Part 5: The Harvester

I followed a stream outside of the forest and into the craggy area that was being twisted by the Trickster's will. For a while I thought the stream and I were both moving in a straight line, but when I looked back I saw the landscape curling into a spiral suspended in a red haze of nothingness. The stream seemed like the best point of reference I had—that is, until it started flowing vertically upward. The rest of the land kept twisting ahead of me but the water fell upwards into what looked like a pile of distant leaves. The Maw of Chaos was really living up to its name.

I started to continue forward but a hiss stopped me in my tracks. A spider descended from one of the upper coils of the landscape and when it touched down near me, it turned out to be larger than a dog. I grabbed my bow but when I reached back for an arrow, another spider caught my hand from behind with a spray of silk. It was strong enough to pull me off balance, but I quickly recovered and yanked the spider in the direction of its friend. While they struggled to get untangled from their collision, I used an arrowhead to cut the silk from my fist.

That same arrow was fired into one of the spiders and pinned him to the ground. Just as it screeched in death, three more dropped out of nowhere and sprayed in my direction. I was able to dodge one of them but the others caught me on the forearm and shin. The spiders couldn't wait to start hauling me towards them. There wasn't really anything for me to grab onto to prevent their pull—the only place I could reach for was the stream.

The water was a decent temperature but I didn't dive in to enjoy it. I managed to wash the webbing off my limbs, though not before the two spiders on the other end were dragged in with me. We were caught in a current that was stronger than I expected it to be and before I knew it, I was being carried up with the gravity-defying flow of the water.

Both spiders panicked as we went higher and eventually fell out of the stream. I rotated to see where I was going but otherwise didn't struggle. The water flowed towards what I had thought was a pile of leaves but the closer I got to it, the more I could see that it was actually the top of a massive tree floating upside-down in the chaos. Its trunk had to have been as tall and wide as the Baron's Keep.

The water passed through the tree's canopy and weaved through its branches. When I looked ahead I saw it was starting to make impossible twists and turns—flowing straight through the branches in some instances. I had to get off this ride or I was going to be impaled. I attached a rope to the claw and threw it around a sturdy limb. When it pulled me from the water I thought I would be dangling but gravity decided to work differently from how I knew it to work. I slammed against the branch and all the wind was knocked out of me.

I looked upwards while I gathered my bearings. In the distance, I could still see the twisting landscape in what was now the sky for me. Returning to Viktoria was going to be difficult. Maybe after I freed the Trickster from his anger, the world would go back to normal. I didn't have any other choice but to find out.

I climbed up—or rather, down—the upside-down tree to reach its trunk. There was a hole not far from me and I could hear something echoing inside.

The hollow trunk was lined with walkways and suspension bridges made out of planks and vines. I lowered myself to the highest walkway and looked down for the source of the noise: A figure moving around in the bottom of the hollow tree. It was hard to see clearly with only the light from the hole to help me, but I had an idea that I was close to finding the Woodsie One himself.

I moved quickly and carefully along the walkways to descend the trunk. A loud roar stopped me from crossing one walk and I was glad that it did—the emotion expressed by the sound traveled upwards and changed most of the walkways into brittle thorn branches, and many of them collapsed under their own weight. The platform I was on stayed in tact but a hail of barbs from up above forced me to dive under it and hang by a fixed rope.

By then, my eyes had adjusted enough so I could see who was below me. He loped around on a pair of dark goat legs that didn't seem to match the long lizard's tail trailing behind him. It was the only part of his exposed skin that was scaled over. The horns sticking out of his painted head told me the rest of what I needed to know: The trickster god was right below me, and I had managed to stumble into his lair.

I could see that something was wrong with him. The heavy tread of his hooves was followed by a weary limp. There were vines wrapped around the base of his tail and part of his torso, and each time he reached for his chest, the vines became thorn branches that dug into his skin. At first his back was to me so I couldn't tell why that was happening. When he turned around, I could see the black blossom that was lodged in his chest. That must have been the Thorn of Vengeance Viktoria mentioned, but it looked like it was killing him. Each time he reached for it, the thorn would respond with painful repercussions.

I didn't have far to drop from the bottom and while there were shadows everywhere, the Trickster wasn't distracted enough by his pain not to notice that someone was lurking in the open space.

"Who bes bolding enough to enter the Woodsie King's domain? More sneaksie manfools?"

He raised his hand and made two small orbs of green light appear. The orbs took on a life of their own and circled the area, lighting up each shadow they passed. I kept moving between their patrols in an effort to remain unseen.

The Trickster rotated in the opposite direction of the lights' movement. When he faced me, his mouth curled into a snarl even though I was still hidden by the dark. "Bes knowing the cloaksie shadow. Sneaksies coming to finishes the deeds? Not so long as the Jacksberry draws breath!"

He stamped his hoof and the light wisps put me in a spotlight. By then I had an arrow fitted with a water canister and aimed in his direction. I struck him in the face with it and when he howled in outrage, the floor of the hollow trunk began to break apart.

I side-stepped a few pieces of falling floor and caught a glimpse of what was below the tree: An ocean of lava. The roots were dipped into it but they had transitioned into stone. I wasn't going to be able to pull the same trick if I plunged through the cracks. I rushed forward and reached out for the blossom while the Trickster was still trying to clear off his face. A section of wood gave out under my left foot and before I knew it, I started to slip through. At the same time, the Trickster speared his tail forward in defense of himself. It was the only thing I could grab to keep myself from plunging to my death.

I held onto that lizard tail for dear life and soon enough, he drew it back up out of the hole and swung it over himself again. It was now or never. I let the momentum pull me over his shoulder and before he could reach up to swat me like a fly, I grabbed a hold of the blossom and twisted it right out of his chest. The stem that withdrew from him was so long it would have killed a normal creature if it were driven into their heart. The Trickster was definitely a lot more than I thought he would be.

I was thrown over his shoulder by a bucking reaction to the pain but the floor had already mended itself by the time I landed on my chest. The Trickster fell backwards and I had to roll out of the way to avoid being trapped underneath him. The thorn I had pulled from his chest withered and died in my hand.

All the walkways above us were starting to return. I looked to the foot of a nearby flight of stairs and saw Viktoria quickly approaching us with another large flower bud in hand. I wasn't going to ask her how she got here so quickly but the question was definitely on my mind. She rushed to the Trickster's side and knelt down to tend to his wound. They spoke to each other in a more complex version of that broken English they spoke, and I couldn't make out what they were saying.

Something didn't feel right about all this. The Trickster's reaction to me and the things he said made it seem like someone had been here ahead of me trying to kill him. Then again, I may have just saved the Trickster's life. Having a god owe me a favor could be one of the most valuable prizes I've ever claimed.

Viktoria looked to me with a proud smile. "I knew I was right to choose you, my good thief."

I shrugged and stood up straight. "It's all in the wrist. Now how do I get out of here?"

She leaned down and whispered something to the Trickster. He took a labored breath, then swiped the air with his right hand. A gash of light appeared between us.

"Go with our thanks," Viktoria said. I was too thoughtful about the event to respond. I had just saved a god's life but I had to wonder if I had done the right thing. I reminded myself that he had died once before and could possibly be killed again, especially if he double-crossed me. Then I stepped through the crack of light and came out in a garden next to an overgrown greenhouse in the Old Quarter.