Unnatural Laws (The Whispering Crystals, #1)

by H. C. Mills

  Well actually, Dave’s done most of the work there, as Alec is mostly concerned with finishing up our armour.

  From what I understand of the process, Dave glues rails for his spears to the top of a low branch close to one of the stumps, and has slack vines somehow connected to them. To fire a spear, he drops a large rock that’s tied to the vine. After falling as far as it can, the rock pulls the vine taut, which launches the spear in the process.

  Unfortunately, this crude firing mechanism is a little slow to activate, which makes it harder to score a hit, but Dave decides to make up for it in volume. By the fourth day, he has an array of six spear-slingers that can be activated by pulling a single vine, all aimed at the hollow tree stump.

  On the sixth day, the trigot appears there and is promptly nailed to the wood by no fewer than three spears.

  Someone complains about our methods to the council, but they state they’ll allow it, as long as we are careful not to hit anyone and have hunting permits.

  That night we have two things to celebrate: a successful hunt, which nets us our third Minor Lavi Crystal in total, meaning we only need one more, and our new armour being finished.

  Alec explains that he had some trouble with treating the leather, but managed to work something out with some help from Kaitlynn and Sarge. From what I understand from his rambling explanation, the process they came up with mostly consists of soaking the leather in hot Hydrum. The Heat makes the leather softer and more malleable at first, allowing it to be shaped, and upon drying, it stiffens and increases in Toughness from the original 31 to a lovely 36.

  The trouble he had with it stemmed mostly from a lack of thermometers to safely and accurately measure the temperature of the Hydrum with. Thankfully Kaitlynn has developed a pretty decent Heat Tolerance, and has gotten quite used to exposing her hands to large amounts of Heat.

  We all try it on. The armour consists of separate pieces that cover different parts of the body, like the chest, legs, and arms. This makes it a little hard to put on, with all the small straps that need to be tied to fasten it, but thanks to Alec’s meticulous craftsmanship the fit is really good, and the different pieces overlap to leave hardly any gaps. My cuirass fits quite snugly, and with how stiff it is, can be a little restrictive to my movement, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.

  True to his word, he didn’t make it pointlessly sexy, but apparently he couldn’t refrain from doing his utmost to make them stylish, even going so far as to add a kind of layered pauldron on the shoulders, produce matching boots, and have the sleeves end in fingerless gloves.

  I feel a pang of regret on having to give up my trusty sneakers, but safety trumps comfort.

  All in all, it looks gorgeous, and Alec swells up under the rain of compliments like a pig being fattened for slaughter.

  I shake my head at his antics, but let him have his moment. In the midst of the hullabaloo, my mind wanders to my own progress over the last couple of days.

  I’ve steadily gone deeper and deeper into the glade, though I haven’t been anywhere near the centre yet. The bad news is, that since I’m careful not to take in much over my Tolerance Limit, my Toxic Energy Tolerance hasn’t improved much, but the good news is: I’m still alive.

  Honestly, lately I spend most of my time clearing out Toxic Energy in preparation of going back in there. First, Dave helps me Purify any Toxic Energy over my limit, then I eat one of my daily ration of two Blue Angels, and proceed to spend a whole lot of time Meditating and breathing really deeply high up in a tree—the Aether up there is the least toxic, so it helps me get rid of more Toxic Energy.

  The fact that it gives me a gorgeous view of the night sky and the occasional meteor impacting the protective grid during the Twinstar’s inactive phase is just a bonus.

  All this Respirating and Meditating is good practice too; my Lavi absorption from Aether has gone up to 12 Onkh per minute, though the Respiration Skill has yet to evolve to Breath Control. I’ve also been practising shutting off my senses one at a time during Meditation, and I think I’m getting better at it, but it’s hard to tell. What’s more, my Lavi Pool is slowly increasing again. Only by three points so far, but it’s still nice.

  Other than that, I’ve taken to bringing home flowers for Kaitlynn. For her collection, I mean.

  I personally don’t pay a lot of attention to the info about the plants I gather; I just skim the appraisal of flowers I don’t recognise for the name and if there are any unfamiliar effects listed below before deciding to unearth it or move on. I’m on a tight schedule, and there are way too many different plants, most of which don’t have any interesting properties.

  Some do, however, in which case I collect them for Kaitlynn. I found this pretty cool root for example. It kind of looks like a glowing pink beet, and has restorative properties. I shit you not, it’s called a Heartbeet.

  Of course, the stingy bastards who built this deathtrap made those rather rare, so I only found the one so far.

  I also collect the Fire-Blossoms we use to light our stove, though not too many, seeing how they could spontaneously combust if I dropped them or smacked them into something.

  However, it isn’t until the next day, day seven, that I make my most interesting—if not the most useful—find. A hot-pink, yellow-dotted mushroom called the Carriage of Dreams.

  In fact, I’m not even aware of what it is I discovered, but when I offer it to Kaitlynn, she can’t help but look at the appraisal window with a bemused smile. “Emma, what did you bring this back for?”

  I shrug. “It looked cool and had a kick-ass name.” I mean, duh. “Why, is there something wrong with it?”

  “The appraisal says it’s hallucinogenic.”

  A hallucinogenic mushroom, are you saying I brought back a ‘shroom’? I grin at her. “Sweet. Wanna go trip balls later?”

  [That’s a terrible idea, Emma,] Suri chimes. [That kind of mushroom forms a Dreamscape of its own. It would be very easy for you to get lost in there and never find your way back, and even I wouldn’t be able to help you.]

  Damn. Even the drugs are dangerous in this Realm.

  Well, you know what I mean.

  “All right, party pooper, I’ll leave the shrooms alone,” I grumble. “Suri says, it’s dangerous,” I elaborate when Kaitlynn looks at me weirdly.

  She shakes her head but adds the shroom with her collection. “Who knows, maybe we’ll find a use for it,” she says with a wink.

  “Like feeding it to Alec as a prank?” I respond hopefully.

  She smacks my shoulder. Tch, violent woman.

  Later that evening, when I sit down upon a high branch to start my Meditation, a question that’s been gnawing somewhere in the back of my mind pops forth.

  “Hey, Suri, I gotta say, for an entirely different dimension, there are a surprising amount of parallels between life here and on Earth. I mean, there’s grass, trees, flowers, weird lizards, and now even hallucinogenic mushrooms. What’s up with that?”

  [It is suspected most life in this Realm originated in the Entropic Realm,] Suri chimes.

  Come again? “Do you mean other life forms were somehow void-shifted here long ago and adapted?”

  [Most likely.]

  “Then, what life forms didn’t originate in this Realm?”

  [That’s classified.]

  Whoop, there it is. I sigh deeply, and after a few more ineffectual questions enter a lucid trance to spend another night—my eighth since we beat the temple—high up in a tree.

  The next morning I power-walk through the colourful foliage of the glade while holding my breath, wasting no time appraising anything.

  This is the second day that I’m going out in my new blue leather armour, and I must admit, it looks pretty damn cool, even if it does chafe a little. I’m still wearing my uniform beneath it for a little extra padding, but it doesn’t help much. Maybe I should ask Alec for some adjustments when I get back.

  It takes about ten minutes to get to about as deep as
I’ve ever been, at which point my Lavi is nearly exhausted, and I am forced to start breathing again.

  I’m still seeing plants here that I’m quite sure I haven’t appraised before, but I decide to keep going. I’m getting a little antsy. I mean, we only need one more Minor Lavi Crystal, so it won’t take much longer until the Stardrop Flower is the only missing ingredient we need to level up, yet I still haven’t caught as much as a glimpse of one. I should head a bit deeper today.

  Somehow, the glade keeps getting more and more beautiful as I explore its depths. The plants keep getting larger, and the colours more vibrant. If it weren’t for the Toxic Energy pervading the Aether, this would be the loveliest field of flowers I’d ever witnessed. It might still be.

  Take this one, for example; a huge new flower I’ve just come across. Its petals actually gleam like crystals—no, like mother of pearl—changing with the angle of view as it sways gently in the breeze. Back and forth, back and forth... gorgeous. As I get closer, I notice that even its stamen are pretty; they have what look like little clouds at the end of them, giving off a mysterious purple glowing powder that dances in the flurries created by my breath and—

  I freeze mid-step. What am I doing? Was I about to... smell this flower? Why do I still kind of want to?

  Swaying in indecision, I manage to lift a finger and point at it.

  My eyes snap wide open, and the rush of adrenalin that’s released inside of me acts like a cold bucket of water to my face.

  Th—this flower nearly got me! I almost got done in by a friggin’ plant! Motherf—

  A snap beneath my foot draws me out of my thoughts. I look down and immediately regret it.

  The ground around this plant is littered in bones. Vines coming from the base of the Dreamcloud Flower slowly crawl about between them, as if looking for sustenance.

  That’s not the worst part. Right next to my foot, they’re working on a half-devoured corpse.

  A human corpse.

  I almost trip over my own feet in my haste to get away. The vines wave slowly as I pass but otherwise make no efforts to stop me.

  I fall down on my knees outside of the tiny graveyard, and dry-heave as I wait for my heartbeat to slow down. I manage to keep my breakfast down with some difficulty.

  How in the hell did I not notice?! No, that’s normal, I guess. Must be the plant’s doing. I suppose I have my Toxic Energy Tolerance to thank for the fact that I resisted it as much as I did.

  I shakily get back to my feet, and risk another glance. Most of the bones surrounding the plant are small, seeming to originate from tiny critters and birds. The largest skeleton looks suspiciously like a trigot, but the freshest one is clearly human.

  I mean, it still has long hair, clothing and... a pair of glasses? Holy shit, is that Carol-Anne?!

  Her face is turned away from me, but there’s no way I’m taking a look at it for confirmation.

  I think it is her. The colour and length of her hair matches...

  Guess she must be one of the people who went missing looking for Stardrops... I better let the council know.

  As soon as the fright wears off, I get angry. “Suri, what the hell! Why didn’t you warn me?!”

  [You didn’t ask.]

  “Are you frig—”

  [Just kidding. No, the Dreamcloud Flower is considered a trap. Naturally, I am not allowed to warn you about those, as that would defeat the purpose of having traps.]

  ‘Naturally,’ she says. Why are there even traps in the first place; isn’t this place deadly enough?!

  My time is limited, but right when I’m about to move on, my eye falls on the trigot. And then on Carol-Anne’s backpack, still half-attached to her corpse.

  I hesitate for a moment. Shit. We’re all just trying to survive, right?

  The trigot is a dud. There’s nothing but a slight dent in the skull in the location where the Minor Lavi Crystal should have been. Either someone or something nabbed it, or more likely, judging from how many vines still connect to its skull, the plant consumed it.

  I turn my head away as I try to quickly cut the backpack loose with a sharp shard of rock.

  Sorry Carol-Anne, but it’s not like you need it anymore...

  I run out of the plant’s sphere of influence as soon as it comes loose, then quickly search it. Some of the plant’s vines clearly made their way inside and did away with most of the food, as there are only scraps of jicca nuts and dried out husks of birberries left. However, as I’m about to give up, I discover a real prize in a small front pocket: a Yang Qi Pearl.

  Frig yes! Thank you Carol-Anne! Ooh, if Kaitlynn uses this to upgrade her Qi Pool, then perhaps she’ll have enough to fire two fully charged shots in a row! Why didn’t the plant eat it though? Is it because it has a Yin affinity? Well anyway, its loss is my gain.

  Carol-Anne’s Focus Crystal unfortunately wasn’t in her backpack, meaning she probably had it on her somewhere...

  I suppress a shudder. Nope. Nuh-uh. I’m drawing the line at frisking half-digested corpses. I should just head back and deliver my news to the council. Not like we’d have a use for it as anything other than a spare anyway, and they’re not that expensive.

  As hard as I try, however, I still can’t quite convince myself to walk away.

  I take another glance at her corpse, wavering in indecision. What if there’s something else valuable in her pockets though...

  Before I can make a decision however, the following announcement pops up in front of me.

  CHAPTER 40

  Audrey three

  A ROARING FILLS MY ears as my heart goes into overdrive, all thoughts of further looting banished from my mind.

  Five doors remain. That means what I think it means, doesn’t it?

  The doors don’t reset; they only open once.

  There were six doors, for five people each. If one has been used, there’s only room for twenty-five more people.

  And there’s forty-four participants remaining.

  Shit shit shit!

  [You have an incoming call from Samuel, would you like to pick up?]

  “Yeah, sure,” I mutter distractedly.

 

  I roll my eye. He can’t see me anyway. “I wish. As you can see on your map, however, I’m currently smack dab in the middle of the glade, looking for the bloody things.”

  he says, the fire in his voice gone.

  Then he just hangs up on me. Rude much?

  Well anyway, I have more important things to worry about.

  “Suri, Status Window!”

  I’m over the limit, but only a little. Screw it. I turn around and start marching deeper into the glade, cursing my previous reticence as I go.

  I just had to take my time and go slow with this, learning about plants. It’s not like being cautious actually helped keep me safe from that friggin’ Dreamcloud! I should’ve just trusted my gut and stormed into the depths the first time; now people managed to beat me to the Stardrop Flowers!

  What if there aren’t any left? What if they picked the rest and sold them off for Minor Lavi Crystals or—

  No, I can’t think like that. But I can’t pussyfoot around anymore either. I’m finding these damn flowers right now, even if I have to intoxicate myself again to get to them.

  At least my Lavi is largely restored, so I can go back to holding my breath to prevent taking in more Toxic Energy, for now. Just to be on the safe side, I take out the emergency Blue Angel in my backpack and chow down. I only have the one as bringing more than one would be pointless; its effect lasts for about eight hours, and won’t overlap with a second one.

  I just hope I’ll be able to recognise the damn flowers when I see them...

  As the average height of the plants keeps increasing, visibility rapidly declines to about fifteen feet.

 
There are more Dreamcloud Flowers here, but I know to avoid them now.

  Mere minutes after Samuel’s call, Suri alerts me that I’ve received a pre-recorded message from him, which was sent to everyone. I accept the transmission, and a familiar voice fills my head.

 

  Yeah, I’m sure people are going to be very calm now. Then again, most people should have connected the dots anyway.

 

  I’m sure he meant everyone but me, as I’m their designated person to find them.

 

  Hey, those are mine!

 

  Hmm.

 

  Well, he has a point about us not knowing, but so far these Trials haven’t been that nice to us.

  Ironically, even as I ponder this, vines suddenly burst out of the ground and lunge for me.

  Scared out of my wits, I jump back. Luckily, my Agility hasn’t deteriorated too far under the effects of the Toxic Energy, and I react quickly enough to dodge most of the vines; however, one of them manages to grasp onto my wrist.