Discordant Note: Crescendo | TBATE

Chapter 191: A Known Prisoner

Toren Daen

I rested intermittently on Aurora's back as we flew over the Beast Glades, her large bronze feathers reflecting the evening light. The wind that whipped past us was cold and biting, but I was sheltered by the even warmth of the relic's heat.

A week had passed since my original pseudo-punishment was sent out, and I was heading back to the Alacryan encampment. I'd exhausted my entire supply of corrupted elixirs, and what I had to show for it...

On my final attempt, I'd managed to heal one mana beast of the corruption. The process was painful, hellish, and would likely leave that particular beast mentally scarred for the rest of its life, but I'd done it.

That was what was truly important. That I could wash the taint of the Vritra from a beast core was what I set out to prove in the first place in the Beast Glades. Because if I could cleanse that corruption from a core, that meant that Tessia's Elderwood Guardian...

I'd also managed to reach my quota of ten corrupted AA-class mana beasts through the help of Aurora's relic. I could cover ground far, far faster with her assisted flight, meaning I had a far better range to hunt my prey.

Fuck you, Cylrit, I thought smugly, holding the pictures I'd taken of each corrupted AA-class beast with the camera artifact he'd provided me. I actually managed to complete the task you gave me.

"You take far too much pleasure in irritating the Retainer, my bond," Aurora prodded, flying close to the tops of the trees. "I begin to worry if it is not detrimental to your health."

I scoffed, though the sound was carried away by the wind. "I dislike Cylrit for perfectly justifiable reasons," I argued back.

"And those are?" my bond queried, tilting her large avian head. The suns in her metallic eye sockets seemed to sparkle with even more amusement.

I elected to look at the rushing forest below us instead of meeting the knowing glint in Aurora's eyes. "He made me regrow a tooth," I said after a minute of trying to find a good reason. "That is one of the most uncomfortable things to heal. I think I reserve a right to bear a grudge."

"I'm sure it is," Aurora replied with an amused chuckle. "There is no other reason. Certainly not one that has silver hair and wears dark dresses."

"I can't believe you'd accuse me of something so shallow," I retorted, crossing my arms. "I thought you knew me better, Aurora."

Outwardly, I displayed annoyance and surprise, but internally I cringed.

My bond shifted to observing the rolling hills–each littered with thick, thick trees–and opted to send a comforting stream of warmth over my bond. "I am old, Toren," she said with slight amusement. "Do not forget that I was the focus of many proposals in my time. I know what it looks like for men to squabble over a woman."

I winced. Ouch.

"Hey, Aurora," I said, feeling a bit uncomfortable from how close to home my bond's words had reached, "We're getting close to the encampment. I'm going to revert the relic now so we don't get spotted."

The phoenix sighed audibly, which sounded like a puff from a steam engine. "As you wish, my son," she said chidingly. "I am ready."

I swallowed, then reached a hand toward my sternum. I called my lifeforce to my hands, the light streaming with orange and purple hues as I grasped the incorporeal tether that streamed into my core.

I couldn't see the vein of heartfire that tied the feather in my core to Aurora's relic without the use of my Acquire Phase, but I could hear it.