The Curse

I hesitantly stepped through the vines to find one of the most breath taking scenes in front of me. A garden like no other with every type of vegetation imaginable, all the colors of the rainbow spread out in neat little clusters with a thin veil of mist over some and dry in other areas. There was a cluster of rocks which produced a crystal clear sparkling water which flowed to all corners of this large space. Tall and large trees of all types were given there own space while also providing shade to plants that needed it.

Yes, I mention shade because there is a light source in this space above my head. It is as bright as the sun would be on any hot day but it was not uncomfortable. If anything it made me want to lay down and just enjoy the sensation it gave me, which I cannot fully explain.

As I stood there silently taking in this sight some of the plants and trees shifted. Before I knew it there was a path made for me which lead further into the garden. (I went down the path obviously). More wonderful sights greeted me on my way to whatever the path was leading me to.

Finally the path opened up into a clearing where another ent stood to greet me. He was the largest of his kind I have seen so far, old and weathered as if he had seen all that there is to see and what was most distinguishing about him was a beard. A mossy moldy beard hung all the way to his feet, in places there were flowers or branches sticking out of it (to give it character of course).

As I approached him, the ent spread his arms out and I once again heard that low voice although it was not as slow as before.

"Once.Again.I.Welcome.You.To.The.Heart.Of.Our.Mother.I.Am.The.Keeper.Did.You.Enjoy.The.Grove?" (AN: You would pause after each period, if anyone can guess where this style of writing is from then comment)

I stop in my tracks and stare up at this ent who calls himself "The Keeper". I at first node my head up and down then stop, as I try to wonder how I even understand what this tree is saying and how I am going to verbally respond to him. When again his voice creeps back into my head.

"Hmmm.This.Must.Be.Strange.To.You.Are.You.Unable.To.Understand?"

Hearing him once again I respond by shaking my head from side to side and think about what I want to say, hopefully it gets through to him clearly.

"Yes, the grove was really nice. Also I do understand you somehow, but why did you let me in here and why am I able to understand you?"

Silence follows for a just a few seconds before laughter fills my head before promptly stopping before more words travel into my head.

"This.Is.Great!I.Was.Right!You.Are.More.Than.Just.Your.Common.Carnivore!Mabey.There.Is.A.Chance.Of.Salvation!"

"So about my questions. . ."

"Questions?Did.You.Ask.Questions."

Haa, this is going to take a while. The next 20 minutes or so was spent talking to the keeper and getting to know what happened to this place and why I was let in here and so on. I came to know that the land had been put under a semi permanent curse which sucked out all the life of the surrounding lands up to a point, that is why it did not expand all the way to where I hatched because apparently this curse has been going on for more than 800 years. An abomination as the keeper called it showed up one day and began to wreak havoc on the land the Alairi (the elves), as well as the people of the trees went forth to fight it.

Eventually they were able to kill that thing and put an end to its destructive rampage. But one thing that persisted after its death was its magic that it used, no matter what both races did they could not stop the life from being sucked out of all the surrounding lands. Even the Mother Tree could only stem the flow of life from draining away.

It came to the point where the Mother Tree was being greatly effected by the magic she was holding back. The two races came together and agreed that they would give their energy and life force to the Mother Tree in order for her to persist until it came time to where this curse like magic would be lifted.

It just so happened that about 100 years back or so, the keeper calls them cycles by the way, the Mother Tree got a divine message of some kind or another which said that a creature of the wilds would help her and her children before they all withered away. So apparently this makes me look like their saving grace.

I have no idea how I would be able to help them. Even if I would help them I am more of a physical fighter, not a magic beast, where would I even start? If I refuse them are they just going to hook me up to the roots and use me as some type of battery like those elves . . uh I mean Alairi. Well I will refuse them calmly and try to explain I have no way of helping them, maybe I can come back and help them when I am capable of doing magic shit or something.

"I hate to tell you this but I don't really think I am the answer to your problems, I mean I am only about a week or two old. I do not really know anything about magic to begin with and I cannot use it."

"Nonsense.There.Is.No.Reason.To.Think.That.You.Are.Not.The.Creature.Foretold."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because.Any.Other.Creature.Would.Have.Died.Long.Before.Reaching.The.City.Let.Alone.Our.Mother.Even.I.Cannot.Leave.Here.For.More.Than.An.Hour.Before.Starting.To.Rot."

After he said that he twisted his arm around to show me blacked bark and decayed moss that was the back of his arm.

"If.Anyone.But.Me.Were.To.Attempt.Leaving.Our.Mother.They.Would.Die.In.Less.Than.Five.Minutes."

Ok, how the hell am I not dead yet? Wait a sec, I began to think of pulling up my stat window and I was able to find my answer to my question.

____________________________________________________________________

--Race: Unknown

--Age: 0 years old

--Titles: "Thing", Ambusher

--Level: 26

--Passive skills:

Dark vision

Serrated bite: level 3

Increased perception: level 3

Swordsmanship: level 2 (inactive)

Blunt weapon mastery: level 2 (inactive)

Major resistance (all status effects) ---> was minor

--Active skills:

Slash (Claws): level 3

Intimidating roar: level 2

Physical enhancement: level 2

Dash: level 1 ---> 2 (increased)

--Unique skills:

Assimilation

Skill points: 52

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yep, there it is, my resistance skill must have been going up as I continued through the land. Now that is a life saver if I do say so myself. But this does not really help with there problem and my situation.

"Alright, lets say that I am your chosen creature that is supposed to arrive. As I said before I know nothing about magic and even if I did what could I do even when all the combined minds here could not fix it either. Also how dire is your peoples situation, I hope that I am not being rude when I ask that."

"Worry.Not.It.Is.Fine.I.Know.How.Long.I.Will.Last.But.Not.Mother.Give.Me.Just.A.Moment."

He then closed his eyes and brought his branch arms together in silence. The next moment he opened his eyes again and spoke.

"Mother.Says.Another.Fifty.Cycles.Is.All.She.Will.Be.Able.To.Wait"

Hold up she can last another 50 years! Hell, a lot can happen in fifty years who's to say that I won't be able to change their situation around eventually. I am feeling good right now and they welcomed me in so nicely I will help them but just not right now, I will come back for sure.

"I believe in that amount of time I might be able to do something but I cannot make any promises,I will be gone for an undetermined amount of time. You can never know what can happen in fifty years."

"That.Is.Most.Delightful.To.Here.I.Hope.For.The.Best.Please.Return.When.You.Can.Alleviate.This.Curse."

When our conversation ended the trees, flowers and fauna parted once more and let me exit the way I came. Past all the sleeping Alairi and dead tree people back to the large doors that I first came through. Once outside in the dead city surrounded by dead forest there were three things running through my head.

How am I going to make good on my promise? Should I go explore a new area? Lastly I forgot to ask any questions about the system and where might other people be! Damn it!