Vessel

Return

Reaching the grove, was easy enough. The only resistance was a few city guards, who stood no chance against the knight's expert sword fighting, Mala's ability to cast seemingly infinite amounts of spells, and my own, now mediocre, sword fighting skills.

As we ventured further, getting closer to our destination, Mala began to explain the situation. "The trouble started very recently actually. About an hour or two before I found you, an unfriendly face turned up in the grove. I have no clue how they got there, but they wouldn't leave. I tried to fight, but was quickly outclassed. My hope, is with our combined strength, we can rid the grove of this unfriendly face."

Naturally, there was the highly improbable possibility that came to mind first. But I did my best to keep it together, before writing out a simple question. "Does Ogrim know?"

"As of now, he has no idea." Mala responded. "Funny you should know his name. He so rarely gives it. Perhaps I said it? But I don't recall saying his name."

Fortunately, I didn't have to explain, as we had arrived in the grove. There, as Mala had described, was a figure, hunched over, near Isma's grave. They seemed immediately aware of our presence, and turned to face us.

Staring directly into my eyes, was Mantle. Once again, Mantle drew the pure nail. The knight drew their nail, and Mala, their pin. But something seemed off.

Rather than fighting us, Mantle firmly stabbed the ground beneath them, and let out a sound, almost like a roar. Soon, it was clear why. A massive form, shifted in the branches.

Emerging from the brush, was what appeared to be a Mosskin, but it was several times larger. Hanging in the mosskin's hand, was a large quarter staff, made from the same metal as our nails.

Mantle picked up their blade, and turned to the massive mosskin. When Mantle turned to us, the mosskin seemed to understand it's orders. The mosskin charged, quarter staff flailing.

Me and the knight, dodged the charge, and went after Mantle. Mala leapt over the mosskin's head, and prepared to fight it.

Mantle made the first move, slashing at the knight. I tried to swing, but my blade was deflected by Mantle, who seemed to be much quicker than before.

Mala dodged the mosskin's quarterstaff before throwing it a vengeful spirit. The spirit knocked the mosskin over, but didn't do much else. It stood back up and the fight continued.

Mantle was continuing to deflect our strikes as if he had two nails. Soon, they shoved me away, and went on a brutal offensive against the knight. Metal clashed with every rapid strike from Mantle, as the knight struggled to deflect the attacks, backing up towards the edge of the platform.

Meanwhile, the massive mosskin was chasing Mala. While running, they leapt into the air, stabbing the mosskin in the shoulder mid flight, and desolate dived behind it. The mosskin was not amused, and now had Mala's pin like nail, embedded in it's shoulder. Mala's face almost said "oh SHI-" before getting launched by the mosskin's quarter staff.

I got up and ran to join the fight. Mantle obviously expected that, and without warning, turned and slashed at me. I mostly deflected the strike, but the blade moved up to my arm. That hurt like hell. But it didn't matter. Even with the help of the knight, Mantle's attacks were quick and brutal.

The mosskin had made it's way over to Mala, and tries to crush them with it's quarterstaff. Mala, fortunately, was a skilled roller. Several downswings were launched at Mala, before the mosskin went for a sweep of the ground in front of them. Mala somersaulted between it's legs, and jumped back on to it's shoulder, retrieving their pin, and stabbing it repeatedly, into the mosskin's head. The mosskin fell, and was no more. Just to make sure, Mala pushed it into the acid.

Mantle kept attacking, knocking over the knight, and turning to me. They made a single swipe, before trying to kill the knight. I made a single stabbing motion. Mantle was surprisingly quick. They leapt over my head, landing behind me. They slashed again, lightly cutting my back, before shoving me to the ground next to the knight. Mantle leapt into the air, readying their nail to finish is off, before getting hit by a blast of soul.

Mala was now fighting by our side. Mantle watched as me and the knight stood, ready to keep fighting. I guess it's true that vessels can keep fighting until they die. Mantle now realized that they were outnumbered, two and a half, to one, and decided that they wanted no part in it. Mantle leapt over us, and ran from the grove.

It was then, that we noticed the fruits growing on Isma's grave. Isma's tears. Me and the knight, both absorbed one, but Mala held off, as they had eaten one on their first trip here.

Mala thanked us, and together, we all walked out of the royal waterways. I wrote out a message to Mala. "Feel free to come with us. We could use someone of your skill."

Mala turned down the offer. "As much as I would love to, I must stay here, with the sanctum. I will find a way to cure this infection, and finally, the noble bugs of the sanctum will be alive once more. I can't wait to see the surprise on M's face."

"M?" I asked. "Of course!" Mala replied. "He taught me everything I know. The king couldn't have picked a better master for the sanctum."

With that, Mala walked off, towards the soul sanctum. The only thing on my mind was, "We need to get the hell out of here, as fast as possible."

And that's it for this chapter! Right now, I believe this is the longest one, at 1000 words. As always, see you in the next chapter!