Zephyr follows Veldris, Seong close behind. The chilling wind sends shivers down Zephyr's spine as he makes windy turns, anticipating something, anything, at any corner. Suddenly, Veldris raises his arm. Zephyr abruptly stops, startling Seong and ramming into Zephyr. Seong was about to complain when Zephyr raised a finger to his lips.
"There's a Nyxthorn beast around this corner," Veldris said.
Zephyr peaked over the wall, spotting a Thornscale Drake. The scales suddenly started vibrating as if they detected someone nearby. Zephyr tucked his head back in as quickly as he could.
"Hold on Seong, I'm gonna go piss real quick."
Seong tilted his head confused as to how Zephyr was able to let out his waste in such a dire situation.
"Okay..."
Zephyr turned around a corner and unzipped his pants, pretending to relieve himself.
"Veldris, do we really need to go that way? Thornscale Drakes are one of the most powerful monsters of the Nyxthorn Thicket," Zephyr whispered.
"There is literally no other way to get there, it's the only option we have, although not the safest."
Zephyr sighs, "Okay, then, what's the plan? Because there's no way Seong and I are going to be able to beat that thing without any qi."
"Give me your dagger, and I'll distract it."
"But then you're practically advertising yourself to Seong! And how are we supposed to know where to go after?"
"The beast is strong enough to detect my presence if I attack it, even if I'm invisible to everything besides you. You guys run hid in the left corner, where the path leads to a dead end. I'll lead the beast down the path we've gone through and deal with it from there. After I lure it away, run towards the area the drake was guarding and go through the long, winding corridor of books. Once you get to the end, it'll look like a dead-end, but if you use the Abyssal's power, you'll be able to figure it out. Hurry up, if you take too long, the drake will figure out where we are."
Zephyr zips up his pants and hands his dagger over to Veldris.
"Good luck, Veldris."
Zephyr hurries back over to Seong.
"Seong, follow me we're going to wait for the drake to go past us."
Seong was going to question how he would manage that but figured it would be useless to ask Zephyr any questions. They hurry down a branching path, crouching behind a corner.
Veldris pulls out his knife and stabs the drake in the eye. He releases a black presence, showing himself to the beast, and flies away, leading the beast in a direction different from Zephyr. Veldris releases his thorny tendrils, hooking them onto the beast. At this point, they were far past Zephyr and Seong, so they hurried past the drake and made it into a strange library, a vibe much different than what they experienced before.
Entering further into the tall shelves of books, they began to feel warmer, with the introduction of the roof on top of the bookshelves trapping the heat. But that eerie feeling still didn't disappear, a strange feeling where they felt like they didn't belong there. A strange array of books, books that had no meaning, just scattered around the shelves. A liminal space of bookshelves, one which the two of them didn't belong.
Veldris had told Zephyr to head down the corridor of books but didn't specify one path. In a hurry to get out, they chose a random path and started sprinting, desperate for an exit. They were hungry and thirsty but, most importantly, tired. They had to be alert nonstop for hours on end, with no end in sight.
As Zephyr ran down another corridor, a dark fog started to form over him.
We must be getting close.
The further he ran, the darker it got until he could barely see what was before him. They had reached the end, a singular shelf of books, the key to their escape. Zephyr focused the Abyssal's energy into his hands and started feeling around. After examining all of them, three of them had reacted to the energy. A book on the top shelf with the letter "E" written on the book's spine. A book on the middle shelf with the letter "V", and a book on the bottom shelf with the letter "L". At this point, Zephyr already knew the answer. If this was a place that was worshipped by the individuals of the clan, the letters "V," "E," and "L" had to be in the order of Veldris's name.
Zephyr slowly pushed in the books in that order, and the bookshelf slid to the left, opening up a stone corridor in front. Zephyr was ready to cross over when he saw a giant gap between him and the other side.
"Baek, I'll jump over first you can follow after."
Zephyr moves aside, letting Seong go first. Seong leaps, barely making it over as his hands grip the ledge, struggling to keep himself from falling. Eventually, he gets himself over the ledge, beckoning Zephyr to go next. Zephyr gets ready to jump and also barely manages to make it across as his hands struggle to grip the smooth floor.
"Seong, can you help me up?" Zephyr asks desperately.
Zephyr looked up at him but could only see half of his face. A sly smile had crept over his face, a clear indicator that Zephyr knew something was wrong.
"Baek, I don't know how you got so strong, but it ends now. All of these shenanigans or whatever tricks you're pulling aren't going to work now. Just give it up."
One of Zephyr's hands slips over the edge, leaving only one hand holding onto dear life. "Why?"
"Why? Why?! DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME?! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME AND YOUR BROTHERS?! No. No. No. Now, you deserve to die," Seong exclaims, laughing maniacally after. "Do you know how good this feels, Baek? A dick like you is finally being brought down from your high horse. Someone who bullied their entire family before figuring out they had no talent for qi. I don't even know how you haven't killed yourself after knowing that. But it's ok. Even if Yun saves you time and time again, he won't be able to save you this time."
Seong lifts his foot, stomping Zephyr's hand. Zephyr grunts and loosens his grip in pain. Zephyr tumbles down the dark abyss, cursing Baek for making so many enemies.