272 Fallen Angels II : Finding The Aviary, The Geography

"Is there a reason why you insisted on just the two of us going to find the Aviary. You're supposed to be a king now husband, don't you think it would have been better if we had an entourage or something of the sort." Asha complained as we trudged through the snow covered forest.

I shook my head and laughed as I answered her.

"First of all, we're not alone, Bobo, and Soren are here with us, secondly, and an entourage is a show of power and completely unnecessary where we're going and for what we have to do. This is a diplomatic/ romantic getaway after all; I don't think we would have many chances to play around if we had so much people with us."

"Romantic getaway, you didn't include than in the fine print, when you asked me to accompany you. Besides how does that work, are you going to fuck me out here, right under the stars and the cold, with snow all over our bodies?" she asked me with a smirk on her face.

I ducked under a low hanging branch and turned to answer her with an equally mischievous grin on my face.

"Since when have you been bothered by the cold? Besides, don't you think it would be a waste not having sex out in the open, under the stars with snow all over our bodies? It would be so romantic." I said to her, as we crested an incline, going up a much forested hill.

"I guess it can be considered romantic. But we should probably stop flirting, or Soren and Bobo would have their ears bleeding. Also did you know Bobo was a girl?"

'CRASH!'

I couldn't help myself from falling over; I was so damn shocked that I even forgot to clean the snow that was now hanging all over my face. Bobo was female; how come I didn't even notice that at all, I mean his, her voice was quite deep for a female, but still light for a male. I guess all of the signs were there, I just chose to not pay attention to them.

I turned to look at Bobo, but the life dragon threw her head to the side. She was probably embarrassed or upset, but now that I knew she was female, I wouldn't bother wasting my time trying to understand her thoughts behind her actions. Because quite frankly, it didn't matter the species, as long as you were female, that was an automatic ticket to being unreasonable. Soren looked completely out of place, as he moved his huge head from one person to the other, unsure of how to act or what to say. Poor kid.

"How long do you think it would take us to reach the Aviary?" Asha asked me, as she moved forwards to walk beside me.

"To be honest my love…I'm not really sure. Based on previous records, the Aviary is a prison of floating underground islands. And with most of the Noxis Nyx mountain range gone, said islands would have a chance to rise higher and be stuck in a position of a higher elevation. So it's not just the location we have to worry about, it's the very idea that it could move around and we might not notice it."I explained to her as we picked our steps and kept an eye and ear out for any sudden surprises.

The whole world seemed to have changed ever since the mountains above disappeared. Distances were longer, the world brighter, caves and tunnels vanished, and we had to learn to map the whole place anew once again. At the moment we were contemplating changing the name of our home, from The Pit to something else, but a good name was not forthcoming. At least not yet.

The pit was located in the southwest and south of the previously name Noxis Nyx mountain range. We were perfectly situated in a massive basin, right at the bottom of a wild expanse of land, thousands of kilometers long and wide. To our east was the mineral mountain, and a little bit to the south east, was the previous stomping ground of the Nagas, known as the nest.

The lands to the west of us, was another mountain range, completely impassable on foot or from the air. You had to go through the gates, and those gates led to Transylvania. Till now, Malek has not been able to figure out a way to open those gates, so the exploration of the vampire's ancestral lands was being put off for the foreseeable future.

North east had a mountain, which stretched across the expanse of land that rose up in elevation as one went further north. It was a plateau, dotted with sparse mountains and numerous valleys and basins. It was the size of a freaking continent if I had to be honest. Anyway, the solitary mountain north east was the home of the giants, and I'll be paying them a visit soon enough.

About six or seven kilometers north from me was a tiny hill with a collapsed cave at its base. That cave had been the entrance to the realm of the dragon kings, and I wouldn't be able to return there, until when I've literally transported Ethernalia Leonis there. And to be honest I have no idea how I'm supposed to do that, but apparently Baeki's dragon Ashes knew the methods that take care of the entire transportation.

Our destination today was northwest, through a wild forest that for some reason was still green in the midst of heavy snowstorms and intense cold and snowfall. In my opinion, I think the forest was also underground, and so they had a very different life cycle than what was considered the norm. They adapted over thousands of years to the dark, lack of water and proper nutrients. But I knew the earth below my feet was special, after all everything I have today would not have been possible if Nefisat had not been from an Earth origin tower, and a spirit crystal.

But it seems like the forest was coming to an end, though to be honest it was also getting thicker. I know that doesn't make much sense, however. As they were less and less trees, the grasses and flowers grew more abundantly, and the trees that were actually around were huge, like massive, the full size of a corporate building. However at this point, it wasn't the size of the trees or the flowers and grasses that got you; it was the sheer distinct lack of life.

I couldn't even find a single insect crawling about, much less other animals that thrived in cold environments. The forest was alive, but at the same time, it was very much dead. Like it was stuck, suspended in a particular moment in time, that no matter how you looked or experienced it, wouldn't allow life to exist normally within its boundaries.

And then the forest came to an abrupt end, leaving us standing at the edge of a precipice. Below us was the rushing rapid of a very large river that seems to have come flowing down from the north, and at this very point, diverted west into the mountain ranges, supplying water to a land we don't yet have access to. We were standing on the edge of a gorge almost twenty and some meters in height, and just as wide. The opposite end was the very edge of the mountain range in the west, still as impassable as before, even from this area.

Jagged and not easy to climb walls of rocks, trees and earth origin towers were looking at us. A complete mishmash and creation of the twisted imagination of nature, which would at most, allow one foolish explorer a chance to climb and find a new, colorful and inventive way to die. This would have been a dead end to anyone else, if you did not consider the broken land bridge, which stretched upwards to a series of floating islands, with massive rune circles underneath them, supported with massive rusted gears and cogs that were no longer moving.

There was a dome of sorts covering the islands, and looking closely made me understand how they were arranged. There was a massive central island, and it was almost twice the size of the current city of Ethernalia Leonis. There were about thirteen smaller islands orbiting around the main floating island, and connected to it by broken land bridges that were still floating and orbiting the main islands just like the smaller once were.

The smaller islands were roughly the size of Ethernalia Leonis, making me realize that the population of the Nephilim was a lot more than I imagined it was. The whole arrangements made them all seem like planets orbiting a sun, with the bigger island being a sun. It was a solar system of thirteen planets, but at the moment I didn't have any way to get up there. At least I think I didn't, until I heard the sound of wings flapping, and an engine humming.

Two men with glossy black wings almost three meters wide from tip to tip landed in front of us. And just a little ways back, a floating platform, with a bubble of some sort came to a stop in front of us. For a moment we were all just silent, looking at each other and accessing the threat posed by the person in front of us. And that silent would have gone on for quite a while, before a holographic screen flickered to life, and a stoic looking human being showed up on the screen.

He opened his mouth at first, about to say something, but then he closed it and moved a little closer, making it so that the hologram zoomed his face in, giving us a hi def view of his seriously thick bush of nose hair. After he finished confirming what it is he wanted, he moved back and wide surprised grin broke out on his face.

"As I live and breathe, do my eyes deceive me, or is the man standing at my doorstep the great Lord Kael of house Cor. It is an honor to be meeting you once again my lord." He said to me, as the hologram even bowed.

"My lord? Am I supposed to know who you are?" I asked him with a surprised look on my face. I felt Asha pinch my sides and release an exasperated sigh as the smile on the face of the man faltered a bit.

"Indeed I don't expect you to recognize me. A few years ago I was part of a team of Weavers your Pride army rescued from, the slave trading alien race called the Toroth. You led that operation yourself at the tender age of fifteen, so it's quite understandable if you don't remember me. It was quite a while ago." The man said to me.

"Well my apologies in that regard that was indeed a while back, five years to be precise. Anyway let's not dwell too much on the past, and look to the future. My wife and I are here, unarmed and alone with just our mounts, as delegates of the vampire race. I'm sure you know we've been independent for a while now, and we feel it's about time we establish a relationship with our neighbors. We're here to have a sit down with current leaders of the Nephilim race, and discuss a way forward and an alliance with them." I said to him, both as an explanation and an apology. I couldn't afford to annoy anybody now, at least not yet, and it definitely cannot be due to a lack of tact or common sense.

"That was well spoken lord Kael, and your gestures are wildly appreciated. The Aviary is experiencing a time of immense peace and prosperity, and your presence here is just the thing we need to make further growth to our future. With the fall of the dancing caves, and the control of the council of light, there is a need for order, and I believe that together, you and I, the vampires and the Nephilim can achieve great things together and obtain that order."

At this point my mind was already raising numerous warning flags. I haven't been a king for long, but at this point, on the account of being a super powerful vampire, I could tell when a person was lying to me, even if it was through a hologram. A lot of things didn't add up, and chief amongst them is the fact that this guy, a human, and a weaver!Explicitly introduced himself as the current leader of the Nephilim, and he didn't even give his name in the process.

Something was seriously wrong, but I couldn't pinpoint what it was. Maybe that group of Nephilim pointing a rocket launcher at the platform with the hologram could explain better. They should have differing opinions as opposed to the human guy who as talking to me.

'FWOOOOSH''BOOOOOOM!'

The platform was blown to bits, and the hologram flickered out immediately. And in the most efficient fashion possible, I saw eleven Nephilim land on the ground, surround a nonchalant looking and Asha and me, though they took a few steps back when Bobo revealed her full form to them, with Soren growling softly in the background.

They subdued the other two Nephilim who had accompanied the floating platform and holographic dude; knocking them out and placing them in cuffs. Then a woman, with wings as white as snow, with an equally pure white hair and battle armor, moved forward a few steps, signaled her friends to stop pointingtheir weapons at us, and then went down to her knees, ignoring the protests of her subordinates and said to me.

"My name is Galadriel Whiteheart, current arch queen of the Nephilim race. And I beg his Majesty King Kael and her Highness Queen Asha to please save my people."

I blinked my eyes a few times and turned to look at Asha who shrugged her shoulders at me, equally surprised by the turn of events. I turned to the Nephilim queen and said.

"Nice to meet you too."