Chương 66: Lost Cause

Louis stepped in front of Alexandra and met her gaze.

"Can you do it?" She looked at the seven Gold ranks on the other side of the room, at the ruined doorframe Cael had stepped through.

"I've located it. Underground, there's another basement. The Yshant's main body is there. Fuck, how could they hide it under our nose?"

"I'll do it."

"Then go. We'll hold them off," Dustin said. She was about to sprint off when Louis grabbed her shoulder. He whispered, "There's another path to the basement." Alexandra ran in the opposite direction. The estate was unrecognizable, torn apart by the verdant beast. She stepped over rubble without slowing down. She ducked under a severed root, and reached the entrance hall where the stairs used to be. Through a gap in the ceiling, she saw the red sky, and heard more screams coming from the city.

Not slowing down, she took a corridor, then turned left, right, right again, and once more to the left. She reached a door. It was locked, not magically, but the roots had pushed the door off its hinges. She pulled. It came apart. In front of her, stairs going down. Louis was right. Alexandra didn't waste time thinking. She had to get to the Yshant before it consumed the city and reached Platinum. Killing it at Gold was already reaching. If it evolved, she feared even Dark Bolt wouldn't be enough.

It would mean failing her quest, and potentially dying. Neither was acceptable. The stairs were going down in a straight line. Long and dark. This basement was deeper than the prison. She grazed the walls with her hand for support. The stairs ended on a dirt floor. Alexandra stopped. She'd expected another room like the ones above with stone walls and furniture. Instead she was standing at the edge of a vast expanse. The ceiling was high and arched, reinforced with iron ribs that curved overhead.

Between them, glass panels set into the earth, producing a cold, blue-white glow, steady, falling evenly across everything below. It was a greenhouse. In the center of the room, something grew. It was tall. Taller than anything had a right to be underground, reaching at least five times her size. The stem was thick as a man's torso and pale, almost white. The leaves were broad and flat. Not a draft in the room. Above them, the flower had opened fully. Blood-red petals.

Each one large as a cart, layered over each other in a loose spiral. At the center, a mass of stamens, dark at their tips, giving off a faint luminescence that pulsed like a heartbeat. She let out a rough breath.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Alexandra tore her eyes off the flower, and located Cael who was standing at a safe distance from it.

"Father went through so much effort to build this place and find an Yshant seed." He smiled.

"Do you know how complicated it is to raise such a magnificent flower in captivity?" She didn't answer.

"Of course you don't." He crouched, and inspected the ground. Alexandra narrowed her eyes and only now noticed that there were lines of various colors drawn all over the soil. The shape they drew was chaotic and ordered at the same time, similar to a mandala, but without the symmetry. She hesitated. Cael or the Yshant? Her chances felt better against the beast, but the man wasn't going to let her kill it.

"I must say," Cael said, not looking up.

"I wasn't expecting an Iron like you to damage a blessed Silver. That's quite the skill you have there. It's not going to work on an actual Gold, though. Much less on an Yshant."

"You seem confident."

"The difference between ranks is not so easily crossed. The further you advance, the worse it gets." He moved to inspect another part of the formation.

"But do try. Need I remind you the Yshant is feeding on the city as we speak? I was under the impression you wished to save them." Alexandra gritted her teeth, and felt a lump form in her throat. He was right. Every second she waited was a disaster for the surface. She had to try. She gathered lifeforce on her fingertip, pulling deep into her reserves. She'd have to figure out how she'd deal with Cael later. For now, she couldn't afford not to fire the most powerful version of Dark Bolt she could.

Sickness be damned. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. She stepped closer to the Yshant. The flower wasn't moving.

"Don't worry, it's not going to fight back." Cael didn't look up.

"It doesn't exactly agree with the plans we have for it, so we're restraining its movements." He chuckled.

"It thinks that ranking up to Platinum will be enough to break the formation. Well, it's a plant. Can't really expect it to be smart." She looked at him. Wasn't he underestimating her too much? She wasn't going to go easy on him. She pulled more lifeforce into her skill, and when she felt she had reached the maximum she could do, she pulled even more. This one's going to suck. She released it. Life Curse. Dark Bolt. The needle flew out. And bounced against the stem. It landed on the ground and dissipated.

Then her right eye closed, and wouldn't open no matter what she did. Alexandra's shoulders went limp. She had failed. Cael stood up, and looked her way.

"See. A Gold rank beast knows to shore up their weaknesses. You could probably kill it if you were Silver, I give you that. But with a difference of three ranks…" Alexandra bit her lip, and looked for a solution. She could try casting another Dark Bolt. Aim it at the petals. She could try cutting the stem open with her sickle, and shoving a Dark Bolt in the gap.

"Well, we're almost done here. While I appreciate the company, I'm afraid I'll have to dispose of you. This power is meant for our family, after all. We wouldn't want you to take a share from the ritual." Alexandra grabbed her sickle and got ready to defend herself. She'd regenerated a bit of mana since her last cast of Inflict Weakness, so she pulled a thread and started casting the skill once more.

"Please. You don't stand a chance."

"I held my own against Will. Be careful." He shook his head.

"Will is a tool. And you had help." A cloud of pollen erupted from his hands. He made it hover around him, spin, spiral, showcasing his control.

"Look, this is the Gold version of my bloodline. Unfortunately, our ancestor used a Gold rank sacrifice to obtain it, so it is limited. Imagine what it could do once it reaches Platinum." Alexandra took a step back. All she could hope for now was that the others defeat Lucius and run to help her. The pollen drifted toward her. Alexandra moved first. She closed the distance to the Yshant, sickle drawn, and drove the blade into the base of the stem. It bit in. Not deep. The wood was dense, more like bone than plant.

She wrenched the blade sideways to open the gap. It barely budged. Dark Bolt gathered on her finger. The pollen hit her arm before she could release it. Her arm dropped. Her fingers wouldn't close. The bolt dissipated. She pulled back, shaking her hand.

"Your sickle won't get through the skin," Cael said. He hadn't moved. The pollen hung around him in a loose spiral. She still had Inflict Weakness. She pulled the thread and cast it. Nothing happened.

"A strength reduction?" Cael asked.

"You realize I use my pollen to fight? A few points of strength are inconsequential." The pollen spread through the room and rose to her knees. She charged. The pollen collapsed around her the moment she moved. It slowed her the way water would, and found her eyes, her throat, her lungs. She kept running, blade up, and swung at the shape of him through the haze. He wasn't there. She turned. He was two steps to her left, watching her. She swung again. He leaned back.

The sickle passed close enough that he glanced down at it, mildly.

"You're fast," he said.

"For your rank." She went for his throat. He caught her wrist. Just stopped it, his grip easy, relaxed. He held it for a moment, then released her. The pollen was everywhere. Her one working eye was burning. She couldn't fully open it. She blinked and swung again, a wide arc, and this time he stepped inside it and put a hand flat on her sternum and pushed. She went down on one knee. She got up.

"You're going to keep doing that?" he asked. She couldn't see him clearly anymore.

"Stop trying to act like your father. It doesn't land the same with you." Cael shook his head.

"I'm aware. Which is why I'm practicing with you." She moved. He saw it coming. She didn't care. She faked left, went right, and drove her elbow into his ribs as she passed him, spinning to bring the sickle across his back. The blade connected. He made a sound. Small, surprised. She pressed it, swinging again, and he caught the sickle by the blade with his bare hand. Held it. She pulled. It didn't move. He looked at the cut on his palm. Then at her. The pollen collapsed inward all at once. It hit her like a wall.

She lost her grasp on the sickle and went down, one hand on the dirt, unable to stand, unable to see. She couldn't get up. She knelt in the white, head down, and tried to remember if there was anything left.

"That's enough," Cael said.

"The Yshant is about to evolve. I've wasted enough time playing with you."

"Fuck. You." Then she felt it. A spark, on her leg. Fucking curse. She stared at the small flame. Tried to move to snuff it out. The pollen moved around it. Dense. Suspended. Everywhere. She didn't have time to think it through. Oh. The sound came before she could think. Then white.