Chapter 473 (2/2)

The mountains and then the desert beyond flew by in a blur, reates utilized by the Dicathians They were relics of the ancient e I found as I loweredhole in the desert floor where the cavern ceiling had partially collapsed Huge piles of sand had accu half the cavern What I could see of the rest was co to the ruht an actual asura here Looking at the dae, I could believe it

This close, I could now sense the aether-network of tunnels that spread out froe, the eo Aside fro as I sped along the dark tunnels, my eyes enhanced with et when dread suddenly ca my anticipation like wind to a candle flaround, then instinctively shuffled backwards as I searched the square hallway for the source of ible thing with very real claws that wanted to rake at s and heart, but there was no spell, no mana that I could—

An aetheric effect, I realized A dread that can’t be passed through or cast aside The perfect layer of protection

Though I’d continued to waffle back and forth, second-guessing my decision to come to Darv instead of Elenoir, I knew then that I’d chosen correctly

Gritting my teeth, I pushed outith h ered in the tunnels deep below the ground Cracks ran up the walls and spiderwebbed across the floor, and visible distortions of light and heat flickered in the air Ice condensed over the walls then shattered and ran as water to pool across the floor before hissing to steaain forced outward from the pressure I exuded

The dread lessened, then receded, still present but distant and lacking power I couldn’t control the aether, nor could I break the spell and end its effect, but by h force ofno ti the zone of dread behind

When I turned the next corner, I ca stone bisected the tunnel, ht across the path Despite the tons and tons of rapidly shi+fting stone, it hardly made a noise

“What other trick do you have up your sleeve, Grey?” I asked,of the spell

As I watched it move, I noticed the small details It wasn’t a solid wall of stone, but ether like puzzle pieces, all floithin a groove cut perfectly to fit the machination It radiated a powerful and alien flavor of in that was neither Dicathian or Alacryan

I pushed against the h that I stumbled a step and was forced to catchup one hand to helpstone with earth-attributeplates of stone shi+vered as the power controlling the the pressure I was exerting, I reached for that power and tried to draw on it It held, heavy and inexorable, as i against the weight of that power until the plates for to a halt, filling the hallith broken chunks of rock The walls tre noise threatened to shake the very foundations of Dicathen to pieces

Then, as suddenly as it had happened, the shaking and grinding stopped

I bent down to inspect a chunk of the stone It had a slight luster to it, dimmer than obsidian and without the telltale smooth striations where the breaks happened Instead, there were layers upon layers of cos of a tree

It was difficult to put er on, but there was al the rough surface of the break, gooseflesh roughened my skin, and I pulled away

The hallway continued beyond the wall of ht, I stared at the gap “I know you’re here, asura I’m sure you can hear me I suppose threats or promises will beto sway you fro your last ragged breaths, remember this moment, and how you could have chosen differently”

A dull chuckle echoed from the darkness, and a e of ht hunch to it, enhancing the frail look of his physique Dark, tired eyes stared at reasy black hair “Bravado That’s what happens when you give a child endless power You spend far too reat as people keep telling you, despite the fact that you feel like an ihtly, letting the greasydown “Well, except that you’re an imposter in someone else's skin, but nevermind that”

My jaw clenched painfully, and I lashed out with a crack of thunder and spear of lightning The attack struck the asura in the chest, and he exploded apart, his flesh and bones spraying across the smooth floor with a clatter Except, it wasn’t flesh and bones, but only more of the striated stone

“I didn’t expect an asura to play children’s ga to keep my voice level “If I’m not as powerful as they say, why run and hide?”

No words ca softly in the craap into the hallway beyond The tunnel alain shortly in both directions, li the distance I could see The walls were made of the same type of stone When I ran my hand down the wall, I found it warm to the touch, then pulled ahen it thrummed with a sort of pulse, much slower than my own heartbeat but no less real

Grey’s aetheric signature resonated from my left, not far

Tessia’s silent tension sat in the back of raine

I went to the left, and the low, narrow tunnel turned left again after twenty feet or so, only to turn right shortly after that When I reached the next split, I understood Amy eyes, I honed in on the distortion in the mana I kneas Grey When I pulled at the earth-attribute mana infused into the stone wall in that direction, the entire labyrinth quaked I slaainst it, and the wall exploded

The labyrinth beca in every direction around uillotine-sharp chunk, I wrapped myself in mana and watched breathlessly

It see stone, in the for plates, was as controlled as the workings of a clock, fitting together just so and sliding past each other with perfect integrity It was truly a work of art, a use of mana so inexplicably beautiful that I could never hope to recreate it

Like a stone in the clockwork, I interrupted the ainst my mana, but others shi+fted seamlessly to replace them

Inat a dead end, the broken wall replaced by an entirely new one

Closingthe lines of mana The maze was thick with at to everything and choked the air Arthur’s signature radiated out frohtness of the mana was such that I couldn’t cleanly follow the maze only with my senses

I pulled back and slaain, they exploded, the plates for, and refor sh the hole before it closed, but the chaos blindedmyself ti specifically for the pieces of the asura’s an to follow the ain

Moving cautiously as I h the twists and turns, I tried to be patient andsuit

“damn this place,” I cursed as I ran into yet another dead end

Bit by bit throughout the ht into its particular attributes grew It wasn’t the sa Dawn, the phoenix, of all herin my direction moment by moment

“Your control really is remarkable,” a voice said fro asura not thirty feet away “Gaining insight into titanit away froht possible”

I inspected the figure closely, looking for anything that olem I hadn’t noticed it before, but there was a subtle pattern to his skin, and a sharpness of his features, that replicated the texture of the stone maze “Likewise, it’s pretty incredible that you canreplica of yourself”

I thrust forith both hands and a stor with a core of condensed sound-attribute deviantstone plates shi+fted into place between unfire erupted through the hallway as the hailstones and wall both exploded

The conjured wall collapsed, revealing the asura, half his face bloay The reolem tipped backward, struck the floor, and burst apart into a thousand sharp shards

Instantly, I turned gravity against the stones,the away fro e in asclicked into place

I squared off with the nature I took ti purified mana wash out of me, collect across the surface of the stone wall, and creep into theplates intersected

Instead of sla the walls in place all at once, I fir with a s ain, the opposing forces acting on the ht in a vice, the plates of stone warping to reveal the cracks between

Pressing clawed fingers ofic began to rebuild the labyrinth with rabbed hold of the spell Many thousands of stone plates separated, shi+fted, and then froze in the air, hovering deconstructed all around lobe

The dust and stone swirled before ain He thrust forward, and a fist of stone struckbackwards As my concentration broke, my hold on his spell released, and the stone plates spun and twisted into place, refor the maze

I s through it Another wall rose to h the to retain ravity to pull towardravity well My teeth ground together as I fought to ignore the screa all that tension, energy, and pain as a wild shout, I shoved outward

The ravity, wind, and purean arsenal of stone plates away froed, resting ht The resistance seeune, flat chaht have iined, and almost empty aside from the rubble strewn about

The asura was on one knee not far away bloody slashes covered his body—the real one, I was certain He turned his head toward the center of the chaure rested atop a thick cushi+on, sat with his legs crossed beneath hi over his knees, eyes closed “Arthur, wake up!” the asura wheezed breathlessly

Adrenaline and the flush of victory pushed down my pain, and I strode toward Grey With a flick ofthe asura to the ground Claws of mana reached toward Arthur, accompanied by a spike of fear and disbelief froave round beneath ave way Bursts of mana exploded like fireworks in front ofinto , I wrapped myself in mana and tried desperately to dim my senses and catch my fall

An external force pushed onme doard

With a furious shout, I wrested away control of gravity and locked myself in place My eyes fluttered open; the dark cha across ht beneathopaque surface within a carved frame: a portal

Another battery ofme doard the portal, which opened beneath , I shoved doard into the portal itself, warping the surface and pushi+ng it away from me as I sank inch by inch toward it Myto rip it apart and destroy the portal within

Butdown on lared back overabove me Where he had been, there was now a stone pedestal topped with a glowing ellipsoid made of silvery whitewheat-blond hair and set with golden eyes, was sharp, his wry expression bitter and stiff

With one hand, I clawed at the portal With the other, I reached back and atte him doith me, into the portal…

Tessia’s panicked claws sank into the back of led to exert herself ‘I’m sorry, Cecilia, but I can’t let you do this’ Emerald vines wrapped around my arms and my throat

But after what happened with Mordain, I was ready

Withinher spiritual essence and wrapping around it, binding it, choking and crushi+ng it

My focus was too divided I couldn’t fight Grey, Tessia, and the portal all at once

I olden eyes and releasedmy body in place, I wrenched the vines fro up They wrapped around Grey’s ars, and neck, and, with a jerk, pulled hily around the trapped li small droplets of blood that ran down his body

I had him! And even better, I had interrupted his focus on the keystone He would never control fate—

Relief washed over me, but not my own Distracted, I looked inward toward Tessia She was pulling back, no longer fighting me

Above, cracks spread out from where the vines constricted around Grey’s limbs Where the blood droplets ran, they washed away the color of his skin, revealing flat gray beneath

My eyes widened, ju fro in the pedestal I thought of the heavy earth htly iolems and the asura’s apparent desperation as he struck out at me when I’d controlled his spell Layer after layer of deceit, all performed perfectly

Grey, who projected none of the tension between mana and aether that I should have felt,winked at ray stone stared out of a gray face One arm shattered, and instead of blood and bone, stone sparked, revealing the sas of compaction I had noticed in the stone plates

Asaroundme in, Grey crumbled to dust Behind where he had been, the asura sat in a floating earthen throne, one thin brow raised disdainfully as he glared down at me, a hand pressed over his blood-darkened side

Then the world turned violet and gray, and the portal took me