Another Goddess and the stone monsters

3 years ago

Even a lucky man can have a bad day. This was one of them. First, I barely escaped the temple guards, then I ran into the Lace Patrol. Among other things, I didn't want to meet any of my former colleagues. So I jumped to the nearest world, hoping not to get into trouble there. 

Unfortunately, my luck seemed to have run out. Having just entered the world, I found myself in a street with two rows of stone buildings. It was night and there were no lanterns, so the flashes of my appearance were like fireworks, which wasn’t good for me. Even though there was no one around, I hurried to leave. I sneaked out, hiding in the dense shadows of the buildings, as I was trying to figure out where to go. 

The world was called Karra, I knew that because I'd never seen such ugly buildings on other worlds of the Lace. Another time I'd rather leave this place as soon as possible. Not because of its architecture, but because of the locals. This time, however, I couldn't leave Karra because the Patrol was looking for me. So I decided to find a relatively decent diner and spend two or three hours there. 

I wanted to do that, but suddenly I heard... no, I felt... I couldn’t explain it. It was like someone was calling for help, not out loud, but mentally. It was really strange, considering that I had no telepathic abilities and was completely incapable of any other mental techniques. Maybe it was just my imagination? 

I pulled myself away from the wall and looked around. There was silence, only the wind rustled in the trees, which were invisible from there. 

Wait a minute! I shook my head, trying to get rid of the obsession. There were no trees on Karra.  There was no vegetation at all! The whole world was a stone desert, inhabited by silicon life forms that drew their energy from the hard sun and didn't need any other food. Humans, mostly freebooters, lived in the only city located near the planet's pole. I didn't know why the monsters of the desert never tried to enter it. But the inhabitants – all kinds of renegades and their suspicious guests - were happy about it. Besides, visitors had never stayed here for long. 

"Help me, help me..." The voice in my head was weak and belonged to a woman. 

In the back of my mind I thought about a possible trap, but the next moment I went forward, feeling like an idiot. I climbed over the city wall and jumped down to the ground. 

On the other side was a rocky desert. The stars shone in the black sky and the frosty air filled my lungs. I inhaled and started to cough. It was much warmer in the city! 

"Help me..."

I looked around and walked on. Actually, the direction wasn't much of a problem. The thin mental thread led me to my destination, so all I had to do was follow it and try not to break my legs in the dark, among those sharp rocks. “A fool that I am,” I thought, “the fool who always needs more than others.” 

I walked and walked, and the horizon began to brighten. Finally, I reached the well between the rocks. I climbed down and found the stone cage. As I approached it, I saw what looked like a pile of rags inside. But when I touched the cage, the thing moved and the emerald green eyes looked at me. It was a young girl, and she reminded me of... 

"Help," she whispered. I reached out and ran my hand through her hair. It was greenish under the layer of dirt.

"Just wait, baby. We'll think of something," I promised, and began to examine the cage. There should have been a door, but I couldn't find it. There were just the stone bars and nothing else. The distance between them was barely enough for an arm to pass through. So what could I do? 

I tried to move one of the bars, but it was impossible. 

"How did you get there?" I asked the girl. 

She just sighed. 

I kept trying to break the cage, even though I understood it was useless. A wall-breaking machine or dynamite would have come in handy. Oh no, dynamite wasn't a good idea. I had to save the girl, not kill her. 

I pressed my forehead against the cage and said, "Listen, baby. I have to go. Not for a while, really." 

She shook her head negatively. 

"Don't you want me to go? But I must..."

"You must," she whispered. Then she got up and gripped the bars of the cage with her hands. She looked like a teenager. "Listen to me, Arthur."

"How do you know my name?" I asked in surprise. 

"I know your name and many other things," the girl sighed. "I am Leah of the Forest. I'm not from this world."

"I guessed," I replied. 

"Please do not interrupt me. We have little time. The golems are here. They are hiding."

I looked around but saw no one.

"They are here," she repeated. "They'll awaken when the sun rises. Don't go into the city, you won't find any help there. The next night," she waved her finger at me and whispered, "bring me the sprout of the Eternal Tree. We can't defeat the golems without it."

"Leah," I ran my fingers over her hands. "Let's do it my way."

She shook her head. "You will find no help in the city, Arthur. The people here depend on my jailers."

"Okay," I bowed my head. "Just tell me where the Tree is."

"Look into my eyes, I'll show you."

I obeyed and fell into the green abyss of her eyes. Then I saw the Lace, and the world near the Dark Edge, and the continent covered with the endless forest, and the giant tree in the middle of the continent. 

"Got it? Hurry!"

Her thin fingers slipped from the bar and she fell to the ground. 

"Leah!" I called her, shaking her shoulder, "Leah! Leah!"

"Just go," she whispered. "The sun is rising."

There was something peculiar in her voice, so I didn't argue, all the more so as the first pink rays of the morning sun fell on the wall of the well.

"I'll be back," I said and left without looking back. As I climbed up, I saw the desert stirring under the sun. It took me a few minutes to realize: the natives had woken up! Damn it!

I'd never run to the Lace so fast before. Luckily, I didn't meet the Patrol once again. I had no time to play cat and mouse with them. 

Soon I reached the world near the Edge that Leah had shown me. I entered it and found myself in the middle of a vast forest, already touched by the breath of autumn. The giant tree towered over it, right in the center. So I walked toward it, thinking of my mission. Leah had asked me to bring a sprout from the Tree, so a broken branch would not be a good fit. 

Thirty feet from the Tree, a couple of dryads appeared in my way. Their hair was greenish, and their clothes were leaves and flowers. They looked like twins and held bows in their hands. 

"Who are you?" the left one asked. 

I didn't answer, just shifted my gaze from one to the other. What should I tell them? I needed their help, and I wanted them to believe me.

"What are you doing in the dying forest?" her sister sang in a sad voice. 

I decided to tell them the truth. 

"Is Leah your sister?" I asked.

"What do you know about Leah?" the first one asked, pointing her bow at me. The tip of the arrow touched my nose. 

What did I say wrong?

"I'm not your enemy, girls!" I showed them my empty hands. "If you shoot me, you will never know the truth!"

None of them lowered their bows. Moreover, a few more Amazons joined their sisters.

"Speak up," the first girl commanded.

"Is Leah one of you?" I asked again. 

The girls nodded.

"She's in trouble," I began, choosing my words carefully. The arrows aimed at me made me nervous. "She is a prisoner, but we can save her. Leah has asked for a sprout from the Eternal Tree. It will help me free her." 

I stopped talking and took a look around. Some of the dryads lowered their bows, but the most unbelieving ones still continued to aim. 

"Look into my eyes, stranger!" the dryad commanded. I did, and again, as with Leah, I fell into the emerald abyss, drowning in images, smells, feelings, only this time they were my own memories. And when I realized that I was losing myself, everything ended.

"Wait here!" said the same dryad and disappeared among the trees. 

All the other dryads stood around me and looked at me as if I were an elephant. I couldn't even scratch myself! 

I was hungry and tired, but no one offered me anything. So it went on for a long time, and I was rather angry when the dryad finally returned. 

She brought the pot with a thin, stunted twig, four inches long, with a few feeble leaves on it. 

"This is what you asked for," the dryad said as she handed me the pot. "The sprout of the Eternal Tree."

"The Eternal Tree," her sisters sang. 

"Really?" I took the plant from her. " Are you sure you didn't get something wrong? It will die before I reach the Lace!"

I shouldn't have said that. As soon as I closed my mouth, all the arrows were aimed at me again. But my tongue had a life of its own, independent of my mind. 

"You should at least water it," I kept grumbling. "It's a shame to come back with it. The monsters will laugh at me!"

"In Leah's hands, the seedling will gain strength," the dryad assured me. "Now go! Hurry!"

"Okay, I'll go," I replied, looking around. "But if you were wrong, I'll be back to teach you how to grow trees!"

With that, I jumped into the Lace. 

I entered Karra somewhere in the courtyards of the only city of this world. I looked around and saw nothing suspicious. Then I checked my package and found the seedling alive. It was at that moment that I felt someone looking at my back.

I turned my head to see two locals. They were blocking the way with their shoulders and grinning at me. What the hell did they want?

"Hi, Hunter," one of them greeted me. "Let's share!"

With the same smile, he drew a cleaver from his waistband. Another one took the hammer from his shoulder. 

 There was no reason to talk to them, so I pulled my katana from its sheath and began to fight. 

When it was all over, I stood with my back against the wall, my hand over the deep wound on the left side of my chest. Every breath caused pain.

 Damn freebooters! One of them was dead, but another escaped and stole the plant.

I spat on the ground and saw my own blood there. With the blood, my life was draining out of me. It was so stupid! I raised my head and looked at the cold stars. Was that all?

At that moment, I heard the familiar voice in my head, just like the night before, only weaker. No! This was no time to die! 

I closed my eyes and concentrated. Then the tiny bright spark appeared in front of my inner vision. It was pulsing, growing...

"Affscher toi kinarri," I whispered the activation formula. The next moment, the wave of power flowed through my veins, the sharp pain in my chest turned into a gnawing discomfort, and the bleeding stopped. 

The Borrowed Hour began to work.

This was one of many amazing things I had learned at the Intelligence School of the Coordinating Service. And it was not magic at all, just the body's reserves waking up from hibernation. There were all kinds of them, for all kinds of challenges. It costs a lot, but who cares in case of urgency?

The Borrowed Hour didn't heal wounds, but it could extend your life by sixty minutes. An agent could use that time either to complete his mission or to reach a doctor. I hoped it would be enough to save Leah.

I looked gloomily at the dead body, spat out the blood and picked up the man’s hammer. 

It was a cold night in the desert. I didn't hear Leah's voice anymore and I felt nervous. I was afraid I was late.

Finally I reached the well, jumped down and rushed  to the cage. 

"Leah!"

She raised her head and I saw pain in her eyes.

"Just step aside, baby!" I said. 

I swung around and brought the hammer down on the stone bar. 

A short time later, I was standing on my knees in the pool of blood, my face pressed against the cage. The useless hammer lay beside me. It was all in vain. The Borrowed Hour passed and I didn’t manage to do anything. The hammer didn't make a crack in the cage. 

"It's all over, baby," I whispered. "We're both going to die tonight. I'm sorry I didn't bring you the sprout."

Leah reached out and caressed my face. 

"Wait, Arthur!" she suddenly exclaimed. "I feel something. Are you sure you have lost it?"

I nodded tiredly. 

"But it's not true!" Her voice rang, and her thin finger pointed at my chest. "The sapling is still alive. It's here!"

I unzipped my jacket to show her that I wasn't hiding anything. At that moment, a small leaf fell to the stone floor. Leah picked it up and pressed it between her palms. Her small palms glowed from the inside, and then the light escaped through her fingers, illuminating the room with thin rays. I turned my eyes to Leah's face and saw her bright eyes. The girl was smiling. 

"What now?" I asked, watching her in the green glow.

"Thank you, Arthur," Leah sighed, "you saved me."

I nodded, feeling dizzy from the bleeding. Leah opened her palms, leaving the leaf in her left hand, and placed her right hand on my chest. Her palm covered my wound and the light shone from underneath, warming my chest. 

"This is the least I can do for you, my hero," Leah said as she removed her hand. 

I stared at the skin of my chest. There was no wound on it, not even a scar. Breathing was easy and I was full of strength. 

"Now leave," she said suddenly. 

"What about you?" I asked. 

"It's more dangerous for you than it is for me," she explained. 

"Seriously?"

"Listen to me, Arthur. When the sun rises, the Tree will grow and I'll be free. But at the same time, the monsters will awaken. You can't fight them."

"We'll see," I grumbled stubbornly, leaning my back against the bars of the cage. It was about three hours before dawn and I decided to take a nap.

 Everything happened just as Leah had said. The sun rose and the Tree began to grow, from a weak sapling to a huge oak. I looked at it with my mouth open and didn't notice Leah's transformation right away. Now she looked like a beautiful lady though she remained a teenager at the same time. 

The cage collapsed and Leah was free. 

"Let's go?" I said. 

"Duck!" she commanded. 

The wave of power flew over my head, something rumbled, and sand and gravel poured down on me. 

"Now let's go," Leah said. 

I helped her out of the well and didn't recognize the surroundings: a colorful carpet of grass spread out all around us. 

"The sprout of the Eternal Tree has given me back my power," she declared. "The world of Karra will never be a desert again." 

I thought about it. 

"You’re not just a dryad," I said. 

She laughed. "I am the goddess of the forest, the patroness of life."

"Wow!" I said in amazement. "But how did you get here?"

"Golems are not smart, but they obey my long-time enemy," she explained. "If his plan had succeeded, my forest would have died, and so would all the forests of the Lace."

Well, I’d heard far more incredible things in my life. For some strange reason, I believed her words at once.

Leah put her hand on my cheek and looked into my eyes. 

"Don't look for death anymore, Arthur," she said. "It will find you when your time comes. Your pain... It will pass."

She squeezed my hand and walked off across the meadow. I watched her go and smiled at the sun. For the first time in many months, I felt warmth in my soul instead of a gaping emptiness.