Mythology Realized

“Farther. Gloam Tree.”

Yellow light peeked occasionally through the canopy, which was itself littered with streaks and dots of varying light that were constantly in motion. A petal in the grass, leading Loali and I as well as a group of five hunters including Biarn, Illose, and Byza, chirped simple songs and words in my mind as we carried on.

“You were really this far in the forest..?” Just like I had, Loali had started to slow her pace a little while ago. We had been walking long enough that it felt like half the moon had already flown by, and though we’d stopped several times to gather rare materials Eir had led us to, we'd still traveled fairly far.

“If Eir’s leading us the right way, then yeah,” I responded. I couldn’t really remember how long we walked for to get to Kogen back then, nor enough landmarks to navigate back to where I’d been when I woke up, only my first impressions of my surroundings that moon. “Everything feels different now, though. In a good way, I think.”

“Because you can see?” Byza suggested just behind us.

“That’s part of it, but there's a lot of things different this time.” I chose to respond a bit vaguely, my eyes drifting from Eir to the trees we passed and eventually to Loali, who furrowed her brows in response.

“Not just me.” She asserted, and I shook my head.

“No, but it is nice having you here.” I replied honestly, and though she looked away for a moment she eventually returned with a small smile.

“I’m glad we’ve gotten the chance to forage together,” she responded, “it's already been quite the experience, and I’m looking forward to the chance to see the Gloam Tree.”

“So am I. Eir seems pretty confident that she’ll find it.”

“I wonder if it’ll respond to you like her.”

“I’m not sure about that, but it should have some kind of response.” I answered hopefully, and moved a step closer to Loali as we kept walking and lowered my voice a bit. “If it does, it should let us gather some materials from it, right?”

“I’d think so. Wait, do you have an idea for a device?” As I’d grown to expect, the mere thought brought a glint to her eye, and I was glad to respond with a nod. I’d been thinking about the different forms healing devices could take for a while now, and had discussed a lot of my ideas with her as well, but I was slowly honing in on the types of things I’d want to make with actual materials. I’d been able to use my healing magic already to help people recover from more than wounds, from minor poisonings and one particular disease, but my magic reserves limited the amount of people I could help. Several people had already died or almost died where I couldn’t reach them, and in one case I simply didn’t have enough magic to heal someone after half a party came back injured. There were too many severe wounds.

Aside from illnesses and wounds, there also remained the somewhat intimidating possibility of willful modifications created through healing magic. Presumably healing magic was already responsible for the changes I’d experienced in my body after coming here, considering the majority of the things that had changed reflected what I’d wanted for a long time. When I concentrated a lot of my magic I realized I could continue to make minor changes to my body, though this was extremely difficult. I was barely able to change my hearing so it was just slightly improved, which required me to expend my magic gradually for several weeks against Loali’s advice.

“I was thinking of trying to make a device to improve my eyesight, or continue to improve my hearing over time.” Though I enjoyed spending time with Loali, over these past few years the constant use and recharging of light glasses, especially considering the fact that I was on my second pair and would soon be on my third due to inevitable degradation despite my magic’s nature, was annoying.

“It would be better if you could store magic up slowly for that sort of thing.” She agreed, though I could tell she was just a bit displeased, even past her interest, about it.

“Is there anything you want me to try?” I questioned, and she took a moment.

“I still agree that we should prioritize wound healing items, but aside from that I’d like you to try making some of those diagnostic devices you mentioned before.”

“Like disease and deficiency detectors?”

“Precisely. Having things like that to use when people feel under the weather could spare us all a lot of headaches, especially you.”

“I’ll work on those first, then.”

“I love it when they go into their own little world like that,” I barely heard Biarn ahead of us, and when Loali and I both snapped our eyes forward I caught his head turning to face forward again. All around us suppressed chuckles, ill-befitting the forest, led to me taking an embarrassed step away from Loali, which she mirrored.

“Biarn.” Illose’s voice was only slightly scolding, and I could tell she’d clearly also been amused by the comment.

“Gloam Tree.” Eir’s voice in my mind, and her presence at my feet thankfully spared me from having to comment in return, and as I lifted her to place her in my hair, which had become her favorite resting place, I informed the others that the Gloam Tree should be just ahead of us.

“That’s good... but why am I so nervous?” Byza questioned, and while I’d thought I’d share his sentiment I felt surprisingly calm as we continued forward.

Soon the smaller trees gave way to a “clearing,” where the canopy above us was only covered by a single tree, which was wide and tall enough to be a tower in a large city, letting only flecks of yellow light through its leaves. I only now realized I’d never be able to see the top of it, which was hard to fathom considering that the tree was somehow impossible to notice from a distance.

“This is the Gloam Tree?” I’d wanted to reflexively respond to the hunter’s question with an “of course,” but it was fair considering the tree, for the moment, was entirely coal black. From its leaves to its bark, no light emanated from it.

“It is.” I eventually responded, continuing forward. Though Loali for a moment put her hand on my shoulder as I started to pass her she soon let me go and, with the others a bit farther behind us, we approached the trunk of the tree.

“Danny, do-” Though Loali had started to say something, I had no inclination to hesitate to place my hand on the tree, and a moment later I summoned my healing magic. Just as soon as the pumpkin-lavender sunset hues began to play under my skin the same colors spread, far more brightly, through the Gloam Tree and out around us.

I barely heard awed voices behind me, but they hardly registered past the soothing presence I received from each pulse of healing magic moving between us. The Gloam Tree knew I was here, and though it refrained from speaking I could feel its fondness for me. Caring. Though I’d still been uncertain before, I was suddenly assured that I had woken up here because the Gloam Tree had, somehow, saved me and changed me. It had shared something of itself with me, and was happy to have done so.

I didn’t have answers to all the questions I could possibly ask about the hows and whys of my being here, but I did feel comforted. I’d already accepted, at least mostly, that I was never going home. I understood, though I didn’t tell anyone else, that I’d died in my old world before I came here. Some misfortune and happenstance had led me here but I was at least content to know that from the very beginning, even before I was found by Illose, this being before me had wanted to care for me in any way it could.

“A rather unique combination of colors, and quite beautiful,” Illose commented, “though I suppose I should be somewhat accustomed to seeing these colors from Danny, this tree is...”

“It’s incredible.” A hunter stated.

“Danny?” Loali’s voice drew me out of my stupor, and my eyes moved from floating around the canopy to her concerned smile. “Are you okay?”

“I’m just fine,” I responded, my face calm and small. “It feels really nice here. I can feel the Gloam Tree, and I think I understand things a bit better now.”

“Really?” She asked, and I nodded. “Do you think I could touch it too? I know I probably won’t feel the same things, but I still want to see.”

“Go ahead,” I urged, and watched as her hand came to rest just beside mine on the bark. As her palm touched it, her face also softened, moving from wonder and concern to some sort of bliss.

“Wow, it’s so nice. It's sort of like your healing magic, but...” Her voice drifted off as she closed her eyes, and for a few moments I did the same. Just as before, voices around us faded away.