Chapter 311 - Midpath Reborn (1/2)
”You will?” asked Mason as he stared at Li in a flash of disbelief that quickly turned into apologetic recognition. ”Of course, good seer. Forgive me if you thought I was doubting you.”
”Do not beat yourself up about it,” said Li with a nod. ”All your life, you have known one god, one light. And I will say now that your faith is not misplaced. Your god of light is certainly a powerful one and, deep down, a good one.
He would be happy to know that there are genuine people with genuine beliefs under his light even now.”
”Good seer, how would you know this?” asked Mason.
”Call it a hunch. Something you pick up from being close to divinity for so long.” Li stepped forwards and waved everyone else back except Asala.
”Asala, is this the layout for the Midpath bridge?” said Li as he peered straight ahead.
Twin obelisks of sand, much larger than the ones she had erected across the Midpath, stood beside her, and from their rune carved surfaces there arose a massive flux of brilliant white magical energy that flowed out in whirring strands.
The strands wove around each other in equally sized hexes, building up a complex and clear outline of what the Midpath bridge must have once been. It looked exactly like a blueprint drawn up by an architect, and even Li found himself impressed at its sheer scale and artistry.
The Midpath bridge stretched from this side of the continent to the other, a full dozen kilometers or so, with the bridge itself being nearly half a kilometer wide. The bridge's design itself looked like a strange blend of classical Greco-roman architecture and fantastical magic elements.
The length of the bridge was a construct of pure energy, and flickers of faint color indicated that when completed, the colors of the rainbow would run down the length of the path. Classical arches set apart in intervals of a hundred meters rose across, and perched atop them, there were facades of winged angels raising torches high up, acting as beacons of light.
”Angels,” muttered Mason under his breath. His blue eyes glistened as he saw the beauty of the statues apparent even through the incomplete blueprints of weaved white lines of magic. He saw their great wings unfurled to their sides, stretching downwards as if to c.a.r.e.s.s the bridge in protective embrace.
When his eyes moved to the angels' hands, they narrowed in confusion. ”But…”
”Doth they look different from the angels that thou know?” said Asala, gently.
Mason nodded.
Li had to agree. He had seen an angel statue here or there, for they were talked about in the myths of Soleil and the light as servants of the great god Helius before they ascended to Valhul. In any depiction of angel in Soleil, they were distinctively human, the only inhuman part of them being their wings.
Harpies, to be precise, as was apparent by their taloned fingers and pinkies that stretched out from behind their hands to form their wings.
Though, as Li realized, they were different from normal harpies too. Their torsos seemed mechanical in nature, formed from smooth, metallic surfaces interlocked around an orb-like core.
He knew what these were. Angels, especially variants at a higher level, were more mechanical than organic beings, with the highest ranked types such as Seraphim looking like winged mechs more so than any flesh and blood fighter.
These were Aviania, level seventy angels that harpies using light based divine magic could ascend to when they met some conditions.
”I mentioned before that the harpies of the north too worship the Light,” said Asala. She pointed to the hollow statues of the Aviania. ”Tis why. The harpies are sons and daughters of the Light also. The originals if I may add. Successor to the first angels that once guarded this realm.”
”The Light was not vested unto man?” said Mason.
”Oh, it was,” said Asala. ”But not only to man. Tis' a strange thing, how thy kind hath warped the Light. The main tenet of it still stands, that the Light shall shine upon all no matter their shape nor size, and yet, how that principle has warped to the shape and size of man only is one that still confounds me.”