Jackal Among Snakes

The further that Argrave and his siblings descended down into the cavern that Lindon directed them to enter, the less things made sense. The first crack in the image came when Argrave questioned why they hadn’t run into seawater, as the stairs that had been carved hadn’t been steep enough to avoiding breaching the island and running into water. Then, when Argrave looked ahead and behind, trying to gauge it... he could’ve sworn the stairs grew steeper by several magnitudes.

Then, he questioned how the Gilderwatchers, being snakes, had carved stairs at all. Next he knew, all beneath his feet was a slope, rough-hewn and marked by distinct pathways. He asked his companions, and Rook and Elenore both told him that it had always been a slope. Orion, however, still saw stairs. And when Argrave reasoned Lindon might’ve had human craftsmen carve stairs with another trick of the mind, they appeared again. Try as Argrave might, he couldn’t remember what the slope had looked like.

“There’s something off about this place,” Argrave voiced. “Something to do with our perceptions, our minds. Rook, have you noticed anything? Anything at all?”

“Nothing in particular, no.” Rook glanced around, searching for anything.

Argrave was disquieted, but he didn’t stop moving forward. Eventually, Orion said that he saw light up ahead. Argrave saw it too, before long; a rich, golden light that gave one the impression of warmth by sight alone. As they continued toward it, that warmth was confirmed. And when they finally reached the place whence the light came, Argrave’s mind felt flipped on its head once again.

Ahead, there was a verdant grassland with the blades of rich green rising up to the ankles. At the center of it all was a giant tree, rising taller even than the enormous trees of the Bloodwoods. It dwarfed the tallest skyscrapers Argrave had ever seen, and had a huge crown of leaves atop its head. On the thousand branches, Gilderwatchers every bit as large as Vasquer hung, coiled around and up its branches and its trunk like vines. The only description that sufficed was to call it a tree of life, and it seemed to shine as if projecting the golden light all of them felt. He could see the snakes moving, interacting, in the far distance. Dozens more wandered the grasslands.

It didn’t make sense that such a place could be beneath the earth, not when their trek had been so short. Argrave looked behind at the stairs, only to realize they were gone.

“Rook?!” Argrave demanded. “The stairs, where...?”

The black eyes of the god stared at Argrave in confusion. His next words brought Argrave chills. “What stairs?”

The extent of things finally sunk into Argrave’s head. He stayed and watched for a while

#####

Argrave watched for a long, long time, his feet frozen into place as he wavered between disbelief and awe. The majority of the Gilderwatchers moved serenely through the short grass in steady advance toward the tree. In time, only one persisted anywhere near Argrave’s group. It cut across the field, displaying tremendous agility and quiet. Even as the other feathered serpents wound around the gigantic tree looming above them all, this one came to them.

demeanor. It must’ve been a mile long, maybe more. Slowly, that huge body

Rook questioned.

waiting for the Gilderwatcher to come and meet him. When its colossal snout met his hand, he felt a familiar torrent rush into his head. Vasquer’s presence of mind was often warm, gentle, yet this sensation was reckless,

without words but with one singular subject: Vasquer. Argrave revealed all that he knew, and as the story passed from his mind to the confines of the giant snake’s, he felt a torrent of reactions; sorrow for what had been done to her, rage at those who had kept her captive, frustration at himself, and a bitter gratefulness toward Argrave for helping her. He felt the tinge of something behind each of these that confirmed who precisely this Gilderwatcher was. He had no name. Names were foreign to most of them, as all was conveyed by their mind alone, and they needed not words

over to Elenore and

searched through the information, bits and pieces slotted into place. This area wasn’t a physical location. It was one born of the mind—a collective remembrance and unified desire both. It was a

stolen from Royal Road. If you

Tree of Being. And through this melding, some among the Gilderwatchers made that colossal tree bear fruit. It bestowed some precious few with

looking at the tree

Elenore insisted, looking at Argrave. “You’ve

He inhaled deeply, the words feeling a little distasteful

time for jokes?!” Elenore chided him, but when Argrave didn’t respond, she hesitantly stepped forward and touched Vasquer’s father in turn. Soon enough, she was similarly pale, but that quickly faded. “You idiot. It’s much more decent than you’re

thought this was a family reunion,” Orion commented, hefting the golden cube in

the Gilderwatchers used, and had her willpower built up by constant use of Lira’s blessing. After a time, she pulled back her hand. “He posits we might die if we attempt to enter it alone. But the three of us, together, can wander through the tree as

and Orion

explained without conviction, “We would

#####

of miles wide, hundreds of miles tall… it didn’t feel like it was something that could exist, but Argrave perceived it as

them, towering. Elenore received some last bit of wisdom from him, and then withdrew her hand. The titanic snake moved around them, then slowly wrapped around the base of the tree. Before it even he seemed small, yet his scales clung to its rough, uneven surface, and

“What if we, you know… what if the three of us… a little snake?” Even as Argrave

shook