Astral Threads, Ch 28: Ayala's Trouble (Patreon)

“Don’t forget my horse!” Krana shouted as Sam lifted her above the icy dome of the forge chamber. Her voice faded out across the clear wind of the dawn. “I don’t want him to get eaten by a bear up here!”

“We’ll get him,” Sam said with a chuckle as he turned them toward where they’d left the horse. The wind and a trail of crystal flame surrounded them, keeping the temperature pleasant, as he headed toward the camp. Around them, the Sky Guard who had been protecting the forge took to the air as well, spreading out as they kept up a protective formation.

Lifting himself on the wind was easy now that Elemental Manipulation had reached Epic. It let him condense it until it felt like he was lifted by the ground itself, and it supported him from every side. As he flew, it looked like he was standing in the air. This time, instead of being stuck under his arm, he carried Krana along beside him, which made her much happier. It added a little more difficulty, but not much.

It didn’t take long to get to the camp and as soon as they were there, Sam collected the wardstones. Then he made a set of leather blinders for the horse to shield its eyes and inscribed a few quick runes for a calming enchantment. After that, he cobbled together a leather sling from hoarfrost serpent skin.

He couldn’t help but chuckle as the two golems, who looked entirely indifferent about it, lifted the snorting horse into the air. Their wings flared out as they rose higher, until the horse was just a dangling speck hundreds of feet above the ground.

With a gesture, Sam summoned the wind and lifted them after it as he took the lead. Fortunately, the enchantment on the blinders worked and before long the horse was sailing along behind them as they flew through the air toward Ayala’s location. When he had more time, he’d have to add an illusion to its blinders, maybe of a nice pasture. Either way, with a dozen golems around them, the horse was safer than it would have been on land.

“Poor beast.” Beside him, Krana winced in sympathy as she watched the horse. “Don’t worry, fellow. We’ll be back on honest ground soon enough.”

Except for that, however, she didn’t protest. She was worried for her friend and it was faster than riding. Instead, she looked into the distance and her eyes shaded to silver as she searched for Ayala. From time to time, she gave Sam directions to refine their path.

Normally, it would have taken them a couple of days to find Ayala, but since they were flying, the terrain presented no obstacle. They had a clear view of the mountains and the foothills as they descended quickly toward the high road that led north.

There were a few travelers on the road, but it wasn’t too busy. Mostly, it was a mix of merchant wagons and their guards, as well as a few parties of adventurers. Sam kept high enough in the sky that they were visible from the road only as a speck in the air, since he didn’t feel like attracting attention. The distance was no obstacle to his sight and it was easy to keep track of what was moving on the road.

Within a few hours, Ayala came into view. The first sight he had of her was a tiny, white-cloaked figure on horseback riding south along the high road. She was next to a merchant wagon, riding along by the side, probably as a guest. Her hood was pushed back and the sun was glinting off her blond hair, including the silver-white streak in it that had appeared after they’d met, when she unlocked her class in the pool of Earth mana.

Her class as an Earthwalker Mage-Priestess jumped out to him a moment later, as well as her level, which was 82 now. She’d grown a lot since they’d last met. There had also probably been some trouble on the road, given that monsters and Flaws seemed to be increasing recently. She’d probably had to fight or heal others on the way here. There were two other guards next to the merchant wagon, but they were a Warrior-Carpenter at Level 55 and a Spearman-Caravan Guard at Level 60, which wasn’t much of a defense.

Now that Ayala was at the Epic tier, she could be counted as a full Priestess by the church and he couldn’t help wondering what had driven her to find them. He’d thought she was content in Osera. Like Krana had said, she’d never struck him as one to leave her duties. He still remembered when she decided to become a priestess.

My father was right, she’d said after they closed the Flaw with the spiders beneath the Abyssinian Plains. This proves everything. I can see them tearing at the World Seal. Don’t you know what that means? It means I was being foolish before and I need to face reality.... Look at that spider. It’s reflexively trying to get through the Flaw, to kill anything on this side and eat us. If it could, it would probably devour the entire world. That’s what Outsiders are.... I need to do what I was raised to do.

Her words had resonated with a horrified understanding of the world that had changed her entire personality. It had forced her to set aside her desire for a gentle life. She’d chosen the path she thought was necessary and become more serious.

So, the question was...what had brought her here? She wouldn’t have left Osera so easily.

“There she is!” Krana tugged on his arm and pointed down at Ayala, who was still perhaps half a mile distant.

“I see her,” Sam agreed easily. He didn’t mention that he’d been studying her for the last few minutes. His eyesight was capable of feats that Krana needed magic to match. “Let’s head down a bit ahead of her, so we don’t startle the merchant or his guards.”

He sent a pulse of information to the golems and all but two of them faded away into near invisibility in the sky. The two that were left had Krana’s horse, which was looking a bit sad as its head dangled down now, but it had actually just fallen asleep.

The wind shifted around them as he took them toward the ground and settled on the road about a quarter mile ahead of Ayala. That should be enough to give them a bit of distance so they didn’t startle the guards. Beside them, the golems set the horse down and left the sling behind. Then they withdrew into the air and faded away with the others.

The head of Sam’s detail, the golem he’d named Sergeant, was up there with the rest and Sam sent him a pulse of instructions, both to survey the area and to keep an eye on the merchant guards. He trusted Ayala well enough, but not the others. There was no risk that he’d seen, but the golems would intervene if anything went wrong. He didn’t want to kill the merchants’ guards over a minor misunderstanding.

A Level 60 might as well be a paper doll to him.

The horse snorted awake and stamped its feet in irritation as it was set down on the square paving stones that marked out the road. Ayala wasn’t in sight yet, so Krana went over to check on it. She patted its neck as she fed it a handful of oats, but it was disgruntled by the flight and swished at her with its tail as it bared its lips and nipped at her hand.

“Ahh, you poor thing,” she agreed as she patted it on the nose. With her Constitution, the teeth didn’t even mark her skin and the horse let out a dissatisfied snort. “You’re still better than a cave boar, even if you’re annoyed.”
Sam chuckled, but they didn’t have to wait much longer as Ayala and the merchant wagon came into view along the road. There was a moment of no reaction as the woman driving the wagon continued on toward Sam, idly flicking the reins in her grasp to encourage her horses along. Then, her eyes widened.

Sam read her thoughts from her expression as easily as from a page. She’d suddenly realized that the towering, golden-skinned being on the road wasn’t changing to any more of a normal size. Krana and her horse looked tiny next to him, which didn’t help.

They were also blocking the way, and while the road was wide enough that the wagon could have gone around them, the sheer presence he was exuding made that unlikely. He was trying to draw attention and so a ripple of sapphire flame burned across the stones and in the air, its edge touched with silver and moonlight. It was better than surprising them when they got closer.

One guard was riding on the right of the wagon and the other was slightly ahead of it on the left, and as they saw Sam ahead of them, they quickly drew their weapons and gripped them in white knuckles, but they didn’t run forward.

“Whoa!” The woman shouted as she yanked instinctively on the reins, causing the horses to slow to a halt a hundred feet away. Her voice carried across the distance. “Who in the name of the nine cities are you?! And why are you in the middle of the road?!”

Sam felt the wave of mana as she tried to Analyze him, and then her attention turned to Krana. When she saw the results, she relaxed slightly and held up her hand to the guards. Before she could say anything else, however, Ayala’s shout carried out from the other side of the wagon.

“Krana!” Ayala called out as she looked up. A smile crossed her face, breaking the despondent appearance she had before like the sun scattering a cloud. “You’re here! And...” Her words froze in her throat as she stared at Sam, her mouth hanging open.

“No need to say more,” Sam rumbled in warning as he raised his hand to stop her. “We are friends met again, and names are not needed. Call me the Horned Hunter.”

“Who are you?” The guard on the right rode forward a dozen paces, staring hard at Sam and Krana. It was the Spearman-Caravan Guard at Level 60. He was trying to look threatening, but his hands were shaking on the reins. Doubt and confusion warred on his expression as he tried to do his duty. “And what do you want with the priestess?”

“Be at ease. There is no need to fight,” Sam said calmly to the guard as he shifted his attention to the merchant. “I apologize for the sudden meeting and I thank you for watching over our ally who was coming to meet us. If you are wounded or need small enchantments, please speak.”

His Charisma was more than enough to capture the attention of the guards and the merchant and to convince them of the truth in his words, and before long he’d sent them on their way with a couple of small runes added to the wagon: one for waterproofing against rain and one for durability. He could have done more, but it was enough.

While he worked, Krana and Ayala were catching up, but their conversation was of common things until the merchant and the guards were out of earshot along the road. From time to time, Ayala stared at him, her eyes wide as she took in the changes since the last time she’d seen him. It was clear that she recognized him since he was with Krana, but his features were very different from the last time they’d met.

When the merchant wagon was gone, he joined the two women. They had already caught up on the basic introductions, so he didn’t need to redo those, but he’d listened in as she explained the changes to her father. Her news was troubling.

He hadn’t expected to hear that the Boundless Alliance was involved. Whatever had happened to her father, it sounded like an experiment that should not have existed in the world. The individual who called himself the Alchemist had to be on the darker side of the Boundless Alliance, part of the Cabal.

Whoever he was, it didn’t bode well.

For one of them to experiment on a church paladin so directly was strange. Perhaps the recent increase in Flaws had made the Alchemist step up his timeline, or perhaps he was just taking advantage of the chaos.

Sam wasn’t sure what the experiment was designed to do, but from what he’d heard about the Cabal, it was surely some way to escape from Aster Fall. It sounded like the Alchemist was testing out a way to mix an Outsider’s essence with a human’s, or perhaps specifically with a Paladin’s, to see if the World Core would reject it.

He might be planning to let Ayala’s father, Helimar, level up to 399 and then see if the World Core would let him leave, or perhaps he planned for him to jump through a Flaw. Passing through from this direction was dangerous, since it would strip an inhabitant of Aster Fall of their natural auras. Whatever they changed into on the other side, they would be half alive at best, if the process didn’t kill them outright. Those who were kidnapped and taken through a Flaw as sacrifices never came back again.

As for the damage Helimar could cause in the meanwhile, it was unlikely that the Alchemist cared. Whatever he’d done to change the man was a travesty of magic and just thinking about it turned Sam’s mood grim.

He’d already seen the artifacts from the Cabal, and if they were also doing things like this, who knew what other trouble they were causing that he hadn’t seen yet. It was very possible that they were the ones to blame for the weakness in the World Seal and this surge in Flaws. They were damaging the seal from the inside, and that made them traitors to the world and all the lives they endangered.

Sam shook his head as he studied Ayala. Her trouble was clear, but despite all the information she’d just shared with Krana, he still wasn’t sure why she had come. Helimar’s change was a good reason to avoid Osera and it was a problem for Aster Fall, but it wasn’t Sam’s main concern. He needed to repair the relic, which would stabilize the World Seal and help cut off a lot of these troubles at the source.

Unfortunately, as he studied Ayala’s expression, he got the sinking feeling that she was going to ask him to help. Despite himself, he couldn’t hold back a sigh. Somehow, whenever she showed up, it was with a pile of trouble.

“It’s been a long time,” he said as he gave her a smile and hoped he was wrong. “We’re heading to Runekeld. Would you like to come with us, or do you want an escort to Highfold? You could stay there with my family. It’s a safe location these days. You could even study at the library we uncovered there. It would be a good way to raise your strength.”

“I came to find Krana for advice, and now I’ve found it.” Ayala shook her head and looked him straight in the eyes as she replied. Some surprise was still lingering in her gaze as she took in his height and she had to tilt her head back to look up at him, but her voice was determined and there was a firmness to her posture that hadn’t been there when she was riding along the road.

“I fear what has happened to my father, and what will happen to those around him,” she continued, her tone grave and formal as she looked him in the eyes. “I thought I would have to hide out and find allies, maybe even others from the Boundless Alliance who could explain what has happened, and I am not strong enough for that yet. I won’t be for a long time. But after hearing everything that has happened to you recently, I’ve changed my plan.”

The sinking feeling in Sam’s chest grew stronger as she continued to speak.

“I want to find a way to fix whatever has happened to my father,” Ayala went on, “and to return my home to the way it was before, a place of peace and clear purpose. Whatever the Boundless Alliance has done, they’ve corrupted him, made him something that he’s not and that shouldn’t exist in this world. The church will find out one day and slay him as something evil, ignoring all of the good he has done for the world and in its name. He has been distant from me for a long time, which has brought me a lot of pain, but he doesn’t deserve this.”

She leaned forward where she was sitting on a broad stone on the grass and her white dress and cloak pooled around her. She clasped her hands together as she looked at Sam. She was grace and need, every line of her molded from noble privilege.

“Please, help me heal him,” she pleaded. “Krana tells me you’ve gained access to ancient methods and arts, so perhaps you have a way. I would be forever in your debt.” Her words hung in the air as she looked at him.

It was a lot to ask given that the first time he’d heard about her father, Sam had feared the man would kill him. He’d looked like a demon and Helimar was a World Knight of the church. Sam had been deathly afraid of what would happen if her father saw him anywhere near her. After taking Ayala home, he’d run as far as he could in the opposite direction.

Now, as he looked down at Ayala’s bowed head and clasped hands, he felt a pang of injustice, particularly since just past her shoulder, Krana was giving him a fierce and protective look as she waited for his answer. He wasn’t the same youth as back then, however. He thought about his father and what he would feel if something happened to him, and he felt a rush of sympathy for Ayala. His answer came with a level of maturity and confidence that would have astonished the boy of the past.

“I’ll do everything I can to help,” he said with a sigh of defeat. “But it will have to be balanced with my mission to find rare auras and to repair the relic.”

He had the ability and Ayala was an ally, even if their relationship was based on mutual necessity more than friendship. Krana was the bridge between them that sealed his fate, since she would never abandon Ayala in this state. That settled the matter. Hopefully, there was something they could find on the road to Runekeld that would help.

“It may take some time,” he added as he considered the issue. He didn’t know what was wrong with her father exactly, but he had some ideas based on Ayala’s description.

There was a chance he would be able to help, especially if it was an issue of merged auras or blood essence from Outsiders that had changed Helimar’s nature, but it wouldn’t be clear until he met him and that came with significant risks. He doubted the man would sit still while he tore his aura apart and rebuilt it.

From the sound of it, Helimar had become something dark. It was more likely he’d try to fight than allow Sam to experiment on him, especially after what he’d just gone through.

“I don’t know what our chances are of fighting him and winning,” he added, “since it sounds like he’s become even stronger than he was before this happened. That means we’ll need to be indirect about it. We’ll have to study him.”

“He won’t be easy to work with,” Ayala said as she shook her head. “I would have tried myself, but he was Level 238 when I left and one of the strongest people in Osera. His temper was growing worse by the day, and I fear it may have become more so in the weeks since I’ve been gone. He’s not fully human any longer. A few of the servants who remained promised to send me messages through the church, but I haven’t received any. I hope they are all right and have fled, rather than being killed.”

Her voice trailed off as she looked into the distance. She was clearly thinking about what might have happened to the people she grew up with. Whatever her father had become, she had run away because she was afraid of it.

Sam frowned as he added the information to his assessment. At best, he might be on par with Helimar in terms of attributes, but he was behind in levels and probably abilities. The man had no doubt gained something from the change, probably related to the venom or snake-like aspect that he had already displayed. That might have come from the Outsiders he was poisoned by, instead of the potion from the Alchemist, but it wasn’t clear. He would have to prepare some enchantments in case they fought, as well as something to trap him so he could study him. In an ideal world, they wouldn’t have to fight at all, but he didn’t expect things would be so easy.

He glanced down at the bracers on his arms, one dark with floating stars inside and the other made of moonlight and gemstone. At least with those, he was never unprepared. He also had some scrolls and a few expendable items, but hopefully, he could gain a few more levels before they met.

“We can’t set aside the mission in Runekeld,” he said at last. “I need to see if there are some materials there and Krana needs to speak with the elders about her vision...but the city is on the way to Osera. Perhaps Krana’s family will have some ideas about this.”

Across from him, Krana’s smile glowed like a brilliant gem as she patted Ayala on the shoulder, and the hope in Ayala’s eyes was just as bright. If the matter had been less serious, he might have been dazzled by the earnestness on display, but at the moment his thoughts lay in another direction.

If things went badly, at least he knew how to teleport.