Original Story: The Oak Tree and the Goddess · 4:47pm Apr 19th, 2016

Original Story: The Oak Tree and the Goddess

By Emma Lee Downs (LyraAlluse)

Long ago, on the world of Tamerine, nestled deep in the ancient jungles of Indira, there lived an oak tree that was so tall and strong, not even the black bear risked digging his claws into her trunk in fear that they would be bent on her steel-like bark. But though the oak appeared rough and ridged on the outside, within her beat a heart of gold. On more than one occasion she had provided shelter for a myriad of animals lending her braches to the birds, and her vines, trunk, and roots to all the creatures of the jungle that needed a place to rest.

Once, she had even saved a leopard from a great fire by offering him her tallest branch and pulling him to safety. It was then that the prince of the jungle, Anik, or wolf as he is known today, gave her the name Ki-nimac, or guardian of the forest, and vowed that as long as he and his kin reigned over the jungle that he would protect her kind. So, for many years Ki-nimac grew in tranquility, protected by Anik and guided by the wisdom of her ancestors who’s advice helped her aid the animals and people of the jungle who came to her in their times of need.

But on the other side of the jungle, far away from the villages and kingdoms of men, the guardian of nature, Ly-sune, was not pleased. For two generations neither beast nor human had ventured to her temple of stone to bring her offerings of silver or jewels and seek her council on the matters of the jungle. Infuriated by this, she sent her fastest messenger, the Jaguar, to find out to whom the animals and people of the jungle were bringing their problems.

While the jaguar was gone, Ly-sune brought out a great book of elemental spells and pondered how she would punish the Imposter.

“Perhaps I will punish them with great floods…” she thought to herself, “Or maybe I will burn them with a great fire, and scar them so terribly that they will have to bow to my feet to stop my curse!”

But after looking through all of her spells she decided that there could only be one punishment terrible enough for the imposter to face.

“Instead of delivering a single curse,” she cackled, “I will lay all of the curses of nature upon the creature at once until they agree to bow to my feet either by their own will or by death! Yes; that is what I will do! We will see how much council the imposter can give in their death!”

Just as she decided upon a punishment to give the imposter, the Jaguar ventured into the temple and bowed gracefully at her master’s feet.

“My lady,” Said she, “I have found your imposter. The prince of the jungle refused to tell me anything about her, so I went to Snake, the deceiver. He told me that all the daughters and sons of the jungle revere the great oak Ki-nimac as their protector, and that Anik now guards her instead of the entrance of your temple. May you do what is just with the information I have given you.”

With her message given, Grea, the jaguar, ran fourth from her master’s temple and returned to her home by the holy river of Asban.

Angered that Ki-nimac had taken her children away from her temple, the goddess made no haste in traveling to the heart of the jungle, to confront the great oak before the sun rose above the mountains. When Ios, the rabbit, saw Ly-sune angrily making her way to the clearing where the Ki-nimac made her home, the little creature ran as fast as its legs could carry it to warn her friend.

When Ios reached Ki-nimac, and her protector, Anik, she bowed gracefully.

“My friends,” she said anxiously, “Ly-sune has heard of Ki-nimac’s kind deeds and is journeying across the jungle to punish her! You must hide before she comes!”

But the great oak just smiled and stood up tall and strong.

“Let her come,” said she, “For I am guilty of nothing more than lending help to those I love. If I shall be punished for this then so be it, but that will not stop me from loving the brothers and sisters of the forest as my own children.”

The rabbit tried to convince her friend otherwise, but the oak tree silenced her and bravely faced the direction of Ly-sune’s temple.

“I know that you and the other animals mean well, and have warned me so I will be safe,” said she, “But you must understand that I have a duty to protect the daughters and sons of the forest. Long ago I made a promise that I would protect your kind as long as I stood, and I will not betray this promise; even if it leads to my own demise.”

Though the rabbit did not want Ki-nimac to be hurt by Ly-sune, she respected her friend’s wishes and faithfully sat by their side as Ly-sune reached the clearing and faced the oak with fire reflected in her eyes.

“Ki-nimac,” she angrily spoke through clenched teeth, “You have burdened me for long enough. You have posed as guardian of the jungle and taken my children away from my temple. For these crimes you will pay dearly! ”

Without further haste, Ly-sune raised her staff and cast a spell upon the oak that was so terrible, the willows wept for her.

“Now you shall be plagued with all of nature’s curses until you bow to me, and my children come to my temple under the thirteen stars to seek advice and counsel. If you give up I shall spare your life, but if you continue to be stubborn, not even I will be able to save you from the curses of nature!”

Before she ventured back to her temple, she pointed her staff at Anik and narrowed her eyes.

“And do not think that you will go without punishment, wolf, for you have committed a crime far greater than murder by protecting this…imposter…instead of the rightful guardian of the jungle. For your treason, I will make sure that you will never be able to walk the paths of your kingdom again!”

With one mighty sweep of her staff, she crippled the wolf’s legs and left him crying in agony at the roots of the oak tree. Angered at Ly-sune, the rabbit jumped into the air and bit her on the hand, but her skin was too strong to pierce. Ly-sune only snarled and threw the rabbit carelessly into a puddle before journeying back to her temple and beginning work on the first curse she would send the oak when the sun touched the petals of the wild roses that grew on the pedestals of her great temple.

The rabbit cursed the goddess as she walked away, and the wolf looked at the great oak with eyes of sadness as she bravely waited for the goddess to punish her. When the goddess disappeared into the thick vines and deep rivers which stretched to the north, Ki-nimac picked Anik off the ground with one of her great branches and laid him on a soft bed of grass by the river. She then plucked Ios from the mud puddle and dipped her in the river, until her fur was no longer matted with large pieces of rocks and earth.

Ios thanked the oak tree, while Anik silently cried by the river.

“My friend, do not despair.”

Ki-nimac said to the wolf when she saw one of his tears fall into the river.

“I will heal you, and in time you will be able to walk and run again. Here; take my bark. If you chew on it will help take away the pain.”

Ki-nimac tore off a piece of her bark and gave it to Ios.

“Take this to Anik, and make sure he eats it.”

She chuckled, recalling many times when her friend’s stubbornness had come in the way of his common sense.

But when Ios put the bark to Anik’s mouth he refused to eat it.

“I do not cry for myself,” Said he, “I cry for you. I should have done something to stop her, but all I could do was watch in horror as she gave you that awful punishment. I do not deserve to be healed. I promised that I would protect you, but I couldn’t move…almost as if my legs were put under some spell.”

The wolf opened his mouth as if he was going to speak more, but instead a great howl came fourth, which reflected so much agony that is would have made even the goddess herself have pity for him.

He cried louder and louder until his howling could be heard all through the jungle, and when all that was left was an echo, he looked up toward his friend and spoke once more.

“Long ago, I promised that I would protect you with my life, and I mean to keep my word. I will sit under the shelter of your trunk and do all that I can to protect you from the curses the goddesses brings to your home by the river. If all I can do is rest here, broken, then I will endure all that you endure until either element or death moves me.”

Ki-nimac smiled and looked down at her two friends with kind eyes.

“I thank you for your loyalty, Ios, and Anik. May you forever be thought of well. And now, I think it is time that I help you as you have helped me. To you Ios, I give my best berries, for I know your clan favors them above all others in the Jungle, and to you Anik, I give my bark, and leaves to heal your crippled legs and sooth your pain. Be well, and do not think of what we will endure. Tonight let us sing and be merry for if either of us must fall, it is best we go with memories of good friends.”

Ios and Anik took their gifts gratefully, and spent the rest of the night talking and singing under the moonlight, as the oak had so wisely said to do, until sleep weighed their eyelids and brought them pleasant dreams under the stars.

The next morning Ki-nimac awoke to find fire underneath her trunk. Thinking quickly, she grabbed Anik and Ios, and put them in the safety of her great branches as the fire got larger, and spread further across the jungle. Ios angrily stared toward the direction of Ly-sune’s Temple as he watched Ki-nimac frantically try to stamp out the fire with her great roots.

“Is there no way to put it out?”

Cried Ios, as the fire ventured further up the trunk of Ki-nimac.

“Perhaps there is a way,” Said Anik.

“If I can call the Mandrath clan to me with the ancient song my ancestors taught me, perhaps they can help put the fire out.”

Anik sung the ancient song as best he could, and moments later, a great herd of elephants emerged from the other side of the river and begun filling their trunks with water. In unison they poured the water they had gathered on the fire, until the flames were all put out, and Ki-nimac could safely rest on the ground again. Before they could thank the elephants, they turned and walked back into the forest.

Looking down at her charcoaled branches and trunk, Ki-nimac saw an elephant tusk on the grass beside five acorns, and she knew that the leader, who had saved her life today, was the same elephant she had saved two generations ago, from a falling acorn tree. With a smile, she put her two friends on the ground and looked dreamily toward the jungle.

“It seems I have more allies then I thought. Thank you for calling the elephant clan to me, Anik.”

Anik would have bowed if not for his crippled legs, so he nodded his head, while Ios stood on Ki-nimac’s tallest point and shouted a victory call into the wind. For the first time, Ki-nimac felt the weight on her braches, and before long, she had to remove Anik and the she-rabbit from her braches and place them on the ground. The fire had burnt all but five of her branches, and her trunk had been charcoaled almost all the way through, but Ki-nimac was grateful to still be standing.

Ios noticed that Ki-nimac was not her usual cheery self, and hopped over to her.

“Are you alright, Ki-nimac? You do not look well; your trunk is black as the night!”

Ki-nimac forced a smile and looked upon her friend kindly.

“Do not worry; I’ve just been burned. My great grandmother was burned, you know, and she lived to be over 5,000 years old, so do not worry about me. I’ll be fit as a fiddle in the morning.”

No sooner had Ki-nimac spoken, Ly-Sune emerged from two great trees that had fallen and faced the great oak with fire in her eyes.

“It seems you have more allies then I thought, but do not think they will save you from the next curse I will send. Already you grow weak, great oak; I can see it in your eyes. You can give up now and perhaps I will spare your life, but if you continue to go against me not only will you be destroyed, but I will see to it that all who have helped you will lead cured lives as well. The choice is yours; if you give up now, you will save your home, but if you continue to be rebellious, prepare to watch all the things you love die.”

The goddess waited for the oak to give in to her will, but Ki-nimac just stood up taller and looked on to the goddess with stern eyes.

“I will not give in to your demands. You can bring your fire, water, and lightening to my roots but I will neither bend or bow in defeat. And in the end, you will see, your hatred and malice will never scathe me, for if I die in the end of this all, I shall still stand tall, stand tall!”

The goddess scowled at the oak’s remark and journeyed back to her temple without a word, but Ki-nimac could tell by the blackness in her eyes, that the goddess would send an even greater curse in the morning.

When the night passed, and the sun crept over the Haylen Mountains, Ki-nimac woke to find that the goddess had cursed the jungle with a great drought. As far as her eyes could see, the trees were bent over from thirst, and the rivers were as dry as bone. Anik had been awake for some time now, and when he saw his friend look over the jungle, he bowed his head and sung an ancient prayer to the goddess of rain.

Ios was awakened by the prayer, and gasped when she saw that her home had become as parched as a desert.

“What are we to do, Ki-nimic? Ly-Sune has ruined our home! We have nowhere else to go!” said she as she faced the great oak with tears in her eyes.

Ki-nimac forced a smile and comforted the she rabbit with the few braches she had left from the fire.

“Do not worry; I know that the goddess of rain, Reyna-Aldan, will answer our prayers, for she knows that Ly-Sune is a false god. We must pray for Reyna-Aldan’s help, and put our faith in spiritual magic, for faith can conquer all things. Let us do what Anik has wisely done and pray that the good will of Reyna-Alden shall overcome the plagues of Ly-Sune.”

Ios nodded and prayed with Anik and Ki-nimac for the droughts to recede from the jungle. As the three friends sung louder and louder, a woman with long dark blue robes, light blue skin, and aqua colored hair sprung fourth from a nearby river and begun singing the same verses of the ancient melody. As she passed over the barren lands of the jungle, golden droplets of rain fell from the sky, bringing color back to the trees, and water to the parched rivers. Flowers sprung forth from the ground as she walked across the jungle, and all life was renewed as she sung the final verse of the ancient song and retreated to her sapphire temple in the west.

The three friends celebrated the return of their home by dancing and singing rain songs until the sun left for the night to sleep in the mountains. Just as ribbons of gold and red came out and covered the sky in a blanket of yellow, orange, and pink, Ly-Sune appeared before Ki-nimac with a stare that would frighten the bravest lion.

“You insolent child of the forest; Do you realize what you have done? I locked my sister, Reyna-Aldan away many years ago, and now you have brought her back with your prayers! She’ll ruin me! She once was the goddess of the forest, and she’ll be hasty in reclaiming her throne! Well, I will not have you staring me down, as she takes away all I have worked so hard to build, so when I leave, you shall be visited by every curse at once! And I don’t care how much you cry for help, I will not end my terror upon you until you have fallen dead at my feet! Good bye, stubborn oak!”

Without a further word spoken, Ly-Sune gathered every elemental power to her from the four corners of the world, and hurtled the great power to the roots of Ki-nimac.

Anik cried for help and Ios hopped off along the river to find the temple of Reyna-Aldan, but Ki-nimac remained calm and with her kindest voice replied; “You can bring your fire, water, and lightening to my roots but I will neither bend or bow in defeat. And in the end, you will see, your hatred and malice will never scathe me, for if I die in the end of this all, I shall still stand tall, stand tall!”

Ly-Sune’s eyes blazed like a wild fire as she heard the oak tree’s comment, and threw the great ball of energy to her roots, just inches away from where Anik sat, watching helplessly. Ki-nimac neither screamed nor cried as the sphere Ly-sune tossed toward her, slowly ate away her remaining branches, tore off her bark, and loosened her roots from the ground. The seasons seemed to pass around Ki-nimac in a heartbeat, for she felt coldness on her roots, heat on her back, the wind on her face, and lightening on her stomach as the elements whirled around her, one by one, dealing their curses.

Ki-nimac felt her trunk buckle from weight of the curses, and before she closed her eyes, never to wake to the morning sun until she reached the great beyond, she looked kindly at Anik and said; “Do not worry, my friend; you have done your best to protect me in my time of need, and even though I will fall on this day, do not dwell on my death. Instead, remember the good times, and know that you have brought my sprit happiness through all my ages. Yes, I may die, but the jungle and the earth we live on shall carry on forever, so live your life to the fullest and dwell on what is just, rather than what could have been done to be just…”

Ki-nimac looked at Anik as if she was going to say something else, but was cut off, as the final curse took hold of her spirit, and she walked solemnly up a staircase only the dead could tread on, and disappeared into the now, star covered sky above.

Ly-Sune cackled as she saw Anik cry and Ki-nimac retreat into the realms far beyond the lands of the jungle.

“You see, false protector? I have won! That oak was killed by simple, mortal things, and had no right to call herself ruler of the jungle. Now, I think there is nothing else here to see. I have a war to plan against me sister, and with that stubborn oak in my way, I am sure that I can imprison my sister again. Come Anik! You know the rule of the jungle; you must serve the guardian, and with that oak out of the way, you have no choice but to return to my temple.”

Anik narrowed his eyes and growled so deeply, that it made the trees around him shake.

“I will not move from my place beside Ki-nimac, for she is more of a goddess than you could ever hope to be. And you may think you have won, but take a look closer at you devious work; Ki-nimac does not bow to you in her death! She still stands tall, as a pillar of hope for the animals of the forest she helped so kindly while you sat on your throne and got fat from the offerings we were forced to bring you. Even in her death, Ki-nimac is working to change the evil you have imposed unjustly upon the sons and daughters of the jungle. You have failed! Neither beast or man will except the cruelty that you have bestowed on an innocent soul, and while you are punished by the gods, which is sure to happen after your sister tells them what you have done, and are rotting away in the eternal fires of Hades, Ki-nimac will still be standing here, as a light to all who remember her. So, you can return to your temple by yourself. Good bye and good riddance!”

Ly-Sune screamed at Anik’s words and lunged forward to strangle his throat, but as she placed her hands around his neck, she felt her arms fling behind her as if by some invisible force, and spotted her sister standing across the river, with Ios beside her.

“I think you have caused enough pain, Ly-Sune. It is time I regained my throne, and you be bestowed the same treatment that you gave me!”

Reyna-Aldan sung an ancient song to the heavens, and no sooner had the ancient prayer left her lips, Ly-sune was pulled into a dark twister, never to be seen or heard from again. Reyna-Aldan regained her rightful throne to the jungle the next day at her coronation, and gave Anik and Ios the highest honors for their bravery in the face of Ly-Sune. To commend the kind deeds Ki-nimac had done for the jungle, she placed an enchantment on her bark, so it would never rot or age, and returned it to its true form, so the animals could visit the monument whenever they wished.

While the seasons and ages of Tamerine rose and fell with each passing year, the memory of Ki-nimac was carried on by the wind, to every animal, tree, and man who was willing to listen, until everyone knew of her story and gained hope and courage from her trails against the evil goddess. Today, it is said that on misty nights, if you close your eyes you can still hear the wind telling the story of the great oak, and if you venture far enough into the jungles of Indira, you will see the enchanted husk of Ki-nimac, facing Rayna-Aldran’s temple with a smile, and still standing tall as a light of hope to all who look upon her.