“What happened here?” breathed Jinx as she looked around at the lifeless forest.
“I don’t know, I never seen forest like this before,” Sap was clearly upset, the Rootlings had a special bond with the forest, with nature and to see it like this was difficult for him.
“It’s the darkness,” said Rowan “Is, is this what my castle looks like now?” he asked. No one answered.
A blanket of fog soon enveloped them, it got thicker as they continued through the poisoned woods. It was almost blinding, they could only see a few feet in front of them. Some large moss-covered boulders were laying amongst the dead plants and flowers. Some were nearly as big as the surrounding trees, even so, Sap almost walked directly into one as he could hardly see where he was going. It was difficult for them to tell if they were going in the right direction, the haze made everything look the same.
“Stay close,” Shaya said, “We don’t want to lose anyone.”
They all huddled together as they walked carefully.
“How far Sap?” asked the prince.
“Not far,” he said as he looked around “We should be coming to stone totems soon,” he didn’t sound very reassuring.
“Are you sure?” Rowan asked with a raised eyebrow.
“The fog is too thick, Sap can’t see.”
“Are we lost?” Jinx hovered in front of Sap with a worried look on her face.
“Don’t think so. I can’t tell,” Sap said sadly.
“It’s alright Sap, just keep going, we’ll find it soon enough,” Shaya reassured the little Rootling. He nodded and continued into the blinding haze. It grew darker as they marched on, even though it was the middle of the day. The fog and dark creeping branches of the trees above them blocked out the sun. The branches looked like long, gangly arms with outstretched fingers grasping each other, intertwining themselves.
Every noise Shaya and the others heard had them on edge, they couldn’t see anything. One of the mutated monsters Oakmore had mentioned could have been standing two feet in front of their faces, and they wouldn’t know it. Shaya slowly drew her sword, she had a bad feeling, a knot in her stomach, something aching that was telling her something terrible was going to happen. She looked around and could only make out shadows and shapes, she thought she saw something move, but she wasn’t sure. The fog was playing tricks on her eyes, but she was alert, she was ready, but not for what was coming.
It was just the sound at first, a scuttling noise above them and fast gargled panting as if someone was trying to catch their breath while choking. It was a horrible, unsettling noise that made the group freeze. They couldn’t tell exactly where the sound was coming from. They looked around frantically, but all they saw was the dense nothingness of fog.
Rowan quickly whipped out an arrow and readied it with his bow. It took him a few moments to set the sharpened bolt properly on the red drawstring. Clearly, it had been a while since the price had used a bow, which didn’t give Shaya a lot of confidence. Sap started walking back towards Shaya and the others, a nervous expression of fear on his wooden face.
“Get behind me,” shouted Shaya and they all huddled together and started to walk backwards as the sounds circled them. Whatever it was, there was more than one. They came to one of the large boulders and put their backs to it, this way it eliminated one direction the attack could come from.
“What are they?” Jinx shot onto Sap’s head and tried to hide in the tangled twigs of his hair.
The noises grew louder, the snapping of branches above them, the hurried footstep on all sides. Shaya strained her blue eyes, narrowing them until they were sapphire coloured slits. Something moved out in the haze, or at least she thought so. As her breathing quickened, she realised that the air felt thin and the smell of old wood and dirt that had been filling her nostrils, suddenly stank of decay. Grasping her sword tightly with both hands, she felt the panic rise.
I don’t know what to do, her mind shouted, I can't fight what I can’t see.
Something suddenly darted passed them with a loud, hurried scuttle and sickening rasp. Then another one shot across from the other side, the gargled rasping getting nearer. A small stone fell onto Shaya’s shoulder then landed in a pile of dead leaves at her feet. She felt her blood run cold and a shiver ran across her skin. She looked up, and she felt the colour drain from her skin. Above them, latched onto the boulder, gradually creeping down towards them was something horrifying.
A face with no eyes, just two slits for nostrils and a lipless gaping maw, all blackening gums and rotten teeth. It’s sickly pale skin looked like it had been stretched too tightly over the monster’s skull. Shaya could see the outline of the thing’s cranium beneath. Its body was desperately thin, its ribs clearly visible. The hideous creature’s gangly arms were twice as long as any human’s. They stretched out with elongated fingers grasping the hard stone. It groaned it’s disgusting, retching noise and reached out for Shaya with its long bony fingers. Shaya let out a horrified gasp, and the others immediately looked up in horror at the nightmare above them.
Shaya swung her sword at the skulking fiend, she missed. It leapt an impossible jump and landed in front of them heavily, making its gangly bones click and crack. It crawled its way towards them on all fours rasping with its long grey tongue hanging out of its mouth. Shaya held out her sword with one hand and with the other pushed Rowan and Sap backwards. As it grew closer, two more crept forward out of the mist, each one viler than the last.
“What do we do?” asked Rowan pointing his arrow over Shaya’s shoulder, trying desperately to hold it steady in his quivering hands.
Shaya was silent as her eyes darted from one horror to the next. Suddenly without warning one of the skulkers dived at her, its skeletal arms reaching out for her throat. She thrust her sword forward and just caught the creature on the forearm. It hit the floor in front of them, and within a split second it was on its feet and bounding up the nearest tree. These things were fast, they may not have eyes, but they could sense the group, maybe they could smell them. They didn’t have time to think as the other two skulkers scuttled quickly forward. One had its dripping tongue lolling out of its gaping jaws. Rowan let loose an arrow, that hit one of the lurking monsters in the shoulder, it jumped to a tree, bounded off and launched its self at them again. Rowan grabbed Sap and dived out of the way, a second later the monster smashed into the boulder behind them.
Shaya was swinging her sword at the third skulker as it tried to grab her with its bone-like fingers and horribly elongated arms. She plunged the blade forward and sliced off two fingers that fell to the floor with a wet plop. It shrieked in pain and disappeared into the fog.
“Run,” shouted Rowan to Sap as he quickly turned and fired another arrow at one of the moving shadows in the haze. He heard the arrow ricochet off a rock and knew he had missed. Out of the whiteness flew the shrieking beast, it hit with such force it smacked the prince off his feet. He slapped the floor so hard it knocked the wind right out of him and sent his bow flying. Before he even had a chance to get up, he felt bony fingers on his back, and without warning, he was launched into the air and slammed against a tree. He opened his eyes to the sight of decaying teeth, and the smell of dead flesh as the skulker grabbed him by the throat and pulled him close.
“Hey,” shouted Jinx as she flew in front of the savage. It tried to grab her, but she was too quick. Suddenly it screamed in pain as Sap jammed his spear between the beast’s ribs. With a gnarled clammy hand, it hit Sap across the chest sending him sprawling backwards and leapt out of view.
Shaya ran over to the fallen prince as he tried to pick himself up.
“Are you alright?” she asked worriedly.
“Check on Sap,” he said winded.
Shaya put her hand on his shoulder reassuringly then sprinted over to Sap who was laying on the ground holding his chest. Jinx was floating next to him.
“Sap, come on you have to get up,” the little sprite said urgently.
&
nbsp; “Sap are you hurt?” Shaya said.
“I alright friends,” he said with a breathless smile as he sat up.
Rowan quickly stumbled over after he had retrieved his bow.
“Can you walk?” he asked slightly panicked.
“I no know.”
“Then get on my back.”
They all looked at him surprised, but they didn’t have time to question it as more rasping, choking noises started circling again. Shaya quickly lifted the Rootling onto Rowan’s back.
“Sap, you’re on arrow duty,” said the prince.
“Okie doke,” said Sap as he handed Rowan a fresh arrow.
“We need to move. Sap which way?” Shaya asked. Sap looked around frantically, they had been turned around so many times, he had no idea, and Shaya knew it.
“Never mind,” she said as she scanned the area “This way,” she decided finally, and they headed off. They had only taken a few steps before a skulker leapt out of the fog narrowly missing Shaya’s head. It vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Another bounded out of the mist and this time landed on Shaya pinning her to the floor, its gangly arms grappling with her sword.
“Shaya!” Rowan shouted as he went to fire an arrow into the beasts back. At the moment a second one came from the side, swiping its clawed fingernails at the prince’s leg. They only just reached and mildly grazed his skin. He sent an arrow flying. It stuck right between where the skulker's eyes should have been, and it went limp.
“Arrow,” he yelled, and Sap pulled a new bolt from Rowan’s quiver and handed it to him. The prince fumbled with the bowstring and looked down just as Shaya screamed loudly and stuck her sword into the living skeletons chest. Gasping for air, she shoved the monster off and clambered to her feet.
“You alright Shaya?” asked the prince, she nodded still gasping and continued forward, praying they were going the right way. They ran as fast as they could, watching every shadow, every tree, waiting for one to jump out at them. They could still hear them, Shaya was sure there were at least two in the decrepit trees above them, leaping from branch to creaking branch as they chased them.
“No!” cried Rowan.
Shaya span around to see a skulker behind the prince, its scrawny fingers curled around Sap’s head. It’s side bleeding from a black wound. It was the one the rootling had stabbed. Shaya’s already terrified heart seemed to jolt harder as she saw the horror in Sap’s brown eyes. Rowan let loose an arrow, and the monster ducked. Grinning a sickening bile covered grin the pale creature jumped high up into the trees and out of sight.
“I didn’t see it,” panicked Rowan “It was behind me, I didn’t.”
“We’ll find him,” Shaya said firmly “Jinx can you see anything?”
Jinx floated up to the trees and peered through the bleakness “Nothing I don’t see-.”
A bony hand appeared out of nowhere and swiped at the sprite, Jinx yelled, dodged out of the way and flew back down to the others. Rowan fired an arrow, it sailed through the fog and stuck in a tree. A moment later, a hideous fleshy skeleton landed with a thud in front of them and instantly jumped at Shaya. The girl took a step to one side and swung her sword down as hard as she could and took an arm clean off. The creature hit the floor screeching and flailing its sickeningly long limbs and thrashing its head around violently. Shaya went to finish it, but the monster grabbed her sword, it took every ounce of strength she had, but she managed to push down hard enough to stick the blade into its pale, clammy chest.
“Shaya, Rowan Prince,” they heard Sap shout, he wasn’t too far away. They jogged further following the little Rootling’s shrill voice.
“Shaya, Pretty Jinx,” it wasn’t long until he sounded like he was right above them. They had arrived at a ginormous tree, it’s trunk was three times the thickness of the others that littered the dead forest. Its bark was almost black, brittle and rotting.
“Jinx go see.”
Jinx was already on her way up the massive tree into the mist. She looked around and saw the young tree child sat on a grey rotting branch.
“There you are,” she said relieved. “Are you hurt?”
“Oh, pretty Jinx, I glad to see you,” he said, his voice shaky “I okay, I no know why they leave me here.”
“We’ll get you down” Jinx went to fly back down.
“I see totem.”
“What?”
“I see totem, we come passed it when they take me. It over that way” Sap pointed, Jinx looked, but she saw nothing but fog.
“Are you sure?” she asked, the little Rootling nodded, and she smiled “Great, well let’s get you down first. Don’t go anywhere,” she grinned, and dive bombed to where Shaya and the prince were waiting.
“Is he up there?” asked Rowan as soon as Jinx re-emerged.
“Yes, just at the top of that tree,” she pointed.
“Why leave him there?” Rowan pondered, Jinx just shrugged.
“It’s a trap,” said Shaya flatly.
“You think?”
“Did you see any of those things up there?”
“No,”
“They’re waiting for us to rescue him,” she sighed.
“We can’t just leave him there,” insisted Jinx.
“We’re not going to,” said Shaya, a little insulted that Jinx would even think that was what she had meant. She looked at Rowan’s bow “I really hope you’re a good shot with that thing.”
“I seem to be doing alright so far, why?”
Shaya sheaved her sword with a long hard sigh and dropped her bag by the prince’s feet “Because I’m going up to get him.”
Rowan looked up at the tree, the top half was almost entirely covered with fog. He could only just about see the dark, blurry shape of the tree and some of the high branches. If he squinted hard and looked for long enough, he could just about make out Sap’s little figure.
“You’re going up there?”
“He can’t make it down on his own Rowan. I don’t have a choice.”
“Let me go.”
“I’m good with a sword, not so good with a bow,” she rubbed her hands together and looked up at the decaying tree. “Keep an eye out for me, will you?” she asked Jinx.
“Will do.”
Shaya nodded and walked over to the base of the tree, she looked around for a foot hole and found a jagged piece of wood sticking out of the trunk. She stuck her foot in and jumped up, grabbing a brittle branch with her right hand. She continued slowly up the tree as Jinx floated around peering into the white. Rowan pulled his quiver off his back and stuck it on the ground in front of him. He readied his first arrow and narrowed his eyes.
A branch snapped in Shaya’s hand as she climbed, her stomach dropped, and she quickly grabbed another to keep her balance. As she moved her left foot, a chunk of bark came away and fell. The tree was suffering from the corruption, worse than all the others. Its trunk was dark and weak, with every step she took, another piece cracked and split, it felt like the whole tree might just crumble in her grasp.
“Here they come,” screamed Rowan as he saw a skulker jump from a nearby tree to the one Shaya was climbing. A second one appeared above her. An arrow flew through the air and stuck in the hand of the one below.
“Damn,” Rowan grunted as he loaded his bow. The skulker ripped the arrow out of its hand with its black teeth and started climbing towards the young girl, breathing heavily.
“Above you,” said Jinx. Shaya looked up to see the eyeless freak descending upon her. She grabbed a branch with her left hand, and with the right, she pulled out her sword. The skulker kept on trying to seize her as she swung her sword, careful not to swing so hard she would lose her footing. Shaya let out a panicked cry when something caught her boot. She looked down to see one of the sickening, twisted fiends with its gangling fingers wrapped around her boot. It gnashed its horrible teeth and snarled, then out of nowhere, an arrow landed in it’s back. It howled and fell, her foot still in its grasp. It nearly ripped Sh
aya clean off the branch she clung to. She swung and dangled by one hand, her heavy sword weighing her down. She tried desperately to regain her footing as she looked up to see the other monster inches from her face.
Rowan loaded another arrow, he pulled back the drawstring and aimed. He was about to fire when he was slammed into from behind. The arrow flew, and he fell to the ground.
The arrow landed two inches from Shaya’s face, showering her with black splinters. She yelled, and even the skulker flinched for a moment. Without thinking, Shaya yanked the bolt from the tree bark and shoved it as hard as she could into the skulker’s face. It made its horrible choking noise and fell passed her. She heard it smack against the ground below. She thrust the arrow back into the trunk and used it to steady herself. She found her footing and continued her ascent, using the shaft as a pickaxe to get a better grip. She was getting close, she could see Sap sitting on the branch, his stumpy little hands over his ears. Nearly there.
The skin covered skeleton swiped its clawed fingers at Rowan’s head, he fell over and scurried backwards as the beast came at him again. He swiped his arrow like a sword, but it just kept coming. It lunged at him, and he rolled to the side, it missed by a split second. He jumped to his feet and went for his bow that had sailed out of his hands and landed in a bush. The prince spun around when he heard the gargled cry of the skulker, and just in time, it was nearly on him. It grabbed him by the neck and opened its disgusting mouth wide, its grey tongue lapping at his face. He managed to quickly stick his arrow into the monster’s temple. Its grasp loosened, and he was left gasping as the skulker stumbled away and finally slumped lifelessly to the ground. The young prince took a moment to get his breath back and then ran staggering to get his bow.
Shaya reached the large branch where Sap was sitting clutching his chest. As soon as Shaya climbed onto it, it shook and began to splinter. Her stomach bounced again, and she froze and waited for the branch to snap and fall. It didn’t.
The Shattered Moon (A Divine Legacy Book 1) Page 15
