《Lailos - Universe Tree》


 Prologue

    I draw my bow, siphoning energy from my body and towards a singular point - the arrow. There was a slight breeze with clear, overhead skies watching all throughout the distance. I let go. All of a sudden the arrow shoots through the air, breaking the sound barrier along with it. It flies downwards from my vantage point of Tiloco Mountain, downwards into the fray of vast undead.


    It was there now. The smell. That¡¯s what we Logos called it. A smell of singularity yet polarizing in its own right; attracting dead things from the ground up, a byproduct of a Legendary Ilos Lich - able to single handedly bring down kingdoms by itself. And yet my arrow whizzed past their spells and shields, past even the Lich itself, into the nothingness of the world. Far, far away it went, my arrow flying straighter than, turning into a ray of blue, mystical energy.


    A loud, intense moment of tension occurs. Then? Nothing. Time itself seemed to have stopped. I had sacrificed my life, as well as the hope of our people to save the world from the terrors of the undead. I don¡¯t know what happened next, however I felt it. Life force flowing through my incorporeal body. A chance. I move. And then? I see.


    A vastness, so vast that it wouldn¡¯t be a stretch to say it was the entirety of all. Bright lights flooded my vision, with multicolor beams of energy floating with each other, constantly pumping and bumping.


    It was... beautiful.


    It came to me. The Song Of the Galaxy. Wise, ancient, and oh so powerful. I felt it. My soul. I had reached heaven, the elders would definitely point out at the village. And yet? It felt... much, much more. All the feelings in the galaxy, pinned into one, humanoid-sized creature. It opened its mouth, and with it came a voice I would never forget, throughout all planes of life. So beautiful that I couldn¡¯t help... but cry.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Melodic. Colorful. Vibrant.


    ¡°Hello young one. Your act of selflessness and duty has allowed for you to re-embark on another journey of life. Keeping your memories, you would be allowed to play this life out with no relations to the past. What do you say?¡±


    I choked and spattered, yet somehow kept all the spit in my non-existent throat. I struggle to get the words out in front of such marvel of nature. Yes... this was nature personified.


    ¡°...Yes...¡±


    That was all I remembered as I passed into the void of nothingness, becoming nothing less than a speck of dust. And yet I felt I could hear something whisper.


    ¡°...Good luck...¡±


    A thundering halt woke me. I found myself unable to move, literally rooted into a mountain atop a steep cliff. Reincarnation. The immortal being atop the universe had told me that this would be a second journey of life. Surreal.


    I turn to look around when I realized something. I had no eyes! It was incredibly, nauseating for me as I found that I could see all around me at once. In fact I did not have a ¡°head¡± to look around with. It appears that being ¡°rooted¡± was a literal word. I was reincarnated as a Tree! I couldn¡¯t believe it.


    Well¡­ the being wasn¡¯t lying at least. I do have a second life now and I plan to live it all the way to the fullest.


    My name is Lailos, former Logos holy archer, and I have been reborn.

 Chapter 1 - The Water Spire

    The glorious skies were set straight above me. On my spire I look down on the world, arrogantly and overbearingly. Or Or so I wished. Nothing like that actually happened.


    I find that I could move myself. Unlike an actual tree I seem to have legs, woody and barky, to move myself with as well as nice, stubby tree arms. Huh, neat. I don''t know where I am, or how this happened. My memories are all but a flash of light, with the only ones remaining being my name, language, and how to move my body. Actually I think the body movement isn''t so much a ''memory'' as much as it is an ''instinct''. It''s carved into my bones - scratch that - carved into my... bark. Hehe, I''m funny.


    I look around me to see a vast, endless forest and I feel quite at home. Well, it would makes sense since I am a tree now. I need to find my way down. I move my leg, which is surprisingly hard to do, and attached to my legs are my roots. I guess that''s how I obtain nutrients? I''m not sure why a moving tree needs roots on the bottom of its feet but what do I know? I need to get off this cliff. Where to go...


    .....


    .....


    Iidled there for a couple hours and wonder how to get down, and which direction I should move in. It''s already night time, and the moon rose from the North. I guess I''ll head that way. I lift my tree feet and start to try to climb down. During those hours I learned how to move my body better, and found out what the roots were for.


    In fact, I found out that I could manipulate them. I could have them appear on my feet, arms, or anywhere on my body. I instinctually know how to pull nutrients from the ground as well, probably due to me being a tree. I pulled nutrients from the ground during the down time as well, allowing me to pull nutrients. However I wasn''t familiar with these nutrients so I stopped absorbing them.


    As I climb down the cliffside, I quickly realize that I am not that large. I''m around the size of a young, sproutling tree so I''m especially tiny as well.


    With a large crash I set my feet onto the ground. I had finally gotten off of that cliffside. I couldn''t tell, but it took a pretty long while, as when I got off the darkness was still everwhere, with no light to shine onto the world except for the moon. However now there are light rays of sunshine, just barely hitting the earth.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    The sun shines down onto the earth, to light away the tremors of darkness my son.


    A memory hits my mind, suddenly causing me to stop moving north.


    "Ahh!",


    I cry out towards no one in particular. I don''t know what that was, and I don''t know where it came from. It felt like my psyche would project itself infront of me, my brain working overtime to just remember that voice. I fall down, onto the dirt infront of me, right behind a tree.


    A never-ending void awaited me.


    .....


    I saw it. A skeleton, riding a flying serpent across the fields of no return. An endless void. Nothing.


    ....


    What was that?


    I wake up with a crunch. I can''t seem to remember where that memory was from, or if it was even mine. There''s no point thinking about it right now, I guess. I need to keep making ground. I run forwards and my woody yet human-like legs go along with me. I don''t stop. After a couple of miles I hadn''t seen an animal pass by me at all. No four-legs to try and bite me, just for myself to run away.


    It took me a while, but I finally saw something in front of me. After several hours of running, a giant, crystal-like, spire is in front of me by a couple yards. I head towards it, something calling me, making my very soul itself yearn to head towards it. It calls to me.


    What... what is that thing?


    On my journey here I had passed by some animals. Two legs, four legs, even six and yet that beast stuck in that crystallized spire seems incomparably mighty. I don;t know what it is. A lion headed, winged behemoth that stood on four legs, along with several heads. It called to me though. A sort-of feeling came towards my mind. I press against the spire.


    As I pressed onto it the spire seemed to de-crystalize itself, turning back into water, heading straight towards the ground. A loud splash could be heard, as if a mountain had just toppled. Several trees were uprooted thanks to the impact and spread of the massive liquid. And with the liquid came the beast. Just looking at it made my very roots feel impacted, as if I couldn''t move at all, just straighhtened and burrowed into the ground.


    "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! The Gods haven''t abandoned me yet!" The creature seemed to say to the wind.


    "I have to thank you kid, withoutyoupassing by I wouldn''t have been able to escape. As thanks, I''ll have you for my first meal in a hundred years!"


    With that the winged beast launched itself at me. Saliva was seen dripping past its several mouths, as if I was the juiciest thing it had seen in over a millenia.


    I was still rooted to the ground however. No matter how hard I willed myself I couldn''t move these damn legs for the life of me. I don''t know why, but it definitely had something to do with the beast.


    I guess this is it huh.


    Suddenly my psyche was obliterated by a crashing force. ''TSK again!? At this crucial point! Damnit! I can''t believe this!''