Chapter 40: Treetops: Part One
After Nesrin’s and Midknight’s departure, the group tried to determine their next course of action after turning around and gauging the swamp before them. Everywhere they looked, there was a watery mess; steam circulated off the surface as bubbles sprouted in different parts of the marsh. Although the trees stood tall among the water, they did not want to risk walking through it themselves; the forest was accustomed to the swamp, even if it looked deadly to anything near it.
They decided the only viable choice left was to climb up into the trees. When Evanna looked up, she saw the lower branches were smaller, but as she craned her head and squinted at the higher branches, she noticed they started to become broader and longer, as well as merging together with branches from other trees. After climbing to those great heights, they could place their feet down without needing to balance and could stand normally.
As Evanna continued, she noticed that the merged branches almost looked like a wooden path. However, that path would sometimes randomly split in two from the branches disconnecting. This caused them to hop or jump up to a higher level.
The group walked in a line, one behind the other, at a slow and steady pace, not wanting to lose their balance even if the branches were wide enough to walk on easily; they did not want to take any chances. Cilv and Evanna were at the front of the group for a change; they seemed to be masters at climbing compared to the men. Axel, in particular, took extra time and care in his movements, reaching out and stepping onto new branches anxiously, testing his weight on them.
"How are you doing back there, Axe!?" Evanna shouted behind her; she twisted her head to look, but Ronan was in her view. She knew Axel was the last in line.
"Yep!" Was all he grunted back,
"Ronan, get Ger to keep an eye on him, is he scared of heights?" She guessed; he was far slower than the rest, and he usually led the way.
"Yep, for such a big guy, you would think he was used to heights, his head always being high up in the clouds and all.."
"I can hear you, you know!" Axel complained in the background, "These.. these are not normal heights," His voice started to stutter.
"Ronan, speak to Ger," Evanna commanded. She knew if fear started to take over him, then they could be at a standstill as they try to coax him into moving again. They were already going slow as it was; she wanted to at least try and make it back to the ground before sundown. Otherwise, they would be sleeping in the trees, and Axel would not like that then! Not to mention, they could quite possibly fall to their deaths.
They spent the whole day walking and climbing among the trees like monkeys. Their breaks consisted of them sitting down carefully and snacking and replenishing their thirst from the water in their waterskins. Nobody complained about how cold the forest was as their bodies were now hot from all the physical activity they were put through. Sweat even started to form on their foreheads after they needed to keep climbing higher at different parts of the day.