From Embers

23 - Entangled Part 1

Wheezing, Jai-Jai tried to move her knees as they crushed into her ribcage. Entire body constricted she tried to twist her head to see anything. Darkness surrounded her, but what she felt was not the cement of the tunnel, but thick, twisted vines. Tuning out the mumbled sounds of men, she reached her arm out to her left.

A quiet groan announced that she wasn't alone in this wood cocoon.

"Rhistel?"

"Not anymore. A think me face may be permanently damaged."

Trying not to laugh, Jai-Jai winced as her knees crushed further into her. "I didn't know my body could fold like this. My knees might have broken a rib."

Rhistel choked out a pained chuckle. "Ye're telling me. How am a supposed to that the eye a feel swelling up wasn't from anyone but myself? What happened? A blacked out for what felt like seconds at most. We canna be in a cell."

"Last, I remember a sword was shoved into my face when the floor shook, and the vines grew around us."

Well, at least our back is finally able to stretch.

"There's only one person I can think of doing this," Jai-Jai started.

Rhistel's voice was raspy, "Kraneia's power canna reach this far, can it?"

Their wooden cocoon started to shake. The swords hacking at the vines surrounding the women were sounding dangerously close. A small flame flashed as Rhistel turned her head to look at her companion. Jai-Jai could see she was tired. The elf's usual confidant appearance had sunken into her dark circles, lips cracked from dehydration.

The fire flickered before it went out.

Staring at the elf, she felt a newfound admiration for her. At age nineteen Jai-Jai didn't think she could go through a mission of this magnitude. She was so immature at that age, filled with an immeasurable amount of anger and still consumed by it.

A dry cough erupted from Rhistel. "A think...a saw something?"

"What?"

"A face in the wood?"

"Is tha' possible?"

A larger flame burned.

"Put that out before you singe my nose off," The wood spoke.

Rhistel yelped, and the flame extinguished. "Kraneia?"

"Of course not," The voice sounded irritated. Underneath vines started to shift.

"Who are ye then?"

A leaf softly brushed past Jai-Jai's arm.

"I'm part of the mother."

"She's yer Ma?"

"No, we are of the same body."'

"But, ye called her mother."

"The mother tree, yes."

Regretting licking her lips, Jai-Jai tried to get a better handle on the situation. The feeling of her tongue was like sandpaper, which was less than pleasant. "How did you find us?"

"Mother seeded the human. I was planted to help if trouble arose."

We're going to have to tell that tree to keep her offspring to herself.

"Yer bum's oot the windae!"

"She may speaking in tongues," the vine's voice was calm.

"Where bloody were ye when me sister was shot. Ye're no' much help are ye?"