Miko:

I had time to think about what Khronos said earlier, and if the timeline is correct, my eleventh birthday passed during the last trial. The sun’s position in the sky confirms that it has been a year since our journey started, but it only filled me with sadness as I considered how much I had missed. Three months, and all I had to show for it was my arms and ankles. I have to speed this up somehow.

My pelvis, spine, and knees were inoperable even with this much time passing of pure dedication to repairing my body. This was unfortunate because I had not degraded so quickly, but it was so difficult to get back to where I once was. The joints in my shoulders were stiff, causing the movement to be sluggish and reduced in the range of motion. A tight grip was difficult to form or maintain, though it had gotten steadily better as the use of my wrist and fingers continued. I could feel myself breathing, and it was difficult to control, but that didn’t make restoring the use of my spine any easier. The order of things was odd, but my theory was that my spine was the primary issue seeing as that my neck, back, and hips down to my knees were uncontrollable. A few dozen nights per leg were what it took for me to fully get them back in working order; the process was slow, like descending into the water one millimeter at a time per day. I started with an itch in my legs, it was maddening, but it helped me isolate the skin and dig deeper into the bone and tendons. That took a single month all together, but every time I felt defeat, a single twitch would stride through my calf up into the kneecap. Then I focused on my hips, and as usual, nothing is easy, so I had to use what I learned on regaining the first leg to speed up progress with the other instead of outright gaining access to both. There were days when I rested for a few hours, sick of the strain, of the monotony of the process. That sick reminder, the reason my heart pained itself, lay not ten feet away from me. Six months of this had dulled my senses to my surroundings. The Leviathan tree mocked me with its long branches, casting shade across the valley as the sun set to the west. This tree I was lying against had welcomed me as time passed, roots slowly growing around me as the long grass blades surrounded me in my own green prison. I had been here twice as long as Maleki had been alone, and I would be lying if I said the solitude had not affected me in specific ways. There were times when I mumbled aloud or drifted off into secluded thoughts, times when I had wished to be dead instead. The only thing keeping me lucid was my failure, the one that caused my brother’s slumber. I had to repent for that in some way. That conclusion had arrived to me at some desolate point in this miserable crawl; this punishment was suitable.

Nine months of hell. I was trapped here, unable to move from this spot, with only the sun and moon’s cycle to count. This Garden was beautiful, but after looking at the same damn thing for so long, I grew tired of it. My progress had slowed to a worse than a crawl in the seventh month, and I found myself sleeping for far too long — it was only during the visions of my sleep that I felt recovery of the mind and soul. Time withered my creativity, and even the books became difficult to call upon. The parts of me I missed existed in the library of mind that could be unwillingly unfolded in my sleep, granting me comfort when I could not find it in the waking hours. However, today, after a long and arduous process of intense concentration, I woke up with movement in my spine. I slowly adjusted the arch in my back, and the vertebrae cracked individually, loosening as a caterpillar removes itself from its cocoon. The ache intensified as I pushed the limits of my position, but I enjoyed it for once, as it was proof of how far I had come. For the first time since I was four, I had made some progress with this illness that no one else was able to guide me through or force with medicine or majik.

I brought my knees in and guided all my weight over them in a squatting position. With a few attempts, I had my back straightened against the tree and elevated from where I previously lay. I pushed against the tree, sliding up its soft bark, and the cool morning dew soaked my shirt through the back, which only added to the sensation I was feeling. My lungs rose in my chest, and I felt a sharp pain that sent me forward as all my weight fell flat against the ground. The grass was thick and soft, which protected my fall a little. My spine was still not recovered and needed some time to adjust from the position it had been in for so long.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

My brother was twelve steps away, so I crawled over at the speed my back would allow until I reached him. He must have fallen into The Garden carrying me in his arms like a bundle of firewood. When I woke so long ago, I was a few feet away from him before Khronos moved me. I likely rolled out of his arms with the fall from the wall, but he fell forward onto his stomach. With all the strength in my body, I pulled one of his arms to me and flipped him over onto his back. It was my brother, but his hair was messy and filled with dirt and ash. He was covered in dry mud with a reddish-brown hue. After further inspection, it was certainly not mud. His hands and forearms were covered in the dark material. It looks like he had sustained some sort of injury from fighting or pulling something a long distance based on the damage to his palms and scratches on his wrists. He had bled during the last trial while I slept. How useless am I? I looked at my brother in this poor condition, and it only cemented my goal further. Sleep well, Maleki. You have earned your rest. Now it is time I earned my keep.

Pushing through the pain, I balanced my weight over my heels once more and drove my spine straight. I stood tall without the help of the tree and took three sharp breaths as I looked down at my progress. I was standing — I did it! Nine months of work, and I was standing. Then my whole world went dark, dizziness filled my eyes, and I fell backward flat on my back. I woke up with the sun rising from the sky as Maleki lay in a similar position beside me. I had pressed too hard for too long. I tried to sit up by pushing my hands against the ground, but my left arm was numb, and my weight slipped under the lack of distribution.

My left arm was not working. All this progress and I was back to square one again.

No, I could still move and feel my legs, spine, and one of my arms. This wasn’t square one. This is where I started, but now I know how to prevent it from worsening. Losing an arm wasn’t the end of the world. People have done more with less. Even if the cycle goes back, I can make this work. I just have to get Maleki better again.

Allowing my feet and spine to cover for my arms, I rose to my feet more confidently and much easier this time. After so long, I now had the freedom I hadn’t possessed in many years. I waited a few moments to see if I would pass out, but luckily nothing happened. The Garden around me felt fresher, and I was no longer bound to the picture frame that was locked in my eyes before. The trees were tall and colorful like in the vision Khronos showed me, but their colors and strong branches had been lessened.

I took one last look at my brother, “I’ll be back, Maleki. I promise. Just hold on a little longer.”

I turned my back and pushed forward to the center of The Garden. Everything down to the separation of each tree seemed to be methodically positioned. This whole place was flat and calculated. The breeze flows perfectly through the winding meadow. The trees were tall, but the symmetry of their branches was not like their positioning. Every tree twisted and turned in different ways, with branches that curved and curled. As I walked through The Garden to Arbor Majikae, I finally felt the magnitude of the whole place. This field of green was protected by a kingdom of mighty trees. Although, the only tree I cared for stood in the very middle. Nothing lied in my way or prevented me from staying on the path. I pushed forward and walked for two hours, looking up at the large tree whose crown spread across to the distant walls. The size of the tree’s limbs could hold small houses, but the more impressive feature was the trunk. It must have been around five hundred feet in diameter. I have no idea how to climb this damn thing. I’ve never even been the physically inclined one, and if Maleki were here, he would do this without any preparation or hesitation.

He’s not here, though, and It’s my job to figure this out. I owe it to him. The walk here was enjoyable. Every step felt deserving despite my ligaments screaming at me. My body hadn’t formed many muscles throughout the years, so I would need to start conditioning myself for extraneous movements. I had strayed away from doing anything overly active for a long time, so if I tried to climb a regular tree, I’d probably even fail at that. All the leverage you have of using your legs and arms to stretch to a branch and climb the trunk is gone. This will be more akin to climbing a mountain than a tree. However, there is an advantage; every aspect of the tree will be maximized, so I can utilize the breaks in the bark and malformation of the trunk to climb more easily. I say easier, but this tree looks to be larger than a full kilometer. This surely has to be the tallest thing in the world.

No better place to start than the beginning, I guess.