Oghrom Myrok’s armor possessed such cloaking spells that no matter the form it took, it was impossible to distinguish it from common clothes.
The cloaking means of the Royal Fortress armor Jirni wore had fooled even the World Tree and escaped their Soul Vision.
“You must be really fucked up in the head to believe a woman at my stage of pregnancy would jump in the maw of danger without a plan.” Jirni’s excited voice betrayed the cruel smile hidden by her helm’s visor. “That’s the first good news I received today.”
She grabbed both halves of the Puppet and slammed them together, opening cracks that spread from the point of impact to the rest of its wooden body. Before the two sides of the Puppet made contact, she injected a spark of Life Maelstrom and her best healing spell inside the wood.
The cracks opened and closed in quick succession while the newly sprouted tendrils tangled and fused with each other, restoring the Puppet’s original form.
“What?” The World Tree was flabbergasted.
The silver lightning boosted both the spell and the Puppet’s metabolism so that the innate healing process took place before the Yggdrasill could resist it.
“I just said that for someone holding more knowledge than anyone else on Mogar, you are quite stupid. I love stupid people. They are the easiest enemies to deal with.” Jirni tightened her hold on the Puppet and pinned it to the ground.
The World Tree lashed at her with every bit of strength their newborn sprout could muster but to no avail. The repeated cycles of torture and healing had crippled Ra’ntar with consumption and what was left of the Chronicler had been poor nourishment for the Puppet’s rapid growth.
The sprout had never been a match for the Royal Fortress armor, let alone now that it had been broken and forcibly put together.
“Dammit!” On its last root, the Yggdrasill pooled what mana the Puppet had left into a powerful tier five spell that they shot at Quylla.
By fusing Raging Sun and Skybreaker into Sunbreaker, the Yggdrasill wood combined air, fire, water, and darkness magic into a spell that failed to surpass a Tower Tier spell only because of the Puppet’s exhausted state.
Raging Sun alone produced an explosion comparable to a volcanic eruption while Skybreaker released streams of lightning infused with darkness.
Together, the air element reinforced the explosion and increased the heat of the fire while the darkness element coated everything, making even the shockwaves released by Sunbreaker poisonous to the touch.
Even if Quylla’s clothes were an enchanted armor as well, just the sound reaching her ears would have carried the darkness element to her bloodstream and from there it would have affected everything.
Her organs, her mana core, and her babies.
“You fucking son of a mold!” Friya snarled in outrage.
Her air whipped the air due to the massive amount of mana coursing through them while she kept her eyes on the Puppet. Friya had followed the movements of the Puppet’s mana with Life Vision from the moment the living wood had started to conjure Sunbreaker and had neutralized the spell with Domination.
As her willpower and the World Tree’s battled for control of Sunbreaker, the explosion was frozen at the ground level, like a flaming black flower that couldn’t decide whether to bloom or not.
“As I said, stupid.” Jirni released the Puppet and raised her hands with her palms out and fingers splayed.
Skywarp split into dozens of Davross needles and when Jirni clenched her fists, the needles pierced the Puppet’s tendrils without missing any and nailed it to the ground. The damage was accompanied by a healing spell that made the wood regrow around the needles, reinforcing their hold.
The sudden wave of weakness caused the Tree to lose the battle of wills and with it control over Sunbreaker.
“Stop!” Jirni’s stern voice snapped Friya out of her fury and kept her from unleashing the tetra elemental spell on her hated enemy. “That’s what the Tree wants. They’ve been playing the fool to bait us into a mindless rage.”
Seeing the confusion in her daughters’ eyes she added.
“The Yggdrasill wants to die, or rather, they want to get rid of the liability of the Puppet. This is not their real body, just a nexus for their power. Destroy it and all the pain we have inflicted upon the World Tree in the Fringe will fade away like a bad dream.
“Lith’s army would lose the only advantage they have and we’d become useless.”
Friya nodded and dispelled Sunbreaker, making sure there was nothing left for the Puppet to manipulate.
“You are smart, Jirni Ernas.” The World Tree said with the raspy voice of a thirsty man. “Smarter than I gave you credit for but still too ignorant to beat me at my game. This is my victory.”
The Yggdrasill did a poor job of hiding his anger and frustration for having his plans foiled time and time again by a human but their gloating was even more evident.
“Quylla, more nutrients. Now!” A quick diagnostic spell revealed that between the wounds opened by Jirni and casting the Tower Tier spell, the Puppet was running on fumes.
Its vitality was a candle on the brink of going out, the wax burned and gone.
“On it!” Quylla tried and failed to use her Injection spell.
A sprout had no bloodstream she could force the potions into. She had treated Fae in the past but those had been patients, not victims. The Yggdrasill was letting the Puppet wither from starvation and refused to absorb the nutrients.
“It’s not working!” Quylla said after trying everything she could but to no avail. “Any suggestions, Aalejah?”
“None.” The elf’s face was still a pale green from the tortures she had witnessed and the shock from the Yggdrasill consuming Ra’ntar to form the Puppet. “Fae drink and eat only to socialize. They draw their sustenance from the soil.”
She pointed at the cloth floor of the cell.
“Yet I advise against giving the Puppet access to the ground. Best case scenario, it still refuses to eat. Worst case scenario, it transfers its consciousness to the tip of its roots, detaches from the main body, and digs its way out.”
“Don’t worry, that’s never been a plan.” Jirni soaked the withered rests of the Puppet with the best potions she had. “Quylla, give me a hand. Friya, eyes on the mark.”
“What are we doing?” Quylla poured more nutrient potions until they formed a shallow pool below the broken form of the Puppet.
“The old fool is right. We have no way to force him to stay alive.” Jirni talked out loud on purpose. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t drag out the game and make it as painful as possible.
“Think about it, girls. The Puppet is still alive and is starving while surrounded by the most delicious food. It’s enough for the World Tree to lose focus for one second to let the survival instinct make them feed upon the potions.
“Sure, this thing doesn’t feel pain anymore but now the Yggdrasill has to resist both starvation and the impulse to feed.”
