Chapter Six Hundred And Sixty Nine – 669

Turns out the Eidolons could run, and damn fast toothe problem was their sheer mass. Whatever was beneath their feet was gonna get pulverized. Thankfully Felixs Stone Shaping reinforced by Astrum Ascendence was up to the task. His Essence stores dwindled rapidly as they moved, but it was worth it, if only because Vess would have left them in the dust had they slacked even slightly.

The hours passed and the miles all but vanished beneath their boots.

As dawn arrived and the air shifted from black to a dim gray, their road hit the end of the swamp. It rose at first in small, lumpy hillocks but then in a smooth slope toward the mountains that loomed high overhead. The Gloaming Way continued there, rising out of the mire but still broken and upturned. Large stones were lifted at angles unfit for travel, and stretches were entirely covered in soil and swamp plants. The Dragon statues stood ramrod straight along the Way, fully above the ground now, though they were covered in moss, mushrooms, and the occasional birds nest.

Once everyone was safely on properly dry land, Felix turned back to his Stone Shaped road.

Are you gonna break it down, like I did? Beef asked.

I am. Pay attention. Archie, you too.

Why? The small man hobbled closer regardless, rubbing at his legs. Whatever. Doesnt matter. Just so long as I can stand still for a second. That pace you set was brutal.

Did your Endurance increase?

Archie folded his arms a touch belligerent. I hate that you were right about it. Yeah. Endurance and Strength.

Exercise is very useful when your stats are low, Felix said with a neutral expression. There was no need to antagonize the hot-headed Delven.

Low? Ive got tons of stats. Theyre just measly compared to yours, you freak.N??v€l--?1n hosted the premiere release of this chapter.

Beef chuckled. My physical stats are twice as good as yours too.

Youre both giants, is why. If I had known Delven meant shortstack with a giant head Id have picked something else!

Quiet, Vess said through her teeth.

Beef ducked his head in embarrassment and Archie pursed his lips in annoyance, but shut up. Felix couldnt help but trade worried glances with Harn.

> Harn signed. >

Felix focused on the road behind them, placing a single hand in the air above the rock. Listen close.

Lightning coursed across his arm and Felix grasped the thick blue thread that connected him to the path, and with a surge of Mana and Essence, he activated Stone Shaping and Astrum Ascendence. There was a faint pressure, but Felix pushed through the resistance with ease, and the cascading sound of thrumming chords resounded through his entire being. He felt each piece of his work, separated by many miles of swamp. It was easier perhaps due to the Dragon statues; they worked as guardrails for his Affinity as it traveled back to the very start of the valley.

Vanish.

Between one breath and the next, it all turned to mud. The Gloaming Way was gone once again.

Felix straightened as the lightning fizzled out around his wrist and looked to the other Unbound. Did you catch that?

Catch what? You just stuck out your hand and the whole thing fell apart, Archie said.

II heard something, but it was too loud. Like I was standing next to my dads speakers. Beef stuck a finger in his ear and wiggled it around. I couldnt make out words or the tune. Just a lotta noise.

Hmm. Best to keep practicing. Well crank your Affinity up higher once youve earned an Omen Key. That was another of Felixs goals for his team. None of them had walked their Omen Path, meaning each level they gained was a loss compared to the stats they could have gained otherwise. The problem was that no one knew exactly how to earn an Omen Key; it was highly personalized. We should

Felix.

Vess nodded to the trees. A distortion among them resolved into Evie, who hopped down to stand on their patch of dry ground.

Whatd you find? he asked.

Tracked the raiders back to a busted up fortress after this rise, where the swamp comes back. Couldnt have had more than two full walls standing, and the rest was choked by vines and moss. She pulled a piece of cheese from her pack and started eating it rapidly. Still, it was a big place. Lots of rooms and towers. Plenty of places for folks to hide or defend.

How many did you count? Harn asked.

Holy shit, could you see those? Archie asked.

Vess gestured and the Spears returned to hover around her like a set of violent shadows. No, but I am familiar. The Dragoon fortress in PaxVrell has the same warded mechanisms on its internal gates.

So definitely a Dragoon fortress then, Felix said as they walked through the now cleared pathway. It was perhaps a hundred feet wide and four times that in height. Even the stepped cliffs had been an illusion. Is this revealed to everyone? Will the raiders see it?

They shouldnt, and besides it will only stay visible for a short while. Once we are inside the wards will reset. Come. We must see if the access is the same as I hope. Vess hurried ahead, her steps fast enough that everyone had to run to keep up.

At that speed, it wasnt long until they reached the end of the unnaturally wide pass. It was wide enough to fly a commercial jet through, though it tapered toward the bottom where they walked and had been slowly invaded by stunted trees and swamp plants. Felix was still wrapping his head around its purpose when the walls opened up even further, the cliffs curving outward another hundred feet in either direction before intersecting the massive expanse of the mountain proper.

Its here, Vess breathed in obvious relief.

Contained within the circular area was a pool that filled up every available inch between them and the mountain. Felix estimated it at four hundred feet across at a minimum, and it was covered in algae so thick that it had to be several feet deep before the actual water started. Large Dragon statues flanked the pool, seven of them, their bases obscured by more of those stunted swamp trees. Several were even broken to pieces. They were equal in size to the statues Vess had unlocked.

Okay, I know Im gonna sound stupid again, but how does this help us? Evie asked. We just spent entirely too long walkin through this kinda muck.

Give me a moment, Vess said, before a pair of spectral wings manifested from her back. Yin? Can you aid me?

Of course. The now-rotund Wyrmling floated off of the shoulder of Telys and over the water, describing a serpentine pattern across its surface.

Vess, meanwhile, leaped upward and into the sky. Her wings flashed, catching the morning light as it spilled like liquid gold into the upper reaches. Felix followed her progress as she landed on the far side of the pond, right where Yintarion idly circled. She touched downand stood evenly atop the water.

Is there a ledge or something?

Vess slammed her partisan down with incredible force. A click so deep it vibrated Felixs bones was followed by a roar of wind and water to rival any hurricane back home. The pond before them began to swirl with astonishing speed, until the center dipped down and vanished as every single drop of water was flung to whirl at the periphery.

Somewhere below, Felix could sense Mana moving through the loops and whorls of sigaldry so vast and complex that it might have stood toe-to-toe with his Seat and Seal back in Nagast. It was intricate enough to overwhelm his Mind and thatcombined with being etched beneath hundreds of feet of stonefairly vanquished his ability to parse exactly how it worked. What he did gather, however, was that it was working as intended.

Its a tunnel, he said. Just like the Deepking made, back in the Ghreldan Hills.

Vess stood atop another curled Dragon statue, this one jutting from the mountains side just below the surface of the water. Her spear had stuck into some sort of slot, similar to the statues outside the passage, only far larger. She grinned with such force that it was like the last few hours of unease and anger had melted away entirely. Dawns light graced her then, lighting up the subtle red hidden in her dark brown tresses.

She looked beautiful.

Secret tunnel into their fortress? Harn lifted his chin, as if trying to peer past the cataract of racing waters and into the hollow depths. Handy thing to have. These Dragoons are a sight more skilled than I expected.

Were, Beef said. Remember? Vess said the old Dragoons were totally different than they are now.

True. That lizard keeps yammerin on about the power of Dragons and bond this or elements might that. Probably had loads of secrets they lost when the Dragoons went all Evie mimed stabbing, repeatedly. Ya know?

Archie raised an eyebrow. Whats this?

This is how the Dragoons used to enter the fortress, Vess said, landing among them. Archie and Evie both shut their mouths like theyd been caught stealing sweets.

On the backs of Dragons, Yin added, floating down beside her. A working easily accomplished thanks to our elemental might.

Evie smirked. Yeah? Well most of us cant fly, so unless youve got an Evolution up your sleeve right now, howre we gettin down this? Evie kicked a rock into the rushing flow and it was swept away faster than they could track.

Oh oh! Pit wriggled in Felixs arms. I know!

His Companion was slipperier than he looked, because the tiny Dire Hound leaped through Felixs graspstraight out into the chasm.

His Mask fell away.

Four powerful wings unfurled in the space between heartbeats, snapping outward like tempest-tossed sails. All of them beat the air, hurling water away and uprooting several stunted trees.

Pit!

What? The Chimeras back was huge, easily large enough to carry them all. Pit grinned from the edges of his beak, and his huge eyes fairly glowed with power. All aboard!