Eden Forest (Part one of the Saskia Trilogy)

by Aoife Marie Sheridan

  move unnaturally fast.

  “Legis, what’s wrong?” Tristan asks from behind me.

  “Sir, I need some light.” He looks back at Tristan as he

  speaks.

  “I shall lead and you stay behind her.” Tristan pauses as he

  walks past me. “Don’t try to run. I am in no mood to chase

  you.” He takes his position in front of me. Tristan does not

  move straight away. Instead, he holds out his hand in front of

  him and whispers, “Lux.” I can see a light radiate in front of

  him. I jump back, slightly startled.

  “Let’s move,” he commands. Legis nudges me on. We start

  walking again. I’m trying to peer over Tristan’s shoulder to see

  where the light is coming from, but he’s too tall, so I just stare

  at his back.

  After a few moments, Tristan makes a hand motion for us to

  stop. Then the light goes out. He swings around and places his

  hand over my mouth, startling me, while pulling me back into

  his chest. Legis stands as still as stone, not even blinking. We

  wait. I can’t hear or see anything, only Tristan’s heart beating

  fast. I’m too close to him for comfort. I can feel his muscles

  tense in his chest and stomach.

  He makes a hand motion to Legis to get down. Then slowly

  he lowers himself and me to the ground, never taking his hand

  off my mouth. He lies down on his side right against me and

  pulls my hands to his chest, holding them with his other hand.

  The heat radiates off his body against mine, making my back

  feel cold. I can now hear the shuffling in the distance. Maybe

  it’s Josh.

  I try to scream, but my sounds are muffled. Tristan whispers

  in my ear. “Stop or we all die, you stupid girl.” I try to scream

  again and pull my hands free, but I can’t get them out of his

  iron grasp. So I bite his hand until I taste blood. He doesn’t even

  flinch. I know it’s hopeless.

  The movements pass us and I can now hear there’s more than

  one person. Tears roll down my cheeks when I realise I will not

  be heard or rescued.

  Tristan looks at me, his jaw muscles tensing. It feels like

  forever we lie like this; then Tristan speaks. “I am taking my

  hand away.”

  I look up into his eyes and know straight away I shouldn’t

  have, as my stomach flutters. I drop my gaze and manage a

  nod of my head. Tristan removes his hand slowly, but he still

  holds my hands against his chest. He doesn’t say anything, just

  watches my face. His green eyes have softened. A blush rises in

  my cheeks. I can’t take much more of his closeness.

  “What are you staring at?” I’m getting annoyed now. Well,

  I’m uncomfortable with this gorgeous guy staring at me. He lets

  go and stands up.

  Legis moves up beside us. “Was it Clive?” he asks.

  “I think so. It sounded like there were three of them. It must

  have been Taurus and Felix, also.” Tristan looks down at me

  still on the ground and grabs my wrists roughly. I’m about to

  protest when he pulls me off the ground.

  I look at his hands still on my wrists. There are no teeth

  marks. “I bit you. I… I tasted your blood.”

  He withdraws his hand. “We need to move now.”

  “But I bit you.” Tristan ignores me and starts walking away.

  We come to a clearing where two huge horses, black as coal,

  are waiting. They don’t stir when we come closer, just stand

  there obediently.

  “I’m not getting on that horse until someone tells me where

  I’m going. And why.”

  They both ignore me. Instead, Legis retrieves a leather roll

  from behind a tree and unravels it, revealing three black cloaks.

  Legis and Tristan put theirs on and fasten them around their

  necks. I start to panic. These guys are lunatics.

  While their backs are turned, I slip off my high heels

  and move quietly away. My heart is racing now. My mind

  screams, Run! So I do. The minute my feet hit the woods’

  floor, noise rises, alerting Tristan. I run and don’t look back.

  I can hear Tristan calling my name as he takes chase after

  me. The rocks and sticks dig into my feet, but I ignore the

  pain and push my body harder. I can hear Tristan behind

  me, his heavy boots breaking every twig under them. He

  reaches out to grab me. I try to pull away but fall awkwardly,

  taking him down also. I land beside the trunk of a large tree,

  slamming my side into it before falling onto the ground. I let

  out a whoosh of breath.

  Tristan rolls off his back and comes over to me. “Move your

  hands. I need to see if you’re hurt badly.”

  I move away. “Don’t touch me.”

  “Fine. Get up, then, and walk.” I stand using the tree for

  support. My side is burning, but it doesn’t feel as if anything is

  broken, just a lot of bruising.

  “You’re an asshole.”

  Legis comes rushing through the forest, a little out of breath.

  “You got her.”

  Tristan just nudges me on. “Move.” We make our way back

  to the clearing.

  Since they grabbed me from the ball, neither of them have

  hurt me or threatened me, and Tristan only knocked out Josh.

  Which meant, more than likely, they wouldn’t hurt me. But why

  take me?

  We reach the clearing again. Tristan comes towards me with

  the black cloak and places it around my shoulders. As he ties it

  at my neck loosely, I watch his hands. Definitely no teeth marks.

  I don’t know why, but tears run down my face silently.

  Tristan’s hands pause and he tilts my chin up so our eyes meet.

  His gaze is soft, concerned, and my stomach flutters. I feel so

  angry with myself—that I can find him so attractive under the

  circumstances. He lets my face go abruptly, the coldness seeping

  back into him, and he jumps up on the horse and stretches out

  his arm for me to take. I could run, but he would just catch me,

  so I have no choice but to take his hand. Tristan pulls me up on

  the horse as if I weigh nothing.

  “Hold on tight,” he commands.

  “Why?” I ask. He kicks the horse and we launch forward. I

  grab his waist tightly.

  “That is why,” he says.

  I don’t reply. I’m just praying I don’t fall off. We dodge trees

  so closely I can see the veins on the green-brownish leaves. My

  heart is in my mouth. I close my eyes tight. My stomach isn’t

  holding up well. Maybe not seeing every tree in such detail will

  help. We come to an abrupt stop, and I open my eyes. We’re fifty

  feet from the cliff.

  Tristan speaks in a language I don’t understand. He says a

  few sentences gently, but his body is tense.

  Just then, the ground trembles under us.

  I grab Tristan tighter. “What’s happening?”

  Fire shoots up through a long crack that has opened just at

  the cliff’s edge. It roars up into the air. Tristan kicks the horse

  and charges for the wall of fire, Legis beside us. Just as we hit it,

  they both say “Aeirus” in unison, while I scream and shut my

&
nbsp; eyes tightly. My ears pop as if I’m on a plane just at take-off.

  Now I can’t hear anything at all. I feel the sensation of flying.

  Have we gone over the edge? It doesn’t feel like falling, and I’m

  still holding on to Tristan’s waist.

  I open my eyes slowly and wish I hadn’t. We’re in a large

  bubble, the two horses side by side. When I look down, their

  hooves aren’t touching the bubble, but floating. Outside, the fire

  rages all around us. It looks like we’re moving at an incredible

  speed by the way the fire licks past us so quickly.

  I start hyperventilating. Oh God, what’s keeping the fire

  away? What if it breaks? My breathing becomes harder.

  Tristan’s voice is strained as he calls to Legis. “Can you hold

  it? She is panicking.”

  “Yes, sir,” Legis replies. Their voices seem far away and

  everything is turning dark. Tristan swings himself around and

  grabs me before I fall off the horse. He places me in front of

  him so I’m facing him. His lips are moving, but I can’t hear

  anything, and then I black out.

  In my dream, faces of tormented people race through the

  fire, reaching out for me to save them. The smell of burnt flesh

  makes me gag, and I recoil. As the hands come through the

  bubble, reaching for me, all the flesh melts away, leaving only

  bones. I scream and fall off the horse into the waiting hands of

  the dead.

  I wake with a thud. My eyes shoot open. I’m lying against

  Tristan’s chest, his arm firmly around me. His other hand holds

  the reins. I can feel the horse beneath me slow down. Tristan

  relaxes his grip around my waist, and I look up at him.

  “Let me off now.” He stops the horse immediately. I jump

  down, clumsily landing on sand, white sand. I look around me.

  There’s nothing but sand for miles. Oh God, I feel sick. Tristan

  jumps down and walks towards me. “Stay away from me,” I

  roar.

  Tristan stops abruptly. “I know you’re upset.” But the way he

  looks at me says he doesn’t care. He holds out his hands in front

  of him, as if he’s trying to calm a wild animal.

  “Upset? Upset? Not even close. Where the hell am I? And

  what was that… fire?” I ask.

  Tristan approaches me slowly with his hands still outstretched.

  “We need to move now.” His voice is full of irritation.

  I let out a roar. “Like hell I will. Answer me now. Where

  am I?”

  He looks at Legis who says nothing. “I will tell you where

  you are, but then we have to move.” I don’t answer him. He

  comes right up to me then, still taking caution not to get to

  close. “You’re in Saskia and the wall of fire is the passage to

  get here.”

  I don’t even know how to respond. Maybe all this is one

  big nightmare. I pinch myself hard on the arm and let out a

  little squeal. I’m not dreaming. I take some deep breaths to calm

  myself.

  “Okay. Okay, so I’m in Saskia… And why am I here?” I can

  hear the hysteria in my own voice.

  “I can’t answer that.”

  I let out a roar of frustration. Tristan uses this opportunity to

  grab me and throws me over his shoulder caveman style.

  “Let me down now.”

  He climbs up on the horse and places me in front of him. I try

  to wiggle out, but he restrains me with his arms. “I told you we

  need to move. So calm down and soon all your questions will

  be answered, princess.” He spits out the last word. He kicks the

  horse and off we ride.

  “How far back do you think Clive and the others are, sir?”

  Legis asks. “They would still be looking, so if we make it to

  the first resting area in the next hour, we will be a day ahead

  of them.”

  An hour later, night has fallen completely. This world is

  weird. There’s not as much as one star in the sky, even though

  it’s clear and the moon is red. It’s not creepy the way you would

  think. It’s breath taking.

  We slow down. Tristan helps me off the horse. “We rest

  here.”

  I don’t have the energy to argue. So a nod of my head is

  all the reply he gets. Not that he notices. Tristan and Legis

  are pushing sand back with their hands and pulling out of the

  ground what looks like large rolls of leather. Legis rolls his out.

  It is full of blankets, wood, a hammer and a few large pieces

  of paper wrapped around something the size of a large stone.

  Tristan’s holds similar things, but also glass bottles along with

  what looks like strings of leather.

  They set to work. They have tents up within the hour. I have

  to say I’m impressed by their skills. I pull back the flap of the tent

  that Legis has erected. There are blankets all over the ground,

  giving it a cosy feel, yet it’s spacious enough for all three of us to

  sleep in. I really hope that’s not the case or I’ll just sleep outside.

  Tristan starts setting up a small fire. I sit down beside him.

  “Is this a different era?”

  He pauses what he is doing and considers my question. “In

  a way, yes. Saskia is very different from your world… I am not

  knowledgeable enough of your world, but Legis would gladly

  tell you.”

  I look at Legis. “What do you want to know?” he asks

  while kneeling down on the opposite side of the fire, as Tristan

  continues setting it up. I feel like saying I want to know

  everything, but I think about the most basic question I want to

  ask.

  “What is this place? Is it all sand?” I hope the answer to my

  last question, is no.

  “It is a world parallel to yours and in ways no different. The

  outskirts of Saskia is sand, but that is as far as it goes.”

  Okay, next question. I’m watching Tristan from the corner of

  my eye as he lights the fire. He has no lighter or matches, yet the

  flames begin to build. “How does he light the fire?”

  Tristan looks up at me. Legis speaks then. “In our world, we

  are born—”

  “Legis, enough,” Tristan says, then rises. He lifts the brown

  paper parcels and opens them, handing each of us bread, cheese

  and one of the glass bottles. I look at mine. The bread is as thick

  as three slices of normal bread and the cheese is cut generously.

  Is this our dinner?

  “Eat,” Tristan says while tearing his own bread. A perfect

  gentleman.

  “No butter. A bit of coleslaw maybe?”

  Legis laughs. “Sorry, but this is it. One of the differences in

  our world. We eat to live, but in your world you live to eat.” I

  don’t like the statement even if it is partially true.

  Tristan ignores us and eats his own. He seems to have no

  social skills.

  I can’t eat anything. My stomach is still unsettled, and as

  much as this chat seems normal enough, these guys have just

  kidnapped me. I open the bottle. It has a corkscrew on hinges as

  its seal. I take a sip first, testing it. It’s wine, white wine, tasty. I

  take a deep gulp and then reseal it.

  “So do
you have cities or towns like us?”

  Legis looks at Tristan for approval. A nod of his head allows

  him to answer. “I would not say we have cities, because you

  will think of large metal structures. Ours are more like large

  villages. The central point is the castle.”

  “A castle. So do you have, like, a king and queen?”

  Once again, Legis looks to Tristan for approval and receives

  it. “Yes, we do.” I sit there and try to picture this village with its

  big stone castle in the centre. Legis interrupts my thoughts. “We

  live very simple lives here compared to your world.”

  I never would’ve guessed, but I don’t voice that. Instead, I

  go right back to the start. “So are you going to answer my first

  question? How did he light the fire?” I look sideways at Tristan;

  he’s looking directly at me. I blush. Thank God it’s dark. “How

  did you light the fire?” I ask him directly.

  Tristan comes over and sits beside me. “Before we go any

  further, I need you to understand I am not your friend and I

  don’t have to answer your questions.” He looks me straight in

  the eye. “Understand?” His words are cold and harsh.

  “Yes, I understand.” My voice comes out in a whisper.

  “I am going to scout the area,” Legis says and leaves.

  Tristan rises, returning to the opposite side of the fire. “Get

  some rest. We have a lot of ground to travel tomorrow.” He

  throws me a leather roll. “Wear these tomorrow,” he says while

  looking me up and down. “They are far more suitable.”

  Taking the roll, I walk to my tent. This guy really hates me

  and I don’t know why. I push Tristan to the back of my mind. I

  have more important things to think about. Like why I’m here.

  But I know at this stage they will not tell me anything.

  I lie down on all the blankets. It’s really comfortable. My

  mind wanders to Jessica, Dad and Josh, wondering if they’re

  looking for me. Poor Dad—first Mum, now me. What if they

  have my mum here in this world? But it makes no sense.

  I stay in the tent for a while, unwrapping the leather roll.

  It contains a white tunic, trousers, socks and boots. I start to

  change straight away, but keep my cloak on over the outfit. I

  can hear Tristan telling Legis he’s on guard and then Tristan

  goes to the other tent.

  I lie there biding my time. I don’t have many options. Only