Interlude

That night during the party, Mu’tumbo pulled Roden aside and they took a walk along the edge of the camp, much to Roden’s surprise. For once, he truly had no idea what this was about.

“What’s up, Mu’tumbo?”

“Ya papa na wood elf, yes?”

The question caught Roden off guard, “Ummm yeah…”

“Ahhh yes wella i sight it for you.”

“Thank you…” he said touching the pointed tips of his ears.

“No bi dat boi, I sight di blod for di forest for you.”

“I am sorry Mu’tumbo. I have no idea what you are getting at.”

“I am tok say you get a powerful blodline for elf mixed for you. I bet ya mama na sontin else too.”

“Mu’tumbo, I hear you. Stop beating around the bush and just tell me what you are thinking.”

“Haha straight to it den. I believe you get di gift for di trees for ya blod. I fit help you reach it if you wan.”

Roden was struggling to keep up with the conversation. Before, he already knew the gist of what Mu’tumbo was going to say. Here he was on his own, a little drunk, and pretty sure that fireweed from before never wore off. Knowing Mu’tumbo was genuine, he figured fuck it.

“ Okay Mu’tumbo, let’s make it happen. What do I gotta do?”

“Haha com wit me.”

Mu’tumbo led him through the village, passed his teepee, and into the woods. Roden was second guessing the situation until his night vision kicked in and he could see clearly. When they stopped Mu’tumbo gestured for him to sit at the base of a humongous tree. Roden was in awe at the sheer width of the thing.

“Dis na di tree for mai ancestors. Dem planted dis tree long before di sundering for di forest. Long tey mai family close di wood elves. No bi all elves don di dash. I sight it for you. Now sidon, close ya eyes and I go begin.”

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Figuring he had nothing to lose here, Roden sat and began meditating like he always did. He swayed a bit as he felt like the world was spinning from all the drink and smoke, but he held it together. He could faintly hear Mu’tumbo mumbling softly, but couldn’t make out the soft elvish words.

After a few minutes he felt himself settle into the tree at his back. It felt like a warm hug. It reminded him of when Roden’s mother would hold him as a child. The nurturing feeling of comfort and a mother’s embrace. Then he felt the tree give way and he was falling. His eyes shot open, but he saw nothing. His eyes only saw blackness.

When he came to a halt, he realized he had closed his eyes again bracing for an impact, but there was none. He slowly opened his eyes and saw that he was in a circular clearing surrounded by a grove of trees. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the lack of light, but when he was finally upright he could see clearly.

The sky was a vast deep blue speckled with more stars than he had ever seen. The light from those stars was enough to illuminate the clearing around him, casting the scene in a soft glow.

It was strange as each tree seemed to call to him. It was the same feeling he got when he’d see a dog on the street that clearly wanted to say hello. He approached the closest tree on his right and placed his hand on the bark.

He saw flashes of forests, his vision narrowed as his perspective flew through the canopy leaping from branch to branch. He realized he was seeing things from the point of view of someone else. He could feel the bark beneath their feet when they landed. He could feel their connection to the forest.

His host placed a hand on the trunk of a tree and his vision flashed again and he was back in the clearing. He moved to the next tree and found himself swinging among the treetops. He would kick out at the right moment and fling himself forward. Just when it seemed like he would fall like a stone he would flick his wrist and a vine would grasp the next branch and he would swing once more. Each tree held a different memory.

To Roden they felt like dreams. The abrupt wake up from each was just as jarring as any dream he’d ever had about being late for something. That was the worst he got until the memories of all the fighting. Some of them were quick simple affairs where he was firing a bow or clubbing huge insects.

Then came the visions of the Dark Times. He saw so many of these guardians die. Some were lucky and died before they knew what happened. Others were buried under a horde of undead, those were the unlucky ones. Roden bore witness to it all. He lived each moment until he reached the final tree.

It wasn’t the largest tree in his clearing, but it was hardy. The trunk was already showing signs of being unusually thick. The vision he received when he placed his hand on the final tree was different from the ones before.

He found himself among a group of wood elves as before except this time they were kneeling on a massive tree stump repurposed into a stage.

On the ground below him was a crowd of people, it looked like enough people to fill a village. They were all waiting with baited breath at whatever was going on. On the stage before him was a figure. At first Roden recognized it to be a Dryad, but something wasn’t quite right.

This one appeared regal. She stood tall, much taller than the elves on stage. Her hair was a cascade of petals in a myriad of colors. Her skin was light brown with a faint hint of green. She wore a dress made of overlapping dark purple leaves.

She looked every bit the queen she had to be. When she walked forward Roden heard her speak,her voice was a warm breeze on a cool day. She was the embodiment of femininity and her flower like voice came sweet and motherly,

“Children of the forest, I commend you all on your commitment to our home. I see a great threat on the horizon and we must stand together to face it. These children have proven themselves to be exceptional and have earned the blessing from the great tree. Through me unto you, I bless thee, Grove Guardians.”

The queen dryad moved from elf to elf touching each one with a flower. After each had received their blessing she directed them all to rise and assume their role as Grove Guardians.

Upon reaching his feet could see that each elf in his group was being encased in bark starting from his feet crawling up to his head. Roden was panicking particularly because he had no control over his host, who seemed unconcerned by the creeping wood.

Once fully encased, bark was all Roden could see until he felt himself raise his hand to his head and pull back a visor that gave him a three inch window to see out of like old medieval helmets. Roden could finally see what had happened.

While yes he was encased in bark, it had formed itself into a head to toe set of wooden armor. Roden could feel himself being pulled back, the last image he had of the vision was that of the elves on the stage shouting “For the Grove!” with fists over hearts.