Demonic Tree

Alex stood before a cave hidden at the mouth of a large hill. He had been walking around for a while now and not for once had he encountered another monster. Standing before the hill, he felt a very powerful demon energy and it was coming from inside the cave. He wanted to avoid going inside the cave but his curiosity wouldn't let him do just that and as such, he mustered up courage and took his first step into the cave.

Just as he stepped his left foot inside the cold cave, a strong force of wave blew past him. It sent shivers down his spine but instead of retreating, he pressed further. He kept entering deeper into the cave and as he went, the demon energy was getting enormous. When he finally got to the end of the cave, he saw a tree in the middle of the place — it had no leaves on its branches and it looked weird enough to scare him.

The tree was surrounded by dark mist and Alex could swear that the roots were moving but he couldn't be certain as everything began to seem like a dream to him. His head felt heavy and he began to feel dizzy, he felt that everything around him was going around in circles and soon after that, he saw himself falling to the ground and darkness taking over his vision.

------

A while later, Alex's eyes began to open and when they finally did, he looked around and saw himself lying on the ground right under the tree. He was also surrounded by the dark mist but unlike before, he didn't feel the killing intent that was initially directed at him. When he stood up and tried to leave, he felt as though there was an invisible barrier blocking him as he wasn't able to leave the mist.

"Arthur, what should I do? What is this tree?" He decided to ask for help from his demon.

"You must figure it out yourself. Told you that I won't help you anymore unless you are in a dire situation," Arthur firmly replied to Alex's disappointment.

"Come on—"

"Hey, don't call me... I'm trying to sleep," Arthur said through Alex's speech, and after that, he didn't speak again.

With a sigh, Alex had no choice but to find a solution to his problems all by himself. He looked around, the mist was all over the place and the demon energy that was being emitted from the tree was too strong for him to bear, it was like he was being pressed down by a force.

"What am I going to do?" He mumbled with a confused look on his face. He stood there thinking for a while and during this period, he failed to understand that the mist surrounding him was gradually becoming thicker than before and that the mist was almost about to swallow him up.

"You really don't know anything," Arthur suddenly grunted in Alex's head. The sudden interference made Alex jolt and when he did, the roots of the tree began to move again, they moved towards Alex's feet unknown to him. When he realized what was going on, they had already tied themselves around his feet and wrists. He tried to lose free but he couldn't and soon, he saw himself in the air, with his hands and feet spread apart. The other roots began to rise in the air and stop, facing him. Thinking it was all they were going to do, Alex was taken aback when they suddenly began to pierce into his body one after the other, There were about seven of them and they all entered his body.

Not only did they enter his body, but the moment they did that, the tree lit up and began to glow — A very dark red light shone from the tree and Alex looked at the roots inside his body, he could that they were moving while they were right inside of him.

"Darn it! What am I going to do?" He grunted in fear. Then all of a sudden, his eyes closed and his head dropped, seconds later, he raised his head and his eyes opened again. A frown appeared on his face as he stared at the roots that were inside his body. "Can't I have a moment of peace while in this body?" He mumbled to the roots. Just after speaking, the roots inside his body all suddenly dried up, and the ones tied up around him also dried up immediately like they weren't there before. He landed gracefully on the ground and while rubbing his wrists where he was roughly tied, he turned and looked at the glowing tree. "Trying to suck me dry, isn't it? It's my turn to do the same to you, right?" He mumbled and then placed his left hand on the tree. The red glow began to flow from the tree into his arm and then straight into his body — he closed his eyes as he enjoined the sensation of what he was doing. As the red glow flowed from the tree into Alex, the tree began to gradually dry up and when the whole red glow disappeared, the tree dried up completely. "Yes, this is perfect!" He said with a grin. Soon afterward, his eyes closed, and his head dropped again just like it did before. When he reopened his eyes, he looked with a confused look.

"What just happened? I feel very strong, but how?" He asked.

"I helped you drain all the demonic energy from the tree. You should be grateful to me for saving your life or you would have died as a result of drained energy," Arthur replied.

"You came out? Was that why I could not remember anything?" Alex asked him.

"Exactly!"

"Oh, that's more like it," Alex mumbled and began to leave the cave.

"Is that your thank you for me saving you?" Arthur asked him.

"If you didn't save me and I died, what do you think would become of you?" Alex asked and laughed.

"You! Don't think I'll keep saving you forever," Arthur replied and after that, silence fell.

Alex smiled and hurried out, the moment he got to the outside of the cave, everything turned dark once again. Opening his eyes, he saw himself back in the room.

"You survived without a scratch? That's highly impressive," stated Derek with a quite surprised look on his face.

"Did you expect me to die?" Alex asked him.

"No, not at all... I'm only surprised," Derek replied with his hands in the air.

"Oh," Alex muttered and wanted to leave the room but taking his first step, he held his head in pain, and before he knew what was happening, he slumped.

"Alex!" Derek yelled and rushed over at him. He checked his pulse and a deep frown appeared on his face. He went further to touch his neck but as he checked, he was shocked to see black veins that covered his entire neck. "Damn it!" He gasped and carried him up and rushed out of the room.