“Time moves ever forward and backward. It exists everywhere, while at the same time, nowhere. Time has the power to pull events apart or bring them together.”
Reishi journal 98
~ Avyne
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“And there it stood, the Elder Tree in all its splendor and glory, for the
last survivors of a once beautiful, lush world to see. And from its
roots grew the great forest, their salvation, but also their curse.”
From the Ilithianan Chronicles of a forgotten age
~ The goddess Reiya
373 years before the end
Telik sauntered down a short ridge where beside it, flowed a gentle stream. Silent ripples appeared as a leaf landed on the water's glassy surface and through the surrounding trees, cut a refreshing breeze.
In one hand he held a long, narrow stick. Taken from one of the branches of a Shorn Tree, it was very strong and would not break easily. He took it because he liked to make images in the sand and it was even long enough to use as a walking stick. In his other hand, he held a green pange. A type of rare fruit that grew in the forests surrounding his home, Iluon. And then there was the rock. Stone? Or maybe it was a pebble. It was quite small, after all. Round and smooth. The pebble at his feet, he kicked along the ridge. Telik liked to watch as it bounced across the soft grass.
This was the life, no responsibilities or obligations. Everything the Enari kind needed, was here if they knew where to look. And Telik hated it. He found it boring – there was too much peace, not enough adventure. Sure he could go off and pretend to have an adventure with his friends, but it wasn't the same. They all ended up doing whatever he told them to anyways, so what was even the point of that? It was like they didn't know how to think for themselves, how annoying.
He stopped near the edge of the ridge and watched, mesmerized by the near still water and water crickets as they hopped along the surface. In the forest canopy, a magpie chirped.
Then another.
“Hey,” came a voice from behind. “Hey Telik, are you listening?”
He jerked his head away from the stream and stared at the figure behind him. Guess the time for day dreaming was over. “Oh um... what were you saying Telib?”
Telib was his older brother, not by much though. They were born only a few seconds apart. “I was trying to tell you,” Telib sounded exasperated, how long had he been... not listening? “They want us by the Elder Tree!”
He sighed and kicked his pebble into the stream, watching it land with a tiny splash. Taking one last bite of his pange, Telik also threw it into the stream and then placed his stick up against a nearby tree. He could come back for that later. And then he fell in behind Telib like the obedient little brother that he was, as the two of them slowly made their way back toward Iluon.
Their forest was thick in most places, which caused the two brothers to weave around trees, sometimes squeezing through small gaps between two trunks. Thick brambles and underbrush littered the forest floor and they pushed their way through those as well. But as they came closer to Iluon, the forest thinned. Small hills now dotted the landscape and Telik saw a few Enari homes. They were burrows dug into each hill to provide shelter.
Beyond the burrows, were their fields. Many trees had been removed from the area to make room for farmland. Though Telik didn't like the idea of cutting them down, he did admire the Enari tradition of always replanting one tree in the center of a field, where the soil would be the most fertile. This act they considered a symbol and sign of respect for the forest, which has protected them for an amount of time that was too great to count.
They stopped near the edge of the trees and looked out toward the fields, admiring the picturesque view of the scene before them.
A lone tree with a canopy of tiny, sweeping leaves, stood proud in the center of a circular field of grain. Swaying, as if dancing to a melodic tune, it cast its shadows over them. The tree's great size dwarfed all other trees and blocked the sun from view, creating an eternal shade.
“C'mon,” Telib said after a time. His voice was quiet, reserved.
Any beast, big or small could be humbled by the Elder Tree. So it was no surprise to Telik when his brother who was normally loud and obnoxious, pushed his way through sheaves of grain without a word and on his face, he wore a solemn expression.
All of them were gathered underneath the tree's enormous canopy. Never before had he seen such an event. A gathering of this magnitude was rare, even for the Enari who were a social species. Telik felt his mouth open, as he saw thousands of Enari all surrounding the tree's wide trunk. He had to wonder what it was that could bring them all together like this.
Then he noticed it. They all stood silent and with their heads bowed, as if they had suffered a great loss.
His feet moved even before he knew he had given them the command. Telik pushed his way passed Telib and he heard his brother's muffled shout as he began to enter the throng of Enari, waiting for their arrival. At first, he had to force his way through, but as he neared the center of this crowd, they began to part for him and his brother. Leaving a pathway of flattened grain which became brown earth with giant roots jutting from the ground. Three Enari elders stood near the base of their mighty tree, staring in his direction and at Telib.
One of the elders, was his father Vinak. The other two, he did not recognize. “What – what has happened?” he asked, in between breaths.
This question was directed at Vinak, but one of the female elders answered instead. It was with a simple bow of her head and three words, that her answer came, “I am sorry.”
“What do you mean you're sorry?” Telib said from behind.
“Because... my sons,” Vinak said. “The elder Neri is gone.” With that, he too bowed his head.
Enari lived for a very long time, so deaths were often rare. Sickness was not known to take them like other creatures of the forest and killing another of their own kind, was... well, that was just not done.
“But... how? Why?” Telik asked.
“She was old, son. Believe it as you may, we do get old over time and that's when the seasons have been known to take our souls. Neri's time, just happened to be now.”
Another of the elders, the female who had not spoken yet, stepped forward. She faced the crowd and her voice was like a mournful melody, “we will bow our heads now, in silence. May your mother Neri forever rest within the elder tree's branches and offer life to new Enari who have yet to be born. And may her memories forever rest within our hearts.”
Rustling leaves, a strange bird chirping and the occasional insect's call took over as they all bowed their heads in unison. Not a single one of them made a sound as they listened to the forest around them. Taking it all in.
Telik began to hear things he had not noticed before. A splash from the far off stream, a woodpecker somewhere in the thicket. The call of a falcon, even the sound of some small creature digging a burrow and a little rodent's pattering feet as it scurried away from a predator.
“May she forever rest within our souls,” came the elder's voice and all of the gathered Enari repeated those words. Just like that, the silence was broken.
“What happens now?” Telik asked. The lump in his throat threatened to bring him into despair. Telik had a wandering soul that always wanted to leave this place. To see the other lands out there, beyond the trees. The only one of them capable of keeping him here, was his mother. Now she was gone.
The first elder addressed him, sadness in her eyes. “We will wait for fifty seasons,” she said. “To give you all time to mourn her loss. Then we shall choose another to take her place.”
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“Out of the ashes grew the Elder Tree and there the forest followed. The two of us,
once friends, now enemies saw a power within that could not be matched.”
9nth Journal from the Ishmir Chronicles
Tamaer -
1450 After Rebirth – A.R
Tamaer stood beneath a sky of crimson clouds. Thunder crashed up there and lightning struck near to him. It was as if the world itself was angry, wanting revenge for the ones who had put it in such a state. He paid no mind to the happenings around him however, as his attention was focused elsewhere. His gaze on the lone figure, several paces away.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Kill him!
A voice in his head. It had tried this countless times before. To coerce him into action, to kill, maim, torture. All of the people the voice had reacted to thus far, were deserving of such fates. But Tamaer refused to listen. The voice was his own fault after all and the state of the world when he had tried to fix it. His hand went to the black dagger at his side. “I cannot do that.”
But he has my sister, the voice said. You must kill him and take her back.
Tamaer shook his head. He wouldn't, no matter how much wrong the man before him had done or might do in the future. Iven was his fault as well. “Iven!” Tamaer called out. “Give me Zuarga and I promise, I will find a way to fix her!”
“No,” came the reply. It was cold, distant. “You had your chance Tamaer. This time, it is you who must give me Rugara.”
Seee? He won't just give her up, you have to kill him first! Rugara said.
Both daggers were sentient, because they had human souls trapped within.
“Shut up,” Tamaer whispered. The dagger went silent. Rugara was odd that way. While he did try often enough, to control the mind of his wielder, he would listen when given an order. Tamaer had never been sure of the reason, or maybe it was just him Rugara would listen to. Whatever the case, he could never let anyone else wield the black dagger.
Zuarga was different though. As far as he knew, her soul remained pure. When she had been trapped in steel however, she had gone into a deep sleep and there was no indication of her ever waking up again.
“Tamaer, Iven!”
Tamaer turned. Two of his other friends stood behind him now, concern on their faces. The first was Ingris, dressed in a black uniform of military origin, his eyes shone silver in the crimson light. A wound at his side, prevented him from moving with the grace he had been well known for. His heart leapt when he saw Vasily. She stared back at him with eyes as blue as the ocean once was.
“Don't fight each other, please,” Vasily's voice was pleading, agonized over previous events.
“I... don't wish to fight,” Tamaer replied. He would if he had to though. The two daggers needed to be together in order for the souls to be released.
Iven took two steps toward them, his intentions clear. A low rumbling in the earth stalled him though and then the ground shook. All of them fell, unable to keep their balance.
“What... is happening?” Ingris asked. He rose to his feet again, using the sword he kept at his waist, as a crutch. Then he helped Vasily to her feet as well.
Tamaer rose to his and peered over the field of ash, what had once been a great city. His eyes widened. He had only ever heard legends of such a place existing, a great forest not belonging to any particular point in time. It would appear as a world was about to die, rescuing its last inhabitants and now it was here.
The great tree sprouted from the ashes, growing taller, wider and then taller again. Its roots spread out, giving life to new flora. Trees, ferns, grass, moss, fungus. The great tree in the center towered over everything else around it.
“There!” Iven said, turning toward the sight before them.
Tamaer wasn't exactly sure of what it was that he saw. A glowing light pierced through every object in its way, at the base of that enormous trunk. Perhaps it was a strange power. Magic which could undo the curse he had created, but at what cost?
“Our answer is there,” Iven said and began running toward it before anyone could stop him.
“Iven, don't!” came Tamaer's shout, but it fell on def ears. That light was a strange power indeed and so was that forest. He would have to chase after Iven, to prevent him from entering such a sacred place.
Even as his feet started moving though, even as his heart beat to the rhythm of his gait, he knew it was too late. Two separate mists – one black and one white – engulfed Iven and his form began to change. A noble wolf with black fur, on his neck a black collar. Then his form vanished beneath the trees.
“You will have to change too.”
Another voice in his head, but it did not belong to Rugara. This voice belonged to Vasily as she flew over them, white feathers falling. Tamaer looked up and saw the mist that had transformed her, recede into nothingness. Ingris rode on her back.
She was right, but with him it was more complicated than that. He could transform, but without Zuarga, Tamaer only had access to the black mist. It would take his entire will to keep himself sane. He furrowed his brow and concentrated on bringing forth the mist. It seeped out of the dagger, coalescing, wrapping around, swirling in a violent torrent. Engulfing his entire form.
You're hurting me! Stop it! the dagger said.
“You'll have to bear the pain Rugara, we can't stop now.” He felt his face shift into the other form, bulge out and narrow into a massive maw. His back stretched out – becoming long – and wings took shape. Tamaer became a quadruped as his arms and legs changed to fit his new form. Thick, sharp claws sprouted from his paws and a long tail from his tail bone. The transformation was complete. As a charcoal black dragon, Tamaer let out an awesome roar and followed Vasily through the air and into the mighty forest.
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“And one by one they changed. In voice, in calm, in alertness. In appearance
and in their name. All became the great Daemari of the Elder Forest.
Creatures of the Forest.”
From the Ilithianan Chronicles of a forgotten age
~ The goddess Reiya
299 years before the end
Telik watched from behind a tree as the apprentice Kaya knelt in prayer. There had been a time long ago, when he vowed never to give himself over to anyone. To one day leave the forest and explore the lands beyond their trees. What a silly promise to oneself that was. Especially now, seeing someone as beautiful and as graceful as she.
She glanced toward him and a little shy, he ducked behind the tree. Telik could hear her giggle. Although she couldn't see him now, it caused him to blush. What a beautiful thing she was, if only it were possible... but no, they would never choose someone as free spirited as him.
He peeked around the tree again and furrowed his brow. Telib stood before her with a delicate flower. He knelt down and extended his hand with it. Kaya took the flower and tucked it neatly behind one ear, then she looked away. Telik wasn't sure why, but that simple act made him seethe with anger. He wanted Kaya and Telib knew that, yet still he... Telik shook his head.
Those emotions would be good for no one. He stood up straight and started to walk away.
“Wait,” came Kaya's voice. Even the way she spoke, it was like a soft rainfall in the forest. “Can you... wait till I'm done?”
Telik turned to her and nodded. All his embarrassment from before seemed to melt away and so did the anger for his brother. Yes he would wait, if that was what she wanted.
An elder came into the grove and scowled at Telib. His brother's ears went back and he slunk away. Telik also received a scowl, but he stood firm. Kaya had asked him to stay and so, that was what he was going to do. Then the strangest thing happened.
When his eyes met the elder's, they locked their gazes and stood in silence. After a moment, the elder gave him an approving nod. So now she was allowing him to stay? He nodded in return and sat down on the edge of a very small, overhanging cliff. Kaya smiled at him and went back to her prayer.
They stayed like that until the sun vanished, giving way to a dark sky and a sea of silver stars. Then Kaya finally stood, climbed up to the ledge where he had been patiently waiting and took his hand. “Let's go watch the stars together,” she said.
He gulped. Watching the stars was the beginning of courting another. Was she allowed to do that? To choose her own mate? Telik had always thought the mates had been chosen for the elders. Maybe there was a lot he still had yet to learn about his people. He nodded and allowed her to pull him to his feet. Then he followed behind her, still holding her hand.
Tall grass filled the clearing. The form of a white stag, caught in the silver starlight and in the sky a couple bluebirds played. They weren't nocturnal but this was the perfect night, to stay up late.
Kaya guided him gently to the ground and then she lay down beside him. He could feel the warmth of her own body as they were close to one another. Telik smiled. Yes... this was the perfect night indeed.
Telik looked over as he felt the shift. Kaya had suddenly sat up, her eyes still focused on the sky, ears perked up as if listening for danger. Taking that as his queue, he sat up as well. He looked at her, but when her gaze did not waver, he followed it. There was something up there, no one in their species had ever thought would happen. In fact, the idea was so foreign to them, that it hadn't even occurred to them that it could happen. But here and now, it was.
Tiny explosions in the sky, then darkness where those stars had been. Though it wasn't just happening in one place, it seemed to be occurring everywhere. They couldn't hear the noise, but Telik was absolutely sure it was violent and deafening.
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“We saw the forest sprout up from a great tree. It was like something from a faerie tale
and hard to believe that it was happening. But it was and mesmerized by such a site
as that, we went towards it.”
A tale from histories lost
Earth was in a sad state. A desolate world, polluted. Dark clouds were always overhead, preventing sunlight from warming the land below. Cities abandoned, most plant life on the surface, dead. Wild animals had become scarce and when it rained, it was like acid. Eating away at what little remained. Somehow though, throughout it all, there were survivors. People who struggled everyday, for their right to live.
Jerome was one of those. A man of eastern origin, darker skinned and he held a spear. For decades now, he had led a group of survivors through the ruined earth. In order to stay alive, they had become nomads once more. Not stopping in any single place for longer than a day. Foraging, hunting whenever they were lucky enough to find prey.
But here they did stop. On the path to a great city, they could see it. Jerome blinked. Stared at the thing once more and then blinked again. He wondered if it was just an illusion, a mirage brought on because of the many, many hours of hunger and exhaustion. Even after he opened his eyes again though, it was still there. Jerome glanced around at his companions. “You guys can see it too?” he asked.
They all nodded in unison, their eyes never leaving the form of the enormous tree. Live trees were almost as scarce as any wild animal and surely there were none as large as this one left in existence. So then how?
It was a giant, sweeping willow tree and from the base of its trunk came an array of new flora. They grew slowly, but fast enough for them to see the spread. Fanning out, forming a much larger circle around the trunk. Old, run down buildings vanished beneath the foliage as the forest seemed to grow larger and larger still.
“Jerome,” someone called to him.
Jerome turned his head to see his close friend standing there. A man born in the west, light of color, brown hair and green eyes. His name was Michael. “What do you think of this?” he asked his friend.
“I think,” Michael began. “That it might be a sign.”
“Salvation?”
Michael shrugged. “Maybe, but there really is only one way to find out.”
Jerome nodded. The whole thing was like something out of one of those old faerie tales and he didn't see how it could even be real. If it was though, he would be a foolish leader not to take advantage of something that could possibly save all their lives. “Let's go,” he said.
Then they all followed him into the mysterious forest.