"What the hell are you trying to do?!"
Saelari’s voice cracked across the ruined hall like a bolt of lightning, her eyes wide with disbelief. "I know you want to reach that damned tournament—but jumping from this height? That’ll kill us!"
She pointed toward the shattered window high above, where wind howled through jagged stone like the breath of some ancient beast.
"You think we’ve grown wings? And what about Kaela?! She’s barely breathing!"
Dirga raised his hands, trying to calm her. "Whoa—just listen to me for a second."
Saelari glared, her face a storm, but she held her tongue.
"You know my Concept," Dirga said. "Gravity. I can control the force of our descent. I’ve done it before."
Her eyes narrowed. "From this height?"
"...No," Dirga admitted. "And not with anyone else. Just me. But it worked. And I’ve refined it since then."
She didn’t look convinced. Her gaze drifted back to Kaela, still unconscious in the tent.
Dirga pressed on. "I’ll secure Kaela to my body using the Crimson Cube. Wrap her tightly—she won’t move, won’t get hurt. I’ll control our fall all the way down."
The tension in the room didn’t fade. But at least now, Saelari was thinking. Calculating.
Theryn stepped forward, her crimson eyes sharp beneath the flickering firelight. "I’ll manage my descent on my own. I can manipulate the blood. Use it to slow myself before I land."
Dirga glanced at her. "You sure?"
She gave a faint smirk. "Pretty sure. I’ve had worse plans."
Saelari folded her arms and sighed, exasperated. "You people are cursed. All of you."
"Maybe," Dirga said. "But this cursed plan might be our best one yet."
Saelari looked back at the tower window. The wind still whistled through it. The fall looked infinite.
"...Alright," she muttered at last. "We do this. But only if every rune, every wrap, every detail is perfect. No mistakes. I’m not letting some half-baked gravity stunt kill us before we even leave the castle."
Dirga grinned. "Wouldn’t dream of it."
Theryn had her own method.
She conjured wings—not made of skin and bone, but blood. The crimson fluid stretched from her back like a membrane, paper-thin yet reinforced with shadow-thread and Zarion control. It resembled a bat’s wing, wide and precise—made for gliding, not falling.
Meanwhile, Dirga had revised his plan. Originally, he intended to strap only Kaela to his body, but now... Saelari too. He couldn’t risk splitting them midair—not when Kaela was unconscious and Saelari’s runes were better used elsewhere.
He summoned the Crimson Core, transforming it into a harness-like construct—twisting red bands binding around his chest, back, and waist like armor. The structure grew, forming a cradle behind him. A secure brace for both Kaela and Saelari.
Saelari grudgingly accepted the new plan. She embedded several runes directly onto Dirga’s arms and legs—Lightness, Directional Stability, Shock Absorption—each drawn with steady, glowing lines that seeped into his skin.
She offered to do the same for Theryn, but the duskborn elf refused.
"I don’t need it," Theryn said flatly, adjusting the blood-wings stretching behind her. "I can handle myself."
Preparations complete, they stepped onto the edge.
Dirga walked toward a section of wall and extended his hand. Gravity warped around his palm, crushing stone into dust. The wall cracked and fell away in chunks—leaving behind a jagged hole that opened into the open sky.
Wind surged through the gap like a beast let loose.
They stepped up to the threshold.
Beyond it, the Dusk Forest stretched like a vast obsidian sea. Every tree, every branch, every leaf was steeped in black—from root to canopy. The only contrast came from the river—flowing through the forest like a streak of living sapphire, winding endlessly toward the city barely visible in the distance.
Above, the sky glowed red, the ever-watching Eyes peering down like the suns.
Dirga squinted into the wind. It whipped across his face, biting cold and metallic. Behind him, Saelari shifted uncomfortably—her silver hair flaring in the wind, her arms tightly wrapped around Kaela.
"Dirga," she muttered, trembling. "This is a terrible idea."
She peeked out past his shoulder—saw the sheer drop—and immediately shut her eyes again.
"Dirga, please make it fast."
Dirga smirked. "Ready?"
She gave a short nod. Her blood-wings stretched fully open now, humming with tension.
The wind hit Dirga like a cannon blast.
Rushing. Screaming. Deafening.
It tore at his face, ripped through his coat, howled past his ears in a storm of chaos and speed.
Adrenaline surged like fire in his veins.
His voice vanished into the roar.
To his side, Theryn was a shadow streaking through the sky—her blood-wings stretched wide, gliding like a creature born to the air. Her body moved with eerie grace, slicing through wind currents with precision and menace.
Dirga gritted his teeth, shifting his focus.
He couldn’t enjoy the view. Couldn’t marvel at the forest sprawling below like an obsidian abyss.
Behind him, Saelari clung tightly to Kaela, who remained unconscious and unmoving.
Saelari’s lips moved—chanting runes, shaping energy. A translucent shield of blue light shimmered around them, flickering with each gust of wind.
Her eyes were wide. Terrified.
Every second of freefall dragged eternity behind it.
Dirga felt the pressure build in his chest.
Below them, the trees grew larger. Closer. Deadlier.
He broke through a thick cloud—moisture stinging his skin, fog choking his sight.
A scream echoed behind him—Saelari’s voice—but the wind swallowed it before it reached his ears.
Dirga clenched his fists.
He concentrated—focusing his gravity control into precise pulses.
Each burst slowed his descent. Each second stretched his senses.
He shifted his telekinesis beneath his feet, manipulating invisible forces like landing gear deploying mid-air.
He imagined himself not as a man—but a falling machine.
A plane easing into descent.
Falling like a feather wrapped in a storm.
The ground raced up to meet him.
A clearing—rocky, uneven.
Dirga’s boots slammed into the earth.
A shockwave rippled outward, flattening the grass.
He staggered—knees bending, arms flaring wide—
The Crimson Core untwined from his body, loosening the harness that held Kaela and Saelari.
"...And just like that," Dirga gasped, voice shaking, "we landed."
He exhaled again. "We’re safe."
Saelari’s scream pierced the quiet like a knife.
"Theryn! Where’s Theryn?!"
Dirga’s head snapped up.
The clearing was empty.
He released the bindings around Saelari. She collapsed to the ground, sobbing, clutching Kaela’s limp form.
Dirga staggered backward, his eyes scanning the skies above—desperate, searching.
What the hell just happened?