Quinn, his commander, and two other aircraft were the only survivors. A massive monster made out of something sticky and malleable was roaming the battlefield catching the other warbirds in a giant bug net. The commander turned and fled after a bolt of lightning struck something flying in the sky. Quinn was certain that the rest of his squadron had been either shot down by the jets or captured by the monster.

The fog had not arrived near the battlefield and the commander was able to fly very low, almost hugging the treetops. The low altitude and winding path through the hills did not protect them very well, however. The oculomancers could see auras even through stone and trees. The fighters from Spire Renna were returning. The two warbirds from a different squadron were ahead when the commander veered off to the west. Quinn followed him, and the fighters above split.

Over a remote river basin the commander began to slow down and lower his flaps. Quinn didn't see any place to land but stayed in formation, carefully matching his airspeed. They seemed to be getting dangerously close to the trees, and the single fighter that was chasing them was lining up behind them. Suddenly a clearing appeared, a long stretch of grass wide enough for the wings of the airplanes. The commander slowed down and landed first, and his landing was smooth. Quinn had not practiced landing here and he hit hard. His propeller hit the ground and the the entire warbird flipped over and skid, upside down, along the grass runway.

Quinn was upside down, and the canopy could not open because it was pressed against the ground. Ethermancy tore at the airframe, causing it to rip apart on one side. Quinn climbed out of the shattered warbird, dazed. He heard a hissing sound mixed with a crackling fire. The fighter jet was lining up for a shot.

Quinn dashed into the forest. The oculomancer would be able to see his aura, and knew exactly where he was, however she seemed to prioritize destroying the in-tact warbird that had belonged to the commander. Hot white bullets shot out causing guizers of dirt and grass to shoot up in a line, ripping the airplane to pieces. The fighter pulled up and shot off into the sky. It grew quiet.

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It was a short hike down into a cavern entrance to the underground. The enemy fighter did not return. Quinn was placed in a mine-cart and sent down a random set of tracks. When he arrived at the bottom he did not know where he was, and nobody knew how to contact Maxius. It would be days of walking on the surface to reach the Gale Temple where he had last seen Maxius, and in the Underground it could be weeks or months to navigate the maze and arrive there. There were some minecarts with very gentle slopes that could be used to travel long distances, however the distances were much smaller than those that an aircraft could cover.

It took many days for Maxius to find Quinn. "You came back!" he said.

"Me and my commander were the only ones in my squadron to survive," Quinn said. "There were two other warbirds that got away but they were being chased by another jet."

"They didn't make it," Maxius said. "I have more bad news. Another Messiah has been killed."

"I didn't know there was another Messiah," Quinn said.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Nobody did, it was an extremely tight secret. He was placed in a chamber and the entrance was destroyed with explosives. He was sealed inside with some food and water, nobody could get in our out of that chamber. This tells us two things. First, the oculomancers are definitely involved and they can definitely see witches through stone. Second, the Ghost of the Bloodraker can travel through stone. In fact, when we inspected the chamber afterwards, our geologists insisted that one section of the cavern floor under the bed appeared to have been turned into molten lava and then rapidly cooled."

Quinn was astonished. "An assassin that can swim through lava?"

"Listen, Quinn, there is something else. Did you see lightning strike something in the sky, originating from the ground?"

"I did, that was when we ran away."

"My father, Maxius the Senior, was killed by the Blue Wolf in that instant."

"I'm sorry," Quinn said.

"His aura detached from his body and just remained there in the sky." Maxius said. "The same can be said for all the pilots that were killed by the fighter jets near the Gale Temple. We don't have hardly any auras left. My entire aura was invested in that attack on the Empress. Now my family does not have any large auras to defend against her."

"Do you need this aura back?" Quinn asked. Maxius nodded.

"If you please."

Maxius placed his hand on Quinn's chest and attempted to take the aura. It didn't work.

"What's wrong?" Quinn asked.

"Nothing," Maxius said. "I took the aura just fine, why do you ask?"

"Because I can still feel ether," Quinn said.

Maxius just stared at him, eyes wide, mouth almost falling open.

"Quinn, if you can feel ether, that means you are developing witch powers."

"Are you certain?" Quinn asked. "Could you have accidentally not taken the entire aura?"

"I've been working with auras for decades," Maxius said. Come on, we have a way of testing.

Maxius led Quinn to an extremely long, straight tunnel. There was a torch at the end of the tunnel, so far away that it looked like a star in the sky.

"Can you feel the ether by that torch?" Maxius asked. Quinn tried to feel anything that far away. In fact, he could feel that ether.

"Yes, I can. My little aura could have never let me feel that ether," Quinn said.

"Then the only explanation is that you are a witch. And, the next Messiah. Come with me, we need to take you to the breeding chamber. Trust me, the girls there are very pretty and you'll be able to do your job no problem."

"No, absolutely not. I am not part of your religion, I do not want to stay down here."

"Well then where are you going to go?" Maxius asked. "The surface? You'll get blown up by a missile."

Quinn shook his head. "I won't stay on the surface. I'll keep going up. I'll take a warbird and fly away, their missiles are likely only designed for ground targets and won't work on a fast airplane."

"That is insane!" Maxius said.

"What about sitting down here in the dark and plowing girls until an assassin swims through the wall and murders me? That is insane. Look, just give me a copy of that book of yours. If my powers develop fast enough, I might be able to strip metals from the ground and craft myself a fighter jet like the ones the oculomancers use."

"Eventually you have to come back down to the ground though," Maxius said. "You can't fly forever."

"Why not? Maybe my powers will let me steal food from markets at a distance. Maybe I could install a toilet on my fighter jet and a place to sleep. I could live in the sky forever. See Maxius? I think that the mistake that all these Messiahs made was they stayed down here. Salvation is up, in the sky."

"You are a genius!" Maxius said. "We can really sell this. Alright, I think that you will start a trend here. All future Messiahs can also roll the dice trying to use their powers to fly forever. After all, how are we going to challenge the might of the Bloodraker if we can't fly?"