Soundtrack to the short story 'Niavka' by The Heartwood Institute's Jonathan Sharp. Excerpt below, with full story included as a PDF with all downloads.

"The figure in front of Chastain bowed, its antlers tipping in his direction.

Going down on one knee it reached out a hand, palm up. Extending it towards him in a gesture of welcome.

Chastain stumbled backwards, tripping over something tangling his legs. The combat suit took the force of the fall, but the air was dashed from his lungs as he landed hard on his back. He felt a powerful hand grasp his arm, Chastain began to hyperventilate, as panic took over, he blacked out.

Chastain jerked awake. His eyes snapped open and immediately he was blinded by bright sunlight. And a smell, an overpowering smell, a thick, natural smell.

“This is what the outside is like.” The voice was female.

Chastain’s head jerked around in the direction of the voice. To his left was a young girl, sitting on the ground. Her skin different shades of green, her red hair crowned with a garland of flowers.

“Where, where am I?" Chastain was disorientated. His helmet was gone.

The girl giggled and motioned for him to stay seated.

“My name is Niavka. I am your friend. You are safe.”

Chastain’s brain began to process the situation. He was outside, his helmet was gone, his gloves had gone, he had to be infected. He had to be contaminated. And the girl, the girl wasn’t human, she couldn’t be. There was nothing human out here.

“One of the wanderers found you. He brought you to me. They always bring me the lost.”

“Lost. I’m not lost I’m looking for a drone unit, a crashed drone unit.”

The girl’s laughter filled the air. She moved over beside Chastain and took his hand.

“You were lost and I found you. You come from the city, no?”

Chastain yanked his hand free from her grasp, her fingers had left a thin film of green on his skin. He reached down to his belt, expecting to feel a weapon. Gone. It had gone. Panic was edging into his voice. “What are you? What have you done to my suit, my weapon?”

Again, he heard the sound of her musical laughter. “You have no need of your suit, no need of your weapon. Nothing here will hurt you.”

She placed her hand on his knee. The bark of her skin began to flow, the shape of her hand extended. Chastain’s eyes bulged. His instinct was to run, but before he could react, her skin flowed over the leg of his combat suit. Instantly he felt his leg surrounded and held steady as shoots burst from her skin, wrapping round and round his right leg and burrowing into the ground. Chastain screamed."

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01. DRONE DOWN 03:22
02. HEADING EAST 02:27
03. THE SHADOW TAKEN FORM 02:58
04. GOING REMOTE 03:15
05. TARGET ACQUIRED 02:51
06. ARBOREAL ZONE 03:48
07. ON THE GROUND 02:45 
08. INFECTION ALARM 02:35
09. THIS IS WHAT THE OUTSIDE LOOKS LIKE 02:42
10. THIS IS AN OLD PLACE 02:21
11. THE PAST TOOK ROOT IN THE PRESENT 03:32
12. THE END AND THE BEGINNING 02:22
13. WOLF SONG 02:42