38 In the Groove

Kyrie stopped his charge as he swung Taru at the Trie in front of him. The Trie jumped back and dodged Kyrie's swing.

It was fast. He'd have to get closer and pick up his pace.

Kyrie moved closer and began thinning the Tries before him. Swish, crack, snap, block. He'd quickly found a rhythm for killing the Tries.

Swish, crack, snap, block. The Tries weren't that intelligent. All they had going for them was speed, regeneration, and numbers.

Swish, snap, block. Hold it. That one didn't have a core. Where was its core? Kyrie shivered as he spun to face the Trie he'd split in half. Its body was mending itself. Swish. Still no core. "Holo activate voice chat."

Swish, crack, snap, block. Damn some are splitting off. "Voice chat activated. Who would you like to chat with?"

Aim for the head. Swish, crash, block. There it was.

"Chat with my newest LegendSlayer chat group." Kyrie pivoted and split the next Trie with a downward stroke.

That would work. He needed to get closer to them, but that should take down the ones with a core in their head like part or in their stomach area.

"Connected to chat. Would you like to invite the other group members to chat?"

Swish, crack, snap, dodge. Kyrie slung Taru down and used the bladeless spots to rotate her around his body for another downward swing. "Yes."

♢ ♢ ♢

James had placed his teammates and Ren's so they could safely watch the sides of the cafeteria and dorm. They were looking for stragglers from the grove, or those from other groves.

James' holo-watch didn't even ring. He'd long since set his watch to answer calls from Kyrie automatically. At least when it wasn't between 10 pm and 4 am.

"Connected to chat."

"What's up?"

James could hear Kyrie's strained breathing.

"Stranglers… from my left."

James nodded and gestured for Casey to move to his left. Casey was in her combat form, partially turned into a cute–vicious wolf.

Crack, snap.

Ren moved from her spot by the door and said, "I got it."

"Wait. How many stranglers Ky?" James had turned from the dorm to the direction the Tries would come from. If the number was low, they wouldn't need Ren just yet.

"Two – three." Another had slipped away.

"You good with me stopping them?"

"Yep."

James grabbed some of his vine seeds and sprinkled them in the cracks between the stones. He found their specs of dormant life and poured his aura into them. The plants flourished under James' care as he directed them to grow toward the corner the Tries were headed to.

"Some have head cores too."

"Gotcha." James and his vines began the wait. "Get everyone not on guard duty into the cafeteria or headed to the shelter." James shook his head, no that's not right. "Actually, send them to the shelter." He didn't want to say it, but this might be the last group they could send safely.

If Kyrie had more space, he could go faster, and this wouldn't be a concern. But he didn't have more space. And one person could only do so much. No matter how Kyrie wished he could do more.

James shook his head again, thinking about Kyrie and his late-night complaints wasn't going to change their current situation.

"Grrr. More stragglers." Crack, snap. "Right side. One."

James split some of his vines and shifted their growth pattern to reach the other side.

"Got it," Andray said as he and Syra headed for the other side.

"I'm," crash, "Almost done making firewood."

"Great. I can light shit on fire!"

James ignored Caleb and Kyrie's banter about their plans for the Tries corpses and focused on the sound of rustling leaves. It was faint but growing louder.

Soon three Tries rounded the building's corner. James waited patiently for them to step into his trap of vines.

Closer, just a little bit closer. There, perfect.

James struck.

Swoosh, crack, thud. James' vines went straight for the Tries' cores, through the bark and wood. He'd cracked the cores into several pieces. The Tries went limp.

"I got the first thr – ahgg!" James screamed at the sudden flash of pain tearing through him. It was a pain he'd felt once before. When he and Kyrie had been five. A pain that tore at his ability itself.

James' aura was being yanked on through his bond to the plants he'd grown. He could feel it being pulled from the plants and into the cores of the Tries.

James grimaced as he yanked the aura he'd given to his precious plants back into his body.

Do to James' aura being pulled in different directions, the plants quickly tore, withered, and died. And the Tries grew stronger, bigger than they had been before his failed attack.

Ren dashed from her spot at the door. Her sword was out, and she was headed for the Tries. She should never have left the main part of the fight to a bunch of amateurs.

As James gathered his bearings, he heard Kyrie grunt, "James, what the hell happened?"

Ren's blades slammed into and through the first Trie's core, as smooth as cutting butter. Even so, she'd need to take good care of her claymore. Wood and sap aren't the best things for a sword. She'd clean it soon.

Casey shook herself from her crippling shock. That damned girl in those stupid heels was faster than her. And she even had further to go! Casey growled as she rammed into the Trie furthest from Ren.

Casey hated Ren's guts, but she didn't want to impede Ren's swing at the remaining Trie.

Casey growled again as she struck the healing wood over the core. Her claws dug into the grooves. She yanked a chunk off. Stupid tree thing. Couldn't it be softer!?

The Trie slammed one of its branches into Casey's side. Her aura flared as she lost her grip.

A hand landed on the back of her shirt and flung her out of the way. Ren's blade sliced into and threw the last Trie. The crisis was averted, for now.

Ren left a startled pile of girl, claws, fangs, and tail on the ground. She moved from one side of the building and headed for the other. She sighed as she passed James. He'd done well until things had gone horribly wrong. He should have let her go earlier. She should have just gone earlier, but team work and trust are important.

James watched Ren with a grimace. He'd really thought he could handle it. And he had, for a moment.

"James?" Crack, "You're," snap, "really starting to worry me."

"I'm fine. Ren handled it."

"Really?" snap. "What happened?" Crack, snap.

"Yeah. They can pull aura from my plants." James fumbled with the water bottle attached to his side. If he was going to be more aggressive, he'd need a drink or two from his smoothie.

"Oh."

"Shit. Ren don't you f-n get hurt!"

"Shut up Caleb. My swords cheap metal for a reason."

Caleb glowered at the people in the lobby. They'd had it mostly cleared out, but more people were gathering. It was probably that D.J.'s doing. "You're the jerk that left me to 'keep the peace.' "

Rick laughed. "Your perfect for it. A grumpy glowering bully works great for keeping people from leaving."

Caleb mumbled, "How the fuck did you know I was glowering?" Unfortunately for him, his voice was still picked up.

"Cause we've been best friends since forever dude." Rick grinned at James who was putting the lid back on his smoothie.

"Did… you just drink your smoothie."

James grimaced at Kyrie's question. "Yeah…"

"Ugh. Four more and I'll be there." Crack, snap.

Another Trie quickly rounded the corner. And found itself sliced in half by a slightly pissed girl in heels before it even finished rounding the corner. "Last stragglers down."

"Almost…" Crack, snap. "I'm done. See ya in a moment."

James frowned, Kyrie seemed to be breathing heavily. It must've been the fight. Or it could've been something else, hopefully nothing bad. James shook his head and said, "Caleb, it's clear. Let's get more groups headed for the shelter."

"Got it. Hey! Ya all shits can leave me alone now! Get out!" Caleb moved from in front of the door and went back to lurking near it.

DJ grimaced as he said, "I've cleared the last floor. I'll go try and tame the beast."

"Fuck it you can have the job."

Ren made her way back to James as he said, "I'm sorry. I thought I had us covered."

Ren patted James on the shoulder. "It's all right. I made it in time, nobody got hurt." Ren looked at James guilty. "Plus, we didn't know they can feed off of us like that."

James nodded his head and sprinkled another seed in the broken stones. He quickly and carefully grew it into a solid spear. Then severed the spear and pulled the life he'd given it back into himself until it was but a lifeless hunk of wood. "I'll be ready for it next time."

Ren nodded. "Good." Hopefully, James would rely on her on her more.

Kyrie rounded the corner and re-joined them. He looked fine. The sweat darkening his shirt and the mussed hair he was fixing were the only indications of the fight he'd just gone through.

Well, that and the giant pile of wood he and Caleb had grudgingly agreed must be turned into a bonfire as soon as possible. Even though it was a warm summer day.