The Astralaceaes

Chapter 14: The First Arbornaut

Gazeas stepped to the side and placed her hand on the nearest tree. Haledon watched as she ran her fingers slowly down the bark and looked at him wide-eyed.

"Where...are we?" She asked him.

Haledon shrugged his shoulders in response. Crouching down, he dug his hands into the forest floor's rich humus. Pulling it to his face, he stared at the soil crumbling between his fingers.

"I have no idea," He said curiously as he stood. "I really don't know anything about Sparrow's workshop."

"We're not technically in my workshop. "Our bodies are—hmm," Sparrow injected before pausing and pondering her response. "You are technically in the Hypogeal Nexus, consciously maintaining a bramble clone in my workshop. That clone is now under the mind-altering effects of the Shaman Tree. This places your mind in France, on Earth, some ten thousand years after the first Druids founded their settlement at the edge of the Baltic sea."

"So...wait—" Gazeas started but was silenced by Sparrow's waving hand.

"Enough talking. Come. Come!" She beckoned the two towards the thinning forest.

Haledon began to move forward without question, stepping along the path that Sparrow had cleared. Branches cracked under his feet, sending echoing snaps throughout the surrounding woods.

"Softly," Sparrow stressed and looked over her shoulder. "Watch your steps. Someone could be out here."

"What does that matter? We're not really here...right?" Haledon asked as he carefully placed his foot down. Sparrow ignored his question and walked away from him, leaving a silence quickly filled with the calls of birds.

Haledon looked around the forest, breathing in the fresh air with a deep breath before shifting his gaze to Gazeas.

"It's like a nutrient line leaked." He joked, motioning to the overgrowth and excited chirps.

Gazeas returned a slight chuckle as she stared at the towering canopy and the blue sky peeking through the leaves. Haledon followed, looking up and staring at the swaying foliage that towered high above. But his stupor was interrupted when a heavy object collided with the side of his head.

Haledon winced against the pain before grabbing his face and turning towards the direction he had been hit. Sparrow stood with an irritable look and a hand gripping a stone.

"Are you done? We're going to miss it."

"Gazeas." Haledon tugged the Druid out of her trance and pulled her towards Sparrow.

"Sorry, I just—did you ever imagine something could grow so tall?"

"Well, I assumed from what we learned—but I never thought I would see one. Now, come on. Sparrow is getting irritable."

The two caught up to the Druid as she knelt behind a dense bramble. Motioning them to get in line behind her, Sparrow looked back to the clearing.

"This thicket was the last of the trees left by Romans after their fortifications around Alesia were completed. Look," Sparrow pointed towards the clearing.

Haledon stuck his head over, unaware of what he was looking for. What he saw twisted his gut. The forest had been razed and transformed into a muddy field. Tree stumps stood as grave markers to once monumental towers. Large piles of burnt branches and leaves still smouldered in the distance, the ground around them scorched and cracked from the heat.

Beyond the destruction, trails of black smoke drifted to the sky from behind chopped wooden barriers. Wooden spikes jutted from wall and soil, concealing a blur of movement behind.