Panicked, Steven flailed his arms then noticed a staff he had been whittling on hanging from the trunk. The tree jolted and the staff practically jumped into his hands as he reached for it. Without a second thought, he whacked Sirel hard with it. The girl yelped as she raised her arms to ward off the blow, and suddenly Steven was falling toward the open hatch. She reached out, but before she could grab him a branch burst out of the tree and wrapped her up tightly, pulling her to the trunk with crushing force. More branches started coming out - they wrapped around her and started to constrict her. She could feel the bark of the trunk as it began to expand and little branches emerged, threatening to impale her. Sirel wriggled and flashed bright, causing the branches to start smoking and popping from the steam within. By the time she was able to scorch herself free Steven had already fallen through the hatch. "Okay, let's do things the hard way," she grumbled as she followed him out.
Steven dropped through the hatch head first and reached out, grabbing a branch and swinging. He used the branch's elasticity to fling him to the closest tree. Flying sideways, he fell into the neighboring tree and arrested his fall long enough to look back. He grabbed another branch, preparing to flee through the canopy, but he had to be sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. People did not naturally glow, nor did they make gravity reverse. He was sure he was having an episode and sorely missed his tea. Was this real? The creature had exited the tree house and was looking around for him, shining brightly enough to illuminate that part of the forest.
Alarmed, Steven ducked behind the tree before she could notice him, but suddenly felt a presence behind him. Turning quickly, he found himself looking into a large pair of eyes that seemed eerily familiar.
Penipe watched Steven fall out of the tree house. For a moment she was afraid he would fall to his death. He had dove out headfirst. But at the last moment he grabbed a branch and sprung off it into the tree she was hiding in. She ducked out of the way, unseen by the boy as he focused on the tree house instead. She reached out and was about to incapacitate Steven when he suddenly turned to face her. A shock went through her that shook her to her core as she felt a very strong and extremely familiar presence emanating out of him as she touched him, and he stared transfixed for a moment by her eyes.
"Asherah?" they both said simultaneously.
Steven heard the woman say the name as he spoke it himself and he realized that it wasn't his imaginary friend come back to haunt him. Was this all a figment of his imagination? He had been off his tea for more than a day, after all. Before him was a woman that looked almost exactly like Asherah, but much more mature and her fur had a different pattern. Steven blinked. Perhaps the catastrophic events of the day were catching up to him.
But the woman suddenly appeared furious at him. Erupting with a predatory scream, she reached out for him again and narrowly missed as he moved to the side. He could see her eyes full of rage and her small, needle-sharp canines glinting in the moonlight as she lunged at him, still screaming. He had always thought those canines were so cute on Asherah, but now they were terrifying and his blood ran cold as she descended upon him. Steven ducked her continuing attack again and again, clambering amongst the branches as he desperately sought to avoid her. She pursued him around the trunk of the tree, as skillful at climbing as he was, and he pushed off the tree, falling straight down in a headfirst dive. It may be all in his mind, but he decided he'd answer that question later and not take any chances. She looked way too angry to take any risks.
As he fell, Steven allowed a few branches to slip through his hands to slow his fall and finally grabbed the end of one, using it to sling himself to lower branches as he descended rapidly. The woman was hot on his heels when he heard her scream in pain. He didn't bother to look back as he pushed off the trunk again and grabbed the top of a sapling growing nearby. It bent over until he dangled about thirty feet from the forest floor before he let go, then landed lightly on the ground. Without hesitation Steven was running again. As he ran past his tree, he reached down and picked up his backpack in full stride and reached again to snag his walking staff as he sped past.
Penipe winced under the pressure as the limbs encircled her tighter and tighter, slamming her up against the trunk. More branches were pushing out from under the bark, threatening to impale her and she could feel the bark swell under her back as yet more branches were starting to shoot out. She tried to concentrate to tell the tree to stop, but the forest was ignoring her and she clawed desperately at the branches around her chest until more branches whipped around her arms and pinned her completely. It was all she could do to cry out in pain as the last of her air was squeezed from her and her heart felt like it was going to explode from the unyielding constriction.
Sirel was suddenly on her, touching the branches and scorching them as fast as she could. More branches whipped around as Sirel was finally able to pull Penipe free and drop her to the ground, forty feet below. Penipe usually landed gracefully, seemingly defying gravity and momentum as she would appear to just kiss the ground on landing like a falling leaf, even when jumping from these heights. But this time she landed with a decidedly human thud. She gasped and fell to the ground in agony, trying to catch her breath. Sirel scanned the forest. Steven was in full flight mode and the forest was on his side. As much as she wanted to render aid to Penipe, Steven was the priority and she resumed the pursuit.
Lohet watched impassively as Steven eluded Sirel and Penipe. He and Migalo had maintained their flanking positions. With the explosion of light and heat from Sirel and the lack of attack from their Sadari foes, he no longer considered them a potential threat at this time and focused his attention on capturing Steven. He didn't sense an incident happening, but was alarmed by the forest's reaction to what was happening. All of the trees had become animated and whipped around in a frenzy, trying to stop Sirel and Penipe.
They had to get Steven quickly, before things got completely out of hand. Migalo peeked out of the forest and Lohet nodded at him. Lohet moved to another part of the meadow and took an intercept position as Migalo disappeared into the forest to drive Steven his way.
Sirel spotted Steven and gave chase, staying up in the canopy to remain out of sight. He was running along the edge of the meadow, but not crossing out into it. As she was about to descend on him, something grabbed her ankle and slammed her against the trunk of another tree. More branches entangled her and she could feel the bark against her back bulging as branches developed underneath, preparing to spike her. Angry, she pulsed as hard as she could, illuminating much of the forest around her like a bright lightning bolt. The trunk behind her exploded in a shower of splinters as the moisture in it spontaneously boiled to steam. As soon as the branches loosened their grip, she shot straight up above the forest that had become a deathtrap. More trees were trying to reach her, preventing her from reentering the canopy to continue her chase. She screamed at the forest, angry that it was getting in her way and frustrated at the futility of it all.
Migalo stood directly in Steven's path. He was familiar with this game. When hunting, he would often place himself in the path of the target. Normally the prey would stop, reverse course, and he would block their dopamine until they were nearly paralyzed as they tried to run away. Except, Steven wasn't slowing down to run away, but speeding up as he ran toward him, lifting his stick. Caught by surprise, Migalo blocked the strike as the boy sailed overhead into the canopy and he tripped and fell to the ground, completely taken off guard. Roots shot out of the ground and wrapped around his legs as his quarry sped away through the forest. Migalo's struggle became more desperate as more roots encircled his neck, pulled him to the ground, and tried to pull him into the soil below. He pulled out one of his knives and started hacking at the roots, to little avail. The constriction of the vines was cutting off his circulation and he was rapidly losing consciousness as more roots shot out and encircled him. Lohet was suddenly there, grabbing the roots and ripping them out by the handful. Migalo squirmed
free and they both retreated back into the meadow. Migalo fell to his knees, trying to clear the cobwebs from his head.
"This is all wrong," Lohet said calmly, following Steven's progress through the forest with his eyes as Penipe stumbled out of the underbrush, obviously in pain and no longer as graceful as she normally was. The brush and trees no longer caressed her as she emerged through them, but seemed to try to grab and restrain her and she struggled past them and fell into the meadow with a cry of pain. Getting up, she limped over to Lohet and leaned against him gasping for air while he scanned the forest for his target. He put an arm around her and could tell she had fractured ribs and her fur was matted with blood. He focused briefly and Penipe sighed and fell limp as she felt her pain ease and racing heart calm. She looked up at him and he met her gaze. There was more than pain in her eyes, though. There was terror. Something dreadful had happened and she was shaking, unable to express herself to him. Lohet lowered her to the grass and found a strategic position to intercept Steven as the boy rapidly made his way through the canopy around the edge of the meadow. It was time to bring this to an end.
Laurence heard the conflict before he could see it. There were flashes of light illuminating the forest and explosive reports that were unlike any weapon's fire he had ever heard. He found a large boulder and crawled on it to get a better vantage point while still maintaining cover. He turned on the night scope on his rifle and scanned the forest in the direction of the activity until he saw a boy running on the ground. A bright flash of light momentarily blinded him and a second later a loud clap of thunder rolled across the forest. He aimed his scope up to see the top of a tree break and fall to the ground. Next to it someone floated in the air briefly, then shot up above the forest rapidly. She appeared to be a little girl and she was glowing brightly.
He blinked and scanned the ground again. Someone else was running behind the boy, a woman who was holding her ribs in pain. She looked different, however. Laurence realized her skin was covered in fine fur and remembered the drawings Steven had made of Asherah. He pointed his rifle at the boy who had lifted his staff up and looked like he was charging. Laurence looked a little ahead of the boy and saw a large man blocking the boy's path. He was a very furry man, more so than the woman, and Laurence could swear he had huge canines as he crouched, attempting to intercept the boy. The boy suddenly jumped, whacking the man with his staff as he grabbed a branch and disappeared up into the canopy. The man fell back and tried to get up to follow when what looked like vines erupted from the ground and started wrapping around him. Another man joined him who ripped the vines off and they both disappeared from view. He couldn't get a clear view of the other man, but he had ripped out the vines in great chunks, slinging vine and earth away as he extricated his friend from them.
Laurence's heart was pounding. Right in front of him were most certainly aliens and he was there to see them first hand. Not videos of them and not scorched carcasses. He tried to track the boy again. It was safe to assume that was Steven, and Laurence wasn't the only one hunting him. What did the aliens want with him? He apparently wasn't working for them and he obviously had something they wanted badly. Laurence chambered a round in the rifle and cocked the trigger. The aliens were not going to get away with his prize, and if he couldn't capture the boy himself, the most they'd get would be a cooling body.
As he scanned the forest again, looking for Steven, something blocked his view. He slowly took his eye away from the scope and found himself face to face with a massive gray wolf baring its teeth. Laurence's heart jumped. He wasn't new to predators and had had extensive training with them, but he had never faced one just inches away. He very slowly backed up, getting to his hands and knees and finally to his feet, making sure he focused his gaze on a spot on the ground just in front of the wolf. It followed him as he backed up. He kept the rifle between him and the wolf, but knew if he tried to aim and fire the wolf would be on him in an instant.
Instead, Laurence slowly backed up off the rock while reaching for his belt pack and pulled out a can of pepper spray. Very slowly he aimed the spray from his hip and then suddenly let off a volley into the face of the wolf. With a loud yelp the wolf turned and started pawing at its face. Laurence took aim with the rifle and was about to shoot when he saw several more wolves stepping up over the rock. It was then that he decided it was time to vacate the forest and take up the hunt for Steven another day.
As he shouldered his rifle, Laurence grabbed a flash-bang grenade and lobbed it at the wolves and then took off running as fast as he could. The pop of the grenade and the sudden flash caused several yelps but he knew he'd only bought himself a few moments. He hoped desperately that he could get far enough away that they would divert their attention on easier prey, like the wounded lady.
Steven nearly tripped as he ran as fast as he could. The ground was going by faster than his feet could catch up. He considered going into the meadow and crossing to the other side, but his nightmare kept coming to mind. That was where he was trapped in every single nightmare. So he skirted around the meadow instead, sticking to the denser forest. The trees and underbrush seemed to almost help him along as he ran and his path was always clear as he barreled through even the densest of underbrush.
Then he saw it - a massive black figure right in front of him, one that he had seen many times before in his nightmares. The wolf monster of his dreams stood in his way, fangs bared and arms spread out wide, ready to pounce on him. Fear gripped him as the dreams came back to him. Then he recalled his therapy sessions. Steven remembered the advice James gave him, to confront his dreams rather than run from them as a method of dominating his nightmares. Gritting his teeth in determination and pushing his fear aside, Steven started running toward the monster as fast as possible, raising his staff and yelling as loud as he could. Just as he got to the monster and swung hard, a branch grabbed him by the arm and lifted him up into the canopy. He felt the staff hit flesh and heard a surprised yelp. Satisfied that he had hit his mark, he continued in the canopy, swinging and climbing from tree to tree as he rapidly circled the meadow.
He suddenly came to the end of the canopy and had to jump to the ground below, continuing his full out sprint, sure his pursuers were close. After running for a bit he looked back. Steven didn't see any sign of the pursuers and his senses were too discombobulated to feel them out in the forest, so he decided to take a chance and cross the meadow from that point. The snag rose up high into the air like a skeletal spire and Steven could see the dark line of trees on the other side of the meadow. The slight mist was starting to turn into a sprinkle as another line of clouds moved in. The moon remained visible, however and he didn't see anything moving out there.
As he ran out into the grass, he targeted the dark line of trees on the other side as a line of safety beckoning him to run faster. He was starting to feel elated as the ground passed by underneath rapidly, when suddenly a vampire seemed to materialize like the mist right in front of him, just like in the dreams. The man's face was a brilliantly reflective white, like the whitest marble. His hands were the same bleached color that almost glowed in the moonlight, and he was pointing toward Steven, reaching for him. Steven remembered again the suggestion to attack his dreams, but terror filled him to his toes and he slid to a stop, digging his feet in and kicking up clods of sod and mulch as he reversed course. Turning, he saw the wolfman running toward him, growling loudly and flashing his canines in anger. This couldn't be happening now. Steven's legs suddenly felt like chunks of lead as his nightmare came back to him in full force and he desperately tried to get away.
A buzzing sound explosively filled the air, drowning out everything, even the rush of blood in Steven's ears. Suddenly Steven's head throbbed painfully and he was slammed to the ground, not by the creatures chasing him but by the heaving ground itself. Steven heard someone yelling for him, crying out in pain. He looked around, but couldn't see anyone else as he tried to right himself and continue to flee. Both of the monst
ers were likewise thrown to the ground and he could see them struggling to regain their footing. He locked eyes with the wolfman for a second before the ground knocked him down again. Steven tried to scramble up as he saw an opportunity to escape, but fell over as the ground felt more like a raging sea than solid earth.
Everywhere he touched started smoking and smoldering, and an acrid haze filled the air around him as the rain in the air turned to steam. Steven's head filled with white hot pain and the ground rocked with enormous explosive swells that spread out, creating massive rifts in the soil. Around him, trees on the edge of the clearing waved wildly as if they were grass in a strong storm. The air of the meadow itself seemed to explode into super-heated cyclonic energy, nearly blowing Steven over and incinerating the grass and dust it picked up into massive showers of sparks.
The vampire yelled something to the wolfman and they both retreated, both of them singed from the firestorm that started to rage around them as the ground continued to roil. Steven writhed on the ground in agony and confusion as his whole world threatened to turn upside down. The Earth itself seemed to cry out in torment and an immense groan emanated from everything solid, jarring his teeth and making his head hurt even more. He heard his own scream of pain before he realized he was the one screaming and all he could do was curl up in a fetal position, ride the angry ground, and get whipped violently by the burning hot air. A bear braved the sparks and fire, ran up to Steven, and grabbed him by the nape of the neck. It dragged him over to the snag and sat down, curling around him while the storm of earth and air raged around them.
Crow - The Awakening Page 19