Shadow of the Abyss

"Damn that fool!" Atticus's vexed expression was held only by his anger for Keiran's capture. He was a fool. No, not a fool. He was a killer, one dangerous enough to name him within the House of Flames. If only he hadn't had the patience of a child, he might have been elevated to someone with status. He certainly had the talent for it.

But to be captured in such a manner was idiotic.

If Nox De Nier were to torture him for information, then all that he hoped might come to ruin. All men broke—if it weren't in a week, he would break in two, maybe three. Worse, they had no more information about whether Nox was, in fact, Altair.

Symar was useless; he was allied with Lord Elgar De Nier. It would take many days, sessions he did not have, trying to convince Almore's great hero. He was better off trying to convince pigs to fly. Stubborn old fool! No, he had to proceed with his earlier plan.

Whether those he hired believed that Nox was, in fact, Altair Blackwood had to be left up to fate.

Slowly, Atticus drew himself up to his full height, sucked in a deep breath, he left the antechamber to prepare for war.

****

"The rune work is rather exquisite. Did the Lady Iliana teach it to you?" The Dutchess asked, folding a leg over the other.

Altair suddenly wondered if Corsant knew Iliana was a god. They had not tried hiding that fact, not that it could be hidden, not with a formation that made it nearly impossible to die still active inside the manor. No, it didn't matter. It was better for Corsant to believe her imagination rather than for him to confirm anything.

"No, this particular formation was taught to me by someone I killed long ago." During the last trial of Babels Tower. "A rather tricky foe. I only copied it. Nothing else."

"Is that why we are not in the first carriage?" Corsant asked.

Altair smiled, glancing at the sleeping Nox sprawled over his Mother's lap without a care in the world; how great it was to be a child, not that he had a happy childhood. At least not all of it was bad. Life seemed simple then. No demons and devils, no assassins, or bloody crucible members. Just him and his Mother.

Pushing down such useless memories to the far corners of his mind, he nodded. "Yes" —his cold smile returned—"and I suspect we'll face quite a few attacks along the way. Nothing too crazy. Not with two Transcendents by our side.

Obvious confusion tightened over Corsants timeless expression. She was beautiful. "Then why allow us to come? No one could be foolish enough to attack us when two transcendents Are aboard. That would be lunacy."

Altair lifted a brow. "You're thinking in the short term." he said as the formation he had inscribed above his head flashed, shifting reality to transport him into the third carriage with Iliana.

"aha, you've returned," the Abyssal woman said, smiling. "shall we continue where we left off? Abyssal Augmentation is…"

Devouring all he could, Altair and the Vale King listened until blood treaded down their eyes and ears.

***

"You look bored," Tasha said to Raven, kicking her feet in the air as she lay on her lap. The woman sure was free.

"I am bored," Raven commented ideally. What she wouldn't give for corn. "but I am supposed to be bait. So I must sit." But what she wouldn't give to be beside her Master. She hardly saw him nowadays, not since she had taken up her glaive to better serve him. All she had wrought had not been for not.

She was stronger. Faster. And could surely handle her master in a one-on-one battle without any spells or magic. Yet that was hardly enough.

Raven had only needed to see something once to learn it. She learned that from Iliana during their short spar. All that Iliana had done was, in a way, something Raven could mimic and evolve to better fit her fighting style. She had done so to Altair and Tasha when she had time.

It was a rather entertaining metric to tinker within her Astral Sea, where she formulated movement, creating patterns and techniques that went far beyond what her body could handle. Techniques that had been reserved for deadly fights or when necessity called for them.

She had learned from Altair that in battle, there was never a right time to call forth one's most powerful attacks—only sudden opportunity. Raven wanted, needed, to be prepared for anything and had been formulating hundreds of combat art and spells, counterspells, and formations to invoke when the time arose.

On more than one occasion, Raven returned to the Serpents Outreach to ask for wisdom from someone called Aurelia Morningstar. She had felt the most like her Master for some reason. Aurelia had been more than willing to teach her on the promise of following what she desired most.

It was a unusual request; she had hundreds of desires—thought the strongest was her need to protect Altair— to always be by his side, no matter what. Her desire for intimacy did not reach second beneath her duty to protect.

Still, Aurelia had taught her seemingly without reserve each time she visited the Palace. Even Zariel joined, pointing out better ways to use patterns against your enemy.

Raven never understood why her Master never used his family's collective minds like she had been. It seemed like an obvious solution. Even if Iliana was his master, surely three minds were better than one.

"Hey! You're not even listening to me!" Tasha grumbled, and Raven flushed when she felt the woman poke her in the breast.

"Stop that!" She snapped, though there was no power in her voice. If anything, she heard acceptance.

'Stupid girl! Get a grip!' she had to tell herself, swatting Tasha's slender palm away.

"Have you been practicing like I told you to?" Tasha responded as if nothing had happened. She ignored the flush Raven as if it were second nature to ask such questions. "The toys I gave you were practice tools that every Lilm used to please her Master."

"Aunty—" The name she had coined for Aurelia since Altair did not want Tasha to know anything about his family "—Said that my technique needed some work, but I just needed practice on the real thing to know how far along I was."

It was clear how annoyed Tasha was by the contorting expression, but the woman certainly knew how to change her face at a moment's notice. She smiled warmly next. Changeable.

"This aunty certainly knows her stuff; care to show me? I—"

The whistling of something sharp through the air took them out of it, ripping and tearing through the warded carriage. The arrow arrived with exquisite precision, powerful enough to take the head off an Eight Circle. It fell short a few inches from Raven's eye before it was snatched mid-flight by Tasha.

"Ambush!!" Tasha shouted from inside the carriage, though rather than her normal voice, a magical rune augmented her voice to sound like Altairs.

Weaving commands to her Forsaken, Raven did not move; instead, she pushed out her consciousness into one of her forsaken, a short-stacked woman, Yarka, whom she had created from her blood.

Pushing aside the other woman's consciousness to take control of her body before she was aware of what happened, Raven took note of everyone present, her eyes seamlessly spotting a group of strangely dressed men in robes that fell to their thighs. Spear and Shield pressed to their backs, stationed a few hundred paces away in the surrounding woods.

"Archers!" She shouted. And one by one, Vale wrought bows and arrows were nocked, each bleeding a profundity of the very Vale. Mana, which was so dense it was often visible during some of the hours of the day, dwindled, as if slashed in half, pulled into each arrow as black as night.

"Fire!"

Twelve blinding black bars of light as thick as a man's thigh sliced through the air, whisking through the foliage to the peltast-looking men. There was no time to react, not time to think, as each bar of light created a mirror-smooth surface through the flesh. It almost looked as if part of their body had been deleted out of existence rather than destroyed.

"Fire!" Again, Raven spoke through the voice of Yarka. Twelve more arrows flew, clearing away the forest. In that particular region, only unnatural holes remained.

Sending a few scouts to investigate, Raven couldn't help but scowl at the aftermath. Clearly, whoever had decided to attack them did not consider such devastation, or they were merely trying to grasp their battle prowess. Whatever was the case, it hardly mattered.

Her forsaken had not even channeled a tenth of what they could do but had instead chosen to use the Power of Heaven and Earth to suffuse each arrow.

'Therion had better be on their asses.' She thought, signaling for her men to continue on their way.