Part two: The Price of Flight

He had been waiting for centuries now, a type of waiting that made little sense since there is no definite promise that what he is waiting for will ever come. After so much time that passed by in unhurried progress, he sometimes forgot what he is waiting for.

Time flowed.

Sometimes too fast, and sometimes almost too painfully slow. At first, the changing of the seasons used to give him a feeling of hope-a feeling that this time he would finally be freed from the prison woven by the warlock Nemesis. Gone was the beautiful hunter that he once was. He could barely remember that creature. The passing of the long eons have but erased the memory of his youth.

Loud voices broke through the evening's silence. He heard several creatures moving through the dense foliage.

"Just leave her! Nobody will know."

"What if her mother looks for her?"

"No one must know about this, you hear me?" More rustling. He felt someone hacking through the undergrowth.

What creatures have dared to enter The Forest? His curiosity piqued, he stretched forth his sinewy limbs and watched as four, winged aenial dragged a wingless female with them. "Look, we won't say anything. Nobody will ever think of looking through these forests," he saw one of them dart his eyes upward. "I mean they say it's haunted."

He let several of his lianas slither down. He knew what kind of creatures these are. He saw his former self with them. He remembered his own petty cruelties from them, his vanity. It is what landed him here in this forsaken land.

"Yeah right and my gramps poops gold," the other one laughed. He looked like he was their leader.

"Wait, he does?"

"And you wonder why girls don't take you seriously?"

"Enough, let's go! This place is giving me the creeps." He let the tiny ropes climb up their legs. This time he would not let cruelty win. In another instant he had them tangled up in vines and thorns. The creatures thrashed about in vain. "I told you we shouldn't have come here!" One cried out as he held it in a stranglehold. "Let us go!" Their leader was the first one to cry out. "We're sorry!" He held them by their feet and literally threw them out of the forest. The four bullies arced across the sky like a baseball.

He gathered the tiny broken thing left by his roots. Now what would I do with this wingless one? Night is gathering and this forest is called Forbidden for a reason. He waited for her to stir back to life. He moved his lowest branches to cover her from the evening breeze and away from the deadly creatures that roam the area. He didn't save her to let the forest monsters make a meal out of her. Already he could feel the predators lurking in the shadows, no doubt lured by her scent. After a couple of hours he felt her stir. She moved very slowly and he almost thought she fell asleep again. He moved his branches away and peered closely at her. She gingerly stood up with a hand against his trunk.

She looked like she's crying.

He winced. He's never been fond of crying females.

His curiosity doubled when she started climbing his trunk. Good, it looks like she has enough sense to escape from predators. "What did I ever do to deserve this kind of life?" she wept in frustration. "Have you ever made someone feel disgusted with herself? Have you ever tried making someone feel useless and different?" she asked him.

"Well-", he started to answer but she continued on with her tirade.

"I want to punch them and kick them for making me feel this way. I didn't choose to be like this." She hugged her knees while her tears raced down her cheeks. "But I am angrier at myself for feeling so helpless. I want to end this pain." He was alarmed when she started gathering his vines. She tested their strength before she looped them once over her head and on one of his biggest branches. He had a split-second to react before she jumped. He was quick enough to lengthen his vines so instead of a terrifying drop, she fell down on her feet. "Oww..." she complained, clutching her feet.

"Don't do that!" He shouted at her. He saw her eyes widen and she gazed upward for the source of the sound. "I didn't save you to kill yourself."

"Y-you can talk?" She gaped at him.

"What's so surprising about that?"

"You're a tree."

"And you're a wingless aenial." He remarked drily. He noticed how she wilted from his words. "Okay, come up now. You are becoming an unwelcome attraction."

She looked around and realized what he meant. She scrambled up his trunk once more, "You really are a talking tree." She touched his bark and he leaned in to her. She took a step back when his bark transformed into a face. "Thank you." She smiled innocently and raised a hand to touch his face. He was surprised to feel a frisson of power pass from where her hand was connected to him. He felt her life force; strong, vibrant and oh, so rich.

"What's wrong?"

"They said I'm useless, ugly and stupid."

"You are not useless and you are definitely not ugly."

"But stupid." She gave him a wry look.

"Well you did try to kill yourself on my branch." She reddened. "Unsuccessfully, of course."

"Why did you stop me?" She frowned at him.

"Well who would want a corpse dangling over their branch? No, not if I can help it." He wrinkled his nose and she laughed. It was oddly pleasant and totally out of place. "Come closer." She looked curious. "I will heal you, but only if you pass the test." Her eyes were huge as she watched how a crack magically formed on his bark. The edges slowly peeled off and bright points of light started to lift up to the sky. "Come inside."

"Fireflies?" She lifted a hand and one landed on her palm.

"Come, come." She ducked inside. It was warm. She touched the glowing walls of his prison and they pulsed in response. "Let me watch your life." He watched her slowly lose consciousness. Little tendrils rose up from the ground to wrap around her bruised limbs. He never tried doing this before but he felt like this creature deserved another chance. The vines produced tiny little pods that bloomed in an alarming rate. The flowers covered her whole body and showered her with healing pollen.

And all the while he watched her life.

He saw a little girl who lost her father at a young age. He felt her pain as year after year her circle of friends grew smaller as they each gained their wings. Wings marked a coming-of-age for the aenial, and she is more than old enough to have them. He saw how her own kind looked at her with a mixture of pity and disdain. He saw her watch all of her former friends spread their wings, laughing and giggling. Others have launched to a game among the trees. "Uh, wait!" She called out to them but they were already too high in the sky.

"Look, she still has no wings."

"Is she really an aenial?"

"Poor girl."

"She's too old. Maybe she'll never grow her wings."

He relived her loneliness and felt her envy. Then he saw her anger. The memory burned white-hot in her mind and he recoiled a little. He saw the group of boys who dragged her into the woods. They were laughing and joking with each other. "Hey, wait for me!" she called out to them. He saw her climb on top of the trees and swing from branch to branch in pursuit. The day was hot and soon enough she got tired of following.

"I thought you were aenial, seems like you were sired by a monkey." One boy mocked her. He was the chief elder's son.

"How dare you? Don't insult my parents!"She swung at him but he flew away from the branch and she ended up falling to the forest floor.

"Well you are not just wingless, you're stupid too." They laughed at her.

"Who's stupid?" She rose from the ground and reached for a stone. "If I'm stupid then you're slow." She threw the stone and it grazed the boy's cheek. He shrieked in a mixture of surprise and anger.

"You'll pay for this." He shook his fist at her and she dodged the first downward swooping attack of his claws.

"As I said, too slow." She saw his face contort in anger. She gulped when she realized what he intended to do.

"You are not getting away!" she turned and swung up a branch. Then another. He felt his heart race in response as he watched. An aenial's talons are deadly weapons. He flinched with her when talons grazed her back. They didn't stop there. Three other aenial joined with the chief elder's son.

She tried to go inside the undergrowth to escape from them. Vines and leaves scratched at her face and arms but she paid them no heed. She could hear the sounds of their pursuit and it's coming closer with each second.She cried out when the branch right over her head crashed down and blades with feathered handles whizzed overhead.

"You little monkey," she heard someone say before talons tightened over her shoulders and lifted her up to the air. She could feel the sharp blades rip through her skin. "Who are you calling slow now?"

"You're worthless, useless..." she closed her eyes as she felt the talons recede and she dropped a hundred feet before another set caught her by her middle.

"Please, let me go..." she pleaded them. They didn't seem to hear her and she was thrown back and forth through the air a few more times. She now knew what a mouse caught by a hawk feels like.

"Hey," they shook her but she couldn't respond anymore. She just felt too tired to react. "I think you killed her."

"What are we going to do?"

"Let's just throw her in the Forbidden Forest."

"Yes, no one will find her there." He saw her lose consciousness.

You deserve another chance. One I never got.

***

He was woken up rather violently that night. He felt the earth shake and thick ropy tendrils slithered on the ground and tightened around his limbs. He felt cold fear grip his heart as he struggled in futility. He heard a harsh laugh and watched as a familiar figure glided down the darkened grove where he had stood in vigil like a sentinel. The light of the moon hid the other figure's features in half-darkness and he shuddered in fear of meeting this creature again.

"Eumelia," he nudged her gently. She stirred and blinked questioning eyes up at him. "Be still. I will protect you."

A finger rose to touch his bark and a malicious smile played upon the lips of Nemesis.

"Hello, my pet."

The greeting held no warmth but rather sparked the opposite in him. What does he need now?The warlock gave him a smile full of malice and leaned in closer, as if he was going to tell him a secret. "I see you have been rather docile for a long time. I can't believe you're still around." He stared and waited, wondering what the other would do next. Nemesis' mocking face turned serious and he jabbed a finger on his trunk. "You disgust me." He felt the appendage sink inside his transformed flesh and he writhed in agony inside. Crimson sap flowed from where Nemesis pierced him and he felt waves of burning pain all over. His limbs shook as all the energy in his body was slowly drained.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Why? It hurts doesn't it?" Nemesis smiled. "Your defenses have failed and I can now claim your immortality."

"What's happening?" Eumelia beat on the walls of his trunk. "Tree!"

"Do not go out. He will kill you too." He warned her.

"Who is he?"

"He is Nemesis, the warlock who cursed me. Now, hush." He felt his life flowing out into the forest floor. His leaves started to dry up, shrivel and fall one by one. His bark slowly grayed and tightened and he screamed a silent scream into the still night air.

Please kill me now... He raised his face to the sky and beseeched the Goddess Moon for reprieve. Please? I was once your child. Free me from this un-life. Or at least let me save her. He could feel his enemy preparing for another attack. He didn't know if he could take another one. He has used a lot of energy to heal the girl.

"We have to fight back," he heard Eumelia murmur. "You have to let me out."

"Be quiet." He warned her again. "Whatever happens, do not come out." The walls of his prison tightened. He contracted every fiber of his being to serve as a shield. His vines covered her and she could do nothing but obey. "When this is over you will be free."

His life-force for another. His life would not be for nothing.

Outside in the clearing Nemesis raged. The power he'd been craving for all this time is now his for the taking. He raised his hands and called forth his power. The power leapt to do his bidding and within seconds a strong gale formed. The wind tore at the Tree's branches and stripped his leaves. With a slicing moved of his hand, the wind shifted and crashed against the Tree. It shook but stood its ground. Nemesis grew more impatient. He slammed both palms on the Tree's trunk and tried to reach inside. Bright red sap flowed like rivers but the tree refused to let him inside. "You will tire soon." He laughed and doubled his efforts. The Tree knew he would not last long from this onslaught. He drew his power inward and abandoned his defenses. He prayed it would be enough for Eumelia.

Inside the Tree, Eumelia felt warmth envelope her. The vines holding her glowed with golden light. She could feel his power emanating from them and being absorbed through her skin. No, no, no! The light engulfed her and she saw... Saw his life through the long, lonely, eons. She lived the world through his eyes.

She experienced the days of aquamarine blue. The sun would be out and the creatures of the earth would bask on its heat. He loved those days of blue - the countless confessions, undying promises, climbing children giggling all beneath the canopy of his prison.

She breathed the days of green-the air alive with pollen from a thousand different plants. There is a palpable noise of life and celebration. She felt his wooden heart flutter as he witnessed everything transform to emerald hues, and he would breathe the heavy wind, and sigh, and dream of days when he bloomed again.

She shared in the days of red - dark carmine, bright scarlet and cheerful vermillion hues. The wind howled and brought with it a shower of multi-colored leaves to litter the ground. The whole world seemed to hush as everyone prepares for rest. She felt his nostalgia during those days of ruby-gold. The bite in the wind ushers in the next season and he feels the years piling in on him.

She felt his sorrow on the days of gray. How he hated the cold, barren thing the earth became. The shining crystalline frost heavy on his branches seemed to rob whatever humanity is left in his sinew. He would silently wish for the night so he could gaze at the pale, silvery Moon and ask the Gods to release him from his prison.

She wept for him. And she raged with him.

Within that white-hot light of his magic time had no meaning. She was unraveling, her very fiber is slowly dissipating, mixing with his essence, until she didn't know where she started and where he begun. She felt something pulse in front of her and opened eyes that are both hers and his. His heart. It was slowly darkening. Tiny red veins began spreading outward, leaving a sickly ochre color to replace the vibrant red. She saw how he transformed from his mortal self to this cursed creature.

"This is my gift Eumelia." She heard him and she felt his presence all around and inside her.

"Tree, stop! Don't do this!" She realized what he meant. The price of her flight. "I can't do this alone..."

"Courage Eumelia is all you need. My time has come, now fly my beautiful aenial..."

Then she felt it, cells dividing and subdividing, tissues knitting together, muscles forming, bones aligning one by one. The dark cocoon of vines peeled off and she flexed her hands and feet-no, no longer her old self, she lifted talons to her face. Gone was the creature that first entered the Tree. A crack formed from what once was a prison and the shriveled bark fell off little by little. Golden leaves flew in a frenzy. Nemesis shielded his eyes from the creature that emerged from the husk of his former foe

In the bright light of dawn, Eumelia was reborn.