The shed was small and full of rakes, shovels, and bags of what Kyoko assumed were fertilizer. There was just enough room for her to sit at one end and for Sho to lean against the wall on the other. He kept one eye on the window, peering out to watch for anyone approaching. The smell of earth mixed with fresh grass helped calm her still jittering nerves and though each beat of her heart still stung, the pain around her marks was lessening.
"No sign of them," he said. "Though there does seem to be some sort of commotion. I can't see exactly what is going on…" He leaned closer to the window, muttering at the dirt that smudged his nose when he got too close. "We should be fine for a while."
Kyoko leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. It was nearly impossible to relax, but she tried anyway, forcing her muscles to loosen up. It worked for a second before a surge of pain caused them to tense and make her start all over again.
Would Cain come in time? She'd sent him a message, but it had only been a single signal. Would he worry enough to break away from the Accursed that had shown up? She wasn't sure. Even if he did, she no longer had the necklace to point in which direction she was.
She grimaced as another shot of pain went up her arm. It prompted tears to come to her eyes. Stars, everything hurt.
Maru, I'm so sorry for what happened to you.
Dorr, Yukie, Horiuchi. Everyone who had died defending her. It all hurt. She'd never see their faces again. Never talk with them again.
Chiori. I miss you. Kanae, where are you? Did the Accursed get to you as well?
"Oi, are you okay?"
She opened her eyes to see Sho now looking at her instead of out the window.
"I'm fine," she said, trying to make it so with the strength of her voice alone.
"You know what?" said Sho with irritation. "It really annoys me when you do that."
"Do what?" She just wanted to close her eyes and sleep.
"That." He gestured to all of her. "Obviously you're not okay, but you pretend to be. Do you know how annoying that was as kids? 'Oh, no Mrs Fuwa, I'm fine. I can keep helping with the dishes.' My parents always compared me to you, saying I should do better."
"Then maybe you should have," shot Kyoko.
Sho suddenly sneered. "Why should I? You were always going on about how great I was. So perfect and handsome. But then there you were getting praised by my parents while I was scolded. I hated it."
"Typical," said Kyoko. "You blame me for your shortcomings."
"I'm trying to own up to them, damn it!"
He ran an irritated hand through his hair, noticed the cobwebs stuck there and cursed as he tried to shake it off. Again, he was saying things she'd never thought to hear. The Sho she knew would never hint at regret. Her old image of him was trying to meld with the Sho in front of her and it wouldn't mix. They rejected each other like water and oil.
"You're not an imposter, are you?" she said. "I'm warning you, if you're trying to gain my trust you chose the worst person to imitate."
"I just bloody saved you and you accuse me of being a— I don't even know. What do you think I've been trying to do every time we ran into each other?"
"Butt yourself into my life and annoy me as much as possible?"
"No you moron! I was trying to help. To get you away from the newest stupid position you had landed yourself in. I might not have given you much thought, but at least I never made you a concubine and then threw you away only to be married to an Accursed. You didn't learn. You're still being tricked by men."
"Cain is not a bad man!" She was so angry she couldn't hold her tongue. The world shook not only with her own weakness, but with an anger that was stronger than it had any right to be. "And he didn't throw me away. They're the same person, Idiot. Cain is the prince. He's Kuon."
"What!" Sho looked horrified. "That's even worse! Though I should have guessed. Bet he gave you that necklace you wear. Still has you collared like you were before as a concubine."
A pang of loss thumped in her chest. Her neck felt so bare without some sort of metal adorning it. Whether it was the harem choker, or the sapphire one made to look like a crystal aster, she had worn a necklace almost the whole time she'd known Kuon. And now it had been destroyed. Scattered like dust on the floor of her room. Compared to everything else, it was a little thing to be upset about, but it still hurt.
Kuon had given her the sapphire necklace as a gift right after he dismissed the harem. She hadn't opened the package until days later when it almost became too late to tell him how she felt. It had gone with her everywhere since then, like a physical representation of the love she now outwardly wore for Kuon. And now it had been destroyed.
"That's not it at all," she said, voice thick. "He gave that necklace to me as a gift. To help keep me safe."
Sho snorted. "Are you sure he's not just using it to control you?"
"Not all men think you like Sho. They don't think of women as possessions."
"I don't—! Look at the mess you're in because of him. At least when you were with me you were safe."
"You don't understand." It was boggling just how much he didn't. There was too much to explain, and she didn't even care if he knew it all. But he would not think badly of Kuon. She wouldn't allow it. Her eyes moved to her lap, hands shaking. Was it from weakness, or from her anger?
"Things are complicated," she said. "It's a mess, and gods, I wouldn't even know where to begin to explain everything that has happened. But if there is one thing in this hope forsaken mess that keeps me going, it's that I know that Kuon loves me. My flaws, my inability to stop rambling when I'm excited, my plain unattractive looks. He knows all of me and he loves me, not despite of what he sees, but because of it. And I love him too, which is why I'm supporting him even after he became an Accursed. Because that's what you do when you love someone. You support them, even when they're at their worst."
Her hands stopped shaking. Some of the constricting pain around her chest lessened. She took a deep breath, steadying her nerves and clearing her head.
"I see." Sho went back to staring out the window, arms crossed in front of him. "I guess you really didn't change much."
She curled her hands into fists. "Only the parts of me that didn't need changing."
"Ah, well. I guess so." He fidgeted, glancing back at her several times before finally grumbling. "Would you stop looking at me like you want to skin me alive? I said I'm sorry, didn't I?"
"Actually, you didn't."
"Yeah, I did."
"No, you questioned my life's decisions. Which, last I checked, was a terrible way to apologize, and a great way to start a fight."
She wasn't angry anymore. She felt almost dizzy from the lack of it. Any of the residual resentment she'd had for this man had dispersed. For the first time since he'd stolen her work, they'd been able to talk privately. To shout to their hearts content and air out their complaints. It had felt a lot better than she might have predicted. Course, that had to do a lot to do with Sho's own growth. Because he had grown. Maybe not in all the areas he should have, but it was a start.
The old and new images of him were starting to mix.
He scratched his cheek in apparent embarrassment. "Look, I am sorry. Kids are dumb, and I'm not a kid anymore." She snorted and he glared. "Well, less of a kid in your eyes I suspect. But I guess... I kind of miss you, even if you were annoying. You're less annoying like this. Able to stand up for yourself and talk back."
Kyoko's brows rose to her hairline. "Are you serious?"
He shrugged, but it was a forced casualness his face didn't show. She didn't know how to feel about this.
"I wasn't kidding," she said. "back at the trial. My life has nothing to do with you anymore, Sho."
"And do you want it to stay that way?"
They stared at one another, old friends standing at either end of a precipice that might be breached. Sho had done his part, waiting for Kyoko on the other end to reach forward. Did she want that? Did she want to let Sho back into her life? Was she ready to completely forgive him?
She opened her mouth to answer.
The ground rumbled. It was only enough to rattle the buckets and make the rakes clang against each other, but even that was too much. It stopped them both dead in their tracks, waiting for something to happen.
"What was—?" said Sho.
"I don't know."
Was it a fight nearby? Had Cain returned?
Sho went to look back out the window, but before he could, the door burst open.
Kyoko was on her feet, hands pulled back to form a spell before she registered who it was. Hikaru stared at her with wide frantic eyes, chest heaving and dirt ground into his pant knees. His head was bare, his usual soldier's helmet gone in favor of a head wrap. The second he saw her the tension around his shoulders lessened.
"Found you," he said, "Thank the stars, I—"
Kyoko's legs gave out. Her likely-to-be-debilitating crash into the shovels and wires was stopped by Hikaru catching her at the last second. He helped ease her back into her sitting position beside the wall, her head spinning again.
"You're ill," said Hikaru. "What happened?"
"Never mind that," said Kyoko through clenched teeth. "Hikaru. It was Setsuko."
Hikaru brows creased in confusion. "What about her?"
"It was her. Her and another man. They stole me away from the room. They killed everyone, they—" She had to swallow to keep going. "They're Accursed. She's been one the whole time."
She saw the comprehension on his face. Saw when he realized what she was saying and the initial moment of denial as he struggled to comprehend.
"Are you serious?" he said. "But how would she even… Why didn't she—?"
She understood how he felt. Even after listening to Setsuko herself, Kyoko still had a lot of questions. Namely why.
"She can cover up a person's aura," said Kyoko. "She's been pretending this whole time. She and that man killed Maru and Horiuchi and Yukie and—" Tears slid down her cheek, but they were not from fear or anguish. It was from rage. Her anger becoming too great to hold in.
Hikaru took hold of her hand, pushing something into it and bringing her back to the present. She saw the same anger she felt in him, controlled a little better, but no less fierce.
"Horiuchi is alive," said Hikaru. "He was stunned so he'll be fine. And you'll be fine too. I'm going to get you out of here."
She opened her palm. Inside sat a small sapphire, chipped and beaten, but unmistakably a piece of her necklace. Kyoko swallowed the new batch of tears that threatened to spill, this time out of relief. She'd been scared. A lot more scared than she realized. With this piece of her necklace, it felt like she had a piece of Ren was with her. She would never falter as long as he was with her.
"T-thank you." She had to swallow a third time. "I-I'm happy someone made it out okay."
He had no idea just how much this meant to her. She slipped the sapphire into her pocket, determined that this time she would keep it safe.
"How did you find me?" she said.
"Luck, to be honest," said Hikaru. "I heard there was a fight out front and I took the shortest route to get there, thinking that's where you would be. Then I saw the instrument case and noticed the footprints leading to the shed. It looked like someone was dragging another person and I thought that you might be…"
This time it was Hikaru's turn to swallow. "You're fine." It was like he was informing himself more than her. "We need to get you somewhere safe."
Kyoko agreed, getting to her feet with Hikaru's help as he let her learn on his arm. She had forgotten completely about Sho until Hikaru addressed him. The musician had been uncharacteristically quiet.
"Are you coming with us?"
"Yeah, fine, I guess," said Sho absently. He had one eye on Kyoko. "Those Accused know my face now as well since I got her away from them."
"What do you—"
The floor trembled, this time stronger. The three of them stopped, waiting it through before another tremor came, this one stronger again.
"What's going on?" said Kyoko.
"I don't know."
A sound started. Long and loud, beginning low before increase in pitch to a higher point and back down again. It didn't stop, continuing in one long sound like a wailing ghoul.
Hikaru swore.
"Don't tell me that's—" said Sho
"The evacuation call," finished Hikaru.
They didn't waste time, scrambling out the shed and stumbling forward on the rumbling ground. It was time to leave the city.
Kanae's feet pounded the cave path, jolting in pain with each jump despite her strengthening spells. Directly following the path of the switchbacks would take too long, so she was jumping from path to path, quickly making her way up the slowly widening cave chamber. Hiroaki bounced on her shoulder with each jump, adding more strain on her aching arm. He groaned in her ear, alerting her to the next shake before it came.
She was mid-air when the ground rumbled. She nearly dropped him when she landed on the still shaking earth, not bothering to look back.
"Another branch of the root fell," said Hiroaki. "Oh gods, its decaying so fast."
"I don't need the commentary!" snapped Kanae. It was difficult as hell to concentrate. There were loose pebbles everywhere.
Hiroaki ignored her, crying out in greater fear.
"Kanae! They're coming."
Expecting to see Hirotaka following them, she glanced back at the next switchback. Instead of the Accursed, she saw something else.
Clusters of undead poured out into cave floor. They pushed through every crevice, every hall, a crawling, chattering of contorted human bones. They ignored the paths and dug their bony claws into the walls to clamor toward them. Trailing behind them, a cloud of thick miasma spewed from the enclosed room where the Djinn was housed. It rose like water, quickly flooding the first level.
"Shit!"
Kanae spun around and jumped, pushing herself to skip levels even as her body started to burn from the strain. Hiroaki's words became incoherent, blabbering and clutching at Kanae's back as he watched the monsters gain on them. Twig continued to fly beside them, hollering for Kanae to hurry.
Like she needed to be told twice! Forget Hirotaka, Kanae could never fight that many monsters. And that miasma looked thick enough to kill her, no matter her previous immunity. A small space around them remained clear of the miasma, directly following Twig. The dryad had better not run off too far. His light aura was literally keeping Hiroaki alive. The miasma around them was now thick enough to kill him unprotected.
Another branch fell.
Kanae huffed, this time not letting the quake mess up her footing. They were about to have a huge problem. She was running out of switchbacks. Nothing but the unbroken cave wall stretched before them.
"Twig!" yelled Kanae, drawing out his name in warning.
"Keep going," he cried. "It's the only way to the exit. We can't stop now."
No crap they couldn't. She dared a glance back at her next leap, witnessing the continued increase of monsters and the miasma's rising levels.
Just the next jump. Just the next one.
It was getting difficult to breathe. Her shoulder burned hot, slick blood making it harder to keep hold of Hiroaki. The man felt heavier and heavier with each hop, but she couldn't put him down.
Finally, they reached the end of the switchbacks. Kanae made the final leap, kicking up rocks as she landed.
"Where to, Dryad?" said Kanae.
"This way!"
Twig flew parallel to the wall, taking the path that ran along with it. Kanae followed, pumping her legs as fast as they would go. Then she saw where Dryad was taking them.
Kanae skidded to a halt.
"Are you kidding me?"
A large tree root cut into the path before them, so thick it punctured through the wall. Rather than vaulting over it and continuing on the path, Twig had gotten on the root and started flying along it toward the centermost root. He stopped a moment later, beckoning her.
"Come on!" he urged. "This way."
Kanae took one moment to look below them. The rot decaying the tree rose higher than even the miasma, crumbling the base completely away from the rest of it. Dozens of branching roots had fallen before the rot had even reached them, withering away and causing smaller tremors.
If this dang root crumbled under their feet, there would be nothing to stop her and Hiroaki from falling a considerable distance, straight into a mass of miasma and skeletal undead. The monster's numbers continued to increase, cluttering the walls like ants from a kicked nest.
"Damn you, Twig!" yelled Kanae, jumping on the root branch. "If we fall, I'm going to kill you myself."
Hiroaki whimpered, apparently now so terrified he couldn't cry anymore. Twig just ignored her, flying along the branch. Kanae's muscles screamed in protest as she began running again.
Kanae didn't dare look down as they crossed the path's edge. Only a few feet of weakening tree root kept them from plunging into certain death. All it would take was a single misplaced step and goodbye life.
They reached the main body of the root. Twig moved from their branch and flew to the closest one several yards above them… which meant Kanae would have to jump to reach it.
Kanae kept up a constant stream of swearing, the vulgarity keeping her panic from paralyzing her. She didn't slow her pace, counting the steps before the edge. Then she jumped.
Hiroaki screamed this time. They hovered for a heart-thumping moment over nothing, hair whipping at her face from the stale wind. Then she landed, running again up this new branch before jumping to the next one.
And on it went. The ceiling of the cave slowly crept closer. It felt like she'd taken a hundred leaps. Each one made Hiroaki scream and her heart stop. And all the while, those monsters and the Miasma inched closer.
"Almost there!" cried out Twig. "Just a few more leaps."
The root under Kanae's foot felt soft. The decay was chasing them faster than the monsters. Twig had finally stopped at the next root, the area huge with plenty of space to land. She stuck the landing perfectly.
"Where—"
The world upended. With it came a deafening boom like a falling mountain. A shake like nothing before tossed Kanae off the root and mercilessly into the air.
Hiroaki slipped from her grip.
She swore, reaching for him. Her fingers brushed his clothes before being torn away, tumbling like her through the air and into the darkness below.
Cain swayed as another rumble shook the earth. He had no idea what was causing them. Had it been magic, Cain would have been able to sense it. Only an enormous amount of magic could produce tremors like this.
That, or nature was choosing a terrible moment to kick up a fuss. They never had earthquakes in the Ashuron sands.
Regardless of their origin, he didn't let the shakes slow him. He passed fleeing people and ignored the whine of the evacuation siren. He had to. It took enormous focus to sense the small pulse of Kyoko's necklace. It had only been a few minutes since she'd sent the second signal, but those few minutes could be a few too many.
It was probably due to his intense focus that he didn't notice the loud crack of wood splitting. People stopped, pointing and staring, horror keeping them pinned. The cracking grew louder, booming like lightening, so loud it broke Cain from his intense focus.
Then he too stopped and stared like the people in the city.
The fig tree was swaying.
Branches thick as boulders broke off, falling into the houses, and people below. Screams and panic, already high from the evacuation order, reached a fever pitch. The Shaded city broke as its namesake rained death upon them. Then the swaying grew worse. The tree kept leaning.
Its going to fall!
And he was directly in its path.
Cain cursed, boosting his magic to maddening levels as he bolted. Houses streaked by, as did people and animals. He didn't have time to stop and help. There was nothing he could do. The first branches from the falling tree were already on him and he wasn't sure if he'd make it.
He ducked and weaved through the deadly maze of branches, bursting through fences and jumping across a roof. The branches slapped the ground in a shower of splinters big enough to take a man's head off. He misjudged the size of one branch and it clipped his shoulder, sending him tumbling.
He gasped, more from panic than pain as he continued the roll. The tree was almost on top of him!
With one final push, he darted out from under the tree just as the truck hit the ground. The impact launched him momentarily into the air, before he tumbled back to the ground as dozens of tiny splinters ripped at his skin and clothing.
Cain slowly got to his feet, ears ringing, ribs stinging and heart hammering. Magic slowly knit his injuries, clearing his head. He blinked, trying to see through the sand which sat in the air like a thick fog.
The fig tree was down, flattening the city and its occupants beneath its tremendous girth. The small hint of light magic that had been present inside it was gone, leaving nothing but an empty husk of dead wood.
Kyoko…
Cries and death echoed around him. The grays of the world turned darker, the world that much murkier.
Cain wobbled, fell to one knee, then got back up. He started walking, picking up speed until he was running again. He ignored the armor still clinging to his body, refusing to flake off and return to normal skin.
He had to get to her. Nothing else was more important. He had to make sure Kyoko was safe.
Itsumi was unaware of the tears that ran freely down her face. She wasn't alone. Half the people they passed in the streets were crying. Some had sat down where they were, head in hands, overwhelmed by the chaos that had come a few days too soon. It had been too sudden. Too complete. The monster army was still a few days out, but it hadn't mattered. The city hadn't been ready.
Itsumi kept pace with the men beside her. Four servants held the inhibitor on a litter between them, a good half dozen of her personal guard keeping it safe. All of them had fallen when the tree had hit the ground, the shaking too great to stay balanced. She thanked the gods that the inhibitor hadn't broken, despite its not too gentle collision with the ground.
Someone called out to her.
She looked around, spotting a family in the street nearby. Their cries were jumbled and impossible to distinguish, but she didn't need to comprehend their words to understand them. They wanted help. They were confused.
"Retreat!" she called to the family. "Follow us. Raise the alert. We're fleeing to the Broken Hills."
Some took up her call. Others didn't. The sight of the tree had shaken them too much. Her heart physically hurt to see her people like this, so shocked at what had happened. They didn't understand what was going on. They didn't know about the miasma, or the Accursed in the western district of the city that Cain was fighting. They knew nothing. Which only made the panic worse. Yet she couldn't stop to explain it to everyone. There was no time.
"Duchess!"
The councilor beside her pointed ahead. She saw immediately what he meant to show her.
A man had fallen against one of the buildings. His body convulsed, hand clenched at his heart as something strange and dark pulsed beneath his veins.
Itsumi's breath caught. She had never seen anything like that before, but knew immediately what it meant.
"The inhibitor is not enough," she muttered. "The tree's dead… which means its light magic is no longer protecting us." All those dark seeds implanted into the hearts of the people were starting to activate. The panic and miasma was setting them off.
The man continued to convulse, someone — likely a wife or sister — stood beside him, shaking his shoulders in fear. She would do better to leave him.
"The seeds are sprouting," she told the councilor. "The city will soon be swarming with monsters of our own making."
His face went pale and he barked for the men to pick up the pace. Itsumi hurried as well, watching with sad eyes as she noticed the woman had also begun convulsing. There was nothing Itsumi could do for them but run.
Kanae righted herself midair, the world still shaking from the reverberations of that previous quake. She readied a spell to shoot toward Hiroaki, praying it would be enough to catch him.
She need not have bothered. A vine, green a whole protruded from the decaying tree, grabbing Hiroaki from the air. Twig hovered by the vine, face unmistakably ashen as he hauled the magician back onto the roots using the vine.
It took less than a second for Kanae to see why Twig hadn't caught her as well. She was further away and Twig was tired, not used to this much magical strain. Another vine was as likely to drop her as it was to catch her. Not to mention that the one he had produced to save Hiroaki had drained the little life that was left from the fig tree's root. The area around it was already gray and flaking.
Kanae spun, changing her direction and launching herself with a boost of magic toward the nearest root. Her chest collided with the thin branch as her arms wrapped around it in a death grip. It was through sheer will power that she didn't fall.
"Keep going!" yelled Kanae even as she struggled to keep her grip. "I'll catch up." She tried not to think of how her legs flailed helplessly below, praying to find a foothold.
After a few seconds of panicked straining, she hauled herself onto the root.
She didn't have time to gather herself. An undead jumped from the cave wall and onto her thin branch of root, causing the whole thing to sag. Kanae backpaddled toward the thicker, stronger part of the root. A spell on her feet was the only thing that kept her balanced. The monster gave chase, claws digging into the root to crawl toward her on the shaking limb. The chattering of teeth and rattling of bones rose to a peak. The root started to crack from their combined weight.
Kanae grabbed the spear from her back.
The shaft lengthened as she swung the weapon in front of her, slicing the root in two. The monster howled as it plunged into the darkness below, still clinging to the severed root.
Kanae kept her spear out and ready, her grip steady even if her focus was not. There were other monsters. Other undead that had now overtaken her. They dotted the roots, the walls, moving to cut her off from the exit above. Five roots above her, she saw Hiroaki being held by a now human-sized Twig, the two of them being chased by a pair of undead.
Unburdened by Hiroaki, Kanae practically flew.
She jumped easily between the roots, slicing through the undead and leaving their scattered corpses in her wake. In such a large space, she didn't have to worry about her spear being hampered by the cave walls or shallow walkways. The spear was a dance partner in her hands, weaving in and out of different forms as she cut through the measly flies that thought they could take her.
She made the last jump, reaching the top root where Hiroaki and Twig were cornered by the two undead. Twig desperately kept them at bay, hollering as his defense of small branches and twigs were easily cut away by the monster's crude blades.
Kanae wouldn't make it in time.
She ground her teeth, formed a ball of fire and hurtled it at the undead. The spell struck its target.
Kanae ran past the now melting and howling corpses of the monsters, reaching Hiroaki and Twig.
"Where to?" she said.
"Here." Twig ran along the root, away from the main body and to the wall. "It should be here! This root used to run right under it… I think they blocked it off."
"It's probably been blocked off for a long time," growled Kanae. The rock looked solid. Shoot, this was exactly what they were afraid of. The exit was completely blocked off!
An undead jumped from the wall, sailing toward them. Kanae's spear swung, decapitating the monsters, but there were others behind it. She stood now in defense against the small trickle of undead, Twig and Hiroaki to her back.
"Is there any other way?" yelled Kanae between jabs of her spear.
"None."
Kanae swore. She cut into the latest undead, whirling on the spot to search for anything. Any other escape. She ignored the whimpering of Hiroaki and the terse words from Twig. She needed to focus. Ignore the pain and focus.
Nothing came to her. The monsters kept coming. The miasma kept rising. Any minute now the root beneath them would give out and they'd fall to their deaths below.
Not today, growled Kanae internally. Not today damn it!
Kanae held out a hand. A gust of magic pushed out, sending the nearest monster colliding with the others behind it. Their root was now clear of undead. For now.
"Move!" yelled Kanae. Hiroaki and Twig scrambled to get away from the cave wall. The Accursed might have blocked the tunnel, but that didn't mean they'd filled it.
Kanae raised a hand to the junction where tree root and cave wall met and cast the complicated spell. It took longer than it usually did, exhaustion making her slow to form the right runes. Those few seconds felt stretched, too long as monsters and miasma crept toward them. She could already feel the root beneath her softening as the decay closed in.
The spell snapped into existence. Cave wall melted away in a whirl of magic. She'd shifted the direction of the spell, making it curve upward and deepening it considerably. It wouldn't be enough to break through the surface, but that wasn't her goal.
The rock melted, only to reveal more rock.
Okay then, it looked like the Accursed had filled in the exit completely.
"It didn't work," cried Hiroaki. "It wasn't enough. We're trapped."
"You don't bloody say!"
Kanae lifted her hand again, casting the same spell. More rock melted away into sand, running down the slope she'd created. But that hadn't been enough either.
One more time! One more time should break through!
She started to form the spell a third time.
An arrow rammed through Kanae's hip.
Kanae cried out, more from shock than from pain as it sent her to one knee. The half-formed spell broke from her grasp.
Rock exploded in a loud bang as erratic magic split through the air. Hiroaki screamed as a wave of dust and sand blasted over them.
A rock hit her head, bruising her cheekbone. Kanae blinked through the dust and pain, finding the undead that had shot the arrow at her and firing a pulse shot toward it. The spell knocked the weapon from its hand.
She'd been trying to kill it.
A wave of exhaustion suddenly hit her. Against her will, she closed her eyes as everything overwhelmed her. Her body ached; her head felt heavy. Every part of her wanted to give up and lie down. To let the heavy drowsiness drag her down into the blissful emptiness of sleep.
No. Her mind battled her body. No. You can't. You have to… to keep going.
If only she'd gotten some damn sleep earlier. It felt like her mind and body fought for hours, each side battling for control.
A hand clamped down on her hurt shoulder.
She let out a loud gasp. The jarring pain chased the fog away, suddenly aware of everything around her. It might have felt like ages, but barely even a second had passed.
"Get up!" That was Twig, now digging into her shoulder. "Damn it, Kanae, move!"
She stumbled to obey him, allowing herself to be pushed forward. That's when she noticed the rock before her.
The haywire magic had finished the job, opening the caves to the path inside. Turns out, the Accursed hadn't filled it completely. They had just taken great measures to block several yards of it.
Kanae pushed off Twig's help, running after Hiroaki, who was already through the entrance and yelling at them to hurry. Kanae gave chase, glancing back just after passing the entrance.
The undead were following.
I can't let them come into the city. The path would have direct access to Mosall. If she let those creatures appear behind their defenses and into civilian territory, the bloodshed would be unimaginable.
Without thinking, she blasted the cave ceiling.
Rock and sand collapsed behind them, cutting off the entrance in a jumble of stone.
"What was that?" growled Twig. "You could have caused a cave in."
"That was the point!"
She ran, limping due to the arrow still stuck into her hip. Magic was stemming the pain and blood, but she'd need to address it soon. The path sloped upward, and she could see strips of sunlight ahead.
Despite her injury, she caught up with Hiroaki, the man breathing so hard he was in danger of having some sort of asthmatic attack. Two small magical balls of light followed them, casting shadows as sounds lessened to only their panting breaths and pounding feet. She gave him a slap on the back, making him jolt.
"Don't give out on me now, Hiroaki," said Kanae. "I need you to save Kyoko."
"Ah, yeah." He focused on her for a moment before glancing back. "You closed off the entrance."
"It won't hold out forever." The monsters would break through it soon enough. And with that Miasma… "I think we'll need to evacuate the city immediately."
Convincing Cain would not be too hard. Thankfully the man had some of a brain and trusted her judgment. She should be able to convince everyone else once she mentioned the horde of monsters and Accursed hanging out right below their feet.
Hiroaki nodded, but didn't look happy about it. "I don't want to leave this city to the Accursed… but it looks like we have no choice. The tree is dead, and so is the city."
A depressing way to put it, but he wasn't wrong.
They finally reached the end of the tunnel, Kanae scowling when she saw what blocked their path.
"A door?" she said. "That's it? Just who exactly used and blocked this entrance?"
"I don't recall any entrances being recorded in the middle of the city," said Hiroaki. "Unless the path was long enough to bring us out of it, which I doubt. Maybe this path was purposefully removed from the archives by Sozen. Or maybe the Accursed made it but, no, then Twig wouldn't be aware of it. Unless—"
Kanae shot magic as the door. The wood burst in a shower of pieces, blinding them with sunlight as it streamed in. Kanae held up a hand to shield her face, ignoring Hiroaki's grumbles about destruction of property. It only took a second for her eyes to adjust, noting that the sky was heading toward evening.
But wait, why could she see the sky?
The door had led to the center of a room, mudbrick walls high on either side. But part of the ceiling had been torn off as a long tree branch stuck into open space. Based on the still floating sand and dirt hanging in the air, the damage had been recent.
Kanae rushed outside.
She skidded to a stop, mouth falling open as she finally saw what had happened. Hiroaki came up beside her, adopting much the same look. Twig gave a whimper of pain.
"Is that—" said Hiroaki.
"It is," said Kanae.
The fig tree had fallen, its carcass splayed out and burying the city with its still rotting flesh, and it was probably their fault.
Thanks for reading!
I've been lucky to update every other week for a while now, but I was back at work this last week! Which mean I'm unlikely to keep up a consistent schedule. Heh heh… yeah, I know, terrible timing for all that. But I am going to finish this story! I promise I will!
Cries.
I never feel like I put enough of the story in the chapter. Then I look at the word count and am like nope! You're done. Post Blushweaver, that's the length of a chapter.
Thanks for reading! By far my favorite part of this chapter was writing Sho and Kyoko… which is weird cause I hate Sho. Oh well.
-BW
Hello people. I hope you are all well. I am pumped as I have officially turned in my last assignment of my undergrad work! Strange time to graduate, but hey! I get a diploma no matter what. I think Blushy would suggest I fill the void with writing, but I think I should fill that void with money. I've heard that's the best void-filler.
-Im0ut0
Rejected Titles: "Da tree fell down" "It Just Fell Down!" "Great Was the Fall There of" "The Sky is Falling" "Sky Fall" "Throwing Shade (Get it, because it's the shaded city)" "The bottom Drops out" "Mosall's Tree is Falling Down. Falling Down. Falling Down. Mosall's Tree is Falling Down. My Fair Dryad."