Chapter 504: The Baying of Hounds (1/2)
Chapter 504: The Baying of Hounds
ARTHUR LEYWIN
“There, get it!”
One of the young phoenixes let out an animalistic crow as he sent a fiery shape like a bird of prey scorching through the trees A large reen and brown mottled hide bolted frorowth The phoenix’s spell curved in the air, flew in between the beast’s six powerful, churning legs, and burned straight through its muscular chest
The round, but the sound was short-lived After a single twitching jerk of its powerful lie eyes on either side of its head beneath the antlers, each of which had twenty or thirty prongs that spread out in a wide antenna from its skull
Riven Kothan and one of the other basilisks hurried to the corpse alongside the phoenix who’d struck the blow “A clean kill,” Riven announced, gripping a prong of the beast's huge branching antlers and twisting its head around so I could see itblindly from the middle of its head “A beautiful ah’tule Well struck, Orrin”
The phoenix who’d killed the elk-likeMaybe I’ll prepare its hide and offer it to your sister as a courting gift—” He suddenly grunted as Riven struck hih
Riven looked around for his sister, who had co Clan Kothan, but she was elsewhere on the mountainside “You’re lucky Romii didn’t hear that You’d be wed before we return to Featherwalk Aerie”
“Unlikely,” the other basilisk said, still laughing “Until Arthur clailance for any other hter as he and Boo searched the forested ns of movement “He’s always had a ith princesses Don’t take it personally”
Beside led not to laugh along with the others I gave her a gentle push, and she snorted and swatted my hand away
“So, that beast was not our prey?” Chul asked, frowning as he watched the phoenix and basilisk work together to begin dressing their kill The rest of us continued on up the slope
“We’ll knoe see it, apparently,” I answered My senses were extended outward beyond the li for every disturbance in either aether or mana
Chul’s brow furrowed in concentration as alked
Sylvie ith the other dragons, about half a mile back Vireah, representative of the Intharah clan, walked with us instead She stayed at Ellie’s side, keeping up a constant litany of advice and instruction Most of the phoenixes and basilisks were nearby, but Zelyna had taken the leviathans up a separate path through the dell
Ahead of us, the ot to ask, but did you and…” I leaned in close, speaking so only Chul could hear runted, looking at s out?”
I felt myself frown “I just e?” I hesitated, realizing I wasn’t helping “Co?”
Chul made an ‘ah’ face as he finally understood “He faced the woman ore your lady love’s foret the full measure of you He sent me away because he trusted me and knehat I needed He explained this as I healed, and I felt foolish for doubting his motivations”
I blinked at him, still stuck on the “lady love” part of what he’d said Slowly, ht up with the rest I cleared ood”
Ahead of us, there was a cracking like breaking wood, and the ground gave way beneath one of the phoenixes Naesia shouted, and the ground seethed Five trees closed in like the fingers of a giant fist Phoenix flaht orange shot through with black
I flashed forward, pressing out in every direction with a bubble of aether to push back the curling trees Naesia ju root at the hole’s lip to keep herself fro into the bottomless dark Flames flashed within the hole, then the fallen phoenix reappeared, arcing through the air as if tossed Naesia reappeared just behind hi out of the hole to land on her feet
I shoved outward, expanding the aetheric barrier The trees shattered with a noise like cannonfire, bone-white kindling exploding in every direction
“Wood wights,” Rivendown into the pit as Naesia bent down to check on her coaze followed Riven’s; the pit was no longer black, and no deeper than ten feet to the soil-and-root covered bottom
“Suck you in and trap you,” Riven continued, turning away froo”
Ellie gave the pit a wide berth as she caught up “That was crazy It happened so fast”
“The mountain hasand pulling the other phoenix to his feet
He ran dirty fingers through his bright orange hair, chagrined “Sorry Naes Should have noticed,” he hter rolled her citrine eyes “At least you didn’t forget not to fly”
We continued on, eventually catching up to Zelyna where her leviathans had brought down an enormous titan bear The serious leviathans—a trait more related to their proxieneral—were in good cheer follohat they said was a “battle worthy of many campfire tales to come”
When we reached the point where the forested dell gave way to rocky slopes pocket with snow, Naesia called an early afternoon halt Cook fires were lit, and hout the day was prepared and spitted Soon, the entire mountainside was rich with the scent of fire-charred meat
I found athe sounds and smells as the asuras cooked
“It is a pleasant reprieve,” Sylvie said, arriving to sit next to hts “I can see why these rituals have survived the test of time”
“They are a necessary outlet,” Zelyna said as she approached from the direction of the other leviathans She had a scratch on her neck that looked almost healed In both hands, she carried a wooden tray laid out with fresh cuts of salted meat “No, it is not the titan bear,” she said with a s my look
She laid down the tray between Sylvie and me, then took a seat herself on the other side “Without a way to challenge ourselves, the asura would wither Or worse, go to ith each other”
Ellie bounded up and flopped into a thick patch of grass at our feet with a jaw-cracking yawn “Ugh, I’m still exhausted from that climb Am I the only one who feels like they can’t breathe up here?”
“I don’t kno things like that work in Epheotus, but in our world, the higher you cliets” I took a deep breath and considered “I don’t feel it yet, but—”
“But you’re not nor her eyes She rested her hands behind her head and kicked her heels against the soil “Although, I guess if I’m the only normal person here, then that makes me the weirdo”
“Sorry to break it to you, El, but you’ve always been the weirdo,” I teased
“The oxygen does grow thinner here, but so does thethe motes of elemental manic flow around us “The aether replaces it We asura feel this like a tightness in our chest”
“So…we’re back to Arthur being the weirdo,” ht “Good”
Nearby, Boo was cho on the leftovers of a ifted fronawed his lunch a healthy distance froreat bearlike guardian beast let out an aluffaw
“Thanks, Boo,” Ellie said, s at her bond “I knew you’d have my back”
Boo snorted and stuffed his face back into the carcass
Regis appeared frorowth, turned in a circle, and then plopped down next to Ellie, resting his chin on her shoulder “I hope Mama Leywin’s okay with all those asuras It feels kind of weird that we just left her down there with no protection”
“She’s as safe with the Avignis clan as anywhere else,” I said “More safe than with us, definitely”
Ellie sucked her teeth thoughtfully “I bet she’s lounging in the hot springs drinking so theydrowned out the end of Ellie’s state in a different direction The sound had seehostly hounds suddenly filled thetoward us fro fire
I kneas right I didn’t kno, exactly, but every instinct in my body burned with the certainty of the hunt
The braying caain, louder and more condensed All our heads turned simultaneously in the direction of the noise “Go!” I barked as I ju Chul, Sylvie, Ellie, and Regis were right behind me
“The hunt is on!” Riven shouted from somewhere behind me In an instant, the mountainside was alive with the sound of excited calls and bodies crashi+ng through the undergrowth
The thundering howls shi+fted to the right, leading us back down the olden light as I e layers of n of our quarry
The mountain dell was alive with noise and h the air ahead of ht our prey A her beast will, her connection with Boo bright between the’s Ga effect of the forest
It sounded as if all that noise ca, I scanned the undergrowth for any sign of movement The hoere so loud that it was difficult to tell exactly how far away their source was, but I knew it had to be within the range of aze briefly to the right: Zelyna was sprinting parallel to me, a shortsword held in each hand Her storm-blue eyes met mine for an instant, and one corner of her lips turned up She planted her left foot on the stu into the air, pushed off a different tree with her right foot, and flung the sword in her right hand
It cut the air with enough force to leave a visible ripple in its wake
Through a gap in the undergrowth, I saw a flash of white The sas going to strike—
But the next instant, the sword i up a shower of soil
The braying was suddenly off to our left andparty turned to pursue, Naesia and Vireah ended up in front Boo and Ellie were flagging behind, so Sylvie slowed to stay with theround with each step as he sprinted beside rowth and the occasional fallen tree like a ra spiked aurochs
More spells and attacks flew, but I never saw reen and brown
The ulfed the slope ahead of us I slowed, every sense focused on the braying
Just ahead of me, two bushes ap It had overly large ears, a pointed face, and a huge, bushy tail Fur rew fros that were pulled close to its back Its claebbed feet hardly seeround as it ran
Its sides pulsed in ti, which see not from the beast’s mouth, but from inside its body
Time seemed to slow, constricted by Sylvie’s aevu down at the tiny creature The very ground shattered, toppling nearby trees, but the braying was behind us now Spinning around, I watched as if in slow s Boo swiped at it, but it was as if the guardian bear wasin slow motion while the little beast continued to run on unabated