“There’s a reason they paired us together, Lions. I still must find that out for myself, whether it’s through my mind or my heart. But good luck out there.” Sireth smiles and hands me the staff

“Thank you.” I only say that and continue ahead. The trees are the only part outside of a few pieces of debris from the trees where I can step without touching the water.

The academy’s towers were my story; they are a story to the people of Elvyria. I don’t know how they made them, but I can say I have a better idea now. These trees are so tall I can’t see where the tops of their trunks are.

I start climbing through the trees until I can find one; I feel I can elevate myself with it. I can faintly make out the sounds, but it feels like a voice inside communicating with me.

This place feels unreal, and much of this experience is and has been. My mind wants to continue, but something calms me as I continue to climb. If I fall, it could be fatal, but a welcoming silence begins to fill my mind. I feel a part of me so strong, unlike any other I have ever felt.

I lost track of how much I climbed. My body tires, but the muscles in my body act as if they’re moving on their own.

Suddenly, I see an opening in one of the trees up ahead and what looks to be a platform. I make my way there.

Carefully, I begin treading and jumping from tree to tree to get there.

My foot slips as I jump, but something felt like it caught my fall. I continue moving without reacting to it.

With staff in hand, I climb onto the platform. I made it.

I suddenly want to sit down, so I begin meditating. At first, I could only sense this place’s silence and immense energetic presence. After a short while, I felt a being coming out of the tree’s opening next to the platform. My eyes are still closed; I want to open them to see if it’s true. Is the being there, or am I imagining things?

After a short pause, I ask myself, does it really matter? Is this my mind asking, or is it truly me, my true self, asking this question? I take a while but dismiss this curiosity, which turns to doubt. I find myself so focused that I can control my breathing. Then, I feel it again, the being. Words come to me this time; the trees observe.

Lions communicates with the tree during his meditation

“Yes, they watch you, just as they did when you came here long-ago young Lyons.”

“Who are you?’ I ask

“You know me?” I follow up

“I, we do. We are the sentient trees of your great planet, Elvyria. Your teachers have done well leading you back here, but this time, you come as a man who does not remember why they were born or why they followed the path they took. My story shrouds you in this life and the others; faith guides you not, but something greater.” The being said

“Tell us, young Lyons, is this staff the one you seek to convert with your DNA and your body?” The being asks

“I, this is what has led me here, yes. If I was the warlord who caused so much pain and suffering, I must ensure I do not repeat this.” I spoke

“What would that be?” The being asks

“I can’t allow war to happen again. Our planet, Elvyria, barely survived last time. I must do right for my past actions.” I spoke

“Elvyria, a word so few know of its true meaning. Young Lyons, we met you here before; we welcomed you and gave you our knowledge and understanding. We let you become who you were and what you did, allowed it. We did not interfere in what the all creator had envisioned, what you had envisioned for your journey, for your destiny, young Lyons.” The being said

“I, why would you allow me to misuse what you hold, what you know? For what purpose could that serve? What good came from such destruction? Such chaos? Such conflict and war?” I asked angrily

“Young Lyons, you cannot expect to know everything. Even us, in our grandeur in appearance, we do not know everything. Only the all creator does, and that is who we ask of you to seek, follow, and to embody. All too often, beings of sentient life will steer themselves off the path(s) that the all creator has chosen that they have chosen through the very energy and life that lets you live and breathe as you did before, as you do now, and as you will in the future.” The being said

“I, I will listen. I, I want to experience the world as you do.” I spoke

“Hmmm, ah, now you ask us something different. There is the oneness. You are a part of it. This forest is one.” The being said

“Come, ready yourself, for we will show you what we have seen.” The being said

Lions sees his past life on Elvyria thousands of years ago

I concentrate so heavily then let go in a blink of an eye. Time and space feel as if they move through my dimension, not the other way around. I begin to experience.

I see a young version of me, young and eager. Malnourished, he (I) appears to have found the trees through some miracle. They do not show me this, but I feel more of them (trees) existed at one point. I see how they raise and teach this young man the knowledge that they do. I cannot recall much of this experience as it feels as if I’m dreaming.

From a distance, I watch as this young man returns to society. His words reach few, and his spirit, rebirthed through the trees, feels shattered. A growing pain continues each day he spends alive. The trees take note of this. He wished to share the knowledge of these beings and what they taught. Only a few listened, and those who did began twisting and turning these teachings.

When he finds out, his soul, no longer able to tolerate the pain, snaps! A fiery rage boils within him for days. The trees were being used as institutes where their teaching became corrupt. Many of the trees died for the towers to be built. Even some of the most plentiful and prosperous towns and cities partook in this.

This Elvyrian took justice into his own hands. His words, which reached so few, began to travel amongst those who rejected the direction society was headed towards. Together, he and a few others led this great conflict. They fought and destroyed many of these corrupt places.

Though he did not get to see the conclusion of it, in Malroy, his forces were massacred and turned bit by bit. Some came back to life as the undead. His opponents, necromancers, beat him and buried him in the old town of Malroy, but not before he could deliver the finishing blows.

He ensured they would stay with him, and his spirit and soul gladly traveled with him. That spirit and soul is now with them once again.

“Young Lyons, we will never abandon you, no matter your path or course. You were brought to us; you will be brought into the world. Now, you know the truth.”

The being said the tree collective suddenly felt as if it stood up in awe and honor for what I had done.

“It seems my mission is not yet over, is it?” I asked

I hear nothing in response. I have the staff, and a knowing inside me gives me an indication as to what I must do.

Good, evil, it seems. No, it feels I have found my purpose again through the old masters, the giants of Elvyria.

Though I know not what comes next, this newfound feeling of purpose gives me strength like I have never felt before. If the battle is not over, I will do what I must to ensure these sacred teachings do not fall into the hands of those who were not ready.