Ch 4 - Somber Smoke

They started to put out the fire and bury the bones of our meal. Before I knew it we were already walking down the path again. The sky was dark and I looked up at it while I walked, staring at all the small bits of white dots that covered the sky in millions. It was amazing.

As we walked I started to notice that the some plants had bright red leaves. It was really pretty at first, but the further we walked the more red plants I saw. Soon we got so deep that every plant, tree, and blade of grass had turned bright red in the night. I looked at the others who became cautious as they walked, looking around every corner and flicking their ears in all directions.

“Stay alert, Sachi.” Hwajay whispered next to me, “There’s something wrong in this forest. The trees have felt pain.”

I perked my ears up and slouched down a bit as I searched through the dark shadows of dark red and blackness. Hwajay passed me to go to the front of the group. Kisang was bent down on all fours sniffing the red grass, while Eijong touched the tree’s bark and listened to its breathing.

“The trees are breathing irregularly.” Eijong mentioned.

“Is it going faster or slower?” Kisang asked.

“It’s faster.”

“Smooth or choppy?”

“Choppy.” Eijong said watching the trees bark shiver with quick breaths.

“This is worse than I thought.” Kisang said as she plucked a few pieces of dark red grass from the ground. She smoothed the grass on her palm and it fell to pieces of red particles that dyed her fingers red until the remaining bits turned to black soot.

I touched the red dye on her fingers and it felt wet and sticky, as if it were a mixture of tree sap and blood. I looked down at the ground and realized that my feet and everyone else’s were covered in this red tree blood. Nobody seemed to mind, as they continued to examine the red forest. Iri dug a small whole off to the side of a large tree and looked at the roots just under the earth. They looked less red than the tree, but it could be the dirt.

“This tree still has a chance.” Iri said as he started to bury the root again.

“I would say about 3 days before it starts to dye the rivers red, and 5 days before complete death.” Inau responded to Iri as she took a few leaves and pieces of bark to examine. I looked around for the others and saw that they were a bit further away in every direction, but they weren’t checking the plants or determining the amount of time the forest had left. Instead they were watching intently into the darkness of the red forest while flicking their ears and wiggling their noses to every sound and scent, guarding the area. I saw Hwajay off in the distance and began to walk to him, but I jumped in mid stride as a sudden growl broke the silent shadows.

“What was…?”

“SHHH!” Haenami cut Ounsu’s sqeaking question off as she tried to listen to where the growl came from. The dark red forest was motionless for a moment before rustling in various directions caused us all to gather in a group. Then a chilling howl broke out behind us.

“Run!” Haenami screamed as she flew up into the air and headed west. We followed her and Hwajay as they flew above us; Ounsu not far behind them.

“What is it?” Kisang yelled as she hopped in long leaps below them.

I glanced back and saw a bit of movement in the shadows wrapping around the trees and bounding over the rocks and through the bushes. I could hear the snarls and howls of the beasts get louder. I ran as fast as I could but I was falling behind the group. I looked behind me again to see how close they were and to my surprise a large pile of grass and twigs were flying at me. Though, the grass and twig pile seemed to have legs in the shape of a wolf.  My foot hit a root of a tree and caused me to fall hard on belly. I turned on my elbow and watched the grassy wolf creature draw near me with incredible speed, as I lay there frozen in fear. As I watched them come closer I saw the creatures figure more clearly. It was a huge wolf with grass and twigs as fur and extremely sharp teeth, as well as pure black eyes. It was so close that I could hear the thud of their paws hitting the ground as they bound toward me.

Suddenly something lifted me up into the air and flung me on their back. It was Eijong. I held onto his waist as he galloped faster than the wolves could catch us. He passed Kisang, who had Inau in her arms, and gained speed as we neared the edge of the forest. I looked back and saw dozens of the grassy wolves behind us. Then Eijong stopped so fast that I few off him but before I hit the ground, he grabbed my wrist in midair and pulled me to him. I hit feet on the ground hard as he held my arms up to prevent me from falling down. As I regained my balance and shook the pain out of my feet, I heard the snarling of the beast in front of me. I watched the large wolf as he lunged toward us, but Hwajay swooped down and slammed into him just before he tackled us.

Hwajay and the wolf wrestled on the ground, biting and scratching at each other with their talon-like claws and dagger-like fangs. While we watched with horror, a strong force hit Eijong from behind, causing him to slam into me and tumble on top of me. I landed hard with Eijong’s horse-like body pinning me down as he tried to fight off another grass-furred wolf. I looked to Kisang and Inau for help, but they were both busy fighting off their own wolves. Iri had a large stick and was swining it at another wolf that jumped out of a bush, while Haenami was scratching and biting at one who attacked her by jumping into the air and pulling her down to the ground. I tried to wiggle out from under Eijong’s heavy body as I watched Hwajay finally push the large wolf off of him long enough to look around at the group. His eyes were filled with anger and shock. Then he flew up a few feet and looked at the wolf that was about to jump at him. He took in a deep breath and within seconds the entire area was hot with fire and the wolves retreated in pain as their grassy fur burned and smoked. Yelps filled the air as the fire retreated and Eijong finally got off of me. He helped me up as I rubbed my numb legs to get the blood flowing again.

“Leave this place!” One of the wolves growled from the shadows.

“We are not here to fight, Scrunt!” Hwajay barked at him, “Why do you attack us when this is not your territory?”

“The forest has chosen us to protect her, so if you don’t leave now we will have to attack.”

“Ah.” Hwajay said understanding the wolf’s mission. “Then we humbly ask to leave in peace.”

The wolf was quite for a moment, then he muttered, “Leave now before I change my mind.”

We all followed Hwajay as he led us out of the forest. I listened to Haenami as she explained to Hwajay why those creatures had attacked us.

“Cu Sith territory is usually in the valley and near swamps, but they are known as fierce guardians if you can convince them to serve you.” She explained. “Scrunt is the leader of a Cu Sith pack just south of Kestrel Forest, which we were just in.”

“I met Scrunt a few decades ago when I was scouting the land. He’s as cold and stubborn as the first time we met.” Hwajay said, “But why has he left his territory? He said he was protecting the forest…”

“When a Forest is in pain or feels a threat to its land, the forest will call on a protector from nearby to protect her until she has healed herself or feels safe enough to take control again.”

“And since Scrunt’s Cu Sith pack was right next to her forest, they were chosen to protect her.”

“Yes.” Haenami nodded.

“This is the first time I’ve heard of a Forest recruiting guards for protection.” Hwajay mentioned.

“The world has gotten more dangerous in the last few years, and the trees and lands know this, as does the forests and mountains. So we need to be more careful when moving across the land.” Haenami rose up into the air and flew ahead of us, scouting the land for the best path.

We soon came to a cliff and walked along it as we followed a path that over looked the ocean and wrapped around large boulders and slippery rocks. The lower the rocks went, the colder then got. Soon we puddled through the ocean waves as they hid the large rocks and seeped past them, washing at our feet.

“We need to hurry, before the tide comes in and hides this path.” Hwajay said as he floated above us, urging us to move faster through the wet slippery mess. 

I hit the beach and ran up past the rocky hill and onto the grass lands as the ocean tide rose. We continued to walk as the night began to lighten.  Jonsa walked next to me but didn’t say anything. He just glanced at me every few seconds and then would look away. At one moment I thought he would say something but he then shifted his eyes and remained quiet. I wanted to urge him to talk but didn’t know the right motion or expression to give. So I touched his front shoulder and he swung his head around to look at me. I jumped back a bit from the sudden movement, but then relaxed and stared into his eyes wanting him to say what was on his mind.

“Is something wrong?” He asked with a concerned expression.  I shook my head then tapped my lips and pointed to him. I felt stupid trying to communicate like this. He looked like he understood and nodded.

“Yes, we are going to get you a voice as soon as we get back to the village.”

I shook my head again and then touched his head and made a strange squeaking sound. Embarrassed I pulled my hands back and looked away from him. I heard him make a low laugh, and I felt my face grow hot. Suddenly I smelled that same smell that arose when we made the fire.

“Look, smoke.” Inau called out as she pointed at the grey swirly pillar of smoke that rose up over the mountain that we were climbing over.

“They must be cooking an early breakfast for our arrival.” Iri said, but half way through his smile a bone chilling scream echoed over the land. We all paused for the briefest moment then they all looked terrified. Eijong grabbed my arm and threw me up on his large back, then galloped toward the sound while everyone else ran, or flew toward the smoke as fast as they could. We heard one more scream and then it was dead silent. We jumped over the top of the mountain and sprinted down the other side. Haenami and Hwajay entered the clearing first. The sight was terrible. Many creatures lay dead on the floor in piles of blood, while others were hung in trees or burned over the fire. The huts and forts were all collapsed and burned. The group that came with me all scattered in different directions searching for anyone left alive. I got off of Eijong’s back and saw Iri with horror on his face.  Eijong headed over to a fallen hut, and as everyone called out their friends names, I saw Ounsu fly off in the opposite direction and disappear into the forest.

“KEMI!!!!” I jumped at Iri’s sudden scream. I watched him run to different buildings continuing to call the name. “Kemi! Kemi, where are you?!” I saw tears form in his eyes as his worried expression turned to a hopeless fear. I felt my heart sink at the thought of such a kind creature crying. I went to go help him. I walked around taking in the horrible scene. A building filled with small carving tools and small slabs of meat were all dropped on the ground and burned up. I could smell the fresh blood of the recently killed creatures that lingered in the air. I turned away from the strong odor. I walked to a different hut and shuffled through the fallen roof. No one was here. I looked around for the next hut. The other creatures were calling out various names, but the loudest and most terrified sounding one was Iri, as he called out Kemi’s name.

There was a hut that was built in a tree and the right half had collapsed and was broken in large pieces of wood on the ground. I looked at all the different buildings and saw that the attack caused every structure to collapse. They were all destroyed. I shuffled through broken walls and doors and collapsed houses. Then I heard a change in Iri’s calls.

“Kemi!” He called in more of a sigh. I turned to see the creature he was searching. He pulled her out of a pile of tree bark and dried piles of grass and sticks and held her in his arms. Her body was a light purple with yellow large stripes on her upper half and faded down to her lower half. She stood on 2 legs and had 4 arms like Jonsa. I then noticed her beetle like wings that sat perfectly formed on her back. It was a strange looking creature, with colors that I haven’t yet seen on any other creature thus far. When she hugged Iri her head turned toward me and I saw blood on her forehead and there were a few other scratches on her legs and arms.

I smiled; glad to see that he had found someone who had survived. I watched them for a minute to figure out the relationship between the two, and within seconds I understood. They started kissing and telling each other how much they love one another, and then they would kiss and hug some more. I turned away almost ashamed of watching them in the first place, then continued my searching.

I stared at the pile of wooden walls and wreckage in front of me, wondering where to start. I began on my left side and worked to my right. I got to about half way when I heard a few others say that they found some dead bodies. I looked up to see the small pile of corpses growing, one body at a time, as we all searched for whatever survivors were left. I thought of how luck Kemi was when I started to pick through the wreckage again.

Then I heard a noise like someone sniffing and weeping. I followed the sound to a nearby shack that collapsed on it left side. I crawled around to the right side to a small window that was just low enough for me to look through. I saw a tail on the floor and whoever that tail was attached to was quivering behind a piece of collapsed roof. I crawled through the window and entered the room, excited that I had found a survivor.  The creature was only a few feet from me so I tried to make a sound to announce my arrival. I made a small squeak but it only seemed to scare it more as the creature jumped and started to whimper. It grabbed its fluffy tail and pulled it behind the piece of broken roof with the rest of its body. I looked around the roof but as soon as I laid my eyes on the quivering figure it jumped at me and slammed me to the ground. I landed on something with a sharp edge and it dug into my left rib. The pain was sharp and pulsed down my legs and up to my head. I gave a loud cry that was strange to my ears.

This creature was covered in dried blood, dirt, and ash. Her eyes were nothing but pure fear and I could tell she was only fighting me to try and stay alive.  I cried out again in a strange barking-yelp, and I tried to hold her arms and block her swings as she attempted to slice at me with her claws. Then the strangest thing happened. Her large fluffy tail flung around to my face and it opened up at the tip like a mouth with large sharp teeth and a black tongue. The creature on top of me pulled her body up as her tail lurched forward to bite me. Then suddenly a force pulled her off of me and she screamed at first, then when she saw Iri, she relaxed and hugged him. The rest of the group came over from hearing the commotion. I sat up, slightly in shock from the horrific fanged tail monstrosity that nearly ripped my head off, had it not been for Iri pulling her off of me just in the nick of time.

“Kamokeh!”  Jonsa yelled with joy. He ran to her on all six legs and then jumped up on her and hugged her with his front four. She cried in his arms and paws as she tried to tell them what happened. I was still half lying on the ground as I watched the others enter the small broken room.  Kisang and Iri came over to me with alarm when they saw my terrified expression and helped me to my feet.

We gathered the dead bodies and mended the wounds of Kemi and Kamokeh while I wondered when they would remember to give me my voice. I helped Kemi lift a big dead body that was three times our size and extremely heavy. We dragged it toward the center of the opening and dropped her with the rest of the bodies. There were only enough bodies to count on one hand. I looked at them sadly as I saw the cuts and burns on their skin and their fur was soaked with blood that had already turned black and dried. Most of them were much older looking than the rest of the group. I imagined them fighting against the intruder with great effort and how horrible the attack must have been. Then I saw one male off on the far end of the pile that looked perfectly intact. The only thing that looked abnormal was the lack of fur around his neck, which had been ripped off from the rope he had been hung with. It lay loose on his stomach. Someone must have taken it off due to respect.  He was very handsome and well distinguished. I felt sad that I never got the chance to know him.

“Oh no…” I heard Inau call out. She walked toward me and Kemi, and stared at the large female we had pulled over. “That’s the Mage that was supposed to give you a voice.” She said to me, then sat down next to the mage and stroked her dirt covered fur on the top of her head. Fear struck me as I stared at the large body. How am I going to get a voice now? Tears filled my eyes and knelt down next to the body with Inau, while Kemi left to help Kisang prepare supplies. I cried for my voice and for the situation that we were in.

Jonsa  saw me cry and came over to comfort me. “There, there. It’s ok. We’ll find another Mage in the next village to help you with your voice soon enough. I heard that Iljo’s village has a Mage.” He said smiling. “But first we must find a new location to build the camp and rest till the morning.” I got up and felt a bit better with his news. I nodded my head to him and gave a weak smile of thanks. He nodded and left to finish what he was working on.

After we had everyone fixed and ready to travel we started to walk in the forest more south than before. We traveled several hours and settled near a river where we all lay down under a rock that formed a type of covering for us to hide under. It lowered into the ground a bit so we all had enough room to lay fit and snug.  We ate and gathered a few more supplies from around the area, and some of us washed up in the river then dries their fur before they crawling into the area sheltered by the large rock. Kisang lay on my left and Hwajay on my right as we comfortably warmed each other through the night. Ambyok was the only one who sat outside and slept against a tree. He was too big to fit under the rock anyways. The injured ones got the deepest and warmest location of the whole, and the strong creatures slept near the edge as their guards. I was a guard, but I didn’t mind as long as I got to sleep.