Aether Beasts

Sandra began to stir about an hour into our trip but to my surprise, Zirani did not move back into her core so when the black-haired teen opened her eyes to look up into the face of Zirani the first thing that came out of her mouth was a scream. Despite the scream, Zirani didn't drop Sandra, instead, she placed her down gently.

Sandra scrambled backwards, her eyes wide. She fumbled for something and as she did her eyes landed on me. She stopped and turned to look back at Zirani who was standing there with an amused smile on her face.

"Aiden?"

"Calm down Sandra Zirani here is a friend and you'd be dead if not for her," I said.

Sandra frowned. "What happened? I remembered the raid… and running and sleeping, then an odd feeling. Ah, why do I feel so tired?"

"This is going to take some time to explain," Zirani said with a sigh. "Aiden do you mind leaving us for a few minutes."

I blinked. "What? Why?"

"Just trust me," She replied.

I nodded then turned and began walking away, hearing Zirani's voice addressing Sandra as I did. I didn't really understand why she wanted me to leave since I could tell what she was feeling and our connection had grown. I couldn't hear her exact thoughts yet, but I could guess pretty damn close to what she was thinking, except she was purposefully trying to block me and at the same time sending a reassuring feeling. Was she asking me not to peek? I shrugged and once I was a good distance away and couldn't hear her, I gently placed Misty down and leaned back on a tree. I didn't feel tired, but carrying Misty was awkward, to say the least. Her substantial bust kept pressing into my back and she moved in her sleep. At one point her lips had touched my neck and I'd thought she'd woken up and was about to bite me which had almost led me to fling her away. Thank god Zirani was there to correct me or else Misty might have ended up rolling around in the dirt.

As I waited for some sort of signal from Zirani I thought about what we were going to do. Getting to safety was a priority and that meant somewhere where there were plenty of steel heart disciples, preferably their Orton headquarters or one of their larger war camps. I didn't know the way to Orton by heart, though I could take an educated guess, although I was hoping Sandra knew or hell Misty for that matter since her father was a successful merchant and I imagined knowing trade routes was key to such a profession.

Speaking of Misty, I still found it hard to believe that she was this aether vampire Zirani spoke of. She told me a bit about them as we'd walked through the forest, and it just made it harder to believe. They were hybrids and powerful at that. The main difference between them, humans and aether beasts were their cores and methods of growth. They didn't use any of the natural affinities instead they used an amalgamation of death, life, and a mutated form of pure aether. They still formed cores, but they didn't fill them with essence from beast ores, no they extracted essence via blood and other methods of draining. There were clans of them, and they didn't get along with any human or even aether beasts groups. They were, for the most part, considered a scourge and were kill-on-sight. What made them worse was the fact that they regularly raided villages, towns, and merchant caravans to take people as blood and aether slaves.

Was Misty really that? It was certainly hard to believe that the blonde who'd been crying was that, then again that animal look she'd had in her eyes and those claws weren't exactly human. It had been primal, more like a beast.

"Aiden we're done here," She said. "You can return."

I sent back a mental confirmation then picked up Misty and placed her on my back once again. With her securely in place, I made my way back to Zirani and Sandra. Zirani had a pleased look on her face while Sandra looked embarrassed, shocked, impressed, and confused. The mix of emotion on her face was so odd that I almost laughed.

When she turned her gaze to me she blushed then looked away.

"It's all good now isn't it Sandra," Zirani said, and the black-haired girl nodded meekly, which was off considering how she usually acted. What exactly had Zirani said and done?

I gave her a questioning look but she just smiled and shrugged. "No need to worry, I'll explain at another time. Now, Sandra, tell him what you told me, just the part about the camps."

"We're about five days away from Orton and that's at a fast walk, but they've probably sent people after us since they don't want word getting out that they broke the agreement, not that anyone will be surprised."

"Agreement?" I asked.

"Yeah, part of the deal that was made after the first large battle. To keep fighting within the vicinity of the camps. It's been broken of course, when both sides thought they could get away with it, but there has never been any proof, and it's never been done like this. They raided a group made up of recruits and further away than they've ever done, but not just that. They attacked the merchants, what do you think the city would do if they heard about such a thing?"

"Oh," I said. "I get it now."

This was a war between two sects and the twin horn had just gotten merchants involved, merchants who had valuable supplies headed for Orton, and I knew for a fact that some had belonged to rich families that dwelt in the city.

"So we need to get the news to them and avoid getting killed?"

Sandra nodded. "Yes and that means heading to the camps instead. It's a shorter journey. I have no doubt they've already got their best trackers after us."

"She will lead us," Zirani said. "And we will follow. You'll carry the girl and we'll deal with her when she wakes, which shouldn't be for another few hours."

Sandra grimaced and shot a glare at the sleeping girl. "Why not just leave her or put her out of her misery."

Zirani shot the girl a glare and Sandra lowered her head.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," Sandra apologized. "It's just hard. I mean you're not the one who almost died."

"No, I'm the one who saved you," Zirani shot back. "Now, if you would."

Zirani motioned for her to move forward and the black-haired girl nodded before beginning to move.

As we began to follow her I moved closer to Zirani. "What did you do?"

"Like I said I'll explain later," Zirani replied. "Just know that she won't be a problem. That girl thinks she's good at hiding secrets but she's still lacking in some areas."

I puzzled on her words as we followed Sandra to safety.