Thirty-Seven Minutes

Emile approached the two boys and placed his hand on each of their shoulders, he channeled Breath of Essence and a cool breeze left his fingertips and washed through the boys bodies.

Almost immediately, their veins subsided and retreated back to normal. The whites of their eyes returned and they were finally able to catch their breath.

"How long was that?" Blood asked through heavy breathes.

"I don't know, maybe a half hour." Emile guessed.

"Thirty-seven minutes," Roy interjected, "and sixteen seconds."

Across the board, the members of the cohort threw various facial expressions at Roy: interest, annoyance, and skepticism.

"We'll round it down to be safe, you two can survive thirty minutes without me," Emile concluded, "so don't get lost."

"Should I mark you?" Roy asked.

"Um… no. Mark Blood—he always runs off."

"I do not run off." Blood argued.

"You run off, it's okay."

"Run you into the ground maybe."

"Let's see you keep that attitude in thirty minutes." Emile responded.

"Boys," Willow interjected, "can we do what we came here to do."

"We came here for something?" Blood asked.

"Did you think we were just taking a stroll?" Emile mocked, "We need to find water and something alive, like a plant or fruit."

Blood spun around, looking at their general vicinity.

"We are not doing a very good job." He commented.

"Thanks."

"Do monsters count?" Roy interrupted again.

"What?"

"For something alive." Roy clarified.

"I guess? Why wouldn't they?" Emile asked Willow.

"We'd have to capture it alive."

"There's a monster that way—" Roy pointed across the open field, "and it's alone."

"Great!" Emile exclaimed, "Let's go get it."

The cohort crossed the open field of dead grass, every step conjuring an audible crunch in the atmosphere. Eventually they re-entered the forest and made their way through more dilapidated trees.

Roy directed them using his infrared vision and brought them to the location of the beast. After about an hour, the group stopped before an enormous tree, twice the size of its brethren surrounding it.

However, even though the tree was significantly larger, that didn't prevent it from falling to the Dead Tree's embrace. The giant tree had black bark and no leaves.

Its trunk hung over, weighed down by the sheer mass of its crown. And the tree was hollow, a sizable hole split the trunk and descended into the ground.

"So where's the monster?" Blood asked.

Roy pointed into the ground and didn't say anything.

"Okay—" Blood stepped away from the tree, "I think I'll handle this one myself."

"Sounds good to me." Emile agreed.

"I don't care what you do." Willow stepped to the side with Emile.

Emile, Willow, and Roy stepped away from the tree and walked a considerable distance away. They decided to rest on top of a fallen tree, using its trunk as a bench and treating Blood's fight like a show.

Meanwhile, Blood stood a few feet away from the tree, he wanted to make sure he wasn't directly on top of the monster. He stared at the ground for a bit, then looked across the way at Emile.

Emile and Blood made and held eye contact, but they both refused to speak. Finally, Blood rolled his eyes and asked:

"Can I have some blood?"

"Oh! Right!" Emile snickered and then summoned his scimitar before gently running it across his arm.

The hemorrhaging enchantment immediately took effect and blood poured out of Emile's arm, but before it could stain his clothes the blood levitated into the air and flew towards Blood.

"Hey Roy—" Blood called out, "how big is it?"

"Sixteen feet, four inches."

Once again, Emile cast a glance at the small boy.

'He's a little weird, but in a good way'

Blood pooled the blood together, forming a sharpened spire in the air. The oversized stake was aimed into the ground, ready to be launched.

"Remember not to kill it!" Emile shouted.

And then Blood released it. The crimson red spire plunged into the dirt, sinking entirely beneath the surface.

A moment of silence passed. And then the ground shook.

Something began to move beneath the dirt, then multiple things began to move around the dirt as countless cracks formed in the ground.

From the cracks, dark brown roots erupted into the air and swung around violently. The onslaught of roots targeted Blood and crashed towards him, ripping the ground to pieces in the process.

Blood dodged the roots, weaving between them like it was choreographed. He pulled the blood from the ground and reshaped it in the air, creating a slew of spears.

He simultaneously released all of the crystal spears and they tore through the air, each of them targeting their own root. The crystal spears exploded the roots, ripping them apart before any of them were able to corner Blood.

Once the final root was detached, Blood liquified all of his spears and formed another spire. Without hesitating, the spire plummeted back into the ground and sunk into the monster's main body.

Instantly, an ear-piercing wail echoed around the forest while the trees and ground alike shook in agony. The ground exploded, a mountain of dirt launched into the sky and rained down on the area.

Standing to the side, Blood looked down into the massive hole that was just formed. Blinded by the eruption of dirt that clouded the atmosphere, Blood wasn't able to react to the monster's swift attack.

Another root flew out of the hole and wrapped around Blood's waist. The moment it grabbed him, the root retreated and Blood was sucked into the hole with the monster.

Sitting thirty feet away, the cohort watched in suspense.

"How is he?" Emile asked.

"He's alive—" Roy answered, "he just broke free from the root that grabbed him."

"Good." Emile knodded, it was quite helpful having Roy around.