Aether Beasts

Running through a storm was far harder than I'd first thought and I was quickly reminded as to why we'd stopped in the first place. It wasn't the cold or the rain that was the problem. It was the hail and the wind that was blowing at a strength that definitely made me agree with Zirani's guess that this was not a natural storm, not to mention the fact that the hail was shaped like tiny spikes.

Misty didn't seem to be having any trouble, but the same could not be said for Sandra and me. I'd had to form a bark gauntlet in my right hand then create a circular shield attached to it, which provided me some relief from the wind, but Sandra couldn't even do that. She simply ran behind Misty and me in hopes that she would get some protection.

Apart from that, there wasn't really much else in the way of problems. Visibility wasn't as great, but not that bad and once again Misty had an advantage. Her eyes saw far more than ours and all we had to do was follow her as to not run face-first into a tree or rocks.

Zirani had none of these problems, stored away in her core, she was safe and sound, and I could feel her relief that she didn't have to be out in this.

"Hey, it was your idea," Zirani said. "Not mine."

"I know," I replied, holding back a sigh. I didn't want to get any hail in my mouth like I'd done a few times before.

"Are you regretting this plan?" She asked.

"We'll have to wait and see," I said. "If we make it past without any trouble then no, but if we don't, then yes I will sorely regret this plan. Either way, I'm glad I brought Misty along."

"Her senses are far greater than your own," Zirani replied. "Too bad she's yet to embrace herself."

"Should I even ask?"

Zirani chuckled. "You just did, but let's leave it for later unless you want an hour explanation of course?"

"Later sounds fine," I replied.

After a few hours, the storm had died down a bit and we'd finally made it to one of the landmarks that was on the map, the remnants of some sort of old world-building. It was covered in greenery having been reclaimed by nature after the great calamity. We took a minute to rest while I checked over the map to see which way we should go.

"I know at the start we said the long way road but with this plan the shortest route is the best," I explained, pointing to a drawn line on the map

"Makes sense," Sandra said. "But if we run into twin horn disciples and they were stupid enough to stay out in this then fighting in these conditions is going to be a bitch, although most twin horn disples have fire cores, so it will be far worse for them."

I'd asked about that back at the camp, and it was due to the fact that the tower near Orton, the older tower, had an abundance of fire aether beasts and that meant an abundance of fire essence cores. Apparently, they were the cheapest in Orton and the easiest core to get, and they would continue to be until this war was over and the winning side claimed the tower. Once that happened, new cores, resources, herbs, and other products would enter the market, and the economical landscape of Orton and the nearby towns would change.

This war was going to change things, and the winner would decide that change. While the steel hearts only goal was to stop the twin horn and keep Orton and the lands nearby safe and free, if they won the war, whether they liked it or not they would grow in power and influence, and if the twin horn won, well I didn't really want to think about that possibility.

We continued on and as we did the storm grew lesser and lesser, until the hail no longer felt like tiny spikes digging into my skin and the wind no longer felt like it would sweep me away from the ground. Of course, it was also bad in that the twin horn diples might find this ok. I was hoping they wouldn't and that they'd wait for it to completely die down. Either way, we weren't going to be turning back.

"Stop," Misty whispered loudly, and we all froze as her eyes narrowed, seeing something we couldn't. "There are people up ahead."

"Twin horn disciples?" I asked.

She shook her head then froze in place.

"Misty?"

"Traitor," She whispered. "It's a steel heart disciple, giving information to a twin horn disciple."

My eyes widened and I glanced over to Sandra who seemed to be having trouble coming to terms with the blonde words.

"Who?" I said in a growl.

"His voice, it sounds familiar, I— Hide!"

She turned and we all scattered over to a nearby bush, lying low to the ground. I was as still as I could be and for a long moment, nothing happened, until I heard the faint sound of a voice.

A voice I knew all too well.

"They'll probably be coming down the long way," Markem said. "you know the one with the thick trees. They left yesterday and I doubt they're moving in this storm."

It was Markem. My entire body froze and my breath caught as I tried to process what I was hearing. Markem was a traitor, but that didn't make any sense. He hated the twin horn and he'd never shown any signs otherwise. That's when a thought occurred to me. He'd gotten away from the raid while the elder hadn't, which didn't make sense in a way. Markem would be a high priority target and he'd said he'd been stabbed, but that just made it all the weirder. He'd somehow run away with a broken arm and a large stab wound? I hadn't thought about it before because it didn't matter, I was just happy he was safe, but now it all made sense. How the twin horn knew we had information and how they knew where the messengers would be.

"Good work, Markem," Another voice said. "If this keeps us, the war will be won in no time."

"Is the force nearly prepared?" Markem asked, excitement in his voice.

"Another week or two," The voice replied. " The lack of supplies due to the steel hearts thievery is a problem but we're working on that. Then we can begin our final assault and rid these lands of the steel heart once and for all. Orton should have been ours from the start, and yet we were forced to share it with lesser arcanists, but not for much longer."

The voices grew fainter and fainter as they walked further away from us, and I had to grit my teeth to stop myself from dashing out and fighting him. I wouldn't win, and it would just cause problems.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Sandra hissed when Markem and his friend had walked off. "That son of a bitch!"

I grabbed her hand to stop her as she moved to go after him. "It's not worth it, not yet. We can't risk the mission."

"But—"

"Sandra!" I interrupted. "I'm just as pissed as you, but we can deal with him later. We need to get the message to Orton and then we figure out what to do about that piece of shit."

She looked like she wanted to argue, but then she sighed and took a deep breath before she nodded. "Ok."

I turned back to Misty. "Lead the way."

We were going to get to Orton and deliver the letter then we're going to get revenge on that piece of shit. Elder Samuel, Lucas, and who knows how many had died because of him. Hell, the raid had probably happened because of him.

Misty looked like she wanted to say something but didn't. She turned and we followed.

I could feel anger and confusion radiating off her and even Zirani felt pissed.

"I despite traitors of any kind," She explained. "Those who would stab their own deserve nothing less than death."

"I take it that traitors were punished harshly where you came from?"

"We'd turn them into fertilizer," She replied. "And I mean that literally. The process is quite painful for them."

"Perhaps we could try it on Markem," I growled. "That fucker deserves no less. I still can't believe it."

"If it's any consolation, he's played his act well," Zirani said.

"Indeed," I said bitterly.

As we continued on I couldn't help but think back to all my interactions with Markem and just how he must have felt. Smug that we thought he was a friend and how easily we fell for his act. Lucas and Elder Samuel had thought the same and they were both dead because of it because they'd chosen to trust him. I pushed down my anger for now and focused on getting to Orton.. There was going to be hell to pay when we returned back to the camp, that was for certain.