Despite the Tree of Life’s power, it was still a young sapling. In this world, there were many powerful forces, eager to collect such a rarity. Hadjar didn’t know how to ‘use’ the Tree of Life, because, until today, he’d considered it nothing more than one of South Wind’s tales. Nevertheless, he presumed that its usefulness was somehow connected to the Immortals or even the Gods.
“Don’t apologize, brother of a dragon,” the voice whispered, “what should be will happen... or won’t. But you are here, which means it’s happened. Therefore, it had to be. But it could’ve been another way.”
Hadjar blinked a couple of times and shook his head sharply. South Wind had said that people who had a weak mind and spirit would lose their sanity or even their souls after meeting a Tree of Life.
That’s why Hadjar wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.
“Then, Elaine...”
“Is passing a test.”
At that very same moment, the world before Hadjar’s eyes was covered with a grey veil. Once he was able to see again, his hand reached for his sword. He was standing in the center of an indescribably beautiful temple. People were walking around him… Or, that’s what he would’ve called them if he hadn’t felt the power radiating from each of them. It was several dozen times more potent than the might of the Ancient Adept whose Shadow had taught Hadjar for a year.
Among these people was an ‘ordinary’ person, in comparison with the others, anyway. He held a sword in his hand. The people were talking about something, and then the ‘normal’ man plunged his blade into a stone. The runes on the blade flashed and everything froze. Placing the sheath of his sword on the ground, the man suddenly turned around. Their eyes met.
Hadjar looked at the phantom from ancient times, and he gazed back at Hadjar. It was impossible, but still, it happened. In the features of the man’s face, in his eyes, and his smile, Hadjar recognized... No, not himself, and not his father. Not even Primus. Nevertheless, there was something they shared. The phantom put two fingers to his lips, then to his heart, and then the vision was gone.
The former General found himself among the ruins again and talking to the Tree of Life.
“You’re right,” the leaves whispered. “He was an ancestor of the ancestors of your ancestors. He was a great man, or… maybe he didn’t exist at all. But if you saw him, that means his name thundered through many countries.”
“But what about my sister and her test?”
The Tree sighed, “Once upon a time, the people who transferred my sapling here and took care of me made a promise to your ancestor. They promised to keep his sword safe and give it to his heir. Perhaps they didn’t promise it. Perhaps they didn’t help me grow and didn’t become my leaves later on. But if your sister is lying on my roots, then it all happened. Or it will only happen after my leaves wither and I return to the River Mother...”
“Heir…” Hadjar repeated. “But she’s an heiress. Regardless, I’m older than her, which means I should be taking your test.”
The Tree appeared to look at Hadjar disapprovingly.
“No, no, I don’t need the throne or another sword...” Hadjar corrected himself immediately.
“That’s why the test isn’t for you, but for your sister... She’s just now starting to take it... Or she’s already passed it, and her years are over, and her soul has been carried to the wheel of rebirth by the flow of the River Mother. Because everything that is happening now never happened and will still always happen.”
Well, Hadjar now understood exactly how people had lost their minds from meeting the Tree. Fortunately, his neural network was still offline. Otherwise, the computational chip would’ve just burned out from trying to comprehend all of this.
“You have your own road to travel and your own test, rejected by the Heavens brother of a dragon.”
“What do you-”
Hadjar didn’t have time to ask his question before the world was once again covered with a dark veil.
Chapter 213
Hadjar awoke to the feeling of sharp, cold needles scratching his face. Opening his eyes, he realized that these weren’t needles, but snow-white waves crashing against a rocky shore.
A strong wind blew, easily getting past the meager protection of Hadjar’s shabby clothes. His lungs were filled with the freshness of the sea breeze, which threatened to turn into a raging storm.
The sky, full of gray and black clouds, resembled an ink stain caused by a novice scribe. They were sometimes illuminated by white lightning, and raindrops, looking more like pearls, fell and wove together into the most inconceivable patterns.
Hadjar squatted and touched the water. It was very cold and terribly salty.
He looked up, and somewhere out there, in the distance, he saw the overcast sky and the water disturbed by the wind blending into a single black stripe. What was there, behind that barrier that looked like a bizarre optical illusion?
Hadjar didn’t have time to ponder the question. He heard a powerful roar. From the water emerged a giant black mountain. Water rained down from its smooth cliffs and boulders with another roar. As the mountain climbed higher and more water flowed from it, the easier it was to see the beast guarding it. And its bright, silvery eyes which were like two precious stones.
A huge buffalo stood in front of Hadjar, shielding both the horizon and the path to the sea. Its horns, like millstones, threatened to grind up this deluded little man who imagined himself a master of the coast. Clouds of steam burst from the monster’s expanding nostrils. It was so hot that the sea foam boiled and evaporated on the heated stones with a hissing noise. Hadjar knew that if he didn’t defeat this buffalo and didn’t dump it back into
