The Warrior's Call

We took from them, without reason, rhyme or care. We butchered their offspring and burnt and poisoned the ground on which they stood. They had stood for millennium, without obstruction. Our interference left them choking for air, and yet we continued to purge their kin. It was only a matter of time before their resilience, their mercy, turned to bitter revenge.

And so, on this, the eve of a brand new summer, I can feel it in the ground beneath my feet, in the air I breathe and the sound of the wind. Things are different. Things...are suddenly feeling darker than ever before.

My very soul had been feeling this strange pull to a nearby forest. I had always loved it there. It was serene, the trees were as old as anything. I always felt calm and collected there. Would go there when things were troubling me. Showed it the respect it deserved and treated it with kindness and always felt at ease...at home.

In summer, the trees were rich and diverse in their tones of green and there was the gentle and evocative scent of organic perfume. The grass that covered the ground was long and soft. Bird song was a delightful soundtrack.

I could not understand the attitude of humans to the natural resources that surrounded them. I had always felt it necessary to assign gratitude and respect to our natural world. I did not consider myself a hippy or tree hugger, but it just made sense to me.

It was calling to me...whispering my name on the breeze. I closed my eyes to check I was not dreaming. Nope. Still not dreaming. Three days now and on the June 19th it was as strong and loud, as pronounced and clear as it ever had been. Memories flooded my mind of long ago, when I was young he and I would dream of leading a revolution against man, against those who had committed atrocities against the planet.

Funny how dreams you had as a child are forgotten in the streams of time, but then something happens and they are brought to the forefront of your mind.

I slipped on my shoes and headed out the door. The path at the end of my street was the entrance to the forest. As I walked into the forest, there was a different atmosphere. One I had never experienced before. In the one place on earth where I always felt safe...I felt uncertainty, and the voices were no longer whispers. They were calling from all around me. The pines, oak, alder and hazel were all chanting. It was the war cry. One of long ago.

“Join us, oh worthy warrior

Join us

Take up arms, our friend

Join us

Take a stand against out enemies

Join us

Join us, as battle lines are drawn.”

I tried to turn round to look for the exit, but branches and limbs of the old trees had blocked the path and I felt myself draw into a clearing, my favourite clearing among the many trees. There, an old Oak and Pine beckoned me towards them.

"Don't be afraid, young warrior." they grumbled, slowly but with a sense of urgency.

"I am not a warrior. Why do you keep calling me that?" I replied with hesitance.

"You have long stood as a friend of the ancients on this sacred ground. We come to you as our one true hope. You are stronger than you think...in spirit and we can make you even more powerful."

"Why, oh mighty trees of old, if you can talk and have got inside my head, can't you act without my help? Why do you need me?"

"Ah, we need the spirit of one that is pure and who is a true friend. Someone who can take on our power and use it for the good of not just our kind, but he whole planet." the Oak said, as an opening, akin to a mouth cracked in its bark and one solitary large branch reached out and pointed a limb directly into my mouth.

"Don't" I tried to say as my voice was quickly muffled by the Oak reaching deep down my throat. I felt a sharp pain across my temples as my heart started to beat rapidly. Convulsing before the trees, as they chanted "our warrior" I couldn’t say or do anything, but a strange calmness came across me as what felt like the trees sap entered my body and as I opened my eyes and peered down at my body, I noticed my hands turning a faint but striking green colour.

The convulsions stopped as I fell to my knees in front of the Oak as it laid its now retracted branch on my shoulder.

"Imbued with my strength and power, you have been chosen as our warrior. Sleep for now, because tomorrow, we take back this world." as I heard the last of the booming Oak's voice and the continued chants of his brethren, I fell into a deep sleep, there in the clearing.

The next thing I was aware of was waking in a dark and desolate place. It did not resemble the stunning natural beauty of the forest - it was a land burnt to the ground, with scorch marks and the remains of stumps in the ground, many of which that had been ripped out of the earth, with their roots exposed like entrails. There was smoke everywhere and then I heard the tanks and shouting. Little to no grass was visible and any that was, had died or would soon be dead before long.

"Warrior...we are sorry to have to share this vision...but you need to understand the cost...the reason for our battles."

I tried to speak, but no words left my mouth. Was I dreaming, I wondered, no...it felt different.

"Your governments and leaders have long hidden the true cost of logging, deforestation and the greedy desire to command and conquer the world around them. This is but a small section of the once green land that is being devastated by your race. You are not dreaming, and this is no vision of the future. This is your reality."

I felt a mixture of sadness and anger towards my own people and the damage they had caused. I know extremely well that many people ignore the impact we have on the environment. But this. This was different. This was full-scale genocide. This was without care, regret or anything pure. This was human greed at its most palpable.

"I am sorry." was all I could utter as I tried to wipe the tears from my eyes.

As quickly as I woke in that strange and desolate land, I found myself back in the beautiful greenery of the dense forest.

I rose to my feet and stood there quietly, bowing with respect before the trees that had gathered a little closer around me. I felt their branches reach out and touch me and felt their warmth and a strong sense of brotherhood.

I didn't know what to say.

"This will not be easy. But we have watched you grow from a youngling into the grown man that stands before us. We know you feel helpless, but you have the spirit of a warrior." the Pine spoke this time, with a brighter, gentler voice than the Oak.

"Can one man really change anything?" I thought. "One man who stands with the planet, is more powerful than 10 who stand against it" the gathered army of trees chanted in response.

"I will not fail you" I proclaimed, as I stretched out my right arm and gently stroked the branches of the trees around me.

That's new, I thought as I retracted my arm back to its normal length.

The trees unblocked the entrance to the forest, and cleared the path for me, bowing their tops in a show of support. As I walked out of the forest, heading for destiny, they chanted “Go forth, brave warrior, our defender and exact our revenge on the world that raped us”

*

With my new found powers from the forest, you would think it would be easy to just travel quickly to London, Paris, Moscow and then Washington. But no. I was strictly warned against drawing too much attention to myself, so I had to tackle things with a measure of subtlety and act under the radar. It made sense. After all, how quickly would our violent world driven by hate for anything or anyone different react to my hybrid status with a sense of terror and look to smite me out?

I would take the train to London. The plane required too many stop checks at customs at either side. Then, I would visit Parliament, with a warning. You see, unlike so many decisions, especially when it comes to the natural world, when there is little to no warning given, I was going to offer them a chance. A chance to stand besides or face the consequences.

The journey from Glasgow to London was a long one. I used the time to reflect on my life until that point, which had been quiet without trouble or danger. But one that was ultimately filled with inaction and despite my efforts to make a different, I was always one to fall into the status quo. I felt pangs of regret over my past dealings with nature and was feeling wholly unsuitable for the chance, until I looked out the window and saw what looked like the trees on all the countryside that passed me by, noting my passing. Many swayed their branches as the train passed them and some even whispered “thank you, oh warrior”.

This gave me courage and confidence.

For a lot of the journey, I gave way to sleep. The events over the last few weeks and especially within the last 24 hours had worn me out quite a bit.

When the train eventually pulled into Kings Cross, I made my way across the hustle-bustle and smog of the city to Westminster and without hesitation, approached the guard at the entrance. Stating my insistence that I be taken to the House of Commons, which was in session that day. While the guard resisted, I stretched my arm out and wrapped my fingers around his neck, they encircled his flesh like the creeping branches of a willow and as his breathing wavered, he whispered “okay, just let me go” while his colleagues hid. The commotion spread from the entrance through to the Commons and by the time I arrived in the hallowed halls of the idiots that run our fair country, they were aware of my presence.

The Speaker of the House demanded to know what I was doing, and did I really think I was going to get away with it. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Don’t mistake my laughter as something to be trifled with…I expect you to listen and to make the right decision or face the consequences.”

There was a lot of murmuring, until I stretched out both my arms and then from my arms grew many branches that reached for the necks and bodies of all in attendance.

“You will listen.” I exclaimed, in a voice that sounded more like the Oak’s than my own.

“For far too long, you have raped and pillaged the natural world. The world that was here before you and will stand long after you have gone. The destruction to the rainforests and areas of dense woodlands and forests will stop, or you will pay. All I ask, is that if you want to fight with me, to take a stand on behalf of our natural neighbours, you will be spared. Or…well, I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

The Prime Minister spoke with a sense of unchecked arrogance and almost pity “It’s not that simple, sir. We rely on the trees, deforestation, logging and other ways we use what the earth provides to survive. We need more time.”

“You have had enough time and I grow impatient of your cries. I can hear them, you see. I can hear the screams of the trees and other members of the natural world as our people continue to rape and pillage. For a country so against genocide, you are merely excusing the avoidable death of millions. I will ask you again – do you stand with the trees or against us?”

I had hoped in my heart that they would see…see that they had no alternative…that standing against us…was futile. But alas. Humans often seem to pay the ultimate price before learning the lesson.

“We cannot sanction some ridiculous alliance with trees that appear to talk and have powers we had no idea existed.” The Prime Minister stood defiant, as I held his throat in my hand and gripped on it more tightly.

“Then…so be it.” I replied, as the branches and limbs that stretched out around the House and grappled at all the pitiful humans, began to one by one choke out the life from the selfish and greedy rulers. I rose above the assembly and as my skin turned an even more vibrant green and as I felt and heard each one plead to no avail, I felt a sense of peace. Pain coursed through me, but an eerie and calm sense of peace came over me.

One by one they fell limp in their chairs and the choking diminished and there was silence.

Temporarily, the sound of the commotion and the panic that had set in around the House and beyond Westminster, through London and the country from North to South began to spread across the world.

My work had only just begun. So, I began travelling, this time in the light of day, unhidden for all to see, and gave the same message to each of the nations on our green and blue world.

While some nations gave their full support of the trees and me, their warrior, many, predictably, saw this as a call to war and reacted as you’d expect.

Over the days that followed, I travelled across the world, as an unstoppable force, Strategically, I dealt with the most hostile of nations first, as those were the ones with nuclear weapons and like a house of cards, the world realised its course of action was wrong. Not before many of the government and rulers were dissolved. Many of my new found family, perished, as fearful humans took it upon themselves to endanger the planet further and to attack the trees in their local area.

They will be remembered, but the battered and bruised corpses of their oppressors who are now at one with the earth they did their best to ruin, would be forgotten. I hoped as I cleansed the earth that those that remained would remember…would finally learn the lesson.

Only time will tell.

*

Thanks for reading!