Chapter 172: Dread Silence
PoV: Thatch Bream - Hush
There’s a door I knock on.
It’s made from red wood, carried in by an airship. I breathe as I wait for it to open.
There’s a sickness inside me.
My blood. It boils inside my veins. I can see them, thick and sick against my skin. They’re cursed, darkened. And they hurt. Everything hurts these days. Because I’m sick.
The door opens. Bloodstain stands beyond it, smiling wide. Her coppery skin stretches as she grins, and waves me inside. She has her metallic hair in a long braid, leisurely draped over her shoulder. “Ah, Hush,” she says happily, licking her lips. “How pleasant to see you. Come on in.”
I smile. It’s a polite expression that comes as easy as breathing.
[Inner Peace 7 > 8]
My blood boils my skin from the inside. So close to her, it’s far worse. Her curse spreads in my veins, and I feel like a puppet on a string. It’s a horrid, invasive sensation. Still, I smile and step inside.
Bloodline keeps their headquarters tidy. Stain makes sure of that. They have red carpet covering the floor, and the ceiling is actually watertight. It’s even warm inside, and Bloodstain gently brushes my shoulder as she takes off my cloak, her movements graceful and polite.
Then, in a swift motion, she hangs it up, and snatches my hand, pulling me deeper in with a giggle. Everything is a game to her, but it’s a cruel one. I feel a ring of pain grow where she holds my wrist and let myself be pulled along.
All of that is fine. After all, I am a patient, calm person. I still smile at her, and open my mouth to talk, but she presses a finger to my lips. Smiling smugly, she traces my chin, then grabs it and turns my face. “You’re very handsome, Hush,” she says.
“I get that a lot,” I reply. From her it’s more gross than when my friends say it, though. But I can take this, too.
Her nail presses into my eyebrow, drawing a single droplet of dark blood. It’s almost black as it trails down my cheek. “I want to scar you,” she says, tasting every word. “I want to brand you, because I think you’re delicious. Your restraint, your control, I am so envious of it.”
A small laugh bubbles up at that. “Restraint?” I ask with a smile. “I don’t think I’m that restrained.”
She pouts at that, lips curling. “How adorable. You don’t see yourself as that, then? A monster on chains?”
Some time ago, perhaps, those words would have hit me. I don’t like being angry. I still plan on fusing the skill into something else. But that doesn’t reduce that it’s part of me. A part of me as anything else. “No,” I reply with a smile, and a shake of my head. My neck aches as I move, my blood resisting the motion, beckoning me to be a statue. “No, I think I’m rather a calm and soft spoken person.”
Bloodstain’s lips curl into a grin. For her, the facade drops away. Her lies of affection. The smile on her face turns feral, and she leans in close. “I am a bit of a monster, though, Hush,” she drawls.
“I want two tokens and to be released from your curse,” I say with a soft smile, cupping her cheek. “One for Jean, one for me.”
She smiles. So softly, so gently, so politely. “No,” she says.
And at that, I know where we stand. There is one language for this purpose, purely for this purpose. I take a long breath in and out. Already, the smile on her face grows feral, and she even leans into my touch as my thumb traces her cheekbone.
Inside me, that flip switches.
[Rage].
My hand turns to a claw. My blood boils, not with pain, but with fury. Anger courses through me like air. It fuels my motion, and a vengeful ghost manifests over all my digits. In one swift motion, I slam Bloodstain into the ground.
Stones crack. Her skin splits, her bones grind, blood flows and stains the ground. And she laughs. “There it is!” she cheers, her lips tasting dust, her face stained red. Her eyes, though, stare at me with the same heat as ever. “That’s you, Hush!”
Remembrance flares. The monster threatens to consume me, but I am who I am. Despite everything, I smile. My other hand comes down, a crushing fist smashing into Bloodstain. My own blood rebels against me. It explodes out of my skin, my veins unmaking themselves.
Her curse has infected me for days. The sickness is all throughout me. I feel it burn me from the inside out, and I punch her again.
Skin breaks away from her face, rent by claws. My anger pools higher. It roars inside my chest, and I smile. “You made Snow worry for me,” I say, calmly, measured, as I smash my fists into her again. “How fucking dare you.”
Bloodstain laughs, and pushes. My blood rebels. My body contorts itself like a puppet on broken strings, my bones twist on themselves. But I am more than a puppet. I am worn by myself, a fuel to my own rage, and the blood she has spent so much effort infecting burns.
[Epitaph: Bloodburn
Rage to blood, blood to rage.
Anger fuels your heart, sits in your ribcage.]
Blood to [Rage].
My body comes undone. My muscles unravel, my blood burns inside and outside. Flamando’s gracious gift to me sends shivers through my skin as my heart itself begins to catch fire. I burn, and the figure behind me becomes towering.
[Rage 24 > 27]
I break the threshold in an instant, and push beyond it. My fist comes down, and for the first time, Bloodstain’s smile fades a little. She twists out of the way, making me explode the ground rather than her skull - but she cannot escape the shrapnel. Stones pelt her skin, even as her own blood pours back into her veins from the ground.
Violently, I throw myself at her. My ghostly maw finds her shoulder, and teeth dig into her. My blood evaporates, and I go from being a puppet to being a monster. Again, I strike, shattering her face. Bloody knives stab through me, pierce my arms, my legs, but I [Channel] that pain. It’s fuel for the fire.
For the Pyre.
“You made their burden heavier,” I say, teeth grinding against each other, tasting iron in my mouth. My anger boils higher. “You made me dead weight. I will never forgive that.”
Authority slams into me. A violent, bloody authority that speaks of… I smell it. Of slaughter.
It’s insidious. It worms its way into my head. It twists my thoughts, tries to drive me mad. Bloodstain grins at me, her skull in the open air, her blood coursing around her, turning to spears and knives that shatter against my rage. I howl in fury, and slam her through a wall.
The carpet tears to shreds under my steps. The rocks shatter as I drive her through them. Her own ability makes me even angrier, and the bestial form around me grows solid. Teeth and claws, monstrous manifestations of what I am, who I am. A berserker. A brutal, violent killer. She laughs.
“Dance with me, monstrous one! Show me your true shape!” she laughs. Her arm is shattered, hanging limply, and I snarl, leaping at her.
Spears of blood pierce through me, but then they catch flame, too. Blood turns to rage, and I let it burn. I let it fuel me, anger in my veins. I land against her, and her eyes widen in brief surprise as my claws land on her arm. And I pull.
A moment passes. Two. Her blood turns solid in her body. It forms chain links that keep her arm attached. She snarls from the effort, and I roar at her. My phantom jaws close around her head, and teeth grind against bone. A scream tears from both of us - and then her arm tears from her body.
Bloodstain’s laugh dies into a hollow choke, adrenaline coursing from her as blood flows freely from the stump. So, so much blood pours out of her, a compressed jet of the stuff, as if she’s stored more inside than her body can hold. It shoots at me, and I shield my chest and face. The holes in my arms and legs don’t matter, because I pounce again.
She pulls back. I see it now, afraid. Another brutal strike lands on her, lacerating her face, pulling bronzen skin from bone. She bleeds, she feels the agony, and I want to slaughter her. The urge to lose myself strengthens. I jump, ferally, and land on her.
Underneath me, the deranged woman smiles. Her blood pours out from her, then digs into me, but I see the spray slow. She’s running dry. Gingerly, I drive my claws through her again, ruining her other shoulder, making more holes in her ruined body. She grimaces, this time, as if the pain finally gets through to her.
And her eyes remain manic, fixed on me. “Give in,” she whispers. “Become what you were always meant to be.”
A small smile spreads on my human lips. With a small sigh, I invert the epitaph. Rage turns to blood. I [Channel] the anger into its proper resting place. The flames within my chest dim, and the pain begins to properly wear on me.
[Channel 20 > 21]
But that’s okay. I know who I am. I remember. That’s my authority. It’s my truth. And, deep down, I trust myself to be calm and reasonable.
So the monster vanishes. The rage goes from flames, to embers, to coals. It lays low in my chest, and I feel the claws of slaughter fall away. Bloodstain’s eyes widen. Almost desperately, she reaches out with her remaining arm, and I feel a thin infection try to take hold. I burn that blood.
Then, I sigh and stomp on her shoulder, breaking bone. She gasps in pain, no air left to scream with. Squatting down next to her, I smile, politely, calmly, my body riddled with holes, my face covered in her blood. It’s a gentle, kind expression. “I’d like my tokens now,” I say simply.
Bloodstain stares at me. She tries to reach out, but her arm fails her. Instead, she laughs and coughs blood. “Beautiful,” she whispers, for a moment, then passes out.
Silence falls over the clearing. A dreadful hush. An oppressive nothing. It weighs on me, but I carry it well.
“Is she dead?” Inu asks, from behind a nearby building.
I turn to stare at her. Despite everything, I knew she was there. She just can’t stop herself from meddling. And yet… I don’t feel angry at her. I even smile. It was nice to feel safe. That even if I’d lost myself, someone would have been there to catch me. I don’t want to be a burden, but the safety net… I’d kill for it.
“She’s alive,” I say softly, dragging a hand through my hair, staining it red with blood.
“The tokens?” Inu asks.
“Inside, on a table,” I say, pointing at the ruined building. The roof has caved in on half of it, and the stone is cracked. I wince at the sight, but Inu just smiles.
She nods, then ruffles my hair for a moment. Uncaring that it stains her hand. “I’ll get them. You get started on running, before the guards show up. Put her in a safe house,” she says. Her [Empathy] feels warm and kind within my chest, and with a small sigh, I nod.
“Alright, Inu. Thanks. See you at home?” I ask.
A bright smile envelops her face, and she nods. “See you at home.”
Chapter 173: Connections
PoV: Snow Okiyama - Ion
Stealing is, by far, my favourite crime.
Others are fun, too, of course. Arson has its appeal. Manslaughter is great for puns. And there is a certain amusement to including red crosses in video games, even if it technically was against the Geneva convention.
But none of them beat stealing. Because, in short, I gain nothing from any of them. Stealing can be a good thing even, so long as I use the wealth better than someone else. And I’m pretty sure that Raven is a bit of a scumbag.
Opal gives a long yawn, holding the back of their head. Their eyes are closed as they walk with me, gaze turned upwards. The Eyes stare down at us as they always do, giant glowing eyeballs covering the sky, big and small. Some of them seem to follow me, others look everywhere at once. It’s impossible to know what they’re looking at - because that’d be unfair.
“Tired?” I ask them.
They give me a grin, and shake their head. “Nah. Distracted.”
“By?”
“Thatch,” Opal says. Their face turns serious for just a second, the ever-present smile fading from their lips. “Think he’ll be alright?”
I nod quietly as we walk through the rainy streets. “Yeah, I think so. Inu went along.” Flobs huddle near us, sticking to buildings and pitiful shelter. It’s not that late yet, so people are out and about, and I’ve already dodged two pickpockets. They really are enthusiastic here.
“Really, she did?” Opal asks with a look of surprise. “Well, damn.” They scratch their goatee. “Sounds like I worried for nothing.”
“Maybe you should worry about Sylves,” I suggest.
Their eyes widen. “Oh no. We’re sending her to negotiate with Coldscar and Reign?” they ask. Richard is visiting Lucky. All I do is give a small nod. Opal groans. “This is gonna go horrible.”
“Now, now, we should trust in her a little. Sylves is a very reasonable and kind person,” I say, almost believing it myself.
Opal gives me a sideways glance, then a snicker. I feel the annoyance drain from them, as if it’s a flimsy thing they can’t hold on to. “Ah well,” they say calmly. “If it’s bad, we’ll bail her out.”
I smile and nod. “We will. Ah, that’s the building, we’re here,” I say, pointing at a simple wooden door. As always, the den stands simply. I know Raven is probably inside… Which is why Opal is here. They could teleport inside and back out in a second, and they will, but there’s one more job they have.
With a quiet warping noise, Opal’s [Bound Armament] appears in their hands. The sword hums with more violence now, metal gauntlets wrapping their fingers. Purple runes sprawl down the length of the blade, humming ominously. “Say, Snow,” they hum excitedly. “On a scale of one to ten, how much chaos am I aiming for?”
Looking at their expression, I can’t bring myself to give them anything but what they wish for. I am weak to that dang smile, after all. “A ten.”
Opal’s grin turns wide. “Got it,” they say. And then, they vanish. For a moment, there’s a person-shaped outline in the rain. A heartbeat later, every sign of them is gone. Until, of course, the door of the building in front of me blows off its hinges.
Gingerly, I make sure my shadow-mask is in place. My hood hangs far over my face, the shadows cloaking me as I wait. A dozen figures come crashing through the opening, and I hear a soft hum as purple slashes materialize where Opal left [Echoes] of them.
Blood mixes with the wetness from above, and I make sure to hug the cold, stone wall next to me. My body presses against it, and the shadows hide me alongside my own mana. I breathe slow, shallow breaths.
[Obfuscation 8 > 9]
Raven storms out of the den in a cloak of black feathers. I see Dove dive free from the building, still wrapped in bandages from when Sylves fought them. A dozen lesser members of Aviary join the fray, and rubble starts to come loose. Opal kicks up tons of dust, using their jewelcraft abilities to blow the dust in everyone else’s faces.
I smile as I watch for a few moments, seeing the way that Aviary’s birds start running around like headless chicken. “Get them!” Raven roars somewhere in the night sky. With casual steps, I quietly walk towards the den.
Its door hangs on its hinges. There are still people inside, as well as a flock of ravens in cages. They’re ready to pour out within moments, but they don’t, standing as sentinels in the den. Because, well, Raven isn’t stupid.
But already, even now, Kuro spreads. Their shadows slighter into the cracks between bricks when no one notices. They dampen the lights - until, all at once, every single candle in the room winks out. Every source of light extinguished.
And then, I slip inside.
Panicked voices start roaring in the room, and people ask for fireballs - but I dispel them. Any magic that begins making light is broken apart to its constituent pieces. I slink forward quietly, keeping to the darkness, Kuro wrapped around me and perfectly matching the shadows I move through.
Until, after a dozen breaths, I am at the cages.
Order has largely returned. The flobs are beginning to try mundane lights. My time is running out. I reach for the cage where Raven drew a sigil from before, grabbing the lock that holds it closed, and flooding it with my mana, pushing the pins up to pick it. After a quick mental twist, there’s a soft, quiet click, the enchantments dying down.
And an axe at my throat.
Owl stares at me. Eyes poke out from between white fur, large, wide eyes observing my every move, every twitch. I breathe carefully. No one has heard. Owl has been utterly silent. Something I was betting on.
I could take her. I could. But there’s no need. She’s like me, she gets it. And so, with very slow, predictable motions, I reach for the mask…
And pull it off.
Owl’s eyes widen even more. The axe quivers at my neck. I sign at her, abridged signs with my only hand, mouthing the words as I go along. “Yuki.” I point at myself. “Sigil.” I point at the cage. Somehow, the tower translates sign language and lipreading, too, apparently.
She stares. The axe I made for her still rests close to my skin. Her wings hover carefully in the air, splayed wide as I give her a pleading look. Very, very slowly, Owl takes a step back.
One doesn’t make it out of the fifth ring without owing a debt or two.
So if I must owe someone, I’d like it to be someone who understands me.
Within a single step, Owl vanishes into the darkness, but the silence lingers. A field of hers, one that silences all noise. In fact, it tastes vaguely familiar, like an authority but not quite. I ignore it, and pull open the cage I just picked.
Instantly, the raven inside begins complaining, loudly. But despite the way its beak moves, there’s no sound. I reach in, [Suppressing] its movements as I push into a hidden cupboard. I watched as Raven did it. They hid it from my sight, but not my [Observation].
Three heartbeats pass. I take out three sigils. The amount we need. Then, my mask appears on my face again, the cage shuts, the lock clicks back into place, and when the first lights begin to overcome the shadow, I’m already leaving again.
They catch a glimpse of my coat as I head out into the night, of shadows that wreathe around me, but when they try to follow, I make Kuro manifest a solid blockade against the door. It only stops them for a few seconds, but that’s all I need. By the time they’re free, I’m gone.
All I see is Owl’s eyes looking after me, holding tight onto the axe that I made for her. She nods, and I nod back. Then I vanish.
- - -
“I gave ‘em hell,” Opal coughs with amusement, their body covered in tiny cuts and holes.
“Looks like they gave back just as well,” I note distantly.
Opal rolls their eyes and laughs, even as more blood leaks from them. Their vessel is spent entirely, and I can feel their authority having run itself ragged. It feels flimsy as it brushes against me, their freedom strained. Having run away from multiple climbers and a couple dozen strong flobs will do that, apparently.
With a small smile, I show off the sigils, and Opal brightens even more. “Yes!” they say happily, taking one of them. “Awesome! I love stealing!”
At that, I laugh, just a little. “Quiet down,” I say with a snicker, as the guards start to pour into the rubble behind us. “We walk away calmly.”
“Snow, my legs are fucked,” Opal laughs, if a bit quiet. Despite it, they smile. “You’ll have to carry me.” They spread their arms wide.
I look at them. They look at me. I shake my head in disbelief, then snicker. “Alright,” I say. Then, in one swift motion, I sweep them off their feet, to Opal’s great delight. They giggle and grin the whole way as I walk with them through alleyways, staring up at the sky.
“Bleeding in your arms, staring at a cloudy sky full of eyes,” they say with a content sigh. “What more could an enby like me wish for?”
“A cape,” I say calmly.
“Oh my fucking god, yes. I need a cape. A red- no, a purple one!” they say, excitedly. “You’ll enchant it for me, right? Please. Pleaseeee?”
Rolling my eyes, I snicker, and nod. Opal cheers in my arms, which almost makes me drop them, given how much taller than me they are. But I hold on. That power stat is good for something, after all. On the way home, Opal chatters on for a little while longer, talking about all the things they enjoyed, and how the fight went.
I listen to all of it, smiling slightly. There is something so endearing about someone so… alive. And it makes me smile.
Even if it’s a little scary that they talk about murder so casually. Well, I should be scared. But when looking into their eyes, their desire to be a hero, to fight big monsters and protect people, I find it hard to feel any fear.
“I envy you, Opal,” I whisper quietly.
They smile at me, and nod. “As you should!” they boast, instantly. Then, though, they still ask. “Why?”
“You make it look so easy,” I say.
And Opal gets it. Their smile turns a little sad, and they smile at me as my feet fall in half-formed puddles. “I do, huh?” they ask, staring into the sky again. “Well, Snow, I’m jealous of you, too.”
I tilt my head. “You are?”
“Mhm,” Opal nods. “I get so lost all the time. You pick the quickest path. I admire that.”
A small snicker escapes me. I can’t stay jealous, for too long when they look at me like that. Sighing softly, I sit down on the wet cobblestone. Water seeps into my clothes as I cross my legs, but I don’t care. Opal’s head rests in my lap, and they look up at me. Slowly, the shadows crawl higher around us.
There’s nothing to say between us. They know what I mean, and I know what they mean. “You’re a dummy, Opal,” I say quietly, as the darkness crawls higher.
They smile brightly. “Yours truly. You’re silly, too, Snow,” they fire back.
And I, too, smile. Then, one by one, I heal their wounds. After a long silence, we head back.
- - -
Sylves, Thatch, Inu and Richard are all waiting for us. Opal appears in the room with a [Blink] before I even open the door, forcing me to take the stairs on my lonesome. Zinc eyes me for a few moments, then shakes her head, muttering something about climbers. I ignore all of it, and push open the door to our room.
The bunk beds I called home for the last month. My mournfully depleted headphones resting on the bedside table, right next to my mournfully depleted phone. Bay really needs to come up here soon. With slow steps, I walk to the bed, then sit down. My eyes drift over them all.
“Everyone successful?” I ask.
All of them, one after another, hold up the sigils. Two for me, bought from Raven. Four for Jean, by all the guilds. Two that Thatch beat out of Bloodstain, and three that Opal and I stole.
Raven was hoarding them after our little stunt with the guards, because getting more would’ve been harder. And now, they’re a bit screwed, but that’s no longer my problem. I smile, looking at all of them, and give a slow nod. “Then we’ll climb tomorrow.”
Richard holds up a hand, and I blink at her. After another moment, the little hiy’ht smiles at all of us. “I wanted to say that I am very glad to have come along with all of you. You’ve proven to be a very reliable hive,” she says, simply.
Instantly, Inu breaks out into a bright smile. “I like you all, too,” she says happily. Thatch blushes and looks aside. Opal laughs. Sylves gives a happy giggle. And I bring a finger to my face.
I think, for some reason, I’m smiling. How bizarre.
Softly, I shake my head, clearing my mind as I lay down on the bed. I need to sleep now, since Perpetual Pursuit has already kept me up for a few days straight. Just one quick nap before we climb. And then, tomorrow, we’ll stop hiding.
Tomorrow, we’ll head into the monolith.
Chapter 174: The Monolith
“Hello, I’m Elli, could I see your tokens, please?” a scithian says, almost gently. We approached them mainly because they weren’t with the city guard. Instead, they had short, black hair, styled to poke up from their scalp, and draped a snake around their neck.
The monolith stands in front of us. It’s a towering thing - black and austere. Perfectly smooth, like glass, tapering to a pint high up in the sky. It pierces the drizzling clouds like a symbol of hope, of opportunity.
With very, very swift motions, we all present the sigils. Bofoy, Anna, Trey, Jean and Isabelle followed us along swiftly. It took a while for me to convince the quiet thief to let her little brother come along, but in the end, she agreed. If he could gain even a single level, he could start putting points into heart and get better.
Also, she wouldn’t go alone. There was no chance of her leaving him behind, so he had to come along.
Now, the reason we’re going so fast is because there’s someone walking towards us. Multiple someones, in fact. Raven, Coldscar, Lucky and Reign. And, of course, in addition to them, there’s a new person.
Someone who spotted Jean immediately. Someone whose presence is so wide it makes me shiver. Her field of authority crashed over me when she entered the fifth ring. Delfine, the oracle. A tall feryran, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, an exquisite, golden dress and a veil that hid her face.
But she’s easy to spot. Her dress drags on the street, but doesn’t cake with mud. She is surrounded by four guards, all of them wielding stacking authorities. And her own sense of detection buzzes at the back of my head as she walks towards us, hushed whispers passing over the crowd.
Like an inevitable ghost, she approaches. So, we hurry. Elli gives us a small smile that brightens when her cute snake sniffs the tokens. Then she nods. “Good, you all have them. Your group seems to be spread over a wide array of levels. Do you need me to set the scaling factor?”
The questions are genuine and kind, and if we had more time, I would ask to pet the snake. But we don’t. So, instead, I tell them, “We’re in a hurry. Whatever gets us in quickest.”
Elli scratches the back of their head at that. “Well, alright,” they say with a weak smile, glancing at the people who seem to be very decidedly coming after us. “Just to warn you, you can die in the monolith. And they’re not instanced - you might find other people climbing them. Most likely, even. If you find nobles, try to be respectful,” they explain.
And then, with quick motions, they press a thin booklet into my hand. “Here, this’ll have the most important bits. Good luck.”
With another wave, Elli beckons us inside. The door to the monolith is a swirling haze of fog. It ripples forward, covering our feet. The entrance is also guarded by Respitia’s staff, though their eyes are all on Delfine. Still, the oracle approaches, her vision growing tighter over us, like a thin net.
There are also independent climbers here, like Elli, who generally serve the same purpose as guards while also selling themselves to fill additional spots for incomplete teams, climbing with them.
Not that we could afford it. Despite our profits, after all the blackmail, and buying supplies, we’re… well, not quite broke, but close. Usually, we’d have bought more healing items, but with me and Jean, we’re one of the rare parties who is overstacked on healers, rather than understocked.
With Elli’s approval, it only takes us a few swift steps into the fog, Delfine and the gangs approaching behind us. I breathe in for a long moment, then step forward. Past all the guards, through the fog, and into the monolith.
- - -
First, the sigil I hold burns in my hand. It rapidly rusts, then turns to flaking ash, falling down. The fog consumes me, and I feel the cold creeping across my skin. It’s far, far colder than Downpour even on its coldest days, but it’s not cutting. It clings to my skin, to my eyes, and I blink a few times to clear them.
[Companion bond confirmed. Participant ‘Kuro’ admitted in same slot as participant ‘Ion’.]
Then the cold pulls away a step. It sticks around for a few more moments.
[Full party confirmed. Establishing cohort.]
One moment to another, my vision clears. The fog disappears, and instead of it, I find myself in a simple room. It’s small, lined with stone bricks, in a similar style to Downpour itself, really. There are small channels in the ground that are flooded with water. One after another, the others all appear in the chamber with me.
Sighing softly, I finally drop the shadow-mask. For just a moment, we’re safe. The entrance is shared only among cohort members. In this specific room, for just a moment, we’re untouchable. A thin smile spreads on my face at that, but I quickly smother it. While we’re safe, we’re not safe.
I breathe in, then out, and wait as everyone else comes in. One by one, they trickle inside, and yes, everyone makes it. Which is good news, because it gives me the time to turn to the three portals in front of us.
“Not that one,” Thatch says instantly, pointing at the leftmost one.
Faintly, I tilt my head, then walk up to it and look inside. Just that, in and of itself, doesn’t tell me a lot. It shows a beach, I think. Ocean waves gently rolling in from the side. But the mana from there speaks a different volume.
It’s so thin it could barely exist, but there’s also a lot. [Annexation] whispers about it to me, as [Observation] lets me feel the mana beyond it. There’s a hurricane coming. Some kind of storm. If we spend too long there, we’ll be crushed.
I nod, agreeing with Thatch, and take a look at the middle door. It’s filled with warmth, a wet kind of heat that hits me in the face even from this side of it. The entrance leads to what looks like a cave, with brine pools lining its edges.
The last door, on the right, is even hotter than the middle one. Instead of a beach, it’s just sand. A desert, with a cruel sun from overhead. “Wow,” I say out loud. “These all seem miserable.”
Trey stops his surprised gasping for a few moments to look at me in… well, surprise, too. “What do you mean they’re all miserable?!” he demands.
I turn to the kid and tilt my head. Then I point. “That one will kill us,” I say at the left door. “That one’s warm and humid,” I point at the middle. “And that one’s hot,” I finish, pointing at the right one.
Anna blinks at me. “I feel like one of those is not like the others.”
Looking at her, I just shrug. “Eh. I would simply survive.”
Opal laughs, then gestures at the doors. “So? Which one are we taking?”
“Caves,” Inu says without hesitation. “It’ll be easier to lose anyone hunting us.”
A small smile spread on my lips, and I nod. “Caves it is.”
Sylves sighs dramatically. “And here I was looking forward to flying again.”
Thatch rolls his eyes. “We’re on flying islands. You can fly some more when we’re out.”
Having decided, we all step through the portal.