Icarus Awakens

“I’m surprised to find you here,” Murdon said to the man standing outside the patient room. “All things considered.”

The human glanced at him. “You don’t visit them?”

“Of course I do. But you weren’t there when Sigron was injured.” Murdon looked in to where the Knight with a similar condition to his lay in a bed, flanked by his parents. They’d both lost at least part of an arm, but the other Knight was both lower level and had been exposed to some form of toxin for a prolonged period requiring intensive care to keep him alive. He’d barely made it to Aurus in time. Caylis himself had had to attend to the poor man. Murdon thought for a moment about offering the Knight his potion, but it wouldn’t work with his flesh still being cleansed.

“Commander, he wouldn’t have been on that damned mountain if I hadn’t gone along with that thing.” William, Ranger and former teammate of Heldren Storm, hung his head. “I should have taken him out. I just didn’t know.”

“I’m not the Commander anymore, William. I lost my region before I had it to command, but it was my responsibility either way. Not yours.” Murdon empathized with the guilt in the Ranger before him and knew it wouldn’t go away easily. “I heard you haven’t found a new team yet. That’s fortunate, because I need a tracker.”

William shrugged. “I’m no Field Hounds or Farthest Run. I’ve got some powers, sure. But this is Threst. You don’t want a flier?”

“We’ve got flying handled. There’s another reason. That alert earlier? Someone from the Thormundz escaping. Quala says they’re a danger to themselves and I don’t want to see her proven right.” Murdon moved away from Sigron’s door, not wanting to further bother them, with William following. “You were in the Thormundz. You know what people went through and the help they need now. Someone from here might not understand why we’re taking her back against her will. I need that as much as I need someone reliable.”

“I don’t know if that’s me.” William adjusted the bow stave on his back as if to make sure it was there. “But I’ll do it. I can’t say no to you Commander. When do we set out?”

“Soon,” he replied, looking at his half of an arm. “I need to take care of something first.”

…

“Huh. Sounds like a level 2 just took your church for a ride.” If Quala had been surprised by Soraso upon their first meeting, this second one both confirmed the impression and surpassed it. She didn’t like the way he casually insulted her organization and by extension, her god, but she wasn’t here for herself. Neither was she alone.

Philimus had also been sent to meet with the Regent as he had been in charge during the escape. His decisions had arguably contributed towards it. Caylis, the head of the temple, wasn’t present. It seemed the horse person, more commonly called by their formal species name as they often found the comparison insulting, would be taking the fall. “It is difficult to contain a Blessed against their will,” he replied evenly. Defensively. The man seemed to be expecting a negative outcome from this meeting for him personally. He might be the highest ranking of his kind among all the churches. In Threst, that led to more scrutiny.

The multicolored gestalt in front of them twirled a hand as they lounged on the chair. Not throne, this wasn’t happening in the court but in a private chamber away from public eyes. It didn’t have to be happening here, which gave Quala insight into Soraso’s intentions even if his words were a bit abrasive. “Our jails hold them just fine.”

“We aren’t jailers.”

“We can discuss what went wrong after you give us authority to return Claire to the church,” Quala cut in somewhat urgently. “We’ve already given her enough time to enact whatever plans she had after escaping.” The orange glow of dusk coming through the window was a testament to this.

“Sounds to me like this is someone we should put in our Hunter’s Guild, rather than your care.”

Quala shifted uncomfortably before responding. “I can only divulge what is necessary for her safety. Let us just say she doesn’t have a history of participating in hunts.” Soraso just rolled his eyes, which in gestalt terms meant condensing and rotating the bit of fake sky that served as eyes. They both knew that wasn’t the point. “Claire, in her current state, represents a danger to herself that requires treatment by the church of the Hand. I thought we were making progress. Clearly, more help is needed than she has already received.”

Soraso pointed his arm and his hand detached, floating away to grab a small book. He was already flicking to the right page before it returned to him. “Rikendian policy on this matter suggests you have the grounds, but do you have the legs to stand on it?” Quala returned with a confused look and he continued, “Is this worth our time and energy?”

“You’re suggesting we give up on her?”

“I’m suggesting you give me specifics so I can justify sending a search party after someone who can both clone and disguise herself. It’s going to be a headache making sure we find the right one.”

Quala felt the feathers on her arm stand up a little but nodded. This was a private space, not an open court. Soraso knew what he was doing, she just wished he didn’t have to grandstand. “In short, Claire Elsemar’s soul is in extreme danger.” Soraso raised an eyebrow but she stared back, making it clear she wasn’t exaggerating. “She has an ability called Calm Emotions. Its primary use, its intended use, is to counter fear effects or temporarily quell overwhelming emotions. Temporarily,” she repeated the word. “As you are aware, many people in the Thormundz suffered trauma, physical or otherwise.”

“Yes. I heard about the thing that came out of that lightning dragon.” Soraso grimaced. “Good for my earth cousins to have ridden us of it.”

“The damage done to Claire was before this point. Again, to summarize a complicated case, she lost a significant other to the Upswell, a brother to a separate dragon attack, and a second significant other due to-” Quala paused, considering her word choice, “Poor decision making on the part of her partner.”

“So two tragedies and a bastard?”

“As I said, it is complicated. And it is my duty to tell you as little as needed.”

One of Soraso’s hands went into his head as he mimed rubbing it. “You aren’t exactly making my job easier. Or your point clearer.”

“At some point, Claire began using Calm Emotions on herself frequently, and then constantly, to cope. You could say she developed a dependency on her power. Emotion-manipulating powers are all dangerous if used incorrectly, even those that nullify instead of provoke.” Soraso was listening, seeing where this was going. “If she continues on this course, she risks completely blunting her emotions. I think this has already happened to some degree. If nothing else, something has allowed her to overcome her wall.”

“And it wasn’t hunting.” Soraso nodded. “Soul danger?”

“Both will and personality are core components of what we call the soul.”

“That’s an oversimplification,” Philimus commented, drawing the gazes of the others before he threw up his hands in surrender.

“Yes, but that isn’t relevant. Claire risks damaging her soul to the point where it opens the door to troubling outcomes. It’s like I’m seeing the conditions in a region that could lead to a Tyrant being formed. Of the three inciting incidents I spoke of, the death of her brother, Parduc Elsemar, seems the most significant. She only mentioned Lyander, her first partner, once, and the other not at all.”

“Parduc was the one killed by the fire dragon?” Soraso clarified.

“Yes. If she leaves herself empty of anything but a will for revenge, that could lead her to do something extremely reckless or, worse, develop a perilous bond.”

Soraso leaned forward at that. “Is that likely? One-sided bonds are extremely rare.”

“Singular focus on the death of someone or something that wronged you makes is one of the greatest risk factors for a vengeance bond, rarity of not. You don’t need to be deprived of emotion so long as it feeds into the need for revenge. I fear that if she reaches this point, she could grow unpredictable and dangerous towards anyone standing in her way. One-sided bonds, vengeance or otherwise, are far more likely to affect someone’s mind than others. I want to stop Claire before she becomes a danger to herself and your region.” Quala sighed as she rested her case. “I have tried reaching out to her, but perhaps I have gotten too close to be objective. I didn’t see this coming. Still, we need to bring her back.”

It only took Soraso a few seconds to come to a conclusion. “I assume you want to be the one holding the nets?”

“Murdon is looking for help right now,” Quala confirmed. “We have what we need for tracking her.”

“Alright, but I don’t want him crossing a regional boundary. I’m serious about needing to meet with him soon.” Soraso held up a hand to forestall a complaint. “Anyway, my authority only goes that far. I doubt you’ve forced one of my Fates at knifepoint to send a message to Kallical, Aughal, or Vellus. Otherwise, you have my permission. I’ll send someone along to make everything official.” He nodded as Quala stood, and then turned to Philimus as his hand sought out another book. “Now, let’s talk about proper requisition protocols for the Aurus sky platforms.”

…

Murdon had, like every Knight before him, heard the grumblings about how they cheated with their Focus. It was uncommonly known that if you took a high level magical material, say a metal, and used it to make lower level armor, a Knight using it as their Focus would benefit from their armor as if it was an item of the material’s original level. Usually in addition to some other bonuses. The lightning link armor Daniel had given him was such an example. This interaction occurred with classes that used weapons as Foci, to be fair, but it was still only durability that improved.

That bonus was a great advantage until you needed new armor. Either part of it broke beyond repair because you cut off one of your hands, or you didn’t like how one of the enchantments could make you explode. Eventually, a Knight would find themselves in need of a new set and would run into the same problems everyone else had. The kind Murdon wore, plate, was already expensive when discussing the mundane variety. The pricing of enchanted sets was truly insane because every other Knight in the world wanted one too, to speak nothing of the other martial classes who wanted it despite not having the Focus bonus.

Murdon could drink the potion and get his hand back now, but it would be unprotected. He didn’t have time to hunt for a new set but also didn’t want to be going out of Aurus ill-prepared for a monster encounter. Threst was better settled than the Thormundz had been. This meant fewer monsters, but also that there was a greater chance of higher level monsters appearing in the areas furthest away from settlements. Given Threst’s unique geography that meant he’d primarily encounter strong airborne monsters. After all he’d been through, Murdon wasn’t about to face off against another at anything less than full strength. Going in without Lograve already felt wrong, though to be fair he could also just ask Soraso if he wanted to come along himself if he wanted nostalgia. Murdon wasn’t going to do that.

He paused in his walk towards the church of Hammer as a keening cry resounded from above. It was a kind of shout avianoids were capable of, and in Threst that meant to look up before someone landed on you. Murdon stepped back along with the rest of the crowd as space was cleared. A tall avianoid landed, wings swept out to the side shifting back into arms after achieving a soft landing. Murdon still had the height advantage, though it was less than the half meter he normally had over this woman’s race.

That wasn’t the only thing remarkable about her. Her feathers had a combination of tan which was one of the standard colors, with additional sections of a flame red that was certainly not. She wore lighter armor made of lacquered wood, similar to the kind Lograve had lost in his first encounter against the lightning dragon. A suspicion formed in the back of his mind as he saw her eyes lock onto him.

“Murdon Darkscale?” she asked with the avianoid equivalent of a cocky grin.

He grimaced internally as she included his last name in the address. “Most people just call me Murdon. Soraso sent you?”

“The Regent did. I am Tounaki Splitswift, level 3 Arcanist here in my position within Mage Flight.” That was a subdivision of Threst’s guard, the region rich enough in Blessed to form specialized units. Murdon suspected the Arcanist was also in the Hunter’s Guild, though Soraso didn’t have direct authority over that.

“Not Pyromancer?” Murdon guessed, already seeing the joke.

“Didn’t get the evolution this level, but I have hopes for 4,” Tounaki replied with a grin. She snapped her fingers and one of the red feathers flew off, converting into a flame twice its original size while another one rapidly regrew to cover the gap. The fire formed into a stream that twirled around her fingers. “Heard you could use some magic support for this. I’ve also got a Bekali Soarer ready to go once your healer flies back down from the mid altitudes. Anyone else coming along?”

“Two. One’s a Ranger, he’s back in the temple of the Hand. Last one is a Martialist, spearfighter. Both human.”

“Speaking of.” Tounaki gestured to his arm. “The Regent told me to tell you to, and these are his exact words, ‘drink the damn potion already’.”

Murdon grunted humorously. “He say anything else?”

She looked a bit wary at that question and replied, “He said that, and again, his words, that he ‘hopes you find me a better partner than the last one’?”

Murdon shook his head. “Don’t worry, it’s just a joke. A bad one and not at your expense. Will that platform have room for more?”

Tounaki looked grateful for the change in the subject and followed him as Murdon continued to his original destination. “No. No offense, but they're built for speed and that armor is a person by itself.”

“I’ll take metal over wood when it comes to fighting monsters.”

“Then you’ve never had good splint armor before. Get your own set of wings and you’ll see the need for it.” Tounaki realized which church they were heading to. “Hammer? Why are we heading there?”

Murdon pointed to the capped off armored sleeve that covered his half arm. “I have to get this fixed.”

…

“You need me to make and fit an entire vambrace and gauntlet from that cap of metal on the end there?” The old Hammer Cleric fixed Murdon with a quizzical look as he and Tounaki stood in the main reception of the church. It was like the others structurally, but where the Hand had rooms off to the side to see to urgent cases when they appeared, this one leaned more into decoration.

Above, there was a floating river of material that shifted into different forms along its course. Fire, stone, clouds, and even liquid metal at one point that was contained in the stream, flowed around the support pillars like Tounaki’s fire had around her fingers. Given that this Divine Quarter was located in Hammer’s region, extra emphasis on his temple wasn’t too surprising, and there were signs of favoritism elsewhere in the building if you knew where to look.

Murdon began unhooking the straps keeping the armor around his injured arm, which no one else would be able to do unless he let them. Another advantage of using armor as a Focus. “Are you saying you can’t?”

“Of course not! The question is, do you have the time to wait?”

“How long will this take?” Murdon held his breath. This was the Cleric he’d been directed to for his request. It seemed Soraso hadn’t planned quite this far or had just forgotten about Murdon’s armor, leaving the Knight to cover the costs himself. If he had to wait in line again-

“Oh, about ten minutes.” Both he and Tounaki stared. “What? Come, come, let’s get this started.” The Cleric reached for and was given the armor. Murdon felt something try to influence his armor and he allowed it mentally, seeing the metal already begin to flex.

“We’re doing it here?”

“Well, unless you want to eat dinner with me then I’m getting this done here.” The Cleric took a seat and Murdon sighed. “I’m going to need you to drink that potion if you want something more than a blank cylinder too!”

“What is up with him?” Tounika whispered when Murdon took a few steps back to give the Cleric space.

He shrugged. “Must be hungry.” His gauntlet rubbed the potion bottle in his hand. There was no fear of breaking it with incidental motion. Soraso had requested it be returned after he was finished with it. Murdon tried not to think about the possibility that someone else had used this bottle before him. “It seems so simple, but Eido couldn’t make something like this.”

“Threst is advanced for its age,” Tounaki confirmed. “No one really high level, but we’re better than Aughal that’s for sure. Shame about Roost’s Peak, though. We could have used that ore. You know, I almost went along when we sponsored that fort.”

“Regretting not going?”

“Oh, Crest no.” Tounika shook her head fiercely, a feather shedding with the motion and combusting harmlessly. “You need some privacy?” She took in the somewhat crowded surroundings and amended, “Or me just to step away?”

“It’s fine.” Murdon swirled the bottle for a second and then poured it into his mouth. It would take the entire thing, so he was careful not to lose anything given that his jaw couldn’t close around the lip of the bottle. It was possible to make something like that for draconoids, but not for avianoids, further suggesting this was a reused bottle.

The effects began before the last of the potion reached his stomach, his body already absorbing the magic. An impressive amount of magic. Replacing a limb grew harder as someone grew higher in level, this being a universal rule for all things related to healing. Murdon was solidly in level 3 and required a very potent potion of his level. His arm began to surge with energy, shaking a little with the overflow. Other spots on his body also felt this to a far more limited degree. Hmm. So much for my scars.

The energy in his arm began to push against the stump of flesh. Bone protruded outwards and he decided to turn his back to the crowds to spare them the sight of it. The Knight himself was too curious to not watch as over two minutes the limb he’d severed to kill the lightning dragon was regrown completely. His arm was covered by the same black scales he had over the rest of his body. He swore the patterning of small gold and blue spots among the predominantly black was the same as it had been. It felt completely normal once the potion was done, like he’d never lost his arm.

“Our Alchemists sure know what they’re doing,” Tounaki said as Murdon flexed his regrown fingers. “Won’t see something like that out of Aughal or Kallical.”

The Cleric was ignoring them both, hands working on the armor and drawing out the section that would cover his regenerated limb. The sight reminded him of Roderick, one of the many friends he’d lost in the Thormundz. Murdon didn’t say much as the old avianoid finished, Tounaki taking the hint and not advertising the region further.

“There! How’s the fit?”

Murdon didn’t need to put it on to know, but he did before answering to not insult the man. “Flawless.”

“Peh. That’s not nothing. Unenchanted metal flows like water.” The old man stood with only the barest of stiffness, his level providing some extra vitality. Given how leveling slowed aging, Murdon could only guess how old he had to be to show it. “Bring me some finagled piece of glued together scrap a hopped up Arcanist enchanted and I’ll actually have to try. Not right before dinner, mind you.” He left with that, giving the draconoid no time to respond.

“Wow. He even copied that spot of rust.” Tounaki was also inspecting the armor, there not being much else interesting to occupy her attention. Murdon could feel a bit of heat radiating from her as she moved her face closer to inspect his arm. Her head was completely covered by the red feathers whereas they only partially covered other areas.

Murdon checked and saw it himself. That old Cleric hadn’t just fitted the armor, he’d copied and mirrored the other arm down to the slightest scuff.

…

“Sir, Quala and William are waiting by the platform. She’s getting nervous.” The last member of the thrown together tracking team almost saluted Murdon and then noticed Tounaki. “Who’s this?”

“Tounaki Splitswift, Mage Flight. You could say I’m your fire support,” the Arcanist answered for Murdon.

Janice nodded, taking in the newcomer instantly. “Commander, did they send us another Lograve?”

“Looks like it,” Murdon grunted. He looked out below the horizon where the sun was still setting. “We should get going. Did William say anything about finding the trail?”

“He should tell you himself, Sir.” Janice led them to what looked like a small dock built on the side of the cliff because that’s what it was. It was off to the side between Hammer and Cloak’s churches, divided into three sections for berths open to the public, those reserved for the city, and those for the churches.

Threst had long ago developed vehicles capable of sustained flight. Like the potion Murdon had taken, they were the product of multiple specialists working together. One major difference was these weren’t one use. Over the years quite a number had been stockpiled, allowing the supply to go from restricted by Threst’s government to just very expensive to purchase. Murdon vaguely knew an avianoid named Bekali had pioneered the design a long time ago, but only because her name was still attached to the various platforms.

The Bekali Diver that had first responded to the incident at the church was a small craft with limited range but by far the fastest. If Claire had been spotted as she left, they could have used that to chase her down. Well, Murdon couldn’t have gone because he was too heavy, but that was beside the point.

The soarer was larger and less square-shaped. Higher-grade magic allowed for more artistry in its design, giving it an actual profile of a bird rather than one reminiscent of them. It wasn’t sturdy enough to support a ballista, like larger defense platform designs, but had enough magic within to go for several days at a decent speed. I’ll probably have to stay in the middle, Murdon thought, mentally sighing. As good as the Soarer looked, its design meant its riders had to be careful with its balance.

Soraso’s latest gift was what looked to be a newly made platform, paint still fresh and control dais gleaming. William was perched off the stylized beak, concentrating. Quala, meanwhile, walked up and gave Tounaki the same look Janice had. “Murdon, thank you.”

“The people of the Thormundz are my responsibility Quala, even if we aren’t there anymore.” It was an honest answer. Murdon had never wanted to be a leader, but he never did a job poorly either. “This is Tou-“ he paused, and decided on a rare bit of humor. “This is the new Lograve.”

It only took one second for Quala to fire back, “Well, maybe you’ll make the rumors true with this one.”

“I think someone needs to tell me who Lograve is,” Tounaki finally said.

William stood up, forestalling an explanation. “Commander. I think I have her.”

“William, if anyone is in charge it’s Quala.” He looked at her, but she just nodded back with a grin that would have hidden the anxiety from someone else. “I assume you have a trail then?”

“Yes.” The Ranger pointed out into the distance, indicating a northerly direction. In his other hand was a small towel taken from Claire’s room, enough to trigger his tracking power. “It’s a good thing we have this platform. I don’t think I could flap my arms fast enough to follow myself.”

“Makes you wonder how our target did it,” Tounaki mused

“She may be developing into a fully specialized summoner-type Arcanist. Claire already awakened Summon Familiar before she was of full age.” Quala was climbing onto the soarer at this point, practically dragging Janice with her. “With all the powers she’s used today I don’t doubt she’s level 2. Summoning enough monster to fly her away shouldn’t be an issue if she’s reached that point.”

“Do you think she’ll use them to attack us when we find her?” Murdon asked.

Quala hesitated for a moment. “I honestly don’t know. I was wrong about some things, but I am right about one. She’s in danger, Murdon. I only wish she’d been more honest with me.”

“Right. Well, I’m sure everything will be fine after we bring her back.” Tounaki had taken a position at the control strand for the platform. The fire Arcanist was standing in the exact center of the soarer where a circular wooden banister with a break in the back was raised out of the wood. Two bracelets linked with the platform could control the speed, pitch, and yaw of the device, though one could be used alone if needed. Small benches half a meter off the platform were set symmetrically around the dais, meant for passengers.

The Soarer, already levitating in the air as Tounaki worked the controls, listed when Murdon stepped on before it corrected itself. He waited for a second for someone to say something, but even Tounaki proved she wasn’t a clone of Lograve by staying silent.

William returned to the front, ignoring the benches. “Once we set out, I’ll have to keep us on course. We’ll follow the path she took since I can’t just point to where she is now.”

“Is there a time limit on that power?” Quala asked. “It’s already been a few hours.”

“No, not as far as we’re concerned. I’m level 3 ma’am, this isn’t new to me.”

“I thought you said you weren’t as good as Farthest Run,” Murdon said, taking a seat.

“They would have found her already, Commander.” The Ranger turned around and saw everyone else secured on the soarer. “I’m good when you are.”

“Alright, I’ll take us out as fast as your Ranger can handle.” Tounaki pushed her hands forward, the soarer accelerating gently. “If anyone does fall off, I’ll try to catch you without throwing anyone else. Worst case spread out your arms and legs and try to point your chest towards the ground limit. Nest Flight will catch you before you circle back to Aurus.”

Janice was the only one looking perturbed as they eased over the edge like a reluctant diver. They sped up, William throwing hand signals to guide Tounaki until he grimaced, calling a stop a short distance out from Aurus. “You’re going to want to hold onto something. She went straight down.”

Murdon inspected his seat for a few seconds before addressing Tounaki. “Is there any way we can strap in?”

“As long as you’re seated there the enchantments should keep you rooted at high speeds or odd angles. You’ll want to get to one though.”

“I’ll be fine,” William brushed her off. “Just make sure you can keep up with me.”

Tounaki’s professional demeanor broke with a smile. “You think you can outfly me?”

“William, let’s not be confrontational,” was what Quala tried to say before the soarer’s beak dipped down into a sharp dive. Ahead was the sky that surrounded the mountain city of Aurus, stretching all the way to the regional boundaries. There was sky below them as well. As the five descended through the air at speed, there was nothing at all but empty air rushing to greet them.

In Threst, it was sky all the way down.