Boom!
Jerome was knocked aside by a huge root but he flipped through the air and landed on both feet. He created shallow gullies with his feet as the force from the hit still carried him backward while on the ground.
“That’s gonna hurt,” Bram said, blocking a vine with a small shield. He reached out with his sword and cut the edge of the vine before it slithered away.
Jerome spewed fire on the vines burning them in extreme heat but the vines seemed to heal themselves. The flames didn’t last long before dying out. He did it again and the vines caught fire. This time, he made the flames hotter. The flames spread all around them turning orange in color as it burned the vines in front of them.
“Did you notice that,” Jerome said.
“What should I be noticing?” Selene asked.
“This!” Jerome said, gesturing with his hands spread apart. His helmet melted away from his head and merged with the rest of his armor. Selene looked at the burning vines around them. Her teammates lowered their weapons and looked around as well.
“The attack stopped!” Selene exclaimed.
“Just for the duration the flames are burning the vines,” Jerome said and lit up the forest again. He extended Suzie and cut out a path in front of them, burning everything on their path as they exited the enclosure.
“I guess the vines are not as omnipotent as they seem,” Trudhorn said. “But we might not be able to endure the heat from your flame for long, Jerome.”
“Bear with it,” Jerome said. “If I reduce the intensity, we’re in trouble. Except we fly outta here.” Which’ll burn through their essence like water in a basket.
They continued on for a while in the heat of Jerome’s flame. Jerome settled into a routine, lighting up the vines in their path and cutting them up with Suzie. This continued for a while longer than he expected. There was no end in sight. It was as if the vines had adopted a new strategy, putting as many obstacles in his path until he tired himself out.
Jerome was starting to get tired. He could feel his head pounding and vertigo was beginning to take hold. He shook his head and concentrated on his goal. His core was running low and anytime now he would be unable to produce a single spark of flame.
“I’m almost out guys,” he called out.
~~~
Selene
Jerome had done so much for them, a simple thank you could not express how she felt in her heart. Selene put her hand on his back and tapped twice, expressing her gratitude. Everyone continued in silence and soon Jerome’s flames became noticeably weaker.
The vines seemed to sense this too and started to move in that slow, eerie manner around them, gathering themselves to attack. Everyone began preparing for a battle. Jerome had stalled the vines long enough…long enough for them to recover some strength.
Jerome’s feet faltered and he fell. His flames sputtered out. Selene quickly caught him and took off running. The team of Sprouts ran alongside her and Trudhorn reached out to relieve Selene of Jerome’s weight.
“He must have been a lot more tired than he let on,” Selene said as she looked around.
The heat from the flames had died down and the smoke had dispersed a lot. Just before the vines attacked, a stranger shot forward ahead of them and sliced through the vines cutting a path for them. Another joined him, a female Sprout. And they both cut a path through the vines.
More Sprouts walked up to them and one very arrogant one stopped beside Selene.
“You owe me for this, Itakar,” Hedon said and walked away.
Selene observed Hedon Alvric for a while but said nothing. She was grateful for the timely help, but she knew how this particular Alvric was. More than that she feared for Jerome.
“Why is it they showed up after Jerome passed out?” Trudhorn asked, unable to keep the scorn from his voice.
“They’ve probably been trailing us for a while now,” Nia said.
Everyone looked at her as if expecting her to explain herself.
“I said probably,” she defended.
What Nia said may not be far from the truth, but everyone knew Hedon Alvric. His pride wouldn’t let him allow another to take center stage when it came to playing power games like this.
“Who knows,” Selene said. “Make sure to keep an eye on him and his people. They must not come near Jerome.”
“He has three Sprouts less than we do,” Ajax said. “We have the advantage of numbers.”
“Do not underestimate him, nor his folks,” someone said.
They walked on behind the Alvrics, keeping a distance of a few paces between them. The speed at which they progressed could not be compared to when Jerome was in the lead. The Alvric Sprouts were doing their best though, and after a long, long time they became too exhausted to continue.
“We’ll take over. And I owe you nothing, Alvric,” Selene said as she and her team walked past the Alvrics.
Hedon Alvric couldn’t help but glare at her. She felt him ready to bark back at her, but someone put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
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“They’re not stupid,” The Sprout who held him back said, shaking his head. Selene smiled at that. These Alvrics had no idea what they were messing with.
“Watch them, Murray,” Hedon said, shifting his gaze to the Sprout carrying Jerome.
They continued behind her team as her team did behind them, switching places when one team got tired. This way they were able to cover a very long distance without stopping, resting in between shifts.
Selene had someone keep an eye on the vines they had walked past to see if there was evidence of movement. It wouldn’t be nice if they were attacked from behind. But she soon found out that her concerns were unnecessary.
They continued on and to their delight, the essence in the air started becoming denser. The Sprouts sped up their efforts with renewed vigor decimating the vines in front of them as they moved. The vines had also grown noticeably weaker as the ambient essence grew denser.
Both teams spared no effort as they went all out. Clearing the way until they burst out of the forest into a valley filled with world essence. The sky was brighter here, not exactly daylight, but there were spots through which sunlight could be seen and clouds almost as black as night fought for control over the sky.
“What the fuck?!” Nia exclaimed in anger as she looked ahead. The rest of her teammates followed her gaze and they couldn’t help but glare at what they saw. They all felt like they had wasted their time and effort. Selene felt like she had wasted her time and effort.
“No matter what direction we take, the Tower of Solon will always be in front of us,” someone reiterated Selene’s words from before.
“It’s different somehow though,” Trudhorn said.
“The haze we saw around it the last time is gone,” Tega, the Sprout who lost his scouting partner, Darryn, said.
“Then this must be the real tower,” Selene said. Everyone concluded that the Tower of Solon they saw before was just a mirage and maybe the one standing in front of them now is the real one. They trudged forward on tired feet toward the tower to find where they could rest.
~~~
Trudhorn
The dark walls of the tower loomed in the not-so-far distance. At this point in time everyone was extremely fatigued as the excitement from the fight, and the rush they felt from the fear of losing their lives had died down.
Trudhorn looked behind him to see the situation with the Alvrics. His team had discussed observing the Alvrics until they found somewhere safe to keep Jerome away from potential danger. The Alvrics were eyeing the Sprout on Bram’s shoulders like a piece of meat. He knew what was in store for Jerome if they ever get their hands on him in such a state.
The Alvrics had always followed the old ways. They were slave owners, refusing to give up their ownership over human life. No one talks about it — not even the Royal Family. It would only cause war in Vorthe if such practices were openly discussed with the intention to mar their reputation, so Vorthe banned open conversation about slavery.
Itakar had stopped the practice of warring and capturing slaves when Vorthe came to power; as did the Baelors. Trudhorn didn’t know about Fei. They did seem like people that would practice slavery, but he couldn’t think of one instance when he had seen or heard anything like that, so he didn’t consider himself knowledgeable enough to make such a conclusion.
He didn’t put it beneath the Alvrics to have null locks on them, ready to be put on Jerome if they got hold of him. Those damn things could take a person’s core and freeze it completely, leaving them no way to cycle. Trudhorn shivered as he remembered the things he’d heard as a young boy growing up. His core was as much a part of him as his limbs. To not feel it anymore and not be able to use essence was like losing an arm.
“I’ll take him, Bram,” he said, taking the weight off Bram’s shoulders to give him time to rest. Then he whispered to him, “Have it in mind that the Alvrics still practice the ‘occupation’. It is not beneath them to carry null locks around with them.”
Ajax’s head pricked up at that. The rest of the team kept Jerome in their center and he slowed down to walk from behind.
That was good. If the Alvrics were thinking of attacking now that they were all weak, they’d have to attack the son of their Matriarch and potential heir of the clan. But of course, they wouldn’t. Such an action could lead to a war in Vorthe. And Neither Alvric nor Itakar were ready for such a conflict.
~~~
Selene
The air in the atmosphere seemed deadened, unmoving. The grass carpeting the earth was infested with pests. The Itakars made their way silently toward the Tower of Solon, wondering what might come out to attack them.
Selene had her twin swords in hand as she put one boot in front of the other. Her heart raced in her ribcage and shivers ran down her spine from time to time. The air was still, just like it was inside the illusion. Or were they still inside the illusion?
“Am I the only one, or is the air as still as it was inside the illusion?” she whispered.
“Yer definitely not, Selene. And please don’t joke with the illusion,” Nia whispered back… And shivered.
They came about a hundred feet away from the walls of the tower, looking from left to right for danger. The Alvrics were right beside them. A few feet away to their left in fact, not wanting to be outdone. Selene glanced over at their team, seeing the same fear in the eyes of their members. Good.
The tower was at least four hundred feet high, maybe more. It was so wide, Selene couldn’t see the other side of it.
“This is the single largest structure I’ve ever seen in my life,” Ajax said, his eyes nearly popping out of his head as he looked up.
“It seems it was built using essence. But it is too big,” Trudhorn said. “Who would waste essence to build something so gigantic?”
The dark walls of the tower seemed to loom over them like a mountain. Once, there might have been arcane magic here, but now… Selene shook her head to stay in focus. There might just be another illusion waiting for them to fall into it. “Stay focused, you two. Don’t forget where we are.”
Ajax scowled at her but walked forward. Trudhorn handed Jerome back to Bram and walked up to her.
“I want to join Tega to scout out this place,” Trudhorn whispered to her. “It’s giving me an eerie feeling and I don’t like not knowing what’s waiting for us in there.”
Selene wanted to tell him not to go. Her fear spiked for an instant but she quickly calmed herself. She tried to remember if there was anything she could remember about The Tower of Solon; anything her mother must have said in passing but there was nothing. Her mother had only told her that the place had already been cleaned out.
“Once, there were treasures there, Trudhorn. I don’t think there’s anything left. Not even an enemy lurking in the dark—” she stopped as she sensed the Alvrics coming over.
Hedon stepped forward as they came five paces close to them. “We should work together, Itakar. We do not know what’s waiting for us inside,” he said.
“There’s nothing there. The Matriarch said so,” she replied. “But just to be safe, I’ll be sending one of my scouts to check it out.”
She looked at Tega and he stepped forward.
“I’m not one to speak against a Matriarch but just as you said…” he spread his arms slightly, “safety first.”
A member of his team came forward and both scouts jogged forward before disappearing into the building. The teams sat where they stood facing each other. Bram grunted as he set Jerome down, laying him on the floor before sitting in front of him. Three teammates were already angled in a half circle around Jerome and Bram closed it off. Now they waited.