Odyssey of the Guardian Emperor

The wind thrashed in Alaric's ears, howling like a lost banshee. Wild aether roared all around him in the wind that threatened to tear his body from the ground as he darted through the chaos. The blue patterns on his ears were an indication of a Wind-related ability, but they didn't give much away.

"Crafty Human!" The Heaven-Crested Eagle that had been waiting for him to get thrown back cursed in the Old Tongue before diving beak-first into the tempest Alaric was dashing through.

Alaric smirked, 'Oh, I'm just getting started.'

His guardian, intrigued by this, paid more attention to what her charge was going to do. It had been a while since she'd seen him use his head.

The boy summoned even more flames around him, only to watch them die in the violent tempest. This didn't faze him as his mind quickly moved on to the next plan…

'Air… Fire feeds on air…' he thought to himself.

An idea formed inside his mind, and in response to his imagination, the aether around him, under the power of the Constellation of Fire, roared to life.

Alaric's whole frame burst into flame as jets of flame shot outwards at random. His mind buckled as he pushed through with gritted teeth at the demanding rate of aether consumption.

The spell was done though, and this time, the flames didn't die—they thrived. They changed. The fire turned ravenous, its hue darker and more dangerous. A wicked grin cut across Alaric's face as the inferno spread, consuming the tempest and replacing it with a storm of fire.

He'd reworked the spell—turned the very wind against itself. Now, his flames fed on the tempest, devouring it faster than it could scatter them.

BOOM went the sound of a heavy explosion in the valley.

The mountains quaked and angry screeches filled the air, 'Oh, now I've done it.'

[ Alaric, did you consider the fact that you might die doing this? ] Alia's voice echoed through the boy's mind.

Alaric wanted to laugh in response, but then, he spotted something that made his blood go cold. High up, a nest was swinging wildly from a dangerously thin branch.

The boy held his breath before the branch snapped and let the nest come tumbling down. Behind him, a furious eagle emerged from the tempest of flames, untouched by the flames, with its beak ready to tear the boy limb from limb.

The larger eagle that had summoned the winds stayed high in the air, reduced to an observer scared to fan the flames cast by the annoying intruder.

[ So, different eagles are skilled in different aspects of combat… ] Alia observed.

Alaric's attention was elsewhere though. The boy's aether flowed through his system, reaching maximum before he shot forward like a bullet.

He dashed straight up the steep slope and right when he was at the same height as the nest, he jumped off the slope in a cartwheel that placed him right above the entrance…

The nest was empty…

He put out his hands and grabbed onto one of the thick branches, pulling himself onto the falling nest before letting go of his control over the air around him.

All of this was in time to see an Eagle blow past the nest, clamping its beak on its former position.

The pair locked eyes as the nest descended before the Eagle pulled up its wings and twisted mid-air.

Alaric's mind froze for a bit, marvelling at the aerial acrobatics with which the bird twisted in mid-air just to get a bite out of him.

He wasn't just going to watch though. His body was already reacting to the impending danger.

Three points of contact… a rule of thumb for every climber. To Alaric, however, it was common sense. He crawled across the nest like a gecko and jumped off the side and back to the steep slope.

Aether flowed through his body, enhancing it for the hard fall.

Above him, he heard the sound of a thousand logs shattering all at once in the wake of the Eagle's rage. Alaric's perception caught wind of two more eagles diving from the swarm chasing him.

"Look at you, Dara'k. Losing to a mortal…" one of the Eagles chuckled in the Old Tongue. Its wings cut through the air as it shot for Alaric.

The boy had made it to the ground by now and was shooting forward with no intention of stopping. He could feel the Eagle's approaching fast, so he summoned a set of fireballs to float above.

There was another chuckle in the air, "So he knows a little magic. Big deal!"

There was a sharp whistle as the eagle caught up in the blink of an eye, then an explosion. Alaric turned his head only slightly in time to confirm that his plan had worked.

All five fireballs had slowed and detonated in the creature's eyes and belly, tainting the air with the smell of roasted fowl.

There was chaotic laughter from the other Eagles, a sound Alaric couldn't quite describe. All he could tell was that his knowledge of the Old Tongue allowed him to interpret these characteristic squarks to be laughter.

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A loud screech called his attention back to the Eagles. The singed eagle hadn't bothered to get back in the air. The one who'd been chasing him from the start, however, spoke out loud, "Why are you running, feisty human? We already know you're a decoy."

…

'…huh…' Alaric's mind popped, 'How do they know that?'

[ I'm guessing by years of experience being attacked by humans. ] his guardian shrugged.

No! This wasn't a part of the plan…

'I'll just tell them I came here alone,' he tried. He opened his mouth to say something, then it dawned on him. He could not lie in the Old Tongue.

The Eagles had also used the Old Tongue to communicate with him… which meant they really did know about his friends.

He braved a glance in their direction and paled. He was being chased by three Eagles. Out of the tens of Heaven-Crested Eagles he'd seen swarming him, only three looked interested in the chase… and that was including the one he'd injured.

'I'm the worst decoy in history!' he mentally screamed.

He brought his mad dash to a stop and turned around. The Eagles halted as well, returning a safe distance into the air where they watched him with varying auras.

One of them was so angry it was evident in the wind that came off his wings in twisters. The other two looked more curious than agitated. Even the burnt one, who'd managed to get back into the sky with minimum pain looked curious.

"You stopped. Are you ready to return to your friends and wait patiently for your fate to be decided? I should say, you've already caused some damage and harmed one of our own. We won't be so forgiving."

Alaric laughed, "Who said I'd go down quietly? Overconfidence can get you killed, you know."

"I've had ENOUGH OF THIS," the angry Eagle screeched and tucked his wings into a nosedive.

This time, Alaric didn't run. The previous nosedive had missed him by a hair… literally. This time, though, when the eagle dove, he got down, ready, then went running straight for it, aether roaring through his Wood Rank Level Five body.

He summoned his bone-chain sword, only for him to feel his heart pounding in his head. His breath hitched and oxygen was suddenly scarce, stopping him in his tracks completely. His gut twisted and he found himself unable to take another step forward.

He was reeling, out of breath and sick to his stomach. His body resisted his commands and a deep sense of wrongness sprang up inside him.

The Eagle was still coming but he was in no condition to fight. 'What is this?'

Alia sighed, [ The conditions for death have not been met. Don't kill the bird. He… means you no harm. ]

[ Like hell he does. Didn't you hear him say things like 'You're courting death.' Who even says that? And what are these conditions for death? ]

As the internal conversation spiralled, Alaric ducked as the Eagle blew past him but past experiences taught him not to expect an opening from dodging this strike.

Time slowed as he turned to attack the Eagle. The bird spun in mid-air to face his approaching form.

[ Just spar with him… ] his guardian groaned.

Alaric grinned…

He hadn't known his gut had the power to stop him from taking lives but he wasn't opposed to the idea of sparring with an Eagle either.

He put more energy into his legs and launched himself right into the eagle's torso. The pair went rolling several metres away.

"Let me go, you annoying human," the Eagle screeched.

Alaric squeezed the gigantic bird more as it tried to shake him off. It flapped its wings and he squeezed more, forcing it back onto the ground.

"No…" the boy screamed, "Not until you stop trying to kill me."

"I believe all humans deserve to die for their crimes on this continent," the Eagle yelled back. It coiled its head and gave his head a sharp peck with the hook of its beak.

Alaric let go instantly and dropped to the ground, clutching his head. A warm liquid was already starting to seep through his black hair…

"Ouch… That hurt!" the boy winced.

"Take that, pitiful human," the Eagle screeched.

Fire surrounded Alaric, forming multiple fireballs as the two locked eyes.

High in the air, Alaric heard a few sighs. One of the Eagles chose that moment to speak up, "Dara'k, calm yourself. You'll shame yourself in front of the High Sentinel."

"That's only possible if this human beats me. Besides, the High Sentinel isn't here to see this," the Eagle Alaric was facing said back, getting ready to bring the hurt in spite of the floating fireballs Alaric had summoned.

'Wait… they really don't want to kill me?' Alaric gasped, then he remembered something that made him start laughing in spite of the pain at the back of his head.

There was a Heaven-Crested Eagle called Dara'k flying right in front of him, trying to spar with him and that Eagle was bickering with another one flying up in the sky. The whole situation wasn't very… beastlike.

Did the boy have this right or had he somehow taken a detour and wandered into the wrong Barren Mountains? Weren't Heaven-Crested Eagles supposed to be ordinary Aether Beasts? Why did they have names? Why did they sound so… civilised?

"What's so funny, human?" Dara'k caught Alaric laughing. His fireballs had started to fizzle out as his concentration wavered.

"I'm sorry… I just don't understand this at all. What even is a High Sentinel?" the boy laughed.

The two eagles looked at each other with expressions of worry—if Eagles were even capable of that. Dara'k flapped his wings aggressively and the wind took on a sharp edge before a thundering voice tore the skies, halting whatever the bird was thinking of doing.

"That would be me," it boomed across the heavens.

Alaric's blood went cold and his fireballs fizzled out completely. The swarm of eagles watching all went scattered, landing in nests and on branches of dead trees in panic.

Alaric could see their eyes pinned to a spot behind him, where the voice had come from. He turned to the source of the voice and witnessed the very air high above him tear to reveal a majestic beast wreathed in golden light.

He was mesmerised.

Unlike the others, this eagle was gigantic with its feathers forever tainted by a purely golden hue.

On top of that, the High Sentinel oozed so much aether that it made the Naiad from earlier look like child's play. Its feathers were covered in all gold and no white while the rainbow-coloured crest on its head was significantly larger, swaying gently in the wind.

Despite being an eagle, a creature built for catching prey, it looked graceful. Its chest was bigger and its beak was a lot more menacing, bearing a scar that ran right behind the hook.

These were all menacing qualities that made the Eagle look more dangerous than the rest… and yet, Alaric saw wisdom and experience behind them far more than he saw danger. The beast's wings flapped silently with the grace of a beast that had been flying for a thousand years.

The three Eagles all landed and bowed deeply in front of the High Sentinel. Alaric, however, was too mesmerised to bow. He wanted to say something, too… but he couldn't.

What could he say in front of a beast as majestic as this one? Your voice sings in my ears? No way!

Even the cheesy lines he impulsively uttered whenever he spoke on instinct felt insufficient in the presence of the High Sentinel.

[ Where did all that confidence you had with the Naiad go? Just whip up something like, 'Oh, High Sentinel, King of Skies, Herald of Storms and Tamer of Lightning. Heed the words of one as small as thee… for I am in dire need of thine Storm Orbs.' ] Alia sang in a mocking tone.

Alaric swallowed, [ I do not… sound like that. ]

[ Of course not. ] the guardian replied sarcastically, [ I must mention that I sense the presence of a nearby domain. It probably has to do with that portal the High Sentinel came through. ]

Alaric was then shaken out of his conversation with Alia by the High Sentinel's thundering voice, "There is no doubt about it. You are the one we've been waiting for."

Alaric blinked… "I'm sorry."