Me, My Spirit, And I [Book 1 Complete]

Lusha had been somewhat disappointed in the responses they received from their family in regards to the magitech revolution that Shada was poised to unleash on the world. The consensus was simple: wait and seek out experts. Shada was going ahead with plans to build a larger skyship for long distance travel, but mass production and widespread adoption of his EssTech could be years away. Sierrallas wasn't ready for the level of rapid change Shada was prepared to introduce.

Time was running out for Shada to finish his current projects. Luca's lessons had begun to shift to teach him more about the traditions and ceremonies that he or rather Lusha would go through when they came of age. There was more to coming of age ceremonies on Sierrallas than just traditions. There were magical rituals involved and Lusha's unique heritage meant that a multifaceted approach was required.

"Lusha, your Awakening Ceremony is rapidly approaching, but there are things you must know and things we must do before that. I don't know how your situation might affect things, but we will be proceeding as if that wasn't a factor." Shinobin was talking over her teacup as she often did. It had a ritual-like quality for her when talking about difficult subjects.

Morning tea was something Lusha had grown to enjoy as well. There were lots of subtle mannerisms they had picked up from their family that they didn't have when they were John.

"So where do we start?" Lusha asked with genuine curiosity. Children were not included in Wylderfolk ceremonies and rituals so their traditions were something of a blank spot in their knowledge.

"First, do you know why we are called Wylderfolk?" Shinobin asked after taking a calming sip of tea.

"I have always assumed it was because we live near the Wyldwood." Lusha had never given much thought to the origin of their ethnic group.

"That isn't wrong, but far from the whole truth. The Wyldwood is ancient in a way few things are. It has existed since before the Awakening of Sierrallas and before the Advent of the System." Shinobin had a far off look in her eyes as she held her cup in front of her face. The steam curled in front of her in a way that gave her speech a mystic quality in the morning light. "There has always been a touch of magic on Sierrallas even before the world Awakened. It was a subtler more nature based ritual magic. This magic was particularly strong in the Wyldwood and our ancestors were masters of it."

"What was their nature magic like?" Lusha asked quietly, their own tea sitting ignored as they were drawn in my Shinobin's words.

"Modern magic, especially under the System and Guide, is highly structured. It is precise, practical, and predictable. Our ancestral magic was none of that. It is intuitive, instinctual, and chaotic at times. In other words it is Wyld magic."

"Do people still practice it?" Lusha had noticed that Shinobin used present not past tense when describing Wyld magic.

Shinobin gave Lusha a strange look. "Of course, our entire family does and you will have to become one with the Wyldwood."

"Why haven't I noticed you using this magic? I mean Shada is the magic expert among my three personalities, but surely one of us would have noticed." Confusion was clearly written on Lusha's face.

"Have you ever met a non-Wylderfolk Vitalist Healer?"

The question caught Lusha off-guard. There were plenty of non-Wylderfolk that worked at the Root Clinics, but now that their attention was brought to it they realized none of them were Vitalists. Was there something in the Wylderfolk traditions that encouraged that Class type?

"Now that you mention it, no, I can't recall one. Are only Wylderfolk Vitalists?"

"For the most part, yes. There are ways for those adopted by Wylderfolk to become Vitalists, but they are always weaker than those that are born of the blood of the forest."

It was obvious there was some link between the Wyldwood, the Wylderfolk, and the Nature magic Shinobin was alluding to.

Shinobin sipped her tea and continued. "As far as we know our Ancestors have lived in the Wyldwood and surrounding area forever. We are unique among humans, you know. None of the other human races have our distinctive spots."

"I had noticed that of course, but no one ever talks about it."

"Many of our secrets are told only to children as they come of age. We do not force our cultural and religious traditions on others the way many people do and tend to take a syncretic approach to such things. In other words we blend our traditions with those we share land with like the Imperials."

"Is that why we and the Imperials both say Sierra's Blessing over food before eating?"

"Exactly, it also helps that saying the Blessing actually reduces your chances of getting food poisoning or eating something toxic, but Divine magic can be subtle like that."

Lusha was beginning to realize that they may have been staying in their own head a bit too much if they didn't notice something like that. It was a problem all their selves had; they spent a lot of time focused on their specific interests and became oblivious to their surroundings.

"Would you like to learn the traditional origin story of the Wylderfolk? No one really believes it is literal anymore, but it is at least interesting." Shinobin's eyes twinkled as she smiled at Lusha.

"Sure! Let's hear it."

"In the Time before Time when the ancient world was still young there lived a young deer and an old tree. This particular deer liked to sleep in a hollow beneath the tree's trunk. The tree enjoyed the company of the deer, so allowed it to remain when it had refused other animals the safety of its trunk.

As the deer grew older it found a mate and sired children, which were welcomed by the tree who watched over them protectively; for the forest was not a safe place and many predators sought to eat the deer and his family.

One day a new type of beast came into the forest. Unlike the deer these beings walked on two legs and carried weapons crafted of bone and wood. Other trees and other deer fell before the axes of man, but the elder tree and his deer companions remained safe. They were hidden in a deep valley far from the cities of men.

After a time the men delved ever deeper into the forest and discovered the valley where the deer sheltered beneath the elder tree. The deer couldn't stay near the tree all the time. They had to eat, drink, and wander the forest as was their nature. During an outing the deer came upon a dying human-child.

The deer didn't know how the child had gotten there or why it was hurt, but they knew that their friend, the elder tree, could help because it had healed them in the past. So the deer gripped the strange creature's clothes and dragged the child to the safety of the elder tree.

There the family of deer and the elder tree nursed the child back to health. The child spent many months among the roots of the elder tree. The child ate the nuts, berries, and mushrooms that grew nearby, but in time grew hungry for meat as the child's people were hunters.

The child carved a spear from a fallen branch of the elder tree and went hunting in the forest. The child loved the family of deer and the elder tree, but their hunger was strong. They did their best to hunt only outside the protected valley, but after years had passed a harsh winter struck.

The child was older now. Almost a teenager in fact. The snow was too deep to hunt in, the berries were gone, and nothing grew in the snowy heart of winter. The deer had grown old alongside the child. Their time was nearly up and so they offered their own bodies to save the child's life.

The child said no for they could not kill and eat their friend the deer, but the deer was old and dying. So in the end the child used a knife crafted of bone to kill the deer. They cut their hand while carving up their old friend. It was then that something strange happened.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

The child's blood and the deer's blood both dripped onto the roots of the elder tree. The tree was old and steeped in the ways of magic. The deer had willingly sacrificed itself to save the child. Their blood had mixed and a potent ritual was created that bound the child, deer, and tree.

When spring came and the child happened to glance at themselves in a clear stream of snow melt they saw that they had changed. They had spots like the deer that had twice saved them. Thus the first of those who would be Wylderfolk were born."

Lusha was blinking. The story had conjured strong images in their mind. There was something mystical about the story the mere words alone couldn't convey.

"So does that mean we are part deer?" Lusha looked thoughtful.

"I truly do not know. The only signs of it are our spots and a tendency to move through the woods with grace."

"What happened to the elder tree?"

"That is something you will learn at another time," Shinobin said mysteriously with mischief in her eyes.

—

Lusha had turned 13 during this year's Spring Frolic. They and others of their age group would Awaken during the Winter Festival, which coincided with the Winter Solstice. It was the Fall Equinox and a full moon. A rare event and an auspicious one, because it was time for Lusha to be presented to the trees as part of the Wylderfolk coming of age ceremony.

Shinobin, Vanestra, and Lusha were gathered in the cottage alongside Mina and Westlin. Mina had been adopted and inducted into the Wylderfolk traditions sometime ago, but didn't speak of it. Whenever Lusha asked about the specifics of the ceremony/ritual they were told they would learn it in due time, which was frustratingly vague of his normally quiet informative family.

Everyone was dressed in the simplest of undyed fabric. It was soft and comfortable, but the hooded robes were strange. Lusha had never seen anyone wearing them before.

"Remember, no shoes. We will walk into the forest with our feet bare and one with the soil," Vanestra repeated for the second time since they had gathered.

"We know Nana, you already told us." Despite their best efforts their more childish side often came to the fore when talking with family.

Shinobin pulled five vials from hidden pockets in her sleeves. "This potion will open your mind and senses to the Spiritual and Etheric Planes, among other things. We must drink them before stepping foot in the forest or we will never find the right path."

The two teenagers in the room looked dubiously at the milky brown potions. This wasn't the first time the adults had drunk them, so they simply slammed them back and grimaced at the taste. "Shinobin dear, some day you need to figure out how to make these things taste better."

"I do it as I was taught. Even the slightest change like a sweetener could upset the balance and render it ineffective. I have told you this before."

"I know, but every time that foul stuff touches my tongue I can't help but wish for another option."

"It's true, it is quite gross," Mina said in agreement. "Drink up children, we are on a schedule. We need to make it to where we are going when the moon has reached its zenith."

Lusha and Westlin looked at each other and nodded before downing their potions at the same time. The adults laughed at the faces of disgust on both teens' faces.

"That is one of the worst things I have ever tasted in two lifetimes!" Lusha exclaimed to which Westlin nodded in agreement.

"It is nasty, but we need to go. Out the door, remember no shoes, and do not wander from the path once we find it!" Vanestra instructed after glancing at the angle of the moonlight in from the high windows of the cottage.

The five of them left the cottage and surrounding gardens behind quickly. The air was crisp and cold. The leaves on the trees had started turning. It was the first official day of fall and winter was around the corner.

As they walked, the potion's effects began to kick in. They each felt warm despite the chill in the air. The distraction of walking on the wet forest loam became inconsequential. The silver blue light of the full moon cast an eerie, surreal feeling over the Wyldwood. A light fog hugged the floor of the forest and added to the unreality of the situation.

Lusha was familiar with moving through the upper layers of the Planes as Shada, but this was different. They could feel things in new and unsettling ways. No one spoke. They had been expressly told not to. The fog was thickening and sounds became muffled. Lusha swore they could see things moving in the fog out the corners of their eyes, but every time they looked directly the things vanished.

The strangeness continued and Lusha felt weird. It took them longer than it should have to recognize the feeling, but they nearly laughed out loud when they realized that they were in fact very very high. They hadn't been high since their brief experiments with illicit drug use way back in college when they had been John. Their own mother had given them drugs and they wondered if magic mushrooms were part of the recipe. A few giggles slipped from their mouth, but glares from their family combined with strange stirrings in the fog stilled them quickly.

Westlin smiled at his milk sibling with wide eyes and dilated pupils, but the smile slipped when they noticed Lusha becoming somewhat translucent. The adults in the group noticed as well and shared concerned looks, but Vanestra just waved everyone forward.

Lusha was oblivious to strange changes to their appearance. To them the others looked transparent and they assumed it was just part of the whole hallucinatory experience.

It seemed like they wandered in the fog for hours, but the exact amount of time was unknown. At some point a path appeared. It was a narrow path, little more than an animal trail, but it was clear and free of the fog. They followed the path for another unknown amount of time.

The fog reflected the silver blue light of the full moon, adding to the unreality of the entire march. Time lost much of its meaning along the path until after rounding a bend in the trail a clearing appeared. They surrounded the clearing like undulating walls. The full moon made the view clear, but strange with washed out colors and odd shadows.

At the center of the clearing was a massive tree whose canopy seemed to encompass the world, or at least the large clearing. Lusha had never seen this tree anywhere near the cottage. It looked like any other Wyldwood tree, but was one of the largest living things they had ever seen. The trail continued in a hole at the base of the gigantic tree.

Vanestra led their little procession down the trail into the bowl shaped clearing and into the hole without hesitation. Despite the confidence with which the adults moved, a primitive part of Lusha's mind shied away from the darkness waiting at the base of the tree. When they looked behind them the path was gone and the fog seemed to be pressing them forward. They had no choice but to enter the hollow with everyone else.

The tunnel they entered was not as dark as it had first appeared; Lusha could see the silver blue moonlight up ahead at the end of a tunnel made of roots and dirt. They were clearly inside the tree, but there was still moonlight and Lusha couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Everything was silver blue except the stone altar at the center of the cave they found themselves in.

There were specs of green and red embedded in the silver blue stone of the altar. It seemed to pulse like a heart and was filled with so much Vital Essence that Lusha felt like they were floating.

Vanestra stood before the altar with her back to the two teens. Shinobin and Mina took up places on either side with their bodies facing the altar, but their faces turned towards their respective children. Vanestra spoke for the first time since they had left the confines of the cottage.

"You stand in the presence of the Elder Tree. Untold generations of Wylderfolk have stood where you now stand." Vanestra turned to the teens with a bone knife in each of her hands. "Tonight under the light of the moon you will shed blood together as it is said our original ancestor did long ago."

It was only now that Lusha noticed there was something laying on the ancient stone. An elderly deer, one that was filled with Vitality despite being old. A deer whose eyes looked far too intelligent, and kinder than any animal should.

"Step forward Lusha, child of Shinobin and step forward Westlin, child of Mina." Both teens knew what was about to happen; they had heard the story of the child and the deer, but neither had expected their coming of age ritual to be a literal reenactment of the story.

Lusha was trembling. Their emotions heightened and their senses on fire thanks to the potion and the strange walk through the fog. They had hunted and killed before. Mina had insisted on it. So they weren't strangers to blood and death, but seeing an animal just laying there waiting to sacrifice itself was overwhelming.

As was so often the case, Lusha and Westlin shared a look before stepping forward and taking the bone knives from Vanestra. The trembling teens approached the kind-eyed deer with trepidation and reluctance in their hearts, much as their Wylderfolk ancestor must have done eons ago.

Vanestra held the willing sacrifice's head gently, exposing the deer's neck. The bone blades were incredibly sharp; neither Westlin nor Lusha felt any resistance when they sliced the deer's neck. How they could both slice the neck of the same deer neither knew. The deer's death was not peaceful; it struggled and whimpered as it bled out onto the altar.

"Do not falter. You must cut your own hands and let your blood mingle with the deer's." Vanestra said sternly.

Tears streamed down their faces as they sliced their hands and let their blood fall on the altar to mix with the deer's and drip upon the roots of the Elder Tree below. Lusha's heart was pounding as they proceeded to dress the deer as if driven by some unknown instinct. Their stomach rumbled at the scent, somehow feeling hunger despite the strangeness of the whole thing.

Vanestra helped pull the heart from the deer. She stood behind the altar facing towards the entrance. Neither teen had seen her move. The sense of unreality was getting stronger and the Vital Essence was so strong Lusha could barely breath. Everyone was now standing around Vanestra. Their mouths watering as the still bloody heart dripped on to the altar.

"Eat." With that, everyone present took a bite of the deer's heart. The metallic taste of blood mixed with the taste of the plant-like Essence in the air created a strange flavor, but no one really noticed.

What happened next wasn't clear. The cavern had disappeared and Lusha floated in a sea of Vital Essence. They could sense innumerable lives through the Essence. Plants, animals, insects, and even fungi all combining in the strange symphony of life in the forest. There was a presence in the Essence, something Ancient, kind, yet stern. Somehow, they knew that it was the Elder Tree itself. It knew Lusha and Lusha knew it. Lusha's awareness seemed to expand and for a brief moment they were one with the Elder Tree, one with the Wyldwood, and one with the Vital Essence of life. Then everything went black.

—