“He’s what?” Nar shouted.

  “He started the bond!” Eum repeated. “Fuck!”

  The tygaris paced around the catatonic storm delver, his blazing green eyes lost.

  “Eum, what’s wrong?” Nar asked, in a tone he hoped was soothing. “You have to work with me here, man.”

  Eum pressed his lips shut and exhaled.

  “The bond is instant,” Eum said, snapping his fingers, “but he’s stuck like that. Something’s gone wrong. And he was only supposed to use the crystal at the altar.”

  “What crys— Oh.”

  Eum had bent down to lift Mach’s other hand, and a shimmering blue crystal glowed within Mach’s taloned fingers.

  “This was given to him by his patron to trigger the bonding prompt, but only at the altar,” Eum explained. “Now he’s stuck like this, the egg is still cracking and leaking aether, and the damned crystal is stuck to his hand. Look!”

  The tygaris shook Mach’s wrist, but while his hand flopped uselessly, his fingers remained clutched around the crystal.

  “And you can’t—”

  “No! I don’t know what happened to the bonding!” Eum said, his eyes growing wild. “If it’s already in effect, and the serpent dies before it hatches, then they both die!”

  “Oh, Pile,” Nar whispered.

  “And if the bond is some kind of stasis, and if we try to break it, then we could end up killing him too,” Eum said. “I don’t know! Mach! Damn it, you idiot. Wake up!”

  Oh, Crystal dammit, Nar thought. Something was always bound to happen, and something had happened. Should he even be surprised at this stage?

  Gods dammit! What do we do now?

  Nar clenched his jaw, eyeing their surroundings. The flames were devouring through the wood, and the circular ramp well they had jumped up from was now engulfed in a vortex of wind and fire.

  “Eum! We need to get out of here!” Nar said. “This place is going to fall apart soon. Grab him and let’s go!”

  “Go where?”

  An all-encompassing roar reached their ears and both froze.

  “Can that altar help?” Nar asked, when it was over.

  “I don’t know,” Eum whispered, but he seemed to be more in-control of himself. “Maybe it could. Right now, I don’t know what we can do to save him, but I'm willing to try anything.”

  “Tell the others,” Nar said. “And the way is blocked behind us. Is there a way out if we go forward?”

  Eum nodded.

  “Good. I’ll check it out while you talk. But hurry!”

  Nar ran past the two aethermancers while Eum alerted the party to the disaster that had befallen them.

  Up ahead, the corridor reached a crossroad. One path led left, and it was engulfed in flames, forward led up, which they didn’t want to go, and to the right, while there was smoke coming up the passage, Nar didn’t spot the tell-tale dancing glow of fire below.

  His heart raced, and his irritated lungs burst out in a fit of coughing. Nar sent a burst of aura to heal them, and stared back at Eum, Mach, and his egg.

  From what he heard over the party chat, the others had just triggered Silver Fists’ true form, beginning the battle in earnest. That meant they had managed to take ten percent of the boss’ HP, but now the Lord of the Canopy would be even stronger and tougher, so they couldn’t expect any help from the others. If anything, the three of them had been the ones meant to go and help the rest in that fight.

  Now, they had to trek through over five miles of jungle, with Mach out of commission and attached to an egg bigger than Nar’s chest. They needed to protect them both, and whoever did the carrying wouldn’t be doing much fighting.

  Five miles… Five miles of jungle, Nar thought, forcing his face to remain calm for the tygarys.

  From what Calli was saying in the chat, reaching the altar and petitioning Mach’s spirit was their one and only chance of saving the aethermancer now. And since that the egg was still cracking and leaking aether as they spoke, [Speed] was going to be of the essence.

  Eum was insanely fast, but his [Speed] increments were tied to his bestial form and bloodlust, meaning he wasn’t their better option…

  How many [Aura Quickening]s can I support now, Nar wondered, frowning. Now at level five, the skill lasted a full twelve seconds, and cost him 250 points of aura. He had been careful with his aura in those tight quarters, so with nearly thirty-one thousand points left in his mostly full bar, that meant that he could maintain the skill for almost twenty-five minutes. But that was if he could even self-heal himself for that long.

  On a flat surface, he would have done it in the blink of an eye, but this was the Canopy. A single misstep meant death, and to make it worse, Nar’s hands were going to be occupied.

  “Nar…” Eum called him, when the decision was made over the party chat as well.

  “Come on. Let’s try to get him on my back,” Nar said, running back to them.

  “But—”

  “No time for that,” Nar said, kneeling next to Mach. “Hurry!”

  To compound the damage, Mach himself was now glowing as well, a gentle breeze wafting from him and the egg, and there was still pure, raw wind aether leaking from the crack in the shell. The touch of that aether combined the damage from his self-healing? It was not going to be pleasant.

  “Thank you,” Eum whispered.

  Then he sprung to action.

  “Right, his hand is now glued to the egg as well, so that should be okay. Luckily the crack is near the top, so you should be able to just hold onto the egg with one hand, and with the other hold onto… Mach,” Eum said, his voice betraying his concern of the precarious situation. “Uh… It won’t be comfortable.”

  “Just do it!”

  Nar felt the touch of aether before Mach’s boiling body pressed against his back, and he grit his teeth to keep from screaming in surprise. Within, his aura reacted on its own, gathering to lash out at the invader. But Nar didn’t want a clash. He needed to keep both energies somewhat separate, so he forced his aura to stay away from his back and left arm as he rose to his feet.

  “Heavy?” Eum asked, his jaw clenched, fists balled at his side.

  Nar chuckled through his teeth.

  “I got [Strength]. He’s light as a breeze.”

  Eum jerked his head once, frowning deeply.

  “I will never forget this, Nar,” he whispered, his voice strangled. “Come on! I’ll guide you outside!”

  The flames now ruled the tree, and though they risked a crushing, fiery death, at least they didn’t encounter any further resistance. Any rats that hadn’t escaped by now were charred torches, providing further fuel to the blaze.

  As they rushed ever lower, they were forced to take several detours and leap over cracks, widening chasms opening in the faltering wood. But Medis’ efforts and risk proved themselves at every turn, as Eum, following her map through his implant, guided them without hesitation.

  “This is it!” Eum shouted, in what felt like an eternity later. “Be quiet! Let’s not draw these serpents to us.”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  They slowed down to a near crawl, and after a quick peek outside, at last Nar stepped out of the burning embrace of the towering tree.

  Holy Crystal…

  The three had become a tower of fire, and serpents glided in a panic around their burning home. The winds had also fanned the flames, and several other trees had caught on fire. There was no telling how far the blaze would spread now.

  Nar had to remind himself that it would all regenerate as soon as they left the area, but he couldn’t help the clenching in his heart over the destruction they had wrought to acquire that egg. An egg that now burned his arm, chest, the side of his neck, and face, as it continued to leak wind and storm aspected aether.

  They dashed in between clumps of dense foliage, hiding within its green and silver glow, and soon, they left the roaring blaze behind. Heavy thuds, roars and explosions echoed from their left, telling them that battle against Silver Fists was still well underway.

  “It should be okay, now,” Eum said. “Go. I’ll catch up as soon as I can.”

  “You won’t… join the others?” Nar asked, straining to keep his voice level.

  The aether was burning through his skin now, and it was taking him everything to keep his aura from self-healing him and triggering a catastrophic reaction.

  “I’ll follow you. Now go. Run like the wind. And remember to ask his spirit for help when you get there!”

  A part of Nar wondered whether or not a spirit, of all things, would listen to an auramancer’s call for aid, but there was no time to hesitate. They would cross that bridge when it came.

  He nodded to the tygaris, and triggered his [Aura Quickening].

  In a flash, he left Eum behind him, and though he heard the tygaris chasing after him, he was soon left further behind as Nar continued to trigger his skill. Now came the tricky part. Self-healing what needed to be healed, but keeping his aura from flowing to the parts afflicted by Mach’s and the egg’s aether.

  The jungle was silent around him, the edges of his [Sight] blurring due to the insane speeds he was cruising at. The wind roared in his ears as he ran, and Nar leaped across a gap in between branches, making the distance without much difficulty and—

  The wind slammed into him from the side and he landed, stumbling onto the wrong branch.

  Before he could even orient himself, another gust of wind slammed into him, nearly sending him tumbling off the branch.

  What the—

  Nar pushed against the wind and resumed his mad dash for the altar, but the wind had come alive around him. Every time he jumped in between branches, it reached over to push him off course, and whenever he dashed perilously close to the edge, once again, a stray gust would seek to send him and Mach to the waters far below.

  “Eum!” he called into the party chat. “Something’s wrong! The wind’s going crazy!”

  “Here too! It’s blocking me!” the tygaris shouted. “What the fuck is this?”

  The regular, if urgent chatter of the others suddenly took on a panic as well.

  “It’s happening here too!” Calli said. “What did you guys do?”

  “Nothing!” they both shouted.

  How could she blame this on them? Or had they now pissed off the wind somehow?

  “Sej?” Kur asked. “What is this?”

  “Is it the wind serpents? Did they follow you?” the guide asked.

  “No!” Nar said.

  “Then… then i have no fucking clue.”

  “It must be Mach’s spirit,” Leon said.

  What? Nar thought, his mind going blank.

  “Why the fuck would it do this?” Eum asked, just as confused.

  “I don’t know… Something must have happened. Something must have changed!” Leon said. “Whatever it is, the spirit is intervening to increase the difficulty of Mach’s quest!”

  “Wasn’t it hard enough already?” Jaz cried.

  “What do we do?” Row asked. “We can’t stop now!”

  “No! We can’t! Nar hurry to the altar. Maybe once you get there, the wind will stop!” Leon said. “And we need to kill this thing! Now! Is Gad up yet? We need to transition to auramancer—”

  The wind slapped him, and Nar took two steadying steps.

  He licked his lip, tasting blood, and around him, the very air began to trigger his [Instinct].

  You are his patron! Are you trying to kill him? You have a contract for fuck’s sake! Doesn’t that mean anything?

  But his [Instinct] only picked up on even more threats, as invisible blades of wind formed all around him.

  Is that how you want to play, heh? Nar asked, his heart hardening. So be it. Come and get it then.

  Wood turned to shrapnel around him as the blades sliced down and exploded without mercy. Afraid to be blown out of the air, Nar was forced to keep his feet on the wood and go for where the branches met. This delayed him further and called for even more [Aura Quickening] and self-healing.

  His aura bar began to tip downwards, but there was nothing Nar could do but to keep going.

  In the back of his mind, the party chat grew into a frenzy, and it sounded as though Gad and Tun were keeping Silver Fists aggroed to the auramancer side so that they could go wild without fearing any clashes. And it sounded as though they were throwing absolutely everything they had at the beast, including Cen’s [Orb of Erasure], Rel’s poison and bleeding, something they were calling Tuk’s new attack, and much, much more besides it. Though, it didn’t sound like Silver Fists was slowing down either.

  Nar ducked under a wind blade and nearly lost hold of the aethermancer on his back. He was forced to be a lot more conservative against the next wind blade, and felt its sting cut his left arm.

  He snarled at the roaring winds but kept going. Damned spirits and Gods, did any of them ever play fair? And this was Mach, an aethermancer, the spirit’s own damned contract! What in Creation was going on here?

  Needles of sharpness cut into his brain as he called upon his [Aura Quickening] yet again, and Nar grit his teeth and cycled more aura to his mind. His [Sight], which had gone blurry, snapped back to focus and he kept going, dashing through the branches like a mad man, chased by a veritable storm.

  Suddenly, his [Instinct] screeched, and Nar came to a jarring halt, Creation disappearing in a sudden bright flare of blue.

  “How are you fucking kidding me?” Nar shouted, backpedaling from a stream of wind blades. “Lightning too?”

  The air snapped and fizzled with the promise of violence, clouds gathering overhead.

  “Damn it! You gave him this quest!” Nar shouted.

  He had struggled to believe a spirit could attack his own bond, but what else could be going on? The wind serpents had stayed back with their burning home, and the dungeon guardian shouldn’t be interfering with their actions. So that left the damned spirit.

  Nar remembered the power he had witnessed during Eum’s and Era’s quests. Theirs were not weak spirits, and he doubted that Mach’s was either!

  Crystal damn it all!

  Lightning snarled at him, and it was a lot faster than any airblade. Nar went from [Aura Quickening] to [Aura Quickening] just to stay alive.

  At least I doubt any beasts are going to attack me!

  He was surrounded by his own personal storm, carving a trail of untold destruction through the Canopy. Gods! He doubted Eum could even follow him now, even if he wanted to. Not without taking a huge detour at least.

  In what felt like an eternity later, Nar suddenly heard his name. The whole party was screaming after him.

  “What?” he shouted back.

  “Silver Fists is gone!” Kur shouted.

  “What do you mean he’s gone?”

  “The wind took him…” Row said, stunned. “In between taunts, the wind just blew and… it was gone.”

  Shivers ran down Nar’s back.

  His mind stuttered to work, even as the wind and lightning continued to rain down around him.

  He must have heard wrong.

  THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

  The ponderous steps reaching his [Hearing] were real. And they were gaining on him.

  “I’m already on my way!” Leon said. “I’ll be there as fast as I can!”

  “Shit! The matriarch gorillas are here!” Sej shouted. “I knew they had to be somewhere!”

  “Leon, keep going! We’ll deal with them!” Calli said. “Eum, hurry!”

  “I’m trying, dammit!” the tygaris snarled. “Blasted wind keeps pushing me back!”

  Silver Fists roared behind him. Still far, but not for long.

  Above, the glowing canopy of Where the Winds Meet stretched, and just within reach, the entrance that led to the walkway climbing up to the altar. Wind blades and lightning exploded all around him, Mach and the egg’s aether burned at him, and the [Aura Quickening]s threatened to melt his brain, nerves, muscles and bones to goo.

  Laughter escaped Nar’s lips.

  How did he always find himself in such ridiculous situations?

  Nar called upon his [Aura Quickening] once again, gritting his teeth at the pain threatening to blind him and burst his eyes.

  The entrance was right there!

  Come on. Come on. Come on!

  THUMP! THUMP-THUMP!

  Nar ducked his head to enter, and the entire tree shook as Silver Fists slammed into the trunk behind him.

  Nar didn’t stop.

  With his heart threatening to burst free from his chest, he galloped up the steps carved into the wood, his eyes fixed on that distant white light far, far up ahead.

  “I’m in!” he shouted.

  “Hang on! I’m coming!” Leon said.

  But Nar couldn’t just wait for the aethermancers to arrive. Crystal knew how much time Mach had left or if it was too late already, so he plowed onwards. If he had to solo the damned Lord of the Canopy, then so be it! But Mach wasn’t dying on his watch!

  A warm breeze caressed his tired, hot features as he emerged upon an open grassy field that stretched under that sky of purple twilight. A forest of silver and green glowing branches embraced the clearing on almost all sides, leaving only a small opening upon which was the Altair of the Winds.

  Walking as though he were in a dream, Nar strode through the soft, whispering grass, and climbed up the wooden steps leading to the altar. A blast of wind welcomed him as he stood upon the empty construct, his eyes growing wide as he took in the far reaches of the Brightnight.

  Beyond the green and silver Canopy, to his right, the darkness of the Gloom, and to the left, the sweltering Jungle of Divide, with a tall ravine beyond it to mark the boundary to the Lands of the Atlatl. Something flashed in the distance, a glimpse of heavy gold, but Nar pulled his eyes from the view to focus on the altar.

  There was nothing upon that platform of light, beige wood, so he carefully got down to his knee, placing the egg down first, and then the unresponsive aethermancer. He arranged Mach so that he stood cross-legged, with his egg safely atop his legs.

  Now what?

  He licked his dry lips, and considered the breeze blowing up from below through the gap in the tree branches.

  “Right,” he sighed, gathering himself. “Uhm… Oh, spirit of Mach. Great, graceful and merciful one, please, help your bonded aethermancer. Please, help Mach.”

  Nar tried not to think of his anger or any blasphemous thoughts as he beseeched the spirit, and the whole situation reminded him of his Climb. Of his failed attempts to grow more faithful to the Crystal, and of having to watch his words and thoughts to ensure he didn’t get punished.

  Though in the end, it didn’t even matter, he thought idly.

  Nar cleared his thoughts and took a deep breath.

  “Spirit, as an auramancer, I don’t know what I’m doing here, but I would be really grateful if you could help Mach. He was doing everything right, and he had every intention of following your quest to the letter,” Nar said. “He just panicked. So please, is there anything you can do to help him?”

  The wind blew against him, forcing him back a step.

  “Honesty. I like that better,” a voice whispered from the air. “But a request made, is a request earned. You know that better than most, don’t you, auramancer?”

  A shadow rose from below, blocking the view of the Brightnight.