Chapter 33

"Hey, Sugar Maple—Screwbean." Spark nodded towards the two Sequoia Squad Druids standing before the sealed doorway. Aiming to walk through the threshold, she continued her confident strut forward. But before she could enter, the Druids stepped in Spark's way and drew their crossbows.

"Spark, what is this?" The Druid that Spark had called Screwbean asked, nodding to Haledon and Witch-Hazel.

"Mesa contacted me to bring these two under his canopy." Spark casually lied. "We're going to speak with him now."

"He isn't here, leave and we will let him know—"

"He is here and won't like that you're delaying us."

Screwbean glared at Spark, matching her intense stare, before returning to the door. Waving his hand, Sugar Maple lowered his crossbow and moved out of the way.

"Okay," Screwbean grumbled, turning to face the door. "I will accompany you—"

"No," Spark again interrupted. "You let us through, and I won't let Mesa know you delayed us."

The two Sequoia Squad Druids exchanged quick looks before stepping away from the door without another word.

"Thank you. This way." She finished with a subtle wink toward Haledon before stepping into the next room. He followed quickly behind, entering the darkened Central Nervous System.

Looking around, it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the near pitch-black room. It wasn't until after the passage behind the group had closed that he finally saw the space in its entirety.

Directly in front of him, three shallow pools rested in perfect symmetry. The viscous fluid that filled them radiated the faintest green glow into the darkness and cast dancing shadows with each ripple. Illuminated within each pod was the outline of a humanoid body. Their arms and legs were connected to roots that burrowed beyond the edge of the pools. These transformed into thick ridges that twisted and coiled across the floor in an ever-evolving pattern.

Looking to the room's edges, Haledon saw various Druids busy at work. Some ran their fingers through columns of dimly lit pollen, twisting and designing Druidic runes that flashed briefly in the light before disappearing. Others rested in trancelike states with familiar trumpet-shaped flowers affixed to their faces, pulsing in a similar green glow.

Like the pools, he noticed that each alcove where a Druid worked produced similar roots that crept and crawled across the floor. Following the fractal design, the aerial roots eventually reached two wooden stumps. There, before them, Mesa stood with his hands gripping the fungus that rested on the stands.

"What are those?" Haledon whispered to Spark as he nodded to the pools.

"Druids trained to integrate with the Megacolides." She whispered back. "Linking with a giant space worm is a bit more complicated than a plant...apparently."

"Haledon, are you lost?" Mesa grumbled from the front of the room, his hands still fixed on the stumps. "It appears that you have drifted far from the shade of your mother tree."

Haledon felt his heart skip a beat at the sound of the Druid's voice. He looked over to Spark and then to Witch-Hazel in a panic. Taking a calming breath to speak, he was interrupted as Spark stepped forward.

"Primeval Druid Mesa, great to see you again." She said with a smile. "Hopefully, the Broadhead is to your liking."

"It was a fantastic find, though why it took so long for this information to germinate is beyond me." Mesa's gaze narrowed on Spark. "Imagine what we could have learned in preparation for this upcoming fight if we had known immediately."

"There was only so much I could do. You know Sparrow never left her lab, and we always brambled in—"

"Excuses." Mesa bellowed as he released his grip and turned to face the group. He looked to Haledon with a smug grin as he continued. "Haledon, did you know Spark invaded your Guild like a noxious weed? That she had been gathering information from you, and was the reason for your little spacewalking?"

Haledon looked over to Spark, whose wide eyes flared with information. But she was not Gazeas, and he wasn't sure what she asked him to do.

"No?" He lied unconvincingly. "How could you do this?"

"Ugh—" Spark sighed to herself.

"Well, that was the least believable thing I've heard today." Mesa retorted. "And that's including Mek-Tek and Sparrow's report on the Broadhead."

"What you did to Sparrow goes against Nature."

"Hah!" Mesa bellowed again. "A sapling telling the redwood how Nature progresses."

"That sapling has vigour," Witch-Hazel interjected.

"And He speaks." Mesa snapped, his attention turning to Witch-Hazel with a sharpened stare.

Sensing the tension between Mesa and Witch-Hazel, Haledon attempted to step aside from Druid's intense stare. Tripping over a root, he stumbled backward but caught himself on Spark before he would have tumbled into the nearby pool. Hearing the disruption, Mesa's head pivoted like an owl toward Haledon, his eyes narrowing on the young Druid.

"I'm not done talking with you, Seral Druid Haledon."

"Oh, leave the sapling," Witch-Hazel scolded as the vines crawled over their bramble form. "He has done nothing except grow like you or me or any other Druid—"

"—From under the canopy of an allelopathic mother." Mesa interrupted, stepping closer to Haledon. "His roots are just as poisoned and should be bound all the same."

"Mesa, stop," Witch-Hazel ordered.

Haledon watched as roots began to form at the tips of Mesa's fingers. Sharp thorns poked out and twitched as they searched for something to snag. Trying to step back again, Haledon backed against the pool at the edge of Mesa's stumps.

"Wait, no, please," Haledon begged, holding his hands up in defence.

"Stop. Mesa—Mesa—" Witch-Hazel stepped forward, yelling out a pleading cry. "Son, stop!"

Mesa's stature shifted as he stood and quickly turned to face Witch-Hazel.

"You have no right to call me that, Father!" He erupted as he began to march towards Witch-Hazel. "Look at you, pleading for the sapling on behalf of your precious Sparrow."

"I'm not pleading anything—the Mecharrion are on their way. We need everyone we can get if we're going to escape—"

"Escape? Once a mighty leader of the Carnyx, now speaking of fleeing—"

Looking over, Haledon noticed the stump within his reach and quickly gripped his hand to the fungus. In an instant, the room became eerily still. He looked around, observing Mesa and Witch-Hazel as they quietly yelled. Even though Haledon was only an arm's reach away, the argument's shouting sounded distant and slowed.

Beyond them, a whale echoed its haunting song in the darkness at the edge of the chamber. And coming with that sound, Haledon suddenly started to hear whispers in the back of his mind. They steadily became louder as he began to make out the words.

Looking down, Haledon stared at the pods. The once peaceful Druids had become alive with activity. Their eyes and mouths were wide as they silently spewed Primordial Druidic into his mind. The odd word would pop out to Haledon, making sense momentarily before quickly fading into the sea of unfamiliar phrases.

"Hello?" He asked softly. "Hey, you seeing this?"

Looking up at Spark, he tried to get her attention, but the muted argument continued. Shaking his head, he tried to focus on something other than the unsettling gibberish that flooded his mind.

"Can you help me?" Haledon continued as he looked down, trying to get one of the pod Druids' attention. "I'm looking for the genetic key for a root inhibitor?"

But the Druids within the pods did not respond. Unfazed, they continued to mouth Druidic to themselves as the whale's song strengthened in the distance.

"Please, this is important. I need help—the Mecharrion—"

"Mecharrion—" A cacophony of voices echoed as the whale moaned loudly.

Haledon felt a memory slip into his mind, not unlike how Lavendar communicated with him. But different than the Druid, he sensed the cold embrace of something strange and alien taking hold of his consciousness. And while it was not hurting him, he couldn't fight the feeling of helplessness of being in its enormous grasp.

It felt like he was being guided through the ship's snaking passageways. Twisting and turning, Haledon eventually found his way near the end of the Megacolides, where a room opened to him. It revealed a long chamber with a low ceiling and a familiar arrowhead shape.

"Oh—they moved it," He remarked as he was drawn closer to the Broadhead by the force that controlled him.

Haledon saw a familiar elephant Druid waving their trunk as they neared the back of the craft. They quickly signed various Druidic runes into the air before him as he peered his head within the Broadhead. There, he saw several rats and a raccoon scurrying anxiously over the interior.

But as he was about to explore deeper into the craft, his attention was pulled again outside. A flash of pale blue light erupted from beneath the elephant with the completion of the final rune, and Haledon watched as the Druid hoisted themself up onto their hind legs. With great effort, they carefully withdrew a leathery acorn from the floor. They released the cupule with a twist of their trunk, revealing a bright white light gently floating from the pericarp.

After a brief moment, Haledon's eyes adjusted to the light enough to see an odd floating crystal. In constant flux, the geometric shapes appeared continually fractal out from their center in a pattern that reminded him of a twisted cauliflower.

"What is that?" Haledon muttered to himself. "What does this have to do with Sparrow?"

"Sparrow." The room erupted in whispers as the whale moaned again, and he was pulled back with the same chilling embrace.

"No. No—wait, what was that?" Haledon tried to bargain with what he had begun to feel was the Megacolides.

But there was no response as he navigated his way through the veins of the ship once more. With a sudden thrust, he was pushed through the threshold onto the Astralaceaes. The once-dark world was brightened. A pale haze filled the space, and—for a moment—Haledon was alone. Then, out of the mist, Sparrow appeared with her back resting against something invisible.

Haledon observed her as she nodded and spoke to an obscured companion.

"I appreciate your help." She said softly as she extended a hand. "So long as this isn't some kind of parasitic relationship."

There was a pause, and Sparrow smirked before continuing.

"Well, yes, us all dying isn't what we came out here to do."

"Sparrow." Haledon attempted to interrupt.

"Yes, your handiwork is something. Quite efficient—" Sparrow continued with her one-sided conversation, ignoring Haledon.

"Well, it was worth a shot." He mumbled to himself, approaching and looking at her more closely. Sparrow's body appeared weaker than before, her hands shaking as she held them up.

"What is that?" Haledon continued as he squatted down and adjusted himself to see her wrist. There, the thin roots he had previously seen climbing Sparrow's arms had been replaced by a gooey fungus. Knotting over her wrist, it formed a spongy clot that pulsed with a steady pale red glow.

"Vastum..." He said out loud as he instinctively reached forward and touched the fungus's fruiting body.

Immediately, the pulsing ceased, and he watched as the once creeping web of roots began to retreat. The thick red clot quickly shrivelled, fading into the familiar putrid green and black of rot.

"Whoa," Haledon remarked and looked at his hand. "Was that it? Did I do it?"

Watching Sparrow, she gave the figure across from her a surprised look.

"Well, Lavendar, I haven't given you enough credit in the past—" Sparrow spoke and then paused. Haledon watched as her face contorted and her pleasant smile turned to frustration. "You sent them where?!"

Sparrow quickly began to look around before pausing and looking directly into Haledon's eyes. A strange sensation gripped his body, similar to the chill of the Megacolides but more direct, as though Sparrow had commanded the ship to hold him tighter.

"Haledon, leave!" Sparrow shouted at him, her power flowing again through her body and into him. “Before Mesa learns what you’ve done!”

Haledon felt his skin crawl as he was quickly kicked back to consciousness. Stumbling backward, his foot dipped into one of the pools. But it wasn't as shallow as he had been expecting. Catching himself on the nearest stump while tumbling over, he couldn't save his leg before it became submerged to the thigh in the pool. At that moment, with lightning speed, Mesa's head swivelled in his direction.

"You, rotten apple, get away from there." He bellowed, pointing away. "I want you all out of my C.N.S.!"

"Haledon, come on." Spark quickly rushed over to grab him. "Let's get out of here."

"What did I miss?" He asked as a drunken stupor rushed over his body. "Whoa..."

"Family drama," Spark whispered as she navigated Haledon around the other pods. "Pretty juicy, like a peach, if I must say so myself."

"Sequoias, escort these Druids off the Megacolides," Mesa yelled after them. "I want them shaded out of this vessel and not allowed to return going forward."

The exit to the room opened, and the two Druids who had greeted the group waited once more. With their crossbows drawn, they smirked as a dozen additional Sequoia Squad Druids made their way up the coil.

"All of you for little ol' us?" Spark said with a smile. "Well, could one of you be a honeysuckle and give this one a limb to lean on? No—no takers—alright, well, pardon me."

Pushing her way through the group, Spark continued to lead Haledon away with Witch-Hazel in silent tow.

"Hey, did you get it?" Spark whispered.

"What?" Haledon replied as he tried to concentrate on her words. "Uhh—yes, I think. Ugh—"

Haledon grumbled, pinching at the bridge of his nose.

"What?" Spark replied, looking him over. "You doing alright, bud? You look a bit pale."

"Why are there so many Druidic branches of mental manipulation. I feel like my brain is a squished blueberry."

"Welcome to the future, sprout." Spark laughed as she continued to help him down the spiralling ramp and towards the Astralaceaes.