SUBTLE WINDS - Journey to the End of the World.

Iigrazre was lord of this dying lost world according to Khel'rin. While none knew how he rose to power, many of the Voltars remembered him being in power for as long as they could remember.

I didn't care to know though. While its presence proved to be a hindrance in gaining access to the core and also completing our mission. But it was nothing more than that. A hindrance.

The path to the far south was more arduous than I thought. A thought that seemed to be shared not just by me but by everyone in our little caravan. The Furians dragged their feet with boredom, the Voltars drooped their wings either from exhaustion or lack of action. Only a few from both races were alert enough to keep tabs on our location and environment Not that the Furians were not alert. Just being lazily watchful.

As such it wasn't us but the Voltars that first noticed us getting to our destination.

"We're here."

I looked down the deep chasm without an end in sight.

"Welcome to the drop or as we know it the end of the world". Khel'Rin spread her palms out while stretching out her savage maws in an attempt at smiling.

"Don't try too hard" Arane tapped her shoulder while walking past and then falling off the edge before we could berate her. Khel'Rin's face visibly fell but none of us attempted to fix Arane's jab.

"Just be yourself" Graden whispered before he too dropped off. I made a slight smile to the terrifying-looking Voltar before dropping off as well. A few meters from the edge was a dense black fog that obscured all sight keeping the bottom of the chasm out of sight. The fog was so thick I could almost feel it on my skin and feathers. Tempted as I was to flap my wings and expose what lay hidden in the fog the several lightning flashes that illuminated the fog for just a second before it returned to the pitch blackness kept my wings folded in.

The fall was the longest thing I had ever done. I had once been running around the edges of the ringed city and it had been so far that it took almost half a cycle's rotation to complete.

A rotation was how we messenger told the time in Dylaeria. With no sun or moon, we used the Divinum Semtinel's daily faith drop as a timer since each faith unit gotten was set apart. As such our days had fifty rotations. From the start of the day to the end it was a complete faith drop or a cycle's rotation.

[Author's Note: If you didn't understand the math. The Divinum Sentinel gives 50F Unit Daily. 1 unit each. Messengers calculate 1 unit as a rotation(hour) and 50 units as a cycle's rotation (day). ]

It took a complete cycle's rotation to finally escape the fog. I dropped passed the thick and dense substance spitting out some that had gotten into my mouth. "Ash" I looked up into the fog of ash just in time to see a flash of lightning sweep past brightening the interior of the fog for a second before everything went dark.

'Hopefully, nothing could control lightning down there'.

A look around brought my attention to the rest of the Furiams and Voltars falling through the air. Fortunately, none had tried to fly within the fog, as bored or annoyed from the long fall something had kept them from doing so.

A scream pierced the air as a Furian dropped out of the fog, his wings beating with careless and frantic abandon. A feeling of foreboding rushed through me as he searched before about with frantic. spotting me.

"Help" his shout reverberated to me as he formed a platform with the Fury Armanent and kicked off it making a straight beeline for me. His wings spread to catch the wind and accelerate his dive for me. His eyes were desperate and fearful as he rushed to me. The plea in them reached me.

My wings flapped taking me straight to the Furian in a haste. black mist seeped out of my wings and rolled up to my palms forming ring bands that ensnared my wrists. Yet before I could do anything Graden grabbed me out of the air.

"What are you...?" I was cut off as everything brightened instantly. The crack of lightning that whipped into the sir made me look back to see the Furian frozen for a second his eyes and mouth wide open, locked in a soundless scream.

Then his body was flung far beneath with a speed that flight could never reach. All heard the sound of the body crashing into the ground and the rumble of the fog above the lighting swept past once more as if giving a warning.

Fortunately, all were already out of the fog and it seems while flying in the fog was dangerous outside was not a problem if not another lightning would have hit both me and several others.

"Down now. Find Otheren, make sure his EFU is working, and bring him to us. Well be ahead". I ordered. A group of the Furians at least six split from the mass of us and dived down.

" You panic first. Now calm and unworried" Khel'Rin suddenly asked from behind me almost getting a jump out of me.

"Pain is maybe not something my kin are used to" I shrugged.

"But death is?" She prodded. I kept silent as I had to remember that she and her kin, those of this dying world were not yet connected to the Star rings for their reincarnation. Even if they were it was not immortality simply living a new life. She and her kin were immortal as long as they had their EFU(Emergency Faith Unit).

Still, it would not be good to tell her that while she and the living ones would be connected to a reincarnation platform while those dead already remained lost forever. I sighed internally before giving a smile and walking off.

"You'll see" was all I managed to spit out".

*

I understood what Khel'Rin meant when she said the pillar was hidden by the ash of the great mountains. We barely saw it, looming over us as we walked deeper into the rocky terrain. The lava and hot steams that shot up through holes in the ground made it harder to watch for it as we kept our attention on not getting burned by the gas.

The other six and the barely lucid Otheren had rejoined us as we skipped and jumped over the hot lavas and ducked past the sudden shooting steams. While flying was better we didn't want to have any surprise thrown at us from the congregating ash pillar above us.

By the time we got to the very base, it was increasingly harder to move forward. Winds blew at us and tried to push us off route and back. The Voltar vomited lava and hardened them into staffs that they used to create staffs for themselves to the ground. We Furians just moved our wings back to prevent getting blown through it, folding ourselves to be smaller while forming fury armaments on our palms to serve as claws that dug into the hard ground and rooted us in place.

Slowly we edged forward. Frustratingly slow. The journey to the end of the world was arduous. Lightning flashed through the ash tornado pillar firming our decision not to attempt flying. The closer we got the harder it became to move forward. I didn't know we messengers could sweat or lose stamina but I was getting tired and my bones were aching from the strain of pulling my body forward. Several times I was tempted to just fly but a scowl from Graden had me rooted in place, though his scowl was mostly for a grumbling Arane's benefit.

Fortunately, our perseverance paid off. It was instantaneous like a weight burdening our shoulders was suddenly ripped off. It startled us all and most stumbled from the sudden release. Graden and I rose with sighs while rubbing our shoulders.

"I wish we had Angelic heal like those Gemini". Arame complained. " My arms feel sore. Or just sacrosanct, it would help too right at least those Divinas get to heal faster than us with it"

"I'll stick with our Fiery flame". I murmured. Graden nodded with a smirk. There was a reason it was better we Furies got the fire and also why only we could get it.

" I do wonder though why the Bravurans got nothing. It's almost like the mother left them out, then trapped them in a room to guard the sentinel for all their days". Arane stated a finger tapping her lip.

"Never say that back in Dylaeria. " Graden warned. I nodded before speaking.

"Besides you are wrong. Remember the day we first saw the mother?"

"You mean the only day?" she jabbed.

"Yes. Whatever. The Bravurams were with her and there were those flying in the skies of Dulaeria. I think they act more as a sense of duty than by command. Just as we have been antsy to spread Mother's wrath." Arane frowned before she shrugged.

"Doesn't matter either way. As long as I get to see the world. Though I do pity the Bravurans." she clicked her tongue then a flash entered her eyes.

"I did hear though, that the day we received our armaments, the Bravurans got something more. No one knows as we rarely see them, but a Gemini..."

"Of course, it's a Gemini" Graden shook his head raking a glance around in quick succession. I followed his gaze and found the others all resting from the hard struggle through the storm.

"...It saw something like a colossal armor in the Bravurans ring right as it flew by." Arane pouted at Graden.

"And. It could be their armor. remember we have never seen them completely. Their purpose is to guard the sentinel and Dylaeria which is hard when we have next to no inclusion in our home."The male Furian raised an eyebrow.

"Yes yes. But get this. " she looked at both of us with a gleam in her eyes. "He says the armor was made of dense blue almost white material. The area was cold too".

I and Graden shared a look. It was a fact that temperature while existent in Dylaeria wasn't something the messengers were bothered with. It could be cold, hot, or warm and we would feel it just enough to identify the temperature. That was it. For the Gemini to actively say it was cold.

" Well that's interesting," I murmured.

"Still I think we should reserve our pity for the Soliverts," Graden spoke. Both Arane and I looked at him in surprise. Graden was not one to boost a conversation. Add one or two words, scold probably. Not this.

"Have a Solivert friend. He says ad get this. Their armament barely works. If at all it activates. No energy or anything at all to feed it. They tried fueling it with Faith but while it activated it did nothing to hold the armaments. "

Arane was surprised to hear this while I just frowned. Nothing that came from the Mother was ever faulty. We all were evidence of it. Which begged the question. What was wrong with the armaments of the Solivert or the Soliverts themselves?