Saturday: 06/15/2030: I wake up to Xena and Spock kneading my back and neck. “Good morning.” “Good morning, Lindsay.” I stretch in my bed and pick up my phone where I see a text notification from Mom which she says Binky sent to her. 10:30. Unlocking my phone and clicking on the notification, I am met with images of the dark tree and its black crystal as described by Kyle just before Lyral destroyed it. Mom then, after sending the pictures, texted me saying:
The sunlight streams into my east-facing window and I stand up and get dressed. “Want to go for a walk outside, Lindsay?” “Sure. I could really use it.” We go downstairs for breakfast and I grab an apple from the kitchen. “Good morning, Lindsay.” “Good morning, Lyral. The cats and I are going for a walk.” “TJ out on his beat already?” “Yep. Ok. The Crawfords are coming over for lunch later, so try to be back by 12.” “I will. Bye.” “Bye.” I walk out the back door with the cats and step into the balmy morning air and take on my animal form. Us three cats run off through the tall grass and we play variations on hide and seek and tag. “So what did your mother tell you about the dark tree?” “She texted me pictures the Crawfords took of them but told me not to share them with anyone else because the Crawfords sent pictures of the tree to the police and the news will tell people not to mess with them, but report them and the nearest immortal will destroy them.” “So what happened with Billy the other day?” “According to his brothers, they were out playing in the woods and he must have wandered away from them and crossed the property line and was poisoned when he touched the crystal protruding from it. Why he would touch something unnatural, I don’t know. Especially after what happened during the camping trip.” “What did Lyral do to save him?” “She had the boys take the water and dried rose petals from the temple, mix it with deer marrow, chewed it into a poultice, and it cleansed his body of whatever was put into him. She did so while chanting in the deathless tongue, comprehensible to mortals only as church latin, begging the ancestors to help him as Ida invoked her goddess ancestor.” “The ancestors are not normally beseeched for mortals’ sake.” “Yes, but since the affliction was not part of mortals’ everyday experience and no mortal medicine could have helped him, she made the right call.” “You said last night that Billy told you all that we would “pay for withholding her Champion.” You think these “trees” are part of the dark tree and the Black Mist?” “Maybe.” “You think the news might make a connection between the mist sightings and the dark tree to the public?” “Probably.” “What do you think the mist might do in retribution since both our property and theirs is protected by spells? Should we cast a boon over the whole town?” “I don’t know, guys.” Our speculation is interrupted by Fengma’s naying. “Looks like someone wants to go for a walk, too.” I return to my human form and go into the barn and after mucking her stall, I let my horse out into the paddock. “Good morning, sweetheart.” She presses her nose against my body and I brush her mane and tail. After I finish grooming and feeding her, I climb up on her back and we ride out of the paddock. Xena and Spock run a little ahead as we walk through the fields and onto our riding trails in the woods. The birds sang and chirped in the trees, which both calmed and surprised me, given what’s been happening over the past week and a half. Fengma’s ears perked up, as did the cats’ ears, as the sound of two males talking drew nearer to us. It’s Buck and Kyle carrying a shovel and the cleaned bones of a deer which Mr. Crawford presumably killed at some point in the past week. “Good morning, guys.” “Morning, Lindsay. How y’all doing?” “Great. I heard y’all are coming over for lunch today and y’all have some bones. Deer, right?” “Yeah. Just gonna bury its bones so it can rest.” “So, you’re bringing venison?” “Yep. Her Wisdom will keep the long bones, though, if we need to do any more spells.” My cats sniff the deer bones and Spock starts digging with his little paws. “Spock, no, you’re getting dirt all under your nails.” “Aww, you gonna help me bury the deer bones?” Buck rubs Spock’s ears and they get to work, digging with the shovel. “I’ll leave y’all to it. See ya later, Kyle.” “See ya.” We turn back towards the house, and I put Fengma back in the pasture to graze.
12 o’clock. Having set the outdoor dining table in the backyard, we wait for the Crawfords to come with their venison. “So, y’all bump into the boys on your walk?” “Yeah. They were burying the bones of the deer which I guess Mr. Crawford shot within the past week. Hah. Spock tried to dig a hole for them but he would get dirt in his claws.” “Aww.” “You ride Fengma?” “Yeah. She was happy on our walk.” Mom’s foxes and some of our other animals gather around the table and start playing and wrestling. After a few minutes, we hear Mr. Crawford’s truck rolls into our driveway and they come out. “Hello!” “Hello! We have deer meat.” They bring the venison and set it on our table. After passing food around, we begin eating, and the focus shifts immediately to the matter of Billy’s incident the other day. “How are you feeling, Billy?” “Fine, I guess.” “Any more nightmares?” “Not last night. Just haven’t slept very well.” Lyral pipes up: “So, Ida. What have you learned about our mystery substance?” Ida takes her time chewing the venison she just put in her mouth. Swallowing, she replies to the Sentinel sitting directly across from her: “According to the Book, it is a weapon used by the Dark Tree to mark targets for abduction to her fortress on another planet in the Galaxy. Any mortal who is stung by these crystals could face a fate worse than death if not treated using the marrow of the White Stag, star water, and crushed flower petals of an Imperial Apple Tree. Billy said he received messages from the unknown beings in the form of auditory hallucinations and he likely wouldn’t have been able to wake up without intervention.” “What’s an Imperial Apple Tree?” “And the White Stag?” “What is the stuff made of?” “I don’t know. It’s not like anything currently on the periodic table.” “Radioactive?” “Actually no, rather strangely. I felt no radioactivity of any kind.” “At least if more of them appear, they are only dangerous if they are touched.” “If they appear again, it will probably be in another part of the county, so we’ll need to step up our patrols.” “I guess whoever planted that dark tree didn’t bank on there being someone with the answer to the curse it inflicts.” “TJ?” “Yeah?” “Have you seen anything strange yet?” “No. Why?” “There was an incident two days ago. Billy touched something that poisoned him. There was no conventional toxin or radiation source known to science. It was a dark tree with no growths but for a large black crystal protruding from a hole near the bottom of the trunk. From what Lyral and Ida have learned, it’s only dangerous if a person touches it.” “Really? While we were on vacation?” “Yeah. Billy is all right, now. We’re having lunch with the Crawfords.” “Cool. We should be home around seven.” “Okay.” “See ya.” “Where’s TJ?” “On his beat since sunrise. He should be home around seven.” “Has he seen anything weird?” “No, he says. I told him about what happened, though. It’s weird. It’s like the mist waited until we were out of town to plant the dark tree.” “Didn’t last very long, though.” “Long enough for someone to find it and get cursed for their curiosity.”
Meanwhile, TJ is out in the woods looking for signs of any more dark trees when he finds a one at the center of a twisted, tangled mess of what looks like brambles with sharp thorns, only they’re completely black as though they’ve been on fire recently, though he smells no smoke and sees no ashes or other trace of a fire. Remembering my words, he turns to walk away from it when he feels a thorn poke his ankle. He bends down to look at it when, as his back is turned, a dozen long brambles, dark and vicious, shoot out and grab him, trying to drag him towards its treacherous black crystal. Screaming and in pain, he manages to wrestle himself free and escape its grasp. A couple of nearby hunters are alerted to the noise and find Green Cheetah covered in small cuts and nicks. “What happened?!” “Stay away from that thing! It just attacked me!” They look at him and then at the bush in disbelief. “If you see any of these around, don’t touch them.” They walk away cautiously, thinking a seemingly dead bush could never be a threat to anyone, let alone someone with phyto-kinesis.
In the wind I hear a pained voice. “TJ?” “Brambles! It attacked me!” My brother comes barreling frantically into the backyard. He stops and that’s when I notice the scratches all over his arms and legs. “What happened to you, brother?!” “Brambles! A dark tree in a bramble bush attacked me on my rounds! Ow!” I stand up abruptly, angry and ready to smite this errant plant. “Where is this bramble bush that did this?! Bring me there and I will destroy it utterly!” “I’ll go with him to destroy it, Lindsay. Just relax.” “You didn’t touch the crystal, did you?” “No, I was able to get away.” Dad transforms and gets ready. “Let’s deal with those cuts first.” Lyral takes TJ aside and heals the thorn scratches and my father and brother go off to confront the thorned evil, but not before she hands them a vial of Star water. “Now we can’t even trust the bushes in our forests?!” “Calm down, Billy. I think it’s best we go home and rest.” “See y’all later.” “See ya.” The Crawfords head home and we clear off the table. “Guess we might as well check up on our crops.” “Yep.” I go into the barn, grab our farming tablet. I open the app labeled ‘Progress and Statistics’ and click on the folders labeled ‘Cornfield’ and ‘2030’ and go into the cornfield to do the weekly inspection of our corn crop. Our cornfield, measuring 200 ft by 200 ft (so 40,000 ft²), is divided into 100 blocks measuring 20 ft by 20 ft (so 400 ft²). Gaps (3 ft wide) between each block are not included in the area of the cornfield. Turning to the page for Week 23 (June 12-18), I walk over to block 1A, inspecting each of its 451 (11×41) individual corn stalks by using an app on our farming tablet that connects to monitoring devices that measure moisture level, soil pH, and nutrient absorption for each block. I copy down the “grade” if you will for each block, a score from 0 to 100 based on the height and overall appearance of the crop as well as the aforementioned parameters. This task is normally done at the end of each week, but recent events have somewhat disturbed our routine. The others do something similar for our other crops. Mom checks on the soybeans, making similar measurements. Just as with the corn, all is well so far for the soybeans. Most of our soy harvest gets sold to a local company that makes soymilk and they give us a cut of their profits. The smaller vegetables, like beans, tomatoes, and pumpkins grow in patches on the southwest quadrant of our fields, opposite the corn and soy and are generally Dad’s responsibility, though, with him off assisting TJ, that task today falls to Grandpa. Since our fruits and vegetables come in smaller yields every year compared to our corn and soybeans, they are usually taken to the Farmer’s Market in Ashland rather than to the Food Lion across the road. Those generally make us a few thousand dollars a year, most of which is spent on maintenance for the really big machines like our John Deere combine. That is the one we use to harvest our soybeans and corn come September. Those go across the street and they give us about $20K per annum, most of which goes to charity and our college/car/moving out fund. Our garden of flowers and herbs, on the other hand, is not so much grown for profit or income, but more so for our private use and enjoyment. Most of it is roses, the centerpiece being my bush of purple roses. Grandma is watering the flowers and herbs and Lyral is taking some and frosting them with her breath to preserve them as she takes them downstairs. I finished grading all 100 blocks of 45,100 corn stalks and saving the data in the Progress and Statistics app. I close the program, put the tablet back in the feed closet, and move on to the chickens, counting eggs and taking some unfertilized ones to store and refrigerate in the basement for Food Lion pickup on Monday.
“Over here.” Green Cheetah leads FireFly to the thing that attacked him. “That shriveled up thing did that to you?” “I know. A couple hunters saw me after and they couldn’t believe that a dead bush was capable of threatening anyone.” “Well, what are we waiting for?” TJ, in the deathless language, utters the words,
However, the evil within it was angered such that it struck out at TJ again, but Dad gets in the way, and a thorny tendril wraps itself around his wrist and hand. “Enough!” Dad retaliates by uttering his own spell, saying,
catching the vine, the fire following it to the bush and dark tree like a line of powder to a keg, and igniting the entire being into a writhing, squealing mass of thorns, wood, and fire. He then throws the vial at it, sealing its doom. After only a minute and another screech, the dark tree is reduced to an inanimate pile of ashes and cinders. Dad looks at the marks left behind on his right hand where the thorns dug into him. “Ow! Let’s go home.” “Wait.” TJ allows healthy plants to take root in the ash pile, making it as though the thorn demon was never there. “Wonder what they have in mind for dinner tonight.” “Don’t know, but I hope it has chicken in it.” “You’re always wanting chicken. We oughta try some cod these days.”
“Well, that was a long afternoon.” “Whatcha got in mind for dinner, Mom?” “Don’t know. Maybe we’ll have some cod tonight. I remember we have that fish package from the grocery store we haven’t used yet.” “Sweet.” “Oh, and Lindsay?” “Yeah?” “You mind wiping down the combine? I meant to do that today and I forgot to get to it.” “Sure, Grandpa.” I go into the outbuilding containing the combine and our other tractors and after grabbing a big ugly rag and filling a bucket with some outdoor-friendly soap and water, I wipe down the outside of the big machine. I start by rising into the air above it and just hovering so I don’t track dirt and wipe the grime off its green and yellow body. After it’s been wiped, I dry it by telekinetically removing all the water from it and the rag and letting it outside. “I’m done, Grandpa!” “Good, now come inside and wash up.” “Yes, Grandpa.” As I put the rag and bucket away and come back into the house, the sky opens up in the east with great tall clouds of power and awe illuminated by the setting sun on their west-facing side. Thunder rumbles as the great clouds approach us, probably from out at sea. I make it to the back door and into the house just as the curtains of heavy rain begin to fall. I go upstairs to take a shower because it was hot today and I am covered in sweat, little chick feathers, and some mud and grime from giving the combine a bath. Even over the white noise of the shower, I can hear the thunder rumbling outside, though the sound of the rain is drowned out. Inside the office, on Mom’s computer, the Progress and Statistics software is also installed and she can view the crop data and control the devices that monitor the blocks. If it doesn’t rain for more than a week and a half during the growing season, she can also turn on the field sprinklers. The sprinklers are fed by collected rainwater. I finish up in the shower and change into my lavender crushed velour pjs. Closing my window blinds and putting on my matching slippers, I go downstairs and help Mom with dinner. “So, cod.” “Yep. I just want to use this fish before it goes bad. Can you help with the rice?” “Sure.” I begin preparing the rice on the stovetop. “The corn looks pretty good so far. About an “A” average, roughly four feet tall.” “Good. The soybeans are doing just as well. You cleaned the combine, right?” “Yeah. Grandpa had me do that because he got sidetracked with the vegetables with Dad and TJ having to deal with that weird bush.” “Speaking of your father and brother, where are they? It’s monstrous out there.” “Don’t know.” A tap on the kitchen window announces their return home and Dad opens the door and they come inside. We see the scratch on his right hand. “What happened to you?” “That thing that scratched up TJ earlier got me for a moment, but it was no match for my fire.” “Best let Lyral look at your arm.” Dad goes downstairs for Lyral to heal his wrist like she did TJ’s arms and legs. “Hey, Dad! Look what we’re having for dinner tonight!” Dad comes back upstairs, having reverted to his mundane form. “Nice. Just what I was thinking of.”
“That was some good cod, honey.” “Thank you, Roger.” “Now, children, if you would both help put away the dishes, I will tell you some of the history of our Universe.” “Sure, Lyral.” TJ and I get up and help the others clean up and put away the dishes. “What’s the new story about, Lyral?” “It’s about the very beginning of Creation, when after the Divine gave birth to space, time, matter, and energy, They also gave birth to the Æther, the old gods, for the purpose of serving Him/Her as sub-creators in making the Universe. There were a multitude of them but ten of them took a direct role in sub-creation while all others, called the Others, played a minor role if any. Of the ten, the first two were Percec-Ikasi Dena-Aita, the god of sentience, curiosity, and learning, Lord and All-father of the Æther and his mate Alÿran-Jakinduria Dena-Ama, the goddess of wisdom, motherhood, and divine grace, Queen and All-mother of the Æther. She was best friends with the Queen of the Others. The second generation of gods were Ikasi’s and Alÿran’s virgin-born children. The gods Imano-Orden Hegal-Jauna and Grabit-Astun Mailu-Jaun, of magnetism and gravity respectively, were the sons of Ikasi alone while the goddesses Tximista-Gudari Katu-Erregina and Izarra-Hautsa Errementari-Erregina, of electricity and nuclear fire respectively, were the daughters alone of Alÿran. Imano-Orden was the god of magnetism and the mate of Tximista-Gudari and the Winged-Lord of Order who, along with his brother Grabit-Astun the Hammer-Lord of Weight, helped to order the matter and energy of the Universe and is slightly stronger than his brother. Tximista-Gudari was the goddess of electricity and Cat-Queen of Warriors and with her sister Izarra-Hautsa, who was the Smith-Queen of Stars with countless wombs and forges scattered across Creation, helped to bring light and movement to a once dark Universe. The third generation of gods were also born of virgin birth. The son-alone of Grabit-Astun was Sendoa-Lurreko Jaun-Aita, the god of solid earth and mate of Airëa-Airë and the Lord-father of the Earth Tribe who helped to create the first planets around some of the smaller stars birthed by Izarra-Hautsa when combined with Grabit-Astun’s power. The daughter-alone of Tximista-Gudari was Airëa-Airë Erregina-Ama, the goddess of the air and winds and mate of Sendoa-Lurreko and the Queen-mother of the Air Tribe who helped to create the first planetary atmospheres on the first worlds. The son-alone of Imano-Orden was Itsaso-Ura Jaun-Aita, the god of water and ice and mate of Erre-Su and the Lord-father of the Water Tribe who helped create the first water on the first worlds. The daughter-alone of Izarra-Hautsa was Erre-Su Erregina-Ama, the goddess of fire and light and mate of Hydros and the Queen-mother of the Fire Tribe, who heats all the worlds. These ten gods alone existed before all other life was born in the Universe, whether mortal or immortal. However, they would not be sentient forever, for under the influence of the King of the Others, the Lord of the Æther would make a terrible mistake that would send the Universe into chaos. For, you see, the Queen of the Aether possessed all divine knowledge and secrets, though her mate wanted to share it with the first non-divine lifeforms who arose on the first planet even though it was forbidden for such secrets to be shared by any save Alÿran-Jakinduria at the command of the Divine. So, Percec-Ikasi stole his wife’s heart, which contained all the knowledge he sought, and tried to flee with it to share with the Children. This backfired horribly when, in the absence of her heart, the Queen became corrupted into a being of chaos and confusion, who, not remembering who she was or that Percec-Ikasi was her mate, banished him, and thus her heart into the depths of space, never to be heard from again. This upset the balance of the Universe, and it began expanding far more rapidly as it still does today.” “What happened next?” “The children and grandchildren, not knowing the fate of Percec-Ikasi or the heart, nor even that he was the cause of their trouble, pursued their corrupted genetrix into a small corner of this galaxy where they battled and defeated her. Sadly, they were so badly weakened that they became little more than the lifeless forces of Nature they are today. In the aftermath, the Stars, the children of Izarra-Hautsa and Grabit-Astun together, kept alive the memory of the old gods, and poured their light into the primordial waters of the young Earth, waiting for the time when living things would evolve here who could bring magic back to the world.” “So, this Tximista-Gudari is the one I get my power from?” “Yes, but you wouldn’t be the first to have inherited the power of the Cat-Queen of Warriors and All-Mother of Storms.” “How many others in the world today have inherited power from the old gods?” “I do not know, Lindsay. Only that the power of the old gods awakened once more long ago.” “What drove the King of the Others to seek Alÿran-Jakinduria’s destruction?” “No one from that ancient time, not even the stars themselves know the reason, only that it brought about chaos and disharmony like nothing that could be imagined even by those who came after, for the stars were so shocked and horrified that they shared what little of the horror they felt safe to speak of. They felt that bringing any report of it in its totality to lower beings or to themselves would only darken the skies of their light and chill the nuclear fire of their hearts, for it is they who continue to fight against those of the Others who follow the their wicked King as well as the Empty One whom Alÿran-Jakinduria has become.” “And the Queen of the Others who was friends with Alÿran?” “She, along with her virgin-born daughters sided with the Æther during the Horror and largely drove back the evil ones.” “You think the others would’ve sought vengeance on Percec-Ikasi if they ever found out it was him?” “That remains just as much a mystery as the true reason for his actions, though I imagine that had the other Æther learned of it, it likely wouldn’t have boded well for the fate of Creation.” “Well, then. I suppose the Universe is just lucky they never found out.”
“Goodnight, Lyral. Thanks for the bedtime story.” “You’re welcome, Lindsay. Goodnight.” I go upstairs and get to bed with Xena and Spock curled up next to my head and Fellowship of the Ring in my hands. Finishing at the Inn of the Prancing Pony, I put Tolkien down on my nightstand, turn out the light, and lay down to sleep. I dwell on Lyral’s recounting the story of the Creation of the Universe, how the old gods lived and ‘died’, and how evil came into the world because of one god’s desire for ultimate knowledge and the temptation from the wicked King of the Others. I fall asleep to the song of the ancient apple trees and the lady’s voice resounding through the halls of my psyche. I am abruptly pulled from sleep by TJ shaking me awake. I see the fear in his eyes. “What’s going on?!” “Lindsay, we have to get the animals loose! A tornado is coming!” “A tornado?!” “Yeah! Let’s get them loose! They’ll find their way back home after it’s over.” I get up and follow TJ outside to see the sky covered in storm clouds and lit from within by a strange green-gray glow by which I can see it, the great funnel cloud off in the southwest corner of the sky. After letting the animals out of the barn and moving the chickens and eggs into the basement, I can hear the wind carrying forth an evil voice, chanting in the deathless tongue to my shock.
In an attempt to dispel the storm, I respond with
The last of my chanting is drowned out by the enemy’s curse “Woe to the heir of Tximista-Gudari! Scatter her allies to the four winds! Down with the heirs of the old gods!” The force of it knocks me on my back. With the tornado approaching swiftly, Lyral picks me up off the ground and she carries me into the basement. “You have to let me finish!” “No! She’s not alone this time!” “Neither are we! By the strength of Tximista-Gudari! By the breath of Airëa-Airë! Still the sky! End this tempest! Send the air to rest! Be still!” “Come down with us!” It is no use. Then, another thought enters my mind. “Where are Mom, Dad, and TJ?!” “I don’t know! I thought they were down here already!” “Well, I’ll be looking for them then!” “No, it’s too dangerous out there!” “Then we go together!” “Very well!” We go back up and out into the blustering chaos. “Last I saw TJ, he was helping me loose the animals! Have you seen Mom and Dad?!” “No, I’ve been trying to find them the whole time you and her were chanting at each other! I was afraid you would be swept off!” I resume my incantation, conjuring lightning to counter the green glow and Lyral is trying to draw in the circulation of the funnel cloud, but even she is not powerful enough. “There was a storm earlier but nothing about a tornado, not even so much as an advisory!” “We can’t fight this anymore!” “They should be okay and come back in the morning, right?!” “Sure!” We give up and as we run back to the basement, I look up once more to see the black mist hovering in the air backlit by the green glow and flashes of lightning, feeling little else but rage at being unable to dispel this tempest. Back downstairs, we are sheltering in the temple, hoping the storm ends soon. Having heard the story of the old gods, I try something else where I take a fistful of the sacred water into my mouth and beseech not only the ancestors, but the old gods in-my-head, begging them to intervene against this evil.
I swallow the water and consumed with fatigue, I slump onto the floor of the temple, falling into profound sleep, my silver hair spread over the pillow, slowly fading back to dark brown as I resume my mortal form. All the while, the evil voice utters
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