sight. He no longer bothers swooping for the general mermineae. Any time he does, he gets held up fighting on the ground, which is just not that effective compared to swooping on priority targets. It¡¯d probably be more efficient for him to fight further away from me, but he refuses to leave my side, which I can appreciate. I can look after him at the same time. My spear pierces through the neck of my first Forvaal. The creature completely oblivious to my presence until his blood splatters along the ground. Its choked gasps warn the others, but instead of trying to turn their gaze on me or throwing themselves on me, they raise their heads to the sky and screech. Loud, high-pitched shrieks dig into my ears. I slice through two of them before they cut their yowls and scatter, not even attempting to fight. They flee back amongst their ranks. Do I scare them so much that they won¡¯t even fight? Heh. I guess the centzon were wrong about the mermineae being unable to learn. While they run to the edge of my flames, I debate chasing them, but I¡¯m distracted by an odd lack of feeling in my spreading flames. Something is moving toward me far too quickly. I whip my head to the oddity as it enters my thermal sense range. A Viisin. Coming for me. Chapter 130: Cornered Animals Barely. I only barely move out of the way before the Viisin tears through the space I stood hardly a moment ago. The little flame that breaches its coating of dust disappears. Painfully. It¡¯s like the gaze of the Forvaal, only at a far greater intensity. I can¡¯t let it touch me. It throws itself toward me, and I don¡¯t even attempt to compete. A jet of flame rockets me out of reach. The Viisin doesn¡¯t let me open the distance though, springing after me as soon as its claws find nothing but empty air. I jerk to the side, barely dodging the decaying creature. It is too fast for me, there¡¯s no escape. I¡¯ll have to fight it. My flames do nothing to it though, and it hurts every time the Viisin removes them from existence. The only chance is to kill it with my spear. There¡¯s no other way to deal with it. It leaps for me again, but instead of running away, I stop. With a tight grip, I thrust into the creature¡¯s trajectory. My aim is perfect. The sharp blade thrusting directly into the featureless head of dust. For a brief moment, I think I¡¯ve won. It hurts a bit, but I cover the blade in physical flame to stop the decay. Half my spear¡¯s length lodges within the head of the Viisin. Then, my arm disappears. Agony hits as the Viisin brushes past me. I push away before it can do any more damage. I¡¯ve lost limbs before, but it is always so horribly painful. My remaining arm lifts my spear in some form of self-defence, but my eyes fall on the missing blade, along with most of the shaft. Did I even hit the creature? Or did my weapon melt away before it could touch it? The remaining pole clatters along the ground, discarded in frustration. It will do me no good now. The only thing I have is my flame. I pull it in on myself, concentrating the swirl of fire entirely on my immediate surroundings. My fire can¡¯t breach its decay, but maybe the heat alone will be enough. As soon as I do so, swarms of mermineae rush our defensive lines. I follow the countless creatures as they cross the burnt landscape. They were waiting for me to stop. I want to spread the flames once more, but I can¡¯t afford to lose focus. With no way to defend myself against this nightmare of a creature, I¡¯m back to sinking all my energy into each dodge. It¡¯s exhausting to move around like this. Barely am I keeping out of its claws, but this can¡¯t keep up. The Viisin takes on a more controlled offence. No longer launching itself through the air toward me, instead keeping its feet. I don¡¯t have to deal with the explosive movement, but it is far harder to dodge now that it can switch directions in an instant. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s large form enters my range, and I do my utmost not to look toward him. The Viisin dashes for me, but its head inclines upward. I panic. It knows Gr¨ªmr is coming. I direct the swirling twister of fire down on the Viisin, compressing the flame and increasing the heat as far as they¡¯ll go. Frustratingly, my inner wall blocks the flame growing any more intense. It isn¡¯t enough to even hurt the creature. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s talons lash out as he swoops past, but so too does the Viisin. His metal claws disintegrate on touch and the Viisin swings an arm, obliterating a wing and leaving deep gouges in the alicanto¡¯s chest. Gr¨ªmr gasps, his voice reverting to a metallic grating. Momentum carries Gr¨ªmr away from us. He slams into the earth, and dirt explodes into the air as he rolls dozens of metres. I can¡¯t tear my eyes away as the alicanto skids to a stop. He doesn¡¯t move. I want to do nothing more than rush over to Gr¨ªmr and check on him, but I can¡¯t. Even if the Viisin goes after Gr¨ªmr right now, there¡¯s nothing I can do. I hate abandoning him here, but I need to give the Viisin a reason to keep chasing me and leave its already downed opponent. I flare my flames, not toward the Viisin, but the mermineae rushing our defences. The best I can do is to burn through as many of them as I keep out of range of the Viisin¡¯s touch. My chest aches. Why is it only after I¡¯ve escaped the knot that told me to abandon him, I actually do so? The world is cruel. Without my spear, I have to rely on my body to deal with the Forvaal. Claws grow on my one remaining hand while the other regrows. I tear forward, burning each mermineae and clawing at any that doesn¡¯t incinerate. It¡¯s not all that effective, but I can feel the Viisin chasing me, so I can hope Gr¨ªmr is fine. I last a long time doing this. So long, that my arm almost fully regrows¡­ though I¡¯m not sure how long that actually is. It feels like hours, but probably no more than minutes. Of course, my luck doesn¡¯t last. The Viisin tears forward once more, and I¡¯m simply not fast enough to dodge completely. A scratch to my chest is all it takes to put an end to my run. I stumble and collapse. I hit the earth and what little remains of my clothing tears. The canteen of oil clatters beside me.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. I¡¯m exhausted. I don¡¯t think I have the energy to run, even if I¡¯m not missing a chunk of my chest. The Viisin is annoyed. Not that I can see its face through the mask of dust, but it stomps toward me with clear agitation. I take some pleasure in knowing I¡¯ve upset it, even if it¡¯s only a small feeling amongst the anger and frustration of my own. What can I even do? Nothing I throw at the Viisin hurts it, nor can I run. I don¡¯t want to give up, and I won¡¯t, but no ideas come to mind. My flames curl up around me, as hot and dense as they will reach. I don¡¯t have the energy for physical flames anymore, having used it almost nonstop since the fight with the Viisin started. I reach for the bottle of oil, hoping the temporary boost in energy will be enough to recover. Maybe let me run for another few seconds. My clawed fingers wrap around the neck of the canteen, the long since peeled paint lumpy in my hand. I reach my other hand to take off the cap, before I realise I don¡¯t have it. Instead, I melt the cap off and immediately bring the sweet juice to my mouth before it can explode. I¡¯d rather drink this nectar directly if it¡¯s going to be the last thing I drink. The taste is amazing. Better than I remember. The pain of my missing arm and leg disappears to the heat that floods my body. My flames press on me, hiding the intensity within me where I don¡¯t have to share. My entirety feels hot, excruciatingly so, but it also feels wonderful. I forget about the world outside myself. I do, until the Viisin is above me, reaching down to end me. My arm lashes out, striking through the dust ridden limb before it can touch me. Pain flares through me, but not nearly as bad as before. The Viisin still stands above me, but its arm is gone. The creature seems as shocked as me. It looks down at its arm as it regrows before my eyes. My own arm is quite the sight; bright, pure white flame takes the place of my normal flame. I strike out again before the Viisin can, taking its head and scramble backward. My fingers are now gone, but my hand remains despite going through the Viisin¡¯s head. I shakily rise to my feet. While the pain in my arm and chest are gone, they haven¡¯t regrown. Neither has my energy increased after drinking the oil. I finally realise what¡¯s happened; the heat of the oil pushed me past my barriers. The flame of my body compresses far greater than before, as does my heat. I¡¯m still exhausted and temporarily crippled, but I now have a fighting chance. My flames rush toward the Viisin, but they immediately revert to yellow and fail to even singe the Viisin as its head regrows. Why? Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s not permanent. The heat rushing through my chest tells otherwise, as does the steady white the flames making my body. Why can¡¯t I apply this to my inner flame? A guttural growl escapes the Viisin as it takes a step toward me, its head regrowing with frightening speed. The dust billowing off the creature clouds my vision, but I can still see the thousands of mermineae falling as they rush toward our defences without hesitance. Our line is holding up far better than I expected considering the number and desperation of mermineae. With the Viisin held here with me, we¡¯re actually holding them off. The smirk rises to my lips before I even realise, gloating to the Viisin. This battle isn¡¯t over. I¡¯m at the end of my rope, but I can hurt it now. There is a way and I¡¯m not about to roll over until I¡¯ve burnt this creature with all I have. The Viisin hisses at me, the gravelly voice hiding none of its fury. My flames can burn away its body before the decay can melt away my fire, but I have nowhere near the recovery speed it has. So if I¡¯m to do this, I need to get all of it in one go. If I leave any of its body to recover from, I can¡¯t imagine success being possible. As the Viisin prepares to throw itself at me again, a tremor shakes the earth beneath our feet. Amongst the constant peppering of artillery shells exploding, a louder blast booms over the battlefield. The Viisin stops, along with every other creature on the battlefield, and turns toward the origin of the heavy quake. I can¡¯t stop myself from doing the same. The presence that floods over the battle is impossible to ignore. The claws of a monster dig into my chest and prevent movement. The presence exceeds anything I¡¯ve felt before. Stronger than even Spenne¡¯s. Like what I would imagine a Titan¡¯s presence would feel like. It is familiar. It is hostile. Beyond the furthest mermineae is a being I would recognise anywhere. It rises to its full height, towering over everything on the battlefield, easily visible despite the distance. The Viisin snaps out of its daze and gives me a single glance before it throws itself into the army behind me, cutting through rather than fighting. The rest of the mermineae follow suit a moment later, rushing toward our defences in a hysterical panic. They are not fortunate enough to escape the giant ursu. Hund. The massive warrior lifts his towering blade and bounds forward. Between his massive heft and the extended blade, hundreds of mermineae vaporise in an instant. In the wake of his movement, a shockwave rocks thousands of others, followed by a barrage of shrapnel. Hund only takes a few moments to crush the swarm of mermineae. Even the Forvaal fall like children to the incomprehensibly strong ursu. He doesn¡¯t waste time, nor does he enjoy the battle, simply cleaning up the battlefield as if it were a chore. I¡¯d seen it before. Felt his presence before. But I never truly understood the depth of his strength. I¡¯m not sure if I do even now. Soon, he is done. No mermineae remain. His gaze falls on me and I feel just as much a child as I first did under his attention. He takes a step toward me before halting, a perplexed expression crossing his face. He recognises me. I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s a good thing or not. I suppress the instinctual fear that overcomes me in his presence. Choke it down. I promised myself I would thank him the next time we met. Considering he¡¯s saved me again just increases the need to do so. Gathering my courage, I take a step toward the giant four times my height. Hund remains still, but his eyes narrow. Instead of letting me approach, his face becomes resolute and¡­ wistful. Hund turns away from me and walks back the way he came. I stop my approach. Does he not want to talk to me? Was I wrong that he¡¯d helped me out of kindness back then? Far beyond him, I notice movement. At first I think there must still be mermineae not yet dealt with, but as I focus, I see an army of ursu push across the land, trailing in Hund¡¯s wake. They¡¯ve come to help? Did the mermineae already try to push into New Vetus? What has happened to the Zadok Kingdom? Well, that¡¯s all irrelevant. With Hund on our side, there¡¯s no chance we could lose. Chapter 131: Victory Celebration
I gorge on the artillery reserves. Technically, I¡¯m not supposed to help myself, but they have so many and considering how much I¡¯ve assisted in this war, they can hardly complain about a few missing explosive projectiles. After Hund left without a word, the first thing I did was check on Gr¨ªmr. Thankfully, he was up and moving when I reached him. The damage to his body is extensive though, and it will take him a while to regrow the wing he lost, even consuming as much metal as he¡¯s been given. I burn through the casing of another shell, consuming the explosive powder within before it can blow the roof off this storage building. Everyone along the front is in a celebratory mood. Unsurprising considering we¡¯d been expecting to hold down for the next month while the Order and Joiak figured out their differences. To have such an easy win so soon is enough for every soldier and mercenary to cheer. Of course I¡¯ll sneak some free food out of the military¡¯s reserves while most guards are off drinking. Even if I am supplied with metals, there are simply not enough to recover my energy. Hund and the ursu army running up the mermineae¡¯s back explain their desperate attacks in the past week. Stuck between us and the encroaching New Vetus army, they had no other option. Hund himself would likely terrify them enough to send them to us rather than attempt to take him on. The Viisin clearly didn¡¯t want to fight the massive ursu. I create a ball of flame in my hand. If anyone else were here, they might fall into hysterics. Most aren¡¯t exactly fond of the idea of me starting fires around so much explosives. But there¡¯s nobody here to stop me. The flame starts as a familiar yellow. Slowly, I add to it, increasing the density as the heat rises. My past barrier no longer stopping the flame from reaching that pure, untainted white. Even to me, it feels intense. Just to make this small, palm sized ball, I need to use the equivalent energy of twenty metres of yellow flame. There is some level of that for the lower temperatures, but the jump has never been this extreme. No wonder I struggled to pass that wall; I never pushed hard enough. Back with the centzon, I hadn¡¯t been trying to compress the flames. No, I¡¯d been enjoying the taste and spreading the invisible flames as far as they would. My body hadn¡¯t experienced the heat directly. Whether that is a factor or not, I¡¯m unsure. I stare in awe at the small flame. It is far brighter than the flames I could make before. Despite the tiny size, it illuminates every corner of this storage warehouse. It¡¯s so intense that I find it hard to understand how the next stage is invisible to sight. It¡¯s really annoying to know I could have reached this heat months ago, if I used the oil as a catalyst from the start. Now that I know it¡¯s about sheer scale to pass the barrier, I¡¯m sure I would have succeeded, eventually. Sooner rather than later. But something bothers me. If white flame is this intense ¡ª hot enough to melt rock and stone at a touch ¡ª then just how hot is blue fire? I assume blue flame is the step further than clear, so that would place blue flame at an unthinkable heat. It wouldn¡¯t be a leap to say an ¨¢ed with blue flame would be far stronger than me, right? So then, did Elder Cyrus actually die? I know I could survive the earth crumbling on top of me if it were to happen now. Maybe it wouldn¡¯t be clean; I¡¯d have to wade through a lot of molten earth to escape, but I could escape. ¡­Unless he was crushed before the stone could melt. He didn¡¯t have my binding, after all. I¡­ I shouldn¡¯t think about this now. Maybe there¡¯s a chance he is still alive, but there¡¯s no use lamenting the past. Whether he¡¯s alive or dead doesn¡¯t help me now. After cracking open the last of my shells and burning both the explosive inside and its casing, I leave the munitions storage. I wave to the guards as I walk past them. They do a double-take before paling considerably, but they don¡¯t chase me down. Perks of being well known. The mermineae fur of my outfit can be rather useful. Jav¡¯s sisters outdid themselves with this one. It is clear they¡¯d taken the fur from my old snowsuit and reintegrated it into this one, but they hadn¡¯t simply used it as a fur coating. No, they somehow combined it with their own thread and made it as waterproof as it was before. Only now, they¡¯d integrated the camouflage so that I could use it only when I wanted to, with the pull of a string conveniently placed on the inside of my collar. Now I don¡¯t even have to show my flames when I want to be seen through the camouflage. Not that it had been an issue before; the outfit having been torn up far too much to ever go unnoticed. The tarp door of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s tent makes way for my hand and the wide space holding nothing but the alicanto¡¯s form and a pile of scrap metal welcomes me. It¡¯s great to have people delivering us food at all times like this, but I wish they¡¯d give us something other than iron for a change. I have my own tent, with my own delivery of iron scrap, but my size seems to have influenced the thoughts of whoever is in charge of both. My tent is tiny and the platter of metal I¡¯m given is nowhere near enough to recover from that last battle. Doesn¡¯t matter much. I spend all my time in Gr¨ªmr¡¯s tent, anyway. These tents are sparser than the ger I¡¯m used to. They feel simple and less homely. I¡¯m rather prideful about my race¡¯s obviously superior mobile living quarters. This thing doesn¡¯t even have a proper door. ¡°How¡¯s the recovery?¡± I ask as I drop by his side, leaning against him like a backrest. ¡°Slow.¡± He angles his metal beak toward me. ¡°The talons might take a day, but the chest and wing will be a week.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. I¡¯m unsure why, but I feel an intense sense of guilt as I gaze over his crippled body. Despite being the target of the Viisin, I recover from my injuries in only a few minutes, while Gr¨ªmr is stuck with his for an extended period. Doesn¡¯t make much sense, it¡¯s nothing either of us can change, but I feel guilty about it all the same. ¡°That¡­ was too close, Solvei. It was foolish not to realise you were painting a target on your back.¡± Gr¨ªmr stares at the plain canvas wall, peering at nothing. ¡°I¡¯m not strong enough to protect you. I know you don¡¯t agree, but I don¡¯t want you entering battle unless you have a Beith ready to take the Viisin¡¯s aggression.¡± ¡°No,¡± I deny. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± It¡¯s not only myself I¡¯ve put in danger here. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s current state is enough proof of that. Once the Viisin had me in its sight, I couldn¡¯t escape. I think it¡¯s wrong that the commanders allow the weakest to die for the sake of hiding their elite, but I don¡¯t care about those soldiers enough to put my life in such a dangerous position. Maybe that¡¯s cruel of me, but I¡¯m not suicidal. I especially don¡¯t like that Gr¨ªmr threw himself into that fight. I¡¯m able to actually hurt the Viisin now, but only by trading my body for theirs. Considering their rapid regrowth, I would still need to get lucky. Better to leave them to the people able to fight them effectively like Spenne or Hund. At least, until I can apply my white flame to more than a hand sized amount of my inner flame. The mermineae between Joiak and Vanguard are dealt with now, so we¡¯ll soon be travelling to the main mermineae invasive force. Other than retaking a massive amount of land, we¡¯ve also removed an entire front from the Vanguard, so hopefully Bunny will have an easier time fighting off the Theocracy. A rapid clanging of bells rings through the encampment. Gr¨ªmr and I share a glance before rising to our feet. An attack? But the mermineae should already be dealt with. Gunfire rings out, but it the bangs of artillery do not accompany them as usual. Soldiers scramble for their weapons, many stumbling from intoxication after the celebration. I whip the tarp out of my way, striding outside with Gr¨ªmr hobbling close behind. I twist to the south; toward the heaviest commotion of shouts and gunfire. The ursu army is already in full formation. Our own, not so much. In the dim moonlight, my eyes scan over the landscape, but I can¡¯t find a single mermineae. Did they sneak up on us? How did the volans miss them? A squad of large ursu men charge the line of riflemen, shrugging off gunfire and swinging their blades through the varied races. The¡­ the ursu are attacking? Why? Weren¡¯t they helping us deal with the mermineae? They even set up camp right beside us. We all thought they were allies. Why are they attacking? The ursu army continues forward, cutting through any that stand in their way. Their imposing figures send many fleeing. Gunfire hails down on them, but they shrug it off. Thick armour and helmets taking the impact of the projectiles. Flames churn within me. They would dare betray us? Me? I¡¯m rushing down the hill before Gr¨ªmr¡¯s protests can stop me. As I pass the barracks of our soldiers, I feel the tall, heavily muscled creatures within. Amongst cooling bodies. They¡¯re already in the camp? But they haven¡¯t yet passed our defences? How could the ursu of all creatures sneak in without being noticed? Not the time. I need to get down there and stop them now. My flames spread around me, but an errant thought has me stumbling to a stop. Where is Hund? It doesn¡¯t matter how angry I am at this betrayal, I will never dare go against him. There is no possibility of winning against that monster. My flames pull back into me, and I backtrack to Gr¨ªmr. I shouldn¡¯t have left him alone. Not in his current condition. Not while there are enemies within the camp. As I run up the slope, I feel one of the hidden ursu turn their attention toward me. I dig my heels in and slam myself to a stop with a jet of flame, avoiding the stream of water passing before my face. The flow slices through tents and gouges the earth a dozen metres up the hill. I stumble backward, only for another stream to blast through the air, blocking my retreat. Both streams come from the same ursu, so I jump in the air with a blast of fire and rocket toward them. They need to burn before they can get another spurt out. I keep my senses peeled as my body soars toward the ursu, and I¡¯m glad for it; from both sides, a pair of water pillars rush to cover my target. Sacrificing my offence, I fall back. The crossing flows of water collide and splatter a shower of mist into the air. I tug the hood over my head, snapping the mask and goggles into place. How lucky I am to have not removed my outfit for this battle. Water mages? Seriously, what are the odds that I¡¯m the one unlucky enough to be ambushed by them? Low. Likely impossible¡­ unless I was targeted. There are three ursu water mages. One ahead of me and one on each side. There are plenty of other ursu still amongst the surrounding barracks, but I have no way of knowing which are mages and which aren¡¯t. My outfit should be waterproof, but I really don¡¯t want to risk it against these pressurised streams. Just looking at the tattered tents around me says enough about their power. My outfit is waterproof, not tearproof. The trio of water mages close in on me, so I take a risk and rocket out the rear left, toward the smallest of the hidden ursu. One less likely to be a risk compared to any other. The massive wall of water rushing at my face immediately informs me of my folly. There is no dodging this time. I brace, burning as hot as I can and hoping my outfit can handle the impact. I don¡¯t hear tearing, but the pain of water eating away my chest is enough to know the cloth didn¡¯t completely survive the impact. It stings, but nowhere near how much it should to get hit with that much water. Steam surges off me as I lay in a puddle. I scramble to my feet, not trusting the already torn outfit to hold out the water. My legs shiver at the unnatural slosh of stepping through water, even as it vaporises on contact. Of all people, I should know not to underestimate someone for their size. This can¡¯t go on. I need to get out now if I have any chance of survival. A moment before I throw myself skyward, a wave of water curves over me, connecting with the puddle on the other side and hovers over my head. The sides curve in on themselves, making a sphere of curving water streams around me. I¡¯m trapped again. Seriously? The water droops. A cage like this is obviously against the nature of water, but the mage keeps it flowing rapidly, curving the roof well above my head. A few drops of water fall, but curiously, they vaporise before even touching me. I create a tiny ball of white flame ¡ª only as much as I¡¯m willing to suffer the pain of losing ¡ª and hold it near the wall. The water boils around it. I brace myself and push the tiny white fire into the water. It is painful, extremely so, but a good section of the cage vaporises the instant my fire touches it. Unfortunately, the wall recovers, replaced by much of the surrounding water. My fire doesn¡¯t survive the contact. ¡°Please, leave her to me,¡± a young voice says, coming from the short ursu mage. ¡°What? We can¡¯t do that. You know how dangerous she¡¯ll be if left alive,¡± one of the ambushing mages says. I can¡¯t make much of that white fire outside of my body. And I¡¯m especially not sure I¡¯d be able to handle the pain of walking through water, even if I can burn away a good portion of it now. As much as I absolutely despise it, I¡¯m stuck. Trapped. At the whim of these mages. No longer am I beholden to the knot¡¯s manipulations, but I still prioritise freedom and detest entrapment. Whatever their plans are, I¡¯ll make them burn. ¡°Remember that favour I asked?¡± asks the short ursu. The other mage takes a moment to reply. ¡°If you are certain. Make sure she¡¯s dead after you are done.¡± The ursu mage says hesitantly before taking the other ursu around us and rushing down the hill to join the battle against the losing pact nation¡¯s army. With the others gone, the young ursu steps forward, her voice strained. ¡°It has been a while, Solvei.¡± Even through the white heat, my chest runs cold. ¡°Leal?¡± Chapter 132: PoV - Leal Two Years Earlier: Morne. Leal ran through the empty streets as she hurried home. At this time of night, Solvei should be safe to stay hidden away in that nook of the library until the caretaker arrived late tomorrow morning. For now, Leal just needed to get home before the reksha arrived. If they had no reason to believe she hadn¡¯t gone out tonight, it would make it far easier to brush off whatever accusation Gloria made. Leal could still hardly imagine the woman having done such a thing. Gloria was like an aunt to Leal. She¡¯d been her mum¡¯s friend for as long as she could remember. How could someone they thought they knew so well be so evil? Leal had always been uncomfortable around Gloria, but that was a feeling she¡¯d always felt around other ursu besides her parents. Finding her friend trapped within that furnace had felt like a knife twisting in her chest. It had hurt when she was told Solvei had returned to her homeland after they snuck into the library. So caught up in her self-conscious thoughts about whether she¡¯d made a mistake and it was her fault her friend didn¡¯t want to stay with her, that Leal didn¡¯t consider how unlikely Gloria¡¯s story was until far too late. When Leal could get Solvei to open up about her old tribe and the homeland she once traversed, the ¨¢ed had revealed finding her people would be no simple task. Solvei didn¡¯t like to be alone. And yet Leal was supposed to believe that girl was willing to travel a year or more in complete solitude? Leal¡¯s thought transitioned from self-conscious to self-loathing when she realised how long Gloria had fooled her. Looking into the older ursu¡¯s activities quickly amplified Leal¡¯s suspicions. Only when she found the small form of her first friend down in that dark oven did Leal truly learn what it was like to hate someone. Leal rounded the final corner to her home and almost tripped over her feet. There, in front of her house, was a squad of reksha. What were they doing here already? She tried to stop, to turn around and leave, but they¡¯d already spotted her; doing so was only going to raise suspicions. Swallowing what felt like a stone in her throat, she forced herself forward. The front door of their building opened, and out walked one of the reksha, leading Leal¡¯s mum with a hand on her back. She could only be thankful that they hadn¡¯t tied her hands and dragged her out, but it was clear she didn¡¯t have a choice. Leal tried to follow, but another reksha intercepted her path. ¡°They¡¯ll only be a short while. Why don¡¯t we go inside and have a little chat?¡± Her voice sounded friendly, but the nervous jitters clamped down on Leal¡¯s throat too tight to speak. Leal cast a glance after her mother, who caught her eye just before being taken around the corner, likely being taken to the continae. ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much.¡± The reksha pushes open the front door, inviting Leal to follow. ¡°As long as you don¡¯t hide anything, you¡¯ll both be fine.¡± Leal failed to respond through the choking anxiety, but followed. ¡°So, your explanation for being out so late is because you were experimenting?¡± the reksha asks with obvious doubt. ¡°Exactly what sort of experimentation is one as young as you performing?¡± It was the best explanation Leal could come up with for why she was out. She would often do exactly that, so she hoped her mother would use the same excuse when they talk with her. The reksha had yet to ask whether they were housing a fugitive or whatever other such accusation Gloria threw their way, but Leal knew they were fishing for contradictions between her story and her mother¡¯s. Well, despite knowing what their goal was, it didn¡¯t make the conversation any less daunting for Leal. Even trying to get out the simplest explanation for where she¡¯d been had her freezing up in constricting anxiety as the what-ifs bound her mind. It took her almost ten minutes just to get her fake story across. She didn¡¯t want to get caught in a nervous, stuttering wreck again by explaining, so instead she just showed what she¡¯d spent the last few weeks practising. If Leal weren¡¯t as young as she was, the reksha would never have let her activate her markings, but thankfully she simply narrowed her eyes and allowed Leal to proceed. In her outstretched hand, Leal allowed a sphere of water to form in her palm. Her new markings lit with the activation and remained glowing while the ball sat in her hand, sagging slightly from gravity. She twisted her hand so that her palm faced downward, yet the water clung to her fur, refusing to fall. Leal knew doing such a thing would be easy if she had a more advanced marking. Her basic one was designed to teach form manipulation, and only that. Applying the more practical aspects of higher grade markings on one not designed to allow that was difficult, but not impossible, assuming the mage knew what to do. Slowly, she let the sphere droop. A smaller and smaller surface connected the water to her hand, and therefor the marking which allowed her to keep the orb in shape. It¡¯s one of the things she¡¯d been trying to accomplish ever since she¡¯d seen Solvei control her fire remotely; holding her influence over water with lesser strands to connect her hyle. Doing all this was a feat none of the other students could achieve. Most were determined to do put in the least amount of effort before they could jump on the chance to rise to higher grade markings. Leal would be the same, if it meant giving her access to markings with far greater allowance for manual control, but the academy hadn¡¯t gone unchanged by the war. Now, there was a greater focus on markings that operated near automatically. The markings she could take if she asked for advancement were far stronger than what she had, but gave almost no room for experimentation. No chance for her to improve upon what she knew. Worst of all, they were attack markings. Methods of twisting water with the intent to harm. It was not something she wished to know. Leal looked up at the reksha, who looked wholly unimpressed despite her clearly impressive feat. Once again, Leal was reminded just how nonplussed most of her kind were to the wonders markings allowed¡­ and their dangers. Even with a supposedly weak race like the albanic descending their nation into such a war-weary state unseen since the revolution, Leal¡¯s kind still believed physical strength would surpass everything. The pride Leal had in what she¡¯d learnt would always be overshadowed by her diminutive size and lack of muscle. A slam came from the front door. In came another reksha, looking harried. ¡°Leave the girl for later. We¡¯ve got bigger problems.¡± He was gone again the next moment. ¡°Stay here, kid. I¡¯ll be back to talk later.¡± With her piece said, the reksha rushed after their colleague. Leal sat, unmoving and alone in her home. She feared disobeying the reksha, but she was simply too curious why they ran so quick. Leal rose to her feet and crept toward the window. Outside, the sky glowed like a second sunset had arrived, but no, the smoke was all too clear; there was a fire. Against her better judgement, Leal fled her home. She¡¯d be in a lot of trouble if the reksha found her, but she needed to find Solvei. Make sure the ¨¢ed had done nothing to reveal herself. Leal knew it was too late before she even begun running; the glow around the buildings was clearly coming from the academy. She ran for the academy, anyway. When the burning building came into sight, Leal winced. Her home away from home wouldn¡¯t survive such an intense blaze. Thankfully, the water mages that remained in the city had all congregated to save what remained. Did Solvei do this? Leal should¡¯ve known leaving the girl made of fire in a library was a stupid idea, especially with how emotionally disturbed she must be. Where is she now? She¡¯s not still inside, right? If the reksha found her now, Leal didn¡¯t even want to think about what would happen to her friend. Shouts grabbed Leal¡¯s attention. Amongst the mages and ursu surrounding the collapsing building, many were pointing off to the centre of the city. Turning, Leal was shocked by the sight before her. The city was on fire. Not only one or two buildings, but an entire swathe burned within a growing inferno. There weren¡¯t many tall structures around the academy, so it was easy to see how fast the blaze was spreading. Solvei, what have you done? There¡¯s no chance it wasn¡¯t the ¨¢ed, Gloria¡¯s home was right in the centre of the flames. Leal could understand the anger Solvei must have felt, but Gloria wasn¡¯t the only one who would be hurt by such a massive blaze. Realisation hit her all too suddenly. The continae her mother was taken to was within the fire. Her mum was in danger. Leal¡¯s feet carried her forward without thought, sprinting toward the inferno that leapt between buildings with ease. It was spreading too fast. Far too fast for a captive of the reksha to be prioritised in the evacuation. Was she trapped? Leal ran through the streets, brushing by ursu watching the blaze with not nearly enough fear. Didn¡¯t they realise how fast it was spreading? Didn¡¯t they realise they needed to run? Pounding forward, Leal never realised the contradiction between her words and actions. Reaching her mother was the only thing on her mind, not that she¡¯d have absolutely no chance to survive should the fire overcome her. Nearer the blaze, the reaction of the city¡¯s residents was far more urgent. Many ran in opposition to Leal, getting in her way and slowing her down. She tried to push past them, but one man picked her up, rushing away from the roaring blaze that cooked the air. Leal slammed her hands into her captor, screaming for this stranger to let her go. The world blurred around her. Whether by the growing heat or the jostling endured, Leal was left disoriented. She couldn¡¯t break free, not when she needed to most. Clarity shone through the fog of delirium as Leal watched the tower taller than any other collapse within the spiralling flames. She stopped resisting her captor, enraptured by the collapse of the continae. It was horrific. The explosion of dust from the toppling tower only fuelled the spread of flames. Something clutched at her heart. Claws raked within her chest, cutting away her insides before inviting the blaze inside to scorch her just as much as it burned the buildings around her. Leal watched on as the flames crashed forward. A tsunami of fire smashing glass and sizzling air as it tore towards them. Her eyes stung, but they were far too dry to shed tears. It had been so long since she¡¯d heard from her dad. She didn¡¯t want to lose her mum, too. Leal loved her. The thought of losing her had never even crossed her mind. She didn¡¯t need to go out into the dangerous wasteland like her father. She didn¡¯t need to go to war. So why is it Leal¡¯s mum stuck within the flames, burning alive? It wasn¡¯t fair. Leal¡¯s captor dropped her unceremoniously to the earth. The ground wasn¡¯t paved. A mix of soil, grass and weeds softened Leal¡¯s fall, but she wouldn¡¯t have cared if she fell on razors. She spun to watch Morne as it continued to burn. The fire had spread to engulf most of the city now. There would be no stopping the spread. Morne was as good as gone. Leal¡¯s home, her school, her clothes and books and teddies. Nothing remained. Leal didn¡¯t care about any of that. She only wanted to hold on to hope that her mum survived, so she rose to her feet and began walking through the survivors. The man who saved her life, forgotten. She circled the blaze, searching until the farmland on the edge of the city caught fire and blocked her way. Leal turned around and continued her search. She walked for hours, until the inferno was nothing but cinders, but she still found nothing. Leal had to face it; her mother wasn¡¯t coming back. She was dead. And it was Solvei who killed her. Her friend shouldn¡¯t have let it grow this strong. Sure, if she wanted to get back at Gloria after what she¡¯d done, Leal could understand, but this is so much worse than what Gloria did. How many died tonight? Solvei never should have let the blaze spread. That it had, showed how little she cared for the damage her flames could unleash. It hurt. To know her only friend killed her mum ¡ª whether it was intentional or negligence didn¡¯t matter ¡ª it burned greater than the heat that clung to the air and pinched through her fur. Leal looked around her, finding many in a state no better than her; kneeling over the earth and bawling over their losses. She choked as the sound of other¡¯s cries broke her last hope. Tears flowed without restraint as she curled up on the ground. Alone. ??? Prior to New Vetus¡¯ Surprise Attack Leal longed to return to the times before her life collapsed. Back to when her mother had been there to hug her, and her father to play and joke. She¡¯d welcome the isolation she¡¯d felt if it meant she could go back before the war. Life had been nothing but misery since Solvei killed her mother. Leal flinched as the needle pricked her skin. The first was always the worst. Collecting herself, she pressed into her arm again, watching as her own variation on a water hyle medium bled into her skin. The removal of her previous markings had been a painful experience, but she now had a clean canvas to paint her own designs into her arm. She¡¯d already had the head mage mark along her back. Along with thousands of others left homeless and isolated, Leal had struggled to emigrate into a city that could not support them. She¡¯d thought she knew what loneliness was, but that hadn¡¯t been true. Only when she had nobody but herself to rely on for survival did Leal realise how harsh the world was. How utterly suffocating true loneliness was. Leal grabbed a wet cloth and wiped off the excess medium from her trimmed fur. Any mistake now could undo hours of effort. She¡¯d been working on this marking for months now, one that would allow almost free control over the shape of water while retaining enough speed for it to be useful in battle. The hyle consumption would be exponential rather than linear, as per most markings, but for her purposes, it would be fine. By the time she would be tasked with anything beyond its capabilities, she expected to have replaced it once more. She, along with many other ursu, had been left with no other option but to join the military. They¡¯d begun identification checks at the Bratchinas. Things had gotten desperate; you couldn¡¯t eat if you were unaccounted for. But before they could send her to battle, her luck seemed to flip. The war ended. They¡¯d won! She¡¯d considered the likelihood of her father remaining alive to be almost nil, but her superiors sent her to an infirmary camp where he was being taken care of. That¡¯s when she realised her misfortune hadn¡¯t disappeared. It simply took a new face. Her father wasn¡¯t uninjured, but a missing eye and bandaged leg was better than death. He was sickly, and needed to remain for treatment. Their reunion was joined by a looming pair of guards that refused to give them space even as she squeezed into her dad¡¯s chest. He held her tight, and yet his eyes revealed neither relief or happiness with her presence. Leal ignored it the best she could, but he had looked at her with a sadness and fear she couldn¡¯t understand. Whatever concerned him, he did not say. She didn¡¯t comprehend at the time, but as the nation changed around her, it became clear. He was a hostage. If she didn¡¯t do her best to support their reforming army, they would have him killed within the day. Leal wasn¡¯t the only victim to this extortion. Every mage she knew spoke in hushed discontent. they were each leashed by their relatives trapped within the gulags. With the collapse of the previous council and the chairman, Military Commissar Oso acted immediately. He placed himself in position as chairman, and supplanted all other commissars with trusted members from his military. The catastrophic invasion had opened the nation¡¯s eyes to their inadequacies. Within weeks, New Vetus¡¯ doctrine shifted, both political and military. No longer were they content with how things stood. Mages, along with many other disciplines, were no longer given the freedom of academic advancement. Now, they were integrated within the military. Any and all creations had to support the rapid advancement of New Vetus¡¯ military growth.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Leal switched out her needle for a razor-sharp scalpel. The last part of her markings required immense precision that just couldn¡¯t be achieved without cutting into the thick skin of her hand. She was proud of this marking. Even the mages of her unit couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of it, despite some being decades older. Leal couldn¡¯t understand their lack of enthusiasm for creation. They settled for the standardised markings taught to all, but those were so limiting. No matter how many times Leal tried to show them that the alternatives were so much better as long as you put in the tiniest of effort to understand, they never listen. When the only escape Leal had from this horrid world was the creations she made, it was disheartening to have nobody to share that enthusiasm. She made the last few cuts on her thick fingers before submerging her hand in the hyle medium. Hopefully this time, it wouldn¡¯t become infected. Sometimes, no matter how careful you were, material other than the pure mixture gets inside your body. By wiping at the wounds with a cloth soaked in a special substance, the risk can be mitigated, but the chance is still there. Leal would have to wait a few hours before she could fill her reserves with hyle and try the markings. She was both excited to try them out, and concerned for the circumstances she would be required to use them. Two months ago, the newly totalitarian council considered the buildup of forces enough to begin their conquest. The Zadok Kingdom had fallen almost without a fight. Despite the ease, it still took time for the land to be ripped from the hands of the albanics. Rebellion forces were aplenty. They made unfortunately good targets and her superiors jumped at the chance to give both her and the other mages battle experience. Leal hated fighting. Hated her creation being used to spread death. She¡¯d seen other water mages with a focus on creating blades or pressurised streams. The sheer efficiency with which they cut through people horrified her. It directed her marking creation in the completely opposite direction, much to the irritation of her superiors. She¡¯d be concerned about them threatening her father again if she weren¡¯t one of the few actually creating new designs for their arsenal. Instead, they¡¯d thrown her into almost every battle they could. Obviously, they wanted to desensitise her to murder, but all it achieved was to amplify the hatred for her country. ¡°Leal,¡± a voice called after she¡¯d finished cleaning her arms. She turned to Hefkos ¡ª one of her unit members ¡ª as he dropped something heavy on her workbench. ¡°Here,¡± he says. ¡°Weapons of the northern states are a step up from Zadok¡¯s, so new armour is being distributed.¡± Leal eyed the slab of leather and steel. The one she already had was heavy enough, she wasn¡¯t looking forward to lugging around something even heavier. She would have to focus her next marking on a dedicated water barrier. Something that she could keep up for an extended time that didn¡¯t weigh her down like these suits of armour. Most of her kind didn¡¯t have an issue with the weight, but Leal wasn¡¯t exactly built as heavily as the rest of the ursu. Each ursu warrior had taken on the protective gear with enthusiasm. After the war with Henosis, the pride of the ursu in their bare-knuckled strength had been crushed. When one could fall from such measly little pebbles, arrogance quickly dissipated. The body armour couldn¡¯t block a direct shot, but it would slow the projectile enough for an ursu¡¯s thick skin to take the blow. ¡°Should you be doing that now?¡± Hefkos points to Leal¡¯s freshly cut markings. ¡°We¡¯ll be moving out tonight while they are celebrating, and I don¡¯t want you having issues with an untested marking mid battle.¡± Leal didn¡¯t know what to say. Her markings would work, she was certain, but they didn¡¯t seem to trust her ability regardless of the times she¡¯d proven them wrong. Before she could express her confidence in words, the older mage continued. ¡°Word of warning: refrain from applying your markings yourself. The reksha were a suspicious bunch even before being given oversight of the military. If they find you applying unapproved markings without direct observation, who knows what they might think?¡± ¡°But the division¡¯s head mage already gave me the go ahead.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. At the very least, make sure you have a partner to watch over you when you next apply them.¡± Leal wanted to argue further, but she knew it would be a wasted effort. Heavy thuds had both mages turn to the giant ursu walking away from reksha command. The warrior left the encampment and sprinted south, his looming form snatching fearful gazes until it was gone beyond the horizon. ¡°Where do you think he¡¯s off to?¡± Hefkos asked, leaning against Leal¡¯s workbench. She wondered if he had nothing better to do than bother her. Leal¡¯s eyes lingered on the horizon. Tore Hund had always been a legend. More of a fairy-tale than a real person, until she¡¯d laid eyes on him herself. The hero of New Vetus. The reason they¡¯d broken free from slavery almost two centuries ago. It was unbelievable that he was still alive, and yet he looked no older than her father. ¡°Looks like we¡¯ll be moving on without him for now,¡± he said. ¡°Eh, we don¡¯t need him. Our enemy¡¯s strongest soldier is a fire mage.¡± That caught Leal¡¯s attention. ¡°Fire mage?¡± ¡°Yeah, Armelle¡¯s unit is tasked with taking them down. Even with the elemental advantage, it will not be easy for them. The mage apparently has enough hyle to set the entire battlefield alight.¡± ¡°A fire mage,¡± Leal mumbled under her breath. The image of a blazing city flashed across her mind. ¡°This mage, are they an ¨¢ed?¡± ¡°Uh, maybe?¡± her senior mage said. ¡°I only know what the brief said.¡± His eyes narrowed. ¡°You didn¡¯t read it, did you?¡± She didn¡¯t answer. Instead, she was up and striding toward the reksha. The ursu that enforce the will of the council. Only an ¨¢ed would have enough hyle to ignite a battlefield. Even as suicidal as fire mages tended to be, it was far harder for them to grow their capacity when their element naturally worked against their body. Either it was an ¨¢ed, or an ancient fire mage. And if it were a old fire mage of that calibre, only Tore Hund could beat them. Was it possible? Was Solvei so close after so long? Leal hated her for the death of her mother. Everything had gone wrong since she¡¯d shown up. If the girl had just stayed still in the library back then, like Leal told her, then everything would have turned out fine. She would have figured out a way to get her out of the city, and thousands wouldn¡¯t be dead. She didn¡¯t realise what she¡¯d done until it was too late. Leal had stormed in on a meeting amongst the reksha and officers. They all stared at her with either amused curiosity or blatant annoyance, but nobody had yet reprimanded her. Well, she was already here. Might as well go through with it. She snapped into a salute and made her request. ¡°Please let me fight the fire mage, sirs.¡± The words struggled on her tongue, but she forced them out. The reksha in charge of her mage division appeared surprised and pleased, which is far better than the wrath and irritation of the many others she¡¯d interrupted. ¡°Junior Lieutenant Leal, you, are willing to rush into battle?¡± the reksha asked. She nodded, unwilling to risk speaking once more. ¡°Granted,¡± he said, as a few protests rose from his side. ¡°Expect a court martial for your actions today. Prove your worth and your punishment might be lighter. You are dismissed.¡± She hurried away, berating herself for her impatience. She imagined he¡¯d only been lenient as he had been trying to force her enthusiasm for war. But if this really was Solvei, then she finally could avenge her mother¡¯s death. Leal had been practising what she would say to the ¨¢ed if she were to meet her again. First, she would trap the girl. Then she would tell her how much she¡¯d been waiting for this and maybe gloat a little. She couldn¡¯t fight against New Vetus, but a girl younger than herself? The frustration, hate and despair that had built up in the past years could finally have a target. She approached the mages¡¯ supplies. Hyle storage devices were exorbitantly expensive, but the military had confiscated all within the mage academies for their own purposes. It also made transporting water easy. Leal placed her freshly marked hands on the large barrel-shaped hunk of metal, and filled her reserves with water hyle. Her well was smaller than most of the other mages in the army, but she still surpassed many in terms of capabilities. There were three things that mattered to a mage. Their hyle reserves, the markings they hold, and the understanding they have of those markings. The first was how much hyle the mage could contain. A special array of markings held hyle, but the total maximum they could handle was determined mostly by how much exposure they¡¯d had to the element. One could become a strong mage with minimal understanding, simply by continually flowing the hyle through their bodies for decades. Markings were the most important aspect. They were the technology that guided the hyle to do what the mage wanted. The simplest markings had no variables and could be used even by those with a lacking understanding, but they would be limited in every aspect. The more one understood the working of a mage¡¯s markings, the more complicated ones they could apply. The more complex the marking, the more work the mage would have to do while operating to keep it functioning, but the effects that could be created were well worth it. Leal grabbed one of the small backup hyle packs they had for ¡®novice¡¯ mages like herself. A heavy metal disc wider than her hand with a strap to bind it to her chest. These would be almost useless to any of the older mages, but it would double her capacity. It was just unfortunate it had to be so heavy. She was already going to struggle with the new armour. Leal lifted her head to the half moon of early evening. Not long now. Not long until she¡¯ll be able to get some closure on one part of her life. Once she¡¯d gotten back at Solvei, everything would feel better. Her first friend had died that night. It was time to murder the one that took her place. ??? During New Vetus¡¯ Surprise Attack Sneaking within the camp of the mixed races was surprisingly easy. The few volans on lookout were cut out of the sky with the silent pressurised stream of a fellow mage. Not even the bodies crashing into the ground made a sound. It was Leal¡¯s job to make sure of that, and she was glad for it. Better to catch the dead volans than be the one to kill them. On top of the heavy armour, they all wore thick, tightly bound clothing to cover the glow of their markings. Their large bodies were hard enough to hide while sneaking into the enemy¡¯s camp, doing so while shining like light-bulbs would be asking to be discovered. They made it to their first assigned tent and the others in her unit immediately moved to assassinate the sleeping soldiers. Leal looked away. If this was her own squad, she would be forced to participate, but Armelle owed her for the efficiency upgrade Leal had designed for her. It was late into the night, and those that weren¡¯t sleeping were intoxicated and celebrating around campfires. There were guards watching the perimeter of their camp, but not even they expected an attack from the ursu. Leal despised this war. There was no reason to attack and push forward. At least against the Henosis, they¡¯d been defending their homes. Now? they¡¯d only become like their enemies. Leal forced herself to shake the thoughts. The whole reason she¡¯d forced herself into this unit was so that she could kill. She needed to focus on her opportunity to make things right; to avenge her mother. Ruminating in the wrongness of murder wouldn¡¯t help her achieve what she was determined to. They had a pretty good idea of where the ¨¢ed was, and her path once the battle begun. The brief they¡¯d been given left little doubt in Leal¡¯s mind that the fire mage was, in fact, Solvei. The reksha were able to amass quite a detailed account of her suspected abilities and habits from the battle they¡¯d watched not even a day prior. Leal could never forgive Solvei for what she did. And she would make sure her former friend was punished for the horror and pain she caused. Leal hated killing, but she hated Solvei more. If it hadn¡¯t been for the ¨¢ed, things would still all be alright. Her mum would be alive. They would still be living in Morne together, and her dad would have returned to them, rather than being stuck in the gulag. Everything went wrong with that fire. Leal just knew if it hadn¡¯t happened, then everything would all be alright. The first barrage of artillery snapped Leal back to reality. The rest of the unit dashed out of the tent, off to cut down as many waking soldiers as they could while remaining stealthy. They were already in position to ambush the ¨¢ed, they just needed to wait until she arrived. A small form barreled down the hill, her short stature looking incredibly out of place for a battlefield. Leal had no doubt it was Solvei even before the flames wrapped around her form, snapping out at the air as if ready to ignite their surroundings. The heat radiating off the ¨¢ed was far greater than anything Leal could recall. Whatever happens, she would be careful not to let them get close. Leal thought she was prepared to see the girl again. She wasn¡¯t. Solvei had grown, but the sight of her brought back memories she¡¯d rather forget. Horrific moments where she and countless others suffered after the fall of Morne. Sad memories of her mother¡¯s passing. Worst of all, Leal remembered the joy she once had alongside Solvei. She didn¡¯t want to remember those times. Solvei was evil. She was the cause of everything going bad, so Leal refused the good memories she once shared with the ¨¢ed. Solvei stopped as she passed Leal¡¯s hidden position. Fire swirling around the girl revealed her inner turmoil. She hadn¡¯t detected the ambush, had she? The ¨¢ed spun on her feet and began running back up the way she came. She must have. One mage in Leal¡¯s unit shot a stream of pressurised water to cut off her path of retreat. Solvei reacted with unreal timing, blasting herself backward as large swathes of flame spread out ahead of her in her stead. The same mage tried to hit her with a second stream, but the ¨¢ed was already aware. Throwing herself skyward, Solvei launched herself at the mage with clear murderous intent. If not for Armelle, the first mage would have been dead. It was only for a moment, but bright, white flames coated the ¨¢ed¡¯s hands. Hot enough to sting just looking at. The mages quickly surrounded her, and Leal realised she would need to act soon. Leal wanted¡­ no, needed to be the one to end her. She needed some form of retribution against the one who¡¯d made her life a nightmare. Preparing herself to do what she had to do, Leal readied her marking. She would spear the girl through with too many water spikes to dodge. As long as she got some water under that snowsuit she wore, Leal would succeed. Leal didn¡¯t expect Solvei to dash her way before she was ready. Reflexively, she sprung her marking, exploding forth a wave of water from her hands. The water collided with the ¨¢ed, sending her to the earth as water crashed around her. Leal stared in confusion. Hadn¡¯t she meant to spear her through with that attack? It was impossible for a marking to enact any effect not directly intended by the user. What happened? Steam billows off the girl as she scrambles to her feet. Before she could leap away, Leal curled the water around her, entrapping the girl within a sphere. As usual, she had to keep the water moving constantly to stop it from sagging under gravity. Finally, the opportunity was before her. She could relish in defeating the one who killed her mum, making sure she understood exactly how her actions would be her undoing before Leal killed her. It¡¯s better that Solvei hadn¡¯t died immediately. That would¡¯ve been too quick, too easy. As Solvei flared out at the trapping sphere only to hurt herself, Leal spoke up to Armelle. ¡°Please.¡± Unhappy with how hesitant her voice sounded, she gathered her resolve. This is what she wanted. ¡°Leave her to me.¡± ¡°What? We can¡¯t do that. You know how dangerous she¡¯ll be if left alive.¡± Leal knew all too well what Solvei could do, but if she was going to talk to her former friend before killing her, she wanted to do it alone. ¡°Remember that favour I asked?¡± Leal hoped Armelle could overlook her actions just this once. Armelle¡¯s eyes waver between Leal and her captor. ¡°If you are certain. Make sure she¡¯s dead after you are done.¡± She signals to the rest of her unit before they all rush down the hill to join the one-sided slaughter. Leal gathers herself. She¡¯d practised what she would say if she ever saw Solvei again. Clamping down on the nervousness, she stepped forward, out of the tattered remains of the tent. ¡°It has been a while, Solvei.¡± ¡°Leal?¡± The absolute shock and befuddlement in Solvei¡¯s tone both delighted her, and sent her heart racing. It was clear the girl could never imagine someone surviving the inferno she wrought, nor it being her former friend to be the one to deliver retribution. ¡°Solvei¡­ You appear to be doing well.¡± While Leal had been suffering alone with her mother¡¯s death, her father¡¯s imprisonment, and the upheaval of her life, Solvei had been off massacring thousands on the battlefield. She was probably enjoying life right up until Leal got the upper hand on her. ¡°I¡­¡± Within her cage, Solvei turns away. Clearly, she knew exactly what she¡¯d done. ¡°I¡¯ve missed you.¡± Leal burst out in laughter, but she wasn¡¯t amused. No, Leal was pissed. How dare she pretend like nothing had happened. What? Did she think Leal would forget about the horror of that night? In what world could she ever overlook the crime the ¨¢ed committed? ¡°You missed me, did you? Well, I¡¯ve missed my mother, but you wouldn¡¯t care about that? Would you?¡± Solvei flinches, as if struck. Leal assumed she would feel satisfaction from such a sight, but all she felt was emptiness. ¡°What happened to Calysta?¡± Leal¡¯s jaw dropped. Solvei had the gall to act like she didn¡¯t know. Did she think playing ignorant would save her from Leal¡¯s encasing water? She knew very well how dangerous water was to the ¨¢ed. No matter how strong the girl before her might have grown, she would always remain susceptible to Leal. ¡°You happened,¡± Leal growled. ¡°You killed her, along with a thousand others in that fire.¡± ¡°What?¡± The flames circling Solvei¡¯s body extinguished with a puff. ¡°No, I-¡± The girl before her fails to form words. Her knees quake, but she remains standing. Leal waited for the excuse she knew would come. Solvei would claim innocence. Claim it wasn¡¯t her, or it wasn¡¯t her fault. Leal waited for Solvei to give her excuse and flimsy explanation, so that she could tear her down and make her face the repercussions with her full fury. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Wisps like flaming tears that dispersed into the air flowed from Solvei¡¯s eyes. This wasn¡¯t the order it was meant to go. She was supposed to plead innocence, or claim ignorance until Leal begun her punishment. She was only supposed to apologise and beg for her life after Leal made her feel the same pain her mother must have felt trapped within the continae, burning alive. ¡°No.¡± Leal fists hard enough to hide from the pain swelling in her chest. ¡°You don¡¯t get to be sorry.¡± She altered her marking, shrinking the sphere of water and crushing Solvei between walls of water. Steam rose from within, but Solvei just looked Leal in the eye with pain that mirrored Leal¡¯s. She tried to press the cage down further, to end her most hated person¡¯s life right here and now. This wasn¡¯t going how she imagined. Solvei wasn¡¯t fighting back. Even if it would be a meaningless resistance, she should be fighting with everything she could to survive. But instead, she simply let Leal do as she pleased. Despite Leal¡¯s wishes, the cage didn¡¯t crush Solvei. It let up, giving the ¨¢ed room. Why was her own spell disobeying her? That should be impossible. She stared at the ¨¢ed before her, tears running down her face mirroring Solvei¡¯s wisps. Why was she crying? She was angry, not sad. This was her opportunity to finally achieve vengeance for her mother¡¯s death, so why were her markings refusing her? Why was her friend letting it happen? Former friend, Leal berated herself for even thinking of her that way. Even now, Solvei was tearing things apart. She wasn¡¯t acting her role. She was the root cause of all Leal¡¯s problems, so why was she resisting? Why wasn¡¯t she selfish, like she¡¯d always pictured her mother¡¯s murderer acting? Why did Solvei still care about Leal, when Leal had given up on her years ago? ¡°This is unfair.¡± Leal stepped forward. If her markings wouldn¡¯t listen to her, then she would do it with her own hands. The cage disappeared, crashing along the earth in a large puddle as Leal wrapped her hands around the ¨¢ed. But, no matter how hard she pressed, her hands refused to squeeze. She couldn¡¯t hurt her. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to be evil,¡± Leal sobbed, realising her voice was wavering. ¡°So why are you the one crying?¡± As Leal continues her vain attempt to crush Solvei, she feels the heat the girl exudes reducing. An ¨¢ed that should feel at the very least like she just put her hands in an oven is no more warm to the touch than cloth on a hot day. Even without the water to stop her fighting back, or running away, Solvei remains within Leal¡¯s grasp. She hated it. She hated everything about how things turned out. Solvei wasn¡¯t the evil murderer Leal had convinced herself she was. Even if she¡¯d started the fire, it was clear it was hardly intentional. But then, if not Solvei, who can she blame for what her life had become? She needed to be real with herself. No matter how much she told herself she hated Solvei, she just couldn¡¯t do it. Now that she was in the position to actually hurt her old friend, it became impossible to follow through. Only now, with Solvei right beneath her hands, did she even consider that the girl couldn¡¯t have wanted things to go the way they did. ¡°I had so much I was going to say when I saw you again. I wanted to enjoy my retribution.¡± The words escaped her in a waver as she crashed to her knees before her first friend, embracing her. ¡°I missed you, too, Solvei.¡± She didn¡¯t intend to say that, but as much as she try to deny it, it was true. She¡¯d missed the casual, daily joy she¡¯d had when she could drag Solvei around the city, getting up to all sorts of nonsense that she wouldn¡¯t have been brave enough to do before meeting her, nor had the luxury to do after. Leal longed to return to the time when she didn¡¯t have to worry about anything. Before they moved to Morne, before she lost her mother. And before her father was held hostage at the gulag. Dread washed through Leal. She was already facing a court martial for her actions, but if she returned to her superiors with Solvei still alive, it would be her father who would face the punishment. She needed to kill Solvei to keep her father safe, but doing so was impossible; Leal simply couldn¡¯t do it. Her only hope now was the friend she just tried to kill. ¡°Solvei, I need your help,¡± ¡°Anything.¡± No hesitance. Leal appreciated that, but what she was about to ask would likely get them both killed. Even if she knew how suicidal it was, Leal had no other option. Chapter 133: Repentant ¡°Leal?¡± I can¡¯t believe it. I¡¯d planned to eventually go looking for her, but I¡¯d never expected her to be here. On the other side of war. I¡¯m so happy to see her alive and healthy, but¡­ why is she trapping me? She¡¯s older, taller than I remember. Her body now covered in the familiar glowing markings of a mage. Two distinct lines curve around her eyes, illuminating where it hadn¡¯t nearly two years ago. ¡°Solvei¡­ You appear to be doing well.¡± Between the gaps in the swirling water she traps me within, Leal walks before me. ¡°I¡­¡± How can I respond to that? Tell her things have been horrible? She¡¯s still one of my closest friends. My first. I don¡¯t want her to worry. ¡°I¡¯ve missed you.¡± She laughs derisively before sneering down at me. Her near full metre height advantage makes me tilt my head back. ¡°You missed me, did you? Well, I¡¯ve missed my mother, but you wouldn¡¯t care about that? Would you?¡± I¡¯m not sure why she¡¯s acting like this, but her hostility stabs my chest worse than the spray of water. ¡°What happened to Calysta?¡± I spent enough time around Leal to know how nice a person her mother was. ¡°You happened,¡± Leal growls. ¡°You killed her, along with a thousand others in that fire.¡± ¡°What?¡± No, that can¡¯t be right. Only Gloria was supposed to die back then. I didn¡¯t have control. The fire¡­ my fire shouldn¡¯t have spread so fast they couldn¡¯t escape. ¡°No, I-¡± I what? The possibility that the fire I started killed anyone hadn¡¯t even crossed my mind. I hadn¡¯t even considered it when I discovered how flammable people outside the wasteland were. Thinking back, it¡¯s impossible to deny. Thousands likely died because I wasn¡¯t careful. I killed my friend¡¯s mum. Put Leal in the position I¡¯d declared I never would; I took away her family. My ignorance isn¡¯t an excuse. In my carelessness, I¡¯d done the same as the Titan did to my family. Instead of protecting her from a situation like mine, I replicated it. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± The words feel empty even as they leave my lips. She has a reason to hate me, and words won¡¯t bring her mum back to life. ¡°No.¡± Leal clenches her fists and scowls. ¡°You don¡¯t get to be sorry.¡± The cage around me suddenly compresses. I¡¯m forced to my knees as the water presses down on me. Pain wracks my chest and face as water mixes with my flames. ¡°This is unfair. You¡¯re supposed to be evil.¡± She steps forward, dispelling the water cage and gripping her large hands around my shoulders. ¡°So why are you the one crying?¡± I collapse the heat of my body to not burn her. Leal¡¯s hands grip me tight, but I don¡¯t run. Tears well in her eyes as she tries to growl, but it only comes out choked. Her head drops and tears flow freely. ¡°I had so much I was going to say when I saw you again. I wanted to enjoy my retribution.¡± Leal drops to her knees and I¡¯m engulfed in a crushing embrace. ¡°I missed you, too, Solvei.¡± What can I say? What can I do to make it up to her? I killed her mum. There is no way I can make up for that. Nothing I can think of will return things to the way they were, so I just lean in and return the hug, crying alongside my first friend. We stand there, embracing on a battlefield. ¡°Solvei, I need your help,¡± Leal mumbles in my ear as gunfire diminishes. The pact nations¡¯ army is losing, but I don¡¯t care. My friend needs me more. ¡°Anything.¡± She breathes a sigh and leans back. Even on her knees, she¡¯s taller than me. She has bulked up since I last saw her, but still not to the same degree as the rest of her kind. Though thin for an ursu, she has more muscle than Bunny. ¡°They have my dad,¡± she says, looking into the dirt. He¡¯s alive? I¡¯d thought for sure there would be no chance, considering how the war progressed before Hund¡¯s intervention. If Gerben, the ursu that originally found me collapsed in the wasteland, is alive, then Leal still has family to stay by her side. Did the Henosis Empire take him as prisoner? ¡°Who does? Where is he?¡± I ask, ignoring the water pooling around my boots. Leal hesitates, her eyes trailing down the hill where her kind are cleaning up the remaining stragglers from the pact nations¡¯ army. ¡°The reksha are holding him at a gulag back in New Vetus.¡± She lets me go and rises to her full height. I thought I¡¯d grown a lot in the past couple of years, but it¡¯s nothing on her growth. She scans my body and her jaw clenches. ¡°Solvei, I can¡¯t forgive you. Not for what happened to mum.¡± My arms fall to my side and I turn my gaze away. I give her a nod of understanding. I wouldn¡¯t forgive myself either. For me to hope things return to the way we left them would be far too greedy. ¡°They¡¯ll consider me a traitor for not killing you here, so I need to get my dad out before they send the order to kill him,¡± Leal says. ¡°I can¡¯t get him out alone. I¡¯m not strong enough.¡± ¡°I told you I¡¯ll help. If we need to leave right now, I¡¯m with you.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°First, I need to meet with a friend.¡± I grab her hand and run back up the hill. The encampment is in chaos. The ursu¡¯s surprise attack is nothing if not effective. Only the mercenaries appear to put up a proper defence. All others are left to fall under the coordinated offence. Besides a few odd pops, the sound of gunfire has ceased. We find Gr¨ªmr struggling against a trio of ursu. His damaged chest and missing wing giving him far more issues fighting them than it usually would, but he holds his own. An ursu lays dead beneath his talons. My flames surge forward, ready to burn those attacking Gr¨ªmr. A squeeze to my hand makes me hesitate. The golden flames instead encircle Gr¨ªmr, forcing the flammable ursu to back off. I lead Leal into my blaze. She tugs against my grip, but I don¡¯t give her the chance to pull away. Her reluctance disappears as soon as we are within the blaze. Tongues of flame roll off her fur without burning. ¡°Solvei, you¡¯re okay!¡± Gr¨ªmr relaxes as I walk into sight. ¡°We need to leave, now. We can¡¯t¡­ uh, who¡¯s this?¡± he asks as his eyes fall on the ursu I¡¯m pulling along. He doesn¡¯t act immediately hostile, thankfully, despite the rest of her race attacking us. ¡°This is Leal. She¡¯s a friend.¡± I create a path of flame to the north. ¡°Let¡¯s get moving.¡± With Gr¨ªmr¡¯s current inability to fly, we have no choice but to walk our way out of the battlefield. My flames should scare off most of the ursu army, but I¡¯m certain they¡¯ll also attract the water mages. ¡°Leal, do you think you¡¯d be able to stop any water mages as we escape?¡± The only solutions I have for the mages are both painful for me and deadly for them. After discovering the death I¡¯ve already caused around Leal, I¡¯d rather avoid what I can. ¡°I¡¯ll be able to tear away control from a few of them easily, but there¡¯s nothing I can do about the more experienced mages.¡± She shakes off my grip, keeping her hands free. A dim glow flashes along the thin lines winding her fingers. ¡°I won¡¯t be able to do so for long.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. Just long enough for us to get out of the encampment.¡± I twist to Gr¨ªmr, who¡¯s hobbling alongside us. His injuries mean we¡¯re limited by the speed at which we can run. ¡°Gr¨ªmr, once we¡¯re out, will you be fine returning?¡± As I keep my senses strained, picking through the ursu I can feel and looking for those heading toward my flames, Gr¨ªmr narrows an eye at me. ¡°I¡¯m not about to leave you here to fight a war alone.¡± ¡°No. I¡¯m leaving the battlefields,¡± I say. ¡°Leal needs my help, and we need to move quick if we want to save her father.¡± Gr¨ªmr watches me in contemplation, likely determining if I¡¯m being truthful. He turns to inspect Leal, who is running in silence, but obviously listening. Unlike the last ambush, I feel the waiting ursu long before they can douse me. ¡°Leal, two ahead of us. On our right.¡± As soon as I give her the warning, I pull back on my flames, extinguishing them before any water can come near them. In the same moment the two mages ahead of us blast identical streams of compressed water toward us, Leal shoots out a pair of thin streams of her own. Leal¡¯s are far thinner and have nowhere near the power that the opposing mages have. Why isn¡¯t she using that wave of water she used on me? What can those two tiny things do? Leal¡¯s and the enemy mages¡¯ streams collide into one another, and, as expected, Leal¡¯s flow is overpowered with ease. She still managed to capture me, so I have to assume she has more planned. Thankfully, she does. The enemy ursu¡¯s streams curve down into the earth within a couple metres of the point Leal¡¯s water makes contact. Each stream soon cuts off, and Leal¡¯s hands glow once more. The new pool of water explodes into a thick mist that blocks sight to the mages. We rush out of range before they can find us again. I don¡¯t reignite the path ahead. We¡¯ve come far enough that there aren¡¯t many people around. Ursu nor the other races. We face no more opposition as we flee alongside a dozen soldiers escaping the losing battle. The New Vetus army settling to solidify their hold on the area rather than chase stragglers. ¡°Are you sure you trust her? She is a water mage. I don¡¯t need to tell you how dangerous she is to you.¡± Gr¨ªmr looms over me, glaring at Leal, who can¡¯t keep his gaze. ¡°Yes,¡± I say. ¡°She had the chance. Plus, I owe her.¡± Apparently satisfied, Gr¨ªmr relents. ¡°Alright. Don¡¯t worry about me and make sure not to take on anything you can¡¯t handle. I don¡¯t want another Viisin situation.¡± Gr¨ªmr pulls me into a hug with his sole wing. ¡°Come back safe, okay?¡± I lean into his side before breaking away. ¡°You better have that body in perfect condition by the time I¡¯m back. Also, save me some magnesium if you find some.¡± Gr¨ªmr huffs in amusement before nodding and turning. We go our separate ways. It¡¯s sudden and saddening. Gr¨ªmr has been by my side for so long, and we hardly have any time to enjoy our goodbye. I shake my head to focus on the task at hand and turn to Leal. She looks conflicted. An expression that seems to have made a permanent home on her features since I¡¯ve met her again. ¡°Alright,¡± I start. ¡°Where exactly is Gerben?¡± ¡°Across the isthmus, in the east of New Vetus,¡± Leas says. ¡°We can¡¯t use the new military rail. It¡¯s too well guarded. But if we hurry through Zadok, we can sneak onto a civilian train.¡± She plans to run through the Zadok Kingdom? ¡°Won¡¯t that take weeks?¡± ¡°Yes, but what choice do I have?¡± Leal kneads her hands before her chest. ¡°I can only hope they don¡¯t send the order back immediately.¡± So she needs to get back faster than a train, but doesn¡¯t have the benefit of flight? ¡°Hmm. Give me a minute. I want to try something.¡± She gives me an anxious look before turning over the sparse earth, her hands fidgeting all the while. We¡¯ll need to cross the new front line her own kind have instated if we want to travel to New Vetus. That, on top of our uncertain deadline, must be at the forefront of her mind. Well, if my plan works, then neither will be a problem. I morph into a bird. Unlike usual, I don¡¯t limit my size. My body grows double my natural height, wings spreading five metres from tip to tip. As I enlarge, I can tell I won¡¯t be able to use my white fire anymore, my size too large to allow the density of that intense heat. Before, I¡¯d been limited in how far I could expand or shrink my form. That is another restriction surpassed by knocking down my wall and achieving the next stage of my flame. When I get time, I¡¯ll have to test exactly how large or small I can force my form. What I never expected, is for the transformation to only take a minute. Despite adding far more fire to my form than I¡¯d ever tried before, the flames settled into my pictured form quickly. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Leal gawking at my transformation. Right, the Void Fog was after I last saw her. My form is just a sized up version of the same falcon body I¡¯m comfortable with. I¡¯d considered imitating Gr¨ªmr¡¯s alicanto body, but I figure familiarity will be important as time is of the essence. ¡°Well-¡± I cut off before I can even start after hearing my voice. Creepily low pitch, though still my voice. A quick change to my throat returns my voice to normal before the size up. ¡°Climb up. I¡¯ll get you to your dad before the first train even leaves the station.¡± She stands there staring for a long minute before I step forward and crouch, nudging her with my wing. When she finally shakes her head and climbs on my back, gripping at my flaming plumage, I have to hide the sudden doubt I feel that this will work. Leal is heavy. Subtly, I increase my size. It¡¯s a strain, but I manage another two metres to my wingspan. It¡¯s not even close to Gr¨ªmr¡¯s fifteen metres, but even this makes me feel like I¡¯m stretching too far. I guess passing that barrier isn¡¯t enough for me to become a Titan. Unfortunate. I take a step, trying to get accustomed to the girl on my back that must be at least five times my weight, even with my new size. My talons scrape against the dirt and I stumble forward, not having lifted my leg high enough for the added weight. With spread wings holding me upright, I hope I¡¯m able to hide the stumble. If I can¡¯t even walk, then how am I going to fly like this? My neck twists and I watch Leal inspecting my long, burning wings with that same interest she¡¯d had when watching my pillars of flame in our secluded space years ago. At least her mage curiosity distracts her from my embarrassing mistake. This might take more effort than expected. Chapter 134: Overburdened Taking off should be no problem. I¡¯ll just blast us into the air with a jet of fire. The problem will come once I¡¯m at speed. I can hardly keep shooting myself forward with physical flames. Doing so will exhaust me in minutes. Especially up in the air where I don¡¯t have earth to burn and mitigate the energy I expend. No, I¡¯ll need to apply what I¡¯ve learnt of airflow from my firestorms to my wings. I have ideas, but I¡¯ve yet to try them. Unable to do so until I¡¯m already in the air. It¡¯ll be a trial by fire. I¡¯ve heard some other races use that saying. I find it amusing. For them it means to learn by doing, in a dangerous situation. My first assumption had been the complete opposite. I stretch my wings and lean forward, straining not to tip under Leal¡¯s weight. My wings slam downward as a plume of flame rockets behind me. Despite the extra heft, we thrust into the air without issue. Leal clenches her arms tight around my neck. If I were one of the fleshy races, I¡¯d probably suffocate from her strength. With widespread wings, I accelerate through the air. It¡¯s rather pointless to flap while I¡¯ve got the thrust of physical flame pushing me through the sky. Probably didn¡¯t even need to do so when I took off. A squeak reaches my ears, so I turn my head. Leal presses into me, not daring to look anywhere except the flickering depths of my plumage. As I look over her, I remember another failure of mine. The guilt layers on top of everything I already feel. ¡°Leal, I¡¯m sorry.¡± I turn back ahead as my acceleration slows. ¡°The jacket you lent me, it was destroyed.¡± ¡°What?¡± she mumbles. ¡°I wanted to return it when I finally met you again, but-¡± I¡¯m cut off by her laugh. Her breath brushing my feathers tells me she still isn¡¯t looking up. ¡°Why are you worrying about some old bit of cloth? I can¡¯t even remember the thing.¡± I can feel her shaking her head without raising it. ¡°Honestly, how could I have ever thought you could do that intentionally?¡± I don¡¯t know how to respond to that, so I just focus on my flight. Since I left Morne in a fiery blaze, I¡¯ve killed many more. How many times might I have caused innocents to die without me knowing it? I¡¯ve been indiscriminate for a long time now. I¡¯ve burnt through any in my way. Is¡­ is it possible that amongst the thousands of normal mermineae, there are those like Leal¡¯s mum: innocent, but only there due to circumstance? No. They¡¯re here to invade. That is clear by the action they¡¯ve already taken. They could have simply stayed back in their own lands and not caused us problems. I¡¯m losing speed. Fast. Without the boost that comes with jettisoning physical flame out the back of my wings, I won¡¯t be able to keep us airborne for long. Maybe I should have had her toss the armour. It would have lightened the load at least a touch. As I¡¯d learnt to do with Gr¨ªmr¡¯s wings, I heat the air beneath my feathers without consuming it. My flames encourage the air to rise into my stretched wings. The lift is considerable, but not enough. I expected I¡¯d need this to fly, but it doesn¡¯t even let me glide. Not indefinitely. Hopefully, the other applications I¡¯ve been planning will work. The first change is to have the feathers on the top half of my body eat the air. If air can push my solid wings upward, then it¡¯s reasonable to think that the air above might block my rise, right? Having my flames do so isn¡¯t even hard. Slightly disorienting, forcing two opposite effects so close together, but not difficult. Surprisingly, it works on the first attempt. The strain on my wings increases and I level out. I flap my wings with the joy of success, and immediately destabilise my flight. The difference in air doesn¡¯t play nice as I beat my wings in habitual motions. With Leal strapped to my back, our combined weight is incredibly off centre. My momentary loss of control has us rolling in the air. Leal shrieks and her fingers dig ever deeper into my neck while her legs clamp around my side. I struggle to twist us the right way up and soon regain level flight. Okay. Nothing more than basic movements until I know how all this works. Especially while I¡¯m holding a passenger. ¡°Sorry,¡± I call back, but she doesn¡¯t respond nor loosen her grip. I¡¯m pretty sure she hasn¡¯t opened her eyes since we started flying. What ever happened to the curiosity of a mage? I spread my inner flame through the air above my wings, and increase the amount of air consumed. While that improves my lift, it¡¯s hardly worth the effort with how minuscule the rise is from simply burning the air touching my wings. It is great that removing the air above my wings pushes me past the point of a stable flight, but I want to move faster. We¡¯d likely outpace the ursu¡¯s trains at this speed, but it would still take well over a week. After enjoying the intense pace set by Gr¨ªmr¡¯s massive metal wings, this feels like crawling. This next change is the one I have the most hope for. I¡¯ve noticed, after creating many firestorms, that air will rush into flames. It doesn¡¯t even matter all that much whether I eat the air, or heat it enough to make it rise, the air will rush in as if to fill the space left empty. The air I heat myself will almost always rise, but it will only rise. The air in the surroundings, not directly affected by my fire, can rush in from the sides or even from above.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. If I could force a breeze to rush in from my rear, I could have the wind not only lift me, but push me forward as well. Well, that¡¯s easy to say, but I¡¯m not really sure how I can do it. My goal is to somehow modify my flames so that the air coming in from the front is minimal, but the air coming in from my back is as strong as possible. If I create a fire behind me that eats the air, none of the air will actually reach me to push me forward, but if the fire behind me heats the air, it¡¯ll fling upward. Though, maybe the answer lies in how hot I make the air? Thinking by itself isn¡¯t about to give me any answers, so while the flames above and below keep me gliding through the air, I spread my inner flame to cover the area behind me. Only heating the air a little allows the wind to blow into me, but the breeze isn¡¯t all that strong. I¡¯ll take it ¡ª every little thing will add up ¡ª but I was hoping for something with a lot more oomph. Changing the temperature doesn¡¯t make much difference. Hotter air moves faster, but also rises instead of pushing me from the rear as intended. Covering my front in air-eating fire solves my issue of the air whipping into my face, but when I spread it too far, I find myself falling rather than gliding. Right, can¡¯t fly if there isn¡¯t any air. Also, I have to pull back when Leal gasps for breath. I think back to the self-fuelling firestorms. They are at their strongest when air and fire twists in a spiral, flinging flames dozens or hundreds of metres ahead. An attempt at creating the swirling flame in midair only results in the air dispersing with each turn. If I had to take a guess, I¡¯d say the surface underneath is how it remains formed normally. The air pushes down from above, which keeps the twister¡¯s shape. Unfortunately, that simply doesn¡¯t work in the sky. Unless¡­ On a whim, I create two tubes of physical flames around both sides of my body. Not eating the air, nor allowing it to pass through. At the front end of each cylinder I burn away air, but at the rear, I leave the only entry point. Inside each tube, I spin my fire, super-heating the air all the while. This¡­ is effective. There are a few problems, like my wings interrupting the cycle of air, but I can work on the efficiency later. The physical cylinders will tire me out eventually, but they¡¯re far more efficient than jets of fire; I¡¯m not actually throwing away the physical flame. Wait, couldn¡¯t I make these tubes a part of my body instead? I¡¯d have to sacrifice my wings and a bit of my chest mass, but this might just be too good to pass up for long-distance flights. With my flight settled and speed assured, I turn my attention to my passenger. She still won¡¯t look up. ¡°Leal, you should have a look. The world looks amazing from this high up.¡± She doesn¡¯t speak, just shakes her head into my neck and refuses to open her eyes. ¡°We¡¯re going to get to your dad far before they ever get any message,¡± I try to reassure her, but still get nowhere. This is getting concerning. I feel horrible for what I did in Morne, but it has been so long since I¡¯ve seen her. I want to talk to her. Find out what she¡¯s been doing all this time. Not that I deserve it, but I want to be close to her again. ¡°Leal,¡± I start softly. ¡°We¡¯ll be flying for a few days. The sooner you look, the quicker you¡¯ll get over it.¡± She lets out a quiet groan, but lifts her head. Her hands clench my feathers as she finally opens an eye. As she gets a glance over the horizon, I can tell we won¡¯t be having any problem with a fear of heights. She can¡¯t tear away from the horizon, where the starry night sky meets the dimly lit earth of the post ember moon evening. A breath of relief passes my beak. It is important for us to move fast, but I refuse to fly if she had stayed terrified. If I were to force her through her fear, I would be nothing but a hypocrite. It¡¯s a struggle I would rather avoid putting on her shoulders. Leal tenses as her eyes finally fall below. We are flying at an incredible height, almost a thousand metres up. I consider flying lower, but Leal is unenhanced; there¡¯s no chance she¡¯d survive a fall regardless of altitude. At least with this height, I can catch her if the worst were to happen. I may also just prefer the view up higher and want to show off. We fly for a few hours in silence. I experiment with changing my body and eventually settle on a form best for reserving my energy while also keeping us speeding along. Unfortunately, with how heavy Leal is, I¡¯m still tiring rather quickly. I¡¯ve wanted nothing more than to just talk with her, but I don¡¯t feel comfortable being the one to speak first. Leal has every right to not talk to me. The first stray twinges of light peek over the horizon when my hunger and exhaustion reach their peak. Below, the odd towns mark the land. Buildings litter the roads between each. What might have happened to the albanics after the ursu took their land? It¡¯s hard to tell from this high, but most buildings we¡¯ve passed are intact, so I¡¯d have to imagine Hund hadn¡¯t just gone on an indiscriminate killing spree through the Kingdom. I land within a section of forest far from any settlements. Whether it¡¯s ursu or albanic living here now, it¡¯s better to avoid any contact for now. ¡°I need to rest for a bit, then we can get moving again,¡± I say. Leal jumps off my back, and I can¡¯t resist the urge to let out a sigh of relief when she does. She looks up at me. This form is taller than her when I¡¯m not bending down under her weight, which means I¡¯m looking down to an ursu. Huh. Her eyes drop to inspect herself and I realise my relief might be too obvious. I turn away and engulf a few trees in fire. Wood isn¡¯t anywhere near as filling as metal, but they are in excess and I¡¯d rather not waste time melting through rock in a blind search. A clatter brings my attention back to Leal. Her armour now lies in the dirt by her feet. Strapped to her chest is a thick plate with an incomprehensible array of inscriptions along its surface. ¡°You should have just told me earlier,¡± Leal says. I collapse to the earth, not bothering to change to normal. I¡¯d had to revert my wings back from the vortexes to properly land, but I want to get back in the air as soon as I can. ¡°There¡¯s no problem.¡± It may be hard to carry her around, but I can hardly complain. What right do I have? Leal sits before me. Her eyes in her lap and her fingers tracing the lines along her palms. ¡°Solvei¡­ thank you, for dropping everything for me. I hadn¡¯t really been thinking when I asked you. The possibility we might move faster than his execution letter seemed impossible.¡± She lets out a shaky breath and looks me in the eye. ¡°I¡¯m not about to reject your help, but the gulags are well-guarded prisons. It will not be easy to get him out.¡± I lift my head and try to appear as confidant as I can for her. ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry. I¡¯m a lot stronger than I was two years ago. As long as you keep any water mages away from me, there won¡¯t be anything that can stop me.¡± Leal is obviously doubtful. Maybe I should give her a proper display of what I can do? ¡°New Vetus military adopted many of Henosis¡¯ methods after the war. All the corpses of the last war went to enhancing a few amongst our highest ranks. One of these few is the warden for the gulag where my father is held. No matter how strong you are, we still need to be careful.¡± I give her an earnest nod. It¡¯s her father in danger here; no matter how sure I am that this elite ursu won¡¯t come near Hund¡¯s strength, I¡¯ll give him the same apprehension as a Viisin. The Viisin just so happen to be burnable. Chapter 135: Gulf While I rest my wings, the two of us talk about our lives since that fateful day. I spoke of my actions that night, and the permeating hatred toward Gloria that pushed me until I¡¯d lost control. The Void Fog, crossing the Alps, the wars. Everything I¡¯d been through, I told her. Leal had to go through hardships of her own. Many of which kick-started by Morne burning to the ground. Barbs of guilt prick me whenever I think about what my mistake has caused. New Vetus has changed since I was last there. Moulded into something barely resembling the nation it was before. The war against Henosis scarring them for the worse. Gone is the place that originally welcomed me without restraint. Gone is the community focused society Leal grew up. Now, it is nothing but a machine to fuel their newly minted war efforts. I remember only months¡¯ worth of the country it was before that welcoming atmosphere twisted to hostility, but Leal knew far more of its good side, so the brutal state it¡¯s fallen into clearly hurts her. Once I feel rested enough ¡ª and burnt down a small section of the forest ¡ª I rise to my taloned feet, ready to fly once more. Leal, thankfully, leaves the armour on the ground. She¡¯s still heavy, but it should make flying easier. My wings spread wide for take-off, before I notice the sky far to the south. ¡°Hey, Leal. You wouldn¡¯t happen to be able to stop rain, would you?¡± ¡°Sorry, no. I could make a barrier, but I would struggle to hold it up long.¡± ¡°Well then, we¡¯re going to have to go around then.¡± I take off to the west, wanting to get as far from the thick mass of grey rolling toward us. After a while of flying, Leal breaks the silence. ¡°Solvei, are you not worried?¡± ¡°About what?¡± ¡°About declaring yourself an enemy of New Vetus. About me. You¡¯re letting a water mage so close to you without hesitance. I didn¡¯t care when my anger and frustration were the only things on my mind, but you¡¯ve let me close from the start.¡± ¡°I¡¯m already the national enemy of Joiak. What¡¯s another country to that?¡± I joke, but she doesn¡¯t laugh. ¡°You¡¯re one of the few people I care for.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t forgotten how dangerous water is to you, so how could you not feel worried being near me? Especially after I tried to hurt you?¡± ¡°Leal.¡± I don¡¯t want her to feel bad for her anger. The hatred she must have felt after experiencing her mother¡¯s death. ¡°Beyond freedom and survival, there¡¯s not much I truly desire. The one thing that can compete is my intention to prevent those I like from losing their family. Not only did I fail that with you, I was the cause.¡± I turn my head back to Leal. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hurt or die, and probably wouldn¡¯t stay still and take it, but I would understand if you were to attack me.¡± Leal groans and drops her head into my plumage. ¡°This would be so much easier if I had a target.¡± I say nothing. My hatred had been fortunate enough to have two. Killing Gloria and the general didn¡¯t undo the things they did, but it had been incredibly satisfying to watch them burn. ??? A few hours flying south east around the brewing storm lands us on the coast. The unimaginable expanse of water stretches far beyond the horizon, and now I¡¯m stuck with a dilemma; do I wait out the storm, then head south? Or do I brave the sea and fly south-east to the eastern landmass? Both will take us into New Vetus, but the one that puts me over the ocean will get us to Gerben faster. This is the same place the Henosis loaded me onto the ship. The trip across the water had taken weeks, but I have no idea how fast that ship had been moving. It might take me minutes to cross the water, or it might take days. No matter how much I want to help Leal, putting myself in such danger for so long is unreasonable. Down in the docks below, ships and jetties crawl with ursu soldiers. The men and women rush around, transferring cargo before the rain can hit. None need to worry about falling water as I do, but they still move to finish their jobs before the downpour. Do we have the time to wait out this storm? That is the question. It might take a week at earliest for the message to reach the gulag via rail, and at our current pace, we¡¯ll be there far earlier. But it wouldn¡¯t be the first time I¡¯ve been stuck for days on end because of unending rainfall. Can we risk it? No. Just looking out over all that water terrifies me, but if I can push past this, it¡¯ll be just a small thing to make it up to Leal. First, I¡¯ll have to make sure I¡¯m absolutely ready for this. ¡°Hey, do you mind if I drop down and eat some of the metal down there?¡± I incline my head down to a large trussed metal structure lifting a wagon sized crate off a ship. These are Leal¡¯s people, so I don¡¯t just want to damage their equipment without her permission. ¡°The crane? Sure. As long as we don¡¯t stay long, burn whatever you need. Just¡­ only as long as you can stop the spread.¡± The crane is a bit too close to the water for my taste, but it¡¯s the largest quantity of metal I can see in the area. Slowly, I lower myself to a landing. The workers below me rush out of the way, appropriately fearful of the large flaming bird before them. I ignore them and twist my flames around the beams of the crane.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Iron. It¡¯s somewhat disappointing, but I shouldn¡¯t have expected anything else. Better to fill my reserves than the wood and stone buildings around us, but why not use any of the other metals? Whoever decided iron would be the primary metal clearly hadn¡¯t tasted the others. Leal climbs down my back and approaches the dock ledge. Her markings glow as she submerges her arm in water. A groan snaps my attention to the crane above me right before it collapses sideways. The support beam snaps after my flames make it glow, and the entire structure topples over the large box it was lifting. The crate smashes, scattering a hundred books and scrolls amongst dried meats along the dock. Kinda strange to transport books along with food, but I could hardly care and just finish my way through the remains of the crane. Ursu rush in toward the fire with large buckets of water, only to stop at the sight of me. Thankfully, they are smart enough not to throw the contents of their containers toward me, but I take a couple steps back, anyway. Amongst them, there are a couple of excessively terrified ursu, but neither are looking at me. Their eyes flick between the books and their partner. Is there some other big flaming bird around that lets them consider me less threatening than their own comrades? ¡°Hey, Solvei?¡± I turn to Leal, who¡¯s reading one of the fallen books. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Could you separate the nervous ones from the rest? I want to talk to them.¡± I nod and send a blast of flame toward the ursu with buckets, making sure no inner flame remains when the fire brushes past them. They react as I¡¯d hoped, tossing the water in their buckets and running for safety. Without the water to worry about, I weave a wall between the ursu, cutting off the two clearly suspicious workers. With their escape route cut off, they have no choice but to turn to us. Is it weird that I take a bit of pleasure in their fear? Most don¡¯t see me as intimidating until I¡¯m already burning through their body. Maybe I should keep the taller stature. And give up my white flame? Never. ¡°Hurry and clean this up,¡± I hear Leal tell the two. ¡°We¡¯ll only be here for a short time, but it should be long enough for you to hide your collection.¡± I give her an odd look, but she moves to help the two by piling the books and scrolls together. The crane is already long since consumed, so I¡¯m just waiting for Leal to tell me she¡¯s done. Every few seconds I have to scare off some hero trying to throw water on my wall, but otherwise I have no issue waiting. The two toss out a couple barrels of fish and fill them with the paper before locking the lids again. They wave to Leal before jumping into the water. I just stare after them, feeling left out of the loop. They became quick friends with Leal, didn¡¯t they? You¡¯d think they¡¯d be mad that we got in their way. Leal climbs up my back once more, ready to go. ¡°Sorry about that. It must be tiring to keep your fire up for so long.¡± I give her an insulted look, but I can¡¯t stop the laugh from slipping out. ¡°This? Tiring? You¡¯ve seen nothing yet.¡± Sure, this was beyond me a few years ago, but it is hardly anything now. Even though Leal has grown herself ¡ª the way she submerged me in that fight says enough ¡ª she still doesn¡¯t comprehend the extent I¡¯ve improved. As I take off, I distract myself from the vast body of water by questioning Leal, ¡°so, what was that with the books?¡± ¡°Banned documents,¡± she says. ¡°Philosophic or political books are now illegal under the new council. I¡¯m pretty sure those two were archivists.¡± I can¡¯t really say I know much about either topics, but a blanket ban on all? ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I wish I knew. They¡¯ve been heavily banning, blocking or murdering anything against the council¡¯s ideals. They have Hund at their command, so it¡¯s not like anyone can fight back.¡± She fiddles with a satchel I don¡¯t remember her having earlier. Did she snatch it from the docks? My guess is proven true as she pulls out a cut of salted meat like the ones I¡¯d seen scattered amongst books. Well, at least she planned ahead. ¡°Um, do you mind?¡± Leal lifts the cut of preserved meat in question. With no further explanation, I curl my flames around the salted flesh, careful to cook but not burn. My flames dig through the meat and distribute the low heat equally through. It takes a minute, but Leal soon has her meal. ¡°Well, that¡¯s convenient,¡± she says with a slight smirk before digging in. I suppress the happy trill that threatens to run up my throat. As much as I deserve her hate, she is my friend and I want to get along. Once we have freed her father, I don¡¯t want her to avoid me. Happiness freezes as my eyes fall to the surface below. The sea is far too close, and despite my attempts, I can¡¯t keep the fears from circling my mind. What if we don¡¯t find land by the time I¡¯m too exhausted to turn back? What if my wings stop working for whatever reason and I plummet into the water? I want to raise my altitude more than I already have, but I don¡¯t. My team has given me plenty of warning about flying too high. Originally, I¡¯d thought they¡¯d only meant on top of the Titan Alps, but Gr¨ªmr never let us fly higher than a thousand metres out on the other side. They told stories of volans, or even portians able to fly, rising higher than a league and never coming down. I seriously consider the risk, just to move the tiniest bit away from the high likelihood of death below. If I do, I could even fly higher than the storm and not need to risk crossing the sea. But, no matter how much the water terrifies me, it would be foolish to add another risk. If something cut off my wing, could I regrow it by the time I crash into the water? I doubt it. Only positive way I could spin the worst-case scenario would be that the water below is all liquid, so Leal shouldn¡¯t be hurt by the fall. I hope. Thinking about this isn¡¯t helpful. I¡¯ll just keep my course straight and make sure nothing sends us plummeting to the dark depths. If my eyes stick to the horizon, I¡¯m sure land will appear at any moment. That is all I need to focus on. My determination to not look down is immediately defeated as a shadow moves in the corner of my eye. Down within the water, something massive just moved. My eyes dart along the dark greenish grey sea, but I can¡¯t find the shadow again. I¡¯ve been so worried about the water itself that I never considered what monstrosities might live within. Only the most horrifying existences could ever consider the ocean their home. ¡°Hey Leal. You wouldn¡¯t know anything about massive creatures beneath the water, would you?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± She looks up after chewing through the last of her meal. ¡°Oh! Yeah, they¡¯re called gyian. Huge creatures, but they¡¯re not aggressive until you reach the ocean. Some believe there is a massive tunnel underneath the isthmus that lets the gyian travel between oceans.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t the ocean?¡± I ask, bewildered. I can¡¯t see land in any direction anymore. How could this be anything but the ocean? ¡°No, it¡¯s a gulf, a sea at most. The ocean is larger and far more dangerous.¡± ¡°Dangerous? Even to you?¡± She¡¯s a water mage. Shouldn¡¯t the ocean be the best place for her? The answer comes to me even as I ask. Of course, if the ocean contains the worst of the worst monsters, then not even the benefit of an environmental advantage could help her. ¡°The heqets own the ocean. Their raiders pillage our coast and their battleships sink all outsider vessels,¡± she says. ¡°They¡¯re the reason Henosis didn¡¯t invade from the south.¡± Her answer is not what I expected. Am I mistaken for assuming there would be monstrosities within the ocean? Or do ursu just not see enough of the vast waters because of these heqet? Well, whether sea or ocean, it doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯d die falling into either. Best to just keep my head straight and fly until land. Chapter 136: The Gulag I Despite my fears, land finally graces us after a day of flight. We land on the ledge of a tall cliff overlooking the gulf. Without wasting time, my flames burn through the surrounding flora, regaining my energy. The journey was long, but nowhere near what I¡¯d been dreading, so I could still keep going for a while longer, but there¡¯s no reason to refuse food when it¡¯s available. The landscape isn¡¯t anything like what I remember when Henosis dragged me to this side of New Vetus. Fewer beaches and more rocky overlooks. The isthmus should be south from here¡­ somewhere, but I couldn¡¯t say how far. ¡°Do you know where to go from here?¡± I ask Leal. Her arms raise above her head as she stretches. ¡°Depending on where we are, it shouldn¡¯t actually be that far from here. Maybe a couple hours with how fast you move.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± I¡¯d half expected to need to cross to the far south. Well, I¡¯m not complaining. ¡°Then we best get moving.¡± ¡°Huh? Aren¡¯t you tired?¡± ¡°A little, but I got enough energy to keep going.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ well, I¡¯m exhausted. Let¡¯s keep moving in the morning.¡± I nod in agreement. So long have I spent around my team and others with greater enhancement, that I forgot how little sleep they need compared to most people. Even I have slept nowhere near as much as I used to. Though, that¡¯s not just because of the energy I¡¯ve taken on, but the excessive fuel available to me away from the wasteland. Back with my tribe, even the strongest of elders slept to conserve energy. With enough food to burn through, any ¨¢ed can stay awake indefinitely. Mental strain might grow the longer the mind goes without rest, but it is possible. My body returns to its default form, and I relish in the heat that comes with it. It¡¯s only been a day or so, but I missed this feeling. The slight temptation I had to keep my body larger than an ursu is immediately wiped away by the comfort of my white flames. ¡°You know, I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll ever get used to you doing that.¡± Leal is already laying on the one unblemished patch of grass surrounded by a ring of burnt earth. ¡°What? My transformation?¡± I have nothing better to do, so I lay beside her. ¡°It goes against what I thought I understood about ¨¢ed. Your bodies are distinctly solid. touchable, unlike the fire you wield. They exhibit attributes of fire, but are separate from the element. More lifelike and defined.¡± Her eyes inspect my body, now controlled and not giving off light. ¡°But it¡¯s like you¡¯ve lost that definition. From the perspective of the senses I¡¯ve trained in the past years, it is far more difficult to tell you apart from your inner flame.¡± I¡¯m surprised she can notice the connection. My binding has already far surpassed Elder Enya. The intimacy at which fire moves with me is not something I could have imagined back with my tribe. It has always felt like fire is my very being, but it wasn¡¯t until my binding skyrocketed to its current level that I realised how shallow that feeling had been. I want to learn how I can keep pushing that connection. How close can I truly become to my fire? ¡°Solvei, your loss of definition scares me.¡± Leal chews on her lip with concern before continuing. ¡°As you become closer to your fire, your connection to the form consistent with all life disappears. What if you do not keep your mind? As you become less ¨¢ed and more fire, will you retain who you are? If you push past the point of retaining your definition of life, will you cease to be?¡± I simply stare at the ursu for a long moment, trying to process her words. ¡°I think¡­ you are tired. There¡¯s no way I could lose who I am by becoming more,¡± I say. ¡°I¡¯ve felt no less myself after the Void Fog, so there¡¯s no reason to believe I will by going forward.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re sure,¡± Leal says. ¡°Night.¡± She turns away from me and leans her head down on her bundled coat. I follow suit and drop my head, trying to sleep despite the lack of genuine need. A minute passes. Two. Five. Soon, an hour is gone and I still can¡¯t nod off. Damn. Her words got to me. I know it¡¯s a completely nonsense theory of a tired mage, but that tiny, lingering ¡®what if¡¯ is enough to worry me. It hardly even makes sense. I am fire. I can¡¯t lose myself by becoming closer with what I am. Eh, whatever. It¡¯s probably better I stay up and watch over things. Don¡¯t want some random stranger to sneak up on us while we sleep, or a sudden shower to drown us, or Hund to crush us. That¡¯s honestly my biggest concern. Not whoever they tasked as a warden amid war. If Hund were to be sent after us once we break Leal¡¯s dad out, I¡¯m sure there¡¯s nothing we could do. I¡¯ll sit on the logic that it would never make sense for the ursu to send Hund after us while they are trying to push into the pact nations. What is a single mage and her father in the grand scheme of things? The warden might be hard to deal with, but for the same reason New Vetus wouldn¡¯t keep Hund away from the war, they wouldn¡¯t keep one of their more skilled elite this far back home. Sure, he might reach the lowest equivalent of a Beith, but any more doesn¡¯t seem reasonable. Tomorrow morning, we are going to get there and save Gerben before they have the chance to even realise something is wrong. ??? The gulag is a dreadfully gloomy looking place. The ursu¡¯s incredible stone masonry is wasted on this place. A massive complex with towering walls of unmarred grey stone sits alone on a lifeless plateau. The lone steel gate is the only visible entrance to the compound, neighboured by a small administration building at its side. Watchtowers nestled on the ramparts hold ursu guards. Most watch over the inner grounds, but there are a few peering over the sparse land around the prison. I could approach with my mermineae fur outfit, but there is no way for Leal to come with me and remain unseen.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Leal and I hide behind an outcrop overlooking the plateau. There is no cover between us and the gulag we could use to hide our approach. Once we move, we¡¯ll be in clear sight of those watchtowers. ¡°Do you know where they are keeping your dad?¡± I ask. ¡°No. They brought him to the visitor rooms when I was allowed in,¡± Leal says, poking her head over a rock to inspect our target. It really would have been better if we¡¯d had the time to have a mermineae coat made for Leal as well, but for now it looks like I should move ahead myself. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go sneak in. See if I can find Gerben.¡± I pull the cord within the neck of my outfit and the mermineae fur pulls into place, camouflaging all but the few tears on my torso. ¡°You should stay here for now.¡± ¡°No, I need to get in there. It¡¯s my father. I can¡¯t stay while you risk yourself.¡± Her eyes finally fall on my concealed form. ¡°Ah. Now that¡¯s unfair.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about me,¡± I say. ¡°I¡¯ll find your dad and get him out. If I can¡¯t do it myself, I¡¯ll come back and we can figure out another plan.¡± Leal is clearly not happy about my proposition. ¡°How will you even get in? You can¡¯t fly over the walls, they¡¯ll see you.¡± ¡°Simple. I¡¯ll melt a hole through the stone.¡± Leal just stares at me, or at least what she can see of me. ¡°Right,¡± she drawls. ¡°Of course you can.¡± She sighs before locking eyes. ¡°Solvei, if you get into any trouble, signal for me and I¡¯ll be over the wall in a second.¡± I nod, pull up my hood, and scamper out onto the plateau. The fur works much better when the body is closer to the ground, so I stay crouched as I run toward the wall on the opposite side of the entrance gate. I could probably mimic a mermineae¡¯s body and allow myself to rush along with my belly against the ground, but then my body wouldn¡¯t fit my outfit all too well. Not to mention I¡¯d give off light by changing my body from default. I still haven¡¯t hidden my flames on anything but my normal form, even after passing the barrier that had been holding me back. I¡¯ve been working on my control almost non-stop, but it¡¯s just not as easy to improve the manipulation of my form in a short time compared to compressing my fire or taking on energy from my fallen foes. A guard in the closest tower turns my way and my body freezes. The ursu haven¡¯t fought against the mermineae long, so I can only hope any method they might have devised to find the creatures hasn¡¯t passed this far back within their country. His eyes linger on my area for far too long for comfort before sliding further along the landscape behind me. I don¡¯t move yet, in case he sees any movement. The ursu holds a gun slung over his shoulder. The weapon is fatter than any other I¡¯ve seen, looking more like a miniaturised cannon than a normal rifle. I¡¯ve never seen the ursu using this sort of weapon. Even on the battlefield I just came from, they only used swords. I guess after the war with Henosis, the effectiveness of the weapon was pounded into the ursu. Are those not trained with the sword given guns now instead? How much more damage could that mini-cannon do compared to the rifles used by other armies? The guard¡¯s gaze turns away enough that I can continue my approach without obstacle. Upon reaching the wall, I move along it, trying to find a place that a casual inspection won¡¯t notice. After a few minutes of search, I have to settle with a fairly visible part of the wall. There is no secluded space. The best place I figure to melt through the wall would be right below a watchtower. It¡¯s out of sight of the other towers, and the ursu above will have to look directly down to see it. Only issue is if any guards patrol the exterior, there¡¯s no chance they will miss it. My white flame burns into the wall and in no time at all, it melts into a viscous puddle at my feet. I climb through and find myself in a storage room of tables, chairs and other rather unimportant goods. Of course, most are made of wood, so I need to put out the fire that started from the molten stone dripping into the room. Thankfully, this seems to be the basement level, so the lava doesn¡¯t drip into some lower room. Dust swathes all. Likely, nobody has been through here in years. Good, it means I¡¯ll have nobody noticing the hole through the thick wall of stone from the inside. It might have been a risk to just rush in like this without knowing what was on the other side, but I had no other plan. If I set off the alarm immediately, it would make my job much harder, but I still believe I can get Gerben out regardless of the attention on my head. As long as I can find him first. That¡¯s really where this might become difficult. This compound is huge. How will I find a single prisoner amongst thousands? As much as I know Leal wanted to come as well, she wouldn¡¯t be able to wander around freely, anyway. I make sure my outfit still hides me well enough and push against the typical heavy door. Locked. Fortunately, a tiny lick of flame into the keyhole destroys the lock, and I push into a wide, deserted hallway. Echoes of conversation come from my right, so I move in the opposite direction. Soon, my path is blocked by another large door. Like the last, the mechanism inside the lock melts away and I squeeze through without opening it too far. I¡¯m back outside, this time within the large walls. An extensive structure sits in the central point between the stone walls. The dull, grey building lacks the usual features of normal ursu construction. No architectural uniqueness. No decorations. Just a simple ¡ª yet large ¡ª stone building with thin slit windows. A wire fence circles the inside of the compound, separating the structure in the centre from the tall walls to the outside. I¡¯ve seen an ursu¡¯s strength. There¡¯s no way the guards expect that small fence to hold them in, so what¡¯s the point? There¡¯s already a major wall to lock them in. I go to move toward the obvious place where I¡¯ll find a prisoner, but press myself against the wall beside the door as a pair of footsteps come my way. A duo of ursu guards, each holding one of those enlarged guns, turn the corner and walk directly for the door I just came from. I don¡¯t dare to move as they walk within a few metres of me. Neither have noticed yet, but it will only take them observing the slight distortion on the stone to realise I¡¯m here. Wait¡­ why do I feel anxious? Even if they find out I¡¯m here, I could kill these two before they have the time to tell anyone else. Their weapons would do nothing to me. Well, except damage my outfit, which would be incredibly annoying more than anything. One of them grabs at the handle and it immediately snaps off. Whoops, probably burnt a bit too much of the lock. ¡°The fuck?¡± the first stares down at the handle in his hand. His partner groans. ¡°Just put it back on and let the next person deal with it. My tongue is dry and I¡¯m not wasting my time here.¡± The first wedges the handle back in place ¡ª though at an odd angle ¡ª and follows his partner into the building protruding from the outer wall. Huh, that is convenient. They don¡¯t even question when a door is broken. Could I break my way inside the main prison and have the guards think they broke each door along the way? Doubtful. It¡¯s clear no prisoners come near the wall. There are too many eyes watching the wire fence, so I lower to the ground and crawl forward. If it works for the mermineae, it can work for me. Only it cuts my speed instead of increasing it as it does for them. By the time I reach the wire fence, I can finally get a look at the treatment of the prisoners here. The first thing I notice is the absolute emaciation of the ursu here. They don¡¯t have anywhere near the normal muscle mass. I can even see the necks of some instead of the usual mass of flesh and fur which make their shoulders. Many have old, torn and blood-soaked clothes with accompanying wounds. The crack of a whip, not unlike that of Remus¡¯ dangerous attacks, resounds through the muted compound followed only by pained shrieks. The silence itself is strange considering the number of ursu around. I trace the source of the whip and find a row of ursu kneeling with bowed heads as a guard lashes them one at a time. A crowd stands uniformly, watching as the guard walks up and back, striking at each of the bleeding people cowering in the dirt. The temptation to just burn everything to the ground grabs hold of me and won¡¯t let go. Some things just deserve to be incinerated. But I have to hold myself back, for now. My priority is Gerben. Once I get him and Leal safe, I¡¯ll come back. I¡¯m glad Leal can¡¯t see this. Chapter 137: The Gulag II There are many more captive ursu than I could have expected. I burn a tiny section of the wire fence away to give me just enough space to crawl through. As I slowly make my way forward, doing my best to ignore the crack of the whip and the wails of its victims, I get close enough to feel the heat of the people inside the prison building. There are thousands. All cramped within what I can only imagine is a tight space considering how close they sit or lay. The prisoners far outnumber the guards, but each guard is fed, has a weapon of their own, and doesn¡¯t look like they¡¯re about to pass out at any second. If the prisoners are to rebel, I can¡¯t see it going well. Amongst them are children not even half my age. Considering how some kids sit near the guards, I can only imagine they are being used as hostages to dissuade rebellion. Hardly any different to how Gerben is being held hostage for Leal. How many of these ursu are here to tie a leash to someone outside? How many on the battlefield are only there because they fear for their families? I drag myself along the ground. The dirt soon replaced by stone paving as I crawl into the shade of the structure. Nobody has noticed me yet. Now, how do I find Gerben amongst the thousands of bodies? It is too hard to tell the difference between individuals from their thermal signature alone, so I can¡¯t just pick him out from the crowd. Maybe I could ask a prisoner? That could be risky. What if they demand me to free them as well or they¡¯ll call the guards? With the sheer number of ursu held here, there is a good possibility whoever I ask won¡¯t even know who Gerben is. Leal might have to wait a while, but for now the best course of action is to be patient and look for him myself. Hopefully, he hasn¡¯t changed much since he first found me out in the wasteland. Considering the gaunt bodies and defeated expressions around, I have little hope. I need to get inside the building, but I can¡¯t simply take the main entrance and the guards will immediately notice any hole I create. My eyes follow the building¡¯s exterior up past the slit windows to the edge of its roof. If I can get up there, I should be able to keep my entrance out of sight. With a quick glance over my shoulder, making sure no one has seen me through the camouflage, I dig my fingers into the gaps of stonework. My fingers melt deep grooves to hold my weight. It would be easier to burn the grips directly in the face of the masonry, but that might be too visible. By digging only into the gaps, I can keep my passage at least somewhat hidden for now. The stone melts beneath my fingers. Liquid rock trickles from the hole as my fingers push deeper, before solidifying as I pull back the heat. I do this repeatedly to climb the wall. Any close inspection will reveal the damage, but like the hole through the outer wall, it should be a while before anyone notices. It¡¯s not hard to scale the building, but I keep my movements slow. I¡¯m in the open. If I¡¯m not careful, an ursu might notice me even through the stolen camouflage. I pull myself up over the ledge and tumble onto the flat roof. My body freezes as an ursu guard glares my way. Damn. I thought he was looking away when I threw myself over. The giant man readies his mini-cannon and walks my way. Thankfully, he hasn¡¯t called any of his friends, so I doubt he saw anything other than a disturbance. Regardless of what he thinks he saw, he¡¯s coming my way. There¡¯s no chance he will miss me if he¡¯s right on top of me. The other guards I can feel on the roof aren¡¯t in direct sight, so when he gets close, I can probably burn a hole through his head without any noticing. It¡¯s the safest method; I¡¯ll incinerate his body and leave not a trace of his death. They might notice him missing, but it isn¡¯t likely to happen before the hole in the outer wall is discovered. Flames churn within my chest, but I don¡¯t dare move until he¡¯s close. White fire ready to extinguish his life. I¡¯m prepared to strike. The moment he looks down at me, I¡¯ll jump forward. But as he steps within a couple metres of my prone form, I hesitate. This isn¡¯t something Leal would want, is it? What¡¯s to say this guard doesn¡¯t have family of his own held hostage somewhere? Leal would definitely want me to spare him, but how could I do that without raising the alarm? I still haven¡¯t even started looking for her dad. Leal doesn¡¯t have to know. As long as Gerben gets out safely, does it really matter if I kill someone willing to assist with imprisoning his own kind? My mind bounces between jumping him while I still have the element of surprise, or refraining. I can¡¯t decide, and soon it¡¯s too late to act. He walks right past me without even realising I¡¯m only a step away. The ursu¡¯s eyes don¡¯t stray from the point I climbed over. He leans against the stone border of the roof and peers over the side. Apparently satisfied there isn¡¯t anyone hanging off the side of the prison, he slings his gun over his shoulder. He doesn¡¯t turn away though, instead he leans over, inspecting something. He¡¯s found my finger-holds, hasn¡¯t he? The tall ursu leaning over the side of the building like that makes me consider if he would die from a fall this height. Would the other guards assume he just tripped? Or would they assume he was pushed? The ursu takes a step back, nearly stepping on my head. He still doesn¡¯t notice me. Twisting on his feet, the guard ¡ª instead of returning to the place he¡¯d been standing before ¡ª walks down a few steps to a lower section of the roof. He walks casually, without rush, so even if he saw the holes in the wall, he mustn¡¯t think much of them.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Oi, one of you, take my post. I need to get the supervisor.¡± So he¡¯s leaving? Perfect. I scuttle along out of sight before another ursu can take the first guard¡¯s place. I squeeze myself between the outer wall and the clearly new wooden frame of the water tower. Not a place I would like to sit under, but it keeps me out of sight of each ursu. I don¡¯t think I could have ever asked for such good luck. Did the guard not think to look down from his massive heights, or was the camouflage that good? With things going this smoothly, I should be able to find Gerben in no time. Of course, it¡¯s the moment I have that thought, that the alarms ring. First, it¡¯s a quiet jingle coming from the wall back where I broke through. Then the loud clanging of bells rise from all around. They must have found the breach I left in the outer wall. Immediately all the heat signatures around move in a frenzy. Guards round up the prisoners and direct them inside the building. Those struggling to walk after their lashings get shoved into the stone ground for their sluggishness. The bang of a single cannon fire is enough to settle most of the prisoners into a reluctant stagger to their cells. Below me, it is harder to distinguish the shape of each heat source I feel, but I can tell they are being crowded into tight spaces. Ten ursu within a space no larger than the oven I once spent so much time inside. With some ursu taller than three metres tall, it is far more cramped than it ever was for me. As the guards force everyone into their cells, it gives me a decent layout of the building. The building is three floors of rooms circling a central staircase and an area with no activity, which I imagine is the guards¡¯ quarters. Now that I see the order each of the ursu have been stored away with, I have to believe that luck is still on my side. This will make it much easier to find Gerben. I wait until there¡¯s less movement beneath me and melt my way down. Now, my priority is speed, so while the camouflage stays up, I don¡¯t bother crouching or crawling around. At the first cell, it is clear I¡¯m noticeable; many of those within the cell look my way with confusion. They have trouble focusing on me, but they definitely know I¡¯m here. I don¡¯t see Gerben amongst them. This is the first time I¡¯ve had a close look at the prisoners. The scars, injuries and starvation they each suffer is appalling. I want to burn the bars of their cage off and free them. Doesn¡¯t matter who it is, I hate the idea of leaving people trapped. Until I find my target, I can¡¯t. I need this order to find Leal¡¯s dad and I don¡¯t like the odds of trying to keep everybody safe while also achieving my main purpose. Four cells I pass before the first guard raises his cannon toward me and shouts. He doesn¡¯t see perfectly well, but he has noticed me. Before he can fire his weapon, a white flame melts the gun in his hands. Liquid metal dribbles over his palm before he can even toss the weapon. The guard shrieks in pain and rushes toward the stairs. I check a few more cells without luck before I¡¯m attacked by a few more guards in the corridor. Each of their weapons melt the same as the first, some misfiring because of my fire. The guards flee in pain. A stubborn ursu leaves only when every hair of his hide is ash. This isn¡¯t working. The guards will rush up the stairs in no time, and I¡¯ve only searched through ten of the hundred cells on this floor alone. I need to change my approach. I pull down the hood of my outfit and coat my body in flames. Should I need it, my camouflage remains ready. For now, the prisoners need to see me. I step before the next cell on my list to check, and mentally note Gerben isn¡¯t here either. Each of the ursu stare through the bars, dumbfounded. ¡°Does anyone here know which cell Gerben is?¡± None of them answer. More interested in gaping than helping. ¡°Now!¡± I demand, my impatience leaking. Guards flood out of the central stairs and move to surround me. I can feel them moving before they even come around the corners. This would be so easy if I could just melt them all. Burn them alive and walk out without opposition. Leal doesn¡¯t want to kill, so I won¡¯t. So, how do I keep these unenhanced ursu out of my way without giving them an early cremation service? Fear. My inner flames spread through the wide hall, not spreading and burning as I usually would, but instead taking the form of eight-legged beasts hissing down at both guard squads. They are a pale imitation of the arachnid monstrosities from beneath the Titan Alps. Only large enough to fit in the corridor and the hiss is a replica created with burning air, but it does the job. Half the guards run terrified at the sight of the flaming beast as strikes from the white tips of its spindly legs leave molten scars in the stone. The others fire their weapons, then follow their comrades when they realise it does nothing. I turn back to the Group that still hasn¡¯t answered my question. ¡°Well?¡± I ask with crossed arms. ¡°Gerben?¡± Most have backed away from the bars, but an elderly ursu remains. ¡°I know three men named Gerben. How old is yours?¡± the old man appears strangely calm amongst group looking out at me in fear. ¡°Old enough to be a father,¡± I say. ¡°He was a soldier from the start of the Henosis war.¡± ¡°Then check the northern cells of the floor below and the east of the ground floor.¡± The old ursu gulps almost imperceptibly and hardens his gaze. ¡°If you are freeing him, and not here to kill him, then please take what children you can with you.¡± ¡°No!¡± a woman gasps from behind him. ¡°Don¡¯t you touch them!¡± Despite the middle-aged ursu¡¯s protests, she doesn¡¯t stop cowering near the back of the room. ¡°Koda,¡± the elderly says. ¡°This is the only-¡± ¡°I¡¯ll come back,¡± I interrupt, not having time for their debate. ¡°Thanks.¡± I take a step away from their cell and melt through the floor. It¡¯s far faster than going for the stairs, especially considering all the guards huddle around that area. The pair of flaming arachnid beasts unleash upon the guards of this floor and I once more have space to move. I ask around for the Gerben who¡¯s supposed to be in this area, only to find this Gerben isn¡¯t the one I¡¯m looking for. Another floor melts away, and I scare off more squads. Finally, I arrive at the cell of the first non-¨¢ed sapient I¡¯d met. Despite the immense loss of weight, I recognise the ursu immediately. The bars separating us liquefy in a wave of flame and I step into the cell. As the ursu within watch, their fright heightens and Gerben and another stand before the others as they huddle in the corner. Gerben is missing an eye and all the fingers on his left hand, but he still stands protectively before the others. It¡¯s kind of insulting that he doesn¡¯t recognise me immediately. The ursu standing by Gerben¡¯s side is an insane three and a half metres. The tallest ursu I¡¯ve seen. Well, except Hund. Hund is still nearly double this ursu¡¯s height. As I move toward Gerben, the tall ursu steps forward and swings his fist at my head. He hits nothing. His knuckles pass right through without effect. Though I leave the fur of his hand charred for the attempt. I¡¯d thought he might be enhanced considering his size, but he isn¡¯t. Or at least, neither his punch felt like that, nor did his fur have all that much resistance to my flames. I can see the moment Gerben realises who I am, and my grin is involuntary. His eyes widen and he clasps the hand that actually has fingers over the shoulder of the tall ursu. ¡°Solvei? What are you doing here?¡± ¡°Nice to see you, too.¡± Chapter 138: The Gulag III It¡¯s great to see Gerben alive, but I shouldn¡¯t stand around talking. Leal is waiting. I step toward the rest of the cell¡¯s residents and the tall ursu moves to stop me. Gerben pulls him back, his eyes not leaving me. ¡°Move,¡± I demand. The group¡¯s eyes flick between the massive arachnid looming in the corridor behind me and the flames around my form. When they don¡¯t move as asked, I step forward again, forcing them to scramble to the corners. That¡¯s good enough for me. Fire blasts into the cell¡¯s rear wall. The tall ursu tries to break from Gerben¡¯s grip, only to find his head locked under Gerben¡¯s fingerless arm. ¡°Calm down. I know her.¡± He looks up from the struggling ursu in his grip. ¡°Solvei, this is not a place you should have come.¡± ¡°Oh? I¡¯m sure your daughter would love to know that you don¡¯t want us here,¡± I say, trying to suppress a smirk as I pull my fire back into myself. All that remains of the back cell wall is a puddle of molten rock dribbling onto the paving outside. ¡°Leal is here?¡± He doesn¡¯t sound happy. His voice wavers at the knowledge she is here. ¡°Yes, now come. Don¡¯t make me drag you to her,¡± I say and push through the new opening. Hesitantly, he follows¡­ as do the other dozen ursu in his cell. I want them to stay where they are until I make sure of Gerben¡¯s safety at Leal¡¯s side. Can I tell them to stay while I help another right in front of them, though? If it were possible to take them all out together, I would, but I cannot protect them from those mini-cannons the guards wield. A round of gunfire crackles from the north. From where I originally broke through the wall, a sphere of water rolls toward the wire fence. Damn it, Leal. You were supposed to wait outside. I spin around Gerben, his height making my plan rather daunting. ¡°All of you hide in your cell for now. I¡¯ll come back,¡± I try to reassure the others before throwing myself into Gerben¡¯s chest and rocketing us into the air. It takes an immense jet of flames just to push us off the ground. And I thought Leal was heavy. In moments, the two of us are speeding over the wire fence. It¡¯s a struggle to slow us to land without splatting Leal¡¯s dad across the ground, but I bring us down safely. Flying off with him will be impossible. My flames spread out over the mesh fence and consume every section that falls within my range. I expended a lot of physical flame to thrust Gerben a few hundred metres, but at least I¡¯m close enough to Leal to keep her safe. I look up, ready to take out the guards attacking my friend, only to find long tendrils of water striking out of her protective shell and easily disarming each guard as if they were only an annoyance. Suspended inside the ball only slightly bigger than herself, she rolls along the earth toward us. Leal doesn¡¯t slow and I have to jump away as she crashes into Gerben. Her sphere melts away as she envelops him in an embrace. I feel sympathy for Gerben, first being tossed around by me, then taking his daughter¡¯s charge. Despite looking like he¡¯s about to collapse at any second, he does well to hold Leal upright as she loses all focus on where we are. ¡°Leal,¡± I say to get her attention. She lifts her head to lock eyes with me but doesn¡¯t let go of her dad. ¡°Take him and leave.¡± She nods her head but freezes in mid motion. ¡°You are coming, too.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m going to free the others.¡± I step in close and ignite an inferno around us, scaring off the guards trying to approach and obscuring their sight. ¡°I don¡¯t want to make the same mistake with you again. If I kill the guards, I can be sure to get the prisoners out safe. It is up to you.¡± Maybe it¡¯s cruel to pin the choice on Leal, but I care more about her choice than the lives of those stuck here. That is probably cruel of me, but I can¡¯t lie about how I feel. ¡°No. We need to go now!¡± she ignores my question. ¡°We can¡¯t compete when the warden shows up.¡± Too late for that. I feel an ursu with a thick longsword moving within my range even as she says that. He doesn¡¯t come right for my fire right away. Instead conversing with the guards standing near the now cleared fence. ¡°He¡¯s already here, Leal. Can I kill them or not?¡± I don¡¯t mean for my tone to be as harsh as it is, but we won¡¯t have long before he comes. ¡°But, can¡¯t you¡­ I can¡¯t¡­¡± She can¡¯t respond, and just before I settle on her answer being no, Gerben pats her head and addresses me. ¡°Yes, do what you need to. I will take responsibility.¡± I nod and angle my head to the wall she came from. ¡°Leal, take your dad and get out.¡± ¡°I will not let you fight alone.¡± Despite her desperate declaration, I have to smirk back. I can see the ursu through my flames now. He doesn¡¯t have mage markings. He doesn¡¯t have the terrifying inscriptions on his blade that the Henosis general had. The only thing he has is his blade and a hell of a lot of strength. I¡¯m sure he would be a challenge to my team, but this match up is terribly out of his favour as a purely physical fighter. Hund is the only physical fighter I could imagine killing me. ¡°I told you before, but you really shouldn¡¯t worry about me.¡± I turn and clear my flame, giving the enhanced ursu clear sight of me. His eyes narrow as I stare him down. I¡¯m giddy for this fight. Not long ago, I would have been terrified, but I¡¯m confident in my strength. It would be nice to have a spear with me, but I¡¯ll have to do without. Today, I have an audience to show off to. The warden doesn¡¯t hesitate. He dashes toward me, affronted that I could dare to think myself his equal. At least, I assume so from his indignant scowl.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. He moves fast, and I can immediately tell my outfit is going to end up as rags if I keep it. Instead, I allow my body to become incorporeal and abandon the snowsuit where I shouldn¡¯t have to worry about it. My body, burning with intense white flame, bursts forward, ready to meet the ursu half way. Fire twists through the air ahead of me, but the warden takes my golden flames head on. I¡¯d expected it, but the flames barely burn his fur. This fight will be white flames only, then. I won¡¯t be able to just submerge my surroundings in fire, as I usually do. His sword arcs toward my chest, which is around knee level for him considering he is more than double my height. The advantage of being so small lets me duck beneath his swing with ease. The claws I formed on my hands slice at his leg, but I don¡¯t have the strength to penetrate. I grasp at his ankle instead and his flesh bubbles. A grunt is the only sign he even feels it before his blade drops on me. A burst of physical flame throws me back, but not quick enough to dodge the longsword. Both my arms dismember, only to lose their definition and reconnect to my body within moments. I grin up at the warrior, waving both unharmed arms at him. He dashes forward and severs my head with a clean cut before I can react. I simply laugh, inciting an enraged growl from the large ursu. This is great! He moves just like the general, but I don¡¯t need the Fog¡¯s assistance anymore. He can¡¯t touch me, nor can he defend against my flames. I could stand here and take attacks from his blade all day¡­ but I probably shouldn¡¯t in case the ursu has some hidden card like the general did. I dodge beneath a swing and dart forward. My hand slaps the back of his knee and sizzles away some of the flesh there. My white flames stay behind, but a swipe of the ursu¡¯s free hand clears it off. Shame. He strikes again, an overhead arc this time. With the faintest touch of physical flame, I dodge out of his sword¡¯s path before I dash in again for another strike. The fight turns into a game. For me, at least. The warden grows increasingly agitated. ¡°What. The fuck. Are you?¡± he asks between swings. Maybe it¡¯s the exhilaration of the fight, or the audience watching on, or even just a whim of the moment, but his question goads me. My firestorm builds around me once more, swallowing the area as far as my flames can reach. I don¡¯t let them burn, though. No, I form my flames into the most terrifying existence I¡¯ve ever seen. The Titan. A conflagration of a crocodile stands over a hundred metres tall. An instinctual feeling rises within me, and I let it guide me. The mimicry of a Titan rears its head, jaws opening wide, and a roar of wind deafens the world. At the same moment, the feeling within me unleashes, applying pressure on everything and everyone around. The warden¡¯s body goes rigid, freezing up under the concentrated pressure clamping down on him. I make the Titan crash its maw down on the ursu, compressing the entire being into its teeth as they clamp around him. I replace the crocodile with white flame and rush in before he can brush them off again. His blade swings wide while he tries to step back, fear in his eyes. He bats at me with the flat edge, which I have to admit is more effective against me than simply slicing through me. As it comes, I have an idea. Instead of letting myself be bisected again, I harden my body and catch the blade. At least that is the intent. I¡¯m scooped up by the sword and carried along. I hang in the air off the ursu¡¯s sword as he takes a moment to realise where I¡¯ve gone. Not exactly what I planned, but this works. The blade glows beneath my touch. It is clearly not normal steel, as it isn¡¯t melting immediately, but it is only a matter of time until his weapon is no more. The warden clearly understands what I¡¯m doing as he attempts to crush me between the blade and the ground. Unfortunately for him, I simply reform on the other side of the blade. No worse for wear. It takes a dozen seconds for his sword to become nothing more than a handle. His body doesn¡¯t look in much better shape, either. My flames leave his body a patchy mess of burnt flesh. He staggers back, fear and pain predominant on his features. This is already over, and he knows it. Thermal signatures enter my range at the same time the warden spots them. His demeanour flips. Instead of the fear at his defeat, he grins victoriously. I can feel what¡¯s coming, but I turn regardless. A squad of guards herds children toward our battlefield, holding their guns toward kids as young as five. ¡°Give up now, or I¡¯ll give the order.¡± The ursu I¡¯d been playing with not a moment ago jeers at me, assured of his victory. I sneer in return, but more angry at myself. I¡¯d seen how they kept the kids as hostages with the adult ursu around. Why did I think they wouldn¡¯t try the same with me? Honestly, I¡¯m confused about why the warden is so sure this would work. I¡¯m not an ursu, so why would he think this would stop me? I still plan to keep them safe, but from everything I¡¯ve seen, people of different races care very little about those other than their own. The pact nations being the only exception. Even there, some races differences cannot be overcome. The warden thinks this is enough to beat me. He thinks threats will cow me. Just the thought of him getting his way irritates me more than a bunch of kids being threatened. My eyes flicker to Leal, standing beside her father. I¡¯m not sure whether I look her way in apology for the risk I¡¯m about to take, to assure her I know what I¡¯m doing, or simply to make sure she¡¯s still okay. I stare down the guards with their mini-cannons held dangerously close to the heads of the defenceless kids. What I did before is not something that makes a lot of sense, but I intuitively know that was my presence. It showed itself before, and I know I can unleash it any time I want. It¡¯s instinctual. A part of me has broken free and can never be locked away again. So I let my presence be known. It feels a bit like shining the light of my fire over an area, telling everyone I¡¯m here and forcing them to pay attention. I focus the pressure on the guards and they feel my anger. I¡¯m glaring at them with the world itself assisting me. Their fingers go stiff, bodies freezing under the pressure of a being far more than them. The guards cannot move, and I make good use of that opportunity. Tiny balls of white flame appear over each of their hands, burning through the fingers holding each gun. It is immensely difficult. Both remotely creating and controlling seven individual intense flames at very precise points strains my control far more than creating a firestorm ever could. But it works. Each of the weapons falls out of their hands. Pained shrieks resound and snap each out of the stupor my presence locked them in. The mini-cannons clatter against the ground. One misfires on impact, and we¡¯re lucky it shoots its projectile into the sky without victim. I move each of the small balls of fire up the guard¡¯s bodies and quickly end their lives by burning through their heads. The flesh hardly even burns. It simply vaporises on contact with the intense heat. I¡¯m back in front of the warden before he can even comprehend the loss of his winning card. Flames gouge through his chest, bubbling away at his flesh with greater ease the deeper I get within his dense muscle. He lets out a desperate roar, glaring at me with hatred I¡¯ve only seen in a few. The ursu dashes toward the group of children, but considering it¡¯s his only option, I¡¯ve already positioned myself in his way. He tries to brush past me, but this isn¡¯t a game anymore. The ursu isn¡¯t content to leave this just between the two of us, so I make sure he cannot reach them. I swing my clawed hands at the deep burns on his legs, cutting through the tender muscle with an ease that wasn¡¯t possible while his hide still protected him. The towering creature loses motion to his foot and falls to the earth. But that doesn¡¯t stop him. His fingers dig into the earth and he throws himself forward. I cling to his back and blast a jet upward, slamming the ursu into the ground once more and grinding his face along the dirt. I don¡¯t care for a clean and fun fight anymore. My flames dig into his eyes, burn through his nostrils and ears. Anything that gives me an easier path to burn through this monster, I take it. He tries to scrape away my flames, tries to dig his eyes out to stop the spread of fire as it reduces his flesh to a blackened char. The ursu struggles along the ground, forgetting his goal as he grunts and digs his fingers into his own body, desperate to stop the flames now buried within. I watch on as the flames reach his brain, and he lets out a scream to announce his death throes. His thick chest and strong lungs blast his pain across the entire gulag for every prisoner to relish, and every guard to dread. The warden¡¯s body twitches and jerks as he eventually loses control of his motor functions. Soon, his body stills, and I¡¯m treated to an immensely enhanced feast. Chapter 139: PoV - Leal II Solvei had not been exaggerating. Leal could hardly believe it. She¡¯d assumed the moment the warden appeared, they would not be getting away alive. Solvei had simply taken his advance as if it were a game. She played with a man Leal would consider unreachable. The man had been a major pillar of the military long before Henosis invaded. One of the few that actually practised the art of war during times of peace. He couldn¡¯t touch her. When Solvei spoke with confidence and assurance that she would get Leal¡¯s dad out without problem, she¡¯d assumed the ¨¢ed was arrogant after fighting the mermineae so long. No, in only two years, she attained more power than Leal could comprehend. The intensity of her fire unheard of. That monster the ¨¢ed had created; the unnatural fear that froze Leal where she stood as its deafening roar thrummed in the air; her old friend¡¯s sheer, overwhelming presence. It was too much for Leal to believe. How could that otherworldly white flame that burns everything in its way be the same tiny fire that once suffered at Gloria¡¯s hands? Even when the guards pulled that disgusting move of using hostages, Solvei had hardly hesitated. She disarmed and killed each within a moment. What Leal couldn¡¯t get out of her mind was the ease with which her old friend had killed them. She did so without a second breath. It had already become second nature to her to part someone of their life. The way she methodically cut down the warden and burnt him alive in such a horrific fashion only reinforced the image of her own mother¡¯s final moments. Leal had already established that it was a mistake. That Solvei hadn¡¯t meant for the fire to grow the way it had, but deciding on something, and actually removing the thought from her mind were entirely different. But¡­ even if Leal hated that some had to die, they were horrible people. They¡¯d treated not only her father, but who knows how many more, like dirt. She couldn¡¯t even blame Solvei for the murders. The ¨¢ed had given Leal the opportunity to stop her, but Leal knew it was unreasonable to expect someone to fight without killing. She had tried herself many times in the past, but sometimes it was impossible to prevent the blood spilling on her own hands. Her father had given Solvei the go ahead, and while Leal was thankful for him taking that responsibility from her, she felt guilty that she was incapable of bringing herself to take the burden. She knew, logically, that some people were just better off dead, but whenever she thought about the fact that would be their end, she hated it. Someone might seem cruel from her perspective, but what if they¡¯re simply being extorted as well? Maybe they could turn their lives around and become better people. She wanted to believe that was possible. Everyone should have an opportunity to better themselves before they enter Rod¡¯s domain. ¡°I¡¯m going to free the rest. Leal, take your dad and find somewhere safe.¡± Solvei was done. She¡¯d burnt away the last of the old warden and now picks up her snowsuit¡­ which is a rather odd thing to wear in this climate. Before Leal even has a moment to respond, the ¨¢ed is off toward the compound again, leaving her father and a bunch of kids to gawk after her. She looks up at her father, and any complaints she might have had for Solvei melt on her tongue. Leal spins a ball of water around her and her father, ready to take them over the wall again, away from what remains of the guards. Her father places his large, nostalgic hands on her shoulders. It feels much smaller than the last time she felt its reassuring touch. ¡°Leal, you are coming back after taking me out, aren¡¯t you?¡± he asks. She nods. Solvei has already dealt with the major barrier to saving everyone, so she can now help more than just her father. She isn¡¯t about to leave them to fend for themselves, but her dad takes priority. ¡°Then I¡¯m staying,¡± he says, only for Leal to give him an unconvinced look. ¡°You think I¡¯m about to leave my daughter¡¯s side after finally seeing her again?¡± Leal was ready to refuse, when her dad wrapped her in a hug again. She didn¡¯t want to leave him in danger after finally getting him back. He¡¯d been the only reason she had to push forward, and now that he¡¯s finally in front of her, she wanted to hide him away. Prevent anything like this threatening them again. Where could they go now? Where could any of the people Solvei freed go once this prison was destroyed? It was a question she didn¡¯t know how to answer. She never planned for more than her father¡¯s freedom. Never considered even that reasonably possible. She¡¯d come here expecting to join her father in a cell, at best. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s round up those your friend has freed.¡± Leal¡¯s dad pats her back with his fingerless hand. As he lead her toward the stunned kids, her eyes passed over his body. Her father hadn¡¯t come out uninjured. Not only was he missing an eye and most of his left hand, he limped along at a pained gait. Despite looking like he should collapse at any moment, he trudged forward. His arm around Leal¡¯s shoulders was comforting, rather than using her for support. She was still far shorter than her father, but she was tall enough to help him walk. Leal put her arm around him and joined the kids as they watched the bright light that shone through many of the second floor slit windows. Solvei had already made quick progress of the compound. Many confused or doubtful people hesitantly spread out from the main building. A tall man directed the many disbelieving captives. It was hardly believable to Leal that there were no guards halting their escape, even after what she¡¯d seen Solvei do to the warden. These people who lived at the guard¡¯s discretion must find their sudden freedom jarring, even if it should be a time to celebrate.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. There were far more congregating than she thought could possibly fit in the building. Murmured discussion grew as they found no resistance to their escape. Reluctantly hopeful or cynical voices combined in a babble that gradually grew with each member stepping outside the large cubic compound. Leal¡¯s dad, with her at his side, approached the tall man commanding many of the freed members into sorted groups. Some rounded up kids, reuniting them with their parents while giving them protection. Another group helped those who struggled to walk on their own. Leal noted there were many in that category. ¡°Adalbern, any issues?¡± The tall man turned toward them. He carried a gun, likely pilfered from the guards. Whether those guards were dead or not, Leal chose not to think about. ¡°Ah, Gerben, good to see you¡¯re fine. I worried when that kid flew off with you.¡± Leal¡¯s dad let out a strained laugh. ¡°Yeah, not about to say that was the most pleasant experience ever, but she brought me to my daughter, so it¡¯s hardly anything to complain about.¡± ¡°Oh? This is the kid you always talk about?¡± Adalbern¡¯s gaze drops to Leal and he bows his head. ¡°I appreciate you doing this.¡± ¡°What? No! It was all Solvei,¡± Leal said. ¡°I couldn¡¯t have done anything without her.¡± A sudden explosion stops Adalbern before he can say anything. Everyone turned as a massive fireball blew out the top corner of the complex many were still fleeing from. ¡°Talking about the ¨¢ed.¡± Adalbern turns to Leal¡¯s dad. ¡°Can you stop her from destroying this facility?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want it destroyed?¡± Leal asked. ¡°No. We will need it for now.¡± The tall man said. ¡°Too many are in a state that they wouldn¡¯t be able to take care of themselves should we all leave, and there aren¡¯t enough hands to care for all. It will be impossible for us to hide in the cities. Our only option is to hold this fort until we have enough hale bodies to field a resistance.¡± ¡°A resistance? Like the revolution?¡± Leal wonders. The revolution was a major point in their history. Every ursu knew about how they overcame their oppressors and took the land which became New Vetus. Could it really be a resistance if it was against their own kind? ¡°Yes, but we can worry about that later. Now, can we stop the young ¨¢ed before she reaches the food storage?¡± ¡°Uh, sure. I¡¯ll go get her,¡± Leal said, but she needn¡¯t worry. Solvei had already finished. The ¨¢ed jumped off the tall roof and splattered against the ground. Her form momentarily lost its structure and flames spread out before pulling back into herself. Leal knew it didn¡¯t hurt Solvei, but the visual of her body splitting and morphing like that made Leal squirm. She directed her hyle through the markings around her neck and up her cheek. The thinnest layer of water coated her eyes, giving her an enhanced look at her friend. This marking array was something she¡¯d always considered her favourite. It wasn¡¯t all that impressive by itself, only giving a mage a slight improvement to how far one can see, but that wasn¡¯t why Leal found it so interesting. The marking proved that there was so much more that could be achieved than simply manipulate an element. She would have spent all her time researching the possibilities, if it weren¡¯t for the military¡¯s refusal. The lack of applicable uses for their purpose prevented her research of what might be an unexplored field. Most thought an element only had two states: Hyle, where it could flow freely through a medium; and the natural state, which would interact with the world. A mage¡¯s markings could still control an element after it had transitioned from hyle to its natural state as long as they remained connected. Leal might have thought the same, if she hadn¡¯t seen Solvei¡¯s fire for herself. The ¨¢ed¡¯s hyle had changed since the first they¡¯d met. Leal was sure some of that was influenced by her improved understanding of her secondary senses marking, but the girl had become innately different. Solvei¡¯s fire had once been very similar to elements that a mage could produce. Now, Leal couldn¡¯t even tell whether it was hyle or natural fire. The pattern of influence was imprinted upon all elements touched by life. The pattern even Solvei once had, was now near indistinguishable. To Leal¡¯s senses, it seemed like she was losing her distinction from the world around her. While that sight concerned Leal about the safety of her friend, it also raised some very interesting questions. Her fire clearly contradicted the dual state model, so were there other variables which could determine how an element might act? Could she, with her markings, induce a state between hyle and natural? Could the hyle state be manipulated to suppress even more of itself from the medium in which it carries? There were so many possibilities if any of this proved true. What effects could she create without relying only on element control? Could the impossibly dangerous elements be made safe? Leal shook her head as she realised Solvei was already standing right before her. It was a bad habit to get lost in her thoughts like that. ¡°Are you ready, Leal?¡± ¡°Ready? For what?¡± she asked. Solvei pointed over her shoulder. Leal turned to watch hundreds of able-bodied prisoners marching toward the large steel gates. Gates which held the last bastion of the guards¡¯ defence. Leal mentally berated herself again for not paying attention to the movement of people around her. It wasn¡¯t the first time, but she really hoped it would be the last. ¡°Could you keep the wall and gate intact?¡± Leal asked. ¡°They want to use this place as a fortress, so it would be helpful if we still had the walls.¡± Solvei¡¯s eyes widened slightly. ¡°You are fine with that? I can kill them?¡± Leal clenched her jaw and turned her head, but she nodded anyway. She wished Solvei hadn¡¯t been so direct with her question. ¡°Yes.¡± The single word was difficult to say. ¡°I don¡¯t want any of these people to be hurt anymore. If you can deal with the guards before they can do anything, I would appreciate it. Even if they need to lose their lives.¡± Leal hated the words coming from her mouth. No, she knew it was the only thing that could be done. If only it wasn¡¯t necessary. She knew it was the only way, but she couldn¡¯t do it herself. She had to rely on Solvei. The ¨¢ed took no time to rush ahead of the congregating prisoners, all readying themselves. Whether they were prepared for an attack from the guards, or were ready to attack themselves, Leal didn¡¯t know. Cannon-fire rattled the air as the guards both on the walls and behind the gate fired on the ¨¢ed with their newly adapted technology. Dozens of projectiles ripped through her body without effect. She ran on, hardly even slowed by each impact. Guards hurried to reload their weapons before firing once more through the gaps of the portcullis, but again, Solvei paid the tiny projectiles no mind. Solvei ran full tilt toward the gate and threw herself at the steel grille. Her body passed through the metal bars without issue, to the terror of each guard. None survived the ensuing inferno that engulfed them. Leal couldn¡¯t understand how Solvei could murder without hesitation. Had she always been this way? Or was it the world that had forced her to be like this? Watching on was too much for Leal to bear. In no time at all, the gate was clear, and the ramparts left without a soul. The sheer efficiency Solvei had for killing was terrifying. No matter how she tried to think back to the girl Solvei had once been, the picture of an overwhelming fire consuming uncountable lives continued to eat at Leal¡¯s thoughts. She felt horrible for thinking that about her friend, especially after she¡¯d come all this way to save not only Leal¡¯s dad, but so many others. Solvei had dropped a war she clearly hadn¡¯t been forced into, for Leal¡¯s sake, and she can¡¯t even think nice things about her. Leal hoped she¡¯d be able to repay Solvei one day, but right now, she needed time alone with her father. Chapter 140: Bratchina I clean the last ursu guards from the top of the wall. There isn¡¯t any challenge to it. Nothing they do can slow me, let alone hurt me. A few ursu amongst the guards had swords of their own and far more enhancement than their comrades. Even these warriors might as well be tinder after my fight with the warden. Thankfully, Leal gave me the go ahead to remove these ursu. After the treatment directed toward the prisoners, they deserve no mercy. On top of the abuse, entrapment is still one of the worst things you could do. I¡¯m glad Leal agreed. If she hadn¡¯t wanted me to kill them, I could have probably subdued most of them alive. Without the warden, they are weak. Some people simply don¡¯t deserve to continue living. The guards got to be test subjects for my presence experimentation. The ability doesn¡¯t make much sense. What made it show itself? How does it differ for others? Maybe there is just some unrecorded threshold of strength one needs to reach before it becomes available. Its operation is completely natural. No different from influencing a flame or moving a finger. I can turn it on or off whenever I¡¯d like and even focus the pressure it exudes upon a single target. What is this pressure? The first time someone feels it, they most often freeze in place, but that paralysation wears off after a time, even with the presence still bearing down on them. It seems to inflict an instinctual fear within the target. I jump off the side of the wall and arrive before Gerben and that tall ursu from before. Leal is off to the side, clearly lost in thought as she watches the gate. ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be any left,¡± I say to the two. The tall ursu has taken command of the rest, so I should be able to inform him and get back to Leal. ¡°I appreciate what you have done for us.¡± The tall ursu steps forward and clasps my hand in his grip. His hand dwarfs mine, but he shakes anyway. ¡°Will you be staying?¡± ¡°Uh, no. There¡¯s still a war I need to get to. Well, more than one now.¡± The tall ursu nods his head, but is clearly disappointed. ¡°Please, come back whenever you wish. We could use the help.¡± He finally lets go of my hand and walks back amongst the ursu stunned at the rapid change in their circumstances. Leal joined her dad¡¯s side while I was distracted. Now that everything is done here, I really need to be getting back to the pact nations. My eyes fall on Gerben¡¯s missing fingers and eye. ¡°Hey, I know someone who could heal you,¡± I say. With both Leal and Gerben, it¡¯ll be impossible to fly, but as long as we¡¯re careful not to attract too much attention, I¡¯m sure we could rush back to the pact nations over land. ¡°Solvei, thank you, but I¡¯m needed here.¡± Gerben laughs. ¡°Half blind and fingerless as I am, my experience could really help this resistance.¡± My gaze strays to Leal, and I know what she¡¯s going to say before the words touch her tongue. ¡°I¡¯m going to stay with dad,¡± she says. ¡°This could never have happened without you. Thank you.¡± So, that¡¯s it? Time to say goodbye and see each other¡­ whenever we see each other? Maybe it¡¯s my fault for thinking that we would stick together. I can understand why; she¡¯s got her dad back. If I had my mum or uncle or aunt back, I¡¯d spend every second I could with them. No matter how much I understand it, the disappointment still hits me. For a moment, I seriously consider staying. I could abandon the pact nations and stay here to make sure Leal and her dad ¡ª and by extension, all the people I freed ¡ª remain safe. But doing so would abandon the others I care for to whatever fate may befall them. My friends back in the pact nations won¡¯t be able to defend themselves should the mermineae invasion continue, but Leal will be in just as much danger once New Vetus realise they have a rebellion festering. What could any of these ursu do if they send an army here? What could they do if they send Hund? The Void-Touched ursu hasn¡¯t overcome his desire. The giant is still tied to the whims of the New Vetus council. It would be nice if I could talk to him and somehow help him through the chains of his own mind. That will be hard for a multitude of reasons, primarily because I don¡¯t actually know what his desire is, and by following the council¡¯s orders, he¡¯s just as likely to kill me as he is to listen. ¡°Ah, alright then,¡± I say. ¡°I¡¯d better get back, then.¡± ¡°Come now, you can¡¯t leave like that.¡± Gerben stops me with a light smile. ¡°At least stay for the celebratory bratchina.¡± ??? The feast was every part a celebration as it was a horde of ravenous beasts stuffing their bellies. The now freed ursu raided the kitchens and storage areas to put on the largest feast I¡¯ve seen. Larger even than the bratchinas held in city centres. I am surprised there was so much food stored away within the compound, considering how thin everyone is. The guards hadn¡¯t even been starving them because of a lack of supplies. ¡°Thank you so much,¡± another mother says as she bows her head. Her young child clutching at the fur of her leg. I just nod. ¡°It was no problem.¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. If I¡¯d known I would have this much attention on me, I might¡¯ve left before this celebration. Sure, I know they¡¯re thankful, but I really don¡¯t know how to respond to their gratitude. They also keep getting in the way of the remaining time I have with Leal. I don¡¯t want to leave, but the longer I stay, the more stressed I feel. Am I putting my friends in danger by relaxing right now? My sight passes over Leal and I chuckle at how even through everything, she still hasn¡¯t changed. Despite most of the attention coming my way, Leal looks more uncomfortable than I do. She¡¯s still no good with crowds. Before another excessively thankful ursu can approach me, the tall ursu ¡ª Adalbern ¡ª clears his throat loud enough to cut conversations amongst the gathering. ¡°Today, we celebrate our freedom, thanks entirely to the ¨¢ed Solvei and Gerben¡¯s daughter, Leal.¡± I watch in amusement as Leal ducks her head from the praise. ¡°This moment reflects a turning point for us. No longer will we allow the council to descend us into oppression. We shall tear them down and rebuild New Vetus the way it always should have been.¡± Adalbern pauses for a moment as murmurs resound. ¡°Our future will not be easy. We face the entire army, and I don¡¯t need to mention Tore Hund. The council has twisted our hero around their fingers, so we cannot hope to face them outright. It will be hard ¡ª damn near impossible ¡ª but we have an opportunity. If we play things right, not only can we save ourselves, but we can be the saviours of the hero of New Vetus.¡± ¡°We will stay here until everyone is healthy, then we will spread and build our numbers. Our success will rely on every person¡¯s contributions. Convince who you can. Sabotage those you can¡¯t. In time, we will tear the chairman¡¯s seat from its pedestal, along with the rest of the council. This is our path.¡± The crowd doesn¡¯t cheer. Some applaud, but most simply hold determined, yet resigned faces. This isn¡¯t something they wanted. I realise now that while many of the ursu here were used as hostages for those outside, once the army discovers what happened, their roles will be reversed. Everyone here knows just how bleak their prospects truly are. Even if they want to hold a resistance force, they cannot face the council¡¯s forces head on. Most of these former prisoners don¡¯t have any enhancement to speak of. If it ever reaches the point where a battle is unavoidable, they have already lost. I now realise why Adalbern was so disappointed to see me go. I could single-handedly give them far greater odds of success. As much as it pains me to do so, I have to leave. Who knows how long it might take for them to overcome the council? If they had a plan to take out the council now, I would help them immediately. But they don¡¯t, and I need to help push back the mermineae and the New Vetus army attacking the nations protecting my friends. Maybe staying and applying pressure on the ursu army from here would be effective, but I¡¯m afraid the same thing will happen as last time. The New Vetus army will quickly send a team of water mages to deal with me, and the resistance will be without strength. Also, I¡¯ll be dead. The mermineae don¡¯t have command over water through the use of mages as most other races do, so I needn¡¯t worry when fighting them as much, but that assault where I met Leal taught me a valuable lesson. The nations keep their elite out of the fights for a reason. If that hadn¡¯t been Leal to find me that night, I likely wouldn¡¯t be here. Creating hit squads to counter detailed abilities and weaknesses is a very real thing armies do to beat the strongest of their foes. I¡¯m unfortunate enough to have my enemies know how horrifying water is to me. Can I even attempt to fight against the ursu anymore now that I know a group of water mages will hunt me down on sight? It¡¯s probably best not to think about it now. If the time comes where I have nowhere to escape from a mage ambush, my white flame should give me at least some opportunity to flee, or if I¡¯m lucky enough, get a killing blow on those mages. ¡°Hey, Solvei. I¡¯ve been thinking.¡± Leal pulls my attention from the many ursu somehow filling their gullets with an amount of food equivalent to their weight. How they can fit so much food in I don¡¯t know. ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°About Tore. I¡¯ve been thinking about your explanation as to how he is controlled. I¡¯m wondering if there¡¯s a way to free him as you did for yourself. How is his mind twisted so that the council can manipulate him so thoroughly?¡± ¡°Well, I know it is linked to whatever his desire is, but I don¡¯t know enough about him to know what that might be.¡± ¡°They always told us Tore did everything out of a selfless desire to do what he could for our nation, but who can say whether that is true or something of a children¡¯s tale to encourage good behaviour?¡± I hum in consideration as I think back on the advice he¡¯d given within the Fog so long ago. He was immensely regretful about his own desire, so it might not be completely alike with mine. If it¡¯s his desire that is causing him to be controlled, and not an element of its implementation, freeing him from that control will be far more difficult than it was for me. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, it might be possible to convince him that the council is the problem.¡± Leal winces. ¡°Ah, that won¡¯t work. There have been plenty of occasions in the past where people have tried to convince him to their goals. I¡¯ve not thought of it till now, but the council made public laughingstocks of those that tried. Tore would always punish traitorous attempts to sway him.¡± So, convincing him is off the table. Can¡¯t say I¡¯m surprised. One would have to have all the luck in the world for the Fog¡¯s manipulations to be so easily thwarted. But maybe Hund needs a big enough push. Even if someone had told me the knot itself was limiting my thoughts, I doubt my awareness of the contradiction would have been enough to snap the rope. I¡¯d only broken free after months of tension wore down my conflicting desires to the snapping point. Well, Hund has been around for over a century. I can¡¯t even comprehend that length of time. If Hund hasn¡¯t found a way to escape his desire, then maybe there truly isn¡¯t one. He is trapped, so his desire clearly doesn¡¯t align with mine. The tables are empty. Each ursu long having had their fill. Hopefully, they won¡¯t need to eat near as much any time soon. There couldn¡¯t possibly be that much food just waiting around for them. Plenty have collapsed on the earth a short distance away, whether by alcohol or exhaustion, I do not know. The larger ursu not suffering excessive malnutrition surround Adalbern and Gerben as they discuss their future. I¡¯ve enjoyed being beside Leal again, but I continue to grow stressed the longer I wait around. It is time I should leave. ¡°If you ever need help, please don¡¯t hesitate to find me,¡± I say as I turn to Leal. ¡°Again, I¡¯m sorry for what happened because of me.¡± Leal doesn¡¯t say it¡¯s alright, nor does she forgive me, but I don¡¯t expect her to. She nods, her eyes not meeting mine. ¡°Stay safe, Solvei.¡± I smile at that. Things aren¡¯t perfect, but at least she doesn¡¯t hate me. ¡°After everything is over, and our lives go back to normal, would you like to travel with me? I plan to look for my mum¡¯s spear once I get time.¡± She doesn¡¯t answer immediately. She looks up from her hands, her fingers tracing the markings over the back of her palm. ¡°Ask me again the next time you are here.¡± That¡¯s better than a rejection. Thinking about what I¡¯m going to do after the war might be premature, but I need something to think about that isn¡¯t the bleakness and danger that has overcome the world. When the world is ready to go easy on me, I¡¯ll finally be able to do the things I¡¯ve wanted. Now that I have strength of my own, there¡¯s nothing to fear going back into the wasteland. My family is gone, and I have accepted that. I should at least carry on our tribe¡¯s heirloom spear and return the other relic weapons to our Agglomerate. Chapter 141: Mistake The travel back to the pact nations has been far more pleasant an experience than it was on the way to New Vetus. I opted to pass over the isthmus, so there was no concern about the sea looming below. While I would have preferred having Leal by my side, I didn¡¯t miss having to carry her. Without needing to struggle against the ursu¡¯s weight, I could settle with my usual falcon form. It is so much more comfortable flying at this size simply because my white flame, while immensely more visible in the sky, is unbeatable. It¡¯s really too bad I can¡¯t keep up the intensity at larger sizes. Being an intimidating creature can be rather satisfying. I¡¯m sure the ursu below watch me as I pass overhead, but even if they want to stop me, there¡¯s no way for them to reach me. I can fly over their lands, cities, borders, and armies without so much as a squeak of resistance. A part of me is tempted to drop and ignite some fires amongst them, simply to slow down their invasion. But my thoughts go back to what Leal would want. There are likely many amongst them who are only fighting to protect those they care for. Identical to my own reasons to fight. Is it right to take others¡¯ chance just for the possibility it will benefit me? No. That answer is obvious. But does what is right truly matter when it comes to keeping my friends safe? I have killed people from many races now, but I have massacred thousands of mermineae on the belief that it was to keep my friends safe. Can I do the same to the New Vetus soldiers after I¡¯ve discovered that many fight because their family is held hostage? I already know the mermineae are fleeing in fear from Kalma, so is it wrong of me to have incinerated as many as I have? The strength of the average mermineae is magnitudes greater than the unenhanced of the pact nations¡¯ races, so I have to assume what I¡¯ve done is necessary. If they aren¡¯t stopped, they will cut through the pact nations, killing everyone they can in their attempts to take over. To take the land and carve a home for themselves. It is an unfortunate situation, but until another reasonable alternative shows itself, killing is the only option. I can¡¯t hold off an entire race spread across hundreds of thousands of metres by scaring them with my flame alone. If I simply run them off from an attack, those mermineae will just join the offensive at another location. A location without me to defend. I shake my head. No use concerning myself over problems without solutions. I know what I have to do, and as grim as it may be, I¡¯m not about to cower from that if it will keep my friends safe. Below, the land transitions into what was once Joiak. The desolate winding roads weaving between the two kingdoms are now overlaid by a stone path and bridges supporting rail tracks. How the ursu built this infrastructure so quickly is a mystery, but it doesn¡¯t bode well for the Joiak Kingdom if the ursu have already built paths into their land. I don¡¯t care all that much for what happens to the kingdom that would endorse the horrid treatment of its people like it did with Mr. Marshall¡¯s mill, but the more land the New Vetus army controls near the pact nations, the worse our situation. Not only are the pact nations fighting both the mermineae and The Theocracy, they have New Vetus now coming from the south as well as the constant threat that the Empire could invade at any moment from the northeast. Why do all the factions have to decide now is a good time for war? Should I even trust the pact nations to get through this? Maybe I should just grab my friends and take them somewhere safe. But where is safe? I can¡¯t bring them to New Vetus for obvious reasons, The Theocracy is more likely to execute them than shelter them, and I don¡¯t think I could ever trust my friends to be safe in Henosis after what they did to so many of my kind. There are countries further away, but I know very little about many of them. It would be especially difficult to get my friends there. I cannot carry all of them at once, so it would take months to move them regardless if we tried to travel by land or I made multiple trips. That doesn¡¯t even consider the possibility that those states might be just as bad as any other. I¡¯m stuck protecting the pact nations, so that they can protect my friends. And as long as my team doesn¡¯t encounter a Viisin, I trust them to survive without trouble. Well, assuming they don¡¯t have a hit-squad sent to hunt them down. I fly far past the point where our battle previously took place. Unfortunately, the land is no longer contested. It is entirely within ursu control. Far beneath me, they lay the foundations for their rail network to connect with the one laid by the pact nations after we retook the land from the mermineae. It isn¡¯t a pleasant sight to see all the ground we put weeks of effort into retaking, simply snapped away by a third party we never expected to be against us. A whole day passes before I finally see where the front line has settled. The ursu have pushed the pact nations further back than even the mermineae had when I¡¯d returned to this side of the Alps. The town commandeered as a command post now lay deserted hours behind me. The majority of ursu along the line neither have swords nor armour like those that attacked our camp, but they do have the miniature cannons those guarding the gulag used. Most of the land was expansive stretches of trenches, both sides filled with the unenhanced. All simply numbers to fill the space and worth no more. I fly along the line for a while, simply watching over the fighting. In places, the battlefield favours a particular side and the line bends to account. After a few hours of this, it becomes rather clear that nothing really happens when the unenhanced fight. Both sides hide in their cover and fire, hoping for some lucky shots when artillery doesn¡¯t rain from above. Only when the stronger warriors ¡ª the ursu¡¯s armoured soldiers and the pact nation¡¯s mercenaries ¡ª enter the battle, does any shift truly occur. If a side is unlucky enough to face them without support of their own, their defeat and death is guaranteed. Those on the ground know it too. When the stronger warriors appear, there are many that try to flee, only to be shot for desertion.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. It¡¯s horrible, but making an example of deserters is common on both sides of the conflict, and for good reason. Often, the appearance of the stronger warriors is a hoax. Simple soldiers dressing themselves as those stronger in a bid to terrify the enemy. And when the overseeing officer refuses to shoot his soldiers in the back, it works. Eventually the defensive lines separate, spreading into the distance, but not thinning. Soldiers face desolate land. I¡¯ve fought alongside the pact nations long enough to know this is merminea controlled area. It¡¯s curious to see the ursu taking a similar defence as the pact nations, despite their lesser numbers. It is incredibly relieving to witness the ursu trying to push against the mermineae in addition to the pact forces. If they had allied with the mermineae, or attempted to take the pact nations out before moving on to fight the slender race, then we would have no chance. At least now we have the opportunity to incite the two factions to slaughter the other instead of us. Whether those in charge of the pact nations can achieve that, however, is another story. As I fly over the border between the pact nations and mermineae, I observe many battles between the two. The Order has finally got itself sorted. Beiths now push against the offences of the mermineae. The sole fighters are sparse and only show up on the rare battlefield, but they show up none the less. Having a single warrior or mage wiping out swarms of mermineae is so much more efficient than relying on thousands for a less than equal trade. It might have taken months, but the Mercenary Order has finally adapted. Still, with the added war, it doesn¡¯t make much difference. ??? Finally, after a long trip ¡ª and a volan mage trying to knock me out of the sky ¡ª I finally reach the command post. This time, it¡¯s in a major city. Most citizens have been evacuated, and it leaves the place eerily quiet in the areas not occupied by the military and mercenaries. Sorting things out with the pressure mage volan had been an ordeal ¡ª apparently calling her an air mage was insulting¡­ for some reason ¡ª but now I have to present myself to the commander. As before, I expected to find Remus and Commander Darton with him, but that isn¡¯t what awaits me as I enter the room. A trio wearing business suits stand behind a large conference desk. As I step into the room, the two khirig I felt in the corners of the room rush forward. One slams the door, while the other does something strange with its hands. Turning, I notice too late the strand of water connecting the khirig to something above me. Bars of water drop in a circle around me. What is this? Why are they attacking me? I fight the urge to lash out to escape by any means. Maybe this is some mistake. I glance down to see if I could melt my way down and out of the cage of water. But no, the water mage has surrounded my feet in a puddle. Thankfully, he¡¯s kind enough to keep the water away from my feet, which is about the limit of the good things I can currently think about any of the people in this room letting this happen. Remain calm. I still have my outfit, which should keep the water off me. Plus, I¡¯m not entirely defenceless to water anymore. Assuming the other khirig is a water mage as well, I¡¯ll only need to kill the two before they can focus their water on me after I break free. Assuming they aren¡¯t at the Beith level, it should be easy. Still, the water around me does nothing to ease my nerves. ¡°What is this?¡± I ask, struggling to keep myself calm. ¡°You are being detained for desertion,¡± the only dohrni in the room says. She wears clean, black sleeves over each of her tentacles, which is strange to see as almost every other dohrni I¡¯ve met hasn¡¯t bothered with clothing. ¡°Desertion?¡± I repeat. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± One of the well-dressed trio, another khirig, straightens on his slender antlers and lifts a bundle of papers before his face. He recites words from the page. ¡°Infraction: Abandoned the battlefield without sufficient reason or consent from a superior. Infraction: Failed to report actions at a hearing within the allocated time.¡± ¡°What? A friend needed my help. I didn¡¯t have time to tell anyone.¡± The khirig continues without acknowledging me. ¡°Infraction: Failed to report crucial mission intelligence to command. Infraction: Unauthorised dialogue with enemy combatants; treason. Judgement: Confiscation of all personal rights, allocation of handler, and suspension of movement unless given authorisation by said handler.¡± I can hardly believe they are doing this. It all seems like a stupid joke until the khirig behind me that closed the door approaches with arm cuffs dense with glowing inscriptions. The thing looks just as advanced, if not more so than the intricate lines within the Empire¡¯s weapon. I don¡¯t know what it does, but there¡¯s no chance I¡¯m risking that touching me. I¡¯m done with this shit. Thin rings of white flame encircle the necks of the two mages behind me while balls of that same fire materialise before the three standing ahead of me. The air shimmers from the unrestrained heat. The room temperature skyrockets. I make sure each of these people knows just how hot those tiny flames are. On top of that, I flood the room with my presence, freezing each in place. ¡°If any of you makes another move, I¡¯ll be the only one leaving this room as anything other than a mote of ash.¡± The water mage holding my cage twitches, so I burn away all of his antlers to show I¡¯m not messing around. The markings disappear along with the khirig¡¯s branch-like external bones, leaving the water to drop around me. My outfit blocks most of it, but some does make it inside the tears of my torso, only to burst into steam on contact. It hurts, a lot, but I don¡¯t lose focus on the four who might still try something. The water mage now lies on the ground, flesh exposed and unable to stand up, but alive. He¡¯s not screaming either, so I assume it mustn¡¯t be too painful to lose those antlers. ¡°You realise what you are doing, right?¡± the third of the trio ¡ª an albanic this time ¡ª asks with a tone that implies a calmness that is betrayed by the sweat running down the side of his face and his eyes not leaving the tiny orb hovering before his chest. ¡°You are making yourself the enemy of the Mercenary Order. Do you not understand the severity of this mistake?¡± ¡°When the alternative is to become a prisoner, I¡¯d rather take my chances,¡± I say. I can¡¯t believe they would do this after how much I¡¯ve helped them. Considering they are so desperate to keep their Beiths hidden, they would never have reconnected with Joiak if not for me. This is exactly what Letty ¡ª that dohrni that helped find me some clothes ¡ª warned me about. The Order would do anything in its power to put a leash around me. ¡°What about Gr¨ªmr? Where is he? Did you charge him with desertion too?¡± The albanic raises an eyebrow in question, but answers anyway. ¡°No, he was pardoned under the severe injuries clause during his trial.¡± Well, that is a relief to hear, assuming he is truthful. Whether they didn¡¯t do so because they believe they already control him, or for some other reason, I don¡¯t know. All I know is that these charges they are trying to hit me with are nonsense. ¡°I am leaving. If I find anyone coming after me, I will immolate each of you.¡± The door burns off its hinges and I walk over the smouldering remains, through the building, and out into the uninhabited part of the city to wait. I gave them an option, and I am ready to follow through with my threat if anyone comes after me. It was immensely difficult to not just burn each of them where they stood. We are already struggling against the mermineae, ursu and The Theocracy and they decide they have to ruin what cooperation we could have had? On the way here, I¡¯d decided the best course of action is to leave my friends here and protect the pact nations alongside the Order. Now? I¡¯m not so sure. Will they use them as hostages like New Vetus did with Gerben to keep Leal in line? If so, I really need to get back to Meja and find the five. They won¡¯t be able to defend themselves if it is the Order coming for them. But first, I need to see if a particular trio of Order executives will leave this city alive. Chapter 142: Absolution Opportunity The evacuated city is about as close to ursu construction as I¡¯ve yet seen outside New Vetus. The buildings are tall and the streets cramped. There is clearly more understanding in the art of construction by those in the pact nations than that of Joiak or Zadok, but they still don¡¯t come close to the scale the ursu build. To be fair, none of the races other than the ursu really need all the extra room. Dohrni are tall at their full height, but still only a portion of an ursu. Plus, they rarely stand tall, usually relaxed at about the average height of the other races. Ignoring volans, of course. A single floor in an ursu building would support two for any other race. This immense difference is most apparent in the thickness of the alleys between buildings. In the dead of night, and the silence that only comes from an abandoned city, those looming structures are restrictively close together. As I walk through the dark streets, letting my footsteps be heard and offering any would be attacker an ideal, unsuspecting target, the towering brick walls feel more akin to underground tunnels than somewhere in open air. It¡¯s frustrating that even without the knot layering fears in my psyche, I still find enclosed spaces unnerving. An hour has passed since I left the three executives in their office. It¡¯s surprising. I really thought they¡¯d send a hit squad after me the moment I left. Maybe they are smarter than I thought. Could the Order bureaucrats actually be reasonable? The repeating slap of a dohrni¡¯s steps echo off the buildings. I guess it was too much to hope. Footsteps resound around me. With the tall walls around me, it is impossible to determine the number of attackers, nor where they are coming from. A heat signature behind me is barely noticeable through the buildings, but who knows if there are more hiding? I can feel heat through one or two walls, but they become less distinct the more that gets in my way. The city, as quiet as it is, is far from empty. Residents that have refused to leave. Soldiers on patrol. It is hard to tell which body of heat is coming for me, and which are simply doing their own thing. The first door I see, I enter. If they are after me, there is no doubt in my mind there will be water mages amongst them, so an enclosed space will be best to give me an opportunity to incinerate them before they get any opportunity to attack. Worst-case scenario, it¡¯s a Beith ranked water mage. If so, I¡¯ll collapse the building on top of us and run off. In a corner, wedged between a staircase and the doorway to an adjacent room, I hide. The mermineae fur and lack of light keep me invisible, while giving full sight of the doorway. The door handle rattles before a dohrni pushes its way into the building. They throw the door closed behind them, no one following. Are they alone? Or are there more outside? Is this dohrni a Beith? Or simply bait? ¡°Solvei?¡± Oh. It¡¯s Remus. I tug the string at the neck of my outfit and step out of my nook. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°It is you.¡± He lets out a relieved sigh. ¡°What are you doing wandering around like that at night? It¡¯s almost like you are asking for trouble.¡± ¡°I am.¡± Remus stares at me for a moment, before dumbly asking, ¡°what?¡± ¡°A few people from the Mercenary Order tried to capture me, because they think I deserted. I told them they would die if they came after me.¡± A tentacle slaps Remus in the face as he gives off a groan of frustration. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for that Solvei, it¡¯s why I¡¯m here, but killing those that come will only make things worse.¡± ¡°It¡¯s why you are here?¡± He won¡¯t make me fight him, will he? ¡°Yes.¡± He nods. ¡°I came to find you so they couldn¡¯t make some dumb attempt, but I see I was too late.¡± Remus turns back to the door, gesturing me to follow. ¡°They have no grounds to call for your arrest. You never officially signed on, nor did you swear the Order¡¯s oath, so they do not have the authority.¡± ¡°What about Gr¨ªmr?¡± I ask as I follow him back out into the street. ¡°They didn¡¯t punish him, did they?¡± ¡°Well, they did. But it isn¡¯t anything to worry about. A fine is all they gave him before reallocating him to Meja. It is different for you, because you are unknown. You haven¡¯t proven where your loyalty lies, so some at the top of the organisation are determined to lock you down and control you. It¡¯s bad at the moment. Considering the typical incentives to keep the stronger mercenaries around have shown to no longer be as effective as they thought, upper management is desperate for alternative methods of control.¡± The glow of the Ember Moon illuminates the brickwork walls around us in a deep crimson. Oddly, the light makes the streets more comforting. Like a pseudo flame engulfing everything without leaving a physical trace. ¡°It is, thankfully, only a few that are behind the attempt at your capture, so while it will take some time, I can argue your case.¡± Remus leads me away from the makeshift military district, and I have to wonder if the people from this city actually found a place to stay in wherever they were evacuated to. There are so many buildings that I can¡¯t imagine the number of residents being small. Amongst the infrequent heat signatures, behind me, a region above average suddenly becomes five distinct shapes. Looks like a group just turned a corner. Considering they are heading towards us, it looks like the executives aren¡¯t all that smart. ¡°Until then, you¡¯ll need to stay out of their sight.¡± Ah. He hasn¡¯t noticed them yet. ¡°It¡¯s a bit too late for that, Remus.¡± He turns to me in question at the same moment the group stumbles into our alley. The dohrni stops and sighs as I turn to deal with those running at us. They give away any subtlety and rush at us with bright markings painting their bodies. The stone paved road curves up behind us, closing us in the alley with them as a pair pool their strength into a wave of water that floods the space between buildings.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Solvei, get out of here. Let me calm these fools down.¡± ¡°No, I can take them.¡± ¡°They are working for the Order. Killing them will only make things worse for yourself.¡± I stare back at Remus, before launching myself up the tall walls to avoid the wave as it crashes over Remus. The remaining water encompasses my teammate and traps him in its embrace. A whip of the dohrni¡¯s arms scatters the liquid and he jumps to the wall opposite me. The five mages below continue toward us with a smaller wave carrying them. Like that khirig mage that once attacked me, they have spinning blades of water cutting through the pavement on their path toward us. ¡°Fine, I won¡¯t kill them,¡± I say. Remus nods in thanks and turns his attention to the group as I rocket up to the rooftops. I keep an eye down below, making sure he can take care of himself and doesn¡¯t actually need my help. The duo with amber markings get in his way and try to hold him up. They intend to give the water mages time to chase me, but they can¡¯t get past Remus that easily. He shatters the walls of stone they build around him and cuts off the other three from continuing. As easily as he could attack and crush them where they stand, he simply blocks their way and throws them back when they try to come after me. ¡°Sorry guys, but I can¡¯t let you go further. Your superiors are in breach of protocol. Go back. Wait for a proper trial to be held.¡± The mages stop and exchange glances. ¡°Remus?¡± I hear them ask. He really is well known, I guess. I don¡¯t stand around. He has everything under control. Even if they decide to attack, Remus clearly outmatches the lot of them. After what happened in that office, I¡¯m insulted they sent nothing better. I told Remus I wouldn¡¯t kill those five, but the order executives still tried to have me killed or captured. It doesn¡¯t matter which. They went forward with it despite my warning. The mages will leave alive, but their bosses won¡¯t. In a matter of minutes, I¡¯m flying toward the command building. I need to be careful to enter without hurting anyone else. It would be easy to simply burn down the building, but I will hurt others in the attempt. They won¡¯t be able to escape a spreading fire, as I¡¯d once foolishly assumed. No, normal people aren¡¯t that hardy. Thankfully, I shouldn¡¯t have to worry about any Beith mercenary stationed here. If there is, I¡¯m almost certain they would have set them on me with that group of mages. It would be so easy to dive into the building and take the trio out. But do I want everyone to know it was me? Volan sentinels watch every approach to the building. Even with my camouflage outfit, they would have a good chance of spotting me. Their eyes are just better than most other races. Heck, I¡¯m sure they¡¯re watching me right now, flying above and just waiting for me to make some move. Though that isn¡¯t exactly all that impressive. I shine like a miniature inferno in the darkness of night. I should really work on my control. Despite having far more strength than what I assume my tribe ever did, the command I have over my fire is still lacking in comparison. With how much every other part of me has grown, I really should focus more on bettering that which was drilled into me ever since I was a child. Also, being able to fly and not be spotted immediately would have been really nice right now. So, how do I get into the building without being seen by the unrivalled sight of the volan guards? Well, I do have an idea. ??? So it turns out melting my way through the earth beneath buildings has the unintended side effect of destabilising the supports for the structure I¡¯m crawling under. Fortunately, there was nobody around when the wall of a double story building collapsed under its own weight. Fortunate, because I wasn¡¯t discovered¡­ and nobody was hurt. Now I need to figure if it¡¯s even possible to break into the command post with this method, or I¡¯ll need to scrap the plan entirely. I can hardly leave a path of destruction on my way in and call it stealthy, can I? Wait, why am I doing this in my default body? I chide myself while my body shrinks, taking on the form and size of a jerboa. I¡¯ve never been able to push myself this small before, and it soon becomes clear why; The ground melts under my tiny feet without intention. I can no longer hold back the heat of my white flames. Any attempt at reverting my body to the cooler golden fire fails. I let my body grow a touch, taking on the form of a fennec fox. The larger size gives me much more freedom and control over how my heat affects the surroundings. For crawling through the earth, the form of a worm might be the most efficient, but¡­ I really don¡¯t want to be a worm. I try to dig once more, beginning at another uninhabited building a good distance from the first. When I melt everything in my way, the rock tends to cave in behind me, so I have to attempt something with more control. The smaller size will help, but I should be more careful this time. Instead of leaving the rock molten as I crawl through the ground, I focus on the heat, pulling it out of the stone the moment I¡¯ve squeezed past it. The magma pooling around me hardens but only fills the bottom half of the tunnel I¡¯ve dug. For now, the rock walls hold. I push forward, doing my utmost to suppress the anxious twisting in my chest. I chose to tunnel my way in not only because it would avoid the eyes of the volans, but because I despise the fear I feel. It should be all but impossible to be trapped underground anymore, and yet the idea of being buried alive still terrifies me. The knot no longer limits my movements, so I need to prove that I can do this. I need to show the world that a simple fear won¡¯t stop me. The tunnel expands a few streets with no buildings falling on me, when I realise I don¡¯t actually know how far I need to go before I reach the building used as a command post. I¡¯d chosen a starting point a fair way off from the militarised area, to prevent being noticed, but I now discover that it is far harder to tell how far I¡¯ve come than expected. After sitting in indecision for a moment about whether I should go back, I settle on rising from where I am. As my tunnel inclines to the surface, ever so slightly, I feel a heat signature above. Barely a moment after I feel it, the ground above me melts away, exposing the interior of some building¡¯s basement. The body heat I felt is outside, down the street. I climb to the ground floor and get my bearings through the windows. I still have quite a distance to go, but the number of patrolling guards increases from here. It should be pretty easy to make that distance now. I¡¯ll just check every few hundred metres. The massive congregation of people at the command post will be more than obvious even with rock over my head. I¡¯ll need to be careful not to rise too quickly when checking, otherwise I might break through the surface and give myself away. An hour of crawling through magma later, I finally arrive below my objective. The mass of heat above can be nothing other than the many people concentrated within the command centre. The only issue I have now is how do I get in without being noticed? I could simply dig up and hope there isn¡¯t anyone where I breach, maybe choosing a place that feels less dense with heat. If the building has a basement, there shouldn¡¯t be too many waiting around, but being careful can¡¯t hurt. I burn a path toward the less dense heat section, hoping to rise with no eyes around, and stumble into a tunnel system already dug beneath the building. The rock melts away before me and dribbles down into this new chamber. Without heat sources in the tunnel, I couldn¡¯t notice it until it was too late. Barely in time, I suck the heat out of the molten rock before it burns through the pipe taking up most of the tunnel. The tube gives off a constant groan as I climb into the space. Even with the pair of pipes running along the wall, there is plenty of space for me to walk, and I take my time to change back to my default form. I¡¯m not really sure where this tunnel leads, but it is clearly a part of the building I wanted to get into. Well, this is probably a better entry than what I had planned, but I really wish I didn¡¯t have to walk so close to what I am pretty sure is a tube of rushing water. I¡¯ve been around the other races long enough to know that they find this important, but I don¡¯t have to like it. I eye it carefully as I don my outfit again. Knowing my luck, the pipes will burst before I can even make it up to the basement. Well, no point waiting here. Chapter 143: Unexpected Attack I may have worried for nothing over the threat of piping. I don¡¯t even have to travel far before a way up shows itself. A hatch above a ladder gives me an entrance to the basement within only a few metres from where I fell into the tunnel. As well as my body is hidden, if there¡¯s anyone watching the hatch, they¡¯ll notice me immediately. I don¡¯t waste time, though. If I¡¯m seen, I¡¯m seen. It would be preferable to staying in the tunnel with water flowing by my side. Plus, they¡¯ll see the hatch moving, not who is lifting it. With the amount of heat I feel above the hatch, I expect at least someone to spot the movement, but as the metal door swings open, the source of the heat becomes far more clear to my senses. I feel foolish. There is barely anyone down in the basement, and those that are, tend to a large furnace not unlike the ovens I once spent so much time within. I silently climb into the dimly lit room with a pair of khirig chatting beside sacks of coal. The furnace on the opposite side of the basement from me is nowhere near the size of an ursu oven, and the fire only burns at a fraction of capacity. The major difference between this and ursu ovens ¡ª besides the size ¡ª is the thick red lines of inscription glowing across the metal box and spreading over the walls. I finally get to see one of those sources that power inscriptions. I can use this. The inscription network would spread through the entire building and if I put my influence over the system, I can probably burn the trio from here. It is almost too tempting to try, but it is too risky. Because of Leal, I now know that mages can tell the difference between my fire and that currently spreading through the building. There is also the issue that I have no way of being certain I¡¯m burning the right people until I¡¯ve wrapped them in flames. Fortunately, I don¡¯t need to rely on such alternative methods right now. I can feel each volan. Finding a path around them should be easy. The stairs are out of the duo¡¯s line of sight, so I have no issue making my way up. The stairs wind upward, with doors to each floor. I won¡¯t be able to climb to higher than the second floor using these; a volan and dohrni block my way, watching over the handrail from the third floor. Another pair watches the entrance to the stairs from the foyer, but they aren¡¯t watching my way, so I¡¯ll have no issue getting past. I creep up each step, hugging the wall. My outfit hides me from sight, and my lessened physical form carries so little weight, my steps barely make a noise. Some khirig treks down the stairs, but I¡¯m safely through the opening of the second floor before they pass me. I have to get to the sixth and top floor to find the trio of executives. Or at least that¡¯s where we met the last time I was here. Their clothes and the way they hold themselves are a step up from most of the office workers flooding the building. Very few of them appear to be much in the way of fighters, but the few that are, hold themselves with such confidence that it is clear which are the guards. Still holding myself against the wall, I creep past many mercenary team managers and other workers rushing back and forth between offices. In the centre hall, a bunch of bulky metal machines clack with the motions of dozens of people. Paper is spat out and folded into envelopes before being tossed into bins which are rushed down the hall. The space reminds me much of the mill I found my friends, and while it doesn¡¯t look anywhere near as dangerous for the workers, I find the monotony the operation forces upon each to be too similar to be favourable. Well, it¡¯s probably not the worst thing in the world, but it looks so boring. I crack open the door to one of the few rooms that I haven¡¯t seen any worker clambering through, and slide myself inside. It is a tight space that reeks of chemicals, with walls lined with tools, but it is perfect. I take no time to climb the shelves lining the back walls and melt a hole into the roof before pulling myself up. There¡¯s a tiny crawlspace between floors, barely tall enough for a volan to fit, but no one is above, so I melt another hold and crawl into an almost identical room on the next floor. The climb to the sixth floor is not difficult per se, but definitely time consuming. It would be nice if I could have simply taken the stairs after the third floor, but the guards seem to concentrate there, not to mention the number of people simply walking up and down makes it a hassle. It took time, but I¡¯ve made it. The top floor isn¡¯t much different from the other levels, though it is clearly not frequented near as much as the other floors. Through a few walls, I can feel those I assume are my targets, sitting behind the same desk as before. Thankfully, nobody has noticed the holes I¡¯ve melted just yet, but that won¡¯t last forever. I put in some effort to hide my path, but my solutions are makeshift and any curious person will uncover the holes in dark corners, or lazily hidden with potted plants or chairs. As I¡¯m about to charge down the empty hallway and end their lives before their guards can react, several familiar heat signatures walk their way up the stairs. Remus leads the five mages who attacked me up to this floor and into the executives¡¯ office. I guess he really talked them down. Well, now I¡¯ll have to wait until Remus leaves before I make my move. As much as he hasn¡¯t explicitly told me not to kill the three executives, I know he doesn¡¯t approve. But I can¡¯t let people get away with attempting to trap me, especially after I gave them the opportunity to back down.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. As the six of them push into the office, closing the door behind them, I feel one executive ¡ª the dohrni ¡ª rise to full height and his muffled shouts ring through the hall. A subtle sense of satisfaction bleeds through my chest, knowing how irritated the mages¡¯ failure has made them. Remus stands undaunted at his screaming kin. The mages all stand behind him, almost cowering at their superior¡¯s anger, despite the fact each probably has the strength to fight off all three without issue. I consider creeping forward to overhear, but I know Remus is here to tell these higher ups of the Mercenary Order to back down, while also protecting the mages who failed their mission. The dohrni¡¯s partners are far more collected than he, gesturing him to calm down before they move into a conversation with Remus. The talks go on for a few minutes and I really wish I could see their faces right now. Heat sense simply is not detailed enough to tell much of a person¡¯s finer body language, especially through walls. I¡¯m sure each is fuming though, as Remus walks out into the hall ¡ª and into my sight ¡ª happy and pleased, almost skipping as he takes the mages back downstairs. I wait until they¡¯re into the stairway before I move toward the executive¡¯s office. Before I reach the door, it opens and the two guards that stood in the corner of their office the entire time walk out. I freeze, thinking they have found me out, but both walk right past me and stand on the opposite wall. Neither are the water mages that tried to trap me the last time I was here. Even if things don¡¯t go well, there¡¯s not much I have to fear from these two. I wonder what happened to the khirig after I burnt off all their antlers? Not one to ignore such an opportunity, I slide into the room as the door closes, only for the three to explode at each other. Each apparently just as wound up as the dohrni, but unwilling to show as such in front of even their guards. The executives sent their guards out so that they can argue amongst themselves. I guess things really can go in my favour sometimes. ¡°I told you this was a stupid idea. You said Remus was busy up north, so why the fuck is he here?¡± ¡°He¡¯s not supposed to be back for another few weeks. I don¡¯t know why he¡¯s here and not guarding the commander I paid out. This would have all been fine if you¡¯d brought capable mages. Seriously, are low Luis ranked the best you could do?¡± ¡°This is both of your faults. All you had to do was catch a child and keep away some old laggard. How could you fuck that up?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you talk. We wouldn¡¯t be in this mess if you hadn¡¯t hidden the fact our Beiths ran off.¡± ¡°It is only because of me we have yet to be demoted to scum cleaners like the other Beith managers. We need to get that ¨¢ed under our command soon. If we can¡¯t, there¡¯s no future for us.¡± ¡°But how? We¡¯ve lost all the influence over any higher ranked teams and my wallet is running dry. You saw what she did to that water mage, her supposed counter. Anyone we throw her way will only find their deaths.¡± As enjoyable as it is to stand in the doorway and listen to their squabbling, I need to get this over with. Flames wrap around me, covering my body and alerting each of the executives to my presence. They try to yell for the guards, but their previous shouting has the guards staying where they are. I consider gloating, showing off and telling them they messed with the wrong ¨¢ed, but it feels wasteful. None of them means much to me. They tried their utmost to force me into their control and even though I gave them the opportunity to learn from their mistake and yet, they still repeated it. From their argument now, it appears they would have made the same mistake a third time if given the chance. The white flames remove their bodies from existence within moments. Not even a drop of blood remains to indicate this is the location of their death. My control isn¡¯t so bad that I would leave scorch marks anymore. I stand alone in the empty office. Maybe I should have gloated, at least somewhat. Offing them like pests, while appropriate, makes the whole action feel too deontic. I could have made the entire interaction at least somewhat entertaining. I was always going to kill them, but doing it without gaining any sort of catharsis just doesn¡¯t feel right. Well, those that attempted to trap me are now dead. It¡¯s unfortunate I can¡¯t use their lives as an example for others not to try, but I still think it¡¯s better nobody knows I was here. The guards still stand outside the door to this office, so I find a dark spot beneath the heavy wooden desk and burn my way down to the floor below and make my way out, just as stealthily as I made my way in. At least now I know this attempt on my freedom was an isolated attempt by these three and not the entire organisation trying to control me. I don¡¯t have to worry about them using my friends as hostages¡­ probably. I think I¡¯m going to go check up on them anyway, just to be sure. ??? An hour later, I¡¯ve made it out of the command post, through the tunnel, and back out on the streets. The entire mission went as well as I could have hoped. My three targets are dead, and nobody knows it is me who did it. Now, I should find Remus. I doubt he¡¯s run far considering he knows I¡¯m around, but we set no place to meet, so I¡¯m not too sure how we could find each other without me sending up a pillar of fire to tell every being within a league where I am. I settle to just go back to the last building we met, but before I can, an odd feeling of wrongness settles within my chest. My eyes turn to the command centre I¡¯d just escaped from, where a mass of intermingled heat signatures suddenly goes cold. At the end of the street, where the building once stood, is nothing but a dust cloud that quickly settles along the earth. Everything within a hundred metres of the building disappears. An entire section of the city is simply gone. There is no explosion, no screams, nothing that would typically suggest a tragedy, but that¡¯s exactly what this is. Everything and everyone in the area is as gone as the executives after I was done with them. The dust settles as I run toward the site of devastation. A crater now sits in place of the command post. Nothing outside the crater is damaged, but there isn¡¯t a soul in sight. I know there should be people in the untouched streets, but it¡¯s like they no longer exist. My first thought is a Viisin, but even they can¡¯t do this much damage this quick, especially not without a noise. Has the Void Fog made another appearance? That doesn¡¯t explain the missing people in the surroundings. As I stand at the edge of the crater, a single creature walks out from the last of the settling dust. Some short species I¡¯ve never seen before with taut, furless skin and two long tails walks toward me. Its large eyes dig into mine and I feel instinctual fear. Its presence, barely a sliver, petrifies me. The creature gives me just enough pressure to know I couldn¡¯t possibly hope to face it. I have no doubt in my mind, this monster is stronger than Hund. I could run, but it would be pointless. ¡°So,¡± her voice is laced with power. Unlike Hund¡¯s booming voice that shakes the air, hers stings just to listen to. It¡¯s like my body is falling apart at the sound. My flames lose their energy and I have to focus to not fall apart in her proximity. ¡°You must be the ¨¢ed that brought that lot of centzon to block my way.¡± She stands before me, only her large ears resting on the top of her head reach my height, and yet she exudes such an intimidating presence she might as well tower over me. ¡°Oh, where are my manners?¡± She backs up and gives a low, excessively showy bow that only makes it feel patronising before grinning viciously. ¡°I¡¯m Kalma. You might have heard of me.¡± Chapter 144: Kalmas Karma Kalma? Here? What is she doing on this side of the Alps? Isn¡¯t she supposed to be oblivious to the mermineae escape? Did she find out? Is that why she¡¯s here now? But that can¡¯t be right. She would be cutting her way through the mermineae rather than wiping out our command post if that were the case. Nobody here had a chance, did they? Fuck. Did Remus at least get out before she arrived? Plenty of time should have passed while I was crawling through the earth, so he must have, right? Kalma takes a step forward, and as much as I scream at my body to run, it won¡¯t move. An unyielding physical fear stops me from what would be senseless resistance. If she wanted me dead, I¡¯d be dead. If there¡¯s something she wants from me, she¡¯ll get it. I¡¯ve never been so sure of something in my life. The grey skinned monster tilts her head back, closes her eyes and breathes deep. ¡°Ah. That explains it; you reek of Anatla. The Void truly had its way with you, huh?¡± Thankfully, she gives me my space again, and I clench my jaw to stop myself crying out in relief. How did I ever think Hund was bad? The mere slither of her presence is enough to have my flames break down, losing the energy that holds them together. No matter how hard I try to control myself, my flames burn bright into the surroundings. Like a child once more, I cannot keep myself contained. Kalma¡¯s eyes sting like humid air as they watch me. I¡¯m too slow to hold back my relieved breath when she finally turns away. She pays me no mind. With tails swaying lazily behind her, she looks over the city¡­ or at least what¡¯s left of it. I feel a heat signature growing from off to our side, but as I turn to look, it disappears. Kalma doesn¡¯t react at all. ¡°You know, it¡¯s nice to be back in a proper civilisation again,¡± she says. ¡°No matter how much benevolent guidance I give them, the mermineae simply never change their ways. I do so much for them, and they want to run away from me. Like children that don¡¯t realise how good they have it.¡± Another approaching heat source vanishes. ¡°I¡¯m so good to them. How could they?¡± Kalma lets out a snicker before it morphs into loud cackles. She turns back to me with a grin full of sharp teeth. Her long protruding fangs are knives amongst rows of razors. ¡°Nah, that¡¯s titan-shit. I¡¯m an absolute bitch to them.¡± She chuckles again. Yet another approaching person loses their heat signature. She stands here, having just wiped out an entire block with hundreds inside, killing any who come close, and now admitting to her cruelty toward the mermineae. Why am I not dead yet? ¡°Don¡¯t worry kid, I won¡¯t kill you. You¡¯re touched by Anatla; the curse you¡¯ve got coming your way is so much worse than anything I can do to you.¡± She smirks, only her four fangs peeking through her lips this time. ¡°Enjoyed your quick rise to power, did you? Kept that mind of yours intact? Well, enjoy the time you have before the Void regains sentience.¡± What does that mean? What does she mean? I thought I beat the Fog¡¯s curse when I broke free of the knot. It isn¡¯t going to come back now, is it? ¡°What will happen?¡± I muster up the courage to speak through her presence. She ignores my question. ¡°You know, I was really pissed when I found out the outsiders I¡¯d let into my lands interfered with my plan and put the centzon in the mermineae''s path. I¡¯d put a lot of effort into balancing things and that threw it all off. But the nations over here aren¡¯t nearly as unified as I¡¯d assumed, so even without every merminea, it still worked out.¡± ¡°You wanted them to invade?¡± I ask, stunned at the implications. ¡°Then why not just order them? They¡¯d be terrified to oppose you.¡± Kalma melts into dust before my eyes, only to reform behind me. She wraps an arm over my shoulder and a tail around my torso, pulling me in close. ¡°Now where¡¯s the fun in that?¡± she snickers in my ear. I jolt, but her grip is tight. Even as my flames drop into intangibility, I can¡¯t escape Kalma¡¯s grasp. ¡°Sending the mermineae across would be too easy. The battle would end with a simple fight between my Viisin and the elite over here. Now that isn¡¯t a war. A war should be fought by everyone. Every single being that makes up the whole, not simply those with the most strength. It¡¯s boring and quick otherwise. It wouldn¡¯t truly bring out the sheer desperation of those involved.¡± Uncomfortable in her claws, I struggle to free myself, but she clamps down on me, making each point of contact sting in agony. As if she coated her body in water before touching me. ¡°So, I sent an invitation to those Beiths. Took many out of the picture while I enjoyed the vain squabbling of the mermineae. I don¡¯t think I could state how amusing it is to watch a collective splinter over two impossible goals. My only regret is I didn¡¯t get to watch the same happen over here.¡± I don¡¯t understand. She has the power to simply walk through any of the nations and take what she wants. It is unlikely the pact nations have any warriors or mages greater than Hund, and definitely none that could come close to stopping her. I calm the churning flames within my chest. She¡¯s already said she won¡¯t kill me and I might as well take advantage of her suspicious willingness to talk. ¡°But what do you hope to achieve?¡±Stolen novel; please report. Kalma¡¯s face goes blank, devoid of emotion for the first time since I¡¯ve met her. ¡°World domination.¡± Her eyes lock on mine for a long moment before her facade cracks. She snorts, then breaks out in laughter. Kalma grins, the expression still unsettling no matter how many times it rests on her face. ¡°No, no. I¡¯m messing with ya. It¡¯s simply for my amusement. There¡¯s nothing quite like an all out, multi-faction war. What better way to spend the last days before the end of our world?¡± ¡°The end of the world?¡± I ask, doubtful. Considering she¡¯s started wars and killed thousands apparently because she considers it amusing, means she¡¯s either insane or a liar. A claim like that is ludicrous. ¡°Yeah,¡± she says with a sigh, no longer joking. ¡°The barrier will not last much longer.¡± Finally, Kalma lets me go, her attention somewhere else. What does she mean? What barrier? Why won¡¯t it last? I want to believe she¡¯s delusional, but should I assume that? ¡°Why are you telling me all this?¡± Kalma ignores my question and asks her own. ¡°Are you familiar with a certain dohrni that holds gauntlets beneath each of his tentacles?¡± Even after having adjusted to her constant pressure, my body goes stiff. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve noticed. I¡¯ve been killing anyone that gets close to us. You¡¯ve ignored their deaths easily, which is rather cold for an ¨¢ed.¡± She chuckles before continuing. ¡°But I wonder how you¡¯ll react to the same happening to someone you are actually close to?¡± My eyes widen and I turn to the growing heat signature rushing toward us. Quickly, Remus enters my range. It can be no one else. Unless there¡¯s some Beith that was hiding in the area, Remus is the only dohrni that can run that fast. Kalma raises her hand, and before she has the chance to hurt him, I engulf her in as much white hot fire as I can manipulate. I¡¯m not sure what I plan to do, but I need to stop her from hurting him. ¡°Huh, that was easier than expected,¡± Kalma says before an orb the size of my head appears in her hand. The sphere has an incredibly dense array of inscriptions lining it, and I feel them trying to exert control over my flames. I ignore its attempts and incinerate both the orb along with its holder. An intense, overwhelming agony washes through my inner flames, and I tug them back, pulling myself back into safety. My inner flame recedes back into me, but I watch as white fire circles the orb. It spins around the metal sphere in Kalma¡¯s hand. They are my flames, but I no longer control them. I don¡¯t want to feel that pain again, and I¡¯m sure Kalma will have no qualms about repeating the decay she inflicted upon me if I tried to reinsert my flames. ¡°You asked why I told you everything?¡± Kalma, holding the orb and flames surrounding it, smirks at me. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what you know; nobody will believe a word.¡± She raises the orb above her head, and the flames spread out. A white inferno covers the buildings bordering the crater Kalma left. I feel Remus stop, thankfully unharmed by Kalma, but he backs away from the heat. ¡°I said this before: I¡¯m a bitch. When someone gets in my way, I pay them back. While things turned out even better than I¡¯d expected, you still put the centzon in my way. Normally, I¡¯d settle for extended torture, but you already have a cursed future ahead of you, and I wouldn¡¯t want to impede that.¡± The orb disintegrates within her hands as it pushes the fire to spread through the rest of the city. ¡°So, good luck convincing your allies. You¡¯ll need it. You did burn down their command centre, after all.¡± With one last toothy grin, she vanishes into dust. I can do nothing but stand there watching the inferno greater than I¡¯d be able to create myself burn across the city. Remus has moved well out of the range of my sense again, but I¡¯m hesitant to push my control into the fire. I don¡¯t want to feel that pain again. Kalma could be around, just waiting for me to try. The flames don¡¯t die out, though; they continue to grow and if I don¡¯t do something, they are bound to burn further than I can stop. Just like what happened in Morne. Hesitantly, I spread my inner flame into the surrounding fire, prepared to pull back at a moment of pain, but it doesn¡¯t come, so I force my influence through every part of the inferno. Buildings collapse around me, their supports no obstacle to the unbelievable heat of my hottest fire. I can feel the melting bones of those who couldn¡¯t escape in time. Anything the flames touch, does not exist for long. It takes a full minute to bring the blaze under control. Even as I do, I can feel the eyes on me. The heat signatures approaching and watching on as the flames pull into myself. The amount of energy in the fire is insane. An order of magnitude greater than I can put out. I¡¯m momentarily awed by the sheer energy Kalma must have to achieve this until I truly realise the situation she¡¯s thrown me in. I¡¯m the only one to see Kalma here. Anyone who even knows her name thinks she¡¯s a thousand leagues across the Titan Alps. How much of what she said was true? Did she truly orchestrate this all from the start, or was that a bluff? Is the world truly ending? Has the Void Fog affected me more than I thought? Kalma knows so much about me. She knows I am close to Remus. How? It¡¯s not like we¡¯ve met before. How long has she known about the nations on this side of the Alps? As I extinguish the last of the fire, a familiar thermal presence approaches from behind, and I struggle to think of a way to explain. I¡¯m not stupid enough to not realise how bad this looks. Maybe I could have feigned ignorance if I pretended I wasn¡¯t here, but I couldn¡¯t let my fire go out of control like that again. Not after Morne. ¡°Solvei¡­ what¡­¡± I turn to Remus. The dohrni looks pained. Worse even than when I found him in the hands of the mermineae. It hurts to see him jumping to the obvious conclusion, but I can¡¯t blame him for it. My chest aches at the betrayal his eyes express. More people close in around us. Mercenaries, most likely. Those willing to approach the source of disaster after it has happened, and likely only the strongest around. Remus straightens himself, standing tall above me as he wipes the emotion from his eyes. ¡°Solvei, tell me, did you do it? Was this intentional?¡± What else can I do but say the truth? ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then leave. We¡¯ll meet at the team¡¯s cabin and you can explain yourself there. Until then, stay out of sight and don¡¯t bring attention to yourself.¡± His voice is quiet, only loud enough for me to hear, and not the counting observers. He believes me? No, he might not know what to think, but he wants to give me the benefit of the doubt. A mix of gratitude and guilt engulfs me. He is willing to believe me and I¡¯d assumed he wouldn¡¯t even give me a chance. ¡°Leave. Now.¡± Remus¡¯ tone is uncharacteristically curt. His eyes twirl to the growing number of mercenaries closing in. I understand it won¡¯t be long until there¡¯s a mercenary group either capable or willing to fight me, and there¡¯s already been too much death today. With the excess energy from Kalma¡¯s fuelled flames, I rocket into the air, putting as much space as I can between myself and the mercenaries before my form fully changes. No longer can I fight on the battlefield alongside the Mercenary Order. With Kalma watching over this war so it will end in the worst possible way for all parties involved, I have no clue what I¡¯m supposed to do. Is there even a chance things won¡¯t end horribly? Chapter 145: Impatient Helplessness is a feeling I¡¯m all too familiar with. The overwhelming difficulty of simply trying to live is something that never seems to ease. Maybe I¡¯ve become arrogant in my strength. I mean, I can even compete with Viisin now, so I thought it would be no issue to just burn my way to my goals. Burn the mermineae. Incinerate any who threaten me. Violence and murder have become such an easy solution to my problems, but no matter how much power I gather, the world is determined to make me struggle. Kalma isn¡¯t someone I can fight. Not only would I have no chance against her in a fight, she has gone and severed my ties to the nations that protect my friends. The centzon weren¡¯t even an obstacle for her, so I don¡¯t understand why she felt it so important to punish me personally. Does she know Gr¨ªmr was with me? Has she taken her anger out on him too? If I knew where he was, I would be on my way to find him immediately. Unfortunately, I don¡¯t. I can only hope that wherever he was sent for his recovery is out of her reach. Not that anything could stop her. Is there anything I can actually do now? Kalma has such a stranglehold on this war that every side will wipe themselves out unless something changes. Drastically. Without being part of the Mercenary Order, I can¡¯t try to convince them to switch their priorities. I¡¯m sure nothing could change, even if they know of Kalma¡¯s true influence. They still need to fight off each of their invaders. Can we convince any of the invaders to back down? Both New Vetus and the Theocracy are opportunistic, so it will be difficult. It¡¯s the mermineae that have the most chance to back down, but for that to happen, I would have to reveal Kalma¡¯s plot to both their clergy and the traitors. That will be incredibly hard considering the immense number of their kind I¡¯ve personally ended. Even if I can convince them that Kalma has not only known of their plans to escape from the start, but actually incited that idea within their numbers, would they stop invading? They are terrified of her, and rightfully so. I can¡¯t imagine they would go against her wishes for fear of the consequences. Not while they know she¡¯s aware of their actions. It is hopeless. I have no better idea, so I fly to Meja. I want to see my friends again and make sure they¡¯re safe before I meet with Remus at the team¡¯s cabin. Hopefully, we¡¯ll be able to think of some way out of this together. My last option is to take those I care for and run. I would lead them to the wasteland and eventually the Agglomerate, if I didn¡¯t know for sure that some would refuse to leave. My flight through the pact nations is not undisturbed, but I shake off each of the volans that try to intercept me. Only the mages amongst them can reach the same pace Jav could after being flung by Remus, and therefor able to keep up with me. Those that command me, I ignore. The ones that attack, I threaten with flames of my own. It¡¯s not an optimal solution. It will hardly make me look any less guilty in the eyes of the pact nations, but I can¡¯t stop. Not now. When the volan interceptions stop, I know I¡¯ve entered the mermineae controlled land. Unfortunately, that happens far earlier than I expected. Half of Meja has already been overtaken. I don¡¯t know why I thought the city I¡¯d left my friends would have remained untouched, but I had. Assuming they¡¯ve been evacuated, how will I find them? There¡¯s so many places they could have gone. It also means the meeting point Remus set for us is far behind mermineae lines. Far from where the Mercenary Order can reach me. I¡¯m not worried about what the Order might send after me. With how hesitant they¡¯ve been to utilise their Beiths, I can¡¯t imagine they would have one chase me down unless I¡¯m actively attacking them. What I am worried about is that they might punish my friends because of what they think I¡¯ve done. Many mermineae pass below. I could spend some time clearing through them, to make it easier on the pact nations¡¯ defence, but I don¡¯t see the point anymore. No matter how many I clear out, it won¡¯t make a difference. They aren¡¯t the true threat. They never were. I arrive at Baansguard. I¡¯d been far too petrified of the city¡¯s enclosed nature the last time I was here to truly appreciate its scale. Unfortunately, the large carved living platforms have seen better days. Many have crumbled. There are clear signs that Viisin went unopposed within the city¡¯s confines.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The sight of dried blood leaves a sick feeling in my chest. My friends were evacuated, right? They couldn¡¯t have just left all the citizens to die here. They pulled the citizens away from the cities bordering the conflict zone down south, so it¡¯s only reasonable that they did the same here, right? I have no way to find them, either. The pact nations are likely going to treat me as an enemy of the state like Joiak did before the ursu destroyed it, so it isn¡¯t like I can just go searching for them. All I can do now is hope they are safe. Wherever they might have gone. With how much land the pact nations have lost, I can¡¯t imagine the safer cities doing well with the massive influx of refugees. Even if they got away from the battles without issue, what kind of life are they now living? There is nothing left for me in Baansguard, so I leave for my team¡¯s cabin. Technically, as a part of the team, it is mine too, but I only spent a single night, so it hardly feels like a home. I barely recognise the building when I arrived in the clearing. Like the city, it too is empty. The scratched up wooden deck and door show the mermineae have been here, likely ransacking for anything worthwhile. I approach the couch I¡¯d slept on when I was last here. A few metres behind it, I dig through the earth and pull up the pouch with my mum¡¯s marble. I¡¯d left it here for safekeeping when we first left on our hunt. At the time, it had seemed safer to hide it rather than keep it on me, and I¡¯m glad I did. If I hadn¡¯t, I probably would have lost it somewhere along the way. There¡¯s nothing for me to do except wait for Remus, so I jump onto the couch and bring out the small glass orb. The unmoving pink flame still shines with intensity through its black encasing despite all the time that has passed. Like it¡¯s frozen in time. What would my tribe have done if they were here? Would mum or auntie or uncle find a solution that I¡¯m simply unable to see? With as much time as I have with my own thoughts, my mind falls back on Kalma¡¯s words. She mentioned some unbelievable things, like the world is ending and the Void regaining sentience. I shouldn¡¯t believe her, but she made her comments with such conviction that I have to at least consider their possibility. How might the world be ending? Does it relate to the Void Fog gaining awareness? Is the Void Fog going to kill everyone? No, that¡¯s probably jumping to conclusions. She said I smelt of Anatla. What is Anatla? Did she mean the Void Fog when she said that? Haven¡¯t I heard the term Anatla before? They have something to do with the revontulet, according to the centzon. How is the revontulet related to the Void Fog? I saw one of those foxes within the Fog. Is that important? If the world truly is going to end, why does Kalma not try to stop it? She has enough power to do anything, so why is it only being used to spread chaos? Wait, if the world is really ending, then why does she think the curse I¡¯ll experience because of the Void is worse than any torture she can inflict? Could it be that she won¡¯t hurt me directly because I¡¯m Void-Touched? It¡¯s an incredibly flawed train of logic that I¡¯m sure isn¡¯t even close to the truth, but if there¡¯s the smallest chance that she can¡¯t attack a Void-Touched because she fears the Fog, or Anatla, then I know what I have to do. I¡¯ve felt both their presences, so I know Hund couldn¡¯t beat Kalma, but if she can¡¯t attack him, then he might just be able to scare her off. He is Void-Touched as well. The only problem is that he is still bound by his own version of the knot. If I can disentangle him from the control of New Vetus, we might all have a chance. I¡¯m on my feet and ready to take to the skies in seconds. This can¡¯t wait. The longer I delay, the worse things will get. If Remus gets here within a day, I¡¯d stay, but there is no guarantee he can get here that fast. Every day I wait, the closer the battles get to the heart of the pact nations. There will be a point that the Mercenary Order is backed into a corner and will unleash every elite they have. If things go how Kalma wants, that will be the day millions will die. I feel bad for leaving Remus, but this is too important. I burn a message into the outer wall of the cabin, where he couldn¡¯t possibly miss it, and blast south. Time to go to the ursu¡¯s capital. ??? ¡°Damn it Solvei.¡± Remus stared at the char black message strewn across the front wall of his team¡¯s home. He was glad Ossian wasn¡¯t here to see this. The caretaker would grouch when someone dragged dirt inside, the khirig would faint when he saw this. Despite his original thoughts upon seeing the city in flames, there had been far too many questionable facts for him to believe it could have been the young ¨¢ed. Not only was that far too much white flame for him to reasonably assume the girl could have supplied it, but the central crater did not match the damage to the rest of the city. Though, that would be impossible to prove because of the black glass coating that had once been molten rock. Remus had seen the energy cost between different flames during his time with an ¨¢ed tribe, so he knew Solvei couldn¡¯t have created that blaze, even with the capacity she¡¯d accumulated for herself. Once more in his life, guilt riddled him. He¡¯d assume the girl had gone for retribution, and paid little attention to the innocents in her way. It was only when he locked eyes with her he knew she hadn¡¯t done it. At least not intentionally. Though none of the other mercenaries would believe him. This was as open and shut as it could get to their eyes. It didn¡¯t help that Remus couldn¡¯t answer how this actually happened. Especially considering all the mages pointed out the flames had the same signature of influence as the girl herself. So, to hear Kalma, the feared god from across the Titan Alps, caused the disaster was concerning. Remus ran to the abandoned cabin as soon as he could, but he was sure he¡¯d been days late to meet her. She¡¯d run off again without waiting, to convince the greatest threat of New Vetus. Her goal was foolish and unlikely to achieve anything but her death, but he was already too late to stop her. All he could do would be to gather everyone and be ready to help her when she returned, whether that was with Hund by her side, or chasing with his blade raised. Fortunately, Remus had a plan of his own. Chapter 146: Those With The Leash Hund is the only solution to Kalma. He has to be. Even after the rest of his kind became hateful to non-ursu, he had been willing to guide me on how to safely deal with the Void Fog. If not for his Void enforced desire, I¡¯m certain he will help us. As terrifying as he is, he helped me, expecting nothing in return. I know he cares for his people, but I¡¯m not exactly sure what his desire truly is. What is it that allows the New Vetus Council to control his actions? Right now, there are two paths I can take: make an assumption on what his desire is and act upon it, or ask those who know. Hund follows the commands of the council, so if I kill them all, I might be able to convince him without his Void-affected mind being manipulated. The big problem with that solution is it relies on my assumption that he won¡¯t follow their commands if he were to regain free will. If he does what he does because he truly believes it best, then I¡¯ll be killing his people. It will do nothing but label me a target for that monster of an ursu. The alternative, and by far my preferred option, is to simply ask someone on the ursu council. All the better if I can talk to the chairman. Of course, I¡¯m not stupid enough to think they¡¯ll willingly give away information like that. But that doesn¡¯t matter, because I don¡¯t intend to be civil when asking. As long as I don¡¯t leave a massacre in my trail, I can hopefully avoid Hund¡¯s wrath. Flehullen, the capital of New Vetus, won¡¯t be easy to infiltrate. I don¡¯t plan to go through all the effort of digging through the ground again. I just need to get into the offices of the council and threaten the information out of them before their defensive force can react. As I fly over the city, I don¡¯t need to worry about interception as I would in the pact nations. I wonder if the Mercenary Order could take advantage of their lack of air defence and have a swarm of volans attack from above. I shake my head. It isn¡¯t the time, nor my place, to give those who might very well consider me an enemy any ideas for war. I¡¯ve passed over this city once before. After I¡¯d killed the general of the Henosis army, I had seen this city in a horrible state. The main continae had all but collapsed under artillery fire. The streets had been littered with corpses and rubble. Now, the city stands shiny and new, as if they hadn¡¯t been at the edge of their demise only a few years ago. Despite the changes not being favourable, I can¡¯t deny the impressive successes those changes have brought. Particularly the changes to their army. They¡¯ve gone from a completely ravished military to something that can compete with the northern nations and still have troops to spare for a defence force in their home city. I¡¯m sure Hund¡¯s unbeatable strength has been indispensable for their rapid rearmament and expansion, but that means this new council has actually been willing to use him as opposed to the previous one which kept him in hiding until their nation was already at the brink of disaster. Much like the current pact nations. As easy as it would be to crash into the central continae and take the nation¡¯s leaders hostage, I¡¯d rather not have the entire city rushing to crush me, especially not the mages I¡¯m sure are somewhere amongst the soldiers. I¡¯m high enough to be barely a spot to their eyes, but should I drop lower, I¡¯ve no doubt alarms will wail. My flames are still far too visible in this form. Now that I think about it, I haven¡¯t often tried to push my control much further than necessary. At least not in regards to to its physicality. Well, it won¡¯t take long to try. I pull on my body¡¯s flames and find it takes form easily. My flickers lose their illumination quickly, but I soon find they refuse to settle into a proper shape. I no longer give off light, but on close inspection, one could still tell I¡¯m made of swaying flames rather than the feathers of a true bird. How had this not worked earlier? I swear I tried to control myself while I took on the form of a fox while crawling through stone. Is this more about my familiarity with a form rather than my control? That would explain why it¡¯s taken so long, despite the improvement of my control. Now I should look like a normal bird to the casual observer. Good, this will make getting in far easier, but I still feel like I should create a distraction before I throw myself into the ursu¡¯s den. The ursu have adopted guns from Henosis, so they must have an ammunition storage somewhere just waiting to be blown up. My flight drops low enough that I¡¯m easily visible to any who look up. Two loops around the city proves they can¡¯t distinguish me from any normal falcon and provides the location of their armoury. There¡¯s no use waiting around, so I torch the building before flying off to the continae. When the explosion doesn¡¯t go off as I expect, I halt in midair and turn back. The building still burns, and much of those within rush out, desperate to get away, but there is no eruption. I¡¯m not complaining that the ursu get to safety, as it will make my conversation with Hund all the easier if I have been careful in my destruction, but it should have gone off by now. Don¡¯t tell me the ursu have a fake armoury. As I¡¯m ready to fly back and check, the explosion finally happens. It is weak and barely even blows the roof off the building, but it should be enough to grab the attention of their defence force.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. I rush to the continae and crash through the large pointy spherical roof, instantly incinerating everything in my way until I land within an incredibly well furnished office. There is only one man in the room and he stands by the window, looking out over the smoke in the distance. Between his embellished military uniform and the desk littered with maps and papers, I have very little doubt he is one of the council. Even if he isn¡¯t, he¡¯s going to tell me soon. I don¡¯t have the time to change back into my normal body, so I just wrap my bird form in flames to give the picture of my default shape. The ursu reacts, pulling his sword from his waist and crosses the room in an instant. I can tell he has similar strength to the warden of the gulag, but I¡¯m not here to enjoy a fight today. I need information, so I need him to understand that he has no chance against me. His blade passes through my white flames, which follow along with it. The sword melts away while I spread my fire to eat away his hand and hover around his face and throat. ¡°Stop or I won¡¯t hesitate to end you.¡± To his credit, he doesn¡¯t let go of his weapon even as his fingers blister and the metal dribbles over his fingers. He eyes the flames floating before his face. His body is tensed, ready to move at a moment¡¯s notice, but he remains still. ¡°Now, why don¡¯t we get this started with some easy questions. Who are you?¡± I am pretty sure I have the ursu leader, but better to make sure. ¡°Do note, I¡¯ll be burning off fingers if you lie.¡± His sword is nothing more than a hilt now, so the ursu discards it as he glares at me. ¡°I am Chairman Oso.¡± He relaxes as if he knows everything will go his way. ¡°You understand you won¡¯t be getting out of here alive, correct? Tore Hund will return soon. Especially after that explosion you set off outside.¡± His lax attitude annoys me, but not enough for me to go through with my threat of removing his fingers. I¡¯m luckier than I expected to find the Chairman by crashing through the top floor. ¡°I look forward to it.¡± The slight twinge of his eye is extremely satisfying. He¡¯s not happy his threat doesn¡¯t have the effect he hoped for. ¡°I came to talk about him, actually. How do you control him? What makes him listen to your council¡¯s orders?¡± His eyes narrow, barely perceptively. ¡°He follows our will because he believes wholeheartedly in our cause.¡± I incinerate a finger. The only sound he makes is a grunt, but I can tell it¡¯s still painful. ¡°You think I don¡¯t know about the Void Fog¡¯s influence? I guess even the easy questions are too hard for you.¡± My flames spread to engulf the room. They aren¡¯t white flames, but the effect is what I¡¯m after. ¡°Looks like I¡¯ll have to ask the next council member. Once I¡¯ve dealt with you, of course.¡± Chairman Oso glares daggers my way, but it looks like his determination is cracking. Good to see the man has some level of self preservation. Just as it seems he¡¯s about to give something, the wall explodes behind me. I turn to find three ursu soldiers wielding swords ready to pierce me from three sides. All three die before they can reach me, reduced to nothing but ash. I return my attention to the Chairman, only to find he¡¯s jumped out the window while I was distracted. Groaning to myself at my lack of awareness, I take off after the ursu. I¡¯d felt the ursu climbing the stairs and was ready to use them as a show of force for the chairman, but I didn¡¯t expect him to run like that. Good thing I didn¡¯t bother to change my form; I can catch up before he escapes. I¡¯m outside the building and chasing after the ursu before he even hits the ground below. When he does, the stone paving shatters, and he immediately dashes off at a sprint. He is fast, but my wings are still faster. Chairman Oso clearly has a plan though, and I can only hope he isn¡¯t leading me to an ambush of water mages. I forgo all intent at stealth and blast a jet behind me. Barrelling through the air at immense speeds, I crash into the back of his leg. It¡¯s enough to send him to the ground, but not to break his leg. I land before him and spread my flames as he rises to his knees, preventing any further attempts at escape. ¡°Tell me how you control him.¡± I don¡¯t give him any more leniency. My flames engulf his feet, moving further up his thick legs as he takes his time to answer. The chairman lifts his head within my flames and shouts at the top of his lungs. ¡°Hund, get here now!¡± He stares down at me in triumph, as if he has won. My white flames burn past his knees and he collapses to his back, and I finally hear proper gasps of pain coming from him. After a few seconds of watching him squirm in pain with no answer, the inevitable happens. I barely have time to register Hund¡¯s thermal presence before he lands before us. The displaced air nearly blows me away as his feet pulverise the pavement. I knew this was coming. I prepared myself for this, but it¡¯s still hard to stand before him without cowering. My flames retract from the chairman, but I leave a flame below him, ready to act if needed. Hund should be willing to talk as long as I¡¯m not actively killing the chairman. If he¡¯s not, well, I have a hostage. It¡¯s really not an optimal situation, but I¡¯ll have to settle for now. ¡°Hund,¡± I say, before he can get his bearings on the situation. ¡°Thank you for your advice. Without you, I wouldn¡¯t be alive.¡± It¡¯s a long time coming, but I¡¯m glad I finally get to show my gratitude. ¡°Chairman Torben?¡± Hund¡¯s eyes linger on the downed ursu before turning to me with a frown. ¡°Why have you done this?¡± his voice thrums through my body with the same intensity as last time. ¡°Torben? Who?¡± I thought the Chairman¡¯s name was Oso. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I wanted to return the favour you gave me. I wanted to free you from their control.¡± Hund is silent, and his gaze shows no sign of the thoughts within as he glances between the two of us. My flames wring with turmoil as I wait for his response. Once again, I see Hund look down at Oso with the concern one would direct to a friend. Have I made a mistake? Does Hund truly support this council? ¡°Hund. Kill the fucking ¨¢ed already.¡± Hund sighs and turns to me, his hand already on his massive blade. I don¡¯t have time to think, I just react. The chairman¡¯s body burns at the same moment Hund¡¯s blade tears through my fake flame body. The shockwave that follows his blow is enough to send my small bird form crashing into the nearest wall. I only realised it the moment before he attacked, but Hund isn¡¯t seeing the same person I am. He believes Oso is someone completely different. Someone he would do anything for. Someone he has unquestionable loyalty toward. In a way, his mental limitation is worse than mine. While it is twisting his thoughts, he has no way of realising they have been morphed. I have no way of knowing the details of how it works, but I can¡¯t use the chairman as a hostage. I have to kill the man if I have any hope of bringing Hund to my side. Even if it is only for a moment before whatever terms that bind him snap back into place. Chairman Oso struggles as my flames incinerate his fur and burn into the flesh across his body. He doesn¡¯t have the strength to resist, and I push the fire to consume his head. Through eyes, mouth, and ears, I force the blaze to dig toward his brain. I need him to die. Now. I can¡¯t move. Hund¡¯s blade didn¡¯t even hit me and I¡¯ve already been rendered immobile. The sheer pressure his blade created tore half my falcon body from existence. There¡¯s no way I can regrow before he reaches me. All I can do is float my body upon physical flames and watch as he casually lumbers his way toward me. Finally, I feel the chairman die. But Hund still approaches. Chapter 147: Grasping Ones Own Leash Even amongst the massive, musclebound ursu, Hund is a giant. Standing above five metres tall, he is impossible to miss. Impossible to keep your eyes off. He is a terrifying existence when his attention is elsewhere. So, to have his gaze squarely on me, hand on blade, and stepping forward with such menacing intent, is nothing short of soul-shaking. He doesn¡¯t even need his presence to drive a chill through my body. That¡¯s the strangest thing about all this; despite his aggressive actions, he keeps his presence in a tight grip. I¡¯m not sure what his reasoning, but if he¡¯d frozen me with his presence from the start, I never would have been able to kill the chairman. Despite my success, Hund still comes for me. The way he treated the chairman, I was sure I was right. I was sure he was seeing someone else when he looked at the former military commissar. The mental chains should have loosened when I killed him¡­ unless I was mistaken. Wait, does he not know the man is dead? I shout, to make Hund turn to the burning corpse behind him, but no sound escapes me. Much of my throat was torn out with Hund¡¯s attack, and I can no longer speak. My flames point to the unmoving corpse, only for Hund to ignore them. In desperation, I push my flames over him while I carry myself away. I hardly expect to burn him, but to see my white flames slide off his fur without effect is demoralising. Even after all this time, I¡¯m nothing before him. My physical flame carries my crippled form away. But not fast enough. Hund¡¯s casual steps close the distance. Each breath he takes shakes the surrounding air. I shiver as he sheathes his sword, obviously knowing he won¡¯t need it to beat me after the damage I¡¯ve already taken. I knew the risks coming into this. There was always the chance I wouldn¡¯t be able to change his mind and he would be aggressive. I only took the risk because it was the only feasible option I had. What else could I have done? Should I have prioritised my safety and never come, at the expense of my friends¡¯ lives? Hund crouches over me, reaching both hands down to crush me. Now more than ever, I realise just how massive he is. His hands alone are as large as my bird body. This isn¡¯t how I¡¯m going to go out. I refuse! With no strength to fight back and my flames already swirling around him to no effect, I do the only thing I can. I let free my presence, instinctively intensifying the pressure over Hund as far as I can push it. Hund doesn¡¯t even react. I flinch as his hands wrap around me, gripping me close and ready to crush me. Only¡­ the pain doesn¡¯t come. He doesn¡¯t collapse his massive hands around me. In fact, his hands lift me with remarkable gentleness, considering his strength. I look up at the giant as he lifts me to chest height. ¡°How long must you recover?¡± he asks, his voice quaking through my body. I collapse in his grip. All the tension leaves my body at once. Was it really so hard for him to give me an indication he wasn¡¯t trying to murder me? His face remains impassive, and I can¡¯t help but want to burn his fur off¡­ if that were even possible. ¡°A¡­¡± I clear my throat as it reconstructs itself. ¡°A few minutes.¡± He nods, looking toward the continae rising high over the other buildings in the city. ¡°Good. Help me, once more.¡± Hund doesn¡¯t even send a glance back toward the burning corpse of the former chairman. ¡°Sure,¡± I say. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here, Hund.¡± His eyes fall back on me as my wings finally start regrowing. The massive ursu doesn¡¯t speak for a moment, just stares with that emotionless gaze. ¡°Call me Tore.¡± ¡°What? Tore?¡± He walks toward the towering building and I belatedly notice the many eyes watching us, awed. ¡°I dislike the name.¡± ¡°Oh, sure. Tore.¡± I¡¯m stuck in his hands for now, literally, at least until I regrow my wings. Why doesn¡¯t Hund like his name? There must be a reason. As I peer up to ask, I think better of it. Tore walks in silence, and I get the impression he doesn¡¯t take part in casual conversation often.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°So, what is it you need help with?¡± His eyes drop to mine as he walks, each ursu in the street stopping to stare as he passes. ¡°You have overcome your desire.¡± I can¡¯t tell if it¡¯s a question or a statement, but I nod regardless. ¡°Again, thank you. I couldn¡¯t have done it without your help back then.¡± He shakes his head slowly, as if careful not to make any rapid motions. ¡°No. It is your achievement. One to elude me for a century.¡± It is a horrid thought that he¡¯s been trapped for such an incomprehensible length of time as a slave to his desire. ¡°What is yours, anyway?¡± ¡°I¡¯m loyal to the Chairman. The original was a great man.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re free now?¡± I ask. He¡¯s not attacking anymore so he must be, but what is it he needs help with? ¡°No. With the chairman dead, a commissar only need claim the position for themselves.¡± He stops in the open space before the continae. ¡°I need you to kill them.¡± ¡°And that will free you?¡± My wings have grown back, so I don¡¯t need to be held anymore. I jump from his hands and hover before his head. Tore drops his arms as he eyes me again. ¡°No, but it will give me time.¡± He points a finger to the curved top of the continae. ¡°Top three floors. The commissars are there.¡± Well, my body is back in perfect shape, so there¡¯s no need to wait around here. I take to the air, blasting toward the highest floors of the building. With Hund¡¯s¡­ no, Tore¡¯s permission, I don¡¯t have to hold back. The upper half of the continae is engulfed in an inferno before I even crash inside. Everything burns, but these commissars are all military men; they have greater enhancement than the rest of their kind. I wonder if they were this strong before they had all those resources fall into their laps at the end of the war with Henosis? Regardless of how they gained their enhancement, it is no obstacle to my new flame. A swirling inferno encases the building so they cannot escape while I chase down each and burn through them directly. None have the same defence as either the chairman or the warden, so their bodies immolate and add to my strength one after the other. The strength I gain from them is minimal, but I¡¯m not about to deny what resources I can take from them. These men and women have all been a massive pain in the pact nations¡¯ side, but I can¡¯t say I truly hate any of them. If not for them, I wouldn¡¯t have met Leal and helped her dad. Actually, these ursu are the ones that started those camps and put Leal in such a situation that she was desperate enough to plead my help. Yeah, fuck them. A few throw themselves out the side of the building, trying to escape, but my flames cling to them and I simply chase them down, ending their existence before they can hit the ground. Tore watches on, along with hundreds of ursu. Many show confusion at the central pillar of their city burning and their strongest doing nothing to stop it. It is almost too easy to clear out the rest of the council. Once the last of them are gone, I extinguish the flame swirling through the air. The entire dome is gone. I won¡¯t admit it when they ask, but I could have easily avoided burning the building. The heavy concentration of rare metals that decorated the exterior of the dome is just too good to pass up such an opportunity. Gold and silver truly have an unbeatable taste. Too bad there wasn¡¯t any platinum in there too. As I fly to Tore¡¯s side, I consider changing back to my normal form. Tore is with me; I hardly have to worry about being attacked by the congregating ursu. But even then, I¡¯d rather not rely entirely on the old ursu. Without a word, Tore passes me, approaching the continae as the ursu continue to evacuate. He walks through the open front. The ceiling is surprisingly high enough that he doesn¡¯t even need to bend over. The fur of his ears scrape against the ceiling as if designed with his height in mind. After a minute, where the last of the ursu escape the building, Tore finally acts. He balls a fist and punches the central support pillar. In an instant, the air fills with dust and debris. The tower falls slower than I would expect. Another explosive impact quakes from within the dust cloud. Tore, with unimaginable control, directs the collapse of the continae, tearing it down floor by floor. I hover amongst the thousands of ursu, watching the destruction of the symbol of their nation by their greatest hero. The intent behind his actions eludes me, but I¡¯m certain it is important to him. The pounding of levels being demolished stops. Through the cloud of dust, Tore makes his way out of the remains of the continae. He stops before the many ursu and casts his gaze over them. The giant lets out a breath and closes his eyes, tilting his head to the sky. He stands there before his people, and in return, they wait in silence. Through the entire city, the only sound to be heard is the wind whistling between buildings. ¡°The council is finished!¡± Tore thunders, his voice impossible to miss anywhere in the city. ¡°My friend¡¯s memory, desecrated for the last time. His corrupted governance shall never see our people mistreated again.¡± Tore lowers his gaze to the enraptured ursu, his eyes almost glowing with the dense energy held within. ¡°I am your new leader.¡± It is clear his words leave the ursu stunned. They treat him as a hero of legend, so when the first cheers start coming in, I¡¯m not surprised it becomes contagious. Soon, everyone is celebrating. They laugh or cry at this mighty warrior taking the reins of their nation after suffering at the hands of negligent or totalitarian leaders. But even as they all celebrate this obviously incredible change, none dare approach Tore. His powerful, looming figure a daunting prospect for any of the unenhanced to dare come near. Tore¡¯s eyes linger on all those before him. Face as emotionless as ever, but it is clear he cares for them. It only makes the separation between them sad. I really hope I¡¯m not pushing boundaries here. I fly over to him and land on his shoulder, trying to give him some comfort. A brief glance my way is the only reaction I get before he returns to watching his people. I do not know if I¡¯ve actually helped at all, but he hasn¡¯t told me to leave, so I get comfortable. Tore may not have paid me much attention, but the ursu around us certainly do. As I¡¯m in my burning falcon form, it¡¯s hard to say if they even recognise me as an ¨¢ed. They¡¯re probably just jealous that I actually have the confidence to approach this horrifyingly strong ursu. I¡¯m glad things have worked out here, but I still need to get Tore to help defend us all from Kalma. Whether he can compete, we¡¯ll have to see. Chapter 148: Unconvincing Wind whips across my body so fast it almost tears me apart. The feeling of simple air trying its hardest to smother my flames is only beaten by the intense jerk as we tear through the skies. It¡¯s insane how fast Tore can take us with a simple jump. Each time the earth rushes to meet us, I¡¯m tossed around in his grip as he taps his foot against the earth and has us hurtling through the air. Despite each motion being the slightest skip for the giant ursu, I¡¯m sure he leaves craters in our wake. I appreciate Tore¡¯s willingness to assist me once I told him I needed his help, but this method of transport will rip me apart if it continues for long. It¡¯s simply incomprehensible that there are people like Tore and Kalma out there with so much skin deep power that they could destroy their surroundings with a stray thought. Back when I was with my tribe, I don¡¯t even think I would have pictured Eldest Ember with as much power as Tore. But now, as I look up to her crimson moon, I have to imagine she might be beyond even those two. How else could she ignite the moon each night? After Tore¡¯s declaration, placing himself as their new leader, he chose some ursu he must have the barest of trust in, and had him enact his new orders. They had been brief. Essentially halt the war, bring back the ursu, and prevent the council from being re-implemented. Tore, having brushed the responsibility of his nation onto someone else, did not hesitate to join me back to the pact nations. Rather, he hurried me along faster than I could handle. If I didn¡¯t know for certain that he cared for the ursu, I would have said he wanted to be out of the nation as soon as possible. Finally, Tore lands with a crash, tearing a gash through the earth as we slow to a stop. I tumble out of his hands and sprawl across the ground. I¡¯ve been flying for years now, and yet I can¡¯t help but feel dizzy from his form of transport. When I regain my senses and look around, I find we are already at the border between the ursu and the pact nations. Nearly a week of flying, cut down to a few hours. Tore towers over the misshapen dead earth of the former battlefield as he watches the tail of his soldiers pushing forward into abandoned land. Is he going to send them all back himself? As much as I would love for him to do that, I¡¯m uncertain whether we have the time to travel along the entire front. That the pact nations have abandoned these borders is not a good sign. The Mercenary Order is about as cornered as they¡¯ve ever been. If they don¡¯t throw out their heavy hitters now, then I doubt they have any at all. If we waste time along the front, sending the ursu away, we are likely to miss our final opportunity to talk. To give the mermineae a reason to stop fighting. I know how incredibly slim the chance of us successfully convincing them, if not because of their hatred toward me, then the sheer terror they have of Kalma. The ursu can wait. I doubt they¡¯ll attack if they see Tore standing with the pact nations. I pick myself up and rejoin Tore¡¯s side. If it weren¡¯t for his hard stare over his soldiers in the distance, I would have urged him to continue onward. ¡°I never wanted this.¡± Tore¡¯s gruff voice is quiet, but impossible to miss. ¡°This wasn¡¯t my first opportunity to reclaim my will. I had been a coward then. Even now, I regret destroying Torben¡¯s creation.¡± I understand now that Torben was likely the first chairman of New Vetus, and it was that ursu¡¯s efforts that created the nation it now is. Torben created the council and by placing himself as the ursu¡¯s leader, Tore did away with the council entirely. To be free of the chairman and council¡¯s hold, Tore needed to destroy the governing system his friend created and take control himself. ¡°I am a warrior, not a leader. I am not worthy to take his place, but neither is any other.¡± He holds a hand out to me, ready to continue on, but his eyes linger on his soldiers. His soldiers. They aren¡¯t only of his kind now; they are his warriors. His people. His to be responsible for. If he has refused to take this position for over a hundred years, I can only imagine the burden it places on him. But compared to the last council, who engaged in unnecessary war while mistreating their own kind and the one prior, which encouraged discrimination of non-ursu, I believe Tore surpasses them by far. Though it might be hard for him to lead, if he¡¯s always on the front line. Hopefully, New Vetus isn¡¯t in too much chaos from his disappearance. I climb into his hand once more, not exactly looking forward to this ride, but knowing it is our fastest option. ¡°Tore, let¡¯s find the Viisin amongst the mermineae. If we have any hope of stopping their invasion, we¡¯ll need to find them.¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ??? I walk by Tore¡¯s side through the expansive, mermineae-control area. We are using ourselves as bait to reel in a Viisin. All we want is to talk, so the two of us have done our utmost to show absolutely no hostility. Though, even without intending to, Tore¡¯s sheer size, and the way each of his footfalls can be felt through the earth, are likely terrifying signals to any onlookers. And there have been onlookers. Some mermineae come close enough for my thermal sense to pick them up, even though they could have easily seen Tore from thousands of metres away. All we can do is hope they run off and tell the Viisin, or whoever commands them, that we are wandering through their land. They cannot ignore us forever. Not if they plan to keep up the invasion. We are occupying a major chokepoint between Meja and the southern half of the pact nations. Or former pact nations. Many states have already crumbled to the ursu or mermineae. I can only hope Vanguard is still safe. It is doubtful, as they are likely now facing the full brunt of the ursu offence in addition to the Theocracy. I hope Bunny is safe. It is difficult to wait around like this when I know how tight things are getting, but if we can get the mermineae to back off before the Mercenary Order unleashes their elite, then we might stop the coming slaughter. I know it¡¯s hypocritical of me considering I¡¯ve already inflicted countless deaths upon the mermineae, but I don¡¯t want them to die in droves once the strongest of the Beiths are unleashed. Unless those of lesser enhancement flee from the battlefields, I can¡¯t imagine any of them surviving the devastation that will no doubt occur. I¡¯ve seen how Spenne fights. I know how I fight. In a battle between elite greater than that, unintended casualties will be massive. Not only on the mermineae¡¯s side, either. The pact nations still defend their borders en masse with unenhanced soldiers that will pose no obstacle for the fights that are sure to break out. The best we can hope for is that the Viisin all run away from our strongest, rather than try to take them on, but that is wishful thinking. Unless we can give them a firm reason to back down now, they won¡¯t when we need them to. Finally, after a full day of blocking their major route, we have a Viisin grace us with their appearance. Unlike their kin, the thick plumes of dust falling off their decaying bodies prevents them from any form of subtlety. They run across the earth on all fours until it stops thirty metres from us. Now that I think about it, both the Viisin and Forvaal take on differing levels of decay to their bodies. The Forvaal experience it in their eyes, but only as a cost to their power¡¯s use. The Viisin are unfortunate enough to experience the decay near eternally in exchange for the power it brings. What about Kalma? Does the decay affect her in a way worse than these mermineae? Could there be some downside to her power we can capitalise on? Well, if there is, it isn¡¯t obvious to the naked eye. The Viisin growls at us, his voice ragged and throaty. ¡°Leave if you do not want death.¡± Despite his threat, the very fact he¡¯s giving it rather than attacking us on the spot means he¡¯s worried about facing Tore. The Viisin looks small, but I can¡¯t tell if that¡¯s just because Tore stands so many times taller at my side, or if he¡¯s actually smaller than his brethren. I remain quiet, expecting the older and more experienced of us to take over negotiations. Nobody speaks. I look up at Tore, but all he does is raise an eyebrow at me, almost quizzically. Really? You¡¯re going to leave the important, war defining communication up to a girl that¡¯s spent the better half of the last year incinerating her way through so many of the other side¡¯s race? As if reading my thoughts, Tore nods and gestures toward the Viisin. I sigh in frustration before walking toward the dusty merminea. He seems relieved my partner hasn¡¯t joined my side, but he lowers himself, clearly ready for a fight. Maybe he doesn¡¯t know I¡¯m the one that incinerated his brethren? Maybe he just thinks I¡¯m some albanic. I find the idea annoys me, but it is still better than letting him know who I am. ¡°We aren¡¯t here for a fight. We came to tell you to give up on these lands.¡± I can¡¯t see their face through the dust, but I can definitely hear their sneer. ¡°You think we¡¯ll back down because you ask, do you? This is not something we have a choice in. We cannot give up now.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m telling you to give up now, because this is Kalma¡¯s plot to have you all killed. When the Mercenary Order lets loose their strongest, she plans to watch as they slaughter the lot of you.¡± Not the full story, but not untrue. It¡¯s only important to tell him which parts affect his kind. ¡°That can¡¯t be!¡± It is difficult to tell through his scraggly voice whether he is angry or shocked. ¡°Kalma is still on the other side of the Alps, blissfully unaware. If she knew, we¡¯d be worse than dead.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen her over here with my own eyes,¡± I say. ¡°Kalma is playing with you all. She gave you the opportunity for this escape so that she could watch you all get slaughtered. Her enjoyment is the only thing she cares about.¡± The Viisin mutters under his breath. Something about ¡®the others knew,¡¯ before he readdresses me. ¡°If what you say is true, then we are doomed regardless of choice. I¡¯d prefer to take on thousands of your kind than risk Kalma¡¯s wrath.¡± The Viisin takes a step toward me, but stops at the same time I feel the earth quake. A glance backward reveals Tore a single step closer. The merminea gives up on approaching any further, but speaks in a hushed croak. ¡°If Kalma is truly here, then don¡¯t expect your kind to remain untouched.¡± I give the Viisin a wry smile. ¡°We know. And we plan to fight her.¡± ¡°Fight her?¡± he repeats, as if he can¡¯t believe me. After meeting Kalma myself, I know exactly how unreasonable that concept might be. ¡°It¡¯s better than letting ourselves become her slaves and playthings, is it not?¡± He doesn¡¯t respond. All he can do is stand there and either seethe or ponder upon my words. How he takes the insult to his race, I have no way to know. The dust still covers his features. I return to Tore. It is unfortunate we cannot convince them to pull back on their invasion, but I still think it was worth the effort. Now, we must go to the core of the pact nations. The Headquarters of the Mercenary order. Hopefully, we won¡¯t be too late. Chapter 149: Chill The Mercenary Order¡¯s headquarters sits at the far eastern border of Meja. Right in the centre of the entire pact nations. Well, the centre of what used to be the pact nations. Now, so much ground has been lost that the headquarters may as well be on the front line itself. I soar through the air in Tore¡¯s grasp once more. It¡¯s become more bearable to handle his unique form of transportation, but I would still prefer to fly under my own power. No matter how much faster this allows us to travel, I don¡¯t think I could ever truly be comfortable relying on someone like this. It isn¡¯t even an issue of trust. I don¡¯t believe Tore would do anything to me. Not only because he¡¯s already helped me in the past, but because he has the power to do pretty much whatever he wants and I would have no way to resist. No, if I can do something, I would prefer to do it myself. And if I can¡¯t, I will improve until I can. The earth passes below us too fast to make out many details, but some are simply too eye-catching to miss. A massive, ancient castle stands in the centre of a city spanning tens of thousands of metres. Dozens of towers arranged in a spiral stand higher than the other the closer they are to the centre. At the centrepiece of the city, is an enormous spike of a structure that reaches higher than any other building I¡¯ve seen. It is an exquisite view as we pass overhead, but the sight of artillery and cannon-fire detonating much of the land outside the castle¡¯s walls takes away from what would be a serene view. A ring of buildings around the castle are nothing but rubble. A constant barrage of explosions demolishes the city. Smoke obscures many of the outer regions. The Meja Matriarchy is still holding out against the mermineae. Despite the rest of the city being taken, their castle is not so easily overcome. I wonder if Imiha is down there, fighting for her people? I haven¡¯t seen her since we split over on the other side of the Alps. She was overbearing with her curiosity, as mages tend to be, but she was still a good person. I want to go down and help her fight off her attackers, but I can¡¯t. It isn¡¯t a decision I¡¯m happy to make, but we need to get to the Mercenary Order¡¯s headquarters and scare off the invaders before this war elevates. Tore is the only one who can do that. Only he has the strength to send the Viisin running with a glance. Only he can stop the ursu pushing in from the south. If the world is reasonable, then the Mercenary Order¡¯s elite will be reasonable. They¡¯ll be unleashed upon their enemies and only kill those strong enough to put up a fight. They will listen to my warnings of a greater strength watching over all. Unfortunately, I know the world isn¡¯t reasonable. The chance that those elite will care is slim. My experience with the Beiths leads me to believe that there is little chance they will hold back. While Imiha is understanding, she is the only one. That fire mage I¡¯d met a while back, I wouldn¡¯t trust to not burn everything he thinks he can get away with. I mean, he tried with me, and I¡¯m an ¨¢ed. Spenne is my primary concern. As admittedly fun as my fight with him had been, all he cared for was the thrill of battle. If the elite share his views, his enjoyment of war, then there will be no persuading. Soon, Meja¡¯s castle is out of view. Those still holding out are left on their own to defend what is left of their country. The rest of the Mercenary Order have pulled back, returning to defend the headquarters. As do we. I wish the best for Imiha. Hopefully, this war will be over soon. Tore continues to fling us through the air. Every metre we travel without a sign of the defensive line is concerning. The mermineae have already pushed farther than I expected. It¡¯s strange; Spenne held off a few Viisin by himself. If only one of him could survive so long against that many, then how have the Beiths not been able to push back their offence? Considering each has similar abilities, how have the Beiths not slaughtered them all yet? I can understand we were losing before the Mercenary order gave the Beiths freedom to fight, but even after they entered the battles, the mermineae¡¯s encroach has not slowed. It is suspicious. Is this Kalma¡¯s influence? Do I even need to ask? This is obviously Kalma¡¯s influence. She admitted to preferring when both sides are even. But how has she controlled the mermineae¡¯s battle strength without giving them a reason to believe they are playing within her hands? There are too many unknowns, but there isn¡¯t anything I can do about them. The only thing I can do is push forward and hope everything works out. Actually, I hate that mentality. ¡®Hope everything works out¡¯? No. Things never work out when you hope for the best. I need to do anything I can to achieve the best result. Even then, it might all go wrong, but as long as I¡¯m alive, I can force my way forward. I notice a chill in the air. Despite the Eternal Inferno resting high in the sky, the air just got a whole lot colder. Tore notices as well, but he must have felt something more, as his next leap angles us to the north. Far off our current heading. The reason for our change in direction becomes immediately clear as we bound over the hilly terrain; we¡¯ve finally reached the battlefield. As we crash amongst the mermineae, the temperature becomes distinct. It is as cold as the snow-tipped mountains at the base of the Titan Alps. There is no snow, but as I look around, frost takes a grasp on the earth and spreads. The air continues to chill.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I have no issue anymore with this cold. My body is simply far too hot for the freezing temps to have an effect. It might be less efficient to stand around in this than a normal heat level, but the difference is so minuscule to me now, it¡¯s not even worth the effort to worry. The battle is in full swing. Unlike the typical poke and prod method of offence the mermineae have adapted in the past months, they are attacking in full force. A few hundred metres away, a Viisin tears through mercenary teams. Explosions of dust rise with each attack. The mercenaries show excellent coordination, but they still struggle against the power of its decay. Not far from the unopposed Viisin is a second locked in a brawl with a Beith. Somehow, the khirig doesn¡¯t decay on contact. It throws punches with antlers shining with markings. Each blow tears off limbs from the Viisin, but it always recovers. Their grappling and physical blows send the two all across the battle. Wherever they land, the earth strips clean, including all mercenaries, soldiers and mermineae unlucky enough to be in their way. We aren¡¯t too late. The battle is in full swing, but it hasn¡¯t yet reached the headquarters. If Tore can scare the mermineae off here, then we can plead the higher ups of the Mercenary Order to cooperate with Tore to take on Kalma. A gust brushes past me, sending a freezing chill through my body. The wind swirls slowly over the battlefield, almost casually as it casts an icy sheen across the earth. I fling myself from Tore¡¯s grip, expecting him to dash forward and put a stop to all the fighting. He doesn¡¯t. Instead, I catch him gazing to the south, focusing on something other than the battle before us. What is he doing? ¡°I won¡¯t be long.¡± I don¡¯t even have the time to ask what he means. The shock-wave of his leap sends me staggering. Tore is gone from sight within a few moments, bounding across the land far faster than when he held me. He¡¯s leaving us? How am I supposed to scare the mermineae off now? How do I convince the Mercenary Order? I don¡¯t have the power to do this myself. It¡¯s a terrifying thought, but even without him, I need to find a way. I clamp down on my writhing flames and straighten myself. This is my plan, and even without what is supposed to be the key piece, I need to move forward. It¡¯ll be hard, but if I make an imitation of the Titan again with my flames, I might frighten off many of the weaker units on both sides. It worked back in the gulag; why shouldn¡¯t it work here? As long as I can get most of their forces to rout, I¡¯ll have just a little longer to convince the Order. Assuming they¡¯ll even listen to a fugitive. Before I can spread my fires and start on my plan, the swirling icy wind accelerates. I take a step forward, only for the sleeve of my outfit to slice open. I stare at it for a moment, uncertain of what exactly attacked me. The blade passed through my arm so fast I didn¡¯t even register it. It¡¯s a tiny, little cut in the cloth over my arm, but if I was flesh, I¡¯d be bleeding right now. A hiss no different from rain lifts my head to the sky, only for a tiny shard of ice to pierce right through my eye. The frozen fragment slices through the back of my head before it has time to vaporise. It stings a bit where it left, but otherwise it cut through so smoothly I hardly felt it. The spiralling air converges. Thousands of minuscule blades of ice no bigger than a fingertip spin through the air with such speed I don¡¯t think I could have noticed had they not pierced me. The shards grow as the wind increases. A whirlwind of ice grows from the densest section of the battle. The air howls as more ice forms from nothing. I stop suppressing my external heat. The icy blades disintegrate as they come close, creating a thin wall of mist that is dispersed by the ever-increasing wind. My snowsuit fits well, but even it whips around my body as the howl of wind becomes a scream. Around the epicentre of the frozen twister, thousands drop dead. The shards slicing through their bodies without resistance. Far more mermineae fall, but it is not exclusive. Mercenaries in the throes of battle collapse, almost regardless of rank. The only ones truly able to brush off the sharp icy wind are the two Viisin and the khirig Beith. Every second I watch, the wind increases, centralising around a twisting pillar of frost that has grown too dense to see through. Everything within range is shredded. As the tornado of ice condenses, the range at which the shards reach extends, cutting down all as they attempt to flee. I have no idea what¡¯s going on, but thousands fall as I watch. The ice disperses harmlessly into my heat. It¡¯s surprising; I would have expected it to hurt as the ice melts into water, but there¡¯s such little water content in the frost that it only stings as it whips against me. Not long ago, I wouldn¡¯t have cared for all this death. I mostly still don¡¯t, but as these people, both mermineae and those of the pact nations die, I can¡¯t stop myself imagining how Leal or Gr¨ªmr might react knowing I do nothing. I¡¯ve already caused such immense pain to Leal that I struggle to see a day where I won¡¯t feel guilty about burning Morne and Calysta. Unlike the ursu city, my killing of the mermineae has been entirely intentional. I have never cared about them, nor do I now, but they have been slaves to Kalma for who knows how long. I feel some sympathy for them. It might not be the most beneficial thing I¡¯ve ever done, but I spread my flames wide over the battlefield. I ease the freezing temperature and melt away the shards that continue to pelt the backs of those amidst a rout. My flames grow into an inferno empowered by the wind from the ice storm and spread farther than I could normally control. Any of my fire that moves too close to the spiral of ice extinguishes immediately. I simply can¡¯t keep up the temperature to keep them burning with only my yellow flames, and I would rather not jump into the vortex to see how well my hotter fire handles. It may not be much compared to the numbers I¡¯ve killed in the past, but my flames give many of the mermineae and mercenaries enough time to escape the ever-growing storm. Oh, how I wish for the battle to end here, but as I continue to shield the less enhanced from the incredibly unnatural phenomenon, the tornado of ice makes a drastic change. It condenses one last time before collapsing in on itself. The towering pillar of frozen wind crashes into a point and blasts outward. The roar of rushing air is deafening. Wind and ice explode along the ground, expanding faster than I can witness. Within moments, the rushing opaque air tears through the battlefield, reaching the horizon and beyond my sight. I thought it was cold before. Immediately after the blast, the air comes to a standstill. Even with my body as hot as it is, the world wants to slow my movement. Frost visibly grows over the fur of the mermineae adjacent to the path of the ice blast. Even my inferno barely heats the air enough that they don¡¯t freeze on the spot. Spiky crystal formations line the edges of the blast zone. In the centre of its path stands the body of the Viisin that only moments ago was butchering mercenary teams. Its body, frozen in place, has a million tiny fractures and holes through it. So too are the mercenary teams it was fighting. Nothing survived the explosion of frost. All that remains are the shredded, frozen corpses and a wasteland of ice. This is far beyond anything any Beith I¡¯ve met has been capable of. Even Spenne. The width of the icy path is consistent and not all that wide, but it has devastated all life it passed for leagues. The shards of ice build up once more, carried along by the wind as the effect restarts. I turn to the centre of the spiralling wind, and standing amongst the haze is an albanic shining with intense white markings. We are too late. Chapter 150: Collateral Damage Where has Tore run off to? If I had him by my side, this new mage wouldn¡¯t be a problem. Tore could stop them from inflicting so many casualties. As things are, I don¡¯t even dare approach. The air gets so much colder in the direct vicinity of the old albanic woman, that even at my hottest temperature, I¡¯d be concerned. If Tore were here, he would stop her with nothing more than his sheer presence. There would be no need for a battle. What is so important that he had to abandon me after we made it all this way? Could he not have told me what he was doing before he dashed off? It¡¯s frustrating that the only solution I have for this entire mess has now up and left me. The Mercenary Order have let loose their elite, and now the only one who has a chance against them has run off. How many more than this ice mage are unleashing equivalent damage across the defensive line? Wait, did Tore figure that out the moment he felt that cold wind? Is that why he ran off? Has he gone to protect his kind from one of the Order¡¯s elite? If so, it would have helped if he¡¯d dealt with this mage before rushing off. This first showing of the elite is not promising. The mage is indiscriminate. Not only do the mermineae fall to the effects of her marking¡¯s spell, but no soldier or mercenary caught in the crossfire is spared the terrifying damage she inflicts. Her whirlwind of ice builds up again, obscuring her from sight. I¡¯d be glad such a devastating attack requires time to build up if the charge phase didn¡¯t cause widespread death itself. The air is considerably colder now than it was before, even with my inferno baking the land, anything not directly embraced by my flames struggles not to freeze in moments. Just how low will the temperature drop? The khirig Beith tries to disengage from the sole remaining Viisin now that he knows the ice mage is here, but the Viisin doesn¡¯t let up so easily. The dust covered mermineae chases them across the battlefield as they run for the pact¡¯s defensive side. Both notice the condensing chill right before another explosive blast of ice and wind tear across the earth. The mermineae is fast, flinging themselves to the side as the air itself solidifies for an instant. Their rear leg, the only thing caught in the central blast, freezes immediately. The next step they take shatters the limb into a thousand shards across the earth. The khirig with antlers able to withstand direct contact with a Viisin¡¯s decay is not so lucky. Their frozen corpse stands stiff in mid-sprint. Unable to escape the friendly fire in time. The two came so close to bringing their fight within the line of mercenaries. Did the old mage decide to sacrifice the Beith to protect the thousands who would have died had she either attacked while they were amongst the mercenaries, or would have died by the Viisin¡¯s decay? She hadn¡¯t launched her beam of ice without care for the other fighter¡¯s life, right? I¡¯d like to believe she considered the alternatives and chose the option with the least lives sacrificed, but with the power she wields, I can¡¯t help but feel she could have done more. She simply didn¡¯t care if the Beith lived or died. Are all the Order¡¯s elite like this? The Viisin finally realises how outmatched it is and flees on three legs. Even though the frozen leg has shattered, it refuses to regrow. The mermineae bounds across the land with speed, and soon it is well off the battlefield, running amongst the rest of the fleeing mermineae. The frozen wind gathers around the albanic mage again. This time not spinning in a vortex, but directly around her. The elite lifts off the ground, the razor-like wind lifting her with a gentleness not previously shown. The wind carries the old albanic through the air, chasing after the Viisin with little care for any she tramples in her path. The wind treats her gently, but only her. Icy blades shear through the earth as she accelerates forward, leaving the landscape frozen and shredded. She is quick to pounce after the fleeing mermineae, but the battle isn¡¯t over. Everything near where she unleashed her storm is frostbitten dead land, but beyond the range of her icicle blade gusts, the invasion continues unabated. So focused on hunting down her prey, she¡¯s forgotten the purpose of her being here. Nothing remains of each army for hundreds of metres. The earth morphed into a lifeless region of brittle, frozen soil and crystalline formations rising in ringed circles. Without the opaque wind to block my sight, it is clear she cared little for the other mercenaries. Some corpses remain standing, frozen and mangled, but most are nothing more than feet and the boots they wore, reaching up from the earth toward bodies that no longer exist. I saved hundreds, but the effects of that ice storm extend further than my inferno could spread. There is nothing blocking my path, so I bound forward. I can¡¯t let myself be distracted by the fighting here. The longer it takes to convince the Mercenary Order, the greater the battle will grow, the more unnecessary lives lost. If it were possible for the elite to go forward and end this war themselves, a few lives lost now might not be the biggest issue. But it¡¯s not. Kalma won¡¯t let it end that easy. I don¡¯t know how the merminea assault will compete if there are even a few of these elite mercenaries. I only know they will compete. Whether Kalma herself enters the battle, or she does something else, only time will tell. Time that I¡¯m wasting by staying on this war-front. I sprint forward, blasting myself with the occasional burst of physical flame. By the time I push into the area where the ice mage once stood, the chilly air threads through my core. This is colder than anything I¡¯ve ever felt. It¡¯s like the very air refuses to move out of my way as I run. My white flames work overtime to heat the surroundings enough to stop the stiff air from holding me back. I¡¯m not the only one taking advantage of the hole in the battle line. The mermineae at my sides rush to fill the gap, to push their advantage and attack the flanks of the pact nations. Mercenaries rush to fill the gaps, but they are slow compared to the mermineae¡¯s quadruped sprint. The number of soldiers is immense. It is clear the Mercenary Order has thrown everything into this battle, but these numbers are concerningly large. I¡¯m sure the death count for this war is already on unimaginable levels, so where exactly are they fielding these armies?This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it The only answer I can come to does nothing but push me to reach the headquarters faster. With the air as unbelievably cold as it is, I almost miss the approaching heat signature flying toward my back. I blast a jet of flame to the side and the Viisin¡¯s dust covered claws miss me by a good metre. It has all four limbs, so it clearly isn¡¯t the one the elite went chasing after, but I still glance over my shoulder, just in case. This Viisin must have come in from the sides with the other opportunistic mermineae. I don¡¯t have the time to sit around and fight. I dash off, pushing an immense amount of flames behind to give myself as much thrust as possible. The Viisin reacts instantly, hurtling after me. I¡¯m forced to dodge again, sacrificing all my speed. Fine, if you won¡¯t let me go, then I¡¯ll make this quick. My flame jet reverses and I tear toward the Viisin before it can truly react. I crash through his side, incinerating his arm, head and much of his torso. It is painful, and I stagger as my feet hit the ground. The Viisin collapses, but his body is already recovering. I twist and try to cover the decaying mermineae with my hottest flame. I don¡¯t know how it knew the flames were coming, or if it simply tried to gain space, but the headless creature kicks the ground and launches away from my blaze. My flames twist around me in frustration. I¡¯d hoped to finish the Viisin with that, but it looks like it won¡¯t be so easy. I leap toward the mermineae as its head finally recovers, but it is now wise to the danger I pose. As fast as jets of physical fire allow me to move, it can¡¯t beat the instantaneous speed the Viisin¡¯s legs provide. In the aftereffects of the ice storm, I give chase to the Viisin. Both its explosions of decay and my intense flames devastate the land further. While I¡¯m sure the Viisin¡¯s damage is inflicted only because of a lack of control over its decay, I am not so limited, but I burn through the frozen land regardless. While I could power my movement with physical flame created from my energy, it is still far more efficient, and rapid, to supply that physicality from what I might otherwise consume. Rock and soil may not be all that energy filled, but they work well enough as a source for my thrust. The frozen earth only makes me work all the harder to burn it into something usable. I launch forward again, barely scratching a leg with the inner flame I strike out with. The Viisin is hurt, but it is still too fast for me. Mermineae swarm past us now. They leave themselves a safe distance to not get caught in the crossfire, but for some, it is in vain. Neither myself nor the Viisin stay still, and with how much faster the both of us are to the surrounding mermineae, it is unavoidable that some find themselves in our way. The Viisin hardly shows any hesitation as a mermineae explodes into dust after dodging my flames, but I am no different. Sometimes, I throw myself toward my opponent, only to crash through a bystander. Under normal conditions, I¡¯d be able to hold my flames back from burning them, but in a fight like this, I can¡¯t hold myself back. It doesn¡¯t help that they combust before my flames even touch them. I don¡¯t have the time to waste with this. I can¡¯t kill the Viisin while it keeps avoiding me. Unfortunately, the idea that this fight would be quick had been far too hopeful. It knows to respect the heat of my flames now, so maybe it won¡¯t continue to chase me this time. I pretend to attack again, but jet away instead. The mermineae have already taken hold of the open space between the mercenary¡¯s defence. There are some warriors filling in from the rear of the pact nation¡¯s defence, but not nearly enough to hold them back. Despite my hopes, the Viisin continues to pursue. Why can¡¯t it just give up? My flames burn it faster than its decay can rip the energy from them, so it shouldn¡¯t bother with me. It should go for a target it can actually beat. Does it know how painful fighting it is for me, how much harder it is for me to recover from each attack compared to it? I thought I hid it well. Maybe the last Viisin I fought ¡ª the one Tore scared off ¡ª told them of me. It would explain why this Viisin is so adamant about extending this fight. I can only win by taking it out in a single blow, but with how wary it is, I won¡¯t be able to get the jump on it again. As the Viisin gives chase, I have an idea that might catch the dusty mermineae completely off guard. I already have a head start, but the Viisin is closing the distance quick. Once he¡¯s within range, I¡¯ll only have a second to attack. My tail already has hyper awareness of my actions, so turning as it strikes will not be effective, especially considering my flame jets don¡¯t give me instant speed. They allow me to accelerate incredibly fast when I lower my body weight, but they aren¡¯t an instant burst of speed like the mermineae¡¯s legs provide. What I need to do requires a bit more¡­ finesse. More than I¡¯ve yet achieved. My white flames, by their nature, are harder to control. Yellow and cooler fire spreads easily beyond a hundred metres under my control, but the distance in which I can create them from nothing, without a connection to myself or another flame, is far shorter. White flame is the same, though with a much narrower range. My inner flame can only become about the equivalent size of my body in white fire. If I want that much, I cannot be spreading my yellow flame, even if it would be easier to encase the Viisin by covering everything. The Viisin won¡¯t ignore it and will disperse it before I have the chance to intensify it into white flame. It would make things incredibly convenient if I could simply use the flames I¡¯m far more familiar with to spread my peak temperature, but the Viisin is far too cautious, dispersing the mild inferno before it can cling to its fur. What I hope to achieve will take all my focus. I¡¯ll even have to ignore the portion of my mind I always leave on controlling my body. The world fades away from my sight as I focus on two things: the thrust keeping me moving and the Viisin closing in. I choose a point between us, only a few metres behind myself, and focus intently on it. When the Viisin reaches that distance in relation to me, I¡¯ll have an instant to act. Multiple metres might sound like a lot, but with how fast the Viisin is moving, it isn¡¯t much to work with. But I don¡¯t trust myself to work at any greater lengths, not with my white flame, not without giving the creature time to react. I gather my energy and push out a stronger burst of physical flame, enough to send me soaring through the air far enough I don¡¯t have to worry about the ground. My jet cuts off and I redirect that focus to the point behind me. The world doesn¡¯t exist. It is only a thermal dot and the point it is moving toward. All my thoughts flee my mind with an almost impossible ease. No stress, no fear, nothing. There is only one thing I need to do, and I can be patient for the moment to come. The heat moves over the point, and it ignites. Immense heat appears into existence, fully engulfing the other. As soon as it appears, the momentary burst of mental strain lessens and I can refocus my thoughts. The first thing I notice is the scream, right before I slam face first into the ground. The energy in the white flame around the Viisin is nothing greater than what I usually wield, but to create so much of it remotely is painfully difficult. It¡¯s nostalgic, like I¡¯m back with Auntie Kay, succeeding at remote fire for the first time. Only this time, I could focus my mind completely on the task. Something that makes me oddly proud, despite not truly understanding why. I¡¯ve created my white flame remotely before, notably when I threatened the Order executives, but there is a massive difference between making some fingertip sized orbs over a few seconds, and a flame with all my capability in an instant. The Scream cuts off after only a second, and I witness the last of the being as it incinerates. There is no time for it to recover, nor make any last acts. It simply burns up into nothing but fuel for my fire. Soon, nothing remains. Nothing besides the dust remnants that had once flown freely off his decaying body. The ash swirls through the air where the Viisin once stood, moving in a breeze I cannot feel. I¡¯m already far behind the pact nations¡¯ defensive lines and while there are still many mercenaries around, the numbers don¡¯t come close to the battlefield in the distance. Time is wasting, and while I really should hurry, something, a feeling, makes me stay. The swirling dust flows inward, congesting at a point. A shape forms; a body. I incinerated every part of the Viisin. It shouldn¡¯t be able to come back; there was nothing left. Details of the body quickly become clear. This is no Viisin. It is too short. The two thin tails and sharp ears confirm it. I don¡¯t even need to wait for the creature¡¯s skin to take form to know who it is. Kalma. Her toothy grin is terrifying, but mostly infuriating. Chapter 151: Reversal ¡°That was a very cute attempt; trying to get these rodents to back down.¡± Kalma walks out of the cloud of dust as it concentrates into the last of her skin. ¡°I told you, didn¡¯t I? Doesn¡¯t matter what you say, there¡¯s no stopping this now.¡± The unsettling feeling of her voice eating my very being returns along with her hardly suppressed presence. Why is she here? Didn¡¯t she want to keep her involvement hidden? Her appearance has not gone unnoticed. All around us, both mermineae and mercenaries alike have frozen at her presence. The sheer, unhindered terror on the faces of the mermineae hides none of their thoughts about her appearance. Kalma twists her head from left to right. ¡°Where¡¯s that big guy you brought with you? Wasn¡¯t he supposed to be the only hope you had?¡± Her grin grows vicious as she raises a hand over her mouth in mock surprise. ¡°Oh! He hasn¡¯t abandoned you, has he? How sad. I was looking forward to watching him fight.¡± ¡°Why are you here?¡± I seethe through grit teeth. Tore should be here. She¡¯s shown herself so willingly and yet the only one with even the slightest chance of competing had run off. I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯m madder at Kalma¡¯s gloating or Tore for giving up this opportunity. Does she have something to do with why he ran off? She clearly already knew he wasn¡¯t here when she showed herself. So what happened to Tore? Is he still alive? ¡°Well, after you killed one of my Viisin, I didn¡¯t want you to suddenly think you had a chance. Plus, this gives me the perfect view,¡± she says as she turns to watch over the fleeing mermineae. Those that have broken from the shock of her presence bound away at a sprint. Unfortunately, they run right into the storm of the returning ice mage. Kalma¡¯s smirk remains plastered on her face even as countless mermineae fall before her. How does she know I killed a Viisin? It¡¯s almost impossible to miss her presence, so how far can she see? Was she watching over my conversation with that Viisin I tried to convince as well? With the old albanic mage back along the defensive line, the mermineae are quickly overcome. Kalma stands here, watching the mermineae be overcome. The elite of the Order are enough to push back the entire invasion. Even so, Kalma chuckles, as if pleased by the course of the war. ¡°The Viisin; you never thought the decay was their strength, did you?¡± she glances at me out the corner of her eye while raising her clawed hands before her, and I already know I will not like what¡¯s about to happen. She claps. A short, almost insignificant gesture. But as she does, the battlefield drowns in dust. Haunting, guttural screams create a chorus of suffering. Each instant that passes, the howls become more raspy, bestial, and hollow. ¡°What did you do?¡± the words escape my lips. ¡°It¡¯s not their power, it¡¯s mine. I just gave those with my touch a slight boost.¡± The dust settles and it¡¯s clear the mermineae are no longer being pushed back. Where there were none before, a hundred Viisin slaughter their way through the mercenaries with mindless intent. I¡¯d expected something like this to happen, but it¡¯s still hard to watch. It is too late to convince the Order to pull back their strongest. Doing so will only allow the mermineae to crush the pact nations. ¡°Every Forvaal across the battlefront now has the decaying body of a Viisin. Look to the north.¡± Where she points, a large plume of dust rises into the sky from near the horizon. ¡°Each Viisin, the few that remained, now enjoy their bodies falling apart at a rate I doubt they could have believed. Neither the former Forvaal or Viisin will survive long, but it¡¯ll be enough for them to drag the battle out.¡± Kalma says it so casually, but her words are horrifying. Thousands across the entire remaining border of the pact nations have their bodies tear themselves apart all at once. If she¡¯s not lying, then exactly how far can she control her decay? Running toward the headquarters will not help anymore. That option has departed. With Tore gone, there is no option but to fight and limit the number of losses. There is nobody who can stop this from going forward, beside Kalma herself. In a moment of frustration fuelled foolishness, I lash out. I guess it¡¯s no different from last time; I haven¡¯t learnt my lesson, but this powerlessness hits me harder than any intent to keep others beside those I care for safe. My entire reason for fighting for all these lives rests entirely on what my friends think of me. It¡¯s a flimsy reason at most, and I do feel bad that I¡¯m apathetic to the thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of lives that have or will be lost, but I simply don¡¯t have it in me to care for more than those close to me. Despite all that, failing so totally, and then having Kalma twist the knife, rubbing water into the wound, is infuriating. It is stupid; I know I have no chance, but I attack anyway. My flames roar over her body as my presence pushes against hers in futility. It doesn¡¯t matter if I¡¯m outmatched. It doesn¡¯t matter that I¡¯m putting myself in immense danger. All that matters is that Kalma burns. She only snickers. ¡°Quite the candle-flame you got there, but not nearly comparable to Ember¡¯s.¡± I falter before pressing further. ¡°What do you know about Eldest Ember?¡± For Kalma to use her name only angers me further. ¡°Oh?¡± Kalma appears genuinely surprised, but for all I know, it is an act. ¡°It¡¯s impressive she¡¯s still remembered after all this time. I¡¯m curious, what is it you believe about her?¡± with the wave of a hand, she brushes my flames off with ease. I don¡¯t stop. My flames engulf her once more, which only amuses Kalma. ¡°Would you believe me if I told you she¡¯s been imprisoned for a millennium by one of those world-damning Titans?¡± She ignores the flames sticking to her skin, peering up at the midday moon with an expression other than arrogant amusement.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. It¡¯s the first time she expresses anger, and I feel it through her presence. It overwhelms mine in an instant and I hardly notice when I extinguish my flames. She stares up at the orb in the sky with such fury that my own flees me. I know Kalma doesn¡¯t treat this war as anything but a source of amusement for her, but I never truly understood how small we are in her eyes. The venom of her tone as she curses the Titans rips through my core. Even to a being so beyond as Kalma, the Titans still come out on top. Not even those considered gods can overcome the living calamities. Does she hate them because she can¡¯t beat them, or is it something more? And what does she mean about Eldest Ember being trapped by one? Her influence is visible every night, so she can¡¯t be imprisoned. Why would the Titans trap her, anyway? Kalma lets out a sigh of frustration. ¡°Well, that ruined the mood.¡± She shakes her head and turns back to me, grin back in place, though not as toothy as usual. ¡°The war can¡¯t be stopped now. You should find a nice place to watch the finale. Might as well experience some enjoyment before the end of everything, right?¡± Kalma turns back to the battle as the old ice mage carries her storm through the fighting, leaving none in her wake as she cuts toward the massive plume of dust in the distance. Even if Kalma has amplified her power through the Viisin, I should be glad she hasn¡¯t entered the battle herself. The mermineae¡¯s god disperses in flakes of dust without another word. The frustration of my inability to achieve anything is immense. My flames still cannot touch her, but I already knew there was little chance of that succeeding. The issue is that not only have my efforts up to now been pointless, but I have no plan for what to do now. If I were still on the other side of the Alps, I¡¯d probably take the risk and attempt to bring the Euroclydon after Kalma. How I would manipulate a Titan in any way, I don¡¯t know, but it would at least be an option. Here? I have nothing to work with. The mermineae, now emboldened by their empowered brethren, charge amongst the mercenaries with renewed vigour. I wonder if they¡¯d still attack like that if they knew no matter how well they fight, neither side will survive? The old mage lady has already taken her storm far to my south. The land between us a frozen wasteland that prevents any unenhanced from walking through without freezing. The boosted Viisin, only noticeable by the immense dust cloud rising in the distance, moves to meet her. When they finally collide, the chilly wind can be felt even as far away as I am. An icy blast explodes upon the Viisin, arcing outward and taking much more of the land than the mage could have intended. Unlike before, the Viisin doesn¡¯t die to the mage¡¯s blast. With Kalma¡¯s power pushing the creature far beyond its limits, it can stand toe to toe with the mage. I head north, away from their fight as it reshapes the landscape. Anything that dares approach them will die. There is no doubt in my mind. I truly must have been mad to attack Kalma. Only barely could I beat one of the Viisin before its enhancement; in no world could I burn such a being as they are now. As I run through the battlefield, I hesitate to fight. There¡¯s not really any reason to, is there? I cannot stop the two sides from fighting, nor can I impact the battle enough for the pact nations to come out on top. Even if I could, Kalma would simply pump the mermineae full with more energy until it is impossible. I¡¯d hoped to limit the losses on both sides, but if there¡¯s no more option, then I¡¯ll have to go back to burning mermineae. The safety of the pact nations is still my priority, no matter the futility Kalma¡¯s existence brings. Even if it is impossible, I don¡¯t want to stand on the sidelines and watch as everything is torn down. It¡¯s strange; a year ago, maybe two, I would have fled without hesitation. The pact nations are doomed and staying here will only open myself to more danger. I thought my survival and freedom was still the most important thing to me, but I guess not. Not now that my team will face such an insurmountable challenge. Not with my friends relying on our success. A wry grin crawls over my face despite the circumstances. I wonder how they¡¯re doing? Welp, no use complaining about our circumstances. I can¡¯t go for the headquarters anymore, so I might as well help trim some of those new Viisin. I rocket over the heads of a team of mercenaries. They are only barely holding off a Viisin¡¯s attacks due to the mage¡¯s defensive stone walls. It does little to block the creature¡¯s explosive attacks, but it gives them time to make space. Unfortunately for them, none of their attacks are effective. Two of their weapons have already lost their blades to the decaying skin of the Viisin. I crash into the earth before the team and spread my flames. Before combating the creature, I want to separate it from the team clearly unable to handle it. I may lose the element of surprise, but I¡¯ve fought with enough Viisin to know how hard it is to catch them unaware. Instead of backing away at the sight of my white flames, the decaying mermineae lets loose a shout that is impossible to distinguish whether it¡¯s a scream in pain or a battle cry. It flings itself my way without hesitation. I hardly need to move my flames. The creature dives into them and incinerates in moments. The pain is still there, but it¡¯s hardly anything to achieve the eradication of a Viisin. It looks and feels like a Viisin, but it certainly doesn¡¯t act like one. They aren¡¯t stupid. The Viisin know when they can attack and when to be wary. But this one attacked without thought. A mindless attempt that resulted in nothing but its own death. Clearly, this is one of the new Viisin. The Forvaal Kalma forced her power upon. Are they unable to handle the immense decay through their bodies? It is horrifying if they¡¯ve become nothing but mindless beasts to the pain they endure, but I can¡¯t say I¡¯m unhappy. Without their minds, these new Viisin will be easy to deal with. Though, going through the sudden immense number of them is definitely not going to feel great. I let out a breath and glance behind me, noting each mercenary is without significant injury. They give a quick gesture of gratitude, but are already moving off to support the others struggling against Viisin of their own. None are faring well. Only Beiths seem to have definite methods to deal with the Viisin, so even mindless as they are, most mercenaries can only hope to delay until one appears. Unfortunately, the only Beith in the area was already killed by the Order¡¯s elite, who is also no longer around. I guess it¡¯s all up to me then. My flames push outward, quickly spreading over the battlefield. It¡¯s difficult, but I manage to use the airflow to spread my flames while keeping them under enough control that I don¡¯t burn through the unenhanced caught in my path. Resisting the urge to take all the breathable air for myself, I hold back and allow the air to flow freely. Wouldn¡¯t want to accidentally cause thousands to suffocate. I could rely on my heat sense, but this simply makes my work more convenient. Not only can I see how the battle plays out around me easier, but it allows me to burn the Viisin as I find them. It¡¯s rather difficult to push a flame to its maximum temperature at my farthest range, but I don¡¯t plan to sit still. As soon as my flames spread over a point where they cannot burn, I fly toward it. The newly minted Viisin enters my sight, and as soon as I¡¯m on top of it, it burns to ash. Thankfully, they are all just as mindless as the first. There are some annoyances within my flames across the battlefield. Some water mages cover themselves in deadly liquid, others try to put out my flames, even though it shouldn¡¯t be hurting them. I retract the fire from around them. It often leaves them exposed to the Viisin¡¯s attacks, but it¡¯s their fault for not wanting my help. ¡°I¡¯ve finally found you.¡± So engrossed within my blaze, I never look toward the sky. Gr¨ªmr lands in front of me, his talons crushing a Viisin I was just about to burn. Metal talons that I¡¯m absolutely certain would have melted on contact with a Viisin¡¯s decay the last I saw him. Glowing inscriptions line much of his metal feathered body. I can tell they are inscriptions rather than the markings of a mage; they follow too closely to the structure I¡¯m familiar with of the inheritance ritual Remus had me memorise. I can¡¯t tell what the inscription itself can do, but the components are the same. I grin up at him. ¡°I see you¡¯re doing better.¡± Chapter 152: Solon ¡°Gr¨ªmr, you look different.¡± Without a moment of hesitation, I¡¯m already on top of him, inspecting the incredibly compact glowing markings that thread along his razor plumage. He vibrates his feathers and they weave out of position, breaking the inscription and cutting the glow. When they lock back in place, another inscription illuminates, and a sudden gust launches me off his back. I land on my feet as Gr¨ªmr laughs an amused trill. ¡°Yeah, Remus knew a guy,¡± he says as I gape. He can change the inscription by rearranging the formation of his plumage? That¡¯s amazing. Both inscriptions are incredibly detailed, almost to the extent of Henosis¡¯ experimental weapon. How many forms can the inscription take? It¡¯s good to see Gr¨ªmr fully recovered after our last fight with that Viisin. I¡¯m not the only one that¡¯s grown the capability to combat the decay those creatures can inflict. His talons would have pulverised if he¡¯d tried the same thing last time, so I¡¯m glad he has a means to defend his body now. It is also relieving to see Kalma hasn¡¯t hurt him, or messed with him in any apparent way. Maybe she thought I was the only one who brought the centzon. That doesn¡¯t really make much sense, but I¡¯m not about to question Gr¨ªmr¡¯s good fortune. ¡°That¡¯s so cool. How many inscriptions can you make?¡± I ask. Gr¨ªmr stands tall, his beak rising high in the air at my praise. ¡°It¡¯s just the two, but the riparian said there was still room to fit another.¡± He flutters his feathers and returns the inscription to an inactive state. ¡°The first makes my metal resistant to decay and supposedly increases its toughness. The other doesn¡¯t help much in a fight, but it vastly improves my acceleration and manoeuvrability in the air,¡± he says. ¡°Hop on, I¡¯ll show you on our way to Remus.¡± I don¡¯t hesitate. There are still some Viisin in the area, but I¡¯ve already killed so many of them and I need time to recover, anyway. The mindless creatures are nowhere near the difficulty they used to be to defeat, but it still takes it out of me to surpass their decay. At most, I can only kill a few before I need to recover for a dozen minutes. My inner flames still have to be sacrificed to push past their decay, and it has become expensive on my energy reserves to recover. I¡¯ve been trying to take what I can from each individual Viisin, but while I do feel my capacity increasing ever so minimally, the immediate energy I gain is not enough to recover my expenditure. The wasteland that has become of the battlefield doesn¡¯t provide much fuel either. Everything has either been frozen beyond reason, or bombarded into dust. There are still remnants of artillery shells that remain scattered across the land, but even those are rare because of the swathes of land now scarred from the Viisin¡¯s involuntary decaying bodies. I jump on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back again, and with hardly a flap of his wings, we are airborne. It¡¯s a far cry from the time it used to take. The glowing inscriptions over his body don¡¯t so much as create air, but redirect it around his massive body. It¡¯s somewhat similar to the manipulations I tried to do when I was carrying Leal, but clearly created by someone with a far better understanding of the principles than I. Gr¨ªmr tilts his wings and I¡¯m almost crushed against his back as he turns at an unbelievably sharp angle. Even with the little weight I carry, I can barely make turns as fast as this. It reminds me of the first bird of prey to attack me over on the other side of the Alps; the enantiorn eagle. The land below is a mess. It¡¯s hard to spot any speck of earth that remains untouched. I wonder what this placed looked like before battle marred it? By the time I¡¯d arrived, artillery bombardment already pockmarked the land. Since the arrival of the Order¡¯s elite mage, it has only grown worse. The Mercenaries and soldiers have been in retreat ever since the manifestation of the many new Viisin. Most flee in a disorganised mess, but there are plenty of more experienced and enhanced teams which hold the vanguard and protect their rear. Those defending the retreat can¡¯t do much to fight off the Viisin, but their experience fighting creatures on the Titan Alps gives them the skill to hold the mindless Viisin¡¯s attention on themselves. Most teams have no method to beat them, but surviving long enough for the rest of the mercenaries to escape is possible. It is possible, but even watching over the battle from the skies, I see many Luis mercenaries fall to the incredibly fast movements of their opponents. Gr¨ªmr takes us north. He quickly reaches his previous maximum speed and surpasses it. We don¡¯t reach the same pace we did with Imiha¡¯s support, but it¡¯s an impressive improvement. My portian friend favours the air above the pact nation¡¯s side of battle as we fly. The number of combatants thins in places, and rises in others over the distance we travel, but the advantage toward the mermineae¡¯s side is the same everywhere. The pact nations are pushed back no matter where I look. At least, until we reach another section of immensely devastated land. It looks like a herd of dahu went wild in the area. A massive forest of stone spikes, each the size of an ursu continae, spread for leagues outward in an arc. There is no sign of any mermineae in the area, or the mage who reshaped the land so totally. The only ones around are the mercenaries set up at the base of the expanse of towering stones.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. This is the first place I¡¯ve seen where the pact nations not only have the advantage, but have complete control. Though they hesitate to capitalise and push into the stone forest, and I can understand; the immense jagged stones won¡¯t make traversal easy. Whatever mage inflicted such far-reaching damage is no longer around, but from how safe the people below are, it¡¯s encouraging to see the elite mercenaries might not all care nothing for mass casualties. Well, assuming there was nobody besides the mermineae caught in such a devastating rush of rock. Gr¨ªmr and I continue flying for a while. We never stop to help those barely holding on under the assault of the mermineae. Knowing Gr¨ªmr, I¡¯m sure he hates to ignore them, but returning to Remus must be more important. Beiths help the mercenaries below with the Viisin, but there is clearly not enough to go around. If we hadn¡¯t lost so many to the other side of the Alps before this war ever started, there wouldn¡¯t be nearly as much a problem. But what has come to pass cannot be changed. We can only make use of what we have and not regret what is lost. ¡°So, uh¡­ you haven¡¯t heard what happened, have you?¡± I ask, unsure of how wide Kalma¡¯s effort to sabotage my coordination with the Mercenary Order has spread. Gr¨ªmr gives me a pitying side-eye glance. ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a soul in the pact nations that hasn¡¯t heard,¡± he says. ¡°Remus filled us in about Kalma¡¯s involvement, but you should probably keep your distance from anyone you¡¯re not overly familiar with.¡± I melt onto Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back. There was little chance it wouldn¡¯t have spread, what with how many mercenaries were there to witness, but I¡¯d still hoped. Being considered a criminal by the entire pact nations is definitely not going to be fun. It was fine when it was Joiak, as I had no reason to respect them after how they allowed my friends to be treated, but my life is already too bound to the pact nations. At least Remus believed my message. I¡¯m thankful he¡¯s spread the word with Gr¨ªmr and whoever else might be with him. Assuming they all believe him, I won¡¯t be walking into a bunch of spiteful mercenaries. Honestly, I didn¡¯t even need to ask Gr¨ªmr; I already knew the word had spread. The mercenary teams I¡¯ve assisted have shown hesitance at my appearance, and while none have shown hostility ¡ª because that would be absolutely stupid with the power difference between us ¡ª they still didn¡¯t trust me. ¡°Also, you should apologise to Remus as soon as you see him. He doesn¡¯t like to show it, but he was pretty upset you didn¡¯t wait for him.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Right. I completely forgot how I abandoned our meeting point in my rush to get Tore. And what a waste that was. That giant better be doing something important, because if he¡¯s not, I¡¯ll be pissed. I¡¯m coming back to Remus empty handed. ¡°I will.¡± We¡¯ve been flying for not even an hour when Gr¨ªmr drops our altitude. It wasn¡¯t a long flight, but with Kalma pushing the fight ever closer to its end, every minute we waste makes me stress. In the distance, the iconic centzon war machines roll across the earth unopposed. There aren¡¯t nearly as many of them as there were across the Titan Alps, but even seeing them here means the centzon we left within the mountains made it across alive. A relief considering Kalma apparently destroyed their fortress herself. ¡°They¡¯ve made more progress than I expected,¡± Gr¨ªmr comments as he comes in to land amongst the siege engines. I jump off as soon as Gr¨ªmr¡¯s talons touch the earth. Remus dismounts his moving machine to greet us. Jav, like he used to, rests on Remus¡¯ head with a determined stance. It¡¯s great to see him better. He hadn¡¯t exactly been in a great mental state the last time I saw him, so I¡¯m happy to see him back to his normal self despite the circumstances. ¡°Solvei!¡± Remus cheers, his signature eye smile directed my way. ¡°Hope you¡¯re not about to leave without a word again.¡± ¡°Sorry about that.¡± I cringe in regret. ¡°I was in a hurry and I didn¡¯t know how long you would be.¡± Remus shakes his head with a chuckle. ¡°Just be careful around Ossian when he finds out you burnt the wall of his cabin. He might be unenhanced, but he knows how to hold a grudge.¡± Despite Remus¡¯ jovial tone, he sounds serious, so I nod in acknowledgement before raising my eyes to the small volan on his head. ¡°I¡¯m glad you look well, Jav.¡± He waves a small artificially winged arm dismissively. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I¡¯m done moping.¡± He gives off an awkward chuckle. ¡°My old man made sure of it.¡± With the four of us here, the team is almost back together. All we need now is Bunny, and we¡¯d be back to how we started. I can¡¯t help but look around in anticipation of the off chance that she is here somewhere. ¡°She¡¯s not here,¡± Gr¨ªmr says, stepping up beside me. ¡°Sorry, but Bunny¡¯s still defending her country from invasion on two fronts.¡± ¡°Do you know if she¡¯s alright?¡± ¡°The Vanguard has held its ground through this entire war. Far from what can be said about the pact nations. There¡¯s little to worry about.¡± ¡°Is this the one you told me about?¡± a voice completely unique to any I¡¯ve heard before says. It sounds screechy, like the mermineae, but far too deep to be one of them. I turn to face a strange three eyed creature looking down on me from hardly a metre away. How did I not notice him? A quick check with my thermal sense shows absolutely nothing. I can¡¯t feel any heat coming from him. I¡¯ve never seen anything like him. He stands above two metres tall, but only because of a wooden brace holding his chest. Four symmetrical wooden legs extend out radially like a spider. The wood is absolutely brimming with dense inscriptions. A thousand individual lines carved into the wood glow with each tiny movement of the timber legs. What is below his chest is obscured by the artificial appendages, but from his brown leather-like torso, extends four arms. Each of the creature¡¯s hands has five long fingers and two thumbs. ¡°Solvei, this is my friend-¡± Remus starts. ¡°Friend?¡± Remus¡¯ apparently not-friend questions. ¡°Business associate,¡± Remus tries, and the strange creature nods in acceptance. ¡°Solon. He owes me a favour, so he¡¯ll be helping us. Solon is a riparian and is one of the foremost experts on inscription engineering.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. That¡¯s all very interesting, but I want to see if she can really do as you say.¡± The strange riparian steps closer, his mechanical wooden legs moving in a way completely dissimilar to the centzon¡¯s machinery. Unlike the loud grinding and clanking of theirs, his legs move with a fluidity I would expect from something alive. But I can see the joints. I can see nothing but timber and the glowing engravings which relight with each movement. ¡°Solvei, can you show him the ritual?¡± Remus asks. I¡¯m uncertain why this Solon wants to see it, but I decide not to question it for now and do as asked. There''re no corpses around, but he just wants to see me make the inscription with my flames, right? No need to actually do anything but show I can make it work. The floating ritual comes together quickly. Surprisingly fast, even for me. My focus must have improved more than I¡¯d thought since the last time I created this inscription. With no material to target, the ritual can¡¯t do much more than grasp at nothing, but it still operates properly. ¡°Satisfactory,¡± Solon says as he turns back to Remus. ¡°I can work with this.¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t know why you refuse to work with an ¨¢infean,¡± Jav says. ¡°We wouldn¡¯t have needed Solvei if you¡¯d just accepted Spenne while he was here.¡± Solon says nothing, but Remus shakes his head. ¡°Just leave it. Changing Solon¡¯s mind once he¡¯s made it is impossible.¡± I glance between them curiously. What exactly do they need me for? Chapter 153: Riparian Lesson
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Chapter 154: Ankor ¡°So, how exactly are we going to meet up with those inner circle mercenaries you convinced to help us?¡± I ask atop Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back. We set out as soon as Solon gave his approval of my capability. Remus, Jav, Gr¨ªmr and I left without so much as a goodbye to the centzon. It¡¯s somewhat regrettable to leave Tzilac and his kin so soon after meeting them again, but the centzon hardly need us around to support them. Assuming none of the superior Viisin get in their way, nothing can threaten them with those war machines of theirs. Solon stayed back with the centzon, but I don¡¯t imagine he¡¯ll stick around for long. He made it pretty clear in the short time I was with him he plans to return to Riparia¡¯s island as soon as he can. Whether the riparian doesn¡¯t enjoy being away from his home, or simply wants to avoid the war, I don¡¯t know. Maybe one day, should I survive this mess, I¡¯ll find him again. It would be nice if I could get him to teach me for more than a few hours, but something tells me that won¡¯t be so easy. Regardless, I¡¯m thankful for what he has taught me. I realise now that my plan to get Tore to do the fighting against Kalma was hasty at best. I¡¯d been lucky not to have the giant kill me the instant I showed my face in New Vetus. But even with that luck, there was no plan to find Kalma. There had been an assumption that if I brought him to the battlefield, the two would find each other and fight. Kalma isn¡¯t self indulging, though. She would likely have just kept her distance and watched as the war brought everything down around us and let Tore flounder. It would have been nothing more than an extra source of entertainment for her. I¡¯m thankful Remus thought about it. Really, I should have stayed to talk to him properly. There is no changing the past. It was the right action at the time, given what I knew. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t bear fruit, but we have the opportunity before us to at the very least make things difficult for Kalma. Beating her seems all but impossible, but there¡¯s no point not trying. ¡°Only one of the inner circle has no method to find us on their own. We¡¯ll head toward him. When others might join us, I don¡¯t know, but I¡¯m hoping he can subdue the Viisin long enough for you to tear out Kalma¡¯s hyle.¡± ¡°Hoping?¡± I ask. ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t give me that.¡± Remus¡¯ eyes roll in his head to look back at me. ¡°The last time I saw the khirig fight was nearly a century ago.¡± ¡°Shocking, isn¡¯t it?¡± Jav says. ¡°There are actually people older than Remus.¡± Jav effortlessly dodges the tentacle swatting at him. ¡°Besides, they are the inner circle for a reason. Even if their¡­ character can be called into question, each might as well be unbeatable in battle.¡± I¡¯d love to believe that, but the ice mage clearly didn¡¯t have an easy time against the superior Viisin. How is one supposed to fight something that doesn¡¯t die even when its whole body is destroyed? Though, I¡¯m pretty sure I thought the same thing when I saw a Viisin for the first time, so it must be possible. ¡°So you know where to find this khirig?¡± we¡¯ve been travelling south ever since we left, following the battlefield from the sky. Thankfully, much of the fighting has entered a sort of lull. Except for the mindless Viisin throwing themselves into teams of mercenaries, there is very little combating occurring. But we¡¯ve only flown over areas mostly untouched by superior Viisin and inner circle mercenary, so while I can hope the entire battlefield is identical, it is unlikely. There¡¯s a good chance other places have been less fortunate. ¡°Nope,¡± Remus says. ¡°We¡¯re just going to keep flying until we find him. Don¡¯t worry though, if Ankor has been in a fight, we¡¯ll know about it.¡± I¡¯m not sure how Remus can keep his relaxed attitude even in the middle of war, but I believe him. If there¡¯s anything the inner circle mercenaries have in common, it¡¯s the absolute devastation they leave behind them from their battles. I assume this Ankor will be no different, so tracking him down will be no issue once we find the remnants of his battle. Once we find his remnants. The battlefront covers an immense section of land. How long will it take to find a hint of his passage? I wonder if I¡¯d be able to use my new inscription to find this khirig. We¡¯d need some inkling of his hyle to operate, and the only place we might find that is a battlefield he passed through, so it¡¯s not like it¡¯s all too helpful. In no time, we pass the towering pillars of stone and reach the frozen battlefield again. There are more unfaltering paths of frost littering the landscape. The albanic mage hasn¡¯t been holding back with her icy blasts in the time I¡¯ve been gone. She¡¯s nowhere in sight, and neither are either side of the battle. Whether they fled, or were killed in the crossfire, is uncertain. I tried to support Gr¨ªmr¡¯s flight with my flames, like I used to, but we are quick to discover it interferes with the operation of the inscriptions carved into his feathers and slows us down rather than amplifying our speed as intended. We travel for an hour beyond the icy wasteland with no sign of the mercenary we¡¯re looking for. Nearly half of our flight passes over flooded land. A sign that one of the inner circle is a water mage. Not something I¡¯m happy to learn. There are a surprisingly disproportionate amount of mages amongst the mercenary elite. Is the growth potential for a mage simply that much greater than one who relies on weapons and enhancement? Or is there some other reason for the bias? It¡¯s frustrating for me, as I know I¡¯m far better suited to those who use physical attacks like bladed weapons and such. Those who have the power to influence the world around them are far more dangerous.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. I guess I¡¯m lucky New Vetus prefers a warrior¡¯s strength to a mage¡¯s capabilities. If either the warden or the commissars had been mages, my fights against them might have gone very differently. The sight of what I assume to be a Luis mage a thousand metres below being overwhelmed by a lesser Viisin catches my eye. Despite their ability to wield water to their will, and the vast knee deep sea of water around them, they still fail to effectively combat the decaying mermineae. Then again, maybe I wouldn¡¯t have had much of a problem. Unlike with warriors, there is an obvious difference of talent and intelligence between them. Sure, physical warriors can exhibit skill in the way they wield their weapons, but most of the time, the only defining factor is the amount of enhancement one has achieved. While it is probably wrong to say the same isn¡¯t true for a mage, Leal is an example of one that can hit far beyond what her enhancement should allow, simply because of her skill and understanding of markings. Elite mages must be the same; having reached where they are, not because of the amount of energy within them, but how effectively they wield that energy. There are plenty of sections along the front where our defence clearly lacked any of talent, or at least suitable enhancement. The mermineae swarm through the undefended land as the lesser Viisin continue to chase down teams of mercenaries unable to fight back. As we pass many such areas, my team plunges within a sombre air. It is clear in the way Gr¨ªmr¡¯s and Remus¡¯ eyes linger on the hopeless mercenaries below, that they want to dive down and save each of them. Jav intentionally doesn¡¯t look, his eyes locked on the horizon ahead. Despite their wishes, there are far too many occurrences for us to waste time on any single one. It¡¯s not an enjoyable circumstance, but on the off chance we can actually beat Kalma, her energy will no longer empower the mermineae. Well, we don¡¯t know that for sure, but it¡¯s only one more assumption to add to the pile that needs to be fulfilled without issue for an optimal outcome to this war. ¡­We really are grasping at straws. ??? Glistening flashes of light amongst a cloud of dust in the distance is the first sign that we¡¯ve found another inner circle mercenary. Every so often, booming cracks resound through the air, increasing in volume as we fly closer. The obscuring dust cloud covers much of the battlefield to our south. The fight likely occurring within continually spreads ash through the skies without a chance to settle. Occasionally, bright flashes of light shine from within the dust cloud. They only appear briefly, but with how the dust blows outward at each flash, I assume something within is moving incredibly fast. ¡°Oh, good!¡± Remus cheers. ¡°I was worried we¡¯d have to travel all the way to Vanguard to find him.¡± So this is Ankor? The elite who¡¯s agreed to help us? I¡¯m surprised Remus can distinguish his identity simply from those brief lights, but he¡¯s the only one of us that¡¯s seen him fight, so I¡¯ll take his word for it. As we close in on the battle, the area both Ankor and the Viisin have been becomes clear. Covering all is a thick layer of dust. It¡¯s like an ugly grey snow over the earth. But visible beneath the dust is scarred land with craters a hundred metres wide and sharp crevices cut into the earth at odd angles. Unlike the other damaged landscapes, the only visible effect is the damage the ground below us has received. No elemental effects to give away what type of mage Ankor might be. Unless, like Tore, he¡¯s a physical only warrior. Once we reach the outskirts of the dust cloud, the source of those light flashes becomes clear. Breaching the dense depths of dust, is a heavy curved blade arcing through the air around a chain leading to the centre of the ash. The weighted blade shines with inscriptions as it reaches the apex of its swing before it disappears back within the obscuring dust. A crack soon follows, the sound somewhere between the crack of a whip and grinding stone. Within a moment of the first, another chain breaches the ash. This time, nothing more than a blunt weight is attached to the end. The weapon arcs high into the air, before jerking back out of sight and exploding into the earth. The force smashes through each of us along with a faceful of dust. ¡°So, I hate to be the one to ask, but how are we meant to approach?¡± Jav asks, and I have to share his hesitance. Those chained weapons weren¡¯t short, by any means. It¡¯s clear Ankor is a weapon wielder rather than a mage, so out of the four of us, it would likely be safer for me to be the one to dive in. Though, the more I watch those glowing weapons break into view and the explosions of dust that must be the superior Viisin, my hesitance grows. ¡°We don¡¯t need to approach. We only need to get his attention,¡± Remus says, to my relief. ¡°Gr¨ªmr, can-¡± Without needing to be told, Gr¨ªmr lets loose a shrill whistle loud enough that Jav has to cover his ears. It is far closer to a buzz of scraping metal than a typical bird¡¯s call, but it does the job. A crash, followed by clanking of chains echoing through the dust is all the warning we have before a giant of a khirig tears out of the obscuring cloud. Half a dozen weapons follow in his wake, connected to his body by thick metal-link chains. Surprisingly, none of his antlers have inscriptions or markings on them. It¡¯s only his chains and their connected weapons that do. Only after a few seconds of Ankor having cleared of the dust, do I realise his fleshy inner body isn¡¯t actually any larger than the rest of his race. It is because his antlers extend so far from his body that he looks twice the normal size. Each of his antlers grows outward, which is also not a common sight amongst the khirig. Usually, beside the antlers that make their arms and legs, they curve around to protect the head and chest in a protective cage. Ankor¡¯s antlers grow outward in a way that would leave his chest exposed¡­ if he didn¡¯t fill the gap with a web of chains. As he moves through the air, the slightest jerk of one of those antlers sends the weapons trailing behind him spinning. The movement is enough to drastically alter his trajectory, which is fortunate, as the air itself disintegrates to dust. A clear path of the remnants of decay leads back into the dust cloud. The instantaneous disintegration of air leaves a far thinner dust than what is left of the earth, and it disperses relatively quickly, but that was clearly an attack I¡¯ve never seen before. The superior Viisin have new tricks. Not good. ¡°You took your time, Remus.¡± Ankor doesn¡¯t even look our way. Instead, he swings his pendulum blade through the dust behind him. The blade momentarily clears the dust in its path, but it¡¯s long enough for me to see it cut through the Viisin deep within. To my eyes, it looks like the blade simply passes through a mermineae shaped bundle of ash without effect. The same way a blade might pass through me. The moment of visibility soon disappears. Dust explodes out of the Viisin in enough quantity to block sight for a good hundred metres. ¡°Give me a few minutes to get ready. Deal with the fodder heading east until then.¡± He knows what we expect from him already. That¡¯s good. Remus must have told him the plan before he was sent out. I need him to hold the Viisin still long enough for the inscription to lock on, otherwise I won¡¯t be able to take Kalma¡¯s energy. We follow Ankor¡¯s directions, and look east. In the distance, there is a swarm of lesser Viisin pushing through an already defeated army of mercenaries. Looks like it¡¯s time to see just how good Gr¨ªmr¡¯s new inscriptions are in a fight. Chapter 155: Horde While Ankor continues fighting back the Viisin, the four of us fly toward the former Forvaal as they sprint into the now undefended land of the pact nations. The lesser Viisin leave very little sign of the mercenaries they must have only recently cut through, but the odd limb or discarded weapon is enough that there is no doubt of the slaughter they¡¯ve left behind. There have to be nearly a hundred of the fresh Viisin rushing along the land. With so many crowding so close together, it¡¯s no surprise whatever army of mercenaries stood in their way didn¡¯t last long. I could kill probably five or six, maybe I could reach ten if I really pushed myself, before I¡¯d have to recover for a while. With Gr¨ªmr¡¯s new inscription covered body, I¡¯m sure he can fight some off himself, but my concern lies with the other two. Even without intelligence, these Viisin are just as fast and their touch as deadly as always. I distinctly remember my team struggling against normal Forvaal, before Kalma¡¯s boost. How are Remus and Jav fine to join us? ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s safe for you two to join?¡± Remus laughs. ¡°In a direct battle? Of course not. Jav and I don¡¯t plan to get close.¡± He reaches a tentacle and unstraps a couple of packs from Gr¨ªmr¡¯s side. ¡°But Solon wasn¡¯t the only one I asked help from.¡± I¡¯m curious as to what he means, but the old dohrni doesn¡¯t elaborate. He chooses to smile my way in infuriating silence. Fine then, keep it a secret. I throw myself off Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back, and finish my transformation to a falcon before rocketing ahead. If he wants to tease me like that, I¡¯ll kill the Viisin before he even has the chance to show off. The less mass in this form helps a lot with mobility. My physical jets require far less energy or resources to achieve the same acceleration. It¡¯s a shame, but I haven¡¯t been able to use a spear in a while. Without the weapon to use, I don¡¯t really need to stay in my default form for any other reason than comfort. It might be useful if I was desperate enough to use my body¡¯s flames to fight the Viisin, like I did when I first pushed them to a white heat, but while it¡¯s possible to kill them with my inner flame alone, there is no point putting my life in such danger. I soar forward, incinerating the first two I pass and intentionally gaining the attention of the rest. As expected, they simultaneously dash after me. If I hadn¡¯t already accelerated to an immense speed, there¡¯s a no way I could have dodged them all. I find some amusement in the way they crash into each other before throwing themselves after me. Many claw at their neighbour to give themselves more speed, unknowingly dismembering them. More than half are left recovering as the fewer close in on me. One unfortunate soul dies completely at his brethren¡¯s hands. If only I could replicate that a hundred more times. I incinerate two more in an instant, but the strain it puts on my flames is hard to push through. Three more jump directly into balls of white flame, only for the blaze to engulf them and leave nothing left. Much of my inner flame disappears along with them, leaving nothing but an ache as replacement. As much as I wanted to show Remus up, it looks like there¡¯s only so far I can reach. A metallic grinding screech rings out a moment before Gr¨ªmr, in his huge glowing alicanto body, tears through the swarming Viisin. The inscriptions on his wings shine brighter as they shear through a dozen mermineae. He grasps a couple of Viisin in his taloned feet and carries them away from the horde before slamming them into the earth, crushing them under his entire weight. The ones his wings cut through quickly recover, dashing after either of us, while those caught beneath him are gone for good. The crowd splits their attention between the two of us, and bound after us in a way that reminds me far too much of the chthonic my tribe fought so long ago. Their ample numbers, in addition to their mindless blood-thirst, mimic the first creatures I¡¯d truly feared. Gr¨ªmr takes to the air long before they can reach him. He clearly doesn¡¯t want to get caught in a melee with the Viisin, and as I watch him gain altitude, I see why; an ever so slight trail of dust falls off his wings. It appears those inscriptions don¡¯t entirely make him immune to the effects of decay. A Viisin leaps through the air, coming far too close for comfort. I burn it and take some more height. I¡¯ll need to wait around for a minute before I can try to take any more on. Most of the inner flame I can control at once is already gone. Unless I want to try using the flames of my body, I¡¯m forced to ascend and wait until they reignite. As Remus said, both he and Jav keep their distance. Remus reaches into a pouch and hands something to Jav. Though I¡¯d rather not let him get his way over me, I am curious about what he¡¯s brought. I don¡¯t have to wait long to find out. Remus wraps a tentacle around Jav only a moment before the small volan spears through the air with terrifying speed. Even if Gr¨ªmr and I have grown immensely since we all fought as a team, the power Remus can put into his throws is still impressive. In the blink of an eye, Jav has crossed hundreds of metres, soaring over the heads of the Viisin chasing me. I almost miss the capsule Jav tosses amongst the mermineae before it explodes into an intense flash. The crack of Remus¡¯ whip like limb reaches my ears an instant before the thrumming blast does. I¡¯m pelted by shrapnel that surprisingly doesn¡¯t melt as it comes in contact with my body. Below, a crater appears in the centre of the swarm of Viisin. The blast completely erasing a few of the mindless creatures from existence, and blowing away those further out. So the centzon were able to create more of those bombs in the time they crossed the Alps. Remus didn¡¯t have many satchels with him, so I can assume we have about five more of those bombs left at most. I¡¯m surprised the centzon gave even that many away. It¡¯s supposed to be a time-consuming process to create both the oil and shrapnel used in the explosives.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Jav is already curving back to Remus, ready to pick up another bomb, but the Viisin are no longer ignorant of their presence. With me out of their reach, they unanimously turn towards the old dohrni. Remus, after throwing Jav a second time, has the wisdom to move away as fast as he can. He¡¯s already a good kilometre, but if he¡¯s not careful, they¡¯ll catch up before he realises. But I trust Remus to have the experience to keep himself safe. Jav, on the other hand, has to get in real close to toss those devastating bombs. I know with his reaction speed and the velocity he moves, there¡¯s little to worry about, but he¡¯s still the most vulnerable. A single mistake, and it could be all over for him. Gr¨ªmr swoops, cutting through the group chasing Remus and leading his own pack into the rest just as Jav flings another bomb. The resultant explosion peppers Gr¨ªmr with shrapnel, but with his inscriptions hardening the metal of his body, they clatter off like nothing. Despite the strike being perfect, there are still so many remaining. Only the Viisin vaporised by the initial blast stay down. We¡¯ve whittled down barely a quarter of the numbers they started with. There¡¯s simply too many to fight in any way that isn¡¯t conservative. Gr¨ªmr would be overwhelmed if he tried to take out any more than one or two at a time, and the duo have no choice but to keep their distance. Not to mention they are on a counter before they lose their only effective method to deal damage. My fire is coming back, but far too slowly. Ankor has been fighting that superior Viisin for who knows how long now, so I hardly think there¡¯s any need to clear through these mermineae with any haste. But still, I¡¯d rather my team not put themselves in danger while I¡¯m simply watching from the sidelines. ¡­ okay, fine. I just don¡¯t want to lose out to them after I¡¯ve grown so much. I want to show them up a bit. It¡¯s Remus¡¯ fault for winding me up at the start of the fight. But I¡¯ll never keep up with their pace as it is. In the time it¡¯s taken me to regain enough flames to burn two Viisin, Gr¨ªmr has already crushed six, and the other two have probably blown up over a dozen between them. As things are going, I¡¯ll lose in the kill count. I can¡¯t have that. If I want to compete, I¡¯ll need to try something different. Simply burning them will waste the resources I have, but do I have any other options that will work? Attacking them directly with my body should be a last resort. I highly doubt I¡¯d be able to cook them alive by surrounding them; not only would it take too long for the temperature to rise to a level that might actually hurt them, but they¡¯re likely to jump into my flames before I can react, making the attempt pointless. I could make my flames physical, to attack without touching them, but I¡¯m still unable to add all that much weight to them. The best offence I¡¯d be able to inflict is raising some rock high into the air and dropping it on their heads, but I don¡¯t even waste time on that idea. The Viisin tear through so much stone with each step that the size of the rock I¡¯d have to lift would be so far out of my capabilities that I¡¯d have a better chance burning Kalma. But, there is one thing I¡¯ve not tried. There has never been a need to test the other side of the range, as my inner flames are already immaterial. What could making a non-physical fire more intangible possibly even accomplish? It¡¯s not something I¡¯ve ever really needed to try. Not until now. The decay obviously interacts with my fire. It would be amazing if I could stop that interaction completely without extinguishing my flames. Hundreds of metres in the sky ¡ª high enough that I can dodge any Viisin tempted to fling themselves up at me ¡ª I concentrate my inner flame around me. I take a grasp of their state, and ease the fire away from the physical form I use to carry things and thrust myself through the air. It¡¯s a strange feeling. Surprisingly, not even hard to achieve. My flames don¡¯t change visibly, still swaying with candescence, but there is a distinction that is hard to describe. It¡¯s less¡­ present, and yet entirely still here. I try consuming the air and find that while I can interact with it, doing so actually takes effort. In the future, I¡¯ll have to be careful never to push my entire body to this state ¡ª assuming I could ever push my body that far ¡ª it will be difficult to breathe. Another explosion tears me out of my concentration. Those two should only have a couple of bombs left, so now is probably a good time to test whether this incorporeal flame is enough to combat the Viisin. I have recovered enough inner flame to incinerate three Viisin, which should be plenty to experiment with. I swoop down, chasing the mermineae that have all but forgotten me in their chase after Remus. The dohrni is quick, and keeps his distance, but the Viisin are gradually catching up. I¡¯m not worried though. Should they get too close, I know Gr¨ªmr will pick him up. It¡¯s good he has their undivided attention; I can play with a laggard. A Viisin that only recently had its bottom half cut off by Gr¨ªmr¡¯s large wings trails behind the rest of the pack of Viisin. I fly in close, swirling my flames close around my chest. Really, if they hadn¡¯t lost their mind from Kalma¡¯s forced enhancement, this would be a nightmare scenario. If they had even the slightest sentience left, they would split up and surround their targets rather than pointlessly chasing after them. Remus herds them with far too much ease. The Viisin doesn¡¯t even see me coming. Something I know would have been impossible if it had intelligence. I could never catch a Viisin off-guard before. I wrap my flames around the creature, and to my relief, it doesn¡¯t hurt. Even through the dust, I can feel the Viisin¡¯s body. I watch as the flesh, bones and organs continue their rapid cycle of decaying and subsequent renewal. It¡¯s like my flames permeate its body without truly interacting with it. Well, to say there are no effects would be a lie. The Viisin clearly notices the flames shrouding its body, and I can see the heat around the creature rising drastically. It turns and launches itself at me. From the distance it does so, I have nothing to worry about. I simply burst a jet of physical flames from my side and alter my trajectory¡­ but I don¡¯t move anywhere near as far as I expect and I panic as the Viisin comes within a claw¡¯s breadth of striking me. Okay, so creating a physical flame becomes multitudes more difficult when controlling ethereal flame. With a deep breath, I calm myself from the close call and vow to myself to be more careful. My flames are still hot, but they aren¡¯t truly burning the Viisin, so I push them to consume. Like the air, it is a challenge to eat through the physical separation and scorch the creature¡¯s body. It works. Flesh incinerates far slower than normal, but the mermineae still burns up in my grasp, and with hardly any pain on my end. I can feel the decay trying to combat my flames, to reduce them to nothing, but the decay simply has an immensely difficult time reaching through the ethereal barrier. This new state I can reach has the added benefit of allowing me to reach within the creature¡¯s body before I burn it, so I don¡¯t need to struggle past the wall of dust before I can vaporise it. The only downside is that while my normal flame could immolate a Viisin in an instant, this method requires a relatively lengthy amount of time to burn them. I have to push past their regeneration and slowly wear down its body from within. But even so, the rate at which I can kill Viisin is far faster than if I have to wait for my inner flame to recover every time. Also, being able to fight without inflicting pain upon myself will be amazing. My test subject is no more. Nothing but dust dispersing in the breeze. I can¡¯t help the smirk that sneaks its way over my face as I look over the many Viisin waiting to be incinerated. Ha, Remus won¡¯t be able to show me up now. Chapter 156: Tracking Kalma After killing my first play partner, another three volunteer themselves by pouncing toward me. Now that I know controlling ethereal flame influences my separate physical flames, I can dodge by adjusting the amount my jet thrusts. Each Viisin get a ball of flames to the face. If they were capable of thought, I¡¯m sure they would be relieved that their faces aren¡¯t scorched off on the spot. Unfortunately¡­ or rather, fortunately, they do nothing but shriek in incoherent rage as they fall back to the earth. A small flare stays attached to each of their bodies, even in their incorporeal state. Two of the volunteers find their bodies shrouded in flame before they even hit the ground. The other is fortunate enough to get to wait a dozen seconds before it¡¯s their turn. I can only cover so much area with my white flames, so I¡¯m limited to killing two at a time. The two with flames burning right through their core must have some level of self preservation remaining within them, as they jump up without delay, desperate to kill the one inflicting damage upon them. Of course, they don¡¯t come close. They even get another leap in before the heat is finally too much for them and my flames overpower their recovery. I have to wait a few more seconds after they are immobilised to actually kill them. If I were to let go early, they would likely recover within moments. With the first two done, I focus on the other Viisin I tagged and spread the flame across their body. Gr¨ªmr must have distracted them, as they now chase after him. As soon as the flames eat into its body, it shrieks and mystically turns its attention to me again. Strange. Maybe beneath the mindless fury, there¡¯s still some intelligence hidden within. Well, nothing will change even if there is some remnant of themselves remaining. If anything, it¡¯s probably better to put them out of their misery. While that Viisin burns, I fly low enough to spread the rest of my inner flame. I have to let my fires revert to their yellow heat to cover a wide enough area, but as I swoop over the heads of the remaining mermineae, the ethereal wisps cling to their bodies. Not a minute passes before I¡¯m back high in the air out of their range, watching as the creatures burn away two at a time. As soon as a pair fall to my flames, I incite the tiny lingering flares to consume their bodies and grow to the intense white flame. Up here, they cannot reach me. There is nothing they can do except scream, flail, and die under my guided blaze. Never would I have believed I could control my flames from so far away, but here I am, manually spreading my fire from five hundred metres above. It¡¯s definitely not easy; my control is pushed to the limit to do so, but it makes fighting the Viisin near leisurely. Not long ago, taking on a Viisin was far beyond my capabilities. Now, I believe I¡¯d be able to take on an intelligent one without difficulty. Unless they have a way to stop my ethereal flame from attaching to them, they won¡¯t be able to defend themselves against me, regardless of how tactically they approach the fight. Below, Gr¨ªmr picks Remus up and carries him out of the range of the Viisin swarm. I burn through two at the front of the pack, having them stumble before they throw themselves on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s wings. With the speed he¡¯s moving, it¡¯s unlikely they could catch up, but there¡¯s no reason I shouldn¡¯t be careful. Remus and Jav no longer throw the centzon bombs. Whether they¡¯ve run out, or are saving the rest, I don¡¯t know. Now, they spend their time distracting the Viisin so Gr¨ªmr and I can clear through them with ease. Between the initial salvo of explosions and both Gr¨ªmr and my efforts, we are now down to only a couple dozen remaining Viisin. Despite the initial kills from the bombs, I¡¯m certain I¡¯ve taken down the most Viisin now, but I¡¯ll need to wait until they are all dealt with to gloat. ¡°Remus, I¡¯m ready!¡± Ankor¡¯s voice echoes across the land despite the thousands of metres separating us, intense like a war-horn. I¡¯m immediately reminded that our purpose here wasn¡¯t to kill the Viisin. It seems whatever preparations Ankor needed to set up are complete, but we still haven¡¯t finished clearing out the Viisin. I fly toward Remus, intending to help my team clear through the last before heading over to help Ankor, but the dohrni has a differing plan. ¡°Solvei, we can deal with the last of these. You get that inscription working.¡± His eyes turn my way as Gr¨ªmr drops him to the earth again. ¡°Be careful and don¡¯t get too close.¡± With reluctance, I nod. I¡¯d rather not leave them to fight the Viisin themselves, but I know they can take care of themselves. Before I¡¯ve even turned to fly toward Ankor and the superior Viisin he¡¯s fighting, I¡¯ve begun weaving the complex pattern of flame through the air before me. I have to sacrifice all the flares I have attached to the mermineae around here, as this inscription requires all my focus to make sure I don¡¯t mess it up at such an important time. The flight toward the massive dust storm is short, mostly spent troubling over the perfection of the inscription. ¡°Are you ready?¡± the voice carries from within the cloud. I can¡¯t tell exactly where they are, so I spread the inscription wide over the top of the dust. With myself flying over the centre point, the weave of flames spread as far as I can reach, yet it still isn¡¯t enough to cover the entire area out of my view. ¡°Yes,¡± I shout down, adding my presence to my voice, hoping it will reach Ankor through the rough wind and consistent explosions within the dust. Near as soon as I do, a roaring chorus of chains echoes out of the dust. Heavy grinding, followed by loud clanks, is the only signal that Ankor is acting. A guttural shriek wails through the air before the world falls quiet. The quiet remains for a few long moments as the dust finally disperses.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Within the clearing dust is a bundle of chains pulled taut toward a dozen points where the chains dig through the earth. The superior Viisin has been bound so tight that not even its dust can escape the confines created by the cage of chains. I don¡¯t need Ankor to tell me to start. Without delay, the inscription activates. I guide it through the initial process before the components take over and enact the design¡¯s effects almost all on their own. With the smallest of alterations, I direct the inscription to target the creature within Ankor¡¯s chains. I have to manually filter out the hyle running through the inscriptions lining the chains and focus only on the Viisin. It takes nearly thirty seconds for it to lock-on, and by the time it does, dust is rapidly escaping from the binding of chains. I wait for the inscription to pull the energy from the Viisin, but it doesn¡¯t happen. We have a problem; while the inscription binds to the creature¡¯s energy, it isn¡¯t strong enough to pull it out of its body. ¡°I have a lock, but the energy won¡¯t come.¡± I¡¯m not sure what to do. If the inscription can¡¯t pull the hyle from their body, then what are we supposed to do? ¡°You¡¯ve done fine,¡± Ankor says, far closer to me than I expected. I turn to my side to see him still rising through the air not a few metres away. As he climbs higher, the chains reaching into the earth become taut. Right before the chains halt him from rising any higher, he flicks his arms and many of his antlers upward. The motion breaks his upward momentum and shoots all the dangling chains through the air, up past him. It takes a moment for the force to ripple down the long chains. As one, they combine their force on the imprisoned Viisin, shredding every fibre from existence. Without a body to hold it, there is nothing to stop the energy from flowing into my inscription. As soon as the section of the inscription that holds the energy takes on Kalma¡¯s hyle, I pull my own energy away. I needed mine there to keep the quarantined path from falling apart, but now that it is flowing in, I don¡¯t need to be concerned. The amount of energy is immense. Likely far too much for me to handle, which makes it fortunate that the inscription does the work for me. It flows in slowly but steadily, wrapped within my woven flames. Eventually, the last of the lingering decay hyle is absorbed. The energy compresses within the storage section of the inscription and gives off a transparent grey glow as it moves along its lines. As soon as no more energy enters the inscription, it enters the next phase and immediately searches for the matching energy. I know where it¡¯s pointing long before a flame materialises to visually represent the direction of the energy link it has found. The inscription points east. Not the direction I¡¯d assume her to be, but it doesn¡¯t change that we now know where Kalma is. Once we gather the rest of Remus¡¯ contacts, we can follow her, and challenge her. I take my time to compress the inscription down to a far more manageable size while keeping its functionality intact. The small flame rising from the centre continues to point east, remaining steady and straight in its heading. In no time, I have the inscription down to about a metre wide, and even that is almost too much for me. The decay energy stored within glows with a brightness that¡¯s hard to look at, but it stays contained without issue. Slowly, I allow my focus to spread away from the inscription. Remus, Jav and Gr¨ªmr have clearly finished the last of the lesser Viisin, and now rest besides Ankor. The large khirig himself seems to have wasted no time tying his chains and their attached weapons over his extending antlers. He¡¯s quite the daunting figure with all his weapons tied around him like that. ¡°Any issues?¡± Remus asks as I fall beside them. ¡°No. It worked better than I expected,¡± I say. ¡°I can feel where Kalma is right now.¡± Immediately, the dohrni¡¯s eyes harden. ¡°Then we best get moving. Ankor, do you know where any of the other inner circle are?¡± Ankor hums, or at least I think he hums. It¡¯s hard to tell through the constant jingling of chains. ¡°South. El was sent to defend the west of Vanguard.¡± Looks like I¡¯ll be holding this tracing inscription for a while. I don¡¯t know enough about the inscription to isolate the contained energy and hold it for later. It shouldn¡¯t be an issue, but it will take a fair amount of my focus while we travel. ¡°So what can we expect from El?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks as we move out together. Our team together, and Ankor somehow keeping up with some odd movements with his chain weapons. Can he alter the weights of his chains and weapons? It¡¯d be the only way I could think of that would allow such movement. ¡°She¡¯s a skank. A genuine pleasure,¡± Ankor says without hesitation. ¡°But she¡¯s also my wife, so say nothing bad about her.¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± Gr¨ªmr hesitates. ¡°That¡¯s good to know, but I meant how does she fight?¡± Ankor gives us a side eye glance. ¡°You know I¡¯m not supposed to say, right?¡± ¡°Should I, then?¡± Remus asks. ¡°No, no.¡± Ankor waves him off. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you haven¡¯t already.¡± Before they can continue their talk about this El person, a major reaction occurs from my inscription. The directing flame all but snuffs out. With my direct connection, I can feel what minimal remains of the tracer suddenly switch, going from east to west. It¡¯s as if Kalma¡¯s energy simply disappeared from the world, only to appear again somewhere completely different. The brightness of the guiding flare doesn¡¯t return, and yet I feel as though Kalma is closer than she was before. Is she suppressing her energy now? Did she notice she was being tracked? ¡°Hey,¡± I say. ¡°We have a problem.¡± Remus seems to already know what¡¯s happening. ¡°Pick up the pace. Ankor, I¡¯ll need you to be ready.¡± The khirig simply nods, but doesn¡¯t make any motion to prepare. I can feel Kalma clearly through the inscription now. She¡¯s closing in. I try to focus on what the inscription is telling me, but before I can get a read on how far she actually is, Ankor flings his chains outward. A web of chains forms in the air with an unbelievable amount of skill, and yet it¡¯s not enough to stop the wave of decay. Many of the chain links simply disappear. The same glowing metal that could stand up to the superior Viisin¡¯s power without issue. The wave continues unabated, eating away much of Ankor¡¯s antlers and leaving many of the remaining chains smoking. The dust that rises from the decayed weapons suddenly re-materialises above our heads. We have no time to react as a wide plate of the same metal that once made Ankor¡¯s chains now falls on us from above. I try to burn through the large metal disc, but even my hottest flames are slow to melt through. The plate of metal slams into all of us, dragging us down to the earth. I try to burn the metal and breach the top, but the ground reaches us far too soon. Hitting the ground so hard stuns me a bit, but it doesn¡¯t take me longer than a moment to recover. Ankor, despite having lost many of the antlers covering one side of his body, recovers quicker, and is already in the motion of tossing the heavy metal away from us. My team is relatively unharmed by the fall. The earth itself seeming to have come out in far worse shape after having Gr¨ªmr collide with it. ¡°Okay, it was entertaining while it lasted.¡± Kalma walks up to us with a casual air that belies her words. ¡°But this has become annoying.¡± Chapter 157: Failure ¡°Tracking me? Seriously? I thought you would have learnt your lesson after last time.¡± Kalma¡¯s presence washes over us, freezing my body in fear. No longer is it suppressed. She lets the pressure crush down on each of us as she closes the distance with casual steps. ¡°I do not like people getting in my way.¡± The air weighs down on me with a heft I cannot fight. Unlike every other time I¡¯ve seen her, Kalma does not have the same air of amusement. She doesn¡¯t yell, nor does she glare, but her blank, toothless face makes me more nervous than when she¡¯d grin with viciousness. I let my body revert to normal. An effort to fight off the crushing weight of her presence. Whether it works is difficult to tell, but at least I¡¯ll have two feet under me. From the corner of my eye, Ankor moves. That he¡¯s able to push through this pressure is encouraging. With a motion of his antlers, Ankor sends innumerable chains flying. Many blast right toward Kalma, while others curve around to entrap her. The khirig has no issue surpassing the body-halting, instinctual fear Kalma inflicts around her. Maybe he really will put up a fight. Hopefully long enough to let us run and find other inner circle mercenaries. Kalma doesn¡¯t even acknowledge the powerful warrior. She continues her casual steps as the chains and their linked weapons tear through the air on their path toward her. Without a motion to defend herself, the chains collide against her tough grey skin, only to collapse into dust. Despite what must be tonnes slamming into her before exploding into dust, Kalma¡¯s steps go uninterrupted. Ankor grunts at the failure of his attack and dashes forward. A deep glow appears over his antlers. The glow of markings that I hadn¡¯t seen until now. His antlers extend, creating chains of the same bone-like growths of his body. These new antler chains grow quickly and slam to the earth, leaving craters where they land. He dashes forward, his body spinning to launch a volley of these new, heavier antler chains. Kalma still refuses to turn her head. One of her two tails lifts and flicks his way. A ripple explodes out from the appendage, air deteriorates as the attack overcomes Ankor in an instant. The khirig cannot dodge. Nothing remains. The air quickly clears of dust, but nothing remains in the path of her blast. I stare at the last place I saw Ankor, but he no longer exists, and neither does much of the earth that was behind him. A curve in the ground that only grows the further it is from us now holds nothing but the dust remnants of what once was. As I watch on, the dust gradually reverts to soil and stone within the void it was taken from. Even water fills in the space, recreated from a lake that was wiped from existence with her attack. None of the elements are returned to their original position, left to fight for dominance as they fall into the carved surface. The only thing that doesn¡¯t reappear is Ankor. ¡°I see you were able to convince your little group that it wasn¡¯t you who burnt down the city.¡± Kalma ignores the rumbling of the earth as the recovered elements crash into the new valley as an enormous mudslide. Her large, impassive eyes focus on Remus. ¡°I probably should have killed you back then to make sure the little ¨¢ed knew not to make the same mistake twice.¡± Kalma turns to me, her gaze penetrating. I¡¯d love to fight back, to burn her where she stands, but what can I do? I already know my fires aren¡¯t enough to hurt her and the attempt will just get us killed. Like Ankor. Kalma opens her mouth to say something, but she¡¯s interrupted by Gr¨ªmr. ¡°You don¡¯t really think you can take on all the inner circle alone, do you?¡± he grinds out, anger lacing his words. ¡°You have made your abilities more than clear for all. They¡¯ll have counters for you before the day is out.¡± Kalma laughs, a single huff before she breaks down in snorts and chuckles. Amusement trickles back into her voice. ¡°Sorry. Sorry. I don¡¯t mean to laugh at your confidence, but I don¡¯t think you understand the scope of difference at play. Regardless, I don¡¯t plan to let them find me. It wouldn¡¯t be fun if I had to do the fighting myself.¡± Her eyes widen slightly as she stares at Gr¨ªmr. ¡°I recognise you. I¡¯d assumed you died after the damage you took from one of my Viisin,¡± Kalma says. ¡°Huh, you¡¯re quite the unique creature. You control that body like a puppet. No wonder you survived. If you were a sapient alicanto, as was my guess, there¡¯s not a chance you would have lived.¡± ¡°I guess you deserve a punishment as well.¡± Kalma turns her attention back to me. ¡°We have to make it fair after all. Oh, I might as well double it up; this one¡¯s punishment was nowhere near as effective as I¡¯d hoped.¡± Kalma pulls the Riparian¡¯s treasured orb into existence. ¡°So, what do you say to finding your end at the flames of your collaborator?¡± She holds the orb out in front of her, as if inviting me to take it. Her toothy grin back in place. ¡°Go on, burn me. I know you want to.¡± My flames churn and fists clench. I want nothing more than to do exactly as she says and scorch her from existence, but to do so would accomplish nothing but the deaths of Remus and Jav. I turn to the three, trying to find some answer to the situation.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Remus flings Jav through the air, the volan hundreds of metres away before the dohrni can shout. ¡°Solvei, run!¡± At the same time, Gr¨ªmr rushes Kalma. A metal boulder crushes Gr¨ªmr¡¯s beak into the earth, halting his short charge. Jav hasn¡¯t made it far either. His artificial wings collapse into dust and he falls to the earth with the entire momentum of Remus¡¯ throw. The dohrni himself now finds himself in a cage of metal. Clearly the same material as the Ankor¡¯s chains, there¡¯s no chance of escape. What were we thinking, really? I¡¯ve seen Kalma. I knew no matter how strong the inner circle mages, no amount of them would be enough to compete with Kalma. Even still, I let this whole situation occur. If I¡¯d simply refused and dragged my friends away from the war, we might have gotten away safely. The pact nations would be destroyed, and I would likely lose the trust of my team, but those close to me would be safe. Was it wrong to consider their opinions? Should I have just continued to prioritise myself and those I want to keep alive, regardless of the countless others that will die because I chose to run? Maybe things would have turned out better for us if I had acted on my selfish impulses, but I already know they wouldn¡¯t forgive me. If I were to force my team into safety, if I were to take all my friends and run off somewhere safe and leave these lands to die, they won¡¯t forgive me. It would not differ from my team¡¯s betrayal of dragging me down into the Alps without my consent. No, it would be worse; there¡¯s no way to bring back the lives of those my friends care for. No way to repent for the deaths that would have been prevented. There¡¯s not a chance they¡¯d forgive me. What I¡¯ve done is the right thing, no matter how much I dislike it and no matter how terrible the situation has become. I don¡¯t regret working alongside my team to attempt to fix things, even if the chance we had to see this to the end has been ripped from us. We might have lost, but the last thing I want to do is give Kalma what she wants. I won¡¯t power that orb so she can kill my team. I glare up at the tyrant still holding the orb between us. ¡°No.¡± I need no more words to make my intention clear. ¡°Are you sure?¡± her grin grows. ¡°At least with your flames, their deaths will be quick. I can assure you, decay is a far more painful way to go.¡± I¡¯m sure that will be the case, but death is death. If we are to go, then I will keep this slight against her. No matter how inconsequential my defiance, she won¡¯t get her way. ¡°If that¡¯s how you want to be.¡± Kalma tosses the sphere into the air before catching it. ¡°I was hoping you¡¯d give me some more amusement, but I guess I¡¯ll have to settle for killing them myself.¡± She tosses the orb again, catching it without looking. Helplessness overwhelms me as she turns to Remus and Gr¨ªmr. Thankfully, Jav is a fair way away, but I doubt that¡¯ll pose an issue to Kalma. There¡¯s nothing I can do. The only form of attack I have will simply power that orb and allow her to kill my team with my flames. If only I had some other method. Another avenue I could use to threaten her that wouldn¡¯t leave my friends as cinders. Kalma lobs the orb once more, higher than before. The glowing inscriptions layering its surface spin as it curves through the air. Lines weave to the surface and back to its interior in a way that goes against what I¡¯ve learnt of inscriptions. Components exist in portions; something that should break the design, but clearly still work as intended. The sphere falls, and even with my limited knowledge, I can grasp at why this is considered a treasure. The implementation is not something replaceable. Only a true master of the practice could hope to replicate it. The effect it creates isn¡¯t what makes it special, it¡¯s the application of an inscription in a volume rather than on a flat plane makes this so far beyond the two inscriptions I know. The orb hits the ground. Huh? A sudden blast knocks me clean off my feet and sends me flying a dozen metres before I crash on my back. The sound of the bang that follows is so intense my ears momentarily dematerialise. I scramble with the earth as I roll backward, trying to halt my movement. After a few moments, I finally come to a stop. The orb lies on the earth, forgotten. Kalma is nowhere to be seen. What stands in her place is both as shocking as it is intimidating and a grin crawls across my face, along with a series of relieved, nervous giggles. Tore stands with an outstretched fist. His massive bulky figure is an incredibly awe inducing sight. Slowly, he lowers his hand, his attention far in the distance. His other hand grasps the enormous sword strapped to his back and pulls it free. I can feel Tore¡¯s presence. No longer is it suppressed as per usual, and I shudder at the intensity of it. I¡¯d never really considered how tight of a hold he might keep on it. Even when I approached him to gain his help, I didn¡¯t think he could come close to Kalma, but this feels equivalent to hers. I¡¯m crushed under the weight of it, but it doesn¡¯t feel hostile and neither does it eat away at me from the inside. I follow Tore¡¯s gaze to the horizon, where much of the loose earth from Kalma¡¯s earlier attack has blown outward. A sky filled with shrapnel rains down on any soul unfortunate enough to be in range. Tore lifts his blade and swings at nothing. Or at least what I thought was nothing. A small grey blob ¡ª too fast to see clearly ¡ª slams into the blade and rockets back the way it came. The earth rumbles as it smashes through the rubble once more. The blob bounces a few times, spraying mountains of stone through the air with each impact. Tore inspects his blade and grunts in annoyance. On the otherwise sharp edge, a chunk of the sword is now gone. He reattaches the blade to his back and clenches his fists. The grey blob returns, this time moving slow enough to see. It takes way too long to recognise Kalma, but her identity is clear when she slows to a stop only a dozen metres away from Tore. The giant ursu stands ready with his fists tensed by his side. Neither attack immediately. They simply stare each other down. Their presences fight for supremacy, but I quickly feel Tore¡¯s cover me completely, holding back Kalma¡¯s. My own cannot compete with either. Kalma is the first to break the silence. ¡°Another corrupted by the Anatla, huh? And how many years have you let the Void¡¯s influence go uncontested?¡± Her eyes move to me, but I can tell she doesn¡¯t take her attention away from Tore. ¡°One is already too many. Looks like I¡¯m not the only one who¡¯s become complacent in their role with the coming Armageddon.¡± ¡°Abandon these lands, and do not return.¡± Tore¡¯s words thump through my chest with the intensity of an earthquake. It is clear he is not messing around. Kalma laughs. ¡°And give up the fun? No. We only have a short time left and I¡¯m going to enjoy it.¡± Kalma¡¯s pressure explodes, overpowering Tore¡¯s. It floods my body with the feeling of being torn apart and forced back together in a viscous cycle. She grins and flicks a tail. The same blast that killed an inner circle mercenary in an instant rockets toward Tore, who doesn¡¯t yet know how devastating it can be. Chapter 158: Culmination The wave of decaying air slams into Tore. His raised arms take the brunt of the blow, but his body is still encompassed by Kalma¡¯s all consuming power. Even as the blast continues on to destroy much of the land behind him, Tore stands tall, hardly affected by the decay effect which ended Ankor¡¯s life in an instant. A thin powdered dust wafts off his heavy arms, but he remains whole. Kalma stands with wide eyes. Her grin stripped clean off her face. She bares her teeth and takes a step back, flicking both tails forward. The air around each ripples as two new waves of power shoot forward, combining their strength on their path toward Tore. The giant ursu doesn¡¯t stand to take it again. He pivots to the side before rushing forward with speed that should be impossible for one so massive. It¡¯s hard to even focus on his movements with how fast he bursts forth, but somehow, I manage. Tore punches away from me, yet the crushing power still sends a wave of pressure through my chest. Kalma barely dodges. Her jaw clenches as a hurried step takes her out of the path of the fist thicker than her torso. Unfortunately for her, she cannot avoid the second attack. Tore¡¯s other fist collects her square in the face. Kalma¡¯s head gives no resistance. It annihilates as her body rips through the air, leaving only a booming crack of thunder in her wake. Tore doesn¡¯t wait around, he bounds after her already distant figure. She can¡¯t even hit the ground before he slams into her again, sending her crashing into the earth with even more force. The world groans in complaint. Wind whips around us as the earth shakes beneath my feet. I snap myself from my stupor and rush to Remus¡¯ side. The strange metal cage pins him tightly to the earth. My flames are quick to engulf it. I should be able to free him from his cage, but even with my candescent flame, the metal is resistant, so it won¡¯t be quick. Gr¨ªmr has already dug himself out of the earth, the metal boulder pinning him having already been tossed to the side. ¡°Gr¨ªmr. Can you find Jav?¡± I say. The portian stares toward the battle in the distance, each blow shared bounds through the distance like they occur right next to us. It¡¯s hard enough for me to stand upright with the amount of wind that blows through me with each thunderous explosion, so I can¡¯t imagine what it would be like for the tiny volan. Gr¨ªmr doesn¡¯t reply, but does as asked. He flies toward where Jav crashed, sticking low to the ground and keeping an eye on the duo of incomprehensibly strong beings. I turn to watch, only to see Tore barrelling through the air. His body smoking with the familiar sign of decay. Despite his initial success at blocking her attack, it seems he¡¯s not completely immune to the effect of her power. Tore lands on his feet near a thousand metres away, the impact flattening the surrounding earth. Before he can launch himself after Kalma again, she appears above. Kalma curls into a tight ball and spins in place, gaining speed with each rotation. At once, she unwinds. Her tails flick out, augmented by the angular momentum and disintegrate as they fire off a wave of power. The tails recover quickly, but the same cannot be said for anything else in her path. The blast slams over Tore, encapsulating the ursu in a cone of Kalma¡¯s power. He doesn¡¯t remain in sight long; the ground beneath him vanishing. A jolt runs through the earth beneath my feet as Tore leaps out of the hole. He collides with Kalma, sending her flying over Remus and my heads. Tore himself has a dangerous amount of dust falling off him. It clears enough for bloody gashes over much of his upper body to become visible. A tremor runs through me as Kalma impacts the ground, but it doesn¡¯t calm after a moment. Instead, the quaking beneath my feet only grows. I grab a hold of Remus¡¯ cage ¡ª which I¡¯ve almost melted through ¡ª and hold tight as the earth continues its shuddering. Despite my grip, a sudden feeling of weightlessness overcomes me. It only lasts a moment before the opposite happens and I feel crushed. A thunderous rumble overwhelms everything as the ground beneath me slants. The very earth itself tilts toward the hole Kalma made. Looking around, I see we are now within a depression in the earth. Thousands of metres of earth now sliding toward a central pit of vacant earth. I only keep my feet because of the training Bunny encouraged me to do whenever I could¡­ and the metal bars holding Remus down. I need to hurry and melt the metal. Kalma¡¯s attack must have wiped out an immense amount of stone beneath our feet. It¡¯s like experiencing the Titan all over again; nowhere I stand is safe. Each second I take, the faster our foothold falls, and the closer we are to being buried alive. Movement catches my eye, and I watch as the inscription orb rolls past us, speeding up as the new slope continues to become more steep. Acting on impulse, I send out a rope of fire to catch it, and pull it into my hands. Some of my white swirls into orbit around the orb, but Kalma doesn¡¯t control the orb this time, so I can take my flames back with ease. We can¡¯t stay here. The fight between these two monsters is tearing the world apart. All it will take is a stray attack, or simply the secondary effects those attacks inflict on the surroundings, and we¡¯ll be dead. I can no longer see Gr¨ªmr past the border of our sloped earth. All I can do is hope he and Jav are fine. For now, there¡¯s nothing I should focus on other than freeing Remus and getting us to safety¡­ well, somewhere that isn¡¯t sliding into a pit who knows how deep. Through the continual rumbling of the earth, a single clap reverberates. The sound clear. A grey mist spreads out, blanketing the sky as far as I can see. Thin dust particles fall around us. At first, nothing seems to happen, but as time goes on, a pricking sensation appears and intensifies into an all-encompassing pain.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. I¡¯m not the only one to feel it, either. Remus is good at hiding his pain, but his outer membrane is clearly dissolving. Both the air and rock around us experience the same. Whatever Kalma has done, it has covered a wide-spanning area in her decay. This can¡¯t be an attack on Tore; it would be pointless with the resistance he¡¯s shown. Is she really that spiteful that she would attempt to kill my team even while preoccupied with Tore? I need to get Remus out. The metal restraints are so close to melting, but I don¡¯t know if I can free him before the decay grows any more intense. My flames spread over his body to protect him, but that only gives the decay more area to eat into my flames. Each second I spend burning into the metal, the pain through my flames only grows more agonising. I can stand it when fighting the Viisin because I only need to handle the pain for an instant before they¡¯re dead, but this is different. Constant. Deeper. In a moment of weakness, I transition my flames into ethereal. The relief is immediate, but I fully expect the decay to breach through and take hold on Remus, so despite how difficult it is to do so, I gather myself and return my flames. The pain that comes is somehow worse after my short break, but strangely, Remus¡¯ skin is no more damaged after I let him take the brunt of the decay. Is it possible that my incorporeal flames still stop the decay even though they don¡¯t interact? I really want to let go again, and see if it¡¯s possible, but testing on Remus is not something I want to do. While I continue to burn away the last of the metal clamping down on Remus, I convert only the flames around my body to their ethereal state, and am delighted to find I barely feel the effect of decay. Immediately, the both of us are encapsulated in my non-physical fire. Free from the agony of Kalma¡¯s power, I can finish cutting through the binding metal. Before I completely sever it, Remus flexes, snapping the red-hot material. Not waiting a second, I cling to the dohrni¡¯s head and jet us out of the massive sinking pit. We still had a bit of time until the land we were stuck on would crash any further down, but there¡¯s something far more important on my mind. ¡°We need to get to Gr¨ªmr and Jav, now!¡± Remus, to his credit, is quick on the uptake. With the added thrust from my flames, he¡¯s able to skip us along the ground in the right direction. The smoking form of Gr¨ªmr is unmissable, curled up as he is. His inscriptions glow bright through the dust, but it is clear his body is suffering from the effects. Long before we reach them, my flames have already crossed the distance, covering the alicanto body in my protection. As my fire spread over his body, I find Jav pressed tight beneath Gr¨ªmr. The volan is mostly unharmed by the decay, but he is not without injury. A massive gash runs along his arms and chest, likely from the horrid crash he endured. Before Remus and I can reach them, a sudden explosion of air blows us back. Tore crashes between us, his massive legs lodged within the earth with a fissure newly torn across the surface. The crevice travels almost perfectly perpendicular to the location of my team. I catch Tore glancing our way before returning his sight above. The earth didn¡¯t crater as it typically has upon his landings. Can he control the effect he has on the environment? Did he land the way he did so we wouldn¡¯t be hurt? I don¡¯t even see where she comes from, but in the time it takes to blink, Kalma crashes into Tore. The ursu grapples her with a death grip, but the disproportionate size makes her look like a toy in his grasp. Kalma stands not even a quarter of his height. Kalma Grins down at Tore, whose hands smoke simply holding her. ¡°So? Not going to attack? Worried about the little ones?¡± Her gaze moves first to Gr¨ªmr and Jav, before pivoting to me and Remus. Kalma¡¯s tails lift as she returns her gaze to Tore. Her smirk only widens. Suddenly, I feel we are in a terrible amount of danger. Tore seems to think the same. Before she can act, Tore lifts her above him in one hand and pulls back his other. His fist moves too fast to see, but we feel its effects. The shockwave knocks us off our feet and the ground flattens around him. It is clear from Kalma¡¯s disappearance that he just pelted her far into the sky. Above, a tiny speck disappears amongst the blue midday sky. Kalma has gone too high to see. I look around, expecting her to reappear at any moment, but she doesn¡¯t. Instead, the sky above darkens. Where Kalma disappeared, the starry night returns, but it is far from natural. The night spreads across the blue sky like a growth of rot. Millions of tendrils reaching out to cover ever more of the sky. The growth-like night eventually slows to a crawl with a quarter of the sky overhead consumed, but not before piercing the eternal inferno. A single rotten tendril removes all light from the tiny section it covers, cutting the sun in half. I can hardly believe what I¡¯m seeing. There¡¯s no way Kalma could compete with the eternal inferno. It is impossible. The uncaring entity should be so far beyond anything else to be damaged by even one as strong as Kalma. Whatever this darkness is, it definitely isn¡¯t Kalma. ¡°You four need to run,¡± Tore says, not taking his eyes from above. ¡°Are you insane!¡± Kalma¡¯s voice cracks through the air like thunder as she barrels down through the air. Tore leaps to intercept her, knocking her away before she can bring the fight close to my team again. ¡°Are you trying to doom your people even before the barrier collapses?¡± Kalma¡¯s voice is clear despite the distance. While amid her brawl, she shoots worried glances to the new dark patch of sky. To hear her panicking is music to my ears, even if the words themselves concern me. I peer up at the darkness now settled in place above. What exactly is it? What has her so terrified? I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s not the Void Fog. It doesn¡¯t move the same way, and this darkness shows the stars of night, not a pure black. Whatever it is, it has sent Kalma over the edge in fury. Tore can hardly keep up anymore; her power overwhelms him each time he tries to attack. His thick hide peels in places and blood flows from numerous lesions. If nothing changes soon, I fear for Tore. He¡¯s our best hope, and if he can¡¯t beat Kalma, then what chance does anyone else? The feel of smooth metal reminds me of the orb I still hold. I should really take my team and run. The longer we wait around, the more likely we¡¯ll fall victim to either Kalma¡¯s stray attacks or the crumbling landscape. But what would that achieve? We would only delay the inevitable. Kalma has already shown she¡¯s no longer remaining passive. Should we run, Kalma will hunt us down as soon as she¡¯s done with Tore. No. I need to stay. It might have a slim chance of success, but if I can support Tore, then it will be worth the risk. I step away from Remus, leaving my flames shrouding both him and the others. ¡°Solvei?¡± Remus grabs my arm with one of his tentacles. ¡°Don¡¯t. They are beyond us.¡± I look down at his limb holding me back, curious how it no longer sends my flames roiling in revulsion. Remus seems to misunderstand my gaze and snaps his tentacle away. ¡°Tore cannot win if this continues.¡± I look him in the eyes. ¡°I have a plan. Please trust me.¡± Remus is silent for a long moment before letting out a frustrated sigh. ¡°Be careful,¡± is all he says. I nod and turn away, leaving him to take care of Gr¨ªmr and Jav. My flames should stick to them and keep them safe from the decay, but they should really get out of the area while they can. Kalma and Tore continue their fight, uncaring to the damage they inflict upon the world. The sky above remains blemished with night rotting away daylight. I¡¯ve resolved myself. Either this works and I¡¯ll give Tore a fighting chance, or I¡¯ll die. Let¡¯s hope I¡¯m lucky. Chapter 159: Molten Earth I¡¯d love to say I¡¯ve thought this through, but the truth is my plan isn¡¯t so much a plan as it is an idea. An idea that might be impossible to attempt while Kalma and Tore knock each other across the land. There¡¯s no point in chasing them; I¡¯ll never keep up. So I settle with putting distance between myself and my team and hope for an opportunity to present itself. The battlefield hardly looked like anything but a muddy wasteland even before the duo began their fight, but now it doesn¡¯t even look real. All flora had long since been wiped clear by artillery bombardment, leaving pockmarked land. Despite the damage, the hilly terrain remained the same. Now? The landscape has been flipped upside down. It¡¯s impossible to imagine what it might have looked like before. The earth is carved away in unnaturally smooth valleys and pits, between them are craters and fissures. The ground shakes beneath my feet, and I watch on as the land Remus and I were stuck on finally crumbles into the hole Kalma made. Despite the initial attack only creating a few dozen metre wide opening, the amount of land that has fallen has to be near five kilometres. The depression in the earth takes up all my vision to the south. Just what is the limit to Kalma¡¯s decay? The sinkhole is hardly shallow, nearly as deep as it is wide, and the earth only continues to crumble. None of her other attacks have been near as damaging as the one that caused this void in the earth, so we can probably be glad she hasn¡¯t used it more than the once. Tore¡¯s giant body flies over my head, pelting me with a wake of intense wind before he lands in the deep hole. I realise too late where exactly that puts me; right between Kalma and her target. The wave of decay brushes past me before I can even turn to look. Her power breaks through the yellow ethereal flames I have shrouding myself without resistance, removing them from existence. Not a single step away, the earth has evaporated. The new valley cuts down into the pit. Any closer, and I would be dead. I gulp, both from the immensely close call, and the knowledge that my less intense ethereal flames won¡¯t protect me from an actual attack from Kalma. Of course, it was too much to hope, but I hoped, regardless. Tore leaps out of the sinkhole, passing me and blowing away the thick layer of dust. The ursu grapples Kalma, but his fingers just pass through without resistance, her body dispersing in dust before reforming behind each digit. Tore¡¯s momentum keeps him shooting through the air, but he¡¯s able to swing an arm around for a back-hand swat that sends Kalma crashing to the earth. Without leaving the surface, Tore rushes Kalma. Rather than climbing out of the hole Tore¡¯s strike buried her within, she simply appears out of the nearby dust. Casually, she watches the incoming giant. Each step brings him hundreds of metres closer. Like what Kalma did with the metal before, she creates a cage of stone around the ursu in mid sprint. The rock blows away as easily as air, but Kalma has already dissolved to dust. Tore stops, looking around for her. When I spot her, I know it¡¯s now or never. She materialises from the dust a hundred metres above. Her body defies gravity as she spins. Slow for now, but if I don¡¯t act immediately, it¡¯ll be too late. I don¡¯t hesitate. The inscription orb rockets forward, pushed by as much physical flame as I can output at once. Any of my flame that gets caught in the blast is without doubt going to be obliterated, but I can¡¯t afford to not put in everything. The orb carries through the air between Kalma and Tore just as she unleashes that massive conical blast of decay down on his head. I expected it, but the pain of losing so much inner flame at once is excruciating. Leaving it physical only makes it worse. But¡­ it works. The orb sucks in much of Kalma¡¯s decay wave and my white flames come out in its stead. The world bathes in fire. The flames continue downward with the same speed as Kalma¡¯s blast, vaporising stone as it descends thousands of metres beneath the earth¡¯s surface. I can feel them all, and it¡¯s euphoric. The immense power flowing through these flames is unbelievable. Far too much for me to absorb. Thankfully, I don¡¯t need to; I only need them for this fight. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Kalma¡¯s irritated voice reaches me. ¡°You think this will help you?¡± I feel the flames move against my will. Kalma pulls my fire up through the earth, bubbling away rock and stone as white flames rise to the surface. It is still Kalma¡¯s energy powering the blaze, so of course she has some control over them. But I¡¯m an ¨¢ed. Not even Kalma can strip me of my connection to fire. I spread every sliver of focus I can into the flames, and tear back control. She fights me, not wanting to admit defeat to someone so obviously lesser to her, but it¡¯s a losing battle. The ground melts around us. My feet sink. A wide pool of lava forms over the surface, growing hotter each moment she resists. Molten rock flows along the misshapen landscape, creating glowing rivers that fill into both the sinkhole and the new pit created with a mix of my flames and Kalma¡¯s energy. I know I¡¯ve won when she resorts to inflicting decay over my flames. She intends to do the same as when we first met; inflicting pain so I give up without resistance. But that won¡¯t work this time. Before she can eat through even a portion of my blaze, I force every last bit of it to transition to ethereal. Suddenly, her basic decay has no effect on me.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Kalma shouts in rage. Her tail flicks a wave of power through my flames, but even that hardly affects me. I nudge my fire, and it needs no prompting to explode. The white flames, as compressed as they already are, experience an immense pressure deep beneath the earth. A mighty column shoots into the air through the hole in the earth, overwhelming Kalma in an instant. Fire spreads from horizon to horizon, swathing everything in intense heat and scorching light. It is overwhelming to my senses. I can feel all that fall within the blaze. Remus, Jav and Gr¨ªmr stand in awe, my flames leaving only them unmarred by the heat. Even while ethereal, my flames are hot enough to melt anything they come across. Well, everything besides Tore and Kalma. I¡¯ll admit I relish in a bit of satisfaction upon feeling my team¡¯s gazes. But disappointingly, they snap themselves out of it and continue moving away. I shake my head. No, it¡¯s better they keep focused, as should I. My body bathes in an intense blast of decay, but I remain mostly unharmed. I wasn¡¯t about to leave my form as the only section of my flame unchanged. I, too, have become as ethereal as I can push myself. The decay still affects me, unlike my inner flame, but it is hardly worth concern. Kalma is furious. It¡¯s quite the contrary sight; no longer does she remain calm and aloof, laughing as others fight around her. Now, there¡¯s no sign of any humour in her eyes. They hold nothing but anger, and I couldn¡¯t be happier. Her presence presses down on me, but it¡¯s all she can do. She glares, a terrifying sight on such a powerful creature¡­ had her attack not just failed. I smirk at her. An action that might not be the smartest, as her eyes narrow dangerously. Kalma spins in the air again, ready to unleash another blast, my way this time. I don¡¯t have the orb to convert her energy, and I know this attack is far stronger than her others, so even with the immaterial flame that makes my body, will I be okay? I don¡¯t know. Thankfully, Kalma loses her opportunity. In her blind fixation on me, she completely ignores Tore. The ursu slams into her, tearing her out of her stationary position. In one smooth motion, Tore rips her chest from her lower torso. He tosses her connected legs and tails far past the horizon, but holds what remains of her upper body tight. As he falls back to the earth, he throws her into the lava below. She doesn¡¯t have time to do much more than impact the surface before Tore¡¯s fist crashes down on her. My flames permeate the lava, so I can feel intimately as the strength of his blow solidifies the molten rock, despite remaining far beyond its melting temperature. The solidified lava sinks, taking Kalma with it. As much as I¡¯d love to believe this is the end of her, I know that hope is too optimistic. Plus, I can already feel her decaying within the magma pit. I jump on Tore¡¯s back, nestling myself beside his massive sword. The giant ursu¡¯s feet ever so slowly sink into the lava, but he doesn¡¯t pay it any mind. Tore¡¯s attention is instead on me. His head twisted back to look at me with a raised eyebrow that I just know he¡¯s asking, what are you doing? ¡°Ignore me and keep beating her up as you¡¯ve been doing,¡± I say, getting comfortable. ¡°I¡¯ll protect you from her decay.¡± I¡¯d prefer to sit back and let them fight it out without me, only shrouding Tore in protective flame from a distance, but even with this intense white firestorm that spreads as far as I can see, Kalma will simply take the fight elsewhere. By tying myself to Tore, I can make sure my flames follow and protect him no matter how far the battle takes us. Unfortunately, that means putting myself in the most dangerous position, but that¡¯s a risk I have to take. As long as Kalma doesn¡¯t have any hidden attacks greater than that spin blast, I¡¯ll be fine. Kalma walks out of thick dust layered air, completely unharmed, as if she was never wrenched in half. ¡°You know, I would have been fine to leave you both to your fate, but waiting for the Anatla will be far too unsatisfying.¡± Her eyes harden. ¡°I really hate people getting in my way.¡± A blast of energy slams through us, my flames doing their job and preventing the decay from eating into Tore. I peek over the ursu¡¯s shoulder, only to find Kalma missing. Another wave collides with us from behind. I turn to the source, but before I can, Kalma appears from dust off to the side. Her tails whip forward before her body disperses again. Her pace picks up and soon she¡¯s teleporting around us and striking out a dozen times every second. It¡¯s an intense experience and even with the added protection from my flames, I still feel woozy. What is Tore doing? He¡¯s simply standing here, taking the attacks head on. I¡¯m glad he¡¯s impressed by my ability to stop her decay, but I¡¯d rather he didn¡¯t leave us in the epicentre of her attacks. My body jerks upon Tore¡¯s sudden movement. Only with my flames engulfing everything do I know that we¡¯ve crossed a hundred metres in an instant. Within Tore¡¯s clenched fist, is Kalma. Blood trickles from her eyes and the corner of her mouth. At least it does before she decays into nothing within his grasp. Tore inspects his hands, covered in my flame and no more damaged than before. He hums in satisfaction, but not before we are hit with another of Kalma¡¯s attacks from above. The lava covered in white fire no longer dissolves, protected as it is. Tore reaches his hand back over his shoulder, and I have to wonder if he¡¯s trying to grab me. His hand lands on the hilt of the blade he hasn¡¯t used since he showed up. Does he finally intend to use it? ¡°Keep the blaze dense. I care not for myself; prioritise my sword.¡± I do as he says and coat the blade with as dense flame I can manage as he pulls it from the straps on his back. With how far-spanning this Kalma-gifted inferno is, there¡¯s no need to worry about running out of energy to keep the ursu protected as well, so he gets just as dense a coating. Belatedly, I realise Kalma hasn¡¯t reappeared in the past few seconds. Looking around, I can¡¯t miss the massive accumulation of dust in the air above. The sky, both the blue and the night, disappears behind a thick curtain as swathes of the decay remnants rise high. At once, it all materialises. The thin light that broke through the thick dust no longer breaches; everything is shrouded in shadow. I¡¯d realised it back when Kalma recreated the metal of Ankor¡¯s chains; She can recreate what she decays. Only I never thought she¡¯d be able to do so on such a large scale. Kalma has created a mountain to block out the sky. Of course, there would be no point doing such a thing if it weren¡¯t intended to kill us. The mountain falls without delay. Long before it reaches my inferno, the bottom surface glows with heat as it gains speed. It falls slowly, and although it is incredibly wide, I don¡¯t think we would have too much issue running out of the way, but I feel that leaving such an enormous mass to crash into the earth will be catastrophic. Tore holds his blade in front of him, the massive chunk of metal appearing far too small in his grip, and yet he still wields it in a way I can only describe as affectionately. Looks like Tore is of the same mind; we need to destroy that before it hits the ground. Chapter 160: Epoch Without a second delay, Tore leaps into the air. The pressure slams through me at his sudden movement, and it¡¯s only due to the ethereal flame latching onto the hide of his upper shoulders that I stay with him. Allowing my body to become this intangible has some strange effects. My fingers seem to phase through his fur, binding me in place as my inner flame could when burning inside those Viisin bodies. Unlike those Viisin, I¡¯m unable to penetrate his skin. Only hairs allow me to hold on. Most likely, it¡¯s because of his overwhelming enhancement that I can¡¯t push my fingers into his flesh. In this state, the air hardly bothers me; as we rocket into the air at insane speeds, it simply passes through me, but the force of Tore¡¯s jump still hits me with full force. The ursu holds his sword over his shoulder as we rise well over a thousand metres to meet the mountain falling from above. The slab of steel feels slightly stronger than normal, but not by much. If I were to let my flames cook the metal, it would melt without issue. The missing edge from the beginning of his fight with Kalma is clear enough why he hasn¡¯t used his blade until now. In no time, we reach the massive rock falling above. Tore swings down his blade, slicing through with ease. The impact sends a quake through the mountain, opening a large fissure along the path of his blade. It¡¯s an immense, devastating attack that leaves a deep crevice in the mountain¡­ but that¡¯s all it does. The rock doesn¡¯t break; it doesn¡¯t even come close to slowing it, and at most, the strike is only good for sending us back to the earth. Despite all the power I know resting within those thick arms, the mountain remains unhalted. His blade is nothing more than slightly enhanced steel, and yet Tore can still inflict such damage without the weapon breaking. With my flames interwoven through the metal, I can feel how, as he swings the sword, a strange densification occurs, enhancing the blade¡¯s hardness and strength for the brief time. I guess even Tore relies on more than brute strength. Neither his body has markings nor does his sword have inscriptions, so I wonder how he achieves such a thing? Tore bounds off the earth, sending us upward once more. The falling mass hasn¡¯t moved far, but it is gaining speed. Wind whips around us. The air trying to flee out of the mountain¡¯s path. The lower surface has gone from glowing rock to near molten in the few seconds since it began falling. While my inferno spread across the earth is sweltering, it can hardly be giving off enough heat to burn rock from so far away. As strange as the effect is, it makes for a great invitation for my fire. While Tore prepares to strike into the fissure, I carry the inferno behind me. I can¡¯t lift all of it at once. There are kilometres of it, far too much to control with haste, and especially not through the sky where there isn¡¯t anything but air to consume. So I use myself as a conduit. The fields of fire rush inward before blasting past me. The wide fissure overflows with fire before Tore¡¯s blade gouges through the stone once more. His blow jerks us back downward, but it is enough. The fissure spreads through the mountain. My flames spread through the cracks as they spread with each quake. The mountain splits. But that doesn¡¯t really solve the problem. A pillar carries my flame to the now two mountains in free-fall. The semi-molten lower surface of both, allow my flames to spread across them rapidly, and without delay, the immense rocks are set ablaze. The surface of the fractured mountain is easy to spread across, but with ethereal flame I can push through the hard rock before it even melts. Though, piercing through takes time. Time we don¡¯t have. Considering the rate it¡¯s falling, we have a little over ten seconds before it hits the ground. Definitely not enough time for me to burn through. It¡¯s crazy I¡¯m even able to cover such distance with my flames. Maybe I should thank Kalma for her donation? I¡¯m sure she would take that well¡­ With his next blade swing, Tore sends us bounding between each rock. Each ricochet fractures the mass of stone slightly more, along with spreading them further apart. Soon, we have four, then eight masses falling in unison. It doesn¡¯t stop the threat they pose, but it makes my fire much easier to spread through. Each surface exposed to air is already dripping with molten rock. If the mountains weren¡¯t falling, I¡¯m sure the lava would be raining down on anything below. Actually, they hardly look like mountains anymore. The deeper my flames breach through the rock, the more the accumulation of stone appears like a flowing blob of magma. Below, the ground is approaching far too rapidly. It has passed the halfway point in its fall, but that means we only have a few more seconds before impact. Tore shreds through the rock, making my time eating through it all far easier, but it will still be close. For a moment, I lament the waste of resources. I¡¯m consuming far more than I could ever need. It may be only rock, but with this immense quantity, even rock fills me beyond belief. Through the gap in falling mountains, I can see the sky again. The rotten growth of night across the midday blue remains a blemish. But far overhead, barely visible on the border between day and night, is Kalma. She remains still. Floating in the air, eyes closed and hands hanging wide, Kalma breathes out and a shiver runs through me. I pull all the flame I can around us, but that won¡¯t be enough. Tore doesn¡¯t seem to realise the danger we¡¯re in; he swings his sword at the mass of rock like the last twenty times, unaware of Kalma looming above. The falling mountain wasn¡¯t her attack; it was a distraction. When Tore¡¯s sword impacts the rock, I blast us with every fraction of flame it holds. I focus everything I have on converting the flame to physical and pushing us away. Tore¡¯s swing would have had us going toward the next rock to break, but I couldn¡¯t have him swinging again. My flames add to our speed, but push us away from any of the other mountains of stone. Tore is heavy, but with such an immense blaze at my call, it is possible to accelerate us away. I have to pull every fire away from burning through the mountain to get us even the slightest bit further away. A second passes with nothing happening and doubts enter my mind. We still haven¡¯t reached the end of the pieces of mountain, but because of my action, there¡¯s no chance we¡¯ll be able to stop it now. If Tore and I continued cutting and melting as we had, it would have been possible to stop it, but not anymore. I calm my writhing flames. No. I trust my instincts on this. With no more hesitance, I thrust us as far away as I can before it¡¯s too late.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ??? Tore was a man defined by respect. He dedicated his life to the leader whose wisdom, charisma, and drive were leagues beyond any that came after; the man he respected most. Tore did not give respect freely, so it was no small feat that such a young child could gain it. And it is only because of that respect, that he did not strangle that young ¨¢ed as they sped through the air. Between the two of them, the destruction of the restructured earth above was possible, if not assured, but the girl ruined their chances. Did she not realise the potential damage the impact would cause? It was not the immediate damage that concerned Tore ¡ª on such a devastated battlefield, even if the blast was wide, the number of lives it would take would be minimal ¡ª No, it was what would come after that would kill the most. Ash filled skies would leave the land inhospitable. Tore knew better than anyone just how fragile the average life was. Such a massive disturbance in the earth would bleed smoke and ash into the sky for years, cutting all sunlight and sending the land into a long winter. Famine and disease would spread. Only those fortunate to flee would survive. Tore was intimately familiar with how things would play out. He had lived it. The Titan Cipactlteteo, disturbed from its slumber, had toppled the island of Vetus¡¯ tallest mountain. Back then, he had been nothing more than a child. Now, he is the only ursu to have seen their homeland. The ¨¢ed, Solvei, as much as it is because of her he finally had the will to go against a legacy of Chairman Torben, has now doomed his people to a repeat of two centuries ago. At least, that¡¯s what he believed until everything behind them disappeared. The mountain above and the earth below, Solvei¡¯s flames and the air itself, nothing remains. Not even a sound reaches them until gale winds rip into the absence of air. Tore¡¯s eyes widen. He hadn¡¯t even felt it coming. Each of his opponent¡¯s attacks always came with the slightest sensation before it hit that he had used to gauge the strength and distribute his defences appropriately. But this attack had none of that. There was not even the slightest warning before it hit. Tore glanced over his shoulder. How had she known? A short gasp escaped Solvei, and Tore felt her grip tighten on the thick hide of his back. The flames that pushed them through the air were gone, so they plummeted with all the built up speed Solvei had managed. Tore landed as gently as he could after coming in so fast. But even as he slid through the dry earth like it was mud, the pressure wave that blasted through his back was too great to ignore; strong enough to burst the eardrum of any unenhanced. Behind them, an explosion of glowing red ash shot outward. The peripheral of the falling mountain had been left untouched by Kalma¡¯s attack and impacted the earth with a force thankfully nowhere near what it could have been, but the damage had been done, regardless. Cinders and black dust rose high through the air. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for doubting you,¡± Tore said. The young ¨¢ed let out a nervous chuckle. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I doubted me too.¡± Tore lifted his weapon, the blaze burning across its edge the only reason he could use it. Now wasn¡¯t the time to deliberate over scars of his past. The ash may spread, but that was no reason to turn his eye from an opponent. It was a mistake that almost cost Tore not only his victory, but also the life of his charge. A mistake he would not repeat. Tore readjusted his grip, holding his sword wide before leaping through the air. No matter the danger that should face the world, he would not take his eyes from the threat before him. Tore¡¯s opponent was strong, far greater than any other he¡¯d fought, yet his carelessness nearly cost them. He had grown complacent. So many years had passed since his strength was last challenged. Kalma was a threat he could not ignore, not even for a second, and so he would treat her as such. It was time to end this. Tore breached through the thick, hot ash and found himself over nothingness. For dozens of kilometres, there was no land below, only depths which ate all light that entered. All around the rim of this pit were sections of smoking earth crumbling into the darkness. The flames around them spread wide, forming hundred metre wide wings that sped them toward Kalma. Much of the ¨¢ed¡¯s inferno was obliterated alongside the falling mountain, but it seemed she still had enough under her command to lift Tore¡¯s immense weight. Kalma didn¡¯t flick her tail, nor make any other clear actions to indicate an attack, but Tore felt it coming regardless. Solvei did too, as her flames lost their weight before the blast of decay overcame them. The impact passed without issue, and Tore felt the lift from the ¨¢ed¡¯s flames return. They rose toward Kalma. The being suspended high above unleashed an onslaught of decay, and Tore felt the flame around him switching states to push them closer with each window of opportunity. Tore readied his blade to strike. Solvei had done her part masterfully, but it was time for him to do his. He focused his presence and compressed it the moment before his blade pierced his opponent. It had been a long time since he learnt that one¡¯s presence could be used for more than just intimidation. Mostly, Tore only used it to keep his sword from shattering under the force of of his blows, but against Kalma, he needed to be more creative. Tore thrust the blade through Kalma¡¯s chest. As her body decayed, he unleashed his presence upon her. His opponent¡¯s eyes widen in shock, clearly feeling the effect. She immediately stopped the decay, recovering the body she¡¯d already melted away, but Tore¡¯s sword stays lodged in her chest, from navel to the bottom of her neck and piercing out her back. Kalma flailed, unable to escape because of Tore¡¯s pressure. She flung wave after wave of decay over them as they fell many thousands of metres, none penetrating the engulfing flames. Each opportunity given to her, Solvei applies thrust to their fall, accelerating them further. The pillars of ash encircling them soon made way for cliff faces as they descended below what once was the surface. They fell, continuing to speed down into the earth, but the ground never met them. The sky above shrunk until it was nothing more than a speck of light, and yet they still fell. Tore held his blade tight and pressure tighter as his opponent¡¯s struggles only intensified. An entire minute passed before Tore caught sight of something below. In the near non-existent light of this abyssal hole, Tore plants his foot on his opponent¡¯s torso before kicking away with all his capability and tearing his sword from the cavity in her chest. Despite the power of his kick, and the sudden downward thrust from his little passenger, Tore still hit the slanted surface with enough force to shatter his arm. The earth did not even budge under the excessive momentum he¡¯d built up and so Tore rolled down the slope until he got his feet under him. The injury was severe. The worst he¡¯d had in a long time. But his primary sword arm was fine to continue the battle. Even now, he could feel Kalma fighting his pressure, trying to teleport away with hysterical urgency. The fall hadn¡¯t killed her, but she was weak; her attempts came nowhere close to breaking his hold. She lost her composure. Unless she regains it, she has no chance against his presence, and Tore isn¡¯t about to let her regain it. He charged forward, flaming sword slicing through her head. It regrew quickly, but her recovery was unstable. Slow. Her eyes narrowed and, expecting an attack, Tore twisted his blade, knocking his opponent into the air. He jumped forward, but the expected attack didn¡¯t come. Kalma, inexplicably terrified, cancelled her attack. Tore didn¡¯t question it. He simply swung his blade, slicing her from neck to tails. Each time his blade would connect, she would recover, but each recovery was slower than the last. All he needed to do was wear her down. He soon found that whenever the sloped ground beneath his feet would be in the path of her attack, she would pull back, unable to even make the attempt. Tore was quick to make use of this, keeping her above him. Not once did she stop trying to flee, but as the battle wore on, her focus only deteriorated. Solvei¡¯s flames illuminated the dark pit. The ground was a perfectly flat surface set at a consistent angle that shone under the illumination, like an amber diamond. What was more strange about the bottom of this pit was the air itself. Tore couldn¡¯t see the walls despite the ¨¢ed¡¯s bright light, but occasionally, from the corner of his eye, he was sure he saw something, only for it to disappear when he looked closely. At one point, Tore swore he saw himself, a reflection bathed in the candescent glow. He would assume it was the flickering of Solvei¡¯s flames casting illusions if he weren¡¯t so sure of his sight. ¡°Bastards.¡± Kalma coughed up blood. Healing even that was too much for her now. ¡°Enjoy damnation. The Anatla won¡¯t be merciful to your souls.¡± Kalma let out a sound indistinguishable between a cough and a laugh before she made it clear she was preparing another attack. Tore didn¡¯t give her the chance. His blade thrust through her head and she toppled to the ground. Kalma bled out. She didn¡¯t decay, nor did she recover. Blood slid down the slope beneath her. Kalma was dead. Chapter 161: Deep Kalma is dead. There¡¯s no denying it. Her body lays headless and limp on the sloped amber ground. My flames crawl over her, and I don¡¯t feel any response. The natural heat of her body slowly leaves her. I try to eat her, but even dead, my hottest flames cannot burn her flesh. Instead, I cast the inheritance ritual inscription above myself and Tore. I can¡¯t ignore my tribe¡¯s teachings. Especially when a body so nutrition rich like Kalma¡¯s is in question. Leaving her to rot would be a waste of unthinkable proportions. I feel Tore¡¯s fingers wrap around my chest. I¡¯m lifted off his back and placed on the ground before he walks out of the inscription¡¯s range. He doesn¡¯t want any? Well, I won¡¯t complain. More for me. As soon as the ritual starts, I realise it¡¯s going to be a long time before I¡¯ll get through her. Even in death, Kalma doesn¡¯t want to be cooperative. While her energy slowly flows into me, gradually enhancing my capacity with the lacklustre efficiency of the ritual, I cast my gaze around the cavern we find ourselves in. I don¡¯t know whether to call it creepy, or intriguing. My eyes tell me an incredibly different story than the flames spread throughout. Visually, the space looks normal, if you ignore the strange illusions that appear any time you move. But to the touch of my flames, it¡¯s as if we¡¯ve stepped into an entirely different world. Connected flames less than a metre apart were also somehow on opposite sides of me, separated by dozens of metres. Other instances will have my flames overlapping each other to my senses, but never touch. I watch Tore carefully as he walks away. For the first twenty or thirty metres, nothing seems off, but beyond that, the strange visual inconsistencies grow. The air warps, making his body appear distorted with each sway and step. I send a wisp of fire toward him, but despite travelling in a straight line to my eyes, I can feel an almost constant change in its heading. It¡¯s impossible to pinpoint exactly where that wisp is even while looking at it directly. Tore turns to the side and pivots, no longer walking directly away from me. In an instant, his body flattens, disappearing from sight. I keep my eyes toward the area I lost him, but he doesn¡¯t reappear. I send my wisp off its straight path as well, and like Tore, it leaves my sight. My eyes land back on the barely processed body of Kalma. Should I leave her for now and chase after him? Through the brightness of my flames, the light coming from above looks like a tiny star in the distance. We fell a damn long way, so I¡¯d rather not be stuck down here alone. Tore makes his appearance again, walking through the flames behind me. I turn, and sure enough, he¡¯s there, just coming within range of my thermal sense. The space here is strange. I fall to my back within the ritual. It¡¯s hard to imagine Kalma is actually dead. The amount of destruction she¡¯s caused upon the world has been immense. And for what? Some end of the world only she knew about? Now that she¡¯s dead, I regret not asking about it. About what she knew of Eldest Ember. About anything, really. She left us with nothing but doubt of what¡¯s to come. Do we have any way of knowing she wasn¡¯t simply delusional? Well, at least she won¡¯t be able to cause any more damage than she already has. We¡¯ll need to make our way back up to the surface soon, but for now, I just want to relish in the feeling of victory¡­ and the growth provided by Kalma¡¯s corpse. The flames I left attached to my team are well and truly out of my range now. I hadn¡¯t been paying them too much attention during the fight, but I hope they are okay. I want to make sure none of Kalma¡¯s attacks reached them. I pass my hand over the smooth surface below me. It¡¯s warm to the touch. The amber earth does a good job of reflecting the heat of my flames, almost doubling the heat as I bathe in the flames I refuse to extinguish. As soon as they¡¯re gone, I won¡¯t be able to create them again. Though, with only air to consume, they¡¯ll run out of energy soon. The ground is impenetrable to my flames. A heavy rumble echoes down from above, followed by a shower of dust. The rumbles only grow louder in the next few seconds. A thousand impacts blended into one continuous sound. Are the falling mountains only now reaching us? The crunch of a stone slamming into the amber surface beside me is all the answer I need. ¡°We should make our way up.¡± Tore beats me to it. I reluctantly disperse my floating inscription and climb into Tore¡¯s offered hand. He lifts me to his shoulder before reaching down and picking up Kalma¡¯s corpse, tying her to his waist by her tails like one would game after a hunt. Tore favours his right hand, not using his left when it would have been easier.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Did he injure it during the fight? It must have been when we crash landed. Even incorporeal, and having the ursu take the brunt of the fall, that had hurt. I can¡¯t imagine what it might have been like for Tore. I¡¯d love to help him, but there¡¯s not much I can do. Tore shrugs off the injury as if it were nothing, and hopefully it is to him. Maybe if we meet Imiha, she can heal him? It¡¯ll be a long time before that, though. Not only is the climb above us daunting, but we have no way of knowing what we might find once we reach the surface. I¡¯d rather not join another battle once we return. Tore leaps through the air, grabbing the wall as a large crash quakes below. Rock and gravel buries that strange amber surface once more. We can¡¯t stay down here any longer. There are people waiting for us above. ??? It took over an hour of climbing to breach the surface. With gravity working against us, the difference is staggering. Tore would leap up the wall with incredible speed, but the falling debris far too often slowed our progress. Most of the time, Tore would use the falling stone as a platform to jump higher, but a few times I had to thrust us into the wall for the giant to recover. At one point, a mist beat down on my flames. The water thin enough to evaporate without too much issue. As we rose higher, the mist condensed into a waterfall, which was thankfully much easier to avoid. It was only when the sky was fully visible above that the source of the water was discovered; some underground stream that flowed into the voided space. Tore crashed through the veil of smoke surrounding the immense pit and brought us in to land. Despite our success and escape, Tore¡¯s eyes linger on the rising ash above. It has spread far to the horizon now. Is he worried about it being the same as the decay dust Kalma created? Does he think it will reform like how she could with that massive mountain? I go to say that it¡¯s just normal ash, when I think of a better way to reassure him. The remaining white flames spread into the sky, eating away the pillars of ash rising from the impact ring before rising with the smoke and burning outward through the sky. It takes a while, but eventually the sky is clear again. Tore glances over his shoulder, giving me a flat look. What? Should I not have burnt it away? The rotten growth of night in the sky remains unchanged after Tore threw Kalma too far to see. I noticed after that neither side tried to rise that high again. ¡°Hey, Tore? What is that?¡± I ask. He follows my gaze. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± He doesn¡¯t? Kalma acted like it should be common knowledge. ¡°You think the sky will return to normal?¡± ¡°Eventually.¡± Tore nods with a certainty that¡¯s strange for someone who doesn¡¯t know what the phenomena is. I guess those warnings to never fly too high weren¡¯t without basis. I watch the strange sky for a while. ¡°Why did you leave when you did?¡± ¡°My people were in danger,¡± he answers simply. ¡°You know, she appeared almost as soon as you left. We could have fought her then.¡± Though we might have been able to fight her had Tore stayed, actually beating her was impossible. If I hadn¡¯t had the time to alter my flames to defend against her decay, we¡¯d be dead and Kalma would be watching the fall of the pact nations right now. Though if we¡¯d killed her earlier, the damage would have been less severe. Ankor, alongside countless others, would still be alive. ¡°If you want to come with me and my team, we can take you somewhere to treat your arm,¡± I offer. The first thing I want to do is meet with my team, then finding out the state of the war, but helping Tore comes in a clean third place in my priorities. Despite our success, he did leave it to the last possible moment to help. ¡°No, I should return to mine. There are those that still fight.¡± He drops me beside him, then allows Kalma¡¯s corpse to fall unceremoniously to my feet. ¡°I will be busy for a while, but New Vetus will welcome you. I¡¯ll assure it.¡± Tore doesn¡¯t wait around. He bounds across the land and is quickly out of sight. No time to celebrate then? Well, if he¡¯s this dedicated to the ursu, then I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll prosper under his leadership. I¡¯m relieved Leal won¡¯t have to suffer anymore. Before I head off to find my team, I can¡¯t help but stare at the immense transformation that has overtaken the terrain during the battle. It¡¯s like a Titan went on a rampage. Only, if that were truly the case, how far-reaching would the effects be? If there was to be a fight between Titans, then how could any unenhanced species survive? ??? ¡°You knew a riparian and never told me?¡± As soon as I hear the familiar voice carried on the wind, I pick up speed, throwing in a bit of thrust for the boost. Standing amongst my team, along with a dozen other albanics, is Bunny. She has yet to notice me, so I take the opportunity. My wings clamp to my side and I barrel through the air into her back. She twists at the last moment, but too late. I slam into her, nearly knocking her off her feet. It¡¯s been such a long time since I¡¯d seen her. Even when I¡¯d made it across the Alps, Bunny had already gone to Vanguard and stayed there for the entire duration of the war. The unfamiliar albanics all wearing similar armour as Bunny panic. A few step forward to separate me from my team member, while the others ready their weapons. Bunny, on the other hand, seems to have finally noticed my scorching feathers, and while the white fire is definitely different from what she would remember, she is quick to recognise me. ¡°Solvei?¡± She doesn¡¯t have her bag of weapons with her anymore. Instead, she carries only a long halberd that shines with the distinct glowing lines of an inscription. With the flat of the blade, she swats away two of her compatriots so she can pull me close while I slowly return to my normal form. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re alright,¡± ¡°How are you here? I thought you were stuck in the war against the Theocracy?¡± I ask as I fall to my feet. My changes have been getting much faster as of late. ¡°The cowards backed off after I killed one of their presbyters. It gave me the chance to return.¡± Bunny¡¯s eyes land on the other albanics with their weapons still raised. ¡°Oi! Drop them already!¡± she snaps. Though they watch me closely, they do as she says. ¡°I had to fight through a horde of Viisin on the way here, but a short while back, they all dropped dead.¡± Oh? So there¡¯s no need to worry about the mermineae invasion any longer. Without the decay powering them forward, they won¡¯t be able to compete against the pact nation¡¯s mercenaries. ¡°Kalma¡¯s gone then?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks, stepping forward. ¡°Oh, yeah. That reminds me.¡± I turn to the flame carrying her corpse behind me. ¡°I haven¡¯t eaten much yet. Want to share?¡± I¡¯ll never forget my team¡¯s expressions as the headless corpse lands before them. Chapter 162: Drinks Remus and Gr¨ªmr try to turn me down, saying I should have Kalma¡¯s energy for myself, but I won¡¯t have it. Bunny and Jav agree readily, but these two remain resistant, so I grab them with hands formed by physical flame and hold them to the ground while I begin the ritual. Of course, they could break out any time they want, but they admit defeat and allow me to share. The group of albanics try to join in, but I hold them off with the threat of fire hot enough to melt skin should they come too close. I¡¯ll share with my friends, but not those I don¡¯t know. Bunny simply grins at them, silently boasting as the similarly dressed men and women stare with apprehension at my flames and envy at the powerful corpse they¡¯ll miss out on. ¡°This will take a while, won¡¯t it Solvy?¡± she asks, and I nod in return. ¡°So I think you guys should head on home,¡± she says to the group. An albanic steps forward. ¡°But Tetsu, we-¡± ¡°I¡¯ve reunited with my team, so there should be no need to remain together, right?¡± she says. ¡°And it looks like the pact won¡¯t need you, after all.¡± The man at the front sighs in defeat. ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll be sure to let your uncle know you sent us away as soon as you could,¡± he says before leading the group that continues to throw longing gazes toward the inheritance ritual. Bunny¡¯s smile becomes strained, but she stands firm. ¡°So, that was quite the battle back there,¡± Remus says, no longer being pinned by my flames. ¡°What happened to Hund?¡± ¡°He was in a hurry to return to the ursu. It¡¯s a shame; I would have liked to introduce you all.¡± ¡°Hund is near Kalma¡¯s strength, right?¡± Jav says. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we be worried about New Vetus¡¯ invasion if he¡¯s supporting them?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± I incline my head, thinking about what the massive ursu might do when he reaches his kind. ¡°Tore will make them retreat.¡± Though whether they give up the land they¡¯ve already acquired is another thing. ¡°Don¡¯t even worry about it Jav, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll know about it soon enough if a problem arises,¡± Remus says. ¡°Besides, we have a little hero to celebrate.¡± Bunny hums in agreement. ¡°I want to hear everything.¡± ??? Hours later, we¡¯ve still barely made a dent in Kalma¡¯s body, and yet the growth of my capacity has been immense. So much so that I can only imagine the benefit to my teammates¡¯ enhancement. We spend most of the time sharing stories and relaxing. Relishing in relief and victory. The air over our group becomes rather sombre when deaths are mentioned, but those moments are short-lived. Mostly by an intentional effort to keep the mood positive and joyous by those older than I. Bunny tells of her battles against the Theocracy. Obviously embellished stories that have the rest of the team watching her with doubtful expressions. I still like them, though. The halberd she carries was apparently once her father¡¯s. A weapon created by riparian craftsmen. ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Bunny turns on Remus. ¡°You knew a riparian all this time and never told me? I¡¯ve been trying to get my hands on their weapons for years now, and you know it.¡± ¡°Solon only owed me one favour,¡± Remus says. ¡°I was only going to request his aid in an emergency.¡± The dohrni turns to me. ¡°On that, what happened to that treasure of his?¡± I freeze, not wanting to admit I completely forgot about the orb until now. ¡°Uh, either destroyed, or a couple hundred thousand metres underground.¡± I try my best to look innocent, but I¡¯m not sure if I succeed considering the look he¡¯s giving me. ¡°A couple hundred thousand?¡± he repeats slowly. ¡°Yeah¡­ it was a pretty long fall.¡± ¡°What about the sky?¡± Gr¨ªmr interjects. ¡°Do you know what caused that?¡± I look up to where it should remain in the sky, but sunset has long since passed, so the sky has returned to consistency. Whether the rotten night will return in the morning, I don¡¯t know. I know Gr¨ªmr was there to see Kalma whacked into the air, so he must mean more specifically. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Tore didn¡¯t either.¡± Turning my head to see if anyone else on my team knows what it is ¡ª specifically Remus ¡ª but none put forward any explanation. ¡°Do you think the Mercenary Order will still see me as an enemy?¡± I ask. Kalma¡¯s influence is revealed now, so I should get off without issue, right? ¡°That might take some time to get your traitor status removed. It¡¯ll probably be best you stay in hiding for a while until I can clear your name,¡± Remus says. ¡°Oh.¡± I drop my head in disappointment. ¡°I¡¯d been hoping to see my friends now that everything is over.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. It¡¯s been what? A year? More? Since I last saw them. We left them back in Baansguard as I joined team Luis-Eight across the Alps. Long before the war started. Ever since my return, I¡¯ve wanted to meet them again to make sure they¡¯re doing well, but the war kept me from doing so. I guess I¡¯ll have to wait a bit longer to see them. ¡°Though¡­¡± Remus continues. ¡°The Mercenary Order will go through a period of major restructuring for the next few months. The response to this invasion has appalled the state leaders. They will be overseeing the reform after the official declaration of victory.¡± Remus gives his signature mouthless smirk. ¡°As long as nobody is given a reason to suspect anything out of the ordinary, just about anyone could travel freely in this confusion.¡± I jump to my feet, ready to rush off right now. If Remus has said it will be fine, then there should be no issues. I¡¯ll need to keep myself hidden as an albanic like I did when I first met them back in Zadok, but that¡¯s hardly difficult. I can even hide the flames in my bird form now, so flying there shouldn¡¯t be a problem either. ¡°Wait up, Solvei,¡± Jav says. ¡°You can¡¯t go yet; the war hasn¡¯t officially ended. Plus, you still need to celebrate with us.¡± The little volan turns to Remus with a grin. ¡°I know she¡¯s young, but what do you say to getting some alcohol in her?¡± Remus smirks in return, clearly agreeing, but Gr¨ªmr is of a different opinion. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea. What about the water content?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve seen her burn through skin and blood,¡± Bunny says. ¡°Just get her strong spirits and she will be fine.¡± ??? It took a while, but my team soon places a small glass with a clear liquid on the wooden counter before me. I stare at the liquid hesitantly. It looks far too much like water for me to be comfortable. The rest of my team watch on with expectant eyes, waiting for me to try it. We sit in an empty bar deep within the formerly mermineae controlled land. There is plenty of damage to the front door, and all the food has been ransacked by the mermineae, but most of the bottles along the wall were left intact. After Remus met with some people in the nearest lived-in city and sent many letters, we flew out over the now uninhabited land for some privacy while we celebrate. The mermineae have gone. Run back to the mountains after losing their strongest fighting force. As much as Kalma abused them, it was her power they relied on against the greatest of threats. I think it would be good if they are given their space. Hopefully, the pact nations won¡¯t chase them down to slaughter all that remain. ¡°Go on, just a little taste,¡± Jav encourages. ¡°If it stings or you don¡¯t like it, you don¡¯t need to have any more.¡± He takes his own glass, shows it to me, then downs the liquid in an instant. Hesitantly, I lift the glass and take a sip. It doesn¡¯t sting at all. In fact, it burns with a rather pleasant heat in my mouth. My eyes drop to the rest of the liquid sitting in the tiny cup, now on fire. I¡¯d been a bit too ready to vaporise it had it been similar to water. I extinguish the flame and drink. It¡¯s not nearly as intense as that oil the centzon gave me, but it still gives a similar hot feeling as it slides down my throat. It flows more smoothly than the oil too, giving a strange experience of tasting the texture of a liquid without it hurting. ¡°Hey, this is actually pretty good,¡± I say. ¡°Are you sure there¡¯s water in this? I can¡¯t feel it at all.¡± ¡°There is, but it¡¯s a tiny amount. Usually, one wouldn¡¯t drink such pure alcohol straight, but you are an exception. Any juice, sweeteners or other compliments would only increase the percentage of water and take from the taste,¡± Remus says. ¡°Some dehydrated snacks could go well with the drink, but I don¡¯t have any on me.¡± I take the offered bottle and pour myself another glass. Gr¨ªmr watches on from the side, crouched low to avoid scraping the roof, casting concerned glances my way. Bunny instead eyes me with anticipation, as if she¡¯s waiting for something. Remus simply smiles as his eyes follow my teammates. They each have a drink of their own, looted from behind the bar counter. None share the same type that me and Jav are drinking. Now that I think about it, Jav hasn¡¯t had another after his first. I look down to my side and sure enough, his glass is still empty. So, of course, I fill it. Jav stares at his drink. Then he tilts his head to me. His eyes waver, as if flickering in a hundred directions at once, undecided where they want to focus. Does he not want the drink? But it¡¯s so good? Jav whimpers, grabs the glass, and swallows its contents in one gulp. He goes to slam the small cup back on the wooden counter, but misses. Nearly faster than I can observe, his tiny hands grab for the falling glass, only to fumble and miss a dozen times before he finally gets a hold of it with both hands. Remus bursts out laughing and Bunny grins, though I¡¯m not exactly sure why. Is dropping his glass that funny? ¡°Do you want more, Jav?¡± I ask, offering the bottle. He drank it so quick, he must love it. Instead, he shakes his head with vigour. Well, if I¡¯m the only one to drink it, then there¡¯s no point in pouring into my glass every time. I drink straight from the bottle. I don¡¯t incinerate it all immediately, so the burning liquid pools in my chest with a comfortable warmth. The unique flavour is like nothing else. Bunny¡¯s gaze morphs into a mixture of confusion and growing worry as I down the entire bottle. Gr¨ªmr looks like he just saw someone eaten alive. Both rise to their feet immediately, Gr¨ªmr crashing the back of his head through the roof. I simply watch them in confusion as Remus lets out another burst of laughter, chuckling as he relieves their concerns. ¡°Sit down. Don¡¯t worry. Alcohol doesn¡¯t affect the ¨¢ed the same way it does us. She can¡¯t get intoxicated.¡± Remus turns to Jav. ¡°She¡¯s not the one we should be worried about.¡± Almost as soon as he says it, I hear a thump beside me. On the floor, to my side, Jav has collapsed. ¡°He really should have known better.¡± Remus shakes his head. I drop to Jav¡¯s side and shake him. What¡¯s happened? He¡¯s still breathing, but he¡¯s passed out. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Solvy,¡± Bunny says as her hand lands on my back. ¡°He just drank too much.¡± ¡°Volans aren¡¯t good with alcohol. Jav will be fine because of his enhancement, but he should never have drunk such intense shots straight.¡± Remus chuckles. ¡°But he wanted to assure you it was safe to drink, and who are we to stop him?¡± ¡°He was already done after the first,¡± Gr¨ªmr grumbles, glaring at the hole in the roof. ¡°Why¡¯d he take the second?¡± ¡°Losing to a first timer would be shameful.¡± Bunny nods in understanding. ¡°I was getting worried after her third glass, but I guess it doesn¡¯t really matter when the first timer can¡¯t even get tipsy.¡± I¡¯m not really sure I understand the pitying gaze Bunny sends my way, but I¡¯m glad I¡¯m not affected the same way if it means I¡¯d be on the ground beside Jav. Remus wraps the volan in a tentacle before depositing him on top of his head. Jav seemingly finds the spot comfortable and curls up in his sleep. As weird as the effects are on my teammate, the taste is too good to pass up. My bottle is empty, so I pull another off the shelf with a quick application of physical flame. I spend the night celebrating with my team, drinking from glass and looking forward to what is to come. Chapter 163: Book 3 Epilogue The east of the pact nations cannot support the influx of population in the long term. If not for particular clauses in the pact between nations, many people would have starved or gone without shelter. Well, more than what already has. Each city east of the Mercenary Order Headquarters now supports up to twice their original populous, and are eager to send them packing now that the war is over. Unfortunately for the cities facing intense overpopulation, the first refugees they may send off are the skilled workers and labourers. The type of residents most important for reconstruction, but also the ones a nation would rather keep hold of. I fly over the railway station as thousands board trains ready to return home for the arduous task of rebuilding what was lost. Unlike the past, I can land on the roof of a nearby building and not a soul will bat an eye. I can hide my flames just as easily as with my normal form when I am familiar with the shape I take. My falcon form is the only real alternative I can take for now, but that only means I need to become familiar with other physiques. Maybe a dohrni or volan body will be useful. According to Remus, I don¡¯t have to worry about my friends being on this train. They¡¯ll be amongst the next wave in a week. Along with all the other apprentices and youth able to work. After a brief glance over those boarding the heavy metal cylinder to confirm Remus¡¯ words, I take off again. It shouldn¡¯t be hard to find Ash and the others. The section of the city housing the majority of the refugees is the same everywhere; rushed, poor quality housing and tents with enough people walking around to make it look more like an ant mound. It¡¯s not an ideal situation for anyone involved, but there¡¯s little one can do in a crisis. My only hope is my friends are in a better state than I found them under Mr. Marshall. I promised Remus I¡¯ll remain undiscovered, but if I find them mistreated again, I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be able to hold myself back. I shake my head. No, I shouldn¡¯t even think that way. There are other ways to deal with situations than slaughter. Between Morne and the city Kalma burnt, I¡¯ve learnt that resolving my problems with indiscriminate murder will only come back to bite me. Maybe if I¡¯d dealt with Mr. Marshall and his mill differently, Joiak would have been willing to ally immediately, and be ready for the invasion from New Vetus. In a very loose sense, I hold responsibility for the fall of Joiak and its people. I don¡¯t feel guilty, but it is rather unfortunate. Then again, Joiak was a horrible nation, so I¡¯m happy it¡¯s gone. I circle above, scanning through the crowds in search of any familiar face. A nervous shiver runs through my wings. A lot has happened since our last meeting; I¡¯ve catapulted in strength, the war has changed everyone¡¯s lives, and the Mercenary Order branded me a traitor. How far has word spread? Will my friends think differently of me when we meet? Eventually, I find Ash. I almost don¡¯t recognise him at first; he¡¯s a lot taller than I remember. With a paper in hand, he rushes through the refugee district, which is surprisingly still better than the city I first found him. Without making my presence known, I follow him. Ash leads me to an old stone building. Likely, it was once a theatre or performance hall of some kind now repurposed to house hundreds. He walks through the front double doors, but there are far too many people walking around to fly in behind him without causing a ruckus. I could try to change without being spotted, but as I look around, there isn¡¯t really anywhere nearby that would give me enough privacy. The moment my flames become visible, people will know I¡¯m here. Really, this would be so much easier if any ¨¢ed besides myself travelled outside the wastelands. On the second floor of the building, are a few balconies. Even those are occupied. I can wait for someone to return inside and follow without being seen. If I can find a place inside to change, the mermineae fur of my outfit will let me walk around without issue. I land silently on the roof above a khirig who holds a burning stick to their mouth. She doesn¡¯t seem to be in any rush, and within a few seconds, I¡¯m already getting impatient. The mix of crushed plant leaves burns far too slow. I¡¯ll be waiting ages if she only goes inside after burning through it all. So, there¡¯s only one thing I can do. I give a little nudge to the cinders. In moments, the herbs incinerate. The khirig chokes, unleashing a chain of coughs as if she swallowed something nasty. Oops. Regardless, she stumbles her way back inside, unaware of the bird following through the open door behind her. The khirig wheezes and gasps, finally regaining her breath, but I¡¯ve already moved on. I land on a secluded ledge overlooking the main floor below. The hall is divided into countless sleeping quarters with cloth separators. Immediately, I spot my friends within their own division. Ash has already arrived amongst them, speaking animatedly while throwing the paper to the others.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. For a moment, I simply watch. It¡¯s comforting to know nothing terrible happened since we last met. A volan flies across the hall, from the balcony across from me to where I assume the front doorway is. Nobody pays them even a glance. Right, if I¡¯m quick, everyone will just assume I¡¯m a volan. Next thing I know, I¡¯m landing on Leslie¡¯s shoulder. I¡¯d thought Ash had grown tall, Leslie is another thing entirely. If she has more growth ahead of her, she might grow taller than Bunny when she¡¯s an adult. I feel her flinch, then freeze under my taloned feet. The others stop their chatter and stare. I eye each of them for a few moments, locking eyes with Leslie for just that extra bit longer as she grows increasingly uncomfortable with me using her as a resting post. Once they¡¯ve had enough time to stew in confusion, I let out a laugh and wave a wing at them. ¡°Solvei?¡± Kerry is the first to realise. ¡°Hi,¡± I say. Before I can continue, I¡¯m flipped from my perch. I squawk as Leslie pins me beneath her arm. ¡°Fuck girl, I thought I was about to lose an arm.¡± I struggle in her grip, trying my best not to revert to flames where those looking down from above could see me clearly. ¡°Hey! Let me go!¡± ¡°Why should I? I¡¯ve got the ¡®traitor of the pact¡¯ right where I want her,¡± Leslie says, then turns to show me off like a prize. ¡°What do you think? Do you think she¡¯s got a bounty?¡± ¡°Leslie, that isn¡¯t something you should joke about,¡± Ash says. ¡°Oh, loosen up. I¡¯m just getting her back a little.¡± Leslie finally releases me, and I flip to land on my talons. I don¡¯t even need to see the tall girl to know she¡¯s disappointed I didn¡¯t fall head first. ¡°It¡¯s great to see you all again, but is there somewhere I can change without getting spotted?¡± I ask, motioning to the balconies able to look in on us. The twins, quiet as ever, jump up. Demi tugs on a curtain, closing the pseudo entrance, while Medi grabs a sheet and ties it over our heads with ropes. The small space becomes closed off in a matter of seconds. It¡¯s clear they¡¯ve done this plenty of times before. Now obscured from any unwanted eyes, I let my form relax. White flame blinds each of my friends until the short, sub-minute transformation is complete. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ve grown plenty in the past year, but standing next to Ash and Leslie, it sure doesn¡¯t feel like it. Before I can get right into asking how they¡¯ve been, some albanic woman flips open the cloth divider. ¡°What are you lot doing in here? What was that awful bright light?¡± I guess the cloth wasn¡¯t enough to hide the glow of my body. Maybe I should¡¯ve cooled to a yellow or red while changing. Eh, too late now. Thankfully, as this woman looks amongst us, her eyes don¡¯t immediately land on me, so she shouldn¡¯t have caught me as the source of light. When she isn¡¯t able to find anything out of the ordinary, she finally notices me amongst the other teenagers. ¡°Are you new? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen you before.¡± Kerry jumps in before I can say anything. ¡°She¡¯s a friend from work.¡± ¡°Right,¡± the woman says as her eyes drift to my hair. Even outside Zadok and the Theocracy, my hair must stand out. ¡°Well, don¡¯t do whatever you did again. I don¡¯t want to search your belongings for things you shouldn¡¯t have.¡± With a shake of her head, we are alone once more. My friends don¡¯t wait two seconds before they dive into questions. Their voices hushed, but not enough for any who might really want to listen in. ¡°That was you, yeah? Ten days ago, the skyline burned like a second sun. Your fire is the same white.¡± ¡°You could see that from here?¡± I¡¯m surprised considering how far away we are from where the battle took place. ¡°See it?¡± Ash repeats. ¡°We could hear it. Feel it. Whatever exploded must have been huge. Who could miss the sky tearing apart?¡± Thankfully, the rotten night that grew across the sky had recessed by the next morning. It¡¯s worrying that they could feel the effects of Kalma¡¯s falling mountain even after the majority of it was obliterated in her proceeding attack. ¡°What about that destroyed city they tried to blame on you? What¡¯s the truth behind that?¡± Kerry asks. ¡°That was Kalma,¡± I say. ¡°She framed me after killing everyone at the command centre.¡± No need to mention that I killed those executives before Kalma arrived. ¡°Huh,¡± Ash says. ¡°Everyone kinda assumed the Order was trying to pin the blame on you to save face. Wait, is Kalma the leader of the mermineae?¡± ¡°Sort of; she manipulated them into attacking rather than ordering them.¡± ¡°Tell us of the ursu ambush. How¡¯d you get out alive?¡± ¡°I met an old friend. How do you know so much?¡± Leslie throws the paper I¡¯d seen Ash running with into my hands. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you don¡¯t know. You¡¯re a damn celebrity now.¡± On the front page, in bold letters, is the title ¡®The War Ends¡¯, but below that, on Leslie points to the bottom half of the page where another passage titled ¡®Lies of the Order: Incendia Is Innocent!¡¯ ¡°Incendia?¡± I ask. Leslie chuckles and the rest of the group smirk. ¡°That¡¯s the nickname the papers gave you. The way you fight attracts a lot of attention. ¡®Maelstrom blazes banishing foes and saving thousands.¡¯ Journalists love you.¡± I sigh in relief. ¡°I was kinda worried you guys would think I burned that city as well.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about anyone thinking that,¡± Kerry says. ¡°People have been enraged by the Mercenary Order¡¯s performance through the war, and the papers have been questioning every statement they¡¯ve released. It¡¯s honestly surprising that it was Kalma and not the Order itself that set you up.¡± That is¡­ far better news than I¡¯d been expecting. Do I not have to worry about hiding myself? ¡°Though, saying that,¡± Ash says. ¡°The Mercenary Order still lists you as one of their most wanted, so please be careful. Most will take your side, but there are exceptions.¡± Nothing changes then. I have to wait until Remus can rescind that wanted status before I can wander the pact nations freely. ¡°What about you?¡± I ask the group. ¡°Things haven¡¯t been too hard?¡± I stay and talk to them well into the night, trading stories and experiences. For the next week, I¡¯ll follow them as they return to Baansguard to make sure nothing bad happens during their journey. The safety and prosperity of these friends was a central motive to enter the war as I had. If not for them, I might have simply run away. Returned to the wasteland to look for my kind. Thousands, maybe millions more would have died if I¡¯d chosen that path. I found success where I never thought I could. I overcame my fears and grew strong enough to stand by Tore¡¯s side. As Remus said; it will take a while to clear my name, so I think now is the perfect moment to return home. It¡¯s about time I retrieved my mum¡¯s spear. It¡¯s about time I find the Agglomerate. But for now, I just want to enjoy some time with friends. Map - Pact Nations War (chapter 163 spoilers) Just a recap, This is the map of the known world (a little expanded from last time): Below is the progression of borders through the war. Made with my immense skill in paint (lol). While both Vanguard and Joiak are a part of the pact nations, I''ve given them distinction for clarity. Legend: Joiak = Light Blue. Zadok = Pink. New Vetus = Dark Blue. Vanguard = Purple. Henosis = Red. Theocracy = Orange. Pact Nations = Green. Mermineae = Yellow. First, we have the initial conditions Solvei came back to upon her return to the west of the Titan Alps" This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. The next is after the pact nations launched their offensive to reconnect with Joiak. After that, we have the invasion from New Vetus, up to the point Solvei meets Leal. New Vetus and the mermineae continue to push forward, putting the pact nations into a constant retreat. This is the state of the nations when Solvei+Tore Fight Kalma. Finally, we have the state of the nations after the war. Mermineae have temporarily made a place for themselves along the Stepps, and both Joiak and Zadok no longer exist. Chapter 164: New Goal How much of the world do I truly know? It seems that the longer I live, the more there is I don¡¯t understand. What did Kalma mean when she claimed the world will end? What is the barrier that holds it back? And exactly what are the Anatla? These aren¡¯t the only questions I find myself asking. Not even close. After that battle Tore and I fought, so many unknowns remained that I now feel the same curiosity I once felt so long ago amongst my tribe. Back when the only thing I knew was my family and the sand beneath my feet. I¡¯ll need to be careful, as my curiosity is now overwhelmed by incredibly dangerous questions. Blindly chasing the answers will likely land not only myself, but those I care for in danger. Something that inflicted fear in Kalma is not to be treated lightly. Of course, that is no different from when I was curious about water. Some things never change. Gr¨ªmr and I sail through the air, flying south into New Vetus. I don¡¯t intend to stay in the nation long; just until I can meet with Leal. After the pain I¡¯ve inflicted, I¡¯m not expecting her to want to join us, but I still want to ask her. Last time I saw her, she made it clear she needed time to get her thoughts straight, and I don¡¯t want to intrude into her space until she¡¯s ready to let me in. To the west, beyond the horizon, is the wasteland; my home. Or at least what was once my home. I¡¯m not really sure where to consider my true home now. The wasteland has always been familiar. It is where the rest of my kind reside; the most habitable place for an ¨¢ed one can find. But I have people who I care for outside. I¡¯m not so comfortable leaving them to return to the life I lived before. Gr¨ªmr, flying in beat with me, is the only one of my team joining me. I¡¯d asked all of them, but they¡¯ll be held up by their commitments and cannot spend a couple months away. Bunny, to clean up the border disputes in Vanguard; Remus, to take the lead in much of the Order¡¯s restructuring; and Jav, who is required for reconnaissance into the Empire. I appreciate having Gr¨ªmr by my side. As assured as it is that Leal will not join me, I¡¯m happy to have someone to travel with. ¡°Hey, thanks for coming. Are you sure you don¡¯t want to fly by your home before we head into the wasteland? I don¡¯t mind delaying the trip a couple weeks so we can meet them.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯d rather not,¡± Gr¨ªmr says rather curtly. ¡°Besides, it will take a bit more than a week to reach the clear rivers of Sruthland. Even with flight, it¡¯s a long travel north.¡± I smirk back at him, although I¡¯m not too clear how well that comes through my beak. ¡°I¡¯m sure there are some things we can try.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not letting you set me on fire again.¡± ¡°Aw,¡± I exclaim in mock despair. ¡°come on, it¡¯s not like I¡¯ll burn you. I have some new ideas.¡± Gr¨ªmr shifts uncomfortably, but tries to hide it with a pair of wingbeats. He¡¯s close to caving, I just know it. ¡°No,¡± he says firmly. ¡°Solvei, you know you¡¯re not allowed to be spotted.¡± ¡°You think those below don¡¯t already see us?¡± I ask. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure massive metal birds aren¡¯t exactly common around here.¡± ¡°Sure, but they see a monster, not an ¨¢ed. That¡¯s all that¡¯s important.¡± I turn my beak away and fall behind Gr¨ªmr. ¡°It¡¯s not like they¡¯d be able to catch us even if they did.¡± ¡°Not the point, and you know it.¡± I roll my eyes and retake the lead. Gr¨ªmr has never been this far south, so it¡¯s up to me to guide him. Not that actually know where Leal is. I doubt they stayed at the former gulag; that place would¡¯ve been crawling with counterinsurgency soldiers before long. As I¡¯d helped Tore take command of New Vetus not too long after the gulag fell, I¡¯m sure they¡¯re fine, but it¡¯s still hard not to worry. First, I¡¯m going to stop by Flehullen; the capital of New Vetus. The very city I recently slaughtered all their leaders and participated in destroying a major national icon. Now that I put it that way, will we be fine? Sure, they were tyrant rulers, but I¡¯m an outsider. What if they think I¡¯m back to try the same against Tore? Well, I can probably avoid any incidents by keeping my flames hidden. Again. Why is it that my fire seems to cause problems everywhere? Damn fleshy creatures and their ¡ª mostly ¡ª unreasonable fear of fire. I don¡¯t have any reason to believe Leal will be in Flehullen, but it¡¯s a good place to start. Regardless, I want to stop by Tore and see how he¡¯s managing. It can¡¯t be an easy task; demilitarising and restructuring such a large nation. Both the Zadok and Joiak kingdoms no longer exist. The land they once occupied now lies within control of the ursu. I feel a rather brutal glee thinking about it. Neither country were ranked all that high in my list of favourites, so for them to be removed from the map is rather satisfying.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. As we fly over the former kingdom, the wall that once separated the destitute darker haired albanics from the rest of Zadok comes into view. Or at least, what¡¯s left of it. What had once been a major obstacle for me and the friends I¡¯d made down there now lay as rubble. The Ursu left hardly any of the tall stone wall standing after their invasion. A new railway cuts right through a region of demolished buildings. The Ursu must not have had any use for the numerous abandoned dwellings in their way. Even the old Cano manor now looks more like an army training camp than the high-class mansion it used to be. Eventually, our flight brings us to the ursu¡¯s capital city. Lacking the monumental central continae, it now looks like any other New Vetus metropolis. In the open plaza, many new structures have been built. They are clearly temporary, with most having open walls to the outside and only one floor, but considering even these high ceiling buildings would be too low for Tore, maybe that¡¯s fine for now. Construction to meet not only the requirements for an ursu¡¯s height but Tore¡¯s looming figure would take time. Thankfully, spotting the huge warrior is simple. I dive toward the giant. Gr¨ªmr stays behind, watching me from above while keeping his distance from Tore. I can understand his fear, Tore is devastatingly strong, but without him, we never could have beat Kalma. He deserves to be treated as more than a monster¡­ even if there¡¯s no denying he is one. I land on the big guy¡¯s head, but he simply ignores me. The same cannot be said for those in the meeting with him. An ursu who was speaking about some policy change abruptly stops and stares at me, along with the rest. My eyes fall down to myself. Besides the blue feathers that mimic the dark shade of my hair in my default controlled form, I should look like any normal bird, so why are they staring? Oh. Of course. How stupid of me. What normal animal would willingly approach such an intimidating, intense being as Tore? I almost let a tongue of flame flick over my wings just to show them I¡¯m something more, before I remember that it probably isn¡¯t a good idea to make it known that I¡¯m the one who killed their former leaders. ¡°Solvei, you are interrupting.¡± Tore¡¯s voice is as deep and permeating as ever. Despite his words, he gently offers me a finger, which I hop on without delay. ¡°What brings you?¡± ¡°I wanted to drop by before I go looking for someone. Actually, you might be able to help me find them.¡± ¡°If you¡¯ll excuse me, Tore Hund, who is this?¡± asks one of the gathered officials. Tore raises his arm, presenting me. ¡°This is Solvei, the ¨¢ed that assisted me in battle. Please treat her as an honoured guest.¡± Having these awed eyes looking up at me is a rather addictive feeling. Well, if Tore has announced me as an ¨¢ed, there should be no reason to hide. Standing upon the thick digit, I spread my wings and twirl fire through my feathers. I¡¯m not ashamed to say I relish in their attention. It would be weird if I didn¡¯t have some pride in the strength I¡¯ve gathered. I ignore Tore¡¯s raised eyebrow. ¡°Then we shall leave you to your business.¡± The same ursu from before turns to usher the rest of the officials away. ¡°What? But-¡± one official tries to stay, but the first grabs a fistful of fur at the back of his head and drags him away. ¡°So, how are things going?¡± I ask, twisting on my perch. ¡°How¡¯s fixing New Vetus coming along?¡± It¡¯s strange that all it took was a single battle to overcome the hesitance I felt around him. Even before, after I helped free him from the chairman, his sheer size and power intimidated me. I no longer feel the need to hold back around him, and that change only happened after I fought by his side against Kalma. I feel I learnt a lot about him in that battle alone. ¡°It¡¯s a struggle, but things are progressing,¡± Tore says. ¡°Who are you trying to find?¡± ¡°A friend of mine; Leal,¡± I say. ¡°I helped free her dad from a gulag a while back.¡± ¡°Ah, that one.¡± Tore raised a hand and an ursu came running. ¡°Take her to Adalbern,¡± he says before addressing me again. ¡°Adalbern can help you.¡± I step off Tore¡¯s hand, carrying myself with a thin plume of physical flame. It would have been nice to talk with him for a while, but I¡¯m sure he¡¯s busy. I did interrupt his meeting. ¡°Thanks! Good to see you doing well.¡± And he does look well. Despite the gruff attitude and emotionless face, he seems far more animated than he was under the control of the chairman and council of the past. Even while fulfilling the position he never wanted. He nods as I follow the ursu toward Adalbern. The name is familiar, but I can¡¯t put my finger on where I¡¯ve heard it. That changes the moment I see him. It¡¯s the tall ursu who took command after the fall of the gulag. Forgoing my guide, I fly ahead to the man who shared a cell with Gerben. ¡°How¡¯d things go after you got out of the gulag?¡± I ask in a rush as I float in my flames before him. ¡°Nobody died, right?¡± My sudden appearance startles him, but my voice, alongside the floating fire, tips him off to my identity. ¡°No, things went rather well for those of us that escaped. I can probably thank you for that, right? Many people talk of you as a legendary figure, right beside Tore Hund.¡± ¡°Really? But I¡¯m not nearly as strong as he.¡± ¡°But you saved him. That might as well be saving each of us in the eyes of the ursu, mine included.¡± I smile back to him ¡ª impeded again by the beak ¡ª It¡¯s nice to receive appreciation¡­ even if my goal was never to save the ursu besides Leal and Gerben. ¡°Not everything is perfect, as is usually the case,¡± Adalbern continues. ¡°I organised the closure of each gulag as soon as Tore Hund declared the war over. As much as I hate it, doing so immediately was a mistake. It¡¯s difficult to manage occupied land when much of your force wants to return home. Particularly with the new reliance on mages.¡± He looks back down at me as if just remembering I¡¯m here. ¡°Ah, apologies. You wouldn¡¯t want to listen to my complaints. You¡¯re here to find Gerben and his daughter?¡± I¡¯m surprised he guessed, but I nod regardless. ¡°They¡¯re in Brua. I put Gerben in charge of reintegrating victims over there.¡± ¡°Brua?¡± ¡°Ah, it¡¯s the city right on the edge of the isthmus.¡± ¡°Okay, thanks.¡± Before I can rush to rejoin Gr¨ªmr, Adalbern hurries to stop me. ¡°Wait!¡± he runs inside the open wall of the building beside us and returns with a package. ¡°If you¡¯re going to see him anyway, could you take this with you?¡± I let my flames wrap around the small wooden box. The ursu eyes my flames warily, as if he expects me to burn the thin timber, but he¡¯s worrying for nothing. The box isn¡¯t exactly light, but it won¡¯t be an issue to carry it with me. Plus, I can just throw it on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back and let him deal with the weight. He probably won¡¯t even notice it. I nod and am soon flying north again. Hopefully, Leal will join us, but I¡¯m not about to get my hopes up. Whether she accompanies us or not, I¡¯m going to find my mum¡¯s spear, give it the proper time it deserves, and wield it to the best of my ability. I¡¯ve come to rely on my flames too much, and while they have been invaluable to me, my tribe has focused on wielding weapons for a reason; some enemies simply won¡¯t be hurt by fire. After that, well, it¡¯s about time I went looking for the Agglomerate my mum used to always tell me stories about. I wonder if it¡¯s as beautiful as she claimed. Chapter 165: Reluctant Partner It was no challenge to find the port city Brua. Many ships, not entirely dissimilar to Henosis¡¯, sit docked along the coast. It is one of the fundamental differences I¡¯ve noticed since I lived in the nation; the intense advancement of technology, or rather, adaption of Henosis¡¯. Besides the rail network within the country, there wasn¡¯t really anything else like it. But now, with all the equipment, vehicles and weaponry the Empire left behind after their failed invasion, New Vetus has evolved in capability. While rare, I occasionally spot one of those automated carts driving around below. It unnerves me to be this close to the water, but I don¡¯t have to fly over it again, so it¡¯s not like I need to be afraid. Without some major objective to keep my mind off the sea, I can¡¯t help but feel my gaze dragging back toward it, as if it were to reach out and grab me. Maybe it¡¯s a pointless concern, but I don¡¯t think I could ever forget the day a wall of mist blew in from the ocean faster than my tribe could run. I¡¯m sure I could avoid it now, but the titan that followed will always be beyond me. Once again, Gr¨ªmr stays behind as I fly down into the city. If what Adalbern said about the ursu having talked about me, then it¡¯ll probably be easier to find Gerben by making my presence known. Flames swirl around me as I come into a landing out the front of this city¡¯s central continae. It takes no time at all to change. Barely thirty seconds and I¡¯m standing on two legs again, with the focus of a dozen pair of eyes. It¡¯s strange; the more time I spend in a shape other than my normal form, the less it feels normal. It¡¯s hard to imagine taking on any other body than that which I grew up in permanently, but it¡¯s possible. My falcon form has become far more comfortable, as it becomes normal. I¡¯ve considered more optimal forms for battle, but when my answer is ¡®just burn it¡¯, the form in which I do so hardly matters. Maybe relearning the spear will be a good opportunity to experiment? Enshrouded in flame as I am, none of the ursu come close. They simply watch on with a mixture of admiration, respect, and¡­ fear. Coming from a race of intimidating giants, it feels strange. Each is almost twice my height, and yet I¡¯m the one feared. People talk. I knew that considering most the pact nations know my name¡­ my nickname. The ursu have likely spread both the story of the gulag and Tore¡¯s freedom. What I¡¯m unsure about is whether they know about the battle against Kalma. Tore has been clear to his people to treat me as a guest, but I get the feeling he has told no one a detailed account of our fight. I pull my flames into my body, retaking a controlled form, and step toward an ursu chosen at random. ¡°Can you take me to Gerben?¡± ¡°Ah, sure.¡± She seems startled to be spoken to, but quickly leads me toward the docks. Of course he had to be that way. I sigh inaudibly, but fall in step behind her. Once out of the way of those who saw my flames, I still attract eyes ¡ª an albanic in their nation isn¡¯t a common sight after all ¡ª but most watch above, where Gr¨ªmr circles a few hundred metres in the air. When I first arrived in New Vetus years ago, it was possible to spot individuals from other races, particularly the albanic, but there is none of that now. As we walk, the only people I can see are ursu. Now that Tore is in control, I wonder if the races of the pact nations will become more welcome. Soon, as we pass through the docks, I catch sight of something that makes me abandon my guide. With a brief thanks, I rush off to the pillar of water lifting a boat out of the water. There at the stone edge that drops away into the sea is Leal. Her inscriptions glow bright as she concentrates on lifting the heavy load out of the water. She¡¯s controlling an immense amount of water. I guess having such a large body of water around is rather helpful to a mage like herself. I don¡¯t want to go that close to the water, but I also want to talk to her. So I shout to her from a distance. ¡°Hey, Leal! Are you busy?¡± The wide pillar of water buckles, almost dropping the large boat before she regains control. Her head tilts back my way. ¡°Solvei?¡± She returns her focus to lowering the ship into a prepared wooden frame. As the water Leal controls no longer needs to carry the weight, her markings dim, turning off. The liquid loses its form and gushes back into the sea. Instead of approaching me, Leal stands stiff. Her eyes remain on the boat she¡¯d just lifted, away from me. I know she saw me, so it makes things rather awkward that she¡¯d ignore me. Still, that she would still be reluctant to talk to me isn¡¯t unexpected, but it is disappointing.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Leal.¡± I step forward. Even if she refuses, I will not leave until I¡¯ve at least asked. ¡°I¡¯m returning to the wasteland to find my tribe¡¯s relics. Do you want to join me?¡± Leal¡¯s shoulder¡¯s bunch up before she turns to me. ¡°Solvei¡­ it¡¯s still too soon. Regardless, I¡¯m too busy here to be leaving just like that.¡± Even as she says so, her eyes never meet mine. Instead locked with the stone below her feet. I force a smile. I knew her answer long before I arrived, but I¡¯m still let down. ¡°Ah, o-¡± before I can continue, a gruff, older voice interrupts. ¡°Sure she can. There¡¯s nothing here that we can¡¯t handle without her.¡± To the side, Gerben makes his appearance. He now has a walking stick and a band of cloth covering his eye. ¡°Dad? I can¡¯t just leave,¡± Leal says. ¡°Besides, you know what she did.¡± She glances my way as if she doesn¡¯t want me hearing. ¡°You¡¯re right, I do.¡± He steps my way, and I look away. Leal wasn¡¯t the only one hurt by my actions. His large hand falls on my head and I flinch before realising he hasn¡¯t hit me. I glance up as his hand stays resting in place. A sad smile spreads over his face. ¡°I also know that it wasn¡¯t intentional.¡± Gerben turns to Leal, but my focus doesn¡¯t leave the ursu above me. ¡°What happened was a tragedy. There¡¯s no denying that. But I cannot blame a child for a mistake.¡± ¡°A mistake?¡± Leal scoffs. ¡°That mistake killed people. Killed Mum.¡± Gerben lifts his hand and approaches Leal. ¡°Did I tell you that when we first met Solvei, we forced her to drink water. Almost killed her. Nobody is immune to mistakes, but they can learn from them so that they won¡¯t be repeated. If someone isn¡¯t aware what they are doing is a mistake, it is up to those around them to act as guides.¡± Gerben stops before Leal, pulling her into an embrace. ¡°I know you miss your mother, but I also know you want to join Solvei.¡± Leal tries to deny, but Gerben speaks before she can raise her voice. ¡°Go. It¡¯ll be good for you.¡± He angles his head back. ¡°You¡¯ll take care of them, right?¡± Before I can guess at who he¡¯s talking to, Gr¨ªmr lands beside us. He touches down smoothly, not even cutting open the stone with his talons. ¡°Of course,¡± he says. ¡°Though Solvei hardly needs help, I intend to make sure they both remain safe.¡± Gerben nods, satisfied. ¡°Solvei, remember that death worms are deadly to us. Don¡¯t let her get bit,¡± he says to me before looking down at his daughter. ¡°And Leal, never remove the gloves and boots I¡¯ll give you.¡± ¡°Wha¡­ but,¡± Leal stammers, but Gerben is already leading her down the street, back into the thick of the city. She may not be entirely willing, but I¡¯m excited Leal is joining us. Gr¨ªmr snorts at me, and I realise I¡¯m grinning. Gerben has nothing to worry about. I¡¯ll burn away any worm that comes within a hundred metres of us. ??? It takes Leal and Gerben a couple hours to get her ready for travel in the wasteland. While those two acquire what they need, Gr¨ªmr and I wait outside the city, leaving them some time together before we steal Leal for a journey. I¡¯m surprised Gerben was so pushy to get Leal to travel with us. She clearly still has her reservations, but unlike with me, she can¡¯t seem to say no to her father. When she finally arrives alongside her dad, I have to silently thank Gr¨ªmr for being here. I struggled to carry Leal back when I carried her across the ocean. With all the weight she¡¯s carrying along, there¡¯s not a chance I¡¯d be able to take off. Not only does she have a backpack about the size of her body, but she carries along a suitcase nearly as big. Catching my uncertain eye, Gerben lets out a deep chuckle. ¡°Leal refused to leave without taking all her mage tools. Good luck.¡± He hugs Leal once more before stepping away. I suddenly remember the box Adalbern gave us. With some physical flames, I unstrap it from amongst Gr¨ªmr¡¯s new saddlebags and send it into Gerben¡¯s hands. ¡°Almost forgot, sorry. That¡¯s from Adalbern.¡± He gives the wooden package a brief glance, but returns to seeing Leal off. I help her tie down her baggage to the alicanto¡¯s chest. I smirk at Gr¨ªmr, the big bird looking more and more like a pack-pholo, a mule. He glares down at me, but I only grin wider. The boots and gloves are thick, even on an ursu like Leal. I hope they¡¯re more comfortable than they look. I¡¯m once again reminded that some things I consider harmless might be lethal to others. On our journey, I¡¯m going to make sure Leal gets some enhancement into her body. The Henosis general took dozens of those sandworms before any effect showed itself, and that was with the Void Fog enhancing them. With enough energy in her, she could become resistant. I¡¯m slightly disappointed Gr¨ªmr doesn¡¯t buckle under Leal¡¯s weight, but I probably shouldn¡¯t have expected him to. He could carry our entire team, plus Imiha and that mermineae, Aana, without a problem for weeks on end. I wonder what happened to Aana? Nothing great, I¡¯m sure. Best to not think about it. I join Leal upon Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back, and soon Brua is nothing more than a dot on the horizon behind us. Even with the expanse ahead of us, Leal¡¯s attention stays locked behind us. I want to speak up and reassure her, but do I have the right to do such a thing? Would she just hate me if I tried to take her mind off her father? His speech about not blaming me felt genuine, but I¡¯ll never not feel guilty for what my inattentiveness caused. I appreciate his words, and will definitely try my best to improve myself so such an incident could never happen again. I need to improve my control so that I can stop a fire no matter how large, how far, or how strong it is. After an hour of flight in silence, Gr¨ªmr finally breaks it. ¡°Solvei, where are we going? Where in the wasteland is this spear of yours?¡± I¡¯d stayed by Leal¡¯s side hoping we could talk, but that¡¯s not happening, so I take the form of a bird and fly ahead. As annoying as it is, the best way to find where my tribe fell would be to reach the southern coast and follow it west. Eventually, we¡¯ll come across the devastated cliffs. And so, the three of us spend the next couple days coasting through the air until we hit the ocean. I¡¯m glad to see Leal having refocused her attention on the magnificent sights such high altitude provides. Though we still haven¡¯t talked more than basic exchanges, I have hope we will progress as we travel. We will find the cliffs without issue, but the search for the Agglomerate might take a long time. Plenty enough to recover my friendship with Leal. Hopefully. Chapter 166: Relic Flying is so convenient. I¡¯ve had this thought many times since I first formed my own wings. Without flight, it would be almost impossible to travel anywhere within a reasonable length of time. Well, unless your name is Tore and can jump kilometres in the blink of an eye. Train networks spread through the nations cut what would be month long journeys to only a few days, but the wasteland my kind calls home doesn¡¯t have the benefit of such technology. The ability to fly means I benefit from the reduced travel time like with trains, but where I travel isn¡¯t limited by the location of pre-laid rail-tracks. What¡¯s even greater is that challenging landscapes for a land-bound traveller are no obstacle. Like the cliffs below. The ocean crashes against the tall stone walls with an impact that continually has me searching for some monster or attacker. It takes a long while of soaring over the tumultuous waves before it finally sinks in that in that the constant movement of the ocean isn¡¯t some explosion or attack. I¡¯ve feared the ocean because it¡¯s a large body of water that can spit out immense, consuming mists. Acknowledging that it can inflict enough force to crack and shatter the stone simply by existing is not something I want to do. Just how many terrifying facets is the ocean hiding? With my white flames I can now burn through water, and yet the little I could burn through would be nothing in the face of the ocean¡¯s force. Unlike our destination, the base of this cliff isn¡¯t even visible within the depths. Anyone travelling west would have to walk along the jagged cliff-top where sharp slope changes are so common that one would cling to walls more often than walking. Imagining just how long it would take to traverse if we lacked flight makes me more glad for the capability than ever. Even if Gerben encouraged Leal on this trip, I doubt he¡¯d want her to be gone for the years it¡¯d likely take without wings. Eventually, the ocean recedes from the cliff. We¡¯ll be approaching the area where the Titan landed soon enough. The area I lost everything. I close my eyes and prepare myself. Returning to the grave of my tribe will not be easy, but it is something I need to do. If not now, after I¡¯ve fulfilled my promise to myself to become strong, then when? A gasp from my side forces me to open my eyes. There it is, the shattered cliffs I barely escaped with my life. From the air, the damage inflicted upon the landscape by the titan appears far worse than even what I¡¯d thought from the ground. Until now, we¡¯ve been following a consistent wall of earth, but around the path of the Titan, a dozen kilometres of the earth has simply crumbled, leaving a slope between the plateau above and the base. The Titan¡¯s molten path itself has cooled, leaving a similar black stone like I¡¯d seen up on the Alps. The black rock weaves through much of the shattered earth that hadn¡¯t been completely melted by the immense being¡¯s heat before pooling in a now solidified lake of lava. ¡°What is this?¡± Leal says, her tone hushed and unbelieving. Even though this is the first time she has initiated conversation since we started, I can¡¯t bring myself to answer. I¡¯m trying to get along with Leal, not drop the mood by mentioning the death of my family. ¡°I¡¯m going to search now. Find a place to set up for the night, but be careful on the cliffs; they might still be unstable.¡± I fly off before they can say anything. Years have passed since I overcame the grief of their deaths, but now that I¡¯m here, memories dredge to the surface of my mind along with a constriction in my chest. Amongst the many cracks and crevices at the base of the fractured cliff is the one that I climbed my way out of years ago, but I have no way of knowing which. Instead, I fly to the top, where the caved-in former entrance to the cavern pass should be. Should be, but isn¡¯t. What was once a labyrinth of fissures that could be skirted, now only holds some uncrumbled pillars. The rest; shattered. There¡¯s no way to traverse the area with legs anymore. After I left, the earth must have caved in further. There¡¯s still a chance to find the entrance, so I fly around for a while, but after my first comb through doesn¡¯t reveal any sight of it, I don¡¯t bother continuing. It¡¯s fine though, I don¡¯t have a starting point, but it will only make the search a little longer. I fly down into a major fissure near where I think the tunnel once was and set myself upon a solid earth. Since I achieved the new state of fire at the end of the war, I¡¯ve done some experimentation with it. The non-tangible flames are perfect for me to search through all this rock without creating another Titan level lava pit. There are still flammable items amongst what my tribe lost down there. If I can get a map, we might find our way to the Agglomerate without difficulty.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. My feathered form finds a comfortable position on the rock. This will take a while. With my flames as ethereal as I can make them, I push them into the earth. They pass through with resistance, but the rock doesn¡¯t burn. It¡¯s a little similar to how my flames can travel through the inscription network built into a building, but slow; like I¡¯m wading through cooling magma. My colder, golden flames spread through the ground beneath me. I could have used my hottest flame ¡ª and I am very much tempted to, with the considerable bonus Kalma¡¯s body provided my capacity ¡ª but while that would be far faster, it is less practical. Also, a tremendous waste of energy. The process is slow, and I take a while to permeate the area beneath me, but I gain a rather good mental picture. I wish I could control the same amount of energy Kalma gifted me in that battle. This would be so much faster if I could use as much white flame as I wanted, but even if I hadn¡¯t had to rely on the ritual to take in her body as fuel for my capacity, I never would have been able to jump to her capability. It is unfortunate, but consuming one¡¯s body doesn¡¯t automatically give you the strength they have gained, only the energy that has permeated their flesh. Good luck to anyone who plans to do that to me after I die. I won¡¯t even leave a body for them to absorb¡­ unless they eat me whole before my death. Really, even though I like the idea of becoming as strong as Kalma, it probably wouldn¡¯t be a good thing if that were the case. I already know those in power often abuse it. What if one of those Mercenary Order executives ordered a Beith killed, then absorbed all their power into themselves? They wouldn¡¯t even need to work for it. My flames flow through a small enclosed cavern and touch something incredible. With hardly the lightest touch, my fire pulls through the spear, compressing almost unwillingly, and burns out the tip with a sizzling white heat. There is no doubt in my mind; this is Mum¡¯s spear. It pushes my fire to a stage higher without input on my end. I could have stopped it if I wanted ¡ª I know that instinctively ¡ª but the spear took a hold of my fire in a way none of the inscriptions I¡¯ve encountered so far have been able to. The metal itself is incredible. It easily reaches the same temperature as my fire without showing even the slightest hint of deforming. Even with white flames, it won¡¯t melt. I¡¯ve always known our relic weapons were impressive, but this is incredible. Far beyond anything I expected. Without waiting another second, I melt through the rock beneath me and wade toward it. I¡¯m getting that spear and nobody can stop me. With my flames already pervading the rock, it takes no time to melt away a path toward my mum¡¯s spear. I swim through magma until finally the metal shaft is in my hands. Through the molten rock, I can feel the slight grooves along the hot metal, but I can¡¯t see. The touch of the spear in my hands is like an extension to my arm. No different than if I were to grow my body into the shape of a spear. There¡¯s still more I need to grab down in the collapsed tunnels, but I want, no, need to get a look at this thing now. The rock, permeating with my heat, carries me back to the surface. Once the sky is above me, I shake off the lava clinging to me and inspect the relic spear. The shaft is a dark silver metal with glistening white etchings across its length. The engravings are clearly inscriptions, but as my flames flow freely through the spear, the pearly patterns never shine. Like the thermal protection I can apply to my clothing, these inscriptions are clearly different from those used by every other race. I push golden flame through the spear, and awe at the white fire that coats the spear-head. The black blade handling the heat with ease. Curiosity overwhelms me, so of course I push the flames entering the spear to my hottest. If I were to rely on sight alone, I probably would have thought it failed. To the eye, there isn¡¯t anything coating the dark, glass-like spear-tip, except some slight rippling in the air. But I can feel it. The flames are still there, yet they have become invisible. Hotter than even the white flames, this invisible fire is incomparably stronger. I¡¯d noticed it when the spear upgraded my yellow flames, but it is far more efficient at the transition than I am. About half of the same golden fire is needed to create the white flames. Is the spear just that much better at it than me, or does it enhance my control? If it¡¯s the latter, that¡¯s incredible. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s even possible for the inscriptions from the other races to amplify strengths of those who wield them. Then again, I never actually got to inspect one of those Riparia made weapons. Maybe they can do something similar. But there¡¯s no doubt in my mind; this weapon is made for an ¨¢ed to wield. The improvement to my flame, the resistance to heat that would near vaporise any other metal, and simply how natural it feels in my hands. If only I¡¯d come here sooner. I¡¯m sure killing a Viisin would have been easy if I had this. It is a bit heavy for me, but nothing a little modification of my weight can¡¯t handle. What is more concerning, is the constant drain on my energy to keep the invisible flame alive. Normally, just having my flame sit around doesn¡¯t consume all that much, but this feels more like I¡¯m constantly creating a new flame rather than holding one. I try to take control of the flame at the tip of Mum¡¯s spear, but while it follows my commands for a few seconds, it quickly disperses despite my attempts to have it continue burning. There goes the idea to use the spear to create higher tier firestorms. I¡¯ll still need to create them myself. Not like that will be much of an issue with how far my capacity has grown. The drain from the spear isn¡¯t damning or anything. In fact, it¡¯s rather low considering it allows me to reach a heat I can¡¯t yet myself, but it¡¯s not something I¡¯ll be able to burn constantly. I twirl the spear around me, careful not to let the tip carve through the walls of the fissure. It feels great to have a solid bit of metal back in my hands. With the heat I can put out combined with the creatures I ended up fighting, a normal steel weapon simply didn¡¯t cut it. My spear slams down with an overhead strike, transparent flame bursts forth, melting away stone in an instant before the heat disperses. Molten slag dribbles down the new hole in the wall and pools around my feet. I am thrilled with my new weapon, and while I would love to play around with it more, I still need to find the other two relics, along with whatever else my tribe might have left behind. Chapter 167: Colossal-Worm I¡¯ve been at this for hours now and I think it¡¯s about time I give up. Elder Angarika¡¯s halberd wasn¡¯t hard to find, and has a pretty similar function to the relic spear. It¡¯s Elder Cyrus¡¯ scimitar that is nowhere to be found. I don¡¯t know if it fell further into the earth than the rest of my tribe¡¯s belongings or something else has come along and taken it, but it isn¡¯t here any longer. The wagon with my elder¡¯s maps and documents is unsalvageable. They are treated to protect from fire, but not water. At one point in time, this entire tunnel system was flooded. Nothing vulnerable to the liquid survived. It¡¯s not as disappointing as losing one of our tribe¡¯s relics, but without those maps, we¡¯ll be travelling blind. With spear in hand, I wrap myself in physical flames and carry myself out of the fissure. Flying with fire is far slower than doing so with wings, but I¡¯d rather keep my hands on my spear. I¡¯ve tried growing a pair of wings from my back in this form, but gaining air like that was almost impossible. There¡¯s more to the way a bird flies than just their wings. The very shape of their body helps. When I¡¯m in my default form, it¡¯s simply easier to carry myself with physical fire. Spear gripped tight and halberd trailing, I return to the duo I brought with me. Gr¨ªmr lays flat, relaxing under the afternoon sun while Leal scratches away at a notebook. Strangely, they are both engaged in conversation. It hurts a bit to know it¡¯s only me Leal doesn¡¯t want to talk to, especially considering she rarely spoke to anyone besides me back in Fisross. No, I can¡¯t think like that. It¡¯s good that Leal has grown and can hold conversation with others now. I just need to be patient and wait until she¡¯s ready to treat me the same. I almost leave them to their talk, not wanting to intrude when it¡¯s been so quiet since we left, but Gr¨ªmr has already twisted his head my way, so there¡¯s no escaping now. ¡°You found it?¡± he asks, which alerts Leal to my presence. ¡°Yeah,¡± I say, putting on a grin. I don¡¯t even need to force it. Any time I look at the spear in my hands, I feel giddy. It makes me a little sad to think of the previous wielder, but I finally have the opportunity to live up to Mum¡¯s legacy. I flourish the weapon, and burst out a tiny invisible flame from the tip into the sky. They don¡¯t see it, but they definitely feel the heat of it. Leal grabs a flask of water and gulps it down. Her markings light up and immediately steam billows off her body. Is the clear fire really that strong? ¡°Please be careful when you do whatever that was,¡± Leal gasps as she pulls the bottle away. Thankfully, she doesn¡¯t seem hurt. I usually am pretty good at holding the heat back from hurting my friends, but it seems I¡¯m not good enough to hold back the immense temperature emit by the spear. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ll be careful.¡± Looks like I can¡¯t use it while I have others around. Leal, despite having just been nearly roasted, isn¡¯t mad. Rather, she appears interested. The mad sort of interest I¡¯ve only seen from mages. ¡°That heat, it wasn¡¯t only you, was it?¡± she¡¯s already in front of me, looking between the spear in my hands and the halberd floating behind me. ¡°Can I see?¡± I bring the halberd forward, letting Leal place her hands on it. This is the most open she¡¯s been with me for a while, and while I plan to return the weapon to the Agglomerate, there shouldn¡¯t be a problem with letting her look over it for a while. Her eyes trace each of the white lines along its length, confusion clear in each. I know exactly what confuses her so; the lines in typical inscriptions always connect with one another. Even inscriptions with clearly separate energy pathways are connected by their inscribed material. A few markings across her hand glow, and it is clear she¡¯s trying to pass water hyle into the weapon, but nothing happens. The halberd simply doesn¡¯t respond to water. In fact, it doesn¡¯t even allow the hyle within the metal, which surprises even me. I lift my spear again, and show Leal how the golden flames pull in through the handle of the weapon, then coat the blade in white flame. She swivels between watching the flame over the blade and the inscriptions that don¡¯t light as she¡¯s probably used to. ¡°That should be impossible,¡± she says. ¡°You aren¡¯t messing with me and increasing the temperature on your own, are you?¡± Her stare digs into me, but I quickly wave her off. ¡°No, no. I can¡¯t even make that invisible flame you saw before. Not without this.¡± My fists clench around the shaft, but I resist the temptation to recreate that tiny, unbelievably hot fire. It might be because she can¡¯t control her curiosity, but I¡¯m happy she¡¯s not holding herself back anymore. She is clearly still the same curious girl I met back when she wanted to know about my body and how it worked. Of course, it doesn¡¯t last. Leal, as if just realising that she¡¯s supposed to hate me, backs up and goes quiet, letting the halberd fall into the grasp of my flames once more. I catch Gr¨ªmr watching on with a raised eyebrow, so I glare at him. He simply chuckles and rolls over, letting the sun roast the other side of his body. And just like that, we fall back into silence. It will be dark soon, so we¡¯ll probably rest here the night before starting toward the Agglomerate tomorrow. I start a little campfire for my travelling partners and drop the halberd next to it. If I leave it here, I just know Leal won¡¯t be able to resist inspecting it again. Leaving these two to talk about whatever they were talking about before I arrived, I take my spear and walk across the rocky plateau. With a weapon in my hands again after so long, I need to practice. Relearn what my aunt and Bunny taught me. As I was first taught, I refrain from coating my weapon in a blaze. Even without the fire flowing through the spear, it cuts through stone easier than any other I¡¯ve had. I¡¯m sure it helps that I¡¯ve become better at controlling my body ¡ª amplifying my weight upon my strike ¡ª but the blade is sharp and hard enough to cut through without all that much strength. I spend a while simply practising my forms, but eventually I get bored. The sun has set, and the moon has whittled away to only quarter light, leaving the vast wasteland to the north lit ever so slightly. How many times in my life have I looked upon this sight? How many years has it been since I last? I once yearned to return to the times I spent with my tribe, but I have moved on now. They are gone and have passed into the eternal inferno where their flames may burn for eternity. Wishing to return to my simple travels by their side will do nothing but bring back the grief that once consumed me. They have moved on, and so have I. Besides, I have new friends to call my own. I might miss my family, but that doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t move forward. The wasteland will always be my first home, but I don¡¯t know if I would return to it permanently. I still feel the same as I did years ago; the wasteland is dull but there¡¯s so much outside of it to explore. Now that I don¡¯t have to fear water as much, I definitely intend to.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. I run out over the rocky earth. Away from the cliffs and away from the Titan¡¯s path. This spear needs a test run and practice swings just aren¡¯t doing it for me. I can feel some smaller critters hiding amongst the sandy shrubbery, but none are really worth hunting. Not enough of a challenge to even chase down. I¡¯m sure there will be some sand crocs if I go searching, but I¡¯m not all too interested in wasting hours flying around to find one of their nests. The only other creature that occurs with high frequency and yet might still pose a challenge is the colossal worm. But to find one of those giant cousins of the sand-worm, I first have to find sand. Not this rocky expanse that covers the earth along the entire coastal cliff region. I¡¯ve left the fire going at the camp, so if those two need me, they can easily let me know. I take to the skies again, spear in talons. By the time I reach sand, the Ember Moon is almost ready to make its appearance. The moon is dark, and I have no light besides my own to see. Fortunately, my candescent white fire lights anything I want. A dozen tiny jerboas scatter as their presence is revealed. Sunken, discoloured patches of sand finally reveal the hunting grounds of a colossal-worm. With hardly a thought, I send a flame over the surface and fry the fleeing jerboas. They don¡¯t burn deep, just enough to kill. Walking amongst their corpses, I jab my spear into the bodies of each, letting their blood seep into the sand. Colossal-worms, unlike their smaller cousins, do not hunt by sound, but scent. I sit a few paces away. The feel of sand beneath my hands is so nostalgic. I scoop a handful and hold it up to my face. The grains slowly bubble as the heat increases. Eventually, they melt together into a viscous liquid that spreads between my fingers. The heat falls away, and the substance hardens. Glass. Dirty and not near as smooth as Mum¡¯s pink fire orb, but I have made glass. It is hard to think that the last time I was here, the most I could do was burn through coal. Now, I¡¯m able to do what only the elders of my tribe could. The heat required to melt sand into this smooth and shiny material is much greater than most could manage. Nothing less than the heat of white fire. Elder Cyrus rarely showed the heat he could achieve, but creating glass was one of those things I could never forget. And now I can do it myself. The colossal worm finally appears within my senses. Two hundred metres away and only a metre beneath the surface, the worm swims through the sand rapidly. Its form is fuzzy through the earth, but it holds enough heat that I can see it coming, at least until it dives deep into the sand a few dozen metres away. Too much sand separates us, so I can¡¯t feel it despite knowing it¡¯s below me. I rise to my feet and ready my spear, letting my hand pass around the glass that solidified over it. The instant I feel the worm rushing to the surface, I rush forward. A small jet of flame boosts my speed. The colossal worm breaks the surface, swallowing the dead rodents in one gulp. My spear, bare of flames on its tip, slams into its side. The hard skin gives immense resistance to my strength, but once the blade pierces through, it sinks deep into the worm. I tear the spear out as the worm falls back into its tunnel with a harrowing screech. Colossal worms, contrary to what their appearance and massive size may lead one to believe, are scavengers. They do not hunt unless they already smell blood. They rely on the efforts of dingoes or fennec foxes to find prey. Unfortunately for said predators, the worms don¡¯t discriminate on what they bite. If they haven¡¯t finished their meal before a colossal worm arrives, then they become the meal. This is what I wanted; a creature to test my spear against. Something ¨¢ed across the wasteland are wary of. The beast is huge, its width alone rivals my height, and yet I do not fear. After all the things I¡¯ve seen and faced, a worm like this is nothing. Colossal-worms are resistant to fire, and while I¡¯d be interested to see whether mine can harm it, I¡¯m here to test out my new spear. The worm digs its way under the sand, kicking about tonnes of the grains as its heat becomes obscured beneath the surface. The colossal worm I saw in the Void Fog could slide through the earth without a sound. Apparently, that was an ability bestowed by the Fog, rather than a natural capability of the species. Patiently, I wait for the creature to make its reappearance. Angry things, they are. Hurt them once, and they won¡¯t stop attacking until they have you in their stomach, or fall over dead. Well, that¡¯s assuming one doesn¡¯t find a cropping of rock to stand on, but out on the sand, they are unforgiving. As expected, the heat of the worm appears right beneath my feet. I leap to the side while amplifying the weight in my arms and chest to bring down the spear with as much force as I can. The worm breaks the surface, shooting through the vacated space and my spear tip shears through its belly. Unlike my earlier thrust, it hardly sinks into the rock-like skin of the worm before the creature¡¯s momentum has it arcing through the air. The colossal worm doesn¡¯t slide into the sand like I remember the one in the Void Fog doing. Instead, it slams into the surface and spills an immense wave of sand around it. The countless grains knock me back and block my sight, but it¡¯s not like it hurts. When the worm comes for its next attack, it¡¯s as simple as stepping back and jabbing forward. My spear pierces right through the skin deep cut of my last attack. If not for Bunny¡¯s insistence to work on improving my balance whenever I had the opportunity, I never would have had the accuracy to hit the same spot twice. The worm growls. A deep rumble that would have petrified me years ago. But not now. Not when this colossal worm doesn¡¯t even come close to some of the beings I¡¯ve seen. Beings I¡¯ve fought. Killed even. Giving up on its previous method of attack, the worm swims half submerged in the sand toward me. The wide, triple-jawed maw of the creature open and inviting as it tears through the sand. Well, if you¡¯re going to give me an opportunity like that, how could I not oblige? I channel my flames into the spear and thrust forward. The spear strikes nothing other than air, but the lightless flame blasts forth from the tip, entering the worm¡¯s massive mouth and having free rein to burn it from the inside. The colossal-worm shrieks, but it does not stop. The flames inside its gullet burn, but nowhere near as quick as those with such immense heat should. Colossal-worms¡¯ heat resistance is no joke. I go to dash to the side, out of the worm¡¯s path, but the sand beneath my feet gives way. Instead of letting me run from the creature, the disturbed grains below swallow my leg. Acting quick, I jab the spear between layers of teeth in the creature and push myself away, amplifying my speed with a burst of fire. The worm crashes past me, nearly ripping me to shreds with those sharp teeth. I really am too inexperienced with the spear. How could I not pay attention to my footing in such a crucial situation? Well, it¡¯s a mistake I won¡¯t make again. I don¡¯t have all the time in the world to drag on this fight, and I really should return to the others with enough time to get a couple hours of rest. The Ember Moon already burns the night sky a deep shade of red. The worm turns in the sand, rounding back toward me, and I ready my spear. As it nears, I don¡¯t run. I leap straight toward the creature. My chest scrapes along the top of its head as I pass over it, before I pump jets out my back and slam my spear down on the worm with my body mass as high as I can push it. It screeches and bucks, but I hold firm to my spear lodged halfway through its body. The jagged movement and desperate attempts to throw me off only spreads the damage as the spear-tip slices through its softer inner flesh. My hands stay gripped to the spear even as the creature rolls through the sand. I¡¯m momentarily grateful I decided to don my more expendable pieces of clothing today, rather than the snowsuit Jav¡¯s sisters fixed ¡ª again ¡ª before my trip. I¡¯m pulled through the earth, along with the worm, but eventually my handhold dislodges. I crawl my way back to the surface ¡ª thankfully only having been pulled a metre under ¡ª and ready myself for another attack. It comes nowhere near as fast as I expected. The injuries sustained by the worm clearly slowing it as it rises out from beneath me again. A thrust into the earth with all my strength pierces the creature before it can even breach the surface. I hold on to my spear as it carries me into the air, forcing it ever deeper into the head of the worm. Its final, harrowing cry cuts off as it slams against the earth, unmoving. Standing on the head of the fallen creature, I jerk my spear free. Blood coats the weapon, a far more viscous substance than that of eastern animals, but it burns off easily. That felt good. No, that felt great! Only the best warriors amongst the ¨¢ed tribes can beat a colossal-worm alone. I know my aunt could, as well as Mum and their elders. But the rest of the tribe? They wouldn¡¯t think of it. Now that I stand on the corpse of my defeated quarry, I have to wonder¡­ What do I do with the body? Chapter 168: Worm-Meat Usually, if a tribesman felled a colossal-worm, the tribe would throw a feast with the flesh of the beast. The largest portions going to the strongest members of the tribe, the biggest of those going to the one who killed the beast. The skin of the worm would be repurposed into leather for either armour or our gers. Right now, none of these options seem appropriate. I can definitely burn through the flesh myself and maybe bring some back for Leal and Gr¨ªmr, but the amount I can carry certainly won¡¯t make a feast for them. It¡¯s the skin that concerns me. The worm¡¯s hard exterior is fire-resistant, even to my flames, so it will take a while to eat through it. It would be nice to make a ger so we can block out the sand during sandstorms, but that would take even longer. Plus, I doubt we¡¯ll even need it considering both Gr¨ªmr¡¯s and my wings. My tribe always taught me to use everything I kill to the best of my ability. It is important to keep the cycle of life flowing, regardless of whether that¡¯s through consumption of a creature¡¯s nutrition, or reconstructing their bodies into tools. It¡¯s something I¡¯ve kept with me even long after I left the wasteland, but if I do spend the time to reintegrate this worm into the cycle, morning will arrive before I can head back to Leal and Gr¨ªmr. I¡¯m concerned about leaving them alone for so long. So, I burn what flesh I can ¡ª taking a chunk for both my travel partners ¡ª and leave the body for tomorrow. I¡¯ll be back when it¡¯s light to return the colossal-worm to the cycle. ??? I wake before the others to a creature approaching in my thermal sense. It takes me a second to snap out of sleep and focus on what is heading our way. Nothing more than a pack of dingoes. They edge closer, but it¡¯s clear they either haven¡¯t noticed us, or they simply don¡¯t care. Each sniffs around the rocky ground, looking for morsels to snack on. The tight grip on my spear loosens, and I relax over the earth again. I don¡¯t even try to fall asleep again. The light of sunrise means we should get moving soon, anyway. The others remain asleep for a good long while. I really want to get moving. Impatience seeps into my very core, but I don¡¯t want to rush them. Especially considering Gr¨ªmr had still been awake when I returned. He said nothing, but it still made me feel bad that he waited up for me. Last night, I¡¯d been caught up in the whole moment. Being back in the wasteland, finding Mum¡¯s spear. It was overwhelming, and I¡¯d just rushed forward impulsively, wanting to experience it all at once. I felt like I couldn¡¯t wait even another moment. I shouldn¡¯t have. Leal and Gr¨ªmr have joined me on this trip. Not because of some personal reason or selfish desire, but to be with me, so it isn¡¯t right that I left them as soon as I felt the need. Not only could something have happened while I was a long flight away, but the very reason I left still remains out in the desert, not yet returned to the cycle. Nobody needs to tell me my actions were immature and impulsive. That is clear to me now that I¡¯ve had time to calm from the emotions that fuelled me yesterday. I don¡¯t intend to repeat that mistake. As an apology, I get to cooking the meat I brought back with me last night. Unlike previously, where I had to burn vein-like tubes through the flesh to cook it evenly, I can just pass my ethereal flame through the meat and slowly heat every part as evenly as possible. It is only when I¡¯ve fully cooked their breakfast that I realise there might be a problem. ¡°Oh, that smells good.¡± Gr¨ªmr¡¯s metal beak pokes over my shoulder. Damn! I wasn¡¯t paying attention. I twist the other way and spot Leal waking up as well. My cooking obviously so good they can¡¯t resist. Wait, no. I can¡¯t let them eat it. The colossal-worm is the cousin to the sand-worm. What if¡­ ¡°You can¡¯t eat-¡± Before I can stop him, Gr¨ªmr leans forward and snaps breakfast right out of my hands. With his large form, the chunk of worm flesh is gone in moments. I stare up at him in horror. ¡°That might be poison.¡± He gulps the last of it before my words finally register. ¡°What?¡± he asks, freezing in place. ¡°Why are you cooking poisonous food?¡± he rises to his feet in an instant. A wing knocks me off my feet in the motion. This is my fault, so I need to do something. But what? How can I stop the poison that¡¯s already in his stomach? Oh! That¡¯ll work. Before Gr¨ªmr can protest, my flames rush down his throat. He squawks and flails, razor feathers shred across his body, but he cannot escape from the fire that will save him. A laugh breaks my focus on saving my friend. I turn to Leal, who is trying her hardest to suppress a breath halfway between a snicker and a giggle. ¡°It¡¯s not dangerous,¡± she says before taking a bite.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Only now do I realise she¡¯s taken the other bit of worm meat for herself. When did I drop it? Her arm glows and tiny strands of water pierce through the cooked flesh. Is that how she¡¯s sure it is safe? Still, watching her bite into what could be poison is stressful. I only just promised Gerben to keep her safe. ¡°Damn it, Solvei.¡± Gr¨ªmr makes an exaggerated retching noise as he scrapes a talon through the inside of his metal beak. ¡°What? I was careful not to burn your throat.¡± ¡°That¡¯s hardly the issue here.¡± He stops his gagging to complain, so it really does look like worm-flesh isn¡¯t poisonous. Before he can continue whatever complaints he has, Leal interrupts. ¡°Oh,¡± she says, hand raised over her mouth. ¡°It¡¯s not poisonous to ursu. I don¡¯t know about metal birds.¡± Gr¨ªmr stands open-beaked as his gaze flickers between the both of us. After a few moments of silence, he huffs and turns away. ¡°If I lose this body ¡ª to food poisoning, of all things ¡ª you owe me a stronger one, Solvei.¡± ¡°Yes. Fine,¡± I say. With that thought in mind, my imagination wanders to what creatures I could put him in. It¡¯s not strong at all, but I consider one of the cute fennec foxes. How great would it be to have one of those soft-furred creatures following us around all the time? Though, for some inexplicable reason, I get the feeling Gr¨ªmr wouldn¡¯t agree. If I were to consider the possibilities seriously, it would be better to travel to the Titan Alps to find him some creature greater than the alicanto he already possesses. The animals of the wasteland are strong, sure, but not in the same way as the creatures on the Alps and beyond. The residents of the wasteland aren¡¯t nearly as enhanced as creatures from elsewhere, but they all use the environment to their advantage in ways that would take down even Beith mercenaries unless they knew what to look for. The Inner Circle and other nation¡¯s elite likely wouldn¡¯t have an issue. Not if it was comparable to what I witnessed during the war. Colossal-worms will eat you whole should you be oblivious to their hunting-grounds. The chthonic swarms are inescapable if their ambush tunnels go unnoticed. Sand-crocodiles¡­ well, they are usually fine assuming you avoid the Colossal-worm hunting-grounds ¡ª they¡¯re too lazy to chase prey on land ¡ª but if you¡¯re unlucky enough to come across a hungry croc, or worse: a full bask of them, you can only hope you are fast enough to escape. Oh! I guess the common sand-worms are rather dangerous to outsiders too. While Gr¨ªmr is off sulking, I turn to Leal as she licks off the remnants of worm from her fingers. ¡°If you like it, we can grab some more from its corpse. I was planning to head there as soon as we got moving again.¡± Leal stiffens. Her hand falls behind her back and discretely wipes it against the cloth of her pants. Again, she avoids eye contact, and I take a step away, backing down. It¡¯s disappointing that she¡¯s still like this, but I can¡¯t push her. ¡°That would be good.¡± Despite my assumptions, she actually responds. ¡°It was new¡­ unique, but it wasn¡¯t bad,¡± she says. ¡°I¡¯d like to try some more, but uh¡­ with some proper preparation next time.¡± Oh right. Sauces and marinades. I¡¯d forgotten how much importance the eastern races put into the meat¡¯s additions. To me, animal flesh always tastes worse with sauce. Meat cannot beat the filling taste of metal, not usually. ¡°Sure.¡± I jump on the chance. If it means Leal will open up again, ¡°I¡¯ll load Gr¨ªmr up with as much colossal-worm as he can carry.¡± I look over at said carrier. His sulking forgotten, he reattaches the bags over his back, nearly ready for today¡¯s flight. As fun as it is to joke around, I should be nice to him. Maybe there¡¯s something I can do to show my gratitude? Hmm. I¡¯ll have to think about it. ??? The worm is not how I left it. Most of its body now rests beneath the sand, and it¡¯s only because of what little worm skin pokes through the surface that I even found it. My flames enter the ground, but only reveal half the worm missing. Cleaved off, leaving only blade-like tooth-marks. Preyed upon by its own kind. In a way, I¡¯m relieved the dead colossal-worm has rejoined the cycle, even if not by my hand. But the very fact that it wasn¡¯t by my hand disturbs me. I could not live up to my tribe¡¯s expectations and make use of the life I took. I am no longer at war. Lives have their worth and by ignoring that, prioritising a non imminent concern, I go against the way of my kind. When mine or my friend¡¯s survival was in jeopardy, I had forgone much of Uncle¡¯s teachings. While I would absorb the strength of those I killed into myself often, there were still times my enemies¡¯ corpses were left untouched and unlikely to return to the cycle. It¡¯s a sad fact, but I would prefer to survive, even if it means foregoing the ways of my people. That being said, there still remains much of the worm. Plenty even for a feast between the three of us. Burning through the flesh, and dividing it into sizeable chunks takes time due to the flesh¡¯s fire resistance, but I manage. Leal gets to packing away some of the meat, applying some sort of cream over it before wrapping it and storing it amongst Gr¨ªmr¡¯s packs. Once again, I pity Gr¨ªmr¡¯s plight. All that weight has got to make flying hard. Out of the three of us, it is only Leal who can¡¯t live off the metals of the earth. While we could probably go hunting any time she needs to eat, doing so would be an immense waste of a colossal-worm¡¯s resources, particularly because their bodies hold nowhere near the energy their strength would indicate. ¡°Hey,¡± I call. ¡°Either of you want some armour made from the worm¡¯s skin?¡± ¡°Deivos, no.¡± Leal shakes her head as if the very idea is insulting. ¡°I hated carrying a set around while at war. Don¡¯t make me wear one again.¡± Gr¨ªmr, meanwhile, presses a talon into the worm corpse¡¯s hard skin. It pierces through with near minimal effort. The sight makes me bristle silently; it had been so much harder to pierce in my fight. I¡¯ll need to work on increasing my strength somehow. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine with just my feathers.¡± Said plumage twists the protective inscription in place, the lines glow as soon as they connect. ¡°How is that powered, anyway?¡± Leal asks, her curiosity piqued once more. ¡°I feed it iron whenever it gets low.¡± ¡°Really? An earth- no, metal-based hyle converter? Or does the entire inscription operate on metallic hyle? If so, then how does it overcome the efficiency loss of passing such a solid element through an identically solid medium? That should only be possible with skin and muscle. Are those feathers-¡± I tune out Leal¡¯s rapid-fire questions and return my attention to the skin of the worm. This will take a while, but if nobody else has any need for it, I have to burn it. Now that we¡¯ve got some food stowed away for Leal, it might be a good time to look for some for Gr¨ªmr, too. I might not have the maps of my tribe, but with his nose for metal, I¡¯m sure we can find a nice deposit or two. Chapter 169: What Can You Find in a Metal Mine? ¡°So, can you smell any?¡± I ask as we fly low over the desert. ¡°No,¡± Gr¨ªmr says. ¡°There¡¯s nothing in the sand.¡± As much as I¡¯d hoped to treat him to a buffet of metal, I had to rely entirely on his nose to find a deposit. Without my elder¡¯s knowledge, we are left searching the wasteland blind. I know Gr¨ªmr is good at finding metals hiding within the earth; his body might as well be designed for the purpose. Even with that invaluable talent, he hasn¡¯t been able to detect even the slightest hint during the hours of our search. Whether there aren¡¯t any deposits below us, or the sand is simply too deep for him to smell through, hardly matters. It is now clear that we are wasting time searching with this method. I have Gr¨ªmr rise a thousand metres to give me a good look over the land. We rarely fly too high anymore. The rotten night that grew across the day sky worried Kalma, of all people, so I¡¯m hardly going to tempt fate and rise that high. Not without knowing the height that instigated the event, or what the starry night sky actually was. On the horizon to the west, the sandy dunes of desert break and the earth opens to widening canyons. I¡¯m curious if it¡¯s the same canyons my tribe wandered through as we tried to escape the Henosis mages all those years ago. Unfortunately, it was so long ago that it¡¯s hard to remember the exact path we took. If I had, I could have simply taken Gr¨ªmr to the tunnels of the chthonic we¡¯d already cleared out. We spent days mining away at those walls, but there is surely still plenty of cobalt and coal. I veer to the west, Gr¨ªmr following at my side. The space by Leal¡¯s side looks incredibly vacant and inviting right now, but adding my weight alongside everything else Gr¨ªmr¡¯s carrying would feel rude, even if he has yet to complain about it. As the sand transitions to stone beneath us, a problem becomes apparent; the canyon is too narrow for Gr¨ªmr¡¯s wide wingspan. If we want to descend and search for metals, we¡¯ll have to go by foot. We could search the surface, but I don¡¯t remember any of the ¨¢ed mining sites being on the high-ground around canyons. ¡°I can smell some,¡± Gr¨ªmr says. ¡°Copper, mostly, down along that crevice.¡± It seems his nose agrees. Down into the canyon we must go. Getting down isn¡¯t hard, but Gr¨ªmr cleaves a chunk of stone from the wall on the way down. Doesn¡¯t matter how good he gets at controlling the movements of his body, the sheer mass in his size is enough to damage things around him with any lapse in concentration. Thankfully, it¡¯s just a rock wall that is damaged, and not another unfortunate building¡¯s ceiling. Gr¨ªmr huffs and glares at his wing in accusation before turning forward, beak raised high in an exaggerate sniffing motion. Leal slides off his back and joins my side as I finish up taking my standard form. I hold my spear affectionately as we follow in stride behind Gr¨ªmr through the gulch. Thankfully, Leal isn¡¯t avoiding me anymore. It makes standing by her side to protect her far easier should any wild creatures decide to make us their prey. Leal is strong. What she can do with her water markings is impressive, but her lacking enhancement concerns me. From the mercenaries I¡¯ve met, mages tend to have less energy enhancing their bodies to instead focus on their output. While directing the enhancement to their capacity might seem like it leaves their bodies more vulnerable, many have methods to protect themselves without relying on their natural defences. Leal is the same, right? Still, despite the feats Leal can perform with water, she is far more vulnerable than either Gr¨ªmr or I. It is up to me to make sure she fights nothing too dangerous. If I can, I¡¯ll make sure she doesn¡¯t need to fight at all. I know she doesn¡¯t enjoy it. Passing between these tall, orange-brown stone walls is incredibly nostalgic. It was so long ago, and yet it all feels so familiar. Gr¨ªmr stumbles forward, the scent on his nose all that matters as he squeezes past narrow passages and climbs boulders. It is clear to all that as we get closer, he¡¯s getting excited. As we pass through another section where the walls of the cavern close in, an uncomfortable sensation overcomes me. My eyes pass along the overlooking ledges, but I can¡¯t spot what puts me on alert. ¡°Stop.¡± Gr¨ªmr freezes with a taloned foot raised, but when nothing immediately happens, he casts a curious gaze back. Each crack, bend and shadow of the rock walls, I watch them all, flicking from one to the other, looking for any signs my instinct is right. I¡¯m not sure what tipped me off, but something about this canyon just screams ambush. Looking closely, I can already spot two hidden tunnel entrances. This is a chthonic nest. No doubt. I¡¯ve found a couple of their entrances, but there will be more I don¡¯t know about. Now what do we do? My tribe had their method of wiping out chthonic nests, but we don¡¯t have the numbers to replicate it. If I were alone, I¡¯d charge in to test myself. Test my spearmanship against the brutal savages of the wasteland. But I¡¯m not alone; I won¡¯t put Leal in danger. ¡°We¡¯re backing up,¡± I say. ¡°This site¡¯s not worth it.¡± The others look at me oddly, but they do what I say. Leal is the first to move back to the narrow pass, and it is only when she¡¯s halfway through do I feel the fist signs of the long-armed creatures. My hand grabs Leal¡¯s, but despite tugging, she doesn¡¯t move; her size too great. In unison, a dozen chthonic thermal presences appear to my senses. Their tunnels far closer than I hoped, but I can¡¯t worry about that right now; one of the long clawed beasts has appeared on the other side of Leal. My strength isn¡¯t enough to pull her away, so instead, I pull myself toward her and thrust my spear around her body. The bladed tip glows white with my flames and slices through the neck of the ugly creature. Blood bursts from its skinless mouth as it unleashes a silent, dying shriek.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. A cacophony of shrill shrieks explodes around us. The chthonic waste no time rushing us, tearing down the inclined walls from a dozen hidden tunnels. With their wide chests and long arms, they tear through the distance rapidly. Sword-like claws digging into the earth with ease. The chthonic on the end of my spear engulfs in white flame right before I blast it into the oncoming crowd with a burst of physical fire. With my spear still wedged in its neck, the head tears from the torso and remains affixed to the blade while its brethren become engulfed in my flames. ¡°Gr¨ªmr!¡± despite my call, he¡¯s already in motion, leaping toward the rock overhang. Feathers buzzing along his wings tear through the stone, dropping a cleaved section in the path of the beasts and covering an entire direction of approach. Those rushing in from the right side of the canyon now need to climb the boulder, or join their brethren on the left. There are more than a hundred of the horrid, bony creatures. Their mindless aggression is the same as ever. Their eyes and teeth unhidden by the skin most other races have to cover those organs leaves a terrifying visage. Leal brushes off my grip and steps forward, arms glowing. A wave of water tears out of her hands like shot from a cannon, the liquid taking the form of a net as it travels along the ground. Strands of water wrap around the legs of the chthonic as it passes, dragging them to the ground and pulling them away along with the flow. As effective as the disabling wave is, many chthonics move along the walls, completely avoiding the trapping water as they close the distance. Dozens of the beasts crash into Gr¨ªmr together, but the alicanto doesn¡¯t simply take it, the weaving razors buzz as they shred through flesh. His wings and talons both leave nothing but a mush of blood and dismembered limbs as they tear through each chthonic. He moves into the fray, away from us, so he can slaughter without restraint. I would just melt them all, if not for Leal¡¯s water stopping me. Surprisingly, the ones coming behind us didn¡¯t stop despite the flames that spread from the first dead chthonic now burning away at their bodies. Their very muscles burn to nothing and yet they throw themselves through the narrow path to reach us. I simply amplify the flames between the close canyon walls and incinerate any that come close to Leal and me. The few that somehow slip by Gr¨ªmr¡¯s shredding metal form find themselves as target practice for my new weapon. I thrust the blade into the first, only to become annoyed with how hard it is to pull the weapon from the falling creature without having it land on me. The second and third, I force myself into a rigid, reactionary stance to strike them into the earth with multiple downward strikes. They leap forward, claws outstretch and ready to pierce the first thing they touch, but my spear is there to stop them. One dies instantly, my spear cutting into its head and it tumbles harmlessly into the flames behind me. The other, I don¡¯t time as well, so the creature is treated to the hard metal of my pole rather than the blade. It still slams into the earth with the weight of my momentarily heightened mass. The next few come in far too quickly to use the same stance. I pivot to a far more challenging stance that requires rapid movements and flowing strikes rather than physical force. It is a style Bunny taught me. One that I¡¯ve not yet had the practice to perfect. I target the vulnerable points of the chthonic bodies that have a low chance of my spear getting stuck as they continue their motions. With a step, I move into my motion, slicing first through the exposed neck of a beast. But I don¡¯t stop. I keep the momentum of the swing as I step in the path of the next, slicing its stomach open. It falls to the ground in pain, but this is a chthonic, hardly a moment on the ground, and it already flings itself at me. After cutting through the neck of another, I simply step in tune with its momentum, slicing the back of its head, but mostly angling it into another of its kind. The long claws pierce through the face of its kin. Bunny taught me to aim for any part of my opponent¡¯s body that might leave them disabled. For these chthonic, the throat is a definite kill, but if I go for their wrists as well, I might cripple their mobility. While Bunny told me the back of the ankle was a great target for an albanic, these chthonic don¡¯t really use their feet all that much. While I dance from one monster to the next, crippling some and ending others, Leal is busy slowing the approach of those that make it past Gr¨ªmr. I notice that despite her likely having the capability, she never actually kills any, only disables them. Even while they are actively trying to kill us, she remains pacifistic. Whether Leal wants to participate, that¡¯s up to her. All I need to do is make sure they don¡¯t surround her. The chthonic are growing dense now. Somehow, despite how many we¡¯ve felled, there are still more rushing out of their holes. My spear spins constantly, never stopping and moving from one chthonic to another, and yet I find myself overwhelmed. ¡°Leal,¡± I call over the creatures¡¯ chorus of shrieking. ¡°Pull back your water.¡± I could probably burn over the top of all her water, but if I can, I¡¯d really rather avoid it. No matter how strong I get, water remains as painful as ever. My spinning spear slams into the forehead of a chthonic, killing it instantly, but also wedging my spear-tip in the hard bone of its head. I can¡¯t pull it out quick enough to avoid the next rushing in. The creature slams into me, taking me to the ground along with it. Leal¡¯s water has mostly receded, but I can see her panicking as they close in. Even with the fear of what will happen, she resists the temptation to push out with her water again, and I appreciate the trust it shows. My white fire spreads out, incinerating each of the chthonic around us in hardly a moment. Enough white fire to fill this small stretch of canyon. A gift from the recently parted Kalma, who multiplied my capacity with the flesh she left behind. I want to practice my spearmanship, but not when it will leave a friend in danger. The blaze spreads over Gr¨ªmr and burns away the life of any opponent. Those outside the fire screech and holler, but don¡¯t push through the deadly heat. Even these beasts have at least some instinct keeping them alive. Just when I think it¡¯s over and the chthonic will run off, a deep, howling shriek bellows around me. The sound echoing through each of the hidden tunnels. Right. Of course there¡¯s another big one. I grip my spear tight as I remember how my elders dealt with it. A single strike. They didn¡¯t need to overwhelm an enemy with flames, as I do; they could kill it with their blades alone. I¡¯ve grown a lot, but have I grown enough to stand by my elder¡¯s sides? The earth thumps beneath my feet as the larger chthonic makes its way to the surface. My spear stands ready to take it on. Just like my tribe¡¯s elders did. ¡°Gr¨ªmr, can you leave this to me?¡± while staring at the tunnel I¡¯m sure the beast will come from, I nod my head toward Leal. Thankfully, he understands and moves to stand protectively by Leal. My blaze returns to me, but the remaining chthonics standing around the canyon don¡¯t rush in. They hear the loud growling and heavy footsteps too. None want to get in the path of their obvious better. The beast¡¯s thermal presence appears only a moment before the massive chthonic does. Heavily muscled in the shoulders and arms with claws nearly a metre long, the beast stands amongst its kin like an ursu amongst albanics. Its size and presence so far beyond the rest of its own. I stare down the beast, ready to test myself, but before I can rush forward, two more bodies appear to my thermal sense. I don¡¯t know why I didn¡¯t notice, but the heavy footsteps never ceased as the massive chthonic came to a halt. From either side of the canyon appears another, equally tall beast. Their claws shear away rock as they pull themselves from the tight tunnels. There¡¯s not one major chthonic. There are three. Chapter 170: Major Chthonics The looming figures of the chthonic giants are daunting. Three growling monsters hold themselves upright with the claws of their hands, their legs dangling limp on the earth as they stare me down. Their proportions are like the other chthonics, yet enhanced. Shoulders and arms are larger, stronger. Their waist and legs thinner, almost unnecessary. I was prepared to face one with nothing but a thin coating of flame over my spear, as was the way my elders fought, but there¡¯s no chance I can take three unless my flames engulf them. My intent was to beat them with my weapon skill alone, not rely on the flames I have grown over the years. My tribe has never relied on fire alone to win their battles. Skill in wielding weapons is almost always the primary focus. Whenever my tribe could fight without their flames, they would. At most, they would enhance their weapons with fire, but rarely did they fight with fire alone. The way I fight, with the power of fire alone, is not normal amongst the ¨¢ed. Whether that is simply because everything in the wasteland has a much higher tolerance for the heat we can output, or the typical difficulty in enhancing capacity, I¡¯m not sure. I¡¯ve lost touch with many of the ways of my people after being away so long, but this is something I have to learn. It was my mum¡¯s way of fighting, and I want to make it my own. Only¡­ the three beasts ahead of me might make that goal impossible, at least for now. The middle chthonic roars, a loud, screeching howl that is quickly joined by the two others. Their eyes glare deep into me, promising death. I stare back, unaffected. In sync, they dash forward. Their claws shear through the earth, leaving torn stone in their wake as each swipe of the hand brings them five metres closer. As the trio are about to crash their hands into the earth for another lunge, I unleash my presence on them and rush forward. They freeze for an instant. Claws miss the earth and their bodies grind against the stone. Their own speed their undoing as they struggle to reorient themselves after tumbling. My flaming white spear-tip slices through the side of the neck of the first. Momentum carries me to the second, ready to do the same, but this one brings an arm in the path of my spear. My blade sizzles flesh as is slams into its arm, but even with my flames, it gets stuck in the bone. Tugging at the spear doesn¡¯t work; the chthonic¡¯s arm holds it fast. The third chthonic has already recovered and flings itself at me from my side. My body spins to avoid, but the spear still doesn¡¯t come loose. So close does the chthonic¡¯s long claws come to cutting my head off, missing by a hair¡¯s breadth, but the long blades of the creature my spear stays lodged in don¡¯t. Its hand slices through my disposable clothes and bisects me through the torso without resistance. The chthonic growls with glee, clearly thinking it has won. A long tongue slides through exposed teeth, moistening the sharp bones exposed to the dry wasteland air in anticipation of a meal. Sorry to disappoint. The flames of my chest close without issue. I hardly even felt the strike. With a quick jump, my feet land on both sides of the arm trapping my spear. I tug and throw myself backwards, swinging the spear down on the first major chthonic I hit. Despite the blood flowing down the side of its body from the wound in its neck, it has regained its sense. Through my thermal sense, I felt the creature throw itself toward Leal and Gr¨ªmr. Something I will not allow. The spear cuts into the back of its head, but the blow isn¡¯t strong enough to send it to the ground again. The major chthonic bounds toward my friends almost as if not registering the wound in the back of its brain. It¡¯s too close for comfort. With the help of my spear¡¯s fire boosting inscription, I engulf the chthonic in flame, careful to not push the flamethrower to an invisible heat, what with my two friends so close. The chthonic shrieks in agony as the muscles melt from its body, but it still pushes forward. It stumbles before Gr¨ªmr without the strength to swing its long claws, and finds itself squashed beneath the giant bird¡¯s talons. While burning the chthonic I¡¯d unfortunately not killed in my first strike, the other two hadn¡¯t stood around patiently. Claws tear through my neck only a moment before its teeth sink into my shoulder. My flames flow out of the gripping maw to the confusion of the beast that now chews on a mouthful of fire. I laugh at the clear indignation crossing its face. Just when it thought it achieved victory, I¡¯d simply walked their attack off, then brushed off their bite to rub it in. The other chthonic tries to use the opportunity to strike at me, but not being as trapped as it expected, the claws pass harmlessly through the air. I twist my spear in my hands and thrust forward, stabbing right through the side of the creature¡¯s head and incinerating the brain from the inside. It crashes along the earth, dead. Wide swings and the flowing motions that are supposed to be better for me simply aren¡¯t that effective against these things. I can¡¯t rely on hitting their weaknesses, because they will just push past them with mindless fury. My strikes need to kill, even if that might mean my spear gets stuck. Thankfully, there is only one left. I point my spear at its head, but the chthonic doesn¡¯t charge in immediately again. Its eyes flicker from the glowing tip of my spear to the torn clothes I wear with my body completely unmarred beneath. This¡­ is intelligence. Hidden beneath the insatiable lust for blood, there is some level of intelligence within the chthonic. The creature doesn¡¯t back off. It watched me kill two of its brethren with ease, and yet it looks on with nothing but caution and a deep desire to murder. Curious to see how it might act, whether it will even consider fleeing, I wait. I let the chthonic make the choice. Unfortunately, blood-thirst overcomes whatever little rationale it has. The beast rushes forward, throwing itself over my spear. The blade pierces through its chest and out its back. It falls forward, sinking my spear deep within itself before clamping its blade like claws around the shaft, preventing me from pulling my weapon out.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. With the creature¡¯s other clawed hand, it tears into me. I¡¯m forced to release the hold on my spear, as I can¡¯t overcome its strength. Throughout this fight, I¡¯ve tried my hardest to never release the weapon, but if I don¡¯t, I¡¯m only inviting the chthonic to rip me apart. While the claws don¡¯t actually do all that much to me in the way of damage, I would still prefer to keep the clothes I¡¯m wearing as somewhat repairable rather than ragged scraps of cloth. The chthonic doesn¡¯t remove my spear from its chest. Instead, it keeps it held firmly within it, where I cannot retrieve it. Fine, if you want to deprive me my weapon, I¡¯ll simply kill you without it. White fire explodes out from me, quickly engulfing the last major chthonic in a swirling inferno that scorches flesh from its body. The flames enter the spear and create only a tiny amount of invisible fire. Enough to melt the bones along its spine, but not so strong to be felt intensely by Leal and Gr¨ªmr. The chthonic roars, but it is futile. The heat has already melted away all the muscles and bones it needs to fight back. It falls flat on its face, arms unable to hold the weight that remains. A large hole in his back, like a miniature crater, reveals the damage of that tiny, clear flame. Bone, muscle, fat; nothing survived contact with it. Not even char marks after the vaporisation of flesh. It struggles on the ground as my flames recede, unable to do more than squirm through all the damage. I can hardly believe it¡¯s still alive. Grabbing my spear, I tear it from its place in the creature¡¯s chest. The being¡¯s life ends quickly as the spear-tip penetrates the brain. As I stand over the corpse of the major chthonic, I glance up at the overlookers. The chthonic that were too scared to rush us once their larger variants made an appearance. My gaze itself seems to terrify them, and as soon as they realise my attention is on them, they flee. Many bound up the canyon walls while others run further into the cracked earth. I don¡¯t follow. Killing them all would be easy, but I¡¯m not in the mood. That fight annoyed me. My intent was to not rely on my flames, and yet I did exactly that. Using fire when my friends were in danger was fine, but against that final chthonic, I shouldn¡¯t have needed to use anything but my spear, and yet my enemy took that from me. I knew I shouldn¡¯t let my weapon fall into an enemy¡¯s hands. I simply don¡¯t have the physical strength to compete in trying to win it back, so why did I allow the chthonic to steal it from me? Complacency is the only answer. When it attacked head on, I¡¯d assumed it had given into its blood-lust and mindlessly charged forward. I simply took the easy route and ran it through, not realising the creature intended for that very thing to happen. It¡¯s not something I¡¯m happy to admit, but I still have a long way to go before I can stand alongside my elders. It¡¯ll be a long while before I can live up to Mum¡¯s skill. Well, I might have a lot of work before me to reach that level, but right now, we have over a hundred corpses and a certain ursu who really needs some enhancement. ¡°Can I get some help piling these bodies?¡± I ask my two observers as physical flames carry what¡¯s left of the final major chthonic. I try to lift another of the massive creatures, but even with my strength and that of my physical flames, they are far too heavy for me. Thankfully, Gr¨ªmr knows what I want and sweeps up a bunch of the chthonics and dumps them on the major variants. Leal glances at the many corpses, uncomfortable. Despite her reservations, she picks up two bodies with an ease only someone of her considerable height could manage. As the last of the bodies pile up, I begin the weave of flames that quickly form the inheritance ritual. Leal¡¯s eyes widen considerably as lines of the inscription activate overhead, with her in the receiving circle. ¡°What in¡­¡± The ritual begins. The blood and skin of the many dead chthonics slowly disintegrate into a thousand miniature motes that float and shatter in the air, flowing into the inscription and empowering Leal. She clearly feels the effect, but her attention returns to the floating inscription. ¡°You can create inscriptions with your hyle¡­ that is so unfair.¡± Despite her envy, she doesn¡¯t look away. Her gaze analysing every small section of the inscription and the way my flames move within them. The markings around her eyes activate and an ever so slight glow emanates from her iris. ¡°This should be impossible, according to ursu mage teachings¡­ but I¡¯m already well aware how insufficient our knowledge is. Particularly of inscriptions.¡± While Leal is transfixed on the ritual, Gr¨ªmr steps out of the receiver circle and steps past me toward the tunnel one of the major chthonic climbed out from. ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be anything else to worry about now that those creatures are gone, right?¡± he asks as he walks past me. I can see his nose leading him. ¡°No. Their tunnels should be empty now. Whatever you find down there, you can have. Just leave me a little; I need to fill up after that fight.¡± Within moments, grinding feathers dig through stone and Gr¨ªmr is out of sight. Leal remains blissfully unaware of the world around her, continuing to voice her thoughts about my inscription. ¡°This must be the Inheritance Ritual. The upper ranks were the only ones allowed to see it after we took Henosis¡¯ version. It¡¯s incredible. Definitely not something I could picture any of our mages designing. I only know a few of the concepts used in this.¡± ¡°Do you know-¡± she looks down from the inscription to ask a question, and finally realises Gr¨ªmr is gone. Leal hesitates for a moment, before the curiosity is too much for her and she looks me in the eye. ¡°Do you know any others? Other inscriptions, I mean.¡± I nod, and form the only other inscription I know; the energy tracker that riparian ¡ª Solon ¡ª taught me. It takes a decent amount of my focus to create it while holding the ritual steady, but I manage, and off to the side ¡ª where it won¡¯t disrupt the ritual ¡ª the tracker inscription appears. Leal¡¯s face reveals everything, and I can¡¯t help but chuckle. She¡¯s slack-jawed and I know why; the riparian inscription, even to amateur eyes, is simply in a realm of complexity above the inheritance ritual. ¡°This is¡­ who made this? How can you even recreate this?¡± She dives into all sorts of questions that I answer the best I can. It¡¯s like she¡¯s completely forgotten the distance she¡¯s been trying to put between us. I don¡¯t complain. No, I enjoy it while I can because, after her mage curiosity is over, she might return to her silence. When Gr¨ªmr finally returns to the surface, lugging quite the haul of copper, Leal and I have spent the past few hours simply talking. Most of it was her curiosity about how it is even possible for me to create inscriptions with my fire, but there were a few topics amongst the lot that veered away from her obsessiveness. Even when those topics came up ¡ª mostly stories of my time in the wasteland before we met and things that happened while we were separated ¡ª Leal didn¡¯t shy away. She willingly kept the conversation going, even when her curiosity cooled, which I viewed as almost a gift. Gr¨ªmr drops a chunk of copper beside me. The metal still rests impure, and as a mostly rocky ore, but it¡¯s still perfect for consumption. Only, as I burn through a good amount of weight to recover my expended energy, I realise that I just went through enough metal to last an ¨¢ed weeks. Months if rationed well. Out in the east, I never truly needed to hold back. I could create firestorms to cover vast swathes of land, then burn away a few trees to recover if my fire didn¡¯t fuel itself with the things it incinerated. Now? There are no trees to consume. Rock and sand give near nothing, so I¡¯d be left looking for a metal deposit every other day if I wanted to go all out in every fight. Metal is far more nutritious than wood, but there is only a limited amount hidden through the wasteland. If I drain every site I come across of all its resources, then what will future tribes have to survive? I wanted to rely less on my flames, but now I don¡¯t have a choice. Out here, where resources are limited, I need to learn to fight with my spear alone. Chapter 171: Drain Leal benefit a great deal from the enhancement provided by the chthonics. While not comparable to many other creatures I¡¯ve consumed or given to my team, the trio of major chthonics and their numerous smaller counterparts apply an immense improvement to someone that has relied mostly on natural growth and skill. A mage will never have the true control over an element that only those with high binding can achieve. I learnt that when I met that fire mage. He might have reached temperatures hotter than myself, but the moment our flames touched, all that heat became mine. What a mage can improve with enhancement is their internal capacity and the maximum amount they can control. Strangely enough, mages, when taking on the same amount of energy from the inheritance ritual as a physical fighter, never receive even close to the same body enhancement. It¡¯s almost like an instinct guides the energy through the body to where it is most useful. For mages, that is the pool of hyle they can pull from to power their markings. It also means that should that mage lose those markings, they have no way to use the well of hyle within themselves. Without needing to share the chthonic corpses, Leal has nearly tripled her capacity in one afternoon. As we fly north, Leal flows hyle through her markings in wonder. I know exactly what she¡¯s feeling, and I¡¯m sure it is overwhelming. Massive jumps like that are intoxicating. She may feel somewhat bloated, but I¡¯m sure it feels great. Well, assuming she feels the same way I do after taking in a lot of energy. We fly north again. With some food stored away for each of us, there shouldn¡¯t be any more issues simply flying until we find the Agglomerate. I don¡¯t really have any leads to find the city of ¨¢ed other than to follow the moon, but with how expansive the wasteland is, simply travelling north-west is unlikely to lead us to it. My plan falls back on the greatest advantage we have: flight. We can scour the desert until we find either the agglomerate or a tribe that can direct us. The latter will be far more likely as we move further north west. We¡¯ve already flown deep within the endless desert, almost as far as our tribe¡¯s first interaction with the Henosis water mages. At this pace, our trip will take no time at all. ¡°I think we might have a problem,¡± Leal says, tapping the water hyle storage disc she carries over her chest. She opens one of the few canteens filled with water, tipping it upside down, only to reveal none of the water that should remain within. I probably should have noticed earlier, but Leal¡¯s lips are chapped and her mouth is dry. Gr¨ªmr doesn¡¯t show any of the same signs, but his slight panting and open mouth reveal the thirst he¡¯s feeling. It¡¯s not something I often think about because it isn¡¯t a problem I¡¯ve ever needed to face, but both my friends must be struggling with how dry the air is. ¡°I don¡¯t know how, but water is draining from each storage. Even in my body, water hyle is drying up and I can¡¯t stop it.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± I ask. ¡°Where is it going?¡± ¡°That¡¯s just the thing; I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s simply disappearing.¡± It¡¯s not so hot that water should vaporise instantly, so I doubt it¡¯s because of the heat. Not to mention that steam couldn¡¯t escape the containers it¡¯s held within. I have no ideas of what this might be, but if their water continues to disappear, it will be impossible for them to join me in my travel. ¡°Can we land? I want to try something.¡± Gr¨ªmr agrees without a word, bringing us down to the warm sands below. As Leal steps across the dry earth, she grimaces. Is the drain worse down here? Water hyle glows as it passes through her markings and soon she creates a ball of water in the air before her. I keep my distance, but it is unnecessary; the orb of water rapidly shrinks until nothing remains. ¡°Well, this is interesting¡­ and concerning.¡± Leal stares down at the space where her water shrunk into nothing after only a dozen seconds. Snapping from her thoughts, she dives on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back and we¡¯re quickly high in the air. ¡°What is it?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks. ¡°Well, it makes more sense than ever why ¨¢ed rarely leave the wasteland,¡± she says, to my confusion. ¡°The land itself refuses the existence of water. I have no idea how it works, and I would love to spend hours investigating, but right now, it looks like the sand somehow counters the hyle of water regardless of barrier in its way.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°So it¡¯s not just because the air is dry?¡± I ask. ¡°No. This is an interaction I¡¯ve never heard of before. But, surely other mages have noticed this effect before me. Am I misunderstanding something?¡± While Leal ponders those thoughts, Gr¨ªmr keeps us on our path north. ¡°Wait, we can¡¯t continue, not like this. The draining is only getting worse. Just¡­ give me some time to think of a solution.¡± Doing as she asks, we turn around. In the meantime, she opens her suitcase full of tools and materials I¡¯m sure are important for a mage. In a notebook already dense with scribbles, she draws along what little white space she has. Leal¡¯s head snaps my way mid drawing. ¡°Hey, Solvei, you said that inscription was for tracking hyle signatures, right? Can I see it again?¡± In no time, she¡¯s taking notes while inspecting the floating inscription before her face. I use a small amount of her water as the target, which gives me a bright flame pointing right at Leal. I haven¡¯t a clue what she¡¯s trying to do, and each time I peer over her shoulder to see, I find her handwriting indecipherable. Eventually, she finishes. ¡°This probably has no chance of working, because I¡¯ve made a lot of assumptions with how that inscription works, but essentially, I want to remove what I think is the section that targets an individual¡¯s unique hyle signature, and replaced it with an incredibly basic one that simply targets a specific type of hyle.¡± I look at the drawing she¡¯s made, and well, she¡¯s removed half the complex inscription and replaced it with a relatively simple array. It makes the design look incredibly lopsided. ¡°What¡¯s this supposed to do?¡± I mean, I can kinda see she¡¯s made it to track more of whatever hyle we put in. So if I put rock as the target, it¡¯ll point down. If we put water in, it¡¯ll point to more water¡­ maybe. ¡°It¡¯ll let us find more sources of water so we can continue. Well, unless there¡¯s absolutely no water to be found across the wasteland, it should guide us along the areas that don¡¯t drain our water supply too intensely.¡± Before I impulsively try to create the inscription just like that, I remember Solon¡¯s warning about creating inscriptions incorrectly. Instead, I move my flame a good dozen metres behind us before it forms into the inscription of Leal¡¯s design. Thankfully, it doesn¡¯t explode. Ever so slowly, I bring it back so Leal can deposit some water for the inscription to track. It feels clunky, and the inscription wavers a few times, but it actually works. I can feel a definite pull toward the south, from the ocean. The makeshift inscription is hardly anything incredible, but that Leal could create it with only a limited understanding of what it does is amazing. The guiding flame doesn¡¯t appear though, which would likely be an issue if not for my very being running through the inscription. I don¡¯t need to see where it¡¯s pointing to know where to look. If I suppress the pull of the ocean, there is an ever so slight lead to the west. The feeling sways and becomes unclear, only pointing out the general direction and never with accuracy. As great as it is that Leal created this, not everything is perfect. The energy consumption is magnitudes greater than the one I used to track Kalma. It is a greedy, bottomless pit. Especially after I discovered how important it is to preserve energy out in the wasteland, I¡¯ll have to activate this sparingly. Deep within the wasteland as we are, there shouldn¡¯t be water at all, so what exactly does this lead toward? I haven¡¯t a clue. As we angle our flight toward the strange tug of water, I have to admit how odd it is for me to so willingly head toward what is naturally deadly to me. If there is some source of water in the middle of the desert, there¡¯s no chance any other ¨¢ed will be within a hundred kilometres of it. It will slow our search for the Agglomerate, but taking a detour to make sure the others are safe and not dying from dehydration is important. Leal spends the entire flight buried in her book, scribbling away more lines and markings I can¡¯t make sense of. After a while of drawing on the very edges of her page, stealing what little space she can, she finally decides she can¡¯t fit anymore and pulls out another. A notebook entirely free of scribbles and drawings. Why did she bother writing over other notes if she had an empty book? I reactivate the inscription with Leal¡¯s water every so often to correct our path, and soon the strength of the signal overcomes that of the ocean. It won¡¯t be long. Even from as high as we are, there is only sand as far as the eye can see. Neither rock-lands nor landmark. The pure lack of any resource sites for such an immense distance would likely prevent any tribe from travelling out this way, and considering I still can¡¯t see where the water is despite knowing just how close it is, might very well mean no ¨¢ed has ever found it. It is water we¡¯re looking for, and yet I find myself excited at the idea of discovering something nobody else has. In all likelihood, it is simply a lake that prevailed in a cavern under the sand¡­ or something of the sort. ¡°I¡¯m running out of water. How much farther, Solvei? I don¡¯t know if my supply will last longer than an hour at this rate.¡± Leal has been keeping both herself and Gr¨ªmr hydrated for our entire journey through the desert. The wasteland must affect them; each has increased their water intake to a full canteen every thirty minutes. If Leal hadn¡¯t joined us and sated Gr¨ªmr¡¯s thirst with the water hyle stored within her, it might not have been possible for him to join me. Actually, unless we can find a solution to this now, the constant drain on our water supply will still prevent us moving forward. ¡°It should be somewhere up ahead.¡± I look forward, but I can see nothing but the rising and falling of sand dunes. Far ahead, there appears to be a significant dip in the sand, but there is yet any sign of water. We crest a tall dune, and the sand falls away below us. It takes a moment to realise that same dip I¡¯d seen so far in the distance, is the same as we just flew into. All around us, the sand falls inward at a slope. But it isn¡¯t the strange downward conical form of the sand that leaves me gaping. No, it¡¯s the city-sized metal tower with unimaginable amounts of water gushing from its top and sides, enshrouding it in immense waterfalls that disperse as they fall into a covering mist. A drowning city on a cloud, in a pit, in the middle of nowhere. Chapter 172: The Cube Four geysers blast water from the equal distances on the slanted square top of the cubic structure. A mist carries off from the watery pillars, but most of the liquid crashes back into the hard surface and gushing along until it flows over the side in a massive waterfall that falls within an obscuring fog. It is difficult to see exactly what the massive structure is through the immense flow of water, but the smooth metallic sheen is visible even through the obfuscation. More geysers along the sides of the cubic spray incomprehensible quantities of water out into the mist. Gr¨ªmr circles the giant structure slowly. While calling it the size of a city might have been a bit of an exaggeration, the scale deserves it. This massive water-bursting cube is the height of the tallest continae in every dimension. Barely visible through the obscuring mist, are four immense legs ¡ª like that of a table ¡ª holding the city aloft. It all rests on a very slight tilt, so when Gr¨ªmr flies around the back, we finally get a view of a surface without too much water getting in the way. The dark grey metal is sleek, with points of entry tall and wide enough for any ursu. A trickle of water flows into each of the tunnels, so I do not want to go near them, but the way this entire side of the structure is open, it¡¯s like it is inviting us in. If it were stone instead of metal, I¡¯d assume it of centzon make, it has that same purpose behind its structure. Unfortunately, there are too many differences to make that claim. For one, the centzon used that special metal of theirs sparingly, but this seems like normal steel¡­ just a lot of it. Maybe it is the distance that brought about such changes? Like the ¨¢ed tribes that settled in a volcanic range instead of endlessly wandering the wasteland. But even that I¡¯m doubtful of. If this were a centzon fortress, then we would have faced innumerable traps before even coming close. Not to mention the question of how they made it past the Titan Alps. In all likelihood, whoever or whatever made this has nothing to do with the centzon. Now the question is whether they are inside. The heavy flow of water must come from somewhere, right? It¡¯s impossible for something like this to be powered for too long ¡ª the water will eventually run out ¡ª so I can only imagine whoever activated whatever this is, was here recently or is still here. Still, I¡¯ve seen Leal struggle in this desert, so what insane water mage might hide within? Not one at the level of an inner circle mercenary, I hope. ¡°Don¡¯t suppose you have any idea what this is?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks as we circle around to the flooded side again. ¡°No,¡± I say. Even if an ¨¢ed tribe came across this, they would turn around and never come back. The air remains relatively dry compared to the east, but all that mist ¡ª not to mention the gushing water ¡ª makes this structure reminiscent of the horror stories my tribe once told. Actually, this might very well be the source of one of those stories. If that¡¯s the case, then this flooded tower could be decades, or centuries, old. Nah, it can¡¯t be. There¡¯s simply too much water gushing out of the thing to be possible. This entire sinkhole in the sand would be flooded by now, if not having created an ocean of its own. ¡°I want to go in.¡± I twist on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back to face Leal. She¡¯s unable to snap her gaze away from the alien structure. ¡°Uh¡­ I¡¯d really rather not,¡± I say. Sure, I¡¯m curious about it, but that is an insane amount of water it outputs. I do not want to be stuck inside. My fear of being trapped no longer sways me¡­ but still, a place that combines my two worst fears? And she wants to go in there? Gr¨ªmr comes to my rescue and diverts Leal¡¯s attention. ¡°We should refill our supply while we can. There should be a lake below the mist. Solvei, you¡¯ll want to stay up here, right?¡± I can probably change into my snowsuit and walk through the mist just fine with how well sealed it is, but I¡¯d rather not walk through mist like that if I don¡¯t need to. Nodding, I change to my bird form and dive off his back. Gr¨ªmr and Leal descend through the obscuring clouds that sweep out of their way for only a moment before closing in behind them. Their thermal presence is still there, but I cannot see them any longer. They fall quite further than I expected before landing. I¡¯m not truly alone, but having my friends go where I cannot disturbs me. Gr¨ªmr is strong enough to fight off any threat down there. While I know that intellectually, I dislike not being right by their side, where I can incinerate anything that might attack them. The wasteland is quiet most of the time, but the moment you become negligent is when you will face the most danger. Not once while growing up did my family ever take their eye off me. My tribe left long before they could teach me everything, so while I¡¯m sure I know of the worst dangers, I still need to be wary. There may be threats in the desert even I don¡¯t know about. The two seem to be doing fine, standing still beneath the waterfall refilling their canteens and Leal¡¯s hyle containers. I coast along, gazing warily at the massive structure. Hopefully, after they¡¯re finished down there, we can get moving again. The metal face that isn¡¯t completely drowning has quite the odd patterns marring the sleek surface. Large, sweeping lines weave up and down what is visible. A discoloured metal that has a slight greenish sheen instead of the grey that makes up the rest of its surface. The lines of differing metal all congregate around the entryways before following the walls inside. I try to peer inside, but each tunnel is dark. It is hard to see more than a few metres. Despite the heavy torrents of water blasting out to both my sides, I creep slightly closer. Revealing the bright white flames of my body, I illuminate the standing city¡¯s depths. Unfortunately, all that reveals is a long hallway. Careful of the water trickling across the floor, I cast an orb into the gap. I could probably just push my flames above the water and explore for me, but after my realisation about how careful I need to be with energy expenditure, I¡¯m not so willing to be wasteful.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. There is a lot of metal here I could eat though¡­ but it¡¯s probably best not to mess with the structure that continues to gush out a lake worth of water every second. I can¡¯t feel any heat signatures within. It¡¯s possible there are and I just can¡¯t feel them through the dense wall of metal, but I¡¯m confident there isn¡¯t anything waiting in the corridor at least. Gr¨ªmr and Leal¡¯s thermal signature finally make their climb out of the mist. I back off from the tower and fly down to meet them half-way. ¡°So, we ready to continue?¡± I ask. Leal¡¯s eyes never leave the cube. ¡°Can we stay for a while? I¡¯ve confirmed that the sands are essentially removing water from existence; the water doesn¡¯t even last long enough down there to form a lake. I¡¯d like to tattoo a new marking to counteract some of the effect¡­ also, I want to see what¡¯s making all that water.¡± I want to refuse outright. Even looking at the massive cube makes me nervous. Can¡¯t she apply that new marking somewhere safer? I turn on Gr¨ªmr, hoping he¡¯ll say no for me. Leal only just started talking to me again; I don¡¯t want to sabotage that. Instead, the alicanto misunderstands my pleading. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make sure she¡¯s safe.¡± No, I don¡¯t want any of us to put ourselves within such an obviously dangerous bit of machinery. A sigh escapes me. If Gr¨ªmr thinks it¡¯ll be fine, then I¡¯m probably just overreacting because of my fears. There isn¡¯t a chance I¡¯ll let them go alone, and besides, while I¡¯m sure my fears will never truly disappear, I need to push through them in moments like this. ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s go inside,¡± ¡°Are you sure? I thought it might be too much,¡± Gr¨ªmr says. He¡¯s trying to be considerate, but the very thought I would let them go alone annoys me. I¡¯m not about to sit this out. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. As long as my snowsuit doesn¡¯t tear¡­ again, water should be no issue. Plus, I have a water mage to keep it off me, right?¡± I incline my head toward Leal in question, but she¡¯s only half paying attention. ¡°Huh? Oh, yeah, sure.¡± She nods emphatically, but her eyes keep straying back to the cube. ¡­Am I actually going to be alright? Probably best to remain optimistic for now. I can always vaporise water if I need to, assuming there isn¡¯t too much of it. And I have plenty of ways to fly, so it shouldn¡¯t be impossible to keep out of the way of any streams of water flowing on the inside. Really, our only concern should be whoever made this thing, and whether they are still inside. ¡°If you¡¯re sure¡­¡± Gr¨ªmr gives me one last concerned gaze before I change back and don the gift Jav¡¯s family has already had to fix twice. Hopefully, when I return to the pact nations, I won¡¯t have to ask them to do so again. On the only side not completely drowning in a curtain of water, we enter the central passage between the two horizontal geysers. Gr¨ªmr snaps his wings closed right before entering and a terrible grinding screech echoes around us as his claws scrape against the metal floor. Leal jumps off first. The splash reaches my ears as her boots disturb the flowing stream. I hesitate, contemplating my choices, before I jump after her. Instead of a clean landing beside Leal as I intended, I slip on the slick, wet metal. Just as I¡¯m about to catch myself with physical flames, Leal grabs my arm. Her hold is tight and I jerk under her strength, but I¡¯m no longer falling. ¡°Thanks,¡± I say, and she simply nods in return. Leal may be small for an ursu, but she still has quite the strength. I wonder if any of the chthonics went to enhancing her muscles? It isn¡¯t the first time I¡¯ve waded through ankle deep water, but it remains as unsettling as back then. The slimy feeling of liquid moving beneath and around my feet is uncomfortable, and I want nothing more than to be out of this wet. I¡¯m tempted to have a plume of physical flame carry me, but I need to be careful with my consumption. Well, just keeping my inner flame in the surrounding air is hardly going to use enough energy to be of concern, but it¡¯s the principle of it; I can¡¯t be wasting what isn¡¯t necessary to use. So I join Leal¡¯s side as she walks down the corridor, the gross feeling of water flowing over the back of my legs a constant reminder of how bad an idea this is. My hands tug at the zips around my head, checking whether my hood, mask and goggles are secured properly. The metallic interior is much like the outside of the cube; grey metal with green lines following along the perfectly cut walls. I allow a curious flame to wander over a dry section on the roof, revealing only steel and copper. Considering the sheer scale of this structure, and how unnaturally flat the walls are, I¡¯m surprised it¡¯s something so common. At equal separations along the hallway, small square holes sit in the floor, walls and ceiling. Each is far too small for even a volan to fit through, but they make me curious. A small portion of my fire flows inside, and I¡¯m not sure what I was expecting, but it doesn¡¯t lead anywhere. All it is, is some sort of vent that encloses the tunnel we¡¯re in. We slowly make our way forward. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s talons scratch against the metal and deafen us to Leal and my footsteps. The tunnel is long, and after a minute of walking, the end finally comes into sight. Instead of another room or altering path, there is nothing but a dead end. The greenish copper lines along the walls all congregate into a central point¡­ an inscription. A growing heat makes itself known to my senses. Fire boils through the vents surrounding our corridor and explodes through each of the square holes along the chamber. We all twist at an echoing slam. Our path of retreat is blocked. In place of our entryway, now rests another wall of metal. We are trapped. I force myself to take a deep breath and refocus. We are not trapped. It is simple steel that blocks our escape; I can melt our way out at any time. Is this some form of trap for trespassers? Whoever made this place mustn¡¯t have designed it with an ¨¢ed in mind. The flames rushing into the corridor contain a heat comparable to my white flames, and would likely roast my companions alive if allowed to continue. With ease, I push my command into the flames rushing in from the vents and extinguish them. All at once, they are gone. My friends didn¡¯t even experience a change in the temperature before the fire is gone. Strangely though, each of the vents feel cold, almost freezing to my senses despite the flames having exploded from within. Before I can investigate further, the inscription at the end of the hall shines, and a hollow whistling sound begins. The lines along our sides join the far inscription in the glow, going from dull green to a bright, unsettling white. Right, the thick copper lines along the walls are an inscription too. Of course they are. I¡¯ll have to assume the entire cube is wrapped in some massive inscription, too. An immense amount of energy pools at the end of the hall, right in the centre of the inscription. It isn¡¯t fire, but the energy is strangely clear as day to my senses. Like the fire before, I try to instil my control over it, but despite being able to sense it as if it were fire itself, it doesn¡¯t respond to my will. Already, the energy has built to a staggering level. My first instinct is to burn away the metal beneath us, but as soon as I try, the chill I felt through the vents intensifies. Even as I push my fire to white, whatever cold energy is on the other side simply counteracts my heat and the metal stays unmelted. The energy at the end of the hall stops charging. Clearly, it is ready to fire. Well, this doesn¡¯t look good. Chapter 173: Abandoned Mystery The inscription at the end of the hall glows with enough heat to surpass even invisible flames. Only the distance, and my own flames hold off the heat from reaching my friends. A sheen of condensation forms across each of the metallic walls, which slide down and adds to the stream that bubbles and vaporises the closer it flows to the mass of energy. The hollow whistle cuts out, only to be replaced by a heavy buzz, the sound unnatural. I throw out as much flames as I can, uncaring for the wasteful energy. My white blaze crashes into the back wall holding the inscription as Gr¨ªmr steps forward, wings spread wide defensively, as glowing lines take form across his feathers. His strengthening inscription can protect him from a lot, but whatever this energy does, it will be too much for him. Layered walls of flame rise before Gr¨ªmr even as I try to eat away the lines for the inscription, but they refuse to melt. The freezing energy running through the wall in combination with the intense heat stops the wall from melting despite far exceeding temperatures that should allow it. I place both walls of physical and ethereal flame before us, hoping either stop the explosion I know is coming. I know Gr¨ªmr is trying to protect us, but I¡¯m not about to let him take on that energy. An unreasonable amount of energy pumps into physical flame to pull him with me as I shoot both Leal and myself back. The permeating frost in the vents holds back my fire, but I push through it, forcing back the cold so I can have at least something physical to assist those physical flames. Just as the strange energy is about to explode out over us, a bunch of things happen at once. The freezing energy running through the vents dies out; the heat bearing down on us from the other side of the tunnel reaches unimaginable levels for something other than fire; but most importantly, the metal wall holding the main inscription disintegrates from the heat. All that energy has nothing holding it in shape anymore, and it simply explodes outward. Instead of travelling down the tunnel as intended, it obliterates the holding walls around it and destroys anything in its path. Surprisingly, thankfully, the energy and heat seems to diminish incredibly quickly once it unleashed, leaving us hardly worse for wear at the other side of what was once a corridor. A sphere of empty space now lies where the back end of the hallway once stood, revealing much of the inner workings of this city-sized metal cube. We are given no time to gawk; the view is near instantly blocked again, this time by an ocean of water. It fills the tunnel in an instant. I double down on my efforts to get us out, but Leal resists my attempts. Markings light across her body and water tears out from her arms. The stream is small, but it slams into the oncoming wave with speed. As soon as she connects with the large body of water, some markings dim, while others alight. The heavy flow bends around us, flowing to her will as if it weren¡¯t even a question. The water doesn¡¯t stop. It continues to flow with the same intensity we saw from the other geysers. We stand within the heavy rapid, with only Leal preventing it from crashing down on us. I trust my suit to be waterproof, but I don¡¯t think it could stand up to the immense pressure of this corridor-turned-geyser. Glancing around nervously, I wait for Leal to make open the path for us to leave. It¡¯s clear that whatever this cube is, the danger is too great. What is taking her so long? I glance up to my ursu friend and find her neither focusing on the water nor trying to back out of the tunnel. No, her gaze is stuck on the far end, where whatever inscription we came across just misfired and destroyed itself. Her curiosity is obvious, but this isn¡¯t the time. ¡°We are leaving,¡± Gr¨ªmr says before I can. ¡°Leal!¡± he snaps when her attention remains on the far hall. It is enough to jolt her back to reality, so Gr¨ªmr continues. ¡°Create a path.¡± Her eyes flicker to me, and she has the decency to look apologetic before pushing the water along the walls and giving us a way back out. Surprisingly, the wall that closed in on us before the inscription activated opened again in time for the water to gush out without resistance. I fly out first, getting as much distance from the water as I can while Gr¨ªmr with Leal on his back follows soon after. What exactly happened in there? Did someone activate that intending to kill us? Or did it activate automatically from our presence? Whatever that energy was, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it was strong enough to even harm Kalma or Tore. Though, actually killing them would be a stretch. Now, what I¡¯m not sure about is whether the inscription and the hallway we walked into were a trap or a weapon. If it is a trap, then what could be so important hidden inside? Alternatively, if it is a weapon, and that hallway was supposed to be a sort of cannon''s barrel rather than a corridor, then what is it intended to battle? As I hover with physical flames holding me aloft, I compare the flow of the tunnel we just came from to the other geysers. The intensity is rather similar. Water blasts out of the massive cube at an even distance between all three on this face. Have each of them exploded too? Or are they intended to operate as geysers? Well, even if something might be hidden within, it¡¯s not worth charging head first into all that water for it. If Leal asks to go, I won¡¯t let her. ¡­why am I so sure she will ask? I join Gr¨ªmr as he lands on the diagonal sands halfway up the dune. Laying back in the sands, and sigh in annoyance. How is it that after being in land prone to rainfall and coming across plenty of water mages, that I come closest to being drowned after my return to the wasteland? The place that is supposed to have none at all. Leal takes a seat beside me. Her hand recoils from the sand as if stung, but simply looks down in annoyance after a moment and places her gloved hand down again. I keep my senses sharp on the sand in case any sand-worms decide to take a nibble. The ursu looks up at the cube again as Gr¨ªmr tries to dig out enough sand to allow himself to rest. ¡°So¡­¡± Leal starts, and I groan, knowing what¡¯s coming. ¡°I still want to look inside. Now that the defensive inscription is gone, can we try again?¡±Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°No,¡± Both Gr¨ªmr and I say in unison. There¡¯s only so much you can let your curiosity sway your survival instincts. I¡¯m now worried about her more than ever. If she is ever to go her own way, I cannot trust her with her own survival. How she lasted so long in the New Vetus military, I haven¡¯t a clue. She is disappointed, but she doesn¡¯t argue further. Obviously, she knows it isn¡¯t wise, at least intellectually. ¡°I still need to create a marking to generate water hyle, and hopefully resist the drain of the sands. Can you give me a couple days for that?¡± I nod without delay. ¡°As long as you don¡¯t try to get in that cube again.¡± There will be no issues staying around here for a while. It might even be good to observe the structure for a while to determine if there is some creature operating it from within, or it is abandoned. The purpose of the cube still eludes me, so any information we might gleam from it would be helpful. So long as we don¡¯t risk entry again. Leal sheepishly turns away at my accusatory glare. I¡¯m not in any hurry to reach the Agglomerate. No matter how many delays we might face, the trip will almost certainly be shorter than if I¡¯d chosen to walk as the rest of the ¨¢ed would. I intend to enjoy this time, rather than rush through things. The last few years have essentially been non-stop stress for me, so I should take this time to relax before I¡¯m allowed back into the pact nations. Even if we wait here a few weeks, it won¡¯t be all bad. It¡¯s some good time I can spend practising my spearmanship. Even if the fight against the chthonic didn¡¯t go as well as I wanted, the skill Bunny¡¯s training instilled combined with my extensive battle experience ¡ª even if not directly using a spear ¡ª has helped me grow to a rather capable level, particularly for my age. But it isn¡¯t enough. I shouldn¡¯t need to rely on my flames when things get hard. I want my spear-work alone to be enough to allow me to stand my ground. I¡¯d learnt how important it is to preserve your energy out in the wasteland, but in that cube, I had no choice. I expended quite a lot in the panic of the situation. While Leal gets started on designing her markings, I think I¡¯m going to take a piece out of the cube. It¡¯ll be good retribution for almost killing us. Flying in front of a section not drowning in water, I push forward a ball of white flame to melt the steel of its exterior. It doesn¡¯t melt. I¡¯d expected it, but as soon as the exterior started heating, the freezing energy bled into the metal. There are likely vents along the entire structure. I spread my fire over the surface, looking for any weak points where the cooling isn¡¯t as effective, but the cooling isn¡¯t anywhere near what it was inside the tunnel. It still prevents me from melting the metal, but it glows red and buckles in places from the differential of heat. Spear in hands, I pass my flames through the relic and feel the incredible heat cover a small section of metal before me. Leal and Gr¨ªmr have descended beneath the mist below, so there¡¯s no need to worry about them feeling this intense blaze. If not for my thermal sense, the view of metal melting as if by itself would be incredibly odd. The spear is clearly intended for battle and not to allow me to consume more. To have the flamethrower creating ripples through the air so far out in front of me consumes a hell of a lot of energy when compared to simply coating the blade-tip, but I make that back with the metal consumed. I¡¯m expending energy to acquire energy, but it works. Also, I hardly imagine any of my race will consume from something with this much water around, so I don¡¯t really have to worry about taking resources from future tribes. ??? Over the next few days, Leal and Gr¨ªmr spent most of their time in the mist while I stayed above. The moisture apparently far more forgiving and comfortable to them than the dry air of the wasteland. I practised my spear forms mostly, sometimes chasing down swarms of jerboas to practice my accuracy. The boredom eventually got to me though, and I braved the mist with full body coverings in place. While I didn¡¯t stay down there long because of how uncomfortable it left me, it gave me a much better view of the structure hidden beneath the fog. Four massive pillars hold the cube aloft at each corner. Each leg widened at the base, but they remained only half buried within the sand, leaving sections where one could crawl underneath the pillars. The cube was not built into any solid foundation. Surely, whoever had the capability of constructing such an immense building was aware of the common knowledge of the eastern races. Yet they chose not to dig. Why? The massive waterfalls disperse into the mist mostly before they reach the sands below, but not all is gone by the time it reaches the ground. Small pools flow downward underneath the cube, but the streams disappear before they can combine at a central point. Gr¨ªmr has been keeping an eye on Leal while she¡¯s been busy in her sketches and planning, both making sure she¡¯s safe, and that she doesn¡¯t foolishly attempt to climb into the cube while we¡¯re not looking. I return for the nights to watch over them through the Ember Moon. While Gr¨ªmr has gained a decent amount of control over his body when it morphs within the crimson light, it is not so great that he can be expected to fight. It is no issue for me to watch over them during the short time Eldest Ember makes her existence known. The glowing red eyes, jagged feathers and brutal mace of a tail caused quite the scare when Leal first saw him change like that, but she settled quickly. Despite her curiosity about the change, she couldn¡¯t give any definitive answers to what caused it any more than Gr¨ªmr had figured out himself. Which was essentially nothing. I like to think of it as a blessing of Eldest Ember¡¯s protective flames¡­ but I didn¡¯t really have anything to back that up other than it only occurring during her time of the night. It is the fifth day resting besides the cube that Leal finalised her designs. She pricks her legs with a needle, following the sketch of a marking along her skin with an impressive level of detail and precision. I know Leal once told me they needed to pierce the skin to apply the markings, but to watch her do it to herself without flinching seems odd. I¡¯d burned through enough fleshy creatures to know they instinctively recoil from pain, with the exception of the highly enhanced. Did it not hurt to puncture her skin? I watch on, but don¡¯t interrupt. Last thing I want is to distract her while she¡¯s doing such precise work. These aren¡¯t the first she¡¯s applied today, but they will be the last. Leal, almost without prompting, had gone in depth about what each would let her do. The ones she is applying now are small, but should limit the rate at which she loses internal water to the sands below. Even walking on the surface will be easy for her with this. It won¡¯t hold out against time, which is the reason for the much larger one across her chest and stomach. Expertly woven into the marking already covering much of her torso, the most complex of the markings she applied would give her a method to generate water hyle without an external source, or relying on her minimal, natural regeneration. The purpose of this large addition to her already complex marking, is to extract water hyle from the nutrition of what she eats. The conversion is expensive, and will apparently double her consumption, but finding food out in the desert is far easier than finding water. If this will allow her and Gr¨ªmr to last indefinitely out here, then all the better. Finally, she¡¯s done stabbing herself with the sharp needle carrying the strange ink into her skin. Leal activates her marking immediately and the water hyle floods through the formerly black lines making them glow in a subtle clear blue. The thick fur growing from the coloured skin experiences the flow of hyle as well, and remains slightly discoloured from the rest of her fur when she deactivates the marking. ¡°Shall we find your Agglomerate?¡± Satisfied with her markings, Leal is intent on moving out again, and nods in agreement. As the three of us fly away from the deep pit hiding the strange cube, I join Leal in her longing glance back. If not for the danger it posed, I would have loved to find out what was in that strange construction. Maybe one day, should I ever become strong enough that not even water can stop me, I¡¯ll come back. I snort silently to myself. Like that will ever happen. Chapter 174: Agni Mountains With my companions¡¯ ever-present thirst sated, we fly toward the moon. Should we follow long enough, it will supposedly lead us to the Agglomerate. Well, that or the Titan Alps to the north, but I expect to find a tribe to guide us once we¡¯re that close. If not for how infrequent meetings between tribes were out in the vast expanse of the wasteland, I might have found it strange that we found no ¨¢ed tribes despite our great speed and incredible vantage sight. As high as we fly, far more of the horizon is visible and therefore we should spot any tribes that come within a hundred kilometres. Not that it¡¯s all that likely unless they are burning a pyre. My eyesight might have improved since I was last in the desert, but spotting something as small as a person from that far away might as well be impossible. But what is visible, is the mountains that rise beyond the horizon to the west. The Agni mountains. A series of volcanoes that are home to Agni tribes. I¡¯m surprised we are already this far west. Even if flight has cut down our travel time, we have come a long way. The volcanoes do not rise in the sky beyond the looming Titan Alps beyond, but their devastated appearance reveals them for what they are. When they erupt, it is likely the most dangerous place in the wasteland, and yet there are tribes willing to live here indefinitely. I¡¯d seen them once when I was young. Unfortunately, my flame had been too dim at the time for my elders to let us close. While intense heat is good for growth, too much can still be harmful to an ¨¢ed. As we age, it becomes far less of an issue, as our tolerance for heat grows exponentially with our own, but for children, the magma pools of each volcano are too much. ¡°Gr¨ªmr, head toward those volcanoes to our west.¡± I didn¡¯t expect to find them like this, but now that we¡¯re here, it will be easy to ask for directions¡­ and also inform them of Teine¡¯s passing. ¡°Volcanoes? Why?¡± ¡°I want to meet with the Agni tribes.¡± Gr¨ªmr stares back with a single eye from his slightly tilted head. ¡°I don¡¯t know why I¡¯m surprised. Of course there are ¨¢ed living next to volcanoes.¡± ¡°Oh, no. They don¡¯t live next to them, they live inside.¡± I think there¡¯s five tribes that each live within their own volcano. ¡°Right.¡± Gr¨ªmr makes no more comment, simply changing course and keeping his eyes ahead. I have Gr¨ªmr land a distance down from the peak of the mountain to not startle any who might be on lookout. A massive crater rests within the upper section of the volcano, in place of what once might have been a peak far higher. These volcanoes might not be impressive in their height, but many of those adjacent have rivers of lava either bubbling over the top ledge, or flow out the sides through molten tunnels. One on the far end of the range has half its side blown out, freeing the magma to flow around its base. I¡¯m curious to see what lies inside. The Agni tribes are the only ¨¢ed besides those in the agglomerate that have settled. And, as far as I¡¯ve been told, the Agglomerate is more of a gathering place for each of the wandering tribes than a true residential city only common in the eastern nations. The surface of the volcano is hot, and while Gr¨ªmr seems fine, a few markings light up across Leal¡¯s body before her fur becomes drenched. She appears as if she just climbed out of an ocean. She nods at my questioning gaze, ready to move up. It would certainly have been easier to fly in from above and land within the volcano¡¯s crater, but it¡¯s a good thing we didn¡¯t; a dozen ¨¢ed stand at the lip of the mountain above, each holding a weapon as their bodies remain unhidden by controlled flame. They are wary. This is the first time seeing my own kind again after so long. We are the same, and yet I feel like an outsider. I take the lead and climb the mountain with my mum¡¯s spear clanging against the hard black stone with each step. The Agni tribe warriors above grip their weapons tight and talk amongst themselves as we slowly make our way up. They are prepared to attack at any moment, but with our obvious, slow approach, they remain non-aggressive. Spears, halberds, and all sorts of other polearms are the most common weapons, but there are a couple sabres amongst them. What is surprising is that only one holds a relic. Our tribe would usually have our relic holders at the forefront of any dispute, but maybe this tribe prefers to keep their wielders hidden? I can feel the heat of a few just beyond some rocks and ledges in the mountainside. There¡¯s even a couple hidden within a cave to my left. As I close the distance, I notice the ¨¢ed above are growing increasingly agitated. Looking over my shoulder, I see their attention lies solely on Leal. The barely noticeable water through her thick fur coat is now letting off steam with the rising temperature. The markings that keep that coating active also shine conspicuously. Oh. I just brought a water mage to a village of ¨¢ed. Stopping, I try not to scream at my idiocy. Leal and Gr¨ªmr follow suit, coming to a halt a few paces behind me. ¡°Could you both wait here a moment?¡± I ask in a tone far calmer than I feel. Teine and many of those held by the Henosis were abducted from here, so of course they would know of water mages; they¡¯d experienced tragedy at their hands. I walk forward alone, hoping it would calm the nerves and growing agitation of the ¨¢ed before me. The one with the relic stands above the rest, exuding confidence none of the others can replicate. There is no doubt he is the leader. Him being the only one amongst them with a body of invisible flames helps to cement that idea.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. It¡¯s curious to see an ¨¢ed almost entirely invisible and yet still have the solid form I¡¯d long since surpassed. A dozen strands of white flame flicker across his face and body, likely an intentional action to not leave his body entirely invisible to all those around. It wouldn¡¯t really be a problem anywhere else, but the Agni tribes aren¡¯t partial to hiding what they are. Before I can speak, the Agni elder engulfs me in a flame of his own. Reactively, I drop into a stance and hold my spear out. I hardly expected to be attacked, but I¡¯m not about to let this go without a response. ¡°Calm, child. I only seek to confirm you are one of us.¡± Only after the elder gestures his hand do I realise his fire isn¡¯t trying to fight with mine. Instead, it pokes and prods at my flames, requesting permission to combine. It is like the beginning of Kindling. Before, Mum or Uncle could simply slip their flames into mine and that would be it, but now, I¡¯m able to hold off his flames without issue. I allow his scorching flames to mix with mine. Instead of becoming satisfied as I thought he might, his attention seems to intensify and his gaze ¡ª both through the flame and his physical eyes ¡ª hardens. While he continues to combine with me, searching for whatever he finds interesting, I embrace the clear heat. Kindling might not be all that effective anymore, but I try to push my flames to the same heat as his. My spear can push me to this level, but it isn¡¯t as natural and¡­ full when achieved that way. But try as I might, I¡¯m still a long while off reaching the next stage of my fire. The elder pulls back his blaze and after a few seconds locked eyes with me, his gaze falls on my spear and the relic halberd tied to Gr¨ªmr¡¯s packs. ¡°It seems you have led quite a difficult and strange life, if your binding and companions are any measure. But I must ask, why have you brought a water wielder to our home?¡± He mustn¡¯t be suppressing his heat toward the ursu anymore, as the steam billowing off her body suddenly intensifies. I stand before him, trying to block as much of his heat as possible from boiling her where she stands. When our flames combined, I felt not only his heat, but the capacity of his flames, and I far exceed this elder¡¯s energy. It isn¡¯t even funny the difference between our pools of fire. His body may be hotter than mine, but I have the sheer brute capability to overwhelm him if he tries anything against Leal or Gr¨ªmr. ¡°These are my friends. Leal is a water mage of New Vetus. She is not of those who hunted our kind.¡± I stand tall in defiance. The last thing I want to do is fight another ¨¢ed, but if they intend to attack, then I won¡¯t hesitate. The elder¡¯s gaze returns to the spear in my hands. White flames flickering across rippling air the only visible revelation to his body language, but my thermal sense paints a perfect picture, more distinct and sharp than creatures of flesh. ¡°You know of them.¡± It isn¡¯t a question. I am carrying two relic weapons without being joined by another ¨¢ed, one doesn¡¯t need to make many leaps in logic to assume what happened. ¡°And yet you trust this one?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± That seems to send a round of murmurs through the volcano¡¯s warriors. In a sense, I can understand how incomprehensible that might seem to them. Throughout my childhood, I¡¯d been told of how terrifying water is. Inhospitable land with water perpetually falling from the sky was only the beginning of those horror stories. Mentions of creatures able to bend that water to their will always topped the list of nightmare inducing tales. These people know nothing other than to fear water, so the very idea that a being able to bend that substance to their will might not be evil or monstrous is beyond them. I would probably have acted the same if the first ursu I met were water mages. But Leal is my friend, and that they may all refuse her because of a simple mage discipline annoys me. ¡°You may follow me,¡± the elder says. ¡°I think there is plenty for us to discuss. Your¡­ friends may join too, but be warned; they will not be allowed near the village.¡± With that, he turns and walks through the other uncontrolled ¨¢ed forms standing in formation. Each stands back, leaving a wide berth between themselves and Leal. Taking the invitation, I wave for my two friends to join me and follow close behind the elder. ¡°Should we have stayed away while you met them?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks under the watchful eyes of a dozen ¨¢ed. ¡°It might have made things go smoother, but we should be fine.¡± As we crest the mountain ridge, a large lake of bubbling lava sits within the crater below. It is a fair distance from here to the molten rock, but Leal brings a hand up before her face, scrunching her face at the heat it exudes. Her steaming grows stronger again, but not quite to the level the elder¡¯s heat pushed her to. ¡°Are you alright?¡± I ask. If she can¡¯t handle the heat, the ¨¢ed around likely would have no issue letting me take her back down the mountain. ¡°Yeah, just fine,¡± Leal says through a deep breath. ¡°Though, right now, I wish I¡¯d chosen to become an ice mage back when I first entered the academy.¡± Fortunately, the elder doesn¡¯t lead us down to the lava lake, so Leal doesn¡¯t have to worry about the temperature rising any higher. Down below, on the other side of the boiling pit, are a dozen gers arrayed along the edge of the shore. Not one of the gers is normal, built with dark, solidified rock that was likely melted into place. The village is small, and honestly rather underwhelming after having seen all the cities and immense construction efforts over in the east. Most of the ¨¢ed I can see are poking their heads out of the lava to watch us in curiosity. I¡¯m sure it is incredibly strange for them to have visitors that aren¡¯t a passing tribe. Especially not those of different races like Gr¨ªmr¡¯s massive alicanto form and Leal¡¯s muscular stature. They watch curiously, but they don¡¯t approach, fearful of outsiders. That fear will only grow once they know a water mage is amongst us. I can see a few warriors running down the slope already, likely to spread the word. As I follow a pace behind the elder, I have a revelation that startles me. He looks short. Not only him, but every ¨¢ed warrior is far shorter than I remember. Of course, I¡¯m still smaller, but I come up to their shoulders now when I barely reached Uncle¡¯s stomach before. Mostly surrounded by beings either far larger than me, like Gr¨ªmr, Leal, and Remus, or shorter like Jav, I guess I¡¯ve not really noticed my growth. Even Bunny, who is the albanic I¡¯ve spent the most time with now, is incredibly tall for her race. I¡¯ve spent years away from other ¨¢ed, so it should have been obvious my default form would grow, but I¡¯ve never truly internalised that I¡¯ve become more than that little girl who lost everything so many years ago. I have come a long way since then. I can melt iron. Heck, even sand melts into glass beneath my flames now. Despite whatever my default form might look like, for all intents and purposes, I am considered a full adult amongst the ¨¢ed. That is both strange and exciting, while at the same time completely irrelevant. Back then, I wanted nothing more than to grow up and contribute to the tribe. But now that I will be considered an adult, I realise how little it matters. Whether this elder views me as child or adult, it doesn¡¯t matter. The only ones I wanted that respect from are now gone. I shake my head of the gloomy thoughts before they can take root and raise my voice. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°I am Elder Tanwyn,¡± he says. ¡°Of the Logi tribe.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± I blurt. The name Logi isn¡¯t one I¡¯d forget. ¡°I¡¯m surprised the first volcano I tried houses Teine¡¯s tribe.¡± Chapter 175: Logi Tribe ¡°You have met Teine?¡± Elder Tanwyn spins on his feet at the mention of his lost tribesman. I would love to bring good news, but what happened to her and those with her was anything but great. I nod, but my solemn expression makes clear I have no words to look forward to. ¡°I see. Let us get seated first, then you can tell what you know,¡± he says before continuing to lead us toward several black stone blocks. The blocks are simple, likely used as workbenches to process any creature caught while hunting. Tanwyn invites us to sit on smaller stone blocks. As I sit down, my feet only barely touch the ground, while Leal¡¯s knees rise high enough for her to rest her arms on. Gr¨ªmr simply lays by our side. The seat isn¡¯t comfortable, but I guess all the ¨¢ed here would go swimming when they want to relax. ¡°What happened to them?¡± he asks as soon as he takes his own seat. There is no hope in his voice. Nothing but reluctant acceptance. Tanwyn already knows the lost ¨¢ed of his tribe are gone, but he wants to know how it happened. Hopefully, I can give some closure. ¡°When I met Teine, she was the only member of your tribe that remained. We were both trapped by the Henosis Empire; a nation of albanic far east of the wasteland. They wanted us to power their weapons, but each of your tribesmen held strong and refused to cooperate. They resisted against our enemy until the end.¡± Elder Tanwyn listens silently, not interrupting, but it is Leal¡¯s attention I¡¯m more bothered by. I¡¯ve told her some of what happened in our time apart, but I¡¯ve never gone into detail about the most difficult experiences. I¡¯d rather she not know, but I neither want to send her away, nor hide from Tanwyn the struggles of the Logi tribe that lead to my success. ¡°Teine was alone before I was brought into their cages. She¡¯d suffered a lot watching her people die, but she never gave up. In a move to spite our captors, she gave up her energy to me, an action which later gave me the strength to kill the leader of their invasion.¡± I leave out the other factors that allowed me to win that fight. It isn¡¯t a lie to say she helped me immensely back then. From Tanwyn¡¯s curious gaze, he probably guessed that I was keeping some details out, but he doesn¡¯t disbelieve that I killed the general. Not surprising considering he had a good look at my binding and capacity, but I didn¡¯t have anywhere near this much strength when I took on that Henosis leader. ¡°Once I could, I gave them the biggest Pyre you can imagine. You would be surprised just how many resources there are out in the east, just waiting to be burned. So please don¡¯t be worried. I made sure they could each pass into the Eternal Inferno without difficulty.¡± ¡°It appears I owe you my gratitude,¡± he says. ¡°But what of these Henosis, the water wielders? Their leader may be dead, but where are the rest of them?¡± ¡°Ah. There¡¯s no need to worry about any more of them coming.¡± I gesture to Leal. ¡°One of her kind, an ursu, killed them all after they invaded their country.¡± ¡°A single ursu?¡± ¡°Yep. Tore. I¡¯m actually good friends with him now,¡± I say. ¡°So, uh, how exactly was Teine captured?¡± Even this close to the lava lake, the heat already disturbs both my friends. I can¡¯t imagine a bunch of albanics sending in an effective attack, regardless of whether they are water mages or not. ¡°Ambushed during a regular hunt. We didn¡¯t realise the water wielders had our mountains surrounded until we sent out a search. Almost lost them too. Those bastards left after only a few days. By the time our gathered tribes chased them, they¡¯d fled over the southern ocean.¡± While he¡¯s talking, I notice Leal¡¯s attention flickering between both me and Tanwyn. She¡¯s almost unable to sit still as she switches from staring at me curiously to analysing the elder¡¯s body. I guess a few minutes without hostility is enough for interest to breach its suppression. ¡°Maybe you should introduce these friends of yours,¡± Tanwyn says, amused at Leal¡¯s attitude. He seems unfazed by her being a water mage, but I¡¯m not sure whether that¡¯s because he thinks he could kill her before I can stop him, or he truly trusts me. ¡°This is Gr¨ªmr. He¡¯s fought by my side for a long time now.¡± I wave a hand at the alicanto, who nods respectfully to the elder. ¡°Hmm. I¡¯m unfamiliar with your species. What are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a portian, but the body I inhabit is an alicanto, a bird of prey from the other side of the Titan Alps.¡± ¡°Ah, a portian, I see. It¡¯s surprising to hear any lesser than Eldest Ember could climb those peaks, though.¡± ¡°No, we went through,¡± I say before realising. ¡°Wait, you know the portians?¡± ¡°Of course, I know of all the eastern races. You didn¡¯t think your elders were completely unaware of the outside world, did you?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Well, I admit most knowledge we have is centuries old, and the ursu are also new, but we know enough to protect ourselves. Though, this Henosis¡¯ recent incursion has pointed out flaws in our retaliation. Armies and elite we can deal with, but squads that flee before we can organise the tribes for retaliation?¡± Tanwyn shakes his head. ¡°The grand elders will gather in later this year to discuss this issue.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I¡¯m stunned that the elders knew so much and I never had a clue. It really would have been helpful to know about the eastern races when I found myself stranded amongst them. Also, isn¡¯t a few years too long to discuss a response? It¡¯s already been, what, four years since Henosis began their abductions? This whole time, Leal¡¯s fidgeting has done nothing but grow in frequency. She¡¯s done well to not blurt out whatever questions that are building up in that head of hers. I should probably introduce her now. ¡°This is Leal. She helped me a lot after I lost my tribe.¡± Leal finally reaches her breaking point, and my introduction seems to give her the final push. ¡°Why do you keep your flames visible when Solvei doesn¡¯t? What do you know of the massive cube to our south? You know inscriptions? How do yours differ from every other race?¡± I create a small hand with physical flame over her shoulder to nudge her back into her seat. She at least has the decency to look ashamed when she realises how forward she was, but thankfully, Tanwyn isn¡¯t insulted. Instead, he laughs. A deep belly laugh that reminds me of my pop. ¡°I¡¯m uncertain what cube you are referring to, but each of those questions are things your friend should be able to answer.¡± ¡°And I already have answered them,¡± I grumble. ¡°There¡¯s no harm in getting a second opinion,¡± Leal says. ¡°Besides, your answer to the difference between inscriptions was far less than satisfactory. This is one of your elders, right? I¡¯m sure he knows plenty more than you.¡± ¡°Well, yes. But-¡± ¡°Apologies, young Leal, but I am not about to speak on our knowledge and secrets to an outsider. If your friend decides to, then that is her prerogative, but I must keep my silence,¡± Elder Tanwyn says, to Leal¡¯s disappointment. ¡°But there¡¯s one who has yet to introduce themselves.¡± His gaze digs into me and I realise I haven¡¯t. ¡°I am interested in which tribe raised such a promising young ¨¢ed.¡± ¡°I am Solvei, of the Vatra tribe.¡± I state with pride. They may all be gone, but I¡¯ll never abandon our name. ¡°Vatra? Cyrus¡¯ tribe? He¡¯s dead?¡± Tanwyn is genuinely shocked. ¡°He was always a terribly cautious man, so it¡¯s surprising to hear he fell to the water wielders.¡± ¡°Ah, no. My tribe fell to the Titan.¡± ¡°That¡­ that is quite unfortunate. I hope each burn again in the Eternal Inferno.¡± I just nod. Tanwyn changes the subject before the silence can linger. ¡°I¡¯m grateful for what you have done for our lost tribesmen, so please, what can I do for you? Why don¡¯t I introduce you to everyone down in the lake? They would love to hear the tales I¡¯m sure you have.¡± I glance over to my two friends, appearing rather out of place here on this volcano of ¨¢ed. For the first time in this trip, I consider it might not have been a great idea to drag them along. Much of what I will find enjoyable is at best awkward for them, and torturous at worst. ¡°Thank you, but maybe another time. Could you direct me toward the Agglomerate?¡± I lift Elder Angarika¡¯s halberd. ¡°I should return this to someone who could better use it.¡± Also, I really want to see it. ¡°Sure, it¡¯s directly north from here.¡± He points to the Titan alps rising far over the horizon. ¡°It sits nestled just before the wedge in the mountain, see?¡± Where he points, there is an obvious change in direction for the overall alps, where the left side is fully illuminated, the right is half buried in the shade of the mid-morning sun. ¡°It¡¯s a good three month travel from here.¡± Tanwyn¡¯s sight falls on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s wings. ¡°Though I guess that wouldn¡¯t be an issue with flight. With your binding as it is, you can fly yourself. I do often regret never taking the path of binding, but such is a lifetime of dedication¡­ which also raises the question of how one so young could go further than any other. Don¡¯t tell me, but be careful of the old eagle flock. Once they discover how advanced yours is, they will never stop hounding you until they pull the answer from you.¡± Huh, sounds similar to a certain particular group I¡¯m already familiar with. ¡°One last thing. If your friends are already struggling under the heat of our volcano, then they cannot enter the Agglomerate.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I mean, this is a volcano, after all. How could the Agglomerate be hotter than that? ¡°Well, there¡¯s an outer section that is safe for tribes with children, but the forge ¡ª where you¡¯ll want to take that halberd ¡ª is deep in the centre. Far from what is safe for any except an ¨¢ed elder.¡± Is the Agglomerate some larger volcano? Maybe a thermal vent or something within the earth. ¡°What¡¯s it like?¡± Tanwyn rises to his feet, a smirk plastered on his face. ¡°If you don¡¯t know, then I refuse to be the one that ruins that surprise. Now, I should go reassure the curious ones down below.¡± Down in the lava lake, a dozen more ¨¢ed have poked their heads above the surface. ¡°You are welcome to join.¡± They must live within the molten rock. I want to look, but I¡¯m not about to leave these two sitting here, scorching for longer than needed. ¡°No, I think we should continue on. Thank you for the directions, and again, I¡¯m sorry about Teine.¡± Elder Tanwyn¡¯s gaze sticks firmly to his tribe down at the bottom of the crater. ¡°One last thing. Be wary of the grand elders. It might be best if you do not accept their kindling flame. You can hardly be blamed considering your age, but you have committed taboo, and not only one. Some elders will not be understanding.¡± ¡°Taboo? What do you mean?¡± ¡°You breached the laws of the grand elders. First, you travelled beyond the wasteland. That alone would be acceptable, considering the circumstances, but it¡¯s the other taboo that will raise a fuss. You raised your capacity far beyond sustainable levels. Maybe they will be understanding, but don¡¯t count on it. Keep your energy hidden if you can.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± What I¡¯ve been doing is wrong? But why? I can understand not wanting to grow energy over heat, control, or binding; the resources simply cannot handle that sort of growth. I don¡¯t regret growing as I have. It is the only reason I¡¯m alive. What I don¡¯t understand is why travelling beyond the wasteland is taboo? Sure it¡¯s dangerous, but shouldn¡¯t that be on the ¨¢ed in question to take the risk? ¡°Goodbye for now, and good luck.¡± I nod absently as Tanwyn makes his way back to the Logi tribe. Now that he¡¯s out of the way, Leal once again can¡¯t hold herself back. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me you had to go through so much in the hands of the Henosis?¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t important.¡± ¡°What do you mean, it wasn¡¯t important? I never realised they were killing ¨¢ed in cages. What else aren¡¯t you telling me?¡± Leal¡¯s voice cracks as her voice raises. I¡¯ve not seen her this angry since our reunion. ¡°Girls, leave that for later. It¡¯s hot and I need some airflow through my feathers.¡± Gr¨ªmr pushes in before an argument can begin. Leal, steaming as she is, relents, but as she climbs up onto the alicanto¡¯s back, she gives me another glare. ¡°You are going to tell me everything that you experienced. Leave nothing out.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± I say simply. Leal has never been this pushy for anything other than her mage markings or inscriptions. Gr¨ªmr spreads his wings as I climb beside Leal. Down along the lava lake, Tanwyn speaks to the ¨¢ed floating in the molten rock. A few stand on the surrounding shore. Some cry out in grief, while most stand solemn, quiet at the unfortunate but expected news he shares. I wish I could have done something more for Teine, but I¡¯d been nothing but a weak child when I met her. If I had the strength I do now, then I would have been able to fight back. If increasing my capacity as I have is taboo, then I would gladly commit taboo again should it mean I can protect myself and those I care for. Chapter 176: Before the Goal The next few days I spent telling Leal ¡ª and Gr¨ªmr, for the parts he didn¡¯t already know ¡ª everything I¡¯ve done, this time not avoiding the details of hardship that I¡¯d originally not wanted her to know. From being used to power Henosis¡¯ weapon, to the struggles I faced after being dragged beneath the Titan Alps, I left nothing out. I have moved past much of what has happened, so telling her is no issue. In fact, it feels slightly relieving to get it off my chest. Leal listens intently, and we fall into a silence once I¡¯ve finished. Gr¨ªmr is content to just focus on the flight ahead, but Leal¡¯s silence is contemplative. I hope this doesn¡¯t mean she¡¯s reverting to not talking to me, but I don¡¯t bother her while she¡¯s absorbed in her own world. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Leal says suddenly, after hours of silence. ¡°In my anger, I treated you unfairly. I know you couldn¡¯t have meant to hurt Mum. You helped me even after I tried to kill you, and I still sent you away. I¡¯ve been unreasonable, but I want to make this right. Despite all that has happened, your friendship still means a lot to me. So, I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°No, there¡¯s nothing you need to be sorry for. I¡¯m still the one-¡± ¡°Just accept it, Solvei.¡± Leal gives me a slight grin. ¡°I¡¯d like to go back to how we used to be.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯d love that.¡± I may or may not have let out a squeak when she pulled me into a hug. A tight grip wouldn¡¯t be the worst, but she¡¯s thankfully gentle. No other option before me than to lean into it. My head in Leal¡¯s chest, I catch Gr¨ªmr¡¯s eye from the corner of my sight. I turn in Leal¡¯s hands only to find him gazing dead ahead, but the amusement lacing his eyes is clear as day. Ah, whatever, I¡¯m going to enjoy this while I can. ??? Our progress over the wasteland has been quick, and if not for the sandstorm raging ahead of us, we might have even reached the Agglomerate by tomorrow. The Titan Alps loom far overhead and completely block the moon from sight. It¡¯s strange that regardless of whether we are in the wastelands to the south of the mountains, or in the pact nations to the east, the Titan Alps always block out the moon. Considering the moon is always northwest, it isn¡¯t surprising that it remains behind the incomprehensibly tall mountains. What is strange, is the unmoving orb always seems to be directly behind the mountains rather than off to the side. It would make sense if the Alps were straight, but we have maps that paint them curving northward along the pact nations. Are those maps wrong? ¡°Should we go around? Or will we be fine to cut right through?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks as we head toward the sandstorm that reaches along the horizon. I¡¯ve only ever experienced them from the ground, so I don¡¯t know how Gr¨ªmr will handle the winds. Best not to risk it. We could go around, but with how expansive the storm is, we¡¯ll travel a long way off course. I don¡¯t really want to veer off our travel route; Tanwyn¡¯s directions were clear, but I¡¯d rather not make any mistakes in the search for the Agglomerate. I have no idea what to look for, after all. ¡°I think we should camp for the night. If we fly back a bit, we should avoid the sandstorm.¡± ¡°Will it be gone by tomorrow?¡± Leal asks. ¡°Doubt it. But our path should be clear. Only the worst storms are large enough to pelt an area for more than a day.¡± We fly back a few minutes until a lone rocky outcrop appears amongst the sand. Leal and Gr¨ªmr have discovered that the drain on their water and hydration is much worse when in contact with the sands, so whenever we can, we¡¯ll rest on rock-lands. It isn¡¯t always a viable option, especially out in the central wasteland, but we have managed. The struggles the two have gone through with the help of flight really hammers home how desperate the Henosis had been to power their weapons. They do have their cars, but unless they had some incredibly advanced inscriptions to keep themselves hydrated, they could never have pushed into our lands as far as they did. As soon as we land, Gr¨ªmr slams his wings into the rock. He carves out a lip under the earth to give himself a place in shade to rest. Leal sets up her small workstation of inscription tools and immediately dives into more of her designing and experimenting. There is still plenty of time in the day to burn before we need to rest. Well, Gr¨ªmr and I hardly need the sleep, but there is no rush. I am excited to see the Agglomerate, but I don¡¯t plan to stay for more than a few days at most. The environmental conditions of the wasteland clearly aren¡¯t supportive toward my friends. They don¡¯t complain, but it isn¡¯t difficult to see the burden it puts on them.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. It is so close now. We will arrive at the Agglomerate Mum always told me about in only a couple of days. I can hardly believe it. It¡¯s exciting, but also terrifying. I can¡¯t even pin my finger on why I¡¯m so nervous to reach the ¨¢ed city, but I am. So long have I wanted to see it, and now that I¡¯m on the cusp of seeing the Agglomerate for myself, I hesitate. What if it doesn¡¯t live up to my expectations? The village in the Agni mountains left a lot to be desired, so I can¡¯t help but fear that everything I¡¯ve already seen in my life has spoiled how impressed I¡¯ll be. I pull out my mum¡¯s glass marble. The soft glow of the pink flame is the same as it was all those years ago. It has always been a mystery. The strange colour and odd stillness of the flame, but mostly how it has lasted so long. Pop gifted this to Mum, and he¡¯d had it since he was a child. The grand elders of the Agglomerate are really old, right? Maybe they¡¯ll know what it is and how it was frozen. I¡¯m not about to back away from facing the Agglomerate, but I can¡¯t just sit around like this when I¡¯m so close. Jumping to my feet, I dash out into the sands. ¡°I won¡¯t be far,¡± I shout back to the two in their fresh cove. There is no plan. I just need to move my flames, and considering I¡¯m trying to limit how often I spread my fire, it leaves me feeling pent up. The excess energy wants to burn out over the horizon, but I have to hold them back. Instead, I move my body. Each part of my form switches between physical and not, pushing me to move quicker without expending energy. As I run, I lengthen my legs, stretch my arms, give myself more reach with my spear as I strike out against an invisible enemy. After a few practice strikes, I push the spear through the side of my chest as I shift to the form of a fennec fox, which gives me the benefit of a quadruped''s running speed. The spear holds firm inside my torso, poking out both my sides as I run across the sands. Having such a long pole reaching out both sides of me makes turning a lot harder than expected, so I twist the spear within my body so it comes out the top of my head, and the grip follows along this form¡¯s tail. There are some really strange things I can do now that my binding is so high. Holding things inside my torso would have been impossible right after the Void changed me, but I have improved enough since that such an odd way to hold and wield a weapon in such a way is possible. With the weapon poking out my forehead, running is made far more difficult. It sends my balance way off and only because of all the training Bunny had me do can I keep moving. It may be possible to wield a weapon like this, but it is hardly helpful. I can¡¯t think of a single scenario where it wouldn¡¯t just be better to fight in my standard form, or shift to a bird to fly off. Regardless of its lack of beneficial use, I find it fun to explore possibilities like this. Now that my transformations have reached a speed that I can switch forms in the heat of the moment, who knows when one of my forms might become helpful? I run around, playing with forms for a while. Never do I move further than I can feel Leal and Gr¨ªmr, and I keep an eye on the sandstorm beyond the horizon. Eventually, it is dark, and I have to stop. I return to my natural form and redress myself, an annoyance that I have to deal with every time I change. I¡¯ve become pretty good at it, but sometimes I wish I could just leave it on when I take other forms. Kinda odd now that I think about it that I only feel I need to wear clothing in this form, but that¡¯s likely a result of ¨¢ed tribes wearing armour wherever they are. Even those not expected to fight do. But considering the albanics that look like our solid forms wear clothing without being exposed to the danger of the wasteland, it might just be natural expression¡­ or we imitated them. It can¡¯t be an accident we look similar, right? Who came first, the ¨¢ed or the albanic? Is that even the right question to ask? Albanics cannot change their forms as easily as we can. Did my ancestors of the past adapt their form? Even ¨¢ed with a normal level of binding can alter their forms over years, so it isn¡¯t impossible if everyone considered the form better than any other. These questions aren¡¯t at all important, but they are some of the things I¡¯ve been thinking about over the years. Questions that resurface now that I¡¯m so close to the Agglomerate. In almost any case I can think of, an ¨¢ed will either be accompanied by others that have been to the city before, or they themselves will be familiar. As far as I know, there has never been an ¨¢ed to visit the agglomerate without guidance, so what if there is a process I don¡¯t know about? What if I break another of these taboo without realising I¡¯m making a mistake at all? I poke my head in the newly cut cave as I try to settle my doubts. Leal has fallen asleep with her head in a notebook, but Gr¨ªmr¡¯s eye follows me as I drop beside them. ¡°You¡¯ll be fine, Solvei,¡± he says as I lean against the wall. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You¡¯re worrying. While I don¡¯t know much about ¨¢ed culture, your people have the same solidarity I¡¯ve seen amongst the ¨¢infean and portian. I don¡¯t believe you will be unwelcome, but whatever happens will happen. There¡¯s not much use stressing yourself over what-ifs.¡± ¡°Right. Yeah, you¡¯re right,¡± I say. ¡°I¡¯ve just been gone so long, and this city is supposed to be incredibly important to my people, but I hardly know the first thing about it.¡± ¡°That is fine. What you don¡¯t know, you can always find out. Think of it this way: would your tribe have left you without such important information?¡± ¡°There were plenty of things my tribe didn¡¯t tell me,¡± I say. ¡°But did they ever hide anything vital to your safety?¡± ¡°I guess not.¡± ¡°Then trust that anything you may not know would not bring you harm.¡± It¡¯s not really harm to myself that I¡¯m worried about, though. What if I make a fool of myself? What if I¡¯m not supposed to bring outsiders to the Agglomerate? Elder Tanwyn didn¡¯t stop me, so it should be fine, but the possibility remains. ¡°Alright, thanks Gr¨ªmr.¡± He¡¯s right that I shouldn¡¯t continue to stress. Whatever happens will happen. I just hope things go smoothly. Chapter 177: Arrival The sandstorm had veered far enough west by morning that we can continue onward without deviating from our line. It might sound strange that we¡¯d miss a city by making a slight detour, but when dealing with such immense distances as is apparent in the wasteland, even a degree off target could be enough to miss a landmark, regardless of how fast we move. Every hour in flight brings us ever closer to the Agglomerate. I¡¯m glad I have Gr¨ªmr to fly for me. If I was the one flying, I¡¯d probably drop out of the sky in nervousness. My eyes stay glued ahead as we travel further north than I¡¯ve ever been while in the wasteland. The horizon is gone. The distinct end of the sands ahead only rise into the altitude of the Titan Alps. They tower over us like never-ending walls. We are about as close to the peaks now as my team¡¯s cabin was over in the pact nations. As we get closer to the wedge in the Alps that supposedly holds the Agglomerate, a bright white light shines from ahead. It is too bright to make out anything clear, blinding us to anything near it. There is no doubt in my mind that is the Agglomerate. It¡¯s impossible to see from here, but the shine is a fair way up the slope of the Alps still. Not so far up to be beyond the steppes, but still a long flight to go. Both my partners have noticed it as well. Leal even covers her eyes from the intensity of it. The markings around the side of her head glow and she lowers her arm, but by the way she¡¯s squinting, I don¡¯t think she can make out the city yet either. After another half an hour of flight, the light disappears behind a dune of sand. The higher altitudes along the base of the Titan Alps don¡¯t have any ice or snow as it did both on the other side and on the pact nations side, so I have to imagine the desert spreads high enough up the side of the Alps to prevent that sort of build up. I wonder what the crevasse would look like without that massive ice wall in the way. We continue onward, the altitude of the sands below rising with each passing minute as the ground slopes upward. Another hour of flight passes and the sun lowers to the west, soon to be obscured by the rising peaks. Before the early sunset, we finally pass over the massive dune and the Agglomerate comes into sight. It is difficult to comprehend what I¡¯m seeing at first. The bright shine glistens off an entire mountaintop, but while intense, it isn¡¯t enough to blind me from the immense city that lies before us. I¡¯d been afraid the Agglomerate would leave me disappointed, but this¡­ this is greater than anything the other races have created. As I should have expected. A mountain stands alone in an otherwise flat plateau. The peak glows with light reflected from the eternal inferno, casting rays of various colours across the sands. It is a disservice to call the Agglomerate a city; it is far too large to be something so simple. The mountain, which just by looking is clearly the Agglomerate, is entirely made of glass. Sharp transparent pillars stand innumerable along the sides of the mountain from the base to the tip. The vast assortment of glass towers create a jagged dome, guiding the last light of day into intense beams that leave the core of the Agglomerate glowing with heat. I find myself grinning at the sight. Mum was right, it really is beautiful. It¡¯s stunning that it even exists. How did they make such a place? The amount of heat and skill needed to create clean glass, not to mention the sheer energy required to melt so much sand, makes it seem impossible, and yet it rises before me. This wouldn¡¯t have been possible with all the flames I¡¯d had during the fight with Kalma. Because of its sheer size, the Agglomerate is visible even as far out as we are. Another thirty minutes we have to travel until we¡¯ll reach it. As the sun slowly creeps below the peaks of the Titan Alps, the reflections across the Agglomerate dim. This close to the massive mountain range, the typical reds and oranges of sunset don¡¯t appear. As the sun shrouds the glass city in shadow, the portion of the sky closest to the Alps grows dark, shifting from bright blue to the dark of night. As large as the Titan Alps are, they cast shadows on the sky itself. But the Agglomerate remains bright. The glowing white core in the centre of the mountain channels light across the crystalline glass, illuminating each shard-like pillar. Now that the Agglomerate is not reflecting the intense rays of the sun, the trio of burning eagles flying toward us is obvious. A group to welcome us, maybe? It¡¯s more likely they are here to scout us. I doubt any normal tribes come flying in together. Those with high binding are rare enough as is. Two of the birds burn with an orange flame while the other with yellow. None of their heat is all that impressive. It could still be possible they hide their stronger flames, but considering how long it would have taken these three to achieve binding high enough to become birds in the first place, maybe they simply haven¡¯t devoted themselves to growing the intensity of their flames. It is only when they are within a thousand metres that I notice there¡¯s a fourth bird amongst them. This one doesn¡¯t visibly glow. Instead, its feathers appear solid. They must have the greatest binding of the lot. One of the orange flame eagles suddenly breaks off from the group and flies back the way they came. Each of the remaining ¨¢ed spread wide around us, clearly intent on watching us rather than coming close to talk. Those that focus on their binding rarely do so for any fighting capability it provides, so if I¡¯m assuming right, they are watching us while an ¨¢ed closer to the Agglomerate waits. I¡¯d been hoping not to make any mistakes on my way into the city, but I guess I already have. They probably assume some unknown creature flying straight toward the Agglomerate intends to be hostile.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Well, I don¡¯t know that for sure, but the bird shaped ¨¢ed keep their distance rather than approaching, so in the likely chance that they assume we are hostile, I need to calm things before it reaches that point. ¡°Slow down for a bit, will you Gr¨ªmr?¡± I ask before jumping off his back. As I fall through the air, my body changes rapidly to my favourite falcon form. My words are rather pointless, as Gr¨ªmr is already in the motion of easing back, but I¡¯m hoping my words carry to the trio now circling us. If they know the two are sapient, and working with me, then our talk is more likely to go along smoothly. I dart forward, coming to a glide a dozen metres from the bird with the most control over its form. My flames slowly solidify along my feathers, suppressing the illumination identically to the ¨¢ed before me. ¡°You! Who are you!¡± the ¨¢ed sounds shocked. ¡°Since when was there an elder with greater binding than me?¡± Before I have the time to react, she¡¯s flown right in my face and spreads her flames over me, forcefully requesting to flow through mine, as Tanwyn did not long ago. The elder¡¯s words remain in my mind, so I reject her probing heat and flap away from her. ¡°Huh. I don¡¯t recognise you at all.¡± She relents on her flames, easily accepting that I don¡¯t want her touch. ¡°Where have you been hiding? Don¡¯t tell me I¡¯ve somehow missed you every time you¡¯ve come here in the past few centuries?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never been to the Agglomerate before.¡± ¡°Really? I didn¡¯t think it was possible to begin the path of binding without spending time here.¡± Despite having already rejected her flames, she spins around me, inspecting my form. ¡°So, I have two theories. First, you wouldn¡¯t happen to be an old Grand Elder that¡¯s been in seclusion for millennia?¡± ¡°No?¡± do we even have elders besides the Eldest that have lived that long? ¡°Ah! Then it¡¯s the second. You found a better way to raise your binding outside the wasteland.¡± How did she figure it out so quick? Tanwyn said to keep it from the grand elders, but even the first ¨¢ed I met discovered it. Is it even possible to hide it now? Forgetting that we¡¯re soaring a thousand metres in the air, she wraps her wings around me and presses her head into mine. Her eyes stare into me with ferocity. ¡°If you tell me how you did it, I¡¯ll hide your taboo from the other grand elders.¡± We plummet in moments. Gr¨ªmr and Leal¡¯s thermal presence dive after us, followed close behind by the two remaining ¨¢ed. ¡°I can tell you how, but I am certain you won¡¯t want to replicate it.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s fine. Just knowing that there are other ways to achieve greater binding has already got me excited.¡± Her wings squeeze me tighter as she squeals in joy. Really wish I¡¯d become more comfortable in a larger bird form right now; she¡¯s double my size and because her flames are as non-physical as mine, she can stop me slipping out of her grasp. ¡°You and I are going to be wonderful friends in the coming centuries. I can just see it.¡± She¡¯s forgotten we¡¯re still falling, hasn¡¯t she? Both of us crash into the sand. Her grip on me finally releases as our bodies spread over the sand before reforming. Now on the ground, I stand in my natural bipedal form as this ¨¢ed with binding near mine slowly shifts in imitation. While mine was only a few seconds, her shift only takes a minute, far faster than Elder Enya¡¯s thirty. ¡°Sorry. Sorry. I forgot myself again.¡± As she finishes forming her body, flames swirl around her before solidifying into a shirt, pants, strapped boots and a couple of short leather sheathes. Did she just materialise clothing with her flames? Is that even possible? Well, I know it¡¯s possible to make it look like clothing, but they are far too solid to be physical flames, and it is proven as she digs a pair of small knives out of the sand and sheathes them in the scabbards. Those are real, not simply physical flames. Before I can ask how she does that, Gr¨ªmr slams into the ground behind me, sending sand everywhere. He steps forward with grinding feathers to stand above me protectively. While I can understand how it might have looked, I honestly don¡¯t think she meant any harm. Falls like that are clearly just as ineffective to her as they are to me. ¡°Grand Elder,¡± the two other ¨¢ed shout in unison as they fly down to her side. Thin wafts of physical flame hold them steady at eye level. They don¡¯t bother changing forms, likely to take much longer for them than both myself and this apparent Grand Elder before me. So she is a Grand Elder. Of course the first one to discover my taboo has to be one of the leading figures amongst our kind. ¡°You can¡¯t keep doing this,¡± the bird with burning yellow feathers says. ¡°Grand Elder Odqan is going to take his anger out on us eagles again.¡± ¡°Forget him, he can whine and complain all he likes,¡± the Grand Elder before me says dismissively. ¡°What¡¯s important is she has a higher binding than I do.¡± As she points at me, both flaming eagles snap their heads my way. Immediately the yellow flame one forgets his complaints and flies in a circle around me. His flames wash over me, but like the Grand Elder, I simply refuse access. ¡°Impossible. She can¡¯t be older than half a century.¡± ¡°Actually, I believe her visual appearance is accurate.¡± Despite having already blocked her probing flames, I feel more of the grand elder¡¯s trying to inspect me along with this bird still circling. ¡°I do not believe it,¡± he says before addressing me for the first time. ¡°Hey, please let us have a look? Just for a second?¡± He pleads. A sigh escapes the other eagle. ¡°Elder Yalun, Nuri, this is why most tribes avoid us when they return. Learn some restraint.¡± Nuri backs off, somehow able to look embarrassed despite retaining his bird form. Grand Elder Yalun, on the other hand, steps away with a smirk on her face. She isn¡¯t at all fazed at being reprimanded by an ¨¢ed clearly younger and weaker than her. Yalun¡¯s eyes inspect both Gr¨ªmr and Leal, but quickly return to me. ¡°So, it¡¯s your first time to our Agglomerate? Then please, let me be your guide. It¡¯s late afternoon now, and the city is out of sunlight, so the peripheral sections should be cool enough for those friends of yours.¡± I¡¯m surprised she hasn¡¯t questioned them accompanying me. It isn¡¯t like non-¨¢ed come this far into the wasteland with any frequency, if at all, but I am glad she doesn¡¯t oppose them joining. Yalun pulls both her daggers from their scabbards and both are clearly relic weapons. I never knew they made relic knifes. As she shifts back to her bird form, she places both knives inside her chest. It works much better when the weapons are light than trying to do so with a spear. Her clothing and scabbards return to flame, and as much as I¡¯d like to pass my own through hers to see what is actually going on, I fear she would take that as an invitation to do the same. ¡°So?¡± she asks. ¡°Shall we return to the skies? You can walk if you want, but I know you don¡¯t.¡± Her smirk shows just how confident she is that anyone with flight would never choose to walk, but she¡¯s right, and within a few seconds, I¡¯m back in the air by her side. Gr¨ªmr and Leal follow close behind and the two other eagles flank us. One taboo is revealed to an elder, and she hardly seems to care. Maybe there¡¯s nothing to worry about after all. I look forward to the mountain of glass still glistening from the bright core held deep within. I¡¯m finally here. I¡¯m finally at the Agglomerate. And it is phenomenal. Chapter 178: The Agglomerate ¡°Guests?¡± The orange-fire bird that left immediately after spotting us has returned. Their question is simple and stiff, but she flies by our side until Elder Yalun answers her. ¡°Yep,¡± the grand elder by my side says, only for the new ¨¢ed to nod and fly ahead again. She¡¯s likely a messenger bird. It isn¡¯t surprising that there are those on guard around the Agglomerate, considering how close we are to the Titan Alps. ¡°Do you get guests often? Non-¨¢ed, I mean?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah. Every half century or so, there¡¯s always one curious explorer that finds their way here.¡± She spins in the air and flies on the back of her wings so she can look up at Gr¨ªmr and Leal without moving away from me. ¡°By the way, you¡¯re an ursu, right? One of our new neighbours.¡± ¡°New?¡± Leal mutters. ¡°We¡¯ve been there for over two hundred years.¡± ¡°Oh? Well, I only heard about you replacing the albanics to our east a bit over a century ago. But I need to ask about those markings of yours. What type of mage are you?¡± Leal hesitates, so I speak for her. ¡°She¡¯s a water mage. That¡¯s not going to be a problem, I hope?¡± ¡°Nah, nah. No issue. You¡¯ll have a supervisor follow you around, but there aren¡¯t any tribes here with kids at the moment, so restrictions are lax.¡± Huh? That is far different from the treatment I¡¯d been expecting. I¡¯m not complaining, but after the wariness shown by the Logi tribe, I thought it would be more difficult to have her accepted. Apparently my thoughts are clear to Yalun, as she giggles. ¡°You know, water mages are the most common guests we have. They¡¯re better at getting through the sands than other low-binding creatures.¡± She flips upright. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong though, we are only so welcoming because we have warriors we trust. Don¡¯t expect most of those here to be welcoming if you let it be known what you are. Especially after the recent attacks.¡± I have so many questions, but by the time I settle on one, Elder Yalun guides us to the ground a couple hundred metres before the first glass pillar. A single ¨¢ed stands waiting with a glaive held by his side. His perfectly controlled form gives away no hints at the strength of his flames, but his relaxed yet disciplined stance reveals confidence in his strength. We land on the ground and it becomes immediately apparent that it isn¡¯t just sand below my feet. I kick a thin layer of the grains to reveal glass. A subtle glow reflects up from below, but I cannot see the end. Just how deep does the glass go? Gr¨ªmr¡¯s massive talons impact the earth much harder than he needed to. With all the weight centred on his sharp clawed feet, I¡¯m surprised the glass doesn¡¯t shatter. Actually, as I look close, the glass isn¡¯t even scratched from his talons. ¡°I welcome guests and-¡± his gaze penetrates my being, inspecting me from head to toe. ¡°Unfamiliar kin to our Agglomerate.¡± His focus returns to the two non-¨¢ed. ¡°I am Grand Elder Odqan. You are free to wander the outer shards and ask questions as you please, but do not expect all answers to be forthcoming. I will follow you around to monitor you, so do be careful of your actions while visiting.¡± Another Grand Elder? Was he here to fight if we¡¯d been hostile? Really, it¡¯s an incredible difference in organisation than what I¡¯m used to after all my time at war in the pact nations. Over there, they refuse to bring out their strongest until the last possible moment, but here, it seems our strongest and oldest are those quickest to battle. ¡°Great!¡± Yalun places her hand on my shoulder. ¡°With that sorted, I¡¯ll take this one with me.¡± ¡°What? But-¡± I turn to my friends, not wanting to leave them alone as soon as we got here. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about them. They¡¯ll be treated well with Odqan sticking by them,¡± she says before leaning in to whisper in a playful lilt. ¡°Besides, ta~boo.¡± ¡°Yalun. You, want to be her guide?¡± Elder Odqan clearly finds her actions suspicious. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Oh, you know, I want to know who taught her,¡± she says as she pushes me past Odqan toward the Agglomerate. ¡°Sure¡­¡± her words don¡¯t disperse his suspicions, but he doesn¡¯t stop her. I cast my sight back to Leal and Gr¨ªmr, concerned to leave them alone. Leal can hardly keep her gaze away from the massive rising mountain of glass, but Gr¨ªmr notices my worry. ¡°We¡¯ll be fine, Solvei. You do your thing. We won¡¯t be far.¡± I don¡¯t believe either side will start a fight unnecessarily, but most ¨¢ed never see another sapient race in their lives, so it¡¯s concerning what their reaction might be without me to stand as intermediary. So, being led by the hand, we finally move into the Agglomerate. Odqan¡¯s voice carries his explanations and warnings as he and my friends follow at a far calmer pace. The three eagle ¨¢ed remain flying around the two of us as Yalun makes me jog with her. She is incredibly impatient for someone who¡¯s apparently lived for such a long time. I¡¯m surprised she hasn¡¯t encouraged me to switch back and fly again. ¡°You should stop transforming so quick,¡± she says as we close in on the start of the Agglomerate. ¡°It would attract far too much attention if others find out your binding is greater than mine. How old are you, anyway? Solvei, right?¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°Maybe fourteen now?¡± I answer, unsure. ¡°And yeah, Solvei.¡± I should probably make proper introductions, but now that we¡¯re heading into the Agglomerate, I can¡¯t take my eyes off the many giant glass blades rising from the ground before us. Each spike rises only high enough to allow an overall dome shape to form around the mountain within. Only a dozen metres now, and we¡¯ll be walking between two major glass pillars and be within the Agglomerate. The solid ground beneath me is no longer hidden by a layer of sand. Soft clinks ring out from each step and echo off the long wall of glass. The sheer difference between this and how the Agni tribes live is astonishing. If each pillar wasn¡¯t so symmetrically placed and formed to such perfect heights to keep the convex shape of the dome, I¡¯d think it a natural formation. With a place as massive as this, why do we continue to wander the wasteland? Why not do the same as all those eastern races and settle? Oh, right. Not enough resources. My first step within the dome leaves me awed at its size and unnerved by the emptiness within. There are a few warriors standing at the edge of the dome ¡ª each with their own relic ¡ª but besides them, there isn¡¯t anyone around. The warriors watch us pass with nothing more than idle curiosity, their attention more on the strange races following behind us. ¡°Where is everyone?¡± I thought this was supposed to be a city? ¡°Hmm? None of the tribes would settle this far on the outskirts. Not unless they have a newspawn child. There are more tribes here than usual at the moment, and while they like to find their own place within the Agglomerate, there are areas for gathering. The nearest one should be visible through a couple of glass shards.¡± She points into the nearest wall, where there are small distorted lights in the distance. I expect us to follow the glass pillar around until we reach the congregation, but instead, we continue forward. ¡°Are we not going to the gathering area?¡± ¡°Nope. We¡¯re going to my domain.¡± Yalun turns to the three birds still following close. ¡°You three can leave now.¡± The eagles share glances between themselves before two fly off, moving to the peaks of the massive glass shards. Only one remains, the bird with warmer yellow flames. They look like they want to protest, but a raised eye from the Grand Elder has them hesitate, before they join the other two above. ¡°They¡¯re good at hiding it, but they¡¯re just as curious as I am about you,¡± Elder Yalun says. ¡°They should have returned to their posts as soon as we¡¯d met with Odqan.¡± She finally lets go of my arm and begins her transformation once more. ¡°Now, come. Change quick while there¡¯s nobody around. I¡¯m taking you to my chambers and walking through the core will take far longer than simply flying.¡± For some inexplicable reason, I get the feeling that being invited to enter a Grand Elder¡¯s chambers is not particularly common. Sighing, I do as she says. My falcon form is much smaller than her eagle one, but as much as I¡¯m tempted to increase my size to match her, I¡¯m unfamiliar with the eagle form, so I wouldn¡¯t be able to hide my flames. We weave through the glass towers and head closer to the main mountain of the Agglomerate. A light gust blows outward and upward, carrying a heat that grows more intense each second. The few lights I can see distorted through glass must be the gatherings Yalun mentioned, but few from this point on remain in cold enough air to be comfortable for Leal or Gr¨ªmr. My friends cannot join me from this point on. I¡¯m curious about where all this heat comes from. The major glowing core beneath the mountain is visible from anywhere, but what exactly is the source? Is there a magma vent beneath this mountain? But the Agni tribes live in a volcano and even that wasn¡¯t all that hot. It is clear the core is far greater than that. Yalun leads up along the mountainside now. The mostly flat glass floor from before has sloped upwards enough that I doubt anyone could climb with what little grip the glass provides. Thankfully, flying avoids that completely. We rise along the glass mountain, passing major protruding spikes until Yalun pulls me into a narrow opening. We land within a spacious room in the peak of the mountain. Through the thick glass, the plateau around the Agglomerate is clear, if distorted. The chamber is rather bare. An incredibly soft looking bedroll is about the only thing that blocks the view through the surrounding glass, and even that is rolled up in a corner without taking up much space. On one side of the room, a workbench is carved out of the wall with a bunch of intricate carving and inscribing tools I remember Uncle used to inlay patterns into our clothing. Unlike his, this is an immense array of glass-handled tools with hundreds of different metal powders and inks laying to the side. It is hot in here. Too hot for my friends to come close. The room feels borderline white flame level heat. ¡°Welcome to my chambers. As Grand Elder overseeing the eagles and binding, I get the best room in the Agglomerate.¡± As soon as her form reverts, she swings her arms wide to the glistening chamber at the highest point of the glass mountain. ¡°All the other Grand Elders prefer the unbearably hot chambers around the core, but there¡¯s more to life than heat¡­¡± Yeah, I nod. This view is amazing. ¡°¡­Like finally reaching the next stage of binding.¡± Oh, right. Of course. ¡°My teacher told me that her teacher reached the threshold, but the damned woman¡¯s frustrating method of education still comes to bite me centuries after she left us. But with you, we might actually achieve it. It doesn¡¯t matter whether it¡¯s me or you to breach the threshold, so long as I can finally see what happens. So, tell me how you did it.¡± All her comments of centuries as if they are nothing make me wonder just how ancient the Grand Elders are. I knew many of my elders were old, but not centuries. Such a length of time is incomprehensible. I¡¯m not even halfway through my second decade yet. ¡°Do you know of the Void Fog?¡± I ask. ¡°We¡¯ve got records of it down in the archive. Never seen it myself.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s what pushed my binding to what it is. The Void Fog changed me while it had me in its grasp.¡± ¡°Really? We¡¯ve found ¨¢ed we believe escaped from the Fog before, but they were always nothing more than mindless beasts.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I say. If you didn¡¯t know what to do in the Void, then there¡¯s little chance of keeping who you are. ¡°I only survived because of advice a friend gave.¡± ¡°One of those two?¡± Yalun points down at the lights of one of the outer congregations. Now that I¡¯m looking, it¡¯s easy to see where all the ¨¢ed camps and groupings are. I have to say, there aren¡¯t many. Considering the sheer size of the Agglomerate, we don¡¯t inhabit much of it. How many tribes are here? And how many tribes are there overall? ¡°No,¡± I answer. ¡°The one who told me experienced it himself. I don¡¯t know anyone stronger.¡± ¡°What was the advice?¡± ¡°To focus the mind. Internalise what is your greatest desire and remove any other thoughts. But I would never recommend looking for the Void; the curse isn¡¯t worth it.¡± ¡°Do you mind if I see? I want to look at exactly what those changes are?¡± a flare along her hand makes her intent clear. ¡°No, I¡¯d really rather not.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re worried about your capacity being found out, there¡¯s no need to worry.¡± She smirks. ¡°I already know.¡± Chapter 179: Yalun ¡°What? How do you know?¡± The whole reason I stopped her from Kindling was to stop her finding out about my energy. I wouldn¡¯t have bothered if I hadn¡¯t found out having such a high capacity was considered taboo amongst my elders. ¡°You just told me.¡± I can only stare at her. ¡°Okay, fine. It¡¯s your presence. You aren¡¯t suppressing it as well as you might think. For a presence as strong as yours, you¡¯d either have incredibly hot flames or a great capacity. And, well, I¡¯m pretty good at analysing other¡¯s fire, even if only peripherally. The white flames of your transformation are likely your hottest.¡± ¡°Is that going to be a problem?¡± I ask hesitantly. ¡°Most likely.¡± The grand elder nods. ¡°Taboo is taboo for a reason, after all. You won¡¯t be able to hide it forever, but I should be able to guide you to more effectively suppressing your presence.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have an issue with the fact I¡¯ve commit both? Should you really be helping me hide it?¡± ¡°To say I don¡¯t care about it would be wrong. The taboos are restrictions on the elders and grand elders, and while that doesn¡¯t excuse you, I believe most grand elders can be convinced that you don¡¯t deserve punishment considering your age.¡± She smirks again. ¡°And of course I¡¯m gonna help you hide it; I¡¯m not about to let my new student be snapped up by any of the other grand elders.¡± ¡°New student?¡± I never agreed to anything like that. Elder Yalun laughs. ¡°You think I wouldn¡¯t jump on such a talent? If you don¡¯t want me as your teacher, then that¡¯s fine.¡± A long, dramatic sigh escapes her lips as Yalun¡¯s body droops. ¡°But I would have no reason to hide a certain girl¡¯s crimes from the rest of the elders.¡± She¡¯s teasing me, but I¡¯m not sure if that threat is legitimate. ¡°Alright,¡± I relent. Even if she¡¯s not actually serious about telling the other elders, I have no reason to turn her down. I¡¯m just as interested as she is in reaching the threshold of my binding. Plus, she is a grand elder; she probably has plenty to teach. Yalun hops out of her slump with a spring. An innocent smile graces her lips as if she hadn¡¯t just blackmailed me. ¡°So why can¡¯t we travel beyond the wasteland? Why can¡¯t we increase our capacity?¡± I ask. ¡°I only recently found out that we have taboo, but I¡¯m still uncertain what they are there for.¡± ¡°I hesitate to ask because I know it won¡¯t be a good memory, but how long have you gone without your tribe?¡± the playful attitude is gone now, and Yalun kneels on a thick fur rug after rolling it out over the glass. I sit before her as I answer. ¡°Three or four years now.¡± ¡°Ah, then it appears there is much for me to teach beyond binding. We don¡¯t allow ¨¢ed to travel outside the wasteland because of our history. Long before even my teacher¡¯s time, when Eldest Ember had yet ascended, we lived to the east, amongst the other races. Our records aren¡¯t clear if we ruled over them, or lived beside them, but what we do know is that fear and resentment accumulated. An army of water mages doubling the ¨¢ed population of the time attacked.¡± ¡°We, as a race, are stronger than the others, but they know our weakness. Primarily, we disallow any from travelling east because our flames inflict fear in the other races, regardless of intent. That fear always leads to them training more water mages.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Considering I¡¯d been able to burn down an entire city on accident when I was a child, there is a definite reason to believe there would be resistance against ¨¢ed if they tried to live in the east. And¡­ I think I might have already ruined the grand elders¡¯ precautions. I haven¡¯t exactly been discreet with how strong my flames can be in the past few years. It isn¡¯t a question of whether they invest in water mages, but how much? ¡°Capacity is somewhat connected, but we mostly want to limit that because of the strain it puts on our resources in the long term.¡± This is a point I¡¯ve already discovered. The minimum I need to eat to continue surviving is far greater than any other typical ¨¢ed. I could fill myself to capacity and survive for months at a time if I need to, but the total consumption is still higher than normal. The only way to fix this would be to travel to the eastern nations to consume the plentiful resources there, but that leads us back to the original problem of terrifying the other races. ¡°Now that your little secret is safe with me, do you mind opening up for me?¡± Elder Yalun spread flame across her arm in question. I nod, and she goes right back to speaking. ¡°There are many grand elders that already have immense capacities, so you shouldn¡¯t be too worried. They are simply relegated to living up on the Titan Alps so they don¡¯t impact the lives of the tribes, but I doubt you¡¯ll need to worry about that yet.¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Her flames wash over me, and this time I let them in without resistance. Despite most ¨¢ed who focus on binding never able to raise their heat, her fire doesn¡¯t lose to Tanwyn, the elder of the Logi tribe. Invisible heat flows through me and again, I relax into it. ¡°Oh.¡± I open my eyes again to find Yalun staring at me with concern. My head tilts in question, still enjoying her warmth. ¡°First off, wow. Second, what the fuck. Third, how? I expected you to have enough to grow a presence, not to have more than most grand elders.¡± She rubs her palm into her forehead. ¡°Seriously, you haven¡¯t even been lying about your age. It should be impossible to gain half that much in double your life, even if you spent every second out hunting.¡± ¡°I guess no ¨¢ed has been beneath the Titan Alps then,¡± I say, trying to ignore the growing concern that this might break the friendliness she¡¯s shown till now. ¡°Beneath?¡± she asks before shaking her head. ¡°Not important. Regardless of how you did it, the fact remains that you now have far too much energy to rejoin a tribe.¡± She groans in frustration as she rises to her feet again, pulling back on the warm flames. ¡°It¡¯s going to be too hard to teach you to suppress your presence now. It will grow out of your control soon enough. Sorry, but I will have to tell ?uri once he returns. He has enough experience to help you.¡± I remain seated on the soft rug while Yalun paces. It¡¯s sad that I¡¯ll never join a tribe, but after losing mine, I¡¯ve not had the desire to do so. That I have more energy than most grand elders is surprising, though. With as much white fire as I can wield now, I¡¯d be able to cover horizon to horizon in the cooler yellow or orange blaze. Kalma¡¯s corpse was incredibly beneficial in that regard. With how almost all the other ¨¢ed that reach my heat or hotter can do so with far lesser energy consumption, I think¡­ I might be cheating. I have brute forced my flames to hotter temperatures simply by sheer mass of capacity rather than gradually improving over the years with constant effort. As concerned as Yalun seems to be over finding out the scale of my energy, I don¡¯t share it. Of course, I¡¯m worried about how the other elders might view me, but Yalun has already shown that not all will despise me for the actions I have already taken. Even if all other grand elders hate me, I don¡¯t regret pushing myself this far. If not for all the effort I¡¯ve put in, I wouldn¡¯t be alive and neither would many others. Yalun lets out a deep sigh, tosser her hands up in resignation, and drops into a relaxed seat on the rug across from me. ¡°Ah, whatever. We¡¯ll figure something out. For now, let¡¯s get started on binding.¡± She spreads her flames to mix with mine once more. ¡°Your fire is definitely strange. On a casual inspection, I would have missed it ¡ª well, I wouldn¡¯t have missed your binding or capacity ¡ª but I can feel something odd about your flames. There is a subtle difference.¡± Her flames spread deeper through me as her eyes seem to lose focus. We sit in silence for a minute before I become impatient. ¡°So, how do you increase your binding?¡± I know it¡¯s probably a lot slower than I¡¯ll be comfortable with, considering Yalun is what? Centuries older than me, and still has less binding, but she isn¡¯t the only one interested in reaching the threshold. The grand elder snaps out of her focus. She blinks repeatedly as her mind returns, but her flames stay mixed with mine. ¡°Ah, right. Of course,¡± she says. ¡°I¡¯ll be analysing your flames whenever I can if that¡¯s fine; it¡¯ll eat away at me if I can¡¯t figure out what that difference actually is. But yes, how do I increase my binding? There are prerequisites and dangers I will have to teach you, but the basics is that we narrow our minds and nudge our connection ever so slightly closer.¡± That¡­ tells me nothing. Yalun laughs at my obvious disappointment. ¡°Don¡¯t be so impatient. These things take time to teach. Usually you would have to wait until at least your second decade before you can learn, then to your third to actually attempt it. Luckily for you, I am teaching you personally.¡± ¡°A whole decade?¡± exactly how much is there to teach if it takes that long? ¡°We need that long to judge whether they have the mentality for it. More than the other disciplines, improving one¡¯s binding requires a mind that will not give in to temptation. The dangers of failing to do so are too great to ignore.¡± Yalun slouches back on her hands across from me. ¡°Besides, they spend more of that time perfecting the use of their blades.¡± ¡°What could be so dangerous about improving our connection with fire?¡± The idea just seems strange. Two balls of fire appear before me. One, large and burning bright; the other, small and hollow. Yalun points to the hollow ball. ¡°Imagine this as a representation of our mind.¡± She points to the larger flaming sphere. ¡°And this is the nature of fire that we want to take in to ourselves.¡± A very thin stream of the larger fire flows into the hollow ball, building an orb within an orb. ¡°This is what we want; to take in more fire to improve our binding.¡± The stream cuts off and the inner flame eventually spreads into the outer shell, increasing its brightness and strength. ¡°But when we take in too much for our mind to handle.¡± The grand elder passes much more fire from the large ball into the smaller one until it exceeds the containable volume of the mind and explodes. ¡°Our minds, our souls, collapse and become part of the flame rather than the other way around.¡± I just stare at the air where she left her demonstration. ¡°Considering the scale of your energy, the explosion if you lose your mind will be immense. I won¡¯t be letting you try anywhere near the Agglomerate.¡± I see now why so few ¨¢ed follow this path. Not only is it limited in combat effectiveness, but you are risking both yourself and those around you whenever you try to improve. Noticing my concern, she continues. ¡°But don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be there to make sure everything goes smoothly.¡± Yalun grins at me with confidence, but I realise she¡¯s not actually giving me a chance to refuse. A small part of me is tempted to just find my friends and leave, but I can¡¯t deny myself the curiosity. There is always some risk associated with growth, and this is no different. I want to reach the threshold just as much as Yalun does, but just how long will it take? Chapter 180: Gathering
Leal hardly expected much from what was essentially the capital of the ¨¢ed, but she was very glad to have been proven wrong. No wonder a culture that revolved around a nomadic lifestyle chose to settle. Who wouldn¡¯t with such an incredible place available? Each massive pillar of glass rose from the clear ground and towered far above. The paths between each spire are narrow, but still leave enough space for Gr¨ªmr to spread his wings. ¡°How was this place made?¡± Leal can¡¯t help but ponder as her gaze follows each glass spike to the darkening sky above. ¡°Eldest Ember,¡± Odqan replied. ¡°She formed our agglomerate a long time ago.¡± It was surprising that one of the grand elders, the leaders of the ¨¢ed, guided and answered her questions personally. None of the eastern races would ever operate this way. Not her own, and not any other. ¡°The same one that burns the moon each night?¡± Leal didn¡¯t believe it was anything but a celestial phenomenon, but she knew Solvei thought the moon lit with fire each night. The girl had spoken of it many times. ¡°Yes. Eldest Ember ascended before any of the current elders came into being.¡± The grand elder answered her questions without reservation, but his unenthusiastic, almost bored attitude stifles Leal¡¯s desire to ask further. There were so many things she wanted to ask about the ¨¢ed, that Solvei herself didn¡¯t know, and the temptation to ask what might be rude questions was warring with the hesitance inflicted by Odqan¡¯s posture. She held herself back long enough for Gr¨ªmr to speak. ¡°This is incredible. I¡¯m surprised many of your kind remain nomadic when you have such a place to return to. Do you stay long?¡± Odqan clanked the shaft of his glaive on the glass ground as he gazed at Gr¨ªmr, measuring how much he should say. ¡°Most tribes will return every decade or two and stay for a year. Some grand elders stay here permanently, while others travel with tribes. A rare few travel alone.¡± Leal was not at all surprised by the reluctance to give any specific details. She and Gr¨ªmr were outsiders. He wouldn¡¯t want to give any discrete information that might be used against them. It was honestly shocking he was being this welcoming, but with the constant thirst that tugged at her throat, Leal could understand why they felt confidant in their position against attacks. If she ignored the growing heat as they wove around the towering glass pillars, then it was actually becoming easier to handle the drain on her water. Not easy ¡ª not by a long shot ¡ª but the further she walked, the less the strain was. More evidence that it was the sand draining her reserves and not the temperature itself. Odqan led them past a dozen unattended wagons and around the last corner of glass toward the first ¨¢ed gathering. Leal didn¡¯t know why she assumed they would all sit together in one massive blaze, or at least around a bunch of campfires, but she did. Besides a few ¨¢ed igniting their hair for light and a few flaming bursts from a pair sparring to the side, there was actually less fire than most small towns would use. She really shouldn¡¯t have made such assumptions, considering Solvei never exactly sat in her own flames when resting, but the young ¨¢ed was an anomaly anyway, so Leal had subconsciously placed her in her own category. Separate from even her own race. This town built between three mighty glass towers was just that, a town. It¡¯s not a city, nor was it some strange otherworldly inferno, as she expected, but a simple village. Well, not exactly simple, as many of the permanent structures were glass and built into the pillars, but there were only a few dozen in what was supposed to be a major gathering. The small town within the massive space of the Agglomerate pointed to a rather diminutive total population of ¨¢ed. Though, if the tribes only returned every decade as Grand Elder Odqan said, then determining the number of ¨¢ed in the wasteland might be impossible by their population here. A few of the large round tents were set up on the edge of the gathering, but beyond that, there were no large structures that weren¡¯t made of glass. Did the ¨¢ed not care about privacy? Anyone who looks could see into your resting areas without reservation. As strange as it was, the transparent structures gave Leal a perfect view of the lives of those here. Many worked away at materials, likely etching those strange ¨¢ed inscriptions into clothing or other important equipment, while others were off playing strange games or sparring with weapons. What attracted her eye the most were the ones seated in a circle around each other. Eyes closed and breathing like they were sleeping, these groups somehow both remained unmoving, while appearing like they were. Only by staring hard enough that she was worried she might be called out, did she notice that their skin was rippling like an intense flame, yet remained mostly hidden and unilluminated. Maybe that was some form of training they did? Leal¡¯s analytical marking didn¡¯t work through the glass, so she could only guess. While ¨¢ed and fire mages could accomplish much of the same things, the way they went about their control vastly differed. Leal knew how accomplished most of the things they did ¡ª discounting the more secretive and advanced techniques ¡ª as they were rather similar to her own markings, but despite being around Solvei for as long as she has, the ¨¢ed¡¯s methods remained esoteric. Leal had originally not wanted to follow Solvei into the wasteland. Her thoughts and emotions in too much flux to be comfortable. But she was glad she had. She was glad her dad had pushed her. Now that she was here, amongst all these ¨¢ed, she had an incredible opportunity to learn. Even if the way they manipulate their element is impossible for her, observing how they interact with their hyle ¡ª and how it differs from Solvei¡¯s control ¡ª could help her understanding immensely.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. She was also curious about the ¨¢ed¡¯s version of inscriptions, but more for what she might learn about any fundamental hyle interaction not yet seen than to use them herself. Inscriptions were definitely interesting, but her focus remained on markings. With Gr¨ªmr¡¯s heavy footsteps tapping along the glass, many eyes turned their way. Unlike the tribe in that volcano a few days ago, the ¨¢ed here show far less concern about their presence, but the curiosity is the same. Between her and the large metal bird beside her, Leal knew they made an odd sight to these people who never left the dry wasteland. The portian unnerved her. Leal was sure she¡¯d hidden her reservations ¡ª disgust? Fear? She wasn¡¯t sure ¡ª from Solvei¡¯s friend, but travelling with one of the race that could snatch her body away was not something that she could be totally comfortable with. Gr¨ªmr meant well. She believed that, but it was still hard to trust such a race. It raised the question of how Solvei felt comfortable around her, knowing how dangerous water remained for her. The glass beneath her feet was hot, and the air warm. It was bearable, but she really hoped it cooled down some throughout the night. A place favoured by a race of fire people likely wouldn¡¯t be nice to her in the day. She might need to return to the desert when the sun returned. As they walked past a larger, glass-made circular tent, half a dozen ¨¢ed approached. ¡°Grand Elder Odqan, how long has it been since we last had guests?¡± the tallest amongst them asked, offering a friendly smile to the two of us. ¡°Welcome to our home. I hope your stay isn¡¯t too difficult; I understand neither our deserts nor the Agglomerate are comfortable for the eastern races.¡± ¡°Seventy years this time. There were a few that came close, but ultimately couldn¡¯t handle the sands,¡± Odqan said. ¡°We appreciate the welcome.¡± Gr¨ªmr lowered his massive beak in thanks. ¡°This place is incredibly impressive. It¡¯s hard to believe such a place exists.¡± ¡°What made you travel all the way out here?¡± ¡°One of our own that I¡¯ve never met brought them here with her,¡± Odqan said. ¡°Yalun took her up to her chambers.¡± ¡°Grand Elder Yalun?¡± a woman asks from behind the ¨¢ed that welcomed them. ¡°What did she find interesting about her?¡± ¡°Her binding is at a similar level to Yalun¡¯s own.¡± ¡°You¡¯re kidding! Where has she been hiding?¡± the woman pushed past the other ¨¢ed. Odqan turned his gaze toward Leal and Gr¨ªmr, eyes narrowing. ¡°I am rather interested as well.¡± Leal had already heard enough about the taboo to know Solvei would be in trouble if they didn¡¯t help her here. There would be no hiding the fact that she¡¯d been outside the wasteland, not in a way they could explain their meeting. But now that Solvei had actually told her of the rough times she¡¯d been through, Leal could say just enough that they wouldn¡¯t blame the girl for leaving. ¡°After she escaped her kidnappers, she got stuck in our lands until the war ended.¡± Leal wasn¡¯t sure whether it was a good idea to tell them just how much Solvei contributed to the wars of the past few years, so she simply avoided mentioning that she fought. ¡°Solvei asked us to join her as she travelled back.¡± The female ¨¢ed now stands stiff, but Grand Elder Odqan¡¯s suspicious gaze become understanding and sympathetic. ¡°These are the water mages that spent half a year along the southern coast? I¡¯ll need to speak to her about what she experienced. Still, her name is Solvei, you say?¡± He turned to the woman. ¡°Enya, you wouldn¡¯t know any eagles with that name, would you?¡± ¡°None of the eagles have that name,¡± she said, rather stiffly. ¡°None.¡± Enya turns to Leal slowly, as if the motion is difficult. Her eyes shimmered, flames subtly becoming visible behind the albanic colouring. ¡°This Solvei¡­ how old is she?¡± ¡°Fourteen?¡± Gr¨ªmr looked down at Leal, asking for confirmation. She nodded. It was close enough, and the girl herself had never been confident about her age. The time she¡¯d spent alone in the wasteland before finding Leal¡¯s father did not have a definitive length of time in the girl¡¯s mind. ¡°Cyrus!¡± Enya suddenly shouts, rushing back through the glass town as her body engulfed in flames. ¡°Cyrus!¡± Leal and Gr¨ªmr stood there as the ¨¢ed rushed off with every gathered eye following her. She made more commotion than even the two outsiders made upon arrival, snapping even those in their meditative states back to reality. One of those turning out to be the one she was running for. Inside the small glass dome, her animated talk could be seen but not heard. ¡°You better not be intentionally riling her up.¡± Odqan warned. ¡°A fourteen-year-old eagle is impossible. I don¡¯t care if this new eagle likes to take on a younger appearance, but playing with a mourner¡¯s emotions will not be tolerated.¡± ¡°Er, no. I¡¯m absolutely sure Solvei is about as old as she says.¡± Leal didn¡¯t mean any harm, and she didn¡¯t understand what it was she might have said, but she had known Solvei long before her massive¡­ growth spurt. Odqan stares at her doubtfully, but his head soon drops into his hand in thought. ¡°That would be just like Yalun to hide such details. If an impossibility showed itself before her, of course she would take it in to analyse herself.¡± He hums for a moment before returning his sight to Enya, now leaving the glass ger with another ¨¢ed in tow. ¡°If this eagle ¡ª though I guess she¡¯s not officially an eagle ¡ª is as old as you say, and she is who Enya thinks she is, then this is great news; at least the child of their tribe survived.¡± Enya finally returns before them. Her body still engulfed in flames and arms half transformed into that of wings. It was incredible how slow her change was when compared to the near momentary transformation Solvei showed off regularly. Behind Enya, followed a tired man. His weary gaze showed no interest in what Enya was speaking of, but he followed nonetheless. ¡°Please tell him what you told me,¡± Enya says, pulling the other ¨¢ed before her. ¡°Tell us Solvei is alive.¡± ¡°Enya¡­ you can¡¯t keep doing this. She¡¯s gone, just like everyone else.¡± ¡°No! This time I know it¡¯s true. Grand Elder Yalun is meeting with Solvei right now, and I¡¯m going to see her.¡± Despite being not yet halfway through her transformation, she ran off toward the central mountain of the Agglomerate. ¡°You can¡¯t just rush into a Grand Elders¡¯ chambers,¡± the ¨¢ed called after Enya before sighing deeply and turning to Leal with hard eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t blame her. The past few years have not been kind.¡± ¡°Say¡­¡± Leal started, unsure if she was misunderstanding just who these two were. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be from the Vatra tribe, would you?¡± He raises an eyebrow at her. ¡°Yes? Though it no longer exists.¡± ¡°Then I think Solvei would be happy to see you.¡± Solvei had helped Leal meet her father again; the least she could do was guide her tribe to their reunion. He narrowed his eyes and turned to Odqan. ¡°This ¡®Solvei¡¯ meeting with Yalun¡­ what is so unique about her? Why has she taken an interest in her?¡± ¡°She has an incredibly high binding,¡± the grand elder said with a shrug. ¡°Then there¡¯s no chance it¡¯s the same child we knew.¡± He gazed toward the outline of the mountain, visible ¡ª though distorted ¡ª through the glass pillars. ¡°Solvei¡¯s growth was slow; there¡¯s no world in which she could increase her binding this early.¡± Despite his words of denial, his sight never left the tall mountain standing in the centre of the glass dome. Without another word, he walked away, following Enya with a far more reserved gait. ¡°Is that kid actually from the Vatra tribe?¡± Odqan asked as they watched him leave the last of the glass structures built into the side of a pillar. ¡°Yes. Solvei thought nobody but herself survived.¡± Odqan hums. ¡°Well, I hope it¡¯s true, because those two are about to piss off Yalun.¡± Chapter 181: Vatra Reunion My welcome to the Agglomerate has been better than anything I could hope for. The doubts of the past few days on how my taboo might have morphed the other ¨¢ed¡¯s perspective of me seems to have been unfounded, if Yalun¡¯s attitude is anything to go by. I know that not all would likely react the same way, but two elders for two are pretty good initial conditions. Plus, Yalun says she¡¯ll protect me from the other grand elders should the details of my taboo slip out. Hopefully, they¡¯ll be as understanding as both Tanwyn and Yalun have been, but I know that is probably too much to hope for. Regardless of my unawareness when I commit them, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that I committed taboos which the grand elders have declared as prohibited. If discovered, it is assured that some would take issue with my capacity. Things will only get worse if they find out just how much I¡¯ve been displaying my power over in the eastern nations. ¡°Now, I¡¯ll need you to stay in my chambers until I can get ?uri to help suppress your presence,¡± Yalun says. Her flames still thread along my own, searching for any slight differences. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about others dropping in. They know not to invade my chambers without permission.¡± ¡°Is it okay to tell ?uri about my capacity?¡± ¡°Considering he¡¯s been pushing the rest of the grand elders to abolish the restriction on accumulating energy for as long as I¡¯ve lived, I¡¯m confident he¡¯ll be okay.¡± Yalun seems to ponder for a moment. ¡°Actually, knowing him, he¡¯ll probably try to snatch you away from me. Solvei, you¡¯ll remain my student at least until we reach the threshold, won¡¯t you?¡± Yalun pleads, her eyes begging. I hesitate. As much as I¡¯d like to say yes immediately, I¡¯d still like to meet this ?uri first. Working with Yalun to bring my binding to the next level would be amazing, but if ?uri is the one she wants to guide me in my presence control, then he must be strong in his own way, right? My binding has been undeniable in my survival until now, but it¡¯s my capacity that lets me fight. If not for the immense capacity, I could never fight those who threaten my friends. Should I not try to improve that which can increase my battle capability? What if another Kalma level existence appears? I belatedly realise that even knowing it is taboo, I¡¯m still planning to continue my growth. This isn¡¯t good. I want to stay in good relations with the rest of my kind, after all. Before I can respond, we are interrupted. One of the ¨¢ed eagles rushes in through the same entrance Yalun led me through. She screams my name as she crashes into me, sending me off the rug and sprawling across the glass. I take a moment to realise I¡¯m not being attacked, and the eagle is crying in an indistinguishable mess of rambled words and sobs as she buries herself in my chest. Her flames feel slightly familiar, but I can¡¯t pick out where I¡¯ve felt it. Against my better judgement, considering I¡¯m supposed to be hiding my capacity, I reach my flames into hers, looking for what is causing that nostalgic feeling. The eagle latches onto my flames with eagerness, freely welcoming me. I can hardly believe what I feel. ¡°Elder Enya?¡± What? This is¡­ this is impossible. How? She died. Along with the rest of the tribe back under the cliffs. I held a pyre for her. ¡°Solvei, it¡¯s actually you,¡± Enya sobs into my chest. Her eagle form the same as I remember so long ago. ¡°We never thought it was possible. How are you alive?¡± ¡°How are you?¡± I try to say, but my throat constricts around the words. ¡°I looked everywhere, but there wasn¡¯t a sign.¡± Leaning down, I pull her tight. ¡°I thought you were all dead.¡± Enya doesn¡¯t reply. She wails in my embrace, and it does nothing to help my bursting emotions. Sizzling hot wisps escape my eyes as I try to stifle my own growing sobs. I grieved for them for so long, and they weren¡¯t even gone. Yalun slowly extracts her flames from mine. I glance back at her as she slowly rises to her feet. Her face is blank, hiding whatever emotion she feels. She steps toward us, clearly ready to say something, but is once again interrupted by an intruding presence. An ¨¢ed runs in from the other side of Yalun¡¯s chamber and I immediately recognise Elder Cyrus. He looks at the grand elder with hesitance, but as soon as he sees me, any reluctance to continue leaves him. He dashes to our side and crashes to his knees beside us. Both Elder Enya and Cyrus are alive. I can hardly believe it. This must be a dream or something. If these two are here, does that mean the rest of the tribe is fine? Is Uncle Rivin and Auntie Kay here?Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Instead of joining us in Kindling, Cyrus bows his head, staring at the ground. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Solvei.¡± ¡°For what?¡± what does he think he needs to apologise for? ¡°I¡­ I assumed you were gone, along with the rest of the tribe. I should have protected you. If not for my weakness, we could have found you.¡± ¡°Ah, so nobody else made it then?¡± I really shouldn¡¯t have, but I allowed myself to get my hopes up. It¡¯s been a long time since I accepted their death. I should be happy that two of my tribe remain. Cyrus shakes his head without looking up. The confirmation hurts, but again, it has been a long time since I¡¯ve moved on. I hate to see the Elder that always remained a pillar of our tribe so devastated. Unlike me and Enya, he doesn¡¯t cry, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen an ¨¢ed look so exhausted. My flames spread over his, asking to mix, but he doesn¡¯t immediately grant me access. He looks up in question. His eyes and the flames hidden deep within are almost hollow. Only when I nudge him again does he reluctantly allow me in. The heat is intense, bordering on the threshold between clear and blue. His eyes widen upon feeling mine, but I don¡¯t care to hide from these two. Enya has shown no awareness of what lies in my flames beyond recognising me, but Cyrus doesn¡¯t hide how much my changes startle him. ¡°Just what¡­ Solvei, what did you have to go through because of my failure?¡± ¡°Failure?¡± I give him a wry smirk, trying to lift his spirits. ¡°What do you think anyone could have done against a Titan?¡± Looking at Elder Enya and Cyrus now, I realise that neither has changed at all since I last saw them. Comparatively, I¡¯m a completely different person than who I once was. Not even regarding my strength ¡ª although that has exploded from before ¡ª I am no longer the innocent child they knew. I¡¯ve gone through impossible challenges. Fought in wars. I¡¯ve killed¡­ so many more than they could comprehend. And yet these two have not changed. ¡°My sole responsibility was to protect the tribe and our child, you. We should never have been so close to the coast.¡± Before I can reassure him he did nothing wrong, Yalun interrupts. She grabs Enya around the throat and pulls Cyrus up by the collar of his armoured vest. They both hang in her hands like children in trouble with a parent. ¡°While it¡¯s great that you get to have this reunion, have you forgotten where you are? It seems I need to reemphasize just how little I enjoy unexpected visitors.¡± Cyrus¡¯ flames snap away as Yalun drags them away, but Enya does her best to keep her flames linked with mine. I scramble to my feet as Yalun takes them to the opening everyone but Cyrus entered from. Yalun¡¯s flame enters Enya¡¯s before forcibly destabilising it, severing our link and reducing her wings to non-physical flames. Neither of my elders fight her, apparently having expected this kind of reaction. Enya still reaches her flames for me, but she looks happier now. Not so engulfed in emotion. ¡°Solvei, you stay in there,¡± Yalun says before holding both of my elders over the long drop on the side of the mountain. ¡°You two can expect to enjoy nothing but slag for the next six months. Do this again, or look for your own meals, and expect it to drop to rock.¡± I watch from behind Yalun as the two hang suspended above such a long fall. Is it really so bad that they came uninvited? I wouldn¡¯t have known they were alive if they hadn¡¯t found me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about us, Solvei,¡± Cyrus says. While still looking exhausted, there¡¯s a light in his eye that wasn¡¯t there a few moments ago. ¡°We¡¯ll see you soon.¡± Yalun drops them. I dash to the ledge, but the grand elder holds me back. ¡°They¡¯ll be fine,¡± she says. ¡°Just watch.¡± As she says, their fall gradually transitions to a slide along the side of the glass. Enya¡¯s clipped wings prevent her from flying until she regenerates them, but there is no need as they don¡¯t slam into the ground rather than skid away from us. There¡¯s nothing to worry about. At least that¡¯s what I think until they both collide with the base of one of those glass pillars. Enya scatters into flames for a moment before bringing herself back together and standing up without issue. Elder Cyrus takes a few moments longer to rise, but he does so, even if he walks off with a slight limp that disappears after a while. ¡°You can speak to them once we get a hold on your presence.¡± Yalun steps away from the ledge, walking back into her chambers. ¡°Wandering around as you are now will only attract attention. Each of the grand elders will notice your presence without difficulty, as you are. Odqan only missed it because I masked yours with my own.¡± ¡°What did you mean by slag?¡± I really want to go talk with them and ask what happened all those years ago. How I couldn¡¯t find them and where they were. But I don¡¯t know if doing so is worth screaming to all the other grand elders that I¡¯ve committed taboo. Yalun figured it out from my presence, so there¡¯s no reason they can¡¯t, too. ¡°Leftovers from glass production. Tastes absolutely horrid, but good enough to live off.¡± I should stay up here and wait for that elder ?uri to arrive and teach me so that I can safely see them again. It would be best to stay with Yalun and follow her guidance so I can reach the threshold of binding. There are also her clothes that change to flame along with her body that I need to ask about. So much to do, and so much to be wary about, but I still jump over the edge. ¡°Damnit kid,¡± is all I hear behind me, but regardless of how much smarter it might be to stay cooped up in Yalun¡¯s chambers until everything works itself out, I reject the idea. I may no longer be held back by the knot, but staying there feels too much like I¡¯m being locked away. The glass beneath me now slopes enough that my momentum is going sideways rather than down. I could have flown¡­ but, well¡­ it looked fun. Regardless of whether Yalun goes forward with her threat of telling the other grand elders, it¡¯s still better than letting myself stay prisoner, even if that¡¯s not how anyone but me sees it. Also, having to wait to talk with my tribesmen that I¡¯ve just found are actually alive would be unbearable. It may be just Elder Enya and Cyrus that survived, but that is far better than what I¡¯ve believed all these years. I slam into the same glass pillar and dash after them. Chapter 182: Discovered... Immediately I rush after my elders before I lose track of them. With everything made of glass, it¡¯s not really something that will happen, but I don¡¯t want to take any chances. Never would I have ever hoped that any from my tribe actually survived. Now that I know two of my elders have, I¡¯m not about to take my eyes off them again. I feel a little bad for leaving Yalun like I did. Though, how she acts going forward will tell me just how much I can trust her. Even if my elders were unharmed by being tossed out the side of the mountain, the way she handled them as if unruly pests did not sit well with me. If Yalun goes forward and tells the rest of the grand elders about me, then it would¡¯ve been only a matter of time until it came out. Should she keep it quiet, I think I¡¯ll have no issue becoming the student she wants. ¡°Elder Cyrus! Elder Enya!¡± I shout as I turn the last glass pillar behind them. Cyrus seems to have walked off his limp from the fall already. ¡°Solvei? I thought you needed to stay with Yalun to hide?¡± Looks like his brief view into my flames was enough to get a pretty good picture. Sizzling wisps still rise from Enya¡¯s eyes as she flies back to my side. She lands on my shoulder, and while she¡¯s a bit big to fit comfortably, she does her best to nestle into my neck. I don¡¯t remember Elder Enya ever being this affectionate. She, along with the other elders of our tribe, stood as stalwart pillars to be relied upon. Rarely did they show any form of weakness. But now, she stands as nothing of what I remember. It was wrong to think of my elders as unchanged. They may appear identical to before, but like myself, the loss of everyone we loved left a deep scar on who they once were. ¡°I probably should have, but I couldn¡¯t just watch you leave after such a short reunion,¡± I say to Cyrus while comforting Enya. ¡°I want to stay with you, at least for a little while.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯ve definitely grown up.¡± Somehow, I don¡¯t think he¡¯s talking about my size. We walk into what must be one of our gatherings near the edge of the Agglomerate. After the warmth in Yalun¡¯s chambers, the chilly breeze this far out is hard to handle. Though it is probably still far hotter than out in the desert. The gathering would underwhelm if not for everything being made of glass. Several clear, crystalline ger sit along the pillars, half carved into the wall, and half built outward. Some traditional ger stand alone at the edge of a clearing. I wonder why they bothered to set them up when there¡¯s plenty of the glass ones free to reside? Through the glass of the buildings, it is impossible to miss Leal and Gr¨ªmr. They appear to be enjoying themselves, being fed roasted meat while plenty of ¨¢ed gather around to hear whatever they have to say. It is relieving to see that there isn¡¯t any major rejection to Leal for being a water mage. One of my biggest fears coming here was that they might mistake her for the Henosis, who caused immense losses amongst the tribes along the southern coast. Whether that¡¯s because they don¡¯t know, or the Grand Elder Odqan hovering over them, I don¡¯t know. ¡°Have you met my friends?¡± I ask. It¡¯s about the only way I can think of that Enya and Cyrus would know I¡¯m here. Unless they saw me, but they would have made themselves known earlier in that case. Before Cyrus can answer, another eagle lands on my other shoulder across from Enya. Her wing sweeps over my head, and she pulls me down to look into her eyes. ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing, kid?¡± Yalun asks. ¡°Are you trying to be found out as soon as you arrive? I will tell them, you know. I¡¯m not bluffing.¡± With two considerably sized birds sitting on the small space of my shoulders, I feel cramped. Squashed between them. Both lean into me, one for comfort and the other simply to get in my face. ¡°If you do, then fine. I won¡¯t be happy locked up in your chambers, especially now that I know I still have family here.¡± Despite the weights on my shoulders, I continue walking beside my elder. Yalun groans in frustration and throws herself forward. Her twin relic daggers clatter along the glass as she retakes her standard form. ¡°You¡¯re so going to get us caught.¡± ¡°Us?¡± She lets out a loud sigh before shaking her head as it forms. ¡°Of course, I¡¯m not about to let my new student run off that easily.¡± She flashes a grin that quickly becomes wry. ¡°Though you could make it easy for me. Now, how about we go back up and hide you before Odqan gets a good look at you?¡± ¡°And why do you not want me to look, I wonder?¡± behind Yalun, Odqan and my friends have closed the distance. Yalun¡¯s body goes stiff before she turns and places me behind her back. As if that will hide me. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. I¡¯m not hiding anything.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Did she seriously not feel him coming? His heat flares to my senses clearer than any other. Odqan¡¯s gaze trails to Enya and Cyrus. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you two aren¡¯t hanging from pillars right now. Has Yalun finally learnt to be forgiving?¡± ¡°Of course not,¡± the grand elder says as if the accusation offended her. ¡°If I go easy on any of them, I¡¯ll get young eagles intruding every morning.¡± Odqan raises an eyebrow and turns to Cyrus. My Elder half shrugs with a wry smile. ¡°We are to eat slag.¡± ¡°My condolences.¡± The grand elder across from us bows his head ever so slightly. ¡°Can¡¯t you not make them do that?¡± I ask, stepping to Yalun¡¯s side. ¡°They just wanted to see me again.¡± ¡°No,¡± she responds immediately. ¡°I can¡¯t afford any sort of distractions and if I make exceptions, then it might cause a disaster.¡± ¡°Please?¡± I ask, again. Yalun looks like she¡¯s about to refuse again before she hesitates and smirks. ¡°Sure. But only when you reach the threshold.¡± ¡°So, again, why are you hiding this one from me?¡± the other grand elder brings us back round to the start. ¡°She¡¯s mine. You can¡¯t have her.¡± She holds her arms wide, as if that will stop Odqan from seeing me. A subtle, almost impossible to detect presence flows off her. It is weak. Not at all like the type I¡¯m familiar with. It is slight, but present all the same. And I¡¯m not the only one to notice. Odqan quirks an eye as he stares at her. He watches her a moment in confusion before he turns on me. It is clear the exact moment he figures out what is going on. Yalun¡¯s attempts would probably be fine for a momentary glance, but with how long we¡¯ve been talking now, it¡¯s clear he understands something. Both he and Yalun glare at each other, exchanging silent words. Instead of any great shock or outburst, Odqan simply sighs. ¡°Yalun, you know I¡¯ll have to report this to the others, right?¡± ¡°Just¡­ give me some time to work with her.¡± Odqan shakes his head. ¡°You have until all the grand elders gather for our conference. Yalun, trying to hide things like this from the other elders, will not do you any favours. Especially after last time.¡± Well, that was pretty quick. Only half a dozen minutes from leaving Yalun¡¯s chambers and I¡¯ve already been found out. I should be rather worried right now, considering how big of a deal this is to the grand elders, but with Cyrus and Enya back from the dead, the threat of consequences simply can¡¯t bring down my mood. ¡°Fine,¡± Yalun drawls, clearly discontent. And just like that, it¡¯s all apparently settled. Odqan doesn¡¯t approach me, nor does his rather uninterested attitude change. He acts like he doesn¡¯t care one way or the other. But there¡¯s one thing that stands out; isn¡¯t the meeting between grand elders supposed to be a year or so off? That¡¯s what Elder Tanwyn said. ¡°When is this conference?¡± I ask. ¡°Whenever we have a majority of grand elders within the Agglomerate,¡± Odqan says. ¡°At the current rate of arrivals, within six months.¡± Isn¡¯t it strange to wait such a long time to decide what they want to do with me? I don¡¯t plan to force Gr¨ªmr and Leal to stay long. They agreed to come with me, but I can¡¯t keep them away from their homes forever. They are fine to stay for a month or so, but I don¡¯t want to push it much more than that. I¡¯d originally planned to stay for only a week; long enough to experience the Agglomerate and meet with my people before I returned to my team in the pact nations. Now, I have reasons to stay. The two central pillars of my tribe are still alive. I want to learn everything about how they survived, why we weren¡¯t able to meet each other after the collapse of the cliff, and what they¡¯ve been doing since. Just knowing they are alive makes me want to stay by their side. Grand Elder Yalun¡¯s proposal to teach me to improve my binding is incredibly attractive as well. If I can learn how the eagles do it, then I might replicate that method when I return to the pact nations. Now that I think about it, my binding was only a bit stronger than Enya¡¯s after I escaped the Void Fog for the second time. It has grown almost by itself ever since. Has my energy boosted my binding as well, or is there something more fundamental the Fog changed within me that lets me improve it with an ease unimaginable to any other ¨¢ed? Considering I¡¯m now essentially a criminal awaiting trial ¡ª even if these two grand elders aren¡¯t treating me as such ¡ª will I even be allowed to leave? I might have to say goodbye to my friends without joining them on their return to the eastern lands. Especially now that I know I¡¯m not supposed to travel outside the wasteland. For now, everything is fine. Gr¨ªmr and Leal are welcomed better than I hoped, I get to meet my elders again, and my taboo is not yet a cause for concern with the grand elders. Things might change when the rest of the grand elders arrive, or when I try to leave, but until then, I want to enjoy the time I¡¯m here. Maybe I¡¯ll even see the origin of that glow that lights up the Agglomerate. ¡°Oh, right.¡± I dash to Gr¨ªmr¡¯s side. Enya falls off at my sudden movement, but lands easily with a flap of her wings. Elder Angarika¡¯s halberd is still strapped to Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back. I extract it and show it to both my elders and the grand elders before me. ¡°What should I do with this?¡± ¡°You went back?¡± Enya asks. ¡°That couldn¡¯t have been easy.¡± Cyrus approaches with steady, measured motions. His eyes solely on the weapon of his old friend. ¡°I should have returned for this as soon as I could. Thank you Solvei.¡± His hands slowly wrap around the shaft and he lifts the weapon from mine. ¡°His relic shall be returned to the forge.¡± For the first time, I notice the sabre on his hip isn¡¯t the same as what he used to wield. It is a simple blade; not a relic. ¡°I didn¡¯t see your sabre down beneath the cliffs.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because I still had it with me. I no longer carry the relic, because I lost the right to wield it.¡± My mum¡¯s spear is still at my side. I don¡¯t have to return this one too, right? ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there is no need to surrender the relic if you have the strength to wield it,¡± Grand Elder Odqan says before glancing to Cyrus. ¡°Only for the most despicable acts is it appropriate punishment to strip a warrior of their weapon, but some stubborn fools will impose it upon themselves.¡± Cyrus does not acknowledge the grand elder¡¯s words. He simply takes Angarika¡¯s halberd and walks back toward the central mountain. Enya gazes after him as he leaves, but instead of following him, she returns to my shoulder. Cyrus can¡¯t take his eyes away from the weapon as he leaves. The sight of the weapon obviously brings pain. Maybe I should have taken the halberd to the forge myself and not shown him such a direct reminder of who he lost. I have been able to move on since my family¡¯s passing, but it still affects both of my elders deeply. Hopefully, I¡¯ll be able to help them recover. One day, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll become the pillars of a tribe once again. Chapter 183: ?uri Yalun¡¯s chambers are heating again. With the morning sun quickly rising in the eastern sky, light reflects off the glass pillars of the Agglomerate and directs it toward the centre. The intense concentration of heat boils the air until it would be cooler to sit in magma within the Agni mountains. I rise from the rug that has held me for the night hours. Gr¨ªmr will head off soon, and I¡¯m not sure whether Leal will join him today. While my lessons with Elder Yalun are long and tedious, I still make time between them to see Gr¨ªmr before he flies out with Odqan. Turns out, Gr¨ªmr¡¯s nose for metal deposits is incredibly beneficial. I probably should have guessed the other ¨¢ed would jump at the chance to take advantage of it. Gr¨ªmr, of course, didn¡¯t refuse. He all but insisted he help, but I¡¯m still concerned about whether he actually wants to, or feels like he¡¯s pressured into it. Regardless, both he and Odqan leave in the morning to map out any resource deposits they find. Leal sometimes goes with them, but mostly sticks with me or loses herself in her research projects. As I step off the rug onto the warm glass, Yalun follows suit. Her flames disconnect from mine and she makes no delay with her transformation. I¡¯ve not slept much lately. With all the effort and time required to satisfy Yalun, I haven¡¯t been able, and yet she still won¡¯t let me try to grasp for more binding. I know the dangers ¡ª they were the first thing she beat into my head ¡ª but with the grand elder herself guiding and inspecting every move I make, there really shouldn¡¯t be an issue to take the next leap. ¡°You know, if you didn¡¯t have higher binding than me, I would have forced you to wait twenty years before teaching you even this much. You are far too impatient.¡± As much as I¡¯d like to refute her, I know it¡¯s true. While I¡¯ve been learning for less than a month, it usually takes years to get to this point. I¡¯m lucky to have the grand elder to look after me herself. That¡¯s not something any of the other eagles have the benefit of. Yalun is almost finished changing now, so I do the same. As my body wreathes in flames and shrinks, the snowsuit I almost never take off anymore disperses in flames alongside my own. No matter how many times I morph, I can never take my eyes off the threads as they shift from physical substance to fire. The flames do not mix with my own, or well, I could absorb them into my own, but that would be the same as burning my clothes. The pattern Yalun inscribed through the outfit is incredibly detailed. I tried to have her teach me about our type of inscriptions, but she was adamant about only focusing on the binding for now. What I have learnt is that while the eastern inscriptions have components that are shared between differing designs, these types don¡¯t. Each inscription is completely unique. I have no idea how they work, but that doesn¡¯t take from the fact that they do. However the inscription does it, my snowsuit now mimics my flames almost perfectly. My energy powers it, but even with my flames flowing through the cloth, I am given no clues as to how it works. With a flap of my wings, I soar out through the opening for her chamber. Yalun follows a beat after. The Agglomerate looked amazing when I first entered it during the night, but that view comes nowhere near how it looks with the light of the Eternal Inferno glistening through each pillar. Fractal beams of coloured light constantly change with each incremental movement of the sun. While light concentrates toward the central mountain and then even further down into its base, there are certain areas that experience much higher than usual temperatures under the focused light. Many of such hot-spots home the gatherings, with the exception of those near the outer pillars which sit in areas of less heat. These gathering places are both less populated with ¨¢ed, and make a much better place for guest houses, which are where my friends have been staying. As I¡¯ve mostly stuck around Yalun or my friends, the awareness of my taboo has yet to spread beyond Odqan. Most other grand elders are much more likely to remain deep within the mountain where the heat is beyond what even I can handle. It¡¯s probably good they don¡¯t come out often, but I¡¯m incredibly curious how hot their flames might reach. Gr¨ªmr, Leal and Odqan are already out and about. It looks like they are ready to head out into the desert, but a new face has stopped them. ¡°Finally!¡± Yalun exclaims. A strand of her flames stretch to me and drag me along with her as she darts forward. ¡°?uri, how long were you going to make me wait?¡± Yalun asks as she crashes along the glass, bringing me with her. She starts her change immediately. ¡°Oh! Little Yalun, you were waiting for me?¡± the ¨¢ed turns away from Leal and Gr¨ªmr to address us. ¡°Haven¡¯t been causing trouble again, I hope?¡± ¡°Little? Really?¡± Yalun deadpans. ¡°You know I¡¯m a grand elder too now, right?¡± ¡°Maybe, but you¡¯re not yet in your fourth century. You¡¯ll be young in my eyes for a long time.¡± ?uri turns to me. ¡°So I¡¯m assuming this one is why you were waiting?¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Yes.¡± Yalun nods. ¡°She¡¯s taken on an impossible amount of energy. I need you to help her with her presence before it gets out of control.¡± He frowns, returning his sight to Yalun. ¡°I know I make my opposition to our current policies clear, but that doesn¡¯t mean I will endorse blatant disregard for taboo.¡± ¡°It was after the attacks from the water mages; she got stuck in the eastern nations. She didn¡¯t know about our taboo.¡± ¡°Even so, this is not something I can allow to be hidden.¡± ¡°We are going to bring it up at the next conference.¡± Yalun avoids Odqan¡¯s judging gaze. ¡°She also knows a good amount about the perpetrators.¡± That seems to gain ?uri¡¯s attention. ¡°Oh? After the Titan scared those bastards back to the ocean, none I¡¯ve sent to investigate have been able to determine much.¡± He stares at me for a few good seconds, considering. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t intentional disregard, then I can support her. I¡¯m assuming you¡¯re the one that brought these two with you?¡± I realise I¡¯m still standing in my bird form, so I take a moment to change back, making sure my outfit reforms properly, before I nod to his question. ¡°Neither are related to the people who attacked us.¡± Upon my change, he quirks an eyebrow Yalun¡¯s way. A knowing smile gracing his lips. ¡°There¡¯s nothing for you to worry about. I know neither are albanics. In fact, I was just asking young Leal here whether she¡¯d be interested in helping me with a minor issue of mine.¡± I tilt my head at Leal, curious what he needs her help with. ¡°He needs a water mage, apparently.¡± She shrugs, unsure of any further details. ¡°Before I go into that, do you mind?¡± ?uri spreads his flames toward me, requesting an invitation. I sigh. Anyone who finds out about my capacity will want to have a look, won¡¯t they? Well, I have no reason to refuse, so I allow him in. And immediately gasp from the unbelievable heat rushing through me. ?uri clamps down on the heat before it can hurt me, but it is so unbelievably intense. Deep black flame, far beyond the blue, which was the hottest I¡¯d seen until now. The fire felt like it sucked in light rather than gave it off. How was that even possible? ¡°Well, this is definitely a pleasant surprise,¡± ?uri says with a grin. ¡°I see why Yalun wants me to teach you to control your presence. Considering how young you are, the rate of your growth must have been intense. Your presence will leap out of your control within a year.¡± ¡°Is that bad?¡± Leal asks. ¡°Not in terms of health. It will be impossible for her to hide from anything with a mind, nor will many treat her with anything but terror.¡± So a bit like the monstrosities down beneath the Titan Alps, I guess. I already know Tore had a rather decent control over his presence, and while Kalma didn¡¯t have as tight of a grip on it as the giant ursu, she could still suppress it to a decent degree. ¡°Weren¡¯t you mad two seconds ago that I had gained all that energy?¡± I ask. ¡°The taboo are imbecilic restrictions made in a time of fear. We should prepare for any threats, rather than hide away as we do. I welcome any improvement to our fighting force, but not if they ignore our agreed upon ways.¡± From the corner of my eye, I notice Leal apply a thin layer of moisture along her thick fur. Almost immediately, vapour rises off her body. I¡¯m not the only one to notice. ¡°The sun is rising and we¡¯ll roast if we stay out here too long,¡± Gr¨ªmr says. ¡°How about we take this outside?¡± ?uri claps his hands together. ¡°Of course, of course.¡± Before we move to the edge of the Agglomerate, he turns to Yalun. ¡°If the water mage is willing to help, I might as well take this little one with me. That good with you?¡± ¡°I was hoping you¡¯d stay here so we could teach her together,¡± Yalun says with reluctance. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t plan to stay. Not with an opportunity like this before me.¡± ?uri inclines his head toward Leal. ¡°Why not join us?¡± Why does he consider Leal an opportunity? Don¡¯t they get a water mage every¡­ half century? I know the grand elders don¡¯t think of that as much time, but I still can¡¯t wrap my head around it. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I¡¯d rather not.¡± Yalun bites her lip as she looks my way. ¡°Yalun, it¡¯s been over a century now. You can¡¯t hide away forever,¡± Odqan grouches. ¡°Just go.¡± She remains quiet, but when we all head toward the outer ring of glass pillars, she follows in step. ¡°So what is it you need Leal for?¡± I ask. ¡°Well, I need her to get past some water. There¡¯s an island in the western ocean that I¡¯ve discovered as being the source of our receding shores.¡± ¡°You got past the Titan?¡± Odqan asks in shock. Yalun joins him in his wide-eyed stare. ¡°Not so much getting past it as old Charybdis having left,¡± ?uri shakes his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know how long the Titan has been gone, but if I were to guess, I¡¯d say when Cipactlteteo crossed the wasteland in the east. The ocean is safe to cross now, but approaching the island itself is impossible.¡± Charybdis? Cipactlteteo? We have names for the Titans? Wait, did the grand elders know about that enormous crocodile, Cipactlteteo, before it destroyed my tribe? ¡°So it wasn¡¯t because of the Titan that the ocean is encroaching on our desert?¡± Yalun asks. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Probably both, but the sheer quantity of water the island outputs, I can say for sure it has been a massive factor.¡± ¡°So you want to cross an ocean to get to this island ¡ª an ocean you know a Titan calls its territory ¡ª for what? To stop an entire coastline of water from pushing into the desert?¡± I ask. The idea it would even be possible to stop that sort of flow is difficult to picture. Not if it reaches the same scale I¡¯ve seen Titans damage the world. ¡°It would be great if we can, but no, I just want to investigate the island that Charybdis has been blocking for as long as I¡¯ve lived.¡± ?uri turns back to Leal. ¡°So, how about it? Willing to give me a hand?¡± This is obviously going to be too dangerous. The last thing I want to do is put Leal in danger, and going near a titan is the most dangerous thing I can think of. ?uri says it¡¯s gone, but what if it¡¯s not? What if it comes back while we¡¯re there? ¡°Sure!¡± Leal jumps on the chance. I can tell from the look in her eye that it¡¯s her damn curiosity that prevents her from seeing how dangerous this might actually be. ¡°I don¡¯t like this,¡± I say as we finally reach the outside of the glass dome and Leal drops her coat of moisture. ¡°Crossing an ocean just sounds reckless.¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry so much,¡± ?uri says. ¡°You¡¯ll have two grand elders with you. Even the ocean can¡¯t stop us.¡± His words would have more credence if Yalun didn¡¯t wince at the statement. She obviously doesn¡¯t agree. ¡°While I can agree to come, I¡¯ve already offered my assistance to Odqan,¡± Gr¨ªmr says. ¡°And I¡¯m not about to leave the girls to travel without me.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve already helped plenty.¡± Odqan turns to ?uri. ¡°Do what you need to, but make sure Solvei and Yalun return before the conference.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry. I¡¯m not missing this meeting for anything.¡± I guess everything has all been sorted then. Hopefully, he¡¯s right and we¡¯ll face no challenges with two grand elders to stand by us. ¡°Fine,¡± I say. ¡°Let me say goodbye to my elders and then we can go.¡± Chapter 184: Back to the Sands It was difficult to say goodbye to my elders, but I won¡¯t be gone forever. This task of ?uri¡¯s shouldn¡¯t take too long, considering they need to be back before the other grand elders gather. Elder Enya is much more clingy than I ever remember her, and telling her I was leaving had her attempting to drop everything and follow me. Cyrus put a stop to her rather quick. While sad to see me go, he was dedicated to fulfilling his penance. Apparently, the two have been confined to the Agglomerate for a decade as punishment for losing their tribe. I think it¡¯s rather unfair, considering there was nothing they could have done to prevent what happened. Then again, a decade is a short punishment in the eyes of the grand elder who judged it appropriate. I walk out to the periphery of the Agglomerate where the others are waiting for me. We have two grand elders leaving the city at once. I¡¯ve only met the three so far, what with how careful Yalun has been to keep me out of the eyes of the others, so I don¡¯t have a good idea how many more there might be. To my understanding, the grand elders either prefer the intense heat found at the core of the Agglomerate, or spend their time on the Titan Alps. Considering the heat in the depths of our glass mountain reaches higher than even I can handle, there is no doubt that each is strong, but how many are there? ?uri himself is as strong as any inner circle mercenary. Even though my capacity is greater than his, he can fight far greater beings than I could. Really, if not for the taboo, I¡¯m sure he would far surpass my energy as well. He is what, over five centuries? He calls Yalun young, so he must be ancient. ?uri has all the time in the world to go hunting to boost his capacity, and yet I¡¯ve overtaken him in only a few years. If the taboo is removed, I¡¯m sure with a few years of hunting ¡ª or some subterranean glow bug extermination ¡ª he could amplify his strength to approach even Hund levels. Yalun is comparatively weak. I¡¯m absolutely certain I¡¯m stronger than her. As the elder with the greatest binding, that¡¯s not exactly unexpected. The eagles have never focused on their fighting ability. Rather, the ability to become birds to both be scouts and messengers is undeniably useful, and yet, the dedication required to achieve such results make it an undesirable life path. Which makes the fact that she¡¯s pushed her binding as far as she has incredibly impressive considering she hasn¡¯t neglected growing her heat as most other eagles do. Is Yalun actually really talented? The grand elder in question glares at me, as if she somehow knows what I¡¯m thinking, but she spreads her flame to me, regardless. I smile involuntarily as I avert my gaze, accepting her connection. It¡¯s been weeks, but she¡¯s still been unable to identify the source of the strangeness she feels within my flames. We¡¯ve already established it¡¯s probably something to do with what the Void changed with my body, but she¡¯s adamant about continuing her search whenever we have time. If she can figure out the difference that allows me to grow faster than other ¨¢ed, the knowledge could be revolutionary. Especially so if it can allow more to push their binding with less risk than the current method. ¡°I have to say, I¡¯m looking forward to flying on the back of a bird.¡± ?uri is already on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back. ¡°I¡¯ll finally get to see what it¡¯s like for you, Yalun.¡± Leal makes sure her suitcase of tools is secured tight before joining him. Yalun doesn¡¯t make a move to climb up my friend, rather changing her form. If she wants to fly, then I might as well join her. ¡°Don¡¯t you already have your own way of flying?¡± Yalun¡¯s flames don¡¯t even become visible through her transformation, showing just how far I need to go to perfect my control. ¡°You know that method is far too expensive. Besides, soaring with wings has a different aesthetic to thrusting through the air. Pleasant, almost.¡± With everyone ready, Gr¨ªmr spreads his wings before throwing himself into the air. Yalun and I take off, trailing close behind. We¡¯re heading southwest. Essentially, we¡¯ll be following along the Titan Alps until we reach the ocean. I¡¯m not looking forward to spending such a long time flying over the ocean, even knowing it shouldn¡¯t pose a problem with each of us able to fly. Well, Leal can¡¯t, but I think she¡¯s the last one we need to worry about falling into water. ¡°So, how many grand elders are there?¡± I ask. Leal¡¯s head swivels, clearly interested in the answer herself. ¡°There are eighteen of us,¡± ?uri says, putting his hands behind his head as he lays back. ¡°Little Yalun is the newest to be accepted amongst us. How long ago was that now?¡± ¡°Forty-six years,¡± Yalun says, her tone curt. She¡¯s likely annoyed at being called ¡®little Yalun¡¯ again. I find it hilarious, and I can¡¯t help but rub it in. ¡°You¡¯ve been a grand elder for such a long time already, little Yalun?¡± Her head snaps toward me with a glare strong enough that I immediately regret trying to tease her. ?uri chuckles. ¡°That¡¯s hardly any time at all.¡± He tilts his head back with a smirk. ¡°Though you should be careful with your words if you don¡¯t want them to come back to bite you, tiny Solvei.¡± I cringe at that. Maybe I should have stayed out of it. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s quite enough.¡± Yalun is smirking now, apparently finding it funny when it happens to someone else.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Oh? Then shall I give you both another term of endearment?¡± ?uri asks in amusement. ¡°How about ¡®clumsy Yalun¡¯? I have plenty of stories from back when you were the student.¡± Yalun¡¯s smile goes stiff as the target returns to her. ¡°You do that, and I¡¯ll fill your chambers with rot rock.¡± ?uri seems surprised. ¡°You can handle that much heat now? That¡¯s great.¡± She rolls her eyes at his wilful ignorance and returns her gaze to the endless dunes before us. ¡°I have for a decade now, but only for a few minutes at a time.¡± It¡¯s surprising to see her holding a conversation and flying while she inspects my flame. Usually, she would lose almost all external senses when she got lost in her focus. When she really gets into her own world, not even pokes or yelling can snap her awake. There was one time where she was so focused for days on end that I¡¯d given up and dragged her off the edge of the mountain. Considering how much of her time she spends like that, I¡¯m surprised she was the first ¨¢ed we met as we arrived. Unless, of course, she¡¯s been messing with me. I think it¡¯s unlikely, but I haven¡¯t thrown away the possibility entirely. ¡°So how far is this western ocean?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks. ?uri hums as he peers over the side of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s feathered back. ¡°At our current pace, a little over a week.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I ask. That¡¯s a lot further than I was expecting. ¡°Yep,¡± ?uri says. ¡°Took me three to get back myself.¡± A week of our flight would be over six months of travel for a tribe, and he¡¯s saying it only took him three weeks to cross that distance? I could understand if some flying was involved, but he already dispersed that idea earlier. Even if he sprinted non-stop, he wouldn¡¯t make it within a month. ¡°How?¡± ?uri opens his mouth to speak, but Yalun interrupts. ¡°Don¡¯t even ask. He¡¯ll take any opportunity to show off to anyone he hasn¡¯t yet.¡± The older grand elder only smiles toward Yalun before turning back my way. ¡°Once we land, I¡¯ll show ya. How about that?¡± Yalun shakes her head while I¡¯m left in confusion. Why would he be so proud of some method of travel that¡¯s slower than flight? Well, I¡¯ll find out soon enough. While all of us besides Leal don¡¯t really need all that much sleep, Gr¨ªmr still prefers to get at least a couple of hours every night. ?uri will show me then. ??? When Gr¨ªmr finally brings us down, it is dangerously close to the Ember Moon. He spent an hour longer than intended flying, hoping to find some rock cropping to rest on. The sand still drains water from both my friends too quick to remain comfortably resting on the sand. Unfortunately, Gr¨ªmr has yet to get enough control over the transformation that overcomes him during Ember¡¯s light to maintain flight. It¡¯s much better than it once was ¡ª he has clearly been working on it, what with the deep red permeating every corner of the Agglomerate during the nights ¡ª but he still has some way to go. ?uri leaps off Gr¨ªmr before the alicanto can touch down. The grand elder lands effortlessly before immediately spreading flames along the sand before him. They¡¯re not the black fire I felt from him, but the bright blue flames are still incredibly impressive to witness. He has such control over the flames that the air doesn¡¯t even heat from them, only the sand he burns. Leal watches in interest on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back as Yalun and I land by his side, both returning to our original bodies with cloth appearing from within our flames. No matter how many times I watch the clothing appear, it still impresses me. How much would this have helped during all my fights in the past years? I¡¯d been planning to look for that self repairing inscription for cloth I¡¯d heard about when I eventually travel to Riparia, but because of Yalun¡¯s help, I won¡¯t need to. That is, if I ever get the opportunity. Now that I know all about the taboo that prohibits travel to the eastern nations, I might not be allowed to leave. It¡¯s a worrying thought; I don¡¯t want to be unable to see my friends again. There is always the option to just leave, but doing so would break any connection to my kind; I don¡¯t want that. Well, there¡¯s no point worrying over it for now. I¡¯ll only know what will happen after the meeting between the grand elders. ?uri shoves his hand into the sand that he just burnt and flips a piece of glass. He buries it in more sand before melting it again. After a few motions of smoothing out the edges, he pulls out the glass board and shows it off like I¡¯m supposed to know what it is. The glass isn¡¯t clean at all. It has a murky, orange hue, which is far different from the impurity-free clarity of the Agglomerate. Resting upright in the sand, the board rises to his hip and reaches about a third of that in its width. This isn¡¯t what he meant by how he travels, right? I can¡¯t even picture how that would help. ¡°Why is your glass different to that in the Agglomerate?¡± Leal asks. ¡°It looks dirty.¡± I¡¯m worried for a moment how ?uri might take that. Leal forgets how to ask politely when something interests her. Thankfully, the grand elder just laughs it off. ¡°For one, the sand around the Agglomerate is of far higher quality. And second, I don¡¯t need to put in all the effort to clean it for the purpose I need it for.¡± I¡¯m glad he isn¡¯t insulted, but I¡¯ll need to give Leal a talk about how she might accidentally insult someone in the future. I really don¡¯t want to lose my friend to the angry outburst of some stranger who misinterprets her intentions. ¡°So, did you want to see? I¡¯ve been trying to spread this amongst the tribes.¡± I mean, we are already here, aren¡¯t we? Why not? I nod and notice Leal doing the same. ¡°Great!¡± he says as the Ember Moon¡¯s light washes over us. ¡°Well, that¡¯s interesting.¡± ?uri looks over the changes to Gr¨ªmr for a few seconds before snapping back to his presentation. From the back of his waist, he inverts a bag that unfolds into a large tarp with a series of ropes hanging from the ends. I recognise it as the thin layer of skin beneath the armour of a colossal-worm. Tough enough not to tear or break easily, but light enough that even I¡¯d be able to carry it with one hand. He says he¡¯s been trying to spread it. It is immediately obvious why most tribes would be reluctant to adapt whatever this is; if it requires a colossal-worm, most tribes won¡¯t take the risk, even if they have tribesmen that could take on with ease. If my tribe was the norm and not the exception, most are risk averse and would prefer to walk than risk any members to one of those worms. With the tarp laid out on the sand before him, ?uri stands on the glass board before burying his feet in sand and melting it into glass, freezing his feet to the board. He takes hold of the ropes and creates an orb of white flame right before the tarp. After all I¡¯ve learnt about airflow with heat and how I could carry Leal¡¯s heavy weight with these odd interactions between fire and air, I shouldn¡¯t be surprised as the tarp lifts off the ground and starts pulling ?uri along with it, sliding along the sand on that board of his. I shouldn¡¯t be, but I am. Immediately, I know how it works, but the visual of ?uri sliding along the dunes at speed is still impressive. Like a ger in the middle of an intense sandstorm, the tarp catches all the air pushing away from the unrestrained heat and converts it all into momentum for the grand elder. ?uri shows off for only a minute, even doing a flip as he launched off the top of a dune, before he returns to us. The worm skin flutters to the sand, unable to hold its own weight now that no flame keeps it aloft. ¡°So? What do you think?¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you use any hotter flames?¡± I ask. I¡¯m sure with blue, or even clear, he¡¯d be able to go so much faster. ¡°I will sometimes amplify the heat, but it always drags me along with the kite into the air. Quite difficult to control where you are going from the sky, though it makes for a good view. There is also the issue that if I end up moving too fast, I¡¯ll be forced to turn around so I don¡¯t crash into the next dune,¡± he says. ¡°Want to give it a go?¡± This is clearly not anywhere near as fast as flying. ¡°Yes.¡± But it looks fun. Chapter 185: Ancient Structures With the western coast so close, the sky along the horizon is enshrouded in an overcast grey. Even without all we¡¯ve seen that tells us the sands counteract water, the sight of the vast cloud cover dispersing into clear sky as soon as it flies over the desert leaves little doubt. It is almost like the floating water containers have hit a wall¡­ a barrier to protect our wasteland. The Titan Alps cut from the north, all the way to the distant southwest on the other side of the ocean. Maybe it¡¯s more appropriate to call it a sea in Leal¡¯s people¡¯s terms, but when there¡¯s that much water, it matters little what name you want to give it. Yalun and I have spent this trip almost no differently than the past few weeks. She continues to guide me in my self focus while inspecting my flames to both make sure I don¡¯t actually take any steps toward growing my binding and continue searching through my inner flame. Sometimes, she¡¯ll stop me from doing anything other than observing her, and she will grasp for more binding. Her examples have allowed me to understand with a clarity her explanations don¡¯t ¡ª not to say she¡¯s bad at explaining ¡ª but even feeling her flames as she clasps more binding isn¡¯t enough to be ready to try myself. At least Yalun doesn¡¯t believe so. The typical method to enhance binding is incredibly abstract. A lot of her explanations rely on metaphors and feelings. Most of which I¡¯m lucky to have a decent understanding of because of my already high binding level, but I can see why it might take a dozen years to be ready to try for the first time. Intrinsic alteration to your very soul is not something that should ever be approached lightly. An instant burst of all an ¨¢ed¡¯s energy isn¡¯t the only danger to one trying to improve themselves this way. If you lose concentration while attempting a grasping, a split in consciousness can cause two separate bodies to be formed. Both missing fundamental qualities that allow an ¨¢ed to live, resulting in these two new beings¡¯ deaths within the day. Intensifying one¡¯s heat has some similar risks, but considering it does not involve adding aspects that aren¡¯t already there, the chance for death or other tragedy is far lower. I learnt about that too, but considering the best way to gain in heat is to compress it over a long period while in the hottest environments possible, it¡¯s not exactly something I want to bother with. Increasing my heat would be great, but I don¡¯t want it to take decades to reach the next rank. Well, the way it¡¯s going with my current training, it might be a decade before Yalun lets me grasp for more binding. I know my impatience is exactly what she¡¯s worried about, but I really might try it myself if she doesn¡¯t let me soon. It¡¯s a good thing we have this detour, all things considered; it keeps me distracted. ¡°Push harder,¡± ?uri commands. ¡°No, the others can feel it. Narrow your focus. Apply your pressure to nobody besides me.¡± And then there¡¯s ?uri¡¯s presence training. His methods are more harsh and militant than even Bunny¡¯s. After that first day with him, I¡¯d thought his method of teaching would be rather similar to Yalun¡¯s, considering how they teased each other. Whenever he takes charge, I get no rest. Everything is to be done perfectly and immediately, lest I be punished with his own overpowering presence. The only relief I have is that we are still flying, so he¡¯s limited by what he can do. Though the amount of times I¡¯ve collapsed in exhaustion upon Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back now is extensive. Who would have thought controlling presence could be so tiring? In the times I¡¯m not squeezing out what presence I can manage, Gr¨ªmr and ?uri spend the time chatting. The two have hit it off surprisingly well. Most of their conversations remain around the eastern nations. ?uri is clearly interested in anything beyond the wasteland, and Gr¨ªmr is all too happy to talk almost non-stop about the places he loves, even going into the ¨¢infean and how they live with in cooperation with his portian. Now that I think about the ¨¢infean, I never did get to fight alongside Spenne again like I promised. Hopefully, he won¡¯t hold it against me when we meet. Once Leal got everything she wanted out of ?uri, she closed herself into her notebook again, rarely looking up for any reason. I¡¯m not sure if she just doesn¡¯t care to talk further, or could only manage to do so because of her curiosity. The ocean finally comes into view. Waves continually fall over the sands, only to evaporate into nothing as the water attempts to slide down the dunes. ¡°What the¡­?¡± Gr¨ªmr blurts. I tilt my head curiously his way, but he doesn¡¯t elaborate, simply stares ahead. Leal looks up from her book and immediately locks onto the ocean, her eyes widening. ¡°What?¡± I ask. No matter where I look along the shore, I can¡¯t see what surprises them. ¡°That¡¯s not what a beach is supposed to look like,¡± Gr¨ªmr says. I twist my head between Yalun and ?uri, but neither seem surprised. Am I the only one that sees nothing weird? I mean, this is only the third time I¡¯ve seen the ocean touching land, and the first touching desert, but how could it not be what it looks like when we¡¯re looking at it right now? Leal¡¯s head swivels between the ocean and the desert behind us before she asks, ¡°Does¡­ does the entire wasteland sit below sea-level?¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Besides a few mountain ranges and the southern cliffs, yes,¡± ?uri says. ¡°Then how¡­¡± Leal bites her lip for a second before pulling back her notepad and writing rapidly. ¡°Okay.¡± I¡¯ve had enough being out of the loop. ¡°What am I missing?¡± Gr¨ªmr tilts his beaked head back enough that he can see me while motioning to the ocean before us. ¡°The water is flowing onto the sand like a waterfall, rather than the normal back-and-forth motion you would see anywhere else.¡± ¡°You said the ocean has been overtaking the wasteland?¡± Leal asks ?uri. ¡°How long has this been happening? How far has it travelled?¡± ¡°As long as I¡¯ve lived. I can do you one better than tell you where it started; I can show you,¡± ?uri says. ¡°Just keep flying straight, Gr¨ªmr. It¡¯ll still be another day before we arrive.¡± ¡°Whoa, wait. It¡¯s raining out there.¡± Yalun backs off in her flight. ¡°Let¡¯s at least wait until it stops.¡± ¡°Yalun, you said you can manage the heat in my chambers now; a bit of rain should be nothing,¡± ?uri says. ¡°Besides, it never stops raining over the western ocean.¡± ¡°But what about¡­¡± Yalun points to me, but I¡¯m already sitting on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back with my waterproof outfit tied tight. ¡°¡­Fine.¡± So, while I knew it would happen, we fly over the ocean. As soon as we fly across the border between sand and water, the world darkens. The sun now blocked by the dark clouds above really pounds in the message that every direction is now a threat of danger. I¡¯ve never been surrounded by this much water before, and it is not as easy to shrug off as I¡¯d assumed it would. Yalun, flying beside us, gives off a lot more heat than she usually would. Whether it¡¯s a preemptive method to hold off the water or a slip in her control because of stress, I find it oddly nice to have someone else amongst my travelling partners that knows water is something to fear. ¡°Hey, Yalun? What¡¯s the smallest you can make yourself?¡± I ask. ¡°About as tiny as a jerboa,¡± she says, tilting her head in question. I open up my hood a little. ¡°There should be enough space.¡± I invite her in. She hesitates for a moment, looking ?uri¡¯s way, before she dives in, already making herself smaller. She makes me take her twin daggers while transforming into ¡ª as she said ¡ª a jerboa. The tiny thing sits on my head and I pull the hood back over, tying it closed. ¡°Thanks,¡± she says. ?uri shakes his head in disappointment, but I don¡¯t mention it. Yalun likely feels his movements, anyway. ¡°Wait.¡± Yalun pokes her now minuscule head out before I can seal her away. ¡°If it takes a day to fly over the ocean, how do you usually travel there, ?uri?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you already know? I kite-surf.¡± ¡°What! No matter how much heat you have, the ocean is still the ocean. How could you do that?¡± ¡°Easy,¡± ?uri says. ¡°Just don¡¯t fall.¡± ??? When ?uri said we were a day away, I thought he meant from our destination, not some stop on the way. The skies have done nothing but unleash on us for the past hours. The innumerable droplets vaporise before coming close to ?uri, but the mist that results still irritates the grand elder. Even with those incomprehensibly hot flames, he is still not truly immune to water, though he is doing much better than Yalun and I, huddled inside my snowsuit as we are. Gr¨ªmr tried to fly through the clouds, so we could coast above the rain, but that turned out much harder than expected. Immediately upon entering the cloud formation, his wings iced up. That wasn¡¯t much of a problem considering his three ¨¢ed passengers, but the higher we went, the more ice tried to crawl along his wings. It didn¡¯t help that the air within was too turbulent to keep consistent flight. Gr¨ªmr had to activate his inscription to keep himself heading straight and up, but even after gaining what we assume to be a few kilometres of altitude, the obscuring clouds refused to disperse. As we were getting too close to dangerous heights, we had to give up and return to the rains beneath the clouds. Eventually, through the heavy obscuring of falling water, large, dark objects make their appearance. There is one directly ahead of us, and a couple to each side. The rain makes their shape indistinguishable, but their size is unquestionable as we approach. ¡°Ah! We¡¯re finally here,¡± ?uri says. ¡°These ancient structures marks the ocean¡¯s shore a millennium ago. Gr¨ªmr, you should be fine to land on them.¡± As we get closer, the dark structure becomes clearer. It¡¯s not so much a structure itself, but rather the framework of one. Plenty of missing sections leave it hollow and riddled with holes, but once I get a good look, there¡¯s no denying I¡¯ve seen something similar before. It is just like the cube we found out in the middle of nowhere. Unlike that water fountain of a city, this one doesn¡¯t gush out rivers of water from every direction. Rather, it looks dead in comparison. Waves crash against the four thick leg bases that sink deep beneath the ocean, but while the structure doesn¡¯t shake or wobble under the assault, it slowly rises and falls with the overall motion. The massive metal cube floats. ¡°How many of these are there?¡± Leal asks. She¡¯s looking to the south, where another is barely visible. ¡°About three hundred or so. When they first arrived in the wasteland, our elders scrapped them for ever resource they could take,¡± ?uri says. ¡°So, none of them are active?¡± ¡°Active?¡± ¡°We found one still intact on our way to the Agglomerate. It somehow made water from nothing.¡± ¡°Interesting. Sounds much like the island we are heading to. Did you find anything about what causes the creation of water?¡± ?uri asks. ¡°If a certain duo hadn¡¯t stopped us, we could have found out how it worked,¡± Leal playfully accuses. ¡°What?¡± I ask. ¡°Would you rather face that blast alone next time?¡± Leal avoids eye contact, so I shake my head in derision. ¡°Thought so.¡± Gr¨ªmr lands on a large metal beam connecting two major pillars. Some scrap metal breaks off under his weight and falls a few hundred metres to the waves below, clattering against remnants of the cube on the way down. To think there are hundreds of these metal structures that somehow avoid sinking across this ocean. ¡°It would solve a lot of our problems if we scavenge these structures for more of their metal ¡ª there is still plenty left ¡ª but unfortunately, the ocean makes that impossible.¡± ?uri jumps off Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back, landing on the thick connecting beam. He snaps off a portion of metal ¡ª the beam itself remaining undamaged ¡ª and eats it. ¡°The only feasible method would be to create ships of our own, but the problem with that should be clear in of itself.¡± The higher half of the cube is picked clean, but as ?uri said, there are still plenty of resources to take. Enough for a tribe to survive for a century. The legs of the structure remain the most intact, which is understandable; not even the ¨¢ed of thousands of years ago would have wanted to be that close to water. ¡°We¡¯ll wait until Ember¡¯s light has passed to move on. From here on, I want everyone keeping an eye out; the ocean has been home to the Titan Charybdis. It left four years ago, but that doesn¡¯t mean it won¡¯t come back.¡± ¡°How will we know?¡± Leal asks. ¡°It¡¯s a Titan,¡± I say. ¡°You will know.¡± ?uri nods in agreement. I¡¯ve only seen two Titans, and both of them were nightmares in their own right. Hopefully, this Charybdis is gone for good. Chapter 186: The Ocean As soon as the Ember Moon passes and Gr¨ªmr regains full control of his body, we continue onward. The crippled cubes we leave behind us marks the final point of safety before we tread into truly dangerous waters. Grand Elder ?uri¡¯s reassurances help somewhat, but even his eyes flicker along the water below, searching for any sign the Titan might remain. We are in total agreement that should there be any sign that the Titan remains, our search for the island will end immediately. Charybdis has prevented any ¨¢ed from travelling this far across the ocean for millennia, and should it return, none of us are suicidal enough to tempt its wrath. Actually, tempting a Titan¡¯s wrath is the least of our concerns. If it is anything like the Euroclydon from the mermineae¡¯s plains, the being doesn¡¯t even need to notice us to knock us out of the skies. It is terrifying to be so far from land with some natural calamity possibly hiding within the waves. No one speaks as we cross the deep waters. Tensions are high for each of us. While the downpour continues, Yalun remains hidden away beneath my hood. She¡¯s spent much of the time above the ocean mixing with my flames, removing her focus from the world around her. It¡¯s hard to say whether she does so because there¡¯s nothing better for her to do, or she¡¯s trying to hide from such a terrifying sight. If I didn¡¯t have the reassurance of my friends at my side and the grand elders to watch over us, I don¡¯t think I could have pushed through the fear of such a horrid situation. Alone, I might have fled long before reaching those ancient cube structures. The constant thrum of water pelting against my mask, goggles and chest is incredibly nerve-wracking, but it doesn¡¯t come close to the disgusting, slimy feeling of water rolling down the back of my snowsuit. It doesn¡¯t matter how safe I know I am in this outfit, the wet feeling of water will never be comfortable. Each hour we fly, the rain only gets heavier. Light of the Eternal Inferno should reach us by now, but it remains as dark as night. Nothing is visible in any direction besides the dark grey clouds and the turbulent ocean that reflects the sky. Our consistently bleak surroundings remove any sense of progression I could hope for. Despite how long we¡¯ve been flying, nothing differs from the start. In a way, that unchanging nature of our current journey is a blessing, what with all the things that could go wrong. As the rain intensifies, so do the waves below. I try not to look often, but a combination of my fears and there being nothing else to hold my attention has me looking to the ocean below. Each swell is massive, rising well over a few dozen metres, carrying deadly force with a nightmarish volume of water. If those waves were to hit me, I would be dead in an instant. Not even my snowsuit could hold back the ocean¡¯s strength. It does nothing good for my nerves to stay above these waters, but I don¡¯t plan to let myself fall far even should the worst happen. I can transform in only a few moments and fly with my own wings. The rain will hurt, but I¡¯ll bear through it. If that¡¯s still not enough to keep me in the air, I have enough energy to hold myself aloft with physical flames alone. Of course, with no resources to consume for who knows how far, it is my least liked option, but it is an option no less. As we edge closer to our target, the tall waves recede to a consistent level. At first, the sight relieves me; the water is obviously less intense, after all. Upon looking closer, I couldn¡¯t have been more wrong. The water shoots along beneath us with speed. Waves cannot form because the sheer pressure pushing the water does not give them time to rise. ¡°We are close,¡± ?uri says, breaking the silence. We have passed the Titan¡¯s territory? I let out a breath in relief. I don¡¯t know what this island is, but there¡¯s no way it will come close to the danger posed by a Titan. As if invited by his words, a shadow consumes the thick clouds ahead of us. My eyes stick to the dark area ahead, waiting to finally see this island we¡¯ve gone through all this effort to find, but it isn¡¯t the island that appears first. The mist clears as we move forward, revealing a massive stream of water, fifty metres thick, blasting through the air to our left. I can¡¯t see where it ends ¡ª the speed of the water keeping it in the air for hundreds of metres and out of sight ¡ª but I can hear the continual crash of water pushing into the ocean. We avoid the stream, but it is not the only one. Dozens of equally large streams shoot out in all directions from the shadow. The sound is intense. More akin to an earthquake than what I would expect from water. When we are close enough, the island finally breaches through the mist. Immediately, it is clear that it is of the same makers as the cube, though on a completely different scale. That much should have been obvious by the enlarged water streams. The ocean below can hardly be called an ocean anymore. Beneath the island ¡ª which I suspect isn¡¯t actually an island ¡ª a dozen more streams of water push everything down and away, leaving any remaining ocean to twist in and around itself but unable to return to normal sea-level.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. The large metal surfaces covered with those same immense inscriptions as the cube extend far to both sides, its vastness still hidden within obscuring mists and clouds. A single one of those cube structures remains attached to the side of the island. The cube is damaged, but not in the same way as the others my people once scavenged. No, this is cleaved in half, like something large lashed at it. A Titan maybe? No¡­ if it were the Titan, nothing would remain. But even as I think that, I spot a dozen more similar damage marks along the metallic surface of the island. Some only a dozen metres long, while other reach well into the hundreds. ¡°This is a dock,¡± Leal says absently as she, like the rest of us, inspects the island. ¡°A dock?¡± ?uri asks, and I can feel Yalun¡¯s own confusion through the Kindling. ¡°You know, a place to stow or restock ships before they head out into the oceans again,¡± she says. ¡°There are a dozen platforms identical to the one connecting to that¡­ ship, I guess?¡± she points both to the cube I was looking at then to an array of other sections that look like they could hold more. Each of the docks has nine bridges that would connect into the weapon or geyser holes of the cube. As we fly closer, the sole remaining cube docked proves so, each platform inserted into each hallway. What exactly is the purpose of those holes? Are they cannon barrels as I¡¯d thought? Are they hallways to walk set with a trap to obliterate intruders? Or are they actually intended to gush out water¡­ for some reason? Considering they¡¯ve been around for over a thousand years ¡ª if those framework remains truly are the same as the cubes ¡ª I guess we can discard the idea that there was someone inside, or still operating it. Though, it is hard to believe that it could send out so much water for that long. Gr¨ªmr brings us down to land on the metallic deck. I jump off and immediately cringe at the splash from my boots. A moment later, it doesn¡¯t matter. When ?uri lands beside me, his heat immediately spreads along the water, vaporising all beneath our feet within a dozen metres. Despite all the missing water, the metal itself doesn¡¯t so much as heat beneath our feet, displaying Grand Elder ?uri¡¯s impressive control. Rain still buckets down on our heads, but at least I don¡¯t have to go through the discomfort of wading through an ankle deep pool. It is insane how much metal this island is made of. If not for all the water, this dock could fuel every ¨¢ed for millennia. There wouldn¡¯t be a point for ¨¢ed to hold themselves back any longer, and the taboo can be repealed. Is that why ?uri is so interested in this place? ¡°Come. Let¡¯s get under some cover,¡± ?uri says as he leads us to a depression between unconnected docking bridges. Unlike the design of the cube, this island angles upward above the highest connectors. The flat, angled metal is only interrupted by the occasional wide platform and massive water pillars shooting into the air. We are out of the direct downpour now, but the heavy winds still caries a lot of water under our cover. Yalun halts our Kindling for the first time in nearly a day and rises to her tiny little feet upon my head. I open my hood to let her out, careful of the splashes flung up by the wind. She lands in the dry spot near ?uri, before shivering. Ahead of us is an entryway that appears far too similar to the corridor we saw in that last cube. No way am I trotting in through there. Yalun has no such reservations. The grand elder takes the lead and dashes down the hall to get away from the lingering water pelting against us, only for ?uri to wrap his hand around her small form and pull her back. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Yalun squeaks, her voice much higher pitch in this tiny form. ¡°Let me go!¡± She has the same binding as I do, so I¡¯m not sure why she complains and doesn¡¯t just escape. ¡°It¡¯s not safe in there. Your control is not yet to the stage you could manage plasma, right?¡± ¡°Plasma?¡± Yalun asks in surprise as she frees herself from his hand, quickly returning to her normal form. ¡°Here?¡± ?uri nods his head toward a massive geyser blasting out of a fractured section of the island not far to our right. ¡°Whoever made this place were as incredible with their inscriptions as they were paranoid. The island really didn¡¯t like when I took control of the damned plasma cannon, and tried to flood me out.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t push through? Or melt your way around?¡± ¡°Ranked water,¡± ?uri says. ¡°Flooded me out before I could do anything. I nearly died.¡± ¡°What do you mean by plasma?¡± I ask. Is that what I could not control back when the cube exploded on us? ¡°Plasma is ranked fire. It¡¯s how we make our relics,¡± ?uri says. ¡°I¡¯ll take you down to the forge one day, if you raise your heat high enough.¡± ¡°Wait,¡± Gr¨ªmr interrupts. ¡°You¡¯re telling me the inscriptions of this island can create ranked elements? That¡¯s insane. Not even Riparia has achieved such a feat.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t actually think it would be that hard if you had enough energy,¡± Leal says, having only just climbed down from the alicanto¡¯s back. ¡°What I¡¯m more interested in is just how they are powering all of this. None of the numbers make sense.¡± ¡°So you said you wanted to get inside, right?¡± I ask. ¡°How are we going to do that if ranked water blocks us?¡± ?uri turns his eyes up to Leal. ¡°This is where your water mage friend helps us.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how good of a mage you think I am, but ranked water is still far from something I can command.¡± Leal looks upon the water geyser with reluctance. ¡°No, no, never. The stream itself is normal water; I just need you to create a path through. There¡¯s a pathway behind a section of wall I burnt away before the water flooded down on me.¡± ?uri continues to lead us to the geyser until the rapidly moving water appears almost like a wall before us. Besides me, Leal forms a strand of water that flows into the massive gushing fountain, and if not for her fur, I could swear her face turns pale. Her eyes widen, and her head snaps to the right, following the path of the geyser. ¡°Unreal,¡± she murmurs. ¡°So, think you can forge a way for us?¡± Slowly, Leal nods. ¡°Barely, but I think I can do it.¡± ¡°Tell me again why I came?¡± Yalun says, keeping her distance from the wall of water. ¡°Because you¡¯re obsessed with this one.¡± ?uri lays a hand on my shoulder, which I quickly brush off. Yalun groans, but doesn¡¯t complain any longer. I don¡¯t know which is worse: ?uri¡¯s apparent disregard for the terrifying nature of water, or the fear portrayed by Yalun, one of our grand elders that should stand as a representative of our strength. Well, regardless of my reservations, Leal is preparing to lead us inside. Hopefully, this will be worth the stress. Chapter 187: Entering the Island The obscene volume of rushing liquid roars with ferocity as it charges past us, only barely curving enough for us to pass. Yalun and I hug the left wall, keeping as far from the deadly water as feasible. ?uri strides ahead of us, unconcerned. Gr¨ªmr stands the closest to the immense stream, his wings clamped to his sides as he carries Leal and her enshrouding sphere of water forward. The slightest clip of his wing into the flow almost tore the wing right off his body. He said he was alright, but the snap I heard didn¡¯t sound great. The wing still moves freely, so it¡¯s not broken at least. I¡¯ll need to keep a close eye on him; I don¡¯t want him to be ripped away from us in the stream just because he stretched his wings. Inside her orb of water, Leal¡¯s eyes stay glued to the stream ahead of us. A small stream shoots forward from her sphere into the larger flow, likely to spread her will. A second stream flows into her back, returning from the water that crashes into the wall behind us. I turn back to watch the water where Leal¡¯s influence obviously loses its grip. The stream curves back in on the wall like a sledgehammer, powerful enough to warp the metal and splash water everywhere. Thankfully, the water that comes close gets collected by Leal¡¯s orb, but it¡¯s still a frightening sight. The heavy flow is intense enough that even as skilled as Leal is, she has to put all her focus on angling it away from us at our front. She can¡¯t worry about the damage it causes when it leaves her control. I¡¯m just glad that the momentum of all that water seems to be enough to stop it filling up our walking space. The sound is deafening. I¡¯m certain ?uri just said something, but the crashing of water behind us is just too intense. Seriously, how have the walls not crumbled from such strength? Apparently realising the problem, ?uri spreads his flame to me and Yalun. Once again, I get to feel that incredible black flame. It is subdued, controlled as to not overwhelm me, but the heat is undeniable. ¡°Our path is to the left. Only another hundred metres now.¡± With our flames connected, his voice comes through with clarity, even over the deafening water. I nod back in understanding, but how can we tell Leal and Gr¨ªmr? It¡¯s not like this method of communication would work with anyone other than an ¨¢ed. As I watch Leal¡¯s focused gaze, I consider it probably better not to distract her, even should I have a way to do so through that barrier of hers. She¡¯s more intent on the flow ahead of us than I¡¯ve seen her. This task might have been too much to ask from her, but I¡¯m glad she can hold out. I don¡¯t think I have to say how worried I am about the consequences of her stumbling now. Eventually, we find the hole ?uri told us of. The wall is shattered in places and remoulded in others. It¡¯s clear ?uri¡¯s fire burnt away some of the wall, but the flow must have torn off loose sections. It is obviously not meant to be a passageway, what with the many exposed inner workings in the walls ¡ª at least those not already ground down by the heavy stream ¡ª but it leads to a hallway completely unique from the one we¡¯ve been wading through. Now in this offshoot corridor, Leal visibly sighs and drops the sphere of water surrounding her. We are still completely submerged, but the further we move through this side hallway, the less the intense flow affects us. Leal holds off the surrounding water with far greater ease than she has for the last while of walking. Unlike the wide entry hallway ¡ª or cannon barrel ¡ª this area appears much more likely to be intended for people to walk around. It still keeps the same sort of aesthetic with metallic walls with the long sweeping lines of some inscription, but there are doorways along the walls and even an open area at the end of the short hallway. ¡°Thank you, Leal,¡± ?uri says, the sound of water no longer deafening. ¡°How do you think you can manage here?¡± ¡°The water pressure is high, but it shouldn¡¯t be an issue to hold it off.¡± As she says so, the water around us spins, twirling around us in a way not unlike my fire twisters. I take a moment to realise Leal is doing it intentionally; her face now calm and relaxed. Maybe the twisting motion makes it easier for her to hold off the pressure of the water? Now that she doesn¡¯t need to put in too much focus, Leal climbs down from Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back. With how long this trip is taking, we might be stuck in the wasteland a lot longer than expected. I¡¯m worried that they might get annoyed at staying out here. The wasteland isn¡¯t comfortable in itself, and now I¡¯ve dragged them to this dangerous place.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Thanks for that, Leal. You didn¡¯t have to do this,¡± I say as I join her side. ¡°You too, Gr¨ªmr.¡± Leal glares at me. ¡°Are you kidding? You think I would miss this?¡± her gaze travels along the hallway to the open space. ¡°We had to abandon our last attempt, but this time I want to learn more about this place.¡± I turn to Gr¨ªmr, but I can tell he¡¯s smiling down at me, despite the bird¡¯s beak being unable to make such an expression. ¡°You do not have to worry about me, Solvei. This has been enjoyable. Far better than waiting around for months in our team¡¯s cabin.¡± I¡¯m not that transparent, am I? ¡°Come on Solvei, I need to see where this leads.¡± Leal grabs my arm and leads me ahead of the grand elders. The spinning water stays centred around Leal, so the others are quick to follow. We stop before one of the doors lining the hallway. The separation between wall and door panel is clear, but there is no door-handle. Leal taps all along the metal plate, looking for some way to access, but there is nothing. Even when she creates that odd analytical lens of water over her eyes, she simply shakes her head with disappointment. As I step up beside Leal, I realise just how tall the doorway is. It rises over even our ursu¡¯s head. Whatever made this place must be rather tall. That, or they just like a lot of room. I place my hand on the metal and push my ethereal flames through. It is far faster to spread through metal than stone, so it only takes a few moments to breach. The interior of the door is filled with a bunch of pipes and dense air that immediately incinerates at a touch of my fire. They don¡¯t explode, simply puff out of existence. As I push further, reaching for whatever is on the other side, I recoil. The sting of water is painful even if my flames are ethereal. I snap my arm away from the wall, pulling back on my fire. ¡°The other side is flooded,¡± I say as I step away. Leal and I turn to the open area at the end of the corridor in unison, ready to explore whatever lies hidden. I may have been terrified of all the water surrounding us until now, and while the water swirling around us still concerns me, my curiosity is screaming for me to explore. ¡°Wait, Solvei. What was that?¡± Yalun stops us before we can rush ahead. ¡°What was what?¡± I ask, unsure of what she means. Yalun motions to the unmarked door. ¡°What were those flames? Did you push them through the metal?¡± I look at her in confusion, but notice ?uri staring as well. ¡°They were my ethereal flames, and yes?¡± Is that strange? I thought for sure something I¡¯d achieved with my control would certainly be something any of my elders could do. ¡°Can you do it again for me?¡± she asks, spreading her flames into mine. I do as she says and watch her eyes widen as my flames completely pass through air and metal without interacting with either. ¡°That influence,¡± Yalun says. ¡°The Void¡¯s touch is thicker than ever when your flames are in this state.¡± What? But I only recently achieved ethereal flame. They didn¡¯t come after the Void Fog made its changes. I thought it was the same effect as when my flames would pass through inscriptions, like back in the library with Leal, which was long before the Void touched me. Is that wrong? ¡°You two can explore the oddities of her fire at a later time. Remember where we are,¡± ?uri says. Yalun reluctantly backs off and I return to Leal¡¯s side, who¡¯s watching on with an analytical eye. ¡°You didn¡¯t know that fire was strange, did you?¡± I whisper to her. ¡°Solvei, everything you do is strange. I¡¯ve told you before, right? The way ¨¢ed control fire goes against everything I¡¯ve been taught.¡± Leal turns back to the end of the hallway. ¡°I¡¯m still concerned about what will happen after you reach this binding threshold. Both yours and Yalun¡¯s energy signature is far too subtle; it makes me uncomfortable.¡± Right. Leal still thinks I might lose who I am when I increase my binding. Though, now that I think about it, that sounds scarily close to the dangers Yalun speaks of grasping too much binding at once. ¡°You know, it¡¯s like you said: us ¨¢ed are strange.¡± It¡¯s actually the fleshy races that are strange, but whatever. ¡°There¡¯s nothing to worry about. I¡¯ll be as much me when I reach the threshold as I am now.¡± She looks down at me for a few moments before shaking her head with a chuckle. ¡°Yeah, of course. I shouldn¡¯t expect anything else but the obscene from you, right?¡± That¡¯s¡­ not an insult, right? No, I am just going to assume it¡¯s a compliment. A strange one, but a compliment regardless. As we approach the end of the hallway, I grip my spear in a standard stance. The area is flooded and there may not be anything to fight, but it doesn¡¯t hurt to be careful. A large staircase is the first thing to catch my eye as we walk out of the hallway. It fills the back quarter of the room to our right. Simplistic and even steps lead up to a second and third floor, where it branches off into other hallways. The top of the stairwell curves to the back corners of the room, spiralling up to many more floors above. To our left is a wide opening, about the size of a cube¡¯s hallway. I¡¯m guessing it leads to one of those bridges on the docks. The room itself is cubical. Tall, metallic walls lined with strange vertical rails and indistinct inscriptions circle the room, making way for holes at each floor. Each of those holes appear much like the entrance to the hallway we just left, and sit an equal distance from each other along the interior walls of the room. Everything is still flooded, but the water is clear, so even with Leal swirling it around us, visibility is good. Not even this place has remained undamaged by the overflowing water. Sharp rods by the sides of the stairs are the only indication they once had handrails. The straight rails along the walls occasionally have some broken mechanism attached. It is only because there is one platform on ground level that remains intact that I can even tell what they are meant to be. The appearance is very much like those elevators the centzon used, though without the visible gears and pulleys. ¡°So¡­ where to?¡± I ask. There are so many hallways to explore. ?uri steps forward. ¡°Well, I want to see the source of all that water, so I¡¯d say the main hallway at the top of those stairs.¡± Together, we climb the stairs. For better or worse, we¡¯re heading into the depths of the island. Chapter 188: A Mysterious Green Glow Despite being completely cut off from the outside world, the inside of this island remains decently lit. Lines along the ceiling glow just bright enough to illuminate every corner, even through all this water. The main hallway at the top of the stairs is wide. As large as the entrance from the bridge on the other side of the cubical entry hall. It¡¯s obviously made to accommodate hundreds of people passing through, but with only us to fill the space, it feels empty. Unlike the last corridor, this doesn¡¯t have any doorways at all. It simply continues straight, unmarred by anything besides the lines of some large inscription. The sight of which leaves me concerned we are walking into another trap ready to blow on us. These long inscription lines travel everywhere through this structure. Any single wall is only a small part of the overall design, so it is impossible to get a glimpse into what each does. These lines travelling beneath our feet, by our sides, and over our heads leave no warning of what to expect. ¡°So what do we do if this explodes on us, too?¡± I ask. ¡°Leave that to me,¡± ?uri says. ¡°I will protect everyone long enough for Leal to take control of the water flow, just like we did on our way in.¡± Well, if he¡¯s confident, then I guess I shouldn¡¯t worry. The passage is long. Each step we take seems to bring us no closer to its end, yet we keep striding forward. I pass a flame over the metal beneath my feet, but even the metal inside has that strange cooling system built behind it. Though it is nowhere near as strong as what I witnessed in the cube. The vents appear the same as the last corridor we walked through, yet that chilled energy seems almost inactive. It¡¯s probably a good thing considering how much more difficult it would make our travel if all this water was frozen. Each minute we walk, the more green the end of the hallway appears. It is subtle at first, but the colour soon overwhelms the white light of the above lines. What¡¯s strange is that the glow doesn¡¯t have a distinct source. The metal tunnel ahead is simply bathed in that sickly green light. To my side, Yalun passes her hand over the wall. Her eyes digging into the metal. I try to see what has her attention, and after staring for a few seconds, a very slight green seems to permeate out from the grey steel. I¡¯m not sure whether I¡¯m simply mistaking the shine from the rest of the hallway, or it actually shines out from the metal, but Yalun doesn¡¯t make note of it, so I continue striding onward. We¡¯ve been walking through this hallway for nearly twenty minutes when it finally ends. It ends in a wall. A dead end. There are no side passages, nor doors or any other place to lead off from here, only the flat metal barrier before us. I¡¯d think this was a waste of time if not for the wall glowing green. It is still mostly indistinct, but the colour is strong enough to be clearly coming from the metal now. While green isn¡¯t something I haven¡¯t seen before, this poisonous shade seems almost otherworldly, but I can¡¯t put my finger on why I get that feeling. ¡°Does anyone know what this glow is?¡± I ask, mainly looking at Yalun and Leal. Those two usually know the most about the strange oddities of the world. ¡°Nope,¡± Yalun says, her flames already brushing over the wall. ¡°Not a thing.¡± ¡°Neither.¡± Leal¡¯s face is bare millimetres from the metal. I shake my head as I turn to the only two of our group with some restraint. ¡°So what now? Should I test what¡¯s on the other side of this wall?¡± I offer to do so, but I really don¡¯t want to be stung by water again. ¡°You don¡¯t have to,¡± ?uri says. ¡°I¡¯m going to burn it out of our way, regardless.¡± Uh¡­ I¡¯d really rather not have him cause any other disaster while we still have such limited knowledge of this place. What if it sets off an explosion? What if there¡¯s ranked water behind it that Leal cannot hold it from crashing over us? ¡°Give me a minute.¡± I step away from Gr¨ªmr and ?uri to place my hand on the slightly glowing green metal. Absently, I notice that while it glows, it doesn¡¯t actually illuminate either my hand or any of the other members of our group. My fire pushes into the wall, but it feels strange, like I¡¯m being constricted as soon as I¡¯m inside the wall. The green glow condenses, brightening around the area my flames push through. The strange energy pokes and prod at my ethereal blaze, only to back off. In seconds, the metal loses all its green lustre and returns to the dull grey of steel. I exchange glances with Yalun and Leal, but neither has an explanation, so I push on. There are much of the same internal workings as the door I felt earlier, pipes and compressed gasses ¡ª that I make sure my flames are ethereal enough not to interact with this time ¡ª along with more copper-based alloys that channel wind hyle. When I reach the other side, I hesitate. Tensing myself for the possibility that I will have to snap myself back at a moment¡¯s notice, I breach the other side.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Air. Stale and musty, but it still burns the same. My flames spread, but it seems the corridor continues past this wall. I pull back my flames and make way for ?uri. ¡°It¡¯s dry air on the other side.¡± ¡°Great, this shouldn¡¯t take two seconds,¡± he says as he steps forward. Blue flames swirl out from his body and cover a large section of the wall. A sizzle roars from the wall as the metal vaporises from the heat. ¡°Wait!¡± Leal shouts, but it is too late. ?uri eats through the section of wall and an intense wind assaults us. I¡¯m lifted from the ground and sucked through the hole before I can comprehend the roaring of air and crashing of water. I skid across the ground for a moment before I feel flames wrap around my chest and tug me back. Rushing water tears along my side, returning us to the same intense flow we escaped not long ago. Physical blue flames grasp each of us and hold us behind ?uri, whose stream of intense black fire is the only thing stopping the powerful flow now gushing through the hole we were just sucked through. The water bursts into steam before coming close to the dark flame, but that steam still washes over us with unmitigated pressure. The blue flames drag us girls behind Gr¨ªmr, whose tries his best to protect us with his wings but only manages to be sent sprawling by the intensity of the steam gust. All five of us skid along the ground a hundred metres in a second under the strength of the stream, before Gr¨ªmr slams his wings into the metal beneath our feet and brings us to a halt. ?uri somehow able to keep the main flow of water off us at all times. ¡°Leal,¡± ?uri commands, and that is enough to snap her back to focus. She pushes her own stream around ?uri and slowly takes command over the flow, giving the grand elder space to pull back on his fire. Before Leal can get enough of a grip to give us space to move, a screeching siren blares through even the roar of rushing water. The inscription above flashes red. A grinding clank accompanies the fall of another wall slamming into place mere metres in front of us. The new wall cuts off the flow of water. What was an intense blast of water immediately collapses into nothing. The water that made it past the barrier keeps its momentum, carrying it further down the hallway, but some water pools back toward us, only to burn up in ?uri¡¯s proximity. ?uri¡¯s flames let go as he turns to face us. His arms and face blister with a sheen of charcoal that sizzles and crumbles after only a few seconds. It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve seen such an injury. Ever since my binding increased, the flames of my body don¡¯t react the same to injury as the rest of my race. As I look at Yalun, I find her flames visible and trying to recover what body they lost. They do so rapidly, but it¡¯s still enough to tell the mist hurt her. ¡°For fuck¡¯s sake, ?uri. What was that?¡± Yalun stomps over to the other grand elder. ¡°Sorry. I didn¡¯t expect the water to move again.¡± ¡°Of course it would,¡± Leal mumbles beside me. ¡°With that much pressure? We¡¯re lucky not to be paste.¡± ¡°Are you alright?¡± I ask as stand by her side. Even as she sits, I¡¯m only barely taller than her. Leal is the one I¡¯m worried about the most. Of the lot of us, she has the least enhancement. I¡¯ve been trying to enact the inheritance ritual for her whenever I can, but it still isn¡¯t enough. Her body can¡¯t take the same beating many of us can, so that initial burst through the hole might have caused her serious injury. ¡°Yeah,¡± she says, rising to her feet and making me the small one once again. ¡°I think your elder took all the blow for me.¡± She walks up to the new wall now blocking the way out. The idea of such unsettles me, but I have overcome my fear, so I can bundle up my reservations and burn them whole. I step in tow with a deep breath to gather myself. Gr¨ªmr tears his wings out of the floor. His feathers a little scratched up, but he seems mostly unharmed. Leal runs her hand along the smooth surface. The slight green glow permeating this barrier just as much as the last. I¡¯m tempted for a moment to push my flames through to see if it will flee again, but the thought of accidentally touching the water on the other side stays my hand. Leal turns to the far end of the corridor. ¡°It looks like the creators don¡¯t want whatever¡¯s down here to be flooded, even when the entrance itself can be.¡± ¡°Do you think it¡¯s designed to flood?¡± I ask. With how water is used through this structure, it might be intentional. The original hole ?uri burnt away in that cannon barrel likely flooded that entrance section, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a leap to say whoever designed this place either expected such an occurrence, or even had ways of doing so themselves. Maybe the creators are a race of fish people? I can only imagine a species that can breathe underwater ever designing the island in such a way. But if that¡¯s the case, then why the stairs? Fish can swim, right? Or could they be a really heavy fish race? Wait, can fish even breath outside water? If not, then why would they block off the water like this? I don¡¯t think I know enough about fish. ¡°No,¡± Leal says. ¡°This appears more like an emergency contingency.¡± ¡°So¡­ not fish people, then?¡± Leal looks at me oddly. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Ah, nothing. Don¡¯t worry.¡± I didn¡¯t mean to ask that out loud. ??? After a few minutes to gather ourselves, we return to our trek along the wide hallway. The green glow imbued within each surface around us continues to deepen. As it intensifies, the colour seems to flow, like wisps of flame or currents in water. This green permeation is clearly a type of energy, but unlike fire, lightning, or any of the other hyle states of elements, this energy doesn¡¯t have a recognisable feeling to it. The metal is visibly strange, but to my flames, it¡¯s as if it is completely normal. Eventually, the passage reaches its end. As we step out from the dimly lit space into a bright open space. For a moment, I think we¡¯ve returned outside, only for the heavy rain to have ceased, but upon looking up, the steel ceiling kilometres above puts an end to that thought. Our tunnel exited at the beginning of a bridge with plentiful stairs leading down the side into what looks like city divisions. Each separated section is only barely recognisable as a residency because of the pathways leading into a thousand chunks of steel. Otherwise, the city would appear just like any other flat surface of metal I¡¯ve seen in this island. The bridge leads toward the centre of the enormous chamber where a spherical dome takes up a decent majority. Metal piping, at least as thick as the first cube we came across, pierces out from the central sphere and connects to the outer walls. Considering the number of them, and the directions they are pointing, I won¡¯t be surprised if they lead to the geysers outside the island. What stands out the most amongst this massive chamber is the visually inverted tower dropping from the ceiling and connecting to the top of the sphere. It stands out not for its size, or the impressive stalactite-like design, but the deep ethereal green shade swathing the structure. The emerald glow tears away any semblance that it is metal. In fact, the green moves and sways in such a way that the tower doesn¡¯t even appear physical. Like a flame suspended in space and swaying without movement. It is exceedingly eerie, but I can¡¯t help the feeling that it is calling for me. Chapter 189: Bridge ¡°Well, aint that a sight.¡± ?uri is the first to speak after we walk out into the massive chamber. I know most of the island was obscured by the heavy rain and clouds, but I never thought it was large enough to hold such a space. And I thought the cube was big. With all the metal held within this island, the ¨¢ed could increase their capacity all they want and never run out of resources. ¡°What are the chances that¡¯s where the ranked water is?¡± Yalun gestures to the massive sphere that consumes most of our sight. From the tip of the dome, where the inverted tower touches, the green glow spreads, gradually decreasing in intensity until it has only as much brightness as the walls behind us. The sphere continues below our bridge, and while there is the residential section up to a hundred metres from the massive orb, a voided space lacking anything but those thick pipes separates the sphere from the rest of the island. Even as we walk along the bridge, we can see down into the depths, where it seems some water pools far below. It is impossible to see the bottom of the orb. ¡°Solvei, bring up that tracking inscription. We can confirm right here.¡± Doing as she says, I form the makeshift inscription before us and let Leal guide some of her water hyle into the targeting section. As soon as the target is accepted, I¡¯m almost overwhelmed by the tugging sensation. While before, no guiding flame would be created ¡ª unlike the original ¡ª but now a fire grows out from the inscription. A spear of fire lurches out from my floating flames and rushes toward this chamber¡¯s central sphere like it was launched by a centzon contraption. Every moment I keep the inscription active, the fuel consumption multiplies exponentially. It is so much greater than before we found the original cube that I have to extinguish the flames immediately lest it grow too strong for even my capacity. Well, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any doubt in anyone¡¯s mind where the ranked water lies. That inscription already had a horrible fuel efficiency, and with the strength of that signal, it only makes it so much worse. Good thing there¡¯s lots of metal to eat. There¡¯s no need to discuss our objective. We have two paths ahead of us: either descend into the city districts below, or follow this path up the sphere. It is obvious which we¡¯ll choose. About a kilometre ahead of us, the bridge transitions into wide stairs that lead all the way up to the top of the sphere. If we want to stop the production of water constantly spewed out into the ocean, then the place to do so would be the sphere. Our walk is unsettlingly quiet. There is no sound of the storm outside. No bird whistles or the calls of insects, nothing to indicate anything lives within this expansive island. All that reaches our ears is the echoing ring of our footsteps as we gradually climb the stairs. ¡°What do you think happened to the people who made this place?¡± I ask to break the silence. ¡°I¡¯ve not seen any dead, and there was only one of those ships still docked, so maybe they fled,¡± Leal says. ¡°Just because there aren¡¯t any remains doesn¡¯t mean they didn¡¯t die here,¡± ?uri says. ¡°It¡¯s been over a thousand years. Bones do not last that long, and if the beings that lived here were like ¨¢ed, they wouldn¡¯t leave anything behind to announce their deaths in the first place.¡± ¡°Huh. Really?¡± ¡°If they did leave, then why?¡± I ask. ¡°This place is still intact and operational after a thousand years. Surely there couldn¡¯t have been too much danger.¡± ¡°Could have been famine. If they ran out of food, then it doesn¡¯t matter how impressive their home is.¡± I open my mouth to refute Leal, but clamp it shut before I can say anything stupid. For a moment there, I forgot fleshy beings can¡¯t eat metal. Well, most of them. I glance to the side, where Gr¨ªmr is struggling on steps far too thin for his bulky talons. It is not a short walk to the top of the sphere, but we eventually arrive without any explosive traps going off, or being flooded by more water. There are no entrances to the massive metal dome below us, which is our target. Instead, the only path forward is a large doorway into the inverted tower. Beyond said doorway, is a spiralling staircase that winds around a thick central column. The base of the tower ¡ª where it connects to the sphere below ¡ª is only a dozen metres wide, but as the tower grows higher, the thicker it becomes. With no other options, we make our way up. The stairs and walls all hold that dense ethereal green quality. It is not at all difficult to spot the moving energy within, and it makes the walls appear almost transparent. I stick to the outer wall as we climb, passing my hand over the metal which retains its metallic feel, but not the way it is supposed to look. With each floor we rise, I attempt to see through the wall to the massive chamber outside the tower, but each time I think I see something, it doesn¡¯t appear quite right. The images are still indistinct, but I swear at one point I spot the sun. That has to be impossible, though; the other side of this wall is still within the confines of the island. Soon, the tower widens enough for doorways to lead into side rooms. ?uri is the first through the arch. Unlike the last blocked doors, these remain open and welcoming to our entry. I follow the others inside what I can only call a library. It isn¡¯t one ¡ª probably ¡ª but nothing is closer to this appearance. Several large metal slabs not dissimilar to bookshelves fill the space. Considering the lack of space between each shelf, I doubt it¡¯s meant for perusing. Leal wouldn¡¯t be able to squeeze her way through if she tried. Does that mean the race that lived here wasn¡¯t as large as the ursu, then? They just liked their large doorways?Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The shelves all have that same green colour that everything around here seems to be poisoned with, but through that glow, the long, sweeping lines of inscription are noticeable. It¡¯s almost like whoever created this place didn¡¯t realise you could create inscriptions in more detail and at smaller, more compressed sizes. If they¡¯d used fire hyle, then any one of us ¨¢ed could have used the inscriptions to map out this place. But they didn¡¯t, so we¡¯re stuck with only our eyes. ¡°Anybody got any idea what these are for?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks from the doorway, refraining from entering because of the limited space. Nobody has an answer. Even if we could read their inscriptions, almost none of them sits on a single surface. We¡¯d have to write down what¡¯s on each surface and connect them before having a chance at deciphering them, and that¡¯s assuming we have enough knowledge to do so. These were made over a millennium ago, after all. Who knows what¡¯s changed since? I place my hand on one and push my flames through. Or, I try. My ethereal flames which had no issue pushing through metal before suddenly hit an impassable wall. I double down on my efforts, but my fire doesn¡¯t make it through. The strange green glow flows inward to counter my attempts. Unlike the last time I interacted with the phenomenon, it reacts completely differently. It blocks me with ease. ¡°The glow is stopping me,¡± I say. ¡°Do you think these inscriptions are the cause of it?¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Leal answers. ¡°But it has to have some purpose. Stopping your weird flames can¡¯t be the entirety of it.¡± ¡°Solvei.¡± Yalun stares at the pseudo-shelf in deep thought. ¡°Were you ever able to feel the energy of the Void Fog?¡± ¡°No. It never felt like an element. More of an alteration of the world than anything physical. Why?¡± She hums as her brows narrow. ¡°Just a thought, don¡¯t worry. We should move on.¡± ?uri nods in agreement. ¡°Hopefully, there¡¯s something worth our time at the top of these stairs.¡± As we return to our climb, Leal groans. ¡°I was hoping the stairs up the sphere would be the last. My legs are gonna burn tomorrow.¡± ¡°I know what you mean.¡± Gr¨ªmr lifts one of his taloned feet. ¡°These things aren¡¯t exactly good for climbing.¡± Gr¨ªmr has taken to using his wings to assist his steps, but he still weighs such an immense weight that it must be hard. Though, considering the enhancement of his body, I struggle to imagine it¡¯s actually that hard for him. Well, hopefully they can push through. We still have over a kilometre to climb. Each floor we climb, the permeating glow becomes clearer, but also more eerie. The image hidden within the walls seems to change when viewed from any different angle. The flowing green shapes approach so close to a comprehensible form, but never quite take that final step, so they remain ever so slightly beyond me. I¡¯d love to say it¡¯s interesting to watch, but the more I watch, the more the shapes feel alive, the more they look back. My nerves writhe as we climb higher. We are moving toward the source of this green glow, that is obvious by its continual strengthening. What will we find? My mind jumps to Yalun¡¯s comment about the Void Fog. It doesn¡¯t frighten or unnerve me as much as that experience did, but it definitely has that same impossible, otherworldly threatening presence. Before I can contemplate these feelings the glow incites within me, we pass the last step and find ourselves in a large room with three rows of desks facing a blank wall. Each is absolutely filled with gauges, dials and a dense network of inscriptions that lead down the panels and connect to those along the walls. I remember enough of my time with the Henosis scientists to recognise a control panel when I see one. The design is alien compared to the Empire¡¯s, but there¡¯s no denying what this is. This is the central command centre of the island, or at least the controller of something important. The position above the sphere containing ranked water can only mean this is the place to shut it off. The eerie glow is the strongest I¡¯ve yet seen in here. The entire wall appears almost like a moving painting. I thought when the green permeation was stronger, I¡¯d finally get a view of what those unclear forms were, but all that is visible now is a thick cloak of clouds tinged the same sickly hue. Maybe it really does let us see outside, but considering the thick storm covering this island, there¡¯s not much to see. The clouds look rather strange, though. Too smooth and viscous, almost like water in the way it moves. ¡°This looks just like the bridge on one of Henosis¡¯ vessels. Has this place really been around for a thousand years?¡± ¡°Henosis are the ones murdered our people, right?¡± ?uri asks. ¡°How do you know what the interior of their ships look like?¡± I don¡¯t know if he meant to come across as accusatory, but it definitely sounds that way. Narrowing my eyes, I go to defend Leal, but she beats me to it. ¡°We repurposed a few of them after we won the war. Most water mage¡¯s military induction occurred aboard one of them while the council were preparing for the invasion on Zadok,¡± Leal says. ¡°I got a decent tour during my time at sea.¡± ¡°Leal has nothing to do with those monsters.¡± I glare at ?uri. He raises an eyebrow at me before his eyes widen and he raises his hands in a defensive gesture. ¡°Sorry, I wasn¡¯t accusing her of anything. I¡¯m just curious if she¡¯d be willing to share whatever knowledge she might have on their technology and fighting techniques.¡± He inclines his head to Leal. ¡°Is that alright?¡± She shrugs and nods. ¡°Sure, I have no reason not to.¡± Leal steps toward a control panel and places her hands on a pair of orbs positioned near the edge of the desk. The ursu¡¯s hands are too large to sit comfortably. I step in beside her to see what interests her while the others search elsewhere in the spacious bridge. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure these are the interface controls.¡± Leal pushes and pulls the orbs, but they remain stiff. ¡°It looks like there¡¯s some sort of key required.¡± She removes her hands to reveal a series of slots around the base of each orb. The holes are too thin for anything but a key to fit. Taking Leal¡¯s place, I position my hands over the interface balls and fill each keyhole with physical flame. If I can mould them to the shape of the lock, we might interact with the panel. Instead of the locking mechanism expected, I find only a single pin in the deepest part of the slot. Not much of a lock. I press down on each keyhole at once, which frees both orbs to twist and roll beneath my hands. While keeping the pins pressed, I spin the spheres to test its range of movement. A loud hiss of compressed gas releasing snaps my eyes up to the wall before me. I don¡¯t know whether it is because I unlocked the control, or my initial motions activated it, but the entire wall drops out of sight, sliding into the floor. Behind it, the outside world is revealed. There¡¯s not much to see; the mass of metal above and below limit our field of view, and while the sides slope outward, it¡¯s like viewing the horizon through a short tunnel. Two things immediately stand out: one, while the air is cloudy, it appears nothing like the moving image on the other walls, plus the two massive geysers now visible were not detailed at all in the green mural; two, an inscription painted over every part of the outside of the island glows the same ethereal colour as the surrounding walls. The green inscription pierces through even the thick clouds and seems to pass over other, older designs. Not much of the island is visible, but every part we can see from this vantage point seems covered in the eerie glowing lines. ?uri walks up to the opening and taps his fingers against the glass previously hidden by the metal wall. ¡°Huh. I expected better from whoever made this place.¡± I guess the glass isn¡¯t as high quality as what some ¨¢ed can create. Though, considering this is the first appearance of glass we¡¯ve seen at all along this entire island, maybe that¡¯s not surprising. ¡°Hey, I think I found our target,¡± Yalun calls, and I turn to see her step down from another set of stairs, hidden away at the back of the room. I look down at my pair of orbs. What makes her think it isn¡¯t any of the complex controls here? Well, it can¡¯t hurt to look. I pull back on my flames and remove my hands. The wall doesn¡¯t rise again, but hopefully that won¡¯t be too much of a problem. Time to see what makes Yalun so sure she has found the control for the ranked water production. Chapter 190: Window The first thing to catch my eye upon climbing the stairs is the sloped walls wreathed in the same alteration I¡¯ve seen everywhere else. The room is bare besides a single control panel, leaving the dome chamber as almost a window to view the flowing green mists. With this panoramic view all around us, it feels like we¡¯re standing in the clouds. Again, no distinct forms appear through the obfuscation, but consistently, it¡¯s like there is something in the corner of my eye that disappears any time I turn my head. By the shifting eyes of my companions, I¡¯m not the only one experiencing the oddity. With such a strange sight around us, it is hard to focus on the central pillar, which is clearly the control for something incredibly important far below us, if the immense network of inscriptions threading down the hole beneath it. Something as important as, say, the ranked water production. The control pillar rises from the centre of a tube that must travel directly through the centre of the spiral staircase. Within a small indent on the pillar is a single interface sphere. Right above that, at eye level, is a hand-sized cube I would consider the most altered by the green glow so far. The ethereal quality is so present in the metal ¡ª I assume it¡¯s metal, but really, it is impossible to tell ¡ª it doesn¡¯t even look real anymore. If not for fractures lining the surface, I¡¯d assume this was a portal to those green clouds. I could reach through and touch them if I so wanted. Unable to hold myself back, my hand touches the cube to affirm that it is solid. The contact is strange. For the first time, I feel push-back. The energy doesn¡¯t let my flames pass, nor does it simply block my path; it tries to rush through my flames. Of course, nothing happens. Just like it could stop my ethereal flames, those very flames could stop this strange energy. I jerk my hand away. Even if it fails, I don¡¯t want to give it the opportunity to try again. Instead, I do the same thing with the control orb before me, inserting my flame and pressing in the pins to unlock its motion. This time, I¡¯m careful not to move the sphere. The lack of anything obvious happening strikes me as a good indication that it truly was the random movements I made that opened that wall. Huh. I must be lucky. ¡°Have you ever seen anything like this?¡± Leal asks besides Gr¨ªmr at the top of the stairs. I don¡¯t even need to turn around to know they¡¯re looking at the walls and the flowing mural bleeding through them. ¡°Never,¡± Gr¨ªmr says. ¡°I haven¡¯t either.¡± Yalun sounds irritated. ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense. None of the theories I have come even close to applicable. I don¡¯t like it.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that a good thing?¡± Leal asks. ¡°What good would it be if we knew everything? There would be nothing to explore and nothing to discover ourselves.¡± Yalun grumbles in dissent, but doesn¡¯t vocalise her disagreement. ?uri stands over my shoulder and reaches for the cube in its slot. Above and below it, thousands of inscriptions lead into it, but it is clear the cube is removable. If I was willing to grab it again, I could probably take it out. I¡¯m not sure of its purpose, but it is obviously important. Now that I think about it, why does the energy act as it does? Sometimes it is welcoming, while at other times it refuses my touch. The strangest and most eerie aspect of the green phenomenon, is that is almost feels analytical any time my flames come in contact with it. It¡¯s as if the energy is alive. Sentient. I jump at an exclamation of surprise from ?uri. The ¨¢ed steps away from me, snapping his hand from the cube. His fingers are wreathed in bright green flames. They are unnatural. The heat exuding from them rapidly expands beyond anything I¡¯ve felt other than directly from ?uri. The grand elder has lost control. I go to protect my friends from the sweltering heat swiftly spreading through the room, but I needn¡¯t bother; both ?uri and Yalun already have it under control, isolating the grand elder¡¯s distorted flames. It is horrifying how the energy could spread and take control of the unbelievably hot flames of my elder. Nothing should be able to take the flames from an ¨¢ed. That¡¯s simply impossible. What could have more will over fire, then fire itself? What¡¯s worse is that the poisonous green flames are climbing his arm at a concerning pace, taking over ever more of ?uri¡¯s body. The grand elder doesn¡¯t hesitate. With his other hand, he unsheathes his sabre and severs his arm. Instantly, the remaining hand succumbs to the green flames, growing to burn with an unparalleled intensity. Through all three of our efforts to block the heat from reaching Leal and Gr¨ªmr, the water our ursu summoned in defence is already sizzling and steaming. Thankfully, the flames burn up rapidly, disappearing after raging through half the dome chamber for only a few seconds. ¡°Alright, nobody touch that cube,¡± ?uri says unnecessarily. After a moment for us to return the room to normal temp, Leal finally drops the aquatic barrier with a sigh of relief. I¡¯d love to join her in that relief, but something far more concerning has caught my eye; the energy pervading the walls surrounding us now flows with far more uniformity than before. It spins around us rather than in random motions. Then, the strange, otherworldly mist drops out of our view, and I gasp. Now, without the clouds to block our sight, a truly alien landscape makes itself known. There is no denying what I see. No other explanation could possibly make sense. This is a window into another world.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Above us, is a pink ocean, like the world decided the sky was the proper place for endless waters. The colour stands out from the green obfuscation we¡¯ve been objected to until now. Upon the surface of the liquid that has far too odd of a colour to be water, ripples move inward to a central point. The waves gradually intensify and rise higher the more central they become, like the ripples from a drop of water. Only¡­ time is going backwards. The ripples finally reach their central point, and an unbelievable spike of pink liquid spears out from the sky and shears through the green cloud cover below to reveal the pitch blackness I could never forget. It is only visible for a moment before the shrouding green clouds close in, but there is no doubt in my mind. That was the Void Fog. It is only in sight for a moment, but it is enough to send chills through my body. The absolute absence of light hides beneath swathes of clouds that rise and fall like mountains that bubble, shatter and cut through each other with force unimaginable for something that appears as it does. In the air between the sky-ocean and the green flowing fields, the formless shapes I was seeing before are finally clear¡­ but they remain formless. It¡¯s not so much that I can¡¯t get a good look at them as was the case earlier, but rather they don¡¯t have a form¡­ or at least not something comprehensible to my eyes. None of the creatures ¡ª if they even are creatures ¡ª have an actively changing body, and yet from moment to moment, they appear different. It is impossible to tell if they are fish climbing invisible rocks, artillery shells sprinting through water, or rabbits falling sideways. Despite everything, it is impossible to determine whether they are truly living beings and not curious phenomena common to that world. This alien world clearly doesn¡¯t follow the same rules as ours, and yet there is order amongst the chaos. The creatures are both impossible to follow or understand, but they are each identical in their incomprehensibility. The ocean and clouds seem impossible, and yet they remain consistent to the end of a horizon that doesn¡¯t end. By the time I shut my loose jaw, the flowing green energy returns, only this time the intelligence behind the motion is clear. I freeze on instinct, and yet I don¡¯t feel even the hint of presence. The haze quickly enshrouds our view of the other world again, but the chill assaulting my body does nothing but amplify. My flames flicker rapidly beneath my controlled form, threatening to explode out despite my command. The clouds stop. Its colour dims, but this is no time to feel relief. A ring of blazing green, far more intense than anything I thought possible, appears in the mist. Even against the backdrop of the same colour, this glow stands out with the vividness of the Eternal Inferno. An eye. An eye is looking at us from the other world. It is not a one-way window. The eye swivels along the wall and I can¡¯t breathe. Whatever this being is, it is watching me. A titanic being watches me, and I somehow know it is mad. I want to look away, avert my gaze and hope that will be enough to calm it, but I can¡¯t move. The control cube within the control panel shatters, and the metal shrapnel striking my face finally snaps me away from the death stare with a being from another world. Belatedly, I hear screaming. I tear my hand from the control sphere and run over to the others. The same corrupting green glow that infected ?uri¡¯s flames now climbs up each of their legs. ?uri and Yalun are quick to react, the former cutting off his feet and holding himself aloft with physical flames, while the latter disconnects naturally from the corrupted flame and rapidly transforms into her eagle form. The other two are not so lucky. The infecting influence climbs their legs without opposition, tainting them viridescent. Leal¡¯s panicked shouts fill the air as she tries anything she can to stop it from climbing. Water pounds at her leg with such ferocity that the fur along her ankle is sheared clear off and leaves her bare skin raw. Gr¨ªmr doesn¡¯t feel the pain, nor does he have any reasonable way to stop the spread, but his insistent scratching at his talons along with the strengthening inscription locking into place shows his desperation. Unfortunately, not even the inscription that allowed him to stand up to the decay power of a Viisin can hold back the corrupting energy. The spread doesn¡¯t even slow. The sight of my friends being hurt is horrifying. I want to help them, but what can I do? I can¡¯t lift either of them with my flames alone, both are too heavy for that. Thankfully, Gr¨ªmr still has enough awareness to lift Leal. He picks her up in his beak and drops her on his back, away from the green metal along the ground. With Leal no longer touching the corrupting influence, I only need to worry about helping Gr¨ªmr. At least, that¡¯s my thought until the infection in Leal¡¯s feet continues to spread despite being away from the source. Yalun and ?uri are quicker than me to provide assistance, but any time their flames touch the green corruption, they become altered and the grand elders have to abandon them before they can spread. The obscuring mist in the metal no longer remains motionless, or calm as it was on our journey through the island. It rages around us with such turmoil that I¡¯m surprised the metal doesn¡¯t warp under the strength it expresses. The being¡¯s eye burns steady amidst the rapids, searing itself into my consciousness. ¡°We¡¯re leaving now!¡± ?uri commands and nobody argues. Despite my own feet touching the window into the other world, it doesn¡¯t infect me. It can¡¯t. I can feel it try, but it simply cannot breach my flames. As we rush down the stairs, I envelop Gr¨ªmr¡¯s legs and wings in fire to block the corruption. It stops it from spreading any time he scrapes an untouched part of his metal body against the walls on our scramble back to the bridge, but it has no effect on his already infected talons. Energy rages around us, and the eye never stops following. It¡¯s hard to imagine we¡¯re still surrounded by metal. With how deeply everything is permeated by the corrupting influence, we might as well be in a glass box within the eye of a nightmarish storm. A storm with a literal eye following our every move. As we rush into the bridge, Gr¨ªmr turns to head down the rest of the tower, but ?uri redirects him. ¡°No, out through the glass. Solvei.¡± He spreads his flame toward me. ¡°I need you to share your energy.¡± I don¡¯t hesitate to accept the Kindling, even if I¡¯m not sure what he¡¯s talking about. How can I share my energy? Leal is grasping at her ankles as she hisses in obvious pain. The action does not slow the spread, it only allows the corruption to gain a hold on her hands. I hate watching her in pain, but I don¡¯t know what I can do to stop it. I don¡¯t know how to help her. ?uri crashes beside Leal and starts amassing flames around himself, both mine and his. It isn¡¯t true control over my fire, but with the far greater control he has, there is an intense amount of power building up behind us. ¡°Gr¨ªmr, focus on flying,¡± He snaps. ¡°Yalun, Solvei, heat management.¡± Before I can climb on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back myself, a strand of physical flame rips me off my feet and slams me beside him instantly. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the same happen with Yalun. We bundle together just in time for an explosion to flatten us against Gr¨ªmr¡¯s feathers. The eruption of power doesn¡¯t let up, and the heat that follows along with my own energy draining to power an unbelievably strong jet of physical flames behind us lets me know this is ?uri¡¯s effort. Gr¨ªmr isn¡¯t ready for the ignition and crashes into the first two rows of control panels, crushing them without resistance. Thankfully, his wings snap wide by the third row and immediately gains some control over the obscene thrust. If not for my flames already covering every feather, he would have just invited more corruption by slamming into those consoles. It¡¯s a minor victory that doesn¡¯t make up for what they¡¯ve already suffered at my fault, but I¡¯ll take it. I won¡¯t let it grab any more of a hold than it already has. The moment we shatter through the glass, I discover why ?uri decided it was so important to rush; not only does the metallic wall close behind us, but another, thicker one begins its descent ahead of us. Not only that, but the chamber between both walls now floods with pressurised water rushing in from both sides. All this happens, and the searing green eye still watches with oppressive intent. Chapter 191: Corruption My flames, guided by ?uri¡¯s control, shriek back through the bridge with a deep, unsettling rumble. I do my best to hold back the heat from hurting Leal and Gr¨ªmr, but the intensity is almost too much to deal with. Even with Yalun doing most of the work, ?uri¡¯s flames are just something else. The grand elder can use my own flames and make them so much hotter and more efficient than I could ever hope to achieve. The explosive thrust he provides is unmatched by anything I¡¯ve experienced. Even without the excessive weight that is Gr¨ªmr and Leal, I couldn¡¯t come close. These two came with us at my insistence, and now they are the ones in the most danger. They already have to deal with the corruption clawing its way through their bodies, and now they have to suffer under what must be excruciating heat from my elder¡¯s flames. I¡¯m determined to ease their troubles the only way I can right now. The falling barriers trying to close us in; the explosive water rapids closing around us; and the surreal piercing ring of an eye dispassionately glaring down on us, I shut them all out of my mind. Only one thing is important right now: limiting the heat. This mental state is not something I¡¯ve achieved often, nor is it something I enjoy doing, but right now, I¡¯m not about to half-ass it. My sight cuts out. I¡¯m not sure whether I literally can¡¯t see, or my focus is so narrow that I simply cannot register anything visible. Next, all my other senses cut out besides the only important one; I still need to feel the heat to block it. My thoughts stifle, and my control becomes entirely dedicated to the mass of heat ahead of me, the dim heat beside me, and the dim heat below me. I place a wall. Anything on this side becomes cold. It doesn¡¯t work. A bubble around dim heats. It works¡­ until it doesn¡¯t. I¡¯m forced to bring some focus back to my thoughts. With me and Yalun working together, we can only slow the rapid increase in temperature experienced by Leal and Gr¨ªmr. For whatever reason, Leal is not coating herself in her usual shroud of water, so she is in far greater danger to this heat, even if she only experiences it for a few seconds. My ethereal flames, while able to stop both Kalma¡¯s decay and the green eye¡¯s influence, cannot halt the propagation of heat any better than my normal fire. A hard focus isn¡¯t enough to put a stop to the growing heat, so I need to think of something else. I send a thought to ?uri through my flames, trying to get him to cool it down a bit, but he refuses instantly. Too focused to give reasoning, he simply continues to rocket us forward. This would all be fine if Leal could protect herself, and now that I¡¯m out of my hyper focus, I can see her try. The markings across her body stutter and die each time she activates them. It¡¯s the corruption. The green otherworldly glow has infected not only her feet, but has climbed rapidly up the tattoos to her knees. Each time Leal initiates the glow of her markings, the infection intensifies in return and climbs ever higher. What do I do? If she doesn¡¯t shroud herself in water, then ?uri¡¯s heat will burn her to a crisp in moments. But doing so only encourages the spread of something far worse. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s wings and the thrust applied have kept us far from the flooding water, but can we use that to cool Leal? I can¡¯t ask Gr¨ªmr to take a dive right now; at our speed, that would be the same as slamming into the metal barrier rapidly closing ahead of us. An idea pops into my head, and while I despise the thought, I don¡¯t hesitate. With the hottest flame I can achieve, I blast the water below. The white flames immediately vaporise plenty of the deadly liquid and engulf us in steam. I tug my inner flame from the flamethrowers a moment before connecting with water, but the vapour rising still inflicts pain through the rest of my fire. Yalun gives me a sour look, but upon seeing Leal, sighs and joins me in boiling the water. Already hot steam isn¡¯t the greatest to cool Leal down, but it does the job of blocking the brunt of the heat coming from ?uri¡¯s fire. I watch the molten remains of the shutter and much of the metal around our exit from the bridge as Gr¨ªmr tears out of the island before the barrier can close. Gr¨ªmr skims the water and tears a chunk out of the metal, but we are outside. ?uri¡¯s jets don¡¯t let up, though. Our acceleration becomes bearable and the temperature drops to something more manageable, but he continues to thrust us away. The drain on my energy is not at all insignificant. The cloud cover is thick, and the rain is heavy, but that means nothing to the eye. Much of the island¡¯s surface must permeate with corruption, as the green ring that stares into our core with venom is now a kilometre wide. It is so obscenely massive that a laugh bubbles out of my throat despite the terror. The eyes of both other Titans were massive, but neither could have been more than a hundred metres wide. Titans are many kilometres tall; how big does this creature have to be to have an eye almost as large as a Titan itself? Maybe the eye is its full body¡­ but we saw those green clouds moving as if to its will. The green clouds which reached to the endless horizon of the other world. Thankfully, the being appears stuck on the other side of the window. Its influence in our world is limited. We can fly away without fear of it following us, even if we do need to find a way to remove the growing corruption from my friends¡¯ bodies.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. The poisonous green eye trembles, and a deep rumble groans out from the island below. Each geyser doubles in strength, blasting ever more water into the air. The metal below buckles in places, shattering in others, only for ever more water to pour out from sections clearly not intended to be geysers. The damage and increased water pressure are not limited to what we can see. The eye begins to lose its whole. Fractures all along the metal window to the other world accumulate, splintering sections off the eye. Already dark clouds around us thicken. Falling rain only pounds down harder. Because of ?uri¡¯s insistence to use all my energy to push us as far away as possible, the island rapidly fades out of sight, and soon, so too does the eye. Finally, with some breathing room, I turn my focus to Leal and Gr¨ªmr, who still suffer from the infection spreading along their bodies. Leal has stopped activating her markings, which has stopped its spread along those tattoos, but it simply bleeds into her body from the new heights. What can I do for them? Do we amputate? But Leal can¡¯t regrow her legs or arms like an ¨¢ed. I don¡¯t want to leave her crippled until we can find a mage like Imiha. The types able to heal are supposedly incredibly rare. Each moment I contemplate, the corruption spreads further. We won¡¯t make it the day without it consuming their bodies, no less finding someone that can actually help. I¡¯m the only one unaffected by the spread, so I¡¯m the one that has to figure out how to help them. Why doesn¡¯t the green energy affect me when it clearly does so for each of the other ¨¢ed? What is different about me than others of my kind? The answer is obvious; the changes the Void made to me. Conversations with Yalun paint a certain picture, despite her lack of finding the true difference in my flames. Combine that with the Void Fog appearing on the other world ¡ª even if only briefly ¡ª and I have to assume that is the only reason I can hold back the spread. As something tied intricately with the changes made by the Void Fog, my ethereal flame must work¡­ but that means doing something I¡¯ve been hesitant for a while. ¡°Leal, Gr¨ªmr, I¡¯m sorry,¡± I say as my only warning before plunging my ethereal flames into their bodies. I¡¯ve known I could do this for a while now, and I¡¯ve tested it by placing my flames either in my friend¡¯s fur, or the surface layer of skin, but have never gone beyond that. In a way, it is like Kindling, only it will hardly feel as comforting to them as we are not of the same race. As intrusive as it is, pushing my ethereal flames through their body would be the same as that fire mage from a while ago trying to take control over my flames. Leal gasps at what must be an uncomfortable and invasive sensation. My flames slide along her inner organs. I can feel her heart, lungs, and stomach all twitch at the touch of my fire. Heat doesn¡¯t pervade her ¡ª I won¡¯t allow it ¡ª so her inner temperature doesn¡¯t change, but the sensation of her organs being touched is clearly uncomfortable. Gr¨ªmr doesn¡¯t have anywhere near the same reaction as Leal, but that shouldn¡¯t be surprising because it¡¯s not actually his body my flames permeate. Not wasting time, I spread my flames away from their chests to their limbs and press against the corruption. It works¡­ at least somewhat. I stop the spread through their bodies, but I cannot burn through the infection. All I can do is compete with the energy. Hold a battle to an impasse within the body of my friends. ¡°What was that?¡± Leal shivers. It¡¯s hard to hear her over the roar of wind as Gr¨ªmr shears through the air. ¡°Sorry,¡± I apologise again. A shield of flame wraps around us, calming the screaming air. ¡°The spread should be stopped, at least.¡± ¡°That, was an Anatla Monolith.¡± ?uri seems to misunderstand her question¡­ or maybe I was the one who did? ¡°Nothing else in the old texts fits.¡± Anatla? They¡¯re real? So Kalma¡¯s doomsday warnings weren¡¯t just the cries of a madwoman? No. Just because she knew about the Anatla, doesn¡¯t mean she is right about the end of the world. But¡­ with Titan-like beings like that, it doesn¡¯t seem as farfetched as before. ¡°What do you know about the Anatla?¡± I ask. Now, with some separation between us and the island, it is apparent that the green storm is limited in what it can influence in our world. If not, none of us would still be alive. The very fact that there is a window into its home means that our worlds aren¡¯t completely separate. Is this what Kalma meant by the barrier collapsing? ¡°Nothing more than conjecture,¡± ?uri says. He¡¯s stopped borrowing my energy now that we¡¯re rocketing away from the island at a pace far greater than Imiha¡¯s assistance brought us. ¡°It¡¯s a record from before the great tragedy. I thought it was just another story to inspire fear of the outside of our wastelands, but that¡­¡± ?uri trails off as he stares ahead. He steps forward until balancing on the alicanto¡¯s neck and drops the flames shielding us from the intense winds. ¡°Gr¨ªmr, turn south, now!¡± He urgently shouts over the roar of cutting air. My portian friend sweeps his wings immediately and we curve ninety degrees to the left. ?uri¡¯s flames nudge me again, requesting my energy even as he uses his own to reignite the jet behind us. I¡¯m tempted to deny him, simply because I¡¯m unsure of the cause of his urgency. Aren¡¯t we already away from the island? Relenting without opposing him, I let him convert my capacity to physical flames again. I know physical flames are the most energy inefficient type of fire, but he¡¯s draining me far too quickly to be comfortable. What has him so stressed? Once Gr¨ªmr¡¯s wings balance out, the ocean to the west comes into view, and not only do I understand, but I push more into our thrust myself. After the rapid waters flowing out from the island rise into tsunamis ¡ª which seem far further away from the island than before ¡ª they collapse again, falling into an immense downward spiral. I cannot see far through the downpour, but the ocean dips into a slope not unlike that of a mountainside. It¡¯s like I¡¯m watching the edge the world and all the water has no reason not to flow as rapidly as it wants into the abyss below. If there is another side, it isn¡¯t visible. But that isn¡¯t the worst part; the ocean edge is moving. It moves toward us, quickly consuming the section where waves can form and engulfing the flat rapids blasting from the island. ¡°What is that?¡± Yalun asks for me, her talons digging into my head as she shrinks herself again. ?uri doesn¡¯t answer immediately. He stares down at the approaching abyss for a long minute. While he does so, I open my hood momentarily to let Yalun in before blocking it off from the weather again. When ?uri lets out a sigh of relief and cuts off the flow of my energy, we all follow suit, even if the edge is still approaching below. ¡°That is the Titan. Thankfully, it¡¯s not coming for us.¡± He points back, where the sinking ocean moves toward the island. Really? A titan, now? We just finished escaping that Anatla. What sort of disasters will we need to face as we try to escape now? Whether ?uri is right or not about it not coming for us, I¡¯ve experienced enough of the Titans to know they don¡¯t need be aware of our presence to inflict deadly disasters. Though strangely, as we continue to fly, nothing disastrous hits. No slamming gusts. No titanic waves. The sky doesn¡¯t even fall. Unless you consider the storm that pelts us, our flight away from the falling edge of water is almost pleasant. ¡°Are you sure that was a Titan?¡± I ask. It looked dangerous, certainly, but Titans always leave devastation in their wake. Escape from a moving Titan can¡¯t be this easy. But ?uri nods with more surety than I expect. ¡°The last time I was foolish enough to think of it as anything less, I paid for it.¡± Well, I¡¯m not about to complain about getting away without issue. Whether it is a Titan or something else doesn¡¯t truly matter. I¡¯d love to say we all got out unharmed, but the corruption in my friends barely being held back by my flames is not something I can ignore. It is disappointing that we couldn¡¯t stop the island from pumping out more water, but it has been doing so for a thousand years, I¡¯m sure we can wait a thousand more to figure something out. Chapter 192: Precursor to Armageddon The flight back to the cube ship graveyard was uneventful, which is more than welcome after the stressful sequence that led to our escape from the island. As soon as the crippled ships of whatever lost race built that island come into sight, I abandon all restriction on my flames and engulf the closest one before Gr¨ªmr can land. ?uri was rather greedy with his expenditure of my energy, and it¡¯s left me ravenous. Yalun whistles at the sight. ¡°It¡¯s one thing to feel all that energy within you, but another to actually see how far you can cover.¡± Her tiny squeaks are funny to hear from beneath my hood. She huffs when she realises I¡¯ve taken amusement in the sound and returns to silence, which only makes me snort. ¡°What about you, ?uri?¡± I ask, turning my attention away from the sulking Yalun who could easily avoid such a situation by returning to her normal size. ¡°With how perfect your control is, shouldn¡¯t you be able to spread weaker flames further?¡± ¡°No,¡± he answers, having relaxed now that we are back within what is considered ¡®safe¡¯ ocean. ¡°Unlike a certain someone, both my hottest and coldest flames cover a relatively similar area. In a fight, the only reason I would use lesser heat is if I have to be careful of who¡¯s around.¡± His eyes flicker to Leal, who¡¯s massaging her bootless feet. The further we travelled from the island, the less intense the corruption¡¯s influence. It didn¡¯t recede from my friends on its own, but it couldn¡¯t continue to oppose my flames. Thankfully, I removed the infection from both Leal and Gr¨ªmr without issue. It¡¯s a relief. A chest warming gratitude fills me that nothing permanent mars their bodies. I already feel bad enough that they were put in a position that might get hurt in the first place; how could I handle the guilt if they¡¯d been crippled? ¡°Are you okay?¡± I ask Leal, who looks up from inspecting the area her fingers were earlier drenched in that green glow. ¡°I am¡­¡± she trails off as her fists clench before her chest. I knew it; she hates me again. I tense, ready for her to declare that she doesn¡¯t want to be around me anymore, but she suddenly grins. ¡°Amazing.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got so many ideas. So many theories to test. Everything they taught me back at the academy is limited and wrong. Not a single thing about the interaction between your flames and that strange hyle ¡ª no, that can¡¯t be hyle ¡ª nothing about it is possible. I could never have asked for a better opportunity to analyse such an unbelievable interaction than feel it within my body.¡± Wait, so her hunching over her hands and feet this entire return trip was just her analysing my fire kicking out that energy? I thought she was suffering or terrified of losing her limbs or something. A twinge of irritation flares in my chest, and I¡¯m tempted to just fly off myself in an immature tantrum. I was dying from worry, and she was fine enough to waste her time on analysis? ¡°Did it not hurt?¡± I ask, keeping my voice even. ¡°Not at all. Well, my fingers and toes listened to me less with each hour and my fur thickened in the affected areas, but they¡¯re fine now. Honestly, your flames were ticklish. Like an itch I couldn¡¯t scratch.¡± Now that she mentions it, the sections of her feet that her streams of water sheared free of fur have already regrown. So, after her initial panic at the spread, she was calmer about everything than I was. She could have told me, so I didn¡¯t worry so much. ¡°Uh, Solvei? How much of the cube are you going to eat?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks. I look down to realise I¡¯ve burnt my way through pretty much the entirety of the remaining lower section. In my agitation, I ate far past recovering my energy. Thankfully, the skeleton of the structure can withstand rather high temps, so Gr¨ªmr¡¯s perch remains uncompromised despite my inferno below. With a deep breath, I extinguish my flames and let go of my slight annoyance toward Leal. It¡¯s not her fault she didn¡¯t realise my worries. Really, I¡¯d been so concerned about how my intrusion into Leal¡¯s body affected her that I¡¯d been too scared to ask, and held myself back for hours. ¡°So, Solvei¡­ you mind if I have some more of that fire?¡± Without me noticing, she unpacked her analytical tools and notebook. She holds her hand up, inviting me to flood her arm again. Immediately, my irritation is back. With a huff, I turn away from her, dropping my attention to ?uri burning away some of the cube for himself. I ignore Leal¡¯s question of ¡°what did I do?¡± to Gr¨ªmr. Now that I know I don¡¯t have to be concerned about Leal, my thoughts return to the terrifying prospect that Armageddon isn¡¯t a fabrication. If those Monolith Anatla truly reach our world ¡ª and aren¡¯t as passive as Titans ¡ª then the destruction they could cause is unimaginable. I know I saw the Void Fog through the window, so does that mean what already affects this world is only a part of a whole? Is the Void an Anatla just as Kalma said? The parallels between the Void and the green corruption are too great to believe anything else. The Void Fog spreads through those that escape its clutches, and while the otherworldly storm didn¡¯t succeed in latching onto any of us, its spread through my friends¡¯ bodies was too fast to ignore. What changes might it have inflicted had it dug into Leal or Gr¨ªmr? The rapid regrowth of her fur shows that the corruption was already attempting to change Leal before I could push it out of her body. Is it a change dependent on desire, like the Void Fog, or something else? Unlike the Void, this Anatla had consciousness, or at least the being on the other side of the window did, if the angered glare of the eye was anything to go off. Still, regardless if the corrupting green glow had direct awareness or not, it cannot be ignored that the green storm had at least some influence over it.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. If the Void Fog had that sort of awareness, then it would be immensely more disastrous than it already is. As it is now, it¡¯s more like a natural disaster. It appears and destroys without intent, but is gone soon enough for people to rebuild. What would a world look like where it had free rein to spread and consume as it wished? How did Kalma know? That¡¯s the question that stands out the most right now. She might be old, but so are my Grand Elders. ?uri only knew of the Anatla because of some old record. ¡°?uri, do you know anything about an Armageddon?¡± If his surprised expression is anything to go off, then he doesn¡¯t. Does Kalma know where the barrier is? Assuming it¡¯s an actual physical object and not some metaphoric concept like the barrier between worlds, is that where she came from before she began abusing the mermineae? ¡°-st ask something like that without elaborating.¡± I notice too late that ?uri is saying something. Maybe he does know something, and I was just stuck in my own head. ¡°What?¡± I ask, trying to get him to repeat himself. ¡°What did you mean by Armageddon?¡± apparently he¡¯s not the only one worried by my words. I already told Gr¨ªmr about Kalma¡¯s insane ramblings ¡ª or attempts to fool me ¡ª but even he tilts his head back as the others look at me with concern. Right, I guess that might be a worrying thing to bring up after we just had a close call with two incomprehensible beings. ¡°Kalma warned that the Anatla would destroy the world. Well, warned wasn¡¯t exactly how she intended it, but she said the barrier separating them from us is going to collapse.¡± ¡°Kalma¡­ as in the Kalma who fought you and this Tore friend of yours?¡± I¡¯d told him much about my life outside the wasteland, though downplaying exactly how much the other races have seen me burn through armies and fight against elites. Well, I tried to make it seem like I had less impact than I probably did, but I have a feeling he might have seen through me, making the entire effort pointless. ¡°Yes. I didn¡¯t think it could be possible,¡± I say as I look back toward where the island is hidden by the storm that I idly realise is a lot stronger than it was when we were last at the graveyard of cubes. ¡°But if that thing is an Anatla¡­¡± ¡°I see. Then we have another reason to hurry back to the Agglomerate. If anyone knows about some prophecy like that, it will be Hraun.¡± ¡°Hraun?¡± I ask. ?uri¡¯s eyes rise to the hidden Yalun. ¡°Really?¡± he deadpans. ¡°She¡¯s been with you how long and you never mentioned Hraun?¡± Despite the cloth blocking sight, she turns away with a huff. ¡°Why would I teach her about anything unimportant?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t think the grand elder most likely to push for her punishment is relevant?¡± He shakes his head in disbelief and addresses me again. ¡°Elder Hraun is the oldest of us. He¡¯s the strongest opposition we will have at the conference, but his insight cannot be ignored.¡± Oh, right. I still have my upcoming judgement. I¡¯d almost forgotten, what with everything that has happened. There¡¯s not much I can do about it besides wait and see. If I were to run away and avoid punishment ¡ª whatever that might look like ¡ª then I can say goodbye to living amongst my people again. Then again, if Kalma¡¯s predicted Armageddon is true, then that¡¯s hardly something to worry about. I shake my head of that thought. That¡¯s not funny. Even if things don¡¯t go how I want at the conference, thinking light of what will be millions of deaths if the Anatla cross over is something I should avoid. There¡¯s so much I still want to do, from being taught by my elders and returning to my team back in the pact nations. I can only hope whatever punishment they decide on for me isn¡¯t so restrictive. On that same hand, hopefully Kalma''s knowledge of the Anatla was just feeding her delusions and there isn¡¯t actually an end of the world approaching. Denial is nothing if not attractive of an option, but ignoring the possibility would be beyond foolish. If there is a way to stop it, would anyone not try? Really, the only relieving thing about the possibility, is that Kalma was old. Like my grand elders, her sense of time was warped. When she said Armageddon was coming, even if she thought it was soon, that could still be a hundred years away. We can search for the possibility that they may breach some barrier, but without anything concrete to focus our efforts, there¡¯s no point stressing over what-ifs. My judgement is completely different. Not only is it confirmed to happen, but it is going to occur the moment we return to the Agglomerate. No what-ifs about it. That¡¯s why ¡ª in my defence ¡ª it is okay for me to worry. Even as we restart our flight and ?uri continues his efforts to help me train my presence, my mind stays in the clouds. I don¡¯t know whether I¡¯ll be banished, executed, or worst of all, imprisoned. It is so bad that I don¡¯t notice the concern growing on the faces around me until Gr¨ªmr expresses it in words. ¡°The storm did not extend this far out before, did it?¡± ¡°No,¡± is ?uri¡¯s instant reply. I gaze ahead to find we¡¯ve made landfall again¡­ only the thick clouds above spread far over the desert sands where they didn¡¯t before. Where they couldn¡¯t before. They spit out their downfall, but the sands consume the water long before it can touch the earth. It means we¡¯re no longer suffering from the uncomfortable rains, but there should never be rain here in the first place. Below, the waterfalls where the ocean touches sand are far larger than previously. More than just a little as well. Unlike earlier, which looked like a trickle of water flowing over a ledge of sand, there is a mountainous volume of water now flowing over dunes. ?uri doesn¡¯t wait for Gr¨ªmr to land. He leaps off and lands at the edge of the coast. Yalun finally leaves the confines of my hood and changes back, but waits for Gr¨ªmr to bring us down besides ?uri. ¡°The encroachment has increased,¡± ?uri says as Yalun and I hop off Gr¨ªmr¡¯s metal feathers. Yalun doesn¡¯t respond. Instead, she inspects the waterfall before us as it ever so slowly creeps forward. Each centimetre of sand it takes, it doesn¡¯t return. ¡°A metre a minute!¡± Yalun is shocked. We each take a step away as the water momentarily accelerates down the slope, snatching the sand we were just standing on as if challenged by her words. ¡°This can¡¯t be possible.¡± ¡°We are leaving.¡± ?uri brooks no room for argument. ¡°Yalun, I want any eagle you can spare watching the coast.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Her voice is more stiff than I¡¯ve ever heard from the grand elder. Before I can say goodbye, she¡¯s already morphing and speeding off to the north. Replicating her haste, ?uri sweeps me up in an arm and lifts us back upon Gr¨ªmr. ¡°I apologise for asking this, but get us back to the Agglomerate as fast as you can.¡± Gr¨ªmr, as reliable as he is, peals into the air without delay. His air inscription snapping into place along his feathers. I spread my flames across his body to assist his flight, apparently beating ?uri to it, who was in the motion of doing the same. I can¡¯t be so wasteful as to use physical flames, but only this should be easy to manage for the few days we¡¯ll need to travel. ¡°Why are we in such a hurry?¡± I ask. If there¡¯s anything I¡¯ve learnt after coming back to the wasteland, it¡¯s our kind¡¯s reluctance to use our energy wherever we don¡¯t need to, and ?uri is letting me boost our speed without the slightest opposition. ¡°For over a thousand years, the ocean has slowly swallowed our wasteland. In only a few moments, we lost a day¡¯s worth of sand.¡± ?uri¡¯s tone is grave. ¡°Ironic that our efforts to stop it have done nothing but accelerate the ocean¡¯s dominance.¡± He lets out a spiteful chuckle. ¡°Maybe this is the beginning of Armageddon, as you say.¡± Chapter 193: Emergency ?uri¡¯s presence control education was not what I expected. When Yalun said I needed to control my pressure better ¡ª or at least I would as I grow ¡ª I pictured the unique application Tore showed off in our battle against Kalma. My thoughts couldn¡¯t have been further than the truth. The grand elder¡¯s lessons have been, well, boring. Simplistic exercises of rapidly expanding my presence, then suppressing it in the same motion are pretty much the limit to his guidance once I learnt to focus the direction. It makes me question why Yalun couldn¡¯t have taught me this herself. My main issue with my presence is that the grand elders expect it to explode in strength in the next few years. Apparently, it takes time for someone¡¯s pressure to follow their strength. The whole concept of presence is strange. At first glance, it is nothing more than an enhanced application of instinct, or maybe a way to influence other¡¯s instincts, but that didn¡¯t explain how Tore could use it to strengthen his weapon. I can do as much guessing as I want ¡ª did he do it by freezing the instinct of metal itself, or more along the lines of a physical attunement? ¡ª but none of my endless thoughts will help me improve the basics. So, despite it not giving any visible improvement for now, I continue to squeeze and stretch what presence I have. The Agglomerate finally comes into sight after our days of flight. It glistens wonderfully in the morning light and I find myself excited to see Enya and Cyrus again, despite my lingering judgement. We won¡¯t see Yalun for a while. I¡¯d thought she was flying back to the Agglomerate ahead of us, but it was soon revealed that she was travelling to a few landmarks where eagles under her command take a semi-permanent residence across the desert as a form of rapid communication for tribes that don¡¯t have an assigned eagle. Yalun flew between a few of these locations to put them on observation. I have to pity them somewhat. It is unlikely any of them have enough heat to protect them from water, and they¡¯ve been sent to the ocean. The place all ¨¢ed fear more than any other. Belatedly, I realise I¡¯ve recently spent days above an ocean with only an island corrupted by some otherworldly terror to land upon. After a while, the fear of the ocean yielded to the uncomfortable feeling of water rolling down the back of my snowsuit¡­ and the horror of the Anatla. Regardless of the cause of it, I faced the ocean ¡ª an ¨¢ed¡¯s greatest fear ¡ª and came back with it having been the least terrifying part of the journey. I can stand against our greatest natural enemy and come out on top. Well, that¡¯s only if I don¡¯t remove the restriction of being as far from the water as possible, but that¡¯s besides the point. So I sit here, expanding and shrinking the influence of my presence while being careful not to affect Leal. Gr¨ªmr carries us to the glass dome of my homeland and Leal, as always, is buried within her notes and testing equipment. Really, I know Gr¨ªmr¡¯s flight is smooth ¡ª a lot better than it used to be ¡ª but isn¡¯t she worried that her stuff will fly off in the winds? The amount of times I¡¯ve had to catch a jar of marking ink or some sort of flask is not insignificant. Sure, she can rely on me to catch them, but she shouldn¡¯t look at me with such a disappointed expression when the liquids spill out. Not much I can do about that. Fortunately, our return trip has been much faster. With Gr¨ªmr¡¯s inscription and my flames, we almost halved our travel time. If not for our necessary stop during the Ember Moon, we could have been even faster. The packed bags along Gr¨ªmr¡¯s chest mean we don¡¯t have to hold back with our rapid return. Of course we would scavenge as much metal from the cubes as we could. If ?uri had opposed the excessive use of energy on both our parts, then we wouldn¡¯t have done it, but he was the most impatient of us. It¡¯s not like we won¡¯t have leftovers to share. With ?uri¡¯s control over physical flames, he could probably bring some of the metal back and remain net positive in terms of energy consumed versus the amount of steel returned for the tribes. The issue with that is the cubes are not an infinite resource. There is a lot, sure, but ?uri would be wasting a good portion of it simply to carry it back. In my opinion, the best alternative would be to invite the other races over to collect the resources with their ships and trade for it. My time in New Vetus made it clear how beneficial our fires can be to their machinery and inscription infrastructure. Henosis is the extreme example; they hunted us down for the benefit we could bring them. So it isn¡¯t like we don¡¯t have anything the other nations want. It would be incredibly easy to set up some trade network. Even if we ignore the ancient cubes, the resources of each other country could be indisputably beneficial to the prosperity of ¨¢ed. But we are isolationists at our core. None of the other nations, or groups of people I¡¯ve met, have kept to themselves as much as ¨¢ed. Even the Agglomerate, our only city, has but a few ¨¢ed residing there permanently. We may stick together in tribes, but for any except the strongest, survival on their own is impossible. Would the grand elders, the ¨¢ed who remain alone more than any others, ever agree to work alongside another race? In the time since I¡¯ve returned, I¡¯ve noticed an almost unnatural trust between ¨¢ed that isn¡¯t shared for those of the other races. After being exposed to the hatred, distrust and lack of regard many of those in the eastern nations have even for their own kind, it seems unnatural. Despite having already commit taboo, Yalun, ?uri and Odqan were quick to take me in, which is not something I could see happen in the pact nations. I mean, I¡¯m out here in the first place because I¡¯m wanted for a crime most don¡¯t even believe I commit.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Gr¨ªmr and Leal have been treated well, particularly because of the help they¡¯ve provided, but both are considered more of a curiosity. A visitor that will leave soon enough. I don¡¯t think there is a single ¨¢ed that has considered the possibility of either wanting to stay. Such a thing is unlikely, simply because of the uncomfortable heat, but should either request as such, I¡¯m not even sure the grand elders I know would agree. The taboo preventing travel beyond the wasteland is nothing but a reflection of that distrust. There are two ways to view it: the restriction is in place to prevent ¨¢ed being hurt, or it is there to stop the races from realising we exist, and have the strength to be a threat. The first might be alluding to the weather in most cases, but my snowsuit is proof that can be overcome without the excessive strength of the elders. No, that interpretation points to the taboo being a shield against the other races. It is an assumption that we will be in danger from any we meet. If we didn¡¯t have absolute confidence in our martial dominance over any guests to the Agglomerate, then I doubt we would even allow them to visit. The second view leads me to believe the Grand Elders consider it impossible for the other nations to not come at us with military might should they realise our strength. I¡¯ve seen plenty of coordination between races in the pact nations, but such cooperation is impossible for us with any others, at least in my elders¡¯ eyes. In a way, their efforts to prevent the other races from knowing we exist have been effective; only the ursu residing besides the wasteland considered the ¨¢ed common knowledge. It was rare to find anyone in the other countries that knew what I was. And yet, that didn¡¯t stop Henosis from knowing almost everything about us, despite being on the other side of the continent. ¡°Odqan!¡± ?uri leaps off Gr¨ªmr as soon as we land near the first glass pillar. ¡°How many of the Grand Elders have gathered?¡± Odqan, to his credit, follows in stride with ?uri without a moment of delay. Both heading into the heart of the Agglomerate. ¡°Eight, not including us. There are a few waiting up the Alps.¡± ¡°Good enough. Send someone to call them down. I¡¯m pushing the conference forward. We¡¯re meeting in four days.¡± It is daylight, so Gr¨ªmr and Leal are hesitant to follow the grand elders inside. ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon,¡± I say and rush to catch up to the two as they pace toward the central mountain. Immediately, I notice the number of tribes in the Agglomerate has tripled in the few weeks we¡¯ve been gone. The first gathering we pass is actually bustling with activity. So much so that it actually looks like a small city, rather than a village in terms of populous. ¡°Has something happened?¡± Odqan asks. ¡°My efforts have backfired. The western ocean is encroaching on our deserts rapidly.¡± Odqan hesitates before asking, ¡°How bad is it?¡± ¡°Our initial observations place it at a hundred metres an hour, but we think it is accelerating.¡± Odqan looks like he wants to swear, but stifles his complaints and dashes off without another word. I jog to ?uri¡¯s side. The ¨¢ed has a single-minded focus on striding forward, not casting even a glance to any of the ¨¢ed around. He¡¯s not running, but to my shorter legs, it might as well be. A very slight adjustment to the length of my legs lets me walk beside him with less issue, and the visible flames also are covered by my snowsuit. It might be cheating slightly, but it stops me from needing to completely change or run to keep up with him. The outfit unfortunately doesn¡¯t grow with me, so I can¡¯t grow much. Maybe I should ask Yalun if it¡¯s possible for one of our patterns to allow slight changes without it wholly becoming part of my fire? ¡°Where are you going?¡± I ask. ¡°To the forge.¡± ?uri says, not even glancing my way. ¡°I need to talk to Hraun. You are welcome to follow, but the heat will be too much for you.¡± That¡¯s a challenge if I¡¯ve ever heard one. I mimic my Grand Elder and we pace into the glass tunnel of the mountain in silence. Unlike Yalun¡¯s upper entrance, this one doesn¡¯t require you to fly. The difference is that it is obscenely hot. We only just walked through the entrance, and the air is already as hot as my white flames. There are a few large chambers on either side of the entrance tunnel. Together, they are wide enough to fit every ¨¢ed currently in the Agglomerate, with room to spare. Beyond those large rooms, the tunnel splits. One travels upward, likely heading toward Yalun¡¯s chambers. The other, which ?uri walks down, brings us deeper into the earth. Through the glass below my feet, I can see the strong burning glow shining up from about as deep as the top of the Agglomerate is high. More chambers are hidden away on each level, but become smaller and less common the further we go. ?uri really wasn¡¯t joking about the heat. Not even halfway down, and I¡¯m sure we are deep into the heat of blue flames. It¡¯s far beyond what I can achieve and it is becoming difficult to hold myself together. The intense heat invites my form to break down. It wants me to let go of my flames and allow them to be visible to the world. With each step, I don¡¯t believe it could get worse, but it does. I find my fingers losing their smooth shape after the slightest lack of concentration. The heat is not yet unbearable, but it is rapidly exceeding a blanketing comfort and approaches painful. I¡¯ve never truly felt something too hot, but this is definitely it. Is this what fleshy creatures feel when they are burned? Hmm¡­ probably not. This stings, an ache thrumming through my being, but it feels more overwhelming than anything. Like I can push through it if I try. I clench my fists and snap my form rigid. I am going to push through this and prove I can do it. As soon as I motivate myself, I feel it. My snowsuit begins to burn. My entire body bursts into fire. I¡¯d lost my concentration and the immense heat drowned my control. My intention was only to save my outfit by transforming it into flames, but that was too much of a distraction. It¡¯s incredible that my snowsuit couldn¡¯t handle the heat despite my efforts to protect it, combined with the thermal protection inscribed into it. Faced with losing it, I sacrificed my control. My outfit safe, while flames burst out across my body. ¡°This is as far as you go,¡± ?uri says. ¡°What? No. I can still go further.¡± ¡°You have lost control,¡± is all he says, but it is enough to make me look away in embarrassment. I wanted to meet this Hraun. I wanted to push myself, but as I look down, I realise we are still a long way from the deep glow. There is no way I¡¯m reaching it. But even if I cannot reach it, I¡¯m close enough to feel it through my thermal sense, and while the heat is immeasurable, which is not unexpected, the fact that it isn¡¯t fire is. The bright white glow is plasma, but this is far beyond the strength of the explosion within the cube. I¡¯m close enough to spread my influence over it might it have been fire, but the feeling of it makes me scared to even try. Not that I would be successful. I couldn¡¯t influence plasma the last time I tried. This won¡¯t be different. Reluctantly, I slow to a stop, my legs returning to a normal length. ?uri continues downward until it¡¯s hard to spot him through the glass against the bright plasma. I¡¯m curious about this forge down below, but the intense heat of the plasma blinds even my heat sense. It¡¯s disappointing, but I won¡¯t be able to continue much further. Not only does my fire find it more comfortable to spread out into the surroundings that stay whole, but the scorching air actually hurts. Maybe one day I¡¯ll descend to the forge, but not today. I turn back. Since I¡¯ve already lost control of my form, I don¡¯t hesitate to morph into a bird and fly out. The conference is soon. Soon, I will find out my future. Whether I¡¯ll be pardoned¡­ or punished, I¡¯m prepared to do whatever I need. Let¡¯s just hope they don¡¯t try to imprison me; I¡¯d rather not cut ties with all other ¨¢ed. Chapter 194: The Conference
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Chapter 195: Ceremony
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Chapter 196: Impending
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Chapter 197: Votes
If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Chapter 198: Judgement
Eighteen hours. That¡¯s how long it took these damn elders to finally agree to open our borders sometime in the future. I almost rise from my rug and celebrate that we are done. It¡¯s already been day and returned to darkness again. It took ages, and the boredom almost killed me, but we are finally done. At least, that¡¯s what I thought before they dove into discussions on tactical operations to counter the rapid movement and surprise attack from our southern coastline. Seriously, even the thousand ¨¢ed in the viewing chambers above have been moving in and out because they¡¯ve wasted so much time. Is this what sitting around doing nothing for hundreds of years does to you? Do they even realise that time moves forward? Can¡¯t they be a bit more considerate to those of us still on a normal timeline? Many of the elders were insistent on Yalun setting up eagle patrols to watch the coasts for the massive landing ships the Henosis used in their attacks. She would tell them it was infeasible with the number they had available, unless they crippled the set communication network. Of course, despite her refusal, they kept trying to apply pressure for her to make the impossible possible. I found myself the recipient of Yalun¡¯s mounting irritation. She would remain civil in her replies, but would curse their names in her connection with me. After such a long time being bored out of my mind, restraining my laughter was difficult. Eventually, they settled on a few options. First, they would call all tribes to stay a few hundred kilometres from each coast to force any invaders from the ocean to waste far more water in their attempts to find us. This also helps protect them from the encroaching western ocean. Second, tribes would be encouraged to meet at an eagle communication point at least semiannually, but preferably every couple of months. This would allow the tribes to come together far quicker in retaliation to aggressive entities in the area. There are always some grand elders ready to answer an eagle¡¯s call for help, but they will move to the coast, to reduce response and travel times. In the best-case scenario, we can react to the Henosis¡¯ presence in a week. Though, more realistically, it¡¯ll be closer to a month or two. While that sounds long, it is still far more rapid than previously, especially with the immense distances involved with travelling the deserts. ?uri tried to propose his unique way of transportation, that glass board with a sail, but was brushed off. Apparently, he needs to get more elders to try it out before the others will give it the time of day. I know a grand elder¡¯s running speed is far greater than a tribe¡¯s normal travel speed, but they still don¡¯t come close to the speed of flight. They really should adopt it, but I guess the elderly take time to adjust to things. ¡°Now, unless anyone has a pressing matter they would like to put forward, I believe it is time for the unofficial eagle, Solvei¡¯s judgement.¡± Hraun¡¯s words bring down everyone¡¯s heavy stares down on me again. Can I go back to being bored? This is it. This is where they decide if my story is satisfying enough to pardon me. Now that it isn¡¯t taboo to grow, and the other taboo I broke is up for abolishment, I have a good feeling about my chances. For one, I didn¡¯t know about the taboos, and even if I did, there wasn¡¯t much option but to travel outside the wasteland after losing my tribe. They can¡¯t punish me for doing something that is no longer taboo, right? ¡°We are judging Solvei for her breaching two of our taboo,¡± Grand Elder Hraun says. ¡°Please remember that while a taboo may no longer exist, we must judge her in accordance to the instance she breached them.¡± Well¡­ There goes that hope. ¡°If I may start,¡± ?uri says. ¡°Even ignoring her ignorance when she commit them, I would argue that Solvei had no choice but to do as she did. Her travel beyond the wasteland was an act of desperation after she lost her tribe to Cipactlteteo. Can you truly blame a child not yet a decade old for her mistakes?¡± ¡°Then why did she wait so long to return?¡± the grand elder of the Agni mountains, Vesta, demands. ¡°Why is it only after years have passed that she crawls back?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry? I didn¡¯t know where any of our resource landmarks were. I didn¡¯t even know where the Agglomerate was. The last thing I wanted to do was go back to living off what sand-worms I could find.¡± A few elders cringe at that. ¡°What exactly should I have done?¡± ¡°None of the children under my care would have lacked such important information. Maybe we should reassess each tribe¡¯s teachings?¡± My flames churn through the chamber. It is only because of Yalun¡¯s mixed blaze do I hold myself back from any retaliation I would regret. I want to hit Vesta. I want to burn her. To so blatantly disrespect Auntie, Uncle, Mum, and all my other lost tribesmen¡­ in only a few words, she¡¯s placed herself on my list of most hated people. A list with a rather high mortality rate. ¡°Vesta, I understand your meaning, but watch your wording.¡± Grand Elder Hraun glares at her, making her expression flip from arrogant to cowardly. ¡°I will not stand contempt for those we have lost.¡± She tries to back up and apologise, but ?uri speaks before she can. ¡°The other broken taboo was a result of being caught in a war between the eastern races.¡± ¡°Wait, so she¡¯s been fighting with that much energy where the eastern nations could watch?¡± The speaker, along with a few others, groan in irritation.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Unfortunately, yes.¡± ¡°This is why we have taboo in the first place,¡± an elder grouses. ¡°It appears our attempts to remain hidden are crumbling around us.¡± ¡°All the more reason that we open ourselves to the outside world on our own terms,¡± ?uri tries, but only receives glares in return. ¡°Solvei, you mentioned being captured by Henosis earlier. When was that?¡± Ignatia asks. ¡°I was running away from New Vetus, which was at war against them when they grabbed me.¡± It¡¯s not a lie, but neither is it the full truth. I really think it¡¯s a bad idea to tell them I burnt down a city long before I grew my capacity. They¡¯re already annoyed because the other races have seen what an ¨¢ed with high energy can do. If they knew the other races might know that even the average ¨¢ed could cause so much damage to their cities, my chances of a worse punishment will probably skyrocket simply to spite me. For the next while, I answer the grand elder¡¯s questions. Mostly, it¡¯s clarifications on my story, trying to pick out what happened from my perspective, but every so often I would get a question stating something completely wrong. It is clear they are testing me for contradictions and holes, but besides that thing about Morne burning, everything I¡¯ve said is true. They spend a few minutes in silence. Unlike the discussions before, the grand elders ponder my judgement privately. I¡¯m unable to peek into their thoughts and hear how bad it is, so I¡¯m stuck in a nervous loop, waiting for them to state exactly how my life is over. Most exchange glances with each other when they speak through their flames, so it is easy to see who¡¯s talking with who. Hraun is the only one who doesn¡¯t. I don¡¯t know if he¡¯s talking or not, but his gaze remains locked on me. His burning eyes are impossible to turn away from. In the roaring flames, each elder turns my way, then in unison, turns to face Grand Elder Hraun. ¡°We have decided on your punishment,¡± the large ¨¢ed says without breaking eye contact. ¡°Despite breaking two taboos, enough grand elders sympathise with your plight that you shall not be given the typical penalty.¡± Hraun¡¯s eyes scorch with barely repressed contempt, so his words hardly seem real. I¡¯m not going to be punished? ¡°Saying that, your rapid growth is cause for concern. It has been decided that you shall be confined to the Titan Alps with grand elder supervision.¡± I¡¯m¡­ not sure if that¡¯s a good thing or not. At least they¡¯re not imprisoning me, but being confined, even to such an impossibly massive area as the Alps, is still a limitation on my freedom. But it¡¯s not so bad that I need to cut ties with my people and flee the wasteland. If I¡¯m to be limited to the Titan Alps, does that mean I can no longer meet with Leal and Gr¨ªmr? Does that mean I can¡¯t return to my team? How can I accept that? ¡°How long?¡± I ask. ¡°Until your supervisor decides your control is satisfactory. Don¡¯t expect it to come anytime soon.¡± I glance between Yalun and ?uri, expecting one of them to be my supervisors, considering they¡¯ve been the ones to teach me so far, but they shake their heads at me. ?uri seems unconcerned, but Yalun appears disappointed. Is she not allowed to teach me from now on? ¡°Before we implement her punishment,¡± Ignatia, the elder I spent most of the meeting talking to besides my two teachers, says. ¡°I¡¯d like to have her guide me to the cube she mentioned.¡± ¡°Ah, yes, the one somewhere in the barren lands.¡± Hraun ponders for a moment, before nodding. ¡°That is acceptable.¡± ¡°What about Leal and Gr¨ªmr?¡± I ask Yalun through our flames. I came here with both of them. How could I just leave them like this? ¡°You¡¯ll have to say goodbye to them.¡± Her answer is not what I want to hear. ¡°We will be too busy in the coming months. Outsiders will no longer be allowed near the Agglomerate.¡± Do I run? The thought of being stuck up on the mountains unable to see any of my friends makes me consider it. Who knows how long it will take to convince the grand elder I get stuck with that my control is competent enough¡­ whatever that¡¯s supposed to mean. Am I supposed to reach a grand elder¡¯s level of control before they¡¯ll let me wander free? How many years will that take? Damned old elders and their lacking concept of time. As much as I want to avoid the issue, I can¡¯t just leave. This punishment isn¡¯t enough to consider cutting ties with my people. ¡°Think of this as training, rather than a punishment.¡± ?uri¡¯s voice travels through his fire. ¡°You are unbalanced. Both your binding and capacity are obscene, but this will give you the opportunity to bring some of your other aspects up to strength.¡± I know he¡¯s right, and that¡¯s the better way to think of it, but the very idea of being restricted in what I can do leaves a sour taste through my flames. With such pressing matters as the ocean eating away the western desert, I would have thought I¡¯d be allowed to help. Even amongst the strongest of my kind, I still have one of the highest capacities. Surely it will be helpful. Just like it was for ?uri when we were escaping the island. ?uri is going up the Alps to rapidly expand his reserves of energy now that he can, right? Is there a reason I¡¯m not being placed by his side? Wouldn¡¯t it be much more beneficial for my growth to stick to him as he takes on some obscenely dangerous creatures of the Middle Elevation, or even higher? I¡¯d rather not be stuck with a grand elder I don¡¯t know. Simply imagining that I¡¯d get stuck with Vesta is enough to send a shiver down my back. I¡¯m still fuming at her earlier statements. ¡°Thank you all for joining us for this conference.¡± Hraun¡¯s voice is once again laced with his presence, pounding through the glass to all that watch on. ¡°Our discussions have now concluded. If there are questions, please feel free to join the flame and ask.¡± The sudden explosion of flames joining in the mass is enough to give me a headache. I snap my flames from my elders and pull it back into myself. Somehow, none of those whose flames continue to burn seem burdened by the countless voices. ¡°Solvei,¡± Yalun speaks aloud to me for the first time in a day. ¡°I need to hurry and take care of my eagles. It may be some time until we meet again. May Ember watch over you.¡± ¡°Huh? Wait.¡± I try to stop her, or at least say goodbye, but she¡¯s already flying out of the mountain before I can follow. ¡°So, should we get going?¡± I turn around to find Ignatia already up and by my side. ¡°Don¡¯t you need to talk to the spectators?¡± I don¡¯t really care about those watching on, I just want something to delay. Things are moving too quick. ¡°Nope. The older guys have it.¡± ¡°Ignatia is right. We do,¡± ?uri says. ¡°Best not waste time.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± I say, reluctantly. ¡°Goodbye, then.¡± My presence teacher just nods and returns to his task. As I follow Ignatia out of the burning chamber, I can¡¯t help but cast my eyes back to ?uri. When will be the next time I see him? I am conflicted. Sure, my punishment isn¡¯t as bad as it could have been, but both the grand elders I respect the most are so dismissive after it¡¯s all over and done with. I know they are busy, but is it so much to ask for a better farewell than a nod and a wave when it might be months or years before we next meet? A red glow permeates the Agglomerate. I look up to find a crimson sky through thick glass. The conference lasted an entire day. Chapter 199: Separation
¡°How could they do such a thing? Don¡¯t those old fools realise you had no other options?¡± Leal huffs. ¡°Who do they think they are to stop you from returning with us?¡± For the first time in a while, Leal is more concerned with complaining about the choices of the grand elders than her own marking research and theorising. Whether she has forgotten one of those grand elders has joined us on this flight, or simply doesn¡¯t care, I don¡¯t know. Ignatia listens with a wry, if uncomfortable, smile. She¡¯s polite enough to ignore Leal, and while I should probably stop her from accidentally insulting the grand elder, I¡¯m not exactly happy with the choice myself. Leal grabs my hands and stares me in the eye. ¡°Solvei, let¡¯s leave. They won¡¯t be able to stop us if we return to New Vetus now.¡± I glance to the side, where Ignatia¡¯s smile grows further strained. Honestly, I¡¯m impressed the elder hasn¡¯t said anything about the ursu¡¯s complaints yet. If this was any of the elders that voted for my punishment, then I would love to watch them squirm, but Ignatia isn¡¯t Vesta, so I should put a stop to Leal. ¡°It¡¯ll only be for a short time.¡± I wish I believed that. ¡°So don¡¯t worry so much. In no time, I¡¯ll be back to see everyone.¡± I can¡¯t let her know how tempting it is to just leave while the only grand elder around is Ignatia. With her tiny capacity, fleeing would be easy. A direct battle would be questionable at best, but it¡¯s not like I want to fight my own kind. The idea of being restricted at all is annoying, but the Titan Alps are massive. Unless the grand elder tasked with supervising me decides to implement strict limitations themselves, I¡¯ll have thousands of kilometres to travel. Really, it only because I will be restricted to the Titan Alps that I¡¯m okay to accept such punishment. If it were the Agglomerate that I couldn¡¯t leave, I¡¯d probably already be flying for the border. This short journey to the first cube will be the last I get to enjoy with Leal and Gr¨ªmr for a good while. It is less than ideal, but the both of them will be returning to their homes once we find the key. We will be splitting ways. I hate it, but it¡¯s not like I can ask them to join me up the mountain for however long I¡¯ll be stuck up there. With all the problems in the wasteland, both have essentially been kicked out. It is entirely unfair considering all the help they¡¯ve provided since they arrived. Gr¨ªmr led Odqan to newly discovered metal deposits, and Leal guided us through the island. I know the grand elders'' primary concern is our own kind ¡ª with the excessive numbers of ¨¢ed at the Agglomerate and those who would typically protect them all busy, it¡¯s understandable ¡ª but I still hate that they would cast off my friends after all they¡¯ve done to prove their trustworthiness. The burning inscription appears above my hand again, ready for Leal¡¯s water hyle, but it¡¯s pointless. The dip in sand that leads to what we now know is an ancient ship appears ahead of us. ¡°So how have you never found this place despite the thousands of years you¡¯ve been here?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks, likely trying to drag the conversation away from fleeing in the face of this grand elder. ¡°Considering the nomadic nature of your kind, I would have assumed not a grain of sand would remain undiscovered after all this time.¡± Ignatia, all too ready to change of subject, jumps on the chance. ¡°It¡¯s not like our tribes travel for the purpose of combing the desert. If we find something, we¡¯ll record it, of course, but mostly we travel from landmark to landmark. That means we often travel the same paths as other tribes.¡± She shakes her head. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have to tell you how wide the wasteland is. It takes a lot longer to cross when you can¡¯t fly. But even without that, we¡¯re in the barren lands; there are no resources here to incentivise tribes to travel this way.¡± As we fly over the dune blocking sight of the cube, Ignatia pauses. ¡°Oh, wow. It really is active.¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t you seen the island?¡± Gr¨ªmr asks. ¡°Oh, Ember, no,¡± she says. ¡°Water is still water, no matter how hot the ¨¢ed. Really, ?uri is the only one that actively went out that way.¡± The cube is the same as it was when we left it. Still gushing out water to the sands below. The geysers are tiny, almost inconsequential compared to the intensity of the explosive streams around the island. These are closer to waterfalls than the pressure cannons in the larger structure. ¡°So, how are we entering?¡± Leal asks. ¡°I can make a path through a stream rather easily.¡± I know Leal is excited to get a proper look inside. Both other times, we were hurried out too quick for her to explore for long. If not for the grand elder joining us, I wouldn¡¯t let her have her way; there is still a high likelihood that there are traps to block our entry. What if the Anatla has control over here too? I can¡¯t see the green glow through the structure, but it could be hidden deep within. ¡°Ignatia, you can control plasma, right?¡± I ask. ¡°Sure.¡± despite her confirmation, she doesn¡¯t sound confident. As I stare at her with concern, she elaborates. ¡°I can control it, but I cannot create it myself, so I don¡¯t have much experience.¡± She doesn¡¯t leave me with much confidence. ¡°You¡¯ll be alright to stop the plasma cannon inside the ship, right?¡± Thankfully, she nods with a more comforting level of conviction. ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯d much rather go through the undamaged entrance than one of the water streams.¡± Leal looks slightly disappointed, but it only lasts a moment. If I¡¯m to guess, I¡¯d say she¡¯s transitioned her excitement to analysing the inscriptions that create ranked fire. Honestly, I¡¯m kinda interested in that myself, but my knowledge is still incredibly lacking. Maybe one day I¡¯ll reach Riparia and get Solon to teach me. Gr¨ªmr glides us into an opening without issue. Thankfully, this one doesn¡¯t have water flowing along the floor like the last time we visited this cube. A touch more prepared than last time, we stay on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back as he trots forward. The alicanto¡¯s wings remain extended and ready to launch us out the way we came in an instant. At about the same point as last time, the shutter slams closed behind us and flames flood the hallway. Between myself and Ignatia, the fire extinguishes in an instant. The chill that rushes through the vents permeates the surrounding metal, but sitting on Gr¨ªmr as I am, the cold doesn¡¯t grab at my feet. An intense glowing heat at the far end of the corridor burns with intensity for a few moments, but it doesn¡¯t even come close to the strength it reached last time. The gathering plasma disperses like it hadn¡¯t just been preparing to blow us apart. Ignatia was thankfully not lying about being able to control the ranked fire.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. The rest of the tunnel and its inscription don¡¯t seem to have been designed for a failure to fire once the plasma began charging. Frost permeates the metal so deeply that crystals of ice form all around us. Strangely, despite the cold, the air grows dryer. All the moisture floating around from the geysers disappears in moments, and it suddenly becomes so much easier to breathe. It¡¯s like we¡¯re back in the Agglomerate rather than in the rainy part of New Vetus. I could do without the chill, though. A few more seconds after the plasma should have exploded, the cold energy running through the vents ceases. I wonder how effective that design really is at protecting the metal from plasma? The shutter that closed in behind us opened as soon as the explosion should have gone off, so I guess it really is intended as a cannon. Maybe the fire at the start has some purpose of its own? We¡¯ve made it this far without the ship blowing itself apart, so I¡¯d call it a victory. Now we just have to see if there¡¯s actually a way forward in here. The end of the hallway appears to be a dead end, but there has to be some way through; the connecting dock back at the island would have been pointless if this corridor led nowhere. An array of lines protrudes from the far wall, and despite my little knowledge of inscriptions, I can recognise a similar technique as in the one I used to track Kalma; there are two distinct tracks for hyle types. Considering the many tracks that lead into vents along the edge of the wall, I assume that¡¯s the carrier of the plasma hyle. They must generate all the energy elsewhere and concentrate it here with the other inscriptions. Do all the cannons share the same source? If so, I wonder if they would fail if more than one triggered at the same time? The design of the massive cannon is impressive, but it would be horrible if it ever landed in the hands of the nations to the east. We¡¯re lucky our elders can prevent the explosion, but would any non-¨¢ed elite survive such a blast? The first time, we survived only because the plasma exploded, rather than concentrating down the barrel. Whether it was because of disrepair, or my actions actually destabilised the inscription, it was clearly a misfire. Just who were these beings fighting that they needed defences able to kill elite at the level of the inner circle mercenaries in over a hundred ships? The centzon ¡ª or some ancient offshoot of them ¡ª are still the most likely to be the creators in my mind. But even they don¡¯t seem possible. The centzon never showed proficiency in inscriptions, and while this ancient species is capable of mechanical contraptions ¡ª if the doors and shutters are anything to go off ¡ª they don¡¯t incorporate the moving machines into their designs nearly enough to be related to them. As I look along the walls, I notice a control interface. Well, it¡¯s not exactly the same as the orbs we saw in the island, but the knife-like key slots are arranged in an ever so slight depression in the metal. Each slot is arranged with the same spacing and order as the small half-spheres I used to open the wall inside the island. The slightest application of physical flame is enough to press each of the tiny buttons inside the key-slots. Its purpose reveals immediately. The four major inscription paths that lead in from the vents along each corner break away from the rear wall with a hiss of air. They latch cleanly into the corners as the back wall rises into the ceiling. The section of metal that rises is incredibly thick, showing the pads of many inscription pads that connect to the floor when lowered. Not wasting time, the four of us proceed into the core of the ship. Thankfully, the section we walk into isn¡¯t flooded. We follow the corridor for another dozen metres before we open into a space reminiscent of the area within the dock of the island. It isn¡¯t as large as that warehouse-like room, but the stairs and mechanical platform are the same. It¡¯s surprising how pristine everything looks despite the aeons it remained here. Without the pressurised water that damaged the associated chamber of the island, the hand rails lining the main stairs and the elevators leading up to the higher floors appear almost new. As we head up the main stairs, the tap of Gr¨ªmr¡¯s talons echo around us. Now that we¡¯re properly inside, there¡¯s probably nothing to worry about, but it doesn¡¯t hurt to be careful and stick together. Who knows if there¡¯s a trap ready to flood this chamber? ¡°To think there was so much metal just waiting to be found.¡± Ignatia shakes her head in disbelief. ¡°How many more of these could be buried beneath the deserts?¡± ¡°Unless they are active, it¡¯ll be hard to find them,¡± I say. Gr¨ªmr can sniff out metal, but his nose isn¡¯t so strong as to smell these things from across the wasteland. The best he can do is find things just beneath the surface as he flies over. Sitting on Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back, we pass through the corridor at the top of the storage room that doubles as an entrance hall. No shutters close on us this time. Our passage is almost uneventful. A deep rumble gradually grows as we travel deeper, but Leal is quick to assuage our concerns. Well, mostly. ¡°That¡¯s the water,¡± she says. ¡°There are a couple of channels travelling beside this hallway.¡± Having an answer that isn¡¯t ¡®Anatla¡¯ is comforting, but only so comforting as being surrounded by water allows. I¡¯m not worried though. I trust Leal to deal with it if the walls do break. There is no massive open area in this ship, nor is there a sphere to contain the water production. The corridor leads directly to the bridge, and right in the middle of the room is the small cubic key. It does not glow an eerie green. The standard steel grey seems almost plain compared to the unreal transparency of the first one we saw. Just in case there is the smallest influence of corruption, I leap off Gr¨ªmr¡¯s and tear the key from its socket before any of the others can think of doing it first. Thankfully, there is no trace that tries to fight my fire. ¡°Solvei, you¡¯ll need to put it back in if you want to deactivate the water production,¡± Gr¨ªmr reminds me. The sound of rumbling around us only emphasises his words. ¡°Right. Right.¡± The cube is back in its slot, and I have my flames unlock the control interface within moments. I don¡¯t know if I get lucky again, or if is really that easy to shut it off without understanding the controls, but after a few jerked motions, the growl of rushing water slows to a stop. Not wanting to accidentally turn it back on, I rip the cube from the machine again and send the ship into an eternal rest. It will either be buried forever, or scrapped by the ¨¢ed. ??? The incursion into the cube ship went far better than I ever hoped. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever had something go that smoothly, but despite the success, I am not happy. Now that we¡¯re done, I have to say goodbye to my two friends. In a perfect world, this would never happen. The two of them should be fine to return to the east without problem. They should, but trusting that nothing horrid will happen when I¡¯m not around to incinerate threats that might appear is hard. ¡°No need to worry about us, Solvei. Just do what you need here. Your team will be waiting for you to join us.¡± Gr¨ªmr, somehow always able to tell when I¡¯m concerned. ¡°Don¡¯t wait too long,¡± I joke, ¡°you¡¯ll never progress if you don¡¯t find someone to perform the inheritance ritual in my stead.¡± Gr¨ªmr¡¯s eyes widen as if the thought only just hit him. ¡°Well, even if we find another mage, we¡¯ll always welcome you back.¡± I look to Leal, but I have to hold myself back from recommending her to take the position. If she does, she does, but I¡¯m sure she wants to return to Gerben, her father. I¡¯ve already taken her away for a few months; I¡¯d feel even worse if I took her away any longer. ¡°The next time we meet, I¡¯m going to be the one to surprise you with my growth,¡± Leal declares. ¡°If the next few Markings I¡¯ve got planned work well, expect me to stand my ground by your side.¡± I¡¯m sure she¡¯s got some good ideas, but to reach my strength in such a short time would require some dangerous risks that I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be all that happy with her taking. I shouldn¡¯t talk, considering my past, but I can¡¯t help myself. ¡°Don¡¯t do anything reckless, alright?¡± ¡°I promise not to do anything you wouldn¡¯t do.¡± She smiles innocently, but the glint in her eyes reveals her game. I decide to play. ¡°Alright, so does that mean no water for you?¡± I ask, tapping my finger on my chin. ¡°I certainly wouldn¡¯t touch the stuff.¡± She simply smiles in return before tugging me into an embrace. ¡°Goodbye, Solvei. Come see me as soon as you can. I wasn¡¯t lying about wanting to show you what I¡¯ve been working on.¡± ¡°I will. Hopefully, it won¡¯t be longer than a few months.¡± I break my hug with Leal and crash into the alicanto standing awkwardly off to the side. His wing hardly hesitates to curl around me as I do. ¡°I¡¯ll miss you both.¡± Leal clambers up Gr¨ªmr¡¯s back and the two take to the skies, heading south where they¡¯ll follow the coast east. The sight is sad, but it makes me realise something. ¡°How are you getting back to the Agglomerate?¡± I ask Ignatia, who has been analysing the cube key while giving us space. I can fly, but it should be harder for her to get back as quick. ¡°We,¡± she stresses the word. ¡°Will be running.¡± Chapter 200: A Quick Jog
¡°Why would I run when I can fly?¡± ¡°Well, for one, you aren¡¯t supposed to leave my side,¡± Ignatia says. ¡°Besides, you¡¯ll need to work on your control. What better time than now to start?¡± I groan at the idea. Running isn¡¯t exactly fast and we¡¯re half a wasteland away from the Agglomerate. ¡°How long will it take us to return?¡± ¡°That will depend on you.¡± With cubic key in hand, Ignatia falls into a jog, clearly waiting for me to catch up. My eyes rise to the sky above. Should I just fly anyway? I really don¡¯t want to take too long before I begin my punishment. I¡¯ve already been separated from everyone I know; the longer it takes to join my supervisor on the Alps, the longer it¡¯ll take for me to see them again. I want to fly, but going against a grand elder at this point probably won¡¯t look good. Who knows if they might extend my punishment because I refuse to cooperate? Finally relenting, I fall in step beside her. Ignatia immediately speeds up and I try to follow suit. Each time I reach her speed, she accelerates further. It reaches the point where I¡¯m altering my weight distribution with each step to the best of my ability, and yet still can¡¯t catch her. ¡°You¡¯re self taught, aren¡¯t you?¡± Ignatia asks after a while. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Oh, sorry. You¡¯ve done really well to get as far as you have, but it¡¯s pretty obvious you¡¯re not approaching the alteration of your body correctly.¡± I¡¯m not? ¡°What you¡¯re doing is serviceable for now, but it doesn¡¯t scale with greater control. In addition to your weight manipulation, what you want to do is create as many micro-explosions as you can. They need to be as small and numerable as you can make them.¡± I try it out. With a dozen tiny explosions within my leg as I leap forward, it kicks back into the sand uncontrollably. Unfortunately, my explosions were a bit too large and momentarily blew apart the form of my leg. Ignatia watches as my leg reforms. Thankfully, she doesn¡¯t laugh at my failure. ¡°I guess this is what happens when your power far exceeds your control. Until you can contain the explosions to within the size of a grain of sand, I don¡¯t want you attempting more than one explosion per step. Only micro-bursts at that size are efficient enough for you¡­ a typical ¨¢ed to last the journey.¡± With only a single explosion, my running speed isn¡¯t enhanced majorly, but it is noticeable. It is surprisingly hard to compress it down to the size Ignatia told me to; even with minimal energy, the burst wants to reach the size of my fist. After only a few attempts, I get it down to half the size, but it gets exponentially harder to shrink it down after that. Despite the improvement it makes to my running speed, I can¡¯t help but notice how slowly we¡¯re moving compared to flight. ¡°How long will this take?¡± I ask again. ¡°At this rate, a few months.¡± I groan. ??? It took five weeks. Not as long as we originally thought, but still a damn long time. If we¡¯d flown, we would have been here ages ago. I¡¯m sure I could have carried Ignatia, but she stubbornly refused. It was only because I had improved my micro-bursts to handle a dozen of them without blowing myself apart that our speed increased. I still struggle to get their size down to what Ignatia wanted, but I¡¯m getting close. At one point, I got so fed up with running that I went and hunted down a colossal worm, intending to take its skin and replicate that sand-boarding set-up of ?uri¡¯s. Surprisingly, the micro-explosions make my spear smash through the hard skin of the worm with ease¡­ though I may have accidentally overpowered the bursts when I did. Not even fire jets had this effect. Of course, despite getting the chute and board made, Ignatia didn¡¯t let me even try. Again, she was insistent on our continued run. But, I¡¯ve got a chute now, so I¡¯ll be able to use it if I ever don¡¯t feel like flying. Not that I expect that to happen often. Ignatia, who is apparently skilled in our kind¡¯s pattern inscriptions, was nice enough to inlay the worm¡¯s skin with the same pattern as Yalun did my snowsuit. She did so with only a few tools she kept on her body, which was impressive considering Yalun needed an entire workbench to achieve the same. Despite the long, near restless run, we are finally returning to the Agglomerate. ¡°Nope, we¡¯re going straight to the Alps. Your supervisor is waiting.¡± ¡°If he was waiting, then why didn¡¯t we hurry?¡± I grouch. At least flying isn¡¯t boring. If only Ignatia bent on the issue. So, even as the Agglomerate comes into sight, we run past it. I thought we would stop by for at least a day, but those hopes are dashed. Instead, we rush up the ever-increasing slope until mountains rise around us like the toothy maw of a Titan. ¡°So, who exactly is my supervisor?¡± I ask. ¡°It¡¯s not one of the grand elders that attended the conference, is it?¡± If it was, I¡¯m sure they would have come with us. ¡°No. Kiko likes his solitude and rarely participates in our gatherings,¡± Ignatia says. ¡°Um¡­ I should say this now. Try not to irritate him too much; he can be rather grumpy and I don¡¯t know how unhappy he might be to have this duty forced upon him.¡± Great. Just what I want; my supervisor is a cranky old ¨¢ed. I can see the possibility to leave early going up in smoke. Despite the less than stellar news, I still want to meet up with him as soon as we can, so I push my legs with as many tiny explosions as I can without Ignatia telling me to focus more on compressing them. I don¡¯t dislike her. No, if I wasn¡¯t so concerned about the time we are wasting, it might have even been a pleasant trip. She¡¯s a good conversation partner. Unfortunately, she has that same debilitating sense of time that infects each of her comrades, so no talk feels completely stress free.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The Titan Alps are much the same as bordering the pact nations, with the distinct lack of any snow. Unlike my first trip to these high altitudes, the greatest threat doesn¡¯t exist. Well, between my snowsuit and white flames, a bit of snow is hardly a threat anymore. Signs of life are everywhere up here. I even recognise a variation of those roaches my team slaughtered on my first trip. We avoid all creatures on our way up. We are only in the Steppes, but despite the lack of water, there is a surprising number of creatures up here, far more than I observed back in the pact nations. Is this just because the mercenaries keep the population of creatures along the Alps low and we don¡¯t? It¡¯s an interesting difference, and I have to wonder how it affects things. The wasteland is already dangerous enough for the typical tribe, but we rarely ever faced creatures not native to the deserts. Though, my tribe stuck to the southern half of the wasteland while I was with them, so maybe it¡¯s just that we weren¡¯t near any of the Alps¡¯ descending creatures. Unlike our tribes, the cities and towns of the pact nations ¡ª besides Baansguard ¡ª were hardly prepared to face such creatures. If keeping the populations of the creatures along the Steppes low prevented constant attacks, then I can see why they did so. It helped that it was likely a good way to enhance the Fearn and lower teams, and they had plenty of mercs to spare. Had. After the merminea invasion, do they have enough mercenaries to keep out the weaker, but far more numerous, creatures? Maybe it¡¯s better to ask whether they even need to worry. The merminea have supposedly taken residence along the Steppes, so they¡¯re the ones who have to take the brunt of the growing populations. Compared to what the slender race had to face on the other side of the Alps, those creatures could actually be considered rather tame, so it¡¯s possible things have simply worked themselves out. Well, I won¡¯t know until I finish this damn confinement and rejoin my team. ??? Eventually, we arrive before the border between the Steppes and the Lower Elevation. There is no ice here, so instead of the giant wall and crevasse, there is only a crevasse. I dare not go close enough to the edge so that I can look down, but I know it¡¯s deep. Wind blows out from the depths so rapidly, it is visible. Small plumes of dust or sand that got knocked loose somewhere down in the void of earth shoot thousands of metres into the sky within moments. While there is no ice wall here, the mountains beyond the chasm rise with a much stronger slope. It appears as if the Lower Elevation and above are entirely separate from the rest of the world, rising out from the relatively small Steppes. Maybe the crevasse is truly endless. ¡°I assume she¡¯s the one?¡± I spin on the voice. As I stare at the man standing behind us, I have to give him a twice¡­ thrice over as even I almost mistake this ¨¢ed for an albanic. No other ¨¢ed, not even the grand elders suffocated their heat to the level this man has. If not for his sheathed relic sabre, animal skin clothing, and heat too low for any albanic, I would have mistaken him for one. ¡°Well? I hope you¡¯re not here to waste my time, Ignatia.¡± His tone is grating, as if he just ate something foul. ¡°N-no. This is Solvei, the one Hraun wants you to watch over until she reaches a satisfactory level of control.¡± From the way she fumbles her start, I¡¯m sure she was surprised by his appearance as well. Every ¨¢ed I¡¯ve met keeps their core burning to the hottest heat they can handle. Even if they cool the outside for countless purposes, I don¡¯t know a single ¨¢ed that would want to cool their core. I don¡¯t, and neither did Hraun, so why is he putting himself through so much discomfort just to sneak up on us? ¡°Solvei, this is Kikotawan. He wi-¡° Ignatia starts, but he interrupts her. ¡°That¡¯s fine. You can go now,¡± he says dismissively, waving his hand in a shooing gesture. ¡°Uh¡­ uh, sure.¡± Ignatia clearly doesn¡¯t know how to respond to him. She turns to me. ¡°Bye, Solvei. I hope we meet again soon.¡± She leaves with haste, clearly not wanting to be around this ¨¢ed. I glance at the grand elder from the corner of my eye as he glares at Ignatia¡¯s back. This is not a good start. Could I have gotten a worse supervisor than one who absolutely despises being given such a task? What do I do if he tries to be petty and force me to stay here for years? No, let¡¯s look at this in a positive light. If he doesn¡¯t want to deal with me, then he¡¯s more likely to want to send me away as soon as possible. I¡¯ll just go along with him for now, and hopefully I¡¯ll be back in the pact nations in only a few months. Once Ignatia is out of sight, the ¨¢ed, surprisingly not that much taller than myself, turns his gaze to me. I reflexively tense, expecting his grumpy voice to attack me, but it¡¯s nothing close to what comes. He laughs, grinning all the while. ¡°So I¡¯ve heard you¡¯re the reason growth is no longer taboo.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± I ask, dumbfounded by the immediate reversal of his personality. ¡°No, I-¡° ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be so humble. I gave up on convincing the old fogey and his cohort that such a taboo was the dumbest thing we¡¯ve ever done nearly a millennium ago. Regardless of details, your presence has brought change we¡¯ve needed for a very long time.¡± What is going on? Was his grumpiness just an act in front of Ignatia? Why? ¡°Come now, don¡¯t look at me like that. I¡¯ll show you the best hunting spots. One of Yalun¡¯s birds already told me everything I need to know.¡± Without another word, he rushes off to the west. He moves too quick for me to keep up, so I¡¯m forced to fly after him. Thankfully, he doesn¡¯t take issue with my use of my wings. ¡°Have you been raising your capacity?¡± It¡¯s the only thing that makes sense. His strangely excessive control over his heat; the grouchiness toward the other grand elders; and well, his praise of the taboo¡¯s rescindment all point to him having gathered energy while hiding his growth. ¡°Absolutely not.¡± His smirk and wink contradict his words. The wind is intense this close to the crevasse, so I fly by his knees as we move along the edge. Simple red flames spread out from his body and poke at mine, requesting Kindling. I let him in without delay, too curious of the capacity he might have achieved. Immediately, I¡¯m pressed with an intensity comparable only to Hraun. Beneath the thin veneer of a childlike red flame lies a pitch-black flame. From our connection, I would say this ¨¢ed has greater capacity than Grand Elder Hraun himself. But what is strange, is that he doesn¡¯t feel as strong despite his equivalent or even superior heat and energy. His voice doesn¡¯t burn in my chest. If I compare the flames of the two, I¡¯d say this ¨¢ed¡¯s is steady and undisturbed, like a constant burn, while Hraun¡¯s is a blaze of fury, scorching without restraint. ¡°Impressive,¡± he comments. ¡°Now that we¡¯ve introduced ourselves, I¡¯m Kikotawan. Kiko¡¯s fine. I intend to make your time with me incredibly worthwhile.¡± Is Kiko just controlling his presence at a completely different level than Hraun? Is that why he doesn¡¯t feel as strong? ¡°You¡¯re as strong as Hraun.¡± Kiko grits his jaw slightly at the comment. ¡°No, I¡¯m still not even close.¡± He doesn¡¯t elaborate, so I¡¯m left to ponder whether Hraun can somehow hide some of his strength through Kindling. The idea seems completely unrealistic, but I¡¯ve experienced enough insane things not to completely discard the idea. Kiko obviously doesn¡¯t like the grand elder, so I shouldn¡¯t push him in case he goes back on his personality shift. ¡°We climb down here,¡± Kiko says, and proceeds to drop into the crevasse. The wind is too great to fly, so I change back, but he¡¯s already gone from my sight. His head pokes out over the ledge. ¡°What are you waiting for?¡± and once again, he leaves my sight. I creep forward, the wind slams into my face as I peer down into the depths. Kiko slides down the incredibly steep cliff face, his fingers digging into the rock to slow his descent. He¡¯s not making us go down there, is he? Kiko looks up at me, raises an eyebrow, then jumps. He plunges into the depths. He is. Chapter 201: Chasm
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Chapter 202: Black Firestorm
Things weren¡¯t looking good. No, that was too much of an understatement. Yalun could hardly imagine much worse circumstances than what they were facing. Maybe their emigration from the eastern lands or the Great Tragedy, but both events were simply stories to her; never so real as the threat they faced now. Things were devastating. In the months following the conference, the encroaching ocean ate away at almost a quarter of the wasteland. Despite attempts to evacuate tribes from the area, Yalun was sure many couldn¡¯t escape fast enough. In the meeting between grand elders, her estimation had been pessimistic, assuming the worst, and yet reality found a way to exceed even that fearful assumption. The ocean never reached a stable speed. Instead, it only increased to accelerate as it consumed the sands their kind had called home for millennia. Now, it spread faster than the typical tribe. Those not already clear ¡ª or in the safety of high altitudes ¡ª were doomed to be overrun before long. They needed to stop it. It hadn¡¯t been long since their last conference, but they already needed to change their approach. This time, there was no time to call another meeting. Yalun, along with nearly twenty of her elders came together for the express purpose of putting an end to the source. She had never seen so many of them together. Some she hadn¡¯t even met until now. Yalun was the youngest of the grand elders, but she¡¯d been acting as the leader of the eagles long enough to know all but the most reclusive, yet here they were. Such a force was extreme, but considering the dangers they faced, she wished they had more. Yalun flew through the pouring rains in large arcs waiting for the signal. The wet was unbearable, but she had no choice but to push through it; she couldn¡¯t hide away under her student¡¯s hood this time. On her back, Iri adjusted his position, kicking Yalun¡¯s wing in the motion. She suppressed her immediate annoyance toward the man; it do no good to start any arguments now. No matter how much the action almost sent them spiralling into the ocean below. Along with Iri, Ildri and Mirri ¡ª one of the grand elders she¡¯d only just met ¡ª both rode atop her enlarged eagle form. She was stretched to her maximum size, which really wasn¡¯t all that big considering her lacking capacity. While the trio riding her were able to limit their weight enough for her to keep them aloft, their size really didn¡¯t help Yalun fight the intense winds of this storm. She momentarily considered how effective her student might be in this operation, or even that large metal bird friend of hers, Gr¨ªmr. Solvei had the energy to grow her body far larger than Yalun, though with her lacking control, the size might not be all that much larger. She shook the thoughts from her head. The girl was still young, even if her attitude and strength were somewhat off-standard. Yalun wasn¡¯t about to put her in danger if she could help it. At least¡­ not until she¡¯d seen what lied beyond the binding threshold. There was also her pride. Yalun wouldn¡¯t put someone younger than her in this position while she was fully capable. Her ever so slight envy of having her place as the ¨¢ed with the greatest binding was subdued by curiosity, but it was still present. She understood the foolishness of it and would never vocalise her intrusive thoughts. Still, after centuries of rapidly surpassing her kin, it was humbling to have the same happen in reverse. She circled in the air, keeping close eye on the movement of the waters below. Charybdis¡¯ vast whirlpool was hidden by the storm, but whenever it was near, the colossal waves kicked up by the ocean would flatten out. The flow of the ocean would reverse. It was an effect she¡¯d noticed over the past few months; the Titan would orbit the island and whenever it was on the wasteland side, the encroaching shore would slow to a crawl. Unfortunately, not enough to make a difference. She realised she¡¯d let herself get too close when the mid ocean waterfalls became visible. It appeared as if the edge of the world appeared. Endless amounts of water fell into the chasm of the Titan¡¯s stomach. Yalun tensed, fearful that it it was coming for them. She wasn¡¯t expending any energy, nor were her passengers, but could that knowledge truly be relied upon? Titans were creatures beyond any other. Thankfully, it moved no closer. It was impossible to tell from here, but it was likely just on its path northward. The rest of the grand elders were waiting far behind her, ready to rush in once the attack started. Unfortunately, the only option they had to get to the island alive would attract Charybdis¡¯ attention without doubt. Yalun made to move from the Titan, but was interrupted by something to the south. Hraun¡¯s distraction was finally beginning. A slight darkness overcome the storm to the left of Charybdis. Moments later, a wave of heat washed over them, vaporising the downfall around them. The blast cleared their obscured vision for only a few moments before the rain fell once more, but it was enough to witness the power of Hraun.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Black flame burned the horizon. Everything to the west was whirlpool. The Titan, upon feeling the explosion of energy from Hraun, reversed its movement. Despite her centuries, Yalun felt like yelling out like a child at the incomprehensibility of it. Something that massive should never be able to turn that fast. Not even her fastest ¡ª jet-boosted ¡ª speed could come close. If it came for her, she was dead. In those few moments before her sight was obscured once more, the ocean morphed and bent to the will of Charybdis. Rolling mountains of water raced south, whipping the bordering waves into a frenzy. The storm reignited with intensity. Rain crashed down over their bodies and burned away with nothing short of pervasive aches. Yalun had thought the swells before were great, rising and falling a few hundred metres with each wave. But this was so much worse. She had to rise into the thick storm-cloud above to avoid the peak as it towered over a kilometre higher than its previous trough. Her eyes followed the swell as it continued to the east. That would cause irreparable damage to the wasteland, but she could do nothing but watch. She could do nothing but focus on her job. Hopefully, the grand elders in it¡¯s path would avoid it. ¡°Well, there¡¯s our signal,¡± Yalun says, mainly to calm her own nerves. And so, she head through the storm while the waves and wind roared around her. Any time she looked down, she expected to see the whirlpool eating away the ocean, ready to rise out and eat her, but Charybdis had already left. She didn¡¯t envy Hraun his role. ¡°You can point out our target for us, right Yalun?¡± She could barely make out Ildri¡¯s words through the cacophony. Yalun nodded. Both so she didn¡¯t get another mouthful of water, and so she didn¡¯t snap out an irritated retort. There was no way they would miss where they needed to aim when they saw it. Unless that creepy green eye had somehow repositioned the inscription that held its form, it should be no trouble to burn it away. After their initial contact and some subsequent scouting in the past months, they came to the conclusion the external inscription painting the metal was what linked the Anatla to the island. Not even the elders who had studied the eastern inscriptions could make any sense of it, but it was the best assumption they could make. It also meant they didn¡¯t need to get inside to stop the ocean, they could simply cut off the Anatla, which should be its power source. Before long, the island came into sight in all its hard grey metallic glory¡­ though the corruptive green glow spread to a far greater degree than it was the last time she was here. Any opening, whether it be an undamaged dock, or a crack now gushing powerful streams of water, now glows with the colour of the anatla crawling out. Yalun flew on. She ignored the entrance they took before. It would be a death sentence to any ¨¢ed, even if they could handle the water. The poisonous influence of the Anatla was a terrifying threat that not even Hraun could very well ignore. She rose through the air, careful to keep away from the countless powerful streams of water. Through the obscurity of thick cloud cover, their target glowed as if it was inviting them in. Thankfully, the eye of the Anatla was not there to welcome them. She didn¡¯t think it would stay that way for long. Her passengers didn¡¯t need to be told what to do. Ildri and Iri pushed an immense quantity of energy into a torrent of deep blue flames that swirled dangerously around them. Yalun wanted to add her own efforts into the pooling power, but with how little she had, she needed to preserve it. Mirri¡¯s black flames actually hurt when they wrapped around the other two¡¯s blaze and grew it to another scale of proportions. Yalun was used to ?uri using his flames, but it was obvious that he had superior control even amongst the elite of the grand elder cohort. She ignored the pain for now, even if it threw her control into disarray. She could carry the three and that was good enough. The twisting inferno crashed down on the surface of the island, indiscriminately burning away any exposed corner not gushing out water. With this much energy being expended, her passengers no longer had a need to sit upon her, and she could back away while they held their altitude with their own flames. The fire, despite covering every visible surface, didn¡¯t burn away the metal anywhere near as fast as it should. In the sections it did break through, more geysers of water would burst out, drowning the air in even more steam. They¡¯d witnessed the freezing effect when they¡¯d passed through the island last time, but it was never to this degree of capability. Apparently, the Anatla was able to influence more than just the generation of water. Through the unbelievably hot flames, Yalun could see a rather odd effect occurring with the metal. It would bubble and pop, like boiling liquid, but would immediately freeze in spherical forms only to repeat the process. If she had to guess, each bubble created like that contained a vacuum, which¡­ probably wasn¡¯t doing any favours to the efficiency of the flames. Still, the bubble-form metal was likely far more fragile than it once was. Something the trio below her might have picked up on, as they each strike away sections with their relics. While their flames spread over the entire surface of the island, they strike at any green inscription they can see, which quickly reveals itself to have been a horrible idea. The first few experimental strikes didn¡¯t return any of that corruptive influence, but it¡¯s almost like it was waiting, ready to lure them in, before it latched on. And when it latched on, it didn¡¯t let go. Iri and Ildri attacked at once, both of their weapons cutting away a dozen metres of metal with their swooping strike. Both lost their weapons almost immediately. The corruption spread faster than Yalun had seen it. Mirri abandoned his dive and it was the only reason he kept his weapon. ?uri rushed in from behind her, his blaze added to the other three as they gradually ate away at the surface of the island. Yalun should be surprised to see him here so early, but she wasn¡¯t. The fool was likely using that dumb board of his and sticking far too close to the Titan before Hraun lured it away. ¡°No weapons,¡± Mirri shouts at ?uri as he rockets in with a powerful flame jet. Almost as if reacting to his presence, a green ring appears below, solidifying from the cloudy influence spread across the surface. In an instant, it grows to cover the island, staring at them through the window of another world. The black firestorm boiling away the surface flickers green. Chapter 203: Green Firestorm
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Chapter 204: Peluda
If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Chapter 205: Reaching
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Chapter 206: Request
This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Chapter 207: True Elemental
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Chapter 208: Thread the Flame
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Chapter 209: The Ancient Race I wasn¡¯t so confident in the Anatla¡¯s inability to stop me to fully commit and enter the library-like chamber with the key. My body walks forward with a trail of fire connecting to most of me still hiding in the wall. It took a while to push my flames through the walls, but it¡¯s only a hundred metres; my fire easily links to the outside for the ¡ª very likely ¡ª occasion that I¡¯ll have to flee. I¡¯m willing to push forward and face this Anatla, but I¡¯ll take what precautions I can. So, with the cubic key nestled in cooling metal waiting for the last finger width of wall to break, I walk to the end of this room. The only door leading out ¡ª more of a sliding shutter ¡ª is closed tight. This, thankfully, is a far easier to bypass than the last hundred metres of solid metal I crawled through. I don¡¯t so much as walk through the door ¡ª more like devolve into flame and reform on the other side ¡ª but the effect is the same. The corridor I find myself in is identical to the one we followed after breaking from the cannon the last time us five came through. If I walk down this path, I should find myself in that same cargo bay as last time. Memories of my last trip here brings up thoughts of Gr¨ªmr and Leal. Hopefully, they got back to their homes safely. I wonder what they¡¯re up to right now? Leal¡¯s probably back with her dad, Gerben, helping them along the docks. Well, either that or she¡¯s not helping anyone and is transfixed with her Marking research. I know which I would bet on. Gr¨ªmr¡­ is likely back with our team. I know he¡¯s got family that live with the ¨¢infean, but he never talks of them. His reluctance to see them even after the war speaks for itself. Not wanting to extend my time in this place any longer than I need to, I run down the corridor. A trail of fire following in my steps, linking my mind as one. Unlike last time, a large steel shutter blocks my way. I try to push my fire through, but water on the other side halts my attempt. We landed near a different dock than the one we originally entered, so I¡¯d been hoping I¡¯d luck out and have a nice, easy path direct to the centre of the island. Unfortunately, that is not to be. Well, it¡¯s not the end of the world¡­ yet; as long as the massive central chamber isn¡¯t flooded, I should be able to make my way up, even if it¡¯ll take some time to bypass the direct route. Before my body even turns to walk back, I have a strand of my fire push through another of the shuttered doors that leads further from the island exterior. Reforming my body on the other side, I find myself in another of those rooms filled with metallic bookshelves. As I squeeze myself through the gaps between each metal slab ¡ª my body deforming to pass faster ¡ª the rear wall comes into sight. But the lack of a door leading beyond doesn¡¯t bother me. Doors mean nothing to me anymore. My flames filter through the inner wall, avoiding more vents, pipes, and inscription pathways as I push further into the depths of the island. The Anatla¡¯s influence is getting thicker. Each meter I gain takes considerably longer. I¡¯d love if there were a faster route, but I¡¯ll have to push through with what I can. Eventually, I find a dry room to reform myself. It¡¯s nothing like the other chambers I¡¯ve seen in this island so far. Large shutters fill the entire walls to my left and right, but what lies in the space between them is what attracts my interest. A towering contraption sits in the middle of the chamber. At ten metres tall, it¡¯s like someone took two train-cars and placed them on each side of an oversized wheel. A wheel with some dangerously sharp teeth evenly protruding outward. The actual design is a lot cleaner than what I¡¯m familiar with from the eastern nations, which is not all that surprising considering where I am. Compared to the cube ships or the island itself, it isn¡¯t all that impressive, but I still stare wide eyed because its form is actually somewhat comprehensible. The wheels may not be identical to what I know from trains or Henosis¡¯ cars, hidden from view and taking the form of some metal belt, but the purpose is clear; this thing will move. It¡¯s the massive wheel that I¡¯m not too sure of. My first thought is the waterwheel that powers the centzon¡¯s regna cities, but I quickly dismiss the idea. The only similarities between them is they are both big; neither material, design, nor approach is similar. The toothed wheel protrudes both out the front and top, easily the focus of the vehicle. It could be a war machine ¡ª that wheel would cause unimaginable damage if it were to grind through an opposing enemy¡¯s fortifications ¡ª but that doesn¡¯t seem right. The creators of this island were advanced enough to create explosions of plasma to kill their enemies; would they really get in close with machines like this if they could blast into opposition defences with those cannons? The alternative seems much more likely; These are mining machines. With all the metal they needed to create this island, they must have dug through entire mountains. How would they do that without machines designed to do so? I doubt they¡¯d want to blow up the metal they wanted to use. And this room must be where they brought it for storage and repairs, if the equipment along the walls is any indication. I shake my head and rush across the room. This isn¡¯t the time to wonder about the race that might have once built this place. It is obvious they are long gone, replaced by a being that doesn¡¯t belong. I need to focus on the task ahead of me.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. The large hanger bay doors to each side of the room both lead to water, so I cut through the other wall. The next ten chambers I pass through are nearly identical. Each of them has their own mining machine and is surprisingly unsubmerged. Despite flooding being only a door away, a lot of effort must have gone into separating these rooms from the rest of the island. I don¡¯t complain. Why would I? It gives me the quickest path I could hope for. Still, passing so many of these mining machines makes me wonder why they are here, in the middle of the ocean. Wouldn¡¯t it be better for the beings that made this place to keep them near their mining sites? Why go through the effort of carrying them this far across the ocean? We didn¡¯t come across them last time, and considering the sheer size of this island, I have to wonder how many thousands of these machines hide. What else is closed behind flooded corridors, untouched for millennia? Really, I¡¯m just thankful that the Anatla¡¯s control over these machines is as limited as it is. Sure, it can alter and enhance the energy already rushing through operating inscriptions, equipment and materials, but it cannot start up systems that are not active. At least, that¡¯s what we assume. Such machines shouldn¡¯t pose a threat, but I can¡¯t help sending glances at the massive armoured vehicles any time I pass them by. My imagination pictures them coming alive, their wheels spinning with speed and tearing apart walls as they chase me. The physical damage wouldn¡¯t hurt, but it would take only one to crash through the door panels to flood everything. After almost fifty of these hangers ¡ª only a couple missing their respective machines ¡ª I finally come to the end of the row, if the thicker wall is anything to go by. None of the previous barriers were thin under any interpretation of the word, but the one before me is many times wider. Worse, the Anatla¡¯s corruptive influence is stronger with each metre, slowing my progression to essentially a stop. I could keep pushing, but depending on how thick this wall is, it could take me days to push through with ethereal flame alone. Thankfully, there is no cooling inscription or vents running through this wall. It is entirely solid steel. I can burn through it, but I won¡¯t know what¡¯s on the other side until I¡¯m through. I could very well burn my way into another flooded chamber and not realise until the water rushes back. So, I do what I can. I disperse my form, leaving only what little I need to melt steel and pull the rest back into the open space of a mining machine storage bay. Three walls away, just in case. Once I¡¯m relatively safe ¡ª can¡¯t be truly assured while still in the belly of the beast, after all ¡ª I ramp up the heat. The metal my flames already penetrate melts near instantly, but the rest is slow work. I scoop out the molten metal with some physical flames as I push in deeper. I¡¯ve already burnt through ten metres of steel when I start to doubt myself. A wall this thick must be there to hold back something unimaginably dangerous. I¡¯m not burning into the sphere of ranked water, am I? Maybe three walls might not be enough. But that can¡¯t be right. I can still feel my connection to the outer wall. I¡¯m a kilometre, maybe two, from the outside. The large central chamber was larger alone. Before I can pull back and reconsider my approach, I burn through the last of the wall. I tense, expecting the worst, but nothing comes. After ten seconds of nothing snuffing the life out of the fire I risked, I tentatively push through. The room is small, far smaller than any other in this island. Five by five metres. One wall holds half a dozen holes thick enough to crawl through, and another, a tall door, but it¡¯s the table along one wall that attracts my attention. Made of steel, it¡¯s not dissimilar from the rest of the island¡¯s architecture, but it is clearly a type of cooking bench. This is one of their old residences, I realise. I cast my gaze around the room, hoping to see some remnant of the creatures that once lived here, but besides ample dust along the ground, the place is bare. Curious of the large holes in the wall, I climb up into one. It¡¯s about as deep as the room is wide, but doesn¡¯t actually lead anywhere. Some sort of storage, maybe? But the bottom half of the cylinder hole indicates differently. There is a section missing that looks like something is supposed to fill it; the slot would only make trying to get anything out difficult, so probably not for storage. I jump out and check each of the others, only to find the same missing hand width of steel from the cylinders¡¯ bottoms. It is only when I search the rest of the small abode that I realise what they might be. There is no other space to sleep. So maybe those slots are for rugs or mattresses or whatever ancient equivalent they slept on. Unless I¡¯m wrong to assume they have the same customs as the eastern races that I¡¯ve seen with similar countertops. For all I know, they don¡¯t even need sleep. One of those control interfaces with knife-like indents sits on an extended panel above the bench. I reach my fire into the small orb. Each slot is roughly spaced enough for a finger, and I momentarily consider how annoying it might be to wear a glove intended to be a key. But this is a someone¡¯s home, right? Why would they need a key? Are they not keys? I¡¯d thought it was a security measure to stop just anyone from using the interface on the bridge, but that might be wrong. Actually, now that I think about it, the slots would be an incredibly poor security measure. I mean, I could operate them just by extending my flames inside. Anyone could shove some narrow sticks or a thin blade into each of the slots and be able to control it. Dismissing the strangeness of some long forgotten beings, I activate the interface, unable to help myself. Is it a bad idea? Well, I thought not, but I immediately regret my action as water shrieks out the panel, cutting into the metal bench and splashing everywhere. In a panic, I let go of the control and flee back through the wall. When, after a minute, the water doesn¡¯t flow through the hole after me, I creep back into the long abandoned residence. The panel doesn¡¯t gush the powerful stream anymore ¡ª likely shut off as soon as I let go of the control sphere ¡ª but by the new indent in the otherwise unmarred metal, I¡¯m almost certain that the stream isn¡¯t supposed to be that powerful. A faucet? I¡¯ve seen such things before, but ¡ª for obvious reasons ¡ª have kept my distance. I step through the door and out from an alcove to find open space. There¡¯s no doubt; I¡¯ve made it to the huge central chamber of the island. It¡¯s a different path than originally, but it got me here. Stairs lead down from the home I found myself in, down to a path that connects with the raised bridge we walked across last time, up to my left. Each home appears much like a part of a valley or canyon from down here, with each home looking closer to that of a grotto than the vestibule before their front door. Of course, the steel is smooth and unblemished, unlike that of natural rock formations, but the resemblance is there. Well, I¡¯ve made my way this far. I better bring the cubic key through now. I¡¯m only ten thousand steps from my goal. What could possibly go wrong? It¡¯s not like there¡¯s some unimaginable being from another world waiting to stop me. I sigh in resignation. I¡¯ve come this far already; backing down now would be pointless. Chapter 210: Monolith Anatla
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Chapter 211: Charybdis
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Chapter 212: Terminus
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Chapter 213: Kalmas Pit
The pact nations had undergone more extensive change than Gr¨ªmr expected. It might have been his cynical mindset regarding the well-known corruption in the upper brass of the Mercenary Order and the ruling class that was supposed to keep them in check, but he was delighted to find the restructure progressing rapidly post-war. Though, that might simply stem from their fear of coup d¡¯¨¦tat. Despite winning the war, the nations did not suddenly bounce back from the strain on economy. The people held displeasure with their leaders for a long time, and the news that the lost lives of everyone¡¯s brothers and sisters could have been avoided had the elite been sent out with any haste was the final nail. Riots and aggressive civil disputes arose all across the pact nations. Historically, against the Henosis Empire, the approach they¡¯d taken was correct. But this wasn¡¯t the Henosis, and they¡¯d been too slow to alter their military doctrine. Most leading factions got a hold of their troubles with platitudes and quick action, but not all could avoid forced reform. Those that fell and rose again with new hands to steer were a warning to the rest; they needed to act in the favour of their disgruntled citizens, lest they face the same fate as their neighbours. Gr¨ªmr wasn¡¯t usually one to care much for the in-depth politics of the nations around him, but it was impossible to miss the shift. Regardless of the reason, it was a good change, and he could only hope that this would last. He looked to his side, where Bunny sat, wiping her halberd. Her entire focus on cleaning it from the blood of the last critter that crawled out of the hole below. The Vanguard, the nation Bunny¡¯s father once commanded, was likely the only nation amongst the pact that didn¡¯t face almost any internal disputes. As the only remaining kraterocracy ¡ª unless you counted the mess that was the Warring Isles ¡ª they, surprisingly, were in a better position than any of their neighbours. It also helped that their leaders were out on the front fighting the entire time. Bunny¡¯s homeland was still technically at war with the Theocracy, but it was back to simple border clashes and ideological disputes, like it had been for the past fifty years. A large moth, about half Bunny¡¯s size, flew out from the depths of the pit. The portian controlling the body of an alicanto turned a hopeful eye to Jav. The little volan, slouched along the ground with his artificial wings stretched wide beneath each arm, raised an eyebrow at Gr¨ªmr¡¯s gaze. ¡°It¡¯s your turn. I¡¯m staying right here.¡± Gr¨ªmr sighed, unwilling to argue, and rose to his talons. It was always such an effort to take off. He could fly for hours without effort, but the constant up and down was rather draining. Still, he didn¡¯t waste time. Stretching his massive metal wings, he took off without so much as a beat. In the past ¡ª what had it been? ¡ª a year and a half, he¡¯d become far more comfortable in this body. The wings moved with a fluidity that would make any that saw assume he¡¯d had them his whole life. Only in that short time at night did he still struggle to make them do as he wanted, but he¡¯d been making some progress moving around the annoyance. It wasn¡¯t anything like controlling a normal creature; the nerves had to be bypassed rather than used themselves. He was just thankful he was no longer unable to move for a full thirty minutes every day¡­ that might have caused problems one day. Gr¨ªmr was not lucky enough to get the drop on the moth. His size difficult even for mindless creatures to miss. As he flew forward, the flying bug fluttered its wings, bathing the air in dust. This was no decay dust like the mermineae were once capable of. No, this was simple dirt, but it still blocked his sight and left his feathers filthy. He felt the dirt rapidly building up along his metal body, collecting in lumps along his wings, up his back, and around his talons. The moth was clearly trying to weigh him down, but he hardly noticed the added mass, what with how heavy he already was. Gr¨ªmr cut through the cloud of dirt and sliced a wing through the moth. It died immediately. The creature had attempted to move out of the way once obscured, but it hadn¡¯t done so quickly enough to save itself. He snatched the corpse out of the air and carried it back to the tall hill on the ledge of the abyssal pit. He tried his best not to look down in that black hole beneath him. With flight, Gr¨ªmr hardly had to worry about the drop, but the instincts of his actual body sometimes still got through to him. Especially with a hole so obviously unnatural. Gr¨ªmr knew Solvei had been to the bottom and came back fine, but the fear of the unknown still twinged at his mind whenever he gazed down. He dropped the moth on a pile of other creatures they¡¯d killed over the last couple days. They were really starting to stink up the air. He hoped the mage circling between groups would be here soon. If they didn¡¯t, he was tempted to toss the lot back down the hole. Enhancement from these creatures was getting increasingly less attractive than removing the smell. Gr¨ªmr returned to the other two of his team. It was really feeling empty at the moment, and he was eager for the other two to return. Remus was stuck reorganising much of the Mercenary Order, and Solvei had to convince her elders to let her travel again. Really, it was a toss up between who would return first. Until then, they were stuck on guard duty around Kalma¡¯s Pit, along with a bunch of other mercs. The hole, located in the far east of the Meja Matriarchy, was smack-dab in the middle of the pact nations. A rather unfortunate place for beasts to flow out from, but it wasn¡¯t the worst cost for the victory of war. Dozens of teams encircled the immense hole in the earth, with structures popping up all around it. Given a couple years, Gr¨ªmr was sure the place would become a city in its own right, but until then, it was just the mercenaries and hopeful merchants trying to snatch some creature parts from their kills before they could be sacrificed in the ritual.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. After scraping off the dirt still clinging to his feathers, Gr¨ªmr laid beside his two teammates. He eyed the currently unused spare flight suit Jav had hung up to dry. The volan was usually too fast to get hit, but sometimes it was simply impossible. At least the moths¡¯ dirt attack wasn¡¯t all that dangerous. ¡°You should get one of those made for Bunny.¡± Gr¨ªmr said, not entirely serious. Jav lifted his head, looking the weapon-obsessed woman up and down. ¡°That would be great, wouldn¡¯t it? She¡¯s the only one that somehow enjoys killing these pests. We could dump all our work on her.¡± He shakes his little lightly furred head before continuing. ¡°Unfortunately, she weighs far too much for any wings my sisters can make to have much effect.¡± ¡°I can hear you.¡± Bunny peers up from her weapon to send a glare at Jav. ¡°Don¡¯t you eat as much as you do because you want to put on more weight?¡± She stares at him for a moment, before nodding once and turning back to her weapon. The three fell back into silence for the next while. Guard duty, when not up in the Alps, was rather boring, but Gr¨ªmr usually enjoyed it. That was, when the whole team was around. Now? He could only wait for the missing half to return. Not even the stronger creatures that came from the abyss ¡ª either crawling or flying ¡ª could give them much enjoyment, what with the other Beiths rushing to kill them first. Team Luis Eight was no longer Luis. They¡¯d been promoted to Beith Thirteen, but considering the team was missing its full roster, they weren¡¯t given tasks appropriate for their rank. Instead, they got to knock down bugs. Bunny was the only one who enjoyed killing the things, yet she was the one most annoyed at not being able to chase stronger beasts. ¡°This is boring. Either of you up for a game of Bleed?¡± Jav asked, pulling out a deck of cards. ¡°No.¡± Bunny didn¡¯t hesitate. Nor did she look up from her weapon. Gr¨ªmr considered it. The loss of coin would hurt, but he enjoyed the games, regardless. The volan was brutal even in friendly games. Before Gr¨ªmr could accept, a loud crack like the shattering of glass ripped through him. It lasted no longer than an instant, yet it felt like he was crushed. The weight of the world bearing down on him. Looking between his two teammates, it was obvious they felt the same thing. He didn¡¯t know what it was. The sound seemed to come from all around him, and from nowhere at the same time. Something broke, and each of his ten legs shivered with instinctual dread. The slight twitching of his limbs in their place latched to the alicanto¡¯s brain stem was enough to send his body convulsing, but he quickly got a hold of himself. Before anyone could say anything, Jav was in the air, searching for whatever caused that noise. It was too loud, had too much presence, to be anything natural. Gr¨ªmr doubted his small flying friend would find anything; the shatter felt as if it were propagated by the earth itself. When Jav rejoined them, Gr¨ªmr¡¯s guess was proven true. ¡°There¡¯s no sight of whatever caused that, but we aren¡¯t the only ones to have heard it. Even those across the hole are spooked.¡± Jav points to the other side of Kalma¡¯s Pit, where Gr¨ªmr¡¯s eyesight wasn¡¯t good enough to distinguish the teams as anything more than specks. ¡°I suppose we can¡¯t rule this out as someone dropping a glass bottle, then?¡± Bunny asks. Jav huffs a laugh. ¡°Not unless it was the size of a tower.¡± His gaze turns down to the pit. ¡°You think-¡± A sudden, intense gust of air slammed into them, accompanied by a powerful shriek. Gr¨ªmr clamped his wings to his side to not be blown away. Jav was not so lucky, but quickly dove back into the ground. The wind crossed Kalma¡¯s Pit faster than it should, kicking up dirt as it ripped over the raised lip. The shriek continued, somewhat similar to a bird¡¯s call, but more of a droning wail that made the air harden as it slammed into him. Gr¨ªmr¡¯s mind immediately leapt to the Euroclydon, and whipped his head toward the Titan Alps. It didn¡¯t help his fears that the blast had come from the Alps. But that had to be impossible. The Titan of the western plains was beyond the Titan Alps. None of its winds had ever reached this side. He didn¡¯t want to believe it, but it was too familiar to deny. The winds were not as strong as those in his memories, but the way they raced along the earth faster than any other gust had the right to be couldn¡¯t be ignored. The Euroclydon never shrieked like this in his time across the Alps, but there was no doubt it was from some unimaginably powerful beast. With pressure strong enough to pierce deep into his instincts, he was certain. The shriek never cut off, instead it was overcome by the rumble of earth. The ground trembled. If Gr¨ªmr hadn¡¯t already been holding himself low after the gust, he was sure he¡¯d have been knocked off his talons, even with wings clutching the dirt to hold him steady. Gr¨ªmr couldn¡¯t stand if he wanted to. His body felt like it had become liquid, flowing with the earth below. Bunny herself was crouched with her hands on the ground; a surprising sight, considering how much effort she put into her own balance. The wooden buildings constructed only a few months ago were already nothing but rubble near the bottom of the hill. A massive section of the ledge broke off, sliding into the pit. A few hundred metres of ground just gone in moments. Maybe he would have worried about the teams that might still be on it, if not for the Titan Alps themselves crumbling. It was unbelievable. For all his years, those mountains had been a constant. The only thing in his life that never seemed to change. And now? They were crumbling. The quake was deafening, but he hardly registered it. His eyes could do nothing but watch mountains tumbling down the Alps as if they were mere pebbles. He wasn¡¯t the only one; all around Kalma¡¯s Pit¡­ no, all around the continent, people watched on in dread as the Titan Alps ¡ª a spiritually, culturally and symbolically crucial monument beyond the Titans themselves ¡ª shattered. At first, it appeared only the surface level was falling apart ¡ª the mountains growing out of the giant alps ¡ª but that soon proved false. As they watched, a heavier quake ripped through the earth, sending any still on their feet tumbling. The Titan Alps sunk, crashing down beneath the earth. A tenth of its size gone before anyone could truly comprehend the scale. The summit line dropped, and Gr¨ªmr watched as more of the space beneath the moon was revealed. That ever so slight white line cutting the sky between moon and Alps returned. He¡¯d seen it back over in the Euroclydon¡¯s Hunting Grounds, but never here. ¡°This isn¡¯t real, right?¡± Jav asked, but Gr¨ªmr couldn¡¯t find the words to reply. The trembling earth never stopped, not even as his body slowly locked up. It was strange; like the body¡¯s nerves ever so slightly fought his control. Then, the moon shone red. The alicanto body he inhibited shifted faster than ever. Blade-like tail curled into a flail, feathers grew jagged, and razor teeth buzzed through his formerly toothless beak. The red light of the Blood Moon reflected off his body, glowing like he was the source itself. His eyes were the most affected, shining like crimson torches over his teammates. His body snapped forward before he could stop it. Bunny leapt to the side, tripping over her own feet as she landed on the unstable earth. Gr¨ªmr finally clamped down on the body that had somehow gotten out of his control, the metal bird shearing through rock and gravel as his menacing feathers drilled into anything they touched. The Blood Moon appeared during day. And his body had become just as uncontrollable as a year ago. Hours passed. Days passed. Yet the Blood Moon remained. Chapter 214: Praise the Anatla
With practised strokes, Leal sliced another series of lines through the thick hide of her neck. The numbing agent worked wonders, suppressing the small, involuntary muscle twitches that normally occurred when stabbing yourself with a blade. She¡¯d long become comfortable carving away her skin ¡ª now not even needing to shave first ¡ª but there were some natural reactions that didn¡¯t disappear no matter how often she redrew her Markings. Beneath all Leal¡¯s fur, she probably scarred herself enough now that there was less undamaged skin than not. She didn¡¯t care; as long as she could continue experimenting without issue, she would. If she ever faced a problem because of the scarring, she would put in a request for the balm used by the mages beyond the northern border. Neither albanic, khirig, nor dohrni had the fur to hide their marred bodies. She delicately lined the skin-deep wounds with Marking ink, the bleeding of the cuts already stymied by the oil applied to the blade. Without such oil, it was likely the ink would seep into her veins; something that would reduce the effect of, or in some cases prevent, the Marking¡¯s operation. Her current project was one she¡¯d been working on ever since she¡¯d returned from the wasteland so many months ago. Technically, she¡¯d been unsuccessful in all her experiments so far, but that wasn¡¯t to say she¡¯d been unproductive. Leal¡¯s current Marking addition was only a very slight change which altered the sensitivity of the Marking¡¯s receiver. It acted as somewhat of a siphon for a particular theoretical type of energy. Well, it was supposed to. Her proof of concept still had to become that: a proof of concept. Leal¡¯s experience back at that island beyond the wasteland had been frightening, but¡­ but she couldn¡¯t deny the incredible inspiration it had given. The feeling of that Anatla climbing up her leg was not exactly something she should want to experience again. She knew that. But the completely alien energy was just far too tempting. Calling it ¡®energy¡¯ was wrong, but she had no other way to describe it unless she dipped into the realm of metaphorical. Energy ¡ª like any of the known hyle ¡ª was the closest descriptor, so energy it was. Its existence disproved many of the current theories surrounding hyle, including those regarding how it worked and what it was. From that brief time it had passed through her leg, her analyses determined that the energy interacted with hyle, but wasn¡¯t hyle itself. That should be impossible under their current models. Sure, she could assume it was just some strange phenomena brought about by another realm interacting with theirs, but it was a predictable interaction ¡ª it spread through her flesh in a measurable and consistent timescale ¡ª therefore regardless of whether it was an alien energy or not, it was still affected by the laws of nature. Laws that accounted for its interaction meant that both Leal¡¯s and the Anatla¡¯s realms weren¡¯t so entirely separate. Essentially, the Anatla¡¯s energy could exist without the world tearing itself apart, so their theories were wrong. Of course, without experimental proof, she couldn¡¯t disprove the elemental hyle model that described the formation of everything. That was her goal; a way to collect the Anatla energy to test with. She had some theories of her own about what that energy exactly was, and did, based on the way it had grown her fur and grew the claws of her feet almost to appear like the fossils of her ancient ancestors, but nothing she was confident in as of yet. Once she could get her hands on some of that energy ¡ª some of it that wasn¡¯t permeated with the will of some vicious otherworldly creature ¡ª she had so many ideas she wanted to play around with. Only issue: Leal couldn¡¯t collect any. She didn¡¯t know if her Markings were flawed in some way, or the energy was entirely limited to the other realm, but she¡¯d gone so many months now without results, and Leal¡¯s father was getting worried. She loved him, but just because she preferred to get lost in her work in the attic of their new home along the southern coast, didn¡¯t mean she was unhappy. No, she was unhappy because her project wasn¡¯t working. With the ink drying in her neck, Leal lathered the marking with a salve that should prevent the cut from getting infected, and stepped away from the mirror. She expected little from this change, but it should direct her toward any collection of Anatla energy hidden out in the world. It wasn¡¯t nearly as accurate as that inscription Solvei needed to flood with unreasonable amounts of fire hyle, but it would do. Of course, the only way for it to operate was to get out and feel for the difference. So, for the first time in weeks, Leal left her home. There was the usual clamour of voices and equipment coming from the docks. Leal¡¯s dad was likely amongst the workers, and would probably encourage her to help should he see her. She turned the other way. It wasn¡¯t that Leal didn¡¯t like helping their efforts, but there was always something more to do. Her research would never advance if she offered her mage talents any more than the rare occasion. Plus, no matter her experience, being at the centre of attention was never something she enjoyed. Leal ran through the city streets until the beach came into sight. There were a few ursu walking about, but none along the rough sands. The southern ocean waters were icy, especially so in the middle of winter; not exactly ideal swimming conditions. But it was perfect for Leal. Without others to pester her, she could test her altered Marking for all it was worth. So, while paying close attention to the readings she felt through her hide, Leal ran along the sand. She¡¯d prefer to walk, but that would mean far slower measurements. Not something she would sit by. This version would work, Leal was sure of it. Not that she hadn¡¯t been any less sure with her other iterations, but this one would be different. If she could just get the tiniest little slice of Anatla energy, it would do so much. It might explain the Void Fog, and give people a method to detect the carriers. Such a creation could save entire cities from the Fog¡¯s sudden appearance. Leal barely paid attention to where she placed her feet, too consumed by her Marking¡¯s readings. Nothing had shown itself through the noise yet, and while she¡¯d like to point out the very existence of that noise as proof of the Anatla energy¡¯s presence in their world, it was just as likely system noise interfering with the signal. Her own heartbeat could be messing with the sensor more than she¡¯d accounted for. An inscription might have been more optimal for removing unwanted sources of interference, but they wouldn¡¯t give anywhere near the level of interactivity nor natural understanding of what moved through your body. She¡¯d need a far more complex analysis subsystem to achieve even similar results¡­ and, well, she simply wasn¡¯t as good with inscriptions.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. But that was fine. Markings were better, and they were all one needed. Leal lost track of time as she ran. It was surprising how far she could run now without exhausting herself. After army basic training, she¡¯d not exactly been unfit, but she couldn¡¯t be called an athlete. She¡¯d been all too happy to accept Solvei¡¯s offered rituals while she¡¯d travelled with her, but her focus had always been on the improved hyle capacity, not her improved body. She understood mages typically weren¡¯t physically enhanced by a quirk of the way either the Inheritance Ritual worked ¡ª or maybe the way their bodies accepted the energy ¡ª so the boost to her stamina and strength had been a surprise. Despite being smaller and weighing far less than most other ursu, she¡¯d probably be able to beat her father in a competition of strength¡­ maybe. Solvei had been generous with those meals. Leal tripped as a deafening shatter ripped over the land. Her face met sand, held down by the unbelievable presence momentarily flooding through her. The overwhelming sensation was horrible, almost enough to make her lose her lunch¡­ had she eaten any. But no, that was unimportant. The Marking was peaking. It was off the charts. The amount of Anatla energy flooding through her Markings was beyond anything she ever expected. The spike of energy only lasted an instant, but it topped out all detectors she¡¯d integrated into her hide, even the obscenely low sensitivity one she¡¯d included for a failed test. Her battery ¡ª a standard hyle type redesigned for this new energy ¡ª maxed out, then emptied within a blink of an eye. Leal was¡­ beyond stunned. An equivalent amount of energy in earth hyle could create a mountain from nothing. And yet, it was gone so soon. This was the energy of that green-eyed storm. Leal had no doubt. She realised her face was still in the sand and jumped up, gasping for breath. Leal thought the energy was gone, but that new Marking she¡¯d carved was still flaring like mad. She snapped her head to the southern coast, where a beam of light tore between ocean and sky. Leal didn¡¯t know what she was looking at. The beam flickered between colours every moment, as if unable to decide what it wanted to be. Air around it seemed to flicker between day and night, stormy and clear. Nothing about it seemed to remain constant. At some points, it felt like a gust of wind blowing out from it, then the next it was still, or pulling inward. The only thing she did know, was that beam exuded immense quantities of Anatla energy. Not to the scale of the first burst, but still impressive. Her Markings soaked up the energy like wasteland sands did water. The feel of it was distinct from the green-eyed storm, but she couldn¡¯t point out any particular discrepancies. She just knew it was different. Leal, in all her excitement, realised far too late that experimentation with the energy of beings beyond comprehension may not have been the best idea. The energy flooded her body. It expanded out from the Markings that collected it and wormed its way through her other, unrelated Markings, before consuming every part of her. In time, with the flickering changes of the massive pillar of light to the south, Leal felt her body change. Before her eyes, the Markings glowing beneath her fur twisted, reforming into different, unfamiliar lines. Then, it suddenly didn¡¯t seem odd. It didn¡¯t change again, but the Marking appeared exactly as she¡¯d always known. She was a fire mage. That wasn¡¯t strange. Why did she have the markings she recognised from water mages a moment ago? Why had this energy reverted it back? Her fingers were bare of fur, scarred from thousands of experiments, but that wasn¡¯t strange. Well, it wasn¡¯t until those fingers grew thicker, regaining the lost fur. Large, like her father¡¯s. It was strange, until again, it wasn¡¯t. The size of his hands wasn¡¯t odd; he was taller than his father, after all. Leath swung his sword over his shoulder, staring over the ocean as he felt tremors through his legs. An earthquake? Was that strange light to the south the cause? He wondered what it was. How was it linked to that intense shattering of glass? Each flicker of light brought a new change. Taller, shorter, reappeared Markings, differing genders. It didn¡¯t matter. To Leal, they seemed natural. Eventually, the twisting forms stopped. The light of the pillar continued to flicker, but Leal did not. This was it! Leal looked at the pillar of holy light as it illuminated the land with its divine touch. Their gods were coming. The true gods that would bring damnation to the Titans and free this world of parasites. She could hardly contain her glee. To be so close, to feel the warmth of the holy Anatla¡¯s touch filling her being was beyond anything she imagined. She almost broke down in jubilant tears right on the spot. She was right. They¡¯d always treated her as insane, as a liar, but Deivos and Rod are the lies. The proof was right in front of her. Leal opened herself to the Monolith Anatla, allowing its energy to course through her body without restraint. And it did. It spread through every pore and burnt through the earth below her, taking hold where it couldn¡¯t before. It clung to the sand, and she watched in awe as it mimicked the pillar, flickering between alternative possibilities. Her feet felt grass, then they were submerged in a small pond of water. It switched between rock, bare soil, then returned to sand. All the while, Leal felt blessed to witness such a divine miracle. She wanted to experiment with it, but had to bury such sinful, heretical thoughts. If the mighty Monolith Anatla wished her to wield its power, then she would, but only then. A rumble echoed behind her, along with increased tremors through her feet, but she dare not take her eyes from the deity before her. It was descending, joining them in the mortal plane, and she wouldn¡¯t miss a second of it. There was a crack. The Anatla¡¯s energy stopped spreading. Leal looked down at the inscriptions she¡¯d designed explicitly to help the god spread its influence through her, concerned that there might be an issue, but they seemed fine. Leal squeaked in fear as the Anatla¡¯s energy flooded through her again, this time burning with unbidden rage. She¡¯d felt its glee as it descended and had bathed in the feeling. But now it stung as it ripped through her body. Then, all rage disappeared from the holy energy. So too did the pillar of flickering light. The power of the god remained, but it felt like the divine ruler was gone. Leal panicked. No. It couldn¡¯t leave so soon after arriving. She needed to prove she was right. She¡¯d been right when everyone had disbelieved her. They treated her as insane. She didn¡¯t want to go back to that. Twisting around in desperation, her eyes landed on the glowing crimson moon. It tripled in size, growing until nothing but the bleeding moon consumed her sight. Leal yanked her head, trying to tear away her eyes, but it didn¡¯t work. No matter what she tried, her sight never left the red orb. Leal gasped, and suddenly she was back. Her gaze dropped to her body, hurriedly checking the Markings lining her body. She let out a relieved breath. She didn¡¯t have that accursed design that invited the Anatla to do whatever it wished with her body. No, she only had her water Markings¡­ and those that collected the alien energy. Her body was still flooded with the Anatla¡¯s energy, but like the ground beneath her, the changes were occurring less often. Less often, but they were still happening. As her hand grew large again within a blink, she flicked her sight back to the glowing moon, and thankfully found the change reverting. Not tearing her sight from the moon ¡ª which seemed to be the only thing keeping her safe ¡ª she commanded the Markings she¡¯d designed to direct the Anatla¡¯s energy through her body. She should really toss it all away. Her memories were foggy, but Leal never wanted to treat some Armageddon causing beings as the focus of worship again. She should do everything in her power to stop herself returning to that state of mind, but¡­ it was too tempting. Leal gathered the Anatla¡¯s energy into the battery she¡¯d made for it. After a few seconds of it not changing her, she relaxed. That¡­ was horrible. She could remember her thoughts in the past few minutes, but she couldn¡¯t understand the origin of them. It was like the different versions of herself had completely distinct memories. Her cultist alternative was horrible; she¡¯d been unstable, desperate, vulnerable. Worse than Leal had ever felt. And yet, she couldn¡¯t deny that it had still been her. Leal¡¯s gaze dropped from the deep crimson moon to the Alps below. Weren¡¯t they a little bigger last she looked? Probably just a trick of the eye. What was that? Had the Anatla actually almost broken through? Was it the moon that stopped them? Whatever it was, Leal had more important things to worry about. She glanced down to the battery Marking along her shoulders, where it glowed with alternating colours. She had some experimenting to do. Chapter 215: Answers, Never Enough
The days and weeks following the Island¡¯s destruction and subsequent developments were less eventful than I¡¯d expected. As much as I want to run off and rejoin Leal and my team now that I¡¯m no longer tied down by punishment, I can¡¯t very well leave. Not when I¡¯m the only one able to oppose the Anatla¡¯s influence. We don¡¯t have enough information about what happened that day. Nothing explains why the Titan Alps collapsed the way they did. Obviously, it is linked to the Titan or Anatla in some way, but no matter how strong the being¡¯s roar could be, it just doesn¡¯t make sense for the Alps to sink the way they had. Nor does it explain the permanent Ember Moon. After that day, the Ember Moon never left. Where before, her flames would light the sky for half an hour, now it remains burning endlessly. The night is no longer dark. Crimson light illuminates all besides the shade beneath the Alps. The only answer is that Eldest Ember is forced to cast her protection constantly. That short period in the middle of the night isn¡¯t enough anymore. Something in our world has changed. Something irreversible. Have the Anatla broken through their barrier? Then what of the Titan Alps? How is that involved? We returned to the Agglomerate, dreading that the city was destroyed in the devastation considering its proximity to the Alps. We found the place buried, but otherwise standing; a surprise, considering the place was entirely made of glass. Rock and gravel buried the entire Alps side of the Agglomerate, but it stood out like a gem in rock from our approach. Apparently, the boulders burying the city weren¡¯t from the Titan Alps itself, rather a mountain that crumbled along the Steppes. Whether fateful or not, the mountains tumbling down the steep slopes of the higher elevations all tumbled into the crevasse that widened upon the Alps sinking. I¡¯d love to say it was fortunate, but many mountains along the Steppes still faced the same terrible quakes. The eastern races at the base of the mountains likely didn¡¯t avoid tragedy. With most of the Agglomerate covered, it had felt far colder walking between pillars of glass. The grand elders said they could clear the rock, but it would take many years. A disappointment, but at least it would return to normal one day. Assuming Armageddon doesn¡¯t arrive before then. Assuming Armageddon hasn¡¯t already. The ocean hasn¡¯t receded. We¡¯ve been watching the shore for weeks now, but it doesn¡¯t so much as back off a centimetre. It doesn¡¯t creep forward at all, which is thankful, but it doesn¡¯t look like we¡¯ll be reclaiming the lost sands. If we were pressured by strained resources before, that threat has only doubled now that we¡¯ve lost half our wasteland. I¡¯m happy that it¡¯ll encourage us to push for good relations with the eastern nations, but it¡¯s still rough to know we¡¯ll have to rely on an outside source. Originally, moving to the Titan Alps was a decent alternative. There was an excess of resources, and while it would take a long time to adjust everyone to the increased difficulty of living there, it was possible. But now¡­ well, I¡¯m not sure I¡¯d be comfortable traversing all that loose rock, and I have an easier way out than most. We are all in a state of indecision. None of what has happened is something we can truly plan for, so all we can do is adopt a ¡®wait and see¡¯ approach. If the Alps drop further, or Titan¡¯s do something unprecedented, there¡¯s not much we can do, but at least we can try to keep as many safe as possible. On that topic, the grand elders have had the Agglomerate evacuated for the near future. At least of any that couldn¡¯t handle a mountain falling on them. Right now, I¡¯m flying over the ocean again. After shutting down the Island¡¯s water production, I¡¯d declared I would stay as far from water as I could¡­ which was a stupid thing to claim, as I already find myself breaking it. At least on this flight, I don¡¯t need to worry about any downpour. The air is clear, and the sun is bright. As perfect a day as it is, I can¡¯t relish it. It feels too calm; like the moment I relax, the world will tear itself apart. Despite the misleading weather, I just need to look toward the Alps and moon to know things aren¡¯t as they seem. I¡¯m out here, flying toward the former location of the Island, entirely by my own determination, because some of the grand elders had reported that Charybdis is no longer around. I didn¡¯t believe it, so here I am. And they were right; there is no sight of the immense whirlpool anywhere. I¡¯ve expanded my search wide in case I missed it, but it truly is gone. Was the only reason the Titan remained to our west because it was trying to destroy the island? Or the Anatla inside? What is particularly strange in my search, is the appearance of islands where there were none before. Dunes of sand rise out of the waters. Curious, I land on a small island that doesn¡¯t rise more than my height from the ¡ª now still ¡ª water. The sand is identical to what I¡¯m used to in the wasteland, and like that sand, it drains the surrounding water rapidly. I watch as the grains disappear, but so too does the level of water. Before my eyes, the ocean sinks. Millimetre by millimetre at most, but it dips lower, revealing more sand. The sand is even more intense in its swallowing of water than what I¡¯ve seen in the wasteland. I cast my sight around again, and as I watch, many more dunes poke into view. Why is the water level dropping here, but not back where it touches the wasteland? This doesn¡¯t look like an effect that occurred only suddenly. Is it because the Titan left? Or is it because the Island no longer pumps out water to fight the constant drain on water? Now that I think about it, why did the Island pump out water like it did? It hardly seemed like a weapon until the Anatla pushed it beyond its intended capacity. Did the ancient race try to push against the drain of sand to keep themselves afloat? That doesn¡¯t seem right; they had all those mining machines, after all. If anything, the Island was likely built on some mountain and the flooding ocean rose to surround them.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Considering all this sand draining the water in the area, I can only consider two possibilities: first, the ancient race created the sea themselves with their island; second, the Titan pumps out enough water to create an ocean wherever it moves. Those cubic ships are proof enough that it was an ocean all those years ago. Wait¡­ only a couple vessels remained at the island. Almost all others we¡¯d found were along what was likely the coast over a thousand years ago. Did they flee the island? But what about that single cube vessel we found almost dead centre in the wasteland? How did it get there? Another glance to the dropping water level, and it clicks. However many thousand years ago, the wasteland wasn¡¯t a mass of vast deserts and canyons; it was an ocean. My mind flicks back to that wooden ship my tribe met the Kenna tribe so many years ago. It, the ancient cubic vessel, along with the fact that much of the desert is at a lower altitude than sea level all leave no doubt in my mind the wasteland was once an ocean. How? Where did all the water draining sand come from to turn an ocean into such a vast landmass? Charybdis. That¡¯s the only answer that makes at least some sense. The Titan is only ever visible as a whirlpool, swallowing all water and anything unfortunate enough to fall within. No creature can survive without eating, and if the Titans aren¡¯t an exception, they need their energy from somewhere. So where does the Charybdis get its food? Maybe I¡¯m overthinking this, and the Titan can sustain itself upon the schools of fish and whatever else falls within its whirlpool, but I¡¯m sure there¡¯s something more. It constantly swallows water, but considering it pumps out just as much, I¡¯m sure it can¡¯t consist itself entirely on what its body outputs. So, what if, considering the animals of the world are too small, it takes its energy from the elements themselves? The Charybdis moves from ocean to ocean, swallowing waters for a thousand years until there¡¯s nothing but its own water left. The water draining sand of the wasteland can¡¯t be found anywhere in the lands to the east, so what if that sand is all that remains of the water after the Titan drained it of all its hyle? If the sand is some sort of anti-water hyle, then that would explain why it cancels itself out with the water of the ocean, and why it only happens where Charybdis has been. Knowing that, it¡¯s possible the Titan was attracted to the immense output of water from the ancient race. Or maybe it chased them down to destroy the Anatla. But my best guess for the purpose of water generation, was also to hold back the Titan from destroying their Island, and they¡¯d painted the Inscription that called the Anatla because they needed more power to push back the Titan. Really, it¡¯s impossible to tell which happened first. At some point, the ancient race had abandoned their Island. Whether in fear of the Anatla they brought upon themselves, or the Titan that encircled them, I don¡¯t know. They took all their vessels and made for the newly formed wasteland. They made it to land, so I¡¯m sure they could have rebuilt¡­ so why is there no more of their unique architecture through any of the eastern lands? I¡¯m sure my grand elders would have records of an old, advanced race amongst the wasteland if they had to share, but there is not a word or mention. Whoever the ancient race were, they¡¯d clearly moved on. Not surprising, considering most fleshy races struggle to survive in what they consider the harsh environment of the wasteland. Most likely, they moved east and forgot their old technology. Momentarily, I consider if any of the races I know might fit what I know, but nothing seems right. The Centzon are still prime suspects, but if some of their kind discovered a path across the Alps back then, wouldn¡¯t there be some on our side of the Alps now? My mind pivots to the Monolith Anatla and the changes it brought upon. It couldn¡¯t control things directly, but its influence could definitely alter the state of what it affected. An ¨¢ed¡¯s fire burnt up in seconds, incinerating everything, even water. The energy fuelling the water production amplified, pushing the inscriptions to achieve far beyond their designs. Leal¡¯s hands and feet had grown furrier, with claws lengthening, like she was becoming something more primal. It reminded me of how the Void Fog changed the things it touched. The Fog never directly controlled the alterations. Rather, it pushed one¡¯s desires to direct their twisting form. A loyal warrior would gain the strength to fulfil his lord¡¯s wishes. A girl who fears being trapped, gets a way to avoid all chains. And a woman who is starving loses all restraint and eats everything, even if it destroys her stomach. They are similar, but clearly have their differences. The influence of the green storm cares not for one¡¯s thoughts or desires, but reflects the pure nature of what it changes. As it changed the fire of my elders, it took the concept of burning and consuming, and pushed it to the extreme. So, what if the Monolith Anatla already had its influence in the ancient race when they fled? From how it affected Leal, it might make any fleshy creature more savage. Taking them and reverting them to a more brutal beast. Forget any of the eastern races, these ancient people might not even be people anymore. With the knife-like finger inserts they used in their interface controls, I probably should have seen it sooner. The design of their residences appearing much like the gulches I¡¯d seen in the wasteland is only further proof. The ancient race are chthonics. For people advanced enough to create unbelievable machinery to fall so far¡­ well, I¡¯m not sure what to think. I¡¯ve always thought of the chthonics as nothing more than beasts. That they were once something greater, able to hold off a Titan with their technology ¡ª even if it relied on the power of an equally terrifying being ¡ª is¡­ sad. To lose one¡¯s mind might be worse than death. Did they realise what was happening to them? Prisoners in their own heads? Or did their thoughts regress with their bodies? To be honest, I¡¯d been hoping the ancient race was still around. Only¡­ not like this. I¡¯d already met so many new races in the past years that I never knew existed, which had turned out¡­ well, not always great. But there are plenty I¡¯ve come to trust amongst them. The world is enormous. Larger even than my ageless elders can comprehend. It isn¡¯t impossible to think there¡¯s other, completely alien cultures just beyond our borders. But the chthonics never left the wasteland. I stare out over the smaller, yet still impossibly large Titan Alps, and consider the future. Change is coming. There is no doubt about that. Whether it comes from the ¨¢ed finally reaching out a hand to the eastern nations, those nations crumbling between the war and disaster of the Alps collapsing, or simply the now eternal Ember Moon and what meaning lay behind it. There was doubt before. Kalma¡¯s words rang with the tinge of a madwoman. But now, the world is already buckling around us. I cannot deny the events as they happen. Armageddon is coming. I am certain of it, and yet we know next to nothing about what it means. Why are the Anatla trying to reach our world? What holds them back? Is the fate of the chthonic what lies ahead of everyone? Will it be worse? Nothing is clear. Whether or not it is even possible to stop Armageddon, we do not know. There is too much uncertainty, but I will discover the secrets of the world, no matter how far I have to go. I¡¯ll burn the world to keep mine safe. Map - Flood Changes (Chapter 215 spoilers) So with the flood, and Charybdis'' leaving, the landscape of the Wasteland has changed. Below is a snapshot of what the landscape looks like at certain points. BEFORE THE FLOOD: This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. THE EXTENT OF THE FLOOD: AFTER CHARYBDIS LEAVES: the little grey dot in the bottom left is the Island, but i couldn''t figure out how to get rid of the shading around it in Inkarnate. (now that i''m writing this, i realised i could have edited it out in paint or smth, but oh well) hope this helps the picture in your mind. :D Chapter 216: Buried Agglomerate
Our world is fragile. It is a difficult idea to conceptualise, but it is true. The world we walk and live is beholden to the overwhelming forces beyond our control. Titans can obliterate cliffs with a few steps. Anatla can take the minds of an entire advanced race and revert them to primal beasts. We reside on land susceptible to the whims of incomprehensible beings, only surviving because those existences do not move with frequency. The Titan Alps has always been believed to be beyond such weakness. It was a place of danger, and yet it held solidarity across the continent. Wherever one went, it was always visible, always looming. Those Alps were the spines of the world. They were what held the land together despite the Titans¡¯ and other disasters¡¯ ¡ª such as the Void Fog ¡ª continual eradication. But the Titan Alps have fallen. The long mountain range may not have disappeared from the sky, but the collapse along its length and the recessed heights are evidence of its failing strength. Something forever thought impossible. If the Alps are what hold our world together, then we truly are approaching the end. Armageddon is soon, if it hasn¡¯t already arrived, and yet my elders move with the sluggishness of those who don¡¯t realise how fast time is passing. As I stride through the dark, empty path between glass pillars, I gaze up at the sliver of light that breaches our otherwise buried Agglomerate. It is midday, and the ¨¢ed city is cold. Something considered impossible only a year ago. A mountain of stone blankets our home from the Eternal Inferno. The small light of its fire that reaches us through the southern crack is barely enough to illuminate the space. Anything beyond is too much. No longer can the glass pillars amplify the heat and focus it down. I kick at the gravel obscuring the glass under my feet. The bright glow beneath is gone. Months without heat has extinguished the forge in the deepest recesses of our mountain. It¡¯s the emptiness that permeates the Agglomerate that truly makes this place feel alien. The place was evacuated immediately following the Titan Alps¡¯ collapse, but even so many months afterword, no tribes return. Without light and heat, why would they? It all combines to create a rather eerie atmosphere. One that I can¡¯t wait to be rid of. I know too little about what is going on around me. Armageddon, Anatla, the Titan Alps and their namesake; all these gears move around us, but nobody can decipher what the machine is doing. We could stay here ¡ª little creatures sitting in the contraption, unaware of our surroundings ¡ª until we get crushed between the teeth of cogs. Or we can act. We can figure out the purpose of the machine and find an escape before it all falls apart. With beings like Titans and Monolith Anatla involved, I can¡¯t imagine fixing Armageddon, but if there¡¯s a way to live on, I want to find it. I wanted to head out immediately in my search ¡ª not that I had any idea where I should start ¡ª but I promised the grand elders to introduce them to Tore, and then those I know in the pact nations. Such a promise was fine¡­ when I made it, but who would have thought my elders would take months to prepare for their trip? ¡­ I really should have known better. At most, I¡¯d been prepared to wait a month. I didn¡¯t like it, but if the world was going to break within that time, then there was little we could do, anyway. Though somehow, the old cinders held me back almost six months. With so many well over five centuries old, they have quite the arsenal of delays and excuses available to them. But this time¡­ this time I¡¯m leaving whether they join or not. ¡°Please tell me you lot are ready,¡± I shout as I enter the chamber. ¡°If not, then you can find someone else to introduce you.¡± Before me are half a dozen grand elders, each sitting on a rug with a pile of glass tomes before them. This small group of elders are those who shall join me back east. Well, they are supposed to, but by the way none of them respond to my call, it looks like I¡¯ll be going alone. I give them the benefit of a minute to forget their tasks before I leave. While waiting, I glance along the walls. This chamber is a library of sorts. Unlike the kind in New Vetus, this library holds no paper books or scrolls. As with many of the objects through the Agglomerate, each of our old texts is scribed to glass and slotted into groves along the walls. We¡¯re pretty low beneath the surface here. Near what would have been the limit of my heat had the Agglomerate remained warm.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Each of my elders is busy rewriting the words and diagrams from the old tomes to ¡ª the more prone to damage ¡ª paper books. They are pretty much done now, but I know I can¡¯t give them any space. If I do, they¡¯ll find some other pointless endeavour to follow and delay us another month. When my minute has passed and not so much as a single elder seems to notice my presence, I toss my hands up in the air with resignation. ¡°Well, alright then. I¡¯ll see you all in New Vetus.¡± I wave at them as I leave the chamber before speaking under my breath. ¡°If you ever leave the wasteland.¡± ¡°Ah. Wait, Solvei.¡± Yalun¡¯s voice follows me through the glass tunnel, but I don¡¯t stop for her. ¡°We¡¯ll only be a little longer. I want to make sure we have every little map and detail prepared for when we have to travel beyond the sands.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve said that a thousand times already,¡± I call back without stopping. Our voices echo easily through the tunnels of the Agglomerate. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if those outside could hear us. ¡°Besides, what¡¯s there to prepare for? You can all handle a little rain, and I can assure you there aren¡¯t many that can compete with your strength.¡± Not unless they take on Tore himself. As I reach a few floors above them, showing no hesitance in my steps, I finally spot Yalun give in through the glass. She murmurs something indecipherable to the other grand elders in the chamber and rises to her feet. A smirk fights its way over my mouth as Elder Ignatia and ?uri follow, but I hide it from those below. The other three grand elders remain seated, showing no sign of joining. Well, that¡¯s fine. They can stay here and waste their time writing as long as they want, but I¡¯m leaving. I stride away, not willing to wait for my elders ¡ª lest they take it as an invitation to waste more time ¡ª but slow enough they can catch up. While treading toward the only route to the outside, I lazily swing my spear. The relic weapon inherited from my mum has grown familiar within the grasp of my flames as of late. Its touch, a constant. While waiting, I¡¯ve not spent my time idle. Mostly, I was filling in as an eagle, travelling between tribes and sharing the news that would have taken years to spread otherwise. As an ¨¢ed of high binding ¡ª higher than ever before seen, if I may be so humble ¡ª that also has an unreasonable capacity, I¡¯m in almost the perfect position to be a messenger. I can fly longer and faster than any other eagle, and while Yalun might be decent in her own right, she manages the eagles; it is impossible for her to leave the Agglomerate and still organise them. Beyond being essentially a messenger-bird, all my time has gone into continuing the self-improvement Kiko had me doing before I infiltrated the Anatla¡¯s island. I may not have the challenge of the Titan Alps beasts to challenge, but I can still practice while moving. Now, with my binding beyond the threshold, my body is less restricted in flight. I can swing my spear around as easy as if I were grounded. With only the slightest deformation of my arm, the spear spins without restraint. Like the spinning blade of a centzon¡¯s contraption. If I were a normal creature ¡ª or even a normal ¨¢ed ¡ª this would be impossible. Nobody can twist their hands this many times without letting go of the blade as they change their grip. But such wasted motions are pointless to me. The fire my hand devolved into is just as solid as the rest of my body as it carries the weapon through the air in rapid twisting arcs. I¡¯ve fallen into the habit of practising my spear in this way whenever I¡¯m bored. The shaft spins through my torso, disturbing the fire of my body, but not slowing down in the slightest. A flourish impossible for anyone but myself. Even months after having reached this state, it still feels unreal. I can disperse my head into a thousand different flickers, and still remain aware. Something that would have easily disrupted my consciousness before. The strangest thing though, is the effect micro-blasts have on my body. In my old, albanic-esque default form, those miniature explosions through my legs or arms could amplify my strength and speed to levels far beyond standard. Now, with both my inner flame and body being one and the same, there is so much potential. I¡¯ve been able to implement it into my spearmanship, but I know there¡¯s plenty more I can accomplish with time. ¡°Solvei.¡± Yalun¡¯s voice carries between the glass pillars as my elders finally catch up to me. ¡°You know we need to be prepared. I¡¯m sorry we¡¯re taking a little longer than expected, but nobody¡¯s been beyond the wasteland and survived for a millennium.¡± ¡°A little longer?¡± I laugh. ¡°We could have been there and back three times over by now.¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯re ready now. Not much more we can prepare anyway,¡± ?uri says. ¡°I would have liked more time to survey the new geography of our wasteland and wait until many grand elders finish their tasks so we could have a stronger reserves force, but we have all necessities at least.¡± I eye ?uri as the trio joins me. ¡°You¡¯re not actually preparing for war, are you? Between the four of us ¡ª and Kiko, when we group with him ¡ª I don¡¯t think we would have much of a problem in terms of threats.¡± ?uri did propose a war against Henosis, but that was simply a negotiation tactic to encourage us to open our borders, right? ¡°No, we aren¡¯t. For now, at least.¡± ¡°For now?¡± I echo. ¡°I would like to talk with these nations that you are on friendly terms with before considering how we shall respond to the atrocities against our tribes,¡± ?uri says, completely serious. I¡¯m not sure how to take that declaration. It¡¯s not like I like the Empire at all, but a lot of people die in war. I¡¯ve seen firsthand how many the fire of an ¨¢ed can kill of the susceptible flesh races. If there are multiple of me, just how high will the death toll rise? Far from the indifference I had to the act of slaughter at the time, I can no longer treat a battle against the unenhanced the same way. Me and mine are still first and foremost in my mind, but if I were to look over some stranger I might have once killed without hesitance, I would see the possibility of them being friends of my friends and how that could hurt them. As I hurt Leal. Of course, that won¡¯t stop me if it were any of my friends being threatened. But with the strength I now wield, I can avoid massacres and murders while still protecting those close to me and mine. The sun feels nice as we walk out under the clear sky. Finally, we¡¯re travelling to the eastern nations. Finally, I can begin my search for what is going on in our world. Chapter 217: Quarry
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Chapter 218: The Envoy
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Chapter 219: Following Old Paths
Raetamen is nothing like I remember. The small mining town that was my first introduction to the culture of the of New Vetus sits abandoned. The high-ceiling stone buildings are untouched. No different than they were years ago. But not a single ursu remains to give it the same life it had when I was here last. The mine, empty of any coal it once had, is not nearly as sad as the forgotten saloon. The largest building in the town was a substitution for a continae, but now its open front reveals nothing but long discarded chairs, tables and mugs. Sand has reclaimed its supremacy through the building, leaving the once clean stone floor covered. While the rest of our delegation claims a few buildings to rest, I wander around the back of the saloon to the open patch of ground I once used to offer my family their funeral pyre. No sign remains of the fire, but I hardly expected any after so long. Across from me is the oven once used to cook for their bratchina. Two hatch doors lay on the ground, torn from their hinges. Deep scratch marks embed the stone where they were removed. Must have left food scraps inside when they departed. I walk toward the oven. The very sight of it incites twisting in my chest. It is nothing more than a dome of rock, but the memories it digs up are unpleasant. My feet carry me down the stairs into the oven¡¯s furnace. This isn¡¯t the prison I spent so long, but its purpose is the same. I don¡¯t even realise what I¡¯m doing until the walls glow white. My flames burn through the cramped space, igniting all remnant coal. Fire spreads first through each crack, then through the walls themselves. Not limited to the furnace, my flames quickly spread into the oven above. In no time, the furnace and oven melt around me. That which once held me now burns up without so much as a breath of effort. As the ceiling caves in on me, I disperse. For a few moments, I allow myself to exist without a body. I¡¯m just the inferno burning away this patch of stone in the middle of an abandoned town. I incinerate the furnace until nothing but a pit remains. ¡°You enjoying yourself?¡± Kiko¡¯s voice snaps me back to the outside world. Kiko is the only one that approaches me, but I know everyone else can feel my actions. Wiping this abandoned oven from existence was an impulsive decision, yet I am not ashamed of doing so. I gather my flames and reform before Kiko. The pit behind me smoulders with molten rock. ¡°Just putting some old memories behind me,¡± I say as I walk back to the saloon. Really, it¡¯s better I got that out of my system now, rather than when I¡¯m in the middle of an ursu city where it may disrupt our diplomatic efforts. They¡¯ve abandoned this town, so they can¡¯t complain about me removing a single oven. I mean, this is the wasteland after all; it¡¯s technically our territory, not theirs. The ¨¢ed and ursu share a border, but unlike any of the countries to the east or north, they remain uncontested. Between our hesitance to approach any area prone to water, and the ursu being unable to live without water, we simply don¡¯t have reason to move into other¡¯s territory. This coal mine of theirs may push that balance somewhat, but it is so close to New Vetus that no ¨¢ed would have found this deposit. ¡°You know,¡± I say to Kiko, who walks in step. ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but I really thought they¡¯d still be here.¡± With the war, they probably left this place the moment resources dried up. I simply didn¡¯t think about that when I lead my elders here. Considering its small size, I figured it¡¯d be the best place to start. With only a few dozen ursu, any conflict that might come about from our sudden appearance would be minimised. We could have one of the ursu send for a guide and make sure there are no issues when we arrive in New Vetus proper. ¡°It¡¯s not a problem. We¡¯ll just continue until we reach the next city.¡± Kiko says. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to go ahead?¡± I¡¯ve considered it, but as beneficial as it would be to give Tore a heads-up, I don¡¯t want to travel too far from the group. For one, I don¡¯t know how much I trust them not to ruin things should they come across an ursu without me there. More importantly, the desert is vast; with how fast my elders move, I might lose them. Well, now that we have a rail to follow, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem, yet I can¡¯t help but be nervous about leaving them. It¡¯s not my safety ¡ª or even theirs ¡ª that I¡¯m worried about. No, I think it might be a lingering concern from when I lost my tribe. I mean, Elder Cyrus and Enya are still around, but I missed them in my search. Who''s to say it won¡¯t happen again? It¡¯ll be nothing more than a temporary inconvenience, but one that I can¡¯t remove from my mind.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. So here I am, not giving New Vetus the proper forewarning they deserve. ¡°I¡¯ll go ahead when we¡¯re closer to Fisross,¡± I say. Once we¡¯re within a day¡¯s run away, I will. Leal knew we planned to hold a diplomatic meeting eventually, so she probably sent the message up the chain. That was a year ago, but hopefully Tore is still waiting. Our current lack of communication is a problem. If nothing else, this envoy should fix that. I¡¯d like if we can allow the ursu a rail network deep into our lands, but that might be a bit of a stretch for my elders. Our eagles hosting a communication network between our two races would be the very minimum to satisfy me. ¡°Hopefully, they¡¯ve resettled the city. I can¡¯t remember which was the next nearest beyond Fisross,¡± I say. If Leal¡¯s original home remains empty too, I¡¯ll be disappointed. I chose to take us this way because it was far more direct, and doesn¡¯t take my elders along the coast. It¡¯s disappointing that I couldn¡¯t go directly to Leal, but I can go looking for her once the meeting is in full swing. Everyone¡¯s settling in for the night now, so I should, too. We didn¡¯t bring any wagons with us ¡ª the speed we¡¯ve been running would have made them too unwieldy ¡ª so everything we bring with us is in our packs. Of course, that means some stuff that we would typically lug around the wasteland, like our gers or sleep rugs, get left behind. It meant none of us got decent rest since we left. But now, we have walls to block out the sand. ??? Fisross is, thankfully, not abandoned. The city is a shadow of what it once was, but there are ursu living here. Not nearly as many, which leaves the outer edges closer to the desert as much a ghost town as Raetamen. The most blatant difference I can see from my vantage high in the air is the death of the park and all greenery it once held. All that remains in the open patch of land is the thick, dried trunks of trees. Neither grass nor foliage is anywhere to be seen. I guess they didn¡¯t have any water mages to spare to keep the plants here alive during the war. Though, while not as many as it once held, there are enough ursu walking around that I¡¯m sure they are attempting to revive the city. Do they just not have the resources to send mages here yet, or are they struggling to reignite life because of these sands? If I remember right, Leal said the park was originally created by a nature mage, one of the rarer paths amongst New Vetus mages. Water mages might not be enough to give the city the same colourful lustre that once held me enraptured. As I descend toward the continae, I spot the ursu I¡¯m here to meet. She walks through the city flanked by a few others. Veering off my path, I fly down to her. To not startle her, I land a dozen metres ahead and shift with as brief a flare of fire as possible. ¡°Ah, so they¡¯re here?¡± she asks as she stops before me. I¡¯m surprised at her lack of reaction. When I did the same a few days ago, she couldn¡¯t stop staring¡­ much like the two younger ursu behind her are doing right now. Says a lot about her professionalism. I doubt it¡¯s a common sight to see an animal become a person so quickly. Especially for those not familiar with the ¨¢ed eagles. I nod at her question. ¡°They¡¯re just beyond the furthest building.¡± ¡°Then we best not leave them waiting.¡± She turns to one of her assistants. ¡°Go notify the cooks that our guests are here.¡± As she is the host, she takes the lead toward where my elders wait. A few days ago, I came ahead to inform them that we intended to pass through. I¡¯d only expected the leader of Fisross to allow us to ride their train to Flehullen while sending a message ahead to Tore, but she insisted on welcoming us properly. ¡°You know you didn¡¯t need to bring the bratchina forward,¡± I say. ¡°My elders would have been absolutely fine to wait a day. Actually, they¡¯ll be fine even if you give them nothing.¡± Considering the bratchina is the only day a week most ursu eat, bringing it forward must interrupt many of their schedules. ¡°Nonsense,¡± she says. ¡°This is the first time our quiet neighbours are ever making themselves known. I would be shamed if I didn¡¯t do the best to welcome them. Besides, we would host the same celebration had it just been you that arrived.¡± I cast her an odd look. Why would they? It¡¯s not like I represent my entire race. Noticing my confused expression, she flashes a wry grin. ¡°I guess you haven¡¯t been around recently,¡± she muses. ¡°Your name has spread. Few don¡¯t know the ¨¢ed that freed both the great hero, Tore, and our nation itself. They speak of your efforts at the gulag the same way as Tore¡¯s old legends.¡± That does explain the wide-eyed stares I receive from many of the residents who saw my transformation. I thought it was because of the change itself, but maybe they could piece together who I am from that little show. Of course, there are some curious glances as we walk through the streets, but that¡¯s likely more because their regional leader is walking around with someone only just above half her height rather than their recognising me. I¡¯m no longer as small as I was when I first arrived here, but beside the immense bodies of the ursu, I¡¯m still tiny. As we walk out into the unpaved desert, I¡¯m happy to see I¡¯m not the only one. Not a single one of my elders reach her chest. Then again, she is three metres tall. ¡°Welcome to Fisross. Welcome to New Vetus.¡± She steps forward with open arms. ¡°Forgive us for our lacking preparations. I would have preferred to greet the representatives of our western friends with the proper dignity of an official parade, but I hope a suitable feast will compensate.¡± ?uri steps forward. ¡°There is no need for any forgiveness. Our arrival is sudden, but we appreciate the generous welcome.¡± I breathe out a sigh of relief at the civil interaction. Maybe it was the way ?uri spoke of war in the past with apathy, but I¡¯d forgotten that he got along rather well with Gr¨ªmr and Leal when they were with us. As the two sides step forward to shake hands, I can¡¯t help but hope that all diplomacy going forward stays this cooperative. Why do I get the feeling it won¡¯t? Chapter 220: Flehullen
We depart the train to far greater fanfare than Fisross. Rowdy crowds surround the train-station of Flehullen, cordoned off by a bunch of serious looking ursu in uniforms. My elders, to my immense amusement, cannot stop twisting their heads at all there is to see. They may be old, but they truly haven¡¯t experienced the world. A welcoming procession waits on the platform, but both mine and each of my elders¡¯ sight falls on the giant of an ursu that stands well above any of the other ¡ª already huge ¡ª citizens of New Vetus. Tore captures the attention of all. ?uri, Iri and Ildri, the first of us off the train, freeze. It is only momentary, and they quickly hide their reaction, but it is clear they never believed my words of Tore¡¯s strength until they could see him themselves. I jump down the step of the train and push past the grand elders. Without any of the hesitation of my elders, I stride up to the big ursu with a grin on my face. It is a pleasant surprise to note my natural form clears his knees now. Restrained as ever, the only hint I get that he¡¯s happy to see me is the very slight upward tilt of the fur at the corner of his mouth, but that is enough for me. I lift my arm and offer my hand, the entire upper length twisting in flame until it¡¯s the same size as his and no less solid. He raises an eye at me, but I only grin wider when he takes my hand and his brow raises further. I knew he would notice the difference. ¡°It¡¯s great to see you again, Tore,¡± I say. ¡°I can tell the ursu people have been doing extremely well under your care.¡± The big man simply inclines his head in thanks before kneeling down. ¡°Welcome back,¡± he says, his heavy voice weighing on each that hears it. I notice his eyes turn to the ¨¢ed behind me, so I spin on my feet to introduce them. ¡°These are my elders. The first six are Grand Elder ?uri, Ildri, Iri, Ignatia, Yalun and Kikotawan.¡± I point to each of them as say their names. Surprisingly, Tore¡¯s eyes lock on Kiko¡¯s immediately. Has he noticed his strength? Not even ?uri could. Well, I¡¯m sure ?uri suspects, but I doubt he knows for sure. ¡°They are each a part of the ¨¢ed¡¯s leadership and shall operate as our representatives.¡± Tore¡¯s gaze falls on the last two that leave the train carriage, before turning to me in question. Considering this is a diplomatic introduction, I was only going to introduce those that will be part of the talks, but I have no reason to hold back if he¡¯s asking. ¡°This is Cyrus and Enya. They are both elders from my tribe.¡± Tore nods to the two before returning his attention to the other six. I should probably introduce the giant as well, right? ¡°Everyone, this is Chairman Tore.¡± ¡°Tsar,¡± Tore says, reaching his arm forward to shake ?uri. ¡°I refuse the title ¡®Chairman¡¯.¡± ¡°Oh, sorry,¡± I say quietly before raising my voice again and correcting myself. ¡°Tsar Tore.¡± ¡°It¡¯s great to meet you, Tsar Tore. Solvei has spoken many good things.¡± ?uri grasps the ursu¡¯s hand, looking much like a child grasping an adult¡¯s finger. ¡°I look forward to speaking with you and experiencing the intriguing culture of your kind.¡± Once all the greetings are done with, another ursu steps forward. An ursu with rather familiar scars and features. ¡°Now, shall we show the ¨¢ed to their residence? I¡¯m sure they¡¯d appreciate some rest after their journey.¡± ¡°Gerben?¡± The war veteran flashes a gruff grin at me. ¡°Long time, no see, Solvei. Leal can¡¯t wait to see you. Wouldn¡¯t stop complaining about how long you were taking.¡± ¡°What are you doing here?¡± I ask as he leads us to a procession of open-roofed cars obviously adapted from the original Henosis designs. ¡°I thought you were living down near the southern coast.¡± ¡°I was,¡± he says as we walk past the fenced-off crowd. ¡°But they wanted someone who was at least familiar with you to be a part of organising. I swear, they might have even had my daughter do it if she wasn¡¯t so¡­ obsessed with her research.¡± It¡¯s a strange sight to watch all the tall ursu leaning over each other to see our procession. My elders are no different. As they stride toward the road, they cannot resist their wandering gazes from following the taller, wider beings that surround us. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s the size of the Vetusians that enraptures their attention so much as the sheer number of them. There are hundreds. Maybe over a thousand. I¡¯ve seen armies with plenty more during war, but so many standing around the exit of the railway station as they are, even I think it¡¯s crowded. My elders can only stare at the numbers. Numbers they know aren¡¯t even a portion of their population that have come simply out of curiosity. We had a few thousand ¨¢ed at the Agglomerate during the conference, but that was almost half our tribes. Even if these ursu were all residents of this city ¡ª and they aren¡¯t, not even close ¡ª they still have dozens of cities just like this across their nation.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. That¡¯s honestly what is most terrifying about these eastern nations. They have the sheer manpower to overwhelm us unless we can keep it to a fight between elites. Their millions compared to our thousands. Of course, I don¡¯t believe Tore has a reason to attack us, but my elders don¡¯t have my confidence and trust. To them, these giants could become our enemies now that we¡¯re reaching out. I can¡¯t stop them from thinking that way, but I hope they don¡¯t let those concerns get in the way of cooperation between our races. ¡°So where is Leal, anyway?¡± I ask as Gerben welcomes me, along with Yalun and ?uri into the leading car. He climbs into the driver''s seat before answering my question. ¡°She¡¯s waiting ahead. We¡¯re heading to the building that Tore is gifting you. The entire structure is yours to do with as you wish; an embassy.¡± ¡°For Solvei, specifically?¡± ?uri asks from the back seat. Seats that are surprisingly the right size compared to the disproportionately large one of the driver''s seat. I guess they¡¯ve got these set aside for visits from pact nation diplomats¡­ and, I guess, us. ¡°No. For all ¨¢ed.¡± Gerben starts the engine, the unfamiliar rumble shaking my seat. ¡°Though it¡¯s likely only because of Solvei that the building you got is so large. Most other nations get a plot of land to build on, but not much more.¡± Behind us, the rest of our group climb upon cars of their own. As soon as we¡¯re all in, the convoy rolls. Tore stands at the railway station, waving us off as a few more vehicles pull in ahead of us. Enhanced warrior ursu and their large blades stick out the open roof, unmissable to any eye. Our convoy rolls through the stone-paved streets at a running pace. Nothing slow, but restrained enough to allow my elders to gawk at the city. The excess use of rare metals to decorate the fronts of their stone buildings is something I notice both Yalun¡¯s and ?uri¡¯s eyes return to. Guards along the street cordoning off the public for our procession hold rifles, and I can¡¯t help but be impressed by how far they¡¯ve progressed in only so long. The weapons look nothing like the adapted Henosis equivalents. No longer do they look like flimsy sticks with unguarded triggers. No, now they look heavy. Twice the length of the previous mass production model, their new weapon is like a cannon in their massive arms. A design only an ursu can wield. I know it¡¯s only the unenhanced that don¡¯t carry swords like the warriors in the car before us, but those weapons look like they could do some damage. It¡¯s surprising they¡¯re putting so much effort into our guard detail. With Tore around, nobody would be stupid enough to try anything. Well, not unless they were prepared for an instant death. That¡¯s not even considering the quality of the ¨¢ed force being protected. I¡¯d feel bad for any fool that would attempt our assassination. ¡­Nah. Not really. Soon, we roll up before our embassy. Thankfully, to no assassination attempt or any other hitch during the brief trip. Gerben wasn¡¯t lying when he said the building was big. Almost a dozen storeys tall ¡ª ursu storeys ¡ª the structure sits on the inner ring touching the open space surrounding the continae. The Continae. Their central point of governance. The same one that collapsed while Tore and I removed the council. The Continae is currently being rebuilt, but it is already half of its previous height. Despite not yet being finished, it rises nearly as high as the buildings surrounding it. I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s fast or slow for building construction, but building something so tall is still incredibly impressive, and I know my elders think the same. Our Agglomerate may be more impressive than anything the ursu can build, but it¡¯s not like any ¨¢ed could recreate such a mountain of glass. Not unless Elder Ember descended to bestow us another. Gerben parks out the front of our building decorated with an array of blue and silver metals that flicker in the afternoon light. As a couple of ursu open the doors for us, I send a glance back to my elders. Hopefully, they don¡¯t attempt to eat any of it. When I see them clamber out of the vehicles, none hold the look of hunger for the outer walls I expect. Oh, so it¡¯s only me? As we are led in through the large front double-doors, I twist my head around, but I can¡¯t find what I¡¯m looking for. ¡°Where¡¯s Leal?¡± I ask Gerben as the other ¨¢ed are led to their own rooms. ¡°Well, we felt it better to not welcome you with a water mage¡­ or at least what most know as a water mage.¡± I tilt my head, unsure what he means. ¡°She¡¯s waiting in your room.¡± Excited to see her after a full year since we parted, I wave to my elders before following Gerben up the stairs ahead of the rest. The stairways themselves are wide and fancy, with a long chandelier that hangs from the far ceiling and reaches all the way down to the second floor. An inscription running through the suspended crystals light the stairway despite them being in the centre of the building. We pass the third floor, then the fourth and fifth. Every time we pass another hall, I think we¡¯ve reached where my room is, but we just keep going up. Eventually, the stairs end and there¡¯s no hallway. Only a large set of doors. I glance up at Gerben, tilting my head, but only the edges of his lips lift as he steps forward and pushes open the doors. ¡°Of course, the penthouse is yours.¡± I step into the lavish space. My ¡®room¡¯ isn¡¯t so much a room as it is a mansion. Just looking through the open area, I can see this penthouse wraps around the stairway and takes up the full top floor. It¡¯s incredibly impressive and considering it¡¯s made for an ursu, it¡¯s almost comparable to the Cano manor I once infiltrated, but isn¡¯t this too much? ¡°Is this fine?¡± I ask. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not like I¡¯ll be staying in Flehullen forever.¡± ¡°Absolutely. This was once a commissar¡¯s private accommodation. It was either gift it as a show of our nation¡¯s appreciation, or find some other purpose. The building was just sitting here unused, so it was perfect when we heard you were preparing a delegation.¡± Huh. Well, in that case, I don¡¯t mind if I do. ¡°Solvei?¡± a voice reaches me before a head pokes in from the other side of the penthouse entry lounge, where balcony doors are wide open. An ursu shoots across the room in moments, barely enough time for me to register that her glowing markings aren¡¯t the same bluish translucent glow they once were. She slams into me and pulls me into a hug, my feet left dangling. ¡°Been a while, Leal,¡± I say. I struggle in her arms for a second longer, before an idea comes to mind and a smirk crosses my face. Before she can react, I¡¯m a swarm of flames and her hands grasp nothing. As she stumbles, I take shape again, only this time I¡¯m the one nearly double her size. I have to duck my head to avoid the ceiling, but as my arms take form, I wrap them around Leal and lift her up. Damn is she heavy, but it¡¯s worth it to see her reaction. Chapter 221: Too Good
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Chapter 222: Floodplains
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Chapter 223: Mrtyu? Coast
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Chapter 224: Ship Graveyard
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Chapter 225: The Warring Isles
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Chapter 226: Experimental
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Chapter 227: PoV - Sylvan
Skipari Sylvan stared wide-eyed as another longship exploded in flames. The vessel joined the dozen other around his own that were nothing more than floating bonfires. A round of cannons fired. Sylvan turned in time to watch an axe flung through the air race past the volley of cannonballs. The thrower, Jarl Shanarr herself, screamed a war-cry to the skies, shaking her second axe above her head in challenge. Apparently unsatisfied with her throw, she snatched another from the grip of a crewman beside her and pierced it through the air, sending a visible shockwave as it left her grip, and dangerously teetering her ship in the already rocky waters. A flash of white and the Jarl¡¯s own longship incinerated. The heat was so intense that it burnt the mucus off his body in an instant; his mucous membranes stung as they increased production to replace the lost slickness over his skin. The larger longship didn¡¯t burn like the other vessels around him. No, that white flame had burnt through the tar and wood so quickly, nothing but crew remained. As the hundred or so warriors fell into the waters, he could no longer see the Jarl amongst them. His gaze trailed up the tendril of yellow flame that cut across the sky like a bolt of lightning, yet didn¡¯t share its brevity. It burned where there wasn¡¯t anything to burn. Spread far enough it almost outshone the sun. Scorched where ocean reigned supreme. And yet, it had nothing on the monster at its centre. A large white bird of flame. Not large enough to be considered a Titan, but that¡¯s what his mind kept telling him. Despite its immense altitude, the white flames stung at his skin. It pierced deep through him and heated every tiny fibre of his being. Skipari Sylvan knew this creature was beyond him. Beyond any he knew. But the deep, instinctual desire to fight wouldn¡¯t leave. It was a natural part of any heqet; he needed to throw his axe, or angle a cannon to damage the wondrous creature. It was powerful, but that made him want to bring it down all the more. He jerked his mind out of the dangerous trance, accidentally jerking the rudder along with it. His longship veered to the right, and the sudden change sent the crew stumbling. They were quick to regain their steps. Only a couple sent him death-glares, but he paid them no mind. Sylvan was not the steersman of this crew, but while his actual steersman readied his axe to leap into battle, the job fell on him. ¡°port-side cannons, take aim. Oarsmen, steady the ship. We¡¯ll be taking down a big one today, boys.¡± The steersman¡¯s grin mirrored the crew¡¯s as he gave the orders. No warrior amongst them unwilling to battle the creature that had already killed a dozen other longships of better make and crew quality. The men cheered and roared to the skies, mimicking Jarl Shanarr¡¯s final moments. Skipari Sylvan abandoned his post. Both strong, protuberant hands wrapped around the leather bound handles of his axes, and yanked them out of the wood they rested. He stepped past the oarsmen. Some eyed him suspiciously, but most were too busy angling their cannons higher than the braces allowed. ¡°Get those damn cannons loaded if you don¡¯t want to be tossed overboard,¡± the steersman grouched as he ordered around the crew. He raised his axe to the sky, pointing his men toward the living inferno above. In a moment, he would give the order to fire. Sylvan swung his left arm. The sharp edge of his axe sliced through the rubbery skin of his steersman before stopping in the fat of his gut. Sylvan¡¯s steersman grunted and turn turned to him with an understandable rage in his eye reflecting the inferno above. ¡°Sylvan,¡± he sneered. ¡°You bastard.¡± The steersman twisted, digging the axe in deeper as he raised his own, ready to retaliate, but the skipari¡¯s other weapon was already crashing down from above. The blade sliced between bulging eyes and torrents of reflective oil-like blood showered over the nearest of heqet; Sylvan included. The steersman¡¯s axe crashed into the side of the skipari¡¯s mouth, right above his shoulder. It cut away the side of his upper lip, revealing thousands of pinprick-sized teeth. This longship¡¯s former steersman slumped to the tar-soaked wood before him. Dead. Sylvan yanked his weapons from the corpse of their former leader and glared around the crew that stared at him, daring any of them to challenge him. They all tightened their fingers around their axes, yet none attacked. He holstered a single axe in a loop of his belt and kicked the dead steersman on his back. The dark blood seeped into the wood, mixing with the tar to give it a distinct reflective sheen of dim colours under the bright light. With his free hand, Sylvan hefted the corpse overboard, to rest beneath the waves as each of his fathers had done before him.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. With the heqet¡¯s funeral unceremoniously completed, Sylvan lifted the man¡¯s weapons. Finding their quality superior to his own, he wasted no time tossing his aside and fitting his holsters to the axes. Three of the crew fought for his discarded weapons, but he paid them no mind. He¡¯d had his suspicions of the steersman¡¯s weakness for a while, but he hadn¡¯t thought the heqet to be as weak as he¡¯d turned out to be. Sylvan had left himself open when he took advantage of the man¡¯s surprise, but the swing hadn¡¯t come close to fracturing his jaw. If he¡¯d known the steersman lacked enhancement to this degree, he wouldn¡¯t have let himself be hit at all. Sylvan dabbed at the wound on the side of his head. A good portion of upper-lip was gone completely. It would scar nicely. The fight that inflicted it could have been more worthy, but it was a mark he would take. While Sylvan had questions regarding how such a man ever got the position in the first place, the man was dead, so questions about his life no longer mattered. The moment his family knew he was gone, they would discard him from their minds; there was no reason he should do any different. Sylvan was no longer a simple skipari; he was now the steersman. He¡¯d experienced many battles to reach this point, and it was worth it. The way each of the hundred crewman glanced his way, but held back their hostility in deferment to his strength was intoxicating. He was glad he¡¯d joined the larger of longships; a steersman was a steersman regardless of vessel size, but there was a clear hierarchy of those who commanded more warriors. He¡¯d been analysing the previous leader for weaknesses ever since he joined the crew, but the man was reluctant to show his strength against any but the weakest of enemies. To go against the instinct so strongly showed cunning, and that the man knew his crew were searching for chinks to strike at. Of course, his final act showed he wasn¡¯t intelligent enough. It showed that he couldn¡¯t think through when to fight off the instinct, and when to embrace it. An effect of those who had been trained to ignore it, rather than learning it for themselves. That had been enough for Sylvan. It was clear to him that no longship that showed aggression to the burning deity above was spared the blaze. Any attack would be suicide. He had witnessed the creature destroy one of the northern navy¡¯s floating castles in a mere wave of its wing; only the great Jarls could achieve similar. Despite knowing that, it was hard even for Sylvan to hold himself back from ordering the crew to fire. The desire to battle the mighty beast was overwhelming, but he would never have lived this long if he hadn¡¯t run when necessary. He would never reach those heights he desired if he was dead. ¡°Stow the cannons!¡± he shouted to the crew. Every warrior aboard flinched at the order. All sent murderous glares his way, and he held a hand on the steel head of his axe, not yet pulling it from his hip, but ready should they attack. The most important thing he needed to remember now that he had taken the position as steersman was to keep a permanent air of superiority. If he ever appeared weak, they would swarm him. He trusted his strength, but amongst his crew were warriors of considerable strength that he could not ignore. After a few seconds of high tension, the men backed down and did as they were told. The only thing that could supersede a heqet¡¯s ingrained instinct for violence was the command of one of their own, as long as they believed them sufficiently superior. Sylvan ¡ª Steersman Sylvan ¡ª returned to the aft and grasped the rudder that angled off the starboard side. ¡°Oarsmen, full stroke,¡± he called to his men once they stowed the cannons. Commanding them felt like second nature. This was obviously his destiny. He steered them away from the dozens of burning longships behind him, wanting to be as far from the disaster as he could. His Jarl was already dead; the battle against Jarl Anoures¡¯ forces would have to wait. There was always another battle tomorrow; his men will forget this retreat when they have some more of their kin to sink their axes. Sylvan watched each of his crew closely. His position on ship aft allowed him to keep them all in sight. Many glared and spat insults under their breaths, but they rowed regardless. This was the most dangerous time for any prospective steersman; the first day after taking command for themselves, the crew was likely to act. They might believe the new steersman¡¯s victory was chance, and try for themselves. Many would strike at him, but he just needed to cut them down to cement his position in their minds. It helped that this crew already knew his strength from the last half dozen battles and raids he¡¯d fought with them. He still didn¡¯t trust them. It was because of that distrust that when each of their eyes rose to something behind him, he didn¡¯t turn. Even when he felt heat sting at the back of his head, drying out his mucus again, he held his head straight. Only when the blaze spread over his head did he glance up. The deity of white flame flared out before hitting the deck before him. The inferno convulsed and shrunk down on itself. Despite the white flame, it did not burn. He felt an unsettling heat within each part of his body, but his skin did not scorch, nor did his longship ignite. The blaze converged before him, revealing two of the northern races. If he knew their appearance correctly, they were both young women, barely out of childhood. The large one was an ursu; he¡¯d raided their kind plenty of times in his life, but they never truly kept anything important near the coast. And treading deep into land was a rarity by his kind; unless they knew it was worth it. Heqet didn¡¯t like the lack of the ocean mistresses¡¯ sway beneath their feet, and the ursu were too difficult an opponent on land. The smaller one, though, was what held his attention. While appearing as an albanic, she was clearly anything but. Her arms and legs swirled in flame before solidifying into the more standard skin tone of the albanic. Her body wasn¡¯t on fire, but fire itself. Even when the flames fully hid themselves as the race of his northern enemies, those eyes still held the same power he¡¯d seen burn the sky. A firestorm of white sparks spun around wide irises like that of an eagle. Ah. This was no normal person. This was the deity of fire. He was suddenly very glad for his mutiny. Far more so than the feeling of finally being steersman inflicted within him. If she wasn¡¯t here to kill him, then maybe this was an opportunity? Sylvan couldn¡¯t suppress his grin. Chapter 228: Heqet
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Chapter 229: Recruitment
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Chapter 230: Isle Village
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Chapter 231: Switching
As I make a snack of the heqet¡¯s axe, I step forward and raise my voice. ¡°I¡¯m already angry at how you treat your own. Attack me again, and you won¡¯t get off so easily.¡± Immediately, he attacks with his remaining axe. Really, I should have expected it. Threats are pointless against these people; I really need to figure out a better way to calm them down without having everything devolve into a fight. The axe vaporises, joining its pair and leaving the heqet with nothing but the burnt stump of a handle. My flames spread around him immediately, reflexively going to burn the creature, but I pull back before the man suffers more than some first-degree burns. Leal is watching. Plus, we¡¯re not here to fight and kill. Sparing the warrior ¡ª even if he¡¯s obviously abusing his power over these people ¡ª is a good way to show we aren¡¯t here to invade. I burn through the air in the heqet¡¯s lungs. He gasps, trying to suck in any amount to breathe, but I burn that too. The beings have a rather large set compared to the other intelligent races; likely to allow longer time underwater, or help their buoyancy. But I¡¯m burning away that which is already in his lungs, so however long he might hold his breath is irrelevant; he passes out after only a dozen seconds of struggle. The other heqet warrior that was watching over the field workers comes charging in with a war-cry, completely ignoring what I just did to his friend. Friend? Is it possible for heqet to be friends? Even Sylvan isn¡¯t particularly sociable to any of his crew, and he¡¯s the only one with some level of civility about him. Before he can reach me, a gust of wind from Leal trips him. The heqet clumsily dives headfirst into the tar-pit, Leal only slightly adjusting his course away from solid ground. I flash her a grin, but she avoids eye contact, scratching at the back of an ear. Feigning ignorance? Who is she trying to fool? I shake my head as I turn back to the gathering of villagers who¡¯ve now stopped to watch on now that their two task-masters are indisposed. They don¡¯t attack, which is far better of a start than we¡¯ve experienced with other heqet so far. Of course, their eyes follow us with a ravenous desire that isn¡¯t particularly welcoming, but it¡¯s better than immediate hostility. The tar soaked warrior clambers out of the pit, but his gaze is as determined as before. I steal his breath, too. Despite the fallen heqet that had obviously been treating these people horribly, none spare the warriors more than a glance. ¡°Is there anyone here willing to talk?¡± I ask. ¡°I would like someone to tell the warriors headed this way that we mean the village no harm, and are simply here to ask some questions.¡± They look at me as if I¡¯ve grown a second head. I guess that is a strange thing to say after I¡¯ve just knocked out two of their warriors. None answer. Instead, they appear as if waiting for something. It becomes pretty clear what, when the sound of battle shouts rises from the village. Down the hill, each ship has docked again, and along with those manning the cannons, they all rush between the cabins with their axes raised. There¡¯s roughly thirty heqet charging to meet us. Amongst them, a couple take longer strides than the rest, but most appear of minimal enhancement. ¡°There¡¯s no need for us to fight,¡± Leal says. I can hear a slight tone of pleading in her voice, but I¡¯m not sure if I imagine it, as when I look over, her face is steadfast. ¡°Trust me, this will not end well.¡± Again, the heqet say nothing. In fact, most of them appear to get excited at her words. Is that what they want? Do they want to be free of the warriors here? Was Sylvan not lying about the tyranny of Jarl Anoures? Would killing the charging army be the better option? I don¡¯t know, but with Leal here, I want to avoid as much death as possible. Against people this weak, it¡¯s not even a challenge. Before they can come close enough to throw their axes and put my ursu friend in danger, I dash forward. Leal blasts my back with a gust that only helps me spread. My body splits, diffusing through their entire retinue. They swing their weapons, but it does nothing to me. My first action is to incinerate and consume each of their axes, leaving them unarmed. Heqet start dropping. Unable to breathe, nor fight off the blaze that clings to them ¡ª yet doesn¡¯t burn ¡ª one by one, they suffocate. This really is an effective way to fight. It¡¯s not as quick as burning their bodies in an instant, but they get to keep their lives. The few with at least some enhancement realise what is happening, and attempt to stop the flames from breaching their lungs by clamping shut their mouths and plugging their nostril holes with those bulbous fingertips of theirs. It looks uncomfortable.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. They push forward, trying to reach beyond my fire to where Leal stands. They don¡¯t attack me. Maybe they think she¡¯s the one causing this fire? I mean, those glowing markings of hers aren¡¯t subtle, and anyone who isn¡¯t familiar with the patterns or colour of each discipline likely couldn¡¯t tell the difference between a fire mage and a wind one. So unlike the warriors of the first Warring Isles battle I joined, these heqet do not know I¡¯m a living being. Not exactly unexpected. ¨¢ed are rare enough here. There¡¯s no way they could have heard of those that have surpassed the binding threshold. Even Sylvan thinks I¡¯m some sort of deity. Unfortunately for the warriors within my grasp, I¡¯m a lot more dangerous than some fire mage. I incinerate their fingers, flow into their lungs and burn through all the air within. Soon, the enhanced warriors fall to the earth alongside their brethren. I choose to take away their fingers, because I figure burning through their lips would be a lot more disfiguring. Turning back, I find Leal with amber hyle flowing through her markings. Earth moulds to her will, climbing up the limbs of the two warrior heqet. A flash of the Anatla¡¯s energy returns the markings to that of pressure and air. She stimulates the unconscious heqet¡¯s airways, forcing their lungs to breathe. As the pair gasp back to life ¡ª wheezing and struggling against their restraints ¡ª Leal shifts back to the earthen hyle, the momentary spread of energy returning to her shoulder. She strides toward me as I take shape among the many unconscious heqet, intent on replicating the effect on them. She¡¯s becoming increasingly proficient at alternating between professions. I¡¯m glad it doesn¡¯t appear to influence her memories as much as it once did ¡ª her innovative markings counteracting those changes ¡ª but the fact that it is a direct link to the Anatla still concerns me. I cannot deny its usefulness, but we still know so little about the Anatla and what they are capable of. Behind Leal, the expressions of the villagers grow excited. At the downfall of their oppressors, vicious grins spread across many of their moist faces. I step forward, ready to address them, but those faces turn away from the downed warriors and land on us. They are excited, but there is not a grain of gratitude within their eyes. I rush forward, my form spreading slightly at the speed at which I put myself between them and Leal. The first leaps forward without restraint. A mad glint to the heqet¡¯s eye. My spear spins in my flames, slamming the blunt side down on the creature¡¯s head with a crack, driving him to the ground. ¡°Wha¡ª¡± Leal gasps, turning around as a wave of bodies now rush us down from the other side. She¡¯s quick to react, and clear blue markings shine across her arms. A wave of water gushes from her arms, slamming into the leaping heqet and halting their momentum. As the wave continues forth, flooding the earth beneath the crowd¡¯s feet, her body flashes again, returning to an amber glow as divots of earth open beneath each heqet¡¯s feet. The combination of water lapping at their lower bodies and lack of proper footing has them all stuck in moments. Different amber markings ignite across her body and the hard earth seems to lose its integrity, mixing easily with the water until the land is as difficult to move through as the tar-pit itself. After a few moments flailing, the villager heqet pull their legs from the divots and wade through the mud. Their wide chests, along with semi-webbed hands and feet, allow them to move through the wet earth with less difficulty than I¡¯d expect from non-enhanced. ¡°Solvei.¡± Leal¡¯s voice is calm. Disciplined. Her dislike of fighting and death often makes me forget, but she spent quite some time in the army on battlefields. ¡°Can you?¡± she asks as I watch mud slowly climb up each of the villagers. There¡¯s no need for elaboration. I spread my flames over the surface, baking the earth dry and hardening it around the unfortunate unenhanced. No need to even knock these heqet out to limit their movement. They lack the strength to break the hardened clay around them. Despite their apparent weakness, the confines hardly stop their struggles and mad glares our way. Leal turns away to restrain and resuscitate the warriors behind us. She shakes her head as she does. Is that disappointment? Frustration? I know I¡¯m feeling as such. These people were being mistreated. I doubt that assumption is wrong; they had glared with hatred at the warriors. So why attack their saviours? ¡°Are you willing to speak now?¡± I ask, as I step up beside a villager with greying skin. Something I assume means the heqet is ageing. With the mucus coating their skin, I¡¯ve yet to see one with wrinkles like albanics. The man ¡ª what I think is a man ¡ª spits. My white flames flare. The large globule of saliva incinerates immediately, gone before it can come near. I¡¯m hardly about to let such a disgusting thing hit me. ¡°We¡¯re not here to fight you.¡± I try to get through to them, but none show any sign of backing down. Despite their defenceless circumstances. ¡°You should,¡± one snarls. ¡°If you don¡¯t kill us, we¡¯ll slaughter you and your friend as soon as your back is turned.¡± His grin returns as he sneers the threat. I narrow my eyes, but suppress my urge to burn him. My feet slide across the earth as I approach the speaker, not so much taking steps as my flames lick across the flash-cooked surface. This heqet, while not showing a very friendly front, actually speaks. Compared to most others of his kind, that is far beyond the level of communication I¡¯m usually given. Maybe we can work something out. He is stuck in a rather awkward position, with his torso mostly above the hardened mud, but both hands and legs stuck completely. As I stop before him, he tries to tilt his eyes up to see me, but without a neck, he¡¯s stuck looking at my feet and the butt of my spear. ¡°You could hack at me for as long as you¡¯d like,¡± I say, crouching to meet his eye. ¡°But nothing you do will hurt me.¡± My eyes burn with a bright white as I layer my voice with my presence. The effort strikes him still. It strikes them all still. And yet he holds his glare through the instinctual locking of his body. I hoped that, against the weakest heqet, giving them a display of how completely outmatched they are would get them to back down. But this just proves that even those not part of the warriors are as unaffected by threats as them. ¡°Will you at least answer some questions if I promise to fight you after?¡± More vaporising spittle is all the answer I receive. Yeah, should¡¯ve known. Chapter 232: Thralldom
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Chapter 233: Weight
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Chapter 234: Expansion
Turns out, the heqet¡¯s main defence against the highly enhanced elite of the rest of the world in addition to their relentless aggression and apparent endless numbers, is their rapid construction times. In the few weeks we¡¯ve been at war with Jarl Anoures¡¯ forces, they¡¯ve simply flooded the seas with those incredibly flammable ships and just enough warriors to man them. If I wasn¡¯t working with a heqet who followed by the same rules, there is no chance I could have held the same number of islands from the innumerable fleets. With hundreds of villages now under our protection, they build ships which constantly reinforce our strength. As we''ve passed through the Isles, there are hundreds of villages we''ve liberated from their oppressors. Of those, every one is capable of building ships. Each day that passes, the production of longships accelerates. The influx is constantly being added to by the many villages now under Sylvan¡¯s control. Today alone, we¡¯ve received dozens more than yesterday. I cast my gaze over the fleet that follows Sylvan¡¯s ship, and I can easily admit that the sight surprises me. A thousand ships. So many have arrived in the past week that it is unrecognisable. And that is not the full breadth of Sylvan''s fleets; there are plenty more stationed all along the seas he and his men now control. We are growing rapidly, more than I thought possible. With the way the heqet leap back into battle despite having lost ships and countless lives, it is finally becoming clear how they are able to oppose nations like Henosis, who can throw elite soldiers into their battles; they simply throw numbers at them. The heqet may never be able to kill the strongest of the other nations, but neither can those nations control the isles with the seafaring race¡¯s capability to spread. The only way a nation could control the Warring Isles, is to kill them all. Even for the Inner Circle, that would be difficult. The Warring Isles are vast, and not even Sylvan ¡ª a heqet who¡¯s spent his whole life here ¡ª knows just how many isles there are. At best, they could hope to sweep the islands for villages and indiscriminately wipe them from existence, but they could never catch them all; not when new villages would pop into existence where old ones were destroyed. An invader could only succeed if their common soldiers had the same numbers as the heqet themselves. Considering the construction time on each longship is only a day, I struggle to see many competing. I¡¯d been surprised when I¡¯d learnt the typical build time for one of those vessels. When I¡¯d seen the ship construction yard in the first village, my assumption was a more standard build time. A few months Leal said was common for that size vessel. But no. Some combination between the type of trees they use and the natural resource of tar on their islands allows them to build rapidly. Even Leal was impressed when we learnt that. But the fact that they¡¯ve learnt to build their ships that fast says a lot about how often they are destroyed. The heqet almost expect their ships to be sacrificed in battle. I¡¯ve seen it in the past weeks. Many warriors seem almost unsure what to do with themselves now that they¡¯ve retained the same ship and crew far longer than normal. Still, because of the rapidly declining need for new ships, I''ve taken to completely annihilating our enemies¡¯. Allowing them to remain will only slow us down. Not like Sylvan needs the ships with how fast new ones are joining us. The heqet who fall into the ocean as their longships incinerate are either captured by the ships following behind, or they must swim to the nearest village. I¡¯d been worried about the warriors coming together to cause issues for the former thralls, but Sylvan says there¡¯s nothing to worry about. Any time I think about how these warriors of Jarl Anoures treat their own kind, I almost don¡¯t hesitate to burn them along with their ships, and it is only my promise to Leal that I hold back. My respect for the heqet drops every day I fight them. They send their own people into thralldom everywhere. Not a single village we¡¯ve come across has had a free person besides the warriors that stand above the others like overlords. It seems that every one of Jarl Anoures''s relies on slavery to keep her war efforts active. How she''s able to make it work, I have no idea, but she does, and I loathe her for it. How could someone do such a thing? How could someone strip the freedom from their own kind for the sake of war? Because that''s all it¡¯s for; every village is designed to further their war efforts. They construct cannons. They construct warships. They construct axes. But still, the only production for anything other than war is the food that they use to feed their men. And even that is simply a requirement to keep their warriors alive long enough so they can kill each other in the seas. I wish this wasn''t the way their race was, but the more I see, the more I feel they are determined to slaughter one another for no better reason than the slaughter itself. Jarl Anoures could offer her charges a better life; one where their families and children aren''t destined to sink into the ocean depths every day; one where they could imitate the northern countries and actually thrive. But no, they seem almost happy to throw their lives away in the name of their Jarl, and subject everyone else to thralldom. I do not like Sylvan. but at least he does not send his people into slavery. With him in charge, even if there are people sent into constant wars, at least those back home aren''t forced into one of the worst possible lives. Maybe there''s a better way. Maybe there''s a way that the heqet can surpass this lust for slaughter. But I do not know.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. All I know is that when I see those countless enslaved villagers, it angers me something fierce. If I ever meet this Jarl, she will not survive long. In the weeks that we have travelled, the landscape of the isles has changed tremendously. Back near the Mrtyu? Coast, the isles were closer to hills or small mountains rising from the ocean. Waters touched sandy beaches that grew to forests and grassy plains littered with tar pits. Each of those tar pits followed rather straight lines, as if seeping to the surface from some underground river. The further south we travel, the further from the mainland, the islands grow visibly less welcoming. Instead of the beaches and calm waters, we now have to face fjords and rough waves. Tall, jagged cliffs spike into the ocean, promising death to any crew that doesn¡¯t treat the land with the respect it deserves. The heqet, thankfully, are more than experienced with navigating some of the narrow straits between cliffs, despite the size of the fleet. It¡¯s interesting to see how the villages are forced to adapt to these steep sea-facing walls. Each isle we pass, the buildings grow more intricate. They are still Heqet at the end of the day, so they want access to the ocean, yet the land itself makes that difficult. I didn''t believe the Hecate were capable of much technology, but as we''ve travelled, the villages have become more complex. Dug in the side of massive cliff faces, they build their homes. Tall pulley systems of rope lacquered with that tar of theirs hefts ships from the steep heights to the rough oceans below. They build the vessels above, where the forests reign and tar pits are frequent, then lower them down to the oceans. In a way, it is an impressive defence system, but it still makes no difference when we have thousands of ships and my own ability to fly up and melt them all. These villages built into the side or the top of cliffs are impressive. The technology they¡¯ve created to survive out on these harsh waters is a sign that their race can achieve greater heights than the endless war they dedicate themselves to. The heqet seem determined to have everyone believe they are incapable of doing anything but wage war; even themselves. Sylvan''s a perfect example that they could become more passive, and yet they still choose not to. This journey has already taken weeks longer than I¡¯d hoped, and we have not yet found what we came for. We agreed to help Sylvan take these seas so that the people would not have to remain under Jarl Anoures¡¯ thralldom. By giving the heqet steersman this much command, I¡¯ve essentially made him the ruler of the area. I¡¯m still not sure how I feel about that, but he has not been ordering the enslavement of the villages we¡¯ve captured, so it is still by far the superior option. If he decides to expand his power into Jarl Anoures¡¯ territory after we¡¯ve found the source of the anatla¡¯s beam and have left, then I¡¯m too bothered. The concentration of Jarl Anoures¡¯ forces are far more converged around the source of the beam than I originally considered. With each new island we take, and each battle we come out victorious, the enemy fleets only ever grow stronger. I know we¡¯re trying to carve out some territory so Sylvan can fight off the Jarl¡¯s forces, but we¡¯re also supposed to be heading toward Leal and my destination. With how much more dense the enemy navy grows, I¡¯m almost certain that we are moving closer towards Anoures¡¯ central command. If the Anatla was near the core of the Jarl¡¯s forces, then why would Sylvan have ever accepted taking us with his mere dozen ships. I know the heqet are bloodthirsty, but he is intelligent. He knows that wouldn¡¯t have been possible. Not with the tens of thousands of ships I¡¯ve sunk already. This is clearly Anoures'' major force. So what has happened? Has she started to hunt us down? Has she realised how much we''re taking her islands away from her? And is she fighting back? Or is this actually the core of her domain and we''re moving further and further into it? If it¡¯s the latter, Sylvan has some answering to do. ¡°Sylvan,¡± I call as I approach from between the row of benches that might have been in use if I wasn¡¯t powering the sails far beyond the need for rowing. The heqet snaps his head my way, turning from grouching at one of the men who spilled rope oil on the deck an hour ago. ¡°What?¡± he demands, clearly agitated. ¡°How much longer must we continue this?¡± I ask. ¡°This feels endless. Every day the fighting seems to grow stronger. Every day I find myself burning more ships. We have captured enough islands for you to oppose Anoures¡¯ tyranny. When will we reach the source of the beam, as you promised?¡± ¡°I''m not here to help you take on the entire Warring Isles, Sylvan,¡± I continue before he can respond. ¡°I do not want to stay for long.¡± ¡°Don''t worry so much,¡± Sylvan says, suppressing a scowl as the scolded heqet rushes to the other side of the deck while he can. ¡°We''re close now, trust me. There''s only one thing I want to do before we finally head to the source of the beam. We must capture the Jarlship fort. If we take the fort, it will solidify our hold on the region. Before Jarl Anoures attempts to retake the isles, she¡¯ll want to retake the Tenner Isle.¡± I¡¯m not certain how a single fort can be so important when everyone can sail around it, but Sylvan must have a reason to consider it so important. ¡°Until that fort is in our hands, it''ll be too easy for Jarl Anoures to recapture everything we''ve already taken,¡± he says. ¡°But, if you are determined to head to the origin, then I will take you.¡± I want to grumble under my breath. Of course I want to make sure that the people that we''ve already saved aren''t immediately sent back into slavery, but it''s still so convoluted. How many islands have we captured? How many villages have we saved? It is still nothing but a small blip on the entire Warring Isles. If we want to, at the current rate we''re going, it would take years to free everyone under Jarl Anoures¡¯ control. I hope that this initial launching pad we''ve given Sylvan is enough for him to continue. How much I want to clear out Anoures and anyone else who would promote thralldom. This isn¡¯t my nation, and I probably shouldn¡¯t interfere with other¡¯s politics, but this is slavery. It is impossible to ignore something that goes against my very being. But I cannot stay. I need to follow my original task. We need to determine whatever we can find from the source of the Anatla and return before my people continue to the pact nations. I do not want to miss my elders leaving. I am close friends with Tore, but I am not as well connected in the many northern nations. Sure I know some people there like Remus and Bunny who are well known themselves, but I hardly have the sway there I do in New Vetus. What¡¯s more, the people there are struggling. They were struggling before I left, and I can only imagine the difficulties they¡¯ve faced after the Titan Alps collapsed. Will they be welcoming to an outsider race when the last time one arrived, they experienced the worst war in history? ¡°Then, lets take this fort quickly.¡± If any of our battles have taught me anything, it¡¯s that the heqet are no threat to me. I doubt this siege will be any different. Chapter 235: Fjord
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Chapter 236: Fort Path
Leaving a burning fleet behind me, I fly to the docks at the neck of the fjord, where the cliffs funnel into a river. With hard stone meeting my feet as they form, I cast my gaze up the path cut from the side of the cliff. Unlike the insets for the cannons, this is wide. Wide enough for a dozen men to march toward the steadfast fortress. Once again, I grumble at the task Sylvan gave me. It would be so much more simple to fly over the duo of gate defences that stand in my way. Even more so for the last stretch beyond the gates. The path that leads up the side of the cliff doesn¡¯t reach the full way to the top. It only takes one to the base of the fortress, where it sits above a waterfall that rushes from a hole in the earth. An elevator pulley system made of wood and rope sits in place ready to carry goods or heqet between the fort and the docks. Sylvan and his crew should already be up there, striking at their command. As much as I want to rush up there, my presence won¡¯t help; of that, Sylvan is right. Regardless, I need to remove these walls so the heqet warriors following in my trail can reach the fort without much difficulty. As I walk up to the first break in the ledge trail, I can feel a dozen heqet within the stone structure around the heavy metal gate. A couple throw axes as I approach, but I simply ignore them as they disintegrate upon contact. The rest remain hidden from sight; their heat signatures only barely seeping through the rock that separates us. ¡°Open the gate and let us pass. Your army is gone and those above should already be dealt with.¡± As futile as I know it will be, I give them the opportunity to stand down now. Hidden in stone as they are, it¡¯ll be hard to assure their survival while still destroying the gate and disabling their ability to fight. I¡¯m not bothering to hide my flames right now. Not when that annoying heqet hiding in the stone to my right continues to throw axes through his small window. The trio of heqet in the wider opening above the gate respond to my demands by shoving a large pot into view. It sits there a moment, innocuously, before it tips and the contents spill over me. Hot, boiling oil ignites the moment it touches me and my fire spreads into the cauldron before exploding. The metal shatters, and sharp shrapnel cleaves the nearest two heqet in halves. The other is burnt immediately as flaming oil flows through the interior of the gatehouse. This might have been a good defence against any other invader, as the oil that still flows around me slicks the smooth stone of the rampart and would melt through any heqet as it rolls down the path to the docks. But, the problem for them is, I am no heqet. I¡¯m an ¨¢ed. I greedily burn through the oil ¡ª which, unfortunately, comes nowhere near the quality of the centzons¡¯ version ¡ª and in moments, the gate is melting. I could stop the spread of fire if I wanted, but I don¡¯t. They could already see I was aflame. It¡¯s their own stupidity that got them in this situation. Why shouldn¡¯t I let them feel the consequences? I feel the burning oil flow down a set of stairs and reach the other heqet, but before the boiling liquid can melt through their legs, a barrel explodes and blasts open the side of the gate that connects to the cliff, killing each of them instantly. Huh, maybe I should grab some of the explosive powder they use for their cannons. They seem to have stockpiles of it here¡­ Nah, it¡¯ll unlikely to be all that much more beneficial than the explosive force I can already create. All that training my elders have made me do with the microbursts for running has surprisingly had a noticeable effect on my offensive output. Sure, it¡¯s easy enough to burn anything in my way, but directing all that power into an instantaneous explosion is incredibly effective. Strangely enough, while micro explosions within my flames are incredibly efficient, macro blasts beyond the scope of my body are the complete opposite. I could blow up a ship or one of these gates, but the energy expenditure would be immense compared to just melting the thing. Of course, that is far less of a problem for me than most other ¨¢ed. A creak preludes a crash as the stone arch over the gate collapses. I hop over the rubble as half of it tumbles down the rampart, while the rest slides over the cliff edge down into the river below. Well, that¡¯s one obstacle done. Before I move on, I spread my flames through the wreckage and consume the bodies of the fools that tried to burn an ¨¢ed. Regardless of whether they¡¯re slavers or idiots, they still deserve to be returned to the cycle.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. The oil, while flammable, wasn''t any more so than the tar they use for their ships. I''d imagine they didn''t use tar itself because it wouldn¡¯t flow down the pathway as this oil has. For anyone besides myself, the walkway is now unusable. Well, at least until my flames eat through it all. Despite it not being as great as the centzon¡¯s unbeatable nectar, it is still oil and I take my time to burn through it all to relish in the taste. A few hundred metres up the path, the next heqet are not as stupid. They¡¯ve seen what happened to the first gate, and rather than waiting until I was close and dying to their own oil, they shove the entire cauldron out the opening of their barricade. A bunch of hot oil splashes out as the metal pot thuds to the ground. More spills and coats the path as the cauldron rolls down toward me like a boulder. My body breaks apart into swathes of fire as the pot passes through me. The flame tongues lap at the oil spilling from its side and with a sudden explosion, the cauldron alters its course, flinging itself out into the fjord, where it crashes into the waves and taking all the remaining oil with it. I look on in dismay. If only I stopped it instead. Another crash returns my attention up the path where the heqet are dumping all the cannons¡¯ explosive powder barrels out from the gate. Maybe they¡¯re hoping they¡¯ll roll like the cauldron did, but besides one that bounces off the side of the cliff, most just break upon hitting the stone path, leaving the explosive dust to pile up. How nice of them to treat me after I lost their last gift. Instead of walking the distance, I ignite the trail of oil that dribbles down the path and shoot right into the explosive powder. The explosion shakes the air, but does little to damage the gate. I reform amongst the flames that burn in the small crater and step toward the gate. ¡°I¡¯ll say the same thing I said to those down below.¡± I stand before the snarling heqet as they glare at me from above. ¡°Open the gate. Your fort is already lost.¡± Of course, their response is aggression. At the first thrown axe, I incinerate the metal gate, along with any of the stonework it was attached to. Not bothering with any of the heqet still in the structure, I step through the burning remains. Three steps is all I can take before a battle roar of one of those heqet reaches me. Sighing, I turn to the one who climbs from an opening in the gatehouse along with a decent quantity of smoke. I didn¡¯t try to burn them, but it looks like something dangerous still caught fire. He shouts a challenge, then rushes me with both axes held wide. His blades slice through my body with nary any difficulty. Obviously not expecting such a lack of resistance, the heqet loses his balance and ploughs through me. I didn¡¯t try to scorch his body when he attempted to strike me, so under normal circumstances, he would be fine. Unfortunately for him, he threw himself over the side of the cliff. I shake my head in contempt as I reform before striding to the fortress once more. A wide wooden platform sits suspended over the side of the cliff, swaying in the breeze. All that holds the platform in place is a series of ropes that rise to a crane at the top of the massive wall looming above me. Some ropes attach to the bottom stop the wooden platform swaying too much, but it still looks like they could have made a much less dangerous elevator up to their fort if they put as much effort into it as they did the stone wall itself. As I look at the rickety thing, I reconsider the compliments I¡¯d thought toward the heqet at the construction of this fortress. With the pommel of my spear, I poke at the platform, expecting it to collapse the instant a slight weight touches it. It sways a little, but it doesn¡¯t break. Turning my attention upward, where the flat stone wall stretches to the sky, I consider if I¡¯d be able to get away with flying up and changing back without the heqet noticing my flames. Sylvan said I shouldn¡¯t let them see my flames, so risking the brief time it would take to transition from my solid bird form to standard might be too much. Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m afraid of heights. If the elevator breaks, I¡¯ll simply fly off. I step onto the unstable timber and immediately realise that there¡¯s no heqet around to pull on the pulley system to carry me up. Not an issue. I spread my flames around the ropes and pull them into motion. The ground beneath me lurches into motion, and I slowly rise. Gazing out over the fjord, the battle is finally ending. Whatever vessels remain of Jarl Anoures¡¯ fleet is swiftly sunk by the Sylvan¡¯s heqet, or remains burning under my flames. As I watch the floating pillars of fire, I consider simply burning through the rest. None hold my will, as I find it far too uncomfortable being this far from separate instances of myself, but it might be best to clean up now that we¡¯re all done. I feel a thermal presence peek out over the fort above, and peer up to spot Sylvan there, looking down at me. Raising a hand, I wave at him, but he steps away from the ledge. It is Sylvan. I shouldn¡¯t have expected any sort of greeting. While he¡¯s the only one of his kind that is sociable, he¡¯s still a heqet. An explosion roars above. My platform wobbles, but I hold on. Before I can even begin to wonder what is going on, the fortress fractures. A massive crack meanders down the front of the surface, and as I watch the damage spread, the ropes fall slack and my platform drops beneath me. Another explosion rips through the wall, and the fort shatters. Boulders fly, but that isn¡¯t a problem. The water is. A fountain gushes through the broken fortress and floods the air above me. Before I can comprehend what is happening, a river soars over my head and cuts off any escape as the platform falls to the water below. Despite how far I¡¯ve grown, this much water can still be deadly, but that¡¯s not what I care about right now. Sylvan, that bastard, just tried to kill me. Chapter 237: Jarlship
In an instant, water is everywhere. The flood crashes over me with a power rivalling a chthonic cube ¡ª though thankfully nothing near the Anatla boosted power of the island ¡ª leaving me stranded beneath a raging river as it closes in on me. With the waterfall already below, and this new gushing river breaking through the ruin of the fortress, there¡¯s no room to escape, and even less time to think. My body puffs out of existence. Extinguishing before the stream can slow enough to engulf me. There is a loud crash as an immense volume of water smashing against the stone of the gorge¡¯s cliff walls before tearing through the river far below. I reform in the burning wreckage of the gates where my flames still linger and rocket into the air before the flood sweeps the collapsed structures out from beneath me. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t extract all my flames from the smouldering remnants before the water slammed through them, but the sting of my fire dying is manageable. Rising a hundred metres over the intense rapids, I watch as massive slabs of stone carry out from what remains of the fort wall and crash into the cliffs in the flow. A particularly large section of wall ¡ª around a quarter of the slab ¡ª finally topples into the river below, which sends the water whipping at the cliffs even so high as the ledge over the valley. A spray pelts me, but my white flame disperses it before it can inflict any noticeable pain. Something catches my eye from the broken remains of the fortress. A single massive ship of similar design to other heqet longships peeks out over the ledge of rushing water. I watch as hundreds of metres of tar-soaked timber tumbles over the new waterfall. It breaks through the flooded river below, and considering how hard it hit, I expect it to have shattered beneath the waves. But to my surprise, it breaches the surface and is carried down the canyon by the rapids. They slam the ship that is far larger than any other heqet vessel I¡¯ve yet seen into the cliffs, leaving gouges through the tar coating. It is unavoidable; the ship is nearly as wide as the river itself, and the flow of water is too chaotic to keep it moving without taking damage. Far below, the rush of water barrels into the fjord, and breaks up the wooden docks, carrying the timber to float out amongst the vessels of Sylvan¡¯s army. The very fleet which is also caught in the sudden current and dragged out to sea. My anger is forgotten for a moment as I watch the absurd sight of the massive wooden ship sail out into the fjord to join its smaller kindred. Flying higher, I discover that beyond what remains of the fortress wall, there are a series of tall cranes and extensive scaffolding stretching from the cliff-side ledges. Jarlship Fort, Sylvan called it. I guess that was literal; a place their largest ships ¡ª the Jarlships ¡ª are built. My flames roil at the thought of Sylvan. This was obviously an attempt on my life. Why else would he confirm I was coming right before the fort broke? He planned this from the beginning. There was no need for me to take the low route up to the fort. That talk of not flying up was just a ploy to get me right into a position where he believed he could kill me. As I fly over the fortress, it becomes all the more clear. Thousands of heqet lie dead. Only the odd few with weapons near their corpses, the others all equally malnourished. These were thralls; he had no need to kill them. Sylvan didn¡¯t even attempt to convince these heqet to stand down; he simply slaughtered them all. His attempt on my life might have very well worked if my connection to fire wasn¡¯t as strong. With white fire, it is possible I might have escaped, but the agony would have been unbearable. As I fly over piles of dead, my flames boil with rage. There¡¯s no heqet manning any of the structures that remain, so Sylvan never intended to capture this place as some sort of decisive defence against Jarl Anoures. My gaze returns to the fjord below. He simply wanted that Jarlship. And my death. Sylvan was the only one I¡¯d considered reasonable. He was the only of his kind I somewhat trusted, as he could hold off the hate and aggression, but that was clearly misplaced. He truly isn¡¯t different from the rest of the Heqet. I want to chase after him, and burn the air from the bastard¡¯s lungs, but Leal comes first. I need to find her. All I can do is hope that he didn¡¯t try a similar attempt on her. She is strong, but I don¡¯t know what Sylvan might have tried. The sound of shouts carry over the fortress, and immediately I¡¯m spearing through the air over the side of the cliff. Soon enough, Leal comes into sight. She¡¯s surrounded by near fifty heqet. It¡¯s impossible to tell if they¡¯re Sylvan¡¯s men or defenders of the fort, but right now, that doesn¡¯t matter; they¡¯re all enemies. I rush down, ready to burn them all, but before I can reach, a dozen the heqet collapse. Their upper torsos decouple from their legs, spilling a disgusting mess of guts along the earth. Some unlucky enough to survive scream shouts of rage as they scrape weakly at the earth. At least those whose arms didn¡¯t fall off as well.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. More heqet dash forwards, and this time I see what happens. A stream, as thin as a pinprick, sweeps across the axe-wielding warriors and passes through flesh as if it were nothing but air. These heqet join their fellows in a pile of gore surrounding Leal. I¡¯ve seen those pressurised beams of water before, but never were they this powerful, this narrow¡­ this deadly. It goes entirely against Leal¡¯s method of fighting. Leal never designs markings with such deadly capabilities. Her markings shine, and her face is hardened. Leal glares at the offending heqet as if their lives mean nothing to her. She methodically cuts them apart as they rush toward her in a way so completely unlike herself. Finally, I snap out of my surprise and land next to her, burning away the last of her attackers so she doesn¡¯t have to. She spins on me, raising her glowing arms as if to spear me through. A gleam in her eye that promises death, and a hatred that doesn¡¯t fit. The moment she spots me, though, her demeanour flips completely. Rather than the hardened gaze with barely concealed anger, pure shock crosses her face. An expression of disbelief. In an instant, her arms drop and markings dim. Leal steps forward, hesitantly. ¡°Solvei? You¡¯re alive?¡± Leal says, before crashing upon me and pulling me into her tight embrace. What happened to her? What has Sylvan done to make her so unnaturally angry? ¡°Come now. You don¡¯t actually believe Sylvan could kill me, right?¡± I try to encourage her, but she just turns a confused gaze down on me. ¡°Sylvan? No¡­¡± she furrows her brows before sudden realisation seems to strike her. ¡°Oh¡­ Oh!¡± Leal¡¯s head raises, turning to the Ember Moon, but she jerks to a stop before her eyes can reach. She snaps back to meet my gaze and speaks with a mad glint of fury. ¡°Sylvan has to die.¡± The declaration, while I agree completely, is all the confirmation I need that this isn¡¯t Leal. Well, not the one I know. Her whole personality has shifted. I thought she said she¡¯d limited the mental changes to only that of different mage variation. This version of herself is still a water mage, but clearly far less pacifistic. I consider forcing her to glance toward the moon, but my roiling flames are hardly going to withhold the inferno Sylvan deserves, and I wouldn¡¯t want Leal to have to watch that. Not when this version of her seems so much more desensitised to death. If the only way Leal could handle killing her attackers was to switch out with an alternate her that was much better adapted to it, I don¡¯t want to bring her back right before I burn Sylvan¡¯s fleet. She¡¯ll be fine, I know, but the less she has to directly experience that which she hates, the better. I nod, and burst into a cloud of flames, wrapping up Leal in my grasp before taking to the skies. Leal starts, shocked by my apparent dispersal into flames. Around her eye, that same analytical lens of water forms and she stares wide eyed at my fire. I guess this version of Leal experienced my death before I reached the binding threshold? My flames shift into the form of a falcon hundreds of metres wide as my focus finally turns back on Sylvan. The bastard tried to kill me. He tried to kill Leal. In the next few minutes, he will wish he hadn¡¯t dared. Soon we''re over the cliff and looking upon the fjord. There, down amongst the fleet, is the Jarlship. That is, without doubt, where Sylvan is hiding. That is what I must burn. The massive vessel moves through the waters with surprising speed, hundreds of long oars peeking out from its hull, rowing with the combined strength of hundreds of heqet. With the added speed of the river at its back, it ploughs through the fleet of ships that fill the fjord, destroying any longship unfortunate enough to have failed to avoid its path. The smaller vessels crack and shatter, sinking beneath its hull without resistance, but their crews seem nonplussed. Heqet leap off, as if thrilled by the concept of riding the Jarlship, and clamber up the wooden hull. With my eyes imitating the impeccable sight of an eagle, I spot the target of my anger. Sylvan stands on the deck of the Jarlship, commanding a group of steersmen who man the rudder, while other heqet relay his orders to those under the main deck. Likely the groups of oarsmen. The heqet seem surprisingly pliable to his commands. Usually, they would do so grudgingly, making it clear they dislike having to follow them despite never opposing him. Is it the ship? Does it give him some form of respect amongst the others? Or is it simply because the outsiders ¡ª Leal and I ¡ª are gone? Without any reason to hold back, my wings spread wide. Flames lap at the edge of the cliff as my inferno unleashes. I dive over the waters, spearing towards the Jarlship and mind none of the heqet in my way. Ships catch fire; their tar soaked wood and sails igniting by my mere radiating heat as I pass overhead. Uncaring to limit myself for their safety, thousands of ships burn. The inferno roars with my anger, rumbling like thunder through the fjord. I notice, with no small amount of satisfaction, Sylvan tense at the sound. He, along with every other heqet in sight, turn to face their destruction. With rage churning through my flames, it bundles up within me until I have to let it out. A powerful screech escapes my flames befitting the titanic falcon shape, filled with my presence. The raging call enhances the roar of my flames, amplifying it to something these heqet will never forget. The quaking sound thrums across the ocean piercing all ships for kilometres, and spontaneously, fires ignite amongst every ship in sight. My eyes are for Sylvan alone. And I relish in the moment his eyes widen in terror as he is frozen in place beneath my overwhelming pressure. The fear is gone in a second, and he¡¯s moving earlier than he should be, but I know what I saw. His mouth snaps shut, and he croaks orders to his crew that are still coming out of shock themselves. He honestly believed that was enough to kill me. He honestly believed he could take me out when thousands of his kin showed nowhere near the capability. The skies burn. White flames spread further than ever, and the ocean bubbles as I tear towards the Jarlship. But, before I reach Sylvan¡¯s new vessel, I spot something on the horizon. It is only an instant after I spot it, to I hear the echo of a horn bellow. Another fleet. Ten thousand black masts rise over the water in the distance, sailing into the fjord and filling every free space over the waters. What¡¯s more, is another Jarl ship heads the fleet. Even from the height I fly, the horizon is blotted in the dark specks of their tar-coated ships. Jarl Anoures, if I had to guess. Her fleet far greater than even what Sylvan gathered with my help. Looks like I''m not the only one who wants Sylvan¡¯s head. Chapter 238: Firewood
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Chapter 239: Jarl
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Chapter 240: Drained
The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Announcement Hey everyone! Sorry, this isn''t a chapter, ahah. Today, Young Flame Book 1 launches on Amazon and Audible. This has been a long time coming, and I can only thank everyone for sticking with my story until now. Almost two years ago, I started writing this as a bit of a challenge to myself. To be honest, I didn''t even think I would make it to the end of the writathon challenge of 55k words, and yet here I am with 650k words written for that story, and 170k written for a second, with a book being published! I have enjoyed writing, or more specifically, telling this story more than I ever thought i would.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! If any of you already have Kindle Unlimited, or are simply interested in buying a copy of the ebook or audiobook, please leave a rating or review. I want to see Young Flame reach as many eyes as it can, and each review actually makes a difference. I greatly appreciate you all for joining me with Solvei''s journey. Your comments, reviews, and even the numbers from all you lurkers (:D) have contributed to helping keep me motivated to continue writing. I hope you look forward to the final few books before the end of the series! Links: Amazon | Audible Chapter 241: Alternate
The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Chapter 242: Origin Point ¡°Wow, the ocean sunrise sure looks glamorous up this high.¡± Two days have passed since the second Collapse, and somehow, I still haven¡¯t managed to shake Anoures. The Jarl slouches in the flames between my wings; an unwanted guest that refuses to leave. ¡°Do you even know the meaning of the word?¡± I ask, appropriately snarky. She leans back further, using me as a recliner. ¡°We''ve been together for days now, and you still think of me that way? Be a little malleable. After reaching one¡¯s centennial, even heqet learn to enjoy more things in life than war,¡± she says, before correcting herself. ¡°Well, some do¡­ A couple do.¡± The first thing we did after leaving the devastated fjord was return to the closest village Sylvan had captured. Thankfully, it had experienced almost none of the damage that had warped the landscape of the fort island. A couple walls had crumbled, but that was it. Infuriatingly, Jarl Anoures had been telling the truth. The village showed no signs of a liberated society. If anything, the living conditions of the thralls ¡ª which had once been Anoures¡¯ soldiers ¡ª were worse than previously. Evidence of assault and abuse from the former slaves upon the new ones was abundant. As Anoures is a slaver, I cannot help but dislike her, and it makes it so frustrating that I no longer have the grounds to judge her. I want to condemn her, but if the horrid crime is unavoidable within heqet¡¯s culture, then I can¡¯t. Ignoring my unwanted passenger and the bundle of frustration she incites, I find the damage brought about by this second Collapse is not consistent. There are places hit even worse than the fjord, but most of the land seems untouched. This should, hopefully, mean that not every city of the northern countries will have fallen to the quakes. Still, I can¡¯t imagine the pact nations got off easily, from this or the first. Besides that first village, we¡¯ve made no other stops. I know where I need to go now, and have flown without rest toward the source of the Anatlan beam. In a single day, we travelled the same distance we did with all our time with Sylvan. It truly makes me regret not ignoring the heqet entirely. If we¡¯d simply continued on, we could have been back in New Vetus already¡­ though I¡¯m now realising that even if the village heqet had the willingness to direct us, that wouldn¡¯t have been enough to find the source. For the last while, there hasn¡¯t been a single island. If I hadn¡¯t seen the beam myself, I would doubt we were heading the right way. ¡°Have there really been no heqet to come out this far?¡± Leal asks. Unlike myself, she seems to have no problem chatting away with the slaver. ¡°Oh, of course. They simply die before they get far.¡± Below, a shadow shifts beneath the waves. Something massive flits through the dark depths. Ever since the isles faded into ocean, the waters have grown dark. The relatively shallow seas between the islands deepen until it is impossible even for Leal ¡ª with her marking that enhances sight through water ¡ª to see the bottom. It¡¯s obvious why none of those heqet ever came back alive. Even flying as high over the waves as I am, I¡¯m nervous looking at the constant shift of shadows beneath us; I would hate to be stuck in a ship out here. We¡¯d seen the beam rise from far over the horizon, so we don¡¯t really know what we¡¯re looking for, only that it came from this way. We have no way of knowing if its origin is above water or not. I hope so; otherwise, we¡¯ll have to abandon this search entirely. I can¡¯t exactly swim, and I won¡¯t have Leal descend into the depths to face whatever monstrosities lurk down there. Had I not seen the beam myself, I never would have taken us out this far. The farther we fly, the farther we are from anywhere travelled. What lies beyond this southern ocean is unknown. Alien. It unnerves me what horrors might live beyond where people have been. The first sign that we''ve finally found our destination is the peak that rises over the horizon, followed soon by dozens of others of similar stature. At first I think they are mountains, but they approach far too quickly to be anything of such scale. As we fly closer, countless other silhouettes join them, all seemingly identical. It isn¡¯t until the sun rises at our backs and bathes the ocean in its light that their forms become distinct. Pyramids. Each rise a modest ten metres and placed in strange patterns near a kilometre from the next. As I fly over the first, I note the terrible state. Years of wear have rubbed the stone smooth, leaving it impossible to tell if it was originally intended to be so, or if it might have had some other shape. The bottom half is in a far worse state; the outer edges have collapsed from the waves eroding the structure¡¯s base.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. The pyramids themselves are nothing impressive, or even noteworthy. Simple stone mounds that have been beaten down by the ocean weather for who knows how long. No, it¡¯s what they are built upon that is eye-catching. The islands beneath the pyramids are mere millimetres above sea-level. Of course, that still means the waves of the ocean carry along the surface to lap at the base of the pyramids, but the height is consistent between each. A dozen metres out from the stone of the pyramids, the islands drop beneath the waves permanently. At another fifty, the land drops off in a sharp cliff. Each island isn¡¯t so much an island, but a pillar rising from the black depths of the ocean. The islands seem like nothing more than sand and stone, but could they be something greater? Like the vessels of the chthonic? The pyramids aren¡¯t anything more than a pile of rocks. I even pass my flames through one to see if anything is hidden within, but nope; nothing. Only the islands themselves seem important. And my interest is raised further when my flames find that besides the outer edges, they are ranked stone. Flying through this field of pyramids, their numbers only grow. Anywhere we look, the stone piles spread as far as the horizon. It¡¯s obvious we¡¯ve found the right place, but I¡¯m not sure what to make of it. ¡°They¡¯re nodes,¡± I hear Leal murmur. ¡°What?¡± I prompt her to speak her mind. ¡°The pyramids; they¡¯re positioned like the nodes of an inscription array,¡± she says. From our vantage point, it¡¯s obvious now that she points it out. The placement of the pyramids is in a similar enough arrangement as the nodes in some arrays I know. Of course, I don¡¯t know nearly enough to decipher what the inscription could be ¡ª especially because there are no lines to complete it ¡ª but the pattern is obvious. But¡­ I feel the pattern is more similar to my kind¡¯s etchings. The inscriptions of the other races so rarely repeat like this, after all. ¡°I don¡¯t know its purpose, but I think we can follow it. It repeats frequently enough that the core of the inscription is obvious,¡± Leal says. ¡°Head south.¡± I listen, shifting our flight left and follow the sea of pyramids. At first, nothing seems to change. The rock piles are identical to the rest we¡¯ve passed. Some have collapsed, and the rock swept into the depths, while most remain whole, if weathered. It isn¡¯t until the pyramids suddenly grow twice, then ten times as large, that Leal¡¯s guess is proven true. The waters grow still, no longer lapping at the base of each structure. While the depths between islands are just as dark as before, no shadows shift. I keep an eye on the waters, regardless. Despite the relief of movement below, my unease doesn¡¯t relent. It grows. The pyramids now have varying sizes, and I cannot discover any sense to why the largest are placed where they are. With each minute that passes, the pyramids we find become less eroded. As if the weather has had less of an effect. They appear no less ancient, but at least now some details appear where before there was nothing but smooth stone. A sudden spike of familiarity pierces me. The sight of huge steps leading to a flat top that might have once held an arched ceiling strikes a memory. But the next sight makes it all too obvious that I have already seen one of these before. Ahead of us, a break in the pyramids appears. As we fly over, we find the pillars still there, under the surface, yet carved away as if by an impossibly large, impossibly sharp knife. This is not part of the inscription; this is an unnatural gap where the pyramids that should be here are simply gone. The Void Fog swept through here. That¡¯s where I know these pyramids; I climbed one years ago. That which I¡¯d seen in the Void Fog had been like new compared to the ancient pyramids here. Did the Fog swallow it millennia ago? Or did the Void somehow restore the pyramid to its original state? Following the gap in the pattern cut away by the Void Fog, it is obvious when the damage caused by the Fog ends and something¡­ else starts. If you only look at the missing pyramids, it isn¡¯t clear that the cause could be any different, but the way the support pillars have been destroyed leaves no doubt. The path of the Void Fog stops dead, but where the next few pyramid islands should be, only shattered shards remain. And that¡¯s only those we can see beneath the water. Where some should be, they are missing entirely. The thick, shattered pillars appear much like something crashed through it. One ¡ª the least damaged ¡ª retains its overall shape, but half the circular top is just gone; as if a massive spear ran it through and snapped off the other side. Beyond even that, there is a vast stretch of missing pillars. But this gap appears incorporated into the inscription, considering how consistent it is, and how there doesn¡¯t seem to be any damage to the neighbouring pillars once we cross the distance. On this side of the gap, the pyramids are flawless. Not a day of wear affecting them. It¡¯s such a stark difference from what we¡¯ve seen on the previous islands, that my suspicions amplify. We already know the Anatla have something to do with this place, and even the slightest thing strange could be impossibly dangerous. I do not want to deal with another green eye awaking and trying to kill us simply because of our proximity. ¡°Is that where you¡¯re trying to go?¡± Anoures¡¯ voice startles me, but with how my flames are constantly flickering, neither of my passengers realise. I follow her gaze and spot an island off to the west. Like all the pillars around, the surface is mostly smooth, yet it rises into a trio of ridges across its length. This island is far larger than the other islands and pokes out over the horizon. Unlike the platforms for the pyramids, it does not rise only to sea-level. ¡°No¡­¡± Leal says, twisting between the island of focus to the west, and our current path southward. ¡°The nodes still point this way. It can¡¯t be.¡± I keep my gaze on the distant island, which is just as bare of any life as any other support around here. Considering what we¡¯ve seen so far, I¡¯d almost expect there should be another pyramid built upon that; maybe a kilometre tall or something, considering the scale of the others. But no, this island is the only one that remains empty, yet isn¡¯t destroyed. ¡°We follow the nodes first,¡± I say. ¡°If we don¡¯t find any leads there, we¡¯ll check out that island.¡± Chapter 243: Pyramids
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Chapter 244: Suppression
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Chapter 245: Defender
Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Chapter 246: Resolute
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.