Chapter 26: Role Reversal
"I'm sorry."
Elina lowered her gaze, staring down at the rocky path. "If I had been paying more attention, none of this might have happened." Her voice was unusually quiet, the heavy weight of guilt clearly eating away at her ever since they discovered Alina was missing.
Nuri immediately reached out and grabbed her hands, stopping her in her tracks. "Why would you say that?" His answer came without a single shred of hesitation. "You've helped us more than anyone." He shook his head firmly. "Without you, Alina and I would've been lost a long time ago."
Elina blinked, looking up at him. "But—"
"If anyone's to blame, it's Captain Caelen," Nuri interrupted, crossing his arms over his chest. "Who sends three inexperienced knights into a cursed forest full of disappearances?"
For a moment, Elina just stared at him. Then she nodded, the agreement coming immediately. "You're absolutely right."
Nuri froze. He honestly hadn't expected her to agree with his blasphemy quite so quickly.
"That man makes the strangest decisions," Elina sighed, shaking her head. "Sometimes I genuinely wonder if he's sane."
With that, the suffocating tension between them eased slightly. Not completely, but enough for them to focus on the task at hand.
As they continued venturing deeper into the subterranean cavern, the surrounding Soul Stones grew larger. Much larger. At first, the crystals near the entrance had been the size of human fists. Then they grew to the size of heads. Now, they were the size of entire bodies.
Neither of them said the thought aloud. They didn't need to. Both thoroughly understood what these massive, glowing crystals actually represented. Human lives. Hundreds of them. Perhaps even more.
The deeper they ventured, the colder the cave became. The air felt incredibly heavy, almost entirely suffocating.
Then they finally saw it. The source.
Nuri stopped breathing entirely.
A gigantic GrossRose filled the absolute center of the vast cavern. Its rotted roots spread throughout the entire underground chamber like pulsing veins, anchoring it to the stone. Countless thick petals surrounded its enormous body. It looked significantly less like a natural flower and more like a living nightmare pretending to be one.
"I didn't know they could become this large..." Nuri whispered, his stomach twisting into painful knots.
The creature was currently asleep. Yet, even dormant and silent, it radiated an immense aura of danger. How many people had it consumed over the years to reach this monstrous size? How many innocent lives had been transformed into these beautiful Soul Stones?
Elina quickly shook herself, forcing her mind to focus. "We can worry about that later." Her eyes sharply scanned the dark area. "Where's Alina?"
Nuri immediately began searching among the tangled web of roots. "If she was captured..." His eyes suddenly widened, locking onto a shape in the shadows. "There!"
A giant, translucent cocoon hung suspended from one of the thickest roots. Inside the shell was a very familiar figure.
"ALINA!"
Nuri sprinted forward, his heart nearly stopping dead in his chest. Crystal growth had already begun spreading across her skin, encasing her limbs. The GrossRose was actively turning her into a Soul Stone, just like all the others.
Nuri grabbed a heavy, fallen branch from the cavern floor. Without thinking, he slammed it against the hardened cocoon.
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Tak!
Nothing happened. He swung again, harder.
Tak!
Again.
Tak!
The shell didn't even show a single crack. Panic flooded his chest, blinding him. "No." He struck harder, pouring every ounce of his weight into the swing. "No!"
The cocoon remained completely intact. Tears began forming in the corners of his eyes. He couldn't lose her. Not here. Not like this.
"Nuri!" Elina pointed a finger toward the ceiling. "The root!"
He turned his head. A thick, pulsing root directly connected the top of the cocoon to the main body of the GrossRose. Without a moment of hesitation, he shifted his target and attacked it. Every single strike carried his pure desperation, his fear, and his mounting frustration.
Tak!
Tak!
Tak!
CRACK.
The rotted root finally snapped in two. Immediately, the crystal growth spreading across Alina's body ceased. Nuri threw away the broken branch and used his bare hands, tearing at the shell. The cocoon resisted for a moment, then slowly began breaking apart, sending fragments scattering across the stone ground.
A limp body fell forward out of the enclosure. Nuri caught her securely before she could hit the floor. "Alina!"
There was no response. His hands trembled violently against her shoulders. "Alina!"
Still nothing.
Elina knelt beside them in an instant. "Move." She quickly pressed two fingers against her neck to check her pulse. A wave of profound relief crossed her face. "She's alive."
Nuri nearly collapsed right there from the sheer relief. He immediately reached for his water flask, unscrewed the cap, and poured it directly over her face. A second later
"Cough!"
Alina jolted awake, coughing violently as the cold water entered her nose. She immediately sat up, her eyes wild, looking completely confused and disoriented by her surroundings. Then, she saw them standing over her. Nuri. Elina.
For a brief moment, nobody spoke a word. Tears filled her eyes as the reality set in. "Thank you..." A small, weary smile appeared on her face. "Thank you for coming."
Nuri hugged her immediately, burying his face in her shoulder. "Of course we came," his voice shook uncontrollably. "You're my sister."
For a brief, fleeting second, everything felt okay. Then, the GrossRose woke up.
The entire cave trembled violently. The massive creature had finally realized its midday meal had escaped. A horrible, high-pitched screech echoed through the cavern, vibrating through their teeth.
The roots began thrashing violently against the stone. Soul Stones shattered into glittering dust, and heavy rocks crashed down from the ceiling above. The cave shook as if the entire mountain were about to collapse on top of them.
"RUN!"
The three of them immediately turned and bolted toward the narrow exit. But the GrossRose wasn't willing to let its prey leave so easily.
The roots whipped through the air like giant serpents. One slammed into the cave wall right beside them. BOOM. The impact shook the entire chamber. Another struck the ground ahead. CRACK. The solid stone floor split wide apart.
The children ran as fast as their legs could carry them through the falling debris. Then, a massive root crashed straight toward them from above. They jumped in entirely different directions to avoid the blow.
The attack missed them. Unfortunately, the ceiling didn't. Massive boulders collapsed directly in front of the exit path. BOOM. A thick cloud of dust filled the cave, choking the air.
An awful silence followed. Nuri stared through the haze, his eyes wide. The exit was completely gone, blocked by tons of solid rock. His stomach dropped into a cold void. No. No, no, no. This was entirely his fault. If he hadn't shouted so loudly earlier
"Nuri!" Alina grabbed his shoulder, her grip tight. "Focus!" Her voice snapped him instantly back to reality. "Panicking won't help!"
He looked at her. Even now, trapped and weakened, she was the one encouraging him. Just like she always did.
The roots continued their relentless attacks, and the cave shook again, harder this time. They couldn't keep running around in circles forever. Only one person here possessed the raw power to stop the monster. Alina.
"Nuri, what do we do?!" Elina shouted over the roaring noise.
Nuri immediately turned toward his sister. "Alina! Try using your magic!"
"I already did!" she shouted back, ducking low to dodge another sweeping root. "Nothing happened!"
"Then try again!"
The words came out significantly harsher than he had intended, sounding almost like a desperate command. Alina froze in place. For a split second, she just stared at him, this little brother who usually hid quietly behind her, who rarely ever raised his voice, who was now shouting orders at her.
The sheer shock of it almost made her miss the next rapid movement.
Then, disaster struck. Nuri lost his footing, his boot slipping violently against a patch of loose stone. He crashed heavily onto the ground.
Before either of the girls could react WHIP!
A thick, thorny root wrapped tightly around his ankle.
Everything seemed to stop. Nuri slowly looked down, the last bit of color draining from his face. The root tightened its grip, drawing blood, and then it began dragging him backward toward the enormous, waiting flower. Slowly. Relentlessly.
Nuri turned his head back toward Alina, and their eyes met through the dust. For the very first time since she had known him, her little brother looked absolutely terrified.
"Alina..."