It was clear when they entered the domain of the Colligere. The most obvious sign was the lack of any animals. Even the smallest rodents and insects were missing.

“Not even any bugs.” Mrs. Strawberry observed.

“It’s weird” Devourer abruptly announced.

Mrs. Strawberry looked at him sideways “What’s weird?”

“In your world insects are classified as an animal.” He held up a dictionary “I grabbed some books from your bookshelf while you were packing your things for this adventure.”

The granny looked at the bound paper in his gloved hand as she responded “Ignoring the fact you took a book from my library without asking, why does it matter if they are animals?”

He flipped open the book with the confidence of one that had read the information multiple times, he came to a spot and read aloud. “An animal is anything that consumes to subsist and can move of its own volition.” He closed the book “And lot of other technical sciency jargon, blah blah blah.” He tucked the book into his jacket. “But, yeah, interesting that you count an insect as an animal.”

Mrs. Strawberry chuckled “I never know what is going to come out of your mouth.”

“Clever little buggers, pain in the butt to creatures like me.” Onion was curled atop the rump of the ant-horse, he was not in a pleasant mood. The thin leafed plants in the region had grown their own toxins to make the earth inhospitable to other species of flora. They were purple in color, with little white dots running along the center of each leaf. The toxins in the ground had forced him to avoid touching it. “I won’t be getting off this saddle anytime soon.”

Gus patted his companion’s shoulder in reassurance, “That might be what is keeping the Fluffies at bay. Devourer can you dig up some of the plants?”

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The cook and Auris took additional samples along their journey. As they traveled deeper the trees grew tight against each other. With herbivores missing all plant life was overgrown and choking itself out. They had roots that wound around every surface like an octopus’s tentacles.

They found the first Gnarled Tree as they crested a hill.

It was two meters high; the bark was similar to a petrified tree caught in a volcanic fallout, black and smooth looking but when touched it flaked away in layers, black on one side and yellow on the other. Mrs. Strawberry got down with the team to look at it “Have you ever seen a Gnarled Tree up close?”

Descendre shook her head “These are rare, there are a few on display throughout the world but they are usually kept under lock and key. And I have never heard of one getting this big, usually they are only a foot tall. This tree alone is worth more than its weight in gold for magical ingredients.”

They brushed some of the flakes off to get to the yellow wood beneath, cutting off multiple pieces and packing them away. Gus explained to the cook “These can be used to create powerful magical weapons and armor. We are going to want some smiths to add them to our gear on our way back. For now, though…” he took one of the smaller branchers and wound it into a makeshift bracelet around Mrs. Strawberry’s wrist “We are going to be putting these on.”

As soon as the bracelet was tied off Mrs. Strawberry felt energized, stronger “Oh?”

“It’s the Colligere.” The Mottoy explained “She drains life without having to actively think about it. I wasn’t sure if that part of the story was true. I did hear that the bark of the tree was supposed to protect the wearer.”

“Neat right?” Descendre was looping her own branch around her tail “These will give us an edge when we run into the Colligere.”

They harvested the dead tree and continued their journey.

They found three more such trees, each one getting bigger and looking less withered.

“Why are they getting bigger?” The cook asked, trying to discern the meaning between the sizes. “Is it because we’re getting closer to the Colligere?”

“No.” Descendre said. “When the seed of the Gnarled Tree is planted it waits until the Colligere uses their spell. The size of the populace causes the tree to grow to the proportionate size to hold all the latent energy. “

They harvested pieces the next tree, this one two-stories tall.

Onion shook his head in awe “If her power is this great, we might need to turn back now.”

“Are you kidding?” Devourer chuckled “This is going to be a tale told for centuries and it will be an amazing adventure for us!”

And with that the adventurers approached their final destination, the cave of the Colligere.