Into the Forest Shadows

by J. A. Marlow

  "I need a rest."

  Kate looked down the hill to find Ayden on his hands and knees trying to follow her. "We're almost there. We can't stop now."

  "Maybe I don't care!" Ayden suddenly raged. He sat down and crossed his arms over his chest. "Maybe I'll take a nap right here and be done with it."

  Kate pulled a tall flower out of the ground and threw it at him. The imprecise arrow hit his leg. "I'm going to get up to the top first if you don't pick it up. You can't let that happen. Gatherer pride is at stake."

  Ayden scowled at her, but he continued climbing. Kate slowed down so he could keep up, alternating between taunts and encouragement.

  She stopped near a huge mushroom to take a short breather while Ayden climbed up after her. Gently rolling hills spread out before her through a break in the trees. In the distance glittered a large body of water stretching halfway across the panorama. She wondered if it could be a part of the one they'd crossed on the narboa.

  The scene felt so familiar, and yet she knew she'd never seen it before.

  Never with her own eyes, but through others. Kate's eyes went wide.

  "Ayden, this is it! We're here!" Kate whirled around, climbing higher.

  "We're where? I don't see a city."

  "Trust me. We need to go up," Kate said with even more conviction. The more she looked at the trees clinging to the side of the steep hill above her, the more certain she felt.

  And suddenly she was on the top. The ground evened out, the forest canopy solidifying into a solid green second sky.

  She turned around, pulling Ayden up the last little bit. "We did it! We're on the mesa!"

  Ayden collapsed on the ground. "Yeah, until the next hill or mesa. I'm not kidding, Kate. I'm at the end."

  Kate grinned down at him, "No, this is where we need to be. This is where the city is. I'm sure of it."

  Ayden rolled over and pushed himself to his feet. Bunbun squeaked in protest, his head coming out at the collar of Ayden's coat. "Not the mountain?"

  Kate grabbed his hand and pulled him into the forest. "The mountain is a landmark. The Ancients don't live there."

  He let her drag him into the new forest. She didn't complain at his slower pace. Her steps had slowed from exhaustion, too.

  The mesa forest radiated energy, yet it was different from the other forests she'd traveled through. It took time for her to realize why.

  The silence.

  The trees barely moved and yet she felt no pain, so she knew the silence couldn't be coming from an infection of spores. The few animals moving about went about their business as quietly as the trees.

  She didn't talk, despite her excitement at finding the place. For some reason it felt wrong to disturb the peace.

  A green leafy wall of intertwined trees appeared in front of them. Kate changed direction, trying to find a way around the barrier. After a while she stopped and contemplated the wall. It didn't seem to end.

  She pushed closer, searching for some small hole to squeeze through. She found the tightly entwined trees and branches extending right down to the forest floor. No air or light passed through the woven wall.

  Ayden pushed at the springy limbs, shaking his head, "I've never seen anything like this."

  He knelt down and put Bunbun on the ground, pushing him forward. "See a place through?"

  Bunbun scratched vigorously behind one ear with his good hind paw. A bunt ran past him to graze on a patch of grass. Bunbun nosed the next bunt that went past but made no move to follow them.

  Finally Ayden picked him up, cradling him against his chest. "So much for that. Sometimes it's hard to get across what I want him to do."

  Kate reached out and scratched the bunt behind the ears. "We'll keep looking. There has to be a break somewhere."

  A harsh squaw reverberated through the silent forest. She ducked at the movement of a dark shadow. She heard the flap of wings pass over her head.

  The shape landed on the lower branches of a tree not far away. The lizard head with a wide sharp beak stared straight at them, the gold and brown feathers ruffling as it settled. The squaws continued, the odd bird hopping along the limb.

  She didn't like the sounds it was making, nor the active movements. The thing looked ready to launch itself at them at any moment.

  Ayden nuzzled Bunbun to his forehead. His face cleared, but he said as he handed him to her, "You aren't going to like what it's saying."

  Her tired head pulsed with the painful buzz. Perhaps because of her exhaustion it felt more powerful than before. And fuller.

  The noises above them eventually settled into words and phrases. "Humans are not welcome here! Turn and leave or you will die!"

  Kate's jaw tensed as she handed Bunbun to Ayden. She squared her shoulders. "I have a message to deliver to the Ancients."

  The creature above them laughed. "You will not see the Ancients. They will not speak to ones such as you. Go back your way, murderers."

  "We did not come all this way to go back. I am a Helper. See? The red cape?" She lifted a corner of it.

  "And I am a Watcher," the creature said, bowing low on the branch so she could see the stain of yellow on the scales of its back. "I care not of your imitator clothing, faking a sacred connection to what we hold sacred. You will remove yourself from this place."

  "This isn't fake. My Grandma made it. She was a Helper, too," Kate said, shaking a fold of it at the creature.

  The creature huffed at her. She glared at it.

  "Can you take the message?" Ayden called out.

  "I will not speak with murderers. You will leave."

  She shook her head and with Ayden's hand firmly in her own she backed away into the thickening woods.

  She reminded herself that finding a Watcher was a good development. That the Ancients must be close, must be what it protected.

  Unfortunately it didn't tell her where on the mesa to look for them. It didn't help that she didn't know what the Ancients looked like. She'd hoped to find someone who could tell her where she needed to go.

  "He's coming again," Ayden warned.

  She pushed at a stiff branch at head level, bending it out of the way. The moment Ayden passed she let it go. It snapped back at the same time the Watcher arrowed down through the trees.

  She couldn't help but imagine the branch snapping back and nailing the babbling creature right in the beak. No such luck, though. It averted its flight at the last moment, the claws scraping the branch.

  She pushed her way through the trees, hiking parallel to the tree wall. A small group of bunts took off into the dense barrier trees.

  She stopped, staring down at the small opening the bunts disappeared into. Good, one break in the barrier, but far too small for a human.

  "Leave now!"

  Kate pushed at the branches, "Why can't you stop threatening and help us deliver our message? You have no idea who we are. We are not murderers. We must speak to the Ancients!"

  And they didn't have long to find them. The sunlight streamed through the canopy at an alarming angle. She needed to find the Ancients and stop the bloodbath that would occur once night fell.

  The wall of trees rippled. Ayden grabbed her and pulled her away from the barrier and put himself between her and the moving trees.

  The Watcher cackled loudly. "You were warned! Now the trees themselves will deal with you."

  Ayden's hand gripped his staff tight. The branches before them wove in and out among each other. She grasped the hand he was pushing her backwards with, whispering, "Don't use your blade."

  "I'm not about to. Some of these are untouchables. What will be will be."

  Kate squeezed his arm, not liking the sense of weariness and defeat in his voice. Maybe she could circle the mesa and find a forest creature who would help them.

  In a rush, the trees parted. Trunks bowed out from each other. The tangle of branches moved to form a low arch leading through the barrier. The movements settled, the silence returning to the forest. N
ot even the Watcher disturbed it.

  On the other side she saw a forest of green, brown and reds waiting. She glanced up at the trees forming the tunnel. They were of a type she hadn't seen before. Would it be safe to pass through?

  Bunbun squirmed out of Ayden's hand. He hit the ground at an odd angle, causing him to roll several times before finding his feet.

  Bunbun squealed at them, and then at bunt burrows. A few bunts popped up. The small group raced along the ground, running to the arched pathway. They bounced and hopped the way, stopping now and again to nose each other.

  "Bunts have great survival instincts," Kate murmured.

  Ayden nodded, "Then in we go."

  Kate spotted the Watcher watching them carefully from a nearby branch. She resisted sticking her tongue out at him.

  With Ayden's hand in her own, they entered the tunnel. The tangle of branches forming the arch nearly brushed the top of their heads. As they walked the trees behind them shivered, closing up the path. Kate kept her eyes forward. So far, so good.

  Bunbun and the other bunts disappeared at the other end of the tunnel, scattering into the forest.

  Ayden sighed. "I hope he doesn't get lost."

  "He always seems to find us later," Kate reminded him.

  "But you can never count on it."

  They emerged at the end of the tunnel into a silent forest of mature trees. The trees behind them closed the last of the tunnel.

  Kate watched the last of the limbs weaving together to reform the wall. "Well, we're here. Now to find someone to talk to."

  "Good luck with that."

  Kate frowned at him, "What do you mean?"

  Ayden gestured out at the trees, "Most of the trees here are those that are dormant. If they are dormant, then they aren't producing anything for animals to eat. Notice how still everything is?"

  She turned back to the widely spaced trees. He was right. The trees didn't move. No birds or animals lurked in the treetops or on the ground between the trees. Only a few bunts grazing on the low grasses.

  And in front of them towered one of the trees with the red mark. A huge tree, wide and tall, as big around as a large shuttle. The more she looked, the more of the same sort of tree she saw. They were everywhere!

  "There are so many with the red mark," Kate mumbled.

  "I've never seen so many in one place before," Ayden said in awe. "We need to be careful. We aren't suppose to even touch those trees."

  Kate caught her breath. The image of the trees with the red marks, the ship launching with the red mark. Why hadn't she put it together before? "Not supposed to touch! Ayden, those trees have something to do with the Ancients!"

  Even while Ayden started to deny it, she walked up to one of the nearest trees and placed herself directly below the red mark.

  She cleared her throat and said in a clear voice, "Hello! My name is Kate O'Hanson. I've brought a message from my grandmother, Olivia Blackstone, for the Ancients."

  The tree did not move. Not even a leaf twitched.

  The familiar laughing cackle of the Watcher echoed down to them. "Were you expecting a response?"

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  "More than what we've received from you," Kate shouted out to him.

  "I hate to say it, but the tree isn't moving," Ayden said, looking up into the canopy. "On the good side, it isn't attacking, either."

  "Then we keep trying. Someone here has to be awake."

  "Kate, this looks nothing like a city."

  "Who says it had to look like a human city?" She moved to another tree. Her words were braver than what she felt inside. The lack of response and basic emotion around her didn't bode well for success. Slowly she added, "Or maybe wake them up?"

  Ayden regarded the tree, "Wake up? From hibernation?"

  "It makes sense, doesn't it? The Watchers dealing with the humans until the Ancients make a decision about what to do with us? What if the Watcher was waiting for summer? To the creatures here, with their instinctive memories, that time would seem just around the corner."

  "Kate, if the Ancients are hibernating, then we are in real trouble. The Shadow Creatures are attacking tonight. We can't wait who knows how many decades before they wake up."

  "It isn't just the humans who are in danger," Kate said thoughtfully. A memory tugged at her mind, just out of reach. "I think Diasis means usurp power from the Ancients while they sleep."

  Ayden's hand hovered above the bark, yet not touching. "The trees took away some of their memories. Including how to find this place."

  "The trees were trying to protect the Ancients in the only ways they could." So many pieces fit. But it didn't help her figure out what she should do. She touched the bark, hearing Ayden suck in his breath. She called tentatively, "Hello?"

  "For someone who wears the colors and marking of a Watcher, you do not work with the ways of the forest. Only against," the Watcher mocked.

  She noticed that the Watcher never landed on one of the marked trees. So, he knew. She narrowed her eyes at him. "And you could save the Ancients and yet you won't. Why?"

  "Save? You believe you, an outsider, can save one of our powerful Ancients?" The Watcher lowered its head, jutting the beak at her. "What a foolish female you are."

  "And you are worthless."

  A bunt ran over her foot. Several others ran circles around her feet. The mental image formed of Grandma putting one of them to her forehead. Could it really be that easy?

  She reached down and grabbed one of the bunts. It squealed and kicked in her hands. Carefully she turned it around to face her. She crooned at at, making non-sensical noises. The ears went up and it sniffed the air. It wrinkled its nose at her.

  "Yes, I know, I smell of spores. I can't help that, but I'm hoping you can help me," Kate said to it in a sing-song voice.

  The bunt twitched an ear at her and then turned to stare over its shoulder. The bunts at her feet froze, staring as one at the barrier trees. All at once they squealed. The bunt in her hands kicked hard, knocking itself out of her grasp. It hit the ground running, joining the others in sprinting towards the holes and burrows.

  From the midst of the racing horde Ayden reached down and snagged Bunbun, stuffing him down his jacket. "Did you see that?"

  "Oh yeah!" Kate said, her eyes scanning the shadows. "It must be a Shadow Creature. Do you see it?"

  Ayden stopped next to her, "The Bunts looked at the barrier trees."

  The spores within her body rushed up, taking her by surprise. The breath caught in her lungs, her body paralyzed. She felt a chill move up her limbs, the edges of her mind going numb.

  She heard a gushing exhale from Ayden. Out of the corner of her eye she could see he'd gone rigid.

  Her mind raced to combat the spores. But, the pure anger lingered out of her reach, smothered by the many layers of exhaustion. The spores had the upper hand and they weren't going to let go.

  The mocking Watcher above them went silent. The bunts disappeared down their holes. Nothing in the barrier wall moved. It felt as if the forest was holding its breath, waiting to see what would happen.

  And still she couldn't see any moving shadows.

  The rhythmic beat of wings told her she was looking in the wrong direction, but the spores wouldn't let her lift her chin. In the midst of a break in the canopy something blocked out the light. Then another.

  The shapes dropped down to the ground near the barrier trees. She could make out wings, but the bodies appeared mal-shaped. Then she realized she wasn't seeing one body per pair of wings, but instead two bodies, one carried by the other.

  The same type of creature that carried off Grandma. Only this time, they'd brought Diasis and Captain Straos.

  The Newcomer didn't look too happy to be flying, but once on the ground he smiled widely with a grin that showed no teeth. Diasis prowled along the barrier trees before joining Captain Straos in front of them while the flying creatures found a perch in a nearby tree.

  "Very good. We sh
ould have done this from the beginning," Captain Straos gushed. He settled his uniform, hooking stubby fingers on the wide polished belt. "They led us right to the Ancients."

  "It was an unwise decision. The female is too dangerous," Diasis growled. "They should be torn apart."

  "Now, now. Haven't you had several satisfying meals lately?" He turned his attention to Kate, moving closer to her. As he did, she could feel the power of the spores increase, weighing down on her head and heart and making it hard to breathe. "You've been at the edge of your strength for some time, and yet you found enough to keep going. You did well in pleasing your new master. Close your eyes. Rest. There is nothing to fear."

  The anger she couldn't find before blazed up fierce and hot. Controlled again. Just like with Father, just like with Uncle Travis. Now by a non-native creature that shouldn't be on the planet.

  She felt the binding on her lungs ease and found her voice, railing, "You've found what? A quiet forest where we could rest in peace without Diasis's kind running around."

  Diasis growled deep in his throat. "I should tear you to pieces.'

  "Is that the only thing you know? Violence and murder? The humans are blamed for murder and yet it was you and the spores who did it." She stopped, unable to speak.

  The spores washed over her, an outside rage filtering in from the edges of her numbing brain.

  She looked at Captain Straos to find him regarding her with narrow eyes. The spores, Straos controlled them and not Diasis. She struggled to think how she could use the information. That is, if she ever regained control of her limbs.

  His eyes went to the trees surrounding them, "Your emotions betray you. Through the spores I felt your elation the moment you found this place. The place you believed could help your cause. The city of the Ancients."

  Captain Straos moved and inspected the surrounding trees individually. He pulled a device off his belt.

  Diasis circled Kate and Ayden, casting narrowed glances up at them. She could almost see his mind working. See him choosing the various ways he would attack the moment he could. How he could turn all of this to his advantage.