We were all in a fairly good mood as we exited the first temple. Holly and Serah both seemed impressed with my capabilities, which would make combat easier going forward, and I was pretty impressed with the power my twin had shown. I’d seen her fight before in the Ruined Soul Temple, but either she’d been holding back or she’d been training hard since then.
This resulted in a lot of patting each other on the back, and high spirits…until we got to the next temple in the chain. The first sign that something was wrong was that the massive doors were propped open, and we all slowed down, preparing for a fight.
Sure enough, when we stopped in front of the building, I froze. “Someone is here.” I said bluntly. My Danger Sense was pinging hard. Usually I had to tune it out because it mostly went off in battle and wasn’t very specific, but in peaceful situations like this, when it tipped me off, it was invaluable for knowing when I might be attacked.
“What pretty birdies.” Cooed a high pitched, slightly manic voice. “They’re so beautiful and majestic. I want to pluck out all their feathers and make a coat.”
A bass laugh that nearly rumbled the ground came next. “You and your fashion trends. But I suppose we could find a use for them. Once you’ve ripped off their wings we can set them to clean the forest temple. It’s gotten a bit overgrown.”
Three figures emerged from behind the surrounding columns, and just looking at them gave me the creeps. Tall, rangy figures with too long limbs, they had shaggy moss green hair and stag horns jutting from their heads. Their faces were covered in wooden masks, and the grain and warp of the wood formed the features of screaming people.
Their bodies were covered in clothes made of bark and moss, and their fingers were wickedly curved talons on dinner plate sized hands almost as big as their heads.
“Primal Silence Forest.” Spat Holly angrily. “One of the S-rank clans. Your founder is the Primeval Pain Druid. With only a single S-ranker, are you really willing to anger our Seraphim Tower, with our three most high? Not even mentioning what the Radiant Pope would do to you if you damaged his granddaughter.”
One of the figures laughed musically. “We’re at war, little girl. The great ones don’t have time for personal grudges. And this is a game. Sometimes people lose. Don’t worry, we won’t kill you.”
“Even if you ask!” Jeered the one on the other side, whose voice was like nails on a chalkboard. The middle one must be the one with the deep voice. “It’s always funny when they beg for death. They start out so defiant, but the hungry roots of the forest drain their will as sure as they drain the marrow from their bones!”
The middle one shook his head. “Don’t be so aggressive Slairy, you’ll scare them off.” His bass rumble sounded more stable than the others, but something about his tone made it clear he was enjoying this just as much.
“You’re going to make this a battle to the death?” I asked. “We could just go our own ways.”
I readied myself to attack. I was pretty sure of their answer, even if I had to make the offer. Besides, they’d just threatened me and my sister. I had no issues putting these animals down for having the nerve to aim their madness at my family.
“Ye-” The one on the left started, but she didn’t get a chance to finish because I triggered Pit of Despair on the ground beneath them and they all dropped into a pool of super fine dust. Grinning, I stepped forward, falling in myself, Mephisto’s Waltz, coming to my call as my Dust Construction showed me the details of the pit.
Black flame exploded under my feet, propelling me forward even as the Cosmic Collapse started to build at the end of my staff. The Dust moved around me, pushing me forward even faster and parting for my flames.
Appearing behind the left most one who had been talking, I brought my staff up through the dust, smashing the Cosmic Collapse into the twisted mask.
An explosion of black flame tore a gouge out of the pit, exposing us all to air, and the two remaining members of the team leapt free with hisses of outrage…not that they remained hissing for long, since both of them had to meet the diving strikes of Holly and Serah, taken to the wing to tear into them while they were weak.
Stolen novel; please report.
To my shock, the middle one, the male with the deep voice, reached out and grabbed the other, pushing off them and using the force to get clear of the attack and land on the ground.
Slamming his clawed hands into the earth, a pair of colossal black trees burst from the ground, their twisted black branches twining into giant claws, and darting toward the sisters, trying to rip them apart as their weapons shredded his teammate.
I suddenly realized why that attack had been so successful. I’d turned all the ground around them to Dust, and clearly these assholes used earth based Skills. Probably mixed with some kind of darkness based on the roots. By turning the ground to Dust that I controlled I’d cut them off from their source of power.
My immediate response was to try Pit of Despair again, but I quickly realized that with the the power he’d extended into the ground, my sucker punch had been super effective, but it wasn’t going to work again.
“You’ll pay for that.” He rumbled, and I saw the screaming face on his wooden mask shift, becoming hateful and enraged.
I shrugged as I floated back to the surface, buoyed by the Dust, which solidified under my feet as I rose to the top. “Trying to take the moral high ground when you attacked us for no reason is a tough sell.” I said mercilessly. “Also, thanks for the key.” I held up the dark stone shape I’d snatched from the one I’d killed, who had still been clutching it after presumably taking it off the temple guardian.
There was a pretty good chance they were planning to use it to entice us into fighting, based on those tree claws they were pretty strong, and fighting the three of them together might have been tough. We’d gotten lucky.
“You think you’ve beaten me, then?” He said mockingly. “We told you earlier. The trees of the Primal Silence Forest grow fat on blood and bone.” He gestured, and the claws dove forward, one digging deep to reach the body of the one I’d killed and one smashing down into the area below Holly and Serah where the pieces of their opponent had fallen.
There was an eerie howl as the sky begin to darken, clouds filling the sky above us as a cold wind whipped the air. Bloody lines began to crawl up the dark trees, twisting into symbols I didn’t recognize. The same lines traced their way up the hands and forearms of the horned man. We all faced him grimly.
The man began to chant, and as he did the symbols brightened, becoming almost painful to look at. “And in the darkest shadowed glade, wait all the wild’s jagged blades, the hungry teeth and claws of beasts, poised for the forest’s crimson feast. All living things become their food, now victims of the Wild Wood.”
As he spoke, the trees began to warp and change, jagged thorns bursting forth from the black wood, each glowing with a bloody light. As we watched, they began to shift and move in disturbing patterns, almost like.
“Great.” Said my sister in annoyance. “Giant haunted chainsaw tree hands. Because that seems fair.”
With a cry of primal victory, the horned man sent the clawed hands shooting up at the two flying members of our party. Chelsea roared with outrage and smashed out at them with a wave of purifying flame, but the power wasn’t dense enough to cut through what I was pretty sure was an S-ranked Bloodline ability.
The flames withered a few thorns, but there was far too much of the bloody power imbued into the plants for her to overcome, after all, these trees were powered by the blood sacrifice of two E-rankers.
But she wasn’t the only one with that particular gift. Or even the strongest. I let Mephistopheles fade away, and called for my newest form. Zagan.
My hair blazed up in blinding green flame, and I raised my staff, concentrating the fire in the same way I would for Cosmic Collapse. Of course, I had to use Piece of Mind to fix the imagery on the fly, because Zagan had no combat capability, at least not directly. This wasn’t going to be a harmful attack.
I packed all the green flame into an orb of pure life force and purifying power, the mental image of a green life giving sun burning in my mind as I prepared the attack. Then I triggered an ability I hadn’t used in a very long time. Double Trouble.
Vanishing, I reappeared behind the horned man, leaving an illusory image of me standing in my place, and I thrust the staff forward, aiming not just at him but at the hands that the angels were even now warding off with flaming weapons. I thrust my staff forward into the bubble, piercing it and smashing into the other side to release a wave of verdant fire.
This wasn’t cosmic collapse, it was a new technique, and it needed a new name. It came to my lips without prompting as I unleashed the strike. “Life Nova.” I declared loudly.
A wedge shaped wave of green flame streaked with silvery white tongues of fire consumed the area in front of me, the horned man, my teammates, and even my sister. But I wasn’t worried at all. Life Nova was the power of life and purification. I felt it burn away the bloody madness of the primeval wood from the trees and from the horned man, even as it repaired and rejuvenated my teammates.
The man himself, who had been so infused with terrible power, toppled over, motionless and unconscious from having his crimson energy stripped away.
I stood in my strongest form, smiling brilliantly at the others, thrilled with what I’d done. Using Zagan felt GOOD. It didn’t hurt, it only healed. Most fights were won by attacking, but I’d chosen another way for this, and everyone in the audience would have seen it. I was proud of that. It wasn’t something I could do every time I fought, but I could feel pride through my bond with Callie too.
My sister beamed at me. “That was something else.” She said with a happy laugh. “I feel so…giddy. Like all my tiredness, even the mental stuff, was wiped away.”
The sisters nodded. “It’s…amazing.” Said Holly with wonder. “I feel like I just got home from a month long vacation where all my worries drifted away. And I feel so strong. Like I could take on the world.”
I was beginning to think my Life Nova might have been more effective than expected in terms of rejuvenation. I’d aimed that at my allies, so the horned man wouldn’t benefit, but I was going to have to look into exactly what that ability did, because it seemed like it was a big deal. Letting Zagan fade, I let myself feel the tiredness the energy laden form had kept at bay. “Glad you guys liked it, but that kicked my ass. I’m going to need a few minutes.”
They didn’t argue, despite their obvious jittery demeanor after the power boost. I appreciated it, I was exhausted. After twenty minutes or so, we got back on the road, heading for the next temple up. We had two keys now, only ten to go. I wondered what the mountain would throw at us next.