The long tail of flames passed overhead, igniting the straw covering the shack. Ash began to fall under the black smoke, and there was a burning smell in the air. People fled in panic from the thatched huts, screaming and beating themselves against the flames. Most people plunged into the river, while a few who reacted quickly took buckets of water and tried to put out the fire. However, this is not an ordinary flame in the stove. It has been splashed and shrunk in scope, but it stubbornly does not go out.
Dalton took a deep breath. The familiar smell of ashes filling his chest made him very comfortable. The flames brought heat and could burn people, so what he touched the most were actually the embers. Warm and gentle ashes, no matter how strong the light and heat are, there will only be ashes after they disappear. Once the soul is burned, only the remains will remain...
The hot wind blew against my face and the air became thinner. Dalton followed the shadows on the side of the building and climbed up, emerging from the tower's dome. The field of vision suddenly widened. Under the clear sky, Malandeno seemed to be motionless. The tiny figures were no bigger than the fragments of ashes, crowded together in the frame of lines representing the streets. The top of the tower is covered with a layer of gold foil, which is so smooth that a flying bird cannot catch it. The flagpole stands alone in the center, with the tip of its shadow connected to the wall. Mysterious and unconventional, he climbed up by relying on this line.
The fog elf turned around and glanced at him warily, but luckily he didn't let go of the bowstring. "There." He pointed at the edge with an arrow. "You'd better not go there."
There was nothing in the direction he pointed, but Dalton saw a mass of twisted air. There was something there, and it was radiating intense heat. There are so few dark elements in the environment, it's like he's back in Zangwill's sanctuary. It seems like this guy can't even maintain his own form.
"York?"
The twisted air seemed to get closer, and the temperature soared. "Wind Whisperer" loosened his bow string and nailed an arrow into the gap. Fortunately, this is not a magic arrow. The mist elf warned: "Don't come here, Sita, you're too hot."
The temperature is maintained at a fixed level. But no matter who spoke, York didn't respond.
"You can't get close." Aldinite said, "Is there any way you can catch him from the air?"
"I'm not sure." Dalton let go of his hand and the Night Whispering Ring floated. "Can York hear us?"
"you ask me?"
"Ask him and he won't respond." The night elf pointed out. "What's going on with the fire down there?"
The fog elf glanced at his feet. "I tried to get closer just now, but he suddenly started to resist. The wind blew the magic away."
"Whose wind?"
"Lucia's, or Noctura? Are the companions of the clergy so worried? You are the cause of the problem. I don't have to help, drow."
Dalton frowned: "I didn't say that. But chaos will attract roving knights."
"Then you'd better deal with it as soon as possible. The fire will drag on for a while."
Not all adventurers are as easy to deal with as York, especially when the other party is a mist elf. Dalton had long heard of the arrogance of the people of Fifetanner, but this was the first time he had experienced it. It's hard to imagine that York actually admired him. Maybe I don't know him well enough, Dalton thought, but he doesn't want to know this kind of person. They don't trust each other. Uriel believed what they said, and even planned to change the route, as he always did. Although it was not his job to arrange the trip, Dalton still felt he had to remind his companions.
Brestatik is not a holy city, but it still belongs to the Radiant Council.
Fortunately, Sauron the Ring was enough to gain the trust of the fog elves, and Aldinite did not prevent the Night Whispering Ring from approaching York. The White Envoy is a scourge in the eyes of DeWitt and most of the vassal lords, but among the adventurers, he has a group of supporters that he doesn't even know. These people worship power, just like Dalton's kin in the underworld. This is determined by the living environment.
Even if the tower only values astrologers, it is impossible to look down on the White Envoy - his mystery is almost the upper limit of the sky realm, and the mystery determines the status in the mysterious field - Sauron, as his ring, No way is it more reliable than an unknown Drow. There had been a war between the Ash Temple and Faf Tanner, and Dalton didn't want to dig up old scores, but he couldn't ask others to do the same.
The writing "Disordered Elements" existed only for a short time, but the tone of the ring seemed quite certain. "It's a loss of control caused by the environment"
"Environment?" Dalton clenched his cursed sword. "I don't think there's much difference. York is more proficient in controlling the elements than I am. That's his instinct." Sita can gather into a form that is touched by others, and It can restore the discrete state and hide it in the air. Dalton cannot achieve such elementalization.
"It's a change in the general environment," Sauron explained, "a change in the entire Knox. The line of law has appeared...forget it, what's the use of telling you this? Ring level shouldn't be affected too much. But Sita is an elemental life, and they have always been regarded as part of the mystery.』
Dalton wisely kept his mouth shut. He has his own conjectures about changes in laws and environment.
"Stay away," he explained intermittently, and the ring ordered him unceremoniously.
A large cloud of snowflakes flew out from the runes, and the temperature at the top of the tower dropped sharply. Dalton saw the metal fracture in the alternation of cold and heat, and the muffled sound of the explosion was limited to the white mist of condensed water vapor. He took a half step back, his shoes sticking to the ground as he lifted his feet. At some point, the top of the tower was covered with a thick layer of frost.
They didn't retreat far enough, and Dalton had to drag the mist elf into the shadows with him. In an instant, he felt that the range he could reach through the shadow became wider. Frost blocks out the light, carving out shadows and darkness.
"Is that the White Envoy's magic?" Aldinite asked. It seemed like he was planning to go out and experience it for himself.
Dalton only met the Lord of the Tower once, at the heart of the Arcanum of Pain on Gray Wing Island. It is said that before that, he personally killed the vampire prince Drablay Trolbane, so that his soul was bound into the secret ritual. As for the feeling of facing ice and snow magic, Lucia Priest Alexia has already appeared and said that this woman's psychological shadow is enough to make her abandon her belief in justice.
"It's obvious," the night elf said, "I advise you to just watch."
After the wind and snow passed, Dalton pulled Aldinet out of the shadows. People who are not familiar with the shadow will fall in the shadow, but after all, they have no chance to get used to it.
The central flagpole disappeared, and the golden dome was covered in white cold fog. The ice glittered like diamonds, and the ferocious spikes were like thorns, arranged in a radiating crown, forming an irregular closed loop. The sunlight is folded into colorful colors, and the overlapping ice cones cast dark shadows. There wasn't much room to stay here before. Now, although it's a lot wider, it's smoother and frightening.
Dalton moved slowly, not daring to imagine the consequences of slipping and falling. Maybe we would be impaled on ice spears. I wonder how the people of Bures will react to the mystery at the top of the tower. When the traveling knights arrive, they will most likely find a crooked crown on the tower. If nothing else, the court magician will soon start looking for the sculptor who created this masterpiece and reward us with two nooses.
The "Don't touch me" ring hung on an ice spike, and it sounded a warning when he approached. "It doesn't matter if you stand there, but if you reach out, your fingers will freeze. This is my master’s magic, the mystery of the sky”
Dalton didn't intend to touch it. "Where's York?"
"Behind you, a little to the right," Aldinite said. His fingers were firmly on the dagger, more worried about it slipping than Dalton was.
The night elf turned his head and saw a strange-shaped piece of ice. The elements cannot be seen with the eye, but the cold forces them back together. This piece of ice is darker and more transparent than the surrounding thorns, and it seems that there is a faint flame solidified in it. The cold wind made his limbs tremble, and he thought it would be even colder if he got closer. The consequences of touching York went from one extreme to the other. To the night elves, there seems to be no difference, and it is not easy to take away.
It's hard to say about him personally. What will happen if Sita is frozen in the "Ice Crown"? Dalton doesn't understand elemental life, nor does he understand Sauron - at least not so sure. Uriel thought the ring was measured, and hoped he was right.
"Hurry up." Ordinite urged impatiently. The hoofbeats of the cavalry gradually approached, and people shouted and screamed at the bottom of the tower, frightened by the disaster of ice and fire, spreading chaos. But Dalton thought he seemed unimpressed. I finally understand why the Brethians hate paperclip mercenaries.
Dalton picked up a gravel and hit it on the ice sculpture's head. It didn't react at all. "York? Are you still alive?" Whether dead or alive, it definitely can't run.
The ring heard it, as if he had suffered some great shame. "Of course alive!" Do you think I'm freezing the frog? Idiot, get him back and get him first aid."
…
Uriel didn't agree to her. His original destination was indeed the Black City, which was Mortus. Hundreds of years ago, the city was still called this name. But now it only exists in the memories and historical records of the elves. The answer that Sauron failed to find was obtained from Aldinet. As for whether it was the city in his dream, Uriel would only know if he went there.
But he didn't plan to leave immediately.
The Devil's Order is capable of taking care of its own members and does not need the help of an apprentice. The Holy City did not send anyone to arrest him, which meant that no one suspected him for the time being, but it did not mean that Uriel had nothing to worry about. I had to be careful not to have any connection with the Nameless One. He holds more than his own destiny in his hands.
The Church of Gaia is my goal. Uriel could never forget the unmarked monuments that lined the cemetery. "My daughter has died of illness a long time ago." said the carpenter in Bonfire Town. "She has never been married and cannot have children. Send this bastard to someone else's door." So Uriel took little Aiken to find Dorothy's lover, the whole family moved away, leaving only an empty house. Not even a night elf could say anything about leaving a human baby in an empty house. He was more compassionate than most humans, Uriel could see, even though Dalton was a drow and a wanted criminal in Knight's Cove. The apprentice believed in Roma and the Scroll of the Oath more than DeWitt Hearne.
Before they left, the carpenter's wife quietly asked about Manet. When Uriel told her of Dorothy's death, she kissed Aiken's forehead and begged the apprentice with tears to send the baby to the Church of Gaia. Dorothy's brother stared at them with a vicious look mixed with fear, as if there was a bundle of dynamite in his swaddling clothes. Thinking of these, Uriel felt endless fatigue. After all, the unknown people still have a secret society to take them in. Who can save Aiken?
What's more, there are far more urgent things to deal with than salvation. Uriel could not keep Aiken in the Gaia Church forever, and the protection of Knox mercenaries was not foolproof. If the plan failed, he would have to find another place. In fact, their journey encountered a series of obstacles before they even started, and Uriel could not even guarantee that they could successfully reach the Gaia Church headquarters. It might be more realistic to turn around and seek revenge for Dalton, or just stay in Eastman. These futures are all within reach, and at least they are worth realizing. York needs rest and Aiken needs care, these are top priorities. Ideals are ideals, you must live in reality.
The apprentice began to consider Aiken's placement.
Roma. A voice said that she was Aiken's godmother, the person Dorothy trusted during her lifetime. The little lion will raise Aiken into a man... Uriel himself doesn't believe this. Roma Penelope was a brat who could run away from Blumnot and go to Eastman, who could create trouble even when there was no trouble, and there was no way he could count on her. Are we going to push Aiken to Mr. Larson? Mr. Eds? Or... the apprentice doesn't even dare to think about it. After all, he never thought about how to place a motherless baby. Joey taught him how to execute enemies, but he didn't tell his apprentice how to treat the weak. He himself desperately needed guidance in this area.
Sister Mary had taught Uriel, but he had no intention of following the doctrine now.
"Uriel." Someone called him. The night elf emerged from the shadows, his face covered with dense magic lines. "There's something I have to talk to you about."
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