Volume 1

Chapter 11

The Master

"There she is!"

Garnet appeared as an orange smudge at the back of the cave suspended by thick vine around her arms and midriff; her face was concealed by shadow, but her head hung limply, and she wasn't moving. Vines occupied every available surface; they dominated the walls and hung down from the ceiling, and even layered the floor making for unsteady footing. They pulsed and wiggled like worms in soil pushing through crevices in the stone, and out into the forest, and at the centre of it all, sitting atop a mound of slithering vines, was the largest flower Zidane had ever seen. The beast took up almost the entire cave from floor to ceiling, with appendages spanning all the way to the wall. Two back stems held it firmly in place, but there was no way around it. It hissed at them through a small mouth at the middle of its crimson flower, its stamen bobbing angrily.

"So, this is the master."

"Princess!" Stainer looked from Garnet to the beast and back again, and then turned to Zidane, his eyebrows low over his eyes. "You stay out of this! Alexandria would be disgraced if a mere bandit should rescue the princess."

Zidane scoffed a laugh, and indicated with his head towards the master, still growling at them. "You think you can handle him on your own?" A part of the thief wanted the knight to answer yes, to see him attempt to tackle something so horrendously large unaided, but Steiner didn't respond. He looked instead at the serrated edges of the flower's mouth and his fists twisted with frustration.

"…"

As Zidane withdrew his blades, the plant reeled its arms back preparing to strike. "Let's get him, Vivi!"

Somewhat reluctantly, Vivi followed Zidane as he sprinted towards the creature, and somewhere behind him Steiner's armour clanked as he joined them. Zidane was the first to strike, delving into the fleshy underside of the beast with one blade, and aiming for a vine with the other. Screeching in pain at the sudden attack, the monster swung a branch and hit Zidane away; the boy flew backwards and landed with a thud between Vivi and Steiner, but was back on his feet again just a second later. When he saw the arm coming towards them again, a panic burned into Vivi. He let the feeling swell until his fingers tingled with the energy, and cast a ball of flame at the beast, causing it to reel, and shake in pain. Its petals trembled and it opened its mouth wide. Tiny yellow spores spat out towards the trio.

Zidane and Steiner got the full force of the spray, their eyes and noses stinging. A black fog seemed to cast over Zidane's eyes, like a mask, and though he tried to swing his daggers, he misjudged the attack, floundering to the side without hitting the beast at all. Steiner too was blinded, but when Vivi, aimed another firebolt at his sword, the man was ready. The light from the spell somehow negated the effects of the spores, allowing the knight to see. Keeping his aim true, Steiner plunged another attack into the overgrown root, and Vivi swiftly added yet more fire hoping to burn the thing away… but the fire died down again, and the plant monster was still standing, a little blacked here and there, but just as vicious.

"Phew, I made it just in time."

Zidane recognised the voice, and wondered if perhaps his ears had somehow been afflicted, but Vivi turned to see the boy scurrying through the entrance to join them. Blank, his red hair poignant even in the dim-light, and his sword rested against his shoulder. "Step aside. I'll take care of this." He took a moment to study his fellow thief, and handed the boy a small vile. There wasn't a moment's hesitation from Zidane, who doused the potion onto his eyes, and the haze that had blinded him faded. They smiled at each other; Blank ran forward and slashed at the plant, followed closely by Zidane. The monster gave a roar and flailed its tentacles, and then more spores started to fan out from the centre of its blossom. However, instead to gushing out towards the group, the sports started to shimmer, twisting about the stoma, before rising up to the ceiling of the cave. With another screech, the monster threw out it's limbs.

Blue tendrils of lightning lashed down from the cave top, dancing amid flashes of yellow and blue. Electricity rushed about them, clutching at their nerves and muscles, and then just as suddenly it stopped, leaving them dazed. Steiner, his body, cased as it was in metal plating, took the most damage, but the others shivered with the remnants of the thunder. Blank hurled a potion at Steiner, who was leaning on his knees; Zidane ran forward, tightly clutching his blades, tearing at the beast with a renewed vigour, still feeling the electricity twitching at his nerves. It threw its tentacles out again, this time hitting them all in a large sweep, trying to knock them back. Blank dug his sword in as well, drawing out a screech. Finally, the creature appeared to be weakening. Vivi wasted no time, casting fire to Steiner's magic sword. The man jumped forward, his blade ablaze, and landed the edge in one of the petals, ripping into the fragile appendage as he went, leaving a trail of fire. This time the flames didn't die so quickly. Before they could fade, Vivi blasted another fireball. It exploded up from the root, torn as it was by the thief's daggers. The flames continued upwards, joining with the burning petals and bursting outwards; the beast screamed again, and then fell backwards, its limbs becoming limp, its mouth agape.

In the wake of the victory, a strange silence came over the forest. Zidane sensed it immediately, like the withered old plant had been sending out a wave of noise not missed until it was gone, but there was little time to contemplate the matter. Steiner managed to wrangle Garnet down from the wall and bring her into the light. Her skin was clammy and pale, and her eyes gave a quick flutter, but she didn't wake. Seeing the movement of her eyelids Steiner lifted her head a little. "Princess! Please try to get a hold of yourself!" he said, his words edged with desperation. It was funny, actually. Steiner seemed to believe he had the ability to shout things into happening.

"Zidane, give her the stuff," Blank said. With a nod, Zidane trundled over the withering vines, near Garnet. For once, the old rust bucket didn't question him or insult him, but urgently raised her head so Garnet could drink Blank's potion. The contents slipped into her mouth, and instinct made her swallow it down with a couple of dry hacks.

"Princess," Rusty began, "please try to drink all of it."

"Is she gonna be okay?" Vivi asked, peering at Garnet, his bright eyes narrowed with worry. Before anyone could answer, the ground heaved beneath their feet. It was as though something had fallen away, leaving only the surface vines for support.

"Oh man!" groaned Blank. "What now?"

With another rumble, the heap where the plant boss had once stood gave way, falling onto a crevice. Blue gas hissed up from the opening, filling the chamber with an acrid stench. From the billowing cloud, shapes began to emerge. When the gas cleared, Zidane found himself staring at two more plant creatures, different from any they'd seen in the forest so far. They looked like a praying mantis had mated with a tulip; they had bug like bodies equipped with spiked femurs and pointed legs and a crest of red petals. For a moment the creatures stood, taking in their surroundings, before their eyes (or what passed for them) locked onto the small party of trespassers.

Zidane and Blank had both turned to survey the nearest exit, but another of the monsters was scurrying in from there too, and more shadows danced about behind it.

"Sheez!" exclaimed Blank, "we're gonna be surrounded!"

From the corner of his eye, Zidane could see the second break in the cave walls, further away, but unblocked. He kept his eyes trained on the mantis plants, but indicated the new escape route with a tilt of his head. "Let's get out of here!"

Blank, understanding the gesture immediately, didn't move; he noticed Vivi standing frozen, lost in an oncoming terror. "GO!" he yelled, which seemed enough to snap him out of it. Zidane and Steiner, with Garnet in his arms, were already running to the exit, but Vivi just watched them go, like he was declining an invitation for an afternoon picnic. "What are you waitin' for?" At last the kid moved, bolting to where Zidane stood waiting for them both. He hurried through the entrance.

The beasts were drawing closer now, towards Blank. He carefully sidestepped, darting his eyes between all three of them to catch any sudden moves, Zidane wildly gesturing with his hands for his brother to hurry up and refusing to leave otherwise. Once out of close range, Blank turned and fled, passing out of the cave with Zidane close behind him.

A steep mossy bank waited on the other side, with more vines leeching out. It was slimy underfoot, which didn't make the descent easy at a fast pace. Luckily, Steiner and Vivi had already staggered down, Blank managed the angle in a half run half slide, and Zidane followed suit. The beasts, unbothered by the greasy mosses, chased them down the hill. Zidane felt one close and swung back with his blades to deter a fight, before hurrying onwards. Further on, the land rose and fell at odd angles where the river had once cut into the land and then been trapped into pools. They came to a ridge where the turf fell away into a crevice. It took Zidane by surprise, and he had to prevent himself from tumbling down when his foot slid on a toadstool. A skeleton of some poor damned creature lay where it had fallen, trying to crawl between two closely grown trees down into the hollow. It was huge, its head still dangling down into the pool below where it had tried to drink. Had these creatures done that? Zidane didn't want to find out.

The group jumped down in stages, using a rock and the skeleton as landing points before splashing into the stagnant water below. One creature dove down, taking the ridge in one jump and landing at the same time as Zidane. As he was about to run, another monster careened in from a path to the side, and the two hustled in to corner the group.

As it turned out, taking the weeds down wasn't all that hard. A few slices to the legs and they fell; they had the lightning abilities, but nowhere near the power of their late master. It was the sheer number of them that was the problem. Zidane could hear them, clicking and scurrying through the trees all around and it set his teeth on edge. Everything seemed to be moving, like they'd triggered some kind of trap when the boss of the forest had died. Tailing the group, he stopped to listen in an area of clear path. That plant thing had connected everything somehow, sustained it even, and now it was gone…

Blank, who had hurried ahead along with the others, turned and raced back to his brother, taken aback by the sudden stop. "What are you doin'?"

"Something's wrong," Zidane explained, peering up at the layer of leaves above them. Even they were acting strangely, pulsing and shrinking.

"What?"

"The entire forest is coming after us."

With a determined face, Zidane turned to Blank. He'd gotten everyone into this mess; bought Garnet into danger, and Vivi and … well Steiner had himself to blame, at least, but Zidane had to get them all out now. With an uncharacteristically serious tone he said, "Blank… take care of everyone," and ran ahead. If something happened to him, Blank would get the other three, and himself, to safety, Zidane knew. Blank would protect them.

The red headed brother stared after Zidane with a furrowed brow. What did he mean by that? he wondered.