Shadowland

Chapter 11 - Solidarity - Part 07

Bit by bit, the horses of the three Rohmish adventurers and the lumbering walking tank picked their way down through the mountain pass. Elin, her mind moving in synchronicity with the machine through the small disc implanted beneath her skin, was able to place the feet of the craft deftly, and they experienced only a few minor stumbles. It was perhaps fortunate, she thought, that the coming forces of City One would have to move tortuously through the mountains in small groups; it would delay their advance considerably. But once they could re-form into a strategic line, they would become a force that would be difficult to stop.

Once out of the mountains, the group encountered a forest of massive oaks, elms and birches. No road pierced it, and when they stopped for the night, Father Javier cautioned them. "This is the domain of the Forest Elves," he said. "They do not like outsiders trespassing in their woods, and especially anything that threatens the integrity of the ecosystem. I don't know how we're going to get that hulking thing through without damaging their beloved trees, but we must attempt to disrupt the forest as little as possible."

"Elves?" Krebbs asked in a scornful tone. "I mean, how are they gonna hurt us? With bows and swords? Just climb into the tank and we'll walk right through them."

"Do not thou underestimate their powers," Sir Elric said sharply. "The Elves command the magic of forest and field, the souls of the trees themselves. Put not your faith in machines and superior weapons. There is much they can do to impede our progress."

Elin nodded. "I'll do my best not to hurt the trees," she said. "This tank is like an extension of my body. I can probably dance around them pretty gracefully, but they're too close together. It'll take ages to get through this place if we can't walk anywhere the trees are too close, and I have no idea when City One is going to dispatch their forces. We can't waste any time."

Her words proved prophetic. Getting the tank through the forest without harming trees was an impossible task, and even trying their best to seek out larger gaps that Elin could pilot them through without doing much damage made for slow going. Elin winced every time she felt the armour scrape against bark or heard the crack of a tree trunk shattering. They left a trail of devastation in their wake, and Elin was sure the Elves would be livid. Still, she thought, Krebbs was right; the tank was a killing machine, designed to break any resistance it came across. It might be vulnerable to the rockets and heavy-caliber bullets of a mutant tribe's war vehicles, but what could even the magic of the forest do to stop it?

They soon found out. As the sun reached its zenith and started to sink toward the treetops in front of them, the trees began to scrape more and more against the side of the tank, for all that Elin did to avoid them. The woods seemed to get denser and denser, and she had no choice but to mow trees down with the bulk of the tank, sending whole thick stands of them toppling over. Pushing through them was becoming more and more difficult, and the tank was getting bogged down, their progress slowing to a crawl.

Cariane stared wide-eyed at the screens that displayed the camera feeds from the sides of the tank. "I could swear these trees are moving," she whispered hoarsely.

"Don't be ridiculous," Krebbs snapped. "Tress can't move."

"It's the magic of the forest," Cariane started. She didn't get to finish the sentence. There was a massive crash, and the whole tank shook. Elin strained to make it move, but she felt an intense sensation of pressure against the vehicle's flanks. A vine appeared on the window of the cockpit, growing so fast it looked like a slithering snake, reaching several inches in thickness in moments as it wound its way around the front of the machine.

"Quick," Elin shouted, "get out of the tank! They're going to crush us like an egg!"

The door opened about halfway, but then stuck. Krebbs jumped forward and heaved at it, and managed to send it crashing to the ground They exited the tank, stumbling over their feet. It was hemmed in by the thickest, heaviest trees they had yet seen, bending in to hold it like woody claws, and vines like foot-thick cables had burst from the earth and wound around every joint and surface. It wasn't going to move anytime soon.

As the three riders tried to calm their rearing horses and the high-tech citizens stared helplessly, bereft of their protection and advantage, a dozen figures appeared as if from nowhere. They were tall, rail thin, with sharply pointed ears and angular faces in various shades of green and reddish-brown, dressed in garments seemingly made of living vines and leaves that blended into the forest without a trace. They were all holding recurved bows of the smoothest possible wood, pointing wicked barbed arrows at the travelers.

Krebbs pulled his pistol from his holster, but Elin put a hand on his arm. "Better put that down, unless you want to end up as a pincushion."

One of the Elven warriors stepped forward, anger painted clear on her face. "What treachery is this?" she shouted at Sir Elric. "You come to us speaking of peace and cooperation with the humans of Rohm, we allow you to traverse our woods; you run off with some fantastical story of a friend in need, and now you bring this fiendish contraption to destroy our forest?"

"Please!" Master dunnistan shouted. "We need urgently to get through! These people bring news of an invasion from the west! We must warn King Lorris, before it is too late, or more than just these woods are going to be destroyed!"

"It's true," Krebbs spoke up in a commanding voice. "You don't like one of these things coming through your forest? Imagine four dozen. If we don't find a way to stop them, this whole place is gonna get stomped into the ground."