Discovery the Forest of Emmitaenu

by Antonia L. Arcella

  After Lienkin got a stronger hold on her whereabouts, he zigzagged through the trees and brush to get closer. He couldn’t wait to finally lock his eyes on her and it didn’t matter that Tres came with him this time. She wouldn’t change anything, he realized he loved Lara, and no one would change that.

  Bustling through the thicket, he came up a few yards behind that familiar demon. The demon’s back was turned and he couldn’t see Lienkin. Lienkin recognized him instantly and he knew that the bird congregation plus this particular demon added together meant only one thing. Lara was here.

  His mind raced with ideas of how to reach Lara without being noticed by the demon. She was just past this obstacle, if only he could get around it. His brows furrowed and he almost didn’t notice when Tres walked around him and stepped toward the demon.

  Just in time he shot out his hand and yanked her backwards into the bushes. The both hit the ground when the demon turned around startled by the sound. Lienkin covered Tres’ mouth as the pale man searched the surrounding area. The bush they fell into concealed them from his sight.

  Tres was irritated by Lienkin carelessness, but the sudden intimacy of their huddling together kept her from acting out. She peeked through the leaves at the pale giant of a man with his golden hair, who stood just a stride ahead of her and Lienkin, unaware that they had nearly run him over. She watched him inhale and exhale. She liked him already. Tres especially liked his eyes, swirling in smoldering grey and circled by a heavy black outline. She had never seen eyes like his. Lienkin squeezed his hand tighter over her mouth the closer the man stepped toward them.

  CHAPTER 34

  Tres let out a tiny whimper when Lienkin released her after the demon had cautiously walked away and rejoined Lara on the beaten path. “Be careful,” Lienkin hissed. She looked him in the eyes and nodded. He could see she was upset and he feared she might throw a tantrum.

  To snuff out her agitation he hugged her with one arm around her shoulders. Her demeanor changed immediately and he helped tug her to her feet. Keeping in mind to be gentle, he led her back a few paces so they could make a wide loop around the area that Lara and her company occupied, deciding to enter from the other side.

  Once they reached the other side of the path, he and Tres remained hidden behind the first line of trees. Peeking out from where he was hiding, Lienkin could see the gypsy plucking senselessly at tall blades of grass and he could see Lara upon the ground, drowning in her own emotions while the demon lingered over her. She was so sad that it made him ill.

  “The fair one!” Tres shrieked suddenly, making him panic. He grabbed her arm and pulled her against the tree they were peeking around, hiding them both from the trio’s line of sight. He silently and hastily thanked the immortals when she lowered her voice to an angry whisper. “We came all this way for her?”

  “Tres, keep quiet,” Lienkin commanded in a hushed tone.

  “No, I refuse,” she muttered back, utterly fuming. “For once I would like something to be all about me. I’m so sick and tired of her getting all the attention. She has circles dedicated to her, you dedicated to her, and now I see she doesn’t get one suitor but two!”

  “That-is-enough,” Lienkin interrupted her tirade. His voice held a very dangerous edge to it even when he whispered. “Get over yourself for one minute, you selfish brat, and take a second to realize that second suitor is a foul, murderous, self-imposing demon. Don’t for a moment think to compare me to him.” Lienkin spat on the ground, even more furious than Tres had been. She was stunned silent. Then it dawned on her.

  “You’re jealous,” she said, half mystified, half disgusted.

  “I have every right to be,” Lienkin retorted, but he was no longer arguing with her, he had his eyes closed and was constructing a mental map around the trees in between Lara’s group and his.

  Zeftx could feel eyes burning holes into him. They weren’t alone. He felt rushed, sensing the calm before the storm in the pit of his stomach. They had already missed the first signs of dusk approaching and the sun was shifting colors. It was hardly noticeable through the overwhelming treetops.

  He knelt again in front of Lara and lifted her chin to look into her eyes. Her sorrow was so evident he wanted to look away but he didn’t. Instead he met her estranged gaze moment for moment until her expression softened and her frustration faded away. She breathed in deeply and her shoulders relaxed. Zeftx inwardly sighed with her.

  Everything surrounding them disappeared. He let go of the predicament; he let go of the terrifying dusk in this wild landscape, he let go of Jade who was still musing over their mystery. Zeftx stared into Lara’s eyes and she watched the swirling blend of color in his transform in hypnotic ways.

  “Lara, I…” He wasn’t sure what to say, but he didn’t want to let go of her before he said something unforgettable. Anything would do, but he desperately wanted to believe that when she was gone, she would be thinking of him too. Her eyes were so full and emotional they were as expressive as a demon’s. He could tell she was truly listening and now was probably his last chance to speak his heart.

  “Lara. These past few days…with you, they have been the most amazing times of my life. I want you to know that I,” Zeftx saw her eyes flicker from a distraction, but in the blink of an eye she covered it up with a steady gaze and he wondered why. This was the flash of lightning before the thunder rolls and he had seen it coming. His time was up to say what he needed and he knew he wouldn’t get another chance.

  Zeftx might not have noticed if the rustling on the path earlier hadn’t distracted him first. It was very likely that she had been startled by something just as he had been and she wasn’t going to mention it. Casually he released her and prepared himself to leap to his feet. His tension must have set Jade off because suddenly her humming ceased and her puzzling halted.

  “We have visitors,” Jade observed. Zeftx was on his feet in an instant.

  “Busted,” Lara groaned, and for a heart-stuttering second Jade and Zeftx both looked at her questioningly. Then her heartbeat returned to normal, pounding loud in her temples and in the next breath the moment had passed.

  “Where?” Zeftx asked, very matter-of-fact. Jade pointed, and faster than Lara’s eyes could follow, Zeftx rushed forward going through the trees, followed by a very alarming female scream. He returned quickly, dragging one hostile guy and girl in his wake.

  CHAPTER 35

  “Don’t touch me!” Lienkin shouted venomously, ripping his arm out of Zeftx grasp and unsheathing the concealed wand he always had on his personage.

  “No!” Tres shrieked, seizing his arm and forcing it down against the side of his body.

  “Everybody freeze!” Lara shouted. Surprisingly everyone complied. All eyes turned on her, and she wasn’t sure what else to say. Zeftx and Jade were more alarmed than any of the others. They had never seen the other two like she had and frantically she realized this was her fault. She had kept secrets to herself.

  Lara, listen to me, Lienkin spoke to her privately in the witches’ language, seizing her attention. It’s going to be okay, I’m going to get you away from here I promise. Just do what I say and Lara, don’t trust the demon.

  Lara was confused. Lienkin knew Zeftx was a demon? Well, regardless she knew him as a person not just a species, and she didn’t need to escape. He was her friend. They were all her friends. She directed all these thoughts back to Lienkin, trying to make him understand.

  Lienkin, you’re wrong about the demon, he’s helping me, and the gypsy. I can’t leave this place…it leads to my home. It was Lienkin’s turn to be shocked. He stood stalk still, struggling for a response.

  Home? Wait, you’re leaving? No, I want you to stay. He sounded crushed. Lienkin was staring into Lara’s eyes, anguish evident on his face.

  “Lara, talk to me,” Zeftx followed the direction of her gaze and could tell what was happening. “Sneaky witches,” he almost choked on the realization. “If you’ve got something to say, say i
t to all of us. Don’t be shy; we haven’t any time for your tricks. Lara…talk to me, please.”

  Lienkin’s eyes snapped in Zeftx’s direction and he spun the wooden rod, his wand, between his fingers as a silent challenge. Tres still held tight to his arm, trying to arrest it in place. Jade answered his symbolic threat, rolling her sleeves up, moving a step closer to Zeftx, and crossing her arms with a peculiar smirk on her face.

  A dark shadow snuck up on them suddenly. The shadow moved determinedly as if alive, engulfing the entire jungle in its path. It crept up from behind eager to swallow them all. Turning on her heels Lara caught the last dying rays of the retiring sun. Night had fallen!

  Everyone’s eyes were locked on those last rays of daylight as they seeped away. A chill ran down Lara’s spine. In this desolate area of the forest the moon couldn’t even be seen and finding their way back to the safety of the hut had suddenly become mission impossible.

  Tearing her eyes away from the trees above where the sun no longer filtered through, she looked in front of her to see Lienkin. Fear rose in her and a tremor rocked her body because she couldn’t see more than an arm’s length in front of her face. He was lost in the darkness. Her mind called out to him. She could hear the girl that he came with crying just strides ahead of her.

  Lara jumped when she felt hands on her shoulders. Feeling her jump, Zeftx pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. A breeze blew past, and this time it was icy instead of warm like the ones the day had carried. She turned in his arms and buried her face in his cloak. He hugged her tightly and looked sideways for Jade. “Thank the immortals that demons see better in the dark than any other creature.” Zeftx whispered in her ear, giving her some reassurance.

  The uncanvassed sound of a familiar roar started growing in their direction. Zeftx could see the exact same terror on each face of those around him that he himself portrayed.

  Tres was sobbing on Lienkin’s shoulder. He could see she was afraid in this wild place, and even more now that it was dark. Many creatures haunted the night, inspiring terror, and the moment that sound ripped through the darkness they were all frozen in place.

  Lienkin pulled Tres into his arms and began tracing frantic sigils and runes that she wouldn’t know or recognize in the air before them. Behind a mask of spells, Tres was holding her breath as the roaring grew louder. Already their ears were aching from the immensity of the sound and she cowered in his arms. He paused, trying to see off into the distance.

  “Pitch black,” he muttered, busily continuing to trace symbols in the air. He couldn’t see anything at all. Instead he closed his eyes and constructed a mental map. He held Tres close as he used his senses to locate Lara a few strides away on his map. Lienkin winced; she was in the demon’s embrace.

  He watched in his mind as Lara and the gypsy were led backwards towards a very tall, very thick tree. Suddenly, they vanished from his image. A very real sense of jealousy struck him. With them, Lara was able to disappear entirely while he and Tres although invisible, were still occupying space on the slender path. If anything came along this way, he knew they couldn’t be seen, but they still risked being found.

  “Come with me,” he whispered to Tres. “Quietly,” he added as they shuffled further down the dirt trail where he hoped they’d be a little safer.

  CHAPTER 36

  Inside the tree, Lara was caught off guard by the dreamy feeling that captured her. It would be so easy to fall asleep if she weren’t frightened. The gargoyles roared overhead in masses of hundreds. It seemed as though they would never stop coming.

  She felt Jade’s hands on her arms, rubbing up and down in an attempt to be soothing. Lara appreciated the gesture. Scrunched together on the inside of the tree with them Zeftx was staring hard beyond what she could see. He seemed concerned as much as he was scared. She hugged Jade’s thin shoulders. All she had wanted was to go home.

  The gargoyles lessened their howling and bellowing and landed in the nearby trees. Something was happening. She tried to look out or at least up into the tree they were in to see what had landed on it, but it was far too dark and her mortal eyes didn’t agree with dematerialization it seemed. It wasn’t a problem for Zeftx though. He could see exactly what had stalled them.

  “What is it?” Jade asked apprehensively. Zeftx shook his head disbelievingly.

  “What are they doing here? Are they mad?” He asked, mystified.

  “Zeftx, who?” Lara whispered.

  “Oh my!” Jade gasp, sensing what Zeftx was seeing.

  “What is it?” Lara’s anxiety carried in her voice. She strained to see something, anything, but could see absolutely nothing and it frustrated and worried her. Lienkin! She screamed in her mind, nervous for him. He didn’t reply. “We have to go back,” she decided.

  “No Lara dear, the gargoyles have all landed outside. It wouldn’t be safe. But don’t worry, the witches are fine.” Lara shed layers of tension in that one sentence till Jade added, “It’s the other two we must wonder about.”

  “There are others?” Lara asked. Zeftx nodded.

  “A man lean and tall, very tense, with hair like yours…but darker.” Zeftx examined him, describing him out loud for Lara’s benefit. “The woman beside him looks very fair of skin with short spiky blonde hair, and her eyes…so green I can see them from here.” Lara’s eyes widened and she gasped.

  “Mortals?” She wanted to know. Zeftx looked at Jade, who bit her lip with uncertainty.

  “I thought at first…at least one of them could be but then again the other one seems…”

  “Jade you’re supposed to know these things!” Lara shrieked. Without thinking it through, Lara leapt from the tree. She froze in place as she saw the first gargoyle descend on the vulnerable pair Zeftx had described.

  “Mom! Dad!” She screamed over the roar of the beast. She had known it was them. Her heart slammed against her rib cage as her mother stepped forward to challenge the beast. It was coming in too fast and there was nothing Lara could do to help.

  Lara’s father snatched her mother’s arm and pulled her behind him. The undeterred gargoyle slammed into her father instead, clutching him in its grasp, crunching his glasses and lifting back up into the canopy with its prize.

  “No!” Lara cried out. As if cued by her voice, the hundreds of birds massed above took flight and chased after her father. Amazed, Lara watched the parade of fowl crusading for her dad like a cluster of bats speeding in the dark back towards their cave.

  They caught up with and attacked the gargoyle until it released her father. Lara could just make out the shape of his body as he was free falling back toward the ground. She yelped in horror but muffled her own cries with the back of her fist as he was caught in midair by another of the beasts.

  Now all the gargoyles leapt into the air scavenging the forest floor for more victims. The birds continued to battle to free her dad only to chase after him yet again. It seemed an endless endeavor. With her eyes glued on her father’s silhouette, she didn’t notice the attack from behind. Lara! She heard Lienkin in her mind.

  “Lara!” Zeftx yelled simultaneously, jumping out of the tree and tackling the creature.

  Jade too was standing out in the open shouting, “look up,” as one more beast swooped in from above. Lara dropped to the ground as it flew narrowly past her head. They were overwhelmed by gargoyles flying everywhere and everyone was vulnerable.

  With her hands over her head and her chest pinned to the ground, she peered up to see her mother in the center as a circle of gargoyles formed around her. Triauve raised her hands high while her eyes blazed with emerald fire, threatening the first foolish creature to step any nearer.

  “My mother’s insane,” Lara whispered to her self, disbelievingly. “Oof!” Lara was suddenly airborne. She could hardly breathe; the grasp about her waist was too tight and had squeezed all the air out of her.

  Let go of me! She thought frantically. Below she witnessed her father hit the ground with a
sickening thud. For seconds she thought she would vomit. As she lifted higher into the air she watched her father grow smaller before the swarm of winged creatures hid him from view. The roar of the beast clutching her brought her back to her current state. She seemed to be flying miles above the ground. Panic filled her mind and she began to scream.

  CHAPTER 37

  From the first ‘No’ he heard Lara shout, Lienkin had wanted to break free of his charms and help but Tres wouldn’t let him. Now Lara’s scream, carried on the frigid night breeze, reached out above all other sounds and shot right through him, piercing his very soul.

  Tres was too encased in fear to allow him to reveal them, but Lienkin fought her to get his arms free. Leaving her behind, he ran up the path to the place from which Lara’s voice had carried. Gargoyles were all around; in the air, on the ground, and in the trees, overpowering the small group on the path.

  Lying in the dirt was a man so beaten and battered he couldn‘t lift himself up. A woman Lienkin had never seen before stood solo against an army of gargoyles. Her lack of fear was absurd. Across the way he saw the demon rolling around on the ground wrestling one of the monstrous beings. He caught a glint of silver from the old gypsy’s bracelets where she hid in the roots of an old tree, using twigs and friction to ignite a fire to see by.

  He shuddered anew with realization of what they were up against as shadows rushed all around and shrieks and screeches rang loud and clear. The madness swirled around him and he didn’t know what to do.

  He heard a piercing scream and was thrown hard to the ground. Tres lay across his back. She had saved him from being scooped into the sky. The roar of more gargoyles made him roll her over and cover her with his own body from another attack.