54. The Green Guardian

The Valley stretches out before you as you pass through a tangle of branches and reach a small overlook. An invigorating stillness fills the air, and for an undefinable moment, you are absorbed into the delicate play of color and light as the sun splashes across the landscape. Green, blue and auburn tints shimmer before you, chameleon-like, across the Valley floor. Then a swath of color several hundred meters ahead catches your gaze as it starts to sway.

A deep rumbling groan echoes from up ahead, and to your surprise, what you thought was merely another tree comes alive. An awkward lurch, and you catch the outline of an enormous being lumbering through the underbrush. Its body is covered in vines, roots and branches, as if the earth itself has risen up and begun to walk.