Wicked Forest (Hidden World Book 1)

by E. J. Bennett

  She heard a sigh and soft footsteps getting closer. Arms wrapped around her and she found her face pressed into a warm chest. She clenched the shirt of the warm body and snuggled closer. Her stomach panged in hunger but she had no strength to open her eyes let alone eat.

  The first orange rays of sunlight kissed her face and gently woke her from her slumber. She tried to stretch her legs when she found them entangled with someone else’s. Her head was on something hard yet comfy. Panic gathered within her stomach as she saw the grey stone walls. Then her ordeal rushed back causing her to bolt upright. “Owe!” she heard and looked down to see Levi rubbing his stomach.

  Crystal scanned the small cave.

  “Where is Drake?” Levi shot up his eyes darted around the space. He walked to the edge and looked down.

  “We have to go. It’s not safe to stay here,” was his reply.

  “Where is he?” her voice took on more of a panic.

  “I don’t know,” Levi replied.

  “Come on,”

  “No. Not without Drake,” Crystal crossed her arms.

  “Crystal, we don’t have time for this. You don’t know how dangerous Athens is. They will know we are here and be searching for us,”

  “We have to wait for Drake,”

  Levi shook his head. “We can’t he will find us. Just trust me,” what else could she do but take his word.

  The climb up was bad enough. Crystal dreaded getting down from the mountain, with each step she took to the cliff edge the more she wanted to hide in the cave forever.

  She looked down and felt her body sway with the sheer drop. In the dark she didn’t realize how high up they had gone.

  “There is no way I can climb back down,” she found herself stuttering.

  “You don’t have too,”

  Levi walked outside and out of view. A few seconds later his dark head of hair popped back into the cave.

  “You coming?” he asked.

  Cautiously she stepped further forward to find Levi stood on a almost flat surface. He walked further along keeping his body close to the wall.

  “Don’t look down,” Crystal nodded at his words keeping her head faced forward taking each step at a time. She heard bits of rock falling to the earth, which caused her heart to speed up. Still she refused to look.

  “Crystal?” she heard Levi say softly.

  “You can look now. They had reached the top of the mountain which homed more flat land. She looked out over the forest. She exhaled with relief as she took in the breathtaking site. She could see for miles, roaming trees, rivers and hills.

  When she faced Levi she had a smile on her face.

  “Come on,” he said gently leading the way.

  Crystal almost jumped for joy when she saw a winding path that led to another large stretch of trees. She thanked her lucky stars that she didn’t have to climb again. Instead she skipped to catch up to Levi.

  When they came across a river he pulled a branch from one of the nearby trees and used a rock to sharpen the edges. With the branch he stood deathly quiet at the river’s edge, and then suddenly plunged the spear like twig into the water. Crystal clapped when she saw a huge fish attached to the end.

  Levi set the fish on the ground and placed his hands over the top. The fish glowed red and Crystal watched in owe as steam rose into the air.

  He placed a large portion of the fish onto a large leaf and handed it to Crystal, who dug in with a strong hunger. She was thankful for the food. Her body felt more alive, she was more energized with strength to finish their joinery home.

  Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand she asked “Do you think Drake is all right?”

  “Yeah, he is like a bad smell always returns,” his answer made her smile, although the worry still remained.

  A high pitch shrieking noise pierced her ears. It was so loud it almost made her head explode.

  “Quick,” Levi jumped up from the ground and dragged her along. He was running and Crystal struggled to keep up with his large legs. She stumbled and tripped as he pulled her forth.

  She fell to the ground. Levi stopped and pulled her up, pushing her into a nearby tree when the biggest bird she had ever seen swooped into view. Levi dropped and rolled. The bird only missing him by a millimeter.

  “Run!” he yelled at her as the creature veered back towards them, this time she got a better view and noticed it wasn’t a bird but a dragon. A real life dragon with scales and yellow eyes, they were huge. With small beady eyes.

  “Run!” Levi yelled again. The dragon darted for Levi and they both fell to the ground.

  The dragon made the most horrendous noise as it screeched and thrashed.

  “Levi! Levi!” she called with no answer. The dragon became still. Its eyes staring into nothingness. Inching forward she prepared herself for any sudden movement. Perhaps it was just playing dead.

  “Help me get this thing off,” she heard Levi huff and raced the last few feet pushing the slimy scaly Dragon. It was heavy and took a great deal of effort and strength to move its body.

  Levi shuffled out from under its huge frame and brushed off his clothes. He didn’t have a scratch on him and he looked unaffected. Crystal glanced at the beast of a dragon and saw a large stick protruding from its stomach.

  “The only way to kill a dragon is to chop of its head or pierce its heart,” with her eyebrows raised she gazed at Levi, “Okay,”

  He had just taken down a monster single handedly. She was impressed by his skill and strength.

  “My hero,” she joked placing on hand on her heart.

  Chapter 23

  THE DRAGONS AND BEEN sent. He just hoped it was just the one that had seen them or they were done for. If there were more and reported back their whereabouts then they were dead.

  “Why did you do it?” he asked her.

  “Do what?”

  “Touch those runes,” she flicked a her hair over her shoulder and met his gaze. Her makeup had run leaving behind black streaks and her curls had become a tangled mess. Still she looked beautiful in her wild state.

  “I don’t know. It was this feeling. It was so strong, pulling me forward. I just can’t explain it,”

  “Yeah, magic can be a funny thing,” he knew what she had meant. The hands of fate were pushing her to follow the path that destiny had in store for her. She couldn’t run from it. No one could out smart destiny.

  AS THEY WALKED THROUGH the forest, Crystal couldn’t stop thinking about Drake. She was worried. He was alone and after the creatures she had seen, she hoped he was still alive. They came upon a small cottage. Smoke drifted from the chimney. At first Crystal thought she was daydreaming, just imagining the surreal scene. It sat alone surrounded by the trees and bushes. It was the first home they had seen.

  Slowly she walked beside Levi, when she looked up at him he gave her a small smile.

  They reached the door and Levi knocked three times.

  An old lady swung the wooden door open with force. Her face lit up with a grin.

  Without warning she threw her arms around Levi. Crystal was attacked by a gust of wind. Her blond locks blew into her face.

  The old woman had wings. They flapped in a crazy rhythm. See through and large they fluttered uncontrollably.

  “Levi Carmichael, what a surprise. Come in, come in,” she sang opening the door wider. They stepped into the tiny room that homed one small couch and a chair. A thick rug covered the wooden floor in front of the fire place.

  “Lets not pretend you didn’t see us coming,” Levi smiled waving his forefinger at the old lady.

  “You must have a death wish boy,” the woman said shaking her head, yet she still held a small smile.

  “It wasn’t intentional trust me,” Levi answered.

  “Well I would have thought your father would have picked you a better fit,” the woman eyed Crystal with distaste. Levi laughed then tried to hide it with a cough which resulted in a snorting noise.

  “Margon,
this is Crystal Hudson. Crystal this is Margon,”

  “A Hudson witch? My, My what a surprise,”

  “Yeah tell me about it. Listen we need a place to stay just for the night....”

  “You are both more than welcome,”

  “Thanks Margon, we will understand if you do ask us to leave,”

  “Nonsense boy, I can take care of myself,”

  “That you can,” Levi laughed.

  Margon cooked them a hot meal of stew and bread. Crystal enjoyed the meal and felt much better with a full stomach.

  “Is that the way the human’s dress?” Margon asked once they had all chipped in with cleaning and were relaxed on the couch.

  “No, that is her costume,”

  “Costume?” she raised her eyebrows.

  “Long story,” Levi said.

  “Come, child. I may have something more suitable to fit you,” Crystal followed Margon into a small bedroom. A wardrobe and a double bed were the only items in the room. She opened the wardrobe muttering as she searched through the clothes. “Here we are,” Margon said as she popped her head out holding a light brown dress. “Put this on,” Crystal took the dress with hesitation. “Thank you, where is the bathroom,”

  “Oh outside,” Margon marched through the cottage and Crystal followed her. She walked to the back of the cottage and there stood a small shed like hut. “In there,” Margon pointed to the hut.

  Crystal opened the door. It had no sink and no plumbing. It looked like a wooden seat with a hole inside which needed emptying manually. Ignoring the makeshift toilet she changed into the dress. It reached her ankles and had a white apron attached to the front. The dress also had long sleeves which needed to be folded up.

  When she went back in the cottage she thanked Margon. The dress would help to keep her warm. “Now child, you look worthy,” Crystal didn’t know what she meant by that but didn’t ask.

  Crystal yarned it had been a tiring few days and there journey was not yet over.

  “You, can go lay down, the room in which the dress comes from,” Margon said giving Crystal a smile for the first time.

  “Thank you, goodnight,”

  “Goodnight,” Margon repeated.

  “Have you seen Drake?” She heard Levi ask and paused as she reached the door to the bedroom.

  “No, his he here too?”

  “Yeah we got separated. Well he went out to hunt but never returned,”

  “He will be fine boy. He can handle himself,” Crystal went inside the room and curled up on the bed. She was thankful for somewhere more comfortable to sleep out of the bitter cold.

  As she lay there. Her mind went into overdrive.

  Something wasn’t right. Levi knew the place. Yet he had said that witches had been exiled from the land. It didn’t make sense. Margon had been shocked to see him. Whatever was going on, Crystal didn’t like it one bit. It left her confused.

  “IT HAS BEGUN,” MARGON said as the bedroom door closed.

  “Yeah I just wish I knew how this ends,” Levi muttered.

  “Knowing the future can be a curse. Just knowing it can change it in devastating ways,”

  “You must be strong boy. Remember who you are. Who you once were. Times are changing and you need to be prepared for those changes,”

  “Margon, you really need to take people classes as you talk in riddles,”

  “Yes, that I do. But can you read between the lines and find the meaning to my words?” she asked him and Levi smiled.

  “I am sure your words will reveal themselves soon enough, but for now I will bid you goodnight,”

  MARGON WISHED HIM GOODNIGHT. His path was still unfolding. He would embark on a journey no other had ever been on. Crystal would be in good hands.

  Levi Carmichael had no idea what was in store, she wished she could warn him. them both as Crystal’s path was just as dark. Yet she knew that if she did she could change the future in ways that even she would not be able to undo. It was best to let them follow their own destinies and figure it out as they go. Still she worried about the pair.

  Fate had one heck of a journey for them, one that would be written in legends for decades to come.

  Chapter 24

  “They’re coming! They’re coming!” the sound of a woman screeching made Crystal jump up. Levi jumped from the bed. Still half asleep she glared at him as he pulled on his jeans and t-shirt.

  “Get up,” he snapped at her. Crystal heard the pounding of the earth, it sounded like hoofs. Horses and lots of them, heading for the cottage.

  “Out the window,” Levi ordered.

  “Margon,” he paused once he had the window open.

  “Go, I will be fine. There is plenty of fight left in these old bones,” he nodded and climbed out, Crystal hot on his heels. He pressed his back to the wall of the cottage and pressed his finger to his lips.

  They crept around the house. By now the sound of horses neighing and shouts from men could be heard.

  “When I say go. You need to run straight into that section of the trees. Got it?” Crystal nodded.

  “Go,” she did as he instructed and ran as quick as her body would allow her into the thick stretch of trees. She kept on running until Levi told her to stop. He pointed to a river and they walked following the flow.

  “Who were they?” Crystal asked.

  “People we don’t want to encounter,”

  “How do you know Margon?” Levi sighed.

  “Crystal something’s are better not known,”

  “Please,” she whispered.

  “Fine. I lived here once. Before we were exiled,” Crystal thought about it for a moment.

  “Wow you are ancient,”

  “Crystal you are very naïve. How many brothers and sisters do you have?” he asked her.

  “Seventeen sisters,” she had no idea why that would make her naïve.

  “How old is your parents?”

  “My father is forty nine and my mother forty one,” still she was puzzled.

  Rolling his eyes he stopped and faced her. “You are approaching your eighteenth birthday. Your mother is forty one with eighteen kids. Try adding a few zeros on the end,” Crystal’s mouth hung open. What he said did make sense in a way. Then again, she couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that there could have been a possibility that her parents had been around for centuries.

  “If you are so old, then why are you not married already?” Every witch was married off by the age of twenty one, even them from other covens. There had been times that a match had been found from different coven.

  “Look, Crystal. I get you don’t want to marry me. The feeling is mutual,”

  “Why didn’t you answer my question?” sighing he stopped walking and ran his hand through his thick mane.

  “There is a girl from my pa...Coven. My father doesn’t think she is strong enough to be married to a Carmichael,”

  “Which would dilute your bloodline,” Crystal finished and he nodded.

  “Don’t you think it sucks? We should be able to chose who we want to spend the rest of our lives with. Not be forced to marry someone we don’t love,”

  “It may suck. We may hate it. But in the end it keeps us alive,”

  They both walked in silence. Listening to the sounds of nature, and lost in their own thoughts. At times Levi would pull her into the cover of bushes while weird looking creatures past. Crystal wondered if her parents were looking for her. Were they worried or glad she was gone? She had always been the disobedient and stubborn one.

  She thought about the wolf and the kids from school. “Levi?”

  “Do you think my friends are okay? I mean with the wolf and all,”

  “He didn’t make it into the party,” nodding she looked ahead.

  “How much further do we need to go?”

  “About three more days on foot,”

  “Three more days!” Crystal raised her voice.

  “We have to get to the other side of the forest,” sh
e groaned as he said that. How her feet would handle three more days walking she had no idea. She hoped she didn’t collapse from exhaustion.

  SHE HAD NO IDEA, WHO she was. Perhaps they got it wrong. She didn’t look strong at all. He had yet to see her use her power.

  All Levi could see was a lost girl searching for answers. Her dreams of a life of love were nothing but a fantasy. Witches did what they had too in order to survive. Coming from a place like Athens it was the only thing they knew how to do.

  He wished he could take her away from the horrors of Athens and the coven’s who wanted to use her.

  Yet in the end all he could do was hope for the best. Crystal Hudson had gotten under his skin. She had made him feel things he had never felt before.

  He gazed at the girl who pulled a flower from the ground and took in its sweet fragrance. Her hair blow untamed in the wind. She was pure and kind. Two deadly characteristics in Athens, they will use her kindness to their advantage.

  Chapter 25

  A sound, like no other echoed around them. It was a kind of squeak of a mouse only much louder mixed with a pit a patter sound like heavy rain. Crystal watched as Levi’s face drained of color.

  “What is it?” Crystal whispered in fear.

  “Archnne,” he muttered pulling out a dagger from his boot.

  The noise became louder, this time accompanied by a tutting. Levi kept his eyes straight forward, his legs apart ready for a fight.

  When the sight of Archnne came into view, Crystal almost fainted.

  It was one thing to be petrified of spiders. Yet this was no spider.

  First a head of a woman appeared her black hair blow in the wind and her eyes were nothing but black vortexes.

  Then her lower body appeared. Crystal’s spine felt like it had been replaced by ice. From the waist down, Archnne had the body of a spider, complete with eight legs.