Cro

I move away silently in the night making sure not to wake Haba and Hager.

Durin-Son was awake and on watch.

I am sure he watched me go but said nothing of it.

It was a the darkest hour of the night and I followed the tree line west and then dived into the river that was rushing south west.

'Why did you leave them'? Ava asked confused as to why I would leave the comfort of the galley and the comradery of the druids.

'Because I don't trust them' I replied.

Ava took my words at face value and decided she didn't trust the druids as well.

With a full belly I felt the aura flowing through me making my mana tendrils feel more reactive.

It was getting easier to control my mana and it took a little longer to dissipate.

I also noticed that the sparkling mana signature got lighter.

I wondered what the relationship aura and mana had as I swam right below the surface.

I swam until the morning came and when my head poked out of the water I could see Undia to my right far away in the distance making it look like a house.

A Jagged mountain loomed ahead of me.

It looked as if someone placed a broken sword pointing upwards in the ground.

Dipping my head slowly back into the water I continue with the breast stroke as I watch a particularly large lizard slithering down below.

'Aren't you scared of getting eaten'? Ava asked.

'No, the little fish aren't scared as a matter of fact they live in the shadow of that beast'.

'Also I have been watching it for a long time, it eats indiscriminately which means it gets full fast'.

'As long as we keep our distance we will be fine'.

The waters below looked like it had clouds of mana, no matter how dark if something swam through those mana clouds and disturbed them I would see it with mana vision.

My cadence was smooth and rhythmic and every so often I would dive downwards and come up for air while keeping my eyes in the sky for Oskana.

I never spotted him but I did see a vessel to my right headed towards Undia when the river bent northwest and flowed into a large lake.

It looked exactly like the sand rider but it was battered beyond recognition.

It was on water and towing something behind it.

Just to be safe I don't come up for water in the next interval.

Like a fish I swam and like a rock my mind was empty and vacant ready for any threat.

It took me the whole day and night to reach the Jagged Edge shore.

From the north it looked like the end of the mountain range but in reality it was just a much shorter mountain that bled into the backdrop of the much larger behemoth called 'Little Mountain'.

It wasn't accurate to say it was smaller, it looked mutilated as if some giant had released its frustration upon it.

'Once we get over this we can have chocolate'? Ava asked as we took in the sight of the absolutely massive giant in front of us.

'Oh yes, all the chocolate you can eat' I confirmed sending her images of round chocolate sweets that had grated nuts sprinkled on them.

'Oh yes'! she said excitedly rolling around in the jar I gave her.

I washed up to shore and walked out getting hit by a warm breeze immediatly.

'You have to get in here for now' I said putting her in the golden sphere I made.

It had only one small opening the size of a pen tip and it took her a moment to ooze into the odd looking sphere.

As soon as she did I noticed the difference immediatly.

There was no mana flowing to her or out of her besides from what came out of the tiny hole.

'I don't like this' she said immediatly.

She went from being able to feel everything around her at a whim to only that one little gap.

'I know but it's for the best, once we find some other alternative we will get you out of there'.

'But...' she remembered what happened to Jasha and didn't say more.

I found it strange that I was still feeling gusts of air.

I took a look around at the rocky beach and my hairs stood on end.

I drop down immediatly barely missing talons that scraped my shoulders.

If it wasn't for the shadow betraying the presence of the creature I would be flying upwards wondering why the ground was falling.

Rolling away and back towards the water I get a good look at the threat.

It is a harpy half bird and half fucked up.

It looked like someone took Kemet the frog and a pigeon, fused them with human DNA and produced this bluish pale monstrosity.

The legs are feathered with talons.

Instead of arms it had wings, and instead of a beak it had a slimy looking face with beady eyes and holes in the place of nostrils.

I look around for more and confirm that this is the only one.

I smile and sheath my dagger, 'are you going to eat it'? Ava asked.

'Yes' I replied while biting into my thumb and making hand signs.

It slowly rises undeterred by the fact that the prey that washed up on its shores got away.

It had the little human in it's sights and it wasn't going to let it get away.

The feathers are such a deep blue that reflected the light, they looked absolutely magnificent.

Everything else looked like it was a grotesque site from a sick mans imagination.

The 'Dart' array was made and I shot off my mana as soon as it was formed hitting the rising creature right in the chest.

I aimed for the right chest hoping it had similar anatomy and that I wouldn't kill it too fast.

It landed with a thud and I walked over to it as it convulsed while suffering from mana toxicity.

Rolling it over from it's side with the bottom of my foot I look down and see a beast breathing heavily.

I look around waiting for others to come but it seems as if this one is hunting solo.

'Are you really going to eat it'? Ava asked again.

'Yes' I replied while the beast stopped convulsing and opened it's beady little eyes and began to panic.

I quickly punched it in the stomach before it had a chance to move.

I seemed to have hit it too hard and I heard something snap and the beast opened it's mouth in a silent scream.

'It has brittle bones' I thought to myself.

Makes sense, it is an aerial creature and it needs to be light to move around.

I squat down next to it and place a finger on its chest sending a tendril of mana into its body and let it linger until I could find a small collection of mana the size of a droplet of water.

Jasha was taught that all things have a mana core it was only a matter of finding it.

"I know you can understand me, tell me how many more of you are their" I said the mana tendril getting lighter and lighter as I spoke.

"No more, Cro is the last" it said the pain and fear coloring his already horse voice.

"The last"? I couldn't believe it yet he was telling the truth, I could tell from the rhythm of the small pulses of the even smaller mana core.

"Cursed humans.. you came and killed all of Cros nest".

I looked upwards wondering if the humans are still there.

"Where did the humans go"? I asked.

"Past Cros nest please let Cro live"!

Cro cursed himself for messing with the human but when he saw him he remembered the others who protected the young by slaughtering his kin.

That anger fueled him and when he missed he thought the boy was as helpless as the other young ones, he was wrong.

I cut its head off swiftly and hung its surprising light body over a large rock while it bled out.

'Are you really going to eat it'? Ava asked disgusted by the thought of it.

'Yes'