077 - Resonance

Three beauties, tan skinned with straight black hair in light summer dresses skipped down the middle of the street, coming right up to the Alchemists circle, carefree and laughing - they were right before Sung Hu and Dong-Geun, strolling right around the shimmering blue circle without a second glance.

More and more, crowds of people - all perfect spirit bodies; every Martial Court technique the two cultivators employed revealed nothing - nothing untoward, nothing at all! Pontius urged them on, taking the circle down streets and through dozens of alleys and avenues full of people and markets, calling out 'left!' or 'right!' again and again and having the Seers sing out in increasingly hoarse voices.

The Mens techniques that the Segye Martial Court specialized in had particular effects in the Ether; used together with Mithraic chants they could divine all forms of life. Much like in the material plane they could amplify any sense, use it to affect the senses and directly. In the Ether the same principles were used to reveal illusions; see through spirit bodies, to separate the true from the false.

Dong-Geun's fingers trembled, his spirit form flickering and appearing ghostly. This was meant to be a simple tracking mission; go in, mark the Celestial, get out. To enter into a Celestials totem in the Ether . . No one had been inside a Celestials totem in over a hundred years, not in the wild. What was that mad Alchemist up to?

If a Celestial were to disrupt their spirit forms here in the Ether . . well, that was what the anchors were for. At the first sign of trouble, if things get too hot, then all I have to do is disrupt my own spirit and reform back at the base anchor. Who cares if we can't mark the bloody Celestial, let some other fool do it!

It felt like they were venturing deeper into a beasts lair with every step, a monsterous creature watching their every move, waiting for the right moment to leap. But . . nothing. Every time a door opened or a child shrieked Dong-Geun's nerves frayed, his Mens concentrating around his sword ready to slash out.

The denizens of the city, the very bricks and mortar - everything was filled with Logos, lights of all colours suffused the streets; he kept a strict vigil for any sign of Vigor - of the Celestial - but there was none, nothing beyond what there would be in any illusory construct in the Ether.

Pontius moved them onwards, keeping the circle on the ground and the web of Animus in the air above the city perfectly aligned, himself at the dead center. Looking at Pontius over his shoulder Dong-Geun met his eyes, rapidly looking away. Mad. He's gone mad! The old man's face was fixed in a childish grin, his eyes wide open and blazing with excitement.

The Martial Court Prince shivered, focusing back out on the streets.

"Are you alright my Prince?" Sung Hu frowned, his scar making his face appear all the more stern.

"Mad . . I am fine, fine."

"To the right! That blue warehouse with the flowers in the window!" Pontius suddenly called out.

Baqir responded instantly, the whole block dissolving and reforming in a matter of seconds. Behind the street front facade were several apartments full of beds and children's cots, and behind them a large empty theatre.

"Any reaction?"

"None." Dong-Geun replied curtly.

"No reaction? Nothing at all?" Pontius gritted his teeth, casting his gaze about the busy streets. "Where is it? That blasted forest . . that damnable Celestial must be around here somewhere! No reaction . . no reaction . ."

The elderly Alchemist flicked his fingers sending a pulse of blue light into the cage high above. One of the strands detached from the web, coiling in the air like a serpent and, with a wag of his finger, slashed through several buildings, passing through them as if through a mist. The building rippled and remained entirely intact.

"Do we keep moving, Magister?" Domitia asked. Both her and Valerius were pale and nervous, their glyphs less defined.

"Keep moving! It has to be around here somewhere! Damn that Celestial, any reaction? Anything at all?" Pontius quickened his pace, taking them into a wide plaza. He stopped them at the edge of a crowd of people, looking at them intently.

In a flash of blue the strand of Animus coiled around a spirit body of a middle aged man. The man's eyes popped open in surprise, his body lifted from the ground, a hideous unearthly shriek as the coil tightened. Pontius closed his fist and the man burst apart, ghostly fragments spilling over onto the ground.

"Any reaction?"

"None."

***

Kujata bit her lip, the city illuminated above her, every nook and cranny bright and shining in a hundred colours, every spirit body a beacon of light as it walked the streets above her head. She lay flat on her back beneath the city, around her a web of thick red strands, Logos of every colour attached to them spread throughout the streets.

With a thought, she guided a strand of Vigour to the edge of the Alchemists circle. So far they were only walking the streets . . a marking party? If they'd come to hunt for her in the Ether they would have surely come better prepared, right? Unless . . it had been too long, far too long. In the war . . the Alchemists have had a long time since then . . every time she'd fought them they would have a whole new repertoire of tricks, evolving and creating new ways to attack from one battle to the next. We could never keep up then, and now? Now . . if I fail . . if they take me, who is left? Magnus? All by himself? Aye . . a young Celestial all by himself . .

Another burst of energy shot out from the Seers, bursting through several blocks and reducing them to nothing. Kujata winced, a thick pulse of red from her chest rushed to the affected area rebuilding it in an instant. The old Alchemist at the centre of the circle crushed another spirit, and another . . Kujata felt a stabbing pain in her heart, but still she did not react.

But something wasn't right - why hadn't they marked her? Why hadn't they set an anchor and retreated? Surely the location must already be marked, right? But it had not - not a single glyph of marking, not a single imprint that could link them the material world. Strange, strange, strange . .

They are looking for Magnus! Why? The forest and the mist were buried beneath the city blocks, hidden from sight, but they were getting close, closer with every passing moment.

What the devil is Magnus playing at? I can't get through to him at all! Ah! To hells with it! Damn Magnus, damn these Alchemists!

When she moved the city moved with her; Kujata sat up and the chatter and laughter ceased. She got to her feet - every one of the spirit bodies turned to face the same direction.

She pointed a thread of red energy made of dozens of coiled strands into a single thread thicker than a tree trunk wormed its way under the streets towards the Alchemist.

***

"Magister! A reaction!" Dong-Geun cried out frantically.

"I bloody well can see that!" Pontius roared back, a fierce blue glyph forming at the ends of his fingers and shooting out over their head. "The Celestial is coming!"