The Changelings (War of the Fae: Book 1) (35 page)

"Hey, we helped with the werewolves.
 
Don't forget my awesome slingshot skills," said Spike, feigning offense.

"Yeah, but all of us would be with ... well, in that lake right now, if it wasn't for the vines from the forest."

All of the guys nodded.
 
He was right.

Tony got a pensive look on his face.
 
"Jayne, you said that you were feeling things all around us, not just in that tree, right?"

"Yeah ... "

"So how far does that communication link go, anyway?"

I shrugged my shoulders.
 
"I have no idea.
 
Far maybe ... not far ... I don't know."

"Do you think it's possible that you could connect and reach out past this darker forest and into the green one around it?"

Tony was on to something.
 
This felt right on so many levels.
 
First, the selfish girl in me wanted to connect back up with my peeps in The Green, just so I could feel good again.
 
This dark forest was seriously bringing me down.
 
Also, I'd seen the trees heal two seriously wounded people – maybe they could do it for trees too.
 
Maybe I could help this dark place cast off this mantle of ugliness and ... I don't know ...
evil
... and be green again.
 
It must have been green at one time – I didn't see how else any plant could survive here.
 
Mushrooms and moss maybe, but that's about it.
 
The last reason for trying this little experiment was probably the biggest priority in my mind.
 
We needed to figure out where the hell we were so that we could get the fuck out of here and head back home – hopefully five hundred bucks richer, although the money had kind of ceased to matter so much.
 
My life was worth much more than that.
 
I shook my head thinking of all that I'd risked for a mere five hundred bucks.
 
Ridiculous
.
 
It made me hate Dardennes all over again.
 
I'd like to tie him up to one of these trees and unleash that hag on him ...

Tony cut into my thoughts, being all practical and shit.
 
"Come on, Jayne, let's get this done.
 
We're all going to help, aren't we guys?"

They looked at each other, faces revealing their unspoken doubt that they could be of any assistance.

"It might help to have more hands in the mix.
 
Let's go see."

I picked the biggest tree in the area – an Ancient that towered above the other trees around it.
 
Its bark was heavily ridged – I could fit my entire hand sideways between the bark's scabby-looking parts.
 
I debated between a big tree like this and a smaller one, thinking maybe the younger energy would be better.
 
But then I decided to go with an Ancient.
 
Surely this thing had seen some crazy shit.
 
Maybe it had a deeper connection to The Green. That was my hope anyway.

"You guys go hug that tree."

They all just stood there looking at me.
 

I shooed them away.
 
"Go on!
 
Go hug the tree!
 
After you get set up, I'll come over and find a good spot."

They all moved to obey, but I could tell they thought I was nuts.
 
Finn had felt the power before, more than any of them, but even he was a little skeptical.
 

I stood there, arms crossed, tapping my foot.
 
"I don't have all day ... "

They grumbled a bit but they moved over to the tree.
 
They each leaned in to give it a tentative hug.
 

"Man, oh man, I wish I had my cell phone so I could take a picture of this for the Sierra Club's newsletter."
 
I wasn't sure the Sierra Club even had one, but if they did, this would be an awesome cover shot.
 
I stepped over to join them.
 
I found a spot in between Chase and Spike where I could hug the tree and touch a piece of each guy's arm.
 
"Here goes nothin'," I said as I made contact.
 
I was immediately assailed by the darkness and cold, the pricks and tiny piercings that were putting invisible marks on my skin.

"Oh,
shee-it
that does not feel good
at all
," said Finn.
 

"Damn, this is depressing," said Spike.

Chase and Tony said nothing.
 
Tony was doing some deep breathing, I think trying to control his reaction.

I blocked out their voices and faces so I could focus on the connection.
 
I'd never before searched through the link for anything specific – I'd always just let it carry me wherever it wanted, more on the receiving end then the searching end.
 
I smiled as I realized I was just about to wish for a Google search engine.
 
Now
that
would be convenient.

I let my mind wander the connection, searching for other links branching off.
 
Ha, ha, branching off, get it?
 
Shit, this was no time for puns.
 
There
was
definitely an energy here – I was wrong before when I had said it was dead.
 
It's just that it was a different energy.
 
I realized with a sickening feeling that it was a dark energy – dark as in evil ... worse than the hag and the watery whore.
 
They lived in The Green.
 
Whatever was here, their home was darkness.

I stretched my mind farther out.
 
I rushed past shadows of things I couldn't see clearly – things I knew I didn't
want
to see clearly.
 
Things that were there sensed the presence of my mind, my energy, and reached out.
 
Screeched.
 
Tried to connect with me.
 
I slipped by as quickly as I could, blocking off the tendrils of energy that tried to make their way into my presence and to coax me into theirs.
 
I didn't want to even think what would happen to me if one of them managed to get through.
 
Who knows if I'd ever be able to get out?
 
I squeezed the arm of the nearest guy – I think it was Chase.
 
He squeezed me back, and I could feel the reassurance in his touch.
 
It was then that I realized I could feel the guys with me.
 
They were like an anchor, keeping the most essential piece of me back there with them.
 
It made me feel more secure, and I used this confidence to reach out even farther, towards a faint green light that I could sense was up ahead.

I knew when I broke through the border of the dark forest.
 
The light and love waiting for me in The Green was unmistakable.
 
I didn't stop at the border.
 
I continued searching, touching tree after tree after tree.
 
I touched the vines, and the bushes and the grasses.
 
I touched the leaves and the needles and the flowers.
 
I touched everything I could reach and sent out my request.
 
Bring your love and energy back with me, into the Dark Forest, and heal this tree.
 
From there, we can heal them all.
 
This energy I was calling up, I knew was of the infinite variety.
 
I couldn't exhaust it.
 
Once I brought it back, it would feed on itself and spread.
 
I knew this because I realized what this green energy was.
 
It was our oneness ... the thing that connected all living creatures.
 
It was
love
.

I traced my way back to the Dark Forest, led there by the strong support of my friends, Tony, Finn, Chase and Spike.
 
They felt The Green coming before it got there.

"Here it comes," said Finn excitedly.

"Here comes what?" asked Spike in hushed tones.

"Wait for it ... " said Tony, enthusiasm coloring his voice.

And then we were there.
 
Me and the energy from The Green.

The tree we were hugging shuddered.
 
It groaned.
 
Black leaves fell all around our heads, covering us from ground to knees.
 
The branches waved back and forth as the green energy coursed through their fibers.
 
The roots buckled in the earth under our feet.
 
And then the tree itself started to shake and twist.
 
We could hear a cracking begin, and Tony was thrown to the side.
 

"Everyone off!" I yelled.
 
The groaning was getting so loud, it was difficult to hear anything else.

We all staggered back, Tony getting to his feet and joining us.
 
We moved away, as far as we could without leaving the tree alone.

"Is this what's supposed to happen?!" yelled Finn.

"I don't know!
 
I really didn't know what to expect!"

Chase put his hand up, blocking me from going back towards the tree.
 
He wasn't even looking at me, it was an automatic reaction.
 
I smiled as it reminded me of my mom.
 
When I'd ride in the passenger seat of our car and she'd have to slam on her brakes, she'd throw her arm across my chest to protect me from going through the windshield, as if she could defy the laws of physics with her puny arm.
 
It wasn't the eventual success of the maneuver that mattered; it was the thought.
 
I knew now that even if Chase never said anything, I was important to him.
 
And I realized at the same time that he was important to me ... they all were.
 
If we ever got out of this living hell, we were still going to be friends, I was sure of it.

The tree cracked down the center.
 

Uh-oh, this doesn't look good
.
 

A green glow started to come from the center of the fissure.
 
It spread out of the tree's core and then to the bark, moving up and down from there to cloak the tree entirely in green energy.
 

We watched as new leaves came out of new buds on the branches.
 
They unfurled in fast-forward time, opening to greet the sun that surely awaited them so they could nourish this gigantic, majestic tree.

There was a bright flash of green again, and then a thin bolt of energy left the tree and struck another tree nearby.
 
Our eyes jerked over to that tree now, watching as the same process began there.
 

I felt tears jump into my eyes.
 
This was better than I'd hoped for.
 
The visceral energy was leaping from tree to tree – bringing a healing light to each of them.
 
They were being reborn.

A rumbling sound started coming from the first tree, out of the crack that remained in its center.
 
And then a roar.
 
It was not a tree roar – I'm pretty sure a tree can't make a roaring sound like
that
.
 
Whatever was making that sound was not happy and was ...
in the tree?

I no sooner had formed that thought than a black liquid began to seep out of the crack.
 
A black mist rose up from the liquid and a form began to take shape.
 

We all reached for our weapons, which we'd had the forethought while we were walking earlier to stick in our belts or across our backs.
 
I reached in my backpack, pulling out my flag and quickly shoving it in my pocket.
 
"Get your flags out!
 
Leave the bags!" I yelled.
 
If my instincts were right, we were about to get the hell out of there quickly.
 
I didn't want to lose the five hundred bucks – or my life – because I'd lost my flag somewhere.
 
The others quickly did what I said, securing their flags in their own pockets.

Whatever this was, it was definitely not good.
 
It was blackness, something that had been inhabiting that tree when it was near death.
 
And now it had been released.

The form continued to solidify, fed by the black molten liquid and smoke collecting at the base of the tree.
 
After a few moments, the dark liquid abruptly stopped oozing from the tree as the green energy moved from the branches down the trunk and sealed the great crack, leaving the tree whole and unbroken now, beautiful healthy branches and leaves reaching up toward the sky.

 
Standing upright at the base of this majestic reborn tree, however, was what appeared to be a fully-grown, black, horrible-looking monster.
 
It was covered in spiky, leathery skin glistening with goo – and it was staring at us with blood-red eyes.

A glob of drool fell out of the black monster's mouth and dripped down its chin, falling to the ground at its feet.
 
My gaze followed the drop down and saw a tendril of smoke rise up from where it fell in the leaves below.
 
I felt sick to my stomach.
 
Acid drool
.
Faaaantastic.
 

I heard the unmistakable rumbling sound again, this time coming from a tree next to the big one with the monster in front of it.
 
The black liquid and smoke started to bleed out of this new tree too.
 
All around us now, the trees were cracking, releasing the demons that had been trapped there, probably a very long time ago if the dark state of this forest was any indication.