‘Do you enjoy being treated like a coddled pet, great one?’ It took a while for him to realize that the being was talking to him directly. It looked like a human, but he could see there was something very off, very inhuman about it. It had an aura of deep space, a solemness, a sense of weight that no human could hope to replicate. When he tasted the air, it had the flavor of something ancient, older than even him. His leaves rustled like a shiver down the spine, disconcerted. 

The being was taunting him, Roxom realized, a moment after. Outrage filled him, blinding rage but with no means of release, it unwillingly drained away, impotent. ‘No,’ he said, his voice the wind whispering through his leaves, ‘it is a grave insult.’ The being chuckled, its long starry hair fanning in the breeze. ‘Then why don’t you do something about it.’ With that, the being strolled away, human-like hands in human-like pockets. 

He had never met another ancient before, he was the only god-being he knew, though through his forest network he had heard of other great ones. Beings with arcane powers greater than their forms would suggest, beings that were not to be crossed or else dire consequences would ensue. 

He meditated long on what the being ment. What could he do, against his enemy’s clear domination. His entire people, no matter his feelings about them, had been eradicated, obliterated from the face of the earth. His body had been defiled, his limbs severed and implanted elsewhere like trophies to his subjugation, separated and calling for him like lost children. What could he do against such clear, overwhelming superiority? 

He was ashamed that his first interaction with another great one was when he was in such an embarrassed state. It was shameful that the star-beast had seen him and found him so wanting. He wanted to prove to the beast that this was just a momentary disadvantage, that he would triumph over this insult, come out victorious, as he had in the past in his competitions with the other forest inhabitants. 

He was jealous of the star-beast he discovered, after further introspection, of its ability to walk undetected, unmolested amongst the humans. Its mobility, its self-assurance. If he could walk like them, he would no longer be vulnerable to the human’s every whim. He tried moving his roots, to simulate walking as they did, at night when no human was around to witness him. But the experiment was only moderately successful. It was slow going, and he left a massive trail behind him, disturbed soil and grasses. He settled his roots back into his hole, resolved to wait until a more developed plan occurred to him.

What were his own powers, he wondered. He had never the need to test his own power, always content to live as a tree should. But clearly, he was more than just a tree. He was a great one, as the star-beast said. Mighty. If only…if only there was someway for him to fight back.

He did fight other beasts, he realized, after some self-examination. He synthesized chemicals to deter unwanted pests that ate at his leaves. He had developed the ability during his saplinghood, it had given him a competitive advantage over his siblings, contributing to his triumph over them. And why would he limit himself to insects, when another, even more irritating pest presented itself. 

But what could he make that would be the most effective weapon against the humans? He wanted them to suffer, he realized, to feel the pain that they had caused to him and his kind. To drive them insane with the pain and finally perish. To decay and become fodder for his children. This was his pledge, that they would have his name on their lips when they died. He breathed deeply, exhaling through his every stroma, leaves ruffling without a breeze. A human looked at him askance, unnerved. This would be the beginning, Roxom vowed. 

It took him a while to perfect his chemical weapon. He would subtly release some of his experiments in the vicinity, carefully not to do so much as to draw attention to himself, unwilling to be destroyed prematurely and lose his chance for revenge.

He tried many different approaches, blistering agents that caused boils to erupt on the human’s skin, lung toxicants damaging their internal organs, causing them to cough harshly, but ultimately settled on nerve agents. He would have to dose it carefully, though. Too much and the feeble humans would die quickly, unable to fully appreciate his domination. He was unwilling to release them to death immediately. Luckily the agents stimulated then paralyzed the human’s nervous system, setting him up nicely for the second part of his plan. Taking a human skin. After seeing the star-beast in one, he wanted it for himself. 

He implemented his plan early in the morning, slowly releasing the chemical into the slightly chilled air. He would slowly release more and more as the day continued, with the intention that those early visitors to the gardens would not notice that something was amiss, contaminating the whole city. He instructed his children to do the same, passing on the compound construction through their lingering shared consciousness. 

His children had been spread widely in the city, various humans claiming pieces of him for themselves, enchanted with the vibrancy of his brilliant plum-colored flowers. Now that indignity would be to his advantage. 

 A human passing by gasped for breath. It had begun.