Page 41

He separated his palms and something glowing bright red floated between them.

A charging pulse washed over her, and the strangest energy gliding across her flesh caused goosebumps to prickle down her limbs.

Then the wall of the canyon exploded like an invisible, gigantic being took a sledgehammer to it.

Lindi blinked in surprise when she noticed the difference.

The wall seemed to be disappearing into dirt and dust, rather than just purely breaking off!

Like it evaporated into nothing, leaving a whole section gouged out in the shape of a sphere.

Rocks lost their support, and a few pieces broke off on their own, crashing to the ground below.

Another pulse surged energy through the air. It didn’t change the wind, didn’t brush hot or cold over it, but it was there. A tiny vibration that scattered across her entire being, tingling deep into her bones.

This time, the torsos of the two occultist corpses suddenly slumped over the edge of the cliff. One quickly toppled off, and the cloaked figure lifted up the leg of the other with a foot, ensuring the last occultist fell over the edge as well.

Lindi, with eyes so wide she thought they’d pop from her skull, stared at the glowing red crystal hovering between his gloved palms. This is how the Veil has been formed!

This person, with their strange stone, was the reason!

In the direction of Lindi, he moved down the cliff’s path to do it again, causing another section of wall to vaporise into dust and settle below.

This time, a tree resting close to the edge was also dealt the same fate.

Exploding into smithereens by unseen energy, it cast sharp fragments of bark, sap, and debris outwards to catch the wind and flutter downwards.

“Who–” Before Lindi could finish her question, she ducked behind the tree next to her when the person cocked their head in her direction with shocking swiftness.

After waiting a few seconds, she peeked around it. His eyes darted around her general vicinity without focusing on her before he turned back to his task.

“They are Demons who grow the Veil every day from a different part of the land,” Weldir said, stating what she’d already guessed. “The young male with the mana stone is Jabeziryth.”

A mana stone? I’ve never heard of something like that before. She eyed the red crystal with deep interest.

“The other two standing inside the tree line water the earth and grow the forest on the surface, while he uses that mana stone to destroy the earth. Then he alone wanders the ground below to grow the forest. They have been doing this for as long as I have been here, alongside many other companions.”

She wanted to ask how long he’d actually been on Earth, as she didn’t know, but she didn’t want to risk being heard. I should have asked when I first learned he wasn’t from here. It must have been years before she and Weldir met, considering the Veil had already started to be shaped.

It definitely wasn’t this grand. She couldn’t even see the other side anymore.

Then again, this Jabeziryth person was expanding it rather quickly before her very eyes.

After a brief pause, Weldir added, “These are dangerous beings, Lindiwe. Demons who are intelligent and cunning. Never approach them. The female is fast enough that you may not have the chance to turn intangible before being struck.”

She nodded in understanding.

After another shove of energy crashed through her without making even a single leaf rustle, the red stone in the air ceased glowing. The man caught it before it fell, and he swiftly rotated on his left foot to walk away from the edge. He walked out of the sunlight to meet his companions.

Pushing back his hood, he revealed a scalp that had just the lightest dusting of white hair, as if it’d recently been shaved.

Curling back above it were two black segmented horns that didn’t twist like Weldir’s, nor were they smooth, but had a roughness to them.

Long and pointed ears poked up from the sides of his head, and they were brown, along with the rest of his skin.

From what Lindi could tell from a distance, he looked younger than her frozen age – roughly between the confusing twilight years of eighteen and twenty. He also had red eyes and strong, handsome features.

“You look tired,” the woman standing in the shade stated, her hair white like his, her eyes a brighter red than his, and her skin a dark brown.

She stood only slightly shorter, even though she had antlers that towered over his height, and her body was lithe and agile beneath a similar attire.

She looked to be similar in age, if not slightly older.

“You need to take it easy. It’s already big enough. ”

“No,” Jabeziryth answered with a shake of his head, slipping the stone into a pouch tied to his waist. “More Daekura come every day. Once this is over, I can purely focus on growing the forest, our home, while you all create a path to the sentient creatures above. The stone is almost out of mana anyway.”

Lindi’s brows furrowed when she realised that their mouths didn’t match the words they spoke – as if their speech was being translated somehow. As they continued to talk amongst themselves, she shrugged, figuring it was Weldir’s doing.

I’m just glad he’s letting me eavesdrop. She would have been annoyed to learn he had the ability to translate and childishly hadn’t let her overhear because he obviously didn’t want her to.

Another man stepped forward, braving the swaying edge of the shadows to approach Jabeziryth near the light.

He appeared much older than the other two, although much more muscular beneath his black long-sleeved clothing and cloak.

A short white beard was unevenly cut, like it’d be shorn with a blade, and his medium-length hair was tied back into a low ponytail.

“I’ve noticed they always chant the same words. What do you think they mean?”

“I think they’ve begun calling this place the Veil ,” the woman stated, her pointed ears twitching as she looked out over the gaping chasm.

“Yes, I noticed this too,” the older one stated.

“The Veil, huh?” Jabeziryth mumbled, turning to face the canyon too. “I kind of like that. Little do they know this place sits between two worlds – theirs and the portal that leads to ours. A barrier and a haven from the sun.”

The woman’s features crinkled into a frown. “How do you know what it means?”

He shrugged. “My stepfather was a linguist. He made me learn many languages, most Elven and some Earthly. I’m not proficient, though. I can only catch a few words.”

“We’ll have to begin learning their language. It could prove insightful,” the woman stated. Then she folded her arms and poked her chin at the edge. “Why’d you save that female? She could have been food for the other Daekura.”

He sighed before turning to her and shrugging his lean shoulders.

“I don’t know, Lettie. Just felt like the right thing to do.

” Then he looked beyond the canyon, as if he was trying to find something far away on the horizon, his gaze forlorn and.

.. listless. “I guess I took sympathy on her. You can go after her, if it matters all that much to you.”

Lettie folded her arms, cocked her hip to the right, and snorted a huff.

“You’re too soft-hearted. Just because you’ve forgotten how we sought refuge and they strung us up in cages doesn’t mean I have.

They don’t deserve our sympathy.” She sneered as she muttered, “Look at what they do to each other.”

“I haven’t forgotten,” Jabeziryth bit, before digging his bent foreknuckle into his left ear hole to wiggle it as though it itched. “I swear my ear still rings as a reminder. Just leave me alone. I’m not in the mood.”

“You’re never in the mood.” Lettie, with her arms still folded, poked her tongue out at him.

The older man placed his palm gently on her shoulder, causing her to loosen her arms, then lifted his other hand out to Jabeziryth.

“She’s right. You still carry the gentle nature of the Elves. You won’t last long being so forgiving.”

Jabeziryth’s features went from soft to hard within seconds, souring further as darkness crept into the dark-red depths of his eyes. “Don’t compare me to them. I haven’t forgiven anyone. I let a female, someone likely innocent, go. So what?”

“You will need to learn how to face needless death. Killing is in our nature. We must hunt and eat what is available.”

“I killed those males!” he shouted, tensing his fingers in front of him with obvious anger. “What more do you want from me? I have fed those below.”

The shorter male’s wrinkles deepened as he gave a stern yet sympathetic furrow of his brow. “You need to remove that gentle, empathetic heart of yours if you wish to be king.”

“Uh! Not this again,” Jabeziryth huffed, throwing his hands up.

“That is your dream for me, not mine, Yusel. I have no interest in governing mindless Daekura until they evolve into intelligent beings. If you wish to have them safeguarded and controlled, you do it. You have more years, more experience than me.”

“But you have more prowess with mana than anyone I’ve ever known, and as a young boy too.”

His upper lip pulled back in a spiteful sneer. “I’m not a boy.”

“My point is,” Yusel grumbled with a weathered sigh, “with training, both in wielding mana and in strength, you will be formidable. If you control them, you can build an army and take the revenge you seek.”

Jabeziryth’s head tipped to the side with a petulant groan. “I don’t need to be a king to do that.”

“But it would help. Take control. Be a lead–”

“Enough!” Jabeziryth roared. “I tire of this conversation! I’m returning home. You two tend to nurturing the earth to make a path.”

Then he swiftly sidestepped them both to enter deeper into the forest.