Within moments the trees had surrounded Eva’s party. Under thick green cover, the travelers were escorted back into the dense forest. Besteel’s glider hummed as he circled over them. Everyone flinched.

“Oeeah,” Rovender said in a soft tone as he looked up through the dense limbs. “This is something I have never seen before.”

“What is it?” Eva whispered.

“Look.” Rovender pointed. “He is transporting something large in that cargo net there.”

Eva peered up at the glider as it flew out over the flats. Multiple sacks were strapped to the wings, and a hefty net swung about below it. “I wonder if he is leaving the forest. Maybe he’s going to Lacus too?” she observed.

“Not with that cargo.” Rovender peered through his spyglass.

“He is moving away,” Muthr said in her calm voice as she studied the radar on the Omnipod. “He is crossing the lake bed and is far from us now.”

As Eva and Rovender looked down at Muthr, they saw Otto strip off a sheet of lichen from one of the tree trunks with his short beak and consume it.

“And here also is something else I have never seen.” Rovender nodded down at the giant water bear.

“What? That the trees and Otto are friends?” Eva was puzzled.

“And you and Otto are friends.” Rovender pointed to the girl.

Eva furrowed her brow, confused.

“Do you not see, Eva Nine?” Rovender gestured at the greenery around them. “The forest is alive. Here it has protected one of its own. One that is pure of spirit.”

Eva blinked as it sunk in. “Me?”

“Yes.” Rovender smiled a toothy grin. “Now let’s get moving. We are almost to Lacus.”

CHAPTER 21: FOG

By dusk, a heavy fog had fallen upon the land, concealing it as far as Eva could see. From her vantage point atop Otto, she thought the mist below looked like a dark treacherous sea, and her mount was her faithful ship, The Mighty Otto. Even in the dense murk she could still see Muthr, for the pale light of the Omnipod illuminated the robot’s form as she rolled alongside them.

“We are getting close,” Rovender said in a quiet tone. “Can you smell the lake?”

Eva inhaled deeply. The air had a damp mineral scent. It was like nothing she had ever smelled before, though it did faintly remind Eva of freshly watered plants in the greenhouse of her Sanctuary.

“Look there.” Rovender pointed ahead. “Do you see it?”

Eva squinted in the twilight and focused in the direction he was indicating. She could barely make out the tiniest glint of lights off in the distance. The thunderclouds that had formed all afternoon hung huge and heavy above them. From time to time lightning snaked through the sky, but never reached down to touch the lake.