Bloom

A group of four beastkin, one demon, and one human stare at the glittering sigil floating in midair.

A large cavern filled with runes currently glowing brightly as they defend from the System are slowly burning out.

“Are you sure this will lead us to Grandfather?” Kehoko asks.

“When have my calculations been wrong in the last few centuries?” Kurhoko replies with gusto. The nearby darkness seems to treat him as something sacred.

“Aunty Tevril, can we trust this math obsessed idiot?” Kehoko grumbles. Light moves about her form in waves, each one a different color, as if a thousand shades of rainbow surround her.

“Of course dear, if he’s wrong I’ll string his guts up and let the blood ravens lunch on them.” Tevril states calmly, standing next to her father. The air around her is restless, as if a small concentrated wind surrounds the foxkin’s form.

“According to the ancient texts of both Empires we should have a really good shot!” Azvril shouts, his ancient form belying the amount of youthful vigor he still possesses. Only his face remains visible, the crystal armor of his youth now grown into a symbiotic entity keeping him alive with pure Aura.

Kurhoko makes a complicated face as he ignites the Divine portal they stole from the Green Lady’s backyard. It took a few centuries of planning to execute the theft, but now everything is fine.

With this portal, they can trace Grandfather’s location and arrive at the same place!

***T***

Finally, it’s time to attempt our escape from this world.

Two centuries is two naps, with a small break in between to make sure the wheels haven’t fallen off the apple cart.

I perfected what I hope is a magic that can allow me to return.

After a long discussion with Dryad I had to explain that, untested magic, is not something I can guarantee.

Especially Chaos magic.

At the top of the Tower, both of us wait patiently.

Seconds after landing, the magic formations I have laid take effect and a small portal barely enough for me to fit through opens.

Thank all that is holy.

I really worried there would be no escape.

As we fly into the portal I look behind and see a few figures exiting from a larger portal just behind us.

They look sort of familiar…

***T***

A figure dressed in a death robe stares down at his minion. Behind him is the coffin he recently awoke from. It has taken almost three millennia to recover his strength. In that time the plan should have progressed without any issue.

Which makes the statement his aide said even more strange.

“What do you mean, we lost him? How the hell does one lose a stationary Tree?!” the Lord of the Dead states in a questioning tone rumbling with fury.

***T***

A beautiful elderly lady steps out into the Garden that is her favorite jungle paradise. She had been taking a short nap to pass the time before starting the next phase in her herb cultivation.

Such a wonderful Tree has the chance to ascend, allowing her to have a qualified talent to replace the old fuddy duddy World Tree.

Which is why the current situation is so confusing, the pond of Primal Energy is completely vacant…

“Where in the Seven Hells did that brat go?!” the Green Lady shouts.

***T***

Emily and Robert Wood, Emperor and Empress of the Celna Empire, stare at a messenger stating that things have been starting to escape from the dungeons. Creatures that have never been seen before on the planet, creatures from the myths.

Pointed ears and tall slender figures.

Furry ears and tails with muscled forms.

New life is arriving on the planet, escaping from the dungeons bit by bit.

Monsters are on the rise. Attacks against the Empire have occurred.

At this time the Tree is gone, just as he claimed he would. Witnesses had seen him depart from the top of the Tower mere moments ago.

Another portal opened up behind him, disgorging one human, one strange creature, and four of the so called ‘Beastkin’.

Robert sighed, it was clear that this was the tribulation the Tree had spoken of.

It was time for the Emperor to stand forth, and prove that this world belongs to those the Divine Tree sheltered.

It was time to show the invaders the power of Humanity.

***T***

Where the hell is this?

I mean that literally.

Grosteque forms.

Wings, horns, and everything in between, talons claws, and everything else. Spike tails, and scaled skin, the whole view of ‘monster’ is here.

Behind me the portal is open, with a thin thread of Chaos anchoring me to the previous world.

*Cut it off! Now! I won’t let these things near my girls!* Dryad screams at me. She recognized the forms just as we shifted through the portal. It was clear if we’d remained even a second longer, we could have been re-united with our family.

However…

We are surrounded at the moment by things. If I spare any attention away from keeping them at bay, things would go very badly.

*The secondary method still isn’t tested, are you…*

As the creatures move in towards the portal sniffing at it Dryad makes her point clear. She won’t allow me to risk going back through the portal and being followed by the Enemies.

With a snap I close the connection cutting the thread that attached us to the previous world. The secondary measure springs up, giving me a sense of time and place through the soul Seals left behind.

Now however, I do not have time to thank whatever gods might have made that part work without any prior testing.

The place we are at now is a barren plain filled with monstrous forms.

It’s hot, dry, and full of crazy. And I’m not talking about myself here.

I’m angry at Dryad, but, I can’t do anything right now.

Lucky for me, there are plenty of things to take my rage out on.

Fire is my Domain.

Flame my Calling.

Burn brightly.

Aedar!

This world may be a hell, these creatures may be devils, demons or what have you.

It doesn’t matter.

In front of the power of Chaotic Flame, I will teach them the consequence of angering me. I just needed a few moments and I could have brought us back.

Just a few seconds…

Seconds that will never be given.

I am.

Angry.

I will teach them the meaning of fearing a Tree, I will show them how to burn.

…

….

…..

Several hours later I am regretting my somewhat hasty actions.

Honestly! Where are they all coming from dammit?

Endless waves are truly endless.

I can’t believe I’m actually using a sliver of Chaos up. Sure, there’s a zillion more to spare, true. I feel a slight sense of terror though, if there are truly endless waves I won’t be able to hold out forever.

Holding out for merely 10 seconds and 10 thousand years are both the same if the end is death.

Chaotic flame is the flame of disorder, the breaking down of the organized energy in a universe by Chaos.

Then, is it possible to use the Dao in this hellish place?

If I can use the Dao…

If I can manipulate the Fire without using my own power, this war can be sustained.

I am absolutely sure I am at war, here.

The difference between using the Dao of Fire and not is crucial.

A simple example would be a man powering a lightbulb through a bicycle. That would be what I’m doing now, using my own power to fuel the fire.

Another example would be a man powering a lightbulb through solar energy. That would be the Dao, the existence of a rule that is supported by the universe itself.

Status?

Tsk. Nothing, damn useless System. Where the hell is it when I could use it for once!

No wait…

If this universe had no rules I would have unlimited amounts of Chaos to work with. Then these demons or devils wouldn’t be worth my time to worry.

That means there must be a Dao here.

There is no System to make it easier, but I didn’t go through thousands of years without learning some tricks.

Over time I have learned that Fire is not the simple act of burning fuel, but the act of turning potential into kinetic. It is a transformative process that alters reality at a basic level.

Fuel is the potential that allows a Fire to burn.

What is fuel then?

At the most basic it is anything that can burn.

Anything?

Yes, anything can burn. This must be true.

I cannot believe otherwise, I cannot allow doubt.

How could I not have seen this simple truth?

Because, even the simplest truth is profound.

This must work.

Work…

BELIEVE!

Aedar…

I pause, as the world around me stills.

Light from the heavens above illuminates my form, as I feel the universe twist to confirm my will.

Ignite.

Chaos Flames ripple out from me in a concentric wave as they grasp the things seeking to devour us whole.

Anything is fuel. Air, water, earth, bodies. This is the furtherance of my Law.

The flames of Chaos change from being fueled by my power to being fueled by the bodies of the fallen, the air surrounding us, the very barren earth without life.

Even the red light from a fallen sun in the distance is turning into fuel.

From the simple epiphany I have created an Everburning Flame. The name makes itself known in my mind, and it is without question.

The knowledge of how this is accomplished sears itself into my soul written in the ancient language of the Dao, from before time began.

Dao is eternal, and it transcends all universes from the smallest speck, to the greatest infinity.

I was afraid, for a brief moment. Now my fear is gone, and there is only one thing to do…burn the enemies alive.

I reach out spreading the Chaotic Fire further, pushing it past the limits imposed on growth.

I will show these creatures that no tide is endless, no enemy without fear.

Fire has long been mankind’s oldest ally against the darkness.

I will teach these creatures that no matter what universe I am transported too…

No matter how far I am from those I call kin, or those I call family.

Nothing can stop me.

Nothing.

To my enemies, I burn, forever.