Dragon Aster Trilogy

40: RIFT OF REGRET



“Do you know why your father was successful in bringing Alexia here?”

Cirrus didn’t answer Nyx.

“He was successful because it was a cloudy, rainy day the night that she fell from that rooftop.”

“What of it?” Cirrus replied, distrusting the mermaid more by the second.

“The Sentry cannot see at night. They are the opposite of dragons in many ways. While you excel at hunting in the dark, they excel at hunting in the brightest of light that would sooner blind us.”

“So to get Sybl back I need to have my luck with the weather of Earth?”

“No, not luck. Just myself and one other to raise up a storm to your advantage.”

Now Cirrus had lost the last of his trust for her, if he had any to begin with. But he didn’t have a choice. He followed Nyx into the loading dock, and looked to where the mer soldier he had killed remained as a corpse on the floor. “Do the mer no longer have any respect for their dead?”

“We are already dead.”

“You had me fooled.”

“Yes, because you would be a fool. The mer are not air-headed creatures of aeri energy. We are of estus and as such, we can only exist in the most concentrated places of it.”

“You surface, though.”

“Yes, at night. I doubt you ever saw a mer in the daytime. If you did, it was likely because they were surfacing to perish entirely.”

Cirrus didn’t say anything as she somned into her half-fish form, and her legs were replaced with a long, dark green tail. He followed her out of Mer City and towards where she led to a wild Rift. He swam closer to it, keeping careful balance against its whirlpool-like pull. If he landed in the direct sunlight of Earth, all the aeri Threads in his body would be burned to nothing. Are you coming through with me?

“No. I have a history that would not assist you on Earth with the Sentry. There is one waiting for you in the Keol who will help you, however.”

Cirrus didn’t get to argue, as the water turned on him and pushed him with massive force through the Rift and into the Keol. He pulled himself up on the other side and looked around the fiery desert for his assistant. Of everyone he might have guessed, the phelan kid stood nearby. “Not you.”

“Likewise. I am Kas, High Priest of the Sanctus and son of Kira.”

“If you think that I am bringing Sybl back to be had by you—”

“I am not her Bond.”

“And that Mei on your arm?” Cirrus asked as he brought his face closer to Kas. He was in the right mood to clench his teeth around the phelan somnus’ head.

“Once there were two Fay, and although I am only her shadow, I still retain the soul and memories of Erebus within me.”

Cirrus unsomned and couldn’t help but laugh. “You? Erebus? That would be impossible.”

“It is not a matter of what you think. We both want the same thing. If Sybl stays on Earth, it is only a matter of time before Vanir arranges the humans to kill her.”

“And as his son I should trust you because…?”

Kas stopped to think on it for a moment, before looking at the gold fairy that hung on his neck. “Did Serena ever tell you how she came about that necklace?”

“Yes.”

“Did she tell you where it was made?”

“It was bought.”

“No, it was not bought. It was given to her. You cannot trace its Threads to its maker, because its maker is an Iynx,” Kas said.

“The Iynx are all dead.”

“All but one. But we do not have time to discuss history. I need your trust, now if we are to reach her in time.”

“What in this Hell do you think I will trust you?”

“It is the only way to get Sybl back. I can also offer you and your friends refuge at the Sanctus. My mother’s home was Serena’s for a while.”

Cirrus was once again left without any options. “I don’t obey you.”

“I have my own army, White Death. I am simply asking for you to see that we are no longer on opposite sides. You want to avert a war, and I have been doing nothing short of such for every year of my life in this body.”

Cirrus could feel the estus pressure of the Keol burn away his sanity. “Fine. So how do we do this?”

“I can open you the Rift and keep it open for no more then thirty minutes.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s all the time we will have before the Sentry realize the storm Nyx is creating is not normal. It is also the amount of time that I can lose my blood before I become unconscious. There is a reason there is lightning in Earth’s storms, and I suggest you avoid it. Grab her so that she cannot argue and bring her back. You will not have time to debate with my soultwin,” Kas explained.

“Will I be able to fly?”

“I do not know. Your command over the air might make it possible. But lightning strikes what is highest, first.”

“Alright, stop talking then.”

Kas cut his hand, and pushed aside his aeri energies with his focus to keep the wound open. His Mei began to glow, and he traced its Threads to where Sybl was. The Rift began to expand, and Cirrus entered it once it was wide enough.