Saturday, September 2, 2023

Page 3395

Axiolis’ senses couldn’t detect him, either. Maybe it was Invisibility and the bastard was just damn fast on top of that.

Zeff landed atop one of the reaper cells, both feet almost sliding off before he caught the cage’s rounded edge with one hand. He could sense Diego back up and mostly regenerated, but without knowing where Marda went, it was hard--

A blow struck him from nowhere, sending him flying up through the open ceiling. He toppled over himself as he sailed through open air, and disorientation was trying to annihilate his concentration. If not for Axiolis, it would have succeeded. The reaper’s senses could give him an almost disembodied picture of himself as he tumbled upward.

The wind was so furious and chaotic that it threatened to carry him away from the prison entirely. The invisible attack--presumably from Marda--hadn’t even been that strong, relatively speaking. It was this damn sky that was doing all the work now, trying to toss him around like a rag doll.

He didn’t have the presence of mind or the time to think it through, but instinctually, he felt that there was an underlying will behind this raging wind. Its fury seemed too focused and intense. But again, Axiolis’ senses were telling him nothing of that.

Didn’t matter, anyway.

The only thing that mattered to him here was not getting blown away. He absolutely could not allow himself to be removed from the battlefield where everyone else was still fighting, still in need of his protection.

So he killed the wind.

An oceanic torrent exploded outward in all direction, save that of the prison below. It shot up into the swirling clouds and washed them away like so much dust. For a lingering moment, a tidal wave blanketed the sky, undeterred by the cracks of lightning that it attracted.

And he surged back down toward Cell Block Y, chased by a rainstorm.

That was the ticket to finding Marda, he knew. He pressed his soul into his water and relied on Axiolis’ senses once again. Even if the reaper couldn’t detect an Invisibility user, he could certainly detect the gaps in the soul-infused rain. True, the mayhem of the battle made it more difficult, but with both of their minds focusing on it together, it was far from impossible.

There. Behind Diego. About to pounce.

Zeff put ice under his feet again, this time only to make him slip instead of launching him.

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