Two Truths and One Lie

Lucant had parents.

At least, technically.

Who were they?

Trees.

Or at least, that was what Lucant believed.

The truth was more complicated. Lucant had been born to divine parents, gods who abandoned their child beneath a tree for reasons he never understood. He was far too young to remember them, and as far as Lucant was concerned, the tree beneath which he had been left was his mother.

Her name was Lucy.

Lucy was an apple tree.

There were legends surrounding Lucy. Some claimed that she had originally been nothing more than an ordinary tree. According to those stories, it was Lucant himself who brought her to life.

Even as a child, Lucant possessed power over reality, though he had no understanding of it. If the legends were true, perhaps the lonely child beneath the apple tree had simply believed strongly enough that the tree was his mother.

And reality listened.

Nobody knew for certain.

What Lucant knew was much simpler.

Lucy was his mother.

She raised him beneath her branches, watched him grow, taught him what little she could about the world beyond their home and warned him that mortals were fragile creatures. Humans grew old. Humans could become sick.

Humans could die.

Lucant understood the words.

He didn’t yet understand what they meant.

The Village

At fifteen years old, Lucant finally became curious enough to wander farther than usual.

There was a mortal village not terribly far from Lucy. Lucant had known about it for some time, but humans were strange things to him. He had watched them from afar and wondered what they were like.

So one morning, he decided to find out.

He knew the way home. Lucy didn’t have to worry.

Lucant entered the village expecting the unknown.

Instead, he found kindness.

People greeted him. They spoke to him. Nobody chased him away or treated him like something unnatural. Lucant spent hours observing how humans lived, what they ate, how they worked and how they spoke to one another.

That was where he met a boy his own age.

His name was Fredrick.

The two quickly became friends.

For Lucant, it was something completely new. He had Lucy, of course, but Fredrick was different. Fredrick was like him—or at least looked like him. Someone he could talk with, laugh with and learn from.

By the end of the day, Lucant’s curiosity about humanity had only grown.

As evening approached and the sun slowly began dipping toward the horizon, Lucant finally said goodbye to his new friend.

He returned home excited.

But Lucy wasn’t there.

Lucant stopped.

Where his mother had stood for as long as he could remember, there was now only what remained of a tree that had been cut down.

Lucy had been chopped apart.

Lucant couldn’t understand it.

Then came anger.

No.

Something stronger.

Hatred.

He didn’t know the word yet. He had never felt hatred before. He couldn’t even decide what expression belonged on his face. Was he supposed to cry? Scream? Run?

Instead, Lucant found tracks.

And he followed them.

For four hours, the young god walked.

By the time he finally found the men responsible, night had fallen.

There were two of them.

Both were young men, perhaps somewhere in their thirties, sitting beside a fire after a long day of work. Nearby stood their carriage, loaded with freshly cut wood.

Lucant knew immediately whose wood it was.

Lucy.

The two men noticed the boy approaching.

They smiled.

Why wouldn’t they?

As far as they knew, they had done nothing wrong.

To them, Lucy had been an unusually valuable apple tree. Prime wood. Something that could be cut, transported and sold for good money.

They didn’t know she was alive.

They didn’t know she had raised a child.

They didn’t know that the boy standing before them called that tree Mother.

Lucant stared at them.

His expression was a mess.

Anger.

Sadness.

Guilt.

Confusion.

Even Lucant didn’t know what his face was supposed to show.

There was only one clear thought inside his mind.

He wanted these men gone.

Lucant opened his mouth.

“Die.”

Both men dropped.

There was no scream.

No desperate gasp.

No flash of light or thunder from the sky.

They simply fell.

Lucant stared.

He had known people could die. Lucy had explained death to him before. Mortals were fragile.

But death had never felt important.

Not until Lucy.

And looking at the two motionless men only made Lucant angrier.

That was it?

They died peacefully?

Lucy had been chopped apart while she was alive, and these men were allowed to simply fall asleep forever?

It wasn’t fair.

“Die.”

Nothing inside Lucant felt better.

“Die… over and over.”

His voice grew louder.

“And over!”

Reality listened.

“And over!”

Again.

“And OVER!”

What happened around that campfire afterward was better left unseen.

Eventually, Lucant stopped.

His eyes wandered toward the carriage.

The anger disappeared.

There she was.

Or what remained of her.

Lucant approached the pile of wood and collapsed beside it.

For all the power sleeping inside him, he was still only a child crying beside his mother.

Lucant didn’t understand his abilities.

He didn’t know that reality itself could bend around his will.

He didn’t know what he might have been capable of doing for Lucy.

So he simply cried.

David

One of the lumbermen had been named David.

David wasn’t wealthy.

He didn’t have much money, but he usually had enough to put food on the table. That mattered because David wasn’t alone.

He had a wife named Rosy.

And he had a son.

Fredrick.

David had been excited about selling the apple wood. It was unusually valuable, and the money could have done a lot for his family.

There was something else he wanted to buy.

A miniature bronze sword.

Fredrick had wanted one for some time. His birthday had passed the previous September, but David hadn’t been able to afford a present for him.

This time would be different.

He would sell the wood.

He would bring home some money.

And maybe his little boy would finally get his sword.

David never returned home.

Two Sons

Weeks passed.

Then months.

Lucant wandered.

For someone who was supposedly a god, his life certainly didn’t resemble one.

A god should have had temples. Worshippers. Servants bringing food and asking whether there was anything else their divine master desired.

Lucant had none of those things.

He slept in grass.

Sometimes he made beds from piles of leaves. Other nights he slept against hillsides.

He was alone.

Eventually, Lucant couldn’t take it anymore.

There was one person he could speak to.

His best friend.

Fredrick.

Lucant returned to the village.

The townspeople greeted him with the same smiles and kindness he remembered from his first visit, but Lucant barely responded. He walked through the village until he reached a small hut.

Fredrick was outside.

He held a wooden sword in his hands, practicing with it.

The boys noticed each other.

For a moment, neither spoke.

Then Fredrick dropped his sword.

They ran toward one another and hugged.

Neither seemed particularly interested in being the first to let go.

After their greetings and the excitement of finally seeing each other again settled, the two sat together.

Lucant was upset.

He hated feeling upset.

Eventually, he looked at Fredrick.

“I’m scared, Fred.”

Fredrick listened.

“I’m alone, and I want someone to be with me.” Lucant struggled with the words. “My mom… she’s sleeping forever.”

Fredrick’s expression changed.

“You too?”

He instinctively rubbed Lucant’s back.

“My dad is gone as well,” Fredrick said quietly. “He was found gone. I miss my daddy.”

Lucant looked at him.

“How?”

Fredrick looked back.

“How did he die?”

“Someone murdered him. My mom said it was bad men who wanted what they had.”

Anger appeared on Fredrick’s face.

He stood suddenly and grabbed his wooden sword.

“I’m gonna find whoever did that to him.”

He swung the sword hard.

“And I’ll make sure he suffers like my father did.”

Fredrick tightened his grip.

“My blade will be the last thing they see!”

Lucant watched his friend.

Neither boy knew.

Lucant didn’t know that Fredrick’s father had been one of the lumbermen.

Fredrick didn’t know that the person he had sworn to someday punish was sitting beside him.

And neither would learn the truth for many years.

Rosy eventually learned more about Lucant.

He was a child without a home and without a mother. Her own son had already grown incredibly close to him.

So Rosy took him in.

Lucant became part of their family.

For the next nine years, Lucant and Fredrick grew up together.

They became closer than best friends.

To Fredrick, Lucant was the brother he had never had.

To Lucant, things were more complicated.

Early Spring

They were twenty-four when things began to change.

Fredrick had made his decision.

He was going to leave.

He wanted to become a knight. A warrior. Someone strong enough for others to depend upon.

More than anything, Fredrick wanted to build a name for himself.

And somewhere inside him still lived the boy with the wooden sword who had promised to avenge his father.

Lucant had changed too.

He was old enough now to understand that he wasn’t human.

He knew he was extraordinary. He had been explicitly told that he was a god, even if he still didn’t completely understand what that meant.

Part of him wanted to leave with Fredrick.

Another part couldn’t.

Lucant had already lost one mother.

His attachment to Rosy ran too deeply for him to simply walk away from her.

So Lucant decided to stay.

He accepted Fredrick’s decision as well.

At least outwardly.

Something inside Lucant hurt whenever he imagined Fredrick far away from him.

He didn’t want to talk about that.

About a week before Fredrick was supposed to leave, the two climbed a hill overlooking their little village.

They lay there together, relaxing beneath the open sky.

It was peaceful.

Lucant glanced toward his friend.

“You know I’m gonna die of laughter if you end up being defeated by a cyclops or skeleton on your journey, Mister Greatest Warrior.”

Fredrick immediately fired back.

“Hey, I didn’t train just to die like that. Bet you I can single-handedly defeat a hydra blindfolded. Then I’ll rub it in your face all year long.”

Silence eventually settled between them.

It wasn’t uncomfortable.

Below them sat the village where they had grown up together.

Fredrick looked at Lucant as the only brother he had ever known and the person he trusted more than anyone.

Lucant looked at Fredrick differently.

He didn’t completely understand how.

Lucant loved their mother.

He had loved Lucy.

But what he felt for Fredrick wasn’t quite the same.

He loved their mother.

And he loved Fredrick.

Before Lucant could make much sense of that thought, a familiar voice echoed from below the hill.

Their mother was calling them for dinner.

Neither wanted to leave their spot.

Neither wanted to miss Rosy’s cooking either.

That made the decision considerably easier.

The two hurried home.

Rosy had prepared beef with carrots.

And, mercifully as far as Lucant was concerned, no onions.

It was his favorite.

The two men sat at the table, both of them now taller than the woman who had raised them.

Before they ate, Rosy lowered her head.

“Lord of Health and Betterness, please keep aiding us through the days, and keep my precious boys from getting themselves into reckless trouble like they always do. Keep providing us with this healthy food. Thank you.”

Lucant looked down at his meal.

It smelled incredible.

“Smells delicious. Thanks, Mother.”

And without another moment of hesitation, Lucant dug in.