God’s Tree

The cavern quieted.

The green light of the bark fragment had faded into Argolaith's chest, merging with the pulse of the seed he carried. The chamber, once humming with residual magic, now felt hollow—like something had drawn in a deep breath and was holding it.

Argolaith stood still, waiting.

Malakar observed him silently, while Kaelred leaned against a broken statue, still catching his breath.

Then the air shifted.

The ground beneath Argolaith's boots pulsed once—and the cavern vanished.

Stone became mist.

Dust became silence.

Argolaith found himself alone in a room that had no walls, no floor, no sky. Only pale light and an endless stretch of marble beneath his feet.

He reached for his sword—

Gone.

The seed?

Still pulsing faintly in his chest.

And then—

A voice.

But not from around him.

From within.

"To reach the tree, you must think as it does. Grow as it grows. Adapt."

A shimmer of green light sparked in front of him, and from it emerged a floating slab of stone carved with dozens of glyphs—each twisting and rotating as if they were alive.

Another appeared.

Then a third.

They hovered in a triangle around him, each humming with energy. In the center, a pedestal rose from the ground, topped with a small orb of pulsing light.

Argolaith stepped forward.

The orb spoke without sound:

"Three problems. Three solutions. No blades. No spells. Only your mind."

The first stone glowed brighter. Glyphs rearranged themselves until they formed a map—a tangled maze of twisting lines, intersections, and dead ends.

At the center: a glowing circle.

At the edge: a small mark that matched the seed's shape.

A voice echoed:

"You are a root. You must reach the water. But each wrong turn feeds the Hollowed."

Argolaith crouched beside the glyphs, studying the layout.

At first glance, it was a simple maze.

But then he noticed the shifting veins—the longer he looked, the more the maze changed. Paths reformed, rotated. Some vanished entirely.

He narrowed his eyes.

"The solution changes as I watch…"

He turned his back to it.

Immediately, the orb pulsed softly. The glyphs froze.

Argolaith nodded. "Growth is not always conscious. It must feel."

He reached blindly, drawing the path from memory rather than sight.

And when his finger reached the center—

The orb turned green.

The first stone faded into mist.

The second stone floated forward.

This time, five glowing objects appeared in a circle around Argolaith—each an illusion.

•A seed.

•A sword.

•A crown.

•A locked box.

•A flame.

The voice spoke again:

"You may choose only one. The others will be lost forever."

Argolaith frowned. "There's no question."

"That is the question."

He stepped toward the sword. "Power."

The orb pulsed red.

He turned to the crown. "Authority."

Red again.

He paused at the flame, then the locked box—both tempting. But not right.

Finally, he looked at the seed.

He touched it.

The orb turned green.

"The seed grows. The rest consumes."

The second stone vanished.

The final stone pulsed.

From the light, a shape emerged—

Argolaith.

A perfect mirror.

Same clothes. Same seed. Same eyes.

The reflection spoke in his voice:

"We are not the same."

The orb glowed dimmer, flickering uncertainly.

Argolaith stepped forward, circling the doppelganger.

"What are you?" he asked.

"What you could have been," it replied.

"Stronger. Faster. Smarter. You are not ready."

Argolaith considered the words.

He didn't deny them.

Didn't argue.

Instead, he nodded.

"You're right."

The reflection tilted its head. "You accept this?"

"I'm not ready. That's why I keep moving forward."

The orb flared green.

The mirror self smiled faintly—then dissolved into light.

The marble faded.

The chamber returned.

Malakar and Kaelred looked up as Argolaith blinked, returning to the world like someone surfacing from deep water.

Kaelred raised an eyebrow. "You good?"

Argolaith nodded. "The tree sent its first real trial."

Malakar studied him. "And you passed."

Argolaith looked toward the tunnel ahead. "It's not done. But it sees me now."

He reached into his cloak, feeling the seed. It pulsed strong and steady.

And ahead—

the second tree waited.

The ground was quiet beneath their feet—still warm with the echo of Argolaith's completed trial.

The light from the tree fragment had faded, but the pulse of the seed in his chest was stronger than ever.

The air within the cavern shifted.

A soft breeze drifted through the ruins, brushing against their skin and cloaks.

Kaelred looked up sharply. "Wait. That's wind. Real wind."

Malakar turned his head, skeletal features thoughtful. "There's a passage nearby. The tree is allowing us forward."

Argolaith was already moving. "Then we take it."

Following the flow of the wind, they passed beyond the fallen statues and dim glyphs of the trial chamber, stepping into a tight, natural corridor between walls of vine-wrapped stone. The deeper they moved, the more the air cleared—

the green glow fading into pale natural light.

Soon, they emerged into a ravine cut deep into the mountainside. Far above, the storm barrier still raged—but the light filtering through it was weaker now, no longer blinding arcs of green fire.

Kaelred let out a long breath. "That's the first time I've seen the sky and not wanted to scream in two days."

Malakar stood silently.

His shadow… shifted.

Without a word, Malakar raised one hand. His violet flames curled into the shape of a claw, and his shadow darkened—rippling unnaturally along the ground.

From that shifting void, Thae'Zirak emerged.

First a horn, then a clawed foot, then wings folded tight around a massive frame. He stepped out of the shadow like mist peeling away from dawn.

Kaelred staggered back. "You put that in your shadow?!"

Malakar's tone was calm. "It was either that or let him fly into a magical storm and be shredded."

Thae'Zirak stretched his wings slowly, their full span casting shadows over the ravine. "The space was cramped," he growled, "but preferable to destruction."

Argolaith approached him. "The path ahead is clear again."

The dragon hybrid lowered his massive body. "Then we fly once more."

They climbed onto Thae'Zirak's back in practiced motion now.

Argolaith near the front, Kaelred behind, Malakar standing tall near the base of the neck, as steady as a statue.

With a single beat of his wings, Thae'Zirak launched into the air, the stone ravine falling away beneath them as the skies expanded outward.

The magical storm overhead had thinned where they now flew, forming a corridor of dim light and quiet wind.

Kaelred glanced up. "Think the tree's letting us through on purpose?"

Argolaith nodded. "It gave the trial. Now it gives the path."

Thae'Zirak rumbled. "And the test is not over. It only changes shape."

As they flew southward once more, the land began to change.

The terrain beneath them had once been dead stone and withered dust. But now—green had returned.

Patches of wild grass spread like veins across the broken land. Trees began to cluster in small groves, their leaves shimmering faintly with magic. Pools of glowing water rested in sunken valleys, untouched by decay.

And farther still—on the horizon—

A towering silhouette reached into the clouds.

Massive.

Twisted in form.

Alive.

Kaelred saw it and narrowed his eyes. "Is that—?"

Argolaith nodded, the golden in his gaze burning brighter. "That's the second tree."

Still distant.

Still surrounded by mystery.

But no longer hidden.