“Tell me about this place. Is it all like this?” I waved my hand at our surroundings. Everywhere I saw was filled with plant life. There was no artificial structures or buildings. “Do you have buildings and streets like our cities? Do you have houses like ours or do you have huts in the trees like those?” I said, as I pointed to one that was in front of us. “How do you all live?”
Von smiled. “Most of our world is filled with plant life. We do have buildings, but not like your cities. The buildings or corts, as we like to call them, are grown and shaped to our preference. Some of us choose to live in trees and others on the ground.”
“What do you mean by grown?”
He led me to an area of greenery. He put out his hand and concentrated. The plant in front of us began to grow. It twisted and turned until the shape of a miniature hut, similar to the ones on the trees above us, was created. My eyes widened with amazement.
“How did you do that?”
“Magic.”
I lightly touched the form and noticed how sturdy and solid it felt.
“So you use the things around you to make your homes. Like one would gather twigs, branches, logs, and leafs to build a shelter.”
“In a way, yes. We have seen it done before by your people. But when we built, we do not cut and collect the materials,” he hesitated a little, not knowing how to explain, “we just encourage the plants to grow in a way we want it to.”
To try to explain a little bit better, he held out his hand and concentrated again. The plants moved again until it was back to its normal form.
“Amazing! Does everyone here is able to do this?”
He was quiet for a couple of minutes. I thought that he didn't hear me until he said, “Some more than others.”
“What do you mean?”
He looked away, not meeting my eyes. We started to walk before he answered. “What I did before, any child can do. Building an actual cort requires a higher level of magic.”
“Level of magic? What does that mean?” I asked.
“Each of us has different level of magic and there are five levels. Five being the most powerful. Level one and five are the rarest.”
“What level are you?”
He hesitated a little. “I'm a one.” Before I could ask more questions, he said, “This is where you will be staying.”
I looked up. The hut or cort, as they called them, wasn't as high up on the tree as I thought it would be, but as I looked even further, I saw more corts. There were several makeshift stairs going around the trunk to each one of them. We climbed to the second landing and went in. The interior space was bigger than what it appeared to be from the outside. There was a bed at a corner. A table and a chair and a cabinet at the other side. Though it was a very simple setup, it had a lived-in feeling and looked very comfortable.
“There are some clothes in that chest next to the bed that you may use. The cabinet has other supplies that you might need.”
“Thank you.”
He smiled. “You are welcome. I hope you will stay here longer than a day, Cassiea. This place may not be what you are used to. We live simply here. I hope that in time, it will grow on you.”
“Thank you. This is fine with me. And please, I prefer you call me Cass.”
He nodded and left. When he was gone, I took out my cell phone and prayed that it would work here and was relieved when I saw I had full bars. I called the hospital and got through to my uncle's room. He assured me that everything was fine and he would see me tomorrow. I wasn't tired at all and decided to have a look around at their campsite. Hopefully no one would mind.