The most dangerous thing in life was complacency.
~Crow, Son of Maddox
Forest sounds were familiar, but Twilight Forest had a certain serenity that was hard to describe. Many people fear the forest at night because its shadows make their imaginations run wild, but not this place. It was like the shadows were inviting and warm—safe.
Leaves rustled about as small animals scurried past. The forest wasn’t completely dark even at night because the fireflies brightened up the place. It was magical, surreal, and beautiful, and it was no wonder it could lull people into its embrace.
Crow reached the location mentioned in the Ogham Rune, but the forest made him more alert instead of feeling calm. No matter how peaceful and magical a forest felt, he knew it was all a mirage. Despite all that, he still felt at home among the trees because they harmonized with his cultivation and Druid ideology. Forests were sacred because, out of all the ordinary locations in any world, they were closest to being in sync with the natural order. Its ecology was pure.
As his Bard’s Opus, he finally had a name: Ecology of Existence. The reason he knew this forest was dangerous was because of this opus. For a forest to exist, there was a cycle and a balance. A food chain was part of a life cycle, and just because he couldn’t see them didn’t mean predators weren’t around. The danger of this forest was its calming effect. Lesser minds might succumb and not even know how they died. The most dangerous thing in life was complacency.
Crow’s eyes changed, and he stared at the boulder at the location mentioned. The hidden Ogham Rune appeared with a soft glow as he infused his mana into it. He recorded the information in it and hopped on top of the stone, and turned toward the direction it indicated.
He didn’t leave immediately because he went through all the mathematical steps to ensure his next stop was correct. He doubted because the path was a wide loop, and the final destination was only thirty meters from the stone he was on. The stone was visible from where he stood. At first, he thought maybe it was taking him toward a cave, and he’d reach that point underground, but based on the numbers, that was wrong.
As he was about to step down and directly approach the new spot, he stopped. It was because he suddenly felt uneasy.
“Hmm, what am I missing?”
Crow followed the path outlined in the stone instead of assuming. He could save a few hours but erred on the side of caution. His caution was because his journey was uneventful to this point, and Crow wondered if it was because of the ‘path’ outline within the knot. A few hours later, he ended up at the location he had spotted earlier. Looking over, he also saw the stone he had stood on previously. Once more, he infused the stone with mana and analyzed the Celtic Knot. This time, the layers contained a note.
A trail is a guide forged through the wisdom of others. Only the strong can forge new trails. Until then… Stay on the path.
Crow mused at the wisdom within the stone. While it wasn’t necessarily a trial, that first stone definitely pits wisdom versus greed. Those that took the shortcut would end up failing. Further, he speculated he activated a formation when he filled that first stone with mana. If that formation’s complexity is at the level of the runic knots inside the stones, he shuddered to think of its capability.
The math puzzles were interesting and became more complex with each location. However, they weren’t much of a challenge for someone with a Sage’s Mind. Crow followed the path and remained unmolested by people or beasts. After reaching the fifth stone, the moon had set. Instead of setting up camp, he sat down and cultivated.
While absorbing mana, he felt something land on his knee. Opening his eyes, he saw a fearless squirrel staring up at him while perched on his knee. From the little crystal on its forehead, he already recognized that it was a beast, which was interesting. After a few seconds, the squirrel handed him an acorn. Unsure of what was happening, he took the gift. The squirrel nodded, looked behind his bushy gray tail, and waved its little paw. A dozen squirrels scrambled out of the brush and crowded around their leader. A gray squirrel with an orange tuft down its back approached slowly, and in its arms was a limp baby that was barely breathing.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
*Lily?*
*Never thought I’d see a beast bartering with a human. Squirrels are cunning, and he just tricked you into a trade.*
*What the hell does that mean?*
*I think he wants you to save the baby. I’m not sure what is wrong with it, but there is a yellow-green aura around it, so… poison?*
*Looks like you all are about to get some squirrels.*
*Bring more animals in. I’m pretty sure they can breed now.*
*Really?*
*The witches have been experimenting with some plants and discovered they can germinate. In fact, the resulting seeds have more vitality than the original. It should not be a big surprise since we already suspected as much. Yggdrasil isn’t simple.*
Gently, he lifted the baby and thought about how to help it. Human pills were too potent for a baby like this. Then he realized he had healers.
“I’m going to send you all to a place with healers. She’ll be able to heal him. Is that okay?”
Crow looked at the dad squirrel, who appeared to have enough intelligence to understand him. Chittering sounds followed as they discussed. Finally, they all nodded and approached. He handed the baby back.
“Hold on to each other. Shortly, you’ll appear in my Soulscape near people who can help. After that, you are free to stay.”
They did as told, so he brought them inside and instructed Zoe. The coven quickly resolved the poison in the baby squirrel and convinced the family to remain. There was practically an entire forest with no beasts to threaten them. Crow had moved animals in, but a beast could kill most animals.
After Crow warned them about places they weren’t allowed to go, the family ran off. He didn’t bother to see where they went because it didn’t matter. His cave home already had formations to ward off animals, beasts, insects, and other pests. It might not be a problem yet, but every time he brought something over, there was a chance something came in with it.
Before he left, he suddenly felt a strong disturbance from the trash mountain. Approaching, the pulses within the trash heap fluctuated randomly. Entering inside, he shifted large piles of refuse he’d carelessly thrown into the pit. It was gross, but there was definitely something beneath it all.
After a time, he dug out an egg about the size of a small child. Because he didn’t recognize the egg, he filtered through his memory to find how it got there. After he had gone through many memories, he arrived at the first thing he’d dumped into the pit—the Snowmoon’s stomach. The acidic bile melted the stone walls of the pit and was highly toxic, so he didn’t hang around.
“The Snowmoon… so you had an egg after all. Now, what to do with you?” Crow could feel it sucking away his mana at an alarming rate, so he didn’t dare leave it in his Soulscape. The moon? He looked up and remembered he had tossed the Soulmoon’s core into it. “No, that’s too important to my developing ecosystem.”
“Bring it to the base of the Fireheart Oak,” Lily said from behind him.
“Will it be fine there?”
“It needs mana, and if it really is the offspring of a Snowmoon and Ashsun, then it needs a lot of fire essence. It’s been under that pile of dead things, absorbing who knows what. Ghost and Death Mana are both in the cold family, so give it life and fire.”
Crow nodded and approached the Fireheart Oak. Placing his hands on it, he muttered, “It’s been a while, old friend. Can you create a nest of sorts with your roots? This little one needs to absorb mana.”
Lily watched in fascination while the roots anchored into Yggdrasil created a small basin filled with the World Tree’s energy. It had a mix of mana from Yggdrasil and the Fireheart Oak—the egg was soaking in high concentrations of Life, Fire, and Wood Mana. Wood Mana was high in vitality, so it was hard to say how it would affect the egg. He did not know the end result, but it was bound to be interesting. The egg went into the basin as it greedily absorbed the energy it was soaking in.
“Do you think it’ll become the serpent they claim?” Crow asked.
“No.” Lily shook her head. “It’s already mutated and changed its fate the moment it met you. It’s impossible to say what it’ll become now.”
Crow sighed.
“I didn’t say it was a bad thing. I’m certain it’ll become greater than it was. I mean, it’s absorbing the energies of a World Tree. How many things can claim to do that?”
“You.”
“I know, right! I’m fucking awesome.” Lily nodded as if it was common knowledge which caused Crow to burst out laughing.
“When did my little fae turn into a narcissist?”