The White Mage

Chapter 30

"What exactly are treants? I mean I've heard of them, but never seen them."

"Of course you wouldn't Eren, they never leave their forests. And their forests are well guarded by druids and forest creatures."

"Why?" Abby asked.

"Treants start out as normal trees, ones that live to at least five hundred years and get infused with pure magic. Their children, seeds dropped, become the druids. They don't reproduce the way the others can, so their numbers are very low."

By now, a large forest stood before us. The trees towered over us and the thick underbrush seemed impossible to get through. As we looked at the forest, trying to find the best place to enter the underbrush, a familiar twang reached my ears. I knocked White out of the way as an arrow whizzed past my ear. Scrambling to my feet, I blocked the next two that came in quick succession with magic. A woman stepped out from behind a maple tree, a bow in her hands.

"Leave humans, your kind is not welcome in this forest."

"Peace!" I shouted. "We only wish to see the treant. We mean no harm to the forest."

The woman lowered her bow and moved through the underbrush effortlessly. She got close, right in my face. I resisted the urge to take a step back, letting her examine my face. Then she smiled widely, her wild, bright red hair curling around her face.  

"You came! Just like Father said! You finally came, Pure One!"

"What?"

The woman grabbed my hand, dragging me behind her. I looked at my friends desperately and confused. White took my other hand, forcing the woman to stop. She turned on White, scowling.

"This does not concern you, Grey One. We know of your quest, but we have our own concerns at the moment."

"What's wrong?" I questioned.

"The Father Tree is sick, we cannot heal him. He grows weaker everyday, and with him the forest begins to die. Already my sisters begin to die and the creatures are starving. Father predicted your arrival, he said you would be able to heal us."

"If I heal the Father Tree, can we complete our quest?"

The druid nodded.

*****

Making our way through the underbrush was much easier with a druid guiding the way. She lead us the a glade, druids lingering at the edge with solemn faces and thin animals pushed closer to the large tree in the middle. No doubt that this was the Father Tree, the treant we were looking for. There was a face on his large trunk, resembling the wrinkled face of an old man and a beard of green moss. He indeed looked very sick.

"Come forward, Child. Bring him forth." The treant spoke in a deep rumbling voice, but it made you feel right at home.

The druid pulled me forward, towards the treant. He looked down at me and smiled in a true fatherly way.

"We have long awaited your arrival, little one."

"But I don't know how to heal you. I want to, but I don't know how."

"You do, little one. The answer lies within your soul, all you must do is believe in yourself and try. The Maple tree will guide you and your friends. But I understand your wish to speak with me, Grey One."

*****

The maple tree druid guide the others away, leaving me with the Father Tree.

"I understand your quest, and I would gladly help you, but I cannot."

"What? Why not?"

"Watch the Pure One, see how his usage of magic is different from yours."

I watched Eren from afar, watching him struggle. He took a deep breath and tried again. This time, a white light was produced under his palms. The trees grew more vibrant and the druids pressed closer to him. As he got excited, the magic wavered and surged. I turned back to the Father Tree. 

"His magic is unstable, it's tied to his emotions."

"It is tied to his soul, as it should be. You have become disconnected from your magic. You see it as a tool, not as  part of your soul."

"Part of my soul?"

"Do you know the story of the first mages?" I shook my head. "It was a  very long time ago, even before the dragons came to this land, when your kind was  young and new. They were brothers, one with black aether and the other with white aether. They balanced each other, as nature is balanced. Magic was their soul, their true existence. Aether translates to soul or spirit, because that's what it is. You see it as a tool or a weapon, he uses it as an extension of himself. That is why he is called the Pure One, because his magic is pure, it's himself. In order to receive my mark, you must become like a tree."

"What does that mean?"

"That is up to you."

Then the Father Tree became dormant. I sat at his base, watching the glade around me. The two brother stuck in my mind.  But images of Eren and Crow invaded my mind, but it fit. Imagine the aether spectrum as a grey scale spectrum. I would be in the middle, Eren and Crow would be at opposite ends. Similar, but so different. They had the same childhood, but somewhere along the line,  they became so different. Crow felt the need to prove himself better than his father, and hated his brother. Eren loved his sister so much, he suffered through seventeen years of an abusive father. It could have been the other way, for both of them, but it didn't. Why, I asked myself.

Then it hit me, why they became so different and why the Father Tree said they were their magic. Black aether was  better for attacking, white for protecting. Crow felt the need to fight and hurt people when pushed down. Eren felt the need to protect his sister above all. They were literal expressions of their magic, their souls. I understood why the Father Tree wanted me to know this. I had become disconnected, so I needed to root myself back to my magic.

And so I did. I was my magic, and my magic was me. One and the same.

 Kicking off my boots, I watched the marks appear. Two of them, one one each foot. I smiled and looked up at the now vibrant green canopy of the Father Tree's leaves.

"Unicorn, here we come."

~~~~~

A/N- Finally over writer's block (sort of), yay! I'm so sorry to make you wait so long. As an apology, I'm opening up a reader's choice drabbles. The photo above is a list of some, you may add within reason, where you can pick up to four characters for any and all of mine. The drabbles will be approximately 300 words. Send what you want to my inbox, however please note I will only be able to write them when I have time but will try to get to all of them. If you are another writer and would like one of your characters in said drabbles, I would be more than happy to include them if you send information with them in your request. Only (maybe) two chapters and an epilogue to go!