Aether Chronicles: Birth Of A Legend-Chapter 341: We Need To Move

Raegar looked as Drusilla hovered above a pedestal where a crystal orb rested. Inside floated a miniature town. When she leaned close, the lights winked out one by one until only darkness remained. The orb cracked; shards fell like snow. They found the heart of the town beneath the cracked bell tower.

He knelt at the edge as something glinted: a gauntlet, still clad in ruined steel, fingers curled as if calling to him. It was the knight's last piece that he reached in to grab it, but stopped. The gauntlet suddenly closed into a fist, letting out a loud snap noise. Seconds later, the pit sealed with a sound like a tomb slamming shut, burying it within the stone.

Drusilla's hand found his shoulder. ''Some doors stay closed.''

Moments later, the town changed. Walls sagged inward; spires folded. Black glass streets cracked, revealing pale roots beneath that withered as they watched. The humming was gone. Raegar paused at the fountain one last time. The faceless statue had toppled; where its head should have been, a single word was carved into the stone.

[REMEMBER]

Following that, they walked away; the town collapsed behind them, quietly, almost politely, leaving the trio alone. Columns toppled into dust. The bell tower sank into the floor. By the time they reached the cavern's mouth, only a shallow depression remained. Raegar glanced back once.

''Whatever they were hiding,'' he said, voice steady despite the ache in his jaw. ''It's buried again.''

Nivara sheathed her blades. "And we're the last ones who'll ever know it was here."

Drusilla's wings shimmered. "Some stories end better forgotten."

They stepped into the tunnel, leaving the ancient town to its long, final sleep.

***

While Raegar and the two women continued, Zahara and the others snuck south, chased by roaming bands of bandits and rebels. They were hiding in a ruined village, which had been raided days before. Selene, Sasha, Mirella, and Diana were the main fighters, always engaging the enemies whenever they appeared.

But now? The four were tired and needed rest after running for days, not even the Half-Elf's Aether could keep them going. Dominique had turned some dead crows into her servants, ordering them to scout the land to find anything or anyone. All they knew was that parts of Dawnfire were empty of people, like they never existed.

While resting in a rundown inn, the Vampress took over their vision, allowing her to see the world around them. She sent them far and wide to find any of the enemy that were hunting them. While she did this, Cecelia, Alice, and Zahara got relaxed as Diana stood by the window.

Keeping a watch on the main road, exclaiming. ''Looks like this place will be left alone, a small army just passed by!''

''Be quiet, Di,'' Cecelia said. ''We need to rest and recover before continuing.''

Zahara approached Selene, who was trying to wrap up a slice she received from fighting a bandit leader. The Half-Elf had been out of Aether, but now her book had appeared, and a white light seeped into the Demoness, who let out a happy sigh of relief. ''Bless the gods, that feels so good,'' she muttered, smiling.

Everyone laughed as Dominique returned to the room, revealing. ''A rebel army isn't far away, rounding up loyal Dawnfirians and putting them to death.''

When the group heard this, their faces fell as Cecelia spoke up first. ''Can't we help them?''

''No,'' Alice answered. ''We have our own problems and can't be playing hero when we're being hunted all over Dawnfire. What doesn't help that Dahlia's missing, and the Aether Device won't connect to her.''

''Well, let's rest and get going when everyone feels better,'' Zahara interrupted.

Following that, the blonde Half-Elf continued healing everyone until all injuries were gone and most of the women were asleep. The only one still up was Diana, who was drinking some ale as she watched the moon from the window. She joined the Orc warrior who glanced at her with a smile.

''Thanks for healing me, Za,'' she muttered.

''You're welcome,'' the blonde replied. ''How do you feel now?''

''Tired and achy,'' Diana admitted. ''But I can't stop being paranoid, like we're being watched.''

''We're not,'' Zahara reassured. ''Domi sent out her birds and saw nothing, even after hours.''

The Orc woman sighed. ''You're right, I need some sleep after that last fight.''

''Night, Diana,'' she said her farewells, approaching her bed.

They had set up runes to alert them and keep away the Night Creatures that run riot throughout the night, cleaning out villages and destroying farming towns. The group had encountered on their journey, it only seemed to get worse.

Following that, Night fell hard. The first howl came an hour later, distant, but close enough to rattle teeth. Then another, closer. Then a chorus. Night Creatures. No one knew what they truly were: wolf-things with too many joints, shadows wearing stolen faces, or something older wearing both

They poured from the dark like floodwater, gutting villages, salting fields, leaving only silence and the smell of wet iron. The group had seen the aftermath too many times. A hamlet reduced to red snow. A granary door clawed open, grain scattered like pale guts. Once, a child's shoe, still tied with ribbon, sat neatly in the middle of a blood-ringed hearth.

Zahara watched the Night Creatures rush through the village's streets, causing Dianna to comment from beside her. ''Where do they come from?''

''The underground,'' she answered. ''Rae told us that they have massive underground nests that are used to create them. Rumors say it was old magic from the people who came before us, but I'm not sure.''

''How does the human know all this?'' Diana questioned.

''Reading,'' Zahara revealed. ''He loves to read in his spare time and has snuck into many places to do it. He discovered the Night Creatures when he was younger, but only learned about their underground world recently.''

''What's this Fall the others keep talking about?''

''A disaster that will ruin our world,'' she responded, a worried glint in her grey eyes. ''Raegar will try to fight it, but what's coming is stronger than anything we've ever seen.''

''So why are we trying so hard to survive if we're all going to die?'' the Orc woman retorted, looking concerned.

''Because Raegar and his Fusion Army will beat them,'' Zahara answered, a smile crossing her face. ''He'll manage it with our help.''

''Not mine,'' Diana quickly clarified.'

Zahara giggled and didn't say anything else as the two sat by the window keeping guard over the others.

***

As things were falling apart, Dahlia awoke in a panic, surrounded by the ruins of her airship that had crashed in the far south, on a land known as Death Island. She knew this thanks to the massive volcano that pierced the clouds. She remembered picking up Yuki from the Blackwood Manor before getting lost in a storm.

She sat up as a splitting headache rushed through her skull, causing the empress to groan in pain. While the fog cleared from her mind, a soft voice reached her ears. ''Looks like you're awake, that's good. I was worried the potion wouldn't work.''

Dahlia turned around to see Yuki approaching, cleaning off her daggers as she revealed. ''We need to leave this place before the monsters get here. The bodies are attracting all kinds of horrible creatures.''

''Alright, is there anyone alive?'' she asked, standing on shaky legs.

''No, we're the only ones,'' the cat woman revealed, sighing. ''It was a terrible crash, we hit the mountain and landed here.''

''How are we going to get back to the mainland?''

Yuki shrugged. ''I don't know, Dahlia. But all I know is there was an abandoned town not far from here. Used by the empire to capture rare monsters, hopefully there's a boat there we can use.''

Just then, the cat woman's ears twitched as her face paled. ''Come on, we need to move before that thing gets here.''

Dahlia opened her mouth to speak, but a guttural roar shattered the air. Yuki seized her wrist and bolted toward a cluster of massive boulders, sliding into the narrow gap beneath. Dahlia hesitated only a heartbeat before diving after her, just as the beast erupted from the treeline.

A Death Troll, far more nightmarish than its mainland cousins. The duo hid and didn't make a noise as the creature began eating the dead bodies littering the beach they were on. Yuki wasn't phased, but Dahlia was; she knew all those people who had served her for years. She couldn't remember how they crashed, but knew it was thanks to a storm.

The monster ate for hours, allowing the women to fall asleep under the boulders as more creatures swarmed to the crash site. By the time they woke up, it was empty, along with all the Dawnfirians.

Yuki climbed out and spoke. ''Come on, let's get moving south.''