Chapter 17:
PENUMBRA
Rhea, Year 814 of Avia, Day 119
“Hey.”
Asterum approached Icarum in the library, holding a couple of books with his left arm. He was dressed in his usual white tunic, with a copper watch around his wrist that looked almost identical to Rhozo’s.
“Since when were you allowed in here?” Asterum had a cross, annoyed look on his face.
Icarum was slightly taken aback at the question. “Grandfather let me in,” he replied curtly.
“That’s Master Rhozo for you.”
Icarum rolled his eyes. “What’s your problem?”
“What’s yours? You think you can pull up and become a member of our rebel tribe after what your father did, just like that?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Icarum gritted his teeth and pushed Asterum aside, making his way towards the exit.
Asterum placed a hand on Icarum’s shoulder and tried to pull him back. But before he could, Icarum turned around and slapped Asterum’s hand away. “Don’t.”
Asterum smiled coldly. “You don’t get to walk away.”
“Fine, tell me then,” Icarum retorted. “What did my father do?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me, right? You really don’t know?”
“If you don’t have anything to say, I’m leaving.”
“When the Sydurnians took over eleven years ago, our tribe mounted a little bit of a resistance. But when it turned violent, your father ditched us, leaving the rest of us behind.”
“Soon after, my father was killed in a skirmish with a couple of Sydurnian soldiers. While Master Rhozo fled to the mountains to avenge my father, yours decided to stay and suck up to the Sydurnians. He’s a coward and a traitor.”
Icarum narrowed his eyes. “My father wasn’t a fighter. If there was something he could do, he would have.”
“You don’t know tha-”
“And what about my mother and my brother, who was only seven at the time? The journey to the mountains might’ve been too hard for them to handle.”
“That’s just an excuse.”
“As much as I want to take revenge on the Sydurnians, protecting the people you love is an equally just cause. My father’s actions might’ve been cowardly, but he was no traitor.”
Asterum had no more words to say. He stared Icarum in the eye with an angry expression on his face.
“Move aside,” Icarum commanded. He made his way towards the exit, and this time, Asterum didn’t stop him.
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With the exception of a few hunters and traders, not many of the rebels ever left the caverns. The mountainous terrain was home to many wild dangerous animals, and the weather was often harsh and unforgiving. Unlike Icarum, most rebels didn’t need to study their bird-spirit in person since there was enough material to read about in books.
After around twenty minutes of asking for directions, Icarum reached the entrance of the rebel base. A lone guard stood next to a stone wall.
“Master Rhozo recommended that I train outside.”
The guard nodded as if he was expecting Icarum. He pressed a red button strapped to his hand and the wall started to shudder and move. Behind it lurked a deafening waterfall and a large pond.
Icarum thanked the guard and walked around the pond, careful not to touch the freezing water. Winter was ending soon, but the temperature was still quite cold.
From the books that he read, he learned that the diet of a vulture was composed of ninety percent bone. If he wanted to find one, the easiest way would be to leave out an appetizing meal and wait for one to appear.
Icarum took a couple of bones out of his pocket that he had taken from the kitchen. There was no shortage of chicken bones in the kitchen’s trash can, and since they were about to be thrown out anyway, Icarum figured baiting a vulture would be a better use for it.
After walking a couple of miles to the east, he found a small valley in between two mountains. He left a couple of bones out in the open and hid in a nearby bush.
Rabbits, moles, and butterflies approached the scene, but never any vultures. After hours of waiting, Icarum returned to the caverns for dinner.
When he came back to the same location the next day, he realized that the bones had been torn apart and gnawed upon. The medium-sized marks on the bone indicated that a vulture had probably taken the bait, but definitely not an adult one.
Icarum decided to stay the night. He grabbed some food, bulkier clothes, his wings, and an extra blanket from his room. He laid on the ground near the bones with a flashlight in his hand, waiting for the vulture to reappear and finish his meal.
Sure enough, with the moon high in the sky, a young vulture swooped down in front of Icarum and started to peck at the bones. It didn’t seem to mind Icarum’s flashlight spotting him. Icarum stood up and walked closer, but the vulture didn’t move. It seemed to know that Icarum didn’t harbor any ill intent, and perhaps even sensed that they were kindred spirits.
A large, plump rabbit popped out of a hole and scurried towards the vulture. Despite the fact that vultures were carnivores, this one didn’t care much for live prey. It ignored the rabbit and continued gulping down the bones.
Since vultures grew so large, they didn’t have any natural predators. And since they were scavengers, they rarely needed to attack other animals for food.
Maybe this is what the old man wanted me to notice, Icarum thought. Vulture’s power won’t be about attacking others directly.
Icarum started to piece the puzzle together. Vulturus, the god of fear and darkness. Vultures, scavengers who feed on carcasses.
If Vultures don’t bother with the living, maybe my power has something to do with the dead?
It was simply conjecture, but it was worth a try. While the rabbit chomped on the grass next to the Vulture, Icarum pounced onto it, snapping its neck with a swift hand motion.
Nothing happened.
“There are many ways to hone your power, leaving lots of room for innovation and creativity.”
Master Rhozo’s words echoed through Icarum’s head. All spiritual powers would be pretty vague, so if Icarum was going in the right direction, there should be a clue. But at the same time, Icarum had no idea how to harness the magical power within him.
He racked his brain for an answer. The martial arts that he practiced religiously, the books he read, the wings-
An image of Ilina’s fighting stance flashed into his mind. She said something about using the L shape of her hands to channel her power.
That was it.
Icarum took the wings out of his bag and attached them to his back. They stuck to his spine like a magnet, falling into place. He unfurled them and flapped them twice.
The dark feathers gleamed in the moonlight, and the vulture in front of him squawked. It looked at Icarum and stretched its own wings out as if they were competing.
Icarum smiled. He squatted down and picked up the dead rabbit in his hand. He didn’t feel any different, but gradually, the ground around him turned purple.
He squinted to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. It wasn’t the ground itself that was purple, but rather, purple light that lit up the ground. He turned around to find the light source, only to discover that the ground behind him was lit up as well.
He glanced at his arms and his legs, but nothing on him seemed to glow.
My wings. Icarum couldn’t see it himself, but he was sure that his feathers were glowing. He reached for his back and pulled one out to examine it.
It emitted a faint purple light that flickered on and off, and it had quite a sharp end to it, like one of the quills in Master Rhozo’s room. The closer he held it to the dead rabbit, the brighter the light became. He pressed down on the rabbit’s stomach and feet with the feather, but no magic seemed to activate. Yet Icarum knew he was closer than ever to discovering part of his power.
The feather was brightest next to the rabbit’s head. When he placed the feather near it, the rest of the rabbit’s body started to darken, as if it was being devoured.
It must be the Shadow Aviales.
Acting on instinct, Icarum plunged his feather into the rabbit’s head, piercing its brain cleanly. The darkness that engulfed the rabbit’s body spread onto its head. Gradually, the entire rabbit disappeared, leaving no trace of its existence. The feather inside the rabbit’s head fell to the ground. Although it still glowed, it was much dimmer than before.
The rest of Icarum’s feathers stopped glowing completely, and Icarum pointed his flashlight at the ground to see clearly.
The vulture in front of him had finished his meal and prepared to fly away.
“Wait!” Icarum yelled. There was one more thing he wanted to try; he wondered if he could only make rabbits disappear, or if it would work on larger animals as well. Icarum reached out to stop him, but it was too late.
Before the vulture disappeared into the night, Icarum flew upwards and threw the glowing feather in his hand with all his strength. It grazed the vulture’s neck before falling back down to the ground.
But the moment the feather struck the earth with its sharp tip, a shadow began to form around it. A rabbit with a twisted neck stood still on its four feet, creepily gazing at Icarum with purple eyes. When Icarum took a step to the left, the rabbit followed. It seemed to mirror his every move.
Icarum walked up to the rabbit and touched its fur. It didn’t respond. He glanced at its broken neck and confirmed his suspicions. Undoubtedly, this rabbit was the same one that he had killed just moments before.
Icarum laid down on the grass, staring up at the stars in disbelief. He wasn’t sure how much he had just learned about his power, but he knew that he’d made amazing progress in a day.
Perhaps this was just one way to use his spirit’s power, but for now, Icarum was convinced that Vultures could manipulate the dead. The method for doing so and the control he required was something that needed a lot of training.
He had turned a rabbit into a shadow using a feather and then summoned it as a mindless puppet with that same feather. Icarum smiled. He was excited to find out how far his power could go.
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