(Feydon’s point of view)

Some time in the night we came to a city that had long been claimed by nature.

Given its location, I’d have expected this to be just a small border city with a few high rises, a shopping district, and perhaps a dozen or so countryside manors.

That wasn’t the case at all though. This city would’ve rivaled Sky City in its prime. Even now I was impressed how more than two dozen skyscrapers stood the test of time, showing virtually no decay. Still, more than half the city had crumbled into ruin.

A paved path, meant for velociters to dock, was broken apart by roots and shifting earth. Obstacles, like trees and debris from demolished buildings, forced us to slow our pace.

Shops where nobles once bought their perfumes and corsets, now catered to nablers hunting green leaves and flowers.

A once grand library, and its adjoining bank, were now filled to the brim with luminescent dirt; a sure sign that smorps had taken residence. The tiny insects were a danger even accomplished adventurers would avoid.

They were mostly harmless, though their toxin was a powerful pain reliever with a tendency to cause wild and apparently terrifying psychotropic trips. As such it wasn’t uncommon for people to kill themselves on the substance if not restrained.

Smorps would then lay their eggs in the corpse. Definitely not the way I wanted to go out.

As we passed by what was probably a community park, a bird's shriek nearly sent me into a panic.

Outside of home, my only experience with flying things had been a hundred percent negative.

Frantically, I examined every monitor and opening to see if I could spot the source of the cry. I wasn’t the only one panicking which prompted Emilia to ask. “Are you guys afraid of birds?”

Fin shook his head. “Not birds… buildings with wings.”

Lenora laughed while Cole shuddered.

“He means zephyrs,” Mai explained.

Carletta, I was pretty sure, had been asleep for a while. She’d been leaning on her sister Lenora’s shoulder with her eyes closed. Somehow, unlike the rest of us, she wasn’t a total nervous wreck.

“Please, don’t jinx us.” Audrey frowned. “I never want to come across one of those again.”

Mai nodded. “Finally, something we agree on.”

“We should be fine. If there’s a zephyr out here, it’s hunting, and they don’t eat metal, so we should be fine in the velociter.”

“Are you sure about that?” I asked, recalling the state of a velociter crushed and mangled by a zephyr on our first mission.

“Outside your safe zone, we’re likely to encounter beings of far greater consequence than some paltry bird.”

I wasn’t sure if I should reply to X, or share his words with the group. I hadn’t told anyone about the voice and didn’t want to cause alarm. Besides, part of me was worried that they only had to leave Sky Haven because of their connection to me. With the exception of Fin, I couldn’t think of any reason why any of them had to leave.

The path we were following came to an end at the foot of a massive high rise. This building hadn’t been touched by roots and creeping vines that had ravaged nearly everything in its vicinity.

As if determined to cut off and encapsulate this structure, thick walls of vines grew up around the building. At what looked about fifty feet up, the vines still only reached halfway to the top of the building.

If the goal really was to cover it entirely, the vines still had a long way to go, but they already prevented most traffic from passing further into the city, where there appeared to be more preserved buildings.

Going around the wall wasn’t an option because of massive piles of rubble that looked to have been intentionally gathered and placed to block advancement.

All of this didn’t completely prohibit travel, but anything larger than a person would have difficulty passing between the narrow gaps between the vines. Certainly our velociter wasn’t going to fit.

“We’ll stop here and rest until morning, but when the sun comes up, be ready to leave.”

“I’ll take watch.” I volunteered in part out of guilt for making everyone leave Sky Haven.

Audrey shook her head. “I don’t trust you or Mai to take any watch. I’ll—”

“I’ll do it.” Fin gruffed. “Not like I’ll be sleeping anyway.”

Audrey gave her nod of approval then leaned on to the side in her chair. The only luxury missing from this velociter was recliners. A necessary sacrifice in order to accommodate so many passengers.

There were two beds, one on either side of the cabin. Lenora and Carletta were sitting on one. With Cole’s help, Lenora transferred her sleeping sister into a prone position on the bed, then cuddled up next to her.

I was reminded of a time when my sister would crawl into my bed nearly every night. As a child she was terrified of the dark despite being a prodigious mage. That came to an end a month or so before her sixth birthday when she decided she had grown up and no longer needed a protective big brother.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I was relieved to finally have my own space, though looking back on our relationship, I was regretting not having tried harder to stay close.

Our bickering didn’t bother me anymore, but I didn’t expect our bond to be broken so easily over the results of the entrance exam.

The sound of light snoring made me realize Emilia had fallen asleep in her chair.

Cole had curled up on the floor next to the bed the Sabra sisters slept on.

“Fey, you should take the bed.” Mai said, gently touching my knee. “I’m fine here.”

Why is she being so considerate of me? It’s not fear or she wouldn’t have hugged me earlier…

“Hormones and difficult circumstances. It’s all just natural chemistry.”

I shuddered at his words, contorting my face as I pulled back.

Mai pulled her hand away. In a snap, her warm eyes hardened and narrowed, her tender smile faded into an impassive glare. In an instant, every trace of endearing concern was washed from her face, becoming a hard icy glare that could freeze a volcano.

I realized she probably thought my reaction was to her… I wanted to explain, but every explanation I could think of either sounded crazy or like some lame excuse.

Deciding to leave it alone, I shook my head. “No, you take the bed. I’m okay here.”

“Should’ve invited her to join you. Ya might’ve gotten lucky.”

With you in my head I don’t think I could. The whole thing would just be tense and awkward.

“Oh come on, I can be quiet.”

That doesn’t mean I don’t know you’re there… watching everything.

X laughed, but I trembled again when I realized the full extent of what that meant. I didn’t know how long he’d been inside me, but either way he’d been with me for every moment of my life at least since he started talking to me, and probably long before.

As I heated up with embarrassment at the thought of things he’d seen, X laughed more hysterically. “You’re only human. It’s normal to do such things.” He chided.

I wished that I could silence him or cut off our link like he had done many times, though all I could do was mentally yell, “shut up!”

----------------------------------------

“HEY!” Fin shouted. “GET UP, SOMETHING IS COMING.”

Fin’s words immediately set me on edge. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been asleep, but it was still dark.

Somewhere in the distance a bird called out twice, but that wasn’t the concern.

A group of five people, with odd silhouettes, crept out from the gaps in the vine wall. With weapons drawn, they approached the velociter.

“We should leave now.” Audrey advised.

“At the first sign of trouble.” Mai jeered under her breath.

Emilia got up and went to the door. “We aren’t leaving. Get ready in case things take a bad turn.” She stepped out of the velociter with her hands up in surrender.

As Emilia was getting out, Audrey whispered, “Please, don’t tell them about me.”

The door closed behind her, but her voice came from the monitors. “Hello, we don’t mean any harm, we just need to pass through here.”

“Those from Vain-ee-a never come in peace,” a woman hissed with venom.

“Vain-ee-a, really? Is that the best they can do?” Fin spat, prompting Lenora to slap his arm.

“Your mouth is gonna get us killed,” she rebuked.

“Not if they can’t hear me.”

“Look at them!” she practically shouted. “They can hear you.”

The woman who’d spoken came into clear view, her odd features, now clearly defined on the velociter’s monitors. She was more beast than a woman. Her feline features lacked the need for clothes, though she was at least modest enough to cover her breast with a bit of cloth. Although, on further thought, that could’ve been more for convenience in combat than modesty given she didn’t bother to cover her lower bits at all.

“What is she?” Carletta asked, fidgeting uncomfortably.

“I expected strange creatures, but how can they be both beast and man?”

Is this what they were trying to do to Lilaena? So making Blood Fang wasn’t just an accident then? I mulled it over a moment, then decided it was still too soon to say definitively that Lilaena had any relation to Blood Fang.

“We came from Vania, yes, but we were expelled. Two among our group are fugitives, one for unique magic that’s branded him a rogue.” Emilia paused while the beastkin whispered. When they stopped she continued. “The other… for his part in an attempt to assassinate Pyro.”

The cat-woman nearly jumped out of her spots. “He lives?”

Fin scoffed. “I didn’t do shit!”

“Yes,” Emilia said uneasily. “Unfortunately the attempt failed.”

The five beastkin laughed, each with a distinct voice, fitting of their varied species.

Lowering the glowing sword she carried, The cat woman stepped forward. “I meant the fool who tempted the devil. If immortals could be slain, it would have been done long ago.”

Emilia nodded.

“An immortal… is that what he thinks he is now?”

Shh!

Taking a step toward the cat-woman, Emilia dropped her arms. “Does this mean we can pass?”

“No.”

“We have to get through here. If we don’t–”

“If I let you through those inside would rip you apart without waiting to hear your tale. Besides, the path ahead isn’t the only way. Whether you seek the mantis or the reapers, you can reach both without bothering my kin. Follow the guide overhead and you’ll reach a safe path, but fall behind and I can’t promise you’ll make it to your destination safely.”

Followed by her kin, the cat woman raced back inside the cover of the vines. Emilia opened the velociter and motioned for us to come out. The sun’s light was just starting to spread across the land. It’s brilliant beauty a stark contrast to the ruined city in which we stood.

Again the sound of a bird drew our attention.

A beast man with wings like an eagle’s soared up above us. He circled three times, then took off over one of the piles of debris.

The guide overhead…

I raced after him scrambling to climb the debris. The others must’ve realized as well though they used various magic to scale the pile in one go.

“You know, you can–”

One of Mai’s chains wrapped around my waist and lifted me to the top.

“Nevermind… I guess you’ll learn later.”