Using his Angelic Wings, Logan flew low through the edges if the mountain keeping himself hidden behind large boulders. The boy was very careful to keep himself out of sight from the pegasi gliding below.
He didn't want to scare them off—not yet. He needed to see if they truly were wild, unclaid by the Church of Light. If they were, that ant he had a chance to ta one.
Three of them flitted between the ridges, touching down at wide patches of grass before lifting off again. Each feeding session lasted only a few minutes, and every ti they paused to graze, their heads jerked up warily, ears twitching. They were clearly on edge.
Logan narrowed his eyes.
Sothing's spooking them... but what?
He followed at a distance, occasionally switching to Darkness Arrow and Shadow Step to reposition silently, trailing the trio as they flew from ledge to ledge.
Then, after nearly half an hour, he spotted it.
A massive shadow passed overhead.
Logan looked up.
High above, a colossal bird circled—a monstrous vulture-like beast with blackened feathers and a bald, predatory head. Its wingspan was imnse, easily dwarfing the pegasi it stalked. Logan wasn't sure if it was a condor, a vulture, or sothing between, but one thing was certain: it radiated an aura of darkness.
Even stranger was the creature's shadow. It wasn't natural. It rippled unnaturally beneath it, like ink floating on water, and then—it moved, not like a normal shadow would, following behind the one that cast it. No, this one produce tentacles that extended from the ground it touched.
The shadow stretched downward unnaturally, creeping toward the pegasi. Logan watched as it twitched, then lunged, attempting to ensnare one of the winged horses from the sky like a living net.
Logan waited a few more seconds, watching the unfolding struggle. The shadow had wrapped tightly around the Pegasus, coiling like an octopus gripping the horse and slowly choking the breath from its lungs. Above, the dark-feathered condor began its descent, a predator closing in for the kill.
It was ti to act.
Logan decided to help both creatures—free the Pegasus and give the starving bird a al that would satisfy it instead of the pesesus. He raised a hand and used the opportunity to place a blood mark on the struggling golden winged horse while preparing a spell to deal with the shadowy bind.
Light counters darkness. Let's see how this holds up.
He cast Mirror Veil, a skill he wanted to test out wondering if the reflection could work on opposing elents as it was a light-based skill that could reflect incoming magical attacks. The mont the golden sheen wrapped around the Pegasus, the shadow binding it recoiled—then vanished entirely. The dark magic had been bounced back toward its source.
The horse on the other hand flailed in confusion, but now Logan had another issue: the condor, ensnared by its own reflected magic, was spiraling toward the ground.
The bird had seconds before it crashed.
Logan didn't hesitate. He used Voice of Authority, borrowing Claire's Arbiter skill.
"Stop resisting!"
The command hit the Pegasus like a shockwave. It stood still, just long enough for Logan to stabilize the ntal link and complete the taming. The connection ford instantly, and then the golden-winged beast extended its wings and surged into the sky.
"One down. Now to save the other..."
Logan flew upward, scanning the falling condor. Its massive wings were tangled in its own shadow, and it couldn't stop its descent. He acted fast.
Drawing a breath, he hurled a Darkness Arrow toward the condor and used Shadow Step, instantly warping through the black mark and reappearing beside the falling beast.
Just as they plumted together, Logan activated Arcane Displacent—Silvia's space-warping spell—and twisted its use.
Instead of teleporting himself, he bent gravity around the condor weakening it.
The crushing montum slowed. The two were still getting closer to the ground at a much slow pace, Logan believe it would now not be as fatal.
The massive bird was still scared witless through, flailing around trying to free himself, it was a perfect change for Logan to mark it.
Quickly, Logan then cast Shadow Step again, teleporting the condor and himself to safety. The massive bird landed awkwardly, disoriented by the backlash of its own skill—but thankfully unhard.
Without delay, Logan began to overpower it ntally. The taming went smoothly; the fear and confusion the creature had experienced left it too rattled to resist. One more beast added to his growing ranks.
The two other pegasi, still circling above, hadn't fled. Instead, they hovered nearby, agitated by their companion's close brush with death. Logan watched as his newly-tad golden Pegasus flew toward them, trying to calm them down. It hesitated, unsure whether to convince its herd to flee… or to join him.
Logan made the decision for them.
"Bring them," he called out. "I'll help all of you grow stronger. Or would you rather watch them fall like you nearly did?"
The golden Pegasus hesitated, then turned back toward the others. The condor, anwhile, had finally regained its bearings. It stood upright, flexing its wings, and locked its beady red eyes onto the horses.
A low growl echoed from its throat.
[Hungry… you stopped from eating.]
Logan nodded, unbothered.
"Yeah, I know. Here—take this for now." He reached into his storage and pulled out a fresh deer carcass, a leftover kill he'd saved for his tiger, Lucent. He tossed it toward the bird, who imdiately sniffed the at and began tearing into it ravenously.
The blood-scent made the remaining pegasi flinch. But with their golden companion's reassurance and Logan's calming presence, they finally approached—and he marked both. The taming link ford with ease.
"Good girls," he muttered, patting their necks as the new herd settled beside him. Now he had four: three pegasi and one oversized vulture.
A formidable flying squad.
From his inventory, he drew out a small stash of remaining mana crystals. He focused first on the golden Pegasus, who seed closest to evolving. As for the vulture, he handed it several darkness crystals—the bird tore through them, ignoring the at entirely now that it had tasted raw magical energy.
Logan stepped back and crossed his arms.
"Let's see what you two beco…"
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