Chapter XXXIX
Consequences
Adria and Corven felt the concrete crumble beneath their feet as they fled through broken hallways behind the harbor’s offices, reminiscent of a previously fought war. After changing their route twice, they stumbled upon a path through the debris of a broken ceiling, illuminated by the morning sun. Climbing over it, they left the half destructed building behind, escaping the harbor through an unplanned exit and returning to the forest alive for a few hundred meters into the jungle until everything turned dry in the dead forest.
“That’s the first time I've been glad to see a gevurah,” Corven remarked, catching his breath in the depths of the woods.
There was no trail to follow, yet they pressed on through the petrified trees.
“You don’t like the Fifth?” Adria asked, intrigued.
“The Sephirot branch that forced us here? No, I don’t enjoy encounters with gevuriots,” he replied, his tone hinting at deep-seated resentment. “Why, do you approve of them?”
The question exasperated her. “Of course I do! She saved us. And you're not in any position to disapprove of them, especially when all this mess is your fault, Corven!”
Guilt was written all over his face, a torturous reflection of his inner turmoil.
“You seem so sure of your opinions, yet you keep failing, surviving by sheer luck,” she didn’t hold back, her voice sharp.
“Are you okay? You’re being pretty harsh.” he replied, wounded by her words.
“It’s anxiety. I will handle it, sorry. But stop criticizing those who don’t deserve it. You're blind to the fact that the real problem here is you, and it’s infuriating.”
“You might be right. I’m a parasite of society, hell, in here we all are, the why do we worry so much about going back?,” Corven conceded, unable to deny the truth. “
At a distance, two white figures engaged in a fierce battle within a dark sphere. The gevurah appeared to be toying with Gorbat, matching his level of combat while demonstrating superior agility.
Adria's nerves were frayed, her senses heightened by the realization of her recent failure and near-death experience. If the gevurah had arrived any later, she would have been decapitated on the luxurious superyacht's wooden floor. Reflecting on their precarious situation, she was grateful to be alive.
Despite everything, Corven’s spirit had proved indomitable that day. She recognized the potential in keeping the extarri close.
“We’re going to Negativus. I can take better control of our situation there,” she decided.
Behind them, a massive crystalline explosion echoed from the port, followed by the unsettling sound of collapsing structures.
“I’m glad we got out of there.”
“We’re still in danger here. Let’s keep moving,” Adria urged.
*****
The gevurah delivered relentless blows through the wreckage, denying her opponent any chance to recover. She cornered Gorbat, following the shrinking radius of the altnoc. Reaching him, she kicked his head and slammed him to the ground, pressing his body against the wreckage until the cement broke apart. The altnoc sealed him in, restoring normalcy to their surroundings, except for the umbra leader, buried under a ton of concrete, motionless.
Zanda paused, fearing she might have killed him. Her altnoc lost its effect a moment later. The fight seemed over, yet T.H.I.C. would have indicated something about his vitals if that were the case. Gorbat remained still, the debris falling onto the mountain of concrete covering his body, only some extremities left untouched.
A realization struck her. Acting right away, she smashed the merkabah beneath her, obliterating it.
Just as she feared, Gorbat wasn’t there.
The merkabah had been a decoy, a cocoon mimicking his vitals.
“Gia?” she murmured, realizing the altnoc had captured a vessel, her stomach knotting with anxiety.
****
"How will we get to Negativus?" Corven's concern grew in the enveloping silence.
"There should be a passage nearby. The dead forest was habitable thirty years ago; some passages might still function. We need to find one," Adria responded, her tone indifferent.
"How can we search here? It's a vast forest; this could take hours! We don't have that time!" His frustration was evident.
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"Furkano! And here I thought I was the anxious one," Adria’s annoyance grew. "It's embarrassing to see you underestimate yourself so much. Unlike you, I'm familiar with navigating Dictaduria and Imperia, a knowledge I've earned over seven years. You have much to learn, Corven, follow and learn," she retorted. Detaching her borocane from her back, she pulled out a translucent crystaphere from an inner pocket.
"Whatever. If only I had such tools..." Corven muttered, irritation evident.
"But you don't. So, deal with it," Adria said as she tossed the small sphere into the air and struck it with her cane, sending it flying. The crystaphere left a glowing trail of light particles. "There. As long as you're with me, we'll manage. That crystaphere will lead us to the nearest entrance."
"You're in charge," Corven conceded, any previous doubts dissipating. He followed the new trail, relieved.
Adria trailed behind, reassured by their regained control of the situation.
The atmosphere was oppressive; the earth was damp, warm, and toxic.
Both navigated through the dead forest, guided by the soft glow of the light particles, passing skeletons and remnants of old structures. Upon reaching a higher vantage point, visibility improved.
Corven saw the particles gathering above a rock formation a few hundred meters ahead. Rushing ahead, he reached the summit before Adria.
"It's just a rock! What's the secret? Should we break it?" he exclaimed, striking it with his fist to no avail.
Wincing in pain, Corven cradled his broken hand.
Adria chuckled at the lack of logic in his brain. She approached the rock, lifting it without effort, revealing it to be an illusion.
Astonished, Corven circled the revealed hatch, just as a sudden noise pierced the silence.
Gorbat, empowered by the illicit merkabah, ambushed Adria with brutal force, braking bones. He slammed her against a petrified tree where a branch perforates her left shoulder, where she is left hanging, bleeding. Unable to move.
"THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" Gorbat seethed with fury.
As Adria lost consciousness, the leader of the umbras directed his wrath towards Corven. "This disaster was all for you. You're as manipulative as I am! I hope you're ready for much more pain," he sneered, advancing on Corven, strangling him and breaking his right hand’s fingers with a cruel twist.
He choked and screamed, the pain was excruciating. Gorbat laughed.
The gevurah intervened, tackling Gorbat with overwhelming force, sending him crashing through the forest, away from the scene, breaking through the trees on their path.
Corven fell to the ground, overwhelmed by pain. He needed to reach Adria and avoid the collapsing petrified trees. Suspended and unconscious, the woman’s condition worsened by the second, her life hanging in the balance. Scarlet red liquid dripping from her ripped shirt.
He rushed towards Adria. Her body was suspended so high that he could only reach her thighs. Wrapping his arms around her legs, he lifted, alleviating her body weight from the impaling branch. She flickered back to consciousness, grimacing in agony.
He needed to devise a method to safely lower her. Understanding the peril, Corven realized he couldn't just pull her off the branch; it needed to break without causing her further harm. Stretching his left arm as far as possible, he fumbled inside her coat, searching for a crystaphere that could help him among various items, a task made difficult by their position.
Without a notice, a wave of hot air enveloped them. The gevurah had returned, solitary.
Corven sighed in relief, still clutching to Adria’s legs. The Fifth's agent approached and, transforming her hand into a blade, she sliced through the branch cleanly.
A fragment of Gia detached from the merkabbalah, forming a quartz crybine vessel that gently supported Adria's body. As she was lowered to the ground, Corven stepped back to give them room.
Blood was everywhere, and she continued to lose more by the second. Zanda, employing an ultrasonic beam from her hand, disintegrated the remnants of the branch with precision. A purple substance then seeped from her suit, covering the wound and dissolving any lingering fragments like acid, leaving the injury pristine and initiating regeneration. She transferred Vis energy to Adria, and after a few struggling moments, the wound healed, her heart rate steadied.Top of Form
"Blood supply increasing," Zanda confirmed on her crystasleeve as color returned to Adria’s cheeks. Relieved, she settled and assessed Corven's condition through her T.H.I.C.
They were both safe. Now, the gevurah could conclude her unfinished business.
Adria awoke, disoriented and frightened. Zanda was about to leave.
"You need to get out of here, get into that conduct. I can't risk your lives any further," said the crystal-clad woman, her merkabah glowing with crimson reflections of sunlight.
"What's your name, gevurah?" Adria inquired, a pressing need amidst the chaos and pain.
"Zanda Effenzi," she responded before soaring away.
Left alone, Adria and Corven processed the whirlwind of the past twenty minutes, their breathing and nerves calming with the passing of time.
"Let's go," She stated, feeling an echo of pain from the healed wound, a reminder of the ordeal. They needed to reach Negativus.
Corven, looking relieved, nodded. Together, they approached the deceptive rock formation once more.
The sky transitioned from purple to blue, the morning sunlight beginning to warm their surroundings, which remained eerily silent except for the crunch of dry earth under their feet, a carpet of dead leaves, branches, roots, and scattered bones.
Reaching the entrance to a cylindrical slide that descended into the earth, they shared a knowing glance about who would descend first.
Accepting his reality, Corven stepped in and slid down, followed by Adria, each plunging into the insides of Negativus, to safety.
****
That's it for Chapter XXXIX!
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