He was born with the knowledge of his people, the knowledge that he was the last of his kind and that his Mother Tree had been killed. Her pure amber sap spilt upon the Earth and with it, the blood of the dryad race. The ignorant humans who were busy shaping their world, they didn't know about the pain they caused, the suffering as magic disappeared from the world, as the elements lost their wisdom. Leigh didn't feel angry. He was filled with a sense of purpose. Within him held the key to the rebirth of his race, and it was up to him to find a safe place for them all to live in harmony.

He blinked a few times, staring up at the wooden ceiling above him. The wood that had been taken from many of his brothers and sisters so that the humans could keep dry while it rained. They didn't speak any more, all was silent as Leigh sat up and looked about him. He had been lain to rest in a room, had been placed into clothes of human make, and nearby was a bowl of water. The furniture was made from wood, from the trees that had once been living, breathing beings. He felt saddened, having been put to rest on top of the dead bodies of his family, but the humans wouldn't have known about that.

He stood from the bed now, looking again at his clothed body. The clothes itched him. He knew that his kind never wore clothes, as leaves and flowers grew on their skin as they grew older. But he had no plant life on him, because he had just been born a few days ago. He walked over to where he could see a reflective surface. Sand that had been heated and crafted into a mirror. Humans may not be magic, but they made up for it with their intelligence and sciences. For a recently new race, they had evolved quickly and had already become the dominant race on Pyred.

He looked at the dark blue eyes of his reflection, at his green hair that seemed like it had been made from grass and moss. He ran a finger across his smooth brown skin, knowing that soon it would toughen into tree bark. Usually he would be taught in different disciplines, until he decided which tree he would eventually become. But that would not happen to him. For there was only one tree he had to become. The Mother Tree.

A noise made him start and look towards the door to the small room he had been put in. A human stood by the open door, looking shocked to see him standing. She wore simple clothes and looked young. It seemed humans were mortal, only living for a few decades before becoming old and dying. This one had to be only about 18. She approached Leigh carefully, holding a bowl of something hot.

"You are awake... We did not expect that..." She did sound a bit afraid and Leigh frowned slightly. Was he that frightening? He supposed humans weren't used to witnessing a dryad's birth, and the fact that they were born as young adults that acted centuries years old. "Um... I have something for you to eat... We weren't sure if you..."

"I don't eat," Leigh told her, refusing the bowl of soup that had been offered. "I gain energy from the sun, like all other trees."

She blinked stupidly, before stepping back slightly. "So it's true. You are a dryad... We... I didn't think such creatures existed..."

"We did exist," Leigh told her, going over to the bed he had been lying in and sitting down. "But your kind killed our mother."

She looked shocked and put a hand up to her forehead. "Your... mother? How? We were... I never heard of your mother being killed..."

"Our Mother Tree. Your kind chopped her down to make this village. I sense her in the walls of this house. You bring me from my dying mother and lay me to rest in a box made from my dead brothers and sisters. What is your meaning from this? Why did you kill my family?" The human looked distressed. Her mouth opened and closed multiple times, before she excused herself and left the room with tears in her eyes. Leigh felt sorry for her. He shouldn't have blamed her for anything. He knew she had no hand in the killing of his family, but she had to know the truth.

Humans were destroying this world.

His ruined wings laid against his back like a tattered cloak. Once, they had been massive, thick, covered with preserving powder, their strong, hollow bones forking through to keep them strong. Now the bones were exposed, chipped, without the care his kind needed to keep them perfect and beautiful. They once resembled a Tiger Swallowtail butterfly's wings, deep and black, brown, and green, like nature. But they were faded now. The tips were white. The holes looked like they had been burned in. They were useless to fly, and once, he had missed flying. Now he couldn't even remember what it was like to soar above the treetops and raise up to sift through the clouds. It had taken days to climb to the top of this particularly ancient mountain---after all, the smaller the mountain, the older it was. It was one of the smallest in the middle of the range his home once sat in. He could see his old home from here, between huge trees. It was the largest mountain in the range. Beautiful. Its top was shrouded with clouds almost all the time. There was always snow falling. There was an awful thing up there he just didn't want to see again. But he wouldn't have to if he didn't climb the ancient stairwell.

He looked down at his hands, the bare skin. He was dark in tone, like light earth, his hair black as night and long, but he'd managed to cut it recently. It was a bother when it kept getting caught in a tree or stick or bush, or tangled with insects. Standing, stretching, Gen rearranged his wings a little and winced. There were times he didn't even know what good they were. Since he had forgotten the sensation of flight, wings were moot. He couldn't repair them, he couldn't reach them the right way, not like his companion would be able to. With bare feet he made his way down the mountainside. He barely wore clothes---those that remained in good condition were the thin, low-hanging pants on his hips, made of wool. They were old and green, dyed with berries he'd found around a few years ago. Or had it been more than a few? He forgot.

Gen took the overgrown, nearly-gone path, and with a wave of his hand, areas that were too dense were cleared up as the earth rearranged itself and moved aside momentarily. His home was right in front of him. The home of his people, at least, those that no longer were. In the trees a few miles out, remnants of vine and wood bent to shape homes remained. Cloth had rotted away long ago, and the massacre that he'd seen as he flitted away were reduced to stony bones scattered here and there. This particular area of the forest had been abandoned long ago by all living creatures, except nature. The sickness in the air had driven the away, if not killed them, and now, it was utterly silent. The shifting of the trees sounded ridiculously loud. His breathing did too. As he emerged onto a stony area of land, he was able to look up. The entrance was curtained in blooming ivy whose flowers dripped a sweet-smelling sap onto the old steps. The dark red sap had stained the steps over the years, making it look as if blood had been poured in buckets down the stairs over the years. He swallowed at the thought, and suddenly the overpoweringly sweet scent made him feel sick. He stepped up, however, and brushed the ivy aside, shivering at the cold, unfeeling stone that his kind had carved out to form the entrance of their city. The huge entry hall. Here, the cloth was still existed. It was faded, but he could see the six-spired sun that represented the elements his kind studied and mastered so long ago. Earth. Fire. Air. Water. Light. Darkness. Inside the spire, a small gold circle sat. That represented those that had mastered all the elements, and there were very few of those when they were still alive. He was among them, and had lived with others of his kind at the top of the mountain, in the Cloud district.

Breathing out shakily, Gen lowered himself onto his knees and pressed his forehead against the cold stone. It was dusty. It was cold. It was uneven. Nearby, bones were scattered. No carnivore had managed to come scatter them from their crumpled fetal positions.

Leigh sat on the bed, unsure of what to do next. He knew he had leave the village and find a place to plant himself, but he didn't want to simply disappear from the humans that had taken care of him while his new body adjusted to the outside world. He waited for someone else to enter his room and soon, an older man came to visit him. The man had an air of dominance about him and Leigh recognised him as the man that had brought him here. The man that had helped slay his mother.

"You, come with me," the human spoke, his voice deep and demanding. He crossed his muscular arms and watched intently as Leigh stood and followed him out the door and into the hallway. From there they left the man's house, walking down a dirt path into the village. They passed the town square, where Leigh could see the stump of his mother sitting near where other humans were preparing stone to be laid for paving the streets. He frowned, his heart aching slightly as they continued straight ahead to a large and imposing building. This one was made of stone and multiple humans were busy carving the white marble as they passed.

The man led Leigh to a large room that was decorated with gold and silver, where several old men stood and talked among themselves. The man that had led Leigh there placed a hand over his heart and bowed. "Sir, this is the creature we found in that big tree we cut down last week. It's awake now, my daughter took great care of it." Leigh was pushed forward as the older men stared at him. Leigh stared back, unsure what was about to happen. Two of these men were still rather young, and were built like oak trees. The others were much older, the hair on their heads were either white from age or completely bald. The one they seemed to be looking to was the oldest there, probably their ruler. He was bald and had a long white beard and a cane to walk with.

"What are you?" this old man asked Leigh, who blinked and looked at him with just as much curiosity.

"I am a dryad."

"Where did you come from?"

"My Mother Tree, the one you killed."

"Where are the others? Surely there are others like you," the man didn't seem too distressed at Leigh's cold words. He stroked his beard with a look of interest in his dark eyes.

"You killed them to make your houses," Leigh said simply, looking at the other men who were whispering to each other. "As far as I know, I am the last one of my family."

"Interesting..." The old man nodded to the two younger men, who grabbed Leigh and dragged him from the large room down a flight of stairs. He was handled roughly, even though he complained about being hurt. They tied him to a table, as another man entered the new room. This man smelt like blood and Leigh watched nervously as he grabbed a tray of utensils.

"This won't hurt at all, little treeman," one of the younger men scoffed, as the other man picked up a small knife and came close to him. Leigh closed his eyes and screamed, the pain of being cut open causing him to black out. When he finally came to, he was in a small dark room whose door was made of metal. There was no light, no sun, no wood... His body ached from being cut open. He hugged himself and cried, wishing that he could climb into hi mother's branches and be lulled to sleep by her voice.

It took several minutes to get through the sensation of being watched and ridiculed by the spirits of his kind. Knowing that those bones had been there for countless centuries, brittle as dust and yet holding their shape, meant to torture him mind and soul with what he fled like such a coward, pushed him away from the research labs and to the stairs. He wasn’t quite sure why his kind had incorporated staircases when they simply flew from place to place. The halls were wide and tall, allowing their vast wingspans to travel easily and not brush anyone or anything on the way by. But he was glad, nonetheless, that they’d done so. He wouldn’t have been able to reach the elevators. the ill and injured found use of these massive tubes, and as he approached the center of the line of large, steam-powered lifts, Gen was silently praying to whatever gods still existed that it would take him to the cloud district and he wouldn’t have to climb dozens of flights of stairs.

The tube was built into the wall and when he stepped onto the stone platform, it felt as if it were about to give. But it settled onto its track, and Gen reached up to the grate, pulling it in front of the doorway and stepping to the right, to the lever, and forcing it up. It took a lot of force, but the rusted lever managed to shift and a huge rumbling sensation followed by a loud hiss of steam. Then the platform moved upward. Sighing in relief, Gen shifted his wings and gritted his teeth as they laid against his back in a more comfortable position. He just couldn’t cut them off... It would be easy, of course, but if he did that, he might as well call himself one of those disgusting humans, those creatures with no power, or who borrowed the power of others, who disrespected the land and the world they were on. There was a time he didn’t even know they existed. He had lived for a long time feeling as if he were the only one left in the world. The only one on two feet, who still spoke intelligently, who still had the knowledge of a dead people. But apparently he wasn’t. And he’d avoided them well so far, but they were getting so close...

When the elevator shuddered to a stop, Gen forced the old gate aside and stepped out onto white marble stone floors. They were cracked and dusty from age, but when he looked up, the Cloud district was still breathtaking. Ivy had found its way through the mountain and to the faux sunlight that came from a glowing orb near the ceiling. How, after so long, it still retained its magic and gave life to a dead world was a mystery to him, but at least it wasn’t gloomy and awful like the hallways. He was quiet, stepping forward, down the stairs, and into the square, which was an oval-shaped area of the district. Surrounding him on the left and right were the homes of those that lived in the Cloud district, and in front of him a large staircase. He ignored the homes, even his own, sitting second to the last on the left side where he lived with his companion, and started up the large staircase. He passed different levels of overgrown grasses, a square that once allowed little ones to play in the safety of the district.

At the top of the staircase, he was met with a pair of familiar double doors. They were caked with ivy, which he pulled off before managing to push out, and Gen emerged onto a large balcony. A tree had taken root at some point, and was now large and beautiful, clinging to the side of the mountain and half the balcony to his right. He sat in the shade of that tree and stared up at the top of the mountain. Why had he come back? He hated this place...

He must have been crying. It was strange to think that he could cry. It was a very human emotion, sadness. He felt alone, cut off from nature, trapped in a dark, man-made cell. He couldn't bury his feet in the soil, he couldn't raise his face to the sun. He curled up on the cold stone and covered his face, trying not to think about the knives that had cut into his flesh. It had burned, it had hurt. The human's didn't listen to his pleas, didn't make him sleep so he couldn't feel anything. They were cruel, sadistic.

He heard footsteps approaching his cell and cowered, afraid of the doctor that kept him prisoner there. The door opened, whoever it was struggled with how heavy it was. Leigh blinked as a dim light poured into his cell and he looked up at the person standing before him. The girl from before, the one that had cared for him while he was sleeping. She seemed jumpy, as though she was doing something that would get her in lots of trouble.

"Dryad? Are you OK?" she whispered, kneeling so she could look at him. She had a worried expression on her face, that soon turned to anger and sadness when she saw the scars across his body. "I'm so sorry for what my village has done to you and your family. Quick, I'm here to set you free."

Usually Leigh wouldn't listen to her apology. It was too late to simply speak words and hope for forgiveness. But she was here to help him and truly sounded distressed. Those good people that were her friends and family had managed to commit genocide on a whole race. "I read somewhere that you can hide in trees and branches... I brought a part of your Mother Tree with me. Maybe you can hide in her while I get you out of the Town Hall?" She offered him a piece of wood, about the length of Leigh's arm. He wasn't sure if it would work. Usually dryads would hide in living trees, he hadn't thought about hiding in a branch before.

He touched the wood, surprised to feel a tiny bit of life under his fingers. Smiling, he lent forwards, kissing the wood and letting himself be absorbed. Soon he was inside the branch, which was held carefully by the girl. She smiled slightly, hiding it in her dress and quickly moving away from the dungeons.

Gen had fallen asleep under the tree and felt as if the entire world had momentarily gone weightless, then airless. He gasped and tried to sit up, but fell back instead as the tree he had been lying against seemed to simply vanish. Scrambling slightly, he rolled over and onto his knees and gasped a breath in. The milky white stone under his hands and knees was pure and polished, and when he looked up, the tree had indeed gone. Hadn't it? He could vaguely see an outline, but was more interested in the fact that the face of the doors that he'd opened had not only shed their ivy coverings, but were standing wide open and allowing warm air to flow out. Gen stood on shaking legs, his hands automatically sliding up and down his arms and glancing down to see pale, satiny cloth. He shifted his shoulders and shook his wings, glancing back and lifting them, his forlorn expression crumbling off into a smile as the thick veins and leaflets unfurled, sending tiny showers of powder onto the ground. The beautiful patterns were two of a kind, one his own and one his companion's.

He approached the doors that were standing open and peered inside, almost overwhelmed by what he saw. Bright and almost sunny, and full of people. His people. His fae. They flittered around the top of the Cloud district and milled about, little children played on the grass patches with their lifelong companions. Their intricate wing patterns matched from birth, and it was destiny that they would spend their nearly endless lives together. Gen smiled brightly, going down one of the staircases and pausing as a young fae approached with a bottle of something pale green. "I found out how to make a revival serum, Gen!" She looked overjoyed, and he laughed, taking the thick crystal bottle from her and studying it.

"Wow, Lil, it's wonderful." He took the top off and held it under his nose. "It has a beautifully floral scent. Your tutor should be very happy."

The little blonde fae grinned and her wings fluttered, sending silvery powder all over as she spun and ran to her companion, a black-haired girl to brag. Gen shook his head, standing upright and looking around. In some grassy areas sat two companions, one running their hands over the other's wings in a learned repair technique. Since their wings couldn't repair themselves, they would spread powder that naturally formed on their palms onto their companions' wings to keep them strong and repair rips or tears. He went to the square, sighing and looking around, and glanced up in time to see a gleaming set of bright blue eyes and chestnut brown hair. Gen's heart flipped and he gasped, barely hesitating before sprinting forward and flying into his companion's arms. How long had it been? He couldn't remember. Didn't care to. He felt so real, though this was just a dream. Warm, solid, smelling of roses, he was entirely too real to be just a fabrication. A memory.

The girl had escaped without any suspicion. Leigh was glad for this. She left her town and walked to the outskirts of the forest, placing the branch behind a tree. "I hope you can find a safe place, dryad. Again, I am sorry for what my people did to yours. I'll always remember you," she whispered, turning and running back to her village with only a quick glance back. Leigh waited for her to leave before leaving the branch. He stretched, feeling groggy and still very sore. But it felt good to be out of that pitch black cell.

He started to walk further into the forest, sad to see that no animals were around and the trees did not speak here. The humans had silenced them all with the killing of the Mother Tree. But Leigh didn't mourn. He had to get out of this place and to a safe haven, a forest where he could become the Mother Tree and bring new life to his race. He stopped near a stream and shed from his human-made clothes, washing his dirty body and frowning at the stitches he had in his front. He left the area, glad to feel the sunlight tickling his naked body. He had no real reason to wear clothes, except for in the winter when it grew cold.

He continued through the forest, until he could no longer feel the presence of the humans. Here, where the trees were old and wise, he could hear them whispering. A city once stood near here, a city of fae. Leigh knew that they were humanoid creatures of magic, but the dryads never seemed to mix with them. And this city was fallen. Leigh felt saddened to see the crumbling ruins of what must have been once a great city. He wondered what had happened there to have caused such destruction, and where the fae were now. Were they dead?

Everything was shimmering. Shimmering beautifully. Almost surreal. He held onto his companion and they spread their wings, and he could see the mirrored patterns. His companion pulled away, but Gen tried to grab him back. He didn't want to break contact now. Not yet. Not after living without it so long. Too long. Without that beautifully sweet smell of roses. But his bright-eyed companion held onto his hands and drew him forward wordlessly, until they stood underneath the orb that gave a sunny light to the district. Underneath it, his companion put his hands on Gen's shoulders and smiled almost... sadly. "Why do you stay here?" He asked, a waver in his tone.

Gen's eyes widened, and he tried to pull his companion closer. "Why... Because... Because... I miss you... I miss you all, but... but I mostly want you back."

"You can't have me now." His companion lowered his gaze and Gen's breath hitched. "You have me in here..." He lifted his left hand and rested it on Gen's forehead. "And here..." He pressed it against Gen's chest. "Don't forget me. Please?"

"Never..." Gen sighed, and looked down before he could add anything else.

"And stop dwelling on me."

Gen's head snapped up and he tried to speak a reply, but his companion was gone. The light was gone. He shook his head and looked around, sighing at the world around him. Darker now. The orb above him was dim. The warmth was gone. He sobbed quietly, and as his bare feet walked him back toward the elevators, his cries began echoing off the stone walls and down the tunnels and halls. He wanted to go back. Even if it meant death. Why did he live without his companion? Without his race? Did he have reason now? He doubted it.

Leigh explored the ruins, feeling sad. He knew the Fae were magical beings who studied nature and the magic of elements. They could shrink themselves down to the size of insects, but this particular group seemed to like staying in their more human forms, judging from how the stairs and houses were made. He placed his hand on a tree, which whispered stories about the race and how they had come to die out. War. It was unheard of, but it had happened. One element thought it was better than the rest.

Leigh thought he heard sobbing and followed the noise, through stone tunnels and up carved stairs until he found a strange room. Inside sat a young man, but he wasn't a human. The wings on his back belonged to that of Fae, even though they seemed tattered and in need of repair. "Are you OK? What happened here?" Leigh asked quietly, causing the Fae to start. "I didn't mean to scare you."

The voice was startling. Borderline terrifying. He gasped and looked up, blinking at the way the form stood in the doorway of the Cloud district. He had no wings, and he didn't shimmer in some strange, white light, so he had to be real. Gen swept his hair back, pushing to his feet and twisting his hands. "No... no one has found this place in countless years. It's been abandoned for so long that... that not even our histories remain. Our pasts and our stories are only remembered by the most ancient of trees. How did you find it...?"

The feeling of someone close, someone in the ruins of his home that wasn't a fae, was strange and different. And alien to him. His kind always avoided other races because befriending them took a back seat to their discoveries. Their constant need to move on, learn more, make more groundbreaking discoveries and creations. They had lost their roots and it seemed so few could see that. Gen and his companion had seen it. A few others had as well. Maybe this stranger could as well, even so many countless years after the events that had brought the foundations crumbling down.

"The trees told me... They must have guided me here... Are your kind extinct? I am a dryad, a spirit of nature. My kind were killed by humans. Tell me, why have the fae become extinct? What brought the war that plagued here?" Leigh watched the fae with unblinking eyes, feeling the weight of the emotions that were once here. Happiness, learning, anger, hate, sadness... They had been absorbed by the trees, by the ground.

He sighed and sat, covering his face. "Why have the Gods abandoned us? Why do humans kill everything? These things I can not learn from the memories of my race's past."