Aether Beasts

Chapter 248

[These last few chapters and the next few are the quiet before the storm.]

Sandra relayed everything she had heard to me which I then sent over to Zirani who no doubt tell Aeverie so that she could put people on guard and on watch to see if the Red Ribbons and this alchemist actually did do whatever they planned tomorrow, which also brought up another worry. What if whatever they did tomorrow would trigger whatever this danger was. If so that meant that we would need to stop it, or at least have someone follow them and if something did occur that we needed to interrupt, Zirani and I could teleport there.

We could create a portal spatial anchor, and though it wouldn't be easy and to create an anchor that would last for hours was hard, it was still possible.

"You might have to trail them tomorrow," I said, not really liking that fact, but I couldn't coddle her. I hadn't and wouldn't start now. She was strong and could handle herself, not that I wouldn't be there if she ever needed help.

"Probably," she said with a curious look. "What do you think they're planning to do?"

"Maybe something to do with alchemy," I replied. "He is an alchemist after all, though it could just as well be something else."

We spent some more time talking together rather than heading back to sleep as it was almost morning and the vehicles would start back up soon. If we could have moved at night we would have made better time, but Zirani and others had explained it was very risky in the current area we were in. Different kinds of beasts prowled the night, more insidious than those of the morning.

So far I'd met aether beasts with human-level intelligence like Zirani and the Dryad, and also lesser beasts with more animal-like intelligence, but I had yet to meet the worse type of beasts. The beasts were like most in that they attacked anything they found, but were also just as smart as humans. They, from what Zirani had told us, were by far the most dangerous types, and those that hunted in groups had actually learned routes the expedition took.

I had asked Zirani why they didn't leave the scar, and the only explanation she'd had was the high concentration of aether, though even she knew that wasnt the only or main reason. Something kept the beasts in the scar, and apart from those few at the top, Zirani didn't think many others knew.

When the time came for the vehicles to start back up, I chose to stay with Sandra. We spent most of our time just relaxing and talking on lighter topics, though at one point we moved on to what would happen when we arrived at the lands beyond the scar.

"You shouldn't worry too much," I said. "We have Zirani, and we'll always have our bond."

She smiled and leaned into me. "I know, it's just that clan isn't a friendly palace. Even with just a few memories I have, I know that."

"You'll have your sister though," I replied, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "You must be excited to see her."

She nodded. "Yeah, though she might have changed since then."

"No matter what," I said, "We'll be together. In mind, if not always body."

"I can't tell if that was innuendo or not," Sandra giggled.

I chuckled and leaned in to give her a kiss.

The rest of the trip went by quickly and when we stopped once again for the night, Sandra headed off to speak with the representatives of the clan while I headed back to the green court area.

I met Zirani halfway to the vehicle, and she had a tired look on her face.

"Trouble with Aeverie?"

"No so much trouble as curiosity," Zirani replied. "She kept asking questions that she knew I wouldn't answer. She has changed since before the event that sent me to the plains, but there are also things about her that haven't. And Julian being there didn't help, even if she did keep him deafened for most of the trip?"

"Deafened?"

"Fae technique," Zirani said. "As I've explained before, their abilities are odd and unique. It's not particularly powerful in the weaker fae, but very versatile and the stronger fae. Well, let's just say you don't want to fight one of them before you're ready."

"My aunt has some old-world books about fae," I said. "Some of them are very dark."

"Those types are part of my aunt's court. The summer and spring lay with the verdant court while the autumn and winter stay with the court of thorns in my aunt's domain. Those fae… are bad, to say the least, though they can't fully be blamed. For some, it's their nature. There are also some from the winner and autumn who are part of the verdant court and vice versa. Fae are both ever-changing yet unchanging in their nature, or at least there were before the introduction of aether. That changed things."

"The calamity."

Zirani nodded. "It's a heavily researched and discussed topic, and one thing most scholars everyone agrees on is that the introduction of energy we know as aether, changed everything that came to this world. I understand it a bit better after our encounter with the hag. Sometimes I wonder how dryads were in our original world. If what the hag said was true, then we had access to another type of energy."

"Maybe we'll find out," I replied. "The lost queen seems to know a lot. All we need to figure out is how she can tell us without whatever happened last time occurring again."

"I've been thinking about that." Zirani frowned. "It sounds like she broke some sort of oath or deal."

"What like a soul oath?"

Zirani nodded. "Either that or she's under some sort of restriction we can't see."

I focused in on Aneva and found her still dormant, and though I could have woken her, I decided to leave it until our next training session.

We arrived and entered the vehicle.

"Some food should be coming soon." Zirani took a seat and leaned back. "Until then, let's get this anchor done. Pay close attention. You could probably do it on your own, but it would take longer and we need this done sooner rather than later."

Months ago I wouldn't have been able to understand anything Zirani was doing or even keep up, but now after all the training, I was able to follow along and understand each step. A few parts took longer to understand but I did eventually get them. The anchor's solid form was formed of normal nature aether, and then she wove the mutated aether into it in the form of runes which appeared on the anchor as though carved out by invisible hands. I saw that she could have done it differently, but this way was easier and we only needed this for one jump. She poured a huge amount of aether into it, so much so, that her body flickered at one point, as some of the aether that was being used to keep her manifested was used by accident.

When all was said and done, she held a meter and a half pillar which ended in a point at one end and was covered in faintly glowing blue runes with a tinge of green. It was complex and from Zirani's smile, I could tell she was both pleased and proud of her work.

"This should work just perfectly," Zirani said. "Touch it and make sure you have its mark."

I nodded. It used a similar principle to the markers I had created for most of my teleportation techniques.

Once that was done, Zirani handed it to me and I stored it in one of my spatial rings. I would give it to Sandra when I next saw her. The food arrived a few minutes after we were done, and Misty arrived minutes after that.

"Anything new?" I asked as she took a seat and picked up one of the four plates meant for her.

"Not really," Misty replied. "The only thing I noticed was that Juveria, their leader, and some of the others weren't about, and wherever I asked Vita she just said they were busy."

I told her about what Sandra had found. "Do you think it's because they're preparing?"

Misty shrugged. "Maybe. I've only been traveling with them for two days and most of that time has been spent with Vita. What's the plan by the way?"

I pulled out the anchor and let her in on what we would be doing if we needed to interfere. "You should probably stay with us so we can take you along if you want to come?"

"Of course," She replied. "I don't want to be the only one left out and if Sandra get's into trouble i'll be there to help."