A Time for Revenge

Miatsu looked out over the edge of the cliff, at the ever expanding desert that lay out beyond the domain that the Nameless One had claimed. The dry, harsh air that lay beyond the borders reminded him of the time spent with the human Mach Derune in the lands of Hell’s Fire. Even now, from behind the protective barrier, he could smell the dusty dry air. He longed for the scent of the open sea, of the sweet scent of the salt air blowing on the wind. The smell of home. He missed their home greatly, of running through the woods from shore to shore. All of that was gone now, burned to ash by a creature of evil.

But those thoughts of the past were a fleeting pleasure that would pass in time. This was his home now, this was where his kin lived with their father. He would have to make do with their new home. That would be if this home was safe.

It had been a narrow escape for his family when the evil one named Rubious came to the island that he thought of as home. The flames of rage burned everywhere, unrelenting in its destruction. The only safety that could be found was to flee, the Nameless summoning a beast that had only been thought to exist in fairy tales from the old world. On its back they fled with every creature they could bring before the flames reached them. Had it not been for his father’s abilities, he would be alone in this world. If not for his family surviving the attack, he would be dead.

Miatsu looked down at his hands, his skin rough and dark brown like a tree. Tendrils of his flesh stuck out like twigs on a tree. Those that had met him often asked if his ancestors had been human and plant. He clenched his branch like fingers in frustration. He had the innate abilities of summoning like his father, but that was all that he could do. He wanted to learn more, he wanted to become more. He wanted to return to the side of his new friends and fight beside them, lending them his abilities. He believed in their purpose and he truly cared about their wellbeing.

When he had been ordered to join the Humans group, he had been upset. His only purpose had been to find out if they were worthy to retrieve the Stone from his father. But as he journeyed with them, as he learned more about them, he began to care about them as individuals. Most especially the young boy, the one that became the King of his kin. He wanted to protect them with everything he had, to keep them from coming to any harm. But there was no way that he could do that as an Imp who could only summon. Not with the war that they claim is coming. He needed more Power in order to protect them.

He could not leave his family again, not unless he knew exactly when his friends were to face the enemy Rubious. If he left to early, he would weaken over time and be useless when the time came to fight. He may even have to return home to regenerate, leaving his friends to face the enemy alone. If he left to late, he would not arrive until after the battle was over, not knowing who the victor was, he may run into a trap that he would not survive. It was too dangerous for him to leave without knowing a precise date. Unless I become stronger. Unless I am able to leave fathers side and not come ill. That was the worst part, out of all the Power he did have, it was all dependent on his father’s strength. If he left, he would have to return to his father’s side to eventually heal. Unless he could convince his father to join his friends against their enemy. Against our enemy. He attack our home, that make him our enemy too.

Perhaps that would be the shining light in all of this. Maybe, just maybe, he could convince his father to join the fight against Rubious. If he could convince his father to join the fight for that simple reason, than Miatsu would not have to worry about losing his strength during or before the battle to come. The Green moon of Forests crested over the mountain top behind him, illuminating the darkness that he had not noticed had fallen around him. The cool breeze that blew through the valley domain of the Nameless One felt good on his dry skin. He peered out once again over the cliff at the desert, the green of the Power orb above casting an earthy glow down on the sands. He had no idea how late it was, there was no sign of dusk having set or of dawn approaching.

Carefully he climbed back down the path that would lead him to the village of his kin. The forest that had been summoned here when they had arrived was made just for his people, his father crafting every bit of it exactly as he had the island forest back home. Burrows were dug into trees for nesting, water pools bubbled up from far below with cool, clean water. There was everything that they needed to survive, except for complete safety. Not with that madmen alive.

He turned and glimpsed one last look over the cliffs to the outside world before moving away from the edge of the barrier and walked away. He would speak with his father, convince him that it was time that they took action together, with the Humans of this world. If his father wished to be a part of this world, to stay here among the forests that were here, then they should protect it and the creatures that lived here, just as they had protected those creatures on the island that had been present on their home. They should not hide any longer if they wanted to be a part of this world.

For any who were to walk within the village of his kin, they would not realize that they had entered a village. For the paths and walkways were only apparent to those who lived here and the dwellings revealed themselves only to those to whom they belonged. The trees that grew all around were not unlike those from the island they had left behind, a small comfort for all that they had lost. A reminder of what they still had to lose.

The language of this world had been alien to him. When he first left with the Humans he had tried only marginally to learn it. After staying with them for so long and learning so much about the group, however, he had renewed his efforts to learn their language. But the illness that affected him had already set in and too quickly he had given up. But now as he stood before his kin, he could use the language of his father’s world, a tongue that was far easier for him to speak. “Father? I wish to speak with you?”

Through the glow of the green orb rising through the tree branches above him, the shadow of the Nameless detached itself from the tree that he had claimed as his own. With deliberate care, the Nameless lowered himself down through the branches to stand upon a stump that had been set as a seat just for him. A request of Miatsu’s after seeing the Human’s and their Kings, he felt that his father should have such an honorary place to sit just as any other leader. If Miatsu was the child of Human and a Tree, than his father was the child of the Tree. His body, far more tree than Miatsu’s, moved and swayed with every inch that he moved. The tendrils that reached out shivered and shook with a mind of their own, their green leaves rustling with movement as the Nameless settled down onto his seat. “What is it that I can do for you, Named One?” The Nameless One’s voice echoed through the tree branches as if he were speaking from them all at one time. It was the harmony that he had found within this haven. It was that harmony that would make Miatsu’s request that much harder to ask. “What is it that you must ask about at so late at night?”

He braced himself for whatever may come, he knew that his request was what would be best for not only this world, but for his kin as well. “Father, I wish to rejoin the Humans that I had journeyed with.”

There was a sudden rise in rustling leaves, an agitation of his kin that was beyond what words could express. He had known that they would be angry about that request, should he dare ask the rest of it? The Nameless sighed wearily. “Child, when they returned you to my side, you were nearly dead. How can I, knowing what harm may come to you, send you back out there? How can I allow you to leave my side when you are already weakened from your travels with those Humans?”

“Father,” Miatsu spoke calmly as he responded, speaking every word as he had practiced, “When you sent me to watch them, to learn if they were worthy of taking the Stone from us, I thought that would be the only thing that mattered. But as I traveled with them, as I witnessed the things they did for each other, and the lengths they would go to in order to protect each other, I realized they are not so different from us. Though they are not family to each other like we are to you, those Humans fight to protect each other with strength that we would do well to have. They are willing to die to protect people they do not know, only because those people cannot protect themselves. I wish to do the same, to protect my family,” Miatsu spread his hands out, gesturing to all that was around him, “I would die for anyone of my kin if it meant that you would survive.

The Nameless sighed heavily and shook his head, rustling his leaf covered head in frustration. “Miatsu, you are too young to understand the horrors that live within the Human heart. There are things about Humans that you will not understand as I have. There are reasons why I have kept us away from them.”

“But we cannot do so any longer.” He howled back. “We live in a world full of Humans, we cannot avoid them any longer. Those that would be our friends are fighting against those that would harm us. What would happen if their enemy wins? If they fail to win? The enemy would continue on and become more powerful, perhaps becoming more powerful than you. And what would we do then? How would we escape?”

For a moment he thought that the Nameless would give in, that he would finally allow Miatsu to leave and rejoin his friends. “What could the Power of one of my children do in an impossible war?” And that was the question that he had been bracing himself for.

The simplest answer was ‘everything in his Power, come death or life’. But he knew that would not be a good enough explanation, but this could be the moment he had been hoping for. If he spoke the correct words, he may be able to get his father to join his friends. “Why did you create us?” For a moment Miatsu thought that he had overstepped his boundary, but the flash of rage that had flared was quickly replaced by a deep love and in that moment Miatsu knew how to proceed. “You gave us life so that we would be your family after so long of being alone. You wished to be with the Humans, for we are all part of their world. As we are a part of you, you are in some way part of the Humans.”

There was a deep silence over the woods, a cricket chirped somewhere out in the distance, the hooting of an owl came softly on the wind that blew above the tree tops.

“Father, you sent me to learn from them, to learn about them.” He pleaded. “What I learned is that I care about what happens to them. I will die to protect them just as quickly as I would die to protect you or any of our kin. Cast me away if you must, I will go to their side to stop their enemy, our enemy who attacked our home and burned our life to ashes. I will help to stop that madman from building his Power so that you and the others may live in peace.” His breathing came in sharp gasps, his heart was racing as it had never before. He felt… he truly felt right now! Not just the tiny emotions that his father had granted them all, not only the merest of feelings. He burned inside with passion, he was flushed with it to the point that he would lose control! Just like a Human! Just like Mach! The feeling was exhilarating!

His father looked down at him with a smile on his face and a tear in his eye. “My little Miatsu, I did send you out there, but not for the reasons I told you.” His voice came only from him now. There was a sadness to his voice that Miatsu heard, a tone that brought a tear to his own eyes before he could understand why. “You, out of all your brothers and sisters, were the only one that I had succeeded with. In times long since forgotten, I was once as human as any of those out there. In days long gone, I was once nothing more than the meanest of spirits, thirsting for blood and vengeance. When I became what I am, I lost so much of what I had been, of who I was. I hid from the world that had created me, denied my existence from myself. Than I was brought here and I was given a chance to start over. I had forgotten much of what I had been, so I watched the Humans and tried to create my own family in my longing to have some of my old life back. But no matter how hard I tried, I could not succeed. Until you, son.”

The glow of the orb moon brightened, casting the forest floor in green radiance. The Nameless began to glow with his own inner light, brightening as he continued to speak. “I gave to you all a part of myself, infusing you with a bit of my soul when I brought you into this world. I wished to recreate my old self, a living embodiment of what I had been. But you, Miatsu, you are the only one who has progressed far enough to become… more.” To say that Miatsu was confused was an understatement. But as the green light from the orb moon grew brighter, merging with the white light that radiated from his father’s body, fear and grief gripped him tightly for the first time. The Nameless’ voice rang out, reverberating from the earth itself. “My children, I have lived for far too long. The memories I hold, they torment me as none of you will ever understand. As I pray you will never have to. The time for my passing is at hand. I can finally leave this place knowing that my legacy will be protected. Miatsu, do what you think you must, follow your heart and mind and trust in the soul that is the part of me I have given to you.” As the light grew unbearably bright, he could see his father expanding, growing larger with every passing breath. “This is our home, and here I will stay.”

Miatsu closed his eyes to the light as it grew too much for him. A warmth spread through his body, a tingling sensation that flowed through him from head to toe. Images flashed through his mind, memories of days that were as old as time. His father’s voice rang in his mind, echoing softly as if it were in his ear. “Miatsu, I give to you what a real father could never hope to give. Everything that was mine, is yours. The memories of what I am, what I had been, are yours. The knowledge I have attained over my life, use that to protect our family. The Mages say, ‘all things are possible with magic’, and so it is true. Your desires can be obtained if you wish it, the Power to change your fate is in your hands. Just never forget those who need your strength the most. Never forget your family. I had been Human, I had once had a family. Now, all that I have is here, with you and your kin. Love and cherish your kin as I have, and always remember this, I am proud of what you have become, son.”

Those words echoed in Miatsu’s mind. All that I want is to have the Power to protect those I care about. To be worthy of their trust, to be trusted in return. If the Power was his, he would use that Power. Wildly, he dug through the memories for what he knew must lay within, searching for the moment that his father had become the Nameless. And there, in that moment when two beings had merged into one, neither one knowing who or what they were, they chose to take a form, the form of what lived around them within the forests. If they had a choice, than so do I!

His Power his mine to use. Using the knowledge he had been granted, flowing it through his body much the same way he would during a summoning, Miatsu focused his mind. He could feel his body breaking apart with the Power of the magic, reforming it to his wishes. No longer would he be a forest Imp, for that was no longer suitable to the Power he had been gifted. He would shape himself into a Guardian, into what he had always felt he should be. Slowly he opened his eyes and looked down to see what he had accomplished. His hands, once resembling braches, now were light skinned in the soft green glow of what radiated down from the green orb above, as human as any of the races he had seen in his short travels. He stood amongst his kin in the nude, for the first time he could feel his skin flushing as the idea of his bare skin being completely exposed. But as he looked up at where the stump had been, where his father had been sitting moments before, that embarrassment went away.

A tree rose up into the sky, penetrating the starry heavens above. From it came a soft green glow of its own, illuminating the night gently as fireflies sprung up from out of the trunk. Fireflies that had not been around since they had arrived. Tears filled his eyes as he looked up at his father, the Guardian Tree. He walked forward and placed a hand on the trunk, willing his Power through his hand, trying desperately to show how much he loved him. He could feel the tiny vibrations echoing through the trunk, the acknowledgment that his message had been heard. As he turned his eyes downward, glancing at the trunk, what he saw only made his determination stronger. All around the base of the tree, all along every point that could be reached or climbed onto, his kin were doing as he was. They had all come forward to pay their respect.

He would protect them all, there was no way he would fail unless it was also his death. I promise, father, I will make you proud.