Emery

It didn't take very long for Avuri and I to be knee deep in our attempts to investigate. As Sky Realm Cultivators, we were able to make good time when traveling, especially when we didn't need to worry about lesser stops. Without any pressing need for food, water, or sleep, we were able to make the run from Flowing Dragon City through the Blooming Wilds and into the Amber Valley in a little over a day. And from the edge of the Amber Valley to Resin was even less than that.

Resin itself was a medium sized city. It wasn't a huge center of trade or large gathering spot of any kind, but it was one of the few cities that rested on the safer side of a bridge over the Amber Valley's massive chasm. The eastern side of the Amber Valley that bordered the Blooming Wilds was much safer than the western.

While the Blooming Wilds were generally not safe, most of the dangerous beasts remained well within the overgrown jungle-like parts of the province and rarely strayed far from the trees and overgrowth, leaving much of the neighboring areas safe, as most beasts wouldn't get too close to the edges of the jungle and risk danger.

It made cities bordering the Blooming Wilds very common in every direction, and Resin took full advantage of it. While it was far from a common destination, it functioned well as a safe place for a break between dangerous travel locations, as well as a place to restock before or after traveling over the bridge to cross the Valley - which, for most mortals, was a day-long affair.

When Avuri and I arrived in the city, we searched for lodgings first. As a city designed for relatively short stop-overs before continuing to travel, inns, taverns with rooms, and small lodgings were very common. They each offered different amenities, too, fighting for the potential clientele that passed through.

Given we were unsure how long we would be in the city, we wanted a place that offered something a little more than just a place to sleep, even if they had to pay a little more. Thankfully, we were able to find an inn that was reasonably priced, and offered two meals - breakfast and dinner - each day as part of the room's cost. They also had a nice bathhouse on the premises, which was an enticing bonus.

Once our room was squared away, we decided to divide and conquer when it came to the reconnaissance.

Now that we were both solidly into the Sky Realm and knew how to handle the myriad of enhanced abilities that came with it, our information gathering was far less invasive than it had been the last time.

At least to start, anyway.

Avuri planned to use her unusually large Domain to blanket the city and try to listen in on rumors or otherwise eavesdrop on more whispered conversations. While sufficiently strong Cultivator's might notice her Domain blanketing a large portion of the city, she was also very adept when it came to going unnoticed while utilizing her Domain.

My investigation would be less subtle than Avuri's, but still nowhere near the disruptive mess we had caused the last time by simply asking around the city for information. My senses had also been heightened when I entered the Sky Realm, and at this point I had gotten used to using them well. Even better, I had always had a strong ability to sense or sniff out demonic Qi, and I was planning to put that to use.

I spent much of the first couple days in the city wandering around aimlessly, moving through the back alleys and larger streets, simply keeping my senses open for any traces of demonic Qi.

Unfortunately, I had all but scoured the entire city by the end of day two and had found nothing.

Similarly, Avuri's eavesdropping hadn't come up with anything either. She had overheard people talking about the disappearances, but never with anything more than a passing interest. The most interesting conversation about them hadn't even mentioned the potential of enemy Cultivators, but rather the chances that there was some kind of dangerous sinkhole or something on or near the roads.

Day three of our search didn't turn up anything either, but as we reconvened for dinner, we did have an expected guest join them.

"Good evening, you two." Eiry said as she joined us at the table in the inn's common room.

"Good evening, Elder." I said, dipping my head. Avuri followed suit as well.

"None of that out here, please. I'd rather you just call me Eiry here." The dragon woman said as she slid into a seat.

I inclined my head in acknowledgement while Avuri jumped right into our questions.

"Did you happen to find anything, Eiry?"

"Nothing conclusive, unfortunately. But there are more potential hiding spots in the Bladed Highlands than I had originally expected." Eiry said, reaching for a roll and some flavored butter.

"Really? I would have expected there to be almost none, given the whole grassland." Avuri said, pushing the plates toward our visitor.

"I thought so, too. But while there aren't many things to hide under in the way of trees or the like, there are several large stones and hills that could potentially block sight from the air. I didn't want to fly too low, so I couldn't check under anything while remaining out of sight."

"That makes sense. Did anything stick out as particularly suspicious?" Emery asked, leaning forward conspiratorially.

"Over any of the others, no," Eiry said. "There were some hills that could have been hollowed out on the inside, but I never got that sense from any of them with my Qi. If there are demons hiding in one of the hills, they've hidden themselves remarkably well. As for under the large stones that can be found around the Highlands, it's somewhat harder to say."

Eiry took a large bite from her buttered roll and smiled appreciatively at the bread. I had to admit, while the options for dinner at the inn weren't anything extravagant, the food was good.

"I didn't find any stones that felt like they had been manipulated or shaped with Qi. But enough of them were shaped in such a way that they could conceivably conceal a small camp - if the demons were clever about the Arrays they employed, they could theoretically hide from me."

Avuri and I both nodded. "Okay, so we may need to check the rock formations in the Highlands, then?"

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Eiry shook her head. "I don't think so. If there are demons hidden out there, I think they would have made their bases elsewhere."

"And you have somewhere in mind, don't you?" I asked, concerned that I wouldn't like the answer.

Eiry nodded, clearly not happy about it either. "The Highlands are absolutely rife with Antlion tunnels. There are huge networks of them under the areas with the thickest grass, which makes it tricky to fully sense, even for me. My Qi can only penetrate the ground so far from my flight height, so I can only get a general idea of the layouts for the first 50 meters under the ground or so. But they go deeper."

"And you think that if there is a demonic sect somewhere in the Highlands -"

"They would be stupid not to clear out a section of the tunnels somewhere and make the base underground, yes." Eiry said. "Antlions are big, and their tunnels are equally so. There is usually enough room for two or three people to walk side by side and upright in the tunnels. While the entrances aren't usually that large, they open up to larger sides just a bit underground."

"Great." I said, leaning on the table. "Just great."

"Well, I suppose we better hope we find them along the cliff face of the Valley then, because I am not looking forward to the prospect of diving underground with a bunch of Antlions." Avuri sighed.

"Don't take them lightly, either. Antlions may only be spirit beasts, but they are big, vicious, and have very tough carapace." Eiry grabbed another roll as she continued. "To be fair, Emery, I imagine your Qi weapons will still cut through them fine, and Avuri's ice will still work. But they aren't going to be pushovers. Oh, and they can dig and burrow unfairly quickly and are likely to use that to surround you if you fight them underground."

Eiry said the last bit very nonchalantly, but the idea made me shiver. Being stuck underground in a tunnel while dangerous, giant ants tunneled around me where I couldn't easily see them was hardly an appealing idea. I could feel the apprehension ooze off Avuri, too - neither of us had much training with pushing our Domains far through dirt, which meant we would be more blind than usual underground like that.

"Is there a way to tell if the tunnels are active or abandoned from above ground?" Avuri asked, trying not to think about the potential underground combat.

"Somewhat," Eiry said, "It's usually easy to tell if an entrance and the immediate connected tunnels are in use. The issue is that the tunnel systems are vast, and one unused entrance doesn't mean it isn't attached to active tunnels deeper down."

"Oh, how lovely." I rolled my eyes.

"How deep do you think a demonic sect would settle?" Avuri asked.

"Depends on their strength, numbers, and desire to remain hidden. The further any of those statistics go up, the more likely they are to be deeper. I would expect a Sky Realm demon with more than ten followers to want to be a few hundred meters underground. A larger sect would need to go further to find tunnels large enough to fit everyone. The opposite is true, as well. A smaller, weaker group wouldn't want to fight off the Antlions to travel too far down, and would simply stay…I'd guess within two hundred meters of the surface, give or take."

"That still sounds far from pleasant." I rubbed my forehead, trying to mentally get past the image of fighting Antlions in their own tunnel systems.

"Pray you find the demons among the cliff face, then." Eiry said. "I hope you do as well. The Antlion tunnels would be far, far more dangerous for you to scour. And far more time consuming, without any direct leads."

I sighed. "We should really try to find someone to follow back to their base of operations, then. At least if they're in the Highlands."

"It's too bad neither of us are fire Cultivators. I imagine it would be easy to smoke the stupid ants out."

"It would be. That's how they are traditionally dealt with when a tunnel system needs to be removed." Eiry confirmed. "With some time, you may be able to flood or ice them out, Avuri. It would be more time consuming than using fire, but it could still work. Especially with your Domain."

"I'll keep that in mind." Avuri said, considering the idea. While neither of us were well-versed in pushing our Domains into the ground, Avuri's range through the tunnels would still be very impressive.

"What's the move from here then, you think?" Avuri asked me. I leaned back in my chair, staring up and the wooden boards of the ceiling.

"I don't know. Maybe we should take tomorrow to travel the length of the canyon around Resin? And then when we inevitably don't find anything…ugh." I rubbed my face. "It would be best if we could find a lead of some kind in the city. Some asshole with demonic Qi that I could track back to wherever they are hiding."

"You have Vale at home with Cierra and Stena, yes?" Eiry asked. "How long was he planning to watch them?"

"We didn't really agree upon a specific time period, but he said he'd come looking for us if we took more than a month." I said.

"It's not ideal, but you could perhaps try watching the route that people keep disappearing on. It might be a couple weeks yet, but if they hold to their pattern, the next disappearance would be in two weeks." Eiry offered. "That could be the best chance to follow someone."

"I had considered that, but I was really hoping we'd find something before another group vanished." Avuri said.

"She might be right, Ri." I said. "We've also been operating under the assumption that there even is a demonic sect involved. It makes the most sense to us by far, but there is always the possibility, no matter how small, that something else is happening."

"And catching someone in the act would be the hard confirmation we need."

"Right." I said, still unsatisfied with the idea. But it was quite possibly the best way we could get a significant lead.

"I think tomorrow we should run the length of the canyon, as best we can." Avuri said. "Then spend another few days in the city trying to find a lead. After that…I guess we try to stake out the road somewhere while searching the tunnels the best we can from above ground?"

I sighed. "I don't love it, but it seems like a good course of action. At least until we have something more solid to work with."

"I am sorry I couldn't be more helpful," Eiry said. "Entering the city is already a risk if someone here is talented with their Qi senses. I'm powerful enough to stick out among the crowd if I'm not focused. And the same goes out in the Highlands - if I came scouting with you, I would be noticed well before we noticed the enemy."

I nodded. "I appreciate what you've done so far, Eiry. If nothing else, you've given us more direction than we had before."

The dragon woman nodded, then slid a paper across the table to Avuri, who picked it up gingerly to inspect it.

"If you get into deep trouble - and I mean deep trouble - tear that talisman. It'll alert me and the others. I can't promise we'd arrive in time to help you, but we may be able to at least follow up and finish whatever mess you got into."

I snorted. "It's appreciated, Eiry. Thank you."

Avuri offered a quiet smile and popped the talisman away into her storage ring.

"Truly, don't mention it. As I said - it's probably not actually a useful lifeline to you unless you get taken prisoner and kept alive. Which would probably be unlikely."

"Still, it's one more chance to get things done if we fail." Avuri shrugged lightly, but her feelings on the matter were clearly anything but light.

"If something does happen to you two, rest assured we shall bring vengeance upon the enemies. Or at least, Vale certainly will. And we'll be sure to take care of your girls."

"I appreciate that." I said, "But we'll come back. Don't worry about that."

"Good, because I'd rather you simply deal with the issue yourselves and return in good health." Eiry swallowed her last bite of bread then stood, pushing her chair back along the floor. "I should get going before I overstay my welcome in the city. Good luck. Both of you."

"Thank you again." I said.

Eiry offered me a small smile and a nod before she turned and left.

Avuri and I watched her leave, and felt when she leapt onto the inn's roof, and then into the sky. Once she was gone, Avuri immediately collapsed onto the table.

"Why did it have to be Antlions? And underground tunnels?" She whined while I rubbed her back consolingly.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.