Chapter 30: Suspicious
The skies stretched wide. Verdant oceans of foliage swayed gently beneath a sun-drenched sky. Mountains cradled the heavens. Rivers shimmered like molten silver, winding between valleys.
And at the distant heart of this sacred realm, towering into the clouds, stood the World Tree—an ancient monolith of bark and root, vast enough to cradle civilizations upon its branches. It was the breath of the land, the lifeblood of the Core.
But peace was a fragile illusion.
Then came the light.
A golden spear of radiance screamed across the heavens like judgment given form. It crashed into the World Tree—not just touching it, but ripping through it. The impact was catastrophic.
Half of the colossal tree groaned as its base cracked apart, roots tearing free from the sacred earth.
The severed crown rose, impossibly, into the sky. Air itself trembled, and for a moment, all the birds and beasts fell silent.
But the tree was not lifeless.
With a thundering pulse, its heartwood reignited, divine roots anchoring back into the soil. It halted mid-flight, trying to stabilize, when another presence arrived—
Black. Corrupt. Hungry.
It wasn't light—it was a void in the shape of light. It slithered through the sky like a whisper of death.