The Astralaceaes

Chapter 29: Secret Garden Meetings

Haledon's vision swirled as he found himself surrounded by fog once more.

"Please step back through the tree, and I will take you to the forward pod." The disembodied voice of Birchbark spoke in his ear.

"What about Gazeas?" Haledon asked and felt around for the Druid. "Gaz, do you—"

"She is currently examining Druids in the fifth seed and seems to be handling the integration well."

"So, I should leave her?" Haledon asked and waited for a response that never came. "Okay—well, tell her I'm going to the front of the ship. We'll meet up after."

"Done. Please step into the trunk, and I will take you to the forward seedpod."

Waving his hands around, Haledon stumbled toward where he assumed the tree was. After a brief moment of cautious steps, his hands felt the roughness of the bark, and he could see the base of the trunk at his feet. Firmly placing his palm on the exterior, he allowed his body to follow and become enveloped within the heartwood.

Haledon felt like he was again falling, this time at incredible speeds. As the sensation overtook him, he couldn't help but feel like he was back in the Shaman Tree, falling through the dark cave once more. He attempted to reach out for something to stabilize his plummet in a moment of panic but caught only twigs and leaves. And as Haledon remembered what he had learned earlier that day, he took a calming breath to bring his mind to focus.

"Observe." He repeated his mantra.

The leaves that whipped against his face as he travelled began to ease, and a wave of vertigo rushed over his body as his momentum shifted. Haledon was no longer falling but now emerging into a dimly lit den. He stumbled forward into a waist-high shrub.

"Ah, forswyn." He swore as he caught himself, the bush rustling against his impact. "Birchbark—a bit of warning."

"You will be moved through the nutrient lines to the front of the ship." The voice of Birchbark replied as Haledon saw her image in the back of his mind.

"Before you do it—"

"Eherm," Someone cleared their throat near Haledon. Raising his head, his eyes made contact with the piercing stare of Hannar as she opened her mouth to continue. "Seral Druid Haledon, how did you get in here?"

Haledon looked around, noticing the Druids encircling the pond at the center of the watering hole. Their collective gazes were locked on him, confused and hungry for answers but inspecting him with curiosity. Haledon noticed that, of all the Druids, the purple-flowered Earth Druid seemed the most interested and least concerned with his sudden appearance.

"I—uh—am testing a new shipwide root system." He quickly said and took a moment to look at the faces around the den. Haledon saw the same Druids he had before in the Nucleus with no additional wolves or apparent voids.

"Well," Hannar said with a smile, her body relaxing. "That sounds most interesting. You will have to tell me about it later—but this is a closed Druid's Circle, and I must ask you to please leave."

Haledon looked through Hannar's smile, noticing the signs of deceit in her clenched jaw. He remembered Sparrow's confrontation with Mesa in the Hilum and deeply breathed.

"Hannar, if I may...I notice that all the Druids here are a Layering of Hilum Druids, so it must be an essential conclave—"

"That is correct, Seral Druid Haledon."

"And being such an important moment, wouldn't it be in the best interest to involve as many ecosystems as possible?"

"We have a collection of Druids that represent all aspects of the Astralaceae—"