The Forsaken Call
Page 13
"The Forest has changed…" Jameson concluded curiously.
"What do you mean by that?" Louisa sighed. "How can a bunch of trees change?"
"You two were the ones saying how much the world has changed over the past ten years," Jameson pointed out. "Why not the Forest too?"
"I feel like trees are somewhat grounded and finite," Louisa said with a skeptic smile.
"I used to know this place like the back of my hand," Jameson said, looking up at what little he could see of the sky. "At this rate, it'll get dark before we make any progress."
"We'll figure it out," Cyrus offered.
"I wish I could share your somewhat diluted optimism," Louisa said as she leaned against a tree and readjusted her bangs to ensure they framed her face properly. "Frankly, the longer we spend wandering around here, the longer it'll take for us to figure out what we're really supposed to be doing."
"And what are we really supposed to be doing?" Jameson said, mirroring her early skepticism.
"I don't know," Louisa said with an animated shrug. "But I'm willing to bet with every piece of me that it's not wandering aimlessly around in the Forest."
Cyrus pocketed his dagger and approached Jameson. "Do you have any indication of at least what our goal is?" he asked.
"The Shrine is near my village," Jameson answered confidently. "But… of course… the problem with that, is that I'm not sure where we are relative to my village anymore."
"So we really are lost then," Louisa complained.
"If we're gone too long, Baloric will come look for us," Cyrus said. "He can sense our presence."
"If he can sense your presence, why couldn't he find you and Tina when you ran away six years ago?" Louisa inquired rather harshly.
Jameson was going to ask for further elaboration, but he figured if he just waited, he would get all the answers he needed. Louisa had raised a legitimate question so he was eager to hear what Cyrus produced.
Cyrus looked to the ground and cleared his throat. "We knew that," he said. "So we went to Gislan."
"The one place Baloric would not have followed you," Louisa inferred.
"The one," Cyrus said with a nod. "At first, we figured we'd just go in for a bit until we were sure he was deterred. Then Tina"—Cyrus's face turned bright red as he physically withdrew his comment and tried again with—"Then Princess Erestina and I decided to venture further in with hopes to find the Shadow Shrine."
"Did you?" Louisa said.
"We did," said Cyrus. "But we couldn't enter it because of the barrier."
"Why didn't you come back to us sooner?" Louisa demanded.
"The search for the Shrine itself took several months," Cyrus said defensively. "And then we had to get out of there too. By that time, we were exhausted. We chose to take refuge along the outskirts of Gislan towards the Cyanyanka end. Things worked well for us there. I think Princess Erestina was toying with the idea of returning, but then I felt your presence, Jameson. I felt you arrive, so I had to go back. Naturally, the princess came with me."
"What may have prevented Baloric from leaving?" Louisa said, apparently quite randomly. "He might be doing something important."
"So we're going to have to figure out our own way out of this," Jameson said.
Louisa continued to reprimand Cyrus for not returning to them sooner as Jameson wandered away from the path and closer to a small patch of young trees. He circled the young trees and couldn't help but feel that they looked somehow foreign to be growing so steadily and confidently in the Forest.
He glanced over his shoulder as Louisa tried to force out more recollection of Cyrus's arrival at the Shadow Shrine, one of the Shrines the others had never been to. Jameson turned back to the trees and reached out for one of the branches, touching it slightly and unassumingly with his fingertips. A tiny branch bent over as though it were living and reacting to Jameson's stimulus. Intrigued, Jameson stroked the same branch he had initially touched, and received a similar motion in response.
The branch began to turn over, roll almost, so it sat up straight. The place where it connected to the small tree was enormous, but Jameson was more interested in the tiny pieces he had made contact with.
"What are you doing, Jameson?" Louisa asked suddenly.
"I think this plant is alive," Jameson answered. "I think I'm having some kind of conversation with it."
Louisa looked skeptical and came over to the plant. As soon as she saw the small trees, she grabbed Jameson and tried to wrench him away. "Stay away from those plants, Jameson, it's bad business," she warned.
"What kind of bad business?" Jameson said. Before he could object further, the branch began to bend and turn over as if it weren't made of any kind of natural tree. Jameson attempted to withdraw his hand, but the curved branch seemed to develop a mind of its own and pull him in, latching onto his wrist and curling around it.
The plant jerked him forward and he attempted to hold his ground, but another branch from the small growth began to extend and reinforced the grip it already had on his arm. It gave another rough pull and Jameson nearly fell over. A larger plant extended from the ground, wrapping around his ankle which he had extended in order to brace himself. Once it had a firm grip, it lifted his foot up off the ground and into the air, turning him around and then forced him to the ground.
As soon as he hit the ground, Jameson realized just how much trouble he was in. Louisa let out a yell, partially out of her own fear as she stumbled backwards to avoid the plant's grip, and partially to get Cyrus's wandering attention.
"What is this?" Jameson demanded, trying to sit up as more and more branches wrapped around him, seemingly sprouting right out of the ground and extending in length within seconds. The coils became tighter around his arms and legs and soon his chest, pinning him to the ground and moving continuously so there was no designated place to grab onto.
As Cyrus came over to where Louisa was, she had to nearly jump on top of him to keep him from approaching Jameson. If he had, it's likely he would have been trapped as well, so he quickly assessed the plant to devise a strategy as Jameson called to him to hurry up.
"I'm going to cut it," Cyrus decided, drawing his sword. "Try not to move, Jameson."
"It's not like I can!" Jameson shouted, resisting the urge to struggle further. With his muscles relaxed, he felt any wiggle room he had quickly disappear, but he stayed still in hopes Cyrus didn't miss when he lowered the brilliant Cyanyanka sword.
However, Jameson didn't have an opportunity to find out one way or the other because he had to yell out to both Cyrus and Louisa to get out of the way because he could see another branch rising up behind them. Luckily, the two was able to take his advice and dodge before the branch lowered and ensnared them too. Clearly in reaction to Jameson warning, the plant extended a new branch over him, curling around his neck loosely at first, but then pulling tight, forcing the stones on the necklace to cut into his skin.
There were bigger problems because seconds later, Jameson could no longer breathe. He tried to yell to Cyrus and Louisa again, but no sound would come out. He could only see their feet out of his peripheral vision, and neither of them were facing him, so it's likely they had problems of their own to deal with. Jameson could feel himself losing consciousness, unable to move and unable to make a sound of protest. Fear swelled up inside of him and he thought, Is this really it?
He vaguely heard Louisa's distant voice sounding awestruck and astounded, though he couldn't see her. Then, all at once, he could breathe again, as if the plant had let him go. In the same instant, he realized he could move though the plant was still wrapped around him. He seized the opportunity to sit up and wriggle his way out of the plant's hold, though there was only a few seconds leeway before he began to feel constricted again. He didn't know what caused the plant's sudden lapse of pressure, but it was his only chance to escape its grasp and he wasn't going to miss it.
Jameson started to get to his feet, but the plant was strong again, gra
bbing him at the waist and trying to pull him back to the ground. Cyrus was suddenly there, saying his name, and taking him by both his arms.
"Stop that!" Louisa shouted, sounding angry.
Jameson also wanted Cyrus to stop and not to risk capture as well, but Cyrus would not let go and started to pull Jameson up, hoping sheer strength would overwhelm the plant into releasing Jameson completely. A branch came up over Jameson's shoulder and worked its way up his arm, getting dangerously close to Cyrus, so Jameson shook in attempt to break their contact. In the end, it worked and Cyrus stumbled backwards, free from the grip.
At first, Jameson was sure he was just going to end up pinned again, having already lost his chance, but something shot by his head and landed in the ground right by his legs. It was an arrow, and it had lodged into the thickest branch emerging from the ground and, as soon as it made contact, the tip where it hit the plant emitted a brief blink of light, and the plant began to retract again. Jameson pulled as hard as he could at the plant and finally broke his arms and legs free; from there, he went all the way, jumping to his feet and nearly running into Cyrus in order to escape.
As Cyrus steadied him, Jameson looked back at the plant, which was still writhing, but much smaller than it had been when he had been trapped. The arrow appeared to be its source of pain, though Jameson was more interested in the source of the arrow, so he quickly looked around for any indication of an archer.
He was interrupted from his hunt because Louisa suddenly jumped him. "Let's get far away from that thing!" she ordered, pushing Cyrus and Jameson through some bushes in order to put distance between them and the plant.
When she was satisfied when how far they had gone, she finally stopped to catch her breath. "What was that thing?" Jameson said.
"Who cares what it was!" Louisa practically shrieked. "You were almost killed!"
"I think it was the Forces," Cyrus hypothesized.
"It doesn't matter!" Louisa said. "That was too close!"
"She's right," Cyrus agreed. "But Jameson…what did you do?"
"What did I do?" Jameson repeated. "I was just trying to get free."
"You started glowing," Cyrus said.
"I did?"
"And that's when you almost got out," Cyrus explained. "How did you do it?"
"I don't know," Jameson confessed, though his immediate thought was that it somehow had to have to do with the stones which had created several painful grooves in his neck when the plant had squeezed him. "I didn't even realize I did. But where did that arrow come from?"
"I didn't see anyone," Cyrus said.
"It had to come from a person," Jameson evaluated. "Someone rescued me and he's nearby. We have to find him."
"Why do we have to find him?" Louisa shouted. "Who cares? Let's get as far away from this place as we can. We don't need to go hunting for someone in the Forest just because they shot an arrow."
"It wasn't just an arrow," Jameson said, shaking his head. "The tip of the arrow was glowing, somehow. Just for a second." He broke away from Louisa and Cyrus and began moving back towards where they had come from.
"Stop it!" Louisa said, sounding rather desperate.
"I just have to go back and see," Jameson said, wrenching his arm away from her and steadily marching back to where he had been attacked by the plants. Louisa was not interested in pressing forward, but Cyrus decided he should tag along, at least to just ensure nothing bad was happening.
When they returned to the site, Jameson gazed upon what was left of the creature. It was hard and stiff, a deep brown color with yellow edges. At a basic glance, Jameson might have come to a simple conclusion as he turned to face Cyrus, "It's dead."
"How could just an arrow kill it?" Cyrus questioned.
"The arrow coupled with whatever Jameson did," grumbled Louisa.
Jameson slowly approached the pile of branches which looked totally and utterly sucked out of life and were now an assortment of sticks surrounding the only important part, which was the arrow. Jameson stepped over the dead plants and firmly grasped the arrow, then lifted it right up out of the ground.
He thought there would be a fight with the plants again, but the plants were either dead or uninterested so they allowed Jameson to step back with the arrow still in hand.
"Come on," Louisa said nervously, grabbing both their arms and dragging them off. "You find whatever you needed?"
"This arrow," Jameson said. "This is the thing that saved me. Whoever shot it knows how to fight the Forces."
"Someone like that won't stay hidden for long," Cyrus said.
"Or, oppositely, maybe the reason he's hidden right now is because he doesn't want anyone to find him," Louisa suggested. "Just because he kills Forces doesn't mean he's automatically a good guy. Why am I the only one who thinks of these things?"
"I guess she has a point, Jameson," Cyrus agreed.
Jameson frowned and reexamined the arrow closely, hoping he would get some kind of indication of who it belonged to just based on its appearance. Even though he badly wanted to search for the archer, his comrades weren't exactly supporting his endeavor, and he decided it was best not to push his luck.
"All right," he decided finally. "Let's just keep looking for the Shrine, then."
18. I Knew You Looked Familiar
Chapter 18
When night fell, Jameson, Cyrus and Louisa found themselves no closer to the Shrine than when they had started. Thankfully, their day had been comparatively uneventful, so they deemed it safe enough to rest when they came around to the small Rayran Village for the innumerable time.
Jameson lied in his old bed, a place he had not occupied for over ten years, while Louisa slept in his parents' bed and Cyrus slept on the floor. Both of them fell asleep easily enough, but Jameson was not so easily taken, so he lied down and stared at the ceiling. He was afraid to allow his mind to wander so he remained concentrated on his mission, but he also imagined that was the precise reason why he could not sleep. There weren't a lot of things he could allow himself to think about that didn't make him feel bad somehow and when he thought about Meg, he could only think about how he abandoned her.
He sat up in almost delight when he heard something move outside. He got a surge of excitement within himself as he quietly clothed himself and tiptoed outside, unsure of why he was looking forward to the thought of vanquishing something, but still nonetheless willing.
He stood on the opposite side of the door for several minutes before he heard something move again. His mind raced with possibilities; the Forces, just a traveler or perhaps even the mysterious archer. Cautiously, he approached the source of the sound, creeping around a grove of trees to discover the small pond behind his home. There was a man standing on the shore of the pond, crouched down and apparently washing something in the water though Jameson could not see what it was. Observing more closely, Jameson saw a bow and a quiver of arrows on the ground next to the man and he gleefully concluded that the man must be the archer who had saved him. However, he recalled Louisa's advice and knew all too well that the Forces could often take the form of people, so he wasn't about to reveal himself just then.
The man stood up straight and rearranged his long cloak and, immediately, Jameson realized his stature was somehow familiar. At first, he wasn't exactly positive what he was reminded of, but as the man began to turn incidentally to pick up his bow, Jameson nearly fumbled right out from behind the trees.
Walden—there he was, standing so close to him. Louisa had never actually told him what happened to Walden and Jameson had assumed the worst, but maybe all along he had been alive. Jameson's head ached with the possible explanations for why Walden was standing in front of him, adjusting the sword around his belt and appearing so much alive.
Finally, Jameson made a decision to reveal himself. Walden did not seem surprised when Jameson stepped out from behind the tree and smiled upon setting eyes upon him. "I was wondering when you were going to come out of your hiding place," he said
.
Jameson found his voice lost at first. "Walden," he said. "Right?"
"Of course," said Walden. "Who else would I be?"
"Where were you?" Jameson questioned, taking a few steps closer.
Walden was not moving and shot the question back at Jameson: "Where have you been all these years?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know? Or you won't tell me?"
"I don't know," Jameson said. "I can't remember."
"Why can't you remember?"
"I don't know," said Jameson, feeling a little ashamed that he couldn't recall where he had been.
"Try to remember," Walden said and it sounded more like an order than a concern. "I'm sure you'll remember."