Chapter 17: Judgment

I continued to walk with the Queen and her guards.

After nearly an hour in this city, I knew it was a nice place to live in. I even surprised myself wishing I could stay a little.

I knew it wasn’t possible because I needed to join my family. However, for that, I also needed the Queen's support because leaving this giant forest on my own was totally impossible. I already wasted an entire week this way, so I had no other choice but to depend on her.

For that, I had to fulfill her only requirement.

I needed to meet their ancestor.

“We’re nearly there.”

The Queen slowed down after her sentence, then turn right after a line of trees.

I stopped in my tracks when I saw what she meant.

We were in front of the biggest tree I had ever seen. Far bigger than the giant trees obstructing the entrance of the town.

I didn’t know if I could still call it a tree. It was at least three hundred feet high and more than thirty feet wide. Its branches spread everywhere with green, brown and even some golden leaves.

It was truly a majestic view.

However, what was the most terrific was the place where this tree stood. It was in the middle of a canyon. I could see roots as big as trees going down into this bottomless hole.

It was as if this tree consumed the soil near it.

“This is our sacred ground, where stand the ‘Millennium Ancestor’. ”

It was difficult to talk.

Since I entered this forest, I saw things I never imagined before, but this was really beyond everything else.

After a few seconds, I finally asked the Queen.

“Millennium Ancestor? Could it be that this gigantic tree is the ancestor you were talking about?”

“Yes, it is. This is the first tree of this forest. Do you know how forests are born?”

“How they are born? I don’t know… you plant seeds in the soil… I think.” I awkwardly answered after being a little taken aback by her sudden question.

“Wrong.”

“Then, I don’t know.”

The wind blew in our direction.

The Queen closed her eyes, enjoying the fresh air.

I waited for her answer.

“We will speak about it another time. For now, let’s just say that this forest developed after this tree was born.”

She opened her eyes and walked toward the canyon.

I felt the mana around us change.

It was hard to sense but it was undeniable.

During my training, I spent a large amount of time trying to feel the mana inside me. It wasn't instinctive like other children, so I had no other choice but to train. After several months, I was finally able to sense my mana, but I quickly noticed that I could do the same thing around me to a certain extent.

If I didn't concentrate then it was quite difficult to feel the changes around me, but when we came closer to the gigantic tree, the change was so strong that it was impossible to miss.

After a few seconds, the mana became denser.

It became easy to sense, but it was also oppressing.

The ‘Millennium Ancestor’ was moving.

I heard a huge noise when one of its branches, as large as a tree, came in our direction. The branch stopped in front of our feet becoming a bridge, allowing us to cross the bottomless canyon.

The Queen stepped on the branch with grace and walked forward.

We followed her on this path.

It took us a few minutes to cross it and to reach the giant tree.

The atmosphere was different in this place.

It was as if we entered another world.

The voice of the Queen also seemed distant.

I focused on her voice to escape the pressure I felt from the tree.

“Are you alright, Sillath?”

I sensed the worry hidden in her voice.

I was sweating and my hands were shaking.

Just standing there was difficult.

I gritted my teeth in frustration after seeing that the other elves were fine.

“What the hell is happening?” I screamed in anger.

“The ancestor is judging you. This is what I was talking about when I said that you had to meet our ancestor. It was the same thing for each one of us the first time we came. You won’t have any problem if you’re not an existence in opposition to nature.”

I could sense that the Elf Queen was trying to reassure me, but I wasn't sure if I really understood what she was telling me.

If I wasn't an abomination then, I would be fine?

I felt my heart beating faster after understanding what was happening. Terror began to seize me and made it hard to breathe because each second under this crushing pressure made me realize and understand one thing.

An existence in opposition to nature was exactly what I was and this ancestor could feel it.

I wasn’t supposed to be born in this world.

No matter how much I struggled, I couldn't gather my mana in front of this irresistible force. I continued to try until the pressure became unbearable and began to crush me.

I fell on my knees as a groan of pain escaped my mouth.

After everything I had gone through, I couldn't believe that I would die like this.

My vision was blurring and my consciousness was quickly fading.

I tried to look at the Queen. Her beautiful brown eyes didn’t hide her surprise, confusion, and worry.

I saw her lips moving, but I couldn’t hear her.

Her image was fading as the world around me turned white.

After a few minutes, I was alone in this blank world.

“Is it you?”

I shivered while hearing a profound and hard voice. It was a majestic voice. I couldn’t tell if it was coming from a male or a female, but I knew it was speaking to me.

I turned my head, but couldn’t find the owner of the voice.

“Is it you?”

This time the voice was louder.

My heart skipped a beat as those words pierced me like swords.

I was going to die.

This was what my instincts told me.

I clenched my fists in anger. I didn't want to die like this.

Shaking and lost.

I tried to stand, but my legs weren’t strong enough.

“Is it you?”

The voice crushed me again.

It was brutal as if my organs were about to break.

I didn't want to die without understanding anything.

Not this time.

I gathered my entire strength and finally stood up.

I was shaking and about to fall under my own weight, but I held on and screamed as loud as I could in anger and frustration.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?!”

If I was going to die, I wouldn’t die on my knees.

“Is it you who killed those poor souls?”

The voice was as strong as ever, but the sentence was different.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

I was desperate.

Nothing I heard made any sense.

I stayed alone in this white world for several minutes until the voice spoke again.

“Did you kill those unfortunate souls?”

I answered with my head raised toward the white sky.

"I didn't kill them!!!"

I finally fell on the ground face first.

I couldn't stand anymore.

The world around me was spinning.

In my heart, I knew that the judgment was about to be rendered.