-What do you mean “there’s nothing here”? The chairs are missing or something?

-No… I mean yes, but… the whole room is missing!

-Okay, explain. How the hell does the room just disappear?

-I don’t know!

-Describe then! You’re the one seeing it.

-It’s…

-You know, scratch that. I can just look by myself. Hold on a second…

I focused on that familiar to me mana of his and tried again with sharing senses.

I was not sure if it was going to work well, since I expected range to be a problem when I initiated it, but there was no issue.

Connection was clear and I soon was able to see everything he was able to.

-What’s…

I felt him being shaken and he staggered for a moment.

-It’s just me. Borrowing your senses for a bit.

-Ah…

-So, what do we have here… Oh.

He was not kidding when he said that the room was missing.

Where there used to be a chamber, the corridor was just ending abruptly. And it was not like the passageway had collapsed or something, it just looked like… it shrunk.

Same with the walls of the corridor. All of them were almost completely black and shriveled. It reminded me somewhat of a dried and crumpled paper. Very unusual.

-Are you seeing it?

-Yeah… but I don’t get it either… - I replied. - And it’s like that all the way up?

He turned back and let me see the other end.

Yep, all the way we were able to see, the corridor was black like that. That is, besides a few places where there were marks on the floor… his footprints. Those were a bit flatter and lighter, almost like…

-Ash?

-Yeah… When you touch this thing it just turns to dust like that…

To demonstrate, he touched a wall of the corridor and swiped it with his finger, leaving a trace of gray-black dust behind.

-I don’t know how it’s not collapsing under me, but…

-Better get out of there… I don’t want you to get buried under that stuff.

-Right.

I was going to stay with him to see how far it’s going to reach, when I felt a pat on my back.

It was Il.

I think she was listening, because I felt a message reach my mind.

-Can I see?

-Can you? I mean, I am sharing my vision, I am not sure if you’re able to join…

-I can try…

-I mean… why not.

I felt her grip tighten and a sudden presence entered my mind.

The feeling was almost familiar.

While it was not identical to when I had her… or rather a copy of her, in my mind before, the presence had a similar hint to it.

-I think… I can feel… I see it!

I could tell she was connected. Damn, that was quick.

But, how about Kon?

-Kon, do you feel something? - I asked.

He paused before answering.

-No…? Is there a trouble?

-No. No. Good.

-Hm?

So he didn’t notice.

Well, it didn’t really matter, but it was good to know that she was able to do that. It’s not like I was going to keep it a secret though.

-I am sharing my vision… or rather our vision with Il. Just a heads up. I thought you might’ve felt something.

-You are!?

I felt him being flustered for a second.

-Is there a problem?

-No! No. It’s just I didn’t know you could do that.

-Neither did I. But we apparently can.

-And what, did she figure something out? It was her place, after all.

-Good question.

-Il, did you…

-I heard.

Oh. So sight was not the only sense we were sharing. Convenient.

-I already told you I don’t remember almost anything from my stay here… but…

-But…?

-But I think I understand what’s going on…

-Since I left that place, I had a feeling that something was off with my body… - she started.

-Off? It’s not functioning properly?

-What’s even “properly” in this context? - asked For, joining in on the discussion.

-Right… it’s a bit unusual, but that’s not really nothing new between us all… - pointed out Kon.

I guess they all were able to hear us thanks to Il being right now connected to me. So I was doubling as a communication tower now.

Neat.

-You… we definitely are a bunch of weirdos, I do agree with that - laughed Il. - But I don’t mean it like that. Since I’ve started trying to talk to you, or to Mor rather, I started feeling like… I’ve been missing something.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

-Missing? - I asked. - That’s concerning.

-Yeah. A link… connection to something. I didn’t even know that it was there, but the longer I am outside of that room the more I feel like I am getting a better grasp on it. And now… seeing this… I think I understand.

-You think it’s connected to that room?

-Yeah… I feel… It's my fault that’s happening.

-Your fault? How? - asked Kon.

-See… when I’ve talked with Mor, I remember him mentioning the ability he has… the draining of living matter.

-Sure… that thing does exist - I agreed. - It shouldn’t work on any of us any more, though.

-Yeah. And that’s good and all, but doesn’t that mean that I also have this ability? Since you can’t absorb me, right?

-I suppose…

-And correct me if I am wrong, when you absorb living matter… plant matter to be precise, don’t you leave behind something akin to ash behind?

-I do…

-And Kon, can you try and again swipe along the wall with your hand? The dried part somewhere?

That reminded Kon that we were still sharing senses. He was still in the corridor, listening to the conversation.

-Ah! Sure…

And as he did, it crumbled into ash. A bit darker ash than I remembered, but still.

-Yeah… I think that tree is dead… or rather dying because it has been drained of mana… - summed up Il.

-Okay, but how exactly? - asked For. - Sure… we had an “accident” there, but it doesn’t explain why it’s spreading…

-That’s where my strange “feeling” comes in - she explained. - I was not sure, but now I am pretty certain that what I was feeling was not that I was missing something… it was that I just had a bit of a… eh, I was a bit hungry.

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

-Ha, sure, kitchens here are a bit understaffed and understocked… Can’t blame you for that…

-You know what I mean! - she instantly puffed at me, but quickly calmed down. - I mean that I was lacking the mana connection I had before. I was connected to the tree, right?

-I mean, yeah, most likely.

-Hear me out… but I think that tree was feeding me.

-Feeding? - asked For, surprised. - That doesn’t make sense. If you were being fed, that means us removing you from it should revitalize it, not make it wilt.

-Yeah! - agreed Kon. - It’s just as you said yourself, this tree is getting drained and is turning to dust. Wouldn’t that mean that you were the one feeding it? And us removing you cut off the only source of sustenance it had?

-That would also explain that feeling of “missing something” you just explained - added For. - The link to the tree.

-I do agree that it’s probably the link I am feeling missing… but I don’t know…

They had a point. Both For and Kon, and Il.

But…

-Those two don’t have to be mutually exclusive, do they? - I asked.

-Wha?

-I think you all are right. We did cut the connection Il had to the tree… or rather just straight up removed her from it… It does probably mean that we had cut off Il from something that was providing her with mana…

-So why is it wilting then?

-Because we did that… She was not only just something using the tree… the tree was also using her. She was the “heart” so to speak.

-Heart, you say…

-It’s like you said. She is no longer draining mana… but the tree is also unable to function. The main organ… the brain, or heart of it, is missing. It wouldn’t be surprising if after something like this the tree was slowly running out of energy… it just lost the main organ that it had that was making sure everything worked properly.

I could tell that all of them were now thinking heavily about what I just explained.

While For and Kon were mostly intrigued, Il was definitely more concerned.

-But… What does that mean for me…? - she asked. - If I was being “fed” by it… does that mean that I am going to start running out of mana sooner or later?

-Well… maybe… But I wouldn’t say soon… - I quickly added. - You have a pretty large mana capacity, you know. Even before. And now, amplified by the crystal…

-But I don’t have the crystal! - she replied. - Okay, I do agree that I seem to have some similar properties, or rather this body has, I am unsure if I am actually capable of the same thing as you three.

-Don’t sell yourself short - assured her For. - If that weren’t the case, you wouldn’t be so easily talking with us.

-Nor touching me - I added.

Their interest about the crystal and her form aside, the fact it was happening was problematic, and we realized that pretty quickly.

The spread of the “decay”, so to speak, was indeed slow, but it was starting to speed up.

If we really removed the heart from that tree, we definitely were not going to put it back any time soon, or rather not at all.

It was even more visible the next day.

While before it just managed to reach the main corridor, it was now about to engulf it whole.

We didn’t really care much about the palace, it still was worrying.

At least there wasn’t any signs of side effects from Il, so there was that at least.

On the third day, the whole floor was taken over by decay.

It had cut off the access to the upper floors.

When Kon tried to get up above the problematic floor, the stairwell collapsed under him, turning to ash. Good thing that he was with For, so she managed to catch him, as I warned them both as soon as it was happening.

All that time I spent with Il, trying to help her handle talking and the new form.

After her swift progres at the beginning I expected her to be able to talk with us just like all of us could the next day, but it was not happening.

It was somewhat worrying, but I just assumed that it was just going to come with time. It’s not like I immediately acclimated to my own new form either.

For some reason she still had problems and I had to stay to be her “extension”, so to speak.

Not like I really minded, to be honest. I was still in touch with the other two thanks to Kon letting me share his senses. I did ask For to let me do it too, but she adamantly refused for some reason.

Well, whatever.

On the fourth day the spread of decay seemingly sped up.

Now not only was the inside dark and shriveled, but also the outer parts of the tree as well.

The floor where it started was clearly distinguishable from the outside: the bark of the tree was almost peeling off and from under it you could see a dark-brown decayed trunk.

Same with the top. Where there used to be healthy branches, those were now almost completely gray, while the leaves decorating the top floors were in different shades of yellow, brown and dark-red.

If not for the branches, it would just look like it was fall that came and claimed the tree for itself.

The fifth day marked the time when the tree was completely dead.

No sign of leaves or green, just a dark-gray husk was now standing in the middle of the city.

But, to our surprise, that was not the end of it.

The next day, we were startled by a loud rumbling noise.

And it was getting louder and louder.

At first, I thought we were under attack, but after a quick scan and not finding anyone in the vicinity I realized that was not the case.

The rumble soon turned into a loud roar and a strange grinding noise, along with the earth itself shaking.

Earthquake? Hardly.

Treequake rather.

I am joking, of course, but the source was indeed the tree. Or rather that what used to be a tree.

The moment I looked outside I knew what was going on and couldn’t believe my eyes.

Right in front of me, the husk of the tree was turning into dust.

Starting from the place where we knew that decay started from, under its own weight, the wooden husk was turned to ash.

Following that, the top floors had lost their support and started falling down, crushing everything that was below. But, as the floors were destroyed, they weren’t turning into rubble, instead also turning to dust.

The chain reaction was not sparing any piece of the palace. In a span of a minute, the whole living wood building was now a dead pile of ash that was now being spread all along the city block, just like a smoke cloud.

We immediately wanted to close the doors and windows to not get completely buried under the pile of dust, but there was no escaping it.

Besides the fact that we were a bit too close to the epicenter of the problem, it was not like the building we were staying in had air-tight windows.

The cloud of dust had covered the sun and everything else in a blink of an eye.

Good thing that neither me nor Il were in need of breathing, because we got buried alive.

Flailing like a mad man, trying to get out of the mountain of ash, I felt Il right next to me, also trying to free herself.

Good, meaning she was alright.

What about the other two, though?

Before, I told them not to wander about the palace too much. While they didn’t listen to me at first, after decay claimed outside of the tree, they said they would be cautious and limit themselves just to those that had stable support or on the ground floor.

We didn’t expect the collapse, though.

They probably should be fine, they’ve been through worse, but still, I immediately attempted to contact either of them.