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phytochorion · 1 month ago

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How the Forest Finds the Island

Chapter Sixteen - Boom and Bust

The sun was wobbling fat and red just above the horizon. Sen had a soft landing in a tangle of Cullodena's herbaceous trimerophytes, hopping down from their springy stems and picking his way through the undergrowth. Whereas once the fort had dominated this whole space, now plants scrambled in such profusion that it couldn't even be seen from the ground.

There was someone, no, two someones, standing by the base of the trees that held up their communal home.

Sen slowed down. Short tresses, pointed crown, huge boots… Phonso was back.

"Good evening, Schuppenbaumer, looking for Nathair again?", queried Sen as he drew closer. He didn't know the man standing just behind Phonso. Of indeterminate age, with wings reminiscent of Simon's and tresses in a box braided style, he regarded the two of them wryly.

"If you must know, I just came over to meet with an old friend. Have you met? No? Very well, this is Gongsun, this is Wesley."

"A pleasure." Wesley gave a quick bob in response to Sen's bow.

"Hang on, you're…"

The mechanisms of Sen's mind were whirring.

"You're not Wesley Candock?"

"The very same." His smile grew at the recognition.

"Oh wow, I… I've dreamed of meeting you since forever! It really is a privilege!" Sen was vaguely aware he might come across as cloying, but any cautionary thoughts were drowned in his excitement.

"What a stroke of luck that you're here!", he continued. "I'm just back from a visit to Simon, he mentioned you'd made the crossing but I didn't expect we'd cross paths!"

"My limp-leaf brother, huh?" Wesley's smile stiffened and one eyebrow rose. "Don't waste your time with him, mate. Suffers from a critical lack of ambition, he does. At this rate he'll be stuck in that swamp forever, but me? I've got a vision to chase."

Sen's trail of speech faltered. Simon had seemed to bear his brother no animosity, but then again, he was always the forgiving type. Had something transpired between them?

Thinking he should change the topic, Sen asked, "So. Ahem. How long have you known Mr Schuppenbaumer?"

Phonso stepped in to answer. "We've been friends since the Triassic!"

Ugh, thought Sen, exaggeration, but Wesley's smile brightened again as he clapped the lycopod fairy on the back.

"Yeah, Phonsy and I must have combed every inch of Epiphyllia, and with any luck, there'll be plenty of secrets to uncover here!"

"And I've been honing my skills, day in, day out."

Phonso gave a demonstration, light magic springing to life in his hands like a pair of miniature suns. Wesley whooped in admiration.

A weird feeling was blossoming in Sen's chest. A bad and unfamiliar feeling, like the mycelia of a fungal parasite infiltrating his nervous system, except it wasn't growing into him, but out of him. It took him a minute to put a name to it - envy.

Sen tried to think of some excuse to back out of this conversation, to go anywhere else. Before he could, Wesley addressed him.

"So how about it, Gongsun? Wanna join us sometime?"

Sen's focus snapped back to the conversation, his tongue feeling heavy as he tried to decide on an answer. He could see Phonso glaring daggers at him from behind Wesley, daring him to crash the party.

He was spared when something else caught the horsetail fairy's attention.

"Is it my imagination or… is someone there?"

Sen and Phonso swivelled around.

"Now that you mention it…", began Phonso, "I sometimes get the feeling I'm being watched when I come here." His usual bravado had diminished a tad.

Wesley took a curious step towards the darkest corner of the undergrowth. There was a twitch of movement and for a split second, they all saw the same thing; a pair of large eyes in the shadows, discreet yet intent. They were gone in a flash and a rustle of leaves.

"Who was that?!", yelled Wesley, not waiting for an answer as he bolted after the runaway. Sen and Phonso exchanged a glance and followed.

Making a sharp corner at a hollow log, they nearly tripped over Si-woo, who was flat on his back with another fairy on top of him. A perplexed Askarya observed from a few paces back.

The fairy atop Si-woo sat up slowly, wide eyes looking from one face to the next. Between an ornate mask and long robes, not much else could be seen of them. All were silent for a moment.

"Guys, you scared them," tutted Askarya, breaking the spell and helping the small figure to their feet.

"Um. Ok. Who's them?" Wesley voiced what was on all their minds.

"This is Noori," replied Askarya. "And you should all be grateful for the work they do, I don't know a single fairy who remineralises so much detritus."

"Well, good to meet you, Noori," ventured Sen. Noori returned his bow without saying a word.

As Askarya introduced them to the rest of the group, Sen tried to figure out where Noori's limbs were. It was difficult with their frame completely obscured by their robes, but Sen found their movement intriguing. They seemed to glide across the ground rather than walking, which was especially strange as, like all fungus fairies, they had no hint of wings.

Sen shrugged and leaned against Si-woo.

"Hey rénxiōng. It's getting late. I'll sleep here tonight, what's your plan?"

"Yeah, I'll join you. Night all."

Phonso waved an offhand goodbye, then returned his attention to Wesley as he too made to leave.

The two friends fluttered into the quiet recesses of the fort. It was open and airy, warm and dry. Compared to the early days when they'd slept in a pile on the floor, it had become very comfortable, with silk, straw and twine hammocks strung from the rafters, while feather and moss mattresses lay below for those who didn't fly.

It was quiet, with few occupants around. Over the years, accessory rooms and levels had been built, housing everything from Nathair's growing library to Jess's frock collection. Live vines and stems grew through the construction, replacing dead branches as they rotted away and turning it into a growing, ever-changing structure. More than a structure in fact, but a living thing in its own right, and a home.

Sen and Si-woo looked out through the slats towards the horizon. The sun had just vanished, leaving the sky burnished rose and copper. Heavy clouds were building closer to the ground, threatening storms. Sen pointed to them.

"I don't like the look of those. Hope the river doesn't sweep away all of Simon's hard work."

"The look of what, sorry?", queried Si-woo, surprising Sen. He was normally the first to spot rain.

"Those clouds!"

"There's no clouds there." Si-woo rubbed his eyes. "Oh, so there are. Strange."

Sen gave him a puzzled look.

"Clouds come from the sea," added Si-woo.

"I know," responded Sen, and hesitated. "While these ones are… coming from over the mountains…"

An uneasy feeling hovered between them.

"There's a telescope in the admiral's room," suggested Si-woo. They raced there right away. Sen rapped the door.

"Admi- I mean, Sirichai?"

No answer. They pushed in, sorting as respectfully through his belongings as they could, then rushing back with the telescope in hand. Si-woo shakily put it to his eye & adjusted it.

"What do you see?"

Sen felt like he didn't want to know the answer.

"Oh crap. Oh FUCK this isn't good!"

Si-woo looked to his friend and spoke a single word.

"Locusts."

⸙ ⸙ ⸙

"Sound the alarm! Sound the alarm, damn it!"

Si-woo scampered up and down the fort at breakneck pace, half climbing, half flying, banging Glen's pots and ladles together. Cullodena emerged from her quarters, looking furious, but her expression softened when she saw the fear in Si-woo's eyes.

"Byun, dearie, whatever's the matter?"

"Locust swarm, headed this way," he gasped. "Round up everyone you can find!"

Sen stood in the crown of the fort's tallest tree, telescope trained on the dark mass with shaking hands. A lichen-covered head emerged through the foliage.

"Nobody gonna tell me what all the fuss is about?"

"Askarya!" Sen blushed and fumbled the spyglass, embarrassed that he'd forgotten all about them in the confusion.

"See for yourself."

They trained the eyepiece on the horizon and scowled.

"That's not good. What's the plan?"

Si-woo fluttered up beside them, followed by everyone else present; Cullodena, Nathair, Glen, Jake, Kai, Elei and, to Sen's surprise, Noori.

"Well me old chum, I'm glad you asked," cut in Nathair. "Our goal is to stop that swarm settling on our fair demesne."

Askarya smiled despite their situation, nudging a fretful Si-woo and mouthing, I think a bit of the Admiral’s rubbed off on him.

"What can you tell us about locusts?", asked Sen. "That's relevant right now, I mean."

"Okay, they typically fly by day. As ye can see, the sun's going down." The fern fairy folded his arms. "That means they'll be looking for an overnight stopoff. Wherever they land, they'll strip it clean of greenery by morning. That's what we stand to lose."

The others shifted uneasily. From one perspective, it would be easier just to abandon the fort and rebuild once the swarm had moved on. But no one voiced this. That option meant abandoning years of work, all the investment of time and energy that had gone into this place, not to mention the likely destruction of every treasured possession they stored inside. It was common knowledge that Nathair would lay down his own life if it meant preserving his library.

"Well, no time to lose," prompted Sen. The others switched their attention to him, faces resolute. "Jake, Kai, Elei, you'll be our first line of defence."

Kai cracked his knuckles.

"Glen, Askarya, reinforce the fort however you can. Nathair and Cullodena, you'll help us coordinate." He handed Nathair the spyglass. "And Si-woo and I will be in the air to deal with locusts that get through the outer defence."

The group nodded and quickly dispersed to their positions, Sen waiting to make sure all vulnerable points were covered.

Noori walked over to Sen and looked him in the eye.

"Oh. Sorry Noori, I… ahem, if you want to help, that's great! What kind of magic do you have?"

Noori opened one fist and revealed a sprig of moss. A dingy, stifling aura slowly leached out from Noori's shrouded silhouette. The little moss sprig withered and died.

Sen felt like a lead weight had dropped into his stomach. His breathing hitched and he forced himself not to step backwards.

"R-r-rot magic? That's-"

He swallowed.

"Hold on. That's precisely what we need right now!"

Sen looked over his shoulder. The swarm was less than a kilometre away.

"Noori, will that work on animals?"

The fungus fairy nodded once.

"Oh holy souls, superb. And can you, er, direct it? So that it won’t catch plants in the collateral?"

Noori wavered, then gave an unconvincing thumbs-up.

"Er. Alright. Whatever, it's our best option. Si-woo!"

Si-woo dived to meet Sen.

"What's up?"

"I need you to carry Noori."

Si-woo blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Noori's got amazing rot magic, I think it could take out half the swarm if we time it right. I need you to get them to the centre of it!"

"No way, no way, you're out of your mind," muttered Si-woo, pacing. "You want me to carry a disease causing fungus - no offence - into a plague of leaf stripping bugs on my own?!"

"Well, when you put it like that…" Sen sighed.

"Who's doing what on their own?" Kai alighted alongside them, arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

"Perfect, now he won't have to!", Sen exclaimed. "Kai, Si-woo's going into the swarm. Keep him safe."

Kai happily agreed, while Si-woo spluttered in indignation.

"Don't just go along with him like that! And Sen, may I ask why you're not the one carrying Noori?"

Sen froze, face flushing green in embarrassment.

"Well… you're a much better flyer than me. And my magic will be little use out there. And- and I'm scared."

Si-woo's expression softened, just a tad. "I know. But what makes you think I'm not?"

Sen didn’t know how to respond. After a pause, he simply went with, “I’m sorry.” Clearing his throat, he continued, “I’m trying to do what has to be done to protect everything we’ve worked for. But a good leader leads by example. You’re right, really I should be the one going out there.”

He took a deep breath and turned to Noori. “You ready?”

The little fungus fairy nodded.

“Alright,” replied Sen, trying to stop his hands shaking. “Hop on.”

Kai pressed his hands to a cycad leaf, drawing in magical vivacity while Noori clambered self-consciously onto Sen’s back.

“Let’s go.”

The three of them dropped from the branch and veered out from the dense stand of trees, into the evening air that was all that lay between them and the storm. At that moment, a voice rang out behind them.

“Dang and blast it, wait for me!”

Si-woo had caught up with them in an instant, his wings flowing like banners. He caught sight of Sen’s knowing smile.

“Well, after all that talk about leading from the front, I could hardly just sit back and watch. You’ll stand a better chance with two pairs of eyes on you.”

“You know I couldn’t ask for more, Si-woo.”

⸙ ⸙ ⸙

Nathair watched the thrumming storm of wings grow until it blotted out the horizon. His fingers clenched, trying not to let the spyglass slip from his sweaty grasp. Beside him, his mother called something down to Elei, who answered in the affirmative as she geared up for battle. In the distance, the little shapes of Sen, Si-woo, Kai and Noori looked as though they were to be swallowed up without a trace.

⸙ ⸙ ⸙

Sen briefly took his eyes off the wall of jointed legs and compound eyes ahead, looking into Noori's eyes. Up to this point, their composure hadn't faltered, but he saw terror in their eyes.

"Hey, Noori, look at me. It'll be ok, you hear me? We'll get through this. I promise I won't let you fall."

Noori shifted nervously, inhaled deeply and sat up a bit straighter, their mood settling.

"That's the spirit."

They were so close that the sound of chitinous wings and hungry mouthparts nearly drowned out Sen's voice.

"Alright, this is it! You ready? Kai, Si-woo? Got your magic ready, Noori? Yeah? Here goes!"

All at once, the swarm surrounded them. Locusts rushed by on all sides and from directly ahead. Kai reacted in a flash, swift strikes of his toughened limbs and wings sending orthopterans raining from the sky, keeping the path clear for the others.

"Now?", shouted Si-woo.

"Wait until we're at the densest point!", answered Sen. "Our friends will take care of the rest!"

Si-woo gave a grim nod and fell in line beside Kai, calling up his water magic to create a shield of droplets that deflected the ravening grasshoppers around the quartet.

"Noori, it's up to you now. I'll give you as much help as I can."

Sen focused, grateful that for the moment, he didn't have to swerve around locusts as he did so. Breathing deeply in and clasping his hands as his wings powered onwards, he drew on a flow of inter-promoting and overacting magic. It was an atypical combination, but it would allow Noori's magic to feed off the energy Sen provided. It wasn't without risk, as if Noori overstepped their boundaries they could begin draining Sen's life force directly, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Noori locked themself in place with their legs, raising their arms with robes trailing. Flakes began to crumble and spill from their skin, a grey pallor extending all around. Sen nervously took a deep breath as the spores surrounded him, but they appeared to do no damage. The locusts weren't so lucky.

The moment the ashen dust touched them, the insects went into disarray, legs jerking and bodies spasmodically careening into each other. With every collision in the densely packed cloud of wings, another plume of spores went up, enveloping the sky in a grim haze.

"Will that be enough?" Sen shouted to Noori, who shook their head and pointed upwind. Sen nodded and flew on, to where the first spores had difficulty reaching. The locusts were beginning to disperse, flying in chaotic patterns as they avoided the cloud of death, and making it hard to get a good shot in. Noori took their best shot, sprinkling the infectious powder over another portion of the hungering plague, but it was clear that they weren't catching all of them.

Kai and Si-woo closed in on their location.

"At this rate, too many will get through, the fort will be overwhelmed!", hollered Kai.

"I know! Blast and damn it, we should have had a plan in reserve!"

"Guys, why is the moon rising on the opposite horizon to normal?", Si-woo chimed in.

"Now's really not the time-", Sen began, but trailed off as the ball of yellow light in the distance rapidly grew in size and intensity.

"Pretty sure that ain't the moon," observed Kai.

Something about the light was familiar, and Sen felt a twinge of premonition in his gut.

"I think we should shield our eyes."

Kai shrugged. "Hey, it's not that bright, it might help us corral those bugs more easi-"

"Cover them!", snapped Sen.

The light exploded.

Beams as piercing as the noonday sun burst forth, bathing the landscape with saturated shadows and cold fire. There was no noise, no heat, just a white glow that granted Sen the chance to get a look at the back of his own eyelids.

As quickly as it had arrived, the light blinked out, leaving nothing but its technicolor afterglow across their vision. Sen slowly got his bearings, wings continuing to beat on instinct as he turned in midair. Noori was still on his back, Si-woo still beside him. Kai was gone.

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