Dragon Witch ✔️

68 - Jungle Wakeup Call

I missed my alarm. It never screamed at me or buried me in snow. It never tried to kill me or my friends. Why had I ever complained about that beep beep beep? There were much worse ways to wake up.

Like being smacked in the face with a tree branch.

I sat straight up, hoping this was just one of Nissa's rude wakeup calls. It wasn't. A giant tree with no branches until fifty feet up its trunk was running through where our tents had been. It must've hit me with one of its flailing roots. It wasn't the only tree, either, though the others weren't moving. We were in the middle of a sweltering forest, free of snow and buzzing with insects.

Our tents were gone--presumably packed, because me and Piper were laying on the ground in our sleeping bags. Nissa and Kyton were gone, too. Scrambling out of my sleeping bag and hopping to my feet, I scanned the trees for them. They were in a tree, alright--the tree that was currently running around. Thin branches wrapped around Nissa and Kyton like ropes, pinning their wings to their backs.

Other branches were stuffed in their mouthes, apparently to keep them from shouting. The tree must've wanted to get away unseen. Sometimes I hated magic.

"Put them down."

The tree shook its branches and took a "step" back.

I kicked Piper, and she jolted awake, too.

"Wha- ack, tree, big tree." She grabbed her tranq rifle, which luckily hadn't been packed away, and spun around in her sleeping bag to shoot it at the tree.

A red-feathered dart hit one of its branches, but the tree didn't even flinch.

Eva, where are you? We need some fire. I unsheathed my fan-dagger and sprinted at the tree.

It tilted its branches downward as if it was looking at me. A creaky laugh came from deep within its trunk as I slashed at its bark. Pieces of bark flew off, but it was like trying to... well, like trying to cut down a tree with a dagger. I sheathed my dagger and called Eva again.

I in tree, no can make fire, no can flap wings, she complained.

I spotted her, a small wrapped bundle just above Kyton.

"Your crown," Piper shouted from behind me.

"What?" I turned, and a branch slammed into my side. I hit the ground with a grunt. By the time I was on my feet again, the tree was sprinting away.

Piper ran up to me with my revealer crown clutched in her fist. "I think it's charged. It's blinking."

Sure enough, the crown's light was waxing and waning like a blinking alarm clock. That might mean it was broken or not charging right, but there was only one way to be sure. I slipped it over two of my horns. As soon as it touched my scales, I knew it was charged again.

"Grab all our equipment, and follow me," I said before the wave of magic crashed through me. The transformation was just as thrilling and unpleasant as last time. By the time I was standing on four claws, Piper had my packed bag over her shoulder and her rifle ready--assumably for any threat that had thinner skin than a tree.

I took off after the running tree, following the path of destruction in its wake. Smaller trees had been crushed, unfortunate mammals and amphibians trampled. Every tree that stayed standing stretched high above my head.

None of the trees were familiar, with their huge leaves and dark colors. Colorful birds and snakes traversed the canopy. Damp soil sunk beneath my claws. Swarms of mosquitos buzzed around my eyes. This wasn't a forest; it was a jungle.