Tree Guardian

by Andrew Karevik

  The creature vanished with a flash, but left a shockwave that destroyed two of my fire giants. The magical energies that surrounded the creature lifted into the air and began to swirl around in a circle, reconstituting the creature. Of course, it could regenerate. But how long would it take? There was no time to continually engage in combat with this monster, especially when time was of the essence.

  I directed my army to ignore the beast and instead focus on getting the vault open. They assembled themselves in a straight line before the gate and began to slam their fists against the metal gates in unison. They were enchanted with lock breaking magic; each blow would weaken the ancient seals that were guarding the vault itself. And with thirty giants attacking each moment, I knew the vault wouldn’t stand a chance.

  I could see the magical energies surrounding the Deep Vault grow weaker and weaker. My essence gave me an edge here, I knew, an advantage over the divine magic that held everything in place. I was strong enough now to make a dent in these realms, perhaps even strong enough to be seen as a threat to the gods. Maybe that was why Izguril had been so insistent on putting me in my place, for he knew that my power would lead me to be a contender with other deities.

  The vault continued to shake from each blow, the ancient wards beginning to glow violently as they tried to keep the building safe. One by one, the wards would grow extremely bright and, within a moment, would vanish entirely, their magic having been drained by the spells I bound to my giants.

  As the last rune of warding began to flicker, I heard a voice old and gnarled, as if ancient beyond time.

  “And so you mean to bring harm to us after all?” said a dwarven man, with a long gray beard, a withered hand and red robes. He was slowly fading into view as if an invisibility spell had ended. I recognized his energy as Rignus, god of truth and oaths. He must have become aware of my actions, despite my efforts to shield the Akr Army.

  “I fear, Lord Rignus, that I must take this magic so that I may bring aid to both man and god,” I said. There was a bit of sorrow on my end, to be perceived as nothing more than a thief, but alas these were desperate times.

  Rignus shuffled a little towards the army. “So you say. Yet I have been bound to defend this vault all the same.”

  The final seal was proving to be troublesome, much stronger than the others. If Rignus were to interfere now, we might not be able to open the vault before the other gods arrived. If that were the case, then this mission would be over. I had to act quickly.

  “You are the oath keeper, yes?” I asked.

  Rignus nodded. “All vows and oaths are prayers to me. I watch over them faithfully and reward those who obey their word.”

  “And you have taken such oaths yourself? To defend and to protect this vault?”

  “I have, as all gods have. Even Jepner.”

  This was a leap, but perhaps it might work. “So as god of oaths, then you must know that some oaths are misplaced. Some that are well intentioned can turn out to be harmful. To follow after such an oath, in spite of obvious self-destruction is foolishness, is it not?”

  Rignus paused from what he was doing and frowned. “Ah you are, of course, speaking about the question of intent of the law versus the letter of it. This is a large debate, you know. It’s spawned two different churches that follow after me.”

  “And where do you fall on this?” As we spoke, I felt the effects of time begin to slow down around the giants, their actions growing impossibly slower and slower until they ceased to move entirely. My hopes had been to distract Rignus with a debate while my army worked, but he was too smart to fall for such a simple maneuver.

  Rignus shrugged. “Keeping an oath is really a question of betrayal, is it not? When we break an oath that harms others, then it’s true oathbreaking. To break an oath that harms no one, well, was it ever truly an oath?”

  “But what if keeping an oath will bring harm to the one who you have sworn to protect?”

  “Ah yes, the question of the greater good,” Rignus said. He shrugged again and gave a crooked smile. “I’ve come to learn that there is no greater evil than anything done in the name of the greater good.”

  “If I do not gain access to this deep magic, an Illuminated being will awaken,” I said.

  “Yes, yes, I’m well aware of the stakes. One of the benefits of being the god of truth is knowing the truth,” Rignus replied. “I know the truth, I know that your intentions are pure and I know that you are desperately trying to stop a deadly chain of events.”

  “Then why don’t you help me?”

  “I’m afraid that, as the embodiment of oathkeeping, I must keep my word. I said that I alone would protect this vault, as a means to prevent any other god from gaining control of such power. And I am doing so.”

  Alone? This meant there would be no cavalry. Rignus was the only person here who could stop me. I had to think of some way to convincing him to aid me. But I had to be clever.

  “You took an oath to defend this place, have you not?”

  “I have,” he replied with a sly grin.

  “But did you swear to defend it with all of your might?” I asked.

  Rignus tilted his head. “No, no I did not.”

  “Then leave me to what I do. If you did not swear to defend this place competently, then your guardian fulfills the criteria of the oath.”

  “Are you saying that I should obey the letter of my oath, and not the spirit?” Rignus asked.

  “Yes, because the letter of the law is what will save us all,” I explained. “You know this to be true.”

  Rignus said nothing for a moment. He wrinkled his leathery face and stroked his beard. “I recall the exact wording of my oath. It never mentioned doing a particularly good job of protecting the vault.”

  “Then, please, allow your guardian to continue defending your realm,” I said. “And leave us to do what must be done.”

  “It is a curse,” Rignus said, “to always know the true heart of a person. You can see that they speak honestly, that they wish the world good, but in a single instant they can change. A bad experience, a sudden urge, hell, even a poor night’s sleep can lead a person to make terrible decisions. If you judge a man’s heart today, it will be pure and holy. But tomorrow? It might be the filthiest thing alive. I see your heart and know that you are being true with me. But tomorrow?”

  “There won’t be a tomorrow if I cannot gain a hold of what is within that vault,” I whispered. As I said those words, the time around me began to speed back up. The Jotunn continued in their attacks and the final seal began to break.

  “Very well, Great Tree,” Rignus said as he faded from view. “I will leave the guardian to stop you. But be warned, the power you are seeking will destroy you from the inside if you are unable to gain control over it. And I am not speaking in metaphors.”

  With that warning in mind, I turned my attention to directing the relief Jotunn to fight the now reformed monster. It was just as weak as before, leading me to realize that this creature was simply there as an alarm for Rignus. Its destruction would signal him to arrive and put an end to the break-in.

  Now that I knew Rignus was the only one tasked with protecting the vault, I slowed down my giants’ efforts, in order to ensure that everything done was careful. I did not want to trigger any kind of traps or dangerous godspells that could annihilate my army.

  I was rewarded for my vigilance, for as I searched across the vault, I realized that one of the letters etched into the wall was actually warded as well. But it was a different type of ward, one that activated when the vault was opened up. I had no idea what it would do, but I had my giants carefully break the ward in order to ensure it would not trigger. I found no other traps that would prevent us from getting the vault open.

  And so, I gave the order. All of the giants placed their hands on the vault and began to push with all their might until the steel warped from the force. Truthfully, I had no way to know how to
access the vault without utterly destroying it, so I hoped that Rignus would understand this excessive property damage.

  The doors broke open after a time; the steel pieces of the vault distorted and bent to create a gate large enough for my giants. There was a rumbling in the ground and I felt the presence of a mighty power. At first, I was worried that this was another guardian and that Rignus had fooled me, but I realized that this power was somewhat familiar. It was the same magic that had powered the necromancer Urioc’s amulet of agelessness.

  The Jotunn drew their vessels and entered, one by one, to capture the source of deep magic. It was a tangible blob of sea green energy, rapidly shifting at all moments in the middle of the air. Four pillars surrounded the blob, sealing it within the confines of the vault. But, most curiously, the force field created by the pillars only seemed to affect the deep magic. My giants could freely move up to the power source.

  The deep magic was restless and almost reactive to our presence. It shifted with agitation and pushed against the force fields, as if it were a dog, greeting its owner. The magic was stronger than anything I had ever felt before, even stronger than the godspells I had been in control of. But it was dangerous, raw and violent. I knew that if mishandled, the deep magic could easily damage both myself and the land that I managed. I would need to seal it away and drink of it slowly, until I was accommodated to controlling such power.

  My giants began to work, carefully opening up the golden jugs that were designed to draw the deep magic in. The magic was restless and excited—perhaps even knowing in some way that it was finally being freed—and was quick to push itself into the containers. Within the hour, I was the sole possessor of all the deep magic that had been locked away by the gods. I just hoped that I would be able to get a handle on it before it was able to destroy me.

  Chapter 35

  My Jotunn returned from Zedron triumphant. They had successfully taken control of the source of deep magic and thankfully without any serious trouble from the gods. But this would not last, I knew. Once word got out that the vault had been plundered, there would be those who would seek to take this magic away from me.

  And so, we sealed the containers away in my own vault, deep within the Battlefield. Here, my Jotunn would stand vigilant, actively guarding the containers as I began to prepare for my own experimentation with the deep magic.

  I received word from Gariatha and Regar. The dwarven village had already been destroyed by the time they had reached it. According to a wandering trader, there was a sudden collapse beneath the entire village and they all fell to their deaths. The village was fairly isolated, so there would be no rescue attempt for several days. By the time the team of rescue volunteers arrived, the hole had sealed itself back up.

  Time was growing shorter, this much I knew. The Dungeon Below would continue looking for more people to consume until it was strong enough to challenge me. I had to act quickly, albeit carefully. I could not let the urgency of the matter push me into making mistakes with deep magic.

  The first thing I would need to do was absorb the deep magic, just like any other normal type of magic. It would be easier, I believed, to place one of my roots within the jar to sip from it. And so, I did just that. Touching the raw essence of magic was somewhat painful. I could feel the power trying to push its way into me the moment that I brushed against it, as if it wanted to be controlled.

  I consumed only a small portion of the deep magic, in the hopes of learning what it felt like to wield it. As the energy moved into my body, I felt a tremendous agony surge through my entire being. My branches rattled, the ground shook and I almost moved my trunk out of reaction to the pain. The magic certainly liked to move to a host, but the moment it was absorbed, it wanted to get out.

  I tried to resist the pain, to fight back, but it was as if I had a bladed creature burrowed somewhere within me, ripping its way out. Yet, I held on. The magic was brutal, but I did not allow it to slip away from my control. Instead, I tried to concentrate on it, to understand how it worked. However, focusing was too hard with such a physical distraction and I found myself forced to reject the magic, pushing it back into the container.

  This was not going to work. My heart sank at the realization of what type of task lay before me. The great wizards of old had spent their entire lives learning how to tame deep magic, and many times they had failed, being destroyed by the very spells they cast. I thought I would be different since I was immense and powerful, but my pride did not count for much.

  I did not have much time. I needed to gain control of this magic somehow. I shifted my consciousness over to the wizard Fernus’ lair, where he was busy building a spear with a long jewel for the tip. It wasn’t his knowledge that I was after, but rather the books that he possessed. I did not want to allow him to learn that I had captured a source of deep magic, lest he try to grab control of it himself.

  I stretched my consciousness out towards the books in his collection and began to cast a spell of knowledge absorption. This magic would allow for me to rapidly consume the contents of his books, so that I may learn what they had to say on the matter of deep magic.

  But as I began to cast my spell, I could hear Fernus loudly declare. “Oh, so now the thief has come to take more of what is not rightfully his?”

  “Fernus, there is little time for me to deal with you, I must learn from your collection immediately,” I replied, returning to cast the spell.

  Fernus raised a hand and uttered a counterspell, sending a wild burst of orange energy crashing into the wisps of my own magic. He was a skilled wizard, even after having lost most of his power to death.

  “You will not come into my property and take my things without first paying the debt you owe,” the wizard said. His right hand burst into flames and he held it up threateningly. “I will immolate my own collection and myself before I render any more aid to you.”

  The power coursing through his hands was quite strong. I would be able to defend myself from his attack, but those books? I wasn’t sure if I was fast enough.

  “Fernus, as we speak, a terrible being is preparing to arise. An Illuminated shall awaken beneath me and destroy the both of us.”

  “So? I would kill you if it were in my power,” Fernus replied. “And I fear not death!”

  “You are clinging to a foolish grudge,” I said. “Yehan is at stake. You would burn…” I trailed off to realize that this indeed was a man who would burn all of Yehan down just to prove a petty point.

  “I take it you know who I truly am,” Fernus said, chuckling a little as he allowed the fire to spread down his arm. He wasn’t burning up quite yet, but I could see that his robe was beginning to singe. “I want my power back, the one that you owe me.”

  “I owe you nothing. The raw essence that is left behind disperses anyway,” I replied.

  “And these traps I have scattered about are meant to do nothing then?” he said, waving a fiery arm at a few essence traps hanging from the ceiling. They would capture the raw essence if detected, which meant he could save his own power if he was ever slain. I had intercepted it before his traps were able to work.

  I had two options here. I could fight with him and waste valuable time and magic, or I could apologize for something and make it right. If the circumstances were less dire, I would punish him severely for his actions. But that would be for another day.

  “I apologize for what I have done to you. I recognize that you value your property and for me to steal it was unfair,” I said.

  “I don’t give a damn about apologies, give me my power back.”

  A most cruel idea came to mind, one that would solve my problem rather quickly. He wanted his power back? I could give him more power than he had ever dreamed of.

  “Very well,” I replied as one of my roots began to drink of the deep magic once again. The agony was less intense this time around, as if my body was somehow getting used to the sensation, although the deep magic tried to cla
w its way out of me again. “If you want such great power, then I give it back.”

  “Finally,” Fernus said. “Damnable world tree. If it were within my power, I would tear you limb from limb.” He continued grumbling curses and half-threats, but aborted his flame spell.

  I released a chunk of magical essence, letting it fall towards him in a small orb. It was hard to keep the orb still, for it was filled with the restless deep magic that had vexed me greatly. The mad wizard was eager to receive his power back and cast his own spell to consume the orb, not giving a moment’s thought to what lay within. Was Fernus so prideful to think that I would really cooperate so quickly? Or was he so greedy he wouldn’t question what the orb could contain?

  The wizard smiled widely after having absorbed the magic, but only for a moment. He dropped to his knees, gasping and clutching his chest.

  “What…what is this?” he wheezed, trying to stay upright.

  “I said I would give you great power,” I replied.

  Fernus began to cough violently, thrashing about as if something inside of his body were trying to get out. “This is deep magic? How did you find such a large quantity?” He closed his eyes and tried to focus, but the power was too much for him. He collapsed on the floor, writhing in agony.

  “You live as if you need not a friend in the world, Fernus,” I said quietly as I began to read the many books in his library at once, absorbing all of their knowledge. “But such a life will eventually end in regret. I wonder what you regret more though, the fact that you will die holding the greatest magic in your hands, or the fact that your only ally in this world was just using you as bait to lure in adventurers?”

  “I…can…overcome…” Fernus wheezed, struggling to keep his head up. He was gripping his heart, eyes still tightly shut. “I can…control it.” And those were the last words of Fernus the vile wizard who brought great woe to all mortals.