Wraithwood Botanist

B2 - Chapter 17 - Soul Puppets

Kline and I had two options when we approached the water: we could create a diversion to gain access to the river, or we could try to blend in with the herbivores. If you put me into this position a month ago, I would go for the former—but I chose to blend in.

The reason was simple: the damn symphony bugs playing music above us were a spiraling pack of long-winded snitches. Just putting a knife to the water sack plant on day one made them change their tune. One slash later, I found myself running from a third evolution beast, fighting for my life as this world’s version of "Ride of the Valkyries" played around me.

No thank you.

The other option was to accept that herbivores were sharing the space, and I could join them—preparing to kill them, of course. That’s what we decided to do—but I didn’t do so barehanded.

As it turned out, mana sharpening could turn just about anything into a weapon. It could transform a twig into a machete—so I crafted a great sword from a walking stick. It was my new approach, as I still couldn’t use Nymbral without unloading most of my mana reserves and stumbling around. It was also practical. I had used mana sharpening and random sticks to skin and butcher beasts ever since my mana sharpening experiment, so the sword utilized my skill sets.

Moxle Dilation would take care of the rest.

I gripped my sword as I stepped over a rotting log, wrapped in Kline’s Wraithaura, moving toward the Diktyo River as Kline trailed me under the cloak of invisibility. The river was a sight. It spread out for miles, frothing with souls and fog along a rocky shore, giving a perfect backdrop for the wobbling cries from predator birds in the canopies.

I checked my surroundings. There were a lot of herbivores, highlighted green as opposed to red—but equally deadly. A large herd of creatures similar to hippos lounged in the distance, drinking Diktyo River water from water sack plants and basking in the sun. One wrong move, and I’d be mauled to death. It wasn’t a joke.

I steeled my resolve and pressed on.

One step. Two step. Three steps—four. I counted each to the river like it was a game, counting how far it would get before the beasts decided they wanted blood and forced us into battle. I got to twenty-six—

—and they still hadn’t moved. I felt fortunate.

That said, they didn’t ignore us, either. A half-baked chimera with pig and porcupine characteristics walked into our path, followed by an entire herd of twenty. They surrounded us, sniffed, and moved on.

Another beast, the size of an elk, walked past, shaking its silky straight hair.

We’re watching you.

That’s what they were saying.

We pressed on.

I can’t believe we made it, I thought once I made it to the river. The soul fog was thinner down south, as souls accumulated as they moved north toward the Seventh Ring. So it felt like a thin layer of dry ice that ebbed and flowed with the tide.

I crouched to my haunches and whispered. "Listen, Kline."

I turned right and found lounging beasts drinking in the distance; I turned left and saw the porcupine pigs building up. Birds cried overhead. We were surrounded by beasts—and they were watching us.

"I’m going in to speak to Yakana," I said. "If anything happens—stick to the script. Okay? Run. Get an info request—and then regroup."

Kline rubbed his body against my ankle under the cloak of invisibility. I forced myself not to pet him as I stood and closed my eyes, activating mental shielding. My world calmed as if I were drugged, and then I walked forward, stepping into the sea of screaming, crashing, howling beasts trapped in the soul fog above the Diktyo River.

2.

Large crowds cheered Aiden and Halten on as they flew down from the Cursed Aviary and to the podium outside of Galfer’s Gate. The trial had been delayed as far as the Vestra could delay it—but now it was finally time for Aiden to challenge the Bramble.

This’s… surreal, Aiden thought as he flew above the watchers. Part of it was that he and Halten had changed. Aiden was now riding on Halten like Railain rode her wyvern, albeit with far less skill, and Halten wasn’t a skeleton anymore. Thanks to Brexton’s resources, his wings were healed and he had been eating heartily. So yeah, they had changed—

—but that didn’t explain the crowd. They were going ballistic as if Aiden had magically become a celebrity or something.

Brexton whistled on the platform, and Aiden navigated Halten to the platform. Once they landed, Brexton used some strange spell or technique to fly thirty feet into the sky, landing right beside Aiden.

"What the hell was that?" Aiden asked.

"Ah, nothing you needa worry about," Brexton shrugged, grinning. "You should focus more on… that." He pointed to the crowd, who detonated in response.

"Yeah… that the hell is that?" Aiden asked.

"That, my friend, is fame," Brexton said. "’Ccordin’ my Oracle, the best way to keep you safe is to make you too popular to touch. So… a little PR here and there, and suddenly you’re the man of the people—the guy that stuck up to the Legacies. If you win today, you’ll be the first citizen to show ’em up in like… a century or something. It’s a big deal."

"Wait… Aren’t they gonna be pissed?"

"Oh, they are, Aiden. They are. You and Everen have fucked up the whole natural order of things. Luckily, if you survive this, you’ll achieve star leverage status. And if you don’t? Well, it wouldn’t matter, now would it?"

Aiden knew it wouldn’t—because he would be dead.

"Alright, pep talk’s over," Brexton said, preparing to jump. "Just remember—if you don’t make contact, you’re on ice. So if there’s problems in the forest—deal with ’em."

Aiden felt ants crawl through his skin when Brexton jumped off Halten’s back. For whatever reason, he felt even more nervous than before. He felt like something would go wrong.

3.

I had barely stepped into the water when the river violently exploded. I’m unsure whether it actually happened or if it was in my head, but the moment my foot touched the water, all the fog blasted around me as if every beast soul trapped within it wanted to eat me alive.

Beasts started howling and hopping and screeching and snapping, pushing at me like a mob trying to rush someone within. I looked up in horror and saw real birds the size of drones swoop down over the water.

Two shot at me in the confusion, and I cranked time to a halt and dodged a split second before they grabbed me.

How the fuck are they attacking me? I thought. I was in the river, and the river was alive with souls. Were they insane? I identified one of them.

------

Name: Falksan

Type: Avian, Soul Harvester

Description: If you thought that nothing could touch the river—you were wrong. Obviously. Any beast can enter the water if their soul force is strong enough to overpower the souls inside, or they have a soul core, and these ones are the latter. Soul harvesters by nature, falksans flock around the river, waiting for infighting to push a beast inside. Once a beast’s soul is weakened from the river’s soul interference, they strike like vultures, eating the souls of both the beast and their invader. Thankfully, these ones are children who are too weak for prolonged exposure to the river. So if you stop offering yourself to them like a cheap exhibitionist and jump in already, you will survive.

Note: Unlike soul reapers, soul harvesters shred souls like a paper shredder. Which is worse. So much worse.

------

I dropped to my knees in the river right before everything went to hell.

Kline yowled behind me, releasing two attacks as diving birds screeched at him. I turned just in time to see one of the birds catapult across the sky, crashing into the water ten feet from me, turning the milky waters pink.

The herbivores stood up from all directions, clearly agitated by the commotion, but I couldn’t hear them. My mind was drowned out by the sound of howling beasts from the river—even with mental shielding.

"Run, Kline!" I screamed.

Kline didn’t listen. I couldn’t see him, but I could tell his direction by the direction two more diving birds flew in when he hit them with Phantom Claws. One died mid-air—the one nearest to me only lost its wing—

—and that’s when things started going bad.

The wing grew back as if it were never gone, but the bird didn’t return. It convulsed and screeched and thrashed as the fog wrapped around it like a cocoon.

I was entranced and horrified by the sight—and it just got worse.

Kline rattled off claws like a Browning M2 machine gun, sending a dozen of the birds crashing into the water like meteorites. Half of them died—the rest started convulsing as well. I got a bad feeling immediately.

"Run, Kline!" I screamed. "Something’s wrong with these things. You need to—"

One of the convulsing birds suddenly cut me off with a soul-chilling screech that rattled my bones. It was unnatural, furious, and ungodly, like a Hollywood zombie—the fast kind—who blindly chases behind moving cars like a wild animal as protagonists drive for their lives. That was the energy it carried when it flew at the first thing near it—one of the hippo creatures, ramming its beak first into the herbivore’s flank.

The whole herd erupted in fury, releasing cries as they charged the bird.

More convulsing birds animated as well, flying out of the river like demonic salmon, shooting toward the shore—attacking anything in sight.

I suddenly remembered the only Soul Manipulation lesson Lithco gave me. He demonstrated how neara allowed him to shape a soul and put it into a plant’s body. It animated like a worm from Dune, thrashing around—breaking its own stem in the process. Then he said:

You’ve just seen me shape a soul and put it into a plant. Now it’s a killer plant—but it lacks purpose or meaning. So it aches and hates. And that is something you cannot change with soul manipulation.

That’s what happened. Vengeful souls took over the birds’ bodies but it didn’t give them life—just a vehicle of hate and they were taking advantage of it to create havoc.

The porcupine pigs and hippo creatures didn’t appreciate that—and they blamed us. A dozen were snorting at me, and the rest were circling Kline, cutting off his paths to escape.

They charged.

"Kline!" I screamed, rushing forward. Unfortunately, a wild falksan soul puppet flew into my chest from the shore, sending me crashing backward into the shallow river.

4.

Aiden looped the leather reins over his hands twice. It wouldn’t do anything but break his wrist if he jerked too quickly, as he was tied in with his legs, but it made him feel strong. Solid. In control.

He felt that way, in the zone—unable to hear the cheering crowd, moving in tempo with the blood pulsing through his brain. The teams had just finished locking the crates onto Halten’s back.

It was almost time.

You ready? Halten asked.

I am, Aiden said decisively.

It’s hard to believe you’re the same boy from before.

I’m not the same person. That person avoided people and conflict and spent all of his time with animals. Now, I can’t even say hi to an animal without getting swarmed with business offers. It’s fucked up.

Aiden wondered if Mira felt like that—wanting to become a botanist only to be drug into a death forest and all the games these gods played. He wondered if it was better out there in the forest, where he could tame beasts and no one could tell him what to do. He wondered if he could survive out there. He wondered if Mira would let him stay.

Then Aiden remembered that Halten needed to make fifty deliveries before he would obtain his freedom, and he pushed that thought aside.

It was a bit more complicated than that. He and Halten only needed to take one delivery to Mira and make contact for them both to survive. Beyond that, Halten was clear in his unwillingness to do another—and Aiden believed him. But he also believed that Brexton would find a way to blackmail them into it again—or find a way to sell Halten’s soul meat to buyers—or anything else.

So, whether they would continue was up for debate.

As for Brexton, the teen was a demon—but the Oracle’s contracts kept him locked in chains. Until Aiden and Halten could escape, they needed to keep Brexton locked up—while holding the key.

Aiden.

Aiden snapped back to the present, gripping his reins. What?

Remember. You are my eyes and healer—but you are nothing more. Do not mourn for me. Do not cry for me. Do not feel fear. I hear those thoughts like you’re screaming them. It’s the last thing I need.

Aiden pursed his lips. He wasn’t sure if he could follow such an order—but there was a chance. Over the last seven weeks, he had threaded a serious core and had practiced his diamond-grade healing skill, learning it day and night and practicing. It was painful practice—exhausting. Taxing. It strained him in ways that he didn’t think were possible, and that shaped him into a new person. His life was quiet and shy and formless before—now it was chiseled out of stone. If he could survive anything—it would be now.

I’ll do my best.

Good. Let’s do this.

The two loaded up on the podium and waited for the countdown.

4.

I’m not sure what I did to piss the Diktyo River souls off, but they swarmed me in the water. I could feel them clinging to my chest like damp clothing in the summer heat, bearing pressure down on me as they released battle cries from all around me.

What’s going on? I cried as I fought to find a shallow part of the river to submerge myself—but there was none. I had to force myself underwater and army crawl on the sand, sinking in deep as the water flowed around me. I could barely think as I pushed forward.

Suddenly, I got a notification.

------

Your equipment drop is on its way! Please be prepared to meet…

------

My mind flipped and slapped the notification away, replacing it with another.

Information request! Keep me updated on Kline’s health and location until we meet up, and give me an optimized map for getting back to him safely!

A pop-up forced itself into my mind, even behind my eyelids.

"This will take three information requests for the scope and duration of the request."

Do it!

Two pop-ups followed. One with a map showing a cat icon rushing through the forest at a speed that made the map look like it was refreshing, like a radar system, moving east toward the mountain. The second pop-up gave the update:

"Kline is wounded, but he shrewdly protected the Diktyo River water bladder with a Mana Manifestation barrier, so he had the means to heal himself. He has already used requests to get to you and will move immediately. Focus on evolving. He’ll be waiting for you."

I shot out of the water, gasping for breath in the cacophony of angry souls, and then dove back in, crawling through the river as fast as I could, trying to get into deep water. I needed Yakana’s help—now.

5.

Aiden’s body shook from the thunderous applause from the crowd. It was time to launch.

Three… two… one—go!

Halten spread his wings like a glorious eagle stretching in a forest. Then he flapped down with devastating power, sending dust storms blowing in all directions as they rocketed into the sky.