Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 566: Volcanic Sand ()

"The barrier..." Kaideon murmured to himself as his hand made contact with a semi hard wall surface in the middle of nowhere.

Just staring at it, one could see the wide expanse of barren land ahead, uninterrupted but there was some form of magical shield preventing anyone from going further, a strange demarcation that only revealed itself at touch.

Kaideon reached out, watching thoughtfully as the barrier rippled around his fingers, this caused the view of the barren land beyond it to tilt unsteadily for a moment before it was restored back to what it had been.

"This is it." Kaideon confirmed to Coran and Rodvan through their mind link.

"Kaideon, the shadow beasts have begun prowling since sun down. You should find cover first and inspect the barrier at dawn." Rodvan suggestion sounded in Kaideon’s mind.

Kaideon glanced up at the sky, it was already late evening now and it was long past the time for the shadow beasts to emerge from their hiding places.

Kaideon had sighted a few himself, but he was well camouflaged and kept his pace and breathing as slow as possible.

Ferocious as the shadow beasts were, majority of them moved by senses rather than sight.

Kaideon had successfully avoided their notice this long, it had already been a few hours since sun down.

And Kaideon was out in open lands, no matter how cautious he had been so far, the farther into the night it got, the sharper the senses of the beasts grew, and the more apparent the danger became.

A short time from now and the nightfall would be on him, the skies rid of any light but the few rays the moon could supply through the masses of shadow accumulating.

It was already a dangerous time to be out, Kaideon had not expected it would take so long to find the barrier after arriving at dry land.

"There is not enough time, if we hope to return on schedule. Do not worry about me, I will be careful." Kaideon thought to his subordinates.

Kaideon kept his mind link open, so his thoughts would be conveyed freely as he inspected the barrier.

"The dark magic sensor is not of much use here." Kaideon murmured, glancing down at the outer part of the portal which was indeed a compass.

The arrow of the compass had been moving unsteadily throughout the time they had been in the dark lands.

There were so many dark creatures lurking, the sensor was terribly overwhelmed and could not single out the barrier Kaideon had been looking for, not when it was reacting to everything else.

Kaideon had been left to discover the exact place the barrier stood by his own devices and now he had.

Kaideon shut the compass, placing it away in his robes. He reached a hand out to the barrier once again, his eyes going closed.

"What do you sense?" Coran asked.

Kaideon had sufficient experience with dark magic, if anyone could find a weak point in the barrier, it would be him.

"The barrier has no signs of dark magic whatsoever, no noticeable aura... this was not casted by a dark sorcerer." Kaideon surmised.

"It feels... almost like... witch magic." Kaideon murmured uncertainly.

"Witch magic? It could not be... just how many of them are left alive?" Rodvan asked in surprise.

"A handful, with one thing in common..." Kaideon reminded.

"A vendetta against dragon kind." Rodvan completed.

"It will be no surprise if the Black Network employed the skills of a fugitive witch, they will do anything if it means getting back at us." Rodvan added.

"But why choose witch magic for this barrier in particular?" Coran asked.

"Because dragons are most experienced with dark magic. The only ones who know dark magic almost as well as the Black Network itself are dragons...on the contrary, witch magic is the magical art we are least familiar with."

"The witches have always been elusive nomads since before the uprising... we have never interacted with the race much before and even after, never battled or subdued them till the annihilation order was given." Kaideon murmured, crouching down to a knee to inspect lower.

"This goes to tell how little we truly know about witch magic compared to Dark Magic, Fae magic and the Mage arts. " Kaideon finished.

"If they have taken such precautions against us, it can only mean this could truly be it." Coran thought.

Kaideon furrowed his brows slightly, he did not doubt this barrier was linked to Fort Blazed.

There was not a single time Neveah’s senses were inaccurate, a wolf was better equipped in that regard...if she had picked up a scent tied to Fort Blazed, then it could not be wrong.

"If Veah sensed it, then I believe it. But we need physical evidence... that beyond this barrier lies Fort Blazed." Kaideon thought back.

Kaideon placed a palm on the ground, over the cracked, dry earth and he slowly trailed his fingers over, lifting them up to his view.

His mind was immediately drawn back to a memory from so long ago.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"He does this on every death anniversary. What do you think he is doing?" Rodvan’s voice sounded in Kaideon’s mind as both dragon lords watched Lord Starron circling the walls of Fort Blazed.

A strange sandy matter rained down from the sky, all around the walls, a dark grayish colour.

"Paying tribute in his own way..." Kaideon thought back to Rodvan.

"Tribute...?" Rodvan asked uncertainly.

"Starron this lad and his lady first met in Fort Inferno, after the last volcano erupted. At the time... flaming Volcanic Sand rained down over the human settlement and a visiting Starron sighted it."

"He flew low, shielding the people with his own body."

"The entire settlement was burned in the flames, all the people were safe and amongst them was the young woman who would become Lady Starron..."

"For years after, Lady Starron never stopped retelling their first meeting...in her words, nothing had been more beautiful... than that fiery rain and the great beast who had come to their aid."

"This is Lord Starron... reenacting the scene of that day, on every death anniversary to remind his Lady... that he would always be hers." Kaideon explained.

"He brought Volcanic Sand all the way from Fort Blazed?" Rodvan asked in amazement.

"He does it every year, Rodvan...all by himself...now, the only place Volcanic Sand can be found other than Fort Inferno is this very Fort Blazed." Kaideon thought to Rodvan with a shake of his head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Volcanic sand..." Kaideon murmured, recognizing the few strange particles of sand on his hands for what they were.