We left the building, heading toward the outer edge of the city, just on the opposite side of the tree striding course.
"So, Ladon, I'm taking you to the most sacred place I can; to Trelanwi itself. There's a room carved into it, dedicated to meditation; to gaining Fylgja. It's a quiet, reverent place, but I doubt I need to tell you to respect its silence."
"I understand."
"By the time we're done, it'll likely be bed time."
"So what am I going to do, exactly?"
"They'll explain it better than I can, but you're gonna meditate."
"Alright."
We continued to walk for thirty minutes, in mostly silence, though it didn't feel nearly as long. Looking around, watching the nature and beauty was more than enough to pass the time. Eventually, our path led to a bigger one, opening up to a trunk bigger than any fortress I'd ever seen. From the distance we were, it was wide enough that it went out of view. I couldn't even tell quite how tall it was, though considering how high we were, and the fact that I couldn't see many branches on it, I knew we only saw a portion of its height. We followed the path, onto an incredibly wide bridge leading straight to it. The closer I got, the more awe I felt. I could feel how ancient it was. There was a large arching double door embedded in the tree, blending in almost perfectly. The door itself was colossal, though it barely took a chunk out of the tree.
The door slowly shifted on the surface, opening as if we were expected at this very moment.
"How old is this tree?" I asked Inowyn.
A robed, middle aged woman emerged from the darkened interior. "As old as life itself… Well, give or take a century or three."
Somehow, I felt energized, but not hyper. Like its presence and proximity was doing something to my body; my being.
"You feel it, don't you? The raw energy of life it carries, that flows through it."
"I think I do."
"I'm called Karasym, though you can just call me Kara. I'm a priestess of Preyanor, and caretaker of Trelanwi."
"I'm Ladon."
"Well, come then, Ladon. Tjali Inowyn, feel free to join us too."
I nodded.
"I was hoping I could. Thank you, Kara."
Kara nodded politely in return to us both.
We followed behind her gliding steps. Each were meticulous, as if she'd walked the same path thousands apon thousands of times.
Sconces from either side came alight with a dim glow, showing us the path forward. I noticed they didn't contain fire; just a glowing stone. The hall was wide enough for maybe seven people, and incredibly tall, intricate designs and arches letting us know where the ceiling was. Eventually the hall led to a massive room with countless square cushions. The walls had intricately carved pillars, forming in a curved angle from top to bottom.
"This is where we do most of our… religious, traditional practices."
She led us to the right, down another hall, this time curved. The hall brought us to a singular dark, pale door.
"To gain your Fylgja, you must go it alone. The Fylgja are manifestations of the power granted by an animal spirit, like those found in this forest. When you enter the room, you must simply meditate. Thanks to its design and location, this room concentrates an incredible amount of chaos, allowing one to peer into the astral plane, where the spirits of all eventually reside, for a time."
"What?"
"Yes you will meditate to enter the astral plane. It's an echo of our plane of existence. It's not to be confused with the ethereal plane however. They exist within, through, and around each other. Should you find a hole into the ethereal, don't go near it. The astral plane is mostly safe, but the ethereal… has many predators the likes of your worst nightmares… maybe even worse."
"Okay."
"You'll most likely see many animal spirits. If you're lucky, one of them will approach you and offer its power. It cannot be forced. If they don't choose you, you must respect it."
"What are the dangers of the astral plane?"
"Mostly the ocean. If you find yourself facing an ocean, not a puddle, or river, or lake, or even massive lake, but ocean, do not go in it."
"Why?"
"Your soul could be lost for eternity, turning your body into an empty husk bound to die."
"...Alright then."
"You'll likely find yourself in a field, or mountain. So you don't need to worry too much about that."
"Anything else?"
"The rest is best to experience yourself. Are you ready?"
"Sure…" I had no clue what ready could even mean in this situation.
"You can do this!" Inowyn cheered.
"...Thanks."
Karasym opened the door to a dimly lit room. I couldn't make out much from the hall.
I slowly walked through. The room was big; way too big for one person. Along the wall, on several rows of carved-in shelves, sat small totems; statues of different animals. There were hundreds of them, each one a different animal. I didn't recognize most of them. One looked like some weird type of sea creature with one long horn. Another looked like a fox, but twice as big with lanky legs. One was larger than most, with a long trunk coming out of its head, and two tusks coming from its mouth. The room itself was ghostly quiet. In the center of the ceiling was a wooden spike, wide at the base, impressively thin at the tip, right above a singular cushion. Occasionally a stream of glowing light filled with starry bright spots of different colors would move from the bottom of the wall, traveling into the spike-like construct. This room was somehow extremely calming, yet eerie at the same time.
I cautiously walked to the cushion, then kneeled on it. It was soft, and comfortable, if not used. Staying quiet, I closed my eyes, letting every thought that could've gotten the limelight to flow out and away. The longer I meditated, the calmer I felt. Somehow, I was becoming calmer than I'd ever been able to achieve in my life. Even my anger had no presence. Patience didn't exist anymore, because it didn't need to. Time continued to pass, though I had no idea how much. An hour or a minute might as well have been the same. I was enjoying the calm, but I was beginning to question if anything would happen. Just as I was getting ready to do literally anything, I felt a deep bass and vibration, in and around my body. Just as shock ran through, my eyes opened instinctively.
"What… the fuck?"
Although it was only a moment ago that I was kneeling in that carved-out room, I found myself kneeling in a grassy field of hills, except it was no ordinary field. The sky was a void, holding innumerable stars, some grouped together in clouds of red, orange, purple, green, and yellow. The field itself was either transparent, allowing me to see the rest of the starry void through it, or it was a part of the void itself, for every blade of grass held small points of light, like stars of different colors. They swayed in the wind like a wave.
I could easily see why it was called the astral plane. I saw figures, people, shining like golden lights, others in a pale blue, some like red hot steel. They didn't have the same starry appearance as everything else. They all walked in the same direction, none of them focused on me.
I turned to my left to see the light blue and white fox spirit rise from the ground on top of a small hill, probably from a den I couldn't see.
So it's not transparent.
It stared at me, lowered its head and body as if it wanted something. Its tail started wagging quickly. I kneeled down, making myself small, reaching my hand out to it. Staying low, the fox walked, or more like crawled, to me. When it got close, it reached forward with its nose to sniff my hand. After a second, it pulled back, lowering once again. I kept my hand out, took one crouched step back, then sat down. I noticed as the fox cautiously approached, my arm looked normal, not astral. When the fox got close, it sniffed my hand again, then got even closer, practically putting itself into my hands.
I petted it. As it rubbed into me, it started glowing brighter and brighter, before dissipating into small streaks of its color, until that faded too. I noticed the index finger of my right hand gained a horizontally-bordered tattoo of a sleeping fox, in-between the first and second knuckles, almost like a ring.
Do I have a fylgja now?
I felt rumbling, as if an army was charging. I looked behind myself to see hundreds apon hundreds of animal spirits of many colors quickly heading in the same direction as the wandering people. All sorts of water creatures swam through the very same sky the avian spirits flew through. A gigantic whale, bigger than Abraxas, swam right over, singing highpitched calls through the air. They all left an ethereal trail of their colors. All sorts of land animal spirits ran through the field, parting only to avoid me. A gazelle, horse, striped horse, some large, long-snouted, big eared giant creature. Many different dog-like creatures, even rodents, all ran together. A black and purple-streaked wolf broke formation to stand in front of me, becoming the new point of parting.
We stared at each other for a while. It sniffed, and so did I. I couldn't smell anything, other than the smell of fresh water. The wolf approached me, slowly, keeping its head and tail high. Just as it got close, I kneeled. After a moment, its tail lowered with its head as it pressed the top of its head against me. Just like the fox, it glowed stronger and stronger until dissipating, leaving a similar tattoo on my middle finger, this time with the image of a running wolf.
Is two normal? Where are they all going?
Most of the animals had already passed me. I followed the creatures' path with the seemingly-infinite people. I couldn't help but be curious. Time felt different, but every now and then I saw a dragon silhouette in the distance. Several different ones at that.
Is this where their souls wander? Or is this where they go after wandering?
After what could've been an hour, or thirty minutes, maybe ten, a large, steep hill rested ahead of me. There was a glow, like a halo, along its edge of sight. I followed up the hill cresting over it to see an intensely luminous, white and gold tree, identical in shape to the tattoo on my hand. I wasn't sure how, but I could even see its roots deep below. It was huge, definitely the hugest thing I'd ever seen. Even though I was far away from it, I could tell it was bigger than Trelanwi. In fact it made Trelanwi look small. All around the edge of its wide, dark, starry area, long, seemingly infinite lines of people walked to it from all directions, not just mine. Everything converged to this godly tree. Without any wasted time, I became compelled to get closer, a feeling beyond thought making my body want to react on its own, so on I walked.
Out of seemingly nowhere, I heard repeating eagle calls from the sky. I stopped, and looked up to see a red and orange crowned eagle. I almost thought it was a phoenix for a moment, though it would've been small for a phoenix anyway. It was circling me in the air. I quickly went back up the hill to get closer to it. It still circled me. Staring at it, I outreached my arm to the side, making my forearm a little higher than my shoulder. The eagle called once more, before diving down. Just as it got close, it started flapping to slow down, just before landing on my arm. It lowered its head, like a slight bow, then glowed, and dissipated, leaving a tattoo of it on my right ring finger.
That makes three. Is this normal? I'll have to ask them. Wait, how do I even leave?
I felt a warmth to my side and I looked back to the tree, its bright glowing body alluring me once more, running deeper than my mind.
What is that tree?
I walked down the hill, heading toward it. Eventually, I got to the bottom. I kept walking, following the distant animals and numerous people. I was mesmerized.
After some time, my right step splashed, returning my focus back to me. I was ankle-deep in water. I noticed the dark, starry water filled the wide, massive space around the tree. It was probably why I could see its roots. I looked around. The humanoid silhouettes kept walking into the ever-deepening water. After a certain point, they just disappeared into it.
What in the hels is going on? Is this the ocean I was told about? Doesn't look big enough. Why did it make me come here?
A voice, sounding somewhere between man and woman, mostly woman, honeyed and powerful, filled the space. "I wasn't expecting the opportunity to meet you so soon."
I looked around, finding no one. "What? Where are you?!"
"You're quite fascinating, you know."
"Answer me! I don't know you!"
"There's a power; a potential, deep within you. A world-changing, unstoppable power, tamed by and compared only to the girl's."
"How do you know all of this? Who are you? Where are you?"
"I stand tall, in front of your eyes. Can't you tell?"
"The tree?"
"Yes. Now, come. There's much I'd like to learn of you. Join me in conversation."
"How do I know I can trust you?"
"Trust? Such a curious, and mortal concept. I will not cause you harm, if that's what you wish to know."
"What are you?"
"Life immemorial. Now come, young child. Join me."
"Is the water safe?"
"Your soul could never lose its way in my presence, dear Ladon."
What do I do?
"Whatever you wish," It answered, in my mind.
"How do I know you haven't lied?"
"An interesting question. I have no way to prove anything to you… not without your action coming first."
I took a second. Screw it. I stepped forward. "Do I swim?"
"You don't need to."
It confused me, but I continued walking anyway. Eventually, one step brought me from chest deep water, to chin deep. I took one big breath, then took one more step. My foot found no purchase, and I fell, sinking into the water. Looking around I realized where I was walking was more like the edge of a cliff. I tried swimming; I certainly could, but it was like my body was a rock. I could move around, sort of, but not up.
I started panicking, especially since I could only hold my breath for so long. The more I panicked, the more I moved. The more I moved, the less air I had. Before I knew it, I gasped for a breath. Miraculously, a breath came. I knew I was underwater, that clearly hadn't changed, yet I could breath. I started noticing thousands aponthousands of people sinking around, many far away appearing like distant lights without shape.
Maybe it's not water.
"It is Asteria and Chlowan's creation. Ginnungavatn. I believe in your tongue it would mean water of the void, or water of the stars. It has many properties. It nourishes my soul; my power."
Eventually, I landed. The thousands were walking to the center, from every point they sank from. I continued walking.
"What are you exactly?" I could talk too.
"The elves call me Tré af Líf. They're a well-intentioned people, I will admit, but their hubris arrives at the idea that keeping me a secret, and themselves, are all that are needed."
"Needed for what?" I was getting closer to a root.
"Protection."
"Protection from what?"
"Touch me and I will show you."
The tree's roots were planted in the ground at several spots in this massive underwater space. I walked to the closest one. It was bigger than Trelanwi. I placed my palm on it, feeling its warmth. Power, like a flash, surged through me. Immediately I saw images, flashes, of places. I saw a lava-filled space, an ashy wasteland, a dark place of temptation, a near-pitchblack space of water, a space of infinite flames. Then I saw a desert of ice, and blizzard storms, a mountain range of sharp, jagged peaks, and an expansive battlefield with innumerable, ever-fighting warriors.
"Hel has an important purpose, that much is certain. However, not all of it serves such purpose."
Suddenly I saw hordes, and formations of demons, and monsters of a kind and variety I never could've imagined. Some were like walking siege weapons; others had wings; others flew without wings; many were on the ground. They were around many dark fortresses, the likes of which I'd never seen.
"The forces of hel seek death; the ultimate death . . . mine. If I die, then the chances of life continuing on Adthera become slim at best. They've been seeking my death longer than humans have even existed."
Suddenly I saw images of a massive burning birch, a fallen spruce, uprooted beech, wilted sycamore, a decimated black ash, and a large hole bigger than any I could've imagined, like an endless pit.
The tree's voice returned, sorrowful and vengeful. "So many of my children have died. Only two on their own… the rest, felled by those demons who seek the end of life. They ignore the complete and utter diminishment of death that comes with all living things dying. The natural balance will be ruined."
I backed away. "This is crazy. What does this have to do with me?"
"Little, at the moment. Just a few questions must be asked."
"Okay?"
"First: do you wish for the world to die?"
"No?"
"Good. Second: are you willing to defend life when it needs defending most?"
"I'm not sure about anything like that. It would depend on if the efforts would be in vain, if it would be possible to win, or if I'm needed at all. I'd rather have nothing to do with all this."
She continued as if the last part wasn't said. "Third: if I were to call apon you, would I be able to trust that you would answer?"
"...Sure."
"Very well. This has gone better than I expected. Goodbye, son of-"
I felt my body collapse, as my eyes closed on their own.
Wait, son of who?
"Who?!"
My eyes opened up to the dim room. I saw three glowing pairs of eyes, from three totems; one fox, wolf, and crowned eagle. My breath was hastened, my body covered in sweat.
What the fuck just happened?
The door burst open as Inowyn rushed in. "Are you okay?! I heard screaming!"
I calmed down my breath. "I'm not sure . . . what just happened."
Karasym entered. "Tell me everything you remember."
I showed my hand. A blue and white fox tattoo, a purple and black wolf tattoo, and one of a red and orange eagle.
"Three?!" Inowyn shouted.
"It's not entirely uncommon," Karasym started. "Trewari Borowyn has eighteen. Though I never would've expected this from an outsider."
"I only have two: the rabbit, and the anaconda." Inowyn showed me her hand. It had similar tattoos as mine, just of the animals she said.
"I saw so many spirits—even people. They led me to a tree. It called itself Tré af Líf"
"You spoke with the tree of life?"
"Yes, it . . . beckoned me, I think. I sunk in the Ginnungavatn, even touched one of its roots."
Karasym kneeled.
"What's going on?"
Inowyn spoke, more serious than normal. "Ladon. What did she tell you?"
So it's a she. "She wanted to know if she could call on me, when the forces of hel come, or something. She showed me hel."
"That must be why all those spirits have presented themselves to you." Karasym looked up to me. "She intends for you to be a warrior of life itself; a bringer of the end, to those who'd eradicate her. A champion."
I took a couple steps back. "Woah. I-I'm not sure about all that. She didn't even seem like she was in a rush."
"It's a good thing you're spending some time here, Ladon," Inowyn continued. "Training with us will definitely be beneficial."
"Am I the only one who thinks this is crazy?"
"It is," Inowyn answered. "But it's truth."
Is this what the original Ladon meant? It's not over yet?
"However," Inowyn continued, "I wouldn't worry about it too much now." She smiled at me. "Let's just continue on. If she doesn't need you now, then she doesn't. Tomorrow, we'll continue to train you in tree striding, and begin your training with the fylgja."
"...O-okay. How long was I in the astral plane for?"
"Three hours, give or take," Karasym answered.
"I see."
"Yup! That means you need to rest for the night!" Inowyn said, suddenly chippier.
"..."
She grabbed my wrist. "Come on, let's go before it gets too late. See ya, Karasym."
"May preyanor be with you, Tjali Inowyn."
We headed out.