The Crystal Forest

Optimistic Endeavors

Echoes of her father's words reverberated in her questioning mind. It was a conscientious battle of the good and the bad. Weighing her options, Averis decided that since her ideas were never a consideration, she had to take matters into her own hands. She held onto the knee-high sapling with motherly care. Hidden from sight of the masses, it was the last of its kind.

She spent a full day traveling by foot to a haven she knew would be the proper home while going back and forth in her thoughts trying to understand why the world harbored such horrible people. Tyrants, thieves and men who would thoughtlessly destroy the world in their attempts to seize it.

She learned a great deal from her father, including valuable lessons of survival. Ironically, she knew it would be her in the end playing the role of a betrayer. The writing on the wall was clear as the sky is blue. For the sake of conservation of species, she boldly went against her father's proclamations...

Here you will stay forever little one. This living forest will protect you. You will grow stronger than any who came before you. I feel a premonition of greatness strumming through your tiny form. My own heart bleeds for your survival... As twenty summers will come and go, you will reach the age in which the lofabees will visit you. Then, and only then will you become the patriarch of your kind... You must survive this...

She used her bare hands to carefully dig a shallow hole for the sapling's minuscule roots to begin their journey of growing deep underground where the embracing community of Sapient roots would guide it through its tender years. She sat with it for as long as she could, sharing wisdom and memories across its three, healthy leaves, a fourth beginning to sprout at the tip one of its flimsy branches. In her mind, her actions were justified, while on the other side of Drakefall Mountain, a frantic search for her and the sapling carried on. She tenderly kissed the baby tree before leaving.

The consequences awaiting at her home in the city of Gungland were not pleasant at all. She returned to a heated confrontation with her frenetic brothers over her whereabouts during the passing of three moons, more importantly, the whereabouts of the unique tree. The conflict turned physical, causing her to fall down a flight of broken and splintered stairs. Her father's valiant intervention was too late. She left for heaven in his arms that tragic night, taking all knowledge of her acts of heroism with her...

The Sapient Forest

Alone and falling from the sky at great speed, a single drop of water crashes into the dirt. Another soon followed, then another. The trees stood at attention. They knew the great water bearer had returned to grant their thirst for life blood. A torrential downpour ensued and lasted for hours. The overabundance of water collecting on the ground began to create small rivers and waterfalls between the trees, eroding the cracked dirt and sweeping retired leaves to the lowlands with its gravity driven flow.

In the wake of replenishment, the Sapient trees randomly shook their branches to rid their leaves of remaining droplets. The mighty sound it created throughout the forest signaled the end of the rains. Goldenkates came out of their holes, Nirowecks climbed out onto the toadstools, Butterfly faeries poked their heads from beneath the wings of Arrow birds whose feathers were water repellent. The forest life was reemerging.

The sapling left there by Averis twenty years hence, endured constant struggles but survived. Stretching itself taller and broader with each passing season, it’s uniqueness became apparent. Baelrid was the moniker chosen by the community in which to call him. He had become the main focus of chatter amongst his peers.

The living trees, pleasantly peaceful, lush and long-lived, communicated using a complex language through their roots. The underground network of intertwined growth stretched on for miles, connecting each one to the other. When one tree was sad, the others knew. When one was sick, the others sent healing. When danger approached, word traveled instantaneously, warning the others who in turn warned the four legged and winged creatures happily living in the harmonic ecosystem. The Sapients' held themselves responsible for the survival of species within their realm. Their effective wisdom secured survival for many many centuries.

Standing over a hundred feet high, thirty feet wide and approaching four hundred years of age, the eldest and most knowledgeable of the Sapient kind was Klabrin. He knew all. In fact, his reach was so vast, his roots purposely breeched the surface in random areas, creating smaller, satellite versions of himself. His eyes were omniscient.

Introspecting his responsibility over the future, his thoughts had been centered on Baelrid for many months. He could not withhold the knowledge any longer. It was time...

"You seem confused today, young Baelrid. Would you care to share a few words?"

The sound of bark twisting filled the air as the nearby trees contorted their frames in order to peer their wooden eyes toward Baelrid. The community was interested in what he had to say. He could feel each of them through his roots like ears to a door. The sophisticated telegraphing began.

"I cannot place what is wrong with me. I feel fine, only different. Nightmares come even as I lie awake in the blazing star shine. My thoughts are erratic, like something is polluting them but I cannot see or feel it's presence. I have an ominous feeling about the future, but I do not know why."

"You are awakening to your true self. There are many things withheld from you about the recent past. I deemed it necessary to wait until the time was right. That time has come. Everyone has noticed that your leaves have turned white. It's not a sickness, it's not a form of crude mockery from the heavens. This allows you to absorb light at a faster rate. At this moment in your development, you require tremendous amounts of energy. You are the last of your kind. It's a phenomenal blessing that conceals a curse. The lofabees have found you and won't go away until pollination is complete. This will mark the next stage in your evolution. You are not a Sapient, my friend, you are a Wistcher—maker of the Crystal Forests."

Klabrin's words were followed by intense chattering amongst the other trees. Most have heard about Wistchers but never saw or been connected to one, they were thought to be legend. This living legend was now part of the Sapient.

"Settle down, settle down. We mustn't scare the young one. A caring girl brought you here years ago. We allowed her to plant you near me without knowing who you were. As soon as your roots connected with us, I knew. It's no less a miracle than the will of the fallen Sapients. Men will come for you. They've destroyed your kind because you represent a unique threat. The crystals you produce are invaluable specimens. The properties of which have untold applications. Then why order the extinction of your species? One word...fear. The sovereign of Gungland mandated your persecution for the simple fact that they can't allow commoners to possess anything that can interfere with their rule. Although it is known at this very moment that your crystals are in their possession, no one knows the quantity, or the progress made in understanding them. What we do know is they've destroyed every tree that bears them... There are many questions you have. I can feel them. We will do everything in our power to protect you when they come."

"I am a Wistcher? I...am a Wistcher... Does this explain the nightmares? The spirits of the Fallen ones feed me words I don't quite understand! They know more than they reveal. What is my place in all this?"

"You must multiply! You must avoid extinction! In twenty days, the crystals will begin forming. The familiar light they give off is unmistakable. Some will come to admire you, others will steal your fruit, while the worst of them will not sleep until they destroy you. This liminal period must be accelerated! You must learn how to use the crystals for defense."

The Awakening

Days were lengthy and drawn out, yet within several blinks of the eye, the crystals began forming. Starting out as minute pinholes of light, they quickly blossomed on the outer fringes of his branches and randomly sprinkled on his trunk, lighting the forest in a small section like an oversized globe glowing above the canopy. Klabrin shared extensive knowledge about Wistchers with the community. Baelrid rarely commented on such knowledge. There was much more to the story that he had been gathering. His own knowledge was ready to spill over. He telegraphed with a new, enlightened bravado.

"Everyone lend me your attention, things have changed. Over the last two sunrises I have aligned myself with the source of my capacity. I have connected to the fountains of origin. Wishtchers' never defended themselves. We are a passive species. Our Potential has never been fully actualized. We exist to balance the positive and negative effects of static energy. Without our existence electrical forces from the sky will continue to wreak havoc across this world. Once we mature, the need for sustenance becomes irrelevant as the crystals provide life sustaining nutrients. Rain will no longer be an issue... Curious and damnable men have never unlocked my potential. Other than a source of illumination in the absence of light, they fail to uncover crucial qualities. They’ve seen glimpses of potentiality but only the alchemist can ever fathom a chance at unveiling the possibilities. Today I will demonstrate this power. The need for defense is a worry that will soon pass as our collective energy will provide a stronghold... Open your eyes wise Sapients and embrace the lost knowledge of the Crystal Forest."

Although Baelrid's words were concise, the Sapients were not in agreement as to what they meant.

"We struggle to understand your strategy, young Baelrid. Your words strike us as an ambitious yet unrefined pronouncement. I can feel your pulse dwindling. Where must you go at this time?”

A response never transpired. The multitude of illuminated crystals on his branches and embedded in the rough bark of his trunk, slowly faded. Within minutes, all was dark. It remained this way for several, restless hours. He refused to or could not communicate during this enigmatic phase of stasis. Even their own cerebral prowess could not penetrate his mental blockade…they waited in silence.

***

Klabrin was the first to feel Baelrid's presence return. Without warning, the crystals on his trunk began to pulse, growing higher and higher with each flash. He finally spoke, only two words were necessary.

"Let's begin."

An explosion of light ensued as if a star was born in the forest. Reaching with luminous arms toward the dark skies, the light began to slow and move in ways like floating plasma. It began returning, corresponding to the draw of a black hole. The glowing trails of light slowly filtered back into Baelrid through his canopy, creeping down the trunk and into his exposed, wooden roots. The ground began to phosphoresce from the light following the path of every one of them, creating a brachial pattern that moved forth in every direction. The initial burst of energy repeated itself dozens of times. Nearby trees were the first to have contact. They were slowly being fed the essence of the Wistcher. Crystals began to appear on their trunks, then moved outward to their branches. This continued until every Sapient within a two-mile radius was affected. They had become a crossbreed.

The Sapient Forest transitioned into a city of light, full of brilliant, geometrically shaped, white and yellow crystals. Not only did Baelrid multiply, but he also controlled the Sapients at will. Until they learned how to use their embellished gifts, he acted as the conduit.

Brighter days

The Crystal Forest, now settled in light and life, immediately attracted unwanted visitors. An awful fate awaited those who sought to unjustly trespass within its boundaries. Unmitigated judgement, rendered through electrocution came to anyone attempting to remove crystals or disturb the balance of nature inside the glorious sanctuary. Men were baffled by this new breed. One after another, determined and fearless, they fell to their untimely deaths.

Magnificent and powerful gives credence to what the forest had become. Baelrid and Klabrin stood gracefully at the center of all things in their fortified habitat. Their plan to rid the land of human interference had just begun. Migrating their influence was the only logical next step.

War was indeed on the horizon. If man tried once, he’d try again to seek the end to things he doesn't quite understand. The trees felt it was pointless to tolerate or even barter with beings who demonstrated the capability of worldwide destruction. Planetary equilibrium remained the Wistcher's primary focus. It was decreed and unanimously settled upon by the trees that no man shall survive...

Peace is an entitlement that humans have squandered in their selfish quests for hierarchy. If men can't be taught to be civilized, their purpose has already lost the battle of surviving the ages.