It was clear to see that the creative ideas of the Skyhost interior architects didn’t extend much past bleak white walls and purposeless decor. Much of it amounted to the same old painting of a landscape or two, rarely accompanied by an indoor plant; the only eye-catching aspect being the occasional water droplets falling, possibly as a result of some passive magic.

“Boring, huh?” Aurelius chimed, “Don’t worry, the inner facilities look much nicer than this. You know, higher budget and whatnot. I think they don’t bother with these outer facilities as much because they’re next to the Blight Zone.”

Keristis kept walking past this uninspired layout, although it seemed to go on forever until Aurelius came to a halt.

“Well,” he sighed, “that’s not preferable, but it explains how the Blighted got in.”

Keristis caught on, Aurelius was referring to the completely obliterated exit that led outside. The door was discarded, off its hinges on the far side of the hallway; the gap where it used to lead outside was now completely obstructed with rubble.

“I guess we’ll have to report this.”Aurelius laughed, “You would’ve thought this place would be, I don’t know, guarded?”

Out of his nearly infinite spatial magic Aurelius retrieved his smartphone, a decently-sized rectangular device that was nearly all occupied by the screen on the front, and began to type.

“Aaaand…” he kept tapping on the screen, “Done. I’ve messaged Serulia, they’ll fix it soon enough.”

Keristis unconsciously holstered the Deviant’s Path on his back where it hovered with no support. It seemed to be a quality of the weapon to stay in position when it wasn’t being used.

“Oh,” Aurelius muttered, “that’s cool.”

Effortlessly, Keristis grabbed and tossed multiple pieces of broken infrastructure. A way was cleared for the two to leave Skyhost, Keristis’ first introduction to the world beyond civilisation was imminent. Aurelius couldn’t recall how many times he had been outside the walls of his on-and-off home.

With one step outside, they stood still as the high gliding clouds greeted them. Keristis looked up, enamoured by this view: an azure sky grazed by the birds that remained to soar and reached towards by the young and old trees, some that had even outlived many lifetimes. In the distance you could see billowing smoke erupting from what seemed to be a long-deserted city, its building laid on their sides with most windows shattered as the sky eventually faded to a sickly orange hue.

Aurelius pointed to the skyline, in the direction of the solitary settlement. “That’s where we’re going, not too far if we follow the highway.”

What in the world was a highway? Keristis looked around at the ground before him to see a large strip of concrete road that stretched far into the distance, eventually leading to their destination. Aurelius began to set off, Keristis followed not far behind.

———

As the two continued to stride past collapsed infrastructure, they came to an unfortunate stop when they reached the end of the highway. It wasn’t exactly the actual end but unless they could run and manage to jump to the other side, which was a considerable distance away, then they had to find another way across.

Aurelius sighed, “If we go back to the nearest set of stairs then we won’t get back until nightfall. That’s something we don’t want to be in. Say, Keristis,” he looked around, unable to see his summon, “Keristis?”

A loud crash was heard at the bottom of the drop. Aurelius peered down to see Keristis looking back up at him, completely unscathed. He gave a metallic thumbs-up, a suitable substitute for a reassuring smile.

“You’re crazy. Now how am I gonna follow you down there?” Aurelius scoffed.

The summoner quickly assessed his options. Jumping down into Keristis’  hold was not a good idea, there was no such abilities that could cushion a fall. What else? Something he could climb down onto? Wait a minute…

“Hey Keristis! Think you could cut down one of those taller trees over there?” he pointed to a clearing at the side of the highway lined with menacing trunks and outstretched branches. They could easily reach up and act as a sort of unsteady bridge for him to walk down on, depending on whether or not he could balance decently enough.

Keristis nodded and unsheathed the Deviant’s Path while walking towards one of the trees. The ground below him was relatively flat so when it did eventually collapse he wouldn’t have to stop it from rolling away, through some spectacular means. Planting his feet steady, the polearm was raised to as far back as Keristis’ arms would allow and with a great force it was struck against one of the trunks on its bladed edge.

Cawing birds quickly scattered from the surrounding environment as a gust of wind manifested with continuous strikes from Keristis’ assault on the tree before him.

Blow after blow, the once small incision in the side of the towering tree became larger and larger, the creaking loudened and became a screech of nature. Then, the rest of its fibres tore and gave way to the collapse, the tree flung itself downwards and landed supported by the edge of the road.

Aurelius quickly clasped one of the larger branches, one capable of supporting his weight, and quickly jumped from branch to branch. When the thicker branches were no more, he swung himself onto the main trunk and carefully stepped down. Eventually he reached the bottom, jumping down and landing with a flip.

Keristis admired his acrobatic skill, evidently with his metallic existence he couldn’t perform those sorts of movements but at least he could move.

———

The walk to the city did not take too long, as Aurelius declared, and was mostly uneventful. It was strange to Keristis, the place where the Blighted were most likely to engage them had not a single one come to attack them.

“Hold on a second.” Aurelius whispered, “There’s someone up there.”

Following Aurelius’ line of sight, there definitely was someone  a rooftop. If they intended to attack, they most likely would’ve done so already due to their superior position; however as soon as they were spotted, their silhouette vanished.

“Be ready for anything,” Aurelius warned, “the Blight Zone is completely unpredictable so anything can happen. I remember one time having to run away from some randomly formed spirit vortex, that was an extremely close call.”

The missing Summoners had left no trace so far. The only thing remotely related to summoning was some peculiar weapon, unusable for the average human due to its abnormal size but for someone like Keristis it was plausible to be wielded. Two long blades encompassing a worn frame and a handle that stayed intact with a wish. They left it be and continued on.

As the pair passed more and more destroyed buildings, Keristis pondered how quickly the Blighted had once brought civilisation to ruin, as it didn’t seem like this area was an instance of battle. The lack of bodies and weapons pointed to the signs of desertion before they arrived. All that told of the Blighted’s presence so long ago were the smashed windows of long-forgotten shops and homes, but even then they could’ve been broken by those who lives outside the protection of Skyhost and other ‘safe’ havens.

The road they followed came to a sudden halt when they reached one building, remarkably intact albeit with a few missing doors, the stairs that led up to the entrance only having minor damage; most likely being caused by age due to the small cracks formed throughout its time.

Aurelius stepped forward first, he climbed a few steps but as he got higher and higher he slowly became less and less tangible. Suddenly he quickly vanished from sight, phasing through the staircase until he was no longer present, the only thing left behind was a floating, wispy blue thread that replaced him.

Magic, it had to be. A concerned Keristis tried to follow, but when he reached the top he was still there. The empty entrance to the building stared him down. He looked around, nobody, nothing could be seen except for the desolate city.

< Peculiar, I can’t sense the summoner at all. Go on inside, you may find him in there. > 

The Summon entered the strange domain. On both his sides sat two figures wearing black hats with large brims all the way around, fashionable but it hindered their vision. The exaggerated brim hid their faces but their voices were as clear as day could be. It was apparent that they paid no mind to Keristis’ obtrusion, one stood up and faced him, becoming a source of startling in the process.

“Head right though,” they whispered, “She’s been waiting for you.” they pointed through the furiously red corridor, the end of which could not be seen. 

Seeking a second opinion, Keristis looked to his weapon.

< Sure, go ahead. > 

No retorts were heard or anything else that would change his mind. The only concern he had was how eerily orchestrated this entire situation seemed to be. Wherever the corridor led to, he hoped it led back to Aurelius.

As the corridor stretched farther and farther, it became a darker and darker shade of red: gradually becoming a sickening blood red that seethed from the walls. It looked like it was pulsating, but Keristis dismissed it as just his imagination.

< I regret my previous support to this venture, there’s a strange energy about and I feel like I’m being choked. > The Deviant’s voice sounded unwell.

The foreign wisp that Aurelius vanished in had returned, albeit no longer blue. Its colour a light vermillion, regal yet sinister with the surroundings not helping it in anyway. Keristis found himself in an expansive chamber, exactly like the one he was brought back in; he turned around to learn that the corridor had vanished. A throne sat in the centre and on top of it was a woman with horns. Her midnight black hair draped across the throne and her skin was as pale as snow, she was garbed in the most luxurious of crimson robes and wore gleaming black heels reflecting the inferior amount of light that illuminated the environment. Four rings, two on each hand, were present on her slim hands - each topped by a different coloured gem that ominously glowed in the room.

“Finally, you have taken much too long. If there’s one thing you should know, I don’t forgive tardiness.” her voice, not at all booming, was authoritative. A firm voice that flew across the chamber’s walls with even the lowest of volumes. 

< Who are you? > The Deviant enquired.

Keristis wished he could’ve done the same.

“You are not the one I seek, weapon. But your user shall be granted the authority to call me Deniran, the ruler of this lair.”

< She’s the one we’re looking for, isn’t she? Be prepared, I’ve identified her to be a demon. >

Keristis raised his spear.

“Now now, I do not wish to fight. If we were to come to an agreement, peace can be achieved.”

The Deviant’s Path was lowered.

With a flick of her wrist, a grand table adorned with the finest of wine glasses appeared from nothing. One chair appeared at its opposite end, parallel to the throne she sat on.

“Come,” she beckoned him, “seat yourself and we shall see to it that we create a mutual agreement.”