Golem nods just as Cal calls at our backs, “don’t be too long, Alex!”
“We won’t!” I yell back, setting off in the direction of the barracks.
There was something shining behind those buildings in the woods beyond, something I spotted right before Cal whistled to Holis and Alanna. It caught the sun just right and shined a brilliant black, though it looked like it came from within the trees and not from the barracks themselves.
Golem and I pass by the inquiring stares of a few Discerni soldiers, all of them looking at my noticeable satin green top before their glances move to the magical creature at my side. I give them all a small smile but move past without any conversation, the two of us finally reaching the edge of the buildings as the forest comes into view.
“There was a something sparkling in the trees,” I tell my companion, peering left and right at the small woods, “as if something tall stood in the forest and reflected the sunlight. Maybe a monument of some sort.”
I take a guessing step to the right, walking between the trees and the barracks in search of that shining black. Golem remains quiet at my side, his padded footsteps making minimal sound as we trail along the edge of the small forest. I’m about to give up and head back to the arena when that same bright light reflects off something to my left.
“That’s it!”
Not wanting to lose the sight, I start running towards the glimmer resting well within the woods. The forest here turns thicker than the Bell Grove I’m used to, causing me to dip under a lot of hanging branches and side-step over multiple roots. It takes a while to navigate through the thickness, but the black reflection keeps getting closer and closer until…
I stop dead in my tracks.
“No,” the whisper falls from my lips in disbelief, my heart stopping at the sight before me.
I place my hand on my chest and press hard against my heart, hoping the pressure will relieve the ache.
It doesn’t.
I think I stop breathing altogether because my eyes begin to water at the corners… or maybe I’m just crying because the massive structure that stands so proud in front of me makes me long for home. Whatever the reason, my full body finally let’s out a heavy sigh at the sight of the near familiarities before me, then it decides to still again when I notice the dark differences that have nothing to do with Bardot at all…
What stands before me is an exact replica of the Great Oak in our castle’s Grand Entry, but it isn’t the same oak at all. The roots below jut out of the ground in a mixture of oak bark and black granite, the two elements twisting together almost perfectly to form the tree’s unnatural foundation. The roots are massive, just like at Bardot, but they curve out of the ground in some of the strongest weaves I’ve ever seen. And the eerie part about them is the way the granite melds with the oak so easily, as if the roots and tree aren’t actually unnatural, but instead what nature first intended.
The thick, dark trunk beckons for the sky above, while it’s brown and black branches reach left and right in different sized arms that clash together as if exaltation. The leaves cutting out of those limbs are unlike anything I’ve seen in my life as well, with each one looking exactly like oak leaves but made from the sparkling black granite that dominates all ofWarrior. They even dance with the wind like a real oak would, but my mind can’t comprehend how that’s even possible.
I watch as a leaf falls from one of the branches and floats down to the ground as any normal leaf would. The sight is beautiful,absolutely stunning, and I realize then that this what caught my attention from afar.
I carefully make my way through the roots of the dark oak and let my fingers skim against the roughness of the wood mixed with the coolness of the stone. The roots are truly massive, twisting together as high as my knees, but they’re proud and unashamed as they meld together to form the most majestic thing I’ve ever seen.
A feeling takes route deep in my bones as I get closer, something inexplicable that I’ve never experienced before. My heart beats faster with every step I take, and when I look up at the branches surrounding me, I smile in wonder as a handful of the black leaves fall right above my head. I reach out and try to catch one of them by the stem, but the sharp edges on the leaf cuts against my palm. I laugh in utter astonishment and let it float to the ground, truly unable to contain my awe.
Whatever this is… whatever it is I’m standing under, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before in Disce. I can feel the magic seeping out of this creation, can feel the strong call that either warns people away or dares them to come closer. It’s absolutely breathtaking. I walk around the expanse of the trunk twice, my eyes wide and marveling, unable to comprehend the summoning it must have taken to build this. I finally find a good and flat nook amongst the roots and decide to pull out my book from Bardot’s library, then get cozy on the flat ground as I rest my back against the trunk.
The feeling of pure content that takes over is the strongest I’ve felt in a long time.
I don’t know how long I read under the dark leaves and even darker oak, but I do know I could stay here for the remainder of my trip. The idea of leaving its embrace is foreign to me, so much so that I even consider spending the rest of my nights out here.
No.
Scratch that.
Iwillspend the rest of my nights under this masterpiece of a tree. I bet it looks even more majestic under the moons.
“You’ll miss the duel, Alexis,” his voice carries from the outskirts of the roots.
I lift my head from the book in my lap and peer towards the Prince.
His brown hair is sweeping over the top of his head, the locks slightly wind-blown against his leaf-shaped ears and matching his warm brown eyes. He watches me with a new intensity I haven’t seen yet, though there’s a hint of a smile tugging at his lips that offsets the heavy stare. He’s wearing a black long sleeve shirt without the cut down the middle, the darkness jutting across his chest and giving him a commanding presence as a black leaf falls in front of him. I watch as his arm gracefully extends tocatch it by the stem just as I tried before, then watch as a streak of sunlight bounces off the leaf and hits his tanned face.
I can’t help but smile at the sight of him. He looks so right standing under this dark oak.
“You’re staring, Lady,” his eyes hold mine, fingers casually fiddling with the leaf still in his hand.
“You belong here,” I tell him seriously, not caring at all that I’m staring, “you belong under this oak.”
