Chapter 36: A Place Untouched
As I looked around the forest, I couldn’t help but be impressed with the thoroughness of the canopy. From where I was in the forest, it was impossible to know that it was actually midday and not the middle of the night.
“When he said ‘shadows haunt your every step’ I didn’t think he was being literal.” I said.
Me, Fredrick, and Gideon sat with legs crossed around a lighting stone just in front of the wagon where everyone else and the colgs rested in a rare stop. Even after spotting that column, we couldn’t push the colgs any more without some real rest, so we’d stopped and cleared a small site. The three of us were still awake to serve as the watch, though Gideon didn’t really need to sleep anyway.
“I’ll admit, I thought the rumours of this murk exaggerated.” Frederick said. “Though there is surprisingly less underbrush than I would’ve imagined.”
“A side effect of the darkness, I suppose.”
It wasn’t really easy for a plant to grow without light, after all.
“It almost makes you wonder which other rumours about this place are true.”
My head popped up in interest.
“What kind of rumours?” I asked. “You made it sound like you didn’t know any when we were talking about it earlier today.”
Fredrick frowned.
“You don’t mean to hear them now, do you? Not with all this darkness, surely.”
“Why not? Didn’t Hans say we were safe on the east side of the river? Weren’t you asking Hans to hear them earlier as well?”
I had never been one to be overly afraid of darkness, not with how much I’d stalked Chicago in the din of night. It wasn’t the darkness that did you in, it was what lurked inside. And most things I found were more frightened of you in the dark than you were of them.
“In the light I was, not in this oppressive darkness. And Hans said nothing of the sort, rather he dodged the question.” Fredrick said. “I don’t think he knows about ‘lying by omission’, personally.”
“But he implied it.” I pushed. “So come out with it, what kind of rumours?”
Fredrick sighed, seeming to give in.
“I was never the superstitious type anyway.” He leaned back on the wagon wheel and crossed his arms. “But where to start? Have you heard of the walking lights?”
“Do they appear far off and lure unsuspecting travellers deep into the wood?” I quickly said. “Are they like [Will O'Wisps]?”
“It is said that they appear fa...ah” I smiled as Fredrick sputtered to stop. “So you’ve heard of it then. What’s a [Will O’Wisp]?”
Ah, a classic legend. It seems the most basic tales transcended such petty things as worlds or culture.
“Something I read about. Just another name for the light.” I said, thinking back towards my random internet trivia. “They appear and disappear, though I think it’s said that they are actually caused by some combination of gases in bogs. Simple ignitions that spark out.”
“Ah, then you must be thinking of something else then.” Fredrick grinned. “Because the walking lights are said to not be simple candle fires, but the lantern of a great beast. Legends say that he hunts by bewitching travellers and animals to follow him into his eaves. Izavelo, he is called. The Walker of Woods.”
“Bewitch? Like the demon kind or the moth kind?”
Is it really too smart to be talking about this right now? I hate to be a killjoy, but this forest doesn’t have the most benign atmosphere, if you know what I mean.
I rolled my eyes at the scaredy-cat. This forest was pretty much smack dab in the middle between three of the largest population centres in the kingdom, and had one of the more well-travelled roads cutting through it. Surely with that many people living around and going through it couldn’t be too dangerous. Even if Hans had spoken ill of it earlier, he didn’t seem too threatened by its boughs now, so I couldn’t really find it in me to play the scared maiden cliche. Nor had we seen anything overly aggressive or magical in all our time here.
“If I remember correctly, the Walker is not said to be a demon, but a spirit of the woods.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Eh, what’s the difference?”
“Well, demons are normally evil.” Fredrick said.
“Surely luring people into its cave to eat them is evil?”
“Yes, but demons actively seek out humans, the Walker is said to only hunt those in its territory.”
“That seems like an arbitrary distinction.”
Does it? I feel like that’s an important one to make.
“And yet-” Fredrick began.
The sound of a stick snapping had us both on our feet in seconds, sword and knife in hand. Together we pointed our weapons towards where it had come from, finding only steady trees and gently swaying branches. The dark fog seemed to press deeper around us as we stared, swirling visibly in the light.
“Stay here.” Fredrick said.
I stayed back and the swordsman crept forward, a magic sword in one hand and our lightstone lantern in the other. I felt my heart beat faster as he rounded a tree, only for him to re-emerge a second later with the barest hints of relief on his face.
“Looks like a mouse fell out of the tree.” He held up a twitching corpse not unlike a mouse. “Must’ve fallen on a twig.”
“Eh, of course! I can’t believe you got so scared over something like that haha…”
Internally, I willed my heart to slow down. Of course it was just an animal! I hadn’t actually believed that we had called forth some forest legend, had I? That would’ve been silly.
“Scared? I was no such thing. That was simple diligence.” Fredrick sniffed. “I am no coward, and assuredly not of legends and myth.”
“Eh, I’m so sorry then.” I mocked. “I’ll be sure to call for an enchanted sword next time I see a mouse in my room.”
Fredrick looked down at me with a hard look.
“You ride from a glass colg, princess. Anyone would get a bit worried when their companion jumps to their feet as fast as you did! Why, it looked as if you’d seen Izavelo himself! I have an oath to protect those meek and helpless that I mean to keep.”
“Please! As if I’d be spooked by a story like that. Marcolo’s scarier than that little fable, and your storytelling made it more funny than frightening!”
He stepped up to me, standing a good three inches above me.
“Really then? Why don’t I tell a few more then?”
I stared back defiantly, not ready to lay aside my pride now that it was challenged.
“Fine! I have a couple I can tell you too, guaranteed to give you a nightmare or two…”
…
Are you happy now?
I ignored him, focusing all my effort on resisting the urge to crane my head around. Across the fire, Fredrick seemed similarly subdued, though to a far lesser extent than I felt.
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We had shared stories for the majority of the last three hours, and, while I definitely wasn’t scared at all, I was way more alert of the dangers of the forest. Yep. Alert, not scared.
I flinched as a particularly loud bird call screeched off in the trees beyond the mist, only to match eyes with a swordsman on the brink of laughter. Finding my irritation suddenly overwhelming my ‘alertness’, I jumped to my feet.
“I’m going on a walk.” I announced.
“Right now?” Fredrick started to get up. “Let me get my sword…”
“No, no, no.” I said. “By myself. Nature calls.”
He sighed.
“Just be quick about it. Don’t go too far.”
“Sure thing, mom.”
I scooped up a lantern and started off into the forest, Fredrick's form quickly muddying in the mist. Soon after, I tried not to flinch as I felt Gideon scramble up my back and claw onto my head.
“Are you some kind of pervert?” I whispered. “Didn’t I say ‘nature calls’?”
There is no way I’d trust you to step into these woods without getting into trouble. You’d 100% get lost.
“Rude, but ok.”
I tried to ignore the feeling of unease that crept upon me as I searched for a good bush, the imagined tension that built up constantly behind me. In my mind, I imagined the shadows growing fangs and teeth, and the leaves grew stiff and windless.
For god’s sake! Was I really going to let myself get spooked by a few tall tales? I was only twenty yards from the wagon! Was I really that mentally weak now? I’d survived countless life-threatening situations! I’d jumped from buildings, scaled cranes, fought horrible monsters! So why did a few ghost stories unnerve me so badly now? I’d never been truly scared by anything back on Earth, so why now?
It just didn’t make sense.
Or, was it Saphry’s body doing that to me? Fear was just a bunch of brain chemicals, wasn’t it? It would make sense that Saphry’s meat computer was greatly inferior to my copy back on Earth. I mean, everything else about her was, so her chemical makeup couldn’t be too different.
I tried to think about anything else as I set Gideon down to do my business, and the drake looked away to give me privacy.
You know, it wasn’t something I wanted to think about too much, but I still really missed the [golden] efficiency of the male body. Even setting aside the whole brain chemical thing, there were so many great benefits I hadn’t realised we had until I had lost them, and not all of them were obvious. Like sure, the ‘time of the month’ was an abashedly awful experience when it happened a few weeks ago, but things like my muscle mass loss and the piss-poor waste disposal system were much more painful to me. No longer could I urinate on a bush with astonishing ease, and that singular drawback lended me a greater pity for womankind than I could ever begin to express.
Suddenly I jerked my head back up as a feeling crept up on me, some real, small change that set my nerves on edge. Nothing around me looked out of the ordinary though. No monsters appeared in the fog, no bushes rustled, and I could still see the wagon’s lights gleaming in the mist.
I don’t hear any birdsong. Gideon noted.
I perked my ears up with him as I realised the same. In fact, I couldn’t hear anything at all, not even the wind rustling through the forest or the whistling as it flew over the mountains.
“Did the wind just die?”
My voice sounded weak, even in the silence, and I felt a familiar fear rise up within me. Dread seemed to ooze from behind every tree, and my breath grew shorter in my throat.
“W-we better get back.”
Wait, I think I see something. You…You should look at this.
I followed his gaze into the forest, but found I couldn’t see anything besides fog. Instead, the air seemed to grow thicker as I looked off in that direction of the forest, as if I were shoving my face into a lake. The smell of ozone filled my nostrils.
It’s so… what is that?
I scooped up Gideon without another word and started sprinting towards the wagon, only for him to start resisting with all his might. He quickly turned to scratching and biting, sending us to the ground in a ball of whirling teeth before we split apart.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” I cried, or tried to. Instead my voice came out weakened and frail, as if I had a smoker’s lungs.
Wait, stop fleeing, \ It might be a threat, we can’t just let it approach the wagon so wantonly, it might be dangerous. No, we must intercept it. It GLEAMS!
“Alright, a demon then.” I heard panic start to creep into my voice. “Because you’re being insane.”
Gideon didn’t turn his head towards me, instead looking off behind. He slowly walked forward, and I put my body in between without looking back. I was fairly sure that whatever he was looking at had some kind of strong mental compulsion on it, and Gideon was under its spell. The only reason I probably wasn’t was thanks to Gideon’s great vision catching it far before I could.
Insane? Gideon asked. We can’t let that thing get any closer to the wagon, it might hurt the others! For the Star’s sake, Ryder, just look at it!
“Fuck no. Hans! Fredrick! Breale!” I capped my hands over my mouth, but the sound still sounded pitiful to my ears.
The air grew even thicker behind me, some presence growing as if something were standing right behind me. My fear saved me there, as I found that I couldn’t even bear to turn around even if I had wanted to, though it also locked me to the spot. My heart beat at a thousand times a second, my yells died in my throat as I found that my breathing failed me. It was unlike anything I’d ever felt before, more intense than any nightmare or spook.
Holy hell, fuck this.
I leaped towards Gideon again, intending to haul him back, only to find my legs frozen mid-step. I toppled to the ground in front of him, my chest heaving with effort.
Why couldn’t I breathe? Why was I shaking so? Was this the power of the walking lights?
Ryder! Are you okay? It’s not that bad, just look! I promise you’ll feel better!
I felt his little legs flip me over as I struggled for breath, and I closed my eyes in panic only to feel it all slip away as suddenly as it had come upon me. I immediately felt silly as I lay there, and opened my eyes to where Gideon was looking. Over there, peeking through the fog, was a small pinprick of green light bobbing in the murk. Gideon stood beside my head, looking down at me with worry.
“[Jesus].” I panted. “I think I almost had a heart attack.”
It certainly looked like it. What happened?
“I…I don’t know really.” I said. “I’ve never felt so panicked before.”
Are you alright now? We’re going to want to hurry up.
I nodded, rising to my feet unsteadily.
I really didn’t know what had come over me either. Why had I been so scared of a little light? It was quite possibly the dumbest thing I’d done this month, and that was an impressive list to top.
Plan, then? I was almost worried that it had some kind of mental attack when I saw you sprawled out on the floor.
“It’s just a light. I think I just psyched myself out telling stories with Fredrick earlier” I brushed off the leaves that’d stuck to me and stepped further into the forest after the light. “We’ll just deal with it real quick so it doesn’t bother the others. It shouldn’t take too long. We’ve fought worse.”
Then let’s get going.
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