A Tree Without Roots Novels & Stories

Looking at the place where I had died in my previous life, I shook my head silently. In my heart, I answered, “Mom, there won’t be a second chance. In my last life, you almost killed me. “Our mother-daughter bond ended there. I once longed for your love and trust, but now I don’t need it. Your belated love belongs to a past I’ve already let go…” Ethan, crushed by the blow, developed depression and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for treatment. Afterward, I cut all ties with the rest of my family.

Emilia stepped over a root and felt it pulse. Not a trick of the senses. Something under the ground moved. It vibrated up her calves, into her knees. A dull ache began in her ribs. She didn’t know how she was being led... only that she was. Each step forward felt like trespass. Then she saw it. A tree, taller than the rest, its bark gnarled and bone-white, like bleached driftwood sculpted by ancient hands. No leaves. No birds. Just the stillness of a grave and the quiet hum of power leaking from its roots.

For a breath I lay there, gasping, shaking—but then I pushed up, forcing myself to look around. And froze. The fog peeled back as though the world itself wanted me to see. I was no longer running blindly—I stood at the base of something vast, something impossible. A tree towered into the heavens, its roots twisting through air and soil alike, glowing with veins of crystal blue. The trunk coiled like it had grown from both earth and sky, and above it, the full moon blazed, pouring silver light over everything. The branches shimmered as though alive, the air buzzing with power.

Yet burning with a ferocious intensity that refused to surrender. Perhaps his hatred for the tree before him had grown stronger than his helplessness. Perhaps it was the only thing keeping him standing. The Everlasting Fig Tree towered above him. Even dying, it remained magnificent. Its trunk was broader than the largest building in the kingdom. Ancient roots protruded from the ground like the ribs of a buried giant, spreading in every direction across the sacred hill. Hundreds of branches stretched toward the heavens, clawing at the storm-dark clouds overhead. Yet there were no leaves.

I considered this. "We went to the botanical garden last weekend," I said. "He had questions about root systems. Apparently there is a tree whose roots extend further underground than the tree is tall above ground and he had read about it and wanted to verify the claim in person." Nathan looked at me. "Did it verify?" he said. "It did," I said. "He took photographs. Added them to the notebook. Wrote three paragraphs about the implications of invisible infrastructure on structural integrity." A pause.

“Could it be, this is all related to the Great Ceremony that the Emperor is referring to?!” Yang Zi covered her mouth in disbelief. It was the first time that Yang Zi discovered that there was a strange tree with tendrils of roots that was above the ground. The roots of the tree are wrapped around hundreds of human bodies that have been lifeless. All humans whose bodies were wrapped around the tree's roots, had exactly the same form. “The human bodies dried up, the essence of their bodies being absorbed by the roots of that strange tree! How could that be?!" Yang Zi tried to step closer to the strange tree that had blackish red leaves.

_*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> He pressed his palm flat against the rough bark of the Tree instead. _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> The surge was immediate. _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> Not the gentle nourishing warmth of Eden's provision, not the specific grace of a garden attending to his needs. This was the Tree's actual power, ancient and wild and completely disinterested in what he needed, offering only what was real, only what was true, only the specific knowledge of the thing that had been growing in this ground since before Eden existed around it.

like a meteor shower exploding in space. I was surprised that the huge tree roots inside the energy ball were able to absorb this radiation that seemed to come from space. A mysterious force crept up the roots of the dead tree and into its huge trunk and branches. It was as if I had accidentally let loose a miraculous pail of water, which then gushed forth and nourished the tree of death. The man who had come was pleased to see the tree showing signs of life again. Its previously black limbs suddenly became red and green, and it began to produce leaves.

Bit by bit, black light forming eyes and mouth began to appear on the tree trunk. "What did you say earlier Za?" asked Reymond who was beside Azareel. "It's a vine, its main strength is a plant, but we can't attack with the earth element, it makes it easier for the tree to fight its enemies." Azareel explained while noticing the tree's traits. "Eee ... that tree reminds me of Helloween days," said Tanner. "Now isn't the time to joke around, Tanner," Eruza admonished. "I am not kidding!"

I hold out my hand. He nods and takes it. “Together.” Hand in hand, we step forward, the cold water brushing our feet. Another step, then another. We move slowly, the water never rising past our waist. At last, we reach the shore that circles the tree. Up close, it towers above us, far more ominous than it seemed from a distance. Its roots jut out from the earth, thick and twisted, stretching deep into the ground as if they anchor something ancient and hidden. “Is it really black?” I ask.