Book 5 - Chapter 12 - Further Explorations (2/2)

At first glance not a lot stood out about this specimen, except for the threads of cobalt blue that lined its stem. The strange addition made it beautiful to look upon, and strands of mycelium swayed from the edges of its cap like fingers.

This mushroom was a little separate from others of similar size. Instead the floor was blanketed with a carpet of tiny mushrooms they grew close like blades of grass. Some patches grew a little taller, roughly the size of bushes, which had attracted this small animal.

Cloudhawk and Hellflower sneaked closer, observing the creature as it nibbled on the mushrooms. They were overjoyed. These were the ones they were looking for. Of course they would need to be collected and tested before anyone ate them. These were alien fungi, after all, and who knew if they were somehow poisonous to humans. The two prepared to collect samples.

But Hellflower stopped after only a moment when a premonition washed over her. She glanced up. “Look at the big mushroom!”

Cloudhawk followed her eyes and saw that the towering fungus had changed. Small, delicate arcs of electricity had appeared along the threads of blue and were dancing across the mushroom’s length.

The small animal, always vigilant, felt the disturbance immediately. It spun around to try and flee, but the mushroom tree was faster. Tendrils of electricity gathered along its stem, coalescing into thick bolts then lashing out.

The critter couldn’t escape. The lightning struck it and caused it to explode. A shower of blood and gore spattered through the area.

Cloudhawk and Hellflower watched in horror as the small mushrooms drank up the carnage like sponges. Blood, bone, even the creature’s scales were swallowed up in a few short moments. Then everything was calm – like that sudden gruesome scene had never occurred. Even those mushrooms nibbled by the animal regrew in a matter of seconds.

Staring up at the tree, Cloudhawk muttered to himself. “The damn thing can attack.”

“I suspect these small mushrooms are actually part of the large one. It uses its bioelectric stores to attack anything that tries to eat it. A cunning trap. Once it snares a prey, the mushrooms uses the remains to replenish its electric reserves.”

Fascinating…

Cloudhawk was interested, but it wasn’t totally out of the ordinary. Even the world he came from had strange and deadly things like this. While he’d never seen an electric mushroom before, he was accustomed to encounter all sorts of weird things. Since the electric blast hadn’t seemed too powerful it didn’t shock him all that much.

Everywhere had its own unique ecosystem, this wasteland and his own were no different. So long as things lived there were always predators and prey.

Handling a plant like this wasn’t a problem. Cloudhawk extracted an exorcist bow from his dimensional pocket, took aim, and fired. The mushroom was huge, its fibers strong as steel, but after five or six shots it succumbed to his attacks.

In the instant the main body of the mushroom died, its smaller versions began to wither.

Hellflower quickly collected as many spores as she could from the folds beneath the mushroom caps. Once she returned home and grew a couple samples, they’d be able to tell if these mushrooms were indeed edible. Who knows? Perhaps they could also serve as defensive structures. Planting these around Greenland City’s borders might detract invaders.

“It went well this time!” Cloudhawk was well pleased with the results of this outing.

“We shouldn’t be happy with just this,” Hellflower retorted. “Since we’re here, we should try to explore the ruins again. Hopefully we can grab some of those strange spirit creatures and bring them back for study. I must admit, I’m very interested in such strange lifeforms. I anticipate they can teach us something about demonhunters.”

Even if Hellflower didn’t have an interest in those spirits, Cloudhawk himself was also curious about the ruins. He needed more relics for study and as material to practice repairs. Every piece was useful.

“Alright, let’s see what we can find.”

Cloudhawk had Oddball race off once again as their trailblazer. After a little while, it arrived at the scene and reported a large number of spirits milling around. The jellyfish-like things came in all shapes and sizes and floated listlessly among the rubble.

Hellflower referred to them as spirits for a specific reason. In their first encounter it was clear they were not made up of physical material. Rather they were a gathering of energy. Hellflower knew of no real creature that was able to survive without a corporeal body – other than spirits. It caused her researcher’s heart to itch with anticipation.

However, they had to remember that these ‘spirits’ were dangerous. Since Cloudhawk couldn’t fight very well, he had to rely on Oddball’s help. He had his small friend dash among the creatures and disperse as many as it could. Meanwhile, Cloudhawk surreptitiously teleported them into the heart of the ruins. They wasted no time searching for relics.

“This building up ahead looks strange.”

Hellflower pointed at the structure she meant, a large circular building nestled among the others.

Cloudhawk had seen it, too. It had clearly been ravaged by the passage of time, but it wasn’t as dilapidated as the others. Whatever it was made of had to be special in some way. Some unique steel, concrete or semi-precious stone. Something they’d never seen before.

“I know what this is!” Cloudhawk remembered something he saw in Skycloud that was very similar. “It’s a temple!”

Hellflower stared. She’d of course never had a chance to see it with her own eyes, but she had heard stories about Skycloud’s mystical seat of the gods. It was the core of the Elysian realm, the center of their faith, and the source of their power. Skycloud sprang into being only once the Temple was constructed, bequeathing the citizens with its mysteries.

It was incredible that they should find something like it here.

1. In fact, he has indeed . Tipsy sure has a thing against fungus..

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