The Morning ii

One.

Emile watched the light fade out of Blood's eyes.

Two.

The black creature lifted its stake of a leg and pushed it into Blood's waist, slowly removing the boy from his blade and flopping his limp body onto the ground.

Three.

The creature's teeth separated and a ridiculously long, gray tongue fell out of its mouth and dangled above Blood.

Four.

Its tongue suddenly came alive, wiggling and squirming in the air before lapping up Blood's blood; all the while maintaining eye contact with Emile.

Five.

After eating its fill, the gray tongue rolled back up, neat and taut, and as it slid into the creature's mouth a heavy belch met it on its way out.

Six.

Emile manipulated his soul core, releasing the metaphorical latch that held its valve shut. Immediately, essence began to flood Emile's system uncontrollably.

Seven.

As his essence depleted, his body stretched and expanded, filling up with pure energy. As he grew weaker, he became stronger.

Eight.

His body reached its limit, but his Gift's regenerative abilities continued to produce essence and the floodgates couldn't be closed now.

Nine.

Light started to radiate from Emile's skin. His muscles bulged and his veins tightened while they filled up with light until eventually Emile became an embodiment of essence.

Ten.

[Soul Core Status: Error]

[Error]

[Error]

[Investigating…]

[Error]

[Investigating…]

[Cause: Host's body has absorbed too much essence]

[Solution: Burn #di29its#+]

Emile vanished from his spot next to Roy and instantaneously arrived behind the smiling monster.

With his hands glowing white, he grabbed the monster's shoulder and squeezed. Instantly, the creature's shoulder blade shattered under the pressure.

Its lips parted and a siren exploded from the monster's vocal chords, but Emile drowned the noise out, in fact, Emile couldn't hear anything.

All he can hear is the burning of essence in his ears and the crackling of light as it erupted through his skin.

The creature's body started to dematerialize, dissolving into a black mist that joined with the wind. Emile pulled his hand back, off the creature's broken shoulder, and placed his palm on its still materialized back.

Emile's palm ignited and a brilliant source of light erased the black mist completely. The creature buckled under the light, it coughed up a mouthful of thick, black blood; clearly damaged from its failed attempt at escaping.

Emile opened his mouth to speak, but to the rest of the world, an apparition of light merely stood unmoving.

The light in his palm instantly disappeared and for a moment, time seemed to stop. The world was quiet and calm, and for the first time in centuries a radiant light kissed the sky.

"Grow—" Emile said, his voice warped and distorted by the essence particles that invaded his voice box.

Immediately, countless transparent roots shot out of Emile's palm. In a matter of seconds, the roots grew two-fold, then three-fold, until each individual root grew thicker than tree trunks and harder than steel.

The roots wrapped around the creature, encasing it in a see through cocoon. Within, the rainbow-like veins penetrated the creature's black skin and swam inside its body.

While the veins ravaged the creature's form, Emile stepped away and turned to look at Blood. He was limp on the floor, his eyes still glued to where Emile last stood.

Blood slowly dribbled out of his mouth and his hands slowly curled up into fists, his body was already stiffening. Emile knelt beside him, still radiating light, and placed his ear against Blood's chest.

Although a hole currently shredded Blood's chest apart and his ribs were visible, his heart shouldn't have been pierced.

With his ear to his chest, Emile closed his eyes and listened. Past the sound of burning essence and the uncontrollable shrieks from within the cocoon, Emile heard a weak, yet constant flow of liquid.

Blood was flowing somewhere within Blood, whether it was the gushing of an open wound or the pumping of his heart, Emile wasn't sure.

He pulled away, ultimately unsure if Blood could be saved. With nothing to lose, however, Emile leaned over and placed his forehead against Blood's.

His essence surged into Blood, inflating him like a balloon. His skin reddened, his complexion returned, and his temperature started to rise.

Emile felt a hand grab his shoulder along with a minor pressure pulling him further down. Since he knew it was Blood's arm, Emile lowered his head and allowed Blood to guide him.

Emile's head was pulled down and pushed outward, then two hands grabbed Emile's skull and held it in place. Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted from Emile's neck and he felt his strength rapidly diminish.

Opening his eyes, he watched as his body flickered on and off as the light struggled to remain ablaze. He cast a glance at the cocoon and the creature entrapped within, but looking at it now, the creature was gone and a dark purple bloom replaced it.

Now, within the cocoon, stood a large purple flower. The flower had five petals, each sparkling like the stars in the sky. It remained within the cocoon, but the cocoon continued to grow into the Pearl Bell tree Emile was familiar with.

A loud crash emerged from Emile's right and as he tried to move his neck to look, Blood's grip tightened beyond human limits.

"Is he okay?" Willow asked, she of course being responsible for the crash beside them.

"I don't know —" Emile asked, "but stay vigilant. The creature released some sort of siren earlier, I'm afraid we won't have time to rest."

"What do you want me to do?" Willow asked.

"Go up on the wall and watch the forest, inform me if you see anything."

Willow easily hopped onto the wall and gazed into the miasma. Not a moment later, she turned back around and started to speak once more:

"Spright?"

"Yeah?"

"They're coming."

"How many?"

"All of them."