I didn't know what I was thinking, taking Jax and Baylor to the Life Tree. It wasn't a smart choice, but I could see how much it meant to Jax, and I couldn't watch his friend die-human or not.
The only problem was getting the guards away. That was going to be hard.
I led Jax along the border of the trees, so that he would always be hidden from view. The Life Tree wasn't too long of a walk anymore, but it used to be. It saddened me that we were nearly there already, but I had to focus on the situation we had right now.
I had him wait in a denser area of woods while I walked up as calmly as I could to the guards. I hoped they didn't notice I was tired out from running most of the way here.
Currently there were 5 of us there, the head of the group today being Areida, a close friend of mine. I knew that she would figure me out, but we were running out of time. "Areida, you and the others can take the rest of the day off, you've been dedicating so much of your time to guarding. And I need help from the spirits, I would like to speak with them in private."
"Of course, Lunaria. Thank you." she said, staring into my eyes. I knew that meant 'I want to know what's really going on' but she left, followed by the others, walking through the curtain of leaves.
I ran back over to where Jax was hiding and told him it was safe to come out. He set Baylor at the base of the great tree.
The tree resembled a Weeping Willow with it's vine-like leaves reaching the ground. I touched my horn to one of the vines close to the trunk and it spiraled around my horn.
"This is the Life Tree. It is said that all of the vines and leaves are ancient spirits that watch over us. The ones nearest to the trunk are those of the first unicorns to walk this land. It is a sacred place for all Unicorns living here. "
He looked at me amazed, as the vine unwound itself from my horn.
"And how will this help him?" he asked nervously, obviously worried for his friend. I walked over to Baylor and saw that his chest was barely rising. His ribs were turning yet a darker shade of purple and his lips were turning blue, most likely from lack of oxygen.
I pulled on a single vine with my horn and guided it over to Baylor's unconscious body, lifting one side of him up so the vine could wedge itself underneath him. I flicked my horn up and all at once the vines repeated the motion until Baylor was hanging in a hammock made up of the now tightly woven vines.
I walked up to the tree, scraping a small gash into the soft wood with the tip of my horn. The sparkling sap oozed out of it, and I touched it lightly with my horn so that it would stick.
I walked over to Baylor's motionless body and touched one of his ribs, my horn lighting up dimly. I tried harder and harder on different scrapes and bruises, but there was little healing. Once I was shaking so badly I could barely stand, I stopped. By then, Baylor was barely even alive.
"I'm sorry Jax, there's nothing I can do. His wounds are too much for me. His fate is with the spirits now." I said, defeat in my voice.
He whinnied sadly but said nothing, walking over to Baylor's side. He pushed on his hand with his nose, but there was still no response from him. He backed away and looked at me.
"You tried, Lunaria, and that's all I would ever ask from you." he said to me. I looked up at the now-dark sky, the sliver of moon glowing brightly.
"Luna." I said.
"What?" He gave me a confused look.
"You can call me Luna."
As soon as I said the words, the vines began glowing, starting from the top of the tree going down to the ground in waves. The leaves surrounding Baylor gave off a brilliant, blazing white light, and tiny snowflakes broke through the tree's barrier, covering me, Jax, and Baylor with little white flakes but not touching the ground.
I closed my eyes, feeling the comforting, cool touch of the snow, shielding me from the intensity of the light. Once I opened my eyes I glanced over at where Baylor had been, but he wasn't there. Instead, he was laying on the floor in a pile of autumn leaves, like a bed. His shirt was still ripped but instead of broken ribs and bruises, all that was visible was pink, fresh skin and silvery white scars. His leg was realigned and there was a deep scar running from his knee to just above his ankle, with blotchy marks around the outside.
He was still unconscious, but he was breathing normally, if anything very heavily. Jax's eyes lit up as he ran over to him. He nudged his arm which made him stir slightly and his eyes opened. Jax neighed in delight.
"Well what are we doing all the way over here Jax? And what are ya doing with one of them white horses?"
My body jolted and I started panicking but one of the vines reached out and wrapped around my horn, calming me. I heard the spirit say, " 'Only those with pure hearts and open minds can see the truth where evil lays hidden, and where magic is revealed.' "
