A Theory on Godhood: An Overlord Story

Chapter 16: Call of the Wild

The Northern Forest of Tob, three days before the Zuranon Disaster

Branches whipped around him, slicing his skin and beating at the exposed parts. Thorns tore into the soles of his boots, tearing them off of his feet as he ran. His pants, recently stitched and hemmed, were reopened and damaged by the brush in his path.

"Tulipa! Tulipa, where are you?"

His voice reverberated through the bark of the compact trees, muffling in the dense foliage. Even the moonlight was sparse, beams of celestial light shining in scattered patches along the forest floor. That which was not lit was buried into the darkness of the ancient sentinels which dotted his vision.

"Tulipa!" he screamed, his vocal cords straining and his lungs feeling as if they were being crushed beneath a boulder. Sweat coated his brow, and his limbs shook from physical exhaustion. He forced his hearing to absorb every insignificant sound there was.

"Svend!" another voice replied from further in the tree line, a woman's. "I'm over here!"

Svend let loose an audible sigh of relief, the shadows which lapped at his heels seemingly receding and giving him a clear path forward. He still sprinted to where he heard the voice, his heart pounding and his blood roaring in his ears.

His bare feet tore into the earth, his adrenaline negating the pain of the thorns digging into his heels. He snapped any and all branches that barred his way.

"Tulipa," he shouted, breaking past a particularly thick wall of twigs and dead branches into a large, circular clearing. Here the full moon could shine unrestricted, the canopy of trees cut away by the caress of time.

Svend whipped his head around, searching for the source of the voice, desperately looking for the one he needed most.

A petite mass slammed into him with a cry, knocking the wind out of him and taking him to the ground. His laughter was pure and exhilarated when he realized who it was.

Her skin was as rough as tree-bark, and of the same color too. Her shoulder-length hair was a tumble of pine needles that poked at his neck and cheeks. She wore a simple, earthy tunic that went past the middle of her thighs.

Hers was the build of a runner, thin but strong in all the ways needed to provide long-distance sprinting. But in Svend's experience, he knew that she could not run very far from her home. At least not without outside means

"Tulipa!" He started, running his hands up and down her wooden body, "Are you alright? Did you get hurt on your way here? I got your message but I wasn't sure what you were trying to-"

She placed a finger against his lips with a giggle, "Svend, you silly man! Why are you so out of breath? I knew you were excited to see me but I never thought you would have gotten here so quickly. Why do you look like you were just hounded by a pack of wolves?"

The young man's brow furrowed. "What? I got here so quick because you called me for help! I heard your voice while I was out marking trees to be cut down, but I couldn't see you...You told me to come here..."

The woman tilted her head, leaves and needles rolled off of her shoulders and fell into the lush grass. "But...you told me to come and see you too. You told me that you got some time off and to meet you here in our usual spot."

"Tulipa, that doesn't make any sense. You know dad has been working me like a pack mule. I think time off would have been the absolute last thing on his mind right now. As soon as I heard you I came running. I didn't feel like there was time to wait for anybody else to come help."

She looked off to the side, her face deep in thought as she observed her surroundings. Yet, it was Svend himself who noticed the change before his beloved could.