The blood crow didn't hesitate.
With a throat-rattling shriek, it dived, its wings slicing through the sky with enough force to send dust spiraling from the plateau. Its beak opened wide—large enough to swallow Cecilus whole.
Cecilus raised his sword just in time.
The impact was like being struck by a collapsing wall.
The force blasted through his guard and hurled him backward. His vision blurred—air and sky spinning—before a tight burst of wind surged beneath him. The dust elemental's intervention slowed his fall just enough for his boots to skid across stone rather than his body breaking on it.
He gasped for breath.
The crow was already ascending again, dragging trails of blood through the air like ribbons.
"I didn't want to start bouncing in the air this early…"
Cecilus muttered, then sprinted forward.
"Shoot me up!"
The elemental responded instantly.
A violent updraft roared beneath him and launched him skyward so suddenly his stomach twisted. Cecilus rotated mid-air, his limbs flailing before he forced them into alignment. At eye level with the crow, he steadied himself just as the creature lunged again.
Its pupils narrowed. Its feathers bristled.
It came like a spear.
Cecilus twisted and hurled his sword with every ounce of strength in his body.
The blade struck its wing—
—and bounced off harmlessly.
"Damn—!"
The crow's beak slammed into his chest.
Breath left him in an explosion of agony. Blood spattered from his lips as he tumbled downward, limbs numb.
The elemental saved him again, gusting upward and converting what would've been a fatal crash into a jarring skid.
His sword rematerialized in his hand in a burst of soul-light.
"I have zero control in the air," he panted. "And throwing my sword isn't enough."
Above him, the crow hovered effortlessly, beating enormous wings. It watched him. Waiting. Patient. A creature built for the sky, where gravity favored it.
"You must match its agility!" the white devil shouted from above. "Your elemental can redirect you mid-air. It's also slowing the bird's movements—use that! Go on the offensive!"
Cecilus grit his teeth.
Before he could leap again, the crow's entire beak glowed red—an ominous light that pulsed like a heartbeat.
Blood rose from its feathers. Thick droplets floated as if gravity loosened its hold.
The droplets hardened—sharpened—solidified into spikes of blood.
"Oh hell—"
The spikes fired all at once.
Cecilus dove sideways. The first volley ripped past him, slicing the air. The second came faster; one spike punched through his shoulder with a sickening tear, spinning him as he screamed. Several grazed his arms, tearing cloth and skin alike.
His sword arm survived—but his other arm dangled uselessly.
The crow screeched, forming more spikes.
A sudden gale from the dust elemental blasted upward, disrupting their trajectory. One spike still flew true—Cecilus slashed it in half, the two pieces spinning past his face.
He sprinted.
He needed height.
He got beneath the crow, and—
"Boost!"
Another explosion of wind launched him upward.
Sword raised above his head, he shot past the crow's underside and carved into the edge of its wing. Hot blood sprayed across his face as he rose higher than the creature—
This time the elemental pushed him downward, angling his momentum.
Cecilus fell like a meteor.
The crow roared and prepared another volley of spikes.
One spike hurled forward and pierced straight through Cecilus' leg—hot agony exploding through him—but he didn't stop. His falling momentum carried him onto the crow's other wing, and he stabbed deep.
The creature shrieked, blood erupting in torrents.
Cecilus fell once more—but he was already signaling his elemental. Another boost hurled him upward again.
The crow attempted to climb higher, its movements twitchy and uneven from the damaged wing. But its speed increased—blood empowered it even as it weakened.
It reoriented and charged.
Not a dive.
A full-body ram.
"Not this time—!"
Cecilus shifted right with a mid-air gust, but the wing still slammed into him, spinning him violently. The world blurred red and grey.
"Get off, dammit!"
He slashed wildly, carving into the wing, tearing holes through muscle and sinew. The crow's desperate thrashing caused its blood-soaked feathers to scatter like shards of crimson glass.
The crow screeched—and then its body swelled.
"Cecilus, move—!" the devil shouted.
Too late.
The crow exploded.
A detonation of blood and force blasted outward, throwing Cecilus high into the air. His consciousness flickered—then vanished.
The world went black.
Cecilus opened his eyes to the pale stillness of his soul world.
"No…"
Panic seized him.
"No! I need to get back!"
He lay down, squeezing his eyes shut, trying to force sleep.
But he was too awake. His body was too alert.
What do I do?
His gaze snapped toward Xena, resting calmly within the soul world.
Cecilus motioned her closer.
"Kill me."
She didn't hesitate.
Her jaws clamped around his neck.
Agony flared. Blood sprayed. His vision stuttered.
Cecilus tried to scream, but no sound came out. He collapsed, flickering in and out of awareness—until darkness claimed him.
Cecilus awoke mid-fall—only inches from the ground.
Break my fall!
The elemental responded instantly, slowing him just enough to survive.
He collapsed to one knee, gasping, drenched in blood—some his, some the crow's.
The creature was still alive above him. Barely.
Blinded by its own explosion, it thrashed through the air, wings beating unevenly, body jerking with no sense of direction.
"Hah… It's over."
His voice was hoarse. His body shaking.
He limped toward the center of the plateau—the nest looming behind the wounded beast. Ribs broken. Shoulder shredded. Leg throbbing. Cuts burning across his torso.
He glanced at his elemental.
A faint, savage smile formed.
"I'm going to torture this god-forsaken bird the moment I contract it."
The elemental launched him one last time.
Cecilus shot upward like a spear. His sword plunged into the crow's underside—right into the softest flesh. The impact forced both of them upward as blood poured out like a waterfall.
"Bird!" Cecilus roared. "Swallow your fucking pride. Join me—"
He twisted the blade deeper.
"—or die and rot on this mountain!"
The crow's body convulsed. It flailed, flipping over, its topside hurling downward toward the ground. Its imminent death loomed.
Its panic spilled uncontrollably into Cecilus' mind.
No—no! I don't want to die! I'll choose the other option!
A floating contract snapped into existence.
A signature appeared—a single bloody claw mark.
Cecilus grinned.
Instead of dismissing the crow to spare it, he let it fall.
He rode the crow as it crashed into the ground, reducing its body to ruined flesh. The agony coursed through Cecilus as well, but he didn't care.
He dismissed it into his soul world.
Blood washed over him, drenching him completely.
He stood there, breathing raggedly.
Shaking.
Alive.
"I guess… I have to wait for it to heal before going down."
The white devil floated above the pooled crimson.
"Well done. A blood crow is among the greatest summons you could obtain at your stage. A creature that grows stronger the more it bleeds—with you to bear its pain, its potential is monstrous."
Cecilus finally collapsed.
Exhaustion devoured him.
He woke hours later.
Pain stiffened every limb as he bandaged his arm and leg. Night crept across the sky, and he had until morning to return to the ship.
Cecilus wasn't worried.
He could fly now.
He chewed a strip of jerky, swallowed, then summoned his new partner.
The blood crow materialized—large, powerful, fully healed. It lowered its body, a silent offer for him to climb on.
"We need to get down fast. It's too chilly up here…" Cecilus shivered.
The crow beat its wings, lifting him off the plateau. Wind swept past as they glided down the mountain, heading toward the distant treeline.
The world stretched beneath him. The ocean shimmered in the distance.
On the shoreline below—
A tiny dot.
Darrin's boat.