Phrocylan & The Tree of Life (The Spirit of the Tree Book 1)

Chapter Thirteen: Sacrifice

The mist kept ruffling.

A horrible thought dawned upon me, about these immortal wolfheads... They used to capture their victims, chain them in their storage area and eat a part of them every day until... you can guess. I had to get out.

I did not want to become a wolf snack.

There was still a lot of ruffling all around me, and it seemed to be getting closer by second. I had to act quickly. But what could I do? Jafyl and Yorul were somewhere around her, probably not in any condition to act. I was in no condition myself.

As the ruffling got closer, my heart pounded racer-fast, blood filled every corner of my body in so much quantity I felt like exploding. No doubt this was the act of Magic Fist's adrenaline draining me, like a balloon being inflated.

Then the mist parted, and I prepared to scream- but I was stunned when I saw who had emerged from the mist...

Standing before me, was my old frenemy... Riko, controller of winds, messenger of gods, blah blah blah. I hated her.

She smiled at me coldly. She had the same galaxy outfit, but this time her hair was flowing white, even though the winds weren't blowing, stars twirled around her, she had a peacock feather in her hair and her eyes were dull yellow and amber bright, like extinguished sun... The Sun... and what was her third title? Oh, no, no way. She can't...

Her gaze seemed to burn a hole in my soul. "We meet again," she said, "Hello, my hero-"

"I am no one's hero." I clenched my teeth.

"-Do you know what awaits you? Wait, scratch that. Do you know who you are?" Her smile seemed to get wider.

I supposed there was no point in lying, as she could see right through me, literally. "Yes, so far. What do you want now?"

She grimaced, "Why do you suppose I come in need of something? Can I not visit my lovely hero for no particular reason?"

"No," I replied

"Well.. true, you're learning."

"So? What do you want?" I was seriously starting to get very angry now, though I couldn't do anything about it.

She laughed, "Oh! Nothing! Just your soul, spirit, and your essence."

...

"What??

That didn't feel like 'nothing' to me. Personally, I like to keep my soul, spirit, and my essence attached to me. "You're not getting my soul!"

She grinned, "I wasn't asking."

***

»»Cylla««

The taste of molten cookie dough brought me to wake.

I sat up, still dazzled, and looked around.

I was confused for a second, then I remembered how I got there... Oh, no. The camp... Hectar... Phro... Those people sacrificed themselves to save me...

I broke down then and there, crying in despair. How could I call myself Queen of anything? I had cost my friends their lives... I was a terrible friend.

I could never forgive myself.

But I couldn't afford to weep and cry all day... I had to save the tree, I had to honor my friends. Their deaths will not be in vain.

I was looking at the faces of tree spirits. I had trouble remembering their names, I was too focused on the grief...

There were a total of 5 of them, with brown skin tone, leafy clothes, long straight hair colored with various sets of leaves and decorated with fruits, braided with tree bark and leaf crowns. Their eyes were solid black, but incredibly kind and beautiful.

They bowed, "Our Queen." they said in unison.

Their voice was so soothing I was in a moment of trance. It echoed down to every inch of my body, reverberating beautifully. It was on the higher pitch, matching their shape perfectly.

Then I looked around me, and saw purple mist. It was twinkling with white and pink stars and moons, dozens of spotlights. It was immensely gorgeous, and I knew in a second where I was. I had reached the viarifts.