Forsaken Dreamscape (Nevermor) (25 page)

“Do
you trust me, Wren?”

“I…” 
She was not so sure how to answer that.  She supposed, however, that if she did
not trust him, she would not have asked for his opinion.  Wren didn’t manage to
answer before he was going on.

“Well,
whether you do or not, hear this: if Finn will not come with us, then I think
we should go.  It’s not safe for us to stay here longer than we have to.”

On
the contrary, this village had seemed like the only safe place in the world to
Wren.  Furthermore, she simply could not leave without Finn.  She was not
willing to negotiate for that.  Still, Nix seemed serious, and she could not ignore
his observations either.

“What
do you mean?”

“Didn’t
you see it as we were passing through the woods?” he asked.  “There were
skeletons tied to the trees.  Some were even encased in the trunks.”

Skeletons?
  She did not
have to ask if he meant that they were human.  She recalled the moment when the
villagers had caught her below – how they’d held her back against a tree and
Finn had approached her with a blade.  Just a few moments ago, she had asked
him what was done with intruders they found in the woods.  He hadn’t answered
her.

“Trespassers?”
she guessed.

“Perhaps. 
They were strung up almost ritualistically, and then here, there are signs of
attack.  Finn decided to spare us, but I have a bad feeling.”

It’s
just because he doesn’t trust anyone
, she thought.  Then again, she supposed
she could not cast his word aside.  She’d had her own suspicions.

“But
as you said, Finn spared us,” she reminded him.

“People
are desperate, Wren.  We should keep our eyes open.”

At
that, she simply could not disagree.  Yes, they would pay attention.

“But
that’s nothing for us to worry about now,” Nix relented, changing his
demeanor.  “Since we won’t have his answer until tomorrow, there is nothing to
do but rest.  Let’s go.”

Wren
was unsure, but she guessed he was right.  It was not something that she could
worry about – at least not right now.

I
will take it as it comes
, she resolved, but secretly hoped that nothing did.

1

Wren
looked over the pieces of the suit in her hands.  The metal gleamed and the
stones churned within, flashing with a strange power.  Finn had assured her
that Tikilin would not cause her eyes to glow without months of exposure, which
was the only reason she had agreed to be near it.

The
Tikilin ornaments were small and thin, and fit around her in three separate
pieces – one for the waist and one for each leg, attaching to her thigh and
calf, bracing her knees.  She put them on and then slipped her clean gown over
her head, and was pleased to see that once she had smoothed the material, one
could not tell that she even possessed such items.

They
are hidden well enough
, she thought. 
Now there is only to see what
they can do.

“What
unusual contraptions,” Calico muttered, looking at the pieces of the suit on
her own body.  “My people have never had need for such things.”

The
two of them had been left alone to change, though Wren did not doubt that Nix
was directly outside in case Calico made another attempt.  Wren did not respond
to the girl’s comment, not feeling the need.  She did not have anything to say
to Calico that didn’t have to do with the journey.  They were not friends.

“Are
you decent yet?” came a voice from the door.  The sound startled them at its
abrupt coming, and Wren looked back to see the tall boy who passed inside with
very little warning.

Nix
let himself in, clearly not caring whether he had given them long enough to
cover themselves or not.  It was lucky that they already were.  Calico muttered
something spiteful in her native tongue, but Wren did not know what it meant. 
Nix seemed to understand it, however.  He smiled, dropping his bag and settling
back on a hammock.  Wren didn’t doubt that he was tired by now.  He’d certainly
gotten plenty of exercise today.

Running,
fighting
… 
Nix had been at it for far too many hours, all for her sake.

Wren
sat back into her own hammock and saw Calico doing the same, but there were no
more words in her spiteful mouth for Nix.  Wren was grateful for that.  This
hut was much too small and the village much too silent to have them fighting.

 Adjusting
herself to assure that she would not fall from the hanging bed, Wren stared up
at the roofing above her, taking in the quiet.  As she found herself staring at
it, she began to think of the past – wanting it back.

She
was reminiscing about exotic flowers that only bloomed at midnight, of
beautiful jeweled caverns, and of a starlit sky.  Rifter had shown her all
these things in the past.  Would she ever see them again, or would the world be
reborn as something different once it was saved?  She was not quite sure how
things could go back exactly as they had been, but she believed that Rifter
could do it.  The world had been born of his dream, after all, and he had the
power to shape it.

She
was certain that he could cure this disease.

Wren
had almost lost herself to these thoughts when she became suddenly aware that
she was being watched.  She turned her head, seeing that Nix was staring at her
from his own hammock, but for what reason, she could not say.  His expression
gave nothing away.  He didn’t say anything when her eyes met his, but she
offered him a nervous smile to compensate.

She
closed her eyes for his sake, guessing that what he wanted was to see her sleep,
but behind her eyelids, she was watching the fairies dance.

2

The
hours slipped on in the silent night.  Nix would’ve loved to sleep – to take
advantage of the hut in the treetops – but he was far from it.  Despite what he
would have liked, he could not trust this place.  Finn, his brother of
circumstance, had assured them safety here, but Nix was not so certain he
believed it.  Perhaps that was what Finn had intended, but…

Something
is not right about this place
.

Turning
his head, he cast his eye at Wren, who he’d been watching periodically through
the night.  At times, her eyes would be closed as if she was sleeping, and at
others, they were open wide –
staring
– but he did not think she was
awake.  He guessed that she was absent in some way, retreating back into her
mind, but unable to rest.  He did not want to disturb her.

Sighing
lightly, he turned his face toward the thatch roofing above.  He’d been
listening carefully to the sounds of night in this village, all quiet, save for
the soft patters of raindrops, and now his mind began to wander.

What
would happen if he let Wren go off to meet the demon alone?  Even if the others
were with her, did they have it in them to doubt their former leader?  To see
through the lies?  What was in store for them, and did he care at this point?

A
lot had happened.  Perhaps he did not feel the way that he used to.  But he
shook his head at that, knowing it wasn’t true.  He wanted to be with them
again – wanted them all to be safe – yet he could not hope for that unless they
made it through in one piece, starting with this Silent Woods.

Maybe
I was wrong about it all
, he thought drowsily as he rested there.  He had
seen the damage and anticipated another attack, but there had been no sort of
disturbance so far.  At the end of it all, perhaps he was just being paranoid.

Nix
had just closed his eyes, content enough to let himself drift away–

At
a disturbance, his eyes shot open, caught by a sharp cracking sound from
outside the hut.  Nix was no stranger to this noise.  It was the crisp,
splintering of a weighted branch, and his fear for what that meant – being in
the treetops – was immediate.

He
pulled himself up from the hammock and moved to the door.  By the time he had
thrown back the curtain, he heard footsteps rushing by on the wooden platforms,
and he quickly noticed many of Finn’s people hurrying about in their furry
disguises, but because of that, he could not tell one from the next.  He did
not know if Finn was among them.

“What’s
happening?” he tried to ask one as they dashed past, but the villager wouldn’t
– or couldn’t – respond to him.

Nix
could see that the branches of the trees were swaying.  The wind must have
picked up.  The people were rushing about, scrambled, and he could not tell if
it was an evacuation effort or–

What
the hell?

Before
his eyes, Nix saw a large branch fall, smashing down on one of the huts,
crushing the roof and breaking it to pieces.  His first thought was that a
dangerous storm had gathered, but that was before he saw the very same branch
lifted back into the tree and
smashed down again
.  And it was not the
only one.  All through the village, branches were swinging in, breaking the
houses and shattering the boardwalks.  These people were being attacked, just
as Nix had seen evidence of before, but he had never suspected the forest
itself
of attacking!

In
times of danger, a list of priorities and possible actions ran through his mind
–
Fight or flee?  Stay close to Wren.  Save these people?  Don’t get
involved.
  The villagers did not seem to be trying to fight the branches
back.  Was there any hope of that?  What did one use to fight back a tree?  Nix
knew of something – a device he knew all too well – but it might do more harm
than good.  Still, it may have been worth a try.

Turning,
he rushed back into the hut and took up his satchel promptly.  He grabbed his
bow and quiver, and was just about to turn back again when he saw that Wren and
Calico were both awake now, looking at him.

“What
is going on out there?” Calico wanted to know, but he had no time to explain. 
He glanced at Wren apologetically, but tried not to spend too long looking at
her worried expression.

“Put
on the Tikilin, and stay low!” he ordered them.

He
did not stop to wait for Calico’s demands that were certain to follow.  He left
the hut, stepping rapidly across the planks, drawing an arrow as he did.  The
one he pulled had been previously prepared.  There were no torches along the
path, but as he paced along, he brushed it against a mounted chunk of Tikilin,
and he was somewhat surprised when it came alive with flame, but this was
exactly what he’d hoped for.

His
aim did not have to be accurate, so he did not waste time between setting the
flaming arrow in the bow and letting it fly.  The fiery projectile ignited one
of the incoming branches, but Nix could not tell whether it did anything to
stop the attack or even cause the tree creature pain, but he had already drawn
another, ready to try again before a voice halted him.

“
Stop
!”
The cry came to him from across the way, and Nix held back the arrow, turning
to see one of the villagers rushing toward him.  His hood was back, and Nix
could see that it was Finn.

“What
are you doing?” Finn demanded angrily.

“Trying
to
help
.”

“That’s
not help,” Finn said, halting before him.  “You don’t understand!”

“Then
make me
understand!”

Finn
sighed, shoving Nix’s arm to push the bow aside.

“The
forest is alive – yes, I knew this.  Before I came here, the people kept it at
bay.  They kept it appeased by blood.”

“Blood,”
Nix repeated.

“
Sacrifices
,”
Finn clarified. “They offered trespassers to the forest to secure their own
lives.  They were going to do the same to me once, but I managed to talk them
out of it.  After they made me their leader, I changed their old ways.  I made
them stop.  We turned to animals and monsters instead, but lately, that hasn’t
been good enough.  It started attacking us at random.”

Beyond
the huts, several of the hooded villagers were throwing ropes across the
branches, hoping to subdue them, or at least slow them down. Nix was not so
sure that it would work.

“They’re
not bad people,” Finn insisted, “only
desperate.
  They began to beg me,
and how could I deny them safety?  So I promised them that the next trespasser
we found would be good enough.  What was one less pirate, after all?  But it
turned out to be you three instead.”

This
caught Nix’s attention.  They were meant to be sacrifices? 
The skeletons
tied to the trees below…
  He wished he had known it sooner.  Whether or not
Finn meant them harm, he would never have stayed here.

“And
how certain are you that they will keep to your rules in these
desperate
times?” Nix asked angrily.

Get
back to Wren
,
his mind urged him. 
Get back to her now!

Finn’s
glowing eyes lit with realization, and the two of them picked up their feet,
rushing back to the hut where the girls had been left, flinging back the flap
of hide to peer in.

The
room was empty.  They were gone.

3

Wren
had done as Nix had told her, crouching on the floor of the hut.  She was
already in the Tikilin suit beneath her gown, but she did as he said, though
she had no idea what was going on out in the village.

Calico
was next to her, silent but alert. Wren wondered what she was thinking, but
after a moment, the huntress volunteered her thoughts.

“This
forest lives in a way we didn’t imagine,” she uttered.  “So this is why no one
treads here.”

You
brought us here!
 
Wren wanted to make this reply, but she kept silent. 
If we hadn’t come
here, we wouldn’t have met Finn, but–

Something
heavy fell against the roof, and Wren shrieked as part of it collapsed, twigs
and grass littering the floor around them.  Calico gave no reaction except for
widened eyes, but they were not crushed.  The grassy shelter was lightweight,
but that did not erase the fact that it was coming down.

The
hut is falling in on us!
Wren thought frantically.

“We
have to get out of here!” Calico decided resolutely, snatching her wrist.  Wren
knew she was right.

Just
as they were coming to their feet, the flap flew back from the doorway and a
pair of the yellow-eyed villagers stuck their heads inside.  They saw the two
girls immediately and beckoned to them with waving hands.  Wren did not
question whether or not she should trust them.

She
and Calico rushed out onto the boardwalks, and Wren saw the chaos outside.  The
forest appeared to be moving on its own, reeling and swaying, crashing down. 
Had the trees brought on the damage that she and Nix had observed before?

And
where is Nix?  And Finn?

The
two animal-like villagers, in their fur suits, kept close, ushering them toward
the lifts.  Were they leaving?  Wren tried to look around for faces she
recognized, but they had efficiently swept her away, and eventually she gave
in.  Perhaps they had no choice but to go.