Celestial Roots

Chapter 5 - Discovering the forest

Taghna and Færn were waiting at the edge of the forest. As usual, they woke up first. Or rather, Taghna had woken Færn from his sleep to enjoy those few moments alone. They liked to move away from the village centre which, in a few days, had become unbearably familiar to them. They usually headed towards the back, where the trees started to become more numerous.

They scanned the mataïg and took the opportunity to observe the deer's skin stretched over the opening before continuing their journey. So close to the trees, the depth of the forest attracted them with strength and Taghna had to pull Færn by the sleeve because he was too scared to follow here further.

Both of them imagined that they had to get rid of this fear. Maoïr had told them that they would soon be looking for plants for an important ceremony. He had made them understand that they were free to do as they pleased when he did not tell them about plants and their uses. The children had jumped with joy but their spirits had quickly dissipated when they had approached the gigantic séarach trunks around the village.

It took them several days to decide to finally cross this invisible barrier, which was so tangible to them. Maoïr kept going back and forth between the village and forest, certainly to show them that they were safe, but he remained silent, his gaze half absent, and was content to go about his business. It was thanks to Asgeül's initiative that the group of children made their deepest incursion. Taghna had been angry because she had been doing the same for a long time only it was while everyone was snoring.

Since then, she had made it a point of honour to always go in the opposite direction of the group. There was no question or her to walk on her eternal competitor's steps, whose charisma had only grown like a mad herb. This rising in power had become clearer after Branach's accident. The boy had tried to prove that he was the strongest and had taken off his big fur jacket as he walked around the clearing. That same evening, he had caught a high fever that made him tremble like a leaf. Maoïr had hastened to take him to the mataïg where he had to stay for several days to be cured. The group quickly allied itself with Asgeül who seemed at least as brave but certainly less of a hothead.

Taghna was following a trail that had taken her far enough for her classmates' cries to disappear between the branches. She didn't know if they were fresh but their dotted shape twisted between the roots and made circles that puzzled her. Færn followed her closely and they exchanged remarks to break their loneliness and reassure each other.

After a while, the tracks multiplied and seemed to reach a leafless grove. They crawled on all fours to try to follow the path clearly visible on the icy ground. They tore out small bushes and dug up the snow. The ice cover was much thinner around the trunks and it took them only a short time to reach the frozen ground.

A thick, brown moss stretched under the snow cover. Here and there, holes the size of their hands were visible. Not thinking twice, they set about widening one of them with the help of a branch. Underneath each piece of turned soil, a multitude of small insects fled in all directions, seeking to reach the safety of the depths. Færn and Taghna, who were rushing to gulp them down, were happy not to have to chew a piece of stringy bark instead. They also understood the instinct of the arthropods because they were born as close to the earth as possible.

The two children shared each new discovery, like the tiny silver filaments running through the ground whose origin and function they could not determine. Digging a hole of such size in the earth as hard as a stone was tiring and they took turns to have time to blow or catch their precious food.

Taghna found once again that things were not moving fast enough and she planted her stick very deep into the ground. After a series of grunts and exhausting efforts, she uncovered a series of galleries that she quickly expanded. Some tunnels led to dead ends, some kind of large empty holes, while others widened and plunged deeper into the ground.