Tree of Life Book III

Part II - Chapter 01

The fox hobbled away, now whole again.

"You see?" One of the men spoke to the others. "I told you. You saw its power."

One of the other men frowned, confused. "But I thought it was a plant…like a tree…"

The first scoffed. "Never mind that! We'll just bring it back with us first and then…"

A gust of wind.

Dirt and leaves in the men's faces.

Valorien had come to stand between the men and me, separating us.

"No, you will not." She crossed her arms over her chest. "You will leave and tell no one of what you know."

The men took a moment to regard each other and then the lithe, young woman with flowing, golden hair, standing before them, brandishing words, blocking their way.

They laughed.

She jumped in.

They fought, exchanging blows and punches. The men were no match for her. In a second, she had disarmed them and driven them back.

My eyes were wide. My jaw had dropped and was not coming back up. I had never seen her at work. I did not know her power. She moved so fast, like she was in three or four places at once.

When it appeared the men would not give up, she drew her sword and prepared to use it on them, that flaming instrument of power.

"No!" I threw myself into the fray and tried to grab her from behind.

She threw me a look of disgust. Reaching out, she clasped me by the scruff of the neck and tossed me aside like a doll.

Spinning about, she turned to face the men, levelling her sword at them. She took a breath. She rushed in.

It lasted only a moment, and then it was over.

And it didn't appear as if she was fighting at all. It was more like…painting.

She had launched herself into their midst and wielded her blade like it was a brush, reaching out and dabbing the men here and there with a splosh of paint and all on the same spot too. One cut to each man.

The cuts on the men were all on the left arm, about four inches long, just beneath the shoulder. All of them reached up to the new wound, all at the same time, as if rehearsed.

But it wasn't bleeding, their wounds.

As Valorien eased back, a tendril of light, a string of fire, thin and ethereal, wisped out from the cuts and came to connect with the flaming blade still clasped in her hand.

The men appeared confused. They peered from one face to another among their compatriots. They murmured beneath their breath.

My guardian stepped forward. She bent her head and addressed the men. "Do you know where you are?"

No answer, though they furrowed their brows, as if laden with a new headache.

"Do you know why you are here?"

Again, nothing.

"Good." She smiled at them. "Now go home." She flicked her chin toward the path leading out of the clearing.

Hesitant at first, the men began drifting away.

I eased up to stand beside her, but my eyes were on the men. "What did you do?"

Her eyes were on the men too. She shrugged. Smiling, she shook her head.

I bent my mind to it for a moment and thought I knew. "How much have you taken from them?" Was this the power of the Sword?

"Just enough." She nodded. "Just enough so they will not remember you or where you are. They will not find you again."

The four were nearly out of sight beyond the edge of the trees when one of them turned around and raced back to where we were. Stopping a few feet short of us, he fell to his knees.

He lowered his head. "I…" He shook it from side to side. "…please. My family is in great need. I am in great need…" He shook his head some more.

I leaned closer to her. "Will you use the Sword again?"

"No. This one is stubborn. He wants it too badly. If I do it right, I will have to remove too much. He will forget too much. He will forget who he is and what it's like to be alive. He will forget how to live. How to breathe. How to think. He will die."

"Then what will you do?"

She held up her hand and I became quiet. Sheathing her blade, she moved in closer to him. "Look here. Look at me."

The man's face remained lowered.

Crouching down, she took his chin and lifted it so it was in line with her own. She leaned in. "What do you want? Tell me…"

"I just want to be well…I'm sorry! Please…!"

"No." She shook her head. "Think again—what do you want?"

The man edged back. He stammered. He whipped his head back and forth.

Easing forward, she clasped the sides of his face and would not let him go. She bore her gaze deep into his eyes. "Tell me your one, true desire. In all of life, in all of everything, what is it you want most of all?"

The man swallowed. He dared to blink. "I want to live…and never die. I want to live forever. I want to…"

He jerked backward. His neck went stiff. He closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, something had changed in his orbs so all you could see was white.

She eased her hands from his face.

The man clenched shut his eyes.

He went limp, as if deflated.

She took his weight upon her arms and laid him down to rest on the grass. She stretched him out so he lay comfortably with his hands folded upon his chest. He was breathing evenly now, with his eyes closed, still mumbling a word or two here and there.

She knelt down beside him. She whispered something into his ear. When she was done, she stood up and dusted herself off.

"Will he be all right?" I studied the sleeping man on the grass.

"He'll be fine. He will never be a problem to you again. Let's go."

~~~

A/N:

Hi! ^.^

Well, here we are again. Names, names, names… Ug. :P

For this particular story, there were a few names that I wanted so badly to get just right. This was my thinking process.

I love Tolkien and all the names he has come up with, especially those for the elves. According to my limited knowledge, Tolkien's names were based on the older European languages, like old Norwegian, Norse mythology, Celtic, Old English, Old Germanic and so on. He even had his own language, I think, that of the elves, Sindarin.

So, loosely based on Tolkien, even though the root words and root sounds can mean other things in other settings, so if you do disagree, I know, pray forgive, however…

'Val' – 'strong' or 'protector', as in varor, Norse mythology.

'Lothlorien' – 'flower of dreams', or 'land of gold', or 'golden land'.

'Lorien' – 'golden' or 'dreams'.

So, to me, Valorien could possibly mean, the 'golden protector' or 'protector of the dream'.

'Aldaron' – 'Lord of the Trees', another name of Orome, a member of the Valar.