Chapter 66: Patro

The pull from the descending hexagon shaft was so strong that Trint didn’t even realize he had walked to the edge of the drop-off till his right foot was half over the void below. Before he leaned enough to fall, he was jerked out of his daze.

Trint! Pneuma shouting finally registered with Trint.

What?

Did you notice I have been yelling at you to stop?

Not until just now, Trint admitted as a spike of fear registered. Whatever this is, I have very little resistance against it. It doesn’t feel malevolent but it does feel powerful to the point of interrupting my ability to resist and yet I feel it resonate with me. It could be a trap though. I don’t like how it compelled me.

We didn’t come this far to stop though, Pneuma challenged Trint’s fear. But yes, be wary.

Then we agree, let’s go for it, Trint nodded. He was still feeling the pull but was now aware of its attempts to have him step out over the edge. Trint attempted to sense again with his Spirit senses down the hole. I can’t tell what’s down there. Can you get anything?

No, Pneuma confirmed. We could explore the other directions first to try to get a better idea of what this place is and what might be down there.

That’s wise. But I feel harmony and not any danger. I say let’s go for it.

I am with you to the end, Pneuma replied with conviction.

Without further hesitation, Trint stepped out into the hexagonal walled shaft, which dropped to an unknown void. The surprise came when he should have become captive to gravity. Rather than descend he was pulled rather abruptly to the center of the hole and lifted as if he was a magnet being repelled and pulled at the same time. His body vibrated rapidly with the forces holding him in place. He instinctively tried to gain control but couldn’t. His arms and legs started to spread apart until he was mirroring the Vitruvian man. It was if he was stuck at the apex of a jumping jack unable to descend or even move his head to look around.

Why does the system and all these tests continue to lift me up and restrict my movement? Stupid power trips whoever created all this stuff, Trint’s frustration at this moment was only increasing. I’d like to speak to whoever made this stupid thing!

Supplicant Request Acknowledged

What was that? Pneuma and Trint both said to each other, after hearing the booming audible voice. The sound of it echoed throughout the cave systems but originated and reverberated throughout Trint’s chest as he was held suspended. There was no pain only vibration and sound. The feeling of being drawn and resonating with the forces at play continued to increase. Logically he knew to be cautious, scared even. Yet his Spirit and Soul were being drawn. He would have jumped into a pit of rusty knives if the pull told him to get to the bottom of it.

Adjudicator Acknowledgement Requested

Adjudicator Acknowledgement Accepted

Prepare for Dimensional Shift

The resonance of the last booming statement hit Trint like a train. He felt his body being pulled in on itself as if gravity was pulling his whole body through a pinprick on the center of his chest. There was no pain, but the feeling was disorienting and nauseating. One moment Trint was hanging suspended over a pit, the next he experienced the feeling of being crushed into a tiny ball then flipped inside out but there was no pain. Now he was feeling motion like a rapid movement. A falling at a sudden and immense speed. He was thoroughly disoriented, dizzy and nauseas from the astounding gravity his body just experienced. With such immense gravity, even Trint couldn’t stop the narrowing of his vision. Before he blacked out, he noted the system time.

Trint awoke with immediate recollection of his most recent experience or blacking out. The feeling of nausea and disorientation we completely gone. They were replaced with a feeling of weakness and loss.

Pneuma, why do I feel this weak? Trint asked while taking a couple deep breaths and looking around. There was no response, but Trint was now thoroughly captivated and distracted. He was reclined on a soft couch, sitting in the middle of a lush garden. The scent of flowers and sight of bees spreading pollen amid a lively and flourishing paradise was surreal. But Trint’s recent memory suddenly caught up to him as he jerked upright on the couch.

“How did I end up here after that fall?” Trint asked himself out loud. He inherently knew he was not in immediate danger as he continued to look around. “This can’t be some underground facility. I can feel the sun radiating heat on my skin.” Trint’s only immediate concern was Pneuma’s silence and absence. But this wasn’t the first time they had been unable to speak.

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“Good day, Trinten and welcome to my home and my personal garden,” Trint spun around to see a giant of a man sitting in a chair before an equally proportioned table. The man was wearing a short sleeve blue robe that ended just below his knees. His feet were bare as his left leg was crossed over his right. But what caught Trint’s attention was his brown hair was highlighted with actual glowing silver sections. The silver brightened and dimmed slowly as it flowed from one section to the next. Like the silver lights were alive and wandering the domain of his hair.

“I can already see you have more questions than those you just voiced. My name for you is Patrolius. It has more to do with my role than my True Name but for now you may call me Patro.”

Trint stood and fully faced Patro. Seeing the scale of the man as Trint’s full height came up to just see over the table and just over the bottom of the seated giant’s belt.

“Would you please tell me where I am and what you intend for me?” Trint was pretty sure this wasn’t a trap. Patro or anyone here could have locked him up or hurt him while he was unconscious but instead, they provided a tranquil spot to wake up. Either they were benevolent or planned a more insidious way to hurt or use him.

“The most logical questions but not the most important,” Patro smiled as he looked down upon Trint. “I don’t fault you for your questions. They are relevant. And I don’t mean to patronize you either. You will have many questions and I promise to be honest, but I cannot be completely forthcoming. I could give you a tour. But only more questions will fill your head. Many of which will be hindrances to the purpose and use of your time here. So, I ask that you consider your questions before posing them. I wish to explain but much of what I know can’t be shared and even that which I can share will not be of use to you.”

“So, you want to help but you are limited in how much you can say?” Trint asked.

“That is part of the situation,” Patro stared with blazing eyes of silver. “But ignore our limitations and let us focus on our purpose for you being here? Beyond what brought you here, consider, what do you want most in all your existence?”

“Easy, my family,” Trint grit his teeth with a renewed surety. “I want to have them back. I worry more and more that they aren’t even alive, and I’ve been conned into some elaborate conspiracy. But I can’t give up hope…” Trint was cut short but immediately realized he had volunteered more info that he wanted.

“Whoa, slow down,” Patro’s intense stare softened. “You may notice that your ability to filter your answers with me is limited. The simple reason is that I outclass you in many ways. I am not manipulating you. More specifically your current limits prevent you from denying my will. But back to what you were saying, family. Yes, I can see what you mean. But I require deeper purpose from you. What would you do if you found your family?”

“Well, I would want to be with them,” Trint broke his gaze with Patro. “I would like to hear what they’ve been through, share my struggles to find them and just hold them.”

“Beautiful,” Patro’s smile beamed as he breathed deep and then sighed. “But were you unable to protect them once reunited, what then?”

Trint’s momentary dreams of reuniting with Cara and the kids, were suddenly emotionally jerked from him. His stomach dropped and he nearly collapsed to the ground. “No,” Trint’s muffled cry was covered by his hand, but Patro heard it none the less.

“Apologies Trinten,” Patro reached down to pick up Trint with both hands and stood him up on the chair. Across from his spot on the table. Trint was unnaturally compliant and allowed the giant to lift him and he now stood upon the chair looking more evenly across from Patro.

“I did not mean to steal your joy,” Patro restarted with a new gentleness that felt even more pronounced coming from a being that radiated power to Trint’s perceptions. “I am here to prepare you. Not for a battle, per se. But for the journey beyond. You have set your sights too low, in finding your family. That is not your destination but merely an important step along your path. You think that the iterations and the System are vast and all encompassing?”

“Well, there was a time before them,” Trint voiced uncertainly.

“Yes, that is true. There was a time before,” Patro’s smile was back. “If there was a before, then do you believe there will be a time after the System?”

“I…that is logical but how?” Trint wondered. “Is that what the System is referring to by True Ascension? Rising in level beyond the System?”

“Better questions but still only in the right direction not the questions that will help you now,” Patro turned ponderous as his gaze drifted to the sky above the garden. “With more time, I could teach you a great number of things. But I am not to be your teacher. You reached my notice by overriding System protocols and safeguards. They were set in place by those in control of the System. They eventually will notice the issue and will investigate. You won’t have to worry about them at this point though. The purpose of our time was for us to meet and for me to grant you a meal to tide you over.” Patro laughed. “Now come along.”

Patro stood and reached towards Trint with his right arm. Yet he didn’t touch Trint. “Relax your body and close your eyes for just a moment.”

Trint closed his eyes for a moment, felt his feet leave the ground, and again opened his eyes in surprise to see he was now a dozen feet above the ground and rising in the air. His logical brain remembered the instructions and he relaxed again and closed his eyes. He felt a breeze but this time no sudden movement like his fall.

“You may open your eyes again.

If there was an example of a giant Tree that was the prototype of all other trees, Trint knew he was looking at it. The tree was a mixture of something Trint imagined would appear in a tropical jungle but also resembling a mighty oak or redwood from North America. The thing looked ancient and yet healthy. Somehow it seemed to ascend beyond the skies. They were a few hundred yards in the air and yet were barely at the lowest of the branches. After staring at this mountain of a tree in shock, Trint allowed his vision to scan wider and saw that the Tree was surrounded by a great expanse of land with more natural sized trees. As they flew Trint finally made sense of the water flowing around the land. There was a giant lake on one end that split in two and flowed around the Tree and formed an island. With the outer lands looking just as full of life and trees as the land locked giant tree and its closest trees.

Rather than fly higher into the trees, Trint’s ride descended toward the ground, still possibly 20 miles from the base of the tree. They landed a hundred yards from an open gate in a wall stretching to either side of them. The wall was thick and made of interwoven branches and trees. To each side of the gate were three detailed statues of giant warriors in armor and armed with weapons but looked like they naturally formed from the branches and trees.

As soon as Trint’s foot touched the ground the statue nearest each side of the gate stepped forward from the wall and rapidly changed from bark to flesh as they drew flaming swords and aggressively took fighting postures.