The Nightscape

Kithigomara

Lyra froze, what she was about to say dying on her tongue as she looked around her in awe. This was the Nightscape. It was beautiful. Where the Dayscape was an acrid land with no signs of life and harsh sunlight, the Nightscape was a dusk covered, lush land, with life teeming everywhere you looked. Guy watched her reaction with a big grin, keeping his ears straining so he could hear anything approaching. The library was still behind them, though in this reality it could scarcely be called a library anymore. The books had long since rotted away and been used as fertiliser for plants, the roof had caved in, and only one of the walls was still intact. The door had rotted off of it's hinges, a vibrant, ivy like plant with purple flowers the size of Lyra's head wrapped around it and trying to climb to the dark sky above. 

Lyra knew the stars and constellations of the normal world well, a side effect of her father's love of astronomy, so she could tell at a glance that none of the stars were in the right place. Odd. She would have to ask Guy about that later. Returning her gaze to the ground, she sunk to her knees so she could inspect the plants more closely. The dirt, which had been bare and dusty, was now covered in what looked like grass. But upon closer inspection, she found that the blades were too silky and soft to be normal, and each leaf was thick and strangely spongey to the touch. A few trees loomed close by, three times the height of any she had ever seen before, with branches fanning out from the trunk all the way up, reaching the other trees and intertwining until the canopy resembled a spider web-

"What the hell is that?" Lyra asked in a high voice, jumping to her feet and pointing to a large shape that she could see moving above them. Guy hummed as he looked up, squinting and shrugging. 

"It's probably just a Lachnia. They're like giant spiders, but they have twelve legs instead of eight." He commented in a casual tone, trying to suppress a chuckle when he saw the look of absolute horror on her face. "Don't worry, they're completely harmless. One of the friendlier animals you'll find here, in fact. Effy has even tamed one that comes when she calls, like a pet. She called it Marmalade." He told her, chuckling at the memory of her coaxing one of the beasts down with her lunch everyday for a month before it finally began to seek her out and follow her around. 

"That is horrifying! Why would you want one of them to come anywhere near you?" She said, utterly disgusted and unable to take her eyes off of the creaking branches above. 

"Arachnophobe, by any chance?" Guy asked her, walking over to a bush that had grown around one of the tree trunks, with teal leaves with three points and clusters of bright red berries. He began to pull handfuls of the fruits away. 

"A little, maybe. Are you sure you can eat those? They look like their poisonous." Lyra pointed out, a little disconcerted when he tossed a handful into his mouth and happily chowed down. When he swallowed, he gave her a grin with crimson stained teeth, which she found rather disturbing. 

"Trust me, I've been doing this for a long time. They're really nice, try one!" Slowly, she took one from him, popping it in her mouth and holding it on her tongue for a moment until she could muster up the courage to bite down. Instantly, the taste of birthday cake exploded over her tongue, making her mumble in surprise. 

"This is really good."

"I know, right? They only ripen every few-" Guy was cut off by a bone chilling screech that pierced their ears, making a violent shiver tear up Lyra's spine, and the Lachnia scurried out of sight in the trees above. His face went from happy and laid back to terrified in a second, and he stepped a little closer to her. 

"What was that?" She said quietly, only to be violently hushed by him. He lowered his voice until it was no more than a whisper that she had to strain to hear.