-- Aster --

The air was so thick with power, it practically flooded my vision. Everything felt like moving through a cloud of fog. Though the power acted more like an ocean or river, with waves and crests, splaying all around. It was a sight to behold, but if I wanted to see more than a foot in front of my face, I had to slow the power to my eyes, to even see more than a hundred feet into the city.

I didn't have much hope for actually finding, Bay. I didn't even know which direction she wandered off to. I thought to follow the rapid flow of power like she supposedly did, but I couldn't determine what direction the flow was even going. Too much was just crashing together or disturbed by the people.

I ended up just walking aimlessly through the city looking for any sign of Bay. I wasn't all that worried. Knowing her she would be fine. She was strong and knew how to defend herself. Not to mention I would imagine any spell she cast here would be much stronger than normal. Besides this wasn't the first time she wandered away, she would get lost in her head and end up somewhere else.

I thought of falling away to search all the city, but I was still getting a handle on that part of my skill. I could see through hundreds of eyes but it's easy to miss things, and I can only grab focus of one at a time. My mind was not made to work like that. I wasn't sure what would even happen if I did that here. Maybe I would just explode. Ha! That would be my look try to fall and dance right off that edge because I wasn't expecting the influx.

With that happy thought, I began to wonder if this was what the thieves road actually was. A condensed network of many guided throughout the city. At that, I stopped and narrowed my eyes. Moving my hand through a thick fog of energy, I could feel some resistance as I pushed through. Hmm, not as thick as the road. Maybe I could walk on it or use it to slow a fall, but walk or run I wasn't sure.

Something else hit me, if it's just power in the air I wonder. I reached my hand back out and instead of pushing power out to coat my hand I pulled. I visibly watched as the energy flooded into my body, it was like it was looking for me as my body heated up, beginning to burn. I quickly cut off the flow, before I was injured. Or I tried to, the flow slowed to a tiny trickle, but it was still there. My body didn't want to stop the absorption, I could only slow it down. At least I'll be topped off. I thought laughing, I was feeling good. Warmth spread through all my limbs and I couldn't help but smile.

Looking back around me I found the cloud of mana thinner and when I looked above I froze, and stared at the strange sight above. Shooting across the sky around the high of the tops were stars, bright and trailing light.

"The rot is that?" I said just a little too loud.

The people around me looked to the sky where my eyes lay, then seemed to give me a glare. None of them seemed to be able to see the stars. Must be something only cats can see. I realized

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I turned back to the stars realizes that they were pure power, and they weren't just streaking across the sky. They kept stopping and starting but the pauses were so short that I barely caught the action.

What are those? My curiosity peaked when I saw the stars all stop and turn down straight for one of the tops of the buildings. It looked like they shot into the building or just onto the top. I tore my eyes away, "That was really cool." I said to the people around me. No one paid attention and just kept walking. I let out a little chuckle finding the whole thing hilarious. "I'm gonna find out what you are?" I stated as I started walking through the city towards the building.

I ran into a building in the way and looked up. Ok, well I got to go to the roofs anyway. I bent my knees pushed power into my muscles, and jumped. As a spur-of-the-moment thing, I did a front flip as I landed on top of the shop's roof. My eyes widened as all around the roofs were people. The tops in this city were busy. There were hundreds of people just jumping from top to top. How did I now see any of them from the ground? I tried to think but couldn't focus just summing it up as magic. Where they the stars?

They all must be strong to use the tops like us rogues. Unless they were all rogues. Maybe, that would be so cool. It did strike me as strange that so many people were up here during the day. In An Le Notre, a place like this would only ever be run on during the night. Curious and fascinated I ran through the tops attempting to weave through the traffic and just marveling at the hidden world above the city. Then I found a fifty-story building and climbed to the top. There at the top of the tall building, I found a group of men and women all smiling and joking with some type of board in their hands. I wondered what it was when I saw one of them coat their board in mana and jump over the side. I watched as the man landed on the board and swerving back and forth glided through the city. Every turn created sparks trailing through the sky.

All I could think was, "That was awesome. I wanna try."

I must have said that aloud as the entire group looked towards me, and smiled.

-- Last City Scout --

It was my third circuit back to my scouting position of the crack. We all knew something was coming. The static was growing brighter, and the power thicker. Something was going to come through. I could only look so long into the static before it started to mess with my eyes. Seeing shapes that weren't their figures moving beyond. I blinked wiping away faded images.

I say at the top of the tallest tree in the forest closest to the crack. With the amount of power coming through it was the closest I could go before it became too much for me. I was watching for anything, and had been here for a day already and would be for two more. Periodically, I would send back a report with one of the messengers all saying the same thing. Nothing has changed. Needless to say, I was bored from, all of the, nothing.

I was having another bout of boredom debating carving into my little nest when out of the corner of my eye something moved. I turned to lock onto the crack as they began to appear. They began to materialize as if from nothing, hundreds maybe thousands of creatures. I could only make out their silhouettes before an impossibly large hand reached out and pulled them all back. It happened so fast that if I wasn't looking I could have easily missed the entire thing.

I was still miles away from the crack and that hand...that hand struck fear into my heart. How was it possible for something that big to exist?

I finally knew why none of the other scouts saw anything. Whatever was behind there was smart and keeping them back.

I felt a drop of sweat roll down my back. I stood from the spot I was watching from and ran with everything I had back to the city. They had to be warned. We need to prepare.