Chapter 71 – Looking For The Black Moon

Darya climbed up the mountain with Emil after telling him everything he wanted to know. Old Vantre was adamant that he needed to open the castle doors to the Princess of Karossa. There was one problem. He insisted on performing the sworn duty himself without lending anyone the keys. Darya decided to leave him behind.  She didn’t want to see the poor old man struggling up the slope. She didn’t have any business in the castle either, and if she ever wanted to go in, keys were the last things she would need. 

She sent him to the shore instead, telling him there were two merfolk guests that he might want to meet. Vantre didn’t believe her when she said one of them was a mermaid.

Emil rigged himself with pieces of dark red and black armor which had once been a pristine full kit. He only had the chest piece and one shoulder left now. He took his time to whine about that as well, until Sarka apologized for the second time for his Shadow’s crimes. 

Finally ready, they climbed a winding stone staircase half buried along the mountain slope.

“How are we even supposed to fight a Dreagan that far up?” Emil asked, panting after climbing the first segment. “What am I supposed to do? No Manacer, or anything.” He eyed Darya’s gauntlet. “Why do you even have that? You’re not a Berserker.” 

“Too many questions, Emil.” Darya looked around. She needed a way to find the Dreagan first. There was no line of sight with the cloud cover. 

Maybe go through that somehow? Do birds even fly that high?

Either way, she needed the highest possible vantage point. 

“Prince Volfarro,” Sarka spoke. “What sort of Manacers did you have?” 

“Oh…” Emil rubbed his forehead. “They were two Tardressian rods with Candor bark handles. Gold inscriptions, refined mana crystals. The flat ends were variable petals around polished Amberlin. Both rods could manage four types of spell shapers during use…and I blew them up” 

“They’re weapons, Emil. I’ll get you new ones.”

“They can’t be bought!” Emil cried. “I built them with the best Dwarven blacksmith in Goliante…don’t you—Wait. You don’t remember. When I say I built, I mean I lived in his shop for two years. They weren’t even ready for my finals.”

“I see,” Sarka said thoughtfully. “Clearly these were heirloom Manacers that you invested a lot of time, effort, and money into.”

“Well, the money’s from father, but—”

“You loved them, I get it. I know how Fom’s with his manablades. He got injured fighting Sarka and still went back  for a dropped blade while Seris and I were sleeping.”

“Sounds like Fom,” Emil said with a smile. His smile flattened as he looked at himself. “I couldn’t save mine, though.”

“Let’s figure something out for you later,” Darya said, looking up at the clouds. “If we don’t kill that Dreagan, it might start doing bad things to my beautiful little ship. That’s why I came ahead.” 

Emil looked up with a hand over his forehead. “You said it’s so far up we can’t see it?” 

“Yes?”

“How did the Seer see it then?” Emil asked. 

“Good question.” 

How did he see that, indeed. I didn’t ask more questions about it. 

“Sarka, do you know?” She asked from the ring. 

“Yes, Princess. Seers like master Lam can hop into the eyes of other living beings close to the target. Previously, he turned into a rat when he was targeting Lady Rossarie. For Prince Volfarro, he did something similar. The problem is, he doesn’t know what he hopped into.” 

“Freaky,” Darya frowned. “How could he not? Did he say anything else about it?”

“He gets fully immersed. We can’t tell if he really saw it the way we think vision works. To me it sounded more like a creature with far better eyesight.”

“…then the question is, where did Emil meet one of those? He had to be near one for the hopping to work, didn’t he?”   

“Yes, Princess.” 

“Well, Emil?” 

“A creature with better eyesight?” Emil rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “How could I have met one of those? I was indoors for the most part.”

“Wait. Different eyesight. Doesn’t that sound awfully familiar? There’s only one person seeing things the way he shouldn’t. Could this ‘creature’ master Lam saw, could it be old master Vantre?”  Darya asked. Then she remembered how he looked when she told him about the Dreagan. “…But he doesn’t see anything except the sky.”

“Yes. That theory doesn’t hold up,” Sarka said. “I don’t think his Dreagan vision can simply hide entire structures. It’s most likely recontextualizing what he already sees.”

  Darya tapped her lower lip. “I didn’t ask if he can see anything weird floating in the sky. What if he sees a cheese ball and thinks it’s totally normal?”

“Wouldn’t he have told you that, though?” Sarka asked. “If he sees anything, he would’ve corrected you, letting you know that it is in fact just a cheese ball.” 

“Yes…”  Darya muttered, pulling out her telescope. 

“Was that weird bird…” Emil said right quietly after Darya extended the telescope. 

“Bird?” Darya asked. 

“I was wondering what living creature could’ve come across me when I was in the cabin all day.” Emil looked at the castle. “There was this bird. It was some type of owl. It would just randomly stay on the windowsill. Freaked me out a couple times.” 

“Was it master Vantre’s pet?” Sarka asked before Darya even thought that far ahead. 

“Pet? That’s hard to tell. The bird’s not coming that often. He feeds it, but only if it brought a kill in exchange. Mountain rules or whatever.”

“A transaction?” Sarka mumbled. “What creature is that?” 

“I think it must be something that can fly above the clouds,” Darya said, scanning the grey shapes above her with the telescope. 

A bird is exactly what I need. A transaction bird? Is it up for hire or something?

There wasn’t enough time to go on another adventure looking for a creature ally. The Desert Rose needed her fighting the Dreagan as soon as possible. She couldn’t let some cloud ruin the plan. 

“Emil, can you get to the top of the castle?” Darya asked, pointing at the tower. 

“What for exactly?” Emil asked with a puzzled look. 

“It’s better if you just see it rather than me wasting time explaining it,” Darya pointed the telescope down. She needed to get back to Lurim or Nerima. The next part of the plan depended on one of them. 

“Go up there all alone?” Emil asked with a concerned look.

“Sarka. Can you handle this part?” Darya asked. 

“Of course, princess, if Prince Volfarro let—” 

Darya grabbed Emil’s hand and put the soulstone ring on his lanky middle finger before Sarka could finish his sentence.

“What the hell is this?! I don’t want to wear…!” Emil quickly grabbed the ring, ready to pull it off. 

Darya squeezed his shoulder. 

“That ring is worth thirty thousand gold. If you drop it, I will be mad. I don’t remember how we used to be, but I assume you know how I was when I got mad. Do you want that?”

Emil’s eyes widened. “No,” He muttered under his breath. “How are you like this even without your memories? I thought you changed!” 

“We’ll talk about that later. Get to the top of the tallest tower. Stay where I can see you from below.”

Darya dug into her side bag and pulled out a metal decanter with a potion that Seris had prepared for her. It was a more potent mix of the same one that Darya used to prevent herself from freezing in the ocean winds. Seris had mixed an unspecified amount of the overpriced bottle of Sunfire Bourbon that Darya stole straight from Drakva’s dungeon room. 

Here goes. Hopefully I won’t get drunk. 

She took two big sips and pocketed it. 

Emil’s jaw fell open. “Wait, you drink now?!”

Darya blew hot air from her nose. The potion seemed a bit too effective for her own good. She let out a burp that bubbled from the depths below that almost resurfaced the steak she ate and the nice tea Vantre gave her. 

She patted Emil’s arm. “You go to the tower. I’ll get there soon, alright?” 

“How soon is—”

“Do not worry, Prince Volfarro. It will only be a fraction of a second,” Sarka interrupted. 

“What kind of spell is that?!”

Darya blew fiery air from her mouth. “It’s all resurrection things. Sarka, tell him what you know. Get him up to speed. You know what to do. Same rules as Nerima.”

“Eh? Who’s Nerri who?” Emil tilted his head. 

“Wait. Same rules as Nerima?” Sarka repeated.  “Is that a wise decision, considering everything that happened and an already strained relationship?”

Sarka seemed apprehensive about possessing Emil through the ring. 

“Just telling you that the option is there if you need it. I just need him at the top,” Darya said. She found what she was looking for at the same time. A beluga surfacing off the shore.  “Alright, I’m off. See you in a bit!”  

Emil pointed at her. “Wait, what are you doing with that telescope—” 

[Vainfall: Terminate]

[Vainfall: Frame Selected Entity]

Darya zoomed forth through the monochrome world and appeared tens of feet above the whale she targeted. '

[Vainfall: Overlay Depth Buffer]

She glanced around during free fall. Nerima and Lurim weren’t anywhere nearby. She saw the other whale hundreds of feet away underwater. It seemed they were already in the circular formation that she needed them to be in. 

Darya took a breath. 

[Vanfall: Frame Selected Entity]

She appeared before the whale and looked around again. Terminate had to be near its end now. 

She spotted a gathering of whales near the shore. The blob-like shapes seemed smaller than average. 

Must be Lurim’s young friends. 

[Vanfall: Frame Selected Entity]

Darya appeared behind them and watched the prediction dots shift as the water split around her. Lurim was in the middle of the pack with Nerima under him.