The infinity dungeon 198

Chapter 198

The Tree-Alfyr was about to attack again, this time pulling so much magic that the walls were literally withering and turning to dust. 

“No,” a voice said. It was soft, like thin silk.

The magic stilled. The Tree-Alfyr crumpled to the ground. Behind him the very same elf who had tried to help him earlier cradled a bloody vine. His hands bled where the thorns had cut into his skin, but he didn't seem to notice.

Instead, he watched The Tree-Alfyr die. 

Silence befell the ship for three whole seconds before the corruption literally exploded in a frenzy. Without the old elf keeping it at bay, it was now spreading faster than even when he tried to use magic against Michael.

“Do you know how to control the ship?” Michael asked, scanning the crowd, trying to think of a solution and failing.

The elf closest to him shook his head. “No, the Tree-Alfyr was the only one who could interpret the Seedship’s will. We only knew how to do our part but never had we had the privilege to witness the whole.”

Michael spat. “Great. Shit. Icarus, can you interface with the ship’s intelligence?”

“I will try but I don't think I will be able to, Michael.”

“Why?” There was desperation in his voice.

Before Icarus could reply, he turned his gaze beyond the crowd of elves, and his eyes widened. “Uhh, guys? Is it normal that I can see through the wall, then through the outer hull and into space? Did any of you turn the leaves transparent?”

“We don’t know how to do that.”

“Shit.” After cursing, Michael got up and touched the wall. “Yeah, not the same goop as the corruption but it’s definitely melting.”

“Michael,” Icarus said, “the ship’s intelligence is in agony. It’s in its death throes. Even as it dies, it’s still trying to keep the Seedship together, but without the Tree-Alfyr the corruption is spreading to it.”

“Why?” Michael screamed, feeling powerless like a leaf in a storm. Or a ship in space. “Why did the Tree-Alfyr have to do that? Why?”

“Are we doomed to die?” Asked one of the elves.

“No.” Michael said with more conviction than he had. “I will not let it happen. I will drag you all out of this even if I have to suffer a million hells to do it. You, what’s your name?

“Severillion,” the elf who killed the Tree-Alfyr said.

“Good. Gather everyone in this room, quickly. You. your name?”

The female elf he was pointing at yelped. “Merlyne,” she said.

“Great, Merlyne. Do you have magic?” 

“A little. We all have some of it, but it’s not even close to what the Tree-Alfyr had. I… I cannot believe he’s dead.”

“Focus!” Michael said, fighting the urge to shake her. “Can you transfer magic? For instance, to me?”

Michael’s mind spun a mile a minute, trying to think of a solution to this problem. Even as he spoke with the elves, the room was collapsing on itself. Through the transparent walls he could see the far reaches of the ship twist and snap, whole sections liquefying. As the corridors were exposed to the vacuum of space, they decompressed explosively, snapping healthy wood and spreading the decaying matter to the inner parts of the ship. 

A trail of liquid that had once been hull, corridors, rooms and perhaps people slowly extended behind the Seedship. 

The room twisted on itself again.

“Icarus! I need to connect to the ship!”

“The sentience that governed it is dead, Michael.” the AI said, and in his voice there was a deep sadness for the death of the fellow intelligence.

A tremor shook the Seedship, and the Corruption accelerated once again. Severillion was back, elves stumbling behind him and flooding into the room, their hands joined together to try and navigate the shifting ground. Their expressions were haunted, tears streaking down their pale faces. In the cacophony of sorrow, Michael heard many cries and laments for lost ones, swallowed by the ship’s melting surfaces or ejected into the void through holes and faults that no longer repaired themselves.

“Merlyne!” Yelled Michael “The mana! Can you transfer it?”

“I-I think i can, but what can my mana do to help you?”

“Can you also gather the mana from the other elves?” he asked quickly.

“I don’t know!”

“It can be done,” interjected Severillion. “I will teach the others.”

“Good. Do it.”

After giving the order, Michael sunk into his Inner Space. Its peacefulness was eerie and strange after the chaos he had just been through, but he did not let it fool him. Time was flowing normally outside, and he had precious little of it.

“Icarus, if I supercharge you with mana, can you lend me some processing power?”

“I can. What do you need it for?”

“To buy myself time. There’s no saving the Seedship, but perhaps I can save the elves.”

“I don’t know if you can even save yourself, Michael.”

Michael felt rage in his bones. “Let me worry about it! Can you do it?”

“I can. Give me the mana and I shall accelerate your thoughts as much as I can. It will only work inside the Inner Space, however.”

“That will have to suffice.”

Back in the real world, Michael saw that all the elves were now holding each other’s hand. Only Severillion and Merlyne each had one hand free. He also noticed that the room’s floor was almost completely see-through, and beneath them strange things swam in a sea of filth and corruption.

“Are there more elves coming?” he asked, noticing that the room held barely a hundred of them.

Severillion shook his head. “There’s no one left but us,” he said solemnly. He offered Michael his hand, which glowed with magic. Michael took it, as well as Merlyne’s.

“We offer all of ourselves to you, so you might save our memory, and our essence.”

They all started glowing, and Michael felt a surge of magic. It was way more than he expected. More than enough to speed up time a thousand-fold and think of a solution.

But before he could plunge into his Inner Sanctum and use all the magic he was receiving, a sudden feeling of dread ran down his spine. It felt like an ice cube slowly sliding down his skin. Looking at his arms, he realized that he had actual goosebumps on his skin.

He looked up at Severillion. The elf was glowing, his eyes closed. His face was serene, a faint smile on his delicate lips. The other elves all wore the same expression.

“Michael,” Icarus said, “something is wrong. This is way too much magic for their capabilities. We scanned the elves, they shouldn’t have this much.”

Michael sighed. The ship kept breaking down around him, and a gentle rush of air told him that it wouldn’t be long before the last wall standing between them and the void ruptured. Despite the chaos, he felt like he was in the eye of the storm. He felt peace and silence. He felt the tranquil magic of the elves, magic that was a placid river and a raging waterfall at the same time. It smelled of earth, plants, chlorophyll and life. It also smelled of space and hope and dreams and… memories.

“Something is happening,” the AI said.

Michael knew what was happening. Opening a single eye to his Inner Space, he saw a great structure made of plants and pure life appear next to where he was building his collectors and batteries. It grew, wood twisting and leaves sprouting, flowers blooming and shimmering with morning dew in the light of his star.

Opening his eyes back to the real world, the elves were reduced to faint holograms. He could see through them as they faded, their magic vanishing until even the touch of Severillion and Merlyne’s hand faded to a faint pressure, like a thin sheet of silk.

“I am sorry,” Severillion’s voice was far away, “this was the only way.”

Then he was gone. All the elves were gone. The flow of magic stopped, and Michael collapsed to his knees. Around him, the chaos and rush of air returned abruptly like a slap to the face.

Then it stopped once more. This time, it was as if someone had paused a movie. In the frozen frame of destruction, Michael saw that the room had a great tear running along its diameter, and was about to disintegrate. The ship all around him was nothing more than a million little droplets of foul goop floating in space.

A doorway of light had appeared two feet away from Michael. He crossed it, finding himself in a white space, a single tear rolling down his cheek. A shadow against the bright light awaited him in the distance, her features less tangible and much more confused than the last time he had seen her.

He looked at her, and she smiled at him.

“Hello Michael," Infy said at last.