Tyrus sat among the exposed roots of the dead Tree while a faint green haze gathered around him and disappeared into his skin.
He had not intended to come this far into the remains.
The escort assigned to guide him had remained near the marked safe route while Tyrus followed several surviving roots deeper toward the Tree's central mass and the Giant it had fed on. What began as another round of sample collection gradually carried him farther into sections that had survived the bombardment well enough to preserve their internal structure.
The residue around the corpse had been faint since Hans removed the enormous fragment. That changed when Tyrus's body reacted to it.
He tried to leave once the pressure began gathering, but his body turned heavy before he managed more than a few steps. Energy that had been spread thin through the dead roots began drawing toward him instead.
Returning to the samples was no longer the problem but leaving was.
"What bad luck."
