Wulf fell. He pressed his back against the wall of the tube, and dug his elbows into the steel to slow his fall. There was no water in it anymore, now that the pumping system had shut off, but the pipe sloped gently closer to the tower's base, until finally, they reached the ocean level.

A surge of water rushed up to catch them, but the pipe didn't end.

He stopped at the surface of the ocean, treading water, and Kalee splashed down right beside him. He turned to her and said, "The pump should be just ahead. Take a breath, and we'll have to go underwater."

She nodded. "Time it with the swell. When the waves go out, you can feel a slight tug."

They waited for a few seconds until the water level began receding, then dove. There was no light in the pipe, and Wulf had no idea where he was going. It travelled horizontally, pointing directly out to sea.

He just held his breath and swam. If he'd been a non-Ascendant, or even an Iron, he probably wouldn't have made it, but he could hold his breath for long enough.

Rays of light trickled into the pipe up ahead, lightning his way as he fluttered his feet. The enormous wheel-pumps were stalled, and debris floated in the briny water. The ocean spirits that had been operating them had escaped as soon as the explosion went off, and there was a gap just wide enough to swim through.

He tucked his arms in, then he pushed himself through the gap and launched himself up to the surface. When he reached the top, he gasped for breath, treading water. Kalee emerged right beside him, sputtering and inhaling.

For the first time, he caught a glimpse of the devastation their explosion caused. There was no burnt char, but the entire side of the building had cracks running up it, and a perfect half-sphere of stone had been carved out of the side of the building where the detonation radius had been. There was no evidence of any rubble, not even below the surface of the ocean. It had just…consumed it.

But there was no time to marvel at the explosion. They had to get moving before the authorities realized it was them.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm good," she said. "But we need to get ashore before anyone gets too suspicious—"

"I've got you covered!" Irmond called through the communications construct. He swooped down on Speckles' back, racing toward them.

Before Wulf could protest, the Thrustwing's talons hooked both Wulf and Kalee under their shoulders and hauled them out of the water.

They were a heavy load, though nothing a Thrustwing couldn't handle. The wind stirred beneath its wings, and each flap made the Field stir. He felt it as a tingle in his arms as the air rushed past.

"Mission success?" Seith asked.

"Mission success," Wulf confirmed. "For the moment. Irmond, can you drop us at the stable? Seith, can you meet us there?"

"On my way!" she confirmed.

"Got it," Irmond replied.

They didn't fly high. Too high, and it'd be difficult to drop them when the time came, and it increased the chances of someone important spotting them—as opposed to civilians.

Irmond and Speckles circled over the bay, turning away from the site of the explosion, then racing back to the street in front of the spiritmongers' tower. The thrustwing released them, and they rolled to a halt on the street. Wulf's shoulder slammed into the paving stones, but he was a lot more durable than he expected, and he barely felt a thud. It was the stones that cracked, and his academy coat that tore.

Already, heads were turning his direction. People murmured, and a few distant beachgoers pointed at the thrustwing racing down the city streets, dipping between inns and the few guild towers.

Wulf and Kalee sprinted to the stable, taking the most direct route. It was a public stable, whose horses worked for a local carriage service. They were strong and fast.

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Two streets over, one street back. Wulf and Kalee burst through the open doors of the stable, creating a tidal wave of hay as they skidded to a stop on the heels of their boots. It was a nondescript building, tucked between two other shops, with nearly fifty horse stalls inside. Most were tame and well-trained, and when Wulf ran up to the nearest, it neighed and dipped its head.

He reached into his haversack and produced three carrots, then tossed one to Kalee and one to Seith, who ran into the stable moments later. They'd gathered them from the city market yesterday, knowing they'd need something for the horses. "Quickest way to a horse's heart: feed it."

The horse in front of Wulf gulped down the carrot with glee, barely taking four bites. Then it dipped its head and nuzzled his shoulder.

"Well, you were easy." He reached up and rubbed its head.

"Hey! You three!" a non-Ascendant called, sprinting into the central aisle of the stable, waving his arms. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Sorry, sir!" Wulf exclaimed. "Matters of saving the world and beating demons! We're going to need your horses, but they'll be waiting slightly east of the guild territory for you to retrieve!"

Before the man could try to stop them, he kicked open the gate in the horse's stall, then gripped its bridle and swung up onto its back. It didn't have a saddle, but that didn't matter. He tightened his legs around its sides, and it took off, trotting out the stable doors. The worker jumped aside, waving his broom and shouting at them.

Seith and Kalee trotted out a moment later, racing through the streets behind him. He held onto the horse's reins with one hand and waved with the other, shooing civilians aside. "Out of the way! Watch out!"

The horse trotted through the city at a fast pace, jumping over barrels and dodging wagons. The farther they raced from the shore, the less buildings there were, and the less crowded the paths were, making it easier to gallop faster.

Irmond and Speckles fluttered above, racing away from the guild tower and curving to the east. Wulf said, "Irmond, find the Wraith and make sure everything's intact! We'll catch up right away!"

"Got it!" he replied. "Come on, Speckles, we can take a break when we get there!"

When they approached the gate at the outside of the guild territory, the Ascendant guards were moving to close it in front of them, but they weren't fast enough. Wulf held out his arm as his horse trotted past and gripped the gate, then punched it off its hinges. Kalee triggered a spell Skill beneath the two Ascendants, locking them in place and driving them to the ground.

They maintained their pace as they chased after Irmond, galloping back to where they'd left Wraith. They wouldn't be able to run the horses like this forever, but it was just a small journey, and he didn't have to worry about the horses thriving afterward.

At this rate, he was pretty sure he could've matched the horses' speed on foot, but it would've been close, and this way, he wasn't tired when they tried to activate Wraith.

After a half hour of galloping, they arrived at Wraith, where they'd left it kneeling in a patch of trees. Wulf dismounted and, without breaking his pace, sprinted up Wraith's outstretched arm until he reached the cockpit.

He threw open the hatch on the back of the statue's head, then swung inside and opened his storage pendant. First, he pulled on his flight suit, then slotted into his smaller golem with the help of a half-finished potion.

Finally, he approached the control apparatus, with Kalee right beside him. She plugged into the Mage's controls.

Activating Wraith was a smooth process. Most of his mana was already left in it. He didn't have to donate any, and the Oronith awakened almost immediately. The dream-link forced him and his golem down to the pose he'd left it in, but he dragged it back up to standing and took a step, careful not to squish the horses they'd left out in the forest.

"Everyone in position?" Wulf asked. Irmond and Speckles perched on his shoulder, but he couldn't see Seith.

"I'm ready," Kalee replied.

"Hanging on tight, chief," Seith replied.

"We're good to go," Irmond confirmed.

"Then hold on tight," Wulf said. They needed to get away from here before anyone recognized their Oronith and got suspicious. He jogged west, taking light steps, and watching out for the buildings below.

"Where to next?" Irmond asked.

"We keep heading west," Wulf said. "To the Scorchlands. We complete the mission slip we took, first, then we go on the hunt for the fiends' headquarters, or whatever it is that they're launching attacks from."

~ ~ ~

The mission slip was easy, and well below their tier. Two Iron-tier fiends were roaming the area, terrorizing villages on the borders of the Scorchlands, but Wulf dealt with them in a matter of minutes.

Being a Gold, every punch cracked the air, and every jab of his blade pierced fiend carapace with ease. It was almost too easy.

Then they kept moving. There was no well-defined border between Centralis Byrante and the Scorchlands, but when the shrublands of dry grass and sand-green bushes became nothing but dry and sandy shoals, Wulf knew they'd arrived.

"Well," he said, "we've got a few weeks to do this. Let's make it count and come back with something to show for ourselves."

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