The adept watched with amazement as the powers sealed within the garment cane to life, a power sealed so tightly and so intricately that it was nearly undetectable to his spiritual sense. His gaze lingered on the scarf as it spun through the air, wrapping itself around the neck of a being comprised of starlight. He watched the mighty celestial come to life and marveled as the beast’s power rippled through the fallen city, sending everyone and everything into chaos...
This was their chance. It was time to escape!
“By the gods!” Remley said, awestruck at the dual-wielding celestial that had just arisen in Varyon’s wake. “How did you-“
“I don’t know,” Varyon interrupted. “I just picked up the scarf and I felt something pulling at my spirit. I could feel it through my shackle even. So, I... I embraced it.”
“Your brilliant!” Remley shouted, pulling on the edge of his hood to reveal a genuine smile spreading across his bruised face.
Varyon shrugged, averting his gaze back to the mayhem as the rogue celestial went on the offensive. Brilliant? No. But resourceful? Most certainly.
The cries of dark adepts echoed through the city sector as An’Habar tore through their ranks, rending flesh and removing appendages with its shining dual blades. Some from the dark guilds showed glimmers of bravery as they hurled techniques at the celestial force, though many ran in terror, using whatever power they had to escape an unwelcome fate from An’Habar’s shimmering swords.
Many of the city’s prisoners used the opportunity to flee their captors, spirit shackles or not. However, Remley and Varyon stayed put amongst the chaos, their eyes locked on a singular target... their captor, Jekken Wilde.
Not to Varyon’s surprise, Jekken had distanced himself from the battle with the celestial, remaining just close enough to not earn himself the mantle of coward. Perched upon a twisted piece of metal, the man had foolishly put his back to the pair as he oversaw the celestial’s rampage. It was just the opportunity Varyon and Rem needed... and more importantly, the only one they would likely get.
Moving with the swiftness of a western Razorback, Varyon charged the would-be warden, scooping up a jagged piece of rock and taking aim at the back of the adept’s head. He still didn’t have access to his spirit aura, but perhaps one strike... one solid strike would be enough to give them an opening and steal back their freedom.
Varyon vaulted onto the broken steel. He focused all of his physical strength and launched himself at his captor. He raised his jagged rock into the air...
And just as quickly, he found himself stopped mid-strike by Jekken Wilde.
“Big mistake,” the warden said as he turned to intercept Varyon, grabbing onto the man’s wrist and halting his momentum just inches from his flesh.
Desperate, Varyon coiled his legs and kicked out, trying to separate himself from the adept. Instead, he was met with a vicious strike to his abdomen followed by a mighty slam that immediately knocked the air out of his lungs.
With a sadistic grin, Jekken leaned down and grabbed a handful of Varyon’s long black hair before hoisting him up to waist level. “I’m going to enjoy carving up this pretty face of yours.”
Varyon simply replied by spitting a mouthful of blood into the man’s face. Jekken scowled, sending a knee into the side of Varyon’s face and forcing him back to the ground. The warden’s free hand moved to the blade strapped loosely across his back. He raised the weapon into the air, taking aim at the temporal adept’s neck...
“No!” Remley shouted, leaping through the air and latching onto Jekken’s sword arm. The pair struggled atop the debris, fighting for control of the weapon before a pulse of Jekken’s force aura loosened Remley’s grasp.
Like Varyon, Remley soon found himself beneath Jekken’s boot as the warden slammed him into the ground before kicking him in the ribs for good measure. Varyon began to rise, but a quick shot from the hilt of Jekken’s sword caused his nose to crumble and his body to fold over once more in pain.
Irritated, the warden lifted his blade back into the air but Remley was there again, driving his shoulder into Jekken’s waist in an attempt to push him off balance. Again and again, Varyon and Remley rose to their feet, only to be struck down by Jekken. Still, they fought on, throwing punches, kicks, headbutts, bites, and whatever else they could muster...
An effort that was all for naught.
Without access to their spirit auras, Varyon and Remley were partaking in a fight they could not win. And though they managed to inflict a bit of damage to their spiriteka opponent, the punishment they’d sustained was far worse.
Soon, the pair found themselves struggling to rise as their lifeblood swirled amongst the rubble and dirt. Jekken, on the other hand, was relatively fresh, his borrowed blade now positioned squarely over Remley’s neck.
“You're a scrappy pair of bastards,” Jekken said. “I’ll give you that. But I’ve grown tired of kicking you around... now die!”
The blade came down in a flash, a perfectly placed strike meant to lob off the flame adept’s head. Then... something happened. A woman’s voice rang out in the distance, a visceral shout that could be heard through the clearing.
“Darkbeast skill, endless spear!”
Less than a breath later, an impossibly long beam of black energy tore through the air, piercing a hole in Jekken’s chest and halting his strike mere inches from Remley.
“What the...” were the only words Jekken managed to sputter before a second attack struck him in the neck, a trio of arrows forged entirely of bone.
Slowly, the grip on his stolen blade loosened as the warden fell to his knees, a trail of blood now adding to the already vibrant red of his stolen coat. With his final breath, the warden glared at Remley as crimson lifeblood began to flood the gaps of his teeth. Then he fell face-first into the ground, his spirit extinguished.
Moving with what little power they had, the pair sat up and gazed across the ring of rubble, staring at a very familiar trio.
“Leila...” Remley muttered, trying to blink the tears out of his eyes. They were alive! Her, Quinn and even that strange beast adept, Kai! They were alive and they’d come for them... like stars refusing to dim amongst an endless night.
“We need to move,” Varyon said, interrupting the man’s thoughts as he helped hoist the adept to his feet. Even with the beat down they’d sustained, the temporal adept’s resilience still managed to shine through.
“One second,” Remley replied, shifting so that he stood directly over Jekken’s corpse. Moving with haste, the flame adept yanked his coat off the man’s body and retrieved his long, curved blade. Then he gave him a firm kick, jostling the lifeless warden while simultaneously causing something in his own pocket to shift.
Quickly, Remley searched the pockets of his newly retrieved coat, only to produce a thin piece of metal decorated in dozens of intricately carved runes.
“Is that what I think it is?” Varyon asked, a certain glimmer returning to the man’s pale, blue eyes.
Remley didn’t mouth a response, but instead pressed the device into the center of Varyon’s spirit shackle, disarming the collar and letting the man’s aura run free.
“Thank the gods,” Varyon muttered, turning his gaze to the stars as he allowed his aura to envelop his body once more.
“It should be me your thanking,” Leila interjected, shooting Varyon a wink as she appeared at the man’s side. “And not a moment too soon. Damn, it looks like you guys were dragged through the Underworld.”
“More or less,” Remley replied, carefully adjusting the folds of his coat as his spirit shackle fell harmlessly to the ground. “But we did manage to find that.”
Leila’s gaze shifted to the far left where the rogue celestial continued its rampage, drawing the attention of nearly every dark guild adept in the area. However, it appeared that An’Habar’s reign was not to go unchecked.
Emerging from a darksteel structure near the city’s center was a shadow aura of unmatched strength. It
s power washed over the city streets, surrounding the celestial before manifesting into the form of a massive titan comprised of inky black energy. Then without hesitation... the forces clashed.
“We need to get out of here,” Quinn urged as the two behemoths battled on in the distance, the sounds of their strikes filling the air like thunder.
“What a splendid idea,” Remley replied, wiping some of Jekken’s blood away from his coat. “Though I do hope you have an escape route in mind. I hadn’t quite gotten that far yet.”
Leila smirked. “Oh, I’ve got just the thing for that.”
****
Moments later, the group found themselves dashing through the war-torn streets of Shadowreach with a very specific destination in mind. A feeling of renewal coursed through Varyon as his spirit aura returned to its normal ebb and flow, rejuvenating his body and easing the pain of his many wounds.
Ahead, the beast adept Kai acted as their guide, leading them through streets and alleys and avoiding outliers where they could. And when they couldn’t Leila struck with ruthless precision, using her darkbeast techniques to quickly eliminate anyone unfortunate enough to find themselves in her way.
As they moved in and out of the shadows, Varyon couldn’t help but marvel at the spirit lancer. Mere weeks ago she’d been afraid to call upon her dark passenger, hiding it beneath layers of runic bandages. But now... now she wielded the thing with the expertise of a high-level adept trained in the ways of the darkbeasts. Whatever sort of regiment she had undergone with that book of hers had paid dividends. Why he was certain it was one of the largest power spikes he’d ever seen!
The group continued to make their way towards the city’s darkened alleys as the sound of battle began to grow distant. Eventually, Remley made his way to Leila’s side as they quietly discussed their options.
“Have you seen the others?” he asked, his voice hardly a whisper.
“Earlier,” she replied. “In the tower, before it fell. I couldn’t find any sign of them afterward. They must’ve...”
“They escaped,” Kai interjected. “If Roy Skyworth was still in this city, I’d smell him.”
A small grin began to form on the corner of Remley’s lips. “They’re on their way to the pinnacle then.”
Leila’s eyes widened. “You sent them there?” she asked, her tone eluding to something far larger than them both. “Honestly, I’m surprised you make such a gambit… given the circumstances.”
Remley nodded. “Didn’t have much of a choice now, did I? What of the others? Have you seen Yoshiro? Ezry? Any of the other Bronze horns?”
Leila gave her head a solemn shake. “No. What of your sister?”
Remley winced as though he’d been struck by some invisible technique. “She was in Argo Zael’s sky fortress when the city was attacked. I saw a rift in the sky when it was destroyed and then the city was lost. It’s evident the spirit magus fell, and if Argo was slain than I can only assume she’s fallen as well. ...”
“I’m sorry,” Leila replied, pain reflecting in her voice.
“Ah, no worries,” Remley continued, blinking tears out of his eyes. “I’ve grieved for her once already. What’s a second time.”
After that the group fell silent, traveling through the war-torn streets until they finally reached their destination... a massive vertical shipyard on the city’s western edge.
“You think The Blazing Fang’s still in there?” Remley asked, a glimmer of hope in his voice.
“She damned well better be,” Leila replied. “She’s our best chance at getting out of here. Kai, what d’ya got?”
The beast adept sniffed at the air, activating his enhanced senses. “A lot of cat hair, a lot of blood… and a big, hairy bastard.”
“Just one?” Quinn asked as if he was disappointed. “Then let’s take care of him and get out of this shit hole.”
“I concur,” Varyon added, drawing everyone’s gaze to the rear of the party. “This place is shrouded in evil, and I’d rather not be reminded of the twisted path I once walked.”
Slowly, the group made their way into the tower-like structure housing the many airships stationed in Shadowreach. Varyon surveyed the entrance room, eyeing the blood-stained walls and the cold, lifeless bodies of the felynes now strewn across the floor. They’d once been stationed at the shipyard, charged with monitoring who came and went through the city’s skies. It was clear now that the dark guilds saw little use for them.
Moving with caution, the five adepts navigated the vertical shipyard. Each level they ascended provided a glimpse into a city that once was. Abandoned airships sat on desolate platforms, their pilots and crews either dead or held captive, likely to never ride the open skies again.
Even worse were the scattered bodies of the dead felynes that continued to pile up. It was clear that some of them had put up a fight as evidenced by the defensive wounds on their forearms and the dried blood beneath their claws. However, many had been mutilated beyond recognition or dismembered in a most brutal fashion.
“Who the Hell would do this?” Kai muttered as he made his way up another set of stairs, leaving behind a rather sizable pile of bodies.
“There are those who dwell in the veil that are capable of acts far worse than this,” Varyon warned before sending up a silent prayer for the fallen.
After climbing another set of steps, the crew finally managed to reach their destination. A vast hanger stood before them with a pair of landing pads on either side and a third in the center, each housing a unique airship.
Leila’s eyes immediately locked onto the ship docked on the hangar’s northern platform, the finely tuned aircraft that had carried her through the sky countless times before... the Blazing Fang.
“You fools ready to get out of here?” she asked as she made her way towards the platform, an eagerness in her step.
“Oh, I don’t think so,” a deep and unfamiliar voice replied, bringing her to a sudden halt. The group turned only to find a new face standing in the doorway. Covered in crimson armor and sporting spiked pauldrons, the behemoth of a man seemed to tower before them in the hangar’s entrance. A long, braided beard hung down by his chest, accompanied by a necklace sporting the ears and fangs of well over a dozen felynes. And in his grasp he held a mace, its bludgeoning end caked with blood.
“Who in Eon is this?” Leila muttered, unfamiliar with the behemoth in front of her. Varyon on the other hand, knew all too well. The man in front of them was a spirikai of the crimson hammer guild, a dark soul who reveled in messy kills and unnecessary violence... the berserker adept, Louis Von Dragonbane.
“I came up here to kill some kittens, but it looks like I found myself a treat.” He licked his lips as his gaze fell on Leila, drawing a look of disgust from the woman. “I hope you didn’t plan on leaving.”
“Certainly not,” Remley interjected, gesturing with a nonchalant shrug. “We’re just up here admiring the view.”
Louis chuckled. “Oh, it’s going to be fun to crack yer skull. I love the cocky ones.”
Varyon placed a hand on Rem’s shoulder, preemptively charging his temporal aura. “Be careful,” he warned. “Once he gets going, this one is difficult to stop.”
Remley nodded. “Then perhaps we’ll have to end this dance quickly. Now ready yourself, because here he comes.”
Not a breath later, Louis began his charge across the room, raising his mace into the air as void aura formed around his grasp. Then with a sudden massive swell of his spirit energy... he struck.
The berserker adept was on them in an instant, swinging his mace out wide and forcing the Sky Wolves to scatter. Remley tried to step inside and parry, but the force of the mace slamming against his blade knocked him off his feet and sent him hurtling into the far wall.
Varyon attempted to step in and counter but Von Dragonbane proved to be as quick as he was strong, splitting the adept’s temporal sphere with a void empowered fist to the chin. The blow rocked Varyon, lifting him off his f
eet and sending him sprawling as a thin line of blood began to form on his pale flesh.
“Get back!” Leila ordered, taking charge as she raised her spear in a defensive stance. “Pick your shots. We win this by fighting as a pack!”
The berserker adept chuckled as he took aim at Leila. “You’ll only make it easier to paint these walls with your blood!” In a flash Louis was in front of her, slamming his mace down as void aura pulsed from his muscles. Leila instinctively brought her spear up to block, steeling herself against the attack of a much stronger opponent...
Then her dark passenger came to life.
It was as if the air was sucked from the room as Von Dragonbane’s mace connected with Leila’s spear. Under normal circumstances, the woman should’ve crumbled beneath the weight of the spirika’s blow. But this was no normal skirmish, and she was far more than just an average Spiriteka. Swirling around her body was the liquid-black form of her dark passenger, clinging to her muscles and engulfing her body like a suit of living armor.
Amazingly Leila held her ground, digging her heels in as she staved off the blow before landing a glancing counter strike of her own. It was simply remarkable... but by taming her divine power, her ancient power forged by the dark gods she had reached a level far beyond her rank. Against all odds, Leila Aurora Rose was standing toe to toe with a spirika!
The sound of thunder filled the landing platform as the berserker adept began to pick up steam, slamming his mace into Leila’s defenses over and over, keeping the woman at bay and preventing her from going on the offensive. However, he wasn’t fighting just Leila.
At the instant Louis tried to reset his stance, the others charged in. Quinn who was still relatively fresh struck out with a manifested bone blade, slamming it into the crook of the man’s neck as Kai unleashed a hellish blow into the man’s opposite side with his divine axe.
The Adept Archives: Volumes 1-3 Page 52