As Dark as the Forest

Chapter 14

Ori shared one last meal with her traveling companions. Feeling a tug of remorse as she talked with Pit about Asher, and shared a joke with Flor. She felt bad to leave them behind. Especially since Asher would wonder where she had gone. But it was better that she traveled alone, now that she was here. And now that she had no intent of returning. Besides, they would be much safer if they traveled without her. She felt she had been lucky up until this point - eventually Remo would find her, especially if she returned through the Inlands.

She felt at peace with her decision then. And as she laid her head on her bedroll, listening to the forest sounds around her, she knew that this was the best decision for everyone involved. She would leave her old life behind, and try to start new here - at least for a time.

Until the crickets and other nocturnal creatures went so silent that Ori could hear her own breathing.

Pit had not laid down yet, and she saw him glance around, nervousness lining his face in the fire's glow.

Ori sat up and tensed, wanting to ask what was wrong, but knew from trained experience that speaking would only give them away to whatever it was that lurked out there. While there was beauty out here, there was most certainly danger too.

Pit and Flor looked too on-edge for this to be normal. Ori prepared for the worst.

And when the worst came in the form of a horrifying forest-creature, Ori turned herself into a fox and hid in the underbrush, watching in horror.

The limbs of the creature were long and tree-like and it moved with a clumsy staggered gate. When it turned toward the firelight, Ori muffled a scream with her hand as it stared at her eyelessly through the empty sockets of one of the three human skulls that seemed to be embedded into the twisted tree-like body.

Pit cursed loudly and reached for a stick which he thrust into the fire. Flor did the same. "Ori, you need to shift and save yourself," Pit commanded. "The nearest town is Oakhaven. Go there and tell them what happened."

Ori was about to argue but then the thing let out an ear splitting shriek that rattled the tree limbs around them and echoed throughout the forest. Ori panicked and grabbed her pack of belongings, then changed swiftly into a forest-fox. Choosing the flight over fight response in this instance. Pit and Flor didn't have the option to shift to aid their escape.

Ori turned tail, but couldn't bring herself to leave her companions altogether. She cursed herself for her cowardice. She should have turned herself into a bear or something big and bad that could have taken this thing on.

Too risky, Remo's voice said in her head. Changing into something unfamiliar in a bad situation is as good as getting yourself killed. It's better to run than to fight when you are unmatched.

The creature reached out a tree-limb arm and swatted at Flor, letting out another ear splitting shriek. She dodged, but when it swung again, it didn't miss, and Flor fell to the ground with a cry, though her burning piece of wood connected with it in the process, starting the limb on fire. The skull-tree creature shook out the flame, and advanced on Pit, who charged.

Before he could launch his attack on it, there was a sudden blinding green light that exploded from behind the creature. Ori tucked herself further under the brush she had wedged her lithe fox-body into, and closed her eyes against the burning brightness. This time when the creature shrieked, it was a cry of pain and even more blood curdling than the last.

There was a loud thunk and what sounded like the crashing of a fallen tree, and Ori cautiously opened her eyes a smidge to see a male Quercian warrior mounted atop an elk-like creature. It's antlers made up of tree branches and covered in vines. A large winding staff was in the Quercian's hand, a large orb glowing green atop it.

The skull-tree creature lay in a tangle of limbs atop the fire, and Ori realized with revulsion that one of it's skull-heads had rolled near her hiding place. She resisted the urge to retch.

The Quercian warrior glanced around, and four more Quercians appeared behind him atop their elk-like creatures. "Collect these Inlanders for questioning." He ordered. "They may have been involved with Sylvonna's capture." His green-eyed gaze fell to Ori's abandoned bedroll.

Ori froze, and dared not breathe.

"There were three here. One is missing, Alessia, track it down. But be careful. There may be more where this shadow-creature came from."

Ori watched in helpless horror as they collected the unconscious bodies of Pit and Flor and as a female Quercian broke away from the group and faded into the forest.

But his words sunk in and horrified her even more... They may have been involved with Sylvonna's capture.

Her memory flashed to Sylvonna. What was it she had said? Ori's mind flashed back to her brief time with the Quercian girl. She remembered the girl's words. About traveling alone and stopping by the fire of an Inlander and a half-blooded Quercian.

Pit was an Inland trader and Flor had some Quercian blood. Whether she was half, or more human than Quercian, Ori did not know. But Ori did not really think that mattered much.

When Ori's fox-ears could no longer detect the noise of their retreat - which was quiet compared to even the quietest of human movement through the forest, she turned tail and disappeared into the forest to pursue them.