Ringing like a bell, the sound of Vestia’s fingers snapping with each other spread through the air as wildfire spreads through forests. From the Wanderers around her to the Wanderers of the Lotus clan, and even Alnea—not through Yuri’s senses, but through his own body— the sound of the snap took barely a moment to reach everyone’s ears, bringing with it a strange kind of silence.
It was a silence of peace and tranquillity, but at the same time, it was also a silence of chaos and mayhem. In some sense, it could even be considered as the silence of death. Yet, at its core, it was the silence of the wind. The silence of inaction. And the silence before the storm.
It began with a small gust of cold wind, blowing from the snap of her fingers, that soon clashed against the hot air rising above the scorching black desert, creating a small whirlwind, barely the size of an inch. If the gust of cold wind had been just normal wind, that should have been the end of its story. But it was not. The gust of cold wind was the seed of something much greater. It was the seed of chaos and mayhem. It was the seed of a storm.
It was only natural then, that the small whirlwind, instead of dying out in the heat of the desert, became even colder than before, clashing with an even greater amount of hot air, creating an even greater whirlwind. And that was just the beginning. Soon, the whirlwind grew from the size of a thumb to the size of a fist, and then to the size of a head. Finally, when the whirlwind grew as tall as Vestia herself, it touched the ground, and became the seed of storm it was meant to be.
“Wha—
Everything happened so quickly, that no one, including Yuri, standing right next to Vestia, the Wanderers of the Lotus clan, gearing up to charge at her, or even Alnea, standing the farthest away from her, could react in time. They did not even see the whirlwind forming properly. All they saw was the gravel of sands next to her feet slowly rising in the air, beginning to circle around her.
They began slowly, the gravels of sand, circling around her like cubs liked to circle around their mother. With the storm getting stronger with each passing moment though, the gravels of sand began to speed up, picking even more of their brethren from the ground. And before anyone knew it, the storm grew large enough to cover Cecilia and Yuri beside her.
“…What is that?”
“Quona’s crown! That’s a storm!”
“She is creating a sandstorm!”
“Is she crazy?”
“How does she still have the Spirit Power to create a sandstorm?”
“Is this the time to ask such questions?”
“Fools! Stop arguing, and stop her!”
“At all costs, stop her!”
They could not stop her. At least not after the storm had grown large enough to include the rest of the Star Seekers. Maybe, if they had not deliberately slowed their steps in order to draw Alnea out, then they might have had a chance of stopping her. Maybe, they might not even have given her the chance to conjure a storm. But there were no maybes. And it was too late. The storm could not be stopped.
From one metre to two metres, and then to ten metres, the storm grew at an ever-increasing rate, covering all the Wanderers of the Lotus clan before they could even begin trying to stop the storm. Yet the storm still did not stop. It kept growing, and growing until it swept away the small cloud that Alnea had created, enshrouding his body in the cool, raging winds, constantly clashing with the scorching desert under his feet, with neither of them having the intention of giving up anytime soon.
“…When I asked you to create more sand clouds for me to hide and ambush the Wanderers of the Lotus clan, I did not mean a raging cloud like this.”
“…I did not think Vestia would do this either,” Yuri said. “But the situation does not seem to be too bad. At the very least, the Wanderers of the Lotus clan cannot see us, saving us the effort of rescuing the other Star Seekers every time they are attacked.”
“…This situation does not seem to be one sided though,” Alnea said, while covering his eyes and nose with his free hand. “We cannot see those Wanderers either.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“…You cannot see them. We can. Or rather, Vestia can. It is her Arcana, after all. Would it not be too ridiculous if she traps herself in a storm, and does not even understand what is going on around her?”
“…Are you going to connect to her senses too?”
“…Is there any other choice?”
“But then your Roots—
“I do not have to tell her that this the ability of my Roots,” Yuri said. “I can just tell her that I am using an Arcana. The effects are similar anyway.”
“…That’s not what I am talking about,” Alnea said. “Leaving aside the fact that you need to change someone’s fate before you can connect your senses with them, are your Roots in the state to bear the strain of connecting with more than one person at a time?”
“…Why are you so perceptive at times like this?” Yuri grumbled. “Do not worry. I know the state of my Roots better than you. It is in a much better state than you can imagine. As for the requirements for activating my Roots, like I said earlier, Fate is not as simple as we understand it to be. It is a little complicated. I do not have the time to explain right now. Just know that I have already taken care of all requirements. You just get ready to deal with the Wanderers of the Lotus clan.”
“…Alright.”
In the next moment, Alnea felt his senses shift once again. He was still standing where he was. Even his senses had not changed their positions. At least not by much. And yet, everything seemed to have changed once again. He could see the Wanderers of the Lotus clan, he could see his Star Seekers, he could see Yuri and Cecilia. The thick curtain of darkness formed by the black sand flying around chaotically could no longer block his sight. It was almost as if all the grains of sands had become transparent.
No, it was not that the sands had become transparent… From the Wanderers of the Lotus clan searching around for Vestia desperately to the panicked Star Seekers retreating under Vestia and Yuri’s guidance, and even the pout on Cecilia’s face, the black sands were observing everything in their domain, and transmitting their records directly back to Vestia’s senses. It was as if—
“Sharing senses with two peoples at once is much more consuming than I thought,” Yuri said. “Although I recovered some Spirit Power along the way, it is by no means enough to support me for long. You have to hurry, Alnea.”
“…Don’t worry,” Alnea said, while observing the positions of the Wanderers of the Lotus clan. “I may not have much Spirit Power left, but coupled with the reserve of Oren left in my dagger, and the cover of the storm, it should enough for me to take out these Wanderers.”
“…Be careful.”
“…Yoo too,” Alnea said, before rushing towards the Wanderers of the Lotus clan. Two from the Whitebud family, two from the Yellowbud family, three from the Redbud family, three from the Bluebud family, and two from the Pinkbud family. Twelve in total. Thirteen, counting the Yellowbud Wanderer lying in the distance, losing more of his life with every passing moment.
Coincidentally, the last Yellowbud Wanderer was also the only one to be at a distance of more than three metres from others of his clan. After the ambush he had pulled earlier, his enemies had become more cautious. In the sandstorm though, their cautiousness was not of much use. Even a small distance of less than three metres, when separated by the thick curtains of the black sands, felt like thousands of kilometres.
Naturally, the Wanderers of the Lotus clan could also see that the situation they were in was not particularly favourable towards them. They did not think that just because their enemies were exhausted—no, they could not even be sure whether or not their enemies were exhausted anymore. Regardless, they could all recall how Alnea had taken down one of them in the blink of an eye. For them, staying together, while watching each other’s backs was the best choice…
“Rana!” one of the Yellowbud Wanderer said. “Rana and the others are still back there…”
“What?” the white robed Wanderer next to him cried out. “I cannot hear you. Say it louder.”
“Rana and the others are all alone…”
“You are the only one?”
“For Quona’s sake… I said, Rana and the others are all alone!”
“You want to go home?”
“Enough,” Rhaeghar said, using some unknown means to amplify his voice. Even then, those around him could barely hear him. As for the Wanderers that they had left behind in the distance…
“This sandstorm… If we want to capture our target, we must get rid of it. Or else, we will just be sitting prey for the boy. So, for our sake, and for the sake of the brothers we have left behind, we must capture the Weina girl as soon as possible.”
“…That bitch…”
“…If anything happens to Rana…”
“…It’s all her fault…”
“…Once we catch her…”
“…Focus,” Rhaeghar said, releasing a white light so bright, that even after passing through the thick black curtain raging around them, the light only seemed to dim slightly in appearance, giving the other Wanderers of the Lotus clan a beacon to gather around. But only for the Wanderers that were near Rhaeghar. Brilliant as the light he had released was, it still could not pass through tens of metres in the raging black sandstorm.
“You can fantasise all you want after we deal with our enemies. Right now, everyone should focus on only one thing. To capture the Weina girl. The sooner we catch her, the sooner we can end this farce. Now, follow my voice, and keep up with me. If you want, you can even hold hands. But no matter what happens, do not leave your back open. I do not wish to see any more of my brothers die today…”