Anatomy of a Jewel Flower (II)

"Oh, Jewel Flowers, Jewel Flowers,

How precious you are,

Petals so bright they make evil cower,

And roots so deep,

the power's mine to keep!"

The verses were from a popular ballad that went around during festivals, but most didn't take much notice of the later part. Because, yes—while its pristine, glinting petals are what most people chose to focus on…

Only a select few knew how important the roots of these flowers were.

*****

"Dani!"

The kid in the young girl's arms turned around at the source of the yell. A haggard-looking man, looking close to tears, opened his arms at seeing the boy recognize him.

"Daddy!" Scrambling out of the young girl's arms, the boy ran out towards his dad, the tearful reunion of both father and son causing the two girls to pause for a brief moment.

And then Eleina noticed the girl's blue jacket, or rather, the torn area around her upper back where a scarlet red was slowly spreading.

Panic erupted inside the mage.

"Are you alright?!" She rushed over and knelt down, but the girl, who apparently—even while staring right at Eleina—was in a strange daze. Eleina thought she noticed the girl's mouth twitch into a… smile…? But before she could come close enough to assess the injury, the girl flinched backwards and swished her hand in the air, as if the wound was only a minor inconvenience.

"Haha, ehe… psh—don't worry! it ain't even that deep!" She said, her voice a bit too bright for someone who just had a face-to-face with a beast prior minutes ago.

"I'm… not so sure," Eleina muttered in disbelief as her eyes swept over the glistening red staining the torn area; looking at her strained expression, it was obvious the girl was trying to appear strong for the sake of the kid she had been protecting. "You should at least hurry to the safe zone the guards put up and get treatment for it before it gets bad."

"No, no! It's really no trouble! Rather," She waved her hands and stood up with more than needed enthusiasm. "Um… uh. Thing is…"

By now, Eleina was getting impatient, her train of thought already starting up again; she had just noticed their surroundings going quieter. No one except them were here (even the father had taken his kid away), which meant two things…

Either the guards had defeated every beast and were now tending to the civilians (Raimond must've gotten there and would probably be giving a speech to boost his image or something), or…

"Um. You're the Garden Mage, right?" Meanwile the girl was still speaking, her nervousness surfacing in her tone. "I…! I want to help—"

"Excuse me," Eleina interrupted, to which the girl looked up in surprise. "Could you tell me…"

As she formed the rest of the sentence, shouts erupted simultaneously from the farther side of the town, confirming her suspicion before it was even verbalized.

"Exactly how many beasts did you see?"

*****

'At least a dozen?! How in the world did they even get in?!'

And if they had managed to get in… And her flowers hadn't alerted her for some reason…

'Does this mean other towns are under attack too?'

Eleina skirted through the streets of the decrepit town, trying to navigate where the clashes and clangs were echoing the loudest. Because it had been a while since her last visit, her memory of the place was fuzzy.

As her strides got heavier due to fatigue piling up, a panting sound other than hers was heard. The girl from earlier was, surprisingly, apt in keeping up with her. Even when she was injured, she followed Eleina the moment the mage took off.

But still. She was an innocent civilian. One whom Eleina was dragging towards more danger.

Wait, no. She wasn't dragging her! The girl was practically too stubborn for her own good!

Faltering just slightly at finding another deadend of an alleyway, Eleina retreated to the main path and ran towards another direction, internally debating whether to tell the girl to run to safety again—

"Miss Garden Mage—" The girl's voice carried itself to her ears, as if she'd read Eleina's mind, "If you say to stop following you one more time, it's no use."

"Still, kid, it's dangerou—"

"Even if—!" But the girl swiftly interrupted her again, this time with a louder voice (though Eleina distinctly noted the strain the girl was trying to hide in the tone), "Even if you scold me, or try to scare me, I ain't listening."

"I didn't scold you, but—ah," a clearing soon came into view—the town center, filled to the brim with swordsmen engaged in battle with the beasts—and her focus locked onto more important matters first, "Ugh, fine, but stay in a corner or something until I say it's clear, okay??? We're here now."

"I will! I will, I promise! Heh."

'"Heh"…??? I'll ignore that...'

Before anyone noticed them, she took quick advantage of a secluded alley, and lightly shoved the teenager to hide her there. Surprisingly, Eleina expected her to protest, but she quietly obliged, allowing the mage to rush towards the ongoing combat with her eyes taking in as many details as she could.

As expected, Raimond was at the centermost area, fighting off two beasts twice his size. Close behind, he had two more guards keeping off other smaller beasts from his back. Then, a vicious-looking man was plowing his jewel-equipped mace through the other set of beasts, and was the only one who seemed to be not having any trouble.

And then there were two other small groups which were the nearest to the mage's target distance. Two guards each, were engaged with a beast of a different calibre than the smaller ones being tackled by Raimond's group.

All in all, it amounted up to twelve beasts.

Thirteen, if she counted the one she just took down.

"And eleven," Her outstretched arm, blanketed with a stronger variation of the orange she had planned to use on Raimond earlier, unleashed a scorching beam towards one of the beasts attacking the group closest to her. "If I kill that one first."

Orange variants of the flowers almost always had heat qualities (something she had anonymously pushed to be refined and supplied to poor merchants and travelers during tough winters). And from her hands, the raw essence set the beast ablaze before it even could notice her.

"One down!" The mace-wielding general was saying, his grin wide—his mace temporarily stunning his two targets with a single strike—as if he was just playing a crude game, "You're not one of those Helper Mages the Garden Mage sent, are ya?" He said as he scrutinized her appearance.

Eleina didn't frown; she was actually glad they didn't recognize her, and instead decided to point over his shoulder—behind him, one of his previously-stunned beasts growled and lunged towards the general.

"Eswin—!" Raimond's shout came, as his sword slashed the beasts away but only briefy.

WHAM—!

But the general had already flicked his mace up, his sheer strength causing it to curve and hit the poor(?) beast straight in its face, the impact crackled with light as it did, and the creature soon flopped to the ground and dissipated into dark ashes. "Too late, your highness," He called out, gesturing at Eleina with his thumb, "This cute Helper Mage already warned me."

"Helper mage or not, stop idle chatter and help the others!"

"Sir, you forgot the 'cute', if you could just look over—"

"GOOD LORD—I CAN'T LOOK, ESWIN!" His sword finally slicing off one of the larger beast's head, Raimond took no liberty to stop and blocked the other one's claws just in time as he shouted, "Stop gawking at girls and use that strength of yours, you—"

"Yeah, general! Help—Ack! Help us out here!" One other guard yelled, causing the General to sprint into action again.

"You guys aren't any fun—"

Eleina rolled her eyes as they continued the 'idle chattering', and instead struck down the other two beasts in a similar fashion, the glowing heat lingering longer the more she used it. She looked at it, then rubbed the arm lightly, as if the action would magically diagnose the problem and tell her.

It was strange… to say the least. Why was she already feeling the aftereffects as if she'd been using magic all day?

…No, nevermind that. She had to eliminate all the threats before everything…

"We're almost finished everyone!" the general yelled.

But fortunately, it seemed she didn't have to do much as the beasts were now almost finished thanks to the talented swordsmen (also special thanks to the jewel-weapons!). By now, only Raimond and that General Eswin were the ones left fighting, and most guards were either sporting their wounds (minor injuries, thankfully), or heading back to the civilians.

As her hand fidgeted over her still-burning arm, her eyes swept over to the alleyway in time to notice the young girl waving at her with urgency.

"Miss Garden Mage! Behind you—!"

Eleina felt the shift before she even comprehended it—her feet twisting sharply to face a beast rising from the ashes, which should not have been possible under ANY circumstances—now just inches from her face.

It took a split second for her to decide, the same timeframe when Raimond had finally turned around and saw her, and then—

"Eleina, GET BACK—!"

ChOmp—

'…!'

"MISS!"

An imperfect set of twisting teeth—one that strangely reminded her of the dead purple flower from today—had clamped down on the very arm that had been annoying her. Pain erupted almost immediately, crimson blood spluttering drops to the ground—and her mouth went rigid in order to stifle the cry in her throat.

Instead, with conscious effort—Eleina recalled the one thing ingrained in her mind since day one.

✿°.ೃ࿔*✿

"Oh, Jewel Flowers, Jewel Flowers,

How precious you are,

Petals so bright they make evil cower,"

✿°.ೃ࿔*✿

Time seemed to slow as she took a deep breath, despite the needle-like pain stabbing her.

For kids, it was simply a song meant to introduce them to flowers. For ordinary people, it was a baseless ballad.

For her… The first part served as something to regulate herself.

And the second part…

✿°.ೃ࿔*✿

And roots so deep,

the power's mine to keep!"

✿°.ೃ࿔*✿

…Did you know? Roots of a flower can also be a tad bit similar to your blood arteries?

The roots never ended where they seemed to end. Their physical appearance seemed limited, deep in the soil. However the magical portion of the roots still continued—like invisible strings, even if they were high above her, the roots of all the Jewel Flowers were connected to Eleina.

Her blood which dripped below, the pumping of her lungs, the 'crystal blood' circulating inside of her…

It was all Jewel Flowers.

"Get—away. from. her—"

A magnificent, blaring energy covered the entire area before anyone could even come closer. The beasts lurched and stumbled around, acting like prey caught in a net, it was as if their aversion to Jewel Flowers reawakened inside them—causing them to forget their hunger and instead rush away from the source as far as possible.

The light split into a wide blanket, covering only the twisted creatures and leaving the humans untouched. Raimond, the girl, and others could only cover their eyes and stay frozen in place. As soon as one beast was covered, the creature would be completely crumbled to dust and the light would flash forward to the next one. In only a few seconds—the entire area was wiped off clean from beasts.

Then the beast on her arm—which surprisingly hadn't reacted at all, went next, leaving her arm free from its jaws. The injuries—she noticed with relief—were significantly lesser than it was supposed to be.

"What in the world…" someone was saying. Many whispers followed.

"That's the Garden Mage…"

"...Instantly turned the beasts to dust..."

"That's enough." Raimond said, his voice a distant hum. "Eswin… go report this and let father know we are all okay."

"Woah—! Miss, you were so cool!" The girl had suddenly popped out of hiding and huddled over to her, checking Eleina's arm, "Even your arm is almost healed! Did the flowers do that too? Can you heal others too, like on command—?"

But even as the lights slowly dissipated… the doubt continued to linger inside her head; how in the world had they risen up from the ashes?

It was like they had been somehow summoned…

"Wait, Prince Raimond! Someone's there!"

"Everyone, stay alert! You there, little girl—"

"I'm not a little—"

"Stay behind us."

Her vision and hearing finally stabilizing, Eleina looked up slowly, dread returning to her heart like it'd never disappeared at all in the first place.

A cloaked beast—no. Someone wearing a torn cloak, holding a staff in one hand, was floating high above them. And even if its face was fully covered with a strange mask, Eleina couldn't help but notice how it seemed to survey the barren area devoid of beasts… and then snap its head to look straight at her.

As if it knew something.

"Y-you're the one…! You brought those beasts, didn't you?!" The teenager, now huddled behind Eleina, spoke up.

But then it vanished as quick as it had appeared—leaving everyone whispering… and a one very tired (and confused) Eleina amongst them.