Chapter 262: The Fae & Flower Part 3

The sun had begun to descend over the Ebon Realm as Hollow Shade’s team ran through Glimmer Grove forest. The fairy Mina had broken her wing and had opted to ride on Sylvie’s shoulder, whispering the directions to her home into Sylvie’s ear. After half a league through trees and underbrush, Sylvie stopped in her steps.

“What is it?” Freya asked.

“Mina says her home is right over this hill,” Sylvie pointed at the rocky formation of roots and bushes ahead of them.

Stryg narrowed his lilac eyes, his pointy ears twitched incessantly, “This may be a problem.”

“A little late to back out now, don’t ya think?” Callum said dryly.

Stryg scurried up the rocky hill and carefully poked his head over the other side. “I’m not sure about that,” he whispered.

“It can’t be that bad,” Callum muttered and climbed up the hill next to Stryg. His scarlet eyes widened and his jaw went slack, “Oh… Oh shit. Yeah, I propose a new strategy. Find a new silverbright tree.”

“Hey! We made a promise to Mina,” Sylvie glared at them.

“Sylvie’s right, we aren’t backing out now,” Freya nodded. “So stop being scared little bitches.”

“Why don’t you two just get over here, yeah?” Callum said impatiently.

“Gladly,” Freya said.

Freya and Sylvie clambered up the hill next to the boys.

“...Ah,” Freya swallowed hard.

A small lake spanned across the other side of the hill. Trees sprouted from its murky waters and stretched high into the sky, covering the whole area in a thick fluorescent canopy. At the center of the watery grove stood a pale white tree. Its trunk was thrice as thick as any of the other trees. Silver-petaled flowers peppered the white tree’s pale leaves. Hundreds of gnarled branches curled out from the white tree and reached into the branches of nearby trees.

A cluster of bright green viperidae slithered around the silverbright tree, their mouths open with angry hisses. Some of the giant snakes swam in the lake, their heads barely visible above the murky waters. Others hung in the canopy, their heads prodding at the gnarled branches. Yet all their yellow eyes were focused on a sphere of silver and rose light that shone brightly at the base of the tree’s branches.

A small group of fairies sat within the dome of light, huddled close to one another. Their eyes were filled with fear as they stared at the awaiting viperidae right outside. A single fairy flew above her clanmates, her arms outstretched, channeling the mana of her fellow fairies through her translucent wings and into the protective dome above them.

Mina gasped and cried out in horror at her clan’s plight.

“They’re surrounded by the viperidae,” Sylvie blanched.

“I expected three or four viperidae at most, but this…?” Freya mumbled.

“What’s the plan, captain?” Callum asked. “Do we run or…?”

“We can’t run,” Freya sighed.

“She’s right,” Stryg said solemnly. “There’s not enough time to find another silverbright tree. We’ll lose if we retreat now.”

“What? No, that’s not what I meant,” Freya shook her head.

“I think if I’m careful I can sneak through the branches of all these trees and make my way to the silverbright tree,” Stryg muttered in thought. “I’ll snatch one of the flowers from the nearest branch and run back here. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.”

“We can’t do that,” Freya said sternly.

“I think it’s a pretty good plan,” Callum shrugged.

“We can’t just abandon the fairies!” Sylvie snapped. “We made a deal with Mina. She held up her end of the bargain, she showed us to the silverbright tree.”

“If we go down there, we won’t save the fairies. We’ll just die along with them,” Stryg said grimly. “If you care about Mina, our best option is to help her escape this place.”

Sylvie glared at him, “That’s-”

“You know that’s not true, Stryg,” Freya said in a quiet voice. “...The Stryg I knew faced death without hesitation to protect those around him.” She took a deep breath and looked Stryg straight in the eyes, “I am alive because you fought against a warlord knowing you would lose. I ran away the last time we faced death, but I won’t run away, not this time, not ever again.”

Pain and guilt filled Stryg’s chest, “I… don’t…” He couldn’t meet Freya’s unwavering gaze any longer. He looked away in shame. I don’t want to lose any more of my friends…

The dome of light around the fairies began to flicker and grow smaller. The viperidae slithered closer to the tree.

Mina whispered in a panicked voice.

Sylvie’s expression darkened, “Mina says that’s her grandmother holding the fae veil. She says her grandmother is weakening, she can’t hold the veil much longer.”

Callum cleared his throat and wiped his eyes, “I’m with you, captain.”

Mina tapped Sylvie’s cheek and pointed at the silverbright tree. The fae veil was growing smaller and smaller.

“There’s no time left, we need to go now!” Sylvie said.

“Callum and I will create a distraction with our bright magic and lure the viperidae to us,” Freya said. “Sylvie, you go get the other fairies out of here.”

“Understood,” Sylvie nodded seriously.

Callum channeled white mana into his hands and grinned half-heartedly to Freya, “Whenever you’re ready, captain.”

“Stryg, while the viperidae are busy dealing with us, go grab the flower, yeah?” Freya smiled shakily. She didn’t wait for his answer. “Heads down!” she yelled and raised her hands high. A burst of white magic pierced the watery grove and illuminated the hill in a beacon of light.

The outer ring of Stryg’s irises shattered and expanded until the whites of his eyes were covered in lilac. His world was suddenly bathed in darkness and silver outlines. Streams of white light rattled off Freya and Callum’s hands like strips of fabric in the wind.

The pack of viperidae hissed at the painful luminescence and slithered their way to the hill.

“Now!” Freya screamed.

“Yes, captain!” Sylvie channeled brown's vigor magic into her legs and vaulted onto a nearby branch. She steadied her footing under the creaking branch and jumped to another branch, then another, quickly making her way to the silverbright tree.

Stryg took in the entire scene in mere moments and cursed under his breath. There was no time to lose. He channeled orange mana into his entire body and casted an agility spell, his veins darkening to a deep grey. He didn’t bother looking back at his comrades. Stryg scrambled up a tree and began jumping off the branches.

The trees were far larger than the ones in Vulture Woods. The canopy of fluorescent leaves would have made Stryg dizzy, but in his darkened vision they all seemed like small puddles of color rippling off one another in a soothing pattern.

It felt as if the world had slowed to a stroll, as if time had fallen asleep and Stryg was awake in a dream. He pushed past the rippling leaves of color and made his way to the silverbright tree.

Strangely, the silverbright flower was the only one that didn’t seem to be glowing. It simply appeared to him in a silver and black outline. He plucked a few of the flowers and stowed them in his jacket pockets, before he looked down the tree.

The fae veil had broken apart into small threads of light. Mina’s grandmother had fallen to her knees, exhausted. Sylvie suddenly jumped down from a branch and landed next to fairies. Mina called out to her family and friends, tears in her eyes.

The other fairies were shocked to see Mina, her grandmother most of all. But Mina spoke to them in their unfamiliar tongue and calmed them down or at least Stryg hoped she had. The fairies nodded amongst themselves and fluttered away the best they could. Their wings drooped and they struggled to stay aloft.

They’re exhausted, Stryg thought grimly. They barely can fly, much less escape quickly.

Stryg glanced back at the hill, hoping his teammates could buy them a little more time. Callum still held his hands high, bright magic undulating from his palms. His constant stream of magic was a testament to his massive reserves of white mana and steady flow control.

Freya’s bright spell had petered off. Instead, she focused her orange mana into a wall of flames blocking the swarm of viperidae slithering towards them. But such a massive spell drained massive amounts of mana. Flame spells were particularly consuming on the caster. She wouldn’t be able to keep up the spell for long.

We’re running out of time, Stryg thought. Dammit!

He leaped off his branch and landed on a branch above Sylvie, “The fairies are too slow! Carry them in your arms and move, now!”

Sylvie nodded, “I’ll tell Mina to-”

The silverbright tree shook violently, its trunk creaked with a loud groan. A massive viperidae of black and scarlet scales rose out from the murky waters and wrapped its body around the tree’s pale trunk. Its bulky head swiveled around the tree’s branches searching for the fairies.

Mina squeaked and hid behind Sylvie’s ear.

“What the fuck is that thing!” Stryg whispered.

Mina’s grandmother stared with a sad expression at the slithering black scales wrapped around her tree. “We call it a Dark Blood, an original child of the Witch Queen herself.”

Stryg and Sylvie looked at the elder fairy in stunned surprise.

“You speak Common!?” Stryg asked. “Tell us how to kill it!”

The elder fairy nodded, but her eyes were filled with sorrow. “The Dark Blood is as old as these trees, its scales have grown hard through the centuries. Wounding it will be very difficult, let alone killing it. Both of you should run, save yourselves. Our time has come.”

“No, it can’t be,” Sylvie whispered, tears in her eyes.

The elder fairy smiled wearily, “The fairies who have stayed with me knew the weight of their choices. They stayed behind to help the rest of the clan escape. None of us expected to escape. I am grateful that fate allowed me to see my granddaughter one last time.”

Mina cried out for her grandmother and hugged her tight.

The elder fairy held back her tears and looked up at Sylvie, “Please, take Mina with you, save her at least.”

“No,” Sylvie clenched her jaw. “Stryg will take her.”

“What now?” Stryg wrinkled his brow.

Sylvie carefully placed a scared Mina on Stryg’s shoulder, “Keep her safe.”

Stryg frowned, “Sylvie, what are yo-”

Sylvie glanced at the fairy elder, “Your clan’s time hasn’t come.” She hefted up her ax and ran towards the Dark Blood’s head, “I’m over here, you snake bastard!”

The Dark Blood slowly turned as Sylvie vaulted into the air, ax held high above her head, a war cry on her lips. Her black cloak billowed in the wind and her scarlet-red hair shined like fire in the light of the setting sun. Stryg watched, awestruck. It was as if Sylvie had become a hero of old, leaping into the battle versus the hordes of the Realm’s enemies.

The Dark Blood’s mouth snapped open in a flash and swallowed Sylvie whole.

“...” Stryg blinked, his mind trying to process what he had just seen.

The Dark Blood’s gaze turned towards him and the fairies.

Stryg’s eyes widened, “Oh shit!”

He spun around and swept the fairies up in his arms as best he could. The wood shattered behind him in an explosion of splinters as the Dark Blood rammed its head through the tree.

Stryg felt a sudden wretched pain in his back and the world spun as his body was sent flying into the air. He splashed into the lake a hundred paces away and sank like a stone into the dark waters. A burning sensation seized his lungs. He gasped for breath and inhaled water. He coughed and inhaled more water.

Stryg panicked and floundered as he sank deeper and deeper.

I can’t swim, I can’t swim! his mind screamed.

His eyes darted around in alarm. His strange vision pierced through the murky waters with ease, illuminating the roots of trees and nearby fish in silver outlines.

Magic, his dulled mind remembered. I have fucking magic!

He called forth blue mana and to his delight, it answered. Blue mana flowed into his hands and he quickly formed the gestures of a torrent spell. The mana formed a wave beneath and pushed him to the surface in a spray of water. Stryg gasped for breath and tasted sweet air. His hand shot out and gripped the nearest tree root that hung above the water. His claws dug into the bark and he pulled himself up with all the strength he could muster.

“Oh thank the gods,” the elder fairy gasped.

Stryg slowly looked down, a dozen fairies were holding on to his jacket for dear life. A part of his mind numbly recalled that he had grabbed the fairies before the Dark Blood attacked.

The Dark Blood! Stryg’s eyes widened. His head shot up and he glanced around for a sign of the monstrous snake.

The Dark Blood slithered through the waters, pushing aside and destroying any trees that crossed its path. Yet the black viperidae wasn’t targeting Stryg, its attention was solely on the hill where Freya and Callum stood.

Freya’s flame wall had fizzled away, her orange mana drained. Callum had stopped his bright spell and had created a red ward wall between them and the pack of viperidae as they slithered up the hill.

That wall won’t hold, a minute or two at best, Stryg thought. I need to do something, I need to create a distraction, I need to move!

Stryg gritted his teeth and groaned with pain as he pushed himself to stand. His ribs ached with pain, he had no doubt broken several. Blood seeped from the back of his shirt and dripped down his pants.

Ignore the pain, ignore the pain, Stryg repeated in his mind over and over like a mantra.

He held his injured side with one hand and pointed his other hand at the Dark Blood in the distance. His hand shook with a tremble, his aim was off.

Focus, Stryg, focus.

The Dark Blood was twice as large as the other viperidae, even from this distance he could hit it. But he needed to land a blow at its head, it was the only way to grab its attention away from his friends.

“Steady, steady,” he muttered under his breath.

A soft rose-silver light suddenly flowed around him. In his eyes, it seemed as if he had donned a cloak of rose light.

What is this?

“We’re too drained to heal you, but we can at least take the pain away,” the elder fairy said into his ear.

Stryg suddenly noticed the fairies chanting quietly as they clung to his jacket. Silvery light stretched from each of their wings and connected with one another as they channeled the elemental life magic into his body.

“Thank you…” Stryg whispered sincerely. He took a deep breath and aimed his open palm at the Dark Blood’s head.

Gale’s questions echoed in his mind, Why are you here? Why are you fighting? Who are you? Because that person, Stryg, will have to do what no one else thinks they can. Win.

I don’t know the answers to your questions, Stryg admitted to himself. I don’t know who I really am or who I need to be… All I know is…

“We need to survive!” Stryg roared. For the past year he had been holding back, but all his reservations vanished in front of the gigantic snake. Orange mana surged into his veins in a storm of power.

The Dark Blood’s head snapped back and it hissed angrily. Its gut abruptly began to bloat. A golden light blossomed from within and leaked through its black scales.

Stryg narrowed his eyes, “What the…?”

The Dark Blood’s gut exploded in a wave of searing heat. The black snake wheezed a shallow breath and collapsed, its corpse bisected in two. Its blood and viscera flowed into the lake, dyeing its murky waters dark red.

The other viperidae hissed and flailed about in pain at the death of their alpha and swam away from its corpse as if eager to escape the same fate.

Sylvie stumbled out from the Dark Blood’s gut. She was drenched in blood and bile, her eyes swayed in and out of consciousness, but her lips were stretched wide in a shaky smile.