Into the Forest Shadows (14 page)

"It's called a Banded Yellow Palm and it'll
re-grow in no time. It's the tree a lot of fiber products for the
city comes from."

"Not one of the more intelligent ones?" Kate
asked as she contemplated the fallen tree bridging the two
riverbanks. Good, no trees moving towards them as if to attack.

"Definitely not. Look at it more as a giant
stalk of grass or bamboo," Ayden said. He hopped on top of the log.
"How good are you at balancing?"

She touched the bark of the tree. Yep, it
felt as smooth as it appeared. She gulped, "No guarantees."

"Just take it slow. You'll make it."

Ayden started inching his way across with his
staff held vertical. Kate climbed on top, pushing herself to her
feet. She scuffed her shoes against the bark, trying to see how
much traction she would have.

She slowly followed Ayden, wishing she could
walk across with as much confidence as him. Maybe she should try
crawling across instead of walking.

The sound of the rushing water served as a
constant reminder of how close disaster lurked. Shadows moved
through the water, adding an element to the crossing Kate didn't
need. If the shadows were fish, then they were big fish.

She cleared her voice and asked, "There
aren't river monsters on this world, right?"

"What did you say?" Ayden asked, not even
turning his head.

She didn't try asking again. She didn't want
to distract him from where he was putting his feet.

The trunk shifted beneath her feet, enough
that she bent her legs and grabbed at the trunk with a hand. Ayden
glanced back at her over his shoulder. Kate didn't like the way his
eyes went wide.

Her balance regained, Kate took the chance to
look behind her.

A short stubby tree with long white roots sat
at the end of the fallen tree. A tree that hadn't been there
before. Roots grabbed at the log and ripped strips away, pulling
them towards the base of its trunk.

Another tree looking just like the first
surged out of the forest, moving fast on the bundle of roots
underneath it.

"The trees are moving!" Kate shouted.

"The White Troll trees are hunting!" Ayden
shouted back. "Keep moving forward before our bridge drops into the
water!"

The second tree joined the first, their roots
momentarily fighting with each other for a feeding place at the
base of the log. The tree shook with each bit ripped out of it.

Kate turned away. She rose and took several
quick steps forward. Finding she still had her feet, she took
several more. Even with the progress the other end of the river
looked so far away.

"We're almost there!" Ayden called back to
her. "Keep moving forward!"

Moving forward would be a lot easier to do
without the tree trunk jerking and moving under her feet. In one
way she should count her blessing that the troll trees weren't
trying to get on the tree and chase them across.

But as the trunk moved violently to the side
she decided that was too generous. She didn't want them around at
all.

Her feet slipped. She grabbed at the trunk
with both hands. For a moment she caught herself. The tree jerked
in the opposite direction. Her feet slipped out from under her.

She let out a cry as she felt herself
slipping over the side of the log. She heard Ayden call out to her,
but his words were drowned out by the rushing water coming up at
her.

The cold water sucked all the breath out of
her lungs. She struggled to get to the surface, her mouth and nose
filling with water. She came to the surface sputtering and
coughing.

The tree bridge disappeared as she was swept
away by the swift current. Kate struck out for shore as strongly as
she could, her hands opened wide, searching for anything to grab
hold of.

Her right hand caught something long and
smooth, barely under the surface of the water. Her teeth started to
chatter, but somehow she found the strength to keep a grasp on the
only thing keeping her from getting swept away.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the gold
green leaves of Memory Trees. And by holding on to what she
suspected was a root, she was drifting towards shore right for
them.

A wave of water rose up and splashed her in
the face, causing her to lose sight of everything above water for a
few precious seconds.

The water disappeared. She felt a furry head
on her forehead, the bunt's ears resting over her hair. Grandma's
voice softly whispered, "There are rumors of the Shadow Creatures
making a deal with the Newcomers."

"Newcomers?" Kate echoed, her eyes still
closed to the rushing in her head caused by the bunt.

"I've heard they have something that can
control the forest creatures, possibly even the Shadow Creatures
themselves. Be watchful!"

"Katherine!"

Her eyes popped open. Her father stood at the
door of her room, his glare casting a wide net to include two of
her friends helping her to study.

"You don't have time to visit. I'm bringing
home a client tomorrow night and this place is a mess."

A room so pristine and colorless that it
looked like no one lived there. A room echoing the rest of the
apartment.

"Time for your little friends to go
home."

Friends that never came back. Kate would go
to their apartments without permission, which only gave her father
another reason to yell at her.

"Kate!"

Kate looked up. Uncle Travis stood at the
front door as her mother helped him take off his jacket.

"Does your mother have to do everything
tonight? Go watch dinner."

While he sat on the couch lavishing fake
attention on her mother? Oh yes, she knew how this worked. How
could Mother be attracted to two slimy brothers of the same
family?

Another retched memory. No, this time it
would be different.

"No, do it yourself!" Kate screamed at him.
"Get out! Get out and never come back again."

She grabbed the pitcher of lemonade from the
dining room table and hurled the contents at the smirking
power-hungry snake.

She had the momentary satisfaction of seeing
his expression change to one of shock before the image
darkened.

Kate shivered at a sudden cold. She forced
her eyes open. At first she saw around her snow falling. She was
back on Saturus, where her father had nearly bankrupted them with
one of his schemes.

She stomped her foot. Not another memory. She
needed the present.

She closed her eyes again, wracking her brain
for the last thing she could remember.

Ayden. She was in the forest with Ayden and
his little bunt called Bunbun.

Kate gritted her teeth, her hands clutching
something tight. She concentrated on that and the sensation of
biting cold.

And wet.

Kate coughed as she accidently inhaled water.
The roar of the river filled her ears. Clutched in her nearly numb
fingers she could still feel the length of root she'd managed to
grab.

"Hang on! I'm almost there!" Ayden called out
over the sound of the water.

Kate's eyes popped open, her field of vision
filled with water breaking over her in waves.

Memories continued to lurk at the edge of her
mind. She fought them with the anger still burning from the
remembered events.

A tug went through the root in her hand. She
shook her head, taking a deep breath. Further up the stream she
finally caught sight of Ayden at the shore pulling on a thick white
root. With each pull Kate felt herself move through the water.

Her feet found the ground. She stumbled and
sputtered her way closer to the shore.

Ayden reached out and caught at her cape.
With his help she crawled up onto the bank, collapsing in one big
shivering wet lump.

A crash was followed by a huge splash. The
log rolled into the water. The hunting trees at the far shore had
swelled to at least five, but it was hard to tell while they fought
among each other.

The end of the tree floated down river. In
one tug the other end broke free from the shore. The entire trunk
moved into the river, bouncing around the rapids as it floated past
them.

"That was close," Kate whispered.

But Ayden didn't let her rest. He grabbed her
arm and pulled her upright, "Come on, we have to get away from the
Memory Trees!"

"And I thought the day felt warm," Kate said
with a shiver, the effects of the Memory Trees diminishing with
every step they took away from them.

"You'll warm up as we walk."

Warm up a little bit, but not dry out. Not
with the sun blocked by the thick forest canopy. Her skin felt
clammy and uncomfortable. She pulled the cape tighter.

Ayden stopped in one of the rare meadows in
the forest. He stopped in the center, turning around to look in all
directions.

The mountains caught and held Kate's
attention. She felt her stomach sink. "The fog is already
building."

Ayden stopped to gaze in the same direction,
"Yeah, I noticed. It's going to come down faster tonight."

"Know of any Trailing Willow groves in the
area?" Kate asked.

"No. I've been to Camp Delta only a few times
with no time to explore the surrounding area. We'll have to keep
going and hope for the best."

Not the news she wanted to hear. She followed
Ayden back into the forest, squeezing as much moisture out of the
edges of the cape as possible. She became obsessed with searching
for Trailing Willows. She saw only one in the first hour, and it
was a short tree barely taller than her.

Ayden whooped, stopping in the middle of the
path.

"Please tell me you have a bit of good news,"
Kate said, plucking her still wet shirt away from her skin.

Ayden glanced back at her with a grin, "We've
found our camp for the night."

Kate looked past him. Just more trees,
including a few with charcoal-black trunks.

Her eyes picked up the few distinctive narrow
leaves of a Trailing Willow. And it was tall. She let herself
smile. She didn't like the thought of camping outside for another
foggy night, but this tree would surely protect them.

Ayden dropped the backpack in front of the
Trailing Willow trunk, rooting through his pockets. He smiled as he
pulled out a lighter.

Kate eyed at it nervously. "You aren't
thinking of starting a forest fire, are you?"

He rolled his eyes at her, "Of course not.
But a little warmth tonight would be a good thing, especially with
you so wet. Stay here."

He slipped under the curtain of leaves and
walked over to the tree with the dark bark. A few tries with the
lighter and the edges of the tree bark shimmered with fire. It
slowly spread along the bark to encircle the trunk. The flames
grew, slowly spreading upwards.

"You set fire to an entire tree!" Kate said,
horrified.

Ayden joined her again, slipping the lighter
into his pocket. "It's a Phoenix Elm. It does this all the time. If
there is lightening around, it's the one that will be hit. Don't
worry, it won't spread."

Kate nervously watched the fire working its
way higher up the trunk. At the first spot where the fire started
the trunk glowed a deep red. Already she could feel a warmth in the
moisture laden air around her. The leaves of the Phoenix Elm opened
up.

"You're sure it won't spread?" Kate
asked.

"I'm sure. Notice there aren't any other
trees nearby? They know better than to grow really close to it." He
set down the backpack and rooted through it. Bunbun hopped out of
his coat to rub noses with a few local bunts.

"Don't you mean they are burned down if they
grow too close?"

"Well, maybe that, too. Here, you can try
these on."

She turned her attention to him, finding him
holding out a dark blue long-sleeved shirt and a pair of pants with
a draw string at the waist. "Don't you need them yourself? You got
wet, too."

"My boots are water tight and my pants dried
a long time ago. I'm fine, but you aren't." He nodded at the veil
of leaves of the trailing willow, "Go ahead and change. I'll wait
out there and start dinner. Take one of the blankets, too. You'll
need to warm up. Call when you're done."

The thought of getting out of her moist
clothes practically made her shiver in delight. "Okay, if you're
sure."

She grabbed the clothes and stepped to the
other side of the large trunk. Ayden lifted his backpack over his
shoulder and left the shelter of the Trailing Willow.

"Interested in a hot meal?" he called
out.

"Are you serious?"

"The fog isn't here yet, and we have the
tree."

Kate sighed, "Something hot would be
wonderful."

She peeked around the trunk to find Ayden
fishing one of the large nut pods out while Bunbun mingled with the
local bunts. He set the nut on the ground near the Phoenix tree and
pushed it closer with a long stick.

"Might want to be careful about the cape,"
Ayden said.

Kate's hands paused at the tie at her neck.
Great. How could she dry off with a wet cape hanging over her? She
decided to start with an easy choice: The pants.

Ducking back to the far side of the trunk,
she sat down on a wide root and pulled off her shoes, pouring water
out of them. She set them upside down on another root along with
her socks. Next came the pants. She wrung them out before throwing
them up to hang over a branch. She reached down for Ayden's dry
pants.

And came face to face with a small group of
bunts staring up at her. All of them with their eyes wide and their
noses occasionally twitching, watching her every move.

With far too much interest.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Kate felt herself flush. She pulled out the
blanket, draping herself with it. Underneath she pulled off the
rest of her clothes as fast as possible, including the cape. She
let the cape fall over her bare toes. As long as she kept in
contact with the cape fabric, she and Ayden should be okay.