Druid Tareed is one of the elderly elves. He is about to reach his lifespan. His gray hair is tied into a ponytail. Despite his age, he is lively.
He is working at the temple of the Tree of Life. Oftentimes, he would also grace the Goddess temple with his presence.
"Your majesties, Druid Tareed is seeking an audience with you."
Currently, he was standing at the door outside the hall where the Elven King and queen were at.
"Let him in."
As he heard the queen approve to give him an audience, the knights opened the door for him.
Despite being a Druid, he had to be respectful to the king and the queen. Although he was beyond the
Of the admiral, they were still the leaders of the race. Furthermore, they are young and had lots of potentials. Perhaps, they might also be stronger than he is.
"Senior Druid Tareed, please have a seat," king Melandrach gestured for him to sit. Then added, "Senior, what brings you here?"
"My king… My queen." He made a simple bow to the two of them before saying what he is here for.
"There are elves that had gone against the Goddess temple, your majesties."
"Eh? What does that mean?" King Melandrach asked. "Are they challenging the authority of the queen?"
"No, no, no. I don't think so, my king. Although they had against the Goddess temple, they dare not go against the temple of the Tree of Life."
"How did the Tree of Life react?" Alinar asked.
"That's the most pressing matter, my queen. The Tree of Life just let them be."
"What did they do to go against the Goddess temple?" Alinar had a feeling that all of this might be related to what the Tree of Life said to her.
"They were spreading a new religion that worships a God that we do not know."
"And who might that God be?" Alinar asked the final question.
"The Divine Spirit of Life and Death."
Hearing Taredd's answer, Alinar was shocked. "The Divine Spirit had already acted," she thought.
"My love, is there something we need to know?" Melandrach noticed her expression as Alinar heard Taredd's answer.
"The great Tree of Life conversed with met."
She paused for a while as she observed their reaction.
"The Tree of Life said that the Goddess had already fallen and could no longer accompany us."
Taredd's expression is not an exaggerated one. He merely nodded as if he was already expecting this.
Before Alinar added, she looked at the Tree of Life through the window.
There, one could see a faint golden glow amidst the branches of the Tree of Life.
"The Tree of Life wanted us to worship the Divine Spirit that was staying in the elven forest."
"Did the great Tree of Life say that?" Melandrach asked with a doubtful voice.
"Yes, but the Tree of Life did not ask us to stop worshiping the Moon Goddess."
"What should we do?" Taredd asked.
"I will ask for an oracle tonight. I will go to the Tree of Life." Alinar answered. She was determined to find an answer.
"My queen, I will come with you," Melandrack said.
"No, stay here. You will be of no help there. Remember, only the queen or the spiritual leader can converse with the Tree of Life."
Melandrach wanted to insist but he did not have a choice. It was indeed as what Alinar, his queen, said.
…
On the chilly night of the same day, Alinar was treading the elven forest while riding her deer mount.
She was not carrying anything to light her path. Or rather there was no need to.
There were fireflies everywhere that served as her guiding light.
Her expression is solemn. In the elven beliefs, all lights are sacred; the stars, the fireflies, and most of all, the moon.
A few more moments later, she got off her mount and began walking on foot.
Then, not long after, she had arrived close to the Tree of Life.
The first thing that she did is to bow in the direction of the Tree of Life.
On the level of sacredness in the elven system of belief, the Tree of Life is on par with the moon Goddess.
"O great Tree of Life, please enlighten this child. What should I do with for the transition of worship?"
"Child, let things be, the Divine Spirit of Life and Death had already taken action over it."
After she heard the reply of the Tree of Life, she saw an oversized firefly flying towards her.
The firefly exudes an aura that made them, unknowingly, nostalgic of their past.
Then for the second time, she heard the voice of the Tree of Life.
"Accept that and you will become the bearer of the Divine Spirit of Life and Death's Divine Mark. You will become a person close to him."
With that, she closed her eyes and relaxed he spirit to obediently do as the Tree of Life had said.
Then, after a while, she felt warmth on her soul.
She was at the ranks above an admiral but she was weaker compared to the aged Taredd.
The moment the firefly reached her soul, a mark was branded on her, and become the first elf of this era that became the follower of the Divine Spirit of Life and Death.
However, things are yet to be done.
As an elf that worshiped only the moon Goddess, he had strong resistance in worshiping the other Divine Spirits.
The elves only worship two beings; the moon Goddess and the Tree of Life.
"Is this the will of the Moon Goddess?" she asked herself inwardly.
However, on the next second, she realized that the moon Goddess had long been dead, according to the Tree of Life.
"Right, our Goddess had long been dead."
Sigh!
She heaved a heavy sigh and asked again.
"Is this fate?"
"The Tree of Life's birthed the elves, through countless he stood with us and guided us. Most of the time, the Tree of Life is our protector. Now, the Tree of Life is alone since our moon Goddess had long been gone. It's been hard on him."
She calmed for a while, the said resolutely, "if that is the case, we, the elves, will follow the Divine Spirit of Life and Death to ease the burden on the Tree of Life."