Atop the towering plateau located in the center of the Spirit Haven, Ezekiel and Riley were once more surrounded by the various Spirit Rulers of the Fjorya. The pair had just given a report regarding their situation. Callrond had confirmed for them that Charus had checked the deaths of the cultists in the final base that they had attacked with the rebels.
The sheer number of gathered cultists meant that they had easily fulfilled their quota of dead cultists. As such, the group that they were a part of was now welcome for the remaining two weeks.
“What do you think they’re talking about?” Riley whispered, “They’ve been talking for a while now.”
Ezekiel looked down at Shine but didn’t receive a reply. Not even when he reached out mentally through their bond. Instead, a feeling of exasperation flowed into him.
“I think they’re arguing about us. Our story at least.” Ezekiel shrugged and sighed. “Shine isn’t giving me a reply, but I know that they’re annoyed at whatever’s going on.”
“Yeah... Celia isn’t answering me either.” Riley gave her Spirit a worried look as she pets the, currently dog sized, lizard Spirit. “Do you think that they’ll revoke our access here?”
Ezekiel shook his head. “No. Once a Wild Spirit gives their word, they keep it.”
Riley smiled with relief, but it didn’t seem to reach her eyes. There was still a sense of worry that remained.
“The worst that will likely happen will be that you won’t get a badge of friendship. But that has more to do with the specific guardians and territory rulers. So, if you impressed the Feathered Peaks guardians well enough, that won’t be a problem.”
Ezekiel’s words cast possible doubt regarding Riley’s personal success on this mission, but he was confident that she would get her badge. He knew for a fact that her ability to use Blue Flames far easier, due to that specific Understanding being the core of her Legendary progression, was enough to gain respect from most of the Flame Spirits in the haven.
Spina had even helped Riley with her breakthrough. If that wasn’t enough to guarantee that Riley was favored by the Feathered Peaks guardians, Ezekiel couldn't imagine what else would be.
“Then, I guess the issue they’re talking about has to do with whatever the weapon that wiped the rebels out was.” Riley shifted uncomfortably as she thought about the deaths of all the rebels they had left behind.
Ezekiel winced at the reminder. He had taken similar actions in the past, though. With Garrad allowing him to leave when the cult had come after him on the way to Harkem.
At that time, Ezekiel hadn’t suffered any consequences due to his actions. This time, however, the cult was already in a conflict with the rebels. In hindsight, Ezekiel knew that the chances of the rebels getting away scot free were slimmer. He hadn’t expected the total annihilation of the lower Tier members.
What made things worse was the fact that these weapons would likely be spread fairly quickly. Unless they were incredibly expensive, and otherwise not mass producible on a large scale.
Given that Ezekiel had only seen a brief result of the aftermath, he had no way of confirming such a thing. If he could just get a single, intact, example, then it would be possible for him, or another Scholar trained Mage, to figure out what made them work, and the likely numbers they could be made in.
“Ezekiel,” Callrond’s voice called out, “Come. Let’s get you and your mate back to your pack.”
Ezekiel and Riley both turned back to the rest of the Spirit Rulers of the Fjorya. Most of them had left while the duo was talking or lost in thought. But the four Legendary birds of the Feathered Peaks remained. Invera was apparently hidden away, somewhere in the haven.
“How did things go?” Ezekiel and Riley held their arms out to the side. Shine was being oddly silent. Even though Ezekiel had already sent several mental questions their way.
Callrond, who had grown to his larger size, gently took flight and picked them up between his talons. There flew quite a distance before he decided to speak. His fellow birds flying next to him.
“Ultimately, it has been decided that we need more information. The other guardian Rulers will be reaching out to the size leaders that have badges of friendship.” Callrond sighed in exasperation. “Unfortunately, we cannot simply take your word as it is. Charus confirmed that something exploded, multiple times, and wiped out the rebels. But a Mythical Being could easily do as much with a casual spell cast from high above.”
Ezekiel knew this already. Having seen the devastation that Exalt Harras had wrought on the armies of Winged Cruor, he knew that a Mythical Being could easily perform such an action.
But why was it only a Legendary that chased after them. Especially if the Kindled Hounds had joined hands with the Cult.
They would’ve learned of his partial recovery, and if there was a Mythical Being in the area, there was no possible chance they’d not have their Tier five Hunter find and kill Ezekiel.
He was almost certain that the thing that killed the rebels was a weapon of some sort. If there were multiple weapons then that was even worse, as it meant that they had either been making them for a long time, or they were easy to make in bulk.
“For now,” Callrond continued, “You two should remain with your pack. Less than half of them have bonded with any Spirits. Which isn’t likely to change at this point. Though I guess it is still possible. There are still some areas that haven’t been explored by them just yet.”
Ezekiel snapped out of his wandering thoughts. He briefly noticed that the guardian birds seemed to share a look but ignored it for the sight in front of him.
They were approaching the campsite where the Morse and Alkena guards were situated. His parents were guiding the twins through some skills and tactics that involved working with their Spirits.
Coming down for a landing, still grasped in Callrond’s talons, Ezekiel couldn’t help but smile.
He continued to grin, even after landing, and spent most of the rest of the evening talking to his family. It wasn’t until later, when he was climbing into his bedroll, that Shine finally spoke to him.
‘The guardian Spirits of the Feathered Peaks want to talk to Riley later. Celia has already been informed, and will either tell Riley now or later,’ Shine said. ‘You are not welcome at whatever this is. But I felt you should know nonetheless.’
Ezekiel just rolled over, facing the roof of his tent.
Sighing, he raised his arm and covered his eyes.
He knew things seemed to be going too well for him.
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“Are you sure you don’t need an extra set of hands?” Ezekiel asked his mother before she and his father set out with the guards once more. “So long as I’m here, I should try to help, shouldn’t I?”
Evelyn shook her head with a smile. Ezekiel knew that she was appreciative of the help, but it seemed like she had made up her mind.
“I think that you’ve already done enough by now. If it wasn’t for you and Riley, then it would’ve been impossible for even half as many of the guards to have bonded with a Spirit.” Evelyn waved at the guards that had assembled in the camp who were all communicating with their Spirits.
Among them, Ellen and Wendy were playing games with their Spirits. Mostly by using their magic in different ways, with the twins sharing what they knew of their respective elements, and their Spirits doing the same.
Ezekiel felt a small pang in his chest at the sight of his sisters jumping around and gliding through the air. He felt a longing for his own magic to return to him. But he hadn’t had any time to reforge any of his Spirit Pathways since the last time he had before meeting the rebels.
“You should stay here and settle yourself. I know you’re worried about Riley as well. But you trust those guardian Spirits, right?” Evelyn asked.
Nodding in confirmation, Ezekiel took a second to look into the distance. Riley had been given a ride from Spina earlier, just after breakfast. It seemed like she was going to be tested, much like he had when he was first taken to the Feathered Peaks.
He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off as a bolt of lightning tore through the sky above them. This had been happening on and off for the past few hours.
Previously, there had simply been some cloud covering from that storm that still persisted. Recently, that had changed during the night. It seemed like thunder and lightning were now noticeable in the atmosphere.
Warren and Evelyn had apparently tried to ask Callrond and Feynari about this when they came with Spina that morning. But nothing was said. Apparently, the two birds had exchanged worried glances with one another before flying after Spina. With Callrond carrying his sister.
“Maybe you can try investigating what is going on with the haven.”
Shaking his head at his mother’s suggestion, Ezekiel knew that trying to do that wouldn’t get him anywhere. If the Legendary Spirits of the haven didn’t want to share, then he wouldn’t be able to learn anything. The Spirits were fond of keeping what was theirs away from others. Including information.
“Keep your sisters safe as well.” Evelyn and Warren then headed off with the guards.
‘Will we be working on getting you back in shape?’ Shine was floating next to Ezekiel. ‘Since we have the downtime, we should use it efficiently, right?’
Ezekiel took a moment to watch the group leaving. He wanted to go out and do something. To avoid thinking about the cult and their plans. The distraction would be greatly appreciated right now.
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‘Yeah. I’ll let Lance know that he and his head guard are in charge, then we can hole up in our tent for a while.’ Ezekiel made his way over to the large tent on the opposite side of the camp. ‘Hopefully the twins won’t get into too much trouble.’
Ringing the bell hanging from the entrance to Lance’s tent, a voice called out for him to enter.
“Greetings, young master Morse. I just wanted to inform you that you and your guard captain will likely need to take charge. At least until a Spirit comes to cause trouble.” Ezekiel knew that there was at least one Legendary Spirit that watched over the camp. “I will be available in my tent at all times, if something comes up.”
Lance was currently sitting with his Spirit in the center of his tent. There were several papers scattered about that he was going over. His guard captain had gone out to watch over the rest of the Morse family guards.
The man hadn’t bonded with a Spirit yet, but he felt that he needed to be around to watch over the other guards. As well as stick with Lance, whose safety was the main priority on this excursion.
“I thank you for the warning. May I know what you will be doing during this time?” Lance directed his attention away from his Spirit to speak with Ezekiel.
“I’m just going to be trying to repair a few things. So long as I have enough time, nothing should go wrong. But the problem is finding said time.” Ezekiel didn’t want to explain too much.
While he didn’t necessarily think that the Morse family would happily hand him over to the cult, giving out such important and private information wasn’t something he wanted to do right now.
“In that case, I hope that, when you’ve recovered, I and Lord Alkena might speak to you regarding a matter we have been considering for quite a while now.” Lance rubbed his chin in contemplation.
Curious, Ezekiel didn’t leave right away. At his side, he could feel a similar sense of curiosity emanating from Shine.
“What might that be, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Lance just smiled but didn’t answer right away.
“Recover properly first. Or at least wait until we leave this haven. I don’t want to say anything that will distract you from your task any more than I already have.”
Waving him away, Lance turned back to his Spirit and the papers all around him.
Taking the dismissal for what it was, Ezekiel turned and left the tent. Waving off the guard captain that was glaring at him from across the camp, he headed back to the area where Wendy and Ellen were playing with their Spirits.
“Hey you two. I see you’ve been spending your time well.” Ezekiel smiled as he approached. “You learn anything new?”
The twins turned, with large grins on their faces as they rushed over. Using their magic in ways that he was unfamiliar with.
“Bro! Come here! Kare taught me a new trick!” Ever since bonding with her Spirit, Wendy had become much more outgoing. Not as much as Ellen, but still more so than before.
“No! Watch this!” Ellen exclaimed as she formed a construct of radiant talons that wrapped around her hands. She then went through a few sword forms that Ezekiel had taught her back at the school.
The twins showed off for a little bit before Ezekiel asked them to calm down.
“That’s amazing!” Ezekiel wasn’t exaggerating. He could tell that, since forming their bonds, his sisters had improved with regard to their creativity and elemental constructs immensely.
“Hey, the both of you are going to be learning more from Kare and Tina, right?” He received two nodding heads in reply. “Good. I need to do some stuff in my tent. You know how I got hurt before coming back?”
The twins nodded once more.
“Well, as you know, I’m working on fixing that. So, I need you two to do your best to not get into any trouble. Especially if any Spirits come to the camp. Not that I think you’ll do anything wrong. I just want you both to be careful. So, come get me if anything happens. Alright?”
The twins were silent for a second.
“What will happen if we interrupt you?” Wendy asked with a frown on her face. “I know you need to meditate, and it can be bad if that gets interrupted, right?”
Ellen was frowning now too.
Ezekiel smiled in an attempt to reassure his sisters.
“Shine will be watching out for me. So, I’ll be fine. Just don’t attack me and I should be fine.”
The twins didn’t look as confident as Ezekiel did, but they didn’t say anything else. Ezekiel knew they would be more or less preoccupied by their Spirits. But he hoped that his words would be enough to keep them from interfering with him unless absolutely necessary.
Now, with his matters settled for the moment, Ezekiel headed back to his tent. Cutting himself off from the outside world, he sank deep into his mindscape.
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Next to him, Ezekiel could feel Shine’s presence travel with him to the edges of his Spirit Pathways. The cracked glass-like structures that formed the repairs shone brightly with mana as it flowed as best it could.
Channeling his mana once more, Ezekiel and Shine joined their souls and began reaching out towards another section of Ezekiel’s mana Spirit Paths. As per usual, Ezekiel felt a bit of pain as he did this, but it wasn’t long before he connected to the next Pathway.
He immediately felt the increase in mana as he regained access to more of what had been lost to him. It felt good to have that increase in strength. As minor as it was.
Sending his consciousness to the edges of his Pathways once more, Ezekiel and Shine continued. Slowly, methodically, and taking one step at a time, they continued to do their best to repair Ezekiel’s ability to use mana.
It wasn’t long before they lost track of time. The repetition of their actions continued over and over and over. With Ezekiel slowly gaining more and more mana.
“E-kiel! Ezekiel!”
A voice shook Ezekiel and Shine out of their trance-like state of work. Shine’s consciousness immediately left Ezekiel’s mindscape and Spirit Paths.
Left alone for a moment, Ezekiel slowly pulled the mana he was using to connect to another Pathway. The burning sensation took a much longer time to fade this time, but Ezekiel was safely able to return to his center of consciousness.
Letting out a deep breath, he felt himself awaken from his meditation.
Only feeling a minor bit of frustration, as he knew he could have worked for a bit longer.
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Opening his eyes, Ezekiel saw the worried face of his mother standing in front of him. Behind her stood his father and sisters. Each of which were looking at Ezekiel with caution.
“... How long was I meditating for?” Ezekiel couldn’t help but ask.
“A full day... Are you okay?” Evelyn moved to the side as Warren came forward.
A glowing light encompassed his hands, and he began examining Ezekiel’s current state.
Warren frowned at whatever he was sensing, but Ezekiel felt that it was more out of confusion than concern or reprimand.
“It seems like your Spirit Pathways are indeed connecting. Although we already knew that.” Warren bit his lip in concentration, and Ezekiel could now feel the soul deep probing that his father’s magic was performing on his Spirit Paths.
“Nothing wrong? I think the paths I’m forming are fairly sturdy, aren’t they?” Ezekiel figured he knew just as much as his father when it came to Spirit Paths at this point, but having someone who knew a bit more about healing, at least the practical aspects, look him over would be appreciated.
“It seems like you’re recovering at a faster rate now. Did you do anything differently this time around?” Warren hadn’t found anything wrong, but Ezekiel could understand why the changes compared to last time would confuse him. “You’ve almost regained another full Step of Adept Tier mana.”
Ezekiel realized that the only difference this time around was the fact that Shine had aided him as a Legendary Spirit. The jump from when they had first tried repairing things was already fairly large. So, Ezekiel shouldn’t have been surprised that they had both lasted longer and repaired more.
Explaining this took Ezekiel a few minutes, but Warren looked somewhat relieved.
“If that’s the case, then the changes and length of time you spent recovering makes sense. As you know, the mana of a Legendary Being has a qualitative difference from the lower Tiers.” Warren gestured to Evelyn and the twins to indicate that things were fine. “The fact that it is coming from your bonded Spirit with the same ‘Understanding’ as you means that the magic you are using will be stronger and more efficient. Especially since you’re working together.”
A sense of relief washed over Ezekiel. This meant that his recovery would happen even sooner.
“So, given the improvements so far, how long do you think it’ll take for me to recover fully?”
Warren paused to think about it. Ezekiel hoped that his father could give him a better idea of the time it would take to return to peak condition.
His own estimate had it at around a few months. Less than the year he had expected before he reconnected with Shine. But the jump in progress was apparently much greater.
“Well, if you keep this up with no interruptions, then it might be possible for you to recover by the time we return to the Tollren.”
That was only a month at most. Of course, Ezekiel knew that non-stop meditation wasn’t possible. Not while they were traveling at least. But, if he truly dedicated every moment to recovering during their time in the Spirit Haven, then it might be possible to do it.
“... I don’t suppose that you won’t be needing me during the last two weeks, will you?”
Warren and Evelyn smirked in unison, while Ellen and Wendy just gave their brother a deadpanned glare. They could already tell what Ezekiel was planning on doing.
“You can stay here and meditate. But know that your sisters will be waking you up regularly to ensure that you have food and water. Being a Legendary just means you live longer. Not that you don’t need sustenance.”
Ezekiel nodded, understanding that his father was doing his best to watch out for him.
From there, Ezekiel went with his family to get some dinner. Feeling peckish since he hadn’t had any lunch. He listened to his sisters gush about the things they did with their Spirits, and generally enjoyed his time with his family once more.
But just in the back of his mind, a nagging sense of worry persisted.
Riley hadn’t returned yet, and he couldn’t help but be concerned.
What in the world did the guardian Spirits of the Feathered Peaks need Riley for?
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Unknown to Ezekiel, Riley was currently standing at the peak of a neighboring mountain.
Blood was streaming down her body, practically in rivers, as she gasped for breath. Beside her, Celia also had several gashes running along her body. Neither were in any condition to be using their magic but were forced to do so.
Riley, to keep warm from the snow, since her clothes were torn shreds, and Celia, due to the fact that she was bound by icicles that slowly crept closer and closer to her. Puncturing her mana forged flesh if it got too close to her.
“You are both doing well.” A soft voice flowed thought the air, but even the sudden noise was not enough to distract the Hunter and her Spirit. “You aren’t becoming distracted by my words either. Good! That’s a significant improvement from the last time I was here.”
Spina and Morty stood on perches next to Riley and Celia. Both were several feet above the two as the Legendary birds oversaw the bonded pair’s training.
“Last... longer... this time...” Morty, who was cooling the area with his magic, had been observing for longer than Spina, who had gone off to perform her duties as guardian a while ago. “Control... improved... much...”
“I can see that. When we first brought them up here, little Riley barely lasted half an hour. But now, she’s lasted nearly two.” If Spina could, she would’ve been smiling as she witnessed Riley’s improvement. “Although, given the lesson that Ezekiel gave her, this is not that much of a surprise.”
Riley twitched for a moment and shivered before she stabilized her temperature once more.
“Little one... also... better...” Morty pointed at Celia, who hadn’t been pierced by any icicles for several minutes now. “... Fight... then rest...”
Spina nodded in agreement.
“Alright, girls, we’re moving on to sparring now.” Spina waved her wing and Riley immediately warmed up, while Celia found the ice around her melting into water in an instant.
The surrounding area was also cleared of ice and snow. A rocky flat surface was all that was left. Several gouges and sword marks littered the area. All signs that there had been several fights that had previously occurred in the area.
Riley and Celia nearly fell to the ground but were barely able to catch themselves and remain upright. Both were utterly exhausted, and looked like they would fall over from a light breeze.
“Yes...” Celia and Riley readied themselves for battle.
Spina nodded and unleashed a wave of fire significantly hotter than the hot air from before.
Jumping out of the way, Riley formed a pair of blue flame daggers and threw them at Spina, who leapt into the air and began hovering in place. Only to drift to the side to avoid a stream of fire from Celia.
A back and forth began, with Riley and Celia taking several hits from Spina, and a few frost burns from Morty. The fight was utterly one-sided, and it was clear that the bonded Hunter-Spirit pair were on their last ropes. But no matter what, nothing seemed to be able to keep them down.
The fact that Morty and Spina were merely playing with the already tired pair didn’t seem to matter. The wounds were real, as was the exhaustion.
Finally, as Riley stumbled and fell into the path of several larger icicles thrown by Morty, Celia turned, focusing all her energy on the icicles aimed at her partner.
Focusing the last of her energy, Celia reared back and let loose another stream of fire.
This time it was blue, and the icicles melted before the flames fully reached them.
As one, Riley and Celia fell over, unconscious to the world around them.
Unable to see the smile in Spina’s eyes.