Page 21 of Hallowed Tree
Opening my senses, I heard the distant voices of Skylar and Kingston screaming our names.
“Wherever we are, we’re not far from our friends,” Buck continued.
Our friends? Sure they were Bucks, but had they become mine, as well? What about Chance and Jetty? Scotty and Stevie or Elyse and her mister? Did they all slot into my life more than I’d believed? A soft pang in my heart region suggested that they might be. Had these humans, these alive mortals, become something that I hadn’t really had in my own life? Wonderstruck, I smiled at Buck.
He blinked. “Um, I’m glad we can hear them, too, but I expected you to be a little more freaked out than this.”
I cuddled into his side. “Oh, I am. But—” My cheeks warmed, and I wondered if he could see the blush on my cheeks or my flickering in the dimness.
“Love, did you just realize that they’re actually your friends? That you’re more than a butler to all of us?”
“I guess I did. It’s been a day of revelations for me.”
He squeezed me tight. “It has, which means we should celebrate.” His head swiveled around. “As soon as I figure out how to get us out of here.”
A neon mist emitted from our left, and we whirled together in the tight confinement of the space to face it. I’d thought I’d be scared to face this new unknown, but I wasn’t. With Buck by my side, I’d take on anything. Willowhope Manor had been my home for such a long time, and I’d fought tooth and nail to keep the sanctuary I’d always felt so at ease in. But I had more reason to fight now than ever. I had people. Flesh and blood humans and spirits alike who considered me…special—worthy.
I wanted to share all my thoughts and feelings with Buck—because I had that now, someone who cared what about hearing them—but the mist took on a humanoid shape. There was no face or distinct features, just the swirling of an essence, but definitely a being of some kind.
Buck pushed me behind him. “Who are you?”
Like the rustling of the wind through the leaves, voices that were neither male nor female said in unison, “I am the Hallowed Tree. The giver of life to these lands. Also the destroyer.”
Holding onto Buck’s hips, I peeked around him. “What does that mean? Why have you brought us here?”
“I have brought you because of the man who keeps visiting the sacred space, crying out for answers.”
They had to mean Kingston. “So why didn’t you show yourself to him? That’s what you did with that blank space, right? Revealed yourself to us,” Buck said.
“We did. It is not for a human to pass into these borders, and we’ve watched and seen. You, the one who fishes, havebefriended him. And you, guardian of this home, have grown fond of these mortals who walk my lands.”
Buck and I side-eyed each other. “This is true, but I’m not the guardian. Chance is—”
“A human. Flesh and blood. He’s the master of this space, and this property responds to him, but you’ve guarded it well for over a century.”
How in the world did a tree spirit know all that? I’d rarely left the manor itself in all the years since I’d been dead, bound to protect people from the evil within the walls.
Buck cleared his throat. “Can we get back to the whole Hallowed Tree thing?”
“I am one of many trees of life scattered across this world. We watch and wait, determining the fate.”
“The fate of…” Buck trailed off.
“Mankind,” the voices said, deep and ominous. “Our spirits know whether the planet is being treated well or abused. In ancient times, the people of this Earth came to us, giving thanks and praise. They cared for the plants and wildlife. Participated in the circle of life. But those days are over. They are no more, and we have begun the change.”
“The change?” I squeaked.
“To let our essence consume. Return all things to dust. Humanity has become lost and adrift, and we grow tired with their pettiness. The death and destruction. We will consume the planet before you kill it.”
Buck shook his head. “But how do you even know these things?”
“There are many of us.” The cacophony of voices from the mist was disconcerting, bordering on scary. “We see far and wide. Our roots meet in the depths of the oceans and seas, in the deserts and plains. We hear, and we see all and understand.”
“I’m not sure you do,” Buck muttered. He cleared his throat. “You said you were drawn to reveal yourself to us because our friend keeps showing up. Explain that.”
“The spot he paces is where the ancestors used to come and commune with us. There are many such places around the world just like it that now sit desolate and empty. These generations have forgotten our importance, to pray and give thanks for all that has been given. Yet, the one comes, and we all want to know why.”
“Because he dreams of that spot,” I said. “Every night, his dreams are of the space within the firepit.”
