The sky darkened further, rolling with vicious force. Lightning carved the heavens as the barbarian rose into a fusion of storm and flesh. Midnight blue scales drank the wicked light while a mantle of pale feathers rippled like a blizzard given form.
Twin obsidian horns curved from his skull, framing eyes that burned with cold, merciless intelligence, as if the storm itself answered to him. Each beat of his colossal wings shattered the air with thunder, and in his presence the world seemed to bow, caught between awe and the instinct to flee.
But the massive storm bird did not linger in its transformation. It took to the sky, and the lightning followed, crashing down into the dark fog that shrouded the Tempest Spire. The storm swelled around it in violent, consuming waves, darkening even the stretches of sky the fog had not touched.
That, however, triggered the Tempest Spire.
The dark fog was not decoration after all. It was a mechanism of defense.
It became a storm of its own in that instant, rising with frightening speed and slamming against the descending lightning, literally breaking it apart. The fog surged like a colossal guardian and caught the bird’s feet before it could climb a single inch higher.
Its own lightning exploded through the bird’s body with silvery light. The storm bird beat its wings frantically, trying to match the Tower’s force with its own speed and power.
For a moment, it looked like it was winning.
But that was only because the fog had paused, swirling inward to gather momentum. The following instant, it crashed back down and tore the bird from the sky, dragging it to the ground and consuming it whole. The storm bird was lost in the tenebrous fog of the Tempest Spire, never to be seen again.
Northern gazed down at the scene with a touch of sadness in his eyes.
’Well, that certainly didn’t go well. I was hoping to pull information from him... maybe the next one will be more cooperative.’
He stood and considered for a moment.
Since the Empire had pushed this war into motion, it was no crime for him to turn it back on them. That had been his plan all along: keep this from spilling into the Central Plains, especially with the strange rifts Revant had described breaking out across the continent.
The Central Plains might be turning into another dark continent. The Empire or the Origins had almost certainly instigated it. But that wasn’t his problem to solve. Not yet.
He needed to defeat the Empire and pin them behind their own borders. Bairan, his sister, Helena, the guilds, they were all working together to contain the situation on that front. The faster he ended this, the faster he could aid them. He didn’t need to rush his journey to the Northern Continent, either. Another Northern was already on the job and would soon be setting out with Nyssira, her aide, and Oland.
Northern clapped his hands together.
"That concludes it then."
His shadows pooled into a circle beneath his feet. Northern dropped into the inky darkness like falling into a pit, and in the same breath appeared before Sael in the training grounds of Ryugan nation.
Sael stood with his bow drawn. The string went taut and he released. An ordinary arrow turned to a blur and struck the target board, shattering it pletely.
Northern had taken his time forging some unique arrows for Sael, so he approached with those in hand, startling the young man.
"Lord Northern..."
Northern extended a bundle of arrows in a pale leather quiver. He’d formed the arrows from the feathers of some flightless Destroyer Birds his Echo Myriads had slain days ago. Each arrow had e out as a legendary rank item. The quiver itself carried an auto-repairing attribute and sat at ancient rank.
Sael looked down at them. His eyes were already sparkling, though he tried to subdue his excitement.
He bowed.
"Lord Northern, this is simply too much."
Northern raised his brows and grinned.
"These arrows are bound items. They can leave the target’s body and return to the quiver after a set duration, and there are other attributes besides."
He tilted the quiver slightly, as if reconsidering.
"You’re just going to let me take them back?"
He was already withdrawing his hand as he spoke.
Sael’s hand shot forward without thought and caught the quiver, stopping Northern mid-pull.
They held there for a fragment of a second. Wind howled past them.
"This is too much, Lord Northern... but how could I waste your effort? I must make optimum use of it."
He slowly drew the quiver from Northern’s hands.
Northern released it and folded his arms. Sael’s eyes had already turned to twin stars, lifting each arrow and admiring the pristine, dark craftsmanship with something close to worship.
Northern watched him for a moment, then let the smile fade.
"Well then, if you want to be of optimum use, you should be able to handle a little ambush. Right?"
Sael pulled his gaze from the arrows, expression turning serious.
"An ambush?"
Northern nodded.
"I have a feeling the Empire will make a rash decision very soon. Since I know where they’re pouring out from, it’ll be faster to surprise them than simply wait for them to e to us."
He paused, weighing his next words.
"At the same time, I want to use this as an opportunity to push a campaign to the Empire’s walls. I don’t know how the Ryugan King and nobles will take that notion, but I need human armies."
A sudden surge of movement across the training yard caught his attention.
"What’s going on?"
Sael turned, observing them for a bit before saying:
"Permit me to enquire."
He hurried to one of the soldiers and returned at a jog.
"It seems the rest of the Ryuganese princes have returned."
Northern’s expression didn’t change.
"I see."
He was quiet for a moment.
"Now that will certainly plicate things."
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