"Do you like my new tag?" Kris asked.
John gazed tiredly from where he was sharpening his horseshoes. "What?"
"My tag," Kris remarked with a grin. He sat alongside the wooden railings of Autumnvale's platforms. After polishing a shiny brass namepiece in the center of his leather armor, he proudly uttered, "It's an alternative to the one I wore during our last trek. I think it'll bring us good luck."
John snorted. "I think it sucks."
"You think everything sucks. That's why you don't get paid as much as good ol'Tobias."
"Red, YOU don't get paid as much as Tobias either!"
"Yeah, but at least I don't have a wife who hates my guts!"
"You don't have a wife, period!"
"Yeah... well... uhm..." Kris fidgeted, frowned, and sweeped a few flakes of wood out into the misty air of the mountainside. "Nice job becoming bat fodder last night."
"Hey, I held my own. Besides, I was half-awake."
"Yeah, more like half-dead. I heard the Outrider had to save your sorry ass again."
"So what if she did?" John murmured, gazing quietly at the metal shoes he was scraping to a sturdy edge. "As least she knew what she was doing. I think we jumped on her hair a little too quickly. If she was around town more often, heck, maybe those creatures would finally let us be."
"Did you come to this assessment before or after she pulled you out of hydra's throat?"
"Knock it off, dude," John groaned. "I'm not the only one who's been off his game as of late. The way I see it, all of us could use some help. It just stinks having to admit it."
"One Outrider isn't enough to drive away those freaky monsters. If that was the case, I'm sure a little bit of colorful flame and pyrotechnics would have sent them packing years ago."
"It's just that they keep coming!" John exclaimed with a frown. A gust of air blew at his hair as he and Kris sat outside the hustle and bustle of Autumnvale. "It's like wherever they hail from, it's gotta be some sort of bottomless pit! And don't tell me that this dang farm is something natural, cuz it ain't!" He gazed up at the mists just a spit's length from the glowing crystals. "I don't think all of the mage stones in the world will be enough to clear the air to the way it used to be."
"Say, John..." Kris shuffled closer towards him and whispered in a low breath. "You remember that village that we keep stopping by to the northwest."
"You gotta be a lot more specific than that, Kris."
"You know the one! With the windmill and the creek and the wheat fields—"
"Oh yes. 'Golden Grove' or some nonsense..."
"It's got a remarkable cluster of mineral deposits along the hilltops to the west, don't you think?"
"Maybe..." John murmured. In the ensuing silence, he paused, then squinted curiously at his companion. "Wait, are you thinking what I think you're thinking...?"
"All it would take is one expedition to dig in there, determine the quality of the rock, and then see if the land has any claim to it," Kris remarked. "You don't think I'd make that horrible of a neighbor, do you?"
"It depends on how much you open your mouth, quite frankly." John sighed and leaned . "Pal... I don't like what I'm hearing..."
"Don't tell me you haven't thought of it..."
"My great-great-great-grandfather one tried leaving the village. He nearly died from malaria in the southern swamps where he set up a new home. I've always thought about that story that's been handed down to me. Moving out of Autumnvale is just too troublesome, Kris. I've got a household—a family to take care of. You know I can't be thinking all about my own well-being, and neither can you!"
"My mom and siblings are sick and tired of every other night turning into a battle!" Kris uttered hoarsely. He frowned as he continued, "I'd rather brave malaria than these dang creatures again and again and again. I know it must be tough setting up a new place, but have you ever thought of what's keeping us here? I mean... what's really keeping us?"
"I try not to..."
"It helps to have an open mind, John, even if it's an empty one."
"Open your own brain and let's see what spills out," John said with an angry grunt. After a few seconds, he inhaled deeply and muttered, "But Raymond hasn't been all too reasonable lately. If he could at least... I dunno... give us an assessment of how terribly this village has actually fallen, I might at least be able to make a better career choice. If all of Tobias' expeditions are failing to put an end to the creatures, then maybe I should be going to the mines. Heck, I should bring my wife down there with me. It's probably safer there than on the surface."
"All I know is that something's gotta change," Kris said, and his expression was a painful one. "Because I really don't know what I'll do if one of my little brothers or sisters bites the dust. This town has cost us enough as it is. I'm almost afraid to imagine what it could claim from us in the future."
"Well, it's nice to see that Conrad isn't completely full of it, at least," said the voice of Amber.
Both men bolted in their seats. They turned to see the red Outrider marching up and removing a hard hat from her skull.
"Hey. Where's... uhm... Mike?"
"What, you hungry?" Kris remarked, then chuckled. "Oh, that's right! You don't eat raw meat. Heheheh!"
"Go toss yourself off the side, Red," John grumbled. He gazed up at Amber. "The little squirt's off doing goddess-knows-what in the town market. Why? Something the matter?"
"I'm beginning to think that asking that sort of question in this town is kind of beating a dead... well... you know..." Amber walked past them. "Sniff you two marsupials later."
"Pffft..." Kris rolled his eyes once she was gone. "Friggin' easterners. I swear, they think with their head on fire. With her, it might be literal."
"She heard that," John muttered.
"No she didn't."
"I heard that!" Amber called from beyond.
"No you didn't!" Kris barked.
John smirked for the first time that day.
It had been nearly a day, but there was still debris left over from the last entanglement with the invading creatures. While all the citizens of Autumnvale were busy chatting, haggling, trading, and carrying on with their own little businesses, one person was left to clean up what remained of the mess.
Mika sighed as she grabbed several chunks of loose wood and tossed them into a wagon behind her. A splintery pile of junk had formed in the of the cart. She added to this refuse slowly, lethargically, as if begging for time to slow down around her.
She came upon a large, overturned bucket. Reaching for it, she paused. Mike looked up and gazed across the central courtyard of Autumnvale. Across the way, an old woman and an old man were walking side by side, carrying saddlebags full of mining wares. They chatted with a local blacksmith, their faces shadowed and serious.
A deep breath came out of Mika. She sat on the wall, pulled her hood down, and ran a hand through her short blonde threads. She briefly looked like a person three times her years, and equally as dull.
"Are they your parents or something?"
Mika jumped onto her feet with a gasp. She winced, rolled her eyes, and growled over her shoulder. "You really gotta stop doing that."
"Can't help it." Amber glide down behind her. "I think in three dimensions."
"Uh huh..."
"Nothing against village folks. If the sky was made of turnips, I'm sure they'd think beyond two dimensions as well—"
"Did you find out anything from your trip to the mine?"
"Only that it's a mine and it's deep and there's this weird—" Amber paused, gulped, and said, "I met Tobias there."
"Funny." Mike turned her back to the wooden bucket. "I thought you went down there to talk to Conrad."
"Well. Y-yeah. I kinda did..."
"And what became of that?"
"He pretty much blew a lot of hot air. I guess it comes in handy way deep in the mines. Heh." Amber smirked tiredly into the shadows of the nearby alleyway. "So, like. Seriously. Are they your parents?"
With a rope grasped in her mouth, she replied, "Mmmf..." Mika picked a few shredded pieces of rope and tossed them into the cart.
Amber raised an eyebrow. "Well?"
"Yeah..." Mika muttered. "For what it's worth."
Amber leaned her head curiously to the side. "That's a weird thing to say. I thought village kids were crazy-respectful of their old folks and stuff."
"Aren't all kids?"
"I never knew my parents," Amber said. "I was raised by my Grandfather, but that's kind of typical for Outriders. It's hard to make a homestead in the field. And... heh..." She winked at Mika playfully. "When you can fly, it's a lot easier to get away with one night stands."
"Guess that explains a lot about you."
Amber blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Mika merely paced around the cart. "I figure that I don't need a family. I can take care of myself. Besides, who needs a bunch of old horses that will just make you feel bad?"
Amber looked thoughtfully at her. "Did you guys have a falling out?"
"That assumes I was anywhere high to fall from to begin with," Mika murmured. She frowned Amber's way. "Why do souls in this world have to be all bothersome and judgmental of other souls?"
"Cuz if we bothered and judged ourselves all the time, we'd get bored really quick?"
"Is that all you ever think about? What's boring versus what's exciting?"
"If it helps me to think about it all the time, then sure!" Amber said. "What gets you going on your own road so long, even if it's just your own road and nobody else?"
"I'm not like you."
"That's kind of why I asked the question, don't you think?"
Mika shifted where she stood. She gazed lonesomely at the two folks across the courtyard. "It's not like they don't know I'm here, that I still work for Tobias. I guess a part of me just hopes that someday they'll come to their senses, that they'll accept me for who I am... for what I am..."
Amber opened her mouth, but paused. She bit her lip briefly, feeling the weight of her saddlebag, and a certain golden delicious fruit that she had left inside there days ago. Clearing her throat, she decided to say, "Well, Conrad doesn't know anything about where the creatures are coming from, and there certainly aren't any of them inside the caves. Raymond doesn't seem to want to try and learn more about these monsters. And poor Tobias is caught in the center, too weak and too old to properly do anything his wisdom tells him to."
"Yeah...?" Mika squinted at her. "Care to tell me something I don't know?"
"Is there any reason to?" Amber said, frowning heavily. "This town just doesn't know how to pick itself up. I've never been to a place where so many folks are so split on what to do or where to go that they instead decide to hang out exactly where they are and let the shit hit the fan. It's crazy. It's like you folks are going nowhere. And, no matter what I try or do, I don't think there's any hope in this craziness changing—"
"You're leaving?"
Amber blinked at Mika.
She looked at her intently. Her expression was long. "You're leaving, aren't you?"
"Look, I didn't say that—"
"But you're thinking it," Mika declared. She pointed. "You haven't even taken your saddlebag off since you got here. Don't tell me it's as important as that gold necklace around your neck."
"I just... I just don't think that..." Amber found herself at a loss for words. She avoided Mika' gaze for a while, exhaled deeply, and said in a low voice. "There's nothing for me here. This town, these folks—you're all spectacular and stuff, but you're not the folks I'm loyal to."
"Then why tell me this?" Mika asked sharply. "Why'd you come here to see me?"
"Because..." Amber shifted where she stood. She heard Mika' footsteps coming closer, and she made an even greater effort to look away. "Well... uhm... you t-took care of me and stuff, y'know, after those monsters banged me up good."
Mika was two breaths' distance at this point. "Is that the only reason?" she asked. It was a breathy tone, neither angry nor kind.
Amber bit her lip. She tilted her head towards Mika' slightly. If she moved a single inch, their necks would make contact. "Yeah..." She eventually said. "That's the only reason."
The air was quiet for a moment. The mists parted ways and were filled in once more.
When Mika spoke, it was in a low voice, like the hanging of her head. "You know how you said that there's nothing for you here?"
Amber finally looked at her. "Yeah?"
Mika glanced up, and her lip quivered. "Is there anything for you anywhere, Amber?"
She hesitated responding. Before the moment could become too stretched, there was a rattling noise to their backs. Amber and Mika turned and squinted into the alleyway.
"What the..."
"Where'd that come from?"
"I... I think something's under that bucket."
"What bucket—?"
With a shrieking noise, the wooden container exploded. A lone, bruised creature erupted into the air of Autumnvale, streaking straight towards Amber's skull.
"Gaaah!" Amber grunted as she took the full brunt of the diving creature in her forelimbs. She was flung hard onto the wooden platforms of Autumnvale with a thrashing, stabbing monster at the end of her feet. "No good, blood sucking, bird brained, near-sighted, tarantula huffing, sonuva—"
"Roll!" Mika's voice shouted.
Amber gave her a crooked glance from beyond the monster's flailing limbs. "The heck?!"
Mika pointed, her eyes wide. "Roll! Roll!"
Amber looked to her left. A pile of sharp wooden splinters remained of the bucket. "Oh. Awesome! Raaaaugh!" She flung her body to the left. She and the creature barreled across the floor until she pressed its weight hard onto the sharp shards of debris.
The creature let loose a hideous shriek. In its pain, it disentangled itself from Amber and thrashed across the alleyway of Autumnvale, bleeding.
Mika rushed over to Amber's side. "Are you okay?!"
"Better than okay," Amber snarled and batted her away as she stood up. "Pissed!"
The monster flapped its wings and jumped upright. All of the citizens of Autumnvale were alerted by that point. Men and womaen and kids gasped in fright at the bleeding thing in the misty daylight. It spun about, hissing at every living thing collectively.
"Hey!" Amber snarled and charged the invader. "Right here, gorgeous! If you wanna dance, you'd better know how to shimmy—"
The creature's left wing uppercutted Amber.
"Ooof!" Amber flew through Mika cart, collapsing in a pile of debris.
"Nnngh!" Mika gripped a wooden club in her hands and slammed the weight of it across the creature's hide.
The monster reeled, rolled through piles of dust, and flapped spasmodically in the middle of the street. By that time, four men in leather armor had galloped up. backing them was none other than Conrad. With bright eyes, he pointed and shouted at his guards. "Quick! Kill it! Don't give it a chance to fly away!"
"Wait!"
Several folks glanced over.
Raymond stood, trembling in the midst of two servants. He weakly walked forward and stammered, "Capture it alive! Don't kill it!"
"Father, are you crazy?!" Conrad shouted above the murmur of the crowd. His fellow folks stirred nervously by his side. "This thing is the spawn of the Abyss!" He turned towards his cohorts once more. "Slay it immediately—!"
"If we don't go about this reasonably," Raymond growled "We won't ever put a stop to this mayhem!"
"Father, there's never going to be a stop to it no matter what we do!"
"Why must you constantly challenged my wisdom—?!"
"Aaaaugh!" Amber burst loudly out of the remains of the cart. "For the love of Barbatos, shut up! You two are worse than a flying squadron of bat monkey spiders anyday!" She yanked a wheel off the wagon, spun her body, and flung the thing like a disc at the monster. "Haaaugh—!"
The twirling wheel flew past the creature, for it had dodged at the last second. It flew through the air and sliced its way straight over Amber's billowing hair.
The Outrider gasped and spun around. Her eyes widened as she saw the beast's trajectory.
It flew over the crowd, spiraled past Conrad and his comrades, and jabbed its legs down just in time to reach into the dense forest of folks... and sweep a shrieking kid up off his feet.
"Unnngh—Aaaah! Mommy!" the little boy wailed as he was swept into the dense mists beyond the village's wailing.
A woman reached out for him, sobbing hysterically. Before she could plunge off into the mountainside, none other than Kris held her down.
"Somebody! Anybody!" Kris shouted, his face flung between anger and sheer horror. "Help! It's snatched my lil bro! That stupid demon filth's got my little brother!"
Raymond's face went pale. A shudder of despair swam through the crowd. Once it reached, Mika, she was nearly in tears. With a quivering lip, she looked over and murmured, "Amber...?"
The Outrider was already gone, her glider wings slicing a path directly after the leathery kidnapper.
Amber squinted. Only at full speed did she realize how painful it was to soar directly into the mists. She gnashed her teeth, and briefly climbed up. With a twirl, she flung her forelimbs to her backbag and whipped out her goggles. She slapped them over her head, spun about, and barreled through the clouds, unimpeded.
It was like those Outrider trials, Amber said in her mind. Using the wind as a guide, and fly freely without fear. That leap of faith, it was the only way to give her courage. With that courage, only then those with faith can truly fly.
But it wasn't enough.
Her shielded eyes darted left and right, desperately searching for a break in the mists. It occurred to her then that the monsters were indicative of the fog, and thus it would be folly to think that they'd leave a trail in the dense floating clouds.
"Dang it..."
She hissed. She seethed. She looked every which way as she glided blindly forward.
"Dang it dang it dang it dang it dang it! Think! Where could it have—?"
Amber's heart skipped. She heard a shrill cry. It was the boy. Somewhere beyond the billowing clouds, the kid's wailing cries of horror were loud enough to reach her through the wind.
"Hold on!" Amber yelled and pulled up high. "I'm coming! Keep shouting so I can hear you!" The wind answered her call, and a gust blasted upwards.
The boy kept screaming, whether or not he had heard Amber's command. The red Outrider climbed skyward, breaking through the top of the cloud. The uninterrupted rays of the sun came at a sharp angle. It was late into the afternoon, and judging from the burning horizon to her left, Amber judged that she was flying north.
And the creature...
Amber gasped.
She could see a leathery speck far below, breaking barely over the forested mountains that backed the northern face of the huge structure that Autumnvale clung to. Its wings flapped viciously. Meanwhile, a tiny shape flailed in the thing's arachnid limbs.
"Let him go, ya filthy creep!" Amber's teeth gritted from behind billowing lips as she went into a hard dive. The wind whistled past her ears, cheering her on. Her hair threatened to tear off from the sheer force of the plummet. "Nnnnnngh...!" Amber came within four hundred feet of the monster... three hundred... two hundred...
The creature twitched in midair, as if invisibly sensing Amber's presence. With a loud shriek, it dove low and sliced through the branches and leaves of several trees.
Amber dipped down and threaded through the forest after it. Twigs and pine cones and specks of bark went flying. An overturned tree lay in their wake. The creature flew over it. Amber threaded under, twirled past a mound of dirt, picked up a loose branch, and prepared to clobber the monster from behind.
"Get ready to kiss the ground, ya kid-plucker—"
There was a flicker of lavender in the edges of Amber's vision, and her entire world spun.
"Unnngh!" She gasped and spun wildly in mid-flight. She dropped the branch altogether and clung her throbbing skull. Panting, she could barely focus on the chase altogether as every sense in her body went dizzy. "Nnngh... No! For the love of dandelions, not now!"
The creature ahead of her blurred into three, then four, then to one again. All the while, it was gaining distance, flying further and further out of reach. The boy in the spidery clutches sobbed and pleaded for mercy.
"Aaaaugh!" Amber snarled. The lenses of her goggles fogged. She felt like she was at the bottom of a wild centrifuge. It was pure torture simply beating her wings. "Hnnngh—Come on! Stop it! Stop—Haaaaugh!" In desperation, she kicked off a tree, flexed her muscles, and propelled herself forward like a cannon.
The world screamed cyclically about her dizzy spell. There was a swirl of branches, a flash of leather, then the strobe of a tiny kid's teary eyes.
Amber slammed hard into the side of a tree.
"Ooof!"
The kid disappeared from view, replaced by the merciless texture of the ground.
Amber bounced off the forest floor, rolled several feet, plunged off a mound of rocks, and came to a thudding stop on the northern edge of a cliff.
"Ughhhh..." She hissed through her teeth and clutched her head. The world was a streak of light, swimming all around her. She couldn't tell which way was up. She only knew that she had failed, and it wasn't something she could help. Her urge to sob was overcome only by an urge to vomit. Bravely, she fought both impulses and forced her twitching eyes open.
White turned to yellow and to red again. Her amber irises spun to a stop as the madness settled. In the foggy glance she had of the horizon, a tiny leather dot was skimming its way over the hills and banking northeast towards a craggy line of mountains.
Panting, Amber forced herself up. Her legs wobbled. Her belly drooped low to the dirt. She felt like she would implode at any second. A whimper came from her mouth. It swiftly turned into a snarl, and then into a yell. It felt like tearing herself through her very own flesh, but she managed to take off yet again. Her flight through the dizziness was an awkward thing, but it was flight nonetheless. With her goggled gaze locked northeast, she flew as fast as she could after her distant target.
The boy-carrying creature was a never-ending speck along the northern horizon. Amber knew this, for she had been staring at it for hours.
Her pursuit of the monster was resolute. Not for one second did she take her goggled eyes off the thing. Mountains and forests and rivers blurred underneath her, and the sun was slowly melting into the west. Fairly soon, the cold blanket of night would envelop the world, and Amber would have little to no chance of tracking the creature anymore. She had to do something about that. She had to catch up with the thing.
Her dizziness had eventually cleared, but its impact on her flight was undeniable. Amber had allowed herself to fall horribly behind. The energy had been sapped from her body, and she cannot keep her glider straight. Her body throbbed from a deep pain. Every nerve in her being was complaining over her refusal to stop and relax like with previous episodes.
But if she stopped for one second, if she allowed this monster to disappear into the hills of the north, then Kris's little brother may never see his family again. He may never see anything again. Amber wondered if this was what happened to the poor souls that the villagers of Autumnvale were incapable of observing. Every "death" and "tragedy" was simply a creature sweeping one of the helpless village folks away to a grim fate. But just where did that fate lie? Was this thing taking the boy to its nest? To some infernal pit? To the end of the world?
The creature simply did not stop. Amber refused to believe that it had some sort of inherent intelligence, that it was simply distracting her for the sake of distracting her. For that matter, hardly any of that mattered A boy's life was at stake, and Amber couldn't stop to guess what was right or wrong, smart or dumb about her chase. She simply had to continue the chase...
Gliding over mountain tops and skimming the roofs of forests, the monster flew ever-northward. Amber found the path of pursuit easy, since the creature was apparently intent on following a specific range of hills that ran north from the source of Autumnvale itself. This is what made Amber assume that the destination was going to be a pit or a valley of some sort. Gradually, the hills sloped down and down, so that the landscape was becoming increasingly flatter. What's more, the trees were beginning to vanish as the topography favored wide plains of grass and moss.
Amber could only grit her teeth. If somehow she was going to be introduced to wherever these creatures came from, there was a good chance she would come out that day as the first girl from Mondstadt in millennia to eat meat raw. And enjoy it.
Amber was gnashing her teeth. The night had fallen, the darkness threatened to consume the horizon soon. Her chances of catching up would slim tremendously.
She had taken her goggles off, exposing her tearing eyes to the wind.
The reason she had done this was because the moonlight was causing a horrible glint on her lenses. And as she was flying at one particular angle to catch up with the creature, it was obscuring her vision.
So now, with the fall of night and darkness looming all around, she was resorting to a naked stare into the northern heights of Ashengate. She had to. There was no other choice. Just half a kilometer ahead, blazing towards the northern edge of the world, was the creature with the boy in tow.
Amber's arms were aching, stretching wide to command her glider. Her body was numb and her stomach felt like it was going to cave in at any second. She couldn't stop now. She had gained some distance. In less than an hour, she estimated, she would either tackle the creature... or collapse from exhaustion.
She did her best not to doubt herself. She refused to think, only to fly, rocketing after the infernal creature in the purple haze of the sleeping world.
It was precisely at that moment that a loud hum filled the air. The sky around Amber danced with light, making it hard for her to keep focus on her target. She cursed under her breath as her Vision strobes beneath the glowing moon, and a familiar voice drifted magically out of it.
"Young Amber, we wish you a fine evening."
"Your Excellency ," Amber grumbled. "This isn't exactly a good time."
"Hmmm. A tone of great frustration lace in your voice? Wouldst you care to elaborate on your inner-turmoil?"
"Seriously, lady Shogun," Amber tried shouting. It came out as a wheeze. She was startled at how weary she was suddenly feeling. "I'm in a bit of a bind at the moment. Every time I use my lungs to breathe, I'm keeping myself from gliding faster."
"There is a urgency to your current flight? To what degree of importance is this?"
"What's it matter?! Look, your Excellency , I'd love to talk. But I gotta catch you another night or—"
"We may be able to assist you in momentary acceleration." There was something ominous rumbling in the background.
"Huh?!" Amber's dry eyes twitched. She struggled to keep her target in sight as her entire face paled over. "You can?! How the heck-?!"
"We know little of this 'heck' that you moention, but it matters little. The winds are an essential component of your speed and versatility, correct?"
The sensation of electro was ticking within her neck, over the Vision that glowed with power. "Uhhhhh... Yeah?"
The flaming gem burned with red, alongside the trickling noise of purple electricity. "Then if I were imbue your Vision with my divine essence, then my thunder's natural gift of speed might be improved for a short spell."
"Hey! Uh, sure! I dunno what 'imbue' means, but that could really, really help me out at this moment."
"There is only one problem."
"Hah. Yeah. What's that?"
"It will cut our conversation short, for we will no longer possess the power to speak with you across distances until another evening."
"Your Excellency , I love chattin' with ya. I really do. But right now, I could a little less of your gab and a little more of your pew pew."
"I shall pretend that I understand your peculiar vernacular. Commencing with the energy transference."
Amber grinned. "I'll—like—totally talk to you tomorrow night and stuff."
"I shall hold you to it." The voice was drowned out as the Vision's glow intensified.
Amber held her breath. She found it hard to keep squinting and focusing on her target as a bright strobe emanated from her Vision. The air around her started to glimmer with an effluent purple aura. Soon, her arms started to hurt. For fear of losing limbs, she briefly stopped her glider... and then realized that she didn't need to open her glider wings. She was coasting straight forward like a firework, being pushed by translucent currents of pure electro.
"Whoah..." She gasped as her glide accelerated more and more, whistling her like a rocket straight north. "Whoah whoah whoah whoah—Hah hah hah!" She smiled devilishly and finally strapped her goggles on. "Now we're cooking!"
The Shogun's long-distance divine blessing pushed Amber faster than her mind and body could compensate for. Not only was she catching up on the monster, but in a matter of seconds she would be overtaking it. She clenched her teeth and straightened her body as the glowing Vision throttled her towards the leathery target's rear. She feared that she might split the air with an unnatural thunder, or else illuminate the clouds around them with her pendant's glow. Whatever the case, the monster made no sign of detecting Amber's presence.
Amber's face was moist with sweat. Her goggles pressed hard into her face. Above, the stars of night began to blur as she reached peak velocity. She could already feel the energy in her Vision fading, and she realized that it was either now or never.
She came up to just above the monster. She held her breath and glided down. She stretched her arms wide eagerly, spotting the poor, dangling body of the kidnapped boy just within reach. Then she saw nothing but teeth.
Amber gasped, for the monster had spun completely around and launched itself at her. The two collided hard in mid-air. The creature angled its wings and caught a gust of air. It used the heavy currents to uppercut Amber with its body. Amber merely absorbed the blow and grabbed ahold of the monster's body with her arms. Her weight tugged awkwardly at the thing, and two souls plummeted towards the mountains.
A horizontal row of teeth shimmered in the moonlight as it lunged and snapped towards Amber's face. Amber dodged each thrust, all the while dishing out heavy hand-strikes to the creature's flat excuse for a forehead. The monster cried and jerked left and right, attempting to fling Amber off. Its weight was already offset by the boy's body dangling below.
After nearly losing her grip, a flicker of righteous anger drew across Amber's eyes. She jabbed her neck forward and literally bit into the right wing of the creature. She didn't draw blood, but she held the monster's wing down. From the awkward lunge of her weight, the two fliers twirled earthward like a spinning comet.
Then, suddenly, the free-fall tripled in momentum. Amber became aware of a shrieking body being flung into the dark haze of the world below. The boy had just awoken from his stupor, and just in time to be dropped like a tiny bag of bricks into the ground below.
Amber gasped and dove towards the falling kid. She lurched in midair, for the creature's arachnid legs were grabbing her from behind. She hissed, twisted, and kicked her legs hard into the creature's face. The monster flew off of her, and Amber plummeted.
The boy disappeared. All was fog and screaming. Seething through her teeth, Amber ripped her goggles off and flung it into the purple atmosphere. With tearing eyes, she scoured the yawning forests below. There was a blacker-than-black dot that was becoming smaller below her. It was the source of the screams.
Amber bulleted towards it. She clung her glider wings to her side. Her body stretched out as she became a veritable torpedo, slicing her way through the air to catch up with the collapsing boy. On either side of her, mountains rose. The stars disappeared. Trees shot up and branches and branches swallowed her and—
"Hnnnngh-Gotcha!" Amber flung her arms out into the darkness.
A tiny body clutched to her, whimpering, for the ground was less than a second away—
"Haaaugh!" Amber twirled her glider wings out. They nearly tore at the sockets, but they shredded into the wind at just the right angle to turn Amber upside down.
She spiraled, flung her shoulders to the earth, and glided over a river of dead leaves and pine needles while clutching the gasping kid safely to her chest. Half a breath later, she hit a mound of dirt and the two of them went airborne. After another breathless lunge, they slammed into the ground again—once more with Amber absorbing the blow—and skimmed to a grinding stop against a series of dead trunks.
Amber hung numbly under a chorus of trembling breaths. The kid clung to her tightly, murmuring unintelligible things. Amber's twitching eyes remained locked on the northern horizon. She saw the lone dot of the creature flying on alone, undaunted, without its prey. She saw it coast over a plume of rising smoke just beyond the next star-lit hill. And then she saw nothing.
For she had finally passed out.
