Into the Forest Shadows (29 page)

Bunbun and the other bunts disappeared at the
other end of the tunnel, scattering into the forest.

Ayden sighed. "I hope he doesn't get
lost."

"He always seems to find us later," Kate
reminded him.

"But you can never count on it."

They emerged at the end of the tunnel into a
silent forest of mature trees. The trees behind them closed the
last of the tunnel.

Kate watched the last of the limbs weaving
together to reform the wall. "Well, we're here. Now to find someone
to talk to."

"Good luck with that."

Kate frowned at him, "What do you mean?"

Ayden gestured out at the trees, "Most of the
trees here are those that are dormant. If they are dormant, then
they aren't producing anything for animals to eat. Notice how still
everything is?"

She turned back to the widely spaced trees.
He was right. The trees didn't move. No birds or animals lurked in
the treetops or on the ground between the trees. Only a few bunts
grazing on the low grasses.

And in front of them towered one of the trees
with the red mark. A huge tree, wide and tall, as big around as a
large shuttle. The more she looked, the more of the same sort of
tree she saw. They were everywhere!

"There are so many with the red mark," Kate
mumbled.

"I've never seen so many in one place
before," Ayden said in awe. "We need to be careful. We aren't
suppose to even touch those trees."

Kate caught her breath. The image of the
trees with the red marks, the ship launching with the red mark. Why
hadn't she put it together before? "Not supposed to touch! Ayden,
those trees have something to do with the Ancients!"

Even while Ayden started to deny it, she
walked up to one of the nearest trees and placed herself directly
below the red mark.

She cleared her throat and said in a clear
voice, "Hello! My name is Kate O'Hanson. I've brought a message
from my grandmother, Olivia Blackstone, for the Ancients."

The tree did not move. Not even a leaf
twitched.

The familiar laughing cackle of the Watcher
echoed down to them. "Were you expecting a response?"

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

"More than what we've received from you,"
Kate shouted out to him.

"I hate to say it, but the tree isn't
moving," Ayden said, looking up into the canopy. "On the good side,
it isn't attacking, either."

"Then we keep trying. Someone here has to be
awake."

"Kate, this looks nothing like a city."

"Who says it had to look like a human city?"
She moved to another tree. Her words were braver than what she felt
inside. The lack of response and basic emotion around her didn't
bode well for success. Slowly she added, "Or maybe wake them
up?"

Ayden regarded the tree, "Wake up? From
hibernation?"

"It makes sense, doesn't it? The Watchers
dealing with the humans until the Ancients make a decision about
what to do with us? What if the Watcher was waiting for summer? To
the creatures here, with their instinctive memories, that time
would seem just around the corner."

"Kate, if the Ancients are hibernating, then
we are in real trouble. The Shadow Creatures are attacking tonight.
We can't wait who knows how many decades before they wake up."

"It isn't just the humans who are in danger,"
Kate said thoughtfully. A memory tugged at her mind, just out of
reach. "I think Diasis means usurp power from the Ancients while
they sleep."

Ayden's hand hovered above the bark, yet not
touching. "The trees took away some of their memories. Including
how to find this place."

"The trees were trying to protect the
Ancients in the only ways they could." So many pieces fit. But it
didn't help her figure out what she should do. She touched the
bark, hearing Ayden suck in his breath. She called tentatively,
"Hello?"

"For someone who wears the colors and marking
of a Watcher, you do not work with the ways of the forest. Only
against," the Watcher mocked.

She noticed that the Watcher never landed on
one of the marked trees. So, he knew. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"And you could save the Ancients and yet you won't. Why?"

"Save? You believe you, an outsider, can save
one of our powerful Ancients?" The Watcher lowered its head,
jutting the beak at her. "What a foolish female you are."

"And you are worthless."

A bunt ran over her foot. Several others ran
circles around her feet. The mental image formed of Grandma putting
one of them to her forehead. Could it really be that easy?

She reached down and grabbed one of the
bunts. It squealed and kicked in her hands. Carefully she turned it
around to face her. She crooned at at, making non-sensical noises.
The ears went up and it sniffed the air. It wrinkled its nose at
her.

"Yes, I know, I smell of spores. I can't help
that, but I'm hoping you can help me," Kate said to it in a
sing-song voice.

The bunt twitched an ear at her and then
turned to stare over its shoulder. The bunts at her feet froze,
staring as one at the barrier trees. All at once they squealed. The
bunt in her hands kicked hard, knocking itself out of her grasp. It
hit the ground running, joining the others in sprinting towards the
holes and burrows.

From the midst of the racing horde Ayden
reached down and snagged Bunbun, stuffing him down his jacket. "Did
you see that?"

"Oh yeah!" Kate said, her eyes scanning the
shadows. "It must be a Shadow Creature. Do you see it?"

Ayden stopped next to her, "The Bunts looked
at the barrier trees."

The spores within her body rushed up, taking
her by surprise. The breath caught in her lungs, her body
paralyzed. She felt a chill move up her limbs, the edges of her
mind going numb.

She heard a gushing exhale from Ayden. Out of
the corner of her eye she could see he'd gone rigid.

Her mind raced to combat the spores. But, the
pure anger lingered out of her reach, smothered by the many layers
of exhaustion. The spores had the upper hand and they weren't going
to let go.

The mocking Watcher above them went silent.
The bunts disappeared down their holes. Nothing in the barrier wall
moved. It felt as if the forest was holding its breath, waiting to
see what would happen.

And still she couldn't see any moving
shadows.

The rhythmic beat of wings told her she was
looking in the wrong direction, but the spores wouldn't let her
lift her chin. In the midst of a break in the canopy something
blocked out the light. Then another.

The shapes dropped down to the ground near
the barrier trees. She could make out wings, but the bodies
appeared mal-shaped. Then she realized she wasn't seeing one body
per pair of wings, but instead two bodies, one carried by the
other.

The same type of creature that carried off
Grandma. Only this time, they'd brought Diasis and Captain
Straos.

The Newcomer didn't look too happy to be
flying, but once on the ground he smiled widely with a grin that
showed no teeth. Diasis prowled along the barrier trees before
joining Captain Straos in front of them while the flying creatures
found a perch in a nearby tree.

"Very good. We should have done this from the
beginning," Captain Straos gushed. He settled his uniform, hooking
stubby fingers on the wide polished belt. "They led us right to the
Ancients."

"It was an unwise decision. The female is too
dangerous," Diasis growled. "They should be torn apart."

"Now, now. Haven't you had several satisfying
meals lately?" He turned his attention to Kate, moving closer to
her. As he did, she could feel the power of the spores increase,
weighing down on her head and heart and making it hard to breathe.
"You've been at the edge of your strength for some time, and yet
you found enough to keep going. You did well in pleasing your new
master. Close your eyes. Rest. There is nothing to fear."

The anger she couldn't find before blazed up
fierce and hot. Controlled again. Just like with Father, just like
with Uncle Travis. Now by a non-native creature that shouldn't be
on the planet.

She felt the binding on her lungs ease and
found her voice, railing, "You've found what? A quiet forest where
we could rest in peace without Diasis's kind running around."

Diasis growled deep in his throat. "I should
tear you to pieces.'

"Is that the only thing you know? Violence
and murder? The humans are blamed for murder and yet it was you and
the spores who did it." She stopped, unable to speak.

The spores washed over her, an outside rage
filtering in from the edges of her numbing brain.

She looked at Captain Straos to find him
regarding her with narrow eyes. The spores, Straos controlled them
and not Diasis. She struggled to think how she could use the
information. That is, if she ever regained control of her
limbs.

His eyes went to the trees surrounding them,
"Your emotions betray you. Through the spores I felt your elation
the moment you found this place. The place you believed could help
your cause. The city of the Ancients."

Captain Straos moved and inspected the
surrounding trees individually. He pulled a device off his
belt.

Diasis circled Kate and Ayden, casting
narrowed glances up at them. She could almost see his mind working.
See him choosing the various ways he would attack the moment he
could. How he could turn all of this to his advantage.

Her eyes wanted to close. Even with Captain
Straos out among the trees she could feel the spores winning. The
anger dulled with her exhaustion.

With only her eyes working she studied
everything around her that she could easily see. Every tree, hoping
for signs of movement. Searching for movement in the shadows. The
giant birds nestled in one of the large trees of the barrier
wall.

"Where is it? It must be here!" Captain
Straos shouted.

"What do you want now?" Diasis barked
back.

Captain Straos stomped back, waving the
device in the air. "The technology! I know what to look for, but
all I'm getting are a few strange power readings. And they are
coming from the bulb trees."

"I know not of what you seek. Perhaps the
girl has deceived you."

"No, I know this is the place." He pushed his
face up in Kate's face. "Where is it? Where are the Ancients hiding
their technology? Underground? In a corner of the mesa? They
allowed you in their city, you must know!"

Kate felt the binding on her lungs and throat
ease. So, she was allowed to talk? No way.

"Give her an incentive to talk," Diasis said
with a toothy grin.

Kate eyed him. She might have a way to make
sure she never talked to anyone again. She found her voice and
taunted, "Perhaps the Ancients will show you what they think of
traitors. The Shadow Creatures are supposed to be helpers, not
usurpers."

"You know nothing!" The edges of razored fur
came up on his back.

"I know more than you think. You are the true
traitor. Oh, I'm sorry, you don't like what I'm saying? Yet, I'm
right. Who did the forest protect? One who is supposed to be its
protector, or a filthy human?"

Diasis bounded towards her, then faltered.
His ears came up and he laughed under his breath, "Nice try,
female. I will not tear out your throat yet, not while you wear the
cape."

"There are other incentives," Captain Straos
said. He turned an intense stare straight at Kate. "I have
something you are very fond of and he is completely under my
control."

Kate couldn't help it. Her eyes flew towards
Ayden where he stood next to her. His eyes were fully closed, his
face devoid of all emotion. Her heart sunk. All this way, and Ayden
had finally succumbed.

"Time to use my new slave," Captain Straos
said. He stepped back. "You, human, stand in front of the
girl."

Ayden's eyes popped open. He moved, jerky and
uncertain, to stand in front of Kate. She searched his face for any
sign of recognition or emotion. Instead she found blank eyes wide
with the pupils dilated.

Diasis licked his teeth. "Oh, this will be
good. Go ahead. Remove the red cape from the female."

Ayden's hands came up. Having lost her voice
she beseeched him with her eyes, but he paid no attention. She felt
the warmth of his hands against her throat.

A shrill ring broke the silence. The surprise
and shock of Captain Straos radiated through the spores, his
control of Ayden and her subsiding for one moment. Ayden's hands
faltered with her ties.

Bunts from all sides accompanied the next
ringing with shrill cries of their own. They dashed from one hole
to the next with frenetic speed.

With a start Kate realized the sound was
coming from her own pocket. Her phone was ringing! One of the
bulbed trunks shifted.

"What is happening? Why are the trees
moving?" Captain Straos demanded.

"The trees are dormant," Diasis said. "Pay
them no mind. They only shift in their sleep."

Bunts ran across her feet. She felt one
trying to climb up the inside of her pant leg.

"It's time to move in," she heard Captain
Straos say. "We'll rip up the area until we find the treasure."

One of the knots give. With a surge of anger
and fear she used the lapse in attention to regain control. She
reached up and slapped Ayden's hands away from her throat, pushing
him away. She frantically reached up to the ties, making sure they
were still tight.

He reached up again. She quickly tied the
cords into a tight knot. Someone could still cut it with a knife,
but at least a simple tug wouldn't untie them.

Ayden's eyes remained glazed. The lapse in
Captain Straos's attention hadn't allowed him to snap out of it.
Grandma's tea obviously needed more time to work. There wasn't
enough time to insult him, if she could find anything shocking
enough to get through to him. She'd pretty much run out of material
just getting here.