Chapter 79 – Consumedescence

Selena’s throat tightened as she turned to Makara, her voice low and uncertain. “Who… who is that?”

Makara’s expression darkened, and he barely managed to whisper, “It’s Shawn. He is… consumed by his power.”

Thyra’s eyes darted toward the slash’s path once more. Relief flickered briefly across her features as she noted it had avoided the centre of the maze. She turned back toward Shawn, her face hardening with determination.

Without hesitation, she stepped forward, placing herself protectively between Selena and Makara. “I have something that can stop him,” Thyra said, her voice steady but urgent. “But your help is needed; until then, I can hold him off. There’s no time to explain.”

Before Selena or Makara could respond. A whirlwind of rose petals enveloped her as she launched herself into the air, streaking toward the transformed Shawn with unyielding resolve. Her figure became a blur of blue and green, an arrow aimed directly at the heart of the danger.

Selena and Makara stood frozen, stunned not only by Thyra’s willingness to face Shawn but by her cryptic request. What favour?

Their thoughts were interrupted by a small tug on Selena’s dress. She turned sharply, only to find a child gardener standing before her with her spear in her hand. The small figure handed over the spear to Selena, trembling but determined, tugged at her once more, pointing toward a path deeper into the maze.

“She wants us to follow,” Makara said, his voice steady despite the tension in the air. “This must be the favour she spoke of; let’s follow her.”

Selena hesitated for only a moment before nodding. “Let’s go.”

The child gardener led them quickly into the maze, darting through the twisting paths with surprising speed. The labyrinth seemed to respond to the urgency, the shifting walls parting just enough to allow them passage.

As they ran, Selena turned to Makara, her voice filled with both relief and curiosity. “What happened back there? Where were you?”

Makara glanced at her briefly, his expression grim as he kept pace. “What happened after we told you to follow the princess was…”

Makara’s voice carried a weight of exhaustion as he recounted his story. “As you climbed the stairs, Shawn and I became immobilised, unable to move no matter how much we struggled. It was as if our bodies were like stone.  Then we remembered from the princess story and we realised…” He hesitated, his tone dropping slightly. “We realised it was due to the fragrance that we have been breathing in….”

Selena furrowed her brow, her pace slowing slightly as they traversed the labyrinth. “The fragrance? Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

Makara exhaled sharply, as though the memory itself frustrated him. “We didn’t want to alarm you. Besides, you were not affected by it when we asked you to collect the sword fragment and further chase the princess. We knew you could handle yourself, so we didn’t bother with it.”

Selena remained silent for a moment, absorbing his words. She remembered Princess Thyra’s words that her royal blood allowed her to be immune to the curse. “So, you both just… stayed there, unable to move?”

Makara shook his head, “We tried to move, but the fragrance intensity was too potent, paralysing us completely. Then, it got worse.”

“What happened?” Selena asked, her voice cautious, almost hesitant.

“Vines,” Makara said simply, his tone grim. “Suddenly, we were snatched up by these massive vines. They coiled around our legs like snakes, pulling us off the ground. I was taken uphill, toward one of the quadrants. As I was being dragged, I saw Shawn being carried off toward the lake quadrant. We were still immobilised, flying through the air, carried by the vines.”

Selena as they moved through the maze, following the child gardener. “And then?”

Makara’s face twisted into a grimace, “The vines whipped to a massive flower, as it opened wide and swallowed me whole. As it swallowed me, I saw Shawn from afar, who was also swallowed by the flower in the lake.”

Selena wrinkled her nose, the thought alone making her stomach churn. “Swallowed you and Shawn?”

“Yes,” Makara said flatly. “I was dumped straight into the belly of the flower, into this… disgusting, sticky liquid. Its stomach was like a bubbling swamp, and the air reeked of decay. Once immersed in that liquid, I could move again, but it didn’t help much. The liquid was thick, clinging to every inch of my body, making every movement feel like I was wading through tar. I looked around, trying to find a way out, but nothing was there.”

Selena winced, her expression betraying both disgust and sympathy. “How did you get out?”

Makara’s lips twitched into the faintest hint of a smirk. “Well, I thought this was the end, and I decided to have a final drink.”

Selena blinked, thrown off by the unexpected humour. “You… drank?”

“Yes, I took my sake ground out, but…,” Makara clarified, the smirk growing. “…it got slipped and fell into the liquid of the flower’s stomach. Then a weird reaction started to occur on the liquid as bubbles started to rise, and to my surprise, the flower reacted… violently.”

Selena raised an eyebrow, scepticism creeping into her tone. “Violently?”

Makara nodded, his smirk turning into a grin. “It started convulsing like it couldn’t handle the alcohol. The sake was too much for it. What kind of stupid flower can’t handle its liquor?”

Despite the grimness of the situation, Selena couldn’t help but let out a small, incredulous laugh. “Something like this will only happen to you, Makara, and only you could think of doing something like that.”

Makara chuckled, the sound surprisingly light given the dire circumstances. “Well, it worked, didn’t it? The flower practically vomited me out, and I landed on the grass floor. Covered in slime, sure, but alive. Then I swung my blade at the flower, cutting it at its roots, and gave it a parting line: ‘You can’t handle liquor? Pathetic.’”

Selena shook her head, a reluctant smile tugging at her lips despite herself. “You’re unbelievable.”

Makara’s grin faded slightly as his tone turned serious once more. “After that, I made my way to the edge of the quadrant, overlooking the lake. That’s when I saw Shawn’s flower—a huge, monstrous thing right in the centre of the water. I didn’t know how I was going to reach him, but I knew I had to try. Before I could act, though, I heard it—Shawn’s scream.”

Selena’s expression darkened, her eyes narrowing. “Shawn screamed?”

Makara nodded, his gaze distant, as if he could still hear it. “Yes, it was filled with rage. A moment later, I saw the flower start to tremble. Then, out of nowhere, the bottom of the flower was torn apart. Shawn came crashing out of it, falling straight into the lake below. He must’ve remembered he could summon his weapon because the next thing I saw was him cutting through the flower with his sword.”

Selena, as she was travelling through the maze, stopped for a moment and asked Makara. “And what happened next?”, as the sounds of distant clashes echoed in the distance, they picked up their pace by following the child gardener into the maze.

Makara’s voice dropped, his words slow and deliberate. “That’s when everything changed.”

“What do you mean?” Selena questioned.

“The lake,” Makara said, his tone heavy with foreboding. “It… transformed. A few moments after Shawn fell into it, the water turned dark—almost dark blue, but with a deep blue mist swirling through it. The mist grew thicker, consuming the entire lake. And then, from the centre, Shawn rose from inside the lake.”

Selena felt a chill run down her spine. “He… rose from the lake?”

Makara’s jaw tightened, his hand gripping his weapon as his entire body screamed. “Yes. He wasn’t the same. The water lifted with him, forming this massive, shifting cloak around his shoulders. It moved like it was alive, swirling and rippling as though obeying his will. His eyes… it was like he was possessed.”

Selena’s breath caught, her voice barely above a whisper. “What happened to him?”

“I don’t know,” Makara admitted, his voice laced with frustration. “But whatever it was, it wasn’t Shawn anymore. The power he unleashed—it was like nothing I’ve ever seen. And it wasn’t just power. It was… chaotic. Wild. Like it was tearing him apart even as it made him stronger.”

Makara’s voice turned grim as he continued his tale. “As I stood on the uphill, overlooking the lake, I could feel the oppressive energy radiating off him, like a storm ready to unleash chaos. Then… he saw me from the lake.”

Selena listened intently, her expression hardening as Makara described the events.

Makara continued, “The transformed Shawn turned his gaze toward me, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes. But whatever humanity was left in him—it was buried deep beneath the surface. He raised his hand, and from the depths of the lake, a sword emerged, dripping with water that shimmered like liquid sapphire. The weapon was dark, slim and longer than regular swords as it flew straight into his outstretched hand.”

Makara took a deep breath, his fists clenching as he relived the moment. “I knew something was wrong. The power radiating from him—it wasn’t natural. Before I could even think of what to do, he moved. In an instant, he was in front of me with the entire cloak behind him, closing the distance faster than I could blink. His speed… it was impossible. And his sword? It was already aiming for my neck.”

Makara admitted, his voice heavy. “I raised my whip sword just in time, the blade coiling and snapping into position to block his strike. The force of his blow was like a thunderclap, sending shockwaves through the air. My arms nearly buckled under the weight of it, and I was pushed back.”

Makara paused, his eyes narrowing as he recounted the battle. “But Shawn… he didn’t stop. He just swung his sword hand again, and again while slowly walking towards me, and each strike was faster, stronger and more precise than the last. Every time our blades met, the clash sent shockwaves rippling through the air. I could feel my feet sliding backwards with every impact, the sheer force threatening to overwhelm me. His strikes were relentless, like a hurricane of steel and fury.”

Makara reminded the struggles he faced when parrying Shawn’s attack, “I had to deflect the blows, redirecting them away from me. My whip sword coiled and snapped, parrying his strikes and sending them wide. But each deflection sent sparks flying, and the ground beneath us cracked and splintered from the force of our battle.”

Makara’s tone grew more urgent as he continued. “And then, as if that wasn’t enough, he started sending out dark slash waves with each swing. They tore through the air, carving deep gouges into the ground and sending shards of rock flying. I barely had time to react, dodging to the side or using my whip sword to deflect the waves away from me. One of them grazed my shoulder, and I could feel the raw power behind it.”

Selena’s eyes widened, her voice quiet. “And how long you kept fighting him?”

“I didn’t have a choice,” Makara said simply. “I knew I couldn’t keep this up forever. His strength—it was like nothing I’d ever faced before. I was just barely holding on, and even then, I knew it was only a matter of time before he overpowered me. I needed to change the tide.”

Makara’s expression hardened. “So I decided to go on the offensive. I dashed toward him, closing the gap between us, and swung my whip sword with everything I had. The blade snapped and coiled, but… he was ready. He blocked it by raising his sword, the impact sending a shockwave and then… he countered me.”

Selena leaned forward slightly, her voice tense. “What did he do?”

Makara let out a bitter laugh. “He didn’t even break a sweat. He swung his sword in an arc, which sent me into the air and along with it, he swung again, sending a slash wave directly at me. I barely had time to deflect it, so using my whip sword, I changed the slash wave direction a bit to the left, and the force of the impact sent me flying further backwards. When I hit the ground hard, I landed near you.”