T A L O N
Glade 2, 122 AoS
Somewhere to the south of Zaichaer.
They had stopped for the night. Taking up residence in an abandoned manor. There were enough stories of hauntings and horrors to keep most people away. It was as safe as they were going to get. Moving on foot was far more tedious than traveling by air but it was safer. The skies were being watched. Practically every city-state in Karnor was looking to recover that which they had taken, who they had taken. He looked across from where he stood at his post, eyeing their captive carefully. The bars of the cage he had been placed in were lined with pictographs meant to dampen, suppress, and contain. The chains that bound his arms and wings were meant to keep him unconscious and subdued, to keep his powers restrained. The collar around his neck was meant to keep him docile and controlled. Even with all those measures in place, he still felt on edge. A hand on his shoulder made him jump.
“Easy, Erich. Go. Get dinner. We will be on the move again soon.” Erich looked at his senior with a nod. They had been on the move for four days with barely any rest. He needed a hot meal.
“Right.” The senior watched the younger soldier go to join some of the others as they shared their first hot meal in days. He turned his head back to their captive. He dare not look upon him with his second sight. Even at a distance, he could feel the crackle of aether being continuously bent and warped in order to keep him contained. He could see the pictographs on the bars of the cage slowly being burnt away. Glyphs that, under normal circumstances, would have been able to keep even some of the most powerful mages in the empire restrained were beginning to buckle under the weight of just the ambient power rolling off of him.
“How long do you suppose we have, Fredrich?” Fredrich watched as another of the glyphs popped and sizzled, becoming a blackened stain on the bar. His lips thinned as he watched it. Unease taking hold of him.
“Hours. Maybe less.” The man beside him let out an unsteady breath.
“Shouldn’t we try to teleport?” Fredrich looked at him with a quirked brow.
“Do you want to try to make a railway that can handle him? Be my guest.” The other soldier sighed and leaned against the nearby wall.
“And the other one?” Fredrich watched as another pictograph began to burn away.
“Collared. Though he put up one hell of a fight against it.” Laughter drew his attention briefly as the others relieved some tension by swapping stories around the small fire they had built.
“Do you--”
“Shh!” Fredrich silenced his comrade. He looked on in shock as more of the glyphs on not just the bars of the cage began to pop, burn and sizzle, but the chains binding the man began to emit smoke as well.
“Get Hector. Get Hector now! Get--” There was a ripple in the air and Fredrich felt dread coil in the pit of his stomach.
The Avialae’s eyes opened. Staring back at him were eyes made of silver fire that burned with the intensity of the sun. They were wide. They were awake.
They were furious.
----
The foggy haze that clouded his thoughts was partially burned away in the wake of his awakening. The intrusive press of another force attempting to scramble his thoughts and press upon his will was brushed aside. He felt the weight of the chains binding him and with a flick of his thoughts, the bindings cracked and splintered. Looking to the bars of his cage, he rose to his feet and with a spread of his wings, shattered the paltry cage that had sought to bind him with such feeble mortal magics.
“HECTOR!” His eyes fell upon a uniformed man who was drawing a pistol. The shout of others moving registered on the edges of his thoughts. His head felt as though it were filled with bees that were buzzing. There was an ache in his body that made his movements feel sluggish. But he moved, nevertheless. The two men in front of him drew their weapons and fired. He felt both projectiles slam into his body releasing a hail of electricity that danced across his form. He staggered back a single step, grunting less from pain and more from the sheer force of the impact. He shook his head as he brushed away more of the fog from his mind.
“GET THE CHAINS! GET THE CHAINS NOW!” Chains. That registered.
A collar. He still felt it around his neck. Killers. Murderers.
That was who these men were.
He snarled.
Then he moved.
----
He kept his pistol aimed squarely at the Avialae’s chest. He was wide eyed. Two rounds and not a scratch. The lightning paralyzer rounds were usually enough to drop a full grown Ogre to its knees. This man had just grunted and seemed disoriented.
“How the fuck is he still moving?!” Fredrich did not know. He’d never seen anything like it before. The binding chains had cracked and blackened, crumbling to dust as he had rose to his feet. He’d spread his silver wings and that motion alone had burned away all of the holding glyphs on the bars. The cage had then splintered, scattering across the room. The only thing left was the collar around his neck and that seemed to just be pissing him off.
“Jaques, move. Move now. Move-!” Fredrich stumbled back just as the Avialae seemed to regain his composure. With blinding speed, the man covered the distance between Jaques and where he had been standing. His hand covered Jaques face and with a terrifying scream of agony, Fredrich watched as his comrade burst into flames from the inside out before crumbling to ashes. Rolling away, Fredrich barely managed to get out of the way in time before the Avialae’s hand slammed into the floor, cracking through the wood and sending him sprawling forward. Fredrich rolled onto his back and began unloading rounds into the Avialae. This time, they didn’t even hit him. The rounds splintered and burst, crumbling to ash before they touched him, sending arcs of electricity veering off into the area around him.
Fredrich’s pistol clicked empty. He felt his blood run cold. He locked eyes with those of the Avialae. He didn’t even get to scream before he felt the hand around his neck. He kicked wildly…then felt the world get set on fire.
---
He held the flailing soldier aloft with one hand as he poured his wrath and fury into him. The man let out a soundless scream as his skin split and flames consumed him from the inside out before he too was reduced to ashes.
“You bastard!” He looked to the sound of the shout. He winced as a lance of pain spiked through his brain. The collar felt tighter around his neck but he pushed back against it. He heard the squeal of what sounded like metal being warped. The tightness around his neck loosened and the pain in his skull abated slightly. Turning, he faced a group of what had to be a dozen soldiers. All of them in the same style of uniform as the two he had reduced to ashes.
Murderers.
They had to be judged.
“On your knees, bird!” A woman ran forward and began to pull out what looked like an amulet. His instincts told him that this was something to stop. So he would stop it. She tugged out the amulet, raised it high…and with barely a blink, he snapped her neck and yanked the amulet from her lifeless hand before she even hit the ground. The amulet came to his hand. He held it, running a thumb over its surface. He then clenched his fist, crushing it.
“Amalie! You monster!” Three more soldiers ran forward, drawing their weapons. Two of them summoning pact blades and the third launching a mote of fire at him. He casually stepped in their direction as he embraced the flames. He raised a hand, calling the fire to his palm. The mage unleashing it went wide eyed as it changed in color from the red-orange or normal flames to the silver-white of his dominion. He pulled more and more fire from the foolish mortal until the man emit a panicked scream before fire erupted from his body and he too became naught but ashes.
He looked to the other two as they launched themselves at him, wielding pact blades. He extended a hand and his own blade came to him. It was not his true blade but it was the one that he had known since coming into this mortal life. The silver flames of his domain wrapped around the blade and with a sweep of it, he shattered their pacts and rended the both of them in two, scorching them both to little more than charred husks.
---
Erich stumbled back, tripping over himself as he burst into the room. The screams of the others dying or the crackle of flames consuming them entirely followed him. He stumbled over to Hector and the other two who were left. Between them was the second Avialae, who remained unconscious.
“There’s no stopping him. We can’t stop him. H-Hector what…what do we do? He…he just…he just…” One of the others grabbed him and shoved him aside. Hector did not answer as he took out a thin needle and pressed it to the neck of the unconscious Avialae. An inky blackness spread through the raven winged Avialae’s veins. No sooner had that happened then the doors to the room splintered as the silver winged Avialae stepped inside.
“STOP!” Hector shouted. “Stop or he dies!” Hector pressed a dagger to the unconscious Avialae’s neck, hard enough to draw a bead of blood but not enough to cause serious damage.
That made the other one halt. Those silver eyes narrowed.
“Foolish.” The Avialae spoke for the first time. His voice sent a shiver down Erich’s spine. It was like hearing wrath incarnate, deep and commanding. Hector, despite looking pale, did not back down. He turned the unconscious Avialae’s head to the side, showing the black veins.
“I think not. I know who you are. I know what you are. I have poisoned him. Only we can keep him alive now.” Those silver eyes flashed in anger. Erich thought that the four of them would be reduced to mere ash right then and there but it did not come.
“Only the Imperium has the cure. Only we can give it to him.” The Avialae’s jaw flexed. Hector took out a vial of brackish black liquid. He extended it to the furious looking Skyborn.
“Drink. Submit. We take you to the Imperium. He lives. So do you. Otherwise…” Hector did not say what would happen. The unconscious Avialae made a soft groan. The silver winged one’s features softened for a moment before his eyes returned to Hector and the vial extended. Reaching out, he took the vial. The flames that emanated from his sword dimmed until both they and the sword fizzled and faded. The fires in the Avialae’s eyes faded until they were simply that piercing icy silver.
“If he dies…” The Avialae leaned forward. Erich tensed. He felt the others tense as well. “...there is nowhere in this life or the next that will spare you from my wrath.”
He tipped back the vial and drank the whole concoction in one gulp. There was a tense moment before the Avialae coughed. Another moment passed and he coughed again, falling to his knees, clenching his teeth in apparent pain before tumbling forward, convulsing for a moment before falling still followed by a shallow breath.
“Is he…?” Hector shook his head.
“It was an abjinurium brew. The strongest we could make. It sent his body into shock. It will wear off. Eventually. By then we will be home.” They collectively let out a breath.
“W-What is he?” Erich watched as the two Avialae were dragged to the remaining cage. They would have to spend the rest of the night reoutfitting it and constantly tending to it to ensure the enchantments held. The collar around the silver winged one’s neck was cracked. Erich was positive it was the only reason they all hadn’t been reduced to ash the minute he had broken free of his other restraints.
“Our new weapon.” Yannick finished lugging the silver winged Skyborn into the cage. He sealed it with shaking hands, wiping sweat from his brow.
Erich had never believed in the stories of the Hellmaw. Having lived with the Kathar around all his life, he had never really believed that Avialae were the fabled warriors capable of felling such a legendary and godlike foe. Having seen enough of them collared and made obedient, he hadn’t believed in many things about them.
He believed the stories now.
Somewhere to the south of Zaichaer.
They had stopped for the night. Taking up residence in an abandoned manor. There were enough stories of hauntings and horrors to keep most people away. It was as safe as they were going to get. Moving on foot was far more tedious than traveling by air but it was safer. The skies were being watched. Practically every city-state in Karnor was looking to recover that which they had taken, who they had taken. He looked across from where he stood at his post, eyeing their captive carefully. The bars of the cage he had been placed in were lined with pictographs meant to dampen, suppress, and contain. The chains that bound his arms and wings were meant to keep him unconscious and subdued, to keep his powers restrained. The collar around his neck was meant to keep him docile and controlled. Even with all those measures in place, he still felt on edge. A hand on his shoulder made him jump.
“Easy, Erich. Go. Get dinner. We will be on the move again soon.” Erich looked at his senior with a nod. They had been on the move for four days with barely any rest. He needed a hot meal.
“Right.” The senior watched the younger soldier go to join some of the others as they shared their first hot meal in days. He turned his head back to their captive. He dare not look upon him with his second sight. Even at a distance, he could feel the crackle of aether being continuously bent and warped in order to keep him contained. He could see the pictographs on the bars of the cage slowly being burnt away. Glyphs that, under normal circumstances, would have been able to keep even some of the most powerful mages in the empire restrained were beginning to buckle under the weight of just the ambient power rolling off of him.
“How long do you suppose we have, Fredrich?” Fredrich watched as another of the glyphs popped and sizzled, becoming a blackened stain on the bar. His lips thinned as he watched it. Unease taking hold of him.
“Hours. Maybe less.” The man beside him let out an unsteady breath.
“Shouldn’t we try to teleport?” Fredrich looked at him with a quirked brow.
“Do you want to try to make a railway that can handle him? Be my guest.” The other soldier sighed and leaned against the nearby wall.
“And the other one?” Fredrich watched as another pictograph began to burn away.
“Collared. Though he put up one hell of a fight against it.” Laughter drew his attention briefly as the others relieved some tension by swapping stories around the small fire they had built.
“Do you--”
“Shh!” Fredrich silenced his comrade. He looked on in shock as more of the glyphs on not just the bars of the cage began to pop, burn and sizzle, but the chains binding the man began to emit smoke as well.
“Get Hector. Get Hector now! Get--” There was a ripple in the air and Fredrich felt dread coil in the pit of his stomach.
The Avialae’s eyes opened. Staring back at him were eyes made of silver fire that burned with the intensity of the sun. They were wide. They were awake.
They were furious.
----
The foggy haze that clouded his thoughts was partially burned away in the wake of his awakening. The intrusive press of another force attempting to scramble his thoughts and press upon his will was brushed aside. He felt the weight of the chains binding him and with a flick of his thoughts, the bindings cracked and splintered. Looking to the bars of his cage, he rose to his feet and with a spread of his wings, shattered the paltry cage that had sought to bind him with such feeble mortal magics.
“HECTOR!” His eyes fell upon a uniformed man who was drawing a pistol. The shout of others moving registered on the edges of his thoughts. His head felt as though it were filled with bees that were buzzing. There was an ache in his body that made his movements feel sluggish. But he moved, nevertheless. The two men in front of him drew their weapons and fired. He felt both projectiles slam into his body releasing a hail of electricity that danced across his form. He staggered back a single step, grunting less from pain and more from the sheer force of the impact. He shook his head as he brushed away more of the fog from his mind.
“GET THE CHAINS! GET THE CHAINS NOW!” Chains. That registered.
A collar. He still felt it around his neck. Killers. Murderers.
That was who these men were.
He snarled.
Then he moved.
----
He kept his pistol aimed squarely at the Avialae’s chest. He was wide eyed. Two rounds and not a scratch. The lightning paralyzer rounds were usually enough to drop a full grown Ogre to its knees. This man had just grunted and seemed disoriented.
“How the fuck is he still moving?!” Fredrich did not know. He’d never seen anything like it before. The binding chains had cracked and blackened, crumbling to dust as he had rose to his feet. He’d spread his silver wings and that motion alone had burned away all of the holding glyphs on the bars. The cage had then splintered, scattering across the room. The only thing left was the collar around his neck and that seemed to just be pissing him off.
“Jaques, move. Move now. Move-!” Fredrich stumbled back just as the Avialae seemed to regain his composure. With blinding speed, the man covered the distance between Jaques and where he had been standing. His hand covered Jaques face and with a terrifying scream of agony, Fredrich watched as his comrade burst into flames from the inside out before crumbling to ashes. Rolling away, Fredrich barely managed to get out of the way in time before the Avialae’s hand slammed into the floor, cracking through the wood and sending him sprawling forward. Fredrich rolled onto his back and began unloading rounds into the Avialae. This time, they didn’t even hit him. The rounds splintered and burst, crumbling to ash before they touched him, sending arcs of electricity veering off into the area around him.
Fredrich’s pistol clicked empty. He felt his blood run cold. He locked eyes with those of the Avialae. He didn’t even get to scream before he felt the hand around his neck. He kicked wildly…then felt the world get set on fire.
---
He held the flailing soldier aloft with one hand as he poured his wrath and fury into him. The man let out a soundless scream as his skin split and flames consumed him from the inside out before he too was reduced to ashes.
“You bastard!” He looked to the sound of the shout. He winced as a lance of pain spiked through his brain. The collar felt tighter around his neck but he pushed back against it. He heard the squeal of what sounded like metal being warped. The tightness around his neck loosened and the pain in his skull abated slightly. Turning, he faced a group of what had to be a dozen soldiers. All of them in the same style of uniform as the two he had reduced to ashes.
Murderers.
They had to be judged.
“On your knees, bird!” A woman ran forward and began to pull out what looked like an amulet. His instincts told him that this was something to stop. So he would stop it. She tugged out the amulet, raised it high…and with barely a blink, he snapped her neck and yanked the amulet from her lifeless hand before she even hit the ground. The amulet came to his hand. He held it, running a thumb over its surface. He then clenched his fist, crushing it.
“Amalie! You monster!” Three more soldiers ran forward, drawing their weapons. Two of them summoning pact blades and the third launching a mote of fire at him. He casually stepped in their direction as he embraced the flames. He raised a hand, calling the fire to his palm. The mage unleashing it went wide eyed as it changed in color from the red-orange or normal flames to the silver-white of his dominion. He pulled more and more fire from the foolish mortal until the man emit a panicked scream before fire erupted from his body and he too became naught but ashes.
He looked to the other two as they launched themselves at him, wielding pact blades. He extended a hand and his own blade came to him. It was not his true blade but it was the one that he had known since coming into this mortal life. The silver flames of his domain wrapped around the blade and with a sweep of it, he shattered their pacts and rended the both of them in two, scorching them both to little more than charred husks.
---
Erich stumbled back, tripping over himself as he burst into the room. The screams of the others dying or the crackle of flames consuming them entirely followed him. He stumbled over to Hector and the other two who were left. Between them was the second Avialae, who remained unconscious.
“There’s no stopping him. We can’t stop him. H-Hector what…what do we do? He…he just…he just…” One of the others grabbed him and shoved him aside. Hector did not answer as he took out a thin needle and pressed it to the neck of the unconscious Avialae. An inky blackness spread through the raven winged Avialae’s veins. No sooner had that happened then the doors to the room splintered as the silver winged Avialae stepped inside.
“STOP!” Hector shouted. “Stop or he dies!” Hector pressed a dagger to the unconscious Avialae’s neck, hard enough to draw a bead of blood but not enough to cause serious damage.
That made the other one halt. Those silver eyes narrowed.
“Foolish.” The Avialae spoke for the first time. His voice sent a shiver down Erich’s spine. It was like hearing wrath incarnate, deep and commanding. Hector, despite looking pale, did not back down. He turned the unconscious Avialae’s head to the side, showing the black veins.
“I think not. I know who you are. I know what you are. I have poisoned him. Only we can keep him alive now.” Those silver eyes flashed in anger. Erich thought that the four of them would be reduced to mere ash right then and there but it did not come.
“Only the Imperium has the cure. Only we can give it to him.” The Avialae’s jaw flexed. Hector took out a vial of brackish black liquid. He extended it to the furious looking Skyborn.
“Drink. Submit. We take you to the Imperium. He lives. So do you. Otherwise…” Hector did not say what would happen. The unconscious Avialae made a soft groan. The silver winged one’s features softened for a moment before his eyes returned to Hector and the vial extended. Reaching out, he took the vial. The flames that emanated from his sword dimmed until both they and the sword fizzled and faded. The fires in the Avialae’s eyes faded until they were simply that piercing icy silver.
“If he dies…” The Avialae leaned forward. Erich tensed. He felt the others tense as well. “...there is nowhere in this life or the next that will spare you from my wrath.”
He tipped back the vial and drank the whole concoction in one gulp. There was a tense moment before the Avialae coughed. Another moment passed and he coughed again, falling to his knees, clenching his teeth in apparent pain before tumbling forward, convulsing for a moment before falling still followed by a shallow breath.
“Is he…?” Hector shook his head.
“It was an abjinurium brew. The strongest we could make. It sent his body into shock. It will wear off. Eventually. By then we will be home.” They collectively let out a breath.
“W-What is he?” Erich watched as the two Avialae were dragged to the remaining cage. They would have to spend the rest of the night reoutfitting it and constantly tending to it to ensure the enchantments held. The collar around the silver winged one’s neck was cracked. Erich was positive it was the only reason they all hadn’t been reduced to ash the minute he had broken free of his other restraints.
“Our new weapon.” Yannick finished lugging the silver winged Skyborn into the cage. He sealed it with shaking hands, wiping sweat from his brow.
Erich had never believed in the stories of the Hellmaw. Having lived with the Kathar around all his life, he had never really believed that Avialae were the fabled warriors capable of felling such a legendary and godlike foe. Having seen enough of them collared and made obedient, he hadn’t believed in many things about them.
He believed the stories now.