”Lienkin I’m scared,” she whispered, tears brimming in the corners of her eyes. Lienkin opened his mouth to reply, but couldn’t think of what to say. He closed his mouth and pressed his lips resolutely together before leaping to his feet and gazing up. Tres was left alone on the ground. She began to hyperventilate while looking around at the raging battle in the dark night.
Lienkin could barely make out Lara in the embrace of a fleeing gargoyle soaring high above in the air. Fleetingly Lienkin watched her carried higher and higher as he raced in circles with his eyes to the sky. He was shouting every spell and muttering every jinx he could think of to bring her back down and set her free.
It appeared to work at last and she fell free a long distance but was caught by another gargoyle anxious to escape with his prey. The remaining birds darted after her and her kidnapper high up in the canopy as they disappeared over the horizon of treetops.
Out the corner of his eye Lienkin could see the spry old gypsy woman being chased in circles around the tree she was hiding in. She had a torch in one hand; her skirt hiked up in the other as she weaved and bobbed, dove and rolled to her feet again evading multiple attempts at capture.
“Is that all you’ve got?” She shouted with a dry chuckle devoid of real humor, it was absolute madness! He glanced back toward the unfamiliar couple, but was unable to see the woman or the man through the masses. Again he heard Tres’ shrill scream and spun around to find her.
With frantic eyes he located her cowering at the feet of the largest gargoyle he’d ever seen. Tres began to crawl backward, keeping her eyes on the creature intensely gazing at her. It stomped in her direction, the faster she crawled, the faster it followed her.
Tres looked like she might jump up and start running blindly just as she bumped into something with her feet. Shaking, she turned her head slowly to look behind her. She had backed into the clustered circle of gargoyles wrapped around the blonde woman. Not good, Lienkin thought as the beast she hit looked down at her.
It reached down for her and all Tres could do was duck her head to the ground and wait. Moments later after nothing happened she chanced a small glance. The one she bumped into and the one she was crawling away from were fighting! Afraid they might trample her in the process she tried crawling away, but one of them looked back in her direction and she wailed! Quickly she tucked her head back to the ground.
Just before returning his eyes to the sky Lienkin sighted the woman encircled by gargoyles on the ground. She hadn’t been touched. Somehow she kept them at bay. A faint light just above her penetrated the darkness as if her praying hands held to the sky had opened the trees and let in the moon.
Lara! Lienkin thought, flicking his eyes skyward again. Just then a bird fell into his hands. He cradled it in his arms and glanced down. The bird was dead. How many of these tropical beauties would be struck down in this fight? Gently but swiftly he sat the bird upon the ground at his feet and looked up once more.
“Merlyn’s stupor!” He yelled as he only just dodged an attack. Lara was so high above with the creature possessing her that in a blink he would undeniably escape with his prize. Lienkin needed to act fast. Just as a monster dove for the gypsy Lienkin leaped in the way. It hit him with amazing force and almost knocked him unconscious. Unbiased, the creature took him captive and rose into the sky.
CHAPTER 38
Zeftx heard a woman shriek at the same time that he saw the male witch throw himself in front of a gargoyle that had been after Jade. Zeftx wasn’t sure if it was noble or insane, but because of all the chaos there was nothing he could do to help as the witch was carried into the sky.
Birds where falling like raindrops; fluttering to the ground with broken wings or broken beaks, but sadly overall they were mostly hitting the dirt lifeless. More and more gargoyles were arriving, and he didn’t know if they would get out alive. He was struggling against outrageous numbers. His opposition had multiplied when he tried to rescue the girl crawling in the dirt.
She looked so defenseless that against his better judgment Zeftx attempted to rescue her. Now, the mob of gargoyles he had taken on had him held down between the four of them. He fought as diligently as he could, refusing to make it easy for them to carry him away. He noticed the girl inching closer and closer wanting to help but not knowing how.
“Jade…Jade!” Zeftx screamed when he couldn’t see her anywhere in plain view. Out of nowhere she pushed her way into the huddle where he was pinned. “No!” Zeftx protested but she wasn’t listening. The gargoyles had already noticed her and she didn’t seem alarmed.
“Take that, you nasty creatures!” She crowed after slapping them all in the face with her left hand, which was covered in an oily substance. Zeftx jaw dropped. All that would accomplish was hurting Jade’s hand. Then she waved her right hand under their noses, igniting the oil on their faces with her tiny torch.
They jumped back and roared, forgetting their prey, and stretched out their wings to fly trying to outrun the fire clinging to them. “They’re not as tough when you light them up,” Jade explained. He just nodded, clearly she was right.
“Lara!” They both exclaimed in unison. Zeftx jumped back to his feet and was almost knocked back down again when the helpless girl threw herself against his waist.
“Who are you?” Zeftx had to ask.
“Tres,” she answered in a mousy voice that was barely audible. Jade spun around with eyes darting in every direction. Zeftx turned too so he could watch her back.
Suddenly he realized they were lucky to have received as little confrontation as they had. Not that it was meager by any means, but when he noticed the crowd surrounding Lara’s mother, he realized it could have been twenty times worse. She was somehow providing a major distraction.
Tres started talking under her breath. Stretching out a shaky hand, she began outlining shapes in the empty air. She’s casting a spell, Zeftx realized. The anxiety he instinctively felt was bottled by comprehension. She was trying to protect them. At least he hoped so.
A strong wind pushed through the narrow way, rustling the tree tops and parting the leaves enough for the moon, heavy and luminous to finally break through.
“The sky is falling,” the girl panicked. Zeftx weirdly wanted to laugh but he couldn’t because it looked like she was right. The moon was the closest he’d ever seen it, the biggest it had ever appeared, and the brightest it had ever glowed. The only thing that could compare to it was standing a few strides away behind a wall of beasts. Lara’s mother was putting out such a strong glimmering green light of her own that it was hard to decide which was more startling to see.
Lara was hanging carelessly in the gargoyle’s arms. She had a bird’s eye view as they left the forest beneath them and flew above the trees. It was an unpleasant shock to see Lienkin rise into the sky a few hundred yards after her. From this height the moon could be seen but Lara hadn’t noticed since her eyes were aiming down.
A gust of unnatural wind threw them off course with such ferocity that they both began to spiral back down into the trees. The gargoyles bounced clumsily off tree branches and got tangled up in their own wings as they twisted and rolled toward the forest floor. Lara and Lienkin yelled and their kidnappers both moaned in their ferocious voices as they impacted the ground.
Lara was wide-eyed with fear and too scared to speak. It took her some time to untangle herself from the stone claws. Lienkin, disoriented from the fall, wrestled out of his captor’s grip and raced to her. Stumbling to her feet at last, she leapt into his arms.
“You’re alive,” she cried out in relief. Gently Lienkin rubbed her back and kissed the top of her hair. She held on tightly to him and they stood alone together in the dark. Hundreds of yards away they could hear the moans of other beasts hitting the dirt. What had happened? Lara didn’t really care, she was just glad for it. She was so afraid to learn where the gargoyles were taking them.
They were both very shaken up from the ordeal, but they were no longer
in the air and Lara was thankful. She was still dizzy from the ride. The monsters nearby began to stir and she gasped. With Lienkin’s arms wrapped securely around her, he carefully lead them both back in the direction of the others before the gargoyles had a chance to rise.
CHAPTER 39
The path beneath their feet was hard to follow and they stumbled a few times. In fact, it was so overgrown with wilderness that Lienkin had to use a mental map to guide them back. When they emerged on the scene, there was enough light to cause them to shield their eyes.
Lara used her hand as a visor till her eyes could make the adjustment. Everywhere surrounding them the ground was covered with the bodies of birds. Keeping her gaze on the ground she sighted her father and all her vital organs halted.
He was lying motionless on the ground exactly where she saw him fall earlier. He didn’t have his glasses on anymore. He didn’t look back at her. His eyes were open though, and when Lara realized they were locked on her mother she was able to breathe again.
Following his gaze, Lara wondered why her mother was illuminated in a glowing light. She was looking at the ground and nodding at nothing. Slowly the light seeped away and she looked up from the ground. Her mother was smiling.
“Lienkin!” Tres shouted.
“Lara,” Jade and Zeftx both yelled together.
Lara glanced around and took a silent head count, quickly confirming everyone was still alive. Her body ached and cried out for rest. She had very little of it this weekend. Her eyes grew round with the realization that it had all happened in just one weekend. It felt more like an entire season had come and gone in this mystical world.
Flustered, Lara began wavering on her feet and Lienkin put his hand on her back to steady her. She smiled gratefully over her shoulder at him as he reinforced her balance. As soon as she was certain she could trust her legs to carry her, she walked forward, nearer to the company of others. Although she trusted Lienkin to protect her, she wanted to get closer to her parents.
She didn’t get far before Zeftx ran in her direction and embraced her in a tight hug as a muffled cry evaded his lips. She returned the hug and could mildly feel Lienkin’s gaze on her back. The expression in Zeftx’ eyes brimmed over when she pulled back to meet his gaze. What’s going to happen now? She wondered but immediately wished she didn’t.
Even though she decided that she didn’t want to know, the answer came unbidden. It seemed as if the very life of night was waking. More danger waited. The nightmare wasn’t over yet. Lara saw renewed fear spreading like the plague. Her mother was the only one fearlessly moving about. Lara watched her mom help her dad to stand up again. Supporting him with her shoulder he was able to walk slowly with a limp and a few winces.
Looking around for his glasses, Lara didn’t even notice when her mother had pulled her away from Zeftx until her feet left the path and she felt the tall grass brushing against her knees. She was being pulled toward the patch of grass that served as a gateway between realms.
Jade no longer worried over her earlier theories, she just slipped her arm through Zeftx’ before he could jump out impulsively and refuse for Lara to leave.
”Lara, what if I never see you again?” Zeftx asked, his voice rebelling against the awkward silence.
Lara felt the sting that burned her eyes. What if he was right? They were going home, she knew it, and she should have been overjoyed but for some reason her heart was in her stomach and she was far from feeling joy. The sound of some wolfish creature wounded the night somewhere off in the distance with its call to the moon. Soon his pack would sport in a plentiful hunt if Lara’s company didn’t retreat immediately. Her eyes flicked toward Jade who was actually smiling.
“Go child,” she said softly. Lara nodded to her in reply. The trees were swaying, returning the moon to its hiding place above the canopy. It was getting dark again. Lara’s father’s free arm wrapped around her, revealing his urgency and she tripped backwards bumping into her mother under his added weight.
“Lara!” Lienkin suddenly shouted. The world in front of her eyes was wavering and starting to gloss over.
Panicked, she shouted out to them all, “I will return, I promise!”
The words jumped from her throat. She didn’t have time to think of something to say but they were exactly the words she needed, the one’s she had to say before departing. Lara was glad she spoke them before falling into an exhausted, dreamless sleep against her mother. Triauve stroked Lara’s hair with her free hand. Now they would be safe.
CHAPTER 40
David was leaning against the wall, looking at his wife from his daughter’s bedroom doorway. Triauve was indeed a remarkable woman. She was covering Lara up with a plush comforter. Lara had fallen into a deep sleep before they had completely left the forest of Emmitaenu.
While Lara was already sleeping he and his wife had lingered in the living room to talk about how they were going to handle the most pressing situations but now he needed to rest too.
He had never been to Emmitaenu before tonight, and after what he just experienced in that land, he never wanted to go back. How long had Lara been there? He had no way of knowing. They left early Friday morning and hadn‘t seen or heard from her since. It was hard for him to accept that he had been there at all. It was so unreal. Even now he still wondered if it was only just a dream. Then again, dreaming was never this painful. Experimentally, he tried to bring his knees to his chest so he could attempt to stand on his own. He couldn’t do it.
He gazed back into the room and smiled at his wife. She kissed Lara’s forehead and draped the red embroidered moon and stars cloak over the chair at her bedroom desk. She had taken it off of Lara before laying her in bed. They decided to let Lara keep it, assuming it would be precious to her now that it was all she had left of her friends from the enchanted forest.
After Lara was tucked in and they were both convinced she would be fine for the night, Triauve helped her husband to bed.
“I’ll call you a doctor,” she volunteered once he was under the covers.
“You can call me a doctor in the morning,” he argued. She crossed her arms disagreeably but he continued. “I can’t stay awake any longer for one to arrive anyway. In the morning I’ll be more coherent. Trust me,” he added the last two words and they worked just like he knew they would. She rolled her eyes and uncrossed her arms.
“Victory,” he yawned, spoiling his opportunity to rub it in. Only twice had Triauve ever mentioned Emmitaenu. Once, long ago, when they were in high school together and once more earlier this evening when they were desperate to find their daughter. She had not wanted him to come, but he had argued that it was his little girl as much as hers.
Triauve told him her homeland was brutal, and for the first time he understood why she was so determined to escape it as a youth. He would have pitied her if he hadn’t seen the way she armed herself back there. Everything about the way she stood against the vicious beasts tonight had awed and frightened him. He had feared for her life.
She had saved them all in the end. David suspected no one else had put the pieces together and he was glad. The last thing he wanted was for them to build any kind of connection between their world and his wife. It was behind her.
It was agreed before bed that they would never return to Emmitaenu. Not one of them, and they would tell Lara in the morning. They would make it clear to her she could never go back. He was certain Lara would object, recalling her last words to the demon, gypsy, and witches; but they would have to make her see. She was never to go back.
Ever.
Discovery, the Forest of EMMITAENU
Returning, the Princess of EMMITAENU
Darby, the Proxy of EMMITAENU
Illuminating, the Generations of EMMITAENU
Loyally, the Hutts of EMMITEANU
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Discovery the Forest of Emmitaenu Page 13
