Tree of Life Book III

Part I - Chapter 05

And she had red eyes.

Like Julian. Like Julian before the joining and not just the eyes, but in this creature, in all the features that she and Julian shared, in her they were far more enhanced, more pronounced by a mile.

Elf, Nicole thought to herself.

The she-elf…giant faerie…now displayed before Nicole was clad in full body armour. A leather jerkin for the torso and mail for the axillae and elbows, with forearm braces and spaulders too for the shoulders. Strapped to her side was a sword.

She threw her arm back, and then clasp her blade by the grip. Her cape rustled like a live thing.

She made to approach Nicole.

"Elladan!"

A shout.

From the forest.

The woman froze.

"Elladan!" came the shout again.

Elladan frowned. She bent her head but did not turn around. She grit her teeth and mumbled from between them. "Elrohir…!"

Sneering, she extended a bony finger toward Nicole. "Follow. If you dare."

Whipping about, she laughed and shot away.

Nicole bolted after her. Throwing herself into the trees, she pored it on to catch up to her prey.

~~~

By about twenty minutes into the chase, in the back of her mind and she didn't want to admit it, Nicole knew it had become useless because now she was lost. She had no idea where the woman had gone. She had no idea where she was herself. But she kept going.

Even though she was tired. Even though she was breathing hard and feeling dizzy. Covered in sweat also, she had to swipe it from her eyes every few seconds and her feet were hurting. She didn't have any shoes.

Ahead of her, everything appeared the same. Trees, trees and more trees. She tried clambering up the side of one of these nearby, and then swooping from one branch to the next the way Julian had taught her, but that only helped her to go faster. It didn't help her at all from getting un-lost.

All around her was the forest, from her vantage point at the top of the canopy, as far as the eye could see. The only thing standing out in the background was the Yerupaja mountain in the distance, the one thing that Wendy had pointed out when they had first landed in the base.

Dropping back down to ground level, she took a moment for a break. She rested with her hands on her knees, dragging breath in and out of her lungs like a spent bloodhound.

"Dr. B.!"

Nicole spun around.

It was Ella. "Dr. B.! Hold up!" She waved to Nicole from the distance, nearly a hundred yards away.

Nicole frowned. How did she manage to keep up…?

Ella jogged up to where she was. She was winded too. "Dr.…Dr. B…! Where do you think…you're going…?" She ran her hand through her hair. She wiped the sweat from her brow.

Nicole took in her surroundings. They were standing by the edge of a clearing, an oval break in the trees about a hundred yards in diameter. Ella had first waved to her from the far side of this field.

Nicole's breathing was slowing. She pulled her hair back and held it there so her neck could air out.

She certainly was thirsty. What she wouldn't give for a …

Ella handed her a bottle of water. "Here."

Nicole's' brows flicked up for a moment. "Thanks!" She took the bottle from Ella and chugged it all down. She wiped her mouth and let out a sigh. She wondered at the young woman standing in front of her.

Ella had her own bottle and now she was drinking as well. She was dressed in her gear and had on a back pack. She looked prepared.

In contrast, Nicole came to realize just now she had failed to bring a single thing with her. Like nothing—no water, food, sat phone. Nothing. Not even shoes! And she was still in her sleeping clothes…

Caught up in the moment when she had found her baby gone, Nicole had not thought things through properly.

Ella lowered her pack to the ground. She dropped to the floor of the forest and sat down on the grass behind it. "So, Dr. B. Do you know where you're going?" As she spoke, she reached into her pack and began fishing out odd items here and there. She handed them over to Nicole—a change of clothes, socks, shoes. Even her cell phone, but what good was that going to do all the way out here?

Nicole received them with gratitude. Even the phone. She began to change. "Um…I…I don't…" She took the scrunchie she was given after she was done changing and tied her hair back from her face.

Ella zipped up her back pack. She stood up. "Perhaps you should let me lead. I have more experience with the jungle. It'll go faster."

Nicole nodded. She agreed and they got going.