In Search of You

Chapter 5

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Co-authored by @strangegrounds

The forest floor was nowhere to be seen. Or at least, the ground wasn’t. Instead of earth, the forest floor was covered with writhing masses of what looked like overgrown, wooden snakes. Each one was about as wide as the branch they were standing on right now, and each one’s surface was covered with thorns which were as long as her arm. They twisted and crawled lazily, going above and under each other, moving forward and backward in a steady rhythm. Astrid realized that there really was a rhythm, faint, but deep, strong, and steady, as if providing a beat to the tendrils below.

“Can you hear that?” Astrid asked. “And can you stop smiling for one second? For Pete’s sake, have a little tact.”

Quil let out a hearty laugh, seemingly oblivious to the churning pit of death below them. He walked down the branch, motioning for Astrid to follow him. A few yards down and he stopped, walked towards the edge and pointed his torch towards downwards again.

What she saw down below made Astrid seriously question whether or not this was hell she stepped into. The ends of the writhing masses below originated from a circular protrusion on the ground, about has twice as high as the roots of the tree they were on. The thorny tendrils radiated from its edge, surrounding the forest floor until it disappeared in the shadows. Its top was covered by a thick, slightly translucent membrane that kept what seemed to be green, viscous fluid inside. It had veins that were visible through a small amount of light coming radiating from it, giving the entire thing a slimy, disgusting feel to it.

“The namesake doesn’t disappoint, does it?” Quil asked.

Astrid swallowed hard as her skin crawled from head to toe. “What the hell are those?”

“The Thornhearts, or the Sabra-sanguin, is the reason that everything in this forest is larger than your everyday greenery. The fluid inside it acts as a kind of very potentfertilizer that changes the structure of anything it seeps into, accelerating its growth and maximum size a hundred fold, as you can see around you.” Quil spoke like a trained tour-guide, complete with hand-gestures. Astrid thought it was pretty comical, considering everything. “The forest is maintained by the Nahasin tribe to the east of the Thornhearts; they have exclusive rights to harvesting the fluid inside of the hearts, and they’re very particular about who they let pass through their territory.”

“Does that include us?”

“Technically, just me. You weren’t part of the agreement, on the grounds that you weren’t present back then. So,” Quil stepped away from the edge and started walking again, “we had best be on our way, and hope that we don’t come across a Nahasin patrol. They’re very touchy about trespassers.”

“What do they do to trespassers?” Astrid asked, fearing the worst.

“I think it has something to do with falling, and thorns, I reckon. You wouldn’t want to find out.” Quil started running down the enormous branch, bringing his torch with him. Astrid stepped away from the edge and followed, pushing aside the thought of being impaled by the long thorns.

Near the end of the branch, where the path was getting thinner, Quil suddenly jumped down on the right side. In the quiet of the dark forest, Astrid heard the thud of him landing. No way, she thought. This forest was quickly making its way down to the bottom of her list of horrible vacation spots. She looked down where Quil jumped off and spotted him waiting for her on another branch as large as the one she was standing on. The branch below was about a ten foot drop, with a gap of about half of that in between. It was a straight drop into the thorns below, as far as Astrid was concerned. The thought made her queasy. Quil looked up expectantly at her, blue eyes glinting like stars in the firelight.