Dark Spirits of the Forest

by Michael Weinberger

  Suddenly a chill wind whipped through the grounds, with enough freezing cold behind it to make the singers on stage stutter in the middle of their song. The Bakaak’s head whipped to the side, its mouth agape and, even though they couldn’t hear it, Jett and Ursula knew it was shrieking at having sighted its prey.

  Ursula shivered as Jett tensed, “It’s here.”

  The howl of the Wendigo cut through the night, riding over the amplified music and the voices of the performers. It made everyone in the outdoor amphitheater turn, searching for where the foul sound had arisen. The musicians stopped playing, turning to the sound engineers half expecting to get an explanation, but the headset-wearing technicians were looking at each other equally confused.

  For an instant the entire area went quiet, with only the sound of confused and hushed voices breaking the silence. Then the Wendigo howled again, but this time from a completely unexpected place.

  “Oh my God.” Jett whispered, “It’s already in the crowd.”

  Something burst upward from the press of human bodies that made up the standing room only space and bodies erupted into the air. Panic ensued and people started screaming in fear and running in every direction while others started screaming in pain.

  Jett and Ursula were pushing their way into the crowd as the rest of humanity pressed against them as if they were salmon swimming upstream.

  “Where is it?” Jett called to Ursula.

  “I can’t see it! It must be on all fours.”

  “Look at the Bakaak, see which direction it’s looking.”

  Ursula shoved several people away from her and glanced toward the spot where the Bakaak had been. It was hard to tell, with the creature’s eyes being red glowing orbs instead of actual eyes, but she got the idea.

  “Two o’clock!” Ursula pointed as she called to Jett.

  Jett turned in the direction Ursula indicated and ran, dodging between panicked concert goers with every step. Blood began to cover the ground and Jett could see the people who had been savaged by the Wendigo as it had initially attacked. Large semi-circular chunks had been ripped away in each of the dead bodies, as if each had a bite removed by a large shark and then been abandoned to bleed to death from the wound.

  Nearby, someone shrieked in pain and horror and, as the crowd broke in front of him, Jett could see a woman being quickly dragged toward the forest by one leg as bodies fell to the sides as if capsized by a boat’s wake.

  Ursula was right on Jett’s heels, but suddenly turned her attention to the sky, “Jett! Look out!”

  Jett turned his head in time to see the Bakaak draw back on its bow and loose the string. He couldn’t see the arrow, but the sound of the projectile cut the air as it traveled toward what Jett hoped was the Wendigo. There was the recognizable sound of the arrow hitting flesh, but it was the woman being dragged behind the Wendigo whose screams were interrupted by a new cry of pain.

  Jett ran after her and could only watch as the woman’s arms struggled less and less as the poison in the Bakaak’s invisible arrow started to paralyze her. Jett could only imagine the terror the woman was going through. Not only was she hurt and being dragged away, but now she was unable to even struggle against it. The thought made his legs pump even harder and he began to close the distance.

  But Ursula was even faster, and with the people having finally begun to disperse, she had a clear a path. Ursula took two more great strides and leapt into the air. She landed on top of the Wendigo and it released the woman as Ursula rode it to the ground.

  “Remember me?!” Ursula pounded her fists into the Wendigo’s body with such force that Jett could hear each blow resonate with bone jarring intensity. Jett extended his Spirit, trying to call on the earth to ensnare the beast in roots or to open the soil around it in order to draw the beast down, but before he could make the connection he heard a distracting impact and a groan of pain came from Ursula, as the Wendigo shrugged off her blows and backhanded her so that she fell off of its body.

  Jett’s concern for Ursula was abated as he saw her roll with her landing and get right back to her feet, but the sheer power of the strike had sent a chill through him. It seemed like the thing was even stronger than before. They were going to have to find a way to slow it down enough that Jett could use his power.

  The Wendigo rose and faced them, its long claws and needle teeth brandished in challenge, then a different sound, of something unseen cutting through the air, and the beast contorted as if something had struck it. A small hole gaped at the creature’s shoulder and it raised a hand to the wound before it tore the Bakaak’s magic arrow free of its body. Jett and Ursula turned to the Bakaak as is glided toward the Wendigo, its bow already drawn back to launch another arrow. Jett could see the skeletal thing release another shaft, but the Wendigo turned and sped for the forest as the arrow flew short of its target.

  “It’s running!” Ursula called out and Jett watched as the Wendigo disappeared into the darkness with the Bakaak flying after it.

  “C’mon!” Ursula shouted as she bolted for the trees, while Jett willed his body into action and tried to keep up with her.

  Chapter 22

  In the darkness of the forest, with only the moonlight shining down on them, Jett and Ursula had quickly lost sight of both creatures.

  “Have we lost them?” Ursula asked, while looking to the treetops for the Bakaak.

  Jett was scanning the ground, but the lack of light made any hope of following a trail impossible, so he dropped one knee and placed his hand on the ground, extending his consciousness into the earth and searching for the foul taint that the Wendigo always left on the ground like a footprint.

  “This way!” Jett called out triumphantly and he and Ursula began working their way through the forest.

  After a few minutes of running, Ursula stopped in a small break in the trees, “You sure?”

  “Yes,” Jett bent over and put his hands on his knees from the exertion, and then straightened, as the area seemed familiar to him.

  “What?” she asked.

  “I’ve been here before.”

  Ursula looked around, but seemed doubtful, “I think we were at least a mile or so to the east when we found the Wendigo last time.”

  Jett shook his head, “Not then.”

  Ursula looked confused, “I thought you said you made a straight line out of the forest when you had recovered from the Bakaak’s arrow.”

  “I did.”

  “So, you couldn’t have walked through here, right?”

  “I didn’t,” he responded.

  Ursula waited, as Jett kept checking for signs that he recognized or remembered something of the placement of the trees, the rocks or anything. Finally, he continued, “I was brought here in my vision.”

  “With the Deer Woman?”

  Jett nodded.

  “Is that good?” she wondered.

  Jett didn’t answer as something on the ground in front of them reflected a shining spot from the moonlight overhead. Jett knelt down and brushed some leaves aside to reveal a badge from one of the Ashland police officers who had gone missing.

  Then a crash sounded to their left, followed by the Wendigo’s howl and the Bakaak’s answering shriek.

  Ursula was ready to bolt in the direction of the sounds but, hesitated as Jett looked off into the forest in the opposite direction.

  “What do we do?” she asked.

  Jett looked to the badge, and then back to the empty forest in front of him, “We need to go this way.”

  Ursula pointed in the opposite direction, “Uh, I’m pretty sure those sounds came from over there.”

  Crashing sounds of the creatures battling came from the direction Ursula had pointed, but Jett shook his head, “No, we need to…” Jett’s voice trailed off as his mind flowed from the badge in his hand, over the ground and through the forest.

  When he came back to himself Jett’s eyes flew wide open in a panicked urgency, “We have to hurry!” Jett took off in
to the forest as Ursula, not prepared for Jett’s sudden burst of speed, had to sprint to keep up.

  When Ursula was finally running alongside Jett she managed, “What are we doing?”

  Jett kept running but managed, “I know where they are!”

  “Where who are?”

  Jett didn’t answer, instead he ran faster, dodging trees and leaping over stumps and boulders until they came to a large rock formation with a dark opening just wide enough for a man, or in this case the Wendigo, to squeeze through.

  Jett stopped short of the cave, as a foulness in the air wafted over them and made them both wince at the stink of decay.

  “Something died in there,” Ursula said, nervousness evident in her voice as she spoke.

  Jett spat in an attempt to get the foulness of the air out of his nose and mouth. Then he chided her, “I thought bears loved caves?”

  “Half bear, remember?” Ursula pointed to herself, “and this bear likes caves called Ramada Inn with modern plumbing.”

  “Yeah, me too. Did we remember a flashlight?”

  “We were off to pee when the shit hit the fan, so no, but I do have my phone.”

  “Ah! Right.” Jett pulled his own phone out of his pocket and ignited the flashlight feature.

  Ursula still wasn’t happy about the idea of entering the cave, “You want me to go in with you or should I keep watch out here?”

  “There’s nothing to be afraid of in there,” Jett tried to sound reassuring, “the Wendigo is out there, hopefully fighting for its life with the Bakaak.”

  “And, as I am assuming this is its lair, if it wins it will probably come back here. I should stay outside in case it comes back before you get out.” It made some sense, but then she added, “If it catches us in there I won’t be nearly as effective in the close quarters against it.”

  Jett didn’t want to admit it, but he was more than a bit freaked out by the claustrophobia the cave promised... and he really didn’t want to go inside alone.

  Damn the woman and her insufferable logic, he thought.

  “All right. Keep watch, but I may need your help soon, so listen for me to call you.”

  “Okay”, she replied, “but help with what?”

  “I’m really hoping there are some survivors in there,” Jett said as he entered the cave.

  Chapter 23

  The moment Jett had entered the cave he felt the humidity level skyrocket, lending a tangible and cloying feel to the putrid air. Slimy moss grew over the rock walls of the cave and, with only his phone for light, Jett still had to feel his way so as not to run into the walls while he headed further into the cave.

  It didn’t take long for the first crunch to sound under his foot. Jett knew what he had stepped on and didn’t need to shine the light down to see the bones he had just crushed. Still, instinct had him look anyway, and with some relief he could see that the amount of decomposition indicated that these bones, although human, had been there for a while. How long he couldn’t be sure, but certainly they had been there months or years, and had not come to rest on the ground in the last few days.

  He still held out hope for finding survivors.

  He kept moving forward until the cave began to open into a wider and wider space. His claustrophobia ebbed but, just as he was feeling more at ease, an ominous humming sound began to emanate from deeper in the chamber. The humming turned into a buzzing as the first of the flies threatened his eyes and ears.

  Jett ignored the flies at first; simply waving his hand to ward them off, but then the biting began.

  “Ow!” Jett screamed, as he swatted one that bit him behind his ear, and his hand came back with the crushed bug and a small smear of his own blood. “Goddamn, Black Flies… terrific.”

  He pushed forward, swatting viciously and continuously at his head and neck while more of the flies landed on him and fed themselves without any remorse. Eventually it became so annoying that Jett switched off the phone’s flashlight, just in case that was what was attracting them to him. It helped, and he knelt, waiting until his eyes had adjusted to the semi-darkness before working his way around some twists and turns cavern’s passageway to get even closer to the main chamber. It didn’t take long until he heard the sound of flowing water. It was a soft sound, not like a stream but more like a series of quickly dripping rocks, falling gently into a collection puddle.

  He worked his way around yet another turn and came through a vast opening into the cave’s main chamber, which was over twenty feet across and twice as deep. Inside the ground had been cleared of rocks, leaves and other flora, so that only loose soil was spread across the floor.

  Several shadows in one corner of the chamber seemed to be rising out of the ground, and in such a way that Jett initially thought they were just large boulders that the Wendigo might have been using as primitive furniture.

  And then, one of them moved.

  Jett rushed over to kneel next to the closest object, and no longer caring about the flies, he ignited the flashlight feature on his phone once more and found one of the Ashland police officers, hogtied with his own handcuffs, moaning weakly from his probable lack of water, and in obvious pain. He was filthy, clearly dehydrated, and the exposed skin of his head, face and neck were covered in bug bites that had festered into puckered, weeping welts. Jett checked the man’s pulse, which was weak, but otherwise he couldn’t find any life-threatening wounds. Jett scanned the chamber with his light, discovering six more bodies, who after his initial inspection, all appeared to be in the same severely weakened state.

  “Ursula!” Jett screamed, “I need you!”

  He didn’t know if she could hear him or not, but he was going to need her help if he hoped to save any of these victims. Desperately he began searching the pockets and weapons belts of each officer until he finally found a set of keys and began unbinding the wrists and ankles of each officer. Some of the officers stirred as Jett did his work, some even began to sob, but all were too weak to move under their own power.

  Jett had just dragged the first of the policemen over to where the water was dripping down the rock walls, when he saw a light coming from where he had entered the chamber. A moment later he could hear Ursula curse and slap her skin as the flies began biting her.

  “Okay, I officially hate Wisconsin!” she muttered.

  Ursula’s angry face appeared in the chamber’s entrance, giving off the appearance of being totally fed up, as if the flies had been the last straw, but as soon as her eyes took in the entire scene, her demeanor changed and she went into full rescue mode.

  Together they managed to finish unbinding each officer and then pulled them to the water, in order to get some fluid back into their systems. Most fell immediately back into unconsciousness after drinking, but one managed to ask between what were clearly painful swallows, “Is it… gone?”

  Jett looked into the panicked eyes of the young man, “It’s otherwise occupied at the moment. Are there any others?”

  The young officer closed his eyes and spoke in broken, raspy fragments, “There were. It was…storing us…like rations in a…pantry. The others…it took them. I don’t…know if they’re still…”

  Jett got the idea and patted the officer on the shoulder, “All right. I’ll check for them. We’re going to get you out of here.”

  Ursula shot Jett a worried looked, but Jett held up a hand before she could say anything and pointed at the Smart Phone in her hand.

  “I don’t suppose you’re getting a signal on that thing?”

  “This deep in a cave? No.”

  “Do you remember if you got a signal outside?”

  Ursula shook her head, “I wasn’t paying attention, but I doubt it.”

  Jett sighed, “All right, stay with them. I’ll check my phone when I get back outside.”

  Ursula immediately grew upset, “Where are you going?!”

  “I need to make sure the Wendigo is stopped. If that doesn’t happen, then none of us are going to get out o
f this alive.”

  “I know that part, the question is how are you going to accomplish that?”

  Jett smiled with false bravado, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?”

  Chapter 24

  Jett sprinted toward the loud and angry howls of the Wendigo. The horrible sound made every fiber of his being plead with his mind to stop, turn around and run away. It was like a very primal understanding that whatever made a sound like that was to be feared and avoided at all costs. Jett forced his mind and body to close in on the sound and, right about the time he was sure he was about to find himself face to face with Wendigo, everything suddenly went quiet. Jett froze in place as he listened and scanned for any sign of either the Wendigo or the Bakaak.

  It didn’t take long as the Wendigo sprang from the trees behind him.

  The beast nearly ran him down and it ran with a speed that belied its size as it crashed through the forest with the Bakaak flying after it. Jett dove to the side so as not to be trampled before he regained his feet and sprinted after the pair as they had past him.

  Jett felt a strange encouragement that the Wendigo was fleeing. Jett had considered the beast to be the greater of the two evils and the fact that the thing was in retreat gave him the encouragement he needed. Adrenaline shot through his system as he resumed the chase after the pair.

  Jett could see the Bakaak release the string on his bow and another puckering hole appeared in the Wendigo’s back, but, strangely, the magical poison of the Bakaak’s arrow didn’t appear to be inducing the paralysis that it was renowned for delivering. However, the beast did seem to be slowing, now to the point that Jett could catch up.

  Jett slowed as well to watch and see of the Bakaak could get the job done, and when the Wendigo had begun to wobble in its gait, Jett almost let out a cheer. Sensing weakness, the Bakaak abandoned its bow in favor of a very ominous and ancient looking war club. It sailed in from above before stopping within a few feet of the Wendigo and reared back to deliver a powerful, lethal blow.