“So be it,” Ryder agreed.
“Once I have said my goodbyes, Goddess, I will give you the bark that is needed to save the Tree. You will need to bless the ground around the Tree, and the White Stag will show you how.”
“Thank you. This world needs more creatures like you, who are willing to make sacrifices for the good of this world.”
I looked up at Ryder as his words finished, and then back at the Elder Tree.
“We need the kind of rulers you two will be,” the tree said. “Ones who can unite our people, our land, and bring peace to this world.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
We watched as the Elder Tree moved, and the entire ground shook with the subtle movement as it turned to the small copse of new trees. I turned to look at Danu, and she watched them with watery eyes. The Stag watched me, and I felt his calm and wondered if he was feeling my unease and had somehow managed to calm me.
“It is his choice, and his time was nearing his end, Goddess.” His voice filled my mind, but with it came a calmness that filtered through me. I knew it wasn’t my own. “Tell me child, what do you plan to do with the ones who harmed our world?”
“I plan to kill every last one of them,” I replied back.
“Violence is not always the answer, little Goddess. They may just need a push in the right direction,” he said.
“They are pure evil,” I said softly aloud.
“Evil isn’t born, it is created. Find the reason they became like this, and you could find their peace, as well as your own.”
“They were going to cut me open and take my children. They’ve poisoned this land and are trying to kill my people. They’ve managed to create turmoil in the Human world as well. They are hell-bent on destroying us.”
“And you feel they cannot be reached nor saved?”
“No,” I replied honestly. “I think some who embrace evil cannot be found once they’ve become lost in it. They feel rejected by this world, and yet the Horde would have embraced them with welcoming arms. However, they target us because Ryder is the King, and he is the strongest leader. No, I fear they cannot be reached or saved because they don’t want it. They want to decimate us, and I’m not even sure they know why anymore. They, unlike the Fae, are not immortal. Those who were wronged have long since found peace. The ones who fight have no valid reason to since they were never rejected. Some evil runs too deep to be changed or saved.”
“You are wise, but healing the world is only the beginning and a war is not something I would wish for this world. We hide in the shadows ourselves to avoid it, and we are no longer able to do that. Think long and hard, Goddess, before you bring war upon this world.”
“She is not alone in her reasons, White Stag. These men who fight my children, they have been led by a God who sought to crush my creations. I have thought of many ways to stop them, but Synthia is right in this. They will never stop. Even if we win the war, we will never kill them all. But we can push them back, and prevent them from harming this world,” Danu added softly.
I hadn’t known she was inside my head. I turned and looked at her with a sad smile. I hadn’t considered it from her side. She was going to have to stand on the sidelines while we slaughtered a piece of her creation. She considered all of the Fae her children, so it would be a hard blow to her. These Mages were Changelings, children from Fae unions born with humans, or lesser Fae.
“They are all my children, Synthia, but sometimes even children cannot be saved. No matter how much you wish it was otherwise.”
I was about to respond when a loud crashing noise sounded from the right of us. I turned and watched in horror as the Elder Tree hit the ground as if someone had cut it down. I swallowed the cry that formed in my throat and threatened to release. He had been true to his word, and where a once magnificent tree had stood, was now a pile of bark and wood.
“We must move him, and place his bark beside the rowan Tree,” Danu said softly as she moved to the tree’s remains. “Synthia, you must first bless the land.”
“How do I do that?” I asked, and waited.
“Bleed for us,” the Stag said. “Use the sacred dagger, and allow your blood to flow within the lands that you now rule. As the world accepts you, you will become more attuned to its needs. Its pain. Had you been in tune with it when the great rowan Tree became harmed, you’d have felt it. The land requires a sacrifice from you,” he said softly, and I felt the calmness wash over me again.
“A sacrifice,” I whispered and felt my heart flop. “Not my children,” I said hastily. “Me,” I whispered. “Not my children.”