Carnival Souls

Zabaria's Garden

As soon as the two of them stepped into the trees, Lira realized something was different. While the rest of the Spirit World was murky, more dark than light, the way the trees here filtered the amber light made it seem almost soft somehow. And the air itself didn't press quite so heavy. Lira took a deep breath, grateful that she no longer felt like she was trying to breathe underwater.

Now if only we could feel the wind.

The trees here seemed immeasurably old, their trunks broad and their twisting branches thick as they reached towards the sky. The forest floor was mostly bare except for the gnarled tree roots that erupted from the soil and snaked along the ground for several yards before burrowing back down and out of sight. Lira had to keep her gaze trained on her feet to make sure she didn't trip.

The river had narrowed to a stream, winding its way into the heart of the forest, even running under the occasional archway of tree roots dripping moss.

"Does it seem too quiet to you?" asked Lira, who was used to the woods behind her house filled with the sounds of birdsong and small animals.

Owen shrugged. "I haven't been to many forests."

Lira wished she could smell the earthy scents of nature or even a breeze coming off the water, but as usual there was nothing. She wondered yet again why the spirit world lacked smell, though she could understand why it might lack weather.

On and on they walked, Lira's legs beginning to tire from high-stepping over toots. How far had they come? How much farther did they have to go?

She had lost all sense of direction, not that there was ever much to go on in the spirit world and it disconcerted her. Their only guide was the river. If it ended and they hadn't reached their goal, what would they do? Turn around after coming this far? Lira didn't think she could stomach that.

Around them, the trees had gotten even bigger, the spaces between them even smaller so Lira and Owen were forced to walk right on the edge of the water. When Lira chanced a glance up from her feet, she nearly tripped. "Look!"

The trees had come together to form a sort of passageway, lining either side of the stream like stone pillars in a stately hallway, their trunks wrapped in spongy green moss. The purple brook ran straight down the center like a plush rug. Speckling the tree in a kind of creative disorder were toadstools of all shapes and sizes, emitting a soft gold light that sparkled off the water.

The two walked down the natural hallway slowly, and Lira had the distinct feeling they were being watched. She swallowed, her mouth dry, but saw nothing but foliage when she peered casually around. Her nerves tremored even more as she wondered what sort of welcome awaited them at the end.

Even with her sense on hyper alert, Lira didn't see the little bird until it zoomed up to meet her at eye level.

With a shout, she jumped backwards, crushing Owen's feet. His arms came around her, hands locking around her elbows to keep her from falling in the water.

"It's just a bird," Owen complained. But Lira could feel his heart hammering where her back pressed into his chest.

"It came out of nowhere," Lira snapped, righting herself and stepping away from Owen. She turned back to the bird who was still hovering in front of her nose.

It looked a bit like the hummingbirds that attended her mother's garden with its green plumage and crimson throat, its wings beating furiously in the air. But its tail was nearly a foot long made of three thin feathers that flowed down from its back and curled up at the end while tiny red feathers poked up around its head, giving the appearance that it was wearing a little crown.

The bird studied them for a moment, cocking its head, before turning and darting several yards ahead of them.

"I think he wants us to follow him," said Lira, watching the bird turn to look at them expectantly. Without waiting for Owen to agree, she stepped after the bird, letting it lead them down the long passageway.

Every few feet, they were joined by another jewel-bright bird: pink and yellows, oranges and blues, until the humming of their wings seemed to vibrate in Lira's chest and their circular movement around the travelers made it appear they were walking through a rainbow.

With the birds flanking them on all side, they rounded a final bend in the stream. From up ahead came the sounds of tumbling water like that of a fountain. Pushing their way through a wall of ferns, Lira and Owen stumbled into a clearing unlike any other.

Lira was afraid her mouth was open, but she was too taken aback to care.

Between them, the river flowed from a perfectly round pool of purple water set into the center of an equally circular clearing. On either side of the pool were spurs of prismed onyx that rose in even twisting levels nearly seven feet high in which a series of small bowls allowed water to tumble down into the pool.

Slivers of white quartz in the black rock fountains caught the amber light of thousands of luminescent toadstools that decorated the fringe of trees, refracting it in a hundred directions so the whole clearing glowed in a warm golden light.

Directly across from them, between the two fountains, was a mound of polished onyx on which more spurs of amethyst jutted in opposing directions, overlapping one another, creating a latticed wall of purple crystal. In the dais's center stood a woman, or what Lira assumed to be a woman.

She was tall and lithe, with an almost cat-like grace that was mirrored in her slanted amber eyes. Her skin was the warm color of red clay, her limbs wreathed in vines of ivy that curled over her shoulders and tangled in her dark hair. Little yellow flowers speckled her hair like a snowfall.

Unlike the other forest spirits that Lira was accustomed to, she was clothed in a dress that seemed to be made of water, shimmering in the light. The hem was a frothy line of sea foam.  

"Welcome to my Garden," she said as they approached. Her voice was cool and clear, harmonizing with the nearby fountains. "My name is Zabaria."

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Hi, everyone! This is another chapter that is being split in two, hence this rather shorter part. As always I'd love to hear your thoughts on how things are developing :) Thanks for reading <3