“Run!”
57LAW OF ASH
Vir jumped off the same cliff for the second time that day. Only now, he fled in fear. Whatever was pursuing them was lethal. Few organisms shone so brightly to Prana Vision. In fact, Vir hadn’t seen such a signature since his time in the Mahādi Realm. Whatever it was, they were no match for it.
“Four centuries,” Cirayus said as they fell. “Four long centuries of living and fighting and I am still nothing against these beasts.”
Vir hit the ground and Leaped, bounding through the forest with blinding speed.
A heavy crash told him their pursuer had followed. Worse—it was moving fast, approaching steadily.
Vir related to Cirayus’ feelings. He’d only just obtained great power, but against Wyrms and Prana Swarms, what did it matter? He was still nowhere near those forces of nature, and even with the Ultimate Bloodline tattoos, even with chakras, he truly wondered if he’d ever get there.
Still, it was one thing to feel that way after a year of active training. But four hundred years? Would Vir accept reality as gracefully as Cirayus?
Their pursuer neither roared nor screamed, but the sound of ancient trees cracking and breaking more than made up for it. In a way, that was even more terrifying.
“It’s gaining on us!” Cirayus shouted.
“We’re in the middle of a forest. It’s not even slowing that thing down!”
“Where’s a Wyrm when you need one?” Cirayus muttered as they ran.
Shan stuck close to Vir’s side, sensing the impending danger.
“What about your Artifact?” Vir asked. “We’re close, aren’t we?”
“Aye,” Cirayus said. “Though there’s no telling how much farther the Ash Gate is. The orb’s brighter than ever, but we could still have a day or two left. We need more information on the enemy.”
They both changed the trajectory of their next bounding Leap. Instead of shooting forward, they soared high, clearing the treetops.
Vir whipped around, searching for their pursuer. He didn’t have to search hard.
“Oh. That.”
“Well, it could be worse,” Cirayus said as they fell back down together.
“Not much worse,” Vir replied.
The beast that followed them wasn’t a living being at all. It was an Imperium Automaton Guardian, though the only trait it shared with the Yaksha were the three faces, one on each side of its head.
Its faces, however, weren’t alive like the Yaksha’s had been. They seemed etched out of stone—lifeless, except for its glowing blue eyes.
The smooth, white Automaton stood sixty paces in height, nearly as high as the trees, and instead of legs, its four-armed torso was attached to a spherical base twice as tall as Cirayus.
“Imperium Guardians are relentless,” Cirayus said. “We’ll need to lose it or occupy it with a greater threat than us.”
“Shouldn’t be hard, with all the monsters around. Just…”
“Aye.” Cirayus grabbed Vir, hoisting him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
“Hey!” Vir protested, flailing.
Vir had hoped he’d never have to rely on the giant to carry him again, but alas, his hopes were dashed quite brutally.
Shan shirked away, refusing similar treatment.
“Just be sure you keep up,” Cirayus said to the wolf.
The giant jumped up to a treetop and bounded his way across the forest canopy several times faster than before.
Shan kept up. In fact, the wolf ranged ahead of Cirayus, predicting his path.
The Guardian fell away behind them, though neither harbored the delusion that the Imperium creation would simply give up.
“The moment we exit the forest, that Automaton is going to catch up,” Cirayus said. “I’m already going as fast as I can.”
“What about those peaks?” Vir asked. “Think we might be able to hide from it there?”
“Worth a try, lad. I was thinking the same.” Cirayus angled for the base of the jagged peaks nearby.
He soared high, scaling the sheer mountainside with ease. While Cirayus leveraged Balancer of Scales to reduce his weight, Shan dug his prana-covered claws into the mountain, creating secure handholds with each bounding Leap.
The summits of the mountains in the Ashen Realm were not safe places. Continuously ravaged by lightning, they weren’t anywhere a living being ought to venture. Furthermore, the sheer sides offered little in the way of purchase, forcing Cirayus to traverse horizontally in search of a ledge.
They had no such luck. Fortunately, they didn’t need it.
Vir fired a Blade Launch—ensuring to draw prana in from the air, and not from Cirayus, who clung to the side of the mountain.
“Clever,” Cirayus said. “Do you see now what I mean about power?”
“Sure comes in handy,” Vir said, firing more attacks at the black rock. Each strike gouged out a chunk of the mountainside.
Cirayus helped by smashing the cut rock, allowing them to tumble down the mountain, while Shan observed from nearby.
Working as a team, they hollowed out a cavity large enough for all of them. To call it a cave was generous, but it gave them a safe harbor from the storm.
“Any bets on whether that Guardian can climb?” Vir asked.
“Well,” Cirayus said, “I’ve never seen their type climb… Though I hardly believe them incapable.”
“You think they just choose not to?” Vir asked.
“If you were the Gods, would you cripple your creations with such a glaring deficiency?”
“Good point,” Vir replied. “The Yaksha certainly had no issues following me up. I wonder if each one’s built for a different purpose.”
Or if they’d all gone insane… It was a very real possibility. Who could say what corrupted rules governed these ancient beasts?
The Guardian arrived at the base of the mountain… and slowed. It didn’t climb.
It didn’t need to. The Automaton primed an attack—one Vir had seen before.
“Everybody down!” Vir roared.
The Guardian’s eyes glowed hotly. A beam of light lanced out, striking the mountain. An explosion of rock thundered above them, raining debris down upon the three.
Ordinary demons might have been crushed, but Cirayus simply smashed the boulders as they dropped, while Blade Projections cut down rocks headed Vir’s way. Prana Armor handled the ones he couldn’t strike.
Shan simply dodged them all, his prana-coated claws digging into the sheer face with ease.
“Vir!” Cirayus roared.
“On it,” Vir replied, sending more Blade Launches into the cave, deeper into the mountain. There would be safety there. The Guardian’s weapon was directional—if they couldn’t see it, it couldn’t see them. Which meant it couldn’t harm them. At least, so Vir hoped. With both Balancer of Scales and his abilities, Vir and Cirayus worked quickly as a team to hollow out the cavity.
But not before they were lanced by another of the Guardian’s light beams. It was the same attack the Yaksha had used against the Wyrm in the Mahādi Realm. Vir witnessed its destructive power and knew what would happen if they allowed such a blow to hit.
Vir handed off the task of gouging into the cave to Cirayus, who hacked away with his talwar—Sikandar was far too large to maneuver in such a small space.
Minutes later, they had a tunnel that bored deep into the rock. Deep enough for the Guardian to abort its attack.
“Now, the only question is whether it follows,” Vir said, sinking partially into the shadows of the cave to peer at the Guardian from a nearby shadow. Time passed at half its normal rate.
“Well?” Cirayus asked, his voice coming through low and slow. “What do you see?”