Chapter 501: Restless (1/2)
Chapter 501: Restless
As Naesia had promised, it took a handful of hours to coh strenuous, the rest of the cliparty, but they were kept at bay by warning flares of olems to test us, was silent
At the top, the four phoenixes began to shout and crow, their voices echoing through the thin air and the highparty When we’d all reached the dell, our group of twenty hunters stopped to look out over the cliff’s edge It was ih we’d climbed, as clouds covered the surface of Epheotus far below us A pod of skyrays crested in and out of the clouds, swirling over, under, and around each other playfully
Regisherto the aether She immediately wrapped her arh her
Chul clapped h that I had to step forward to catch myself “Just like the abyssal rays we faced in the Relictombs, ayequite so cute,” Sylvie said, kneeling next to the edge She picked up a sers, then casually tossed it off the edge, watching it pluasped and clutched his horns in horror “What are you doing? That could kill souilt “I—”
The asuras began to laugh, Riven loudest a! You may be archon in naon”
The dragons aidity of a basilisk, youoffense, Riven and his basilisk cohter was renewed by the jibe
Vireah Inthirah craned her back in a deep stretch, her long pink hair nearly spilling to the ground Straightening, she turned away froazed up toward thequickly We should nis, who led the way out of tradition, gestured to the thickly forested, green swath carved into thebeasts if we move up into the treeline Otherwise, pick a spot!”
Regis gave a throaty chuckle “But what if ant to be est you do it privately behind a tree so none of us will judge you,” one of Riven’s basilisk friends said with a laugh
Naesia’s cheeks flushed bright red, and her citrine eyes ide as they ju party “That's not what I…”
I sighed “Just ignore Regis Your ee hi day’s ascent,each other up the gentle slope and shouting about getting the best spots first Chul joined the warrior was in good company as he and one of the basilisks pushed and shouldered one another, laughing the entire time
The rest of ered behind their own clans We made our way more slowly, at ease
“We’ll rest and recover our strength for the evening” Zelyna, walking ahead of me, didn’t look back as she spoke “Tomorroe scour the su?” I asked, watching the leviathan wo wind that blew through the dell
Vireah, alked alongside Sylvie—but was careful to keep some distance between my clan and herself—answered “Our prey will present itself to us When you see it, you will know” Her liquid silver eyes rested onmoment, then skated away, inscrutable
I frowned at that, but the conversation ended there As we entered under the sprawling, gnarled liave a shout and waved us toward a flat spot between three massive trunks
“Take aaway toward the other leviathans “Food and drink will be shared later, and then conversation and stories First, though, settle yourof nakedness She had a way of seeing right through me with a wisdoht, I al, ree, maybe even more
‘They are all hts ‘The youngest of therabbed, I leta circle of stones to contain a fire, and Ellie wasted no ti ca coroup of four The different asuran races each favored a specific experience The leviathans, for exahtly colored tents made of dense fabric, while the phoenixes mostly roosted in ha a single large canopy tent in which they built their fire The dragons, on the other hand, were taking their ti themselves each a kind of small house from conjuredand bathing
As Zelyna had suggested, each group was co just with their own kind for the moment
I withdrew a simple bedroll and laid it out by the fire pit as Chul finished arranging the large circle of stones He had already dragged over a downed tree, and he began ripping dry li the them into a loose pile He hu to hi
When he was satisfied with the state of his pile, he summoned his weapon Flames issued from the round, fissured head like a torch, which he stuffed into the wood It caught ih
Above, the trees rustled as they leaned toward the war the leaves wereoff a sleepy, sweet scent
“Drea up into the canopy “The flowerstea, or so I learned in the Hearth I’ve never actually seen one before today It is said that resting beneath them will make you sleep like the dead So dead, in fact, that so phoenix warrior was eaten alive by a beast while he slept”
I scoffed in grim amusement “Perhaps we should set a watch then, to make sure none of us sleep to death”
Sylvie looked from her small but comfortable tent to the tree above it, which was covered in the maroon flowers “Maybe we should is looked up fro around the campsite “Don’t worry, m'lady, I’ll ensure your beauty sleep isn’t interrupted”
Sylvie snorted and tossed a handful of fallen yellow leaves at hi roll beside the tall fire, Ellie wrapped her arms around herself and shi+vered “Uh, that wind is like knives through these sweaty clothes” Giving et that arain? Just to warm me up…”
Behind her, there was a faint pop, and Boo appeared as if fro down behind her She leaned back, pushi+ng into his fluff “Oh, that’s better Thanks for waiting, Boo I don’t think you’d have liked that climb” Her nose tipped toward her underarons to borrow their bath, too How come none of you sweat thatSylvie and I both laugh “Asuras don’t sweat, sister”
“Wait, really?” She gave me an uncertain look
“The perfume and soap makers of this world would be out of business if that were true”
We all turned to see Vireah approaching with a basket She had changed out of the breeches and leathers she’d cliray hooded dress In the basket were a couple round loaves of bread and several glass jars that clinked together with each step “A gift from the Inthirah clan Prepared by my mother herself” She held out the basket with both hands
I took it in the same respectful o with the bread “Thank you”
She nodded, then took a step closer to the fire As she stared into its depths, the flames’ reflection danced over her silver eyes “Your clan did well today, Lord Arthur That climb was no mean feat, even for asura”
Chul pulled the basket out of an to thuh the jars as he chewed “Ooh, fireweed honey My favorite!” Offhanded, he passed the basket to Sylvie and walked off with his bread and the jar of honey
“I wouldn’t blaimmick from your perspective,” I said in answer to Vireah’s coh your eyes”
Her right hand drifted forward, seeers, the heat itself twisting andher “No, I don’t see it that way If anything, it’s…exciting” There was a quiver in her voice, and I realized suddenly that this noble dragon was nervous “This is the first tie in Epheotus Those who ree, perhaps”
Riven loom around the campfire “It wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, trust me”
“Of course not,” Vireah was quick to answer “I didn’t e Violence between asura is never good for Epheotus”
“Hey!” The shout ca strides crunched through fallen leaves in the dark, and then Naesia appeared Her sray hair tumbled about her head in a wild reat lord about you knoho until everyone had settled in!”
“You knoho?” I asked As the words left my lips, I carona”
Vireah continued staring into the flaain, into the darkness His broere pinched orry Naesia sat down in the grass, her legs extended forith her arms stretched behind herself for support At soainst a tree at the outer edge of the firelight
Although they didn’t approach our fire, I could feel the other asuras straining to overhear as said
“Rurona’s defeat at the hand of a lesser,” Riven said, tense in both body and tone “But even my father has been quiet with er in the aftere to me that Kezess hadn’t spread the story far and wide, but then, he wanted a living, conscious Agrona to parade through the clan ho asuras Suspicion built in my on—was somehow calculated
“There isn’t rona had invested himself deeply into a separate source of power I destroyed it, and he went into a kind of corona and I never even fought”
“Oh” Riven’s face fell Clearly he had been expecting—or hoping, rander tale
While the others all see in Riven’s expression that told hting the Vritra clan, he’d said I also knew the basilisk race had suffered greatly following Agrona’s defection to Alacrya
I couldn’t help but wonder if seeing Agrona receive abasilisk or only reopen old wounds
“You were iesting she was intentionally changing the subject
Vireah piped up, adding, “YourPure on’s use mana Do you have any talent with aether, like your brother?”
“Thanks!” Ellie beah”
Naesia, who had eased back into a ain, frowned “A spellfor herself free of Boo’s fluff, she turned and lifted the back of her jacket and shi+rt to reveal the spellform tattoo “It kind of, like…brands ic by channeling my an peppering Ellie with questions
After a“Honestly, I’m not the expert We have this master inventor, Gideon, who understands all this stuff And my brother, too The Alacryans use them, but they were invented by the djinn”
I could tell inized the term
“I’ve never heard of the djinn Is that another one of your lesser races?” Riven asked, scratching absently at the scalp around one horn
I felt rind before I took control of myself They had no idea their entire civilization was built on the ashes of a dozen others “We call theer here, but ers in our world” I shot Chul a warning glance not to explain further
Zelyna finally stepped forward, co her teht To my sister, she said, “I noticed that you did not ht on the ascent Why?”
Ellie withdrew the unstrung bow, causing surprised h the asuras “I haven’t been able to use it”
“How is it that a hulancing around at her peers “And the weapon of General Aldir, no less”
“It chose her,” Zelyna said defiantly “Whatever ruave everything of himself for the betterment of both Epheotus and the world of the lessers” She stared around at the others, e, one that none of the other asuran nobles illing to meet
“Your clan really is full of surprises,” Riven said after an aard pause “It’s too bad we have no titans a”