Chapter 503: The Sylvan Temple
Lunae narrowed her silver eyes. “What do you want, Lin Lu?”
“It doesn’t have to do with what I want. It’s just what’s necessary,” the fox replied.
Lunae growled, “You can’t kill me.”
“Oh, most definitely not on a full moon, at the height of your power.” Lin Lu jumped down and landed softly on the cobblestone. Her form blurred and she grew until she stood as tall as Aurelia’s frost wolf, though still smaller than Lunae. She circled the moon goddess slowly. “Perhaps not even on a half moon, but tonight of all nights? A new moon? Well, let’s find out.”
Indigo flames ignited over the tips of each of Lin Lu’s eight tails.
Lunae shook her head and flung Stryg off. He yelped in surprise and landed with a roll on the wet cobblestone. She glanced at the frost wolf standing behind her and snapped in a sharp voice, “Get him out of here!”
Stryg jumped to his feet, “Wait, I can fight—!”
The frost wolf snapped Stryg up by Blossom’s cowl and threw him over her back, right next to Aurelia. The First Mother wrapped her arms around her son’s waist tightly, “I’ve got him, go!”
Spinning around, the frost wolf sprinted away from the two goddesses with all the speed she could muster. Lin Lu pulled her black lips back in a snarl and cracked her tails forward like a whip. Eight orbs of fox fire zipped through the air straight at the frost wolf.
Lunae leaped in the way and took the brunt of the blasts. Fox fire splashed over her and burned bright for a moment, before sputtering out, leaving soot and scorch marks on her thick fur.
A flame orb flew past her and hit the frost wolf. The fox fire surged to life like a torch in a barrel of oil. Aurelia grabbed Stryg and leaped off the saddle as the indigo flames consumed the frost wolf in the blink of an eye. The wolf cried out in agony and writhed on the ground. The fox fire ate through her fur and flesh in seconds and left her little more than a scorched carcass and charred bones.
Stryg stood in shock at the scene. It had all happened so fast. A creature as mighty as a frost wolf, towering over humanoids and beasts alike, was now... Only a few minutes earlier he had seen her charge through hundreds of drows without breaking her stride. Now… now she was gone. The power of a goddess had ended her in a single moment.
Fear crept up Stryg’s back and a shiver ran through his body.
“What are you doing!? Take the boy and run!” Lunae roared and charged at Lin Lu.
“Come on!” Aurelia snatched Stryg’s wrist and dragged him away.
His mother’s voice snapped him back to the present and he sped up his pace. Ruined houses blurred by as the duo ran away from the scene. They reached a crossroad and Aurelia slowed to a stop. She glanced around, searching for the way, but the houses were all unfamiliar and the night was dark and pouring with rain.
“Stryg!” Aurelia grabbed him by the shoulders. “We need to get out of the open. Where is the temple you speak of?”
He stared past his mother to the far end of the street and licked his lips, “It’s that way, but… There is a crowd of valley warriors blockading the pass.”
Aurelia looked at the direction he spoke about, but there was nothing there save darkness. “You can see that far? Through the rain? Without any light?”
He nodded silently.
“How many?” she asked.
“From what I can tell, at least 50. We can handle them.”
“...No,” she shook her head after a moment. “It’s too risky.”
“What do you mean? I can fend for myself and you’re an Ebon Lord!”
“And if we cast any flashy spells we’ll draw the attention of the delusory fox. The Mother Moon took a great risk coming here on a new moon. She is at a fraction of her power. It’s already difficult enough fighting off another goddess, how do you think the Mother Moon will fare if she has to protect you at the same time?”
“I… I didn’t think of it that way…” he admitted.
“We need to avoid any conflict we can until we’re far from this place. Surely you know some other way to get to that temple of yours.”
“I do, but,” Stryg glanced down the opposing street. “It’s far. It’ll take us twice as long and we could easily come across other enemies.”
“It’s a risk we’ll have to take. Lead the way.”
“Right, it’s this… way…” his voice trailed off.
“What is it? Is someone coming?” Aurelia drew her sword and looked around guardedly.
“No, it’s just…” Stryg tilted his head up, letting the rain kiss his face. He stared beyond the streets, ruined homes, and up to the night sky. “I think… I can feel it.”
“What are you talking about? Stryg, this isn’t the time to be playing games,” she hissed.
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“I’m not,” he said calmly. “Do you remember what Lunae said at the Celestial Shrine?”
Aurelia cocked her head to the side and frowned. “Do you mean when she pushed you off the cliff?”
“She was teaching me how to fly.”
“She pushed you off a cliff,” Aurelia said in a deadpan voice.
“Yeah, well,” he smiled half-heartedly and closed his eyes. “Lunae said that in time, it’ll come to me. I can feel it. Something’s different. In the rain. The air. I can almost taste it.”
“Are you…? No. Don’t try it. Now is not the time,” Aurelia warned.
“It’s the fastest way to the temple and we’ll avoid any enemies. And you can follow me with your own flight spell.”
“That’s not the problem, Stryg, you need to think this through—”
“Lunae said I was taught to cast magic by forming spells through thought and will alone. She said it was time I stopped thinking about casting magic and started trying to feel the magic coursing through me.” He took a deep breath and relaxed his shoulders.
“Stryg…”
Lunae’s words echoed in his mind, ‘As for flying, I am certain that in time it’ll come to you.’
Stryg kept his eyes closed and focused on the feeling of the rain pelting over his blue skin, the water soaking into Blossom and his clothes, and the wind coursing through his pale hair. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. The howling wind softened in his ears and the quiet pitter patter of the rain felt like an old friend. Eyes still closed, he loosened his clenched fists and with a relaxed step, he jumped.
The wind flowed past him as he soared into the air. His body was weightless and it felt as if the rain was lifting him into the sky. Then his neck snapped back as he faceplanted into the cobblestone and landed in a painful sprawl.
Stryg blinked hazily and groaned a deep regretful noise. “Ugh….”
Aurelia walked over and stood over him. She crossed her arms and looked down at him with a look of tired disdain. “You know, when you said you were going to fly, I thought you were at least going to channel Yellow and cast a wind spell. Not jump a few paces into the air and dive face first into the ground like a flopping fish.”
“…Ow…” he mumbled weakly.
“You’re an idiot,” she sighed in disappointment. Aurelia knelt, channeled White mana, and soothed the worst of the pain around his neck.
After a few moments, Stryg sat up and rubbed his hands over his neck. “Thanks,” he smiled gratefully, if a little embarrassed.
“Mm,” she grunted. “We’ve wasted enough time, let’s move.”
“Right…”
“How long did you say it’ll take to get there?”
“On foot? Half an hour, I think.”
“And what about on wolf-back?” she asked carefully.
“Huh?”
“It seems we’ve been followed.”
Stryg turned around and spotted a pair of icy blue eyes staring at them from the shadows of an alleyway. He broke into a smile, “Blueberry! You came!”
The black frost wolf snorted at his name and shook his head as if to deny all accusations.
Stryg rushed over to his side and hugged his leg. “I knew I could count on you, bud.”
The giant wolf whined at the hug, but he did little to pull away.
Without letting go, Stryg looked up at him, “We need your help. Can you carry us to some of my friends?”
Blueberry snorted once more and this time he pulled back without hesitation.
“Oh, come on, I promise I’ll bring you all kinds of meat and berries. They have tasty food here you wouldn’t dream of.”
Blueberry cracked an eye open at the proposal and sniffed the air.
“No, I don’t have anything on me right now, but when this is all over you can eat as much as you want, I swear it,” Stryg said sincerely.
With a happy grunt, Blueberry bent his legs and lowered his head.
“Thanks, bud. I owe you one.” Stryg clambered up his back and settled between his neck and shoulders.
“You do realize frost wolves are very intelligent creatures,” Aurelia noted. “It is demeaning to try and bribe such a noble being with something as mundane as— food.”
“He seems to be happy with the deal, isn’t that right, bud?” Stryg patted his back.
“Woof!” Blueberry barked in approval.
“See.” Stryg turned to his mother and grinned, “Are you coming?”
Blueberry glanced at Aurelia with a smile of his own, tongue lolling out, head cocked to the side.
“You’re both idiots,” she sighed and climbed up the wolf’s back.
~~~
The ride to the temple was quick. The giant frost wolf crossed the ground quickly, making short work of the winding streets. He leaped over entire houses with ease and avoided enemy patrols without difficulty. Despite his enormous size, Blueberry’s footsteps were those of a dangerous predator, almost entirely silent.
As soon as the temple came into sight, Stryg felt his stomach drop. The enchanted front doors he had commissioned had been ripped off the hinges. A pair of shattered golems lay on the ground outside.
“No…!” Stryg leaped off Blueberry and dashed into the temple. He ran through the courtyard, his lilac eyes darting across the area, noting torn chunks of dirt and cracked walls.
“Kaitlin, Witt, Elm, it’s me, Stryg!” he called out as he burst inside. “I’m back…”
But there was no response. The halls were dark, the candles and lamplight dead. Only the faint blue glow of magestone light flickered in the corners. Stryg ran through the halls, searching each room for signs of life.
Bed covers had been thrown around haphazardly, the kitchen’s pots were still cooking over the fires, and toys were strewn on the ground in the main hall. Karen would never have approved of the children leaving their toys in the main hall where the statues of the gods were.
They left in a hurry, he guessed.
Which meant.
They might still be alive.
“Stryg?” Aurelia called his name from afar.
He hurried back to the entrance, “What is it? What happened?”
Aurelia stood crouched over a shattered golem. “This spearhead,” she pointed to the steel blade embedded in the golem’s core. “It seems like Sylvan make, but I don’t recognize the tribe’s markings.”
“I do…” Stryg walked over, his eyes never leaving the blade. “I designed the spear and had one of the Brown mage-smiths forge it. The spear was a gift…”
“For whom?”
“...Rhiannon, daughter of the Ebon Tribe.”