'Careful Jole. I reckon them waggoners are here somewhere. These tracks look like peoples. Them folk from that Nocton are all over this place.'

Crick didn't like woods, tracking through the undergrowth wasn't his favourite form of soldiering. He liked being told what to do but preferred it when he was in barracks or on the parade ground. Searching through this massive, wet forest was chilling him to his mangorian bones.

They had already found one enemy family, cowering under their ensnared wagon. He did enjoy dispatching them with his heavy sword. Making patterns of blood over the tarp of their hideout with the wide strokes that his sarge had drilled into him.

Jole was becoming a pain, though. He was hardly capable of any level of communication past a grunt. Still, he made up for it in his ferocity. No one better to have at your back in a skirmish.

They were nearing the heart of the forest. Jole was enjoying snake hunting. Chopping them into slices. He liked the taste. Raw.

Following animal trails that sometimes needed cutting back to make way, they approached a large, old looking yakoya tree.

Crick was leading. He crouched and signed for Jole to stop and be quiet.

'Whassup Crick?'

'Shush you fool, there's something up ahead, I seen summat glowing, behind that tree. Can you see owt?'

'No.'

'Jole, you come round me and go look. I got yer back' Crick moved to the side to let his large, heavy-handed colleague take the lead. There was definitely something there. Better to let Jole scare it out.

'Okay,' Jole unclasped his oversized battle axe from his belt and fearlessly strode towards the Large tree.

Its roots were sizeable and many seemed unable to bury themselves in the compact ground, creating arcs, like spiders legs all around its trunk.

As Jole moved around the tree, one of the leggy roots, flicked outward and tripped him over. With his signature grunt, he fell heavily on his side. Other roots lifted beside him and dragged him into the damp, gaping hole in the soil, created by their movement. With a final grunt, Jole disappeared under the tree.

Crick stood transfixed for a moment as the sound of Joles' constricted, cracking bones could be clearly heard from the base of the murderous tree.

That just ain't right, Crick thought as he turned and fled back down the trail.

As he fled, a branch swayed down towards him and caught him just under the chin choking and pulling him off his feet. A strangled gurgle was his last utterance as his legs kicked and his neck snapped, leaving him suspended, in his final throes, over the forest track.

The Yukoya moved out of their hiding place in the undergrowth, pleased with the outcome of their grisly task. They headed back to their meeting place. There was to be a gathering of all Yukoya in Under-root Hall.

***

The forest seemed to swallow Klem and Todd as they followed the strange spiritual group.

Most of Fenland was made up of forest. With Upton forest to the north, the southern part of the expansive woods was simply called The Forest. A few days in a wagon on the trail to Kings-Port had bought them here. Klem had never heard talk of these strange tree people before. It made him feel so small and insignificant that he knew nothing of his surroundings and filled him with awe and wonder at what the rest of Agios was hiding, from his previously sheltered life.

Well, he was slap bang in the middle of some weird and wonderful new experiences. He guessed he should open himself up to the fact that there was much he didn't realise or understand about the world and try to find his part in it, however insignificant or otherwise.

The Yukoya moved silently with him and Todd in tow.

The change to the Forest became very distinct. Here the forest creatures were abundant and the Yukoya seemed to attract them like parents or guardians. Forest-Jaks trailed after them and they stroked and seemed to wordlessly converse with all around them. This place felt like hallowed ground and it was. It was the centre of the Yukoyas world. Their glow lit the woods with an eerie light. Without that glow, the wood would have been as dark as pitch.

Still, in a state of shock and wonderment, the two of them walked side by side.

"Where did these folk come from?" Todd scratched his fledgeling whiskers.

"They just came out of the trees," Klem replied simply.

"Well duh! I know that much."

"No, out of the trees! They came from inside the trees!" Klem said it as he couldn't believe it himself.

"What?"

"They must be some sort of tree spirit. They must be able to be as one with the yukoya. They must live inside the trees."

"Well, they spookin me. Why they come out? Why don't they just go back in?" Todd dodged a rather large, hooded python that hang lazily from a branch.

"They want our help. That one." Klem motioned toward the being at the front of the group. "Said, well spoke in my head that they needed our help and in return, they would hide us from the mangorians. Didn't you hear, sense him?"

"I did hear something in my head but couldn't quite make any sense out of it, maybe you better at hearing them than me."

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"Maybe. Maybe you were not the focus of his head talkin' or maybe it's something you learn slowly?" Klem stroked a young tawny owl that had decided to perch on his shoulder.

The procession approached the heart of the forest. The trees here were bigger, older and more gnarled than the rest. Their roots were massive and protruded from the ground, creating dark, cave-like entrances in the leaf-strewn forest floor.

Their hosts stopped at one of these dark entries. The Yukoya waited for the pair to approach and introduced themselves.

I am Chiani, Ingro, Lief, Mild, Brach, Rote, Helder, Swaid, Connet, Starge. We are the younger Yukoya we welcome you to Underroot Hall. Please enter and meet our parents.

They bowed low and gestured for the two of them to enter into the darkness.

As they passed through the threshold the air became warmer and a pleasant smell of lavender and moss pervaded their passing. A carpet of purple moss led them through a short tunnel, a bright source of light shone from up ahead and a remnant glow of the shiny, young yakoya at their backs.

There were six, root-made thrones, arranged in a natural semi-circle at the head of a large underground hall. The thrones were the living roots of the trees above, making the six beings appear imprisoned in their organic seats. They were not. At Klem and Todd's entrance, all six stood. They were taller than their saplings but not quite as tall as the two gob-smacked Fen-landers.

The six elder of the Yukoya gave off a bright light. It was difficult to focus on their features. Klem could just make out that they were similar to their children, with violet eyes that seemed to bore into your soul, large rounded noses and yes! They had small straight mouths and tiny ears. It took some time however for his eyes to adjust to the brightness they radiated. Five sat down and one remained upright.

Its mouth moved and words came out. At the same time, the words resounded in Klems' head, giving a disturbing echoing effect.

"Welcome to Under-root Hall. I am Darni the elder, these are my siblings. Lorni, Marli, Arni, Corsi, and Farsi." The being gestured around the thrones. All nodded sincerely in acknowledgement.

"Few of your kind have been invited here. We are peaceful people and have dire need of your help. In exchange for this, we offer you sanctuary from your pursuers, food, rest, and knowledge. Do you accept this exchange?" Darni smiled a thin smile. His thin, bony, root-like hands clasped at his waist.

Klem looked at Todd. He opened his palms in deference as he addressed the strange being.

"What is it we can do for you? We are only the young of our kind, surely we can be of little help to ones such as you? We can hardly fend for ourselves?"

"The task we have for you is a simple one, we need you to help our friend. He is one of your kind. We are afraid he has lost his mind. He has become a danger to himself and needs help from his own people. He lives a solitary life not far from here. His mind was once very powerful. His name is Pendulum and he is dear to us. We can do many mighty things in our own domain but we are unwilling to leave its perimeter. Can you do this for us? Get him to help?"

The elder Yukoya looked on hopefully as Klem and Todd whispered excitedly to each other.

"We need to get to Kings-Port, our families have fled from Nocton and we are to rejoin them in the capitol. We think that we can help, though, as evading the mangorians is of utmost concern to us and we would be very grateful for your protection and in helping us through the forest." Klem smiled shyly at his friendly hosts.

An audible sigh of relief came from the Yukoya.

"This Pendulum guy must be very special to them, for them to care so deeply," Todd whispered behind his hand.

"He is very dear to us all." Darni hadn't heard the whisper but had read Todds' mind.

"I don't think whispering is necessary for this company Todd." Klem smiled at his comrade. "Yup, spooky ain't it" Todd replied.

Darni continued. "We gratefully accept your help, young people of Nocton. We have closely watched your flight from your home and your peoples' brave attempt to keep the foreign armies from invading your homeland. We can see you safely through our forest and suggest you take Pendulum to the town of Pride on the North coast of fenland. Although this is not directly on your way, it is not too far off the route to Kings-Port. We feel Pendulum will be well looked after there in the Guild of the Architects. If you do this for us then we will forever be in your debt and you will be welcome if ever you were to need our help or advice in the future. We will arrange some food and drink for you. We will talk and answer any questions as you eat."

Many younger yakoya entered the room at this unspoken request. They bought in a hastily made table of leaves and twigs and two large stones covered with cushions of leaves. The food came in bowls of hardened leaves and consisted of fruits and nuts of the forest. The ker juice smelled slightly fermented.

With a smile of relief, Darni sat back on his throne of roots. He gestured towards the other Yukoya and although to Todd and Klem's eyes they all looked similar, this one seemed to rise more slowly and seemed to have trouble breaking out of the roots that made up his seat.

"I AM FARSI." His voice boomed. Todd and Klem both held their hands to their ears and doubled up.

"Please, that hurts." Klem checked his hands to make sure his ears were not oozing blood after the onslaught of sound that had been so brutal.

"I am sorry." Farsi embarrassedly apologised. "I am unaccustomed to using my voice. Let me know if I speak too loudly for you."

"That's' about right thanks," Todd replied.

Klem and Todd sat down to their welcome feast as the younger yukoya retreated back out of the hall.

"I will tell you some of the histories of Agios and the Yukoya. If you would like?" Farsi, now out of his root throne seemed agitated and could not stand still. Both root-like feet tapped as he spoke and he appeared ready to run at any moment.

They both nodded, mouths full of the very tasty fare offered them.

"Our world is like a very, very, large ball. We know this as we can communicate with all the yukoyas, with our minds over the entire world which is Agios. Although the ground appears flat this is not the case over long distances. If you walked steadily in a straight line I estimate it would take about two cycles to end up where you started!"

Todd and Klem looked on disbelievingly with eyes wide as they munched.

"I am not sure how you people measure time but we measure it in four seasons making a cycle. The seasons being, New-Leaf, Green-Leaf, Brown-Leaf and No-Leaf each lasting roughly the same amount of time.

The eldest Yakoya are in the south and they have been growing for nearly four hundred cycles! We here are only three hundred and twenty cycles. I am the first of our forest with my siblings here only a few cycles younger. People appeared here two hundred cycles ago. They, you came down from the highest mountains in the west. How you came to be here or if you grew there we do not know."

Klem was trying to quietly eat the juiciest, crunchiest apple without much success.

"Do you live inside the trees? We use the wood of your trees to make houses and furniture, does this harm you?"

Farsi appeared confused as if he was unused to being interrupted.

"Ah, good, questions. Yes, I can answer them. Yes, we are given life when a yukoya reaches maturity. This is about fifty cycles. We can gradually remove ourselves from the living tree as a separate living being. We do not like you to chop down trees but we do not mind you using the younger insentient trees. We believe in the equilibrium of life and we are here to maintain this equilibrium it is our sacrifice that gives you shelter. We are happy to do this. We protect all life on Agios and this is our fundamental way. If you could however encourage your people to not cut down older yukoya from the heart of the forest we would be forever grateful."

Farsi bowed deferentially as he spoke.

"We will do our best." Klem looked at Todd who nodded.

They had, filled their rumbling stomachs. The ker juice had been excellent and had made them realise how tired they were.

"Stay with us tonight, Marli will show you to a place you can sleep. I understand you may be overwhelmed by all you have seen and heard. Marli will answer any questions you may need to ask."

The Yukoya named Marli rose elegantly from his throne, almost floated towards the middle of the hall and beckoned for the pair to follow.