We climbed the rocky cliff on the other side of the bay near where the river met the sea, as the ground wasn‘t as steep there, and made our way towards the forest and the mountains in the distance. Our mood was muted, we had begun the day in the early hours of the morning in complete darkness, only our little boat brightly lit by several lanterns, and I suspected Grim’s especially foul mood to stem from the rum he had had the night before. He had not said a word to either Kara or me and only had communicated with disgruntled growls and grunts.
Kara was silent as well, but as far as I could make out that had to do with the fact that she was on a boat for the first time in her life, on the open sea no less. We had backpacks with us, as we had planned to stay a couple of days at least, and she was rummaging in hers more often than I could imagine being necessary.
“How do we find what we are looking for?“ I mused as we rested on the top of a hill, studying the thick wall of green in the distance, with the giant trees overshadowing the smaller ones. Behind us the sailors were busy erecting a more permanent camp.
“What are we even looking for?“ Grim grumbled. “The bird, right? Climb a tree, I guess?“
I threw a glance towards Kara, but she was staring off to a point in the distance, her pupils dilated and her head tilted as if she was listening to something only she could hear. I saw her visibly snap back, orienting herself, and then back to her normal, moody brooding.
“What is it?“ I asked exasperated.
“What is what?“ She retorted without looking at me.
“What do you have to contribute to the question of where to start looking, Kara?“
“Nothing. Go on.“
I exchanged a look with Grim, who just shrugged and threw his backpack onto his shoulders. There was only one way if we did not want to return to the boat, and that was towards the forest.
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“I don‘t like it.“ Grim spat.
We had reached the first trees of the forest. The ground was...barren and bleak. I still vividly remembered the thick undergrowth and luscious green we had to walk through a few days ago, but all that remained standing where the thick trunks of the trees, but even they had lost their bark at the ground level. And the floor was...dug over it seemed. The soil was loose and moist.
“I don‘t like it either.“ I murmured, my hand nervously gripping the hilt of my Ravenbeak.
Kara nodded but pressed one hand against her head as if to combat a serious headache. Finally, she dug through the pockets of her coat and slipped a Dragonamber amulet over her head, relaxing as she did so.
“The Song is too strong.“ She hissed, catching breath. “Something sings louder than the ambient noise I am used to, even in the Broken Lands where it is most intense.“
“What does that mean? For us?“ I asked.
Kara shrugged again. “The Song won‘t reach your ears with the Dragonamber around your neck. The rest...I am no [Seer], but I can try if you give me the time.“
”Do it.“ Grim growled. “I am not going in there unless we know what is happening.“
“Smart man.“ I nodded, already turning back.
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We made a small fire near the one single, twisted tree we found on the Stormplains, as we had dubbed the wind-tormented coastline we currently were in the middle of. Grim and I had to walk far to gather the rocks we needed to protect the fire enough from the wind rushing around the trunk of the tree.
Kara was breathing calmly, eyes closed, the Dragonamber amulet in her lap, ready to be grabbed at a moment's notice. Her lips moved, as if she was mumbling, or reading a particularly difficult text. She was using Skills, in her language, and it looked like a whole chain she activated in succession. Her eyeballs were positively vibrating under her closed eyelids, fluttering and racing back and forth. Suddenly she shouted out loud, opening her eyes wide, which were completely rolled back, only the white showing as she arched her back and gasped for air.
We were on our feet trying to reach her, but she was faster and had grabbed the Dragonamber. She looked at us, standing over her with concern in our eyes, and tilted her head. “You need to be around [Shamans] more. That was nothing.“
“Disturbing is what that was.“ Grim spat.
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“Calm down!“ I said. “What did you see?“
“Something has awakened.“ She suddenly turned to me, her eyes wide in shock. “I hear it now! It is you! It has been you the whole time! The path of yours has led you to challenge something slumbering.“
I snorted. “I did no such thing.“
“Oh, but you did. You cannot tame the Wyld. And yet you try. You cannot rule the Wyld. And yet you try. The Wyld has accepted your challenge. And the Guardians have risen.“
“The Guardians?“
She made gestures cutting me off, as she tried to remember everything she had heard and seen. “The Wyld is not a thinking thing. But it is alive. It reacts. As the lands were broken they were born out of their dying mother's last breath, to keep the elements safe. The Wyld is that way, a constant balance. Change happens to counter another change.“
“Safe? Safe from what?“
Kara pressed a sigh through her lips. “Humans need to be taught absolutely everything, is that right? The elements are the forces of nature and life is its heart and soul. The energy of life is rampant and in abundance in the Wyld. The balance of nature is destroyed. I saw the ocean raining upwards and the soil fly away like the wind.“
“The elements got locked away? Or no, are protected so that the influence of the Wyld does not apply to them? Who? Who locked them away?“
“Does it matter?“ Kara said. “I believe it to be a natural thing, one thing happens, another happens in turn.“
“It could matter a whole lot. Or not at all. What did you say about me challenging them?“
“Not them. It. The Wyld. Change. You brought civilization where the Wyld ruled. You brought water to a bonfire. Now watch if that fire gets extinguished by the water or the fire turns the water into smoke first.“
“What do the Guardians have to do with that.“
Kara shrugged again. “I don‘t know. Maybe it's just the system. But I do know that that,“ and she pointed to the forest, “is calling to you.“
We fell silent, thinking about that for a second.
“Beetles.“ Grim suddenly said. “Must be. Digging up, eating everything, vanishing again.“
“You think? That makes sense.“ I nodded.
“They will be stupid, in masses and hungry. It fits.“ He said.
“I can see a relation to the element of earth there.“ Kara nodded. “If that is to be a Guardian we are looking for a queen of some sort? Or a big one?
Grim shrugged, but then tipped his head with his index finger. “Skill tells me that not every insect has a queen. But it is possible.“
I sighed. Now came the part I hated the most. “We should find out, huh?“
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Kara and Grim had climbed the tree we had lit the fire next to, just to be safe. While I stood, miles away, in the shadows of the forest, treading lightly. There was no reason to endanger my companions for this little task, I would be safer without them. I could climb a tree in no time if worst came to worst. They could not.
“Zero.“ I murmured. “Why do we always find ourselves in these situations?“ Zero turned his head, a spiked ball this time, towards me. “I know, I know. I‘m stalling. I have a past with insects. Before I even met you. I hate them.“
Zero wobbled his head, sending me the mental equivalent of a shrug. “You don‘t? Well, maybe you‘ll change your mind after this is over. Ready?“
I began swinging Zero around vertically, so as to not get him stuck on the trees, then slammed him to the ground, full length, repeating the motion. It was kind of fascinating, watching the force of my movement travel in a wandering arc, racing along the length of Zero, until the end of him slapped the ground. Again and again.
If the beetles or whatever was buried underground, we thought them to be able to detect movement, noise, or vibrations above them. And that was exactly what I was doing. Making vibrations.
I felt it before I saw it, a slight shifting in the ground below me. A faint sound of grinding soil, then everything happened so quickly, I got surprised, even though I had been as prepared as possible.
The earth opened up beneath me as a ...thing opened its mouth, pulling the earth away as if it was a curtain. I was jumping already, making two quick steps up the side of a tree before I used Zero to draw myself up into the lower branches, so I missed what happened next. When I turned around, I saw a thing resembling a huge flower, high as a man, opening up its mouth completely.
That was what had been beneath me. The petals seemed to be chitinous and robust, maybe even sharp at the edges. But as the flower bloomed, it spew forth hundreds of fat, little grubs.
Well, they were not little, as big as a boot maybe, but compared to the flower and the trees they were small. They did nothing but fly through the air, spewed out by the insect-flower, wildly chomping with their round mouths. Then they wiggled on the ground, moving around again until they found a tree and wiggled against it, trying to find something for their mouths to bite into. But the bark had already been nibbled away and they were not strong enough to bite into the trunks.
Finally, after a damn long time, they began to bury themselves into the earth and even the flower began to retract back under the loose soil. Well, that had been enlightening. And did not actually seem that dangerous to me. Weird, yes. And I could see the danger these pests could be to the environment and the surprised wanderer or animal. But to me, knowing what I knew, it seemed mot that wild. But if the flower came from below, finding and maybe killing a Guardian submerged who knew ho deep into the earth under the forest...now that sounded like a nightmare and a half.
I did not set a single footstep on the ground of the forest on my way back.
The floor was larva.
I jumped from branch to branch and from tree to tree. If balance is what made this forest, then the trees must have been profiting Immensely from the presence of the insects below, so thickly grown was the forest, and so tall and strong the trees. It was a whole other ecosystem up here in the branches.
There were smaller plants hanging, vines climbing, animals living here, away from the soil of the earth. It was fascinating, now that I knew the reason. And even more fascinating to see what nature had come up with to adapt the animals and plants to these special circumstances. Balance. Grim had been right, as ludicrous as his words had seemed at the moment. Cause and effect, or so it seemed to me, had formed this forest.
And here I was challenging a being buried under a forest of giant trees, growing insect—flowers under me and throwing fat, hungry grubs at me. Only one question remained, and it was a big one.
What did those larvae turn into?