She released a breath Her fingers itched to reap more life but the soft sound of rocks tumbling down made Devick lurch around With a wide yawn Nether King Hungry Eye sat up and looked blearily around at the situation His eyes still slightly unfocused landed upon Devick and he smiled at her
Nice mask Randidly chuckled I must have missed my invitation to the masquerade
For now this place is stable You can explore freely Be careful though There are a lot of monsters around that could kill you Hungry Eye said Hank snorted and sauntered away reloading small bits of gleaming brass into his weapons The Nether King then glanced again at Devick his gaze lancing through her body and shocking her with a thrill of pleasure Your Grand Fate is developing quickly But looks like you finally have it centered inside your body Does your new image harmonize better with your Class
Devick glanced sideways at Neveah but the black haired woman had conjured an armchair and simply slumped over on its sumptuous cushions She licked her lips no one had asked her or commented on the Class provided for her by Hungry EyeÆs subordinates before Would you believe me if I said I simply bullied them both into behaving
A genuinely cheerful grin spread across Hungry EyeÆs face If you are saying thatÆs the case IÆd believe you capable of it Devick
Devick felt brittle and exhausted Too much had happened too quickly But she supposed she was glad no one had told Nether King Hungry Eye about the Class she had received Because indeed it harmonized well with her new Grand Fate Malice Merry Consort of Perdition
Her Class was GhosthoundÆs Willing Martyr
It was never a question of whether she would sacrifice herself for him Now a new resolve emerged in Devick to understand who and what had so totally stolen her heart
To withdraw now will avoid the danger Deganawidah said slowly Words shaped in his wide mouth had a habit of resonating in LowannaÆs chest From the first moment they had met she had found it distasteful Our forces will overwhelm them given time But currently
I cannot retreat Deganawidah And you know exactly why Lowanna pressed her lips together Every one of her people that perished on the battlefield she felt a tiny eternal pinprick of absence joining all the previous deaths in the back of her mind A horrid accumulation of naught that made her quite weary My people need me I might be bound but I am not a coward
Your little tricks gleaned from Hungry Eye will not DeganawidahÆs eyes flashed But he held his tongue when Enmya looked up from the ground
I hate to agree with the Thrice Drowned but this Cult of the Savior is the group that led the attack on Wyndaos yes We cannot underestimate them EnmyaÆs eyes slid away from her face Even now he could not understand why she had kept him in the dark when she had known the attack had been coming They are aware of our presence yet they still press forward They will bring means
Even a rat may kill a lion if given the opportunity to select the proper reaping ground Deganawidah scowled
Lowanna gave the two of them a pointed glance Then letÆs practice being a bit more fearsome than lions shall we Peace gentlemenù you will not sway me
So they stood and glowered as the sounds of violence drifted closer Lowanna the Nether Arbiter looked up at the sky and studied the strange currents of significance that surrounded them
To her surprise the world shattering feats of Nether King Hungry Eye had done surprisingly little to affect their conflict even now she could stare at the stars and see her inevitable death writ large across the universe It seemed completely certain
But this time Lowanna knew she might be wrong So she sat and considered and waited for death to stalk closer She felt so so tired
Will you make it in time to hear my thoughts on the universal unifying principle of Nether Hungry Eye The Nether Arbiter closed her eyes Or will you allow me to spare my people this curse
Chapter 2309
After the repetitive viewings the Patron of FeatherÆs early life began to blur It was a stretch of angst and rebellion unsullied by any meaningful decision she made She could lash out at her father stalk through the hallways of her childhood home throw temper tantrums and then wake up the next morning to do it again She had simply taken her powerlessness for granted And although she now realized the second half of her life was similarly inevitable she couldnÆt help but follow the pull of narrative and watch her most precious relationships all degrade and rot over and over again
Soon the hollow fingered fox would wander into her life
The Patron of Feathers Elhume and Yystrix followed the strange wild manifestation of power burning across the horizon to its source where the sky had cried a tear so hot it burned its way through the atmosphere and scared the ground Elhume had led the way with Yystrix behind him and the Patron of Feathers lagging behind
Could the present her reach out and touch the thoughts of the past Had she already done so Because even at that moment in her youth she remembered the dread she felt on their journey The overwhelming darkness she seemed to sweat out with every breath As though it had become certain that waiting for them at the end of the path was death
So dramatic The Patron of Feathers sighed as she observed herself But in a way I was right The absence waiting for us is closer to death than any other force in the world
But what choice did we have We didnÆt understand
A stark figure floated in a smoldering orb of energy in the middle of a clearing made by the impact The trees around them rustled back and forth as all three stood next to each other considering the strange curled being with eight tails that floated there
A vulpine Yystrix said as all three stilled and tried to determine the situation
Elhume blinked slowly His hands tightened into fists but the glimmer in his eyes was one of immense excitement by the eternal truths Look at him Yzzy Can you feel its power If we can train it
YystrixÆs eyes blazed as she rounded on him She hissed her words at him The first thing your mind jumps to upon seeing this new being is to train him Have you learned nothing from the suffering of Pineù
Immediately ElhumeÆs expression darkened Some of the surly resentful Elhume that the Patron of Feathers so rarely glimpsed rose to the surface His eyes were incredibly flat reflecting none of the light coming off the strange energy display they followed Careful Yzzy I did what I had to in order to protect my son Besides I am his father I deserved to be able to touch the son that I made with you
For a moment YystrixÆs expression flickered She seemed to be on the cusp of saying more but a strange wind blew through the clearing Both exchanged a glance seeming to remember where they were they might have been the first to follow the trail to see this being floating in an orb of energy but others would soon follow
You would rather leave this innocent here exposed to the elements ElhumeÆs frown deepened Let me be clear Yystrix Yule We will not be departing the forest without this being If you do not wish for me to intervene
Another blast of wind shook the surrounding trees Yystrix hesitated for a second but then flitted across the intervening distance In the end her mastery of Aether made her the better choice for first contact especially with a strange manifestation of wild energy With a wave of her hand she summoned spinning matrices of Aether Engravings to cushion the energy and dampen its spread She reached out piercing through the barrier around the body and cradled the vulpine with careful hands
Both the Patron of Feathers and Elhume saw her flinch at the contact The Patron of Feathers wondered if they had made some horrible mistake
But then Yystrix moved again jumping back across and standing by their sides The trio shared a glance and were gone from that very conspicuous place ghosting through the shadows of the rustling trees before any other greedy parties could show up and investigate the disturbance