Albert eyed the surrounding fig trees warily, scanning the low hanging branches for signs of movement. He himself was set up in one such tree. He had already confirmed it to be non-sentient, but he couldn’t be sure of the others.

Roots hung down from each branch, not unlike the tendrils of a dangerous jellyfish. Albert finally gave up his pursuit when he noticed his only friend had arrived. Stanley was there, crossing a road known as the Esplanade, and passing right underneath his branch. He held still, wary of being discovered. He knew it wasn’t really necessary, his stealth systems helping substantially in keeping him hidden. But he couldn’t count the number of stories he’d heard of people overly reliant on technology that were caught by an observant carnivorous tree. Never a happy ending.

Beyond the line of fig trees that ran parallel to the road was a grassy field, cut short and full of people. The end opposite to Albert had a concrete stage raised a metre off the ground. It was ten metres long and five wide, accompanied by a roof to ward off the elements. Albert knew a beach lay beyond the stage, but was occluded from sight by tall trees.

He watched as Stanley made his way towards the stage. Normally Albert would be worried for these people’s safety, considering how many trees there were. But he had come prepared. If any of the trees so much as moved the wrong way, they would be vaporised by a collection of auto turrets set up in strategic positions.

Stanley began speaking from the stage. “Today I’d like to talk about something different. I’ve recently been studying geography, and would like to share some things that I’ve learned. I personally believe that if we are to effectively enhance the common good, it’s important to try to understand the land. So today I’ll be talking about caves. More specifically how they form. It is a story of rocks, minerals and chemistry. The hydrological cycle plays a role, as it is primarily with the advent of rainfall that water will be in position to help create these wonders of the world. So how do caves come about? It begins, as with many things, with the falling of rain. The clouds showering the Earth with their undying devotion,”

Albert knew that they weren’t technically friends, but he was the only real contact he’d made with the people of this world so far. No monsters were going to eat him if he could help it.

“This water, H2O to some, liquid gold to others, percolates through cracks in the soil. It is during this process, when water is finally reunited with the Earth, that an important event takes place. Water gains its ability to dissolve the underlying rock, which is pretty much how most caves are formed,”

I wonder if perhaps the trees here are friendly. That’d be a welcome development.

“To gain this ability, it must transform into Carbonic Acid. It does this through leeching Carbon Dioxide from the soil. Thus, when this acid reaches the rock, the dissolution process can begin. It should now be mentioned the part that rocks and minerals play. Not all rock is easily dissolved by acid. When we’re talking about cave formations, the dissolved rock is usually Limestone, which consists primarily of the mineral Calcite,”

Glad someone’s interested in this. Can’t say it’s my thing.

Without the presence of Limestone, or a material very similar to it, most caves would not exist. After the rock is dissolved, the water drains off somewhere. It should be noted that this method of cave formation is a very slow process, with only small amounts of rock being dissolved at a time. So when you enter a cave, treat it with respect, it’s a work of art countless years in the making,”

Upon the speeches end, Stanley vacated the stage and was replaced with another speaker. Albert’s gaze was drawn to his left at the sound of rustling branches. He watched in horror as he realized one of the trees was truly alive. A few of the branches merged together and morphed into the shape of a rifle. Albert checked his smart watch to figure out why the turrets hadn’t activated yet. All were listed as offline.

It’s a sniper, and they somehow disabled the auto turrets. It must have support somewhere.

Three sharp pieces of wood flew out of the sniper’s rifle, their velocity not losing to more traditional ballistic weapons. They flew towards the crowd of people. Before they could hit, however, their trajectory was slightly altered, causing them to careen into the sky.

Force wall deployed. Won’t last longer than thirty seconds.

A warning showed up on his watch. ‘Commander in peril with possibility of termination, deploying danger close payload. All other biological life will be eliminated within 100 metres. Arrival in ten seconds.

To his dismay, much of the crowd were within the radius of doom. Eyes wide with adrenaline, Albert jumped down from his branch and ran towards his adversary.

Five metres.

He pulled out a thin disc with a hexagonal button in its centre.

Patriots Fight.

He reached the tree and lunged at it, disc in hand. The tree, which had a face carved into its side, scowled at him while again bringing its weapon to bare.

Three seconds.

The disc shattered, leaving a red circle in its wake. The circle rapidly expanded, consuming the tree and Albert together.

He landed flat on his back with a crash, the air knocked from his lungs. As he tried to take in even a small breath, a much louder crash sounded out next to him. He struggled to stop himself from laughing as he again tried futilely to breathe. Finally managing to do so, he tried to move his muscles, but only managed a few fingers.

Without me as a target, the payload shouldn't hurt anyone.

He resigned himself to staring at the deep red sky. If he could sit up, he would be able to see a similarly coloured rocky landscape surrounding him and a leafless tree, which was also struggling to move.

I’m so glad humanity has the fastest recovery time when using dimensional travel. I should have a good few hours on Mr. Evil Tree over there. Once I can move it’s so dead.

They were at the halfway point between worlds. A place usually only accessible to those conducting interdimensional travel. The environment was dead. Without wind, clouds or most other signs of life. But things stir even in places of death. Time passed, and Albert waited.

Footfalls approached, just outside of his vision. He attempted to jerk his body upright but only managed to turn his head. It was enough. Before him loomed a large wolf with a coat like snow. It lowered its head towards him so that he was forced to look into its eyes. Its breath was on his face as he gazed into the creatures sky blue eyes. He was filled with an irrational fear, his body and mind begging him to look away, to do anything to break away from a gaze with death.

Set your face like flint.

Albert flinched as the wolf lunged towards his throat.

Be as unyielding as stone.

The strike never came, and the being of white slowly backed away.

Prepare for combat, because patriots fight.

A shriek of pain came from nearby. Albert turned to the source and stared blankly as the tree without leaves was dismembered by the wolf. Its teeth like swords that cut into the being of wood until it was no more. The cries of pain ceased. The wolf glanced at Albert, then walked into the distance. By the time he was able to move again, it was long gone.