Esa waited patiently at the mouth of Oracle Kora's cave. It had been two hours since Marcus had gone inside.

Earlier that morning, events had unfolded swiftly... 

After landing Ishtar's Veil in the valley, Esa wasted no time. He urgently declared, "I need to take him," pointing to Marcus, recognizing him as the powerful one immediately, "to see the Oracle Kora. It's why I brought the airship to this valley." 

To Esa's surprise, Marcus nodded and agreed at once.

Moments later, Esa departed with Marcus, while Yoshua stayed behind to manage a heavily intoxicated Ibris.

Now, all Esa could do was wait. He was ready to wait another day if needed. Marcus might be the key to saving the people he loved. He might even be the key to saving the world itself.

Marcus finally emerged from the cave with Kora, his face pale and unsettled, as if he had seen something beyond comprehension. In contrast, Kora wore a serene smile, Mimi the Bengal cat trotting at her heels.

Kora hugged Esa warmly. "It was very nice to meet you after all these years," she said softly. Then she turned to Marcus with a serious look. "Good luck." Without another word, she walked back into the cave, Mimi following with her tail flicking.

"How did it go?" Esa asked, unsure what to expect. His entire worldview had shifted during his time with the Kora, and he expected nothing less for Marcus.

Marcus flinched with unease. Clearing his throat, he avoided Esa's gaze. "The Oracle Kora is... very gifted."

Esa wondered if the oracle had shared the looming end of the world with Marcus as well, but he hesitated to push Marcus for more. After all, Kora had specifically advised Esa not to share his visions with others. Perhaps she had given Marcus similar guidance.

"We should head back," Esa said, curtly. "The others are stranded in that valley."

"Yes, of course," Marcus said after a pause, clearly he was processing a lot of information.  "Well," he began cautiously, "Kora explained what's blocking the technology signals in the South... among other things."

"So what is it?" Esa asked eagerly.

Marcus took a breath. "She said the object blocking all technology in the South is near where my airship landed. Her exact words were: 'It will rise like a shadow in the light, a black tower to mark the night. Its presence poisons the air and earth, unraveling life where it takes root.'" He recited from memory.

"Hm," Esa said with a slight frown.

That doesn't sound like an answer at all, just another riddle.

Marcus watched his silence, then asked uneasily, "Shall we head back?"

"You're very brave, Marcus Sumeri," Esa said with a grin before leaping into the air, rising as though the wind itself carried him. 

With a flick of Esa's hand, Marcus felt an invisible force tug at him, lifting him from the ground as well. His feet left the earth, and he floated after Esa, the sensation disorienting yet strangely smooth.

Marcus was visibly panicking. Each gust of wind, each sway, only heightened his discomfort. Esa couldn't help but find it amusing that a sky god looked so uneasy off the ground.

They glided through the cool valley air. Esa swerved gracefully, weaving around the trees with ease, while Marcus floated behind, held aloft by the invisible pull. Soon Ishtar's Veil came into view, resting where they had left her in the valley. Yoshua stood beside Sheera, the two deep in conversation.

As they descended, Esa saw Yoshua look up, his sharp, wolf-like eyes tracking their approach.

Esa landed slowly and carefully, easing Marcus to the ground.

"Well... that—that was something." Marcus staggered, his usual composure gone. He cleared his throat, straightened his suit jacket, and smoothed back his hair.

Esa just laughed, shaking his head.

"Good to see you back, master," he said, bowing slightly to Sheera with his fists pressed together in reverence.

"Esa," Sheera nodded in return.

"I told you we'd be back before sundown," Esa said to Yoshua with a confident smirk.

"You certainly did," Yoshua replied, amused as he took in Marcus's disheveled appearance.

"Ummanu Sheera," Marcus said, straightening his vest and suit jacket again before bowing deeply. "The last time we met you still served in the Grand Citadel. That must have been eleven years ago."

Sheera gave a small bow of his head. "Lord Marcus Sumeri, good to see you after all these years. I see the wisdom of gray hair has found you. How are Lord Marcellius and Lady Cilantra? I do miss having the counsel of the High Priestess."

Marcus's face flashed with sadness for a moment at the mention of his family. "They are... well, and the children are doing very well also."

"Good, good," Sheera said with pleasantries, his tone notably different from what Esa was accustomed to, perhaps a remnant of his master's time on the floating islands. "And is your niece Inanna still continuing her studies as an acolyte, Marcus?"

"Yes, she is," Marcus said proudly. "She's very dedicated. She said she wanted to focus her training on healing moving forward."

"Ah, that makes a great deal of sense for her temperament," Sheera said thoughtfully.

"I didn't think of it that way before, but yes, it does," Marcus added.

After wrapping up the formalities, Sheera turned back to Yoshua, warmly. "As I was saying, your older brother was a remarkable man of honor. The world lost one of its greatest warriors when he passed."

Esa listened intently. He knew little of Marcus or Yoshua's families. 

Marcus went on to recount how Yoshua's older brother had saved his life, taking the fatal blow meant for him during the civil war. 

A tear slid down Yoshua's cheek. "That is true," he said, quietly.

Sheera folded his great wings and stepped closer. "Dariq would be proud of you."

"Thank you," Yoshua sighed, inclining his head gratefully toward Sheera.

Sheera then turned to Esa and Marcus. "My old acolyte, Ibris, still appears to be unwell," he remarked, shaking his head with disapproval. "Ambrosia," he sighed, casting a pointed look at Marcus, "is a fleeting indulgence that clouds judgment and weakens the spirit."

Marcus shifted uncomfortably, but remained silent.

Yoshua sighed, frustration evident. "Ibris overdid it again. He's been ill all day."

In his hands, Sheera held a branch adorned with vibrant red berries. "These will help his... condition." He pushed them toward Esa. "Please, give them to Ibris."

Esa nodded, took the branch, and leapt into the air, soaring toward the airship. The hatch was already open as he slipped inside. Moments later, he reappeared, descending gracefully with a hand extended toward the hatch. Ibris followed, guided by an unseen force, floating awkwardly in midair like a child being carefully lowered.

The sight of Ibris, usually so commanding and imposing, hovering helplessly made Esa chuckle. 

But Sheera shot him a serious look, silencing his humor at once.

Ibris squinted against the noon sun, his hand pressed to his forehead. His expression carried the strain of a hangover and the fog of ambrosia still in his system.

"Good morning, sunshine," Yoshua quipped, smirking.

"You should have told me to stop drinking last night," Ibris grunted, his voice raspy and thick with regret.

Yoshua snorted, shaking his head. "As if you would have listened," he replied, exasperated.

"Well, actually, it's really Marcus' fault," Ibris said, shooting Marcus a dark look.

Marcus gasped in mock indignation. "That's not fair! One of us can hold their ambrosia, and the other can't."

Ibris groaned, rubbing the spot where his right horn met his head, clearly paying the price for his excesses. But when he noticed Sheera, his eyes widened. He straightened at once and bowed deeply.

"Ummanu, an honor to be in your presence."

"Ibris, good to see you up and awake." Sheera bowed to his old acolyte, sighing slightly before turning to the others. "Flying east today, a heavy ache struck my stomach like nothing I've felt before. The land below was eerily quiet. Birds fallen, trees lifeless... the stillness carried a deep imbalance." He paused, glancing at the group. "We should investigate."

Marcus began murmuring the prophecy under his breath. "'It will rise like a shadow in the light, a black tower to mark the night. Its presence poisons the air and earth, unraveling life where it takes root.'"

Yoshua overheard and turned sharply. "What did you say?"

Marcus didn't respond, perhaps lost in thought.

Esa began piecing things together. "Was there a tower nearby, master?"

"No," Sheera replied calmly. Then he turned to Marcus. "Did Kora share that prophecy with you?"

Marcus nodded, eyes closed as if still deep in thought.

"She always had a strange way of sending help," Sheera said thoughtfully.

Esa, undeterred, spoke with conviction. "I'm sure the tower is there."

Yoshua glanced around the group. "What kind of tower?"

Marcus stood silent for a moment, eyes still closed now as if in a trance. At last, he opened them and nodded. "An obsidian obelisk. That's what's jamming the technology."

"That's good enough for me," Esa said, already preparing to take off.

Ibris reached out, stopping Esa with a firm hand. "Hold on there, Flyboy," he said in confusion. "What are you all talking about?"

Yoshua sighed, exasperated. "Just shut up and come with us."

Ibris hesitated, glancing back at the airship. "Are we going to walk there?"

"It's no more than a ten minute walk," said Sheera, "but I can carry at least one person."

Without missing a beat, Ibris raised his hand. "Please take me, Ummanu. I am in no shape to walk that far."

Sheera nodded. With a single powerful beat of his wings, he took off, effortlessly scooping up Ibris. The groaning halfbreed hung limply as Sheera vanished into the sky.

Esa turned his attention to Marcus and Yoshua as they walked toward the foliage. He studied them for a moment before saying, "I'll walk with you both."

"Walking, yes, that sounds good," Marcus said nervously.

Yoshua exchanged an amused look with Esa.

As they started their trek, Esa broke the silence. "So, is everyone in your family part wolf?" He asked Yoshua, trying to remain casual as possible.

He could not shake thoughts of Kaya. 

In just a few days, she had stirred something in him deeper than anyone ever had, not even the mysterious woman from his healing visions. Then again, he thought, the woman in his visions might not even be real. She could just be another oracle metaphor, nothing more.

Yoshua raised a brow, surprised, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "My brother and I are both halfbreeds," he said. "Kaya, as you know, is part breed."

"Hm," Esa said thoughtfully. "It's rare to see two halfbreed siblings."

"It is rare," Yoshua agreed quietly, as if lost in a memory. "Where I come from, mothers do not die giving birth to their halfbreed children."

"Where is that, exactly?" Marcus asked, curious.

Yoshua remained silent.

Esa, unfazed, pressed on. "But Kaya doesn't look wolf, does she?"

Yoshua shook his head, growing more incredulous.

"Who's Kaya?" Marcus asked, confused.

"My niece," Yoshua said to Marcus, the two exchanging a knowing look, before Yoshua turned back to Esa. "Her mother was fully human, so I imagine Kaya's more human than halfbreed." Yoshua said, glancing down at his fur-covered arms and hands.

"She's very beautiful," Esa said, the words slipping out before he could stop himself.

Yoshua shook his head in disbelief, staring at Esa.

"I think the boy's asking if he can take your niece out for dinner," Marcus teased, with a sly grin.

Esa cleared his throat uncomfortably, shifting his weight. "So, Marcus, does your entire family have the gift?" Esa asked, trying to sound casual and doing his best to mask his embarrassment.

Marcus swallowed, as if weighing his words. "Mostly, yes."

Esa furrowed his thick brows. "So why do you choose to walk?"

Marcus hesitated for a moment.

Yoshua turned to him, his wolf gaze sharp, clearly wanting the answer as well.

"I walk because... I don't have the earth-moving gift," Marcus admitted, eyes dropping to the ground in shame.

A heavy silence settled over the group.

"Oh," Yoshua murmured. "I'm surprised you never mentioned it."

"Not something I like to advertise," Marcus said.

Esa knew Yoshua and Ibris had known Marcus since the civil war, over a decade now. He spoke quietly, almost contemplative. "All the sky gods I knew on the floating islands had the gift."

Marcus stopped walking. "When were you on the floating islands?" He asked, genuinely surprised.

Esa's expression darkened. "It was before the war. I was a child," he said bitterly. "Kept in the Khoraz estate. They claimed they were teaching me to be civilized, a nobleman." His voice hardened. "What they really did was starve me, beat me, electrocute me, and lock me in a cage... until Mazi freed me."

Yoshua stopped walking as well, visibly shaken as he took in the horrors Esa had endured.

Esa felt Marcus' composure faltered at the mention of Khoraz. A flicker of rage surfaced, accompanied by a tear he quickly blinked away. Placing a steady, compassionate hand on Esa's shoulder. "Those damned nobles," he said, through clenched teeth, growing visibly angry. "They treat the rest of us like we're nothing... like we're trash."

In that moment, Esa understood why Marcus was the only sky god who had openly fought for the rebellion during the war. He recalled the stories, how Marcus had fled after being charged with treason by the Nori Queen, and how, after the war, the new royal family had made no effort to clear his name. The pieces were falling into place.

This time, Yoshua placed a comforting hand on both men's shoulders. "Whatever the past holds... None of that matters now. What matters is we're here, and we're friends."

Suddenly, Sheera appeared overhead, his powerful eagle form circling as he shouted, "They have Ibris! There's at least seven of them!"

Yoshua froze. 

Hearing his friend was in danger, he dropped into a low, wolf-like stance, instincts taking over. He sniffed the air, straining for Ibris's scent. After a moment, he growled in frustration and straightened.

"I can't smell Ibris... or anything nearby," he said firmly. "I'm going to find him."

Before anyone could respond, Yoshua sprinted off, faster than a shadow through the woods.

Esa sighed, hiding his disappointment at ending the conversation. "We'd better go too," he said, flying into the air above the treetops. "You ready?"

Marcus nodded, masking his anxiety, and pulled a laser gun from his jacket pocket. "Let's go." 

[Chapter 15 continues in the next part.]

******

Chapter Soundtrack: "Sacral Nirvana" by Desert Dwellers

Author's Note

Thank you for staying with me through the valleys and skies of this world. We're in the calm before the storm.

Where do you think it's all headed?