The air around it made Kiyan's skin prickle in an unpleasant way.
The sheer amount of energy and, above all, magic that surrounded the small creature was overwhelming. Every one of his instincts sounded the alarm and urged him to flee.
What an incredible presence!
And then there was this appearance that did not fit the impression at all.
This little something barely reached his calf. Greenish-gray feathers whose tips were pastel yellow. A crooked beak, two wings folded around its body, and taloned claws.
If it had not been wearing the red protective goggles on its head and the tunic, he would have taken the creature for a bird from some distant land. Depending on the region, the wildlife differed greatly, and birds in particular occasionally strayed into Grania.
But whatever stood before Kiyan could not be an ordinary animal.
And why did this tiny bird, which looked so harmless with its red-dotted cheeks, possess such an immense presence? Were his instincts deceiving him? The creature of ice had looked entirely different and had been far larger. Outwardly, they differed like day and night.
The bird tilted its head. For a moment, Kiyan's fear was pushed aside by the loud pounding of his heart and the boiling sensation in his stomach. That peculiar manner felt far too familiar.
"You are not Nova," he heard someone remark dryly.
The voice was high and showed no variation in pitch or volume. Kiyan blinked several times in quick succession.
"What the…," he rasped, his eyebrows knitting together as he slowly lowered his hands.
The creature hopped toward him, producing a sound like nails scraping against metal.
Then it moved its beak and said:
"Tavi confused your energy with hers. Have you seen Nova? She must be nearby."
Kiyan stared at the strange figure with his mouth open and even forgot to breathe. So many questions surged through his mind. How did it know he knew Nova? And how did Nova even know a creature like this?
He shook his head, feeling foolish. Marcy had said it once before.
With Nova, one really should not be surprised by anything anymore.
Above all else, one question forced itself to the forefront of his mind. Nova was here?
Just hearing her name made something inside him snap taut. His hands tensed, and he asked quietly as his brow creased:
"Are you sure she is here?"
At the question, Kiyan let out a snort that sounded almost like a mocking laugh.
The small being, which seemed to be called Tavi, tilted its head again. Kiyan was not sure whether it had understood him. Anyone else might have felt foolish talking to an animal, but in truth that was nothing new to him. The only new thing was that there were animals capable of speech. Still, he had learned early on that there were many things in this world he did not know.
"Of course. Tavi is very sure. Tavi senses her energy very close by," it replied in the same flat, indifferent tone as before.
Kiyan pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose and tried to take a deep breath.
Somehow he had to get the anger that made him tremble under control.
Then he heard a fluttering sound and looked back at the feathered little something. The bird hovered in the air beside the shaft through which it had come.
He squawked:
"If you do not know, Tavi will go. Tavi's distraction will not last much longer."
"Wait," Kiyan said quietly as he slowly took a step forward, "what are you planning to do?"
Tavi landed on its talons and turned toward him. With its head tilted at an angle, he replied:
"Free Nova. She is not well."
Not well? What would Marcy and he have to say to that?
Looking at him, Kiyan could not help but wonder how it intended to manage that. Yet if his instincts had not deceived him earlier, it might not even be necessary to ask.
"If you can do that … then please do me the favor and help me out of here. I urgently need to get someone away from this place," he asked hoarsely and lowered his gaze to the floor.
He hated every single word and hated it even more that he had to ask for help. He preferred to solve his problems on his own, but in this case Marcy mattered more than any pride.
"You are not an insect. One cannot imprison an Elementaris. You should know that. Simply free yourself with your own strength," Tavi replied dryly.
What kind of insect is he talking about? What is wrong with this creature?
Raising his voice, Kiyan shot back:
"If I could free myself, I would!"
His jaw clenched as he smothered the primal instinct that screamed at him to keep his distance from the thing.
Another tilt of the head. The sight only made Kiyan's blood boil further.
"Tavi does not understand. But since Tavi cannot return to Tavis true form at the moment and time is short, Tavi will make you an offer," Tavi said stiffly.
"An offer?" Kiyan repeated hesitantly.
"Help Tavi bring Nova out of the city. Then Tavi will free you and show you the safest path," he offered.
The very person he wanted to save least of all? If she truly was here, then perhaps she had not betrayed Marcy and him after all. He had to admit that possibility. On the other hand, she might have betrayed them before being betrayed herself. Either way, she was either a traitor or painfully foolish. And either way, he would not let it go.
Yet Marcy mattered more than any resentment.
"Fine by me, but someone else is coming with me," Kiyan agreed with a knot of discomfort in his stomach. By now his back was so tense that his exhausted muscles burned.
"Tavi accepts that. But you will have to fight insects. Tavi cannot manage everything. If Tavi wastes his energy, Tavi disappears. Only five times can Tavi help," the bird said and hopped toward Kiyan.
What does he mean by disappear? Never mind, that is unimportant right now, Kiyan thought.
Holding his breath, he stepped aside.
Tavi stopped a few feet in front of the iron door, raised his wing, and made a lightning fast motion.
Even for Kiyan it had been nothing more than a brief twitch. For an instant he might have thought the wing had not moved at all. But what happened next proved him wrong.
A heartbeat later, a violent blast of wind slammed into the door, tore it from its hinges, crushed it, and hurled it hard against the opposite wall.
A cold shiver ran down his spine. If Tavi had hit him with that, Kiyan would have died instantly. He would not even have noticed it.
Two guards thrust their pale faces with wide staring eyes through the entrance. They immediately drew their weapons.
One of them roared:
"The Elementaris is free! We need reinforcements!"
Then the guards took position in the warped doorframe.
Tavi raised a wing, but Kiyan stepped in between as fast as his sluggish body would allow:
"Wait, no! That will kill them."
Now Tavi paused and looked at him with his head tilted, as if he did not understand the meaning of what Kiyan had said.
"Where did that bird suddenly come from?" one of them asked, clearly irritated.
The other beside him merely shrugged without taking his eyes off Kiyan.
In the end, they ignored Tavi and charged at Kiyan with their weapons raised.
And I am not even the real danger here.
Since Tavi did not move, he took a deep breath and called the winds inward. The air around him thickened and formed into a current that he hurled at his enemies with a sharp sweep of his arm. Cold spread through his stomach, and for a brief moment he could not draw another breath.
Struck by the wind attack, the men were swept away and slammed against the wall. Gasping and glassy eyed, they sank to their knees.
Rapid, trembling footsteps reached Kiyan's ears and grew louder, heavier with every heartbeat.
One of the guards who was kneeling on the ground immediately tried to get back to his feet.
Kiyan used a powerful gust beneath his heels to leap forward like an arrow. A blick of an eyelash later, he landed in front of the guard and struck him with a precise kick to the temple. The man collapsed at once.
Meanwhile, the other guard had risen and swung his sword. Kiyan barely evaded the blow. The newly flaring burn in his wounded shoulder made him clench his teeth.
At least his chilled muscles were being fed with fresh warmth. Slowly, he thawed. He would worry about the excessive energy consumption later.
He slashed the edge of his hand through the air and struck his opponent with a single flat blow to the chin. This one, too, crashed to the ground.
After Kiyan snatched up one of the swords, he searched for Tavi.
He only caught a glimpse of a powerful wind hurling three more guards, who had been standing in the middle of the corridor, through the air. Something cracked loudly when they hit.
"Damn!" Kiyan muttered.
The struck men groaned audibly.
Kiyan blinked rapidly. They were alive. Had Tavi held back?
The remaining soldiers halted and took no further step. Their weapons were trained on Kiyan and Tavi.
One of them barked an order to someone behind him:
"Call the Leonis. Now!"
Damn it, that is the last thing I need right now, Kiyan cursed inwardly.
The rearmost man nodded hastily, spun on his heel, and sprinted away. The two remaining ones watched Kiyan and Tavi closely as they advanced bit by bit.
"It would be better if you fled," Kiyan forced out between his heavy breaths. And he did not mean it as a threat.
Their expressions only hardened with determination before they launched their first attack.
Before Tavi could react, Kiyan leapt forward with the wind at his back and parried the sword strikes. He struck one man down with the pommel of his sword.
With the other, he engaged in a brief fight. At first it went well. Kiyan managed to deflect the blows, but then he failed to stop one strike in time.
The blade sliced across his upper body. He sucked in a sharp breath as a searing pain spread.
Suddenly his skin prickled unpleasantly. Kiyan instinctively sprang backward.
A violent gust tore the guard away and narrowly missed Kiyan. The man slammed into a stone wall, slid to the ground, and lay still.
"You could … at least have warned me," Kiyan hissed breathlessly.
He pressed a hand to the spot on his upper body that had grown warm. The resistance of his skin told him that the wound could not be very deep. At least that was something.
"In one of these rooms, Nova must be," the bird ignored him instead and positioned himself in front of the next iron door.
There were only four rooms in this section in total, and they had just come out of one. That left three.
Kiyan hurried in front of Tavi:
"Wait! If you are not careful, you could hurt someone with the door."
Tavi held his wing in midair and tilted his head to the side.
Growling inwardly, Kiyan moved past him and hammered against the iron door as he called out:
"Marcy? Are you in there?"
He listened, but there was nothing. No breathing, no movement, no rattling.
On to the next door. It was only a matter of time before whatever was distracting the remaining guards stopped working. Whatever it might be.
"Marcy!" he called again. His cheek was so close to the door that he could feel the cold against his skin.
"K-Kiyan?! I am here!" Marcy's strained voice answered this time.
For a heartbeat, he rested his forehead against the iron and murmured more to himself:
"Thank goodness."
Then he stepped back two paces and said loudly:
"Move away from the door! We are getting you out of there!"
He glanced at Tavi, who was keeping an eye on the corridor.
"We?! O-okay!" she called back in a broken voice.
Fabric rustled, and her steps produced several dull thuds.
Tavi turned to Kiyan and looked up at him as if waiting for his approval.
From the end of the corridor, the thunder of several heavy footsteps could already be heard.
"You can," he said to Tavi, while his fingers tightened around the grip of the sword.
His racing heart was making him feel nauseous by now. He was glad his stomach was empty anyway.
One swift beat of wings, and this door as well slammed into the next obstacle. Crumpled completely, as if it had only been a sheet of paper that someone had carelessly crushed in their hand.
Kiyan suppressed another wave of nausea and hurried into the room. The cell looked exactly like the one he had been in.
Tense, he searched for Marcy until he spotted her standing beside the entrance. With disheveled hair, dirty clothes, and tears streaming down her cheeks, she stood there. She was trembling violently, and her heart was pounding so loudly in her chest that Kiyan could hear it clearly and distinctly. It sounded almost louder to him than the rapidly approaching shouting and the echoing rush of more guards.
Seeing her like this hurt. The oppressive pain cut deeper than any wound that could have been inflicted on him. He wished with all his heart that she had never had to go through this.
He asked:
"How bad is the injury? Can you walk on your own?"
She nodded and wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve.
As casually as possible, yet with firm resolve, he took her by the wrist and led her out of the room. The moment they reached the corridor, he felt her flinch at his side.
She stammered:
"O-Oh! A bird…? What is it doing here?"
"Now Nova," Tavi demanded and hopped toward the last remaining door at an impressive speed.
"I'm sorry … what?! Did it just talk, or have I been alone too long?!" Kiyan heard Marcy exclaim behind him in a high-pitched voice. Her breath caught.
Then she added in panic:
"Wait. Nova? Do not tell me she was captured too…"
Kiyan stopped short. The first reinforcements of guards had already arrived.
Clicking his tongue and making a brief hand motion, Kiyan kept the soldiers at bay with his wind magic. At that distance it was nowhere near strong enough to hurt them, but it was enough to slow them down.
Meanwhile his thoughts raced. What was stopping him from leaving Nova behind? Without question, she deserved it. Tavi might be powerful, but he had said he would disappear if he used too much energy. Did he mean death, the same fate that awaited any living being who overexerted their magic?
If so, the chances were high that he would have to let her go. Besides, Tavi had come here only because of Nova. Another reason why Marcy and he might escape without having to keep that promise.
But unfortunately, that was exactly what it had been. A promise. And promises were not broken. No matter to whom they were given.
"Kiyan?" Marcy urged softly.
He released her, stepped forward, and said over his shoulder:
"You get her. I will hold the guards off."
Then he turned to face the guards. The men and women had recovered and were charging toward them with drawn weapons.
Kiyan drew a deep breath, tightened his grip on the sword, and ran toward the enemy with the wind roaring at his back.