It, too, ran into the same issue, though its feedback was more nuanced than that of Prana Vision. Vir felt the will of the one in the bushes, and though he didn’t know exactly where, he knew enough to sic Shan upon them.
“Shan, left.”
The wolf bounded away, following his command, as Vir approached from the right. Whoever they were, they concealed themselves well. Even with regular affinity prana standing in stark contrast to Ash prana, Vir couldn’t see them.
Which meant they’d hidden themselves in a bush or some other foliage. As for any that could be in range…
Vir met Shan’s gaze, then gestured with his head.
The Ashfire Wolf’s reaction was instant. He pounced upon the bush, and only a split-second before he collided with it did the demon hiding inside show his presence.
Though not in the way Vir expected.
Cursing, Vir whirled as a dagger blade came surging out of his own shadow.
So that’s how it feels, Vir thought as he narrowly avoided a lethal strike.
He wasn’t fast enough. The dagger nicked his forearm, drawing blood. Worse, Vir immediately sensed it was poisonous.
Halting the blood flow to that part of his arm, Vir stopped the venom from spreading. He’d have to rely on his pranites to eventually cure the wound.
Unfortunately, stopping the blood flow also robbed him of dexterity in that arm, though that was hardly his biggest concern.
The arm holding the dagger retracted and attacked again.
There was no running from one’s shadow, after all.
So Vir didn’t even try. He crouched and surged into the air. For while there may have been no running from a shadow, Vir was acutely aware of Dance of the Shadow Demon’s weakness.
If the exit shadow disappeared, so too did the limb that was using it.
Unfortunately, by the time Vir landed, he saw no trace of a severed limb. The enemy was Iksana. Of course they’d be aware of that weakness.
Scanning the area, Vir found no sign of the attacker. This was the true danger of the ability. One could never know if their attacker had moved on or was simply biding their time. The best way to deal with it was to get out of range as soon as possible, forcing the wielder to move.
Easier said than done when their tattoo was boosted by the ambient prana density.
“Let’s go,” Vir said with some urgency.
“You don’t have to tell me twice. Who was that?”
“Iksana,” Vir replied. “Dance of the Shadow Demon.”
“Then we really ought to move. Forests like these are one of the worst places to deal with that ability.”
“You’re right about that,” Vir said, wondering who it was. Were they part of the group that had seen Vir with Cirayus? Or was he dealing with some other entity here?
As if the Ash wasn’t enough, they now had to deal with opportunists and haters.
“Show me your arm,” Tara said. “I’ll treat your injury as we go.”
Vir raised a brow. “You saw that?”
Tara grinned as they took off. “Panav.”
Vir snorted, allowing her to touch his arm. They moved through the forest as quickly as they could manage while she administered aid.
It didn’t take long.
“Done,” Tara announced, just a few seconds later.
“That fast, huh?” Vir asked, taking his arm back.
“Panav,” Tara said, shifting to her half-human half-Naga form to grin at him.
Vir stepped into the clearing with Tara and predictably found mayhem.
Spells fired off in each direction as each party vied to be the first to the shining pillar of light that served as a beacon.
“Getting caught in that is a surefire way to lose,” Tara said, biting her serpent lip—an oddly humanoid gesture for a snake.
“Give me your tablet,” Vir said, extending a hand. “I’ll dart in and come back out.”
Tara hesitated, looking Vir in the eyes.
“You can trust—”
“Take it,” Tara said, shifting back into her half-demon half-Naga form and handing him the tablet.“You trust me?” Vir replied.
“Would I be with you if I didn’t?”
“Right,” Vir repeated. “Silly question. I’ll be right back. Shan? With me.”
Vir crouched low and Blinked.
The chaos of the nearby battles served as the perfect camouflage as Vir moved near-instantaneously with short, zigzagging steps. This movement art was one several demons had, and so Vir used it generously.
Demons who saw him were either rammed by Shan’s snout, or punched, tripped, and kicked by Vir.
He never slowed, dodging, ducking, and weaving through the combatants even as spells flew his way. Some aimed, others incidental.
Those he couldn’t avoid, he tanked with Prana Armor, though he had to remain careful about replenishing his prana from the atmosphere, lest an Iksana Ghael see it.
Luckily, Vir had plenty, and Blink consumed little.
He broke through the innermost ring of demons and reached the central pillar of light, expecting to see some pedestal or gadget. There was none, so Vir simply sailed through the pillar, finding that both tablets updated and pointed to the next checkpoint.
Losing no time, Vir Blinked back to Tara, pummeling a demon who happened to be in the way.
“Not as bad as I thought,” he said, handing Tara’s tablet back to her. “Now, what do you say we get a jump on these morons duking it out?”
Tara grinned. “Sounds like a fine plan to me.”
The trio took off, leaving the fighting demons in the dust.
They were off to a good start, but was it good enough? Vir couldn’t shake the feeling that they hadn’t seen the last of that Iksana who’d stalked them.
87FLIGHT OF THE SHRIKES
The way out of the forest was both far faster and less fraught with peril. The first checkpoint had occupied or incapacitated a great number of demons, and Vir suspected that between those and the ones who fell at the Gate, less than half the initial four hundred remained.
That was still a lot of demons, but they were now far more spread out. The chances of them running into anyone ought to be far lower.
Vir encountered an Ash Biter and couple more Shredders on the way out, which he and Shan dispatched with ease, leaving Tara no time to get in on the action.
“This is honestly unfair,” Tara said. She was now in her half-human, half-Naga form. For reasons unknown to Vir, she couldn’t move quite as quickly in this form, but she was still faster than Vir while within the forest. She also gained better command over her speech, and the use of two limbs.
“The next kill is mine.”
“Need I remind you we’re not here to kill, or even to fight?” Vir said as they jumped through the forest. “Every encounter slows us down, reducing our chances of victory.”
“I know, I know,” Tara said. “Still, feels like I’m not pulling my weight. I hate that. Next one we come across is mine.”
“Understood,” Vir said, though he felt that her ability to cure wounds made her invaluable, regardless of her combat contributions. Vir would’ve been hampered without the full use of his arm if she hadn’t cured his poison earlier.
Their next encounter occurred soon enough, and Tara slithered ahead. Vir thought she’d slash or strike the Ash Wolf, but her tail whipped out as the beast lunged, catching it midair.
It wrapped around the wolf… and crushed it to death.
Vir had to look away as its bones broke under her almighty pressure. The same pressure that snapped his own bones just a day ago.
“Brutal,” Vir muttered.
Tara turned back and grinned viciously. “Efficient.”
Sounds from behind caused all three to look. They had company, and not the sort that could easily be dealt with.
A dozen demons had broken off from the fight at the checkpoint and were following.