The Forest Spirit Who Sought The Gods 4 A Name

"Did it get possessed by Liezel during the night, or is it just playing?... Anyway, how are you feeling Maya? Yesterday sure was a shocker, getting your third blessing with a snap of the fingers." Mark was more and more convinced that dealing with G.o.ds was crazy.

Still drowsy from the magic overuse, she answered in a quiet voice "Wait, what? My third blessing? What are you talking about?"

"Your wings changed after this creature touched you, try feeling them for a bit, and see if you've got something interesting"

When Maya tried to move her wings, her eyes went wide and she turned her head to look at them. "They've gotten so big! Did that really happen while I was asleep? I woke up during the night and got back to sleep by healing the pain I felt with magic, but I didn't feel them at all! Ugh, at least my dresses will still fit." She looked to Kilb, seeking confirmation.

"Don't look at me like that dear niece, it's all true."

"You said the truth just now." She immediately put her hands to her mouth in bewilderment, as she didn't intend to speak at all!

"Oh! Seems that your new wings aren't the only addition from that blessing. I know that ability, I've met a head priest of Deva that did the same. He could tell when people lied to him, and could also see the general character of people. Try focusing magic on your eyes to look at us."

"Uhhhhh... It's vague, but I can see something like a blurry green shape behind you Aldo? Like a giant gra.s.s, but... twisted in a spiral? Any idea what that means?"

"d.a.m.n, now I know why that old codger didn't want to tell me what he saw! s.h.i.+t, he must still be laughing his a.s.s off!"

Mark couldn't help but snicker too "Ahahahah, a straightforward nutcase, with his head into the mud looking for fresh leaves, that's totally you!"

"Maya, look at him too! I need something on him or he is going to make fun of me forever with that now."

"I... can't? It's there, but it's behind a fog, like it's hiding?" She was confused. What kind of blessing worked whenever it wanted to, and not when it was being used actively?

"That's because he's blocking you with his own magic power." Kilb came to her rescue with his knowledge. "Thank the G.o.ds you don't just see everyone's nature all the time and you need to focus, otherwise you would go crazy in a matter of days. Also, people can actively block you if they want to. Just look at him when he's asleep, I don't think he's trained himself to block that too. Look at mine now, and I'll demonstrate for you."

"That's right, anti-peeping protection. I just have to keep it in mind, and remember it when going to sleep. If you want to force it, I would have to be unconscious. I may not follow the path of a G.o.d, but I can still train myself, you know?" Mark replied proudly. "By the way, can you look at the little guy?"

Hearing they were speaking about it, the Spirit stopped running in circles, climbing out of the ditch it made in its frenzy, and walked towards Maya. Still scared, she took a deep breath and focused her magic on her eyes again. What she saw left her mind reeling : she thought she wouldn't be able to see something behind a creature, but this dwarfed all sense of proportion she had. Behind the fist-sized Spirit stood the tallest tree she had ever seen, three fruits hanging from it. The other three saw her eyes go wide and tip her head back to look towards the sky, wondering what she was seeing.

"Aldo... how tall did you say the G.o.d-Tree was again?" her voice was trembling. "Because this is insane... I can't even see the top of the manifestation behind it... It's just a gigantic tree, with a black, a green, and a strange, multicolored fruit hanging from it. It's nothing like your blade of gra.s.s or uncle Kilb's rock..."

"That's... I have no idea. But it can't be good, it shouldn't be taller than oneself! s.h.i.+t, let's go down the trail and meet the G.o.d-Tree, he should be able to explain that to us since you won't beseech him to bless you anymore." The confused little Spirit disappeared into smoke, throwing his bark flying towards Maya, and reappeared on her left shoulder, catching it and covering himself again.

--

"The G.o.d-Tree is... dead?" Aldo's voice was hoa.r.s.e, choking on emotion after seeing the grey, leafless tree. Being a follower of the G.o.d of Nature, he was shaken to his core. He was pulled out of his reverie by the Spirit's arm, pulling him a bit further around the tree. Then it pointed at the tree, and at the little sapling in a crack between old roots. "Are you saying this is the G.o.d-Tree? I can't believe you, this little bud here is perfectly average... I know you know it too." Hearing this, the Spirit looked a bit depressed, its arms drooping. But it pointed again, at the tree, then at itself, then at the sapling, before looking up at Aldo's face. "You're the tree? And you planted that?" It shook its little head, then nodded. "So I was right... The G.o.d-Tree made you, what Maya saw confirms that, but I never expected that he would give everything, from his blessings to its very life, to you... What a sad end, alone in the middle of this gigantic forest of Creation." Aldo kneeled in front of the sapling to caress its leaf, pulled a few seeds from his messy hair somehow, and placed them around the newly grown plant as an offering.

"Let's go back, okay? This is going to cause a huge stir, and we definitely don't want to be caught as the first people to report it. We need to get to a temple of the Three quickly though... What a pain."

--

While walking on the return path, Mark looked at the Spirit sitting on Kilb's head and asked it a question "Say, can you do anything besides turning to smoke, chirping, waving your tiny arms and distributing blessings like a follower of the Warrior G.o.d distributes slaps?".

Annoyed at the comparison to a bird, the Spirit jumped to the ground and threw a pebble accurately to Mark's face. "Ow, what was that for? Did I upset you with a simple question? Come on, chirp once for yes and twice for no". His answer wasn't a chirp, but a skull-rattling, piercing scream that had Mark plug his ears with his fingers. "Okay, noted, spirit attack. No need for demonstration, I'm going to have a headache now."

"Brought that upon yourself, Mark. Stop bullying Bud!" Maya was grinning at the two's antics.

"Bud? When did it get a name?"

"Right now! It's so young! So pure! Like a budding plant, discovering the world growing to the skies! I think it's a great name!" The two chirps following her declaration had her smile wane. "Oh come on! You don't like it?" Chirp Chirp, Chirp. Maya focused on Bud with her magic "So you feel it's... incomplete? I know! Try to think of what you want and we'll see if I can get it! Eheh, that blessing of yours truly is practical sometimes." After a few seconds, she spoke again "The G.o.d-Tree? What's the relation to your name?"

"When I met the G.o.d-Tree the fourth time, before he gave me its blessing, it shared his story with me. He was called the Stalwart Oak before being deified by people." Aldo cut in their conversation. "Do you want something like that, Bud?" Chirp! "Okay, how about Oakbud? It's a bit of a strange name by our standards, but it's closest to what you are. What do you think?" Chiiiirp.

"He likes it! Nice find, Aldo."

"Oakbud it is then."