Discordant Note | TBATE

Chapter 109: Of Another Land

They hadn't been there a minute ago.

"So, did you know you've got..." I counted internally. "Half a dozen tails trailing you from the rooftops?" I asked.

Sevren gave me a look. "I usually have a couple on my back at all times, unless I purposely slip their watch. But there have been more since my last ascent," he said slowly. His brow furrowed. "And I only counted five."

I looked toward where I felt the sixth presence. They were the only spy that didn't exude a mana presence, but their slowly pulsing heartfire gave them away to me. At my obvious attention, their heart rate skipped a single beat.

I smiled. "I've got some special advantages in sensing others," I said, looking back at the road. "So, do you want to shake them?"

Sevren considered this for a moment before shaking his head. "No need. Once we're in the Relictombs, they won't be able to follow. And if we weren't being so obviously watched, I'd ask you more about your plans."

I exhaled. It was a calculated gamble going back into the Relictombs, but I'd made a promise. And as far as I was aware, I'd be able to reach my goal without any adverse effects.

"I'll say this. What happens will not be what you expect."

—

Oath flashed as it severed a wing from a lunging aether beast, the runes etched along the blade's spine pulsing in tune with the mana I imbued into the edge. I spun in tune with the cut, sending a forceful psychic push against the squawking birdlike creature's unbalanced back.

It tumbled into a tailspin, spraying blood and screeching in terror as it plummeted off a nearby ledge, falling into the endless clouds below.

I flourished my saber, flicking the viscous red blood from the red-patterned metal. Sensing an attack coming, I thrust my other hand forward, converging mana from my core to a spherical point that shimmered like oil.

I threw a sound grenade forward, then clenched my fist. The bursting vibrations impacted the oncoming metallic feathers, sending them off course and disrupting their deadly flight toward me.

A squadron of angry-looking avian beasts glared at me from the dimly lit sky, squawking as they prepared another volley of metallic projectiles from their two pairs of wings. Each was as large as me, and their eyes gleamed with malicious intent.

Sevren was faster. Promise zipped forward with as much force as I'd ever thrown it, that strange wire trailing behind it. The Damascus-patterned dagger lurched midair, managing to wrap two of the flock twice over before they could even react. The Denoir heir pulled his wire to the side, throwing the two birds into their own flock from half a dozen meters away.

The zone we entered a little over a day ago was a sprawling mess of islands, each seeming to hover in the sky. An unbroken expanse of clouds covered the entirety of the void below, an almost tempting canvas of white mist that shrouded whatever was beneath.

And the beasts that attacked us were certainly stronger than most creatures I'd faced before in the tombs. Many had earthen or metallic defenses that resisted my attempts to cut or damage them, leaving me to switch tactics. My new go-to tactic was to damage a wing and let them fall.

As Sevren handled the monsters in the sky, I refocused on those around ground level. Strange worms that looked like they were plated entirely in earth burrowed through the islands, trying to catch us by surprise. I attuned myself to the heartfire pulses around me, however, letting my ears detect what was coming.

As a signature erupted from almost directly below me, I slammed a mindfire stamp into the soft grass beneath me. The spell, which was a combination of piston stamp and a telekinetic shove against the ground, allowed me to blur fifty feet into the air with ease. As I soared upward, I simultaneously used a telekinetic pull on the creature that was erupting from the ground.