Taboo Online

Then smoke entered the memories.

Homes burned while Rootkeepers carried children through ruined streets. Black brands spread across the Heartroot network, swallowing one district after another until fire and corruption covered almost everything Luke had just seen alive.

Aelira’s breathing changed.

She pressed her forehead against the bark. "Enough."

The burning memories continued for another heartbeat, and her fingers tightened.

"Keep more than tonight. Keep how we lived."

The Heartroot pulsed beneath Luke’s palm, and the destruction faded.

Festivals appeared beneath green branches. Families crowded around tables, friends argued on narrow bridges and made up before reaching the other side, and elves joined hands during ceremonies Luke did not understand. Generations passed beneath the same living canopy.

Aelira remained pressed against the tree.

"Remember them that way."

Her voice broke.

Luke turned his head. He could feel her grief through the Heartroot, but he did not need to watch her face while she carried it.

Aelira had spent the entire night standing where everyone could see her. Every decision had required certainty from her, even when she had none left for herself, so he gave her a few moments without an audience.

Silver light continued sinking into the core.

By the time Aelira finally lifted her head, the pressure inside the bridge had eased. A quiet pulse reached the Heartroot from Earth, confirming that Lauren and the destination roots were ready again.

Tears covered Aelira’s cheeks, and she left them there.

"The Heartroot has them."

Luke looked toward her. "Everything?"

Aelira shook her head and moved one palm slowly over the silver bark.

"Nothing remembers everything. Not even this. But it remembers enough to know we were more than a kingdom that died tonight."

Luke nodded. There was nothing useful he could add.

Aelira turned toward the passage, and for the first time, nothing stood between her and it.

Luke felt the Heartroot tighten around his wrist.

"Aelira."

She stopped and looked back.

"What happens once you cross?"

"The sanctuary will begin folding into the core. When that starts, you will feel it pulling against the bridge."

Luke looked down at his trapped arm. "I already feel half the tree trying to crawl through me."

"It will become worse."

That got his attention.

Aelira stepped closer. "Do not try to help it move. Lauren holds the destination. You only keep the route open."

Luke nodded slowly. "So no improvising."

"Not unless everything has already gone wrong."

"Good. That’s usually when I start."

Aelira’s mouth twitched before her expression became serious again.

"The Heartroot recognizes you now. You carried its blade, removed the corruption inside me, and later separated the Ruinborn tether without cutting the living channel."

She looked toward his hand against the core.

"It will trust the path you and Lauren made."

Luke swallowed. "And if it doesn’t?"

Aelira considered the question instead of answering immediately.

"Then I expect you will do something reckless and somehow make it work."

Luke managed a weak laugh. "That sounds more like you."

Aelira studied him for another moment. When she spoke again, the authority of the Queen remained, but something warmer sat beneath it.

"You have done more for my people than I expected from you when you first entered my forest."

Luke shifted uncomfortably against the roots.

"Lauren’s waiting."

Aelira understood the evasion and let him have it.

"Yes. She is."

Her eyes softened.

"She chose well."

Luke did not know what to say to that, so for once, he did not force an answer.

Aelira turned toward the passage.

The golden lifeline around her ribs stretched behind her toward Iris. As green light climbed over the Queen’s body, the thread became thinner.

Iris straightened. "The lifeline is slipping."

Aelira looked back at her. "Release it before the passage tears it away."

Iris shook her head. "You’re still here."

"For another step."

"That still counts."

Aelira’s expression softened. "Iris."

The younger woman tightened her fingers around the floating anchor.

"I don’t know what happens to your wounds when I let go."

"Neither do I."

Iris looked frustrated enough to argue, but Aelira continued before she could.

"You kept my heart beating when it should have stopped. You brought me this far. That was what I needed from you."

Iris swallowed.

As the green light climbed higher around Aelira, she finally tried to call the lifeline back. The golden bands loosened around the Queen’s ribs and began retreating toward Iris, but Aelira crossed the boundary before the connection could fully return.

The thread stretched impossibly thin between the two worlds, then vanished.

Iris staggered as the anchor dropped into her palm. Its light had gone dark.

She immediately tried to call the lifeline again, but nothing answered.

"Iris?" Dorian asked.

She turned the anchor over in her hand and tried once more.

Still nothing.

"The passage disrupted it, or it needs time before I can use it again. I can’t tell which."

Aelira was already gone.

At North Basin, the passage flared bright enough to wash the entire field in green.

Lauren felt Aelira before she saw her. The Queen’s presence crossed the destination mark carrying exhaustion, pain, and grief so deep that Lauren stopped trying to break it into separate emotions.

Aelira stumbled out of the passage.

Two Rootkeepers immediately started toward her, but she lifted one hand and kept herself upright for another few seconds. Her first question traveled through the Heartroot, and Lauren felt its meaning settle against the destination mark.

Where are the wounded?

She repeated it for Red Hound.

He had already left the command line and stopped outside the silver roots.

"Critical cases are in the open shelters to the left. We kept families together unless treatment made that impossible. Her Rootkeepers and Thornmenders are with them."

Lauren carried his meaning back through the Heartroot.

Aelira looked toward the medical area before another question followed.

Did anyone die during the crossing?

"Not after the bridge stabilized," Red Hound answered when Lauren translated.

Aelira’s shoulders dropped slightly.

The children?

"The first child who crossed is still under treatment, but she’s alive. The others are with their families or guardians."

Lauren sent the answer back.

Aelira closed her eyes for a brief moment before finally allowing the nearest Rootkeeper to take her arm.