The Golden Tree

Many years ago, for the world at least, I was travelling. More specifically, I was travelling in search of someone, anyone else like me. Anyone who was raised by no one, anyone else who had the amount of power I did.

I would like to point out: I am not a god. I've met Cleeekar, goddess of libraries, and I know that I am not one of them. Cleeekar told me I was unique, but she didn't say WHY. No one tells me why I am, who I am.

Anyway...I was travelling. I stopped every now and then, talked to the people, camped in trees, hunted meals of deer (the unintelligent animals ARE food after all, though many humans have been going vegan recently). 

One day, I came across a tree. Not just any tree, this one stood out. From the sky, it flashed a burning reflection of the sun onto my retinas, and from the ground, it created a glow that lit an entire forest. The tree was solid gold.

I approached the tree carefully that night, for as an unusual object, it possessed a certain level of holiness. And it was holy indeed. 40 meters tall, and solid gold. The moon reflected off of it,creating a bluish gold light that filled the entire clearing.

The trunk of the tree was covered in scratches on one side, and sacrifices of flowers and incense on the other. A mixture of people honoring the tree, and people trying to steal from the tree. 

I sat on the side with the sacrifices, and began to pray. I didn't know which god this tree was for, but I didn't want to disrespect them. And since I didn't own much then, being a traveler, I decided to honor the tree by writing and leaving it one of my poems.

It's safe to say the tree accepted my offering, because moments after I set the poem at the roots, the god Xyphir appeared.

Xyphir grinned at me. He was only half the size of the tree, but he towered over me anyway (of course he did, I'm being dumb). His skin was silver in contrast to the tree, and his eyes were solid emeralds bigger than my head. His glittering teeth were diamonds, and his skin was covered in runes and words.

He leaned over, and picked me up.

"Little cat, I am honored by your poem and prayer. I am Xyphir, as I'm sure you have guessed by now, being a smart kitten. This is my tree. As you can tell, it shows the two sides of obsession, which not many take time to see. There is this side, which is the protective side. It is honored by those who'd leave the tree alone, those who work to protect it. And the other side, scarred and marred, is the side that represents the other side of obsession, the destructive side. Obsession is a two way path, but both paths are the same. Those who take still leave the whole tree, and those who protect destroyed my flowerbeds finding sacrifices for the tree, and destroyed the ground with all the ash from their incense.

"You however, gave up part of yourself, a poem from your heart, struck by this moment. You aren't the first, and you won't be the last, but those that honor something with their own sacrifices are those who learn the most.

"Your obsession is trying to find how you are unique, and how you can become less so. Unfortunately, no gods can help you. I can tell you, you weren't the only one who grew up raised on magic and books, but all the others perished in the war, even the dragons. You are unique not only in your power, but in what you've become. While there may be other half dragons, none of them are immortal, because none of them are cursed as you.

"When you changed, you changed fully. I'm sorry, but you went off of the book too much without knowing actual dragons. You somehow made yourself fully immortal, even more so than I. That doesn't make you a god, however. It just makes you incredibly cursed. When the world ends, we gods will sleep, and you will be left on a dead rock.When that rock is destroyed, you will be cast into the abyss of space, alone, without books or air. And when the universe ends, perhaps then you will be a god.

"You are unique not because of that however. You are unique because you possess more magic than any other creature. You used that power to change, and while you got your wish, you got your curse.

"I suggest you stop obsessing about this. You can never become less than you are, kitten. Find a new obsession. Writing suits you, as does travelling. Perhaps you can write books, more poetry, maybe some plays.

"But stop trying to change yourself. That obsession is unhealthy, kitten."

The god set me down gently. I sat there, shocked and confused. When I looked up, Xyphir was gone and the tree was fading as storm clouds covered the moon.

I sighed. 

Gods are annoying when they are right.

Bonus, The Poem Given to the Tree:

Glistening gold and shimmering light

Enough to see my paper at night

The moon never shown

Quite like this

The sun in its splendor never blinded like this

The gold is forever

And never it was

It showed me a place

Holy and fun

One side, so scarred, by greed and by poverty

One side, so honored, in all of its beauty

But what of the god

Who sees the tree marred

And then sees the worshipers

Ignore all the harm

What worshiper doesn't stay and protect

What Nirrah won't build a temple

Something, alas, I cannot do

For golden tree, I must leave you

Tomorrow I fly, though you lit my way

A journey on words

Every day

Acceptance, and the Lack of it

I am quite alone in this world. Not only by fate, but also by choice.

Not really Dragon, not really Furalo.

It isn't all bad though. If the dragons had accepted me as one of their own, I'd be on their council by now (only one of the dragon elders is older than me). But I was declined by the dragon elders when I tried to become one of them.

Not because I wasn't fully dragon, but because I was clumsy and stupid with my magic. They've taught me much, but never invited me to become one of them.

The Furalo tribes accept me as a wise old cat, but they find me hard to trust. My inability to age, plus the fact that I am the second oldest creature alive, both unnerve other Furalo.

Now, in none of the races are half-breeds considered lesser. In fact, with the amount of magic in the world, if the parents love each other, anyone can have a child.

I'm the only half-dragon who has a long life though. The rest live the same length as all the other intelligent races (about 80 years).

Perhaps it is the fact that I became this way using magic...

The Nirrah also won't fully accept me into their ranks. While I am fully genderless and marked by the gods (still no clue which ones, the Nirrah won't explain), I am also not pure enough to become a full Nirrah. The stains on my soul are too dark and irreparable. So I'm a Nirrah scribe.

No one really accepts me to be honest. I live alone, because all my romantic partners don't want to be with someone who doesn't age, doesn't want kids, and doesn't want sex.

I don't have a family, I grew up alone.

I don't belong anywhere, so I just sit here in my house.

Books line the walls, my furniture is thick and squishy and black (for proper shedding of white fur), and I wonder exactly who will read my writing. How does anyone see what I've got to say?

Art by Yoretula

The War

Long ago, the five intelligent races lived in anger. Each one had their own system of government, and all wanted to rule the land in their way. Each race wished to control the world.

The Aviar believe that leadership is a divine right. Their royalty is not only by birth, but approved by the Nirrah when the royal reaches adulthood. If a prince or princess is judged unworthy by the Nirrah, they are exiled, never to be spoken to again.

The Dragon leaders are chosen by age. The leaders are the three oldest dragons in all the land. They are judged only by age, and all prior crimes are forgotten.

The Furalo choose leaders in a complex fashion. Each tribe elects a council, who make all local decisions. Each tribal council elects a member to go on to the regional level, where they make more regional decisions. Then onto state, national, and continental. Every council member can be on two councils maximum (the two highest they've been elected to, the only council members on ONE council are local-only). This allows them to hear the concerns from the more localized council, and lets them bring those concerns to the more regional council.

The humans use something similar called democracy. They elect all their leaders on a regular basis, and have groups of councils. But then they have decision makers they don't decide, like those in the courts. And their leaders are only ever in one council at a time.

The Reynocr choose their leaders in trial by combat. As a military race, each leader must fight and kill others to be in charge. They believe that leadership comes from physical strength, and will not accept anyone who cannot kill them as a leader.

And so, each race thought that their system for ruling was the best. And each race wished to rule the land.

So the war began, as most of these things do, during a peace conference. Each of the races had sent several representatives to discuss how the world should be ruled. One of the humans stabbed one of the Reynocr while they slept. One of the dragons accidentally landed on one of the Furalo. And one of the Aviar dropped a human out of the sky.

Each race fought hard, and many went extinct.

The raptor Reynocr were some of the first to die, for they killed all the farmers and animals in their land, creating mass starvation.

The light-skinned Humans of the north were the next to die, for the north was wilder then, and wolf and bear Furalo tore all they encountered to shreds.

The small Dragons, the wyrms, went extinct as well, their libraries burning to the ground.

The dodo Aviar went extinct as one, walking off of a cliff to attack the Furalo below (forgetting that they could not fly).

And the badger Furalo died, all rounded up and massacred in the night (though no one knows who killed them).

On all sides, awful deeds were committed. Each group rounded up captives of the other races to work as slaves. Each race captured others to torture and interrogate.

I'd say more, but my experience of the war was unique. I was captured by Humans that tortured me, and I killed them all using my magic. Other times, I was captured and enslaved (by every race, including Dragons and Furalo - each enslaving me for being a spy for the other race). Mostly, I spent the war hiding in towers, libraries, and forests, running with the peasants of several races.

Eventually though, all the armies were exhausted. And the peasants, the villagers, the slaves, and the Nirrah banded together as one. No matter what race, we were done.

So the world was divided.

The Aviar took Asia, for the land had the most holy areas, and high mountains for roosts.

The Dragons took South America, for there were high mountains for many dragons, deep rain forests for other dragons, and a mixture of hot and cold climates.

The Furalo claimed North America. The wide forests, cold terrains, windy plains, giant lakes, and other varying land features provided homes for all the tribes.

The humans claimed Europe. They've removed most of the forests and suchlike to create giant cities, sprawling arenas, and other buildings and museums. They call their land a cultural haven, and indeed, their buildings feature styles from each race.

The Reynocr took Africa. They enjoy having large deserts to spread out in, with wild animals they can hunt at will.

And Australia and Antarctica became centers of peace for all. Antartica is mostly run by penguin Aviar, who conduct science experiments in the cold. Australia is filled with giant libraries (large enough that dragons won't accidentally land on anyone) and learning centers for all.

Of course, members of any race can live in any of the other continents, and many do. It is just recommended you live somewhere where you like the system of government, as no race is willing to change such deeply held beliefs.

Australia is where the universal language called "English" was developed. It comes from the Avian word "Eng" meaning "all" and the dragon word "Lish" meaning "language".

I do wonder about the language actually, for I learned it using my spell before it was created. But, that means nothing now.

The last major thing caused by the war was the creation of Likka. It is a festival that happens in every continent at the beginning of the harvest season. Everyone living in the area participates, celebrating peace and harmony.

The festival starts with the gathering, where everyone works together to bring in the harvest. This is followed by a feast day, celebrated with the cooking, canning, and drying of all the food. Those in need (the homeless shelters and poor families) are cared for, given a stock of food to survive the winter.

Then come the dances. These are non-judgmental expressions for every emotion. Anyone can dance with ANYONE.

Afterwards are the sporting events. These last for ages, and there are prizes for everything! Prizes for winning, for losing, for participating, and for staying at home and watching the sports on tv. Prizes for being a spectator and for not spectating, prizes for doing whatever, prizes for blogging.

And the festival lasted until winter in most cases, for it was fun and it symbolized peace. Even in the lands of the Reynocr, all fighting stopped during Likka, for they had learned what the loss of a harvest could do.

And that was the war of our races. It was so long ago, many have forgotten why Likka started. They know it means peace, but do not know that the peace came at such a high price.

Tater art by -Kit-

Personal Demon

Oh. Um...Hi.

So I've not written anything in a few days, and I meant to! I was going to tell you about the war between the intelligent races, ending in the peace and the division of the continents.

But, alas, I fell asleep on the keyboard. And I've spent the last few days using my magic to get the fur out from between the keys.

So I've decided to instead tell you of the ghost that haunts me. A long time ago, during the war, I used my magic in self defense. I'd been captured by humans, and they were torturing me for information I did not have.

So I unleashed a spell, filled with raw, unbridled power. All the humans that were holding me, torturing me, they died.

Their spirits all were demolished as well, nothing was left.

But I created a ghost, for there is no forgiveness for what I've done, no forgiveness for using my magic to kill.

The ghost is invisible to everyone, and I only hear him in whispers. But he tortures me, he hurts me constantly. A pain indescribable, for it isn't like physical pain.

The ghost reaches into me, touches my soul, and causes it to crack in tiny amounts each time. For several millennia this has happened, and my soul is almost broken.

Broken by my own mind.

The dragons told me this would happen, but also told me something I cannot yet take to heart.

They told me that while using magic to kill was unforgivable, and the majority of dragons who have done so have died of broken souls eventually, those who can atone for their crime will eventually survive and heal.

But how can I atone for my crime?

I've healed and helped, I've made sure the families of all those men were cared for, wealthy, healthy. But...those men can never see the afterlife, they can never have peace. They just have nothing.

Perhaps....

But no! I live! I survive and suffer for all time.

My soul will not break, for if I die, I cannot suffer for what I've done!

And my ghost knows that, I think. Occasionally when he touches my soul, it is with a cool healing touch, reeking of shadows and darkness. And I know that my soul will last all the longer for this care.

But now?

My black couch is calling my name, waiting to be covered in thick white fur.

Following art by Florapi

My Beginnings

My first memories are those of kittenhood. Soft, attached to the ground. Paws that were eager to get into any book, and boy were there books!

I grew up alone in a tower library. The shelves were taller than I was, towering over my head. But no book was out of my reach, as the tower had stairs and ladders on every level.

There was no way out of the library except through the top, and that was so far above the ground, so high up that the fall would surely kill me. But the windows provided me with glimpses of the outside world, and the books provided me with information.

At four, I tried my first big spell. No one was around to teach me to speak (I still do not know how I survived, or even where my food came from, when I lived in the library, I was the only soul there), so I decided to try a language spell.

The spell was a success, as I learned to speak immediately. Every language. I felt strange afterwards, since the spell was only supposed to teach basic English speaking.

Out my window, I sometimes saw dragons or aviar flying in the distance. I envied them their ability to go anywhere, and often dreamed of flying myself.

A few years passed after I learned to speak. With my new knowledge of words, I learned and practiced multiple spells, some with varying degrees of success.

For example, my first attempt at summoning water ended with the entire first floor of the tower flooding for a week. The water kept draining, then filling to the top of the floor until I banished the spell.

However, my first attempt at fire magic was highly successful, and I managed to create a self-contained fire rainbow that followed me whenever I wanted to read a book. The flames never burnt anything, and the rainbow only ever followed me when I was reading.

My ability to do spells only increased as I studied. By the time I was six, I was ready to try a transformation spell.

Back then, spellbooks did not have warnings. They expected young mages to have teachers, and to have knowledge of other creatures. I had none of these things. Only what I knew from other books.

So, after I set up all my supplied, I decided to try transforming myself into a dragon. Not knowing that spells went wrong if you tried to become (or create) one of the other intelligent races, I started my spell.

I woke up the next day floating about a foot off the floor. I felt strange, incredibly strange. Everything seemed smaller.

Dazed, I made my way to the closest mirror, my paws touching down as soon as I considered walking. As I walked, I realized my clothing was shredded, I was naked. I had a piercing headache as well, though that seemed less important right then.

As I looked in the mirror, I was awed. I was no longer a kitten. I'd grown to my adult size during the spell (admittedly, I was trying to become an adult dragon). I had no sex organs, for I was genderless since birth, but I did have some rather noticable differences.

First were the horns. As tall as my ears, they were covered in a soft fuzz the color of my fur.

My footpaws were now more clawlike, more like dragon feet.

But the wings...stretching from my back was a pair of wings, wings that matched everything my heart had wanted. Shaped like dragon wings, but also covered in my fur.

I hiccuped in surprise at my reflection. With my hiccup came heat, and then a flame that didn't burn until it left my mouth.

Learning to fly took me over a year in the tower. Ceilings and rooms that once seemed cavernous now seemed small when my wings were pumping. At the tips of my ears, I was 5'6". My wings were even larger.

And practicing outside took a lot more effort, since this high, the wind blew stronger than I could stand with my weak wings.

After learning to fly, I started going outside more. First, I discovered that the tower did once have a door, and I spent a month rebuilding the door's magic for my own personal use.

Then, I discovered some other creatures that lived nearby. A race of Furalo that were about three feet tall, the Squirrel-Folk were gracious hosts that had been curious about the tower for ages (they moved in with me eventually).

I lived in the tower and explored that area until I was about twenty, learning new magic from the Squirrel-Folk, learning about new plants and poisons, and learning more about flight.

I still have my wings now, as I write this and remember. My horns and claw feet too. For the magic I used was not meant for becoming one of the other races, and I...well, I stuck. I can't change into anything else. I don't age. I don't die.

The most I do is shave and dye the hair on the top of my head blue (it is the most fashionable look).

And I learn.

Glossary of Terms (will be updated often)

Aviar - one of the intelligent races, humanoid birds

Cleeekar - goddess of libraries

Dragons - the most intelligent race. Their intelligence comes from their long lives

Furalo - one of the intelligent races, humanoids with fur

Humans - one of the intelligent races

Likka - A holiday symbolizing peace between the intelligent races. Starts with the harvest, and ends with winter. Traditionally, all gather together to bring in food, there are parties, and all fighting is banned.

Nidr - god of personal feelings

Ni/Nix - Genderless pronoun (Ni is standing over there. I know nix! COMPARE: He is standing over there. I know him!)

Nin - Genderless possessive (That was Tater's hat. That was nin hat)

Nirrah - Genderless priest or scribe - also the plural for priests of every gender

Nirrda - Priestess or female scribe

Nirrdo - Male priest or scribe

Reynocr - one of the intelligent races, humanoid reptiles

Xyphir - god of obsession