by Blair Aaron
Humburt and Augustus Jordan were identical twin brothers, and like all twins, they stuck to each other's sides. During what was perhaps the most terrifying journey of their life recently, they remembered how much affection and protectiveness they had for one another, even if their opinions differed often about many things, their current plans to leave the forest notwithstanding. Humburt, always more inclined to follow his gut and intuition, set aside his suspicions about their journey to the edge of the woods. Augustus was the lead in this situation, and it was clear to Elsa that Humburt at least wanted to be next to his brother should anything bad happen.
She walked behind them, bare foot now, and listened to their whispered conversation, while Niklas and Kirbleitz kept each other company behind her. It was funny, Elsa thought, that the first two werewolves she stumbled upon when she first entered the forest were the ones who, more or less, trusted her. The other two, Niklas and Kirbleitz, held radically opposite opinions of her. In both case, one wolf leaned on another for guidance and reassurance, as Niklas did with Kirbleitz and as Humburt did with Augustus. Elsa felt a pang of sadness for the entire wolf pack, as their relationships told her they were afraid of being separated from each other. In good times and bad, they turned to each other, against the cold and calculating forest in which they stumbled into. For a group of men hell-bent on declaring their evil to the world, in a full supposedly full of horrors of all kinds, they sure seemed to be the exact opposite. She wanted to get to know them better if she could, so she jogged up behind the twins and tapped Augustus on the shoulder.
Augustus jerked his shoulder from her hand, before he looked up to see who touched him. “Whoa, lady,” he said. “I would be careful if I were you. There isn't much telling what lurks along this path, waiting to gobble us up.”
“There are monsters in these woods?” She asked.
“You thought it was just us wolves and your dainty little tippy toes, huh,” Humburt said. He pointed to the darkened trees on either side of the path. Elsa thought she could see a serpent slither into the underbrush, ghost-white in color, standing in contrast to the earthy brown and greens of the grass and gravel. The image caught her breath, but after she blinked her eyes, it was gone, and she chalked what she saw as her imagination playing tricks on her.
“Listen, I want to know something,” she said. “Where all have you been throughout these woods? Theo never got a chance to tell me why he was a lion, instead of a member of your wolf pack.” Elsa caught herself in the story she was making up on the spot. “I mean. Before I was taken.” Both twins looked at each other, a silent knowing which said volumes about their suspicions of Elsa. But they answered her anyway.
Augustus adjusted his bow to the other side of his torso. “My brother and I came long after Theo and Dorien. First it was Zamir, now we know that, because Doc would never talk about it until now. Then Doc came.”
“We'll let him tell you how he got here,” Humburt said, interrupting.
“Doc told us that he doesn't know when Theo and Dorien came into the woods, if they were here before or after he came. But he found them walking along as young guys, from a place at the center of the forest Doc would never go to. He said the place they came from was dangerous, but somehow they were protected from being more corrupted by the forest. Doc figured they would have lost their minds at one point, going that deep to the heart of the forest. But they seemed fine, like someone was protecting them from the start, like someone was watching over them.”
“Who was it?” Elsa asked.
“They wouldn't tell him. They seemed like they wanted to protect Doc from something, so they adopted him, and eventually us. No one knows what made Theo a lion or Dorien a dragon, honestly. There must have been something in them both, different from us,” Humburt said.
Just then, something ahead in the distance caught Humburt's eye. “What is it, brother?” Augustus asked.
“Look,” Humburt said. Up ahead, the pathway in the forest trailed off into the grass, fading away. A semi-circular opening in the trees shrouded the upper path of the forest.
“What the hell?” Augustus said. “This is the way out. I don't know any other way.”
“Shit,” Elsa said, under her breath. She was counting on Augustus to get them at least to the edge of the forest. Then she would have to coax all of them over to the other side, or, even better, if they refused to go with her, she could just leave them there and get back to her life with Theo. Something told her at least one of them would follow her simply out of a burning curiosity to see if Theo was in fact all right.
The trail was gone, though, and Augustus obviously had no idea what to do next.
“Brother, what will we do? Do you know any other way?” Just then, Niklas and Kirbleitz caught up to them. Niklas looked around to the twins for instruction on what to do. But Kirbleitz clearly expected this to happen. Humburt asked him, “Doctor Kirbleitz, do you know what's going on?”
“The Forest knows we are trying to leave. I told you it would get angry.”
“What do you mean, 'get angry'? That's ridiculous. The Forest is not alive,” Augustus said.
“I beg to differ, son. Though we have already had this conversation.”
“Well if you know so much,” Augustus said, “why can't you tell us where to go next? I can, but you're not going to like it.”
Elsa's swallowed hard. She had a bad feeling about Doctor Kirbleitz. He might try to take her and the other boys down a wrong path, or worse, back the way they came.
“Where will go, doc?” Niklas asked.
“Over there,” Kirbleitz said, pointing across the grassy ditch to a bridge over a swampy area.
“That's not so bad,” Augustus said, trying to convince himself as much as the other guys of his resolve.
“Say that when we've passed through it,” Kirbleitz said, shaking his head.
“Doc, I'm scared,” Niklas said, tugging on the doctor's black vest.
“I am, too,” Humburt said, looking at his brother.
“What's so bad about a swamp? It doesn't look all that dangerous,” Elsa said.
“The swamp is not dangerous,” Kirbleitz said. “It's the creatures in the swamp that are dangerous, lethal of course.”
“Then let's just turn back,” Humburt said. Niklas shook his head in agreement. Both Niklas and Humburt looked at Augustus for his vote.
“We all know what Kirbleitz thinks,” Humburt said. “So are you going to drag this out any longer, or do you want to die along here with my fair maiden?”
“Let me think,” Augustus said, showing for the first time some solidarity with his pack. Elsa could see the group was beginning to have an effect on Augustus' resolve. Elsa decided she better do something.
“Wait,” she said. “I'm going alone or with you guys. I came in here alone and I'll get out of here alone, if I have to.” She looked at Augustus, to show him her bravery. He looked over at her with his beady green eyes, looking her up and down.
“OK. I'm going with her.”
“Come on, brother! You won't last a minute with our help!”
“I have my bow. Once I get past that swamp, the edge is free and clear. There won't be anything to stop me.”
“I can't believe you, brother. You're making the biggest mistake, and I can't sit idly by and watch you walk to your death, because you hate your life here so much you will do anything to leave.”
“So be it, Humby.” And with that, we buckled up his bow and marched forward through the group of shifters, toward the swamp. The situation was not a bad thing, Elsa guessed. She just needed their protection until they got to the edge of the forest and left them behind. She wondered if Augustus would attack her when he inevitably found out she didn't know exactly where Theo was. He would more surely follow her out of the forest. Maybe she could explain the truth to him and he would listen. He did seem to be the more rational of the twin pair. Niklas, Humburt, and Kirbleitz looked on at them as they approached the swamp area. Elsa
hustled up behind Augustus.
“You're going to protect me, right?” she asked, hoping he would show some sort of vulnerability before they entered the swamp.
“I'll get you to the edge of the Forest. If I find out you're lying, all bets are off sister,” he said. Elsa's stomach practically hit the floor. She had no choice but to follow him into the dark area of the swamp. They continued on, and Elsa looked back at the Niklas, Humburt, and Kirbleitz, tiny figures in the distance behind them now.
PART THREE - THE BLACK WOLF
CHAPTER 32
The darkness enveloped them from all sides, and yet the black didn't blind them. Elsa could still make out the outlines of crows on the tree limbs, and the owls hooting from within the enclosures of the trunks. A blue-gray mist hovered near their feet, though Elsa could not see where her feet met the floor. This scared Elsa, and she grabbed Augustus' arm, the muscles bulging in anticipation of an attack. She could hear the metal on his bow clacking against his powerful chest. But he showed no signs of fear, as if fights like these were familiar to him. He simply looked up and around the area, sniffing the air for signs of danger. They continued on, their footsteps quickening with every stride they took. Elsa saw Augustus' large gait, because she had trouble keeping up with him. The darkness began to take shape on her right and left, as she trailed behind him--at first it was very faint, but she could see the outline of a half bird, half human shape in the silvery mist. Soon the shapes became more defined and only then was Elsa sure her fear was not getting the best of her. The shapes began to move in her direction, reaching for her.
“Augustus, look--” He ignored her and pulled his bow and arrow from around his waist. He was ready to fight. “But they're just clouds. You can't do them harm.” They began to run through the mist, the swamp water rising from around ankle height to their knees. The swamp was full of mud and grit and mired them in one place.
“I'm getting stuck, Augustus.”
“Me, too.” Up ahead, she could see a small flickering red light, a point of contact to which both Augustus and Elsa sought refuge. “That light up ahead, that's where the edge is. We always see a red light. Don't know what it's from.”
“Let's get there then before we get taken down,” she said.
Elsa's feet sank under the clay on the bed of the swamp, at first hard and steady enough to hold her weight but then giving way to her, almost like the swamp knew who was walking its waters. As they plodded on through the darkness to the red light in the distance, the mud pulled them farther down into the ground. Soon enough, they were unable to continue walking.
“What are we going to do? I'm stuck,” she said. Augustus reached over and grabbed a tree branch to pull himself out of the mud. His strength was no match for the suction of the mud. Once on dry ground, at the edge of the murky waters, he grabbed Elsa by the hand without a single indication of strain and pulled her onto the ground. She lay there for a second, trying to catch her breath, before a giant hand emerged from the depths of the swamp to grab Augustus by the ankle and pull him back into the mossy water.
“Augustus! Grab this branch,” Elsa said, trying to help him. She maneuvered herself sideways as he struggled with whatever creature had pulled him under, and before she knew it, she was standing right next to an ivy covered wall. She leaned back against without realizing it, as her attention was solely focused on helping Augustus. He continued to fight against the monster of the swamp, and Elsa felt a mild heat on her back. She looked over her shoulder at the wall, which featured a red, fiery ivy blossoming all over the surface of the muddy concrete. The ivy grew before her eyes as if it had a life of its own, and Elsa found herself transfixed by its beauty. Augustus screamed, and she looked back at the horrific scene in the swamp. “Dear God,” she said. “What do I do?” Just then she saw a pair of red eyes emerge from the area where they had come. “Augustus there is something coming toward us.” The seconds before the shadow creatures from the woods which emerged, the fire from their angry souls glowing from within were the longest seconds of Elsa's life. When the creatures came close enough, she could see they were no creatures at all, but Niklas, Humburt, and Kirbleitz.
“Oh thank God,” she said. “Please help him. I knew you guys wouldn't let us down.” They looked down at their fellow wolf struggling with a gargantuan creature underneath the waters and then immediately dived into the swamp, without a single moment of hesitation. There was a violent struggle under the water, most of which Elsa could not make visual sense of, then Niklas, Humburt, and Kirbleitz jumped onto the side of the swamp, each holding a long arm of some creature whose body the swampy waters obscured. They tied the arms around the vines of a tree, and then Elsa jumped into the swamp to help Augustus. All five men sat on the banks of the swamp coughing and dry heaving from the struggle.
“I thought you guys weren't going to help us,” Elsa said.
“We're not here to help you, sister. Augustus was the one we were worried about,” Humburt said, wiping the sweat from his brow. Elsa tried to act as if she wasn't bothered by the burn.
Just then, as the boys stood with their backs to the wall of the forest's exit, Elsa saw a flickering red light, buried among the red ivy. “Guys, there's something flickering behind you guys,” she said. They turned around, to see the flickering in the wall.
“This is the Daevan God,” Niklas said. “She's not going to let us leave. You were right, Doc.”
“I told you so,” Kirbleitz said.
Humburt and Augustus looked at Elsa, betrayal in their eyes. “You lied to us,” Augustus said, finally on his brother's side.
“I didn't,” Elsa said, backing up as they approached her.
“You did, and now She's here to take us back with her. We're doomed,” Niklas said, his eyes glowing red. Augustus, Niklas, Humburt, and Kirbleitz marched toward Elsa, backing her to the edge of the swamp. They were angry and betrayed.
“Please, don't hurt me,” she said, her voice shaking. She looked behind her and saw the swamp boiling, in anticipation for Elsa falling into its clutches. She looked behind the men who approached her and saw the glowing wall, now completely transformed into a ruby stone, imbibed with the red glowing spirit of the forest, crumble into a pile of rubble. Behind the wall, Elsa saw the towns sitting idly in a valley away from the mountain. That was her getaway, and she thought maybe she could get past the boys before they took her, knowing now they would not follow her out of the forest. It was now or never. She had to make a run for it.
“Please, guys, you have to believe me. Theo lives outside of this place. He's fine. I'm telling you. Look, we can leave. Look behind you.” Yet the men continued their approach, transforming into wolves, their ears pinned back and violent snarls bared. They would pounce on her into a moment's notice, if she didn't take the opportunity to get out now. She jumped instantly between Niklas, now a thin wolf with spindly legs and tensed muscles, and the tree. He snapped at her, but missed, hitting the tree on the crown of his head. Elsa ran for her life, for the only chance she would only have to escape the forest once and for all, the chance to get back to Theo and resume her life with him, before it was so painfully interrupted by Freja and her jealous antics. The hole in the wall got closer as she ran, out of breath, her heart beating out her chest. Almost there, the wolves lapping at her feet, barking and growling, she could practically feel the fresh air on her face. But then, a black wolf, massive in size and terrifying in appearance, stepped in her way. His eyes were green, his paws black as night, the same wolf she had met upon first entering the forest. There was something mysterious about the creature in the sense that his dangerous, powerful, and potentially violent frame did not necessarily make him so. Elsa stopped, as his snarl grew big and terrible, and he braced his figure for a fight. Elsa looked behind her and saw the other wolves in defensive mode. They would not back down, but even in wolf form, Elsa could see they were afraid. The biggest wolf, Kirbleitz, approached first, and yet he was only half the size of the black wolf. E
lsa realized just then the black wolf was Zamir, whom Kirbleitz told the other wolves in the pack about. It occurred to Elsa that she should probably get out of the way before Augustus and Humburt ate her alive, and as she stepped to the side, attempting to hide behind a rock formation, her hand touched a red ivy, alive and growing, as it wrapped itself around her finger and struck blood with its thorns.
Elsa shouted in pain, looking down at her pricked finger. A single drop of blood fell from her hand and landed on the soft, damp earth of the forest. From that spot an entire red ivy bloomed instantaneously from that spot, and Elsa could see it caught Zamir's attention. He seemed unafraid of the wolves ready to pounce Elsa, as much as wolves can express fear. He turned his gaze in her direction and walked over to her. Elsa backed herself against the rock formation as the lumbering black mass that was his body made its way to her location. Her heart rate sped up, as she could feel a vital force emanating from the black wolf, as if he was no mere wolf. Physically, his body was nearly twice as big as the other boys, but there was something subterranean about his presence which Elsa couldn't quite put her finger on. Being near him in proximity was an electrifying experience, as his life force struck a familiar chord in Elsa, which she didn't know she had. Panic set in when he got close enough to eat her, as he opened his large jaws and licked his lips. Her fear paralyzed Elsa, and she closed her eyes when Zamir swiped his tongue along her cheek. Zamir sniffed her entire body, clearly looking for something that was not necessarily a meal. Once Elsa realized this, she calmed down. Up close, when Elsa opened her eyes, she could see Zamir's eyes, and she shrieked to realize they were not merely green, but glowing radioactive yellow, a wild and dangerous reflection of a mysterious dark prince of the forest, a uncontrollable yet wise knowing shining gaze.
“Please leave me be,” she whispered, as Zamir stared at her without blinking for a few seconds, seemingly contemplating several courses of action all at once. Then he turned away just as quickly, as if he had made up his mind. His movement was graceful yet powerful.
