Grand Game 236: The Realm of Air (Patreon)

I crossed ten more ledges and just as many bridges, zigzagging between the two cliff faces, which I now realized were the two sides of a deep canyon. One whose bottom I could not see.

And which housed a nest of wyverns.

Time and again, the flying beasts rushed up the gorge, circled the skies, and dived back down, seemingly for no other reason than because it was… fun.

After my first close encounter, I kept my mindsight continually open. If not for it and my stealth, I would’ve died many times over.

At some point the sun peeked over the gorge, and when it did, I hid in a cloud bank until it crossed over to the other side. It was too dangerous to be on the move without cover. The wyverns may not have detected me yet, but that was only because of the concealing clouds and shadows.

From the brief glimpse I’d gotten of the sun, I gathered I was traversing south to north along the canyon. The gap between the cliffs had begun widening too, and with each crossing, the bridges grew infinitesimally longer.

But as nerve-wracking as my journey along the canyon proved, I navigated it safely and, a little past noon, I reached its end.

~~~

The canyon terminated in a valley.

At least, I assumed it was a valley. I still couldn’t see the bottom. Over the last mile, the gap between the two cliffs had raced apart before curving around and meeting each other to form the canyon’s bowl-shaped end.

I, unfortunately, was still lost somewhere on the cliff face.  The series of ledges and bridges had taken me neither up to the clifftops, nor down to the ground.

Instead, I was left staring at the sea of puffy white clouds below me. They blanketed the entire valley, completely hiding whatever lay beneath. Only one structure dared to pierce their billowing depths: a thin rock spire in the valley’s center.

And atop it was the exit portal.

Nestled on the end of the final ledge, I studied the gateway. It rested on the flat top of the spire which itself was barely a few feet wide.

Covering both the gateway and the spire tip was a familiar dome. This one was formed of crackling white energy, and when I analyzed it, the Game confirmed its nature to be exactly as I expected.

The target is a protective barrier formed of air. Until it is removed, you cannot pass through, nor can the nether portal be accessed.

Crossing the valley to reach the gateway was not the problem. A rope bridge connected the ledge and the spire.

Unfortunately, the bridge was over half a mile long and its entire length was uncovered, with even the lowest point firmly above the clouds. And as wide as the valley was, it was almost entirely bathed in sunlight. It was only to the cliff walls on the rim that the shadows still clung.

Then there were the wyverns.

Two dozen of the flying beasts winged high above the valley, little more than specks in the sky. Periodically, though, they snapped their wings closed and plummeted in a screaming dive through the clouds.

It was then that I noticed that three of the wyverns had riders on their backs. Not unexpectedly, analyze confirmed the trio to be savants.

The target is a level 186 savant master.

The target is a level 151 savant aeromancer.

The target is a level 148 savant aeromancer.

Frowning, I considered the challenge before me.

To get through to the next level, I would have to at least kill the savant master who was undoubtedly the sector boss. But accomplishing that would be no easy task.

My foes were both numerous and powerful. Worse yet, they were more mobile too, and could strike at me from any direction. In fact, the only advantage I had over the wyverns and savants was my stealth. It, however, had been negated by the sunlight glaring down.

I have to wait for nightfall, I realized. It was my only hope of getting through the level.

Closing my eyes, I settled down to wait.

~~~

The hours passed quickly, and before I knew it the sun was dipping below the horizon. Shaking myself out of the light trance I’d fallen into, I studied the valley anew. The shadows had expanded out from the cliff walls to touch the spire and bathe it in darkness.

Time to get going.

Stepping onto the bridge, I cast my buffs. Then, with my eyes peeled on the wyverns still wheeling in the sky above, I crept along the bridge.

Multiple hostile entities have failed to detect you!

A wyvern rushed past, then another. Ignoring them, I kept moving. They had both been riderless. There was only one particular beast I was interested in. Cloaked in shadow, I advanced along the bridge. When I neared its end, I dropped into a crouch and made myself as small as I could.

Readying a spellcasting, I waited.

There was no way I could reach my prey. That left me with only one option: wait for him to come to me.

Ten minutes passed. Then an hour.

I didn’t twitch. I didn’t fidget. The tundra had taught me patience, and despite the strain in my shoulders and the ache in my haunches, I remained unmoving and perfectly poised to strike.

I would wait all night if necessary. But sooner or later, I was sure my target would come down from his lofty height.

And then I would have him.

~~~

Two hours after full dark, the last three wyverns—those ridden by the savants—spiraled downwards. All the other wyverns had long since disappeared in the cloud banks below, presumably to rest for the night.

Eyes fixed on my target, I mapped his trajectory and shifted my position closer to where I projected he would pass by.

Six hostile entities have failed to detect you!

In any event, circumstances were almost perfect for what I intended. Buffs recast and psi ready, I waited.

Hurtling down from above, the sector boss and his wyvern closed to within a hundred feet of me. For some reason, the flying beasts seem to enjoy whizzing past the bridge. Perhaps it gave them a thrill of pleasure. In any event, it served my own purposes well.

Fifty feet.

Thirty.

Now.

Releasing psi in a rush, I cast shadow blink.

You have teleported into the shadow of a savant master.

I emerged out of the aether on the wyvern’s back and behind my foe. A startled tremor shot through the beast at the sudden addition of my weight.

The savant master, though, was slower on the uptake.

He was still stiffening in surprise when my left hand snaked around his throat and stunned him. In the same motion, my right hand swept forward to plunge ebonheart through his back and up and out of his chest.

You have killed a savant master with a fatal blow!

The fourth sector boss has been slain! Sector bosses remaining: 1 of 5.

There was no time to delay. Releasing ebonheart’s hilt, I searched frantically for the amulet. The fingers of my left hand brushed the chain and yanked the amulet free from the corpse’s neck.

You have acquired an amulet of air, the fourth piece of the guardian amulet of elements. In its present form, the amulet grants the bearer +10% resistance to air magic.

Smiling in grim satisfaction, I shoved the corpse off with ebonheart still buried in it. The soulbound blade could not be lost and would return to me of its own accord.

Meanwhile, I had other problems to attend to.

Namely, the bridge. We were already below it and racing for the clouds.

Damnation!

My plan had been to kill the savant, grab the amulet, and two-step away. That was no longer possible. I’d misjudged the amount of time I would have and now I was trapped on the wyvern’s back. What am I going to do now?

Improvise.

My gaze flitted left and right, searching for inspiration.

My assassination had been so swift that the other  two savants had not caught onto the fact yet. Not so the wyvern. Whipping his snakelike head around, the beast stared at me, even as we continued our alarming descent.

I tensed, readying myself to dodge while I spun psi.

A plan had coalesced in my mind: charm the wyvern, fly him back to the bridge, and escape. I wasn’t very optimistic about it, though. The green wyverns in the wolves’ valley had been immune to mental assaults, and while I didn’t think the brown wyverns had the same immunity—the savants had dominated them, I was nearly certain of it—once the beast alerted the others to my presence, I was sure the two remaining savants would dispel any spell I cast.

Plan B then: in case of plan A failing, stay alive until landing, kill my unwilling mount, flee, then find some way to climb back up the spire.

It was a plan. Not a very achievable one. But a plan, nonetheless.

But before I could enact even the first element of my plan, the other two savants—still oblivious—and their wyverns plunged through the clouds.

At almost the exact same moment, the wyvern I rode banked out of his dive. “FREEEEEEEEEEEE!” he screamed as he skimmed over the top of the clouds. “I’M FREE!”

I refrained from releasing the spell I readied. My suppositions were correct. The brown wyverns had been mentally dominated, which meant I could still go ahead and try charming my mount, but there was perhaps a less risky way. “You are,” I yelled loudly against the wind. “All thanks to me.”

A startled hiss escaped the wyvern. “You can under-s-sstand me?” Before I could frame a reply, he went on. “Get off me, little human.” The beast curled up his upper lips to reveal rows of gleaming teeth. “Now.”

“I will,” I replied equably, ignoring his threat. I gestured to the portal atop the spire. “Once you get me there.”

The wyvern cut a tight arc through the air, forcing me to clutch tightly onto him for a moment with my legs and hands. “Why s-s-sshould I?” he asked lazily, continuing our conversation as if nothing had happened.

“Because if you don’t, we fight,” I replied evenly. “I slew your master easily enough. The chances are high I will be able to kill you too. And even if I don’t, can you afford a protracted battle?” I looked down meaningfully. “Sooner or later those other savants are going to realize something is amiss. Do you still want to be here when that happens?”

The wyvern was silent for a moment, then all he said was, “Get ready.”

I nodded curtly and hugged the beast tightly as he climbed almost vertically.

We shot past the spire’s tip, and the wyvern flipped over, flying upside down for a brief moment. If the beast thought he could get rid of me by dropping me, he was mistaken.

“Are you trying to kill me?” I growled, my voice strained.

There was no response, and for a split-second, I was tempted to cast my charm spell, but I held back. Fortunately, it turned out.

Reaching the apex of his flight, the wyvern dropped back into a dive before leveling out and hurtling at the portal at a pace that left me breathless.

He isn’t going to stop, I realized at the same moment as the wyvern hissed, “Jump!”

I jumped, throwing myself off the wyvern’s back just as he flew past the spire. Landing on the hard-packed ground, I  rolled across it and straight through the glowing gate.

Transfer through portal commencing…

…

…

Passage completed!

Leaving sector 108 of the Endless Dungeon.