Joan and Yosef had finally reunited with Satifa and Gadaric in the dead lands of Lakhmid. Halfral, who had tagged along with them, let out a cheerful shout. "Ah! My old friends are here!"
Joan and Yosef exchanged puzzled glances while Gadaric and Satifa sighed in unison.
"Uh, who's the geezer?" Joan asked, raising an eyebrow.
Gadaric shrugged dismissively. "Just someone who decided to follow us. You can ignore him." He quickly changed the subject. "So, where have you two been?"
"Everywhere awful," Joan replied with a grimace. "Nearly eaten by beasts, hunted by fanatics, accidentally caused the downfall of an entire community..." She trailed off with a weary sigh.
Meanwhile, Halfral was staring intently at Yosef, his eyes widening as he took in the stranger's unusual appearance. He muttered under his breath, "What a strange creature... What in Lak Ahm's name has she created now?"
"Could you, uh, control your pet?" Yosef asked, glancing at Gadaric, who promptly shoved Halfral aside.
"There's no need to be so harsh with him," Satifa chided.
"He's annoying," Yosef replied flatly.
Unbothered, Halfral stood there, unfazed by Yosef's comments.
The group moved onward, following faint trails through the strange landscape. The further they went, the more twisted, unnatural trees they encountered, each one bent and knotted like it had grown in agony. At last, they arrived at their destination: the Hanging Gardens of Lak Ahm.
A monstrous tower loomed before them, a nightmarish structure that seemed to defy the laws of reality. It spiraled up into the sky, twisting and curling like a serpent caught mid-scream, each turn more tortured than the last. Its surface was a mosaic of writhing roots and veins that pulsed with a sickly green glow, giving the unsettling impression that the tower was alive, a breathing, sentient being.
At its base sprawled a garden of hundreds of those same gnarled trees, rooted in an endless vigil.
"Uh, so…" Yosef began, his eyes narrowing as he sensed the malevolent presence within the tower. "I'm a freed slave now, right? That means I can do whatever I want, yeah? Including NOT doing stuff that I don't want to do."
"Nope," Joan replied instantly.
The sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows across the grotesque landscape. Joan took a step forward, ready to advance, but Gadaric held her back. "What are you doing?" she asked, annoyed.
As the last rays of sunlight faded, the trees began to shift. One by one, they wrenched their roots from the soil, pulling themselves upright as if they were legs. They moved with slow, aimless purpose, gathering around the base of the tower like a mindless army awaiting orders.
From a safe distance, the five companions watched in silence. They all knew there was no way to fight through that living forest, no chance of slipping into the tower unnoticed.
Their only option was to wait… and hope for an opening.
~~
They spent the night in the ruined city, huddled in the remains of a crumbling house. No one dared light a fire—they couldn't risk alerting the monsters lurking beyond the walls.
Joan was restless, her mind churning as she tried to think of a way to infiltrate the tower. Yosef, watching her brow furrow in frustration, quipped, "Careful, Joan—I swear I see smoke coming out of your ears. I could cook an egg on your head."
"Then why don't you try thinking of something for once?" she snapped back, irritation flaring in her voice.
Meanwhile, Halfral wandered the ruined streets without a care, humming softly to himself as if the city wasn't filled with threats.
Joan looked to the others. "So… should we try entering the tower during the day, when the monsters are just—well, trees?"
Gadaric shook his head thoughtfully. "Risky. Just because they're lifeless during the day doesn't mean there aren't other guards. I heard footsteps around the tower earlier, something moving and watching. We might have more to worry about than just those trees."
Their conversation was abruptly interrupted as Halfral rejoined them, cheerfully oblivious. "Oh, look!" he said brightly. "There are people here after all."
They all noticed how Halfral, the old fool, lived in his dying memories, unable to remember almost anything a few moments ago.
The words had barely left his mouth when the ground beneath him gave a resounding crack. With a gasp, Halfral disappeared into a yawning chasm that opened up beneath his feet. The others rushed to the edge, peering down into the darkness.
"What is this?" Satifa murmured as she carefully lowered herself into the hole, her voice echoing in the silence.
It wasn't a mere cellar but a vast tunnel, with a massive root at its center, thick as a horse cart. The root had dried and withered over the years, leaving a hollow space between its twisted form and the tunnel walls. The tunnel took them towards Lak Ahm's tower.
Intrigued, Satifa gestured for the others to follow her down. "Well, are we going or not?" she said, flashing them a grin before disappearing into the tunnel's shadowed depths.
The rest of the group hesitated, exchanging wary glances. The tunnel was dark, ominous, and entirely unknown—but this might be their only chance to reach the heart of Lak Ahm's tower without being seen.
With a final nod, they followed Satifa into the darkness, hoping the forgotten path beneath the city would lead them where they needed to go… and that whatever had once carved this tunnel was long gone.