Quinn - A Tuatha Dé Danann Novel

Chapter Three

Tree houses didn't quite explain what I saw. The houses in front of me weren't built into the trees. They were built – no it looked like grown - from the trees themselves. Each house was grown in a similar fashion, but no two looked alike. The trees created the houses by twisting around each other in groups of five or more. The vast trunks shaped what looked like a large teepee topped with the living branches and leaves of its pillars, swaying in the gentle breeze sweeping across the clearing.

I was sure if you saw this clearing from above it didn't look any different than the rest of the forest. There on the ground however, it was a bustling little village. People made their way around the village at inhuman speeds, jumping from tree house to tree house, or running through the square. Not one of them stopped to look at me. I don't think they even saw me, too busy with their own lives to notice the dirty boy who washed up on the edge of their home.

As I walk through the clearing, I passed a few of the villagers and they stopped and looked up with questioning eyes. No one talked to me and a few pulled their children away from me as I crossed their path. I was clearly unwelcome. The few who stopped and stared at me gave me an opportunity to see what the villagers looked like up close. Bright red hair was a sharp contrast to all the greens and browns encompassing the village. The greens extended to their clothes made of foliage woven together in intricate patterns. Women sported beautiful braids to keep their loose hairs from their face, and men had long beards that touched their bellies. A few whispered to each other, never taking their curious green and blue eyes off me.

Soon the whole village had stopped moving, and I found myself in the center of the square. It was then I realized they were all no taller than me. They reminded me of creatures from a book I had read as a child, their story nothing but a fairytale. These people couldn't be those creatures. Maybe they all just shared the same disorder. Who was I to judge? I was no taller than they were. Maybe they evolved to be small because they lived in the forest and it made traveling through the wooded terrain easier. There could have been any number of reasons.

A boy, who looked to be about my age, braved through the crowd to great me. Some of the other villagers tried to pull him back, but he shrugged off their hands and walked towards me with a smile.

"Hi," he said when he was close enough for me to hear him. Still he kept his distance. "How can we help you?"

"I'm looking for Eamon." I pulled the letters from my pocket. "He contacted me and his map lead me here." More whispers from the villagers stirred and died down, making me wonder if I was imagining them.

"Eamon?" His brow furrowed and he looked back into the crowd he dared to venture from. "How do you know that name?"

"I told you, he sent me a letter. Look if I'm trespassing I'll leave." I backed away slowly, but the crowd surrounded me. There was no escaping.

"No you're not trespassing... Well yeah you are, but if Eamon sent you a letter, I guess you're not." He was more confused as to what was going on than I was. "Why don't I just take you to Eamon, and we can sort this all out."

I stepped toward the boy, and he took one of my bags and dashed back into the crowd now parting to let him through. I struggled to keep up and wondered if everyone was faster than me because I spent my days locked inside my room. When I reached the crowd, it opened wider, afraid of my touch as if it would poison them on the spot. On the other end of the sea of people the boy stood and waited for me to catch up. When my stubby legs reached him he did his best to slow down for me.

"What is this place?"

"I don't think I'm the one who should be answering that. I'm sure Eamon can settle all of this." He led me to one of the tree houses closest to the square. It was massive. At least forty tree trunks made up its base, spiraling towards the sky. It was then I realized it was in the dead center of the village. I stared up at the massive building still firmly rooted in the ground. The bark had faded with age, but the leaves were still as bright a green as any of the other houses around. How could such a place be built?