The Huldra Hostility

by Michael Almich

  He slowly edged his way until he was almost standing directly behind where she was sitting. He was watching the girls facing them at the table. Arya seemed to be paying particular attention to Shy. He saw Arya try to make eye contact with Portia, and must have succeeded because she looked up at Shy with just her eyes, several times, as if to say, “He’s right behind you.”

  Portia must have mouthed something to Arya then, because the other girl nodded and pretended to look away. Shy knew now, that Portia knew he was standing there, yet she didn’t turn around. Was she waiting for him to say something? He didn’t know what to say, or how to start this, especially with all of the others standing right there. He stood frozen; mortified that she would think he didn’t want to talk to her.

  Just then, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around instinctively, and there was the brown-eyed Shore cabin girl, Viv. She smiled a cute pixie-like smile. Shy could feel attention from the table and group behind him shift onto him. He felt the red creep up his face, and sweat beads felt like they were forming on his forehead. He instantly pictured Portia twisted in her seat, watching.

  Viv, held her smile. She asked Shy in a not so quiet voice if she could get his email address. He was horrified. He just couldn’t make himself say no, or answer rudely to this girl he had never really met before. He felt what he imagined was a collective intake of breath behind him. Time slowed as he considered his response. A split second lasted minutes it seemed to him. He knew in his heart that he couldn’t make himself say no. So, after agonizing, he grabbed the paper she held extended and began to write his email address.

  He hadn’t smiled or even answered verbally, yet the response he feared erupted behind him. He felt Portia stand up and push through the crowd the opposite way. Others must have followed her. Shy finished writing and gave the paper back to Viv. As she took it, she made a point of grabbing Shy’s hand, but he was too distracted to notice. She thanked him, but he was already turning around. He didn’t see her squirrel off to her friends where they all giggled their way out of the Lodge.

  Daniel and Henry were the only two left standing by Shy.

  Henry put his arm around Shy and said, “Well, you sure know how to step in it friend. I had those girls eating out of my hand, but somehow you cleared them out with one fell swoop.” The spectacled boy had one of his famous smirks on his face.

  Daniel pushed Henry and said, “Leave him alone.” Then he glared at Henry until the shorter boy held up his hands and backed away. Then Daniel turned to Shy and asked, “How did that happen?”

  “Dunno….” Shy said dejectedly. “I just wanted to get a chance to talk to Portia… I almost feel like that Viv is purposely choosing the worst times to make an appearance…”

  “Girls do that kind of stuff…”

  Before Daniel could try to console his friend, Tad grasped each of their shoulders from behind.

  “It’s time,” was all Tad said as he propelled them to the door of the Lodge.

  Shy reached down and felt for the box in his cargo pants. Somehow, it seemed to feel heavier every time he carried it.

  ***

  The night was dark, the clouds blocking out the moon as strongly as they had all day. The boys and Tad stood self consciously at the bottom of the hill they hadn’t known about before this evening. Shy was fighting and losing a battle with mosquitoes despite the powerful concentration of DEET he had sprayed all over. He was nervous, and was starting to feel like the mosquitoes could sense it.

  All of the boys, even Tad, seemed a bit jumpy as they waited for the old, white-haired, green beret. Knowing the importance of what they were about to try placed added pressure on the group. No one spoke. Shy imagined that things moved in the dense brush around them. Gust had only cleared the pathway; the brush and undergrowth next to the path was thick and heavy. Even if there had been moonlight, they still would not have been able to see what was lurking. Shy imagined goblins, and reds. The latter made him duck down a little and scratch at the scar that had formed on his calf. It seemed like the other boys felt it also.

  Suddenly a deep voice boomed from up the path, “Well… what are you all waiting for?”

  Gust had arrived from making whatever preparations he had been working on. He located Shy and instructed him to follow up the hill.

  Shy looked skyward as they broke from the forest cover onto the open top of the hill. It seemed much wider without the entire group of campers. He was looking at the cloud cover, but what he saw was a veritable army of sylphon in the sky. To call them an army was doing the graceful creatures a disservice. It was more like a symphony of flight, Shy thought. He had always pictured classical music as musical notes floating, dancing, and fighting through the air, continuously emanating from the instruments that created them. The sylphon fit that picture now as they flitted through the air like a mass of hummingbirds.

  Shy heard whistles and sharp intakes of breath behind him, as the other boys filed onto the bald dome of the hill. They also saw the swarm of pixie-like creatures. Shy wondered how these delicate looking creatures could protect them all from something like the lindworm with its banana sized talons and scissoring jaw. He knew they were strong, for when they carried him last summer, it had felt effortless; but the lindworm was so large and powerful, it seemed beyond more than they could handle.

  Gust took Shy’s attention from their aerial guardians. The old man was watching all directions at once. He focused for a second on Shy and said, “We need to do this fast Shy. The unseelie and that damned huldra may be expecting us to try this. I have some things up my sleeve,” he glanced quickly at the sylphon, “but nonetheless we need to move fast and then get the box back to your cabins where we can better protect it. I suspect that this will be different than the competition we just had… once you open that box, I think whatever power it contains will draw the unseelie…” He grabbed Shy’s chin and tilted his head up so that their eyes met. “Do you understand?” He asked.

  Shy nodded, breaking free of Gust’s grip. He reached into his pocket and brought out the small box. The others had ringed around Shy and Gust, with their backs to them. Tad was instructing the boys on what they needed to do. Shy heard the counselor’s grim voice tell the other boys that nothing was to get through their circle. Shy realized how many lives were in danger now. Goblins had spears, reds had arrows, and trolls had brute strength. If any of them showed up, his buddies’ lives would be in danger. Not to mention the lindworm… He already knew that this would draw the attention of the dragon-like creature. Shy couldn’t imagine the sylphon holding it off for long. Gust was right. He needed to hurry.

  The problem was, there were no instructions. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. He held the box in his hands, straight out in front of him. Gust glanced at him and immediately began to scan their surroundings and the sky, taking in everything and anything. Shy quickly glanced one more time at his buddies as they scanned the darkness. He noticed that they all held makeshift weapons. From paddles to shovels, they all held something. Eddie looked particularly ominous with the axe balanced in his two handed grip. Shy shuddered and turned back to the box.

  Slowly, he opened it…

  Chapter Eighteen

  Mostly troupes of trolls, and gaggles of goblins

  Shy wasn’t sure what he expected to happen, but nothing did. There was no powerful beacon, shooting into the sky, to signal the Lesidhe, like he had hoped. He glanced again at Gust, and then, still holding the box out in front of him, he tilted his head back and howled. He howled long and hard. When he finally came to a stop, he almost felt dizzy from exertion.

  Still nothing happened. He howled again.

  This time two things happened, he felt a cool breeze begin to waft across his face. Then he heard the scream of the lindworm. The instant that wailing cry hit his ears, the breeze disappeared. He didn’t have time to think about the breeze, however, for no sooner had the lindworm screamed than Shy’s buddies began to scream.


  Shy closed the box and shoved it into his pocket protectively. He looked towards the screams. Nothing was happening that he could see initially, but Henry and Ralph were backing up. Shy squinted and, at the edge of the trees, he saw movement as his vision popped. Fast and furtive, goblins jumped in and out of the shadows. They didn’t attack, but moved to surround the boys. Gust and Tad had moved to that side of the circle protectively.

  Gust yelled back to Shy, over his shoulder, “Shy…. Did it work? Are you done?”

  Shy paused for a split second before answering. He didn’t want to admit defeat. Something had started to happen, but then the unseelie appearance seemed to have ended it.

  “It didn’t work!” Shy yelled back. He felt like a disappointment.

  From behind, a screeching wail made him jump and turn. The lindworm had swooped up from below the hillside. It dove at Shy but was forced to pull up as sylphon engulfed it, their little hands pulling and twisting anything they could grasp on its scaly surface. Shy was frozen as he watched their beautiful faces distorted with the effort they exerted. Their mass was small individually, but as a group they collapsed the wings of the lindworm, and it began to fall. It hit the far edge of the hilltop with a thud, and rolled off the edge, carrying many sylphon with it.

  Shy looked at his friends; many had looks of horror on their faces as they had watched the sylphon go over the edge with the lindworm. Shy saw that beyond Henry and Ralph, past Gust and Tad, the goblins had begun to advance! The tips of their spears stood out in the night, almost seeming to glow with a faint luminescence, but other than that it just looked like a mass of black shadows. Shy pointed and yelled. Gust saw Shy point, but yelled to the other boys to protect the box before he turned to face the coming onslaught.

  Prompted by Gust, Shy patted the box in the pocket of his cargo shorts and closed the Velcro flap. As he did so, he happened to look off to the steep side of the hill. Did he see movement there? He stared, but noticed nothing more.

  He quickly looked back at Gust, who was brandishing some sort of weapon, keeping the goblins at bay. Shy wondered why they hadn’t attacked yet. The other boys were also watching Gust and Tad face off with the nasty goblins.

  It almost seemed to Shy that the goblins were satisfied with holding Gust and Tad’s attention. Indeed, when Tad looked back to check on Shy and the box, the goblins became more agitated. They made several feints forward, like they were going to rush the group in a full-on frontal assault. Once Tad returned his gaze to them, they were satisfied with skittering on the edge of vision.

  Realization hit Shy like a ton of bricks. They were only a distraction. The attack would come from elsewhere! He quickly turned to try to find the movement he had spied off to the side.

  At that point several things happened simultaneously. Shy saw the two reds that must have scaled the steep, cliff-like side of the hill. He knew what they were by the barely visible silhouettes of their pointy hats. He yelled as he turned away and dove to the ground. He imagined arrows barely missing him as he crashed, flat to the ground. He was now facing his friends, and saw them react to either his brief yell of warning, or the piercing cry of a hawk that reverberated upon the hillside.

  Shy curled onto his side, so that he could see back to the direction of the reds. What he saw made him want to cheer. The hábrók had just scooped up the two reds in its fearsome talons, and was smashing them into each other with its legs as it flew off. Shy knew it was impossible in the dark, but he swore he could see the hábrók looking back at him, its eyes glowing with a light-bluish hue.

  Shy looked at the group as he got up and dusted himself off. It appeared the goblins were also gone now. Shy surmised they had turned and run when their two most powerful allies had been defeated.

  Gust walked over and put his hand on Shy’s shoulder.

  “Are you all in one piece?” He asked.

  Shy nodded, and then asked, “Are the goblins gone?”

  Gust looked back to the shadows that they had emanated from. This time it was the old man’s turn to nod.

  “What was that thing?” Tad walked over and asked, as all the boys began to gather in closer, with nervous looks behind them.

  “A hábrók.” Gust, Shy, and Eddie answered simultaneously.

  In the darkness, despite the danger that had just occurred, Shy saw Gust smile.

  “I should have guessed… You have already met our greatest of all hawks?” He asked Shy, still smiling.

  “Eddie and I may have seen it before.” Shy said, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Eddie stand a little straighter as the other boys glanced at him.

  Tad just shook his head. Gust put his arm around Shy and said to all the boys, “OK, stick together and let’s get back to the Forest cabins.”

  Shy was stuck between feeling like it was a victory in repulsing the attack, and a giant loss because they were unsuccessful in reaching the Lesidhe. As they hiked down the hill and then turned north towards the Forest cabins, Shy could feel the overwhelming nature of his problems forcing their way out of the compartments in his head. What were they going to do with the box now? Was Portia going to stay mad at him? How would they help the Seelie now?

  Stressed and depressed, Shy stumbled up towards their cabins. Gust led the way, and Tad brought up the rear. It was a somber group of boys. Whether they could sense Shy’s mood, or really understood the consequences of their failure, Shy didn’t know. He retreated into his thoughts.

  When they entered the Hive, Shy immediately went to sit down. His vision popped, and he saw Tom T staring at him. Gust and Tad conferred at the far end of the Hive, both glancing occasionally at Shy.

  Shy felt the box in the pocket of his shorts. It was poking at him and making him uncomfortable. He decided to bring it back to his cabin. He figured Tom T would go back to guard duty. He stood up to go, and every eye in the room turned to watch him.

  “Where are you going kiddo?” Gust asked as he moved to intercept Shy.

  “I’m going to shove this stupid box back into my pillowcase.” Shy answered sullenly.

  Gust exchanged a glance with Tad, which Shy misinterpreted.

  “Don’t worry, it will be fine… Tom T will guard it one last night... Then I will take it home, and worry about it all year.” Shy said somewhat sullenly.

  He removed Gust’s hand from his shoulder and left the Hive. He could feel their stares on his back, but strangely, no one made a move to stop him.

  As he moved off into the aerial pathways through the towering pines, Tad yelled, “Come back after you get it put away, we still have a lot to talk about tonight!”

  ***

  Shy stretched in his hammock. He could see the faint pink outlines of treetops out the screened walls of the Raven cabin. He turned over crabbily.

  He had gone back to the Hive the night before, as requested by Tad. When he had jumped in, he instantly had gotten a strange feeling. Similar to what he had noticed lately with Gust and Tad, he felt like the rest of the boys now knew something he didn’t. A big secret hung in the air like a thick bank of fog that Shy would sometimes see in the low areas on his bus ride to school. He felt the secret obscuring his perception of what they discussed. Something wasn’t right, but he just couldn’t grasp what it was.

  The plan they had talked through included Shy keeping the box well hidden, keeping Shep with him at all times, all the boys learning how to defend themselves, staying in touch throughout the school year, and the boys visiting and staying over with Shy whenever possible. Shy knew the last item wouldn’t happen because none of them lived close, and Shy’s mom would never drive far just for a sleepover.

  Shy could feel that there was something more, something they were not telling him, but he couldn’t force himself to ask.

  Tad also mentioned that Meg was having this same conversation with a select few of the girls. That made Shy wonder what Portia thought of the staying in touch idea. It wasn’t really fair that she was mad at him. In fact, the more he tho
ught about it, the angrier he became.

  Now, his angriness had morphed to crabbiness. He hadn’t slept well, if at all, which just added to his current state. Though he was facing away from Eddie, his roommate must have known he was awake because he started to talk.

  “It’s our last day.”

  Shy just grunted in response.

  “I just wanted to say, you know… thanks.” Eddie started. “I think things would have turned out very differently for me if it hadn’t been for you. You tried to get the others to be nice to me, even when I wasn’t being… well, you know… I was kind of an ass.”

  Shy turned. Seeing the look on Eddie’s face, he knew the boy was in a serious mood. Shy’s outlook on things softened a little. The whole Eddie situation had really turned around.

  “I’m glad things got better. We all really did have a rough start. Plus you really saved the day in that spooky, tangled forest. You must have practiced way more with that axe than I thought.” Shy said.

  Eddie smiled proudly at that.

  “Well, anyways, thanks.”

  “Yup.”

  ***

  Breakfast was a hodge-podge. They must have been trying to use up extra supplies. Cereal, eggs, bacon, toast, muffins and even chocolate cake were options! Shy spied some extra crispy bacon, and grabbed as much as he could.

  On the way back to their table, the boys filed directly past the Lake girls. He didn’t even make eye contact with Portia. After his discussion with Eddie that morning, he had felt better, and decided he wasn’t going to let anyone or anything ruin that.

  The boys seemed to be paying extra attention to Shy at the breakfast table, trying to engage him and make him laugh. Finally, he pulled Daniel aside and point blank asked him what was going on. Just then, Clancy’s megaphone squealed. Daniel gladly took the distraction and pointed up to the Camp Director.