Chapter 63: The Green Tender

  TASTKA POV

  I took a deep breath and turned away from the problem.

  It had been a rough journey – first the marsh, then that monster that had attacked us, and then our capture by the Aravel before the long trek through the high-mana lands. Kelas had been invaluable in helping us avoid further danger. His familiarity with the region had guided us away from creatures we couldn’t have handled.

  My other self had been helpful too, dropping small hints… like the fact that the Aravel could cross water using what they built. There were times she used words I couldn’t quite grasp, whether in my dreams or my waking thoughts. She had names for things I didn’t think anyone could even imagine.

  I suspected they were things she knew people would imagine – that she already knew what would happen. Truthfully, that made me uneasy, but I didn’t believe she meant us harm. So far, she had guided us true, and the Starlight Forest had been real… and every bit as breathtaking as the dream had shown.

  The journey beyond that forest and into the next had been harder. The Starlight Forest was in what Kelas called a Barren Land – a place with little mana – yet it was still magical thanks to the Lumen mana that existed in great quantities deep beneath it. If it hadn’t been so far below the surface, that much Lumen mana would have turned the place into another high-mana region.

  Instead, only a small part of the forest had enough mana to let Kelas breathe freely.

  Further beyond, the forest changed again… thicker, darker, almost choking. Vital mana coursed through everything, and for the first time, the flying insects were so numerous we had to move slowly and rest often, relying on protections from Eyssa and Kelas to drive off the constant swarms.

  It was heartening to me to see how well everyone was working together. Kelas had been so helpful without asking anything in return, and the others had welcomed him into our group. Only Solen seemed cautious of him, as far as I could tell.

  That was fortunate, because this forest was crawling with dangerous creatures. They were about half the size of an elf… small, but vicious. Their claws and bites were deadly, and they clearly resented our presence.

  A few days ago, we had even stumbled across the remains of an old camp… abandoned so long ago that almost nothing was left. The Calen elves we’d heard about clearly hadn’t lived here in some time. From the look of it, they hadn’t wanted to stay in a place this dangerous.

  Who would, when those vicious blue-furred creatures were so quick to pounce?

  Dashe was still checking over Solen’s injury when I looked back. She had stepped in front of me just as one of those creatures pounced, and it had taken a bite from her arm deep enough to reach the bone.

  The vibrant Vital mana of this place made it easier for Dashe to tend the wound, but Solen still had trouble moving her fingers. Dashe said she would probably regain full movement… but I didn’t like the lack of certainty in his assurance. I could tell Solen was putting on a brave face. Every time she looked at me, she tried to lift her ears in a reassuring manner, but there was always sadness in her eyes.

  “Have you figured out a way through?” Fisk asked when he saw I’d turned around. He was speaking quietly, with Kelas nearby… who was watching me with a doubtful expression. I could understand that. What I was about to do would probably seem very strange if it worked.

  But I didn’t think it was strange. Not for me. I was a Flux Speaker. I was used to being gentle and careful, guiding my mana instead of forcing it. The difference now was that I had a much clearer sense of where it needed to go.

  “It will take me a few moments, and we’ll probably have to hurry through,” I said. “But yes, I can do it.” My ears lifted as I tried to put on a brave face. “After we’re through, we should move slowly, in case there are more traps.”

  “I worry about entering a place that’s so carefully trapped only you can see them somehow,” Kelas said warily. “But you were right about the forest. And you were right about the boat.”

  Fisk flicked an ear to acknowledge what I said, then began calling everyone over while I turned to see if the practice of the last few ten-days had been enough.

  Grouping the days like that – into ten-days – had made it much easier to track how long our journey had been, I reflected. I just hoped we’d make it back home, so we could carry what we’d learned from the Aravel back to our clan.

  I pushed those thoughts away and stared at the intertwined plants before me that formed an opening. The forest was already thick with vegetation, yet here it had formed an almost solid barrier… except for this single, large entrance.

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  Right in front of the opening, the vegetation had been mostly cleared, leaving only thigh-high brush and undergrowth to push through. The others had been doubtful that anyone lived in this place, since there was little sign of anyone coming or going. Yet after careful examination, Eyssa had concluded that none of this undergrowth was older than a moon. Someone had been here – or passed by – and cleared the area less than that long ago.

  As for me, I knew our objective was inside. I had been warned that the one we sought was not an elf, but that we should approach with care. I had warned the others of this as well, though I admitted I did not know what we would find if it wasn’t an elf.

  Still, I could clearly sense the incredibly intricate mana construct interwoven along the edge of the entrance. The Aravel relied on the high-mana density in their lands to keep their enchantments from unraveling, but this one needed no such support. It would eventually fade, yes… but I could see tiny patterns of Cruxis mana reinforcing the structure, circulating in steady loops to maintain it. I didn’t know how long it would last, but it wouldn’t need adjustment for many ten-days.

  It was also so complicated that I had trouble deciphering what it was meant to do. I wasn’t completely certain, but the multiple kinds of mana woven together appeared designed to release something into the entrance if anyone tried to pass through.

  Another structure of mana just before the entrance sent out a faint pulse of Entropic mana, mixed with other traces upon approach. It wasn’t strong enough to cause harm, but it was meant to drive away animals or insects… anything that wasn’t determined to enter, driven by desperation… or intelligence.

  It had made all of us sick to our stomachs when we first approached, but it only took willpower to push through that field. I had studied that enchantment, but it wasn’t the one I wanted to undo or neutralize. The second structure was the one that worried me… it appeared to be a fatal trap, or at least incapacitating, and we needed to get through it.

  If I hadn’t already seen similar patterns in the Aravel designs, I would never have been able to counter it. But now, I could carefully thread Pure mana mingled with Flux all along the entryway.

  It took time, and by the time I finished, a dull ache had settled behind my eyes from the effort. I wasn’t in danger of running out of mana, but using so much at once was a strain.

  “It’s ready,” I announced. “Hurry.”

  None of them hesitated… which was good. None of us had leg injuries, so we were able to dash through quickly. I caught only the briefest glimpse of something curling outward in wild, chaotic directions, twisting away from us, redirected outward instead of inward as it was meant to.

  I had been very careful crafting my counter, but it was still like a child chewing on a stick to make a play-spear compared to a true [Weapon Crafter]’s work. My improvised spell was clumsy and collapsed almost immediately… but it did its job.

  Fortunately, after that first trap, the ones we encountered deeper within the near-solid maze of branches and brambles were much simpler. Some were even purely physical – simple snares and tripwires, the sort of traps we used to guard our own camps from predators. Despite my worries about the dangers ahead, it soon became clear that these had been laid only to deter anyone who made it past the initial entrance. From the look of things, no one had been this way in a long time… not even animals.

  It felt like it took forever to crawl through that wide, yet somehow cramped tunnel, but it was not that far in real distance. This was not a complex place, not even like the caves my people sometimes took shelter within. It was like a large… burrow.

  A fact made all the more clear as our light-bearing speartips had to gently cut away a thin, skin-like barrier to allow us to step into the large chamber we had reached.

  “Is this it?” Vedas asked, confused. Others were looking about as well, but it did appear underwhelming. The chamber was huge to us, and appeared thinner at the top, allowing a small amount of light to filter through. It was still daytime outside, it seemed. Yet nothing was inside but a huge mound, covered in creepers and light brush, almost blending into the vegetation of the chamber itself.

  I felt Eyssa and Kelas stiffen near me, though. I could tell that mound wasn’t just a small hill, and somehow they could, as well. Perhaps they could smell something not right, something that didn’t fit in the thick greenery scent in the air.

  Something animal.

  I could often sense animals and elves when close to them with my Pattern Sense. Many had minor Umbral abilities that could hide themselves, but if not, I could feel the way mana flowed through them, especially if they used other abilities. Animals had their own feel, and elves a different feel, each handling mana differently.

  The mound before us was something else. It was in many ways like both, yet neither. Vital mana coursed through its body and condensed in strange places, only to spread out in a different manner. To the others, it was a mound of vegetation… but to me, it was ablaze with mana.

  “This is it, I think.” I squat down and rest my spear on the ground, though it almost vanished in the leafy undergrowth we were forced to pick through.

  “This?” Fisk asked, gesturing at the mound. “Is it dead?”

  That was when the mound moved.

  It was sluggish at first. A creaking, crumbling shift of the overgrowth atop it almost held it down, but the massive form moved. The whole thing shifted, but from the side, part of it broke free and uncurled, showing a long and sinuous neck. The lump at the end shook slowly, sloughing away vegetation and layers of dirt, revealing dull greenish-yellow scales and a wide snout.

  Brilliant yellow eyes opened, and a heaving breath rumbled through the small space as the maw opened, revealing knife-like teeth in a mouth large enough to bite an elf in half without even trying.

  Duvad and Vedas both tightened their grip on their spears, but Fisk quickly motioned for them to lower their weapons again as the huge beast took a rattling, echoing breath. It sounded like an old elf wheezing after a nap… yet it had none of the weakness of an elderly elf, only the sound of one unused to movement.

  The glowing yellow eyes swept over each of us in turn, moving at a sedate, almost lazy pace. A growl of annoyance rose in the creature’s throat – which faded immediately, quieting the moment the gaze fell upon me.

  It spoke, in a guttural, rough voice, speaking with the same accent that the Aravel used… yet even more twisted, somehow more ancient. It was still understandable, at least to me. I had never said it aloud, yet I knew what it said, somehow.

  “Soulkeeper.”

  Higher Purpose