The Winged Clan Elder Awakens
In the cave, the bone-chilling cold was even more intense than outside, as if it could freeze the marrow. However, the storm's roar had strangely vanished at this moment, replaced by a deep hum that seemed to come from the depths of the earth, echoing endlessly against the smooth, mirror-like ice walls. The entire interior of the cave was unusually spacious, with ice walls not the usual rough and uneven, but polished by some force or the passage of time, presenting a crystal-clear texture. They refracted a soft, milky white glow from an unknown source—that light was so pure it didn't seem of this world, illuminating the entire space like a dreamlike crystal palace, with every ice prism shimmering with restrained radiance.
The air was filled with an indescribable aura, pure and ancient, as if the heart of an ice crystal that had slumbered for millions of years was awakening, carrying a piercing freshness. Yet, this purity was ruthlessly torn apart by the thick, pungent smell of blood and the residual energy fluctuations from a violent battle—scattered on the ground were several broken corpses. Their forms were vaguely identifiable as winged clan members, possessing wings of various shapes, with a light, wind-like texture now solidified by bloodstains and frost, losing their former elegance. One corpse's wings were twisted and deformed, covered in hideous keratin and exoskeletons, clearly variant winged beings created by the Doomsday Rebirth organization. Evidently, the Doomsday Rebirth organization had just passed through here and engaged in a brutal encounter with the winged clan guarding this place.
"Is this... the interior of the legendary Light Feather Vault?" Arya asked softly, her voice producing a faint echo in this silence broken only by the earth's hum, sounding especially ethereal. She subconsciously looked around, her gaze drawn to those smooth, mirror-like ice walls refracting mysterious glows, finding it hard to imagine that such an icy cave could be the entrance to the legendary sky city suspended in the clouds.
"No, this is just the entrance buffer zone." Salsa's mechanical cat's amber electronic eyes quickly scanned the surroundings, her soul sensing extending like invisible tendrils. "The true core area is ahead, with stronger and denser spatial fluctuations, and a much more complex structure. The traces of battle and residual energy clearly point that way." She precisely pointed to a winding downward passage deeper in the cave—not an ordinary rock tunnel, but one formed by countless natural giant ice crystals clustered and sculpted, with fine threads of light flowing inside the crystals, as if containing life. The passage walls were similarly smooth as mirrors, reflecting milky light, appearing dreamy and profound.
"First, find a place to recover from injuries and let Lin Ya fully treat this winged clan elder!" Fa quickly observed the environment, her calm star-like eyes locking onto a relatively hidden recess on one side of the ice cave, formed naturally by several massive intersecting ice stalactites, where the ice walls displayed peculiar spiral patterns. "Over there! Rex, set up a simple defensive barrier. Everyone else, maximum alert!"
The group moved to the recess without hesitation. Rex's armor emitted a low hum, his back armor plates sliding open, and dozens of fist-sized engineering drones swarmed out like metallic bees. They sprayed rapidly condensing pale blue frost energy beams, precisely constructing a low but exceptionally sturdy, angular ice wall at the recess entrance. At the same time, several smaller scout drones silently attached to the surrounding ice stalactites and walls, deploying a high-sensitivity vibration sensor network and low-power energy detectors, forming an invisible alert perimeter. Zhamisi was carefully placed in the corner, and Arya immediately crouched down, green life magic glow flowing from her palms once more, gently enveloping Zhamisi's severely wounded snake tail, alleviating the tearing pain. Lin Ya gently set down the winged elder with faint breath from his back, letting him lie flat on the cold but smooth ice surface. Up close, one could feel how extraordinary this elder was. Though his wings were bloodied and damaged, limp and spread out, their original form was massive and elegant, with feathers in a rare pure white and pale gold weave, shimmering even in faint light, clearly indicating high status. His skin was the winged clan's characteristic faint golden-white, even in his severely injured coma, faintly radiating a restrained glow, though now covered by a deathly pallor. His face had sharp contours, carrying the dignity of accumulated years, with long, flowing silver-white hair scattered on the ice, like condensed clouds.
"Salsa, release your previous soul force seal. Lin Ya, it's up to you!" Fa ordered in a deep voice, her gaze fixed on the elder's pale face.
Salsa nodded, a flash of deep blue light passing through her mechanical cat's eyes. The thread of "Chilling Soul Force" wrapped around the deepest part of the elder's spiritual core, like polar ice, quietly dissipated, as if it had never existed. However, almost at the instant the restraint was lifted—
"Ugh!" Lin Ya grunted, his face changing abruptly.
The elder's body trembled violently, and a dense, impenetrable purple-black energy erupted from his chest like a venomous mad snake unleashed from chains! That energy was filled with ominous, corrosive, and insane aura, instantly suppressing the faint golden-white glow on the elder's skin and beginning to madly erode his remaining life force and spiritual core! This dark power was even more violent and stubborn than what had been sensed before!
Lin Ya's expression turned extremely solemn, his green eyes bursting with unprecedented determination. He took a deep breath, suspending his palms above the elder's chest. In an instant, his entire jade-green body erupted with a soft yet immensely vast glow—that light wasn't blindingly bright, but like the purest, most gentle life light filtering through layers of tender leaves in the core of an early spring forest at dawn! Countless tiny, dust-like green specks, almost invisible to the naked eye, drifted from his palms and even his pores like living entities. They didn't flutter chaotically but were drawn by an invisible life magnetic field, gently and evenly seeping into the elder's battered body, especially the most severely damaged head area.
These specks, infused with Lin Ya's origin life force, seemed to transform into billions of the finest nano-cells. Some of them, like spring rain nourishing parched earth, gently soaked and repaired the elder's meridians, internal organs, and damaged nerve roots in his wings, which had been torn apart by the dark power and the impact of battle; the other part condensed into a more resilient and dense net of light, carrying the inclusive and purifying power of the forest, carefully and layer by layer, wrapping and penetrating the purplish-black energy that was rampaging wildly in the elder's spiritual core. This was an extremely difficult and lengthy process, like walking a tightrope over a chasm or performing micro-surgery inside precision instruments. Lin Ya's forehead quickly beaded with large drops of sweat, but in the cave's extreme low temperature, the beads instantly froze into tiny ice crystals, hanging on his brows and lashes. His body trembled slightly from the massive mental and energy consumption, each breath becoming heavy. He had to control the output of life force at an exquisitely balanced point—like a trickling stream continuously flushing and dissolving the stubborn dark erosion like millennia-old grime, yet absolutely not causing even the slightest secondary damage to the elder's already fragile spiritual core, like a candle in the wind. The entire ice cave fell into dead silence, with only Lin Ya's suppressed heavy breathing, the group's tense heartbeats, and that hum from the earth's depths echoing. Time stretched infinitely in this moment.
After about half an hour, the surging green glow on Lin Ya finally began to slowly retract and internalize. He let out a long sigh, thick with exhaustion, as if draining all his strength, his body swaying and steadied by Tisk nearby. But his green eyes held a hint of relieved comfort.
"How is it?" Fa immediately stepped forward, her voice still steady, but her star eyes flashing with concern.
"The dark erosion... has been dispersed for the most part temporarily." Lin Ya's voice was weak and hoarse, wiping away the ice crystals on his forehead. "That power is extremely weird and stubborn, there might still be remnants in the core depths... but his life origin..." Lin Ya looked at the elder on the ground, his eyes carrying a trace of admiration, "is much stronger than I imagined! It's self-repairing..." He paused, affirming: "He should... wake up soon."
As if to confirm Lin Ya's words, the winged clan elder, who had been still as an ice sculpture on the ground, had his frost-covered lashes suddenly tremble violently! Then, the thin ice on his body surface made faint crisp cracking sounds. His tightly closed eyes snapped open!
What kind of eyes were those?!
At first, the pupils were filled with endless confusion and emptiness, like an ancient soul that had slumbered for millions of years suddenly awakened, finding everything before him strange and distant. Immediately, immense tearing pain from the soul's depths and extreme weakness overwhelmed him like a tsunami, his gaze instantly occupied by agony. But this pain lasted only a brief instant; the sharp light of a strong warrior and the vigilance and wariness etched into his bones condensed like a drawn sword in his profound gem-colored eyes (a rare brilliant gold infused with star-like brilliance)! He instinctively struggled to sit up, the movement aggravating his wounds, triggering a heart-wrenching fit of coughing, with blood tinged with faint golden light spilling from his lips again, dripping onto the pure white ice, shocking to behold.
"Don't move! Your injuries are severe!" Arya quickly stepped forward, her hands slightly extended in a soothing gesture, green life energy swirling in her palms, radiating gentle warmth.
The elder's gaze was like the sharpest falcon, instantly sweeping over everyone present—the determined and calm, abyss-like Fa; Arya with her silver cascade hair and elven longbow on her back; the dwarf Tisk with his lion-mane beard, gripping his warhammer; the beastman Kayla with her fierce aura like a wounded beast, covered in scars; Rex fully armored, flowing with cold tech glow; the pale-faced but gentle and resilient Yuyuer; the forest-scented, obviously drained and weak Lin Ya; Zhamisi being supported, her snake tail wrapped in emergency bandages, her eyes icy cold; and that odd mechanical cat Salsa squatting, her amber electronic eyes quietly observing. He saw no familiar winged faces, only a group of strangers with mixed auras, even different races. A strong sense of alienation and crisis surged in his heart.
"Who... are you?!" The elder's voice was hoarse and dry like sandpaper scraping, yet carrying an unquestionable authority from long-held high position and thick wariness. He suppressed a cough, his gaze piercing like a torch at Fa, clearly intuiting her as the group's leader. "This is... the forbidden entrance to the Light Feather Vault! Outsiders, how did you intrude?!"
He subconsciously tried to muster his inner power, gathering a guardian's might, but felt only a heart-wrenching emptiness and meridian-tearing pain. Even his massive wings behind him, once symbols of power and glory, now hung heavy as lead, unable to lift even a bit. The intense pain washed over his consciousness like tides, cruelly reminding him of that desperate brutal battle before, and the chilling dark erosion that nearly froze and devoured his soul... He remembered those twisted, hideous monsters, the cold four-winged woman, how he stayed behind to cover the retreat of the last young clansmen... then the omnipresent, bone-gnawing soul bite... He should be dead? These people... saved him?
Fa calmly met the elder's scrutinizing and oppressive gaze, her voice clear and forceful: "We came tracking the Doomsday Rebirth organization. My name is Fa. Those blasphemous life-distorting variant monsters outside were defeated by us." Her words were concise and direct, without unnecessary explanations, while she raised her hand pointing toward the ice cave entrance—through Rex's semi-transparent ice wall, the vague outlines of several massive, twisted variant winged corpses on the icy battlefield outside were faintly visible in the wind and snow.
The elder's brilliant gold sharp eyes followed Fa's direction, his pupils contracting sharply! He was all too familiar with those twisted bodies and evil auras; they were the ones that mercilessly slaughtered his clansmen, shattering the peace of the Light Feather Vault! Connecting this to his current position, the warm and unfamiliar life energy with thick forest scent lingering on him, and the chilling darkness that nearly dragged him into the abyss truly dispersed mostly in his spiritual core... His wary eyes finally showed a trace of intense wavering and disbelief.
"You... defeated those blasphemers of wings and life?" The elder's voice was still hoarse, but the cold hostility in his tone had clearly lessened, replaced by deep scrutiny, inquiry, and incomprehensible doubt. "Why? Why would you help our winged clan? And why track the Doomsday Rebirth organization?" His gaze swept over these oddly attired outsiders again, especially Fa's profound, glowing star eye, as if trying to pierce their true intentions.
Fa looked straight into the elder's brilliant gold eyes that seemed to pierce souls, candid and direct: "The Doomsday Rebirth organization is our common enemy. They create disasters, twist life, pursue power capable of destroying everything. We track them to stop their conspiracy. As for helping you..." She paused, her gaze glancing toward the battlefield outside, her voice carrying a hint of acknowledgment, "We witnessed your resistance. Facing enemies that twist essence, any struggle to protect home deserves respect. Moreover, the 'Star Shards' that Doomsday Rebirth targets this time is something we must prevent them from obtaining." She paused a moment, stating the key: "The enemy of my enemy might become a temporary ally."
"Star Shards..." The elder murmured the words, his expression instantly becoming immensely complex, interwoven with soul-deep reverence, profound worry, and an indescribable pain, as if touching the scar of the entire clan. "You... also know of the Star Shards?" He examined Fa carefully, almost harshly, especially her profound mysterious star eye, as if seeking traces related to the Star Shards. "Your powers... are very peculiar. Not belonging to any racial system I know." He added, both a statement and a probe.
"Our power sources are complex, but our purpose is clear—stop Doomsday Rebirth." Fa didn't explain their origins further; in the current situation, it was unnecessary and time-wasting. "Now, the Doomsday Rebirth people, including that two-winged woman, have already intruded into the depths of the Light Feather Vault. Time is critical. Elder, we need to know the situation inside, and... we need your help." Fa's gaze sharpened, cutting to the core: "Guardian of the Light Feather Vault." Her last words were not a question, but a certain statement.
Hearing "Guardian," the winged clan elder's body shuddered violently! He closed his brilliant gold eyes, his facial muscles twitching slightly, as if forcibly suppressing surging grief and heavy responsibility. A moment of silence like frozen frost. When he opened his eyes again, the wariness was replaced by a profound fatigue as if bearing the entire sky and a desperate resolve.
Celestia: The Fallen Star
"I am Ankris," he finally spoke, his voice low and weak from severe injury, yet clearly stating his identity, "one of the thirty-six guardians of the Light Feather Vault." This meant a preliminary trust based on realistic considerations had been established.
"You... indeed defeated those blasphemers and pulled me back from the edge of eternal silence. The winged clan will remember this favor." He struggled, with Arya and Lin Ya's careful support, slowly standing against the cold but smooth ice wall behind him, this simple action triggering another bout of heavy gasping, but he forced it down. His wings hung limply, white feathers stained with blood and ice shards. "But now, every breath concerns the clan's survival! We'll talk as we go! Just through that winding downward ice crystal passage, deeper... is our home, the Light Feather Vault!"
Fa immediately nodded, moving swiftly like the wind. "Arya, Lin Ya, fully assist Elder Ankris in moving! Rex, scout and clear the path ahead! Everyone else, maintain maximum alert formation, follow!" The team instantly operated like precise gears. Rex's armor emitted a light power hum, several nail-sized nano-drones silently flying ahead into the flowing, colorful ice crystal passage like ghosts, their scanning beams quickly sweeping the smooth ice walls, transmitting detailed terrain data, potential energy trap markers, and environmental parameters in real-time to the rune visors in everyone's view.
Kayla let out a low growl, muscles tensed, flanking the team left and right with Tisk gripping his warhammer, Their eyes scanned the smooth, mirror-like ice walls on both sides of the passage, reflecting a mesmerizing light and shadow, as if by searchlight, wary of any possible ambush. Zhamisi was tightly supported by Yuyuer, her snake tail's wound temporarily stabilized by Lin Ya's remaining life glow and emergency bandages; though the pain burned like fire, her pale face showed only icy hatred and resolve, her snake pupils fixed on the unknown darkness ahead in the passage. Salsa's mechanical cat followed closely beside Rex's armor, her amber electronic eyes flickering constantly, analyzing residual dark energy fluctuations in the air and subtle ripples in the spatial structure.
Ankris, supported by Arya and Lin Ya, laboriously stepped forward along the downward winding stairs formed by natural giant ice crystals. The passage was unusually quiet, with only the group's suppressed breaths, the crisp echoes of boots on ice crystal steps, and Ankris's low voice filled with pain and nostalgia recounting the story of that fallen star.
"That woman leading Doomsday Rebirth, tearing through our home's barrier..." Ankris's voice carried endless sighs and grief, echoing in the ice crystal passage, "her name is Celestia..." He uttered the name as if exhausting his strength, "She was once... the brightest, most anticipated new star above the Light Feather Vault." His gaze became distant, as if piercing time and cold rock walls, returning to the elegant corridors filled with soft glow and floating light mists, and the crystal-clear aerial gardens inside the Light Feather Vault.