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Sure enough, another couple of hours of hard flight brought Dax and Yslana across the open meadows and floodplains to where the ground began to rise up again to form the high ridge, bisected by the river, which the Red Wall spanned. He could now see that the vast span was made of equally-sized reddish stones, each one many times bigger than him, and countless thousands of them in total, laid atop each other and secured with some kind of paler bonding material. As they travelled nearer they began to hear a steady hum coming from the upper levels which grew to a roar the closer they came, until it almost drowned out the sound of the rushing waters of the river to their left.
Dax stared up, mandibles wide open. "It's huge! How are we going to find where Ithios was hiding? It would take us days to check every crack and hole in this -"
Yslana interrupted with a hiss, "Up there!" she cursed long and hard, "We're too late, look..."
Dax followed her pointing tarsus up the middle-most support of the Wall, the foot of which was submerged in the deepest part of the river. Just where the vertical strut began to widen out to form the arches either side, Dax could see a number of large Jraconi figures moving industriously back and forth. Although they were quite some distance away, Dax was pretty sure he could make out blues and yellows on their carapaces, identifying them as Hawkers. Then he noticed one of the Jracons disappear inside a shadowy overhang in the stone face.
"There, that could be the entrance to Ithios's hideout. But how will we get in with those mongrels hanging around?"
Yslana scanned the land around them, her eyes coming to rest on a rangy bird-cherry tree growing near the banks of the river. "We take cover in that tree for now. All we can do is wait for them to leave. We're...I mean I'm...no match for that many Tainted. I'm good, but not that good!"
Taking refuge in the rich foliage of the cherry tree, Dax and Yslana found vantage points near the crown where they could watch the Hawker activity. Dax took the opportunity to finish off the last of his dried rations, consisting of a couple of desiccated and rather unappetising water boatmen wrapped in leaves.
The day dragged on, achingly slow. They took it in turns to monitor the movements of the Hawkers high up near the arches, while the other rested in the lower branches. For a couple of hours, they watched as Hawkers came and went from the little crack high up in the Wall, and buzzed up and down the surface of the Wall itself, clearly searching for something. Then as the afternoon sun dipped behind the high ridge, around half a dozen Hawkers left in formation, heading south across the river. Dax watched them until even his heightened Jracon eyesight couldn't detect them. Then he called softly for Yslana to join him.
Climbing to the crown of the tree, Yslana listened as Dax described the recent departure of the six Hawkers. She nodded. "OK, that'll do me. Let's go, Dixy. Keep low. Stay alert."
Dashing across the remaining ground ahead of them, they reached the base of the nearest support, its size dwarfing them, the leg rising vertiginously above. Close up, Dax could see the huge red stones that formed the support were uniform in shape and size and cracked and pitted with age. Numerous flakes of the dark stone lay all about the ground, presumably having fallen from on high over time. The hum and roar from the upper surface now almost drowned out any possible conversation.
Yslana pointed upwards, her voice raised over the persistent rumble from above. "We follow this shaft under the arch till we reach the top, that gives us just a short exposed flight along the span to the entrance."
She drew her sharp glaives from within her pack, checking the edges with an experienced eye. Then moving around to the right until she was directly under the arched span itself, Yslana began the steady flight upwards. Dax followed dutifully, looking all around for signs of danger.
At first, the climb was easy enough, but the winds grew stronger as they floated upwards, and they were forced to adjust their course to remain on track. In the end, they found the leeward side of the column to be relatively wind-free and so were able to continue their climb unhampered by the buffeting winds. They reached the top of the arch with the monotonous roaring and rumbling just a short distance overhead. Up here the air was degraded with a strange metallic tang, and Dax could sense that the strands of Vivo that rolled down from above were tainted and soporific. He shuddered at the thought of the Viajante having spent any time at all up here; the noise and the corroded air left Dax craving the purity and peace of the stream that ran past his home near the Salix.
He had always considered himself an adept flyer, but Dax had never before had cause to venture above the height of the treetops. To be so high and so exposed was a wholly new experience for him, and one he hoped he would never have to repeat.
Keen to keep moving, from here Dax and Yslana used the span as cover to protect them from the wind as they moved past one more arch until they reached the point where they would need to return to the windward side in order to approach the crack in the stonework.
Reaching the next arch, the blast from the wind under the Red Wall was so strong they found it easier to cling to the rough surface of the red stones themselves and traverse back under the arch that way.
They moved gingerly over the pitted stone surface, gripping the protruding ridges and nodules. While they were under the arch the wind had a steady pressure that could be pushed against, but once they reached the windward side, the wind flattened their wingtips to the stonework. It was a swirling chaos, roiling back and forth to such an extent that they were pushed and pulled up and down, side to side, as they crawled.
Dax was glad to reach the long narrow crack in the stonework which they had watched the Hawkers buzz around a short while earlier. Watching Yslana unsheath her glaives again before she entered the dark interior, Dax followed a short distance behind, fearful he would block her exit should she need to escape, but unwilling to remain on the exposed stone face of the Wall any longer.
The crack travelled inwards about three body lengths before it opened out suddenly into a large space with an uneven floor that could have housed a dozen Jraconi comfortably. Dax stood awkwardly in the entrance, watching as Yslana checked the chamber, her blades held out in front of her.
It was clear that the space had been occupied recently as there was an area in one far corner where the stone floor had been moulded with a Terra spell to form the slightly raised sleeping dais favoured by most Jraconi. Other than a few discarded wingcases from unfortunate meals, and what appeared to be a tally scratched on the wall above the sleep dais, possibly indicating days spent there, the space was devoid of any indication of being a home. Dax shivered at the thought of the cold nomadic lifestyle that this Ithios character had volunteered for. Dax had always craved a comfortable home surrounded by the buzz and hum of life, no matter how extravagant his dreams of Rangering.
In the cool interior, lit only by the faint light filtering in through the narrow entrance, the rumbling from above had receded to a vibration that filled the floor and walls and travelled up Dax's limbs in a most disconcerting way, and he found himself filled with the need to rise up on his wings, off the shaking floor. But the ceiling was too low to manage this without risking bashing his wingtips on the rock above and below so he huddled miserably on the cold stone floor, waiting for Yslana to complete her checks. He could still smell the poison in the air, wafting in on the steady breeze that blew down the tunnel from outside, seeping down through the cracks and pits in the rocks above his head. He deliberately closed his mind off from the sensation of the dirty Vivo, finding it to be an anathema to the natural purity and balance he had been taught to strive for.
Eventually, Yslana returned to his side. "All clear. Signs of heavy Hawker activity, unsurprisingly. Probably in there searching for clues. They dug into every crack in the wall, every tiny hole has been widened, every pile of dust poked through. Doesn't look like they found anything though." Reaching into her pack, Yslana pulled out the Janela orb Lord Japhryis had given her. Turning it over in her grasp she cocked her head quizzically.
"Let's give this a try. Now, what did Lord Japhryis say? The Viajante leaves a magical mark that can be seen with the help of the orb..."
Raising the cracked orb Yslana repeated her circular search of the room, only this time she kept the sphere held out in front of her, peering through its misty centre at the walls and floor.
She had completed three-quarters of a full circuit of the chamber, pouring over every square inch of rough ceiling, wall and floor, and Dax could see the frustration building in her every move. She cursed under her breath and began to lower the orb.
Just at that moment she glanced down and gasped, "Wait...that's it!" Lifting the sphere slightly she peered intently through it at a patch of ground that to Dax's eye looked wholly unremarkable.
Yslana looked over to Dax. "Dux, get over here. Take a look at this!"
Dax was by her side in a second, taking the orb from her grip. It felt strangely cold against his tarsus as if it were actually sucking the heat from him. Peering through it he found his view obstructed by the mist droplets frozen inside it but as he passed it over the area Yslana was pointing at he suddenly saw swirls, lines and patches coalescing on the ground, glowing with a cool blue effervescence, some fixed, others pulsing from one end to another. Fascinated, he shifted the orb off to one side and stared unaided at the dusty floor. Nothing but the pitted stone surface that covered the rest of the chamber. As he moved the orb back before his eyes, the blotches and strokes reformed, as if the orb itself were refilling invisible channels as it passed over.
Just at that moment, the light in the chamber blanked out for a split second as if something had passed across the entrance outside.
Yslana motioned for silence and crept to the edge of the chamber, her blades drawn, peering up the long tunnel to the outside world.
Dax's heart thumped painfully for what seemed an eternity before Yslana silently returned to his side. Her voice low, her eyes fixed on the tunnel entrance, she whispered, "Let's get this over with and get out of here...something's not right."
She moved closer to Dax, peering down at the orb he held, her wings brushing over his thorax in a most disconcerting manner. "Show me the marks." Focussing his attention back through the orb he slowly followed the curving lines, enthralled by their frothing edges. He had never seen thauma like this, he couldn't envisage any of the elemental or natural thaumas creating something so exotic.
Yslana shook her head, clearly confused. "What is it? It's not lettering...or at least none that I recognise."
Dax stared at the lines that curved back and forth across the ground in front of him. "Let's get a wider perspective. Take a step back."
Together they moved back a way. Now the smooth lines and waves on the floor began to form a picture; two parallel lines that undulated gently across the image, widening from left to right, a straight line cutting neatly across the parallel waves with a single cross halfway along its length.
In an instant, Dax had it. "It's a map! These wavy lines show the river, and that line across them is the Red Wall! So we are here." Dax pointed at the cross. "And look, that pulsating line from the Wall. The pulses travel away from here, so maybe that is a line of travel, indicating a route to the next hideout?"
Yslana nodded. Dax's enthusiasm was infectious. "Excellent, so the line leads roughly west by southwest, along that border. Quite some way by the looks of it, maybe another day or two's travel. But that would take us out of Odonata lands surely? Wait! What is that symbol near where the line meets the edge of the map? Like a sun or a beam of light..."
A sudden crash at that moment shook the walls and floor of the chamber, and the light from the tunnel was blocked without warning, then the sounds of heavy scrabbling, as of something large scratching at the outer wall.
Yslana hissed, "Move! To the back of the chamber!"
Dax didn't need to be told twice. He reached the far edge of the chamber, reaching out before himself with outstretched forelimbs to avoid colliding with the wall in the darkness.
From their vantage point, they could see up the tunnel, with just the occasional flash of daylight as whatever it was out there shifted as it scratched and tore at the stonework. They could now hear inarticulate mutterings and mumblings echoing in from outside. Whatever was out there was trying to get in.
Dax whimpered. "We're trapped, that's the only way out!"
Yslana shook her head. "No, you idiot, we can dig our way out. Grab some Vivo!"
Feeling the familiar subtle vacuum as the Ranger absorbed some strands of ambient lifeforce, Dax watched as Yslana reached out with her forelimbs to touch the coarse stone behind them.
With one eye on the entrance, Dax watched as Yslana began to manipulate the rock at the rear of the chamber, pushing and condensing the stone ahead of her, forming an indentation which slowly stretched into a narrow tunnel into the rock.
Seeing she had quickly expended what Vivo she had been able to absorb within seconds, Dax took over, searching for more Vivo himself. But the stone around them was almost devoid of life. Little life existed up on the exposed Wall, and what Vivo was here was spoiled by the dirty air rolling down from above. Scraping together a few spindly strands of life-force Dax copied Yslana, crafting and coaxing the stone particles to allow them passage through.
By now whoever was outside had managed to widen the tunnel, a daunting concept in itself considering the strength that would be required to rip stone apart in this way. A small consolation was that more light was now filtering into the chamber from the widened tunnel, and as Dax crawled backwards out of the tunnel to allow Yslana to take over he caught a fleeting glimpse of a bulbous, misshapen body clinging to the edge of the outside entrance, and multiple wings along a grotesque back. Then he heard a sound that chilled his blood. The same words he had heard floating in the mists the previous night.
"Daaa-aax..."
"Yslana, it's that monster from the other night! It's followed us! Oh, Thau, we are gonna die!"
Yslana cursed. "Hold yourself together Jracon! I need your help, I don't have time to carry you! Help me find some more Vivo!"
Dax nodded rapidly, terrified to his core. He closed his eyes from the sight of the creature outside, and to help him focus. But it was no good, they had drained what little free-floating Vivo had been up here in this exposed, dirty spot.
"It's no good, I can't find any...what are we gonna do!?"
"It's going to be OK, Darsk. Take my Vivo, and I will use yours. You know we can't take our own. Just go easy on me..."
Dax froze with indecision. From an early age, it had been drummed into him never to use another's Vivo for thaumaturgy. This was one of the primary Edicts of Odonata society, and a principle that raised them above the cruel Hawkers who had no compunction in using the power of another's life force for their own gain. It was also physically impossible to remove one's own life force, the thaumatic equivalent of lifting a leaf that you yourself are standing on.
"Damnit Dusk, just do it!"
Looking over his shoulder, Dax could see that the creature was head and shoulders inside the tunnel now, maybe halfway along, ripping and scraping at the red stone around it, its features hidden by the gloom within. Dax knew that once it got to the chamber proper it would be upon them, and knew that Yslana was right. This was the only way.
Shaking, he closed his eyes once more and reached out with his mind, sensing the warmth and strength of Yslana's form, overflowing with fresh, healthy Vivo, just ripe for the picking.
Tentatively at first, Dax took a gripful of strands of life force from Yslana, wincing as he heard Yslana hiss in pain, his moral compass spinning haywire. Then he returned to the far end of the newly formed tunnel and began to convert the Vivo into Terra force, bullying the stones to make way for him.
Then he felt a painful jab himself and knew Yslana was doing the same. Instantly, he sensed the stones in front of him move a little more swiftly and knew Yslana was assisting him from behind.
"Daaaaa-aaax..." The creature sounded closer still, but the fact that he could still hear stones being cracked and torn out told him it had not yet reached the chamber itself. They still had time!
Pushing the stones ahead of him, feeling them move as if made of wet mud rather than solid rock, Dax continued to suck Yslana's force, all the while feeling his own force being absorbed. It was quite possibly the most unpleasant, stomach-churning, painful experience he had ever encountered: a mixture of vertigo and nausea, and a stabbing pain that didn't have a centre but instead echoed around inside him as if in a cave.
And then the cracking and ripping of stones at the tunnel entrance ceased suddenly. The resultant silence was almost immediately replaced with a scrabbling of heavy feet on stone and yet more incoherent yabberings. The creature was in the chamber! He could hear it thumping around, yickering and grumbling, looking for them, its turgid carapace scraping across the stones.
Looking back, his vision weakening, he saw that the chamber was well lit now, the greatly widened entrance tunnel providing ample light. Even though the edges of his peripheral vision were fading fast, he could see the new tunnel they were now forging was maybe three body lengths long, with Yslana as close behind him as possible, her head and thorax pushing past his thin abdomen in a bid to keep her own back end out of reach of the hunting Jraconoid.
Yslana whispered, "We must be nearly through by now, keep going!" Dax was surprised to hear a tinge of fear and fatigue in her voice. But then, he didn't know if he would even be able to articulate words if he were the one at the rear with his tail just inches from the chamber behind them.
Returning his thoughts to the rock face ahead of him, Dax forced himself to focus. He could feel his legs starting to weaken, and he knew his Vivo was ebbing, his body failing from the draining of his lifeforce. If they couldn't break through to the outside soon they would be doomed!
But it was at that moment the stone ahead of him burst open, sunlight and wind flooding in. They had done it! They were out. Dax laughed with idiotic glee. He focussed one last swirl of Vivo to widen the gap sufficiently to scrape and squeeze his wings through and then he crawled out and up, clinging to the surface of the stone above the newly formed hole, the roaring sounds from above loud once more.
Yslana quickly followed and they clung, panting for breath, the cool winds of the leeward side of the Wall fluttering at their wings and refreshing their senses, dulled from the loss of Vivo.
Dragging herself up, Yslana urged, "Come on, it won't be long before it realises we are out. We've got to get away from here. We must cross the span!
Dax, his head thumping, his joints weak, forced his wings to push him through the air after the fleeing Ranger. Flying close to the stone, Dax kept his eyes straight ahead, fighting the overwhelming fatigue he felt now. He focussed only on the far slopes of the gorge, desperate not to look down at the yawning drop below him, desperate not to think that it was only the flapping of his aching wings that kept him from falling.
But then a screech from behind him told Dax that the creature was on his tail again. Daring to look back Dax saw the huge insectoid body, dark and bristly, festooned with multiple pairs of insect wings, large and small, swooping towards him. For the first time, in broad daylight, he could see the creature's face. It was unmistakably Jraconi in appearance, though bulbous and mutated, and contorted with rage and hunger as it sped after him.
"Yslana!", Dax's voice broke. "Behind us! It-it's here!"