Enchanted Forests (39 page)

forest Their arrows grew fewer, and suddenly I was at the for-

est's edge.

The light of the world seemed to go right up to the edge of the

forest and stop. Past the border, the edge of the forest, what light

cut through the storm clouds seemed absorbed by the black trees,

swallowed by darkness. It was as if those trees thrived on light

as demons thrived on blood. A thick black liquid dripped from

the black leaves and twisted branches. Dark shapes moved within

tne forest- My stomach quivered slightly.

The sky darkened in the few moments I hesitated. Flashes of

lightning lit up the edge of the wood and were similarly en-

gulfed. The Enemy drew rein some hundred yards off and

readied their bows, knowing my fear.

I spurred Rajni, and on we went

We passed the wall of shadow and the sky exploded. Sheets of

rain came down, drenching me in seconds even under the cover

of the trees. The black sap from the trees washed onto me. A few

feeble arrows passed me, but they were poorly aimed and half-

hearted. When I looked back the Enemy had disappeared and I

could barely see past the forest edge. I knew they would wait for

me.

Now that I was in, it was black as midnight. The branches

over me grew thicker. I could hear the rain overhead, and rivulets

dribbled down on me through the thick forest cover. Rajni had

to pick his way between the trees at first, and then, later, I

had to lead him. Before long it was impossible to see where I

was going. Dark shapes moved in the wood.

I kept moving, knowing my only hope was to make it deep

enough into the forest to reach a Shrine. In this forest, that could

be forever.

The forest deepened, and I could hardly pick my way out

among the twisted vines and bushes. The dark shapes continued

258 Thomas S- Rocne

to move, and I thought I saw glowing eyes. The rumbling and

flashes of lightning gradually illuminated small, black furry

things.

Finally, I reached a tiny clearing, perhaps ten feet across,

where I could crouch and try to work enough charm to light my

pipe. I was still breathing very hard.

After the fifth try, I managed to get the pipe going. My cloak

was almost soaked through, but I huddled into it just the same.

I was desperately hungry, not having eaten in days. I wondered

if the Enemy had taken the city yet. A few days ago my eyes

would have filled with tears at the thought of those gleaming

spires of Laure in the hands of the pale ones. But now, it caused

only a twinge of fear to contemplate it.

Rajni made an uncomfortable noise, snorting and looking

around nervously. I drew my blade and set it across my knees.

Rajni's discomfort seemed to increase. I covered my glowing

pipe with my hand, though I was quite sure any creatures around

could see adequately in the dark. I squinted into the shadows,

listening carefully.

The chill drew up my spine, starting at the base, slowly mov-

ing up to spread across my shoulders. The creature slowly be-

came visible, and I knew it had been staring at me for some

time. As I watched, the beast's eyes began to glow a bright red.

I could just make out an enormous snout and a set of fangs.

"You disturb my sense of harmony," I said absently.

To my surprise, I received an answer. The voice rang in my

ears: harsh, ancient-sounding, half-disembodied, dangerous.

"That is not my intention. I am more interested in your mount

than in you."

I moved in between the eyes-and-snout and Rajni, who had

grown visibly uncomfortable and was pawing the black-mossed

ground. "I don't blame you; I don't have much meat on my

bones. But I'm afraid I have need of my mount."

"So have I. You will kindly stand aside?"

I shook my head sadly. "Afraid I can't do that. Look, Creature,

I have no desire to come into your house and start a fight here

in the middle of a rainstorm."

"The name's not Creature, but forget it. Stand aside?"

"No."

As it leaped out of the shadows, I got my first look.

The moment seemed frozen in amber. The creature was like an

enormous wolf, as if I really cared. The body was bigger than

mine, and he had the advantage of a nasty set of claws, and those

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259

enormous fangs. He was upon me, and I had to admit I deserved

what I got for not being ready. He avoided my sword and landed

on my chest, slamming me into the ground. The wind rushed out

of my lungs.

I managed to work the edge of my sword up against the

beast's furry throat, trying to cut in, but the skin seemed impen-

etrable and I didn't have the free hand to work a charm. The

fangs snapped shut three times, inches from my face, as the

claws raked my leather garments- Then, in a second, he was

gone, and I lay there gasping for breath like a beaten child,

I heard the horse's terrified bleating, and the nightmare scuf-

fle. I had been lucky to catch the beast with the flat of my blade,

or he would have done to me as he was now doing to Rajni. I

got to my feet.

"I wish you hadn't done that," I said, making a sign with my

left hand as I raised my sword.

The beast looked up at me across the clearing, his mouth full

of living flesh. Rajni's legs kicked pathetically. A sound like a

laugh escaped the beast's full mouth, as my sword began to

glow.

"I'm sure you do," said the beast. "But I did, so why not be

moving along. I have taken what I wanted, and I will leave you

unmolested. Get out of this place. I've no more quarrel with you

than you do with me—horse flesh is much more to my liking."

I said: "I'm fond of wolf, myself," and leaped, the glowing

sword cutting a path of light into attack position. The speed of

the beast was incredible, but I was helped by the charm. The

sword sought its mark without me, dragging my body as a matter

of carry-on luggage, and as I landed, the blade's point drove

deep into the creature's mouth and down into its throat and out

the back.

As I had anticipated, it severed his spine. A howling scream

escaped his lips, and the light in the eyes grew brighter. The lips

did not move as the voice echoed in my brain.

"Human, you have spilled blood on holy ground. You have en-

sured your doom. I rule this place."

"I'm sure you do," I said. "And I do apologize. But I'm not

exactly a welcome guest in the first place."

The light went out of the eyes, and I hacked off the head, just

to be sure. My heart was still pounding, and I would have vom-

ited if I had food in my stomach. Rajni was not quite dead and

I had to finish him off and, as is the custom, eat his heart. I sup-

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260

pose the beast's spirit was envious. There are times when beasts

are kinder than people.

Rajni's heart sustained me for some time, long enough to wan-

der through the forest and become desperately lost. I had the sad-

dlebags slung over my shoulder. The shapes continued to move

in the blackness of the forest, but for now they left me alone.

The night passed, and faint shafts of light streamed through

the dense cover here and there. I finally found space in a small

clearing to rest with my back to an old blasted tree stump crawl-

ing with insects.

Later, I was surprised to find a hollow in a giant tree, a tree

big as a house. The hollow was more than large enough for me

to sleep in—it resembled a cave. A large field of ancient, melted

candles on boards was set up before the tree-hollow, indicating

that this place had once been a shrine. I struck a light and found

that the hollow was relatively clean, and didn't seem to be home

to anything carnivorous. I crawled in, wrapping myself in my

musty-smelling cloak, and curled gratefully up inside the tree.

It had been weeks since I had slept a full night. Ever since the

defenses broke and the Enemy approached the city, I had been

among the defenders. Until we had been routed at the border, and

I had taken off with the small party. I might call myself a de-

serter ... but there had been no choice.

And thus, into the forest. The sacred forest, the holiest of

places, the place where the irritating priests kept their Shrines

and forbade any nonclergied citizen to enter. I had never been

much on religion, and 1 figured an eternity in hell for trespass on

holy ground was probably about equal to the fate the Enemy

would dole out if they captured me. The forest was that most

feared of sacred places, the place where the heart of the world

was kept, where my race had (perhaps) been born from the trees,

the place the Enemy feared more than anything. And the place I,

as a secular magician, and one who particularly tended toward ir-

reverence and blasphemy, was most forbidden to go.

Sleep took me like a forest fire.

The spirit came to me as I slept, and I realized the enormity

of my transgression. In my confusion, I had stumbled upon my

own Mother; in my exhaustion I had used her as if she were a

conveniently-placed cot. I should have guessed she wouldn't ap-

preciate that much, or maybe that she would appreciate it greatly.

The sleep was like nothing I had ever experienced, sweet and

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261

deep and peaceful. I had no visions of my city's spires set on

fire, my people murdered, my country's fields burned and the

ground salted. I felt only a oneness with my own existence, or

perhaps nonexistence. I felt peace. I came out of sleep with her

face in front of me and her hand upon mine. She had a look of

vague concern.

"You do not seem well," she said.

Crossing the line between sleep and waking, several times in

each direction, I looked at her, and finally managed to croak an

answer.

"I am not well, lady. I'm afraid I've been fleeing."

"You've trespassed."

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize the tree was already rented."

I considered her through my half-closed eyes, since I was

afraid to open them all the way. She shimmered with a faint

spray of light, and her flesh was of the whitest white—the color

of a corpse drained of blood. Her hair and lips were blacker than

coal, with the slightest blue tinge to them, and her eyes were a

phosphorescent green. She was naked. Her face looked ageless,

an eternal, androgynous youth.

"You killed Fenris," she said. "He really meant you no harm."

"I apologize," I said, "but I had no way to know he wouldn't

get hungry for a snack, later, something with more white meat on

it."

She shook her head. "He wouldn't have done that. Perhaps

you could apologize to his spirit?"

"Sorry, I've never been very good at communing with nature,

lady."

"The name is Alaura. No hard feelings—yet." Her blue-black

lips twisted into a dark smile, and I shifted uncomfortably.

"Fenris' time had come, anyway, so you performed a necessary

function—thank you. Why have you come to the Center?"

A bolt of lighting went down my spine. It was not possible

that this was the Center of the forest. The being crouched be-

tween me and the entrance to the hollow. My sword was still in

my hand. I slowly sat up and then got to my knees.

"The Center?"

"Not of me forest, of course. There is no center to the forest.

But this is your Center. You must have known that, to sleep

here."

"I don't quite understand what you're getting at."

"Certainly you noticed the candles?"

ThomaB S. Roche

262

"Notice them? Yes. But I don't subscribe to the religion that

placed them there... -"

"And so you ignored the fact that this was a holy place. Well,

that's reasonable. It seems to have been a mistake- But you're

still part of the race."

I considered it for a moment. "Pretty much. I suppose so,

yes—Alaura."

'Then you've still found your center."

"I don't understand."

A smile crossed her corpselike face. in a wave of ephemeral

but terrifying beauty. She laughed and changed the subject.

'Tell me, what was the meaning of that storm?"

"I'm afraid I caused it I was trying to cause trouble for the

ones who pursued me. But these things have a way of getting out

of hand."

"So they do. Your pursuers did not follow you into the for-

est?"

"No, they were afraid,"

"And why are they afraid of the forest?"

"Superstition, mostly, and hatred of my own race. They know

it is our sacred place, the supposed center of my people, the

place where our nation was born—according to legend. It is a

place of great power and terror to my people, and therefore to the

Enemy." Despite myself, I felt a tear forming in my eye, and it

ran down my cheek. My voice caught when I continued.

"They've done horrible things to my people, and want to exter-

minate them from the world. They invaded our country and con-

fined its people to camps where they were murdered en masse.

The atrocities these beasts have performed ..." My voice caught,