The Revelation of the Vine: Graft

Chapter 19: The End is Where the Beginning is

   "No way," Teion gasped as his eyes bulged, and a huge, gaping smile crossed his face. "That has got to be the most amazing tree I have ever seen." The Leminscus towered into the mist, rising from two great trunks that connected like repeating Lemniscates, and dwarfed the other trees that circled around the spring like worshippers. Its circumference was as wide as 50 thick oaks, and long, vibrant vines curled up its massive grey-brown trunks. Large, dark knots decked its surface in the shape of Lemniscates. The limbs and branches of the tree stretched out over the spring in the same shape, swirling around and within. Bright, golden-skinned fruit that shined with golden light hung from vines that dropped from the boughs of the glowing, green leaves. After refilling our water skins and circling the lake for a while, we reached a path of stones that led across the water to the base of the tree. The glow of the Lemniscus swallowed us, covering us in golden-green light, as we jumped from stone to stone. The water sparkled around us, capturing beams of refracting light. The hovering mist and canopy of the tree reflected on the surface. As the last of us leapt from the final stone, we gathered under a low hanging branch where seven of the fruits were hanging from a single vine. The further the day went, the more it truly did seem like I had experienced it before. I somehow knew that these seven fruit were meant for the seven last seeds. "Seeds," I said, standing in front of them. "This is where your old life ends, and where you shall take root in the Vine. From this hour forward, you are Knights of the Vine, Lemniscata. Step up now, and take the fruit which was born for you, but do not eat it yet." One by one, the Seeds stepped forward. Falkir went first. The fruits on the vine began to brighten as he approached and reached up, then plucked the top fruit and stepped to the side. Tenbu did the same. Then Teion went. Then Rahlix, Atreios, and Jeizen took their turns. Vhalrin walked up, as the last fruit that hung the lowest waited. It brightened as he reached out and plucked it from its place. "Now that you have your fruit," I said, looking at each of them, "Find yourselves a nice place to sit in the shade of the trunks, remove your shoes again, and this time the rest of your armor. You will no longer need it." They hurried over to a nook between the trunks, just under the lower curve of the first intersection, and sat down. I walked under another vine where a few more fruits were hanging, but they dimmed as I got near. My hopes dropped. When I reached out to touch it, the glow vanished. My hopes dashed to pieces as they crashed into the bottom of my heart. I plucked the dull fruit from its stem, and stashed it in a pocket of my cloak. I continued toward the Seeds who sat in a circle between the rising trunks. Jurgen and the remaining Knights leaned against the tree, keeping their eyes on the tree line. There was an odd signature out there in the woods somewhere. I had only just begun to feel it. It was getting harder to focus on things. "Now," I said as I approached the circle, "Eat your fruit, but don t worry, there aren't any seeds. The Lemniscus is unique in that it does not produce fruit through reproduction. This is the only one that will ever be grown. After you have eaten the flesh of the fruit, bury the core in the dirt, and then relax. You will become tired and fall asleep, and then your bodies will die. But don t be alarmed, you won t feel a thing. Your consciousnesses will drift into the Rest for the first time, and you will meet the Mender. After you have spoken with him, he will return you to your bodies, and you will awaken from the dead as Lemniscata." The Seeds began to eat, and they ate like the fruit tasted better than anything they had ever eaten in their lives. When they had finished they buried the cores in the dirt, and then began to relax and chat. Within minutes they had all slumped to the ground, and rolled onto their backs. As they relaxed they began to yawn, and their eyelids slowly drooped to a close. They fell into a deep sleep, and then I heard their heartbeats slowly stop. Their mouths opened, and vines began to grow up out of them. The vines curled outward, spreading over them like a cocoon, and then dug into the ground below, anchoring them in place as their bodies began to undergo the Sowing. I walked over to Jurgen, and leaned back against the tree next to him. "You ever see one of these do this," I asked, showing him the dull fruit. His eyes narrowed, and he reached his hand out to touch it. It brightened in the areas where his fingers stretched. "I don't think so, was it like this when you found it?" I shook my head, "No, look at it." I dropped the fruit, and as it rolled away, it slowly began to restore its vibrant glow. "See . . ." "V, I--" Jurgen started to say, but I waved him off. My hopes were dashed enough. The fruit could not help. The tree was no use, and nothing he said could change that. The Corruption still lingered in me, hibernating in the void-scar. I let my head drop back against the tree, staring up into the glowing leaves that spread from the swirling branches, and the vines that hung down with their golden fruit. To Shadow with you, Lemniscus. The thought swept across my mind, as my stare turned angry. For 700 years, I ve fought for you, and now you re going to turn your back--. I blinked away the thoughts, and turned my attention away from the tree. Sol and Feng stood by the other trunk next to their last comrade, Zahk. "I remember," Vhalrin's cocoon resonated with bright light as his voice echoed out. "I remember!" The cocoon began to bulge and the glow began to flash, and then I heard, ". . . Veil," before the glow diminished and the cocoon became still. Jurgen and the Knights came rushing over. Looks of fascination painted their faces as they looked at each other and then me. A vision of darkness flashed before my eyes, and then I saw a swirling wind of many colors in the center. The vision faded. "Did he just say he remembered . . . and then something about Veil?" Jurgen asked the question that we all should have been thinking right then, but my mind had been elsewhere. The Knights and I agreed, and then a dark thought formed in my mind, but it wasn't my own. Kill them. Take their power. End the suffering.