Sora Brontarion
Mornings in the floating forest were harsh. With nothing to soften the sun's glare, the heat pressed down unrelentingly. Yet in that light, I felt a strange empowerment, as if the anxiety of the night before was burning away.
My new comrades didn't receive the same empowerment. Voen paced back and forth, twirling his flute between his fingers. Nerena coiled up like a snail in its shell. The only one who was unbothered was Jace, but he wasn't going with us.
Sighing, I activated my second node. Cosmic energy calmly flowed into my astral tattoo. With electricity dancing on my fingertips, I remembered when I accomplished my first lightning divination.
Grandma's wrinkled grin stretched far and wide. Her spirit was infectious, and it poured confidence into me. This was what I wanted for my teammates. I poured those feelings into the lighting in my palm and shot a thin stream into Voen and Nerena.
Electricity surged through their bodies, snapping them to attention. Their posture changed; happy, confident thoughts radiated from them.
They became focused and eager to take on the task. I needed them to be. Based on our intel, Stravos didn't carry most of the totems with him; they were kept in a safe that was moved frequently within their base.
Nerena snapped her head in my direction. "Sora, what did you do?"
I smiled at her. "I need you on your A-game if we're gonna succeed in this heist."
Voen jumped and started to stretch, while Nerena held my gaze for a moment, then nodded once and turned away.
Turning my attention to the leaderboards, I noticed that our team was now in third place. It made me wonder what happened last night for that to happen.
Scrolling down the list, I saw that Mira was now ninth, bouncing back from losing all of her totems earlier. But at the bottom of the list I saw Cyrus. He had zero.
"The consequences of going solo," I said to myself, the sound of the barrier closing in muffling my words.
Voen walked over to me, eyes fixed on his watch. "Someone got busy last night…. Oh, wait, that sounds bad."
Jace burst out into laughter at Voen's comment, which caused Nerena's cold expression to soften.
I couldn't help but laugh. This was the type of environment and camaraderie I was looking for.
Soon afterwards, my brother saw us off.
Just as we planned, Nerena entered the river, and Voen and I followed. Her constellation was something special; whenever she was around water, it seemed to obey her every thought.
Nerena created bubbles for Voen and I to breathe in. She needed none herself; cosmic gills manifested around her neck.
Now that we were secured in the bubbles, Nerena conjured her astral tentacles. Suction cups latching onto our bubble vehicles. Before I could even give the ok, she was off. For a moment, it felt like the river answered her command, painting the world around us blue.
Experiencing her abilities in this way was a bit unsettling. On the outside, she was a soft-spoken and introverted girl. But within her, she had this eerie power that would terrify the bravest of warriors.
I wanted to know more about her. But we had no time for that; we had an objective to complete, and I was lucky to have the perfect person for the job.
Moving at the speed of a roaring current, we reached our target zone in a matter of minutes. Before we all left the river, Nerina cloaked herself and surveyed the area.
Moments later, our bubbles started to surface and popped, releasing us from our vehicles. Quickly, Voen and I swam to the shore of the riverbed and climbed out of the water.
Nerena appeared beside me, startling me. "It seems that there isn't anyone watching this side."
Scanning for electrical signatures, I was able to confirm her words. I motioned for them to follow me. We slowly crept to the boundary of their stronghold. The closer we got, I began to hear murmurs, far fewer than I'd expected.
With it being the last day, I assumed they'd return to where their numbers gave them strength. It seemed like only half of their forces were present, compared to when Nerena and I saved Voen earlier.
"It looks like the pantheon blessed us. Our plan is going smoother than we thought." Voen whispered, his eyes bright with delight.
"Maybe. But something feels off, Voen."
"How so? We got the drop on them."
"Shhh," Nerena said, placing her finger over her lips.
I looked Voen in the eyes, "The group we're facing is led by a Vortaris. They're masters of war, and nothing they do is without reason. So, we wait. Just a bit longer."
"Fine, you're the boss after all."
Stravos's base had six large makeshift huts, and three smaller ones, all placed in a circle equal distant from the center where the remnants of a bonfire rested.
The closest hut to us was one of the smaller ones. I motioned Nerena and Voen to follow my lead, as I darted to the back of the hut.
"Voen your up," I whispered. I had already checked for electric signatures, but in this situation, I just wanted to be cautious.
He placed his ear to the mud wall, and several moments passed. "Do you hear anything?" He shook his head no. Immediately, I coated my hand in electricity and carved an opening into the malleable wall.
Nerena filed in first, then Voen and I followed after. But as we entered the dark hut, we soon realized it was a dud.
The safe wasn't here.
"Alright, Nerena, you're up." Giving a slight nod, she disappeared to survey the area before we moved again.
As we waited, I noticed Voen's hands were trembling.
"Don't worry, Voen, our plan is foolproof," I said, giving him a gentle, electricity-charged pat.
"We have the perfect team for the situation."
Fidgeting with his flute, "Scared? What made you think that?"
I didn't respond; I just waited for my ability to do its job. Just as his posture and emotions were changing for the better, Nerena reappeared.
"If we go to the left, we shouldn't run into anyone."
"Perfect. Let's go." We quickly left the way we came and slowly crept to the outer boundary before reaching the next hut.
This hut was larger, and, as before, we entered from the back. Inside, there were several rooms.
I gestured to split and search the rooms. The rooms I checked were empty.
"Guys, I got something," Voen whispered. Nerena and I darted over to him. In the room, there was a wide chest lying on the muddy ground. Cosmic energy hummed from it.
I stepped toward the chest and kneeled before it. There was a lock made of cosmic energy. A specific astral tech, due to its crest, seemed to have been created by the Vortaris family.
The lock was tricky to open; one needed to reverse the pins with a certain flow of cosmic energy. But I didn't have time for that.
Electricity jumped from my fingertips and shot into the lock. I planned to override with my current, charging it to the point it would explode. In a matter of seconds, the lock shattered. But when I opened it, there was a behemoth core with a note attached.
The note read: Here's a core, you'll need it.
Then suddenly, Voen shouts in pain, covering his ears, "Sora, an alarm went off, students are coming over now. We gotta get out of here."
In haste, we dashed out of the hut. Looking over my shoulder, I could see students charging after us. I couldn't believe I fell for it. Our plan was ruined, and I couldn't help but look at the camera floating near me, knowing that they were watching me.
"Retreat to the water!" I shouted, just as a deep rumble tore through the ground beneath us.
Beneath my feet, the ground crackled and trembled, reshaping itself—the once calm stronghold, now a commotion of chaos. Through the chaos, a few familiar faces caught my eye: Stravos's lackeys… and Mira.
Her actions were bold; attacking a fortress all by herself was a feat I don't think anyone with a tactile mind would think of doing.
Her display of power hit a nerve. I had been too nice to her before and was made to look like a fool. I wasn't going to let that happen again. Stopping in my tracks, I motioned for my teammates to halt.
"So… what are we going to do about her?" Voen chided.
I could feel a smile forming on my face. "Nothing, you were right, Voen. The pantheons did bless us. Let's use the chaos to find where they were stashing their totems."
" We are switching to Plan B." I declared. Locking eyes with Nerena, I gave her a nod, and within an instant, she was invisible once again.
"While Nerena is busy, you'll be with me." Voen's joyful attitude dimmed ever so slightly as he took out his flute from his dimensional storage. I cloaked myself in an electrical current and took point, while Voen and I entered the battlefield.
Navigating the battlefield was harder than I thought. Mira's control of the earth was frightening. Most of Stravos's troops struggled to maneuver through the ever-changing terrain.
Members of Stravos's team were stumbling over one another and crashing into randomly obstructed walls. But the three lackeys of Stravos were better than the rest of the troops; the three students swiftly traversed the base to get to Mira.
Hut after hut, Voen and I searched the stronghold for the totems with no luck. There were only two left to search. Nerena had done a great job of stealthily capturing members of Stravos's cohort. Using her bubbles, she trapped them in the river with no way to escape.
I took a glance and saw that the three Vortaris branch family members had finally engaged Mira, each attacking her from varying angles. As Voen and I headed to the last hut, I could feel the intensity of their cosmic energy radiating around us.
"So is your leader scared to face me?" Mira's voice rang, throwing a boulder at the girl attacking her from the side. "You guys must love being pawns."
"That will be the last time you disrespect the prince!" Then, with an explosive step, a boy from the group dashed up the thirty-foot mound Mira had created.
"Thank the pantheon, we are not fighting them." Voen sighed as we entered the last hut.
The large dimensional storage lay on the hut's floor, pulsing with cosmic energy from the lock. A shadow stirred to my left, and I felt the air tense.
"I really wish you hadn't said that." My stomach sank as I took in the sight before us: Stravos's War Titan, standing guard and poised for combat.