Covered by the Sword:

a Druid tragedy

I glared at James as she stood there, casually, wielding her staff. "Are you ready?" she asked, her usual mocking smile half on her lips.

"I'll always be ready," I grunted, and ran at her.

In the split second before our staffs collided, time stopped.

We were suspended in mid-air. I tried to free myself, but I could not move. Judging from the pained expression of James, neither could she. Everything around us had disappeared, replaced with an ever-changing blue nothingness.

I looked at James wildly. Her head was twisted sideways, and I could not see her eyes.

I heard a voice. "If you are here, you have passed the first test. You have won the first challenge: that of proving yourself one of the best druids of all Celts. But the worst is yet to come. You and your enemy must solve the enigma that has puzzled the greatest for centuries."

(A blinding red light appeared whenever the voice spoke).

I grimaced, then found, to my delight, that I could! I grimaced again, enjoying every second of it. I was quickly brought back to reality by the voice. It seemed to hang, unbroken, in the thick air, each word drawn-out.

"This has been debated for centuries," it repeated. "The question you must answer is this: what makes a living thing?"

I gasped, and paid no heed to the fact that I could now move my mouth. What makes a living thing? Such was never heard! Never debated! Never!

"You must describe, in detail, what exactly makes a living thing. You shall return in a day and report your findings to me. If you fail, your fate will be such as many before you--death."

Whatever was suspending us let us go, and we dropped heavily to the ground.

The voice, although somewhat weakly, returned. "As said before, you have a day. You and your family shall suffer if you do not obey."

I heard a mighty gust of wind, and all was black.

I opened my eyes to the sun on my face. I sat up blearily, rubbing my eyes.

"James?" I called, getting to my feet.

I looked around. I was in a meadow that I did not recognize. The sun shone brightly, but something--perhaps multiple somethings--was amiss.

"James?" I called again. "Where are you?"

I shivered, despite the sun's warmth. "James? JAMES!" I screamed, falling down and beating the ground with my fists.

I laid there for a few minutes, sobbing. "James..." I whispered."She had the food..."

"Elaine..." I heard whispered on the wind.

"James?" I jumped up. "James!"

"Elaine..." she whispered.

"James! Why are you on the wind? Where are you?" I shrieked. "And most importantly, where's the food?"

"Elaine...I am still...in the...void," she answered slowly and weakly. "Solve...the riddle...Elaine...it...is the only way to save...me...and the food...."

"The food, James, the food!"

"Anything for the food," I cried passionately.

"Then...yes. I will...be...here with you...but...you must solve...this on your own, Elaine..."

"But--but, I can't!" I shrieked. "With no hope for the future...how will I? The question has been debated for centuries!"

I heard an other-worldly sigh. "Elaine...you must remember...the food...the chocolate...the ice cream...perishing..."

I fell to the ground and cried, my knees bleeding from the rough ground.

I sat up a few minutes later with a new resolve: to save James, if only for the food.

"I will save you, James!" I shrieked. "I will! The food will not perish!"

There was no response.

I stood up and dusted my dress. I picked up my oaken staff, rubbed the blood off, and ran south.

"Why south?" I asked myself. "Why not up?"

You're not a bird, Elaine. But you are a druid!

I held up my staff and rose into the air. I lifted my cold face to the sun and flew towards the forest.

I descended onto the ground and looked around.

"Hello?" I called. "Hello!"

I heard a deep voice from behind me. "I am the Wisdom Tree. If you seek help, you'll find me! I help almost all who need me!"

"Yes!" I called excitedly. "Yes! I need help! Help me!"

I saw the tree rumble out of the ground. Its roots became legs, its tendrils feet. "Oh-ho-ho, but do you need help? Do you have a worthy cause?"

It burst into song. "Oh-ho-ho, there I go, a worthy cause you have? True-ooh love, a pet dove, or yummy food to eat, EAT, eat?"

"Oh! Oh, yes!" I cried eagerly. "I must save my friend James! She's trapped in a void and the only way to get her out is to solve an insolvable riddle!"

The tree snorted, if you believed trees could snort.

"Hogwash! Balderdash! Rubbish! Baloney! Hokum-hooey!" It stopped for breath. "Friends? Trash! This James, as you call her, what stops you from going about your day and pretending that nothing happened?"

"Oh, but she has the food," I explained. "I couldn't possibly abandon her."

"You're right. Food, now, that is a noble cause. Come with me."

It abruptly rose and headed off into the forest. I followed it .

"Now, there we are," it said when I caught up with it, once again firmly rooted to the ground, in a gloomy marsh. "What did you say about a riddle?"

"Well, I was having a wizard's duel with James, and right before our staffs collided time stopped. There was this void thing and the voice said that we had a day to come back and tell it 'what makes a living thing'? And that's all well and good except for the fact that I don't know what to tell it at all!"

I paused for breath. "And please, please, can you help us?"

It sucked in air heavily. "A tricky task that be. The question's been debated for centuries!"

"I know."

"Well, you'd better be on your way," it said abruptly.

"No! No!" I cried. I flung myself on the ground and grabbed its roots."No! I'm so...hungry..."

It snorted. "Fine. I'll tell you most of the answers, then you can fend for yourself. Can you deal with that, or are you too much of a conniving brat?"

"I'm a conniving brat, for sure. But I'll do anything for the food!"