Chapter 525: Stalking the Streets
I barely had time to tighten my grip around Luke’s neck before Jessia reached out and laid a hand on each of our shoulders. I felt a surge of unfamiliar mana deep within her soul, and a thick cloud of darkness erupted from her shadow, rising to swallow us whole. Adaptive Resistance instinctively surged within me, and I hesitated a moment before reluctantly suppressing it, allowing the Apostle to activate her ability.
The darkness was cold and uncomfortable, scratching like raw wool against my skin. It felt eerily similar to the power that festered in Haven, and seemed to provoke a reaction from it. I shivered as the darkness within my soul stirred, and I drew closer to Luke, instinctively trying to siphon some of his body heat and ward off the bitter chill. He shifted, surprised, likely attributing my clinging to him to nervousness, but still held me closer.
When the shadows finally retreated, we stood on an empty city street. A pale, enchanted orb illuminated a row of cottages with small, barren gardens, their roofs covered in thin tiles. The road was wide and cobbled, though flatter and smoother than most.
The reason for this became apparent as I spotted countless scrapes and scratches across the stones, leading to piles of snow in the alleys. Clearly, they still used mundane means to clear the streets, which made sense considering the amount of mana it would take to melt an entire city’s worth of snow.
"What was that?" I asked, staring at Jessia with wide eyes. My voice was a strained whisper, most of my concentration focused on battling Haven. Even though her power had faded, it had acted like an invitation to the realm, and it had yet to settle down.
She tossed her hair with a dramatic flourish, though for once, I felt her pride was genuine. "You’re not the only one with neat tricks, you know."
"A little warning would have been nice," Luke said, a hint of reproach in his voice. "It was her first time."
I flinched as he shifted his grip, gently brushing a stray lock of hair from my face. He must have seen the panic in my eyes and wanted to comfort me, though he couldn’t have understood why. Perhaps he just thought the teleportation had disoriented me.
Jessia stuck her tongue out at him, a playful change to the tension that had gripped them both since witnessing the power of the forts. "It’s not like you said anything either, and I know for a fact you saw it coming."