All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 279: Eye of the Storm

All four of us stared at Tony and the foot and a half of air between his feet and the floor. He pointed his toes and wiggled his legs, trying to reach it, but was incapable of touching down. His hair floated above his head as if static electricity was keeping it aloft, cerulean blue eyes widened in panic.

"Your eyes..." Beatrice said.

I was a bit surprised that she commented on that first and not Tony's newfound ability to fly. That seemed like a much more pressing matter. But I digress.

"What?!" Tony said. "What are my eyes doing?"

"They're blue." Her voice was filled with wonder.

"My eyes have always been blue, Bee And how is that more important than me flying?! Help me get down!"

Oh, good. I wasn't the only one who thought the flying thing seemed more important.

"No, they're all blue. The iris, the pupil, the whites. Everything is blue. It's just... Can you still see?"

Tony waved his hand in front of his face. "Yeah. I dont see a difference. I just feel really light and..."

Tentatively, he reached out toward Beatrice. His body began moving, floating toward her. His hand jerked back in surprise and he stopped.

"This is so weird." Susan whispered to Arthur. The larger man nodded.

"I told you Vanguard was the better option."

"So you're not going to float away or anything?" Beatrice asked as she reached up and took Tony's hand. She attempted to pull him along like a child playing with a balloon. He didnt move, remaining in place as if he were standing on solid ground.

"I don't think so." He said as he tried to take a step. But with nothing to push off of, it looked more like a futile kicking of his legs.. He screwed up his face in concentration and floated forward a few more feet. "I guess I float now?"

"Is there anything else you can do? Do you feel any other changes?" Beatrice asked.

"Um." He concentrated a little, and nothing happened. "I don't think I got any class-specific skills yet. I just float."

I had an idea and reached out to check his soul. The little sphere was still as cracked and Imperfect as Id left it, but it has grown slightly. The missing gaps were now filled in with a radiant blue. It was not unlike the demonically-possessed souls, actually. But I sensed no malice from it, only a kind of calming energy holding it together. Was this the source of his new power.

"Well. Mary's going to kill me," Arthur said as he looked over at Tony. Though I think Trent will find that pretty cool. Can you sit down or lay down?"

After another moment of concentration from Tony, he sat as if he was on a chair. No furniture appeared, but he still floated above the ground, as comfortable as can be. "Hey, I could get used to that. It's really comfy."

He rotated slightly until he was lying down on a bed of air. He closed his eyes and crossed his hands behind his head in utter relaxation. Then, his eyes flashed open with cerulean light.

"You dare disturb me?!"

His voice echoed throughout the hall, making Beatrice flinch. He turned toward her with a grin. "What do you think? Would that freak Maranda out or what?"

All four of us chuckled slightly. I was glad Tony's spirits were up, but the silence that followed afterward reminded us that we didn't have time to play around. Sounds of battle still drifted throughout the castle from far away. After everyone caught their breath and recovered a bit, the five of us headed back out of the throne room. It was time to get back to the battle.

"We should go after Maraj'ain," Beatrice pointed out as we jogged as fast as Tony could move. I agreed with the sentiment, but the execution posed a few problems.

"I don't know if I can track her. We will try soon though," I responded. "After we make sure that our people are safe."

Beatrice nodded and followed Arthur as he jogged through the palace halls. Beatrice protected him as they made their way back to the army. Susan and I stayed a bit further back with Tony as he was still getting used to the whole floating ability and didn't seem to be able to move as fast. I was fascinated by this whole development. His new ability seemed powerful, and I expected that this class had something to do with souls.

It would make sense for obvious reasons, but I wasn't sure how to test the theory. What would I do, just damage someone's soul and see if Tony could sense it? Maybe we could experiment and see if he'd developed soul sight or any ability to sense me cleaning souls, but I was hesitant to push things too far too fast. Perhaps the class had something to do with people dying, though that was also kind of hard to test. I wouldn't go around killing things just to see what Tony's powers were.

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Susan, though, was more concerned with practical matters. "Can you eat? Do you still need to eat? Are you thirsty? Will your legs get tired? What if you get exhausted, will you fall?"

She constantly bombarded Tony with questions, and he did his best to answer. But mostly, the only response he could give was "I don't know."

However, I noticed he'd never stopped smiling as he floated along the corridor, gradually picking up speed as he became more comfortable and adept. We did find that he was able to touch things as he floated close to a corridor wall and was able to push off of it. He just couldn't float any lower than he currently was to touch the ground.

Going downstairs wasn't a problem, nor was going upstairs, which I was incredibly grateful for. No one should have to suffer from the unreasonable limitations of those awful structures. Even climbing up things higher than a foot and a half above his feet wasn't too much of a problem.

He'd just have to step up with them like they were normal stairs. That was the only time he was able to touch the ground with his feet. He even managed to hop up onto a table. His jump was kind of awkward. It was interesting. He could increase the height of his hover by about six inches with a lot of concentration, but it seemed to tire him out quickly.

Honestly, I was happy to have someone else fly around with me. Perhaps with enough practice, he could join Daedalus and me on some of our excursions. Even Beatrice could come along atop her carpet. It would be so much fun. We could soar through the skies as a big group.

---

Bee charged through the hordes of demons as Arthur led the way. She provided support as they attempted to reconnect with the army. They hoped that things would be fine. Their officers were more than capable enough to handle themselves, and now that they had dealt with the major threat, Bee imagined that things would go a lot smoother. But it didn't mean they weren't worried.

They found much more heavy fortifications at the palace gates than when theyd left. Despite that, the army was still struggling to maintain a foothold. Bee and Arthur tore into the horde of attacking demons. Instead of rushing to rejoin the army at this point, they decided it was better to eliminate as many as possible.

Bee repeatedly used her Scouring Strikes at maximum range, shredding cones of lesser demons before her. Arthur used his Taunt ability, pulling their attention and grouping the things up so that she could hit more at the same time. They worked together efficiently, clearing out dozens of demons and taking much of the pressure off the shield wall that Arthur's men maintained.

Eventually, their efforts were rewarded. A break opened up in the wall of enemies, and they slipped through and found the officer in charge of the vanguard. The man snapped a salute as he saw them to which Arthur responded in kind. "Report."

"Yes, sir. The palace is proving mighty difficult to crack, but the city is mostly pacified. And I'm hoping to receive reinforcements soon, sir."

"Good work. Maintain the position for now. We'll get some elites in here to help clear things out. Arthur glanced around the area. What of the flying demons?"

"That's why reinforcements are taking so long. We've had to station teams at nearly every intersection to take care of them when they land."

"Very good," Arthur said with an approving nod. "Not a bad idea at all."

"And you sir?" The officer asked, trailing off.

Eventually, Arthur nodded. "It's taken care of. A mighty demon was controlling the palace, but Lord Void took care of it."

Bee noted the careful way in which Arthur gave their god all the credit, but also didn't mention the fact that it was a demon lieutenant. She could understand why. Most people wouldn't likely believe the reality. Why would they, when lieutenants were beings of myth and legend? No, better to steer away from any accusations of bragging. It would be much more effective for his troops' morale to believe that their god destroyed a high-level and powerful demon controlling the troops.

"We notice their coordination has gone down a lot, and there's a lot more infighting. But the Archfiends are still taking most things in hand." The man said.

"We'll see what we can do about those." Arthur responded. "Good work. See to your men. " He said, and he moved further into the city.

Bee saw the captain run over to his lieutenants and pass along orders. She also overheard him talking about how a great battle had been fought inside the palace, and a powerful demon had been overthrown. Still, she wouldn't be surprised if, by the time the day was over, everyone was talking about how the demon lord itself was slain by Void and their army commander was working together. Such was the respect and love his men had for Arthur, but people were also prone to embellish. Even if Arthur tried to counteract it.

"How do you want to take care of this?" She asked Arthur as they double-timed back towards the rear command center. It had been set up in one of the open plazas towards the center of the city.

"I would suggest that we finish pacifying the city, then you help the vanguard take the palace. If you agree?" Arthur asked in a deferential tone.

Bee nodded, accepting it as an order. Arthur wasn't about to step above his station as the army commander and order her around. Still, she was going to listen to anything he had to say when it came to military strategy.

It was much better for him to pacify the city, and she imagined that Arthur could get it taken care of quickly. She would have no idea where to start, herself. But when it came to clearing out a horde of demons, well, she was pretty proficient at that. It would take a little longer without him helping, but hopefully she could help save a lot of lives by doing so.

"Do you need any assistance?" Arthur asked.

Bee snapped out of her thoughts. "If you could send some long-range units over, that would probably be helpful. I could use the support to keep them off my back. But no, I should be able to take care of everything in there. It's more the archfiends that I'm worried about."

Arthur nodded. "Yes. I'd love to get my soldiers the experience of fighting one, but I don't think that any of them are up for it. Perhaps you can get Susan or myself to help when you take them on. Maybe Lord Void will get involved."

Bee just shrugged. "I shouldn't need the help, but I would appreciate it. I'll try to take as much pressure off them as I can. But the number one priority is finding and destroying the summoning circles. Then the archfiends."

Arthur nodded. "Yes. Stem the flow."

She clasped hands with the older man before turning and jogging the 100 yards or so back towards the palace gate. It was time to go take care of all the problems.

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