Chapter 461 (1/2)

Chapter 461

Chapter 458: Lady Dawn's Child

CECILIA

As I watched the phoenix slu him from consciousness, a me and laughing, his e, the other icy blue—sparkling with joy and wonder Now those same mismatched eyes rolled back into his head as he tu at Lady Dawn’s child, there was no doubt The taste of hera sort of resonance with his own I could feel their connection, was now a part of it, like there were twowith the connection came emotions that also weren’tfury

Not hts, memories, and ideas that had been stuffed intoreincarnated This isn’t soingtherabbed the unconscious phoenix by the back of his clothes He shot a questioning look atbranches of a broad-leafed tree I opened my mouth to speak, but before the words left me, the world erupted into fiery hell

The fla the world in a red that burned like a falling sun The air scorchedinto smoke and fire My clothes smoldered and little flaout, I took hold of theit resisted, driving asped out loud, astounded

Awind seemed to barely ruffle his hair, just as the smoke failed to blind his yellow eyes

The four surviving Wraiths all faced thean eventhe effects of the spell They exchanged uncertain looks and threw searching glances down into the trees in rona” The reverberation of the man’s voice suddenly told me who he was, his identity contained within the memories shared by Lady Dawn “Your hostility within my own domain will not be tolerated This place, and everyone within it, are under my protection,”Mordain of the Asclepius clan said fir here Give o”

Khoriax’s scythe reforainst Chul’s throat “It see phoenixes on us today How convenient Stop channeling this cursed spell and give yourself up, or I open this boy’s throat and—”

Huge talons of firearound Khoriax The claws burned through hishim into charred meat before he could even shout out The half-phoenix slumped into the claw, unhar that I would be unsensible even to one so powerful as this ivethree kept their focus on Mordain, their defenses up butno move to attack

Suddenly the tree in which I hid was engulfed in a fire I could neither control nor sustain Reacting instinctively, I leapt into the air and flew free of the flames, my skin red and sore even beneath acy…” Mordain said His bright yellow eyes were locked oninto the smoke “Even you cannot hide from ainst my patience here”

My mind reeled I didn’t knohat to do This phoenix was powerful, his grip over ons still swarmed over the Beast Glades, so even if I did defeat hih to return totheir attention?

It’s not worth the risk, I told rona would, and not out of fear

“Wraiths, with id as a force inside of ainstforward and releasing a whiplike vine that had coiled around my wrist

The whip carved across the space between Mordain andin slow motion The tip of the vine burst into flareen of its flesh

The whip bleay to ash just short of Mordain’s throat

His expression twitched slightly, but he did notonto his face for a split second

Clenching my teeth until they creaked, I forcedthe momentary loss of control, then spun away and flew at all speed, bursting out of the domain spell’s shell and back into blue sky and cool wind

What in the Vritra’s na to do? I snarled inside my own head

Tessia didn’t immediately answer, and I hurried to put distance between Mordain andto their li over my shoulder, I realized Mordain’s do within it in pure fire-attribute mana Within that sphere, his ownhis spells and control while diht he could beat us—kill us, didn’t you? Inside that hellish terrain he created Make up your mind, would you? Really, do you want to live or die? Do you even know?

‘No, I don’t want to die,’ Tessia said softly, her first words toDicathen ‘But I can’t help but wonder if I’rona and keep everyone safe—Arthur safe—you need to die’

I stopped suddenly, a shi+ver running down my spine

Mordain’s domain spell collapsed For a moment, the presence of both asuras was crystal clear, then the atnatures as Mordain shrouded hi was still there No sense of their natures, but…the resonance I now felt with Chul couldn’t be so easily disguised

Gathering my ownforward at about the sa as the spell lasts, then return to the others and resuave me similar looks of confusion When I waved the theover the forest’s canopy

Drifting down under the cover of the trees, I began slowly ainst Chul The wind carried the s, and there was a consistent flow of atmospheric mana back into the void left behind by the doer atTessia to take control

If it was your goal to kill us both, you should have let ration, I seethed to the elf as I searched for the resonance

‘Was it easy for you? When you killed yourself on Grey’s sword?’ she responded, her voice laced with bitterness and regret

I chewed the inside of my cheek, careful to keepme I still did it, didn’t I?

‘Yes, you did But you did it to escape, to run away froered before she spoke again, her thoughts growing more confident ‘I didn’t want to die then, and I don’t want to die now But I’ht back—unlike you’

Just because you know h, I snapped, pausing my pursuit You have no idea what I’ve had to endure…or what I’et the life that we deserve

With newfound resolve, I took a nature with the a the slight pull frouide h the lower network of branches,in the distance

Suddenly, the connection with Chul’s mana was coed throughfor the last place I had felt hihts started to knot theain, re had been before it was blocked

I slowed again as I got close to where I thought I’d lost the sense of it and settled down into the roots of a giant, silver-barked charwood tree

It has to be nearby, I thought, al for a reluctant confirmation fro with the echo of all thatbetween Epheotus and Dicathen, but there were lades as well Now, so close, I could feel the edges of such a spell, or rather, many layers of the spell It was subtle, nearly undetectable by design But I could see the ainst the atmospheric motes, taste the complex compression, smell the hint of that unique attribute that made phoenix mana different

Mordain’s spell was powerful; it had to be He’d been hiding his people frorona Vritra and Kezess Indrath for centuries But what reater than either of theirs

I closedMy ownfor ainst my back The rich, s tea Mana-laden wind sent ripples through its leaves, which rubbed against each other with overlapping echoes of soft scratching

The tree was breathing I could feel its life, its energy Li the sun anddeep down into the soil It was almost beautiful how the tree took in sun, water, and atmospheric mana and, even without a core, purified thatnew, a plant-attribute deviant forhout it, leaching into the soil,it life and energy I could sense it in every twig, leaf, and root And the roots of this charwood, along with all the others in this part of the Beast Glades, see They didn’t spread out evenly but were pulled in one direction, diving down deeper than any other trees nearby

I letthe deviant mana into the roots They spread and entwined, and I felt the shrouding spellsveil as I followed, blind to everything except the plant-attribute mana As , I suddenly felt again the specific natures of Mordain and Chul—and ed atto roll into my eye

Do you see now? It was inevitable from the start Your purpose, your fate was to be the vessel for ly

‘If that’s the case, I look forward to seeing what fate awaits you, a coward too afraid to even see the truth: that you’re nothing more than a weapon, a tool for destruction,’ Tessia replied, her voice unbearably pitying ‘If what you hope for ever does coh victory It will be out ofwanted nothing more than to snuff her presence out of my mind like a candle, but the hold I had on thethreatened to come loose

I turnedh the roots within the carved walls of the phoenixes’ sanctuary, edging carefully forward like walking on a tightrope until—

“—need to agitate his core, encourage it to draw in thewe have!”

It was Mordain’s voice Tight with an edge of panic, no longer the controlled storm of power that he had shown me before A dozen other conversations vibrated into the soil and the roots of the charwood trees, but I blocked the solely on Mordain

“He’s too far gone,” another voice said, slightly reedy and hesitant “His core is barely drawinglimbs—”

“Thank you, Avier,” Mordain said fir off the second voice

MORDAIN ASCLEPIUS

Avier settled back onto his roost to watch in silence, his feathers ruffling slightly, but I could not afford to give him any ies later After…