The Seeds of Evermore

by Andrew Haines

  Donovan nodded without another word. Lying down on his bedroll he closed his eyes. He did the one thing that he had been he wasn’t sure about for the longest time. Stupid emotions: smiling, he rolled onto his side and drifted into a deep sleep.

  22:

  Charlotte was last on watch, she saw the whole morning come alive. The sunlight crested over the canopies of the trees, as the wind shook the leaves as if the world was breathing. The stream was rushing, but the sound was calming, as if the whole world was now at ease, how it had no effects of the world of humanity as they strode upon it. A snap of a twig grasped Charlotte’s attention, she snapped her head to face the sound to see a deer standing there. Smiling, Charlotte looked back towards the stream, watching all of the different species of fish working their way down the stream. Their movements differed but their goal was the same, swim to survive.

  Alissa rose from her bedroll and made her way to sit next to Charlotte by the flowing water. Charlotte looked at her and smiled, “Been quiet all morning.” she looked back at the water, “Makes it seem like we have all the time in the world, and then some.”

  “It is calm, something that we haven’t witnessed in a few months at this point.” Alissa paused, gathering her thoughts before continuing, “I think that having this journey will help us more than it will be helping Scott. To have a moment to breath before his return to us. If that makes any sense.”

  Charlotte nodded in response to her words, “Yeah, it does. And I think you are right to think that, we have been going nonstop since we arrived here and for the first time since that day, I am glad to stop and just think and reflect on it all.” Looking back at Alissa, she continued, “I have been on edge since we got here, then I fell again when I lost Scott to those giants. I was a wreck, I mean we all were, but to each their own level. To lose Scott, here just as we were really developing was something that I didn’t know how to handle, and it’s not like I could’ve gone and seen someone, there was no one to see.” She paused again, she noticed that Donovan was standing behind Alissa, “Hey Don.”

  He nodded, “Hey you two, didn’t mean to interrupt the heartfelt talk there.”

  She shook her head, “It’s okay. I was caught in the moment.”

  Alissa looked up to Donovan, “Come sit.” Her left hand tapped the ground next to her.

  The sun rose a little higher and the forest began to come back to life from the night of slumber. More rodent sized creatures began to cross the forest floor, with bugs and arachnids flying, crawling and skittering about the leaves, trees, and bushes.

  Charlotte continued from where she left off. Her voice just flowed with the forest, natural and with ease. It began to look as if she became part of the forest, as a glow from the sun illuminated her. Her blond hair glistened and shimmered like an illusion. But as it started it ended with another voice, “You three seem to be ready to roll out.” Tuomas said as if he had just appeared out of thin air.

  “Yes, I think we are.” Donovan responded, standing up off of the ground. He wiped the dirt off of his pant legs and tapped on Alissa’s shoulder, to then offer his hand to help her off the log she was sitting on.

  She too his hand and he pulled her up, the two stood side by side. Charlotte waited a few moments more before she stood, she was collecting her thoughts from everything that she had been telling Donovan and Alissa. Everything began to make sense again, she began to understand her own feelings and how they were effecting her and everything around her.

  She saw Donovan’s hand in front of her, in offer to help her up. She accepted by grabbing his hand. He hoisted her up to her feet, and gave an affirming nod to her. Giving a nod in response the three of them followed Tuomas back towards their bedrolls to pack up and get back onto the trail.

  A few hours had past and the ride through the forest was quiet, no animals no bugs, just the sound of the wind in their ears and the hooves of the horses they were riding. They were quiet, they were not sure if they wanted to break the natural silence or just enjoy it while it lasted. Each of them struggling with different thoughts and emotions on the ride. Five more days of this: she wasn’t sure that she wanted to deal with that time alone with her thoughts. Hope. I need to have hope. We will get through this and we will save Scott and be together again. All six of us, to the team we once were.

  She was interrupted by her stomach rumbling at her. She looked up to the sky, to her next thought she was correct, it was coming up on noon. “Are you guys getting hungry?” She asked finally breaking the silence of the previous hours.

  The party stopped to eat, and gave the horses time to rest before the next leg of the journey. They remained quiet, yet they all wanted to say something. Their words could never form as they sat there. Each thinking of how to form them but dissipating before they had the chance to be spoken. Charlotte took out her drawing book from her satchel and began to draw part of the forest in front of her. She struggled, each line was not how she normally drew; she frowned and opened her mouth to swear. But nothing came out. She looked up to see the others still eating. She tried to scream but nothing. She dropped her book and moved to the others, each tapping on their shoulders to get their attention.

  Once she had their attention, she attempted again to scream with no sound leaving her mouth. The others looked at her strangely. She gestured them to try and make sounds. They soon realized what she was trying to communicate to them; they could no longer speak. The four of them packed as quickly as they could, they needed to move on and get as far away from this forest as they could.

  But it was too late. A being in the shape of a woman appeared by Tuomas. At a glance she looked like a creature from a fairytale. A fairy would be the simplest way to describe her. But this creature was not beautiful by any standards nor elegant to any meaning. Floating in front of them the creature spoke in a language that none of them knew nor heard before. The winds began to howl in their ears and clouds above formed into a dark grey hue and the shadows at their feet lengthened.

  The creature spoke again, “Who enters the forest of Alenthia?”

  None of them attempted to speak, they were all stunned by fear. “Answer me, mortals or join the others who have attempted to cross my forest!”

  Charlotte spoke up, “We are traveling to the Kingdom of Almerian, and we are in search of some ingredients to create a memory restoration potion.”

  The creature looked directly at Charlotte, “Is that so?” The fairy like creature floated toward her, “Let me see.” the creature placed its hand on Charlotte’s forehead.

  The pain was immense, she tried to scream but again nothing left her mouth. She teared from the pain. The fairy removed its hand from her forehead. “You speak the truth, rare for mortals to do so.” The creature spun to face the others, “Because of your truthfulness I will give you some information but only to get you out of my home.”

  They all looked at the creature, silent in anticipation. “The Kingdom of Almerian is destroyed. A powerful sorcerer destroyed in not three weeks past. And only the dead walk the streets of the once living kingdom. I would turn back now, if I were you.”

  Tuomas spoke up, “We need to find those ingredients. We have reason to believe that it will save the rest of the world from this sorcerer.”

  The creature looked at Tuomas, “I know what you are asking of me. But why should I even consider it? The business of mortals is not my business.”

  Tuomas countered, “But what happens when the sorcerer decides that he wants your home? What will you do against this enemy?”

  The creature didn’t answer right away, “I am a powerful fey spirit. No mortal being has been able to do anything against me.”

  The all stood in silence for a moment until Alissa spoke, “You assume the sorcerer is mortal, what if they aren’t? Have you considered that?”

  The fairy creature looked at her, “I saw the being with my own eyes as I cast a protective spell on my home while he burned the Kingdom’s lands to the ground.”


  Charlotte spoke again, “Then you are a fool to think any powerful being would leave perceiving their power to sight alone.”

  The creature zipped back to Charlotte, “Watch your tongue before I take it from your mouth.”

  Donovan interrupted it, “You must admit she has a point. What powerful being would just leave their power to be seen to all if they were not ready to completely take over? That would be a foolish move. The only people who flaunt over their power are weak and small minded.”

  The creature backed away from Charlotte, “You are all wise for mortals, maybe less than I am now giving thought for.” The creature hovered for a few more moments in silence, looking at each of them before speaking once again, “Very well, I will give you what you speak, on one condition.”

  The looked at it, “The condition?” Tuomas asked.

  “You must do one task for me.” They awaited the task that it was demanding, “I need you to remove a problem in my forest, and it is not you four. A different problem, one that I cannot deal with myself.”

  The air around them began to clear again, and they felt less restraint around their bodies, “There is a Spriggan who has made its home on the northern edge of mine. Normally I would have no issues with it being there; however there is something not normal with this Spriggan, she is plagued and it has changed the environment of my home. My issue is I cannot locate the Spriggan, she has continued to allude my magical searches and do not have the time to hunt her manually,” the creature stopped and faced them all, “You find this Spriggan and remove her from my home, and I shall give you the ingredients you need to create this potion you desire.”

  The four of them looked around at each other for a few moments. There was no lie in the creature’s voice, they had to help it to get what they needed. Tuomas addressed the creature, “Very well, we shall help you with your Spriggan problem in exchange to for the ingredients to the potion.”

  The creature gave a crooked smile, “Excellent!” it turned and started to float away, but abruptly stopped and faced them again, “Here, take this acorn.” handing it to Tuomas, for he was closest to it, “When you have accomplished your task, place it in the ground. Don’t worry, I will know when you do, it is my home after all.”

  A few more moments passed and the fey creature sank into the trees. The clouds above them dissipated revealing the blue sky once again, the sun now sat closer to the west, the day was aging. The four stood in silence a few moments more before Alissa broke the silence that had engulfed them, “Well that could have gone worse.”

  “I am afraid that we just accepted a quest that could be far worse than our original.” Tuomas said placing the acorn into his satchel pocket on his horse’s saddle.

  “Even if that is true, it sounds like the better option than trying to find what we need in an undead city.” Donovan said, mounting his horse, “We should get as close as we can today, and hunt this Spriggan tomorrow.”

  They knew that Donovan was correct, but each obstacle to getting Scott back was becoming purposeful to slow them as much as it could.

  23:

  They had traveled north and found a place to rest for the night. It was a night of preparation. They had to makeshift some extra wooden armor for shields and plates to protect them more than the simple hide they were wearing for travel. Donovan did what he could, his skills did what they did best but he said they wouldn’t hold with too much damage. Charlotte made some wooden bolts for her crossbow. She reasoned that it would be worth having the shot then not having the shot at all.

  Morning broke the tree line, almost as it did the morning before. But this time they were all up and prepared for a day of hunting before the sun crested the tops of the trees. They found themselves deep in the forest, the Northern edge was much denser than the where they had been before.

  A smell of death began to enter their surroundings, green turned to yellows and browns. “I think we found the edge of the Spriggan’s corruption.” Charlotte said hopping off her horse.

  Looking around for a moment she analyzed what was in there field of view. The others dismounted their horses and drew their weapons. Charlotte unsheathed her sword and held the crossbow in her offhand. “Shall we?” Tuomas asked in a rhetorical manner.

  Alissa led, her shield up, and eyes scanning the immediate area in front of her. The wood crackled underneath their feet. “It is quiet.” Donovan started, gripping his hammer tightly that the leather groaned, “I hate this kind of quiet.”

  Tuomas held an arrow in place on the bowstring. His fingers settled on the fletching, ready to draw back in preparation to fire. “The trees here seem much larger than the ones that where we were yesterday. And not by a small amount either.” Alissa spoke, keeping her focus on her surroundings.

  “Tread carefully, anything could be in here. And the way that creature was talking, we are the expendable ones here.” Tuomas said following Alissa’s comment.

  An hour passed and they continued deeper into the woodland. The air thicken making it harder to breath. Their steps were slowed by mudded ground, thick plots of dead leaves and animal remains. They stopped to catch their breaths. “We can’t keep this up Tuomas.” Donovan declared, “We need to figure this out and find this creature and get what we need.”

  Tuomas nodded in agreement, “I wish it were that easy. Sadly, I left Scott’s watch back at the mansion so any hints or hacks are out of the question.”

  Tuomas coughed hard, and gasped for air, “You doing okay?” Charlotte asked him, walking over next to him.

  He waited a few moments before responding, “Yes, at least in my condition.” He spit out mucous onto the ground, and sighed, “Come on we need to keep moving.” He claimed as Alissa spoke up.

  “Guys, you should see this!” Alissa hollered out from behind a tree trunk.

  The three swiftly made their way over to her location to see a pond of water. “That doesn’t look safe,” Donovan said sounding serious, but had a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

  Charlotte pointed over the water, “There.” They all looked, “That has to be where the Spriggan has made its home.” They all saw a tree in the middle of the pond that had its trunk separated into four smaller trunks as legs to have the core trunk provide cover to whatever slept underneath of it. The pond itself was brown and green, smells of disease and death met them as they approached it. Charlotte looked over at Tuomas, “You want to shoot and arrow and get its attention?”

  Tuomas nodded, bringing up his bow level. He searched for a good spot to land his mark. Alissa piped up, “The spot where the four mini trunks meet.”

  His bow gave a distinct twang when he let go of the bowstring, sending the arrow flying past them out at fifty feet to hit its mark. The forest began to groan moments after the arrow pierced the bark. Sounds of twisted branches and roots filled the air. The surface of the pond began to shimmer, as a wave would on the beach where the water and sand met. Twenty feet from the tree a wood-like creature ruptured from the pond. Dripping wet the creature stood and stared at them. “It looks like a wooden banshee if you ask me.” Donovan smirked, “Do you think it splinters like bone?”

  The Spriggan gave out a cry of battle. “I don’t think it want to negotiate!” Charlotte said, “Ready up!”

  Tuomas knocked another arrow, “Let her get near, don’t touch that water no matter what!”

  Charlotte rose the crossbow and pulled the trigger, sending a bolt flying into the Spriggan. The creature screamed upon the bolt’s impact. Tuomas followed in suit and let an arrow fly and piece through the Spriggan’s right shoulder. The sound of snapping bark filled their ears. The Spriggan stood taking the hits. “Why is this thing not coming for us?” Alissa asked, adjusting her grip on her sword, and quickly batting her eyes over toward Tuomas.

  “I have no idea, but I really wish I had a lighter right about now.” He responded firing another arrow at the Spriggan. Charlotte had loaded another bolt into her crossbow, and looked at her surroundings bef
ore speaking.

  “I think that we may have bigger problems at the moment everyone, watch your feet!” She yelled out.

  Donovan looked down to see large insect and arachnid shaped creatures scurrying around them. “Oh shit! You have got to be kidding me. Why? Why does it have to be bugs?”

  “Now I really wish I had a lighter, or at least some matches!” Tuomas exclaimed, stomping on the bugs.

  Charlotte fired her crossbow again at the Spriggan. This time her bolt landed in the neck of the Spriggan. This shot was the first that the Spriggan reacted to as its hand went up to grasp the bolt that penetrated its barky skin. It started to cough and fell to its knees, forcing it to submerge back into the water coughing up a brown sappy substance that they thought would be described as Spriggan blood.

  The bugs parted and skittered back into the woodwork of the forest. Silence came back over them. “Did you kill it?” Alissa asked, catching her breath.

  “I don’t know, but I wounded it. Landed a shot right in its neck.” Charlotte responded, pulling her hair back from her face: There is no way that was it, something that a powerful creature was worried about wouldn’t go down that easily, a bear in our world wouldn’t have just disappeared like that.

  Tuomas quickly ripped part of his shirt arm off and tied it around the arrow, “Does anyone have their fire starter?”

  Donovan opened his satchel pack and rummaged through it. The clacking of items echoed in the now silent forest. He looked up, “I got mine, here.” Walking over to him, Tuomas put his hand out to accept the tool.

  Tuomas reached into his own bag, and pulled out a small clear vial with a yellow substance in it. “You have oil?” Donovan asked, as he closed his satchel and latched the hooks keeping it secure.

  Tuomas nodded, “Sort of, for an emergency like this, it is actually the poison that Alissa made.”