Guardian of Elements

Chapter 28 - Protectors

It was late afternoon already when Kate woke up. Finally, she felt restored. She was enjoying the warmth of grass for several more minutes. She was watching bees flying from flower to flower in front of her and she wasn't disturbed by the fact that they had four wings and they were twice the size they should be.

She stood up and stretched her limbs. Tawarthion was nowhere nearby, but that wasn't disturbing her either. She was feeling great, maybe like never before during her journey. She was a bit thirsty, but that was not a concern for her anymore. Her gem just flashed briefly, and an orb of water conjured from air appeared.

Kate was considering just waiting here for Tawarthion's return from wherever he was, but if he was out there hunting humans, she could be of assistance. But she was a foreigner in these lands and getting lost would be all too easy. Either way, she didn't want to spend the day by sitting here and doing nothing.

The only idea she had was to return to the lake of power. But suddenly, she heard a deep howling sound and cracking of wood. She looked to the right and saw something really scary. Above the treetops, there was a part of the body and a head of a giant.

It was maybe ten meters high, it had bark all over its body and it was obviously making its way to the lake. Although it was walking very slowly, it could cover the distance of several meters just by one step thanks to its size. Kate could see the arms just to the elbows, but still, its size was more than impressive.

But the being was obviously wounded. It was walking in a shrouded position and using trees around it for support. Those very deep howling sounds were also being made by it, but the cracks of wood were often of trees that couldn't withstand the weight of the creature. When it entered the meadow, Kate could see its entire body. It was all made of wood, and its arms and legs were very long. It was looking a bit like a human in statue.

Kate realized that this was probably one of the ents Tawarthion was talking about. It was ignoring her and slowly going to the lake. When she ran closer, she found out that the ent's bark on its legs was burned, charred. Was that the result of an encounter with humans, or was it from the forest fire?

"Hey! Can you hear me?" she shouted at it. But the ent was paying her no attention. She had to run to keep up with it.

"Hey!" she shouted again. She wasn't sure if the creature could speak or even understand her.

The ent came to the Fountain. Kate was unsure whether she should stop it or not, but before she could do anything, it stepped into the lake. The white substance immediately swirled and shot upwards around the creature's long leg. The same happened when it submerged the other foot. Big waves of slow-moving energy enveloped the ent's legs, then spread to the torso and arms. The white shell encased it for several seconds, glowing intensely, and then exploded. When Kate regained her sight, the ent made a huge step out of the lake, and she could see that its bark was restored, there was no sign of any burns. The charred bark was gone, replaced by new brown wood.

The healed ent noticed the little cat next to it, but it didn't show any interest and went away. Kate had to catch its attention. She raised a small chunk of earth and threw it at the tree-creature. For it, the piece was nothing more than a tiny stone, but it was something else what made it turn around: the flash of Kate's Shard. The giant knelt next to her, but its head was still higher than treetops in the background.

Kate attempted to shout at it again, but before she had a chance, it reached out with one hand to her and buried it into the ground under her. Then, it raised her up into the air.

Kate was struggling to regain balance. The soil in the ent's hand was coming apart and falling back down. Meanwhile, it raised her all the way up to its face. When she could stand without the fear of falling down six meters, she looked at her captor up close.

The ent had a trunk-like head, with no visible neck. It didn't have eyes either, only two dark holes in its face, which was very scary. Its bark was rough and old looking, like that of a beech tree.

Kate attempted to communicate with it again, but the creature seemed to be interested only in her gem. She had just enough of it and blew a gust of wind at him, just to make it shine. The ent was obviously surprised by it. Then, it stood up and turned away from the lake, still holding her high.

Kate turned around in its hand and looked to the distance. She was high above trees now, she could see almost entire forest and she counted four other ents walking around in it. They were generally smaller than the one holding her, but they had their heads above the treetops as well. It was a majestic sight.

But Kate could see something else as well. In one part of the forest, trees were bending in a way that wind could never make them, and she could also see green flashes here and there. That was where Tawarthion had to be.

She mustered her courage and jumped down from the ent's hand. Like her mother, she superheated the air to slow her fall. When she landed, unharmed, she went into the woods and didn't even notice the ent's surprise.