Chapter 72: Champion, Chapter 6: Greenpath

Aidan

The Realms

Firstday, 1st week of the 9th month, Age of the Chosen 1

Late Morning

The Labyrinth, First Stratum: Viridescent Treetops

The sap was indeed Viridescent Sap, so the party gathered as much of it as they could. It was messy work; the stuff was too thick to flow into the waterskins but too fluid to transport without a container. After several minutes of struggling, Llwyd suggested that they gather several leaves and form them into sacks. It took a few attempts before they figured out a way to seal the makeshift containers, but they managed to gather several gallons of the sticky crafting material in the end. They even got about half of it stored away—the rest ended up all over their hands, arms, and torsos.

"Thank Birgitte for armor!" Brighid exclaimed. "This gunk would be all over my hair and fur otherwise. It is bad enough on my hands," she wiggled her bare fingers in her half-gauntlets, "I do not want to think how much washing I would need to feel clean again if it got into my fur."

Ailis snorted. "I am half-surprised that you did not pour it all over yourself just to give you an excuse to have Aidan wash you later."

Brighid made a face and protested, "Yuck, not with this stuff. Besides, all I have to do is ask, and Aidan will scrub me as much as I want. Is that not right?"

"Yes, dear," Aidan replied, drawing a raspberry from his mate. "It looks like this is all we're getting from this spot. Let's move on and see if we can make it any deeper into the Labyrinth. I'd like to get a little further before we head out to bathe and eat."

The adventurers backtracked a short distance to where the new branch overlaid the one they were on. It made a sort of ramp, rising about five feet over thirty or thirty-five feet. The path passed close enough to another tree's trunk that they could reach out and touch it; Aidan tore a strip of bark off and stuffed it in his haversack for research purposes. After a short distance, the route ended in yet another patch of oversized leaves.

"Well, that confirms it," Aidan mused, checking his hand-drawn map. "Both available paths lead to these leaf patches, so there must be some way to cross them. Does anyone have any rope? I'll volunteer to test if they'll carry our weight, since I'm the lightest, but I would feel a lot safer if I had a lifeline." He looked at Brighid. "Are you going to be able to handle this, my love?"

Aidan could see the tip of Brighid's glaive wobbling as her hands trembled, but she squared her shoulders and nodded. "I will be fine so long as you are with me." She gave him a tremulous smile.

Aidan reached up and pressed his hand to the cheek of her helmet. "Always," he promised.

"If you two lovebirds are done..." drawled Llwyd before tossing Aidan a length of rope. "Tie that around your waist and over your shoulder. I will anchor the other end." Brighid helped Aidan secure himself, and once they were satisfied with the makeshift harness, Aidan stepped up to the edge of the leaves.

"I hope this works," he muttered to himself. He extended one foot and pushed down on the leaf. It resisted his efforts, giving only a little. Aidan sucked in a deep breath, steeling himself, then shifted his weight forward and stepped onto the greenery.

When he didn't plummet down through the canopy, Aidan let out a relieved sigh. He took another tentative step, then jumped in place. The leaf shifted and bobbed beneath him, but bore his weight. He turned around to face the others and said, "Feels, well, not exactly solid, but it's holding me just fine. I would ordinarily suggest doing this one by one, but there's a lot of distance to cross, and I don't feel comfortable with any of us fighting alone. The greenway is wide enough that we can all pass in standard formation."

The centaurs exchanged glances, then Cai stepped forward. The leaf she chose sank down several inches as she placed her weight on it, but did not give way. Llwyd followed her, then Ailis, Riama, and the summons. Aidan kept an eye on the Obsidian Salamander to make sure it wasn't hot enough to burn the leaves, but it seemed safe. Then he hit himself on the forehead. "Shit, I could have just used one of the summons to test whether this would work. I feel like an idiot."

Ailis patted him on the shoulder as she passed him. "No, neither they nor your familiar weigh anywhere near enough to act as a reasonable test. Even you are light enough compared to the rest of us that, while brave, it did not prove anything."

Aidan frowned and asked, "Then why didn't you say anything?"

The silver-haired druid gave him a smirk. "Because it would have been amusing to hear you yelp if the leaf gave out from under you, and Llwyd is more than strong enough to haul you back up again."

A sharp intake of breath distracted him from pursuing that conversation any further. Brighid stood at the greenway's edge, one hoof on a leaf and the other three firmly planted on the branch. Her trembling intensified as she stared down at the greenery beneath and ahead of her. Aidan placed himself in front of her and stretched up to seize her head between his hands. "Look at me, Brighid," he commanded. "Look at my eyes." Her emerald gaze locked onto him. "I'm here with you," he continued soothingly. "Ignore everything else. It's just you and me."

Aidan moved his hands from Brighid's face to her hands and took a step back, tugging at her hands to get her to follow him. She took a tentative step forward, then another. "It's just you and me," Aidan repeated, voice gentle. He led her, stride by stride, holding her eyes and her hands, until Riama's voice spoke in his mind.

"Master, the path splits up ahead. One route curves around the tree trunk next to us, and the other continues straight ahead into a different tree."

"Rest for a moment, love." She gave him a barely-perceptible nod, eyes wide. Aidan glanced over his shoulder, taking in the situation. He couldn't take out his map to check without dropping Brighid's hands, but if he was right... "Stick to the route next to the tree. I think it's taking us back around to that potential shortcut we saw earlier," he called out to Cai and Llwyd before focusing his attention back on Brighid. "Still with me? Keep putting one foot in front of the other."

When they rounded the corner, Aidan—being the only one facing backwards—was the first to notice when the leaves at the intersection of the two paths began to wilt and drop from their stems. He struggled not to show any concern as a ten-foot-square patch of the greenway vanished into thin air. He must have betrayed some of his thoughts, though, because Brighid's voice rose as she asked, "Aidan? What is it?"

"Nothing to worry about right this second. Just keep moving forward. I've got you." Brighid's hands clamped tight around his, but she kept her eyes on him as she followed. It was slow going with Aidan walking backward, unable to look behind him. Eventually, Riama told him that he was almost to the branch, and he risked a glance down at his feet as he stepped up onto it. "And we're here," Aidan told Brighid, tugging her up after him. "That wasn't so bad, now, was it?"

"I cannot answer that until you tell me what you were hiding from me," his flame-haired lover replied, tension evident in her voice.

Aidan grimaced and said, "Well, I hope that I'm right about this being the path to what I hope is a shortcut back, because once the two of us passed the intersection, all the leaves fell out."

Brighid's face paled and she whirled in place. Aidan had to throw his hands up to protect his head from her tail, she moved so quickly. "The entire path has lost leaves," she squealed. "Oh, Birgitte, Brigantia, and Braihan, I hate this!" The others crowded around the edge, examining the path they came from. A bright shaft of sunlight speared down from above alongside the leaves, so it was easy to see now that Brighid pointed it out.

"She is right," confirmed Ailis. "The canopy is thinner along the trail we took. It still looks thick enough to bear our weight, but even I would prefer not to risk it at this point." Cai and Llwyd added their voices in assent.

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Aidan, though, had an idea. "There has to be meaning to this," he said, words slow as his mind sped ahead. "It isn't a trap, I think, or at least not one intended to catch us by surprise. I've seen puzzles like that before, where stepping on the same floor tile twice causes it to break, and you have to plot a course that lets you reach all of your objectives without running out of space to move. This was a warning that something like that is coming." He reached for Brighid's hand again, pulling at her until she turned around to face him. "For now, we can't go backward, so we have to go forward. Let's get moving."

It turned out that Aidan's memory was accurate; only a few dozen feet further down the way, just after a split that led to the right, was the gap and the vertically-oriented branch that they'd seen earlier. "Look," Llwyd said, kneeling down and pointing at its base, "the damned thing has hinges. And they are behind it, so..." He stood back up then pushed against the branch. "Oof, heavy, though. A little help here?" Cai and Brighid stepped up to help. With all three of them leaning into it, the bridge—for that is indeed what it was—shuddered and began to move. Once it was displaced enough for gravity to take hold, it slammed down with a crash, spanning the gap.

"Well, that's a relief. At least we can make it back home now." Aidan sighed. Then his eyes caught movement. "Uh, anyone else see that horde of leaves scurrying towards us at high speed?" He didn't bother waiting for a response, choosing instead to send his readied Burning Barrage careening into the mass of approaching probably-enemies. These foes were much smaller and weaker than the Tree-top Tyrant had been, though. That monstrosity had shrugged off a full salvo; these exploded into showers of gore or were flung bodily through the air by the detonations. There were dozens more right behind those, however, and they surged forward.

It wasn't much of a fight. These Emerald Swarmlings, as Aidan's combat log named them, seemed to only have one virtue of any consequence: quantity. They reminded Aidan of the Trows he and Brighid fought near Ceallach Macht so long ago as they piled in and crashed against the twin barricades presented by Cai and Llwyd. Their defensive specialization proved its worth by preventing even a single insect from making it past them. That provided the perfect opportunity for Aidan to launch ranged spells into a bunched-up group of enemies and Brighid to use her reach to savage their ranks. Even Riama got in on the action, darting out from between the centaurs' legs to seize a bug by the back of the head and crush the life out of them every time her Steal Destiny cooldown came up.

Maybe the fight's outcome would have been different if the Swarmlings had been able to press the advantage of their numbers to surround the party. Forced to advance unsupported over the bridge and into a defensive position with heavy artillery backup, however, they fared no better than any other army ever has in similar circumstances. The battle lasted longer than the one against the Tyrant, but the outcome was never in any doubt.

Aidan Lostlorn's party has earned 7,700 experience for killing 154 Emerald Swarmlings.

You have earned an additional 62 experience from Stolen Destiny.

You have earned an additional 77 experience from Novice rank in Animamancy.

"Perfect!" Aidan exclaimed after they finished sorting through the ichor-splattered remnants of the swarm. "Brighid, you can make the escape tokens now, right?"

She nodded. "Yes, I should be able to make several now, and we only need one for the whole party to escape. I am not sure how long the process will take, though. Does this mean—"

"Yes," Aidan interrupted her, "we can leave now. I'm happy with our progress, and there's no reason to push our luck by exploring more without any escape tokens. Besides, I think we all need a bath at this point."

"I accept your kind offer," Ailis said with a smirk and a glint in her eye.

"Told you," added Riama.

Aidan

Early Afternoon

Labyrinth Portal Gallery, Caer Macht, Mistvale Highlands

The party emerged from the portal into the dimly-lit pillared hall. Sarpedon was waiting for them, still as a statue in the center of the chamber. "Ah, Lord Aidan, you return. I hope your first excursion went well?"

"Yes, I think so. I called the trip short because we discovered something that will make exploration safer in the future, but we needed to leave to make use of it."

"An escape token manual?"

Aidan blinked at the gargoyle, then frowned. "Yes. I am growing irritated at the secrets you choose to keep from me, Sarpedon."

"Forgive me, Lord Aidan," he said, bowing low. "It has been quite some time since I last adventured in the Labyrinth. When you live as long as I have, sorting and storing away memories becomes crucial to staying sane. The tokens will be useful to you, but would knowing about them have changed anything in your approach this morning?"

Aidan was forced to shake his head. "No, I suppose not."

"I could not even be sure that you would be the ones to find the manual. They usually go to the first party to reach a particular stratum from each Labyrinth entrance, but not always." Sarpedon waved a granite hand through the air in dismissal. "If you wish to discuss this more later, I am at your disposal, Lord Aidan. At the moment, however, you should know that you have guests waiting for you in the plaza outside."

"Guests?" Aidan asked, puzzled. "Who...?"

"A delegation of harpies from the Ash Shroud Sisterhood, I believe," the gargoyle answered. "They wish to discuss matters of state with you."

Zurai

Current map of the Viridescent Treetops:

(thanks to ZTWilgy for the awesome map graphics! Mine was just an Excel sheet)

Special thanks to Cenomy, Orange, and Somedude for their exceptional support on Patreon!

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