Chapter 17: Sky Mountain – part 5

The moment the first scream echoed around them, D’Argen was up on his feet with his hand reaching for his bow. He decided against drawing it completely to keep from startling the mortals, but a quick glance around their camp revealed all of them already startled enough.

The other Never Born were also on their feet. Yaling’s citrus scent was already strong enough to make Lith’s legs shake. Isme collapsed back into his seat with a dazed expression.

“Yaling?” D’Argen called out her name in question and finally drew his bow. He released it to its full length with a snap as he watched the mortals, making sure they were not startled by the action. They were all with glazed eyes. 

Yaling shook her head and closed her eyes, her entire face scrunching up in concentration.

“I cannot find it,” Yaling finally said in the silence. The scream made the rest of the forest hush down completely until only the flickering of the flames and the pop of wood were audible.

“I should—”

“No,” Thar interrupted him and reached out, placing a cold hand on his own and lowering his bow.

“What? No. It’s probably nothing and—”

“It is far.” This time, it was Yaling that interrupted him.

D’Argen glanced at the mortals. All four of them were sitting back down under the influence of Yaling’s scent. D’Argen made a quick motion with his hand, his fingers twisting in the beginning of a silencing spell. Yaling visibly startled at the motion then looked at the mortals as well. The citrus scent of her mahee at work faded completely and, as if that was all the forest was waiting for, another scream echoed around them.

“We are here for the flower only,” Lilian added in, their tone soft and quiet.

D’Argen tensed. A quick glance around the group revealed that they were all in agreement. His feet itched with the need to run, his mahee already opening. He wanted to know what caused that scream and if they were in danger.

“When it is light out,” Thar said quietly from right beside him.

Hearing the man so close to him made D’Argen flinch and tighten his grip on his bow. He shifted his body weight to lean slightly away from the other man and instinctively ducked his chin a bit. Thar finally dropped his hand and then took a step back and away from him.

Another scream echoed around them and this time D’Argen made the full hand motions for one of Yaling’s spells to enhance his hearing. The sound was already fading away but it bounced around the forest so much that there was no way for him to locate its source. The others were right. Running blindly in the night would not help anyone at all. His first concern was to keep the mortals safe.

He let go of a stiff nod and collapsed his bow again.

Abbot was the first to sit down again. Thar circled the fire before taking a seat as well and then the others followed.

D’Argen closed off his mahee and a moment later the scent of the ocean was swept away in the clean scent of Thar’s magic. As D’Argen watched, Isme’s eyes became brighter and Lith’s breathing sped up. Thar’s scent was one of the few that D’Argen knew of that did not put the mortals in a state of intoxication.

Another scream echoed around them, but this one seemed much fainter and disappeared much faster.

D’Argen thought that with the horrible screams, none of them would get any sleep that night. The screaming was too reminiscent of a grown man in pain, one ready to weep and beg and return to his mother’s embrace - D’Argen knew all too well what that sounded like. His own party knew it as well, though they may not have been as familiar with the sound as D’Argen. Thar was most familiar with it and when D’Argen looked at him over the dancing flames of their fire, the man looked like a solid statue made of ice. There was no expression on his face at all, even when one of the screams came louder and then was immediately echoed by two more.

“I cannot do this,” Isme said during a longer break between screams. He was hugging his knees tightly and rocking back and forth. His face was hidden in his legs. Shaffi had one hand resting on his rocking shoulder but D’Argen could see the loss of blood in her fingers from how tightly she gripped it. It looked less like a comforting touch and more like a grounding one.

“Yaling,” D’Argen called out her name and Yaling looked at him. She had been crouched by the fire, her narrowed eyes never leaving the forest beyond. “Can you…?” he started then made a cutting motion in the air with dancing fingers and a limp wrist.

Yaling understood him immediately and shifted from her crouch, resting her weight on her other leg. “Is it wise?” she asked quietly, her voice barely carried to him and definitely not reach the mortals who all flinched when another scream echoed around them.

D’Argen glanced first at Thar, then at Abbot where the man played with the light of the fire and made it much brighter than it should be, then to Lilian who was sitting right beside him with their head down - appearing asleep.

Only Thar met his eyes.

D’Argen looked back at Yaling and nodded firmly. “Do it.”

Yaling glanced at the mortals and then moved over to them while still in her crouch. She was level with them but only Shaffi looked at her. Yaling’s smile looked forced even though D’Argen noticed her relaxing her entire body to look more friendly.

As Yaling explained to them what she would do and asked for their permission, D’Argen looked at Thar. The man was no longer looking at him. A quick glance at Lilian revealed that they were not asleep and were instead silently judging D’Argen with a raised brow.

“Shut up,” D’Argen muttered quietly under his breath and turned to face the forest. It was quiet.

“Okay, are you all ready?” Yaling asked, loud enough to signify she was talking to all of them.

D’Argen just nodded but he heard a few verbal agreements.

When Yaling opened her mahee, the scent of her magic came out and surrounded them all. It was even stronger than her earlier burst to listen to the screams, but the spell she was using required a lot more. D’Argen closed his eyes to breathe in the comforting and familiar scent of citrus. He heard a gasp and then a pop and then the entire forest somehow became quieter. He opened his eyes and looked right at the mortals. The group of four looked surprised, their eyes darting back and forth into the trees. As Yaling’s scent became stronger, that surprise and a hint of panic faded away into an expression that D’Argen recognized all too well - they were high.

Yaling's mahee was based on the physical aspect, like D'Argen. The two of them had their own magic and they could use the spells of all other kinesiologists to better their bodies. Some of the users in the physical aspect could also apply those same spells to other Never Born and even mortals. Even fewer could use their core magic to affect the area around them. Yaling was one of those very few Never Born who could take her gift of hearing to another level and use sound as a weapon through her whistles or a boon to silence the area around her, taking all sound in for herself.

Another pop, a twist, and D’Argen watched in fascination as each of the four mortals started drooping in their newly relaxed positions though D’Argen could no longer hear the leaves rustling. The mortals’ eyes were closing and then snapping open, but there was no reason for them to remain awake. They would not hear the screams or any other sounds while Yaling’s spell was active. Yaling, however, would hear it all even louder.

“Rest, Lilian and I will take the first watch,” D’Argen spoke and his voice sounded muffled even to his own ears. Yaling’s spell was almost fully complete.

Thar seemed unhappy, his eyes finally focusing past the flames, but he did not voice his disagreement. Abbot stopped playing with the light and the forest around them grew darker. By the time Yaling finished her spell, all of the mortals were already asleep, propped up and huddled together.

“Good job,” D’Argen said, having to speak louder for his words to travel to Yaling.

Yaling nodded but did not say anything in response. Instead, she crawled across the camp to where Abbot had settled on a bedroll and then squished in beside him. Abbot, already aware of what this spell did to Yaling, took off his cape and wrapped it around both of them then pulled her into him. He wrapped his arms around her head where it hid into his chest and then calmed his breath into sleep - giving her a quiet space to rest.

“You too,” D’Argen ordered once more to Thar.

You are reading story God of Discovery at novel35.com

The man only shook his head.

D’Argen narrowed his eyes but decided it was not worth it and instead nudged Lilian lightly.

“Tell me of the last few days,” he whispered quietly.

Lilian glanced at Thar quickly, then around the forest, waiting and listening for something. When nothing came, they nodded and turned back to D’Argen, settling in.

“I have not seen any of… what we discussed before… nor felt it myself. But I do feel something off about this place as a whole. I am starting to understand why we have so few records of it and why you dislike coming here.” Even though Lilian was speaking at a normal volume, it came out as a whisper only for D’Argen’s ears.

“But the records? That would be from before… our earlier discovery.” D’Argen glanced at Thar quickly. The man was watching the two with narrowed eyes from across the fire but D’Argen knew he could not hear anything. Still, he did not feel comfortable and lowered his voice even more. “That story of Shaffi’s flowers… do you think that is what we’re looking for?”

“I doubt it,” Lilian said and brought D’Argen’s attention back to them from where he was focused on Thar. “If it was a simple flower and one that made it off the mountain… somebody else would have heard about this long before us.”

“And then…”

“And then,” Lilian repeated in confirmation with a nod. They darted yet another quick glance at Thar. “If we could scent it… it… umm…” they sounded too distracted.

“Have you noticed any strange scents?” D’Argen prompted with a nudge.

Lilian shook their head and then verbally answered, “No. The regular forest scents. There has been a tickle in my nose since this morning but that could just be the cold.”

D’Argen hummed in agreement and looked back into the darkness around them. If the forest was screaming, its echoes did not penetrate Yaling’s spell.

“Get some rest too,” D’Argen suggested in a soft voice.

“And you? Without any sound at all will you–”

“I’ll make it up tomorrow,” he replied.

Lilian did not argue with him further, knowing him well enough, and nodded. They curled up right there beside him and when D’Argen felt their head laying on his thigh, he automatically reached out and rested his hand to play with their light hair. Thar looked away the moment D’Argen looked back at him.

The rest of the night passed much the same. Abbot awoke at one point and when D’Argen waved him away, he went right back to sleep. The screams did not sound even once to wake them up.

When the dark sky turned a single shade brighter, D’Argen knew that the sun had risen. Yaling opened her eyes and immediately sat up. Abbot grumbled something and took back the blanket she had lifted, but he did not wake up himself.

“You can drop the spell now.” D’Argen felt like he had to yell the words across the short distance between them so she would hear them. Lilian stirred in his lap and he knew he must have indeed said the words too loud.

Yaling nodded and closed her eyes. The scent of citrus was strong enough to wake up both Abbot and Lilian fully but it only worked on keeping the mortals in the land of dreams even longer. As the spell slowly disintegrated, D’Argen heard the sounds of the forest awakening. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, feeling the pressure in his spine and shoulders finally release.

A pop, a breath, and then a bird started singing from a tree right over his shoulder.

“Abbot, tend to the fire and prepare breakfast. Yaling, Thar… wake the mortals then go get the horses. Lilian, I want you to check the perimeter and use one of your spells to try and track down this flower they’re looking for. All the other herbs can be found in the foothills. We can’t stay in the forest much longer with the mortals and… whatever was screaming so much last night,” D’Argen ordered. He had been thinking about it all night, watching the mortals shiver in their sleep even though he kept the fire going to give them warmth. The screaming as well… it sounded too human to be an animal and though there were demons in the past that could mimic human speech, all the demons were gone. They were.

All of them nodded and set off on their given tasks. As soon as Yaling and Thar were out of view, D’Argen stood up quickly and rushed to catch up to Lilian. A quick glance back at Abbot revealed the man packing and lighting his pipe of tobacco then taking out the uneaten meat from the previous night to warm it over the fire.

“Not yet,” Lilian said before D’Argen even voiced his needs.

D’Argen let out a huff of laughter and nodded. “Fine. But you owe me.”

“I always will,” Lilian replied with a gentle smile. “But… one thing, quick. Those screams? Do you think their source could be related to… the cheetah thing?”

D’Argen had been thinking about that as well. If only the others had let him run to check he—

“It could be. I’m hoping we can find this flower as soon as possible so we can continue on our own search without… worrying for them.”

Lilian snorted out a sound that was completely undignified. When D’Argen looked at them, they grinned wide and said, “They are not that delicate. How long has it been since you have travelled with mortals?”

D’Argen did not answer them and instead turned to go back to the camp. Lilian disappeared into the forest but a moment later D’Argen scented dew in the air. It was faint, barely even noticeable, but he knew Lilian was using one of their stronger spells. D’Argen made it back to Abbot and the fire in a few steps. The mortals were already awake with Thar’s clean scent circling over them, removing the last of the citrus from the air and the natural sounds of the forest. It took a moment for the clean scent to fade away completely, even though Thar was already long out of sight. D’Argen walked past the mortals, smiled at a barely awake Isme, then went right up to Abbot.

A shuffle behind him had him turning to see Isme fully awake and nudging the others to get up.

“Were you able to get any sleep?” Abbot asked with a mutter, biting the edge of his pipe to keep it from falling.

“Sleep is for the weak,” D’Argen goaded back with a smirk. When Abbot looked up at him through narrowed brows, D’Argen only grinned wider. “I’m good, honestly.”

“Uh-huh.” Abbot did not sound convinced.

“One more night, at most,” D’Argen said, apropos of nothing, but made sure his voice carried so the mortals would hear them. A quick glance revealed they were picking themselves up and watching the forest more than their hands. At his words, Shaffi turned to him with a scowl.

“We can’t put you to sleep every night,” D’Argen answered her unasked question. “Plus, it’s getting way too cold and I, for one, don’t feel like carrying your bodies back to your village. Isme has a son to meet.” D’Argen, who hated the cold almost as much as he hated the heat, wondered for a moment if even one night was too long for the mortals to spend in the cold.

Isme was the first to agree with him, though he did not voice it aloud. His brother and Lith nodded as well and after a moment, Shaffi nodded too.

“Good. Pack up, dress warm, and eat. We’ll be going as soon as Lilian is back. The other two will meet us with the horses on the way.”

You can find story with these keywords: God of Discovery, Read God of Discovery, God of Discovery novel, God of Discovery book, God of Discovery story, God of Discovery full, God of Discovery Latest Chapter