The Storm Tower | Vol.4, The Eldenarian Artifacts ✓

11.

After asking around the monastery, Makaela and Karin found Madame Alizeh with a few other Vayan monks in the botany wing of the building. The curved, glass ceiling allowed plenty of sunlight to stream down onto them while protecting the lush foliage inside from the harsh conditions outside.

Shelves of various plants—magical and ordinary—populated most of the greenhouse. Stacks of black cauldrons were seen laying around in random spots, nearly tripping up monks as they whizzed past on rotating spheres of air.

"What's she doing in here?" Makaela asked as she carefully stepped over a thorny root belonging to a Thalascia tree—native to some parts of India and most of Asia—that stretched toward the cracked stone rafters above them. Its bright red leaves filtered the sunlight coming through, projecting a vibrant crimson hue onto the ground below.

She gazed up at the behemoth of a tree with her mouth slightly agape.

It was her first time venturing this deep inside the greenhouse. She had no reason to journey within the plant emporium; woodland magic wasn't her discipline and she was hopeless when it came to potion-making.

Most of her time in Tenzin was spent in the meditation circle or the small combat platforms placed around the compound.

"Madame Alizeh's always in here," Karin explained as they turned a corner into an aisle that sported poisonous plants. "Hold your breath."

"Why?"

"Do you want to pass out?"

"Point taken."

She sucked in a breath, careful not to inhale too much of the sickly sweet aromas floating in the air around her. The fluorescent petals of the hanging flowers around her looked like they belonged in the bottom of a cave somewhere. Their stems coiled around the iron bars holding up the shelves, making them look more like snakes than plants. Mushrooms and dark roots resided in potted plants on the shelves towering next to her.

Finally, they found Madame Alizeh standing next to a bald, brown-skinned monk with the silver markings of House Vaya tattooed onto their head. The two of them were marveling over a neon green plant with light purple trim on the edge of its teardrop-shaped leaves.

"Ah!" Madame Alizeh waved the two girls over to her upon seeing them approaching. "Come, come. Look at what Ismael found for us!"

Makaela nodded slowly, not particularly interested in the plant. "Yeah, that's cool and all but we have something to tell you—"

"It's ghostweed!" She picked off a leaf and examined it under the sunlight. A faint, ethereal hue radiated off the underside of it as she rotated it. "Brewed correctly, a potion containing this plant can render the user completely invisible for a time."

"Oh, wow." Makaela did her best to sound interested. That was easier said than done. Gritting her teeth, she tapped her foot impatiently as the woman continued to gush over her plant.

"They're so rare. I have no idea how Ismael was able to find—"

Karin slammed her hand on the table next to her. Madame Alizeh, Ismael, and Makaela froze at the sudden noise.

The girl narrowed her eyes at her teacher. "We don't have time for show and tell." She gestured at Makaela. "Go on. Tell her what you did."

"It was an accident," she hissed back at her. Her face warmed at the thought of her earlier mistake during her dream. She already felt bad enough about revealing to Thorian where she was. She didn't need Karin making her feel any worse. "Lay off, would you?"

"Hold on," Madame Alizeh said. She set her plant down. "What was an accident?"

She sighed, dragging a hand down her face. "I...might have...sort of told Thorian I was here in Tenzin."