The Holy Tree: Volume I

In a time unknown, there is a planet known as Earth in another dimension, which still resides there today. Through the steep hills and across the deepest valley lived the most vital being, who would save all of tree-manity; however, things were not always this way.

Long ago, humans were only humans, and trees were only trees. At this time, the closest thing to magic was good and bad witches, but most humans weren’t fond of witches either way. Everything else was simple until Adan was born, who could communicate with animals at the age of ten. After seeing a bird carry out a particular task instructed by Adan, his parents later caught on. They couldn’t believe their eyes, so they kept a close watch on him the next week, and what they saw proved their suspicions.

Adan called a small herd of deer to a woodland area under the moon, and they played together. Finishing off their meeting with the stroke of a deer’s snout, the herd galloped away to spread the word of the human boy who could talk to animals. The word leaped from animal to animal until the gossip reached the ends of the world. Unfortunately, witches also received this information through unknown means. Adan and his parents knew their lives would be far from ordinary, but it wouldn’t stop their pursuit of happiness; unfortunately, the parents weren’t the only ones to catch a glimpse of this anomaly.

There was a man who’d hid behind the many trees, witnessing all that’d unfolded. He ran to the village and told the chief. The chief and villagers immediately assumed they were witches as they began discussing plans for a witch hunt. A wise owl, sitting atop a tree, heard and understood everything the humans said under their trees before warning Adan of the danger, which would be upon him by dawn. The animal whisperer kindly asked the owl for a favor, which she did without question.

Adan woke his parents, and they began packing their things. They thought there was enough time to grab the essentials, that was until they saw torches in the distance. They dropped their things and ran as fast as possible to the hills near the village. If they made it to the hills, they would be safe, for Adan’s favor would come into play. The parents knew they’d not make it to the hills, so they looked at each other with a tacit agreement. They each took one arm of Adan and swung him to the hills; sadly, the parents didn’t make it.

Once the villagers arrived at the entrance of the hills, the wise owl kept her word as she began rallying wolves and rams to keep the humans at bay. Getting up, the boy limped through a tunnel, linking to a narrow valley. After taking his final decrepit step through the tunnel, a rampaging ram sacrificed himself to collapse it. Adan then wept and mourned for many hours, for he knew his parents were dead.

Wiping away his tears, the boy decided to walk down the path that lay in front of him. Looking up, Adan noticed he was in a valley, but he didn’t know where the rocky walls led. The boy would travel by day and rest by night. Finally, after three long days of traveling with no food or water, he stumbled upon what seemed to be a forest on mountains. The wise owl had already prepared the animals for Adan’s arrival, so they’d composed his veggie meal beforehand.

Adan thanked the animals for the food and ate. After eating his dead-wood plate of carrots and greens, he was taken by animals to see a good witch who lived on the far side of the Forest Mountain. Sitting on her rotting stump, the good witch told the boy that if he ever felt sad or alone, or needed help with anything, then come to her. After spending little time with the witch, Adan was brought to a long-lived, but young-looking tree that’d been there since the animals first migrated to the mountains. None knew how the tree came to be, not even the beetles and bugs, who’d often asked the tree.

Adan asked the animals how to speak to plants so that he could ask the tree himself one day. The animals took a moment to laugh at the boy, calling him foolish for even considering such a thing; however, the laughter was soon brought to a pause by the wise owl, who’d saved Adan. The owl’s violet feathers gallantly danced as she flew to a nearby branch, and her pale violet beak spoke diligently. The forest animals greatly respected the owl, for she was the only one to receive the answerless tree’s wisdom.

“To understand plants, you must first learn the language of insects, something an ignorant human could never hope to accomplish! By accepting our knowledge, you’re accepting our ways and our trials. Though you may gain our understanding, you may never wish to achieve what you seek.”

“After knowing this, dare I ask, do you still wish to proceed?” the owl asked, still looking down on them from the oak tree where she’d landed.

“I don’t care what I must do! Even if the chances are slim, I still wish to proceed!” the boy replied without a second thought.

The owl did not expect such determination. “Then it shall be done,” she said before flying off into the mountains.

The animals were at odds with the owl’s decision but could not oppose her command as they would begin their teachings at dawn.

For the next five years, Adan would go through a series of trials: battling boars with bare hands, outsmarting foxes, studying and eating live bugs to understand their chemistry better, then making amends later on.

For another five years, he was taught by both animals and insects the properties and lifestyles of a simple plant. Finally, it wasn’t long before he’d understood the simple plant well enough to speak with them to study plants on a more complex level.

Ten years had passed him by, and he was finally ready to ask the unanswered question to the tree he’d slept under in his stay. He told himself he’d ask in the morning, but the tree opposed the idea. Then, just as Adan was nodding off, the tree began to talk.

The first words that were ever spoken to him by the mysterious tree were, “You wish to know my age, do you?”

The boy was startled but at the same time filled with joy, for he didn’t think the tree would tell him outright. Adan replied with a yes; thus, the real story began.