by Tara Maya, Elle Casey, J L Bryan, Anthea Sharp, Jenna Elizabeth Johnson, Alexia Purdy (epub)
They grumbled a bit but moved over to the tree. They each leaned in to give it a tentative hug.
"Man, oh man, I wish I had my cell phone so I could take a picture of this for the Sierra Club's newsletter." I wasn't even sure if the Sierra Club had one, but if they did, this would be an awesome cover shot. I stepped over to join them, finding a spot in between Chase and Spike where I could hug the tree and touch a piece of each guy's arm. "Here goes nothin'," I said as I made contact. I was immediately assailed by the darkness and cold, the pricks and tiny piercings that were putting invisible marks on my skin.
"Oh, shee-it that don't feel good at all," said Finn.
"Damn, this is depressing," said Spike.
Chase and Tony said nothing. Tony was doing some deep breathing, probably trying to control his reaction.
I blocked out their voices and faces so I could focus on the connection. I'd never before searched through the link for anything specific; I'd always just let it carry me wherever it wanted, more on the receiving end then the searching end. I smiled as I realized I was just about to wish for a Google search engine. Now that would be convenient.
I let my mind wander the connection, searching for other links branching off. Ha, ha, branching off, get it? Shit, this was no time for puns. Concentrate, Jayne. There was definitely an energy here. I had been wrong before when I had said it was dead. It was just that it was a different energy. I realized with a sickening feeling that it was a dark energy - dark as in evil ... worse than the hag and the watery whore. They lived in The Green. Whatever was here, its home was darkness.
I stretched my mind farther out. I rushed past shadows of things I couldn't see clearly - things I knew I didn't want to see clearly. They sensed the presence of my mind, my energy, and reached out. Screeched. Tried to connect with me. I slipped by as quickly as I could, blocking off the tendrils of energy that tried to make their way into my presence and to coax me into theirs. I didn't want to even think what would happen to me if one of them managed to get through. Who knows if I'd ever be able to get out? I squeezed the arm of the nearest guy - I think it was Chase. He squeezed me back, and I could feel the reassurance in his touch. It was then that I realized I could feel the guys with me. They were like an anchor, keeping the most essential piece of me back there with them. It made me feel more secure, and I used this confidence to reach out even farther, towards a faint green light that I could sense was up ahead.
I knew the exact moment when I broke through the border of the dark forest. The light and love waiting for me in The Green was unmistakable. I didn't stop at the border, though. I continued searching, touching tree after tree after tree. I touched the vines, and the bushes and the grasses. I touched the leaves and the needles and the flowers. I touched everything I could reach and sent out my request. Bring your love and energy back with me, into the Dark Forest, and heal this tree. From there, we can heal them all.
This energy I was calling up, I knew was of the infinite variety. I couldn't exhaust it. Once I brought it back, it would feed on itself and spread. I knew this because I realized what this green energy was. It was our oneness ... the thing that connected all living creatures to one another. It was love.
I traced my way back to the Dark Forest, led there by the strong support of my human friends. They felt The Green's arrival before it got there.
"Here it comes," said Finn excitedly.
"Here comes what?" asked Spike in hushed tones.
"Wait for it ... ," said Tony, enthusiasm coloring his voice.
And then we were there. Me and the energy from The Green.
The tree we were hugging shuddered.
Then it groaned.
Black leaves fell all around our heads, covering us from ground to knees.
The branches waved back and forth as the green energy coursed through their fibers.
The roots buckled in the earth under our feet.
And then the tree itself started to shake and twist. We could hear a cracking begin, and Tony was thrown to the side.
"Everyone off!" I yelled. The groaning was getting so loud, it was difficult to hear anything else.
We all staggered back, Tony getting to his feet and joining us. We moved away, as far as we could without leaving the tree alone.
"Is this what's supposed to happen?!" yelled Finn.
"I don't know! I really didn't know what to expect!"
Chase put his hand up, blocking me from going back towards the tree. He wasn't even looking at me, it was an automatic reaction. I smiled as it reminded me of my mom. When I'd ride in the passenger seat of our car and she'd have to slam on her brakes, she'd throw her arm across my chest to protect me from going through the windshield, as if she could defy the laws of physics with her puny resistance. It wasn't the eventual success of the maneuver that mattered; it was the thought. I knew now that even if Chase never said anything, I was important to him. And I realized at the same time that he was important to me ... they all were. If we ever got out of this living hell, we were still going to be friends, I was sure of it.
The tree cracked down the center, drawing my attention back to our problem.
Uh-oh, this doesn't look good.
A green glow came from the center of the fissure. It spread out of the tree's core and then to the bark, moving up and down from there to cloak the tree entirely in green energy.
We watched as new leaves came out of new buds on the branches. They unfurled in fast-forward time, opening to greet the sun that surely awaited them, so they could nourish this gigantic, majestic tree.
There was a bright flash of green again, as a thin bolt of energy left the tree and struck another one nearby. Our eyes were jerked over to that tree now, watching as the same process began there.
Tears filled my eyes. This was better than I'd hoped for. The visceral energy was leaping from tree to tree, bringing a healing light to each of them. They were being reborn.
A rumbling sound was coming from the first tree, out of the crack that remained in its center. And then a roar.
It was not a tree roar - I was pretty sure a tree couldn't make a roaring sound like that. Whatever was making that sound was not happy and was ... in the tree?
I no sooner had formed that thought, than a black liquid began to seep out of the crack. A dark mist rose up from the liquid, and a form began to take shape.
We all reached for our weapons, which we'd had the forethought when we were walking earlier to stick in our belts or across our backs. I reached into my backpack, pulling out my flag and quickly shoving it in my pocket. "Get your flags out! Leave the bags!" I yelled. If my instincts were right, we were about to get the hell out of there quickly. I didn't want to lose the five hundred bucks - or my life - because I'd lost my flag somewhere. The others rushed to do what I said, securing their flags in their own pockets.
Whatever this was, it was definitely not good. It was blackness, something that had been inhabiting that tree when it was near death. And now it had been released.
The form continued to solidify, fed by the black molten goo and smoke collecting at the base of the tree. After a few moments, the dark liquid abruptly stopped oozing out, and the green energy moved from the branches down to the trunk and sealed the great crack, leaving the tree whole and unbroken now, beautiful healthy branches and leaves reaching up toward the sky.
Standing upright at the base of this majestic reborn tree, however, was what appeared to be a fully-grown, black, horrible-looking monster. It was covered in spiky, leathery skin glistening with goo. And it was staring at us with blood-red eyes.
Chapter Twenty-Six
A glob of drool fell out of the black monster's mouth and dripped down its chin, falling to the ground at its feet. My gaze followed it down and saw a tendril of smoke rise up from where it fell in the leaves below. I felt sick to my stomach. Acid drool. Faaaantastic.
I heard the unmistakable rumbling sound again, this time coming from a tree next to the big one with the mon
ster in front of it. The black liquid and smoke were bleeding out of this new tree now, too. All around us, the trees were cracking, releasing the demons that had been trapped there, probably a very long time ago if the dark state of this forest was any indication.
I heard Finn's voice, but it made no words - just a sound. "Ahhhh ... " It sounded like the beginning of a song.
"What the hell?" asked Spike. "What are those things?"
"Orcs would be my guess," said Tony, sounding much calmer than I was feeling.
"What the fuck is an orc?" I asked angrily. I was feeling very strongly at that moment that Dardennes should have warned us that 'obstacles' could mean 'acid drooling orcs'. That was just common decency.
Tony sighed. "Didn't you guys watch Lord of the Rings?"
"I did," said Chase.
I glanced at Chase and saw him squeezing the handle of Becky's knife in one hand and the handle of his gun in the other, never taking his eyes off the monster.
"Any chance you can put the breaks on that green energy, healing thingy?" asked Spike with a nervous laugh.
"I'm not sure. But I don't think I should. Yes, it's releasing these ... things ... these ... orcs or demons or whatever; but if the trees are green, maybe they can help us."
"Not sure that's gonna matter too much if we have an army of these monsters against us. Vines and branches are okay for Ladies in the Lake, but probably not so much for these guys."
Spike had a point, but something told me it wasn't right to stop the awakening of the forest. It wasn't that I was willing to die for green trees or anything. My self-preservation instincts were alive and kicking, telling me to get the fuck out of there right now. But my trees hadn't let me down before. They'd even sent Robin Hood or whoever he was to help me once, so I had to keep the faith ... and probably kill off some orcs in the meantime.
The first orc we had released seemed to finally wake up to his situation. He was free of the tree that had kept him imprisoned, and there was a group of smallish pale things - us - standing in front of him.
The drool was freaking me out. "God, it keeps salivating. I think it's hungry."
"Wouldn't you be? Trapped inside that dang tree for who knows how long?" said Finn.
That was a cheery thought. I was going to be dinner, or maybe just an appetizer. Chase was more main course material.
"Stay close," said Chase. "We need to keep our backs together. If one of those gets behind us, we're done." He raised the gun up and took aim at the monster who'd taken its first step towards us.
I was just about to make a wisecrack when the thing lifted up its head and let out the most awful sound I'd ever heard. I'd thought that the water whore had the worst voice ever, but no ... this guy's was the worst. It sounded like a demon dinosaur. Not that I'd ever heard one of those, but it was what I imagined one would sound like. It nearly made my heart stop with fear.
Answering roars came from all around us. There were now at least thirty green trees, spewing black stuff, and ten of those piles of sludge had turned into fully formed, agitated monsters.
"Fuck me. This isn't possible! There are hundreds of trees in this place, hundreds! We don't stand a chance!" I was losing whatever cool I had left.
"Don't freak out," said Chase, the voice of reason. "We need to stay calm. Use your weapons. Go for the throat. Try to stay away from them as best you can. I think they move slow. If we can start running, we can outrun them back to the Green Forest."
"I think we should run towards the waypoint," said Finn. "How far into the Dark Forest is that last one, Jayne."
I wracked my brain trying to remember what the forest looked like when I was up in the tree. "Um, the waypoint is in the center of the dark area. Once we get to it, we'll have to go for at least a few hours to get out."
"Maybe Dardennes and his buddies will be waitin' for us there," said Finn, hopefully.
"I'm not sure that they know about or will be prepared for this little monster problem that we'll be bringing with us," said Tony.
With our luck, Tony was probably right. We couldn't expect Dardennes and his group to do anything to help us. All they'd done from the start was put us in harm's way.
The other monsters suddenly roared from behind me. The first orc roared back and then advanced toward us.
"Stay together!" yelled Chase.
I held up my sharpened stick. "Blackie, don't let me down!" I yelled, just at the moment when Chase and the monster started fighting.
The thing reached out to grab him and Chase brought his knife down, slashing the beast's hand.
I was jostled from behind and turned in time to see a slightly smaller orc, though still a foot taller than any of us, start grappling with Spike. Spike's slingshot was no help to him in this type of close-quarters combat. He landed one punch, though, at least throwing the orc back a few paces and giving Spike a temporary reprieve.
"Give me your gun!" I yelled at Chase. He handed it over without question. I turned and pushed it into Spike's hand. "I don't know how many bullets there are, so do what you can."
Spike nodded his thanks at me before shooting the orc right between the eyes when it advanced again. It stood there for a second before going down at Spike's feet. Spike shoved its shoulder with his foot, causing it to roll over and away.
One down, ninety-nine to go.
The sounds of battle rang out around me. The guys had enveloped me in the middle of them, not letting me out to fight and not letting any monsters in to eat me. While I appreciated the sentiment, I knew I was an asset they had to use. I bent down and put my hand to the ground, checking to see if I had any connection to the newly green trees around us. I could sense something there, but it was weak. There hadn't been enough time yet for all of the things around us to come alive - with the exception of the monsters, of course.
Two orcs dropped in quick succession, arrows protruding from their gooey black bodies. One staggered away from our circle with its arm hanging, nearly severed by a blow it had received from the axe - the axe I was happy and proud to see drawing luminous blue streaks in the air each time my Tony swung it. The hum it emitted as it swooped through the air made my heart swell. It was obvious the orcs didn't like that axe one bit. They shied away from it whenever they heard its hum.
Shots rang out. An orc that had nearly grabbed Finn fell onto its back, thick blood coming from its neck in a gurgling, black tar-fountain. I worked to keep the bile in my stomach where it belonged.
The orcs were slow. It was the only reason we were still alive right now. I wasn't sure if they were always this way, though. Maybe they were still tired from being cooped up in trees all this time. We needed to press our advantage. Soon we were going to be out of bullets, arrows and energy.
"We need to try and run to the waypoint," I yelled. Maybe Dardennes would be there to help. I didn't think so, but we had to do something. If we stayed in this forest, in this spot, we were sitting ducks just begging to be exterminated. I didn't want even a single drop of that nasty acid drool to touch me if I could help it.
We went farther into the forest, staying back-to-back, moving as a group. The guys continued to fight the orcs off, while I kept trying to get a jab in with my stick when one of them got close. I wasn't very successful because the guys kept pushing me back, keeping the orcs at a distance.
Then all of a sudden, one of the orcs broke through our circle. He knocked Finn over like he was a piece of paper and came right for me. I didn't think twice, holding Blackie out in front of me, ready to meet him head-on. When he was less than a foot away, I saw his skin up close and feared that there was no way Blackie was going to penetrate that stuff. It looked like alligator hide.
Much to my surprise, Blackie didn't just penetrate it; it sunk in like a red-hot poker sliding into a stick of butter. The orc looked down, and the green light coming from my stick reflected off the slimy skin of its face. It lifted its eyes to mine and snarled, reaching its arms up. But they only made it a few inches before th
at glowing red light in its eyes went dark.
The orc's body went slack, and I jumped to the side as it fell to the ground, keeping a hold of my weapon. I looked down at it and saw that it was covered in black goo. The green light was still coming from inside, working to burn off the black orc blood. Within seconds, my stick was back to normal, no longer gooey and no longer glowing.
"Holy bat balls, did you see that Tony?!"
Tony was too busy to answer, throwing his lightsaber axe all around, slicing and dicing orcs left and right.
I stepped outside the ring of guys, confident now that my badass Blackie and I could do some damage of our own. I stood with legs spread wide, Converse sneakers gripping the forest floor beneath me. I pushed up the sleeves of my sweatshirt, quickly wiping under my nose for good measure. "Come on, you smelly bastards. Let's dance."
One of the smaller ones took me up on my challenge. He strode over, moving a little faster than the others. I could see Chase getting annoyed with me out of the corner of my eye.
"Get back in the circle, Jayne!" he ordered.
"No!" I yelled, a fever in my brain. "I'm gonna kill me some orc!"
I kept Blackie hidden by my wrist, revealing it only when the orc got close. I faked left, acting like I was going to run by it, with the intention of stabbing the orc in the side with my right hand as I passed.
My plan would have worked perfectly if the fucking orc hadn't closelined me. It stuck its arm out, making instant and direct contact with my face as I tried to run by. I went down like a ton of bricks, my stick never touching anything.
Another orc was right behind the one that had dropped me. It grabbed me by the legs and pulled. I found myself sliding across the forest floor, being dragged farther and farther away from my friends. I finally found my voice and screamed, Blackie slipping out of my hands to land in the leaves.
I kicked as hard as I could, twisting my body around and around, trying to get the orc to let me go, but the fucker had his claws good and tangled in my shoe laces and pant legs. The orc seized the front of my sweatshirt, lifting me up off the ground, and putting me into an unwelcome bear hug, pinning me to its disgusting body from behind.