Sorcerer… Cyborg???

Chapter 253: Father and Son(3)

As the great leviathan of a ship settled into the ocean, Tam, Vaya and Teves flew through the air, nearby each other, their eyes sweeping the skies behind for any sign of Anteris or Graffius.

"What of the soldier who you carried into the ship? The masked soldier, who wielded the blade of glowing light?" Vaya said to Tam, as they side by side, Slate and Shale clutched in the talons of their respective auras.

"Him? I think he'll find a way out, he's survived far worse, and I don't know of a more resourceful man." Tam said with a soft smile on his face, after hearing of Kothar's adventures through the cluster of planes that surrounded Eclat, and his achievements, both on the battlefield and in his missions with the NIghthawks, he was utterly confident in his son's abilities.

But even so, there was a persistent thread of worry gnawing at him, for though he trusted Tam as a soldier, as father, he was still being eaten by worry. 

Tam tilted his head slightly, looking into an empty space in the air on his other side, as if listening to someone else, and then nodded in agreement.

Vaya gave Tam an odd look, and then continued speaking. "That's high praise coming from you, I'm surprised he isn't among your lieutenants." Vaya was prying a little, though they were currently allied with Ursten, alliances weren't everlasting, and it never hurt to know more about one's allies, and possible enemies of the future.

"That would be depriving him unnecessarily, he's still young and has much room to grow. And both you and I know, real growth occurs in battle, on the front lines." Tam responded, still scanning the air for any sign of Anteris.

They were keeping an eye out for Anteris' aura, but among the numerous glowing shapes that flew through the skies, it was difficult to pick out any one individual.

"You're right, I'm eager to meet with this promising young warrior. Perhaps he can teach my grandchildren a thing or two." Vaya said with a sly grin, he was making it clear to Tam that he would go to any length to learn more about this mysterious soldier, after all, Vaya had heard of his exploits against the Imperial Elites, and letting Tam hear about the abilities of his grandchildren would be nothing compared to learning more about the blizzard ability that allowed the masked soldier to ignore the Elite's defenses completely.

Yells and shouts echoed out from far behind them, as the first of the Aemos ships caught up to the flying Advanced Rank fighters, but they quickly faded away.

The sky was covered with spears of Ice, which rained down on the trailing ships, as a particularly powerful individual of the Advanced Rank let loose.

Immediately afterward, balls of blazing hot magma materialized in the skies, mimicking the previous ability, as they rained down on the few remaining ships.

"It seems we are still little fish, compared to the big pond that is the continent." Vaya murmured to Tam, as they watched the Aemos ships being blasted and separated out of the sky.

"A bigger pond only has more room to grow." Tam murmured back, his face determined, his dark eyebrows narrowed, and his mouth set in a line.

"And has more vicious predators." Vaya muttered back, quietly. And Tam shook his head at him.

"Of course, without risk, one can expect no reward. What happened to the daring Master of the Crow Tribe?" Tam responded, still shaking his head at Vaya.

"He became old. Look Tam, see my white hair, and my aged face." Vaya replied, with a sad smile, everyone wished to remain forever young, but the reality was that on the Isle, few could attain the heights of strength that allowed one to age so drastically slowly.

"I have already lived far longer than I should have." Vaya continued, when he had fought the Ursten, he had already been an old man by the standards of most humans, and now he was ancient.

"Not ye-" Tam started to say, but was cut off by a loud, booming yell.

"I could recognize those birds anywhere! Hop on here, fellows! And save your strength." Anteris yelled at the three of them, standing atop an Aemos ship, waving at the other Advanced Rank individuals in the air all round him, to make sure they didn't attack.

Of course, his wasn't the only ship that carried Eclat survivors, there were others, some flying under their own power, some carried by winged glowing silhouettes.

"Anteris!" Tam said with a smile, placing Slate gently in the open back of the craft, before landing on the top next to Anteris.

"How is Graffius?" Tam asked, but Anteris cut him off before asking loudly.

"You all didn't make it out? What of the masked soldier?" Anteris said, a frown on his face.

"I was just saying to Vaya, you needn't worry about him, he's dealt with far worse." Tam said, clapping Anteris on the back. He wouldn't tell them that it was his own son that was missing, and he asked that worry that granted deep inside of himself.

Knowing Kothar, he was probably at the center of whatever had caused the enormous ship to go down.

After all, he did say something about finding the control center for the ship before he had disappeared into its depths.

"Whatever you say, Tam. I must admit, though, leaving a soldier behind, in any situation, leaves a sour taste in my mouth." Anteris frowned, his wrinkled face crumpling, and his bushy white eyebrows bristling.

"He was nowhere to be seen when the ship was coming down, and if we waited any longer, then we would've all gone down into the ocean with it. We'd be at the bottom of the ocean right now if we had stayed." Tam said, his voice cold. It sounded as though he was justifying himself to Anteris, but in truth, he was justifying leaving his son behind to himself.