NOVEL NEXT Ch. 75: The Epherwing
They reached the crest of the ridge as the sun was setting behind them barely visible above the mountain line through the thick cloud cover and Cass was given a panoramic view of the Valley. It ran like a long twisting gash from east to west, high mountainsides stretching up like a crown around the impossibly tall Lightningwood trees. The ridge might have been called Skyline Ascent but the mountains to either side stretched even higher.
Still, it gave Cass her first look at the land on the far side of the pass. The valley continued into a shallow bowl surrounded by low foothills. The storm clouds devoured the horizon. The hills disappeared into them, their verdant green consumed by the heavy grays and swirling mists as if the land simply ended beyond the cloud’s curtain.
Along the ridge, large rock outcroppings sheltered sections of the path. Very little vegetation grew up here.
“Keep your eyes out, but your head down and stay near the outcroppings,” Alyx said, scanning the darkening skies above.
“What exactly am I looking for?” Cass asked, walking swiftly to the nearest outcrop.
“The Epherwing.”
“Okay, but what does that look like?”
Alyx pinched the bridge of her nose. “Right. It's a large bird. About 60 foot wingspan. It has dark purple, almost black, plumage, but the tips are electric blue. It's almost silent while it flies. I’ve heard several reports of groups not noticing its approach until after it had already dragged off a member of their party. And even then, some groups still never saw the bird, just heard the screams of their lost companion.”
“Is trying this at night a good idea then?” Cass asked nervously, glancing up and around.
“With the thick cloud cover this time of year it won’t make a difference for us. Reportedly it can see through the clouds no matter how thick they are.”
“How?” Cass asked.
Alyx shrugged. She glanced up again, “We should hurry.”
“Didn’t you want to fight it?” Cass asked but wasted no time hurrying after the swordswoman to the next sheltered section of path.
“No. I’d rather play a game. And we have a better chance of winning if we’re closer to the exit when we start.”
“What are our chances of winning exactly?” Cass asked.
Alyx made a noncommittal noise.
“What if we just didn’t fight the scary bird, then?”
“Then we’d have to fight the scary pig or the scary spiders,” Alyx said, her voice dripping with condescension.
Cass shivered but didn’t slow.
Any advice, Cass asked Salos.
Use Stealth, he said.
Cass flicked it on, feeling the familiar sensation of the wind cloaking her as she did. Why?
Because then when it shows up it’ll grab the other one, not you.
Cass scowled.
What?
She could feel him smirking even though he wasn’t physically manifested.
Any less gruesome advice?
He hummed to himself in thought. Not really.
Cass sighed. Had she hoped for too much?
The two of them sprinted from one outcrop to the next over the next three hours, barely speaking. Both kept an eye on the ever-darkening skies.
Once again, Cass found herself missing the stars. How long had it been since she’d seen them? They’d be different stars in a different night sky, but it would be better than the ever-present clouds.
No, not ever-present. Atmospheric Sense assured her they would release their lightning in two days, followed by a truly biblical amount of rain, and then finally disperse. Cass just wasn’t sure she’d survive the lightning deluge to see the rest of it.
She took a steadying breath, she was distracting herself. It was hard to watch the endlessly dark sky for hours on end, even with her heightened Resolve allowing long periods of uninterrupted focus at a time. Her attention was wandering.
Worse, it was dark now. Very dark.
Moonless night in a world without light pollution dark. The kind of dark you might describe as ‘pitch’. She still had her flashlight in her Bag, but the goal was stealth. Nothing would reveal their position like a bright light on the otherwise pitch-black ridge line.
She did her best not to stubble over uneven ground in the dark as she watched the skies above for the shadow coming to kill them.
Suffice to say, she was mentally exhausted. Even without using magic, her Focus was dropping slowly but surely, point by point.
She was so tired, it was almost a relief when Atmospheric Sense screamed its warning.
Something was slicing through the cloud layer. Its trajectory was set to skewer them.
Cass jerked her head up, her eyes wide but seeing nothing but black. Atmospheric Sense had never lied to her though and Cass found herself shouting, “Run!”
She was sprinting through the dark before the words were even out of her mouth, praying that this wouldn’t be the moment her old clumsy tendencies reared their head again.
“Salos, above us! Light it up!” Cass shouted.
She felt him materialize on her shoulder, his claws sinking painfully into her skin as he tried to maintain his perch in her wild sprint. “I don’t see—no, there it is. Done!”
Cass hazarded a glance over her shoulder. Behind her, Alyx was a step behind, also frantically looking for the creature. Above, the silhouette of an enormous bird was dropping in a head-first dive for them, lit in an outline of bright purple against the pitch-black sky.
Epherwing (Herald of the Pass)
Lvl 25
[The queen of the mountaintops. The Epherwing is the undisputed master of its ranges. These large birds may rule a range of Spires taking tithes from the kills of others, if not hunting others outright. There are few things faster in the open air than the Epherwing and only the Dragon is more feared in the open air.]
Only level 25, Cass almost breathed a sigh of relief until she remembered she was only 13. And, sure, Alyx was 20-something, but Alyx also didn’t have a bow or anything to hit the bird out of the sky with. Still, if they could survive this initial attack, maybe they stood a chance.
The Epherwing angled after them, slicing silently through the dark. Cass could barely see where the next outcrop was or if it would provide enough cover between herself and the dive-bombing bird. She could barely see if she was about to trip over a rough patch of ground. They couldn’t run fast enough like this.
Cass jammed her hand in her Bag, feeling around the magic space for her flashlight. The bird already knew where they were. There was no point in hiding now.
She yanked it out, praying that the magic hadn’t done something weird or unexpected to the batteries. Praying that the waterproofing claims held up to all the time she’d spent underwater in the Deep. Praying that the batteries didn’t decide now was the moment they gave up the ghost.
It went on. A flood of light illuminated the path ahead. Cass sprinted forward, renewed confidence in her steps. She just hoped Alyx was close enough behind to make use of it too. There was no time to wait for her.
She could see the outcropping now. Less than ten yards away, but an infinite distance all the same. She could feel the Epherwing still accelerating as it approached. It’d swoop up one of them any moment now. Long before they rounded the outcrop. Even running full tilt, they weren’t both going to make it.
The wind gusted over the ridge. It pulled at her tattered clothes and loose locks of hair. It promised an easy escape. As Salos said, she could simply Wind Step away.
It would be easy.
Simply step into the wind and be gone without a trace.
Perhaps the bird would chase her like the lion had. Or perhaps it would be content to feast on Alyx’s corpse.
Cass clicked her tongue, the pull of the wind suddenly a bitter bite against her skin.
She wasn’t about to leave Alyx. Not even if it was the only certain way to survive this.
But if she did nothing, they would be caught. One of them would be killed.
“Salos, take the flashlight!” Cass yelled, shoving the handle in his mouth before he could complain.
What! He complained telepathically anyway, though he faithfully held the light between his teeth.
“Keep running,” Cass said, jostling him off her shoulder and turning to face the glowing Epherwing.
What are you doing, Cass? He sprinted ahead, Alyx a step behind him.
“Just keep running!” Cass yelled after them. “I have a plan!”
That was only sort of true. She had the start of a plan. A method to buy Alyx the minute she needed to reach cover. Cass just had to hope that the Epherwing reacted like horses.
She slammed her staff against the ground, channeling Elemental Manipulation through it. She pulled a spear of stone from the rocky ground, angling it at the speeding bird. Best case, the Epherwing wouldn’t be able to stop in time and skewered itself on the spear, worst case, it would balk at the spear and turn away at the last second, losing the momentum it needed to carry one of them off.
The Epherwing didn’t slow. It sliced through the air, glowing purple under Salos’s Fairy Fire, eyes gleaming an eerie green in the black night. Those eyes promised murder. Cold and efficient.
At the last moment, the Epherwing twisted, its body pulled inches out of the path of the spear. Its claws extended out toward Cass.
Cass was incorrect about the worst case.
It snatched Cass off her feet and dragged her screaming into the air.