His legs moved on instinct, closing the distance despite the surreal horror that surrounded him. The acting chief of the Raukerai, the man who had pulled him from the icy Lake of Miracles, who had defended him to protect their tribe before and during the migration...this couldn't be him.
Not like this.
"Indulis!"
The figure stirred. A small, unnatural twitch of the head, but it was enough to send hope surging through Vastarael's chest. He broke into a run, ignoring the uneven terrain and Phaenora's sharp warnings behind him.
"Veneri, wait!"
Vastarael skidded to his knees before Indulis, his hands hovering uncertainly above the man's shoulders. Up close, the sight was worse. The peonies weren't just blooming from his chest. They were breaking through his skin, winding around his arms and neck, their roots burrowed deep beneath his flesh. His once-strong face was pallid and sunken, his eyes glazed but still faintly alive.
"Vastarael.." The voice that rasped his name was hollow, brittle, like dry leaves crumbling in the wind.
"You're alive!" Vastarael exclaimed, his voice thick with relief and disbelief. He gripped Indulis's shoulders, careful to avoid the invasive flowers. "Indulis, what happened? What did this to you?"
Indulis's breath rattled, his chest rising and falling unevenly.
"The tree..." he managed, each word a struggle. "It doesn't kill quickly. It keeps... what it needs."
A shiver ran down Vastarael's spine. This wasn't survival. It was torment.
"I can save you," Vastarael said, his hands already glowing faintly with the beginnings of a Healing Circle.
"You can't."
Phaenora's voice cut through. She stood a few paces behind with a sigh.
"He's already gone, Veneri. Look at him."
"He's still breathing!"
"He's not alive," Phaenora countered, stepping closer. "The flowers don't just take the body. They take the soul. You can't heal that."
Vastarael froze, his hands hovering mid-air. His golden eyes darted back to Indulis, who offered him a weak, pained smile.
"I know my end... when I see it," Indulis said softly, his voice tinged with resignation.
"No," Vastarael muttered, shaking his head.
Memories of Indulis flooded his mind. How the man had dived into the freezing waters of the Lake of Miracles to save him, risking his own life. How he had stood up for Vastarael when the tribe's mistrust ran high, ensuring he was welcomed among them.
He didn't feel anything when people died. That was a fact. But people who had a major impact in his life? He treasured them the most.
And Indulis was the first being in the Erna Isles... no, the First Epoch Cycle who saved his life.
"You saved me," Vastarael said, his voice cracking. "You made me one of your own. I can't just let this happen."
"You don't have a choice," Phaenora said, her tone softer now.
Indulis coughed violently, blood spilling from his lips. His body convulsed as the flowers writhed unnaturally, as if feeding on his final moments. But his eyes locked onto Vastarael's.
"My daughters... Taryenne, Rienne... they're safe," he said hoarsely, a flicker of peace in his words. "And Siranna... she went with them."
Vastarael felt a lump in his throat. "They're alive?"
Indulis nodded weakly. "Thanks to... Peccavi. She... She took them away. To safety. They escaped the island."
Vastarael bit his lip. He couldn't save Indulis, but at least his family had survived.
"I regret..." Indulis's voice faltered, his strength waning. "Leaving them. Siranna is... is pregnant. I never saw... my child..."
Vastarael reached out, his hand trembling as he pressed it to Indulis's shoulder. Indulis's lips curved into the faintest smile.
"Vastarael... promise me. Protect them. Please... protect... them..."
His voice faded and with one final, shuddering breath, the light in his eyes dimmed.
Vastarael clenched his fists, his head bowing as the weight of Indulis's death crashed over him.
He stood silent for a long while, his eyes distant as he stared at Indulis's body, the peonies slowly suffocating him even in death. His thoughts drifted back to the days when the Raukerai had welcomed him, when their faces were filled with hope instead of despair.
He remembered the women he'd taught Rune Speaking to, their eager faces as they learned the art with such passion. The children, who would cheer every time he defeated another Krepsuna, their innocent voices ringing with joy as they ran to him after each victory. The men who had fought beside him during the migration, each of them recognizing him as part of their tribe, no longer the outsider he had once been.
He didn't know them long, he realized. Their faces were etched into his memory, but they were fleeting moments in time. They were good people. People who lived with honor, people who cared for each other. And now they were all gone.
Gone, just like Indulis.
Vastarael's chest tightened. If it weren't for Phaenora's voice breaking through his thoughts, he might have stayed there for a while.
"We have to go."
Vastarael swallowed hard, taking a deep breath. He couldn't kill the tree. Not like this. He wasn't strong enough. Not yet. The tree was too powerful. And even if he did somehow find a way to defeat it, what would be the cost? He was trapped in the Epoch Cycle and if he didn't leave soon, he might miss his chance to escape it forever.
But one day, he would be strong enough. One day, the Crimson Curtain Peony Tree would meet its end. It was only a matter of time. He would become strong enough.
If the Erna Frozen Isles did not exist in the future, then he would find the place and kill the tree.
He sighed, his breath shaking ever so slightly. Slowly, he stepped back from Indulis's body, his eyes still fixed on the man who had once saved him. His mind churned, but there was nothing left to say. The words felt useless now.
He closed his eyes, gathering his strength. He whispered a prayer, a simple one.
"May Naranq grant you audience in the afterlife."
With that, he raised his hands, summoning the sapphire that would cover the body in a final tribute. The radiant blue light flowed over the corpse, wrapping it in a shimmer of ethereal beauty. The light would protect him, would honor him, even if the world around them had fallen apart.
As the sapphire encased Indulis's body, Vastarael's heart felt heavy, but he remained silent. No tears would come. None of them would. Not for this. Not for the loss of someone who had once been a savior, now reduced to a memory.
Phaenora stood silently beside him. Shimmer, too, remained still, the name they had given her now a quiet reflection of her innocence in the wake of such overwhelming loss. The fog of the island swirled around them, the scent of the peonies and the death that clung to the land only adding to the weight of the moment.
Without another word, Vastarael turned and began to walk away, the others following silently behind.
In the quiet aftermath of the scene, there were no tears. No words of comfort. Just the weight of the moment, a heavy silence that would stay with them all until they reached the end of this journey.
And when the time came, when Vastarael grew strong enough, he would be ready. He would make sure the Crimson Curtain Peony Tree paid for everything it had taken from them.
For now, he had to escape it.
"I swear under the name of Spheraphase. One day, I will kill that fucking tree."