Into the Forest Shadows (31 page)

Shadow Creatures swarmed around Uncle Henry,
but he stood firm, fighting with all his might. Shadows moved
towards Kate and Ayden, precluding any chance of getting to the
shuttle or further into the forest.

A field of dim blue light emerged around the
crashed shuttle. Kate almost shouted out in victory. Her mother had
activated the shuttle force field. With one of the engines gone, it
probably wouldn't last long, but Uncle Henry used it to his full
advantage. He stayed behind the field, swinging his axe in and out
of the field to take out any Shadow Creature venturing too
close.

A round of fire from the Newcomer ship hit
the center of the forest. The trees around them shivered as the
spores hit. The tree under her hands shuddered.

Great, now even the sacred trees were
infected with spores.

Kate ducked back to the other side of the
tree, swinging the axe at a close shadow. Tears poured down her
face. There were too many Shadow Creatures and Newcomers to fight
off. And now her mother's life was in danger, too.

Where were the Ancients? She had to find the
Ancients! Only they could stop all this.

The Watcher swooped out of the trees, hitting
one of the flying Shadow Creatures in the back. The two spiraled
out of the air into a group of bushes, ripping at each other.

Nearby, tree shot up out of the ground,
growing with amazing speed. Several surrounding trees around it
fired small bolts of energy to it. The top of the central tree
glowed brilliantly before firing off a bolt at the Newcomer ship.
It shattered against an energy barrier surrounding the ship. Bolts
from other trees hit the same part of the ship's field, but none of
them penetrated to the hull.

She looked at Ayden. His face had turned pale
again, with his jaw set. The new dose of spores no doubt was making
it worse for him.

A group of Shadow Creatures circled the tree,
pinning the two against it.

The Watcher and one of the flying wolves flew
through, their aerial battle continuing. Kate swung the blade,
finding it swishing through empty air.

A deep boom sounded out from the Newcomer
ship. Kate felt the spores in her react violently. Pushing at her
mind.

Obey. Submit.

The spores roiled up, infusing her body.

Oh no, she wouldn't go down so easily. She
focused on the Shadow Creatures. She would not die easily, much
less submit to the power of the spores.

The trees around her twisted and screeched.
Ribbons of white appeared on the bark. Some of the sleeping trees
came awake in agony. Others started fading into oblivious.

Kate took a shuddering breath. They were
losing. And losing badly.

"We can't win this," Ayden shouted at Kate.
"Head into the forest and find the Ancients. I'll cover you."

Kate looked out into the forest. The Shadow
Creatures grinned at her. The variety of teeth had one thing in
common: They were teeth for hunting. A familiar form moved among
them.

Diasis grinned at her. "You aren't going
anywhere. Today you die, no matter what the Newcomer wants."

The other Shadow Creatures hung back in
deference, moving to attack Ayden. So, she was Diasis's special
prize?

Kate steadied herself against the sacred tree
behind her, silently apologizing to it for what was happening. Her
right hand gripped the axe tighter.

There were too many Shadow Creatures around
her to escape into the forest. She'd failed both Grandma and the
Ancients. At least she'd tried to help.

She focused on Diasis. She could use her last
remaining breaths to get even with the egotist. He would not profit
from the horrors he'd inflicted on others.

She pushed away from the tree, fully facing
Diasis. "It was only a matter of time before we faced off."

"It will be no contest," Diasis growled. He
crouched down, gathering himself to pounce.

A light illuminated the heads of the Shadow
Creatures. They froze, looking to the right. Diasis glanced in the
direction, and then fully diverted his attention from her.

The light grew brighter. Kate took the risk
to turn her head.

And then she turned right around.

Two trees had wrapped themselves together.
Two other nearby trees also wrapped around each other. They arched
towards each other with their limbs, boughs and branches weaving
together.

The middle of the arch shimmered with light.
The light grew, dancing along the bark of the intertwined trees.
The center grew opaque as energy started snapping back and
forth.

Kate squinted, trying to make out the shape
emerging from the middle of the arch. A Shadow Creature growled
deep in his throat. Kate remembered her vulnerable position,
bringing up the axe as she turned back to face her attackers. Only,
most of the Shadow Creatures were slinking away.

Diasis snarled at them, "Cowards! One lone
Ancient can do nothing against all of us! Stand your ground!"

Kate's head snapped back towards the shape,
her eyes wide. An Ancient?

A tall form of brown bark with a red mark on
the front glided forward on nimble roots. Boughs moved like
multiple arms, swinging along as it moved out of the light.

The mark, the texture of the bark. The same
type of tree she'd seen other trees move out of the way of in the
visions of summer. The ones the planet really belonged to. And if
an awake Ancient was in the forest again it would surely mean the
end of human habitation.

The light diminished as the Ancient
emerged.

And right into a cloud of spores.

The Ancient twisted, its branches reaching up
into the sky. It howled with a ferocity echoed by the trees around
it. White appeared on its bark.

Diasis shouted, "The Ancients have fallen!
Long live all those in the shadows!"

A series of howls answered his proclamation.
Kate turned back at them, finding the Shadow Creatures advancing
again.

"Do what you have to!" Ayden shouted.

He let loose with a cry, raised his axe and
ran straight at them. A few jumped out of the way, but quickly
rebounded. They swarmed towards him, with eyes wide and excited to
fight. Kate swung at one nipping at her ankles. She swallowed her
doubts.

She turned and ran. She could hear the paws
of something running behind her. It only incited her to run faster.
She only hoped the Ancient would let her near enough to talk to it.
Or didn't hit at her in its violent convulsions.

Something bright tore at the fabric of her
cape and shirt, pieces flying into the air. She found herself
falling to the ground.

She came to a rolling stop facing away from
the Ancient. Captain Straos stood in a small clearing away from any
trees, his weapon still aimed at her. An excruciating pain ripped
through her body. She curled around it, holding her side tight,
feeling a sticky wetness.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Mary switched the power draw to the secondary
battery packs, doing all she could to keep the shields going. They
were the only thing keeping Henry safe from the Shadow
Creatures.

Two dark shapes zipped by the window, a large
dark bird chasing a winged lizard through the trees.

The Alien ship above them fired at another
group of trees. The trees exploded in a blossom of bark and wood.
Other trees rose up from the ground to replace those destroyed.

She coughed, the white stuff attacking her
lungs. Attacking all of her. She could feel it inside, moving and
numbing her mind. Making her forget the most basics of the flight
controls.

She shook her head.

A flash of red. She looked out the cockpit
window. What was Kate doing? Good lord, one of the Shadow Creatures
was chasing her down.

A light cut through Kate's back and side,
ripping her beautiful cape. Kate went down, rolling on the
ground.

Mary heard herself scream Kate's name. The
tears rolled down her face. No, not her little girl! Not after
finding her!

Kate came to a rest on the ground, curled in
a fetal position. And then she stopped moving.

Out of the midst of the battle Mary's eyes
latched on the one who had done it. The short rotund alien with the
fancy armor with a head that looked like a bowl of bad green jello.
The Newcomers Kate spoke of.

A rage built a fire within her stomach. Her
hands shook with the intensity. And with the rage a clarity of mind
reappeared.

She turned back to the controls with fresh
eyes. The Newcomer had just taken her one joy in the universe. She
would take something from him.

The two remaining engines remained
functional, although severely low on power. Control would be a
problem, but the Newcomer ship was right above her. The engines of
the shuttle had one little flaw, something she'd learned from her
shuttle teacher who'd loved telling war stories.

She climbed into the back of the shuttle and
opened two access panels. The removal of a board and a direct power
connect should do it. On the way back to the cockpit she grabbed a
weapon from an emergency kit.

She programmed in the new autopilot controls.
With a final flick of her wrist she set the program into
action.

The two functional engines hummed as they
quickly powered up to full power. They would only stay that way for
a few seconds, but it should be enough.

She jumped out the door as the shuttle began
shuddering in its cradle of dirt and mud. Henry leaned against the
side of the shuttle, his eyes starting to glaze over, the axe
almost limp in his hand.

The Shadow Creatures threw themselves against
the shuttle shield in an attempt to get past it. They paused,
watching the shuttle nervously as the engines began to whine
loudly. A few stepped back.

Mary tugged at Henry's arm. He looked at her,
dazed. "Snap out of it! We have to run!"

Henry blinked at her. Then he blinked again,
his eyes clearing slightly. "What's happening?"

"We're about to lose the protection of the
shuttle. See that log over there, the one the alien ship shot down?
Run for it." Mary said. She took the safety off her weapon.

"How good of a shot are you with that?"

"We'll soon find out." Mary looked back up.
"On the count of three."

The nose of the shuttle lifted up, flinging
dirt into the air. The Shadow Creatures turned and ran. Mary didn't
bother counting. She yelled "Three!" and took off running.

Henry ran next to her, bringing his axe
around for a swing at a creature that decided to come after them.
The engines of the shuttle screamed, the changing tone telling Mary
that it was rising up into the sky.

They made it to the fallen tree, moving
around to the other side as a barrier. Mary turned, seeing the nose
of the shuttle pointing up into the sky as if a missile. A bluish
haze around it showed that the shields were still at a decent
level.

With a sharp whine of the engines, the small
shuttle shot away from the ground. Straight up it rose, towards the
underbelly of the larger ship.

The two shields sparked brightly against each
other, for a few moments becoming as bright as a second sun. A
bright flare against the bottom of the larger ship and the scream
of the shuttle engines disappeared, as did the shuttle itself.

And then nothing.

Didn't she sabotage the engines
correctly?

A low snarl told her a Shadow Creature lurked
somewhere nearby. Mary turned away from the Newcomer ship, bringing
up the weapon with both hands, searching for the source of the
sound. She could take a few of them out with her, maybe work her
way to Kate.

An explosion ripped through the air, the
concussion bending the tops of the trees.

The large ship listed to one side, smoke and
fire billowing out from a tear on its port side, losing altitude.
With the shields down the weapon fire from the forest impacted the
hull, pushing the ship away from the mesa.

In the bright light accompanying the
explosions Mary found the Shadow Creature approaching from the top
of the downed tree. She lifted up her gun and fired. The shot found
its mark, but she spotted other shapes moving quickly towards
them.

"There's more!" Henry yelled, pointing.

Mary turned to look at the area where her
shuttle once sat. A swarm of shapes, both on the ground and in the
air, flowed through the break in the wall of trees.

No way could they fight all of them.

#

Ayden saw Kate fall in front of the writhing
Ancient. The fear in him turned to rage. With it the effects of the
spores diminished even more. He turned back to his fight with
renewed strength.

His axe flew through the air, taking down
anything in its way. More Shadow Creatures joined in the fight, but
he kept his focus. Keep moving, don't stop, keep the tree at his
back, take out as many as he could.

The movement of the sudden rising of the
shuttle and the strange strained howl of the engines distracted his
attackers. He took full advantage of their lack of attention. A few
turned and ran from him, but they were replaced with two-fold
more.

A bright light flashed over the forest,
followed by a ground shaking explosion. For a moment Ayden thought
he saw Diasis, but he was too far for him to take care of the
traitor.

Kate.

The image of her fallen body filled his head
as he struck out again and again. He needed to get to her, but the
mob of Shadow Creatures around him prevented it.

Then he saw the new arrivals. Shadow
Creatures spilled into the city through the break in the barrier
trees. Only, some didn't look like Shadow Creatures at all.

The Shadow Creatures around him howled with
victory. A pack of razor wolves brought their heads down from their
howl, their eyes sparkling with anticipation.