by August Arrea
Eksel’s voice was at me again, only this time it was joined by the other guys. The knot in my stomach tightened. I took a step away from the ledge, and then a good dozen more. I think everyone thought I was giving myself a running start, but the truth was I was backing away out of fear. My feet were begging to haul my butt down the mountain and back to the safety of Havenhid. I think the only one who could see my dilemma was Max, and usually he could shoot me the right look to give me the needed strength lost to me at the moment. Yet even he couldn’t break through the paralysis that had gripped me. It was only when I caught sight of Creed and his smirking face did I realize fear or no fear, faith or no faith, there was no way I couldn’t not jump or I’d never hear the end of it. And there was no way I was about to give him that satisfaction. So I took in a deep breath, clenched my jaw until I was certain I would drive my molars back into my gums and charged.
I don’t remember my feet leaving the mountain. Or even the first few seconds of the fall that followed. The only thought I was left with was “You idiot…you forgot to take off your shirt.” But by then it was like I was suddenly wiped out of existence. The world was enveloped in a misty dense grayness and I knew I had slipped into the veil of the waiting clouds. Nothing was happening; nothing except constant falling. I wanted to reach around and feel my back for the wings I hoped would miraculously sprout from it, but the intense drag wouldn’t allow any such movement. Not that it mattered. I already had failed, that much I knew. The wings wouldn’t be showing themselves, of that I was certain, and all I had left was the hope that Acruxel or Betryel had already made their jump and were rushing their way toward me before I hit the bottom and shattered into a gazillion pulverized pieces. However, the hand I waited for to grab hold of me never came. Where were they? I looked above me but all around was thick clouds. I began to panic. I knew Eksel didn’t care for me (he made that clear the night I arrived at Havenhid). Yet whatever his reasons, which were lost on me, did he actually dislike me enough to let me fall to my death?
Just when I resigned myself to the inevitable and braced myself for the coming end I felt something grab hold of me and my fall was suddenly yanked to a stop before eventually reversing course. I was being lifted upward, and the sound of flapping wings was music to my ears, even though they weren’t my own. Still, I was more than a little pissed for having to wait so long for a rescue and was ready to let it be known, but I knew better to wait for such an outburst until my feet had the mountain safely under them. It was only when I came out of the cloud blanket that I saw my rescuer wasn’t Acruxel or Betryel, but Damiel. And his eyes were flaming with anger. So much so that I didn’t even dare ask him what he was doing at Broken Earth.
What happened next is a blur. Damiel brought me back to the mountain ledge where the others were standing with shocked looks on their faces and cast me aside like a bag of potatoes leaving me to roll across the ground. Then the moment his feet touched the ground they were walking briskly toward Eksel and the next thing I knew there was a punch and Eksel was sent skidding across the ground. A commotion ensued ending with Acruxel and Betryel jumping in to hold back Eksel as he and Damiel traded heated accusations. It ended abruptly as it started when Damiel told Eksel, “Pull another stunt like that again, Eksel, and mark my words I’ll see to it your days as Guide in Eden comes to an end faster than it takes a rock cast into this gorge to reach the bottom!” And off he went.
I remained on the ground completely confused over what had happened. It was only later on our way back down the mountain at the end of the day that I found out. Max told me that during my jump, when it was clear I wasn’t going to be returning on my own, Betryel was about to fly down after me when Eksel motioned him to remain standing where he was. The other guys were starting to panic and urging Eksel to do something but he ignored them. Even Max finally was ready to take the leap after me with the hope he could muster enough strength from his fragile-looking wings to carry the two of us back to safety, but Eksel yelled at him to stay put. That was when Damiel appeared out of nowhere. Only no one knew at first it was him because he was flying so fast.
Even as I write this, I can’t imagine what would make Eksel do such a thing. It’s no secret he’s not my biggest fan (why, I have no idea). But he is an angel. I’m hoping it’s as I heard him arguing with Damiel after being punched—that he was giving me every last possible moment to prove myself, which I assume meant getting my wings. After all, who knows Broken Earth and how long a Nephilim has to fall until he runs out of open air separating him from the ground below better than Eksel? Then again, I can’t seem to forget the cold glare he sent my way after Damiel threatened him and stormed away from Broken Earth.
One thing’s for sure—to hell with wings; it’ll be a long time before I make another jump off Broken Earth anytime soon, if ever. I can promise you that!
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The Silent Forest
J
acob was deep into his sleep and dreaming, that much he remembered. Of what exactly he was dreaming was lost to him instantly like a puff of smoke when his eyes suddenly opened to find Max leaning over him and shaking him awake.
“Come on, get up Sleeping Beauty.”
“What is it…?” asked Jacob groggily. The last thing he remembered before dozing off was lying on his bed writing in his journal, which remained opened on his lap.
“Get dressed. I want to show you something,” whispered Max.
Jacob shifted the slits formed by his tired eyes to the nearby window. No longer having to rely on a clock or watch, he had come to learn how to tell the hour of both day and night by reading the sky.
“It’s the middle of the night,” he said with a groan before dropping his head heavily back into the softness of his pillow. “The only thing I’m interested in seeing is the inside of my eyelids.”
He rolled over and attempted to doze once more into unconsciousness when the snugness of the blankets he had pulled back over his shoulders were cruelly yanked off him.
“I promise you, you’ll want to see this,” prodded Max in an urgent whisper.
When it was clear to Jacob sleep would be deprived him until he had gone to see whatever “this” was, he forced himself up with a grunt of annoyance. Lying quietly on the floor near the foot of Jacob’s bed, Mist watched intently as Jacob fumbled for his clothes and sluggishly got dressed.
“Aren’t you going to wake them up as well?” whispered Jacob, motioning to the still lumps in the other three beds belonging to Ethan, Leos and Kairo who continued to fill the room with their chorus of snores and the whistling of their nasal breathing.
“Trust me, it’s better we do this without an entourage,” said Max.
They slipped out of the room then tiptoed their way along the winding of corridors and down the steep staircase where every creak pressed from a step beneath their feet sounded like a scream let loose to rattle the peaceful hour.
“So, what is it that’s so important it required you dragging me out of bed in the middle of the night?” asked Jacob once they were outside standing beneath the trees where Havenhid resided like a lumbering body wrapped snug in a bedding of leaves. Max answered only by putting a finger to his lips. Then, with a mischievous grin, he darted off into the night forcing Jacob to follow after him knowing that at any moment their punishable escapade could be inadvertently discovered by one of the Guides stealing a glance from one of Havenhid’s many windows and terraces while wandering about in their perpetual awakened state.
~~~
The night offered little cover with the presence of the moon parked full and immense in the sky above like some neighboring planet making an uncomfortably close pass. It bathed the Garden in an almost florescent silver and blue iridescence. So bright was it that Max and Jacob were trailed by shadows of themselves scampering along the ground after them as they tramped over the cobbled slabs of stone paving the bridge arching over the River near the falls. Once they had crossed the River, Max led th
e way swiftly along a curving path. For a good long distance they ran, even when they were certain they were out of range of even the Guides’ all-seeing eyes. And even then they raced on deeper into the night toward the furthest north-easterly pocket of the Garden valley until they reached a waiting open stretch of grass where the looming presence of Lions Bite could be seen curled up beneath the moon in the distance.
Once Lions Bite was behind them, they quickly found themselves approaching a bank of towering trees forming the leading edge of what looked to be a deep wood. When Max started toward it Jacob was quick to grab him by the shoulder.
“What do you think you’re doing? You can’t go in there.”
“What’s got you suddenly looking like a stunned mullet,” said Max without any show of concern.
“It’s the Silent Forest.”
“So?”
His friend’s nonchalant disregard made Jacob’s brow crinkle in a show of growing puzzlement. “So? You know we’re not allowed to step foot inside there.”
“When did you suddenly become a momma’s boy when it comes to rules?” asked Max which Jacob clearly didn’t like. “Besides, who’s gonna know?”
“I’m not sure I want to take the chance in finding out.”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were packin’ darkies,” said Max.
“Of course not,” Jacob shot back, though not completely sure what “packin’ darkies” entailed exactly. “But I think it’s safe to assume when an angel specifically states something is forbidden then most likely there’s a good reason for it.”
“True. But there is forbidden and then there’s forbidden,” said Max with a cunning wink. “Aren’t you the least bit curious to find out which, too?”
“Too? You mean you’ve already been in there?” asked Jacob.
Max’s sly grin which held untold mischief widened. “And boy am I glad I did.”
At those words, Jacob’s eyes shifted past Max to the unwelcoming darkness gathered deep within the trees. Then, as he saw how Jacob’s curiosity was slowly getting the best of him, Max cajoled his friend forward and the two slipped inside the forest.
~~~
What was it that led to the Silent Forest being deemed off limits as ardently as it had been since the days when the first Nephilim were brought through Eden’s gates was not immediately apparent, at least at first glance. Walking deeper into its presence, Jacob found it to be no different than any of the other forests shading untold miles of Eden’s reaches. The trees stood like giants with ropes of vine dangling from towering branches and winding tightly around wide, twisting trunks which carried the furry scruff of greening moss. The bough-like roots holding firm their stance snaked along the top of the damp ground where feathery ferns, night-blooming succulents and other low plants both exotic and not congregated. What light from the moon managed to pierce its way through the thick forest canopy came down in soft silvery shafts to marble the darkness below. The moon itself, however, or the star-dotted sky for that matter, was blotted from sight behind a thick tangle of branches and leaves high overhead.
“Do you hear that?” asked Max, suddenly.
Jacob paused and listened. “I don’t hear anything.”
“Indeed,” replied Max with a cryptic smile. “What would you expect in a place called the Silent Forest?”
Jacob turned his focus from what his eyes could see to what his ears could hear. Only there was nothing to be heard; not a night owl calling out from its perch or the smallest of nocturnal woodland creatures foraging along the ground. Even the trees were deathly still without so much as a gentle breeze to creak their branches or rustle their leaves. Where the rest of Eden was filled with the sounds of life, this forest was completely devoid of it.
And that in itself was eerily unsettling to Jacob.
“I think we better turn back,” he suggested. The silence was so deafening, even his whisper sounded like he was speaking at the top of his lungs.
“Don’t tell me you’re getting ready to drop eggs,” said Max.
“Drop eggs?”
“Turn chicken.”
“I’m not turning chicken,” Jacob shot back defensively. “I just have a bad feeling about this place.”
“I did, too, when I first nosed around here. Trust me, it’ll pass.”
Against his better judgment, Jacob followed Max onward accompanied with an unrelenting gnawing feeling of what might lie ahead of them as well as the repercussions that awaited them should one of the Guides catch wind of their outing.
Soon they came upon a small clearing, and within the clearing resided a pool of mirror-smooth water. It was then Max placed a hand to Jacob’s chest to keep him from continuing on while at the same time bringing a finger to his lips. As quietly as they could, they moved with soft steps around the clearing while staying within the company of the trees encircling it. Halfway around, they came upon the hollowed remains of one of the wooded giants that had long ago fallen and come to rest upon the forest floor, and they crouched down behind it.
“We won’t be seen from here,” said Max, peering over the top of the massive hull.
“Seen by who?” whispered Jacob, sounding more uncomfortable by the mysteriousness that had led him into the woods. “There’s nobody here.”
Max seemed to ignore Jacob. Instead, his eyes intently scoured the pool which could be seen through a parting in the trees. Back and forth they shifted from one end of the pool to the other with a growing eagerness.
“I don’t see her,” he muttered.
“See who?” asked Jacob with growing impatience.
“The lady in the water.”
Lady in the water?
Jacob followed Max’s gaze with his own and through the dimly lit blue-tinted darkness of the night he saw nothing. Not even the subtlest of ripples cast upon the pool’s dark water to indicate the presence of fish nipping at the surface from below. Everything around them was deathly quiet and it was joined by an even more deathly stillness. To Jacob, there was nothing peaceful about this silence. In fact, it proved to be more and more uncomfortable the longer he sat in the forest; as if the quiet itself was an unseen entity moving stealthy about the two boys and moving in ever so closer.
However long they stayed bent down behind the trunk of the felled tree, it felt to Jacob to be much longer, and just when he had lost patience with staying one minute longer and was about to open his mouth to tell Max so, there came from the pool a splashing sound. The gazes of both boys shot back to the pool, and as before they saw nothing at first. Even the water remained completely calm and undisturbed despite the continuing sounds of movement heard to be swishing about somewhere within it.
“It’s the lady,” replied Max. His eyes frantically began searching all about the pool.
“What lady?”
“I told you—the lady in the water.”
They soon saw a figure emerging from the far end of the dark basin where the pool met a yawning cavern of rock. Sure enough, it was a woman just as Max had insistently claimed, but not just any ordinary woman. Of that, there was no question. To begin with, she came out of the water completely dry without even a drop of water left glistening on her skin. It also appeared she wasn’t wearing any clothing. And yet her nudity was completely covered by her Rapunzel-like tresses which were the color of the deepest hour of night and draped themselves across her body like some elegant gown.
It was neither the woman’s lack of wetness or the glimpses of flesh bared by her exotic, unconventional attire that made Jacob’s eyes grow wide and cease blinking at the sight. It was her beauty; breathtakingly astonishing, even from a distance, while both delicate and grave at the same time. She looked almost to be an apparition; her white, alabaster skin radiated under the sparse moonlight and proved a stark contrast against her raven hair and eyes as dark as the pool from which she emerged.
“She’s beautiful!” gushed Jacob with a sigh.
“Yeah, she is,” said Max equally tra
nsfixed.
“But who is she?”
“Isn’t it obvious? What other earthly thing could she be but an angel?” It was clear from the dreamy look on his face Max was taken with the woman.
“Out here, wandering around the middle of the forest at night?” asked Jacob.
“Have you forgotten? They don’t sleep,” said Max. “And in case you haven’t noticed, Eden doesn’t have much of a nightlife. What else do they have to do but roam around or go for a midnight swim while the rest of us saw logs in bed?”
“I don’t see any wings.”
“That’s what you’re looking for? Wings?” asked Max. “Besides, how can you tell what’s beneath all that hair?”
However, a troubled look came over Jacob. “I don’t know. Something’s not right. There’s something strange about this place. I can feel it,” he said. “Anyways, when’s the last time you saw a female angel?”
Max thought about it. “I haven’t, now that you mention it.” he replied.
“Neither have I.”
They continued to watch the strange woman as she leisurely combed her fingers through her hair while sitting on a rock swirling her feet around in the water.
“I say we go ask her,” suggested Max and immediately started to rise to his feet when Jacob grabbed hold of his arm.
“You can’t go out there.”
“Why not?”
“For one thing, if she is an angel, don’t you think she’s going to tell Anahel we were out here?”
