mothertree

Then he was hungry again, and here on the outside of the mothertree the sap flowed only in the fissures of the bark, where it was hard to reach, and instead of all the other creatures being little ones that he could push aside, they all were larger than himself, and drove him away from the easy feeding places.

Speaker for the Dead Card, Orson Scott 1986

Shouter jumped to her feet and walked all the way around the mothertree, her hands raised high, singing loudly.

Speaker for the Dead Card, Orson Scott 1986

"Will it hurt anything if I let this light into the heart of the mothertree?"

Speaker for the Dead Card, Orson Scott 1986

Shouter sang, long and loud, and the hole in the mothertree began to close again.

Speaker for the Dead Card, Orson Scott 1986

All our lives we prepare to win battles with our enemies, so that our wives can make a mothertree in a new battle forest, and make us mighty and great.

Speaker for the Dead Card, Orson Scott 1986

I can remember climbing on the face of the mothertree.

Speaker for the Dead Card, Orson Scott 1986

They'll never do that while you're here, in the shade of the mothertree, with no one to protect the little ones.

Speaker for the Dead Card, Orson Scott 1986

"If Bishop Peregrino converts them," said Ender, "maybe they'll let us sprinkle the inside of the mothertree and say the words."

Speaker for the Dead Card, Orson Scott 1986

All the other wives 'voices joined Shouter's now, and soon a hole gaped wide in the trunk of the mothertree.

Speaker for the Dead Card, Orson Scott 1986

And, translating for Shouter, he said, "The mothertree also gives the hive queen her trust."

Speaker for the Dead Card, Orson Scott 1986