Book 5, chapter 33

Zee blinked, pain wracking her body as she came back to consciousness. She slowly pushed herself to a kneeling position, her hands scraping on the pockmarked, icy forest floor. She was covered in cuts and bruises, her body caked in blood and dirt, with an icy chill clinging to her. Her hands shook from the cold, the chill making her teeth chatter.

 Even so, the pain of her cuts and the frigid ice was nothing compared to the agony she felt through her link with Dern. 

That soul-wrenching agony was burned in her mind and the main reason she blacked out during that final attack. Well, and the explosion. Blinking to clear her blurry vision, she looked around at the destruction with wide-eyed horror. The forest was in ruins, and she was sitting right in the center of a hundred-meter-wide crater. One half of the crater was covered in frigid, soul-rending ice, while the other burned with dark blue spiritual flames.

Hundreds of meters beyond the crater, the forest in both directions was either burning or turned into a field of icy chunks. It was actually quite beautiful, with the dark flames reflecting off the icy landscape in mesmerizing ways.

She would have loved to just sit there and enjoy the view, but there was a loud crack of ice nearby. A dark purple cloud of gas floated up from a thick chunk of ice, icy motes floating around them. 

Zee swore, struggling to her feet. She was in no condition for round two, but she forced herself to stand anyway. Eye-watering pain shot through her body, as she took a step forwards. 

The ice crunched under her boots, blood trickling down her chest as her wounds reopened. She was quite thankful for the ice clinging to her body, as many of her wounds were frozen shut, keeping her precious blood inside.

Fess Cal looked disoriented, floating around like a drunk cloud as they tried to get their bearings. Burning anger pushed Zee forward through the icy hellscape. How dare this uppity cloud try to kill Dern.

If Zee hadn't managed to cover his body with her own, he would have surely died in that explosion. Even so, his pain was burned in her mind. The thought of him dying made her anger burn like a raging flame. He was thankfully secure back in her mind now, but still, that had been too close. 

Finally noticing her, Fess Cal turned in the air.

"Stay away, don't come any closer," Fess Cal shouted, their voice filled with pain and confusion.

Zee didn't slow her advance, stumbling over the icy chunks to get to her target.. 

"You think you can just try to kill me and mine and then just leave?" Zee asked, her voice dripping with anger.

A mental nudge came from one side.

"Do you need help, mistress?" Kur Zul asked, hiding somewhere nearby.

"No, I have this. Keep an eye out, but don't interfere," Zee said. 

Zul sent her a mental nod.

She was surprised the specter had survived that explosion, but not overly so. His ability to hide in the ground was quite effective at dodging attacks.

She pushed thoughts of the elusive ghost to the back of her mind. Fess Cal was trying to float away but was clearly unable to, leaking icy motes of mist like it was blood. Zee drew closer, raising her sword to strike.

"Wait! I have money, treasures," Fess Cal pleaded. Zee ignored the words, her sword cutting a ruthless arc.

A frantically formed wall of ice cracked under the blow, which was infused with both compression, combined with ebb and flow. Gritting her teeth at the pain of the reverberation, Zee hacked at the barrier, again and again. She wasn't willing to let bygones be bygones. Chunks of ice flew off with each heavy blow, deep cracks spreading along its surface.

With a deep crack, the barrier shattered, her sword cutting right through Ashary's gaseous form. The Ashary might think of themselves as superior beings because of their high affinities, and having a body wrought of pure energy. But still, they died just like everyone else did. 

Strangely, there wasn't much left after she cut Fess Cal in half. All that was left was a shimmering crystalline snowflake, like a treasure made of purest ice.

It was no doubt the Ashary's fragment, a natural treasure in its own right. About the size of her thumb, the snowflake released incredibly pure icy attuned energy. Zee hadn't even known this kind of thing was possible. Shaping one's fragment and refining its energies to this purity was a level of cultivation technique she could only dream of. If these three Ashary had more combat experience, she would have been doomed. Even with their lacking experience, it had been far too close.

Stuffing a healing pill into her mouth, Zee chewed thoughtfully. This icy fragment was without a doubt incredibly valuable, but did she dare actually try to sell it? That would be dangerous for many reasons, namely drawing attention to herself as the killer.

The warmth from the healing pill washed through her body as its medicinal efficacy was released. She let out a relieved sigh. 

Her mother's incredibly potent healing pills were a godsend, stopping the bleeding, and dislodging bloody shards of ice from her skin in seconds. A wave of fatigue quickly followed. This was why it was unwise to eat healing pills mid-combat. 

Even high-quality healing pills, like the ones her mother gave her, had the drawback of causing extreme fatigue. The toxins of her mothers high quality pills were negligible, and the fatigue wasn't as bad as lesser quality pills, but it was still there.

She found a comfy-looking rock and sat there for a few minutes, letting the pill do its work. Pulling a thick cloak from her spatial storage to ward off the chill, she tried not to aggravate her itching wounds as the pill did its work..

After some rumination, she stuffed the snowflake-shaped fragment inside her spatial storage. She couldn't sell it without implicating herself, but who knew, it could be useful in the future.

Her wounds still ached something fierce but at least the smaller ones weren't bleeding any more. Ignoring the pain, she searched the battlefield.

There should be two more of these valuable fragments strewn about somewhere. Searching the area, she eventually found what she had been looking for. A crystalline fragment in the shape of a tornado, and a fragment looking like an intricate bush.

Seeing them was quite informative. Each released incredibly pure energy, one feeling like a storm, and the other, like holding a spiritual tree.

She still had no idea how to replicate the effect, but they may be useful. Who knew, by studying them, it may be possible to improve her own cultivation technique in the future.

With the spoils collected, she scanned the battlefield, wondering where she was. She was searching for a landmark when she sensed a slight disturbance off to one side.

The world river was chaotic after her battle and would be for weeks, but still, she sensed it. Her spatial ripple was incredibly sensitive these days, and she was still on high alert.

Whirling, Zee focused on the tree, conjuring a spear with spirit echo, and hurling in one smooth motion. The projectile slammed into the tree, burying itself deeply, and setting the trunk on fire.

An amused laugh filled the air, and a familiar figure seemed to ooze from the shadows.

"Tavza," Zee snarled, not even bothering to hide her disdain. 

"What? Not happy to see your dear cousin?" Tavza asked, giving her a grin that needed to be punched off his face.

"What are you doing here?" Zee asked, her tone hostile.

The shady man tugged at his dark black hair. "Oh, you know, just keeping an eye on my competition. I must say, you really messed up the place. That was quite the fight," Tavza said conversationally.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You were here the whole time?" Zee asked.

Tavza laughed. "I got lucky. Grandpa Fasaic sent me to keep an eye on these three Ashary. He figured they were up to no good, and as it turns out, he was right," Tavza said.

Zee scowled. "You were here and didn't think to help?" Zee asked incredulously.

He scoffed.

"Why would I help my biggest competitor? If you got yourself killed fighting these sheltered scions, my path to the throne would be wide open. Besides, watching you fight was informative. You have quite a few tricks up your sleeve that I didn't know about," Tavza said.

"You are a scumbag, you know that?" Zee said. 

Tavza laughed again. 

He pointed off to her right, towards a mountain in the distance. "I suppose I deserve that. Since I'm a sporting fellow, I will give you some friendly advice. Othera is about fifty miles that way. Enjoy your walk," Tavza said.

His laugh echoed around her as his body sunk back into the shadows, his presence disappearing from her senses.

Zee swore. What a bastard. Thankfully, she didn't have to endure a fifty-mile walk. Instead, she pulled a black token from around her neck, eying the intricate etching thoughtfully. 

The question was, which was worse, a long walk or dealing with the emperor and his scheming? Normally a long walk would be far preferable, but she was injured and exhausted. Plus, no telling if Tavza was just messing with her. For all she knew that was the complete opposite direction from Othera. Tavza was just the kind of asshole to do something like that.

It was probably better to bite the arrow and use the obsidian token to teleport to the capital. Having made up her mind, she took a deep steadying breath. Zee then infused the token with her energy. Space rippled around her, as a gate silently formed, dragging her in. In the next moment, she left the ruined forest, appearing inside a tranquil garden.

Zee grimaced, clutching at her head.

Ugh, that was even more unpleasant than every other time. Lightheaded from blood loss, she stumbled over to the bench underneath the towering tree, and taking a seat.

There were no cushions, but still, she collapsed onto the chair, relieved. She was in dire need of some rest and recovery.

 There was no one in the imperial gardens, which was preferable. She was a bit more rattled than she cared to admit after that harrowing fight. Running into Tavza hadn't helped her frayed nerves either. 

All she wanted to do was rest, but after appearing in the imperial garden, she knew it was only a matter of time until she would have company.

In the meantime, Zee pulled out her communication crystal, which was flashing with urgent messages. It had been going off for a while now, but she had been too busy to respond.

Now that she was fairly safe, she sent a reply to her friends. She gave them a summary of what just happened, as well as informing them she was in the imperial gardens. It seemed like they wanted more information, but she didn't have time to explain at the moment as a figure strode along one of the winding paths of the garden.

Farsaic was in his regal robes, with his gray-streaked black hair tied in a cue behind his head. He held a clear gem in one hand, his expression thoughtful as he eyed her.

"Those three Ashary really did a number on you, great-granddaughter," Farsaic said, pausing in front of her.

"No thanks to Tavza. I almost died and my dearest cousin didn't help me at all," Zee grumbled, unsurprised he knew about the fight. Of course, he knew.

Farsaic harrumphed. "You can't rely on others to fight your battles. Having comrades to fall back on is nice, but where were they when you were drawn into that trap? The only one you can truly rely on is yourself," Farsaic said.

Zee frowned. She didn't like the fact he was discrediting her friends. It wasn't their fault she was whisked away into that trap. Still, she doubted arguing that point would get her anywhere.

"I take your point," Zee agreed.

Farsaic grunted, eying her bloody robe thoughtfully.

"Since you are already here, we might as well get this over with," Farsaic said.

She raised an eyebrow.

"Get what over with?" Zee asked tiredly.

"You will see, come on," Farsaic ordered, whirling on his heel and striding away.

Hiding a pained groan, Zee stood, following the emperor towards a side alcove leading out of the garden.

Her wounds ached, but she wouldn't complain to this old man. Showing weakness to vipers like him would only bring trouble.. 

Zee and the emperor left the garden and walked down a dark, narrow stairwell. 

"Remind me again why we are going down here?" Zee asked.

Farsaic didn't even look back as he descended deeper beneath the palace. 

"You will know soon enough," Farsaic said.

After her talk with her mother the other day, Zee could make a few guesses as to why they were descending beneath the palace.

The emperor seemed nervous, with a palpable tension in the air the further they descended. She wasn't sure why they were going beneath the palace, but it likely had something to do with the monster in the planar space. 

Zee wasn't sure how she felt about that. One thing was for certain, she would need to be on her best behavior. Meeting a monster that made Farsaic wary was not something to piss off lightly. 

For nearly an hour, they descended into the depths, exiting the narrow stairwell into a wide open cave. It looked naturally formed, perhaps carved out by water if the smooth walls were anything to go off.

Moss and iridescent mushrooms lit the cave with an eerie glow, the faint illumination revealing an ominous archway on one wall. The gateway loomed large, spanning the entirety of one wall. With stalagmites and stalactites, it was like a monster's open maw. Farsaic smiled at her reaction, strolling towards the gateway with confidence. 

Zee followed cautiously, her eyes tracing the intricate marking along the pillars. Some of the markings were familiar, while others were completely foreign. It was a combination of both ritual, and etching in one. Whoever set this gate up was incredibly skilled in both fields.

A deep resonance filled the cave, and the gateway hummed to life as they approached. She cocked her head as the resonance washed over her. 

She could feel it deep in her bones. The emperor was somehow using the Mantle to commune with the gate.

A swirling vortex formed between the pillars, making her hair stand on end as a swirling gate snapped into existence.

"Come on, we don't have all day," Farsaic said, striding into the vortex.

Taking a deep calming breath, she followed inside. No point in backing out now.

There was a jarring lurch before Zee appeared elsewhere. The cold, buffeting wind slammed into her, followed by the virulent cloud of decay.

Zee shivered, startled as the heart of fire beat in her chest, filling her body with comforting warmth. The sky was a pale gray, with a bitter chill that rivaled the tundra. What's worse, the decay in the air burrowed through her aura into her skin with frightening speed. 

The decay was so thick that it created a haze over the windswept rocks. It wasn't miasma, but she could tell the long-term exposure to this environment would end just as poorly for her. Zee shuddered, glancing around at the bleak landscape as she pulled on a heavy cloak from her spatial storage. 

"What is this place, and why is it so toxic?" Zee asked, shivering, her breath misting up the air. 

Farsaic gesture at the barren, lifeless landscape around them.

"This place is the lair of our benefactor. Its presence bends the environment around it, creating this desolate landscape," Farsaic said.

"What kind of creature is it?" Zee asked. 

Just then, a shadow passed overhead, and Zee looked up. A deafening screech filled the air, echoing around them.

Her mouth dropped open as a vast creature plunged through the clouds.

It descended like a falling arrow, with plumes of toxic gas and a storm of snow swirling in its wake.

It was gigantic, with four wings, and a long spiked tail covered in dark gray scales that blended in perfectly with the icy environment.

Zee swallowed hard, as the creature drew closer, its long, leathery wings opening wide to slow its fall. The enormous monster slammed into the ground with earth-shattering force, nearly knocking her on her ass. 

Zee shielded her eyes, as icy shards showered around her. A sense of dread washed over her, as it loomed large, casting a long shadow over them both.

Farsaic seemed completely unbothered, which was somewhat comforting. Steadying herself, she finally got a good look at the monster. It was the largest monster she had ever seen up this close. It looked quite similar to a lizard, but with wings, only twenty times larger.

Walking on six legs, each of its talons was as large as she was, and its maw was filled with rows of teeth that made her sword look like a toothpick. It could tear her in half in one bite if it wanted. She was probably nothing more than a light snack to something so massive.

Zee had to admit, it was quite intimidating. She took back all the times she made fun of lizards flying. In fact, she vowed never to utter any insults about lizards anywhere near this thing. 

This wasn't a lizard by any stretch, far more regal than the livestock, but still, she didn't want to get eaten. 

Leaning its long, serpentine neck forward, the creature peered down at her, the spines atop its head radiating an intense cold. She swallowed but held her ground as it eyed her closely. 

Its breath smelled of virulent decay, making her skin tingle as that maw drew closer. Only a few feet away, she didn't dare so much as twitch in fear it might get insulted.

Its presence alone was wearing on her mind, the decay making the heart of fire worked overtime to combat it. Not to mention the cold that made her shiver uncontrollably.

Letting out a loud huff that bombarded her with frigid air, the creature finally pulled back. 

"Not bad Jenelovia. It appears that not all of your spawn are spineless weaklings," the creature said, its voice deep, and raspy.

Farsaic only grunted.

"I brought her here as you asked. I'm a busy man, ask your favor so we can be done with this," Farsaic said.

A long forked tongue darted out between the creature's rows of teeth. 

"You are so impatient. Why can't you be more like your father?" the monster asked.

"Stop stalling Oknarog, get on with it," Jenalovia said.

The creature, presumably named Oknarog let out an annoyed hiss. 

"Fine." It turned its attention to Zee. "You, offspring,"

"It's Zee," She interrupted.

It narrowed its reptilian eyes at her.

"That's a stupid name. I will never understand humans, and your odd naming sense," the creature said.

"I could say the name same about your name," Zee countered. 

Contrary to her earlier thoughts, the monster seemed amused by her words. It let out a hissing laugh, the air vibrating around them.

"You are amusing, at the least," Oknarog said.

"So, what did you want to ask of me?" Zee asked, wanting to get this over with so she could get out of this dreadful environment. 

The monster bared its teeth.

"There are a few things I want. Since you are heading into the storm that borders the cosmic river, I was hoping you could get them for me," Oknarog said.

Now much more confident in her position, Zee clasped her arms behind her back. 

"That depends. What do you need me to get, and what are you willing to offer me in return?" Zee asked.

"Offer you?" Oknarog asked.

"Yes, if you want me to go through all the effort of getting things for you, you can expect me to do that for free, can you?" Zee asked. 

The monster leaned back its head and laughed, sounding halfway between a growl and a hiss.

Zee was nervous that she may have gone too far until it replied.

"I suppose you have a point. If you find me the nucleus of a spatial anomaly and collect the cores of three storm wardens with their power intact, I will give you several of my scales," Oknarog said.

Zee wasn't sure if that was fair compensation, at least until she glanced to one side, and noticed that Farsaic had greed gleaming in his eyes. 

"You have yourself a deal. I will do my best to hunt these storm wardens and collect their cores for you," Zee said.

"Excellent!" 

With that, the monster flapped its enormous leathery wings, buffeting them with an icy wind as it leaped up, flying up into the sky. Its long spikey tail waved behind it, and waves of decay were left in its wake seeping into her body.

To her side, Farsaic didn't look too happy.

"Let's go, I hate this place," Farsaic grumbled, seeming unhappy with how the meeting went.

It made her mood brighten. Things were all of a sudden looking up.