Taboo Online

Despite his exhaustion, Luke’s eyes lit up as soon as he began explaining.

"The first was a pack of stalkers. Truth Behind Motion couldn’t handle all their intentions at once, so I forced them to come at me in smaller groups."

"Smart."

"Then creatures started attacking through tendrils from the puddles. I drew them around the exposed roots and attacked the bodies hiding underwater."

Lauren smiled. "And the third wave?"

"A Mire Golem with five mana knots. They kept rebuilding each other before I could destroy them all, so I split Arcane Thrust across several attacks."

His hands returned to her shoulders as excitement replaced some of the exhaustion in his face.

"The system turned it into a new skill. Rapid Magic Flurry."

"That sounds impressive."

"It is." Luke hesitated. "I think. I only used it once, but I hit all five knots in less than a second."

Lauren touched his cheek.

"You did wonderfully."

"I knew you’d like it."

"I do."

Luke finally looked at her properly. His gaze moved from the blood beneath her nose to the faint green light fading under the skin of her hands.

Then he noticed her ears.

"Your ears."

Lauren touched the sharpened tip hidden beneath her hair.

"Yes."

"They weren’t like that before."

"No."

"What happened?"

Lauren considered where to begin.

A tremor moved through the roots beneath them, and the quest timer appeared again.

[Time remaining: 02:41:56]

"We need to leave."

Luke’s excitement faded. "What did you see?"

"The Black Rain is a curse. This forest once belonged to the elves, and one village still survives."

"The tree showed it to you?"

"The Heartroot Spirit did."

Luke glanced toward the pale shell that had carried her out of the ground. It was already sinking back into the soil.

"The village is under attack," Lauren continued. "The people attacking it came from our world."

"How do you know?"

"They wore modern equipment from Earth, called our world home, and spoke about using a crossing to take the Queen back with them."

Lauren remembered their laughter around her, and her fingers tightened against Luke’s shoulder.

"They are awakened criminals. They are killing people for fun and destroying anything the elves care about. They intend to capture the Queen alive and bring her to Earth as a trophy."

Luke’s expression hardened.

"What kind of trophy?"

Lauren remained silent.

He understood.

His grip tightened around the spear.

"Where are they?"

"The Heartroot gave me a path."

"Then we go."

Luke did not ask whether they should rest first or avoid a fight against an entire gang.

Lauren leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

"That was the correct answer."

He touched the place where her lips had been.

"What happened to you down there?"

"That explanation will take longer."

The pale roots beneath Lauren’s feet responded to her bloodline. They rose several inches through the soil and began weaving together.

A thin silver sapling grew before them.

It reached only Lauren’s waist before slowing. The small trunk split along the front, revealing a narrow line of green light, but it was nowhere near large enough to hold her.

Luke stepped back and raised his spear.

"Wait."

Lauren placed one hand against his arm.

The sapling trembled and sank into the soil again.

"That was only the beginning of it," she explained. "I do not have enough mana to summon the full tree after the trial."

Luke stared at the place where it had vanished.

"Did the Heartroot give you that?"

"Yes. Oracle’s Heartwood."

Lauren began gathering their belongings as she explained.

"When I summon it fully, the tree will take several seconds to grow. Once I enter, it will protect my body and stabilize my Oracle abilities. I won’t be able to move, but I can send visions and exposed weaknesses directly to you."

"Without touching me?"

"As long as you remain within the roots’ range."

"And enemies can’t reach you?"

"The tree can still be destroyed, Luke. Do not mistake protection for permission to become reckless."

"But you won’t be standing behind me while I fight."

Lauren raised one eyebrow beneath the blindfold.

"You make that sound like a benefit."

"That isn’t what I meant."

"Mhm."

Luke looked at the disturbed soil where the sapling had vanished.

"What happens if something breaks it?"

"I am forced out and suffer magical backlash."

"So I still have to protect it."

"Yes, but protecting one stationary tree should be easier than protecting a blindfolded woman trying to follow you across a battlefield."

"That does sound easier."

"I’m pleased you agree."

Luke picked up the last of their supplies.

"Was that everything?"

"Not quite."

Lauren moved her hair behind one ear and revealed the sharper tip.

"The Heartroot needed to change me so I could survive the connection."

Luke stared.

"How much did it change you?"

"Five percent."

"Five percent of what?"

Lauren let the silence linger for a moment.

"Elf."

Luke opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

Lauren slipped one arm through his and guided him toward the rear of the shelter.

"You became five percent elf?"

"Yes."

"How does someone become five percent elf?"

"An ancient tree placed a seed of elven mana inside my heart."

"That did not make the explanation less strange."

"I never claimed it would."

Luke looked at her ear again.

"Does anything else feel different?"

"I can sense living roots, natural mana, and parts of the forest hidden beneath the curse. The system also claims I have some resistance to the Black Rain."

"Anything else?"

"The bloodline may evolve."

Luke nearly stumbled over a root.

"Into what?"

"I assume a greater percentage of elf."

"How much greater?"

"We can discuss my future elven percentage while moving."

The quest timer appeared before both of them.

[Time remaining: 02:36:38]

Luke’s expression became serious again.

"How far is the village?"

"I do not know. The route passes through the root network, but several sections are broken. We will have to cross the forest wherever the paths no longer connect."

"And the gang is already inside?"

"Yes."

Through the fragment of elven blood now inside her, Lauren felt the distant Heartroot. The connection was faint, but pain and urgency still traveled through it.

Lethariel was fighting, and the Elven Queen was still alive.

For now.

Lauren tightened her arm around Luke’s.

"The warnings I sent delayed them, but they did not stop the attack."

Luke looked toward the Black Rain beyond the shelter.

"Then we finish it."

A system message appeared.

[Both bonded players have completed their individual trials.]

[The Root Gate has been protected.]

[The Rootbound Oracle has been accepted.]

[Joint passage unlocked.]

The tangled roots sealing the rear of the shelter began to separate. They pulled away from one another and revealed a descending path lit by pale green veins.

Black Rain could not enter it.

Lauren sensed the route stretching beneath the forest toward the first surviving section of the ancient root network.

Luke lowered the point of his spear.

"You ready?"

Her body still ached from the Heartroot connection. Every use of Oracle’s Glimpse had left pressure behind her blindfold, and the blood beneath her nose had not fully dried.

Luke looked worse, but neither of them had enough time to recover.

Lauren placed her hand in his.

"We have a Queen to save."

Luke squeezed her fingers, and together they entered the roots.

Behind them, the temporary shelter began to collapse. Its remaining barriers sank into loose soil while Black Rain reclaimed the ground where Luke had fought his three waves.

Ahead, pale light carried them deeper into the remains of the elven forest, toward the final village and the villains who already believed its Queen belonged to them.