[Ashborn-B1] 49. Hedged Bets (Patreon)

XLIX

Hedged Bets

“Admit what you are!”

An iron grip locked around my throat and closed off my airway. Spots of black appeared at the edge of my sight—

Sharp breath entered my lungs as my eyes shot open. I launched up and my head slammed into a wall.

“Gods, fuck,” I cursed.

“Ah—sorry. I thought you were still dreaming.”

Rubbing my skull, I glanced up through the stars in my vision. Strands of black hair cascaded down the side of the girl’s cheeks. Her face was fair, though the light in her eyes as she loomed over me spoke of a warrior’s soul. I blinked. Well, it wasn’t so much that she was looming over me, but that I was lying in her lap.

A golden glow suffusing her hands faded as she, too, rubbed her forehead. “Pardon my insolence, but you looked to be in pain.”

“Pain?” I groaned.

“You were whimpering,” another voice said.

I turned. Rin was sitting beside the campfire, pulling apart a piece of jerky with her teeth like it owed her money. “You still sleepy?” she asked between mouthfuls. “We can rest longer if you need it.”

A glance at the time. Despite my rude awakening, I’d been under for the full three hours and some change. That was longer than I’d been able to sleep the last few nights.

“No, I’m fine.” I pushed myself up and paused after coming face-to-face with the girl. “Thanks.”

“Please don’t.” She waved disarmingly. “I’m the one who should be thanking you.” Then she bowed over her thighs. “Thank you for aiding me. I wouldn’t have lasted a moment longer…though you already knew that.”

The image of her tumbling into the dark resurfaced. “Don’t worry about it.” I trailed off. The echoes of the voice I’d heard waking up still trailed through my mind. ‘That’d sounded like Ray.’ I wasn’t certain why I was dreaming of him, but imagining what he was accusing me of wasn’t difficult. Not with the many souls now digesting in my garden. “Anyone would’ve done the same,” I finished.

She smiled and held out her hand. “Orianna. Ori for short.”

I shook it. “Ashe.”

“Now that’s out the way,” Rin said—the girl wasn’t one for pleasantries, I’d noticed—“can you check what we’re heading into before we leave?”

My mind was still reeling and dizzy, so taking to the sky on Ashwing wasn’t the best idea. I sent out five chicks instead, which dove down the hill and rose over the treetops.

Images once more whirled through my head. I only allowed one in at a time to stop a head ache from building. Of the groups I’d spotted yesterday, only Aurille’s was in the same location. Her army, which had gotten bigger overnight, was camped at the bottom of the hill. Dozens of pillars littered the rise behind them. The figures inside didn’t move except for their eyes.

Those were Scorn, alright.

The sight of them made me search the surrounding forest more thoroughly. Clusters of undead advanced through the trees. All of them were heading north, though some veered off at an angle that could be in the direction of Aurille.

‘There’s a lot.’

A few among them were drakes. Some wore the azure of the Weapon Empire, others the black of the Immortals or the animal-wear of the Black Fangs.

These skirmishes were doing more bad than good.

My gaze narrowed on the Weapon Empire Scorn. I thought I recognised some from yesterday.

‘Jake’s not among them though.’ So, where’d he run off to?

A gleaming tip passing in front of one of my chicks drew my gaze. The arrow whirled through the air before it fizzled out into motes of light. The chick’s head tilted. A blond boy lowered his bow and waved.

My summon swooped down, flicked between the trees and landed on a branch. Prone and sitting figures looked up. Recovery pills worked overtime inside their bodies, and bandages covered whichever wounds the pills couldn’t get to. Of the few dozen Jake had with him, almost half were injured enough their combat prowess would be impaired.

Dire straits to be in with all the enemies around.

Jake was looking up at my chick and speaking. Shared sight was different from shared hearing, however, and I still wasn’t the best at picking up what my summons were hearing. I used the chick’s beak to write on the ground, told him to hold his position, rerouted the rest of my chicks to patrol near him, then returned my attention to my main body.

Ori handed me a bowl of soup, which I slurped down in under a minute.

“Any easy prey?” Rin asked.

“A few,” I said. “But we need to stop somewhere else first.”

“Someone in a pinch?”

“Yes.”

And I had just the ability to help them out.

I couldn’t carry all three of us, but guiding a single person so they didn’t run into any Scorn was easy enough. We soon found Jake. He’d chosen to hide in between the trees and setup up temporary shelter instead of finding a clearing to camp.

‘A good choice.’

Sadly, Ashwing was too large for an area like this, so I had her flying overhead.

Disciples leaning and lying against trunks looked up at the feathers falling like rain. A pulse spread through those the feathers touched. Bent backs straightened and wrinkled expressions loosened.

Jake, Rin and I were standing under the canopy of a tree so big Ashwing had trouble circling it. Its base was on a mound, allowing us to oversee the others. Ori was attending to a few of the disciples. She was no healer, but she could reduce the discomfort someone experienced to an extent. The monk was accepted with open arms.

‘Must’ve been part of the reason for her crazy stamina.’

“Thanks for coming,” Jake said, drawing my attention back.

He held out his hand so one of the feathers fell in his palm.

A muscle pulled in my chest as I watched life enter his veins. What happened to his team wasn’t my fault, but…

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be there earlier yesterday,” I said.

He waved me away. “I’m glad you came at all. Have you been without your team this entire time?”

“The Dragonflight split us up,” Rin said. Her gaze was fixed on a particular, sleeping disciple. Multiple feathers had attached themselves to her body. Yet her face scrunched up. “Recovery pills don’t work?”

“Not against the Immortals.” A stocky boy with his hair coiled into a topknot approached. The tip of the spear poking from underneath a shield on his back looked like it could cut me with a glancing touch. “All their techniques involve either poison or those insects,” he continued. “Takes focused cultivation to purge from the body.”

My eyelids narrowed. His brows were bushy and his cheeks slightly pudgy. “You remind me of…”

“Ray? I get that a lot.” He smiled and looked down. “Used to.”

Jake patted his shoulder. “Ashe, Rin, this is my second, Drew Spearchaser. He’s Ray’s cousin.”

I inclined my head. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Drew clasped his hands and bowed. “On behalf of my family, thank you for slaying the beast that killed him.”

An awkward smile tugged on my lips. ‘I didn’t do it for him,’ I wanted to say, but the words never came close to leaving my mouth.

Drew raised. “Unfortunately, the others that took part in his death are still walking around.”

Jake fidgeted with the end of the bow slung over his shoulder. “I take you it you haven’t seen Judith either?”

I shook my head. “I’d hoped she’d be with you.”

The girl had made clear during the war council that she was chasing Vyke down even if she had to do so herself. And while I trusted her, Judith wasn’t slaying Vyke alone if she found him bound, gagged, and half drunk—no matter what boon found in the Tomb.

“Then she must be on the next floor after all,” Drew said.

“So it seems,” Jake agreed.

I waited for them to explain. As I thought, the floors in this shrine were either steadily ascending or declining depending on the direction of the river under our feet. Many of the signals attached to Jake’s locator had gathered somewhere to the north, including some of our own.

“Our team?” Rin leaned in and whispered.

“Maybe,” I answered, then turned back to the other two. “North is also where the essence on this floor is converging.”

There, the landscape of rolling hills merged into a single, hulking land mass. The source was either a treasure or a shrine, though my money was on the latter. Why else would the Scorn be heading in the same direction?

“It’s bound to be better than what’s out here,” Jake sighed. He turned to his team. Most of them could still walk, but running from something like the Scorn would be a more gargantuan task. Staying still and allowing them time to recover was also not in the cards.

“Our best bet is to join up with Aurille,” I said.

“She’s here?” Drew said.

The baritone in his voice disappeared, and light flashed in the gazes of the disciples close enough to hear our conversation.

Jake didn’t have any real scouts in his party, so I supposed he wouldn’t know.

“Through the forest and over one of the hills,” I said. “But there’s an army of Scorn and enemy clans between us.”

Jake’s brows depressed. “Do you have an exact number?”

“No. But there are enough to overrun us if even one sniffs out our position.”

The building mirth vanished the more I spoke, which was to be expected. At this rate, Jake’s party would turn into nothing but sitting ducks. They’d be lucky if a handful made it out.

Essence drew from my core through my shard and into Ashwing. Another flurry of feathers descended, followed by relieved sighs.

Jake cupped his chin as he followed her shadow passing overhead. “What if we ask her to come to us?”

White-robed disciples with flame motifs groaned and huddled together, swallowing pills and cradling wounds too significant to heal.

Sitting in front of a campfire, Ren did a lazy headcount. Of the thirty or so Dawnflames that’d joined the Snow Moon’s army overnight, more than half were sporting injuries.

He scoffed. ”There’s nothing good about this place.”

You should enter because it’s a rare event! It’ll be amazing for your growth!…yeah fucking right. It was cold. Dark. Filled with monsters and savages. And the experience sucked since those undead gave none!

Ren spit to the side. His phlegm didn’t even sink into the earth since it was all ice. His head shook and he let his shoulders droop. Forget all this talk of getting stronger. Was it too much to ask to just lounge in an estate with some beautiful women at his side? They would feed him grapes as he ogled their curvy physiques…Ah, what a life that would be—

“You’re drooling.” Leah’s voice drug him out of his fantasies.

He watched the blonde girl stir the pot of boiling…Ren wasn’t even sure what was inside.

“You could’ve just chosen to stay outside,” she said. “The regular Maze was open.”

A deep sigh. “As if. Mother would’ve killed me.”

“I’ve been lenient enough with you, young man!” He could still see her standing over the couch he was lounging on, hands in her side, shadows darkening her face. “It’s time you choose who you’re going to support.”

“Do I really need to?” he’d drawled. ”It’s not like we’re starving. Staying neutral will benefit us more.”

”Ren Howard Dawnflame…”

He threw his head back as he went over the subsequent berating in his head. He really didn’t want to bother linking himself to any of the ‘prospects’ of their clan. The rewards could be great as they’d prop up those who supported them along the way when they reached a higher status. But the backlash could be just as damaging. Choosing the wrong potential heir to support was basically a fast ticket to cementing your future in horse shit or golden cushions propping you up to heaven.

Ren glanced at Leah, who was stirring her pot with barely half a mind.

“Who are you going to support?” he drawled.

“The one I meet first.”

He paused. “That easy?”

“Yep. Saves me a ton of headache.”

Ren hummed. That was…true. Choosing a person to support wasn’t as simple as walking up to them and proclaiming your allegiance. Unless you went through hardships with the heir, they wouldn’t remember your name even if they made it to a higher station.

Timing was just as important as choosing the right person. And since the Tomb didn’t allow you to exactly choose who you were going to run into…

He slapped his cheeks. “Alright. I’ve decided! I’ll pick the first one, too.”

“Eeeeh,” Leah intoned. “You’re just copying me. Way to be oriignal.”

“Cry about it.” Ren stuck out his tongue.

The blonde shook her head and returned to stirring her pot. Her expression, just like her words, were void of any emotion, giving the impression that she didn’t care about anything.

‘She’d be a looker if she just smiled more,’ Ren thought.

Crossing his arms, he tried to predict which heir he’d meet first. He’d heard good things about Raven—he was hardworking, earnest, and took good care of those under him. But if he could be picky…

‘Kayle is a real looker.’ He’d only seen her the once at the gala, but that was enough to prove she transcended every rumour about her.

A cheeky grin crossed his lips. Maybe she’d give him a hug if he showed his worth. Maybe more if he was the one to let her win the undivided support of the Vermilion Dawn! He rubbed his hands. Already, he could see it: a grateful Kayle exiting a steaming bathroom, nothing but a tower around her enamouring physique. “My dear, Ren,” she’d say as her tower fell on the floor. “This is your reward—”

“You’re a creep, you know that?” Leah cut through.

“Shut up! Let a man enjoy his fantasies!”

She sighed. “It’s not likely you’ll meet Kayle. Even if you did, do you think you’re the only one after her? She’ll just regulate you to being a fanboy.”

“Don’t care,” Ren proclaimed. “A true connoisseur can admire without ever touching.”

She turned to him and held his gaze for a moment before shrugging. “Well, I guess you’ve got a fifty-fifty chance, then. Two-thirds if we don’t count Duke.”

Ren frowned. “Two-thirds?”

“The new girl is supposed to be a thing to behold, too, isn’t she?”

His lips sucked into his mouth.

Leah’s brow raised. “What? Not your type?”

“No, it’s not that.”

He’d of course gone to see who the new prospect was that everyone was talking about. She wasn’t that hard to miss with the way she loomed over most people. And while Ren agreed that she was one of the prettiest women he’d ever seen, higher realms included, something about her was…what’s the term he was looking for?

“She’s crazy,” he said after thinking for a while.

“Crazy?”

Ren nodded. “The wrong kind of crazy, too.” The kind likely to get him killed. “I’d rather not get anywhere near her.”

A frigid breeze sent the fire under their pot flickering.

Leah hummed. “Well, let’s hope your luck holds up then.”

Another gust assaulted their fire, which nearly killed it altogether.

Ren frowned. The wind was coming from above? He looked up…only for a shadow to engulf his silhouette whole. Ren’s jaw dropped. That was a wingspan was over six meters!

Disciples leapt to their feet and drew their weapons—

“Halt!” a voice echoed from on top of the bird.

A fact Ren had a hard time wrapping his head around until the creature’s talons touched down and the figures on its back became visible.

His heart froze in his chest.

The tall girl leapt down her summon, red hair tumbling as she did so. The jump was nothing to her given her strength, yet her thighs jiggled from the impact. Those legs could seriously crush his skull with the right hold…

Ashe Sunstrider rose to her full height and surveyed their company. “Who’s the acting leader? You’ll join me in my talk with Aurille.”

All eyes went to Leah and Ren, which undid the boy’s efforts in making himself small.

Leah tapped Ren on the back and guided them into a bow. “The both of us shared the responsibility, Lady Sunstrider. We’d be happy to accompany you.”

“We would…” Ren mumbled.

He almost couldn’t hold back his tears.