While recovering from the sheer volume, of the crowd cheering as if they have been waiting years for me to arrive, I heard Anir talk to the two at the doors “You two come along all five of us will talk alone and Catox wipe that sneer off your face unless you want extra defense training this week and no I won’t hold back either.”.

I wasn’t sure what “defense training” entailed but the face Catox made looked fearful even Adar shivered at the statement. It would have been nice to stay and eat some food finally but the aura around my neck dragged me towards the man I could only assume is Lotir, still staring not into my eyes but between them. When we got close to him he stood up from his chair and spoke but the smooth flowing voice sounded as if it were someone dubbing over him like it wasn’t him who was speaking. “So Anir, this is the boy the tree spoke of.” Anir’s voice contrasted greatly with the almost calm ethereal voice being an animalistic earthly sound “That he is Lotir, now let us hurry this up and go to the Hall of Chiefs. Also, I’m still not sure about elves but he has gone a few days without food, so I’ll have our squabbling disciples bring some food for him.”.

Lotir seemed slightly disgruntled but did not object, Even his disciple did as directed, though looking a bit distraught at being called out. I lost the feeling of the aura on my back and barely remember the short walk to the hall as the food was the utmost important thing on my mind. There were slices of green meat I assumed to be goblin, that reminded me of pig’s meat that I had tried only once before. Two of those teal fruits were served with the center taken out. They had a crunch to them and released thick honey-like liquid that made me think of the sweet sense of anticipation when something good is about to occur. Lastly and most thankful for, a wooden cup of water I was worried they might have tried giving me the tree’s ichor. My weariness got a chuckle out of Anir and the disciples.

After eating more than my fill I took a look around the room and saw that it was much smaller than the massive entrance hall and was centered around one table like a war council room. While the other three had bantered, Lotir had just been looking at me the whole time. Sometimes I could swear the purple veins would swell near his eyes. When he saw me staring back he spoke in a mysterious tone “Well I certainly do agree with the tree the boy is special. How should I say he has the ‘Spark of Power’ in him.”.

“I knew you’d notice it too. The last time I saw someone who could use it was thirty years ago when they had last attempted to discover the tree and sent two and a half battalions from Baatai into the forest. If I recall even you nearly couldn’t keep up with that human’s magic. Now when will you come back to normal so we can talk with the kid?” Anir spoke gruffly but formally.

Lotir did not answer but the magma-like veins began to fade and after a minute a wizened old voice croaked out “Sorry my boy sometimes the ancestors wish to have a say and stick around for longer than welcome. Now let me explain, I know you’ve learned a lot of new things today so I’ll make it short. You hold a very special magic currently not controlled by any god, the ancient lightning magic. I’ll talk to you more later. Adar, please assist me. The ancestors took quite a lot this time; they were very intrigued.”.

After Adar and Lotir had left, Anir turned to me “Come on you’ve had enough talk for one day. Tomorrow no one can speak to you until after your first hunt. You will sleep in the hut next to the entrance to the caverns where monsters lie and will need to prove yourself for the clan, not just me this time.”.

He led me through the village which appeared to be an abandoned dwarven settlement but everything was just fine in size for us. People always said that dwarves thought themselves to be the descendants of the long-forgotten fire giants and built as such. When we reached the end of the village there were buildings only halfway finished. I wondered if maybe they had been killed for us to be here or maybe they got too close to the tree. However, I somehow have the feeling that even without these people the tree isn’t defenseless.

The leather hide hut that I would be sleeping in was along the outside wall of the village next to what I presumed to be the entrance to the cavern. I had only heard rumors of dwarven explosive runes but nothing else could come to mind when I saw the hole in the wall. Entering my hut Anir and his disciple left without a sound.

Laying in my bed, which was just a large animal hide sleeping bag on top of a weaved grass flooring over cold solid stone, I thought to myself. To be a mage was something only nobles could achieve but here I am being told I hold forgotten magic. ‘Ha, a noble Wild One’ sounds so foreign maybe I could join the adventurers guild and hunt monsters for money. They always say adventurers are crazy so they might not mind my race. ‘No, I would have to work under humans if I did that. I suppose I just have to accept being part of this crazy clan and get used to that… tree’. As I drifted into sleep I was welcomed into an odd scene as if it wasn’t something I was supposed to see.

A mother covered in emerald green leaves as if made of them, even though no face could be seen amongst the leaves she seemed kind and caring. She was holding onto little balls of light as if they were little chicks, but this home of theirs was not safe. Through the window in the door, something could be seen. Three figures beat at the door staring at the chicks of light as if they were the perfect snack. Two of them seemed to be in somewhat control of themselves not attacking full force or mindlessly, one was golden like the sun and the other red like a bloody bronze with what looked to be a flag. The last one was humanoid like the others but distorted into grotesque proportions its rocky physique corrupted as it attacked the walls like a starving beast. It did not seem to even notice what would be assumed to be blood pouring from everywhere when it smashed up against the wall. When I thought the dream was about to end one chick stared up at me and I swear it saw a blink of purple light but that was it. I felt the eyes of the three begin to break me down when a fourth figure of white light, like the clouds, pulled me away from the window and the dream came to a close.

Sleep did not come as a kind embrace that night, it felt like it would be a while until it would even be close to that again.

The sound of thunderous drumming woke me up from my slumber. Before getting out of the sleeping sack torch light began to pour in as a line of warriors stood at the entrance to the hut. They motioned with their hands, most of them with large claws, to come out. I stood up but my left arm felt stiff so I reached for it and felt… fur. It must have been part of the “adaptation” though there wasn’t much of it. It must have sealed up my wound as it was gone. All that was left was coagulated blood stuck in the fur of my shoulder.

Outside of the drums, silence followed my steps as I walked between the line of warriors toward the cavern. I felt a cold breath of wind leak out of the opening, numbing my scalp. I couldn’t shake the feeling of something stalking and waiting for me. They didn’t say anything, merely looked at me with anticipation. Lotir handed me a simple unadorned dark silver ring. When I put the ring on my left-hand ring finger I felt some connection with it. As expected Anir gave unto me a chipped iron dagger. It felt like any other dagger but who knows with these people. With the ring on my left hand and the dagger in my right, I walked into the cave. After ten or so steps, the temperature had dropped and I heard the grinding of stone behind me. When I turned and looked I saw a boulder being shoved to block the hole and an old man’s voice shouted “One week you must last boy.”. I assumed it was Lotir but one last disconcerting detail hadn’t escaped my sight through the last crack of the hole.

Everyone was smiling presumably in anticipation since I was “chosen by the tree” but one person didn’t look the same as the rest.

It was that smile, the amount of arrogance that it held in it, just like a human. It looked down on me.