" A huge tree, hundreds of feet around had grown up into the clouds high above her. Its roots at the ground level were serpentine, twisted around like a tangled pile of, well, the only thing she could think of was snakes. She wondered if the mushrooms were distorting her vision, but she was not sure. She was surprised that she had not seen this tree from a distance and wondered why it was the only living thing in this little valley of deadness. “That, my dear Arisha,” said Izbaxl, “is Gaia, the Mother Earth Goddess. The World Tree. And those are her worshippers. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)