The Twice-Enchanted Blade: Part 14

“Are you alright?” the sorceress inquired.

“I think so”, I said, getting on my feet. “Thanks for helping me out. I probably would’ve drowned out there without you”. Now that I could think clearly again, I could roughly reconstruct what actually happened and shuddered at the thought of blissfully walking deeper and deeper into the swamp, straight to my second death.

“You would’ve”, she concurred, “That was some high-quality illusion work. If I wasn’t specifically trained for this... It’s all about forcing yourself to think rationally, you know, with these mind-altering spells. You need to start poking holes everywhere. Scrutinize everything. Sooner or later, cracks begin to show, and you can break free. What the hell did you see anyway? You look ghastly”.

“My wife”, I replied shortly, not in the mood to give a detailed account.

“Oh, right. You did mention you were married before. It must have been difficult, seeing her again like this. Sorry”. Awkward silence ensued, which Annabel eventually decided to break. “As I said, this was mind-altering magic, not a mere optical illusion, so we were both shown different things. I didn’t get anything quite so dramatic”, she laughed awkwardly, “mostly various grimoire peddlers. It must have been furious, trying to dig up something to get me emotional enough to fall for the spell”.

“It?”, I wondered.

“The tree”, she nodded towards the colossal plant in front of us, “The land around here is soaked in magic, and just as the Bele Wode said, the cause is likely man-made. Illusions this detailed, however, specifically tailored to certain targets, do not just pop out on their own. Something had to deliberately target us, and my money is on that big boy. It probably absorbed residual magical energy and mutated, both growing in size and acquiring something resembling a mind”.

“A magical tree. Great. Will it try something like this again while we’re climbing?”

“Who knows? I doubt it. Maybe the immediate area around it is like a blind spot to it”.

That theory seemed plausible enough, given that the attacks ceased once we reached the clearing. The tree was of a species I was unfamiliar with, and, since Civet wasn’t around, there was nobody I could ask. It looked like a bonsai in reverse – a normally-proportioned plant that had been increased to an abnormal size. It was thick beyond belief, and bits of roots protruding from the ground were, in some places, as tall as a house.

As we approached, a loud chatter suddenly erupted, and I noticed innumerable birds flocking to the branches. At this point, I couldn’t yet see them clearly, but it would turn out they mostly resembled black-feathered herons, with tiny yellow eyes and slightly crooked beaks, though in behavior, they were completely different from an aquatic bird.

“I think those are the things that took down my familiar”, Annabel commented, “Mayhap they are in league with the tree, its last line of defense”.

“In that case, we should be careful”, I said, “They might consider us a threat and attack”.

“I agree”, she concurred, “Sit down, I’ll cast a quick spell on you. It will make you stronger and quicker, which should help you climb more efficiently”.

“You’re not coming with?”

“I can’t levitate, unfortunately, and I doubt I could climb that thing even with magical aid. Best I can do is support you from the ground, until you get out of sight at least”.

I sat down as instructed, and she put her hands on my temples, rubbing them gently and murmuring a chant. A wave of power surged through my body, from head to toe. I felt better than ever – ready to face the world.

“I’m off!” I said cheerfully, picked up some rope from my backpack, and then sprinted towards the tree. Several of the birds took flight as I approached and started circling the trunk. I leaped at the plant, my reinforced fingers capable of penetrating the thick bark, creating improvised handholds. As soon as I started scaling the tree, a few of the birds descended upon me, not quite capable of getting through my armor, but their beaks, wings, and talons came dangerously close to knocking me to the ground. Annabel, fortunately, did provide the ground support she promised and started lobbing various projectiles at my feathery assailants. Some of them flew further down to attack her, leaving me with enough breathing room to get to the branches.

I was faced with the dilemma of which way to go – the chatter of the birds and their attempts to knock me down didn’t leave me many opportunities to think. The story, I recalled, said the apple was “at the top”, so I started making my way along the branch that seemed to be the steepest, inching carefully across the slippery guano, guarding my unprotected face with one hand and waving my sword with the other. Soon enough, however, I reached the part I would need to climb again. I leaned against the vertical part of the branch, sheathed my sword, and pulled out my gun, firing randomly. I didn’t hit anything, but it did have the intended effect of briefly confusing and distracting the birds. This was my opportunity to make some progress, so I started climbing as fast as humanly possible, jumping from branch to branch like a monkey. The flock eventually formed again, attacking just as I landed on a branch, one of them managing to scratch my face, and another to, by sheer luck, peck right at a gap in my armor. I drew my gun and shot again, this time hitting one of the avian terrors, and they scattered again.

A couple of jumps later, I broke through the canopy and was greeted, for the first time in a while, by the sun, and a view which would’ve been doubtlessly gorgeous had the ground not been covered entirely in fog. More importantly, I spotted something shiny to my left. I took notice of its precise location, dove back into the leaves, quickly plotted the way, and, in less than a minute, the emerald apple was in my hand.

I fiddled a bit, placing the item in my pouch, unfortunately missing the moment in which the flock reconsolidated and went on another offensive. They crashed into me just as I was done securing the emerald, and I found myself plunging towards the ground. I tried to grab onto a passing branch, which snapped, but broke my fall just enough that, when I hit another branch below, the damage was not fatal.

Some of the birds noticed I wasn’t dead yet, so I had to act fast. I took my rope, tied it to the branch, and, without checking whether it was secure, began climbing down. Near its end, I spotted another conveniently placed branch in front of me. I swung a bit on the rope, landed safely, but just as I was about to tug on it so I could reuse it, the birds attacked again. Instinctively protecting my face, I dropped the rope, and it remained out of my reach.

I would have to make the rest of the journey without a rope. Fortune didn’t fully abandon me, however, as the path from my branch to the main trunk was relatively clear, the only risks being slipping and falling, and the few drops of 2-3 meters where the rope would be useful, but I could feasibly survive the landing.

The birds were, once again, making this more unpleasant than it had to be. Nonetheless, I managed to make my way through to the center. Without rope, the easiest – well, least difficult – way to descend was to retrace my steps and reuse the handholds I made. Finding them would be an issue with the flock bothering me, but at this point, I could hopefully count on help again.

“Hey, Annabel!” I shouted, “Can you disperse them a bit?”

In lieu of an answer, a gust of wind hit the center of the flock, scattering them. Quickly, I found my handholds and descended, Annabel once again providing support. When I was about halfway to the bottom, the birds ceased their attack, likely not considering me a threat anymore.

I made the rest of the descent without issue and found the sorceress waiting for me. She had a few scratches on her arms and face, and looked positively exhausted.

“Did you... Did you get it?” she asked.

“Yes”, I replied, tapping the pouch on my belt.

“Good”, she attempted to force a smile, and collapsed. I barely managed to catch her before she dropped to the ground.