Thomas Reid - The Fractured Sky

"It's well guarded," Tauran explained as more of the trees closed in around them, sealing them off from escape in any direction.

"Now you tell me." Kaanyr sighed as he stepped back toward his companions to avoid getting separated. "What now? Fly over them?"

"I don't think that will work," Kael said, looking skyward. The boughs of the trees had folded in around them, closing off every space.

"I could become insubstantial," Kaanyr said, "turn to smoke, but that won't help the rest of you."

"Why don't I just create a doorway?" Aliisza asked. She started to conjure one, but Tauran gestured for her to hold.

"No," the angel said, frowning. "I think this is one time we're going to have to wait it out."

Kaanyr glared. "Wait for what?" he asked. "To be crushed to death by these abominations?"

Before Tauran could reply, the ground shook beneath their feet. It was gentle at first, but rhythmic, like massive footfalls somewhere out of sight. The steps grew stronger until the four companions gently bounced with each one.

"What comes?" Kael asked, fingering the hilt of his sword nervously. "It must be huge!"

Tauran nodded. "Yes, undoubtedly, but I think a gentle giant," he said. His eyes shown brightly in anticipation. "I have heard stories…" he began, but he did not finish his thought.

Aliisza tried to peer through the boles of the trees crowding around them, hoping to spot what kind of thing could shake the ground so. She spied something big and dark, but the gaps were too narrow to give a clearer picture.

"Let's just go," she urged. "Let me make a doorway, Tauran."

"No," the angel said. "I am honor-bound to seek its consent before passing through the gate."

"That didn't stop Zasian," Kaanyr grumbled. "We're losing precious time."

Aliisza had to agree with the cambion. She saw no sense in tempting fate. But Tauran was adamant, so she continued to try to steal a glimpse of whatever it was.

The thundering, jarring steps grew even stronger, then suddenly stopped.

The tops of the trees parted.

Aliisza, her heart hammering, caught a glimpse of silvery sky for just a moment. Then a massive face moved into view and peered down at them. It was dark and rough, etched into the bark of a tree that rose twice as high as any that imprisoned the companions. The face was oldness incarnate, deeply lined and furrowed into a perpetual frown. Only the eyes seemed to be made of something other than weathered wood.

"Intruders!" the thing spoke, and its voice was low and rumbling. It drew the word out over several of Aliisza's rapid, gasping breaths.

She could do nothing but watch, all thoughts of fleeing through her magical doorway forgotten for the moment.

"You defile," it said, its voice rumbling so low that Aliisza felt it in her feet, "the World Tree."

"Actually, noble treant," Tauran said, bowing, "we do not tarnish the majesty of your glorious home. We do, however, pursue the ones responsible for the recent blights upon the great branches of the World Tree."

The titanic tree-creature blinked several times as it pondered the deva's words. "Long since angels…" it said.

Aliisza and the others waited expectantly. A dozen thoughts went through her head as the gargantuan treant took a breath.

"… have traveled," it continued.

"Yes," Tauran answered, "It has been a long-"

"… this way," the creature finished.

"Indeed," Tauran said, smiling at his own impatience. "My brethren do not often have cause to travel the World Tree. Yet I ask you now to grant us safe passage."

"The World Tree…" the treant said.

Aliisza knew Tauran had learned from his brashness and was waiting it out.

"… is angry."

"Yes, precisely," Tauran said. "Our enemies have awakened it and hurt it. We merely wish to catch those villains who are doing such unspeakable things. Will you help us?"

"Creatures," the giant tree-creature said, "not angels, are hurting it."

"I know," Tauran said. He seemed at a loss. "We are trying to stop them."

"Creatures," the treant said, and then one massive arm appeared. It pointed down into the companions' midst and said, "Like those!"

"No!" Kaanyr said, puffing his chest out. "We're not all guilty. Did you see how many of those cursed shadow-things I put out of their misery?"

Tauran placed a quieting hand on the cambion's shoulder. "These are different from the others, noble treant. They are are helping me. Can you see your way to assisting us? We wish to pass through the gateway to the world beyond the stone ring."

The tree-creature stood very still and said nothing. The four of them waited and watched, until Kaanyr sighed and sat down.

"We're never getting out of here," he muttered.

Aliisza began to think it had gone to sleep. "Maybe we should just fly past it," she suggested softly. "Try to slip through the arch before it notices."

Tauran shook his head and continued to wait.

Aliisza and Kael had both found seats on the ground before the treant finally began to move again. It vanished from view. A short time later, the regular trees began to part, allowing space between them for the quartet to pass through.

Tauran led the way out into the clearing, toward the ring of stones. The tree-creature stood there, to one side, watching them.

Aliisza paused and gaped at it for several moments, stunned anew by both its height and its mere existence.

"Catch them," the treant said. "Stop them…"

"W-we will," Aliisza said, nodding and smiling. The idea of making such a behemoth angry frightened her more than she would care to admit. "We promise," she added.

"… from hurting the World Tree," it finished.

Aliisza snapped her mouth shut, feeling foolish.

Tauran led the way to the shimmering curtain of yellow light. He paused right before it and turned back toward the tree-creature.

The gargantuan treant raised two of its mighty arms, which looked in their own right like the trunks of ancient trees. It brought them together in front of itself and clasped them like two hands. Then, ever so ponderously, it bowed.

Tauran returned the gesture with a formal bow of his own, as did Kaanyr and Kael. Aliisza caught herself bending a knee, too.

Something that old just deserves a bit of respect, she would tell herself later. It just does.

Tauran was the first to turn and step through the arch. The other three followed.

Once on the other side of the portal, Aliisza could feel the change immediately. Magic radiated all around her, coursed through everything she beheld. The night sky blazed with a multitude of glamours and enchantments. Architecture that should not have remained upright dazzled her with its beauty and uniqueness. Inhabitants rode upon conveyances both fantastical and mundane, but in nearly every case, they bore the mark of magic.

The alu knew, without even testing it, that magic poured through her being. She sensed how it enhanced her, made her more powerful. Any spell she could recall would burst forth from her in a heightened, more robust state. Everything she might conjure would appear bigger, faster, more potent. More impressive.

They stood in the middle of an urban park. A pleasant stone archway, very similar in appearance to the arch within the clearing they had just left, made up the portal. However, instead of a ring of standing stones guarded by sentient trees and unfathomable tree-creatures, here gravel paths meandering among manicured grasses and shrubs surrounded the focal point of the arch.

Numerous trees, their limbs trimmed and sculpted into interesting shapes, also lined the walks, and at various points beneath their spreading branches, stone benches invited strollers to sit for a bit and rest. Indeed, a handful of casual walkers followed some of the paths, as did a few more who did not walk at all, but instead drifted along upon the air itself, or upon rippling, undulating carpets.