Chapter 6: Burning

I counted eating the pebbles as number two on my list of the most foolish ideas ever thought up. Number one was the time I thought learning the mandocello was ‘cool’.

After waiting for over a half-hour waiting to see if there were any apparent changes to my physiology I convinced myself it was another failed experiment and attempted to get comfortable on the floor mat to gain what little rest I could from what was going to be a very restless night.

My mind relived the events that had transpired over and over. Attempting to see a way that I could have escaped the reality I was living at the moment. Decision after decision flashed, yelling at me to take a different course if I could relive those moments. Maybe if I hadn't been such a coward there was an action that would have me standing next to Sarah tight holding her in a tight embrace.

These thoughts tormented me for hours into the night, while I did enough tossing and turning to make a blind man notice. The days taxing amount of stress did finally pull me to an unpleasant slumber as the world finally went peacefully dark.

‘Was I on fire?’

A strange first thought to wake up to. I sprang straight up on my raggedy sleeping mat and scanned over my body looking to see where the ember's hand ignited my freshly made shirt with frustration. The fully extinguished fire entered my vision. Something wasn't right about this picture. The heat only continued to intensify especially around my chest area, though it was flowing in waves all across my body.

A piercing wave hit me like a physical force causing my hands to grip at my solar plexus with agony.

‘That fucking Rock.’ I'm not stupid enough not to remember the little demon I had swallowed not an hour or two prior. Hindsight told me eating a magical crystal of unknown origins never ended well in the history of humanity, but I was a desperate man, like so many others.

Shock after shock raged through my veins like magma to the point of even trying to scream out my jaw locked and no sound escaped. I prayed for death in those moments, having no facility over my body for the hundredth time, completely powerless like a puppet being jerked on a string. Thankfully after one more round of excruciating torment, the beautiful peace of unconsciousness took me under its wings.

Instead of the serene darkness that usually came with being knocked out, what stood in front of me was a tree of such gigantic proportion it made even the mega moon Demios resided in feel like a pebble. Staring up at its millions perhaps billions of off-shooting branches left me speechless, It was as if an amalgamation of different plants, branches, and flowers were seamlessly combined to make an unfathomably large superstructure. Trying to take it all in, I jumped when a bell-like voice rang out.

‘You have initiated the blessing of Systemia, the scan of your soul line will begin now, please remain calm… soul line is none existent, attempting to delve deeper, please remain calm… soul line still not found… please remain calm… please remain calm.’ While the voice continued to sound out in my head I was having great trouble remaining calm. Maybe it was my naturally rebellious attitude, but when someone insisted I remain calm repeatedly, I really wanted to lose it.

‘Unable to extract any soul line… solution being made… please touch the root of Emram’thir, a soul line severed from the Realms will be chosen upon acceptance… please… remain calm.’ My hands clenched until my knuckles went white. I was oh so tired of mystical beings requesting me to agree to things. The urge to strangle anything in sight was overwhelming.

Suddenly the ground a few meters in front of me burst open revealing a root sticking out with its end pointing at me. I stood frozen wondering whether touching a divine root was the usual procedure. Something told me that was unlikely.

“I don't want to touch the damn stick! I want to return to my world!” Frustration spilled out into my voice. I felt childish screaming out like an infant but everything in the last few hours did a fantastic job of screwing me over in every way possible.

``Request not valid, please proceed… refusal will lead to… Essence expansion… bodies chance of survival… zero percent.’ The even tone it held and inhuman form of phrasing made the whole sentence far more threatening.

“Mother-... fine I'll touch it!” If I wasn't already a lunatic then after this experience I'd accept there was a serious amount of mental fortitude I don't know I had somewhere in my psyche. A few seconds of walking found me directly in front of the root with sweaty palms rubbing against my torn-up pants. Hopefully whatever came from this would be helpful in some way or another. Mother’s explanation of Essence had still been incredibly vague, the preconceived notion of shooting fire from my hands had a certain appeal without a doubt, but how one accomplished the feat was still a mystery.

Reaching forward I poked the tree's root with hesitation, yet that was all it took for my mind to completely leave my body and rush out into what I'd imagined was the root system itself. Like a bullet train, I traveled from the roots towards the center mass of the tree, I could both see and not see as I sped faster than ever before, feeling unfamiliar sensations, like lifetimes of experiences were flashing before my eyes with being able to focus on them. There was a feeling of being stared back at during the passing of some of the larger branches of the trees. Then as quickly as I felt it I was taken straight down past the innumerable mass of roots that were held under the ground of this mystical plain the tree resided in. So deep I began to wonder whether I would ever stop traveling, soon enough the only stem that remained was the one I was flowing down, as it got thinner and thinner finally the destination emerged. A graveyard of dead roots and branches spanning across a vast underground cavern. All the walls were the same dark brown soil with no impurities. I felt my feet touch the ground once more as I appeared in my body again. The fluidity of being bodiless to having a body was not an easy feeling to grow used to.

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‘Choose.’ Such a simple command for an unbelievably difficult task. What did it mean to choose? I voiced my concern aloud. “What do you mean? Am I meant to choose one of these pieces of wood? For what?” How was I meant to know how choosing one of these pieces of dead wood affects me? It would be foolish to run headlong into a decision. Nothing so far has been a pleasant experience after my transportation to C’moria and this was unlikely to be the exception.

“What am I meant to gain from choosing one of these?” I called out, doubting I could even observe the tiniest faction of dead shrubbier down here even after years to walk through it all.

‘Choose a soul line… the gains are… unknowable.’

I frowned, shaking my head. “For a spiritual being, you don't seem to know much at all.” Sighing I began to walk past branches, roots, shrubs, even a blossomed flower from time to time. They all differed drastically in color, shape, size, and texture. Yet there was one describing factor that fit them all. Dead. Not a speck of life could be found. It got to the point I began to run down the massive dirt isles that presented the dead vegetation just to see if there was any change. It was like they were all mummified, the moisture exhumed completely. I'd stopped before a few to look closely at every detail, even asking questions to the plants. They of course had no answers to my inquiries.

Indecision wracked my mind, there was the urge to simply find the biggest one and choose it to be done with the whole ordeal. My subconscious told me there was a right answer for this problem. I'd lived my life with strict guiding principles that had gotten me to where I had been, which most would have considered successful on earth. The main one is when presented with a problem, solve it. Simple yes, but many find themselves attempting to avoid obstacles hoping that with enough distance they wouldn't be a hindrance. I hated hoping, that was cemented into my mind more than anything else throughout this ordeal. I wanted to take charge of my course once again no matter what it took.

“Are any of these alive still?” I asked the empty air. I had felt the power the branches above ground had exuded, almost seeming conscious in a way. None of these husks gave that impression at all.

‘No soul line is alive, what an absurd question, have your ancestors taught you nothing before awakening. the consciousness imbued into these separated lines has simply faded. Time never stops after all. No matter how powerful a being maybe.” Jumping back I nearly impaled myself on a sharply pointed branch. It was not the same bell-like monotone that was completely androgynous, but rather the gravelly tone of a man. It felt like my ears drum was vibrating from the timbre alone.

“Shit! I'm too old and tired of voices entering my mind whenever they want, so unless you tell me where you are, please with all sincerity… shut the hell up.” The laugh came as a surprise, but thankfully I stayed on my feet rather than jumping like a rabbit again, which did starve off some embarrassment. It was a weak chuckle that felt genuine enough to make me think it wasn't meant to be mocking.

‘You are a strange one, Not only the first being I've seen in these depths since my existence began, but also completely lacking in any sort of common knowledge. Truly an oddity. If you wish to know where I reside, Simply take a left at the next turn, you will find me.’ After hearing this I couldn't gather any words to dispute his points. I was in an odd situation there was no arguing that fact.

I let my legs carry me forward taking the next left with only a slight bit of hesitation. Coming into view was not what I was expecting, I was half hoping an actual person may have been there. Instead, there was perhaps the smallest tree I'd ever seen. About the size of my thumbs with leaves of pure white that danced slightly even with the lack of any sort of wind. The trunk and branches were both completely iridescent, reminding me of the inside of a geode. Honestly, it was quite breathtaking even if it seemed almost deflated in a way.

“I assume this is you then?” I asked skeptically.

‘Did you expect something else boy? What else have you seen down here that would lead you to believe I would be anything different? ‘ He replied with no small amount of sarcasm.

“You are different though… everything else I have seen doesn't speak, or seem alive at all. That, and you are… complete I guess the word would be. All the other plants seem like they are part of a larger whole. You don't.” I said this while slowly doing circles around the tiny tree, examining every inch.

‘I suppose you are not as daft as you appear. I am indeed far more than my decrepit neighbors. Still this all matters not, As few opportunities arise for me to speak with a living entity, your time here is coming to a close soon. And the chances I am a compatible soul line is near nonexistent. My kind no longer traverses the land of the living.’ His somewhat dismissive tone did little to hide the deep sadness just underneath. Antone knew the voice was correct, there was some sort of mental timer ticking down and he knew he had perhaps 5 more minutes remaining

“What do you mean your kind? And compatible in what ways?” I shot off the questions feeling the time tick by. I felt a strange draw to this little tree. The man's voice inside was still a mystery but I can't give up on a possible solution to my main problem, which was of course lack of knowledge.

‘I once had dominion over the mortal Realms, my people resilient and powerful. Now after the Great Purge and countless Syphonings… few if any remain. And I was nowhere to be found to save them. The powers of the Realm combined to usurp my rule while I was attempting to condense the final stage. Thus my soul line had been extinguished. A pity, but fitting for a man such as I, I suppose. But you do not need the ramblings of a failed conqueror. My kind was called the Frunar, the Essence breathers some named us. I never liked the title. As for compatibility, you would need to have near the exact beginning Essence pathways and signature for any of my teaching and techniques to be of any use at all. And that kid is very unlikely, to say the least.’ Listening to his story only added more questions, but it sounded as though he was powerful enough to make others envious enough to hunt his entire people, which likely meant he held a lot of power. Thus making the decision for me in many ways.

“I would like to choose you either way. How do we check compatibility?” There was no reply from the tree for a long moment. Its leaves did seem to shift ever so slightly more if my eyes aren't deceiving me.

‘This is a foolish choice child, your affinity could be anything if you have not been told by your elders. Choosing my soul line will cripple you if any resistance occurs and there is no way to turn back as soon as it begins.’ I didn't doubt his words, but there was no way for me to find out my ‘affinity’ before choosing any other branch, even if the repercussions may be less harsh. I needed to solve a problem with my choice here, and this was the only way I could see it happening.

“I've made up my mind, sorry if it's inconvenient but I don't have much choice tree-guy-Frunar. So how do we do this? Also, what is your name, I'm Mich- I mean Antone… I guess.” I spoke quickly noticing the ever-encroaching time limit. A deep belly laugh escaped into my mind, it filled my mind enough to almost leave lasting damage from the sheer noise level.

‘You continue to become more bizarre, hear my words, Antone. Once again I would advise against this course of action… but if you insist… you only need to reach out and touch the tree in front of you. What comes next will be… up to fate.’