Chapter 169 - Maniacal Plan

"We can't exactly traverse the forest accurately with this clingy fog everywhere--so we opt to set our sights from above, instead of below."

Pointing directly towards the sky, Sirius' smiling words brought the crimson-haired Outlander to briefly look up, seeing nothing but the looming mist obscure even the sky above. 

"I hate that I have to ask this since I know you probably have something stupid in mind but...I can't fly, so how're we going to go about surveying from above?"

--He's right. It wouldn't be a problem if it was just me, since I can fly...I'm not about to leave without him though--who knows if I'd even be able to find him again in this mess. 

"I'm glad you asked! It'll be better to explain with action than words."

It was as if this plan was something Sirius had been cooking up in his mind for a long while before this situation, dragging the skeptical companion of his with him before a fallen log was soon found. Placing both hands on each side of the slumbering pillar of oak, a flash of lightning emitted through Sirius' palms--unleashing a graceful, scorching cut along the form of the natural object. 

The volatile method of carving had left the wide log to be split in half, leaving a curve in the desecrated wood as that lent itself to the shape of a boat. 

"I think I'm starting to understand what you're going for, crazy bastard."

"Is that something you can call another person when you have that excited smile perched on your lips like a giddy child?"

Sirius called out Sora's words with a smirk, kneeling down in the hollowed log as he tested the sturdiness of it, rocking it back and forth and slapping his hands against each side--it stayed. Brushing the residual sap and shavings of wood from his gloves, Sirius stood back up, placing his hands at his sides as he seemed satisfied with his creation. 

"From the shape of it...this is going to be used for transportation of some kind? Is there a lake or something nearby that I don't know about?"

Though he knew it was supposed to be a recon from up above, Sora couldn't really grasp what his friend had in mind. 

"Not at all; completely the opposite, really."

"Oh, boy." 

Loosely beginning to figure out the intentions of his reckless companion, Sora muttered under his breath, giving a few short nods. 

"So, this thing is going in the air...Yeah, makes sense...How? How does that make sense?"

"The beauty of magic, my dear friend, the beauty of magic. I'll get us up in the air with my lightning, then you handle the part where we don't crash down horribly with the assistance of your flames."

Even if the plan was risky at best, Sora couldn't help but be thrilled to put it to the test, seating his large body into the narrow form of the log, holding onto the sides tightly as he allowed his greatsword to return to an astral state. 

"Alright, can you veil the log with reinforcement?"

Sirius asked, running his hands together as if trying to spark a flame as he placed himself at the back of the makeshift transport vehicle. 

"Didn't you say it was durable enough?"

"Do you want to risk the log being shattered into a billion pieces while we're a hundred feet into the air?"

Deciding to be better safe than sorry, Sora concentrated with a quick inhale and exhale, wrapping his powerful reinforcement from his body and around the shape of the shifted oak. With the log fully prepared to go, Sirius finally placed both of his hands down against the soil just beyond the log as he kept the soles of his boots firmly planted against the flooring of the hollowed oak. 

"Here goes nothing...Ba'al: Divine Divergence!"

From his flattened palms, a shock wave unleashed between the minuscule space existed between the thin, silken fabric of his gloves and the dry, cold soil. With little room to exist, the immense force, born into a compact form, repelled his hand as the wave of energy expanded. 

As the shock wave unleashed itself, the log was propelled into the air with thundering force, shattering the sound barrier as the two men desperately clung to the sides of the wooden transport. The high-pressured winds pelted against their skin, pulling their cheeks back as they flapped helplessly against the absurd increase in g-force. 

"Hold on!"

Feeling his hair rapidly blowing in the sharp, high-altitude winds, Sirius yelled out as his lips rebelled against his command, flapping uncontrollably as his words were almost turned into gibberish. 

"I think you used a bit too much force! This isn't one-hundred feet!"

Sora commented as he watched the log ascend, easily surmounting dozens of feet by each passing moment. 

"Even better! Use your fire to stabilize us!"

Watching the surface of the evergreen below them, Sirius called out to Sora, who promptly put his hands facing away from each side of the log. 

A grunt escaped Sora's lips as he began to emit a compressed, continuous stream of volatile flames, swaying the vehicle a bit before it remained static in the air, leisurely traveling through the high-altitude winds. 

"Holy crap--this is actually working!"

"...Sometimes my own ingenuity frightened me…"

Sirius looked over the side of the airborne timber; the colossal cedar was now nothing more than saplings at this level, feeling his fluttering hair nearly lick the clouds resting above. 

"Do you see anything? Any roads or trails?"

Sora asked with a slight strain threaded in his deep voice that was brought higher in these altitudes, keeping his flame-producing hands steady. 

"It's kind of hard to see between the smoke of your fire and the clouds...Give me a second."

Squinting a bit, Sirius compressed his reinforcement to his eyes, enhancing his vision as he honed in on the lower scenery. 

--I don't like to use this much; it dries my eyes out in an instant--but it'll have to do, Sirius thought. 

The mixture of dry, ungraceful winds and the potent concentration of mana against his ocular organ wasn't exactly pleasant; an itchy sensation quickly came over, having to grip the timber so tightly as to not scratch his eyes. 

It was faint, likely impossible to see without the amplification of his gaze; a trail diverging from the range of mountains had blended into the outskirts of the forest, leading into a trail that pierced directly through the foremost peak. 

"There--it looks like a trail goes straight through that mountain. Do you think we could just go over the mountain?"

"I might be crazy, but I'm not that damn crazy! At that altitude, this log and my mana won't last!"

"Alright, alright! Just bring us down onto that trail!"

Sirius slapped Sora on his broad, muscular back a few times as if telling him, Pick up the pace, earning a disheveled grunt from the red-haired man. 

"Bring us down--? How exactly do we handle that part?"

Asking with a nervous chuckle, Sora briefly looked back at Sirius who held the same trembling smile, quickly reverting to fervently scratching his own shaggy hair. 

"That's a great question…"

"You don't know?!"

"...It wasn't a complete conclusion, but I do have an idea, alright! Just wait until we're above the trail and release your hold on the fire!"

Sirius could feel the slight indignation from his comrade, who accepted this shoddily thrown together plan silently, maneuvering the durable timber until it was hovering well over a hundred feet above the trail. 

"Now!"

Following the command of the creator of this adrenaline-junky plan, Sora withdrew the constant stream of firepower keeping them afloat, gripping the flesh of the log with everything he had just as Sirius did. As it began to plummet, both of their stomachs came over with the influence of mother gravity, descending rapidly. 

Sirius kept his gaze down, watching as the surface of the world drew closer and closer while his hair was subject to the wind's grasps. 

--Just a bit more, a little bit more, Sirius thought. 

Filling his ears was the howling of the high-velocity winds, finally, he let one hand go of the log as he slowly pointed his hand downwards. 

--I just have to control the output, paired with unleashing it at the right distance. No biggy, right? Sirius thought with a chuckle. 

"Ba'al: Divine Divergence!"

As opposed to the last time it was used, Sirius waited until they were a dozen feet above the ground, using the immensely powerful pulse to break their fall, bouncing the log up slightly but overall causing it to float down onto the dirt below. 

Meeting the soil, the timber shattered into many pieces the moment the two men stood themselves from it. Standing up, Sora stumbled slightly before catching himself with a chuckle. 

"Next crazy plan is mine, alright?"

"Fair enough."

Looking back, Sirius could see it in the distance, through the many pillars of oak that inhabited the bountiful, verdant forest. 

"You're kidding me…"

Hearing the exasperated words of the lightning-wielder, Sora turned his gaze back to witness the fog cascading down upon this section of the forest, swallowing up the clear view of nature as it enclosed on their position. 

"Let's get moving, I don't want to be inside of the tunnel when the fog hits--I don't think you do either, right?"

Sirius ushered himself forward, marching up the slope that led to the maw of this obscure pathway through the side of the mountain. 

"Right."

Keeping his eyes back for a moment as the ominous fog followed their position, Sora conjured his greatsword just in case as he followed Sirius inside of the dark tunnel. 

It was only for a brief moment in time; so subtle that he wasn't sure if it was his imagination or reality, choosing to keep this to himself, Sora didn't speak of what he felt when he looked back at that harrowing mist once more. 

An existence, spread out thin through the space of the fog, faint yet dreadful--whatever drove the enigmatic cloud forward through the forest was not an entity of benevolence.