The 13th Chime

Chapter 1: For you beyond the ending

I looked up to see the skies part as that damn rainbow shone. "At any point, you had the opportunity to showcase your beauty, but you chose this moment above all others." I mumbled barley, making a sound with my voice. I looked up to see the familiar look of the oak tree I was just climbing on; its hard bark was still looking fresh despite being older than I am. 

"I really do wonder how long you have lived compared to me; I mean, just from looking at you, I doubt you are younger than 30 years old?" The old oak tree didn't respond to me, obviously, but hey, what was a little talking while I was cutting the old tree down?

"I mean, it is sad that you are being cut down despite your history in this park, but hey, who am I to reject orders from the government?" And with that as my final words for the tree, I picked my axe up and just started swinging at the old thing; the bark peeled away and my axe slicing and cutting through the tree trunk, slowly killing the tree and splitting it in half. 

"Fuck me, your hard to cut down, aren't you, you stubborn ass tree?" I sweared as I planted my axe on the ground so I could go grab some water. 

'Oh Child of man,
you who brandish an axe so dull,
yet a fate so sharp.'

"Huh, who's there?" I questioned loudly, my voice echoing through the still forest. The birds that had been chirping in the branches scattered in a flurry of wings. "No one should be around here, you know," I shouted out, hoping that if there was an actual person skulking about, my noise and implied threats would be enough to make them go away.

I stood still, the axe gripped tightly in my calloused hands, as I strained my ears for any sound other than the rustling of leaves in the light breeze. The forest around me seemed to be holding its breath, as if awaiting my next move. After a few tense moments with no response, I let out a forced chuckle.

"Hell, it was probably just someone messing with me," I said, more to reassure myself than anything else. "Maybe some nature conservationist is not wanting me to chop down the tree and trying to scare me off with ghost voices." I shook my head ruefully. Wouldn't be the first time some tree-hugger had tried to interfere with my logging work through tricks and illusions.

Feeling a bit foolish for letting my imagination get the better of me, I bent down to pick up my axe again where I'd dropped it at the first hint of that strange noise. As my fingers closed around the worn wooden handle, a series of deep groaning sounds made me freeze in place once more.

This was no human trickery. The groans seemed to reverberate from the ancient oak tree itself, its massive trunk contracting slightly with each pained noise. I stumbled back a few paces, my eyes widening in shock and, though I was loathe to admit it, a twinge of fear.

Crack! A sound like a gunshot made me flinch as a thick branch broke free from the tree's uppermost branches and plummeted to the ground, narrowly missing me. I threw my arms up to protect my head from the shower of smaller twigs and leaves dislodged by the fallen limb.

When I cautiously lowered my arms and looked up at the tree again, its groans had quieted to what almost sounded like a resigned sigh. That's when I noticed, with a constricting feeling in my chest, the thick sap oozing from the gashes I'd already made in its sturdy trunk.

'Oh human, you who harbor a blood of gold,
and a heart of void
a lone warrior who will face the hive
you who will hear the 13th chime'

"Oi, actually, who is there and get down from that damn tree? You nearly killed me with that falling branch!" I yelled up at the towering oak, scanning its uppermost branches for any sign of movement.

The previous supernatural occurrences had shaken me, but the thought of some trespasser actively sabotaging my work by dropping branches on me snapped me back to anger. If it was just another eco-warrior playing silly pranks, they'd picked the wrong logger to mess with this time.

"OI, WHOEVER IS UP THERE GET DOWN OR ELSE I'M CUTTING THIS TREE DOWN AND YOU WITH IT!" I bellowed, punctuating the threat by slamming my axe into the trunk with a heavy thwack. I wasn't kidding around - if they wanted to make things difficult, I'd remove the tree they seemed so attached to from the equation entirely.

When there was no response, no rustling of leaves to indicate someone scrambling down, I snorted in disgust. Cowards never wanted to show themselves. Fine, if they wanted to cling to their hiding spot like tree-mice, I'd gladly assist them down in chunks.

Lifting the axe again, I took a moment to steel myself against whatever bizarre occurrences this ancient oak seemed to be capable of conjuring. Then I started chopping with steady, powerful swings, slowly widening the gash I'd already made in the sturdy trunk.

At first, there was only the harsh thunk of the axe biting into solid wood. But after several strikes, that now-familiar groaning sound rumbled from the tree once more. I grunted and kept chopping, not caring how much my hands stung from the vibrations traveling up the axe handle.

With each swing, the groans intensified, becoming an agonized wail that set my teeth on edge. Suddenly, I was knocked away from the tree as a huge branch knocked the axe from my arms and myself away from the base of the tree

 A deafening creak echoed through the forest as the upper branches stretched towards me like grasping claws. Its branches reaching towards me like a devils hand striking a deal with my soul

Countless smaller branches and twigs whipsawed through the air, striking me with rapid-fire blows that felt like a hail of wooden fists. I staggered and threw my arms up in a futile attempt to block them, but there were too many coming from all directions.

A thick limb caught me square in the chest, driving the wind from my lungs in a harsh grunt. I dropped into a crouch, desperately trying to protect my head as the unbridled lashing intensified.

Just when I was ready to simply give up and run blindly from this wooden fury, the storm of lashing branches ceased as suddenly as it had begun. There was an ear-splitting crack that set my heart pounding, but when I cautiously lifted my head, the oak stood unmoving once more.

Coughing and shuddering from the residual stinging blows, I quickly realized what that last ominous sound had been - the tree's gigantic roots were ripping free of the earth. The entire trunk leaned at a precarious angle overhead, ready to come crashing down at a moment's notice. 

'Oh vision seeker, you with attunement unbound
I ask of you, let me see this end, to all those who stand before it 
and to let me see beyond the start of this hell'

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU SAYING YOU DELUDED BASTARD" I squeaked out with the little air I had in my lungs. As I stared back at the tree, I finally noticed that the ghastly wails I was hearing earlier weren't some mere figment of imagination, but it was the sound of multiple branches snapping, and with those branches gone, the tree is now slowly falling towards me. falling like the hands of some god protecting its followers. 

For the deep shall wait in shadows deep,
As fate weaver's hand, its secrets keep.
Shaping destinies, a tapestry unfurls,
Fate's decree upon each mortal swirls.

Facing the fairy man who waits with grace,
And the hive's resentment, an unyielding chase.
Yet the knives, they bide their time in stealth,
While chimes ring late, echoing in stealth.

When trumpets blare their ominous song,
And beings descend, vengeance strong,
The end draws near, as seer's words divine,
Unveiling truths, like stars that shine.