Silence - Chapter 26

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"From above!" Felix shouted.

A tide of Tenebrils flowed through the dark, arcing up and over the lodge to slam down into a grouping of severe looking Korvaa. They weren't fools either, and all six of them leaped outward and raised heavy bone shields. The Tenebrils came down, a cyclone of lashing tentacles, and the barbs on their ends caught and gouged the walls of the lodge and the shields both. But no one died.

"Pit!" Felix shouted, and burst forth. His friend replied with a screech.

Tenebrils Are Stunned (x13) For 2 Seconds!

A swath of void-squid locked up in fear of the tenku's voice, but there were plenty more that flowed over their brethren and attacked the Hunters.

Shadow Whip!

Shadow Whip!

Two tendrils snapped outward, and Felix spread his fingers to grip nearby islands. They were still a dozen yards away from the fight, and he meant to change that. He hauled back, stretching the slightly elastic whips, and unleashed lightning as he jumped.

Reign of Vellus!

Kinetic Mana blasted him forward, Shadow Whips focusing the shot, and Felix flew bodily into the fray. He hit the column of Tenebril, some still stunned, and smashed several to pulp with just his bodyweight.

You Have Killed A Tenebril (x2)!

XP Earned!

"A Human!" one of the Hunters said. "What's he doing here?"

"Bateo's pet!" said another. "Don't mind him! Fight off the squids, you slackjawed idiots!"

The Rim Hunters exploded outward, carried forth on wings and dark streamers of some Skill. Felix, meanwhile, landed heavily among the still swirling Tenebrils. He'd rung his own bell a bit in the collision, but he shook it off and flared his favorite ability.

Reign of Vellus!

An electrical storm slammed outward in all directions, by turns frying and hurling back any Tenebril within thirty feet of him. Only a few hit rocks or the lodge, while more were sent spinning into the dark. Off to the side, a spray of yard-long icicles snapped through the Void. The Frost Spears stabbed into several Tenebril, but most managed to wriggle off their pinning strikes. As masses of writhing tentacles without a solid body, they were hard—but not impossible—to hit in such a way.

He just needed more spears.

Stone Shaping!

The island he was on, containing a lodge and two outbuildings, burst upward as the surface melted into goo before rapidly reforming into one, two, three dozen spikes of stone. Pit did not relent either, as Frost Spears and Wingblades followed.

You Have Killed A Tenebril (x17)!

XP Earned!

Felix almost expected the thunderous approach of energy signifying a level up, but the System was silent. Instead, he felt a sudden ache in his bones, like a hole had opened up inside of him. That energy that roiled above his core fell, fed into the blue-white flames before rolling outward in waves of golden-blue light. The light hit his Skills and murky core space like a breath of frigid air and the sizzle of burning metal. It was pain, but also pleasure, as he felt himself become just the tiniest bit more.

Stone Shaping is level 26!

Shadow Whip is level 27!

Felix stumbled, taking two slashes across his chest and face. He felt that similar, shaky weakness he'd had previously in the farmhouse. A Tenebril hit him and he fell, rolling from the force of its attack. Pit shrieked in alarm.

Eat them, you fool! Don't let your pride kill me! The Maw floated above him, its entire body twisted inward, as if it were trying to tear its own guts from itself. The Grand Harmony cannot find you here, Felix Nevarre! That is a hunger you must embrace!

Felix tossed his head, ignoring the Primordial's rapid frustration. He steadied his arms and stood.

"No. I can do this." He lifted his bare fists, scratched and bloody. "I can do this."

He threw himself back into battle. There was plenty to be had.

The Hunters put up a good showing, though Felix's Eye said none were beyond Apprentice Tier or level twenty. Still, they were strong, and the light weapons they used were very effective on the agile voidbeasts. Polearms mostly, but a few wielded thin, thrusting sabres and targes that they handled with exceptional skill. They moved like Harn and Magda, for all that they were far lower in level, and those Tenebrils that fled Felix's field of spikes were mopped up in short order.

Fight over, Felix fell. Pit was at his side immediately, helping him stay upright, but it was more than exhaustion clawing at his foundations. It was his Ravenous Tithe, greedily grasping at the Essence and debris-filled darkness of his core space, only there was no Essence left. His core had consumed it to push his Skill levels up, and Ravenous Tithe was gnawing at him instead.

Shit. I don't have a choice. The voidbeasts were still venting Mana from their bladders, a haze of shimmering, liquid light that hid him from the Rim Hunters. I—I just need a little.

Ravenous Tithe!

Felix's hands wrapped in the nearest plumes of Mana and felt a suction from within his channels. The Mana was sucked from the air, pulled into his mouth in a sharp whirlwind before pouring through his wide-open skull Gate. The hunger pangs quietened, fading, as his core space filled once again with sparking clouds of power. Some of them sunk into the dark, strengthening it he thought, but the rest pooled in agitated swirls of fog atop his blue-white ball of flame.

Further Bloodlines Have Been Found. Processing 4%

Felix gritted his teeth. What would happen at a full hundred percent?

"Hey, you alive over there?"

A Korvaa with a wide scar across his beak leaned over Felix, squinting down at him. He had golden eyes and brown coloration, along with a sharp crest of feathers atop his head. His severe look broke into a grin when he saw Felix move.

"Damnation, you fought like a Demon of the Void. Though," he squawked out a laugh. "You could use some lessons on aiming."

"He about splattered himself against the lodge, is what ya mean!" Another Rim Hunter, similarly colored, said from close by. Felix climbed to his feet, bracing against the pain he expected, but finding his Aspects hale and hearty. Aside from a few scratches—and the wounds he took earlier—he felt great. "Never seen a Human fly, but damn if ya didn't try your best!"

A round of rough laughter flowed through the Hunters. Felix saw that they had all survived as well, not even bearing any wounds. At worst, Felix could see a few destroyed shields and savaged armor, all of which was made of void bone.

The scarred one, named Ulin, shook Felix's hand. "Thanks for the help though. Can't imagine it felt good to burn so much Mana on a spell like that."

Felix wasn't sure what he meant, until he realized that the Stone Shaping he'd cast had deformed half the island into a series of vicious spikes. "Ah, well, there were a lot of enemies. I couldn't let you all handle them alone. Not when I came here to report another attack."

The jovial, just-survived-a-fatal-encounter atmosphere vanished in an instant. Ulin looked at him, golden eyes sharp. "Another attack? At Bateo's farm?"

"Beasties are gettin' bold, attacking us here."

"Other places too..."

"Yeah, Bateo's livestock was attacked by a flock of Harrowings," Felix said. "We fought them off, and wanted to come tell you."

Ulin nodded, his crest of feathers flexing in a very intimidating way. "Good you did, lad. We'll have to find out why." He put out his clawed hand again and Felix took it. "Our thanks, again. And to you, Honored Tenku."

Pit chirruped, and Rim Hunters bowed low to him. He perked up and tipped his beak into the air, haughtily.

Eat it up, lil pig, Felix sent.

"Next time though, you'll owe us a new wall," snickered one of the other Hunters.

Felix gave them a wan smile and the two of them departed, though not before using Stone Shaping to smooth out his jagged spikes. More or less.

He found his abandoned skimmer easily enough on the not-ground below the rock islands.  Luckily it hadn't been broken outright when he'd catapulted off its top, and he could still feed his Mana into it. All the while, back at the lodge, the Hunters had entered and returned quickly, more fully decked out in protective gear and weapons than before. A hurried conversation took place, and it was clear they either didn't notice him or didn't care he was still around.

"We head to the farms, check on them before we move inward. The Conference hasn't shown up on our doorstep, so we can assume no one's died. Leastwise no one important. But keep it snappy! Split into two groups and move fast!"

"Aye!"

The groups split, and Felix heard the distinct sound of wings unfurling as the nearest group glided down to their own skimmers.

"That Human...his Mana was strong. Too strong."

"He's fresh, they say. Void hasn't diluted his core yet." The familiar voice of Ulin waved off the concern. "He'll be just as us in a century. If he lives that long."

"Hah! The way he threw himself at those voidbeasts? The boy's mad."

The voices faded as their skimmers disappeared beyond some islands, and Felix was left to ponder their words in sudden silence.

Dilute?

He checked his core, which conversely felt full of fire and curiously empty. Tinges of that weakness was washing against him, but it was far less than before. And fading, as the nebula-like cloud of monster energy swirled above his burning core. Other than the strange nature and effects of his Ravenous Tithe, his core space felt much the same as usual.

"Maw, is the Void diluting my core?" he asked.

There was a snort from within a rock formation before his inescapable enemy poked her head out of the solid stone. Not yet. These poor prey animals? Yes. Yes it has.

"How can you tell?"

Their Skills, boy. They are but shadows of true Skills, washed out remnants of abilities the Void has long since corrupted. The Void breaks down all, eventually. Their consumption of voidflesh is but a stalling tactic that will only delay the inevitable. When they die, they will leave nothing behind, not even dust.

"And it takes time. Everyone's been saying that. But why do I feel like it's hitting me already?"

The Maw shrugged. You are Unbound. The way you interact with Creation is neither known nor predictable.

It was less comforting that he wanted, but Felix had to accept it. His life had become a series of wild encounters and strange developments. His body changed, his mind did too. Felix's chest hitched and he consciously flared Meditation. Slowly, his breathing smoothed. The agitation dwindled until it was manageable.

His considerable Willpower did the rest.

"Let's get back."


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They took the skimmer the long way round this time. Felix was also concerned about voidbeast attacks. He hadn't even met any of the other folk around the town, but no one deserved to be attacked by those monsters. Since the Hunters were combing the Rim, he started heading inward, toward Echo's Reach.

And, he added to himself. I can see more about this Ravenous Tithe thing.

The Primordial was messing with something. Already had. But what did that mean for Felix? What other bloodlines were found, and what would happen when it was done processing? Could he use it to his advantage? The Skill clearly pulled energy from his enemies, their entire body it seemed, and he could utilize that to supplement his fading connection to the System. Right?

Pit trilled a concerned note at him. He was crowded into the back of the dinghy and nudged Felix's calf with his beak. Caution.

Felix smiled and let out a breathy sigh. "You're right. I just...what if we can't get out, Pit? Do we resign ourselves to living for hundreds of years in this...nothing? As much as I like Bateo and Estrid...And then on top of that, we fade out and the power we've worked hard to claim just—poof? Goes away?" He shoved more Mana into the skimmer and the dinghy scooted ahead, faster than before. "We have to get outta here."

Pit nodded in agreement and warm comfort extended across their bond. It was a nice counterpoint to the endless dark.

Fifteen or so minutes later, Felix came across the nearest home sitting atop a lone rock fragment. Dark shapes flitted near the roof, and Felix's Perception could pick out a group of Harrowings scrabbling at the chimney, as if trying to force themselves down it.

"Pit, we're going in," he warned before pouring more Mana into the skimmer. The Control Node whined as the skimmer shot off, far faster than it was intended to go, and Felix guided it like a missile toward the neared voidbeast.

Wrack and Ruin!

Corrosive Strike!

Corrosive Strike!

Starting with a volley of his ranged acid spell, Felix lobbed it into the amassed horde. It zipped through the Void and hit like a cannonball, sending the Harrowings tumbling into the dark.

You Have Killed A Harrowing (x2)!

XP Earned!

Again that squeezing sensation, as if something were being restricted from him. In this case, Felix was certain it was the System itself being unable to reach him, at least its wave of energy from defeated enemies. He grit his teeth and put it out of his mind as he skimmed close enough to slam two more Harrowings from the sky.

The last four were easy to mop up,  using a combination of Shadow Whip and Reign of Vellus to turn them all into meat paste and oozing, sublimating Mana. It was over in a handful of heartbeats, and he hadn't even left his boat.

Pit let out an annoyed chirrup.

"Sorry, next time I'll leave more for you," Felix said. "Not like we're getting anything from them though."

Felix watched the bodies begin to smoke and sizzle, far faster than it happened on the Continent. They mingled with their own vaporizing Manabladders, black smoke and rainbow mist co-mingling.

"Amazin' lad." An older Korvaa had emerged while several much smaller and curious heads peered out of the door behind him.

"It's Bateo's Human!"

"The Tenku! Bevvi, you see? You see?"

"He killed them all?"

The Korvaa hushed the excitable hatchlings and gave Felix an apologetic smile. He had long, dark claws and several scars on his neck where the feathers didn't grow in. "Thank you. And you, Honored Tenku."

Pit nodded to them regally and Felix had to suppress his smile. "We saw a few packs of these beasts out and about. Be careful. The Rim Hunters are catching what they can on the outskirts."

He nodded. "Aye. We'll make sure to stay indoors tonight." He reached out and clasped Felix's wrist. "I've little ones in there and...we thought the beasts would end us. Take this. As thanks."

The bird man tried to pass a tray of food on Felix, but he shook his head. "No, please keep it. This should only last the night, but I'd rather you not lack food because of me."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm fine." Felix patted his belly, flat and taut though it was. "Bateo feeds me plenty back on the farm." He smiled at the old Korvaa and half-waved at the little ones.

Then they were off.

Town safe? Pit asked, after a while.

"Not sure. It's why we're checking." Felix looked back, but the old Korvaa's home was lost amid the increasing jumble of stone islands, most of which were uninhabited. "Voidbeasts could be hiding in any of these islands."

No smell, Pit said. No beast.

Felix paused. He glanced at his Companion. "You can smell them?"

Pit gave a weird little bird-dog shrug. Yes. Little.

"Oh dang, that's a relief," Felix said. "Alright, I'll keep moving forward and you tell me if you smell their stank, okay?"

Pit gave a determined little nod, his big golden eyes narrowed in concentration.

Okay.