Maria entered the grove of giant eucalyptus, noticing the watcher spirit at the base of the trees wink out. Then a nature spirit appeared to block her way. It looked like a boulder of solid rock, except that it flexed and moved and had bits of plantlike material which appeared on its surface, traveling across the rocky skin for a moment before being absorbed back into the creature. The trees behind the spirit bent slightly toward it, almost as though deferring to its judgment.