There is a pregnant pause. Completely unamused at the idea that, after all of this, the forest might be having second thoughts, I summon some fire to my hand. Pushing a little bit more mana into it makes it flare up like a torch. To my surprise, a sense of delight comes from the elemental still hanging around my shoulder and it zooms forwards to bathe happily in the flames.

Maybe I shouldn’t be shocked, thinking about it. It’s made of fire, and fire, as an intelligence, is remarkably welcoming and all-embracing for something that destroys everything else by nature. Then again, I guess that the destructive nature is the reason for it – everything becomes part of the greater whole eventually.

The addition of the elemental makes the flames jump higher even without me adding more mana and they also increase in temperature. Catch, who is standing right next to me, takes a careful step away, worried perhaps about what might happen. I’m not sure if he’s worried that they might go out of control, or whether I will create another inferno of myself, but I don’t blame him too much for his caution.

Turning my attention back to the trees – which I will be setting on fire unless they reply to me with an answer I want to hear soon – I take a step towards them.

Wait! I hear, the trees starting to shiver even more violently. I pause for a moment, eyeing the little that’s left of the forest.

I’m waiting, I answer, but not for long. Do you surrender? Yes, or no.

I surrender, I surrender, the forest answers, it’s tone a mixture between resigned, annoyed, and desperate. An odd combination, but the only one that describes the feelings I get off it.

Then here are the terms. You will move away from this area – I want access to the tunnel and Energy. You will not grow any larger than you currently are. You will not bother me or any of my Bound. Clear?

Then you might as well consume me now, the forest argued, a hint of petulance to its mental voice. Unable to grow; what do I have to live for? I’m only barely holding onto the ability to think as it is!

So, what, you become more sentient the bigger you get? I can’t help but ask.

The bigger or the older or the more Energy I absorb, the forest willingly tells me. Now I’ve actually convinced it to talk, it seems almost chatty. But if you force me away from this nice little spot, force me not to grow, not to eat, I might as well just die. It pauses for a moment and then, if it had eyes, I bet it would be glaring at me from the feeling it gives off. Murderer.

I scoff, unable to refute its accusation but finding its hypocrisy just a bit grating. Breathing in and out deeply I try to push both my irritation and bad mood aside. I give serious thought to actually just going through with it – setting fire to the small remnants of the vine-stranglers and just finishing the job. It would certainly be the cleanest option.

I absentmindedly start tossing the fire in the air, looking at the trees speculatively. From the glee that comes from the elemental, apparently it likes the motion. I can’t help but smile slightly at the creature, its ball of flames just a few shades lighter than the ones surrounding it.

Perhaps the forest senses somehow the direction in which my thoughts are heading as it suddenly breaks in with a suggestion.

What if we find a solution that benefits both of us? You want to benefit from the Energy too. I can keep other creatures from getting at it – I’ve been doing that ever since I was a single sapling growing above it. I could let you through unharmed and keep all others out. Then we can both have access to the Energy.

It’s not actually a bad idea, I decide contemplatively. Having the forest here sucking up the Energy has almost certainly kept other stronger creatures from coming to investigate. One downside of me wiping it out is that then the Energy will spill out unimpeded, announcing its presence to all and sundry. Since I want to take advantage of it myself, that wouldn’t be a good strategy.

Here’s a counter-offer, I say firmly. You guard the entrance to the cave but let me or any of my Bound through unimpeded. That means no attacking, no blocking, nothing. Actually, you should also protect them if they ask you for help and kill anyone who tries to follow unless they’ve made it clear that the other being is a guest. In return, you can continue to absorb the excess Energy.

And grow? The forest sounds hopeful. About to refuse immediately, I hesitate. I’m currently raising danaris larvae. I’m also probably going to be arming the samurans with metal and fire. Can I really justify not letting the forest grow at all just because it’s also a potential disaster in the making?

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A little, I say slowly, my mouth twisting at its immediate sense of success. No faster than the slowest of the trees in the surrounding area. And when you meet their growth later, you must not supplant them but grow among them.

What? The forest seemed surprised at my suggestion. Displeased too.

Think about it, if you want to eat creatures, how many more would wander within range of your branches if you are among trees which won’t attack them? I point out, half of me yelling that this is a bad idea: teaching a carnivorous tree how to hide in a forest.

However, I’m thinking about when I’m gone from this world. A vine-strangler forest which replaces everything it encounters will destroy the local ecosystem. One that intermingles with it just becomes another threat to be wary of, not an eco-disaster.

I never tried that, it replies, appearing a little intrigued.

So, we have an agreement? I ask, aware of the sun almost disappearing below the horizon.

If you insist, the forest says, trying to appear that it’s giving me the concession. I let the fire disappear from my palm – my fire elemental isn’t very happy with that – and reach out with a Tame Bond.

I don’t know if this will work – I’m trying to Tame a group of trees for heaven’s sake – but I’ve had enough experience with Tame to know how to reach out with it.

What is this? the forest asks me, confused. Apparently something has happened.

It’s our agreement, I tell it shortly. It hesitates for another long moment. Accept it or the fire comes back out, I threaten it. I’m still not sure that this isn’t a bad idea, so if it pushes me, I will be happy to finish what I started and find some other solution to the escaping Energy.

After another little pause, almost long enough for me to ignite the ball in my hand again, I feel the Tame Bond snap into place between us.

It’s a different sensation from what I’ve experienced before. Taking a moment to close my eyes and feel it, I sense that the difference is because of two reasons.

One, the forest is just so different from any creature I’ve Bonded before: it’s a single consciousness spread across many bodies, no more in one than it is in any of the others. As a result, the Bond is a lot more…mental than physical. Where my Dominate Bonds offer me the possibility of feeling the actual body of my Bound, and my Tame Bonds offer me more or less of that depending on the Bond itself, this one doesn’t offer my any sort of connection to the body.

The second reason is that the Tame Bond itself feels quite a bit different from any of the others. Going into my Core-space briefly, I note that though the new strand emerges from my Tame Skill, it loops once around my Dominate Skill too.

Is that because I essentially forced the forest to accept the Bond? I wonder as I open my eyes again. Then I put it to one side. The forest is obliged to follow the terms of the agreement as long as it’s in force. It can break the agreement, sure, but I will know if it does and then come with fire to wipe it out.

How I’ll stop it from going back to its old habits once I’m gone, I don’t know, but I’ve still got over two hundred days to figure that out.

For now, we’re all hungry, tired, and need a bath. Unfortunately, I’ve only got enough supplies in my Inventory to partially satiate one of those. But at least we can go and bed down in the cavern and harvest some of the Energy Hearts. Hopefully that will make everyone happy enough to forget their hunger and thirst.

I’m a little nervous despite the agreement we’ve just hammered out as we step towards the trees. Not wanting to start our truce off on the wrong foot, I don’t recreate the ball of fire, but I do keep a very sharp eye out.

Watch out for an attack, I warn my Bound, careful to keep the forest out of the group communication. It should be fine but…just be wary. By using a Tame Bond, I’ve left the door open for betrayal: having warning of the agreement breaking is no good if it happens the instant before a root pierces my brain. I could have tried Dominate, but with no obvious eyes on this thing, I don’t know if it would have worked, and besides, I've already got too many Bonds on my hands – both current and the ones I’m probably going to have to create in the future.

The trees creak as we get closer, but rather than strike at us with the roots hanging from their branches, they shuffle aside slightly, leaving a path wide enough for three of us to walk abreast. Well, me and two samurans, that is – Trinity takes up more than half of the passageway by herself.

Bastet ranges a little ahead with Honey and Woozle, the other three members of her team staying close to me. Pride brings up the rear with Lathani and Fenrir, between the three of them probably able to deal with any threat other than trees which might be hiding in this forest. At least for long enough that we can come to help them out.

Full dark has fallen before we make it to the centre of the forest. Well, more of a wood now. Since both moons are currently in the sky, we actually have enough light for all of us to see by as long as I drop into Fade. Since we’re in shadow, I get the extra bonus from the Skill so I can see pretty well.

Finally reaching the centre, I see the hole in the ground. Unlike before where there had been a cleared space all around it, this time the trees are practically growing in the tunnel. Still, that we’re approaching it is obvious: the dip in the ground is still significant and the trees are offering a clear path forwards anyway.

I’m anxious to know whether something else has taken up residence – the trees only protect the outside, after all, and there is another route through to this area. Sending Bastet and her team forwards, I wait with the rest of our group near the lip of the basin.

Bastet has only just reached the edge of the hole when she pauses and looks back at me.

What is it? I ask urgently.

Come and see for yourself. It is safe. I think.