Chapter 65: The Greenhouse
Alabaster
“Darius!” Alley called over his shoulder to his friend who was now outside the glass building. “I don’t think we can leave just yet.” Alley had managed to crush the head of one of the spear-armed skeletons. First, he had tripped the creature with his chain and then stomped on its head until it exploded. It would eventually pull itself back together, but for now, Alley was able to arm himself with its spear.
“You are fucking killing me right now Alley.” Came the frustrated yell back. “ Harpoon Rain!”
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Harpoon Rain
Resonance: Pursuit
Requires a spear or javelin type weapon
Create two copies of the player's weapon on either side of the original. Copies will mirror the original's speed and trajectory for fifteen seconds before vanishing.
His temporary spears created the redheaded hunter turned and began carving his way back into the building he had just fought so hard to escape.
Hardly the savant of spearwork that his friend was, Alley nevertheless had plenty of practice with the basics of the weapon. He had grown up with the Knots family for half the year, every year. It would be almost impossible to have not picked up something. Still, even armed and no longer being poisoned by the spore cloud Alley knew he could only hold out inside the glass building for so long before being overwhelmed.
He couldn’t just abandon the now whimpering girl though. Not only was helping her clearly the right thing to do, but Alley was almost certain she was connected to his Deck somehow. It was the same girl he and Darius had seen striding across the waves of The Silver Sea, and more than that all signs pointed to her being the source of the gravelly voice that ever so occasionally spoke to him. She didn’t sound like that now, but she had moments earlier.
“What is it? And what is that sound?” Panted Darius after he utterly annihilated a group of the Plant infected zombies.
Alley who had slipped deep into thought while looking at the Undeath Crystals sprouting like fruit from the tree, vaguely gestured to the ethereal teen girl who was presently pinned by the beams of Undeath Resonance.
“Huh?..Oh Shit! Is that the girl from the boat?”
“Yeah it is, and we have to save her.” Replied Alley almost absentmindedly.
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“Of..Course we do.” Sighed the hunter. “ Just tell me what you need.”
“The tree is hurting her, the tree is also playing Cards.” Illustrating the point a strange-looking dryad was manifested, its leafy hair hanging limp and dead above what could only be described as rotting bark flesh.
“If you can get me to the tree I might be able to Challenge it…maybe.” Even to himself, Alley didn’t sound confident.
Darius raised an eyebrow but didn’t object. Instead he narrowed his eyes and scanned the root covered battlefield.
“Okay, okay I can make that happen, but stay close.”
As though they could hear and comprehend the words that the boys shared the Undead both ‘alive’ and Manifested pulled back into a defensive formation to protect the tree-woman.
“Uh-Huh” Said both simultaneously. If nothing else it was a good sign that Alley’s hastily constructed plan had some merit to it.
Knowing that waiting wasn’t going to make this any easier, the pair began their assault. Without any discussion, the boys targeted their attack on the portion of the defensive line that was mostly zombies. While neither slow nor all that shambling, they were easily the weakest link in the chain.
Especially when compared to the Bone Golem, or the various Undead Faekin that the tree woman had Manifested.
A few steps behind his hunter friend Alley clutched the spear he was holding in one hand while he prepared himself for a bit of acrobatics.
“Boost me”
It was a command Darius had already expected so he abandoned the range advantage and ploughed directly into the defenders. Both boys had originally hoped to use their superior agility to cross the distance to the tree without having to fight their way through the almost twenty monsters.
They still intended to avoid most of the creatures, this new plan just required Darius to bleed a little more to achieve it. A split second before he collided with a zombie the hunter bent and turned his shoulder into the charge. Knowing that was his cue, Alley leaped forward feet hitting Darius’ back. The dark haired boy ran up his friend as the hunter’s momentum was arrested by his collision with the rotting monster.
Alley’s momentum was not arrested, quite the opposite as he launched off the back of Darius’ shoulders and flew over the defensive line of monsters. The tree and the woman growing out of it rose before him a mere few feet away. He wasn’t sure if he needed to touch the woman directly or if just the trunk would do, but Alley only needed a second or two and it wouldn’t matter.
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Aegis Of Thorns
Resonance: Bloom
Land Manipulation Spell
Cost: 1 Vial
While this spell remains in play the first attack your opponent makes each turn costs the attacking Creature 1 Vitality. If this effect destroys the attacking Creature the attack is negated.
A wall of twisting branches with savage thorns the size of shortswords extending out from them exploded from the ground. From floor to ceiling, they extended, forming a nearly impenetrable barrier between Alley and the tree.
The boy who was still mid-leap felt his eyes go wide, and then squeeze shut as he did his best to prepare himself for the collision. Managing to twist just enough that he avoided being impaled by one of the enormous thorns, Alley still bounced painfully off what he could only describe as a spiky wooden vine.
Crashing to the ground, Alley tried to quickly recover but found himself being stomped down at by a Manifested rotting dryad thing with 1100 Power and 1 Vitality. Desperately rolling out of the way Alley was struck by a spark of sudden inspiration, unlike all the other interesting ideas that had occurred to him today in the middle of various fights. Alley actually had an opportunity to test his theory here and now.
Lashing out he grabbed ahold of one of the countless roots that permeated the glass structure’s floor like dark infected veins.
“I Challenge you?”