The beast flapped its mighty wings, kicking up a cloud of dust and wind. For a moment, Vir wondered whether it was overloaded, then it lurched into the sky, making Vir’s stomach drop.
Blergh, Neel groaned. The experience hadn’t suited the bandy any more than it had him.
The ground fell away rapidly, and for the first time, Vir got an aerial view of Avi. He’d thought the city beautiful from the ground… but he’d only been seeing a small sliver of its beauty. With its network of waterways, bridges, and waterfalls that fell from the Legion Mountains, Avi was breathtaking.
The sight complemented the cool wind to make for an idyllic ride.
All things grew old, however, and after several minutes of travel, the refreshing breeze became increasingly intolerable. He noticed the pilot had wrapped his entire face in a turban, and Vir copied him, tying some cloth wraps, leaving only his eyes open to gaze upon the scenery that blurred underneath.
Avi fell farther and farther away until the Acira was nearly at the same height as the lowest clouds.
Then they leveled out and sped forth. Vir had been expecting a whoosh of speed, but other than the butterflies in his stomach and the wind blasting against his face, the result was quite underwhelming. In fact, it was hard to tell that they were making forward progress at all. The land underneath crept by at a glacial pace.
Are we really going so slow? Vir wondered, before realizing it was an illusion caused by their incredible height. It’s the same as looking at a far-off landmark while on an Ash’va!
Soon, the North Legion Mountains crept up under them, forcing the pilot to ascend to avoid their peaks.
Navigating those mountains would have taken weeks, but the Acira passed them over in no time at all. Vir could scarcely believe such a mode of transport existed.
Wonder what it’s like on an Altani skyship. Or any skyship, for that matter. The idea of walking around the deck of a flying ship made him giddy with excitement, though he doubted he’d have that chance anytime soon.
He’d hoped to pepper the pilot with questions, but the noise of the wind squashed those hopes. So instead, the hours dragged on in silence, allowing Vir to ponder the nature of the mission the Order had given him.
Assassination, huh? He’d honestly thought his days of killing people were behind him. But Fate, it seemed, had other plans. Vir thought back to Janak’s words at Valaka Amara, deep beneath Daha. He’d mentioned beings known as Fateweavers. Entities older even than the gods. Which, Vir now knew, was known as the Prime Imperium.
He’d never really thought about it, but the fact that all the world’s coinage was Imperium coinage now made sense.
So our money hails from the Age of the Gods…
After a while, Vir realized his thoughts had drifted. He’d no idea who the Order wanted him to assassinate, but he did have one fear.
The Pagan Order hunted demons. What if they ask me to kill a demon?
Could he manage that? Vir wasn’t strictly a demon—Lord Janak had said he was something more. A Primordial, whatever that was. That he was the seventh of his line. Despite that, Janak mentioned he should’ve been born in the Demon Realm. He at least had some amount of demonic blood flowing through him.
Truthfully, Vir knew precious little about them. The ones he’d met in Bakura’s hold seemed alright, but he didn’t doubt Tia’s words that demons had murdered her parents. Much the same as when he’d arrived at Daha with instructions to kill Mina, he lacked information.
Were demons truly evil? Or were they good?
Vir steeled himself for what was to come.
A war raged within Haymi’s mind. On one side was her duty to Tia. As the princess’ sworn bodyguard, Tia was her top priority, no matter what. Her loyalty was unquestionable. At least… it had been. Then Apramor came along and threw all of it into chaos.
Why? It’s so silly. It’s so… juvenile. This feeling.
She hated it. Her heart had been in shambles ever since she found out he was a demon.
“Haymi, you look like you ate something nasty. What’s up?” Tia said, sticking her face right up against the mejai, causing her to yelp in surprise.
“I-It’s nothing, Tia,” Haymi said, unable to return her liege’s gaze.
“Well, princess?” Vason asked. “We gonna just let him go off to the land of barbarians like that?”
Tia fell silent. “I did say he was free to leave whenever he wished…”
“Except, he’s going to the Pagan Order,” Vason said, meeting Haymi’s gaze. “The land of crazies? I’m not saying we shouldn’t honor his wishes. Just, y’know… we could give the guy a bit of support? Maybe check on things, make sure it’s all going alright for him? As concerned friends, I mean.”
Haymi understood what Vason was getting at. Vason knew what Apramor was. A demon. And he was walking into a country that hunted them.
Though as much as she wanted to support Vason, her guilt prevented her. What right do I have to counsel Tia, having withheld such a secret?
The princess sighed. “Wish I could, Vason. But my brother—”
“Did he contact you?” Haymi asked.
Tia ruffled her hair. “Yeah. Heaped his dirty laundry on us. Wants us to head to Kin’jal for some guard duty.”
“Kin’jal throwing their weight around again,” Vason spat. “They are no different from the proverbial village bully.”
“Be that as it may, we can’t simply ignore a request from the Crown Prince,” Haymi said.
“Eh, I told him I’d think about it. I’m thinking about it. Ready our Acira,” Tia ordered. “We’re following Apra. We’ll check on him, then maybe we’ll head for Kin’jal.”
“Yes, your highness,” Haymi replied, barely suppressing a smile.
I’ll get to see him again!
36BALINDAM
Balindam was… not what Vir expected. Not at all. In fact, he was half-convinced the pilot had lied, and that he’d fallen prey to some elaborate trap.
The only ability he could use in the air was Prana Blade, but Vir doubted he needed any Talents against the pilot; he lacked affinities of any kind. Then again, even if he did incapacitate the pilot, Vir didn’t have any faith he could fly the Acira himself.
Yet there was no doubt they were in the Voidlands. The air, which usually abounded with Wind, Water, and a smattering of other prana, was now a barren void. Prana Vision showed not even the tiniest morsel of prana, to the point Vir thought the ability might’ve malfunctioned somehow. A quick glance at his own body and the Acira he rode said otherwise.
Not that the pilot was prana scorned. The air had sucked it all out of him, much as it had to Vir during his village days.
Long ago, Vir had mastered the ability to contain his own prana, preventing it from leaking out. He’d mastered it to such a degree that it had become subconscious. And yet, he now found himself having to concentrate on keeping his prana locked within his body. Ash prana was nonexistent in the air everywhere in the Known World, but somehow, the prana in his body was being sucked out faster than usual.
Vir glanced at the city below him. He’d expected slums like the Warrens that surrounded Daha. Possibly even worse. A city run by barbarians and savages, where the law of the jungle ruled.
Instead, he found a city that rivaled Avi in its beauty. In fact, its design appeared carefully manicured to appear beautiful when viewed from the air. Its walls, though not as tall or as wide as Sonam’s, were well maintained and formed a complex geometric shape that pleased the eye.