The Ten Guardians: The Mother Tree©

Chapter Twelve

Myrum had no magical abilities and instantly obeyed the order. She barely made it away from the fire before passing out. Her last batch of meat would be ruined, but Sparrow believed this timeline would soon be absorbed, so it was irrelevant.

Jaya fought the urge, even beginning to turn into the lich of life in her attempt to draw additional power to resist. She only made it halfway through her transformation before the attempt failed, and she returned to normal as she curled herself into a ball and went to sleep. It was not a restful sleep, but she could not resist the urge, no matter how hard she tried.

Lone Wolf shook his head as if to clear his mind, then locked eyes on Sparrow without a hint of fatigue in his gaze. Sparrow was surprised. He knew jackals were resistant to magic and designed to fight guardian’s magic, but he had put a lot of energy into that spell. Sparrow did not know how Lone Wolf would react to the attempt to put him to sleep, so he turned more fully to the Jackal, preparing to fight. To his surprise, Lone Wolf stood and bowed to him in deference.

“Creator, you have no need to use magic on me. If you wish me to leave, you have only to ask,” Lone Wolf replied.

Sparrow again recognized that his speech had significantly improved.

“I am not your creator. You know this. Why do you call me that?” Sparrow asked, not unkindly.

“I feel a title should be earned … like when Colson called me his ‘friend.’ The other races call their parents ‘mother’ and ‘father’ in respect and gratitude for the life their union created. I have never heard the term ‘mother’ or ‘father’ before. My people are taught from birth that we are servants of our creator, who took kanidian and human and mixed them to make them better. The gift of a title and gratitude are not bestowed to the female who carried me in her womb but to a monster who twisted our bodies to suit his purpose. He sowed hatred and superiority in our history, where neither should have existed. I no longer wish to give Ultaris a title he has not earned. You, however, I would gladly call ‘Creator’.”

Only then did Sparrow realize Lone Wolf was calling him his friend and alluding to him being his parent. It was such a touching sentiment, but worded so cryptically, that it was hard to know how to respond. Sparrow became a little emotional over the praise and was reminded again why mortals were so important for this world. He was going to respond, but Lone Wolf spoke again.

“There is no need for words. I am going forward. I have hidden how fast I can travel, so I know I can reach the others before sunrise. Maybe I can help with whatever event that has taken place.”

Lone Wolf walked over to Myrum’s sleeping form and smoothed the fur along her head and neck as he spoke to Sparrow, “Please… take care of my family.” Before Sparrow could react or respond, Lone Wolf sprinted into the darkness and vanished.

Sparrow sat back down on his bedding and opened his mind to possibilities. He knew he needed to tackle this problem with his full attention, without distraction. What Sparrow wanted to do was enter the void to find more of his powers or ask Lebine for advice and assistance, but she had cut him off from that place. He was not yet strong enough to force his way through her barrier, so the option was closed to him.

Sparrow slowed time around him, including his body, but allowed his mind to process normally. His thoughts raced through the information he understood about paradoxes, and he cataloged the resources available to him. He created and dismissed scenarios in the blink of an eye, seeing how each would fail as if he lived through the fictional existence. After a few minutes, he concluded he didn’t need to prevent the first event related to this unique paradox; he needed to prevent the second event from happening.

He also decided that correcting the event in this timeline would only resolve the creation of more loops of time from this point forward. It wouldn’t absorb the hundreds of loops that had already taken place. They would continue to exist, leaving hundreds of beings powerful enough to affect the true timestream or create their own additional paradoxes. Imagining hundreds of fully restored Ultaris’ trying to alter the history of multiple realities made his head spin.

With a plan in motion, Sparrow realized what he needed next was a power source, a sacrifice not unlike what created him in the first place, to reach the original event in the main timeline. What better sacrifice was there than an alternative timeline that would be absorbed anyway? Knowing he would have to separate the loop of time from the main timeline made him grateful that he had decided to put Myrum and Jaya to sleep. He had no faith in his ability to deceive, and they would try and make him explain or stop him. He also felt guilty but knew it wouldn’t matter in the end. He had to have the energy source of this timeline to correct the true timeline, so there was no other course of action to take.

Sparrow resumed time so he could focus his abilities on separating the loop of time and closed his eyes as he started preparing the spell in his mind. He poured energy into the spell, as much as he could, putting almost everything he had into it. Then he started feeling for the loops of time hanging from the main thread, seeking his own so he could separate it as a whole and turn the entire timeline into a separate looped dimension. He was beyond the point of going back without destroying himself but felt that it was working.

Suddenly, Sparrow felt a presence join him and opened his eyes to see another version of himself standing nearby. He had no idea if it was the same Sparrow he had previously spoken to or a different one, but he could not stop his spell, not even to converse. The other Sparrow did not look surprised to see him or his action, so he must have known what he would find.

“I know you can hear me and cannot respond. I am the Sparrow you spoke with before. I knew how you would act with this discovery because it is the same choice I would make, but thanks to you, I had an extra twelve minutes to think about it. Now as you were considering this spell, I was considering your actions. Sacrificing your timeline to rejoin the others is a noble effort, but you should have given the others in your party a choice. I know another version of them will live on, but this is what separates us from Ultaris. Holding all life precious, even duplicates that will cease to exist.”

The new sparrow waved his hands at the seated Myrum and Jaya, pulling energy from them that collected into a ball in his hand, then he projected the ball into the seated Sparrow, which was absorbed the moment it touched him. The seated Sparrow felt all of the memories of Myrum and Jaya from the last few days flood into his mind. They were boxed off, so he could not see the details, but he knew who they belonged to and that they were stored within him.

Then the new sparrow waved his hands at the seated Sparrow, and a line of energy connected their minds for a moment, and then the energy was gone.

“This is a tether that will allow your memory and experiences to pass to me, even if you sacrifice yourself to restore the timeline. Jaya and Myrum’s memories will also be passed on to me in this way. Then I, or rather the remaining combined Sparrows, will restore automatically when all is aligned again. The memories may be identical to another timeline, but it still deserves to be remembered.”

Sparrow could not respond, but he mustered a hidden reserve of energy and projected the image of Lone Wolf at the new Sparrow.

“You can do this to anyone you meet between now and when you correct the timeline. Thank you,” the new Sparrow said with a smile, knowing his message on the importance of their traveling companions had been heard.

“Now, since you are the first timeline to discover this paradox, no Sparrow’s before you will know what is happening. The ones after you, though, will all discover it. I have spoken to two others after my timeline, and we have collectively agreed that all Sparrows in all timelines after this one must take absolutely no action so that your action can be successful. We will continue to pass along the message and tell each new Sparrow when to pass the same message back along the line until this paradox is solved.

“Strength and wisdom be with you, Guardian,” the new Sparrow said in closing, and then with a surprised and thoughtful look on his face, he was gone.

Sparrow was taken aback by the alternative version of himself’s farewell message. Strength and wisdom be with you was not something he remembered saying before, but it felt natural now that he had heard it. From the other Sparrow’s face, he had been just as surprised when he had said it.

Sparrow’s vision blurred slightly, and he knew he had to focus on the task at hand. He closed his eyes and finished the spell, tearing his loop of time from the main timeline’s thread. The world seemed to shift and rock but then became still as the two ends of the loop connected, forming a ring. The ring of time started to spin on its own, speeding the world around him through time. He saw Myrum and Jaya wake up and try to help him, but they were all blurry because of how fast time was moving.

The sun came up, and within a few moments, which would have been a few hours in real-time, the loop reset. Sparrow was walking through the woods with his traveling companions, but time was sped up, and although he had full knowledge of what was going on, he had no influence on what was happening or the conversations that were taking place. It was like he was a trapped observer in his own mind, seeing events that could not be altered. They moved quickly, days and nights spinning by as they walked, camped, broke camp, and walked again. This led up to when Sparrow made the discovery of the loop in time and made the same choice to reset the loop, and then he sat there until everything was repeated again.

The loop happened countless times, all speeding past him as if a single loop of four days was spent in minutes. Sparrow knew he had to gain control of the loop and slow things down so he could make a conscious decision to take action after he created the loop, but he had poured everything he had into breaking the timeline away and didn’t have the strength. It seemed like an eternity passed until he suddenly had a thought.

“Lebine!” he called with his mind.

The cycle continued, but when it reset, he heard himself call her name as if echoing his original shout. As the ring of time spun, he called her name again in the same moment as the echo. “Lebine!” He repeated this method, calling her name with his mind in the exact moment every loop until the echo was so loud it deafened him to hear it, but still, he added to the call as time spun past.

This pattern of living four days in minutes and shouting Lebine’s name at an exact moment seemed to go on forever until one day, it didn’t. He fell onto the softest grass he had ever felt, dizzy beyond reason. He put his hands wide to hold the earth, gripping the grass as he willed his mind to stop spinning. It seemed to take ages, but eventually, his mind stopped swirling, and he felt it was safe to open his eyes. He saw green-skinned toes peaking out of flowing white robes, which shone like stars in the night sky. The grass seemed to encircle her feet, rubbing themselves against their creator.

Sparrow scrambled to his knees and almost fell again, but Lebine was on her knees, clutching his chest to steady him in a tender embrace. He wrapped his arms around her and held on tight, never wanting to let go again. The moment seemed to stretch forever until Sparrow realized that was a literal description of what was happening. He had pulled them out of the flow of time entirely, so they could spend eternity together if they wished.

“No, we aren’t going to spend eternity trapped here in this ring of time,” Lebine said into his chest, but also not letting him go as if she didn’t mean it.

“So, you know what is happening?” Sparrow replied as he stroked her white hair with his left hand.

“Yes, I have been watching. It took some time for me to let you in here, though. I had to realize that our timeline was separated now, so anything that happens here is irrelevant. So, I didn’t need to worry about you regaining your immortality within a mortal body. I’m not positive that is happening here, but if so, that could be the only way to kill you for good.”

“And Ultaris, so it wouldn’t be too bad of a trade-off if it stopped him,” Sparrow replied into her hair.

“That’s not the point, Sparrow!” Lebine pulled away and punched him in the chest angrily. “What a ridiculous name! I understand why you don’t want to be called ‘Ultaris,’ but a bird? I’m not going to sacrifice the best parts of you to eliminate a manageable threat, and you can’t give your jurisdiction to a mortal so you can leave this world until you are restored. You need him alive, even if you think he has nothing to offer you. You can never be whole without him.” 

“And neither can you …” Sparrow said softly, lifting her chin to meet his eye.

Her eyes went wide as she stared at him in silence. He cupped her face in his right hand and brushed a sudden tear away with his thumb. The knowledge had come to him the moment he had entered the void. It was as if his consciousness was a step closer to restoration, even if it was the smallest of steps.

“You are part of him, aren’t you? Ultaris, I mean. When you sacrificed yourself to kill … us … you two were joined somehow,” Sparrow asked, giving words to the unspoken accusation.

Her silence confirmed the information that she was indeed a part of Ultaris.

“He does not control me,” she said through tight lips, with anger and determination on her face.

“True. You helped the mortals when they released you. You fed them, guided them, advised them, and even armed them for battle with weapons to fight other guardians. Yet knowing you are part of him changes things,” Sparrow said as he stood up, pulling her to her feet and stepping away from her.

“Ultaris wanted the other guardians out of the way as much as he wanted to kill humans. They betrayed him and forced him … me … to watch as you died. If jackals couldn’t get it done, maybe mortals with runed weapons could do it. Was that his idea or yours?” Sparrow asked with a hint of anger in his voice. “This is why you didn’t want me here. It wasn’t to protect my immortality! I was thrown thousands of years into the future without a scratch on me. I already have my immortality!”

Sparrow realized there was a wall of vines around him with massive spikes projecting from the vines pointed at him. The grass beneath him was quivering as it reacted to its master’s emotions of anger. Lebine’s eyes were pools of black rage. When she spoke, the world around him seemed to quake with her voice.

“You earn a fraction of your old self back and think you have all the answers! YOU KNOW NOTHING! I am fused to the void, which is part of Ultaris and you, and I’m stuck here until the two of you are rejoined. Rejoined here! This is where your final battle will take place! This is where only ONE of you will triumph! That is why it must be cleansed because my fate is linked to the victor!”

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. The world stopped vibrating, and the thorns retreated to the earth before she continued.

“If Ultaris wins … a broken shell of a tormented creature who never recovered from the grief of watching his beloved’s murder … do you actually think he will let me go? He wouldn’t have the mental fortitude to consider releasing me from the prison of his own mind. He would cling to me. Forever. I would become an object to him, loved for what I represented and not for who I am.”

It was Sparrow’s turn to shed a tear, unable to hide his shame of accusing her of working against him.

“Now, remember this moment. Remember that just because you learn something new doesn’t mean you understand it. Yes, I am somehow joined to Ultaris, but I am NOT his. Nor yours, for that matter. I belong to no one but myself,” she finished firmly.

Sparrow reached out to her to embrace her, to apologize for his hasty words and judgment, but she took his hands in hers to stop the embrace and looked up into his eyes.

“I love you, Sparrow … but right now, I’m angry. Go. Finish what you started with this looped time, so this can all be forgotten.”

She seemed to blink suddenly as if a thought had entered her mind. Contrary to her previous words and actions, she quickly kissed him, holding the embrace momentarily. Sparrow began to feel his lips burning in real pain when she shoved him away from her. The ground was no longer below him, and he flung his arms wide to catch himself. He fell into a portal of Lebine’s making, sending him back to the point of time when he had separated their timeline.

As the portal closed and disappeared, Lebine turned and glared at the image of Ultaris standing nearby. A portion of him had entered the void when she had unlocked it for Sparrow to enter and had been hiding there the entire time. He couldn’t be fully there, or challenge her or Sparrow in any way, but he was partially present. The two halves of one soul looked nothing alike. Ultaris appeared like an older man with a long beard and an eye patch. His greasy grey hair was unkempt and shot out at strange angles. Despite his appearance, he was a force to be reckoned with. Sparrow was nowhere near the strength he needed to fight Ultaris, at least not yet.

“That was a surprise,” Ultaris said, scratching at the eye patch below his destroyed eye. “I mean your description of me, not that you let him into the void. I am him. I should call us ‘we’ all the time. I think that would be wise? All this used to be confusing, but now it’s not. You’re confusing. I remember this event taking place, but the conversation didn’t happen quite like that.”

She knew he was not a future version of the Sparrow she had just conversed with and had no memories from that time because it had never happened before. His own grasp of time, his stewardship, was fragmented. Lebine was warry of Ultaris when he acted this way. His sanity came and went unpredictably. Sometimes he would almost act as noble as Sparrow, although he was never kind or thoughtful. Those were personality aspects that he had sacrificed to try and reset time, aspects that were now only in Sparrow. Ultaris never considered her to be anything other than his prized possession, but he would remind her of his old self occasionally. Then there were days like today when his words were confusing and his appearance aged and faltering.

Usually, she would shut him out when he acted this way. She was strong enough to do that now and had been ever since Sparrow had declined to transfer full ownership of the void to Ultaris. The battle had almost been lost before it began, and she had a human mage to thank. It had been Jareth who had guided the adolescent version of Sparrow at that moment, dosing the fire of temptation. She had thanked him in their private conversation for helping Sparrow through that trial without explaining the severity of it.

“I only spoke the truth,” Lebine said firmly to Ultaris with a glare, daring him to contradict her.

She knew they would soon cease to exist because of their time loop being sacrificed to restore the rest of the world, so she had held nothing back in her description of Ultaris. A deadly silence fell over the area. It was eerie when contrasted with the beautiful scenery around them. Lebine was proud of the beautiful trees and lush grass which spread across the rolling hills around them. It was her favorite landscape and brought her peace, unlike any of her other creations. He knew he held no sway over her, even as he kept her prisoner. All he cared about was the keeping.

“Yet you also did not deny some things. It was I who instructed you to arm the mortals for battle, was it not?”

“You only wished for other guardians to die because your warped mind believes this is a punishment for some reason. I wished to set them free so they could go home. Arming mortals for battle fit my own goals and was merely coincidental to yours,” Lebine said angrily.

After a long pause, Ultaris let out a weary sigh, something very unlike him. It was only then that Lebine realized he looked … different. He was tired, physically drained, and she had missed it before. She was equal parts worried and excited at the same time. She had known that the mortal named Colson had sacrificed himself to hold Ultaris back from using the Well of Souls. Colson’s soul was strong enough to keep Ultaris in check for quite some time, but Lebine was worried about what would happen if Colson actually beat him. Ultaris needed to stay alive as much as Sparrow did, as they both needed one another.

Ultaris laughed suddenly at the expression of concern on her face, mistaking it for his well-being and not simply his continued existence. His laugh reminded Lebine of who she was dealing with. Colson wasn’t going to defeat him, and he was manipulating her into believing it was a possibility. She thought of firing back at him by telling him her concern was only for Sparrow’s restoration and that he could be forgotten for all she cared. However, instead of responding, Lebine waved her hand and blocked him from the void. He tried angrily to prevent the expulsion, but he could do nothing to prevent the walls from closing him off. In an instant, he was gone, returning her to the serenity of her landscape.

The void was almost completely cleansed now. The cloudy darkness was a film on the edge of its existence, but it resisted her somehow. She didn’t know what was holding her powers back from completely removing the darkness from the void, but she had to find a way to deal with it before Ultaris and Sparrow rejoined. Otherwise, he would eventually be eroded again, and the darkness would consume him.

The void was an interesting concept. She believed it was a physical space created when Sparrow and Ultaris had separated. It may be part of their immortality, it may be part of their subconscious, or it may be unrelated to any of it. All she knew for sure was it would be absorbed when they were rejoined, and she would either be freed or absorbed with it at that time. Ultaris would never let her go. Sparrow probably would, so she must ensure he beats Ultaris.

The question is, will she still love whoever steps out of the void when this is all over? Sparrow … or even herself?

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