The elemental advanced, and I noticed something. Where my attack had split it, the internal structure was visible for just a moment before the flames sealed it over. Vines. Charred wood. And at the very center, something that looked almost like a seed pod, glowing with that same crimson light.
Core. It had a core.
Kill the core, kill the monster. Basic Gate logic.
Problem: the core sat buried inside a walking furnace that could melt my bat and my face in approximately equal measure.
I looked at Celeste, who could barely stand. At the tunnel behind the elemental, our only escape route. At the carved symbols on the walls that were still glowing with that silver light.
Wait. The symbols.
I'd seen similar markings in the river chamber. The First Tree had them too. They were part of the Garden's foundation, the underlying structure that predated even the Arborist's collection.
And they were reacting to our presence.
"Cel. Those carvings. Can you freeze them?"
