章 44: Towards the Forest
"Should we run?" Emile asked.
The two were staring at the drakes behind, its tail truly was unique. The scales were much larger, they looked more like armored plates than scales.
The ball on the end of the tail was the same armored scale and after looking more closely, it was shaped flatter than a ball. It resembled a curved plate or a tennis racket, something used to crush or squish things.
"I don't know—" Blood said, "I didn't think we'd end up in hell, but—" he gestured to the molten rock and scorching lava flowing around them.
"I don't think we should've attacked the drake in the first place." Emile said, matter-of-factly.
"I don't think we should've attacked the drake—" Blood mimicked Emile, "a lot of things went a little poorly, okay?!"
"A little poorly?!" Emile repeated.
The drake jumped forward, cracking the earth beneath it. More flashes ensued in the air from the ongoing attacks of their mystery savior.
Multiple explosions lit up the ceiling, chunks of stone plummeted down, the entire space was crumbling apart.
Meanwhile, Emile and Blood argued.
"Okay! Normal poorly! But we're both alive aren't we?" Blood argued.
"You're missing an arm!" Emile yelled.
"For now!"
"What?!"
The drake flew back and smashed into the ground beside Blood and Emile, a pitiful whimper escaped the beast's mouth. It struggled to stand, a chunk of its scales missing from the constant assault of attacks.
The giant lizard dug its claws into the ground until lava pooled around them. The lava hardened while the scales on the drakes' limbs brightened to an orange glow.
The glow traveled up the drakes legs towards its neck where the glow gathered and strengthened. The drake tightened its muscles and stretched its jaw. Immediately a small orb condensed in the drakes mouth while its scales dimmed.
The drakes color returned to normal and the ball of energy condensed to a radiant, white light with an orange aura coating it. The orb ruptured and an explosion of energy shot at the unknown green light.
The beam slammed into the wall far ahead, instantly liquifying it into a rain of lava. The drake directed the energy beam across the wall, vaporizing everything it hit.
In a matter of moments, the colossal wall toppled over, a tsunami of molten rock crashing down. The drake's beam of heat faded to nothingness, it lowered its head and turned back.
It gave Emile and Blood a short glance as it passed by, but ultimately lowered its head and continued to limp away. A trail of blood followed the drake and evaporated along with it, creating a misty red fog that eventually hid the figure of the drake.
"Well—" Blood started walking away, "that was fun."
Emile shook his head and followed Blood, "No it wasn't! We almost died! Honestly, I don't even know what happened!"
"Yeah, it sure was odd." Blood agreed.
***
It took Emile and Blood three days to find their way out of the multiple connecting caverns and tunnels. Along the way they bumped into a couple native villages, but the duo decided to avoid confronting them each time.
Blood got accustomed to his single arm. Of course, he didn't feel entirely comfortable yet, but at least he got to keep his dominant arm.
Meanwhile, Emile spent the entirety of the three days reflecting on the past two weeks. Most noticeably the people he killed and the unusual interaction with the drake.
He still had nightmares about the boy with tattoos, but they're starting to become less frequent. Also, Emile spent a lot of conscious effort in attempts to steel his resolve.
For long periods at a time, he would repeat words and concepts in his head. Phrases like 'it's kill or be killed' and 'the weak die.' He wasn't entirely sure if his makeshift form of training was doing anything, but at worst it was a successful coping mechanism.
Days passed while the two trekked up the Hollow Mountains. Finally, they came to a crossing between two peaks and passed over to the other side of the mountains.
Far below, Emile caught a glimpse of what the forests really were. Rather than being a beautifully lush explosion of greenery and assortment of multicolored living things, all Emile could see out in the distance was the color red.
There were trees and bushes, little pockets of different shrubs and the like, but every leaf, every stick, even the monumental body of water splitting the forest in two was a deep crimson.
Emile stared at the scarlet forest for a moment and just before he looked away the entirety of the red suddenly sunk into a deeper, darker red then blipped back to normal.
Emile waited and watched for even longer and again the entire biome darkened and revitalized, it felt a lot like a pulse or breath. It didn't feel forced, instead it felt like the plants and trees moved together as one, but it definitely made Emile uncomfortable.
"There she is—" Blood whistled as he caught sight of the scarlet forest, "the Dead Tree sure is incredible."
"The Dead Tree?" Emile asked.
"Yeah, everything you see down there. All of that red is a single monster, the Dead Tree." Blood responded.
"That's all one monster?! Wait—" Emile paused, "monster?"
"You didn't know? I guess it is hard to find plants these days, but plants absorb and utilize essence just like the rest of us. And some become Royals and Kings like us, anything with essence can become powerful."
"So did the Dead Tree create the entire forest?" Emile asked.
"I don't think so. The Dead Tree takes control of living things, putting them in an unconscious, dead-like state where it'll then use your essence as its own. That's how it survives. So I think over time it slowly took control of the whole place." Blood informed.
"And we're going in there?" Emile clarified.
"Gods no! We get cut once down there and we're trapped forever. Our mission is at the bottom of the mountain, still Hollow territory." Blood said.
"Thank God." Emile said.
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