AETHER BEASTS

The tower was farther away than it looked and for a moment I actually considered the fact that it might be a mirage, but I wasn't suffering from any sort of heatstroke or problem with the heat since there wasn't any heat. The air was cold, as was the sand, which only added to the sinister feeling of the place. There was nothing but the tower in sight, but after what we'd discovered on the last floor, I wasn't going to make any assumptions. Who knew, maybe this floor had an underground area or something else that would pop out, though that would have to wait until we'd dealt with the twin horn. Zirani had said there was no way we were going to waste this floor's resources, not that I could see any, if we didn't need to.

It was a lot harder to run through the floor mainly because of the odd way the sand shifted, which hadn't been too apparent at first, but after an hour, every now and then, I'd take a step and my leg would just sink in a few feet. The first time I'd panicked and assumed it was some sort of aether beast that had grabbed me, but I calmed down after I'd sensed nothing.

"These sandpits are really starting to annoy me," Sandra cursed as she fell knee-deep into another just seconds after the last. She glanced over at the blonde with an envious look.

Unlike me or Sandra, Misty didn't seem to have any problem as her sheer speed and agility allied her to step off any pits the moment her leg began to fall, so while Sandra and I had to deal with constant, Misty and Zirani had no problems.

Zirani seemed to be using some sort of technique similar to green pulse, but far more complex, and after the tenth time I'd fallen, Zirnai began to guide me, warning me when I was about to step into one of the pits, which grew more and more frequent as we neared the tower.

"Do you think it a something he did?" I asked Zirani.

"Maybe." She shrugged. "I don't see why though. It's annoying but it hasn't done much but stall us for a few seconds, and I have a feeling it has something to do with the overall floor, though I can't tell what just yet."

I kept an eye as we moved, trying to find anything else apart from the red sand, but an hour passed and it began to seem that we wouldn't be running in anything before we got to the tower, at least that was until we stepped on a particularly large dune, or what we thought was a dune. It began with shaking followed by an odd rumbling sound. I sensed the beast underneath us a moment later as whatever had been masking its presence and aether vanished.

I glanced over to Zirani who looked both amused and excited. "Get off the dune!"

We quickly ran back down and watched as the beast that we had thought had been the dune, shook the red sand off its body as it rose onto its four massive legs, its long neck stretching up into the air. Its skin was a thick reddish hide and overall it looked as big as a house with legs that were around ten feet tall and a neck that was at least twenty feet tall. I began to pull aether from my core but stopped when Zirani placed a hand on my shoulder with a shake of her head.

"It's not hostile," She said, turning back to the beast with a fond smile. "It's a Ferneck or a variant of Ferneck."

She approached the beast and I felt worry course through me, but the feeling subsides as its eyes held no malice as it moved its head down towards Zirani. Its mouth opened to reveal dull and blunt teeth as it let out a rumbling sound. I watched in surprise as Zirani placed a hand on its head and slowly began to rub the beast whose eyes closed in joy at the touch.

I'd seen docile beasts before but nothing of this size or this friendly.

"Come on, don't be shy." Zirani smiled and gestured for me to approach. I took a calming breath and hesitantly approached, the beast's eyes turning to regard me as I did. I waited for any form of attack or sign of aggression but nothing came. Instead, all it did was let out another rumbling noise as I hesitantly petted it.

"Ermm Zirani, I'm happy for you? But shouldn't we get going." Sandra looked less shocked than I did but was still clearly wary of the beasts, which wasn't surprising. It was very large, and by the way, its hide felt and the power I could feel, this thing could crush us if it wanted to. Misty just looked intrigued.

"We will, but not alone." A wide smile appeared on Zirani's face and when she opened her mouth, my jaw fell open. A similar humbling sound to dinosaur left her mouth, just as loud. The beast's eyes snapped to Zirani with clear intent.

"She can speak its language?" Sandra muttered just loud enough for me to hear over the rumbling.

"She's over four hundred years old," Misty answered. "I bet she can speak a lot of languages. I mean I can speak a bit of southern common."

Southern common being the old world language known as Spanish. A few people in West Vale spoke it, and the academy even offered lessons. It was one of the languages that had survived the calamity better than many others, which most assumed was because a lot of people had spoken it before the calamity.

Zirani and the beast went back and forth for a few minutes before Zirani turned to use with a huge grin on her face. "We've just found ourselves allies."

I was confused for only a second then I quirked an eyebrow as I glanced over at the beast. "You mean the beast?"

She nodded proudly. "Not just this one, either. I informed him of just what the twin horn have been doing, and he told me that they've been butchering his kind."

"Isn't that what arcanists do?" Sandra said. "We hunt beasts."

"Not all of them," Misty interjected. "We tame some, and there are others we use a livestock or leave alone."

Misty turned to Zirnai. "I assume this is a similar situation?"

"It is, at least in most places beyond the great scar," Zirani explained. "Fernecks are docile beasts but that's not the main reason they aren't hunted. You see their dung is one of the most popular fertilizers used when growing herbs and plants, especially if you feed then a specific diet."

"There shit is valuable?" I asked in disbelief, and Zirani chuckled at my expression. "It is, and not just as fertilizer but that's a topic for another time. He's agreed to gather his herd and help us stop the twin horn."

Zirani's anger washed through our bond. "They've already killed five of them."

I sent calming thoughts through our bond, and reassurance that we'd stop them soon enough. She turned a brilliant smile my way, and the beast made another rumbling sound which made Zirnai blush for some reason. I wasn't sure, but it seemed like there was a glimmer of amusement in its large round eyes.

"How long will it take?" Sandra asked. "The gathering I mean. You said it yourself, we shouldn't be wasting time."

Zirani's blush vanished in an instant and she nodded at Sandra seriously. "You're right, I got caught up in the moment. It will take him less than an hour to gather his herd."

"You sure?" I looked at the beast's thick legs. "It doesn't seem like he would particularly fast."

"Hmm? Oh, you don't have to worry about that." Zirani turned to the beast and made a long rumbling sound, which the beast replied to with a few shorter bursts. "Fernecks are of the earth affinity, they use it to move, just watch."

The beast raised its neck and let out a loud rumbling roar which shook the ground. No, the ground was shaking due to the aether it was releasing. An innate technique. The sand rose up in a wave and lifted the beast up before carrying him away.

"A giant surfing beast." I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. "What should we do now?"

"They will meet us near the tower," Zirani said. "So we need to get going, and fast."

I watched the beast fade away into the distance as we continued our trek towards the tower, now pushing ourselves to go as fast as we could. If Zirani was right and the best was telling the truth then it would definitely be a great help. That Ferneck had been a three-core beast and was large enough that it could cause some serious damage, not to mention that it could have other innate techniques. I could imagine a herd of them battering against the tower with their necks, using them as clubs, or sinking the structure into the sand. Even if that was a stretch, their sheer size and the increase in numbers would be a big help. It would be four against an entire sect, or what was left of a sect.

"Say your prays twin horn," I muttered.. "Here we come."