Chapter 43: Chapter 43: How High Does the Sycamore Grow?

The soft rustling of leaves in the dense underbrush of the dangerous woods outside the city of Aedar was the only sound of two students and their teacher made as they galloped along the forest floor. The bread and butter of adventurer’s magic, the trio of protective spells covering sight, smell and sound, hiding all but the most obscure notices of their passing.

Sensing their mentor leap upwards the apprentices jumped up after her. The gigantic tree trunk providing countless footholds for them to rush up. They found the tall woman unencumbered by spells sitting on her haunches, glaring at the horizon as if it had wronged her.

“Be prepared.” Axia muttered, after they had uncloaked.

Ursula rested against the crook of the tree, Sophia reclining in her lap only moments after.

“So, what’s up for today?” Sophia asked.

“Wolf manamal,” The master blacksmith huffed, receiving a thoughtful frown in return.

“Again? That’s what, the fourth now in the last month?” Ursula remarked.

The buff blacksmith grunted in acknowledgement and continued to scan the forest down below, “Tracks – we’re nearby. I’ll be watching.” With a muted flare of magic her presence vanished from their sight.

They both activated their armour summoning necklaces and in an instant Ursula was covered in full plate, a large sword cradled in a holster on her back and her shield strapped to her arm, all of the pieces a dull-grey, brown steel. Sophia’s bow appeared around her torso accompanied by her chainmail – her arms, legs and head free to move but only protected by hard leather.

After casting the adventurer’s trio of spells, they leapt off the branch landing on the forest floor a few moments later with nary a sound as the magic absorbed their movements momentum.

They both focused inwards and began to harmonise their souls stopping at the last possible moment – the mana drain just a small trickle. They then fanned out form the location their senses hyper focused on their surroundings and the bed of decomposing leaves beneath them, the scent of earth and the faintest hint of ash filling their noses.

Ursula completed their internal connection broadcasting her position and saying, ‘Over here.’ Before ending it.

They both knelt to see a few small patches of disturbed leaves their noses picking up the faintest hint of ash and a metallic tang in the air and on the ground – blood.

Compared to their first foray into the forest their movements were much slower, delicately weaving in and out of the undergrowth like whispers, not even disturbing even the smallest flora that dotted their green and brown path.

Every so often their souls would resonate for a microsecond to transmit their location to each other, their mana reserves barely dipping due to their conservative use.

The odour of blood gradually overcome the other scents of the forest until it was all they could smell, big heavy splotches littering the ground dyeing it a deep red colour. Finally, they peaked around the trunk of a tree and saw the wolf.

The manamal was standing in a small clearing, huffing huge gulps of air as it swayed in place on its paws as if the act of standing was the greatest feat it could achieve. Blood was oozing out of wounds that covered its emaciated frame and after only a few seconds it slumped to the ground, its chest stilled.

‘I’ll look,’ Ursula sent.

The tall elf tool a few steps forward, shield at the ready, and poked the wolf with her sword. The sharpened metal parted the flesh with ease – the manamal was dead. Taking a closer look at the corpse, Ursula found several puncture wounds, the fur surrounding the holes matted with red ichor.

‘Head back,’ Sophia commanded, flashing her partner with a small burst of worry.

Without preamble Ursula cut off one of its ears and then they turned and left the area, the smell of blood vanishing as soon as they left the manamal’s vicinity.

Only to hear the sickening crunch of bones being crushed emanate from behind them.

Sophia’s pupils narrowed, ‘Where’s the blood?!’

The dark sticky puddles of iron rich fluid had disappeared, leaving only the dank dark earth of the forest floor.

Taking even more care in the movements they circled back around, finding the wolf gone a tree nearby marking where it once lay – the only proof of it still having existed sitting within one of Ursula’s pockets.

The singing of birds and the buzzing of small insects had ceased, with nothing to drown it out all that remained was the seemingly loud whistling of the wind through the trees.

And then one of the trees blinked.

A palpable bright red aura oozed from its form, dyeing its surroundings a dull maroon. A loud crack a fissure appeared in its bark followed by another, and another, until a black maw opened up in its trunk – its teeth looking like a bear trap made of iron hard wood.

Its roots unfurled from the ground parting the earth like water to reveal a dried-out husk of fur in the shape of a ball. Almost negligently it tossed the husk into its mouth letting out a sub audible groan of contentment, the pair feeling the thrum in their bodies as the red aura grew murkier.

‘Fight?’ Sophia asked.

A flash of approval was sent back through, ‘Caesium.’

Keeping the link open, Sophia unslung her recurve bow from around her chest and conjured the same arrow she had formed in her dream all those years ago. A simple feather fletched arrow, the only difference being a large hermetically sealed glass sphere at its tip, the insides stuffed with silvery metal.

Notching the arrow her thin arms pulled at the string in one smooth motion, pulling it back until the cord laid a featherlight kiss on her smooth cheek.

Breathe in and out-

-The arrow zipped from the bow; the shear force imparted on it making it look like a flash of brown as it screamed through the air. It landed with a crack as the glass shattered exposing the super reactive metal to the air.

Boom!

The Ent’s mouth couldn’t make a sound, but its movements more than made up to it. The thunderous rumbling of the earth and rock as its roots flailed about capable of drowning out a jet engine. Scrambling away the elfin teens could see the back of the living tree’s head had been completely blown away allowing them to peer through into the forest behind it.

The tree’s red aura flared the bright red colour shifting towards the darker hue of blood and then almost fading from sight as wood grew back and stitched the huge hole back together. Now healed, the desperate flailing of its roots calmed to a much more calculating whipping pattern. Sending the prehensile masses of plant matter skimming across the floor to catch its dastardly assailant.

‘You got enough for another?’ Ursula asked through the link.

‘Yes, but after a few more spells I’d faint from mana exhaustion.” The blonde elf explained.

‘The old-fashioned way then…’ The blacksmith trailed off with a smirk.

Ursula paused for a moment as a blue Bunsen burner like flame erupted from her palm, in seconds it was the size of a basketball and then a bathtub. The Ent turned its malevolent gaze upon the fireball and sent its roots towards it.

She compressed the spell and sent it out like a shooting star, the bright blue marble colliding with the tree with a giant burst of fire sending splinters of wood cascading out of the area. But the Ent’s roots continued undeterred slamming into Ursula. But the elf was not sent flying back, her previously cast magical protections absorbing the blow and giving off a faint glow, but she did stumble in place.

‘Fuck! That was half my mana!’ Ursula screamed internally as she was forced to drop her currently active magical enhancements.

Seeing a possible target the roots swarmed towards the uncovered teen like torpedoes, seemingly hundreds bursting out of the ground with a shower of coarse earth.

The young blacksmith sprung backwards narrowly dodging most of the tendrils and taking the rest on her shield. The blows still strong enough to send her sliding back toward a sturdy tree. She braced for impact and yet when her back contacted the bark, the wood gave way with a withered puff of fetid air.

Losing structural support, the giant tree tumbled over, the rest of it impacting with a muffled whump as it disintegrated into a fine powder.

The other roots struck other trees within the clearing with dull thuds, in only a few seconds the sturdy vibrant forms withered and curled in on themselves, the nutrients travelling back into the Ent and returning some of the lost aura.

Her blonde companion meanwhile was still invisible to the monster’s senses, watching closely as it parted the earth in front of it to chase after its prey.

Raising her bow once more she prepped her next spell arrow, “Gods I hope it’s like a normal tree.” She muttered.

The bowstring sang once more as the arrow sent flying away. When it neared the trunk, it started to glow with a dazzling silver leaving a solid beam of light as a trail. Sophia watched anxiously as it then spiralled around the truck and then disappeared leaving a spring like structure behind made of solid light.

The manamal sent a few roots to fend off the spell only to have the offending limbs sliced off.

With a mental command the coil tightened, stopping imperceptibly at the Ent’s aura and then biting deep within the wooden flesh of the tree, effectively ringing it. Like a puppet with its strings cut the roots slumped to the ground.

The tree’s glowing red scowl turned balefully towards the origin of Sophia’s deadly arrow as more of its aura was consumed to heal the damage.

Recognising the success of her last attack Sophia shot another, the tree helpless as another spiral of marks scored itself into its wood. The deep red haze it had cloaked itself in now reduced to a faint mist.

Ursula returned to the fight with a vengeance, her Zwei hander glowing white hot as she plunged the blade into the tree between its red eyes, burning away the wood with a flash of heat. Yet the tree manamal continued to struggle, desperately shaking in place as its wounds healed at a snail’s pace.

Like a lumberjack Ursula swung her sword like an axe and sheared through the base of the tree sending it toppling with a ginormous crash, the sheer weight of the trunk causing a small, localised earthquake, its green leaves sent fluttering away.

Yet the tree continued to struggle, a small root wiggling through its cauterised base and digging down into the muddy earth.

‘It’s still going! We need to find its power source or something!’ Sophia screamed through their link.

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Like a chef chopping a vegetable, Ursula dropped her blade down repeatedly, smoking billowing up from the charred wood, creating a row of thin carbonised slices until finally she uncovered a pulsating red mana gem halfway between its face and its base. Thick strands of fibrous material latched on and feeding the tree with reddish mana.

With a deft swipe of her sword the gem was cut free, finally ceasing the vibrating movements of the Ent.

‘That was a little too easy.’ Sophia commented.

‘I was sent flying… again!’ Ursula glowered, her frustration deepening as she felt a twinge of amusement from across the bond.

“We have to go.” The gruff voice of Axia was heard through Ursula’s ears, transmitting to Sophia.

Before they could protest, she pulled them in and sprinted away, an elf beneath each arm. Axia travelled at a breakneck pace, to the duo however, the cool forest winds feeling like icy knives stabbing into their faces. Before they could even think to conjure a protective barrier, they found themselves at the top of a tree.

“Look.” The master blacksmith ordered.

Sophia dropped her spells, “How’d you see me?” She grumbled.

Axia shot her a sharp glare, “Later. Look.”

“Oh shit.” The expletive slipped out of Sophia’s mouth.

A huge line spanned their entire enhanced elven vision. To the south was a swath of forest, vibrant greenery reaching high for the heavens. Yet to the north was a barren ashy wasteland, the line advanced inexorably as trees were toppled over every second or two and crumbled into dust. The oozing red aura of countless Ent’s filling the air with a choking miasma.

At the head of this devastating charge was a giant monstrosity of a tree. Unlike its smaller counterparts, its limbs were completely barren of all greenery, its dull grey exterior was gnarled and pockmarked with small holes that occasionally leaked droplets of blood red sap which crystallised into a red pulsating mana gem.

Most of the gems sunk into the ashy earth, the trio spying a small sapling forming in the earth after a few seconds. Others were flung deep into the forest by the alpha Ent and beginning their own rampage.

“This wasteland is exactly like the dream.” Sophia whispered in horrified awe.

“Arne is on his way – you two leave.” Their teacher commanded.

Ursula gulped, “What about you?”

Their teacher’s skin took on a glossy motel red hue, mana surging within her, “Fight. Don’t get in the way this time.”

Pure unadulterated power.

It was as if the sun had suddenly uncloaked itself in front of the elven teens, Axia’s mana exploded into their senses, her mere overwhelming presence of mana warming them up to an uncomfortable temperature.

Axia flew up high into the sky, looking like a beautiful shining star. One moment there was a line of Ent’s, the next there was a wall of intense white fire killing hundreds and severely charring several thousand. The intensity of the flames then dropped to a dull golden flicker pausing the advance of the beasts.

“GO!” Axia screamed, barely dodging out of the way of several hundred roots hunting her down.

Countless hours of intense drilling forced a reaction out of Ursula, she swept Sophia up into her arms, reinforced her body with magic, and bounded away – the branch below her shredded into splinters from the force.

Like a switch had been flipped, they both noticed the countless number of trees that had been sucked clean of life mere shadows of what they once were.

Roots snaked their way through the grass to obstruct the super quick movements, all that came close burning to a crisp from Ursula’s flame magic. Yet she could feel herself flagging, her mana volume while extremely advanced for her age still not strong enough to support so much use.

As her partner’s breaths became more laboured, Sophia joined their souls and felt a deep fatigue leech through and settle through her body. The only thought she could detect was a single-minded focus on herself, valiantly trying to ignore the deep-seated tiredness.

The blonde gathered her mana and pushed it towards their internal connection, silently praying to the gods for a miracle. What she did not understand was her own mana while in this connected state was of the exact same wavelength allowing for the mana to be sent through but with huge inefficiencies.

The running elf nearly stopped when she felt Sophia go limp in her arms, the small influx of mana she had felt tapering off. Her arms were still able to detect a heartbeat, so she soldiered on.

A few minutes into the mana fuelled sprint she heard the characteristic crack of air as the sound barrier was broken as a gleaming object soared past headed straight for the Alpha Ent.

The closer they moved to the city the fewer and younger Ent’s there were, the auburn-haired woman was so fatigued however, she was able to barely dodge though the scramble of thin roots. Finally bursting through to the flat fields of grass in front of the walls.

Nearing the guards, Ursula shouted out to them, forcing to take a deep breath between each sentence, “Ents! In the woods – so many. Alpha Ent.”

Seeing the two girls that had been going outside the walls for several weeks madly scrambling back not to mention the headmaster leaving moments prior, the guards decided to err on the side of caution.

“Inside NOW!” They roared, pushing a person who had just passed through back the way they came.

As soon as the teens entered a thick stone slab slammed home behind them, each moment the people inside the tunnel cleared an area another block would fall, rattling the occupants to their bones.

The last slab that fell was accompanied by a large bright flash of magic as the huge stone bricks seamlessly integrated back into the wall.

A guard with a small golden insignia on his left shoulder dropped down from the sky next to Ursula, “What the fuck is going on?!”

“We were after a wolf manamal, then it was killed by an Ent, then we killed the Ent and then Axia showed us the line. The line of Ents spanned the entire forest. There were countless numbers of them headed off by one that was spawning more!” Ursula explained rapidly.

Colour drained from the captain’s face, “N-No matter, we’re safe here behind the walls.”

Whump. Whump.

Two red gems flew over the wall and sunk into the ground beneath their feet. The grass they were standing on shifted from green to yellow and then to black ash as three small saplings formed.

“Sir, you need to kill them now!” Ursula shouted, sincerely wishing she had mana to fight.

But when she turned back to the armoured man, he was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh, for fucks sake.”

A wave of magic spread over the area as the earth convulsed and spat the gems back out.

“Gods that family is a bunch of pansies.” A familiar voice complained.

“Eyvor!” Ursula cried. She tried taking a step towards the new arrival, but her legs gave way.

Her sister rushed to catch them both, “It’s okay, Arne’s told me everything. That earth mage I was talking to you about a while back is here as well.”

A small male gnome gave Ursula a shy wave as he pocketed the two red mana gems.

The mana exhaustion that she had been staving off for several minutes began to take its hold, black creeped into her vision and then she was asleep.

Eyvor sighed, “Come on Rocky. We need to get them somewhere safe.”

“My name is not Rocky!” The gnome squeaked in reply. “It’s Robert Oscar Keller!”

“Sounds like rock to me,” The woman quipped.

With a growl that sounded more like a whine due to his small stature, Robert picked the pair up with some earth and floated them up behind him.

Whump. Whump. Whump.

With another quick pulse of magic another three gems join the two in his satchel.

“Might be an idea for you to take them E.” The gnome wryly commented.

Eyvor nodded and set up her own floating spell, “Stay safe Rob.” She said as she ran off, red gems beginning to rain down from the sky.

The small man grinned, “Easy.”

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