Unbound

They rode out into the sands as true night fell on the Expanse. Atar led them as before, his Mana Gauge finding the secretive trail to the City of Embers after only a few minutes. The rest of the caravan trundled on in his wake, though Felix imagined the quiet was more contemplative than a day ago.

It was odd. He felt as if everyone's guard was both lowered and heightened. No monsters prowled the sands, no undead in the dunes, but the fighting of the day—and the deaths—were too recent to be put off completely.

Felix saw the company still moving in discrete squads, the Legion, Dawnguard, and Risi all intermingling. He was happy that they were sticking with it, but it was clear that it was the result of orders. All of them needed work. He had puzzled at the problem for hours in camp and again as he rode Pit at the head of the column. What did he and his...his people, need?

Growth. To be challenged. But they can't be challenged until they can work together, and they can't work together until they trust each other. The real question had been how to achieve that trust.

The answer, he had accidentally realized, was Affinity.

The fighting at the oasis had forged a few bonds between the groups, that much had been clear to Felix's eyes as squads wandered the camp, ate their meals, and struggled to get a few hours of sleep. A couple Legionnaires, a Blade and Bone, commiserated over the fire. A giant spoke with a Half-Orc Arclight about lightning versus ice magic. Little snippets, scattered across the campsite, of something more than the casual disregard or vague dislike that sat between all the rest.

When Felix noticed this, he immediately felt at their Spirits in an attempt at understanding their feelings. But he pushed too far, and instead he saw the cords of connection spreading in all directions, to all people and things. The Harmonic stat of Affinity was a delicate instrument he'd found, and flaring it too hard led to strange interactions with his Perception and other abilities. It also included links to physical objects like the ground and the air, or that tree someone just touched, and those blades of grass where blood had been spilled. Those were like background noise to the rest, a song sung in another room. It was a lot, almost too much for his Journeyman Mind. He started to ease off his Affinity, until he noticed that the connections between those friendly conversationalists were brighter and louder than most.

That was eye-opening. He immediately began to study the connections among those he knew the best: his teammates. The strongest links—excluding his bond with Pit, which was another thing entirely—existed between Atar and Alister, Evie and Vess, Harn and Evie, Zara and himself, and...Darius and Zara. The last was surprising.

Despite his study, Felix couldn't intuit exactly what the links signified, other than a certain closeness. Atar and Alister was obvious, as was Evie and Harn. Both were intimate relationships, though they differed in the details; one romantic, and the other more like a father and daughter. Or perhaps a fond uncle and his favorite, very stubborn niece. Evie and Vess also felt similar in tone to that one, though a touch less potent. Friends. The one between Darius and Zara was weird. It had a flickering quality to it that Felix couldn't parse, as if it was fading in and out, waxing and waning in strength.

The link between Zara and himself was obvious. The strength of it, however, was perhaps the most surprising of all. It was an orchestra to the simple string quartet of the others, involving so much more depth than he had expected. If Affinity was a representation of the desires, sympathies, and fears of a person—and Felix was beginning to understand that it was, to a large extent—then whatever Zara felt toward him was immense. But Affinity was also ineffable to a certain degree. The connections existed on a metaphysical level that Felix still didn't understand, one that was deeper than just emotions and the amount of times someone interacted.

Still, understanding the shape of his team's connections made some things far, far easier. He knew, for instance, where ties were strongest and where they were weakest, and the general feeling associated with them. It wasn't so clear cut as "hate" or "love" or even "loyalty," just a sliding scale of positive and negative sensations. Best he could manage was spying on their Spirits as the squads interacted and mentally flagging those that worked well together. If only he could find a way to engender and reinforce the benevolent connections, few as they were.

Felix made a mental note to speak with Harn about it later.

His musings kept him busy, at the very least. There was little else to ponder on the long, boring journey. Felix wanted to be happy about the quiet, but the lack of action nagged at him. Fighting that morning had reminded him how much fun it could be, as twisted as that seemed. The first few hits he'd taken from the Manadrenched Scorpion had been thrilling—Felix hadn't been sure how strong the thing was—sadly the rest of the fight was far less exciting. Other than a potent durability, the huge arachnid had been just another punching bag. Ironically, though he wanted to avoid conflict to keep his people safe, there was a large part of him that wanted to dive headlong into whatever dangers the desert had on offer.

Foolhardy, he chided himself. When is Zara going to stop being right all the time?

The sands slithered and shifted around them, the winds blowing cold and frequently. Cloaks and shawls had been fished out of packs and satchels and drawn tight against the chill, while the giants finally looked comfortable. Many beards were split with moonlit grins. For his part, Felix had shifted his Garment into a short jacket with a high neck and full length trousers, eschewing any sort of cape or cloak. As dramatic as a cloak might look, the constant snapping and rippling in the breezes was irritating, and it wasn't like he needed the protection from the cold, even as it deepened.

Above them the sky was a dense field of stars, so clear it looked as if he could reach out and grab one. The Twins had risen above the horizon an hour past, along with brassy Yyero, and their waning illumination was more than enough to light their way. The desert swept beneath their feet, their speed incredible despite most not having a mount of any sort. Hours drifted this way, in silence and gelid solitude, until sometimes after midnight they spotted a shape in the distance.

"What is that?" Vess asked him. Her eyes spun with a dozen colors as she engaged her Elemental Eye. "It looks like a...skeleton?"

Felix focused, and the miles distant shape leaped into immediate clarity. He saw a town-sized collection of blackened bones emerging from a collection of those rocky bluffs. That was amazing enough, but he also saw people moving among the bones. "I think it's a settlement," he guessed. "I see small people, Gnome-sized, covered in...bandages?"

"Yttins," Atar said as the wagon crested the dune. "Strange folks, but good enough neighbors. It's encouraging that they're still here and unharmed. Means the Paladins didn't come through."

Alister peered into the distance. "Why would the Paladins care about them?"

"Yttins aren't the prettiest," Atar said. "That and their diet are usually reason enough for some to kill them on sight."

"Diet?" Vess asked.

"They like to eat their prey while its still alive." Atar flicked the reins on the wagon and the avum lurched forward.

Felix traded a glance with Vess, eyebrows raised. "This should be fun," he said.

"A delight," she muttered.

It took them a half hour to reach the settlement, and the entire time Felix studied the blackened bones that jutted from the ground. He had estimated their size based on the Gnome-like dimensions of the Yttins, but it was still jaw-dropping as they drew closer. The bones that stuck up were a rib cage and a gnarled line of vertebrae, the ribs reaching somewhere around four stories tall, and the spine tracing back up and over the bluff before sinking into the sands. Cloth and leather had been stretched atop the rib cage, forming a sort of roof, and a darkness pooled inside that Felix's eyes couldn't pierce. At first he thought it was the distance, but even a half-mile out he spotted nothing within that cavernous space, not even the swirl of Mana.

The Yttins noticed them well before they arrived, and while they weren't running outright, they did scurry with significant urgency. All while casting glowing glances at Felix's slow approach.

Zara appeared at his shoulder as they drew rein on the settlement. Her avum, Grouse, tossed his blunt head in agitation. "Be careful what you reveal," she said to all of them. "The Harmony...twists here."

What does that mean? Felix wanted to ask, but was afforded no time. A contingent of tiny, bandage-wrapped figures in loose flowing robes approached them on foot. They had sun-dried yellow skin and bright, glowing copper eyes, all wrapped in blue cloth so that nothing showed but their mouths and eyes. Even the twitching stumps on their backs were coiled about with cloth, though Felix couldn't decide if they were vestigial limbs or like...wing stumps.

Voracious Eye!

Pressure pushed against Felix's Mind and Spirit, harder than anything he'd felt in a long while. He twitched and dropped the Skill instead of pushing past the aggressive resistance. He had a feeling that they would notice if he forced the issue, and frankly Felix wasn't entirely certain he wouldn't be injured by the attempt. His head hurt.

The lead Yttin started talking in a series of chittering clacks and wet snaps, as if they were rolling a set of dice in their too-wide mouths. Felix tried and failed to parse any meaning from it. He had no clue what they were saying and was about to confess that fact, when Atar spoke up in the same clattering language.

"They wish to know why we have come to their warren," Atar translated after a moment. He grinned at Felix's shock. "I do have talents outside of spellcasting."

"It's just, this is the first we've seen it," Evie said.

Alister nudged her in the upper arm, making her grunt through her grin.

"Tell them we have come for information," Zara said, overriding their banter. "We wish to know if they have news of goings on in the Expanse."

Atar chittered at the Yttins, who listened with a tilted head. Felix didn't see any ears, so he was curious how they made out sounds at all, but they obviously did. The lead Yttin smiled and pointed at their caravan before replying. Atar frowned.

"'Information for information,' he says. He wants to know why we brought an army to the Expanse, and a strange one at that." Atar looked at Felix and Zara, clearly unsure how to answer.

"We are simple travelers. Nothing more," Zara said with a laugh. "We have precious little information for you. But we have food and water to barter in its stead."

The Yttin clicked rapidly and waved a hand, clearly uninterested in either. When Vess steps forward to suggest coin, they laugh outright.

"They've no need for coin. They," Atar halted as the leader kept speaking. "They follow the Beast and its Signs. They thrive."

The Beast? Felix furrowed his brows, scanning the settlement once again. There were no houses in the rocks, none that he could see at least. Is the Beast the skeleton? Do they live in the skeleton?

That thought was interrupted by the approach of more Yttins, all of whom began to walk closer to the wagons and around Felix and Pit. Several of them poked at Pit's wings, causing the tenku to twitch back. They chittered to one another, their small, two-clawed hands clapping and grasping at fur, feather, and forged barding. Pit squawked indignantly, but the small pests kept on, patting and petting no matter how Pit stomped and flapped his wings.

"Back away," Felix growled, feeding on his Companions agitation. A thrum shook through him, a rapid tattoo just above his navel that sang along his channels. He could feel his eyes glow, a blue to match their own copper orbs. "Now. Or else I'll let my friend here eat your bones while you watch."

Wild Threnody is level 69!

The Yttins froze, staring at Felix wide-eyed as their Spirits quivered strangely. Fear and...something else.

Pit chuffed a breath and brought his armored wing down, startling the little creatures and sending them scurrying backward with a series of rasping clicks. Felix glared, not caring that the negotiations for information had died away and everyone was staring. The Yttins pressed together, congregating around their chief or leader, though it was hard to tell who was who—their bandages and his lack of Voracious Eye really hampered that effort. They chittered away, a wet clicking and clacking like a boney haunch clattering into a wooden board. Of a sudden, one of their number rushed off, back into that cavernous rib cage.

That's...probably not good.

A Yttin extricated themself from the pile of prattling creatures and spoke forcefully to Atar again. They pointed, directly at Felix.

"What is he saying?" Evie asked.

"They are asking 'who?'" Atar said. "'Who is he that rides a chimera like an avum? Why can we not see him?'"

See...They tried to Analyze me? Felix was glad for his Veiling Amulet, still going strong after all this time. "Just a man," Felix said, attempting to project a sense of nonchalance. He was distracting from the information gathering efforts, he knew. Now one of them had run into the skeleton for some reason. "Looking for information."

"No man may touch the feathers of a tenku,'" the leader said, with a surprising amount of heat. Atar raised an eyebrow as he translated. "'And to hide one's truth is to break the weaving.'"

"He is my friend," Felix said, patting Pit on the neck. Pit chirruped in agreement, and from the way the chieftain jerked back in surprise, Felix knew they didn't need to translate that.

The chieftain clicked out a long string of sounds, gesturing first at Felix and then at the skeleton, before pointing at their caravan as a whole. Atar blinked and licked his lips, but before he could translate, another Yttin ran from the skeleton cliffs and gestured sharply to the chieftain. The leader made a barking-click, once, then a string of harsh consonants to Atar.

Vess looked between the bandaged folk, her body as tense as Evie and Harn beside her. "That does not sound promising, Atar."

"They said, 'The weaving brings surprises anew, and if he is a Human I will eat our home. If you wish information, then the Beast wishes to speak with this one. Alone.'" Atar's gaze flicked between the dark ribs and Felix. "The Beast is down there."

Felix eyed the dark recesses of the blackened bones and night-drenched cliffs. Something shuddered within those bones, like the sands were breathing.

"Great."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!