Zima’s cities had high walls but no castles, with the various districts of each fortress separated by internal walls. Countless small villages surrounded a city, but from so high in the sky all Lith could tell was that the further from the safety of the fortified walls a town was, the poorer its inhabitants were. "How close are we to our target?" Zoreth asked. "I’d rather avoid human settlements. If someone recognizes me, we’ll have the entire Zima Council on our heels. I have a terrible reputation here. Sadly, it’s well-deserved." "You’ve been to Zima?" Solus asked. "I’m over a thousand years old, Solus." Zoreth said it like an admission of guilt. "There are few places I’ve not been. I would love to tell you I came here searching for a cure to my condition but it would be a lie. "Back then, I was a bloodthirsty monster on the run. Those who chased after me had a very good reason for it and sometimes I wish I failed to shake them off." She remained silent after that and Solus didn’t pry further. "We are very close." Lith opened his hand just enough to let the light shine through his fingers. "Half a kilometer to the south." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎 Zoreth followed the light and brought the group to their destination with a single flap of her wings. It was a hill covered with grass and a single gnarled tree growing on its top. Several small birds and animals sat there, huddled around a lonely figure. "Well, that’s unexpected." Xenagrosh took a good look at the scene with her Dragon Eyes and used the Skull of Bytra to make sure there were no traps waiting for them on the ground. She let the others off her back and shapeshifted into her human form before slowly descending from the sky and to the top of the hill. "I knew this day would come, but I didn’t expect it to be so soon nor that there would be so many of you." The voice sounded human and was produced by vocal chords, not air magic. Continue reading at empire "I’m sad my travels have come to an end but seeing different fragments working together gives me hope we can resolve this without violence. Maybe, I can convince you to let me free until you find the rest of our siblings." "I beg your pardon?" Lith was relieved hearing Tyris’ universal language and confused by the rest. "You were expecting me?" "Not you specifically, brother." The voice belonged to a youth with closed-cropped black hair who looked like a teenager. No longer a child but still too young to be a man. "I was expecting someone would come to collect my fragment. "I know that the Yggdrasill bloodline can’t remain scattered for long, but knowing how lazy we are, how reluctant us Saplings are to move, I hoped I could buy myself at least a few years if not decades. "After all, without a World Tree, there are no Chroniclers and without Chroniclers, I assumed it would have taken you a long time to track me down if I kept moving. I guess I was wrong." The youth stood up and turned around to face his guests. He was wearing a loose cotton tunic dirty at the edges where it brushed against the ground. The Sapling had chosen the form of a young man with almond-shaped eyes and a pale skin with a golden hue. "Wait a second. You are not Saplings." His eyes burned with mana from Life Vision. "What are you doing here and what have you done to my brethren? They would never let go of the essence of the World Tree without a fight." The human skin turned into brown bark veined with green while the Sapling’s arms turned into tendrils that whipped the air while conjuring spells in the form of shining spheres. "Calm down. We didn’t come here to fight." Aalejah stepped forward. "I’m Aalejah Eventide. Former Chronicler candidate. I was entrusted by the Sapling named Esor to remove their fragment and collect the others." "Former Chronicler? And just a candidate at that?" The Sapling frowned, conjuring more spells but keeping them steady. "It means you either failed or decided you didn’t care enough to dedicate your life to the Yggdrasill." "I admit I dropped out, but that doesn’t make my words any less true." The elf replied. "Hard to believe with all the Yggdrasill wood your companions wear. There is no way a World Tree would give away so much willingly." The Saplings replied. "I also admit most of the Yggdrasill wood you see was taken by force but with the history of madness of your kind, is it also hard to believe they deserved it?" Aalejah asked. "I gave up on becoming a Chronicler because I refused to be a puppet for the Tree’s cruel machinations." "Point taken." The Sapling studied his guests for a while before dispelling his magic and returning to human appearance. "You still haven’t answered my questions, though. Also, why is one of you hiding behind the Treant? What is he ashamed of?" "As you imagined, we’ve come here to collect your fragment." Aalejah gave the Sapling a small bow. "Also, you are only partially right about the other Saplings. Only a few fought us. "Most of them were happy to get rid of the shard of World Tree’s essence plaguing their mind. As for why Lith waited for us to clear the misunderstanding before introducing himself, it was not to scare you." The name was unfamiliar but the Sapling still twitched in instinctive fear. When Lotho moved to the side, revealing Lith’s presence, the Sapling’s bright violet aura burst out with such violence that the birds took flight and the animals ran away in fright. "You!" "Me." Lith opened his hand just enough to let out the light of the collected fragments. He could feel them calling upon the youth’s shard, their burning desire to be whole again. Yet there was no reply from the other side and no reaction but a thin smile. "You’ve purified them!" The Saplings said with honest glee. "They are at peace now. What the elf said was true, then. I can trust you." "My name is Aalejah. And you are?" She asked. "I’m sorry. Between my fragment and my prolonged isolation, I’ve forgotten my manners. You can call me Xaphen." The Sapling gave them a deep bow and invited them to sit down. "There’s something wrong with you." Lith had studied his mark with the Eyes and Ears the whole time. "The other Saplings were terrified of me. They were also either tormented by the knowledge of their fragment or eager to exploit it to their ends. "I can’t feel any of that coming from you." "Not wrong, Verhen, just different." Xaphen shook his head. "As you know, each fragment is unique and there are no two alike. Mine contains little knowledge regarding magic and much about Mogar. "The day the World Tree died, I inherited their wonder and that of all their predecessors about the marvels of our planet. I learned about all the places the past Trees wanted to visit and the things they dreamed to do."