Demoness 2 - Chapter 79 - Mending and Cracks (Patreon)

Flying in a controlled dive that wouldn’t impart a stupid amount of G-forces was tricky.

Especially since Yolani’s condition was deteriorating rapidly, her breathing shallow and skin pale.

Blood trailed from the girl’s nose, and Elania was sure the only reason she didn’t have a panic attack was that she had forced [Enhanced Mana Sense] out of a slot in favor of [Crisis Management].

She landed hard, her knees bending to absorb the impact. The roof groaned, and miraculously they didn’t plunge through into the upper floor.

Gently, she laid Yolani down on her back, her hands shaking as she took in the extent of Yolani’s injuries.

The wind pressure had been hiding a lot. Blood poured from her nose.

[Crisis Management] or not, Elania’s breath caught in her throat, fear banishing her seraph wings.

She couldn’t lose Yolani.

Without hesitation, [Divine mending] slipped into her perk list, subtracting her available point. She placed her hands on Yolani’s chest, closing her eyes and willed her friend to be healed.

A golden aura surrounded them both, but nothing seemed to happen.

“Come on,” Elania pleaded, her voice cracking. “Heal dammit.”

Yolani’s breathing grew weaker.

It was hard to actually panic more, but somehow she found away. Desperation clawed at her chest. Elania’s hand shoved into the bag of mana shards they’d collected.

Stealing their stored [Power] one by one she shoved it all into the [Divine Mending].

The surrounding air crackled with power, the building shaking beneath them.

Yolani didn’t stir or improve. Actually, she looked worse.

[Divine Mending] was the most useless, deadass worthless perk ever. A fucking slow ass heal-over-time.

Elania’s hand shook as she grabbed one of her bracers. Six more mana shards turned dark at once. Light exploded around them, a pillar of light punching into the cavern’s ceiling. The energy blazed through the entire city, illuminating everything like a miniature sun.

“Please, Yolani. Don’t leave me. I need you. I love you,” Elania whispered, the raw confession falling from her lips.

There was a crack in the air as reality finally surrendered.

Motes of light evaporated off Yolani’s skin, the blood trailing down from her nose and across her cheek disappearing. Color returned to her face, and she let out a deep ragged gasp before starting to breathe normally.

Elania held on to her, sitting her up and pulling her into a hug, her heart pounding against her ribs. “You’re okay. You’re okay.”

Yolani’s eyes fluttered open, and then her hand went to Elania’s shoulder. “I’m alright. Are you okay?”

Elania swallowed and then nodded. “Yes. Now I am.”

She wiped her face with her forearm, then scooped Yolani up into her arms.

Yolani’s cheeks flushed. “I’m okay. I can stand—”

Elania shook her head, eyes still glistening with unshed tears. “No, no. We are going back right now.”

Her wings unfurled, and they leaped into the air as smoothly as she could make the transition into flight. Straight up into the light stones before turning horizontal while weaving through the chains and glaring crystals.

Elania’s heart raced as she scanned for danger. The beating of the other girl’s heart and her warmth were the only wards against the terror of the memory of nearly losing her.

When they passed over the Magistry district’s outer walls, it was hard not to shake. Far below, soldiers were roiling like ants, moving with purpose to the ramparts.

“What’s going on?” Yolani voiced.

Elania shook her head. “I don’t know.”

As they lowered down toward the top of the Magistry tower, she spotted Keswick on one of the larger cannon emplacements.

Elania brought them down gently, and she set Yolani down with care. The other girl glanced at her, then they approached the Magister and the group of guards that has clustered to the side.

“What’s going on?” Elania asked, reiterating Yolani’s question.

One of the guards looked at her, then pointed toward an open square below. Elania followed his direction before she froze, eyes widening. A wagon stood in the center of the plaza, a pole erected in its midst. Hundreds of civilians were chained to it in long lines.

It was the figure impaled on the pole that made Elania’s stomach churn. Magister Astolf, stripped naked and covered in filth, hung limply, the pole piercing his body from groin to shoulder.

The Lightbringers paraded the gruesome display before the defenders, a cruel taunt.

Keswick trembled with rage. She reached up towards the cavern’s ceiling, eyes blazing with fury. The cavern shook minutely.

One of the massive light stones that illuminated the city flickered and then broke free from its chains, plummeting towards the display below. It struck the ground with a deafening boom that shattered the surrounding area. The very foundations of the city shook, and a ripple rolled out from it.

Elania could see a wave of damaged buildings collapsing in response.

The wagon, the chained civilians, were all wiped away in an instant and hidden under the rubble.

The air hung heavy with the weight of the atrocity committed by the Lightbringers and the brutal response it had provoked. No one spoke.

Keswick turned towards her and Yolani, the Magister’s face blank. “The truce has ended,” she declared. “Prepare for a siege.”

One of the guards pulled out an artificed horn and blew on it. All around the district, identical horns repeated the sound.

A cannon erupted nearby, the blast echoing through the air as the first shots of the renewed conflict rang out. The staccato of one of Yolani’s gating guns joined the cacophony.

Monk siege orbs curved upward from far away, and then shot toward the tower, their trajectories locked on the emplacements. She tensed as she prepared to spring into action, but the orbs slammed into an invisible dome that spread out all the way to the district’s outer walls.

The Celestial Engine would prevent a repeat of the City Watch’s downfall at least.

Yolani leaned heavily against Elania. “We need to get to the workshop,” she said with a strained voice. “I had some ideas we haven’t put in place yet.”

Keswick looked at them and nodded. “Make it so, artificer.”

The Magister left without another word, her escort going along while the emplacement guards began their work.

Elania frowned at Yolani. “Can you walk?”

Yolani grimaced, but nodded. “I’ll manage. I think my… I think my second wind ended. I feel… really bad.”

Elania nodded, then slipped the other girl’s arm around her neck. “Lean on me.”

Yolani fell asleep before they made it to their destination, and Elania lifted her up again and carried her to their bed.