Adventure of Tuiwen 2

The arch blooms violet, and the frost-white halo curdles into a pulsing stain. The trees around Rhosgobel groan, bending toward the hedge as if listening. The Forest Warden slumps hard to the earth, his wounded arm flaring with the same dark thread.

Tuiwen’s light gathers at the center of the dark, steady and bright against the violet press. The snare hesitates, like a beast caught in a circle of fire.

The thread in the Warden’s arm tightens, then loosens a fraction under the wash of light. The arch trembles, and its glow begins to thin at the edges, revealing a seam to strike.

Tuiwen’s blade flares white-hot, light running along the metal like living fire. She drives the glowing edge into the dark cord and cuts through it in a single stroke.

The tether snaps back from the Warden’s arm, smoking at the cut. Violet light inside the arch shudders and gutters, losing its grip on the seam.

The Warden jerks as the dark thread beneath his skin loosens, then slackens. He gasps and sags forward, the pressure on him breaking at last.

The archway’s violet glow thins to a trembling line, and the forest leans in around Rhosgobel, waiting for the next cut.

Tuiwen drives the blade in again, this time into the trembling seam itself. White fire bites the stone, and the arch gives with a dry crack.

The violet flicker inside the archway bursts outward, then tears open. Black sap and dust spray across the roots as the hidden bind finally splits.

Inside the arch, the shape jerks apart and loses its hold. The seam widens into a broken wound, no longer whole enough to cling to the warden.

The Forest Warden slumps free at last, the dark branch-thread beneath his skin going still. His knees hit the ground beside the hedge.

The cut bites back at Tuiwen’s palm through the hilt, and a sting of heat runs up her arm. Above them, the forest leans closer to Rhosgobel, listening.