Hundreds of shapeshifter soldiers were spread out among the ruins. The detection equipment they carried was able to point out any living thing within a dozen or so meters. That meant it was only a matter of time before Cloudhawk and the others were discovered. Dawn was getting antsy. If they were going to be found wasnât it better to strike when they had the element of surprise?
Take the initiative! Attack on their terms! Kill all of these bastards! That was the strategy she preferred.
Her hand was already wrapped around the hilt of Terrangelica. âTheyâre coming, what are you planning to do about it?â
Barbâs heart was racing. The danger they were in was nothing to take lightly.
There had to be fifty or sixty ships above them, thousands of troops. Among them were a lot of these mutant shape changers. If they were going to fight, it was almost sure the four of them were doomed. Hell, their bombs alone would be enough.
But Cloudhawk was perfectly calm. âShut up. If I say we can do it, then we can do it.â
Dawn grit her teeth and pursed her lips, but reluctantly removed her hand from the sword. Not even her grandfather would talk to her like this. Anyone else and she would have taught them a lesson before charging into battle, but from Cloudhawk the words didnât even make her angry. Strange.
At Cloudhawkâs command Oddball shot higher into the sky. The little bird approached one of the ships several hundred meters above and slipped into a ventilation duct. After passing through a twisting maze of piped, it popped out in an empty room.
Thatâll do, good a place as any.
âEveryone grab onto me!â Cloudhawk wrapped an arm around Dawnâs waist and grabbed Barbâs arm. Barb quickly reacted by snatching a handful of the drunkâs clothes. The Dark Atomâs search squad was maybe fifty meters away and closing. They could hear the beeping from their machine, picking up speed. Theyâd found something.
Cloudhawk reached his mind into the phase stone and called for its power.
The detection equipment suddenly went silent.
Soldiers hurriedly scoured the nearby ruins for any traces of survivors, but found nothing. It was clear throughout the settlement. Maybe their instruments were malfunctioning? But that seemed unlikely, they had all been checked and upgraded by Hellflowerâs people.
For all their suspicion and confusion, in the end the soldiers had no recourse but to abandon the search. It seemed like nothing had escaped their net, so the troops filed back into their airship and returned to the rest of the fleet.
Meanwhile the four Elysians sputtered into existence within the small room Oddball had found. Cloudhawk looked at the sea of stunned faces surrounding him and grinned. âIâm pretty awesome, right?â
âHmph, keep your hands to yourself!â
âSorry, sorry.â
Cloudhawk himself was stunned that he was still holding on to her. He pulled his arm back as though burned and shuffled back a few meters. Dawn was anything but forgiving, so if she got the idea the crazy woman would likely break his arm.
A blush crept into her cheeks, but when she saw Cloudhawk recoil like she was a viper her brows shot up. âThink you could be any more dramatic?! Iâm not some fire-breathing monster, what are you so scared of!â
A fire-breathing monster was a hell of a lot less terrifying than she was, Cloudhawk thought to himself.
The old drunk looked at Cloudhawk, then at Dawn. His cracked lips were pulled in a smirk.
âThatâs a pretty nasty smirk,â Barb noted. âWhat awful thing are you thinking?â
âNothing. Those two remind me of someone?â
âWho? It must be a lady!â
Barb and the old man had grown more familiar over time, so she didnât waste time with respectful addresses when unnecessary. She didnât even call him Excellency any more like she used to, now he was just âold manâ. After all, he was pretty explicit about not accepted her as a disciple.
It was odd. He had given her all he had, was willing to teach her everything he knew, but for some unknown reason he was unwilling to acknowledge their relationship as master and student.
He didnât care what she called him, and since he wasnât objecting to the familiarity she decided to press the old drunk on his past.
The old man lazily uncorked a wine bottle and took his time enjoying its contents. In his mindâs eye flashed a purple silhouette , and then all at once it was like he was drawn into the memory. Like a deluge, recollections of the first time they met rushed through his mind.
Heâd been thirty years old at the time.
She was in her teens.
He was a martial prodigy, full of ambition and a dream to bring the art to the world. He didnât have time for the mysteries of relationships, so he swore them off entirely.
She was famous in Skycloud for her beauty, with great talent and high expectations. Countless men vied for her affection, but she had eyes only for him.
He never gave her the time of day. Meanwhile, she never doubted he would achieve his dream. She smiled about it, for she was determined to be there whenever he succeeded, waiting â no matter how long â for him to finally see her.
Twenty years passed in a blink.
He never saw her.
Thus passed her best years, her beauty wasted in waiting.
When his mind turned to this the old manâs heart was filled with regret. Did she ever imagine that mighty War Saint would tumble so far, and become the shit-smeared vagabond he was today?
No, she never would have accepted it. Thank the gods she wasnât around to see, and yet, such a pity she couldnât.
He called out to Cloudhawk and Dawn. âYou young folk should learn to cherish how blessed you are. The things which seem so easy to get can disappear in an instant, and then are gone forever. Too late for regrets.â
In that moment Dawn knew the old man had seen right through her, into her heart. She felt her cheeks burning and stole a glance at Cloudhawk to make sure he didnât see.
He missed the subtle shift in her expression, for he was too busy teasing the drunk. âHearing you pine over bygone days is something I didnât think Iâd hear, old man.â
âThereâs a lot that would surprise you.â He rolled his eyes at the mouthy youth. âDonât let my looks now fool you. In my day there was a line that circled the temple of young beauties after my attention.â
Cloudhawk didnât have time to bullshit with the old fool. âWhat we need to be doing is finding a way to sneak among the Dark Atom forces. I can have Oddball scout out the ship and keep an eye out for patrols. If we can get our hands on a few key personnel, we can use Barbâs Heart-scry Thorn to read their thoughts. Then we use that information to help us take over the ship. You guys have any more input??â
âNo,â Barb answered immediately.
The room theyâd teleported into was a storage closet, stacked high with supplies and armaments. Since nothing in here was of any particular importance, they didnât leave anyone to guard its contents. At least for the time being, their small crew was safe here.
And so Cloudhawk, using his phase abilities and Oddball, began to scout out the situation aboard the ship. At this point even the old man had to acknowledge how helpful Cloudhawkâs skills were.
With his talents it didnât matter how rigorous the defenses were. Any secret place, any no-manâs land, any impenetrable fortress was childâs play. In a way he could teleport a group of soldiers behind enemy lines and strike at unexpected places.
Cloudhawk continued to pick his way through the ship hallway by hallway. Every handful of minutes he returned to tell the others what he learned.
Dawn and Barb were both enamored with his incredible abilities. He was practically unstoppable!
It took less than two hours for Cloudhawk to scout the entire two-hundred meter long ship from top to bottom. He knew what rooms were empty, where the bridge was, where most of the crew hung out, and more.
Dimensional and spatial abilities were very rare. Itâd been more than two hundred years since Skycloud had a demonhunter with the skills needed to use those sorts of relics. Beyond having the ability to use them, Cloudhawk also had an incredibly powerful dimensional relic his own. It was through it that he was able to perform these incredible deeds.
However, he didnât let it get to his head. The task was both very dangerous, and very tiring.
The stoneâs abilities were as draining as they were incredible. While Cloudhawk was much stronger than his former self, scouting a ship this size in such a short period of time was hard enough. Teleporting three other people up here was already an impressive feat for him. Transferring a whole contingent of soldiers? Laughable.
It was time for them to make their move.
It didnât take long for them they to subdue the shipâs officers on the bridge by stealthy means. Then, using Barbâs special relic, they learned how to control the ship and use it to their advantage.
Done! They had occupied the ship without anyone knowing better.
Cloudhawk settled himself smugly in the captainâs chair.
One man had been kept conscious to control the shipâs complicated machinery. Barb and Dawn stood on either side to make sure it all went smoothly.
The control systems were capped by a screen. Words flashed across the surface. They were all commands to the ship, determining its speed, altitude, heading and so forth. Nothing too complicated.
But Dawn stared at it all with barely hidden shock. Never⊠never would she have believed theyâd simply waltz onto a Dark Atom ship and just take it for themselves!
This behemoth of a machine and all its weapons were theirs to command. At any moment they could launch a surprise attack on the other airships and cause devastation before anyone knew what hit them. She figured easily a fifth of their fleet would be destroyed by the time they were done.
Heh, the Dark Atom wouldnât suspect a thing. Not in their wildest dreams! Right under their noses!
They sailed among the rest of the fleet for a full day. Eventually, orders came across the screen to decelerate.
âWeâre there.â Cloudhawk pulled back on the lever that controlled their speed. The sound of gears churning and hiss steaming shuddered throughout the ship. Everyone lurched forward a little as they slowed. Another order flashed across the speed, and everyoneâs face stiffened. âWeâre going to be meeting up with the rest of the Dark Atomâs forces soon.â
âYeah I see âem,â the old man said, uncorking another bottle and gesturing with it out a nearby window. âHeh, the Generalâs got his hands full this time.â
When the others looked out to see what he was talking about their eyes went wide.
Dozens of long, green, serpentine bodies slithered in the air nearby. Large wings beat to keep their muscles bodies airborne.
Werenât these dragons? The same creatures from Woodland Vale? But that was a passing shock, for what really made their jaws drop was the thousands of birds of prey which coasted behind them!
There were dozens of different types, with the largest being over a dozen meters long. The scene was incredible, like a wave of deadly monsters waiting to crest.
âAutumn!â
She was the only person who could control so many wasteland monsters.
Now the body that once belonged to the young Tribal leader was under Shepherdâs control, and was brimming with a godâs will. The scope of control was far greater than before, incomparably so. Thousands of creatures swayed in the wake of the ships at her beck and call, ready to kill on command.
Thousands of mutant birds, plus fifty or sixty airships decked with heavy artillery. If they attacked all at once with the advantage of surprise, it very well could spell disaster for Skyeâs forces.
Cloudhawk looked further into the distance and saw a sandstorm rolling in. Abaddon was coming, too.
All of a sudden the situation had just gotten very, very bad.
The Crimson One in front, gods and demons behind. General Skye and his mighty Elysian Army were faced with a deadly situation, and they didnât even know it was coming.
1. Interesting note, âpurpleâ is important I suspect, since Barbâs name in Chinese is âPurple Water Chestnutâ
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