Aether Beasts

The next day began off with the sky covered in dark clouds, and a light drizzle of rain falling. The sunny atmosphere from yesterday was gone, and it was as though the weather was changing to match our situation. I just hoped it wasn't a bad omen or a sign of things to come. As much as I'd said we needed to take this job, I knew well that this was going to be difficult. If the others hadn't made it then clearly the twin horn was responsible, which meant a fight was highly likely.

We didn't really pack anything in the way of supplies. I already had plenty in my ring and the trip from the camp to Orton was only around two to three days at a fast walk not to mention that Sandra had used some of her kor crystals to buy a lesser storage ring. While we were planning to be careful, we also knew it was best to get there as quickly as possible.

"This is probably the route we're going to take," I said to Zirani as Sandra and I looked over the map

Misty was standing a few feet away and she'd been even quieter than normal when she found out we were heading to Orton. When she first appeared from the tent, I'd had to stop myself from gawking. She'd been beautiful before but now she was drop-dead gorgeous, not that she seemed to know that. She still had that look of sullen and tired look on her face, and it made me want to go over and ask if she needed any help, but she was too closed right now.

"That's the longest path," Sandra mused. "But I get the idea. It's far thicker and if we do run into them, we could potentially run past. Mistys faster than either of us, and I'm not bad myself, not to mention you have your vines, so mobility won't be a problem there."

"It's the best shot we have," I pointed to another one of the paths. The one with the most x's to symbolize how many people had died. "This is by far the shortest but also the one where most have died. The others aren't too bad, but it's too open."

"Then that's the one," Sandra said. "The long way round."

I rolled up the map and called Misty over. The sun was set to rise in an hour or so and it was best if we left as early as possible. We didn't say any goodbyes or make any declarations before we left. We just headed out of the camp and began our perilous trip to Orton.

We stuck together and tried to move through areas where our vision wasn't too limited. Of course, that meant our enemies would also have a better vision on us, but we weren't too worried about running into any twin horn disciples this early into the trip. I'd asked Zirani if she could teach me the camouflaged version of green pulse, but the technique and method required to camouflage techniques weren't easy, and even beyond the great scar wasn't even learned until someone hit the second core, not to mention she subtlety reminded me that my grasp of aether wasn't that good. We hadn't had time to train much and we weren't until this war was over, so I would have to do with what I had, but I'd done that so far, and I would continue to do so.

We ended up running into a few first core aether beasts later on, but it took less than half a minute for Sandra and me to bring them down and Misty quickly drained them dry afterwards. We didn't stop to eat or rest. We ate a few strips of meat and some bread and cheese as we walked, and I won't lie, I really missed the food back at the camp already, though at least it wasn't meat porridge. I still shivered at the reminder of that disgusting thing.

We continued our trip until night eventually fell, but we didn't make camp or a fire. Instead, we slept on a particularly large tree, with branches easily big enough for a person to lie in. One of us could fall in our sleep, but the fall was only ten feet and we were all at the first level of infusion. We'd get a bruise and maybe a sore back but that was about it.

The second day began much, much worse. The light drizzle from yesterday had turned into a full-on rainstorm, accompanied with hail. It was hell traveling through that, and we tried to cover under trees and any cliff sides when we could, but the area we were in did not allow for much of that, so in just a few minutes we were all thoroughly soaked, not that we let that stop us. Even though all of it we continued on. Unfortunately, the weather got so bad that we actually had to stop, and I couldn't help but wonder how exactly the weather had gotten this bad. It had rained a few times in West Vale, but from what I knew the plains were for the most part a hot place with rain only coming near the end of the yearly cycle, but even then it was never like this and never thunder or lightning.

We were in a small opening in the side of a cliff, which luckily was large enough to provide cover for all of us.

"I can't believe this," Sandra grumbled. "Out of all the times this could have happened it had to be right now, while we were on a mission."

Zirani, who had manifested, was eerily quiet as she gazed up at the sky and there was something in her eyes, and emotion which I couldn't quite recognize.

"It's from the scar," She finally said after a few minutes staring at the sky.

"What?" Sandra looked at her in confusion. "How do you know that? And isn't the scar meant to be some sort of hot wasteland."

"That's a common misconception," Zirani replied. "The great scar has multiple regions, though the largest and most traveled is the burning desert."

"And where is this storm from then?" I asked in a curious tone.

"I can't be sure, but I'm guessing it's either from the leviathan pit or the spire lands."

She sighed. "Not that either of you would know what those are, but…"

Her words trailed off and she muttered something to herself.

"But what?"

"The last time I saw a storm like this, it was the aftermath of the battle, and if this storm has reached the plains then I can only imagine the battle that caused it."

"What if it's just a normal storm?" Misty asked and I was surprised she'd even said anything.

"Look at it," Zirani said. "The way the clouds are rolling across the sky, not to mention the fact it came out of nowhere and the amount of thunder and lighting is too great for it to be a normal storm. I'm not at the level I once was so I can't really sense it, but I'm almost positive there is a large concentration of aether in that storm."

"A technique?" Sandra asked in shock.

"The aftermath of a technique most likely, or a clash," Zirani mused. "Either way I don't think it will last for much longer than a day. It's already dying down."

"You think we'll be able to make some more progress today?" I asked.

We'd only managed a few hours today and I was hoping we could at least make it to the halfway point before we had to stop.

"I don't think so," She replied. "By the time it died down, it will be a night, and traveling at night, well Misty could do it just fine and even Sandra bloodline grants her better than normal dark sight, but you Aiden have none, and using green pulse would be like a beacon to any enemies or highly sensitive aether beasts nearby by. It's best if we rest for today and move on tomorrow."

"Well isn't that just great," Sandra said sarcastically, taking a seat down next to me and pulling out a flash of water from her storage ring. "Well, at least the twin horn disciples will also be having trouble."

I froze at her words, and a sudden idea occurred to me.

"Zirani, what are the chances the twin horn will be out in this?"

Her eyes narrowed as she read my thoughts. "If they are even remotely smart they won't be. The rain is going to churn up the muddy areas not to mention a bolt from that storm will kill any first core arcanists with ease if they remain in the same area for too long."

"You said it would last for a day, if we did a mad dash in the storm could we make it Orton?"

Sandra almost spit out some of the water she'd been drinking as she turned to stare at me in shock. "You want us to travel in that?"

"Why not," I replied. "I know it won't be fun, but what if it allows us to get past them. They probably think we'll do the same and find a palace to rest, but what if we take the chance to get past them without any confrontation."

I turned to Zirani who had a thoughtful look on her face.

"You can't seriously be considering this?" Sandra asked the nature beast.

"It's a risky idea, even idiotic," Zirani said. "but at worst we don't get far and we'll get really wet, and a bit bruised, and the lighting we won't have to worry about if we keep moving. At best, we make it past them without much trouble."

Sandra looked around at us as if looking for support, but even Misty looked ok with the idea, which made sense. She was quicker and more durable than any of us.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Sandra sighed.. "But let's run through a storm."