[Graphic Content Warning!]
A ghoul pitched into them, followed by its cohorts as they blazed toward Stella. She flailed her wrist, and the gigantic vine bashed the enemy aside. Another was advancing. Stella twisted her forearm, spurring the other plant to grapple the enemy, slinging it towards two more. Cazzie watched in both amusement and terror. Two distinct trees swayed, crawling down like leafy sprigs and swiping up the gliding creatures.
"Amazing..." Cazzie whispered.
An uproar from behind yanked their attention. Bolting towards Cazzie were two ghouls. Tripping as she awkwardly took a step back, her squeal stifled when the creatures thrashed against the grip of the outgrown vines that had seized them.
"Are you ... okay?"
"Yes. But you're spending too much mana!"
Stella's exhaustion was evincing through her quivering arms. "You're ... worth it."
Cazzie lay lodged, her mind haunted by the thought of what could transpire once Stella reached her limit. There were too many of them, and she could not do anything but watch. Again.
"Stella!" Her fear came due when Stella collapsed. The trees stalled, stripped out of her Floral dominance, resulting in the captives storming out. And before Cazzie could get up to her feet, a ghoul caught Stella, dragging the insensible Princess with them as they flew off by swarm above the trees.
"NO!" Running, a gash slit across her calf as Cazzie tripped chasing the throng, anguish washing over the pain.
The colossal vines crumbled, causing rumbling sounds and an imperceptible earthquake as the trees reverted to their static posts. Cazzie dropped on her legs, unleashing a grueling cry in which the forest shared her in misery.
*
After what felt like an everlasting agony, a distant holler came. "Cazzie!" It took all her strength to stand. Once the boys arrived, Hiro skimmed her any injuries. "Are you okay? Hey, Caz! Where's Stella?"
"Was she ... " Ryeld began, but Cazzie took the courage to elaborate.
"I..." She sniffed, wiping the trails of tears off her face. "I couldn't ... do anything." They barely heard her words but grasped what she meant. "She protected me. But I couldn't ... save her ... I'm sorry." She was clutching her shoulders, nails digging into her skin. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so useless. I ... I should've-"
"Hey, hey. Don't say that," Kayne said, patting her on the back as the torrent of tears came again. "You don't have to blame yourself, Cazzie. You saw that magic is futile against them, and there were too many for you both to handle. Plus, you really couldn't have done anything about it. They were only after her when they could have taken you too. They were ordered to."
Hiro followed. "Hey, it'll be alright. Kayne's right. It's not that we mean you're weak. It's just these things are indestructible and you and Stella couldn't have done anything about it like anyone else. Be glad she protected you. She'll be relieved to know you're still here."
Resisting any more tears, she withdrew her sobs, completely rubbing off the tears. "I hope you're right." The gunk in her throat made it hard to speak. Her eyes were bloodshot as she tucked her shrouding bangs aside.
Kayne spoke, "Come on. We can be sure that she's still alive."
Steadying herself to walk, she dusted her attire, nodding. "Yeah. Thanks ... So what do we do now?"
The chorus of the crickets heralded the evening, darkening the forest. Kayne exhaled in what felt like a long moment of missed relief, rubbing his arms for heat. "We can't exactly find our way through this forest if we want to get to the palace. We better find a place to rest."
"Wait," Cazzie pitched in. "The palace? In Calyxia?"
"Yeah," Hiro replied, "and as dull as it may sound, we're going to have to walk our way in there. Those grunts totally wrecked the control systems of the station. That could only mean they were sent to shut down all transportation sites."
"But that's too far!" Cazzie exclaimed. "How do you even know that's where we're supposed to head?"
"Because that's where the Tree is located," Zakuro answered, which Cazzie recollected Stella's anecdote. "Based on the directions from where trails of the Abanthus roots originate, it would trace back to the same point from where the ghouls came from and left. The North. And we can be sure it's the same place the Ambassador flexed his creature and planted the tree."
"Man. Does it grow that fast in a day?" Hiro asked.
"In its full size within an hour," Zakuro said, causing the three to be dumbfounded. "Apparently, they revised a lot of the tactics they would employ. Before, they suck out the mana of the holder to feed their source of growth. But now, that ability has been integrated into the Abanthus, disrupting any magical stream in the environment and obstructing any electrical activity with its unnatural proficiency, while they evolved to possess the body of their targets. But their objectives did not change. It's an advantage we have."
The young individuals found themselves in a deeper pit of questions, uncertainty reflected in their apprehensive expressions.
"The liquor can still work, but we need to be more prepared," he pressed on, making sure his listeners caught the note of his words. "This case is far nastier than the previous attacks if I'd be describing it. All I can think we could do now is to gather as much as we can know about them and the Ambassador's plans and be cautious. More cautious."
*
A jerk awoke Stella from her stupor. Following her wake, she shrieked the instant she discerned the swiftly streaming crusty earth below--she was high in the air, being carried by one of the monsters. She thrashed its back, writhing off it like a child throwing a tantrum. "Let me go!"
The thing did not budge. She would have lambasted the creature for flaunting her rump over its shoulder if it were not for the natural fear it had over her. The drop below could break her spine, which was why she waited until they were soaring over the foliage until she remembered her emptied well of mana made it impossible to cast. Stella smacked its head with her elbow, inciting a hissing pain in her bones.
"Hard-headed, eh? Well, I've been told the same." She braced herself to reiterate the same pummeling, only to stop at the flooding scent of lavender. "Calyxia?" Once they flew over the walls she grew familiar with, two of the monsters came at her. Wriggling off their grasps was like trying to pry out of dried cement. Her ferocity dwindled into terror-stricken awe from the phenomena ahead.
It was like watching the climax of a bizarre fantasy unfold. Behind the palace, instilled within the dome of the Royal Greenhouse founded a tree of substantial size never seen before, stretching above its glass summit with its coal-ashe canopy that could almost hinder the ether. Its resplendence called on Stella's curiosity, alluring her.
Curling at the end of the branches, she could make out crooked twigs cramped together in plump like witches' fingers, forming what could be the shape of its wood-shelled fruit. Their flesh was more like spacious capsules than dry-aged pulps. The closer she drew in, the more she was reminded that she was not in a reverie but rather a twisted fairytale. Inside the coiling twigs were twitching movements, swaying midair identical to a moth's cocoon. If Stella had not known the true meaning of fear then, she could feel her insides contorting, her heart punched, and the cold paling of her skin.
These were not wilted fruits--they were people. Once humanoid, now withering like sun-baked bags of meat with their bones protruding through their sac-like skins, endeavoring to maintain their human frame. There were no more than hollow holes of eyes and mouths. Peering long into one of their voided eyes, a pupil stared back at her, resulting in Stella losing it.
"No! Please! Please, let me go!" She desperately shook herself off her captors, regardless of the drop below. Her brown eyes turned frantic from utter horror. "Why?! Just why?!" It was like the air was surging out of her all at once, skinning the shards of sanity she had been holding on to for so long. Just how monstrous could that man be?
Under her bloodcurdling sobs, they descended. She laid down on her knees, but her arms remained shackled. Approaching footsteps came, followed by the voice she desired to strangle whom it belonged to.
"Delighted to have you back with us, Princess."
The fire boiling inside her yearned to be released but the void of hopelessness locked her to the floor.
Allyson continued, smirking, "I see you find yourself speechless on the new accommodations in the Royal Greenhouse. Do you like them? I designed them myself."
Stella found her voice, pausing in gaps. "Why ... are you doing this?"
Shock bolted through her as Allyson responded in a boisterous tone."Because Flaurella has become weak! Pitiful! Long gone from the glory it once had been and crumbling under the hands of unruly rats infesting the continent!" Stella blenched at his outburst. "Don't you see, Your Highness? I'm doing this for our people. For Calyxia. For you and your family." His tone reverted to its serene croak.
The absurdity in his exposition was enough to convince her she had not completely lost her mind. She talked under her breath, "For the people? How, then, do you explain imprisoning them in that tree and slowly killing them?"
She could tell he was smirking as he answered, "They're not for draining the lives of the people. Oh, no." The response piqued Stella, causing her to look at him eye-to-eye. "They're merely fuels for supplying the tree to sip the Élan out of the land. Their rotting conditions are just part of the process to drain the essences wholely rather than fiber by fiber."
Her breath stopped. "W-what do you mean?" Stella hoped she misunderstood his explanation.
Allyson bent low, facing her. "Think of it as a converter. The energy it will need to amass must equal the expanse and magnitude of magic flowing all over the area. Once done, it will pull them by the roots through the roots, absorbing the flow into themselves to store it in the tree." She could have let out a snicker herself if it weren't for the grave expression he wore that said more than enough he was right in the mind despite the eccentricity coming out of his mouth. "And by the time all of the magic has been drained, that's a big step closer to the goal. To my dream for Flaurella be fulfilled."
Disturbance overwhelmed her from the revelation, her lips trembling. "I don't get. Why would you want magic to disappear? Wouldn't that kill everyone?"
"Trust me, Princess Stella, it was not in my interest to be robbed of our enchantment riches." He took a strand of Stella's curly hair, caressing the silken string. "While I believe magic is a global part of our existence, I doubt it had to do much about giving or taking life. The addition and revision of knowledge are never-ending, which is why it's essential to keep up-to-date."
Stella blew his hand off, which the Ambassador obligingly withdrew. "You're still not making sense!" she exclaimed, growing impatient. "You plant a giant tree in our greenhouse that sips the magic out of everything. You take people and imprison them into it by using these creatures just so what? Make an army of possessed superhumans to end the war against the terrorists?" The silent response confirmed her claim but her next words shook Allyson to the core. "How did you even discover these monsters? Surely you couldn't have made or found them on your own. You said it yourself."
'It was not in my interest to be robbed of our enchantment riches.'
Allyson's brows creased, lips tautened. For the first time, the cards he had been playing on her had turned on him; she struck a nerve, which Stella took little satisfaction from. "So it would seem. Who was it? With whom have you made your bidding just to fulfill your sick vision?"
The Ambassador scoffed, yet was unfazed. "Diving into the unknown is a dangerous pill for your mind, Your Highness. You may just stumble upon the incomprehensible with that delicate allure of yours, too far a waltzing party for a princess to walk into." He drew back, tailoring his regal suit, and commanded her captors, "Take her to her cell. Make sure her family awakens for her return."
Nonetheless, Stella did not restrain, allowing the claws to drag her away. Flying around the tree's humungous stem--and witnessing more of the crippling prisoners--Stella was presented to her cell. A tangible confinement.
The monsters did not spare her from leniency as she was shoved into the cage. Shortly after, she heard a voice that sounded music to her ears.
"Stella?"
Exhilarated, she turned to the familiar source, a smile broke across her dulled features.
"My Little Floret, is that you?"
"Mom!"
A pair of arms reached for her from the neighboring cage. "Oh, Stella, you're here." It was clear her mother had long been ridden of comfort from her gurgling voice.
"Mama," Stella gazed at her mother's hysterical eyes. "I'm okay. You're not hurt?"
"No, no," she replied, in contrast to her thinning fingers as she gripped the cage's bars.
Stella stifled a gasp, cupping her mouth. "No... You can't-"
"Don't worry about me," she said, her voice losing its vigor. "I've been finding a way out of here, but every part of this tree cancels out any cast. "
"Don't worry, Mama," Stella said, bringing forth her notion," I've met some friends in Vherna. They're strong, I'm telling you. They saved me from almost getting captured. Though we got outnumbered so I ended up here, but they're still out there. They'll know what to do and they're coming here I'm sure-"
"Stella, this is no time to rely on others," her mother cut off, "We mustn't wait for someone else to save us. We must get out of here before we wither ourselves. I was so worried about you. Just when I thought I was about to lose you too..."
Stella's heart crumpled for her mother, watching the strongest woman she inspired to be reach her peak in anxiety. "I'm here now, Mama. I miss you too. I'm sorry I caused you to worry, but I'm here now." Her mother looked into her, holding a deep, long gaze with her daughter, and nodded, momentarily easing her. Stella gave a bittersweet smile. "Now where's Father?"
The woman held a disturbing look, indicating an unpleasant answer. "He's got it the worst of us." She pointed at the heart of the tree, where a slit formed across its body, brimming with dark matter.
Narrowing her eyes into it, Stella numbed. Within the split was a wave of thick blackness, oozing and rippling in twists. "N-no..." In its crevice, the king's face in agony displayed, his body a rigid stump of anthropoid remains projecting out of the tree's skin, hands clawing out of the wood.
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NEXT on A Youngblood World:
In her capture, our Princess was able to discern the truth of Allyson's scheme ...
And the deeper lore behind it.
Meanwhile, our crew lays out their next move in finding the Abanthus Tree which Stella has been taken into captivity.
With time ahead of them, how long until they get to Calyxia before the Ambassador's master plan commences as we near the end of Act 1?:
Find out in the next chapter:
Respite
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