Records of Rebirth

The loose vines, slippery and wet, ensnaring Europa's tail in their grip, but he quickly wriggled free, before continuing to flee. 

But the ground beneath him was slippery and soft. In the absence of solid vines to stand on, all that remained was wet ground dripping with rotting dark water and Europa struggled to free himself from the multiple vines that reached out for his body.

His heart began pounding more fiercely as he heard Artemis call out from further ahead of the group. [Keep running! Don't stop for anythin-] 

The rest of his words were drowned out by the horrible croaking cry of a creature pursuing them from above. With Artemis's voice so faint and with his body quickly disappearing into the muck, Europa feared he would be left behind. 

His eyes bulged from the putrid dark water filling his lungs and he struggled for air. He drew in a deep breath as he forced his head above the murky water, reaching for any root or stray twig to pull himself above ground.

However, he soon made out a scattering of dark wings and the shadow of a twisted, grotesque creature that was neither dead nor alive coming towards him. It flapped its rancid rotted wings above the water, as it lunged down to scratch him with its talons.

Fearing he would be viciously clawed apart, Europa slipped, and the loose vines lifted up from the murky depths of the slimy water, eagerly took hold of him and  began to pull him under. 

His vision blurred from lack of air as dark water filled his lungs, and he regretted ever venturing into this part of the forest. Although they were suspicious of it from the beginning, they underestimated the danger that lay hidden underneath. Everything had gone so wrong once they decided to dig around.

It all started after they followed Artemis's instructions, digging beneath the moss and vines covering the ground, thinking they would find a clue to what happened to the trees. 

But all they discovered was murky darkness instead of soil and they were covered in slimy ooze - the same strange substance that blighted the trees, and far more rotten dead creatures than they could count.

Why the hell had they listened to Artemis?

The beautiful exterior of the forest was all a façade and what it really was, an ominous mass grave. 

Every one of the rotten dead creatures all had vines growing out of their bodies, spreading from their putrid flesh to rise above the ground to cover it in a blanket of mossy vines. 

Some had completely been reduced to bone while others still had flesh on them, and Europa saw many creatures currently alive in the forest among the corpses, frozen solid in death as vines sprouted from their bodies.

But what bothered him most was the ground. There was a shallow layer of sand on the surface, but after that it was all just black rotting water. Rancid putrefied liquid, like the vapours from a dead corpse that mingled in with the sand to form a muddy layer of disgusting muck.

They had disturbed the forest by exposing its true form and now it was showing its true form. The buried creatures they thought dead, have begun moving again, reanimated by the vines inside them, like puppets.

And as soon as they were uncovered, multiple creatures burst out of the murky ground to pursue the snakes. Various creatures, both large and small were among their pursuers and they had been running in terror to escape them since.

Europa was unfortunate to get separated from the group and dragged into the murky depths of the ground, adding another to the ranks of creatures submerged within. 

As the last breath of air left his lungs, he heard the wretched cry of the hideous bird as if something attacked it. And then a dead branch was thrust at him in the water before he heard a voice.

[Grab it. Come on, you have to get out.] 

Europa could faintly make out the spaded snake's voice as she screamed at him, but alas, he was too weak to move. But soon, he heard a splash as the heavy branch struck the water, and soon he felt himself getting pulled up.

[Open your eyes, Wake up! Europa, don't die on me. I don't know how to heal you.]

He opened his eyes and the cries slowly subsided. Although his vision was blurred, he faintly made out the sobbing snake next to him. But more than that, to his disbelief he saw the rotting corpse of the vine covered creature, sinking slowly into the murky water. 

Has she killed it?

[You're okay!] The spaded snake cried in relief. [Are you injured anywhere?]

His body ached but they were all minor scrapes. Aside from his lungs burning a little, he was mostly fine. 

He took a deep breath and looked around and saw they were both suspended on a thick branch above the water. She must have thrown it into the water to rescue him.

[Where are the others?] he asked hoarsely.

[Hiding. I told them to wait while I came back for you. But we have to leave now.]

The spaded snake peered up in the trees warily, looking for any approaching danger.

[Did you kill it?] He was still in shock and could only stumble out these questions.

[Yes. They are really sensitive to sound and movement. If you want to kill them you have to approach them slowly. Let's go.] 

Together, they slithered down from the branch, but when he started to move too quickly in his haste to flee, she stopped him.

[If you move too fast, they will detect you from the air. You have to move slowly.]

So they slithered slowly through the ground, avoiding places with gaps where the vines had opened up to release the creatures. The forest was filled with screeching sounds and many hoarse cries that left Europa trembling.

[How do you know this?] he asked doubtfully. 

It wasn't that he didn't believe her, he just wanted to get out of the forest as quickly as possible and moving so slowly made him anxious that they would be caught soon.

The spaded snake shook her head, trembling ever so slightly. [There's nothing else alive here, but us. You didn't see what happened. Once those things came out of the ground, every other creature that ate the fruits turned into one of them.]

That cleared up the mystery in his head, because he hadn't seen a single living creature since they started to run. All he saw were various creatures in different stages of decay. 

Some looked very fresh like they died only recently, while others were mere bones with rotting flesh hanging off them. But what was it all for? Had the vines taken over all the creatures simply to make them do their bidding?

[How do we- ] get out of here, he wanted to ask, but her quick stare silenced him.

It wasn't long before he noticed numerous small, winged lizards perched on one of the branches, with vines moving their corpses. They looked out over the ground, but their eye sockets were empty with tendrils growing out of them. 

The spaded snake who had seen them first, didn't stop and continued to move. The winged creatures continued to watch the ground, but none of them reacted as they slowly crept past. It was only when they'd gotten clear that the spaded snake spoke.

[I don't know. But Artemis has an idea.]

Europa breathed a relieved sigh. He couldn't tell which way was what and the forest has changed too much since they entered. Eventually, they reached the place where the other snakes were hiding, and they were all relieved to see him alive.

They hid behind a large stone that was overgrown with thick wines, forming a partial shelter that protected them from view. 

Artemis was the most troubled and he kept muttering under his breath as he tried to figure out the best way out, but the spaded snake convinced him to stop overthinking. 

[You know which way we came from, right? Let's just move slowly until we reach it.]

[They know we're still alive. There's no way we can make it across without them noticing.]

[What do you suggest we do then?] She asked.

[We wait it out here until everything returns to normal.] Artemis replied, much to everyone's disapproval.

[I can't stay here anymore. It's too scary.] one shake whined. [Can't we run now while it's clear.]

Artemis firmly refused. [There's too many of them out there. We'll get run down before we make it anywhere.]

[How do you know it will turn back?] Europa asked.

[The forest acts as a lure. If it remains looking like this, no other creature will enter, so it has to change back. Once it does, those creatures will go away. That will be our chance] he looked around and took a deep breath. [Until then, staying hidden is our best chance at survival.]

His reasoning was sound, but the spaded snake didn't agree. [When do you think it will change back? You want to wait for that but we don't know if it will happen or not. What if it takes too long? We'll be dead by then.]

[We should slowly find our way instead of hiding and waiting.] she added

However Artemis was adamant and continued to refuse. But then, a low mournful cry reverberated outside their shelter and the snakes fell silent, pressed closely to the rock that formed their shelter.

Europa thought the creature sounded close, in fact the sound seemed to be coming from above them and he peered warily at the thick vines above. 

To his horror, he made out a moving figure followed by a putrid smell. Thin black fibres resembling hair began to drip between the gaps of the vines and one of the nestlings screamed loudly as it touched her.

The vines covering them immediately burst open revealing the creature that the hair belonged to. It was a soaking wet dark figure, with putrefied tree bark making up the majority of its body.

It moved swiftly, clawed hands reaching down to grab them, with its eyes a murky white shade and its mouth gaping wide as it continued crying mournfully.

The spaded snake immediately leapt on its body, twisting the arm it used to grab one of the snakes until it broke and then she threw herself at the creature to keep it busy.

[Run! Now!] She screamed at them. [I'll hold it back. Find the exit, I'll meet you there.]

Somehow, she was able to push back the creature entirely on her own, and resisted Artemis's attempts to help her.

The creature continued to fight her off, and as it let out another loud cry, the vines shifted and the ground opened up beneath them, swallowing the creature and the spaded snake together.