Ch 1 Unusual
Light. Intense, pure, all-encompassing light. It flowed around me, wrapping me in waves of warmth and comfort. But it diminished in power and security, which gave me great discomfort and confusion as to why. In one final moment, the light returned in great splendor and disappeared altogether and a different reality came into existence; one that lacked the safety and peace that I knew.
I feel something cold and hard underneath me. I open my eyes and see my hands. I strain to sit up from the ground to get a closer look at them. As I turn them over, I notice an inexplicable sense of light that emanates from them. The purity of the light and the softness of the fur that covers them calms my anxious emotions. The sight of them gives me a sense of safety and comfort like the warmth and peace that I once had. But, looking up I see the endless darkness encompasses me and the greatness of the contrast it has against the light of my body. I looked around and see trees that tower overhead and sink deep into the distance. Uncomfortable noises of all variety fill the air.
Immediately, my mind fills with anxiety and fear. "What is this place? Why am I here? I want to go back. I want to go back to the light." I am completely and utterly terrified. Everything around me is unknown and dangerously mysterious. The light that comes from my body only dimly lights my surroundings. I inhaled the air in unease, the cold moist air startles my senses and causes me to cough. I look behind me, searching for some source of light. I see a beam of light that parts the darkness through the thick fog. Weak, fearful, and desperate, I try standing. But I fall to the ground before I can even make a single step. Instead, I clamber to the little portion of light; the tiny sliver of safety in this forest of darkness.
The bushes behind me rustle. My heart beat quickens and my body freezes in place. From between the bushes emerge two glowing hands that part the shrubs to reveal a creature whose fur glows like mine, only much brighter. It slowly approached me, but I leaned back, worried it might attack me. The creature spoke to me.
"Are you ok? What is your name?"
I reply, "E-Eben." "Odd, I never thought of a name before."
She continues towards me, "I'm Amita, I saw your Spark fall from the Spirit Tree. It is unusual that your Spark fell at this time of year."
"A Spark? What is a Spark? And what is the Spirit Tree?" I ask.
"Well, all of us are born from Sparks, a leaf filled with the light of the Spirit Tree. The Spirit Tree is where we all came from, he is our Father. I can show you. Here, let me help you up." She reaches her hand out and I gingerly grab it. She gently lifts me up, but I have barely enough strength to stand, let alone walk. I feel myself fall for a moment, but Amita grabs my forearm and hoists me back up. "Are you alright?"
"I can't walk. It hurts to stand." I reply.
She looks at me quizzically and says with compassion, "Come, we need to get you to a Spirit Well to heal you. I know it hurts, but you have to walk." As I put my one painful foot in front of the other, she said, "Strange, all the Sprits I have seen born can walk easily from their first moments."
"Spirits?" I asked.
"Well, that is what you and I are, Spirits. But for now, you need to save your strength to walk."
Due to my difficulty in walking, our journey to the Spirit Well, as Amita called it, seems to take an eternity. Through the dense forest of trees and foliage I still feel the fear of the darkness and the unfamiliarity of everything. But it's the greater light that emanates from Amita that gives me comfort and overcomes the distress I had felt before. We walk slowly but in a firm direction. In the distance, I see another spirit running.
Amita calls out, "Kynan, could I have a little help here?"
He stops for a moment and runs towards us. "Yes, do you need— Why is he so dim?"
Amita replies, "I don't know, I found him far from the Spirit Tree. Not only that, he has difficulty walking. We need to get him to the nearest Spirit Well."
Kynan nods then speaks to me calmly, "What's your name?"
"Eben."
"Eben. That's quite a name. How did you get so far from the Spirit Tree?"
"I don't know, I just woke up there. I don't remember anything else before that except light."
Amita spoke directly to Kynan. "I heard an explosion and saw his Spark fall from the Spirit Tree. I followed him and found him back there, weak and afraid."
"Well then, lets get him back home."
With the help of Amita and Kynan, a quicker pace is assumed without having pain sear through my weakened bones and frail limbs. As we continue our journey, I notice the forest slowly shift from a refuge for darkness into a brilliantly lit clime of wonder and beauty. Wherever I look, I see a new color more pleasing and vibrant than the last. We walk across several creeks with water that glistens in the light of the sun and reflects the peaceful blues of the bright sky. Occasionally I see little creatures without their own light, they chitter and scamper from place to place. I see many other creatures like butterflies and birds all across the forest. "This place is so beautiful" I think to myself.
Amita and Kynan stop abruptly. I look ahead to see a four-footed beast twice my size covered in three large dark plates that form a protective shell. Its head is large and consists of a massive bone that appears to be able to destroy anything by brute force. Its eyes glow a foreboding green from its deep eye socket. It snorts, planted its stumpy feet in the ground and frills its armor plates. "Kynan," Amita said, "When I create the barrier, take Eben and get up that terrace behind that Rammer."
Kynan nods and stances himself as Amita lets go of me and takes a few steps towards the creature.
The creature rushes towards us and Amita kneels one leg to the ground. I turn my gaze and squint my eyes in anticipation of being crushed by the thick-boned beast. My closed eyes sense a dramatic increase of light. I open back up my eyes to see the whole forest seeming to glow with a vibrant teal light. The once silent forest is now filled by a deep smooth rumble. I look ahead to see a wall of pure energy that is almost too bright to even look at. It is directly in front of Amita who is positioned with one hand pointing to the ground behind her and the other curving up like the wall of light in front of her. The animal strikes the barrier with a loud boom and a gargled roar. The barrier deforms from the impact and brightens and dims in waves. Unexpectedly, I feel Kynan pull me through the disappearing barrier and towards the terrace up ahead. Barely catching my feet, I stumble and nearly fall while in Kynan's grasp. I look back, I see the beast shaking its head, recovering from the blow. Amita is also close behind us and catching up to meet us.
We make it to the terrace, but the beast turns back towards us, and now being infuriated, begins to rush at us again. Unable to climb myself, Kynan and Amita boosts me up. I peer back over the ledge to see the brute closing in on them. Amita helps Kynan up the terrace and, in the last moment, reaches down to the ground throws her arm up from of her as if to block the impeding doom. As she does, a wall of light flares from the ground and blocks the charger from crushing her into the stone below us. She then quickly climbs up the wall with Kynan helping her the last little distance. The light barrier then slowly disappears into the mist of the forest. The creature below looks up at us with frustration in its green glowing eyes. "Don't worry, it can't get us up here" Amita says.
Breathing heavily and regaining strength from the sprint, I look at her in awe. I ask, "What was that light?"
She answers, "Every individual of our kind has an ability, a gift from the Spirit Tree that allows us to do miraculous things. While some are able to channel their spirit to change an attribute of themselves like movement, others channel their spirit to change the environment around them. My gift as being able to create a temporary barrier is part of the latter group."
"And what is that animal down there?" I say as I point to the bulky bone-plated beast.
Kynan answers me saying, "That is a Rammer, one of the many creatures of chaos and darkness here in Nibel. Usually the Protectors make sure that no dangerous creatures are alive this close to the tree, but this one must have gone unnoticed."
Amita adds, "But we need to get you to a Spirit Well, and soon. You are getting weaker and your light is fading by the moment." I look back to my hands to see that she was right. I am getting dimmer.
"OK, back on your feet." Kynan says as they lift me up once more and guide my steps.