Siridevi emerged from the grove into a clearing where the moon shone through. The gnarled roots of the trees could be seen in more detail here. Some yellow glowworms drifting silently near the roots shed some more light. She sat down against the trunk of a small tree and the thick lush grass, that appeared almost blue in the moonlight, provided much needed comfort. She sat and got lost in her thoughts for quite some time.
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"The only thing that can bring back a person bitten by a Gruntuia is the juice prepared by boiling dried leaves of the Tempin tree. The tree is easily identified by the gnarled roots which come up above the ground and can as easily be mistaken for snakes when seen from afar." Siridevi remembered her mother's words uttered almost a decade ago. "The trees, however, grow only in the heart of the forest to the south of the Twin Mountains," her mother had added.
She had been a naughty little girl then. It had been a quiet winter night under a blanket of stars without a cloud in the sky. She even remembered the campfire just outside their wooden hut that had provided such comforting warmth. The view of the Twin Mountains against the backdrop of the Orion Arm of the Galaxy and the moon nestled in the gap between the two peaks made a pretty sight on that clear night.
She had lost both her parents a couple of years ago to the dreaded Gruntuia. They were on a hunt and had both been bitten by the Gruntuia. The Gruntuia were reclusive beings which usually stayed far away from humans. Humans were the ones encroaching onto their habitat edging ever closer to the Twin Mountains in their quest for more territorial control and search for evermore resources. The Gruntuia only ever bit humans in self defense for they were such small insects and could hardly feed on the gigantic humans. Their bite, however, was deadly and meant a slow death over the course of a full revolution of their beloved Gea.
Her parents had died because there was no cure available, there was no anti venom to the Gruntuia. Nobody had believed her mother when she had told them of the magical properties of the Tempin tree. Few believed the Tempin even existed for no one had ventured into the forest in a century and common knowledge from a couple of centuries ago had become a myth.
It was her younger brother's life in question now. A month ago, he was harvesting the new yield from crops planted in their farm close to the feet of the Twin Mountains. He was the latest unfortunate victim to have been bitten by the Gruntuia. Less than a dozen had been bitten till now and all had died within the year. There was not much hope left for Ramu. But Siridevi had believed that he could be saved. It was time to test her mother's hypothesis.
Who would risk venturing into the forest to save her little brother's life now? There was no doubt in her mind that it had to be her. She was the only one who believed that she could save Ramu's life. She had gathered all the courage she could muster and had set out for the arduous journey.
She had packed some dried travel food in her bag and had set off on her favourite horse Amara as soon as she was able to. He was a tall, handsome brown horse. The bushy undergrowth on the path to the forest, in between the mountains, had been thick and had sharp spines and of course the Gruntuia. She had had to guide her horse carefully and had reached the edge of the forest in a week's time.
The horse would not enter the forest no matter what she did. In fact, she had started to question her own resolve then. The border of the forest had seemed like a straight line. There seemed to be a foreboding shadow right at the edge warning any intruders to stay away and not interfere with the forest's business. A thick fog had hung over the trees and even though it had been mid afternoon, she could not see beyond the brown and green of the first few trees. There had been a gentle breeze blowing and she had smelt the Earth from inside the forest. The smell was the only thing that had invited her inside. Her horse though would have none of it.
She had made the difficult decision of setting her horse free there. He could wait there or go back home; she was not sure if and when she'll be back. She had hugged Amara's neck and given him a kiss on his broad forehead before letting him go. She had then looked at the forest and stepped inside with a steely glint in her eyes.
She had immediately felt that it was much colder inside the forest and had even shivered a little. She had not been sure if it was the nervousness or cold. The trees had been wide in girth and tall in length, she could not see the top of the trees. The bark had been dark brown in colour and some trees exuded a glassy brown resin. The leaves had been dark green and pretty big too; she had not thought those were the Tempin trees though, as she had not seen any roots above ground. She had heard some birds tweeting in the distance.
She had cautiously proceeded in the general direction of what she deduced was South. "If I keep walking away from the edge, I must eventually reach the heart of the forest," she had thought. She indeed did but not soon. It took her half a dozen days to get there. She had mistaken the roots for snakes when she first laid eyes on the tree. She was quite exhausted because of her exertion and she had run out of her packed dried food. She did not know what to eat from the forest floor and was panicking when she saw the roots. It was almost night and she didn't know where to rest for the night. That is when she had seen the clearing.
She slowly drifted out of her thoughts as she sat there against the tree trunk and felt a little rested. She was grateful that she had finally found the Tempin tree and heaved a sigh of relief. She could rest here for the night and head back early tomorrow. There were low lying branches and the Tempin tree was actually much smaller than all the other trees in the forest.
The morning was brighter than any morning she remembered in the forest. She plucked as many leaves as she thought she could carry and packed it into her bag. She ate a few berries from the ground and did not feel woozy. And what else was left to do but head back home?
The journey back to the edge of the forest was as uneventful as it was into its heart. She could not quite fathom why no one ventured into the forest. The smile on her face was a sight to behold when she saw that her beloved horse Amara was waiting for her near the edge of the forest. He was grazing on some grass and when he saw her, he came galloping towards her. It was time to heal her brother.
She sat outside her house, near a campfire, warming herself on an eerily familiar cold, clear, winter night. She was glad that she had believed her mother's words and gone in search of the tree. She was glad that she had believed in herself to go on such a journey. She was glad that people could once more live after a Gruntuia bite!