The dense smoke cloud slowly dispersed, but the slight breeze and the warmness that lingered in the atmosphere was a telltale sign of what devastating event occurred.
Rai was still in a stupor, not knowing how to make sense of it all. How could he? This mission wasn't supposed to develop into a full-on life-and-death battle; although ruthless Jason could be reasoned with, another plus was he could influence the actions of the volatile faction, but the other members were nightmares to deal with each more terrifying than the other.
When did it all go wrong? Was it the day Jason confronted the stasis faction and brought into question how trustworthy these oceanic beings were, and his worries were downplayed, his actions even increased his notoriety; the statement was he had prejudiced views against these people.
Or was it the moment we refused to prolong the investigation of the Ice Lord and the Ice elemental's dissappearance; that's probably when what little trust Jason had in the stasis faction faded, he grew even more suspicious and wary when his faction took a rare neutral stance for reasons unknown to him.
'Guess it was foolish to believe he'd remain patient and keep to himself. Where does this lead to now? More wars? Probably. Jason's likely dead and the volatile faction won't accept this, and that bastard Nanon is going to cause more harm than good if he's alive, but he needs to be; without him, we lose the necessary means to accomplish our dream'
"Damn it!" Rai shouted in frustration. The situation was only worsening by the second; shouting once more, he violently swung his arm forward; this action caused the previously stationary blades to blast past him, accompanied by a high-pitched whistle; this destroyed the serenity that had returned.
The array of blades had no target in mind, some sliced into distant mountains leveling one or two, and some destroyed the red luminescent trees of the forest he hovered above. The forest mass had stretched to the forefront of an ancient but technologically advanced city, some of the towering dark-sheened buildings were in ruins from Jason's and Rai's earlier confrontation.
Those that had remained standing weren't spared from Rai's onslaught, and the already weathered streets were further destroyed as the buildings crashed on them; each impact was deafening and the resulting stress wave sent ripples throughout the city, rupturing the very foundation that it was built on.
His outburst left him breathless taking deep tempered breaths he calmed himself before surveying the damage he'd done, dust clouds rose above now cratered mountains, and the forest had lost some of its vibrancy as a visible empty plot had opened in the glowing field of red, and the city, what was once an imposing and mystique inducing display was obliterated every visible structure was now rubble on the ground.
His fist clenched as shame and guilt gnawed at him:'What have I done? Somewhere along this long road, we've lost the love we once had for this world, Jason was right to doubt my drive to protect it, but I've already made my choice so I'll see it through to the end, good or bad.'
A firm resolve slowly built up in him as he would no longer doubt the path he walked, Rai could focus and be more proactive with his mind now at ease; taking a lotus pose mid-air he closed his eyes relying on his other senses to form a connection to his surroundings; there was a noticeable shift in the airflow as if drawn in by some invisible hand, and was spun into a air vortex cloaking Rai protecting him from any outside interference.
Rai, felt himself grow stronger, his senses sharpened and most importantly the connection to his element deepened, it was this connection that revealed to him; a slow but pulsating dull blue energy that flowed everywhere and into everything.
From the largest of trees to the smallest and from the highest of mountains to the lowest of hills. This energy was the lifeblood of planet Octa and its inhabitants.
Rai's body absorbed some of this energy as well. The weak and lack of control he felt before faded; Rai felt unshackled and powerful, as this energy coursed through him, he had to will himself not to succumb to this exhilaration because he knew this was only temporary.
But with this rejuvenated state alongside the boost he had received, he could now accomplish his goals.
Before they had fully committed to their plan they had to guarantee an absolute win over the volatile faction, so they'd allow Nanon access to one of the planet's cores which he damaged, this action weakened both factions and allowed them to fight evenly. Luckily, it seemed Nanon and his people were trustworthy to an extent, they hadn't betrayed them but instead showed the Lords his people's brilliance.
They had accomplished what all elementals assumed was impossible finding a way to boost their abilities artificially.
It's been centuries and both factions have had different methods of getting their jobs done and disputes began over such methods, but it never really developed into infighting or civil unrest. Probably, it was because they both were somewhat evenly matched, but as shown by Jason, the volatile faction would always prove a more destructive point.
Rai even suspected that each member had a secret move to take the enemy out with them, and it was this uncertainty that stasis wanted no part of.
Jason's attack would always be a dark reminder to Rai to always be on guard, no matter how assured a victory may seem. He could only hope that the attack didn't serve its intended purpose; now empowered Rai no longer viewed the world by his usual senses but via the air, everything within 100 miles became like a blueprint to him he noticed the slightest leaves rustle and the most stationary of targets, nothing was overlooked in this omniscience state.
Rai prioritized the east and the west as the focal point of his search, acres upon acres of different coloured luminescent trees, fauna, and flora brought life to the east it was a mesmerizing paradise, Rai had almost forgotten how beautiful Octa's nature was.
He had grown accustomed to seeing ruined cities and forests that he lingered a bit longer than necessary before he was reminded of the fact that he, who was one of its protectors played a part in that destruction.
Grief struck him as he knew his betrayal would forever scar this planet, he quickly diverted his attention to the west, and it didn't take him long to notice something was amiss, the flow of energy was nonexistent; what used to be a picturesque landscape was ruined by the greying sky and the lusterless plains its grass a reflection of the sky.
The air felt stifled, and this unsettled Rai. Never had he experienced such pressure before. Even when he was plagued by weakness, his element could roam wherever and whenever.
This was worrisome. He thought that with his strengthened resolve and determination to see the end of the path he chose, he wouldn't allow anything to affect him, but he was mistaken; regret and dread welcomed him as he delved further west, mountains, hills, and valleys shared the same faith as the plains, desolation was all that encompassed the lands of the west that were in his observable zone.
His faction had a vague idea of what would happen when a core was disrupted. That was the reason they had accepted Nanon's help so readily. He proved he had the means to both accomplish their dreams and mend the planet's core with technology from his homeworld, this was the basis of their trust and their working together.
Now, knowing how devastating the damage they had dealt the planet was, Rai was uncertain about whether the dream they had would matter in the end.
'Will we be content with ourselves when we've destroyed our home in the process? Calm yourself! All I have to do is find Nanon and he'll fix this, we both have a lot to lose if we don't fulfil the respective terms of our agreement ' The situation wasn't without hope but Rai still increased the speed of his search, he no longer lingered as he scanned landmass after landmass when he neared the limit of his search zone his effort bore fruit.
Rai had discovered a deep impression carved through the forest's floor of the east, it seemed something crashed harshly here before being buried into a mound. Rai followed this trail and was relieved when he saw the half-watery body of Nanon.
It seemed he had tried to lessen the damage from the attack earlier by shifting forms, but he only did so partially as his physical half was burned severely; it was the sporadic spasming that gave signs he was still alive and that was all that mattered.
With his quarry found, Rai dispelled the vortex and readied himself to retrieve Nanon, when suddenly without warning, an excruciating pain washed his body; via his connection to the planet, a muffled scream escaped him as he plummeted his body failing to function as it should.
His vision was a blur of red as he crashed through the tree's crown, his already aching body was tortured even more when he broke the branches on his descent, a resounding thud echoed as he hit the ground; he lay paralyzed and confused.
Rai was confident he hadn't detected anything or anyone that entered his zone, so why was it? He suffered such a devastating attack, leaving him utterly defenceless.
Fortunately, it seemed he was mostly alone, whatever inhabitants of the forest were either dead or long gone scared off by his attacks earlier. All he could do was wait patiently until movement returned to him, the chaotic fall of the glowing red leaves above was all that distracted him from his conflicting thoughts he didn't want to pay them heed, he didn't want to rationalize them and he wanted them gone from his mind.
These thoughts posed a threat to what resolve he believed he had. He couldn't allow himself to be swayed now, not when his course was set. This battle within him almost made Rai miss the slow twitching of his fingers the first sign of movement returning.
Elated, he forced back his thoughts and willed his other limbs to move, but despite his eagerness, it seemed it was not up to him all his attempts failed. Rai knew that if he continued waiting, he would eventually be able to move and retrieve Nanon, but he just wanted to be preoccupied with anything else other than his thoughts.
Having no other option Rai decided to risk reconnecting to the planet's energy, closing his eyes once more he focused he took slow steady breaths then he felt the connection was made.
His body had an immediate reaction, it greedily absorbed the world's energy; the effects spoke for itself as he was back on his feet in a matter of minutes. But Rai didn't immediately take to the sky after his recovery, though. He cautiously scanned everywhere looking for anything or anyone out of place, but apart from the dire situation in the west, everything seemed the same.
Rai's brows furrowed; this was such a bizarre situation. The pain he felt was no illusion, and to make matters worse, he was attacked directly through his connection to the world.
How was that possible? It also wound his pride because out of the eight elemental Lords, the earth and the air were known to have the most advanced sensory capabilities and they've proven this countless times; so he should've been able to sense any move being made, but he failed and suffered for it this alone annoyed him.
Another harsh lesson learned Rai realized the need to remain even more cautious going forward; he began his ascent when he discovered no change in his immediate surroundings.
This offered no comfort to him, he would rather face an enemy he was aware of than one who was unknown. He remained on edge as he hovered above the forest, he sighed when nothing happened despite him appearing defenceless and out in the open.
Feeling a little assured he dared to venture east to retrieve Nanon, but Rai hadn't travelled far before he paused there was a sudden and strange vibration rippling through the air. Rai frowned what was going on here? Sure he wanted answers but this was just too convenient a time, he pondered on what action to take as he turned to face the West.
Rai was hesitant to investigate the cause of this vibration due to the fact he wouldn't be able to defend himself to the best of his abilities. From what he'd observed earlier it was possible the entirety of the West suffered from a lack of energy from the planet's cores; going there would be an unnecessary risk which he could solve by rescuing Nanon and ensuring he received the medical help he needed.
Deciding that this would be the action to be taken he ignored the west and raced off towards the east,but there was a nagging in his head warning him he should've gone back.