My mind whirred. After that human kicked me, I slammed into the base of a minor world-tree. The Calydiptid forest around me still echoed with the reverberations of my impact, its ancient roots quivering from the force.
Tendrils unfurled in all directions, a carpet of emerald green vines stretching from my body, now returned to its true form.
The human was strong. Even during our initial conflict, he had soundly defeated my companions and me. But now? How had he grown so powerful, powerful enough to send me hurtling through the air like a common rodent?
I allowed myself a moment to collect my thoughts, and my expansive body, of course. Then, I shifted forms.
This time, I chose the shape of an angel.
No Calydiptid had ever seen an angel, but we know the stories well. They are the stewards of the world tree, its keepers and guardians, shrouded in divine mystery. In the tales, their immense forms are hidden beneath layers of shimmering wings, their features obscured to mortal eyes. Three pairs of radiant wings propel them across the skies as they tend to the tree's endless branches.
It was always one of my favourite forms to take. When I donned this guise, I felt as if I were truly serving the world tree, one of its highest and most trusted servants.
Once my transformation was complete, it was time to return home. Beating wings, radiant and powerful, carried me into the air. The forest unfolded beneath me, its emerald canopy a blur as I ascended.
As I flew, my thoughts drifted. I already knew what awaited me upon my return.
"Lunyth," they would say, "you were instructed to guide the carriage and defend it. Not only did you fail to do so, but you also defied orders to chase the attacker on your own."
The weight of their reprimands pressed against me before I'd even landed. They never understood. Never could.
Everything I did was for the world tree. Every decision, every action, was to ensure our survival. But my methods unsettled them. To the elders, my independence was rebellion, my foresight arrogance.
They preferred safety in tradition, clinging to the old ways as though roots could protect them from the storm. And so, they hated me for daring to step beyond those boundaries, for choosing a path they feared to tread.
As I neared the village, I forced my restless thoughts into order. To them, taking action was as alien as the humans' steel and fire. Yet, they didn't see the theft of our vines or the blood our kind had shed as reasons to change.
My wings shimmered in the canopy's dappled light as the village came into view. I shifted forms mid-flight, choosing something less likely to provoke their ire. My angelic guise dissolved into that of a human male, though I kept two leathery red wings to carry me through the air. Approaching them as a symbol of their own fear would only deepen their scorn.
A voice echoed through the trees, clear and commanding. "Lunyth, your presence is required at the village hall. Come at once."
It was Thaliriel, the eldest among us. His words carried the weight of tradition, rigid and unyielding. Ignoring his summons was not an option.
The village hall loomed ahead, carved into the largest of the minor world-trees. Bridges wove between its boughs, connecting the hall to the surrounding homes. A long platform jutted from the entrance, offering a place for fliers like me to land.
I angled myself toward it, letting the wind rush past as I folded my wings and fell into a free dive. As I neared the platform, I shifted again, becoming a plain human just before touching down. My feet hit the wood harder than I intended, the impact jarring but steady.
Thaliriel's reprimand awaited me inside, but so did my chance to speak.
Decorated doors, large and grand, opened as I approached. Inside the hall I saw many of my kin, and sat atop his usual high horse was Thaliriel.
Eyes followed me as I ascended the few steps onto the central platform, looks of obvious distaste and dislike. The usual.
Amongst the crowd I spotted my closest friend, whom I'd grown up with from just a seedling, even he eyed me with a mix of distrust and pity.
It broke my heart to see even the ones I love have abandoned me.
"Lunyth" My name boomed from Thaliriel "you were instructed to guide the carriage and defend it. Not only did you fail to do so, but you also defied orders to chase the attacker on your own." Exactly as I had expected to hear, but his tone carried something with it, a thought untold.
"Thaliriel," I said, meeting his steady gaze. "I am aware of the village's opinion of my actions, but I refuse to apologise when I have done no wrong." A pause stretched, heavy with unspoken judgments.
"The humans and vampires continue to steal from us and murder us. They are using our kin's bodies to forge weapons," I continued, my voice rising. I looked at the elder, his face was a placid mask of ire and boredom, like my argument would mean nothing to him either way.
"How can you sit here and defend our continued neutrality, stating that we are not to involve ourselves in the war, when our people are being dissected and pulled apart. They are using our indifference against us, and now, our dead kin who should be resting in the grace of the world tree." I swallowed hard. "They fight even in death because you refused to let them fight in life."
For a moment the room was silent, I looked at my old friend hoping that he, if anyone, could see the error in the old ways.
I was wrong, so wrong. Every face in the room was twisted with rage, an expression rarely donned by my people.
They think I'm lying. Thaliriel had deceived them so completely into thinking that his way was right, now they refuse to believe that it could be backfiring.
"Enough." My head snapped back to the elder, his eyes alight with fire. "You disapprove of my methods? You think our inaction is escalating the war? We'll see how you feel after you understand just how bad you truly messed up."
All heads turned towards a side door, where a Calydiptid in the form of a mutated wolf pranced in. I recognised the wolf of coarse, it was one of my companions from my recent mission.
The wolf shifted to a humanoid form, but she maintained her shaggy wolf-like hair.
"Now, please tell the members in the hall today, what did you see on your recent mission with Lunyth."
"The human overpowered us quite easily, Lunyth took a titanic werewolf form, and even then we were still defeated." She paused and looked at me, and for a second I swear she looked sorry for me.
"After that the human ran to our supply cart and stole a box of chlorovale, Lunyth recovered quickly and chased the human, knocking him down whilst he was distracted." A noise rang through the crowd, like a shared hum of confusion and panic, she looked at Theliriel and he urged her to continue.
"Please, remain quiet whilst the girl gives her account."
"Well, the vials of chlorovale shattered, and one of the pieces of glass pierced the human." The crowd were growing more and more anxious, their worries slowly building. "After that I couldn't quite believe what I saw, the humans' skin was so tough that Lunyths' arm broke when he went to slice the mans' head off, and then he kicked Lunyth deep into the forest."
The crowd was growing louder, threatening to explode soon "After that the human started glowing, purple light was coming off of him in waves, when the light faded he stood up and ran. He was so fast I could barely see his blurry form." People in the crowd started shouting.
"Clearly the human had a reaction to the chlor-"
"There's just no way a huma-"
"This is all Lunyth's fault, I say w-"
"Please calm down, I know you are all worried about this but let me assure you. The world tree's plan is perfect, as long as we remain out of this conflict our people will prosper." The crowd went quiet, but there was still an unease within them. An unseen worry simmering below the surface.
Thaliriel turned to me "As for you, your disregard for our rules, and therefor disobedience to the world tree; have caused immense change, you may not have noticed it but I have. The birds are growing worried, the forest speaks to me, telling me terrible tales of humans strong enough to topple the world." His voice grew louder and louder as he spoke, and somewhere deep inside me I felt it, a terrible feeling, like he was right.
"Now the humans have someone that strong, and It was all your disobedience that led to this. Now our people are in even greater danger, the humans will seek out more chlorovale to create more super soldiers. How many more are going to die all because you couldn't do as you were told." More shouting from the crowd, most of them urging the elder to have me killed.
"I am not a violent person, I will not lower myself to execution like a simple human. But your actions cannot go unpunished, for disobeying the will of the world, and thus causing untold damage. I sentence you to root severance."
The crowd cheered, I looked to my best friend but they were gone.
As I was being dragged through the halls, towards the chamber of severance, I heard the words in my head over and over again.
"I sentence you to root severance." Barely and Calydiptids in history have ever been punished so harshly. Your very body, your essence and soul. To have them all shredded apart, it left a hole too big to fill.
I barely registered what was being said once I made it to the chamber.
"Your vines will be clipped and your connection to the world tree severed, you will be banished from this village and you may never return."
A sudden coldness spread from my core, as if invisible hands had grasped at the very fibres that bound me to the world tree. The familiar hum of life within my veins stuttered and dimmed. My sprawling network of vines, once a part of me, a part of everything, felt as though they were wilting from the inside out.
An unseen force twisted through me, wrenching away the subtle threads that held my forms together. With a violent shudder, my shifting faltered. I was yanked back into my true form, raw, vulnerable, exposed, the vast, tangled mass of vines and tendrils stripped of all disguise.
A dull ache rippled through my limbs, as if the earth itself was pulling away. I could no longer sense the pulse of the roots beneath my feet, the whispered guidance that had always been there. It was as though the world was receding, and I was left stranded in silence.
I tried to summon strength, to call on the roots for support, but my body refused to respond. The severance was more than physical, it was a tearing of the soul.
For the first time in my life, I felt utterly unmoored, adrift without a compass in the very forest that once felt like home.