The Sage's Vow

9.3 || An Unfortunate Mission

Josh struggled to believe they'd had such luck, but here he stood beside Kaitlyn, watching the unnatural phenomenon of every person leaving the park at once.

Well, almost everyone. One woman kept back turning back to the park, calling someone's name, before proceeding with the crowd. Even her worry for someone couldn't let her fight the pull of the barrier.

Josh shuddered. As useful as the barriers were, he hated that the Sages and Elder Dragons could do such a thing.

Something wet fell on his face, followed soon by another. Holding out a hand, he lifted his eyes. The dark grey clouds had made their way over the park, opening so rain poured down on the earth below.

"Looks like they almost didn't need the barrier," Josh said, moving back so he was under the protection of a tree.

Kaitlyn joined him. She tried to rub heat into her arms, but still, she shivered. "Hopefully this will get people out even faster. The breach is already forming."

It took Josh a few moments to spot what she had already seen. A large tree took up the center of the park, and with the rain coming down, it was almost easy to miss the shimmering in the air beside the tree's leaves. He'd never seen a breach, always arriving after the Sages had already contained the situation. It both amazed and sickened him as he watched the air rip, if he could even compare it to such a physical occurrence.

Jagged, brilliant yellow claws pierced the shimmering wall of air, pulling in opposite directions. Glimpses of another sky—clear blue, vibrant yet dull at once—appeared and vanished in jarring flashes of the sky's shades. A glitch in reality, constantly trying to correct itself as a being physically dragged itself between the two.

In slow motion but too quickly, the beast began to emerge. It wasn't a monster so much a being of pure, concentrated lightning. There was a clear shape—much like the humanoid but grotesque form of an ogre, but more serrated edges, with its form constantly shifting.

With a thunderous roar, the lightning ogre burst the rest of the way through the breach, and the shimmering air slammed back together with a sound like shattering glass.

Kaitlyn cursed. "A prinavis."

"A what?"

"Prinavis. The closest English term would be a primal." She looked over her shoulder, expression grim. "It looks like all of the people have evacuated. It shouldn't have been that close, though..."

"Let's hope nobody turns around and pulls out their phone," Josh grumbled. Given its size and ability to hover in the air, the prina-whatever would be easy for others to see."

"The area will look blurred enough that they won't get a good look before the compulsion of the barrier makes them turn away, so we don't—here it comes!"

The primal had gotten its fill of taking in its surroundings and finally decided to go on the offense. It dove toward them, arms stretched out on either side like it planned to tackle them with a hug.

Josh lunged to the side, desperately wishing he had his sword and shield. He rolled into a crouch. When he spotted Kaitlyn, he didn't know if he wanted to laugh or hang his head. Instead of jumping out of the way, she'd simply gone straight down, landing on her butt.

Sages weren't fighters. He couldn't forget that in a combat situation, not when it meant he was down a helper. And possibly up a person he had to protect.

He was distracted a moment too long. A force slammed into the back of his shoulder. He twisted, stumbling back a few steps. The primal flew a good distance away, much too far to have rammed into him. The area where the force had hit smarted and tingled, almost like trying to wake up a sleeping limb.