by Ellen Oh
“This tree is going to be very difficult,” Jiho said. “Let’s take down that one instead.”
He pointed to a smaller tree several meters away and quickly started walking. He didn’t give anyone else a chance to argue. Jiho heaved a relieved sigh when they followed him without question. While Calvin had looked at him curiously, Shane didn’t seem to care.
Just then, the foreman walked by and stopped in front of the evil tree. He pivoted angrily, glaring at everyone. Jiho dropped his head, avoiding the foreman’s eyes.
“Calvin, get your crew up here and take down this tree,” Nelson shouted.
Jiho looked up in alarm as he watched his friends walk back to the tree.
“No! Don’t touch it!” Jiho shouted. He ran forward and put a hand on Calvin’s chopping arm. “This tree is ancient and has a magical creature tied to it. If you cut it down, you will bring a curse onto you. Onto all of us!”
“What the hell are you doing, kid?” The foreman came rushing over and smacked Jiho hard on the back of his head.
“Cut down this tree right now!” he shouted at Calvin.
But Calvin’s face had turned ashen. Lowering his ax, he shook his head. “No, sir, not that one. It’s got a face like a man on it!”
He was right—in the very center of the tree, a face had appeared. Somewhat humanlike, but grotesque and frightening. At the same time, the sky above them turned black as large clouds blocked the sunlight. It was now as dark as night. Jiho’s stomach twisted and turned in warning. Something bad was going to happen. He could feel it, but he didn’t know how to stop it.
“You fools!” the foreman shouted. “I’m not going to let a few scary stories slow down my schedule.” He grabbed the ax from Calvin’s limp hands and swung it hard, right into the middle of the face.
A piercing shriek filled the air, so loud the men bent over in pain as they tried to cover their ears. Where the ax lay buried within the tree, a black substance seeped out, flowing and amorphous as it began to take shape. The foreman tried to release the ax, but he couldn’t. He was stuck fast to the handle.
“Help! Somebody pull me off this thing! Quickly!”
Several men ran forward to help the foreman, but they too were stuck tight to wherever they touched. And the black matter had now taken shape, into a creature like nothing any of them had ever seen before. It was tall, with heavy, long black fur that covered its entire body, but its face had no eyes or nose. Only two slits for nostrils and a large, gaping mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth. All the men were screaming as the creature began to move toward them.
“What the hell is that thing?” Calvin had gripped Jiho’s shoulder tight as all the boys scrambled away.
“It’s a nightwalker,” Jiho whispered. “A man-eater. It can’t see, but it has incredibly sharp hearing and sense of smell.”
Calvin stepped forward. “We have to help them.”
“No,” Jiho said sharply, lunging for his friend and pulling him back. “It’s too late. If you touch them, you’ll get stuck too. We have to get out of here.”
Suddenly, from the other side of the tree, another nightwalker began to take shape.
“Now would be a good time to run,” Jiho stuttered.
“Everybody, get the hell out of here!” Calvin shouted. “Those things are flesh-eaters!”
Immediately, panic ensued as everyone ran for their lives, and the screams of the men stuck to the ax chased them deep into the woods.
Jiho and his friends followed a group of Orion men who were heading down the clear-cut land back toward base camp. They could see the outlines of the trucks when Jiho felt the sharp pain in his gut that told him danger was close by. Unsure of where it was coming from, he slowed down and grabbed hold of Calvin and Shane by the arms.
“Jiho, we have to get out of here!” Shane tried to pull away, but Calvin stopped.
“What is it, Jiho?”
“Don’t move,” he whispered.
Suddenly, a pack of red-skinned, horned onis stepped out from the forest, holding huge iron clubs. The lead oni grabbed a man in the front of their group and stuffed him into his mouth, as the man’s screams rang out.
Shocked and scared, they all scattered. Jiho, Calvin, and Shane cut into the uncleared forest and ran west, away from the onis and the nightwalkers.
They ran for what felt like hours, before finally coming to a halt. There was no one else around. They’d lost all the other workers.
“Hey, Jiho, is it safe? Do you know the way back into town?” Calvin asked.
Jiho didn’t answer right away. The darkness had obscured just about everything, and it was impossible to figure out where they were.
“He’s lost,” Shane responded. “It’s so dark. Let’s light a fire and make camp.”
“No,” Jiho said sharply. “It’s too dangerous.”
He looked up into the trees, analyzing which ones looked the strongest and the safest.
“This one.” He pointed at the tallest and biggest of the trees, with large swooping branches. “We need to climb up those branches and go as high as we can in order to make it through the night.”
The other two boys looked up at the tree and gulped. “You sure about this, Jiho?”
Jiho nodded. “We haven’t seen the worst of the Kidahara monsters yet. And fire will attract them. We need to hide for now and stay quiet until the sun comes up.”
Shane looked uneasy. “Jiho, that monster came right out of the tree. How do we know we won’t get eaten while we sleep?”
“This tree is safe,” Jiho said with assurance. “I promise we’ll be safer up here than anywhere else.”
Calvin nodded grimly. “Let’s do it.”
All three of them began to climb. About halfway up, they each tested their weight on a branch before choosing one for the night. Calvin’s branch was lower than the others, because he was bigger and heavier.
“You think I’ll be okay here?” he asked.
Jiho tempered his impulse to climb higher and chose the branch right above his friend. “Yeah, just be real quiet,” he said. “You still have your rope, right?”
Calvin and Shane nodded and tied themselves onto their branches. Once he saw his friends were secure, Jiho did the same. He leaned his head against the tree trunk and closed his eyes, exhausted. But sleep was elusive. The noises of the forest were magnified, and everything sounded like the footsteps of a monster creeping around them, looking for its next meal.
The last vision that Jiho saw as he fell asleep was the sight of the nightwalker’s grotesque face as it attacked the men.
The early rays of the rising sun woke Jiho from his fitful sleep. He untied himself and immediately looked to check on the others. Shane was still passed out to his right. He looked down and found Calvin staring up at him with alert eyes.
“Did you sleep at all?” he whispered.
Calvin shook his head. “Not after the one really big thing that passed in the middle of the night. What was it? I thought we were going to get shaken out of our tree.”
“That was an oni,” Jiho said. “Like the ones we saw yesterday.”
“But the one last night wasn’t red,” Calvin said. “It had yellow skin that glowed in the dark.”
“Yeah, onis come in all different colors. Like flowers. But unlike flowers, they have a revolting smell and will eat you.”
“And the hairy black things that came out of the tree? They eat you too?”
Jiho nodded. “But we were really lucky we didn’t see any Agma. They’re demons of the underworld that resurrect from the bodies of those who died violently. If they don’t eat you, they turn you into one of them.”
“Like zombies,” Calvin said with a shudder. “What doesn’t eat you in this crazy place?”
“Well, the namushin are peaceful tree spirits and only eat the fruit of the trees—”
“It’s okay, Jiho,” Calvin interrupted with a tired smile. “It was a rhetorical question.”
“Ah,�
� Jiho replied. “Sorry you couldn’t sleep.”
Calvin shook his head. “Who could after all that happened yesterday? I can sleep as much as I want when we’re out of this forest. Right now, I just want to survive.”
They were quiet for a moment before Calvin cleared his throat.
“Jiho, how did you know those onis were going to step out of the forest like that?”
“I don’t really know,” Jiho said. “I think it’s related to the fact that magic doesn’t work on me. I can sense strong magic around me. And if it’s dangerous, my stomach actually starts to hurt.”
“Whoa, that’s a really good gift to have in this place,” Calvin said. “I’m sure glad we’re friends. You saved our lives.”
“I’m glad we’re friends too,” Jiho replied.
Shane let out a loud snore.
“Good thing he didn’t do that last night . . . ,” Calvin said. “Otherwise I would’ve pushed him out of the tree.”
Jiho looked over to where Shane lay contorted against the tree trunk. At some point during the night, Shane had twisted his body around so he could wrap his arms around the tree trunk, his face smashed against the bark.
“How does he sleep like that?” Jiho marveled.
“Shane can sleep standing up in the rain if he’s tired,” Calvin said. “Come on, let’s wake him.”
Jiho grabbed a handful of nuts from his branch and flung them at Shane.
“Ow!” Shane woke up with a start.
“We’re getting out of here,” Jiho said.
“Now, that’s what I’m talking about!” Shane said fervently as he untied himself from his branch.
Sometimes Jiho wondered if the universal translator had a glitch in it as he puzzled over the meaning of his friends’ words. Shane hadn’t been talking at all. He’d been sound asleep.
Down on the ground, the boys debated which way to go.
“If we head back toward camp, we can see who is still around and hopefully get some grub,” Calvin said.
“Dude, are you out of your mind?” Shane yelled. “Did you see that thing that ate the foreman? ATE HIM?! There’s no way I’m going anywhere near that thing. If camp is that way, then I’m going in the absolute opposite direction.”
“That would take you even farther into Kidahara Wilderness,” Jiho said. “I actually think Calvin’s idea is a good one. The nightwalker can’t exist in the sunlight, so we will definitely be safe from it now.”
“Well, why didn’t you say that in the first place?” Shane asked. “Let’s go, I’m starving.”
What had seemed like hours of travel in the dark of the night only took them forty minutes in daylight with Jiho’s trusty old compass. They passed the tree-clearing site first. There were no remnants of the massacre from the night before. No way to know how many people were killed. Jiho found himself drawn back to the nightwalker tree. The grotesque face that had been there before was now gone. The only thing that remained was the large gouge mark where the foreman had plunged his ax into it. He reached his arm out, wanting to touch the tree, when a hand shot out and stopped him.
“Don’t do that, Jiho,” Calvin said, shaking his head. “That’s a bad idea.”
Jiho snatched his hand back and nodded. “I don’t know what came over me.”
The boys kept walking and reached base camp quickly. The camp was deserted. As Calvin and Shane scavenged for food, Jiho found the foreman’s tent. The map of Kidahara was still there, the forest marked in red, like the blood of all the men who had died.
Jiho remembered the monk’s words. Foolish men. They know not what they will unleash.
The truth was, they never had a chance. And that is what always happened when humans underestimate the Kidahara.
Stepping out of the tent, he saw that Calvin and Shane had three backpacks filled with food and necessities. They each carried one of the weapons called rifles. Shane handed Jiho a backpack, a water canteen, and a sword.
“I know you don’t like our rifles, but you’re gonna need a weapon to get out of here,” Shane said. “I figured a sword would be more your speed.”
“Speed?” Jiho was confused.
“He means more your style,” Calvin answered patiently.
“Ah.” Jiho nodded. “Thank you.” He wondered if he should tell them that he didn’t know how to use a sword either.
“Let’s get out of here,” Shane said. “This place gives me the heebie-jeebies.”
The translator beeped at the untranslatable words. “The what?” Jiho asked.
“You know, the chills. Goose bumps.”
Before Jiho could respond, his attention was distracted by the rustling of leaves.
Calvin and Shane raised their weapons.
Out of the bushes came Frankie, Tess, and Jay.
“Calvin! Shane! You’re alive!” Frankie looked like he was on the verge of tears, he was so relieved to see them. The other two looked shell-shocked. The three sat heavily on the ground, exhaustion on their faces.
“We’re so glad to see you all,” Calvin said. “But where are the others?”
“We lost Mac, Buddy, and Gabriel.” Frankie’s face was grim. “They were . . . they were . . .” He choked up and couldn’t speak.
“They’re dead,” Jay said flatly. “We took turns keeping watch around the campfire. Mac and Buddy took the first shift. We don’t even know what took them. One minute they were there and the next they were completely gone. Gabriel ran away. All we found was his bloody shoe with his foot still in it.”
“The fire was a bad idea,” Tess said. “It was like a beacon attracting the monsters to us. We left it and ran. We’ve been running ever since.”
There was a moment of silence as they all thought of their lost friends.
“We need to get out of here quick. Let’s see if any of our bikes are still working,” Calvin said.
They walked to where they’d left their bikes, only to see that everything had been destroyed.
“Looks like we’re gonna have to walk,” Calvin said grimly.
Jiho looked up at the sky to see the position of the sun. “We need to get out of the forest while it’s still bright. I don’t know if we can survive another night here.”
“Hey, you guys,” Shane said in a weird voice. “Wasn’t there a path out of here when we arrived?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Because the trees have surrounded us.”
Alarmed, Jiho ran to the edge of the base camp and walked the entire perimeter in disbelief. Shane was right. The forest had taken the path from them.
Chapter 7
THE BOTAN CLAN had always lived on the outskirts of the Kidahara, where the peonies grew wild and lush. Their clan insignia was the white peony. They were traders on paper but bandits in real life. They traded the herbs and roots of the Kidahara, which were highly coveted by both magical and nonmagical folks. There were two types of ginseng, the regular kind that grew wild along the mountainside and was used for health tonics, and the special ginseng that had wrinkled old-men faces, which witches and wizards used for antiaging and beauty spells. Delicious curly bracken fiddlehead ferns that were coveted by both cooks and witch doctors alike. Black hoof mushrooms that good witches used for medicinal purposes and bad witches used for poisonous ones. And mugwort for enchantments.
They stole only from the indolent wealthy and indiscriminately shared their bounty with all who were in need. The Botan clan knew to grease the palms of the magistrates and soldiers, who then turned a blind eye to their crimes. That had always been their way. Until the Orions came with Prince Roku, and foreign mercenaries and soldiers flooded the Joson roads.
Each matriarchal leader in the Botan clan was referred to as the White Peony. Even though Micah had an older brother, Kai, it was Micah who was the clan leader. She inherited the role at the death of her mother five years ago, when she had been only eleven. It was after her mother had tried to commune with the moonstone. Micah’s mother got sick, her mind wandering
at times. She became feverish and would yell loudly at an unseen person, raging at them, telling them that they could never possess her. The clan doctor said it was a sickness attached to the moonstone. That it was evil and should be destroyed. But Micah’s mother wouldn’t let anyone touch it. The moonstone had been with the clan for centuries, and there had never been any problems with it, until a month before the chief died, when it began to glow.
There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that the moonstone had killed Micah’s mother. From the moment it glowed and the chief tried to commune with it, the moonstone took control of her mind, wasting her away.
When Micah became the White Peony, she also came into possession of the moonstone. The clan elders urged her to destroy it, but Micah couldn’t bear to part with it. She was both fascinated and repulsed by the object. It was responsible for the death of her mother, and yet Micah coveted it. Disgusted and angry, she had the glowing stone placed in a satin-lined iron box and locked away.
A few years passed before she was able to look at the stone again. The Botan clan was hit hard by the entry of the Orion teams, with their battalions that patrolled the roadways of Joson and made it hard to continue the clan’s way of life. And their clan had always relied on the safety of the Kidahara to protect them from retribution. They knew where to camp safely from the dangerous creatures and hide from soldiers unaware of the reputation of the forest. And yet the Orion kept trying to build their roads into it.
Nothing was safe or sacred anymore. Micah’s clan was suffering, and something had to be done. But still the moonstone called to her. Micah knew it was magical, and she was determined to learn its magic.
“Don’t touch it, Micah. It destroyed your mother. I can’t let it destroy you also,” Mari said. She was the Botan clan’s first command, and Micah’s mother’s partner ever since Micah was little. Given Mari’s long-standing role as a second mother to Micah, she didn’t call her White Peony. Not yet, anyway. The loss was still too raw.
“We should sell it,” Kai said. “I bet we could get a fortune for it in town.”
