The Forest Guardian

Chapter 18

There are some places in the forest where you only can go when you really need them. They are magical, if you will.

But in reality they aren't magical.

Arí has just created a stronger bond between that place and herself.

'The Tree' is one of those places.

I've actually visited The Tree a few times before, but never in such a hurry as now.

I'm holding a steady canter as I frenetically search for this tree.

That's one of the things that makes this a little tricky. The Tree never appears on the same spot twice, and it constantly changes location.

It can only be found by people who it want to be found by.

The bears and wolves around me doesn't seem to feel my distress, as they gallop next to me.

They trust me in this.

I do to, at some point.

But I've never needed The Tree as much as now.

And that stresses me out.

That's the only feeling I can make out in the mess of feelings I'm experiencing. Stress and anxiousness.

It feels like the times passes in slow motion. Like we aren't going somewhere. It has probably just passed minutes, which is record time if you want to find The Tree, when I finally see the dim, green, light between the branches of the other trees before us.

Still, the anxious feeling doesn't leave me.

I carefully slow down when we're about to enter the opening with the enormous birch in it. I don't want to risk anything happening to Lucy, not when we're this close.

Just when we're outside the clearing, I shift into human again. I hold Lucy steady in my arms, before I take the few stepps needed to enter the holy grounds of The Tree.

The majestical birch stands in the the middle, its high and mighty crown creating a green celling above us. At its roots lays a peaceful pond, the water of it glowing with green light.

That water is the reason we're here.

It isn't before now I realise that it's just me and two of the oldest wolves with me. Apparently The Tree didn't want the other ones to come with us.

I walk up to the edge of the pond, my steps slow and a little hesitant.

This water is the sourse of my quick recovery from everything, since I'm connected to it through Arí. It has a huge healing ability, but it isn't sure if The Tree will let me heal Lucy.

It's always a little tricky. One time when the great albino deer passed through this forest and got shot by a hunter, the tree letted me heal him. But another time when one of the great boar male's tried to heal his death sick father, The Tree declined.

That's why I'm physically shaking when I put Lucy down on the bank of the pond. As I back away slowly, the surfuce of the pond start to move, and suddenly a small wave carefully lays itself over Lucy, like a blanket covering a sleeping child.

My mind races. When the boar's father seaked help, this was where it ended. Dragged down into the holy waters, just to never be seen again.

If my mind wasn't a mess before, it sure is now.

Memories of when I first met Lucy comes back to me. When I scared and confused on the night of my 16th bithday ran away from my house into the forest. Not by myself, my legs where walking there without my permission.

At the point where they stopped, my feet were bleeding, my arms and legs full of small scratches and I was crying my eyes out.

That's when I met Lucy.

She came out of a bush. I screamed, but when she started talking to me, and I understood what she said, I somewhat felt calmed.

If I only knew what laid ahead of us.

The friendship only grew as she helped me concure the strange powers I got. When I got to take her form to shift into I was scared, but estatic.

We were the best of friends.

We are the best of friends.

The water drags Lucy down and into it, until the point where just her head is above the surfuce.

Then it stops.

Small bubbles of air surround her, giving it a look of her having a hot, bubble, bath.

Relif washes through me and I fall down to my knees. That's when the tears make their aravial.

I break into long sobs mixed with hiccups, and I feel how one of the old wolves sit down by my side, offering some kind of support.

But it's all breaking down on me.

All and everything.

But at some point I'm extreamly grateful for The Tree saving Lucy.

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A/N:

You really thought I was going to kill of Lucy? Are you nuts?

Anyway, it's time for another "vote-lock"

This time though, it will really be a challenge. It's nothing that I think you won't manage, but it needs more people to vote than all the thee chapters.

10 votes, and it's a new chapter.

<3 you guys btw.

//siggeisthedog.