Excerpt: Bard Tree from The Renegade Ocarinist (a clean fantasy adventure)

Mia smiled as her ghostly song sent the big hunter away. She wasn’t helpless by any means, and with these new abilities she could keep herself safe from anyone. She followed the three, hints of familiarity brushing her mind. She was feeling more at home with every step. That was it! They were going to the grove where she had learned the bardic magic. “But why are they going there?” she whispered to herself. Her eyes widened when she realized they were carrying axes.

She pushed herself into a light run as the clearing came into view.

“THWACK!” rang through the air around her. “THWACK! THWACK!” resounded in dual chops. She watched the tree that had spoken with her shake with every strike.

“No!” she tried to call out, but only silence graced the air. She tried to call forth the power of song but her voice would not respond. In desperation, Mia ran toward the group, hiding from tree to tree. She had hoped to sneak up on them but she was stopped in her tracks by a repelling force that knocked the wind out of her.

As she gasped for air on the ground she tried crawling toward her beloved tree, but she made no headway. “THWACK!” Crawling under a bush to hide from their eyes she saw a familiar face turn and stare right at her, a coy smile  sculpted onto her face. The woman didn’t see Mia, but knew she was there. Mia, however, did see her and felt betrayal overcome her.

*****

“Timber!” called Fat Will mockingly as the tree crashed to the ground, a stump the final evidence of it ever being buried in the ground.

The woman said nothing of their observer to them. They didn’t need to know that their guide was watching all that happened.They’d find out soon enough. She pulled two small spades from inside an unseen fold of her red dress.

“Dig the stump out of the ground,” she ordered.

Both men grabbed a spade and started digging. Mum made greater progress than the priest, who was prone to take several breaks, breathing heavily. Just over an hour had passed when they finally stopped. With a heave, Mum flipped the stump over, revealing a disheveled network of long, stringy roots, many of which had a glowing seed attached. Carefully, the woman snipped them off with her dagger and poured them into a small, canvas pouch.

There were eleven seeds in all, one for each rune that kept the hideous creature safe from their attack.

“Plant these seeds upon each rune and their magic will counteract and dispel them,” she instructed the two men. Mia heard the instructions, but something inside told her to wait.

“Come, let us return to the tavern,” she said, leading them right past the bush Mia was hiding beneath. “Your guide,” she said, a bit too loudly as she stopped beside Mia, “has been waiting for you long enough.” Mia could have reached out and grabbed her leg as she turned and walked back toward the city, but she did not.

She watched the two men’s silhouettes outlined in the moonlight, Fat Will pretending to take another swing at the tree, and laughing in a giddy manner.

When they were out of sight, she crawled out from beneath the bush and crawled toward what remained of the tree. Tears streamed down her face as she approached the desecrated tree. She saw two crude letters etched into the bark, bleeding green sap: F. W.

Touching the tree, she softly called, “Hello?” There was no response. There was no life left in the tree, nor magic left in its roots. Mia tried singing some light into the clearing but her magic did not react. With the severance of the tree’s seeds it no longer sourced her powers and she felt helpless and alone. A thought crossed her mind and she felt around the tangle of roots to see if perhaps there was a seed they missed. She had no luck, though, and sat on the ground, her back resting against the fallen tree.

A wave of warmth began to rush through her body. It was not rage, although she was angry. Nor was it illness, although she felt sick. It was that feeling when an epiphany slowly unraveled inside your mind and your body radiates with the knowledge of what needs to be done.

With determination guiding her actions, Mia stood up and pulled her ocarina from its pouch. She gazed at it, sadness welling within her.

“This is what they want,” she reasoned coldly. “And it is what they never will have.” Kneeling down, she dug a hole a short distance from where the first tree had sprung up. Closing her eyes, she quickly placed the ocarina into the hole and covered it up, waiting in anticipation.