Chapter 116

Tender Links

“… a plain-looking piece of straw, approximately two inches long, hard and wet to the touch. Historic records indicate it is plastmara, a precursor to the venomous pine, and that it had been used during sacrificial ceremonies as the igniter for the flames.”

Ancient Cultural Dynamics, Vol. II

Darkness was comfortable – though it was hardly anything new for Noah. He had found comfort in it since he was a wee-young boy, slithering about the small village’s outskirts, hiding from the local guerillas and evading ransacking. It provided the security that the light of the day did not, as paradoxical as it sounded to many others. He always felt panicked standing in the light, wholly seen, as though he were naked; in the dark, he could hide, escape, listen to the world without it noticing him.

It was no different here, in a completely different world. Shuffling through the shadowed streets of Elucido on his way out was calming, almost like meditation for him. There were no eyes to discern, no potential murderers hiding in plain sight – there was only him, the loosely rippling light of the moon, and the shadows of the night. It was a peculiar sensation, one he held dear and close to his heart.

It didn’t take him long to leave Elucido through its front gates, wholly unseen by numerous stationed guards. He quickly began circling around the tall and sloped cliff upon which the whole city rested, a concept he still had trouble wrapping his head around despite its similarity to the cities on plateaus back on Earth.

Ignoring the straying thoughts, he made his way toward the Weepwoods. With the Autumn season approaching, or at least what he equated to Earth’s Autumn, Weepwoods began undergoing changes – namely in the blooming dark, pinkish colors overtaking the ordinary summer's greenery. While the shrubbery, the dirt, and the thick trunks of the trees remained largely unchanged, the leaves and the blossoming fruits all began changing color.

By now, Weepwoods came to resemble its depiction in numerous pieces of poetry and stories Noah had read – a heavenly-colored canopy of radiating beauty unmatched. Even with the faintest of glimmers of moonlight, the spreading canopy truly was breathtaking; it was eerily similar to the cherry blossoming seasons in Japan, though with a slightly darker tinge of color and far more variety in shape and shade.

Entering the woods, it was as though he’d entered a completely different world compared to the one he'd been in when he first arrived in this world. Faint droning sounds quickly entered his ears, and he even discerned the sounds of streaming water at a distance, surprising him. The woods came alive, he realized, teeming with life. Even in the dark, he discerned dozens of bird nests hanging on the thick branches, not to mention the glisten of eyes in the distance warily observing him.

As the light broached the branches above, it bent into strange shapes and radiated the color of the trees themselves, painting even the dirt beneath in the upper canopy’s hue. It truly was a new world, one that even had to pause for a moment to experience. Looking around, he’d momentarily forgotten why he had come here and instead chose to enjoy the scenery the likes of which he’d never seen before in his life.

Sighing as a faint smile crept on his face, he shook his head and made his way deeper. Though he and the strange figure hadn’t made any certainties on where to meet, he knew of a single location that was the likeliest candidate – the tree at the center of the woods that only bloomed through autumn and winter seasons, whom many locals saw as the equivalent to the Tree of Life back on Earth.

He’d never gone that deep before for an inspection, so he figured he may as well beat two birds with one stone. On his way over, he spotted numerous species that he had only ever read in the books, and each fascinated him more than the last. The doe-like creature with nocturnal red eyes and glowing spots over its six feet long body, a three-winged crow-like bird with a crescent beak and reflective feathers, a ten-feet long snake wound around a tree, pulsating like a vein as it sucked the sap from the trunk… the world was teeming with life that it had not when he last visited this place.

All this made it difficult for him to make his way toward the ‘center’ undistracted, but he steeled his resolve and moved past it all, promising to return some other time to carefully observe the strange and beautiful flora and fauna of Weepwoods.

By the time he reached the perceived center of the woods, the moon was slowly hanging toward the horizon, indicating that the night was deep. In front of his eyes spread a wide clearing, almost two miles in diameter, with a natural moat that turned out to be the stream of water he had heard, seeping into the canals that led into the forest like veins trickling from the heart.

The grass here was tall, well over his knees, and dyed in fluorite, swaying in the invisible wind, yet always in a singular direction – toward the center of the clearing itself. There, a tree beyond description stood erect from the earth, its trunk a good hundred feet thick, bark hard and old, branches swirling into an all-encompassing canopy that covered every inch of the ground from the center of the clearing to the outer edges of the moat. It stood tall, so much so that Noah couldn't even approximate its height due to the thick branches and leaves covering the topmost point of the tree.

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Unlike with the surrounding forest, he saw no signs of life here, only the sounds of the stream and the wind and the swaying branches and grass. It was mesmerizing, the way light flickered through the branches, creating a shine eerily similar to neon, colors ranging from blood-dripping red to horizon’s twilight. He stared emptily at the sight for a moment, forgoing to coat his body in Dark, exposing himself.

Eyes flickering, he glanced sideways where he saw a figure materialize from the forest, its features hidden behind a blood-red mask. The two stood separated by a good hundred feet of distance, staring into each other’s eyes warily. The wind drifted in-between the two, almost as though pulling them toward one another.

Noah smiled lithely and moved forward, closing the distance between the two until they were within the talking distance, stopping. A closer look at the figure revealed little else; Noah conjectured that he was somewhere in his early twenties based on the skin around the eyes, around five-foot-seven, and that he appeared wary.

“… where is your friend?” he was the first to break the silence, the red eyes darting around Noah in search of something.

“… where are yours?” Noah asked back, smiling faintly.

“I don’t have any friends.”

“That’s bad,” Noah said. “For someone as young as you.”

“… what makes you think I’m young?” the man asked placidly.

“… the fact that you would ask that?”

“…” the man fell silent for a moment, his eyes narrowing. “So? Is it just the Princess or the whole Royal Family that’s off-limits?”

“… is it just the Princess or the whole Royal Family that’s your target?” Noah quizzed back. “Besides,” he added quickly. “Perhaps your sneaking around other people’s homes is afront to your making of friends?”

“… quite a wordy one, huh?”

“… were you there for sport or for business?” Noah asked, hardly expecting an actual answer.

“…”

“Your pride must have taken a hint,” Noah took a gamble, hoping that the man’s young age wasn’t yet enough to chisel the nature of patience within him. “Being bested.”

“… I would hardly call that ‘being bested’.” Oh? He bit it without any pretense? Noah was slightly surprised.

“What else would you call it? Fleeing with a tail tucked between your legs? Running away like a chicken? Escaping in horror? I’d imagine my depiction of the events still leaves you with some dignity.”

“… is it just the Princess or the whole Royal Family that’s off-limits?” the man took a deep breath before asking Noah, causing the latter to frown slightly. This insistence… is he probing me for how much I know? Noah mused inwardly.

“… I imagine both of us were blindsided by the events.”

“… there shouldn’t have been another Chosen here,” the man said. “Let alone two.”

“… from my perspective, there shouldn’t be a third.” Noah said, shocked that the man seemed familiar with the mythology, so to say.

“I don’t want to tangle you unless absolutely necessary,” the man said. “So, is it just the Princess or the whole Royal Family that’s off-limits?” He’s either really trying to figure out who I’m protecting, or he’s vying information for whoever employed him…

“I’ll pay you twice what you’re being paid to work for me.”

“I don’t work for anyone.” The man said, barely bothering to conceal the anger in his tone.

"Oh? So, it's your hobby to sneak around other people's homes? Apologies. I must have misinterpreted the whole situation." Noah chuckled lightly but didn't pursue the issue. He imagined that someone as prideful as the man before him wouldn't join him unless Noah could trounce him around like a small child – which he was nearly not confident enough in being able to do. "Just one question – did you kill the King?"

“… what if I did?” Ah; he still needs recognition. Probably even younger than twenty… what the hell? Am I really scared of a kid? It’s a magical kid – a magical kid, Noah!

“Ah, yes, I too take pleasure in killing old men who don’t even bother to fight back,” Noah probed further, trying to incite the man – no, the boy into revealing something due to the distressed emotional state. “Makes me really feel like a proper man.”

“—I killed one of the strongest men of the Peninsula,” the boy growled. “What have you done?”

“… I imagine I gave him the confidence he needed to finally fall asleep.” Noah sighed inwardly, slowly beginning to piece Jovyer’s motivation and intentions. “Perhaps you don’t work for anyone, but what about working with someone? I still want to hire you to investigate something for me.”

“…”

“I imagine that ordinary coin won’t be enough to entice you,” Noah continued, noting that at least he wasn’t outright rejected. “So, state your price.”

“… next time, I meet up with your friend.” E-eh? Ah, yes, he’s definitely just a teenage boy… Noah grumbled inwardly, tempted to rub the bridge of his nose in a defiant protest of teenage hormones.

“Though I vehemently suggest otherwise,” Noah said. “Very well; I’ll send her the next time.”

“… you’re really giving away your woman? Pathetic.”

“Ah, yes, pathetic,” Noah sighed inwardly once again. “I’d remember those words, and be very careful not to say them in front of her. Anyway, I want you to kidnap any immediate member of Drath family and bring them here, to me. How long will it take you?”

“… two weeks.” The boy replied after briefly mulling it over.

“We’ll meet here in fifteen days, then,” Noah nodded. “While I have a chat with whoever you bring me, you can use your exhaustive charms to, khm, seduce ‘my woman’. How about it?”

“… very well,” the boy nodded. “You’ll regret it.”

“… I already am, man. I already am…”

“…” the boy looked to have misconstrued Noah’s intent, a smug look appearing in his red eyes, causing Noah to nearly cringe. After all, it has been approximately thirty years since he last took a teenager this seriously and with this much reservation, especially one so overtly horny. Ah, take comfort in the fact that even cosmic distances away… teenagers still really like screwing…