Calik hovered in place above the jagged coastline, his long dark wings beating in slow, deliberate strokes that kept his massive frame suspended in the air, the leathery membranes flexing with every movement as the red light of the demon sun washed over him and cast long shadows across the broken cliffs below. His expression was twisted into a deep scowl, lips pulled back slightly to reveal clenched teeth as his eyes burned with recognition and fury.
"The Three Guardians…" he snarled, the words dripping with contempt and something deeper, something personal, his voice carrying across the open sky despite the distance.
Bithorn shifted beneath the Deathforged, his scales scraping faintly as the dragon adjusted his wings to maintain altitude, the sudden tension in the air causing him to snort hot breath through his nostrils. The massive creature clearly sensed the danger, his muscles coiling instinctively as if preparing to flee or fight at a moment's notice.
"Oh thank the gods," Lorian blurted, his entire body sagging with relief as if the weight of the world had finally slipped off his shoulders, his knees threatening to buckle as he clutched one of Bithorn's ridges to steady himself. "I thought we were dead. I mean, actually dead. Like torn apart and fed to demon larvae dead."
Ako leaned forward instead, her fear momentarily forgotten as her attention locked onto the massive griffins circling above them, her eyes wide and shining with undisguised awe. The creatures were enormous, their wingspans rivaling Bithorn's in width though not in bulk, feathers rippling as they cut clean arcs through the air with disciplined precision. "Woah…" she breathed, ears twitching as the wind rushed past her face. "Those things are beautiful."
Garruk said nothing, his towering frame rigid as stone while his gaze followed the griffins, though his eyes briefly flicked toward Ako instead, lingering there for half a second longer than necessary as something unreadable passed through his expression. A memory stirred, faint and distant, before he shoved it back down and returned his focus to the threat ahead.
Seris remained sharply focused, her jaw tight as she tracked both Calik and the guardians, her posture alert and coiled like a drawn bowstring. She leaned toward Atlas just enough that her voice would not carry. "Who are those guys?"
Atlas narrowed his eyes, following her gaze as the three riders became clearer. "The Three Guardians," he replied quietly. "Lykkos' squad. Dangerous."
Seris frowned slightly and tilted her head, her eyes fixing on the rider to the far left, the smallest of the three, whose posture looked stiff and uncertain atop his griffin, his hands gripping the reins a little too tightly. His long green hair whipped around his face in the wind, and even from a distance he looked tense. "That guy's dangerous?" she whispered.
Atlas hesitated. "I guess so. I don't really know. I've just heard rumors."
Calik angled his body upward, wings spreading wider as his red resonance flickered beneath his skin like heat beneath glass. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, his voice rising with anger. "This is sacred ground. Demon territory. Outside military's can't set foot in our lands, according to the Treaty of Göll."
The guardian in the center, tall and lean with long, messy gray-black hair and a neatly kept goatee, did not respond immediately, his sharp blue eye instead drifting past Calik to Bithorn and the figures clinging to his back. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Are you the Deathforged?" he called, his tone casual, almost amused.
Atlas nodded once, grimacing slightly as the movement tugged at his injuries.
The older elf chuckled softly and finally turned his attention back to Calik. "Well then," he said, spreading his hands slightly, "it seems we have what we came for. And the Elven Civil War was centuries ago. Plus, we technically didn't step foot." He motioned to the fact they are in the air. "We'll be leaving now. Have a good day, demon." He even waved.
Calik's resonance surged violently, the red glow flaring brighter as the air around him distorted faintly. "They stay," he snarled. "They must be executed."
The guardian glanced left and right at his companions, then laughed outright, a sharp, humorless sound. "For what? Didn't they just strike a deal with your chieftain, Fael?"
"It's void," Calik snapped back immediately.
The elven woman riding to the right, broad-shouldered and imposing with short blonde hair and sharp green eyes, let out a dry laugh. "Void? You can't just decide that. What, not enough land for you?"
Calik's expression cracked, anger bleeding into something raw and exposed. "They killed the chieftain's son," he said, his voice dropping. "The prince. My little brother."
The shift was immediate, the humor draining from the air as the weight of his words settled.
Lorian swallowed hard. "That was… his brother?"
Ako shot him a sharp look. "This is all your fault, so shut it."
Calik continued, his shoulders slumping just slightly. "He was the best of us. Better than even me. And they killed him."
"He attacked us first," Lorian said quickly, then visibly shrank as Calik's glare snapped to him. "Sorry. Sorry. I'll stop talking now."
The commander studied Calik carefully, his expression softening just a fraction. "I'm sorry for your loss," the older man said. "Truly. But we're still taking them."
"They're not leaving," Calik replied flatly.
"Too bad," the woman said, her tone cold. "We need them."
Calik's resonance surged again, the red light pulsing outward, but the older man raised a hand. "What is your name?"
"Calik. Son of Fael."
"Calik, Son of Fael," the older man said calmly. "My name is—"
"I know your name," Calik interrupted sharply. "Commander Flaminius. Falco. Alice." He pointed to each in turn. "Now give them back."
Flaminius exhaled slowly and turned to Alice, the woman. "Escort the idiots back to the High Court."
She nodded once and guided her griffin past Bithorn, her eyes flicking toward Bithorn with barely concealed disdain and prejudice.
"Follow me."
Seris scowled. "Bigot," she muttered under her breath as she patted Bithorn's neck and guided him forward.
Flaminius lingered behind, turning to the last guardian. "Falco?"
The young elf stiffened. "Y-Yes sir?"
"Can you deal with him?"
Falco blinked, his bug-like brown eyes widening. "M-Me?"
Flaminius nodded. "Training."
Falco swallowed hard. "What lesson?"
"Survive."
And with that, Flaminius turned his griffin and flew after the others, leaving Falco alone in the open sky with a demon who was smiling now.
Falco fidgeted with his hands, his shoulders tense as he stared at Calik. "Oh my… geez…" he muttered under his breath. "That old man is going to get me killed…why did I let Lykkos convince me to sign up for the military?"
Calik grinned wider, his wings flexing. "After I'm done with you," he said casually, "the others are next."
Falco's heart hammered in his chest as he slowly reached up and unclasped his white cloak, the fabric fluttering for a moment before dropping into the endless sea below. The wind tore at his hair as his thoughts flashed briefly to Lykkos, standing ahead of him with that radiant back, impossibly distant and impossibly bright.
"That back of his is so bright...but still," Falco whispered, clenching his fists, "I promised I'd catch up."
Calik lunged.
The demon moved like a spear thrown by the gods themselves, the distance between them vanishing in an instant as his claws flashed forward with lethal precision.
Falco jumped.
Not gracefully, not confidently, but with raw instinct, his griffin screeching as he leapt from its back and sent himself plummeting toward the rocky cliffs below. The wind screamed past his ears as Calik followed, his claws slashing outward without even bothering to use resonance.
The strike clipped Falco's sleeve, tearing fabric and skin alike, blood misting into the air as Falco spun helplessly.
"Idiot," Calik scoffed.
Falco's arm burned as the veins beneath his skin began to glow an eerie green, the Vitae Resonance flooding his muscles so suddenly it nearly tore him apart from the inside. Pain flared, sharp and overwhelming, but he forced his body to respond, cocking his arm back even as gravity dragged him downward.
Meanwhile, Flaminius caught up to Alice and Bithorn.
Alice looked back at Falco and then to Flaminius, "Is he gonna be alright? You sure this is good training? He'll get killed," she laughs.
Flaminius looked back briefly. "If anyone can ever catch up to our Hero...it's him."
Alice laughed, "Kid's the only one I know still chasing him, we gave up on that a long tine ago...huh, Flam?"
Back on Bithorn, Ako and Lorian watched.
"That kid's done for," Ako murmured from afar.
Lorian smacked her. "You're a kid too!"
"I'm just saying—"
Falco's finally punch connected.
BOOM!
The sound was not a crack or a thud but a violent, concussive blast that tore through the air like a cannon firing, the shockwave ripping outward in all directions as Calik's body was hurled backward at impossible speed. Rock shattered for miles as his body crashed into them. Water exploded upward in massive columns. The sea itself seemed to recoil as Calik was sent skipping through waves and cliffs alike, vanishing into the distance in a trail of destruction.
The air went still.
Ako's jaw hung open. "Holy shit."
Lorian stared, mouth agape. "He just… holy shit!"
"So that's Vitae Resonance," Ako whispered, awe creeping into her voice.
Falco hit the rocks hard, knees bending deeply as green light flooded his legs, the impact cracking stone beneath his feet. He barely paused before exploding forward again, launching himself after Calik at terrifying speed, the wind screaming as he chased the demon across water and sky alike.
Atlas watched silently, eyes narrowed.
'He's almost as fast as Lykkos. The beast girl is right...must be Vitae Resonance. It sends resonance into his muscles and veins, increasing his output by 500 times. Maybe more. Could be tricky if someone in the Inquisitors of Godfall has that...'
Flaminius' voice cut through the moment as they approached the veil. "Eyes forward. All of you. Shut up."
Behind them, the ocean still churned violently, waves crashing in endless circles where a single, nervous-looking elf had just reminded the world why rumors existed at all.