Be Holden

Chapter 15: Black Shuck

You hover over the ground with Ishin woven to your side with the help of the branches protruding from your ribs and spine. The old looking overseer drags you and Ishin to a hole that twists like a whirlpool with colors ranging from black and purple. You arrive at a place filled with trees, but people are attached to some of the trees by roots coming from branches and wrapping around the individuals then piercing the ground. Leaves fall from the branches and are replaced by the trees periodically. All the falling leaves change color as they fall through the air until they land on the ground. Upon landing on the ground, the leaves turn black. The swirl that you all come through in the air shrinks and disappears behind you all. The old man walks you to an empty patch of this wonderful woodland. "Turn completely into your tree form and place your roots here." The overseer tells you. You narrow your eyes at him. "I don't like defiance. So, you must do it or face punishment." He says.

"I don't know how to do that."

"Is this true? Are you sure?"

"Yes."

He drops your floating body on the ground and releases your constraints. Then he walks to a tree that is a few meters away from the patch. "Show this young tree how to morph between stationary and mobile form!" He yells. The tree has three people entangled in its adventitious roots. The branches creak and it shakes. Poof! A girl with long cinnamon colored hair stands in the middle of two guys and another girl. They all touch her back like they are magnets. She looks at you with brown orbs for eyes. She smiles at you. "You just need to spin around like this." She says as she spins in a circle. Poof! "What about changing from mobile to stationary? How would I do that?" You ask. She goes back to her mobile form.

"You must mature and make fruit."

"How am I going to make fruit?"

"You find a tree from your species of the opposite gender and breed with them, but you do not have to find a mate if you are monoecious."

The overseer exhales loudly. "Okay, change now!" He yells. The girl turns back into a tree again. "What if I am not able to turn back to my mobile form?" You ask. "It does not matter. Turn into your stationary form, now!" He yells. You twirl and your roots move from your spine into the patch of soil. When you finish, you are bigger than the tree beside you in girth and height. You are so tall that you can see over all the trees in the woodland. Yellow flowers and dark green leaves are sprinkled on your branches.

"How old are you?"

I do not know.

"Obviously, you are not as young as I thought you were. What is that ball of roots holding?"

You attempt to ignore his question. Then he kicks one of the roots on the ball and it breaks. The other roots slither away from Ishin. You try to change back to mobile form by straining and shaking which does not work. You settle with one root wrapping around Ishin's torso. The overseer looks at Ishin apathetically. "So, you are his wife. Should I kill you or should I let fairies have their way with you? It is mating season after all." He says to Ishin's sleeping body. He runs a finger through his short, grey beard. He squats by Ishin's body and grabs her wrist. He whips his hair out of his face and convulses. His irises turn green and become clouded. Ishin wakes and the overseer slowly becomes stone. She pulls her wrist from his grasp before he completely solidifies. One of the guys attached to the tree beside you moves toward Ishin. The tree root around him allows him to approach Ishin. He takes her hand and she releases phantom snakes from her arms that bite his body. They bend and jerk as they steal his essence from puncture wounds. He drops her hand and she stares into his eyes. He exhales through his mouth slowly, and she sucks in a breath which pulls his orange soul from his mouth into a ball down her throat.

Ishin tries to break free from your hold. It does not work. She releases an eardrum bursting screech. You ignore her. She outstreches her arms with open palms and golden double doors appear before her. The doors open by themselves and guys with black clothes walk out. "Find the dog linked to this tree." Ishin says. They guys disappear and the golden doors fade away.

The black clothed men return with a black dog in one of their arms. The dog seems familiar to you for some reason but you cannot remember where you saw this dog before. Its eyes are black with a glint of red. Your ex-lover's eyes were like that just before you died on Earth. You recall the first time you have ever seen the dog. That dog was helping the overseer of evil rip Ether apart. Your branches groan as you retract the root around Ishin's torso. Her body collides with your trunk somewhat roughly. "Ow!" She yells as she rubs her shoulder with her hand. The men in black clothes run to Ishin and help her to stand without leaning on you. The dog is put near your trunk and it whimpers. "Hey, can I ask you to do something? It's not for me. It is for you. Can you please morph into a form that can assist with this tree getting back to mobile form? Think about all the things you two can talk about. Don't you miss this tree?" Ishin asks the dog. It whimpers again. Then it turns around and starts to limp away. It stands still for a few moments. It begins to limp away again then it turns and looks at you with those black orbs for eyes. It whimpers and runs to you. When it gets to your trunk you see it morph into your high school sweetheart. Your ex-lover is staring at you with black eyes and that signature red glint on them. Your ex-lover climbs up your trunk and plays with your flowers a bit. "Now, we must wait for the fruit to form." Your high school ex-lover says.