NOVEL NEXT Chapter 87 - Roots
Fin barely had time to register the colossal wooden hand descending like the fist of an angry god before a slim, vine-like branch whipped around his waist with the fluid grace of a serpent. The living rope yanked him sideways with irresistible force, his boots leaving twin furrows in the packed earth as the air rushed past his face in a howling blur.
Before his spinning mind could fully process what had happened, he found himself crushed against someone's chest, enveloped in warmth and the intoxicating scent of citrus blossoms mixed with wild jasmine. The aroma was so rich and complex it made his head swim, layers of floral notes that seemed to shift and dance with each breath. He thrashed instinctively, but the arms holding him were like bands of living steel wrapped in silk, utterly unyielding despite their deceptive softness.
"Oh dear, I'm terribly sorry about that," came the chillingly sweet voice from above, now laced with genuine amusement that somehow made it even more dangerous. "I always forget my own strength when it comes to the particularly cute ones. Occupational hazard of being devastatingly powerful, I'm afraid."
Fin managed to squirm free enough to look up, and his breath caught in his throat like a fish gasping on dry land. The woman before him was breathtaking in the most literal sense, her skin held the warm, golden hue of wheat kissed by summer sun, while her eyes were the soft pink of cherry blossoms at dawn. Her hair cascaded to her waist in waves that seemed to shift color in the light, flowing from rose gold to deep coral like living flame. Her presence radiated vitality and danger in equal measure, beauty wrapped around a core of absolute lethality. Her smile was both inviting and haunting, promising either salvation or destruction depending entirely on her whims.
"Hel... Hello," Fin stammered, his face burning with embarrassment that he hoped could be attributed to the recent excitement rather than the effect of her proximity.
"Well hello there, little cutie," she replied, and he was surprised to see a faint blush color her perfect cheeks, as if his awkward greeting had somehow charmed her. "What might your name be, handsome?"
"Fin Aodh," he managed, forcing his voice to sound steadier than the earthquake currently happening in his chest.
"How lovely to meet you, Fin. I'm Kennedy Paynic." Her gaze flicked past him toward where Theron stood frozen in place, thoroughly pinned by thick roots that had erupted from the earth like grasping fingers. The wooden fist still loomed ominously above his great-grandfather, close enough to cast him in shadow. "It's quite unfortunate that you're related to that particular ignoramus over there."
Fin glanced back at Theron's predicament, wincing at the sight. "I've heard the story about what happened between you two. I have to say, I'm genuinely ashamed of his behavior. Please accept my sincere apologies on behalf of my family's apparently questionable moral standards."
Kennedy's laugh was like a gentle breeze through autumn leaves, musical and warm yet carrying an undertone of something wilder. "Handsome, reasonable, and capable of basic human decency. How remarkably rare for men of your bloodline, especially at such a tender age."
Fin's eyes darted nervously toward Theron, watching the massive fist inch closer with glacial but inexorable progress. "Um, could you possibly... let him go? I mean, eventually? Please?"
She laughed again, the sound somehow managing to be both innocent and wickedly amused. "Oh, don't you worry your pretty little head about him, sweet thing. I can barely scratch that ancient dragon's scales even when I'm really trying. This will just annoy him thoroughly and make me smile for the rest of the week. It's what we call a mutually beneficial arrangement."
Before Fin could formulate a protest, she grabbed his hand with warm, firm fingers and turned him toward a line of towering trees. "Come along, darling. Let me show you the city properly. Traveling with that fossil must be absolutely exhausting for someone with actual social skills."
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"You have absolutely no idea," Fin muttered under his breath, glancing down as the puppy scampered nervously at his heels, its fur still fluffed with residual panic.
They stepped through the treeline, and Fin's jaw dropped. He'd expected some ramshackle border settlement, all crooked wooden buildings and muddy streets, but what spread before him was nothing short of miraculous, a living city grown from the very heart of the ancient forest itself.
A towering wall of intricately woven branches encircled the settlement, their bark gleaming with veins of silver and gold that pulsed gently like a slow heartbeat. The buildings weren't constructed but rather coaxed from massive tree trunks, their living bark polished to mirror smoothness and glowing with soft bioluminescence that painted everything in warm, ethereal light. Shops and homes nestled within these arboreal giants like jewels set in living wood, their windows formed from natural knots that had been expanded and refined, their interiors lit by cascading curtains of luminescent vines that draped like fairy lights.
Walkways of twisted roots connected the various structures, swaying gently in the breeze as residents moved across them with the practiced ease of people born to this aerial dance.
"Better close that mouth of yours, hun," Kennedy teased, her pink eyes glinting with mischief. "You never know what might decide to fly right in."
Fin snapped his jaw shut with an audible click, though his eyes continued their wide-eyed survey of the impossible architecture. "How did you build this place? It's like something out of a fever dream designed by a particularly creative god."
She smirked, tossing her flowing hair over one shoulder with casual arrogance. "You think manifesting a giant wooden fist is the full extent of my capabilities? Oh, sweet summer child. I grew this entire settlement in about an hour, maybe two if you count the decorative touches."
"An hour?" Fin's voice cracked with disbelief, rising to nearly a squeak.
"Give or take," she replied with a casual shrug that suggested reshaping earth was as mundane as tending a garden. "I had to stop for lunch halfway through. Building cities works up quite an appetite." She winked at him. "I've got considerably more mana than most Tier Sixes, you understand. Though..." Her gaze sharpened suddenly, becoming penetrating and uncomfortably perceptive. "I'm sensing you've got quite a lot for your own Tier as well, even with that rather clever cloaking skill of yours."
Fin suppressed a shiver. Behind all that sweetness and casual flirtation lay the razor-sharp mind of a true predator, a Tier Six cultivator who had carved out her own kingdom in the wilderness and defended it for who knew how long.
"You might want to brace yourself, hun," Kennedy said suddenly, her voice taking on a more serious note that made the hair on the back of Fin's neck stand up.
"Brace myself for what exactly?" Fin glanced around frantically, searching for whatever new threat might be approaching.
A deafening explosion rocked the air behind them, the shockwave hitting like a physical wall that hurled Fin forward with irresistible force. He tumbled through the air in an undignified tangle of limbs, crashing directly into a solid, distinctly man-shaped figure that caught him. Looking up through dust-clouded vision, he met familiar blue eyes that mirrored his own but were currently laced with considerable annoyance.
Theron stood there covered head to toe in wood splinters and stone dust, his cloak reduced to little more than decorative rags hanging from his shoulders. Despite his thoroughly disheveled appearance, he set Fin carefully on the ground.
"Nice catch, old man," Fin said, brushing debris from his clothes while the puppy materialized at his side, yipping with renewed terror.
Theron snorted, attempting to dust off his ruined cloak with limited success. "That woman's got one hell of a swing, I'll give her that much. Haven't been hit that hard in decades."
Kennedy sauntered past them both, her laugh carrying like wind chimes in a gentle breeze. "Welcome to Paynic's Hidden Village, gentlemen. Do try not to frighten the locals with any more explosive dramatics." Her tone was light and welcoming, but the underlying threat was as sharp as a blade between the ribs.
Theron gave Fin an enthusiastic thumbs-up, his grin completely undimmed by his recent battering, and strode after her as if tanking castle-sized wooden fists was simply another mundane activity. Fin muttered something uncomplimentary under his breath about idiotic ancestors and their catastrophically poor life choices.
The puppy barked at him before circling around his legs begging to be picked up.
"You and me both, buddy," he sighed to the trembling puppy, scratching its ears soothingly as they followed in the wake of the two most dangerous people he'd ever met.