Rose and Deshica

  Chapter Eight

  While it may have been disorienting to walk through Dwight Davidson's front door without stopping to open it, it was even more so passing through his refrigerator and ending up in Faerie.

  Faerie was not what anyone had expected, not that anyone other than Dice actually had an expectation of what they would see once they arrived. Instead of building over nature or around nature to create the colony that the Guardians now found themselves in, nature was a part of every structure. The houses were built in the branches of the trees. The trees themselves rivaled the height and girth of sequoias, forcing the Guardians to strain their necks to see even the lowest structures. Vines hung from the lowest branches and weaved themselves together until they resembled latticework. Once you reached the lowest branches you could see that they stretched out to the nearest tree and intertwined with neighboring branches to create a natural walkway that leveled up from the lowest branches to the top like a staircase would.

  Some daylight managed to filter to the forest floor through the canopy but not much. It was obvious that the dwellings relied on their own illumination. Flower blossoms the size of an outstretched hand grew along the vines, possibly being the source of the vines, providing some luminescence to keep the forest floor brightly lit. The blossoms also seemed to give off a charge of sorts, filling the air with static electricity.

  Dice shivered as he neared the vines and declared, “There is no way I'm casting a spell here. Trust me when I tell you it's not a good idea. Winter should probably refrain from doing what she does too.”

  Dragon looked around at the rest of the group, “I guess that takes away any shortcuts to finding them. How do we play this one out now T?”

  Turbulence had already been thinking of a possible solution, “We'll split up into three groups. John and I will stay in town and try to get answers from the residents. Anteus and Dragon, the two of you will take the path toward the hills while Whirlpool and Winter take the opposite direction.”

  Before the group split up Whirlpool made sure that she had everyone's attention, “If any of you find her before I do make sure you find a way to let me know.”