Emrys opened his eyes to see a clear night sky. There wasn't a cloud in sight and the stars were shining much brighter than usual.
He struggled to move his body at first but eventually it gave way. When he stood up straight a bunch of wood chips broke off his body and fell to the ground.
Emrys felt that something was wrong. The last thing he remembered was fighting a demon that had somehow made it too far into the forest and then nothing.
He decided to check out the surrounding area to see if anything had changed, and it had. Before his fight with the demon, only part of this area had been corrupted. But now it was all corrupted as far as he could see.
The once beautiful forestry, with green leaves and dark brown tall trees was now corrupted in the most horrible way.
The trees had this disgusting black sludge oozing from various different spots, large thorns were poking out here and there and all the shrubbery looked like it had been dead for a long time yet it had not decomposed back into the earth.
Like the earth was rejecting it in some way. After seeing this he was more than a little confused. He next examined his own body. He remembered being covered in corruption himself.
Now though, he looked completely fine. Actually he was better than fine. He felt like his body had been reversed through time to before all the many years of wear and tear that he had gone through.
The bark that covered the outside of his body like armor was now in perfect condition and the wood and vines that made up the inside of his body just passed the bark was young and green looking.
And when he looked even further inside, all the way to his soul, he could see his mana. It was at least ten times what he had before.
Normally he could hardly last a day with the mana he had, but now he could go for days or even weeks before needing to rest.
He was truly surprised to see this. He was unsure of how this happened but then he realized something even more important.
The forest. He was the last guardian, and if he had been asleep for all this time then he couldn't imagine the damage the demons were able to do.
He shook these thoughts from his head and started moving. His first destination had to be his cabin. He needed to gather his bearings and also check on his plants. They wouldn't have been able to survive long without him.
"I especially need to check on Thoko. Without tending to it everyday it would surely perish." Emrys thought while running through the decrepit forest.
It took him only a few minutes to make it through the forest. When he could finally see his cabin in the distance he visually cringed. The area around his cabin was terribly corrupted and his cabin looked like it had been abandoned for quite some time.
The first thing he did was run over to his garden. It didn't look good. Everything was dead as far as he could tell.
Emrys spent the next few minutes sifting through the rotted and blackened plants to see if their were any survivors.
Although the more he looked the angrier he became. His kind were deeply connected to nature, and they could not only feel the natures pain emotionally but also physically.
The pain he was feeling currently was immense but he was barely registering it. Then he finally got to where he had planted Thoko. At first glance it looked dead like all the others and Emrys turned away with his heart shattered into pieces, but that's when he heard something.
"Guardian...is that really you...?" It was hardly a whisper. Emrys was sure it was Thoko and was pleasantly surprised when he turned to see the small thorny plant moving slightly.
Emrys ran over and crouched in front of the plant. "Thoko...my...friend. I am...sorry."
"I never thought I would see you again." Thoko struggled to speak. It always had trouble gathering nutrients from the soil of this forest. It simply was not built to be able to survive here. The only reason it was still alive was because of the guardian taking care of it.
Emrys wanted to save Thoko, but at this point there wasnt much that could be done.
He looked at the shriveled up thorny plant and felt his heart cracking. There had to be something he could do. He was the guardian of this forest. He was meant to protect it and everything in it.
He thought back to the days when his people were still alive and flourishing. There was something that his mother had always had that confused him.
There was a small plant attached to her shoulder that she used quite often. It was a special type of plant that grew light blue leaves that, when ingested, could heal even the most fatal wounds.
If his mother had somehow attached that plant to herself then maybe he could do the same and save Thoko. Although, the process was irreversible as far as he knew. Emrys only needed to think about it for a moment before deciding it was worth it.
Emrys cupped his hands and began to carefully scoop Thoko out of the earth.
"Just leave me. It is too late..." Thoko pleaded. It looked so small and pitiful. Even some of its vines were corrupted like the surrounding land.
Emrys hoped in his heart that this would work. That he would at least be able to save one of his friends.
He scooped Thoko out of the ground and held it up and placed it on his left shoulder but nothing happened. There must be more to it then, he thought.
Emrys focused his mind on his soul, where all of his mana was stored. He imagined his mana moving from his chest up to his shoulder and into Thoko.
When he did this, he could feel Thoko's roots dig into his shoulder. It was extremely painful, like nothing he had ever felt before. It was like Thoko was being connected directly to his own soul.
The pain lasted for a short while but every second was more painful than the previous, and then it vanished.
Emrys opened his eyes and looked to his left shoulder. Thoko was indeed planted successfully. He almost couldn't believe it worked. Just when he thought it was over though, he started to feel his mana being drained rapidly.
He began to panic, but when he saw that every second his mana was being drained, Thoko was looking better and better. It was being healed.
"Thoko...can you...hear me?" Emrys asked hesitantly.
It was silent for a few seconds before it replied. "Guardian. How is this possible? I should be dead."
A small amount of water could be seen dripping from Emrys's eyes. All of the pain that he had been feeling ever since he had awoken had been worth it.
The feeling that treants got when protecting nature was indescribable. There was no better feeling for a guardian such as him, and this is the first time he had felt this since awakening.
"Feeling...better?"
Thoko's vitality was being restored and even the corruption was being purged, an ability that only the guardians are supposed to have. "Yes, I believe I will survive. Thank you for saving me once again, my friend."
"I am...glad." Emrys said and stood back up on his feet. His entire left shoulder was now covered by Thoko's thorns and the rest of his body was covered in bark. It was definitely the type of look that would strike fear into their enemies.
"This feeling is very strange. It is like we are connected now, and not just physically."
"Is...old...technique from...mother." Emrys explained.
"I see now. If I may ask, where have you been all this time? Its not like you to disappear out of the blue like that." Thoko asked.
"Fight with...demon. Became...injured. Couldn't...wake up." Emrys explained while walking over to his cabin.
"That must have been some demon to be able to injure you so."
"Yes. Very...strong." Emrys extended the roots from his hands to grab onto a large piece of wood that was blocking the entrance to his cabin and move it aside.
"What...happened...while sleep?"
"Well, you can probably guess. Without you protecting the forest from the demons, they became more aggressive. They stormed across the forest with minimal resistance, corrupting everything in there wake. By the way, what are you doing?"
"Need...something." Emrys replied. When he entered the cabin he went straight over to a small wooden shelf and looked around until he found a small cloth pouch covered in dust.
He grabbed the pouch and opened it up revealing an assortment of strange looking seeds.
"Seeds? Are they special or something?" Thoko inquired.
"Incredibly...so."