Taboo Online

Some of the pressure in Lauren’s chest eased. Red Hound did not ask her to prove what the branch was or wait for a specialist to confirm that it existed. He accepted the evidence in front of him and moved on.

"It belongs to the Central Heartroot," she said.

"What happened in Lethariel?"

"The Ruinborn corrupted the anchor network one district at a time and tried to reach the Heartroot from below. We had to sever the fifth, sixth, and seventh anchors ourselves before the contamination reached the core. We kept them from taking it, but most of the city was destroyed."

Red Hound’s face hardened. "How many did you lose?"

Lauren tried to answer, but all she could see were burning districts and collapsing roads.

"Entire sections of the city never reached us."

He let the silence stand rather than demanding a number she did not have.

"How many survived?"

"We didn’t finish counting. There are at least several hundred."

He looked at the branch. "And that can bring them here?"

"It creates the destination. Once it takes root, Luke has to open the bridge from inside the Heartroot."

Red Hound’s gaze shifted toward Luke’s capsule. "What condition was he in when you left?"

"Almost no mana, barely any stamina, and injured badly enough that he couldn’t stand without help." Lauren tightened her fingers around the branch. "He stayed because the system required one of us at the source."

Rhea stepped closer to the capsules.

"The Heartroot entered preservation after we severed the final anchors. It’s feeding whatever remains into the core, but that only buys time. If the new connection fails, the sanctuary and everyone inside it die."

Red Hound turned toward her. "What happened to your team?"

"Kellan’s thigh was torn open. Dorian was wounded through both forearms and had injured ribs. Iris was maintaining three lifelines when we left." Rhea looked through the transparent covers at their real bodies. "They were still fighting when Lauren and I returned."

Their physical bodies showed none of the wounds from Powerforge, but the monitors told a different story. Heart rates remained high, muscles tightened unpredictably beneath the capsule supports, and bursts of awakened energy appeared across the screens.

Red Hound studied the readings before asking, "What should my people expect when the elves arrive?"

Rhea took a moment before answering.

"They’ve been fighting since the attack began. Many will still have weapons in their hands, and some won’t understand that the battle is over. Their Queen watched her kingdom burn before ordering the final anchors destroyed."

Her voice stayed level, but exhaustion showed in the way she held herself against the capsule.

"They’ll listen if we give them time to understand where they are. If armed heroes rush the survivors or try to separate them from Aelira, they’ll assume the enemy followed them."

"I need to know whether they’ll attack."

"If they believe someone is threatening their people, yes." Rhea did not soften the answer. "Keep the first line calm, leave room for their leaders to speak, and don’t treat every frightened defender as a hostile target."

Red Hound considered that before giving a single nod. "Understood."

He turned back to Lauren. "Can the Ruinborn use the same bridge?"

"The bridge depends on my bond with Luke. The Ruinborn escaped through machinery connected to the Warden’s Forge, so they shouldn’t be able to use our path directly."

Red Hound watched her face. "You don’t believe that’s the whole answer."

Lauren looked down at the pale light under the branch’s bark.

"They brought equipment from Earth into Powerforge, and we still don’t know how. I won’t promise they can’t find another way to interfere."

"Fair."

Red Hound rubbed one hand across his jaw as he worked through the risks.

"We need open land, water, medical access, and enough distance from civilians to contain anything hostile that crosses behind the refugees."

"The ground has to be alive," Lauren said. "Concrete, sealed foundations, or contaminated soil may cause the Heartroot to reject the site."

He turned toward an officer waiting near the entrance.

"Call North Basin. Clear the disaster-response grounds and remove every nonessential worker. Set up emergency shelter, water tankers, medical tents, and translation support. Put the reserve heroes on standby, but keep them outside the immediate arrival zone until we understand how the elves will respond."

The officer checked his tablet. "North Basin is forty minutes away by road."

"Start moving the support teams now. Lauren and Calder won’t be taking the road."

"The site belongs to the national response office. I’ll need an authorization code."

"Use my emergency authority and record every order under my name. They can challenge it after the refugees are alive."

The officer nodded and left at a run.

Lauren looked toward Luke’s capsule. "I don’t know whether the Heartroot can wait forty minutes."

"It won’t have to."

Red Hound raised his communication device. "Get Skyrail to the underground transport bay. Two awakened passengers, two medics, and a living artifact. Nobody touches the artifact unless Lauren gives permission."

Rhea studied the silver branch. "Is it stable enough for rapid transport?"

Lauren watched the roots moving across her fingers.

"It crossed between worlds. I hope a flight across the city is the easier part."

Rhea did not smile. She placed one hand against the edge of Lauren’s capsule instead.

"If it changes, even slightly, tell us."

Less than six minutes later, Lauren understood why Red Hound had not requested a helicopter.

The roof of the Bureau’s transport bay opened, and a long platform of compressed air descended through the opening. A woman in a fitted flight suit stood at its center, with silver bands glowing around both forearms as she controlled the current holding the platform aloft.

Lauren sat in a medical transport chair secured near the middle. The destination mark rested against her chest, protected only by her hands. Every attempt to place it inside a container had caused the roots to tighten around her fingers.

Rhea stood beside her with one hand around the safety rail. Red Hound remained near the front while two medics monitored Lauren’s pulse and the faint green energy spreading through her arm.

The platform rose, and cold evening air struck them as soon as they cleared the building.

The city spread beneath Lauren in a wide field of lights and moving traffic. Thousands of people crossed streets, returned home from work, and filled restaurants without knowing that an entire foreign population might soon appear beyond the northern edge.

Lauren searched for Luke through the bond.

The thread was still there, but it felt thinner than before.

Rhea leaned closer so Lauren could hear her over the wind. "Can you still feel him?"

Lauren pressed one hand more firmly against the branch. "Barely. It’s more like pressure than a voice now."

Rhea looked at her for a moment. "Try him. I’ll leave you alone."

Lauren closed her eyes.

She pictured Luke kneeling beside the Heartroot’s core, exhausted and injured, with one hand pressed against the living wood. She remembered the promise he had made before she stepped into the return light.

We found a place.

Nothing answered.

Her chest tightened. The roots reacted, pressing more firmly against her fingers, and Lauren forced herself to breathe before the branch absorbed more of her fear.

We’re almost there. You only have to hold on a little longer.

A weak pulse returned through the bond.

Lauren’s shoulders lowered as she released the breath she had been holding.

"He answered."

Rhea’s hand loosened around the rail. She turned her face toward the dark horizon for a moment before looking forward again.

Red Hound glanced back. "Can he understand words?"

"I don’t know. I think he can feel what I’m sending."

"Then let him know we’re moving as fast as we can. Don’t give him a time he might count against."

Lauren looked at Red Hound, surprised by the care behind the instruction, then closed her eyes again.

We’re on our way. Stay with me.

North Basin appeared beyond the city as a wide stretch of dark land surrounded by low hills. The Bureau used it for disaster-response training, mass evacuations, and ability tests that could not safely take place near civilians. An artificial lake covered the eastern side of the reserve, while open fields and patches of woodland filled the rest.

Emergency lights moved across the ground below.

Vehicles were still arriving when Skyrail lowered the platform into the center of a broad field near the water. Medical crews drew back when they saw the silver branch in Lauren’s hands.

Red Hound stepped off first and took in the half-finished preparations.

"Clear a hundred yards around the center. Keep weapons lowered unless something hostile appears. Medical teams remain behind the second line until the ground stabilizes."

The orders moved quickly through the gathered heroes and Bureau personnel.

Lauren surveyed the field. Healthy grass covered dark soil, and the artificial lake waited beyond a gentle slope. The nearest permanent buildings stood far enough away to give the Heartroot room to emerge.

"This is the best place we’re going to find before the connection fails," she said.

Red Hound looked across the reserve. "Will it accept the ground?"

"It has living soil, clean water, and no Black Rain." Lauren looked at the branch. "That is more than Lethariel could give it."

"Then we proceed."

Rhea helped her out of the chair. Lauren’s legs felt weak after returning to her real body, but she waved away the medic who reached for her and lowered herself toward the grass.

The destination mark warmed between her palms. Fine roots uncoiled from her fingers and stretched toward the earth, moving faster as they sensed the soil below.

Beyond the cleared perimeter, heroes waited in armor and combat gear with their weapons lowered. Water tankers had parked near the lake, and medical tents continued rising beneath portable lights.

Nobody had voted on whether Earth would accept the elves. No official had promised them land, protection, or the right to remain once the emergency ended. The survivors did not even know what country waited on the other side of the bridge.

Those questions would come soon enough. First, they had to survive the crossing.

Lauren pressed the destination mark into the soil.

The roots entered the ground immediately, and silver light raced away from her hands in branching lines. The earth trembled beneath her knees. Several heroes started raising their weapons, but Red Hound ordered them to hold before the movement spread.

The branch stood without Lauren’s support. Its bark split near the top, allowing two small leaves to unfold beneath the night sky.

A system message appeared in front of her.

[Destination mark established.]

[Earth connection detected.]

[Living soil accepted.]

[Water source detected.]

[Ambient mana detected.]

[Living mana compatibility confirmed.]

[Destination bridge anchor awaiting source response.]

Lauren placed both hands around the young branch and closed her eyes. The partner bond stretched through her, reaching across the distance between Earth and the dying Heartroot.

"Luke," she whispered. "I found somewhere for them."

The bond remained silent.

One second passed, then another. Lauren kept her hands around the branch even when the roots beneath the field began to dim.

Then a pulse struck the connection hard enough to steal her breath.

Green light burst from the new leaves. Silver roots answered beneath the grass, and the ground around Lauren began to rise as something enormous stirred far below it.

A final message appeared.

[Source bridge anchor confirmed.]

[Interworld transplantation may begin.]