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

Chapter Fourteen: Viarifts

It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

Of all the places I've been, lake sides, hills, valleys, gardens, everywhere, nothing compared to this. This was the most incredible place ever, looming with twinkles, smelling all the different flowers- whatever you wanted, it adjusted to you. It adjusted to your mood. It was just.. Wow.

The tree spirits, I still didn't know what they were called... they took me to a bed nearby and rested me down, and I immediately fell asleep.

I hate dreams. But of course, I had dreams.

I was in a thick white misty area, and I couldn't see anything. I heard struggling and talking, which sounded like... Oh, gods, they are still alive. Maybe the campers survived and escaped, but why would they come here? Or maybe they were taken hostage... Whatever the case, at least they were alive, but the sounds were only of two campers... Yorul and Jafyl. What happened to Phro...

No, surely he would have made it too. I was not going to let him die. I willed myself to move towards the voices, but it was hard to navigate in the mist. I didn't want to be scared, it was a dream, yet my heart was racing at a million beats per second. I shivered with fear, trembling from head to toe. But I moved, and the mist parted with each of my steps.

Soon, the mist parted more than before, revealing two boys in chains, their bodies dangerously slim, their heads down and their arms shackled. They were whispering.

"No... There's no way..." One said to the other- and I was confirmed that these two were Yorul and Jafyl. This was the voice of Yorul.

"I'm afraid it is, and we couldn't do anything about it... Wolves don't lie, they cheat, harass, steal, but they do not lie. I have experience... I'm afraid-" Jafyl's voice was broken and hollow. "I'm afraid he's gone. This all... It's all over. Our only hope is the viarifts." Then he looked straight at me, as if he knew I was there.

Then I remembered Jafyl had the ability to look into viarifts and so...

His expression became stern, "I hope the queen knows what's coming. She's our only hope now."

Then suddenly I was pulled back, and I woke up.

The trepents were looming over me, I had remembered their names now. "You have woken" One of them said, "You need rest."

The others nodded.

I nodded, and I was hungry. But I had no mood to eat or drink anything, especially after what I'd just seen. I couldn't keep that to myself, I explained what happened to the trepents.

Their expressions did not assure me what was to come, "It makes sense. The wolfheads capture on call from others, and this time, it was Riko. I will link my root to Suremus."

"Can you... Tell if he's..." I asked, I could not wait, but I also didn't want to know... If Riko was in this, things were a lot worse than I had thought.

She spent a few minutes in silence, meditating in the viarifts currents. All the rest of her looked at her longingly...

Finally, she opened her eyes. Her face was pale red from concentration and her eyes had the same black color, but it was dull this time. Maybe from the strength used by linking...

"What? Where is he? Is he okay?" I asked quickly. The rest of the trepents passed her some water.

She took a deep breath, and a tear trickled down her eyes... "Suremus is... dead."