Arin said Arin slammed his fist into the trunk.

"SHUT UP! PLEASE! BE QUIET!"

cccrrrrrreeeeeeaaaaaaakkkkk.....

The tree shuddered, and the ticking sputtered.

whirrwhirrwhirr TOCK CLACK whirrrrrr CLACK CLINK whirrrrrrr whirrwhirrwhirr

The leaves above shuddered, branches snapped. The lantern swayed. The owl hooted pompously, spread its great downy wings and soared away over their heads; it stopped to perch on a stone at the edge of the light, and turned to watch with a bored expression.

Hania said A faint screaming was heard, seemingly from a young girl. It grew steadily louder as it's source picked up speed before the air above Anise gave way and the third arrival made herself known.

Hania -- who had until now been unconscious and balanced precariously in the branches of the tree -- fell from her perch when the tree shuddered. She crashed into the lantern first: the thread snapped, and the lantern tumbled down with her and clattered and crashed into the metal platform below, barely missing Randold's head. The glass was cracked, and the green weathered copper was slightly bent -- but it was still glowing a strong blue.

In fact, it wasn't fire at all that gave off the light: lodged tightly inside the glass was something smooth and oblong that glowed brightly from inside -- it looked almost as if it could be an egg, almost the size of a dinner plate, protected by the metal and glass of the lantern as if the lantern had been built around it. A rune was carved delicately into the side of the glowing egg, which was still stuck tightly inside the glass and metal of the lantern. There were no hinges, no doors, and no possible way at all to touch the egg -- let alone take it out of its enclosure -- without destroying the lantern entirely.

Hania, meanwhile, would find that most of her clothing was covered in a sticky, messy, slightly yellowish goo that smelled like rotted flesh. Her robe, as well, was punctured a bit with fang-sized holes -- but she was not injured save by the fall and the points of the warm lantern poking her in the back.

WHIRRRRRRIRRRRRRRIRRRRIRRRRRRRIRRRRR
CLATTERCLACKCLICKHISSSSSSSSSSS

There was a tremendous commotion inside the tree as metal tumbled and clattered inside -- and then everything was quiet.

For a moment there was an eerie stillness. The ticking had stopped. The reach of the lantern's light had been severely diminished as it lay cracked underneath Hania. Something was moving in the forest all around them. A shadow hissed.

The metal platform groaned and shuddered beneath them.

Anise cried out as she felt a weight land on her from above as the tree fell. She could not carry this weight herself and fell flat on her face; she barely managed to put her hands up in time to protect herself a little from the fall. She could tell it was a girl that fell on her from the quiet "oops" that she uttered. Anise's attention was everywhere. She noticed the egg that glowed that fell from the lantern, she noticed the metallic clicking had come to a stop, she noticed the ground she laid on was more than ground and certainly wasn't solid, and she noticed the sticky stinky goo that covered the body that was on top of her.

Her maid was going to have a fit over the filth that Anise was covered in. She jerked her body in an attempt to get the girl off of her. "Get off!" She pushed up with all her strength, as little as there was, to stand up hoping that the girl on top of her would get off while she did so. When she had a chance to stand up she knelt down to look at the glowing blue egg. Picked up the lantern and turned it around looking inside of it to inspect the egg. "What... is this?"

Bartering with a Mouse:



The first to introduce himself was Simon Connor, a young man who appeared slightly older than Hato. He pushed up his spectacles, reaffirming them to a more comfortable position. Simon shared the same intent as Hato; To get to the bottom of this, and find out who are the perpetrators. As he pleaded that they find the silver lining soon, or his father would punish him with a disallowance of practicing, Shirudo seized the chance to observe his surroundings in more depth. As he guessed, they were in the middle of a forest, full of tightly knit trees, shrouded in veils of darkness and shadows. Anything could be hiding under the cover of night, watching them. But the feeling of eyes settling upon them was not present, meaning that they were alone. For now. It appeared to be a typical woodland scene, excluding the aura of doubt, the shiver-causing climate, and the fact that they were standing on a perfectly smelted sheet of metal. He had no time to admire the masonship, for the next man introduced himself.

The eldest of the lot, who kept a stern expression plastered onto his face. But unlike Hato’s austere composure, he was still recovering from the attack by the rat, which was now propped on the astronomer’s shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye, he was able to glance at the rodent, which was still preoccupied with the silver box, now in the palm of his hand. The full-blown adult’s name had a nice ring to it. It flowed better than most, chock full of vowels and consonants. Though he didn’t stride to appease the one who saved him from the assault, Hato had no need for empty thanks, and continued on with his analysis. The metal plate was cracked in half, a crime against perfection, by a few saplings slowly proceeding through the stages of growth. Next to them was a completely matured tree, which was bearing the lantern. His somewhat blurred vision focused on the red iridescent glow, attempting to find a meaning to its presence.

Before he could pry anymore, the girl with the unforeseen undergarments spoke up. (I’ll edit in more stuff once Tatsua posts)

”Well, glad we all have exchanged names. There’s a start.” Whilst he was distracted with his acquaintances, the vermin leaped through the open window of time, and dug its teeth into his index finger. To his surprise, the rat’s canines were more developed than most, he could feel their tips pecking at his bone. Albeit the fact that they were small in overall size, Hato winced in pain, but gulped back any external reactions. If he was fully awake, he would most likely be writhing in pain a little more. After all, his threshold for pain was almost nonexistent. Thankfully, his senses were still dulled from being abruptly knocked out. He had given the creature acceptance, and received betrayal in response. With a quick toss of the box, it landed in his free hand. He then asserted his focus on the rodent impeding on his well-being. Like he had done to many envoys of the church, claiming his research was blasphemy, he tried to wave it off. But the little mammal was attached to him tightly, leaving only one option; Appeasement. But he wouldn’t go through a deal without receiving something in exchange.

Hato pressed the silver box against the forehead of the rat, adding a little force. Its bulging round eyes snapped to the creation, but it still refused to retreat from its current attack. He clicked his tongue, pressing ever so slightly, ”Let’s trade, alright? You let go of my finger, I’ll give you the box and not smush your brains out. Deal?” He chimed with a tint of malicious intent. Letting the rodent’s impertinent mind process what was currently happening, he turned to answer Alex’s question, ”Well, given our current location, we’re in the midst of taiga biome. We must be on the edge, as its snow consistency has dwindled exceptionally. As for how we got here- well, I believe I was knocked out while treating myself to a warm cup of coffee. But given the fact that we are here, we were of course moved to this area. By what, you may ask? We don’t know. I can’t properly calculate the trajectory of us in comparison to the constellations above, since we’re on too low terrain. Now, if you would take a look at this…”

The astronomer trailed off, he tapped his heel on the metallic surface, then pointed the teeth-sunken hand to the rim. ”In case you haven’t notice, much like us, this plate of metal was put here. It was dug into the ground, covered around its edges, and left to nature’s whims. Carriages are too large to weave between the treeline, and traveling by horseback is too risky. That means this sheet was carried or lugged here. This would lead me to believe that there is hopefully a village nearby, which can give us our relative location in juxtaposition to our village. Or villages, if we derive from separate homesteads.” And with that, he concluded his analysis. He returned his attention to the creature nibbling at his finger, and increased the leverage of the silver box. ”I’ve given you enough time to contemplate your next choice. Make a decision now. Before I regain my frame of mind.”

Hania rolled off of Anise as quickly as she could and bounced up to get feet. She smiled cheekily and rubbed the back of her head with her left hand, "Sorry." She laughed awkwardly them sighed.

She held her arms out and watched as globules of the strange yellow slime fell onto the platform. She flapped her arms once, violently. A large amount of slime colluded with the ground with a resonating splat.

She held the sleeve of her nightgown up to her nose and gagged at the putrid stench it gave I off. She reached behind herself and fumbled with the ribbons on her upper back that held her dress together, grimacing and moaning as her fingers dredged through the viscous liquid. Finall she had undone the dress and let it fall to the ground with a satisfying plop .

She now boasted a far less modest attire: a simple white breastcloth tied snuggly about her chest and a pair of white culottes that fastened tight around her mid-calf with a simple brass button.

She stepped cautiously out of the pile of rot-soaked cloth and crossed the platform to Anise, she bent over her shoulder and watched the strange blue node turning in the lantern.

The tree's gentle ticking turned into a violent fit of mechanical noise then fell strangely silent. Around them was a foreboding silence. Hania looked up from the lantern and began to turn in a 360. Suspense built and hung thickly in the air around the party and reached its climax as the unknown stalked them from just outside their field of vision.

The ancient platform shuddered and Hania lost her balance, falling on her side behind Anise and hitting the metal surface with a dull thud.

cccrrrrrreeeeeeaaaaaaakkkkk.....

Arin gasped. His fist remained on the tree, his eyes as wide as saucers. Even though he was expecting some type of reaction from the tree, he was still startled at the creaking sound. A small glisten of hope lingered in the boy's eyes as he awaited for some type of response from the tree, although he wasn't sure what to expect. Slowly he lowered his fist from the trunk, his knuckles already scarped and red from the hard bark.

whirrwhirrwhirr TOCK CLACK whirrrrrr CLACK CLINK whirrrrrrr whirrwhirrwhirr

The young man jumped in surprise and fell backwards at the sudden mechanical mayhem that seemed to be going on within the tree. He crawled on his back, away from the tree at an attempt to escape the noise. A pointless effort. Arin's breathing once again became rapid, he stopped crawling and instead curled up on the ground, covering his ears with his hands as the tree roared incessantly. The sight of the leaves and branches moving about violently, along with the sound of the lantern crashing into the floor painted a nightmarish image. The whole scene was chaotic.

Arin was unable to witness the Lantern hit the floor, as his eyes were closed shut and his hands remained on his ears. Never had the young man been so far out of his comfort zone, nor had he ever felt so afraid. It was also his first time outside of Mayloom. Far too many things were occurring at once. His resiliency kept him from fainting even though he wanted badly to wake up from a dream.

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

WHIRRRRRRIRRRRRRRIRRRRIRRRRRRRIRRRRR
CLATTERCLACKCLICKHISSSSSSSSSSS

The violent noises from within the tree seemed to have hit it's peak, and suddenly everything was quiet. Arin's eyes opened, slowly his hands slid off of his ears. The sound of silence was almost just as unbearable. It was less brighter than when he had awoken, at least it felt like it was. He sat up, eyes shooting around the area as he searched for the source of light.

Anise said "What... is this?"

Arin laid his eyes on the princess, then the lantern in her hands. It was just bright enough to illuminate them all, but not the surrounding forest. During the eerie silence, Arin managed to scramble to his feet and took a moment to collect his bearings. Placing his hands on his knees, he bent over, trying to calm himself by breathing in and out slowly. As he did so, the smell of rotten flesh suddenly plagued his nostrils, causing his face to scrunch up in distaste. Eventually, his heartbeat slowed and after a moment his mind was no longer racing, however the anxious feeling still remained. After one final uneasy sigh, the young man brushed himself off and quickly approached the princess holding the lantern.

He stopped a few feet away from her, and noticed that the lantern had been cracked. This only teased his anxiety. He wasn't particularly afraid of the dark, but right now wasn't the best moment to be without light. Arin gently placed his hands on the lantern as well. "May I see it?" He asked in an agitated tone. He was drawn to the light, just as he had been drawn to the tree's metallic noises. He wanted to protect their only source of luminescence. Carefully the young man took a moment to admire the lantern before him, caressing it curiously with his hand. The thimble on his index finger grew warm as his hand remained on the metal.

After the brief silence, suddenly a hissing noise could be heard from within the darkness. Arin spun around, gripping the lantern tightly as the sounds of movement surrounded the group. Suddenly, the metal platform below them began to groan and shake, causing the girl that had been covered yellow goo to lose her balance. Arin hesitated to help her up, and instead kept his eyes trained on the darkness, searching for the source of movement. He felt eyes watching him.

"I can hear you," he said aloud towards the darkness "We can all hear you." Arin paused for a moment, awaiting some type of response but received nothing in return. "I know you're over there!" he began to shout, "Did you bring us here?!"

More silence. Anxious, Arin turned around to face the others, the lantern in his hands illuminated all of their faces. Briefly he made eye contact with Anise, Hania and Randold before shifting his eyes towards the path that led through the tree's. He was conflicted on what to do next. Venturing deep into the forest was as bad an idea as sitting on the platform. Arin turned his attention back to the lantern, his eyes locked on the blue egg as he tried to think of some type of solution.

"What are we doing here," he muttered

Arin said "May I see it?"

The tone of his voice did not go unnoticed with Anise. She didn't particularly like it, but she couldn't see a way to open it without hurting herself. "Very well." She passed it off to the stranger. "Since you asked so nicely, you have my permission to use it. What is your name?" She maintained her royal demeanor even though in reality she was shaking inside. Daddy'll come and save you like he always does. Those were the words going through her head.

She looked down the path. "We need to get out of here. I need to get back to my Daddy and fiance." She pointed down the path. "This is the only path out of here. I don't want to get any dirtier than I already am, so someone should check to make sure it's clear." She remembered reading that unused paths tended to have roots and branches growing over them. Then she heard Arin call out towards the darkness, which caused her to jump.

She cried out nervously and then closed her eyes. One. Two. Three. She then reopened them and glared at Arin. "Don't scare me like that!"

Randold stood back simply observing the series of events. What does this all mean... God knows that's no natural tree, I don't like this place. Randold stared at the blue egg,, what ever that thing is, it certienly means the difference between life and death out in these dark woods.

Anise said
"Very well." She passed it off to the stranger. "Since you asked so nicely, you have my permission to use it."

Randold shook his head at her words Premission to use it? Does she not realize what we're all in the same dire situation here. Without the lantern shining its bright light above them, the forest seemed much more sinister, Randold couldn't shake the feeling that something was out there, hunting them perhaps. Randold listened to the princess suggesting that they continue down the path. Randold had to admit that seemed to be their only option at the time. Arin then shouted into the trees, seemingly trying threaten something off. This only helped to confirm Randold's fears, his fears that they are absolutely not alone.

Randold looked to the rest of the group and then pointed to the egg. " What I do know is that we should keep whatever that is safe. Doubt we'll last long without any light." Randold peered down the path. " Also I say her Highness is right, we should keep moving since its our only option right now." He looks over his shoulder, seems the fifth member haven't awoken yet. " Should also take him along, no one deserves to be left out here."

Hania pushed herself off the dirty metal surface with a groan and clambered up to her feet after the platform stopped shaking. She dusted herself off the best she could; she bent over and brushed the dirt off of her bear as well. She blew a stray lock of hair back into place with her mouth and let off a hefty sigh afterwards.

drewccapp said She pointed down the path. "This is the only path out of here. I don't want to get any dirtier than I already am, so someone should check to make sure it's clear."

Damiann47 said "Also I say her Highness is right, we should keep moving since its our only option right now." He looks over his shoulder, seems the fifth member haven't awoken yet. "Should also take him along, no one deserves to be left out here."

Hania looked between the two and nodded, "Let's go then..." She looked up - way up - at Randold, "You go first 'cause you're the biggest." She clutched her bear closely to her chest and set her chin on the top of its head. She peeked around Randold, watching the edge of the light that the lantern gave off. "I'll go right behind you," she began,"In case you get scared." Her voice wavered as she finished the sentence and it was obvious that she is unnerved by their predicament.

Hania checked over her shoulder and teetered to look around Randold. She was growing restless and the unnatural environment did little to alleviate it. Her eyes watched the edge of the lantern's light as it drew a thin line between night and artificial day. The lantern now was the one thing keeping her from utterly flipping shit. "S- so let's get going."

Anise said
Don't scare me like that!

Arin looked up from the lantern, returning Anise's glare. "I wasn't trying to scare you." He stated blankly, "If anything, you should be afraid of the shadows. We're not alone right now." The young man glanced at Randold, who seemed to have a worrisome expression. He then pointed at the egg inside the lantern, Arin followed his finger and lifted the lantern up so the others could see it clearly. He stared at the egg as Randold spoke.

Randold said
What I do know is that we should keep whatever that is safe. Doubt we'll last long without any light. Also I say her Highness is right, we should keep moving since its our only option right now. Should also take him along, no one deserves to be left out here.

Looking back, Arin observed the darkness as the others discussed moving down the path. With the lantern in his hands, he was tempted to make a run for it. Already he was terribly uncomfortable being around people, let alone being in the middle of a forest. The idea left a bad taste in his mouth. He couldn't help but wonder how far Mayloom was from their position, how would he even get home if he managed to escape the forest?

Curiously, Arin crouched down. They were all still standing on the metal platform. Carefully he ran his hand across the cold surface and vines, wondering what the platform was and if it had anything to do with the tree.

Hania said
S- so let's get going.

"Wait," Arin declared, still crouching. Not wanting to place their only source of light on the ground, Arin handed it back to Anise and placed his ear to the cold surface. His cheek was immediately freezing. "Don't you think we should find out what this is?" He began to knock on the metal. "I'm all for getting out of here, but we have no idea where we are. Maybe this thing could give us some answers." He stood back up, staring at the ground as he spoke.

"This isn't a bad dream. We were brought here for some reason. I don't think were any safer in the forest than we are right here, we don't even know where we're going." Arin ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "We could at least wait until the sun came up or something," he suggested.

Thundercat said "I'm all for getting out of here, but we have no idea where we are. Maybe this thing could give us some answers."

Hania nodded and mumbled an affirmation. She seemed as eager to stay and be watched from a distance than to leave and be stalked by whatever's lurking beyond the lantern's glow. She squatted down to examine the metal plate and ran her finger over a deep etch in the plate's surface. "Are these letters...?" she asked to nobody in particular. She cocked her head and tried to make out if the marks made any resemblance of a language. Then her focus was rattle by a strange sound - a hoot.

She had nearly forgotten that there was one thing here that wasn't mechanical, at least not obviously. She stood up and looked over to the owl that perched at the edge of the lantern's light. She stood there for a while watching it silently.

We're all here for a reason. - That's what Arin had said.

She turned around to look at Arin, whom had proposed staying and figuring out what everything is. "...uhm, mister..?" she started up, she blushed slightly as she began to explain her logic to him, "Uhm... if we're here for a reason then... doesn't that mean everything is here for a reason too?"

She turned back around and pointed out towards the owl, "...maybe the owl has something to help."

Anise said Picked up the lantern and turned it around looking inside of it to inspect the egg. "What... is this?"

It is, quite simply, a very large egg about the size of that which an ostrich might lay, though it feels heavy like stone. The pale blue shell appears to be strong and thick and not easily breakable. A rune is etched into the hard eggshell. The etching glows a darker blue, while the rest of the egg emits a bright, blue light. It glows a bright, pale blue light in the same way of a firefly.

The stony, heavy egg is encased in the old, green copper lantern. The metal top and bottom of the lantern are pressed flush against the egg, as if the lantern had been built specifically to protect it. The glass sides of the lantern are also up against the egg, and there are no doors nor hinges. The only way to remove the egg from the lantern would be to destroy the lantern. But now, part of the work was already done: one glass panel has a long thin crack in it, and one metal corner of the lantern is slightly bent -- but it is resilient, and will continue to do its job.

Arin said Not wanting to place their only source of light on the ground, Arin handed it back to Anise and placed his ear to the cold surface. His cheek was immediately freezing. "Don't you think we should find out what this is?" He began to knock on the metal.

With an ear against the cool metal, a deep, slow echo could be heard:

Tock . . . . Tick . . Tock . . . . . . Tock . . . . . Tick . . Tock . . . .

His knuckles against the platform knocked at a slightly lower pitch the farther toward the middle he rapped.

Hania said She squatted down to examine the metal plate and ran her finger over a deep etch in the plate's surface. "Are these letters...?" she asked to nobody in particular. She cocked her head and tried to make out if the marks made any resemblance of a language.

They were hard to make out through the decades of mold, lichen, weeds and roots -- but there were, upon investigation, four circles inside one another, connected by a ten-pointed star. Five Runes were positioned around the formation, carved deep into the metal but filled with little mushrooms and moss.

Hania said She turned back around and pointed out towards the owl, "...maybe the owl has something to help."

The owl fluttered, and it chuckled at them. hooHOOhooHOO!

Now that the light of the lantern had been significantly diminished due to its proximity to the ground, the shadows were free to move without fear of the lantern's light. From behind the tree, a pair of monstrous, bright yellow eyes watched them. They narrowed, and widened, focused intently on one little human, then another. A great paw shuffled in the weeds and ripped their roots with claws like swords.

Arin, the closest to the tree and to the great beast in its shadow, might be able to smell its hot breath, and hear the drip of sticky yellow saliva that dangled from its fangs. It smelled like rotted flesh.

The rune that Hania had touched began to shimmer ever so slightly. The metal platform trembled, and dirt and rock were dislodged from its edges.

The owl spread its wings and floated toward them again with a silent flap of feathers. It lighted on Randold's shoulder, tickling his ear with its wing, and it stared at him with big, meaningful eyes.

Randold stumbled due to the tremors coming from the platform. Soon after the shaking stopped, the owl decided to take off from its perch only to take a new resting spot on Randold's shoulder. He froze, trying his best to stay still. Randold looked deeply into the owl's eyes, deep and black, yet maybe there is something more in there. Arin's words echoed in Randold's mind.

Arin said
We were brought here for some reason.

Going on that, if we are here for a reason, then doesn't that mean everything else has a reason? At the very least this place is by no means normal, so I wonder... Randold inhaled deeply, unsure of his logic he held his hand to the owl, the palm raised upward. He focused solely on the owl, his breathing steady. Under his breath Randold muttered, perhaps to no one, or perhaps to the owl itself, "You know something don't you? Maybe you could give us a hand..."

Mokley said The rune that Hania had touched began to shimmer ever so slightly. The metal platform trembled, and dirt and rock were dislodged from its edges.

Hania beamed with delight at receiving a response from the metal platform. She gave it one last look before running her fingers over the other markings in hopes that she'd continue to make progress. Once she'd run out of grooves to clear out she stood up and gave it a final looking over and nodded, content with how things turned out.

Mokley said The owl spread its wings and floated toward them again with a silent flap of feathers. It lighted on Damiann's shoulder, tickling his ear with its wing, and it stared at him with big, meaningful eyes.

Hania ducked as the owl flew overhead and rested on Randold's shoulder and giggled as the bird brushed up against his face. The humor of the situation was soon overcast by the large looming eyes lurking behind the tree. They darted around, focusing on each person for no long period of time. They dilated and expanded, readjusting to each target as it sized them all up.

"O- over there,"she said, pointing weakly towards the tree and the large yellow eyes, "...i- it's here."

Anise tapped her foot impatiently. She wanted to get moving, while the others insisted on diddling around this scary place. She was terrified to explore on her own since she had no idea where to even start, and she hated to be alone anyways. She watched the little girl that fell on her earlier playing around with the metal plate they had been laying on before. The owl flew down and landed on Randold's shoulder, and it was much bigger up close. Anise laughed lightly for a little bit as the spectacle was a bit silly, but then the girl pointed at the tree saying something about it being here and Anise instinctively stepped so Randold was between her and the tree and stepped up close to him as he felt to be someone safe.

She heard him speak something to himself, but she couldn't quite hear. "C-can we go now?" She had a hard time keeping her voice steady, but in spite of everything she did her damnedest to try. She found it difficult to breath because the fear gripped her so tightly, but even then she tried to keep herself from crying anymore.

She traced her finger over a monarch butterfly pin on the left shoulder of her dress. "Remember, even if I'm far away and you're scared, I'll always find you and protect you. Keep this with you at all times and remember it will always keep you safe when I'm not near." Those were the words Daddy had told her when he gave her this pin, and ever since she has kept it on her.

Thomas said Whipping back around towards the cocoon, he hastily plunged his hand through one of the holes, aiming to grab the knife and cut the root.

Just as Thomas' hand clasped around the sheathed knife, a rodent inside the cocoon began to squeak and screech in alarm.

hkssssssss

A snake had been lying in wait within the darkness of the cocoon. At the very moment that Thomas had found the knife with his fingers, the snake lashed out and sank its fangs into the side of his palm.

It immediately let go when the rodent attacked the snake, and there was a flurry and tumult of biting and thrashing among the bones, while Thomas retrieved the knife and his bloody hand.

The sheath was of red velvet, nearly new, with gold-embroidered flowers curled around it. The hilt was silver and wrapped in neat black leather -- and the blade itself was etched with ornate geometric designs. But of course, there was no time now to examine it. The offending root had curled halfway up Quin's leg, squeezing almost tight enough to break it.

With Thomas' effort, one fierce blow of the knife against the root barely caused a chip in the solid bark -- but the root jerked fiercely as if bitten, and it yanked Quin's feet out from under her, throwing her onto her back. With one more strike of the knife, the root suddenly let go and slunk back into the shadows.

But while this was happening -- while Thomas and Quin were thus distracted -- there was a sound of rumbling and cracking, and a smell of turned soil: the cocoon of roots very suddenly snapped open wide like hungry jaws, the tips of the roots like teeth, displaying for Kituo's plain view the chalky skeleton dressed in silk, with a bleeding dead snake in its lap.

The ghastly image paused for a brief moment, and then -- just as Quin had been freed -- the jaws of the roots surged forward with a sound like thunder and crashed down again, devouring Tubal whole.

The minstrel had disappeared, and the roots roiled and turned and sealed together to the sound of squelching, cracking, and muffled screams.

The little rodent had leaped out just in time, and now clung to Thomas' back just behind his shoulder, shaking and matted with blood.

Hania said
...uhm, mister..? Uhm... if we're here for a reason then... doesn't that mean everything is here for a reason too?

Arin's face remained blank. "Well, yes" he replied "I guess you could say that. If we could find out why, maybe that could get us home." The boy once again placed his ear to the metal and began to knock once more. He listened intently for, well, pretty much anything at all. It took him a moment to realize he had never seen such a contraption in his life, he pondered whether more of these metal surfaces existed outside of Mayloom, and if maybe they were some sort of advanced technology.

Tock . . . . Tick . . Tock . . . . . . Tock . . . . . Tick . . Tock . . . .

His ears perked up at the sound. He listened carefully and continued to knock. Anyone over the age of ten could've made the distinction between the metal's pitch, however, such a device was foreign to Arin. He wasn't sure what to make of the pitch lowering the closer to the middle he knocked. "I..think this is hollow?" he stated. "I think there's something beneath this."

Hania said
O- over there...i- it's here.

"Huh?"

Still with his ear to the ground, Arin turned his head towards the direction Hania pointed, to his dismay he could easily see a pair of yellow, vicious eyes. Curiously, he stood up, and returned the beasts glare. As he stood up, the smell of rotten flesh returned. It was faint, but it was there. "There you are," he shouted towards the creature. Quickly Arin turned and grabbed the lantern with his right hand. He held it up high as to try and make out what was in the shadows.

"Who are you?" The boy spoke in a curious tone, intrigued by the pair of eyes he walked along the metal surface with the lantern in hand, approaching the lingering shadows. "Did you bring us here?"

Hato said With a quick toss of the box, it landed in his free hand. . . . Hato pressed the silver box against the forehead of the rat, adding a little force.

The moment the box was transferred to another hand, the ticking inside began to change pace -- it was faster, like a quickened mechanical heartbeat, but it remained methodical.

And when it was pressed against the rodent's head, the ticking became even faster. The box began to hum in Hato's grip, as if something were spinning furiously inside.

Somewhere deep in the woods, a flock of birds began to sing sweetly.

Hato said ”Well, given our current location, we’re in the midst of taiga biome. We must be on the edge, as its snow consistency has dwindled exceptionally. As for how we got here- well, I believe I was knocked out while treating myself to a warm cup of coffee. But given the fact that we are here, we were of course moved to this area. By what, you may ask? We don’t know. I can’t properly calculate the trajectory of us in comparison to the constellations above, since we’re on too low terrain. Now, if you would take a look at this…”

The astronomer trailed off, he tapped his heel on the metallic surface, then pointed the teeth-sunken hand to the rim. ”In case you haven’t notice, much like us, this plate of metal was put here. It was dug into the ground, covered around its edges, and left to nature’s whims. Carriages are too large to weave between the treeline, and traveling by horseback is too risky. That means this sheet was carried or lugged here. This would lead me to believe that there is hopefully a village nearby, which can give us our relative location in juxtaposition to our village. Or villages, if we derive from separate homesteads.”

"The boy makes a clever deduction," a ragged voice spoke out of the shadows of the trees, from the direction of the singing birds. The weeds swished. A rather short woman scuffled into the light, one foot at a time. Her age was unclear in the soft glow of the lantern; her hair was gray and spindly, her long warm dress was stitched from coarse brown cloth, and she moved with the assistance of a walking stick.

She stopped a few feet away from the edge of the metal platform, and she lifted her head to examine them -- or, rather, her dead-gray eyes seemed to gaze through them. After a few moments of turning her head, it would become clear that this woman was completely blind. However, when she lifted a finger she pointed directly at Hato.

"You're half-right," she said with a small amused smile, "I'll give you that. You would've been a little more right a century ago, but it's not a terrible train of thought." She paused a moment, then frowned. "I wouldn't tease the blood-rat if I were you, boy."

While Hato was thus distracted, the rodent -- its beady eyes flashing -- reached up and dug its claws into Hato's hand, to give itself leverage. With a wild fling of its tail and a tension of its entire furry body, it snapped its jaws shut with an impossible force. Suddenly it fell to the metal floor and disappeared among the vines and weeds -- along with the tip of Hato's finger lodged in its mouth. The animal had generously allowed the astronomer to keep the bloody stump of his previously perfect appendage.

"Oh," the woman sighed. "Well, then. You'll need something to put on that." She waited a moment for the shock of the injury to die down -- an expression of I told you so on her sightless face, though her warning had come too late -- and she shuffled forward and lifted a hand toward Alexander in greeting. "Lord Argen, I presume. And you've brought your daughter!" Her smile broadened. "Miss Rine," she addressed Annabel, "Good to see you. Hah!" Her head tipped toward Simon, then to Hato. "And these are your brothers? Wonderful. I had hoped you wouldn't come alone, Lord Argen. The trees have a nasty grudge against you."

She pointed to the sealed silver box. "Have any of you brought the key to the music box? You'd best open it before it goes off, or we'll all have missing fingers." Her smile was eager, tantalized by the idea of what lay within the trap box.

Hania said Hania beamed with delight at receiving a response from the metal platform. She gave it one last look before running her fingers over the other markings in hopes that she'd continue to make progress. Once she'd run out of grooves to clear out she stood up and gave it a final looking over and nodded, content with how things turned out.

As Hania touched each of the runes it began to sparkle and glow very faintly. The metal platform hummed delicately, while the clinking and clanking beneath them grew just a bit louder.

Randold said Under his breath Randold muttered, perhaps to no one, or perhaps to the owl itself, "You know something don't you? Maybe you could give us a hand..."

The owl shifted and blinked. It turned its head all the way around to stare and blink at Anise, who was hiding behind Randold. It studied her for a long while, silent and thoughtful, as if it were studying her very soul.

Finally, the owl shifted again and looked up at the golden eyes in the darkness -- for those golden eyes stared down at them from a frightening height. Whichever monster they belonged to was at least as tall as an elephant.

Arin said "Who are you?" The boy spoke in a curious tone, intrigued by the pair of eyes he walked along the metal surface with the lantern in hand, approaching the lingering shadows. "Did you bring us here?"

The eyes remained steady, focused intently on Arin and on the lantern. As the light cast upon the figure, a long black muzzle came into view -- a shaggy black pelt, pointed and alerted ears. It was a gigantic black wolf with narrow eyes and sabre fangs, and its hackles were raised.

Those bright yellow eyes snapped to Randold -- or maybe it was looking at Anise behind him -- and the great wolf lowered its stance and snarled. The noise that rumbled in its throat was like distant thunder, threatening and deadly. Its eyes flashed with the desire to kill.

The owl flapped its wings hard -- smacking Randold in the head in the process -- sank its claws into Randold's shoulder and struggled valiantly to drag him away from the wolf and toward the path in the woods. Its wings flung feathers everywhere as it pulled on his shoulder, urging him with growing anxiety.

TICK . . . . TOCK . . . . . TICK . . . . . TOCK . . . .

The platform under their feet -- its runes glowing a little brighter -- shifted and suddenly dropped two inches into the ground.

The wolf tensed, lowered its head, and stepped forward, completely ignoring everyone who stood in the way between it and Randold -- or Anise, whichever one it was looking at, it was hard to tell.

And then, after another moment, the platform began to tilt. It made a groaning and grating sound, and one half of the disc sank deeper into the ground while the other half raised up over the edge. The angle of the floor they were standing on slowly and methodically grew steeper and steeper, tipping all of them toward the wolf.

The owl redoubled its efforts in anxious urgency.

As he thought, they were not alone. As the wolf moved into view, all color drained from Randold's face. The creature was massive, had to be the size of a small horse at least, it was the stuff of nightmares a reason to fear the night. Then the platform started to tilt, more panic entered Randold's heart as he realized they were slowly being pushed towards the beast. He barely even noticed the owl tugging away at him, just the terror was too great. Yet in all the chaos swarming in his head, one thought rang loud and clear simply Save the kid! Turning around he reached down and attempted to pick Anise up, the combination of his strength and her being lightweight easily made the task manageable. Randold threw Anise with all his might hopefully off the platform and into the relative safety beyond.

He snapped his head towards the other two and shouted on the top of his lungs, "RUN! YOU HAVE TO GET MOVING RIGHT NOW!" he frantically motioned his arm towards the path. Without waiting for their reaction Randold turned back the wolf. The sudden burst of adrenaline override his fear, at that moment all that mattered at the time was just the wolf. Randold knew nothing about combat, barely even how to make a fist, he knew very well he had no hope to tackle this wolf, but none of that even mattered. None of his previous fear remained, the rest of the world faded away, all that was left was himself and the wolf. Gradually adjusting his stance as the platform moved, Randold stood his ground, fearless determination in his eyes as he stared down death itself.

Eek! Hania jumped back, startled by the mechanism springing back into life. The platform jerked quickly down, almost toppling her then begun to tilt at a steady rate towards the beast that came from the woods. Hania was at the edge of the platform furthest from the wolf when she finished activating the glyphs. She stood dazed as the platform began to lift her into the air the metal platform became more and more slick and her balance was fading.

As the platform neared forty-five degrees she jerked back into reality and gripped the edge of the platform and held on with all she could. The platform neared fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety degrees and Hania was at the top, dangling by her finger tips, screaming all the while. He sniffled and her breaths were heavy with fear. She gulped and looked down, at first into the hole and then to the wolf and whatever the others were doing before closing her eyes and grunting as she continued to hold on with all her might.