Taboo Online

Silver veins beneath the terrace dimmed one after another, confirming what Lauren had felt. Whatever remained of the Heartroot was pulling away from the ruined city.

The leader raised his branded hand. "You will have to open it again eventually, Queen. When that happens, we’ll be waiting."

A thin figure climbed onto the corrupted root behind him. The decay wielder had escaped from the lower network, though brown veins covered both arms and pieces of dead bark clung to her clothing.

She pressed one palm against the final connection behind them. Decay spread from her fingers until the branch split away from the central network and began sinking toward the machinery buried beneath Lethariel.

The leader stepped back with it. The masked woman dragged the hammer wielder after him, his damaged leg scraping across the root while stored vibrations continued humming around his weapon.

No one followed.

The decay wielder remained behind until the gap widened, then stepped onto the descending branch and let the last connection crumble beneath her feet. The path sank through the smoke until all four villains disappeared from view.

Rhea kept watching the place where they had vanished. "That wasn’t a panicked escape. They’ll regroup as soon as they reach stable ground."

"Yes," Aelira said.

"Where are those roots taking them?"

"The machinery beneath Lethariel connects to the Warden’s Forge. There are passages below us that my people lost long before this attack."

Luke stared into the burning remains of the city. "Then we get the wounded somewhere safe, learn where those passages lead, and go after them when our legs work again."

Rhea glanced at the way Lauren was holding him upright. "The last part may take a while."

"I noticed."

Aelira turned toward him. "You have already given more than I had any right to expect from you."

Luke looked at the blood covering her armor. "You didn’t exactly ask me to stab you."

"No," Lauren said. "He tends to skip the part where everyone agrees to his dangerous ideas."

Aelira’s mouth moved at one corner. "That, I have noticed."

The central terrace shifted again before Luke could answer.

This time, it did not fall.

Silver roots rose around the outer edge and curved inward over the survivors. They sealed the broken approaches one by one while Rootkeepers guided the wounded away from the closing walls and Thornmenders hurried between them.

Some elves continued staring through the narrowing gaps at what remained of Lethariel. Others lowered their heads or turned away before their home disappeared.

Aelira stayed near the edge.

Lauren watched her from Luke’s side without offering comfort. The Queen had saved her people by ordering the destruction of everything generations of her family had guarded. There was nothing Lauren could say that would make the sight easier to endure.

The ruined sixth ring vanished first. When the final opening closed, the roar of the burning city faded into a muffled rumble behind the silver walls. Cool light replaced the orange glow of the ruins, leaving the survivors enclosed with the wounded and the sound of their own breathing.

System windows opened before Luke, Lauren, and the reinforcement party.

[Sixth Heartroot anchor severed.]

[Seventh Heartroot anchor severed.]

[All external anchor connections lost.]

[Central Heartroot contamination prevented.]

Another message appeared beneath them.

[Warning: The Central Heartroot has entered preservation.]

The terrace settled, and silence spread through the sanctuary. A faint pulse traveled through the living wood beneath their feet, but several seconds passed before another followed.

Luke turned to Aelira. "Preservation sounds less terrible than everything else we’ve seen today."

"It means the Heartroot is alive," she said. "It also means it has begun choosing what it can afford to keep."

The small relief Luke had felt disappeared. "You should have started with that part."

Aelira lowered herself beside the terrace and placed both palms against the silver bark. The Thornmender reached for her shoulder, but Iris quietly shook her head and tightened the lifeline around the Queen instead.

Golden light spread beneath Aelira’s hands. It traveled only a short distance before turning back toward the central tree.

"The Heartroot is drawing everything into its core," she said as the light returned. "It will hold the memories of Lethariel and keep the living branches from dying for as long as it can."

Lauren moved closer with Luke still leaning against her. "How long does that give us?"

Aelira closed her eyes. Another weak pulse moved beneath her palms.

"I cannot tell."

Several Rootkeepers looked toward one another, but none interrupted her. Mana moved through the silver wood again, slower than before.

"The anchors fed it through the land," Aelira continued. "They carried water and living mana from every healthy root beneath Lethariel. Those channels are gone."

A new notification appeared.

[Primary objective updated.]

[Preserve the final living branch.]

[The Central Heartroot must establish a new living connection.]

[The Forest of Black Rain cannot support replanting.]

Luke read the message twice. "So cutting the anchors only bought us time."

"It kept the Ruinborn from taking the Heartroot," Lauren said. Her fingers tightened around his arm as she followed the weak pull beneath the terrace. "Now we need somewhere it can live."

The roots beneath Aelira’s hands stirred. A narrow line of silver light crossed the terrace and circled Luke and Lauren’s feet before spreading toward Rhea, Kellan, Dorian, and Iris.

Luke looked down at it. "Why is it following us?"

"The Heartroot can feel the path tied to your bodies," Aelira said. "The one that will eventually return you to the world you came from."

The silver light brightened around the awakened defenders. Lauren felt it brushing against the distant connection to Earth, searching along it without understanding what waited at the other end.

Aelira followed the light with her senses. Her expression changed when she understood what the Heartroot was asking of them.

Its roots could no longer reach the ground beneath Lethariel. The Forest of Black Rain offered nothing but poisoned soil, yet the people standing around her carried a route to somewhere beyond that curse.

She opened her eyes and looked at Luke and Lauren.

"Your world," she said. "Can it hold one more forest?"