grandgame

Grand Game 584: A Father’s Love

Added 2025-02-26 10:00:08 +0000 UTC

Despite my confidence, I remained wary.

The void tree had more than a few powerful spells in his arsenal that could turn the tide—psychic scream, psi drain, and nether sacrifice not the least amongst them.

Yet, he used none of those spells.

A young void tree’s health is at 13%.

Despite teetering on death, my foe attempted no desperate gamble, tried no last-minute surprise, and executed no last-gasp maneuver.

Which led me to conclude he couldn’t.

Going airborne, it seemed, had done more than stop the void tree from holding the rift open and regenerating from the mist. It had also stopped him from using his most devastating abilities.

No wonder, it took him so long to make the decision to uproot himself.

A young void tree’s health is at 9%.

My muzzle dropped open into a smile as my foe’s health dropped into single digits for the first time. Even the stygian Power had to realize by now that he was not going to survive. What will he do? I wondered idly. Plead for mercy? Or bluster on?

A faint buzzing tickled the edge of my consciousness. Having experienced the sensation before, I immediately recognized it for what it was—the spillover from a telepathic communication.

You have passed a Perception check!

Mental sendings detected.

Given that we were in a largely empty sky, with the closest winged serpent more than a hundred yards away, there could be no question as to the source: the young void tree.

And this time around he was not speaking to me. Is he even speaking? Or was something more nefarious going on?

My eyes narrowing in concentration, I attempted to identify the underlying pattern in the sendings.

You have passed a Mind check. Communication link identified.

A young void tree is engaged in a telepathic conversation with an unknown entity.

Ah, I knew it. My foe was talking.

But who was the unknown entity? And why was the stygian Power trying to speak to them now of all times?

I should ignore the sendings, I knew. The fight was all but won, and there was no need to attempt snooping in on the conversation of a being as powerful as the void tree. But despite myself, I was intrigued—and who knew what bearing it would have on the battle—and so, I focused harder.

Eavesdropping successful!

The buzzing resolved itself into words and with no little trepidation, I listened in. Eavesdropping on a Power’s conversation was no small thing and a far cry from snooping on the mental sendings of a pair of low leveled thieves. The chances of getting caught were significantly higher.

You have passed a mental resistance check! A level 340 young void tree has failed to detect your mental intrusion.

The Game’s confirmation eased my mind. My presence had gone unnoticed—for now, anyway. My doubts quelled, I focused on the ongoing conversation.

“… FATHER… YOU… MUST... HELP… ME.”

“WHY? I WARNED YOU, DID I NOT?”

The second sending—shot back from where I couldn’t immediately tell—was smoother and more controlled than that of the stygian Power I fought. It was obviously coming from another void tree, but was it from the mature one in this sector or… something more dangerous?

Both prospects were equally frightening.

“YOU… DID.”

Even as unfamiliar as I was with my foe, I could tell the admission was difficult for him to make.

“BUT… NOW… I… AM… DYING. HELP… ME… PLEASE.”

A moment of stark silence.

Despite my rising concern, I kept my emotions locked down. I couldn’t afford either tree to sense my eavesdropping. Doing my best to keep my thoughts small, I kept beating at my foe.

A young void tree’s health is at 6%.

“NO.”

The pronouncement rang with finality, leaving me elated, even while it had the opposite effect on the young tree.

“WHY?” my foe asked forlornly.

“THE FACT THAT YOU ASK THAT IS REASON ENOUGH. DO YOU UNDERSTAND NOTHING AT ALL?”

The younger tree did not respond, but his misery grew in leaps and bounds.

“YOU CREATED RECKLESSLY,” the other tree responded, driving the point him, “GIVING OUR ENEMIES A VALUABLE RESOURCE THEY SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO POSSESS.”

“BUT… THE… NAGAS… ARE—”

“YOU IGNORED MY ADVICE,” the second tree went on, speaking over my foe. “YOU LET MY HARBINGERS—MINE, NOT YOURS—BE FOOLISHLY SLAIN. AND THEN YOU LOST THE SECTOR THE FATHERS ASSIGNED TO YOU.”

The reference to the harbingers clinched it: my foe was speaking to the other void tree in this sector. That eased my worries further. While the rank forty-two mature tree was certainly not to be trifled with, he at least was a known quantity and nowhere near as powerful as the void fathers were rumored to be.

I listened on.

“BUT YOUR BIGGEST CRIME BY FAR? THAT WAS STRENGTHENING THE WOLFLING. YOU HAVE MADE HIM STRONGER.”

“THEN… DON’T… LET… HIM… KILL… ME. IT… WILL… ONLY—"

“IGNORANT, CHOSEN. DON’T YOU REALIZE IT IS ALREADY TOO LATE FOR ME TO SAVE YOU?”

“BUT—”

“YOU LACK EVEN HAVE THE SENSE TO PROTECT YOUR SENDINGS. THE WOLFING IS LISTENING.”

I stilled. I’d been found out. Somehow, I’d done something to trip myself up and reveal my presence to the mature tree. Or….

Frantically, I parsed the earlier Game message.

….and realized something I should have picked up earlier. It only made mention of the young void tree! The Adjudicator had not confirmed that I’d gone undetected by the telepathic conversation’s second participant.

Idiot, I berated myself.

My thoughts churning faster, I rechecked the walls around my mind. But they were unbreached and strong as ever. Discovering that was not as comforting as it should have been, though.

The mature tree was a major Power. Who knew what it was capable of?

“NOTHING TO SAY, WOLFLING?” the older tree asked, almost coyly.

I stayed quiet. It was one thing to engage in conversation with a foe I knew I matched in telepathic strength, it was another thing entirely to do the same with a Power who had just decisively demonstrated his telepathic abilities far outstripped my own.

The mature void tree laughed uproariously in my mind. “DO NOT THINK YOUR SILENCE WILL PROTECT YOU, PRIMAL SCUM. I SEE YOU. I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE. YOU MAY SAVOR YOUR VICTORY HERE TODAY. BUT DO NOT LET THAT DELUDE YOU INTO THINKING ME AND THE REST OF MY BRETHREN WILL BE AS EASY TO SLAY. WHEN I—”

I broke off the connection.

I’d heard enough, and with the mature tree aware of my spying, it was unlikely I was going to hear anything of value anymore.

Eavesdropping stopped. Telepathic link broken.

A level 421 mature void tree’s subliminal command has failed to take root.

My eyes widened in alarm. Hells, just listening to the mature void tree appeared dangerous. I hadn’t even been aware of his subversive touch. The Adjudicator hadn’t warned me, nor had I felt the least brush against my mental walls. How had the bloody tree penetrated them?

I had no idea.

Still, I could only be grateful to the impulse that had spurred me to break off from the mental link when I did. No doubt, it had saved me.

But just as an added precaution, I poured the entirety of my psi into the mental walls protecting my consciousness, completely severing all links between myself and the outside world. There was no point in taking any more chances.

No further alerts from the Adjudicator dropped into my mind, as I half-expected.

I exhaled explosively. The lack of Game messages was a good sign. It had to be. Now, it’s time to be done with this damnable battle. Shifting my focus back to the ‘real,’ I attacked my foe with renewed vigor.

It was past time he died.

A young void tree’s health is at 3%.

A young void tree’s health is at 2%.

A young void tree’s health is at 1%.

…

✵ ✵ ✵

Transference circle still active. Remaining number of participants: 2.

The final stretch of my tussle with the void tree was all one-way. Yes, he railed at me, yes, he peppered me with thorns, and yes, he struck at me with his etheric lashes.

But none of the things the stygian Power attempted was able to change the course of the battle, and his demise, when it came, was sudden and dramatic.

You have killed a level 340 young void tree!

All about me the tree withered. The few black thorns remaining fell free, branches rotted before my eyes, and the rancid stench of death filled my nostrils.

Wrinkling my nose in disgust, I studied my paws. Dirt and soft bits of bark clung to them, but even as I watched, they began to shrink. My foe was dissolving before my eyes.

No, not dissolving. Decaying.

It was as if the only thing that had been keeping the tree’s physical shell alive was his strength of will. And now that it was gone, the rest of him was collapsing.

The branch underfoot cracked.

Then broke.

And in a split-second, I went from being comfortably perched to plummeting downward. But despite me being over a thousand feet above ground, my situation was not as problematic as it seemed. I had multiple ways to see myself to safety.

But before I did that, it was time to share the good news.

“Kartara,” I called over the farspeaker link, “it’s done.”

Her reply was immediate. “Truly?” she asked, her voice more than a little breathless.

“Truly,” I replied gravely. “The void tree is dead, and his corpse is dissolving.”

“I can’t… It’s almost too—” She broke off abruptly. “You’re falling,” she said in sudden realization. “Hold on. I’ll get Cait to—”

“No need,” I interjected. Contorting my neck, I focused on Ghost’s distant, but still visible form, and shadow jumped.

You have teleported into Ghost’s shadow.

I emerged from the aether in a jumble. The momentum of my freefall had not abated and I crashed headlong into the ground, breaking multiple bones in the process.

Only for them all to heal a moment later thanks to the transference circle. Rolling back to my feet, I shook myself free of dirt. Immediately, Ghost brushed up against me. “You did it, Prime!” she congratulated.

My mouth dropped open into a smile. “We did it,” I corrected. “The brotherhood played their part, as did you.” Not to mention, everything the forerunners in sector 18,240 had done to get us here. “Taking down the void tree and its nest was a team effort.”

Before she could respond, another voice intruded. “Havick?” Kartara called, her voice neutral and in control once more.

I was not surprised by how quickly the huntmistress had regained her composure. I’d come to expect no less from her. “I’m down and safe,” I replied to her yet unvoiced question.

“Good.” A pause. “We must talk.”

“We must,” I agreed, and looking around, finally took stock of the surroundings. The brotherhood was still arrayed along the line of dunes to the north, beneath their silver dome. But already, I could see a few emerging.

The immediate area was free of threat as well. The few lesser stygians that remained were scattering. Some headed south after the nagas, but most just fled mindlessly into the desert. The battle was decidedly over. Still, the brotherhood had some mopping up to do.

“I’ll wait here,” I added, not deeming it necessary to define where exactly ‘here’ was. I was sure Senzo and his scouts already had a fix on my position. “Come, find me when you can.”

“I’ll do that,” was the terse response.

Closing down the farspeaker link, I turned back to my familiar. “Keep watch, Ghost. I don’t expect the brotherhood to try moving against us, but better safe than sorry.”

“You’re going to check your Game alerts?” she guessed.

I nodded. “There’s a whole host of them vying for my attention.”

She sat down on her haunches. “Go ahead, Prime. I’ll make sure we’re safe.”