Emily's Saga

by Travis Bughi

  Another tree snapped in the distance, this one closer and loud enough that she could hear the groan of the old wood before it gave out, and the shatter that followed made her heart race.

  What is big enough to snap a tree? Are there treants in Juatwa? Please, Takeo, tell me it’s a treant.

  But no treant would break a tree. Such an act of aggression was foreign to a being that treated forests like gardens. Emily looked at Takeo, gritted her teeth, and then jerked her head towards the shelter. He shook his head back and forth. She started to sweat and opened her hands toward him.

  What do we do, then, damn it? She was useless without her bow or knife.

  Takeo held up one hand toward her, fingers flayed out and up, and then slowly lowered his wooden stick to the muddy ground and untied his sandals. The rain continued to patter at a consistent rate, soaking her leather clothing and causing droplets to streak down her skin. To her right, the small fire gave a loud pop.

  Then there was a thud to her left from the same direction as the snapping trees, distant and subtle, yet loud enough to separate from the rain. Emily turned her head towards it. The urge to run was strong, but she fought it down and balled her hands into fists.

  Takeo finished taking off his sandals and took slow, careful steps toward her. The mud eased his every step, and it dawned on Emily what she needed to do. She knelt to undo her own sandals just as Takeo reached her. When she was standing up straight again, Takeo wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her close. Their bodies touched, and his warmth enveloped her. Her breathing, already strained, grew shallow.

  He put a hand to the base of her head and drew her forward. Her lips parted for a kiss, but he pulled her face past his until she felt his breath at her ear. She knew she should be worried, but the excitement in her heart did not come from fear.

  “No noise,” he whispered, barely audible. “Follow me.”

  Takeo released her and stepped away. Emily wished he hadn’t.

  She slipped out of her sandals, making sure to place each foot into the mud as softly as she could. A heavy thud was heard again, closer still—somewhere just beyond the forest clearing. Takeo ignored it and paced slowly toward the nearest tree line, Emily in tow.

  Another tree snapped, falling so loudly Emily heard the branches cracking as they ripped through nearby trees. Her eyes were diverted north, where the tops of the trees were swaying just beyond the clearing. Another thud echoed into the dark sky, and the puddles began to ripple from more than just rain. As the two continued to cross the clearing, Emily heard a ringing noise in her ear. At first she thought nothing of it, but then it intensified. Takeo paused and turned back to her, a look of apprehension in his eyes.

  The ringing, she thought. Does he hear it, too?

  Another tree snapped, and Emily looked once again to the north, but still the sound’s source would not reveal itself. The trees surrounding the clearing were too thick, obscuring all sight, but this relieved her. She hoped whatever was out there couldn’t see her either. Takeo grabbed her hand and gave it a tug, hurrying them toward the forest. They were only a few paces away from the tree line when another tree began to groan—this one at the forest’s edge. They both paused and glanced in that direction.

  The groaning tree leaned and then buckled with a loud snap, breaking at a human’s height. The top half splintered and ripped free to be flung into the clearing like a casually discarded toy and then rolled like a tumbleweed, slinging mud in all directions until it came to a shuddering halt. Meanwhile, the bottom half had barely resisted being ripped from the ground. It hung at a slant, lashed to the muddy soil by long roots that were now exposed to the falling rain.

  Over that tall stump, a giant skeleton stepped into the clearing, its bony heels making the ground quake with each heavy step. It was easily the height of treant, perhaps four times as tall as Emily, and not a single piece of flesh graced its milky white bones. It was hollow and empty, a giant humanoid skeleton with neither eyes nor innards of any kind. Its massive cranium swiveled from side to side as it stepped into the clearing, the bones of its neck making a grinding, clacking noise that made Emily’s teeth clench. The rainwater trickled over and through its massive rib cage, falling from there in tiny drops like a mock waterfall. Its bony hands opened and closed, the claw-like tips tapping together each time.

  How it could move at all, Emily had no idea. How it could see at all, Emily had no idea. How it could make sound at all, she had no idea. But it did. Its jaw fell open, and a shrill shriek pierced the darkened sky so loud that Emily jumped and let out a frightened gasp.

  And the moment she did, the skeleton’s head snapped straight in her direction. Although it had no eyes, she could feel its gaze upon her, and the sharp ringing in her ear grew until it drowned out the sound of rain.

  “Run, Emily!” Takeo yelled. “Run!”

  Chapter 13

  “Run, RUN!” Takeo repeated.

  Emily turned and bolted in the opposite direction of the giant skeleton, her bare feet squishing into the soft ground and slinging mud into the falling rain. Behind her, she heard the shrill shriek again, followed by a chorus of thunderous shockwaves through the ground as the skeleton chased after her. The ringing in her ears was loud enough to hurt, and her heart pounded in her chest.

  “Over here!” Takeo yelled. “Chase me! Hey!”

  Emily risked a glance over her shoulder and watched the skeleton sprint by Takeo without a glance. Its huge limbs ate up the distance between them, each step equaling several of her own, and its bony toes found purchase with every leap.

  Think, THINK.

  Her bow and knife came to mind, but she dashed the thought away. What good would arrows and blades do against bone? The ground quaked again, and Emily stumbled. She couldn’t outrun this thing; she couldn’t even keep her distance. It would be on her soon.

  The trees!

  The tree line was still to her left, and she made a sharp turn towards it. The movement was too quick, though, and she slipped, splattering into the mud and sliding a pace before scrambling to her feet. She wiped the mud from her eyes and saw the skeleton barreling toward her, only another two paces away.

  Emily leapt toward the dense grove of trees just as the skeleton closed the distance. Her body went through the small gap, but she felt raw bone wrap around one of her legs. Its smooth stone had enclosed her leg completely, shackling her like a cage, and it began to lift and pull. She screamed as she wrapped her arms around the nearest tree limb and furiously kicked with her other foot. The bone felt nothing, though, and the tree limb she clasped began to bend as she was hauled back towards the clearing.

  “NO!”

  She tried to wiggle free and put her other foot to use by bracing it against a trunk and pulling her trapped leg while letting it go limp.

  Emily felt the tension slip away as her muddy leg slipped out of the bony grasp. She crashed to the ground, but immediately bolted upright and started to wedge between the trees again. Behind her, the skeleton shrieked, its voice so close that her hair waved with the sound created.

  It shouldn’t be able to do that, she thought. It has no lungs!

  Around one tree and through another, the tight forest impeded her path, but she was thankful for it. There was no way the skeleton could get to her now. And just as she thought that, she heard the trees behind her snap and buckle.

  She glanced over her shoulder and saw the giant grab hold of two trees and rip them from the ground, roots and all. Dirt and mud scattered into the air as the skeleton flung them off to the side and grabbed two more, pulling back on its heels with nonexistent muscles.

  Emily kept pushing on, desperately clawing between tree after tree, only to have them ripped from the ground and flung into the distance. Ahead of her, the dense grove surrounding the clearing was about to end, and she knew she could hide no longer. The ringing in her ears grew louder with every tree the skeleton destroyed.

  “Over here, damn it!” Takeo yelled in t
he distance. “I’m right HERE! ME! Hunt ME!”

  The skeleton continued to rip trees from the ground, and Emily continued to push through to the other side. Suddenly, she broke through, and she had no desire other than to run. Breathing hard, she broke into a sprint, having no idea where she was headed other than away from the giant that shouldn’t exist. She made it no more than a few paces when something from behind a tree grabbed her by the arm.

  She was yanked into the shadows and slammed up against the tree. The very familiar feeling of cold, sharp metal pricked against her throat, and she froze. The tip of the blade was pressed so close beneath her chin that she had to straighten up not to be impaled. It was even difficult to breathe, and she’d likely have yelled out if she’d been able to open her mouth.

  At first, Emily saw nothing. It seemed like the blade against her throat and the hand gripping her arm had materialized out of thin air. Then she saw eyes, light brown with short lashes narrowed through darkened slits, peering straight into hers no more than a hand’s width away. A moment later, the faint outline of a human figure, no taller than her and wrapped in black cloth, became distinguishable, and Emily saw that it was a person who held her against the tree. No, not a person: a ninja.

  The ninja let go of Emily’s arm but kept the knife to her throat. It brought the free hand up and put a single, raised finger to its concealed mouth. The ninja’s palms and wrists were wrapped in black cloth, leaving only the fingers exposed. Under the dark clouds and falling rain, Emily had trouble following the figure’s movements.

  The giant skeleton let loose another gut wrenching screech as it ripped the last of the trees in its way from the ground and then flung them in the direction Emily had run. They tumbled like the others, flipping over and over, flinging mud, and crashing into other trees. One swept right by them so close the branches raked Emily’s arm, but the knife was still at her throat, and she couldn’t have made a sound if she wanted. Emily still heard the ringing in her ears, but it was a tinge softer than it had been earlier.

  The giant skeleton paced into the forest, taking slower, yet violent steps that shook the ground. Emily felt each shudder travel from her feet to her heart, and she reached up to wrap a careful hand around the ninja’s. Slowly, but firmly, she applied pressure to lower the point from her chin, and the ninja relented with a skeptical squint.

  I’m fine now, Emily tried to say with her eyes.

  The skeleton crept forward again, let loose a shriek, and ripped another tree from the ground. It was close now, no more than a few paces away, and Emily could hear its bones grinding against each other. Emily looked into the ninja’s eyes with a meaningful stare.

  The ninja gazed back, almost lazily, but otherwise did not move. Two rope ends suddenly fell from above, dropping right beside both Emily and the ninja. Emily almost gasped again and then cursed herself for being so jumpy.

  Silence, you idiot, she scolded herself. When she looked at the ninja, she could have sworn it was thinking the same thing.

  The skeleton stopped advancing and fell to its bony hands and knees. It shrieked over and over and began swiping its clawed fingers across the dirt in all directions, starting to its left and swinging them to its right—the side Emily and ninja were on. The ringing in her ears intensified.

  The ninja grabbed one rope, and Emily grabbed the other. The ninja held tight and gave the rope a light tug. Emily held strong, too, and was thankful she did because the rope was suddenly pulled up, and Emily was dragged into the air along with it. Beneath her, the skeleton’s giant hands groped the dirt she’d just left.

  Emily looked up to see where she was going but saw nothing other than blackness. She knew better than that, though, and she squinted, looking harder, until the faint traces of two sets of eyes materialized in the branches above. Their bodies became visible only once Emily reached the topmost branches capable of supporting their weight, right next to the ninjas who’d hauled them up.

  The skeleton stood up and shrieked again, and Emily swayed atop the branch—the sound was so loud. Now equal in height with the skeleton’s head, she could see its skull swing back and forth through the leaves. The three ninjas wasted no time and headed directly away, motioning for Emily to follow. They jumped from branch to branch, grabbing handholds that could barely be seen and leaping from invisible footholds, until they’d traveled to another tree nearby. Emily tried to follow, but she was slow and had to step carefully so she didn’t slip on the wet branches. The mud caking the bottoms of her feet didn’t make it any easier.

  No sooner had she made it to the next tree than the skeleton began ripping the forest apart again. It shrieked and howled, grabbing up trees and prying them from the dirt. It wielded two of them like clubs and began swinging them with outstretched arms. The trees-turned-weapons mauled their fellows, knocked over others, and scarred the land with deep gouges. All the while, the skeleton screamed and wailed as it continued traveling in the direction Emily had run until its shrill voice finally faded into the distance.

  As it left them behind, the ringing in Emily’s ears faded away completely.

  They stayed in that tree, Emily and the three ninjas, for what seemed like hours in total silence. It would have been pure torture had Emily not been thankful to be alive.

  * * *

  There was no signal, not that Emily saw, but the three ninjas decided to move at the same time. They made no noise as they unslung the ropes, and then the first two rappelled down to the forest floor. Their feet touched the drenched mud so softly they barely made a ripple in the puddles. Emily went third, as quietly as she could, but couldn’t avoid making the rope creak. The last ninja unsecured the ropes and then climbed down the slippery trunk with nothing other than its hands and feet. When it hit the ground, jumping from a sizable distance and landing with a subtle plop, it lowered the cloth protecting its mouth and smiled a big, toothy grin.

  “You are far too loud to be in Juatwa, little amazon,” the male voice taunted.

  His tone was light, almost joking, but Emily detected a hint of curiosity behind the ninja’s moss-green eyes.

  “I’m sorry?” she said, unable to think of anything else.

  “And clumsy, too,” the ninja who’d grabbed Emily, the shortest one with brown eyes, said. “I’m surprised it didn’t hear you the way you stumbled on leaves.”

  That one’s voice was female and hostile. The tone of resentment rung clear, and Emily raised her eyebrows defensively.

  “Well, I’m sorry again,” she muttered and blinked, “and thank you for saving me.”

  Emily turned to the last ninja, a heavyset one with bowed shoulders and gold-flecked eyes, expecting it to speak next, but it did not. It made brief eye contact with her while it was rolling the two ropes up and then gazed off into the distance.

  “There’s no need to be angry,” the first said, shaking a solitary finger at the female ninja. “The amazon’s thankful, see? Even in spite of the fact that she didn’t ask to be saved.”

  “Good thing she didn’t ask,” that ninja replied, “or we’d all be dead. You’d think if one was going to visit Juatwa, they’d at least know to be quiet around gashadokuro.”

  Emily’s attention perked at the name. She’d heard it before, and a faint memory of asking Takeo about it came to mind. He was to tell her about them later. She gritted her teeth at the memory. He should have told her then! But then another thought distracted her, one involving the ninjas and the interesting fact that they’d been there to save her at all.

  “You’d think,” Emily replied, her voice strong now, “if someone was watching us, they would have warned us a giant skeleton was approaching.”

  The female ninja met Emily’s gaze with eyes like cold steel but made no reply. The loathing made Emily’s newly regained confidence recoil, but she held the gaze. A moment passed, and the first ninja made a clicking noise with his mouth. The female ninja broke her stare and assisted the other, bigger ninja in rolling up the last rope. Emi
ly looked to the first one.

  “So you’re in charge, then?” she asked.

  He nodded low enough for it to be considered a shallow bow and said, “I am, and I’m also the reason it took so long for us to make contact with you. I apologize for not getting to you sooner, but it is not every day we get word of a ghost lingering among one of our old homes.”

  It took Emily a moment to grasp what the ninja was saying.

  “You thought Takeo was dead,” she said.

  “Well, that is what I had been told,” he admitted, “and I do hate being lied to. We ninjas tend to pride ourselves on being correct and knowing all, so when our scouts—these two, in particular, have been watching you for several days—saw what was supposed to be un-seeable, they waited to show themselves until they’d sent word to me. I came as quickly as I could to verify my old friend had survived the slander of his name, and it was only with luck that I arrived as the gashadokuro did. Truly, I had every intention of warning you, but I couldn’t well shout out to you, now could I? I’m assuming you’ve realized by now that gashadokuro hunt by sound.”

  “Old friend?” Emily hesitated. “Are you . . . you are, aren’t you? What was the name? Takeo’s friend from the village south of here. You played together as kids—ah! Lei Gao, right? Was that it? We’ve been looking for you.”

  The young man bowed again, lower this time. His moss-green eyes lit up despite the darkness of the pleasant, lukewarm rain that still fell all around them. It washed the mud from the rolled up ropes that the other two ninjas carried and had long since cleansed Emily of the mud that had caked her when she’d tripped.