Ligneous Serpent

By Lex Williams

After a traumatic entry into the world, the sapling of Marri tree meets an ectomycorrhizal fungus and wonders if there's any more to life than just what is...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lex Williams
• Release date: Nov 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005502621

Lex Williams

Lex Williams is a novelettist ( although occasionally writing novellas with the rare novel ) whose intent is to take advantage of self-publishing stories to provide interesting, different and weird ideas that you won't find in traditionally published stories. Williams typically writes for the horror genre ( usually dipping into the surreal variety ), but has explored other areas, such as ( non erotic ) romance and science fiction.

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Ligneous Serpent

Lex Williams

Distributed by Smashwords

Copyright 2021 Lex Williams

Thanks to my editor, Lee Cope, who I found through writerfind.com.

Thanks to my cover artist, Antoci Bogdan, who I found at deviantart.com under the username, Sucdeportocale.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re–sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Germination

Chapter 2: Primary Growth

Chapter 3: The Ligneous Serpent

Chapter 4: Slow living

Chapter 5: Crisis

Chapter 6: The low rumble of something horrible in the distance

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Chapter 1: Germination

The first thing the seed of a Marri tree feels is warmth, followed by a breeze. The sun's rays having already imprinted their life-giving nature on the embryo, and the wind rushing past suggesting the danger beyond the safety of the gumnut it sits inside.

The seed's awareness felt like waking up from a dream; there was a continuity, a world that seems to have existed for a long time, but it couldn't place when it had started existing. One thought made the embryo shiver in its seed: what was so scary out there, that it would need to be covered in armour so thick?

It felt vibrations of something shaking the branch it was attached to. It curled against the gumnut, the embrace of its parent, and wondered what that thing was. Then there were scraping and clicking sounds that shook it about. Flashes of images went through its head, coming from somewhere deep inside it: long claws scraping down a wooden shell, beaks snapping at it from the darkness, something giving a shrill screech.

Then it all stopped. Relief was followed by anxiety, something was–

Something slammed into it hard enough to wind the embryo. It could feel itself bouncing around before finally coming to a stop. It felt dizzy and confused. Rushes of fear came over it as it waited for the end of its life.

But the end didn't come. As it got its bearings, the embryo realised it was lying on its side. Somewhere cold. Somewhere alone.

It felt the vibrations of unknown things around it: they appeared, got closer and then disappeared. They moved so quickly that it could only envision the after–image of their presences.

But one of the vibrations was different. A low rumbling of something horrible in the distance. It just kept getting louder and louder until a rush of something cold and wet picked up the embryo in its gumnut and washed it away.

There was something very hard that it