by Blake Vanier
“No, that won’t work.” All the children look at Nero. He pushes forward, pointing to the forest. “You forgot this forest. We can’t go through this.”
“Why not? It’s the quickest route,” Ryder says. “It’s either that, north along the foothills around Sunta which puts us in the open, or through the mountains to the Borukins. That’s just too far for us to travel on our own. We need to get to the city and find some help.”
Iona’s tongue is dry and sticks to the top of her mouth; a problem she usually has when Nero is around.
“Are you sure?” Nero bends down to look closely at the map. He starts to tap it frantically. “It’s called Ferin Forest. FEAR-IN-FOREST! Other than that, and the cute little Human skulls, I don’t see any reason not to…”
Korbin smacks Nero on the back. “That’s the spirit, let’s get some monsters!”
“Weren’t you just scared of the dark?” Iona asks.
Korbin glares. “I was only scared for you and Thea.”
“Pff, yeah…” Iona looks away.
“This is our first time ever leaving New Lur!” Nero says. “Did you ever think the monsters might be bigger than you? Why would they put skulls all over the place? Can’t we go another way?”
Korbin lets out an exasperated sigh. “If you’re so scared, then go back to Fae, Sam.”
Nero looks at Korbin, eyes glistening.
“Easy, guys,” Ryder says. “The Erohsians probably just put them on the map to scare people. Or maybe it’s just really old. If there are animals still there, they will probably be just as scared of us as we are of them.”
Nero looks down and rubs his eyes. “Yeah, all of the animals except the ones that want to eat you…”
Ryder puts his hand on Nero’s shoulder. “Come on, Nero, it’ll be okay. The worst thing is the Erohsians. The forest will give us a nice place to hide. And if it’s dangerous, they’ll never think we’d go through it.” He pauses. “Any choice we make is a risk, and I think this will be the best. Besides, we’re stronger and faster now. I think we’ll be okay.”
Iona drums her fingers on the table. “Yeah, that sounds good. Plus, it should only take a couple of days to get to Blue Horin, which is about all the food we have.” I don’t like the skulls, though… “We just need to be really careful in the forest.”
Ryder claps his hands together. “Okay, that’s the plan! I say we walk as long as we can through the night and tomorrow on short rests. Then once we get to the cover of the forest we can sleep for a while. Grab anything here that might be useful, and let’s get moving!”
*****
A gentle summer breeze carries a crisp scent of freshness through the abandoned buildings. It does little to enliven the children, who have succumbed to a zombie state of motion, late in the night. With dragging feet and an all-too-often stumbling gait, they follow Ryder. Their slog is occasionally interrupted when Ryder squints at a compass for bearing.
After Nero falls for the third time, Ryder stops next to a tree growing from the middle of a broken structure. “Alright, let’s rest here for a bit. It won’t do us any good to hurt ourselves now,” he says. He throws his own pack to the ground and lays down.
The rest of the children try to find a comfortable spot among the rocks and dirt. They quickly fall asleep.
Illi’s light is just spilling over the horizon when Ryder wakes them. Too tired to protest, the children eat a quick snack and continue.
Squirrels dash between the increasingly sparse ruins of old buildings. They scurry up trees that are growing in size and number with every passing minute. The children duck under cover whenever they see an Erohsian craft zipping through the air, but nothing ever comes close enough to give them a true fright. It does, however, provide enough motivation to keep them going, even on their tired and sore legs. Eventually they encounter the creek from town. They take a quick break to splash the cool water on their faces, rinsing away some of their fatigue. As the day wears on, a haze begins to settle in the trees. With the thick forest canopy and cloud cover, the light from Illi is largely filtered out.
Ryder tromps through the first set of ruins they had seen in the last hour, throwing his backpack down. “Holy cow, I’m ready for a break.” He kicks off his shoes and gingerly starts for the creek. “I think we’re deep enough into the forest that we can rest and start to take our time. I don’t know about you all, but I’m going to soak my feet in the water.”
After splashing in the creek and soothing their swollen feet, Ryder leads them to battle―against their dinner. The simple process of opening a can of beans proves to be a significant challenge without a can opener.
With mangled cans strewn about and relatively full bellies, the children set out the little sleeping gear they have in the corner of the ruins. When they finally get situated, they are snuggled close together.
Iona’s palms begin to sweat as she pulls a cover over herself. She rubs them on her shirt. I hate when they do that.
“Are you sure we’ll be safe?” Nero asks, curled between the wall and Thea.
“Aw, Nero, are you afraid of a monster coming to snack on you?” Korbin mocks.
“Shut up, Korbin,” Thea says. “It’s spooky here.”
“I’m not scared at all,” Korbin says.
“Ha, Korb. Is that why you’re wedged in the middle?” Ryder asks. “Hey, everyone. If Korbin was an animal, he’d be a big ugly cockroach.”
“A cockroach? Oh, come on, Ryder, don’t do it,” Korbin says, his voice laced with dread.
There is a pause and then Iona starts. “Is it because they run away from anything bigger than them?”
Ryder shakes his head.
“How about because they are scary-looking?” Nero asks.
“Nope.”
“Because they have a crusty shell?” Thea asks.
“What does that even mean, Thea?” Korbin asks.
“You know, because you have a hard head?”
Ryder shakes his head again. “That’s not it either, guess again.”
“Oooh! Because they’re always in the dark?” Iona asks.
Ryder lets out a snort. “Ha, no but good one! Nero was closest.”
“Uh,” Nero holds his finger to his chin. “Because they are scary looking but gooey on the inside?”
“Yeah! Nice, Nero.”
Thea ruffles his hair.
“That’s such crap,” Korbin says. “I’m not gooey on the inside.”
“You totally are a scaredy-cat,” Thea says.
Korbin sits up. “Yeah? Well if Ryder was an animal, he’d be a pretty little lady bug,” he says, holding up jazz hands.
“Oh, because he is friendly and pleasant to be around?” Iona asks.
“Psh, no.”
“Because you can tell their age by looking at their back?” Thea asks.
“What?” Everyone asks simultaneously.
Thea looks about. “Well because his back is getting more muscular, right?”
“Gak.” Korbin puts his finger in his mouth.
“That’s actually a myth about the lady bug spots,” Nero says. “How about because they are extremely effective hunters?”
Korbin looks at Nero sidelong. “Are you serious?”
Nero nods. “Yeah, Fae loves them for her flowers. You should see them go after aphids. It’s actually kinda scary.”
Korbin waves his hand. “Well, that’s not it, either. It’s because he’s girly and stuff.”
“Oh yeah!” Thea says. She sits up and gives Korbin a high five. “Girls are awesome. Nice one.”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
Thea frowns. Her face becomes very serious. “Then what?”
Korbin flushes. “Uh, never mind. Girls rock. It’s Nero who’s the scaredy-cat.”
Thea waves her hand at him and turns to the others. “Oh, I’ve got one,” she says with some attitude. “If Korbin was an animal, he’d be a goose.”
Korbin throws up his hands. “Come o
n, not again.”
The children laugh for some time before they all drift off to sleep.
6
On Their Heels
Isis
“Ma’am, you shouldn’t be here.”
Isis throws an empty can of beans to the ground. “None of us should. You should have found them before it got to this.”
Phillips kicks the ground with his light infantry boot. He nods. “If they can confound our tracking so effectively, perhaps we are underestimating them. Regardless, I take full responsibility. I should lead this group after them.”
“If we are going to violate protocol and enter the forest, then I can’t risk you screwing up any further. There still might be a chance if we can catch them before they go in too deep.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Alright, everyone,” she says into her helmet com. “Pair up. The distortions may be severe. If I tell you to hold your position, do so.”
The visor on her helmet blinks with ten green affirmation dots from the soldiers in her group.
“Com, is your equipment ready?”
“Yes Ma’am. I’m boosting our communication signal, and I have my Aether sensors activated.”
“What’s the background level?”
“Four-hundred milliSorvin.”
“Let’s move, then. Wedge formation. I’m on point. Phillips, I want you staking every fifty meters to start. Shrock, you’re scouting the trail.”
“Samós,” Shrock says, moving forward.
Isis throws a bundle of rope over her head and hefts her Aether rifle. She starts into the forest.
*****
Phillips hammers a stake between moss-covered roots. From the other end, he pulls out a collapsible shaft with a little flag.
Isis looks back to see a trail of the flags weaving through the dense forest. The colors of the forest have been muted. “Com, what’s the background?”
“Nine-hundred milliSorvin and still rising. Moltrik, Pahzan, and Icor Aether detected. We are experiencing initial Moltrik Aether shifts.”
“Any reaction to our presence?”
“Not that I can tell, Ma’am. According to the map, we are still outside of the restricted boundary.”
“Shrock, how’s the trail?”
“Easy, Ma’am,” he says from ten meters ahead. “Unless they’re playing with us, they don’t appear to be covering their tracks.”
“Let’s hurry.”
*****
“Com, background?” Isis breathes in the sauna-like air, sweat dripping down the bridge of her nose.
“Eighteen-hundred milliSorvin. Holding constant, Ma’am. We’re currently in a significant Pahzan shift.”
Obviously. “Are we still being followed?”
“I believe so. I’m picking up lifeforms all around us.”
“They’re cressen. I know it,” one of her soldiers says.
“Quiet. It could be anything.” Isis looks back to the last flag marker. It appears thirty meters in the wrong direction. I could have sworn it wasn’t that way…
Suddenly the air is frigid.
“My helmet!” One of her soldiers yells. “It’s melting.” He frantically fights with the straps to remove his helmet.
“Don’t take off that helmet,” Isis says.
Before she can close the distance, his helmet comes off. His pupils instantly dilate. He looks around, horrified. “They’re all around us!”
The soldier turns and runs.
“Grab him,” Isis says, pointing.
Everyone moves in different directions. One of her soldiers manages to tackle the stray.
“Hold your positions,” Isis says. Her soldiers are spread out, confused. “We are experiencing visual aberrations. The forest is trying to spread us out. Com, can you sort this out?”
There is an explosion of light, appearing to come from several different locations. Like a kaleidoscope, the visuals are fragmented.
Com lands on his butt, the Aether equipment smoking in his hands. “Damn. How is that possible? It’s Aether-hardened.”
“Forget it, Com, we’ll have to do this the old fashion way,” Isis says. The soldier that lost his helmet continues to yell. “Get him sedated or put his damn helmet back on.”
There is a scream. Isis turns to see a soldier fall on his face and get pulled into a bush. He scratches at the ground to slow himself, grabbing a root. The other soldiers move to help, but they only get spread out further.
“No one move!” Isis closes her eyes. She tracks her movements and that of her squad through the past until she is back in formation with her soldiers. She visualizes their positions, picking out the soldier being attacked.
Isis moves. Eyes still shut. The man’s screams are muffled at first, then suddenly clear.
She opens her eyes and sees more than half of the soldier in the brush, sliding once again. Isis dives for his hand. He grabs her, desperate. She plants her free hand, swings her feet underneath herself, and leans back. His slide stops. She raises the Aether rifle from its sling on her suit, aiming into the bush. The weapon kicks back as bolts of Aether burn through the bushes. Isis falls back as the tension in their grip vanishes. The soldier scrambles free of the bush, his lower leg bleeding, his suit below the knee shredded.
His grip on her wrist tightens. “Cressen. The eyes. I saw them. We’ve got to get out of here.”
She punches him in the chest, startling him. “Pull it together, soldier.”
He nods, still shaken. “Yes, Ma’am.”
She lifts him up, once again following her memory to return the way she came.
Phillips grabs the injured man. “What’s the plan, Ma’am?”
“We need to gather the others and pull out. Cover me.” Isis takes the rope from over her shoulder, tying a rock on one end. She consults her memory and throws.
“Shrock. Grab the rock, I’ll pull you back.” She feels a tug on the line and reels it in.
His image bounces as if he were in a mirrored room. Eventually, the images consolidate. Shrock looks around. “Holy crap, that’s… something.”
Isis throws the rock again.
An Aether rifle barks multiple times. Isis ducks, feeling the heat on her cheek.
“Hold your fire until we regroup!” Soldiers curse in the distance.
Isis repeats throwing the rock until she pulls everyone in.
One soldier’s arm is bleeding. Claw marks run from the top of his shoulder to his wrist.
“I want five looking out. I want you firing every ten seconds, or if you see something. Anything. We need to dissuade the cressen before they group.”
Aether rifles sound continuously. Shrock and two other soldiers run out ahead with rope, searching for their next stake. With each find, the group moves forward. The visual distortions lessen quickly. Their pace picks up. The soldier who lost his helmet calms down. When they finally reach Phillips’s first stake, Isis calls a rest.
Phillips steps next to Isis. “I’m glad you were there, Ma’am.”
“So you wouldn’t have to tell me you couldn’t get into the forest?”
“No, because you got us out. I didn’t react quick enough.”
How am I going to explain this mess to the general?
“What are we going to do now?” Phillips asks.
“You’re going to follow our other lead, east into the mountains of Boruk.”
“What about the kids?”
If I couldn’t get through… “The forest has them now.”
7
Ferin Forest
Iona
A house burns, the dancing flames are so large they seem to lick the night sky. The heat forces her to turn away, and she sees Nero staring into the flames. His horror takes her breath away. She tries to call out to him, but her mouth is too dry to form the words.
The dream slips away as quickly as it came.
What’s that sound? Iona is immersed in blackness; muffled groans barely register in her mind. Is someone crying
? The fog slowly begins to lift, clearing her mind with it. A host of aches and pains from the long day before wake with her. Her mouth is parched. She imagines drinking a glass of water the size of her head. But why is someone crying? Suddenly, she remembers where she is and opens her eyes.
Rays of light spill through gaps in the forest canopy. They streak through the haze in the air and illuminate the ground. She lifts herself on her elbow and notices the other children are stirring as well. Nero’s body twitches. He lets out weak whimpers and moans, face glistening with sweat.
Thea rolls over. “Nero, wake up!” She uses both hands to shake him.
Nero’s eyes snap open. He looks around. “What’s going on?”
Thea sits on her feet. “You were having a bad dream. Are you alright?”
Nero throws his blanket off, standing up. “What? No I wasn’t.” He turns his back to the group and walks away from their little camp.
Thea looks quizzically at the others.
Korbin props himself up on one arm. “That’s the way it always is, Ryder and I have just learned to ignore his little night terrors.”
“I had a dream last night, too. And I never dream,” Thea says. “Maybe it’s just because we’re away from home.”
Korbin shakes his head. “No, he has them most nights. For as long as I can remember. But don’t worry, you’ll get used to sleeping right through them.”
Iona rubs her eyes and lies back down. Jeez, Nero’s a mess.
*****
As the creek leads the children deeper into the forest, the pine needle carpet gives way to large roots weaving snakelike through the thick plant growth. Colorful birds sing to each other in the treetops and dart from one branch to the next, hunting for insects. As Iona looks, she stumbles over something and looks down at it.