The Hollow: At The Edge

by Andrew Day

  “Yes, Ma’am,” Snow said stiffly.

  “Good. Then get to work.”

  She stormed away, as the street filled with the screaming, crying, and begging people of Martin’s Rest being escorted from their homes.

  As the two soldiers dragged him away, Martinsson shot Snow an ugly look, then called to him, “Snow! Snow, you bastard, listen to me!”

  “Hold!” Snow called to the soldiers. He turned to Martinsson. “I am sorry that this-”

  “Shut up and listen. The gods know you all deserve everything you get, but I don’t want you bringing death on my people. Stay out of the forest!”

  Snow looked at him. “What’s in the forest? Is there an army in the forest? Did you lie to us?”

  “I told you, I don’t know a gods damned thing about any army. But the forest...” Martinsson swallowed. “It isn’t right. It hasn’t been right for some time now. I don’t when it started but... There are things in there, Snow.”

  “What things?”

  “No one’s seen them clearly. No one wants to. But you go too deep in that forest, you won’t come out again. There are monsters in that forest, Snow. Worse monsters than you and your bloody General. And they will kill you all.”

  Snow split the Hounds into two groups, one to guard the east side of the new camp, and one to guard the west side. Caellix took command of the west side group and led them out into the tree line. They spread out to sweep the forests in twos. Serrel noted that this was the very forest they were told to stay clear of, and despite himself felt glad Caellix had made him walk with her.

  Mostly glad, anyway.

  They walked in silence. Serrel was in awe of how the sergeant moved. Every step was measured and quiet. She slunk through the undergrowth with an almost animal like ability. He felt so clumsy and uncoordinated by comparison. His every movement seemed to elicit some rustle of leaves or snapping of twigs that seemed impossibly loud amongst the quiet trees. Judging from the looks Caellix occasionally cast back at him, she was having the same thought.

  Without warning, she stood upright, and sighed.

  “What were you going to do?” she asked unexpectedly.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Were you going to run over to the General and ask her nicely to stop?”

  Serrel shrugged. “I don’t know! I just didn’t like what she was doing. It wasn’t necessary.”

  “You’ve been in the Legion, what, all of a month, and suddenly you know what’s best, Fresh Meat?”

  “I grew up around places like this. He didn’t know anything.”

  “Of course he didn’t know anything. But you don’t tell that to the General.”

  Now Serrel sighed. “I just don’t like people like that. Bullies who push people around.”

  “Me neither. My people have strong views on the subject. But she’s the General. You don’t question your superiors in the Legion, Fresh Meat.”

  “Yes, Sergeant. I’ll behave in future, Sergeant.”

  “Don’t use that hen-pecked voice on me, Fresh Meat.”

  “I don’t have a hen-pecked voice... And why are you yelling at me? Aren’t we supposed to be... I don’t know, stealthy or something?”

  “Why?” Caellix held up her arms and turned in a circle, shouting, “There’s nothing out here!”

  “Shh!”

  “Don’t shush me! I know when there’s nothing around. The only footprints I can find were Wells’. A fox came through here not long ago, and there’s an owl nest in the tree above you. There is no, and never has been, an army out here.”

  “So why does the General think there is?”

  “Logic? That beach is the best landing spot for an invading army. Further up north takes us too close to Fort Etten. Down south is mostly cliffs. The rebels would know that. They should have had a defence set, just waiting for us. They knew we were coming. Hell, if they were the ones that set the sea monsters on us, then there’s no reason for them not to be waiting for us. With manticores, or... death worms.”

  “Death worms are vegetarians.”

  “Ever fought a death worm? They’re nasty little bastards.”

  Serrel and Caellix looked at each other in thought.

  “Supposed...” Caellix said slowly.

  Serrel nodded. “So you heard that too? She said there was supposed to be an army here. As though she knew it was going to be here.”

  “Maybe... Look, Dillaini’s young. She’s the youngest General to take command of the Legion. And the first woman. She just wants to make her mark. She feels cheated that she didn’t get to have her battle. I can relate.”

  “I suppose so. But then... why are you so on edge?”

  “I’m always on edge. It’s this calm. After what happened at sea, I was expecting something... more. We all were. Now we have to wait for the storm to break.” She looked about her. “I never liked this place. The Faelands. Half a day and I’m already sick of this place.”

  “It looks the same as home,” said Serrel.

  “It does at first. Look closer. It’s the little things at first. But the deeper we go in, the more you’ll realise how far from home you are.” She shook her head. “I’m hungry. Let’s get back to camp.” She put her fingers in her mouth and whistled. A moment later, her two dogs came bursting from the shadows. Each of them had a large rabbit in its mouth.

  “Good boys. Ghiegh.”

  Caellix led the way back to the village.

  “Can I ask, Sergeant...” Serrel started tentatively. “Where are you from?”

  “My clan comes from the Mountains of Dreewan. We hail from the Norwen. Have you heard of us?”

  “Vaguely,” he replied. He recalled something about barbarians who lived in the mountains, who resisted the incursion of the Empire into their territories. It did explain a few things.

  “We are people of the earth,” said Caellix proudly. “Of mountains and snow, forests and grasslands. We learn from a young age how to become one with our environment... And you clearly never had those lessons.”

  “Was I that bad?”

  “You stomp around like a herd of cattle. And that bloody staff. I heard you knock it against at least three different trees. You may as well have rung a bell and announced your presence.”

  “Sorry, Sergeant.”

  “You should leave it behind. It’s dead weight.”

  As attached as he was to his staff, Serrel found the thought abhorrent. “By that definition, my arms are dead weight. You want to hack those off and leave them behind as well?”

  “Don’t tempt me, Fresh Meat.” Caellix paused and faced him. “All right. We’re here in Faelands, and to my surprise it may be possible that you aren’t as completely and utterly hopeless as I originally thought. So against my better judgement, I will try and teach you how to move without alerting everything in a five mile radius of your position. I am an impatient teacher, so you had better prove yourself a quick learner. Clear?”

  “Yes, Sergeant.”

  “And just because we’re getting to know each other better, it doesn’t mean I like you.”

  “Perish the thought, Sergeant.”

  “I’m only sharing because I want you to understand where I’m coming from.”

  “Yes, Sergeant.”

  “All right then. Listen closely...”

  Caellix spent the next hour teaching Serrel the finer points of hunting, where to place his feet, how to move without being seen, keeping himself downwind as much as possible. She then made him attempt to sneak up on Holly and Brant as they patrolled the outskirts of the forest, using every trick he had just learnt. He got fairly close on his first attempt, and was almost shot through the head with an arrow by a rather jumpy Holly when he took her by surprise.

  When another unit came and took over their sentry duty, the Hounds returned to the Legion’s new camp for lunch. The Legion had taken over Martin’s Rest, setting up the camp in a wide area around it. The villagers had been secured in Martinsson’s long
house, where they awaited their fate under guard. The rest of the town was being ransacked by the Legion, under the pretence of searching for evidence. It made Serrel angry just watching them, and from the looks some of the other Hounds cast at the working soldiers, they felt the same way.

  They ate several rabbits that Vost and Ripper had caught, no one being willing to stomach any more fish, especially the fish that had been taken from the villager’s stores. Not every soldier was being as honourable. The smell of fish stew hung over the camp.

  Serrel then spent most of the afternoon helping dig defensive trenches and filling them with sharpened stakes. If any of the rebels did attack, the Legion was going to be prepared. The large number of bodies available made short work of the task. Serrel looked about the camp, but failed to see anyone else from Pond Scum.

  As the afternoon wore on, the Hounds got ready to travel again. Dillaini was apparently getting impatient, and wanted to put in a few hours marching before the sun set. The Hounds were naturally going to be in the lead, but then Snow was called to a meeting with General Roth. When he returned, he pulled Caellix aside. Serrel was close enough to eavesdrop on their conversation.

  “Caellix, I have a little task for you,” said Snow.

  “Am I going to like this task?”

  “Don’t you always? That squad the General sent out to look for those mystery elves was meant to report back just after noon. They’re overdue.”

  “That’s what happens when you put the Hounds on sentry duty and let amateurs go out hunting.”

  “I know. My feelings are hurt too. But General Roth is getting edgy, and now he want us to go and look for them. Be a dear and take a small squad, maybe five or six all up, and see if you can find any trace of our wayward brethren.”

  “Or what’s left of them.”

  “Indeed. Take Hawthorne with you.”

  Caellix shook her head. “He’s not ready yet. He’ll just slow us down.”

  “He needs to learn the ropes sooner rather than later.”

  “If you insist, Captain. But I absolve myself of any blame if he gets eaten by something.”

  “All your sins shall be forgiven. The rest of us will continue on the main road to Vollumir. The good news is, your squad will be able to move faster if you cut through the forest. Scout the area, see what’s waiting for us, then meet the Legion at the Bridge of Kaelthril. Questions?”

  “We have a clearer picture of what’s supposedly in that forest?”

  “I’m afraid not. The General’s men were a little rough with Martinsson. He’s no longer in a talking mood.”

  “Animals,” Caellix spat.

  Snow didn’t reply. He just said, “You should get a move on while you have the light. Go on. Off you trot.”

  Caellix nodded. She rejoined the others where they were gathered around a campfire.

  “Hounds, we’ve got ourselves a job. Brant, Holly, Dogbreath, you’re with me. Fresh Meat, get your magical shit together. We’re off the leash in five minutes.”

  “Yes, Sergeant.”

  “I’ll go season myself accordingly,” replied Serrel.

  Five minutes later, the five of them along with Caellix’s dogs stood side by side at the edge of the forest, staring into the shadowy trees.

  “You sure this is where they went?” Caellix asked Dogbreath.

  “Sure. They made a trail even the Fresh Meat could follow.”

  “Did you happen to see who it was?”

  “That sergeant from the infantry. You know, the pretty one with the hair.”

  “Beaumont,” said Holly. “He’s useless.”

  They stood silently for a moment, then Caellix smiled grimly. “Oh, well. If you lot wanted a boring life, you shouldn’t have joined the Legion. Dogbreath, take point. Keep us on Beaumont’s trail. Holly, watch the rear. Fresh Meat, stick close, at least two paces behind me at all times, and try not to let everyone in the Faelands know we’re coming this time.”

  “Yes, Sergeant.”

  “Let’s see what’s in there.”

  One by one they slipped into the darkening forest, and disappeared from sight.

  Caellix was right. At first glance the Faelands did not seem altogether that different from the lands of the Empire, but that was because Serrel had not been looking close enough. He began to notice little things at first, odd flowers and insects, like the strange purple orchids that slowly turned to regard their passage, and the butterflies with bizarre patterns on their wings that looked like perfect recreations of human eyes.

  The trees nearest the coastline were all of the same species that were found in the Empire, their seeds having been carried across the sea through various means. But the further the group travelled into the forest they came across more and more species native to the Faelands. Trees with purple veins in their leaves, or long wooden tendrils that reached down into the earth. Trees that were latched on to other trees with thick, vicious spikes that slowly drained the life from their host over centuries.

  During a pause, whilst Caellix and Dogbreath attempted to reacquire their targets’ trail, Serrel spotted a large caterpillar on a low branch. It was brown, with dark green streaks along its sides, and it was chewing on a fat hairy spider.

  Brant showed him an ant’s nest he nearly stepped on. The ants themselves were tiny and red, with thorny spikes on their backs. When they were disturbed, they swarmed from their nest and began to clump together, intertwining their legs to form a thick red mass that, to the Serrel’s surprise began to take on the form of a snarling wolf’s head.

  “Now that’s just weird,” said Brant, grinning happily.

  It got weirder. Not long after they started off again, Caellix held up a hand and called them silently to a halt. She squatted on the ground, staring at something intently.

  “Look at that,” she breathed.

  The others gathered around. There was a print in the soft earth, weathered somewhat, but still visible. Serrel was no expert of prints, but these weren’t made by anything he expected to see in the forests back home. It had a long pad, like that of a wolf, but very elongated, and only two huge claw prints. The whole thing was the width of Dogbreath’s head, and with the beard and the shagging mane of hair, Dogbreath had a big head.

  “What made that?” Holly asked. “Some kind of bird?”

  “Birds have three toes,” whispered Caellix. She found a second print, nearby. The width of the creatures shoulders was impressive.

  Brant opened his mouth.

  “If you say “land clams”, I will hurt you,” Caellix warned.

  “Why would I say that?” asked Brant innocently.

  “That’s the question.”

  “Sergeant Pretty Hair went that way,” Dogbreath said, pointing north-east.

  “This thing went that way,” Caellis point due east. “More than a day ago. They probably never saw it.”

  “And hopefully neither will we,” said Holly.

  “We probably won’t. It’s a big forest. Pity,” she said wistfully. “Looks like a hell of a thing. Oh, well, let’s keep moving.”

  The trees were getting older, and bigger and bigger the deeper they went. Soon they dwarfed anything that Serrel had ever seen in his life. One tree’s base was wider than his family’s house. One tree had its branches grown into the shape of a house, far above their heads. There was no obvious way up to it, apart from scaling the tree’s thick trunk. Caellix stared at it for a moment, then decided it was currently uninhabited and led them silently past.

  Unexpectedly, Dogbreath stopped. He paced back and forth across the ground, then crouched.

  “Shit,” Caellix hissed.

  Serrel gave her a quizzical look. She held up an arrow. A quick search turned up more, spilled from someone’s quiver.

  “They ran into someone, or something,” Caellix explained. Her eyes swept across the ground. “The ground’s torn up.”

  “Blood,” Dogbreath whispered from up ahead. There were splatters of red across
the nearest trees.

  “Come on,” Caelix urged them forwards, her attention focused on the trail before her. “They increased their pace... being chased, or chasing someone...?”

  “Chasing someone,” said Dogbreath. He showed the others new tracks. Someone barefoot. “They were bleeding.”

  They pushed ahead, their pace faster.

  Dogbreath stopped. “Ooo, sod, that’s nasty,” he said.

  Caellix took in the scene, the trampled undergrowth, the churned up earth and the arterial spray across the trunk of one tree.

  “Looks like an ambush,” said Caellix. “The person they were chasing led them here, where he had friends waiting. They came out of the trees. There was a fight. Someone went down here... then...”

  She fell silent, then stooped down and picked something off the ground. It was a human ear.

  Serrel looked away quickly.

  “Well, that isn’t good,” noted Holly. She and Brant both unslung their bows, and strung an arrow.

  “Someone went down,” Caellix went on. “Then they were hacked to pieces... no. Those are claw marks...”

  Serrel spotted something in the undergrowth. When he picked it up, he found it was a small throwing knife. It’s curved blade and handle made it into a crescent shape. The handle was made of bone. “Look at this,” he said to others.

  Caellix took the knife from him and frowned. One of her dogs lifted its head and sniffed it, and bared its teeth.

  “Ferine,” Caellix said in a low voice.

  “A what?”

  “Feral elves,” clarified Brant.

  “I didn’t think they still existed,” said Caellix. “And this far south? Gods damn it!”

  Dogbreath pointed. “One went down here. They dragged the body away... But the other five ran that way.” He gestured eastwards.

  “Come on,” Caellix took off along the trail.

  They ran quickly though the forest. Serrel saw deep scratches in the tree trunks, and another throwing knife knife embedded in another.