Chapter Two Hundred and Seventy Nine - 279"Stygian Shadow!"
Isyk, her junior, thrust his spear forward. The area around Ifre's berm darkened to pitch, the light ripped so violently away that the tunnel around it began to frost. Yet still, Ifre could see a dim orange bloom on the other side.
"Isyk, take everyone, turn them back!" She licked her lips, though her mouth was utterly dry. "We have to use another way."
"As you will, Captain."
The shadows exploded, torn asunder by another burst of hungry orange flames. Isyk reeled, his nose bloodied, as the Blessing was rebounded upon him. But Ifre hadn't the time to worry about her subordinate. All three Wurms slipped through her berm like water, not even so much as slowed down by their workings.
Wander's Prowl!
Spear of the Second Flight!
Ifre zipped ahead, taking the lead Wurm under its segmented jaw with her suddenly flexible spear. The metal and wood of it bent and twisted to her Will, easily slipping into the spaces between the Wurm's rocky carapace. It screamed in pain and fury. She twisted her spear before ripping it back out. Dark ichor spouted onto the earth, but she kept moving.
Stab. Feint. Thrust. Dodge. Fighting the Wurms was straining her Stamina and pushing her Agility to the limit. They were fast, slippery, and Night-cursed strong. Her spear found the gaps in their segments, again and again, bleeding them by tiny bits. Yet they were relentless, so she couldn't stop. She had to give her people time to escape. If she could
Screams arose behind her. A wash of heat and light pulled a gasp from Ifre's chest. Wurms emerged from the tunnel, midway down their group.
"No!"
Two more rose ahead too, pushing out of the stone and dirt, and their gaping maws joined the others. Five mouths filled the tunnel with orange light, enough to flood them all with hungry flame.
Blessing of Berm!
Blessing of Berm!
Blessing of Berm!
Ifre spun her spear, each whirling thrust tearing walls from the earth. She poured her Willpower into it, reinforcing her creations with all the Mana and Stamina she could spare.
The liquid fire tore through it all, and vicious heat cut short the screams all around her. Ifre braced.
And waited.
Yet...nothing? She expected flames and pain. Yet all she felt was...cold.
Ifre opened her eyes. And saw a swirling field of frozen clouds among the crumbled remnants of her Blessings. A terrible, dire chill assaulted her Body, forcing Ifre a step back, but she peered into its depths. Blue light flickered among the fog, illuminating the outline of the five Wurms.
"Captain!"
The shocked voice of Isyk pulled her attention back, and she saw that the two Wurms in the rear had frozen as well, entirely subsumed by blue-white flames. Her people shied away from the heat, wincing and crying in alarm.
"What's happening, Captain?"
Ifre felt Mana moving around her, so much that it felt like her people's wards gathering momentum. It hummed through everything.
The outsider...!
He emerged from the clouds of frost, his eyes lit like the blazing fire all around him. He rolled his shoulders, and each arm was outstretched toward the five Wurms around him, as if he were holding them back. "Give me, like, thirty seconds."
What? He didn't even sound strained.
The thrum of Mana increased, until a visible vapor joined the frozen, swirling fog around him. The blue-white fire redoubled and, for a moment, Ifre couldn't see anything except a shimmering haze of incandescent light.
When it cleared, the Wurms were destroyed. All of them. Pulped into a purple mess against the stone walls.
"All of you, come with me!" A familiar voice called from beyond the outsider. A shape in the dark resolved into A'zek, the Farwalker's Companion. "More are on their way, Felix."
"I know." With a curt gesture, the earth folded over itself, grabbing and dragging the remains of the Wurms down into the stone itself. He looked at her and his blue eyes flashed again. "Go with A'zek...Captain Ifre. He'll lead you all to the Farwalker and others."
Ifre gestured to Isyk, and her people started guiding the remaining folk onward. The outside ran his hands across the walls, as if he were searching. Some tried to stop and stare or offer thanks, but gentle prods kept them all moving. A slight tug at her gambeson pulled her attention down. Eigo's youngest was there, looking at the outsider and biting his lip.
"Did the Raven lie?" he asked.
Ifre swallowed, unsure how to handle the question. The boy had said they were going to die, but the Raven never lied. It wasn't in its nature. She ushered the boy ahead of her, joining with him as they moved further down the tunnel. Away from the outsider and whatever else was coming.
"The Raven"
"The Raven only showed the Farwalker death in the tunnels," the outsider interrupted. He glanced at the boy before looking harder at Ifre. "But that's not happening. Not today." He looked past them, past even the stone itself. His eyes gleamed. "Go. Run now."
Her people began to run into the dark tunnels, following the harnoq's lead. An explosion echoed abruptly down the path, but when she looked back for the outsider, all Ifre saw was cracked earth. The outsider was gone.
The Raven had not lied. Death had come to the tunnels.
Just not for them.
Pit forced his wings down, hurling air Mana beneath him and his passengers, fighting against the pull of the earth. It was hard, but he could do it. He'd been training for this, after all.
Flight is level 47!
"You can do it, Pit," the Dangerous One said, rubbing at his neck. The feel of her was warm and vibrant, a whirlwind contained, while the others were a collection of conflicting sensations. A cold nimbleness, a rigid heat, and a steady, heavy pressure. The Pretty Killer, the Firebrand, and the Stabby One. He knew their names, the ones they used among themselves, but Pit preferred to think of them this way.
"It's probably Atar, weighing us all down!" Pretty Killer shouted as they ascended, narrowly missing a protruding, scraggly tree. "I saw how much you ate today!"
"Oh, shove it up your aaaa" Firebrand screamed, nearly unseated when Pit had to kick off an annoyingly protruding crag. Only the quick hands of the Stabby One and Pretty Killer together kept him in place.
"Evie, shut up, if you please," the Dangerous One breathed.
Pit screeched, putting them out of his mind as he climbed the mountain. The four of them were shifting now, jostled by Pit's movements; a far cry from Felix's in-sync motions while riding. Yet, with another furious burst of effort, they shot up and over the lowest peak. Air Mana shot off beneath him, Wingblades fired for good measure, to boost them up and over. They surged upward into the star-filled sky.
"Blind gods," the Pretty Killer gasped.
Below them, the valley was awash in flames. It lit up the night, sending huge plumes of smoke into the sky. Hovering momentarily in the thin air, Pit wanted to cry out, but that would ruin their task. Felix had sent instructions as they parted, and Pit knew what to do. Even now the tenku could sense his Companion speeding toward one of the tunnels. He'd reach it in seconds.
Pit tilted his body and tucked his wings. He dove.
The Humans on his back almost screamed, but they held onto control, burying their fear and exhilaration into their grips and breathing. Two hundred feet below, Pit snapped open his wings, letting the rising air currents lift him up and away from the mountain's slope, pushing him out into the valley.