Dennis Yahjo
Yahjo farm
“George, come on! We gotta get going!” I screamed back into the cabin. Promptly, I heard a thud followed by what sounded like someone scrambling to get their things. God, that boy does not know how to get up on time for anything, does he? I even told him how to work and use that alarm spell, yet he never wakes up to it.
“Coming!” I heard him scream back, I knew it was going to take a while so I leaned against the cabin, right beside the door. As I waited, I decided to double check that I have everything I will need for the trip, “Let’s see here,” I took off my pack and opened up the top. “Wand, sword, rope, machete, bread, water bladder, and… that’s it.” it wasn't a very long list, but it was everything I would need for the trip. Considering that it would take all day; I might have been mad about that like twenty years ago, but throughout the years I have come to like the hikes, now, they are really the only part about these herb gathering trips that I actually enjoy.
As I was pondering the implications of what my growth has turned me into, which was a better version of my father. I saw something run past me, so fast whoever it was, was a blur. But I know who it was immediately, I followed with my eyes to where the blur went to, to see George sprinting into the forest. “Come on, slowpoke! We need to get the hike started!” He shouted back while waving his hand.
I'm going to kill this fucking kid.
…
Dennis Yahjo
Edge of the forest
“Hey, come on, I’m not as fast as I used to be.” All this yelling combined with the running was starting to make me dizzy. Oh, god, this kid is going to get the beating of a lifetime when I catch up to him. Eventually he finally let up and decided to slow down to let me catch up, but not before soaking in all that sweet juicy pride of being faster than his dad. “There you are,” I said, now walking beside him. “For starters, you need to learn how to wake up on time, kid.”
He gave me a small smile, “Whatever do you mean? Don’t you remember you having to catch up to me?” he ended his sentence with a small smirk, all the while, sealing his death sentence.
“Oh, yeah, you seem to have forgotten you scrambling to get out the door. here, let me jog your memory.” unbeknownst to him, I had been sneaking up behind him and finally pounced, pulling the kid into a headlock; I gave him the best noogie ever, well for me that is, for him it was much different. The noogie scruffed up his hair even more than what it already was to begin with. I eventually released the giggling child from my ironclad headlock and unforgiving noogie. With that over, I playfully punched him on his shoulder. “Come on, now, at this rate, the sun's going to have set by the time we get back.”
…
Narrator
Forest Glade, 20 miles down the trail
In the sky, about 15 feet from the ground, something strange started to appear. First it was just some static, followed by some anomalous gas that started to form a cloud. Lightning strikes start erupting from the small, cloud going every which way. Until, a piece of lightning no bigger than a sword, materializes out of thin air. Unlike the surrounding lightning, this one lasted a lot more than a split second. The lightning itself seemed to literally take the shape of a sword, and when it fully assumed the full form of a sword, it began to move down. As the sword went, the space it left in its wake opened, forming a literal rip in the fabric of reality itself. Eventually, the tear opened up, taking a form similar to that of an eye, just sideways. After a good few seconds the sword disappeared, and something started to come out of the tear.
Directly on the other side of the tear, something came out resembling that of a human. As soon as the person stepped through the portal, though, they were immediately sliced up into thousands of tiny fleshy chunks. All of it grossly sploshing into a pile on the ground below.
Then everything changed, lightning ceased, the stormcloud disappeared, and it all seemed over. Save for the one thing left, the revolting pile of goop on the grass. Though, no blood could be seen coming out of the pile. Instead, a strange, black, viscous liquid slowly started to seep out from the pile of meat. This liquid spelled death for the surrounding plants, turning them brown and shriveled upon contact.
As the black substance spread, the more plants it touched, the more it seemed to get bigger, and faster. As the black goo expanded, it started to make a shape; a shape similar to that of a tree trunk.
…
Dennis Yahjo
The forest, 10 miles away from the cabin
“I think it would be more beneficial if we were to mix the herbs we sell for tea with a bit of thalmial root.” George stated, plainly. Him and I have been arguing about this and that for the past few hours now, and this new conversation would end no different than the others, with me winning and shutting up the kid. “You are just thinking about the general math, yes, we could set a section of the farm off for growing thalmial plant. Yes, we could add the root to the medicinal herbs we sell giving them a better taste. And yes, it would get people to like our herbs more and want tea more; but you need to think outside of the box, first, thalmial root is a drug, one that is not banned but is looked down on in the capital, second, even if we did sell the herbs with the root, what about in the winter? The thalmial plant is a summer plant that usually dies in the winter, so we will not be able to sell our winter herbs with the root. If we sell herbs in the summer with root and in the winter without the root then we would loose customers during the winter which we need the same or even more customers during the winter. Also that root is banned in some of the stores we sell herbs to so we would loose some of our longtime customers.”
He didn’t say much about that, just some angry grunts. It's always been funny to me, watching kids develop their arguments as they grow up. First when they are around 9 or 10 they start their arguments with just a statement that cannot stand against any scrutiny. Then it slowly is able to hold against light scrutiny and more and more until he wins his first argument. That will be a very sad day, but… a happy one as well. To see my boy finally grow up? Ah, that would be nice.
...
Dennis Yahjo
The Forest, just outside of a forest glade
“Dad, how much farther do we have?” George said in an exasperated tone. I was waiting for him at the top of a hill and he had just finished making it up, and we were both huffing and puffing. “Yeah, in fact, the trees should be more and more sparse from here on.” I looked up as I said that, trying to see if I could spot some good herb growing spots. This forest has always been a magic rich place, and even more so in the clearing we are heading to. No one knows why, but monsters always steer clear of this section of the forest, thus allowing for more fragile and rare plant and herb species to exist, and honestly flourish here.
My theory is that this part of the forest is somehow alive, and it does not like creatures that have bad intentions, like destroying an ecosystem or eating it’s inhabitants, how it gets rid of them is still a mystery.
I think it allows us to come through here because all we do is pick some of the herbs that are getting overpopulated, thus allowing for a predator to the plants.
Now, of course there are some herbivores that come here and eat the plants, but they always eat every plant they see, over-populate themselves, and the forest has to step in. Me on the other hand, I have always made sure to leave enough plants to have them grow back, so the forest turns a blind eye.
“Dad, I can see it!” George said, pointing ahead. I followed his vision to see the trees clearing out into the forest glade.
“Ah, so we have arrived,” I said with pride. I found this place about a decade ago, and I am still extremely thankful that I did. As we continue walking, the rest of the glade began to take its form. It's a fairly large open space, with a small cave system, and a lake in it. The perfect place for herbs to grow. “Alright, George, you go off to the east side, ald I’ll go to the west, meet back here in an hour.” I looked off to the side I was going to pick, noticing the wall of a hill that blocked the view from the rest of the glade.
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“Alright, see yo-” I grabbed his arm before he can run off or finish his sentence. “Before you do that, remember, don’t over pick the herbs, leave at least half of the plants there.” He reached up and tapped his finger to his head in a way to indicate he knew, satisfied, I let go and he went off.
…
Dennis Yahjo
Forest Glade
“Where are they?” I asked myself. Every place I looked, I found nothing but grass. For the past ten minutes I have found nothing, no herbs, and no edible plants (besides grass). In some places I didn’t even find grass, just dirt. Something else I noticed, there was about half the usual amount of magic in everything, even in the air for some reason. This should not be possible, the forest usually gets rid of anything and everything that will cause or could cause harm to it. Unless… something appeared that was able to overpower the forest.
“George! Ge-orge!” I yelled out, with cupped hands. A few seconds later I heard him. “Coming!” I watched as he rounded a ill and stopped about ten feet form me. “Yeah, dad?”
“Hey, have you found any herbs over there?”
I asked hastily. “Y-Yeah, I was able to find an herb, a junico mushroom, but it was almost dead.”
“What do you mean, was it pulled out of the ground?” He gave me a puzzled look.
“No it was still rooted, it was just all shriveled up.”
I looked down, “Poison, maybe?” I said under my breath. “It seems to be targeting the mana rich herbs and then going on to the grass and trees.” As I was thinking, I caught the glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye. Something black, and shiny enough to reflect some sunlight. I continued to look in that direction before I saw it again. “What is that?” I said, pointing at the thing. George turned around to try and see what I was pointing at.
“Looks like a rock.” He said, before turning back to me and excitedly saying; “Let's check it out!” George ran ahead of me towards the object, me on the other hand, I walked (I'm getting too old to run now). As we got closer, I was able to see more and more detail about the strange thing.
“It kinda looks like a root.” George said. when I knelt down next to it, and I got a better look, it really did look like a root. Even having some different branches going off into different directions. It was also really shiny, shinier than even obsidian but black as coal. As I studied the root more and more, it became apparent that this thing was not natural, and it was most definitely the cause of the lack of flora. Just looking around the root proved that, with all the dirt and lack of any vegetation or life within a hundred feet of the thing. Something else as well, the root had pushed the ground up so far you can see where it goes and where it comes from.
“George, you studied with those mages at the academy about plant identification, right? Do you know what this is?”
He shook his head. “They never mentioned anything like this. But... this might be a cursed tree.” He added.
“It… might, lets see the actual tree first though.” I pointed up towards the direction the root was going in and he agreed.
As we walked, we saw more and more of the landscape turn barren and lifeless, as the magic in the air slowly thinned more and more until eventually there was nothing but air. As we rounded the last hill, we finally saw where the root was leading. We looked down to see a crater, with a giant black tree dead in the center.
“What is that?” I asked.
“I-I Don’t know, I studied every book in the academy about plants, I should be able to identify each and every plant in the known existence.” I was frozen, something that was new, something that even the students and staff of the academy don’t know about. Something like that is dangerous. “Keep by my side, and take out a paper. Write down every detail of this tree that you can. I’ll send it to the academy, see if they actually know about it or if they just didn’t teach you about it for one reason or another.” God, I was starting to get light headed, the lack of magic in anything around me is sickening.
...
ATLAS
Inside the crater
Warning: Two Entities Approaching, 4 Meters, And Closing.
Identification: Humanoids, Genetically Similar To Humans.
Current Threat Level: Low-None.
Translation Unit: Operational And Applicable
...
Dennis Yahjo
Inside the crater
“There’s something going on inside of it.” I say pressing my ear to the ‘bark’ of the ‘tree’.
“What does it sound like?” George asks, while writing furiously on a piece of paper.
“It…sounds… I guess it's kinda similar to clockworks? With a bit of moving liquid mixed in.” It really is hard to pin a certain sound on it. “Wait…” I moved from the ‘trunk’ to one of the many ‘roots’ going to the main body. “Yeah, in here the sound of rushing water is more apparent, but it would not be accurate to say water… more like… rushing mud.” George gave me an awkward look.
“Mud?”
I returned a confirming nod, “Yeah, whatever is flowing is slower, and more viscous than water.” I decided to get back up so I didn’t have to hear that gut churning sound anymore. What a weird tree.
“Try swinging your sword at it.” George offered.
“Yeah, I was kind of wondering how tough this thing is myself.” I reached to my side and grabbed the small sword I always bring with me for protection and cutting plants. “Here we go.” I got into a good position and swung at the root with all my might.
...
ATLAS
Inside the crater
Warning: Particle Group 13.14x109 Has Been Damaged. Structural Integrity: 99.99%
TIME UNTIL REPAIR: 1.318 MICRO-SEC.
UPDATED THREAT LEVEL: Low
...
Dennis Yahjo
Inside the crater
TINGGG!
“Gahh, Goddamn!” I let go of the sword, the blade clanged down past the roots and hit the ground with a thud. The impact went directly into my hands, and it hurts like a bitch. I looked down at the 'root' and, nothing, not even a scratch. I wiped my hand along it, and it was as smooth and unaffected as if I had not just swung at the thing full force.
“Wow!” I heard George say behind me. “The sword even gave off a few sparks!” He excitedly stated while scribbling down even more notes. I reached down and grabbed the sword, ignoring his rude statement about the quality of the blade. As I examined the sword, I noticed a new blemish on it. A big one at that, obviously from my attempt to damage the ‘tree’. I sighed, realizing how much it’ll cost to repair the sword. “So,” George started before trailing off. “So, this tree sucks up the magic around it, it has some kind of weird clockworky/watery sound coming from it, it is hard enough to damage a blade swung at it and suffer no damage itself?”
I looked at him while rubbing my hand, “Yeah, that's about it thus far.”
He looked at me, then to the tree, then back at me. “Well, one thing I still would like to know, is where did such a tree come from? It doesn't seem related to anything around here, and I have never seen or heard of anything like it.”
Almost on cue, when he finished the sentence, the ground began to shake.
...
ATLAS
Inside the crater
421.04 WATTS OF ENERGY REQUIRED FOR COMPLETE BODILY RECONSTRUCTION.
1 MIN UNTIL COMPLETE BODILY RECONSTRUCTION.
...
Dennis Yahjo
Inside the crater
Something weird happened then, first it started with some rumbling, then it was immediately followed by a loud boom as the ground around the base of the ‘tree’ shifted. “What was that?” I said looking around confused. When George pointed to something. Coming from the ‘tree’ another ‘root’ had been created. I could tell because of the way the ground now looked, to the side of the ‘tree’ the ground was looser and raised much higher than before, traveling in a line to who knows where.
“J-Just what the hell is this thing?” I asked with genuine fear, If this thing continues to grow, who knows what will happen, it might engulf the entire city in a blanket of indestructible roots. It might even spell the disaster of the entire realm. There is just too many variables here to keep track of, we need to get out of here and warn the state.
“George, come on, were leaving!.” I ushered him to come along hastily. But he did nothing, he just stood there looking at the thing. “Come on! What are you doing?” There was genuine concern in my voice as I said that. As finally he spoke,
“Dad, I think… the tree’s about to do something.”
What? It's about to do something? I parroted in my mind. I followed his gaze back to the ‘tree’ it was indeed doing something.
The rumbling came back and the ground shook as each of its roots started to retract back into the trunk like some strange, sick octopus, but worse. The thing continued to retract each and every one of its, tendrils, roots, or whatever the fuck those things are. Even the top of the thing, which had an elaborate series of small branches and twigs started to retract and come back into the main body of the thing.
Eventually, it no longer had any roots, or branches just a black and shiny main body; no protrusions to speak of. It now looked like some floating bean, and yes I do mean floating, the thing left a huge hole in the ground where it obviously had some deep root system.
While the two of us were stuck there, frozen like some helpless animal, the bean slowly floated towards us. And everything became a blur, what does this thing want? What is it going to do?
Does it want to kill me?
Before long though, the bean stopped, it floated there for no more than a second, and condensed into a shape, a shape vaguely similar to that of a person.