Chapter 308

I had been worried we had been gone too long and the others would be worried about us, but what I found when we reconnected with the others was that the two of us weren't the only ones who had succumbed to our lusts. During our brief tryst in the sky, everyone else had more or less paired off while we were gone. There was still lust magic in the air when I returned and the taste of it made me beam in satisfaction.

The two of us landed right in front of Sibyl, who was still wearing the glowing wings I had cast on her. I grinned down at the blushing kitten, but chose not to tease her about what she had obviously done with Raya and Mimi while I was gone. That would be a tad hypocritical. "I take it the wings remained active the entire time I was gone?"

Sibyl cleared her throat and nodded. "Yeah, they didn't dispel when you left the range of the bond, but you did stop supplying magic to them. They didn't just disappear, but Raya had to spend some of her mana on the wings to keep the spell alive."

My eyebrows raised. "Raya was able to power your wings for you too?"

Raya nodded. "Yep! It isn't any different from powering my own, but I need to be touching her to do it. The wings were about to lose power while you were gone, so I decided it would be worth seeing if I could keep them active. I could upkeep it too, but it would require me to touch her the entire time."

I nodded. "Not very convenient, but at least it's possible. It would be worse if the wings just dispelled if I got too far away. How long do you think the wings would have lasted without being given any additional power?"

Raya shrugged. "Half a bell at most? Maybe less during flight, but gliding didn't seem to drain it much faster while you were gone. I'm not sure."

I looked around the group. "I think only you, me, Bella, and maybe Nelly have enough mana to comfortably power the winged cloak for the others in an emergency. If both Bella and I get separated from the group for some reason, it'll be up to you two to help get people to land."

Raya nodded seriously. "You can count on me."

"Thank you, Raya," I said with a smile.

I turned back to Sibyl. "Did everyone get enough practice with the wings? I scouted out the edge of the island and there are lots of updrafts over the ocean between the giant pillars."

Sibyl shrugged. "All of us were able to practice with them a little, but I wouldn't say any of us are exactly comfortable with them yet. Ideally, we get to the next island before the banshees attack us."

"I tried using my illusions while flying, but the wings make them fragile. I can only use the large illusion I used on the bridge at a distance to cover us, but I'm not sure if all of us can fly in such a narrow band. It might be better to just fly across as fast as possible without wasting the mana," Raya said.

I sighed. "I agree. It's probably the best we can do. If we do have to fight them in midair, we should probably try to prioritize ranged attacks."

"I'm not very skilled with any ranged weapons. The best I can use is a crossbow," Sibyl said.

"I do have a spare one of those with Mimi. It's better than nothing," I replied.

We spent the next bell practicing some more in the clearing, and I traded notes about the flight with the others, but there weren't any other ideas about dealing with the banshees mid-flight. Everyone but Kal'daeryn had ranged options, but we hoped not to have to use them. After getting used to the wings, letting our mana return, and taking a long enough break for all of us to rest, it was time to scout out the best place to leave from.

Standing near the tree line by the edge of the island closest to the next pillar, we tried to figure out where to go next.

"I don't see any mountains or cliffs on the next island. It might be a challenge to escape if we're seen this time," Silva said.

Torien tilted her head. "Is the tree cover dense enough? We could dispel the wings on the other side and try to hide under Raya's illusions again."

"That might be our best move," Silva replied.

I turned to look at the cloud of banshees off in the distance near the entrance. There were still thousands of them flying in an angry horde. Their number seemingly hadn't dwindled at all despite letting hundreds up the stairs and out of the dungeon the entire time that we've been inside.

"No one is scared of heights, right? I hadn't thought to ask about that until now," I asked the group behind me.

Thankfully, no one had acrophobia. We really didn't need this to be any harder on us.

"It's not like we can even wait for the sun to go down. We should just get this over with," Lori said.

Morrigan shook her head. "No, it would probably be better to go during the day regardless. Our wings would be like beacons in the dark. At least this way, they wouldn't have any additional reason to look our way. It's possible that they might not even notice us at this distance."

"Wishful thinking," Kal'daeryn grunted.

"I said it's possible, not that I think it'll happen," Morrigan said with a shrug.

Sibyl took a deep breath. "I agree with Lorriene, we should get this over with. The longer we sit here and talk about it, the more anxiety I'll have over it."

"Alright, I'll cast the spell then. As soon as everyone's good, we'll launch ourselves up and catch an updraft. Pay attention to the bond, I can see all of them clearly, but I'm not sure how well any of you will be able to identify them without the flying skill," I told them.

"I'll go last, make sure no one falls behind," Bella said, to my surprise.

I turned back to her. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "I'm the best person to make sure no one gets left behind. You need to go in front to guide them, but I can help anyone who falls or loses your mana's connection to them."

After a moment, I nodded. "Okay." I turned back to the edge of the island and took a deep breath. "Here we go."

I ran forward in a sprint with everyone behind me. Using my connection to the bond, I could sense each one of them running behind me. Because of how the bond relays between us, we shouldn't lose connection. I pumped mana into my wings, felt the weight of my body lessen before launching myself high into the air. I opened my wings and caught the air before maneuvering myself toward the nearest updraft so that we could climb in altitude.

The launch of our flight had gone better than I had expected. Each one of my friends had been able to remain relatively close to each other without any issues. I could feel a mixture of awe, exhilaration, anxiety, and nervousness from the group as we soared high above the island and even higher above the gigantic ocean below us.

("They haven't noticed us yet,") Torien said through the bond.

I tilted my body and pushed myself toward another air shaft. A little bit higher and we can catch an air current. I gave everyone the impression of the maneuver and watched them follow my lead without exchanging a word.

("I think flying might have been required for this dungeon. It doesn't seem to be reacting or noticing, yet. If this broke its rules, I think they would have at least noticed us,") Lori said.

("Why didn't you mention that sooner?") I asked.

("There was no reason to bring it up. I think this would be the fastest way across. It would only worry everyone,") she replied.

I pushed my feeling of dissatisfaction through the bond. ("I would prefer to have all the information I can to make an informed decision. Even if it wouldn't change the outcome of our choice in the end.")

There was a pause before Lori answered me. ("I'm sorry. I'm not really used to working with other people like this. Withholding information from you probably wasn't a good idea.")

I grumbled into the bond, but forgave her. ("It's alright. Just don't hide stuff like that from us in the future. Everyone should have a say in any of our plans.")

The wail of a banshee finally rang out as one of them spotted us far in the distance. The other banshees echoed its call, and we now had a group of them approaching us.

Torien squinted at them. ("They're still far away. We might still make it before they get close.")

("No, we're not moving fast enough. I think we'll have to fight them in the air,") Silva replied.

("We might be speeding up a little, follow me into this air current,") I told them while readjusting my angle. The effect was noticeable. We suddenly had the wind on our backs and a constant lift on our wings as we continued our course.

("It's not going to be enough, we'll make it most of the way, but we're going to have to fight them,") Morrigan said after a while.

We continued the tense flight, trying to make it to the island as quickly as we could, but there was only so much distance we could cover before they caught up with us.

("They're in range!") Torien called through the bond. She loosed an arrow at one of the banshees, and we watched as the monster fell toward the ocean thousands of feet below us.

The others began to shoot their ranged attacks at the banshees, but no one was as accurate as she was while flying. The only reason it felt like any of our attacks hit at all was because of the sheer number of them coming toward us. Cognizant of my mana reserves, I was careful to only use my cheaper spells. I couldn't afford to burn through too much of my mana while I was supporting the others' wings. I would use [Light Domain] when they were closer, but I wouldn't be able to use anything else with that up without bleeding my mana dry. My maximum area was a little smaller than a 18 foot sphere centered on myself with that spell, which was a lot, but not as large as I would like it to be for this situation. The slow field would be useful, but I didn't exactly want them to get that close in the first place.

("Raya! Time your attacks with mine!") Morrigan called out.

I felt Raya acknowledge the instruction, and the two of them sent waves of fire magic in the banshee's direction. Dozens of the banshees fell with each wave, but so many were coming now that it wouldn't amount to much. We would end up having to fight in relatively close quarters in midair at this rate.

("We're in the last quarter of the distance. We're going to have to fight!") Silva called out.

I cast [Light Domain] and felt it empower the wings of my friends. They would be a bit more durable now, but I wasn't sure how much that would actually benefit us.

Silva threw a spear of lightning out that stuck into the chest of one of the banshees before chaining to a dozen more and paralyzing them. I had no idea if that killed them because the kill notifications were already going wild, but it had looked impressive.

The moment the first banshee collided with the edge of my [Light Domain], it looked like it had been caught in molasses. The change in speed was so abrupt that dozens of the banshees crashed right into it and began to fall. Not all of them died, but the sudden slow field was a surprisingly effective barrier while moving this fast. I could see the edge of the next pillar quickly approaching, but it was like a wall of banshees was on our right side. We kept killing any of the ones that got too close to us, but there were so many.

("Lilith! We're moving too fast! We're going to have to slow down before we touch down on the island!") Torien said in a panic.

("Leave it to me!") Morrigan called out confidently.

A boom echoed around us as Morrigan took control of a gigantic amount of wind magic. Hundreds of banshees were suddenly batted away as a tornado of wind began to swirl around us. Slowly, the pressure of it increased and pushed back against us, slowing us as if we entered an ever-strengthening headwind. Eventually it felt like it was nearly holding us in place as the ground came closer and we lost the last of the altitude over the second island.

("Lilith! Drop your light field!") Raya called out.

I obliged immediately and felt a ribbon of Raya's magic flow ahead of us toward the trees. Banshees crashed through it and bounced off the ground with sickening crunches. It took me a second to realize what was happening. Raya was tricking them into hurtling themselves into the ground where we had just been standing. The banshees were dumb. It took them far too long to realize there was ground where we had just been. Thankfully, the distraction lasted long enough for all of us to safely make it to the trees and escape.