The Ten Guardians: The Mother Tree©

Chapter Thirteen

Sparrow’s consciousness fell out of the void and back into his own body, sitting on the ground in their campground. Lebine was in the void, which was not restricted by time. That was why seekers originally traveled through the void before Lebine closed it to the world. Lebine would have been able to see into the world and the moment she needed to push Sparrow back into this world. With his strength restored from visiting the void, a powerful part of himself, he was able to regain control of the loop of time and slow down its spin.

Permanently altering the speed of time for an entire world would have been impossible as standard time wasn’t in a ring, but this was a short-lived thread of time so Sparrow could pull it back to normal speed. It felt like fastening a vice to hold two objects together. Although possible, it was still very draining, almost as much as pulling the loop of time away from the other loops. He wouldn’t be able to adjust the speed of the loop again without risking what happened the first time.

Sparrow opened his eyes and saw the sleeping forms of Jaya and Myrum nearby. He had a decision to make and didn’t have much time to make it. He now understood that there were mere hours of sunlight before the event that started the paradox, and he needed to act quickly.

He needed to decide if he would follow his counterpart’s advice and wake up Myrum and Jaya so they could help him. They would have to move quickly to catch up to Lone Wolf and try to find the source of the paradox together. Also, Sparrow would have to decide if he should tell them that their entire timeline would be sacrificed to try and correct the real timeline or leave them ignorant of that fact. The alternative was to act alone, speeding himself forward until he found the paradox and try to resolve it on his own. There wouldn’t need to be any conversation, instruction, guilt, or remorse for sacrificing themselves.

Sparrow knew what he would do before he finished laying out his options. He knew the other Sparrow was right. The difference in these options was ‘choice.’ There was power in the mortals of this world, and the proof is the very fact that Ultaris is trying to use their souls as an energy source. Sparrow knew that energy, that power, was significantly stronger when it was used willingly instead of taken. If they acted out of love for others, rather than having that sacrifice be forced, their chance of successfully correcting the timeline was improved.

Although Lone Wolf could move quickly, it had technically been mere moments since he had departed their camp. Sparrow knew he had excellent hearing and would most likely hear him if he shouted in that direction with a normal voice. Sparrow decided to amplify his vocal cords anyway and shouted the jackal’s name at an incredible volume. Sparrow had faith he would return to the camp shortly, so he decided to take care of the others.

Sparrow woke Myrum and Jaya, surging energy and life into their bodies to remove any ill effects or grogginess. They both bounded to their feet. Myrum didn’t know what had happened, but Jaya, an experienced mage and powerful seeker, remembered the struggle to stay awake. In an instant, she was a life-lich, radiant and glowing, floating in the air with a flaming sword in her hand.

“First, you explain our position to us, then force us from the resolution? Explain yourself, Sparrow!” She shouted, pointing the flaming sword at Sparrow’s sitting form.

“We must move now. I will explain as we travel,” Sparrow said firmly.

“You are the Lord of Time! Make the time needed to explain or-” Jaya commanded him before Sparrow took action.

Sparrow waved his hand in a slicing motion, severing Jaya’s connection to her gift, her ability to transform into half-lich. He didn’t know how he did it, he didn’t even know he could, but instantly Jaya was transformed into her true form, an extremely old kanidian, and collapsed from the sudden loss of strength. Myrum clutched at her chest as if she was also in pain but was still able to dash to Jaya’s side. A low growl escaped her throat as she helped her grandmother to her feet with her free arm. Sparrow realized that Jaya’s gift was what was keeping her alive and in such good shape. Without it, she was frail, her body giving away her true age. He quickly lifted the shield he had placed between her gift and her body, and Jaya transformed into a half-lich again.

There was pure shock on her glowing face, and as she leaned on her angry granddaughter, she realized Sparrow had far surpassed her ability to fight or control. It was truly a humbling moment for her. Up to this point, she had held all of the cards and the party’s authority. She wasn’t sure if she knew how to follow another.

“I’m sorry, Jaya, but we have no time to lose. The loop will reset in a matter of hours, and all of this will be forgotten.  I will explain as best I can on the way,” Sparrow said as he started to transform himself into his dragon form.

Sparrow’s dragon form was far larger and stronger than when he fought Regnan and Donner. Trees were pushed over as his body expanded, and he centered his belly over Jaya and Myrum so they wouldn’t be injured as he transformed. His scales were mostly a plain brown but had golden edges, which made him shimmer in the sunlight. He had a leaner body than the elemental guardians, who looked clumsy compared to him. Sparrow kicked at trees to his left and right, making an open area for his wings to expand, then he called to them with his mind.

“Quickly, climb up! Leave everything!” he projected as he lowered his right wing to the ground and slanted his body so they could climb at an angle.

Jaya released the flaming sword in her hand and only brought her staff with her as she effortlessly bounded onto Sparrow’s back. She stayed in the glowing lich form to savor the strength it gave her. She would not soon forget how weak she felt when her powers had been cut off from her. Although Sparrow had said to bring nothing, Myrum had a pack on her back that she had apparently had ready to go at a moment’s notice, and he could see her bow and axe strapped across her shoulder.

Lone Wolf appeared from the woods, returning his weapon to his harness over his shoulder as he vaulted himself onto Sparrow’s back, not bothering to use the slanted wing. Sparrow knew that Lone Wolf had been about to attack him, probably because of his instinct when seeing a dragon. Thankfully, seeing Jaya and Myrum scrambling up his back caused Lone Wolf to reevaluate the situation and approach peacefully.

Sparrow caused a divot to appear between his shoulder blades where using his wings would cause the least stress to his riders. His three traveling companions sat in this divot and grabbed the edges of his large scales for support. Without another word, Sparrow took to the sky, circling as he gained height. In moments, he was high enough to clear any trees in his path and started soaring through the sky toward where he sensed the Guardian of Lightning was located.

Sparrow used his mind to project his voice to all his riders, regardless of their telepathic ability. “I was able to enter the void, if briefly, and it enhanced some of my abilities.”

“I noticed,” Jaya said back with her mind, referencing the moment he had removed her lich powers from her.

Sparrow projected the emotion of regret and respect to Jaya but moved on without voicing his feelings.

“Grey doesn’t know how to guard her location from me, and I can feel her presence now. We’ll be there in about an hour but mustn’t be detected. It is vital that we discover the cause of the loop without interfering with its creation. It is so important that I will say it again. Without interfering in ANY way whatsoever!”

“Shouldn’t we try and stop the event from forming in the first place?” Myrum asked loudly. She was unable to communicate with her mind and had to shout to be heard over the beating of Sparrow’s wings and the wind.

“We won’t know what caused the loop until after it has occurred, which will be far too late to correct it. Besides, there is something more I need to tell you, a decision I should have included you in … and I am sorry for that lack of judgment. It took another version of myself to show me the righteous path, one who could look past the action of the decision and see the morality of it.”

Sparrow paused to judge their reaction but felt only expectation from his riders.

“We were stuck in a loop of time separate from the main timeline. Each loop spawns when the paradox event is reached, but the timeline of each loop technically continues as an imperfect echo of the timeline before it. Because of this, there was no possible way for me to reach the point of the loop’s creation, see what happened, and then reverse time to correct it because that would have only corrected our single looped timeline. Doing this would have created a paradox parallel to the one we already have happening. With me so far?”

“I think so,” Jaya responded, and the others did not voice their response.

“I had to be able to see what happened in an environment separate from the main timeline, so we wouldn’t spawn our own loop as our timeline continues forward. So, I separated our loop from the main timeline.”

“Wouldn’t that create a timeline where we live the same events repeatedly?” Lone Wolf asked out loud, surprising Sparrow with his insightfulness.

“That’s correct. It’s called a ring instead of a loop because the loop expands and grows, and the ring repeats. Our ring has repeated countless times already,” Sparrow replied gravely, expecting a slew of questions to follow.

There was a long pause of silence, broken by Myrum when she shouted a simple question.

“Why did you turn our loop into a ring?”

Her question was so plain and uncomplicated that it threw Sparrow off guard. He felt himself becoming emotional, not wanting to tell his friends what was the equivalent of a death sentence for their state of mind. He was unaware that his feelings were being projected to his riders until Jaya responded with a feeling of strength and, surprisingly … love. He felt as if a mother was comforting him in his time of need and knew she had been difficult and hard on him because she cared. With renewed strength, he finished explaining.

“To fix the paradox, we have to pierce through every loop of time that has come before us, all the way back to the event that took place in the history of the main timeline. Then we have to change something to prevent the paradox from forming. We wouldn’t be able to do anything major like destroying an entity or restoring a life. We could whisper a choice to someone’s mind, move a log someone was going to trip on or use a gust of wind to move an arrow slightly off course. Even a small action from this point will take an incredible amount of energy, far more than I could muster even with sacrificing my soul for the cause.”

“So … you are going to sacrifice an entire world filled with countless billions of people to gain the energy needed to correct the timeline,” Jaya said with surprise.

“Yes, but that is to save the timeline for a world filled with those same billions of people,” Lone Wolf said firmly, grounding the fact that there was logic and nobility in the sacrifice.

“Not only that,” Sparrow said quickly, “but all the other timelines will align, and everyone will remember all the memories that differed between each loop of time.”

“Except for this ring, though, right?” Myrum said in a voice that sounded like she already knew the answer.

“That is correct. The uniqueness of this loop will be lost for most of the world. The only exception is those I have interacted with. I can save your memories so the other versions of yourselves will know what has happened. You will live on with memories intact, just not in this body.”

“So, we are all going to die, even you, but you will preserve our memories for another version of ourselves to remember … so technically, we won’t be dying. We are just moving our memories to a new home, so to speak,” Jaya said out loud for Myrum’s benefit.

“That’s correct,” Sparrow said simply.

“Well, I guess we don’t have a choice … and even if you had given us a choice, you know we would have agreed to take this action. There is no one in this party, or the other party we are seeking, that isn’t willing to sacrifice all that they are for the greater good,” Jaya said out loud.

“Except maybe Jonathan,” Myrum said sarcastically, and maybe a hint of honesty. Jonathan had always rubbed her the wrong way, so her comment wasn’t surprising.

“I think you would be surprised at the man Jonathan can be when put to the test. He may grumble, complain, and crack annoying jokes, but he hasn’t backed down from any of the same fights you and I have fought on this journey. He will be by our side when called to do the right thing,” Jaya said firmly, believing her words fully.

“Although I agree with your assessment of his character, it would be wise to remember that it is entirely possible that Jonathan is the one responsible for this loop of time. Jareth, Grey, Izreea, or all of them could be responsible through action or inaction,” Sparrow pointed out.

“I suppose we shall find out shortly,” Jaya replied silently to his mind before continuing out loud, “How shall we conceal our approach?”

“I was planning on landing just outside their field of vision and erecting a phased, reciprocal mirror around us,” Sparrow replied.

“Guardian … I do not think any of us are mechanically minded enough to know what that means,” Jaya said tactfully to his mind.

“Erect a what?” Myrum asked out loud.

“Did Izreea ever tell you how she and Sparrow entered a phased version of our world?” Sparrow felt confirmation from Jaya and Myrum and knew Lone Wolf could piece it together, so he continued. “Think of it like that, but instead of our bodies phasing, it will be an orb around our whole group that is phased. We will be able to see what is happening around us, but they won’t see us at all.”

It was then that Jaya gasped loudly, causing them to stop their conversation and look around. Myrum saw it next, joining her grandmother in her reverent gasp, then Sparrow saw it too. Cresting the horizon was a massive tree, several hundred feet taller than the next tallest tree around it. Its canopy stretched so wide its shadow was like an eclipse to a massive part of the forest.

Sparrow felt the rapture of joy emanating from Jaya and Myrum as they recognized the tree. Every kanidian home had one at its center, and all of their people knew the history of the elder trees, including all of the legends and prophecies concerning them. As Sparrow looked at the tree, the image of it brought memories to the forefront of his mind, memories long forgotten. Involuntarily Sparrow said a name in his mind, a name that went along with the memories.

“Mantorine.”

There was total shock from Jaya as she recognized the name.

“How do you know that name?” she said loudly.

Sparrow suddenly banked to the ground, aiming for a small clearing nearby. They were close enough to the tree to quickly run there with time to spare before the event happened, but far enough away that no one would see them land. As he approached the clearing, it was apparent that his body wouldn’t fit between the trees, and he didn’t want to risk the noise of them crashing through the forest canopy. At the last second, before he was going to touch the treetops, Sparrow flapped his wings down hard, causing them to hang in the air for a moment, then transformed himself into a human again. He caused the air to thicken slightly around them, preventing gravity from accelerating their fall, and they all landed safely on the forest floor.

“How do you know that name, Sparrow?” Jaya firmly asked, letting him know she would not be ignored a second time.

“Just a moment,” he pleaded while motioning with his hands for patience.

He wanted her to know he was not ignoring her, but they still needed to focus on the task at hand. Sparrow quickly erected the phased shield he had previously discussed around the party, then set the hardest pace he felt they could maintain towards the Elder tree. Then as they ran, he finally responded to Jaya’s question.

“Mantorine is the name of an entity that lives in the Elder trees. She was part of the first plan that Lebine and I devised to restore the world. We created a massive network that any entity could use to communicate with all life around the planet. The goal was for all people to share resources from the four major climates, trading and bartering for what they needed from one another. The Elder trees were access points to this network and its lifeblood. Mantorine was the custodian of this network, ensuring the network stayed healthy.

“As any first attempt goes, there were flaws. The density of the elder forests and their canopies prevented other vegetation from growing beneath them. Additionally, Mantorine misunderstood her role. She was meant to keep the pathways open and healthy so anyone could use them, but instead, she appointed herself as guardian of all life on the planet. She started selecting who could use the trees, then escalated that to sending the messages herself. Eventually, she closed off all communication and demanded she be given the powers of the guardians.”

Jaya replied with a stunned voice. “This network … we call it the Great Road. We knew Mantorine was the road’s keeper, but he … she … was suppressed somehow. It is said that she was prophesied to return one day. This was supposed to bring Elder trees back to the world and restore their seeds. Generations have learned of this … and we assumed it to be positive.”

“Unfortunately, letting Elder trees grow again would be a very bad idea. They are magnificent but not balanced for this world,” Sparrow replied.

“Wait, what happened to Mantorine?” Myrum asked.

“Life told me that the project was a failure. We needed to recycle the energy used from creating the trees and allow the decomposition of the trees to fertilize the soil for new plants. So, at her request, I asked Sterben to kill the trees.”

“So, the guardian of death is the one that sterilized the trees … at your command?” Myrum asked with an edge to her voice.

“Not exactly,” Sparrow replied quickly, “I did not presume to tell Sterben how to accomplish her stewardship, just that the job needed to be done. She could have instantly killed the trees if she wished with her decay, or requested Sonelith to block the sun for some time to prevent photosynthesis, or asked Regnan to starve them for water, or any number of other options. She chose sterilization so that the trees could be enjoyed for hundreds, if not thousands of years before they fell, and Mantorine could live until they all perished. She is still alive today, thousands of years later. Sterben acted out of mercy to preserve something she found beautiful. Please do not judge her actions as harsh.”

He had not meant to become so passionate about the subject, but the memories were flowing quickly, and he reacted to them in surprising ways. He still didn’t remember everything, but he was putting things together regarding the elder trees relatively quickly.

“I would not be surprised if Mantorine is directly responsible for this paradox. Having Drock and Grey around her simultaneously, with thousands of years of bitterness … she would have acted if she could,” Sparrow said firmly.

The rest of the run was silent except for the soft panting for breath that Myrum was making. Jaya and Lone Wolf made the run look effortless, and Sparrow held himself back for Myrum’s sake. It took only a few more moments of running at that speed before they approached the Elder tree.

“Alright, the shield is in place, so they won’t be able to see or hear us. Stay within ten feet of me at all times, and do absolutely nothing to interfere. Even if you see something horrible happening and believe you can prevent it, do nothing. Remember that all of this has already happened countless times, so you will change nothing from any interference,” Sparrow explained as they walked up the hill.

The others followed closely as they walked up the hill towards the crest of the Elder tree. Sparrow didn’t tell the others, but he felt Grey’s presence and that she was on the other side of the tree, some distance from them. They crested the top of the hill near the base of the trunk and were surprised to see Jonathan kneeling on the ground nearby. He had one hand touching the side of the tree, and his other was sticking straight into the air, holding a staff covered in green runes. Roots were supporting his entire body.

At the bottom of the other side of the hill, there was the sound of a cluster of small explosions, followed by what appeared to be a wave of ice that smothered the explosions. Then some figures started walking in their direction up the hill toward Jonathan.

 

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