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“Idon’t want my breasts making mind control drops!”Celiaexclaimed.
“Yeah, but you heardLa’ver’na—if they don’t and your nipples don’t turn blue soon, they’re going to feed us to theMotherTree—whatever the hellthatmeans,”Fiercegrowled.
“Whatdoesit mean?”Celiaasked. “Doyou think this tree actuallyeatspeople?”Sheshivered at the awful thought.
“Idon’t know, butIthink we need to find out,”Holdmurmured.Helooked atFierce. “Areyou thinking whatI’mthinking,Brother?”
Fiercenodded.
“Ithink it’s time for a little trip toBranchFiveto find out what the fuck is going on around here.”
35
CELIA
Celiabit her lip asHoldandFiercepulled on the ropes to bring the sky-lifter up toBranchFive.Shehad a bad feeling about this little field trip they were taking, but she also agreed that they had to know what was going on here.TheSisterhoodofPeacewas beginning to sound more and more like a sex cult with nefarious plans and they were stuck in its sticky web.
Luckily, the sky-lifter was a silent mode of transportation and they were able to reachBranchFivewith a minimum of noise.Itseemed that most everyone who lived in the giantMotherTreehad already gone to bed, so they didn’t meet anyone as they stepped onto the forbiddenFifthBranch.
Atfirst, it looked like the other branches of theMotherTreethey had seen, with a broad pathway carved on the surface of the giant branch and plenty of the huge, blanket-sized purple leaves rustling softly in the light breeze.Holdled the way withCeliain the middle andFiercetaking up the rear.Theystayed in the shadows of the leaves but they didn’t see anyone as they made their way along the branch.
Butthey weren’t going out onto the part of the branch that grew away from the tree—rather, they were walking the width of the branch and keeping the massive trunk to their right.Aftera while,Celiawondered if they ought to make their way down the length of the branch instead because they weren’t seeing anything of interest.Shewas about to suggest that they take a left and explore further out, when she heardHoldgive a low exclamation.
“Here!Iknew it—come on!”TheLightTwinmotioned for them andCeliaandFiercefollowed him through a doorway cut into the massive trunk.
Theroom they entered resembled both the dormitory and the dining hall, but it was much, much vaster—almost the size of a football stadium,Celiathought, looking up and around in awe.Itwas lit, like the others, with the golden moss hanging from the ceiling high above, but there was also a reddish glow coming from within.
Thehuge room was empty, soCeliamade her way towards the red glow, which seemed to be coming from one of the enormous rounded walls.Whenshe got a little closer, she saw it was being caused by the same red flowers that had been heaped at the bottom of the large wooden cauldron in the dining hall.Theygave off heat as well as a dim red glow that illuminated a section of the wall.
“Fireflowers,”Holdmurmured, nodding down at them.ButwhatCeliawas looking at wasn’t the flowers themselves but the wall they were heaped again.
“MadredeDios,”she whispered, taking a step forward. “Arethose…faces carved into the wall?”
Thatwas what it looked like—and not just faces, there were whole bodies which looked like they had been carved into the enormous wooden wall.Someof them seemed to be yelling or reaching out, as though begging for help.Whatit remindedCeliaof was that scene inStarWarswhereHanSologets put into aCarbonitemold—that was the look of the carvings.Butinstead of just one figure, it was a whole row of them.
“Thereare rows and rows of them!”Holdremarked, walking further down the line and voicing her thought out loud. “Thiswhole room is filled with them!”
“Whatin theSevenHells?”Fiercemuttered. “Whatthe hell kind of carvings are these?They’refucking creepy!”
Celiathought so too.Tentatively, she reached out to touch the wall beside one of the carvings.Shedidn’t want to touch the carving itself—it just looked tooreal.
Butthe moment she put her hand flat on theMotherTree’ssurface, it began to sink in—it was as though the wall was made of some kind of soft clay instead of wood.
“Hey!”Celiayanked her hand away—ortriedto anyway.Thewall didn’t want to let her go. “Guys?Help!” she exclaimed, yanking harder. “Hurry, please—it’seatingme!”
“Whatthe fuck?”Fiercewas suddenly at her side.Hewrapped both big hands around her wrist and forearm and started pulling backwards.Buteven thoughCeliafelt her hand give a little, it wouldn’t completely come free of the tree.
“Itwon’t let me go!” she gasped. “Dios—get it off me!”
“Brother, come grab her around the waist!”Fierceordered asHoldhurried over. “Andthen pull for fuck’s sake!”
“Wedon’t want to break our lady’s arm—be careful,Fierce!”Holdexclaimed, even as he put both arms aroundCelia’swaist and began to pull along with his brother.
“I’drather have a broken arm than be eaten by a tree!”Celiaexclaimed.Panicwas climbing up her throat and choking her with fear. “Hurry!Getme loose—please!”
Ittook the strength of both big warriors but at last her hand came free with a sharp, tearing pain and all three of them tumbled backwards.
“Ow!MadredeDios!”Ceilalooked down at her palm, which was stippled with tiny droplets of blood. “Thatreallyhurts.”
