The world according to d.., p.28
The World According to Dragons 3, page 28
“He is very confident in his power. Even if he knew it, he may not fully understand what it is we are trying to do,” Ariosto said. “The problem would be if and when he uses his power to shift your willpower. We still do not have a way to prevent that.”
“There’s no mudra?” Twillo asked the warrior monk. “You must know something.”
“A mudra to prevent the spell power of an Arcane Card? You know, there is one thing that might work, but it would have to be timed just right. Let’s try something. Step over there and use one of your cards to attack me,” Ariosto told Twillo.
“Is there a preference you would have? Fire? A wave of dragonessence?”
“Perhaps the wave. That would be a good test for what we are about to do.”
Once Ariosto was in position, he went through the motion of activating Voidshift. Twillo hit him with Ripple Tide, the warrior monk able to fully absorb his attack.
“Just as I suspected,” Ariosto said as he lowered his arms. “Even something from an Arcane Card can be blocked by Voidshift. The only problem is, neither of you are at a level that you would be able to block his mind attack. I’m thinking theoretically now, but to do something that would affect your willpower like that, that would be a very strong, and very legendary card. So in that case, I guess I will be doing the blocking and luring.”
“Into the pocket shelter?” Twillo asked.
Ariosto nodded in response. “Yes, where he will meet you. You will have a limited amount of time to act. I have ways that I can force him into it, I believe. The rest of you should try to stay as far away from the proceedings as possible,” Ariosto told Princess Embla and Vradon.
“I assumed I would be riding my dragon,” she said, “doing what I can from the sky.”
“Good. That is a good place for the future Ravenna,” Ariosto told her.
“I’m not so useful in a fight,” Vradon admitted. “But I want to be helpful. In that case…” The monk bit his lip. “In that case, I’ll go into the pocket shelter with Jhaeros.”
“Absolutely not,” Twillo told Vradon.
“It wasn’t a request. I want to be there. I want to do my part. Even if it is simply distracting him while you throw Jecha over the edge. Notice I said throw. He doesn’t need a shove.”
“Actually,” Ariosto said, “it would be helpful to have another distraction in the pocket shelter. But you’d be on the platform, and that itself would be incredibly dangerous.”
Vradon continued to gnaw at his lip. “I’m prepared for that,” he finally said.
“You don’t have to.”
“No, I have to,” Vradon said Twillo, a rare hint of defiance in his eyes. “For Olaf and for our realm and its future. I need to be there with you.”
.Chapter Twenty-Five.
The Void Beyond
Seondzus and Vendir returned later with a male elk with a gorgeous coat that was a mixture of earthy tones and specks of white. The elk had a massive rack of antlers, larger than Twillo had seen in some time. He hated that they were going to have to leave its carcass behind and was glad when Ariosto drew a quick plan to deal with the body. After they had stripped the elk of its meat, the warrior monk volunteered to fly with Adventus to the mountain dwellers to drop off what was left of the body, which would allow them to put the coat, the antlers, and certain organs to good use.
“I can take you,” Seondzus said. “Perhaps we can pick up another elk along the way. There were several.”
“That is fine. The rest of you should rest,” Ariosto told Twillo, Princess Embla, and Vradon. “Tomorrow is an important day of training and preparation.”
“What about you?” Vradon asked the warrior monk.
“I will survive. I hate to see something as beautiful as this creature go to waste. Besides, I would like to spend a little more time with Torin and Rhea. I want to assure them that their son will be fine. Jaden has quite the challenge ahead of him.”
Having just met Father Dawn, and already having met Livia and Jecha, Twillo could only imagine what the young man must have been going through. Twillo was twice his age, and he could barely grasp the undeniable power of the gods. And to be actively challenging them. That seemed riskier than what he was doing.
Twillo shook his head. “At least eat before you leave.”
“I will gladly dine,” Ariosto said.
Princess Embla and Vradon prepared the meat by laying it out in strips on a large stone. The outer layer crisped under Vendir’s sudden heat, small trails of fat drizzling down the rock. Vendir had quite the control over the intensity of his fire, and soon, the air filled with the scent of roasting meat.
They ate and it was good. Afterwards, Seondzus left with Ariosto on her back. The remaining dragons returned to their wristlets, and Twillo, Princess Embla, and Vradon headed down to the platform.
“I still can’t believe that we have all agreed to your plan,” Princess Embla said as she prepared a place for her to sleep. “Yet it is the only thing now that makes sense to me. How else would we stop him?” She gestured out to the void. “Our only chance is to vanish into a realm of endless falling.”
“Do not worry about the plan, Your Grace, let me do the worrying for you.” Vradon dropped down onto the ground and let out a deep sigh. “I’m good at worrying.”
Twillo sat down on his knees near Princess Embla. He removed some of the bedding and placed it on the ground a few feet away from her. She gave him a strange look. Her eyes jumped from the relic hunter to the space between them as if she were trying to close the gap.
With what Father Dawn had hinted at, Twillo took this as a sign to place his blanket just a bit closer to hers. He had a destiny that was beyond his control at this point. Twillo was also starting to feel a fondness for the Crown Ravenna. It wasn’t something that he was willing to admit, but the longer he was around Embla, the more he didn’t want to leave her side.
It only happened briefly, but the thought crossed his mind of what things would be like once all this was over, especially if he went his own way and didn’t become the Prince Ravenna. There was a very real chance that Twillo might never see her again. He didn’t want that. He enjoyed the princess’ presence, and he especially enjoyed their shared history, how they were able to help each other piece together memories.
“I’ll see you both in the morning,” he said as he relaxed onto his back. Twillo stared up at the opening above, the top of the pocket shelter.
The stars had a way of lulling him to sleep. Eventually, Twillo shifted to his side and faced Princess Embla. He would only discover the next morning that she was facing his direction as well.
Twillo awoke to find Ariosto seated in meditation, the warrior monk’s head bowed. Twillo let out a soft yawn and spoke: “How did it go?”
“It went well. They were happy to receive the items. They were happy to learn more about their son.”
“That must be something,” Twillo said as he quietly got to his feet. Once he had his boots on, he headed up, intent on doing all he could to improve his power over the next day. He had a limited amount of time to level up, and he planned to reach that plateau.
“Do you mind if I join you?” Ariosto asked just as Twillo was about to access his dragonessence core.
“By all means.”
“Let’s begin with meditation.”
The warrior monk guided him through a meditation that lasted about thirty minutes. Once he had finished, Twillo cycled all of his Arcane Cards. He tested out each of his powers, one at a time. For his Vard’s Blessing card, Twillo cut himself using Kestrel’s letter opener, his penknife that turned into a rapier.
“That is certainly an interesting object,” Ariosto said as Twillo healed the small wound. “Where did you get it?”
“Yes, it is a good one, and that’s a long story for another day. I haven’t had the chance to use it as much as I would like lately, but that comes with the territory with my collection. Not everything can come in handy at all times.”
“That is true. But if you have them when the time is right, you will be glad that you went to the trouble of keeping it.”
“Isn’t that the hoarder’s maxim?”
“The what?” Ariosto asked.
“The hoarder’s maxim. At some point, it will come in handy. Better keep it. They have a group of those hoarders in the Tribute Islands. It’s harder to get things there, you know, and they collect any and everything that comes their way. You should see their homes. You’d need a map to get from the front door to the bedroom.”
“I’m sure they are quite cluttered.” Ariosto activated his dragonessence by tapping his knuckles together.
Twillo did the same. “They are. I’m assuming you want to work on mudras?”
“I only wish we had enough time for me to fully train you on more. But for now, we will just work with what you can already do. Voidshift, Dragonflight, and Scaled Lash. Let’s do this.”
Ariosto came in quickly with a series of chops. Twillo managed to activate his Voidshift power and block some of the warrior monk’s rapid-fire strikes. It was amazing how quickly Ariosto flitted around, his movements reminding Twillo of a hummingbird. He got the sense that he was going light on him, that the warrior monk was operating at about half his normal speed.
Twillo released the energy that he had stored from Ariosto’s chops, and forced the warrior monk to jump backward.
“Not bad,” Ariosto said as he twisted into another attack, one that took Twillo off guard. Even though he struck Twillo, even though Twillo should have felt the incredible force behind his strike, he didn’t. It was uncanny how swiftly Ariosto had moved and hit Twillo, yet had caused no pain.
“Are you pulling punches? How?” Twillo asked.
“It is something that elite warrior monks do when they spar. We don’t need to hit each other at all yet we can use our full force. Voidshift and its sister mudra, Voidrift, allow for further options with this technique. But you can reach a level where you can hit someone fully without causing any damage. Now, Scaled Lash.”
Twillo performed the mudra for Scaled Lash. He whipped a cord of dragonessence at Ariosto’s feet. The warrior monk did a backflip and landed perfectly, his tail always keeping him stable.
“Use your sword, your mudras, and whatever cards you would like. I’m ready for you to push this to whatever limit suits you.”
“Are you certain?” Twillo asked.
“I am.”
Twillo drew his sword. His opening attack was a burst of dragonessence, one that caused Ariosto to cartwheel to the side. He used Ripple Tide because it was already on deck, and also Enchanting Deception. Twillo sent a fighting replicant himself forward so he could try to distract the warrior monk.
Ariosto didn’t take the bait. But Twillo did manage to get close enough that he was almost able to land a strike. And he would have as well. Twillo was going full force now, his mind on what would come the following day as he faced off against Jecha. He had to be fast on his feet.
As soon as Jecha reached the platform, Twillo had to force the God of Carnage over the side. Not only that, he would have to hit Jecha enough that he wasn’t able to simply fly back onto the platform. This gave him an idea for later, and in thinking of this idea Twillo missed his next strike.
“Focus,” Ariosto said.
“We need to test the platform,” Twillo told the warrior monk.
“We can later, when we take a break. You must reach the next Tier, even if it takes us all day and night.”
Twillo took a look around at the desert all around them, the way that the wind scattered grains of sand. The sun was just coming up, the dunes with a golden glow to them. It was stark, it was beautiful. Beyond him were the Harvest Mountains, where he had met Father Dawn. They were so tall that he couldn’t see their peaks now, a metaphor for the secrets hidden in the mountains that had yet to be discovered.
“I’m ready,” Twillo said as he settled all of his thoughts, from dreams of relic hunting to fears of tomorrow.
They could wait.
Twillo and Ariosto took a break. During that time, the two headed down the platform to find Princess Embla seated with Vradon. The Icenordians were enjoying warm cups of tea which they heated on the hearth that was always burning in the far corner of the platform.
“We wanted to test something,” Twillo said as he produced a couple of small stones. He stepped back and tossed a stone over the side of the platform. The stone was sucked downward, where it dropped as if it was being pulled into a vacuum, some type of magnetic whirlwind.
Twillo took a step closer to the edge of the platform, butterflies in his stomach.
He looked over the edge, pulled his arm back, and tried to throw the next stone even further. Even with his attempt, it was immediately pulled down into the cold infinity.
“You just need to get him over the edge,” Ariosto said. “I don’t believe even with his power that he will be able to pull himself back on the platform.”
“Perhaps.” Twillo tossed another stone.
He wanted to get used to the mechanics of the void beyond. There was another thing that he considered needed to happen after Jecha went over the side. They would need to do something about the pocket shelter.
“We should bring anything of importance up to the top. We will search around for a place to put it, but I believe the rocks just a bit beyond will be fine. Anything of value,” Twillo said as he took a look around. “Once we send Jecha over the side, we need to destroy the pocket shelter.”
“That is a good idea,” Ariosto said. “We will assure that he is trapped in a place that no longer exists.”
“I like the sound of that,” Princess Embla said. “It is fitting for the God of Carnage.”
“Yes, it is,” said Vradon.
“We will be able to help as well,” Adventus said. “You have yet to discuss that with us.”
“You’re right. We will discuss it now. Let’s head up.” Twillo turned to the ladder. He was soon joined by Ariosto, Princess Embla, and Vradon.
Once they were up top, Twillo summoned the two dragons, both of whom appeared in their warrior forms. Princess Embla summoned her dragon as well, who smoothed his wings behind his back as he perched near them.
“What do you think?” Seondzus asked Twillo. “We honestly won’t be able to fit down there with you and the monk.”
“You will be up here with Ariosto,” Twillo said, seeing it all play out in his mind’s eye. “Ariosto will block his attacks with Voidshift. The two of you will be responsible for helping him get Jecha down into the pocket shelter. But you can’t be there to help me push him over the edge. I don’t know what would happen if one of you went over.”
“We could return to your wristlet,” Adventus said.
“Maybe, but we don’t know if that is what will actually happen. It would be ideal,” Twillo said. “But we don’t know. And we can’t operate with those kinds of unknowns.” He wanted to tell the dragons that he couldn’t lose them, but he couldn’t quite get these words out. Both of them meant the world to Twillo. They were also soulbound. If they went over the edge, perhaps he would follow.
“In that case, the princess and I can move things out of the pocket shelter,” Vradon said. “Or, I can do most of it.”
“I will certainly help,” said Embla. “The dragons could help as well. We can bring things to the top and they can carry them onward.”
“We would gladly help,” Adventus told the princess.
Seondzus turned to her counterpart. “Speak for yourself. I want to train with the relic hunter.”
“Yes,” Ariosto said. “It would be good for the two of you to train. And I will watch. You do have a goal of reaching the next Tier sooner rather than later, and time is running out.” He clapped his hands together. “Let’s get started.”
The training began soon after, Twillo and Seondzus battling for the next hour. He did everything he could, yet she always was able to strike him down, to push him to his limits.
As she often did, the red dragon wielded her sword recklessly, which was something Twillo liked about her fighting style. It kept him on his toes, even if he was able to do things like blast her with Firebreath, or use a mudra to take her feet out from beneath her, she was always back on her feet in a matter of moments swinging her blade like the butcher she was, never tiring. In that way, Seondzus was indefatigable, which only made Twillo push himself even harder.
Twillo felt something at one point as their swords clashed. It was a surge of power, one that actually forced her to take a staggering step backward.
“I think I did it,” Twillo said as he accessed his status. “I did. I made it to the next Tier!”
Name: Jhaeros Shotaro Vos
Level up!
Tier: Adept
Rank: D
Class: Martial Arts Mastery
Rank: C
Secondary Class: None
Tertiary Class: None
Dragonessence: 450/450
He added an additional card to his deck. Twillo knew he couldn’t stop now. He needed to bring them all up to Level Three.
“The Adept Tier, yes?” Ariosto asked.
“Yes. Rank D, but I’ll take it.”
“And you weren’t offered a secondary class?”
“No, I was not.” Twillo looked at his details again.
“Yours is a broken, no, modified, system, but it will work. You will be able to still do plenty with it. Now, your cards. I am guessing that you would like to do what you can to increase their levels as well.”
“That’s exactly what I was planning to do,” Twillo said.
Seondzus leaned her weight on her heels. “You’re still going to need me, right?”
“I’ll always need you,” he said, which caused her to laugh awkwardly.
