Chương 182: 4.48 At last, almost there

"This still seems dubiously save," Irwyn commented.

"It will be fine," Waylan assured.

"The magical scroll told me to do it."

"Jokes aside, it should be fine," Desir commented.

"Waylan had no issues as a theovore before."

"Maybe, but this is not exactly 'fresh'," Irwyn could only sigh, seeing his worries were not shared. Or at least not to a point where they would ponder this course of action a bit longer. They were back to the surface from the crows' cavern with little time having passed. Alice was still bed bound while Elizabeth was discussing something with her. In the meantime, Irwyn was supposed to help Waylan with locating his meal the best he could. Their group remained in the metaphorical 'graveyard' after all.

With just a quick application of his magic, Irwyn could see those purple veins pulsating with thick purple blood all around them. Through the ground and across every tree in line of sight, sprawling wherever the eyes could see. Sometimes they even rose above into the skies, forming grotesque crumbling pillars. That being said, the veins still at least had no reaction to anyone who couldn't perceive them. Waylan confirmed he could not feel anything, even when he had overlapped with one.

That meant their group had to figure out a way to let the sneak see, something Desir was the most qualified to help with, as Irwyn had quite literally no experience with magics enhancing the bodies of others - most of his own spells would most likely immolate anyone else. Though it was taking the shapeshifter a while to figure out how exactly to do that.

"I will apply it again, tell me whether it actually works now," he said, hand on Waylan's shoulder, which was released after a pulse of magic.

"Still don't see shit," Waylan shook his head.

"Damn," Desir sighed.

"I don't have a plan C yet."

"We could get going again while you figure one out?" Irwyn suggested.

"Might as well," Desir nodded.

"Could you get…"

"We heard!" Elizabeth assured from where she was discussing with the other heiress not that far away.

"No argument here." And so they did, Irwyn lifting everyone up as per usual. Desir immediately dragged him and Alice to the side, initiating some brainstorming on how to make a sufficiently specialized spell applicable to others… with limited results. Irwyn's own spell that managed to observe the strange veins relied on a Concept. Meanwhile Alice, despite her usually extraordinary eyesight, did not yet possess such magic herself.

After all, her spells helped her look farther and with much more detail by interacting with space and distance but failed to supply deeper insight. Desir did have his own spell, but it hadn't worked when he tried to transfer it onto Waylan. The shapeshifter speculated it had something to do with the differences in physiology, which while interesting was not particularly useful.

Their group effort ended up being mostly them attempting to give Desir a bout inspiration without understanding what exactly he was even trying to do. There were three more failures over the stretch of several hours before the fifth application made Waylan exclaim.

"See them, wow," the sneak whistled.

"This shit is wild."

"Quite the spectacle," Irwyn agreed. Before every attempt, he had stopped their flight and cast his own magic to ensure no one accidentally stumbled into one of the veins. He had not seen any as far up as they were flying, but that was no reason to abandon caution. Either way, the air view was radically different once that happened, the land as if inhabited by countless purple serpents…

which was actually not quite as terrifying as it sounded when Irwyn could fly and burn everything he saw to ash from a safe distance.

"Why does the air taste blue?" Waylan eventually questioned as they descended.

"Side effects, harmless ones," Desir assured.

"What is 'blue' even supposed to taste like?" Alice questioned.

"Like the color," the sneak shrugged.

"Just saying as it is. Dunno how."

"I have not heard of 'side-effects' like these before," Elizabeth frowned.

"Well, I had to get creative since nothing else seemed to work," Desir explained.

"Glad it did because I was just about out of ideas. Not sure how I would even explain what I did, since I scarcely understand half of it."

"Not what you want to hear," Waylan gave the other man an unimpressed look.

"That's why I am still watching you," the shapeshifter explained.

"I don't think there is any danger and that's the best guarantee you can ask for. So, feeling hungry?"

"Raven-nous," Waylan nodded, looking over at the veins.

"Last chance to reconsider," Irwyn said, just in case.

"I trust that Old Crow knew what he scribbled in the scroll," Waylan shrugged and stepped forward.

'Scribbled' was not the best word to describe the way the information had been conveyed, but arguing semantic's with Waylan was a 'food's errant' in the sneak's own words.

"Don't discount my tender care," Desir also assured, hand already on Waylan's shoulder.

"It will be fine." With that said, everyone else moved back. Irwyn watched somewhat nervously as his friend approached one of the purple veins, took a steadying breath, then bit down. The resulting squelch was not technically audible, but Irwyn still felt like he had heard it. Thick ichor rolled down Waylan's chin as the sneak struggled to swallow as much as his jaw and throat allowed. Which was made difficult by the overwhelming quantities.

Not two second later the sneak recoiled, almost jumping backwards as Desir caught his flailing body. Waylan made a choked gurgling noise, shook, then went limp. A moment later, his eyes began to roll back, a spasm of sorts travelling down the torso.

"What is happening?" Irwyn immediately ask. Yet Desir offered no answer. His expression took a turn for the grim, holding onto Waylan with both hands, his magic suddenly flashing. Irwyn felt his heart sink as Waylan remained seemingly unresponsive after several seconds of such attempts.

"Report!" Elizabeth demanded. Desir paused, then pronounced with shaky voice.

"Waylan is… pretending to be unconscious."

"Spoilsport," the sneak immediately opened his eyes the moment this happened. He remained sprawled in the other man's arms though, making no attempt to stand up.

"As if you wouldn't cave when Elizabeth stares like that," Desir just scoffed, also grinning.

"Also, some jokes are best not taken too far anyway."

"Damn it, you two," Irwyn cursed but released the breath he had been holding.

"His idea, I just played along," Desir deflected, finally helping Waylan stand. Thereafter, the sneak instantly tripped, falling face-first into the dirt.

"And here, your revenge. I made sure he didn't notice his legs are like jelly." This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"They also ache now."

"Your bodily changes are much more direct than what Alice is going through," Desir explained.

"I suppressed your pain receptors as they were flaring up, so you would not scream your throat out. Otherwise, your body seems to have no real trouble absorbing what you have swallowed. Now it just needs to digest and regenerate through the strain."

"For how long?" Waylan asked.

"You tell me," Desir shrugged.

"But best err on the side of caution before we try this again. Whatever you might feel like now, that was a lot of power going down the gullet."

"Will admit, do feel full."

"So we continue heading North?" Irwyn looked around the group.

"Our desert of glass should be close enough by, right? Just one more nation, if I recall."

"Perhaps closer than you think," Desir nodded.

"Let's get going first," Elizabeth instructed as Irwyn lifted everyone up.

"Moment!" Desir stopped him, jumping down on the just manifested platform. He took a vial out of his bag and quickly tapped into one of the veins, drawing it to almost full.

"What do you even plan to do with that?" the Blackburg heiress raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know yet, but it seems like something worth experimentation, no? At worst, it will save Waylan the trip a few months down the line." Then they flew again. For added mockery, Irwyn constructed Waylan an ostentatious bed that rivaled or perhaps surpassed Alice's own. One face in the ground was obviously far from sufficient to get back at him.

"So, about the direction?" Irwyn brought the conversation back on topic.

"If we are lucky, the place should be obvious," Desir described.

"There are several city states surrounding the desert, each placed around a large pass in those so called 'glass' mountains which otherwise wholly surround it. Only one should be facing South, so we might need to wander East or West to find it once we stumble upon the range itself. Once on the horizon, the city should be unmistakable."

"Majestic, is it?"

"Nothing compared to Abonisle," Desir laughed.

"But I once stood awed before it. City goes by Sevrejo, named after the founder."

"Any gods?" Elizabeth asked.

"Definitely some worship, but I don't think I have ever heard of any Chosen or such," Desir recalled.

"I was not very well educated on these things at the time... It will require more research."

"We will need to approach carefully then." Irwyn nodded.

"Might even have some old contacts if those end up necessary."

"Will they?" Alice asked from her floating bed.

"Unlikely." Irwyn shook his head.

"Are you sure? I presumed you are going to be looking for something in a whole desert," Desir commented.

"Needlehunts usually take either a lot of patience, even more manpower, or perhaps both."

"Most likely, Irwyn's gut will lead us right where we want to be," Elizabeth assured.

"If not, we can look into alternatives."

"Passing through the city will still require some palm greasing," Desir accepted the explanation and moved on.

"Do we actually have to?" Irwyn was struck by an idea.

"You know as well as I do that bribing is a time honored tradition. It would be insulting to the culture of low level guards all around the Realm to even consider otherwise."

"I meant pass through the city," he corrected.

"How tall are those mountains?"

"Good idea," Elizabeth immediately grinned.

"We can always backtrack to the city at our own pace if the need arises."

"Then we should maybe rest first," Desir suggested.

"I was going to propose that anyway." Irwyn almost asked why, then remembered that Alice and Waylan were both quite literally bedridden. He wasn't exactly sure what to expect once they found what they had been looking for, or even what it might look like, so having anyone in subpar condition would be a needless risk. Not to mention… he hadn't slept properly for a while had he? Exhaustion was not yet gnawing at him, but it was another thing he could improve.

"Let's reach the mountains and find a spot," he offered and was met with agreement. Which still took several hours of flight. Most of it was spent in idle chatter, namely mocking their two temporarily impaired members. Mainly that, in all honesty. It was a useful distraction for the building tension surrounding the big secret still kept. After all, only Elizabeth and Irwyn really knew what exactly they were searching for. Alice knew that it was treasure of some kind, and Desir had likely surmised as much.

Waylan in all likelihood barely cared. But even then, there would be curiosity, clinging to them. A whisper of what could have possibly made an heiress to House Blackburg venture all this way. A query which Irwyn could not in good conscience sate. Mostly because of their newest unexpected member. Desir had inserted himself into their group dynamics very well and Irwyn would consider him a good friend despite the relatively short span spent together…

but not enough to trust him with the knowledge that they may perhaps find fragments of the very Aspects. Would greed move his heart if he knew what could be unearthed? In the end, it was better to not find out. Sometimes it was preferable to give no reason to betray rather than test loyalty. Especially for someone much less firmly bound than the rest of them as of yet. They found the 'mountains of glass' perhaps two hours before dusk, though it seemed a bit like a misnomer.

The range was not actually of glass, but instead regular mountains thickly covered in crystals that reflected sunlight. At least according to Desir, as the slowly setting sun was at an angle where very little of that effect was visible. The brightness was supposedly also not be as intense on the outside of the enclosed desert where they all reflected off of each other and the actual glass that was mixed in with much of the sand. There they found an unexpected and embarrassing issue.

With Alice still barely able to move, the group realized they lacked the competence to put up tents. Irwyn had gotten better at the task, as had most of their group, but perhaps relying on the Time mage to spot problems in the past had hampered their ability to actually learn the last minutia of the act properly. So once Alice stopped mocking them, she had to give instructions on how to fix their numerous mistakes.

By then she could mostly sit up and look around, while her fifth sense for space was rapidly sharpening as she adjusted to the ambrosia in several ways. As vengeance for her ceaseless mocking, she ended up relegated to the lone night watch. It was hard for her to argue otherwise, given Alice had been literally lying in bed all day long. Which, as sidenote, she was giving Irwyn slight death glares over once she finally noticed the almost parodicaly lavish travesty. Sleep at least was pleasant and restful.

The first thing Irwyn noticed in the morning was that someone - though not particularly difficult to guess whom - had stolen his socks as he slept. He could only thank his spatial bag for being inaccessible by others, otherwise he would have likely been walking barefoot by that point. Then again, perhaps there was a lesson he could teach the scoundrel. He had been manifesting most of his wardrobe magically anyway because of the repeated incinerations.

Given that intention-less magic took up infinitesimally small focus, he did the same with new socks and underwear, adding a little 'surprise' for any enterprising laundry thieves. Then he resolved to not mention what had happened at all, lest he afforded Waylan even a hint of satisfaction. Alice was mostly able to move again after another nigh of rest, the last numbness remaining down from the wrists and ankles as Elizabeth had predicted.

Their Time mage was still very much capable of wielding eight intentions though, so mild magical positioning of her own body was trivial. Waylan on the other hand, as clearly indicated by his return to hijinks, had recovered quite quickly. They still took the morning slow, only leaving when sun was well into its routine route.

"How are you feeling?" Irwyn nonetheless asked as they were rising.

"Still stuffed," the sneak admitted.

"And bit like someone socked me in the gut."

"Better than what falling down a whole mountain would feel like, I am sure," Irwyn inclined his head, unimpressed.

"Do you reckon those pass cities do that to thieves sometimes?"

"Noted." It took them a minute to pass over the top of the mountain from where they had been. They were nothing like those separating the Federation's northern border, so the ascent was manageable. The moment they crested that peak, Irwyn had to admit the spectacle of what they beheld. For what sprawled before them was bright in the purest sense of the word. Glittering particles of glass across the vast expanse of sands, like ten million mirrors carelessly tossed into the wilderness.

Each reflecting, then re-reflecting rays of the mid-morning sun, dunes and mounds shining with brilliance that surely would be blinding to anyone but Irwyn. And all of that multiplied hundredfold by the crystalline mountains, their surfaces angled just so that ever more concentrated streams of sunlight were cast down onto the sands again and again in cascading reflections, almost desperately trying to hold something as intangible as brightness there.

And yet it was only a fraction of what Irwyn had once recalled in a dream. The light was blinding, but no all consuming. The air was hot, but not smoldering from the sheer quantity of sunlight. The sand glimmered but not flowing as a molten sea beneath the unrelenting glare. There was only one sun after all, not two. And that thought was accompanied by a pang of distant grief. Not quite Irwyn's own, but close enough to ache.

"Do you feel where to now?" Elizabeth asked, shading herself with magic. Natural light would not be enough to hurt her, but the intensity had to be prickling. Irwyn focused when she asked, searching. He knew the spot he needed to find. He had witnessed it at two separate occasion, even if in a dream. The whole desert might all look the same at a glance, but there had to be a weight to what he sought. A place where an edict had been proclaimed. Somewhere the children of Aspects had once trod.

A spot so important, the memory of it had transcended the boundary of a lifetime.

"There," he said, feeling the direction with sudden, unerring certainty.