— CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR —

  The Hallowed Stars, Part 2

  -Fritz-

  A wild discotheque had taken over the desert racetrack. The spinning starlight caught on the oily darkness shooting out of the ground like a wellspring, scattering glimmers across the walls. Deep along the track, one of those iridescent crystals was floating in an alcove. Wisps of mana floated out of it, not too different from what was coming out of the Heart. Instead of making stars, however, these ones made a misty barrier around the crystal, keeping the lurking shadow monsters at bay, forcing them to bubble angrily around the edges.

  Davi, Clark, Flora, Rose, and I were hunkered down outside the track while Filius watched our backs from around the corner. We'd been throwing around the idea of dropping straight down to that crystal from one of the upper garden paths, but the faeries flitting about up there made it way too risky. I couldn't see any other way but to go straight through that shadowy geyser in the middle.

  Rose turned to Flora, her amber eyes shining in the rave lighting. "Flora, did you go deep enough into Healer to get light spells?"

  "A couple." Flora replied uncertainly, fidgeting with a strand of her green hair.

  "Then we need you leading this charge."

  Flora shriveled into her work uniform. "Oh, I don't know about that..."

  Rose gripped her shoulder. "We'll be surrounding you the whole way. Your one and only job is to keep casting, got it? Let us handle the rest. Just keep casting, no matter what."

  Flora swallowed hard and gave a determined nod. "I'll try."

  Looking at the rest of us, Rose asked, "You all set?"

  I drew my spear. "I was born to boogie." Davi and Clark nocked arrows, game faces on.

  "Alright, Filius takes point. Fritz, you're on left flank, I've got right. Davi, Clark, watch our backs and do whatever it takes to keep Flora safe." Rose held up three fingers. "On three. One, two..."

  We burst onto the track as one, Flora in the middle of our tight formation. The faerie lights immediately zeroed in on us, strafing us in erratic patterns like an EDM laser show. Filius caught the brunt of it on his shield, prismatic bursts splashing off the metal.

  Flora's shaking hands fumbled their way through hand signs to cast healing spells. Pools of shimmering golden light splashed out around us. Everywhere it touched, the encroaching shadows recoiled as if scalded. Her magic burned us a path straight towards the crystal.

  But the living darkness flooded into the trail behind us, cutting off any chance of retreat. We had to reach that crystal, which was unfortunate, because the blowout geyser suddenly curved, throwing out a curtain of rippling black oil between us and the goal. Flora threw a few desperate spells at it, but they only made small dents before being swallowed.

  "This way!" Rose veered us hard to the side, and we scrambled to follow before the stream of starlight could box us in.

  We made it to the edge of the track and pressed up against the stone, but there was nowhere else to run. Filius clambered up on a boulder, holding his shield above us like an umbrella against the deadly light show raining down. Flora's magic was the only thing keeping the army of writhing shadow beasts from dragging us under. For the moment we were safe, but I could see the strain on Flora's face, could hear her breath coming in panicked squeaks as her mana drained away.

  Fiery plumes erupted above the hedges ringing the gardens, approaching fast. A wheelchair came skidding around the corner in a spray of sand, Cherry whipping it into a hairpin turn as she rocketed towards us. Flames burst from Percy's hands, the blazing volleys cutting a new opening through the shadows. Lucy was on their heels with a flashlight, then the boys came barreling in after them. Leo, Siegfried, and Ace carried one of the massive glowing crystals between them like a battering ram.

  With Percy pivoting to cover them from the stars, the boys surged through the mass of shadows. Everywhere the radiant crystal touched, the dark things sublimated into mist.

  "Now!" Rose shouted. She practically flung Flora forward into the breach.

  We launched out from under Filius' cover and charged the last stretch to our own crystal. Clark, Rose, and I grabbed the thing and started hustling it towards freedom. Filius was a little too short to help us, so he shepherded Flroa and Davi along as the whole group turned and ran back for the cover of the gardens. As soon as we broke line of sight with the crazed disco lights, Percy threw up a magic wall across the racetrack entrance. It sealed away the remaining shadows, which clawed and seethed impotently against the glassy barrier.

  Flora slumped against the hedge, shaking like a leaf and gulping for air. I went over and gave her trembling shoulder a pat. "You did great, Flora. Really held it together back there."

  "Head count!" Siegfried called out. "Everyone make it?"

  I looked around, confirming no one got left behind in the madness. "Yeah, we're all good!"

  Rose eyed the crystal the cavalry brought in. "I see you managed to find one of your own. Any idea how many of these things we'll need?"

  "This should be plenty for an initial test run." Percy said. "Let's get back to base camp and see what we can figure out."

  ---

  The twelve of us regrouped in the little glade outside the terraces leading down into Sylvia's arena. The Heart of the Gardens had the giant tree in a chokehold, pulsing shadowy veins slowly pumping corruption into the gardens. That unblinking abyss of an eye stared us down like it was my dad - not angry, just... emotionlessly disappointed. In the glade with us, we had three shimmery iridescent crystals.

  "I see." Rose said. "So the plan is to launch these gems into that thing's eye."

  Siegfried nodded, rubbing his chin. "Simple in theory, tricky in execution. It has to be, what, a hundred feet up?"

  "Exactly." Percy said. "Too high to throw, too high for the greataxe leap, and too far from any of these hedges to jump. The best way I can think of is climbing up to the branches of the tree then drop down on it, but I don't see any way to get to the branches."

  "I know there were some glitches people found with the leap skill." Leo offered. "People have been experimenting with trying to break it for extra distance."

  "Did they find anything?" Lucy asked.

  "Uh, let's see..." Leo scrunched his brow. "I know they figured out it always flings you at the same speed, no matter how much you weigh."

  "Ooh!" Davi's face lit up with sudden inspiration. "What if we did it like a chain? Bunch of people stand on each other's shoulders, bottom one leaps, then the next one up jumps off him at the peak for a boost!"

  "Stacking doll hops!" I grinned at the mad genius of it. "Catapult staircase!"

  "Yeah, that could totally work!" Leo agreed enthusiastically.

  "But the last person would have to get close enough to physically hit the Heart." Lucy pointed out. "We don't know if it can swat them out of the air - let alone how they could survive the fall."

  "Oh. Right." Davi visibly deflated.

  Percy was sat near the exit to the glade, staring up at the sky. He swiveled his wheelchair to face us. "Not necessarily. This is going to sound a little strange, but hear me out here..."

  By the time he was done with his explanation, half the group was completely lost. I thought I got it... maybe. ... No, I didn't have a clue what he was getting at.

  Lucy, at least, nodded slowly. "The precision is questionable, but I don't see any problems with the theory."

  "Okay, wait, back up." Leo made a 'time out' gesture. "How many people are tied to who now? Could you go over that again?"

  Percy said, "I think it'll be easier to understand once you see the physical setup." He opened his inventory and began spawning a mountain of rope. Following Percy's direction, we began to tie ourselves together in a convoluted tangle. Even then, I still didn't get it.

  So we had Leo at the base with a greataxe equipped. A medium length of rope connected the haft of his axe to one of the crystals. Then I, also wielding a greataxe, was tethered directly to the crystal by a long stretch of rope coiled down to a manageable length. Finally, Percy was tied to me with a short length.

  Percy, struggling to stand up from his chair and climb onto my back, said, "Just follow my instructions."

  "Alright, man, you're in charge." I shrugged.

  "You guys ready?" Leo called over his shoulder, shifting his grip on the axe.

  "What do we do if you three go careening off in some unintended direction?" Lucy asked, one skeptical brow arched.

  "We'll figure that out as it happens!" Percy replied with an excited grin. "Payload ready!"

  "Let's boogie!" I whooped.

  With that, Leo took off at a sprint onto the terraces, the crystal bobbing along behind him, pulled by the rope connecting it to his axe. I followed close on his heels. High above, the galaxy of faerie lights pivoted to follow our motion.

  Leo skidded to a halt, bracing his greataxe behind him. With a fierce battlecry, Leo activated his leap skill, catapulting himself in an arc. The crystal rocketed after him, and an instant later the tension hit me like a punch to the gut. I was wrenched off my feet, accelerating rapidly to match Leo's velocity.

  Percy clung to my back like a baby koala, shouting over the rushing air. "On my mark!"

  While we were in the air, I primed my own leap. At the pinnacle of our trajectory, Leo released his axe, letting himself drop back to the terraces. That's when I triggered my leap. The skill launched us perpendicular to our previous path, rocketing straight upward and dragging the crystal behind us like the tail of a comet.

  Just as we began to lose speed, Percy shouted, "Blink!" His weight vanished from my back as he teleported out of the safety rope. He reappeared several yards ahead in a flash of blue - and by no coincidence putting him within arms reach of one of the threads suspending a corrupted seed pod. Grabbing it with one hand, his other hand whipped a length of rope back toward me.

  I let my axe fall and grabbed it. It snapped taut and we dropped. The thread stretched elastically under our combined weight, and my shoulder nearly dislocated from the jerk.

  Grunting with effort, I quickly hauled myself up the rope. On his end, Percy shifted his weight around, putting us into a circular swinging motion. I reached him and latched on for dear life as we really started moving. We swung faster, building momentum. Bobbing up and down and swinging in faster and faster circles. The crystal tied to me flung outward, flailing erratically and threatening to drag me away.

  "Reel the rope out!" Percy shouted.

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  Fumbling, I let the rope connecting me to the crystal slip through my fingers, coil by coil, extending its radius. We arced higher, the thread stretching taut at the apex of each swing. My head spun and my grip grew slick as the texture was rubbed from my palms.

  Then a message popped up in the group chat.

  [Lady Lucia]: Distance good! Stop!

  "Hold the rope!" Percy commanded.

  I clenched my fist around the rope.

  {Lucy}?The rest of us stood transfixed on the ground, watching them spin faster and faster. The faerie lights threw themselves at the pair, but they moved too quickly to be caught. With each swing, the crystal tied to Fritz swung farther out over the gardens, tracing out a star-shaped path that extended closer to the tree and closer to the Heart.

  Once they had the right distance, I sent the message to stop unreeling. The elasticity of the thread kept them bouncing around, sometimes too high, sometimes below, but they had the right trajectory. The crystal nearly clipped the mass of shadows - it was only a matter of time before-

  Suddenly, they connected. The crystal struck the eye. Daylight filled the gardens. With a loud shatter, a blindingly white explosion obscured the Heart.

  Coruscating streaks snaked outward from the impact like lightning, fracturing into a million glittering motes that hung in the air, suspended in a moment of frozen time. A nebula of color and light washed through the air, so thick with mana that I could feel the pressure. For a moment, it was like the world moved in slow motion, the shimmering brilliance fading gradually.

  As the light dimmed, I blinked the stars from my vision, squinting to see what remained of the boss. A large chunk of the darkness had been eradicated. Half of the body coiled around the trunk had been scooped away, and viscous black innards seeped from the wounds, oozing down the trunk to pool in Sylvia's glade.

  The creature's pulsing quickened to a feverish tempo as it shuddered and convulsed, bleeding shadow. Its eye was cracked, the perfect void was now marred with a white spiderweb that shone in the moonlight.

  Its health was down to half. Not dead, but that was significant progress. I was shocked - not just at the spectacle, but that Percy's plan had actually worked.

  Suddenly, the boys' arc shifted. One of them must have used their leap skill, because they hurtled towards the ground. The elastic thread attaching them to the tree stretched taut, slowing their plummet until they stopped about a few dozen feet off the ground.

  There, Percy released his axe and they dropped the remaining distance, hitting the ground running as Filius, Cherry, and Ace ran out to collect them. Our whole band beat a hasty retreat to the sheltering glade, Percy and Fritz whooping and cheering.

  Leo said, "I still don't understand how that worked, but good job!"

  Percy shouted, "Load up another one - let's kill this thing!"

  But a creaking groan broke through the night. Outside, the great tree bent, the bleeding Heart leaning toward us. For a moment it looked like it was falling, its tendrils uncoiling from the trunk and leaving raw welts gouged in the bark. However, the Heart's tendrils unfurled and caught its weight, holding it like a spider above the gardens. The cracked magical eye hovered over the canopy above us to stare through the branches at our little group.

  A slender tendril dislodged from the Heart's oozing mass and probed at the entrance to our glade, trying to reach inward. Percy quickly conjured an arcane wall to block it, but as soon as the tendril made contact, the purple magic flashed, then shattered. Cherry shone her flashlight on the encroaching tendril. It sizzled and steamed where the beam touched it, but continued to creep forward undeterred.

  "Move deeper!" Rose shouted.

  Fritz plopped Percy into his wheelchair, then tilted him on the back wheels so he could push him at a sprint down one of the side paths. The rest of us grabbed the two remaining crystals, then followed them.

  The Heart's voice filled my mind. 'Misguided children. Repent and embrace the bliss of true oblivion.'

  I took point, leading our band through the twisting hallways, heading for the denser woods of the gardens' northern east wing. The shadows pressed close, rustling foliage and snapping twigs marking the Heart's pursuit.

  "Why are we going deeper?!" Percy yelled from his wheelchair. "It's practically coming to us - we need to get up there and finish it!"

  As if in answer, a thick tendril, as wide as the entire hallway, lashed across the intersection ahead of us, blocking our path. Viscous black blood seeped from its surface to splatter the ground, the droplets rising into twitching shadow beasts that skittered toward us.

  "Filius, shave some pieces off that chipped crystal!" I called out.

  Filius drew his sword and struck the damaged crystal, sending shimmering shards tinkling across the stone. Cherry and Ace scooped up handfuls and hurled them at the wall of writhing darkness. Where the crystal fragments struck, dazzling flashes exploded, dissolving the monsters and boring smoking pits into the tendril. It shuddered and recoiled, the remaining stump pulling back in agony.

  The quiet didn't last long, however. Another probing tendril snaked in from the hallway behind us. Filius chipped off a few more crystal pieces, and we lobbed them to drive it back.

  "Percival's right." Rose said. "We don't have the resources to drag this out."

  Percy nodded. "Break up that damaged crystal - all of it. We need to push hard and fast to the surface, then launch the intact one straight into its eye. It should be low enough now for two leaps to reach."

  Filius broke the chipped crystal up, and each of us grabbed fistfuls of the pieces while Rose and Leo carried the last whole one between them. Assuming they were going to manage the leap, the rest of us forged ahead through the gardens. I had a spot in mind - somewhere around the Townsville zone, not far from where we were, there was an observation platform on the canopy level. It was the highest point I could think of, so it was our best chance at a clean shot.

  I lead us in that direction. Several more times, the Heart tried to claw at us from adjoining passages, but each time we beat it back with a barrage of crystal shards, leaving twitching stumps in our wake. Coming up to the top level of the gardens, we could see the Heart swaying on its legs, rocking back and forth as it tracked us and stretched tendrils into the tunnels after us.

  Just ahead, the observation platform appeared, fully exposed to the light of the stars. We paused there for Rose and Leo to get in position. This time, we had the crystal tied to Rose's axe, and Rose tied to Leo's axe.

  "Is this right?" Leo asked.

  Percy gave a confident nod. "You're fine. Go, go!"

  They took off running toward the open air. But just as they were about to leap, the Heart abruptly stopped. It paused, then rose up on its legs, backing away from us. The shadows that had been hounding us receded as it turned and began to walk away, vanishing behind the canopy.

  "You better run, coward!" Cherry shouted after it.

  "What's it doing?" Percy asked. He urged Fritz to push his wheelchair forward. "After it, quickly!" We all rushed to the edge of the observation deck.

  The Heart crossed over the gardens, bearing down on a small group of people sprinting in from the courtyard.

  "Who is that?" I asked, squinting to make out the figures in the distance.

  Ace whipped out a pair of binoculars and took a look. "It's... the minor Vanguard guilds? I see FUN Rangers, Ruin, and Hermann Park Vacancy!"

  "Did you invite them, Siggy?" Fritz asked.

  Siegfried shook his head. "No. I didn't want to get anyone else mixed up in this."

  "Focus on the target!" I snapped. "We have to help them!"

  The Heart was attacking the exposed newcomers as they fled across the double helix bridges. Wasting no time, we hurried off the observation platform, following my lead toward the central platform. We arrived just as the battered survivors threw themselves down the stairs, diving for cover as a rain of falling stars and flailing tendrils threatened to crush them. Together, we dragged the wounded into the relative safety of the gardens.

  The last stragglers came stumbling down the stairs, a pair of plate-armored knights from FUN and Ruin taking shelter behind their shields. Respectively, one was a somewhat young blonde man named Willard, and the other was Grey, set apart from the first by his dark hair and grim expression. The guilds' leaders.

  "Is everyone accounted for?" Willard called out.

  Fritz did a quick headcount. "I've got ten here. How many did you bring?"

  "That's all of us." Willard confirmed.

  Looking around, Grey asked, "Is this your whole raid?" Then he saw Cherry and Ace. "And you invited them?!"

  "We take who we can get." Percy said.

  Cherry looked between the both of them, not sure who to be offended at.

  "Settle it later." I interjected, stepping between them. "Right now, we need to focus on ending this."

  I did a quick tally - six from FUN, the guild's entire roster if memory served, three from Ruin, and Matsen from Hermann Park Vacancy.

  "What's the plan?" Willard asked.

  Percy gestured to where Rose and Leo stood at the ready, still tethered together. "Cover us. Any light spells you've got, use them to drive back the darkness and physically block those falling stars."

  Willard gave a curt nod. "Got it. Lance, with Grey on the frontline. Trev, Nap, we'll handle spell support."

  The newcomers moved with purpose, quickly forming up. Filius and Siegfried took up positions alongside Grey's crew on the vanguard. Behind them, Willard rallied his mages, while Percy clambered onto Fritz's back. Davi and Flora moved through the group, distributing shards of crystal to bolster our makeshift army.

  I turned to Leo. "You're leading the charge. Whenever you're ready."

  He glanced at Rose and they shared a resolute nod. A determined grin split Leo's face. "I'm not waiting for anything. Let's go!"

  As one, we surged up the stairs toward the central platform. The first volley came from the faerie lights orbiting the Heart, raining down on our shield wall. The knights deflected the barrage, allowing the rest of us to push forward.

  Viscous ooze seeped from the Heart's grievous wound, pooling on the central platform and coalescing into writhing shadow beasts. They came skittering down the steps to meet us. Flashes of fire and lances of light erupted from our mages, obliterating the shadowy horde. The Heart lashed out with its own grasping tendrils, seeking to crush us, but we met them with a hail of crystal shards that shredded the inky limbs.

  In that moment, the Heart lay exposed, its defenses stripped away. Leo seized the opportunity. He whipped his axe behind him and launched skyward in a leap, yanking Rose along in his wake. At the apex of their arc, Rose unleashed her own jump, using the momentum to slingshot herself higher.

  She soared towards the Heart, close enough to fling the crystal tied to her axe up into the cracked eye. The crystal pierced the fathomless void and detonated in a searing nova.

  Blinding light consumed my vision. I couldn't see, but I could hear the silence - feel the change in the air. The rain of stars stopped, some dropping limply to the ground and others remaining frozen in the air, but they all ceased moving.

  When the nova faded, I blinked away the afterimages and beheld the Heart, now little more than a husk suspended in the air. Spiderweb fractures covered its surface, the wreath of magic had dissipated, and its body of living darkness was crumbling.

  The core fell, then crumbled. Pieces streaked off it, glittering in the light as it came crashing down on the platform and tumbled into the gardens below. It was no longer a gateway into an endless void - just a glassy prism reflecting the night sky above us. The real sky.

  A weak ring whispered across the gardens. 'Their will is absolute. Good luck... Maxwell.' Then, the Heart began to glow. It dissolved into motes of shimmering blue, swirling upwards to meld with the stars.

  Fireworks exploded overhead, spelling out words with fire: 'Arch-Shadow, Heart of the Gardens has been Vanquished.'

  A stunned silence settled over our group. Some collapsed to the ground, exhausted and overwhelmed. Others simply stood in mute amazement, struggling to process the enormity of our victory. I had to sit down myself.

  -Fritz-

  I took a deep breath and stretched, feeling the pleasant crack of my joints. "Sheesh! That was more than I was expecting tonight!"

  Groans erupted from the assembled raid, everyone looking haggard and exhausted.

  I glanced over at the slightly confused minor guild members. "Good timing with the backup there!"

  Willard said, "Our pleasure. But... what was that thing?"

  "Some kind of surprise bonus boss. It showed up after Sylvia-" I caught myself before I blabbed on stealing the kill on the other boss.

  "What are you all doing here?" Siegfried interrupted. "Can they see what's happening down in the city?"

  "Oh, no - you're safe there." Willard assured him. "It just looks like part of the lightning storm raging around the Citadel's walls. We came because Brian tipped us off - he had a suspicion something was going to happen, so we put a scout on lookout. Sorry it took so long; you chose a bad minute - we were all down in the sewers."

  "Brian?" Lucy asked, straightening up from where she was leaning back and watching the fading stars. "How much does he know?"

  "You'd have to ask him." Willard said with a shrug. "He and the rest of Steel Rage are making alibis - there shouldn't be any bad blood between the major guilds because of this. What will happen, though, is anyone's guess." He glanced around at the bedraggled group. "Anyway, there'll be time to chat later - we should scram. The less of a chance of getting caught in here, the better."

  "Hell yeah; I need a drink!" I cheered.

  We helped each other to our feet, a battered and bruised bunch, and limped our way toward the courtyard. From there, we trickled down in small groups to avoid drawing attention.

  The festival lights strung between buildings cast a warm glow over the cobblestone streets as Lucy, Percy, and I meandered down the hill, the last to leave. The early morning air held a hint of chill, but the city was still awake with Halloween activity.

  As we passed by the Loyalist camp, the guard on duty snapped a salute. Percy waved. "Thanks, Yunica."

  "Good job, kids. You were spot-on about the bosses, Lucy." I said through a yawn.

  Lucy beamed as she pushed Percy's wheelchair. "Thank you. I knew my talents were being wasted!"

  I chuckled. "So, what're we doing tomorrow?"

  Percy stared pensively at the ground, "It's going to take days to unpack the lore implications of what we saw up there. Where did those light crystals even come from?"

  I waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, leave the lore for the weekend. There's plenty of party left in the festival - and it's only the first few hours of Halloween day! There's a concert tonight in Syzygy Square!"

  Percy said, "Fine. But what about the political implications? You think the Vanguard are actually going to be ok with this?"

  I sighed. "Well, it's out of our hands now. Nothing for it but to wait and see."

  Luckily, the morning's paper had another bomb to distract the world.

  ---

  Next Time:

  Following an investigation into an alleged NPC slave mining operation, the World Guard condemns the actions of the Fringe Consortium. Faustenburg and those that run it have become a rallying point of anti-Guard sentiment, and tensions build between the city and Celestia Grand. The fractures in the unity of the player base begin to stretch under the pressure.

  Episode 10 - Songbird and Raven