Watch that man rattle his bones

It really wasn't his most favorite idea to be stuck, out, in the dark, with noises creeping around him, especially on his way towards Namarast. He hadn't much cared for the place the first time he'd seen it, but someone had said one of the Order may know how to find bees that are at home in his part of the desert. He was a little hesitant of the Order, of hearing what people were doing to mages, but.... he needed the bees. He should've stayed in Mead for the night, but it hadn't been dark when he left; it felt like it had only taken an hour from going from early afternoon to darkest night. His hares had not joined him on his journey today - he'd thought they were just overly tired, but maybe they'd known. Maybe they'd somehow been aware that they would be trapped on the road, in the dark, with only the shaking of the leaves and the hooting of predatory owls to keep them company.

At least, he hoped that was all that was out there. He felt the voices of the mushrooms scraping at his brain, enough calling loud enough to be heard above his mental shield. "Feeeeed usssss," they murmured, susurrations insistent and ever-present, like water dripping in the corner of his brain. "We are hunnngry, we are ssssstarveddd, we willlll outlast you." He shook his head, though the voices did not recede. They grew and grew, until he simply stood, eyes closed.

Something touched him.

Slit eyes opening wide, Nigel glanced at what had rubbed against his side. Just a tree, long, spindly branches bare in preparation for the oncoming winter. His hearing slowly returned, the mushrooms leaning back as there was nothing for him to feed them, and he notices additional branches under his feet. So many branches, many more than the trees around him would usually shake off. And they were... moving. He skittered, large feet sliding in the crushed wood, and ran. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something, someone in red. "What are you doing? Hide!" Where, though? As though summoned by his thoughts, a shack appeared, flimsy and forgotten. But it was the only thing nearby, and maybe, just maybe, it would save him.