Grim found himself wandering through caverns. Strange that it was only the mage that had guarded the place, not anything else. Maybe he thought that he didn’t need to be guarded.
He came upon a room with what looked like a huge tree inside of it. From this hub led three other doors, which Grim deduced were the true cardinal directions. The tree went up, and up, and up, so high that he couldn’t see the sky.
Grim walked around to the other doorways and saw that they had doors, and were locked or otherwise would not open to his touch. He probably could blow his way through them, but something kept drawing him back to the tree.
As he walked around it, he saw vines entwined around it, vines that he could use to climb. Maybe the codex was among the branches. That wouldn’t be the first time he’d heard of books nestled in trees.
He grabbed one vine and stepped onto another. It seemed like a ladder, the way the vines were placed. He started to climb.
Grim was happy for Kael’s training, as it got him to climb higher and higher. He felt the air get colder, thinner. He had been looking up all this time, forcing himself to concentrate, but now looked down. He could not see the bottom. He hugged the tree tight for a moment, looking up. Should he pick his way back down?
He heard something caw and saw birds or bats flying in the night, squeaking and calling. I should head back down, he thought. But mage curiosity made him climb upward.
It got colder. His arms were starting to ache, and his legs became leaden as he stepped up. He slipped once, grabbing onto the tree for support and an anchor. As soon as he got his breath and his heart stopped beating like a running rabbit in his ribcage, he reconsidered.
But his hands kept moving up on their own accord. Something was in the branches of this tree, and it had to end sometime. He forced himself to continue.
Then, he saw something gray above his head. It was something to strive for, even if it was gray, and he climbed faster, gasping for air. He found himself inside the gray matter, and the air was much colder here, like knives in his lungs. He kept climbing, knowing he could get out it.
He broke through, and he gasped, trying to get clean air in his lungs. There was sunshine here, no longer gray, or dark night. As he took deep breaths, he felt a point in his back. “Who are you?” demanded a deep, booming voice, sounding very vaguely familiar.
Grim moved his hands upward to grab above his head. He turned his head slowly, and when he could see what was behind him, he almost lost hold of the tree.
An angel, dark haired and blue eyed, with white, folded wings, stood there wearing merely a loincloth and sandals. That angel was built, Grim didn’t hesitate to note, a hot, buff man in peak and perfect physical condition, as he well knew.
“Stefan?”
The angel blinked. “Grim?”
Grim smiled. “How ya doin’? Can you stop pointing that thing at me?”
“How did you get here?” The spear went up, and Stefan walked around to Grim’s side so he wouldn’t have to crane his neck to see him.
“How does it look like?” Grim asked, gripping the vines tighter. His arms and legs burned and hurt. He wanted to let go.
Stephan held out his hand to Grim. Grim took the strong, firm hand of the angel and the angel pulled him up, out of the cloud, to stand with him. “What are you doing here?”
“Is this really heaven?”
“No,” he said, “but it’s where Yggdrasil ends. I’ve been set to guard it.”
“Stefan?” came another booming voice to Grim’s left.
Writing prompt:
Yggdrasil, n: a huge ash tree in Norse mythology that overspreads the world and binds earth, hell and heaven together.
A tree this large could (and does) fill many books, but for this prompt, just write about your character as he/ she transitions from one of the three places to another via the tree: earth to hell, heaven to earth, hell to heaven, etc. Why the shift? What does he/ she see along the way? What are the physical sensations? Emotional? Spiritual? Who does he/ she encounter? Does the past come back to haunt him/ her?
Grant, Laura (2012-05-31). 101 Writing Prompts for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers, vol. 1 (p. 24). Desk & Chair. Kindle Edition.