My world-tree system-Chapter 58 - 57: Lïanna

The rhythm of the dance reached a climax.

The elves’ bodies danced in the darkness, forming moving shadows around the Mother Tree. Each step was a vibration, a heartbeat in tune with the earth. Their bond was at its peak, a pure wave woven between them, an absolute harmony.

At the centre of the circle, Foster shone.

The Avatar of the World Tree rose around him, his figure bathed in a golden glow, his tattoos glittering like roots of light spreading across his skin. He was the pivot of the ritual, the catalyst of this sacred birth.

The elves danced faster and louder, their feet pounding the ground in a muffled drumming. The world itself seemed suspended at that moment.

Then, the universe shifted.

A wave of magic exploded out of the circle, projecting a blinding light that lit up the clearing.

The Mother Tree reacted immediately.

Its entire trunk vibrated, its leaves quivering in the non-existent breeze. An immeasurable force was channelled into its roots, into its very essence, and poured into the ritual.

At the top of the Mother Tree, the single fruit shivered.

Its smooth bark cracked in a heavy silence, as if the world were holding its breath. A pulse ran across its surface, a ready, rhythmic beat. A heart awakening.

And in a spray of golden flashes, it fell.

He passed through space like a shooting star, drawn irrevocably to the dance, to Foster, to the centre of their union.

When it hit the ground, it didn’t shatter.

It opened up.

Light radiated from the gaping core, rising in soft, almost solemn curls. Out of this brightness a figure was born. An elf.

Lïanna.

Or rather, what she had become.

Her body, forged by the pure magic of the Mother Tree, was the very essence of Vollua.

Her feet touched the ground for the first time, but she had not been born at that moment. She was reborn, a fusion between her former existence and the raw power of the Mother Tree.

She opened her eyes, and the radiance they reflected was no longer hers alone.

But no one saw her.

The elves were still dancing, absorbed in their trance.

The ritual was not over.

Lïanna, standing at the heart of the circle, felt a call. A silent whisper. A force greater than herself, greater than all of them, was about to perform the final act of the ritual.

Her stomach contracted slightly.

Then an intense burn radiated from her abdomen.

Her eyes widened and her breath caught. A wave of energy shot up her spine, making her limbs quiver. She put her hands on her stomach, where the pain was growing.

A seed.

She felt it sink into her chair, taking root in the depths of her being.

It wasn’t just inside her.

It was her.

Its essence wove itself around this nascent existence, enveloping it, nourishing it. She carried the new life, but more than that - she was its cradle.

A gentle warmth spread throughout her body.

This was no ordinary seed.

This was the future of their people.

A shiver ran through her, an inexplicable certainty imprinted on her soul. What would be born of her would be neither an elf nor a tree.

It would be the first being truly birthed by Vollua.

The ritual reached its climax.

Foster opened his eyes again.

His breath was short, his body weighed down by the intensity of the ritual. The energy that had flowed through him had subsided, like a tide receding after a storm. Around him, the other elves were slowly emerging from their trance, panting and haggard. But it was not they who caught his attention.

At the centre of the circle, bathed in an unreal light, stood a woman.

An elf.

Or at least, something that looked like her.

Foster’s eyes widened, his mind still numb from the ritual as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. The face was alien to him. Yet there was something in its features, in the curve of its eyes, that evoked a distant echo.

Her body seemed to be made of the very lifeblood of Vollua. Her skin, smoother and more perfect than any elf’s, seemed almost luminescent in the moonlight. Her deep green eyes shone with a hypnotic intensity, as if they contained within them all the wisdom of the forest.

Foster recoiled, adrenaline pumping through his veins. Who was she?

He glanced around, searching the faces of the others for an answer. No one seemed to understand. They were all staring at this mysterious apparition with the same amazement.

His gaze returned to her.

- Who are you?

His voice was sharper than he would have liked. The emotion was too strong, the incomprehension too great.

The stranger raised an eyebrow, then let out a crystalline laugh.

A gentle melody, almost unreal.

A laugh that was both light and filled with deep nostalgia.

Foster felt a shiver run up his spine.

That laugh...

He had heard it before.

Foster felt his heart miss a beat.

That laugh.

He knew that laugh.

A shiver ran down his spine as his mind, still numb from the vestiges of the ritual, struggled to put the pieces of the jigsaw together. In front of him, the elf was still smiling, her emerald eyes filled with an enigmatic tenderness.

- Don’t you recognise me, Foster?

Her voice was soft, vibrating with an ancient warmth.

He, frozen, didn’t know what to say. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, unable to articulate a single consecutive sentence.

She took a step towards him, her body seeming to glide more than it walked. Each movement exuded a fluid grace, a perfect harmony with the energy of the place. Her aura, though similar to that of the elves of the World Tree, was different.

Someone within her was overflowing.

It was as if the whole of the forest had condensed in her being.

Foster instinctively took a step back.

She stopped and tilted her head slightly, amused by his reaction.

- Don’t be afraid. I’m... Lïanna.

An abysmal silence fell over the clearing.

Foster’s breath stops short.

The elves around him held their breath.

Only the night breeze dared to penetrate between them, making the leaves of the Mother Tree dance in a soft, soothing rustle.

- Impossible...’ breathed Foster, his heart pounding in his chest.

His gaze scanned the elf in front of him, looking for a flaw, a lie in her features.

But there was none.

Lïanna was looking at him with an expression he knew well. That playful gleam in her eyes, that slight smirk...

It was her.

It was her.

But not exactly.

The image of her old body, her old face, her presence inseparable from Vollua, clashed with that of the elf standing before him.

- I still had that hope deep inside me...’ he murmured. And here you are, more than dead the last time I saw you.

The words burned in her throat.

She shrugged slightly, a mysterious glint in her eye.

- Am I really?

Foster clenched his fists at the painful memories.

- Look at me closely, Foster.

She placed a hand on her own stomach, where he knew the seed of renewal lay.

-Look and understand.

Foster, in spite of himself, let his gaze slide over her.

On her new features, on her body that seemed to be made of pure essence.

On the life that pulsated inside her.

He lived.

He understood.

Lïanna was born of the Mother Tree.

She was the Mother Tree.

Her former body was no more.

But her spirit, her essence, had transcended death.

She was something else.

A unique kind of elf.

A child of renewal.

Part of her was Lïanna, the one he had known. But another part belonged to something bigger, something older.

She had been brought back in a different form.

She was no longer just an elf.

Foster felt his breath catch.

Her heart was beating too fast.

She smiled, then gently placed a hand on his cheek.

Her palm was warm.

- I’m here, Foster.

A shiver ran through his body.

He closed his eyes. Just for a moment.

And when he opens them again, a light tear rolls down his cheek.

- And I’m not alone... she said with a smile, her hand still caressing his stomach.

Foster remained frozen, his eyes riveted on her. All around them, the elves held their breath, as if none of them dared break this moment.

Then, little by little, the murmurs began.

Hesitantly at first, as if each one struggled to believe what they were about to hear.

Then, a burst of understanding came through the madness.

Kanh felt his heart beating wildly. He understood.

He understood what this meant.

He put a trembling hand to his chest and exhaled a breath he didn’t know he could hold.

- So that’s it...’ he murmured, his eyes shining with raw emotion.

He’d never really allowed himself to hope. Not after everything they’d been through.

Not after everything they’d lost.

He glanced at the other elves. He wasn’t the only one shaking. He wasn’t the only one who realised.

- Foster...

His voice rose, finally breaking the silence.

Foster turned his head slightly towards him, eyebrows furrowed, still in shock at what had just been revealed.

Kanh took a step forward, and this time his voice was stronger, firmer, carried by a new certainty.

- We thought it was over.

His gaze swept over the elves around him. They all stared at him, their faces a mixture of disbelief and dawning hope.

- Since our transformation, we’ve all felt that... something in us has changed.

He clenched his fists, as if to give himself courage.

- We’ve all understood, without ever daring to say it out loud...

He pauses for a moment, takes a deep breath and finally puts into words what everyone had feared.

- We have become sterile.

The confession exploded like a shockwave.

The elves lowered their eyes, some nodding gently, others clenching their jaws. They all knew it was true.

It wasn’t a guess. It was a fact.

They had felt this break with their past, this inability to give birth, as a price to pay for their rebirth in their new form.

Kanh felt his throat tighten.

- We accepted this reality because we had no other choice. Because we have to survive.

His gaze wandered for a moment to Lïanna.

- But today...

His voice broke.

He inhaled again, but this time there was no pain.

Only an immense joy that threatened to explode.

- Today we know we were wrong.

A feverish smile spread across his face.

- Today we see...

He looked at Foster, then at Lïanna.

- That the future still exists for us.

Then the first cry of joy broke out.

And it was followed by another.

Then another.

And soon the whole of Vollua was ablaze with shouts of triumph.

They were not an endangered species.

They were not doomed to extinction.

An exciting future in Lïanna’s belly.

And for the first time since their transformation, they felt truly alive.

[*Ding* Hidden Quest Completed]

[Creating Life [1/1]]

[Reward granted]

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