1 The Great Tree

It was all set. The stage was elaborately decorated and all actors were ready to show up at any moment. Their delicately embroidered complex costumes blinded all who saw them for the first time, clearly showing the glory of an ancients. The people themselves looked magnificent as well. Smooth, flowing golden hair, fair skin and pointy ears made them appear even more imposing and regal than they already were.

This event was very important, as it was held only once every ten years, so everyone was excited. The forest people, as others called them, loved arts, music and dancing, so they were the main things these beautiful people busied themselves with. Performances were as common as trees in the forest, so when there was this one, special, only once a decade staged festival, it is understandable, that the hype it created was enormous.

The bustling of spectators suddenly stopped, as a blinding light flashed, illuminating the stage. It was a night, starless though, as trees in the depths of an old forest were as tall as enormous buildings of hundred floors. Their leaves were folded one over the other, creating a thick roof, not letting any light go through it, neither at night, nor during the daytime.

Many often wonder, how can the forest people have such a pale skin, that makes them look neither sick, nor unnatural. Well, this would be an answer.

The flute sounded, accompanied by faint rustle of leaves, creating a harmonious music. The voice was heard, singing along the rhythm. The spectators were finally able to see the main performance of this festival that spanned for the whole week.

Beautiful beyond compare. Those, who saw him that year, never forgot that view. With silver hair, twisted in a complex bun, fixed with a hairpin of a metal, that didn't reflect any light at all, with a deep black and dark gold ancient clothes, embroidered with a regal Phoenix on his back, created an atmosphere just not from this world. Even though he had a mask on his face, that aura, that feeling said that this person is not an ordinary one.

The forest people felt elated. With such an actor, this play would definitely be an extraordinary sight.

Singing in a faint voice, he slowly made his way to the middle of the stage. Flowing words were faint, spoken in an ancient language, lyrical and full of emotions of longing and suffering, such as forest people liked.

Suddenly, he stopped singing.

"Your father requests your presence, young master."

It is not known when a new person has appeared behind him – a woman. She was not young anymore; faint wrinkles adorned her pale face.

"He's angry."

She commented, as it was none of her business. Then, both of them just stood there, one waiting for an answer and the other, who seemed calm, but was, in fact, clenching his sword hilt hard. The silence enveloped both of them, making even those, who were watching feel the tension.

"Young master."

Just after these words, the man standing in front of her pulled his sword that he was grabbing with all his might out of the sword sheet and pointed it at the woman. Suddenly, the light, illuminating the whole stage has vanished and there were only red glimmering specks of light whirling around both of the actors. The music started playing again, this time having a tense and uncertain feeling in it.

"Do you believe that I can cut him with this same sword, that was thrust into that person's body, taking away his last breath?"

"Do you believe that I can also similarly end your pathetic life?"

The sword, which was pointed at the woman's nose, was suddenly pressed to her neck. She paled and stepped backwards, tripping in the process and falling on the ground. At that moment, the sword grazed her frail neck, leaving a shallow cut. However, except that slightly paler face, nothing betrayed her fear.

"You don't want to do this." Her voice was calm, like nothing happened.

The silver haired man paused, before throwing his weapon away. The music stopped and there was only an echoing sound of metal clinging.

"You may be right." He whispered.

After this scene, the play portrayed a man who was extremely ruthless, but at the same time so fragile and weak inside, having many psychological wounds. His and his father's relationship, plot twists and unexpected dark secrets made this whole spectacle one of its kind. The most impressive character of course was the silver haired man, whose name wasn't mentioned even in the end, going by the 'young master' pseudonym.

The red and golden lights twirled, creating fantastic shapes of various animals and towering trees, as the final scene was executed and, finally, the curtains rose. All that was left was silence and some gasps of amazement.

Then, all spectators suddenly felt as if released from a trance, looking around, only to see, similarly stunned people. The ovations rose as they excitedly congratulated those actors, that pulled off this unforgettable play. It would definitely be something mentioned over the cup of tea for at least few years. It was so amazing.

However, as if turning off all sound, everyone immediately quietened down. The dread rose, as people started to feel a heat from far away in the woods that they called home, noticing an orange light spreading far and wide.

An old lady, that was sitting at the front row and obviously had not a low status, knitted her eyebrows and said in a trembling voice.

"The Sein, that old fool, had come to harass us again. Quick, come, we have to go and stop him, least the tragedy will repeat itself again!"

"It's the Sein, a mad dragon!"

"To choose this date, it was planned intentionally, I say intentionally!"

No one said anything more, all hurried to that place that was already caught in a red hue. The fire burned madly, as poor people tried to put it out. However, the mighty roar was heard and a fountain of a magma like liquid poured. Another place has caught a wild flame and countless towering trees were instantly turned into ashes.

There were clinging and blasting sounds, as the battle started between furious people and the beast in the air. Magic spells glittered, trying to stop this mad rampage, but unfortunately, had little to none effect. The legendary weapons were all brought out and the bravest of all forest people held them. It was a battle of century.

At that moment, the stage, that housed an unforgettable performance just a while ago was abandoned by everyone. There stood empty stands, where all kinds of things were sold and witnessed the great festival. But now, all they could see was a darkness, an evil one, as all lanterns were extinguished. The fire and chaos didn't reach there. Only some faint battle cries and a shadow of a mighty flame was seen in the far-off place. Everything seemed so dreamy and unreal.

In the middle of that darkness, there stood a silver haired masked guy. He walked leisurely to one of the empty stools and grabbed a bun with a jam that was sold there.

"So hungry." He mumbled gloomily, while walking to the direction opposite of the battle. It was like everything happening around himself was of no concern to him. This person just lifted his mask, revealing a pale skin, even paler than the forest people and grey eyes, adorned by silver eyelashes. He walked, while slowly munching his stolen bun, drifting like a ghost, as his steps didn't produce any sound at all, as if he wasn't a living person, but a spirit instead.

Suddenly, a loud roar was heard, reverberating through the whole forest. It was filled with agony and helplessness, as if not wanting to give up, but not having any energy left.

The silver haired person stopped.

"Useless old guy." He said. Then, speedily stuffing the remaining bun in his mouth, he picked up his pace, now running through the winding tree tunnels and corridors. It was like he was flying, his feet almost not touching the ground. The creepy darkness prevented anyone from seeing well, but it wasn't a problem for the silver haired person.

Finally, he came to a stop. The great roots spanned many miles ahead of him, each twice as big and thick as the normal tree in this forest. They wriggled and winded by themselves, as if guarding a treasure, rising up and reaching an enormous tree trunk. This tree was evidently old. Its bark was thick and coarse, having many crevices and scars.

The man hid in the shadow of the nearby tree, observing all around the roots. Although, there was a great crisis that forest people faced, there were still some guards put to watch over their most important tree. He immediately noticed two of them sitting noiselessly on the branches, not giving any aura away at all. They only intently stared all around, sometimes worriedly glancing at the distant battle, that was better seen from their position than from the ground. Even though the forest people managed to wound a dragon, it instead made him more ferocious, killing many in the process.

Suddenly, the dragon left an opening and was once again stabbed, distracting these two guards and letting the man slip through. He flickered and seemingly disappeared, only to show up at the opening of the great roots. He didn't waste any more time and directly entered the narrow tunnel.

The tree was strange, as inside of it, faint light was seen flowing like an air current, sometimes weaker and sometimes stronger. The man squeezed in between the narrow passage, having to crawl from time to time.

However, there was a sudden change. The roots, as if possessed by someone, slowly moved in front of him, as if trying to block the way. The intruder frowned and taking out a well-hidden knife from his clothes, tried to cut some. It wasn't easy, as the tree wasn't some ordinary plant and, although the weapon was also magical, it could only with a difficulty break off some thinner branches.

It was a difficult journey, and at last it ended. After leaving that stuffy tunnel, the man saw a chamber with a lake in front of him, glittering with blue lights and giving some strange otherworldly feeling. The water was clear. There were no ripples, no fish, just a gem like stone, lying quietly in the water bed.

Th man was pleasantly surprised.

"Third brother, no wonder you lived for so long. Even when the fourth sister fell asleep, you were still well, full of energy. You greedy liar! Hmph!"

The man walked to the pond, getting in the middle of it and grabbing the stone, that silently laid there. He put it in the inner pocket of his ancient clothes, that he didn't change since the play, and walked out of the water. Miraculously, he wasn't wet at all.

However, the tree didn't want to let that stone go anywhere. The roots, as if energized, flew towards the man, wanting to pierce his flesh. The man didn't manage to avoid them in time and watched, as they went through his body.

There wasn't any blood. No, there wasn't anyone in that place where he stood just a while ago at all. It was as if he disappeared. Though, it wasn't the case – he was now standing a few meters behind the now weakly lying roots and guardedly watched, as they slowly retracted. Everything fell silent.

The man sighed and went over to touch and old bark.

"I know you are not willing. I also wouldn't be willing. But you lived for a long time already. With this stone, or without it, you'd still have the same ending. Now, sleep well, third brother. I'll go visit the second brother for you."

The man turned around and went back the same tunnel. However, just as he was exiting through a gap between those thick roots, he locked eyes with someone else. It was a guard. He immediately wanted to run, but unfortunately realized that his face was exposed, as he lifted his mask when eating that stolen bun. This mistake was really careless.

The guard was also stunned, seeing someone coming out of the tree. Without waiting or warning, that person, whose face he couldn't see quite well, just a silver hair flying all over the place, was already in front of him. The forest man desperately raised his weapon to meet the other's knife, though it was too late. Blood spurted, leaving only a dead person.

The other guard was immediately alarmed, coming to his friend only to see him dead. Nearby, there was a word written in a blood – silver. The guard was loyal, seeing that death was near, he could only speedily leave some clues for his friends. Unfortunately, the intruder was once again careless, missing this action.

The dragon roared once more in the distance, though this time it was weak and desperate call. It fled the scene and tired warriors didn't have any energy to chase after him anymore. There were still countless burning trees that needed their help.