I was born to serve my father and protect my mother. These are my most basic instincts, even preceding my desire to survive. I vividly remember the day I was born from the flesh of my father. He was far across the sea of grass that separated the roots of the Mother Tree, but I was blessed with keen eyes. I could see him clearly, and even if I couldn’t I knew who he was. His energy was unmistakable, it brought tears to me eyes.
I knelt to show my respects before he vanished in thin air. I’m not sure how I knew, but I knew he would be back. I had to make the world more comfortable for the All Father.
A white haired man joined me on the root. I felt no animosity, but I also didn’t get the same feeling I got from the Mother Tree or the All Father. Well, the feeling of my father was faint… To the point where it was almost negligible.
“Hello, I’m… I do not have a name. Who are you?”
He gave me a look that was just shy of disdain, as if I were some kind of nuisance just for speaking. It rubbed me the wrong way.
“Jack.”
“Jack! What a great name!” He was an ally, so I had no reason to be rude. I could tell he was strong somehow and I knew that strength was important. It was better for me to be on good terms with him so he could help protect our home.
“Would you like to visit the Mother Tree with me? There’s an entrance to her core room on the other root. We can pay our respects together.”
“I’m not interested. Get out of my face.”
My mood soured immediately. “What do you mean you’re not interested in paying respects to the Mother Tree?”
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“I mean exactly what I said. Scram.”
It was currently just the two of us, so I needed to be the one to reign things in. This unruly spirit wouldn’t serve anyone any purpose in the future.
I ran at him with full intentions to engage in combat, yet somehow I found myself laid out flat on my back and staring at the sky. It happened so quickly that I struggled to understand what happened.
I got up and attempted it again to no avail. I wasn’t hurt, just neutralized. At least he wasn’t trying to cause any real damage. I was going to try again, since there was no real threat, but a small purple skinned woman leaned over me.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Seru, Lord Amon’s first.”
There was an emphasis on first that rubbed him the wrong way.
“You have courage, I like that a lot. Why’d you fight Jack?”
“Because,” I grumbled as I rose to my feet. “He disrespected the Mother Tree.”
She smiled from cheek to cheek. “Good. When our home, or our Lord, is disrespected you’re supposed to take the naysayer’s head. What’s your name?”
“I do not have one…”
She paused for a second, pondering, then smiled once again.
“You’re now Nel. Go to the core room, I’ll handle things here.”
I had no arguments. I could tell that she was second in charge, or maybe she just tried to make herself seem that way. I had no real way of confirming so I accepted it for what it was.
I crossed the plain without an issue. The Mother Tree was looking over me, there was no other answer. I did not fatigue, I did not require sustenance. I was able to travel indefinitely without rest, because the Mother Tree filled me with energy. I could feel our connection. This only served to strengthen my desire to protect her.
When I finally scaled the other root, I was filled with a sense of accomplishment. The light feeling carried me all the way to the core room, where I dropped to my knee in reverence of the pure white gemstone hovering about the wooden altar.
It brought me to tears. It said nothing, as it was incapable of doing so, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was somehow still speaking to me…
I sliced my palm open with my nail and allowed my blood to trickle over the core. It accepted my life essence easily, then a soft light healed my hand once it was presumably done eating.
“Thank you for your protection, Mother Tree.”
I left the room, returning to the outside world. When I made it out, there was a bridge made of ice connecting the two roots. I felt like it was Jack’s doing, but why would he do it? He could jump from root to root with relative ease.
When I crossed the bridge, I found myself suddenly surrounded by more people. They didn’t look like Seru or Jack, though. I knew that these were my people, Amonians. My instincts told me that it was my job to lead them.
Some were women, some were men, and some were even children. But they were all my family now, regardless of who they were.
“I’m Nel! I’ll be guiding all of you so that we can be of use to the All Father and protect the Mother Tree!”
They accepted it without conflict and I smiled to myself. The Mother Tree had given me this opportunity to better my Father’s life and I wasn’t going to squander it.