9
FAY
I was in shock. Chirpy didn’t seem to realise, introducing me to its extended family, while I could do nothing but gape and stare.
The interior of the tree was a palace, carved into the living wood with much detail and decoration. I stood in what could best be described as a courtyard. It was wide enough that I could have laid down comfortably without bumping against any of the walls and archways leading further into the tree. Tiny market stalls lined the edges of the courtyard, but the stalls were abandoned, with everyone gathering around me now. Beautifully carved columns grew all around the sides, supporting terraces arranged in circles that seemed to go on forever, up and up into the tree. I couldn’t see the end of them. There had to be thousands of burrows on the terraces, ea
