Chapter 650: The Nature of Blacksand
It had taken R’lissea two days to ride back to Haven on a fire demon. Said demon had wandered off the moment she’d entered the realm, leaving us with only Fable. Fortunately, that was enough.
Fable lowered himself and allowed us both to climb on. Once R’lissea had her arms laced around my waist, he took off, accelerating so quickly that the wind tried to pluck us from his back. I bit my lip and held on tight while R’lissea soul cast a spell, setting a translucent green barrier around us. Even after the winds died, I didn’t relax my grip. It was hard being without my own spells.
"Sorry about that," R’lissea said, smoothing my hair with a comforting hand. "I think I will have to brush your hair again."
"I’d like that," I admitted.
My nerves were already on edge, and it wasn’t hard to imagine how much they would fray as we got closer. The long, soothing strokes of a brush were something I was already looking forward to.
Fable broke out of the ruined city and into the Empire beyond. There wasn’t much to see from his back–the world sort of blurred together, but the terrain seemed mild compared to the ancient forests of Heartland and the mountains of the Ingrid Alliance. Farmland, scorched black and torn apart by demon claws, spread like a blanket, broken up by occasional rivers and canals.
As we rode, R’lissea and I caught up on everything from the last week, from the surrender of the Empire to the books I found in the library. There were so many names and details from the negotiations that I tuned most of it out, not caring much for the politics.
I smiled as I imagined Luke stuck at a meeting, his tail twitching in boredom. He probably just wanted to invade and destroy the whole empire anyway. I couldn’t even guess why he decided to negotiate a surrender in the first place.
"Is it just me, or has Fable gotten faster?" R’lissea asked as we streaked by the ruins of a small farming village. "We’re close to the halfway mark, but it’s only been a few hours."
"He’s eighth level now," I said, petting my wolf’s neck. "And he’s had a month of training to consolidate his realm."
"You sound envious," she said.