Touch Red Skies

For the past several days on the northbound road, the skyline had been occupied by steadily climbing trees. The signposts along the way assured passersby that this was the way to Reddenton. 

With the most recent sign promising a mile to the city, the distant trees were no longer a boreal skyline; they commanded absolute control of the northern sky itself. The canopy stood tall as if to drydock the clouds. The trees themselves were wider around than Ariana had ever seen before, from even this distance. The base of one's trunk might occupy a city block alone. 

As they approached, the truly mammoth scale of the trees came to light; Along the circumference of their trunks was inlayed a network of structures, scaffolds, bridges, lifts, pulleys, cables, trolleys, cranes, conveyors, and a metropolitan quantity of people. The city spanned across six trees in total, and between them was settled a highway that continued through the forest to lands beyond.

Entering the highway beneath the city proper, Ariana noted there were very few humans. Most of the people here were orcs, beastfolk, and elves. There were a few dwarves, though, but she didn't see any other demonfolk. 

This close to the trees, Ariana could make out their distinctive red color, and that the bark seemed to have a texture like stone. Seeing these goliath conifers, she couldn't help thinking about whether she could summon one of them with her magic. If she could, what would she even do with something like this?

As she pondered, Hayden piped up. "Alright, y'all, I reckon we've done enough traveling for a minute. I could use a night in a real bed."

Ellie groans from the back. "My back agrees..."

Sophie nods a bit groggily.

Ariana sighs. "I can't really argue... I'm exhausted, too."

Hayden readjusted. "Alrighty then, let's get this train to a station." He drove the horse and cart to a nearby stable.

The stable seemed to be carved into the side of one of the trees. The stone bark curved out over the roof and around the walls. They get the horse and cart settled into the stable. Once they do that, they head to an inn on ground level near the stable. A general sense of relief is felt as everyone gets their own rooms and beds.

The following day, Sophie insisted upon going shopping for supplies and such. Ariana agreed that some things would be nice to have. Hayden opted to spend the day resting at the inn. Ellie joined Ariana and Sophie. They found a carousel of open gondolas that slowly rotated by and up towards the canopy. 

It was difficult to tell what time of day it was. The city was dark underneath the dense foliage, so there were countless lamps dotted along every path. 

Ariana was reminded of a trip she took when she was young. There was a town with an old-world aesthetic, very provincial and humble. Around the winter seasons, the whole city was decorated with lights, and in the night, it turned into one of the most beautiful displays she’d ever seen. She’d wanted to take Alex to see the lights one day. 

Perhaps when all of this was over, she could bring Alex here.

They stepped off the gondola several stories up on the tree across the highway. The canopy was still far above them despite the distance traveled. One wouldn’t be faulted for thinking it was as out of reach as the sky. 

Ariana marveled at just how many people there were on this section alone. It was several times larger than Loomholm and Lumie combined. She hadn’t seen this many people in one place since her previous life. 

There were numerous stalls along the edge of the scaffolds, as well as more permanent stores along the wall. Where there weren’t stalls, there were rope fences and nets, and of course, lamps were set at regular intervals everywhere, giving everything a warm, festive glow.

Ellie looked around. “How can they afford to keep all these lanterns lit?”

Sophie put a finger up. “It’s a lot easier than you might think. You see, these trees are ancient as all get out. They’re so old that they’re basically stone, and the sap in them has turned to amber, amber that’s super magical and glows in the dark. That’s what they put in the lamps!”

Ellie gazed at one of the lamps. “Wow… have you done a lot of traveling?”

Sophie shrugged. “A bit… I’ve been in this world for about two years.” She waved a hand out. “The amber keeps glowing for like fifty years, so they don’t have to change it out often.” 

Ariana looked at all the lamps. "That is rather helpful."

Sophie shook her hands excitedly. "Right?? I've also heard that sometimes there's amber that's a different color, and it's super valuable!" 

"What sort of colors?"

"Well, there's the yellow ones all around, then there's some orange ones, brown ones, red ones... and I've never seen it, but some people say there's blue amber."

Ellie turned to Sophie. "How does that work?"

Sophie shrugged. "I dunno. My guess is magic or paint, but they probably aren't legit." 

"That's a shame... it sounds like the blue ones would be nice aesthetically at least."

"Yeah, kind of spooky!"

The ladies continued strolling along the wooden paths and browsing the shops. They came upon a shop selling amber jewelry. It came in all of the expected colors that Sophie mentioned, and all of them glowed warmly. Sophie bought a necklace adorned with red amber stones and gave it to Ellie. Ellie looked quite flustered. 

They went from store to store, buying all of the odds and ends that caught their fancy. They saw a store selling candied cone seeds. There was a shop that sold unique belts made by the orcs. One stall was selling magic boxes enchanted with ice magic that kept things cool for a year. That particular item was too heavy for the others, let alone the stall's attendants, but Ariana was able to get it for them. It was a lot of fun. 

Towards the end of the day, the ladies were settled at a restaurant that served a roast pheasant on a stick. The caramelized skin had a nice crunch to it, was lightly spiced, and had a smokiness. The tender meat was just juicy enough and full of savory, herby, umami flavor. 

As they enjoyed the light meal, a red sharpness in her peripheral vision signaled a commotion down the way. Ariana looked, and a hooded figure was running through the crowd, pushing people over and running for the edge. She acted quickly; her hand dove into her seed satchel, preemptively charging her magic and spilling a few in her haste to retrieve some. She pushed her hand forward as if reaching out, and her magic surged through the seed in her hand to summon forth a vine that whipped across the distance. She caught the figure mid-air and reeled it back to the platform. The figure tumbled hard and lost grip on a bag that was flung at Ellie. It smacked into her chest, and she fumbled with it. 

Several elven guards in leather swung down to the platform from above. They ran to surround the hooded figure. One of them looked to Ariana and stepped up to the ladies. 

"Demon woman... your intervention has proven useful."

The elf's tone struck Ariana as odd. "Thank... you?"

The guard approaches Ellie with a hand outstretched. "Blood sister, I will take the bag."

Ellie looked at the bag. "O-oh, um... here..." She handed it over. The guard almost snatched it from her. She jumped a bit. Ariana caught a glimpse of a blue glow from the mouth of it before the guard pulled it tight again. 

The guards that surrounded the hooded figure were inspecting it, as well as her vines. A few of them leered in her direction before tying the figure tighter. One of the guards hefted it over their shoulder, and the whole group of them zipped up and away further into the canopy.