Ambrosia

by Aaron Lee Yeager

  Philiastra struggled within herself. “I…I can’t let you do this.”

  She held out her hand and roots grew up from the ground, wrapping themselves around Wei as he stood there calmly.

  “My dear, you have learned much. I taught you all you know, and you have been a good student.”

  His eyes flashed with red flame, and the roots obeyed, peeling off of him and ensnaring her instead. Philiastra tried to assert control, but the roots would not obey her, encasing her in a cocoon of strong wooden bands.

  “…But I have not taught you everything I know. I have spent years perfecting our craft. Your pitiful skills are nothing before me.”

  Traitor! the trees shouted.

  Blasphemer! they called again.

  Red devil!

  Wei calmly waved his hand, and the entire forest around him went into a magical slumber. “I am a forest nymph,” he explained. “I avenge the trees. Humans are my enemy.”

  He stepped close and ran the back of his finger over her cheek. “I beg you to stay out of this, Philiastra. If you take their side over the forest, I would have to treat you as an enemy, and believe me, I have no wish for that.”

  He placed his hand on her belly again. It made her skin crawl.

  “Your womb is the only one pure enough to hold my seed. When I return, I will plant within you the first of a new race of perfect forest nymphs. They will share my vision for the future, they will see me as the hero I am. And when our numbers are sufficient, we will cover the world in blessed wood. We will eradicate the human infestation once and for all.”

  He staggered a little, weariness overtaking him. “And then, we will finally have peace. The voices will be silent, once and for all.”

  At his command, a few more roots grew up and bound Philiastra tightly. “Please stay here. The humans on this island are all dead, you will be safe here.”

  Philiastra strained against her bonds, her muffled voice releasing an impressive strong of curses in both common and her native tongue.

  Wei pressed his hand against his temple. “Digging so many graves has wearied me. I must rest before I can dig more.”

  He looked up in excitement. “I just realized, this will be my final sleep with the voices still screaming. When I wake, the people of Ápinso will be judged, and then my vengeance will be complete. I can’t tell you how excited I am for tomorrow night. It will be the first time in a decade when I will sleep well.”

  He wrapped his arms around himself. “The peaceful sleep of the righteous.”

  Wei jumped back to the tree line and fell back, the trees catching him as if he were falling into a soft bed. His body fused into the mass of the trees, and then he was gone.

  Philiastra fought against her bonds for hours. Even the other plants nearby refused her commands, Wei’s hold over them was so strong.

  Finally, she went still in her cocoon of wood, her tears seeping out through the seams.

  “What am I going to do? I don’t belong anywhere. Not in the forest, not amongst the humans…why does no one want me?”

  She wept quietly amid the snowy ruins of the village, her tears freezing as they touched the permafrost. A light snow began to fall, surrounding her in frozen tears.

  There was a faint rustle of wind, and a sound just at the edge of her hearing.

  She tried to move, but the roots held her fast.

  The sound came again, not so much a word but a feeling. An emotion carried on the breeze.

  “Who is that? Who’s there?”

  She stilled her heart and listened closely. Something was coming from the trees. Something calling her.

  …ire…

  She tried to connect with the roots that held her, reaching out through the web beneath the ground, but they resisted.

  …ili…

  She pushed harder, and from beyond Wei’s spell, she could feel the trees on the other side pushing out towards her. There was something urgent in the tone, something dire.

  …fire…

  “Fire? Did you say fire? Is a tree being threatened with flame?”

  She pushed even harder. Somewhere, somehow, there was a tree screaming out in fright, calling for protection. Calling for her.

  …Phili…

  “Phili? Is that?”

  Gathering all her remaining strength, she pushed as hard as she could against Wei’s spell, the will of the forest pushing towards her from the other side. Wei’s spell pinched, the distance between her and the awakened trees growing closer and closer.

  Philiastra screamed, the image of Storgen pushing her to exert harder than she ever thought imaginable, giving her strength beyond her frame.

  The two sides touched, and Philiastra’s body melted away, fusing into the roots around her and vanishing.

  ~

  On the outskirts of Ápinso, there was a small forest that cleaved the surrounding farmland. Many decades earlier, some irresponsible aristocrat had planted too many trees too close to one another, and now the land was forever uninhabitable to humans. About three square acres of dead zone with numerous warning signs and barbed fences. The edges were routinely pruned by government certified experts at great expense to the taxpayers to ensure the forest could not claim more land, but within it had grown dense and fierce, a nearly solid wall of impenetrable woods.

  Storgen scooted closer on his wheeled chair he had cobbled together from various things and plucked out a warning sign from the Forest Prevention Bureau with his remaining hand, tossing it into the burning pile of government signs near the tree line. The trees groaned and creaked as they saw the flames.

  Mov leaned over and removed the feed bag from her dragon. “Are you sure you’re okay with me leaving you here? Word is the armies of Sirend and Reinala made war this morning at the fortress of Froúrio in Garralos. People say the explosions can be heard for hundreds of miles. Themiskyra has been attacked by both Erotan and Agadis, and all the northern isles of the Empire have been invaded by beastmen armies from the confederacy. The whole world is plunging into war. Some say the day of Katálixi has finally arrived.”

  “I’m not here to save the world,” Storgen affirmed, grabbing another sign. “The world has never done anything but hurt me.”

  He looked at all of the special bureaucratic stamps and stimples that littered the sign, so numerous they mostly covered the actual warning. “I’m here to save the woman I love.”

  He tossed the sign into the fire.

  Mov nodded in admiration. “She is a lucky girl. Take care, Screpio.”

  Storgen waved to her. “You too. Protect the people close to you. That’s all any of us can do.”

  With a faux salute, she jumped atop her dragon and took off into the sky. Everywhere, airships were frantically taking off, carrying frightened passengers away from the front as the war zone threatened to grow closer.

  As Storgen watched her fly away, a huge boulder came crashing down, stamping out the fire and pile-driving it into the earth, along with a large section of barbed fencing.

  Storgen nearly fell out of his chair. From the angle, he could tell the rock had come from somewhere within the wood.

  “Phili, is that you?” he called out.

  The trees only rustled quietly.

  “Come on, Phili, I’ve been calling you for hours.”

  “You shouldn’t be here,” came a familiar voice. Storgen looked around for the source, but couldn’t find it.

  “I need to talk to you.”

  “Go away. I don’t want to see you.”

  “I’m just gonna start another fire.”

  “Don’t you dare!”

  “Well, then, come out and talk.”

  For a long time, Philiastra didn’t respond.

  “I…I don’t want to.”

  Storgen huffed. “Why not?”

  “Because I don’t want to hurt you anymore!”

  His expression grew softer. Amid the quiet rustle of the leaves, he thought he could make out the sounds of quiet crying.r />
  “Well, if you won’t come out, then I’m coming in.”

  “What are you doing?”

  He began scooting his wheeled chair closer and closer to the tree line. “What does it look like? I’m coming to talk to you.”

  He slid down past the broken fence, his chair snagging on wire and splintered wood.

  “You can’t enter the forest, Storge. It’ll kill you!”

  He tried again, but his chair was caught fast. Dumping himself out of his chair, he hit the ground with a thud and began to drag himself with his one arm. It broke Philiastra’s heart to see it.

  “Stop, Storge!”

  He grunted and pulled himself into the forest, his face beading with sweat. “I’m not turning away.”

  “Storge! You’ll die!”

  She jumped down from her hiding place, running to him in panic as the forest went silent around her. She pushed past the sickening sensation, sliding down at his side.

  “Storge! Storge, are you all right?”

  She rolled him over, and found him to be perfectly alive.

  “Yes, I’m fine.”

  “Wha? How are you…?”

  He held up a silver chain with the crimson stone dangling at the end. “The stone kept me safe from the curse.”

  “Oh, you twig! I should have known!”

  She pushed him away. “You scared me to death.”

  “I’m sorry, but I wanted to see you again.”

  “So you set fire to the trees?”

  “I didn’t set fire to them, just near them. What else was I supposed to do? You could have been anywhere on the planet.”

  “How do you even have the stone, anyway?”

  “When I fell to the bottom of the chasm, I landed right next to it. I was losing consciousness, and I couldn’t think of anything else to do…so I swallowed it.”

  She shook her head. “That is so like you.”

  He looked at her intently, and she could feel herself blush.

  “I’m glad it worked,” he said. “It is nice to see you again.”

  There was such a tenderness in the way he looked at her. Such admiration, as one would look at a treasure. She could feel her blush deepen under the scrutiny of his gaze.

  “You left, Phili. You never gave me a chance to answer you.”

  “Answer me?”

  “To answer your question. You asked me if I felt anything when we kissed. The truth is I felt everything, and it scared me.”

  He hefted himself up to lean against a tree trunk. She moved to help him, but he raised his hand to stop her. He wanted to do it himself.

  Storgen huffed as he leaned back. “I realized I was falling in love with my best friend, and it frightened me, because that wasn’t the plan I had for myself. But, love doesn’t follow plans, it doesn’t arrive on schedules, and it doesn’t take your goals into consideration. It comes when it comes, and I should have told you, Phili. I should have had the courage to embrace it and act on it like you did.”

  He looked at her ardently. “You are such a courageous person for telling me how you felt. I imagine it scared you to do it.”

  “It was…terrifying. And when I wore those clothes and makeup and said all those embarrassing things, and you still didn’t respond, I felt like garbage.”

  “You were forthright and honest, and I was a coward. I ran away, I pretended I didn’t feel anything. And when I tried to court Agaprei, it failed miserably. I tried to give away my heart to her, but I couldn’t, because it already belonged to someone else.”

  He looked at her fervently. She felt herself getting lost in his eyes.

  “It belonged to you, Phili.”

  She looked down at his bandaged knees and elbow, and guilt overtook her. She began to scoot away. “You shouldn’t put me on a pedestal. I’m no heroine, there’s nothing admirable about me.”

  He took her wrist and bade her to stay. “That’s not true.”

  She closed her eyes, trying to shut out the image of his wounds. “Yes, it is.”

  He pulled her to him. “Hey, I’ll not have you talk that way about my best friend.”

  She inhaled sharply to have him so close. She was against his broad, chiseled chest. She laid her hand against it, intending to push him away, but instead left it there.

  Her closed eyes began to fill with tears. “But…I hurt you. I hurt you so much. I took everything from you.”

  She felt a gentle finger on her chin, lifting up her gaze.

  “I forgive you,” he said with adoration. “Will you forgive me, for hurting you?”

  She could feel her tears traveling down her green cheeks. “How? How can you possibly forgive me after what I did to you?”

  He looked at her with his kind blue eyes.

  “Because I love you.”

  With his thumb, he wiped away her tears, then leaned in to kiss her. She hesitated, nearly drawing away as he neared, but his eyes were so confident, so sure in what they wanted, that they bade her stay.

  When his lips touched hers, it felt like a spark of energy arced between them. His lips felt so warm. So irresistibly warm. His very smell was flooding her senses. The kiss was slow and soft, comforting like a luxurious stretch after a long nap. A strong sensation began at the base of her spine, rising up into her chest. When it reached her heart, it felt like it burst open, and her feelings exploded outwards, overpowering her guilt, overwhelming her remorse.

  The swirl of emotions made her gasp. Her body felt lighter and lighter, as if she was beginning to float. The world around her seemed to fade away. Their breaths mingled deliciously as her heart fluttered in exhilaration. She could feel the layers of her mind eroding away. Her reason, her thoughts, her very will sliding off of her as her body submitted to his delicious touch. Her strength faded, and she sank into his hold.

  They pulled apart for air, taking shaky, shallow breaths as they stared deeply into each other’s eyes. His eyes were full of affection and wonder. Her eyes were full of rapture and curiosity. The pull towards him was positively magnetic. She could feel her body drawn him with an overwhelming force.

  Unable to contain himself anymore, Storgen placed his hand on her cheek and drew her in. She obeyed willingly, closing her eyes as he gave her a fiery, passionate kiss. Their love seemed to flow through their veins, warming them. They felt like breaking out into blissful song, a euphoric note of sublime radiance. Every inch of them was saturated with joy.

  His hand fell to her waist, making her heart squeal with delight. Her hands traced hungrily over his back, feeling the strong bulging of his muscles and exploring his broad shoulders. She pulled him closer until there was no space left between them, her body molding itself to his, as her heart did the same. She could feel their spirits pressing, cleaving, coexisting. Their essence mixed, swirling and curling until she could not tell where she ended and he began. His feelings were hers and her feelings were his in a bond stronger than any magic could produce. Time faded away and all her worries and insecurities evaporated. She could not recall ever feeling so perfectly safe, so intimately cherished. Their hearts beat as one, a thousand times stronger than they ever had separately. Infinitely stronger than the sum of its parts.

  She had no concept of how long they kissed. It felt like an eternity. The sun and moon sped overhead, and seasons came and left in a blur of color and sound. A blissful eternity that stretched from the tips of her leafy hair down to the tips of her toes. Gradually, she opened her eyes, and found his captivating eyes looking back at her. This was her first waking memory, for she truly felt like a different person now. The old Philiastra was gone, and now reborn. Before there was ‘I,’ now there was ‘us.’

  “I love you too,” she said, feeling a little silly to say it now. “Thank you for coming back.”

  “Thank you for letting me back in.”

  He gave her another quick kiss, and every sensation from before passed through her in quick succession, like a ripple of ecstasy passing though her body. She knew in
that moment that she was hopelessly addicted to the touch of his lips, and would never be able to live without it. She needed it like she needed water and sunlight. A necessary component of her life, a desperately necessary nutrient for her heart.

  He picked up the stone by its chain and set it down in her hand. “This is for you. It was made from the essence of my heart, so it is only right that it belongs to you now. Use it to rebuild your forest realm.”

  Her eyes went wide. “The stone.”

  She sat up, nearly knocking him over. “We can use the stone.”

  “Well, yeah, that’s why I brought it.”

  “No, I mean my parents.”

  “Well, yeah, we should probably ask for their blessing before we plan the wedding.”

  “No, we need to save them.”

  “I’d say that is a bit of an overreaction. As I recall your parents kind of liked me.”

  “No, dummy. Wei has been hunting the human survivors of Dasikí Chará. My parents are in danger, but with this, we can save them.”

  Storgen stared blankly for a moment. “Oh.”

  “Come on, we’ve got to hurry. Wei is resting. If we hurry, we can beat him there.”

  “What are you going to do? Are you going to take him down?”

  “No, that is not who I am. I am not a warrior of the forest, at least not entirely. Neither am I completely an alchemist either. I touch the world of humans, as well as the woodland realm, but I do not completely belong to either of them. I will forever be between two worlds, but that does not mean I have no place. I know that now. I do have a place, it just so happens that there is only one other person in it with me at this time.”

  He looked at her, grateful to be included. “Who are you then?”

  She stood up, her eyes resolute. “I am a protector. I’m going to save them. I am going to save them all.”

  * * *

  Cherry blossoms fell from the holy trees, the water giving off clear, silvery notes as the pink petals landed in the Singing Pools of Jenala. There, amid the peaceful surroundings, the lost and homeless of the streets stood with their hands extended as Gasper Thavma passed out the morning bread.