Everwild (The Healer Series, #1) (9 page)

Carmela stood and went behind the curtain. As
she came back, she had assorted bottles in her hands. She opened
Willow’s backpack and placed them in it. “These will help you on
your journey, Willow. I must advise you. Using magic is extremely
dangerous. Any magic will draw things to you. It’s like a signal, a
beacon, calling all sorts of magical creatures to come out of their
homes and the dark places they hide. Things will be drawn to your
healing power, anyway. You are unique, but you are also a walking
target. So I have to warn you. Be careful.”

Willow jumped up. “How will I ever find my
talisman?” she asked in a wad of nerves. “If the Everwild is like
you say, how will I survive?” Willow finished shaking so badly that
she couldn’t sit still.

“Your talisman will call to you. When you get
closer to it, you’ll just know. As the magic inside of you, your
talisman is a part of you. It will know you, and you will know
where to find it. Simple.”

“How is that simple?” Willow asked and buried
her hands in her face. “That doesn’t explain anything at all!” The
warlocks stood and gathered their things. Nobody answered her.
Things were happening so fast Willow wanted to scream her lungs
out. She didn’t even have time to clear her head, now filled with
horror and dread of the unknown.

“We don’t have much time,” Carmela said, not
answering her question. “I’ve already opened the portal. We have
only minutes until it closes again. I can only open it every thirty
days.”

“You dare Seeker!” Emerson said enraged. “No
warning or time for preparation!” Carmela just shrugged, none the
least bit fazed. “Brothers, I need to talk to you, quickly,”
Emerson said and motioned to the other warlocks.

Declan came by Willow’s side as she fumbled
putting the backpack back on. Carmela came up to him and whispered
something in his ear that made his eyebrows quirk up.

“Good luck, dear,” Carmela said coming up to
her. “Remember what I said about not using magic.” She pushed and
shoved Willow towards the curtain, making her trip over her heavy
feet.

“Hey! Wait!” Declan shouted behind them.
Before she knew what was happening, Willow was thrown through the
curtain. A swirling vortex of white and silver light was all that
was back here. Beyond the vortex, Willow saw thick, dense trees.
The Everwild lay just beyond.

“Stop!” Declan’s voice shouted somewhere
behind her. “Father! Bane! Henry!”

Willow screamed as she was thrust through the
vortex, falling into nothingness. She couldn’t feel the ground, her
body felt heavy as she twirled and swirled through the nothingness.
“Help!” she screamed in the void and then seconds later
Smack!
She hit her body on hard ground, back facing upwards.
She had landed awkwardly on her backpack; her legs twisted under
her.

Willow looked up into the sky. It was
twilight and all she could see were huge brown trunks and branches.
Dark green leaves swayed in the breeze and rustled all around her.
The trees blocked the sky making it dark, but every so often she
caught glimpses of burning stars above. In the distance, the sound
of wings and a shrill call from some kind of bird echoed longingly
through the wind.

Willow stood up and brushed the dirt from her
knees. She had just adjusted her pack when something harshly rammed
into her, knocking her flat on her back. Again! She screamed from
the impact and the whiplash of the fall. Something caught her! A
creature! She was dead! A hand came up and clamped her mouth shut
when she continued to scream.

“Stop screaming!” the voice hissed. Willow
stilled. It wasn’t Bane or any scary creature from the Everwild.
She looked up to see Declan on top of her, effectively pinning her
down with his body. Where was Bane? Why the heck was he here? She
squirmed and grunted into his hand, but he continued to lye on top
of her. “I’m going to remove my hand now,” Declan said piercing her
with his eyes, “Don’t scream, okay?” Willow quickly nodded as he
removed his hand and rolled off her. She gasped for air.

“What are you doing here?” Willow exclaimed
breathless. Declan stood above her and offered his hand. He helped
pull her up, but didn’t look happy.

“How do you think?” he snapped. “Carmela
pushed me through the portal!” He put his hands on his hips and
looked around skeptically. The breeze picked up sending chills down
Willow’s spine. They were in the Everwild. This was uncharted
territory, unaffected by human life-untainted by the threat of
deforestation. They were placed right in the middle of the scariest
place on Earth, completely void of time and space. It was like the
Earth itself stopped moving and was waiting for wild things to
grow. It was eerie and strange, the trees were twisted and evil
looking.

“What do we do now?” Willow said, her heart
beating wildly. She was all alone with Declan, no shelter or
anything to hide her from the shadows and dark things that were
surely hiding and waiting to snatch them up. They were left to fend
themselves with no aide of magic.

The dark sky grew darker and the stars loomed
hauntingly over them. The silence in the sky made her wonder if the
stars watched them through the cracks in the trees, waiting for
something disastrous to happen. She would be lying if she said she
wasn’t scared.

What if a monster walked out of the trees and
ate them? Or worse! Something coming out of the ground and eating
their bodies in the middle of the night! Willow looked all around
and only saw dark forest. She squinted her eyes to see if she could
see any movement. It looked like it was endless in depth. The
nocturnal beasts were probably watching them as they stood there,
waiting for the perfect moment to come sink their teeth into
them.

Willow imagined terrible creatures coming
towards her and she scooted a little closer to Declan. It was
colder now as a constant breeze blew. Even though it was a total
waste of mental energy, Willow tried to imagine she was in a safe
place, even though she knew she wasn’t.

“We should start walking,” Declan said and
started to move. “It’s probably not safe to stay in one place for
too long.”

“We just got here,” Willow said, but
hurriedly followed after him.

Declan adjusted the holster with his sword
and looked at her. “Exactly,” he said as they ventured deeper into
the Everwild.

“This sucks,” Declan complained for the
twenty-fifth time. He was using his sword like a knight to chop
down the thick hanging vines that had blocked their path. No matter
which way they turned, they had to maneuver through the foliage,
and it wasn’t fun at all. There was no trail and no possible way to
navigate. The undergrowth of the forest was dense and Willow had
already fallen several times skinning her hands and knees. Their
difficulty only increased when darkness had set in. Willow swore
she felt invisible eyes all over her, but every time she looked
around, there was nothing. That gnawing feeling of “hey, there’s
something watching you,” just wouldn’t go away. Several times she
heard a quiet laughter that sent chills down her back. It was
unmistakable.
Something
was following them.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have entered the
portal,” Willow told him bleakly when Declan cursed at another
vine.

Declan whirled on her. “I didn’t
enter
the portal. I was shoved INTO IT! Big difference.”

“If Bane were here…” Willow muttered under
her breath.

“What was that?” He snapped.

“Nothing.”

Willow took back what she had thought earlier
about being in the company of Bane. He wouldn’t be complaining like
the big baby in front of her would. He would have accepted this
mission and helped her any way he could. But what she got instead
was Declan, even if, (every now and then), she would find herself
admiring his muscles from behind.

They stopped to take in their surroundings.
Willow pulled out a water bottle and handed it to Declan, who
greedily sucked it down in one gulp. His back was sweaty from the
physical effort of chopping down plants and he looked miserable and
exhausted. They hadn’t slept or stopped for at least five hours
now. Willow felt like she was getting nowhere. The Everwild was a
winding labyrinth. Every now and then, it pushed them in a specific
direction.

Sometimes, Willow would steer Declan a
different way, just by her feelings alone. Carmela must have been
wrong, though, because she felt no pull whatsoever towards her
talisman. Every tree looked exactly the same as the one beside it.
It felt like they were going in circles. Eventually, light streamed
through the trees-the dawn of a new day. It didn’t improve anyone’s
mood though. It was still dark; the thick canopy of trees blocked a
lot of light.

“Where should we go now?” Declan asked
grumpily.

“Shh,” Willow said straining, “I think I hear
something.” She zipped her backpack up and listened intently. She
heard Declan breathing and the trees’ rustling in the breeze, but
beyond that was the discrete sound of running water. Willow was
sure of it.

A river! Didn’t Carmela mention a river?
Past the water that falls to the river
….Yes! A river! It
must be the river! Left! It was coming from the left!

Without thinking, Willow took off running.
Blindly, she held out her arms, pushing branches and bushes out of
the way. She ran and ran and ran, the sound of running water
getting closer and closer. She heard Declan yelling for her in the
distance but she didn’t stop. If only she got to the river, maybe
they could follow it to the cave where her talisman was!

Finally, she burst through the thicket into a
clearing. A massive tree stood in the middle of the open land. All
alone, it was standing by itself. The bright sun’s rays poured out
of the sky onto her and filled the clearing with light. The sudden
light blinded her momentarily. It was weird, how all of a sudden a
clear spot appeared, but Willow knew without a doubt that the river
was beyond that. She picked up speed, gaining ever closer to the
sound of rushing water.

That’s when the sound of water abruptly died.
What Willow heard now wasn’t the sound of rushing water at all. It
was more like a strong, rolling wind. She circled around, listening
for the water. She knew the river was close. She heard it just
seconds ago! What way should she go? She turned in a circle trying
to pinpoint the river. What was going on?

“Willow Tree!” Declan burst into the clearing
running full speed towards her. “Willow Tree! Willow Tree!”

Willow whipped around to see Declan running
and shouting at her. Her blood boiled at hearing that stupid
nickname! She was sick of it! She HATED that name!

“STOP CALLING ME WILLOW TREE!” She screamed
back at him. She was so furious that she accidentally sent a wave
of magic at him. It violently impacted him and he fell to the
ground five feet backwards. Declan jumped up faster than possible
and was sprinting towards her again pointing at something behind
her.

“BEHIND YOU! WILLOW TREE!”

Willow turned just as a large tree branch
whipped around and crashed hard into her abdomen before she could
even react. The branch picked her up throwing her high up in the
air. She was skyward, flying up and up until gravity thrust her
down like a rocket. She screamed watching tentacle-like branches
sway and swirl at incredible speeds below her. The tree was alive!
On the way down, a higher branch hit her roughly in the back,
sending her straight into the mass of waving branches.

“DECLAN!” Willow cried for him. Her body felt
like it was shattering as each branch came crashing down on her,
pinning her down and whipping her with resilient force. Willow felt
every hit to her body like she was being stoned. Her flesh tore
open with gashes as she tried to claw her way out of the tree, but
she couldn’t even move an inch. The tree had her locked down tight.
She screamed and cried out in pain. “Help me Declan!”

Just when she felt she couldn’t take the
beating anymore, a branch picked her up and shot her out of the
tree. She flew thirty feet away from it and watched in horror as
the ground came closer and closer. She was gonna hit! Her arms and
legs were flailing wildly as there was nothing that stood between
her and the hard, course land.

Then, out of nowhere, Declan appeared and
jumped up, catching her before she could hit the ground. He gripped
her tight and they both careened to the hard Earth, Declan twirled
at the last second and landed on his back taking the brutal impact
of the ground. They slid several feet before they came to an abrupt
stop. Willow heard Declan gasp when she fell on his body and knock
the wind from him.

Several heartbeats passed before anyone
moved. Declan had a death grip on her and held her firmly in his
arms. Her body screamed in agony. Willow felt blood seeping out of
her and she feared what she would find. Her body felt like it was
on fire. She trembled and buried her face in Declan’s chest as the
pain and adrenaline rush all surfaced at once. She couldn’t help
the tears that fell from her face, pouring out of her and drenching
Declan’s shirt.

“Willow,” Declan’s voice was hoarse and
hesitant. “Are you okay?” Willow just continued to cry and Declan
held her steady for a while longer. “Can you move?” he whispered in
her ear.

“I…think so…” she mumbled after a while,
tears kept falling from her eyes. Amazingly, she felt her body
already doing its healing work. The pain was still unbearable,
though. Her backpack was firmly attached to her back, and she was
thankful it protected her back from the slashing. It was a little
awkward trying to detach herself from Declan’s hold, but she was
finally able to come to a sitting position, every movement hurt.
She hurriedly looked herself over and gasped in shock, the pain
spiking as she peeled her jeans up to her knees. Her calves and
arms had strips of skin hanging from them. Dark blood stained her
clothes. She lifted her shirt, not caring if Declan saw her injured
stomach. Despite her shredded arms, her stomach hurt the most, and
there was a massive bruise stretching across her abdomen where the
tree limb smacked into her. The bruise was nearly five inches
thick, and was a dark bluish purple. It hurt to breathe. She
wondered how she was alive right now. The beating was enough to
kill her.