Forsaken Dreamscape (Nevermor) (22 page)

Calico
tried to fight them off as best as she could, but to no avail.  Soon her hands
were tied.  Her mouth was gagged.  Still, the painted huntress managed to break
free from their grasp, running off into the trees with two of the creatures in
pursuit.  Wren silently hoped she would get away.

But
what good will it do since her hands are bound?

Nix
was holding his own against a small group of the yellow-eyed dwellers.  They
had not been able to subdue him yet, but the leader – the one who had
confronted them first – had lost interest in that.  He was leisurely hoisting
Nix’s knapsack onto his own shoulder as if he was already certain that it
belonged to him.

As
Wren watched with wide eyes, Calico was brought back into the open by two of
the creatures, and they threw her to the ground for their trouble.

What
will they do with us?
Wren wondered, fear clenching her heart.

With
a wave of the leader’s hand, Wren was pulled back to her feet.  He approached
her as the others held her against a tree, and her eyes lit with horror when he
drew one of his swords.

“Don’t,”
she begged, but the words were muffled by the gag.  “
Please
…”

 
His shining eyes were on her – perhaps really seeing her for the first time. 
He stared, lost in her and everything she was.

“Wait…”
he muttered, taking a step toward her – but his guard was down.

The
leader sensed the threat nearby a moment too late, and the ones who held her
were not aware enough to react.  The leader attempted to lift his sword just as
the long barrel of a gun crashed down upon it.  He turned quickly, staring Nix
straight in the face, and Wren was relieved to see that he was there.  Beyond
him on the ground, several of the animal men were sprawled out, motionless.

“They
are not dead, but I can arrange it, just as I can kill you,” Nix said
menacingly, his eye cold as he stared.  “Let them go.”

The
leader considered, but he said nothing.  Finally, with a small nod of his head
and a signal of his hand, those of his company who held Wren began to untie her
hands.

“There’s
no need for more violence,” the leader said, raising his hands to his head in
surrender.  “Looking at you now, I believe I know you.  I think you should
remember me too.”

The
fur-covered creature tossed Nix’s satchel on the ground, then peeled back his
face to reveal the head of a young man, and Wren understood now that the suit
of fur was only a disguise.  The large glowing eyes had been merely magnified
by goggles, though still glowed mystically in his human face.  They had been
ambushed by a group of
humans
.

Nix
withdrew his gun from the boy’s face.  He examined the other carefully, but
seemed to dismiss him as a threat.

“You
say we are friends?” he asked, clearly unsure.

The
glowing eyes twinkled slightly in confusion, as if this was not the response
he’d expected.  Still, he seemed to recognize something in Nix’s words.

“We
have never been enemies, brother.”  He raised his voice to the rest of them
while making a sign with his hand.  “Put down your weapons.”

The
knife-holders obeyed without question and the boy turned to look at Wren, who
stepped away from her captors quickly and back toward Nix.  Calico did the
same.

“Wren,”
the stranger addressed, looking right at her, and Wren felt a tremor of
surprise run through her body.  “Is it you?  It’s been a very long time.”

The
young man in the suit of fur was peering at her face.  Wren tried her best to
know him, but she could not see his features in the darkness.  Noticing her
silence, he stepped back and pulled the thick, furry skin from around his body,
wearing it behind him like a cape.  Once he had, Wren saw that he was fully
human.  There was a strange contraption around his torso made of metal gears
and glowing lights which illuminated his features.  Finally, she could see his
face.

He
was around her age, like Nix, with his dark hair shorn closely against his
scalp.  He stared at Wren with the same glowing eyes she had seen inside the
creature’s head, but smiled charmingly with worn teeth and one fang on the left
side.

“I
can’t believe it’s you, Wren,” he said. “I believed I would never see you
again.”

Wren
stared back at him, uncertain.  She searched her mind for his face, but nothing
came to the surface.  Finally, looking over his hair again, she thought she may
have remembered a flicker of the past – a rather silly boy who’d loved jokes
and often caused more trouble than the others would say he was worth.

“Finn?”
she asked, quite unsure.

His
smile revealed the truth as he laughed heartily.  “No one’s called me that in
ages!”  He paused, considering.  “Actually, no one’s called me anything.”

She
had noticed how silent the rest of them were, but she could not contain her
joy.  She had forgotten the former incidents.

“I
hardly recognize you!” she exclaimed.

“And
you recognized
him
?” he asked with a laugh, motioning toward Nix.  “He’s
fucking worse for wear – I mean!  Forgive that, love.”

He
turned to Wren with an apologetic expression, but she ignored the language. 
What he had indicated about Nix was true, but Finn’s curls had been what made
him who he was back then.  Without them, there was little to find familiar. 
His clear eyes had been replaced by glowing yellow irises, and he had grown. 
He was a young man now, with a strong jaw and a dazzling smile, unlike the
awkward boy that he had been.

Seeing
that they had no reason to feel threatened now, the other hooded creatures
unmasked themselves.  They, too, all wore the strange mechanical suits.  The
group was an assorted bunch that consisted of Tribals, mystics, and a few
strange, beastly creatures with leathery skin that Wren did not recognize – all
of which had glowing eyes.

Wren
glanced at her companions, and though Calico was looking at them all with
uncertainty and Nix was completely unreadable, Finn was nothing short of
pleased.

“I
apologize for the ambush, and instead, it seems cause for celebration.  But
it’s not safe here.  We need to go back to our camp.”

“Where
is this camp of yours?” Nix asked.  “We’ve seen nothing but trees.”

Finn
directed his eyes to the sky purposefully.  Looking up, Wren could see hints of
light and the faint outlines of houses in the treetops.  There was a whole
village there, disguised by the branches.  She was amazed.

“Come,”
said Finn, motioning to the others around him. “There we can rest and eat.”

3

Finn
and his company led them through the mossy green trees of the Silent Woods, and
though they were no longer captives, Wren could not help but feel that they
were being watched with great care.  There was no fear in her – Finn was
leading them, after all – but Nix stayed close and it was not difficult to see
that Calico was still unhappy with the lot of them.

It
was a misunderstanding
, Wren knew. 
They’ll be over it soon.  He’s
family
.

“Quiet
bunch you have here,” Nix commented, looking around at the troops that were
moving alongside them.

“They
don’t call this the
Silent Woods
for nothing, mate,” Finn said with a
laugh in his voice.

Calico,
who had been quiet, finally found a reason to speak.

“So
you and your tribe are the secret beasts that keep others away from this
place?” she assumed.

“We’d
be flattering ourselves to say that,” Finn said casually.  “But no.  We’re just
a group of people trying to survive in this world.  Ah, here we are.”

They
stopped near a cluster of trees that looked to Wren like any others.  To her
surprise, a few of those in Finn’s company jumped upon the trunks with their
full bodies and began to scale them as if they were animals.  The sight amazed
her, but she was certain that she couldn’t do anything like it.  She looked
toward Finn, thinking she might ask, but was halted when she saw the way he was
staring at Nix.  He was looking over his brother’s features with scrutiny,
familiarizing himself with this one he hadn’t seen in so long.

“It’s
been a very long time, Nix,” Finn said to him.  “We have some catching up to
do.”

“Perhaps
not so much,” Nix replied curtly.  Wren couldn’t determine whether or not he
was being hostile or honest.  “Just wait until you find out why we’re here.”

Despite
this invitation, no questions were asked.  Finn examined Nix another moment before
he smiled a little, nodded and turned away.

“I’d
say I already have a fair guess, but I’ll learn it all in good time, I
suppose.”

Above
them, a platform disguised with leaves began to lower from the treetops, and
Wren guessed that this would allow them to reach the village.  When it touched
down, she saw that it was actually smaller than she’d thought, and felt a bit
uneasy to think that it would not hold them all.

“Your
chariot,” Finn joked.  “I’ll meet you at the top.”

Finn
pulled up his hood and lowered his goggles before he and the remainder of the
group launched themselves on the trees and began to scale them in the same
manner as the others had done.  Wren stared upward, watching them until she
felt dizzy.

“How…?”

“I’m
sure we’ll find out all about it when we get up there,” Nix said, sounding
bored.  Clearly, he was unimpressed.

He
stepped onto the lift and looked toward Wren and Calico until they followed his
lead.  Once they were on, the lift began to move, hauling them upward into the
towering trees.  There were a few instances when Wren was certain that the
ropes would snap and they would fall, but she held onto Nix’s arm, and that
kept her steadied.

Finn
met them at the top, as promised, greeting Wren with a smile.

“Well,
here it is,” he said, spreading his arms to indicate the huts with thatch
roofing that were erected along the walkways.  Wren was actually quite
impressed with the place.  There were more people than she’d expected to find,
all of them silent, most of them examining them as newcomers.  Just to see so
many people in one place uplifted her.

“Those
here have forgotten most words, but they will treat you well.  We often take in
those who are lost.”

Finn
began to walk, indicating that they should follow.  Wren trusted his words, but
could not help feeling uncomfortable for the glowing eyes that watched them
carefully as they passed along the boardwalks of the village.  She tried to
have a closer look at these people as she passed, and noted now that many of
them were scarred and disfigured in some way.

This
world has not been kind to them.
  She tried not to stare.

A
couple of the hooded villagers came out to meet Finn on the wooden pathway. 
They spoke briefly in gestures and then the two of them turned away.  Wren
wondered what they’d communicated with that silent code.

“What
was that about?” Nix asked, suspicious of everything, but she was glad he’d
asked.

“They’ll
find a place for you to sleep tonight,” Finn offered.  “Better than sleeping on
the ground, isn’t it?”

“Yes,”
Wren said quickly before Nix could return with more hostility.  “Thank you,
Finn.  We do appreciate it.”

“Right,”
Nix said, breaking through the pleasantries.  Her attempt to stifle him had
failed.  “And I like how you’re pretending that you don’t have a million
questions to ask us.”

Finn
stopped his pace, turning his glowing eyes on them.  He looked over all three
of them until finally his eyes rested on Wren.  She stared at his eyes,
wondering if they were similar to how Rifter’s had looked, but decided quickly
that they were very different.  Rifter’s were the burning, evil eyes of a demon
while Finn’s were shining and round like a night animal.

“I
do have many questions – clearly,” he said in Wren’s direction.  “It just didn’t
seem right to talk about this so immediately.  Is that a problem?”

Though
Wren felt that there was little time to waste toward her objective, she was
still as human as before she had come to Nevermor.  Now, her stomach was
growling up at her and she felt weary.  If there were any safe places left on
the island, she felt that this was one of them, and one night of complete peace
was not so much to ask for.

“No,
not a problem,” Nix responded finally.

Nix
and Finn eyed each other for several moments, and Wren was left to wonder what
was being exchanged between them.  She didn’t interrupt, and likewise Calico
remained quiet, much too busy taking in everything around her to bother
speaking.  Finally, it was Nix who broke the silence.

“Well,
what are you waiting for then?” he asked, crossing his arms.  “Feed us
already.”