Edited by: Flubbykin, tommyjl7

The preparation for the ritual meant no, more no less than simply clearing your head, mind, and soul by meditation. As far as I could tell, the blessing of Aira would come from moons to the altar and Arch’Hierophant, which by merging with holy oak, will become a part of it, then the blessing would be redirected into three hierophants, which should be supported by two magicians sitting behind them. Then the power would spill like a flood over the mountain, and then the rest of the world.

Of course, the closer to the center you were, the more the power would affect you, even if the power of the blessing would eventually die with time, the tiny bit of it would remain in you forever. Not speaking about the density of mana in the air. I am sure that many witches that come here wish to use the excessive power that will be generated for all kinds of enchanting… I could use it too, it has been a while since I made my last hex bag.

I was trying my best to relax, to let my mind wander but… they were staring at me. Though my eyes were shut I could clearly feel their gazes all over me.

- “Zari-el, child, mind approaching this old man for a moment?” sage weirdly pronounced my name.

I got up from my seat and walked toward oak tree. I wonder if he wanted to rebuke me for trying to appraise him.

- “We have many things to discuss, oh fret not, we will not force you to do anything, nor impose any form of ideology, we merely wish to know what you are going to do.”

- “To do with… what?”

- “Your, let’s call them, predecessors, tended to be… their methods…” the elder was struggling to find a right phrase. Apparently, it was a very sensitive matter, even for him.

- “You don’t have to be overly polite with me, ancient one, just ask away.”

- “Because of their philosophy, a way of living and methods, they had many enemies. And every single time a ritual was meant to be performed, they used their share of power to… eliminate them.”

- “Sounds bit extreme…”

- “Oh, the plague spreaders, despite their… cruelty, we owe them a lot. Their diseases allowed us to maintain the balance of the environment. I can even risk making a statement, that without them, the world could have collapsed.”

- “It is a duty of gardeners to pluck the weeds, otherwise, roses couldn’t grow.” I said without looking him in the eyes

- “Though I am sure that weeds do not share this perspective.”

- “No matter how many times gardener would do his deed, the weeds are still there, but if they would be allowed to overgrow, the roses would meet their end. Gardener does not do it, because he hates weeds, but because he loves roses and wishes to see them bloom.”

- “I am relieved to hear such a romantic and poetic answer, one of the Black Druids I knew also responded to this question of mine…”

He made a suggestive pause.

- “What did he answer?” I really was curious

- “Word for word: shit belongs in the drain, the hell do you even care about trashes?”

That caught me off guard. Up until now, I considered black druids to be a mysterious, respectful cast. Elder popped my bubble and made me laugh hysterically.

- “Now, now, I know that they could be bit eccentric but… Creating life is something that every druid can do, we can make a seed and force it to grow, but creating a life, or sup-life, which only purpose is to kill its target and vanish is… against nature. And because of that, almost impossible. Group of three Harvesters needed three nights after the day of ritual collecting and stabilizing power in order to summon a plague. This is why everyone here wishes to know if…”

- “… I am going to decimate some population? As tempting as it is, I am doubting my skills. The power that would be bestowed upon me would be way too overwhelming and I most likely won’t be able to control it. The last thing I want is releasing the plague that would make my friends suffer…”

- “Very noble of you. It’s good to know that powers of this sacred night will not be used to end someone’s life…”

- “… also, that’s very unpractical, it’s not about creating a plague, that’s as easy as breathing, the problem is maintaining it, the structure of the spell is fragile and requires maintaining and that’s a very draining process, still I found a way to avoid it, but by using a totem and forming pact with vengeful spirit of the forest I managed to…”

Crap, as I lost myself in describing a theory I said too much, maybe he didn’t notice…

- “You ? So you have already performed a harvest?” his expression saddened a little.

I didn’t answer. There was nothing to justify killing those villagers. I infected dozens to save myself and people that were following me, to keep inquisitors occupied. I sacrificed someone’s life for my own gain. And I do not regret it.

- “I bet you had your reasons. You alone have to decide when your powers are supposed to be used, the true knowledge comes not from knowing how to use your skills, but IF you should do this. I would love to ask you to use those only if necessary, but I can’t imagine you to be some madman singing over corpses of his enemies.”

I raised my brow only to test him, what he said… was that observation with a rebuke, or merely he just used a comparison which just happened to mention the event that occurred. Better not to respond at all.

- “Elder, may I ask you question?”

- “You just did!”

Oh come on! It is my trick to use!

- “I meant the question that may be a bit problematic to answer, mostly because of your personal connection to the subject of my question.”

- “Oh, what a polite young man, I see, fine, ask right away, if this old man would be able to help you, I will gladly do.”

- “I wish to understand my responsibilities as a priest of Aira, all I know is that I should spread the faith and help those in need… if I would feel like doing so. Yet, I can easily tell that those are merely general duties, each school has yet the task based on their specialization. What are mine? I don’t know how to perform a ritual, I have no idea how…”

- “You do, my child. Do you think I studied or practiced for this night? No. It just… happens. What needs to be done will simply appear in your mind, we are guided by the Mother. Druids, are only vessels of her will, she will guide you. Or in other words, trust your instinct.”

- “That sounds a bit too…”

- “… ordinary?” sage finished with a smile “… you will understand everything after this night. As for your individual duties… I may only show you a path, or paths, but it is up to you to decide if you want to follow them. If you mind this old fart may share with you stories of his youth, but before then, actual history lesson. The druidism itself comes from the days before magic. Back then worshipers gathered in sacred groves to…”

The elder started extremely entertaining and educational story, by expressions of rest of the group, no matter how hard they tried to hide it, I could tell that it was boring them, as if it was some kind of story that this one relative repeats over and over again during every family gathering.

But I enjoyed it. It was a wonderful source of information that I couldn’t find in any book. It didn’t surprise me. Church of Sun wrote down and recorded every word dictated by goddess and angels in their Evangelions and Gospels. Followers of Moons had bits of their knowledge passed over by grimoires – spell books with minds of their own that leeched on their users like parasites, paying back with knowledge and spells… sounds familiar?

And druids never wrote any book, any OFFICIAL book, something like, 101 things you never knew about druidism; druidism for dummies; herbalist hates him, learn how this guy became a hierophant using one simple trick… such things. Only a few letters and sacred scrolls which were records of rituals. That’s it. Every piece of knowledge was either discovered by themselves, or heard out from one another, and no other way.

Greedily devouring words of oak-sage I lost my sense of time. I didn’t even notice when the day turned into dusk, and dusk slowly crept away, giving way to the pleasant, warm night.

It was very bright, thousands of stars enlightened the sky. Two huge moons, as always were tirelessly traveling across it. One of them, the regular-sized moon, the other one, few times bigger, covering a great part of it.

Yet, everything was vibrating, the colors of things around me seemed to be… much more alive, as the whole world was blurring and twisting.

- “What is life, you ought to know!” out of nowhere sage sang

- “The moment of misery upon this world!” rest of hierophants replies. Strange, I never knew this chant before, yet my lips said them as it was most natural thing in the world, like most common greeting.

- “What comes next, you are aware!”

- “Nothing one can be prepared!”

The greater moon’s edges became irregular, as from behind it the third moon started to slowly ascend.

- “May this night be ever-blessed!”

- “May your spirit find its rest!”

- “Three are one and one is three!

- “May the sky hear out our plea!”

- “Three are one and one is three!”

- “May the flow of river flee!”

- “Three are one and one is three!”

- “May the lover’s love break free!”

The moons finally took their positions on the skies, creating a perfect triangle. And then it rained down upon us, the ray of green light, falling down from the sky like a waterfall. The power was directed on the oak.

For a moment sage was sitting with his eyes closed, he was purifying the pure, raw force of life and nature with his own body. The oak tree started growing, it’s almost dead, old branches were affected by the revitalizing power greening themselves once again. Even colorful flowers, not suiting the oak tree, started blooming all over it.

The sage opened his eyes, they were glowing with unhealthy green light, he wasn’t able to purify the power by himself, it started leaking out of him onto the stone table. The force was creeping toward us across the altar, being followed by rapidly growing vines. Finally, it touched my hands resting on the altar.

Saying that the power hit me like a train is like saying nothing. It hit me like a meteor. Like a supernova. It was like every cell, atom and molecule of my body was torn apart, restructured and healed just to be torn apart again. A thousand times every second. This desire to scream. To kick. To bite. To kick. To die and rise again…

That was life itself, something no one could order around.

You are being affected by [Avatar of Lover] Your [Nature Affinity] is being raised [Touch of Lover] Your [Nature]-based spells and abilities are now [600%] more effective [Touch of Lover] Your mana is being regenerated [10000%] faster [Touch of Lover] Your mana is being raised over maximum capability Your current mana: [1294/690]

It’s not good. It’s far from being good, the same power was affecting other hierophants, but they were sharing it with their two “helpers”.

Your current mana: [1962/690]

I already hear you asking: hey! What’s wrong with having more mana?

I will tell you what, do you know what happens when you pour into a balloon more water than it can contain? First it will stretch. Then, there is Ka-Boom.

Your current mana: [2791/690]

And how do you get rid of excessive mana? You cast a spell.

- “Oh the mother, the keeper of groves,

The only being that selflessly loves,

Hear your children, hear us out…”

Ten druids cried one song, the structure of spell was so powerful, that it actually became visible. A huge, greenish orb made of hundreds of symbols appeared in thin air sucking the mana. The spell was thirsty for power, it kept devouring magic refined by our bodies, still it merely slowed down the process of my body generating mana.

Your current mana: [2947/690]

This nightmare was supposed to last for few more hours.

Half hour later

Your current mana: [3134/690]

My whole body felt swollen

An hour later

Your current mana: [3371/690]

My fingertips were tingling

Two hours later

Your current mana: [3711/690]

I started seeing sounds. Yet, if I was not mistaken, my mana level started slowly dropping. As for the spell structure, it became wider, I was pretty much sure it covered whole forest on the top of the Mountain, which meant we were inside of it. We were inside of bloody spell structure, that was not even supposed to exist in this realm.

And then, the time has come to release it. How many mana units had this spell swallowed? I myself was generating gods-only-know-how-much, and I was not alone in this madness? Millions? For sure? Billions? Most likely…. Or even more.

You are casting: [Blessing of Lover] - [World Scale] [Nature]-based spell effects + 7.5% [month] Caster's with [Nature Affinity] [Mp/regen]: + 10% [Month] Vitality + 5 [Month] Endurance + 5 [Month] The soil on whole world has become a little more fertile You were in the epicenter of [Blessing of Lover] cast range Vitality + 99 [12 hours] Endurance + 99 [12 hours] You were in the epicenter of [Blessing of Lover] cast range Max mana capacity + 50 [Permanent effect] Mp/regen + 1% [Permanent effect]

My mind felt like priestess ass after pleasant encounter with a clan of virile minotaurs – devastated and broken, yet somehow oddly fulfilled. And if you think that my metaphor was weirdly sexualized, let me just remind you that I was being affected for a few hours by stray rays of life that came from the bloody sky. And by “life” you know what I mean.

- “My children, my beloved children…”

A gentle voice filled with pride could be heard from the center of stone altar, back there, a lone female was standing. She had to be around sixteen-eighteen years old, her long, silky green hair fell to her waist, her eyes seemed to be bit hazy and her cheeks were flushed red. Yet her voice was steady and full of might.

- “Once again, I wish to thank you for helping me in bestowing my love to the rest of the world. I am also overjoyed seeing the trinity together after all these lonely years…” goddess turned her eyes toward me and smiled brightly.

This heartwarming smile left me defenseless, if I wasn’t sitting I would fall for sure.

- “Everyone, this man is my new champion, raised from earth of forest made of a sacrifice of others, molded by their love, influenced by their wrath. Let it be known, that his words are mine, his actions, approved, his judgment, clear. May this be my gift to him, and you.”

She stepped closer to me, her eyes were looking within my very soul. I knew Aira, but more like a guardian, friend or little sister. I was fooling with her, trying to improve myself and simply enjoying my life. I could easily forget that she was one of three great goddesses, the three administrators of this system.

Right now I did see her glory and divinity. Maybe, it was because of green glow that was still shining over the altar, maybe because of three moons that looked like a diadem over her head, or maybe because every single piece of my body was screaming.

I didn’t even notice when I stood up. She put her hand over my shoulders, raised on her toes and planted a gentle kiss on my forehead before pulling me closer into warm, tight embrace.

- “Welcome home.”

She whispered in my ear.

I didn’t know what she meant by home. Was she speaking about the conclave of druids, which shared my bond to the earth. About the mountain filled with witches, magicians and other weirdos that couldn’t practice their art outside of sacred places or maybe she spoke about this whole world, in which I happened to be reborn.

Back then I only knew one thing. She was right, never before have I felt that I truly belong anywhere. Not like this.

- “Now, close your eyes, open your heart. And see.”

And then, I became a tree.