Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Gorns breath was ragged as he tried to squeeze the last drops of energy out of his soul spark. He had enough juice to stop one more attack, and at least a dozen feet to go. With a sinking heart, he watched one of the ghouls scamper up the wall above him and then drop down, its powerful legs raking at his head. At the same time another ghoul was approaching from lower down, its claws reaching out to disembowel him. Only able to slow one down, Gorn opted to throw his energy at the ghoul above his head, while also contorting his body to the side to try and avoid the claws stabbing toward his stomach.

Hunt.

The word seemed to hang in the air as a surge of energy that came from the depths of his mind shrouded Gorn. Unlike his own energy, this energy felt ephemeral, like it couldnt quite be grasped. Yet its impact was intense as the ghoul who was tangled in Gorns threads let out a shriek of pain and terror. Flashes of color dyed the world around Gorn, giving everything in his view a faint, dream-like sense.

Behind him, the gang members who had come with him surged forward, pressing toward the crack as their faces took on a faint haze. A rainbow of color flashed across their eyes, but to Obe it looked as if they had just gone crazy and decided to throw themselves at the enemy. Shouting for everyone to get back, Obe felt like he was about to go insane. Gorn was fighting for his life, and now everyone else was losing it.

In the Dream the situation was completely different. As soon as Garrett had given his command, every single Dream Flower in the tunnels under the city manifested above their hosts heads, spreading their rainbow glow throughout the tunnel. Petals waving, the flowers wiggled forward, sending tendrils out toward the six ghouls. Each flower carried an ethereal beauty and the ghouls seemed entranced by the sight of them, though from the way they were licking their lips, Garrett wasnt sure hed like the way that enchantment manifested. Follow current novels on novelb((in).(com)

Still, it served as enough of a distraction that Gorn was able to finish escaping from the crack. Falling to the ground, his breath coming in big gulps, he stared in confusion at the ghouls, who had suddenly slowed. Invisible, to him, was the Dream Flower that called his head home, blocking the crack, its roots stretching across the gap. Watching from the throne, Garrett was just as surprised as Gorn to see that his attempt had actually worked.

He hadnt anticipated such a stark response from the ghouls, but it was clear that they could not only see the Dream Flowers, but also interact with them. Even more than interacting with them, the ghouls were currently staring at the flowers like they wanted to eat them. The humans in front of them were forgotten and the ghouls gazes were fixed on the flowers. With a flash of insight, Garrett suddenly made a connection.

Wait, ghouls often target hearts and brains, does that mean theyre actually consuming mental energy? If thats the case, no wonder theyre attracted to the Dream Flowers.

Like soldiers arranging for battle, the Dream Flowers formed up, stretching out to join Gorns three-blossomed Dream Flower that blocked the middle of the passage. Below it, the three blossoms Reeve carried crawled forward, sealing the last bit of the passage that wasnt covered. Slightly smaller than Gorns, Reeves flowers werent quite as bright either, a testament to the advantage an Awakened host carried. With no way to attack, the flowers simply held their position, creating a rainbow-colored wall of roots, stems, and petals between the gang and the ghouls.

Retreat.

This time, Garretts command was to Gorn and the others. The most likely outcome of the impending clash between the flowers and the ghouls was a complete massacre, but keeping the gang members alive was way more important. Even if it meant he wouldnt be able to make use of them anymore. Garrett had no idea what would happen if a host lost their flower, but at this point it was too late to care. Staggering to his feet, Gorn called to the rest of the gang, motioning them to follow him.

Fall back! Fall back!

Running after him, Obe caught up quickly, his expression tense and full of confusion.

What did you do?

Huh?

The ghouls, Obe said, looking back over his shoulder. How did you stop them?

I didnt do anything, Gorn gasped. They just stopped on their own.

Reeve is right, Gorn said, his gaze deadly. No one is leaving this room until this passes.

What what if theyre turning into ghouls?

Unsure who had said it, Obe shot a glare at the crowd and lifted his axe, taking up a position next to Gorn. Worried that the situation would get out of hand, Reeve quickly spoke up.

None of them are dead. Theyre just knocked out. No one is turning into a ghoul!

While all of this was happening, Garrett was still watching the flowers. All of the single flowers had been destroyed, and even as he watched the first of the double flowers fell, consumed by one of the ghouls. Many of the other flowers were in just as bad shape, but despite their precarious situation, they never once stopped trying to suck the life out of the ghouls. As weak as they were individually, it was clear they were starting to have an impact as they worked together.

One of the ghouls, the first one to attack, was now limply crawling on the ground, his already thin frame reduced to nothing but bones. Trying to pull one of the flowers off of his side, he contorted his body and rolled to the side, entering the range of Reeves flower, which pounced instantly. The thick roots of the flower stretched out and wrapped around the ghouls head, stabbing deep into its eyes. Shaking wildly as the ghoul struggled to free itself, the flower pulled life force from the monster in great gulps, its glow brightening visibly.

With the first of the six ghouls falling prey to the flowers, the other ghouls seemed to grow even angrier, throwing themselves at the flowers with reckless abandon. The fighting was fast and furious, and soon Gorns Dream Flower was dragged into the fight as well, latching onto one of the ghouls and trying to suck the life from it. With a white-knuckled grip on the Dreamers Throne, Garrett watched as the flowers continued to fall, wincing with each flower that died. His only consolation was that two of the ghouls had already fallen and another was almost dead.

Yet no matter how fast the Dream Flowers sucked up the ghouls life force, it wasnt fast enough to balance out the damage they were taking. With a sinking feeling, Garrett realized that without something to break the balance, there was no way for the flowers to win. Unwilling to simply conceded defeat, his face hardened into an ice-cold mask.

Consume.

His command echoed through the dream to the flowers in the tunnel, and all of them started to shift, their roots tying together. It took a bit of time, and while they were moving they continued to suffer under the claws of the ghouls, but Garretts order was absolute. Slowly, they converged, all targeting a single ghoul. Completely covered, the ghoul writhed, its flesh withering at visible speed. Sensing what the flowers were attempting to do, the other ghouls charged and began to attack, not caring that they were slaughtering their companion as well.

Consume!

Again the flowers heard Garretts command and they abandoned any sense of self preservation, instead pouring themselves through their connection. Every ounce of life force they extracted was sent toward the largest of the flowers, and even some of their own. Suddenly a large root snaked out and grabbed one of the attacking ghouls and pulled it in. More roots wrapped themselves around its side and back before reaching out to entangle its head. Shredding a root, one of the two remaining ghouls lunged forward when it fell, its legs captured. Two minutes later, the four ghouls and all the Dream Flowers were a tangled mess of limbs, claws, and shimmering petals.

In the inns basement, everyone apart from Reeve and Gorn had collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious. Obe, Gorn, and Reeve stared at each other, completely terrified that they would be next to fall. Time ticked slowly by, and suddenly one of the gang members groaned and woke up.

Vol! Are you okay? What happened?

Blurry eyed and still reeling, Vol couldnt make heads or tails of what had happened, and it was only after Reeve explained the situation that he realized almost everyone else had fallen unconscious as well.

Deep in the tunnels, a strange sight was taking place. A group of dying ghouls were twisted together, their limbs contorted into impossible positions, as if they were trapped in an invisible net. Snapping weakly at the air, the ghouls suddenly began to drag themselves along a thin crevasse, using their formidable physical strength to claw their way back toward their nest. As Garrett watched in shock, he saw them slowly traverse the path, eventually reaching their nest and burrowing into the pile of bodies where they had sat before. Burrowing into the pile, the ghouls vanished from Garretts view, and with a shiver, Observe the Dream turned off.

The two Dream Flowers that had tangled with the ghouls were still active, according to the weakly flickering lights in Garretts mind, but whenever he tried to sense them his mind would shake as if there was something in the way. Mentally drained, Garrett didnt have the energy to figure out what was going on and instead he fell out of the Dream and collapsed into a deep sleep, completely missing the figure standing right outside his room and the crimson eye that peered at him through a crack in the door.