Under The Oak Tree Manta Novelas e Histórias

"Analog." He whistled. A sharp, bird-like trill—their old signal from the orphanage days. A whistle answered from the left. Marcus. A whimper answered from the right. Haley. Jack moved through the undergrowth. The vegetation was dense—ferns the size of cars, vines as thick as pythons. He found Marcus cutting Haley down from a tree. She was shaking, but unhurt. "Where's Ben?" Jack asked. "I heard a splash," Marcus pointed north.

Always had. "How much further?" I asked instead. "Two hundred twelve meters. Based on the map. The terrain has changed nineteen times. We've crossed five streams. Encountered eight different tree species. The dominant one is oak. Approximately sixty percent oak. Thirty percent pine. Ten percent birch. Alpha Manuel." "Noted." "You didn't ask about the trees. Alpha Manuel." "No. I didn't." "Then why did I provide that information? Alpha Manuel." "Because you can't help yourself."

"You would be killed on the spot. That kind of mixing is considered an abomination. It is forbidden." "That's what Fenton said." Ike chuckled as they were let out into open water so deep that it dimmed the glow of the plants and fish. The tunnel faded behind them, and ahead they were over a forest of underwater trees. The tops had huge flowers of gold and silver. "He calls me Frankenstein," Ike added after a minute passed.

POV: Rhea Mooncrest "Get away from him! Zane, run! Don't you see what it’s doing?" Rhea’s voice was a jagged fracture in the oppressive silence of the Under-Whisper. She was slumped against the petrified trunk of the World-Tree, her blood staining the obsidian bark a deep, sacrificial red. The pocket dimension Morga had tried to create was fracturing, the green-and-black dome cracking as the World-Tree continued its horrific transformation. Before her, the "Soul-Seed" wasn't just sprouting; it was exploding into a grotesque, beautiful Bloom of liquid shadow and silver starlight.

None, even at their most ambitious, was brazen enough to wish for a tree. "We found a Moon Mango tree and a few other plants of the same affinity. We have also found a tribe of moon fox in the Medicine Mountain and have taken some of their sucklings for grooming. We will put mana bricks on the market in a few months, but it will only be available to those who join our organization. So far, it's just the Devos Province who's joined, therefore, you will be our first and only customer."

The basket was getting heavy, filled with the apples we'd selected carefully, when Miles suddenly grabbed my hand. "Come here. I want to show you something." He led me off the main path, down a narrower trail between two rows of trees, and then we emerged into a small clearing I hadn't noticed before. In the center was a massive oak tree, probably a hundred years old, its branches spreading wide enough to create a canopy overhead. There was a simple bench built under it with its floor stem.

After I die, I save Hades' pet. To thank me, he plans to bring me back to life. However, I refuse with a smile. He is stunned for a moment, then asks in confusion, "So many people want to live, so why do you refuse instead?" I give him a bitter smile. "Maybe it's because being alive is a fate worse than death." He doesn't believe it, and his tone turns unfriendly. "Don't think I don't know that your parents are famously known for loving their daughter. They even make the news because of how much they love you." I crouch there without speaking. It's indeed true that they've made the news for loving their daughter, but that is all an act. The truth is, the only one they've ever really lo