by Aaron Lynch
Lisa stood, her legs feeling as if turned to the very twigs supporting the trees many bare branches. She braved looking at the creature only to recoil once more. It held a form of a person garbed in long, flowing robes, yet its body was black as the void below the cliffs, broken only by glowing red eyes barely visible beneath its large cowl. It looked the part of every picture and painting of death himself, though, the thing carried no weapon. That hardly mattered. Lisa guessed it could dispatch any threat in a matter of seconds without aid of a scythe.
Taking in a deep, steadying breath, she went to speak, but the words died upon her lips as inaudible puffs of air.
The spirit raised its shadowed hand. “No need to explain to me, little one, I know your goal... I will help you complete it.”
Lisa perked hearing it speak in such an understanding way, but her excitement at the promise of help died as fast as the words on her lips. Again, she steadied her breathing with great difficulty, asking simply, “Why?”
The shadow shrugged. “I am not like the Nakki or leviathan. I know your journey has been long indeed, and I aim to help all who enter this land leave it in the proper way.”
“Is that why you stole the serpent’s key?” Lisa accused. Her fear of the spirits form hadn’t disappeared, but her aggravation at the constant lies grew close to outweighing it.
“To bring you here, my dear, to where you truly need to be,” it spoke with the utmost compassion and understanding, resting its cold hand upon her shoulder.
Lies! All of it lies! The words echoed within the mists of her mind, yet, they seemed not to come from her thoughts, but a memory of words past said.
“I assure you, what I say are not lies. Your thoughts betray you, little one.”
Lisa started and backed away from the shadow. “I won’t believe anything you say. I know what you spirits are like, your friend in the forest made sure of that.”
“They are hardly my ally, neither is that serpent!” the shadow shouted back, its eyes flaring with anger. “If not for the leviathan you would have left this place long ago!”
“Is that why you stole the key then?”
The shadow glided forward and extended its body like a cobra to its prey. “He is the one that steals from me!” it bellowed with the ferocity of a lions roar. Then, suddenly it calmed, its eyes, before flaring like a raging fire reverted to their dull glow. “I apologize. It is... painful to see one like you so easily fooled.”
Lisa’s glare at the creature faltered to the ground and she felt almost embarrassed. Who was she to judge the intentions of this spirit? She had no right to call it a liar nor monster nor thief from one unpleasant meeting of a completely different creature.
“Now, little one, I will give you the key if that is what you desire.”
Lisa faltered back at the strange statement. “B-but if the snake is truly a liar, why—”
“However!” it interrupted, “you must do something for me, a trifle to one such as you,” it added seeing her scowl. “Listen carefully, for I will not repeat. The Nakki values beauty above all else, becoming so obsessed it prevents the forests river to flow, keeping the water for itself. You have seen the degenerative effect it has had on its form. Retrieve for me some of its waters and I will allow you what you seek.”
Lisa shook her head in disbelief. “No, I-I won’t speak to that monster again!”
“But you know how it lures its game... already resisted its temptations? No, you will, or you will never receive the answers promised to you time and time again.” Pulling a dry, dishevelled leaf from within its black form, it placed it carefully in Lisa’s hands then turned and headed back across the bridge.
“B-but how— I-if I touch the waters? Wait!”
It was too late. The shadow crossed the bridge as fast as it appeared, vanishing within the hollow tree. Lisa groaned putting her head to her hands, the rough edges of the leaf scratching her skin. How was she going to get water from that, thing, and why was this spirit so certain of her abilities? She tried to pull the answer from the mists, but nothing came through but the Nakki’s gurgling voice. Its flowing limbs seemed to wrap around her, crawling like a demonic spider forcing her to shudder. She looked back to the forest hoping to see some sign of the fox.
Nothing.
Only the brown off the massive trees greeted her eyes. Straightening with hesitant bravery, she headed back into the woods. What use was there to sit and wait for something that would never come?
Chapter 4
Navigating the forest again, despite its simplicity, having only to walk in a straight line from where the bridge lay, was far from comfortable. At every rounding of a tree, the faceless deformities scurried away and the prying spidery eyes above lingered, content in watching their visitor from afar. Lisa attempted to close her mind to the enclosing horrors, but every time the image of the Nakki inches away from her face ready to drag her into the frigid depths of its pond flashed before her eyes. Any idea of how she’d manage to steal away any water from the spirit’s pond thoroughly escaped her grasp. It was impossible, laughable to the extreme. The shadow didn’t want to help her, it wanted her dead and this foolish errand only served to aid that goal! Yet, the longer she walked the more it didn’t make sense.
It could easily kill, why not do it?...
Consumed by her musings Lisa drew ever closer to the pond. The air, elsewhere cold and dry, became like a misted breeze of the ocean. All the while, the other creatures hardly seemed inclined to do more than watch. Perhaps the leviathan was wrong about them? Lisa dismissed the possibility outright. The pressing matter of retrieving the water called her focus, disallowing her to question the snake’s truthfulness further. Repeatedly her eyes wandered, searching for the fox, hoping it still followed, hoping, perhaps, it’d startle away the monsters. A pleasant sentiment, but far from the unfortunate reality. No flash of red caught her eye or streaked between the trunks, only the green-black of the deformed creatures scurrying about the forest. The fox had gone and it’d never come back. She sighed heavily; disheartened after spending what felt a day of hopeless searching, trudging along slowly as the time felt. What did it matter? Facing the Nakki was a fool’s errand, disallowing any hope for survival.
Rounding one final, massive tree, Lisa unfortunately reached the pool. Everything following her dispersed in an instant leaving her alone in the clearing. The black water sat before her, the stump missing from its middle. She crept forwards making sure to stay well away from the exact edge.
“Hello?...”
Nothing in the grove moved.
“I know you’re here Nakki, come out!” she shouted feigning bravery, but her voice shook as violently as her hand still clutching the flowered branch.
Still nothing stirred the waters. Had the Nakki gone? It couldn’t have, she’d seen its inability to leave the confines of the pond. On the other hand, perhaps it’d displayed some form of pleasantry for their conversation. Nevertheless, she needed the water and she couldn’t assume the spirits departure with a few feeble shouts.
“I won’t ask again, please, I-I need to speak with you!” she shouted again, though, more to be heard than to project her own courage.
“The spirit has gone,” a voice called out.
Lisa leapt away thinking the creature to be hovering beside her. Her eyes danced around the glade in panicked frenzy with nothing meeting them but the dark pond and bordering trees.
“W-where are you? Show yourself!”
“No need to be hostile to someone only here to help,” the voice said.
Now Lisa could see where it was from. A beautiful bird the size of a peafowl, and with just as long a tail, sat high upon a branch overstretching the pond. Its stunning blue feathers nearly blended completely with the sky, leaving its eyes to appear as if floating within the sky itself. The illusion shattered as its wings broke its fragile confines and passed before the trunk of the tree in which it sat.
Lisa went to speak but the bird interrupted.
“You need to fetch water from the pool, do you not?” ruffling its crowned feathered head it shifted eagerly on the branch.
Lisa clenched her fist around the stick she held. These spirits needed to learn how to let one talk!
“Yes, what business is it of yours?” she leaned onto a tree folding her arms across her chest trying to feign the upmost look of boredom, but her fleeting eyes and grimaced face poorly exerted the same proud air.
“Such rude tones for one so young. One would think a prolonged stay in this land would teach you to treat us with more respect!” the bird snapped back. “And before you ask,” it raised one large, elegant wing flashing its blood-red undercoat in pride. “We know how long everyone has been here, it is a sad knowledge, but one that serpent never lets us forget!”
Lisa’s gaze fell back to the pool refusing to look at the liar above. The serpent was the only one that hadn’t tried to kill her. Why should she trust any of what these spirits said about it?
Both refused to speak for long moments. The bird ruffled its feathers waiting for Lisa to move, to act as it wanted, but she refused. She only stared longingly at the pool waiting for the monster within to emerge.
It had to be there...
“What are you waiting for? Nakki has gone, that little friend of yours scared it away!” the bird said jolting Lisa out of the thrall in which the waters cast.
She scowled at the bird. “Hardly, the fox was terrified of that, thing...”
“Quite true,” the bird shrugged awkwardly. “but fear is never the true judge of one’s abilities; any being can overcome it given time enough.” It drifted down to a lower branch to come within a few feet of the pond. Its tail dipped into the water stirring it slightly. Lisa flinched at its sudden movement. “A perfect parallel to yourself it seems. So easily frightened by the smallest things...” a coy smile broke out across its beak, twisting it into a grotesque shape as if it’d been crushed.
“My fears are perfectly reasonable!” she retorted averting her eyes to the water refusing to look at the unsettling bend. “Giant serpents, ghosts, shape shifting water and talking birds would give anyone a fright!”
“Perhaps...” it shrugged again, ruffling its wings, “one often fears even what they have bested before. Hardly an excuse for you. Take the water, the Nakki won’t harm such beauty!”
Lisa stared at the brittle leaf in her other hand, back to the pool, then to the leaf again, wondering...
Perhaps the bird was right. Nothing stirred the waters since she’d arrived, nothing arose when she’d called out, or when the birds’ tail had touched its surface, and nothing lunged for her as she approached. Nothing stirred but her and the bird. It had to be true, didn’t it? Despite her fears and despite the risks, she had to try. Getting the water remained the only obstacle in her quest for answers and nothing, not the bird nor the spirit’s absence, would deter her.
Lisa crept to the edge of the water before crouching, extending the leaf outwards. The bird shifted eagerly sending silent ripples dancing towards her with every twitch of its tail feathers. About to dip the leaf into the dark pool Lisa paused staring with wide eyes at the bird. Its eyes were hungry and dark as the water, its feathers hued to that of the spirits limbs. She rose brandishing her stick at it.
“I won’t fall for your lies!” she shouted stepping away from the pond’s edge.
The bird’s expression darkened for only a second before it smiled wide cracking its beak to the point of mutilation. It bellowed its gurgling laugh shaking its feathers clean from its body. They fell like a shower of crystal, dancing with every colour of the rainbow before falling mute within the black of the pond. The spirit fell to the water after them as if wanting to rescue them from their soggy fate. It rose slowly, taking obvious pride in its grand entrance, its flowing arms together in pray.
“I’m surprised it took you this long,” its mouth distorted to a wobbling smirk.
Lisa held her branch out like a sword. “S-stay away! Just— just let me take what I need and leave!”
The Nakki drifted towards her, cackling. “But how can I stay away when you have brought such beauty into my woods?” they extended their arms out towards her brittle weapon, ready to pull it from her hands.
Lisa swiped at the monster forcing its recoil only for a moment. It continued on to the edge of the water where, once again, it halted. She backed away even more.
“Why are you all doing this to me? What’ve I done to deserve being tricked into my own death!?” she rubbed her lips with the back of her hand to stop their quivering.
The Nakki merely shrugged, its laughing fit finally gone, for which she was grateful.
“What did any of us do to come here, to be forced to stay in one spot forever, never allowed to have the beauty others guard!?” again, it outstretched its flowing hand to her, to the branch.
Lisa swung violently forcing it to recede to the center of the pond. It hung its head following a petal snapped free from its host in the heaving. The petal landed in the pond, pushing away the darkness of the water. For a moment, the waters became clear, rippling fast away from the intrusive body. The petal itself burst into the most beautifully vibrant blue-violet before sinking below the surface leaving the pond cold and black once more.
Lisa watched enthralled by the sudden change, a misshapen image leaping out from the depths of her misted mind. She reached out to hold fast to the form, to pull it from the fog, but it vanished faster than a startled rabbit. She stared unseeing trying desperately to bring the image back, but it was useless, she couldn’t reach far enough and it slipped away. She glanced up feeling the flowing eyes of the Nakki.
“W-what... what happened?”
The spirit refused to answer, seeming completely content to watch her expression change from morbid curiosity to that of overwhelming confusion. Yet its gaze, however hard to tell where it lay with its flowing form, seemed not on her, instead resting on her weapon. She looked to the branch with wide, astonished eyes.
“I-is this what you’ve wanted?”
The spirit drew close reaching out towards the branch again. “From the moment I felt it enter my woods. Such beauty, and still so alive!...” it spoke in euphoric whispers, more to itself than to her.
“I-if I give this to you, w-will you allow me to take some of your water?” she asked, taking a step forward but keeping well out of reach.
The Nakki stayed silent.
Lisa waited a few moments more, but her foe remained enthralled by the branch. She waved her arm slowly with placid amusement as the spirit followed it with deformed, eager eyes.
“Fine. If you don’t want it then I’ll leave.” she lowered her arm, checking a relieved sigh at her freedom from the strain. Turning on her heel, she started back towards the hedge, back towards the music. The gurgling, drowned cackle of the Nakki held her in place.
“A valiant try, but I know you cannot enter that wretched hedge without what the shadow holds, and you cannot do that without my water!” it hissed.
Lisa turned back but refused to respond. How did this creature know so much?
The Nakki shrugged again, a habit becoming incredibly irritating. “Leave the branch and I will allow you to fill your leaf.”
Lisa stepped forward with the branch outstretched. The Nakki did the same, wrapping one flowing tendril carefully around the stick before tugging it free in one swift motion. Droplets of its body fell to the pond at its movement, but it hardly noticed, longingly staring at the flowers as it turned away gliding to the middle of the pond.
“Take what you need...”
Lisa bent down reaching out to the water. Her gaze never faltered from the spirit still ogling its beautiful prize. She plunged the leaf into the steely surface filling it to the brim. The shrivelled leaf immediately transformed from its sickly state into one full of life, gleaming with the same emerald as the field beyond the forest. She rose staring at her triumph, the same wonderment befalling her as the Nakki with its flower
s. Pride befitting a narcissist welled up inside her forcing a sneer to break across her face.
“Thank you, spirit!”
The spirit didn’t budge, still possessed by the branch.
Lisa didn’t care. The need to get to the other spirit and the fear of how long the water would last quickly shattered her petrifaction. Her ability to keep the water in the leaf was incontestable, however, the amount of time she had with it was much less absolute. It could last forever or mere minutes, a fact made much more worrisome by times incredibly fickle behaviour in this land, content in remaining a complete mystery.
Lisa kept the water covered from the blasting light of the sky as she went to leave the grove. She looked around for the right way, thinking, perhaps, she’d made a trail to follow. Yet, she remained unable to find any clue of her past footing. The talk with the spirit had completely disoriented her. Nevertheless, she decided that, though the Nakki seemed docile now, she had to move away from its domain before it changed its mind. She trudged forward, unsure if the way was true.
The forest was silent, deathly silent, worse than it’d ever been before. No creatures rustled the branches above nor glared at her with their menacing eyes. The deformed, spiked shapes of the forest floor remained hidden within the sea’s unseen depths. Lisa stopped her advance baffled by the stillness. Fear crept up to her like the worlds shadow consuming itself at dusk, slowly engrossing her. The uncomfortable touch of the phantom forced a tremor to shoot through her, jostling the leaf near to spilling. The music that was so present in the air vanished, consumed within the sea. The air grew frigid and the forest floor fogged like the mists swirling within her mind.
Everything was dead.
Then, a murmur drifted through from somewhere distant. It sounded nothing like the soft music of the hedge, stinging at her ears like wasps. The whispering chilled Lisa to the bone. Her heart pounded so hard it could’ve leapt from her chest and danced in the dirt. Again she looked to the treetops but there was nothing there. The sound grew louder, playfully dancing with knives in her ears, calling her closer, to allow them to lead her, to follow them to salvation. She followed, feverishly scanning for the mischievous culprits. The noise grew louder still, coming to a quiet whisper. She listened hard but the voices remained as incoherent as the murmured music of the hedge. Sure she’d come upon the assailants Lisa quickened her pace, but to no avail. The noise jumped away running from tree to tree away from her grasp, its enticing tones and mysterious words drawing her farther and farther into the depths of the forest.
