Chapter 60.1

The first thing Amara noticed was the noise. Compared to the stiff silence that had permeated the bottom floor of the cafeteria, The Wilds buzzed with life to such an extent that she flinched in pain the instant they arrived. Birds sang in nearby trees, leaves rustled in the presence of the warm breeze, insects buzzed and chirped, and running water babbled somewhere off in the distance.Those sounds, at least, she understood.

What didn’t make sense were the dozens of other noises that joined the chorus. Animal calls she didn’t recognize echoed from distant groves, unnaturally deep cries soared over the treetops, their deep resonance implying massive airborne creatures. The strange, lavender light drifting down from the three moons sang a quiet song of mystery, and the thousands of suspended auroras that stretched across the sky twinkled with an ethereal, haunting melody. Those concrete, identifiable sounds weren’t even the final touches on the tapestry; they were merely the accents. Underneath everything else, the world itself vibrated. It hummed with a powerful force that made Amara feel as if she were surrounded by thousands of whirring electrical generators. Heavy, unnatural energy swirled and danced around her head as she tried to make sense of all these noises, and only by manually adjusting the sensitivity of her ears was she able to bring the world into some kind of bearable focus.

Amara shook her head as her sanity returned to her. After a moment of rubbing her ears, a kind hand grabbed her shoulder, and looked to her side to see Vee’s concerned face. “Everything alright, love?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s just… this place. It’s noisy on a level that’s hard to explain.”

“Aye,” Tadhgán said, looking around with a smile on his face. “That’s the song of The Wilds. Every living thing, from the smallest blade of grass to the largest predator, is part of it. I’d forgotten how much I missed that song; your home is so quiet in comparison.”

No longer under assault by the ambient noise, Amara allowed herself a moment to look around. The three of them stood in the center of a large clearing, one that had clearly been sculpted by hand, or more likely, magic. The space was perfectly circular, filled with tall blueish-green grass that shimmered as if a wave on the ocean. At the edge of the clearing, a perfect circle of trees marked the entrance to the jungle beyond, their bark shifting and shimmering in the moonlight while their multicolored leaves shook and danced with the same wind that swept across the grass. Above them, three moons hung in the sky, each of them much smaller than the one Amara was used to.

The first moon was the color of pale cobalt and took the shape of a thick crescent; not quite half full, but certainly close. A short distance away, the second moon was much thinner. This one had a significantly darker tone, and was a deep scarlet. The last moon was the smallest, yet also the closest to being full. Likely a few days away from being completely visible, its surface was not only a dusty lavender color, but it also twinkled as if covered with glitter.

Underneath their feet, unusually firm ground eventually drew Amara’s attention. A quick look revealed that, while the ground nearby was made of soft dirt that yielded countless blades of grass, the exact center of the clearing held another magic circle. Its runes appeared remarkably similar to the circle underneath the cafeteria, but instead of being made of ink, they’d been carved into the wood of a large tree stump that stood an inch or two above the surrounding ground. The runes themselves had been immaculately applied, and the grooves also contained hints of some kind of residue, though not one Amara was familiar with. The somewhat familiar sight reminded her of home, pushing aside the very brief hint of wonder that had nearly crept in, and she pulled herself back on track.

“We don’t have time to stop and smell the roses, Tadhgán,” Amara muttered. “We need to get that cure for Nick, and every second counts.”

“Right, that reminds me.” Tadhgán crouched down, wincing slightly as he lowered himself to the ground. After settling on one knee, he dug his fingers into the soft ground just beside the tree trunk and pulled out a small clump of dirt. Raising it up, he cautiously massaged it with his fingers, dropping bits and pieces as he did. He next stuck the tip of his nose into the dirt before taking a deep breath. Seconds later, a look of concern appeared on his face. “I can get us home, but we’re uncomfortably close to one of the Courts. I can keep us on the outskirts of their territory, but there’s always a chance we run into a wandering faerie.”

“Thanks for the warning, Tadhgán,” Vee said, stepping closer to help him up. “You briefly explained some things before we left, but is there anything else we should know?”

After a moment of contemplation, Tadhgán responded. “They can be anything from the most beautiful visage you’ve ever seen to the most terrifying, and often have the ability to shift between those extremes at will. They love games, they crave novelty, but they are bound by a series of rules you and I can’t hope to understand. Show them nothing but utmost civility and politeness at all times, and watch your words carefully. One poorly phrased sentence and you might cease to be you. They can be ferociously literal creatures, but so long as you don’t break any rules, they can’t harm you without permission.”

“Who would give permission for someone else to harm them?” Amara asked with a dismissive chuckle.

“This is no laughing matter, Amara,” Tadhgán said, his voice gravely serious. “Their skill with wordplay far exceeds your talents for illusion or shapeshifting. They twist meaning in a way that’s hard to describe, and they are only required to act in accordance with rules no one fully understands. Perhaps you step on a welcome mat and only wipe your feet two times instead of three, and suddenly they’re legally allowed to steal your feet.”

“My feet? Really?”

Tadhgán sighed in frustration. “That’s a terrible example, but I’ve been fortunate enough to never meet a faerie in my life. The point I’m trying to make is that you might accidentally give permission for something without realizing it. Say as little as possible, and when you do speak, choose your words extremely carefully.”

“We’ll let you do the talking if we run into any faeries, Tadhgán,” Vee said. “I’m also happy to have conversations if need be. I love you to death, Amara, but you’re not always careful with your words.”

“I get it, I’ll stay quiet.” Amara held up her hands in surrender. “So, where to?”

In response, Tadhgán held his handful of dirt up to the wolves still sitting patiently beside them. One by one, they each sniffed his hand before the pack unanimously started trotting in a specific direction. Stepping down from the tree trunk, Tadhgán began to follow them, leaving Amara and Vee to follow in his wake as he waded through the tall grass. At the edge of the clearing, Tadhgán gave each of the wolves a pat on the head before pointing off in the distance. At this command, the wolves broke into a sprint, quickly disappearing into the jungle as they raced ahead.

“Are we following them?” Vee asked.

“No, I just needed them to show me the direction. They’ll have to take different paths from us, given their size, and it’s probably safe if we avoid traveling in such a large group.” Tadhgán looked back at the girls for a moment, then started walking into the jungle.

Amara looked to her side and grabbed Vee’s hand. “You ready?”

Vee nodded, squeezing Amara’s hand in return. “With you by my side? Absolutely. Let’s go save Nick.”

After a quick kiss, the girls quickly caught up to Tadhgán. As they jogged closer, Amara quickly refreshed herself to prepare for the coming adventure. With a small burst of hellfire, her previous clothes transformed into something more befitting a jungle adventure. Baggy, dull green cargo pants with their bottoms tucked into tall hiking boots appeared around her legs, while a beige button-down top sprang forth to cover the rest of her body. She even playfully gave herself a tiny red scarf, tied snugly around her neck and a green safari hat to pull the silly outfit together, and she finished it off by tying her hair into a tight ponytail. She kept her horns and tail out, but hid her wings away, assuming they would only be a hindrance in a tight, cramped jungle.

Vee glanced back, her eyes quickly taking in Amara’s new look. They smiled at each other, silently signaled to Tadhgán that they were ready, and their journey began.

Underneath Amara’s feet, fallen multicolored leaves rustled and crunched as she walked, their shimmering colors masking the unusually soft dirt that seemed ever-present in this area of the jungle. The ground felt more like a mix between sand and clay; somewhat wet, somewhat grainy, and uncomfortably firm underneath her feet. Footing was most secure in the spots which held roots from nearby trees, all of which varied in thickness and height. The longer they walked, the more Amara began to find patterns in the local plant life, eventually identifying three different tiers to the jungle around them.

The smallest was the massive collection of shrubs, bushes, and tiny trees that littered the jungle floor. Many of these plants were no more than a few feet tall, and while most of them were varying shades of green, it wasn’t uncommon to see hints of blue or purple included as well. On one occasion, they passed by a tiny tree that was mostly a collection of large leaves protruding from a small wooden stump. At first, Amara didn’t question it in the slightest, but she was caught off guard when an errant broken twig seemingly caused all the leaves to explode outward. After the initial shock, she soon realized that the leaves had simply been perfectly stationary collections of butterfly-like creatures with green wings that lit up upon taking flight. The three of them froze just long enough for the swarm to dissipate, at which point they resumed their hike.

The second grouping of flora were the slightly thicker trees that uniformly grew to a height of roughly fifteen to twenty feet. The multicolored leaves were primarily found on the tops of these trees, while the trunks were completely devoid of other branches. This allowed, or was possibly caused by, a heavy blanket of thin, kudzu-like vines with black, oily, reflective surfaces that made Amara’s skin crawl as her gaze lingered.

The largest growths were a series of enormous trees, each at least six feet wide, that extended so high into the sky Amara had trouble gauging their height. Their leaves formed the canopy at the top of the jungle, and appeared to uniformly be of a blueish-purple coloration. The dark kudzu vines were occasionally present on these trees, but more frequently, she instead saw fluffy pink moss that pulsed and swayed not in time with the wind, but instead the rhythm of the song of magic Amara had heard upon first arriving.

After a short while, though how long exactly Amara couldn’t say, she finally grew curious enough about their journey to speak up. “So, how long do you think it’ll take to reach your place?”

“I wish I could say, but unfortunately that’s not entirely possible,” Tadhgán replied.

“Seriously? Do I need to remind you what’s at stake here? Actually, fuck, if we know the direction, I could probably just fly us there to save us all this tedious hiking.”

“Firstly, Amara, the lack of an answer isn’t my fault; it’s a direct result of the nature of these jungles. Secondly, taking to the skies would be a terrible idea, especially this close to the Courts. We’d be drawing far too much attention to ourselves, and if we need to start hiding from hungry predators or bored faerie nobility, the trip will take even longer.”

Vee spoke up next. “Wait, what do you mean ‘the nature of these jungles?’ Is there something weird about them?”

“Well, not for me. It’s… how to explain this… Okay, in the time I spent at your Aurelius University, we traveled everywhere by walking, much like we’re doing now. However, all the different spaces in your world seemed to operate on one shared set of rules and conditions. Here, because of all the latent magic, different pockets of space tend to bend and warp in reaction to the creatures that live here.”

Amara’s face scrunched as she tried to process Tadhgán’s words. “I don’t get it.”

Tadhgán cautiously ducked underneath a loose vine of black kudzu, then continued talking. “Creatures that live here exert influence on the space around them. The more powerful the individual, the stronger the effect, which itself is linked to the nature and desires of whichever creature calls that place home. It’s not uncommon for certain areas of the jungle to grow or shrink in accordance with the wishes of their denizens.”

“So, to try and find a more concrete example, a creature living in a river might be able to magically control the size and speed of that river?” Vee asked, ducking underneath a large blueish-red frond.

“That would be a relatively simplistic effect, but yes. Another feature of this place is that walking everywhere on foot doesn’t always mean taking the shortest path. Often, if someone with a strong enough connection to their home crosses a boundary, they might very easily find themselves arriving at home without the need to cross all the connecting space.”

“Wait, are you saying you can just teleport home? Why the fuck aren’t we doing that?” Amara asked.

“I can’t teleport; the jungle itself simply allows for such travel if the conditions are right. Our ability to move in that manner is greatly hindered if we find ourselves close to large spheres of influence, which tend to pull and distort the jungle around them, locking things in place.”

“Such as the Fae Courts,” Vee muttered.

“Exactly,” Tadhgán said with a slow nod. “Right now, we’re pathing through open jungle; space that hasn’t yet been claimed by any creature or court. Think of it as a connective tissue, or possibly blood. It adjoins all things, and gives us a path from place to place if we’re moving in unfamiliar territory.”

As they skirted around another large tree, Amara nervously eyed a pulsating mound of pink moss before sighing in frustration. “As long as you two understand this, then I’m happy.”