by V F Sharp
“Good,” he said. “Now let’s go save our friend.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Zander proceeded cautiously into the mysterious forest with his brother and Pallu. In spite of Pallu having to go with them, he was relieved that Fin had grouped him with his brother. He still felt uneasy, but it gave him a little bit of security to have Randin by his side. He may have been a jokester on the outside, but on the inside he was still that scared little kid who grew up in the Cottages and relied on his brother for protection.
“It’s a hot day,” said Pallu, wiping his forehead.
“Hot?” said Zander. “It’s not even warm.”
“I think maybe I’m just—”
“Don’t say it. I know. You’re hungry. Well, it’s not lunch time yet, so you and Lumps will have to wait. We just started.”
“I was going to say thirsty. But now that you mention it, we do need to make sure our energy stays up. And, Zander, his name is Thumps.”
Zander shook Nee’s reins and the rabbit rode forward. “I have lots of energy!”
Randin caught up with him but Pallu lagged behind.
“Keep up, Pallu,” yelled Randin.
“I’m perfectly fine,” said Pallu. “I’m keeping watch for us.”
They made their way further into the forest, while Zander listened for any sounds. All he could hear were the rabbits’ footsteps and the thumping of his own heartbeat.
“Notice something strange?” said Randin.
“Just this whole forest,” said Zander.
“I mean the flowers. We haven’t had rain in ages, so why all the perfectly colorful flowers?”
“Maybe they’re like Mr. Codsworth’s flowers,” said Zander. “Doesn’t he have flowers year round?”
“Yeah, but Mr. Codsworth is there to water them.”
“Maybe someone comes here,” said Pallu.
“Oh right. It’s not like it would be hard to water an entire forest,” said Randin.
“That reminds me of a song,” said Zander.
“We should save our song voices for a little bit later,” said Randin.
“No, I think now is the perfect time,” said Zander. What he really meant, but refused to say aloud, was that it would distract him from the panic he was beginning to feel.
Zander began singing the old folk song that has been sung in Cottage pubs for ages.
We I say we,
Need a day of sunshine,
Come to us
In the days of all this rain time,
Where we have had
Not one (Not One!)
Randin and Pallu had joined in. Their voices brought Zander a sense of calm as they continued singing with him.
Now we wonder,
Where is all the rain time,
Come to us
In the days of all this sunshine,
Where we have had
Not one (Not One!)
We I say we,
Need a day of rain time
Bring us crops
From the drought of all this sunshine,
For we have had
Not one (Not One!)
“One more round!” said Pallu.
They laughed and sang it once more until everyone became abruptly quiet, as if they all realized at once that they were getting pretty deep into the dark forest.
“We should listen for Ezstasia,” said Randin.
“Yeah, singing isn’t the same without a pint of cider, anyway,” said Zander.
“Do you think she’s okay?” said Randin.
“Guys, trust me,” said Pallu. “I know Ezstasia and I’m sure she’s safe, wherever she is. It’s just a forest.”
“You must not be seeing the same forest I am,” said Zander.
“I think it looks like every other forest we’ve been to,” said Pallu. “Maybe. Well, it’s a little different. Maybe a little spookier.”
As they continued riding, Zander could see Pallu marveling at the gargantuan, creepy-looking trees that seemed to have existed since the dawn of man.
“Yeah, now that I think about it,” said Pallu, “it’s completely different. Way different.”
“I don’t know,” said Randin. “It looks kind of… beautifully mysterious to me.”
Zander looked at him. “Beautifully? Really? To me, creepy isn’t beautiful, it’s just… creepy.”
They continued further, listening for any sign of movement or noise. Then, without warning, Pallu stopped his rabbit and began looking around frantically.
“Do you hear something?” said Zander.
Pallu didn’t answer. It was as if he was in a daze as his head darted from tree to tree.
“Pallu, what are you doing? We need to keep going.”
“The trees,” said Pallu, still transfixed by something.
“What about the trees?” said Randin, who’d just turned his rabbit around when everyone had stopped.
Zander looked around at the trees and didn’t see anything particularly strange. Pallu had gone silent. He looked at Randin, who just shrugged his shoulders.
“Hey, Pallu,” said Randin, winking at Zander. “If we get moving, we can have lunch soon.”
“Lunch,” said Pallu, snapping out of whatever spell he was under.
Zander watched, confused, while Pallu kicked Thumps’s side and the overweight young man on his overweight rabbit went hopping past him. Randin took the lead and Pallu followed. Zander rode last, just to make sure Pallu was between them, focused and on track.
“Ezstasia!” yelled Zander, hoping she was in the area and could hear him.
Pallu yelled even louder. The three of them took turns calling her name to no avail. Sometimes, they’d all yell at once for maximum effect.
They continued further until they passed through some vines that were hanging from above.
“Strange,” said Randin, slowing his rabbit down. “Look at those vines.”
“Yeah, you usually only find those in the jungles,” said Pallu. “That mist seems strange and out of place, too.”
Zander looked at him. “What mi—”
Just then, he spotted it. As his eyes traveled around to the abundance of blue and yellow flowers that ran from the trees to the ground, there was a misty, white steam rising from the soft dirt. It continued all along the path up ahead.
“I noticed it a while ago,” said Pallu.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” said Zander.
“You didn’t ask me.”
“How would I know to—oh, never mind,” said Zander, realizing this conversation wouldn’t go anywhere.
They proceeded carefully through the misty path when they came to a huge, fallen tree that blocked their way. Even as it lay on its side, it was taller than they were. As he looked around, Zander could see several smaller trees that had fallen, half-hidden in the unusually tall grass.
“What could’ve caused these trees to fall?” said Randin.
“They look alive, but dead,” said Zander.
Pallu turned to him. “All trees are alive,” he said, “unless they’re dead.”
“Very funny,” said Zander.
“Ezstasia!” Randin called out. His brow crinkled as he looked at Zander. He yelled out again and then looked even more confused. “Well, that was strange.”
“What was?” said Zander.
Randin yelled out again. “My voice isn’t carrying at all,” he said. “It’s like the sound hits an invisible wall. I don’t think it’s even getting past those trees.”
“I didn’t notice it,” said Pallu, “but I bet if Meldon were here he could explain it.”
“I’ll try it again,” said Randin, this time cupping his hands to his mouth. “Ezs—”
In mid-yell, he stopped his rabbit and stared.
Zander pulled the reins to stop Nee and looked ahead in the same direction that his brother was staring. He squinted his eyes to be sure of what he was actually seeing. There was some sort of blue fog in the distance.
Pa
llu’s mouth dropped, as he halted Thumps. “What in the Magiclands is that?”
“The outlines look human,” said Randin, still mesmerized.
“They look like they’re moving or swaying,” said Pallu. “What are they doing?”
“Who cares what they’re doing!” said Zander. “We see blue fog people and you’re concerned about what they’re doing? How about what we should be doing? Getting out of here!”
“But we can’t,” said Pallu. “We have to find Ezstasia.”
“Are you kidding me?” said Zander. “I have a general line I don’t cross and when it comes to blue fog people, that’s my limit.”
Pallu took a deep breath. “Why don’t we eat something and then decide.”
“How can you think about eating right now?” said Zander.
“No, Pallu is right, Zander,” said Randin. “I think we need to take a break and eat. Then we can make a rational decision. Besides, the rabbits will need food even if we decide to go back.”
“For once, a man of reason,” said Pallu. “And I saw the perfect spot for us to stop.”
Zander and his brother followed Pallu and Thumps to a nearby clearing under a huge tree with a massive trunk. Several small roots stuck out from the ground and were formed perfectly into loops for back support. He noticed the roots traveled along the ground to the base of the trunk, where they began to attach themselves, taking refuge on the towering tree.
The ground in front of the tree was flat, with soft moss that provided a bit of padding for walking or sitting.
“Now, isn’t this a perfect spot?” said Pallu, beaming, as he dismounted Thumps and tied him to a nearby bush loaded with berries.
Zander began taking carrots out of his sack for Nee to chew on. He glanced down at the ground, relieved to see there wasn’t any mist in the area. He sat on the soft moss and leaned against one of the raised roots. He was about to open his food sack when he heard a crackling nearby.
“Ezstasia?” he said.
“Where?” said Pallu.
“Do you see her?” said Randin.
Zander was too focused to answer. He stood up and listened. He heard the noise again. It was coming from somewhere close. He spotted a tall tree a short distance away and wondered if that’s where the noise had come from. Maybe she was hiding up in the branches.
“Zander?” Pallu said. “What is it?”
He walked toward the enormous tree to get a better look, gazing up to see where the noise was coming from. Then he heard more crackling from above. He proceeded closer until he was at the foot of the tree. It was coming from the other side, so he walked around the massive trunk, stepping over some roots that were protruding out from the ground.
“Ezstasia!” he called out, hoping she was up there.
“Did you hear her?” yelled Randin from the picnic area.
“No,” Zander called back. “I just thought I heard something. Must’ve been the branches or maybe some small animals.”
He kept focusing on the tree and realized that it was quite dead—a pale grey color, with well-worn grooves in the wood and several dark knots surrounded by fading white rings. The decaying bark was peppered with deep scars of black while countless dead roots clung to the base of the tree.
He ran his hands along the bark and several pieces crumbled off, spewing dust in the air. Crackling echoed from above and it startled him. His eyes traveled up the trunk of the tree again, toward the sound. He stumbled backward in utter shock as two of the larger knots high above him opened up like giant eyelids, each one the size of his head. He rubbed his eyes, thinking he was seeing things, and looked up again. To his dismay, the two large, black eyes were still there and were very, very real.
He saw more movement as three smaller knots beside the left eye opened widely, and then three more beside the right eye. Zander wasn’t about to wait around to see anything else. He slowly crept backward just as one of the long roots at the base of the tree cracked loudly, startling him breathless. Before his eyes, the root broke free from the ground and soared up the trunk until it clung to the right eye like a large appendage. Before he could yell for the others, the sound of thundering branches from above made him freeze in his tracks. Then, more roots broke free and catapulted up to attach themselves to the left side of the trunk.
In that instant, the partially formed face in the tree jutted out from the rest of the trunk, as if some invisible force had pulled it loose. Sharp pieces of debris shot out and fell to the ground in front of him. He ducked to prevent one from hitting him. He jumped back, and a tremendous flurry of crackling permeated his ears, as roots began flying up to the top of the trunk to join the other newly formed appendages. Debris and a large cloud of dust filled the air around him. He hesitated, but finally mustered the strength to look up. His mouth dropped in sheer horror. He wanted to scream, but nothing came out. Fully separated from the massive trunk and now resting against it, was a dreadfully recognizable, eight-legged figure.
Zander didn’t want to believe it, but it was as real as his very breath. On each leg, pieces of the root began poking out like little hairs and splintered throughout the creature’s entire body. An abdomen began to take shape, as the eight menacing eyes pierced through him. His chest pounded when he saw exactly what he knew had been coming: two long, sharp fangs protruding from the beast’s mouth.
He felt a lump in his throat. He hesitatingly stared up at what was clearly an enormous, wooden, grey and black tarantula the size of his entire cottage. It peered down at him, ready to attack.
Zander turned to run and immediately tripped over something on the ground. His body twisted awkwardly and he fell backward onto his behind. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. The level of fear in his body was greater than he had ever known. Ezstasia briefly flashed through his mind as he remembered that she was in this horrifying forest—alone.
The giant wooden arachnid jerked its ugly head in his direction as it pulled its newborn legs loose from the tree. He frantically tried to get to his feet just as the eight-legged beast let out a loud hiss and scuttled down the tree trunk, jumping to the ground and running right in his direction. Zander catapulted himself off the ground and screamed in horror, running toward Randin and Pallu.
“Untie the rabbits!” he yelled. “Untie the rabbits!”
Zander could hear the shuffling and cracking of wood, knowing the creature was close behind him. Pallu and Randin had untied their rabbits while he desperately tried to untie Nee. His hands fumbled with Nee’s rope as he felt the shadow of the enormous creature fall upon him. With the rope finally loose, he jumped on Nee and kicked the rabbit hard to get him to run.
“Go, go, go!” he yelled, as the spider hissed and opened its mouth, showing its two large fangs and hundreds of miniature sharp teeth. He didn’t even have time to see what his friends were doing. He raced through the forest as fast as Nee could go. He heard branches moving behind him, but he couldn’t decipher whether it was Randin, Pallu, or the massive spider. Finally, he saw Randin to his left, riding parallel to him. Pallu was on Randin’s other side. Zander breathed a huge sigh of relief, but they looked as panicked as he had been. They were brushing aside low-hanging branches from their path as they sped through the forest.
That’s when Zander realized that; if they were to his side, then the spider was the one behind him. A sense of dread filled his entire body; there wasn’t any way that they would be making it out alive.
“Keep going, Nee!” he yelled, shaking the reins. “Faster!”
Zander glanced back and saw the spider scurrying closer as it cut through the thick branches and hissed ferociously at him. The beast’s black eyes now had glowing red centers, gazing right at him. He turned his attention forward again and lowered his head to gain speed as Nee ran faster than Zander had ever felt him run before.
Randin and Pallu were ahead of him now, back on his same path. He noticed they kept turning around and looking back toward him, possibly keeping an eye on the spi
der behind him. He watched as they jumped over a fallen tree at full speed and he prepared Nee to do the same. As soon as he made the jump, he looked back again, hoping the fallen tree would slow the creature down. Zander’s fear intensified as he watched the spider use the tree as a catapult, leaping forward with its front legs and long fangs extended.
It was above him now.
Only seconds away from the spider landing on him, Zander darted to the left, forcing his way through a dense thorn bush that punctured his arms and Nee’s fur. He heard a loud hiss and raced forward again on the new path, looking behind him for signs of the beast. As he gazed back at the thorn bush, he spotted the glowing red eyes through the foliage. He turned forward again just in time to get rammed in the head by a low hanging branch, knocking him off of his rabbit.
He hit the ground hard. The world began spinning as he drifted off to the faint sound of leaves shuffling behind his head—and the thundering of branches.
* * * *
Zander was half-conscious. He hadn’t even opened his eyes yet, but he felt something pressing against his forehead. His head was pounding. Something began pulling him backwards. Then he remembered: the spider! He was afraid to look and made the potentially regrettable decision to keep his eyes shut. Maybe he was better off playing dead. Or maybe he would wait for an opportunity to run. That is, if he even had the ability to do so. He could barely feel his legs.
“Zander,” said a voice. He was still groggy, and he honestly wasn’t sure if he had imagined the whole thing.
“Zander!” yelled a voice, snapping him out of it.
He forced his eyes open a little, though it was hard to see with the sunlight glaring in them. He could see a silhouette of a person staring down at him.
“Do you know who I am?” said the voice coming from the silhouette. He instantly realized it was his brother, Randin.
“Yes,” said Zander. “Of course I do. Where are we?”
“Don’t worry,” said Randin. “We’re out of the woods—literally.”
“We’re safe?! I didn’t think we’d get out of there alive.”
