“I wonder what Muthr will think when she finally calls me and that thing answers,” she mused. “She’ll say, ‘Hi, Eva, dear. Are you still alive?’ and she’ll get, ‘Blaaga, blaaga, blaaga!’ on the other end. It serves her right for not bringing me up here sooner.” Eva crossed her arms as she approached the edge of the forest. Here the moss grew in wide mats covering the forest floor and over the trunks of the nonmoving trees. Broken beams of sunlight greeted all sorts of unusual growths rising out of the ground.

As she looked up at the dangling branches of a bird-catcher, Eva skirted the base of the vicious tree. Above, she could hear the call of the birds, but could not see them through the swaying jigsaw canopy. A neighboring tree snapped its thick tendrils up, capturing its prey. Startled, Eva stumbled into a large rounded pink shrub covered in thin dew-tipped stalks.

“Eww, what is this?” She tried to pull her hand free from the plant’s sticky grip, but her arm became entrapped. Gluey globs adhered to her legs and feet. Eva kicked at the numerous stalks, but soon became a gummy mass on the shrub. She looked over her shoulder. Next to her were the remains of another hapless trapped creature. Its skin was now transparent, revealing the skeleton within. All of its other organs were gone.

“Ovanda!” She yelled the words that the mysterious creature had said to her. “Ovanda tateel! Help me, please!”

The forest remained silent. Panic overtook Eva and she began thrashing about, trying to wriggle free. “Tateel! Ovanda! Help!” Eva yelled and struggled until her throat was raw and she was completely immobilized. She soon became exhausted—barely able to lift her head to see who—or what—was making the footsteps that approached.

Eva recognized the lanky legs of the creature from the old Sanctuary. He now wore a wide-brimmed hat that shadowed his face. A hefty, cumbersome rucksack was strapped to his narrow shoulders. Numerous items hung from it, jingling with each step. The creature stopped and leaned on a carved walking stick. He snorted at the girl.

“Ovanda tateel! Please help me!” implored Eva in a hoarse voice. “You can keep my Omnipod. Just get me out of here.” She could feel a burning sensation on the tops of her hands where the glistening tips of the plant held her tight.

The creature reached into a pocket on his rucksack and unsheathed a small sickle-shaped knife. He leaned down and severed the base stalks of the sticky plant clinging to Eva. She fell to the forest floor and rolled about trying to break free.

“Dat, dat, dat.” He uncorked another bottle of his foul beverage and poured it on Eva’s hands. The drink immediately dissolved the glue-tipped stalks and stopped the burning. He drenched the girl with more liquid from the bottle as she clawed her way free.

“Thanks,” she panted. “Thank you.”