“Atticus! Loxo! I’m so glad I found you!” the boy said as his eyes teared up. “I was afraid I’d lost you to the bog!”

  “I was busy chasing this fool.” Said Atticus. “How did you find us and what are you doing with these beasts? Did you tame them somehow?”

  “They knew where to find you because of Loxo’s yelling! And they’re not beasts at all! They’re plant beings that are made of spore not unlike mushrooms! I took some of the psilocybe and now I can understand what they’re saying and they can understand me!”

  “Surely you jest!” said Atticus in amazement.

  “No, it’s true! Look!” said Morell, turning about to face the beings standing over them. “Icks dem shon bin yaw!” he said with his arms held out from his sides. All the towering creatures reacted by splaying the petals of their face blooms at once. “See?” he said. “These are friends! They call themselves the Brambillions!”

  “Boy,” Atticus said, pulling Morell close so he could whisper in his ear. “You need to quit playing games with these things and find a way to get us out of here before they eat us.”

  “They’re not meat eaters.” Morell told them. “They’re plants that pull their food from out of the ground. “

  “But I’ve heard about them killing scores of men. Ask them why they murder people.”

  “Horskem borshu fondel bit emba?!” Morell asked the closest one.

  “Shorgum beld it frongum.” The brambillion wiggled its ivy and limbs.

  “What’s that?” asked Loxo. “What did it say?”

  “It says they were only defending themselves from humans who tried to invade its habitat. It was protecting its home. But right now, they have a huge problem and I’m trying to help them solve it.”

  “What problem could something that big have?” asked Atticus

  “A blight.” Said Morell, walking away from the men to place his hand upon one of the titans. He snapped of a piece of a branch from two places and brought it back to show them. “You see this piece right here? It looks healthy and fat and green. But this one?” He held out a twig that looked shriveled and tiny. “There is a something here that is slowly taking away their spore community’s ability to thrive.”

  “What does that have to do with you or us?” asked Atticus. “What are we supposed to do about it? We don’t know anything about spores!”

  “You don’t,” Morell smiled. “But I do! The blight seems to be infecting them from some place in their water source. If I can find that, I think I can help them!”

  “And what then?” asked Loxo.

  “Then I think they will be happy and healthy, and we can leave to find the others.”

  “And how long is that going to take?” asked Atticus. “We are without food and drinking water! We won’t last another day or so if we don’t escape this accursed dirt maze and find food!”

  “Our new friends will provide for us while we help them.” He boy said confidently as he looked back over his shoulder at the plants. “Shooo doo hundu noyyeet!” He called aloud. The Brambillions reacted by shimmying and shaking in a wild dance before the leaflike hands unfolded before them revealing a small trove of edible mushrooms.

  “Oh no.” said Atticus, looking very concerned and pointing to Loxo. “I’m not eating that. Those have got this man howling like a simpleton. I’m not going to lose my mind like he did.”

  “These are very safe to eat.” Offered Morell as he plucked a white bulb from the leafy plate and popped it in his mouth. “These are the same kind as the ones I’ve given you before. They’re peppery and flavorful!” The man didn’t look convinced, but the pirate wasted no time in snatching up two fistfuls and shoving them in his mouth.

  “Oh, my gracious!” exclaimed Loxo. “Atticus, these are delicious!”

  “What do they know about getting out of this place?” Atticus asked instead.

  “It’s their habitat! They know everything within Steelbrair! In fact, they pull the groundwater through their larger parts.” He pointed at the largest Brambillion. “And they spray it out their top membranes which is what makes the mist that surrounds them! Not only does it keep them hidden but it provides the perfect atmosphere to grow more spores! It’s magnificent, Atticus!” the boy said, practically beside himself with giddiness. “This is everything I’ve been looking for! A self-sustaining colony of spore and mold and fungus that perpetuates its own existence on a massive scale! There are uncountable fruiting bodies in the area we’re standing on alone! There’s no place in the world like this! And right now, the colony needs help because something is infecting it like a nasty wound.”

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  “Wait.” Said Loxo. “How are you standing on both feet? I thought your ankle was injured. Have you been pretending to be hurt so someone would carry you?”

  “No!” Morell laughed. “That’s another thing! The Brambillions know something of humans as well! They offered to heal my ailing ankle!” he said standing on it and balancing himself. “It’s as good as new!”

  “Well, I’ll be.” marveled Atticus. “They did heal it.”

  “That’s lovely Morell!” said Loxo as he swatted at imaginary things circling his head. “But how are we supposed to help the boombadillos with their blight if we don’t know where it is?”

  “They told me there is a place in the center of Stellbriar where the blight is strongest. They said there’s a deep, deep pool that is a natural spring. They say the blight seems to be coming from that place but they know not what to do about it.”

  “Why don’t they just leave?” asked Atticus. “Mushrooms live everywhere in this land?”

  “I asked them the same question while I was looking for you. They said that humans always try to burn them or cut them up because they’re afraid of the Brambillions. They want to stay here and grow in time as not to impede upon the human habitat. They also said it takes time for them to build up the lingering fog that nourishes new growth. They’ve always been able to leave for short amounts of time, and sometimes they do, but they do it on dark nights so that they won’t be seen. They know others will be just as frightened of them as we were.”

  “They said all of that?” asked Loxo.

  “They did!” Morell smiled. “If we can help to at least identify the cause of the blight that affects them, then they would be happy to feed us and provide safe passage out of Steelbriar.”

  “And if we don’t?”

  “I haven’t asked that question.” replied Morell. “I don’t think they would hurt us.”

  “I don’t think I want to know what the answer to that question might be.” Said Atticus.

  “GRUURRRRRRUMMSSEERRRBBUUTTHHH” the Brambillions gurgled together.

  “What does that mean?” asked Loxo.

  “They want us to come with them now so that we can look at the pool.”

  “Then I don’t think we have any choice.” Atticus said with his hand upon his hilt. “Tell them to lead and we’ll follow.” Morell turned to the creatures.

  “Shurrrreemmmsseeeeetthhuurrrbbgggnn.” He said. The Brambillions reacted by extending their long leafy limbs out to them and Morell eagerly climbed aboard. The other two didn’t look as easily convinced that it would be safe. “Come on!” he waved. “They say it’s not far from here!” Loxo, with his head full of colors and whimsy, gave up and climbed into the leafy palm of the brambillion closest to him. The greenery curled at the edges to carry him and he took a seat to enjoy not having to tramp through the muck. Atticus realized he was out of options. With great reluctance he followed the others, eyes watching the blossomed heads of his hosts. The leaves curled themselves about him like a canoe. Then, with the one holding Morell in the lead, the Brambillions set off through the bog, their masses of coiling and uncoiling razorbarb tilling the marsh as they traveled.

  Morell chose not to be cradled. Instead, he climbed higher on the plant to hold onto the vines making up the creatures’ “head”. Both Loxo and Atticus watched as the boy seemed gleeful and enjoying himself to ride such a monstrosity. He howled and cheered, elated to hang from one hand off the side of a Brambillion as they moved. The creatures didn’t seem to mind carrying the boy as he whooped, twirling his magical mace in the air and holding it aloft as if to herald their travel. Meanwhile, the powerful effects of the blue capped shrooms began to be a little overwhelming for the pirate. He became nauseated from the swaying of the beast carrying him and his stomach protested twice, three times before he vomited over the edge of the leaves.

  “Ohhhh.” He groaned, his head and eyes rolling about. “This, this is becoming far too much. Why is the world spinning so fast? Would someone be so kind as to pin the world down so that it stops moving? I would be ever so grateful.” Having said that, the pirate’s eyes crossed to the center and he passed out cold.