[Access Granted: Yggdrasil]

[Soulsinger Designation: Boro]

[Class 1: Evoker (Type: Stormwitch)]

[Class 2: Bonesinger (Type: Anzu)]

The wind howled as Boro—Betrayer and Former Knight of the Morduin Order—shot through the skies above the Three Seas, his feathered wings slicing through the air like twin scythes. With each beat of his wings, he drew of the Root of Air, pulling on threads of aether that propelled him forward.

I’m almost there. I need to reach him! The name of his goal—the embodiment of hope for himself and his fellow conspirators—echoed through this mind. Vitomir Ratnik! The desperate thought fueled him nearly as much as the aether he channeled through his veins, feeding him with the restless energy and need to move, to act.

He separated his mind into two, keeping one half focused on the presence of danger he sensed right on his tail. With the other half, he slammed his intent into the Skill [Trace]. Threads of aether only visible to himself shot from his chest, soaring ahead of him, slightly westward of the direction he had been flying. He quickly corrected his course, keeping his trajectory as efficient as possible. Every second would matter with this mission.

The black cloak of the Morduin Order’s Paladin Corp whipped around his body, and the weight of what he carried in his inside pocket, sitting right near his heart, seemed to beat like a second heart.

Suddenly, the aether behind him swirled and evaporated in a rush, as though being sucked away by a vacuum. The sense of danger that previously crackled in the back of his mind erupted into a roaring flame. Ah, shit. He spared a glance over his shoulder and didn’t like what he saw.

The air warped, swirling like paint dissolving in water. Shhhhh—! Then, with a sound much like a gigantic sword being drawn from a scabbard an airship popped into existence right where the distortion in space had been.

The airship’s skyfin—a sleek, dolphin-like creature—glided smoothly behind him, its body shimmering in the fading light of the sun, casting long shadows across the wine-colored waves below. The airship itself—tethered to the skyfin’s belly with silver chains—was small, built for speed and flight at lower altitudes than this. The outside of the ship was covered in large swaths of small, interlocking strips of metal. Where these metal patches didn’t cover, the actual wooden exterior of the ship showed through.

Two figures stood aboard the pursuing airship. Each of them were cloaked in layers of black much like himself. Their faces were hidden behind the red mask of the Holrac Division. The crimson surfaces gleamed in the dying sun like freshly spilled blood. The high, flared cheekbones and broad, furrowed brow of the masks’ visages created a monstrous appearance, which was accentuated by the jagged tusks jutting out of the mouths formed on the ogre-like masks. Boro had worn a similar mask for years.

Faster, he thought. He burned as much of his mana as he could. His wings pulsed, drawing more aether.

Then, the singing of metal-on-metal filled the air. Boro cautioned another glance backwards to witness the metal strips tearing away from the airship’s surface and hissing through the air towards his position. Boro banked hard to the left, rolling through the air as sharpened strips of metal tore through the space in the sky where he had just been.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He anticipated what was coming next and prepared himself as the metal seemed to freeze for a heartbeat, the air around them swirling and warping. Boro could sense the aether being channeled on the deck of the airship. A red, grimacing face appeared in the air just above him, the metallic projectiles vanishing from the air.

[Spell: Thunderclap]

Boro’s feathered wings gave a single, powerful beat and the air between him and the Holrac Knight shook with a deafening boom. The soundwave crashed into the masked figure, blasting them away from him. The knight’s spiraling body twisted again, replaced by another flurry of metal that rained on Boro.

Again, Boro was able to twist through the air, dodging the deadly shower.

The sharp crackle of fire ripped through the air behind him, and Boro barely had time to glance back before the second knight, hands blazing with jets of fire, launched themself off the airship like a living missile.

“Shit!” Boro banked hard again, but it was too late.

The knight collided with him mid-air, fingers like claws locking onto his wings. Heat seared through his back as fire burst from the knight’s palms, engulfing his feathers in flame. Pain ripped through him, a scream tearing from his throat as they spiraled down, plummeting toward the sea below.

Boro’s vision blurred with agony, the edges of his world going red. He felt his wings disintegrating in the blaze, feathers turning to ash, and panic surged through him. If they hit the water, he was done. The sea’s surface would be as hard as stone from this height.

With a guttural roar, Boro released his partial Bonesinger transformation, letting the last of his wings dissolve into nothing. The knight reacted quickly, grabbing onto his cloak as they continued to descend towards the crashing waves below. Their hands continued to burn.

“Aghhh!!...” Boro gritted his teeth. He drew in the aether around him, and with the mana he freed up from his Bonesinging he cast another spell.

[Spell: Wind Sphere]

Boro’s aura was forced into a swirling sphere of wind that exploded outward, blasting the knight away from him in a violent shockwave. The knight was sent careening through the sky, limbs flailing, before their partner swooped in with the airship, catching them just before they could fall to their doom.

Boro didn’t wait. His body screamed with pain, burns crawling up his back and shoulders, but he summoned what remained of his strength, wrapping himself in the wind and shooting upward once more. He activated his Bonesinger transformation again, a set of new wings sprouting from his shoulder blades in a burst of white light.

The skyfin shrieked behind him as the airship angled to pursue again, but Boro was done playing defense. He turned, his wings keeping him suspended in the air on threads of Air. With a swift motion, he shot his hand forward.

[Spell: Chain Lightning]

A single bolt of lightning arced through the air, striking the airship’s hull with a loud crack. The skyfin bucked, panicked, sending the ship into a wild, careening wobble as it lost its grace in the air.

The knights scrambled. Boro could hear one of them cursing as they struggled to regain control, but it was too late. The ship slowed to a crawl, its momentum lost.

Boro let a faint smile creep onto his face before it was quickly wiped away and replaced with a grimace of pain. He glanced down at his side where a sharp pain was tugging at his skin. He touched the wet cloth of his cloak and his hand came away bloody. Several of the metal strips must have found their mark after all.

Boro tore his eyes away from his hand, and activated [Trace] again. His burns ached, and his strength was flagging, and he had no time to linger. Not sparing another glance back towards the airship, he set off in the direction of his target. He could still feel the weight of the artifact beneath his cloak, pressing against him like a reminder of what was at stake. So many years of plotting and planning for this single opportunity. Vitomir, I’m coming…

His eyes narrowed, locked on the distant shore of Valhadryan. A small dot in the air ahead of him. Another airship—large and lumbering through the air towards that cold, gray shoreline. There it is!

Boro pushed harder, the wind tearing at his cloak as he soared onward.

He had to make it in time.