Chapter 22: The Forest for the Trees

Magus watched as the body was swallowed by the earth. Her roots entangled upon themselves, burrowing into the dirt. He huffed. The head should be a weak spot for all living beings. Magus had made sure his first attack would be lethal, yet she still lived.

“The stirring of the earth, and the will of the world. Rise, Colossus whose steps beat the heart of the world! Iomprior Domhain Colossus!”

From the ground, a mass of stone, earth and tree erupted, its head breaching the Gigant Forest canopy. Enormous boulders, cobbled together and tied by massive pulsing vines and roots formed the facsimile of a man. On its shoulder, barely visible, was Lu Lulach, her head fully healed.

Magus hoisted Wyn up on his back, tying her to him with scattered vines. How did she manage to not wake from the commotion? Simple. Magus had cast her into a deep, dreamless slumber. If she awoke, she might voice concern over his plan. Magus had seen, though countless nights at the guild’s party hall, how people often act against their best interests. Without a doubt, Wyn would object against Magus’ plan, and if she tried to stop him, Magus wasn’t sure he’d be able to maintain his resolve. No, he was sure he wouldn’t be able to. It was better to ask for forgiveness than to fail to act.

He rose from the air, floating upward, small pebbles and dirt rising into the air with him.

“A skipped stone ripples across the world. Raptured screams erupt into an age of silence. Falling Asteroid.”

The giant stumbled as its footing eroded under itself. Tch. He had hoped that the spell would draw in the earth that comprised the giant, yet the vines binding it together were too strong for his spell to rip apart. Not that it mattered. He moved to the side as the rock fell down upon the giant. Yet it wasn’t crushed. No, the giant caught the falling stone in both arms.

A blast of light shredded an arm into dust, only for it to immediately reform. Part of the falling stone, absorbed into the giant and refashioned into an arm. Between its palms, the stone was ground into fine powder.

“Theodore was right. You really are a monster.” Lu Lulach grimaced.

“Hardly. What would that make you?”

“We’re hardly the same. I’m not the villain who kidnapped a princess.”

“I’ve no interest in trading banter with you. Are you Roselwyn?”

“Of course not. Though I see no need to introduce myself to you.”

“Good. If you are not her, then my quarrel is not with you. Leave.”

“Not unless you drop the princess.”

Negotiations have broken down. With a swipe of his hands, a wave of light cleaved the giant down from the shoulder.

“Collapse. Decay. Still the breath, and the corpse runs cold. Freeze. Silence. Still the limbs, and death takes hold. False Equilibrium."

Before the giant can regenerate, its wound froze over. The vines blackened as they froze to death, the stone covered in a layer of permafrost as the stolen heat builds in Magus’ palm. With a swing of his arm, a wave of pure heat washed over the giant, melting stone and shriveling vine. The giant collapsed to its knees.

Numerous vines puncture through the permafrost, suturing together the wound like a stuffed doll. Stone erupts from the melted wound like cancerous growth, reshaping the melted shell into a grotesque scar. Lu Lulach scowled. Never before had her giant struggled to recover from damage, and this was the largest, strongest one she’s ever summoned.

“You just won’t stay down, will you?”

“Of course not. You’ve kidnapped my captain’s precious baby sister. You’d be lucky to escape with your life.”

“Have I kidnapped her? Don’t be ridiculous. For an entire year, she has hidden herself from you. How do you know she wants to be with you?”

The giant’s hand reached for Magus, only to be blown apart. Magus charged forward, trying to grab Lu Lulach by her neck, only for her to dive into the giant and reappear on its other shoulder.

“Give up your foolish chase. All you do is bring her suffering,” Magus said.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” The giant’s arm regrew around Magus, sealing them in a tomb in its shoulder. Vines wrapped itself around his neck, attempting to choke the life from his body, as stone bands attempted to rip Wyn off Magus’ back. “A child runs away from home in a rebellious fit. Does the parent then simply abandon them? Is it foolish to return a lost chick to its nest?”

Magus erupted from the shoulder in a spray of purple light.

“Why don’t we ask her? She’s right there, isn’t she? Or is there a reason that she’s not waking up, despite the noise?” Lu Lulach continued.

“She has already made her position clear.”

“Has she now?!”

The giant reached for Magus once again, and once again Magus blasted its arm apart. But the rubble doesn’t stop moving. Even as it soared through the air, vines and roots stretched together, until one arm became two. They grabbed at his head and legs, attempting to tear him apart.

From the arm, Lu Lulach grew. She reached for the vines tied around his chest. Her fingers only briefly brush against a vine before she, along with the arms, crumble away in violet light.

“Why will you not die?” Magus shouted.

“I could ask the same to you, monster!” From the shoulder of the giant, dozens of flowers bloomed. From the pistil of each stepped out a fully formed Lu Lulach.

“Clones?”

“Close enough!”

Magus scowled. This woman was persistent, powerful, and irritating. She had to die.

“This is the light beyond the sky. This is the light that pierces endless darkness. This is the light that keeps eternity at bay. This is the light of a thousand lights.”

Lu Lulach stared at the burning light pulsing in his palm. Everything in her dozens of bodies screamed danger. This one could actually do damage. One of her florets dug deep into the earth, retreating as far as she could. The others opened their arms, spreading their petals. Massive leaves enveloped the giant. They fed on the light emanating from Magus’ palm, which so closely resembled that of the suns. They drank in as much of that light as possible, to the point where, one after another, her florets began to wither away from the excess energy. But it didn’t matter. She was building up more power than she’d ever stored before. Only one needed to survive to attack.

“This light is our warmth. This light is our growth. This light is the fuel that feeds our spread.”

At that moment, a single flower sprouted. On Magus’ back, from the vine tying Wyn to him.

The flower shook, its pollen flying free. Wyn’s nose scratched, and itched. She let out a sneeze. Her eyes fluttered open.

What the hell is happening? Magus, flying in the air, with her on his back. Who was that, in the distance? Her face was familiar… She reeled, and would’ve retched had her stomach not been empty. The consequences of having her mana so forcefully ripped out, leaving her with just the bare minimum she needed. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was happening.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” She shouted, ripping the vines from her body. With a shout, she began to tumble out of the sky.

“Wait, Wyn!”

Magus immediately lost all the mana he needed for his spell. He fell into free fall as the light in his palm died out, desperately reaching for Wyn.

“Oh no.” Lu Lulach muttered. But it was too late to stop her spell now. Her giant crumbled to dust, blown away from the recoil of the massive beam of solar energy flying towards the two falling adventurers.