I Died and Became a Noble's Heir

Chapter 463: Inside the Great Tree

The tree loomed in the distance, impossibly massive even from miles away.

Its trunk stretched upward until it disappeared into the storm clouds that perpetually shrouded Floor Twenty-Three’s sky.

Branches thick as castle towers spread in every direction like grasping fingers.

Jack stood at the edge of the battlefield where his demon army waited, red eyes fixed on the distant monolith.

Somewhere in that labyrinth of wood and leaves, Stormfang was licking its wounds, trying to recover from the arrow that had punched through its wing.

"Corvin," Jack said quietly, and the Carrion Raven stirred on his shoulder as if he’d always been there.

The bird was deceptively small in its resting state. No larger than a common crow, with black feathers that transitioned to purple at the tips.

Corvin cawed once, a sound tinged with almost a questioning tone.

"We’re going up," Jack explained, gesturing toward the tree. "Stormfang’s in there somewhere, and I want it found before it has time to heal fully."

The raven launched from Jack’s shoulder, its form already beginning to expand mid-flight.

Within seconds, Corvin had grown from crow-sized to something that rivaled small dragons.

A wingspan of twenty feet, body thick with muscle beneath sleek feathers, talons that could crush steel.

The transformation completed, and Corvin circled once before descending to land beside Jack.

The raven lowered itself, wings spread for balance, clearly offering its back as transport.

Jack stepped onto Corvin’s back without hesitation.

He didn’t sit; standing was more stable. It made the transition of getting off easier and kept him in a relaxed state.

His right hand rested on Oscar’s hilt while his left extended for balance.

"Up," Jack commanded.

Corvin launched skyward with explosive force, wings beating in powerful rhythm that carried them upward at speeds that made the wasteland blur beneath them.

The wind tore at Jack’s armor and hair, but he stood firm; his strength and balance kept him steady despite the wind’s force.

Mach one was Corvin’s top speed when pushed, and the raven was pushing now. The tree grew larger with startling rapidity as they climbed, its true scale becoming apparent only as they drew close.

The trunk alone was miles in diameter. Individual branches were thick enough to serve as roadways, leaves the size of houses creating a canopy that blocked out what little light the wasteland’s twilight provided.

Even at this height, when Jack craned his neck upward, he still couldn’t see the top.

The tree was disappearing into storm clouds that crackled with constant lightning.

Corvin angled toward one of the larger branches two miles up, his wings adjusting to slow their approach.

The raven landed with surprising gentleness, given its speed, its talons gripping bark as rough as stone.

Jack stepped off Corvin’s back, and the raven immediately began shrinking, transformation reversing until it was crow-sized again.

The bird settled back onto Jack’s shoulder with a satisfied caw, as if the flight had been nothing more than a casual exercise.

"Good work," Jack said, one hand briefly touching the raven’s head before his attention shifted to their surroundings.

They stood on a branch wider than most city streets, bark forming natural ridges and valleys that created pathways through the foliage.

The air here was different.

Cleaner somehow, with less of the wasteland’s oppressive weight. Lightning still struck in the distance, but up here it seemed more... natural. Part of the tree’s ecosystem rather than an external threat.

Jack’s enhanced perception immediately picked up the details. Claw marks on the bark, deep gouges that could only have come from something with talons the size of daggers.

Scales scattered across the branch where something had scraped against the wood hard enough to shed them.

And blood. Not much, but enough.

Dark droplets that led deeper into the tree’s interior.

Stormfang had been here recently.

Jack reached through the Soul Link, finding the consciousness of his Alpha Shadowfang Panther and the fifteen others bound to his will.

The mental command Jack gave was simple.

Reality folded in sixteen places simultaneously as the panthers materialized around him, their bodies composed of living shadow that made them almost invisible against the tree’s dark bark.

Red eyes gleamed from each one, waiting for orders with that perfect obedience that characterized all bound creatures.

"Fan out," Jack commanded. "Search the tree. Find Stormfang and report its location through the link. Do not engage."

The panthers dispersed without sound, flowing through the branches like liquid darkness.

Within seconds, they’d vanished completely, spreading through the massive tree in a search pattern that would cover miles of territory.

Jack started walking deeper into the tree, following the blood trail that Stormfang had left. The droplets were spaced far apart.

The wyvern wasn’t bleeding heavily, just enough to leave a trail for someone who knew how to track.

The branch led to what looked like a natural hollow in the trunk, an opening large enough that Jack could walk through without ducking.

He entered cautiously, Oscar drawn now, red lightning crackling softly along the blade’s edge.

I wonder where Stornfang is.}

’It’s almost time, Oscar. Once this bit is settled, we can relax and do some experiments.’

{Marcus Thorne? Are you finally going to experiment on him?}

’Yeah, it’s probably about time to experiment on the captains, Marcus Thorne, and that woman’s soldiers.’

Jack settled the notion aside as he wandered about, following clues for his prey.

The interior of the tree was vast.

Chambers formed by the wood’s natural growth patterns, passages that wound through the trunk like arteries through a body.

Some areas were lit by bioluminescent fungi that grew in patches on the walls, casting everything in an eerie green glow.

Jack followed the blood trail through three chambers before it led him to something that made him pause.

It was massive. Easily fifty feet across, built from branches and leaves and what looked like the remains of other creatures that Stormfang had hunted.

Bones littered the edges, some still with meat clinging to them. The center was lined with softer materials.

Moss, feathers from other birds, even what looked like strips of cloth from whatever unfortunate souls who’d been unlucky enough to encounter the wyvern.

This was Stormfang’s den. It’s home territory.

Jack walked the perimeter of the nest, Oscar held ready, red eyes scanning for any sign of ambush. But the den was empty.

He walked into the next room and put his hand down to touch the nest. It was surprisingly still warm.

Stormfang had been here recently, based on the warmth still radiating from the center where the wyvern had been resting, but it had moved on deeper into the tree.

Jack turned to leave the nest when the Soul Link pulsed with information from one of the panthers.

Three miles deeper into the tree, moving downward through passages that led toward the trunk’s base.

Jack smiled behind his visor and started walking, Corvin cawing softly on his shoulder as if sensing his master’s anticipation.

The passage downward was carved through the tree’s interior like a natural stairwell, wide enough for something Stormfang’s size to navigate but narrow enough that flight would be difficult.

The walls were scored with claw marks.

Deep gouges that showed where the wyvern had braced itself while descending.