LetMeKeelYou: I have a feeling many will start to drop it from this chapter. Oh well, enjoy!
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Mnemosyne’s body turned into burning paper whose ashes scattered to the wind. A strange, lukewarm feeling ran through her head and she closed her eyes for a moment to better enjoy that sweet numbness.
Turning back time, all of her missing pieces retorted to their original state. She was now inside the world of Talisman.
Ziemia was a cheerful town out in the woods, home to many magical creatures, such as fairies, elfs and forest spirits. Houses could vary a lot.
Fairies lived mostly in trees. Their houses could be either made at the top of them, arranged in very small ones that looked like dollhouses or directly inside them with an entrance at their feet.
Elfs lived either near fairy settlements, in natural houses made of earth and sustained by roots of colossal willows, or ones that resulted of their own efforts.
Forest spirits and the rest of the other species lived in the wild, spread all over the territory.
Mnemosyne was bellow a giant tree whose branches plumped with leaves, knitting a maze of shadows over the forest. Smaller fairies burned their light at its top like fireflies, the damp morning sending a refreshing breeze every now and then.
There were people chatting, spectral beings coming and going like ghosts, kids playing around chasing each other, druids and mages immersed in their studies and cultivating their spells, as well as herbalists, travelling merchants and adventurers with their bows and oak staffs - few with light swords that didn’t seem metallic - directly followed by their gleeful companions.
If there was a peaceful place, it was there. At least that’s what it appeared to be like.
Mnemosyne planted a long, deep stare into that scene of pure joy.
It was plain boring.
She moved her hand and the wolf instinctively went for it, being petted gently like one would handle a purring cat.
“Look, little one. This is what they call happiness. Isn’t it beautiful?” the wolf didn’t question itself when it agreed with its master – it was in a bliss.
“I’m pleased with that answer. But you see, happiness is like a diamond… Its durability is the greatest, its shine is the brightest. But if struck at the right angle it will break as easily as glass”
She then lightly pinched the wolf’s ear, gradually applying more pressure, which left it uncomfortable.
“It is something so valuable people would be willing to kill for it…”
The wolf endured the pain as it seeped through its sensible ears and redirected to its body, blood sprinkles mashing his greyed out fur.
“And die for it…” its heartbeat increased as Mnemosyne almost tore a hole with her fingernails, putting so much force her own hand was trembling. She only stopped when the wolf gave in to the horrifying pain and sounded a low yelp.
Seeing her soulmate’s struggle, she faintly smiled and started caring for its wounded ear.
“Do you understand?”
It barely looked into her eyes as it nodded and started walking behind her trail.
Mnemosyne headed straight out of town, paving her way by crushing under her steps dead leaves and dried out branches that fell during autumn. Were it dismembered parts of rotting corpses, she would wear the same cold, unfazed expression. Maybe some inches of disgust from the putrid smell, but that was it.
“You know, one day I was watching a comedy show… Not that you know what it is, but anyway… There was that one joke that got me perked up, care to listen?”
The wolf was more composed. Its headstrong nature wouldn’t let it be shaken by a busted ear. It was a sensation akin to shame, for showing weakness in the presence of its master.
Its silence came as an answer and her lips drew an angelic voice. The sound came as a lullaby for the warm hearted, but in reality it carried indifference for the past and the premise of an unavoidable future.
“He said that it’s kind of ironic that the handle of an axe created to cut down trees is made of these very same trees… Now imagine if trees were living persons, who bled through their wounded barks and screamed their dreadful pains.”
“It would be something like: i will kill you with your mother’s dead body”.
She chuckled at the idea and moved to the next area. The wolf was now more cheerful and had completely forgotten about his ear, which was steadily regenerating. Mnemosyne stopped abruptly, almost out of the safe zone.
“I wonder… Is there anything crueler than that?”
They came to a halt with the sight of the pale shade of what was once a great, exuberant tree. It looked to be completely hollow.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Claw your way through its skin.”
The wolf didn’t understand the order at first, but did it anyway. Mnemosyne’s tale was ingrained inside it like the scripture of a wedding band, and it started to feel rather strange by peeling the tree’s shell with his sharp weapons.
Soon enough, his strength vanished.
The tree wailed, like a bleating man on his last days. It moved alongside the wind, Mother Nature shedding tears at her child’s suffering.
“Why have you stopped, wolf?”
The animal stared at her with its puppy eyes that begged for a stop. Although it didn’t fathom why, harming the tree felt wrong. Mnemosyne’s frozen sharp eyes glared down at it with ridicule, indulging the beast to proceed with the task.
As the wolf lashed at the bark furiously, sinking its claws deep into the crying tree, the screams became louder and louder, attracting wandering forest sprites. It was a monster named Deadly Branch – it didn’t harm anyone, was very difficult to destroy and its moans called to nearby enemies.
They were inhabitants of the heart of the forest – or maybe they were that very same heart. All of them moved from one place to another while looking at the wolf’s desperate attempts to finish off the wood monster.
Ascending to the skies, their ethereal humanoid forms shaped into piercing bulbs of light that moved in high velocity, producing the chaotic symphony of a Banshee’s worries.
“Don’t mind them, keep going” she said, while the green shining spheres passed through the wolf’s body, provoking deep wounds.
It followed its master’s orders, ignoring the unhindered sprites as they skewed it with cuts, bruises and burns.
The faster their attacks became, the fiercer turned the wolf who was almost fainting from exhaustion, losing itself to the heat of battle. The high pitched sound of the sprites kept going, their brilliance exploding like a second Sun near the animal as the tree screamed desperately in its final breaths.
The monster was killed, but the wolf was long lost.
Its image became a faint celestial body, generating stars that disappeared into the air. The sprites didn’t bother attacking the fairy, as she wasn’t directly related to the combat.
Mnemosyne walked to the wolf’s aid, laying it on her legs and caressing its battered body. The poor thing had passed out.
“Good boy… Good boy… Shhh, now you must rest a little…”
Her tender lips met his forehead as it disintegrated completely, overridden by a system message.
Your soulmate has died. As penalty, it can’t be summoned for at least two hours.
“Now then… Let’s check for rewards”
Mnemosyne pulled herself up and inspected the monster’s corpse.
Living Log (12): Log obtained from a living tree. Its bark is as white as milk, but its insides are darker than night itself. At a closer look, there’s a strange image that resembles a human face carved in it, which suggests it was once a human.
Ruined Sap (1): Thick black sap that may curse the blood of those affected by it.
Sarah was more interested in teaching her soulmate and watching its development rather than anything else. She guided Mnemosyne back to Ziemia, where she sold the logs to a general store for 2 Elven Wood coins, a currency widely used in the area, equivalent to 150 copper coins each, for a total of 3 silver.
It was thanks to the uncanny quality of the Living Logs and to Quaternum, who boosted sales for 5 copper, giving an extra 60 copper.
She went to the alchemy shop and bought the basic equipment and starting herbs. She didn’t bother doing quests at the moment – NPCs were way too boring to deal with. No matter how much they were made to appear real, there would always be that lingering feeling of talking to a machine, someone who can’t act natural. Even soulmates, if poorly raised, would give off that tedious aura, and that was not something she wished for her own.
No, Sarah’s toy needed to be broken to pieces and rearranged multiple times until she was satisfied.
She logged out and called it a day - after all, she had other issues to attend to and the amount of time someone could play continually was limited so as not to harm the body.