Chapter 80: Fire
"Master, can I please have the honor of the first attack?" "What? No Master this fool is dull! I am brighter—let me!"
"Shut up! Your ashes are yellow! Come back when you grow some meat!"
With the addition of over five hundred Swallows, Elian and Bianca’s party swelled in number. And while the vast majority of them were well behaved, a minority was not.
"Can you all shut your beaks! Master will choose as she sees fit. I obviously go first. So stop making a fuss and go away already!" squawked the bird resting on Elian’s shoulders.
Elian tried very hard to not flip the switch and kill all the Flame Swallows. He even had to activate Adamant at one point. Meanwhile, the woman by his side had nothing but smiles as she admired the army they suddenly amassed.
"Look, Elian. Aren’t they magnificent? Their flames sing to me. I feel like I’m watching a choir of stars."
At least someone is happy, Elian thought.
Elian gazed up and watched the scene. The sun had already set as they made their way to the next floor. Yet instead of darkness their surroundings only grew brighter.
How could it not? Freed from the Curse of Compromise, hundreds of Flame Swallows now burned beside them. As if lit aflame, their plumages all shone in bright orange and red. They were quite literally on fire.
Yet for some reason, they didn’t turn to ash. No matter how much time passed, they remained just as bright. With their vast numbers it looked as if the very skies burned. The sight was unlike anything Elian saw before.