Chapter 121: Strong Connection
Maeve felt like she was dying.
Pain spread through every part of her body, as if every bone was being crushed and her muscles were twisting on their own. She couldn’t control a single movement.
Ikarus quickly removed the cloth from her mouth and untied her hands and legs.
"Ika... Ikarus..." Maeve called out in a voice so weak it was barely more than a whisper. "It hurts... It hurts so much. Help me... please..."
Her voice grew fainter with every word until it was almost impossible to hear.
The sight of her slowly fading left Ikarus and Axan terrified. They could only watch helplessly as she looked like she was slipping away right before their eyes.
Ikarus’s face lost all color. "No... No, no..."
He gently cupped Maeve’s face, his trembling fingers brushing against her pale cheeks.
"Maeve, stay with me." His voice shook with panic. "Look at me. I’m here. You’re going to be alright."
But Maeve’s eyes were already starting to lose focus.
Axan immediately placed two fingers against her neck, searching for her pulse. The steady, composed man who rarely showed emotion could no longer hide the fear in his eyes.
"Her pulse is getting weaker," he said, his voice tight.
"What?" Ikarus snapped his head toward him.
"It’s fading."
The words struck Ikarus like lightning.
He pulled Maeve into his arms without thinking, holding her as though he could somehow stop her from slipping away.
"No," he whispered. "You’re not leaving me. I won’t let you."
The elders exchanged anxious glances. One of them hurried forward and raised both hands. "Please! Put her back!"
Ikarus’s eyes instantly turned cold. "What did you say?"
"Put her back beside the Mother Tree!" the elder repeated urgently. "The bond was interrupted before it was complete. That’s why she’s suffering!"
Axan narrowed his eyes. "Explain."
The elder quickly nodded. "When the Mother Tree accepted her, it began sharing its life force with her. At the same time, her own power was flowing into the Mother Tree. The two of them were in the middle of becoming one."
"But you pulled her away before the process was finished."
"Imagine tearing apart two vines while they’re still growing together. Both of them will be damaged."
As if to prove his words, the Mother Tree suddenly groaned. A loud crack echoed through the village as another large branch withered and broke off, crashing onto the ground.
Everyone turned toward the tree. The soft green light that had surrounded its trunk moments ago had almost completely disappeared.
"The Mother Tree is dying again..." one of the elderly women whispered, tears filling her eyes.
"And your wife is suffering the same fate," the village chief said, looking directly at Ikarus.
"If the bond isn’t restored soon..." He couldn’t finish the sentence because he didn’t need to.
Maeve suddenly cried out in pain. "Aah!"
Her body arched violently before going limp again.
Ikarus’s heart nearly stopped. "Tell me what to do!" he shouted. "If putting her back will save her, then do it!"
The elder immediately pointed toward the glowing roots. "The Mother Tree has already chosen her. As long as she touches the roots again, it should continue the synchronization."
Without another word, Ikarus carried Maeve toward the Mother Tree. The moment her bare foot touched one of the roots, it immediately came alive.
The roots burst from the ground once more, but unlike before, they didn’t slowly crawl toward her.
Instead, they rushed to her with desperate urgency, wrapping gently around her ankles as if they had finally found something precious they had almost lost.
At the same time, the Mother Tree let out a low hum and its faint green light slowly returned, so did the color in Maeve’s pale face.
Maeve slowly opened her eyes again. Her breathing had become steadier, and the pain throughout her body gradually faded away.
She looked at Axan and Ikarus, who were sitting beside her, then spoke in a weak voice. "I’m... fine now."
Ikarus let out a heavy breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding.
The moment he heard those words, he wrapped Maeve tightly in his arms. "You scared me to death," he whispered, burying his face against her hair.
"Hey, don’t pick her up so carelessly!" one of the Sylvara elders shouted, smacking the back of Ikarus’s head. The others quickly pulled him away from Maeve. "You could separate the connection again!"
A moment later, the panel floating in front of Maeve’s eyes showed the progress continuing to rise.
[Current Bond Rate: 12.9%... 13%...]
It was increasing slowly, but it was definitely rising.
"We wouldn’t have tried to separate her from the tree if you hadn’t brought us here so violently!" Ikarus shot back, his voice raised. "What was that even for?! You shot us with poison darts!"
"They weren’t poisonous." A woman’s calm voice suddenly came from behind the elders.
She had light green skin, and her long, curly dark green hair looked like beautiful vines draped around her face.
"The substance on the darts only made you unconscious," she said with a gentle smile. "Just long enough for us to bring you safely into this place."
She lowered her head slightly. "We apologize for using such a rough method, but we cannot allow strangers to learn the path leading to this tribe. We are the guardians of the Mother Tree."
The moment Axan saw the woman, he slowly walked toward her.
He spoke in a low voice. "You were the one I met by the river."
The woman nodded.
"You know my mother?" Axan asked.
A gentle smile spread across her face. "Yes," she replied. "I know Thalmyra. Ever since we first met by the river, we would meet from time to time." Her smile slowly faded as she lowered her head. "It’s such a shame..."
She looked genuinely saddened as she remembered that her old friend had long since left this world.
"But because I recognized you as her son, I decided to let you enter our tribe," she continued. Her eyes shifted to Maeve, and a warm smile returned to her face. "Though I never expected you would bring someone so special with you."
Axan parted his lips to respond, but Ikarus spoke before he had the chance.
"Then what about the cloth stuffed in her mouth?" he asked, unable to hide the frustration in his voice. "And why did you tie up her hands and feet? Why couldn’t you just explain everything about the Mother Tree instead?"
He paused for a moment before adding, "Also... what’s your name?"
Realizing his tone had been a little too harsh, he cleared his throat and spoke more politely. "So I can address you properly."
The woman let out a soft sigh before answering. "My name is Elthira."
She placed a hand over her chest and bowed politely. "I am the current caretaker of the Mother Tree."
Elthira looked at the two of them with an apologetic smile. "I understand why you’re upset. If I were in your position, I would probably react the same way."
She glanced at the towering Mother Tree before Maeve. "But the Mother Tree no longer had the luxury of waiting."
"It has been dying for many years," Elthira continued. "With every passing season, its life grows weaker. We believed it could hold on a little longer, but when you entered our territory..." She looked at Maeve. "The Mother Tree reacted to her immediately, so we knew we had to bring her here as quickly as possible."
She lowered her eyes. "We were afraid that if we untied her and explained everything first, she would panic and run away before the Mother Tree could reach her."
Maeve slowly raised her hand. "I... probably would have."
"I mean..." Maeve scratched her cheek awkwardly. "If a group of strangers suddenly told me that a giant tree wanted me to become its Heart... I definitely would’ve run."
Several elders exchanged embarrassed looks.
"Exactly," Elthira admitted with a helpless smile. "We had only one chance. If the Mother Tree rejected her because she left before making contact, we didn’t know whether it would ever find another compatible person."
She looked directly at Ikarus and Axan. "So we chose the method that gave the Mother Tree the greatest chance of surviving."
Her expression turned sincere. "But that doesn’t excuse the fear we caused. For that, I truly apologize."
Ikarus looked at Maeve, then at the ancient tree, before letting out a long sigh. "I still don’t like the way you did it."
"I understand."
"But..." He scratched the back of his head. "We also came here hoping that you could help our wife develop her plant growth ability. But now... I think the Mother Tree has given her that benefit as well."
Elthira nodded slowly. "The Heart of the Mother Tree is not chosen at random," she explained. "Only those with an exceptionally high affinity for plant abilities can become its Heart."
She looked at Maeve, who was still lying beside the glowing roots. "People like her can naturally sense the emotions of trees and plants. But because her power is too strong, the other trees end up feeling pain whenever she uses her ability."
"The Mother Tree can teach her how to use her ability more gently."