- Heaven's Last Breath -

Cold Blooded

Silently, I laid back, letting the wind carry me above the city below me. By now, most people had retired for the night, nearly every street lantern extinguished though I could make out a few silhouettes moving around in the shadows.

I paid no mind to them, turning my attention back to my destination which I was fast approaching. Now that I was flying in the sky, I didn't have to deal with any security checks at the gates to the central district, meaning I could continue uninterrupted.

A few hundred feet ahead of me stood a tall, spiralling chiselled stone tower. Through the narrow, tall window I could just about see a small flame flickering in the darkness.

I stood up onto my feet, the gust of wind still blowing along under my feet. I prepared myself as I closed in on the tower, leaping from mid air, gracefully diving through the thin slitted window.

As I shook my clothes off, standing to my feet, I looked around the tower's peak chamber. My eyes fell on the small flame I had spotted from outside, seeing the sunny orange fire billowing under the slight draft that had entered the tower.

Slow footsteps caught my attention and as I turned on my heels, I stood face to face with an average sized man who was wearing a loose robe. The long blood red cloth covered most of his body, a long draping hood covering the man's face. Along the edges and cuffs of his robe, vibrant gold archaic symbols had been carefully threaded, the patterns somewhat familiar.

"Finally, you show yourself."

I shoved both hands into my pockets, letting out a short sigh as shook my head slowly. "Playing dress up doesn't suit an old man like you."

For a moment, the robed man didn't respond though I was sure I could make out a smile somewhere under his hood. Then, he spoke up, "I have heard a lot about them, my lord, and it is an honour to me that you grace a tower mage like me with your prescence."

As he spoke, my brow furrowed, the blood vessels in my forehead constricting slightly. I turned away for a second, spitting out before replying, "Yeah? You don't know what you're talking about. An old man like you should be spending time with his grandkids."

Slowly, the robed man stepped forward, stopping a few feet in front of me. He carefully pulled back his hood, revealing an old, dry face. The man's hair had mostly fallen out and I could clearly see he was living beyond his years. He knelt down before me, lowering his head to the chamber's wooden floor.

"Your words are more than a mere mortal such as myself deserve. You sensed my presence before, please show me a sign! I've devoted my life to them, please, please, I must know! My family, they all said I was crazy, but here you are, stood before me! A Celesti-"

The more the old man pleaded, the more he irritated me. As he spouted nonsense, I looked away slightly, wanting to avoid this situation entirely.

After a moment of deliberation, I turned back to the man, seeing him still kneeling before me. "Yeah, well, maybe your family was right."

Then, without hesitating, I lifted my left arm, motioning with my index finger. Without delay, a wire thin string of water followed my gesture.

As the robed man lifted his gaze, the razor sharp string of water flew between his eyes, piercing through his skull. There was a look of disgust in my eyes as the old man dropped face first onto the cold wooden floor.

Before his lifeless body hit the deck, I had already made myself scarce, diving out of the broken glass window. Now that this minor interruption had been dealt with, I could focus on what I really came for.

I plummeted through the air, I lifted my gaze, scanning the area for my destination. As I laid eyes on the dock area to the south of the city, I flicked upward with my right hand, a gentle gust of wind keeping me afloat under the night sky.