Chapter Two Hundred and Seventy Two – 272It wasn't long before Felix found himself in the center of the encampment, surrounded by Henaari, and staring at the darkened opening of the ruined tower.
"I feel this has been a bit rushed," he said to Pit. The tenku blew a sharp breath from his nostrils and rustled his wings. Concern wafted through their bond.
Tower...smells wrong, Pit sent.
"Wrong how?"
Wrong season.
"Wrong?"
The crowd of Henaari shifted, the warriors and craftsmen moving aside to allow through Vess, Evie, and Atar. They found him easily and Evie shoved her way forward.
"Outta the way, string beans!"
"Why are you all here? Where's Harn and everyone?" Felix asked.
"Still getting patched up. Alister is watching them," Atar said and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "But a couple dour looking friends of yours came and ordered us here."
"Said you'd gotten locked into a trial?" Evie raised and eyebrow. "A little early to be breakin' laws, Felix."
"What is happening? And what is that?" Vess asked, pointing at the tower. Her eyes flashed with Mana as her Elemental Eye activated. "Something dark and cold lives in that place, Felix. Please tell me you are not entering it."
"Well," Felix said as he scratched the back of his neck. "Funny storyHey!"
Vess had smacked him across the shoulder. It wasn't a hard hit, at least not to him, but it was surprising regardless.
"Do not joke. Why do you have to do this?" Vess asked.
Felix sighed. "Sorry. They have information we need for my...task. And...and I think if I don't, they're not gonna heal our people anymore. Honestly, I think they might attack us if I try to walk away."
"Two-faced jackals," Atar hissed. "Let them try."
Felix pushed down Atar's fists. "I like the enthusiasm, man, but I'd rather not fight an entire town."
Vess shook her head. "Better we fight than have you face what I suspect is in there."
"Wait, why? What's in the tree-filled safety hazard?" Evie asked.
"The Endless Raven, I think," Felix said. Evie and Atar shared a look before staring at Vess. The heiress had clenched her jaw so hard he was worried she'd crack a tooth.
"You don't know what you are facing. It is an Urge, Felix. They are defined by what they want. Extremely so. But they are also unstable. Erratic." She pushed her dark brown hair back, out of her face. Quite a few strands had escaped the simple tail she'd put it in.
"So the Raven just wants discoveries then? That's it's deal, right?" Felix asked. "So I just tell it how a washing machine works and it'll leave me alone?"
"A washing machine?" Atar asked.
"I don't know how those work, now that I think about it." Felix considered things a moment, his Mind working quickly. "Huh. I don't know how much of anything worked back on Earth."
He was stalling and distracting himself, he knew. His friends knew it too.
"Perhaps you can appease the Urge, but I do not know. Death follows the Raven and those that follow it. That is known." Vess swallowed and looked away, at the tower. "This is a foolish risk."
Felix's expression softened and he gave Vess a smile. "I'll be fine. It's just another god. What's the worst that can happen? Ow!"
Evie had smacked him right on the top of his head. Metal-backed gauntlets and everything. "Don't be dumb."
Felix rubbed at his skull and took a deep breath. All of them were gazing at the tower, now. "No promises."
With little warning, guards replete with hooked spears and bucklers stepped forward to push his friends back into the crowd. Felix moved to stop them, but Vess waved him down even as one of the Synod spoke up.
"All penitents are allowed to give final goodbyes to their loved ones. Now they will witness your Trial." The woman, almost indistinguishable from the rest of the Synod, waved her hands at the guards. They continued to push his friends back.
"I don't like this a whit," Evie said. "You touch me with that spear and you'll find it somewhere you really don't like."
However, all three of them didn't fight as they were pushed to the sidelines, though Atar had his fists clenched and his Mana on the cusp of ejected from his hands and feet. Vess calmed him with a whispered word, yet she looked little better.
"You must leave your weapons behind, outsider," the Matriarch said from among the Synod. She hadn't done a costume change, but he wouldn't have put it past her. The lady seemed preoccupied with appearances. Or maybe it was just her own pride. "The Raven tolerates no blade in its presence."
"No," Felix said, loud enough to be heard over the casual mutter of the crowd. The gathering went silent, even as it gained new members by the second. "Is your god threatened by a mortal's sword?"
The woman sputtered. "No, no of course not! It is tradition!"
"Don't care." Felix walked to the tower's yawning opening, Pit trailing after him. The Matriarch didn't follow, though he heard her whisper something furiously to a member of the Synod.
The Farwalker and Wyvora were both waiting for him at the entrance, the former in his elaborate looking wheelchair and being pushed by the latter. Felix could feel that chill wind against his skin, like an open freezer compared to the summer's heat. The Farwalker looked at himhe was pretty sure but it was hard to tell with the magic face shadowand nodded.
"You who have claimed the Right of Wander shall enter the Realm of the Raven. As do all Henaari, you shall seek a Blessing from the Endless Raven, or else you will be forced to revoke the Right of Wander. The consequences of which are dire."
Yeah, I get it, Felix thought. Fail and my team's not getting outta here.
"Is it too late to ask for that boon now?" Felix asked with a nervous smile.
"No," said the Farwalker. Felix swore the guy smiled at him. "Let us save some surprises for later." He gestured to the crumbling opening in the tower. "Hold fast to your spirit, for the dark is not a place for weakness."
Cool, cool, cool. "Do you guys practice ominous phrases?"
"Are you ready, penitent?" Wyvora asked, clearly ignoring him.
"Nope, but when has that mattered?"
The Farwalker's face was shrouded in that darkness, but he swore the man smiled. "Then enter. And may the Raven walk with you."
Ready bud?
Yes. Pit chirped quietly from his side.
Let's do this then.