Alaia Skyhawk: Things are going to start pick up a bit now on the Renegade side. Expect some action in the fairly near future.
I don't own Tales of Symphonia so please don't sue me. I do however own Krishka, Dallinius (Dalli), Aluran, the Alurannai and any OCs, except Sanaro and Annule, who belong to Mr.Who2123, and Mika and Fiuras, who belong to WingedWithFieryMana, so please don't steal them...
Enjoy
-
Chapter 14: Set Free the Fire
-
Footfalls echoed through the still night air, a rolling drumbeat that drifted over the tops of the sand dunes and rumbled through the ground. Over the crest they came, three strike teams totalling thirty-six men and women of all delineations of bloods, from half-elf right through to full blood human. In among them were the great wolf-like hounds, the Aiertrin, that acted as pack beasts for the teams, faster and with far more stamina than a mule and far more intelligent. These hounds allowed the teams to move with a speed rivalling that of the advance scouts used in the war that, if conditions were right, could move five times faster than the following army they served. At the head of the group, running lightly over the sand leaving barely any footprints, was a figure clad in a white tunic and loose trousers that stopped at the ankles just above the closed sandal like shoes that laced up the leg to fasten the bottom of the trousers in place. Twin katanas were belted at the waist over the garment that was patterned in black stylised lines and small pink and orange panels. The outfit made Third Mika almost glow in the moonlight as she led her squad of dark armoured Renegades across the desert towards the Ossa Trail.
She grinned as she raced into the wind, loose stands of her smoke grey hair flying out behind her as Fiuras soared high above.
Look out Cruxis, here I come! Things are about to get interesting...
------------------------------------------------------
The sun was rising... rising above the northern ring of the Ossa Mountains that covered the land north of the Triet Desert. Winds whipped across the steep slopes and past the sheltered vale where a Sentinel stood. There from the shadows beneath the great tree emerged two women, one gazing at the starkly shadowed mountains with awe.
Vayla put an arm around Anna's shoulder to give her a friendly shake as she too admired the view.
"Nice isn't it... but I didn't bring you here just for us to see the views. The low mana levels in Sylvarant make flying difficult for Cruxis Crystal users, but here the updrafts are strong enough to make up for it. Maybe here you'll have more luck learning to fly."
The green eyed woman gave her friend a playful shove and a mock glare.
"Gee thanks, I really wanted my nose rubbed in it that I still can't fly properly." She continued, more serious. "You never said the mana levels affected flying."
Vayla grimaced apologetically.
"I didn't? Sorry, I guess I forgot. The wings we have use a combination of air and mana currents to work. It's why we can fly even though, in proportion, our wings are far too small for ordinary aerodynamics to work. The mana currents give us that extra boost since our wings are made up of our own mana. Mana resists mana when it's shaped, and like a current of air hitting something solid, if it can't go through it'll swerve round. Like air, when it swerves it creates pressures against our wings that give us extra lift. Basically the mana makes it as though we're a lot lighter than we really are, like a cork in a bucket of water. When the water's there the cork floats, but if you take the water out or replace it with something less dense, it falls."
Anna folded her arms, looking puzzled.
"Then how come the Alurannai have no trouble?"
Purple feathers fluffed then settled as Vayla considered the question before decided that it wouldn't hurt to tell her.
"All of the Alurannai effectively have a personal bubble of mana swirling round them when they fly. We can generate small amounts of mana in the same way the Giant Tree produced large amounts. We then make the mana we generate flow around us like a normal mana current."
Anna looked surprised, and a little intrigued.
"So the Alurannai make their own water."
Vayla grinned and nodded.
"Yeah, you could put it that way." She headed off down the slope of the mountain side. "C'mon, I'll show you the settlement we have up here before I take you to the Wind Hills."
----------------------------------------------------
Taistora, as the settlement was called, was tucked beneath a vast overhang on the mountainside. Barely twenty alurannai lived here, but they served as advance warning of any Cruxis Angels that might fly from the hidden Tower towards the desert to check on the Fire Seal. That warning was sent on to the Renegades via a transmitter kept at the settlement, letting them know to cut all outside activity that would breach the camouflage that made the base blend seamlessly into the rocky ridges and pinnacles it was built among.
High above Taistora, on the ridge it was hidden underneath, was a collection of vast monoliths that were arranged in a ring. Seeing Anna peering up at it, Vayla explained what it was.
"That's an astral calendar, built over thirty thousand years ago by a group of humans. It's what gives this place its name. Taistora is the compression of Tai Storanu, which means Star Stone in Sumaityr. All of our settlements are named like that, after something near where they are or after what they represent. Like Nae Shiu means New Hope, it was our first settlement after we faked our extinction so it was a new beginning for all of us."
Anna mulled this over.
"Then what does Alahnsyr mean?"
The alurannai woman smiled wryly.
"That one's a little more complicated, and by little I mean a lot, since 'Alahnsyr' is the compression of a lot of words. What it means is this... 'Home of the People, a Place for thy Birth, Blessed by Creation, on the Path to Unity, find Strength of Heart, in this Sanctuary of Life'... As you can see it's very long winded, and it would take me all day to break it down and explain it, and then I'd probably bore you to death in the process."
Anna actually backed up a step.
"Umm, I think I'll pass on that one." She glanced around, taking in the currently deserted expanse around them. Even the tiny village showed no movement. "Maybe we should get going to those hills you mentioned. I really want to learn how to fly properly. I just hope I don't get as many bruises as I did back in Nae Shiu."
Vayla started to laugh.
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure you'll be fine."
--------------------------------
Tap tap tap...
Yuan shifted another report into the 'read' pile on his desk. Grabbing another he started to scan it, eyes moving quickly over the page.
Tap tap tap...
That one done, he picked up another.
Tap tap tap...
"Kratos, if you've finished what I gave you then just ask for some more, that tapping is going to drive me crazy if you keep it up."
Kratos directed an offended look in the half-elf's direction, putting his pen down and beginning to draw circles on the top of his fold up desk with a fingertip. You might think this wouldn't bother Yuan, but a fingertip on slightly rough wood makes a faint grating noise that is all too audible to a Crystal user's hearing.
After about ten seconds, Yuan threw a book at him, missing by a mile as Kratos calmly ducked under it.
Kratos continued to draw circles.
"I'm not going to stop until you do what I'm asking. I'm well past the stage of racing after her like a lost puppy. Take the key collar off me, I want to spend some time working on my project in the hangar and I can't get in there with this thing on me..."
Yuan frowned, hesitating, until Kratos slowly did the unthinkable. He pulled a tiny crystal whistle out from his ver. The lightning mage turned pale.
"If you're focused enough to consider blowing that thing then you're fine to wander the full base again. Let me take that collar off you."
A few muttered chants and a couple of hand gestures later, the collar unlocked with a click. Kratos promptly threw it into the nearest bin before getting up and heading for the door. As soon as he and the tiny whistle were out the door he sighed in relief... The sound that tiny crystal object made was shriller than the highest pitched noise Kratos could make, such as those used in the alurannai identifiers, pitched far beyond the hearing of even elves, and right on the verge of a Crystal user's and alurannai's. The sounds Kratos could make irritated him enough with his enhanced hearing, but that whistle beat them easily. Now there was a noise that made his ears feel as if they could bleed. He shuddered... Anything but that...
-------------------------------------------------
Alaia Skyhawk: 2 chapters in one day... lol. I'm still in full swing and I don't think I'm going to slow down any time soon. XD