Chapter 81 – Blooming Against the Storm

The real Princess Thyra slowly opened her eyes. For a moment, her vision blurred—she saw herself in a mirror opposite her, and where the reflection should have been stood the false Thyra. She blinked, closed her eyes, and opened them again; the figure had vanished, leaving only a scatter of petals on the floor where the fake Thyra had lain. An unexpected sorrow rose in her chest. She pressed a hand to her breast and felt her heart thudding — a heavy, insistent resonance pulling toward Shawn. The sword fragment within her was reacting to the fragments inside him.

Princess Thyra’s eyes fluttered open, breath came in short, ragged gasps, and she wondered where she was. The pain in her body trembled, weak and battered from being frozen inside the crystal, still lingering as she pushed herself upright. Her vision was hazy as she glanced around the dome, but from her blurred vision, she could make out the figures of Makara and Selena lying unconscious on opposite sides of the dome. The dome’s surreal garden was eerily silent now.

Her bare feet brushed against the shattered remains of the crystal on the floor that had held her for so long. For a moment, she hesitated, gazing at the crystal fragments glinting faintly in the light that filtered through the dome’s cracked ceiling.

Princess Thyra turned toward the open archway leading outside, drawn by an overwhelming presence that she couldn’t ignore. Someone—or something—was calling to her, an invisible force pulling her forward beyond the dome.

As she stepped outside, the sunlight struck her face, and she paused, taking in the sight before her. A vast grass maze stretched out across the horizon, its intricate patterns carved into the earth like a tapestry of green. The fresh air carried the faintest hint of dew, but even amidst the serene beauty, something felt wrong.

“Where… am I?” she murmured to herself, her voice barely above a whisper.

The maze in front of her seemed to pulse with life that reacted to her presence. When she came close to it, as its walls towered above her, but as her hand instinctively swung and brushed against the grass wall, the grass wall reacted to her power by shaking vibrantly through a breeze. Then, with deliberate precision, she raised both hands high, stretched her fingers, her fingers trembling as they reached the apex of the motion, as invisible air breezed through her. Then closed her eyes, with a commanding force but gracefully, she dropped her arms downward smoothly like a wave.

The ground responded immediately. The towering walls of the grass maze trembled before sinking into the earth, vanishing entirely as if they had never existed. What remained was a vast, open plain.

Her gaze shifted across the open ground and landed on a lone figure at the far end. It was Shawn who stood there. His monstrous form loomed against the horizon with the dark cloak behind him covering the uphill, the aura emanating from him palpable even from where she stood.

Then Princess Thyra felt it immediately—a resonance deep within her chest. It was strong and quickly grew stronger and stronger by the second. Princess Thyra staggered, clutching at her chest. Her knees buckled, and she dropped to the ground, as the resonance in her chest intensified. She knew the pain was caused by her father’s sword fragment inside her, and it was reacting to him as her breath hitched.

Simultaneously, across the plain, Shawn stood there. His head tilted slightly as he noticed her, then his body pulsed with resonance. The sword fragments inside him hummed as he understood, as his eyes narrowed, as he raised his massive sword towards her, its dark steel gleaming ominously in the sunlight.

The pain reached its peak, and Princess Thyra screamed, her body convulsing as her chest pushed forward and the fragment inside her tore itself free from her body. Blood spattered the ground as the glowing shard burst from her chest, spinning violently in the air. She knelt as her body was trembling violently, clutching at the wound as blood spilling through her fingertips, as she coughed up blood from her mouth too, which grabbed her other hand, and her vision dimmed.

The fragment shot toward Shawn, cutting through the air like a streak of light. He raised his sword. Shawn understood what was going to happen as the sword fragments inside him requested. The moment the fragment made contact, it sent a shockwave rippling through the air. As it struck the tip of his blade, the dark steel started to shatter with a deafening crack, but it didn’t stop there. The fragment continued to spin and drilled through the weapon, breaking apart the sword piece by piece. As the sword started to break due to the fragment, dark blue smoke curled, twisting around Shawn’s hand and continued to coil and wrap around the blade as the sword fragment travelled through it.

Princess Thyra, gasping for breath, could only watch helplessly as the sword began to reform before her eyes. As the fragment spun, travelling through Shawn’s sword, breaking it. It stopped itself in a position of the weapon’s apex somewhere in Shawn’s sword, and the broken edge of the fragment and the shattered end of Shawn’s Sword started glowing with a blinding golden light as dark blue smoke engulfed it.

Then, amidst the swirling darkness, a thin beam of yellow light emitted through various parts of the blade, growing brighter and brighter, traversing through the blade from tip to tip until the smoke dissipated entirely.

When the smoke cleared, it was King Azure’s restored sword that was in the hand of Shawn, where he held his long blade. The blade was hot as smoke came out of it and gleamed with a radiance, its edge impossibly sharp and exuding an aura of unmatched power. The force of the completed sword from the fragment pushed through his blade, causing Shawn to hold his forward as it pushed back to a swing with a step back, and this was the first step he took back since Shawn was consumed by his power. Yet, his grip on the weapon tightened, and he steadied himself and took the blade forward.

Shawn raised the sword, his movements slow and deliberate, as if savouring the moment. The weapon hummed in his grasp, its power palpable even to Princess Thyra, who knelt on the ground with one hand on her wounded chest while her other hand with bloodied fingers clenched the ground.

She gasped, her heart pounding in her ears as she realised the sword’s power was too immense, along with the power that engulfed Shawn.

“I cannot let it consume you…” she whispered, her voice trembling.

The sword’s power surged as Shawn prepared to swing, its radiance illuminating the plains. Princess Thyra knew she had to act. Ignoring the searing pain in her chest and summoning every ounce of strength she had left, she pushed herself upright, one hand pressed against her wound with blood leaking through her fingers, while the other, with blood-stained fingers, extended toward Shawn. Her body screamed in protest, but she pushed through the pain, knowing there was no other choice.

As Shawn was about to swing his weapon, the earth responded to her command. Vines erupted from the ground, their thick, gnarled forms twisting around Shawn’s legs and arms. They coiled tightly, binding him in place with unyielding force. Shawn struggled against the vines, his immense strength tearing the vines as he pushed his arms and legs forward and back, but the vines kept emerging and continued to twist and bind him.

Thyra coughed violently, blood spilling from her lips as her body began to falter. She knew her time was running out, and the vines alone could not stop him, so she summoned her blood power. She called forth rose flowers as many of them emerged and bloomed around Shawn, their vibrant petals releasing a potent fragrance. The scent filled the air as it was more powerful than the fake Thyra, as this fragrance is the original one.

The scent was intoxicating, designed to disorient and overpower. As it filled the air, Shawn’s movements slowed, his grip on the sword loosening slightly. His glowing eyes dimmed, and he wavered on his feet, as though caught between two worlds.

But the reprieve was short-lived. With a guttural roar, Shawn broke free of the vines, his monstrous form radiating with renewed fury. The force of the motion sent a shockwave that scattered the rose petals and blew the fragrance away.

Thyra’s vision blurred due to exhaustion and her deep wound, and the shockwave struck her, sending her tumbling back while she knelt. She knew she couldn’t hold him for much longer.

“I can’t… give up now,” she muttered, her voice barely audible.

Drawing on the last reserves of her strength, she summoned one final burst of energy. The ground beneath Shawn trembled as a massive vine erupted, wrapping around his whole body tightly, holding his legs and hands in place, and small vines appeared and caught the big vines for stability and anchoring strongly to the earth.

Then, along the big vine that wrapped Shawn, many roses of various colours started blooming over it and releasing a strong fragrance directly in the face of Shawn. Shawn tried to get free of the vines, but the bonds of the vines were strong. Shawn inhaled the potent fragrance for a long time as his form and movements wavered as his struggle slowed down, and his surroundings began to shift. The view around him blurred and twisted, the plains dissolving into a surreal and finally knocked unconscious from the physical plane as his head dropped down.

Once Shawn was knocked unconscious, Princess Thyra, breathing heavily, collapsed to the ground, lying motionless.

The plains were silent once more, save for the faint rustling of the wind.