Into the Forest Shadows (32 page)

Ayden renewed his grip on his axe. Here it
came, and nothing would stop it.

The first of the wolves sprung into the air.
Ayden ducked, the wolf hitting the tree behind him and bounding
away. Ayden didn't want to make the mistake of hitting the sacred
tree with his blade, so he brought up the axe as the second wolf
attacked.

He slid to the side of the tree, using the
momentum of the axe to swing along the ground up into the chest of
the first wolf as it turned sharply and came at him from the
side.

A dark shape flew through the air, hitting
the third wolf in the side as it pounced. Another dark shape
launched himself into the tangle in front of Ayden, going after the
throat of one of the Shadow Creatures.

Ayden flattened himself up against the tree
as a wall of bodies hit the Shadow Creatures from the side, pleased
to find himself forgotten in the ferocious battle.

Shadow Creature attacking Shadow Creature?
How could this be happening? It must be a hallucination from the
spores. What else could it be?

A form with wide paws jumped up from a kill,
landing in front of Ayden. Vistus grinned at him, "Join your kind
at the other tree. We will protect your way."

Vistus bounded away, aiming for the nearest
Shadow Creature. Ayden looked in the direction Vistus indicated,
seeing Uncle Henry with Kate's mom.

No, they were being protected by the new
arrivals. But Kate wasn't. And if she were dead, then someone had
to explain to the Ancient what was happening. That meant him.

Ayden turned away, battling his way from the
tree.

Only Kate was no longer where she'd fallen.
He couldn't find her anywhere.

#

The pain. It made it hard to breathe, much
less move. Kate guessed what she felt from her side was her own
blood. A lot of it. So close only to die now.

No, she was still alive. She could still do
this.

Kate forced her head up. The Ancient crouched
low on its roots, still moving in agony. It was quieter, but she
could sense the pain radiating from it.

She forced herself to let go of her side. She
pushed herself to her hands and knees. She could hear the sounds of
battle all around her.

And an explosion? Had she heard an
explosion?

Light filtered through the trees once again,
the gaps in the canopy wider than ever before. Good, the trees were
still fighting. As long as they did they had a chance.

Shards of bark and rock bit into her hands as
she crawled forward. She waited for the bite of a Shadow Creature.
Or the bite of Captain Straos's weapon.

A white root thrashed on the ground in front
of her. Kate reached out to grab it. The root froze at the
touch.

Through the touch came the overwhelming pain
as well as the numbing effects of the spores. The Ancient fought
the spores, but she could sense it losing the battle.

"Please, I know of a way! My grandmother
created a cure!" Kate called up to it.

The Ancient didn't stop its movements. It
shuddered, some of its limbs going rigid.

"You need to take the information in my
head!" Kate pleaded, crawling closer.

She reached the trunk, pulling herself up
with the help of the bark. It probably didn't even understand her.
Where was a bunt when she needed it?

Probably smart and hiding in their holes. Or
overcome by the spores.

She hugged the tree with all her might, it
being the only reason she didn't collapse back to the ground.
Through her tears she whispered, "Please understand. You need
what's in me."

The bark shifted. Her hand submerged into the
trunk. The absorption increased, her entire arm disappearing into
the warm interior.

Just like Grandma.

Kate closed her eyes. Yes, just like Grandma.
Well, at least they would both have the same fate. And maybe, just
maybe, the Ancient would understand the information Grandma had
left in her head and her body.

The sounds of the battle disappeared.
Darkness replaced the sunlight of the forest.

Her body didn't feel right. Her body and mind
disconnected. She had the strange sensation of her body being
ripped apart. Unlike what was surely happening to Ayden, though, it
didn't hurt.

It only felt... curious.

The hidden memories raced through her head as
if replayed. The parts about the spores repeated. And the tea.
Didn't she still have tea in her pocket?

Energy flowed across her senses. In the
darkness she could see the spores inside here as isolated spots of
color. Grandma's cure had been working. The spores were already
being disposed of.

The Ancient reached in, ripping the remaining
spores away in a thousand painful pinpricks. With it the pressure
in her head eased.

If the Ancient could do that for her, why
didn't it do it for itself?

"I have done it for myself, little one," a
deep voice said so loud that Kate flinched.

She asked into the darkness surrounding her,
"You have? Who are you?"

"I am one of whom you call the Ancients."

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Ayden heard a snarl. He swirled, bringing his
axe up in a swing. A heavy body hit the inner handle, knocking it
from his grip.

He grabbed his belt knife and slashed as he
rolled across the ground towards his one weapon. The blade flashed
through the air, but the creature was too fast to be caught so
easily.

The back of his hand hit the handle. He
twisted, grabbing it with his left hand as he found his feet again.
The razor wolf lunged and retreated.

With a start he realized he didn't have any
protective trees around him.

A strong tug of the spores caused his limbs
to stiffen. Ayden forced himself to keep moving, refusing to give
in to the control. He managed to keep the wolf off him, but he
stumbled in his efforts. Captain Straos had to be somewhere
near.

The Ancient pulsed, a light moving away as a
wave. The nearest trees responded, absorbing the light and starting
to move. The wave slowly spread through the forest. With it the
howls and screams of the trees ceased.

A rage rippled through the spores, and with
it a control he couldn't fight. The razor wolf looked up at him,
confused at the ceasing of the fight.

"Turn, human. Let the Ancient feel the bite
of your axe," Captain Straos said from somewhere to Ayden's
left.

The razor wolf bounded away with a laugh as
Ayden turned. He found himself raising his axe, advancing a step
towards the Ancient.

A spot of red on the ground caught his eye. A
scrap of Kate's cape.

He took a deep breath. Fighting every bit of
the way he managed to turn. Captain Straos stood just out of the
barrier trees reach, circled protectively by Shadow Creatures.
Untouched by the battle going on around them.

"Cut down the Ancient!" Captain Straos
ordered.

The spores tugged sharply. Ayden gripped the
axe tightly, his eyes narrowing on the Newcomer. He would stop the
source of the spores.

With a cry of defiance against the spores
against him, Ayden ran forward. He kept moving even when he saw
Captain Straos raise his weapon.

"Stop the death!" Kate's voice rang out.

Ayden slid to a stop and turned.

The Ancient shivered and moved forward. One
bough reached out to the sacred tree he and Kate had taken refuge
behind.

The sacred tree shivered, gray powder
rippling out from its bark. It then reached out to the trees
nearest to it. The next trees did the same. The rippling movement
moved through the forest, as each tree then touched further
trees.

The bark expelled gray ash where it drifted
to the ground.

The Ancient backed away from its fellow
trees, coming to a halt with its roots splayed out around it. The
bark in front rippled as if a liquid.

A corner of red fabric emerged. Then a
hand.

Ayden swallowed hard. She'd been inside?

She stepped free from the bark, her ragged
cape swinging gently from her shoulders, the hood hanging off the
back of her head. A branch of the Ancient came down to rest on one
of her shoulders, a smaller branch curling around her upper
shoulders in a protective gesture.

"You have brought dishonor to your kind,"
Kate said.

Captain Straos reached into a pouch. From a
small object in his hand a large cloud of spores erupted, drifting
into the the trees. "You will obey me, Ancient. Take me to the core
of your city."

Ayden ducked away from the cloud. His Uncle
grabbed him and pulled him to the safety of a tree where Kate's
mother already stood. Both looked ready to succumb to the
spores.

"Fight it," Ayden whispered, even though he
knew without the tea it wouldn't do much good.

"Your spores can no longer infect us," Kate
said as the cloud drifted by. It was Kate's voice, but not her
inflections. It had to be the Ancient speaking through her.

She'd done it. She'd delivered the cure to
the Ancient.

A part of her shirt and the cape hung
strangely, holes blown in them. While he could see blood, he didn't
see any break in the skin showing on her abdomen. He'd feel better
about it if she didn't have the blank look on her face. He
preferred to see her fire.

Shapes and colors shimmered in the air in
front of Kate and the Ancient. They solidified to show two ships
against a backdrop of stars.

"When our ships collided, we acted to save
life. You, Straos Nifisari, are alive today because of this
action," Kate said.

The images showed the collision from the
point of view of the oddly shaped Ancient's ship. At least, Ayden
assumed it to be an Ancient's ship. It had the big red mark on the
side.

Debris floated off into space from the gashes
in both large ships. Kate continued, "We transported you to your
world. We helped save your damaged ship. Now, you have come to our
world and repaid our kindness with murder and destruction."

"I returned in disgrace, a disgrace that has
not lifted in the years that have passed. Honor demands I have
restitution," Captain Straos cried out. "And I will have it."

"We returned to your home world upon
completion of our mission," Kate went on. The images floating in
the air changed to show a green and brown planet. "A treaty has
been made between our peoples. We are sending a representative to
your home world even now, to report what has happened here. Soon,
your true dishonor will be known to all."

A massive pull of the spores left him gasping
for air. Uncle Henry went stiff while Kate's mother collapsed to
her knees.

"Ah, the spores," Kate said. "We have
analyzed them with the help of our helpers. They are a malformed
organism from our world. You must have taken them for alteration
from the debris field of the collision. Did we not say they will no
longer affect us?"

"I will not tolerate these lies," Captain
Straos said, releasing another cloud of spores.

A pulse of light originating from the Ancient
rolled across the ground. The light hit Ayden's feet, a piece of
the light leaving to travel up his legs and body. With it the
pressure in his lungs eased.

Diasis slunk out of the trees, clinging to
the shadows of the trees still standing, "The Newcomer has
dishonored us all. The Shadow Creatures will gladly testify against
Captain Straos, the Newcomer! He has harmed us all!"

Ayden scowled at him. Seeing an out for
himself, Diasis had taken it. His hatred of the creature built.
Well, the Ancient was with Kate and she would set him straight
about the truth. With fire, too.

"And we will all testify against Diasis and
the Shadow Creatures aligned with him," another voice announced.
Ayden glanced slightly over his left shoulder. Vistus stood in the
shadow of the sacred tree, grinning at Diasis. "Let all the forest
know of the conspiracy within it!"

Animals from the ground and the air answered
back in a series of calls, howls and screaches.

"So, another betrayer among us," Captain
Straos said making an odd circling gesture with his hands. "And I
had hoped that you would show honor in the end."

Diasis barked curiously, falling flat on his
stomach. In a halting growl, he bit out, "You? You lied! We are
immune!"

"Did you really think I would trust you so
far as my life when you betray your own so easily? As I control
you, I now control the rest of your kind who have been with
me."

"The Ancient will stop you," Diasis said
before his jaw went slack.

"Ah yes, the Ancient." Captain Straos looked
back at the Ancient. "I admit, I cannot control you."

Good, then the immunity in Kate delivered
definitely worked. It didn't make Ayden feel any better about the
situation. His hand once again tightened on his axe.

He didn't like the wild twitches in Captain
Straos's eyes. He moved away from his Uncle, pushing himself
forward, prepared to intersect Captain Straos should he try to run
towards the Ancient and Kate.

Captain Straos saw his movement, a soft smile
touching his face. "However, I can at least deal with the creatures
who have dealt with me in dishonor. In at least this, the debt will
be paid."

He brought up his weapon, but didn't aim at
the Ancient. Instead, he turned it towards his own head.

#

Kate could hear herself talking. She even
found the images interesting.

But the mental connection and control
bothered her. But she hadn't been in control since this all
started. Perhaps it was fitting that in the end she had to give up
power over herself.

Captain Straos and his control of Diasis
worried her. He had control of so many people and creatures, all
forced into submission. It only proved again what the physically
weak Newcomer was capable of, despite his claims of 'honor.'