Tales of a Lost Sword 79

Episode 79 I’m Not a Tree
Kunai and Fayvard both narrow their eyes tensely as they confront the two Fatalists now before them. Recelo and Midori stand shoulder to shoulder, blocking the only way into the castle. They both have their weapons drawn, their cold faces stoic as they stand guard in front of the group.

“Figures they’d have some of you waiting for us,” Fayvard growls under his breath, reaching for his own sword.

Kunai holds out his hand, stopping Fayvard. “Wait. I’ll take care of this.”

“Oh?” Fayvard sneers.

Drawing Myou, Kunai points his sword at the two Fatalists. “Are you two going to block the way?”

Recelo raises an eyebrow. “Of course,” he replies, raising his own Doombringer in reply. “You’re not going anywhere until you give us back the Anti-Paradox!”

Sighing resignedly, Kunai turns his attention to Zack, Cynthia and Mira behind him. “You guys,” he says aloud, “go on ahead. We’ll hold them up.”

“You think we’ll let them pass?!” Midori hisses, pointing her light bow at Kunai warningly.

“SOUL COMBUSTION!”

The blast shocks everyone standing within range, carving a path through the earth as it heads for Recelo and Midori. The two Fatalists leap out of the way in a flurry, as the attack shuttles past them, slamming into the castle’s wooden doors behind and tearing them down.

“Let’s go!” Zack cries hurriedly, grabbing both Cynthia and Mira by the wrists. With a flash of blue light, he guides them past the two Fatalists to the castle’s threshold.

Cynthia glances back at Kunai and Fayvard. “But—”

“Sorry, there’s no time t’look back!” shouts Zack, as the three of them sprint through the broken doors into an interior courtyard.

“Damn it!” Recelo mutters under his breath, turning back to look at the escapees. He motions as if to hurl his sword after them, but quickly changes his mind as a rush of movement sounds behind him.

Recelo turns, snarling, using his Doombringer to parry Kunai’s head-on attack. Baring his teeth with a grin, Recelo glares at Kunai and Fayvard haughtily. “A two-on-two battle, huh?” he says, his sword locked shakily against Kunai’s.

Meanwhile, Zack, Cynthia, and Mira sprint hurriedly through the courtyard inside, bursting through a set of doors into an indoors hallway. They look around in a panic, as if trying to decide which way to go.

“Do you even know where we’re going?!” Mira whispers, as the three of them hide behind a corner, peering around it surreptitiously for any signs of trouble.

“We’re goin’ to confront Arai,” replies Zack simply.

“On our own?!” Cynthia cries in a huff. She quickly coughs, settling down again. “Do you even know the way?”

Zack shrugs. “Now’s a good time t’find out!”

“Guards, coming this way!” Mira hisses suddenly, pointing down the hallway.

Zack curses softly, watching as the armored guards come hurrying towards them. Three guards are hurrying down the hall, each carrying a spear bristling with electricity at the tip.

Pressing his hands against the wall against which they lean, Zack feels about. “I might be able t’teleport through this…” he mumbles.

“Forget about that!” Cynthia shouts, dashing out to meet the guards. “You guys go ahead! I’ll hold them off!” She draws her Kandine, the blade flashing even in the hall.

“Damn it, at this rate we’re each gonna be on our own!” Zack shouts, leaping out and dragging Mira along by the arm. He tugs sharply on her hand as Mira tries to keep up, out of breath. In a moment, they round another corner and disappear from sight.

The three guards pause in their tracks as they see Cynthia, her dagger drawn. “Surround her!” one of them cries from under his helmet.

They quickly form a triangle around Cynthia, their spears raised threateningly. Unfazed, Cynthia easily flips over in the air as the three of them charge with their spears. As she lands, she kicks the two at the edge of the triangle with her feet, knocking them off balance.

Her dagger flashing through the air, Cynthia pierces the guard on her right twice near the ribs. He falls with the grunt, blood seeping through even his thick armor.

“Why, you…!” the uninjured guard in front of Cynthia growls. He thrusts forward with his spear.

Cynthia agilely leaps onto the shaft of the spear, kicking the guard twice in the face. “Savage Blow!” Cynthia howls as she lands, striking the guard six times with her dagger. The guard falls to the ground, six bloody holes poked through his armor.

The other fallen guard now recovers to his feet, fumbling around hastily with his spear. Cynthia grabs his spear before he can do anything with it, pulling him towards her. She headbutts him across the head, throwing him backwards. In a flash, she cuts through him with her Kandine using Assaulter. The guard falls to the ground, his armor clanging loudly as he smashes into the marble floor.

Breathing heavily, Cynthia stares at the bodies of the three downed guards. She glances about, and seeing no further assailants, proceeds to head down the hall after Zack and Mira.

The long white hallway continues onward, seemingly growing progressively longer with each step. Cynthia comes to a halt in the middle of the hallway, staring about.

“Damn it,” she mutters to herself, her breathing still heavy. “Where did the others go?”

Outside the wall-length windows lining the outer hallway wall are a number of large, strange plants of an unknown variety. Some of them appear to be mere bushes or patches of colorful flowers, but some are large, uneven trees with drooping vines and strangely colored fruit.

Peering towards the end of the hallway, Cynthia sees that there is a staircase leading down. Narrowing her eyes suspiciously, Cynthia whispers to herself. “Downstairs? That can’t be right…”

Glancing behind her, Cynthia sighs wearily. “If I go back, I’m just going to encounter more guards. Hopefully this is the right way…”

Accepting her fate, Cynthia hurries down the remainder of the hallway. As she reaches the stairs, she takes a deep breath before embarking down them into darkness.

Cynthia emerges in a brightly lit room of white. Large, open windows surround her on all the walls, as well as the ceiling, which hangs low over her. Surrounding the entranceway is a narrow ledge, snow white in color. The ledge hugs the length of the walls and extends well into the distance out of sight. Beyond the ledge is a precipitous fall downward from which grow a large number of trees and other strange plants.

The trees reach as high as the ceiling, filling the wide open space n the room with their leafy boughs. Some appear to resemble palm trees, while others appear more like great, lumbering oaks.

A number of giant white cubes hover in the air along the length of the room, forming a discontinuous pathway of sorts through the maze of trees at the center of the room.

“Welcome, visitor!” a voice rings from somewhere within the room.

Upon hearing the voice, Cynthia immediately raises her guard, drawing her Kandine as she narrows her eyes, searching for the source of the commotion. A rustling of tree leaves sounds from somewhere within the middle of the greenhouse.

“Oho, you’re a pretty one!” the voice says deeply. With a great big rustle, out of the nearest palm tree pops out a dark-skinned man. He lands lithely upon the ledge next to Cynthia.

Cynthia takes a step back in surprise at the sudden appearance of this man. His skin is a deep, rich brown in color, while he sports a large green afro twice the size of his head. He is dressed in black Fatalist robes, while his Fatalist mask appears to be tangled somewhere in the mess that is his hair.

“A Fatalist?!” Cynthia hisses apprehensively.

“Ahoy!” the Fatalist cries, bowing low to Cynthia. “Damon’s the name.”

“D-Damon?” Cynthia blinks. “Given your appearance, I guess I was expecting a less…ordinary name…”

Damon raises an eyebrow. He narrows his eyes and glares at Cynthia. “What was that about my looks?!” he spits, pointing an accusatory finger at Cynthia.

“N-Nothing!” Cynthia shouts, taking another cautious step back. She holds her dagger up in front of her, in between her and Damon.

Damon sighs. “Eh…wait, people don’t normally visit me here if they’re not Fatalists, do they? Ohh…s-s-s-s-s-s-s-snap! A-Are you one of those intruders the others were making a fuss about?!”

‘What is with this guy…?’ Cynthia wonders unsmilingly, glaring at Damon with perplexity.

Sighing again, Damon scratches his head, his fingers getting tangled up momentarily in his outrageous haircut. “I guess I gotta kill you then… Shame, you were such a pretty face too. Y’sure you don’t wanna just hang around, share a smoke or two?”

“WHAT IS WITH THIS GUY?!” Cynthia shouts in a rage, streaking forward with her dagger raised. She attacks, but strikes only air as Damon skillfully leaps backwards out of the way, landing on the branch of a nearby tree with his hands in his pockets.

“Guess it’s a fight, then,” he says seriously.

Without warning, a rough brown material springs out of the ground from beneath Cynthia’s feet and wraps around her, threatening to bind her in place.

Raising her dagger, Cynthia expertly cuts the material into pieces, allowing them to fall on the ground in fragments. She stares down at the splintered pieces. “Wood?!”

“Yeah, got a problem with my wood?” Damon deadpans. With a wave of his hand, another arm of wood springs out of midair, striking at Cynthia with its heavy branches.

Cynthia dodges, but is tripped up as another branch springs up from underneath; the first branch whips Cynthia across her side, knocking the wind out of her. Skidding, Cynthia falls and somersaults twice before coming to a stop precariously on the narrow ledge.

Looking down, Cynthia gulps. “This is dangerous…” she murmurs to herself a bit nervously. “More importantly…this guy can use wood magic?!”

“It’s my Fatalist power!” Damon gloats proudly. “How’s my wood taste?!”

Cursing with frustration, Cynthia braces herself as another ribbon of wood comes hurtling her way. “I’ve had it enough with your weird sayings!” she says, leaping over the branch as it smashes into the wall behind her. She climbs onto the branch, running along its course towards Damon.

Without warning, the branch disintegrates, causing Cynthia to plummet downward. She hurriedly reaches out and grabs onto the branch of a nearby tree.

Breathing heavily from the surprise, Cynthia hangs on, carefully climbing back onto even footing. “That was close,” she mutters with a quick glance downwards. However, as she turns, Cynthia finds herself face to face with several more massive snake-like branches of wood, their jaws snapping angrily at her.

Damon sneers darkly at Cynthia. “Hide as you might, you’re not getting away!”
—END SEVENTY-NINE—
All of the characters in this work of fiction are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons is purely coincidental.