“I’ll take that as a good sign,” Zalia muttered.

They stood very still watching the bulb that now appeared to be digesting the shades.

“My instincts appear to have been correct again,” Zalia pointed out to Boreal.

“Luck,” Boreal replied.

“That wasn’t luck, that was… kind of my plan. I had to do some improvising but it worked didn't it?” Zalia argued.

“Worked,” Boreal grumbled.

“Why are you so grumpy?” Zalia said, poking Boreal.

Boreal let out a quiet, disgruntled meow.

“Come on, out with it,” Zalia prodded.

“Eat,” Boreal complained.

The complaint came with an image of the shades as Boreal looked to the sky. Zalia not-so-gently dragged one of her hands down her face as she let out a groan.

“You’re grumpy because the bulb can eat the shades and you can’t!?” Zalia asked incredulously.

“Tasty shadows!” Boreal whined.

“You don’t know that they’re tasty,” Zalia replied.

“Bulb likes!” Boreal argued.

“You’re not a plant, you might not enjoy them as much as it looks like the bulb does,” Zalia tried to calmly explain, only somewhat managing.

“Worth try,” Boreal replied stubbornly.

Zalia’s mind had completely forgotten about the bulb for the moment, her eye twitching a little at Boreal’s continued stubbornness.

“Will you feel better if I promise to try and find a way that you can eat one of the shades?” Zalia asked, giving up.

Boreal immediately perked up, looking at Zalia.

“Snack!” Boreal exclaimed.

“Great, another thing for the list,” Zalia thought.

Despite her irritation, she was glad to have found a way to affect the shades even if it was only minor. The fact that she could reverse Manifest’s element to cause spiritual manifestation rather than physical was one of the many things she had learnt from her continued deeper study of Herbal magic. The way she had used it only had minor effects but she was sure some other combinations could provide better uses. That ritual had been one of her most complicated so far, including two rituals combined to create the major element for a third ritual. Despite its relatively low power because of the rank most of the herbs were, its complexity had made it quite hard for her to maintain concentration.

Just as she was about to ask Delphi about what she knew about the shades, the humming vibration of the bulb changed to form what were two words.

“Thaaaaaaankkk youuuuuuu,” the bulb said.

The hum was almost deafening, the sound pressing down on her. It wasn’t a mental communication like she was used to hearing from Boreal and Delphi but actual words created somehow.

She waited for more to come but the humming dropped down until it became a sound of the background, no more intrusive than the cries of the shades above.

“We may enter now,” Delphi said.

“You wouldn’t care to explain further, would you?” Zalia asked.

“No,” Delphi replied.

“Figures,” Zalia said in acceptance.

If she was to get along with Delphi and the collective, she might just have to accept that despite them knowing a lot about the future they didn’t seem inclined to talk much about it. A warning passed down from their ancestors or just wisdom gained from memories of the past, she didn't know. Either way, she had found no reason to distrust the friendly collective as of yet so the reward of working with them outweighed the risk.

She slowly approached the building, noticing finer details as she did. Parts of it were definitely crumbling due to the continued exposure to the elements and the corruption of Cormaine. What she couldn’t see from afar however, was the small fine vines intertwining between the stone blocks, holding the whole structure together.

Strangely, it looked like the finer vines were grown from plants placed along the walls of the building yet she could see places where they attached to the larger bulb above.

“I’d love to know the history of this place,” Zalia wondered.

The aesthetic of rough cut stone held together by living vines was a pleasing one to Zalia, reminding her of nature not so much conquered as befriended.

They stopped before the small door to the temple, looking at the sigil above.

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“One of your churches,” Zalia said to Ro.

“Find the piece,” Ro-ak said once more.

“Yeah yeah, I get it,” Zalia muttered.

Damned crow didn’t have much else to say. She had only just had the thought about trusting Delphi with their future seeing abilities but the two of them together were getting on her nerves. She was getting a feeling of being on a predestined path and she really did not like that.

“Maybe me being brought to Endaria wasn’t a mistake,” she thought.

It was a disturbing thought and she hated it.

With no reason to back down now, she stepped over the boundary and into the temple. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the darker space and she saw a long, low room with wooden altars similar to the one she had found earlier placed in small alcoves on either side of it. The central path was clear and led to a wide circular chamber ahead that housed the large bulb that occupied the building. Scattered around the entire place were vines and roots growing in and around pillars, altars, walls and the floor. If the vines outside looked like artfully grown roots designed to hold the building together, the ones inside looked like a chaotic forest. She had a distinct feeling that if the bulb wished, she was in more danger inside here than out.

Looking at the bulb her aura identified it as being Gold rank, expected yet scary. She had seen a few Gold ranks in her time in Endaria but this was the first one she faced without similarly powerful allies or a great number advantage.

“What now,” Zalia whispered to Delphi.

“Find the piece,” Delphi replied with what Zalia could have sworn was a mocking tone.

Even the damn frog was messing with her now.

“Savages and bullies, all of you,” Zalia muttered.

Boreal took a few steps ahead, avoiding stepping on vines and sniffing at the air carefully. Zalia followed, moving further in than Boreal but just as carefully. She thought they could probably escape the immobile bulb if they really tried but underestimating it was not a smart move.

“Um, hello? We’re just going to have a look around for… a piece of a god if you don’t mind,” Zalia explained to the bulb.

She was met with absolute silence.

“I’m just going to walk around you so I can see what’s further in, don’t mind me. I’ll avoid stepping on you as much as I can,” Zalia added nervously.

Still receiving no response, she gently moved forwards again and started moving around the edges of the space. Reaching the other side from the entrance, she found a doorway with stairs leading down into the ground below. Not exactly where she expected to find a crow god but who was to say where they did or didn’t like hanging out.

“I’m just going to go have a look down here if that’s alright,” Zalia said.

She hoped if she just explained everything she was doing, the bulb wouldn’t take offence to her presence. She glanced nervously to Boreal and then back towards the stairs leading down.

“Here I go,” she announced.

She started walking down the stairs, fully aware that each step took her further from a potential escape. Boreal with Delphi riding followed her, Ro-ak close behind. The crow was looking more and more energetic, excited almost, which was a good sign.

The stairs led down for quite a ways before reaching the ground, a long hallway ahead of her. Down here the walls were entirely earthen, still riddled with roots and vines draping across the ceiling and walls. Despite the earthen walls and apparently chaotic vines, as she walked through the hallway the vines and walls formed what she could have sworn was the shapes of animals. Crows were the main one she saw appear but there were also wolves, something that looked like a badger and a few others.

The experience was one of an ever changing natural art exposition, pieces of vine, root and wall lining up in only a single spot to form the images.

“You seeing this too?” Zalia asked Delphi.

“Indeed. This will be a memory preserved for many cycles indeed,” Delphi replied.

The mocking tone was gone from their mental voice, only a very slight hint of awe in there. They reached a door at the end of the hall made of wood depicting a giant crow hidden in the shadows of a forest, eyes glinting with wisdom and knowledge. There was no colour of paint used in the depiction yet she could see the glint as clear as day. Slowly, it grew brighter and the magic she felt briefly surge from the other side of the door was almost palpable. It swung open just a little as the surge died down and Zalia pushed it further open with apprehension.

Through the entrance was a small chamber more overgrown than the rest of the building, the vines and roots so thick as to almost coat the walls. As she pushed through the door, having to slide sideways around it and shove root and vine out of her way, Zalia found what she had come here to find.

Hanging suspended from the centre of the room was a large crow, held aloft by vines with its wings extended out to either side. Its two clawed feet looked exactly as the symbol of the temple stamped above the front door, crows feet that looked like they were almost grown out of trees. The two bulky limbs hung loosely from the body of a crow, its feathers made from various types of leaves forming an autumn pattern. From its head a cowl made from vines hung loosely, the piece of clothing growing from the crows neck. From within the cowl a large sharp beak, much the same as Ro-ak’s jabbed out, a silvery glint of eyes visible within.

As she looked closer, she could see that the vines suspending the remnants of the god were not just holding its body but growing from it. The large bulb above was linked or grown in some way from the god below.

Zalia cleared her throat.

“H-hello?” she said.

Ro-ak hopped forwards past Zalia and began closely inspecting the suspended god. Suddenly, Ro-ak stopped and turned to Zalia with the same silver glint in his eyes.

“You have found the piece,” Ro-ak said.

“As you asked,” Zalia replied, “what do you want me to do with it?”

“I cannot tell you what you must do, since I am not truly alive. Wisdom and faith, Zalia of the Druids,” Ro-ak croaked.

“Not truly alive?” Zalia wondered.

How could the god be talking to her yet not alive. Hanging here in front of her yet unable to explain.

Wisdom and faith. Was that what it wanted from her?

She remembered something the starlight wolf had told her, that its power had decreased much since the days of its prime, since the days many more had worshipped it. Did the gods' survival and power depend on the faith of their believers?

Maybe, and maybe since this one had no more believers, it no longer had power, thus was not truly alive. Wisdom and faith it had said.

Zalia knelt down and gently laid out some of her herbs. A piece of Dodge-vine for the vine-like appearance of the god. A piece of the Glowing Cavern Fungus for the element of shadow associated with the god. A piece of the Living Trapvine for the element of mind, the host of all wisdom.

Unsure of herself but trying to keep faith in her plan, she pushed her Healing presence into the herbs in front of herself. Mentally, she made a link from them to the god as she closed her eyes, making the healing flow from the herbs to the god to herself and back to the herbs again in a constant circulating movement.

And so she sat in focus, pushing the healing aura in the constant motion, trying to keep faith in herself and in the last vestige of the god before her.