Into the Forest Shadows

by J. A. Marlow

  "I love you!" Kate shouted at the door, even though she knew her mother couldn't hear her.

  A man walked to her mother, turning around to put a proprietary arm around her shoulders.

  Uncle Travis.

  Good old helpful Uncle Travis. Who only saw in her mother a primary shareholder in the company. And who saw Kate and Grandma as an impediment to his ambitions.

  Kate's eyes narrowed. No way would she let him win. Somehow she was going to save her mother from the worm.

  "You won't win!" She shouted at the closed door.

  The shuttle door faded into the living room of the condo her family had lived in just before her father died. She heard a slam towards the front door. Father had arrived home.

  Kate stomped her foot, trying to make the floor give way. "No! We're not doing this! Do you hear me? We're not doing this again!"

  The barest outlines of leaves and tree trunks filtered into her vision. Kate concentrated on them. Anything that wasn't a part of the visions swirling around in her head. Not a part of the emotions threatening to overwhelm her.

  She might have regrets from the past, but regrets wouldn't help her out of this situation. And she wasn't one to revel in her own pity party. She preferred action.

  And action Uncle Travis was going to get. One way or the other.

  The leaves began to fade among the textured walls of their small apartment in Oburos City. She heard her mother shout out her name from the small kitchen. She knew the memory. Knew Uncle Travis would be in the small living room glaring daggers at her when she came out of her room.

  And she didn't want any part of it.

  Kate closed her eyes, listening hard for the the forest. She caught the sound of creaking. The sounds built in volume. The creaks and pops of the trees moving eased her anxiety.

  The forest. A dangerous one, but still the forest.

  She opened her eyes to a bright sun above her and a multi-colored textured carpet below. Ahead of her stood the mountain, the forest rising and falling in a series of hills and mesa's all the way to its base. From the largest mesa grew trees taller than any others.

  No, this wasn't right. This couldn't be the forest of Shadows and Memories.

  Her eyes snapped shut again. She put her hands in front of her, inching forward, hoping to find bark. Other memories pressed on her, accompanied by the pull of the spores. Kate stomped on them. Memories could wait.

  The sensation of BunBun next to her skin appeared. Leaves rustled around her. The feeling of the soft ground reappeared under her feet. Her toe stubbed against a tree root. Kate opened her eyes, forcing herself to push past the shadows of the memories that still floated around her.

  In a snap the world righted itself. Around her appeared the cream trunks of the memory trees. In front of her the ground dropped away steeply, ending in a dark pit filled with a roiling tangle of brown and white-grey roots.

  Kate took a step back from the rim. The roots snatched up at her feet, prompting her to backtrack from the pit even faster.

  White coiled tendrils dropped down from the trees, snagging her clothes. She bushed them off only to find them sticking to her skin. With it the memories surged to overwhelm her.

  She jerked back, ducking down to run under the writhing tendrils as they again tried to grab her. She could keep the trees at bay, if she could keep them from touching her.

  She stopped in a small clearing between several wide trees. Although only one of them was a Memory tree the other trees pulled at her just as strongly.

  Great, she had other trees to watch out for.

  Diasis was right. This wasn't like a small grove of Memory trees. The place permeated menace. They needed to get out fast.

  If she could find Ayden.

  "Ayden!" Kate called out, hoping with all her heart he hadn't fallen into the pit before she snapped out of the memories.

  No one answered except the trees pulling at her mind.

  Bunbun quaked next to her skin, trapped in his own memories. She stroked him through her shirt, murmuring to him.

  She searched for footprints but the marshy ground left no marks for her to follow. She couldn't make out her own footprints to backtrack. A broken branch gave her a clue of what direction she might have come from. At least, she hoped it did.

  The trees continued to pull at her, attempting to draw out of her other memories as well as the feeling of frustration over her own lack of knowledge about the forest around her. The spores pulled in a different direction, pushing her towards relaxation and the oblivion that would follow.

  And Kate was caught in the middle of the mental tug-of-war.

  She kept her anger, rage and hope for her family close to her heart, shouting, "Stop it! Where is Ayden?"

  Nothing moved in the shadows. Only the normal sounds of the forest and the echos of past memories answered. A face formed in the dark brown of a trunk. She blinked. No, she couldn't be seeing faces. Wonderful, now she might be hallucinating.

  She pushed forward, even if the direction might be wrong.

  On the positive side, there were no Shadow Creatures. The forest might give them a good chance to get away after all, depending on how far it extended. And if she could find Ayden before the trees hurt him.

  "Leave me alone!"

  Kate's head jerked up, trying to pinpoint where the sound had come from. BunBun gave a big shudder and a small peep. The echo faded away, seeming to have come from all directions at once.

  "Where are you?" Kate called out.

  "How can you do this to me?" Ayden yelled.

  Kate zeroed in on the direction. She took off through the forest as fast as she could. With the Shadow Creatures nowhere nearby, she didn't have to worry about making noise.

  "Let me go!" Ayden screamed in a way that made Kate's skin erupt in goosebumps. She could hear the raw fear in his voice.

  And Ayden wasn't scared of anything.

  She heard thrashing in the trees ahead of her. Kate pushed her way through a stand of tall bushes. The bushes snapped back, some of them hitting her in the back as she came to a stop on the other side.

  Gossamer strands glistened silver and green in the light filtering through the canopy. An intricate web spread out between two huge Memory trees, with strands continuing to the forest floor to cover bushes and small trees.

  With Ayden tangled right at the base of it.

  Strands wrapped around his arms and legs held him firmly to the main web. His extended staff with a deactivated cutting edge swung in the webbing above his head.

  Kate rushed forward, "Ayden, it's Kate! I'm here!"

  "Get away from me. Haven't you done enough?" Ayden yelled, both fear and anger in his voice.

  "We had to do something to get away from the Shadow Creatures. No way would they follow us into the Memory trees." She pulled the staff from her belt. She managed to get it to extend but not to activate the cutting edge.

  She prodded the web, only to find the strands sticking to the end. With a yank back the web let loose, bouncing as it sprung back into position.

  "How could you sell me? What kind of a mother are you?" Ayden demanded, trying to twist around to see her, and in the end tangling himself up all the more.

  Kate stopped prodding with the staff. "Mother?"

  "You never really loved me. I was always in the way. I knew it, but still, how could you do this?"

  Kate pushed the staff at one of the coils around his hand and pushed up. The web stuck to his skin for a moment and then snapped away. Kate jerked the staff back to release it from the web's grasp.

  She knew she shouldn't ask, but she couldn't help it. "What was it I did to you, Ayden?"

  "How can you ask so innocently? You ignore me for years. Then, when I finally decide to take my life into my own hands and start winning scholarships, you sell me?" His voice rose as he demanded, "What kind of a mother are you?"

  "Sell you?" Kate repeated in the middle of unwrapping another coil from his leg. She swallowed hard a
gainst a lump. "Are you talking slavery?"

  "What else would it be? You sell me to the corporation in exchange for money. Do I get any choice in it? No, not until I'm of age!"

  "And you came here to your Uncle to hide out in the forest," Kate guessed. No wonder he loved the forest so much. In it he could disappear any time he needed to. The ultimate hiding place.

  "And my Uncle will find me and you'll never discover me again!' Ayden raged, tears streaming down his face despite the brave words.

  "Good grief, and I thought my father was bad," Kate muttered. She wrenched another bit of web off of him. "Your Uncle is still in the forest. Your mother is not here. This is Kate."

  "Leave me alone! Go away!"

  "Are you going to allow the Shadow Creatures, the Newcomers and my Uncle to destroy the peace you've found in this forest? Aren't you angry they are trying?" Kate poked him in the side with the staff before going after another strand, "How about this? Here is the city-girl Kate rescuing the big and mighty forest Gatherer!"

  Ayden went still, "What?"

  "This is Kate, you doofus! Aren't you supposed to be the smart forest person and not me?" She poked him again for good measure.

  "Hey, stop that!"

  Kate poked him again, "Or what? Come on Ayden. Aren't you supposed to rescue me and not the other way around?"

  One of his hands came free and he waved her off, "Stop poking me!"

  "Who am I, Ayden! Look at me! Say my name!" Kate demanded.

  Ayden turned his head, staring straight at her. His eyes went wide, "Kate? What are you doing?"

  Kate waved the staff, "Trying to get you out of a humongous spider web, that's what! Come on, I need your help. Stop twisting yourself up even worse!"

  "Spider web?" Ayden's head snapped up to look at the web. "Get me out of here!"

  Kate managed to move another strand. The entangled threads around his legs and ankles proved stubborn to any attempts to remove them. "Trust me, I'm trying!"

  "Oh no, it's awake," Ayden groaned.

  The hair on the back of Kate's neck stood straight up. She slowly tilted her head up, following the line of his intent stare.

  And straight into the many bright red eyes of the biggest spider she'd ever seen.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  The spider dangled from a thick thread attached somewhere in the canopy of the Memory tree. Its hairy legs tapped lightly on the trunk as it smoothly glided lower. Parts of the body lacked a hard outer shell, meaning it wasn't technically a spider, but the double jaws around the mouth made the identification pointless. It looked like it could crush them with one bite.

  The spider stopped a short distance above Ayden, who was reaching desperately above his head for his staff. The spider extended a leg, shaking at the thread.

  The staff dropped out of the web, bouncing on the forest floor.

  A rich gravely voice said, "I would appreciate it if you would not destroy my web. I already have a lot of work to do to repair it."

  Kate stared at the spider. No way did she just hear that. She swallowed, "Uh, I'm sorry. Did you just talk?"

  "Do you see someone else here?" The spider demanded. With another shake of a line one of the heavy strands let loose of Ayden's arm. "It seems I will not have a big meal today. Not with one of the helpers. But then, you are contaminated."

  "Sorry, but I haven't used a bunt, so I don't know how I can understand you. Unless you used one?" Come to think of it, she hadn't seen a single bunt in the forest. In fact, no animals at all until the spider.

  "Like a few of the other creatures of the forest, once I learn a language I do not forget. Was it not wise to learn the languages of the Newcomers after the crash from the sky? Was it not wise to learn that of the humans when the camp became established? Am I not more intelligent than the traitorous leader of the rebellious Shadow Creatures?"

  "Diasis," Kate guessed.

  "Do not speak his name to me, helper or not."

  Kate silently sent a 'thank you' to Grandma once again for the cape. "We didn't mean to get tangled in your web."

  "So I observed. The young male arrived in the throes of his memories. That is the way of this forest." It spoke gently, but just the sight of it gave her chills.

  Ayden fell to the ground, his upper body freed. He shook his legs one by one, the strands detaching themselves. The moment he was freed he retreated to her, grabbing his staff as he did. He cleared his throat, "Thank you. I'm sorry about your web."

  The spider sniffed, "Indeed. What a mess it is. It will take hours, perhaps days, to fix."

  The vision of a bright forest flashed through her head. Directly below her a coned trunk topped with a bushy canopy had rings of flowers blooming from the base to the very top. The flowers snapped shut and retreated into protective tubes as a beetle flew past.

  Ayden put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right?'

  She nearly jumped at the touch. She shook her head "No, I keep seeing something and it's a part of the forest I've never seen before. It's not a memory. Isn't that all this forest is supposed to bring into one's mind?"

  "Supposedly. I've never heard of anything other than memories, or a play off of memories."

  Kate ducked down at the sound of singing wings coming up fast behind them. Ayden waved his staff in the air as a giant insect sailed through the air above their heads. It swerved out of the way, and right into the spider web.

  "Finally, dinner!" the spider gloated, dropping down. With a few flicks of its legs it had the insect fully tangled in the webbing.

  Kate grimaced and turned her head as it dropped down further, hearing a soft crunching sound.

  "A forest of memories, only you didn't have a memory. Something else? Something different?" The spider chuckled. It retreated to the side of the web as the insect twitched. "I feel charitable today. A good meal will do that to one. One question. You may ask me one question, girl. Make it a good question. Do you know the right question to ask?"

  Kate turned to Ayden, who shrugged. "I'm barely keeping the forest out of my head right now. Besides, he asked you."

  The vision tugged at her again. She put a hand on Ayden's arm and let herself slip into it.

  The mountain loomed up above her, the twin suns warm and bright. She was closer to the large mesa where the large trees actively mingled, their branches touching each other.

  Among them were trees with bright red and purple leaves with brilliant red flowers. Moving closer she spotted a red markings on the bark. Like the one cut down in the Gatherer camp.

  One of the red-marked trees shook, the roots coming up out of the ground. On the mass of heavy roots it moved down a path. Many of the other trees moved out of the way. Other trees moved their limbs out of the path. Even the bunts moved out of the way, watching its progress.

  A rumbling filled the air. Birds and insects filled the air and the bunts scurried for cover. Beyond the mesa a dark object rose up into the sky, a shape of gnarled brown with portions that looked suspiciously like knots and leaves. As if many giant trees had come together into one tightly knotted mass.

  And it was flying.

  It turned, and on the side blazed the same red mark as the sacred trees. It pointed itself towards the sky, rising up to disappear into the sunlight.

  "If you can't find a Watcher, you must find the Ancients and warn them," Grandma's voice said softly in her ear. "The entire forest is counting on you."

  "But where do I find them?" She asked. She turned her eyes from the ship to her side. Only Grandma wasn't there. Only the trees of the forest of Shadows and Memories.

  She missed Grandma. She should have tried getting to the hut Grandma had been held in, to take her into the forest with her.

  But then she dismissed the idea. They'd barely escaped the camp and Grandma had been in a lot worse physical shape. The Shadow Creatures would have caught up with them easily before making the safety of the forest of Shadows and Memory.

  And she knew what she needed to ask.
"Where do I go to speak with the Ancients?"

  The spider laughed softly as it wrapped the insect even tighter. "A very good question, indeed. And unless I am wrong, your visions are telling you where to go. Did you not see the mountain? Did you not see the plateau?"

  "With all the moving trees," Kate muttered.

  "Ah yes. The summers are so much more interesting and exciting. So full of life. So many satisfying meals," the spider sighed with happiness.

  "I did see the place. I saw it very clearly, but I don't know how to get there. Do you know?" Kate said.

  The spider waved at them with one leg as it continued its work with the other legs, "I will not lead you. I have a meal to enjoy. Either the forest will lead you there or you were never meant to find it. Take the Watcher with you. I don't want to make the mistake of eating someone protected when hungry."

  Kate perked up, "A Watcher? Here? But we saw the Watcher killed!"

  "Then it must have been one of the other Watchers. This one is still very much alive, although not for the Shadow Creatures trying. You speak perhaps of the Watcher who was the intermediary for your species? Oh dear, that will cause problems."

  "That's who killed our Watcher. The Shadow Creatures," Ayden said.

  Kate grinned, smacking Ayden on the shoulder, "Another Watcher! A living Watcher!"

  Ayden rubbed his shoulder, scowling at her, "Yes, I heard."

  The spider gestured with a hind leg, "Go around. You'll find him on the other side. He took shelter in this forest to escape the Shadow Creatures, just as you did. I'm sure he'll be glad to be out of here, as you will be. Don't understand that myself. The forest is a rather calm and peaceful place."

  "Maybe it affects you differently?" Kate asked, carefully picking her way around the trees with the web.

  "I'm sure. We spiders are such evolved creatures. Our minds aren't nearly as clouded as lower life forms," the spider said.

  "I think we were just insulted," Ayden muttered.

  She ducked down under a bough, stepping over several tall roots.

  "Wait, I've lost Bunbun!" Ayden cried, searching among the roots. "Have you seen him?"