“Okay, I get it.” Rosario tried again. “You… we… can command other beings that appear in the Convergence, but…” she bit her lips. “There are too many contradictions: I’m in this Convergence too, but you never tried to control me. You can only control people when they’re not in the Convergence and through the parasite, which sounds more like finding an alternative to a problem you couldn’t solve. And now you show me you can control behemoths. Does that mean it’s only human beings that you can’t control directly? And what about monsters? You control the small offshoot but not the plant. Is it because of their size?”

Cornwell finally nodded. “Much better. You see, it becomes more complicated when creatures have even a rudimentary nervous system, and even more when they possess a sense of self, but I believe with some practice it should be possible.”

That explained why he could not control the workers from the power facility after they had set themselves to attack her, even if it was through the parasite. This mental invasion likely caused the nervous damage she heard the fishermen describe outside the tavern. Cornwell wasn’t as powerful as she initially feared he was, but she had to give him credit for being resourceful.

Meanwhile, the mayor turned his attention back to the roots of the nearest behemoth, and focused for a moment before closing the hand he extended at it into a fist. The roots rapidly contracted, shrinking their way towards the massive tree that stood on the ridge of the mountain, which shriveled and died shortly after. It seemed to have required some effort on his part because he took a few deep breaths before approaching the roots of the next behemoth and repeating the process.

Watching from a distance, Rosario took back any ideas she had about him not being powerful: felling a behemoth was a monumental task that required dozens of people, and many of whom would end up injured or worse because of the proximity of crystals. She herself had taken part in several of those expeditions in the early years that followed the Great Collapse. And now, in the time it took her to put her thoughts together, he killed two and was going for a third.

“I believe this will be the end of our lessons,” Cornwell announced. “I’m running out of time and still need to finish weeding,” he said after finishing off another behemoth.

As he walked deeper inside the tunnel, Rosario noticed a movement past the mountain. She forced her sight to go past the rocks and into the valley, to the monster forest where thousands of cocoons hung from the branches. The creatures inside twisted and scratched, trying to get out, and some were already climbing their way down to the forest floor.

Rosario’s eyes widened when the realization struck her: while the crystals on the behemoths that surrounded the valley were not potent enough to kill the monster forest, their presence had stalled the growth of the cocoons. Cornwell was now causing the roots of the behemoths to retract, making some crystals on them fragment and shatter against the rocks. This sudden outburst of crystal particles, followed by a lower presence of such in the area, was waking up the crawlers and making them hatch all at once. She whirled around to see Cornwell reach for a black root, the kind that grew the red crystals.

“Stop!” she yelled, and he looked at her over his shoulder. “The monsters are hatching and… don’t you know what that behemoth does? The crystals it produces, they can—”

“I am well aware of what it does. After all, I created the dark behemoths.”

“That’s impossible…”

“Did you seriously think this miraculous red crystal that defies all logic could just conveniently happen? Here, in this place, lying there for us to use?” He now sounded irritated, and Rosario wasn’t sure if the anger was directed at her or himself. After taking care of the behemoth, he closed his eyes and extended both arms towards one side of the valley. Rosario thought she felt the storm again, although it only lasted for a split second. The next thing she saw was a long stretch of mountain where all the behemoths had died. For the first time since he brought her into the Convergence, she saw Cornwell use his crutch for support.

“You know, this monster forest appeared shortly after the Collapse,” he said after a moment of heavy breathing. “We tried everything: cutting, burning, but not even the strongest refined crystals would kill them. But I had to do something, so I planted as many behemoths as I could around the valley to stall the growth of the monster oaks, while I taught myself to control behemoths and fine-tuned their metabolism. My idea was to create a behemoth that produced a crystal strong enough to kill the monsters. I could never get that far unless I also made the crystals deadly for non-mutated life, but as soon as I developed some prototypes, I shared the new crystals with the smiths, so they could begin working on them as I further refined my behemoths.”

“You gave the red crystal to Old Man Fritz?”

He nodded. “He is an excellent asset. Perhaps losing his mind the first time he reached the Convergence was a blessing in disguise for him. Sometimes I think it would be easier if that were the only outcome. Anyway, after I realized I was only wasting everyone’s time, I’ve been gradually removing the behemoths, and the result is what you see now.”

“You’ve been synchronizing their growth…” Rosario didn’t understand. He had done something incredible. When did that intent turn into orchestrating the destruction of the same town he helped rebuild? She inadvertently covered her mouth with her hand: she had accidentally ruined his plan by finding the forest and telling the smiths about it.

“Correct.” He said and turned around, then stretched out a hand, ready to wither the behemoths on the other side of the valley.

Rosario didn’t hold back anymore and ran towards the mayor. According to his story and what she heard from Leonie and Emilia the day before, he might have had good intentions in the past, but it was clear that at some point during the last years, he had gone insane. Not knowing what else to do to stop him, she attempted to push him. The mayor, however, dodged her effortlessly and, with a quick movement of his hand, flicked her in the head.

At that moment, Rosario felt thorns piercing through her skin; hundreds of them, not stopping and going deeper, overwhelming her to the point she couldn’t even scream. Cornwell had told her that touching someone in the Convergence was harmful, and she had seen the effect on Stefan, but now she understood it firsthand. It wasn’t even pain. It was fear. One so primeval it took over every fiber of her body, freezing her muscles and paralyzing her lungs.

She bent over and collapsed to the ground while the thorns relentlessly dug further, threatening to pierce through a lifetime of memories and emotions, held together only by an unstable surface tension that was about to pop like a soap bubble. She understood that if he wanted, the mayor could finish what he started, and all she could do was gasp for air and shiver.

“Don’t try my patience,” the mayor warned before walking away to resume his task of ridding the valley of behemoths.

 

*****

 

Convinced that the headache was gone, and feeling numb and cold after lying on the ground for so long, Stefan stood up and looked at the window. The frame was gone, but the metal bars were still in place, and the leaves of some ornamental bush were visible past them. He leaped at the window again, held onto the metal bars and with one hand tried to push away the bushes that covered the window, but he couldn’t even see past them. He called for help, but a moment passed and nothing happened. His arms ached, and he jumped back inside the room.

Frustration turned into anger, and he began banging on the wooden door and then kicking it, screaming to be let out, but not even a sound came from the other side. How long were they going to leave him there? Angrily, he punched the wall in frustration.

“You need to keep a cool head in situations like this,” said a female voice behind his back.                                                                                                       

He turned around and saw Leonie waving from the other side of the barred window.

Her hands went to one of the bars, which she began unscrewing. It chirred, as if rusty, but eventually came out of its place. The gap was wide enough for Stefan to pass through, and Leonie smiled as she made him a gesture to get out.

“You really are lucky, you know?” she said as Stefan crawled out of the narrow window. “I had an errand to run here at the castle, but no one seems to be here. It took me a while to find someone who had a key, and the place looks deserted for some reason. I was passing by when your screams almost gave me a heart attack,” she laughed.

Stefan crawled out, observing that beyond the bushes was a small lawn. A walkway went across, leading to the chapel and a small garden that ended at the castle walls. Leonie then put the bar back in place and gestured for him to go with her behind the chapel.

“When I was a student, this is, before the Collapse,” she continued. “I had a weekend job showing tourists around. This trick with the window bar never failed to surprise them. I don’t know why they installed it that way; maybe the owners were being cautious in case they ended up trapped in their own basement.” She winked at him. “But it’s meant to be secret, so don’t tell anyone.”

Stefan knew she intended to lighten the mood, but he was so worried about Franzi and Rosario that he couldn’t bring himself to even smile. Leonie sat on the steps of the side entrance of the chapel and invited him to do the same.

“Alright, Stefan. That’s your name, right?” continued the guard, now in a more serious tone. He nodded. “I want to know what’s the story you guys are hiding. I already know about the cocoons in the valley; I went there this morning.”

“We didn’t mean to hide it!” he responded, worried the guard had the wrong idea. “We came to the town to warn everyone, but Rosario said she wanted to speak to the mayor first so there wouldn’t be a panic.”

“That’s fine. I’m not blaming you for not telling me. And don’t worry, I already warned my colleagues and everyone’s on alert.”

“But… how did you know where to look?”

“I took the liberty of checking inside your camper at the shop and found an old laminated map from the tourism office in Wimmis. That was a village near the entrance to the Valley of the Simme, so I went to look around. You guys left an easy trail to follow, so it didn’t take me long to retrace your path and find the forest.”

Stefan remembered how he and Franziska had used crystals to burn the vegetation that covered the abandoned rail line and road. The path would have been, indeed, easy to see.

“So, how did you end up locked up?” Leonie continued. “Night in town got rowdy?”

The boy shook his head. “I don’t know. Rosario and two of the smiths went to talk with the mayor this morning. She didn’t come back at the time we agreed on, and then guards came looking for me and my sister. She managed to escape, but I don’t know if they captured her later.”

Leonie had a serious expression. “So the mayor was warned, but no one notified the guard…” she muttered.

“I think they don’t want the town to know,” said Stefan. “I think some people are being controlled. You see, we found something else…”

Stefan explained about the monster plant that produced the parasitic offshoots. He told about Rosario’s encounter with it at the power facility, as well as the attack which left their vehicle in bad shape, and then the information Franziska found in the book.

“A parasite that can control people’s behavior?” said Leonie in disbelief after he finished.

“I’m telling you the truth!”

“I believe you. It’s just…” At that moment, they heard the sound of a distant bell, which was suddenly followed by other bells across the town. The guard stood up. “I have to go.”

“What?”

“That bell means our scouts saw monsters in the vicinity,” she clenched her fists. “I didn’t think it would happen so soon but. With our luck, it might as well be the swarm, and with the possibility of traitors among us, I need to be up there,” she pointed towards the upper end of the bay and the town, towards the double wall behind which lay the buffer zone, loaded with expansive crystal bombs.

“Wait! Please help me find Rosario! She must be somewhere here in the castle!”

“I already looked, and there is no one in the castle; they must have gone somewhere else. But look, your mom… teacher, can look after herself. What you have to do now is go to the docks and get on an escape boat.”

Stefan stopped her. “Let me go with you.”

“Stop playing, kid—”

“I mean it! If my sister is still out there, then she probably went to get help at the smithy. You’re going in the same direction, so let me go with you. I promise I won’t bother you.”

 

 *****