Arrival

https://discord.gg/qpDTvSj3TC

https://pa treon.com/StickSwinger

***

Opening his eyes, Yomite took in the sight surrounding him and it absolutely baffled him to his core.

(Jeez, this truly looks like some battle boss arena from Dark Souls... Unfortunately, there aren't unlimited retries. We only have one shot...)

They were in the midst of a towering spire that was broken in equal segments, as weird as that notion was it was still true, resulting in nine equal segments being created and they were assembled in a circular fashion.

The platforms themselves were supported by four pillars each, carvings of ancient, esoteric and mystifying origins adorning said pillars giving off a sense of ancient, untold mystery.

Each platform used to be made of white bricks plastered together in an orderly fashion, sadly it was not the case now; the platforms were now a broken mess, missing pieces of bricks here and there, some being broken, now forming a whole platform on uneven ground.

"Ah yes, a battlefield befitting for the Prinzessin indeed. The Prinzessin Der Verurteilung is very satisfied with this cosmic wind array that my pet has preconditioned for me!" Fischl said, summoning Oz afterward.

Once Oz appeared, he looked around in confusion, "Mein Fräulein...do tell what this place is...this does not appear to be our usual Hilichurl routine..."

"Why of course, Ozvaldo! It's my pet's personal lair!"

Oz staggered mid-air.

He knew about five of her so called 'pets', he was one of them, of course.

However...

Most of them were made up characters from a book...

Even he was named after a character in one of her favorite books...

But there was one certain 'pet' that was real and existed...

"...Do tell...Mein Fräulein...which 'pet' of yours...are you... referring to? It can't possibly be..."

Oz had a bad feeling. This location seemed way too unusual looking to be normal.

Something fishy was going on...

"It's the Stormterror's Lair! We are about to face Stormterror, head on in battle! Aren't you excited!?" She held her chin up high and struck her usual pose.

"..."

"What's the matter, my dear Oz?"

"Great... so we're all dead meat...How could you not even tell me beforehand!? I didn't even have a chance to prepare my heart! How could you do this to me, mein Fräulein!?"

And so, a familiar pet raven scolded its master...

Yomite wryly smiled at Oz's words

(Way to ruin the morale...)

As he surveyed his surroundings, he could see faint traces of moss and other forms of grass growing in between the gaps of the bricks and on the sides of the platform making it a bit slippery at some parts.

A storm was spinning in between the towering platforms, it was as if the towering structure was held in place in the skies, touching the infiniteness of the void and clouds, by the storm itself making everyone who saw this phenomenon awestruck.

Howling winds echoed in the surroundings, dirt, rabble, stones, bricks were flying with the wind and the storm.

Yet, they always spun and flew in a circular fashion never leaving the area of the platform, it was as if some strange form of energy was keeping them in place not letting them leave and become lost in the throes of wind and time.

Looking at the place surrounding him, a sense of mystery enveloped his being.

The domain itself gave off the feeling as if it was alive, trying to tell it's story.

Before he even knew it, Yomite had walked to the edge of the platform. He was just too engrossed by the scenery to notice his surroundings.

So was the case for the rest of the party as they were scattered throughout the platform, each wielding a different kind of expression plastered on their faces, yet sorrow and a feeling of being lost was prevalent in everyone.

With the exception of Venti of course. The archon of wind and freedom had an expression of deep nostalgia, of reminiscence and of longing and pain plastered on that girlish face of his.

A lone tear trickled down his left eye before he closed both of them and hung his head low.

The storm was spiralling in its own gentle rhythm, without a care for its surroundings.

Abruptly, it sped up. A bad premonition rose in Yomite's heart as he witnessed the scene, so he took a step back.

The speeding storm kept picking up pace, the howling wind now echoed far more loudly than it had ever done before.

The wind picked up pace too, making everyone present cover their eyes to protect themselves from the dirt and rubble which accompanied the wind.

The wind, the storm picked up pace relentlessly, the sounds of howling wind drowning any and every voice there could be.

And just when the storm reached its crescendo, it stopped in place, as if time had come to a halt, confusing everyone present.

Before anyone could say anything however, it started spinning again and this time it was with so much intensity that keeping their footing became difficult.

As if that wasn't enough, a secondary storm— greenish blue in color, like the color of the Anemo element— was generated from right between the eye of the first storm rotating far more rapidly than the first.

The dual rotation of the storms made all the platforms shake and quake.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep themselves from being swept up by the wind, their clothes fluttering without stopping.

All of a sudden, a deep draconic roar reverberated in the surroundings making existence itself tremble.

From the midst of the secondary storm came out a dragon, its roar informing everyone of its arrival, informing everyone of the might, the being held.

And with its arrival, the wind and the storm all lost their intensity, all lost their ferocity, becoming docile and gathered around it.

The storm, the wind, the breeze all of them spun gently around the dragon as if bowing in front of their God, the deity they worship.

Erstwhile King of the Skies.

The Dragon Ruling the Wind.

Had arrived.

"Dvalin is here...And it looks like we don't have a choice but to fight it! But worry not! With the help of the best bard in the world, we are on par with Dvalin! The grandest bard is here to help!"

"Yeah, yeah...Just don't get eaten." Yomite mumbled while pulling out his claymore from its scabbard.

"I'm so glad my dear Yomite is greatly concerned about my well-being! But worry not! Oh, by the way, let me be clear...Even after hundreds of years without use, Dvalin's claws and teeth are still very sharp and dangerous!"