Creatrix

Chapter 5 - Geo the Slow

The caverns beneath the Shoumi pass had become Solviann’s domain and they were as dark and as hollow as his cold heart. Even accomplished warriors were too fearful to go near; they imagined that if they did they would be dragged to a sickly, humid death. As a result, the trade route was blocked. The threatening presence  too much for the merchants,  supplies of pots, silks, essences, and food particular to warmer climates had dwindled. People were becoming anxious, both in the village and in the nearby town of Accra. 

This was a mild consequence, however, considering what the demonic presence had done to this part of the vital web. Solvianne had created a ripple in the fabric upon his arrival, a forceful tremor in the local reality. He’d blocked access to the deep mountain essence, and stifled the 'Geo'; deemed it that this part of Creation would remain untapped and denied to the people. The patient, long-time stillness, the ability to connect with the longer now, the slowing of time to a virtual stop where attention to detail was effortless; all this was lost. The hardness of his heart had caused a rough stiffening of the web and a multitude of crystalline strands formed opaque structures inside, over, and throughout the locality. The crackling force was almost audible in the dull heat of the cavern. 

Anika told herself she was here to redress this imbalance, but in reality, she was settling a different score, one that fueled her with a steaming determination. No one knew what it was that doubled her anger; no one could. Who could comprehend the force that pushed her to the fight, the reason she sought this power? 

***

The sun was already reaching for its peak, and despite the heat and the pressing need for him to rest, Tyr didn’t stop at the edge of the wildwood, but went on charging through the forest; ignorant to the branches lashing at his face. He knew there was no time; she could be dead already. The guilt of not going to help his friend still scalded his heart; maybe he could soothe that burning if he could save this girl, this stranger.

The woodland didn’t give way to his determination and he thought the forest might exhaust him before he could reach the clearing. As he let his doubt creep in the terrain got the better of him and his leg caught in a bramble-covered root. He stumbled forward, the weight of his armour pulling him to the ground with a thud. 

When he sat up, he placed his hand on the trunk of a middle-aged oak and sensed the noble being’s acceptance of him. Tyr's new spellcrafting skills allowed him to use the essences directly from the landscape. His fingers extended beyond the tree as he felt his way through the fine ethereal webbing. He linked his consciousness with it and shifted his awareness deeper down where the roots draw their greatest strength; there he drew his power from the source of the great oak. Its essence lent him a renewed vitality. He sighed and withdrew his fingers, softly disengaged, enjoying the feeling that this evoked.

‘Thank you,’ he whispered, and he felt the wisdom and the strength of the oak throughout his being, and pushed on.

***

Anika’s descent into the cavern was slow; it was pitch black and the walls were slimy. She felt her way downward, careful with her footing, until the tunnel turned and she saw a glow somewhere in the darkness. Crawling toward the light where the passageway opened up into a cave ahead, she drew a deep breath. Through the opening, she spotted him, crept forward, and then with no warning her shattering fury exploded into the fire lit lair. 

Unfazed by the sight of his ugly heaving body and before her dark eyes had time to take in his enormity, she ran straight at him; too soon eager for the kill. She slashed and tore at the air, her sword extended in one hand, razor chains in the other. She thundered into him, flailing her dread intent, tearing into his flesh. Solviann’s confusion gave her an immediate advantage and she struck several biting blows in her chaos, leaving little time for thought or reaction, but his sticky death scent made her dizzy and dull in her head, slowed her reactions.