The monster began a lumbering charge towards her. The ground rumbled beneath her feet, causing leaves to fall from the treetop above her head. They floated to the ground peacefully, in a strange juxtaposition to her current situation.

“I’d move if I were you,” the voice suggested quietly.

Anna did not need to be told twice. The monster covered the space between her and it with lightning speed. She had just managed to vacate the spot where its spiky arms came crashing down upon. It turned its menacing face towards her, let out another howl, and began chasing after her with a fury. Anna had barely any idea what to do and her ‘fight-or-flight’ response was in full on flight mode. In an act of desperation, she made a beeline towards one of the crumbled statues that littered the meadow. She scrambled behind it and tucked her head into her knees.

Barely a heartbeat later, she heard the roar of the beast from behind her, followed by a loud whoosh, before feeling bits of rock and cement sprinkle her robes. She lifted her head and turned to see that the monster had swung one of its arms and completely demolished the top half of the statue that she had tried to hide behind. Anna stood up, her knees wobbling terribly from the fear that beat throughout her body, and turned completely towards the menacing thing. It raised its arm high, intent on swiping her from existence, but her feet did their job and began carrying her forward.

She was just a moment too slow. As she ducked beneath its arm in an attempt to escape, her shoulder began to scream with pain where a stray branch caught her. She glanced at it and saw her robe ripped and torn, though she did not have time to inspect the injury closer. Ignoring the throbbing pain, she made her way to the other side of the almost peaceful glade. Her fear and adrenaline was clouding her mind, and before she realized what was happening, she had reached the wall at the other end of the maze.

Anna’s hands fell upon the vine covered wall. She closed her eyes. She took in the smooth, waxy feeling of the golden vines that littered the wall, experiencing relief from the cold stone that soothed the heat of her rushing blood. She breathed in deeply, a renewed purpose coming with the breaths. She had a good idea of what was ailing the monster. It was the lion with a thorn in its paw and she was the mouse. It was her role to help it. It was her only hope. But how could she get behind it?

Her mind raced, going over everything she had witnessed from the beast so far If only she had grabbed the shiny object when she had first clambered over the monster! That was her best, and so far, only opportunity to get a hold of it. But that wouldn’t work now. The ground here did not hold the monster the way it had in the maze and her foe now stood between her and the entrance she had traversed to enter the meadow. She only had one shot; if those branchy claws managed to catch her again, she wasn’t sure she would have the willpower to keep going. And besides, when it jumped…

When it jumped...

An idea suddenly struck Anna. A rather stupid idea, it was true, but it was an idea nonetheless. She inhaled one more deep, bracing breath, Hopefully it would not be the last deep breath she took. She turned from the wall to face the thing that had plagued her for what felt like an endless amount of time. The mass of bark, roots, and rot was charging straight towards her without mercy. Anna began running towards it. The monster roared and the sound echoed throughout the meadow. In an act of defiance, Anna yelled as well. She did her best to sound more intimidating and less frightened, though she was not sure she succeeded.

I’m an idiot, Anna thought to herself as she approached the monster.

She was thirty feet away. Twenty. Ten. The grass of the meadow seemed to dance around her, glinting in the light. She felt the breeze on her face as she ran. She lowered her head in preparation for her death wish of a plan. The monster lifted both of its arms, preparing to jump on her in the same way it had attempted in the maze. Its roots curled up, ready to spring its trunk into the air. They straightened out, launching the monster off the ground and right towards Anna.

Here goes nothing, she thought.

As the monster lifted from the ground, Anna dove. She twisted her body so that she was perpendicular to the monster, and ignored the ache in her injured shoulder as her body hit the ground. As the tree rose unnaturally into the air, she rolled underneath its roots as if she were on fire. It smashed into the ground, causing her whole body to vibrate, and she turned towards the now exposed roots of the nightmare that had been tormenting her. The unidentifiable light glinted off of the object lodged into the foot of the monster. It was some sort of handle. Anna wasted no more time thinking; she grabbed the handle and she yanked with all her might. She felt it slide out from the monster’s wood like flesh. A small blade was attached to the handle, covered in a thick, sap-like substance.

Anna sat up immediately and began scooting away from the monster vigorously. She watched in utter terror as the monster rose and turned to face her. It bent down to her level, the wood of its trunk creaking and moaning as it did so. It roared right into her face. Anna released a squeal that she was not proud of, but it was the only noise she was capable of making at the moment. Her fear getting the better of her, she put her head between her legs and covered it with her arms, the withdrawn blade still clutched tightly.

She waited for the ending blow to come. To hear the deafening scream of the monster and experience the pain of her bones being crushed beneath its massive body. But that pain did not come. She sat in the same position, afraid to look at the scene that waited just past the cover of her arms. A minute or two passed and she realized she had yet to be crushed, or worse, eaten.

She lifted her arms and dared to raise her head just a smidge. She opened her eyes the smallest amount possible, allowing herself to witness the display before her though lash-laden vision. The monster had vanished.

Anna raised her head completely and opened her eyes fully. Her head swivelled left, then right, but her pursuer seemed to have evaporated into thin air. Confusion filled her, and it was only when she felt a tugging on the leg of her robe that she decided to look down.

In front of her stood a small, rather strange looking creature. It had a light, rough looking skin that somewhat resembled the bark of a birch tree. Despite the similarity in having bark-like skin to the monster that had pursued her, this new creature shared neither the monster’s size nor its abhorrent smell. This new creature had short, stubby legs, covered in small, leafy protrusions. They supported a rather rotund body. Upon its head sat what looked like a mask carved from wood. The ‘mouth’ was carved into a slight smile and one of its eye holes was slightly larger than the other. It was kind of cute, in a creepy sort of way. Upon further inspection, Anna realized that this was actually part of the little creature's face, connected to its neck by wooden grains. She looked down and saw that it was still grasping on to the leg of her robes.

Tentatively, Anna reached out towards the small creature. With a healthy bit of apprehension, she poked its round belly. It made a noise that could best be described as a giggle. It began to tug on her robes again in a rather forceful manner, and Anna had the impression that it wanted her to come with it. It released her robes and began running towards the tree in the middle of the meadow. She stood up and attempted to brush the dirt and grass from the knees of her clothes. Somewhat reluctantly she followed the little guy. As she drew close to the tree, her new friend approached her again. Struggling slightly, it began to climb her robes, finally coming to a rest perched on her shoulder.

Just as it had done when the multicolor tree had formed footholds for Anna, the bark that covered it began to rearrange itself again. This time, however, it did not form handles for her to grasp and climb. The bark morphed and changed, bits of it falling into place like some sort of puzzle. Slowly, a face was formed, glaring intently at Anna.

“Hello,” the tree said, in the same voice that had urged her to help the monster.

“Who are you?” Anna asked, feeling somewhat disrespectful.

“You would likely know me as the Alltree, that is what your people tend to call me. But you, brave soul, you can call me Engaia.”