I want a computer.

Unfortunately, while I may be a supremely Dao empowered Tree, my ability to create electronic marvels such as a computer is non-existent.

Most of the Artifacts I’ve created in the past did simple things, hover, fly, tell time, and so forth. These in and of themselves are not difficult things to do. When you start asking the machine you create to calculate that’s when real problems arise. Telling time through the use of simple mediums is completely different from calculating time.

That’s why I’ve been surfing the Oceans of Eternity lately.

Ah, they aren’t real oceans! That’s just my personal nickname for the sea of Time that I interact with.

Tracing something using the bloodline is easy, it’s like walking across a pond of lava. Simple, cheap, efficient, no muss, no fuss.

However, when you start moving further afield, trying to reach things not directly connected, well that’s difficult.

Even worse, the Ancient Dryad race never used computers in any shape or form.

At all.

There wasn’t apparently any need, since records were easily handled by the elves.

Yeah, see how well that turned out.

The whole reason I want a computer is to help provide me with calculating muscle.

That way I can get the same or better results with half the effort!

To this end, lately I’ve been trying to develop a biological version of the computer.

It’s a work in progress.

Not a lot of progress, yet a lot of work!

Ah, whatever. I’ll spread the work out over a few decades, that way if inspiration strikes me…

Or if we manage to arrive at a planet with more advanced technology that I can acquire…

I can pick this project up again.

With the obliteration of the recent monster army, I’ve stored enough vitality to proceed.

Teleporting outside I float down to the foot of the mountain. Dryad moves out from the forest behind me.

Holding out a branch, we stand together as I start.

First, like all beginnings, comes the focus. All power is a manifestation of will at the deepest level.

Reaching out, I invoke Time’s Shadow and begin.

Reality slowly alters in front of us, space shudders in rippling waves as sound without sound reforms the very fabric of reality.

I grip the entire mountain in my power, and squeeze. It is if an invisible godly hand had reached down from the heavens, and started to compact the mountain like a mound of clay.

I take care not to disrupt the spatial structure that I currently have in place to make the inside bigger than the outside.

With a thought, I spin the mountain on a singular point.

Slowly, like a potter’s wheel of massive proportions I begin the shaping with the use of Time and pressure.

Ridges become smooth lines, smooth lines become curves, and curvatures become oval ellipses.

Hour after hour, day after day, I pour energy from the deep earth below through my roots, and into the ship’s creation.

When the final basic egg shape is formed, the real work begins.

Hundreds of roots of all shapes and sizes begin to carve Runes upon the mountain’s structure.

This is my first major undertaking in regards to Runic Chains. Sam was an experiment on a much smaller scale, mere practice for this.

As the runic chain circles begin to take shape, connections branch from one set of circles to the other creating nodes.

With agonizing slowness I string each chain, creating command keys, while Dryad helps to bolster my mental strength.

I doubt I would be able to finish without her assistance.

After almost three solid months of work, I finish the crowning Rune atop the peak.

Space stills, and time halts, for a brief moment I can almost see the Dao, stretching out above me, reaching towards a point I cannot see yet.

Then, with a mighty click, the Runic Chain circles begin to spin.

I watch careful to see if anything is wrong, there are a few minor faults here and there that I use Time’s Shadow to prevent from cascading outward. After applying patches to the worst parts, I wave my branches in satisfaction.

My first ship.

Complete.

***

“Gone? What do you mean gone?” Lux said staring blankly at the messenger.

The messenger licked his lips nervously while kneeling before saying, “The great general, the Living Armor, sent twenty percent of the Host towards the mountain in accordance with your instructions, my King.”

“And then they vanished?” Lux said, his eyebrows rising. Even those below the throne could be seen with expressions of disbelief.

“Y-Yes, my King!” the messenger stated, “It’s hard to believe, but I have proof!”

Lux watched as the drow reached into a pouch at his side removing a pale clear crystal of perfect structure. Suddenly, he felt a great chill, as if he was once again on the snow trapped mountains of his homeland.

It was death to report falsely.

And the crystal in the messenger’s hands couldn’t be forged, unless there was someone on this planet with enough power to wipe them all out like insects. The memory crystals were given to his most trusted general only for emergencies.

They were only to be used if the general deemed the possibility of returning to tell him in person was miniscule.

As a personal gift from his father, using them, without a very valid reason was suicide.

Lux pulled the crystal from the messenger’s hands with a thought.

Silence descended on the throne room, as everyone realized the magnitude of the issue at hand.

Lux trusted few people, of those he did trust, the Living Armor was one of a handful currently on this planet.

Accessing the memory crystal, Lux saw the message displayed before his eyes.

Master…retreat.

I cannot hold them for much longer.

Scenes flashed before his eyes, like a stream of visions compacted to only the most crucial points.

A portion of the host, moving as he’d ordered, to destroy the woods and cut their way into the human’s final retreat.

At the edge where grasslands met forest, a single figure stepped out from the woods.

Silver skin.

Emerald green eyes.

Hair the color of spun gold.

Yet, even though she was a vision of beauty, what drew Lux’s eyes were the blood-inked tattoos that glowed with diabolical light. Written upon her flesh were images and words that even his mind could barely understand a portion of.

What he was able to see, was how the creature cut through his men like a reaper harvesting wheat. For every score that was cut down, the woman became faster, stronger, sharper. By the time the last division of his army was broken and attempting to flee, Lux could see the creature as a mere flickering blur. Only the gory path between targets left any trace of her passage.

Lux took a deep breath before moving to the next scenes.

A mountain stood tall, like a sword thrusting towards the heavens.

Suddenly, a soundless shaking started. Rocks fell, dust arose, and without warning the mountain started to press inwards.

Lux saw with horror as the entire structure started to spin, impossibly fast, like a child’s top in reverse.

Within moments, the mountain was compressed and shaped, like clay upon a potter’s wheel. The final form was a disturbing shape, hinting of something sinister.

An egg.

Before he could even question the absurdity, thousands of thin whiplike tendrils extended from the ground at the mountains foot, before they began to carve upon the stone egg's exterior.

Runes. The invisible creature that couldn’t be seen was carving Runes!

Lux shuddered.

Runes of a shape and form he’d never seen before, their meaning completely unknown blanketed the mountain.

What happened next caused him to drop the crystal in shock.

The entire group of runes began to spin.

Lux stood abruptly without warning, “Excellent work. Tell the general that I have the greatest faith in him. I look forward to seeing him again at his earliest convenience.”

The messenger bowed deeply before departing.

Lux crushed the crystal into powder with a single foot before smiling brightly at the gathered upper echelons of his empire, “Prepare a feast for our valiant heroes upon their return!”

With a flash, Lux grabbed Atriel and teleported directly to his inner chambers.

“Lux what the hell?” Atriel said, as soon as they arrived.

“We have to leave, now!” Lux said, reaching forward and pulling the entire room into his spatial pouch. He had to hurry, demon god’s tits, who knew what the hell that thing was! He had to inform his father, screw staying quiet, the Legions needed to be sent in!

“What’s wrong?” Atrieal said, her tone gradually turning fearful. “What about the rest of the empire? Your plans?”

“Nothing is more important than staying alive.” Lux said, pausing. “A thousand years of planning, and I am willing to toss them down the drain and share the credit as long as I am able to survive. If he’s lucky, Lim will understand the message I sent back to him.”

Lux reached out to a particular corner of his room activating the carefully hidden portal, “I will hold the portal until the last possible second for those I trust, but I will do so on the other side. If what Lim sent through the crystal is true and not some illusion beyond comprehension, this planet is in deep la shi and I won’t be here for what happens next!”

Grabbing her hands, Lux pulled her through the swirling portal without a second’s hesitation.