Lindon felt like he was dying. Across a field littered with the bodies of dreadbeasts, Akura Grace turned, sliding her sword out of a three-headed abomination, and gave him a look that was half amusement and half exasperation.
"You can't go." She told him in a voice that indicated no leeway.
"Come on!" He protested. "I'll just be a minute. With the Soul Cloak I'll be back before you know it."
"That's not what we agreed to, Lindon."
His fingers twitched and for a moment his instincts told him to run off without getting her agreement, but he resisted. "You have to feel the way I do. Didn't you want the Thousand Swords of Binding Light? Every moment I spend here playing with dreadbeasts is a moment where I'm not earning more points!"
"Playing?" Grace's brow quirked up. "Most of these dreadbeasts are Truegold, some are even Underlord."
"Yes, exactly! You can handle this on your own while I go grab another mission." There was no way Lindon was ever going to catch up to Yerin if he kept up such a slow pace. She was being pumped with the best enhancements and elixirs the Akura Clan could afford while he had to scrounge for points to fuel his own advancement.
Grace shook her head. "I'm sorry but I can't agree to that. The point was for you to take this day to relax, to unwind. You shouldn't even be doing this mission."
"I considered doing some soulsmithing instead but I figured the dreadbeast bindings would be worth mo-"
"You shouldn't be doing anything but relaxing. That was what we agreed to."
Lindon didn't think that was fair. When his entire team sat him down last night to demand that he take a day off, he had only agreed out of duress. He was perfectly fine! He had gotten plenty of rest-a solid half an hour the previous night. Still, his team threatened to mutiny and stop earning points if he didn't at least tone it down for one day. So he was out here, helping Grace on a mission that she could have handled with her eyes closed. Lindon sighed. "Apologies, I'll try to relax."
Grace narrowed her eyes at him. "I hope that means you stop flashing your madra out into the sky like a firework. I know what you're trying."
Lindon smiled at her sheepishly. He was hoping to attract the attention of some Abyssal Palace teams with a few conspicuous blasts of blackflame. If he got a mask off a High Priest then this mission might be worth it after all.
They walked along the outside of a forest in Sky's Edge. Dreadbeasts came at them like wild dogs after raw meat but Grace easily dispatched them with her swords. Occasionally he fired a finger-sized beam of blackflame at a foe or two, but his contribution amounted to nothing more than taking a light stroll.
Grace cleared her throat. "So, Lindon. I haven't had a chance to congratulate you on your impressive showing in the Uncrowned King Tournament." Her voice was as even and calm as ever, but Lindon thought it was a slight octave higher than usual.
"Thank you, but it isn't necessary. After all I only-" Lindon cut himself off. He had been about to say that since he didn't make it into the ranks of the Uncrowned that it wasn't really impressive at all. But Grace had dropped out even earlier than he had.
"It's alright, I never had expectations of reaching the upper stages of the tournament." She shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. "I made it as far as Pride did, that's something."
"It's not your fault, you got the short end of the stick." Not only had her team run into Sophara early on in the second round, but she was also placed into a hastily assembled squad of branch members. If she was with the likes of Mercy, or Pride, or even himself, then Lindon was sure she would have had a much easier time making it further into the tournament.
"So did you." She smiled and he returned it. She stopped walking all of a sudden. "By the way… Did you plan on doing anything about the person following us?"
Lindon drew out his spiritual perception and once again noticed a heavily veiled presence amongst the trees. It was misty and immaterial like a shroud of shadows. Lindon would have had a hard time detecting the presence if not for Dross boosting his senses. [Really, would you be able to do anything without my help?]
"I'm surprised you sensed it." Lindon commented.
"I didn't sense anything-I don't know who gave our pursuer the bright idea to wear a black cloak with a black hood in this environment. It sticks out like a sore thumb."
Lindon had easily caught the flashes of black contrasting against the light soil and green-leafed trees. It really was a horrible outfit for following people discretely, the cloak practically screamed 'I am suspicious! Notice me!'
"Truth be told, I was hoping that our pursuer was going to spring an ambush or something." Lindon told Grace without a hint of shame.
"For the points." She replied flatly, not even expressing the statement as a question.
"For the points." Lindon agreed. He snapped his fingers and looked excitedly at Grace as an idea formed in his head, "I've got a plan."
"Let's hear it." She got the same feeling off of Lindon that she would have gotten from a shark that had just tasted blood.
Lindon detailed out a rough plan of action for dealing with the person on their tail and-hopefully-earning some points. Grace was to pretend to struggle with the next pack of dreadbeasts they encountered, 'injuring' herself in the process. Hobbled and unable to fight, Grace would have to be helped and supported by Lindon. This would create the perfect opening for any assassin or ambush, and their pursuer-ideally with some backup-would seize the false opportunity.
Sure enough the next dreadbeast they fought pounced on Grace and she gave a practiced cry of pain as she fell to the ground, dispatching the creature with the last of her strength.
"Grace!" Lindon yelled in an exaggerated voice. [You'd have to be an idiot to find that convincing. You should ask Mercy to take you to more plays.] Lindon ignored Dross and ran over to the 'wounded' Grace. She was splayed on the ground, her swords on the dirt, and she held her side in apparent pain. A branch cracked.
Keeping his senses on his surroundings, Lindon tended to Grace.
"I can't go on. The wound is too great." Grace said with more genuine-sounding emotion than Lindon would have guessed. It was ruined by the grin that threatened to break out across her lips but he hoped the pursuer wouldn't see that.
"I'll have to carry you." Another branch cracked. Lindon practically yelled his next words as he scooped up Grace in his arms. "I hope we don't run into any trouble, I would have a hard time fighting like this." Dross sent Lindon a vision of the mindspirit burying his face into two purple hands.
Lindon had barely held Grace for a second before something black rushed out of the trees towards them. Immediately she dropped to the ground, a spot of color on her pale cheeks as she cycled her madra just as he did. Blackflame surged through his channels, filling him with the destructive power of the black dragons, and he prepared a fist-sized bar of Dragon's Breath to shoot through the approaching figure. Then the hood was pulled back and Lindon stopped.
Standing before him and Akura Grace, red-faced and angry as ever, was Akura Pride. Lines of darkness crept up his neck and Lindon sensed the power of multiple enforcer techniques on his body as the short Akura walked up to the two of them.
"You! What do you think you're doing?" Pride said harshly, accusation clear in his tone.
Lindon and Grace shared a look of confusion before they turned back to Pride. That seemed to only make him angrier.
"Pardon, but were you following us?" Lindon asked.
"What? No! Of course not! Now tell me what you were doing!" Pride pressed him.
"Really?" Grace drew out the word in a voice that reminded Lindon of her family's Monarch, Akura Malice. "You just happened to be travelling in the same direction, hiding behind trees whenever we turned towards you?"
Pride faltered. "I-well. It's… You...I was just making sure you and Lindon were alright." [Oooh. I think we found someone who's an even worse actor than you!] Dross chimed in.
"We were just about to return, in case you want to keep following us." Grace looked annoyed.
"Very well, but first I need to speak to Lindon privately." Pride walked away and jerked his head at Lindon to follow. Grace shot him a look but he just shrugged, he had as much idea of what this was about as she did. He followed after Pride.
When they were out of sight behind a tree, Pride turned around and drew himself up to his non-considerable height. He was even shorter than Yerin. Pride scowled at him and stepped close. "Just what were you doing? You think because you're all alone and there's no one watching that you can just act like that?" Pride whispered harshly to Lindon.
"What are you talking about?" Lindon questioned.
"Don't play dumb with me!" Pride half-yelled and shadows formed in wisps around him. "I saw what you were doing with Grace."
"Oh." Lindon said as he finally realized. Pride must be talking about the fact that he was pushing himself so hard for points. Lindon was surprised that Pride even cared, they had never been close. "Is that really worth all this? it's not such a big deal."
Pride's eyes widened in fury. "Not a big deal? What kind of a man are you? What would Mercy say if she saw you and Grace?"
Lindon scratched his face. "I think she'd probably encourage me. Sure maybe she would ask me to slow down a bit, but in the end Mercy would say that I should take advantage of every opportunity."
"Slow down? Take advantage? Every opportunity?" Pride's voice shook with each word. "What kind of image do you have of my sister? You disgust me! With her own family…"
"Family?" Lindon wasn't sure what Pride meant. "Oh, well The Sage of the Silver Heart would say the same I imagine."
"Aunt Charity? She's involved too?" Pride said in disbelief. The wisps of shadow around his body had strengthened into flows. A haze of darkness hung around Pride.
"The two of us got off to a rocky start," Lindon admitted, "but the Sage has been a big help. All those nights in Moongrave, I don't know how I would have gotten along without her." Lindon, of course, was speaking about the training materials and assistance that Akura Charity had provided in order to prepare him for the Uncrowned King Tournament. Pride interpreted those words very differently.
Lindon looked at Pride who was shaking. Not only were the boy's fists twitching but spiritually his shadow madra swirled around him in an angry whirlpool. Lindon didn't understand what was wrong with him. Did Pride really care about Lindon that much? Was he really so worried about Lindon burning himself out in the pursuit of points and advancement?
"Look, Pride." Lindon mustered up a smile and placed a reassuring hand on Pride's shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll limit myself. I can't stop completely, you know that, but I'll try to settle into a more sustainable pace."
A fist covered in shadow madra and enhanced by a weave of four enforcer techniques shot towards Lindon's face.