by R. C. Rutter
Arthur did not respond. He gaze was on the knapsack which was shaking on the ground. He walked over to it, put his hand inside, and felt around. He pulled out a black feather. Arthur looked directly at Edward. “If you ask me what we are supposed to do with it, I will hit you!”
“I wasn’t. Really, I wasn’t but I do have an idea. Help me!”
Edward picked up the dress and carried it over to a small bush. He threw the dress over the bush and arranged it so it looked liked a person was wearing it. Arthur quickly got the idea and placed the wig and tiara on top while Edward attached the sword and wand.
They soon had what appeared to be a woman, wearing a wig and tiara, with a sword at her side and carrying a wand.
“Now what?” they both asked at the same time.
The kitten meowed to get their attention. They looked down and it was holding the feather in its mouth.
“Okaaayyy?” uttered Edward. “And we do what with the feather?”
“Tickle me and you are so dead!” Arthur said sternly.
They both stood back to admire their work and were quite pleased. Edward started to open his mouth when a gust of wind picked up the dress and lifted it off of the bush. A stronger wind grabbed the dress and took it higher above the tree line. As quickly as it rose it was snatched from view by two crows that carried it off and disappeared from view.
* * *
The sun was shining brightly overhead as the camp began stirring. Seth yawned and stretched. Looking around he could see a few others stirring. The place next to him which had been occupied by Malcolm was empty. It was strange for Malcolm to be up so early. Being the trained soldier, Seth reached over and felt the area. It was stone cold so Seth knew Malcolm must have been up for a while.
Seth stood up and tried to focus his gaze. He did not want to call out for fear of disturbing the rest of the camp.
“It is strange behavior indeed” said the soft voice of Eric as he leaned close to Seth.
Seth jumped at the sound of the voice. He had no idea that anyone was that close. “Do you think that maybe, just once, you could give a little warning before you sneak up on someone?”
Eric smiled. “Now, I wouldn’t be much of a wizard now if I announced my presence everywhere I went now, would I? And besides, I am not really here. After all, Robald killed me several years ago.”
“And anyhow, what do you mean strange behavior? I was just stretching.”
“Not you.” Eric hesitated. “Malcolm.” Eric pointed to a cluster of trees with Malcolm in the middle.
They watched intently as Malcolm stood there. They were not close enough to see if his lips were moving but from his body movements, it seemed like he was carrying on quite a conversation.
The gaze of Eric and Seth relaxed a little. This might take a while they thought.
Then one of the trees moved.
Seth blinked to clear his eyes. Eric gasped and pulled out his wand which flew out of his hands and landed at Malcolm’s feet. Malcolm glanced over at Eric, picked up the wand, and stuck it in his belt. He turned his attention back to the trees.
In the morning mist, what first appeared to be a cluster of trees now appeared to be quite different. There were eight of them, green and brown in color, all about eight to nine feet tall with roots in place of ankles and feet. The tree trunk split about halfway up which gave it the appearance of having two legs and there were two side branches which reached all the way to the ground in front as if they had two very long arms. They were not close enough to see any kind of a face.
“Eric?” Seth whispered. “Eric, what are they?”
“I have not a clue, never seen anything like it. I have heard rumors, but nothing quite like this.”
They guessed the conversation was over as Malcolm left the trees and was walking towards them. He had quite a look of contentment on his face.
By now the entire camp was standing around Eric and Seth watching the entire episode unfold. Motionless and quiet, they all stood there frozen, awaiting the next moment.
Malcolm was walking directly to Eric and Seth then turned abruptly and stood before Lydia and Gweneviere.
“Come” was all Malcolm said. Turning around, he did not wait to see if they were following him. He took a few steps and abruptly stopped. “Lay down your swords and knives. It makes the tree people nervous.” Malcolm continued walking. “Whatever you do, do NOT speak! You will only get them mad and trust me; you do not want to see them mad!”
Perplexed but curious, Lydia and Gweneviere placed their weapons on the ground. Robald was tense and held onto his sword firmly. He was not going to let anyone or anything harm the love of his life. He began following but was stopped as two tree roots came out of the ground and wrapped around his ankles.
Lydia looked directly at Robald and waved him away. He did not like it but felt he had no other choice but to wait. As he relaxed, the roots withdrew.
The two girls walked quietly behind Malcolm. As they approached the tree people, Lydia and Gweneviere could begin to make out what looked like faces near the tops of the trees. It was eerie but they both felt quite a sense of peace and tranquility the closer they got.
The figure closest to Malcolm spoke. “The tree people bid you greetings and wish you well on your sojourn. We are aware of your journey. We will help where we can but it is not our battle and there are too few of us left. We must save our resources to protect our own interests. We have helped in the past, are helping in the present, and will continue to help in the future. King Lorne respected us and often sought our council. Paramount is the fool who heeds the warning but transpires more. You would be wise to do better.” The speaking tree paused. “Your father has been felt in the forest. We assume he has been looking for you.”
Malcolm cleared his throat. “We are humbled and grateful for all that you have done and continue to do. Your efforts speak well of your true nature. Our journey is fraught with danger and our trials continue to mount. There are many who desire us not to succeed in order to fulfill their own ambitions. While our resolve is strong, our foes are many, and sad to say, our friends and allies too few.”
Gweneviere and Lydia were staring at Malcolm. Neither one knew that he was capable of talking so much and so eloquently.
Gweneviere was the first to ask “You said our father was here. Where is he? When was he last here? Is he my dad or Lydia’s dad?”
Malcolm grimaced as the tree people shook their limbs, clearly agitated. “I am sorry, they are quick to speak and know little of your culture. Please take no offense as none was meant nor implied.” Malcolm glared at the two girls.
“When you live as long as we do, you learn patience and fortitude. You humans are quick to act, quick to damage, and you often don’t consider the consequences. We shall forgive your insolence but make sure it does not happen again. You do not have the right to speak to us.”
The tree people turned and started walking away. The one who spoke stopped and looked back. “Remember my generosity for it shall not be repeated. The answer to your question is ‘yes’ and I shall say no more.” The tree joined the others in leaving the clearing.
Gweneviere stood there with her mouth open, glaring at Malcolm. He was holding his fingers to his lips in the hope that she would remain quiet. After the tree people were out of sight, he began walking back to the group.
“Well, what else did they say?” inquired Gweneviere and Lydia at the same time.
“They said your dad was rooted in the castle. Best I can understand is that he is being held prisoner and can only leave through mental telepathy. I think that is the way they explained it. Only those with magical powers have the ability to sense his presence, and even then, he could block them from ever feeling it. They said it is quite a talent to have.”
Eric met the group before they got too close and pulled Malcolm away from the others. They began conversing but no one was close enough to overhear what was being said. Malcolm shook his head up and down, back a
nd forth, but was saying very little. This went on for about ten minutes before Eric seemed satisfied. Malcolm handed the wand back to Eric as they both turned and rejoined the group.
Malcolm called for the entire group to come close enough to hear. “They are the tree people. They have limited interest in our endeavors and will help where they can, they don’t care too much for the demons. They desire things to go back to how they were when King Lorne ruled the land but since there are so few left, they cannot risk direct confrontation.”
Malcolm continued “So that you may have a better understanding of the tree people, I shall tell you the following “they prefer watching over doing, listening over talking; truth over pretending; life experience and wisdom over possessions; spiritual beliefs over luck; consideration of others over self-centeredness; being humble over egotistical; being interesting over important; and sunlight over storms. You must prove your merit in order to converse with them, let alone even to be aware of their presence.”
Seth had such a look of confusion on his face “But they are just trees, trees that move.”
“No” Eric quickly interjected. “After speaking with Malcolm, I have learned that they are that and so much more. They have been here since before man.”
* * *
Chapter 19
The colonel opened his eyes and could see the morning sun. Everything was moving back and forth. He realized he was lying down and started to sit up but the pain was too great. Turning his head, he could see that he was surrounded by soldiers who were carrying him on a stretcher.
He let himself drift off again and began dreaming. He felt himself flying, free as a bird, and free of all responsibilities. The warm air was rushing past him and felt good on his face. The sunshine was warming to his skin. He was so calm and relaxed. Gazing all around, he was enjoying himself. He dreamt of a speck in the distance. At first, it seemed to be another bird but as it got closer, the shape became more visible. It was flowing in the wind. The closer it got, the more it looked like a dress. When the sun caught it at the right angle, it flashed brightly. It seemed so peaceful and serene just flowing with the wind. Then he noticed the wand and the sword. His heart began racing as the dress came closer. He opened his mouth to speak, to warn the others but could only scream.
The dress was in front of him, still quite a good distance away, but the hard blow came from behind. This was weird. He awoke and realized the gurney had been abruptly dropped on the ground and the men were staring at him again.
“WHAT?” he barked at the men.
They refused to speak and stood there slowly shaking their heads. He could hear whispering but could not make out their words. He let his gaze drift upward and saw a speck in the sky. Lifting himself up on his arms, he tried moving backwards to get away. As the speck drew closer, he could make out the form. It was the dress from his dream.
He pointed at the sky and screamed again. Loudly!
This time the men looked up and saw the apparition approaching. Alarms were sounded and shields were raised. The dress crossed over the army then back again. It kept up this pace until it had covered the entire column of men. The reflection from the tiara and sword caught the sun just right and stopped them from seeing any face of the creature.
One of the captains gave the order to attack and several arrows were released striking the target. They waited, expecting it to fall from the sky but it didn’t. It just kept flying.
As it neared the front of the column, the attacker paused then released the sword which gained speed as it fell. The soldiers scrambled to get out of the way. Only the colonel was left behind, too paralyzed with fear to move and too weak from being carried. He could only watch and scream.
His scream abruptly ceased as the sword found its target.
The dress rose in the air until it disappeared from sight. The soldiers chose to wait until they were sure it was not coming back before they approached the lifeless body of the colonel.
As they neared, the colonel lunged at them, gasping for air and trying to grab onto anyone. He failed, falling back as the last breath left his now lifeless body.
* * *
Alexander looked back at the trail of wagons following him and shook his head. “What a waste!” he said aloud to no one in particular. He stopped his horse and watched as the heavy wagons struggled to keep pace. They had already suffered three broken axles. The road they were on was more of a cow trail then a real road and was really slowing them down.
Alexander worked his way up the hill that the road was now taking. He could feel the muscles tighten as the horse’s legs struggled to make the climb.
“There is no way the wagons are going to make it. We have been set up for failure. I hope the demons will understand but I doubt it. If only the King were here. He would know what to do.”
“Do what, Sir?”
The answer startled Alexander. He did not realize anyone was near. His hand automatically reached for his sword.
“And what do you think you are going to do with that? Go ahead, take it out. Be careful though. You might cut yourself!” The smile on Percy’s face was unmistakable.
Alexander regained his composure and released the sword. “Hello, Percy, did not know you were there.”
“And I pride myself on that. A noisy soldier is a dead soldier.”
“SO IS A SPY!” Alexander said sternly.
“Now, now, Alexander. No sense being sore about it. If the demons trusted you, they would not have felt the need to send me along now, would they? I am only doing my job, making sure everything runs smoothly.
“Well, you know about the broken axles slowing us down, now this hill. You can report to your bosses that we did nothing intentional to delay our journey.”
Percy did not answer. His eyes were transfixed on what he was seeing. Percy dismounted. He walked ahead and was already on top of the hill with a good view of the road ahead. “I think the axles and hill are the least of your problems. This is going to sound strange but I just watched a dress kill the colonel.”
“Excuse me! Did I hear you correctly?
“Yes, you did. If I had not seen it myself, I would have not believed it. This dress was flying over the soldiers and dropped a sword right on top of the colonel. He did not move and since the sword went right into his chest, I doubt he is still alive.”
“IMPOSSIBLE!” Alexander reached the crest of the hill and saw the army before them. “The soldiers should have been leagues ahead of us by now. In a few hours, they should be camped right outside the Cave of Forlorn.”
“Impossible or not, here they are. Looks to me like they have had a bit of trouble themselves. Demons are not going to be very happy about this I assure you.” Percy turned his horse to the east, jumped on, and started riding away.
“Where are you going?”
“Somewhere other than here. Can’t go forward, something nasty is there, something dangerous enough that it would attack five thousand soldiers. Can’t go back, angry demons there. Not staying here with you. You are not exactly a pleasant person to be around and once the demons find out about this, I am pretty confident that heads will roll. I am rather fond of mine and would like to keep it attached as long as I can.”
“What about your loyalty?”
“Ha! Loyalty is only as good as the guaranteed outcome and this isn’t looking too good right now. I will wait to see who wins and that is where my loyalty will be. I bid you Good Day!” With that, Percy rode down the side of the hill and disappeared in the trees.
Alexander turned his attention back to the army which was about a mile in front of them. The soldiers were scattered and it looked like chaos. He decided to ride ahead and find out what was going on.
It was not what he expected to find. He was so transfixed on what was ahead that he failed to notice the pair of eyes that were staring at him from the tree line. He rode silently and began to notice the trail of broken swords that lay everywhere. There were not a lot of bodies so it did not l
ook like a fight had taken place. The path was rough but that could be from all the soldiers passing. It did not look wet as it would if blood had been spilled so there was nothing that could explain the swords.
Alexander stopped and dismounted. Being an engineer, he had to know more. He walked over to the nearest broken sword and looked at it but did not touch it. Having been recently sharpened before the march, there were no nicks in the blade as there would be if metal had hit metal. They only damage was where the sword broke.
“Strange, very strange indeed” Alexander said very quietly. He reached out to touch the blade and it burned his skin. He quickly pulled back his hand and looked at it. His skin was intact and not discolored. “Wow, fire that burns but does not damage the skin.”