To say that I was frightened out of my wits would be a very gross understatement. My heart had somehow jumped from its enclosure in my chest and was now making very wild beats in my ears. I struggled to hold my head steady to avoid a very large organ dropping out of it. I wasn't sure a large red blood spurting organ would be a very good sight to see. My hands suddenly seemed to grow a mind of their own as they flailed helplessly, my attempts to keep them at my side failing woefully. My belly was not left out as it tumbled violently like a pit of snakes had been let loose in it, each of which was nice having a field day of biting out huge chunks out of my belly walls. My legs? They seemed to have suddenly had all their bones melted into a tissue puddle as they wobbled under me, threatening to give out under me at any moment.
As if the scare by the trees wasn't already good enough, the guardian of the trees decided to pay me a visit as well. That was what he/she looked like at least. How else would you describe someone who wore a cloak that was clearly green but still managed to glow so brilliantly in the dark? And by dark, I don't mean the kind of dark that happens when the moon disappears under heavy clouds. I mean the kind that snuffs out all kind of light. The kind that exists in a room where all the opening through which light could come in has been blocked. The kind that has you feeling around for your nose to be certain it is still glued to your face. Yeah, that kind! Yet, I still managed to see this person very clearly due to the brilliant features of their plumage. The figure wore a cloak that seemed to be the source of the glow. Taking a closer look, I could see that it looked exactly the same as the grass rug in the hut. Yeah! This was the guardian all right. No one else would wear a robe made of grass. Not to mention the small antler like branches that sprung from behind his ears. I would have easily mistook them for antlers if not for the lush green leaves that sprung from their sides. I wondered if he had simply attached them or they really grew on him. My brain almost overloaded trying to think of how that was possible. His legs seemed bare except that they exuded a green halo as well and he seemed to be at least 7 feet tall. I had a feeling that if he stood very still, he would be a perfect tree. A very bright green, breathing one, sure, but a tree nonetheless. A chill settled in my bones as I wondered if he had been here all along, standing among his trees and watching us as we barged into his property like we owned the place. The memory of the table came floating back to me as I wondered if it really had been breathing. My dread ballooned to a hundred times its former size as I wondered if these things were alive. I wasn't usually scared of nature, as a matter of fact, I dared to say that I loved it but the possibility of living, walking, breathing nature sounded pretty scary. "Who...who are you?" I finally managed to ask, my voice sounding like grating rocks. The figure chuckled. It was difficult to believe that this... thing was human. The voice was neither male, nor female, not even human, I dared to say. It sounded like the rustling of several large, leafy branches on a very stormy day. I frowned as I took in the figure again wondering if the sound had come from the trees instead. "I see you finally met each other." It wasn't very easy to hear the voice of a tree, much less, understand what it was saying but somehow, I managed to make sense of the words. I stared at the tree person suspiciously as I tried to make sense of his words. What did he mean that we had finally met each other? Could he be referring to Indrik? Or perhaps...THE TREE THAT HAD SUDDENLY APPERARED BEHIND HIM. I yelped as I jumped back, nearly falling on my face. There was no doubt about it now. These trees were definitely moving. How? I couldn't say for the life of me, especially as these trees were very huge with the least no shorter than fifteen feet. I became jumpy as I wondered for the umpteenth time what this living tree wanted from me. Not my life, I hoped, because it would really suck to be turned into a tree. Tree person turned toward the tree behind him and placed a green palm against it. My eyes widened. That was definitely not a hand. It was shaped like a palm, yes, but it looked more like a branch, with all the shoots and leaves that a branch would have as fingers. "Come on, Herms. I've told you to stop sneaking up on me. Especially not when I have guests. Look, now, you've almost scared her to death." The tree shook from root to leaves like it was throwing a tantrum, something which I wouldn't have thought possible until tonight. "Yeah, go ahead. I will definitely come by later as long as you promise to be good." Like talking to trees was not already strange enough, Herms shook again as the ground rumbled under me and I watched the tree start to move farther and farther. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't been seeing it happen before me right now but the tree seemed to be moving by moving its roots underground. "Quietly, Herms." Tree person called after the tree. I didn't think that to be possible but the tree rumbled again before continuing its journey, this time without any sound. My mouth fell open.Luna "Who are you?" I asked again, my voice extremely soft. Whoever could speak to trees and order them around was definitely a force to be reckoned with and to be feared. "Sorry about that. He just would not listen to me. You know what children are like, right?" He continued in his voice which now sounded like the sound of a thousand falling leaves. I looked behind me wondering why Indrik was yet to come out. I regretted it instantly. The hut was gone and in its place were even more trees which were keeping us enclosed. I did a 360 degree turn, yet I could not see anything apart from trees around us. My blood seemed to be turning to lead as I turned back to the man. "Where is Indrik?" I asked, scared to know what his response would be. "The boy? He is just fine." He waved his branch arms and a few leaves fell off, swirling as they made their way to the ground. I wasn't sure I believed him but I didn't think I was left with many other choices. "Who are you and what do you wan
Jamil I glared at the group of men that had surrounded us. I could see and count about six men standing before us looking like they had very hostile intentions. I did a quick scan of the environs trying to see if there were any others lurking around but there seemed to be none. Either that, or they were hiding well out of view. "Well, well, look who we have here." A man moved forward. He wasn't very tall but he had the muscular build of one who could take on ten men of my own size. He completed the look with a full beard which extended to his chest area. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" I snarled, my hand flying to my side only to be reminded that I had no sword. It wasn't exactly one of the most important accessories you thought to pack when you were preparing to go for a run. I groaned inaudibly silently cursing myself for being so careless. With what had been going on in the past couple of days, I should have known better than to leave the palace without my sword. No
Jamil After a quick search through the woods that yielded no results, we headed back to the palace with the hearty news. So much for trying to get everyone in a better mood. "Who do you think they were? You think they..." I stopped mid-sentence but the way Ulo looked at me informed me that he had gotten my message. "I don't know." He replied brusquely. I nodded. I wasn't in a very good mood myself. Good work universe. You have successfully ruined a perfectly good mood. Getting back to the palace, we elected to go see the Beta immediately. Sure, it was the dead of night but that kind of threat could not be dismissed easily. For one, the man seemed to have known a lot about us which was unfair considering that we didn't really know all that much about him. He had not only known about Beta Green but he had also known about his son. He hadn't mentioned my name but I had a feeling that he knew exactly who I was. Blaire too. Another suspicion that I had was that he had known we wou
Luna I woke up to see Indrik staring down at me. I blinked, trying to recall how and when I had ended up here. I pulled a blank unable to recall anything after the tree man. I shivered as I recalled the memory which sleep had done little to dampen. "What?" I scowled up at him when he continued to stare at me even with my eyes wide open. That, and the fact that the way he was laying so close to me was causing some un-Luna like reactions in my belly. He smiled down at me in a way that warned that he was about to say something that was pretty silly. "Don't say it." I warned but of course, he was not going to listen. "You haven't even heard what I had to say." He grumbled. "I don't need to hear it before knowing what you are going to say." I scoffed, slapping his arm which was smoothing my hair away. "Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. So, I woke up this morning and the sun was beaming on your face." He pointed an opening in the branches above the bed which I was certain had
Jamil Morning broke with me still asleep which was rather unusual for me. Usually, I was out of bed before the crack of dawn. But today, I probably would have continued sleeping till noon if a knock had not woken me up. I groaned lazily as I stretched my limbs. The knock came again, forcing me out of bed. I stumbled over to the door in nothing other than a black trouser. Opening the door, I was surprised to find Blaire standing there and even more so to find that she looked more of a mess than I probably did, but then again, I couldn't see myself through a second set of eyes. Her chocolate brown hair had become all tangled and messy making me feel sorry for her as I imagined her trying to tackle that forest. Her face did not look much better with red looking eyes and eye bags. Her nose was running and her mouth looked like one of her lip paints had gone rogue and traipsed aimlessly all over her mouth instead of her lips. Her blue gown looked she had wrested it from a couple of deer
UloSometimes, I wondered if my temperament was a curse. Growing up, I had always been the most quiet of my friends, even more quiet than Indrik who had the most right to be quiet amongst all of us. Not so comfortable with people, I found it more comfortable to be in the company of books and weapons. Those did not seem so complicated. With books, I could easily travel into worlds where I had a measure of control. With weapons, I could focus on my weaknesses and home them into strengths. As long as I trained hard and well enough, I was certain to be good enough some day. This was not the same with humans. I could spend an entire year studying humans only to fall flat again as they brought up a side of them that I never knew existed. Books had their own twists and turns as well but at least, those had a resolution. Humans never did. They always seemed to manufacture a thousand more problems for every single one that you manufactured. Hearing Blaire's voice at Jamil's door, I had jumped
Ulo I daubed at my eyes, hoping that no one would be able to see the height of my humiliation. Crying? Seriously? I wished I could punch the living daylights out of my own body. "Yo, bud. You're okay?" Jamil came rushing over. "I'm fine." I snapped not feeling up to the task of dealing with Mr perfect at the moment. "Let's go." I continued, still daubing at my eyes and hoping it would be gone before we reached the palace. It would be really embarrassing to appear before the council looking all weepy. The entire way to the palace, I kept thinking of all the ways in which I could start up a conversation with Blaire and clear the air within us but it all ended up starting and ending within me. Then there was Jamil too who was only trying to help while I kept shutting him down. All of these were really starting to give me a headache so I was relieved when we appeared before the council and were asked to give our reports. We reported what we had seen and then watched as the counci
Luna There is a place for being a good teacher and there is a place for having good equipment and a perfect training ground. I had no idea who the children of prophecy were but I promised myself to say a very big thank you to them when we finally met them. My initial plan had been to train with Indrik for a short while but the process had gone so smoothly with trees set in place to match the exact thing that we needed. Indrik found it strange but I knew that the trees were helping us. When he needed to pull himself up, there was a branch just perfect for that. When he needed obstacle courses, there were just enough low hanging branches between trees to allow for that. Whatever we needed, the trees provided. Even the staff with which I had whacked his behind a couple of times now. By the time we decided to rest, the day had been far spent and we both collapsed, exhausted, to the patch of green grass that definitely did not appear out of nowhere to the middle of our training field.