Both girls were trapped under thick roots that snaked in and out of the soil, curling over their torsos to shackle them to the earth.
Alexia was still unconscious.
My guess was that the Tree King had hit her with the same sleeping spores that had nearly knocked me and Michael out earlier.
Juliana, on the other hand, was very much awake.
She was pouting like an especially irritated cat, looking as if she might genuinely be considering biting through the roots out of pure spite.
But aside from the obvious frustration, she seemed far too calm. There was not a flicker of fear in those azure-blue eyes of hers.
"Hi, Juli," I said, walking up to her while panting like I'd run a marathon.
My body still wasn't in its best shape.
Juliana sighed, slow and lazy, like the harrowing monsters around us were nothing more than an afternoon inconvenience. "Greetings, Young Master."
