Beastforged Bond

Spawns.

Creations of the Devourer, enemy of the Spirits, the living, and the dead. I hadn’t seen many Spirits before, but they were terrifying. My first encounter with a Spawn nearly ended with my premature death, while my second encounter was alongside my friends when we ventured into a Forbidden Zone in search of Scott’s second Soulkin.

We killed the Spawns, but the fight was still etched into my head. So were their powers: their ability to consume everything and make it theirs.

The Devourer’s Spawns did exactly what their master did; they devoured. Beasts were consumed and integrated into their bodies, their best traits used and combined to grow stronger. A young Spawn was not all that powerful, but a Spawn that had spent centuries devouring powerful beasts with all kinds of traits? They were terrifying.

“What are you talking about? Is there a Spawn in Dracos?” I called out to Sapsie.

It shouldn’t have been possible for a Spawn to enter, let alone survive in Dracos. Even if there was not always a Spirit in the city-state, their Spiritborne should have detected the Devourer’s presence if that were the case.

Don’t worry. It hasn’t been long since it showed up.

Sapsie said, waving dismissively with her root-like appendages.

It’s not inside Dracos either, you know. The Spawn is outside, getting used to Razarn’s atmosphere or something like that.

The World Tree sproutling sounded calm, though that was a problem in its own right. Sapsie was never calm. She was either excitable or playing around.

“Outside Dracos? That’s good,” I mused, all while retrieving several pieces of armor. It had been a while since I wore proper enchanted armor, but it fit as well as ever.

“Wait, how can you sense the Spawn in the first place?” We were not particularly close to Dracos’ center, but it was not like we lived near the city-state’s outer edges either.

A wave of discomfort flowed through the sproutling’s bond.

You remember the Life Essences? I may or may not have absorbed more of them after what happened with the Apex Essence. I was worried, you know?

I paused while fastening the belt and stared down at Sapsie’s compressed figure.

Don’t judge me for that! I was just trying to help you… Sure, it took you a little longer to heal the World, but I used the Life Essence to reinforce our bond and the traits. I considered using more to grow stronger, but… you would have noticed that. Anyway… I strengthened my traits with the Essence, hoping that enhancing Pond of Life would strengthen the nectar enough to patch your World’s cracks together.

Sapsie explained in a hurry, her words ringing sincere in my mind.

If her theory was correct, it would have been incredibly useful. But since the sproutling hadn’t said anything before, it was apparent that it hadn’t worked out.

“So that’s why Lifesight was stronger than before,” I mused, trying not to judge Sapsie for her actions. “Just talk to me next time. I could have purchased more Essence if I’d known about your theory.”

So… you’re not mad at me?

She asked quietly, her voice no more than a whimper.

“A little disappointed maybe, but not mad.” I shook my head, sheathed my longsword and a set of daggers, and set out. “If you tell me where the Spawn is, we can forget about this.”

That seemed enough to energize the young sproutling. Our bond sparked, and her senses reached out to mine.

Sapsie dissipated and reappeared in my World, where she did not stay for long before fusing with me. Soulfusion triggered, and a faint membrane began to cover my skin, yet instead of watching the auburn bark spreading out from my chest, Sapsie’s vitality coursing through my veins caught my attention. My senses sharpened and mutated, adapting to the senses of the young World Tree.

Pond of Life flared to life, my natural regeneration reached new heights, and the world around me shifted. Ambient ether’s invisible streams coalesced before my eyes in every color of the spectrum. Some shimmered with every element that could be found throughout Dracos, whereas others were much more simplistic. It was beautiful, magnificent even, yet I turned my attention to the lines of life now visible to my eyes.

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That was Lifesight, just like I remembered it, however Sapsie’s version was far grander than mine.

The lifeforce of my family and the Zerogs appeared before my eyes, some stronger than others, but there was nothing wrong with them. Stronger lifeforce signals formed in my vision closer to Dracos’ center, although they too were not as important.

The more material, especially aether-infused material, obstructed my vision, the more difficult it became to see clearly. A regular wall made it challenging to see the lifeforce of a Novice Blessed, whereas an Emperor Beast’s flame of life burned brightly enough to be seen across several districts.

Sapsie showed me something completely different though. She showed me the absence of life and ether. The absence of life usually came with the presence of death. That was not something Lifesight could manifest even after I fused with Sapsie, but that wasn’t necessary. Because far away from Dracos, I could see a hole. A gaping void of life and ether, and it seemed to be moving.

Two spots. One moved through life and ether, devouring everything in its path, while a patch of void appeared to be expanding slowly.

“Daniel, send out a warning.” I called out, rushing past the Zerogs standing around stashes of paper, my eyes lingering on the moving void. “Tell the guards that a Spawn appeared near Dracos.”

The Zerogs said something – I couldn’t even make out who spoke or what was said – but I was already out of the house. Looking up, I channeled some ether and used Blink to teleport onto the neighbor’s flat-roofed house.

“Aureus, I–…”

You don’t have to call for me. I am more than ready.

The Earthheart rumbled and emerged from the World.

I felt the air around us vibrate and the ground tremble, shaking the building as Aureus’ presence erupted. Cracks spread across the rooftop as soon as the heavy Earthheart’s claws touched down, sending a wave of panic down my spine.

“Adjust your weight!” I called out, which Aureus did using the Gravity Aspect.

The cracks on the rooftop bothered me a little, but the Earthheart called upon the Earthen Aspect and sealed them shut again. He used a little more ether to fortify the entire structure before turning to me.

That should be enough as repayment. To think someone would neglect their house like that.

Aureus shook his mighty head in frustration.

Yeah, because your weight was not the issue. Or your… size. Narrowing my eyes, I took another look at the Earthheart.

Aureus was not as bulky as most of his kin. Or most Soilbacks that evolved. His body was sleek and long, clad in scales harder than most refined metals. His head was massive, much wider and taller than I was. Aureus’ skull stretched into a narrow, elongated muzzle, yet it was the two ridges rising above the deep-set pair of vibrant golden eyes that caught my attention.

No matter how I looked at it, Aureus had the skull of a dragon, and he was just as long and tall. But it was not his head that impressed me the most. It was the fact that despite weighing tens of tons, the Earthheart had wings.

Majestic wings. Two forewings and two hindwings, each long and narrow with slightly different shapes, stretched out from his back. An intricate network of golden veins, like living stained glass, ran through the membranes of the dragonfly-like wings, lending strength without adding any more weight.

Moving the hindwings independently, testing them after months of collecting dust in the World, Aureus grew more and more excited. His emotions flooded the bond and crashed down upon me, bringing a smile to my face.

I ran my fingers down his back to the base of his wings. They were still as thin as silk and almost invisible to the eye, if not for the golden veins shimmering in the sunlight.

Scaled bones reinforced the leading edges of the Earthheart’s forewings, but they appeared larger than before. Rows of black scales framed in golden threads caught my attention. So did Aureus’ size.

He was massive. As large as he had already been before, I couldn’t remember Aureus being nearly twelve meters long. His wings unfurled to an even greater length, easily surpassing twenty meters.

The Guardian-ranked Soulkin easily covered the neighbor’s rooftop with his body.

“Did you grow again?” Aureus was still growing? That… just how much bigger was the Earthheart going to become in the future? He was already larger than most regular wyverns, and it didn’t feel like he was done yet.

Back to the topic. Or do you no longer want to hunt down that Spawn?

Aureus chuckled, pointedly ignoring my question.

“Right.” The corner of my lips curled into a savage smile. A moment later, I leaped onto Aureus’ back.

Mighty wings moved with tremendous power as we lifted from the rooftop, excitement filling our hearts.

Maybe I shouldn’t have been leaving Dracos now. It was almost certainly better to leave the Spawn issue to the city guards or Hunters. Surely they knew best how to defend Dracos, but I wanted to leave and do something.

My World was finally whole again, Aureus could soar through Razarn’s sky once more, and it was not like the Spawns cared about who they were fighting. All they wanted was to devour.

Fast! We need to kill! Fight Spawn before Hunters come!

Nox pushed, his voice growing more and more insistent.

The Ferronox Mantis was impatient, but I couldn’t really hold that against them. After all, I was itching for a real fight as well.