Curse Uncurse - ONC 2020 [Completed]

Chapter 8: Fight - Part 1

"What's going on?"

There's no one to answer the question.

They have just exited into the southern gardens. The sun is low in the sky, almost hidden by the hillside area in the north, which merely confirms it's the early evening. Isn't it said that the Unnaturals come under the cover of darkness? Then, what is this?

Once he heard the eerie cry, Plamen firmly instructed them to get ready, rummaging through his bag in a hurry, fastening weapons, or just placing them in various pockets on his jacket.

Next, he grabbed Zima and Vid and ran, twisting through the corridors, shouting questions to the other two if they knew where the nearest exit was, getting practically no affirmative answer, and somehow found the way to the outside. They didn't encounter even one person while they ran, the Castle was empty, at least the part they'd passed through. He heard the shouts, the clanks of metal, the general disorder, all coming from outside the vast, gray walls.

Now, stepping into the fresh air, the sounds are less muffled, more striking, more real. There's a certain sense of urgency flooding his mind, something thick and strong engulfing him, feeling as if nature itself cries in pain.

Plamen tries to slow down his pulse, a raging drumbeat just under his skin, by looking around.

He sees the gardens, ones on the southern part of the Castle grounds, smaller than expected and seem to be just decorative pieces of land, filled with different types of distinctive blooming bushes. Unlike the western side, where the widespread gardens are home to diverse herbal species used for medicine and else, these seem they are there to look appealing, to break the grayscale of the Castle's coloring. At least he thinks so, until Zima crouches near the bell-shaped, deep blue colored flowers just a few steps ahead, yanking a linen purple tissue from her pocket, and collects as much as she can store in it.

"Help me with this," she says, trying to wrap a leather string around the wrinkled corners.

Plamen tugs Vid along and stops by her side. "I'm assuming they're poisonous."

Biting her lower lip, she flashes him an unsure look over her shoulder. "I'm not sure if these will help against the Unnaturals, but better to be prepared just in case." She turns back to her task, drawing another tissue out from her pocket. "Just don't touch the petals with your bare hands. They can dissolve the skin and flesh just like acid."

He nods, then pauses for a moment, slowly digesting that last sentence and has to do a double-take because what?

"Dear heavens," Vid cries out, just a bit quieter than shrieking out loud. "They're growing Pozadnje Suze in a freakin' garden where anyone can come and accidentally touch them? Are they insane?!"

Plamen thinks about it, then realizes there was an empty guard station just beside the door they used to get out of the Castle. Must be there to secure the gardens.

"Do any of you recognize the other plants?" They could end up being important.

Zima stops picking up the blue petals and probes the grounds with a sharp look. "There, at the corner of a wall, those pale yellow flowers. Take the root," she instructs, pointing toward the end of an encasing brick wall. "Their roots are used to slow the bleeding."

Plamen goes where she indicated, trekking cautiously through a dirt footpath between bushes sporting flowers of different coloring, usual and unusual. There are flowers that can eat flesh; he certainly doesn't want to touch any other plants, even by accident.

"They aren't dangerous to touch," Zima yells after him.

Small, yellow flowers dance gently in the breeze compelling him to feel like some kind of brute for even contemplating to dig them out. The stem is long and thin, pale green, and curving to the east. He gathers a few in his hand and pulls, careful to obtain the full plant. Their roots are just like stems, long and thin, but wavy and branching in all directions. He cuts the stem off with his dagger, then cleans the blade and resheaths it.

A long time ago he has learned to have clean scraps of cloth in his inventory; whether to bind wounds or to cover something, it is always a sensible decision to keep some at hand. So he uses one of the few he has to preserve the roots.

Another spine-chilling screech flows through the air, bringing tension with it. It came from the west where the cobblestone path leads to the only road on that edge of the town, the one connecting Zmajeva Zvjezda and neighboring towns on the west. The good thing is that the sound didn't come from the town. That would mean it's been overrun by those creatures.

"Hey. Where should we go now?" Vid asks, his voice trembling.

He doesn't answer as he walks back to where Zima and Vid stand, waiting, side by side, both pale as sheets and in different stages of distress, Zima gnawing on her lip and Vid wringing his hands. He stands in front of them, putting one hand on each of their shoulders, hiding the fear he feels seeping through his body. They don't need that.

"We're going to find out what's going on, help out with cleaning the mess, and keep others safe." Conviction lacing his words makes the other two Champions stand taller, their expressions changing to determined as they obviously prepare to walk out into the war zone.

Plamen decides for some more encouraging words, and with a grin, he's never thought he would be sporting, he opens his mouth.

"Vid, don't go dying just yet. Zima, no tears for you; keep them inside. As for me, I'll plaster myself to your asses so much that you'll start begging me to leave you alone."

With those words, the unnerving tension finally breaks, and they can march on to their probable demise. But at least their heads are held high, their hearts don't beat the frightened staccato anymore and their magics brims just under the skin.

They are ready.

As much as they can be.