• The Chronicles of Baku Volume 3, the Journey, through the forest


    It was a few weeks since I left my family and I guess what you could consider my lover, and I was starting to feel the strain on my heart. The strange path that my mother’s soul created made me avoid many people of the world, and I never seemed to come much closer than a few miles to the nearest town. I could not help but feel my own soul starting to lose its luster. In most people, creatures, et cetera, the soul gains strength and resilience through contact with other kindred souls. That is why forests grow in the way that they do. The trees gain strength and grow larger, while ushering in new trees and growing. This too is how communities form amongst the various beings of the Demon kind.

    Demons are not the creatures that most people from your realm refer to them as. It was the name taken by a group of people who happened to by some strange accident start to show joint characteristics of humans and animals. The originators of demonkind were originally killed as soon as they were born, but it started happening in such great numbers that there was no way that human kind could continue if so many children were killed. What also shocked many people is that many royal and noble children were starting to become demons as well. Instead of killing the demons, the people decided to start raising them, but feelings of resentment started to rise out of the non demon children. When the first demons reached adulthood, alongside their human siblings, the demons were outcast together, in a great unified exodus that counted in the thousands. From all human kingdoms they left and made homes in the forests. Many demons were scarred from the forcible removal, so they decided to keep to their own, not by animal species, as it may be commonly held, but in groups of mixed races that closely resembled their communities in the human lands.

    Along the way demons discovered their kind was especially susceptible to a kind of spiritual separation anxiety that took hold when out of our communities. Aside from obvious mental degradation, demons start to fade away physically as well. A demon that is apart from his kind for a year seemed to age 10 years, 2 years a century. No one quite knows what happens past 2 years, but it most certainly seems to be death.

    After two weeks I was nowhere near the point of death, but I could feel myself getting weaker as I walked past a small village, but the aural line seemed to get stronger than it was before, so I ignored my growing infirmity and ran faster. As I grew nearer I could feel the hairs standing up on the back of my neck the energies that were flowing through me giving me greater drive as I came nearer. I jumped through a bush, fully expecting to find something resembling my mother, but I was very surprised at what I saw. The energy I was feeling came from a tree that glowed with a fine blue light. I sat down and sighed heavily.

    “Dammit!” I exclaimed as I pounded my fist into the ground. I was thinking that once I learned what my mother was it would be as simple as taking my ability (I call it soul searching) and applying it to what I learned. I thought I was wrong, so I lay down and was about to give up on the whole idea all together. Looking back on myself, I was much more pathetic than I would have admitted. As I was staring at the tree, I saw a leaf move. This wouldn’t be strange, if there was no wind. Another leaf started to twitch around, and soon the whole tree was moving, and a vague woman-like figure rose from the tree, seemingly made of the leaves that glowed so eerily.

    “What’s wrong young demon?” A kind voice called from the figure. I was stunned, but I figured this sort of stuff happened every second of everyday, so my fear was quickly subdued by my despair. I didn’t speak, so she ( I assume of course, I don’t know the sexual nature of trees, but if it looks like a woman, smells like a woman, and well, jiggles like a woman, I am not one to argue) walked up to me and looked me in the eyes. “Can you tell me what’s wrong?” I sighed and closed my eyes.

    “I have, I have just failed my first great ambition in life.” I opened my eyes and she was closer to my face, her own showing small lines of sadness.

    “Oh, that is very unfortunate demon. I am very sorry. What was that goal?” It felt ridiculous that I was talking to this thing, but I suppose I was so lonely that I didn’t care too much about appearing foolish.

    “I am looking for my mother’s soul, but all I found was this tree, or you, whichever doesn’t sound rude.” She smiled a little and lay next to me.

    “So I see, and either is correct really, though I do appreciate the attempt at politeness.” She said delicately. “Why do you seek your mother?”

    “Because I want to figure out who I am, and I assume my mother knows best of all.” I replied still quite perturbed at my lack of success. “She died when I was little and I followed the essence of her soul to here wherever here is.” She sat up and very suddenly, her eyes widened.

    “Why didn’t you tell me sooner!? I am the nymph of a soul tree, the tree you are at right now!” She exclaimed. I perked an eyebrow up and sat up slowly.

    “What does that mean exactly?”

    “Well, It means that your mother’s soul must be somewhere in the tree’s trunk, hold on, I have to look for it.” She shimmered brighter as she closed her eyes and floated upwards. I stood up, took a step back and felt the souls move around, restoring my lost strength. The spirits stopped moving and she walked towards a spirit directly behind me. She merged with it, her form changing to that which I thought I would see. Her features were exquisite, and reminded me of myself. Her hair was long and light, her figure was full, but a bit on the thinner side. She was in a priestess gown, which was exactly what I imagined her dressed in. Though her finer details were bleached out by the glow, I could definitely tell that she was my mother. She looked at me closely, and her features became both heart wrenchingly sad and graciously happy at once.

    “Baku?” Her wind whispery voice called out to me. She floated forward and I suddenly felt very small. When she hugged me to her breast I felt like a small child, no, her small child, her baby. I started to cry, and she patted me softly. “There there Baku, why are you crying so?” Her sad voice asked me I looked up at her and sighed.

    “Mother, oh mother, I did not know you.” Was all I could say before I started crying again. She started to sing softly, a song that reached into my own soul and calmed the tempest that was my heart. We stood like that for a long while, and I wished that it didn’t have to end. She spoke at last, when I calmed down and the tears no longer came down my face.

    “Baku, I am very happy that you found me. When I died I thought I would never see you again, but now that I have seen my child again I have a request of you.” She said, stroking my hair gently. I nodded, I would do anything for my mother. “A soul is fragmented upon death, taken apart by the holders of death and spread across the world. I was a priestess for most of my life, and because my death was so abrupt, most of it was kept in one piece. However, I cannot retire to the great world beyond if my soul id not in one piece. I beg of you, son, to find the rest of my soul and bring it to me, so that I can finally rest.” I couldn’t help but tear up as she spoke these words to me.

    “But I will never be able to see you again. How can I learn more about myself if you are gone?” I was going to continue, but she put a hand to my lips.

    “My son, you have learned more about yourself than I ever did. Anything I could tell you was already told to you by your grandparents. I love you Baku, but I am growing tired. I beg of you, let me rest.” I stifled a protest and nodded.

    “I promise mother, I will let you rest.” She sighed sadly before floating away from me, and reverting back to the Nymph of the Soultree. She shook her head and looked at me longing face with puzzlement.

    “So, did you get what you wanted?” she asked me as she walked up to me. I snapped out of my trance and sighed sadly.

    “Yes and no.” I said cryptically before I smiled, realizing that it my statement was rude. “But you were a great help, thank you.” I said before giving her a small kiss on the lips. She giggled, smiling widely as she looked in my eyes with a small twinkle.

    “It’s getting late, maybe you could stay the night under the tree, sleep on one of the boughs, young demon?” She offered me, a slight dark bluish blush appearing on her face. I looked around, and twilight was upon us. I didn’t notice the passage of time while in the arms of my mother. She looked quite pleased by the idea of my staying there, so my decision was made for me.

    “Yes, I will, thank you for offering umm, umm, I am not sure what to call you.” She smiled and poked at my nose.

    “Just call me Levyra, okay?” I nodded and smiled. She took my hand and led me to the tree, where I jumped onto a branch and made myself comfortable. I was very sleepy, partly from the soul separation, but also from the shock of finally finding my mother. I was soon in the realm of dreams, though I made no attempts at creating a dream, I instead ran the memories of today through my mind (assuming I am in control of my dreams, I am not certain of this ability, but I do have my theories).

    When I awoke the next morning, I heard a commotion as a group of men carrying axes tromped their way through the undergrowth. Levyra was asleep on my chest, but I had no time to bask in the glow of her comforts. I held her as I jumped onto a higher branch, out of their sight.

    “So son, you’re sure this is the tree with the nymph that seduced you, right?” I heard a hearty voice ask.

    “Yes father, I am sure.” A voice I felt was disingenuous replied.

    “Okay men time to take this sucker down, chop it up and make sure the nymph never takes the innocence of another young boy ever again.” Levyra woke up at this point, but I hushed her. I heard a chop into the tree and she buckled in pain. I set her down and took a swig from my sake, feeling fully revitalized. I jumped down and landed directly on top of a man, bringing him to the ground in an instant. I am sure I would have gotten a nicer reception if I hadn’t done that, but I wasn’t looking for niceties at the moment.

    “Who’re you?” The hearty voice from earlier asked. The man that asked it was handsome, if quite a bit older than I was. He had large horns, which led me to believe that he was a bull cattle demon. His son, who had much smaller horns was frightened at my sudden appearance.

    “Well, I happen to know the nymph of this tree, and though she is quite seductive in appearance, she wouldn’t seduce a young man such as your son. He snorted before laughing loudly, to which his men followed.

    “Well, I suppose you’re calling my son a liar?”

    “Yes I am, sir. I don’t have time to formally discourage you all from chopping her down, but perhaps you can take a wager? If I defeat you in one on one combat, you leave and punish your son for the smell of musk on his burgeoning young manhood. If you defeat me, I will give you the pleasure of being correct, as well as my life to with as you please.” He eyed me and smiled widely.

    “Sure, why not, I could use a new slave for the various tasks around the farm.” I do not know to this day where those words came from. I am guessing it was a little buzz from the sake I drank as well as the training my grandfather gave me that made me say it. The potent mixture of alcohol and chivalry made me shift my stance and pull the obi on my kimono for greater range of movement. He laughed slightly as he pointed his head down and charged at me, horns first. I jumped in the air to avoid him, but he pulled himself up and grabbed my leg, pulling me to the ground. After my fight with my father, I was not about to be shown up. I stopped myself from smacking on the ground and pulled my leg from him, making him fall forward slightly. With my other leg I kicked him in the face, which knocked him out instantly. I was surprised by my success against him, but I did not let it show. I stood up quickly and made my features menacing.

    “Honor your leader’s wishes, and do not attack this tree.” The men that surrounded me looked at each other and picked their leader up as they walked away. The son looked rather torn, but it was his fault for trying to have this tree taken down.

    “Thank you!!” I heard from above as the nymph fell from the high limb I placed her on into my arms. I staggered as I thought I should have, but she was as light as a feather. She kissed me passionately on the lips and hugged me close. I accepted the kiss, and when we parted I set her down, and walked to the branch that held my belongings. I put on my hat and cloak, pulled my sake jug to my hip and smiled.

    “I’ll be back, I promise Levyra. But I have a promise to keep.” She sighed discontentedly and merged with the tree, lowering the glow a little bit. I knew I angered her, but I had to keep my promise. With a sigh a stepped away, moving forward on my quest.

    After another long search, this time through the various villages and towns, I was sure I found the rest of my mother’s soul. The body I was certain it was in belonged to a young wolf demon named Ritsu. She was an average villager, her father was the master tanner of the place so she had some prestige. I wandered through the town as a beggar to get a feel for the town, I also made sure that I knew all the exits if there was an emergency. As far as I could tell in order to get my mother’s soul to the tree I had to take Ritsu to the tree and kill her. I studied her schedule closely, noting the places where she stopped and where she would be most vulnerable. She made herself easily assailable around noontime. She walked to a small pond that was only visible to a single old man who napped constantly. It was too easy. One day, I camped out around the pond. Pretending to sleep when I heard her walking towards me.

    “Spare some food?” I asked her in my best scraggly voice. She huffed and looked at me callously, but it was more maternal than spiteful.

    “Beggar, mayhap you should learn a skill, so that you will not look so hungry, and receive more than scrap-.” Before she could finish speaking I grabbed her, placed my hand over her mouth and jumped back into the forest. When I landed, I expected her to look up at me in fear, but all that I caught was a fist. The punch stunned me, and a stepped back a few feet. She kicked me in the stomach and punched me in the chest. I staggered backwards, but quickly regained my footing and rubbed where she hit me.

    “You louse! How dare you do this to me!” She exclaimed before launching another kick at me. I dodged it and tried to grab her leg, but she snapped it back and turned around to kick me with her other leg. I blocked it and managed to grab that leg. I pulled her close and punched her in the chest, knocking the air out of her chest. I spun and kicked downwards, knocking her to the ground, as well as effectively incapacitating her. I did not anticipate a fight, and I heard people moving through the underbrush, probably investigating the commotion. I jumped into a tree and started moving farther away from the town, and towards my mother, to her rest.

    I set her down as I walked into a cave for the night. If she was not unconscious for the duration of the trip she was very quiet. I sat down, took off my cloak and hat, and looked at her. Until that point I never really looked at her because I was more concerned with her soul, but I had time to kill so I examined her. She was sleeping peacefully, which of course kept me from seeing her eyes. Her raven black hair was cut short, the fashion of the day, it barely passed the lobes of her ears. She was physically very fit, as was evidenced by our scrap from earlier. But her face, it reminded me of my mother’s, or at least what I saw from her spirit. The features were just as soft, just as comforting, and just as, something. I moved closer to her face, to see her features better, and my heart began to race. My breathing was stunted, I could hardly exhale. I felt like I was looking at something I was not supposed to, doing something that I would be punished severely for, but I could not stop. I caressed on side of her face softly, and stayed there for what seemed like a long while, until I saw a bright flash and heard the clap of thunder. She woke up in a jolt and I jumped back to where I was sitting. The rain started to fall heavily outside, and I was thankful for two things. The rain inevitably called off the search party, and finding the cave was a heaven send for what would have been a very cold day. She looked at me indignantly, pouting and huffing at was an inescapable situation.

    “Why are you doing this? My father isn’t very wealthy, and I doubt they are still looking for me. What could you possibly gain from kidnapping me?” She asked. I saw her green eyes now, which were filled with a strange mixture of fear, but slightly hiding the fear was anger and contempt.

    “I can let my mother rest, with what is in your soul.” I said cryptically. If she knew I was going to kill her, she would run out in the rain no matter how hard it was falling. Her eyes widened slightly when I mentioned my mother.

    “What do you mean?” She asked, dropping her guard slightly. A cold breeze blew into the cave, which made her shiver. I set down my jug of sake and poured it into a depression on the ground, I then focused my energies and made a fire in my hand, which I threw at the alcohol to get a fire started.

    “My mother was a priestess, and most of her soul is gathered at a soul tree a little ways away from here. She needs to rest, and the only way that she finally can, is when her soul is gathered completely. I need to take you to the tree, so that she can be complete.” Her expression changed a little, she was less indignant, but still irritated.

    “Will I come back home?” She asked, with just a hint of fear. I grinned a little and nodded.

    “You will, I promise.” I lied. She relaxed a little and looked at the rest of me as she moved nearer the fire.

    “Aren’t you cold?” She asked me, her teeth chattering slightly. I smiled at her as I moved closer to her and stretched out my back.

    “When you’re raised out in the wilderness like I was, this is like a summer breeze.” I joked as I pulled my cloak out and handed it to her. She took it reluctantly and wrapped herself in it.
    “I hope I can help you, it would be a shame if you came all this way for nothing.” She spoke these words softly, kindly. I nodded and smelt the air. It was getting late, it was getting colder. I smiled as I stood up and poured a bit more sake into the fire.

    “You should get to sleep, it will only get colder as it gets later.” She looked at me with contempt but lay down turned away from me. I drank a bit of sake and sat down, where I nodded off for the night. I dreamt only of the girl that I captured, not of my mother, and not of Levyra, but of this girl that managed to hurt me in our first encounter. When I woke the next morning, I was laying down, with that woman in my arms. That was a nice way to wake in the morning, but it was the only nice thing about the proceeding days. Every day was a challenge with Ritsu, there was not one moment that she was not testing me to make me let her go. She wanted to help, in some unusual way, but she was not about to become some chattel in my train to get to my mother. Every morning began the same, however, with her in my arms in the brisk air.
    Somewhere along the course of the venture, these little games of cat and mouse ceased to be annoying, and I found joy in chasing her through the trees and over the brooks. I was having so much fun that I did not realize that I completely forgot about the soul tree until I heard a familiar hearty voice.

    “Well nymph, I guess without your wolf friend you had no protection. I don’t understand why you had to have my son again, he is a good looking young man, but I thought you would’ve learned from last time.” I heard a loud chop and Levyra screamed loudly. My heart sank when I heard another chop and the tree fall down. I ran towards the tree and saw the man again, this time by himself. Ritsu looked back at me confusedly as I jumped down from a tree and dropped my hat and cloak, pulled out my sword and loosened my obi. I heard Ritsu drop behind me, but I paid her no mind.

    “What are you doing?” I yelled as I drew my sword and stepped closer, fire blazing in my eyes. The man turned around, putting his axe on his shoulder.

    “Well well, it is a little late, but I guess you were around. Your little nymph was a naughty girl she just can’t seem to keep her hands off my son.” He said with a smile. I didn’t give him the satisfaction of continuing his lies. I ran at him, my sword at my side until I slashed at him. He blocked my strike, and threw a kick my way. I side stepped it and sheathed my sword. I could see the souls leaving the tree and I didn’t have time for a real fight. I jumped in the air and focused my power. “What’re you doing?” He asked me gruffly. He didn’t wait for an answer, he threw his axe, which barely missed my head and stuck into the trunk behind me. I looked at him one last time before my magic came to fruition, and he was lit aflame. He screamed loud, and rolled on the ground, but those flames were not going to be put out but such an effort. I jumped down and stabbed through his head, ending his misery instantly. I then remembered that Levyra was dying. I dropped my sword and ran towards the tree. She appeared, only much weaker, and losing her glowing blue luster. She fell over and I caught her in my arms

    “Young demon, you came back.” She said weakly. I started to tear up but refrained from crying.

    “I’m sorry I didn’t show up sooner, I-” she stopped me and kissed me. It drove me to tears again.

    “Young demon, I am sorry, your mother already left when the tree first fell. I thank you, for keeping your promise. I’m just sorry that I can’t stay long enough to enjoy it. Goodbye, young demon.” Her glow faded and she turned into a pile of leaves in my hands. Ritsu walked up behind me and patted my back. I held the leaves there for a while, and just cried for a long while.