Illiya - Taylor Neeran Chronicles #1

Chapter 14 - Lost

First morning

Taylor awoke with a stiff neck. She was still curled up against Char, his hand resting on her head. She gently lifted it off and tilted up her cap to look up at his face.

He opened one eye. "You are awake."

Taylor yawned and stretched, letting the blanket slide down onto her legs. "Yup. Were you... warm enough?"

Char nodded. "Yes. I am restored."

Taylor gave him a sidelong glance. "What do you mean, 'restored'? I didn't feel you move. You couldn't have gone to get any fruit."

"The tree sustained me," he said. "You may look."

Taylor stood up and shivered. It was still cool under the dark shade of the forest canopy, but there was bright sunlight poking its way through the branches here and there. "What am I looking at?"

"The tree," said Char.

Taylor walked around behind Char and tried to see what he was talking about. She gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh, my gosh! Char, the tree's got you. It's got... webby things... sticking into you! Can I help?"

Char shook his head. "No. I am nearly restored. Observe."

As she watched, hundreds of tiny, silvery tendrils withdrew into the rough bark of the tree, leaving Char's green back smooth and unmarked. "What the hell was that?"

"Aeden protects. Aeden serves. Aeden restores. Sustains. Sometimes with fruit, other times, we need... restoring tree. Yahnee."

"You mean not just any tree can do that?"

"No."

"And you can just... plug in... to it?"

"Yes."

"Like the memory tree."

"Similar, yes."

"Holy crap. Hold on, I need to do something." Taylor grabbed her backpack and unzipped the top. She pulled out the notebook and pen from her bag. She scribbled furiously for several minutes. "Something tells me I'm going to need to write really small."

Char waited patiently.

"So this, ah, restoring tree, Yahnee, it just... knows you need it?"

"Yes."

"And it... knows how much you need?"

"Yes. This time was longer than usual."

"And you just... lean against it?"

"Yes."

"Wait! I was leaning against it. Did it plug into me?" She twisted around, trying to look at her back.

"No. You are not Illiya yet."

Taylor let the notebook fall by her side. "What does that mean?"

"You... must learn. To become like Illiya, you must... learn."

"Huh," said Taylor. "You said 'not Illiya yet', instead of 'not like Illiya yet'. What's with that?"

Char waved a hand. "A mistake of words. I was tired. I am now restored. Restoring sometimes causes temporary confusion."

Taylor lifted up the notebook and made a couple notes, shaking her head. "If you say so."

"I do. Now, while I am restored, I believe you must be very hungry as you did not eat last night. Time for you to find some fruit," said Char as he stood up and stretched.