The Desolate Mountains (The Divine Elements Book 2) (13 page)

Slowly tearing off another chunk of meat from the roasted bird, Calron placed it in front of the little pup.

Seeing more of the delicious meat, Avi quickly dropped the small bone in her jaws and eagerly rushed towards the human with an excited glint in her eyes.

Soon, tiny munching noises filled the air.

Now that the little beast was occupied, Calron momentarily closed his eyes and triggered the Divine Perception. He was still slightly exhausted by the earlier fight, but not to the extent of being completely unable to use the technique.

The wolf pup froze for a second when it sensed something unusual, but it soon resumed chewing on the meat when it glanced up and saw that nothing was wrong with the human.

To find the beast city, I need to search for a vast area with a large number of beasts wandering around.

Calron inwardly thought, as he gradually opened his eyes to the white and grey world.

With his grey irises glowing unnaturally, Calron turned his head towards the sky and sent his consciousness in a random direction. Whenever Calron used the Divine Perception, it felt like his mind was severed from his physical body and given an ethereal form.

It was almost like travelling as a ghost, where others were unable to see you.

Unlike looking for the thunderstorms, this time there were no residues of lightning essence to track. As a result, Calron had to blindly search for the beast city in every possible direction.

He only prayed that he would locate it before his strength ran out.

Surprisingly, the forest that he had initially thought to be small was in fact much larger, stretching out for countless miles.

By using the Divine Perception, Calron’s consciousness could travel for miles in an instant, so whenever he felt like there were no signs of a city in his current path, he would immediately switch course to explore a new direction.

Wait a minute… If I can see the lightning within the beasts, what if I go as far up in the sky as I can, and see which area contains the highest amount of these mini lightning bolts?

Calron suddenly thought, as he abruptly stopped in his tracks and swiftly charged further up in the sky.

He soon came to a point where he neared a layer of clouds and stopped there, as Calron sensed that if he went up any further, his vision started to became hazy and distorted.

Scanning the scenery below him, Calron surveyed the various illuminated figures within his sight. There were currently several large beasts slowly nearing his and the wolf pup’s current location, probably due to fact that there were two dead corpses near them.

Ignoring these beasts, Calron turned his sight even further away. He detected a small number of glowing lights steadily treading in a group. Calron could deduce their exact number as some of the glowing lights meshed together, but he estimated that there were around six or seven of the beasts.

Suddenly sensing another group of glowing lights, Calron immediately swerved towards their direction and began scrutinizing the new group. This was a much larger group of beasts than the ones he just encountered a few seconds ago.

Closely following behind them, Calron raced ahead once he concluded the general route they were planning to take. Unfortunately, these beasts were all just heading back to their small village, and not a city.

Shit! This is leading me nowhere. I don’t have much time…

Calron cursed, when he realized that his search for the beast city was to no avail. Furthermore, he sensed that his strength would soon be depleted within the next few minutes, and he would be forced to end the Divine Perception technique.

“Go back to that group.”

Ezkael suddenly interjected within Calron’s mind.

“Huh? Why?”

Calron curiously inquired, while already shifting his sight back to the small group.

“What you failed to detect, my dear student, is that some of those previous beasts had travelling packs underneath them. Can you think of any reason why they would be needing those?”

Ezkael asked in a smug tone, and Calron was sure that his Teacher was probably smirking right now. Since their souls were connected, Ezkael could easily see through his student’s own eyes

“What if they’re just travelling to another village, or location?”

Calron questioned, but traces of hope already started to bud within his heart.

“Just scout their route ahead, kid”

Ezkael sighed, but was secretly pleased with himself, especially after the earlier blunder of him getting Calron lost in the middle of nowhere.

Zooming in on the previous group of beasts who were moving at a steady pace, Calron flew above them as he observed the general direction that they were treading towards.

The group of beasts seemed to belong to a breed of buffaloes, but Calron could not tell for sure since they simply appeared as moving white glows with the faint outlining of a buffalo-type beast. Soon, he discovered the lumps of blackness underneath the beasts’ bellies. Since the packs did not have essence, they appeared as black forms to Calron’s sight.

“That’s a really strange place to tether their packs… ”

Calron silently muttered.

Suddenly, he felt the pressure of the Divine Perception start to send shocks of pain to his brain. Calron immediately became serious, and concentrated on the path as he whizzed ahead.

Calron soon found himself entering deeper and deeper into a mountain range.

After a while, the number of trees began to dwindle down, as the path on the ground become more like a road.

This is it!

Calron exclaimed in excitement.

He did not have to wait for long, as a towering fortress gradually came within sight. However, at that moment, he felt an agonizing jolt of pain wreck through his nerves  and knew that it was time to end the technique.

In a last attempt to glean information of how the city looked, Calron burst into the sky and gazed at the city within.

Before he could admire the view, he suddenly felt the glare of an omnipotent being!

The pair of dark vicious eyes instantly pierced through Calron’s vision, as the powerful being’s words echoed within Calron’s mind.

“Interesting… Cal… ron… ”

……………..

*cough*   *cough*

Calron returned back to his physical body, as he spluttered out a mouthful of blood on the grass.

*woof*

The little wolf pup nervously crouched to the ground, as its large purple eyes worriedly glanced at Calron.

“It’s okay, Avi. See, I’m completely fine.”

Calron said in an assuring tone, as he gently scratched the pup’s chin.

Hearing the human talk, the little beast gradually calmed down and began making sounds of contentment while Calron continued to stroke its fur.

Wiping away the traces of blood on his mouth with his other hand, a serious expression flickered across Calron’s face.

“Teacher, who was that?”

“….”

“Teacher!”

Calron yelled within his mind, as he sent a mental nudge to Ezkael.

“Give me a second, kid, I’m thinking!”

Ezkael promptly stated before going into silence again.

“The only explanation I can come up with is that it was the Beast King of that city.”

Ezkael slowly answered in a distressed tone.

“He… He knew my name.”

Calron said hesitantly, as he detected a hint of worry in his Teacher’s voice.

“He is a beast within the Saint stage… I should have been more careful. Thankfully, I stopped his soul attack before it drilled any further into your mind. We need to be careful when we enter this city, Calron.”

Ezkael cautioned in a somber tone.

“Wait, so he can directly attack my min- “

“We’ll talk later about this matter, but we need to quickly move from this location. The predators are almost here, and you’re in no condition to deal with all of them at once.”

Ezkael interrupted his student in a strict voice.

Sensing that the beasts were almost upon them, Calron quickly stood up, and motioned for the little wolf pup to step aside.

“woof?”

The pup let out a curious small bark while tilting its head, as it obediently stepped back from Calron.

*chi-chi*

Countless golden scales shot across Calron’s skin, as his body twisted and morphed into a large golden bird.

*SCREEEEEEE*

Calron let out an ear-splitting cry, as he flapped his metallic wings on the ground.

*woof*   *woof*

Avi barked continuously, as she excitedly jumped around the golden bird.

“Avi, come, we need to leave right now!”

Calron shouted, as he crouched to the ground and straightened one of his wings against the ground, so the little pup could climb on top of him.

Nervously walking towards the outstretched wing, the wolf pup tentatively stepped on it and began climbing onto Calron’s scaly back.

“Hold on tight.”

Calron gently whispered once Avi was safely on his back, and began to rapidly flap his wings.

He turned away from the two corpses on the ground, as he did not want to remind the wolf pup of its mother. Calron was sure that the little beast would recall its mother death later on when they were in a different location, but for now, he needed the pup to remain calm while he was mid-air.

*SCREEEEE*

With another screech, Calron steadily rose above the ground as he flapped his powerful wings.

A low whimper sounded out from behind him, as the wolf pup nervously pressed her face against Calron’s back.

“This should be fun…”

Calron laughed out within his mind, as he began flying towards the beast city.

The sun was slowly setting, as it cast a reddish glow on the horizon. The few wandering birds started to withdraw back to their nests, sensing that the day was coming to an end.

A large shadow flew across the darkening sky, as it slowly revealed the form of a beast leisurely flapping its wings against the wind.

“I’m getting tired… ”

Calron inwardly thought, as he took a few minutes of rest by stretching out his wings and gliding for a while.

He had even surprised himself by flying continuously for hours, as he thought that he would have had to take frequent breaks after exhausting his body earlier by using the Divine Perception technique.

It appeared as if his body was gradually adapting to his beast form, enabling him to expend less and less energy each time he shape-shifted to maintain his form. Calron put this thought away for now, reminding himself to ask his teacher later.

“Avi! Are you alright?”

Calron inquired gently, as he took a quick glance back at the little pup shivering on his back.

“nnn…nnn…nnn”

The little beast pitifully whined while firmly digging her paws into Calron’s back, and spreading herself as flat as she could against his scaly body.

“Hahaha, don’t worry, Avi, we will be on the ground soon. Hang on tight!”

Calron let out a chuckle, as he folded his wings and dived towards the land below. He initially thought that the wolf pup was shivering due to the cold, but it turned out that Avi was just really afraid of heights.

This was not surprising, as wolves were not meant for flight.

Avi let out an angry yelp and dug her paws even deeper into Calron’s scales, as her soft fur fluttered in the wind.

*SCREEEEEE*

Calron let out an ear-splitting screech, as he rapidly descended towards the ground.

Quickly scanning the earth below, Calron decided to land on an isolated area that seemed to be devoid of any creatures within a mile radius.

*Whooosh*     *Whoooosh*

The air around his wings exploded into bursts of gusts, creating a small dust cloud around his body the moment Calron landed.

He wished he could have landed a bit gentler, as he did not wish to startle the already frazzled pup, but with Calron’s utter fatigue, he would rather not stay for long in the air.

Calron was still new to shape-shifting, and until he understood all of its intricacies, he was not going to be taking any risks.

“Woof! Woof, woof!”

Avi furiously let out a string of barks, as she immediately hopped off Calron’s back. Chastising the human for taking her into the air, the little wolf pup continued to bark in her small juvenile voice.

*chi-chi*

The golden scales gradually returned back into Calron’s body, as he resumed his human form.

“Sorry, Avi… I promise to give you a warning next time.”

Calron softly comforted the little pup, as he bent down on his knee and petted Avi’s furry head.

The pup pretended to be initially offended by the petting, but soon gingerly rubbed her head against the human’s hand while making cheerful noises.

*grumble*

The pup’s stomach suddenly growled, and she pleadingly glanced up at Calron with her large adorable eyes asking for food.

“Haha, wait here, and I’ll try to hunt for some beast meat.”

Calron laughed out loud when he saw the expression on Avi’s face. He did not know whether or not the little pup was intentionally using her cuteness to make him do her bidding, but he certainly did not mind.

Spending time with Avi made him recall the memories of the other baby beasts at the outer ranges, and he wondered how they were faring right now.

He missed them.

Turning around and preparing to scout for a beast to hunt, Calron took a single step when he felt a tiny paw scratch his ankle.

*woof*

Taking a quick glance behind him, Calron found the wolf pup begging to go along with him. Calron could understand how Avi felt, as their current surroundings were eerily quiet and it most likely spooked the little beast.

“Fine… but you will have to walk a lot, as I have not recovered my strength yet.”

Calron sighed while shaking his head, and resumed treading into the trees.

Avi silently followed close behind the human, as her head kept darting around and absorbing the new scenery.

A human and a little beast slowly walked within the forest, bringing their bond even closer as they reveled in each other’s silent company.

……………………

“Stay here.”

Calron quietly whispered to the crouching wolf pup next to him.

In a flash, Calron bolted out from behind the bushes and instantly appeared behind the goat-like beast.

With golden lightning crackling around his palm, he thrust it deep into the beast’s brain before it could realize what was happening.

*splash*

A spray of blood splattered onto the ground, as the beast slowly toppled down with its eyes still wide open in shock.

Seeing that the beast was dead, Avi leapt over the bush where she was hiding and rushed towards Calron.

“Uhh… this is going to take some time to cook.”

Calron muttered, as he wiped away the fresh blood from his hand and stared at the medium-sized goat in front of him.

*growl*

The little wolf pup threateningly lowered her head, as she swiftly pounced on the dead beast. Grasping the beast’s leg within her small jaws, Avi violently shook it for a few seconds before hopping back and switching her target to the beast’s belly.

Watching the little pup pretend to be a predator, and acting as if she killed the beast herself, Calron could not help but let a smile slip from his face.

“Avi, let’s go. These type of beasts always travel in herds, so there will definitely be more nearby.”

Calron calmly stated, as he beckoned for the wolf pup to retreat.

Although he easily killed the goat-type beast, he would not be able to do the same against an entire herd.

“You can play later, but let’s leave this area first.”

Calron urgently whispered to the pup, as he grabbed the two front limbs of the dead beast and motioned for Avi to remove her jaws from the beast’s stomach.

“grrr…”

With a final tug, Avi let go of the beast and happily trotted behind Calron.

The human appeared to be serious, so she quit fooling around.

“Good girl.”

Calron chuckled, as he began jogging back to their original location, carrying the dead goat on his back.

“Awoooo”

Avi let out an excited howl as she darted past Calron and raced ahead of him.

………….

—After a few hours—

With a half-eaten carcass lying around them, both human and beast were lying on the ground, while one silently snored and the other one quietly gazed at the starry sky above.

Avi curled herself into a small furry ball, as she contently snored away with a belly-full of meat.

Calron brooded within his own thoughts as he recalled the mysterious owner of those piercing eyes and what that stranger’s presence meant.

Staring at the countless glowing stars above, Calron felt a strange peace within his heart.

“I have a feeling that this one will turn out to be more mischievous than we thought.”

Ezkael softly whispered, as he materialized next to his student and gave a quick glance at the sleeping pup.

“Haha, I have the same feeling… but she’s adorable, isn’t she?”

Calron replied back in an amused tone, as he looked at Avi’s sleeping form.

“Kid, she has a special bloodline…”

“I know, Teacher. We’ll deal with that situation later, once the need arises, but until then, she travels with us.”

Calron said firmly, as he gazed into his Teacher’s smoky eyes.

“Can’t go back after coming this far, can we now?”

Ezkael sighed while shaking his head, but a faint trace of a smile could be detected on his hazy face.

“nnn….nn….nnn”

Suddenly, Avi let out a few distressed whimpers as she kept shifting around on the ground.

“Looks like she’s remembering her mother’s death. Well, she is your responsibility now, Calron. Take care of her.”

Ezkael gently whispered, as his body dispersed into the shadows.

Rushing towards the little wolf pup, Calron gingerly embraced her tiny body and placed his arms around her.

“Shhh… it’s alright, Avi… “

Calron breathed into the sleeping pup’s ears in an attempt to bring her out of her nightmare.

“I’m here…”