Advent of Eternity - Chapter 98 (Patreon)

Knell emerged from the alley several minutes later. He rejoined his crew, who had been waiting around at a nearby bench. They weren’t exactly the most inconspicuous people in the town, and the passersby gave the group a wide berth as they passed, their heads craning on their necks once they thought they were far enough to get a safe look.

“What did you need to do in a bunch of alleyways?” Maya asked. “And were those a bunch of children I saw?”

“Just tilling the soil for some future plans,” Knell replied, limping past them. “We’ll sow the rewards soon enough. We are moving at a very good pace. The only crimp in my plans is currently Joseph and whatever group he represents. I’ll deal with them once we’ve finished our work for today.”

They left the town, drawing a nervous glance from the guard as they passed. Evidently, Cyll’s appearance the last time they’d passed through had ingrained itself on the man. Knell repressed a grin. For once, Cyll’s intentional incompetence would actually be useful.

To destroy the gods, they couldn’t just be men. They had to be legends. And the easiest way to become a legend was born in the minds of the common in the form of rumors.

“What’s the goal this time?” Cyll asked as they stopped at the edge of the forest.

“A heist, with just enough blood spilled to grease the gears of war,” Knell replied. “Stix will find their main camp and obtain the bracelet artifact that the Scion has. She will then extract it.”

“That… doesn’t seem very safe,” Maya said. “Scions can be really powerful, and Stix just swapped Paths.”

“She’s still the fastest among us,” Knell said. “And we have a manner in which to make her even faster. Unless you are hiding an ability that would let you move faster?”

Maya shook her head. “No. I’ve got nothing.”

“Then Stix will do it,” Knell said. “I do not believe there should be any significant risk from a mere Scion.”

“Mere?” Maya asked. She bit her lower lip for a moment, then narrowed her eyes as she made up her mind. “I don’t want to come across like I’m disagreeing or trying to undermine you, but I got my crew killed because of stupidity. I don’t want to see that happen again.”

“It’s fine, Maya,” Stix said before Knell could respond. “It may seem dangerous, but I trust Knell. He’s many things, but reckless isn’t one of them. If he says something is doable, then it is.”

“Your caution is noted,” Knell said. “I am not infallible. However, I am unconcerned about this particular plan. The only moving piece I am not certain of is how much pressure we’ll have to use.”

Maya swallowed and gave him a reluctant nod. “Okay. What are the rest of us doing, then?”

“Getting ready to kill,” Knell replied. “Lead the way, Stix.”

They entered the forest, the moon elf at the lead, and advanced through the foliage. Stix quickly picked up traces of Vorgen’s warriors and they wound deeper into the forest, making as little noise as possible.

It wasn’t too long before she held up a hand, indicating that they should stop. Everyone drew up alongside Stix and squinted through the trees in front of them. Knell couldn’t see anything.

“They’re not in sight,” Stix said in a hushed whisper. “But I can hear them. They’re less than a minute away.”

Knell strained his ears as best as he could, but all that reached them was the faint buzz of the insects in the jungle around them and the wind rustling through the trees. Judging by the expressions of his companions, they didn’t have much better luck.

Stix pointed at her ears. “They’re big for a reason.”

“Never thought about that,” Cyll whispered. “They really are, though. Noted.”

The moon elf grimaced. She opened her mouth, then let it close with a click and shook her head. Stix sent a questioning glance toward Knell.

“This should work. Cyll, get ready to carry me,” Knell said. “Stix, make sure you’re seen. We don’t want the heist to be too successful. Just don’t get caught. I am not Anchoring you.”

“I will.”

Knell pointed his staff at her, calling on his powers and pressing past the mental barrier as he overloaded a Haste spell, pouring more magic into the spell than it needed by several times. The bolt of green light slammed into her, sending arcs of lightning bouncing across her body.

Stix blurred, and then she was gone. Maya’s eyes widened.

“Sixteen Seas, that was fast. What kind of spell is that?”

“Haste,” Knell replied humorlessly. “It makes you go fast.”

“I couldn’t tell,” Maya muttered.

A few seconds passed. In the distance, from the direction that Stix had shot off toward, yells rose up. Cyll strolled up to Knell, who climbed onto the taller man’s back.

“Get ready to run,” Knell advised. “Just make sure they see us.”

“Wouldn’t it have been better to run earlier?” Maya asked, squinting into the forest.

“Of course not. They need something to chase.”

Stix blurred into view, a golden bracelet clasped in her hand. She had a thin cut across her shoulder, but was otherwise unwounded. Knell let the spell on her drop, sagging slightly in relief as the strain let up.

I definitely got a few gray hairs from that.

“They’re on my tail,” Stix said, handing Knell the bracelet. No sooner than she had finished speaking did Knell hear angry rustling coming from the trees.

“Go!”

Cyll took off, loping through the greenery. Stix and Maya darted after them, and the moon elf quickly took the lead. Branches slapped against them and Knell ducked down, craning his head back.

The yells were growing louder, and Knell estimated that over a dozen people had joined the chase. He caught flickers of leather through the trees, but Cyll was doing a great job of keeping ahead of them.

Another branch whacked into Knell’s head and he flinched, ducking lower with a curse. Cyll was doing a considerably worse job of avoiding the trees. Maya was falling behind them, so he Hasted her.

The woman instantly sped up, nearly tripping over a root as she bounded past both Cyll and Stix. Footfalls pounded through the forest and Knell kept a close eye on their pursuers, but they were keeping their lead.

It was taking a little longer than he had expected for –

A large brown bird dropped from the canopy above them, its eyes gleaming with intelligence. Knell’s staff whipped up and he batted the creature out of the sky in a puff of feathers.

“That was cold.” Cyll bounded over a bundle of protruding roots. “But funny. Do it again.”

“It was likely under the control of Vorgen’s Scion,” Knell said. The yells were getting closer, and his crewmates were starting to pull ahead. “Run faster.”

“They aren’t the ones carrying someone,” Cyll complained. He accelerated, which resulted even more branches whipping at them as they sped by. Knell hunkered down as best as he could, trying to throw off the immortal man’s balance as little as possible.

The men chasing after them were gaining slowly, but by Knell’s count, they were nearly out of the forest. Perfect timing. Something blurred at the edge of Knell’s vision, and he struck instinctively, batting another bird from the sky. Several others veered away, fluttering to safety before they got into reach.

A shadow passed over them. Hundreds of birds had nearly blacked out the sky. Knell could only see glimpses of them through the canopy as Cyll ran. They made no noise aside from the flap of their wings.

For some reason, the rest of them weren’t attacking. A grim smile crossed Knell’s face.

Their Scion probably feels their pain and doesn’t want them injured for no reason. Or perhaps she just cares for their lives. A weakness to exploit.

“That looks like a bit of a problem,” Cyll yelled.

“If that’s the extent of the Scion’s powers, then this will be even easier than I thought,” Knell replied. “We’re almost outside. Once we break free of the treeline, stop. We need to make them come out of the forest.”

Cyll grunted. The yells grew louder still, but a few seconds later, they burst out of the forest. Maya and Stix were already waiting, their weapons drawn. Cyll jogged up to them, then spun as Knell slid down his back.

“That’s a lot of birds,” Stix said warily, staring up at the sky above the forest. Knell’s initial guess had been about right. There were easily several hundred avians storming around the top of the forest, but none of them had left it.

Dozens of men emerged from the trees, swords and bows in their hands. One of them fired an arrow at Knell, but Cyll grabbed it out of the air. He snapped the projectile and let the two halves fall to the ground at his feet. Stix’s hand crossbow twanged and an arrow sprouted from the man’s throat.

He crumpled forward, landing in a heap.

“Send more,” Cyll said, stepping forward and extending his hands outward with a savage grin. “I can do this all day.”

“Give the artifact back,” one of the men growled, turning his bow toward Stix.

Knell cocked an eyebrow and raised the bracelet. “I’ve got it. You shoot, my man will block the arrow and I lob this thing into Golden River. Then you never see it again.”

“The birds will catch it,” another man said, spitting on the ground. “Gerald, shoot the bastards.”

“He’s not going to do that,” Knell said calmly. “And the birds aren’t going to do anything, are they? Your Scion doesn’t want them to die. A tool that can be hurt so easily isn’t a very effective one.”

“You know not of what you talk about,” a woman said, stepping out of the forest. Her clothes were made of woven plants that clung to her body, still writhing with life. She stopped at the edge of the forest, just in front of her men. “Return the artifact, or I will kill you.”

Knell’s senses brushed over her. She was a Scion, but not a particularly powerful one. Most of her strength likely came when she was within the forest, which explained why she was so reluctant to push out of it.

“At the cost of how many birds?” Knell wondered. He resisted the urge to glance over his shoulder. He could hear commotion coming from Golden River, but it would be some time until their Scion would emerge. He had to buy time until then. “What are you willing to offer in exchange for it?”

The Scion gritted her teeth, glancing over Knell’s shoulder at the city. “If you wish to bargain, return with us to the forest. This is not the place for it.”

“Where you’ll be able to call more of your creatures to aid? I’m not an idiot,” Knell said with a bark of laughter. “I’m well aware these birds are probably just your advance guard. Your eyes, really. I’d imagine you’ve got considerably stronger creatures in the forest. No, we bargain here.”

“Ferna! There’s no need for this. Just give the order,” the man to her right snarled. “I don’t care how fast they are, we can kill them before the city responds, but only if we act fast. Vorgen guides our blades.”

Her clothing writhed and twisted in anger around her. The Scion’s hands tightened into balls and she spat on the ground. “Filthy mercenary. What do you want? Gold?”

This is no good. She wasn’t supposed to give in so easily. I thought she’d have more fight in her. Oh well.

“Stix? The talkative one on the right needs a new breathing tube,” Knell said.

Vines erupted around him instants before Stix’s crossbow bolt slammed into them, stopped from penetrating his throat by mere inches. The Scion whipped the bolt to the ground and bared her teeth in anger. “Try that again, mercenary. Then there will be no bargaining at all. I offer you five hundred gold to return the bracelet right now.”

Hm. She really wants this thing. That, or she’s buying time for her real forces to show up. I don’t care either way, really. More forces might just make this a lot easier for me.

Urgent yells came from Golden River, and Ferna’s soldiers were growing antsier with every passing second.

“Now!” Ferna snarled. “You want the gold, do you not?”

“I think I’ve changed my mind,” Knell said. “Apologies for wasting your time. We’ll be keeping this.”

Men burst from Golden River’s gates. Two of the Vorgen soldiers shot arrows at Knell, but Cyll batted both of them away. Ferna spun with a curse. “Damn the artifact. We can’t afford this. Go!”

Knell clicked his tongue and extended his staff, pointing it at her back. A bolt of green energy leapt forth and struck the Scion. Her body immediately resisted the spell and Knell’s eyes narrowed as he poured more power into it.

The attack had caught her off guard, and that gave him just enough of an advantage to force it through. He staggered, leaning on his staff as Ferna was Anchored.

“Don’t run too far,” Knell called. “You’ll be back here very shortly, and it won’t go too well for you if all your soldiers have left you behind.”

They ignored him, just as he expected they would. That didn’t matter. The soldiers would remember his words and return when they saw their Scion vanish.

The men from Golden River charged the forest, bows twanging as they fired arrows at the retreating Vorgen followers. The trees twisted, blocking off the path as the birds fluttered back into the safety of the forest.

An armored woman slammed to the ground beside Knell, her blonde hair flowing behind her head. She carried a heavy broadsword in just a single hand, and her eyes burned with hunger.

“It is,” Knell said. “Just over fifty seconds, now. I expect my cut for delivering your prey to you.”

“If you aren’t lying, you’ll get it. And, after that, you’ll be telling me what Fragment you serve.” She cackled and raised her sword, pointing it at the forest. “Move up, boys! The mercenaries have done their job. Let’s paint the trees red!”