The first second of falling was exhilarating.
The second was terrifying.
By the third, Kade realized a crucial miscalculation.
The memory stated that he would fall slower...
Not how much it would slow his fall.
The singular pair of [Embodied Wrath] shifted in the wind. For the wings did not flap as such, instead, they just leveraged the orange pulsating energy to push against gravity upwards.
And gravity won.
'Great! Now I won't die on impact--I'll just break my spine.' The wind roared in his ears, the fluttering of his coat beating against his sides, his hair whipping against his forehead, limiting his view of the great sky as he fell back first.
Kade felt himself drop accelerate further, his destination on the rocky landing got closer and closer, and then the sight of his peers,
All of them mid-climb, expressions ranging from shock to horror.
Sunny. Nephis. Ike. Sandra.
"KAAaaadee—!"
Their voices screamed behind him, Dopplering away as he shot past them like a rock in the wind.
'ok, OK. How do I soften the landing?!' Kade quickly browsed through the memories he had acquired from the scavengers, yet with such limited time, he couldn't manage to grasp anything that would help. Until he remembered what came with [Embodied Wrath]'s wings.
Dash--
Moments before he plummeted, Kade focused on the energy he felt coursing through his wings, and sent a pulse of [UnyieldingAsura] at the wings. Suddenly, arcs of orange sparks burst from the wings. And he dashed.
The G-forces slammed into him. His momentum twisted violently, from falling straight down to shooting diagonally at nearly 100 kph.
The path now shifts, similar to being a rock thrown to skid across a lake.
The spiking energy wing dimmed as the dash wore off.
He managed to pass the rocky landing and found himself heading straight into the bank of sand.
'Don't let me down, legs!' Kade begged, before bracing himself.
SLAM, his heels dug into the sand, a powerful impact reverberating through his feet. It hurt, yet his bones stood strong against the force, and now he was sailing forward through the sand, the friction at his heels slowing his momentum slightly.
The adrenaline rushed through his veins, and Kade felt the euphoric relief crash into him.
'Ok, I'm alright-' Then his right foot suddenly hit a hard wall, he felt a jolt of pain before the world flipped upside down.
Kade had managed to uncover a hidden stone under the piles of sand he was excavating as he shot past. And now he was tumbling mid-air, the jagged wings still dim, hovering uselessly by his side, right as his face slammed into the sand with a muffled grunt.
From there he tumbled, flipping forward as his body repeatedly crashed into the sand, no grace present in his crash, he tasted the salty sand enter his mouth as he was thrown, bashing against it repeatedly.
Luckily, a tree of crimson coral blocked his path, and he slammed into the growth before he could tumble any further.
BANG
....
Posted upside down, legs hanging in the air, and back against the hard crimson coral. He spat out the clumps of sand that had made home in his mouth and stared distantly at the flipped world. With a poof of mist beside him. Ike manifested at his side, staring down at the Asura with concern.
"…Nailed it," Kade wheezed after a beat, coughing up more sand.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eventually Ike helped him get back on his feet, covered in bruises and rashes from his fall, Ike got to watch as the rest of the cohort Safley descended the outcropping with little difficulty, throwing various looks at the fallen brawler while doing so.
Cassie made it down with the help of the golden rope, and then the group started to head westward, Kade got plenty of remarks for his fall. As well as some inquisitive questions about why the hell he did that, or the presence of obtuse jagged wings at his side.
He did his best to explain that they were another function of his multi-armed memory, and that didn't really help there suspicion much. A memory such as that was a rare find, especially for a sleeper. And for Kade to have one with no connections to any legacy raised some questions.
He managed to not answer them for now, but the rest of the cohort was eager to pick him apart of his secrets. Well, he didn't know for sure, but that's what he could guess, especially from Sunless...
Either way, they decided to form up for the journey. Nephis stayed at the front, while her shorter scout sunless was a few steps behind her. From there it was himself and Cassie, he was left with the duty to guide her with the golden rope memory.
He was used to this. Back at the academy, he'd sometimes walk her partway to her room after their movie nights, but usually, Dawn did all the heavy lifting, guiding her most of the way
After him was Ike, being the groups assigned porter, with packs upon packs of their gathered essentials. While Sandra strode at the back to defend him.
They continued the path, managing to avoid some pockets of scavengers thanks to Sunnys shadows.
Nephis seemed to have found herself in the group's role as the leader, not surprising of course. The stern legacy carried an aura of unshakable confidence. Kade had something similar—at least the confidence part. But people didn't flock to the same way.
Maybe beforehand he might of tried his role at leading the pack, but he had already been somewhat emotionally drained from yesterday. Adding leadership responsibilities onto that seemed like a drag, so Kade just went along with the flow.
After all, he didn't really feel like he fit into the group now, maybe later--But his presence had caused to much chaos, befitting of his true name. So, he just stuck alongside them.
He wasn't out to win them back. Not yet. Right now, it was enough just to keep up, keep quiet, and not make things worse.
Trekking further, the group passed by a area that was a lot less challenging to traverse, a smooth bank of natural sand that flowed past for a decent bit. With that, Cassie could walk more easily on her own.
That allowed him time to focus on something else.
Mainly revisiting the memories he had received from the scavengers.
The three being--[Deadly message], [Hidden amongst the Fallen], and [Warriors Artery]
Entering the familiar heights of his soul sea, Kade observed his boons.
-
Illuminating above him, was a slender black long bow made of charcoal painted wood.
Memory:[Deadly message]
Memory Type: Weapon.
Memory Description: [The pen is mightier then the sword. And the word is mightier then the pen. A solider that once tread the forgotten shore had a different idea. That the arrow was mightier than word. Pulling back on his bowstring, he sent forward his ideal. And shot a messenger dead]
MemoryEnchantments: [Cut short]
Enchantment Description: [Any creature that has been shot by this bow, is unable to speak for a certain duration]
It was a fine memory, sadly it wasn't of much use right now, since Kade had no idea how to shoot a bow, nor had he any arrows for it. Of course, there was the potential to use [Embodied Wrath]'s second pair of arms to further draw the bow
That would give him exceptional power at range...
Still, the idea of firing an arrow that could shut someone up was… kind of tempting.
'Ill revisit that one later...'
The next one was a pale short sword, blood still embellished on its grey-metal blade.
Memory: [Hidden amongst the Fallen]
Memory Type: Tool
Memory Description: [In a battlefield, there was the dead and the soon to be dead, one soldier had a better idea, and when the aftermath of the conflict was surveyed by the enemies, he stabbed himself through the chest and hid among the dead. He managed to go undetected, and lived the remaining portion of his life with the sword still embedded in]
Memory Enchantments: [Hidden Life]
Enchantment Description: [Once this memory is summoned, the user is far harder to locate, and discover]
The second one... It sounded nice if one didn't read into it too closely, the reality of is that the memory would likely be summoned already stabbed inside him. Stealth could save his life, sure—but Kade had no intention of reliving the sensation of a blade through his chest...
'Wonder where Caster is... Hopefully a scavenger ate him by now.'
Surviving is great and all, but not if it meant being a human sheath.
Next one.
A ball of taggled interwoven smooth wires.
Memory:[Warriors Artery]
Memory Type: Charm
Memory Description: [A warrior has more currency than just gold. Blood, from keeping their own, or taking someone else's. It's a price every warrior taxes from their foes. Certain soldiers experimented on themselves, to see if they could keep the bank of blood full, no matter how much someone wanted to steal].
Memory Enchantments: [Life Bank]
Enchantment Description: [creates a network of silicon veins around the wearer, pumping blood extra blood into the system of the user]
'Huh... gross. Kinda metal, though.'
Thanks to [Unyielding Asura] he would at least be able to maintain brain activity if he lost all of his blood, but being able to actually move without any blood, even if his Aspect granted energy to make his muscles retract, was basically impossible.
So, preventing him from bleeding out was definitely beneficial and could save another's life if he summoned it on them.
That was all the memories he got from the scavengers...
He did also receive an echo, but not from them.
'The spell really had to dig it in...-' Guilt resurging in his heart as he summoned her runes.
Echo: [Ayen Driver]
Echo Rank: Dormant
Echo Class: Beast
Echo Attributes: [Hex fire], [Mimic], [Curse]
[Hex fire]
Attribute Description: [Ayen can summon purple flames that sap away at the targets strength, along with burning away at their soul]
[Mimic]
Attribute Description: [The echo still holds the voice of its origin, but not the mind].
Kade stared at the runes. 'Thats just fucking creepy...' He wouldn't dare use this, but it was kind of messed up that the spell gave him an option to parrot around her corpse...
The next attribute though was what truly shook him.
[Curse]
Attribute Description: [Before Ayens soul was diminished, she gathered her last whispers to curse at her murderer, her malevolent will now stuck onto the victim, a desperate plea at fate for revenge]
'.....'
He didn't expect that at all, not one bit.
But before he could dwell on it further, he felt a light tug of his shoulder, from outside in reality, he exited the perspective of his soul sea, and to the forgotten shore.
Cassie stood beside him, her expression tense. Up ahead, the rest of the cohort was already preparing for battle.
"Kade--We need you up front." Nephi's stated, reading her longsword.
"Scavengers, and more up ahead" Sunny added. "We're not avoiding this one."
"Alright, I'll come to help" Murmured Kade, cracking his knuckles as he parted from Cassie.
He could worry about that later...
Right now, he had some heads to crack.
[Authors Note]
Not really a chunky chapter, but it was needed to get the memories and Ayen somewhat out of the way and told. Well start getting back into the juicy stuff soon.
And another reader suggested I make a discord for this fanfic, and if anyone is interested, you can say so, and I might make one.
Also power stones are greatly appreciated :D, means that I can give some to other fanfics rather then having to boost my own lol.
Thanks for reading!