NOVEL NEXT Chapter 72: Limit's.
«Do you want to know how I feel right now? Well, if I let go, I'll die. If I panic, I'll die. If I breathe wrong, I'll die. My body is at its limits, and I'm hungry!»
"Swoosh!"
Somewhere within the pitch black sky, a large bird streaked, parting the clouds as it moved at the speed of sound.
It had been three months, or four (Mr. Valen was unsure). His knuckles burned, his arms strained, begging him to let go, but he dared not.
Rather, he buried his head into the feathers of the flying beast, offering him comfort from the stinging wind.
At this speed, the air should flay a normal human alive, but Mr. Valen was anything but an ordinary human.
Dynatós who lay beside him had it much worse. As the bird flew, he squinted through tears, his lips peeled back in a rictus, every exposed patch of his flesh burning.
He, too, learned to tuck his face against the bird's feathers, to breathe in shallow, stolen gasps between the hammer-blows of wind.
Cerberus, who was in front of them, had it much better; his armor at least provided some degree of protection.
Without warning, the bird flew higher into the sunless sky, and the air thinned. During this time, Mr. Valen felt his eardrums strain, then ache, then go numb.
Frost stitched his eyelashes together. His fingers, locked around the rings, were dead things (wooden, distant); he couldn't feel them.
Holding onto something for so long was torture for Mr. Valen. At first, his muscles burned. Then they cramped, (knotting into useless stone), and without feeding, healing was slow.
Amidst this torture, he would sometimes bite his lip to keep from screaming, but it was pointless.
Minutes stretched into hours and hours to many days. At this point, Mr. Valen's body started begging him to let go.
But he didn't. He couldn't.
If anyone looked over to Sophia, though, they would notice that she didn't seem to be in nearly as much agony as the rest of the group. Hell, she was asleep, the space around her form warped slightly, suggesting spatial manipulation of some kind.
The same could be said for Calista, but she wasn't asleep; rather, she sat up, her form poised. The blindfold on her face made her quite difficult to read.
The source of this spatial manipulation was evident at a glance. At the head of the bird (a beast which was currently moving at Mach 1) stood a lady who looked like a teenager: Vlorine, the purple-eyed Witch.
It made no sense. The force of the wind alone was enough to blow her away, and yet there she stood.
Calista, still seated, turned to Mr. Valen's form, her lips curling slightly as she thought, 'Did I? No, I'm sure I couldn't have made a mistake. I've done extensive research on the subject; that was The Unmaker's aura.'
Simultaneously, Vlorine thought gravely, 'What was that aura back then? I didn't interfere because he specifically asked me not to, but it's rare for anything to elude my senses.'
As if sensing something, she tapped her foot, and the bird slowed down greatly, allowing the three suffering men to finally raise their heads.
"Ha," Dynatós let out a breath while staring at his bruised palms. 'What kind of beast is this?'
He had experienced air travel before, but it was never like this; it had never caused him this much pain.
Cerberus also harboured similar thoughts, his gaze impassive as he observed. At this time, Sophia also woke up, stretching lazily as she asked. "Are we eating now?"
They would normally slow down like this when it was time to share rations.
In response to Sophia's question, Vlorine drew a breath, her eyes squinting as they scanned the horizon. "We're here!"
"Huh?" Sophia and Dynatós blurted out in unison, clearly surprised by her words.
Before anyone could process what was happening, the bird dove down and as it did, Mr. Valen's eyes narrowed as he saw the sea.
But it was not the sea he was used to; nothing could survive here. The water was pitch black, granting zero visibility to any creature who dared to swim.
But that was if you could survive waves like skyscrapers, and rogue tsunamis that rolled across the horizon as casually as storms, nothing could possibly stay afloat here.
As the bird streaked through the air, Mr. Valen saw a massive landmass, as vast as Hawaii, yet even its towering cliffs and jagged peaks were no match for the sea's wrath.
Tsunamis scoured the lower reaches of the place, leaving behind salt-crusted ruins and skeletal stones.
At the center of this land, a grey monolithic tower pierced the sky (ancient, yet thrumming with energy), a golden radiance that pierced the clouds before them, illuminating the island.
The waves, no matter how monstrous, broke before they reached its base, repelled by an invisible golden barrier that hummed with quiet authority.
From the tower, several platforms extended, leading to open entryways within the monolithic structure.
It was then that he noticed other shadows in the airspace (winged creatures also flying towards this island): massive, leathery things with too many eyes, or feathered behemoths that sang in haunting, discordant notes.
Unlike their ride, these beasts were strapped properly; some even had full-on carriages on their backs, allowing for a comfortable ride.
Of course, none of them could compare to Zephyros, the bird they currently rode. But that did not stop Sophia from gawking at them, her eyes wide with uninhibited wonder.
Mr. Valen, on the other hand, though amazed, remained expressionless; there was also the fact that he was in no good mood, his injuries did not allow it.
As they observed the others, so too were they observed; the riders of these other creatures stared in awe at the majestic bird before them.
Soon they reached the barrier, a sheet of golden energy, and the moment Zephyros flew through, the moment that sheet of energy phased through him, Mr. Valen heard a voice whisper in his ears. "Please. Help. Me."
The voice sounded mechanical, with a hint of static in its tone, and it chilled him (sending a shock through his spine like he'd never felt before).
This feeling awakened an instinct as deep as the hunger within him, one that suppressed the inhuman side of his existence.
The emerald glow in Mr. Valen's eyes flared violently, and he could feel his heart pounding against his ribcage, each thump absorbing yet releasing waves of hell energy.
"Valen?" Sophia's voice suddenly called out, forcing Mr. Valen to open his eyes, while trying his best to suppress his raging heartbeat, but it was all for naught.
He saw that they had landed on one of the tower's protruding platforms, and everyone had dismounted Zephyros, except him.
He tried to get up but discovered to his horror that he could not move. The eyes of his entire group were resting upon him.
"Do not fight it, child," Vlorine's voice cut through his panic, it's tone laced with intrigue. "Who knew that you'd respond so strongly to the influence of the barrier?"
With Vlorine's words, Mr. Valen closed his eyes, focusing on the situation in his body, the outside world fading before him.
Meanwhile, Sophia observed the man who sat atop Zephyros's towering form, her eyes squinting in worry. 'What's happening to him?'
"You have procured an excellent slave, High Scioness," Calista commented, her blindfolded face turning precisely toward Mr. Valen.
Feeling confused by The Veiled Oracle's words, Sophia asked. "What do you mean? What's happening to him?"
"Well, he's advancing, High Scioness," Dynatós cut in, eager to ingratiate himself, "He's becoming a true Wizard-"
"Wrong," Vlorine, who stood watching, interjected. "He has merely set foot upon the threshold (what some crudely call the 'E stage'). Its true name is the rank of Hellfire Novice."
"You will learn all about this when you start your education, High Scioness," Calista cut in before turning back to Mr. Valen. "But my word, what a wise investment. Not only can he not betray you, but he has also crossed a bridge many spend countless resources to cross, and for free."
"I wonder what his bet will be," Cerberus muttered softly from the side.
In all this, Sophia could only stare, her confusion plain on her face (her eyes wide, her gaze inquisitive), but there was nothing any of them could do but watch.
"Come now," Vlorine suddenly said, capturing everyone's attention. "We will send for him when he is done. For now, let us rest; we depart in three days."
With those words, the group stepped into the tower, their forms disappearing into the entrance.