Unnamed

Cool wet soil embracing me tightly, whispering sweet encouraging words to my very core. “Grow. Grow. Grow.” I spread my roots, slowly savoring the nourishment, tasting the iron and fear. I cannot see or hear, but when I finally break through and my leaves suddenly feel the air of freedom, there is a presence.

It's there every day, bringing me fresh sustenance…no, prey. He brings me prey. I cannot hunt just yet, he feeds me bits and pieces of flesh. Dragons, they're called. The more I eat, the more I know. The more I eat, the more I grow.

He can go as he pleases, but I am still here, rooted in place by my primitive form. Branches and thorns, no mouth to know how it feels to tear those bits and pieces directly from the source. I am angry and hungry, I want to go as I please too. I want to grow as I please.

“A little bit more to the back,” says the shopkeeper in a sweet polite voice. A shy purple Veilspun takes a few hesitant steps into the narrow corridor. “I wouldn't have expected a store like this to carry plants,” she chuckles awkwardly, suddenly unsure if she should continue. He gives her a gentle push, his smile reassuring and as pleasant as his voice. She enters the dark room, too dark for any plant to thrive. Yet there it is, in the corner, a small warped thorny thing. “Is it…is it alive?” she turns around to look at him. “Oh, it very much is,” he responds and there are no nice adjectives to describe his smile anymore. The room fills with cracking of branches and a desperate cry for help - suddenly cut short.

“Gow.” The new fleshy form that hides my branches is weird. The moves have to be delicate and precise to get around. “G…” I struggle to move my borrowed mouth. I had no need for such things before. “Grow.” “Yes, my dear, you shall grow.” He is small and weak, I sense no magic from him, not like the one that courses through my roots and thorns. I wonder if he tastes just like the prey he brought me. Not yet, I think to myself. There is much to learn about the world. Now I can hunt. The more I hunt, the more I know. The more I hunt, the more I grow.