I spent the rest of the day adding details to the expedition list and helping Alessi work on the two person glider.
When the sun rose on the next day, painting the chasm pink and orange, we shared a breakfast of berries and smoked monster steak. Alessi went back to the workshop and I climbed upstairs, opened my wings and let the wind take me towards the high-cendai's residence.
The male flyers kept as far away from me as possible. If I had to guess, my father had told his fellow men that I was in possession of powerful magics that could strike a chimera dead if they bothered me. Being ignored by the other chimera was fine with me. I had gotten used to being ignored for the past four years. Their engram-entrenched understanding of the world was simply too different from mine.
It wasn't long after that I had crash-landed into the leafy, thick trees beneath the shaman's residence. After de-leafing myself, I climbed up to the gold-rune covered garden with the massive, glittering dragon skull in its center. Eunice was standing in one of the corners of her Soul-Garden doing something with a large root that was sticking out of the gold sand.
I’ve seen her working in her garden many times before, but never bothered her, heading straight to the library. This time, I approached her and bowed. The high-cendai turned towards me. Her eyes ignited with magic from within as she scanned me.
“I see that you have grown your soul but you haven’t chosen which branches to focus on yet,” she noted.
“Yes Master,” I said. “I have devised a plan for my journey and would like to consult you about it.”
“Do tell,” Eunice said. She bent down to the root beneath her and grabbed its bark with her hand. The runes on her arm flashed. She was doing some kind of magic, but I had no idea what. I tried to use the skills she had taught me to see the magical resonance around her. In about a minute of concentration, I saw that power was pouring out of the high-cendai, her magic heading into the root and rushing deep into the ground akin to a running brook.
“I… um… I’d like to grow enough Dominion Saplings so that I can take control of a Folding Seed,” I said.
“An interesting idea,” Eunice said. “What do you plan to do with the Seed once you dominate it?”
“I will traverse the Twisted Forest within it, killing other Seeds. I am planning to collect a variety of unique monster parts this way, and store such with me inside my walking Seed.”
“Ha,” the high-cendai barked a laugh. She looked at me curiously. “How will you avoid the smell of the irresistible, muscle-paralyzing sap? All creatures are drawn in by it into the Seed, never to emerge.”
“Can’t smell anything in my mask,” I pointed at my nightcrawler skull helmet. “I’ll be able to chop off the flower with the sap and throw it out of the Seed.”
“A very original strategy, I approve,” the high-cendai laughed. “If it works, I shall make artifacts like your skull and teach our hunters to wear them. Sometimes the Folding Seeds catch unique specimens. If your mask doesn’t work… then the hunters will come and rescue you… hopefully before the Seed turns your brains into mush.”
“How many Dominion Saplings would it take to control a Folding Seed?” I asked.
“A single one can control a limb, if the Seed is very injured and mostly drained of its soul. However, such a damaged Seed would die too quickly to be of use to you. Essentially, the Seed you capture must be injured enough to submit to you, but not enough to bleed to death. If you cut off all of its roots except for three to keep it upright… you will need at least five Dominion Saplings per limb to make it walk wherever you desire…. and five more of them to operate the muscles that open and close its shell to get in and out."
So, twenty at least. I frowned. I only had 15 points to spend.
The root that Eunice was holding onto flashed with red in my eyes.
“Are those…” I started to speak.
“I’m adding Dominion Saplings to the trees in my garden,” Eunice said briskly as a knife flashed in her left hand. “It is unfortunate that they aren’t permanent. However, the more Saplings you add, the longer they will persist in something living.”
“Do… the trees resist?” I asked.
“Everything resists,” Eunice nodded. “I prefer to use trees because they live for a long time and fight back the least. If the creature fights back against your control with vigor your Sapling will perish faster, burning through its reserve of soul-magic. It is important to show the beast which you are dominating that you rule it, to punish it with pain if it disobeys you.”
“I see,” I said.
Eunice padded the root, smiling with sharp teeth. “The upside down forest beneath my garden and I have been friends for centuries. The trees barely resist me now. My Dominion Saplings survive for several decades in the trees. They keep the Meeting Grove safe for us girls.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
I nodded.
Eunice moved to another area of the garden.
“Observe what I am doing,” She said. “I will make the Sapling more visible for you.”
The yellow, sparkling sand parted in front of her as she waved her hand, revealing a thick, brown root. A brilliant, gold thread ignited in her palm as she put it upon the root. The thread shot from her arm into the tree, spreading out into the depths of the earth, forming a hundred little branches.
“The Dominion Sapling is thus planted,” Eunice said. “Once it fully roots into the great tree beneath us, I shall cut it off from my soul. Any other questions?”
“How long would I be able to stay inside of a Folding Seed?” I asked.
“As long as you want to. Just keep the brain-stabbing claws trimmed,” Eunice smiled. “The Seed keeps its victims pacified and safe within its innards. If you get captured by it, it will take its time to slowly leech magic from you. It will be draining your soul over months or even decades depending on how smart the Seed is. The smarter, older ones are able to keep their victims alive longer, draining magic from them for centuries.”
“How can I tell if a Seed is smarter?” I asked with a shudder. Being some stupid walking tree's battery was a very foreboding prospect.
“It will have more limbs,” Eunice said. “Older seeds have more limbs and use them very effectively. They can hide within the labyrinth and strike from the dark, deep hollows. They’re a pain to trim, but the smarter ones will contain more creatures within them. Some Seeds are known to hold hundreds of beasts in them. If you encounter a hundred-branched one, I suggest you run. You will not win.”
“Got it,” I nodded. "Is there a specific technique to growing a Dominion seed versus a branch?"
“No,” Eunice smirked. “A Sapling is simply an unrooted Dominion branch that's not connected to your physical body. Simply grow more and keep them folded, poised to strike. When you find a creature that you wish to dominate, stab the creature with the soul-cutting knife and then inject a Dominion Branch into it. Once it is inside, fuse it to the creature’s muscles just as you have fused them to your own fingers. When that’s done, cut the branch off with the soul-carving knife,” Eunice pulled a knife from her dress and sliced at the air right above her hand. The air around her hand fluttered with a gold ripple.
“See? I’ve just finished with this one,” she said. “If you’re not secure in the process, I suggest you practice injecting the Dominion Branch into something living and weak or very obedient."
“What do you suggest I practice on?” I asked.
“Hrm,” Eunice scratched her chin. “Your monci will be an easy one to start with. She will not fight the incursion because she trusts you.”
My mouth dropped. “You want me to put a Dominion branch into a chimera?”
“The Sapling won’t hurt her. Not unless you want it to,” Eunice said. “It can live inside of your sister for a while if she doesn’t fight it. What’s the use of a monchi that can’t even do magic, if you don’t experiment upon them?” She winked at me.
I gulped, feeling extremely conflicted.
“If she accepts your Sapling, it will take root inside of her, connecting her soul to you,” Eunice added. “You’ll be able to find each other with ease if you are separated in the Twisted Forest. It can take only one single step to get lost there.”
“Oh,” I said, processing her words. “That is… useful.”
Was I seriously considering planting a part of my soul into my sister? What was wrong with me?
“Won’t she become appealing to the phantoms if I do magic on her?” I asked.
“Well… just a little,” Eunice said. “She hasn’t died yet. It is very hard for phantoms to pull the living down into the Still Forest, unlike us cendai. We are particularly easy for the dead ones to grab because we’ve already died once ourselves. As long as you don’t use the connection too often and plant the Sapling deep in her body, she will not be targeted.”
“Right,” I said. “What about the Seed? Won't the phantom try to eat its soul with that many Dominion Saplings sticking out of it?”
“Paint runes of protection upon it,” Eunice said. “Otherwise there is indeed a small chance that the phantoms will pull your Dominion Saplings and the Seed’s injured soul into the deep.”
The high-cendai’s words made sense. With soul magic a certain safety precaution was to be followed, lest it be undone by the phantoms. I’d have to protect Alessi from the Still Forest denizens before I even attempted to put anything into her.
“Can the Spiritual Saplings be extracted from the Seed if it dies on me?” I asked. “Can a Sapling be removed from a creature after it’s planted and reused?”
“If you were older and more experienced, it would be possible to pull them out,” the high-cendai said. “But I would not recommend it. Dominion Saplings are incredibly difficult to remove from something after they are rooted within its body. If the creature is near death, they will rapidly dissolve or sink into the depths of the Still Forest. They will not last long without a beast’s soul anchoring them to the world of the living.”
“I see,” I mulled.
A thought came to me. Something that I wanted to ask Eunice since I saw the End-Gate in her basement.
"Why aren't there more cendai?" I asked. "Can a mundane chimera not use the gate beneath your home to step into the Still Forest and... become like us?"
Eunice barked another laugh. "Your rune-shield and years of Stillness practice is what allowed you to step through the End-Gate and return with your body and soul intact. A mundane chimera would not survive the trip - their heart would stop instantaneously and their soul would be swiftly ripped away, sinking into the depths of the Still Forest. It is not easy to retrieve a soul from the clutches of death.”
I frowned, trying to find a loophole in her words.
“It would not be wise to sacrifice our entire tribe just to gain one or two more cendai. Many chimera died over the centuries but only a few managed to make it back and even fewer possessed the mental fortitude, focus and drive that was necessary to become a cendai. You are extremely lucky to make it back and to pass your test… my youngest monwai. You are a rare gem amongst ten thousand mundane rocks that took a lot of effort on my part to polish so that you could shine the brightest of all!"
"I see," I muttered, not feeling like Eunice spent that much time or effort on polishing me. Most of the things I had accomplished was because of my personal stubbornness and memories from Earth.
“Are you satisfied?” Eunice asked.
“Thank you, Master.” I nodded. “I shall finish growing my branches in the library.”
I left the high-cendai to her Soul-Garden reinforcement, heading inside of her home to work on growing my threads.