Whoosh.

Wind blew past Jean's head as he looked over the deck of the Nighthawk at the shimmering dome below. Beside him, Keita stood with his foot on the railing. One jump, and they would come down together to break the dome.

The Nighthawk was an oddly shaped ship when it came to slipship design. A normal slipship was made of wood, with a sloped shape no different from any sailing vessel. The only difference between one that could sail the sea and one that could sail the nightsea were the four stone pods that came off the hull that allowed the ship to sail in the waterless nightsea and the light sails that caught the aether from islands to propel the ship forward.

The Nighthawk was different. Instead of wood, it was constructed of dark metal and formed into a tubular shape. On one end was a raised bridge lined with armored glass. A sealed door was embedded along a tower after the bridge, allowing entry. Along the back was a flat deck that allowed for the crew to be outside. At the end were four pods, forming a cross, and a single golden spike that protruded from the center.

"Alex says to jump on the next strike," Mari's voice hissed over the speakers.

"Understood." Jean smiled as he watched the massive fiery creature raise its arms for another strike below. "Be sure to hide the ship until this is all over."

Mari didn't respond, and Jean got the sense that she was put out about being left out. Mari wasn't a combatant. She was the navigation system for the ship. Magical Artificial Recombinant Intelligence, or M.A.R.I. for short. She did not need to be on the front lines.

"Are you ready, Keita?"

"Aye," Keita said, holding out his prayer beads in his left arm wide, raising two fingers in his right. "Let us jump now, and I will summon it in our descent."

"Then there's only one more thing to do." Jean took a deep breath and stepped over the edge.

Wind buffeted past his face instantly, and Jean opened his gate. Power flowed through his body, cold and gripping through his bones. His robes fluttered around him as the wind raced past his eyes, instantly drying them out. If he had skin below his neck, he might have worried about being a shriveled husk when he landed. However, he didn't have time to worry about such things. He focused the cold, necrotic energies of his curse on his leg, preparing to bring it down against the dome with all of his force.

"Titan's Arm!"

Beside him, Keita also dropped, his prayer beads clattering in the wind around his hand as he pointed his arms toward the bubble. Jean's eyes widened as a black circle opened beside Keita, following him despite his rapid descent. From the circle, a massive muscled arm stretched out, forming a fist as they both came crashing down.

Truly, Jean didn't see much difference between the arm and a cursed ability. Keita had called it 'magick.' However, Keita was versed in the basics of curses. He would have known if his ability was a curse.

Something else had to be in play.

Jean didn't have time to focus on it. As he watched, the giant's arms slammed against the dome, and fire blazed across it. Jean threw his leg down, leading with it as they came for the dome moments after. The dome shimmered from the giant's strike. Now Jean and Keita just had to add their power to the attack.

"Spirit Slam!"

Crack.

The wind paused as Jean slammed hard into the dome. If his body hadn't been fortified, if his bones weren't strong, he would have cracked them against the barrier. Thanks to the aether flowing through his bones, powering his body in his unlife, he didn't fold or break.

Purple power burned down his leg as he came crashing into the barrier. Keita followed immediately after, his conjured white fist slamming hard into the dome. It shimmered and shook under their attack before breaking like crackling glass.

In the next instant, they were through. Wind resumed its flow around him as he and Keita fell toward the inner walls of the keep. Because they were close to the center, they would not have to run as far as the others. In a way, they were the leads in the fight. They would see the keep first and face any major resistance.

"Now we only have to worry about the landing!" Keita yelled next to him, narrowing his body so that he accelerated to catch up before splaying his arms wide to catch the wind racing past them. "But I'm sure you all thought of a plan for that. Hah. Hah. Hah."

"That, we can leave to fate." Jean smiled back. "Unless you've never tried this kind of thing before!"

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"You were always the one trying new things." Keita shook his head, his beard practically flying up in his face. "But I think I can slow myself with the right spirit at my call. What about you?"

"Do what you need." Jean nodded. "I will handle my landing."

"Fine." Keita held his hand up again, his prayer beads fluttering around it as he held up three fingers. "Angel's Wings!"

Again, two black circles formed around him, not connected to his body but still following his position. White wings blasted out from the circles, stretching out behind Keita and giving a single flap. Jean had a moment to observe the wings this time. Veins covered them, and if he looked closely, small digits, almost like fingers, protruded from the skin. The feathers were disfigured the same way, and Jean wasn't sure if they were fingers at all.

He didn't have time to get a better look as Keita slowed, and he plummeted to the ground. He didn't have much time. He needed to save himself before any questions could be answered. Jean took in another breath from the rushing wind, closing his eyes as he began to spin.

"Spirit Pirouette!"

His leg blurred into rapid motion. He spun like a top in the air, generating a wind all his own. It slammed into the air around him, forcing a new tempo in the opposite direction. He became the center of a vortex that cracked with purple power to slow his descent.

Boom. Crack.

He slammed into the rooftop below him hard, but not as hard as he would have if he hadn't slowed. Jean caught himself on one foot, his other swinging back until it came to a stop across the clay tiles. He slowed, and Keita dropped beside him.

"They landed on the roof!"

Men yelled, and metal clanked as the guards below raced around the streets. Jean shared a look with Keita. It was unlikely that the guards were prepared for their aerial assault. That gave them an advantage.

"Where are we at?" Keita looked around the rooftop.

"If I saw right on the way down, we are in the third inner wall," Jean said, starting toward the roof's edge. "That building over there should be the main palace grounds."

A large rectangular building rested at the very center of the keep. Guard turrets rose on each of the corners, and if Jean squinted, he could see men on the wall wielding bows. The keep was truly a city in itself.

"If we jump down, we'll have to face them all." Keita sighed, stepping next to Jean.

"Better to stick to the rooftops and head straight for the keep," Jean said.

"We won't meet any resistance that way." Keita smiled. "Though I have to say I did want to show my magick off to you."

"I've yet to see how it's different from a curse."

Fwip. Scht. Crack.

Jean spun to the side from instinct alone. The sound had been closed. However, he couldn't tell where it came from. The attack cut past him, breaking through the tile with the ease of a knife carving through butter.

Fwip. Scht. Thud.

A second attack came, this time toward Keita. Keita didn't dodge, instead raising his hand with the prayer beads. He exhaled as the attack landed, but it stopped. A white barrier formed a circle in front of his hand, blocking off the attack and dissipating it.

That was odd. A curse could vary in type and power, and certainly, a second-level curse might have the range that Keita just displayed, but it was strange nonetheless. The barrier had been called without words and wasn't like the arm or wings. Keita had formed a barrier of aether and used that to block the attack and dissipate it.

A complicated technique used without words. Words helped form the aether when it came to a technique, whether when used with a curse or purely physical, like the Five Paths. Jean desperately wanted to know more. However, their attacker wouldn't allow it.

Fwip. Scht.

Another slash, made of air, cut beside Jean, and he sidestepped it. His eyes searched the surrounding rooftop, but nothing moved. All he could hear was the attack itself and the running guards below.

"Our opponent seems to be shy," Keita said, his hand still raised beside his prayer beads.

"Not much of a talker either." Jean shrugged, his eyes still focusing on his periphery. "I prefer when they're arrogant. It makes it easier to deal with them."

Fwip. Scht.

A scythe of wind curved around the rooftop—horizontal instead of vertical. Keita jumped forward, holding his prayer beads up in front of Jean. The blow parted around a circle.

"I've got him." Jean didn't hesitate. "Spirit Step."

He jumped forward, disappearing in a flurry of steps. He reappeared on the second roof, where a small chimney blocked his sight. Jean caught himself on his hand, throwing his entire body forward in a kick at the chimney itself.

Crack.

His skeletal foot racked through the chimney, and a figure jumped out from behind it. It retreated to the roof's edge before Jean could get a good look at it. Based on the intelligence, he could tell who it was.

A bald man stood in a pinstripe suit, his hand holding onto his short pointed hat. He was entirely clean-shaven, except for three whiskers that stuck out from his face on both sides.

He was a weasel of a man—Mister Foley.

"It seems you've caught our rat." Keita landed on the rooftop next to Jean, his hands extended toward Mister Foley.

"Indeed," Jean said, looking the man up and down.

He wasn't what Jean had expected. However, from experience, he knew not to underestimate a Finger. The man could control the very air around them, and if what they had seen on Diamond Peak was right, he could transform himself into a massive weasel.

Click. Click.

"I see you aren't going to make this easy." Mister Foley clicked his sharpened fingernails together. "It's a shame, really. I didn't want to have to work that hard today."

"Oh, that's some proper bravado right there, wouldn't you say, Jean?" Ketia smiled. "He thinks if he puts in the work, that would be enough to beat us both."

"We do have the advantage." Jean nodded, taking in a deep breath. "Unless he has some sort of nefarious plan."

"This is why I just wanted to cut you down." Mister Foley shook his head. "But I couldn't hit you while you were falling. It's too hard to target you that far away. Who would have thought that someone would drop from the sky on the castle?"

"Well, we do try and bring the unsuspected." Keita shrugged. "I suggest we go with our initial plan for when we met resistance. Working together should make quick work of this one."

"Agreed," Jean said, drawing his legs close.

"You're just going to talk like I'm not here?" Mister Foley raised his arms, his fingers from both hands pointing in opposite directions. "I'm hurt."

"Fate will decide the winners." Jean leaned forward. "Spirit Step."

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