A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Here's another chapter that's hot off the press. I apologize for any messy sections you may or may not encounter. P-please be gentle with your reviews...~
Chapter X
The Ancient Forest
The next morning, the warriors staying at the inn were all gone. According to the innkeeper, a few had taken Ivan's warnings to heart and given up on Kolima, while most of them had made for the cursed town anyway.
"So where will you three be headed?" the bearded innkeeper asked.
"Kolima, same as everyone else," Isaac said. "Our actual destination is Imil, but we'll have to pass through Kolima to get there."
"Ah, that's too bad for you," the innkeeper said. "You see, Lord McCoy has set up a barricade on the path to Kolima. He wants to keep travellers from going to Kolima and getting caught up in this whole mess. The only people who are given keys to the barricade are the warriors he's sent to fight the evil tree."
Isaac let out a sigh and he pinched the bridge of his nose. "And all those guys left already…"
"So what do we do?" Garet asked.
"I guess we go see this Lord McCoy and ask for a key."
"Well, whatever you boys end up doing, best of luck to you!" The innkeeper took the gold for their room and they departed.
As they walked down the streets of Bilibin towards what they assumed was Lord McCoy's mansion, they continued their conversation.
"I've never heard of anything like a tree coming to life and cursing people," Garet said. "What could anyone, even Adepts, do to stop something like that?"
"I've thought about that some last night," Ivan replied. "Assuming that part of the story is indeed true, and the tree is alive, perhaps we could reason with it. It might be able to undo the curse with the same power that caused it. We would just need to convince it to do so."
"Yeah, we'll just ask very nicely," Garet said.
"Do you have a better idea?" Ivan asked, not showing any offence at Garet's remark.
"I'm just saying, what if talking to it doesn't work? What if it doesn't want to listen?"
"I don't know, honestly," Ivan said. "There's no way to know right now. We'll have to got there first, and get a better idea of what's actually happened."
"Speaking of which, are we going?" Garet asked Isaac.
"Huh?" he said, coming out of a reverie.
"Well I know you're eager to get to Mercury Lighthouse," Garet said. "And honestly, so am I. We have to hurry if we're gonna stop those guys from lighting the beacon. If we stop in Kolima, we might not make it in time. They already have a lead on us."
"Yeah, that's true. But I don't think I can just ignore something like this."
"That's quite a dilemma, actually," Ivan said. "Do we stop to help where we can, and risk not getting to the Lighthouse in time? Or do we ignore these problems and just focus on our mission?"
"Ah," Garet said, frowning. "Yeah, Isaac and I had a conversation about that a while ago. Right before we stopped in Vault and ended up helping you find those thieves…"
"For which I am very grateful," Ivan said. "If you hadn't stopped, I never would have recovered the Shaman's Rod. And you wouldn't have my help, so it was beneficial for us both."
"That is true," Garet said. He then had a thought, and chuckled. "I wonder if Felix's group is stopping in towns and picking up random people to help in their mission."
"I sure hope not," Ivan said. "Don't they have, what, six people already? I can't imagine it's "
And then Isaac froze in place as a realisation struck him.
"We have to go to Kolima," Isaac said quietly.
Garet and Ivan stopped and turned, confused by his sudden stop. "Why?"
"The only path to Imil from here is through Kolima," Isaac said. "They had to have gone through Kolima."
"Yeah?" Garet said. "What does that have to do with….?"
A pause.
"Oh."
They eventually reached the mansion, and the first thing they came across was a dark-haired older woman barking orders at a group of tired-looking carpenters.
"This mansion isn't going to build itself!" she snapped at them.
"Milady, without materials to work with…"
"Excuses, that's all you people are good for!"
Exchanging glances, the three Adepts slipped past her as quietly as they could.
The made their way to the actual, finished mansion, where a pair of guards greeted them. They were stopped, inspected, and then asked what their business there was. They explained that they were interested in helping to end the curse on Kolima.
The guards frowned and did not seem eager to allow them in.
"They're only children," one said.
Garet's eyebrow twitched in irritation, but a stern look from Isaac kept him silent.
Eventually, they were allowed in, and taken right through the main hall to see Lord McCoy. He was an ageing man with ginger-coloured hair, a well-trimmed moustache and goatee, and a belly that only a few decades of marriage could give a man.
"Aye?" he said as they entered. "Who are these lads now?"
"Milord, these are more warriors seeking to end the curse on Kolima."
"More warriors, eh?" He frowned, letting out a weary sigh. "I have already sent many a warrior to Kolima, but not a one has returned. Just this morning a group of a dozen fighters departed for that accursed forest, and I cannae shake the feeling they are marching to their dooms. And these lads… they are but children!"
Again, Garet's eyebrow twitched.
Lord McCoy considered for a moment. "If only I could change the past! No one deserved to die over a request for lumber! I'm sorry, but I cannae send such wee lads to their dooms."
"What if we were going to Kolima anyway, on our own business?" Ivan spoke up.
"Yeh can go when all this dies down," Lord McCoy said, offering what Isaac took as an apologetic smile. "We must put our trust in the warriors we sent out already."
A minute later, the door was closed behind them, and they were ushered back out of the palace.
"I probably shouldn't be saying this," the guard said to them with obvious hesitation. "But the barricade blocking the path to Kolima… Well, it was crafted in a hurry, and was meant more to discourage people from taking that path than to actually stop them. You might be able to get through with a key. But you didn't hear that from me!"
Before they could thank him or question him further, he disappeared behind the door of the palace.
"So, this changes nothing then?" Ivan asked.
"Nothing at all," Isaac said, resolute. "If Felix's group could get through that barricade, we can. We'll stock up on supplies while we're here, and then set off before noon. Sound good?"
"Fine with me," Ivan said.
"Great." Isaac waited for Garet's answer, but a moment passed and he said nothing. Isaac looked to his friend to find him frowning, staring at the ground.
"What's wrong?"
Garet looked up. "Nothing. I was just thinking."
"What were you thinking about?"
"Just that McCoy guy. What was up with him?"
Isaac and Ivan exchanged confused glances. "What do you mean?"
"Why did he talk so weird?"
Despite the urgency of the mission hastening their steps, it was a pleasant three day trip across green fields of forests and farmland, travelling from Bilibin to Kolima. After the intense and treacherous trip through the Goma cavern, it was a welcome relief.
Isaac hadn't been able to dwell much on Ivan's presence while they were struggling to get out of the underground tunnel alive, but now that things had calmed down, he was able to think about how Ivan's presence changed things.
For one, it was less quiet. Though Isaac and Garet had known each other their whole lives, they sometimes didn't have anything to talk about, so they would just walk in silence. Ivan however, was filled with stories and information he'd gained on his many travels with Hammet, none of which the two Adepts from Vale had heard. The young boy did a good job filling silences, always finding something in the apparently empty surroundings that sparked some memory or story that he was suddenly excited to share.
Ivan was a great cook, having spent many hours in the kitchens in Kalay learning from some of the best cooks in Weyard. Even with the humble travel supplies they picked up in Vault and Bilibin, Ivan was able to put together hot, delicious meals that made the lunch and dinner breaks something they looked forward to. Compared to the dry sandwiches and jerky they had been eating before, they had no complaints.
They told Ivan more about Vale, about Sol Sanctum and the storm from three years ago, and about the thieves who had taken the Elemental Stars. Ivan already knew the basics from their talk at Vault, but over the next three days they had plenty of time to tell him the details of what had happened.
Ivan noticed the way their eyes grew dark when they spoke of Felix, and empathetic as he was, he did not press them for details as to why he betrayed his home.
As they spoke of the importance of preventing Alchemy's return, Ivan frowned for a moment, thinking.
"If our journey takes us as far as Kalay, we must stop at the palace's library," he said. "There are many books there that Master Hammet has gathered over the years. I'm sure that something there could tell us more of the Lost Age, and what Alchemy is capable of."
Not that Isaac needed any more reminders. He'd already seen Vale nearly destroyed by Mt. Aleph's eruption, and the chaos that it had caused in Vault. And that was only the beginning. If Alchemy was unleashed back unto Weyard, what further evils would follow?
At noon of the third day, they reached the barricade that had been spoken of. There was no mistaking it, for it was crafted at a narrow choke point between some high cliffs and a swiftly-running river. It appeared to be crafted of large wooden blocks stacked as high as a house, but as they got closer, it became clear that wasn't the case.
"It's cardboard!" Garet exclaimed. Somehow indignant at this, he pushed one of the boxes over with no effort at all. "There's not even anything inside them!"
"That guard wasn't kidding," Isaac muttered. "It really is a hack job. They were actually giving out keys to get through this?"
"I think Lord McCoy is just trying to save lives, in whatever way he can," Ivan answered. "Can you blame him for not knowing what to do in a situation like this?"
"No, I suppose I can't. We don't even know what we're doing."
They ended up just pushing aside some of the cardboard boxes and passing through the barricade, unimpeded.
Kolima Forest was visible to the Adepts long before they reached it. A sea of trees that stretched on for miles, bordered and bisected by rivers, there was no mistaking it.
And as they drew closer, they caught sight of a settlement that had to be Kolima, though as they got closer it was clear that it was unlike any town Isaac or Garet had ever seen.
The homes of it's people were carved into tall trees, some so high their tops swayed in a strong breeze. Bridges made of wooden planks and tightly bound rope connected the upper balconies of the tree-houses, crisscrossing like a spider's web high up in the air.
All around them were the remnants of the once-lively town. Abandoned merchant stands, doors that swung on their hinges, a makeshift sanctum…
And of course, everywhere one looked, there were the small, human-shaped trees.
Isaac looked around the street they were on, looking amongst the human-shaped trees for group of six. He saw none. He wasn't sure if he was relieved at that, or more worried.
"I've been to Kolima a few times before," Ivan said to them, his voice just a bit quieter than usual. "I was always impress with the way they could live so in tune with nature, taking only what they needed and giving back just as much. And yet…" He trailed off.
He didn't need to finish. Isaac knew exactly what he was thinking.
"And yet despite all that, they did something that drew the wrath of their guardian. Something that turned a benevolent spirit into a fearsome demon that cursed them all with a fate worse than death."
Ivan met his gaze, but said nothing.
"I wonder if anyone got away," Garet muttered, his eyes on one of the transformed townsfolk. "Did they even have a chance?"
"Whatever it was, it looks like it took them completely by surprise," Ivan said. He considered for a moment, then approached one of the human-shaped trees. He glowed for a moment as he read the tree's mind.
"Well?" Isaac asked, almost afraid of the answer.
Ivan took a deep breath. "There's no mistaking it. These are the people of Kolima. This… tree here… she was a mother with two children. She doesn't know what happened to them. She's been stuck in here for weeks, unable to move. She just wants to know what happened to them…"
Ivan shuddered and turned away from the tree. "I can't do this."
Garet stepped beside Ivan and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Reading minds isn't just like opening a book of someone's thoughts," Ivan said. "I don't know how much Isaac experienced in Vault, but for me… I know what they know, I feel what they feel… It can be an unpleasant experience at times." His eyes were far away, no doubt remembering things he had seen.
"You don't have to read their minds anymore," Isaac assured him.
"Thank you," Ivan said with a slight smile. But the smile quickly faded, replaced with a frown and a furrowed brow. Ivan rubbed his temple, and said, "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Garet asked, taking his hand away and looking around.
"That screeching noise… It's getting louder and louder! How can you not hear that?!" At this point, Ivan had his hands over his ears, his eyes clenched shut in pain.
"Ivan!" Isaac called, running over to where his two friends stood. "Ivan, pull yourself together! There's no noise-"
But there was. Isaac was beginning to hear it himself. A very high pitched whistle, like what one heard when there was nothing to listen to but silence. But it was louder, and seemed to coming from withing Isaac's own head.
The screeching noise grew louder and louder each second, until it was overwhelming. It was as though a thousand people were screaming right into his ear. A quick glance told Isaac that Garet was experiencing the same thing. Ivan was already on the ground.
Garet shouted something, but Isaac couldn't possibly hear him over the agonising screech. It was so loud it was physically draining him. It wasn't long before Isaac no longer had the strength to even stand, and he was on the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Garet collapse as well.
And then, as quickly as it started, it ended. The noise was gone in an instant, leaving only the deathly silence of the empty forest. The only sound was the three Adepts groaning in pain.
"Argh… I can't move, Isaac…" Garet said into the dirt.
"What… was that?"
"Our minds…" Ivan said with some effort. "Something attacked our minds…"
Isaac tried to rise, but the slightest movement sent jolts of pain running through his muscles. He groaned and went slack, breathing through his teeth until the pain subsided.
Paralysed as they were, the three Adepts could do nothing but lay on the ground, helpless.
"Isaac," Ivan said suddenly. "Something is happening."
Whatever it was, Isaac was blind to it. Garet was, as well. Only Ivan had been fortunate enough to fall on his back.
"What is it?"
"Something is falling from the sky. It's… moving towards us. I don't know what it is, but it's shining. The way sunlight looks on water. I think it might be Psynergy…"
Oh no.
"Isaac," Ivan said, fear making his voice crack. "I think this is what turned the people of Kolima into trees!"
Of course it was. Isaac bit his tongue in frustrated, regretful anger. They were fools to think they could succeed where so many failed. They had marched right into this, heads high, with no plan, and how they were going to suffer the same fate as the people they thought they could save.
"Isaac, what do we do?!" Ivan asked, panicked.
He didn't know. How could he? Nobody knew what this power was. How could three kids possibly have any idea how to stop something like this?
Some leader he was.
He looked over to where Garet lay. Their eyes met. Garet's stare was intense, but not accusing. He had been just as determined to come here and help as Isaac had. And now he was prepared for the consequences of that choice.
"It's getting closer!"
Isaac closed his eyes. He thought of their mission, to save Jenna and Kraden, and how it would end here, and no one would ever know what fate had befallen them. All the people of Vale he had failed, who would one day hear from some traveller that all four lighthouses had been lit, with no word on why they had been unable to stop it. His mother would hear the news and retreat behind closed doors, knowing both her husband and son were gone forever.
He felt tears stinging his eyes. It couldn't end this way… He couldn't do that to them!
"Ivan, you have to do something!" Isaac shouted. "You're the only one who can!"
"But… how?!"
"Use your Psynergy! Try everything, anything!"
"My Psynergy…!" Ivan's eyes lit up. "Of course!"
Though he could not move, Ivan could still focus his mind. He closed his eyes, and gathered his inner energy. Isaac could feel the Psynergy surging up within him.
The wind picked up, a cool gust blowing through the town. The leaves and foliage of the forests around them rustled, and then shook as the wind grew stronger. The wind grew in strength, going from a calm breeze to a powerful gust.
Isaac's hair whipped at his face, and his scarf flapped violently as though it were trying to escape him.
After a short while, Ivan's Psynergy faded, and the wind slowly died out.
Ivan let out a held breath. "It's gone…"
"It worked?" Isaac asked.
"Yeah," Ivan said. "The wind sent it away."
Isaac let out a relieved sigh of his own. Thank the gods. How close they had come to being transformed into trees…
They needed to be more careful.
"Thank you, Ivan," Isaac said. "I'm sorry I did that to you. I couldn't think of anything to do, and you were the only one who could see what was happening…"
"No, it's my own fault for not thinking of that in the first place," Ivan muttered. "It was so obvious, and yet I nearly let us all down."
With a muffled groan, Garet began to move, forcing himself up off the ground. It took him a while, but he was able to climb back to his hands and knees.
Isaac tried to move as well, and found he could a bit, though he was sluggish and the movements were painful. Though he found the more he forced himself to move, the easier it grew.
Within a few minutes, the three Adepts were back on their feet, leaning against
"That came out of nowhere," Garet said. "Is that what happened to the people of Kolima?"
"I think so," Isaac said, looking around at the transformed townspeople. He imagined them all going through that same agony, and a feeling of guilt stabbed at his conscious. Everyone, women and children alike, being forced to suffer like that…
"The only reasons we were able to make it was because we were Adepts," Ivan said. "And even then, only because I was a Jupiter Adept. Even if there were Adepts in this town, if no one had wind Psynergy, they wouldn't have been able to do anything."
"Probably not…" Isaac muttered.
The leaves of the trees began to rustle and shake, though this time Isaac felt no wind on his face. He turned to Ivan, but the young Adept only returned an equally confused stare.
The sound of the shaking leaves was not random, Isaac realised. There was purpose to it, as thought the forest itself was trying to speak.
No - that's exactly what it was doing.
The shaking leaves grew in form until the sounds were making sounds that could not be mistaking for words.
"Who are these three, who could resist my glamour?"
The voice was both as quiet and calm as a whisper, and yet furious and powerful. It came from all around them, resonating from every branch of every tree.
"Are you the guardian of this forest?" Isaac called out, unsure if the voice could even hear him.
"I was once. I was called Tret, then."
"And you're the one who cursed the people of Kolima."
"Indeed."
"Why?"
"Punishment! The people of Kolima forgot the agreements their ancestors made with me. In their greed, to appease the demands of their neighbours, they came with axes to my forest. They chopped down my children, and even tried to bring their axes to me. So I brought mine to them!"
Lady McCoy's mansion, Isaac thought to himself. He had suspected something like that. Lord McCoy had mentioned that without lumber from Kolima, he could not finish his wife's mansion. Him asking Kolima for wood to build that palace had started all this.
"Most of these people were innocent!" Isaac called out. "They had no say in the matter! Did these children deserve to be punished for that?"
"Harooom! Who are you to question my judgement?! The people of Kolima decided their own fate!"
A second voice then joined, one that was very different from the angry booming voice of Tret. It was softer, feminine, and filled with sorrow and regret.
"Things were not always this way. The Tret of before was not full of vengeance and hate. He was wise and just. But he changed…"
"Another tree spirit?" Garet asked, looking to Isaac.
"Perhaps," Isaac said with a shrug.
"The Tret of before was weak! He allowed the people of Kolima to cut down his children for their homes and fires. I will enforce the justice he was too weak to carry out!"
"Children," said the female voice. "Please leave this forest while you still can. I do not know how you escaped Tret's magic, but turning men to trees is not the only power he now has. If you linger, you will surely die."
Though Isaac was not eager to continue to test his luck after such a close call, he could not leave the people of Kolima. Especially not after he had experienced himself the pain they had gone through.
"Not until Tret undoes the curse on the people of Kolima," Isaac answered.
"Convincing him to see reason is impossible now. I have tried again and again. Tret is lost to his rage. It has consumed him; driven him mad."
"Then we'll just have to make him see reason," Garet said, cracking his knuckles.
"Hah! You foolish mortals! If you are so confident, come into the heart of the forest and face me!"
And with that, the non-existent wind died, and the leaves ceased to shake. Kolima Forest was once more silent.
"Is that such a wise idea?" Ivan asked. "Even from such a distance, Tret was able to nearly destroy us. At the heart of his power…"
"We can't leave the people of Kolima like this," Isaac said. "We now know that we're the only ones who can resist his powers. So we're the only ones who can break this curse. We have to try."
"What about Felix's group?" Garet asked.
"I don't see them here," Isaac said. "Most likely they were unaffected as well, and they just passed through. They're probably on their way to Mercury Lighthouse now. We'll have to catch up with them and stop them. And while that is important… we can't just ignore what's happened here."
"I had a feeling you'd say something like that," Garet said with a smirk. "So what's our plan then?"
Isaac looked to the thick forest bordering the town. "Tret is in these forests somewhere. We have to go in their and confront him. Perhaps that other tree can tell us more about what's happened, and how to undo it. Beyond that… I don't know."
It was times like this that Isaac hated being the de-facto leader of the group. The others always looked to him for advice and direction, and most of the time he had no idea what he was doing.
"If he attacks us again, do you think you can stop him, Ivan?" Isaac asked.
Ivan thought for a moment, his young brow furrowed deep in thought. "I think so. If he tries to attack our minds again, I think I could stop it. The only reason it worked the first time was because I had no idea it was coming. Now that I've seen it, I know how to block it. And if he tries that glamour thing, I can just blow it away again. So that, at least, we need not worry about."
"Then I suppose we're as prepared as we're going to get," Isaac said. He stepped away from the tree he was leaning against, and found the pain from the paralysis was gone. "Let's go find this Tret and have a talk with him."
Five minutes into the forest, they came across another set of transformed people. A group of fifteen or so human-shaped trees, their arms and armour scattered on the ground around them.
"Our friends from the inn," Isaac muttered.
Ivan shook his head. "Fools. They should have listened…"
"Are we any less foolish?" Isaac asked him. "We came here as well. We were just lucky enough to be born Adepts."
"I suppose so," Ivan answered. He fidgeted with his green cloak. "Still, I cannot help but feel I failed them…"
Isaac could sympathise with that. "Focus instead on breaking the curse. Don't get caught up on regrets."
Garet chuckled. "So you finally decided to take my advice?"
"Not everything that goes wrong in Weyard is our fault," Isaac said to him. "You were right in that respect."
They continued on, following a simple trail through the woods that Isaac assumed had been made by the people of Kolima on their many visits to Tret.
The forest was deathly quiet, devoid of any life at all. No birds chirping, or small animals scurrying in bushes. It was as quiet as the town had been, and that disturbed Isaac more than he would admit. Had Tret used his magic to wipe out everything from his domain?
And yet, there was the feeling of being watched that made the hairs on Isaac's neck stand. He felt a thousand sets of eyes on him, coming from the shadows in the dark patches of the forest where no light made it through.
But when he looked, he saw nothing.
"This place is creepy," Garet said under his breath.
"I was just thinking the same thing," Isaac replied.
The path went on for a few miles, taking them deeper and deeper into the massive forest. It went over a river, and around a lake, before emerging into a large clearing.
There was no mistaking that this was the place.
The clearing was empty, a large field of green grass that was out of place in the huge, dense forest. On the far end, opposite of where they had entered, stood two trees bigger and taller than any in the entire forest. One stood higher, with a thick trunk, while the other was slimmer and had fewer branches.
"Is that them?" Garet asked.
"Only one way to find out," Isaac said. Placing his hand on the hilt of his sword, but not drawing it, he took a few steps into the clearing, towards the two ancient trees. Garet and Ivan followed just behind him.
Isaac gave a start as the slimmer tree began to move. The bark on its trunk moved about, parts shifting around like the pieces of a puzzle. A large section of wood behind the bark opened up, revealing a woman's face that seemed at first to be carved into the tree, but whose features moved as smoothly as flesh and blood.
The tree's eyes blinked, as though waking up from a deep sleep.
"Ah, the three children from before," she said. This time, her voice was not ethereally carried through the leaves, but was spoken from her own mouth. "So you came after all."
"Of course," Isaac answered her.
Her eyes looked down, filled with a sad, defeated weight. "You should not have come. There is nothing you can do."
Isaac beckoned to the other, larger tree. "That's Tret, then?"
"Indeed. And I am Laurel." She gave a slight smile. "I would welcome you to our sanctuary, but I fear that circumstances have destroyed the peace that this sacred ground once had."
"It doesn't have to end that way," Isaac assured her. "The people of Kolima can still be saved. As can Tret."
She let out a sigh, which to the Adepts was like a calm breeze. "I wish I could believe you. But Kolima and Tret are gone, and by coming here, you have doomed yourselves as well. Forgive me, but I cannot watch what happens next."
Laurel closed her eyes, and said no more.
"She seems really sure that Tret is beyond saving," Garet said.
"I hope we can prove her wrong," Isaac said, turning away from Laurel and facing the larger tree, which remained silent and still.
"Guys," Ivan said in a quiet voice. "I was thinking. If we killed Tret… do you think that would break the curse? Or do you think it wouldn't do anything?"
Isaac hadn't considered that. He swore under his breath. "Most likely the latter. And if that's the case, there would be no way to undo the curse at all."
"So we can't kill him," Ivan said.
"It's a risk we can't afford to take."
His hand still on his blade, Isaac approached the great slumbering tree. He stopped a few yards away, with Garet and Ivan at his sides.
The tree was huge. The width of its trunk was bigger than Isaac's house in Vale, and the highest of its branches reached up to the sky.
"Tret!" he shouted. "We're here! Come out and talk to us!"
Tret answered with a rumbling laugh, so deep it made the ground at Isaac's feet shake.
"FOOLS!"
A face emerged from the bark, one twisted with fury and hate.
"YOU SHOULD NEVER HAVE COME HERE! AND NOW, YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE!"
Isaac felt a very familiar energy gathering within Tret, and it didn't take him long to realise it was Venus Psynergy.
A quick glance at Garet and Ivan told him they were aware of it as well.
Isaac drew his sword. Tret was about to attack. There was no reasoning with him.
As Isaac held his breath in anticipation of the inevitable attack, he suddenly spotted something that glinted in the sunlight, just above Tret's head.
But before he could say a word about it to the others, the ground beneath them exploded.
"DIE!"
Isaac was flung back in the air, and he struck the ground hard, the impact knocking the wind out of him. It took a moment to re-orientate himself, but he was back on his feet in a instant.
Thick, massive roots had emerged from the ground beneath them, squirming around in the air like snakes. They had all been tossed in different directions, himself, Garet and Ivan all in different parts of the clearing.
His sword had been knocked away. Again.
Before Isaac could find his weapon, he had all of two seconds to move before one of Tret's huge roots came down on top of him. He jumped away, just barely managing to escape being crushed. The weight of the root was so much that the ground shook when it struck.
Isaac took off at a run, knowing that if he stood still, he'd be crushed like an insect under those roots.
Another root came swinging towards him. Thinking fast, he used his momentum to duck down into a roll, the root passing over his head.
Finally, he spotted his sword, lying in the grass some distance away, and he started towards it.
There was a flash of light, and a loud crackling sound. Out of the corner of his eye, Isaac spotted Ivan standing with his Shaman's Rod aimed at Tret. Ivan's Psynergy surged, and he fired at second bolt of lightning at the face on the huge trunk.
Tret's face twisted in pain as the bolt struck him, but rather than he wounded by it, he only seemed to be growing angrier.
Ivan was unable to fire a third lightning bolt, as he had to move quickly to avoid being crushed by a root.
Isaac could not spare the time to worry about Ivan, however, as he needed to keep moving himself. He quickly sheathed his sword, as there wasn't anything he could do with it at the moment anyway.
He then spotted Garet, who had somehow climbed onto one of the roots. Somehow holding on with one hand, Garet unbuckled his huge battleaxe and held it with the other. After a few seconds of riding the root like a bull, it stopped moving enough for Garet to grab the axe with both hands and swing it down with all his strength.
The root was thicker than Garet himself was, so there was no chance of him actually cutting through it. But his blade cut deep, and Tret let out a pained scream. The root thrashed around, trying to shake Garet off, but the axe was stuck fast, and Garet wasn't letting go.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Isaac gathered his Psynergy, and slammed his hands on the ground.
The dirt around him rose up into pointed spires of hardened stone, which rose from the ground and flied like bullets at Tret. They struck him in his trunk, the sharp points digging deep.
At the same time, Ivan was firing more lightning. The Psynergetic bolts struck Tret, leaving black scorch marks wherever they hit him.
The great tree let out a roar of frustration and pain.
Isaac jumped back, narrowly avoiding another root, which at this point were thrashing everywhere with reckless abandon. He found himself standing near Ivan, who fired one last bolt of lightning before seeing Isaac.
They both stopped for a moment to catch their breath. Still riding his root, Garet gave one last heft of his axe and pulled it free, before jumping off and landing in the grass.
"You see what we're capable of, Tret?!" Isaac shouted to the tree. "We can destroy you, if need be! But it doesn't have to be this way! Remove the curse from the people of Kolima, and we'll go in peace!"
It was a bluff, but Isaac prayed it would be enough.
"YOU THINK THIS IS ALL I CAN DO?!" Tret screamed. "THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING!"
Tret's Venus Psynergy came back, and Isaac felt a cold chill. If he had something more than those roots…
"Don't let him-!"
He wasn't fast enough. All around them, in the torn-up ground of the sanctuary, plants burst from the ground, growing unnaturally fast. There were vines, which swung like whips, and huge bushes covered in thorns and brambles. They grew all over, covering the sanctuary, and turning it into a maze of thorns.
"This is bad," Ivan said, echoing Isaac's own thoughts.
One of the vines came swinging towards Isaac, and he drew his sword in an instant and swung it, cutting through the vine. The severed plant fell to the ground, squirming and spraying out green ichor.
Isaac turned around, just in time to see one of the vines wrap around Ivan, lifting him up off the ground.
"Ivan!"
Isaac started towards him, but he wasn't fast enough. One of Tret's roots came down and blocked his path, and he was forced to watch helplessly as Ivan was carried up into the air.
"Damn!" Isaac swore. There was nothing Ivan could do to free himself from that. He had no blade to cut the vine, and his Psynergy could only take the form of wind and lightning.
He turned and spotted Garet, who was emerging from one of the thorned bushes. His axe was covered in green slime, and his face had a mix of the ichor and his own blood. In Garet's free hand, he held a ball of Psynergetic fire, which he was about to throw.
"Garet, don't!" Isaac shouted.
Just in time, Garet stopped in mid-throw. He looked to Isaac in confusion.
"You can't your Psynergy!" he shouted. "If you start a forest fire, not only will Tret and Laurel die, but we will, too! And the people of Kolima will be cursed forever!"
Garet swore, but he shook his hand, putting out the flame. A vine came for him, and he grabbed his axe with both hands and swung.
Forcing himself not to panic, Isaac wracked his head for an idea. Another vine came for him, and he cut it down easily. But just as soon, he spotted a root coming down above him. With the thorned bushes everywhere, running and dodging them was no longer an option.
Isaac used his Psynergy on the ground again, this time using the earth to form a shield of thick stone above him, covering him like an igloo of rock.
The heavy root struck Isaac's shield, and it shook from the impact. A moment later, it struck again, and this time several cracks appeared.
It wouldn't last long.
As the root struck a third time, making the cracks bigger, Isaac cast his Psynergy once more on the ground, shifting the dirt around to make a tunnel. Seeing into the earth below him through his mind's eye, he crafted a tunnel big enough for him to fit into that he could pass through and emerge elsewhere.
Feeling the dirt at his feet shift and open up, he sheathed his sword and got down on his hands and knees. Like a mole, Isaac crawled into his tunnel just as the root struck his shield one last time, shattering it into a thousand pieces.
He felt the reverberations of the impact in his tunnel, the shaking loosing some dirt above him. He crawled as quickly as he could, hoping he could make it to the other end before Tret realised where he was.
He poked his head out of the ground, fearing a vine or root would be waiting for him. Thankfully, there was none, and he pulled himself up out of the ground and was back in the chaotic fight.
If one could call it a fight anymore. Garet was the only one still putting up a struggle, hacking away at a never-ending army of vines, and running from one safe spot to another. It was much harder to avoid the roots now that there were huge bushes of thorns everywhere.
How Garet still had the energy to move like that was beyond Isaac. The Venus Adept could feel his own Psynergy reserves growing low, and his limbs screamed at him from the constant movement.
As for Ivan, he was nowhere to be seen. Isaac prayed he was alright.
A vine came for Isaac, and once more he swung his cut and cut it. But a second later, he felt another vine wrap around his ankle, and in a second he was being lifted up off the ground.
"N-n0!"
Thankfully, before the vine could take Isaac away, Garet's axe went through it. Released, Isaac dropped to the ground.
Groaning, Isaac climbed back to his feet. "Thanks."
"No problem." Garet grinning in spite of the dire situation. He was covered in small cuts, no doubt from climbing out of one of those bushes.
"Ivan?" Isaac asked him.
"He was up in the air, last I saw him." Garet was short of breath, to no surprise. Isaac worried he wouldn't have the strength to go on much longer.
This wasn't a battle they could win, Isaac realised. They had to find Ivan and escape while they still could.
"We have to-"
"Look out!" Garet shouted, just in time as a set of three vines came at them from different directions.
Isaac cut one, and Garet cut another. The third nearly managed to grab Isaac's leg, but this time he was expecting that, so he stepped away in time, and then brought his sword down on it.
Some distance away, Garet gasped. "Phew, that was close-"
A root then struck Garet in the back, sending him flying away.
"Garet!" Isaac cried.
But there was no time. The same root came for Isaac, and he had to drop down to the ground to avoid it.
Though it missed him, the root wasn't done. It turned around and came back towards him.
"Damn you!" Isaac shouted. He didn't have time to get back up and move away.
He slammed his hand on the ground and sent what little Psynergy he had left into the earth. He created another stone spire, and as the root came close, he sent his spire into it from above.
The spire pierced the root, driving it into the ground like a pin into a corkboard. The root twitched, trying to move, but it was stuck fast.
Isaac was back on his feet in a second.
The scene before him was like something from a nightmare. With both of his friends now gone, he was left alone to fight this massive beast. A hundred vines coiled around, everywhere he looked, and the still-free roots rose from the ground, their intense weight a threat all its own.
The face in the tree trunk sneered in satisfaction, knowing it had won.
Isaac's hand shook. How unfair was it that he would escape being turned into a tree, just to die here, crushed under a root or strangled by a vine?
And yet he did not drop his sword. He wouldn't stop fighting.
The vines and roots began to move towards him. There was nowhere left to run.
He felt the wind stirring around him. Before he had a chance to realise what was happening, he was lifted up off his feet. The vines struck at empty air.
"Ivan!" he said in realisation.
He didn't see his friend, but there was no mistaking that it was Ivan's Jupiter Psynergy lifting him.
Isaac was lifted up into the air, out of the reach of Tret's vines and roots. But just as quickly, the direction changed, and he was being pushed toward Tret himself.
"Wh-what the-?"
The speed increased. At the rate he was moving, he would be squished against Tret's trunk.
He was moving directly towards Tret's face, which stared at him in confusion. This was clearly not his doing.
And then Isaac spotted the object from before, sparkling against the sun's light.
There was no mistaking what it was. In an instant, Isaac understood so much. And he knew what he needed to do.
Gripping his sword in both hands, he collided with Tret. He drove his blade, point-first, into the violet stone in Tret's forehead.
Tret let out a bellowing roar so intense, it sent Isaac flying backwards.
The last thing he remembered was hitting the ground hard.
"Isaac!"
He stirred, his head aching like it never had before. As his eyes opened, he saw both Ivan and Garet there, staring down at him.
"Hey, guys…" he managed to say.
"Ah, you're okay," Ivan said, visibly relieved. "C'mon, let me help you up."
With Ivan's aid, Isaac was able to climb back to a sitting position.
Ivan had a few bruises and cuts, but he was otherwise unharmed. Garet was much worse off, covered in red blood and green ichor, but he just laughed off Isaac's questions. Still, it was clear his back was in a lot of pain from being hit by that trunk, as he grimaced when he moved.
The ground of the clearing was torn apart from all the chaos of the battle, but Tret's roots, vines, and thorns were all gone. As plants grown from Psynergy, they would not have remained anyway.
Laurel was awake now, though she said nothing, giving the Adepts time to recover before they spoke. As for Tret…
He was alive, at least. But his eyes were closed and he was silent.
"How did you know?" Isaac asked Ivan.
"About that stone?" he said. "I didn't really. While I was being held in the air, I spotted that stone glowing whenever he used Psynergy. I guessed that it was the source of his power, and I sent you to it hoping I was right."
"And lucky for us, you were."
Still, Isaac had spotted the stone before the fight had even begun. Had he been able to figure it out himself, he could have destroyed it at the beginning. All the risks and injuries they had suffered could have been avoided.
Just another thing to add to the growing list of his mistakes as a leader.
He sighed.
That stone in Tret's forehead… the thing that had given him his powers and caused all this in the first place. It was a Psynergy Stone, just like the one in the Vale in the town square.
A Psynergy Stone from Mt. Aleph, carried to Tret by the eruption.
Not everything that goes wrong in Weyard is our fault…
Perhaps not everything. But this…
This was.
Isaac closed his eyes, his hand finding his brow.
The logical part of him gave him the usual reassurances, that this wasn't really his fault, that he couldn't have possibly predicted something like this, that it was really Felix's group that was responsible for all this.
But he couldn't ignore the guilt gnawing at him that grew greater and greater with each place they went. How much more were they going to encounter? How much suffering had that eruption unleashed upon the world?
Still, there were other things to focus on. Perhaps the people of Kolima could be saved now.
"Let's go talk to them," he said.
The three Adepts approached the two ancient trees.
"You survived," Laurel said as they drew near. "I must say, I am relieved to see that."
"So are we," Garet said.
"And Tret…?" Isaac inquired.
Laurel looked over to her partner. "He has been freed of the evil that took hold of him."
"He's back to normal now?" Ivan asked.
Laurel hesitated. "You should speak to him yourself."
With some not-unjustified caution, Isaac approached the larger tree. "…Tret?"
His eyes opened, no longer angry, but now tired. The Psynergy stone was gone.
"Who…? Ah, you three. The ones who were not turned, who defied me. You woke me from the nightmare my life had become. I thank you for that."
"You weren't yourself?" Ivan asked.
"I was a mockery of myself," the tree said. "I was everything about myself I loathed, twisted and corrupted and made real. I became a machine that knew only death and destruction. That stone… it changed me.
"I cannot ask your forgiveness for attacking you. I cannot forgive myself for it. But if there is anything I could do for you, while I still am able…"
"The people of Kolima," Isaac said. "Just turn them back. That is all we ask."
Tret's eyes widened. "The people of Kolima! I had forgotten what I did to them! I must hurry!"
Tret closed his eyes and the usual glow of Psynergy enveloped him. But it was faint, like a candle about to go out. Isaac could feel just how weak it was, and he feared it would not be enough.
A moment later, the glow subsided, and Isaac's fears were confirmed.
"I… cannot," Tret said, his voice heavy with regret. "I no longer have the strength. At the very least, the people of Kolima will not suffer forever…"
"What do you mean?" Isaac asked, though he felt he already knew the answer.
"Tret is dying," Laurel said. "The wounds he suffered while fighting you were too much for him, without the energy he had before. It will take some time, as all things do with trees as old as we are, but Tret's life is slowly fading."
Isaac took a step back, in shock. It couldn't be…
"And when Tret passed, so to will the people of Kolima," she continued. "And I, as well. We are all bound to him."
Tret was dying of wounds he had inflicted.
An image flashed through his head. A bearded man, dead by his hand.
How many others were about to join him…? Tret, Laurel… All the people of Kolima…
No matter what choice he made, it seemed, innocents were doomed to suffer and die at his actions. All he wanted to do was save people, so why did his actions continue to cause death and pain…?
Laurel seemed to notice his distress, for she gave him a slight smile. "Do not despair. You did more than could be expected. You freed Tret of his madness, and brought mercy to the people of Kolima. Better they die in peace than suffer forever."
"Is there nothing we could do?" Garet asked her. "Is there no way to save Tret?"
Laurel hesitated. "No… There is not. No healing force powerful enough to save him still exists."
"But there was something once!" Ivan said, taking a step towards her. "There was, wasn't there?"
She hesitated a moment more. "Long ago, the healing waters of Mercury Lighthouse could have saved Tret. But those waters have not run for centuries… Not since the beacon was sealed."
There was silence for a moment. Ivan and Garet slowly turned to Isaac.
They were thinking exactly the same thing he was.
It was perfectly convenient. They were going to Mercury Lighthouse next, and it wasn't far. If Tret could hold on until they got back, they could give him the healing water and save him. And by saving him, they would be saving all of Kolima, as well.
And yet, in order to get that water at all, the beacon needed to be lit.
Their mission was to prevent exactly that.
So thus, they now had to choose between forsaking their mission, or letting hundreds of innocent people die.
"I don't know," Isaac whispered, answering their unspoken question. "I don't know what to do…"
A/N: Damn, another really long chapter. Blame my outline for this one. Somehow I had the brilliant idea to cover all the Kolima Forest stuff in only one chapter. But I can't complain too much, I'm pleased with how it turned out. Anyway, on to the usual explanations for things:
I fudged the geography a bit to make things a little more straightforward. In the game, you head north from Bilibin, not Kolima, to get to Imil. In fact, if you check an actual map, you'll find that going to Kolima first would put you really out of the way, with no path get to Imil from there. But with the urgency of Isaac's quest and all, I didn't want to have him first going out of his way to head to Kolima when he knows Felix's group is headed for Mercury Lighthouse, and then have him go back to Bilibin before heading north to Imil. In a video game, this sort of backtracking is fine because you can take all the time you want to do things. But in this story Isaac is in too much of a hurry to be going out of his way for sidequests, so we'll just pretend there's a path to Imil north of Kolima, okay?
Ivan using wind Psynergy to blow away Tret's glamour may seem a bit lame and underwhelming after all that build up, but it was the only way I could think to get them through without using those bubble shield things they have in the game. Which were stupid, made no sense, came out of nowhere, and were never brought up again. Those shields have got to be one of the worst moments in the entire Golden Sun storyline, and that includes anything that happened in Dark Dawn. Ivan blowing the sparkles away at least makes sense, because it's an ability that was established already in the story.
As for the fight with Tret, I didn't feel like writing the entire dungeon crawl through the tree, and then have to describe the floating ghost-head thing you fight at the end. Honestly, the idea of them fighting the giant tree itself was so much more exciting. Destroying the Psynergy Stone to defeat him might have seemed a bit too "attack the boss's glowing weak point for massive damage" (which is kinda ironic, because there was nothing like that in the actual game) but I needed a way for them to defeat Tret and get rid of his dark side without actually killing him. Having them burn him up or chop him down wouldn't work. So I had to improvise.
The dilemma at the end is a difficult moral question that isn't brought up in the game at all. In fact, I don't think I've ever even seen it discussed anywhere. From Isaac's perspective at this point in the story, his entire mission is preventing the beacons from being lit. And yet, there's all these innocent people who will die if he succeeds in doing that. One of the things I love about Golden Sun is how complex the moral implications are regarding Isaac's mission, Felix's mission, and the reality of what's happening. These questions are completely ignored in the games, which makes exploring them in stories so much fun. And really, that's the whole reason I'm writing this book in the first place.
On an only somewhat-related note, the date of this chapter's posting (3/25/16), is the fourth year anniversary of the release of my very first story, the Persistence of Loss. I swear I didn't delay this chapter's release to match that, though, it was a pure coincidence that I only noticed just as I was about to post this! But anyway, if you like Kingdom Hearts or Golden Sun (why are you reading this if you don't), you should go check it out. That's all :)
Next chapter: Mama Mia!