There had been some discussion on whether or not to adjust sleep schedules to better deal with the Shadowhawk. It was likely to be more active at night, which was both a benefit for tracking it and a detriment- likewise, the darkness cultivators would be fine at night, and the Shadowhawk as well. Ultimately they decided for the simplest solution of minimizing their sleep. Four hours of sleep was an acceptable amount of sleep for powerful cultivators, but even Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators still had bodily needs.
John had spotted the creature around sundown, but after it went out of view they took note of the details and swiftly set up camp. The total time spent stationary was closer to five hours with shifts of active guards and time required to set up, but it was still deep night when they were active again. If there had been any direct conflict with the Shadowhawk they would have sensed it and quickly been on the move- nobody was changing out of their armor for the duration of the hunt.
The beasts active during the night were a different lot, but the Tenebach clan found themselves well equipped to deal with them. Smart hunters would rather deal with individual targets that weren’t active at night.
As they traveled they found markings of further battles- those involving cultivators and not just the local beasts. There were more signs of the same group that had killed the ebon eyed boar, deep wounds piercing entirely through beasts. Perhaps a spear, or something similar. But John’s eyes picked up traces of something else as they traveled in the direction of the last known location of the Shadowhawk.
He allowed himself to lead the group away from the most direct path to check out the disturbance, quite obvious once they approached the area. John had noticed a few odd scratches on trees, but up close he could see the clear manner in which all of the loose debris on the forest floor had been tossed about, and how it settled in a certain fashion. “Air element,” John confirmed. He was the best at picking out non-darkness elements, though it wasn’t particularly difficult in their current situation. It stood out easily against the main background element.
“The Wuthering Steppes, then,” Aydan proposed. “They’re just as far from home as us, though the dominant element is more advantageous for our clan. Still, that’s further competition.”
“I doubt they’re here for anything else,” John agreed. “I just wonder why they would bother.”
“Who knows?” Aydan shrugged. “Perhaps it is for the sake of training. They could sell it for quite a tidy sum as well. Besides, even the feathers of a darkness element bird have value for air cultivators, though I wouldn’t imagine it’s the best possible option.”
“Either way, we should expect conflict,” John nodded as they continued towards the last direction their quarry had been spotted. As they got closer they should be able to track it through signs beyond visual confirmation.
Aware they would be getting closer to the other hunters soon enough, John increased his efforts to conceal their group. Up to that point, he had kept the shroud around them at just around the rate the group could maintain their energy, now he drew upon himself and the others more strongly. They shouldn’t be more than a couple hours from the predicted location of the Shadowhawk’s nest, and they would be getting closer to the competing groups.
For the most part they tried to keep other signs of their presence minimal- they couldn’t be certain they were the last group that would be passing this way. There could easily be someone right on their tail. However, they didn’t have much trouble with the local beasts- given that any willing to get close to groups had generally been defeated by the other two groups. The different battles were distinct and separate enough that John was fairly certain they weren’t traveling together. A small pack of wolves pierced through seemed somewhat fresher than a nearby mess of wind-splattered insects.
With the fresher corpses, John was able to glean more information from. Not from them specifically, but from the traces of energy. He’d definitely encountered the darkness cultivators before… but he didn’t believe they’d fought. “I’m going to write down who I think it is,” John said to his uncle. “I would like you to do the same so we don’t influence each other’s guesses.”
Aydan produced the same answer as John. “The Serpent Watchers.”
John sighed. “I suppose it’s not unreasonable. They are more on the eastern end of the Darklands.” John pursed his lips. There was no indication they had brought their full forces to bear, though they should have their stronger cultivators like the Tenebach clan. “We can expect at least Idartha, maybe other Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators.”
“I imagine so,” Aydan agreed. “What should we do if we encounter them?”
“If they don’t cause any trouble… we can pass them by. Though I won’t just let them swoop in to take the prize, we don’t need to enact revenge over other priorities.” The grudge with the Serpent Watchers was minimal- nobody had died, but they had more or less blackmailed the forces sent to wipe out the Society of Midnight. Revenge would be nice, but could easily be ignored. On the other hand, knowing the group were opportunists John wasn’t going to trust them to stay out of things. They wouldn’t have come all this way just to go back empty handed.
John felt that the air element seemed somewhat familiar, but it wasn’t the Kartal clan. They were well and truly destroyed now, and John would have instantly recognized the mixed elements. Aydan didn’t find any familiarity, so perhaps it was someone he’d seen in a tournament, or he was imagining things.
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As they seemed to be gaining on the others, John continued to focus their energy to avoid notice… and John could feel lingering traces of the other groups simply from where they passed. The air element was obvious, the darkness was hidden- but as the effect unraveled it left a small trail behind, though only because he was actively looking for those specific energy signatures.
Then, a beacon lit ahead of them- the Shadowhawk, previously just a dim presence that could have been imagined, as well as a bundle of air cultivators. That information was valuable in two ways. It revealed both the location and distance of their targets, as well as something about their strengths. The air cultivators weren’t foolish- they had brought two Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators and more than a handful in the Soul Expansion Phase. However, they also brought Foundation Phase cultivators… indicating to John that their forces were limited. Or perhaps they didn’t care for the lives of their disciples.
Of the Serpent Watchers, John felt nothing except the sparse trail in front of them. They clearly had similar plans to snatch the prize, and when they circled around to the right, presumably to find a hidden position to approach the battle from, John led the Tenebach clan in the other direction. Simply knowing the Serpent Watchers were around was enough, and they had to take care the Tenebach clan was not in turn being followed by another group.
They weren’t… or their followers were sufficiently skilled to show no signs. It would be difficult to entirely hide their movements with people watching the areas between the sparse trees, and little could conceal better than darkness.
As for the nest itself, they were just close enough to pick it out, along with the battle occurring around it. One of the darkness devouring trees grew tall above the rest, outcompeting its own brethren while allowing other vegetation to grow wild at its feet. Carefully nestled in the high, thick branches was a nest large enough to be a proper house. At the very least, it was bigger than the huts the poorest folk lived in. John estimated it to be five meters across, and perhaps one and a half to two meters high. Besides the particular dark wood that it was made from, it was much like John imagined any bird’s nest to be, woven together from twigs and branches… though most were a larger scale than what would be expected.
The air cultivators John suddenly recognized. He had fought them before… and there was a reason Aydan didn’t recognize them. The Twisting Terror clan had fought with the Milanovic clan over some mines in the southern Green Sands, and Aydan had nearly died to an assassination attempt at that time- absorbing a shard of Ciaritzal into himself without having the required affinity for it to benefit him. The Shadowflame disciples had been the main antagonists, but the Twisting Terror clan worked with them, and had mainly been present at the site of the final battle whereas Aydan was not.
Through combined efforts, they had created a large whirlwind around the base of the tree, with sufficient power to carry some of their members to the same height as the nest, a maneuver they were clearly practiced with given that nobody was tumbling end over end but rather maintaining their focus inward. Atop the nest was the Shadowhawk, though John was confused why it wouldn’t just fly around and cause them trouble. Birds weren’t meant to be sitting in one position no matter how able their beak was to bite off someone’s arm, and whether or not their feathers could pin people to the ground- both of which it was doing.
It was defending the nest, but such a thing could be rebuilt without major losses, even at its size. Except, of course, if it had eggs in it. That would explain the behavior- flying directly around the nest would be difficult at the creature’s size, so it could only flutter its impressively large wings at the surrounding cultivators as they cut and stabbed at it.
John was judging the correct time to go in. Should he wait until the Twisting Terror clan was defeated? Unfortunately for them, it seemed the Ascending Soul Phase equivalent creature was more than outmatching them even with its restricted movements. Branches of its tree were falling into their whirlwind as the creature flapped its wings- though none that threatened the security of its nest’s position.
John’s thoughts returned to Faramund, who had forced himself to the Ascending Soul Phase during their attack. There were many differences in the situations- John’s allies were significantly fewer, and the Shadowhawk had no allies- but he could feel there was a strong difference in power. Furthermore, the Shadowhawk wasn’t fighting to stay alive, but to defeat the attackers. That was worse for it, as it allowed injuries to come upon it rather than risk damage to the nest… and worse for the attackers, as it tossed their strongest cultivators away with a flap of its wings, hurtling them out of the supporting winds.
John had a thought that working together would be best to defeat the spirit beast, even if it was simply to keep it in its disadvantageous position. But the Serpent Watchers made his choice easy. One of the two Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators had flown more or less directly across from John, apparently into their midst. At least one of them had attacked instinctively- or at least there didn’t seem to be time for detailed orders to happen. Either way, their presence was revealed.
Though they continued to conceal themselves in the deep night and the shadows of their own power, John focused his eyes and senses to pick out those present. A couple dozen, with three Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators, eight Soul Expansion Phase, and the rest somewhere around late Foundation Phase. But the sect head Idartha was not among them.
That left two options. First was that she was present and still hidden- in which case the Tenebach clan revealing themselves would lead to a whole mess of trouble, with their forces leaning in the Serpent Watcher’s direction. Or… she wasn’t present, and this was a perfect time to cause damage to an unfriendly faction without them being completely aware of the details. There might be some suspicion if the Tenebach clan laid their hands on a Shadowhawk, but they wouldn’t be able to prove anything if they were taken out. And if they truly lost three Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators they would have to concern themselves with local troubles in a moment of weakness. There was also the chance that some of them escaped, so John had to judge whether it would be worth the attempt- and if there were not more yet hiding. Either way, he planned to be the one walking away with the Shadowhawk- and its eggs. Then again, so did everyone else.