Esther stood rigid in the doorway of Madam Chinwe's greenhouse, illuminated by the sickly luminescence of the overgrown vines. The air was thick, humid, and vibrating with an unnatural energy that made the silver bloom pulse hotly against her sternum.
Fortune stepped out of the shadows, looking oddly at home amongst the strange, exotic flora. His pale skin and dark silk seemed stark against the emerald green of the leaves.
"You knew I would come here," Esther stated, her voice shaking slightly, but determined not to show panic.
"Of course," Fortune replied, a lazy smile touching his lips. "The human need for answers is the most compelling lure. And where else would a botanist hide the key to a biological curse but in her garden? I simply followed the scent of the silver."
He gestured around the chaotic space. Strange, oversized flowers with velvet petals drooped from the ceiling. A section of the glasshouse held a controlled environment—a terrarium where a single, delicate plant with leaves the color of oxidized copper grew, its core glowing faintly.
"Your grandmother, Madam Chinwe, was a formidable adversary," Fortune conceded, admiring the copper plant. "She was trying to create a counter-agent. Something that could act as a permanent, stable energy source for the Nkpume Ọdịnala—the Foundation Stone—thereby freeing the Keeper and the wolves simultaneously."
"What is that?" Esther asked, pointing at the glowing copper plant.
"That, my dear, is the Folium Aethel. The Eternal Leaf. She cultivated it from a single ancient seed, drawing on the energies of the Stone itself to sustain it. But it wasn't stable enough, was it? The energy transfer was too slow. She needed a catalyst—a power source strong enough to force the bloom."
Fortune stepped toward the central workbench, which was littered with old texts and dried plant matter. "She knew that silver was a crucial conduit. Not just a shield, but a stabilizer. The silver bloom necklace is meant to channel the life force away from you, the Keeper, and into the Eternal Leaf, so that the plant could reach its full power without draining you."
Esther realized the horrible risk. "So if I stayed with Samuel, the necklace would activate, and the Stone would start pulling my energy to stabilize his Change, and the silver would shunt that energy into the plant."
"Precisely," Fortune confirmed, picking up a heavy, engraved silver mortar and pestle. "A beautiful, painful transference. The wolf protects you because he needs you, but the silver protects you from his need, trying to save both of you through botanical means."
"So you came here to destroy the plant," Esther concluded.
Fortune laughed, a cold, sharp sound. "No. I came to accelerate it. If the Eternal Leaf blooms before it's stable, it creates an enormous, chaotic surge of raw magical energy. It would overload the Foundation Stone, shattering the wolf pack's control and freeing the city's power for the Shadow."
He lifted the silver mortar, aiming it directly at the terrarium. "And you, Esther, the living core of the Stone's power, are the perfect catalyst to force that final, catastrophic bloom."