The Fallen Throne

Chapter 11.2 ✦ Puzzle Pieces

"Our lives are made
In these small hours,
These little wonders."
~ Rose (Rob Thomas, Little Wonders)

♚♚♚♚♚

Lloyd's heart races at Rose's blank stare. He stands and composes himself, helping her to her feet.

They only have a few seconds of stability, though, as without warning, Lancaster pushes them both aside, away from the charging minotaur.

The minotaur seems to have learnt its lesson, for it doesn't simply charge into tree ahead like before. It makes a turn towards them, before it charges again.

But Lancaster is more than ready. With a swift, yet heavy swing of his sword, he slashes the minotaur right before them. Howling in pain, the minotaur retreats and disappears.

"Consider that a repayment," Lancaster says to Lloyd, "now we are equal. I no longer owe you."

"You could've done that earlier and save us the trouble!" he exclaims wearily. Lloyd takes a few short breaths before opening his mouth to complain again, but then his eyes drift to Rose's hair, where a streak of green hair lies amongst the fringe of her normal brown hair.

With only the dim moonlight clouded by most of the towering dark trees, it might've been impossible to make out even her brown hair. But with the fire in the distance, the green streak is rather obvious in her brown hair.

Squinting his eyes for a better vision, Lloyd asks, "what happened to your hair?"

Rose only looks at him curiously. "What happened to my hair?"

She dusts herself as Lancaster, too, notices the green streak on her hair. He opens his mouth to question as well, but when his eyes lay on something else scattered all around the ground, his mind instantly pauses, conflicted on what he should be asking as Rose begins to pick up the strange objects.

The glowing, glittering tiny objects are of uneven shapes and sizes, scattered from around where Lloyd and Rose had collided to Lancaster's feet. They must've fallen from Rose's possession when she'd knocked into Lloyd earlier. Only at the sight of one or two of them coincidentally laying under the light of Kai's wall of fire in the distance, Lancaster and Lloyd realise they're flowers.

Beautiful, ethereal flowers -- a kind they've never seen before. Almost transparent other than the glow and glitter of various shinning colours, they seem fragile and might just disappear at the simplest touch.

Lloyd bends over and helps Rose pick them up, his mind bursting with curiosity. "What are these?"

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Rose smiles, seemingly impressed with her findings. "Found them deeper in the woods. They're Opuxes."

"Another species I've only encountered through books before; this forest is certainly enchanting!"

Gently picking up the Opuxes one by one, Lloyd observes them passionately. Lancaster picks the ones around his feet. "Are you actually intending on bringing them home?"

"Careful with them. Opuxes, I've heard, can cure the deadliest diseases, but they can also bring the deadliest toxin." Carefully, Rose peels a petal from an Opux. The petal disappears immediately once it's detached, and on the inside from where the petal used to be, shiny bluish-purple spots bounce about as if they're alive. "See? This one's toxic. Poisonous."