Hundreds of flying insects poured through the air in a dark wave. Their wings beat in violent unison, distorting the space around them. Each one radiated clear Rank Three pressure, dense and aggressive, their numbers turning that pressure into sothing suffocating.
They were chasing sothing.
No.
Soone.
A lone figure streaked across the sky ahead of the swarm, moving low and fast, skimming just above the swamp. Bursts of energy flared intermittently around them as she adjusted her trajectory, narrowly avoiding being swallowed by the mass behind her.
Michael froze.
He recognized her instantly.
"Rynne," he said under his breath.
It was his year mate from the academy. The sa Rynne who had always hovered near the top, second only to him.
She was wearing armor.
Not the sleek, sci fi styled combat suit she had used during their fight, but sothing with a unique appearance.
However, that detail barely registered.
Michael's instincts scread.
The mont his mind connected the dots, he rose off the ground without thinking, lifting straight into the air and angling away from both the swarm and Rynne's path.
He did not want any sort of involvent with matters like this.
He was halfway through accelerating when a familiar voice cut through the air.
"Do not go that way."
The shout was sharp, strained, but unmistakably hers.
"There are multiple Rank Four stationed there."
Michael halted mid air.
It was an abrupt stop, forced through sheer control, the space around him warping slightly as his montum died.
For a fraction of a second, everything clicked.
First, Rynne was on the sa floor as him.
Second, she knew this floor.
That alone was valuable information.
Unfortunately, she was also in deep trouble, and whatever situation she had dragged behind her was sothing Michael had no intention of stepping into blindly.
Still.
The warning was real.
Michael did not doubt it.
Rank Four.
Plural.
That direction was death.
All of this passed through his mind in less than a second.
"Follow . Do not worry, I know sowhere safe!"
It felt like a lot was happening, but in truth not even a second had passed.
Michael gritted his teeth and made a decision.
Michael clicked his tongue.
"Tch."
The word was barely audible, but it carried irritation more than hesitation.
He vanished.
One mont, Rynne was pushing her armor past its limits, lungs burning as the swarm closed in from every direction. The next, the air beside her warped violently and a familiar presence slamd into existence.
Michael appeared at her side mid flight.
Rynne's eyes widened. She was not wearing a helt, so Michael could clearly see her expression. She had not expected the person who entered her senses, the one she had just reached out to, to be soone familiar.
But what was he doing here.
"What-"
"Focus," Michael snapped, already matching her speed with ease. "If
you slow down, I abandon you at the first chance."
The words hit harder than the swarm behind them.
Rynne bit back whatever she was about to say. Shock flickered across
her face, then vanished, replaced by sharp concentration. She adjusted her posture instantly, tightening her trajectory and
stabilizing her flight.
Several of the flying insects broke formation and lunged toward Michael, sensing a new target. Their wings shrieked as they closed the
distance, chitin gleaming under the violet light.
Michael did not slow.
He flicked his hand backward.
A concussive burst tore through the air, raw force detonating between them and the pursuing insects. Three of the creatures were
crushed mid flight, their bodies folding inward before exploding into
fragnts that rained down into the swamp below.
Michael glanced sideways at her while maintaining speed, his
expression calm despite the chaos behind them.
"Is this the fastest you can go?" he asked flatly.
Rynne did not answer imdiately.
Instead, she twisted slightly in the air, narrowly avoiding a streaking
insect that lunged from above. Only after stabilizing did she speak.
"No," she said. "This is just enough to keep them interested."
Michael's eyes sharpened.
"What do you an?"
"They are following because I want them to," Rynne replied. Her voice
was steady now, controlled. "If I really pushed, most of them would
lose track of . I was luring them away from sothing."
Michael absorbed that.
So the swarm was being led.
Before he could respond, Rynne's expression hardened.
"Do not lose ground," she said sharply.
Then she accelerated.
There was no warning. No gradual increase.
The world lurched.
The air scread as Rynne's speed jumped violently, her armor flaring
with layered light as she tore forward like a streak of violet lightning. The sudden acceleration shattered the swarm's formation behind them, dozens of insects colliding with one another as they struggled
to adjust.
Michael followed without hesitation.
Space compressed beneath his feet as he matched her pace
effortlessly, the swamp blurring into indistinct streaks of purple and black below them. The gap between them never widened, not even by
a fraction.
Rynne noticed.
Her eyes flicked sideways, surprise flashing across her face before she forced her attention forward again.
They cut through the sky for several more seconds before the terrain
ahead began to change.
The swamp thinned.
The twisted trees gave way to broken stone.
Ruins rose from the mire.
Massive, half subrged structures erged from the swamp like the
bones of sothing long dead. Cracked pillars leaned at unnatural angles. Wide stone platforms lay fractured and sunken, their surfaces
etched with eroded symbols.
Michael's gaze swept over the scene.
Rynne dove sharply.
Michael followed.
Michael did not look back.
He did not need to.
The swarm was long gone at this point. "What's going on?" Michael asked.
"Those insects are guardians," Rynne replied.
Michael's eyes narrowed a fraction.
"Guardians of this ruin."
She gestured subtly around them. The broken pillars. The sunken
platforms. The symbols carved so deeply into the stone that even erosion had not fully erased them.
"It's faster to lead them away," she said simply. "And safer. Luring them
away buys ti. Killing them all in a short span is almost impossible without sufficient strength, and you could risk drawing attention from things you really do not want noticing you." "Anyways, putting that aside, what are you doing here?"
A/N; The month is ending tomorrow dear readers. If you can, please
vote to show support. Thank you for reading today's chapters!
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