When I opened my eyes I saw a large white blossom fall from the sky. It settled on the ground in front of me. The blossom had a heart-like shape and was the size of a large coin. With its arrival came the scent of honey and lavender. It invaded my senses and gave me a peaceful feeling. It was just a petal, but somehow it seemed alive. I remained transfixed on the blossom for quite some time; lost in a daydream of my own making.
It was quite a while before I realized that I was upside down inside my car.
We had crashed leaping over the chasm. The Plymouth had settled upside down on sand and rock on the other side. Captain Douglas was unconscious beside me in the car. There was dirt and dust sticking to the insides of the car. It had come in through the open car windows when we crashed down. I spat sand out of my mouth as soon as I realized I was crunching something gritty.
Turning over, I tried to take control of my situation.
"Captain Douglas, are you okay?” I asked.
I shook him to try to wake him up.
I repeated myself, “Captain Douglas, are you okay?"
He was groggy, but he started coming around.
“Blimey! What the heck happened Hannah?”
“The car crashed on the other side of the chasm.” I replied. “We made it across somehow. I thought we were done for!”
I looked out the window and saw Azazel laying face down on the ground. He was about two car lengths away from the front of the car. I thought that he must have used up a lot of his ethereal energy in order to get us across the chasm. I knew that he could teleport as he had done it previously when he rescued me from the archdemon Hycus. But I was impressed with his ability to teleport the Plymouth Satellite and all the contents inside. To be able to transport everything over the chasm must have taken drained him completely.
Quickly, I exited the overturned car and went over to his limp body. I turned him over and cradled him in my arms.
His face was knocked up and he had a streak of yellow blood coming from his mouth. At first the yellow blood freaked me out. I hadn’t given it any thought, but I assumed demons and angels had normal red blood. I guess not.
I stroked his face lightly and tried to rouse him. He appeared injured, but more so he seemed depleted of energy. His face was pale and he seemed cold to the touch. I suddenly got very worried.
“Patrick, get over here and give me a hand! Azazel’s not doing well,” I said.
Captain Douglas scampered out of the car and wandered over. We both had a look of concern on our faces.
“Can Azazel die from using up all his ethereal energy?” I asked.
“I’m not too sure Hannah, but he doesn’t look very good. No, not good at all!”
“He saved us!” I said. “We cannot let him die like this!”
A white blossom floated down from the sky and landed on the angel-demon’s hand. I was about to flick it off when I noticed some color returning to the acolyte’s face. I put two and two together and realized that the blossom must have had some kind of healing properties.
Several more blossoms started falling from the sky. I guided them onto Azazel as they fell. I was hoping to get a similar effect as the first one. More color returned to his face and I could see the paleness of his skin dissipate. His aura rapidly grew stronger.
Azazel opened his eyes and looked around. For a brief second he looked at me with unfamiliar eyes, as if he had awakened from a dream in a far away place.
“Potentate, what has happened?” Azazel said.
“You saved us, don't you remember?” I replied. “You teleported us across the chasm and we crashed here on the other side.”
The look of confusion vanished from his face and Azazel said,” it was not I that teleported us!”
“What?”
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“I had no powers left to do such a thing,” he said.
“Then if it wasn't you, who the heck did it? How did we get across?” I said.
Azazel picked up a blossom and looked at it.
“This is a blossom from the tree of life!” he said.
I looked up in the sky and saw many more blossoms falling. They appeared like snowflakes coming down from the heavens. Several of them landed on me and it gave me a peaceful feeling. I felt energized as the serenity cascaded over me. This was the first time I had felt calm since arriving in Limbo. The blossoms were beautiful and I knew they must come from something truly righteous.
“Then we must be near the tree of life?” I asked.
“Yes, it must be in the vicinity.” said Azazel.
“Maybe it's just over the top of this rise,” said Captain Douglas.
I looked back at the chasm where the Falkaru had fallen. Azazel had said that the monster would track me until it got me - it was a hunter seeker. I could only assume that a fall of such height would kill any monster; even one in the afterlife.
“Azazel, do you think that the monster is dead? Or will it come back after me?”
The accolades stood up and walked over to the edge of the chasm.
I followed him.
We both looked down into the mist and couldn’t hear or see anything. Captain Douglas came over and started sniffing the air.
“There is the smell of death down there,” said Captain Douglas,” but it’s much more then just a dead Falkaru.”
“Yes, I believe that this is a chasm that leads to hell, but I’ve never seen anything like this before. Usually the only way into hell is through the portal gateways, like we saw in Aternum when I rescued you. Chasms like this in hell are something that I haven't seen before.”
“So you mean this is something new? Something that you haven't seen before?” I asked.
“Yes, chasms into the abyss of hell are not anything I’ve seen before.”
Another blossom landed on my shoulder; it made me smile. These tree blossoms almost seemed like living things, but I knew they weren’t alive. I was curious to see the Tree of Life after traveling so far to reach it.
I turned and looked over the rise, but could not see anything past it. The ground around us was barren and rocky. It definitely did not look like a place where a mythical tree would grow, but I knew things in limbo were different.
“Let's go see this tree for ourselves!” I said.
Both my companions nodded at me and we walked towards the rise. As we got closer there were more and more blossoms falling from the sky. As if they were welcoming us to the area.
I crested a rock and looked out over the grand vista.
What a sight it was to behold!
I saw a huge valley ringed by mountains with an absolutely enormous tree at its center. The tree was completely white and must have stood some five or six hundred feet high. The branches of the tree were sparsely covered with white leaves, blossoms, and peach shaped fruits. There were thousands of fruits lining the tree limbs.
The land around the tree was mostly barren and had moss growing in several places. It was a stark contrast to the beauty at the center of the valley.
At the base of the tree I could see a being. Someone was acting as a caretaker to the Tree of Life. From my vantage point I couldn’t make out any details of this individual, but assumed that it might be an angel.
"Is that the Tree of Life? " I asked Azazel.
“Yes, but usually there are dozens of Angels working at the base of the tree.”
“I only see one,” said Captain Douglas.
“Yes, that is odd, but I haven’t seen the tree in a long time.”
I looked back at my car. It was still flipped upside down, so it definitely wasn’t drivable. I started walking towards the tree and my friends followed me. I had some trepidation approaching the tree as the sheer grandeur of the moment wasn’t lost on me.
There was a sweet smell in the air, an intoxicating perfume that drove us forward. It smelled like flowers, but had an almost drug-like effect on my mind. The tree of life had a vibrancy to it.
I looked down at my book.
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[Entity]
Name: Tree of Life (Lignum Vitae)
Points: 1000
Power: 25
Type: Genesis
Location: All
Abilities: Soul Creation
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As we approached the figure at the base of the tree came out to greet us. I could see that it was a middle-aged woman with wings, so it was obvious that she was an angel. She smiled and waved as we approached. It made me feel like we were long lost friends. The angel looked to be about fifty-five years old. She was wearing some spartan work clothes and had a baseball cap on her head. Her hair was blonde, tied in a ponytail, and was intermixed with streaks of gray. I could see that she had whitish gray wings that had seen some wear and tear over the years. When she smiled her face lit up and her blue eyes wrinkled in delight. She reminded me old mother Hubbard, from the cover of a book I had when I was a child.
“Do you know who this is Azazel?”
“No. I haven't been to the lands near the tree of life for a long time. i don't recognize anything around here. I was also not welcome here the last time I came.”
The angel smiled at us and made a peace gesture with her hands.
"Welcome Hannah, welcome to the tree of life!”