The death of Razdan had an incredible effect on the necromancers. Some panicked, drawing the undead to defend themselves and fighting with the others over control over them; others just cut their losses and ran, elbowing their way through the crowd of dead flesh and sprinting into the plains. One actually turned his minions against the others, screaming in a way that was both vengeful and desperate.

The horned rabbits were quick to make use of the disarray, pushing their way through the mass of the undead. The zombies fell by the dozens to their horns, stabbed and trampled, with the few necromancers still resisting unable to muster enough of a united defense to stop them.

As I watched, leaning on my club not to fall, a silvery voice filled the air. The song raised above the sounds of combat; it soared into the sky, pure and clear. It washed over me like a gentle touch of water, soothing some of the bone-deep tiredness I felt. The rabbits felt it too: they attacked more vigorously, skewering an undead after the other. Even the patriarch seemed to react it to it, turning his large ears to listen.

That, and a couple of necromancers ending in the dirt with new holes, was the last straw.

The remaining wizards threw their minions forward and made a run for it. A few were caught by the animals, but the majority managed to districate themselves from the mess and run away. I watched their dark shapes disappear into the plain. I had been mistaken. Between those fallen and the ones I now saw scurrying away, there had to be at least twenty or thirty of the fuckers.

Without their masters, the undead quickly lost any will of resistance. The rabbits offered no quarter, stabbing and stomping on every zombie they could get. Not one managed to stagger away.

In the end, as the sounds of combat finally ceased, silence fell over the battlefield. Hundreds of bodies littered the ground, the carpet of mangled flesh reaching from the plain up to the forest‘s border. For each dozen of undead, I saw the broken body of a rabbit, the animal and the monsters locked in combat even after death. A dead necromancer still held the horn that pierced his chest, his assailant barely visible under a mound of dead flesh. A zombie and a rabbit had died together, so tightly bound that they looked more like lovers than mortal enemies. A human prisoner clutched a broken skull in dead hands, two spears protruding from his back. And it kept going, every meter of bloody ground bearing the last image of desperation, bravery and cowardice.

I should have felt sad, I suppose. Instead, as I looked over that scene, I only felt tired, more tired than I had ever felt before.

Arielle found me sitting in the dirt. The nymph was covered with dust from head to toe, the brilliant green of her hair faded to a brownish tint.

I had heard her calls, but couldn’t muster an answer. I was too tired.

As she saw me, she stopped, blinking owlishly first to me, then to the patriarch. When she noticed Razdan’s remains, her eyes almost jumped out of their sockets.

“Treant!” She called, dashing to me. “Are you okay?”

“I waved a hand at her, the simple gesture feeling like lifting a boulder. “Can it, will you? I am fine”. I wanted to prove the point further, but my body refused to cooperate.

Relief flashed across her features before her gaze fell over the patriarch. Her expression set into a determined frown and she ignored me for the rabbit.

I was kinda offended, until, later, she told me that he had been infected by Razdan’s blood. That was why he had been keeping his paw over the remains: to avoid anybody else to come closer. Thankfully, she caught it quickly enough, laying her healing magic over the animal.

“Is he going to be okay?” I asked, glancing at the patriarch’s retreating form. I was infinitely grateful at that big thing, but he could do with some friendliness. He had just paused enough to nod solemnly at Arielle before stomping away.

The nymph kneeled beside me, carefully eyeing my wounds. “Yes,” she said. “He’ll be very sick for some time, but his body will withstand the blood. Only a little entered his wounds, thankfully…” She looked everything but happy. There were shadows gathering under her eyes. I kinda wanted to reassure her, but I was too tired to try.

Eventually, she decided that I was fine too. “Thank the Gods”, she huffed, relieved. Her fingers lingered a moment more over my frame before her expression hardened. Turning, she faced Razdan’s remains. Let me tell you, her look at that moment was no joke.

Suddenly, she spread her arms wide and started to sing. I recognized the song I heard earlier, but it was different now. The purity was still there, but there was no softness now. It conjured images of torrential rains and overflowing rivers in my mind.

While the song was going on, the earth around the body shook and started to move. Like it had turned liquid, it rose, before crumbling inward and burying the body in a mound half my size.

Arielle started to sway, her song picking up volume. I didn’t understand the language she was speaking, but I caught a word being repeated: Elissa. For some reason, that single word branded itself into my mind. It just remained there, echoing in my thoughts, glowing softly with meaning.

The mound churned like it was being stirred from beneath, before clamping down and hardening. When it stopped, there was a ragged stone half my size jutting out of the earth. I could see swirling patterns into its surface, reflecting the light like colored glass.

“Who’s Elissa?” I asked as Arielle let her hands down with a deep breath.

The nymph watched me with a seraphic expression. She looked very calm now, almost serene. “The Mother of Life”, she said. “Earth and Root and Water. The Beginning and the End”. She brought her hands together in a gesture that I took to be religious, bowing her head at the same time. “Such corruption can be cleansed only by Her intervention”.

“Right”. So, a God. Or Goddess. I put the name into my memory.

“Can you walk?” She asked, returning to me.

As it turned out, I couldn’t. Thankfully, Arielle could conjure big thorny branches I could use to lean against.

Together, we walked the battlefield. Only now the meaning of that scene of devastation caught up with me. I couldn’t care less of the undead, but the rabbits were a blow to my heart. Especially because now that the fighting had dimmed down, the females were coming out, to nurse their mates’ wounds or to scout the field for their remains. As I watched, a female nuzzled to a still body. When it became clear it wouldn’t get back up, she nestled against it, letting out a sound that was like a choked sob. Soon, the air was filled with the sobs of many females whose mates wouldn’t return.

Arielle was watching the same. The nymph had a solemn expression. “They mourn”, she said, before falling silent.

I just nodded. There was a knot in my throat and I didn‘t trust my voice to speak.

She watched me. “I can’t believe you defeated him”.

She didn’t need to say whom she was talking about. “More like I lucked out”, I grimaced. “That damn monster beat me black and blue. I wouldn’t be here if not for that old rabbit”.

Arielle wasn’t daunted. “Still, to survive against Razdan…” She watched me with a mix of respect and surprise. “Not many can boast of such a feat”.

I gave up on talking back. I didn’t feel much of a hero honestly. Not with that carnage around us and my body creaking at every step.

“The hell was that thing supposed to be?” I asked, changing the topic. “I never saw an undead like that”.

Arielle turned serious. “Razdan is Malik’s executioner”, she said. “He appears when there are enemies that the undead wants to disappear with no delay. I… I wouldn’t have ever imagined he’d follow me…” Remorse flashed in her expression. She wasn’t trying to justify herself, only to show her guilt.

I couldn’t blame her, so I didn’t press further, even if I had a ton of questions. My tiredness could have played a part in that.

“Well, whatever”, I said. “He’s dead now, so good riddance”.

I felt her cringe. “I fear not”.

I paused, watching her. “What do you mean?”

And that was when I received the very unpleasant revelation that no, Razdan wasn’t killed so easily. There had been three recorded times he had been destroyed, only to return each time and hound his killer to his tomb. His last killer had been a half-giant, and I didn’t need to ask to know what the guy’s, or his skeleton’s, end had been. Just to make things worst, Razdan was infamous for his obsessions. Once he had a prey, and his previous killers were his favorite, he didn’t stop chasing until he or them was dead, and there was no hunt that Razdan the Many had failed.

I wanted to scream. Lacking the strength to do it, I just facepalmed. It was too much to ask for good news, uh?

“Did you bite him?” Arielle’s question caught me off-guard.

I watched her for a moment, unsure what she meant before realization struck me. Holy shit! I had actually bit Razdan!

Sputtering and gagging did nothing to erase the bad taste of guts in my mouth. Or the dismay. The hell had got into me? Alright, I was about to die, but…

Arielle didn’t look perturbed. “You have the ferocity of a roused Treant”, she said, and I couldn’t tell if she meant it as a compliment.

My tiredness was getting to me and I let the topic fall. I only managed to stagger to the wellspring before the last of my strength left me. As I planted my roots, I was already drifting off. I felt water splash around me, the drops hitting my roots. Arielle must be watering me.

I only managed to feel grateful before finally succumbing to slumber.

I call it slumber but it wasn’t exactly that. I already lost myself in my growing phases, with my conscience dimming to a working bee busy with branches and leaves. This was the same, but deeper. A part of me took in the damages: the broken knee and arm, the half-cracked chest, the countless scratches and craters in the wood. I was a total wreck, but I felt no dismay as I registered it, only detached consideration. Instead, that side of me instantly went to work, to draw in water and repair.

But while that happened, the rest of me drifted off, in the closest thing to sleep I had ever experienced since my rebirth. And I dreamed. I dreamed of a great mound, plants and rocks intertwining around a great beating heart. I dreamed of the Waters, but the shadows beneath the boughs were filled with undead and horns. Like flames, they danced together and fell together, until the forest floor was covered with sleeping bodies. Red flowers grew from them, undead and animal indistinctly, and the hummingbirds came to them, buzzing gently over that red garden. I was but pieces of wood among them and Razdan’s laughter echoed in the distance. I dreamed of a ruined castle. It towered above me, its towers like broken teeth and windows like empty sockets. It shook and moaned like an angry beast and fire broke out around me. I felt my wood bent and snap as it consumed me. Beside me, the water spring bubbled and drained, the rocks falling into the riverbed until it was choked. Just as I was about to make the same end, something like a giant hand plucked me and dragged me into the sky. I saw the forest beneath me, reaching to the horizon. To the west, storm clouds filled the sky. I saw the heart again, far in the forest‘s depths, felt its thunderous beating vibrating through me with such strength that pieces of my wood flew off. Feeling a presence, I turned. There was an owl beside me, watching me with black-coal eyes. I wanted to shoo it away, but whatever force held me up let go and I fell. Just as I touched the ground, everything went black.

Day 61

Three days. I slept three entire days. Not strange, considering how beaten I had been. If anything, I suppose I should have been surprised at the speed with which my wounds healed. A man would be dead in my place.

Taking my roots out of the ground, I gingerly took a few steps. My kneecap was still a bit delicate but it held nicely. My arm and chest were whole again and there was no trace of the mass of scratches and furrows that had scarred my wood. If it wasn’t for the still too fresh memory, I almost could think that the battle never happened.

Happy, I turned to the forest around me. It must have rained the night before. Every plant and tree shone gently and the air had a stimulating coolness to it. Everywhere I looked, everything was fresh and shining and alive.

I looked up. The night was clearing away, with the horizon just starting to lose the pink tint of the first dawn. Grey clouds looked like grand flying castles in the rising light.

I drew in the morning air. After all the death and sorrow and danger, the world was starting its turn once again. I felt part of it, like I was being born again. Yesterday felt so far away and tomorrow as well. There was only this moment now, a moment of peace and renewal.

In good spirits, I left the glade and entered the forest.

You’d think that after almost dying, I’d be warier of the place, but it didn’t happen. It was the opposite. As I trundled among the undergrowth, the shadows of the canopy dancing on me, I felt my heart swell with longing. My forest, my home. I couldn’t but love it. Turning, I recognized the trees. I saw oaks and maples, junipers and ash, yew and walnut; and beneath, the smaller plants; bramble and hawthorn, cyclamen and laurel, holly and strawberry. And mushrooms, in every nook and every shadow, alongside a multitude of mosses and climbing plants. Everything shining with the tint of rain.

Moving a branch aside, I set off a small cascade. Drops fell on me, running down the groves of my wood and to the ground. Hilarity bubbled up and I found myself laughing. My home. My home! After almost losing it, it looked more beautiful, fresh and alive than ever.

The chirps of birds filled the air. They too were singing their being alive and defiant, even after the terrors of the night. Their chorus celebrated the new dawn and at the same time, it said: “You better beware! I am still strong and well! This is my turf and none can trespass!”

I laughed, finding myself joining them. At that moment, I felt part of that blossoming life, defiant and fresh even after death and darkness. My roots were the roots of the old trees, my branches were the clouds in the sky, my heart the rising dawn.

For a moment, there was no fear and I felt like I could take on even Razdan without breaking a sweat. For a moment, there was happiness, pure and untamed.

I watched the sky, grinning.

There would be difficulties in the future, I was aware of that; dangers and wounds and death. But I swore that I would treasure that place of life and wonder, no matter what. I would fight for it, because it was my home and I loved it, down to the last blade of grass.

With that in mind, I turned and walked away, toward whatever the future held.

------

I found Arielle on the battlefield.

The girl must have been hard at work these days. The carpet of bodies was gone, replaced by a landscape of tilled earth and carefully arranged little trees.

I found the girl kneeling by one, her hands glowing with green light as she bestowed over the plant her strange magic. She got up when she saw me, a bright smile on her face. Her cheeks were smudged with dirt and her hair were tousled by days of work. Somehow, she looked more beautiful than ever.

“You’re awake”, she said, gently happy. She eyed me critically. “That knee could use some more rest though…”

I shrugged. “I’ll think about it later”. She didn’t look overly happy at that. I grinned at her. “You’ve been hard at work, uh?” I asked.

Arielle sighed, letting the topic fall. “Yes”, she said. “All that meat made for good carrion for the birds, but it couldn’t be left all to spoil. It had to be given back to the earth”.

I glanced at her. “Meat, uh? So that big battle doesn’t phase you at all?” The question was probably a nosy one, but I just had to know. That fight had left a big impression on me.

Arielle turned serious. She stood, tall and graceful, folding her hands on her lap. “Death may be the province of the Nightwalker, but it’s still part of Elissa. As such, it must be accepted. For life to flourish again, and for life to have a meaning”.

There was a grace in her calm acceptance that impressed me.

“Right,” I said lamely, turning away. All of a sudden, I felt like a big, blundering oaf. That girl had the gift of making me feel like that, it seemed.

I let my gaze roam over the place. For life to have a meaning, uh?

There were some thoughts to be had about that, I suppose.

“What about the trees?” I asked after a few moments. There would be time for reflections.

She frowned. “This appears to be the fastest route to the Waters. So I began planting Eressel”.

“Eressel?”

“Sentinel trees”, she explained. “They will keep watch on those that come and bar the way to those that are unwelcome”.

Images of trees lunging and smashing people with their boughs flashed in my mind. I asked her as much.

“More or less”, she said, giggling. “But for something of that magnitude, it takes long and careful care. The carrion from a battle are prime ingredients for it”.

Alright, her words were getting a bit spooky now. I made a mental note about nymphs’ consideration toward death against the health of their forests.

“This is a small stretch, though”, I pointed out. “Enemies could arrive from another point”.

The frown was back. “I consider this to be only the start. I hope to be able to enlarge the sentinel patch enough that no invader can avoid crossing it”.

I widened my eyes at that. That sounded like massive work. “Alone?”

Her frown eased. “I hope not”, she said, gesturing gracefully.

I followed her gesture and was surprised. Peeking from among the little trees, there was a group of small creatures. Looking like children, they were green like frogs, with large, curious eyes and short hair the color of fresh leaves. I reckoned there were five of them.

“Dryads”, Arielle explained, amused by my astonishment. “They are young coming in search of a tree to bond with”.

It was my turn to frown. “Why are they here?”

“It’s because of you”.

“Me?”

“You opened the road”. Arielle nodded gracefully. “The Waters have always called to our kind, but with the undead’s threat, they never dared to return. Until now. With Razdan’s fall and the undead put to rout, our people are starting to return. These little ones are only the first. As the news of the victory travels, many more will make their journey home. Especially as they heard that a nymph is here as well”. She added, clearly pleased.

Alright, now that was truly something.

“There will be to fight”, I argued. “You said it yourself: Razdan will return. And I don’t think that a few hundreds of zombies put back in the ground are enough to hope for peace”.

Arielle watched me, fierceness flashing across her fair features. “We’ll be ready”.

Now that tickled my fancy alright. Still, it was a full-blown war we were talking about there. I wanted to think about it a little more first.

“What of the humans?” I asked, suddenly remembering. There were a few of the prisoners that had managed to get away from the battle. I found myself hoping that Arielle didn’t turn them too in mulch for plants.

The nymph narrowed her eyes for a moment, like she was reading my mind, before smiling, patting me in the arm and gesturing to follow her.

--------

The humans had been given a meadow close to the forest’s edge. They hadn’t been fiddling their thumbs: rickety lean-tos built with branches offered shelters to sick and wounded, that rested on beds of leaves. A fireplace had been dug at the center of that small encampment, and an entire deer roasted over it, filling the air with a delicious aroma.

I and Arielle spied them from the bushes. The nymph let me to my observations and it was good, because I wouldn’t have even noticed her speaking.

I observed the sight with rapt fascination.

There were more humans than I thought, twenty at least, with old, children and women. A couple was busy turning the deer on the spit, while others hungrily waited for the meat to be cooked. A few struggled to carry a pot of water. Laying on a bed, a wizened old man watched with a smile children play in the dirt, using little stones in a game I didn’t recognize. Two women chattered while mending rags with bone needles. A man drew something in the dirt using a stick, with a little boy observing attentively. They were all still skeleton-thin and ragged, but they all smiled.

A deep emotion stirred inside of me. That… that was I had been, what I lost and what I graduated from. Nostalgia for my old life and happiness for the new one warred inside of me.

“Treant…” Arielle’s concerned voice dragged me out of my reverie. “Are you crying?”

I realized with a start that she was right: drops of sap were falling from my eyes, tracing a path down my cheeks.

“It’s nothing”, I said, rubbing at my face. If I had some doubts about wanting to protect that place, now there was none. The forest, the fey and now the humans… I would protect them, no matter what.

“Why don’t they leave?” I asked, trying to change the topic.

Arielle let me, something I was grateful for. “They don’t know how”, she said. “The undead carried them too far from their home and they don’t know the way back”. She sighed. “I offered them the chance to remain and they agreed”.

“You did well”, I said, hurrying to wipe out the last of my tears. Call me stupid, but crying in front of somebody like that embarrassed me.

Taking care not to be noticed, we left the humans and returned to the Waters. The place was peaceful like always. You wouldn’t have ever guessed that there had been a battle close by.

“So they will return”, I began after a few moments of silence. I turned to watch her. “It’s certain?”

Arielle didn’t leave room for doubt. “Yes. Malik will not allow himself to be denied”.

“It’s some time you mention that name”, I pointed out. “Who’s he supposed to be?”

Arielle kneeled by the stream. For a long moment, she didn’t answer, leaving the water to caress her fingers.

“Malik the Necromancer”, she said eventually. She spoke without particular emotion like she was reading from a book. “The Master of the Ruined Keep, Tyrant of Minathil, Defier of Death and Lord of the Dead”. She turned to watch me solemnly. “He’s our enemy”.

I felt a small shiver run down my back. “Is he the one pulling the strings of all this?”

Arielle nodded, before turning away, a thoughtful expression on her face. “From the ruined castle of Vladisvar, he sends his minions to spread the plague of undeath across Minathil and to butcher those that defy his edicts. He was the one proclaiming that the Waters were forbidden and to destroy the small Court that lived here, the last remnant of the Athimei. Razdan is his faithful hound and he sends it to destroy his enemies. He’s the reason Minathil suffers. He…” She drifted off, turning away from me.

There was something she didn’t wish to speak about and I wasn’t going to press her for it. She had been plenty understanding toward me.

I crossed my arms, leaving the silence to stretch. It was just fine by me, since I had plenty of food for thought. Now my - our - enemy had a name. Someone ordering Razdan around… I’d lie if I say that I was eager to face him.

“Right”, I said. “How do we deal with him?”

She turned to me, surprised.

I grinned. Something told me that she wasn’t used to people being so eager.

“W-well…” Arielle coughed, recomposing herself. “Razdan should take some time to heal from his wounds and as long as he’s unable to lead them, I don’t believe that any necromancer will try his luck where he has failed, if only for fear of incurring in his wrath for trying to steal his prey”. She gave me a meaningful glance at that. I grimaced. “Malik himself should be slumbering and even if such a challenge to his edicts is fated to awake him, we should have some time before that happens”.

That surprised me. “He sleeps?” I expected a lot, except that the enemy would be snoozing.

Arielle nodded tersely. “Voices say that he lets his spirit fly over Minathil to direct his minions. But I believe that it’s the price he has to pay for his dark arts”.

“Does he do that often?”

“Almost always. He lets his lieutenants carry his invasion over”.

“Right”, I said, struggling to wrap my head around it. What kind of life was that? Bah! But at least it was good news. “How long do you think we have?”

Arielle bit her lip. She must have been asking herself the same question. “Months at best. Malik’s slumber is deep and he‘s slow to rouse, but he always returns when someone challenges him”.

That was less of good news. Months weren’t exactly a long time, not with what we had.

I planted my gaze on her. “What did you think to do in the meantime?”

To her credit, Arielle didn’t falter. “Call more of our people”, she said right away. “Fortify the Waters and build a Court that can withstand Malik’s wrath. Plant and grow and harden. Until no undead can ever violate our borders”.

There it was again, her fire shining through. This time, though, I wasn’t impressed. My mind ran with concrete details.

“That sounds slow”, I argued, dubious. After all, three days had passed and all we got was a bunch of frog-girls. Probably things were going to accelerate as time passed but my instinct didn’t agree. And, well, I suppose that sitting and waiting didn’t appeal to me.

The frustration crossing her expression told me that I hit the spot.

“It will take time”, she murmured. “Our people are still reeling from all the destruction Malik wrought. They will take back their courage, but…”

But it will be slow going. And we couldn’t exactly afford it, could we?

I crossed my arms, thinking. What we needed was manpower. Workers, warriors, hands to build and fight. In a perfect world, I was thinking something in the range of the hundreds, enough to take on a host of undead many times the one led by Razdan and win.

Could that be gathered in a few months? Maybe, but my instinct kept telling me not to trust the chances.

Honestly, as things were, I saw only one solution.

When I told her, Arielle almost jumped.

“You want to ask the humans for help?” The nymph was the most surprised I ever saw her up that point.

“Why not?” I asked. “They are in this as well. Maybe they too are only waiting for something to give them a chance. Hey, maybe I can even find some fey and bring them here. It’d be much faster than only waiting”.

“But…” Arielle turned away, hurt crossing her expression. “They won’t listen…”

Here there was something else she wasn’t willing to talk about. Whatever. She probably had her reasons, but my mind was still set.

“Well, we can’t know that until we try, can’t we?” I stood up.

“I can’t dissuade you, can i?” She said, dripping with dissatisfaction.

I grinned. She was quick to get me. Smart girl, that one.

“One last thing”, I said, getting a curious glance from her. I jabbed a thumb toward my chest. “This is my land too. I appreciate your efforts, but I won’t let myself get ordered around”. I lifted a hand, stopping her from replying. “Look, I get it. You are a nymph and are used to being obeyed. But I am not your run-of-the-mill treant, alright? I was here first and I want a say in what happens. You said it yourself: I defeated Razdan and I am making this possible”.

I saw struggle written all over her face. I couldn’t blame her: that had to be some big turning of the world for her. Still, to her immense credit, she didn’t argue.

“It’s just”, she sighed, and I felt my respect for her increase some more. It’s not so easy to go against your own nature.

I grinned. “Chin up! That doesn’t mean you’re any less important. I can be the muscle but you bring a ton of stuff I can’t do, like that gathering people and planting trees”. I smacked my stomach, laughing. “You know what does that makes us? Partners! We’re equal partners, each with his own saying!” I offered her my hand. She watched it, confused. “What about it? You’re up to becoming a partner with this tree?”

She watched me for a moment.

“We’ll make your dream a reality still!” I encouraged.

That did it. Her eyes widened before her expression settled in gentle happiness. Smiling, she put her small hand in my bigger one.

I laughed. Now we were going somewhere!

Still peeking from their spot, unsure of what was going on, the little dryads exchanged curious looks.