Aquila would leave us alone temporarily as I retrieved what we needed from the red-roofed city of Croatia. He would immediately try to fry us once I returned with the metal chains and equipment to wield them.
It was hard to think straight as I plummeted to the city, where hundreds of civilians and slaves paused their work to observe the unnatural sight in the sky. My stomach felt like it rose to my neck, like I was on one of those roller coasters that shot straight down. Even though I knew I was going to live with Jupiter’s blessing negating fall damage, every fiber in my being warned of turning into Roman jelly from slamming into the cobblestone streets. I closed my eyes anyway as I smacked into the ground.
I prepared to stand to my feet, only to be back in the sky, falling down to Split again.
I sighed, cursing the Chrono Loop.
It took me several loops of trying different falling poses to just give up and lash out with my Pilum of Mars. I had no rhyme or reason to my throw that I mixed with lightning. However, my aim was so precise and powerful that it electrocuted a mixture of young, adventurous men and women taking a dip in the Adriatic Sea despite the storm. A host screams sounded as I ruined their fun afternoon as lightning crackled around them.
Honor (-50): 110
They’ll live, I convinced myself as I landed for the dozenth time on the slick cobblestone streets of Split. Shouldn’t be swimming in a storm anyway.
I set off to raid the forge nearby, shoving apprentices out of the way amidst the thundering rain.
Ten seconds now, I thought, yanking two longer metal chains from a rack at the back of the crowded storefront. I shoved them both in my leather bag.
Caesar was smart in sending Mercury-blessed sleeper agents to kill me. They would move with incredible speed.
I found the pair of gloves I was looking for and leaped out of the back window. I was in the crowded street again, surrounded by tall terracotta buildings and whipped by the steady rain. While the merchants would not be here, Diocletian’s Palace just down the street would have jars of honey inside of it.
Two blurring figures zoomed towards me from the end of the street near the palace, while one came in from behind me. A dozen more would be on me in less than a minute.
Luckily, Diocletian’s Palace was not the ruins that it was in modern day Croatia. It still had its impressive square walls, making it more of a fort than a palace. And those walls had strong metal gates to keep the populace at bay.
Looks high enough, I thought, activating my lightning dash and my increased speed perk to run almost forty miles per hour after my dash. The Mercury-blessed faltered in their run, not expecting my incredible power. While I could have killed them easily, I decided to spare them since they were under Caesar’s control and I didn’t want to get bogged down in a street fight with dozens of them that could potentially kill me by overwhelming numbers. Instead, I capitalized off of my speed and vaulted over them, reaching fifty feet in the air and easily surpassing the walls. I landed safely inside the palace and took off towards the kitchen for some honey.
Palace staff shouted with fear as I weaved through them, knocking some aside by accident and causing pots and pans to clatter to the ground. From my foresight, I knew exactly the cabinet where all the honey would be waiting, so I wasted little time in retrieving it. As I snatched the jar and shoved it in my leather bag, one of the cooks, a larger man with thick stubble on his face, tensed as he held a butcher knife, like he wanted to stop me. But the crackling sparks from my lightning enhanced aura and armor kept him at bay.
“Tell Diocletian the boy he made a eunuch will come for him,” I said before dashing off. Even though my masculinity was completely healed, sometimes I swear I could still feel the spear from Diocletian down there. I shuddered at the thought.
I had just scrambled to one of the many open courtyards when four of the Mercury-blessed skidded in to join me.
“Stop him!” one of them shouted, the rest drawing gladii.
“Try to catch me,” I said, summoning lightning with my hand. I didn’t need to rely on my pilum ability due to the raging storm around us.
Instantly I shot to the air. Before I could launch to space, I squeezed tightly on the humming and hot white lightning bolt, anchoring me in the storm clouds and almost giving me whiplash. Umbra and Sporus were only a football field away from me. In a blink and another lightning bolt, I was back on Umbra’s back.
“Down!” I shouted as Aquila picked up the assault from my return.
Umbra complied, launching us down at just the right time to avoid another strike. Aquila screeched and disappeared into the dark clouds.
“You’re going to have to fly fast,” I said, keeping my voice at a shout above the pounding rain. Already I was dripping wet beneath my dark armor. “I’ll tell you where to go, just go! Take us above the storm clouds so we can have a clear line of sight!”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Umbra grumbled slightly but obeyed. I had to squeeze onto his spine to hold on while I turned around, keeping one hand steady on his spiky spine. For a few seconds, it was almost impossible to see being smothered by the ashy clouds. Then, the rain and obscurity ceased as we shot through to clear skies. All beneath us were dark storm clouds churning and groaning with violence. Aquila would try to hide from us and attack when we got close. Luckily, we had a second to breathe.
“Keep left,” I said to Umbra, before turning to Sporus. His delicate face looked quite pale and soaked with rain as our eyes met. “You okay?”
“Sure,” he lied, his bow-hand looking bone white as he strangled it. “Just tie me up so I can shoot this thing.”
“You got it.”
I took out the two metal chains from my bag. I handed him the one for the arrow while I worked on securing his waist to Umbra. If I couldn’t see the successful futures, I doubt I would have been able to tie a secure knot with the chain. In fact, he would have fallen off if not for my prophetic vision, making us lose the eagle as a result.
“There,” I said, grunting as I finished making it tighter. “That should do it.”
Sporus nodded in thanks. “Where is it?”
“This is where it gets challenging,” I said, resuming to look over Umbra’s shoulder as we flew above the storm. “He’s right there Umbra, above that oddly shaped cloud. He’s hiding beneath the clouds while we fly above. If you go down below, he’ll switch places with you. We will not be able to seize him unless we chase him in the clouds where we’ll be most vulnerable. And once we catch up to him, you won't be able to doge the bolt, but I can catch it for you. It’ll stun him and allow us to close in. Sporus, that’s when you’ll take your shot.”
Just say the word, Umbra said, circling around the spot where Aquila hid in the clouds.
“Now!”
With a terrible twist of his neck, Umbra dove into the storm cloud. We tore through the clouds in a few seconds, popping through into the rain. Aquila had already seen us coming and was far ahead of us already, throwing back several lightning bolts for Umbra to dodge as he retreated to the sky above. As soon as Umbra returned above the clouds, Aquila would drop again, and we would follow. Over and over we chased him like this for hours. We never made a mistake in timing or direction thanks to my Historical Insight, which gained us an extra inch every time Aquila changed his path. But still, for more than five hours this hunt endured, leaving Sporus and I shivering to the bone with how cold and wet we were.
It was truly the worst rollercoaster ride. Ever.
Finally, as the afternoon began to wane, we came within reach. If Umbra dropped on him again, he could snatch him in his claws. But Aquila was expecting that.
As soon as Umbra dropped through the clouds, I reached up and threw my hand in front of Umbra’s face to catch the string of lightning bolts that smacked into it. Had I simply blocked, the overwhelming lightning damage would have fried me, sending me back to the Underworld. But I treated it just like a lightning summoning, catching it with impossible speed before it could heavily damage Umbra or kill me. The lightning bolts sizzled with rage in my hands, begging to be released.
I let them have their way.
With an arcing throw, I threw back the lightning bolts to explode in front of Aquila, using my Prophetic Insight to throw it just right so that the eagle would not die. Aquila screeched with fear as pulled back from the lightning, the sudden flash exposing his shadow.
“Now Sporus!”
Sporus wasted no time and released the steel-chained arrow. Just as I’d hoped, it pierced the bird’s wing, causing it to scream bloody murder.
“Catch him while I have him distracted,” I ordered, strapping on the gloves and dipping them in honey while the steel chain in my lap was pulled from Aquila’s flight. I made sure to wrap it several times around my hand before I leapt off of Umbra’s back and swung.
As expected, Aquila retaliated by shocking the chain with lightning strike after lightning strike. Though I negated most of the damage, it still drained my health precariously fast with each bolt.
Health: 80/130
Health: 30/130
With my freehand, I chugged a health potion to keep from dying. My health restored half of what was lost, only to drain again. Aquila screeched above me, being dragged down by my weight. Croatia rushed towards us as we fell.
C’mon, Umbra!
Just when I was about to fry, my fall suddenly stopped. Aquila’s cries shut off, muffled by Umbra’s massive red claws snatching him from the air. Before another lightning strike could crispen me, I let go of the chain, falling again to Split. Pivoting in the air, I summoned a lightning bolt to launch me back to the clouds above, where I again turned and landed seconds later on Umbra’s back, being extra careful not to become a eunuch again on Umbra’s spiked spine.
Quest Completed: Hunt of Aquila
“Error: Unable to report System feedback.”
Rewards:
* Jupiter’s Blessing Rank 7/10: Unleashes a shockwave that deals 100 damage and knocks back enemies within a 20-foot radius, with a 50% chance to disorient them for 5 seconds. Cooldown 10 minutes.
* Intelligence (+10): lvl 9 (20/100)
* Glory (+330): 6,870
* Level (+1): 57 (300/590)
* Skill Points (+1): 1
“Let him go now,” I said, breathing a sigh of relief at the completed quest.
Umbra complied, letting the eagle go free. Thankfully, it did not decide to kill us. Instead, it hovered beside us, nodding in respect for catching him, before flying off to the far horizons.
“Good shot, Sporus,” I said, leaning against Umbra’s wet back. The weariness was starting to seep in.
“Thank you,” he said, sounding similarly tired.
“Let’s head back. We’re going to have a long night.”