AETHER BEASTS

The roof was a lot larger than I'd expected, in fact, it seemed too large compared to the size of the rooms below, either there was some sort of spatial effect accruing or it just looked that way. I didn't much of a chance to think on it as my attention was immediately drawn to the blueish dome at the center of the room, and the two second-core arcanists guarding it

Within the dome I could see an arcane circle like the type Zirani had drawn for mine and Sandra's bonding ritual, except this one was far larger and more complex, not to mention there were items scattered about certain parts of it. Cores, some odd-looking dust, and most importantly, the flesh abominations, though unlike those we'd seen, these were just still mounds of flesh, no movement or life to them. Four-second arcanists stood in circles that were outside the main part of the design yet still attached, and each was chanting some sort of phrase in a language that sounded completely foreign to my ears. It didn't sound human, the guttural and rough sounds that came out of their mouths.

"Aiden."

Zirani's voice snapped my attention away from the dome and just in time as a whip of water lashed out at me from one of the arcanists. I managed to get my shield up in time, but the force still sent me staggering back a few feet, though luckily without injury.

"Zirani what do we do?" Sandra asked as she took a position to my left while Misty stalked over to my right, her eyes on the second arcanists. Both of the enemies wore hoods, and were eerily silent, unlike most twin horn members. I'd expected them to have started mocking us by now and calling us fools for trying to defy their master, but these just stood there, aether surging around them.

"We need to take the dome down." Zirani frowned as she glanced at the two guards. "But we need to take care of them first. They'd interrupt anything I tired."

Misty shot my aether beasts a nervous glance. "Can we take them, the three of us weren't able to beat the elder?"

"They're not as strong," I interjected. Neither had the same feeling of power the other town horn elder had and felt more like the steel heart elders, simply second-core arcanists, though the silence and perfect stillness was definitely not normal.

"How can you be so sur—"

Sandra's words tailored off as a powerful gust of wind blew past us, and the defender's hoods away to reveal something entirely unexpected.

"What the fuck!"

Where there should have been eyes, nose and mouth was nothing but smooth skin. Neither had any features whatsoever, just skin, not even the outline of features. No wonder they hadn't been able to talk, they literally couldn't, but then how were they even able to tell we were here?

"We can't just stand around and wait," Zirani said. "We need to take care of them before the ritual is complete."

"Why aren't they attacking?" Sandra questioned her cloak oddly still in the harsh wind.

I shrugged. The only attack had been the water whip and I had a guess that it was because I'd gotten in range of dome. "I think they're more like sentries than proper guards. Sandra and I will take the one of the left."

I turned to Misty. "And you and Zirani can take the one on the right. Don't try anything fancy, just end it as quickly as you can."

When they nodded in agreement, I prepared three impact seeds in each hand and waited as two spears of darkness formed in Sandra's hands. Our bond was not strong enough yet that we could speak to one another mentally, but we could send impressions and ideas over. My plan was simple. We would hit our target with a barrage of attacks whole swooping in and striking at the same time, the idea being to overwhelm him.

"Now!" My seeds shot and only a second behind were Sandra's spears. The twin horn arcanists moved with inhuman grace but not quickly enough to dodge ao of the attacks. One of the spears grazed his side while two impact seeds struck. No blood seeped from his wounds, in fact, as we moved into close range, I noticed that Sandra's spear had revealed it was just flesh underneath the skin and not much else. Were these things like the abominations or had they been made like this?

The twin horn arcanist formed a whip for water and lashed out a Sandra who nimbly ducked the strike and cut the whip with a dark dagger. I took the chance to rush in from his right, a bark spike formed on my left gauntlet. He was fast with his reaction and a torrent of water in a beam-like shape shot towards me, and though I dodged most of the attack, some of the water still clipped me and sent me staggering back. It had been going at a very fast speed and the force had been great, but that wasn't the end of it. Just as I was reorienting myself to charge back in, lighting began to spark around him.

"Oh, fu—"

I leapt into the air as a bolt of lightning struck the position I'd been in only seconds ago. I sent two more impact seeds at him as my feet struck the ground. He dodged both but wasn't fat enough to dodge Sandra's spear which impaled him from behind. This arcanist would have been a challenge for any of us alone, but together we could take it. It didn't possess the same speed or strength the first elder we'd fought had.

Even though it was impaled through the chest, Sandra and I didn't let our guard down. We waited with techniques ready as the arcanist twitched sporadically

"Is it going to—"

Sandra's words were drowned out by the loud bang that sounded when the twin horn arcanists body imploded into itself and then outwards, sending chunks of flesh everywhere. I gagged as a piece hit me in the cheek.

"Nasty." I grimaced and wiped the bits of me. I needn't have bothered as only seconds later, the flesh turned into white ash, confirming my suspicions that this thing, who might have been a person once, was similar to the flesh abominations.

"We're done here!" Zirani called over and I turned to see her and Misty stood around a clump of white ash.

"Did he cause you much trouble?" I asked as I walked over to her.

She shook her head. "He was definitely a cut above the rest, save the other elder of course, but it seemed to lack thought. It moved in very predictable patterns, not to mention that it stopped attacks when we got out of range."

"Why would someone design them like that?"

"I tried to do my best," A familiar voice sounded, though I had no clue where I knew it from. "But they came out far less… together than I hoped."

Zirnai's voice morphed into a cold expression as we all turned to the dome, and now floating humanoid shape at the center of the circle. It looked to be made of pure white energy, and Zirnai gasped at the sight.

"That's not possible." She staggered back and I grasped her shoulder with a hand to help steady her as I felt worry blossom in my chest.

"So much power," Misty muttered, her eyes a blazing bright crimson and her fangs full extended. I checked out bond and stumbled at the sheer amount of hunger within her, and the fact that the beast was docile, almost frightened yet still full of aggression, like a fight or flight instinct had been triggered.

"What is it?" I tried to focus on the being, and the moment I did, I knew what they meant. Never before had I felt overwhelmed when using my aether sense, but this time, my entire body froze at the sheer power that was on display. My hands shook as I glanced over at Zirani whose eyes were wide open in shock.

"Zirani." Sandra's voice sounded softer than ever, but the worry was clear. "What is that?"

"Ki," She whispered. "It's ki."

I opened my mouth to reply but stopped when two of the chanting arcanists raised their hands, and a large bag that I hadn't noticed earlier, rose into the air. My eyes grew wider when a large beast was taken out of the bag and placed at the center of the circle just below the glowing white being.

"Such lovely reactions," The white being said gleefully, and his head shifted towards me. "And there you are, my prize. I was getting worried that I would have to resort to using this waste of flesh."

He gestured to the beast below him, who was undoubtedly an aether beast, similar to Ziraini in that it held a humanoid shape, though this was far more inhuman than human, and looked to be some sort of crustacean. It was unmoving and seemed dead, or at least that's what my arcane sense told me. It was hard since the ambient ether was being overwhelmed by this new power.

"Zirnai what do we do?" I asked mentally.

"Nothing," the being who I assumed was the lost king, replied, and I felt shock ripple through. Had he just read my mind?

"You shouldn't leave it wide open if you don't want it to be read,' The lost king said with a chuckle. "Now if you would kindly step into the ring, just below me."

It didn't have a face, but I guessed it was smiling.

"Zirani!" I hissed loudly.

She finally snapped out of her stupor and turned to me with a grim look on her face. Worry and fear coursed through our bond, but so did determination to get through this. Her being like this was in some way more worrying than the lost king. I'd never seen her this sacred before, or this shocked.

"Into the circle," The lost king said, this time with a far less cheery voice. "I won't ask again, and I'd prefer if I didn't have to drag you in."

"I'm going to need your body Aiden," Zirani said, ignoring the command just as I did.

I nodded without hesitation and closed my eyes in preparation for the takeover. She'd told me a bit about it earlier, and I needed to be relaxed and as willing as possible for it to work with the technique she was using.

The smooth fake voice sighed. "Very well, if you wish to try and deny me even after my gracious offer then I will revert to a far more effective method, force."

I ignored the voice and waited for Zirani to take over, but after a long tense moment nothing happened, and I opened my eyes to see her gone, no, not gone, but back in my core.

"Ziran—"

My words were cut off as I was pulled off my feet by an unknown and unseen force, my whole body stilling just as I began to try and move.

"Aiden!" Sandra and Misty rushed to me, but both fell face-first into the ground before they could reach me as if a sudden weight had pushed them down.

"I don't think so," The lost king said, his jovial tone back. "I will not allow you or that jungle bitch to interfere. I have waited far too long for this."

I tried to move my body, but everything refused to budge. It was like I was frozen. I watched in horror, terror settling in as I floated closer and closer to the arcane circle. I tried to message Zirani but it was as though a wall had been erected between my mine and hers, and I could feel it shaking as Zirani banged at the other side while I was unable to do anything. It wasn't just my body that I was unable to control but my aether as well. No matter how hard I tried, I was unable to pull even a minuscule amount of aether from my core.

All I could do was watch as I was drawn closer to whatever dark purpose this thing had in store for me.