Records of Rebirth

Chapter 140 - The Whispering Forest

The feeling of air flitting between my horns, the delicate stroke of wind against my scales, the rushing sound of air along the length of my body – It was all a rush to experience, like a delicate feeling I couldn't help but savour. I could even hear the buzzing of a crowd behind me, cheering me on as I flew.

I closed my eyes - it was pure bliss, plain and simple.

Except the buzzing was from the swarm of rather angry sword insects, absolutely determined to pierce me to death as payback. And they were quickly catching up to my tail.

Oh hell.

I flapped my dark wings once more and rose out of the cave opening and into the forest. I could make out the gnarled roots of trees, followed by the blackened trunks as the darkness gave way to light. 

I cast my eyes higher, following the faint light of the forest like a guide. And with every stroke, the wind on my wings was soft and delicate, like the breath of…a baby? Huh?

I stared transfixed at the forest before me.

The knotted trees loomed before me followed by a rather thick smoky fog. Spindly roots spread out so close together there was barely any room to fly, but I persisted and crashed through them to rise even further, reaching high and higher, until I saw…pink.

The dark trees were in bloom, but their leaves appeared before me in pale fleshy shades of pink like the fuzzy skin of a peach. They looked so fluffy and soft, like I was flying through a blanket of cotton candy and my eyes blinked in disbelief, at the scenery. How pretty.

I smiled to myself as I flew through them, but a sharp jolt of pain in my wings snapped me from my thoughts, making me look back in annoyance. The angry swarm of sword insects were catching up fast and one had pierced through the skin of my wings, creating a small hole.

That hurt.

I took a sharp swerve to the side, and the swarm of fast flying insects all swept passed me, vanishing into the pale mist. I continued to fly, glad to be free of my pursuers but the sword insect caught in my mouth began to create a high-pitched whirring noise that was painful to my senses.

I suppressed the urge to scream as doing so would free the creature immediately. However, the pain caused my flight to take an abrupt dip and something sharp struck my scales as I crashed into one of the tree's spindly branches.

I clamped down hard with my fangs to silence the creature and it screeched in pain, but to my relief, the painful noise stopped. But I couldn't afford to rest so I flapped my wings harder to get higher into the air.

I slowly recovered but all around me was mist and with so many trees growing closely together, the forest was more of a hazard of sharp branches than anything. In the mist, they were hidden completely, appearing only when I flew close to them. And I didn't have to fly long in low visibility before another tree branch appeared to block my path.

«They're tracking the scent of their leader.» Sensei informed. «In this fog, that is enough to lead them to you.»

Damn it.

In such a tight space there weren't many places I could go. I tried going up, but the trees were tall, and their spindly branches were endless. I twisted to fit between the gaps in the branches, determined to get out. However, I soon heard the buzzing behind me again. Wherever the insects had flown off to, they had recovered fast.

«You're not ready for flight yet.» Sensei said, thoughtfully. «Attempting to fly when you haven't mastered the ground is a recipe for disaster. Didn't you learn a thing from the tale of Icarus.»

"My wings aren't some art project glued together with wax." I scoffed. "They won't melt."

«Oh, they won't melt.» Sensei chuckled sinisterly. «They'll just get torn to pieces.»

The swarm of insects was catching up with frightening speed and I began to feel their stings battering my body. Another insect had punched through my beautiful wings, leaving a small hole. I decided it wasn't worth flying higher and so I activated [Mana Sense] right before diving into the forest below.

The forest scenery turned dark immediately and I could pinpoint the faint mana presences of the insect swarm like dots, between the trees illuminated in cyan. Without the mist involved, I could see even better, but it was too bad I could no longer get to see the peachy leaves. 

The insects followed after me as I slipped through the scattered branches, but I pulled up at the last minute right before I should have crashed into one of the trees. I heard rapid pops in the distance as the tree was pelted with multiple bodies of insects. Some were strong enough to pierce through and some trees were decimated in the process.

Still, it wasn't over. The insects had reduced in their numbers somewhat but I could still make out their pursuing figures in the distance. I began to weave through more trees in hopes of weakening the trail.

"What was that about not having mastered flight?" I asked proudly.

After my brief stint as a wasp, I was confident in my abilities, if anything I was a flying expert! 

However my confidence didn't count on the unexpected happenings. I was actively dodging the stray branches when one seemed to veer across out of nowhere, directly crashing into me. I was forced into a tree where more sharp branches smacked into me.

What the heck! I'd clearly avoided it. What was going on?

I straightened myself, preparing to fly again when I heard more creaking and rumbling sounds. The tree I had crashed into had started swaying slightly, its stiff knotty branches turning soft as they began to weave around me like rope.

What is this? A no fly zone?

I immediately leapt off the tree, swerving backwards as the flexible branch reached out to grab me. It barely missed my tail and I flapped around in the air, moving around constantly to avoid the other branches nearby.

I was freaked out. All the trees around me had started to move their flexible knotty branches in my directions, and I fled through the trees immediately, dodging wherever a branch reached out for me. 

But the more I did, the more I began to hear whispering from every corner. More trees flexed their stiff limbs, and I heard rumblings of discontent. 

Was this a gathering of the elderly or something?

Fearing I was about to get punished for disturbing them, I wanted to get out of the forest even more than before. However the insects were still after me and as the buzzing got even closer, the one in my mouth started struggling more fiercely than before.

«You're not ready for [Air Magic] if you can't handle basic flight.» Sensei continued. 

I clamped down harder, determined to keep the creature quiet. "Air Magic will get me a [Wind blade] and sound, amongst other things. Flight is the least of my concerns."

However much to my dismay, the sword insect started its high-pitched screeching and the shrill sound shocked through my senses, momentarily stalling my flight. Something fast smacked into me and this time I was shot down mercilessly. 

Landing painfully on the ground, I saw the attacking branches pull away as soon as I was no longer airborne. 

I flipped around on my back to see numerous tiny mana spots flying up in the air. The swarm had followed, each one rushing down to the ground to impale me. I immediately activated my shadows, spreading them as far as I could to conceal myself.

The sword insects came down in force and I had no choice but to pull back my extended tail, shrinking my body under my wings as much as possible. It wasn't clear exactly where my body was in the shadows, but the insects had spread out to attack at random. Some missed, while others poked more holes in my wings.

I grimaced in pain. If I could withstand it, maybe they would move on eventually.

I felt a little remorseful. While I wasn't against reducing their colony by a few bats. This one seemed integral to the colony's survival. Without their alarm, would they still be able to tell when a predator was coming?

Probably not, because they were fighting so hard to get it back.

"If I release it, will they leave me alone?" I asked sensei.

«They depend on its abilities so they won't leave without it.» he answered.

Ahh...so they weren't going to move on any time soon. I still wanted to kill it but doing so didn't seem so right anymore. If this was their leader, I felt like some devil damning them all to die for my own sake. And every stab that met with my body felt like their retribution.

«Do you really want a wind blade that much.» Sensei asked.

I nodded fiercely. Its ability to cut was powerful and if I wanted to grow stronger I needed such an offensive skill. It wasn't just myself I had to protect anymore.

Sensei sighed. «I can show you how to create an even better blade.» 

Huh? My eyes widened. What did he just say?

"Repeat that again?"

«Will you do it?»

"Not that!"

The creature struggling in my grasp screeched again, but this time its high-pitched voice didn't hurt as much, its voice seemingly lost within my shadows. But I wasn't focused on it so much as I was in shock at Sensei's revelation. 

"You can use magic?"

«Will you do it?» Sensei repeated.

"Sure."

I released the creature immediately and it writhed about inside my shadow as it tried to fly. Two of its wings were torn where my fangs had ripped them, but soon the insect eagerly flitted out of my shadow, to join the others.