The trio finally broke through the outskirts of the fields. With the roaming hills at their backs, they looked ahead, into the valley that housed the massive tree.
They took slow steps forward as they stared in wonder at the strange scenery. Leafless trees grew all around them, with the smallest welcoming them deeper inside.
“This place is pretty cool, don’t you think?” He turned to his side where the other amphibians marveled at the space.
“Yeah, it is. I am kinda surprised that nothing has come out to attack us already.” She chuckled slightly as Egosum glared at her.
“Meep.” They both turned to the stoic frog and saw him staring into the sky.
Cinera craned her neck to look up while a frown overtook the toad’s face.
“If there is something up there, I am going to be pissed.” Her wide eyes flicked back down and then to the skies where they rested once more.
“So, there is something there. Great.” He looked up and watched the aerial show that happened overhead.
High in the sky, two humanoids with wings clashed with long spears. Glancing blows and fierce stabs rocked forth from both of the creatures as they fought without a care for the world far below them.
“Is there anything on the map that looks like them?” He turned to the gawking salamander.
“Uh…no? I don’t think so. Just these weird spheres and trees with snakes on the limbs.”
He sighed as the tension left his body.
“Let’s get a move on. What should we look for after we pass the valley?”
She looked back at the map.
“A bunch of hills again followed by some mountains we will need to climb. Then we will be home free.”
The news was somewhat uplifting to the group as they began to move forward.
“Fantastic. We might be able to make the journey in a week and a half if we are fast about it.”
-
The tall trees around them seemed to bend inwards as they passed like they were watching their every move. The familiar tingle on his spine was just barely noticeable above the rest of the weird views.
That unsettling feeling the woods gave off was nothing compared to the mantis in the fields.
Birds of all shapes and sizes filled the air with their calls. A few large birds of prey looked at them with tilted heads as they tried to make sense of the creatures walking on the ground.
It became apparent that the avians dominated the forest from the sheer density of the animals.
Shells covered the floor from old nests and were the only thing that made noise as they walked, crunching underfoot.
The soft ground cradling the shards made the journey much kinder than the last.
Despite the sheer volume of trees around them, none appeared much different from the others, beyond their size.
It was a quaint, if not uneventful walk as they grew closer and closer to the trunk of the massive tree.
More and more of the bird things gathered in the sky above them, sparing, talking in indistinguishable words, and flying around aimlessly.
They took turns watching the air for their movements when Cinera halted.
“What is it?” He looked past the trees and into the sky, scanning for the point of her concern.
“Snake tree.” She spoke quietly as she willed her magic to life.
His eyes focused lower down and caught a glimpse of the topic of her concern.
The tree's limbs were literally replaced with living serpents. As if they were Medusa’s hair, they moved around independently and struck the passing birds that got too close.
“Let your magic go. We can just give it a wide berth as we move.”
She begrudgingly let her deadly energy fall away as they swung wide of the trees while keeping a close eye on its limbs.
The closer they got to the main tree, the more of the serpentine organisms that they saw.
As they walked past another one, they came face to face with a rotund creature with the dullest eyes he had ever seen.
Egosum looked to his side where Coyotl sat and then back to the creature.
‘Yeah, even worse than his.’
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The animal had stubby scales legs with dull nails, a fat and round body covered in dull black feathers, a short neck capped off with a wide head, a flat beak reminiscent of a ducks bill, and miniature wings that hung limply to its sides.
“Um, hello?” He spoke in common with just the tiniest amount of hope.
Cinera’s hand flared to life again as she readied a spell.
The fat bird trotted closer to the toad and turned its head to each side before seemingly coming to a decision.
“So, no common?” The bird opened its mouth while staring him straight in the eyes. “Don’t do it. I can tell what you’re about to do and it is dumb. Just d-”
His sentence was cut short as the animal bit his face with its wide beak.
“I’m poisonous you stupid bird!” The small pressure did little to stop him from yelling in anger.
He used his arm to push the creature off of him and launched it a few hops into the distance.
It slammed into a tree nearby and let out a muffled gasp. The animal slowly managed to stand back up and wobbled on its feet before it threw its head back and let out a trailing cry that pierced each amphibian's ears.
The call was more reminiscent of a human baby screaming for food rather than a bird call, but the results were undeniable.
The entire forest grew silent as the other animals stopped their elegant calls under the rotund creature's auditory assault.
“Shut up!” He hopped closer and willed his qi to encase the bird in a dome of earth, to seal off the sound and spare them the anguish.
Like a switch had been flipped, the noise stopped, and the pain began to subside.
“Goddesses damn it, that thing was loud.” Egosum turned to his friends who were still shaking off the stimulation.
“Meep, meep, meep.” The notoriously loud member spoke words Egosum could only interpret as total agreement when motion caught his attention above them.
The humanoid birds flocked to the skies around them. They were surrounded from above and they did not look pleased.
Egosum heightened his hearing and tried to listen in on what they were saying.
The language came back as squawks and clicks mixed in with some whooping calls. Nothing he could make any sense of.
They began to descend to the ground while shouting at the trio in their gibberish.
“Speak common damn it!” They all went silent as his shout filled the air.
“How rude.” One of the smaller bird people squeaked out a quiet rebuttal.
“What do you want? We are just walking here!” His shouts caused them to look amongst themselves as they tried to figure out how to respond.
“Well, we heard a bobo scream, so we came to see see where it came from. No one hurts hurts bobos.”
Egosum fought back a gulp as he sunk the encased bobo into the earth as slowly as he could manage in hopes of avoiding detection.
“No idea what you are talking about. Nono bobos anywhere nearby.” Cinera smacked his arm as he tried making a joke only for the birds to quirk their heads side to side.
The heads looked like a large eagle with curved beaks. Their arms were human with rippling muscles while their legs ended in scales and talons. On each of their backs, a set of wings flapped to keep them in the air.
It was plainly obvious that some god ripped off the human design and threw bird parts in the mix, but Egosum struggled to hold back the urge to insult them and their creator. There were at least 30 of the bird people in the sky and he was not suited to aerial combat by any stretch of the imagination.
One of the larger ones with its spear tightly grasped in its hand slowly descended before them.
“I know I heard its call. It is unmistakable. You must show us where it came from. I know it is nearby. I can sense it was here recently.”
A new pit developed in his stomach as he waited for the bird to land.
His Qi came to life as he watched its talons get closer to the ground, ready to get the jump on it if need be.
“We did see this big hawk or eagle thing with a screaming fluff ball in its talons, but it took off.” Cinera spoke up from behind him.
The bird people seemed to pause at the new information and looked amongst themselves.
“What did it look like? Give us details.”
He gulped as it finally landed on the soil, its long nails digging into the ground with ease.
She thought back to the large bird of prey she saw when they were walking earlier and relayed its description.
“A haus!” One of the flying people exclaimed with surprise.
“A young one at that. No adult would let the bobo’s get a peep out before they are eaten. Where did it fly to?”
She flicked her head to the side and watched them race in the direction, ignoring the true culprits.
“Nice going. Really thought we were about to get swarmed by those shitheads.”
Egosum cracked a grin as he watched the last one disappear fully from sight.
“Yeah, you should definitely crush that thing so there isn’t a chance it gets out and tells on us or something.” He couldn’t help but scoff at her request.
“That thing? Talk? It can barely think but I guess you are right.” He willed his Qi to crush the poor bird and the trio scrambled as far from the clearing as they could. The desire to flee as far from the area as fast as they could was overpowering.
‘To be caught in a misunderstanding is bad, to be caught lying is far worse.’
They got closer and closer to the massive tree when the base of it finally came into view.
Gargantuan roots splayed out from its base, creating caves and alcoves along its entire surface.
The sheer size was almost impossible to understand from a distance but, up close, it was plainly obvious that it was the largest thing he had ever seen in his short life.
The clouds parted around its limbs as wind carried them through the valley
They got closer and closer when Cinera finally chimed in.
“Holy shit. It’s gotta be bigger than Embermount.”
“Crazy. The roots will be a problem if we don’t stay far enough away.” He turned to look for the closest path around it.
“Aww. You don’t want to explore a little bit. Check the place out.” He slowly turned to her with a deadly glare.
“Do you want to be speared by bird people? Do you want to be eaten by some unknown beast hiding in the roots? Or maybe you want to get dragged underground and swallowed alive.” She turned her head to the side and touched her lips.
“That’s fair. Fuck this place. Let's get out of here.”
They swung around the tree and slowly left it in the dust when the sun began to set. They hunkered down and waited for the sun to rise before setting out again, getting a full night of sleep for once since the journey began.
The trio looked at the map and were glad to see the progress they had made the day before.
It would only be another half day now and they would be at the next area.
The skies were clear of the birds, humanoid and animalistic alike, and no dangers were in sight.
They had a straight shot to the exit and their next challenge ahead of them