Chapter 26 When the flower blooms…

Chapter 26

 

When the flower blooms…

 

 

Gerad woke with a start then sighed. He was back at the camp on his bedroll his covers somewhere off to his left.

Lucius came over to him, “Your shift.”

Gerad nodded and got up to take his post. He sat down on the rock that Calhan had occupied a few hours earlier. The Stalchildren were nowhere in sight and everything seemed calm. Gerad wished he could say the same for his thoughts. The more he thought about it the more aggravated he became.

Gerad jumped when he felt something touch his shoulder, “Whoa, Gerad. It’s just me.”

Gerad turned to see Selene smiling at him, “Some look out you are. What’s the matter; I could hear you steaming from the other side of the camp.”

“It’s nothing.” Gerad sighed sitting back down.

“Don’t make me use my truth seeker on you.” Selene threatened pointing her finger at him.

Gerad glared at her, “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Oh ho, really?” Selene asked raising her eyebrows, “Do you really believe that?”

Gerad thought for a bit, “Good point. But I can’t tell you all the same. Please, respect that.”

Selene looked at her brother with concern, “Ok. Is there anything you can tell me?”

“Not really.” Gerad sighed, “Selene, promise me something.”

Selene waited for him to continue as Gerad mulled over his thoughts.

“Promise me that if I’m not with you, you’ll stay alive.” Gerad said turning to face her.

Selene was puzzled by this request, “Ok, Gerad, you’re starting to worry me. Did you hit your head or something?”

“Just, promise me.” Gerad said losing his patience.

“Ok, I promise to try to stay alive.” Selene consented still worried about him, “And what about you? Will you promise me that you’ll try to stay alive if I’m not there?”

Gerad laughed, “Yeah, I promise.”

Selene shook her head at her elder brother and chuckled. They sat on the rock and watched the shadows in silence listening to the sound of their friends breathe. Dawn slowly crept over the horizon and Gerad went to wake everyone. After breakfast they packed up and began heading for Kokiri village.

 

After a few hours of riding the group made it to the entrance to Kokiri village. Outside of the entrance was a stable. Aerica waved to the Kokiri stationed there as he came out of the house.

“Sun’s greetings to you Aerica.” The guy said happily with a huge grin on his face.

“And to you as well, Maxworth.” Aerica replied matching his grin.

“I see you travel with company, who might these swell people be?” Maxworth said as the group dismounted following Aerica’s lead. Maxworth was smaller than Aerica even though he was her senior by quite a few years.

“These are the delegates from our neighboring nations. They’re here to learn more about us.” Aerica replied handing the reins of Orchid to Maxworth and taking off her gear. Maxworth’s fairy came flying out of the house and hovered next to his shoulder. She was a bright pink and smiled at everyone. Meko went to greet her.

“Well everyone, it’s a pleasure to meet you all, you can just take your things and head through the entrance there. Your mounts will be safe here in my keeping. Oh, Aerica.” Maxworth said still smiling.

Aerica looked at Maxworth then remembered something and dug in her pack. She pulled out a bag of something and handed it to him.

“One bag of chocolates, as promised.” Aerica said smiling.

Maxworth gave a cry of excitement as he took the bag and opened it. He pulled out a piece and before he could eat it there was a streak of pink and it was gone.

“Hey, Dot!” Maxworth cried to his fairy.

Dot laughed and broke the chocolate and handed half to Meko who ate it. Maxworth shook his head as he pulled out another piece and ate it.

He sighed in utter contentment, “Ooh, that’s so good.”

“Don’t eat too much too fast or you’ll get sick.” Aerica warned as she walked toward the entrance. Meko waved goodbye to Dot and followed after her.

The group took their belongings and followed Aerica. Bob made little crooning noises and took off after the group, dragging Maxworth along behind him.

“No, stay.” G-Link said turning around and holding out his hand. Bob’s nose touched G-Link’s hand and he tried to back pedal on full speed. His neck scrunched up but he didn’t go any further than G-Link’s hand. Bob crooned softly at G-Link.

“No, you have to stay here. Behave.” G-Link said patting him gently on the nose. Bob slumped to the ground and pouted.

“Phew, what a rush, don’t worry I’ll take good care of them all.” Maxworth said starting to walk back to the stables, he stopped when Bob didn’t budge.

“You may leave him there if he wishes. He won’t follow.” G-Link told Maxworth when he tried to pull Bob along with him.

“Oh, well, alright. Have a good time.” Maxworth said smiling once more as the group continued on. Bob crooned once more as G-Link and the group disappeared from view.

 

Still mulling over what the goddesses had said to him Gerad gave a startled cry as something hit him from behind. He crashed to the wood of the bridge over the Lost Woods and looked to see what had hit him and saw Calhan jump off of him and stand to face something to their right.

Gerad followed his gaze and saw a small being sitting on top of a Duku Shrub.

“A Skullkid?” Calhan whispered.

“Apparently, but I don’t get it. Skullkids are harmless and they definitely don’t associate with Duku Shrubs.” Aerica replied just as confused as the rest of them.

The Skullkid put an ocarina to his lips and played a haunting tune, the Duku Shrub vibrated slightly as it sucked in air for another attack.

Aerica gasped, “MOVE!”

The Duku Shrub shot a fire covered Duku nut as everyone dove out of the way. The bullet hit the bridge and exploded sending splintered logs everywhere. The bridge collapsed, Selene, Meria, Sheik, Calhan, and G-Link fell to the ground below and disappeared in the thick foliage.

“Selene!” Gerad cried as he reached for her but missed and almost fell, Dahrin grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him back up.

Those that didn’t fall had jumped toward the entrance to the village and had made it before the bridge collapsed. The Skullkid had quit playing and jumped as Aerica shot an arrow at him hitting the Duku Shrub. It shrieked as it burst into flames and died. She shot another arrow at the Skullkid as he fell; he hit it aside then disappeared.

“Gah, come on.” Aerica sighed in frustration turning around and heading to the village. The rest of them followed.

“What about the others?” Gerad asked as he followed.

“They’ll be fine as long as they stay there, but if they start wandering around they’ll get lost for good.”

“What was that skullkid doing? Why did he attack us?” Lucius asked.

“If I knew I’d answer.” Aerica snapped at him.

“Aerica, we’re all worried, no need to bite our heads off.” Gerad said putting his hand on her shoulder. Aerica screamed as vines crawled out of her shoulder and wrapped themselves around Gerad’s arm.

“Cut them off! Cut them off!” Meko screamed at Dahrin who didn’t hesitate. He drew his blades and slashed. Aerica and Gerad’s blood spewed from the vines.

“What is going on Aerica?” Gerad cried nursing his bleeding hand.

She turned to face them and they all took a step back in fear. Thorns had sprouted on the right side of her face and her right eye was gone, a root snaking out of the socket. The entire right side of her upper body had morphed into some grotesque plant. Her arm was just a bunch of vines each covered in thorns. The thorns on her face twisted the skin of her mouth into an unnatural frown revealing fangs.

“Aerica?” Gerad whispered.

She sighed as she stared at her right arm, “Great.”

“What is happening to you?” Dahrin asked her his blades still out and at the ready.

“We’re too late. We have to get to the Duku tree as fast as possible, thankfully I’m the Forest Sage so the transformation didn’t take complete control of my mind, but I warn you now, the others won’t be able to control themselves.” Aerica said as she turned and continued down the tunnel.

“What do you mean control themselves?” Lucius asked, “Control themselves from doing what?”

“Eating you.” Aerica answered over her shoulder, “Draw your weapons and be on your guard.”

They did as ordered and followed after her.

 

Meria groaned as she sat up and immediately fell back as a Duku shrub shot at her. The bullet flew over her. She rolled to the right and got up taking her staff from her back and blocking the next bullet. She hit it back at the shrub and knocked it out.

Glancing around she realized she was alone in the Lost Woods. She sighed and listened for some sign of her friends’ direction. Looking up all she saw were the tree limbs.

“MERIA! WHERE ARE YOU?” She heard Sheik call.

She turned in the direction she heard it come from and gathered her sage energy. A small torrent of wind circled her and lifted her off of the ground. She flew two feet above the ground and dodged low branches and the bushes in her path. She flew for a few minutes and stopped.

“Sheik?” She called.

“Meria?” She heard from the direction she had come from. She flew that way for a bit and called out again. Again Sheik answered from a different direction. She kept calling out and following the voice and each time it came from the opposite direction. Meria was getting frustrated, she stopped, letting the wind die, and sat down on a log to wait.

Sheik called out to her but she ignored it. The voice called out again and again and still she ignored it. Finally it stopped calling.

The shadow of the log that she sat on shifted and bubbled. Sheik emerged from it and let his energy dissipate. He looked down at her and grinned.

“I kept waiting for you to stop moving so I could get to you, but you kept going everywhere.” Sheik laughed.

“Yeah, I was following what I thought was you. Something is weird about this forest.” Meria replied standing back up.

“Have you seen Selene or G-Link?” Sheik asked her.

“No, and Calhan is here too somewhere. Use your shadow search thing to see if you can find them.” Meria suggested. Sheik nodded and closed his eyes. His shadow swelled up and covered him. Meria waited patiently for Sheik to finish. Finally his shadow fell back to the ground and he sighed in frustration.

“You were right about something being weird about this forest. Everything is, disconnected, somehow. Like trails that should keep going suddenly end up half way on the other side of the forest.” Sheik said.

“Odd. Did you find either of them?” Meria asked.

“Yeah, I managed to find both Selene and G-Link but not Calhan, but I couldn’t tell you how to get there from here.” Sheik answered.

“We could just merge through the shadows.” Meria suggested.

“I don’t know. It was hard enough just looking. I don’t know if I could ‘walk’ it let alone lead you.” Sheik said.

As they were talking they were both knocked down by a giant blast from the right. Sheik rolled and regained his feet and faced where the shock wave had come from. He saw a giant pillar of fire over in the distance.

“That’s gotta be G-Link, c’mon.” Sheik said as he helped Meria up. They took off toward the pillar.

As they ran Meria caught glimpses of something following them. She finally got a good look over her shoulder at it. It was a werewolf. It howled when it realized Meria had seen it and picked up its pace to overtake them.

“Sheik, run!” Meria yelled as she gathered her energy and took off again. Sheik glanced and saw the beast and sped up.

“Meria you stay up there, got it?” Sheik yelled as Meria began to descend to help him.

“But, what about you?” Meria asked.

“I’ll be fine, if he gets me I can always shadow merge, so stay out of the way.” Sheik told her. Meria nodded and stayed above him.

But the werewolf had other plans, it launched itself from a tree branch straight for Meria. Meria didn’t see it in time to dodge as it approached claws at the ready.

A light spear hit the werewolf in the chest killing it. Meria looked and saw Selene standing on a fallen tree gasping.

“Selene!” Meria called excitedly to her.

“Howdy.” Selene said in greeting as Meria flew to her, “Since when can you fly?”

“Oh, you know, since I became the Wind Sage. Whoa.” Meria cried as she wobbled and fell to the ground.

“Still getting used to it. I’m walking from here on, though.” Meria said laughing.

“Let’s go, G-Link might need our help.” Selene said giving Meria a hand up. Meria nodded and they ran to where Sheik waited for them. They kept going and stumbled onto a path, they followed it to some stone steps that led to a courtyard.

In the courtyard was G-Link fighting about ten werewolves. He was holding his own due to the fact that his skin was harder than granite. Selene gathered her energy and threw a light spear at one of the werewolves striking it through the heart. It howled in agony as it died.

Five werewolves left the remaining group attacking G-Link and came toward them. Meria gathered her energy and built her wind wall. The werewolves hit it and were torn apart. Sheik and Selene crowded close to Meria away from the wall. Meria let it die and sank to the ground gasping.

G-Link smashed the head of one of the remaining werewolves and growled at the others as they fled in fear yelping. They approached G-Link as he sat onto the ground and breathed heavily.

“G-Link, you ok?” Selene asked him touching his shoulder.

“Yes, I’m fine. Where’s Calhan?” G-Link asked standing back up.

“Dunno, we were hoping he was with you.” Sheik answered glancing around the courtyard, “Whoa.” The others looked at what had caught his attention and stood in awe at the stone building.

“The Forest temple.” Selene whispered.

“Oh, I see we have guest.” A voice whispered on the wind, the group stood back to back to face whatever or whoever had said it. Under the tree in the courtyard sat the Skullkid that had attacked them earlier.

“Who are you?” Selene demanded.

“I should be asking that, seeing how you four have trespassed on sacred ground. Outsiders, when will they ever learn?” The Skullkid sighed to himself as he reached for the pack on his hip.

Selene gathered her energy and made a spear, “Stop! Or I’ll throw.”

“Please, princess, no need to be so harsh.” The Skullkid said in a soft soothing voice, “I merely wish to play.” He pulled out his ocarina and put it to his lips. Selene’s spear dissipated as he began to play.

“Selene?” Meria asked as Selene’s defensive stance relaxed and she began to stagger toward the Skullkid. The Skullkid continued to play the soothing melody.

Meria grabbed Selene’s wrist and tried to hold her back but began to be drug across the ground, “Selene, stop!”

The Skullkid’s tune changed and Selene stopped. Meria looked at her and got a punch in the face. She let go of Selene and the Skullkid returned to the soothing melody.

“That’s it.” Sheik cried and threw a dagger at the Skullkid. The Skullkid jumped out of the way of the dagger never missing a beat of his melody. Selene stopped a few feet from the Skullkid. The air swirled around her and cleared the dead leaves from the floor at her feet revealing a circle carved into the stone of the courtyard. Vines began to grow through the stone and wrapped themselves around her.

Meria ran up to Selene and tried to grab her away from the vines but an invisible barrier shocked her away.

“Oh, be good bait will you.” The Skullkid pouted as he began to play another tune and this time vines came after the rest of them. Sheik managed to slice the ones that came at him but more just replaced them. Meria struggled against the vines that captured her but to no avail. G-Link fared no better than them.

A vine wrapped itself around Sheik’s neck and squeezed, he gasped in pain as the thorns dug into the flesh of his neck. He tried to shadow meld but couldn’t concentrate enough. The thorns had released some kind of toxin within him. Everything started to get blurry.

“Who are you?” Sheik gasped out.

The Skullkid walked up to him and removed his mask, “My name is Charkosh.”

He looked like a Kokiri, his skin was a fair complexion and he had ice blue eyes. He had a scar on his right cheek that resembled the forest sage symbol, four lines of the compass slightly curved to the right, like the blades of a fan.

“Why are you doing this?” Meria asked.

“You four are merely bait to lure out the one I truly desire.” Charkosh answered putting his mask back on.

“And who’s that?” Sheik asked as the vines tightened.

As he put the ocarina back to his lips he whispered, “Aerica.”