The Huldra Hostility

by Michael Almich

  Later, about midway through their chicken noodle soup, as Morrie walked from table to table like a dictator, a stray hard roll hit him in the back of the head. Surprisingly, it did not come from the direction of the Forest cabins. Morrie stiffened for a second, then continued walking away, simply ignoring the incident.

  Word of the incident spread quickly though, and Henry was instantly on the case. He pushed hard to find the culprit, but no one would admit it. The prevailing opinion was that it had come from the direction of the Lake and Shore cabins.

  The remainder of dinner passed uneventfully, and the boys were soon on their now familiar evening hike back up to the Forest cabins. Shy brought up the end of the single file line of campers, and had just enough light in the dusky sky to see that Tad had stopped up ahead. Once Shy had reached them, Tad spoke.

  "Who has any interest in possibly doing the wolf call event this summer?"

  Henry, Sawyer, and Shy all raised their hands.

  "OK, let's get this out of the way. I want the three of you to listen to how I do this howl. It starts high pitched, and then switches at points to a lower pitched howl. Try to drag it out as long as you can."

  With that, Tad tipped his head back, cupped his hands around his mouth, took a very deep breath, and began to howl. The pitch changed twice as the howl stretched. It ended with Tad expending every last ounce of breath he had. Then he looked at the three boys that wanted to try.

  "OK… who is first?"

  Henry's hand shot up quickly, and Shy saw the corners of Tad's mouth quiver as if a smile was fighting to get loose. Henry was always the first when it came to being loud. Henry stepped up next to Tad, spun on one foot to face the other boys, and adjusted his Buddy Holly glasses with both hands. Then he clasped his hands and cracked his knuckles. Shy noticed that he was no longer much taller than Henry. The boy still had the black wavy hair and glasses to match, but he had definitely grown some too since the previous summer.

  He tipped back his head and let out a horrible sound. Tad winced and stopped the boy halfway through. Sawyer was next. His was an acceptable imitation of what Tad had done. When he ran out of breath and the howl tapered off into the night air, Tad held up his hands to silence the boys. Henry started to comment on how his howl would have been better had he been allowed to finish it, but Tad slapped his chest and shushed him.

  Shy didn't know what they were listening for, but they all waited. There was nothing, no sounds at all beyond the distant rushing of the waterfall off to the west. Shy shuddered at the thought of the waterfall. He knew deep down inside, even though he didn't want to admit it, that he would have to face the falls again. Soon. He would need to return the box. The thought of how he was chased by a horse that had appeared to be made from flame, with red frothy lips, made his breath quicken involuntarily. That was where Gust was now. Shy absently grabbed the watch Gust had given him last summer. They needed to find a way to save him, like he always seemed to save everyone else. Maybe Shy could do both… return the book and save Gust.

  "SHY!"

  He was so deep in thought that he must not have heard Tad say that it was his turn. He stepped up in front of the group. He had never attempted to howl before, but he remembered the deep throated howl that Shep would let fly when distant sirens passed on the county road near his farmhouse. He wished Shep was here at the camp with them. He could protect them from goblins and redcaps. Shy took a deep breath and began.

  He tried to start high, like Tad had said, and switched pitch several times throughout. When he was done, they all waited, still not knowing what for.

  Faintly, at first, then louder came an answering round of howls. Tad smiled as the boys looked at each other in wonderment.

  "Looks like Shy is our wolf howler," Tad said. "For the competition, the howls will be graded on length, pitch changes, and response. Wolves will usually respond as a pack, like they just did. Shy you will need to work on stretching it out, but good job for a first try."

  Daniel slapped Shy on the back and congratulated him. Sawyer punched him, but grudgingly told him he did a good job. As they began to joke and set out again for the Elevator, Ralph froze.

  "What was that?" He asked loudly with fear in his voice.

  The others stopped and looked at him.

  "What was what?" Tad asked.

  "I heard that screeching, screaming sound. Like we always hear coming from the river gorge."

  None of the other boys had heard anything, and just looked at him.

  "You know," he continued getting louder and more agitated, "Like what we heard before getting hit on the bridge last summer." He looked from one boy to another for recognition.

  "I know what you are talking about, Ralph, but I didn't hear anything," Daniel said as he stepped forward and reached out towards the smaller boy in an effort to calm him.

  Ralph was distraught, however, and pushed Daniel away. He turned to Shy.

  "Shy did you hear it? Listen…"

  They were quiet. Then, to the west, they could hear the cry of the flying creature. Shy had found a passage in The Faerie concerning these creatures. They were called lindworms. According to the book, they were winged serpents, similar to dragons, but they had only forelimbs. They did not have hind legs. They were usually found near large bodies of water, and would launch themselves from the water, grasp their prey with their strong limbs, and devour the captured with their jaws that opened from side to side. They had been known to devour animals as large as cattle, and rumors were that young children that strayed too far from home were their favorite victims.

  Shy rubbed his shoulders, where he still had the talon scars from last summer. The cry resounded again through the woods, even closer to their current position.

  "Up against a trunk!" Tad demanded.

  They lined themselves up with backs against the trunks of several huge pines.

  "We need to stay quiet," Shy whispered as he recalled more from what he had read in The Faerie. "They are drawn to screaming and yelling, but do not see well."

  Eddie stared at Shy in awe, but the others just nodded. Henry pinched his lips between his fingers to keep himself quiet.

  The scream roared again, this time directly overhead, and they boys could feel the air disturbance from the wings of the lindworm. Shy felt his vision snap through the Glamour of the beast, though it was too dark for him to see it. He could definitely feel it, sweeping back and forth above the trees, listening for one yell, one sound, to identify its victims.

  Then it landed in the branches above. Shy could feel the vibrations through the tree as the serpent scrabbled with its talons for a hold on the giant pine. Eddie was on Shy's left. He could feel the creature too, and his eyes were wide.

  The creature screamed again, directly above them. Shy saw the fear escalate in Eddie's body language. He was about to lose it. Shy had to do something to distract the monster from the others. Before he could move, however, Eddie screamed and pushed off from the tree. He began running up the path, toward the Forest cabins.

  The beast was ready and immediately launched itself in pursuit from the branches above. Shy was also moving, and could feel someone else in pursuit. He could now see the faint silhouette of the creature as it wove its way among the tapestry of branches. In the end, that is probably what saved Eddie. The new boy was slowed by the trees, but the lindworm was slowed even more. Shy reached a point where Eddie was several feet below him on the hillside. He jumped and hit Eddie on the shoulders, knocking the boy to the ground. As they hit hard on the rocky soil among the underbrush, Shy could feel the woosh as the dragon swooped just past. Its talons grasped air, and it screamed in anger at being foiled.

  Shy and Eddie lay there, breathing hard as Tad and Daniel ran up. The creature seemed to have given up. Its scream faded into the distance. Shy couldn't understand why it gave up, but was thankful.

  Shy rolled onto his back and looked up at Tad. "Now can I tell you about what I learned this year?" He huffed.


  ***

  The others listened in awe as Shy recounted his adventures of the past year. As he rambled on with his narrative, he saw Tad looking more and more concerned. It wasn't just Tad. Shy's vision snapped as he heard Tom T wrestling with logs in the corner. Evidently the nisse thought anytime was a good time for a bonfire.

  The hairy little creature was carrying logs to the fire pit that was built so handily into the center of the Hive, just as Shy reached the part of his story that involved the redcaps.

  As Shy spoke of them, he saw Tom T stiffen and drop the logs. Shy paused. Several of the boys had jumped when the logs fell. Eddie stared at the still quivering wood, while the others looked to Shy for explanation. They were becoming used to the fact that Shy could see beyond the Glamour. It no longer spooked them, rather it was expected.

  Tom T turned slowly and his eyes locked with Shy's. Shy saw something he had never before seen in the nisse. Fear. The creature that had stood up to trolls last summer, and saved Shy and Daniel in doing so, begin to quiver in fear. The hairs on his chin bristled. With a shake he ran from the Hive.

  Shy paused.

  "Hey man, what happened?" Henry piped up.

  "Tom T got scared… I guess." Shy answered.

  "No, I mean what happened with those red-hatted dudes?"

  Shy took up his story again, and could tell that Henry was quickly becoming obsessed with the story of the redcaps. The boys, with the exception of Eddie who wasn't sure what to believe anymore, oooh'ed and ahhhh'ed at the proper times of the story. Shy didn't mention the fact that he thought it was Morrie that he saw at the Mall of America that day. He would tell Tad in private. That connection couldn't be coincidence though, and he made a mental note to pull Tad aside. As he completed his story of the Reds, Shy forgot about Tom T's fearful, hurried exit.

  From a nearby walkway, though, sat a furry little pile… listening to the remainder of the story and rocking back and forth.

  ***

  After Shy's story the boys switched topics, as boys will do. Tad let down the drawbridge like wall of the Hive, and stated that he was going to meet with the other counselors back at the Lodge, and set off at a brisk pace. Shy imagined he wanted to bring Meg up to speed on what Shy had just told them all.

  "Tad, tell Meg that I need that book back from Claire tomorrow!" Shy yelled after Tad. The ordinary looking boy simply waved his hand back to Shy as he scooted off into the darkness.

  The other boys began to argue about who would get what event for the camp games. Shy was happy to have his settled, and he felt pretty confident that he could do a good job with it this year.

  His thought turned again to Gust. How would they rescue him and return the box? He had a worry gnawing at him on that topic, but just couldn't put a finger on what it was. Maybe he could find the fossegrimen again. Of course, the answers he found there were more likely to confuse the problem than clear it up. He needed to talk to Tom T, and then plan things out with Daniel. Where had Tom T run off to?

  Shy stood up and walked around the Hive, pressing his face up to the screens in various places, attempting to see if he could see the nisse roaming among the pathways, bridges, and ropes of the Forest cabins. Shy's vision popped slightly, and there, on a distant platform, all alone, Shy spotted movement.

  He looked around the Hive, and most of the boys were still busy talking and joking. Sam and Daniel were arm wrestling, and Henry was trying to get the other boys to bet on who would win. Eddie was watching them from a distance, so Shy slipped towards the plank exit.

  ***

  Eddie let his eyes roam over the strange collection of boys. Here he was, an outcast again. These boys didn't like him, he could tell. Although he wasn't sure about that Shy. He seemed pretty friendly. Eddie searched the boys as they screamed at the two arm wrestlers. Where was Shy?

  He spotted the sandy haired boy walking around the Hive and peering out of the screened windows. He was always so mysterious… and all this talk about red caps and nisses and the magical box. It seemed like it always came back to that box. Morrie had asked him to find out where Shy was keeping the box. He said he just wanted to learn more about it, that it was an item of great historical significance. The professor said it would help him in his research.

  Eddie was beginning to have his doubts about the professor's motives though. If what Tad and Shy had been saying about the box was true, it was probably very valuable. Maybe even worth stealing. Eddie decided that he wouldn't go that far… even if Morrie begged him to. Passing on information about the box couldn't hurt though.

  He looked around again for Shy and just caught him slipping out the exit to the Hive. Stealthily, so as not to disturb the other boys, or draw attention to himself. Eddie rose and followed Shy into the darkened aerial pathways of the Forest cabins.

  ***

  Shy slowly made his way over to the platform where he had seen the movement. Sure enough, the bedraggled little nisse was sitting on the edge with his feet hanging over. In the dim light, Shy could see coarse hair covering Tom T's thickly padded feet as he swung them back and forth. Shy slowly sat down next to him. The creature didn't move away, and seemed to be humming a melancholy tune. Shy waited and looked up through the pines to the stars above. Eventually the creature spoke.

  "Shylock, the reds you saw this summer are a very bad sign. Those that wear the cap dyed in blood are a fierce race, perhaps once descended from the same stock as I. They live on the thrill of the hunt; they feed on the fear in their prey. They do not stop once aimed at a target. I fear. I fear for you, and I fear for the Seelie."

  "Who aims them? Who picks their target?" Shy spoke up.

  "The changling, the huldra. It can be none other. If she has the Reds at her disposal, our cause is lost. They are not stupid and clumsy like trolls, nor petty and mindless like goblins. The red caps are fierce and cunning. You were very lucky to have escaped. The only hope… no, it is not worth mentioning…"

  "What? Tell me please," Shy begged.

  The nisse, looking deflated and worn, turned to Shy and said, "The only Fey to ever have done battle with Reds and win are the Lesidhe. They are a fierce and proud race. Too proud by far, yet not undeserved. They occupy northern forests across the world. But it is of no use… they are fickle and most likely are unwilling to help in the affairs of humans…"

  "But… but this affects all the fey, right?" Shy grasped. "If the Unseelie get this box, and its power, you once told me that they could enslave the Seelie creatures… right? It would change your world too. Wouldn't they help?"

  "The Lesidhe are of the oldest fey. They are proud and hold themselves above Unseelie or Seelie. There is no hope. The Reds, their kind have never been here before… in this place. Her power grows too quickly, the huldra. If she gathers reds here, then she has indeed grown strong. The power of the box once protected us, but it wanes since you removed it from the source,” Tom T said bitterly.

  "I… I didn't know…" Shy hesitated.

  "Ignorance does not deserve forgiveness, master Shylock."

  "I am going to return it. Soon. I am going to save Gust too. Tell me please, how can I get back, once I return the box. If I am going to rescue Gust, we need a way to pass back through the waterfall."

  "Alas, I cannot help you," the nisse looked dejectedly off into the darkness. "I have never passed back to the source, the lake, as you call it."

  "I will ask the fossegrimen then. He seems to know something," Shy could feel the emotion, and the frustration, begin to well up in his chest. His eyes began to moisten as anger clouded his thoughts. "I will get the box back to the lake, and I WILL rescue Gust." Shy stood as he finished.

  "Beware the riddles the fat one weaves into his truths, Shylock. He is who started you on this path. Beware too the one who listens to us now… he is… he is influenced."

  With that the nisse pushed himself off the edge!

  Shy grabbed the railing and looked down. He heard an impact on an unseen platform below, then hear
d light scrabbling of feet disappear into the distance below.

  Shy thought about what Tom T had said. He did need to be careful around the trickster, that fossegrimen. But what listener did Tom T mean? Shy cautiously turned and looked at the nearby platforms, but saw nothing. Suspiciously he made for the Hive.

  As he walked, he imagined off in the distance that he could hear the lindworm scream. Then, off to the north, he thought he saw an army of lights bobbing slowly in the same direction. Trees obscured his view, but it seemed like there were hundreds of lights. Shy rubbed his eyes and looked again, but now could see nothing. The lights were gone. He hurried along, while his imagination conjured small noises around him the entire way back to the Hive.

  When he leapt into the hive, he saw the boys indeed had a small fire going and were relaxing to one of Tad's stories. The counselor had obviously returned from his meeting with the other counselors. He noted Shy’s entrance by slightly raising one eyebrow, yet the others did not see. Shy quietly climbed into a cozy hammock, in a dark corner of the Hive and began to listen. Tad caught his eye as he talked, and nodded to a table by the firewood. There sat the book, The Faerie.

  As Shy was staring at the book, the entrance to the Hive was also within his sight, and he saw Eddie land softly and look up. Their eyes met, and Eddie quickly looked away. Was he the listener that Tom T had mentioned? What was it he had said, that the listener was influenced…. What did that mean?

  Chapter Five

  “I heard the laughing again… coming from the trees.”

  Eddie said little to Shy as they trooped to the Raven that night. Shy's mind was pouring over other thoughts, so he also kept silent. As they climbed the stairs that held the platform above Raven cabin, Eddie broke the silence.