'Something is off' I noted while my eyes are peeled open taking note of all the beasts above me.
Ava was flying us low and fast, we had not stopped all day.
The traveling didn't bother me, it was the lack of attempts on my life while traveling.
Most of the flying beasts would swoop down and at least get a good look at me, but not a single one came down to asses their prey let alone try and catch me.
It made flying a lot faster as Ava didn't have to adjust altitude often but the change in the beasts raised the hairs on my neck.
The smell of rain was thick in the air, I am relieved as my waterskin had run dry days ago and I was too cautious to stop at any watering hole.
The thick white platform was large enough for me to sit cross legged on, but as the daylight faded it became a shiny pearl.
I knew that something was wrong at that time.
Usually I would feel the stares from the beasts close by and the ones high above would begin to follow me but right now nothing moved.
It was if they all knew what I was and didn't need to come and investigate.
I shuddered, little did I know that word of a demon in human skin had reached the mountains base.
"We need to get down, now"! I said standing up and creating an array.
***
High above the field of death two scaly winged beasts flew side by side.
Their presence alone made hunting impossible for the other flying beasts, the moment they swooped down to catch their prey they would become food for these large beasts flying higher than any other can or will.
The size of the flying lizards was as large as a two story house and nearly as wide.
The mouth on both of them had rows of sharp teeth and the brown scales reflected the light from the powerful sun.
"Are you sure its a demon"? Ham griped as she looked down at the falling human.
"The Wuu said it was, I'm not sure of anything but it looks more like a runt than a Demon" Oskana replied while gliding alongside his companion.
"Speaking about runts, what happened to your young ones"? He asked.
Ham growled loudly and ruffled her scaly skin, her wings membrane felt warm despite the altitude due to the coming of summer.
"They where all given to the gods but one" what she meant was that she dropped them off a cliff and kept the one that was the fittest.
"It's running from us" Oskana said suddenly cutting the conversation short, he began banking left while lowering himself.
"It can't have noticed us up here, your just being paranoid" Ham said while matching Oskanas glide.
The view from above was spectacular and every so often the cold would be relieved by a warm updraft.
"Then why is it running so fast, gods above the little demon is really moving" Oskana flapped his wings leisurely.
Ham peered below finding that Oksana was right, the little flying pebble turned into a fast moving speck.
"As long as it keeps moving west we shouldn't have a problem" Ham said while eyeing prey from above.
"I haven't seen a demon in years, I thought they are extinct" Ham began to glide further away, towards a flock below.
"Stop thinking with your belly and pay attention" Oksana said diving down suddenly.
The prey they are following suddenly disappeared.
Due to the sun setting no beast was able to differentiate the fast moving black blob from the moving shadow of the mountain.
Moments later Ham was astonished by what she saw, or rather didn't see.
They lost their prey in an open field, she had never made that mistake even as a hatchling.
Oskana was just as astonished making rounds in the area looking for the Demon.
"Look to the North" he said, all of the Apo from the large Wuu troop to the little Impish tribes sent their best.
They are coming from the north-west and north-east.
"Let's head south, the demon will either give into its blood lust and face the Apos or it will run south to be met by us".
"How? we can't even see it" Ham replied wishing to go back to her nest with a large catch.
"Speak for yourself" Oksanas eyes flared with mana as he watched the little white speck move.
"I think we just stepped on something huge" Oksana couldn't believe his eyes.
Continuing North while watching the small patch of mana move west his astonishment continued to grow.
"That isn't a demon, its a human who is using the blessed light".
"What is the blessed light"? Ham asked, intrigued by any subject related to Mana like all sentient creatures in Zefria.
"The light of mana, when one becomes so close to the gods that they are able to bend light itself".
'No demon can bend the light like that, not even in the olden days' Oskana thought.
From Oksanas perspective he saw a ball of milky white mana purer than any he had ever seen moving at high speeds towards the west.
"The human will reach the Little Mountain before the sun rises" Ham said still uninterested.
She had learned long ago that the mana was thinning in the world and nothing would ever change that.
"Why would that matter... your not planning on staying out here do you"? she asked with disbelief.
"I do, it's been nearly a fifty years since I've seen this happen".
"I'm leaving" Ham said abruptly, she could see the glint of greed along with mana inside it's large scaly brethren's eyes.
"Tell the old one I will take care of this 'demon'" Oksana dived down lower beneath the incoming clouds while Ham left flapping her wings twice and flying west towards the mountain, ridding herself of any responsibility along the way.
After all this was not even her territory, but the thought of seeing a long extinct 'Demon' roused her curiosity.
Now that It has been confirmed as just a regular human she lost interest faster than her feces can hit the ground.
To Oksana's surprise the human didn't run away from the incoming patrol of Apo, as a matter of fact it didn't even slow down.
Using the cover of the night along with it's ability to turn mana black it passed right by the Apo's without causing any alarm.
'Even it's scent is covered... this isn't light being bent this is true darkness mana' the dam of self control broke and the flood of greed washed over the apex predator'.
'It's not using it's own mana, this must be an artifact... these humans are known for their artifacts, the reason they have survived for so long is because of those damned silver smiths' Oksana reigned in his greed.
The thought of the human getting scared and destroying the artifact or even dying before he got a glimpse into its mind distressed him greatly.
Movement below pulled him out of his plans and plots, it seemed as if the human couldn't completely fool the Apo's.
Their screeching and jeering could be heard as they alerted the rest of their troop to the movement of the human.
The human was still moving at a fast pace, the darkness covered the whole of the land but Oksana could see as if it was early morning even from the distance of thirty thousand feet.
Anyone of the Apo's that got close to the boy was struck down, some didn't even know that they had died as the human killed them for being too close to it.
'Stupid' Oksana thought while cursing the human ideocracy, the boy was leaving a trail of blood leading to himself.
As if the Apo's followed his thoughts they all turned towards the direction of the human and began to chase him down.
Oksana growled thinking of the Apos destroying his precious artifact.
The humans sudden burst of speed delighted him, he found himself going through a roller coaster of emotions as the human made seemingly stupid decision after stupid decision.
Drawing the attention of the troop, at times steering towards them to kill them quietly only to attract the attention of the rest.
The human would never kill more than one or two at a time agitating the patrol, his bow and arrow are even dispensed of because he ran out using them like a complete moron.
He ran north west with a gang of Apo chasing after him, Oksana once thought that this human could be a mage with great power but it seems he was mistaken as the runt ran straight towards a group of Apo situated on a tall landscape that jutted out of the ground nearly a quarter mile away from him.
The human didn't slow down as a matter of fact, he went into the air.
The large serpent smiled as he saw this, his prey was delivering itself making his job a whole lot easier.
Disappointment nearly made him swear but the high altitude was lacking in oxygen and he would rather save it for flying.
The human flew low and fast towards the landscape and when he reached it flashing lights could be seen.
Oskana flew down low getting down to ten thousand feet, what he saw made him waver in the sky.
The mutilated corpses of Apos lined the landscape leading all the way up to the top where the human stood staring right at him.