Ra’ntar looked around with Soul Vision to make sure no one was following him while listening with the keen hearing typical of elves.
When he was certain that no one was close enough to be an immediate threat, he planted his Yggdrasill staff in the ground, activating Root Cause. Even without an active mind link with the World Tree, a Chronicler could activate the breathing technique and give the local flora temporary consciousness.
Every blade of grass, flower, and weed was now Ra’ntar eyes and ears.
No matter how good someone was at hiding or how perfect their cloaking devices were. No one could escape the magical and regular senses of the sea of green and killing the plants would reveal the position of an enemy anyway.
It was the reason Tezka struck the moment the wooden staff hit the soft ground. The index and medium fingers of his right hand pierced the elf’s eyes while his right fist shattered Ra’ntar’s ribcage.
The bone fragments punctured the Chronicler’s lungs and heart, sealing his breathing technique.
The Suneater cast his best healing spell on the elf, returning him to his peak condition and making him faint from exhaustion before the readings from Root Cause could converge on the staff and potentially alert the World Tree of his presence.
‘Chroniclers really are stupid.’ The Suneater’s lips curled up in a wolfish smile under his helmet. ‘When will they realize that the information overload from Root Cause leaves them blind, deaf, and dumb for an entire second? It’s like fishing in a barrel.’
He tied the staff to the elf’s hand with a rope to keep the contact and not alarm the World Tree. Chroniclers weren’t supposed to drop their equipment even in their sleep.
Then, he cuffed Ra’ntar’s hands and feet behind his back with Adamant links. Even if he woke up, he wouldn’t be able to fight back and his exposed vitals would make it easy to stun him again.
‘Your master has gone insane one time too many. The Yggdrasill should have never messed with Bytra. That woman is a monster.’ The Suneater looked at his own Darwen armor that covered him from ear to toe claw.
‘All she needed to learn how to refine and shape the Darwen was the armor fragments from the first ambush and a few days. For some reason, Solus’ disappearance upset Bytra big time and pushed her talent to its limits.
‘Without this baby, I couldn’t have escaped Souls Vision, and capturing this idiot would have been a lot more complicated. Now that we got Lith back, there’s not one moment to lose.’
“Good job, Auros.” Tezka said in his communication amulet. “I’m done with my mission and your compliance will be reported to the Master. Now resume your usual patrol route and erase every trace of your joy ride.
“The humans must not notice any anomaly in your routine. Remember, being predictable makes them predictable. Am I clear?”
“Sir, yes, sir!” Auros stood on attention, giving the Suneater a thundering salute before following his orders.
‘I don’t know why I had to run like an idiot and I don’t care.’ The Bringer of Unity thought. ‘Whoever forced the Suneater back to Jiera has just made the last mistake of their lives.’
***
Somewhere on the Garlen continent, Fringe of the World Tree, a few hours later.
Inside a prison room barely two meters (seven feet) across and a ceiling 40 centimeters (16 inches) high, a cracked stone ring sat in the middle of the wooden floor.
Solus’ legs and arms were still broken, sending waves of inescapable pain throughout her consciousness with each passing second. While inside the ring, there was no darkness fusion and she was incapable of passing out, no matter the suffering she endured.
The World Tree had yet to torture her further and the tower had all the means to return her to full health but Solus kept the healing process to a minimum.
‘As long as I’m hurt, the World Fucker won’t send another Librarian or I’d just pass my wounds onto them and make the possession process even easier.’ She thought through blinding agony. ‘Also, I have yet to come up with an escape plan with even a small chance of success.
‘I underestimated the Tree’s prowess and overestimated mine. Even with the knowledge I’ve gained from the Librarians, the full set of Menadion, and the Prime Engine, I’m alone against an army of elves and a powerful Fae inside their own turf.
‘Healing my wounds would just deplete the energy reserves of the Bleed and force me to another failed escape attempt with no guarantee to replenish them. Slowing down my recovery optimizes the Bleed’s energy consumption and buys me time.
‘Lith is alive. I can’t hear him in my mind but I can feel him in my heart. He’s alive and he’ll come to my rescue. I just need to wait.’ Solus was grateful to her stone form for lacking eyes and mouth.
Otherwise, the Yggdrasill would listen to her cries of pain and revel in her tears while gauging the perfect moment to attempt once again to break her will.
This way, instead all the Tree could see were the cracks still plaguing the stone ring Under Soul Vision, instead, the tower appeared full of the strength accumulated in the Bleed during the Engine’s last rampage.
To keep her mind focused and fight the waves of pain, Solus thought about everything and everyone that waited for her back in Lutia. She ignored the hopelessness of her present condition and focused on the happy memories of her past.
On the time she had spent in the tower researching magic with Lith, on all the places they had visited together, and the few memories that still belonged only to the two of them.
‘She shoots colors everywhere.’ Solus sang in her mind the song that Lith had dedicated to her like a mantra, using the emotions it aroused in her to find what little joy she could. ‘She braids her hair…’
***
Garlen continent, at the same time.
‘She’s like a rainbow!’ The melody echoed through Lith’s exhausted mind, waking him up from his slumber.
“Solus!” His voice came out muffled like he was talking into a pillow and his instincts rejected his attempts to jump up.
As his vision cleared up and his hands moved in the darkness to determine his current location, he discovered that his pillow was warm, perky, and had a regular heartbeat.
“Wrong.” A familiar sleepy voice chuckled. “You have two more tries.”
“Kami?” Lith’s memory came back to him as the mental fog of sleep cleared up.
He tried to get up when Kamila’s hands gently but firmly brought his head back to the embrace of her bosom.
“Ding, ding, ding. The gentleman wins a prize.” She said with a soft voice while kissing his hair. “I won’t kick your ass for calling the wrong name. Again. Have you done this with Solus in the past?”
She sounded calm, but the question lacked warmth and he could feel her tensing up.
“Define ‘this’.” Lith replied. “I have no idea where we are and what you are talking about.”
