Book 4 Chapter 28

Within the basin, under the eyes of the surrounding spectators, the light came together… Its shape becoming more and more defined. Before long the golden light started to dim, revealing what looked like a glass globe or bubble.

As the others looked at the sight in wonder and confusion, Tirr’s eyes widened in excitement. He fought the urge to run down and inspect the newly arrived aspect and tried to observe what he could from the rim of the lakebed.

Within the see-through sphere that had been formed was a miniature tree… Its roots tangled and overlapped so tightly it gave the appearance of being the ground itself, in which it looked like other trees, grasses and flowers grew. At the same time, its branches reached towards the glassy top, pressing against it as if straining to break free, while its leaves glowed softly with the same golden light that they had been formed from.

“The World Tree?” Tirr muttered, a memory bubbling up from within him. Yet the words only left him confused. He shook it off, interested to see how Maria’s new aspect would help her fight. It was a shame that the opponent was so weak, but he could help her test it fully later…

While Tirr was thinking to himself, Maria was just opening her eyes. Though she had been sure that it was possible, summoning an aspect for the first time still required a large amount of concentration and focus, with a need for a clear picture in mind, or the whole thing could collapse into nothing but wasted effort.

Seeing the small floating tree next to her, just about the size of her own head, she let out a relieved sigh. It would have been embarrassing if she had failed after acting so confident in front of Tirr, she would have never heard the end of it.

Thankfully, it was stable and floated almost happily towards her, or as happily as a tree could float… Maria lifted her hands, catching it gently as she pulled it in front of her and looked carefully down into the globe. Within the globe were not only the flowers and grass that Tirr thought he’d seen, but entire forests and plains, all resting on the roots of the great tree that rose up within the center of the little world.

She smiled down on it, happy with the result. Tirr had said an Aspect should be a representation of what the blessing meant to her. After thinking about it for so long, she had realized nothing meant “life” more to her than the herbs in her grandmother's garden and the gnarled trees along the path to God's Grove.

After that it had been easy, Tirr would insist on it being cool, so something like an herb or ordinary tree would never do. She tried to think up the greatest tree she could imagine, and the idea had come up almost too easily, as if it had been waiting for her.

A sudden clash of stones against her barriers woke Maria from her thoughts. Looking up, she found Mali, his expression tinged with fear and confusion as he prepared to launch another round of stones at her… Reminding her that she was still in the middle of this competition…

She let out a sigh, she knew Tirr wouldn't be happy if she didn’t at least show off a little. She let go of the little tree, letting it float around her as she started slowly walking towards Mali, wondering what she should do to end it quickly while still pleasing Tirr.

Still somewhat stuck in her head, Maria didn’t even know the crowd around the lakebed was going almost crazy with confusion and fear. First, the strange girl had shocked most of them by holding off Mali’s ambush as easily as a father wrestling with his newborn child. She had even ignored him as she brought out the strange tree that floated next to her, still blocking his attacks without even trying.

It was already enough to have seared her figure into the minds of most of the clans there, however, as she started forward again, with what the audience assumed was a look of bloodlust, there was an even greater surprise…

The bottom of the lakebed was mostly sand, barren of all but a few plants and brush, with the only exceptions being what grew around the little stream that cut through it. Yet there in the sand, sprouting beneath Maria’s feet as she walked, was a verdant green bed. A mix of grasses and flowers, all thrumming with life as they grew and flowered right before their eyes.

Mali, panicked by Maria’s ethereal appearance, tried to back away, tripping over himself as he scrambled back. Before he could try to stand back up, he realized Maria was already in front of him, the grass beneath her feet spreading outwards as if to swallow him.

Mali shrieked, his hands clapping into the ground as he pushed the shard at his back as far as he could. He didn’t hold back even as he felt it eating at his body, and the earth around him burst forward into a giant spear, all thoughts of avoiding killing completely forgotten.

Yet as the earthen spear thrust directly for her chest, Maria’s body twisted, her hair whipping around as her right fist sailed forward to meet the attack head-on. As the spear clashed with Maria’s fist, it shattered instantly. Bits of rock and dirt showered Mali as it collapsed, leaving nothing between him and Maria. He sat frozen in mute shock as she stepped up to him….

Maria looked down at the man before her and frowned. She didn’t think she had done enough to give Tirr something to be happy about, yet the man before her had all but given up apparently. The match would only end once either of the contestants gave up, or the judge, in this case Fari, ruled that one side was unable to continue.

Mali didn’t seem to be in any mood to give up, or really speak… And it looked like Fari wasn’t going to call the fight while Maria hadn’t even landed a blow. Looking at the man frozen beneath her, she thought that she’d at least let Tirr see a bit of what her aspect let her do. She held out a hand channeling her faith towards the ground under Mali.

The actual process wasn’t too far off from when Tirr had her practice area heals, yet the outcome was completely different. As the faith surged into the ground, grass and weeds sprouted at impossible rates.

Before Mali could react, they started to wrap themselves around him, trapping his legs and arms as they pulled him against the ground. Caught in the plant's unexpected clutches, Mali could do little besides scream in terror as they wrapped further around his body encasing him in a cocoon-like net until even his screams were muffled.

Finished Maria looked up towards the rim, where Tirr stood, waiting to see if she had done well enough… What greeted her was complete silence. Now the looks of horror had spread even among Clan Waythe and Tirr’s other followers. Finally, a long slow clapped broke the silence as Tirr beamed down at her. His clap breaking the others from their reverie…