Chapter 7. Nature's Energy

He didn't wake up until twenty-four hours after the events in the Heart of the Tree. His head was still dizzy and his hands were shaking, but at least he wasn't nauseous anymore. He couldn't remember how he got back to his room. 

The vision he had imagined in his forgetfulness remained in his mind for several minutes. It was so vivid and realistic that he didn't realise for a moment that it was just a fantasy. 

He saw a handsome man bleeding, holding the hand of a woman lying motionless in a pool of blood, and behind him a man covered in smoke holding a still-beating heart.

Cornflower's heart grew cold as the image flashed through his mind. By some miracle, he knew it was his parents. That this man covered in dark smoke had killed his parents. 

Anger and despair washed over him in relentless waves. 

Blinking away the remnants of the vision, he rose hesitantly from the bed and poured water from a pitcher. It moistened his desert-dry mouth and throat with a pleasant coolness. A tear rolled down his cheek from the corner of his eye. 

He took a deep breath, clenched his fists until his knuckles were white, hastily pulled on his outer garments, grabbed a handful of grapes from the food tray and headed back to the Heart of the Tree.

The female apprentices he met on his way retreated in fear. He looked different than they'd seen him before, and it wasn't even the sickliness of his appearance. 

The metallic gleam in his eyes and the cold detachment of the young man were frightening. 

In the face of the changed emotional background, his attractive green eyes, whose gaze had been like the morning dew, now turned into prickly rose thorns.

Bursting into the spirit abode, he fell on his knees, bowed his head and said:

"The disciple is ready to continue the lesson."

The threads bent over him, gently wrapping around his head and down to his shoulders. Feeling immersed again, the young man gritted his teeth.

"You're here sooner than I expected..." the spirit said, approaching him in the white room and bending down to touch his hair, running her fingers through it, sending shivers down his spine, but he didn't move, just stared stubbornly at the floor, waiting for an answer. 

"This is the first time Zhiva has seen such an inner struggle, you do realise that it will only get worse if you don't recover properly, don't you? The energy of the Ancients is part of the true energy of the universe, but pure flame is the opposite of nature's energy. Every time you touch it, it creates more destruction in your physical body. So maybe we shouldn't be in such a hurry," the spirit said as she ran her finger over his cheek.

Cornflower replied without moving a muscle:

"I have a purpose. I think I'm beginning to understand why I'm here, but I need strength. I have enough health for that."

"Very well," the spirit took his hand and stood up, pulling him. 

"So let the training begin."

And before them, glittering streams of energy start spilled out, twisted and intersected. Some twitched, some were still. 

Gently touching the one or the other, the spirit explained:

"Look, this stream is calm, it is far from the energy that is hostile to it, it is probably a place inaccessible to humans. That stream over there is shaking from time to time, which means there are people near it, but they are not using their destructive energy. And over here, yes, yes, you see how strong the vibration is and it flares up from time to time, it means that place is on the verge of being desecrated. I will allow you to travel through the currents, build up your inner energy and learn about the world. But then your task will be to restore all the places where the thread energy flows have been broken," Zhiva pointed to the bundle of black threads at her feet. 

"When your power returns, you will be able to undo the desecrating energy with your Source - the True Flame - so that the natural energy flows will once again pulsate in those places. And once upon a time, the Ancients cared..."

After a brief description, the little spirit held out threads to the young man, teaching him to dip in and out. To accumulate and expend energy. To learn how to interact with plants and animals without disturbing their structure and life. The lesson was enlightening and Cornflower was a capable deciple. 

That day, overcome by pain, he was able to get up and leave Zhiva's abode on his own. Twinkle, who met him at the door as if she had been expecting him, lifted him gently by the shoulder without question, his appearance was ill - pale, sweaty body, hastily wiped blood from the corner of his mouth, staggering gait. 

At first he tried to wave her off, but her firm hand made any further resistance from him most inconvenient.

When they reached his room in silence, the young man thanked the girl profusely for her help and assured her that he felt much better and wanted to take a bath, before bowing and closing the door.

Satisfied that she was gone, he slipped quietly through the door, his robes rustling. A sigh escaped his lips, causing him to cough and spit out a clot of blood.

"Damn, when you're in the streams, you don't realise what state your physical body is in," he slammed his fist on the floor.

"Wimp! Not only can't you remember anything, you're worthless!" and he covered his face with both hands, his whole body shaking with wild hysteria on the verge of madness.

Feeling a surge of excitement he had never felt before, he fell into a trance, dreaming again of all the places he had been and the whispers he had heard. 

And the last place, which the spirit said was in the deep garden of an imperial palace, preserved in the thread stream only because people endowed with polluting energy did not visit it.

There he saw a young man wearing a beautiful robe. His long black hair was tucked into a tall, jewelled hairpin. His tall, straight posture and broad shoulders made him a man of confidence and authority.

"Crown Prince, Crown Prince! There you are! "

A burly man in ceremonial robes came running through the bushes towards the young man, bowing his head respectfully before the young lord. 

"Crown Prince, everyone is waiting for you. The reception is about to begin. Mother Empress is already furious."

" I'll be right there." 

At that moment, the young lord turned towards the tree where Cornflower had found himself, accompanied by Zhiva.

 Somewhere thousands of miles away, Cornflower's heart skipped a beat - the young man before him was very similar to the dead man in his vision. 

The same correct features, the same drawn eyebrows, high cheekbones and an island chin that gave him a manly look.

As if sensing something, the young man looked clearly back to where Cornflower was hidden in energy's flow, and with a bad premonition, Cornflower thought he was looking directly at him, into his eyes.

"Crown Prince, is something wrong?"

"No, nothing, I must have imagined it." After a moment the young lord turned around and let himself be led away with a steady gait.

Remembering this, Cornflower's face twisted into an ironic smile. More questions and no answers.

***

Two years of diving and travelling had passed since then. 

During those two years, it seemed that all the inhabitants of Sacred Arbor had gotten used to the fact that they had such an amazing young man in their abode, who had turned some people's heads so much that there was an unspoken bet among the local girls as to who would be able to charm him and make him their mate. 

A young man who spent all his days in the heart of the tree or in his room, unaware that he was the object of lust and the cause of dueling challenges among the young female disciples.

At first this irritated the older birds-woman, but once they saw the speed of progress and the eagerness to learn in those who fell under his natural spell, they could only put up with it and periodically cool the ardour of the particularly restless and restless.

The young man's life had changed a little in the meantime, for he was ashamed to eat what the others cooked for him, so with Elder Acer's permission he asked for a place in the kitchen and to be allowed to carry water in buckets from a reservoir in the Tree a few levels below his room. 

The Elder had no objection, except that other disciples brought the food, not him. He was still not allowed to leave the Tree.

Apart from Twinkle, Cornflower never really got on with anyone. She seemed to be the only one who accepted him as a friend, not a strange creature or an object of desire. 

Periodically, she would take him for a light walk through the branches of the tree. 

Though Cornflower had no wings, he had strong, agile arms that helped him easily climb the Tree to wherever he wanted, much to the amusement of the girls who witnessed the spectacle.

As for the Council of Elders, there was no one else on the Tree except Pina and Fraxinus.

According to Twinkle there were problems on the border that required more elders to be there, and since Pina had the most students and Fraxinus was second only to Elder Acer, it was decided to stay their here.

After a year of instruction and gruelling training to build up the energy within him, he began to learn how to use it, from moving things to subduing small animals, the latter being frowned upon by teacher Zhiva as illegal body-grabbing, for which he retaliated by hanging the young man's body upside down using his strings during their lessons, giving him headache and swollen legs for long time. 

As for the Emperor's garden, Cornflower returned several times to satisfy his curiosity and to meet the young man again, but he never saw him there again. 

And some time later, the thread of energy had suddenly broken in his absence. 

As his spirit teacher explained, it was because there had been a fire in that place, and the garden had been burnt to the ground. 

Once upon somehow Cornflower came across a martial arts school that did not use defiling energy in its teachings, and asked his teacher about it.

"Huh, these? They only strengthen the body and rely on it. Eventually, the level of their training becomes so high that it transforms into pure energy, without any defiling restraints." Zhiva replied, sensing the question he was about to ask, "No, I can't teach you that, I'm afraid. You are structurally closer to me, the Spirit, than to them. This technique is not for you."

But even so, at times when Zhiva was not present with Cornflower (and this sometimes happened when he wanted to take a break from his student's endless questions, lost in the energy flows), Cornflower would look at the students and mentors of this school and try to repeat their movements when no one was watching. 

A few times he was caught by Twinkle, who was very sceptical about the teachings of other schools and began to show him the basic techniques of her school to prove to him the superiority of her school over others.

The young man enjoyed learning and it was much more fun with an understanding friend.

***

Reflecting on his achievements during this time, he sat as usual in the ornate threads of energy's flows..

The Spirit Teacher was missing again, and out of boredom the young man delved into meditation, absorbing and levelling the energy waves of the stream, and at the same time releasing his energy back into the stream. This was how he learned the art of energy transformation. 

Suddenly, one of their threads seemed to glow brighter and vibrate strongly. Already knowing what it meant, he gave in to his curiosity and plunged into it. 

At that moment he found himself in a forest. The natural energy of the trees in this place was stirring - there was a fire in the forest. And bright flashes in the sky, illuminating the night and scattering sparks, signalled the battle between the two masters. 

The flashes of technique and the glitter of the weapons mesmerised the eye, but the fact that they were destroying without regard for anything around them filled Cornflower's heart with rage. 

He felt the pain of the forest and the animals dying within it. 

It was an old forest and there were still many places he could go. 

With a mental click of his tongue, he imagined the teacher's reprimand, but he couldn't restrain his impulse.

Quickly, he unconsciously found an animal with the level he needed and found himself in the body of a lean lynx. 

His sense of touch was immediately complemented by the frantic whispering of the fleeing animals.

 Having fixed himself as firmly as possible by transferring his personal energy, Cornflower rushed to the cries for help - a fallen tree had crushed the branches of a deer, which was screaming desperately, but to Cornflower it was only a whisper - the call to the deer's mother.

 Putting more energy into the lynx's paws, he easily broke the branches and helped the frightened animal out of the trap. 

The deer didn't hesitate and ran in the opposite direction of the fire from where his mother's call had come. 

As he exhaled, he heard a pitiful cry about a hundred yards away, and as he ran in that direction, he saw the fire approaching and two foxes desperately trying to dig out the entrance to the den, which was blocked by a fallen tree.

The fire was so close that it seemed to scorch their beautiful red fur soon. 

As he approached in the guise of a lynx, he was about to chop the tree down with a single blow, when suddenly one of the foxes turned and glared at him. Cornflower jumped back in surprise:

"What are you doing, I'm trying to help! "

Suddenly the fox stopped, as if hypnotised, and bowed his head incomprehensibly, saying in a clear voice, not even a whisper:

"Who are you? "

This had never happened before, no one usually understood him and did not answer, especially not in a human voice. 

There was a crack and another tree fell nearby, Cornflower did not hesitate:

"No time! Get out of the way or we won't have time to save them!" Saying these words, he rushed forward, but the fox remained dazed, and Cornflower easily leapt over him to another digging fox, sending energy into the whole body of the captured lynx so that it would not suffer either, struck the tree and, as soon as it shattered into splinters, forced himself into the hole. 

In the den he saw six fox's babies. 

There was no time, so he grabbed two squeaky foxes and ran for the exit, the other foxes made the same and followed him. 

He ran as far away from the fire as he could, smelling the water, he must have realised that there was a river and ran towards it. 

The foxes were right behind him.

 Only after he had crossed the river did he put the foxes down in a corner of tree roots and waited for them to arrive, but not letting them get too close to him to avoid a conflict on safe ground, he hurried back. 

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed an unusual look from one of the foxes, but he didn't care, he had more and more to save...

But he only managed to save one hare, whose fur was scorched, who had fallen into a ravine and could not get out. 

Having crossed the river with it, he let it go, barely breathing but alive, into the bushes, and with a light jump climbed to the top of a spruce. 

The fire was still burning on the opposite bank. 

The unimaginable power that has caused such a conflagration is both frightening and enticing. 

He has much to learn, he must fight these people as equals. 

When the time of battle'll came, he must defeat them all to find the one who killed his parents, no matter what it takes, and he roared his vow. 

The strong emotion, combined with the energy he had expended, knocked him out of the flow, but he never regained consciousness. 

He fell asleep on the ground in the Heart of the Tree, unaware that two powerful wings were blazing pure fire behind him.