Crow - The Awakening (24 page)

On the other side of the ravine, the trail stuck to the canopy above and Laurence had to crank the sensitivity of his device to its maximum setting to stay on track. However, it was nearly a beeline trail and several times Laurence was able to simply keep going straight until he picked up Steven's scent again. His confidence of an easy catch was starting to build and he chuckled, eager to capture his prey and take him back to headquarters.

Lohet and Migalo stood quietly in the meadow, looking up at the tree house. Penipe was up in one of the trees and Sirel was floating outside the tree house, spying on Steven. The time had come to collect him. Too many things were happening that were increasing the chances of his being discovered. Through Sirel's trackers that she snuck into his computers over the years, they had been continuously monitoring his every online action. There were times when he got perilously close to the danger zone risking his exposure to the Sadari, but then he would inexplicably back off as he went in another direction. Several times Lohet had considered prematurely collecting Steven, sure he was going to be discovered.

But the latest incident saw Steven jumping into the danger zone with both feet, entering fully into the enemy's network, well beyond anything they themselves had been able to access. The Sadari were most certainly aware of Steven's existence. Perhaps they even knew of his location or worse, who he was. It was bad enough for the Cooperative that they should get their hands on gatekeepers. But far worse for everyone involved for them to collect a deviant.

Lohet looked around, straining to detect any sign of the Sadari. However, the Sadari agents, called golems, were very difficult to locate. They were not truly alive and harder to detect in the forest full of life than a rock. Regardless, it was better to assume that they were there than not. He and Migalo had taken up strategic positions in the forest, both to help capture Steven and to present a front against the golems if they should attack.

Sirel continued her surveillance of Steven from outside the tree house. She would be the primary agent in this collection. She was small and innocent looking, but was immensely powerful and perhaps the only one of them able to withstand an incident. Most importantly, she had never been in any of Steven's nightmares. For some reason, she did not trigger the nightmares like the rest of them. While Steven was connected to all life around him and could detect on some level whenever they were close, she seemed to be able to fly under the radar.

Penipe maintained her perch in a neighboring tree, ready to step in once the trap was sprung. Sirel was under strict orders to not damage Steven too much, and if he managed to escape they had to be ready to intercept him with as little damage as possible. He was critical to the success of their mission, and it was paramount that he not fall into the hands of the Sadari. There was no room for mistakes.

The forest around Lohet was deceptively calm. A gentle rain from a passing bank of clouds had started coming down, creating a moist sheen on everything and deadening the sounds of the forest. At the edge of the meadow was a very large bear rooting around in the underbrush. A large pack of wolves was nearby as well. On the other side of the meadow was a small herd of elk grazing silently and seemingly keeping watch. Lohet could feel a sense of expectation from the animals, as if they were waiting for something. The full moon allowed even non-nocturnal wildlife to extend their day and the forest was very much awake. For Lohet, the full moon was almost like daylight. But then the same was true for the puma that prowled around the perimeter of the meadow. Lohet was momentarily distracted by its stealthy passage through the forest. It wasn't hunting, however. Like the other animals in the forest, the puma also seemed to be waiting for something. That perplexed Lohet.

Migalo materialized from the underbrush and silently came up beside Lohet. Both of them stood there for a moment looking at the tree house. Migalo leaned toward Lohet. "I smell a Terran," he whispered.

Lohet nodded. "Yes, I've been tracking him for some time now."

"A hunter." Migalo tasted the still cool air. "He carries a rifle." The smell of lubricating gun grease was readily apparent to him.

Lohet kept looking at the tree house. "He also carries explosives." Migalo looked at him then tasted the air again, but got no whiff of any explosives. Lohet's perceptive abilities never ceased to frustrate him. Lohet looked at him. "Strange for a hunter, don't you think?"

"Survivalist?" Migalo had come across a few of those out in the various woods he'd hunted in and had followed them, curious about their antics. They often would hoard supplies and build well armed bunkers to hide out from some imagined calamity. If they only knew the true threats that no hole in the ground could protect them from.

Lohet looked back up at the tree house, watching as Sirel peeked in through the portal at Steven. "Perhaps. He's not Sadari. Steven is being hunted by other parties, however." Lohet had followed the various law enforcement and government agencies that were trying to track Steven down because of his online activities. So far their search had been an act of complete futility, thanks largely to Sirel who did her best to hide the occasional thoughtless mistake Steven would infrequently make. Even so, there was always a chance they may have detected him.

"They would send only one person?" Migalo scratched his head. "I dunno. It doesn't seem their style."

"If he gets too close, kill him." Lohet returned his focus to the task at hand and Migalo grunted and faded silently back into the underbrush.

The time was nearly at hand. He could hear Steven gathering his items into a bag. It was obvious that Steven was preparing for a trip. He was curious as to what the boy's plans were, just where he would go. His obsession with his parents had become a serious threat to them and his preparing to leave only meant that it would become all the more dangerous. A bag dropped out of the hatch and was lowered to the forest floor by a rope, which was promptly pulled back up into the tree house nearly two hundred feet up. It was time. Lohet looked at Penipe and nodded. An owl on a branch near her fluttered into the air and buzzed Sirel before flying off into the darkness. Sirel looked at Penipe, then headed for the hatch and silently entered. Lohet only hoped that there wasn't another incident.

Sirel faced Steven in his cute little tree house, amused at his shock from seeing her. "Well hello, Steven. It's been a long time." Sirel's singsong voice filled the tree house. Alarmed by her sudden intrusion and by her glowing appearance, Steven tried to get around her and to the entrance. "Ah, ah, ah, let's not be naughty," she chided as she reached out and touched him. Instantly Steven felt electrified and gravity inverted and he found himself falling to the ceiling of the tree house. He tried to push off the ceiling, but the harder he tried the heavier he felt. She looked at him and grinned, watching him struggle as she held him to the ceiling with her finger. "You've been a very bad boy, Steven." Sirel giggled.

Panicked, Steven flailed his arms then noticed a staff he had been whittling on hanging from the trunk. The tree jolted and the staff practically jumped into his hands as he reached for it. Without a second thought, he whacked Sirel hard with it. The girl yelped as she raised her arms to ward off the blow, and suddenly Steven was falling toward the open hatch. She reached out, but before she could grab him a branch burst out of the tree and wrapped her up tightly, pulling her to the trunk with crushing force. More branches started coming out - they wrapped around her and started to constrict her. She could feel the bark of the trunk as it began to expand and little branches emerged, threatening to impale her. Sirel wriggled and flashed bright, causing the branches to start smoking and popping from the steam within. By the time she was able to scorch herself free Steven had already fallen through the hatch. "Okay, let's do things the hard way," she grumbled as she followed him out.

Steven dropped through the hatch head first and reached out, grabbing a branch and swinging. He used the branch's elasticity to fling him to the closest tree. Flying sideways, he fell into the neighboring tree and arrested his fall long enough to look back. He grabbed another branch, preparing to flee through the canopy, but he had to be sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. People did not naturally glow, nor did they make gravity reverse. He was sure he was having an episode and sorely missed his tea. Was this real? The creature had exited the tree house and was looking around for him, shining brightly enough to illuminate that part of the forest.

Alarmed, Steven ducked behind the tree before she could notice him, but suddenly felt a presence behind him. Turning quickly, he found himself looking into a large pair of eyes that seemed eerily familiar.

Penipe watched Steven fall out of the tree house. For a moment she was afraid he would fall to his death. He had dove out headfirst. But at the last moment he grabbed a branch and sprung off it into the tree she was hiding in. She ducked out of the way, unseen by the boy as he focused on the tree house instead. She reached out and was about to incapacitate Steven when he suddenly turned to face her. A shock went through her that shook her to her core as she felt a very strong and extremely familiar presence emanating out of him as she touched him, and he stared transfixed for a moment by her eyes.

"Asherah?" they both said simultaneously.

Steven heard the woman say the name as he spoke it himself and he realized that it wasn't his imaginary friend come back to haunt him. Was this all a figment of his imagination? He had been off his tea for more than a day, after all. Before him was a woman that looked almost exactly like Asherah, but much more mature and her fur had a different pattern. Steven blinked. Perhaps the catastrophic events of the day were catching up to him.

But the woman suddenly appeared furious at him. Erupting with a predatory scream, she reached out for him again and narrowly missed as he moved to the side. He could see her eyes full of rage and her small, needle-sharp canines glinting in the moonlight as she lunged at him, still screaming. He had always thought those canines were so cute on Asherah, but now they were terrifying and his blood ran cold as she descended upon him. Steven ducked her continuing attack again and again, clambering amongst the branches as he desperately sought to avoid her. She pursued him around the trunk of the tree, as skillful at climbing as he was, and he pushed off the tree, falling straight down in a headfirst dive. It may be all in his mind, but he decided he'd answer that question later and not take any chances. She looked way too angry to take any risks.

As he fell, Steven allowed a few branches to slip through his hands to slow his fall and finally grabbed the end of one, using it to sling himself to lower branches as he descended rapidly. The woman was hot on his heels when he heard her scream in pain. He didn't bother to look back as he pushed off the trunk again and grabbed the top of a sapling growing nearby. It bent over until he dangled about
thirty feet
from the forest floor before he let go, then landed lightly on the ground. Without hesitation Steven was running again. As he ran past his tree, he reached down and picked up his backpack in full stride and reached again to snag his walking staff as he sped past.

Penipe winced under the pressure as the limbs encircled her tighter and tighter, slamming her up against the trunk. More branches were pushing out from under the bark, threatening to impale her and she could feel the bark swell under her back as yet more branches were starting to shoot out. She tried to concentrate to tell the tree to stop, but the forest was ignoring her and she clawed desperately at the branches around her chest until more branches whipped around her arms and pinned her completely. It was all she could do to cry out in pain as the last of her air was squeezed from her and her heart felt like it was going to explode from the unyielding constriction.

Sirel was suddenly on her, touching the branches and scorching them as fast as she could. More branches whipped around as Sirel was finally able to pull Penipe free and drop her to the ground,
forty feet
below. Penipe usually landed gracefully, seemingly defying gravity and momentum as she would appear to just kiss the ground on landing like a falling leaf, even when jumping from these heights. But this time she landed with a decidedly human thud. She gasped and fell to the ground in agony, trying to catch her breath. Sirel scanned the forest. Steven was in full flight mode and the forest was on his side. As much as she wanted to render aid to Penipe, Steven was the priority and she resumed the pursuit.

Lohet watched impassively as Steven eluded Sirel and Penipe. He and Migalo had maintained their flanking positions. With the explosion of light and heat from Sirel and the lack of attack from their Sadari foes, he no longer considered them a potential threat at this time and focused his attention on capturing Steven. He didn't sense an incident happening, but was alarmed by the forest's reaction to what was happening. All of the trees had become animated and whipped around in a frenzy, trying to stop Sirel and Penipe.

They had to get Steven quickly, before things got completely out of hand. Migalo peeked out of the forest and Lohet nodded at him. Lohet moved to another part of the meadow and took an intercept position as Migalo disappeared into the forest to drive Steven his way.

Sirel spotted Steven and gave chase, staying up in the canopy to remain out of sight. He was running along the edge of the meadow, but not crossing out into it. As she was about to descend on him, something grabbed her ankle and slammed her against the trunk of another tree. More branches entangled her and she could feel the bark against her back bulging as branches developed underneath, preparing to spike her. Angry, she pulsed as hard as she could, illuminating much of the forest around her like a bright lightning bolt. The trunk behind her exploded in a shower of splinters as the moisture in it spontaneously boiled to steam. As soon as the branches loosened their grip, she shot straight up above the forest that had become a deathtrap. More trees were trying to reach her, preventing her from reentering the canopy to continue her chase. She screamed at the forest, angry that it was getting in her way and frustrated at the futility of it all.