This tree is going to give me a migraine! Nothing about it makes sense!... Yep, there it is, I can feel the pain building right between my eyes, I just knew it! Too many questions without answers. This is starting to get silly! I almost want to leave and pretend this never happened, just head back to the boat, and do anything else.

I pass my gaze over the rest of the scattered white things around the skull. They're bones. Why are they so big?! Impossibly big! Although they don't glow as bright as the skull, I can clearly see that even the smallest of them are way bigger than I am. What was this thing? It must of been massive! The size of a hill!

Urghhhhhhhhhh, my brain doesn't appreciate all these questions.

I press my wings over my face to both rub my eyes and shield myself from the cold air. That's another question too, why's it so cold? It feels like the skull is radiating a freezing chill from it's eye-less sockets. What did I do to you? How could anything even kill a creature like this in the first place? Argh! No enough!

"Cinders" I shout out in frustration, showering flames over my body to stave off the cold. The relief only temporary before the empty void grips me again with it's icy grasp, causing me more ire.

"I need a blanket" I mumble through a gritted beak, puffing my feathers in annoyance. I don't like it here, its too dark, too cold and too spooky. It sucks. This is not the fun exploration I had planned. This tree is a let down. I've had it. "Since its not a pillow... I want nothing to do with it" I huff.

I scrunch my face at the imposing skeleton before looking up, hoping to convey my anger one final time before I leave. This tree is definitely going to suffer some burn marks by the time I'm gone...

I harness the fire in my soul, feeling it flow from my heart and surge through my veins with unmatched destructive fury as I slowly raise my wings. Crackling golden sparks lash from between my feathers as I build up the fire, provoking the cold darkness to circle around me like a freezing typhoon, yet I push on, stoking the fire more and more, providing my abundance of mana to fend off the building wind. The tips of my outstretched wings ignite in red flames to match the blazing inferno in my soul, the distant howling of the air barely a whisper in comparison.

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I smile contently as the deep shadows shirk away from my brilliant display of light. Never before have I felt so much strength roaring inside me! Its unstoppable!

"Cinders" I caw out eagerly.

Cinders has reached level 4

+ 3 Affinity

My stomach lurches downwards and my eyes squeeze tight while I explode up the trunk in a single, powerful flap. The skull all but forgotten. A thunderous and satisfying 'PWOOSH' chases at my heels, illuminating the blue bark in a deep orange and warming the trunk's interior by several degrees. Yes! I'm outta here!

I mentally encourage more fire to gather into my wings as my ascent begins to taper off, coaxing my feathers to reignite in their red glory before I slam down with another flap.

+ 1 Strength

"Cinders has gotten so cool now!" I exclaim happily into the whistling wind, giddy at noticing the squiggles 'level up' and 'strength' making an appearence. I'm a proper bird now! Flying is as easy as lifting a feather! I've reached peak-bird performance, Its the best!

It feels like it was only yesterday when I was almost entirely grounded, forced to walk everywhere and unable to fly up to even a regular-sized tree to sleep, I've come SO far since then... oh... wait a minute... I think that was yesterday... hmmm, I can't tell if that makes me happy or sad. Oh well! I don't need to dwell on it any longer! Its in the past!

I continue to fly up the inside of the hollowed trunk to the opening in the canopy, using Cinders with reckless abandon, pouring excessive mana into each flap just to make it as powerful and pretty as possible. What can I say? I love fiery things, especially explosions, and Cinders seems to get more explosive with each level up. Plus! Any scorch marks on this tree are a small victory.

I even go out of my way to fly closer to the bark, ensuring there's a little charring. This tree put me through more than enough misery to deserve it...

With every beat of my wings the opening overhead widens further. The massive blue branches parting way to reveal the fresh azure sky and radiant yellow sun in their much-missed warm embrace. I let out a little squeak of joy when my body passes through the boundary separating the inside from the outside.

Greeted by the humid air I inhale deeply, feeling an excited energy return and an unseen weight lift from my tiny birdy-shoulders as I exhale. The familiar sight of the emerald jungle working wonders to sooth my nerves.

I learned something today.

Don't go to cold places.

And also.

Avoid the living version of whatever that skeleton was.