The Garden Eternal

~Kaiźer~

“I don’t know about you but I love how, during the clearest of nights when the wings of the ethereal flow peaceful and secure, the stars of the night skies appear at their brightest.”

Unknown King

The Age of Heroes

Kaiźer didn’t wake all day. Only when the sun had set and the moon hung high did he finally rise from his slumber. He called in sick, knowing everything would be fine at the Lover’ Bite in his absence, and after a quick shower, he cleaned up and left his home. He had to give a visit to the forest. Not a cloud stood in the sky, and looking up, he strolled through town, passing the shops and markets that were closed during the snow. Today was the winter solstice; he could sense it through the freshness of the land. It sang with new life. He could feel it in the air and even beneath his feet as he walked. The snow was whiter, and the sky was brighter despite the weather. As he passed out into the countryside, he moved through the hills at a leisurely pace, thoroughly enjoying the peace. Silence surrounded him, and as soon as the city's lights faded over the horizon, he let his mind open. With a flicker of shadow, he jumped.

He appeared in a deserted clearing utterly void of trees, and raising his face, he looked at the sky and stared. He let his body relax, and taking a deep breath, watched as the stars twinkled above him like fairies trapped, unable to do anything but show their beauty to those below.

Kaiźer had just traveled to the one place that would never see a human until the end of days. Nestled in the Ascarian forest center, it was well hidden, and within the Kingdom of Light, it was miles from where he had initially been standing.

He activated his magical sight and began to follow the pulsing of the land. Seen as a liquid trail through the soil, the maña that ran thick after the solstice was visible to him like it was every year.

Passing through the trees, he came upon a circle of stones that stood tall, their weathered faces wrapped with years of green growth. Moss dotted their sides, and it was coupled with red and green vines wrapped around the bases of each uneven pillar. The elves treated this place with care, but they had always believed in letting the land do its thing. What even they didn’t know was what lay below the soil. He ran a hand over the rough stone and listened to the magic as it whispered through the land. It all converged here within what the ancient texts called an Eternal Pool. In the heart of every forest, desert, and tundra throughout the five kingdoms, lay a convergence. No one today remembers their purpose, but he alone had learned much over the last few years.

He had found this one five years ago during the summer solstice, and he’d felt its healing properties firsthand. Each time the land was renewed, all leftover maña gathered here and was flushed away. The pathway was a mystery, the writings around it long lost to Father Time.

Since he had found this place, he had learned much about how Mother Gaia renewed herself. Each solstice, he had come here, and each time he watched the eternal pool churn. Once again, Kaiźer moved to sit in the stone pillars' center and let his spirit merge with the surrounding area. Falling into a deep trance, he left his physical body and walked the astral plane once more. Within the whole surrounding, maña of all types were being pulled towards the ground surrounding each circle's pillar. Letting his body fall into the ground, he let the flow of magic lead his journey. Each year the path was different and took many turns until it reached the cave that sat many miles below the surface.

His astral form sank through the ceiling, and he settled into the traditional lotus position beside the Eternal Pool. Comprised of a pit, the rock curved like the barrel of a gun and ended with a small spire. This then stuck up from the center to thrust into the ceiling above. The magic within was in liquid form and glowed a warm icy blue. Five diamonds were set in the roof of the small man-made cavern. From which came streams of all types of maña, each with its own texture and color. When he had first found this cave, he had questioned the natural set of the uneven jewels against the man-made structure of the cave itself. It was proof that mankind had once known this place. However, any entries that would have led in and out had been closed off ages before.

Laying his hands within his lap, he watched the flow of energies as they sank into the pool to merge with each other. He felt his form pulse as the pit pulled at his unused magic. He watched as it slipped from him in tendrils of reds and yellows. Like all the others, his maña’s texture was dissected and pulled apart until it was pure arcane magic once more, with no shape or purpose.

He gathered his magic, so no more was taken, and helped the pool break down the magics as they were collected. He saw both Divine and Demonic energies alongside the four Elementals, and as he worked, he let his mind roam. Did this pool gather all magic and break them open to their nucleus? Did that mean it went to Gaia? He could try to ask her, but his mortal mind would most likely not understand. Gaia was the oldest immortal and rarely walked the mortal realms, and what if the magic didn’t go to her? Did it go to a domain that had yet to be discovered?

Unweaving the list of mental links that had once been the workings of a mortal man’s mind, he contemplated the idea of someone older than Gaia. One hour had passed since last he’d stood, the last of the magic around him was pulled into the pool. He bowed his head and spoke in the ancient language a prayer of eternal cleansing.

Once he was done, he let his spiritual form dissipate and flow back to his physical body. He merged with his flesh, opening his eyes to the moon as it shone down upon him from high above. He stood and eyeing the circle of stones, he centered his magic. His body had been cleared of all negative energy, and he felt rejuvenated, happy even. Every time it was like waking up from a satisfying nap and knowing everything would be right.

In a headspace of complete satisfaction, Kaiźer turned and passed from the center of the clearing and merged with the forests skeletal embrace, passing under branches hanging heavy with white snow. He jumped back to the outskirts of Nypheriam and headed north. The high woodland was rich in its color, and as the leading resource for the kingdom, it had dwindled in size over the years. Merging with its entrance, he passed through the trees.

Nearing the center of the forest, a sound alerted him of another, and he dropped his gaze from the stars to look around him. He let his magic bloom, invisible within his hands, but as he did so, the scent of peppermint assailed his senses. Shocked, he gazed through the trees to where a beautiful lady stood. Wrapped in the moons glittering sight, her skin stood out as white as the purest marble. Standing stark against her fair skin, the lush red of her full lips and the dark shade of her thick lashes captured him. It was unbelievable. She was precisely the same, all the way down to the way she held herself. He started towards the thick green grass of a clearing that sat between them and soon came to stand beside her. When he did, he mirrored her gaze and looked up into the sky once more. Even though the wind was soft, its path whistling through the trees as its embrace rustled the leavings around him in a calm shimmer of noise, he could hear the sounds of the many creatures as they filtered through the trees.

“Do you come here often, Mr. Kaiźer?”

Watching a small star streak across the sky, he faced Sin’ka. “Please, just Kaiźer and only on the rarest of nights do I come here.”

Dropping her head, she looked at her hands then back at him through her lashes. Like diamonds, her eyes shone, their color striking and mesmerizing, but as he gazed into them, they flooded red. He blinked, but just as quickly, it had vanished.

“What was that?” Backing away from her, he rolled his wrists on instinct, but he already knew that his daggers were not there. He’d given that life up a long time ago.

“What was what?”

“Don’t play coy with me,” he snapped. “I know the red of a vampire’s eyes.”

Turning away, she stared at the ground. “How could you know that? Only a…”—her head snapped up in horror—“you’re a Hunter! You’re here to kill me then?"

How does she know about the Jackals? With a sigh, he looked at the sky. Dark clouds were forming. Thunderheads, by the looks of them, shame, and the night had started out so nicely. “No, I gave that life up a long time ago. You need not fear me”—glancing up again, he felt the air pressure drop—“I think it best if we leave, a storm is coming, and I wouldn’t want to get caught in its anger.”

Nodding her agreement, she turned hesitantly. Pushing away from the tree unconsciously, Kaiźer followed her. However, when they stood in the middle of the glade once more, an uneasy feeling came over him. It sent shivers running down his spine, and he looked up at the sky to watch and listen to the sounds of the coming storm. A crash sounded, and he watched the sky flash with ethereal light.

Lighting struck thrice.

Nothing lasts forever. Winter turns to spring, small things become big. If the world is our mother, then time is our father. Nature makes us into who we are while time teaches us what to make of it. Our mother is kind, but our father is strict. He teaches us discipline, but afterward, we run for our mothers’ embrace in the hopes of finding comfort. With every passing day, the need for Mother Nature grows smaller and smaller, reasons being that we are growing used to the lessons of time.

However, there is still a place only Mother Nature controls. Its name is known to only a few, and sitting outside of time, she has yet to let any mortal man, woman, or child feel its embrace. The Garden Eternal will always be a capricious place.

Birds chirping, branches swaying, leaves crackling. All the familiar sounds that walk hand in hand with nature. Nevertheless, under it all, something extra, something wrong roars for control.

The rattle of carriages, the thunder of construction, and a sprinkle of molded stones overpower what was once a thriving jungle but is now just a small forest, home to a few wild beasts.

Running his hand along the wood grain of the trees he past, Kaiźer waited for an answer, an answer to his rising problem with the world around him. It was changing too quickly for Mother Nature to handle. With his eyes closed, he breathed in the scent of what was left of the forest he’d once known.

Straightening the collar of his coat, he started on his way. Tears fell along his cheeks, and he wiped his face in frustration. This was not the time for sentimentality. His life was going to shit, and finding out his boss was a vampire didn’t help any! If he weren’t just beyond the outskirts of the city, he would have had second thoughts—no, that wasn’t true—he wasn’t a killer. He’d vowed to put his past behind him. The Jackals were no longer his family. He was alone, and he liked it that way. If he killed Sin’ka, he’d only be proving his master right; ~once a Jackal always a Jackal~ his master had used to say—if only to get him back on track with his training.

As he was reaching the center of the glade, he looked up at the rumbling sky. Thinking back to his graduation when he’d become a full Jackal. He remembered how proud he’d felt, how excited, and of how it had stopped him from seeing the true nature of what it meant. As his first assignment, his uncle had taken him up into the mountains where the two of them had tracked a lone sky nymph. Wild in spirit and hard to follow, it had been like an adventure for the eighteen-year-old. However, when they had finally caught her, his uncle had slit her throat before his very eyes. His next words, Kaiźer had never forgotten, “They’re nothing but abominations, an infestation of another realm. Remember this, my boy. Don’t let them live. If you find one, attack first because if you don’t? They will!”

Those words and stuck with him since, but he has never accepted them. The time soon came that he finished his training, and he chose to leave the Jackals Court, never to return. Ever since he had had to deal with his decision and all its consequences, but never once had, he had second thoughts. If he had to do it all over again, he would make the same choice.

He broke from his thoughts as he came to stand in the middle of a glade once more. An uneasy feeling came over him then, and he felt shivers run down his spine as he looked up at the sky to watch and listen to the sounds of the coming storm.

A sudden boom from above caught his attention. Looking up, he listened as the sky gave an angry challenge and listened as the flash of lightning soon clashed against its roar.

Three bolts of lightning bloomed just above him, and as they shot down, time slowed to a crawl. As one, the lightning bolts descended around him. He watched them flow in an erratic pattern as they fell from the sky with a grace outside of time. He was witnessing a sight that he knew none had seen before. Curving around him, the lighting was dancing a slow circle towards him when as suddenly as it had started, it all ended. Shooting into his chest, the sky’s rage enters his heart, sending bolts of burning energy throughout his body until he passed out from the pain.

For what felt like an eternity, he floated weightless, with darkness as his only friend.

With a start, Kaiźer sat up to warm blankets and fluffy pillows. He rubbed his eyes and …wait, pillows? Looking around, he found himself in a room that looked to be carved from the heart of a tree. Lifting the blankets that covered him, he sat up and swung his feet out to sit on the edge of the bed. He was shocked as he looked around the room.

Everything he saw seemed to be carved from one piece of wood. The bed was in the same state. The mattress, however, wasn’t. It seemed to be made of… he didn’t know what it was made of actually. The same could be said for the blankets.

He stood up, walked over to the small closet, and found a set of clothes folded neatly on one of the shelves. He dressed quickly, dawning the baggy pants and high boots before slipping on the shirt. The cloth hung loosely from his muscular frame, and as he put on the leather vest that had been left for him, he frowned. The garments were new, and they smelled fresh. The leather felt cured, but he couldn’t tell if it really was or not. He didn’t recognize the material of his new clothing at all. Looking around once more, he began to question where he was for the first time. He noticed the door then, and with a quick glance out of one of the windows, he took a step forward. He couldn’t see anything but a white expanse outside, but he didn’t see anything threatening, so hell.

Walking towards the door, he opened it to a world only the gods would recognize. His eyes formed perfect dinner plates, when he found himself standing in the middle of the open sky. All around him, clouds flowed freely while on the horizon, a forest out of legend stood tall, its trees reaching high, their bark a variety of colors and textures unknown to him.

Walking forward, unhindered by the concept of falling through, he crossed the expanse of pure white clouds, looking down at the world below. He recognized the land and could see the lights of the five great cities far below. He could even see the lone mountain island that sat out at sea. He wondered how high he was.

He soon reached the forest edge and, stepping onto rich soil; he left the open sky behind. Time flowed with the seconds and years intermingled to cause a feeling of comfort everlasting. He forgot all his questions and simply stood in the forests green embrace, his mind at ease.

Moving forward, he watched as the plants turned with his passing, following his movement even as animals of all shapes and sizes joined him. He trekked towards the center of the forest as elk, mythical birds, and mighty lions guided him through rays of sunlight that bathed the air in mystery.

Looking around him, he watched the very spirits of the trees and streams rush past in a wild dance that made him want to join in. He didn’t know why, but intense joy filled him at the thought.

Entering a glade, he turned in a circle, watching the forest move—as if with a life of its own—in dance. Looking into the center of the glade once more, he noticed a woman he hadn’t before. Clothed in light, her hair shone white while her hands were stained with soil. Around her, bright, colorful flowers rose from the ground, their petals blooming. Turning around, the woman looked into his eyes and smiled. When she spoke, it reverberated through the forest bringing with it new life

“Kaiźer,” she hummed. “It’s been too long.”

Confused, he spoke in a soft voice. “Do I know you?”

The lady smiled. “We met once, and recently, many years back, the fold thinned enough for me to see you and help you once more.”

Body quivering, his mind struggled to figure out when he had met this lady as he watched her move around the glade. She walked with a watery elegance, and her eyes glowed with hidden joy, and from behind her, the grass grew thicker, and the flowers grew brighter in reaction to her passing. Watching her, his eyes followed the slow flow of her dress. Its near translucent material moved along her figure like smoke. He even caught a hint of olive skin through a slit along the side, and trailing his gaze along the inner curvature of her breasts, he stared at the fine lines of her collarbone, following them up to the slim curve of her throat.

Moving along her jaw, his sight drew in full rosy lips, a dainty nose, and big watery eyes; eyes so beautiful and bright he couldn’t decide what color they were. Shifting from silver to emerald to gold, he watched as they were taken by azure, maroon, cobalt, platinum, bronze, and orange, each flashing by in a myriad of colors. They all swam within the depths of her eyes, occasionally rising to become prominent. Framed with thick black lashes, those eyes captured his own. He watched as her lips moved and listened while her voice washed over him; it's sound refreshing, rejuvenating, and cleansing in its passing. “Do you know why you’re here, Kaiźer?”

He said nothing.

The lady smiled. “To understand your visit, you must first understand this gardens meaning”—she turned and spread her arms wide—“to start, this place we now stand-in, is a realm between the worlds you know as the lands of the living and the lands of the dead. Think of it as a fence of sorts.”

That caught his attention. “So, I’m dead?

“Not exactly, you are near death’s doorstep, and our time is limited. In fact, Sin’ka is attempting to save you as we speak”—she gestured to his heart—“as a vampire, you know what she is, but as the reincarnation of your first love, you have yet to know what she will be. I’d advise you to protect her. As a Jackal, you had been led to believe your life’s goal was to wipe out her kind as well as those similar”—the lady motioned to the forest around them—“in your heart, you found that to be wrong. In truth, as a Hunter, your job is to protect the very people you hunt. This place reacts to those who behold it, and for you, it sees a pure man of heart and soul. Heed my words and don’t forget,” Putting a hand over his heart, she stared into his eyes. “Sin’ka is someone who needs you. You are not a Jackal. You’re a hunter, a warrior, and a warrior protects the weak”—she gave him a soft push—“now wake.”

With an ethereal sound, he grew weightless once more, moving parallel to the land and sky. He watched as the stars above morphed. As if captured in a kaleidoscope, they rippled and moved as he sank into the soil. Breaking into icy shards the grass and dirt shattered around him. His clothes unraveled from his figure, and with a flash of light, his sight became white. Fading through grey and black, his very soul screamed as his body burned with energy too strong to contain.

Becoming aware of soft grass tickling his backside, he awoke with a start, letting out a snarl befit a beast. Flashing white, his body drained of the power it struggled to contain. He slumped after a few seconds, falling back onto the grass beneath him. Taking deep breaths, he listened to the strong beat of his heart, feeling his chest heave with its strength, but soon realized; ragged breathing overlaid his own. He opened his eyes in confusion and found the face of an angel hovering above him.

Staring back with eyes of pure platinum, she knelt over him, her clothes seared and shredded, and he felt her place a hand on his chest as if to confirm his existence.

“You’re alive,” she said in awe. Smiling, Kaiźer suddenly watched her eyes flutter as she collapsed. He wrapped his arms around her as she landed on his chest, quickly lifting her up. Glancing at her unconscious form, he took in her fiery hair, delicate shape, and mature features and thought about what the lady in the garden had said. He looked at her then as both, Sin’ka the ShadoWalker and Abika, his love from days past. Nuzzling his chest, she slept as he turned east.