The Astralaceaes

Chapter 30: The Hunt

Haledon stepped through the grassy veil and was suddenly, once again, falling through the nutrient line. As though he had been pulled back into the vacuum of space, he tumbled end over end in the direction of the Hypogeal Nexus in an erratic wobble.

"Birchbark," He sighed.

"You are being transported—"

"I observed that. Can I stop spinning?" Haledon's body quickly righted itself, and he felt like he was flying towards his exit. "Thank you."

"I sense...anxiety." Birchbark's voice resonated around him.

"Fear." He said after a moment of pause. "The Mecharrion are coming."

"I am aware."

"Then you know why I'm upset."

"No."

Haledon's momentum shifted as he found himself walking through the grass screen of the Hypogeal Nexus.

"Because they'll kill us all." He said as he stepped into the room and noticed his Guild turning to look at him. Witch-Hazel rested against the central trunk with a curious look trained on the Druid. Meanwhile, Spark was posted against a corner with Mek-Tek on her shoulder in the middle of a conversation.

"Tell us how you really feel," Witch-Hazel remarked with a smirk. "Missed you at the inquisition."

"Everyone, the—wait, where's Gaz." Haledon glanced around the room.

"I'm here," Gazeas shouted, emerging from the tree. "Sorry, Birchbark just got me. The thing's really cool! What's it called again?"

"Gaz—everyone, listen. The Mecharrion are coming."

Haledon watched as Witch-Hazel's relaxed posture became rigid. Vines began to crawl from their back to their chest, pushing out thick thorns. Spark quickly jumped from the wall in the outskirts and approached the group, with Mek-Tek continuing to quietly speak in her ear. Gazeas' face became pale before vines crawled up her neck, and her body again relaxed.

"How long?" Witch-Hazel asked, their voice stern.

"Sixty-eight hours," Sparrow answered as she slowly walked through the grass. "That's all you have to figure out how to save this fleet."

"Sparrow, when did you find out?" Haledon asked.

"I found out while you were taking a spacewalk."

"Was it..." He stopped to take a breath. "Was it our fault?"

"Potentially. But also, maybe not—three days means they were already close, so they would have found us eventually."

Sparrow approached and placed a shaky hand on a nearby branch. Grabbing hold, she stabilized herself and straightened her posture. Haledon inspected her in a way not dissimilar from what she had done to him all too many times. He examined the weakness in her grip and the frailness in her face.

"What's the matter with you? You look like a wilting flower." Haledon asked as he took a step forward.

Sparrow raised her hand to stop him, and he saw a knot of roots bound to her wrists like bracelets.

"Root inhibitors." She groaned and looked at him with a tired look. "I have no connection to Nature, and, as such, many of my capabilities have been severely hampered."

"What? That's not right!" Haledon protested and looked to Witch-Hazel. "They can't do that."

"They can, and they did," Sparrow replied as she continued into the Nexus. "But we must work with the ecosystem we are given—"