Chapter 29

Haledon's vision swirled as he found himself surrounded by fog once more.

"Please step back through the tree, and I will take you to the forward pod." The disembodied voice of Birchbark spoke in his ear.

"What about Gazeas?" Haledon asked and felt around for the Druid. "Gaz, do you—"

"She is currently examining Druids in the fifth seed and seems to be handling the integration well."

"So, I should leave her?" Haledon asked and waited for a response that never came. "Okay—well, tell her I'm going to the front of the ship. We'll meet up after."

"Done. Please step into the trunk, and I will take you to the forward seedpod."

Waving his hands around, Haledon stumbled toward where he assumed the tree was. After a brief moment of cautious steps, his hands felt the roughness of the bark, and he could see the base of the trunk at his feet. Firmly placing his palm on the exterior, he allowed his body to follow and become enveloped within the heartwood.

Haledon felt as though he was again falling, this time at incredible speeds. As the sensation overtook him, he couldn't help but feel like he was back in the Shaman Tree, tumbling through the dark crevasse once more. He attempted to reach out for something to stabilize his plummet in a moment of panic, but caught only twigs and leaves. And as Haledon remembered what he had learned earlier that day, he took a calming breath to bring his mind to focus.

"Observe." He repeated his mantra.

The leaves that whipped against his face as he travelled began to ease, and a wave of vertigo rushed over his body as his momentum shifted. Haledon was no longer falling but now emerging into a dimly lit den. He stumbled forward into a waist-high shrub.

"Ah, forswyn." He swore as he caught himself, the bush rustling against his impact. "Birchbark—a bit of warning."

"You will be moved through the nutrient lines to the front of the ship." The voice of Birchbark replied as Haledon saw her image in the back of his mind.

"Before you do it—"

"Eherm," Someone cleared their throat near Haledon. Raising his head, his eyes made contact with the piercing stare of Hannar as she opened her mouth to continue. "Seral Druid Haledon, how did you get in here?"

Haledon looked around, noticing the Druids encircling the pond at the center of the watering hole. Their collective gazes were locked on him, confused and hungry for answers, but inspecting him with curiosity. Haledon noticed that, of all the Druids, the purple-flowered Earth Druid seemed the most interested and least concerned with his sudden appearance.

"I—uh—am testing a new shipwide root system." He quickly said and took a moment to look at the faces around the den. Haledon saw the same Druids he had before in the Nucleus with no additional wolves or apparent voids.

"Well," Hannar said with a smile, her body relaxing. "That sounds most interesting. You will have to tell me about it later—but this is a closed Druid's Circle, and I must ask you to please leave."

Haledon looked through Hannar's smile, noticing the signs of deceit in her clenched jaw. He remembered Sparrow's confrontation with Mesa in the Hilum, breathing deeply as he prepared for what would come next.

"Hannar, if I may...I notice that all the Druids here are a Layering of Hilum Druids, so it must be an essential conclave—"

"That is correct, Seral Druid Haledon."

"And being such an important moment, wouldn't it be in the best interest to involve as many ecosystems as possible?"

"We have a collection of Druids that represent all aspects of the Astralaceae—"

"Not entirely," He interrupted, holding up his hand, causing Hannar to inhale sharply. "The Hypogeal Nexus is not represented in this circle, and being the beating heart of the Astralaceae, wouldn't it be wise for—"

"Forgive my saying, but you are the newest Steward of the Hypogeal Nexus and still a Seral—you have much to learn before you can sit in the Hilum."

Haledon felt frustration begin to percolate into his mind. He could hear Sparrow in the back of his thoughts, telling him what to do. Out from his feet, moss began to crawl across the young biome. As it kissed the stems of berry bushes, the plants began to change, transforming the shrubs into thorny bramble thickets.

Hannar looked at Haledon with a worried expression. She stepped back, opening her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a reassuring hand on her shoulder. The purple-flowered Druid approached Haledon, raising their free hand and parting the brambles. Their fingers touched his arm, and he felt his vision narrow onto the figure.

A series of memories entered his mind, but not his memories. He felt himself dipping his toes into a vast ocean and smelling the salt air. He was running through a field of golden grasses, laughing and dancing as wild animals raced alongside. He was sitting at the edge of a pond, looking at the reflection of a face. It was his face, but not his face. It was the Earth Druid.

He instantly knew their name was Primeval Druid Lavendar Sunrise, and they had lived many seasons. He felt a sense of relaxation at the contact, allowing this Druid's thoughts deeper into his mind.

More memories flashed of Druid Circles on Earth, where discussions and agreements were made. New memories came forward. Astralaceaes memories. Hannar's memories. A sapling running through the ship, an accident and a lesson. A Seral stepping forward and giving the Oath, and a Primeval giving one last bit of advice.

Haledon felt his memories drawn out from his mind. They revealed Sparrow towering before Mesa in the Hilum as he lay before her spider. The memory of battling the wendigo with his Guild rushed forward as though in riposte to an encroaching thought. Then he felt the frigidness of the Arctic desert, the pain of his trial, and the pride of his success.

There was a moment when no memories flowed, and his mind was dark. But Haledon soon exhaled a breath of relief as though an agreement was met, and quickly believed he was now allowed to stay.

As Lavendar's hand detached from Haledon, his world returned to focus, and he regained control of his thoughts. It felt as though, in an instant, he had experienced an entire conversation with the two Druids. He had memories of discussions between him and Hannar where previously there had been none. And with that, Haledon quickly gathered from these sporadic memories that the two ultimately agreed he deserved a place at this meeting.

Both Hannar and Lavendar returned to the circle, with the latter beckoning Haledon to join. He did so without question, though his mind was still racing as it tried to discern what had happened to him. Even as he stepped into the circle, he replayed the event in his mind and completely forgot why he had come to the watering hole.

He focused as the group began to talk, but not on what they were saying. Instead, Haledon thought of his objective, quickly remembering the void and swivelling his head in search. Now, more centralized, he investigated again, seeing no other faces hiding in the bushes. But it wasn't enough. Double-checking, he made sure there wasn't a wolf on the outskirts of the round room, stalking in secrecy.

"Seral Druid Haledon?" A voice asked.

"Huh?" He returned his attention to the group, directing their gazes toward him again.

"How is the nutrient transfer going?"

"Oh—it's been great. We have great pressure from the Megacolides, and that heart pumps better than the Astralaceae's nexus roots. I'd say another eight to ten months, and we should be fully balanced."

"We, unfortunately, do not have that time." The Sequoia Druid said as he approached. "You missed the first portion of his meeting, Seral—"

Stepping forward, the redwood-armoured Druid threw a handful of pollen above the water. As the tiny particles touched the liquid, they began to multiply, bubbling more spores into the air and creating an image of the fleet of Astralaceaes and Megacolides glowing in the space above. Another puff of pollen transformed into a dozen glowing mountains coming from behind.

"Primeval Druid Sparrow's enhancements to the Megacolides over the last few months have granted us an early warning against the Mecharrion." The Druid approached the pool and pointed to the geometric shapes. "We have detected a fleet of at least a dozen Mecharrion scouts in pursuit, and we estimate they will be here in under three days."

"A dozen scouts!" Haledon panicked and looked to the Druids. "One nearly destroyed us all."

"We have reason to believe they are not in pursuit to hunt and anticipate boarding parties on the majority of our ships."

"You expect them to want to take us alive?" Haledon asked. "Why would the Mecharrion do that? I thought they just consumed?"

The Druid looked to Haledon with a stern gaze. "The Mecharrion have been known to take Druids, and their creations, for what we can only assume is research into our advancements."

"And you assume this because...?"

"Because we have done the same, as you have most recently experienced." The Druid smiled, eyeing Haledon's pale white breastplate. "We must be prepared to defend our ecosystem against a Mecharrion assault force."

Haledon felt his heart race as the image above the pond swirled and transformed into a bipedal creature—an insectoid beast hunched before him, its full-body armour a dense mat of chitinous plates.

"This is a standard Mecharrion predator." The Sequoia Druid said coldly as the sounds of gasps erupted from the Hilum Druids. "It's aggressive, intelligent, and persistent. From our previous encounters, we believe that the Mecharrion functions similarly to a hive of bees or colony of ants."

"You believe?" Haledon interrupted, and the Astralaceae Druids turned towards him with aghast looks for interrupting.

"Correct." He felt the words enter his mind as an image of a beautiful glade. Visions of ants and bees swarming overtook his thoughts, and the mental images began to be translated into words. "We have never found a queen to confirm this, but the Mecharrion appear to coordinate in a similarly unified way."

Haledon looked to Lavendar, who had been staring directly at him with a soft grin. As the images stopped, they revealed a confirming nod. Their head twisted back to the Mecharrion image as the Sequoia Druid continued.

"The single Mecharrion arsenal typically includes various weapons, notably a projectile weapon known as a gun."

The image of the Mecharrion flickered, and its arm extended, revealing four small barrels at the end.

"Magnetically discharged metalloid objects tear through organics easily and at ranges far exceeding our best crossbows. But this weapon isn't what makes the Mecharrion deadly."

Haldeon became mesmerized as the Mecharrion's arm melted, transforming into three thick appendages attached to where a hand should have been. Haledon eyed the sharp claws at the ends, looking more like blades, and as he watched, he noticed that the armour over the space seemed to creep and crawl as though millions of ants were in a constant swarm.

"Close Quarters Combat, especially against a single cornered Mecharrion, is never advised. Able to move at near imperceivable speeds when under threat, every part of the Mecharrion body can become a weapon." The Druid paused momentarily before taking a breath and continuing, trying to drive a point into the audience. "I have witnessed entire Guilds fall to a single Mecharrion prisoner before the ecosystem could be stabilized. When the Mecharrion breaches your hull, you run and hide behind Sequoia. We will slow them down."

"That's the plan?" Haledon again spoke out of turn. "A fleet of a dozen Mecharrion ships against one barely evolved Astra, four weakened Astras, and six Colides, and your plan is for us to hide behind you? Do you have any real strategies?"

"You really are the undergrowth of Sparrow, aren't you?" The Druid growled with a sharp look in Haledon's direction. "Yes. The Earth Druids have a plan to combat the Mecharrion."

"Can the Mecharrion be reasoned with?" One of the Astralaceaes Druids spoke up in response.

"Why are they hunting us?" Another spoke, and quickly the watering hole was a cacophony of panicked questions.

Seeing his chance, Haledon stepped back from the crowd and carefully approached the edge of the berry bushes.

"Birchbark, is it still here?" Haledon whispered.

"Yes, at the opposite end of the watering hole." She replied to him.

He looked past the crowd, where the Sequoia Druid attempted to calm the panicked Primevals. Beyond them, the growing fruit trees and berry bushes calmly stood undisturbed. Haledon strained his eyes to collect any hint of the wolf from his visions. But nothing moved or seemed out of place.

Starting to step towards the spot, Haledon noticed that the group had begun to move towards the exit, with the Sequoia Druid rushing after them. Watching out of the corner of his eye, he observed the chaos of the herd with a small smile. He discovered a twisted sense of amusement from the discord and, for a brief moment, thought that Sparrow would be proud.

"She would be content with your work," He felt thoughts being pushed into his mind. Images of a forest fire, rams locking horns, and a rapidly decaying corpse. "But chaos does not breed unity."

"Stop." Haledon thought, trying to force the memories back, but the images of death continued to flow into his mind. Natural death and decay followed by the carnage of eviscerated bodies that he knew were from a Mecharrion's claws.

"Haledon, you cannot hold back the ocean, so do not try." A wave of salty water rushed over his mind, and he felt his body pulled deep by a riptide.

His vision went dark, and Haledon felt as though he had slipped into one of his dreams. Listlessly, he drifted to the depths of a dark ocean, slowly sinking until his feet fell through the bottom of the sea. He landed in a cavern that reminded him of what he had experienced in the Shaman Tree. But instead of stone and ice above his head, it was an infinite stretch of gravity-defying ocean churning angrily.

A growl in the dark turned him around. There, he saw Lavendar as they examined his world. Their eyes eventually locked on Haledon.

"Haledon," They said, their lips moving with the words and no images penetrating his mind.

A wolf emerged from behind the Druid, standing on its hind legs with a mouth open to bite. Haledon pointed, unable to speak as the teeth bit down into Lavendar's shoulder. He felt his body ripped from behind, back into the ocean above him and back to reality.

Lavendar stood staring at him from the other side of the watering hole. Their face was grim as they looked Haledon over intently.

"Birchbark," Haledon muttered as he grabbed at his head, trying to shake the dizziness. "Is it still here?"

"No, it has moved and disappeared."

"Disappeared?"

"Yes, I will try and find it again."

"Haledon," He felt a thought being pushed into his mind.

"No!" Haledon forced back, the frustration of losing the wolf clouding his mind. "Not now." He continued as he rushed past Lavendar and towards the screen.

"Birchbark, I need to get back to the Hypogeal Nexus. Now!"