Zanna watched as Esta stood there shocked for several moments as she watched soldiers carry the wounded into The Branch of Kind aid. The Elvin woman had been rushed through choosing school with only a month of learning magic. The Tree Kingdom was at war, and they were losing. Every day the need for healers stretched the Primal tree community to its limits. Several cities have now fallen to the Dark elves and their allies over the last year. The students with skills in healer had skipped the normal year of choosing and a year off. They were put directly into magic classes to learn to heal and into the hospitals.

Esta rushed over to help the men who were each bearing a wounded man or woman, into the Branch of Healing's magic hall. Here the healers would cast spells drawing from the life mana that floated through the tree branches or, in the worse cases, drawing directly from the Primal Tree's mana reserves.

The eldest healers would work on the worst cases. Esta's job was to organize the wounded into the correct queue then she would start healing in the lesser hall where the wounds were less severe.

Zanna had been following Esta's work for several months, watching as the young elf woman learned how to heal others. How to speak softly, and she could feel the woman's genuine love of life and the health of others. She watched as Esta learned to manipulate the life magic that all Averraen possessed to some degree. Esta's natural talent for healing magic was powerful. Zanna wondered if this was from her desire to help the living, or was she just born with this?

Esta hadn't seen Taeral in a month, and she was dreading that he would be the one brought in on a stretcher one day. She knew the war was not going well. The gods of the forest had abandoned the elves. There was a rumor that the gods had been destroyed, and she had even heard a wounded soldier speaking of darkness that had consumed their forest gods. She didn't know what to believe. She was so busy and exhausted at the end of each day that she was just hoping they could make it another day.

Zanna spoke calmly, trying to get Esta to understand, "Esta, the dark elves are assaulting the last city tree before they reach this one. There will be no more Averraen if your people do not flee. "

Esta sighed and took a deep breath, thinking about her answer. She had discovered she didn't need to speak out loud for Zanna to hear her over the last year. "I will not abandon my people or our home. This is our home Zanna. We will win somehow. "

Zanna knew this wasn't true, she had already seen several trees on fire in the distance, and there were only two remaining now that could be seen from the highest branches. There was no surviving this, the dark elves had come in great numbers. Enough to darken the ground below as they chopped down the forests around the trees and killed all the defenders. At first, she thought the Averraen would win the war but then reports of the gods of the forest having been defeated. There was nothing now able to stop these dark purple-skinned elves and their harpy allies. Already several large attacks of harpys have been driven off, with hundreds dead on each side.

"You should take Taeral and your friends and leave here. Nothing you can do will save these people or this city. " thought Zanna.

Zanna mentally signed to herself, who builds their city in something that can burn like a torch seen hundreds of miles away. She had learned much from watching Esta, and she understood now the young woman's drive to protect life. All Averraen had this drive, but Esta took it to the extreme, which is why she drove herself to learn healing spells and life magic. She wanted to preserve all life. But it can't be done. Zanna had watched for centuries the absolute destruction of many, many thousands of beings in the Archduke's arena. She saw that same death and drive as the dark elves encircled the city not twenty miles away. Even now, most of these injured were the ones fleeing that city. She expected any time that this city would be attacked and set on fire.

Esta shook her head while she walked to the next person waiting for assistance. Many of the injured didn't make it to The Branch of Kind aid. Early in the war, the Averraen would send their healer out to help with the injured in the field, but after several losses to surprise harpy attacks. They had been forced to stop. The healers were irreplaceable, and many people depended on them. This was the main reason the students had been rushed through the classes if they showed a gift in life magic. Now with the other cities falling and many thousands lost to the war. Esta was one of the few left that could perform the spells needed to heal.

She understood what Zanna had said, but she refused to leave all these people in need. She sighed and took a deep breath, she needed to rest for a few minutes. Her mana had depleted, and it took several minutes to draw in enough to cast another healing spell. She decided to step out to one of the benches seated near the trunk. She just wanted some sun and a chance to breathe fresh air. She told the elder organizing the influx of injured she would be back.

Then she went out and flew up one branch to a bench she knew near the giant trunk, and it got a fair bit of sun this time of day. She sat there watching the one grey cloud in the distance. She leaned back and closed her eyes, trying to relax.

She felt something in the back of her mind as she sat there, something trying to talk to her. It was sort of like Zanna's calls years ago before she had learned to talk to her before her choosing. This voice wasn't the same, and she had to strain to hear its voice. She couldn't quite understand it.

Then she heard it far off in the back of her mind, "Esta, you must help us. "

"Who are you? " asked Esta, all though Est already knew the answer. It was the Spirit of the Tree.

"I am a primal spirit Esta. Soon to be the last of my kind. I need your help Esta. " said the Spirit.

Esta wondered if she imagined this. She was exhausted and mentally tired from casting so many times, "Why are you contacting me? There are elders that can help better than I. "

"Esta, your people drain my Spirit to save their own. They take so much now. Soon, there might be nothing left. They have refused to listen to my call. I need one that will listen. " said the Spirit of the Tree.

Esta was shocked by what she had just heard, "What? I thought you were the Spirit of the forest? How can you be drained? "

"Esta, the dark energies of the enemy, are killing the forest. Soon there will be little of the forest left, and every tree that is burned or cut reduces me. I will not have enough energy to survive the onslaught when it arrives. Even now, my last sister falls to their dark magics. " said the Tree Spirit.

Zanna said, "She is right, Esta."

"What is that, Esta? What thing clouds your mind? " said the Tree Spirit.

Oh no, thought Zanna and Esta at the same time.

Esta thought about the question, "Her name is Zanna. She is a friend. "

"She has the smell of chaos about her, " responded the Tree Spirit.

"Yes, she has some of that. We have chatted a great deal over the last year. If she wanted to cause harm, she could have many times. " said Esta. She wanted to be as honest as she could with the Tree Spirit.

"Do you want me to remove it?" asked the Tree Spirit.

"No, no, it is fine. We have an agreement and have become friends," said Esta.

"That is good. Demon possession would have caused you harm quickly. This is something else… very well then, will you help me, Esta. I will be the last of my kind shortly, and I'd like you to take the three seeds I've been growing above in the cradle of my upper branches far from here. You could plant them where it's safe, and if you tend them, my kind will survive, " said the Tree Spirit.

Esta thought hard, she had a duty to her people, but she also had a duty to the Tree Spirit that gave them community and sheltered them.

She made up her mind, "I will help you. I can not leave now. I must talk to Taeral. Together with Svak and her husband, we will flee and plant your seeds far from here. " said Esta. She briefly thought about the secret double wedding she and her friend had performed a few months ago, with so many Averraen fallen and not returning from battle. The two young women and their new husbands had forgone custom and done it in secret now that she was old enough.

"Thank you, " said the Tree Spirit, and an image of an area of dense branches far above where they sat came to her mind. There was a clump of foliage, and the image showed it parting as it approached. Inside were three melon-sized golden brown nuts hanging from a branch.

The image disappeared as Esta opened her eyes. She needed to contact Svak, who was down below helping build defenses. She had joined The Tree Builder Branch, where she had met her husband, Siveril.

She flew down below. It was always a quicker flight going down to the tree's roots.

Svak was following the lead engineer around, writing down instructions, when Esta landed.

Esta looked at the lead engineer, who was frowning at her. Esta was wearing her Branch of Kind Aid all-white uniform. Most people deferred to those with this uniform, and they never knew when they would need their help.

She had a serious sound in her voice when she spoke to her friend, "Svak, you need to give your task to someone else and come with me immediately. You need to get Siveril and meet me at my room immediately. Bring a flight bag and extra food and water. This is important. "

She didn't wait for Svak's reply. She just took off to see Taeral, who was stationed with the rest of the guardians in the military wing. His tasks for the last week had been sortie and defense against the harpy attacks.

Taeral was not there. She spoke to the commander at the post. A tall older Averraen soldier wearing their city's light lacquered layered armor.

"Captain, where is Tearal. I must speak with him. It is an urgent message from the Tree Spirit's communion. " said Esta using the most formal method to help convey her urgency.

The Captain eyed Esta wearily, "He is out scouting for incursions. He is not due back for another hour. "

"Have him report to me when he returns. Tell him Esta seeks his presence," said Esta.

"Aye, I'll inform him when he reports in. " said the Captain.

Esta nodded and took flight up to her home, where she was to meet Svak and her husband. It took a few minutes to reach her home's high branches, and Svak and her husband Siveril were there. Esta paused for a moment to catch her breath from the hard fight almost straight up Then, she went into her home, changed into traveling clothes, and grabbed as much stored food as she could fit in one side of her fight bag. She didn't know how heavy the seeds were, but she should have enough food to balance any weight out if needed.

Esta was looking out across the smoking remains of the forest in the distance and the last remaining Primal Tree there on fire. She watched the flames, "The Tree Spirit has tasked us with saving her seeds and taking them far from here. " said Esta

Svak looked at her husband Siveril, who had a wide-eyed look hearing this, then she turned back to Esta, "Where are the seeds. The enemy marches already towards our home. " Svak's voice carried sounds of urgency.

Esta nodded, "Follow. They are up above. "

Esta flew up high, leading her two friends up to the hidden area in the foliage. The small hollow around the seeds opened as she approached and landed. The three of them went inside the small cavity of foliage to look at the seeds. Esta could see the magic of life and earth flowing through and around the seeds. She reached up and gently took one, and it disconnected from the stem the moment she held it. She handed them one at a time to Svak, who placed them in their bags.

Siveril spoke from just outside, "The enemy comes. We need to go. "

Esta rushed outside to see that the grey cloud she had seen earlier that day was moving toward them. She realized then it wasn't a cloud but thousands and thousands of harpies. How could there be so many?

Siveril pointed below, and not far from the base of the trees, the forest trembled as some of them fell, pushed over by massive hulking black creatures she had never seen before. Esta saw the coming horde far below, and she felt terror as she thought, where is Taeral?

"We need to go now, " said Siveral.

Zanna spoke up, "You need to flee now. Leave with your friends. " She didn't want to tell the young elf girl that there was little chance of seeing her husband or family. No scouts would survive that number of the enemy if they were not already back. There was no defense against that either, there might be ten thousand elves in this tree, and only twenty percent were warriors, and half of those were dead already from earlier conflicts. She recognized those large black creatures, one of which towered over the army. They were void creatures. The dark elves had allied or struck a bargain with the void. Her mind shuddered.

Esta took a deep breath, "Svak, flee to the mountains. Take the seeds I'll find Taeral and follow. I will meet you at shooters peak, where we went on that outing a few years ago for flight school. She remembered the ruins far up the side of the cliffs.

Svak nodded to Siveral, "We will see you there, be quick. " Then she followed Siveral, diving down to gain speed, and sped off towards the mountains far off in the distance to the north.

Esta placed her hand against the Tree now, "I have done as you wished. Can you help me find Taeral? " asked Esta.

The Tree Spirit was in pain. Esta could feel the Spirit as it spent its stored mana trying to thwart the enemy's approach through the forest below.

The Spirit spoke then with an anguished voice, "Esta, Taeral, I'm sorry.." There was a long pause.

There were tears in Esta's eye's now. She had known the answer while looking down upon the massive army invading the forest below.

"I will go down and help in the Branch of Kind Aid until he returns then, " said Esta.

Zanna felt something break in the young elf. She was not thinking clearly or had just decided she would go on with what she knew and not confront what she did not. This was not good, thought Zanna.

Esta flew down to the large building where several dozen wounded Averraen soldiers were lying outside. Some were not moving as more were brought here for healing.

Zanna spoke in a kind voice, "Esta, there is little we can do here. You need to tell everyone to flee. Soon there will be so many of the enemy in the sky above that you will not be able to escape. "

Zanna had seen the Averraen fighting the harpies in the distance above the invading army. They were holding for now, but Zanna had seen the number of harpies coming. There was no way they could survive so many. Once they made it to the Tree, it would be impossible to fight them all. And the army on the ground was brushing aside any defense there. The giant void creature leading them, then smaller void creatures, and those followed by legions of dark elves, they looked like tiny specs, all except the large black void creature.

Esta ignored Zanna. She continued to each of the men, casting healing spells. Some stood and were about to rejoin the fight above.

Esta spoke then. Her voice carried an odd quality. Zanna realized she was in contact with the Tree Spirit. "You all need to gather anyone you can and flee. Do not wait. There is nothing left to gain here and much to lose. Hurry, you do not have much time. " Then she went back to healing the men that remained. No more injured men were being carried to the branch by their comrades in arms. The harpies were overwhelming their forces. They would soon be here.

"Esta, we must flee!!" Zanna didn't know what would happen to her if Esta died. She didn't want to find out either.

Esta had asked one of the wounded who looked like a sergeant, "Have you seen Taeral? " The soldier had shook his head negatively and wouldn't meet her eyes.

Esta looked up to see the cloud of the enemy was turning towards the Tree, now having finished off the last of the defenders they were fighting. It had been a massacre in the end.

Zanna spoke then, "Esta let us try to go inside the Branch of ---" there was a sudden sound of a gong, and the tree swayed.

Esta felt the magic of the large creature below striking the tree, its magic reverberated along the trunk all the way up here.

There was another huge sound as if the world's largest gong had just been struck, and the tree lurched a few feet swaying. Then another gong. The harpies were almost upon them now. A few dozen Averraen could be seen flying off away towards the mountains. Svak and Siveral were well out of eyesight in the distance.

The tree city swayed again as another gong sounded.

***