“My suggestion would be to think of a tree on Earth that you remember well. Find a tree here of the same species and meditate while touching that tree trying to reach out to the one on your world. You might already have enough power to connect. Once you have done it one time, the rest should come easily. Since there are no celestial trees on Earth, tuning in to my tree is not likely to help you.”
That got me thinking. There was a beech tree that I found in the woods near the boarding school I used to attend that I would climb and relax in its branches, listening to music, hidden from the world. I always felt at peace in its branches.
“I will give it a go.” I sighed. “If it doesn't work, I will come back in a week to request another fruit.”
“Wait a second, I have something that might help,” Nudi said, before she left me for a couple of minutes, returning with a wooden cup containing a golden coloured liquid. “Just before you meditate, drink this.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“Ambrosia. A little bit of juice from the fruit mixed with water, filtered through my roots. It will give you a boost in celestial energy without overwhelming you, I hope,” she replied.
“Thank you.” I gave Nudi a hug, accepted her gift and then travelled to the nearest decent sized beech tree that I could sense. It was outside her valley, but not very far away. I climbed onto a main branch, settled myself in a position where I could semi-recline and not fall off and drank the Ambrosia. Again it would be hard to describe the taste apart from the most delicious drink I had ever had. It felt like I finished almost as soon as I started drinking it. I couldn't help myself from licking every last drop from the wooden cup, even going as far as trying to shake any hints of liquid into my mouth. I only put it down when I was convinced that there was nothing more I could get out of it.
I closed my eyes and tried to remember the beech tree from my childhood. Once I had the imagery firmly in my mind I tried to reach through the beech tree that I was reclining on towards that tree. To be honest, I thought it was going to be difficult, that I would have to struggle through some kind of barrier, push myself to my limits again, but it was none of that. It was … easy. I could immediately feel that tree and travelled through to it effortlessly. Then the heat from the Ambrosia started to hit me and rose quickly from pleasant to mildly unpleasant. Fortunately, it didn't go any higher than that. I needed to remove my clothes and fan myself a bit. If it wasn't for the side effects I think it would be easy to become addicted to Ambrosia or the celestial fruit.
I reached for the trees on the Isle of Wight and the closest to the farmhouse was still almost a kilometre away from the house, so I reached into the house and felt the wooden table in the kitchen. It was all one piece and still had some life left in it. Perfect.
Chapter 27
Vee's POV Lagbit's World.
I tried not to be angry. Tia didn't mean to leave me behind although we all knew it was a possibility. The mission we were on, to save the fricken world, couldn't be more important, so I really shouldn't feel abandoned. That is what I tried to tell myself anyway, not that my emotions were listening to me.
I tried to keep myself together although a large part of me wanted to just break down and cry. Eve was competent and had already organised a mini-camp around the tree so that we could wait in an organised fashion. There was no point in us all just standing staring at a tree. I wondered why we had come to that particular tree so I was chatting to Melissa, another of Tia's guards, who told me that there were different species of oak tree. The tree in front of us was a black oak and druids with wood familiars could only travel between trees of the same species. That black oak was probably the closest, largest black oak tree to Amilyf.
Before I could thank her I felt this disorientation. I had been standing and now I was blind and I was pretty sure I was lying down.
“Melissa?” I asked uncertainly, wondering what had happened.
“Is that you Vee?” I heard Mia ask.
That voice was enough to clue me in that I was back on Earth again.
“Yes, it is me. Tia, what happened this time?” I asked. I reached to remove my headset getting slightly worried when I didn't hear her response. Finally, I could see and look around. There was a gap where Tia was supposed to be. Mia and Wendy were in the middle of taking off their headsets.
◆◆◆
Wendy's POV
I was still trying to get my brain in gear after unexpectedly returning to Earth when I heard this heartbreaking scream. My hands almost ripped my headset off, turning to look at a pale looking Vee staring at the empty space next to her.
Tia was missing.
“Wendy see what you can find out,” Mia asked me as she took charge and gathered Vee up in her arms and started rocking her gently, stroking her hair and humming a soothing song.
I headed for the door which opened before I could get to it with Clair trying to come in. I gestured her out and followed her.
“Why are you back so soon, again?” Clair asked me.
“I don't know. More importantly, we need to find out where Tia is.”
“What do you mean? It has only been maybe ten minutes since you all laid down and no one has left that room,” Clair replied.
“We have all returned unexpectedly, and Tia is missing. So there has been no breach of security? My first thought was a kidnapping. Find Lacy and bring her in,” I told Clair and headed back to the room.
Mia was still comforting Vee on the bed so I searched the room, looking under the bed, behind the curtains. I checked the windows. We were on the second floor and there was no evidence to suggest the windows had been opened. The wardrobe was full of clothes, but no Tia.
Clair returned with Lacy and the rest of the honour guard.
We were all confused and worried. It made no sense. If someone had stolen Tia they had done it while making no sound and staying invisible. Andi was still available to talk to, though. Whilst Tia was in Lagbit's World, the Andi that was left behind was a computer copy of the electrical familiar that had no knowledge of what happens on Lagbit's World until Tia's return when she gets a download to update her. This meant that wherever Tia was, she was cut off from the internet and it had to happen so quickly that Andi the familiar didn't have time to communicate with Andi the AI. Since the time would need to be fractions of a second the only conclusion was that Tia hadn't returned.
We waited downstairs at the kitchen table. I was with Mia and our Lagbit versions of ourselves when we had been yanked back to Earth, so we had no clue what Tia had been doing. Vee was the only one who could tell us and needed to be coherent before we could ask her any questions, so we left Mia comforting her while we waited.
Half an hour later a very shaky Vee was lead to the table by Mia. We sat down with cups of tea and coffee trying to be as patient as possible. Eventually, Vee told us about Tia getting the call to visit Nudi and travelling to a black oak tree. The failed attempt for them all to travel through the tree which resulted in Vee and Tia's guards waiting by that black oak for Tia to return. Then the sudden disorientation and discovering that we had returned to Earth and Tia was missing.
Lacy organised a search pattern leading away from the house, looking for any clues and tasked Clair and Belle to search the house, just in case. We were clutching at straws. None of us could come up with a plausible explanation and eventually, we were left sitting around the table in various degrees of shock. Vee was the worst and had her head laying on the table with her eyes closed.
What happened next I will remember for the rest of my life. I was staring across the table distractedly when this silver-haired head started rising from the centre of the table. There was no sound accompanying it and I thought I was imagining it, losing my mind, so I looked under the table. Definitely no body, just a head that turned until it could see Vee. I couldn't see the face and didn't know who it was until it spoke.
“Oh, honey, I am so sorry,” Tia said sadly.
Vee looked up confu
sed and then gasped.
The head was followed by this naked body. Once the hands had emerged they braced themselves on the surface and pulled the legs up after them. Then she shifted herself onto Vee's lap and started kissing and hugging her. Vee just cried and clutched at her.
Mia came around to join in the cuddle and call the guards and maids off their search. I just looked, still wondering if I had all my marbles. Vee's chair was too close to the table so, in order for Tia to be able to sit on her lap and hug her, she was treating the part of the table that was next to Vee like it was insubstantial. I looked under the table again. At least the body was there this time. To make myself feel more comfortable, I pulled the table away from the pair, noticing the wood reappearing as it was pulled away from Tia's body.
I went back upstairs to lie down. I think someone must have put something in my coffee or maybe I was dreaming. Maybe when I wake up the world would make sense again.
Chapter 28
Tia's POV
Vee was distraught and it was all my fault. I had been neglecting her. Not deliberately, my love for her was as strong as ever, but so many things seemed to be so important that I had not been paying enough attention to my pregnant wife. Cuddling her fiercely, I made a promise to keep her by my side from now on and put her first. None of what I was doing was against her wishes, I just needed to make sure we stayed together, while we were doing it.
I needed to tell everyone what had happened, but I didn't want to stop cuddling Vee so I asked Mia to direct us to a lounge area where there was a sofa, where we could make ourselves comfortable.
I kept Vee in my arms. She had quietened down but didn't argue about the continued contact. We put a phone on the coffee table and managed to conference in most of the major players. With my ability to travel through trees and take others with me, we arranged to meet up physically in two days time where I could go through any questions. I then gave a brief overview of my adventures. There were many questions that had to go unanswered. I believed I could travel back and forth to Lagbit's World, but I had only done one way so far. I was pretty sure the headset would no longer work to connect me and others to Lagbit's World. Again, I hadn't tried it and if I could travel there through trees, it didn't matter. I had some experimentation to do before the meeting. The main idea was to keep everyone in the loop.
After the call, I got dressed again and then explained what I next wanted to do. I didn't like the idea that Mum in Lagbit's World didn't know whether I was able to travel between worlds and if the time connection was now stable, so I was going to make a quick trip there and back. I was going to take Vee with me, both so that we knew it was possible and also because I had promised myself.
We turned the kitchen table so that the surface was upright and I then told Vee to close her eyes and led her through the table to the beech tree that I remembered so well. Just in case it would help me, I took a leaf from the tree and tucked it into my bra. First I searched for pockets, without success. I could have asked Vee to put it in her handbag, but I wanted it close to me. I reached for the beech in Lagbit's World. I didn't have a great connection. I think because I had already used it once I could find it again. The connection was enough, we travelled from there to the beech tree in Lagbit's World and then to the apple tree outside the palace. I took a leaf off each tree in case it would help going back. None of the steps were difficult, but it was a bit convoluted and I had an idea for simplifying it.
A watch was being kept on the tree, so when we stepped through, I could see a maid rush off. I told Vee she could open her eyes and we started walking towards the entrance.
We had not gone more than a few steps when there was a loud bang and I was thrown off my feet. Vee was down too, whimpering in pain. I quickly cast a healing prayer. Vee sighed in relief. I looked her over and saw her top was ruined on one side and I could see newly healed skin underneath.
“What happened?” I asked her.
“I think my handbag exploded.”
“Do you think...,” I started before I felt Andi telling me what she felt. “Andi thinks the battery in the phone exploded,” I explained. For a second there I was wondering if we had a traitor in our house on the Isle of Wight.
We were still sitting on the grass as Mum rushed up to us clearly worried.
“Can you check the baby?” I asked Mum.
“Of course,” she said, starting to put her hand on my belly.
“No, I meant Vee. She was the one hurt, I was just thrown off my feet.”
Mum redirected her attention and smiled at us both. “She is fine.”
“Do you mean I am fine or we are having a baby girl, who is fine?” Vee asked excitedly, all worry from the explosion blown away by the thought of a baby girl.
“Whoops! Both I guess.”
We smiled at each other and I gathered her into a hug.
“We can't stay long,” I told Mum. “I just wanted to check that we could travel back and forth without difficulty and work out where you want me to travel to. We can still bring people here to be transformed, I just need to know which tree you want me to come out of.”
“Mary and Kayla need a family hug too. You had us all worried. We can discuss it with them.”
We had a quick visit with the queen and her consort, who hugged us and insisted that we sit down for a cup of tea. I promised to bring my favourite hot chocolate back for them to try next time. Kayla suggested that I use the nearest tree to Lagbit's Church. They would fence it off so no one would be able to see the people arrive. Geri still hadn't come up with the right spell to find the human spies transformed to look like elves.
Vee had the idea of using something like an ultrasound to look for differences. Andi pointed out that if the battery on the phone exploded, any modern technology from Earth would be uncertain and possibly dangerous. Then Mum brought that whole argument to its horrifying conclusion. When mana on Earth started rising again, as would happen after I managed to bring a celestial tree back to Earth, modern technology would probably be affected.
This gave me visions of civilisation collapsing, causing the death of millions to billions. I had read books which suggested we would not do well if technology suddenly stopped working. And if I didn't plant my tree, my daughter, eventually, all life on Earth would die out.
Chapter 29
Before we returned I had a look around the Church and chose an oak tree that wasn't too far from the back entrance. I picked up an acorn from that tree to help with forming the connection back next time. Vee and I then travelled through that oak tree to the beech tree, close to the celestial tree. I separated briefly from Vee to get permission from Nudi to bring Vee through the celestial tree. Nudi was nervous, but happy at the same time. I imagine her existence has been a lonely one.
I introduced the two, they had a quick chat and then we returned to Earth. Using the leaves made my connections so much easier and when I mentioned that to Nudi, she gave me one of her leaves, which was a real sign of trust.
I now had no doubts that I could travel back and forth fairly easily with as many people as I wanted to. I still had a few worries. I was still concerned about Cari and now that I could travel anywhere on Earth almost instantly and take a guard force with me we should be able to prevent another situation like that again. As soon as her ship landed I intended to rescue her. What exactly we were going to do to those responsible was still under debate.
I was worried about the effect of higher mana levels affecting technology. I guess we would have to experiment. We still had time. It would be about eight months before my dryad daughter was born and then it would take some time before the mana levels were raised enough to affect technology. At some point, I was going to have to tell the world what it was in for and the backlash from that could end us all. If they believed me, which they probably wouldn't.
My biggest worry was nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants. What if high mana levels caused them to detonate. I understood that it took a lot of ener
gy to cause the explosive reaction, but the difference between Earth and Lagbit's World was mainly the higher ambient energy levels. How the hell do you test that?
My main idea of testing how technology would react was to bring it to a safe location on Lagbit's World. A bullet within a bulletproof container, to see if it spontaneously explodes. Small amounts of different explosives, a computer, different batteries. To be honest I was going to have to get better minds involved in this than mine. There was no way I was going to bring even a small nuclear device to Lagbit's World, if I could even obtain one. Hopefully, a nuclear physicist could come up with a better way to predict our future.
The laws of physics should still be the same, shouldn't they?
End of Book 3
Vivid Dream Reality 3 Page 13